ã€ŠMediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greeceã€‹


 Chapter 1: The death of Cyrus the Younger (1)

    ¡°The king''s army ising! The king''s army ising!!¡­¡± A scouting cavalry galloped from afar, shouting repeatedly in Persian and Greek.

    The soldiers, who were about to stop for a rest, became agitated.

    ¡°Patikias, are you telling the truth? Artaxerxes is reallying?!¡± Seeing the cavalry who had just jumped off the horse, Cyrus the Younger<sup>1</sup> asked immediately.

    ¡°Yes, Your Royal Highness. Artaxerxes<sup>2</sup> ising! Artagasses are here too! And that¡­damn Tissaphernes<sup>3</sup> is here as well!!¡± Patikias gasped and said it in a hoarse voice.

    ¡°Very good, my friend! Very good! He is here atst!!¡± Cyrus the Younger jumped off the horse excitedly, and as he let his servant put on his breastte, he shouted to his adjutant, Ariaeus<sup>4</sup>, ¡°Notify the whole army and prepare for battle!!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Highness!¡± Ariaeus hurriedly calls the messenger, ¡°Notify the Greeks immediately, and quickly line up on our right nk! Prepare to fight!¡±

    The messenger sped away.

    Ariaeus also called all the persian generals. Cyrus the Younger allowed them to lead soldiers on their left nk, while he led 800 cavalry in the center.

    Artapatus carefully asked, ¡°How many enemies are there?¡±

    ¡°About 60,000¡­or 80,000¡­¡± There was a little fear on his face when Patikias recalled what he had seen.

    ¡°So many people!!¡± The attendants eximed with fear.

    ¡°Haha! Are you scared? My friend.¡± Cyrus the Younger came forward and gave Patikias a powerful hug, and he did not mind Patikias'' dusty and sweaty body at all. Then, he turned around and got on the horse and shouted, ¡°Friends, are you afraid?!¡±

    Of course, the followers of Cyrus the Younger expressed their courage one after another.

    ¡°Even if Artaxerxes had more soldiers, he is still the timid Artaxerxes! Don''t forget, a small hound could scare him to pee!¡± Cyrus the Younger''s vulgar words made the people around himugh.

    ¡°And I have you! And my army! Together we defeated the mighty Athens! The Athens that had repeatedly defeated us in Persia!¡± Cyrus the Younger''s eyes swept through each person and the men straightened their chest.

    ¡°We still have the brave Greeks! They fought side by side with us!¡± Cyrus the Younger looked to the right where the Greek heavy infantry began their slow formation. Seeing this, he felt confident, ¡°We are unstoppable! We are invincible!!¡±

    ¡°For victory¡± Artapatus shouted first, then everyone screamed one after another, ¡°For victory!!¡±

    In the face of high morale, Cyrus the Younger raised his right hand, ¡°Friends! Warriors! After this victory, I swear to Mazda, the Supreme god, that I will do my best to repay your friendship and dedication!!¡±

    ¡°Cyrus, THE GREAT!!¡± No one knows who shouted. Immediately, like a sh flood, a loud shout erupted.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Hey, Matonis. Is there something going on?¡± Davos couldn''t help but p the shoulder of a soldier that is in front of him.

    ¡°How many times have you asked? No! No!¡± Matonis wiped his sweaty neck with his left hand and irritably shouted, ¡°Why hasn''t the enemye yet? The sun had already reached the middle of the sky! If we wait any longer, we''ll be scorched by its me!¡±

    ¡°Matonis, Even if your meat is roasted, I don''t want to smell it. One of this days, I''ll vomit when eating meat.¡± A soldier''s glib remark next to him caused a burst ofughter among the soldiers.

    ¡°Shut up! Olivos, you lecherous guy, if you want me to put your hand in your mouth and let you taste your own meat, then continue talking!¡± Matonis fiercely threatened while waving his sturdy arm.

    ¡°Oh, I am so scared!¡± Olivos put on a frightened look and caused another burst ofughter.

    ¡°Everyone stand up and stop making noises! Meno<sup>5</sup> ising!¡± As soon as Hielos''s voice fell, he heard a sharp voiceing, ¡°Little children, what do you think this ce is! Is it your family''s dinner ce?¡±

    A well-proportioned soldier with a red feather on his helmet stood in front of the square, pointing at them and scolding, ¡°This is the battlefield! If you don''t go all out, then Hades will be happy to visit you!¡±

    ¡°The rotten-mouthed Meno!¡± Someone in the troops shouted.

    ¡°Who said that?! Youe out for me!!!¡± They allughed and were d to see Meno jumping in front of them and shouting angrily.

    Then someone shouted loudly, ¡°Look ahead!!!¡±

    The soldiers then looked ahead. Soon, the smile on their face was quickly reced by panic.

    Smoke and dust rose everywhere in sight, covering the hills, trees and houses, all of which were grey.

    After a while, a thin ck line drilled out the smoke and dust, it began to stretch to both sides, gradually bing thicker¡­

    A momentter, when the soldiers could barely see the outline of the enemy, countless lights began to shine in the dazzling sunlight.

    The cold light emitted by the armor, spear and shield¡­ seems to be like the endless Gxy in the night sky; The sound of footsteps, shouting and hissing of horses gathered into a rolling wave, which made the earth tremble, not to mention the human legs.

    Just as Olivos felt like he was about to fall, he heard Hielos shout, ¡°Ready to fight!¡±

    ¡°Ready to fight!!¡±

    ¡°Ready to fight!!!¡±

    Greek mercenary soldiers put on their helmet, took off the shield hanging on their left shoulder, held their spears, and began to strike their shields.

    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡­¡± The loud noise made Olivos realize that he is also in a powerful army, and his mood gradually calmed down.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Persian king''s army is still moving slowly and orderly, The chariots are at the forefront, followed by the archers without armor, next came the light cavalry, and finally the infantries with long-shield and spear, the sparabara<sup>6</sup>. The heavy cavalry is divided into two parts, some of them are to protect the Persian King; some are deployed on the far left wing of the army¡­

    The vast Persian army is like the thick clouds in the sky before a storm, slowly pressing and suffocating.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At this moment, Cyrus the Younger, with several followers, galloped left to right, giving instructions to every Greek mercenary leader¡­

    With constant cheers, he had reached the far right end of the Greek army formation, and he could even see the roaring Euphrates river not far away.

    ¡°Honor to you, Your Highness!¡± Clearchus<sup>7</sup> performed a military salute.

    Cyrus the Younger looked at the Greek whom he trusted most, then pointed to the central location of the Persian King''s army and said, ¡°When the battle begins, I want you to lead your men straight into the center of the enemy. Kill Artaxerxes, the victory of this battle must be ours!¡±

    1. Cyrus The Younger son of Darius II of Persia and younger brother of Artaxerxes II Mnemon.

    2. Artaxerses II of Persia was a Persian King from 404 BC till 358 BC.

    3. Tissaphernes was the Satrap(Governor) of Lydia.

    4. Ariaeus was a Persian general who fought alongside Cyrus the Younger.

    5. Meno was one of the Greek generals who had work under Cyrus the Younger as a mercenary.

    6. Sparabara were the front line infantry of the Achaemenid Persian Empire.

    7. Clearchus is another Greek general and a mercenary under Cyrus the Younger.

 Chapter 2: The death of Cyrus the Younger (2)

    Clearchus looked at the much thicker phnx in the enemy¡¯s centre and saw that the enemy¡¯s left wing was longer than his own. Although he had been fully supportive of Cyrus the Younger from the beginning, it doesn¡¯t mean that he would obey his orders. So he bluntly refused: ¡°Your Highness, I think we should first defeat the enemy¡¯s left-wing and then hit the enemy¡¯s centre; this would be much safer.¡±

    ¡°I know Artaxerxes, understand the Persian army and also understand your Greek phnx as well! Believe me, my friend, your army will easily defeat the army of Artaxerxes! Although he has more troops, it¡¯s useless. We will still defeat Artaxerxes!¡± Cyrus the Younger persuaded him.

    Clearchus stubbornly shook his head: ¡°Your Highness! I apologise, but I will not expose the phnx nk to the enemy troops!¡±

    Cyrus the Younger frowned and stared at Clearchus, but there was no time for him to organise his words to persuade the other party. As for ordering them by force, the other party is a mercenary and not his men.

    ¡°Alright, just do what you have said!¡± Cyrus the Younger turned his horse head. Then abruptly pulled the reins and returned.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the two armies were about 500 meters apart, the Greek soldiers began to sing the song of Ares, the God of war and marched forward.

    The two armies were only less than 200 metres apart once they finished their song.

    ¡°Ares!!!¡± The soldiers shouted in unison, then they started to jog, then ran faster and faster¡­ ¡°boom! Boom! Boom!¡­¡± as tens of thousands of Greek hoplites1 converged, their footsteps were like thunder gathering energy to break the dark night with lightning!

    Besides the few chariots that rushed straight through the Greek army, apanied by screams, broken limbs and finally disappearing into silence. The Persians on the opposite side forgot to shoot their arrows and raise their shields as they werepletely frightened by the overwhelming sea of steel as the Greek army approached.

    When the two armies were more than a dozen meters apart, the Persians copsed as they turned around and fled.

    The Greeks did not expect that victory woulde so quickly. So with their abundant energy, the Greeks pursued their enemies more vigorously.

    At first, the captains like Hielos kept reminding their teammates: ¡°Stay in formation, don¡¯t run too fast! Stay in formation¡­¡±

    But the team still gotpletely dispersed, and all Greeks pursued in excitement.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Cyrus the Younger, who is currently in the centre, didn¡¯t expect the victory of the right-wing toe so fast, and for a moment, he was somewhat stunned.

    ¡°Cyrus the Great, Long live!!!¡± The attendants had begun to wave their spears and shouted victory.

    ¡°Your Highness, are we going to follow suit?¡± Artapatus asked him.

    He shook his head and looked straight ahead to his left.

    He knows very well that only by killing that man can he attain the supreme crown.

    ¡°Messenger! Let the left-wing that Ariaeus leads to stop and prepare for defence!¡± Cyrus the Younger immediately issued an order. He knew very well that his strongest force was the Greek mercenaries; now that the Greeks had defeated the enemy¡¯s left-wing, he did not have to rush to let his left-wing, which was obviously smaller than the enemy¡¯s, sh with the enemy¡¯s right-wing. In case of a quick defeat, the battle would be troublesome. Thus it would be better to wait as long as possible for the return of the Greek mercenaries who had pursued the defeated army, and victory would be in his hands.

    But while he patiently waited for the enemy toe, the other side¡¯s centre stopped moving.

    Soon, his expression changed as the enemy¡¯s centre began to split into two, with the left part changing direction towards the left.

    ¡°Not good! They want to attack the Greeks!!¡± Artapatus shouted.

    The scattered Greek hoplites that were pursuing the defeated army would likely fall into chaos if they were attacked from the rear by the enemy, causing the situation to reverse.

    ¡°Artaxerxes, how dare you change formation on the battlefield. Did you really think that because I have fewer cavalry, I won¡¯t dare take the initiative to attack?!¡± Cyrus the Younger sneered and quickly decided. He raised his spear and pointed forward: ¡°Command the right-wing to speed up! Cavalries, follow me!¡±

    ¡°Your Highness, please put on your helmet!¡± The attendant hastily handed over his helmet. Afterwards, Cyrus the Younger rushed out, with the attendants on his left and right rushed to catch up and protect him.

    More than 800 cavalries formed a wedge-shaped formation and sped straight towards the Persian king¡¯s central troops.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Artagases, themander of the Persian king¡¯s central troops, did not expect that Cyrus the Younger dared to attack at this time and hurriedly deployed their cavalry to intercept. However, at this moment, their army is currently changing positions, so the vast revolving infantry formation blocked the cavalry¡¯s way forward, and squeezing out thousands of cavalry from the gap in the formation wouldn¡¯t be easy. Together with the galloping cavalry, Cyrus the Younger has already reached the Persians.

    At the burst of neighing horses, the hastily patched cavalry defence of the Persian army got instantly torn apart.

    Then, like a sharp knife, the cavalry of Cyrus the Younger plunged into the Persian king¡¯s central troops that were turning around.

    Cyrus the Younger was brave and fierce; he used to hunt ck bears by himself. Birds of a feather flock together as his cavalry and followers are also warriors. When facing the back of their enemies, they didn¡¯t even waste their spears*. Instead, they use their horse¡¯s high-speed charge to break into the enemy formation and crush the enemy. (Because there were no stirrups at that time, and when the moving cavalry stabbed the enemy, they had to let go immediately, or the reactive force would push them off),

    Affected by the defeat of the left-wing, the Persian infantry who took the lead began to flee, and the cavalry of Cyrus the Younger took advantage of the situation to hunt them down. Suddenly, Cyrus the Younger caught sight of the Persian king¡¯s chariot in the dust. Because of the initial copse of the main force on the left side of Persia¡¯s central troops, it formed a big gap that caused the Persian king, who was in the rear, to be naturally exposed.

    ¡°Left!!¡± Cyrus the Younger was so excited that he swung his spear to bypass Persia¡¯s central troops that hade to rescue and obliquely pierced towards the Persian king¡¯s rear troops. Afterwards, dozens of cavalry followed.

    ¡°Come quickly! Protect the King!!¡± The Persian king¡¯s imperial guard general, Artagases, shouted while he took the lead on guarding against the nearby enemy cavalry and intercepting them.

    Faced with a swarm of enemies, Cyrus the Younger had no fear; he pulled out his Greek sword and mped on the horse¡¯s belly with both legs. When he saw the right moment, the spear on his right hand deflected the spear that Artagases fiercely stabbed. He then extended the sword on his left hand, and without any effort, he easily cut off Artagases¡¯ neck with the Greek sword and the help of the horse¡¯s forward momentum¡­..

    Cyrus the Younger killed several people with his superb skill and riding skills. Soon, his cavalry caught up and blocked the other enemy horses for him. Between him and Artaxerxes, the Persian king, only the royal guards remained around the chariot. He could even clearly see his brother¡¯s frightened face.

    Thinking of his imprisonment and thinking of him upying the throne that should be his (It¡¯s just Cyrus the Younger¡¯s imagination, the old Persian King didn¡¯t even think about passing the throne to him), rage burned in his chest: ¡°Artaxerxes!¡± He roared and threw out the spear in his hand; with the sound of exmation, the spear flew through the gap between the royal guards and hit the Persian king in the chest.

    The Persian king screamed and fell from his chariot.

    Suddenly, chaos befell once they saw the Persian king fall. Cyrus the Younger finally vented his anger, and he wildlyughed, as if the Persian crown had arrived, but he did not hear the cavalry behind him that was urgently shouting: ¡°Your Highness, look out! LOOK OUT!!¡­¡±

    Theughter came to an abrupt end. A javelin flew out of the chaotic crowd and hit him in the eye.

    Without uttering a word, Cyrus the Younger quickly fell off his horse¡­

    ¡üHoplite were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-states who were primarily armed with spears and shields.

 Chapter 3: Rebirth

    ¡°Brothers, I brought you something to eat.¡± Said Hielos as he entered the small tent.

    The quiet military tent suddenly became lively as the few people who were lying down stood up and, like a hungry wolf, grabbed the food from Hielos'' arms as quickly as they could.

    ¡°Hielos, I would have starved to death if you didn''te back.¡± Matonis chewed the half-cooked horse meat, which he usually disdained, but now it was indescribable delicious in his mouth.

    ¡°I got it from Antonios. Menon asked them to form a special team and risk getting attacked by the Persians to drag back the dead horses from the battlefield.¡± Hielos sighed and looked at the man lying in the innermost part of the tent and asked with concern, ¡°How is Davos? Has he woken up?¡±

    ¡°He woke up. But he was in a daze all this time, he seemed unable to recognise those who spoke with him, and he didn''t say a word. It seems he is currently asleep now.¡± Giorgris answered gloomily.

    ¡°I think he might have sat on Charon''s<sup>1</sup> boat when he identally fell into Lethe<sup>2</sup>, now he has lost his memory.¡± Olivos said.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Matonis reached out and pressed on Olivos'' head and pushed him away.

    Hielos then forcefully separated the two men and screamed, ¡°We''re all from the same town in Thessaly. In thend thousands of miles away from home and surrounded by enemies. If we don''t unite, I''m afraid we won''t be able to return.¡±

    Silence suddenly fell in the tent.

    Hielos felt the heavy atmosphere, so hefortingly said, ¡°I''ve seen several warriors who were hit in the head badly. At first, they are confused, but they''ll be normal after resting. Maybe by tomorrow morning, Davos will be able to greet us with a smile.¡±

    ¡°Davos is also a veteran warrior. How could he fall when pursuing!¡± Olivos had just irritatedly said a couple of words, and when he saw Matonis staring at him again, he immediately closed his mouth.

    ¡°Hielos, did Cyrus the Younger win or was he defeated?¡± The temporary silence made Giorgris unable to help but speak out the most concerned but fearful problem that all of them were facing.

    Previously, only after returning to the battlefield from their pursuit of the fleeing enemies did they find out the Persian troops were still there, while Cyrus the Younger''s troops had disappeared. Because it was gettingte, the two armies had no desire to continue fighting, so after they confronted for a while, the Persian troops retreated.

    Only then did the Greek mercenaries discover that their camp had been looted. Due to their tiredness and hungriness, the soldiers naturally had no energy to think about and ask this very important question.

    ¡°Cyrus the Younger had led the cavalry. Whether they were victorious or got defeated, he could easily leave the battlefield and join us tomorrow to fight the Persian king once more.¡± Hielos lightly said.

    ¡°But the Persian king''s army was muchrger than ours. So if Cyrus the Younger really got defeated, then there will be fewer troops to join us tomorrow.¡± Giorgris worriedly said.

    ¡°What are you afraid of? We have more than 10,000 hoplites! The Persians are as timid as rabbits! So no matter how many people dared to fight us, I still had not killed enough to be satisfied! Thus if there''s another battle tomorrow, it would just be right!¡± As soon as Matonis hear Giorgris, he encourages everyone in his own way.

    ¡°Even if Cyrus the Younger was defeated, we defeated their left-wing and killed many of them. Tomorrow, they will only have fewer soldiers than today!¡± Hielos is equally confident.

    ¡°These damn Persians destroying our camp, stole our food and stole a lot of my silver coins! Tomorrow we''re going to beat them and get our things back!¡± Matonis said angrily.

    ¡°That''s right!¡± Everyone hated the enemy, ¡°We should not only take back our things but also take their things.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± Olivos thought of something and excitedly said, ¡°I heard that they also captured the women of Cyrus the Younger with only one managing to escape. That''s the one I told youst time¡­.a beautiful woman like Aphrodite. I heard that Clearchus took her into his camp! He will definitely have a fun time tonight!¡­.¡± Olivos gulped and said in a sullen voice.

    ¡°Don''t talk nonsense!¡± Hielos warned him.

    ¡°Olivos. You must defeat the Persian king tomorrow and grab one of his women.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that is a great idea! Matonis, you really are smart once in a while.¡±

    ¡°Damn Olivos, do you want to get beaten again!¡±

    While several people were talking andughing, a hoarse voice came from the innermost part of the tent, ¡°Don''t just think that Cyrus the Younger only got defeated! He has died!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Tissaphernes arrived at the tent of the Persian king, and Masabates, the eunuch, was already waiting at the entrance, ¡°The king is waiting for you. Quickly go in!¡±

    When Tissaphernes gave his sword to the royal guard next to him, he found that the eunuch, whom the Persian King trusted the most, was somewhat mncholy and couldn¡¯t help but think about, ¡®Is his majesty hurt badly?¡¯

    Once he entered, a rich aroma of frankincense<sup>3</sup> hit his nose, with a mixed scent of a few herbs.

    Artaxerxes was lying on his side on the couch, dressed in a gorgeous scarlet gown with his bare chest wrapped in a white cloth that had faint blood seeping out. Beside him was a beautiful maid gently rubbing his shoulders and next stood the physician, Ctesias<sup>4</sup>.

    Ctesias then immediately withdrew once he saw Tissaphernes enters.

    Artaxerxes asked him to wait outside his tent, allowing him to summon him immediately in case of any change in his condition.

    Once he saw the Greek physician withdraw from the tent, Tissaphernes half-knelt and bowed his head, then said, ¡°Your highness, please punish me for losing the battle!¡±

    Artaxerxes did not speak, making Tissaphernes begin to feel a little uneasy, so he knelt more motionlessly on the ground.

    It took a long time till he heard Artaxerxes speak, ¡°You were defeated, Tissaphernes. But at least you dared to fight. I heard that you led your cavalry around the Greek''s hoplite and attacked their rear, only to be defeated by their peltast<sup>5</sup> and almost got hit by a Greek javelin.¡±

    ¡°Yes, your highness. You know everything!¡± Tissaphernes sighed in relief.

    ¡°You''re much braver than those who run away before they even fight! Get up!¡± Artaxerxes was somewhat dissatisfied with the Persian troop''s left-wing¡¯s performance yesterday; he then increased his voice, ¡°I''m not as lucky as you are. Cyrus''s spear struck me, but fortunately, my armour was strong enough and allowed me to have the opportunity to strike him down!¡±

    Wasn¡¯t the guard Mithridates<sup>6</sup> the one to strike Cyrus the Younger with his spear? Tissaphernes was surprised, but he did not show it. Instead, he spoke with admiration and excitement.

    ¡°Your highness, everyone used to say that Cyrus was brave. Yesterday on the battlefield, when we were about to suffer defeat, your majesty, at great risk that a king should not take, bravely stepped forward and personally killed Cyrus the rebel! And made us win an incredible victory! Your highness, you deserve to be the king of kings! You were born brave!¡±

    Masabadi and Ctesias also immediately expressed their admiration for the heroic performance of the Persian king.

    Artaxerxes looked flushed and said with resentment, ¡°Cyrus has always been victorious since we were children. But as a brother, I have always let him be. Evenst time when he tried to assassinate me at the ceremony, I still forgave him for mother¡¯s sake! However, I did not expect that he would regard my kindness as weakness and deception, and dared to start a rebellion!! For the sake of the empire''s stability, I have to execute him even if he is my brother!¡±

    ¡°The king''s benevolence is well known to all the empire''s people! Cyrus, who doesn''t know anything, is guilty of seducing outsiders and invading the empire''snd!..¡± Tissaphernes spoke with great enthusiasm.

    Artaxerxes nodded and coughed a few times as he had spent a lot of energy talking, ¡°My Satrap, you have exposed Cyrus'' conspiracy to me many times, and your governance of Asia Minor has always been excellent! When this rebellion is over, I will reward you well!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, as the satrap of Asia Minor, this is my duty!¡± Tissaphernes solemnly said.

    Then aplex expression appeared on Tissaphernes as arge earthen pot was ced on the wooden table in front of his left hand, ¡°This is Cyrus'' head and hands that Masabadi cut off. Take it to the Greek camp and let them surrender immediately!!¡±

    Note: There were two parties that have left a record of the Battle of Cunaxa, one is Xenophon and the other is the Persian Physician Ctesias, and his record was quoted by Plutarch during the Roman Empire in his ¡¶Biography of Artaxerxes¡·, in which the Greek''s Hoplite defeated the Persian''s right wing a lot harder than what Xenophon had written. I chose Xenophon''s ount in the novel, although his description is exaggerated, it can exin some of the strange performance of the Persians after the war.

    1. Charon is the ferryman of Hades who carries souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead.

    2. Lethe was one of the five rivers of the underworld of Hades.

    3. Frankincense is an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from Boswellia trees.

    4. Ctesias was a Greek physician and historian.

    5. Peltast was a type of light infantry, originating in Thrace and Paeonia, who often served as skirmishers in Hellenic and Hellenistic armies.

    6. Mithridates was a young Persian soldier who identaly killed Cyrus the Younger and heter got executed for kill stealing.

 Chapter 4: Davos

    ¡°Yes, your highness!¡± Tissaphernes couldn''t help but look at Masabates and thought, ¡®No wonder this guy looks ugly, if the queen mother Parysatis<sup>1</sup> knew that her most beloved son was beheaded and his hands got cut off, then she absolutely won''t give up.¡¯

    ¡°Tissaphernes, do you think the Greeks will surrender?¡±

    ¡°Your highness!¡­ With my knowledge of the Greek mercenary''s main leaders, I''m afraid¡­it would be hard. However, there may be a small number of people that is willing to obey your majesty''s will!¡± Tissaphernes said cautiously.

    ¡°It''s also good to cause internal strife among them.¡± Artaxerxes rubbed his finger across his jaw. Yesterday, the rapid impact of the Greek hoplite caused him to have a lingering fear, ¡°¡­If they do not want to surrender, then they must be¡­ expelled. This rebellion has already killed too many Persians! Don''t let these rude and savage Greeks continue plundering our property on mynd! and killing my people!¡± Artaxerxes sighed. He has a gentle nature and does not like to argue with others. Otherwise, he would not tolerate Cyrus the Younger until now, which led to this great chaos. Even when Cyrus the Younger had started his army, he still hesitated and wanted to retreat eastward. If it had not been for his ministers'' vigorous dissuasion and full support, yesterday''s battle would not even have happened.

    ¡°Your highness, you love the empire''s people like your own children! It is a great joy for the empire to have such a kind monarch as you!¡± Tissaphernes'' words came from his heart. In fact, this character of Artaxerxes has won the support of the vast majority of ministers and nobles, which made Cyrus the Younger''s rebellion have no major turmoil in the core area of the empire.

    ¡°Your highness, this one has an idea!¡­ It''s better to drive the Greeks to the north¡­¡± Tissaphernes said.

    Artaxerxes pondered about it as he knew that Tisaphenes did not want the Greeks to once more trample on his jurisdiction ¨C Asia Minor.

    ¡°Northward¡­¡± His eyes lit up, and he thought of the unyielding and unruly mountain tribes, such as the Carducians.

    ¡®Have them fight those barbarians!¡¯ He thought, with a smile on his lips.

    ¡°You are entirely responsible for this matter! I await your good news in Persepolis!¡± After saying that, he couldn¡¯t wait to go home due to the news yesterday that another riot had urred in eastern Persepolis. So he must return to the capital city as soon as possible. Moreover, he also began to miss his queen Stateira.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Early in the morning, mist covered the Cunaxa area, and the entire Greek military camp was quiet as most people were still asleep.

    Davos stepped out of the tent and looked curiously at the strange ce.

    Yes, he is no longer Davos himself; his soul is from 21st century China. As a government civil servant, he suffered for more than ten years before being promoted to director of the city''s high-tech development zone. His friends arranged a feast to celebrate his promotion, causing him to be very drunk. But when he woke up, he found himself in a strange ce and became someone else.

    He had pinched his thighs several times just to prove that he was dreaming, and to this day, his thighs still hurt.

    After a long night of adaptation and his strong adaptability, he no longer wondered why he was here. Back when he joined the government office, he was first in the civil service examination in the whole city. Yet, he was sent to a remote and impoverished mountain area as a vige official and stayed there for several years. Still, he persevered and won the favour of the county leaders with excellent performance, and he was recalled to take an important task.

    ¡­just that his parents and his girlfriend, who he is about to marry¡­now they are separated by time and space, and they won''t meet again¡­he took a long breath and tried to dispel away his sadness.

    He slowly walked a short distance to calm his mood a bit. After he wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and warned himself, ¡®Now that I had arrived at a new world, let''s live tenaciously.¡¯

    ording to the memory of this body, he knew that ¡°he¡± was a Thessalian. Two years ago, at the age of 17, he went out to work as a mercenary with his vige friends to earn money because of their livelihood. A year ago, Macedonia and Thessaly shed with the Macedonian cavalry attacking his hometown, killing his parents and capturing his rtives; now, he''s alone. Currently, he was following the mercenary leader Meno to fight for Prince Cyrus the Younger of Persia.

    Last night, hispanions thought he was asleep, but in fact, he had been listening to their conversation, which allowed him to learn more about the situation. As a promising young man of the 21st century, he barely counts as an impatient youth. And when he was a vige official, he spent most of his time surfing the in order to survive the long lonely night on some military forums, and it had almost be his sideline. Thus he came to know a lot about history and military knowledge, so he knows that he may have been in a period after the Peloponnesian War.

    As for the Greek mercenaries who helped the Persian prince usurp the throne, which part of Western history is involved? As someone whose career does not rte to history, he really can''t think of it as the requirements are too high. Thus it was not until someone said the phrase ¡°We are the ten thousand Greek infantry¡±, which evoked his memory that was hidden.

    Those forums once advocated that one must read some books in order to understand the ancient history of the west. And one of the books listed in the list is ¡¶Anabasis<sup>2</sup>¡·, which aroused his curiosity, ¡®Did the ancient west also have a long march?¡¯ Because the author happens to be a famous historical person he knew, he conveniently searched the. Only then did he find out that it originated from the famous ancient western historical event ¡°Retreat of the Tens Thousand Greeks<sup>3</sup>¡±.

    As Davos vaguely remembered that the rebellious prince died in the incident due to his rashness, he ended up blurting it out in a moment of urgency. But he did not think that the other had more or less hoped for Cyrus the Younger to be victorious and everyone''s desire to make a fortune together, so theypletely could not ept his guess.

    Faced with the questioning one after another, he did not want to have a conflict with hispanions after he first arrived and perhaps he also had a slight fantasy in his heart, ¡®maybe this isn''t that historical event.¡¯ So he kept quiet.

    As a result, everyone was left unhappy. That night, he didn¡¯t sleep well as the strange environment and the fear of the future made him toss and turn, giving him a hard time falling asleep.

    Early the following day, he walked out of the tent and faced this strange new world for the first time. He saw tents one after another, which seemed endless at a nce.

    Breathing the damp and fresh air, he summoned up the courage to move forward. asionally, he saw some peopleing out of the tent and woulde to greet him, so he responded with a smile. While the warriors who knew he was wounded will ask him about his injury with concern, he will stop to express his gratitude and take the opportunity to chat a few words to get some information from the others. Obviously, it is not because he is an important person that people will treat him kindly; it is because the mercenaries under Meno, some of whom are Thessalians, and many of them even fought side by side with him for more than two years, and they are familiar with each other. And as he continued his walk, the strangeness that he felt gradually dissipated.

    Not far came the neighs of the horses and the sheep''s baa, attracting him to go forward. In the memory of Davos, this vast area enclosed by wooden fences and located in the centre of their military camp was the mercenary camp led by Meno. Besides the numerous packed horses and mules, there are also some cattle and sheep that they looted along the way and a batch of food distributed to Meno by Cyrus the Younger. In addition, there are merchants stationed inside, and when passing through the big cities, there will even be nearby peopleing here to earn money.

    But when he came to the entrance, a guard with spears stopped him.

    ¡°No one is allowed to enter without Meno''s orders!¡± A fatty angrily shouted behind the guard.

    Davos looked at him and turned around as he didn''t want to get into trouble. Behind him, he could hear the fatty reprimand the guards, ¡°The next time someonees, you have to be more fierce. Otherwise, you would not suppress the thieves! Fromst night till now, we have already lost five sheep. So before Meno could punish me, I will punish you first!¡±

    ¡®It seems that the mercenary has a serious shortage of food!¡¯ He doesn''t know how much food the Persian troops looted yesterday, so he began thinking about it while walking. Before he knew it, a simple wall with branches and sticks loosely inserted in the soil blocked his progress. Although there were still dense tents ahead, he realised that they were the camps of the other mercenary groups.

    By this time, the sun had risen to a high altitude and the dense for gradually dispersed, allowing him to see far away. With the high and vast sky, Davos indulged in the refreshing wind for a while¡­ Listening to hispanions, the city ahead should be Babylon and not far away is the Euphrates River: one is the capital of one of the four ancient civilisations, the legendary Hanging Garden<sup>4</sup> that makes one yearn, and the other is the famous mother river of Mesopotamia. But he doesn''t know if he will have the chance to see it.

    However, the sudden seething camp rmed him. A feeling of uneasiness surged into his mind, and he returned quickly.

    At this time, the soldiers rushed out of the tent one after another and began talking with each other with a nervous and uneasy look. And the words that came into his ears were converted into four words: Cyrus the Younger died!

    His heart sank: This is really the great Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks! Next, they were going to spend the next few days running!

    1. Parysatis ¨C the mother of the Persian king Artaxerxes II, Cyrus the Younger, Ostanes and Oxathres.

    2. Anabasis ¨C the book Xenophon wrote about their journey through Persia and it is also known as The March of the Ten Thousand.

    3. The Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks ¨C the event after Cyrus the Younger died and the Greeks have to retreat back to Greece.

    4. Hanging Garden ¨C one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World as listed by Hellenic culture, described as a remarkable feat of engineering with an ascending series of tiered gardens containing a wide variety of trees, shrubs, and vines, resembling arge green mountain constructed of mud bricks, and said to have been built in the ancient city of Babylon.

 Chapter 5: Gods Favored

    Davos was frightened as he walked along the already crowded camp corridor and nearly tripped several times. Yet, when he lifted the curtain and got inside the tent, he was greeted by four pairs of eyes with odd expressions.

    Butpared to the noise outside, the tent is quiet.

    ¡°Davos, Cyrus the Younger¡­is dead!¡± Olivos said in a strange tone, ¡°You manage to guessed it, he is really dead!¡±

    ¡°I already heard what the others said.¡± Davos sat back on his ¡°bed¡± and his mood has somewhat calmed down.

    Hielos looked at this calmrade of his; as a fellow viger living in the same vige, they are both familiar with each other. However, he gave him a strange feeling at this moment, ¡°Antonios just came over and said, Ariaeus, the adjutant of Cyrus the Young, sent someone to inform us that Cyrus the Younger has died in battle. He is currently gathering the scattered soldiers to join us.¡±

    ¡°Davos, I wanna beat you up for making me unable to sleep wellst night. But I didn''t expect you were right!¡± Matonis scratched his head embarrassingly.

    ¡°Next, what should we do?¡± Giorgris'' words made everyone look at Davos with strange expression again.

    Davos was wondering what was going on, when Olivos impatiently said, ¡°Speak up! What oracle did Hades gave you?¡±

    Davos looked at them with surprise. Only then did he understand why they were behaving strangely; they thought that he had received the favour of Hades.

    When the news of Cyrus the Younger''s death spread to the ears of Hielos, they were surprised that Davos¡¯ words were true, so they began discussing Davos. After summing up everyone''s views, they were surprised to find that almost everyone thought that their youngestpanion, who they had been taking care of, woke up from aa and behaved and spoke differently from his original behaviour, like a different person(although Davos didn''t speak muchst night, the temperament of a modern man is naturally quite different from that of the ancients.)

    So they thought that Davos must have been lucky enough to meet Hades and got his help to return to the world of the living. Moreover, the way he woke up is a bit scary; when they found him on the battlefield, he remained unconscious no matter how they call him, then his eyes suddenly opened wide.

    So now that everybody was feeling helpless, thisrade of theirs who had received "god''s help" obviously became their only way to save their lives.

    And Davos found it amusing getting such an opportunity. Because in this age of ignorance, even though the Greeks were not as superstitious as the Persians about gods, the Greek gods were closely rted to every aspect of life. But Davos did not dare to take credit because he only knew that there was such a historical event and he doesn''t know the explicit process.

    ¡°What oracle! I just like thinking about the worst that could happen, only in this way I can be prepared in case of danger.¡±

    ¡®To like thinking for the worst! Do you think we do not know what kind of person you were before? You were a foolish boy who only knew how to fight and brawl! Now that kid actually knows how to think, so if the gods did not favour you, howe your way of speaking changed?! Could it be that Hades told him to keep it a secret?!¡¯ The four people understandingly looked at each other. The stories about gods that their parents told them every day from an early age had influenced them, letting them know about the whims of the gods and theplicated taboos. So for the sake of their safety, they stopped asking questions and expectantly looked at him.

    The way their eyes see Davos is simr to that of the impoverished mountain people who hoped that the college student could change the prospect of the vige when Davos first became a vige official. Like them, he doesn''t know what to do. Davos sighed in his heart. But suddenly, his mind jolted and asked, ¡°Do any of you know Xenophon?<sup>1</sup>¡±

    The four shook their heads.

    ¡°You mean Xenophon could help us?¡± Olivos couldn''t help but ask.

    Davos smiled and said nothing. He felt it strange that nobody has heard of him, since on the inte, Xenophon had led the retreat and wrote a book, so he ought to be a mercenary leader!

    ¡°Where is Xenophon from? Is he part of our troops?¡± Hielos asked.

    ¡°He¡­probably¡­he¡­should be an Athenian.¡± Davos still knows Xenophon''s birthce. After all, Xenophon was an ancient western writer, a military strategist, and a disciple of Socrates.<sup>2</sup>

    ¡°When I have time, I''ll go ask people from the other camps.¡± Hielos earnestly said.

    ¡°Hopefully he isn''t under Clearchus! Otherwise, we can''t look for him!¡± said Giorgris. The rtionship between the two leaders, Clearchus and Meno, was so bad that even the mercenaries under them also hated each other.

    ¡°It''s just a fight? Just beat them! We Thessalians are not afraid of those bastards!¡± Matonis said excitedly.

    ¡°Who are you going to fight?¡± The tent was opened and a man got inside ¨C the man is Antonios.

    Through the memory of this body, Davos knew that he was their toon leader. However, the people in the tent continued to sit and lie down; none of them stood up to salute. After all, they are mercenaries, and he had no authority at all except during battles.

    ¡°We are telling jokes.¡± said Hielos.

    ¡°There''s a lot of noise outside, and you can still joke around, good! Good!¡± Antonios said half-jokingly.

    He looked at the people in the tent and said to Hielos, ¡°Meno asked me to inform you squad leaders and to console our brothers. Cyrus the Younger had an unforeseen death, but fortunately, his troops are still there, so we still have the upper hand, while the Persians are at a disadvantage, which still hasn''t changed. Tomorrow after meeting up with Cyrus the Younger''s adjutant, Ariaeus, we''ll have at least 30,000 men! At that time, we will defeat the Persian king once more and give us much more benefits! Maybe we will¡­we will even support a new Persian king!!¡±

    Antonios was satisfied with their surprised expression and was ready to turn around, but got grabbed by Hielos, ¡°Consoling the brothers can be, but you must let them eat their fill! Although everyone ate some raw horse meat fromst night, everyone is still hungry! And there is no news from Mersis. So if they couldn¡¯t eat, I can''t guarantee what''s going to happen!¡±

    ¡°Yes! That''s right! If we can''t eat, we will quit!¡± everyone shouted.

    Antonios patted his stomach and embarrassingly said, ¡°I''m also hungry, and my stomach is growling. Now the whole military camp has a food shortage. Besides urging Mersis to think of a solution, Meno himself went to Proxenus<sup>3</sup>, as I heard that his camp have suffered fewer losses yesterday. But even if we could get some, it won''t be much for everyone, so let''s put up with it for a day!¡± Antonios finished and rushed out of the tent.

    Hielos sighed and said to everyone, ¡°I''ll take a look at the other tent.¡± He also went outside. Hielos was a squad leader and was in charge of 9 men, and the five other men lived in the adjacent tent.

    Earlier, Davos had been entangled with his past and present life, that he hadn''t realized that he hadn''t eaten anything. After listening to everyone''s trouble, Davos'' stomach began to growl.

    But he could only imitate the others and wrapped himself in a sheep nket, andy on the ¡°bed¡± in order to reduce physical consumption.

    1. Xenophon was a student of Socrates whoter joined the "Ten Thousand" to work under Cyrus the Younger.

    2. Socrates was a ssical Greek (Athenian) philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, and as being the first moral philosopher of the Western ethical tradition of thought.

    3. Proxenus of Boeotia was a friend of Xenophon.

 Chapter 6: Chess Player

    After a moment of silence in the tent, Olivos said: ¡°It¡¯s a pity that Cyrus the Younger died in battle. Although he is a Persian prince, but he is polite and likes to help people, and he is also handsome and very popr with thedies, even the Cilisian queen became his mistress. If he didn''t die, he would''ve been a good king!¡±

    Being handsome and able to flirt with thedies, is a good king? What rubbish logic is that! Davos secretly criticized.

    ¡°Yeah! Cyrus the Younger does not look down on us like the other Persians, he is sincerely kind to us Greeks! If he were the king, we Greeks would have a better rtionship with the Persians!¡± said Giorgris.

    ¡°And he is a warrior, not weak like the other Persians!¡± Matonis chimed in.

    ¡°The most important is that he is very generous! Giving us a lot of gold coins!¡± Olivos emphasized another sentence that led everyone to agree.

    Is this a memorial service for Cyrus the Younger? Davos was amused, ording to the memory of his body, he couldn¡¯t help but say: ¡°Is Cyrus the Younger generous? I don¡¯t think so! You see, first of all, he owed us more than 3 months of sry, but he didn''t gave it until the Cilisian king inspected the troops and paid us 4 months worth of sry.¡±

    ¡°When we suspect that Cyrus the Younger was going to fight the Persian king and refuse to move forward, he tried to persuade us by increasing our sry from one daric gold coin to one and a half, only then did we agree. For the next 2 months, did he give the money? Don''t forget that he once ordered us to threaten the Cilisian king and the timid king gave him a lot of money. When we found out about Cyrus the Younger''s n, there was a big protest at the assembly, Cyrus the Younger promised afterwards that when capturing Babylon, he will give us five silver coin each. But did he gave it?¡±

    After a while, Olivos bitterly answered: ¡°He is dead!¡±

    ¡°You see, Cyrus the Younger did not spend his own silver coin and took us to a ce about 1,500 km<sup>1</sup> away from Greece ¨C on a hostilend filled with dangerous enemies. If he had told us from the beginning that he was going to fight the Persian King, would we have agreed?¡±

    The three shook their heads like a puppet.

    ¡°He concealed the truth. Giving little benefit at a time, just like using grasses to lure the sheep to go forward, and in the end, we have no choice but to agree.¡± Davos eximed: ¡°Cyrus the Younger is a clever swindler! Without paying any price, he let more than 10,000 Greeks fight to the death for his conspiracy.¡±

    There was another silence in the tent, and soon Olivos began to swear: ¡°Damn Cyrus the Younger! Damn Persian! and that idiot Meno! Every damn time that he actively let us be the vanguard, he kept saying that Cyrus the Younger would appreciate us and give us more in return. Meno is a fool. His mouth is not only rotten, but even his head is rotten. Sooner orter, we¡¯ll get killed by him!¡­fuck¡­my stomach¡­I¡¯m going to starve to death!¡±

    Davos was amused seeing Olivos making a scene. Not to mention the collusion in the old government, even the Kangxi Emperor on TV and the emerging emperor after Qianlong, even if he have not eaten pork, but he have seen pig run!

    Cyrus the Younger was born in the mankind''s center of conspiracy ¨C the court and getting the position of militarymander in western Persia isn''t simple. Just watching him as he fool around with the Greeks, you can see how strong his wrists are. As for Meno, he probably isn''t foolish, as a mercenary leader, he may have known Cyrus the Younger''s n on pushing hispatriots into the pit of fire long ago, but he was only interested in the profit.

    ¡°Davos, you couldn''t say such remark in the past. You really¡­really¡­¡± Matonis cautiously asked.

    Davos knew that Matonis and ¡°himself¡± had a good rtionship due to both of them having a simr personality. So, he said: ¡°Matonis, I am still me no matter what, I will always be your good brother! Thank you for taking care of me all this time! I hope you can continue on helping me!¡± With the repeatedly veiled reference to ¡°God''s Favored¡± thing, Davos is now considering it, having experience society for the past 30 years and y as a simple-minded 19 year old Greek, he didn''t want to pretend, nor couldn''t, might as well just let the others think that way, that should be¡­good enough. Therefore, he neither denied nor acknowledged and gave a vague answer.

    He haven''t expected that his words made Matonis became more lively: ¡°You can rest assured! With me here, no one will dare to bully you!¡±

    ¡°Davos, can we return home?¡± Giogris'' voice is filled with worry.

    Evidently, Davos disclosure of Cyrus the Younger made them begin to doubt their abilities.

    Davos smiled bitterly. Although he did not know the development of this historical event, the Chinese history told him that the emperor of a feudal dynasty hated nothing more than rebellion. Unless the Persian king is mentally ill, he will definitely wiped them outpletely, in order to deter all those who harbors different ideas!

    As for attacking the Persian army and capturing Babylon. Davos is not optimistic, otherwise the name of this event should be called ¡°Great March of the Ten Thousand Greeks¡± rather than ¡°Great Retreat¡±. However, he said: ¡°Don''t worry! We will return home smoothly.¡±

    He leaned his head and looked at the others who have now a much rxed expression, and sighed in his heart: it''s good being a simple-minded guy. Not even thinking about how the current situation ispletely dangerous and cing their life on an ¡°Oracle¡± is also a blessing.

    Davos is thinking about it, when his mind jolted, he suddenly remembered a movie he had seen in his previous life ¡¶2012¡·, when the world''s cmity came, those rich and powerful can easily sit on one of the 7 arks, while the ordinary civilians can only depend on luck, a chess piece can only be at the the mercy of others; only by bing a chess yer can he grasp his destiny in his own hands! But how to be one?

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the afternoon, Hielos squad was assigned half a bag of wheat flour and more than a dozen dates.

    Everyone struggled and started making bread. Davos asked as he actively helped, because he has nothing to refer from his memory.

    The ancient Greek bread making is actually simr to that of chinese noodles, and the most important thing is the fermentation. Bread was the staple food of the Greeks and they carry yeast when they march during war, and it''s well preserved.

    After kneading the flour, they then put it on the iron te and bake it using the firewood they collected. In the evening, only then did they ate the crude bread. They filled their stomach and hurriedly went to sleep.

    In the early morning of the next day, Hielos woke everyone up and told them: ¡°The messenger of Ariaeus arrived and said, ¡®He is going to take his troops back to his hometown in Asia Minor¡¯. The leaders are not willing to go back empty-handed and promise him ¡®if Ariaeus is willing to continue attacking Babylon with them, they would like to make him the king of Persia.¡¯ and they sent Cheirisophus<sup>2</sup> and Meno together with the messenger in order to persuade Ariaeus.¡±

    ¡°Why did they send Meno?¡± Matonis asked puzzled.

    ¡°Don''t you know that Meno has a good rtionship with Ariaeus?¡± Olivos smiled ambigously. T/N: ( ?¡ã ?? ?¡ã)

    ¡°Can they persuade Ariaeus?¡± Giorgris said worriedly.

    Everyone turned their attention to Davos, overnight, he had be their spiritual backbone. Davos felt a lot of pressure, but he did not evade and pondered for a while, then shook his head: ¡°Ariaeus is a Persian aristocrat, who as an adjutant of Cyrus the Younger had been forced to take part in the rebellion. Now if there is another rebellion with the Greeks, if he fails, not only will he die, but his family will also be implicated. If he is really ambitious, as soon as he had learned about Cyrus the Younger''s death, he should''ve immediately took over everything Cyrus the Younger had and promptly united with the Greek mercenaries. It is only today that he wanted to go home. Obviously, after much consideration, he made a decision.¡±

    There was disappointment on everyone''s face when they received a negative answer.

    ¡°Brothers, these are the things that the mercenary leaders should be concerned about. Let''s do what we should do.¡± Hielos hurriedly said: ¡°Meno told us to ughter all the excess livestock in the squad and prepare more to eat.¡±

    We can finally have enough to eat! This news temporarily dispelled the fog in everyone''s mind.

    [1] The author was using the chinese unit of distance ¨C Li(Àï) for this and I just converted it to km. (tell me if you prefer the original)

    [2] Cheirisophus was a Spartan general sent by the Spartan ephors to aid Cyrus the Younger against his brother.

 Chapter 7: Javelin and Food

    The task assigned to Davos was to go to the battlefield and retrieve the spears, shields, and even the chariots that were discarded by both sides, to use as timber for cooking the meat. For this reason, they were also assigned an ox cart.

    The battlefield is not far from the camp. Yesterday, the cavalry went out to scout and found that the Persian king''s troops had left, and only did they dare to send soldiers out to clean up the battlefield. However, many soldiers were sent out, mainly for fear of being attacked by Persian cavalry.

    Before he got to the battlefield, Davos could see the sky in the distant, it look as if it''s dark, innumerable crows circling around and the jarring cry made his heart throb!

    A few miles near the meadow,yers of human and horse corpses were covered with dense flies and insects, even the wolves and leopards were gnawing at the bones, they did not even hide when they saw people but looked at them from afar with a cold light in their eyes¡­

    Every step Davos took, ayer of flies gets lifted, it buzzing around while going straight to his face and he couldn''t even disperse them even if he drives them away.

    Davos looked pale and felt his stomach churning.

    ¡°Davos, you went through this scene many times, how can you still feel ufortable?!¡± Matonis'' words of concern have a hint of joy. Because he felt that although Davos had changed, but there is still ces for him to take care of.

    ¡°I''m fine!¡­blech¡­¡± Davos swallowed his saliva. Memory is memory, after all, this is the first time that a modern man has witnessed this bloody battlefield. However, he knew it in his heart, that in this troubled world, such scenes will continously appear in front of him, he must adapt!

    He loosened his hand that is covering his nose, forcing to endure the pungent stench, picked up the body on the ground and pulled out the shield underneath, quickly removing the maggots on it and threw it on the cart.

    When he first arrived at the battlefield, the ox couldn''t stand this terrible environment, it was always restless and almost hit Matonis, it was Davos who gave the idea to cover the ox eyes with linen that made it calmer.

    Everyone has been busy for a long time, the cart is full and each person was carrying a bundle.

    ¡°What about Davos?¡± Matonis found that one person was missing from the team.

    ¡°There!¡± Olivos pointed not far away, Davos was throwing a javelin at a vulture that was pecking a corpse, but the seemingly clumsy vulture quickly dodged away.

    ¡°It seems that he is ready to participate in the javelinpetition in Olympia!¡± Olivos joked.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Matonis nced at him and walked toward Davos.

    When Davos saw his arrival, he quite naturally picked up a javelin from the ground. Now he has begun to adapt to this harsh environment.

    ¡°Matonis, we have how many archers?¡± Davos asked while touching the sharp spearhead with his hand.

    Matonis was not at all good at this aspect, fortunately, there is the attentive Giorgris: ¡°Archer?¡­ I remember that there are nearly 300 Cretan archers under Clearchus. If you count the Peltast that can throw javelins¡­uhm all of them¡­probably¡­there are 3000 people.¡±

    ¡°3000 people. How many Peltast are there on our side?¡± Davos asked.

    ¡°There are about 400¡­¡±

    ¡°Matonis, don''t burn the javelin, it''s a pity, what do you think if each of us is equip with 1 or 2 javelins?¡± Davos thought about it and said.

    Matonis hasn''t responded, Olivos said first: ¡°We are hoplites!¡±

    ¡°But in the face of Persian cavalry, our hoplites can''t reach them and we can only avoid their bows and javelins!¡± The reason why Davos made this proposal is that this body''s memory retains this regret. When collecting this wooden weapon, he suddenly had this inspiration, because he knew that in history, another renowned Roman heavy infantry was not only amazing in closebat, but their javelin throwing is equally frightening, that is why he proposed it.

    ¡°Ariaeus has sufficient cavalry.¡± Olivos said.

    Davos smiled: ¡°It¡¯s better to depend on yourself than on others.¡±

    ¡°Is this the ¡®Oracle¡¯ that Hades told you?¡± Giorgris urgently asked.

    Davosughed but didn''t answer.

    ¡°I think this idea is good, let''s go back and talk to Hielos.¡± Matonis took the javelin in Davos'' hands, turned around and suddenly threw the javelin, the vulture that was still pecking fell on the ground.

    ¡°However, Davos, you still need to improve your javelin skills!¡± Matonis said proudly.

    The fact that Hoplites did not use javelins was only due to tradition and habit, but the Greeks were not bad at using the javelin, even the regions in the Mediterranean were first-rate due to javelin throwing is one of the five events of the pentathlons of Olympian games, Greek boys have been training since childhood.

    ¡°Excellent! Not only do we have beef and mutton to eat at lunch, but also bird meat!¡±

    ¡°I heard that the meat of this bird cannot be eaten because it came from hell¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the camp, the animals have been ughtered, the meat has been cut and ce in the earthen pot, filled it with water and ced it on a temporary built earthen stove, everything is ready.

    Everyone pulled their weapons, then chop them up and cook the meat.

    Matonis told Hielos what Davos thought.

    Since it was proposed by ¡°God''s Favored¡±, Hielos considered it carefully and found the idea eptable, the javelin is not heavy and a Hoplite carrying two javelin ispletely doable. So he went to Antonios in the hope of getting support.

    Antonios called the other nine squad leaders and wanted to hear their opinions first. Some squad leaders were in favor and some oppose. Those who oppose adhered to the Hoplite''s tradition, and they argued that it ispletely unnecessary to let the Hoplite carry javelins due to Meno already having 500 Peltast under hismand, while those that favored thought that although there were 500 Peltast in the camp, they were Thracians and the two sides have no tacit understanding and Hoplites with their own javelins can at least force the Persian cavalry to note close and reduce their casualties. As the two sides argued, Antonios could not decide and said: ¡°As long as it doesn''t affect the battle, each squad can decide whether to carry javelins or not.¡±

    Hielos returned happily, ready to talk to Davos, but he only found a group of people greedily staring at pieces of meat that is turning over in the earthen pot and only Davos was missing.

    ¡°What about Davos?¡±

    ¡°He went to see the internal organs of the animals that were thrown away¡­and said it was a waste¡­¡±

    When everyone was puzzled, they then saw Davosing over with a long spear and carrying a bloody intestine.

    ¡°Hey, quickly take that stinky stuff away! It will affects our appetite!¡± The crowd covered their noses and shouted.

    Davos ignored them and loudly said: ¡°I saw a lot of cattle and sheep''s internal organs that were thrown away in the camp, it''s too wasteful just letting the birds and wild dogs take it! Don''t forget, two days ago we were so hungry that we couldn''t help but almost eat our own hands! In the next few days, whether we are fighting or marching, there may be time we would get hungry, so we should pick these things up and store them in order to have something to eat and prevent such things from happening again!¡±

    ¡°Can those things be eaten?¡± asked a sturdy soldier.

    Davos remembered that he is called Martius, a soldier who lived in another tent, his question was exactly what everyone wanted to ask. The Greeks mainly live on grains and only ate few meats, it is only this time that they entered deep into Persia and due to supply reasons, they began to eat meat frequently. The animals internal organ is not only smells fishy, but in the absence of spices and proper cooking methods, it also taste bad. So in addition to using it for divination, few people will try to eat it or will even think they''ll get poisoned eating it.

    ¡°Of course! These things are not only useful in camping¡­it can not only fill our stomachs, but will also improve our body. For example, it allows us to see more clearly at night.¡± Davos positively answered.

    ¡°Really?! That would be great!¡± Matonis said happily.

    The five people in the other tent were suspicious.

    ¡°Davos is ¡®God''s Favored¡¯! You know what? Before he fell on the battlefield and after aa¡­¡± Olivos began to brag about the amazing changes of Davos these past 2 days.

 Chapter 8: Mersis

    Davos knew that if he wanted to change their minds, he must speak with facts. So, he called Giorgris and went inside the camp and picked up a cow stomach, he then went to a stream besides the camp and painstakingly washed it, then boiled hot water in the pot and pulled out his sword and started slicing.

    At this time, the 5 people that were doubtful of Olivos'' words and some curious soldiers surrounded Davos several times.

    Davos unhurriedly took several spoonfuls of soup from another pot, where beef and mutton were being cooked and poured it into a new pot, after the soup boiled, it was then poured into the sliced cow stomach. After a while, he picked up the pot and sprinkled it with salt, a simple pot of ¡®Baodu¡¯<sup>[1]</sup> is ready.

    ¡°Come, try it.¡±

    Matonis hesitated to pierce it with his sword, he then blows on it and slowly put it into his mouth.

    In the face of inquiries from the others, he did not answer and he silently took another piece¡­then another piece¡­then everyone reacted and was ready to rush up, Matonis ignored the heat and pick up the pot and run, everyone curse and chase.

    Davos didn''t think that Matonis, a thoughtful big man, is also quite funny.

    ¡°It seems that the internal organs of animals is not only edible but also taste good.¡± Hielos, who did not participate in the chase, sighed.

    Davos didn''t say anything, the internal organs of the animals aren''t all delicious, like liver, but it is very helpful to the human body. There is no industrial pollution in this era and there should be no danger of getting poison when eating it.

    ¡°But we have enough meat to eat for a day. The weather is so hot and the internal organs will go bad tomorrow.¡± Hielos said helplessly.

    Davos had thought of a way to deal with this problem, he pointed to the sheep intestines that had been thrown aside and said: ¡°We can do ¨C Smoked sausage! (In fact, in this era, some horse-herding Persian have already started making sausage using the horse''s intestines, but it hasn''t yet spread.¡±

    ¡°Smoked sausage?¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After everyone came back, they look at Davos with a slight awe. After tasting the delicious ¡®Baodu¡¯, they thought that Olivos'' words were correct. If it weren''t for being ¡®God''s Favored¡¯, why was Davos the only one among the more than 10,000 Greeks that had been able to think that those dirty things could be eaten and it is also delicious! Davos was like them before, throwing away the internal organs of animals, but now he have change a lot, it must be the favor of Hades.

    As a result, it became much more easier for Davos to order them to do things. The internal organs and some remaining meat were chopped and stuffed into the intestine. Fill in a small segment, then tie it up with the thread that have been pulled from linen, add another segment, then tie it up again¡­

    After it was done, they then hung it on a wooden pole which they have erected and they then smoked it. Davos learned this kind of smoking from the vigers when he was a vige official in his previous life. Now the conditions are limited and the time is tight, so they can only simplify the process and as long as it can be stored for a few more days, then just eat it.

    Davos and the rest unting around their smoked sausages, had attracted quite a number of onlookers. With Olivos, Matonis and the rest''s boasting, all the soldiers had their eyes glued on Davos like he was some kind of rare object.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At noon, a word came that the Persian king had sent an envoy to make them surrender, but was rejected by the mercenary leaders.

    In the afternoon, another information came. Ariaeus messenger came back and brought Ariaeus answer: He refused to attack the Persian king''s troops, he only wanted to go back to Asia Minor and he is willing to help the Greek mercenaries on their return journey.

    Once again, Davos was proven correctly and they no longer got surprised.

    Soon another information came, Clearchus would sacrifice an animal and leave it to Zeus whether they would fight or retreat.

    Davos is amused, this is clearly the mercenary leaders means to shirk their responsibilities.

    However, hispanions is extremely serious about the results of the divination. Davos was somewhat unreasonable viewing the ancients from the perspective of a modern man.

    Obviously, the mercenary leaders did not obtain a good divination results. Thus, the mercenaries were ordered to join forces with Ariaeus and return to Asia Minor.

    Now, the soldiers in each camp should immediately start packing and put their stuff on the cart. After it gets dark, when the bronze trumpet sounded, each legion will depart in turn.

    Suddenly, tension permeated in the camp, but everyone''s face was more or less rxed, after all, from Asia Minor to the present, it had been 8 to 9 months and they can finally can go home, nobody wants to stay in a hostilend for a long time.

    ¡°Can this sausage be taken?¡± Hielos asked.

    Davos looked up at the dozens of sausages being smoked and shook his head: ¡°Wait until it''s dark, we''ll take them before we leave.¡± He knows that half a day is insufficient to meet the standard of smoked sausage, but if it is bake a little longer, then it can be stored for a lot longer.

    Everyone began to dismantle the tents and pack their stuff, and their movements were very skilled. Despite Davos having such memories, he still needs to convert this memory into a habit. He seriously learned while watching.

    When everyone arrived at the supply unit with their tents and stuff, Davos then saw a fat man yelling andmanding his men to carry the goods. Although there were quite a few soldiers in the supply unit, he was able to maintain order and systematic work.

    ¡°Who is that?¡± Davos pointed at him and asked.

    ¡°Mersis, Meno''s supply officer. That fat pig is the worst, thest time I came here to find some woman, he actually asked me 2 silver coins!¡± Olivos said.

    Davos looked thoughtfully at the noisy animals and asked: ¡°Did we previously march during the night?¡±

    ¡°Seldom. Without moonlight, nothing could be seen at all. Even if there is, it''s very difficult to march at night. Those big guys are even more troublesome, despite them currently being docile, they easily get frightened at night and there have been several injuries in the past. Therefore, the supply unit are separated from us.¡± said Hielos.

    Davos thought about it and ce his stuff in Hielos'' hands and walked out.

    ¡°Hey! Come back! Mersis is not easy to deal with!¡± cried Olivos.

    Fearing that Davos would suffer, Matonis rushed over.

    ¡°Stop!¡± A guard pointed a spear at Davos: ¡°It''s not your turn yet, return to the queue!¡±

    Davos pointed out that he is empty-handed and said: ¡°I have something to look for Mersis.¡±

    The guard subconsciously looked back and shook his head: ¡°If I were you, I would not disturb fatty when he is busy.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Davos gave a sly smile, then shouted: ¡°Mersis, I can help you solve the problem of the animals getting easily frightened at night!¡±

    His shout manage to attract the soldiers.

    ¡°That''s Davos! He can even solve this problem, he really deserve to be ¡®God''s Favored¡¯!¡±

    ¡°What ¡®God''s Favored¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Don''t you know? Davos is ¡®God''s Favored¡¯, This is what Olivos said¡­¡±

    Davos listened to the crowd and realized that his goal was halfpleted.

    ¡°Can you really solve the animal problem?!¡± Mersis came over, he looked at Davos and asked suspiciously.

    ¡°Of course! He is Davos!¡± Matonis is already bing his fan.

    ¡°You are Davos?! That Davos who made the smoked sausage?!¡± Mersis expression change and asked in surprise.

    Davos nodded.

    ¡°Come and help me see if there is any problem with the sausage I made?¡± With that, Mersis pulled Davos inside.

    Davos pointed out the problem after he saw the smoked sausage he made, Mersis slightlyined: ¡°You should''ve told me about the sausage first and not the soldiers who only knows how to fight and kill. You should know that they are only wasting it! Unfortunately, by the time I heard about it, all the meat and internal organs were almost gone. Fortunately, i reacted quickly!¡± Mersis said, then he suddenly remembered the purpose of Davos foring over: ¡°Oh right! I almost forgot. You said that you can solve the animals problem of them getting easily frightened at night?¡±

    ¡°It''s very simple. Cover their eyes. The cows and horses have a timid and gentle nature. When they can''t see anything, they dare not walk a step and they will blindly obey the instructions given to them by the people who are leading them.¡± Davos said earnestly. This is what the old farmer in the former vige talked about when they chatted with him.

    ¡°Oh! It turned out to be like this! I''ll go and try it!¡± Melsis turned and ran and suddenly stopped: ¡°Davos, I hope you oftene to me! If you want to y with woman, I won''t charge you!¡±

    Davos smiled: ¡®This fatty is really serious.¡¯

    Author''s Note: At this time, the nomadic people of Western Asia had begun using the horse intestines to make sausages.

    [1] Baodu is a hl tripe dish that is part of Beijing cuisine.

 Chapter 9: Night March

    When the sun began to sunk, the soldiers began to pack their equipment.

    Putting on their chest armor ¨C which is made ofyers of stiffened linen glued together. It is about 5 ¨C 6 cm thick and it''s very hard and tough, but it isn''t heavy. The lower hem reaches till the thighs and cut into a shape that facilitate movement.

    Equipping the greaves to protect their shins and calves. Attaching the kopis<sup>[1]</sup> to their waist ¨C this is a kind of sword, the sword is 65 cm long, it is a single-edged de and it is curved like a dog''s hind leg.

    They couldn''t wear their Corinthian helmet<sup>[2]</sup> this time, due to the low visibility during the night march and this kind of helmet that only expose the eyes will narrow their sight.

    The spear is the main weapon of the Hoplite. The spear''s shaft is made of ash tree, while the t leaf-shaped spearhead was made of iron and at the end of the spear was iid with a copper butt-spikes.

    Davos then picked up the shield with his left hand. It has a shallow bowl-shape, the inside is wooden, while the outer face is covered with copper and it is about 90 cm in diameter, the shield is decorated with a painted face of a Minotaur. There is a leather fastening for the forearm at the centre, so that the soldier can put their entire left arm on the round shield, which not only saves effort, but also facilitates defense and shielding. There is another small metal hook mounted on the inner and outher rim of the shield, which is use to hung it on their shoulders for easy carrying while they march.

    Davos, with shield in his left hand and spear in his right, couldn''t help but bitterly smile, he had changed from a modern man to an ancient western armored warrior. However, the cells on his body started boiling with joy and it made him realize that it was this body''s muscle memory at work.

    He tried to walk a few steps and felt veryfortable. In addition to the tension, there was also some excitement. Every man dreamt to be a warrior in their hearts! It is the blood flowing through our vein since the time our ancestors ate the raw flesh of animals and drink its blood. The modern people in the time of peace can no longer feel the courage to fight head-on and through travelling to this era, Davos got such opportunity!

    While Davos was still getting used to his equipment, Hielos reminded him: ¡°There''s still something you have forgotten.¡±

    He saw two javelins on the ground and a string of sausages. He smiled bitterly, this really can''t be me on himself!

    He carefully ced the sausage on his chest, for fear of the grease getting on his armor.

    At this time, Antonios came over and said to Hielos: ¡°We have to go and work with Mersis.¡± Then he also nodded to Davos, the reputation of Davos has even spread to his ears and he doesn''t dare to ignore him.

    ¡°Who gave the order? Isn''t Meno still with Ariaeus?¡± Hielos curiously asked. He was reluctant to move together with the supply unit due to how slow they are and it is also dangerous.

    ¡°Under the orders of the adjutant, Philesius, he temporarily tookmand on behalf of Meno. Thest time when the Persians broke into our camp, most of the ves escaped. They are now short of hands and Mersis named our unit to help.¡± Having said that, he looked at Davos again.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Davos, I didn''t expect that we will meet again!¡± Mersisugh, he went straight through the officers and soldiers and gave Davos a hug.

    He then realize that this fatty is the one making trouble! Davos has no choice but to smile.

    ¡°Everyone else go take the animals. Davos is with me.¡± he ordered.

    This fatty is strict and ruthless if he isn''t familiar with you, but once your rtionship gets good he will be too enthusiastic. Isn''t this just pulling everyone''s hatred to himself? Davos quickly refused.

    There are hundreds of animals and dozens of carts full of goods, as well as many ves and women.

    Meanwhile. The lines formed can be up to 2 miles long. It''s only just one unit, imagine how much it would expand if it is the entire Greek mercenary supply unit. Davos watches as he contemte.

    At this time, a long trumpet sound rang out over the bustling camp.

    It¡¯s time to go. Davos was a little nervous and subconsciously pulled the cattle''s rope.

    The team began to move forward. Their supply unit is on the right side, while the troops were on the left and the officers held torches. Under the cold moonlight''s illumination. The entire Greek troops is like a long unseen head of a fiery dragon slowly creeping out.

    After about an hour, he heard the sound of rushing water in front. Davos realized that the Euphrates river is getting closer.

    At night, the river is dark and it look as if it is infinitely wide and deep, which caused great fear. Therefore, the troops were quiet for fear of disturbing the river god.

    At this time, the formation naturally turned into the supply unit marching along the left bank of the Euphrates river, while the troops were at the outer part protecting the supply unit. The leaders clearly have experience with marching at night. Davos watch as he studied silently.

    Meno¡¯s troops are at the end of the formation. Of course, this isn''t ordered by Meno, in fact, he sent people back to ask his men to walk in the middle of the formation. But the other mercenary leaders were dissatisfied with Meno. It is because at the start of the march from Asia Minor to Babylon, Meno in order to please Cyrus the Younger had volunteered to be the vanguard and got many benefits from killing, piging and burning. Now that they have to retreat, he wants his soldiers to be ce in the middle so that they won''t get attacked and his losses will be reduced. How can they let him have all the good things by himself! So it was unanimously decided to let his troops be at the end. This is what Meno''s confidant, Mersis, told Davos and made him have a certain understanding of Meno.

    At this time, the messenger of the whole army, Tormide, finally arrived at Meno''s troops and conveyed the order: ¡°The vanguard has converged with Ariaeus'' troops. The leaders are currently discussing with Ariaeus. Stand down, keep alert and await orders!¡±

    The quiet troops suddenly became noisy: ¡°We can finally rest!¡±

    ¡°We have been walking for two hours, I am exhausted!¡±

    ¡°Me too. It''s so tiring leading the ox cart! We must not follow the supply unit again tomorrow!¡±

    ¡°That''s right! We need to talk to themander tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Let''s go and tell him now!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Looking at the noisy warriors, Davos stood up and shouted: ¡°Brothers, please be quiet! Brothers! I am Davos!¡±

    He didn''t expect that his shouting was more effective than that ofmander Antonios, the warriors of the supply unit stopped making noises and they wanted to hear what the ¡®God''s Favored¡¯ is going to say.

    ¡°Let me tell a story to help solve everyone''s fatigue, alright?¡±

    ¡°what story?¡±

    ¡°It''s called A¡­Aris and the Forty Thieves.¡±

    ¡°It sounds good! Tell us the story!¡±

    So Davos cleared his throat and began to speak loudly: ¡°There used to be a family living in a small town in Ionia¡­¡±

    Gradually, the supply unit becamepletely quiet and even the animals had stopped their noise. The warriors, as well as the ves and the women, listened attentively. They admired Aris for not acquiring the wealth of the thieves,ughed at Aris'' brother for screaming the cave''s password, nervous about the thieves finding Aris'' house and praise for the wisdom of the female ve.

    After the story is finished, everyone is still discussing it:

    ¡°Aris is so lucky!¡±

    ¡°He is lucky because he has a smart and beautiful Persian ve!¡±

    ¡°Yes! I think it''s pretty good that he gave back the female ve''s freedom! After all, she saved Aris!¡±

    ¡°Stupid! He should have married the female ve as a concubine. In this way the ve can continue helping him!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Everyone is discussing about it ceaselessly.

    ¡°Davos, is there really a cave full of gold and silver treasures?¡± Even Mersis couldn''t help asking Davos.

    Antonios look at Davos'' back that is in front of him and he couldn''t help but sigh: ¡°Hielos, there is a talent in your vige!¡±

    ¡°Are you talking about Davos? Of course, he is ¡®God''s Favored¡¯! I even want to give him my position as a squad leader.¡±

    ¡°Squad leader?¡± Antonios lip''s twitched. A mercenary leader often reces and replenished his soldiers, while most of the senior and middle officers in charge of his troops are his confidant, which is not easily reced, because it would be convenient for him to control the troops. Antonios and Meno have also been working for 5 ¨C 6 years and because they have also met many Greek and Persian dignitaries they have some experience in appraising people.

    After observing for a day, he found that Davos was calm and waspletely unlike a 19-year-old kid. He is very disciplined on his work, he is modest and courteous in dealing with people, and with a good eloquence, the soldiers were willing to approach him. And he often had ingenious ideas to solve problems that others couldn''t solve. During the march, he also witnessed that Davos was either carrying a shield or pushing the carts for others. Such a person, even if he is young, can be trusted.

    If his ability tomand inbat is not weak, then the future of such a charming and capable person is immeasurable. If he had enough financial resources, he could be a qualified mercenary leader! Antonios thought about it and he thought of Meno, What would he do when he realize that such a character had suddenly appeared in his troops?

    [1] Kopis was an ancient Greek weapon.

    [2] Corinthian Helmet was a helmet made of bronze that originated in ancient Greece.

 Chapter 10: Meno

    The next day, just before dawn, the troops was urged to hurry.

    Meno bid farewell to Ariaeus and rushed back to lead his troops. He curse the other leaders in his heart, as he rode his horse back to the tail of the ¡°long dragon¡±. He believed that the reason why they put his troops to serve as the rearguard was because the other mercenary leaders hated his close rtionship with the Persians and persecuted him.

    At the same time, he noticed that the soldiers were tired andining. It turned out that because of the marchst night, the rest time was too short, but they also have to guard against the Persian''s sneak attack, basically they just lied on the ground. Early in the morning, they had to hurry and leave, so the soldiers had soon gotten tired and hungry. However, the supply unit could not provide more food, which lowered the morale of the soldiers.

    Meno thought to himself, the food situation in the other camps was already bad. His subordinates might be more miserable getting bullied these 2 days due to his absence! He was afraid that his soldiers will make trouble and hurriedly rushed until he saw many familiar faces before slowing down.

    As a result, he was surprised to find that, unlike what he had imagined, his soldiers were in a good spirit and many of them were chewing a bunch of dark things hanging on their chest as they walked. Therefore, he curiously called an officer to inquire.

    ¡°It''s called smoked sausage, it can fill your stomach and it won''t spoil for a few days.¡± The officer pointed to the thing on his chest and said.

    Meno cut a small piece and tasted it, although it was a bit dry, the taste wasn''t bad. After he saw the soldiers of the other camps starving and his soldiers were able to eat enough, he became delighted: ¡°This¡­smoke¡­was the sausage made by Mersis?¡±

    ¡°No. It''s Davos ¨C the ¡®God''s Favored¡¯!¡±

    ¡°God''s Favored?¡± Meno curiously asked about the situation in detail. After hearing the officer''s words, his face turned gloomy and he immediately noticed that some soldiers were carrying 2 more javelins.

    ¡°Where is this Davos?¡±

    ¡°The unit he was in was sent to defend the supply unit.¡± The officer obviously didn''t notice his expression and asked with a little excitement: ¡°Are you going to look for him?¡±

    The officer''s look dissuaded Meno: ¡®Is it worth making a fuss about a local kid from a small vige in Thessaly?¡¯ It''s totally inconsistent with his identity to hurriedly go looking for a soldier, especially now that the army is currently marching. If there is time, he can make Davos go see himselfter.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    From early morning to noon and then to the afternoon, the troops have been marching without rest.

    Davos felt that his legs were filled with lead and every steps he takes is difficult and his throat is burning, the shields, spears and javelins were bing burdensome. In the morning, he could still talk andugh with hispanions, now he felt that every time he opened his mouth wasted his physical strength, but he gritted his teeth and insisted, since hispanions are also marching in silence.

    Finally, the troops stopped. But the information from the front made them nervous again, they found the Persian cavalry!

    Soon another information came again, it wasn''t the cavalry, it was the Persian army''s animals grazing.

    The troops continued marching.

    It was getting dark and after a short walk, Davos saw smoke rising in the distance.

    Hielos told him: ¡°That must be the Persian army camp.¡±

    However, the mercenaries still continued to move forward, without the slightest shred of guarding and evading.

    It waste and there is no moonlight. The soldiers relied on the torches to advance and it became more difficult to march.

    Finally, an order came from the front, ¡®Camp on the spot and rest.¡¯

    The terrain is t and the trees were scarce, and it is impossible to order them to build a camp in the dark. At the same time, because there are Persian troops nearby and they are afraid of getting attacked. The soldiers started shouting at each of their friends'' name and gathered together to find a way to camp. Likewise, the exhausted officers could not control the order and the entire rearguard became a mess due to the shouting, like a boiling pot making a huge noise. Many of the animals in the supply unit became frightened and ran in panic, injuring many people. The screams made the troops became more uneasy and at danger of copsing any time.

    At the critical moment, Clearchus dispatched the only cavalry squad of the Greek mercenaries, each carrying torches and rushed to the rearguard, loudly announcing the order of Clearchus, demanding that the soldiers remain quiet, and at the same time, ordered the supply unit to take care of the animals and to punish anyone that would release them. The troops gradually recovered theirposure after they had captured several soldiers who were frightened.

    Only then did Meno found the leader of the cavalry, Tormide, known as the ¡°Best Emissary¡±.

    ¡°How did Clearchusmanded the troops'' marching! There is almost an uproar that happened in the camp! I''ve just been away for a day and things got worst! He isn''t fit tomand the whole army at all!¡­¡± Meno took this opportunity to discredit Clearchus.

    Tormide didn''t utter a word.

    ¡°Where is he now?¡±

    Tormide hesitated a bit: ¡°¡­at the vanguard.¡±

    When Meno noticed his hesitation, he immediately asked: ¡°Is it the same as us, without a camp?¡±

    Tormide had to tell the truth: ¡°The vanguard stayed in the vige¡­ Meno, this is now a special time-¡°

    Meno interrupted him with a sneer: ¡°This is the so-called fair and just Clearchus?! He stayed in a warm house, while letting us sleep on the cold and wet ground!!¡± Meno couldn''t help but shout even though he also knew that it was not appropriate to stimte the soldiers at the moment.

    Fortunately, the soldiers around him were already exhausted after the previous uproar. After a swearing, they fell asleep.

    ¡°Meno! Meno!¡­¡± At that moment, someone shouted.

    It is Mersis! Meno hurriedly brought him over: ¡°How is the supply unit? Is there any loss?¡± The supply unit is the ce he is concerned the most, because all his belongings were there, and only when he has money can he have soldiers.

    ¡°No!¡± Mersis'' fatty face showed a proud smile: ¡°We formed a big circle with the supply cart and tied the animals to it, everyone slept inside and it''s very safe!¡±

    ¡°Those animals aren''t kicking a fuss and noisy?¡± Tormide asked curiously, since most of the supply unit he had seen before were in chaos.

    ¡°It was Davos who told me to blindfold these animals, and they really became obedient!¡± Mersis said excitedly.

    That Davos again! Meno frowned.

    ¡°Meno, this kid is very smart! If you just assign him to the supply unit, then I''ll have a much easier time.¡± Mersis asked.

    ¡°We will discuss itter.¡± Meno said a few words. The supply unit is his foundation, Mersis has a close rtionship with him, and he is good at supervising and financial management, and has no ambition, so he is assured in using him. Letting a stranger enter the supply unit and not just a stranger but a smart one, what if he finds out his secret?

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next morning, a messenger woke up Meno and informed him that the king''s envoy hade and the other mercenary leaders asked him toe over and discuss about it.

    Meno mounted his horse and galloped to the main camp of the mercenary at the front. There wasn''t a shadow of the Persian camp within his sight, it turned out thatst night the Persians got frightened by the huge noise of the mercenaries, and they withdrew their camp 5 km overnight.

    As soon as he arrived at the main camp of the mercenary, Meno saw a full 4 Hoplite units in front of the camp, waiting in formation. He doubtfully went inside and saw several leaders, such as Clearchus, Proxenus, Agias, Socrates<sup>1</sup> (not the philosopher in Athens), and Sossis were waiting and all of them are fully armed.

    When he saw Clearchus, Meno snorted and sarcastically said: ¡°It seems that you had a good sleepst night, while my pitiful soldiers slept on the wet ground for the whole night!¡±

    As a Spartan, Clearchus is straightforward and obstinate, he likewise dislike Meno and did not want to talk to him much.

    Agiasughed and said: ¡°Yo, when did Meno start to care about his soldiers?!¡±

    Proxenus came to mediate: ¡°Meno, listening to what Tormide said, that there was no trouble that happened in your campst night. Amazing! You must impart us some of your experience.¡±

    ¡°Not only that! Meno''s soldiers also made a kind of¡­something called smoked sausage. As a result, everyone was hungry and only his soldiers were able to fill their stomachs with this stuff!¡± Socrates sad to the others. His troops were in front of Meno''s troops in the marching formation, so he had a better understanding of the situation.

    ¡°Meno, tell us all about your experienced.¡± Meno was a littlecent by the requests of Sossis and several other mercenary leaders, and he couldn''t help but say: ¡°Even if the environment I was given was any more difficult, I could still figure out a way to solve it. So only knowing how to fight won''t make you a good leader!¡±

    ¡°Well¡­let the envoy of the Persian kinge in. Let''s listen on what new proposal does the king have?¡± Clearchus interrupted Meno''s bragging.

    The leaders began to rouse their spirits and Meno shut his mouth helplessly.

    1. Socrates of Achaea was a Greek mercenary general from Achaea who traveled to Persia to fight at the Battle of Cunaxa.

 Chapter 11: Meeting

    Unexpectedly, the Persian envoy did not mention the surrender of the Greek mercenaries, but proposed a truce between the two armies. The Greek mercenaries who are already in a tight spot is of course tremendously wee it. After some negotiations, the two sides reached a truce agreement, the Persians on the other hand, had to provide rations for the Greeks, this is a good news for the mercenaries, because their food stocks are at an end, and they were prepared to burn and pige viges along the way.

    Although there was a truce agreement, Clearchus did not lower his guard, the Persian envoy led the way ahead, while Clearchus ordered the whole army to march in 3 column and 4 row battle formation. Along the way, there were trenches three or four meters wide and filled with waste water, the soldiers had to cut down trees to build wooden bridges. On the contrary, Davos, who is currently in the supply unit at the rearguard, have it easy.

    ¡°Oh, that''s Clearchus!¡± With the direction Olivos was pointing, Davos saw a tall, middle-aged man with bare upper body, a bronzed-colored muscle and several conspicuous scars, he is carrying a newly cut tree together with the soldiers. When he got to the ditch, he jumped down without hesitation, he didn''t mind getting ssh by mud all over his body and immediately began repairing the just broken wooden bridge.

    ¡°Yeah, this is Clearchus! And where is our Meno?!¡± Matonis sighed while uttering a meaningful word.

    Despite the contradiction between Meno and Clearchus, the troops led by them also fought because of the conflict. But the soldiers were not fools, they can see what their leader is doing, who is worth trusting? who is strong? It is clear in their heart. There are more than a dozen mercenary leaders, why does Clearchus always dominates?! It isn''t without a reason.

    This is the way tomand the army! Davos has been watching the performance of Clearchus and telling it to himself from the bottom of his heart.

    At dusk, the Greeks arrived at their destination. The vige the Persian envoy prepared for the Greek mercenaries to settle, not only did they providefortable amodation, but also abundant food; fruit wine, drinks, bread, dates¡­

    All the soldiers couldn''t help but cheer.

    For a time, Davos wondered: ¡®Are the Persians actually afraid of the Greek''s Hoplite and really want a truce?¡¯

    Just after he and hispanions tasted the food and decided that there was no problem, when he was ready to eat and drink, Antonios came: ¡°Davos, Meno wants to see you!¡±

    ¡°Now?!¡± Davos swallowed.

    ¡°Now!¡± Antonios nodded.

    ¡°Don''t worry, it''s nothing serious! Meno just heard that Davos had solved several problem for us and out of curiosity, he wanted to see him and maybe get rewarded!¡± Antonios guaranteed after seeing the concern of everyone.

    Antonios took Davos to arge house in the middle of the vige and said to the guard at the entrance: ¡°Davos who Meno wants to see is here.¡±

    The guard looked at Davos curiously and said, ¡°Meno currently has something important to do, please wait.¡±

    After a while, there was no movement inside. Davos still spoke calmly to Antonios. Antonios was in a hurry: ¡°What matter that was notpleted yet, I''ll go and urge them!¡± After that, he went inside and got stopped by the guards: ¡°Antonios, do you want me to get scolded!¡±

    Antonios stared at him and the guard finally gave in: ¡°I''m afraid of you, I''ll go and take a look again.¡± Then he turned around and run into the house.

    In a few moments, he came out: ¡°Go in, Meno is waiting.¡± He said, but he did not dare to nce at Antonios.

    Davos was about to enter, when Antonios held his shoulder and said: ¡°Meno sometimes has a bad temper. If he says anything to you, don''t argue with him and just listen.¡±

    Davos smiled and said: ¡°Don''t worry, I am not a kid.¡±

    Antonios nodded. The conversation deepened his understanding of Davos, this young man is far more stable than his peers.

    Watching Davos enter the house, Antonios recalled: ¡®No, if he isn''t a kid, then who is a kid? Meno?¡¯

    Heughed helplessly, and it seemed that this young man isn''t easy to provoke. He turned to look at the guard and said: ¡°Botarkhos, you deliberately made us stay here.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Antonios, you should know. Besides Meno, who will do such boring thing.¡±

    ¡°Humph!¡±

    ¡°Is that young man the one you are calling Hades'' ¡®Favored¡¯?! I think he seems to understand what''s going on, he justugh at me¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos certainly knows what''s going on: He had seen it a lot in his previous life, they show their authority with force and the more they adopt this method, the more they have no confidence in their control. Is Meno such a person?

    Davos smiled and walked through the small courtyard and entered the main house.

    ¡°Leader Meno, the soldier Davos you ordered toe is here!¡±

    ¡°Come in.¡± A sharp, crisp voice came from the room.

    Davos walk inside, there was a man sitting in the middle of the living room and still wearing his shiny cuirass, but it didn''t seem to increase his majestic, because if he shaved off his beard, he would definitely be a beauty.

    Davos couldn''t help but recall some of the bad rumors about Meno, such as the ambiguous story between him and Ariaeus, the adjutant of Cyrus the Younger. He suddenly got a little nervous: ¡®this person shouldn''t be eyeing me¡­¡¯

    Meno is also looking at Davos: A strong body, tall, average appearance, but also a slightly younger face without a beard, but he radiates an unusual temperament by just standing there.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I heard that you are ¡®God''s Favored'', so I want to ask, are the Persian sincere on their truce between us? Or do they have other ideas?¡± Meno seemed to ask carelessly.

    ¡°Sorry, leader. I don''t know!¡± Davos answered without thinking.

    Davos¡¯s direct answer left Meno somewhat stunned, atst, he showed a slight smile: ¡°So tell me, can we go home safely this time?¡±

    ¡°I don''t know.¡± Davos still frankly answered .

    ¡°Bastard!¡± Meno was furious and pushed the chair: ¡°Didn''t you tell the whole camp that you got the god''s oracle! Didn''t you tell the others that you know everything! Now you aren''t talking! You swindler!¡±

    Davos twitched: ¡°Leader Meno, I''m lucky to be able to survive the battle, but I''ve never imed to be favored by god. This point, my teammate can prove it. I don''t care what the others think and say, it is their business. As for what oracle, I have never said anything about it. Sometimes I just talk to my teammates about what might happen next, it''s just that I was fortunate on what I had said, nothing more. Whether we can go home safely or not is a matter of concern for the leaders, we soldiers just want to get somefort and encouragement by talking and chatting after the fight.¡±

    After listening to this, Meno¡¯s first reaction was that this guy¡¯s eloquence was good and for a moment, he couldn¡¯t grasp the chance to retaliate, and he calmly looked straight into Meno¡¯s eyes, so that Meno felt his courage.

    Menon was a little agitated and after a while, he just waved and said: ¡°I will investigate what you had said. In short, don''t specte about the Persians, which will affect the morale of the soldiers.¡±

    Davos immediately bowed his head and obediently said: ¡°Yes!¡±

    Meno felt better, he reached for a drachma and said, ¡°In any case, this time you came up with an idea to help our troops, this is my ¨C the mercenary leader Meno''s reward for you. You must remember, next time you have any good ideas,e straight to me, I will give you a reward!¡±

    Davos pretended to take it with delight: ¡°Thank you, leader!¡±

    Meno waved and let him leave, he watched as he walk out of the house. Meno stared nkly, Meno and Davos were in an employment rtionship, Meno didn''t have the right over his life and death, only the right to dismiss. If he dismiss a knowledgeable soldier and goes to the other camps and ends up getting an important position, Meno would be the only one that suffered losses. Meno just wanted to knock Davos down once, so that his influence in the camp won''t expand and keep him in control. But from this meeting, it seems not so easy¡­

 Chapter 12: Help?

    It should be said that the Persians not only fulfilled their promises, but they also did a great job. They brought the Greeks to a fertilend, there are dense number of farnd in here, surrounded by dozens of fertile viges and two viges was vacated for the Greeks, and arge number of foods was prepared.

    After several days of fatigue and hunger, the soldiers were fed to their heart''s content.

    The next day, Davos woke up, he felt energetic and his fatigue was swept away. He felt confused thinking of what the Persians did, if this is the enemy''s n, is it necessary for them to pay so much? Is this country bullies the weak and fear the strong, just like the Northern Song Dynasty in Chinese history.

    He tried to recall the description of the ancient Persian imperial system by the university professors who were invited to teach the lessons of the decline of great powers during his previous studies at the Party School<sup>[1]</sup>. The Persians took advantage of the decline of the two hegemon of the two rivers, Medes<sup>[2]</sup> and Assyria<sup>[3]</sup>, and rose in power. Because Cyrus the Great<sup>[4]</sup> adopted a very tolerant policy towards other cultures and religions, and so wherever the soldiers went, all kinds of tribes surrendered, and its territory like a snowball became bigger and bigger.

    How did they manage such a vast territory? First of all, the most prosperous ce in Persia that is ¨C Persepolis, the capital of Persia, was established by the king himself. The Mesopotamian Valley was the most fertile area under Persia and the Mesopotamian territory is directly under the rule of the Persian king! Most of the ethnic groups under the Persian jurisdiction are autonomous and paid taxes regrly and so on. While the rest was governed by the Satraps.

    Davos had a sh of inspiration, he recalled that when the mercenaries passed through Cilicia, Cyrus the Younger allowed the Greeks to plunder but once they crossed the river in Thapsacus<sup>[5]</sup> and entered Mesopotamia, they were much more tightly managed and need to pay for everything they bought, could it be¡­.could it be that¡­.

    ¡°Davos,e with me to see Asistes!¡± A big hand dragged Davos and interrupted his thoughts.

    ¡°Who?¡± Davos asked Hielos slightly confused.

    ¡°Asistes, the nephew of Antonios. When he was crossing the wooden bridge yesterday, the bridge suddenly broke and he fell into the river, he got a big wound on his thigh from getting struck by a broken wood. We didn''t expect that this morning, he started burning up and even though he is unconscious, he kept saying some strange things and the physician can''t do anything.¡± Hielos said anxiously.

    ¡°Speaking strange words?! It seems that he has reached hell and met Rhadamanthus<sup>[6]</sup>, there is no hope for him.¡± Olivos saw Hielos red at him, and corrected himself: ¡°Of course, if Davos, who Hades ¡®Favored¡¯, doesn''t agree then even if he doesn''t want to live, he can''t!¡±

    Davos smiled: ¡°I want to help, but I''m not sure I can cure him.¡±

    Hielosforted him by saying: ¡°Antonios understands. But for a person who is about to lose his loved ones, even if there is a little hope, he will still try.¡±

    In the face of Hielos'' expectant eyes, Davos was silent and he gradually calmed down from the tension, even if he can''t save Asistes, he just can''t forget the help he had gotten from them these 2 days! Besides, he can just gain their trust again with his own ability without pretending to deceive them! And without this nickname, maybe some of Meno''s jealousy will decrease.

    Thinking of it, he nodded and said, ¡°Okay, I''ll go with you.¡±

    ¡°I will go too.¡± Giorgris also stood up.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When they came to a house with the doors and windows closed, the house was full of people.

    ¡°Davos is here!¡± A word quickly gave way to a passage.

    Davos saw a young man in his twenties lying on the bed with his eyes closed, his lips were dry and he is very red all over his body. There is a six-centimeter-long wound on his left thigh near the knee and the wound was swollen as big as a fist. He is saying some strange things, his hands and feet are twitching, but someone is restraining him tightly.

    Davos first put his hand on the patient''s forehead and felt it hot. Davos then gently pressed the swelling with his hands, and the wound expelled some green pus. He felt his fingers were sticky and has a faint fragrance.

    At this time, the man who was restraining the patient raised his head and looked at him and said: ¡°I applied a scented oil from grape leaves on the wound, hoping to make him quiet, but it doesn''t seemed to be effective.¡±

    ¡°He is Herpus, the camp''s physician.¡± Hielos saw Davos''s doubts and whispered. Such a strong guy is actually a physician?! Davos looked at him and blurted out: ¡°Why didn''t you use bloodletting treatment<sup>[7]</sup>?¡±

    ¡°Must bloodletting be used? I was considering it, but in case it would take a long time for Asistus to recover and we are on our way home!¡± Herpus exined: ¡°I don''t have much ¡®M¨¤i ¨¨ c¨¤i w¨¥ng xi¨¡ng<sup>[8]</sup>¡¯ left and was force to use it because the other spice doesn''t work.¡± He looked a little depressed.

    No wonder there is a strange smell in the air, and it seems to be the smell of these people. Didn''t the west always use bloodletting treatment to cure diseases before the Renaissance? Davos was thinking about some interesting stories about the ancient west that he had seen in his previous life.

    ¡°Oh, what is your name? From which camp''s physician did Antonios call you in?¡± asked Herpes.

    Dave hesitated for a moment and thought about how to answer. Antonios, who was waiting anxiously, interjected: ¡°He is Davos! The ¡®Favored¡¯ of Hades, the king of the underworld!¡± After that, without looking at the sudden change of Herpus'' expression, asked Davos anxiously: ¡°Asistes¡­he still has¡­hope?¡±

    ¡°I''ll try my best, but I''m not sure if it will turn out well.¡± Davos answered cautiously.

    ¡°Just do your best! Just do your best!¡± Antonios'' tired face eased: ¡°Do we need to prepare the altar and the statue of Hades?¡±

    ¡°What do you need to prepare it for?¡±

    ¡°To pray!¡±

    Davos nced around, except for Herpus, who look coldly from the sidelines, the others are looking at him with anticipation and excitement: they are waiting to see ¡°God Descend¡±!

    Davosugh in his heart and said solemnly: ¡°I won''t pray and I don''t know how to pray. But I have some other treatments, to try, if you only want God to save Asistes, then I can only leave!¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± Some murmured with disappointment.

    Antonios, however, seemed to understand something, and said it firmly: ¡°Just do what you have said!¡±

    The reason why Davos said it: Firstly, it is to find a way out in case he failed on his treatment. Secondly, he does not want these people to associate him with God in all matters.

    ¡°Make everyone go out and wait!¡­Open the doors and windows!¡­Boil a bucket of water, find a few clean linens and put them in the boiling water! At the same time, find a sharp knife without a rust and put it in the boiling water!¡­And bring few more buckets of cold water!¡­¡± Davos shouted slowly and clearly.

    Antonios, Hielos, and Giorgris didn''t question him and began to seriously carry out his orders and hurriedly rushed around.

    Herpus had thought that Davos was a witch doctor and looked at him badly. Seeing what he had arrange at the moment is quite familiar, he couldn''t help but curiously asked: ¡°Davos, how do you n to treat him?¡±

    ¡°There is no massive bleeding in the wound and obviously the blood vessels wasn''t damage, but the wound is red and swollen with pus, he also have a high fever and it is clear that the wound infection had cause his high fever, so we must first perform debridement, then reduce his fever.¡± Davos exined it in detail. For modern people, this is justmon sense, but in this primitive age, people tend to think that it is caused by the supernatural, which is why witch doctors are so popr and made Herpus thought that Davos was a witch doctor previously.

    After hearing Davos'' words, Herpes'' eyes lit up: ¡°This is somewhat simr to Hippocrates<sup>[9]</sup>¡® method of dealing with fractures, ¡®debridement, traction, and reduction¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Hippocrates of Kos?¡± Davos was very familiar with this name. After all, Hippocrates was called ¡®the father of Western medicine.¡¯

    ¡°Yes. You know him?¡±

    ¡°I''m not familiar with him, but I have heard about him.¡±

    ¡°When I was crossing the Aegean Sea, I wanted to visit him, but he wasn''t there. Although many physician in Greece disagreed with him, but he did cure many people.¡±

    Davos was moved after seeing Herpus'' regret and admiration: ¡°You can be my assistantter, will you?¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much!¡± Herpus said gratefully. In this era, most physician have a tradition to passed down their knowledge from father to son. amoner who wants to study medicine, will need to sign an agreement, pay expensive tuition fees and serve as an assistant for many years.

    [1] Party School ¨C School of the Communist Party of China to train party members.

    [2] Medes was an ancient empire of ancient Iranian people who spoke the Mediannguage and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran.

    [3] Assyrian was a Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.

    [4] Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian Empire.

    [5] Thapsacus was an ancient town along the western bank of the Euphrates river that would now lie in modern Syria or Turkey.

    [6] Rhadamanthus was one of the judges of the dead and he is the son of Zeus and Europa and brother to Sarpedon and Minos.

    [7] Bloodletting is the withdrawal of blood from a patient to prevent or cure illness and disease.

    [8] Âó¶ò²ËÎÌÏã ¨C some kind of herb/spice.

    [9] Hippocrates was a Greek physician of the Age of Pericles (ssical Greece), who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine.

 Chapter 13: Xenophon (1)

    ¡°Giorgris, help me restrain Asistes.¡±

    ¡°Herpus, soak the linen in the cold water and put it on his forehead, then wiped the sides of his neck with another linen.¡±

    ¡°Hielos, you wring out the linen that has been boiled and cleanly wipe his wound.¡±

    ¡°Take the knife out of the boiling water and heat it on the fire.¡±

    When Davos took the knife, he hesitated. After all, the previous steps weremon sense, which modern people can do. But the wound is a wedge shaped and must be opened and debrided. He only saw peasants getting injured in the mountain vige in his previous life, sometimes the hospital is too far away and just let the barefoot doctor<sup>[1]</sup> do it.

    He gritted his teeth and said: ¡°Giorgris restrain him tightly!¡± After saying that, he cut the skin with a knife.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°He had gotten quiet!¡± Herpus eximed in surprise.

    Davos wiped the sweat on his forehead with his hand and looked at Asistes, who was no longer struggling and sighed in relief: ¡°Keep wiping his forehead and neck with cold water, and¡­ pay attention to the linen on his wound. If you find that it is covered with pus, follow my previous method and give him another debridement¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, Davos!¡± At this moment, Herpus'' attitude became more respectful, and treat Davos simr to his teacher

    Davos nced at the small piece of wood on the ground that got taken out deeply inside the wound and felt a sense of achievement.

    He went out of the room with Hielos and Giorgris, and the people waiting outside anxiously rushed up to ask about Asistes.

    ¡°He is much better!¡± Giorgris said proudly.

    People cheered in surprise.

    Davos said busily: ¡°Asistes is not out of danger yet, these two days are the most dangerous time for him, he must rely on himself to fight against his illness. Herpus will take care of him ording to my method.¡±

    Davos said to Antonios: ¡°Make sure to give your nephew plenty of water, but remember to not make him drink raw water, the water must be boiled then cooled down. In addition, when he wakes up, cook an oatmeal for him.¡±

    ¡°But he will spit it out.¡± Antonios said awkwardly.

    ¡°If he vomits, then feed him again. He consumed too much and needs food to replenish it.¡± Davos sighed and nced at the people around him and said, ¡°Asistes needs a quiet ce to recover, don''t let other people go in to disturb him. Keep the room ventted, and it is better to dry the air with fire¡­¡±

    Antonios seriously remembered it and finally couldn¡¯t help but asked a question: ¡°If everything is done, will Asistes be fine?¡±

    Davos is silent, if it is in his previous life, a bottle of antibiotics would solve the problem. But this is a primitive age in which there are few doctors and medicines, and he himself is not an expert.

    He couldn''t make a conclusion and could only say: ¡°We did our best. It now depends on him.¡± He hurriedly left after seeing the eyes of the people that slightly revering him.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Sorry, I have to go back.¡±

    ¡°Hold on, Davos will be back soon.¡±

    When Davos and the others returned to their ce, they saw Matonis dragging someone.

    When he saw Davos, he shouted happily: ¡°Hey, Davos, you''re finally back! I brought Xenophon for you!¡±

    Xenophon? ! Davos'' eyes widened, and the man was looking at him.

    In Davos'' eyes: Xenophon is around 30 years old, he is not very tall and has themon features of Greeks, ck curly hair, high bridge nose, square face, thick beard, and in particr, a fairly wide forehead and a pair of smart and perceptive eyes.

    When Xenophon saw that Davos was a childish boy, he was somewhat disappointed. Soon he found something special about this young man, the people behind him who are obviously older than him, surrounded him like he is their leader and made him distinct.

    ¡°Xenophon of Athens?¡± asked the young man.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Student of Socrates?¡±

    ¡°That''s right.¡± Xenophon was even more curious, everyone in his camp knows that he is Athenian, but only few people knows that he is a student of Socrates. Most of the Greeks who came to Persia are from the poor people of Ionia, Thessaly, and Thrace. They had no money, nond, and could hardly make a living, they can onlye out to sell their lives to earn money, and of course, most of them are illiterate. Not to mention Xenophon, who is still a nobody, even the famous Socrates of Greece, not many people know of him.

    ¡°Which teacher did you learn from?¡± Xenophon asked.

    ¡°I haven''t studied Greek.¡± Davos said.

    His answer stunned Xenophon. His self-confidence on his illiteracy made it difficult for Xenophon to develop a trace of contempt.

    ¡°Davos, today I went to various camps for a walk, I heard that there is a Xenophon in the camp of Proxenus, so I brought him to you, is it him?¡± Matonis said as if asking for a praise.

    ¡°Yourpanion insisted on dragging me over and telling me that the ¡®God''s Favored¡¯ is looking for me, and said a lot of things about you along the way.¡± Xenophon said with a forced smile.

    ¡°Thank you, Matonis!¡± For a person who kept his casual words in his mind and worked hard to aplish them, Davos has only gratitude in his heart, he then said to Xenophon: ¡°Matonis is a very enthusiastic person, you can feel it if you have been with him for a long time.¡±

    Matonis scratched his embarrassingly.

    Xenophon understood Davos'' roundabout apology, he shrugged his shoulders and said that he didn''t care, he then stared at Davos and asked: ¡°So everything he said about God''s Favored is true?¡±

    ¡°What do you think? Will the gods bless the Greeks in Persiannd?¡± Davos asked.

    ¡°Of course! No matter where we are, the gods will never abandon us!¡± Xenophon answered without thinking: ¡°I cane here was also under Apollo''s oracle.¡±

    Xenophon¡¯s answer surprised Davos, isn¡¯t the more knowledgeable a person is, the more they believe on themselves and atheism?

    He underestimated the extent to which the Greeks worshiped the gods and asked with amazement: ¡°What is the oracle of Apollo?¡±

    Xenophon spoke with a slight excitement.

    It turned out that six months ago, in Athens, he received an invitation from a friend, Proxenus, in the letter, Proxenus told Xenophon that the Persian prince is a great man and sincere to the Greeks, he handed the recruitment of talented Greek to him, he has epted the recruitment of Cyrus the Younger and invited Xenophon to help him in Asia Minor, and promised to rmend Xenophon to the Persian prince.

    At that time, Athens had just ended the Spartan-supported tyrannical rule of the ¡°The Thirty Tyrants<sup>[2]</sup>¡±. The democrats adopted a moderate policy to restore the order of the city-state, and at the same time reached a reconciliation with Sparta. The peace of Athens made the young Xenophon want to increase his knowledge and broaden his horizons in Asia Minor, but he hesitated. For it was with the help of Cyrus the Younger that allowed Sparta to defeat Athens, fearing of getting punished by the Athenian government for Xenophon''s association with Cyrus the Younger, Socrates then sent him to Delphi to ask the gods.

    Xenophon asked Apollo, which God he would offer his pray in order for him to sessfully aplish this journey and allow him to return home safely? The oracle told him the name of the god, and only after offering a sacrifice to the god designated by the oracle, did he set sail to Asia Minor and joined Proxenus'' troops.

    ¡°Which god did the oracle of Delphi said?¡± Olivos who was listening and couldn''t wait to ask.

    Xenophon looked at Davos and said slowly and clearly: ¡°H-a-d-e-s!¡±

    [1] Barefoot Doctor ¨C a nickname for part-time paramedical worker in rural areas trained in simple techniques of diagnosis and treatment.

    [2] Thiry Tyrants were a pro-Spartan oligarchy installed in Athens after its defeat in the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC. .

 Chapter 14: Xenophon (2)

    The crowd couldn''t help but cry out: ¡°This is amazing! Xenophon came to Persia by the order of Hades! And Davos have never seen Xenophon before, but he knew him through the oracle! This is Hades blessing us!!¡± The people began to sing the song of Hades.

    Although Davos was surprised, but he thought it was just a coincidence. He pretended to follow everyone''s singing, and then said: ¡°Even if there is the blessing of Hades, we also need to exert ourselves in order to pass the test and return to Greece safely.¡±

    ¡°Davos, you aren''t very confident about whether we can go home smoothly?¡± Xenophon looked at Davos. Xenophon believes in divine prophesies, omens in dreams, and prediction. It was precisely because he heard that Davos was favored by Hades and so he came over to find out. Because he believed that there must be some mysterious connection between him and Davos through Hades.

    ¡°I''m just an ordinary infantry, just like a frog in the well, I don''t understand the topmost situation. So it''s inevitable that I will be confused.¡± Davos said calmly: ¡°You are a close friend of Proxenus, and the most outstanding student of Socrates. I hope you can tell us what kind of situation we are facing now, in order to relieve our confusion.¡±

    Olivos wanted to say something, but Davos stopped him with his gaze.

    Xenophon didn''t declined and said: ¡°I think this time we should be able to return to Greece smoothly! Why?¡± Xenophon has a sense of responsibility because he came to Persia under the guidance of ¡®God¡¯. In the face of this possible disaster and when everyone was panicking, he thought that this was the reason why the gods let hime. Therefore, in the past few days, he was running back and forth in the camp to help Proxenus stabilize his troops.

    At this time, he looked at the crowd and patiently said: ¡°First, our hoplite is strong, while the Persian troops are weak. For decades since the Battle of Thermope, we have always steadily gained the upper hand in the battles between us Greeks and Persians. It was even more obviously shown in our previous battle against the Persian king, that our fierce attack directly resulted in their copse. It can be seen that the Persian fear of our hoplite has prated into their blood. Although their cavalry is better than ours, but what is the use? The cavalry can only scout and harass, but they dare not fight us head-on, which won''t help improve theirbat effectiveness.

    ¡°Yes, their cavalry are cowards!¡± Matonis shouted with great approval, and the face of Xenophon was a little embarassed.

    ¡°But the Persian cavalry''s javelin and arrows caused us a lot of trouble,¡° Hielos reminded.

    ¡°But their cavalry, like their infantry,cks the skill and courage to confront us head-on. It is impossible for them to shake our courage with bows and arrows. As long as we decide to retreat, they will never be able to stop us from leaving.¡± Xenophon confidently said it based on his knowledge of cavalry.

    ¡°Secondly, I heard the Persians say that their new king, Artaxerxes, was a gentle and timid guy since he was a child, which is why Cyrus the Younger dared to revolt. I heard that in the regions of Susa<sup>[1]</sup> and Persepolis, some friends of Cyrus the Younger began to respond and although Artaxerxes had fortunately killed Cyrus the Younger, he would never dare risk fighting us to death while his rear had not calmed down.

    Third, ourmander, Clearchus, is a very capable person. Although I am an Athenian and he is a Spartan, but I can''t deny that during the war between Athens and Sparta, he had caused Athens a lot of trouble, then he defeated the Thracians many times. And several leaders like Proxenus and Meno are also experiencedmanders and they have good understanding of Persians due to having dealings with them all year round. The Persianmander-in-chief was Artaxerxes, the Persian king who had just became a king and had nevermanded an army, and the general he relied on, Tissaphernes, was even defeated by us, they aren''t at all a match against several of our leaders!¡­¡±

    Davos carefully listened to the story of Xenophon. Through Xenophon, he learned a lot about things that he didn''t know before. This time, he sincerely apuded: ¡°What a wonderful speech! You really are worthy to be the disciple of Socrates!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! It is the man that Hades has guided! Your words gave us confidence!¡± Hielos said sincerely.

    In the face of everyone''s praise, Xenophon''s looked calm, it was amon thing for him to persuade ordinary soldiers, his eyes fell on Davos and seems to want to see the unusualness of the ¡°God''s favored¡± of Hades in the rumors.

    ¡°But you still forgot to say one thing.¡± Davos certainly can''t let the other person look down on himself, especially in front of his teammates: ¡°Although Persia has a vast territory and has arge poption, they can''t effectively governed it. Most areas are still autonomous, they have their own culture and religion, obeying the Persian rule requires only two things ¨C paying taxes and serving in the military. The Persians believed only in themselves, so there were very few foreign officials in their army and court. If the foreigners could not integrate into Persia, they would not die for Persia. I think that''s one of the reasons why the Persian troops copsed when they faced us.¡±

    Xenophon savored what Davos said and recalled what he had seen along the way, which was very consistent. He was stunned, he apparently isn''t as well educated as a 19 year old young man who didn''t know a thing about Persia, he can only me it on something like ¡°God''s favored¡±! Xenophon can onlyfort himself in this way: ¡°You''re right! This is the illness of the dictatorship of the king! On the contrary, it is the superiority of Greek''s democracy, for we are fighting for ourselves!¡±

    Superiority of democracy? Davos seemed to see the face of a country that self-proimed itself as the ¡°Global Sheriff¡± in his previous life. He tried to cast aside his contempt, but was seen by the careful Xenophon: ¡°Davos thinks I am wrong?¡±

    ¡°Xenophon, which period in Athens do you think was the most stable and prosperous in the past centuries?¡± Davos decided to use his previous life''s knowledge to shock this historical celebrity in front of him and impress him so that his name will spread to the top of the mercenary through him.

    ¡°The period when Pericles<sup>[2]</sup> is in power.¡± Xenophon answered without hesitation.

    ¡°You forgot to mention the reign of Peisistratos<sup>[3]</sup>.¡± Davos reminded him: ¡°It was under his rule that Athens hadpletely owned the Attica region and made the port of Piraeus prospered, and only then did Athens became another powerful city-state in Greece besides Sparta!¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡± Xenophon didn''t expect that Davos would mention Peisistratos, the Athenians were proud to live in the most democratic Greek city-state, and almost no one would talk about the dictator. He wanted to retort, but for a moment he doesn''t know what to say. After all, Xenophon, a highly educated and knowledgeable person, knows that Davos was telling the truth.

    Davos seized the opportunity and continue to say: ¡°You want to say, ¡®But Athens was stronger under Pericles¡¯, right? However, there are problems with the statement about Pericles'' Reign. How many years did Pericles serve as a strategos<sup>[4]</sup>? Thirty years! He has never been defeated in thirty years and has been elected as the Polemarchos<sup>[5]</sup> for many times! All the important domestic and foreignws and decisions in Athens were proposed and formted by him, which created the golden age of Athens. Isn''t it ironic that in order to prevent an autocratic democracy in Athens, the once a year Ostracism<sup>[6]</sup> method was invented. Is Peisistratos dictator? Is Pericles democratic?! Pericles is merely a more subtle and gentler than Peisistratos political means.

    And what do you think happened to the superiority of democracy without Pericles? Athens with its richer financial resources, stronger navy and more allies than Sparta, has internal strife and struggle with each other, and the people of Athens are often unable to tell the truth and false apart, and are easily incited by the politicians. That''s why at the crucial moment of the expedition to Sicily, the most talented strategos of Athens, Alcibiades<sup>[7]</sup>, was forced to defect. The strategoi who had just won a key sea battle in Arginusae<sup>[8]</sup> but failed to rescue the drowning soldiers in time due to a gale, was easily tried by the masses and even executed¡­these foolish acts of Athens are not umon in this long war with Sparta! This is what Athenians think as the perfect democracy?! It has consumed the strength it umted over the past hundred years in the constant internal friction!¡±

    The ancient democratic system of Athens was a key point in the study of Davos in his previous life''s party school, because it was the origin of the modern Western political system, Davos still has fresh memories of it.

    Author''s Note 1: Western historians doesn''t have a high evaluation of Xenophon. They think that Xenophon only has a shallow knowledge of history and philosophy, and his depth of research and understanding of history is not as deep as Thucydides and Herodotus, and his philosophical attainments aren''t as good as his ssmate, to. Moreover, in his works, he believed in divine prophesies, dream omens and prediction, and often used his political preferences to select historical materials and judge historical facts, which was full of exaggeration. When I read his works, I also experience it. However, in any case, he left a lot of valuable first-hand information, so that the modern people can have a clearer understanding of that era, otherwise there will be no such novel that I have wrote today.

    Author''s Note 2: After the Arginusae sea battle, among the generals that was tried by the people of Athens was the characters I wrote in myst novel ¨C Pericles the Younger, the only son of Pericles and he also got executed.

    [1] Susa was an ancient city of the Proto-mite, mite, First Persian Empire, Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanian empires of Iran, and one of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East.

    [2] Pericles was a prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during its golden age ¨C specifically the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars.

    [3] Peisistratos was a ruler of ancient Athens during most of the period between 561 and 527 BC.

    [4] Strategos = General.

    [5] Polemarchos = Supreme Commander.

    [6] Ostracism was a procedure under the Athenian democracy in which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years.

    [7] Alcibiades was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He yed a major role in the second half of Peloponnesian War as a strategic advisor, militarymander, and politician.

    [8] Battle of Arginusae took ce in 406 BC during the Peloponnesian War near the city of Canae in the Arginusae inds, east of the ind of Lesbos. (interesting fact is that Pericles son, Pericles the Younger, was one of the generals that have been executed.)

 Chapter 15: Miracle Physician

    After Athens failed in the Peloponnesian War and experienced the brutal rule of the ¡°Thirty Tyrants¡±, the wise men in Athens were more or less aware of the ws in the system, but there wasn''t anyone who hadpletely denied the Athenian democracy like what Davos did.

    This deafening words were like a loud thunder, that made Xenophon not regain his sense for a long time and absentmindedly said ¡°¡­You mean Sparta¡­ is the best?¡±

    ¡°Sparta?!¡± Davos sneered: ¡°When they decided to turn itspatriots into Helots<sup>[1]</sup> (referring to the Messenians), it is destined that it will never be strong! Although the Spartan warriors are very brave, but thousands of Spartan warriors have to suppress ves ten times their number. Its city-state is like a volcano that will erupt once it meet a great defeat.¡±

    ¡°Davos, now Sparta is the most powerful city-state in Greece!¡± Olivos interrupted.

    ¡°Then let''s wait and see how powerful it is in a few years!¡± Davos answered confidently. He vaguely remembered that it wasn''t long before another war broke out in Greece, and Sparta got defeated by the rising Thebes and thus fall in decline.

    ¡°Is this an oracle?¡± Several of his teammates were surprised.

    Davosughed but didn''t answer.

    ¡°So, which city-state has the best system?¡± Xenophon relunctantly asked.

    Davos also responded with a mysterious smile.

    At this time, Xenophon seems to have recovered his calmness on the surface, but in fact, his heart is thumping. He didn''t made any blunder even though decades of habits and beliefs was smashed by what Davos had said and it is due to Socrates'' years of teaching that made him more adept at learning and thinking independently than the average person.

    The restless man could not stay any longer and has to go back and think about what Davos had said. So, he bid farewell to Davos.

    As he was leaving, Davos seemed to ask a casual question: ¡°Xenophon, have you evermanded an army before?¡±

    ¡°I served as a cavalry captain.¡± Xenophon hastily answered.

    Davos'' face became grave as he watched the shadow of Xenophon fade away. As a student of Socrates, Xenophon''s insights were clearly beyond those of his teammates. However, as a newly arrived Athenian with a low reputation and without a rich mercenary experience, and currently is still only an adjutant of Proxenus, how did Xenophon manage to lead the retreat?

    When he thought how the author of ¡¶Anabasis¡· is Xenophon himself, Davos will inevitably have some doubts: ¡®Did Xenophon stole other people''s credits for himself?¡¯

    ¡°Davos, Athens and Sparta are really that bad?¡± Hielos clearly understood than the others and was more confused.

    Davos nodded and sighed: ¡°Both Athens and Sparta will live very well if it is in a period of peace, but this is an era in which you are doomed to perish if you don''t struggle!¡±

    Hielos seemed to understand and couldn''t help but ask the same question as Xenophon: ¡°So is there a city-state in the Mediterranean that has a better system than Athens and Sparta?¡±

    Davos looked at the curious and eager eyes of Hielos and turned his head. On the horizon, the sunset emits itsst afterglow before falling, looking at the red clouds, thinking of the Mediterranean in the future, with frequent wars and powerful countries that havee and gone, until the emergence of a great Emperor and his dazzling light that shined the western world for more than two thousand years¡­

    Davos had a sudden surge of enthusiasm in his heart, this time he did not refuse to answer and said positively: ¡°Not at the moment. But if you and I can live longer, maybe one day you can see it!¡± (T/N: Most likely talking about Alexander the Great''s Macedonian Empire)

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the early morning, Davos'' mind was in the midst of confusion and heard the voices of people outside.

    ¡°Wake up! Wake up! My nephew woke up!!¡± Antonios ecstatically broke into the room and hugged Davos: ¡°Thank you! Thank you! Asistes, he is alive!!¡±

    Davos wasn''t fully awake and confusedly asked: ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°It''s true!¡± Then Herpus said excitedly: ¡°Asistes is awake! His temperature is not as hot as it was yesterday, although he is still weak, he can already eat porridge made of bread. Davos, the method you taught really works!¡±

    In the face of Herpus admiration, Davos was finally relieved, he suppressed the excitement and said calmly: ¡°Although Asistes is out of danger, you can''t rx and need to continue taking care of him with the method I taught before, so that he could get better soon!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Herpus replied respectfully.

    ¡°Davos, there are many people outside that want to see you.¡± Hielos came in and said.

    ¡°Oh, it''s Kapus. They were surprised when they heard that Asistes woke up. They must havee over to see you and want to get your help.¡± Antonios answered with some shame, Davos have put so much energy into saving his nephew that he might have even prayed to Hades. And he hasn''t paid him back yet and brought him another trouble.

    ¡°Kapus?¡± Davos had no impression of the name.

    ¡°Another hoplite squadron leader in our camp.¡± Hielos exined.

    Davos slightly murmured and immediately stood up: ¡°Let''s go out, don''t keep them waiting.¡±

    He walked out of the house, while being surrounded by people.

    ¡°Look, Davos is out!¡±

    ¡°This is Davos? He is too young!¡±

    ¡°Despite his youth, he is really favored by Hades! If not, he would not have been able to save Asistes. You and I have seen that Asistes was in aa back then.¡±

    ¡°Davos, one of my brothers was also injured like Asistes, he is burning and unconscious, I hope I can get your help!¡±

    ¡°I also have one of my men injured¡­¡±

    ¡°And me¡­¡±

    In the small yard, crowds of people are desperately waved their arms, shouting like a surging tide, and they are waving higher and higher.

    In the face of an out-of-control incident, everyone were slightly nervous, but only Davos'' look remain unchanged. As a cadre that was promoted from the bottom in his previous life, no matter if it is in towns, counties and cities, he have seen mass petitions a lot of times. Even when he was the vige head, he once held a meeting in the town and was caught up by peasants that have surrounded the town government to discuss thend expropriation, the leaders hid while only he stood up and faced the hoes and sticks in the hands of these passionate peasants, he tried his best to persuade them to withdraw. This small incident in front of him is really hard for him to ignore, besides, it is a good thing for him.

    He raised his hand and shouted: ¡°Everyone be quiet!¡±

    ¡°Quiet! Quiet!!¡­¡± Antonios also helped shout.

    People gradually calmed down.

    ¡°I am very grateful for everyone''s trust!¡± Davos said with excitement: ¡°We are allrades who fought together and face death! They are good brothers who are able to entrust their right shoulders to protect their teammates! If any brother is injured, I will take Herpus with me and do our best to save and never abandon any wounded!!¡±

    Herpus was thrilled to hear his name.

    Hearing this, the soldiers in the yard were even more grateful.

    ¡°This is great! Thank you Hades!!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Davos, you are our savior!!¡±

    ¡°Davos, you are our best brother! Whatever you want in the future, I will try my best to do it for you!!¡±

    In this era, it is verymon for soldiers to be injured and get infected and die, which is also a nightmare that gues the army, now, Davos gave them hope. And this person is generous and kind, how can they not be moved!

    ¡°Davos! Davos!¡­¡± Their shouts resounded over the sky of Meno''s camp.

 Chapter 16: Conflict

    When Davos and Herpus were discussing how to treat the wounded more efficiently, a guard of Meno called him over.

    As soon as he entered, Meno shouted angrily: ¡°I said, ¡®If you have a new ideas, let me know first¡¯! and you agreed. But now, you deceived me! You broke your promise!¡±

    ¡°What did I do wrong?¡± Davos was puzzled.

    ¡°You are able to save thoseatose soldiers and did it secretly without telling me in advance!¡±

    After Davos heard what he said, he was amused: ¡°Respected leader Meno, the situation was urgent and saving people is important, if I have reported it to you first and then organize people to treat them, Asistes would''ve died!¡±

    Davos added sarcastically: ¡°Besides, this isn''t a new idea, it was a medical skill passed down from my ancestor. I came to be a mercenary and not to be a ve that needs to get your permission to treat people!¡±

    Meno was unable to respond. Just now the soldiers were shouting the name of ¡°Davos¡±, which made him confused by jealousy, and without thinking, angrily called Davos, which resulted in his embarrassment.

    He simply said: ¡°I am stillcking a guard here. From now on, you will be responsible for guarding my safety and you can''t leave without my orders!¡± He had a hunch that Davos had to be separated from the soldiers to avoid further influencing them and thus weaken his control over the mercenary.

    ¡°I''m sorry, leader Meno. I am better suited to be an ordinary soldier than a guard. Besides, my squad leader won''t agree!¡± Davos guessed Meno''s intentions and he certainly would not agree.

    Menoughed with anger due to the unexpected direct refusal: ¡°I am your leader! Who dares to disagree with my orders!¡±

    ¡°I disagree!¡± With a shout, Antonios entered the living room.

    ¡°I also don''t agree!¡± Following him was Kapus, then was followed by several squadron leaders.

    Davos was relieved to see Antonios nodding to himself, he is now safe. Of course, he didn''t know that when the guard called him threateningly, Hielos felt something wrong and immediately ran to inform Antonios, this is why Antonios and the rest appeared here so soon.

    ¡°Who let you in?! Where is my guard?!¡± Meno was anxious and angry. He felt uneasy with how several of his main squadron leaders came unannounced.

    ¡°Leader, the wounded in the camp are still waiting for Davos to treat them and we can''t dy!¡± Antonios listened calmly to the words filled with hidden threat that made Meno heart tremble in fear and the cold gaze of the crowd made Meno feel even more hesitant.

    He end up yielding and stutteringly said: ¡°Well¡­I¡­am very pleased that Davos used his great medical skill to save the wounded and unconscious soldier. So I called him toe¡­uhm¡­I want to appoint him as the camp''s physician in order to treat more soldiers.¡±

    ¡°I am very willing to heal our wounded brothers! But whether if it is a physician or a guard that you previously mentioned, I won''t ept! I just want to be a soldier under Hielos.¡± Davos straightforwardly answered. Although he would be safe being the camp physician, but it doesn''tply to his n. Moreover, he was unwilling to ept Meno''spromise now that they have torn each other face, and it is hard for him to change his initial understanding of Meno.

    Meno was very embarrassed getting rejected by a low-ranking ordinary soldier in front of everyone and he immediately shouted: ¡°DAVOS!¡±

    Just as his words left his mouth, there was a sudden noise outside: ¡°Return Davos to us and give the soldiers a way to live!!¡±

    ¡°Meno, if you don''t let Davose out, we will rush in!!¡±

    It was the yelling of countless soldiers, making Meno tremble with fear.

    ¡°Davos, you go back first.¡± Antonios said.

    Davos nodded and said loudly: ¡°Everyone, thank you for your help!¡±

    Meno immediately turned his resentful gaze to the squadron leaders after hearing it.

    After Davos left, he immediately said: ¡°Antonios, Kapus¡­ are you also starting to go against me?¡±

    ¡°Meno, you are our leader and of course we have to listen to yourmand. But Davos is favored by Hades and the soldiers have witnessed the many miracles he had created! The gods are watching us in heaven and blessed us so that we can smoothly go home from foreignnd, and the least bit of sphemy isn''t allowed.¡± Antonios answered evasively.

    Meno certainly heard his implication: ¡®We all know what you did to Davos. We can follow yourmand, but when ites to Davos, we will defend him.¡¯ He also wanted to refute in order to preserve his dignity as the leader, but Amintas, who dislike him the most among his officers, shouted: ¡°Listen Meno! Once our mission ends, we don''t mind re-electing a new leader if you mess up again! I believe the soldiers won''t choose you anymore!¡±

    Amintas'' words manage to hit the crucial point of Meno''s worries. Mercenaries are a loose military organization. Meno became the leader due to his wide range of connections and being able to receive missions, get money and pay the soldiers. Now the situation is that, after the death of Cyrus the Younger, Meno lost his employer and could no longer get money, nor could he pay the soldiers. The reason why the soldiers still believed in him: Firstly, it''s due to theirmon goal of returning home safely, and they must be united, since a scattered soldiers can''t survive on Persiannd. Themand system of the mercenaries is readily avable and effective, and the soldiers were used to it. Secondly, the long years of living as a mercenary, these experienced officers are rarely reced and most of them had a good rtions with Meno, they help him control the whole troops. But now, for the sake of Davos, the officers and soldiers have joined forces against him, indicating that his control of the troops is at stake.

    He knew that he has a bad reputation in the hearts of the soldiers. In the past, he didn''t care because as long as he have money, he could rece a group of soldiers any time, due to most of thend in Greece are barren and the previous Peloponnesian War causing the livelihood of the people to decline, more young people go out to seek for survival. But it now has be his biggest worry.

    After he calmly sent away Antonios and Kapus, he returned to the living room to scream and vent out his depression: ¡°I''M GOING TO KILL THAT KID!!¡± As soon as he spoke, he realized that something was off and hurriedly went to the entrance, he did not know when the guard at the entrance who had followed him for more than a year had already disappeared.

    He was frightened and restless in the living room. He looked at the room which had be a mess due to his anger, he hesitated for a while and finally decided to go to Ariaeus. He heard that many rtives of Ariaeus came to him these two days and with their help, the mercenaries might not have to go back soboriously¡­

    Meno had an idea after he thought about it. He tidied up his makeup and went to the yard to pull a horse, after mping hard on the horse belly, he then galloped northward.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After testing his influence in Meno''s camp through this incident, Davos returned to his residence and actively recruited Herpus to discuss the treatment of the wounded.

    Although Davos wasn''t a doctor in his previous life, but he has the umtion of more than 2,000 years of knowledge than the people of this era, which is enough for him to make a more better medical n than that of this time. Firstly, setting up a medical team with Herpus as the lead, then from the camp, find one or two soldiers who are interested in medicine and serve as a physician. They then need several female ves from the supply unit to train them as a nurse while they do treatment, he believe that they can adapt fast to their new roles. Secondly, they should open up an area to serve as a wartime hospital, so that they can concentrate on the treatment of the wounded and improve efficiency. Thirdly, the mostmon thing in the army is getting wounded, by establishing a practical medical system and training the doctors and nurses the concept of sterile hygiene, as long as the infection can be prevented, by virtue of the strong physical condition of the soldiers, most of the mild and moderate injuries can get better. Finally, gathering some of the local remedies from Persians along the way, Mesopotamian civilization is one of the oldest civilizations on earth. For thousands of years, people who live in thisnd have their own unique means and methods to cope with diseases. After studying it, they will then use modern analytical methods to remove the bad part and it will naturally expand the scope of treatment of Davos'' medical team.

    Davos intends to develop this medical team into a permanent and essential organization in the camp for the future.

    To master the health of the soldiers is to master the mind of the army.

 Chapter 17: Dances with wolves

    Just as Davos started preparing for his field hospital, the Persian envoy came to the Greek camp, this time the envoy was the Persian general that was most familiar to the mercenary leaders, the satrap of Asia Minor, Tissaphernes. He brought with him the hope that the Greeks would be able to return home safely. He was willing to convey to the Persian king that the mercenary leaders were unwilling to fight and just wanted to go home.

    The mercenary leaders weed him with pleasure.

    After Tissaphernes left, the mercenary leaders saw hope for a peaceful settlement and were eagerly awaiting for his return.

    After anxiously waiting for two days, Tissaphernes once again came to the Greek camp and read out thetest decree of the Persian king to the mercenary leaders. The king has epted the apology of the mercenary, despite the opposition of many ministers, he decided to let the Greek mercenary return to Greece under the leadership of Tissaphernes and had agreed to provide a market for the Greeks to solve their problem with supplies on their way home. At the same time, the Greeks must abide by the local order and destruction or looting along the way is not allowed¡­

    The leaders certainly couldn''t ask for more. They soon reached an agreement with Tissaphernes and both sides swear an oath in the name of their God. Tissaphernes then warned the leaders to patiently wait, while he report back to the king and to make arrangements for their return.

    Soon after Tissaphernes left, the news spread throughout the camp and the soldiers cheered.

    Davos still did not rx his vignce. Although he heard what Xenophon saidst time, he realized that there were many differences between the actual situation of Persia and his own guessed based on Chinese history.

    Just yesterday, Xenophon visited again and had finally adjusted his mood after a few days, he wanted to talk with Davos about the democracy of city-states. Davos did not want to remain entangled on this issue, and had instead skillfully led the topic to the local customs of the Greek city-states.

    Most of the time, it was Xenophon who talk incessantly, while Davos listens attentively. In between, Davos asked about Tissaphernes, so Xenophon said something about Tissaphernes that he had heard from Proxenus, which made Davos remember them deeply.

    When Tissaphernes served as the satrap of Asia Minor, it was during the time of the Peloponnesian War. Tissaphernes chose to form an alliance with Sparta and had wanted to use the strength of Sparta against Athens in order to restore Persian rule over the Greek city-state on the Ionian coast, while Sparta would receive funding to build an enormous fleet capable of fighting Athens. It wasn''t long after he stopped his promised financial support to Sparta, which cause the Spartans to protest to the then Persian king, Darius II<sup>[1]</sup>, Darius then appointed his second son, Cyrus the Younger, to serve as the militarymander throughout the western Persian region and to fully support Sparta against Athens.

    Tissaphernes was relieved of his military power, but he seemed to not care. He got along very well with Cyrus the Younger and they soon became friends. But when the new king Artaxerxes came to power and Cyrus the Younger went to the capital to attend the grand ceremony of his big brother''s ascension, Tissaphernes told the new king that Cyrus the Younger wanted to rebel, which resulted in the arrest of the Cyrus the Younger, he had only gotten released after the repeated pleading of the Queen Mother.

    After Tissaphernes returned to Asia Minor, he started opposing Cyrus the Younger on everything. So when Cyrus the Younger started his rebellion, the first thing he wanted to do was to capture him and as a result, he ran away long ago and showed up in the king''s army. When the left wing of the king''s army got crushed by the Greek''s hoplite, Tissaphernes dared to lead the cavalry around the hoplite and attack the Greek''s rear troops. Although he failed, his courage and determination naturally stood out among a group of defeated generals, so he was able to negotiate a truce with the Greek troops as the Persian envoy on behalf of the king, which obviously shown the king''s favor of him.

    What Davos heard about Tissaphernes was heard by Xenophon from Proxenus, and most of what Proxenus knows came from Cyrus the Younger, regardless of whether he liked or disliked Tissaphernes, but the fact was true. Therefore, after analyzing, Davos believes that Tissaphernes was a typical politician who was ustomed in deception, he is good at judging the situation and daring to grab the opportunity. It is hard to expect such a person to keep his promise!

    When Davos told Xenophon about this concern, Xenophon sighed and said: ¡°Proxenus was very clear about it and they won''t rx their vignce against Tissaphernes, but we may not be able to go home unless we gave up fighting the Persian King. Euphrates and Tigris rivers alone can cause us enormous trouble and we can''t smoothly cross such a wide river in front of the enemy. Another huge problem is that there isn''t enough food. Once we go ¡°collecting¡± food, the scattered soldiers can be easily attacked by the enemy¡­

    You see, the Persian king has a huge advantage that if he really want to destroy us, it is absolutely unnecessary to give us supplies and let Tissaphernes swear an oath in the name of their God on his behalf, because if he breaks the oath in the future, he won''t only beughed at by Persians and Greeks, but they will get abandoned by the Persian gods, unless he wants to be a king without faith as soon he ascended! Therefore, we can only believe in them and can only cooperate with them to guarantee our safe return home!¡±

    Davos saw that what Xenophon has said is more like persuading himself and sighed. The Greek mercenaries were in a disadvantaged position, so even if they were given ¡°poison¡±, they had to swallow it.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Day by day, Davos'' field hospital had begun to take shape, and after they carefully took care and treated the 12 wounded, 7 of them have significantly gotten better.

    For most of the time, Davos learned Greek from Xenophon and entrusted Mersis, who had went out to buy, to bring back several pieces of linen and cut it into slender strips and using his legs, began to experiment on how to wrap it. At the same time, he pulled his teammates to train with him and learnbat skills so that he can unify his mind and body memory.

    Because of Asistes recovery and the event where Menon''s troops protested, his rtionship with Antonios became closer and he visited Antonios many times and asked him about his experience onmanding the hoplite and formation¡­and in order for him to understand the skill in using a Kopis. He also studied from the Peltast troops to gain an in-depth understanding of the characteristics of this units.

    The sess of the field hospital made Davos'' reputation as ¡°God''s favored¡± deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and his modesty and eagerness to learn also won the favor of everyone. There are only few people who couldn''t recognize him anymore as he walk throughout Menon''s camp.

    As time went by, the Persians haven''t appeared, uneasiness and suspicion have gradually enveloped the entire Greek camp. Davos used his busy days to dilute his worries and his inability to change the predicament of the Greek mercenaries, so he could only change himself and enrich his experience as much as possible.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After more than 20 days of waiting, Tissaphernes finally arrived with his army and apanied by the satrap of Armenia, Orontes<sup>[2]</sup> and his army.

    The Greek mercenary leaders, who were anxiously waiting for a long time, had led the troops and set foot on their journey home without any suspicion.

    But at the beginning of the march, the situation change. The troops of Ariaeus who was originally warm and intimate with the Greek mercenaries, began to march with the Persian army and not only marching together, but they also camp together. Over the past 20 days, the Persians were not idle, they have sent the rtives and friends of Ariaeus and the other generals to Ariaeus camp, and by promising to not held them ountable, they finally manage to persuade the generals of Cyrus the Younger.

    This undoubtedly increased the suspicion of the Greek mercenaries, who were far behind the Persian army, they acted alone with their own guides. At dusk, the Greek troops and the Persians were 5 km apart, guarding each other as if they treat each other as their enemy,

    Tissaphernes did indeed fulfill his promise to provide markets for the Greeks every day. Of course, the mercenaries have to pay for it themselves.

    Menon had also tried to retaliate against Davos by giving Hielos'' squad less food, but Mersis opposed it. Previously, Mersis was very reluctant when Davos asked him to leave 2 Egyptian ves.

    Who knew that not long after, Davos gave him a Chinese massage with the trained Egyptian ve and he became addicted to it. He then went to the field hospital every day to ask for a massage and shamelessly said that it was the ve who owed him and they are paying off their debt. He was still hoping that after they return to Greece, he would make Davos teach this unique technique to him and buy * then his brothel will be overcrowded. Therefore, not only will he not offend Davos, but will also try to satisfy most of Davos'' demands.

    [1] Darius II was king of the Persian Empire from 423 BC to 404 or 405 BC and the father of Artaxerxes II and Cyrus the Younger.

    [2] Orontes as an Armenian ruler of the Orontid Dynasty who ruled as satrap of the Achaemenid Empire between 401 BC ¨C 344 BC.

 Chapter 18: The eastern kingdom of dream

    A few dayster, Davos saw a huge wall in front of him, which was more than 20 meters high, and extending infinitely to the southeast¡­

    ¡°Oh! The Median Wall!! I still feel shocked, no matter how many times I see it!!¡± Xenophon sighed aloud. During these days of marching, he would often run into the troops of Menon and apany Davos. In his words ¡®Talking with Davos helps stimte his knowledge by making him think deeply.¡¯ Davos thought that he was bored marching together with the troops of Proxenus, because he had nomonnguage with the others except Proxenus, so he came to show off his knowledge to Davos.

    ¡°It was said that this Median wall was more than a hundred miles long, built by the former kingdom of Babylon, in order to defend against the Medes in the north. But the kingdom of Babylon was destroyed by the Media¡­¡± Xenophon looked up at the tall walls and sighed, ¡°The Media wereter destroyed by the Persians and Herodotus had a wonderful description in his book ¡¶The Histories¡·. ¡®Just as man is born, aged, sick, and die, so is a powerful kingdom.¡¯ Therefore, despite the vast territory of Persia, we still don''t know who will destroy it in the future! I hope that I could see that day in my lifetime!¡±

    Davos certainly remembers that in the past history, Persia was destroyed by Alexander the Great<sup>[1]</sup>, King of Macedonia, who had been admired by Westerners for more than two thousand years. He couldn¡¯t remember the exact timeline, but it is probably several decadester. In his memory, the current Macedonia wasn''t a unified kingdom, but also his own ¡°enemy¡±.

    Looking at the huge wall made of burnt bricks and bitumen, Davos was equally impressed, It seems that building a Great Wall to defend against the barbarian isn''t exclusively belongs to Huaxia<sup>[2]</sup>. Now China should currently still be in the Spring and Autumn period<sup>[3]</sup> and the Warring States period<sup>[4]</sup>¡­

    He turned to look at the East, standing for a long time, with indescribable attachment and regret in his eyes. He is a Greek in this world and thousands of miles away from his nativend, it''s impossible for him to return¡­

    ¡°Davos! Davos!¡­¡± Davos returned to his senses after hearing Hielos calling him, he then found out that he had been standing still which affected the progress of the march. He step up his pace and couldn''t help but say, ¡°You know what? Perhaps there is a country in the far east, which governs a much more bigger territory and more people than Persia. Its manners and customs are totally different from Greece and Persia, and its political system is also different from Greece and Persia, which is strict and efficient! It has gorgeous clothes, elegant etiquette, magnificent mountains and rivers and delicious food! It has a strong army and the people are wealthy¡­¡±

    ¡°Davos, you are dreaming. How can there be such a powerful kingdom in the East?¡± Xenophon interrupted Davos'' speech and said seriously, ¡°ording to Herodotus'' record, India is to the east of Persia, Arabia is to the southeast, and the Scythians<sup>[5]</sup> and the Arimaspi<sup>[6]</sup> are to the northeast¡­ There shouldn''t be such a kingdom that you had said! Is this a revtion that Hades has given you?¡±

    ¡°So what is beyond the east of the races you had just mentioned?¡± Davos asked.

    ¡°It should be the ocean.¡± Xenophon uncertainly said.

    ¡°This is what Herodotus said. Did he personally confirmed it?¡± Davos asked again.

    ¡°He¡­it should be what he had heard from other people''s recount¡­and took note of it.¡± Xenophon began to stutter.

    ¡°Since he had just heard of it, then we can''t be sure that it is true, nor can we deny that there is no such country in the distant East!¡± Davos retorted.

    Xenophon was unable to respond for a moment, and strangely looked at Davos, ¡°Looking at how serious you react, it seems that there really is such a country.¡±

    Davos smiled and said nothing.

    ¡°How wonderful it would be if one day I can go to the distant east to have a look!¡± Olivos, was attracted by the scene described by Davos, and he suddenly said it with a sigh.

    ¡°Then you have to go through the Persian kingdom first and then there are the Massagetaens<sup>[7]</sup>, whoe and go like the wind, and was said to have cut off the head of the Persian king, Cyrus the Great¡­well, there are also the terrible Arimaspi and the mysterious India¡­if you are lucky enough to not be killed or be captured as a ve, then you can see whether the distant East is an ocean or a powerful country¡­¡± Xenophon said half jokingly and half serious.

    Olivos shrank his neck and didn''t speak anymore.

    Matonis was a little annoyed, although he didn''t like Olivos, he even more hated the knowledgeable Athenian, ¡°What are you afraid of? If I have a strong army, not to mention going to the distant east, I would dare go anywhere!¡±

    ¡°Strong army?¡± Xenophon disdainfully pointed his finger to the loose marching formation ahead, ¡°Like this one?¡±

    ¡°Of course a much more powerful than this one!¡± Matonis said loudly.

    Davos listened to their bickering and narrowed his gaze, ¡®A stronger army?¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Passing through the Median wall meant that the Greek troops has left Babylon. In the next few days, what always appeared in Davos'' sight was, Vast in, endless golden wheat fields, and rivers that was dug by man¡­ These man-made rivers divert the water from therge rivers into a lot of small canals and ditches and eventually into farnd¡­

    Davos couldn''t help but sigh after seeing this, ¡®This should be the oldest irrigation project in the Middle East! A fertilend and an abundant water that have nurtured arge number of people and created a brilliant ancient civilizations of the two rivers one after another!¡­¡¯

    Further on, the source of those man-made river, the Tigris River. As one of the other mother river in the ins of Mesopotamia, the Tigris river was equally wide and at first nce, it seems to be difficult to reach the opposite side. There were countless sails moving over the river, merchant ships were the ones who move fast with their oars, while the fishing boats sails slowly along the river. The singing of the fishermen and the shouting of the sailors were heard across the river. Numerous aquatic birds were chirping and flying over the river, and there wererge fishes leaping in the water from time to time, a beautiful and tranquil view of the river.

    Near the river bank there is arge and densely popted city, Sittace, the Greek mercenaries approached the city and set up camp. The Persian army and Ariaeus troops crossed the bridge and camped across the river. That night, Davos and the rest finally manage to have a good sleep, because the Persian army was on the other side, and the psychological pressure on the Greek soldiers was much lesser.

    On the second day, the atmosphere suddenly changed slightly. When Davos crossed the river, they saw armed soldiers on both sides of the bridge and there were also vignt soldiers on the other side after crossing over the pontoon bridge.

    What happened?

    It wasn''t until Xenophon came that Davos understood why.

    ¡°Last night, a man came from the other side and said that he was a confidant of Ariaeus, he had brought a message to Clearchus and Proxenus. Therefore, the several leaders met him, I followed Proxenus in the main tent and listed to what the man had to say, ¡®Ariaeus warned Clearchus to be vignt because the Persian troops might attack the Greek mercenaries at night and they also intend to destroy the pontoon bridge and trap all of you between the Tigris river and the man-made waterway.¡¯ the several leaders and I became nervous¡ª¡±

    Xenophon said with a slightly irritated tone, ¡°After thinking about it, I think that this news is unreliable!¡±

    ¡°Oh, what did you think?¡± Davos curiously asked.

    ¡°Because if the Persians attack us, whether it is victory or failure. If they are defeated and destroyed, there is nowhere for them to escape. If they win, we are on Persiannd, there is no ce to run at all and so why bother to destroy a bridge that is not easy to build. Therefore, Clearchus listened to my advice!¡± Xenophon proudly said.

    ¡°Well, it makes sense!¡± Davos thought about it and praised him.

    ¡°Since even you can think of it, Tissaphernes certainly is not a fool, so why did he need to make up such a lie?¡± Olivos sarcastically said.

    ¡°That''s because he is really afraid of us destroying the bridge!¡± Xenophon nced at him, not wanting to argue with this uneducated fellow, ¡°As you can see these days, there are many viges in this area, and thend is fertile, producing arge amount of food, enough to support our mercenaries for half a year and if we destroy the bridge, they can''te for a while since Tissaphernes'' troops is on the other side, so¡ª¡°

    [1] Alexander the Great was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and conquered the Achaemenid empire.

    [2] Huaxia ¨C old name of China.

    [3] Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 771 to 476 BC (or ording to some authorities until 403 BC).

    [4] Warring States period was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation.

    [5] Scythians were Eurasian nomads and the "ssical Scythians" known to ancient Greek historians, agreed to be mainly Iranian in origin, and were located in the northern ck Sea and fore-Caucasus region.

    [6] Arimaspi were a legendary tribe of one-eyed people of northern Scythia who lived in the foothills of the Riphean Mountains, variously identified with the Ural Mountains or the Carpathians.

    [7] Massagetaens were an ancient Eastern Iranian nomadic tribal confederation, who inhabited the steppes of Central Asia, north-east of the Caspian Sea in modern Turkmenistan, western Uzbekistan, and southern Kazakhstan.

 Chapter 19: Suspicion

    ¡°The disaster of the Persian ising!!¡± Matonisughed happily and loudly, as if the Greeks would really do it.

    ¡°It seems that the Persians really want to send us away!¡± Hielos said as he realized it.

    Or maybe Tissaphernes wants you to think that way. Davos thought to himself, without saying anything, he always felt that Tissaphernes isn''t simple. After all, his ideas were different from the Greeks of this era. ording to his deep contact with the Greek soldiers during this time, he found that most of these Greeks grew up listening to their father''s stories about how they beat the Persians, they advocated strength and likes to fight head-on. Even if they employ schemes it was mostly tricks, their brains were indeed less inferior than the Persians in dealing with intrigue.

    Davos was always worried because he knew that Tissaphernes was a brilliant politician, ¡°Xenophon, do you know our marching route?¡±

    ¡°I''m not quite sure, it was decided by Tissaphernes, Clearchus, and Ariaeus. But it is surely not the way we entered from. Because you know¡ª¡± Xenophon shrugged, ¡°Your leader, Menon, took the lead and collected a lot of good things along the way, the local Persians hated us¡­don''t worry, we will be able to go back!¡±

    ¡®Collect? You mean pige! I am afraid that in the Persian''s eye, we are the aggressors! A bandit!¡¯ After hearing that, Davos was slightly annoyed, so he secretly breathed out to calmed his mood as much as possible, ¡°Do you know about the mountains, rivers, cities and roads in Persia?¡±

    ¡°Davos, this is the first time that I have gone deep into Persia, I don''t exactly know where they are, except that I know some famous cities in the book, such as Babylon, Susa, Persepolis, and so on¡­¡± Xenophon raised a piece of papyrus in his hand and said excitedly, ¡°However, I kept a brief record of what I saw every day and when I get back, I will write them down, so that the Greeks can understand the situation in Persia!¡±

    Davos smiled, ¡®Well, I know that you''re going to write a book called ¡¶Anabasis¡· in the future, but it won''t solve the urgent problem now.¡¯

    Where can I find someone who was familiar with the Persian geography? Davos distressedly thought¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As time went by, the Greek mercenaries and the Persian army camped near each other, but when they went to the rivers to carry water and collect firewood, the soldiers of both sides would often meet and when they disagree, they would fight, which increased the hatred of both sides.

    A few dayster, they arrived at Physcus river and met the troops led by another brother of Artaxerxes, king of Persia. He came to help the king, but when he arrived, the war was over and he had to return with his troops.

    Clearchus was afraid of an ident and he ordered the entire troops to be fully armed, and to protect the supply units at the center and keep the battle column westward. The Persian troops, were not surprised by the Greeks who appeared here and they may have been informed by Tissaphernes to continue marching eastward. The two troops are only a few tens of meters apart from each other, and at a nce, they can clearly see each other''s appearance and expressions. You can imagine how nervous they are.

    For the first time, Davos saw the Persian army in its entirety, at the front were two-man chariots and four-man chariots, with 2 horses and 4 horses pulling each chariots respectively. One of them was responsible for controlling the chariot, while the other one or two soldiers for fighting, and he can see spears, shields, and bows in the chariot. There are only a dozen chariots and the legendary Scythed chariot wasn''t in-sight, but when he thought about it, he can see that the scythe can certainly be disassembled, otherwise it is very easy to injure its own teammates while marching in peacetime.

    Behind the chariots were the cavalry. Most of the horses were slightly around 1.4 meters high, which was obviously shorterpared with the horses for racing that Davos saw at the Olympic Games in his previous life. They have bridle but no saddles and not to mention stirrups, they only ce a thick nket on the back of the horse. The riders, wear helmets, while some wear a soft hats, there is no leather armor or shield and they all wear short robes. They have a variety of weapons in their hands, bows are the most, followed by javelin, then spears, and a few with short mace¡­

    Hundreds of cavalry galloped past and a huge infantry unit was on disy. After looking at it for a while, Davos found that the the Persian infantry were a mixed troops: A shieldman with arge shield, the shield height is up to the shoulder, while its width is able to hide a person, closely followed by a spearman, then 6-7 archers and it will repeat.

    This is very simr to the Persian infantrybat formation mentioned by Antonios, when the enemy arrives, the shieldman were in the first row and the shield walls they erect will protect the formation. The spearman will resist the iing enemy and prevents them from breaking up the shield wall. The archers in the rear will use their bows and arrows to kill arge numbers of enemy. Whether they are shieldmen, spearmen or achers, they all have amon features, they are wearing light armor and some with no armor. Combined with the cavalry before, Davos can easily make a judgement, the Persian army is a force with excellent long-range lethality, strong mobility, but weak in closebat. No wonder they always get defeated by the Greeks in battle, because in a head-on battle, their infantry wasn''t an opponent at all under the impact of the Greek''s hoplite. The characteristics of the Persian Army were more suitable for long-range killing and harassment, and even much better with a wide scale mobile outnking warfare.

    The two armies passed each other and nothing happened, just a false rm.

    After this interlude, the troops quickly entered Media. Thisnd once nurtured the fierce Medians and the Median kingdom they founded was a nightmare for the people of Mesopotamia. However, after a hundred years passed, its glory has ceased and for some reasons, thisnd under the Persian rule has be somewhat deste and the terrain became uneven.

    Due to the decrease of market supply, the fighting between the two armies for resources began to increase whenever they camped.

    ¡°Davos, you made this¡­this¡­leg bindings it really works! If I have another day''s walk today, my calf would have been too swollen for me to move in the afternoon, but now I don''t have to worry about that!¡± Hielos eximed while he sat in the tent removing his leg bindings.

    ¡°Of course, Davos is ¡®God''s Favored¡¯! He is blessed by Hades, and the ideas that he came up with can''t fail! Now, manypanions of the other troops begun to learn how to use leg bindings!¡± Olivos proudly said.

    Davos didn''t speak, and now that he''s hearing so much good things about himself, he even became slightly numb. He knew very well that some of the little things he had known in his previous life were only meant to improve the soldiers'' situation and further enhance his influence in Menon''s camp, but there would be no change in the situation of the Greek mercenaries as a whole.

    ¡°Davos, there''s a rumor circting in the troops these days that the Persians are going to take action against us and give us to the Persian king as ves after we''ve been captured. Do you think¡­this is true?!¡± The voice of Giorgris came from the corner.

    This is exactly what Davos had been thinking. Although the suspicions between the two armies had existed before, such rumors could spread quickly in a day or two, making everyone knows about it and from his past experience it is impossible if no one deliberately spread it.

    ¡®Is it the Persian? Or our own? Why do they want to spread such rumors? Let the agreement break down? Making the Greeks nervous and copse?¡¯ Davos had no clue for the moment, faced with the concerned gaze, with a bitter smile in his heart, he calmly said, ¡°We have all been safe these days, so don''t be nervous and we all just need to be vignt!¡±

    Just then, a man went inside the tent.

    ¡°Matonis, you are out fighting again!¡± Hielos saw the bruises on Matonis'' face and said with a slight reproach.

    Matonis spat a mouthful of blood and said excitedly, ¡°Despite the Persians being weak in battle, but when ites to fighting, they aren''t weak. We have more than a dozen people together with Martius, but it still took a lot of effort beating 20 of them!¡±

    He sat on his bunk, while rubbing his cheeks and pretending to be mysterious, ¡°I did not only fight, but I also heard something.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± asked Hielos.

    Matonis looked at the crowd and said loudly, ¡°Further on is the territory of Cyrus the Younger and his mother. I heard that there were many viges in there and they are rtively wealthy!¡±

    ¡°So we can finally eat something good!¡± Olivos cried happily.

    The others were also slightly excited, since they haven''t eaten well these days.

 Chapter 20: Bandit

    The next day, a more exciting news came, Tissaphernes announced that the Greek mercenaries could pige this area for supplies.

    Everyone was cheering, but only Davos was silent, ¡®Piging?¡­this is a revenge against Cyrus the Younger! But what does the people here have to do with Cyrus the Younger''s rebellion?¡­Don'' tell me! It is just because they live here that they will suffer this disaster! Tissaphernes is really vicious! And what about the Greeks?¡­¡¯

    In the afternoon, the mercenaries of Menon rushed into a vige.

    The quiet vige was soon filled with screams and crying¡­

    Davos saw it with his own eyes that hisrades who were usually intimate and friendly had now turned into a bandit. They stabbed the Persian men that had attempted to stop them and kicked over the old who were pleading, they then picked up the Persian women who were crying and broke into every house, they snatched the gold and silver, and also took the animals and food¡­each of them had a mix expression of greed and madness on their faces, which made Davos felt strange.

    Davos was like a wandering soul, that weakly wandered through the vige, all the soldiers who saw him looked at him in surprise. There were Persians lying on the ground, covered with blood while pointing and shouting at him, there was a limping old man holding him and begging¡­although he could not understand what they were saying, but deep inside his heart knew they were angry at him. There is nothing he can do, so what are they pleading for?

    He tried to avoid it like a gue by running unsteadily to a deserted ce, avoiding the angry gazes that made him felt guilt. At the same time, he was trying tofort himself in his mind, ¡®This is war. This is war!! I was just forced¡­¡¯

    Just then, a sudden scream awakened the absent-minded man, it was Olivos'' voice!

    ¡®I fear that Olivos might be in danger!¡¯

    Following the sound, he broke into a house quickly. A Persian man had fallen into a pool of blood in the yard. He didn''t have the time to think about it and with one foot, kicked the door open: A naked Olivos fell motionless on the bed. There was a woman curled up at the bed and at the bedside stood a girl around 10 years old, trembling while holding a big rock in her hand¡­

    When Davos saw this, he could probably guess what had happened. Obviously, Olivos fancied the beauty of the hostess, he first killed the man, then forcible carried the woman to the bed and ravaged her. Who knew that the daughter that was hiding ran out and smashed his head with a stone, while he was having fun¡­

    Shameless! He cursed in his heart, but he still shouted out of concern to hisrade, ¡°Olivos, are you okay?!¡±

    Olivos didn''t reply, but it woke up the little girl. She turned her head quickly and saw another Greek soldier standing at the door, she was greatly stimted and screamed, ¡°Bandit! Bandit! Die!! Die!!¡­¡± She struggled in throwing the rock at Davos and at the same time rushed at him.

    Davos subconsciously blocked the stone with his shield, and he naturally revealed the spear held in his right hand.

    The girl did not shriek at the shiny spear, nor did she dodge it, and as if she became insane, jumped straight at him.

    Davos couldn''t evade and only felt that his right hand sunk, and as soon as the girl''s hand grabbed his face, she fell on him powerlessly.

    The woman on the bed cried out in despair and rushed over nakedly. Davos stepped back powerlessly and let the woman held the girl with a spear in her chest tightly. The heart-tearing cry was like a sharp knife piercing his heart and made him feel like he was going to faint, but someone supported him.

    ¡°Are you okay?!¡± Davos who was absent-minded, heard the voice of Hielos.

    ¡°I''m fine.¡± He pushed Hielos and slowly walked into the yard.

    Hielos had discovered Davos behaving strangely, and so he followed him all this time. At this moment, although he was worried about Davos, he was even more worried about the safety of Olivos who was inside the house, thus he quickly entered inside¡­

    When he came out of the house, he found Davos sitting on the side of the road, leaning against the wall, while looking at the sky and not moving, he wondered what Davos was thinking¡­

    Hielos wanted to pull him up, but he felt it inappropriate, after thinking about it, he just simply sat with Davos¡­

    He didn''t know how long it took, when Davos suddenly stood up and repeatedly scream strange speech loudly, while tears run down his cheeks.

    After a while, he calmed down and asked, ¡°What about the woman?¡±

    ¡°She went insane.¡± Hielos sighed.

    Davos was silent for a long time, and said, ¡°Her husband and daughter died, perhaps going insane might be the best relief for her¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Hielos felt the grief in his words and said, ¡°Olivos is fine, he was just knocked unconscious. He woke up and is currently resting in the house.¡±

    Davos didn''t speak, and Hielos shivered when he saw the cold gleam in his gaze.

    ¡°Now, we need to ask the people of this vige whether there is someone who knows the Persian geography best.¡± Davos then stood up.

    Hielos hesitated, ¡°We had just piged them, I am afraid they won''t tell us.¡±

    ¡°There''s a way to make them to speak.¡± Davos'' faintment made Hielos feel a chill. The current Davos seems to be different from his previous self. Hielos doesn''t know whether the change was good or bad¡­

    At dusk, the mercenaries threw down the weeping vigers all over the ce, and returned fully loaded. Davos also found the man he wanted ¡ª a Persian merchant. In order to make him speak, Davos also asked Hielos to capture his wife and daughter. Although Tissaphernes made it clear that it was not allowed to capture any Persian as a ve, but the troops of Menon ignored what Davos had done and even covered for him.

    Davos seeded in bringing the people back to the camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°You mean that our team has been moving northwest?¡± Davos looked at the Persian merchant, Marigi, and asked. The interpreter next to him repeated Davos'' words in Persian.

    The tall and slightly chubby Persian, who imed to be a small merchant, cautiously looked at Davos and quickly lowered his head and stroked the grass with a branch, ¡°ording to what you had said before, you are going back to Ionia. Ionia is in the Aegean Sea to the west. You passed through Babylon, Opis, and now you are here¡­if you keep going west, not only will it be a long way, but it''s also difficult to cross the Taurus Mountains and you will need to take a detour¡­¡±

    He once more looked up at Davos, and when he saw that he was listening carefully, he raised his voice, ¡°So you are obviously heading northwest along the Tigris River through the mountains of the Carduchian, then to Armenia and eventually to the ck Sea by boat to go back to Ionia¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, it turned out to be like this! It seems that Tissaphernes'' route is still reasonable.¡± Olivos suddenly thought about it and shouted.

    Davos found that when Marigi heard this, his body slightly shook. He immediately re at Olivos.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Matonis scolded in a low voice. Olivos, who likes to argue with Matonis, stop talking.

    Davos looked at the sketch drawn on the ground and looked at it carefully for a while, and then asked, ¡°Which ce do you think it would give us a lot of trouble when marching on our future routes?¡±

    Marigi said without hesitation, ¡°The mountain area of the Carduchian! There lived the savage and ferocious Carduchians, who won''t easily let strangers pass through theirnds, but¡ª¡° He nced at Olivos and said quickly. ¡°Your troops are huge, and you have the Persians leading the way, so you should be able to easily get through.¡±

    ¡°How do you know that we have a huge troops?¡± Davos asked immediately.

    ¡°Because¡­because before I came in, I saw your camps one after another¡­¡± Marigi began to tremble.

    Davos patted him on the shoulder and smiled, ¡°Don''t be afraid, you have a good observation. Do you know Tissaphernes?¡±

    Marigi immediately shook his head, and suddenly thought of something and began to nod his head hard, His voice trembled even more, ¡°I just heard that¡­because he used to¡­to use our lord, Cyrus, of rebellion¡­he was almost beheaded¡­¡±

    Davos looked at him, and he was avoiding Davos'' gaze with guilt.

 Chapter 21: Marigi

    ¡°There is still a problem.¡± Davos regained his gaze and seriously asked: ¡°Until where on the road will we be able to leave the jurisdiction of the Persian royal family?¡±

    Marigi was eager to please Davos, and so, he carefully thought about it and drew a circle on the sketch: ¡°Here! After Mesp<sup>[1]</sup>!¡±

    ¡°Mesp?¡± Davos looked at the pattern on the ground.

    ¡°Mesp was the former capital of Assyria, Nineveh! After passing it, the next ce is the Carduchians.¡± Marigi emphasized.

    Davos nodded: ¡°Are you familiar with the Carduchians?¡±

    ¡°Not really, I just did business with them by exchanging food for their mountain goods!¡± Marigi said, with an angry look on his face: ¡°But they are dishonest savages who often don''t pay, they will also hurt you and steal something!¡±

    Davos listened carefully, then he turned to Matonis and said, ¡°Take his family to the supply unit and let Mersis look after them, but you must tell Mersis not to abuse him and his family and not to turn them into ves!¡±

    As soon as he finished talking, Marigi threw himself down on his knees, ¡°I beg you! I beg you! Let me and my family go! I already said everything! Please let us go¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems that you can understand Greek, but pretended that you didn''t.¡± Davos said.

    Marigi had no excuse this time and just burst into tears.

    ¡°In fact, it''s for your own good that I didn''t release you and your family. Do you know that your lord ¡ª the king''s brother, Cyrus the Younger, had died in battle!¡±

    Marigi suddenly stopped crying, and the hands holding Davos'' legs also lost strength, he then asked weakly, ¡°His Highness Cyrus really died?¡±

    ¡°Actually, you have already guessed it, didn''t you? Otherwise, how can Tissaphernes bring us here, and allowed us to pige your vige, because it was the punishment for Cyrus the Younger''s rebellion! I believe this punishment won''t be thest time! I fear that all the people close to him can''t escape, right?¡±

    Marigi was paralyzed on the ground and lost his senses.

    Matonis pulled and dragged him.

    ¡°This person isn''t like an ordinary merchant.¡± Hielos watched as Marigi got dragged and said to Davos.

    ¡°You are right!¡± Davos nodded. The family living in a dpidated house, but hid a lot of gold, silver, and gorgeous clothes, he is also proficient in Greek and knew so many thing, and the only thing that made him and his wife like an ordinary Persian merchant was their temperament. Perhaps he is a rtive of Cyrus the Younger or his royal merchant. After knowing that Cyrus the Younger rebelled, he fled to a remote vige in his territory to escape disaster. If it wasn''t for the vige head giving him away, he would have missed a big fish.

    Davos thought happily, while he has selectively fogotten how he had tortured the vige head and his family. He said to Hielos, ¡°Squad leader, I have to trouble you to once again emphasize to Mersis that no one is allowed to harass his family, he is very useful to us! Now that Cyrus the Younger is dead, I want him to truly join us!¡±

    Davos'' leadership in the squad was already established which made everyone present not surprised on how a soldier gave an order to his squad leader.

    ¡°Alright.¡± Hielos stepped out of the tent without hesitation.

    ¡°Pikors, thank you very much! You have been a great help to me today!¡± Davos faced a soldier and said.

    ¡°It''s my honor to be of help!¡± Pikors humbly said.

    Davos pulled out 2 drachmas and shoved them into his hands.

    ¡°This¡­this¡­¡± Pikors tried to decline.

    Davos said, ¡°Please ept it! I really want to thank you for this matter, and I hope that you can keep it secret, and to not let Menon know about it!¡±

    Pikors no longer decline after he heard what he said, he then stuff the silver coins and said, ¡°You can rest assured that I also don''t like that guy! I Promise to Hades that I won''t say a word about it!¡± Pikors made a ¡®keep his mouth shut¡¯ gesture and excitedly said, ¡°Next time you have this kind of work, you can just call me!¡±

    ¡°I definitely can''t leave you out!¡± Davosughed.

    After Pikors left the tent, Giorgris immediately asked with concern, ¡°Pikors is a Persian trantor of Menon, can we trust him?¡±

    ¡°I heard that whenever Menon meet someone who speak Persian, Pikors doesn''t have anything to do. On the contrary, Meno often use him as aborer. He would be too foolish if he offend us and besides, he will earn some money.¡± Olivos chimed in. After he woke up, he knew that he almost went to hell and immediately thanked Davos, who knew that Davos responded to him coldly and realized something, so he had been quiet until now.

    But as soon as he spoke, the tent fell into a brief silence.

    ¡°Davos, how did you know that the Persian merchant buried his money in the yard?¡± Giorgris suddenly asked.

    Davos understood that Giorgris wanted to liven up the atmosphere and said, ¡°It''s very simple, when we captured Marigi, I found that he wasn''t only worried that we would take advantage of his wife and daughter¡ª¡± Davos said this and nced at Olivos, ¡°His gaze kept sneaking a nce at the old tree in the yard from time to time, and so I went over and took a closer look, there I found a spot under the tree with a different color and it was a new soil. Of course, I have some suspicion, but I didn''t scare him that much, that guy was too timid and voluntarily confessed.¡±

    Several people prase Davos'' meticulousness, especially Olivos, who spoke the loudest.

    Davos then said to Giorgris, ¡°This money is of great use to us, you need to go to the supply unit every day to check it out. Don''t let that fatty take advantage.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the Greek mercenaries plundered many times, the marching formation of the mercenaries became evenrger and bulky.

    For the next few days, just as what Marigi had said, the mercenary troops had been marching along the right bank of the Tigris river, then crossed the river to reach the city, Gainie. They manage to get another adequate supply in here. But the suspicion of the Greek mercenary soldiers against the Persians became more serious, and a new rumors continued to spread among the troops, which leads to increased conflict between the soldiers of the two armies after they camp.

    When they finally reached Zapatas river, there was arge-scale conflict between the soldiers and more than 100 soldiers on both sides held weapons and fought, killing and injuring more than 10 people. If the leaders of both sides had not arrived in time and sent troops to separate the two sides, then the result would have been unimaginable.

    This led the marching to be cancelled the next day and the soldiers in each unit were restricted from leaving their camp. The constant march these days made Davos both physically and mentally exhausted, they seldom had free time and so, they all slept deeply.

    Mersis, who was in the supply unit, seized this moment to ughter some of the looted animals and made smoked sausages.

    Just as Davos woke up, Antonios got into the tent and looked anxiously, ¡°Davos, Menon, Clearchus, Proxenus and the other leaders went to the Persian camp to negotiate!¡±

    ¡°WHAT!!!¡± Davos was startled.

    ¡°I heard that after the incidentst night, Clearchus immediately went to see Tissaphernes to negotiate, hoping to elimate the suspicions of mutual distrust and to avoid the recurrence of such hostilities. Perhaps the two sides had a good conversation that made Clearchus to directly spent the night in the Persian camp. He returned safely this morning and sent people to inform the other leaders to follow him to the Persian camps to have further talks with Tissaphernes. It was said that many soldiers and officers of the other mercenary team opposed their decision, but the leaders eventually reached an agreement and they are about to leave.¡± Antonios quickly spoke about what had happened.

    ¡°Why was nobody in our camp notify us of this?¡± Hielos asked strangely.

    ¡°Meno didn''t consult with others and quietly brought the 2 captain, Kapes and Mirstik.¡± Antonios said with an awkward look. He knew it in his heart that after thest collective ¡°forced¡± incident, most of the officers and soldiers were no longer willing to obey Menon''s order, and after Menon lost his prestige, he no longer want to discuss it with them anymore and therefore, directly sought out the 2 captain who are still willing to listen to him.

    Antonios did not exin it in details and said, ¡°I just heard the noise of the soldiers of the nearby Socrates camp and only then did I know about it after asking them.¡±

    ¡°Who are the ones that are going?¡± Davos stood up, he then dressed quickly, and asked seriously.

    Antonios'' heart ¡°thump¡± after he saw Davos'' expression which confirmed the uneasiness he felt, ¡°Clearchus, Proxenus, Meno, Socrates, Agias these five leaders, and more than a dozen captains.¡±

    ¡°Faster! Faster! take me to them, before it''s toote!!!¡± Davos put on a linen and anxiously pulled Antonios out, followed by Hielos.

    [1] Mesp was the capital of the former Assyrian empire. Its other name are Nineveh(back in the Assyrian empire period) and Mosul(modern day).

 Chapter 22: Stop

    The soldiers guarding the gate of the camp, look at Davos and Antonios as they directly pass them. And only after Hielos did they try to stop them. Davos had no time to heed their shout and followed Antonios as he ran north. After running for a while, he then saw a group of people ahead.

    Clearchus was having a conversation with the Persian king''s younger brother, Ostanes, who came to meet with them, when they suddenly heard a shout from behind, ¡°Stop! Stop! This is a conspiracy! A conspiracy of the Persians!¡­¡±

    The 5 leaders and more than a dozen captains, plus 200 soldiers escorting them who intends to go to the market when they passed by it, were shocked and immediately stopped to look back.

    Davos rushed to them, faced with the many gazes that were strangely staring at him , he said it loudly while he panted, ¡°This is a conspiracy!¡­ Tissaphernes is ready¡­ready to kill all of you! If we do not have a leader, we will fall into chaos which will lead to the annihtion of the whole mercenary troops!¡±

    Several leaders subconsciously looked at the Persian envoy, Ostanes.

    Ostanes pointed angrily at Davos and shouted, ¡°Who is he?! How dare he say such thing! It was you who asked for the talks, Tissaphernes just responded to the request of Clearchus and treated him warmly. Is this how you repay the Persian general, Tissaphernes?! This is not only an insult to him! It is even more insulting to our king!! I will leave! And I will report this to Tissaphernes and suggest that he report it to his majesty, so that his majesty will cancel the agreement with you Greeks!¡±

    Several leaders hurriedly stopped his horse and even apologized.

    Davos didn''t think that this meeting was the request of Clearchus, nor did he gave much thought to it and said eagerly, ¡°Even if the meeting resumes, not all the leaders and captains should go to the Persian camp! We have all been on guard against the Persians! Who knows whether Tissaphernes being friendly to us for ten days, is to lessen our vignce?! Have you forgotten his previous treachery?!¡±

    As soon as Davos stop talking, Menon jumped out and vented his resentment for these ten days, ¡°Audacious madman! Shameless liar! Not only did you deceive the soldiers in my camp, but you also incited them to oppose me! Now you want to destroy the peace between us and the Persians! You want to make everyone unable to go home!! Someone catch him for me!!¡±

    However, none of the soldiers obeyed his orders. Firstly, he had only 2 captains with him, and didn''t bring other followers. Secondly, some of the soldiers recognized that Davos was the rumored ¡°God''s Favored¡± in Menon''s camp for quite some time, so they started talking in low voices.

    At first, several of the leaders who heard Davos'' words, hesitated. Who knew that Menon''s scolding immediately made them disgusted of Davos. Despite his bad character, Menon and them have been working together for quite a long time, and several leaders also knew that his ability wasn''t weak. An ordinary soldier actually dared to oppose his leader, which was undoubtedly a big taboo for the leaders.

    Clearchus had a different ideas. He was surprised to think that Menon had found a soldier to act here and wanted to destroy the meeting. Because there was another purpose of the meeting: Tissaphernes promised him that he was willing to openly point out the one that wasmunicating with the Persian army and creating rumors among the mercenaries.

    Clearchus had been specting that it was Menon. Because Menon had always openlypeted with him for themand of the Greek mercenaries since they entered Persia, and he is currently been staying with Ariaeus, who was already close to Tissaphernes, and he had many secret meetings with Socrates and Agias which is definitely in order to oppose him. This time, he must expose this vile character in public, and thus consolidate hismand. Because he firmly believes that only he could bring the mercenaries back to Greece intact. This is also why he hated the Persians, but had to endure this humiliation and the burden of peace talks with Persia, and he also hated anyone who tries to destroy the unity of the team.

    So, he immediately ¡®pushed the boat along the river¡¯ and said, ¡°Now that Menon had already said it, take this clown and send him back to the camp to be lock up. We''ll judge him once we get back!¡±

    He looked around and said firmly, ¡°Now I will go to negotiate with Tissaphernes! Those who believe in me can follow me, and those who don''t can go back!¡± After that, several soldiers went over and held down Davos, Antonios tried to blocked them and was also taken down.

    Clearchus marched northward, Proxenus slightly hesitated and followed. Menon heavily spit on Davos'' face and proudly shouted, ¡°When I return, you are dead!!¡± After that, heugh while moving forward. Most of the soldiers also followed their leader, and only a handful of soldiers who had heard of Davos'' ¡°miracle¡± remained in their ce.

    Davos didn''t care about Menon at the moment, he was pressed to the ground and ate a mouthful of dirt. He struggled and shouted in the direction where the leaders left, ¡°Clearchus, you fool! Your stubbornness will not only harm you, but also the whole mercenary troops! You will regret it! Oh right, you might not have the time to regret it!¡­¡±

    However, his cursing did not bring back Clearchus, and the figures of the leaders grew farther and farther away and blurred. Finally, Davos calmed down and sat down on the ground. Previously, he thought that Clearchus was a ¡°famous general¡± and should be very clear-headed, but he was so stubborn that he doesn''t listen to any opinions. In fact, Davos did not know that most Spartan men are conservative and stubborn, and once they made up their mind, they often do not look back. The most famous one was the Spartan strategos in the Battle of taea<sup>[1]</sup>. Before the battle, the Greek coalitionmander ordered the troops to retreat, but a Spartan strategos thought that retreating in front of the enemy would be against the Spartan tradition and refused to retreat even after many persuasions, which made the Spartan troopsg behind the formation and almost led to their defeat.

    The advance party continued to move forward, while the soldiers escorting Davos pushed him back. Instead, the soldiers who were left behind introduced themselves andforted Davos.

    At this time, Antonios got free and asked, ¡°Davos, are the leaders really in danger?¡±

    ¡°The sheep negotiating with the wolf, what good results will it lead!¡± Davos sighed. Such deception were countless throughout the history of ancient and modern China and foreign countries. The sess of Tissaphernes'' strategy was mainly due to their illusion about the peace talks, while the others trusted Clearchus more than their fear of their own safety. Or that his influence was still not enough!

    ¡°What should we do?¡± Antonios was slightly nervous.

    ¡®What to do? Of course it is to help ourselves! ! ¡¯ Davos suddenly remembered Xenophon. Why did he boast that he led the retreat in his book? It was because of the ¡ª more than 20 mercenary leaders and captains were killed and the entire Greek mercenary leadership faced a change! !

    Thinking of this, he threw aside his frustration and renew his spirit, ¡°Fast! Let''s go back!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Along the way, Menon added fuel to Proxenus as they talked about Davos'' ¡°misdeed¡±, which seeded in arousing their anger, he then secretly hid his excitement, ¡®This time, I canpletely get rid of this huge trouble!¡¯

    Before arriving at the Persian camp, most of the soldiers that were going to the market, bid farewell to their leaders.

    Entering the Persian camp, Clearchus saw the same scene as he saw when he left here yesterday and some rxed Persian soldiers looked at them curiously and talked to each other about, ¡°Why are there so many Greek barbariansing to our camp?¡± Such things instead made Clearchus and the rest at ease.

    When they arrived at Tissaphernes'' tent, Ostanes went in and informed, ¡°The five leaders cane in, while the others need to wait outside the tent temporarily!¡±

    Clearchus was the first to enter. The light inside was dim, he squinted his eyes and found that there were many people inside the tent. He was shocked and before he could react, he heard a shout, ¡°Capture him!!¡±

    [1] Battle of taea was the finalnd battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took ce in 479 BC near the city of taea in Boeotia, and was fought between an alliance of the Greek city-states (including Sparta, Athens, Corinth and Megara), and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I (allied with Boeotians, Thessalians, and Macedonians).

 Chapter 23: Shock

    More than twenty strong men rushed out on both sides, and Clearchus and the four mercenary leaders fell to the ground and were immediately tied with ropes.

    The captains and the soldiers waiting outside the entrance were also surrounded by heavily armed Persians, who cut down the unarmed Greeks with sharp des, spears, andrge shields.

    ¡°Satrap, congrattions, your n was sessful!¡± There was a wildughter inside the tent.

    The candle was lit and the light was restored.

    Clearchus saw three people in the center of the tent, Tissaphernes, Orontes, and Ostanesughing proudly and he screamed in anger, ¡°Tissaphernes, you mean and shameless viin! You deceive us with lies, ughtered my soldiers, and you broke your oath to your supreme god, Ahura Mazda, when you signed the contract! Are you not afraid of the wrath of your gods?! Are you not afraid that your king will suffer from tens of thousands of people cursing?! Are you not afraid of the disaster that wille to your family?!!¡­¡±

    ¡°Hehehe¡­¡± With a smile on his face, Tissaphernes took a ss of wine from his attendant, he carefully tasted it and walked up to the mercenary leader, before he slowly said, ¡°Clearchus, let me tell you something. Our great king had already returned to Persepolis the day after the death of Cyrus the Younger. Of course, he has never given any instructions about ¡®peace talks with you¡¯ which I just made up to deceive you¡­ As for whether the gods will punish me, you don¡¯t have to worry, since they wouldn''t!¡± He said it in an aggravated tone, ¡°Mazda, will reward me for capturing and killing a group of savages who invaded Persian territory and massacred Persian people!¡­Oh, I will also tell you one more thing, those rumors were ordered by me!¡±

    Seeing the horror on Clearchus'' look, he was in a happy mood and drank all the wine in his ss.

    Proxenus spit at him, but he dodge it.

    ¡°Liar! Coward¡­¡± Proxenus shouted.

    Tissaphernes was not angry, and proudly said, ¡°Liar?! Lying?! No, no, no! I would rather call it wisdom! Unlike you Greek savages who only knows how to fight, we Persians prefer to use our brains to find ways that will cost us less in exchange for greater victory! Just like how I made you less alert by negotiating a truce. Of course I know that you will still be vignt, but once you get used to this kind of peace and stability, you don¡¯t want to go back to the tense and hostilities of the past, and so you want to work hard to maintain peace. Therefore, I deliberately sent soldiers to sh with your mercenaries, swearing, fighting¡­ and then spreading rumors so that you won''t doubt me, then who will you doubt?¡±

    Tissaphernes'' eyes swept over the captured leaders and ridiculed them, ¡°I guess it was Menon, isn¡¯t that right?! You see, I know all the dirty things inside your camp! And I also know that you are a very responsible leader, Clearchus. The more conflict between the two armies, the more worried you will be, and on the contrary, you wille to my ce to negotiate on your own initiative! Oh look, you did not only came to my ce on your own initiative, but also sent me a big gift!¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop talking nonsense and kill us if you want!¡± Clearchus shouted while his face turned red.

    ¡°Lord Tissaphernes, forgive me! Please spare my life!!¡­¡­¡± Menon struggled and pleaded, ¡°Even if you let me be your ve, as long as you forgive me! I''ll go and persuade those foolish mercenaries and let them surrender to you! I can also subjugate Asia Minor for you! I am willing to do anything for you, I am just asking for you to spare my life!!¡­¡±

    ¡°Anything?¡± Tissaphernes blinked, as if he was interested, ¡°Go bark like a dog first.¡±

    ¡°Woof woof woof!¡­¡± Menon actually barked.

    ¡°Oh, this is the Greek savages!¡± The Persians in the tent were all happy.

    ¡°Menon, you shut up!¡­¡± Clearchus, was ashamed and scolded Menon.

    Menon turned a deaf ear, he simply knelt down and looked at Tissaphernes with pleasure.

    ¡°Very good! Very good!!¡­¡± Tissaphernes smiled, pped his hands and walked toward Meron.

    Menon curled both his hands, sat on the ground, spitting out his tongue, and barking happily.

    Tissaphernes came up to him and gave him a sly smile, he then quickly pulled out his sword and shed down Menon''s neck.

    In the shouts of everyone, blood gushed out and the head of Menon rolled to the ground , with his face solidified a shock look.

    ¡°Idiot! You thought that I didn''t know that you were desperately swearing at me in front of Cyrus the Younger and took the initiative to attack my house!¡± Tissaphernes stepped on Menon''s head with his left foot and his face got sshed with blood and was cold as ice.

    The four leaders were sullen as they looked at the headless body on the ground. Even Clearchus, who always held a grudge against Menon, had grief on his face. They felt sad for the death of their ownrade.

    ¡°ce this man''s head on a jar with saltpeter, and immediately escort it to Persepolis along with the four criminals, so that his Majesty can personally judge them!¡± Tissaphernes ordered.

    After the four mercenary leaders were taken out, Socrates mournfully regretted, ¡°I wish I had listened to that young man!¡­¡±

    Clearchus was expressionless and said nothing.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Ariaeus asks to see you my lord!¡±

    ¡°Let hime in.¡±

    Ariaeus walked inside the tent and saw a shocking pool of blood on the ground. As soon as he slowed down, he heard Tissaphernes say, ¡°That is the blood of Menon, I just cut off his head with a sword!¡±

    ¡°Rashnu knows (the god of judgment of good and evil in Persian mythology), that this is the punishment he deserves!¡± Ariaeus hurriedly said, looking at Tissaphernes who had a yful smile, and immediately said, ¡°Lord Satrap, I have sent the cavalry to kill all the Greeks who are wandering outside their camp, as you have ordered.¡±

    ¡°Very well, I will report your merits to his majesty!¡± Tissaphernes understood that for the troops of Cyrus the Younger, he had to deter them as well as get close with them. After all, they are nearly 10,000 troops, and when he returns to Asia Minor, he had to rely on these local Persian nobles.

    ¡°Now that the main leaders of the Greek mercenaries have been taken down, those foolish Greeks are probably in a panic and don''t know what to do. You and Ostanes go to the Greek camps and try to get the Greeks to surrender¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Antonios hoped that the soldiers would escort Davos to Menon''s camp, because no one in there dared to do anything to Davos.

    Davos refused and obeyed the soldiers'' request and went to Clearchus camp. Because it is the vanguard troops, the camp were also located in the northernmost part and close to the Persians so that he could easily get information immediately. He asked Hielos to call Xenophon and let Antonios return to Menon''s camp to prepare himself, then he thought of something and pulled over Matonis and whispered to him, Matonis then looked at him with amazement and finally nodded.

    As they watched Hielos leave, Davos suppressed the tension in his heart as they headed for Clearchus camp. The soldiers who escorted him could not help but ask, ¡°Is Clearchus really in danger?¡±

    Davos asked, ¡°Who is in charge of your camp in the absence of Clearchus?¡±

    ¡°The captain of the first unit, Timasion.¡±

    ¡°Then you''d better go and tell him to be ready for defense.¡± While Davos was talking, the guard of the camp screamed in shocked and pointed at the front, ¡°Look, the Persian cavalry!!¡±

    Davos and the soldiers looked back together and saw countless Persian cavalry galloping back and forth hundreds of meters in front of the camp, stirring up the dust all over the sky, and shouting from time to time in the dusty fog.

    ¡°This¡­¡± The soldiers looked nervously at Davos.

    Despite the fact that his guess came true, Davos didn''t have a trace of joy, ¡®The war is finallying!¡¯ and he was also nervous.

    ¡°Fast! Get back to the camp!¡± He called the soldiers apanying him to quickly enter the camp and close the gate.

    At this time, a soldier came out of the dust fog ahead, running while covering his bleeding abdomen with one hand and stumbled.

    The guards and Davos immediately rushed forward and returned to the camp with him.

    ¡°I¡­we are on our way to the market¡­the Persian cavalry¡­then suddenly rushed toward us¡­many of our brothers died¡­Agias¡­Go and inform Agias¡­he is in danger¡­¡± The wounded soldier weakly said.

 Chapter 24: Showing up prominently

    Davos saw the huge wound in the man''s abdomen and he could even see the intestines inside, he knew that the man''s life was slim, but he couldn''t bear to just give up, he then said to the soldiers besides him, ¡°Bring him to the field hospital in Menon''s camp as soon as possible and tell them that Davos sent him.¡±

    ¡°Field Hospital?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I know!¡± Someone answered, so the soldiers carried the wounded soldier, and was ready to go through south of Clearchus camp. The others looked at Davos not knowing what to do.

    Davos anxiously said to them, ¡°Quickly inform the officers of each camp, that the Persians vited their promises and massacred the Greek soldiers. I am afraid that the leaders who went to have a meeting have been captured by the Persians, and so they have assembled their soldiers and were ready for a battle!¡±

    The soldiers immediately rushed to their respective camps.

    ¡°Davos, what happened?!¡± At this time, Xenophon arrived at the gate of the camp.

    Davos quickly told him about the summary of what happened.

    Xenophon looked gloomy and his eyes were filled with regret, ¡°I had also previously persuaded Proxenus, but he didn''t listen, and I did not insist on persuading him¡­I''m afraid that Proxenus has already¡­¡± Xenophon''s trembling voice sobbed.

    Davos nodded silently.

    Xenophon looked at the Persian cavalry galloping ahead and said loudly, ¡°We should immediately call the entire mercenary troops! We need to attack the Persian camp and rescue Proxenus!¡±

    ¡°That is not a good idea!¡± Along with the voice, came a sturdy middle-aged man, ¡°Although the soldiers fought with the Persians a lot of times previously, but we had been peacefully camping with them during this time. Now you''re suddenly going to war with the Persians, the soldiers can''t adapt immediately, let alone sieging the Persian camp.¡±

    ¡°At least we should get rid of the Persian cavalry in front, and maybe we can save some of the soldiers that are outside!¡± Davos reminded.

    The man nced at him and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±.

    ¡°Davos, a soldier under Menon.¡±

    ¡°What we need to do is a matter for the officers, we don''t need a soldier to teach us!¡± The man yelled angrily.

    Davos wasn''t interested to continue talking.

    ¡°Xenophon, you immediately go back to your camp and inform Agasias to immediately bring the troops.¡± He once more ordered Xenophon.

    Xenophon responded and turned and left, Davos immediately followed him and asked Xenophon who that man is, and now knew that he is the adjutant of Clearchus, Timasion.

    Clearchus'' troops slowly gathered, the soldiers were wearing their armor while they slowly came out of their tents, and they were still chatting with each other. Obviously, thy did not know the danger they were facing, Timasion was so anxious that he beat and scolded them again till he managed to gather around 500 soldiers.

    While Davos and Xenophon had not yet left Clearchus'' camp, the officers from the other camps have arrived with a small number of soldiers, they were: Cleanor of Agias camp, Xanthicles of Socrates camp, Agasias of Proxenus¡­while Menon''s camp had thergest number of people, including his adjutant Philesius, the captains Antonios and Kapus, of course Hielos'' squad were also among the soldiers. Their arrival made Davos relieved.

    After the meeting, some of the officers still doesn''t know what happened and several captains headed by Antonios of Menon''s camp asked Davos to tell them what happened, because he had witnessed the whole thing.

    Some of the officers headed by Timasion were surprised at how Davos, who was just an ordinary young soldier, had been greatly respected by the officers of Menon''s camp.

    The others looked at Davos curiously, because some of the soldiers who went back started to preach without restraint, saying Davos of Menon''s camp was favored by the gods and had tried to prevent Clearchus and the others from going to the Persian camp, but the leaders did not listen to his ¡°Oracle¡± which resulted to this disaster. And it soon became known to everyone.

    Therefore, Davos facing theplex gazes of everyone, had calmly go through what had happened and briefly exin it.

    The officers of each camp quickly reached an agreement, to immediately drive out the Persian cavalry in front of the camp so that the soldiers outside can smoothlye back.

    The soldiers began to line up and Davos returned to Hielos team. At this time, Antonios who was in front of the formation shouted, ¡°Davos,e to the front!¡±

    Davos was stunned.

    Then, Kapus also began to shout.

    ¡°Go.¡± Hielos gave him a nudge of encouragement, and his teammates looked at him excitedly.

    Davos understood. His heart beat faster, but he did not refuse, and with great effort, he pushed forward and the soldiers took the initiative to open a way for him.

    ¡°Your position is here.¡± Antonios pulled him to the left side of Philesius ¨C this is the front of Menon''s troops and seriously said to him, ¡°We might have to negotiate with the Persianster, so we will need your guidance!¡±

    Antonios once more said to Philesius, ¡°Phily, take care of him for us!¡±

    Philesius answered without hesitation, ¡°Don''t worry about it!¡±

    For the first time, when standing in the position of the phnxmander, Davos was both excited and somewhat forced, he then turned his head and looked at Philesius, who was also looking at him and giving him a gentle smile.

    Previously, Davos had had several contacts with Philesius, and learned something about him through Antonios and the others. Davos had a preliminary impression of Philesius, this 45-year-old Thessalian is a good old man who knew military affairs well and doesn''t like to fight for fame and wealth. If you think about it, you can see that Menon, who has a strong desire to control things, will certainly not choose an equally ambitious person as his adjutant, due to how he often goes out to meet Persian dignitaries in order to ept some mercenary tasks, and the affairs in the camp must be presided over and must be handled by someone for a long time, there is also the danger that the soldiers will only recognize the adjutant and not him, therefore, he carefully chose the good-tempered Philesius as his adjutant. At this time, it was without a doubt that Davos had it easy, because Philesius had no objection to a young man standing in the position of amander, and his attitude was very friendly.

    The Greek mercenaries in front of the camp had about 700 hoplites and 200 peltast. The hoplites was in front and the peltast at the rear and with the sound of a bugle, the formation began to move forward slowly. The Persian cavalry didn''te up, but they instead retreated and the stifling sound started to fade and the dust in front was gradually dissipating. Every now and then, dusty Greek soldiers ran back to the camp, but there were a lot more corpses of theirrades on the ground, their grief and fear was increasing.

    ¡°The enemy ising.¡± Philesius quietly said.

    They saw a Persian troops appearing ahead and slowly approached them. Davos was nervous and excited, was his first battle about to begin?

    When the two armies were about 200 meters apart, a group of cavalry rushed out from the opposite side and came to the front of the Greek army, and shouted it in Greek, ¡°The Greeks on the opposite side listen, let your officers and the captainse up and listened to the decree of the king!¡±

    There was amotion in the Greek phnx, and the officers whispered to each other, but none of them came forward. The impression of the soldiers who had just been attacked was too deep, and the previous vitions of the Persians were rming.

    The Persians shouted again and the Greek army was still calm.

    At this moment, a man stepped out of the mercenary troops, armed with a copper shield and a spear, and slowly walk forward without hesitation.

    ¡°Who is that?! He is courageous!!¡±

    ¡°That is the Davos from our camp! He is favored by Hades!¡±

    ¡°Is that true?¡±

    ¡°Oh, he is so young!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The soldiers were curiously talking about him, while the officers were still hesitating, Philesius caught up to him. He promised Antonios that he would keep Davos safe. Then Xenophon also stepped out of the troops, how could he fall behind if Davos, who was younger, dared to move forward.

    ¡°What a mess!¡± Timasion scolded in order to hide his embarrassment and move forward. Subsequently, more than a dozen officers such as Xanthicles, Cleanor and Agasias also move forward one after another.

    Davos did so not because he was afraid of the Persian cavalry''s attack, but because he knew that when the mercenaries was in great trouble and the soldiers were panicking, only those who dared to take a risk and take the responsibility could be supported by the soldiers and might even forget that the was young and inexperienced.

    He walked unhurriedly, and was always taking a glimpse at both sides, and when he saw that the other officers were catching up, he was slightly relieved. Only then did he found that the hand that was holding the spear was full of sweat.

 Chapter 25: Negotiation Breakdown

    As he approached the Persian cavalry, Philesius told Davos that the Persians in front of him were Ariaeus, Artaozus and Mithridates, the three of them were the most trusted subordinates of Cyrus the Younger. Another Persian that Davos knew, was the former Persian envoy, Ostanes.

    The officers stopped about 20 meters from the Persian cavalry.

    ¡°Pleasee closer!¡± Ariaeus pointed at his horse.

    The officers did not move.

    Ostanes couldn''t help but sarcastically said, ¡°Are the Greeks so timid?¡±

    ¡°Because the Persians have repeatedly vited their oath, therefore we can no longer trust the Persians anymore!¡± Xenophon retorted.

    ¡°Yes, the Persians are shameless viins, they can even deceive their God!¡± Cleanor scolded angrility, his words resonated with the other officers.

    ¡°Please keep quiet! Listen carefully to the decree of the king!!¡± Ariaeus shouted.

    ¡°That is your king, not ours. If you still want to read it, then we will go back!¡± Davos also shouted.

    ¡°We Greeks are free, unlike you Persians who are ves to your king!¡± Timasion said it sarcastically and pridefully.

    Ariaeus was so angry that his nose got crooked, he then turned to look at Ostanes and Ostanes nodded at him, he helplessly unfolded the papyrus in his hand and loudly read it, ¡°All of you Greeks, I, Artaxerxes, the Persian king, the king of all races, dered that Clearchus had vited the oath of alliance and destroyed the truce, therefore the gods had punished him. Proxenus, Menon, Agias, Socrates the other four leaders had used him of conspiracy and are now being treated with great courtesy by my Satrap, Tissaphernes! In order to prevent such terrible betrayal from happening again on your way home, and also for the sake of safety¡ª¡± Ariaeus increased his voice and solemnly said, ¡°I ask that all the Greek soldiers to hand over your weapons, because the money for these weapons came from Cyrus the Younger who had rebelled and his money came from the Persian treasury, which belonged to me! Surrender your weapons and I swear to the supreme god, Mazda, that I will ensure your smooth arrival in Ionia!¡±

    ¡°HA HA HA!!¡­¡± Davosughed loudly, ¡°The wolves trying to scam a deer to be their friend in order to eat them. The wolves who have tasted the benefit also wants to trick all the other deers into breaking their horns so that the wolves can safely and daringly enjoy their meat! Hahaha¡­ How foolish a man must be to fall into such a trap once more, or do you mean to say that your king have a problem with his head?!!¡±

    ¡°Audacious!!¡± Ariaeus pointed angrily at Davos, ¡°You''ll be burned by insulting the king!¡±

    ¡°Enough, Ariaeus, you shameless vile man! And some of you were the few of the closestrades of Cyrus the Younger, are you not ashamed in front of the gods!¡± Cleanor pointed to Ariaeus, Artaozus and Mithridates, and shouted angrily, ¡°You have sworn to the gods that we would be allies against the Persian king, but now you have betrayed us and even cooperated with the inhumane vile man, Tissaphernes, and not only did you deceive Clearchus, but you also tried to sell out the rest of us! Knowing what you had done, Cyrus the Younger will curse you, even in hell!¡±

    Ariaeus unnaturally shrank his neck, and subconsciously nced at Ostanes who was next to him, who acted like he had nothing to do with him, which force him to say it again, ¡°His highness really wants to send you back home safely, because the rebel, Cyrus the Younger, has already received the most fair punishment, and you were all just deceived by him! The mercy of the king doesn''t want to let the Persiannd to suffer another senseless war! However, after the report of Proxenus and the rest, Clearchus began to conspire against lord Tissaphernes and the Persian army more than a dozen days ago and spread rumors in an attempt to alienate the Greeks from the Persians, we have taken actions against him!¡±

    ¡°Since you said that Proxenus has exposed Clearchus and received your reward, then let theme here, which will naturally resolve our suspicions and as the leaders, they can also make better suggestions for the reconciliation between us!¡± Xenophon was still trying to save Proxenus.

    ¡°That''s right, let our leaderse here and we will then trust you!!¡± The officers loudly shouted.

    ¡°Uhm¡­Proxenus, they epted the feast that lord Tissaphernes prepared¡­and are already drunk¡­so¡­¡± Ariaeus stutteringly said, Ostanes got slightly impatient and said, ¡°His highness has ordered that you hand over your weapons immediately, in order to ensure your safe return, otherwise we will not provide you anymore help!¡±

    ¡°Ares, us Greek warriors will never abandon our weapons and be ughtered by others!!¡± Timasion hit his bronze shield with his spear and screamed.

    ¡°Whoever wants to take our weapons, will need to fight us for it!¡± Cleanor yelled.

    ¡°Proxenus and the rest couldn''te, is not because they were drunk, but because they have been killed by you, right?!¡± Xenophon sadly said, and wanted to force Ariaeus to tell the truth by seriously saying the result, but he didn''t expect that he would arouse the anger of the officers.

    ¡°The Persians want to kill all of us!¡±

    ¡°Revenge for our leaders!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The enraged officers surrounded Ariaeus and when Ostanes noticed that the situation was turning bad, he turned his horse around and fled, Ariaeus then followed them back. After running for a while, Ostanes looked back and saw that he was far away from the Greeks, he remembered how he got frightened away by a group of barbarians and was ashamed and angry, so he shouted, ¡°Greeks, you have missed your best chance, and soon you will regret it!!¡±

    ¡°I don''t know who will be the one regreting it!¡± Xenophon unyieldingly answered.

    Watching the Persian cavalry leave, everyone was worried and it was certain that the mercenary leaders won''t have a good end, the Persians had torn their faces, what should they do now?

    Surrender to the Persians? Even the Persian king''s brother, Cyrus the Younger, got his head and hands brutally cut off and most of the officers did not think that their fate would be a lot better after surrendering! Either they are killed or be a ve. For this choice, it was uneptable for the officers, nor can they ept it.

    Otherwise, they had to fight the Persians again in this strangend! Now they were led by the Persians on a route that they have never traveled before, thousands of miles away from their home, they can only feel their way forward without the help of the Persians, and they do not know how many hostile tribes and viges they have to face, but they also have to be prepared for the attack of the Persian army. The most distressing thing was that the Persian can''t fight against them head-on, but they also can''t catch up with the Persians, and once they fail, the entire mercenary troops might get destroyed. It was because of these difficulties that everyone was depressed and didn''t know what to do. When they left the camp, the soldiers still had some spirit, but when they returned to their camp, they sighed and looked worried.

    Returning to the camp, when the officers in charge of the units gathered again, Davos naturally followed Philesius and participated in the discussion. Of course, as a neer, he seldom talk and was mostly observing these officers. In a heated debate, they are more likely to expose their personality, the grumpy Timasion, the shrewd Cleanor, the Prudent Xanthicles, and Agacia who has a good rtionship with the other officers¡­

    Xenophon was much more active, he not only had many heated arguments with the others, but also agitatedly said, ¡°Everyone, Clearchus and the rest have been captured by the Persians, we must immediately elect new leaders to rece them, then convened a general assembly for the whole mercenary troops in order to renew the determination of the soldiers to fight the Persians and their confidence that we can return home on our own. Otherwise, leaving the chaos to go on like this, will result in our demise before the Persians even attack!¡±

    Davos thought that Xenophon was right, although he had just started his military carrer, he had been a vige official in his previous life, and he was also the leader of a high-tech development zone and had managed more than 10,000 men. Therefore, he knew the importance of uniting their thoughts and inspiring confidence in a group.

    Timasion seemed to resent Xenophon''s excessive disy, he did not look at Xenophon at all and turned to face the others and said, ¡°Don''t worry, Cheirisophus<sup>[1]</sup> will be back soon!¡±

    [1] Cheirisophus was a Spartan general who fought with the Ten Thousand under Cyrus the Younger.

 Chapter 26: Cheirisophus

    ¡°Yes, let''s discuss it again once Cheirisophus arrives!¡± As soon as he mentioned Cheirisophus, everyone''s expressions became obviously more rxed, which made Davos curious and asked Xenophon in a low voice, ¡°Who is Cheirisophus?¡±

    Xenophon said with aplicated expression, ¡°I heard that Cyrus the Younger had an agreement with Sparta, he gave his full support to Sparta when they were building their navy. When Cyrus the Younger goes to battle, the Spartans needs to provide military assistance.¡±

    Davos immediately responded and said in surprise, ¡°You mean, Cheirisophus was sent by the Spartan?!¡±

    ¡°He is an ephor<sup>[1]</sup> of Sparta. I heard that he brought 700 spartan hoplites and joined Cyrus the Younger¡­ At that time, he did not know that Cyrus the Younger was going to rebel, when he found out, it was already toote, so he and his troops kept a low profile in the mercenaries, but many high-ranking officers knew his identity¡­¡± Xenophon said gloatingly.

    Davos knew why Xenophon had such an expression, because he was an Athenian. He previously heard Xenophon introduce the ephors of Sparta, unlike the other Greek city-states'' overseer, the Spartan system of Ephorate was unique because they held great powers: They can supervise the citizens, judge the Per¨ªoikoi<sup>[2]</sup>, punish the helots, enjoy the highest civil authority and criminal judicial authority. They can monitor the king''s every moves with a vignt gaze, they have the right to indict a king and might get summoned for a trial at any time. Moreover, the Spartan ephors can only be held by civilians, every autumn, five ephors were elected by lot by the citizens over the age of 30. Amand will be issued when they enter their post, requiring every citizen to shave of their mustache and beard whichplied with their nationalw. This shows the importance Sparta attaches to the ephors. ording to Xenophon, because of Sparta''s ephorate, Sparta wasn''t regarded as a tyrant state by the other city-states due to the civilians were holding authority.

    There was such an important person hidden in the Greek mercenary. He was probably the only strategos in the mercenary that held an official status and was also a Spartan. The former Spartan Clearchus was a deserter and was sentenced to death by the Spartan government, and this uing Spartan warrior was a real Spartan, and he also brought along 700 Spartan warriors of his same kind.

    He was about to see those ancient Spartan warriors who were popr all over the world in his previous life, Davos while he eagerly awaits, maliciously thought, ¡®Will they wear red underpants?¡¯

    While waiting for Cheirisophus, the temporary leaders of these camps were not idle. They invited the officers of each camps to participate in the discussion, from the rank of a squad leader to the rank of a captain. There were more than 200 people in the tent and because there wasn''t much room for so many people inside the tent, so they all sat down in a big circle in the open space of Clearchus'' camp, it wasn''t long after everyone had arrived that Cheirisophus had arrived.

    Early in the morning, Cheirisophus went to a nearby vige to prepare with his soldiers, the vige was located on the south side of the Greek camp and was therefore not intercepted by the Persian Cavalry. When the messenger found him, he was hurrying back and have learned about the things that have happened on his way back. When he came to the meeting ce, everyone consciously offered him a spacious space and he did not hesitate to directly sat on the mad like everyone else and began to look around, it''s true that he didn''t see the main mercenary leaders¡­he felt sad thinking whether Clearchus was still alive or dead. He and Clearchus wererades, who had made many achievements in the war with Athens, he was one of the leading strategos of Sparta, but fled because he could not adapt to peace and refuse to obey the orders of Sparta and was then sentenced to death. When Cheirisophus saw him in the army of Cyrus the Younger, he did not ordered his men to arrest him. Firstly, he did not want to destroy the cooperation with Cyrus the Younger. Secondly, he cherished their friendship asrades¡­

    His gaze slowly swept through everyone''s face and stopped as his gazended on a man, who has a very young face, in this huge group of officers whose average age was mostly over 30, and this young man shouldn''t be older than 20 and he was sitting at the forefront of the officers, so he was very conspicuous. Strangely enough, the attitude of the several people around him were quite respectful of him, the young man looked back at him and nodded with a smile¡­ Cheirisophus was confused and asked his adjutant in a low voice, his adjutant then asked the others before he answered.

    ¡®The ¡°God''s favored¡± of Menon''s camp? All of his ¡°Oracle¡±, came true?¡¯ Cheirisophus frowned, ¡®The management of the mercenary is indeed chaotic, letting such a young man with a childish face upy a high position!¡¯

    Although the Spartans im to be descendants of Heracles(Hercules), they were not very respectful to the gods, they only believed in their own strength. These old-fashioned and inflexible people doesn''t believe in the idea of being young and promising, otherwise they wouldn''t have a ¡°Spartans are not allowed to break away from their collective military life until they are 30 years old, to be independent, to marry and to hold an important position¡­¡± provisions. Hence, Cheirisophus had a bad first impression of Davos.

    In Davos''s eyes, the image of Cheirisophus and his imaginary Spartan warrior was quite different, he wasn''t tall and looks ordinary, if he didn''t have a scar on his face and a sharp gaze that remind others of his status as a soldier, otherwise, Davos might have think that he was just an ordinary Greek farmer.

    After the surroundings became quiet, Cheirisophus began to speak, ¡°I already know what happened, do any of you have suggestions?¡±

    For a while, there were many whispers but no one stood up to speak. After all, in order for them to express their opinions in the face of more than 200 experience officers, they not only need courage, but they also need some skills in speaking and insights, which wasn''t easy for the poor Greek mercenaries.

    Davos didn''t speak out, not because he was afraid, but because he had been in contact with the officers in charge of the troops, he found himself young and was just an ordinary soldier in this group and too much arrogance will easily offend them, therefore, he decided to wait and see what will happen.

    Finally, Xenophon stood up, ¡°Officers, the Persians vited their promises and killed or imprisoned our leaders and brothers, and they even want us to surrender our weapons. Now, the fight against the Persians is inevitable! As you have seen, most of the soldiers in the camp who knew about it were confused and afraid! If this situation doesn''t change quickly, once the Persianse to attack and our soldiers are needed to fight, they won''t be able to show their courage and wave their spears at the enemy, our whole troops are in danger of getting wiped out!

    Everyone, you are the officers of the various camps, usually in peacetime, your sry and status are higher than those ordinary soldiers and your ability is also stronger than them. Now in the face of danger, the soldiers are pining their hopes on you and you must show great courage and determination to fight the Persians to death, in order to stabilize the mood of the soldiers and boost their confidence!!

    At the same time, we must immediately select people with outstanding ability to serve as the new strategos of the camp, recing Clearchus with them in managing and restraining the soldiers of the various camps, making good ns andmanding the whole troops to defeat the Persians, and smoothly lead us back to Greece! With the protection of Zeus, we will definitely be able to leave Persia!!¡­¡±

    Xenophon''s words evoked great reactions of the crowd and some even apuded. Xenophon was slightlycent and turned his gaze to Timasion, who had an indifferent expression, then withdraw his gaze.

    In fact, the Greek mercenaries who are in trouble at this moment have only one choice. Cheirisophus immediately stood up and said in a decisive and firm tone, ¡°Everyone, we have no time to dy and ording to Xenophon''s words, go back to your respective camps and immediately elect your new leaders, and then let theme here for a war council to discuss a n.¡±

    He looked around and continued to speak loudly, ¡°In the afternoon, we will hold another general assembly for the whole mercenary troops!¡± After that, he turned around and leave before the officers could respond.

    Sure enough! Davos squeezed his fists and followed Antonios as they stood up.

    The officers then rushed to their respective camps.

    [1] Ephors were leaders of ancient Sparta and shared power with the two Spartan kings. The ephors were a council of five elected annually who swore "on behalf of the city" while the kings swore for themselves.

    [2] Per¨ªoikoi were the members of an autonomous group of free non-citizen inhabitants of Sparta.

 Chapter 27: New Leader

    When Davos and his party returned to Menon''s camp, the soldiers were eager to wee them and asked about the situation.

    ¡°Clearchus, Menon, and the rest have been killed by the Persians, and the Persians want us to surrender, but the officers rejected it, our fight with the Persians is inevitable!¡± Antonios deliberately exaggerated the situation.

    The soldiers became noisy. Although they had been informed by Hielos and was already prepared, they still have a slight illusion of peace, but now, thisst illusion shattered. They panicked, confused and was at a loss.

    ¡°Now, we must immediately elect a new leader to rece Menon and lead us back to Greece!¡± Philesius shouted.

    As soon as his voice fell, Antonios'' nephew, the young man who was saved by Davos, Asistes, raised his right hand in the crowd and eagerly shouted, ¡°Brothers, who predicted the death of Cyrus the Younger?!¡±

    ¡°¡­it''s Davos.¡± Hielos took the lead in responding.

    ¡°Who invented the smoked sausage to keep us from starving?!¡± Asistes continued to shout.

    ¡°It''s Davos.¡± The soldiers responded.

    ¡°Who created the field hospital, so that we no longer need to worry about injuries anymore?!¡±

    ¡°Davos!¡± The soldiers began to answer in unison.

    ¡°Who predicted that the talks with the Persians today were a conspiracy and had tried to stop Menon from their scheme?!¡±

    ¡°Davos!!¡± The soldiers simultaneously shouted.

    ¡°Who is the one Hades favored?! Who can bless us on our return to Greece?!¡±

    ¡°Davos!!!¡± The soldiers shouted in unison.

    ¡°Who¡ª¡± Asistes pointed at Davos and shouted in a hoarse voice, ¡°Is our new leader?!!¡±

    ¡°Davos! Davos!! Davos!!!!¡± The soldiers of the whole camp shouted excitedly for a long time.

    Philesius and the captains were suddenly faced with such a scene, and they were somewhat at a loss, they all look at Davos and he was also surprised and didn''t seemed to know anything about it. He caught sight of Matonis and Giorgris prancing in the crowd and he didn''t expect Asistes to lead the soldiers, and the effect was much better that what he had expected.

    The shouting of the soldiers became louder and louder, the officers had to respond to this and after an urgent consultation, Philesius came out and he looked at Davos with aplicated expression, he then shouted to the assembled soldiers, ¡°Brothers, are all of you sure you want to choose Davos as our new leader?!¡±

    ¡°Yes!!!¡± Under the leadership of Asistes, the soldiers shouted in unison.

    ¡°Are there any other candidate?!¡±

    ¡°No!!¡±

    ¡°We need the guidance of the gods!!¡±

    Philesius turned around, Antonios, Kapus nodded, then Amintas, Alexis¡­ and the other captains also helplessly nodded.

    Philesius solemnly shouted, ¡°The gods witnessed, upon the rmendation of the soldiers and the approval of the officers, Davos is now our new leader!¡±

    The cheers rang out.

    Davos loosened his clenched fist and his palm was already sweaty. He breathed a sigh of relief and was overwhelmed with excitement, ¡®This period of hard work and efforts were not in vain!¡¯ He, who was someone from another world, an ordinary young soldier crossed the ranks of squad leader, captain and became the leader of more than 1,000 soldiers. Although it was only a mercenary, his dream was realized in a short time, from a chess piece to a chess yer. Of course, this also means that he will have to bear heavy responsibility, butpared to dying as a cannon fodder, no matter how big his responsibility is, there is nothing to be afraid of!

    Faced with the excited faces, he raised his right arm high.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Compared with the other camps, Menon''s camp sufered the least losses, because of theck of cooperation, only 3 officers followed Menon to the Persian camp, and the soldiers immediately elected their sessors.

    Then the soldiers retreated and the new leader, Davos, and the captains held their first meeting in the tent. Philesius was only the adjutant of Menon, he did not lead the army. Therefore, when the new leader was elected, his position was naturally relieved, so he could only stay outside.

    Davos looked at the 13 captains, including Antonios, Kapus, and many others who he wasn''t familiar with¡­the captains also looked at this young man who was too young to be the new leader, some with expectations, some were just curious, and some simply ignored and talk with themselves¡­

    It''s not that he have no experience as a leader in his previous life, therefore Davos wasn''t afraid at all, he faced them with a serious gaze and kept silent for a long time, which made the noise inside the tent from the beginning gradually became quiet. The invisible pressure from the silence that the young man exudes made the captains to seriously face him.

    At this time, he opened his mouth slowly and said, ¡°I am grateful for the soldiers for trusting in me! Thank you for your support! I will use my actions to prove that your choice is correct!¡±

    This young new leader wasn''t modest at all! Alexis and the others opened their mouth in surprised, while Antonios and Kapus were infected by his confidence and revealed a smile.

    ¡°Now, I have decided to let Philesius continue to serve as an adjutant to assist me in the management of military affairs.¡± This proposal temporarily relieved several captains who were worried about Davos'' inexperience.

    Philesius was invited in, he smiled and thanked Davos, then sat down next to Davos.

    ¡°I decided to set up a medical camp, with Herpus as the medical officer and he had to attend the important meetings as well!¡± The field hospital of Menon''s camp has long been operating independently, but now it is only for formality.

    Amintas raised an objection, ¡°Physicians can only heal our injured brothers, they won''t understand the military meetings they attend and they have never done anything like that before!¡±

    ¡°This is now a special period!¡± Davos looked at the robust and somewhat ferocious-looking man, and said in an irritated tone, ¡°We may encounter a lot of battles in theing journey, we must protect our medical camp and at the same time, we need to know, how many wounded soldiers can be treated by the medical camp? Is there ack ofbor? Is there a shortage of medical supplies? ¡­All of these need to be discussed with Herpus!¡±

    Amintas was stunned, he scratch his head and didn''t speak. No one wants their wounded soldiers to be left untreated, and so Davos'' proposal was easily passed.

    ¡°I hope that Mersis, who is in the supply unit, will also attend the military meeting. Because we need to know if the food is sufficient? Is there enough animals?¡­¡± Davos'' second proposal was once more epted, after all, food was the most important concern for everyone. Besides, there are still their sries and the money they looted in the supply unit, they of couse need to be kept informed and protected.

    After three sessful appointments, Davos stopped proposing.

    At this time, Philesius who was next to him touched Davos and said to him.

    Davos suddenly realized from his words, he also forgot a key position ¨C the herald. Don''t underestimate this position, it''s up to him to transmit and issue military orders and decree smoothly. Now it''s easy to make mistakes in front of everyone. Or it is ack of experience!

    Davos slightly thought about it and quietly said, ¡°In addition, I appoint Asistes as the herald!¡± Not only to repay the merits of his promotion, but also with his help in assisting Antonios in doing some trivial military work and he was also familiar with Menon''s camp. Besides, Davos has met this young man a lot of times, he is cheerful and energetic and the officers were very impressed with him. And also he is grateful to Davos, so who would he use if not him!

    Sure enough, this candidate has also been sessfully recognized by everyone.

    Antonios went out to call Asistes.

    After excitedly expressing his gratitude to everyone, Asistes immediately began to perform his duties. He quickly went to call Herpus and Mersis.

    At this point, all the new officers of Menon''s camp have arrived.

 Chapter 28: Initial Authority

    ¡°In order for us and our brothers in the camp to unite, we must first understand the camp''s current situation. Therefore, please introduce the personnel and goods under your management.¡± Davos looked around and said.

    The tent was slightly silent, Antonios was the first to open his mouth, then Kapus, then Alexis¡­ The situation of the supply unit was the mostplex, and Mersis was the most talkative, Davos had to remind him to be as brief as possible.

    Davos listened and took note. After carefully listening to the introduction of everyone, he had a general understanding of the overall situation of Menon''s camp. After he organize it a bit, he said, ¡°ording to your report, we have ten hoplite units in our camp, with a total of 1,094 soldiers. Four peltast units, with a total of 487 soldiers. A total of 1,581 soldiers that have weapons and armor, in good health and no injuries.

    There are 3 physicians, 6 female ves and 2 camels in the medical camp, but apart from Herpus who is proficient in treating the injured, the other two physicians were unable to treat the wounded soldiers independently.

    In the supply unit, there are 50 guards and 273 ves, including 198 female ves and 75 male ves. Then 29 horses, 18 bulls, 56 sheep, 37 chickens and ducks, and 580 bags of wheat flour and the remaining money we have for purchasing supplies is a Taranto silver, 30 minas, and 5 drachmas, that is all we have.¡± Davos put down the roll of paper he had used to take note and said to everyone, ¡°Do you see anything that was left out?¡±

    The officers were slightly surprised. It is important to know that mercenaries, including the officers were mostly uneducated, not to mention doing numeric calctions and summarizing by themselves.

    Mersis ¡°Pa! Pa! Pa!¡± pped his hands, ¡°Davos, you are too great! Your ability to calcte is much better than me!¡±

    Antonios who was next to him remembered that Davos was illiterate, he quietly nced at the roll of paper and was shocked to find that it was full of strange symbols.

    The officers nced at each other and added a little bit of recognition of Davos'' ability.

    ¡°Since there is no objection. Then wait while I go attend the war council of the mercenary leader with Philesius. The captains will go back and inform the soldiers to check their weapons and prepare for battle. In the afternoon, the 10th hoplite unit will be stationed in the camp, while the other units will line up in order to enter the venue for the General Assembly. Because there would be too many people, you must maintain order and prevent riots.¡± Davos finished talking, then look at Herpus and asked, ¡°What''s the situation in the medical camp? You need to have a n since the war is about to start and there will be more wounded soldiers. The clean linen bandages requires more preparation and at least twice as many assistants more than now¡­¡±

    From time to time, Herpus consulted Davos about some medical problems, such as ¡®Why use fire to heat up the knives use for debridement? Why do you ce a piece of cloth dipped in cold water on the forehead of a patient with a fever?¡¯ ¡­.Davos'' answers were always peculiar and thought-provoking, so Herpus regards Davos as a teacher and he always has a respectful attitude, ¡°Please rest assured that I will do my best to prepare for it when I return. If there are any difficulties, I will definitelye to you for help.¡±

    ¡°You are our Asclepius (A god in ancient Greek mythology, the son of Apollo), of course we must do our best to help! If there are any medical problems, I can discuss it with you. If you areckingbor, then the captains can provide some. If there is ack of things, then you can go find Mersis.¡± Davosughed.

    Everyone has also expressed their willingness to help the medical camp.

    Mersis took the initiative to report to Davos: ¡°Leader, this morning I had the ves ughter some sheep to make a lot of smoked sausages. After a while, I will ughter the remaining sheep, chickens and ducks, as well as the extra cattle to make smoked sausge for our marchter. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Mersis, you are our caretaker! We are all at ease because you are the one responsible for the food, am I wrong?!¡± Davos said it half-jokingly.

    ¡°Yes! Mersis is very good at managing the supply unit!¡± Antonios said it amiably.

    ¡°Yeah, he charge more expensively!¡± Epiphanes shouted jokingly.

    ¡°Even if I gave it to you for free, you won''t be able to enjoy it! You are only interested in boys!¡± Mersis immediately retaliated.

    ¡°Ha ha ha¡­¡± The crowdughed and the atmosphere in the tent eased a lot.

    ¡°Philesius, do you have anything to add?¡± Davos finally asked his adjutant.

    Philesius who was facing a leader much younger than himself was somewhat strained, so he coughed twice and said, ¡°I have two questions that I hope will make you leader to pay attention. First, since we are about to fight the Persians, will our next marching route change? If so, where should we go? The second¡­er¡­previously, our troops had been serving as the rearguard of the whole mercenary troops, now that we are going to start a war, if we serve as the rearguard once more, our troops will suffer too much.¡±

    ¡°Philesius is right, we can''t be the rearguard anymore!¡±

    ¡°Rest assured that I will raise this questions at the war council and will strive for it! As for the marching route, I think it will be decided at the war council, because this is the most important issue!¡± Davos'' confident words made the officers half-doubtingly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the end of the meeting, the captain of the first peltast unit, Epiphanes, could not help but wonder, ¡°I can''t believe that this young man is our new leader!¡±

    ¡°Despite his young age, his arrangement isn''t only meticulous, but it is also very organize and with majesty, none of us experienced veterans, stood up against him and refute him!¡± Another peltast captain, Cid, said with admiration.

    ¡°I think this young man is great! At least the atmosphere of the meeting is very good, unlike Menon, who was like a venomous snake, which meeting did he not throw a fit and teach you a lesson!¡± The hoplite captain Lysimachus said with a grin.

    ¡°If on the battlefield, this little guy will also show a wonderful perfomance, then he will be a qualified leader!¡± Another hoplite captain, Amintas, reminded them.

    ¡°Rest assured that although this new leader is young, but he is wise and with Philesius assisting him then there will be no huge problem.¡± Hoplite captain, Alexis, reassured them.

    ¡°We are in war, what do we fear! Davos only needs to y his role as the god''s favored, so we can reduce our casualties and go home safely!¡± Cid said loudly, and everyone repeatedly agreed.

    Kapus who was following Antonios, said with ease, ¡°It seems that Davos has taken his first step in winning the approval of everyone.¡±

    Antonios was still immersed at what he saw in the meeting, and muttered, ¡°He still needs to prove himself in battle, but I have confidence in him! He will be a great mercenary leader!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos stood at the entrance and calmly watched everyone leave. At this time, he wasn''t thinking about the effect of his debut as a leader, but was considering the issue of military management.

    The military system of the Greek mercenaries is roughly the same as that of the Greek city-states. The lowest-ranking officers are the Squad Leader, with 10 men under them. Next would be the Captain, with 100 ¨C 120 men under them. Sometimes there will a toon leader that are established, with 50 men under them. Then the Taxiarchos(brigadier), who has about a thousand men under them. Lastly, at the top are the Strategos, whose number of soldiers depends on the number of troops that their city-states can send. Davos was supposed to be a Taxiarchos at this time, but a mercenary can have thousands of soldiers and even arger mercenary unit, so that they can undertakebat missions independently, therefore they are barely considered as a strategos.

    Davos graduated from the University of Political Science and Law in his previous life, but he studied management. Therefore, he knew that the most effective number of people under a leader was 7, there were 14 captains who attended the meeting today, but in a real war, would it not be very time-consuming and slow for the messengers to convey an order? If he could only re-integrate those units¡­ Davos knew that he could only think about it now, after all, he had just became the leader and if he rushed to reform the military system, it might arouse the resentment of the officers. He suppressed his thoughts and turned to face Mersis, who was still in the tent and said, ¡°They are now all gone, what do you want to discuss?¡±

 Chapter 29: War Council

    Mersis came over and whispered, ¡°Davos, ording to your request, I took good care of the Persian that you had sent to the supply unitst time!¡±

    ¡°Is it?¡± Davos looked at him with a grin, ¡°How can I thank you?¡±

    ¡°You are our leader and this is my duty.¡± Mersis smiled and approached him a little more and quietly whispered, ¡°In addition, Menon has an assets of nearly 2 Taranto minas stored in the supply unit¡­¡±

    2 Taranto minas are equivalent to 65 kg of silver, which was a huge sum of money, and Menon was really reliable in earning money. It just that Davos, who has only been reborn not long after, didn''t have a very deep concept about Greek coins, so he didn''t look surprised. He carefully thought about it and said, ¡°Does Menon have any direct rtives?¡±

    Mersis had been looking at Davos all this time, and he didn''t seem to be different, after he heard it again that he immediately understood Davos'' intention and felt admiration and hurriedly said, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Did he have a will?¡±

    ¡°No. He never thought that he would die so early.¡±

    Davosmented for a moment and muttered, ¡°Menon created this mercenary troops and he also made a lot of effort for this camp, so let''s use this money for the development of our camp.¡±

    ¡°Davos, you are just and selfless!¡± Mersis said loudpliments, then rubbed his hand and asked carefully, ¡°Did Hades enlightened you so that you were able to calcte so fast?¡±

    Davos had seen that there was still something in his mind but he didn''t expect it to be this, ¡°Of course¡±

    ¡°Can you teach me?¡± Mersis knelt down and beg.

    Davos was surprised that although this fatty wasn''t young anymore, he still had such a strong thirst for knowledge that he could not help but admire him slightly, ¡°Sure, no problem.¡±

    ¡°Great! Davos, you are the best leader!¡± Mersis couldn''t help but hug Davos, which cause Davos to be stiff, the tradition of homosexuality in ancient Greece always made him wary of excessive physical contact, but soon he found that he was just over-thinking. Mersis was only expressing his gratitude to him and undoubtedly, this fatty has be one of his firm supporter.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    It was already noon after he properly arranged everything. Davos thought that he would bete, but when he and Philesius arrived at the main tent of the mercenary, they only found Cheirisophus and Timasion inside.

    When Cheirisophus saw the two men, one of whom was the same young man he had seen at the meeting earlier, his brows immediately frowned and said, ¡°You are mercenary from Menon''s camp. Who is the leader that you have elected?¡± As he said that, his eyes naturally turned to look at Philesius.

    Before Davos could speak, Philesius was on the left side of Davos and said, ¡°All our soldiers unanimously elected Davos as our new leader!¡±

    Cheirisophus and Timasion stared in shocked. After a while, the two men looked at each other and Timasion questioned loudly, ¡°We are going to fight against the Persians now, and everyone has to go all out, yet you want to drag us down by choosing a kid who hasn''t yet grown up! Do you know that people end up dying in war, and many will die!!¡±

    Thest sentence of Timasion was directed at Davos, which obviously to intimidate him.

    Davos unfalteringly responded to Timasion, who had a somewhat grim expression, ¡°Wait till the fight starts, then we will find out who is dragging who! It is impossible to rely on brute strength alone when fighting the Persians! Where were you when I went to stop Clearchus and Menon! If they had listened to my advice, then we would not have such a bad situation today!¡±

    ¡°Of course¡­I also tried to stop them¡­¡± Timasion had been guilty of Clearchus'' capture. Hence, he was led by the topic of Davos and answered withck of confidence.

    ¡°Everyone in our camp thinks that Davos is our best candidate for leadership, and no one objected! And I was entrusted to serve as his adjutant, assisting our leader, Davos, in managing the troops.¡± Philesius once again stressed it out loudly. As an old mercenary, he knew what Cheirisophus and Timasion were worried about and what they are trying to do.

    Cheirisophus once again looked at Philesius, ¡°This is?¡±

    ¡°Philesius, the adjutant of Menon, the one who is actually managing his camp¡­¡± Timasion said to Cheirisophus with an unusual tone.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Cheirisophus had an expression that seems to understand. Davos could guess what they were thinking, but he didn''t want to argue, time will prove everything.

    ¡°The others are still fiercely selecting, but you manage to choose quickly.¡± Cheirisophus finally stood up and said with a slight ridicule.

    Davos immediately said, ¡°At this critical moment, it is better for the whole troops to have a unified thoughts than them to act on their own will!¡±

    Cheirisophus was stunned, he did not know the capability of this young new leader, but at least his eloquence wasn''t weak. He reluctantly saluted and said, ¡°Wee.¡±

    Davos returned his salute and said, ¡°I am d to fight together with you!¡±

    For a while, the tent was quiet.

    Ten minutester, Xanthicles came in and he reced Socrates as the new leader.

    Then, Cleanor reced Agias and became the new leader.

    Thest one that came in was Hieronymous, who squeezed out Agasias and reced Proxenus as the new leader. Together with him was Xenophon, an acquaintance of Davos, who became the adjutant of Hieronymous.

    Everyone was surprised at the age of Davos. Fortunately, it was already afternoon and time was running out.

    As soon as he arrived, Cheirisophus immediately said, ¡°Everyone, let us first decide on the route we would take on our retreat back to Greece. My opinion is to follow the original route, along the Tigris River, into Armenia, and reach the ck Sea then return to Ionia by boat¡­¡±

    ¡°This is the route that Tissaphernes arranged for us and it was originally their scheme! I heard that there are many barbarians in the north, and even the Persians felt a headache, they are a huge threat to us!¡± Xanthicles objected.

    ¡°So what is your suggestion? Go west?! Not to mention that it is further away, but more importantly, we are now in a state of war with Persia, and it is dangerous if we stay on Persiannd for one more day or more. The Persians can mobilize more soldiers to besiege us at any time! The North has made the Persians have a headache, it just shows that their rule over the north isn''t strong, this is our chance! Those barbarians and us doesn''t have any hatred, let alone that we have amon enemy ¨C Persia!¡­¡± Timasion eloquently said and apparently he have already previously discussed it with Cheirisophus.

    Sure enough, we still have to go north! Davos saw that Xanthicles and the others showed approval.

    ¡°Let''s vote. Raise your hand if you agree to go north!¡± said Cheirisophus.

    Everyone agreed unanimously.

    Cheirisophus added, ¡°In order to concentrate our soldiers on fighting the Persians and prevent them from being attacked because they are scattered, I suggest that a small mercenary troops such as Sossis and Pasion be merged with us. Of course, this depends on both parties merging voluntarily.¡±

    ¡°How to distribute military supplies when they merge? How to distribution the previously collected property?¡­¡± Hieronymus asked seriously.

    ¡°It has been said that both sides are willing, if he wants to join your camp then you can discuss it in private.¡± Timasion impatiently said.

    ¡®Merging with the smaller mercenary camp?!¡¯ Davos has some intentions, after all, the more troops he have, the more likely they will survive the battle.

    ¡°Now that we all have agreed, we will announce this at the General Assembly. In addition, there is a more important issue, in our current state of getting attacked by the Persians at any time, what formation will we use in our march in order to ensure our safety?¡± Cheirisophus looked at everyone, but before they could answer, he had taken out a stick and made aparison, ¡°My suggestion is to move forward in arge empty space square formation, that is, 2 mercenary troops serve as the vanguard to guide the whole army, one mercenary troop on the left and right to protect our nks, and then 2 mecenary troops to serve as the rearguard, with the supply unit and the nonbatants in the middle¡­ What do you think?¡±

 Chapter 30: General Assembly

    Despite Davos being a novice in military affairs, he saw the main purpose of this formation was to prevent the Persians from raiding and protecting the supply unit, and to march on such a wide formation, the speed must not be fast and under the harassment of the Persians, they have no choice.

    Several people gathered around to look at the rough sketches on the ground.

    Timasion pointed to the two squares at the forefront and said, ¡°Cheirisophus is a Spartan, and his soldiers are Lacedaemon<sup>[1]</sup>. They have richbat experience and therefore, they should be the vanguards to open a path for the whole mercenary troops, I think everyone will be assured.¡±

    There was no one who objected the proposal.

    ¡°Second¡­¡± Timasion thought about where his troops should be responsible.

    ¡°Second, I am the youngest and I am willing to be the rearguard of the whole mercenary troops!¡± Davos excitedly said.

    Philesius was startled and thought, ¡®In the end, Davos forgot what we previously have discussed and even took the initiative to offer to be the rearguard. He really is still young and inexperienced!¡¯

    Philesius did not dare to make any big movement in-front of everyone, and he had no choice but to give a warning nce at Davos.

    However, he heard what Timasion said in surprise, ¡°You¡­you want to be the rearguard?! No! No!¡± He repeatedly shook his head, ¡°The rearguard is very important, and he must have rich experience in order to face all kinds ofplicated situations. If you can''t properly deal with them, you will end up dragging down the whole mercenary troops, I think it''s still better to¡­have my camp to serve as the rearguard.¡±

    Davos answered back as soon as Timasion finished talking, ¡°Isn''t there another position for the rearguard? I am willing to work with you!¡±

    ¡°No!!¡± Timasion did not want to loudly reject, ¡°Cleanor,e and join me in the rearguard!¡± He directly appointed hisrades who fought side by side with him.

    Cleanor had a good rtionship with Timasion and had no choice but to nod.

    The candidate for the rearguard was quickly decided. Philesius still haven''t yet understand that Davos had deliberately set a trap to lure Timasion to the bait, he really wasn''t fit to be an adjutant.

    The gully between the eyebrows of Cheirisophus became deeper, he did not appreciate the little tricks that Davos did, he even more hated how he knew that Timasion''s choice was correct, so he simply said to Davos, ¡°Your camp is responsible for protecting the left wing.¡± Since the mercenaries are gonna march northward along the Tigris river, the left wing will mostly be close to the river bank and should encounter the least danger.

    Davos saw the undisguised contempt in the gaze of Cheirisophus, and he clenched his fist secretly and nodded.

    Then, Cheirisophus proposed to let Xanthicles to join him in the vanguard.

    It was Hieronymus who was simrly unhappy, Cheirisophus took Agasias, the former adjutant in the camp of Proxenus, into consideration, but now the elected leader was reced by a captain, Hieronymus, and he was thest to arrived, which indicates that there was a great controversy among the soldiers in his camp about who should be the leader, and to be on the safe side, they should let his camp, act as the right wing.

    After the leaders finished the war council, it was time to hold the general assembly of the whole mercenary troops.

    This wasn''t only a gathering to show the new leaders, but also a good opportunity to unify the thoughts of the soldiers. Therefore, Cheirisophus reminded everyone to speak more words of encouragement.

    When he asked the leaders, his gaze was mostly fixed on Davos. He wasn''t confident about this young leader, it was a gathering of ten thousand people and most of them would not even be able speak in such a tense situation. In case Davos screwed up, this carefully arranged oath-swearing will turn into a farce!

    So he suggested to Davos that Philesius, the adjutant, could deliver the speech for him.

    But Davos insisted on doing it in person.

    Cheirisophus appearance was very unsightly, but he couldn''t refuse to let Davos attend because he was the new leader unanimously elected by Menon''s camp which have 1,450 soldiers, ounting 1/9th of the entire mercenary troops. So he arranged Davos to be second, even if Davos did badly, there are still other leaders that will make up for it.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    It was the end of August, inte summer, the weather in the afternoon was no longer so hot.

    A wooden tform was erected in the center of Timasion''s Camp (formerly Clearchus'' camp), and the tents around it had been removed, arge open space has been vacated and are upied by soldiers from various mercenary camps. They are either standing or sitting, chatting andining to each other¡­

    The whole venue was crowded and noisy¡­

    Under the escort of heavily armed soldiers, Cheirisophus squeezed a path through the dense crowd and came to the wooden tform.

    Cheirisophus was the first to go onstage

    There was amotion among the soldiers.

    Because Cheirisophus deliberate low profile, most ordinary soldiers did not know who he is, they were surprised to see a stranger appearing first on the stage, and so they ask the others of his name.

    Around the wooden tform stood dozen of soldiers with loud voices who were responsible for repeating the words of the one speaking, so that thousands of soldiers could hear what they say.

    Cheirisophus spoke, ¡°Brothers from all over Greece, I am an ephor of Sparta, Cheirisophus!¡±

    There was an uproar among the soldiers, after the soldiers on the wooden tform repeated what he had said, the shock in their hearts was even greater than when Davos heard about it. The Spartan warriors have fought one battle after another for centuries, subduing the Greeks of other city-states with their bravery and strength. Now, Sparta has be the hegemon of the Greek world, dominating the Mediterranean. How could they not get excited and thrilled when the ephor of Sparta was among the free people. The soldiers who had been terrified of their leaders''s death had suddenly have someone to rely on, their panicked face began to flushed red and began to show curiosities to focus on things beyond survival, ¡®Why is an ephor of Sparta, who has a high position, be here?¡¯

    So when Cheirisophus asked them to be quiet, the soldiers stopped talking.

    ¡°Brothers, we are in a very bad situation right now! Not only did we lose our outstanding leaders, captains and soldiers who have been with us for a long time, but even our former allies Ariaeus and his men betrayed us! However, the more we are in such a critical situation, the more we need to invigorate our spirits as soon as possible, in order for us to bravely face the Persians who want to destroy us and to never give in. We need to defeat the enemy with our shield, spears, and our bravery and ughter a path for ourselves to return to Greece! Zeus will be together with those who are brave!!¡± Spartan likes to be frighteningly concise, Cheirisophus had reminded everyone to say encouraging words, but he quickly ended his speech, just as he made the soldiers excited.

    When Cheirisophus stepped down fron the stage and passed by Davos, he saw Davos was smiling at him and thought to himself, ¡®Oh, it seems that this young leader isn''t nervous, but why did he made the messenger on stage, hold more than a dozen wooden sticks?¡¯

    Asistes also did not understand the purpose of Davos making him follow on stage while holding a stick, but when he stood on the stage, he could not think about it anymore, because there were a lot of people in all directions under the stage and it densely stretch to the distance¡­ At this time, the noise he hear from his ears got much louder than when he was under the stage, as if the sea was stirring up a strong wind and waves, while he and Davos was just a lonely boat floating in the deep sea, and are in danger of capsizing at any time.

    Asistes couldn''t stop his legs from trembling, he even felt that he might copse at any time together with the simrly trembling wooden tform beneath his feet.

    ¡°Oh! Oh! Look! Who is this?!¡±

    ¡°A little kid who hasn''t grown hairs yet! This isn''t a ce you are allowed toe! Get out of here and go home and drink your mama''s milk! HAHAHA¡­¡±

    ¡°Which camp have elected this new leader?! Are they insane?!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Theughter and doubts were overwhelming.

    Asistes was shocked and even retreated a few steps, almost to the edge of the wooden tform. To his admiration, Davos stood firmly in the middle¡­

    The leaders who weren''t on the tform felt slightly impatient, they were dissatisfied with Davos again, now that he was facing thousands of soldiers, but they are a group now.

    Timasionined, ¡°I knew that this would happen, I shouldn''t have let him go on stage. This is simply hell!¡±

    The others also agreed.

    Xenophon immediately said, ¡°Let the next leader to go up and quickly rece him.¡±

    Cheirisophus has already regretted his previous decision and nodded his head in agreement.

    [1] Lacedaemon ¨C Sparta was known as Lacedaemon in the past. The city-state was named after their king, Lacedaemon, who then renamed it after his wife, Sparta.

 Chapter 31: An Astonishing Cheer (I)

    Just then, a thunderous cheer rang out, ¡°Davos! Davos!! Davos!!!¡­¡± The shouts were so organize and loud that they overwhelmed all the noise and made several of the leaders turned pale.

    ¡°That''s the mercenaries of Menon!¡± Timasion tiptoed and look in the direction of the sound.

    ¡°They should now be the mercenary of Davos!¡± Heironymus enviously said.

    Davos, who was on the stage, smiled and said, ¡°Greek warriors, I am Davos of Thessali, I am the new leader that reced Menon!¡±

    When the soldiers on the stage finished repeating what he had said, the soldiers of Davos'' camp immediately stood up and apuded him, causing the other soldiers to look at each other, ¡®Are these guys crazy?!¡¯

    Some of the people who knew about the inside story began to show off their information in front of theirpanions, ¡°I heard that this young man is favored by Hades, and every time he gets an ¡®oracle'' its effectiveness is iparable!¡±

    ¡°I also heard that he magically saved a dying soldier. Yes! That man who is standing behind him!¡±

    ¡°He also invented something that were very useful to us! Like this one on my leg¡­um¡­leg bindings¡­¡±

    The soldiers'' words spread from mouth to mouth and in the blink of an eye, everyone looked at him with less contempt and now became curious.

    Davos'' words once more resounded in their ears, ¡°Just now, Cheirisophus'' speech was very thrilling, but they were just too short! Just like when a man and a woman do things, and when the woman started to get excited, the man was already done. How ufortable the woman would feel!¡±

    The soldiers did not expect that such a vulgar words would be uttered from the mouth of a still childish young man. They were stunned for a moment and then burst outughing, ¡°Ha ha ha¡­¡±

    Many people also took the opportunity to catcall¡­

    ¡°This young man is very interesting!¡± Many soldiers said with a smile.

    ¡°Nonsense! This is a mess!¡± Timasion looked at Cheirisophus and swear.

    Xenophon was also surprised that Davos, whom he knew, was a young a man with a unique insights and polite speech and should not be so crude.

    Cheirisophus didn''t speak, he wasn''t angry despite Davos ridiculing him. Cheirisophus, who had been living in the military camp until he was 30, knew what the thoughts of the soldiers, and he did not know whether Davos didn''t know about it or was intentional. All in all, this dirty joke has made the soldiers felt intimate with this too young of a leader.

    ¡°When I came up just now, I saw that all of you are drooping in frustration and some of you even had tears in yours eyes. You are afraid! You are afraid that you can''t get back to Greece! You are afraid! You are afraid that the Persians will annihte you! But think carefully, when we were in the middle of Persia and our employer, Cyrus the Younger, was killed and we did not know what to do, the Persians, who had more soldiers than us, did not immediately attack and destroy us! What did they do?¡± Davos slowly aroused the interest of the soldiers with questions.

    ¡°Everyone in here are very clear. The Persians spent their energy talking to us and providing us with plenty of food and to apany us on such a long journey¡­ they spent so much time, money, and energy in order to fool our leaders just to kill them!¡± Davos said slowly, then he paused and loudly asked, ¡°Soldiers, tell me! Who is the one that is afraid?! In fear?! ¨C It''s the Persians! They are more afraid than us! They are afraid of our bravery! They dare not fight us! They are cowardly enough to use these schemes quietly! They fear us more than they fear their gods, so that they vited the oath made before their gods!

    Now that they have killed our leaders, when we are in chaos, they still not dare attack us immediately, and instead, want us to surrender! What do you fear in the face of such timid Persians! You know, that we Greeks are a race that is not afraid of any threat! Decades ago, Darius, the King of Persia, led an army that conquered all races in thend. When he pointed his next conquest at the weak Greek city-states across the strait, SOLDIERS, TELL ME, DID GREECE SURRENDER?!¡± Davos leaned forward and stretched out his right hand, and asked loudly to the soldiers below.

    ¡°No.¡± Someone answered one after another.

    ¡°Too low, I can''t hear it! Tell me, did Greece surrender?!!¡± Davos asked louder.

    ¡°No!¡± The answer was very organize.

    Davos was still not satisfied, ¡°The voice is as low as a timid Persian! Once again, DID GREECE SURRENDER?!!¡±

    ¡°NO!!!¡± the soldiers shouted, causing their emotions to stir.

    ¡°Yes! We Greeks did not surrender! In the battle of Marathon<sup>[1]</sup>, the Athenians beat the Persian army with fewer people, and Darius got frightened and retreated back to his old nest and within a few years, he died of illness. For revenge, his son, Xerxes, assembled an unprecedented army and once more invaded Greece. But we Greeks never yield to power! Soldiers, tell me where did we beat the Persians?!¡±

    This time, There was no need for Davos to lead them and the soldiers shouted enthusiastically, ¡°Smis<sup>[2]</sup>!¡±

    ¡°taea!<sup>[3]</sup>¡±

    ¡°Thermope!<sup>[4]</sup>¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos took the lead, ¡°Yes, the Greeks united and defeated the Persians repeatedly, which made Greece a fertilend of freedom, peace, and prosperity for decades toe. Soldiers, can any of you tell me the names of some of the strategoi and soldiers who fought against Persia?!¡±

    ¡°Miltiades!<sup>[5]</sup>¡±

    ¡°Aeschylus!<sup>[6]</sup>¡±

    ¡°Pericles!<sup>[7]</sup>¡±

    ¡°Leonidas!<sup>[8]</sup>¡±

    ¡°Themistocles!<sup>[9]</sup>¡±

    ¡°Aristides!<sup>[10]</sup>¡±

    ¡°Pausanias!<sup>[11]</sup>¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    One by one, the soldiers scrambled to shout out the names, at first they shouted the names of the strategos andter the names of soldiers who had participated in the war¡­around 80 years have passed since the Persian war, and almost the entire Greek world was affected. The mercenaries still vividly remembered it and even many soldiers who are present were descendants of those who fought in the war. They couldn''t wait to proudly make the names of their ancestors known to the public. Even the leaders such as Xanthicles, Cleanor, and Hieronymus couldn''t help but participate. The atmosphere of the whole venue began to boil¡­

    Timasion couldn''t help but stare at the young man and realize that he had underestimated him.

    It took a long time for the shouts from all directions to fade¡­

    Davos continued to passionately speak, ¡°These names in your mouth were written by Herodotus in ¡¶Histories¡·, and into your memory! They became Greek heroes! Their spirit is as immortal as the gods! We grew up listening to their stories and when we grew up, we followed their examples and longed for an earth-shattering achievements like them! Now, soldiers, you have the opportunity to be a Greek hero and write history like them!¡± At this point, Davos paused again.

    The eager soldiers stood up and eagerly asked, ¡°Tell us! Where is the opportunity?!¡±

    ¡°Don''t you already know!¡± Davos loudly shouted, ¡°Our ancestors defeated the Persians, in Greece and at sea, and there has never been a Greek army that was able to invade the Persian Empire. Yet we were able to go deep into the middle of Persia, and so long as we work together to defeat the Persians and ovee difficulties, then triumphantly return to Greece and make history! Our deeds will be written into books,piled into songs and sung all over Greece, beautiful girls and lovely children will chase us and we would tell our adventurous story! Our children and grandchildren will be proud of us as we are today! More importantly-¡±

    Davos took a deep breath and said with excitement, ¡°Our deeds will inspire future Greeks! We will let them know that the Persians who look strong, are in fact weak inside, and they are just giants made of y. The countries are like humans, there is a time when they are strong, simrly, there is also a time when they age. One day, when Persia and Greece are at war again, the Greeks will follow our example and invade Persia along the route we have traveled. What will they say when they win ande to the battlefield where we once shed our blood, offering sacrifice and praising us?!¡±

    The soldiers were fascinated by what they heard.

    [1] Battle of Marathon took ce in 490 BC, during the first Persian invasion of Greece.

    [2] Battle of Smis was a naval battle fought between an alliance of Greek city-states under Themistocles and the Persian Empire under King Xerxes in 480 BC which resulted in a decisive victory for the outnumbered Greeks.

    [3] Battle of taea was the finalnd battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took ce in 479 BC near the city of taea in Boeotia, and was fought between an alliance of the Greek city-states (including Sparta, Athens, Corinth and Megara), and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I (allied with Boeotians, Thessalians, and Macedonians).

    [4] Battle of Thermope was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece.

    [5] Miltiades was an Athenian citizen known mostly for his role in the Battle of Marathon, as well as his downfall afterwards.

    [6] Aeschylus was an ancient Greek tragedian. He is often described as the father of tragedy.

    [7] Pericles was a prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during its golden age ¨C specifically the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars.

    [8] Leonidas was a warrior king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and was mostly known for hisst stand in Thermope.

    [9] Themistocles was an Athenian politician and general and he fought during the first Persian invasion of Greece at the Battle of Marathon.

    [10] Aristides was an ancient Athenian statesman and was remembered for his generalship in the Persian War.

    [11] Pausanias was a Spartan regent, general, and war leader for the Greeks.

 Chapter 32: An Astonishing Cheer (II)

    ¡°They might say, ¡®Great ancestors! It was your heroic deeds that have given us strength! Encourage our confidence! And let us aplish an unprecedented great cause!!¡¯¡±

    ¡°Will there be such a day?¡± Timasion breathing got faster, clenching his fists and muttered.

    The leaders were also tempted by the assumptions of Davos and were intoxicated. They don''t know that in history, a Macedonian named Alexander inspired his soldiers with the retreat of the ten thousand Greeks and embarked on a journey to attack the Persian Empire few decadester¡­

    When the soldiers were all immersed in the beauty of Davos'' fiction, Davos reached out and took the wooden stick from Asisters and made a quick turn, ¡°Soldiers, some might ask, ¡®Davos you said it so well, but there is a key issue. First of all, we have to safely return back to Greece.¡¯¡±

    Davos saw the soldiers were still listening attentively and continued, ¡°I don''t want to speak much about the issue about battles. Because the leaders such as Cheirisophus, Timasion, and the others, as well as all of you in here, have rich experience inbat. Most of you have participated in the struggle against Athens and eventually won. This is notparable to the Persians who have enjoyed thefort throughout the year.¡±

    Hearing this, Xenophon grinned.

    ¡°What I want to say is that in such a difficult situation, each of us is like a wooden stick in my hand-¡± Davos picked up the stick and broke it into two pieces without effort. Then he broke another one, ¡°It''s easy to break. But when they are all together-¡± Davos grabbed all the remaining sticks and went to a tall and strong soldier and passed it to him while asking ¡°Brother, what is your name?¡±

    ¡°Eubulus.¡± said the soldier.

    ¡°Can you try breaking it?¡±

    The soldiers stared at Eubulus, they saw his face flushed, and tried his best to break the wooden stick, but it was in vain.

    ¡°Thank you brother!¡± Davos patted him on the shoulder and thanked him.

    Eubulus blushed and scratched his head embarrassingly.

    ¡°Soldiers, you have all seen it. A single stick can be easily broken by a thin young man like me. But when they are together, even the strongest warrior can¡¯t do anything about it with all their strength. What does it mean?¡±

    Xenophon nodded, and now he knew what Davos was talking about. Of course, he wasn''t the only smart man, a soldier shouted, ¡°Unity! It is unity!¡­¡± After a reminder from some soldiers, everyone also came to understood.

    ¡°Yes, it is unity!¡± Davospletely went wild and was in a high spirit that he even change the way he speak, ¡°Brothers, we havee from various Greek city-states. Usually, because of different customs and personalities, there are some minor contradictions and conflicts. But we are all Greeks of the same race with the same blood, with the same goal of returning home safely and creating history, any problems within us should be melted away like ice and snow under the sun! Just like how our ancestors resisted the Persian invasion, we should be closely united and not be shaken by the rumors of the Persians, and trust our teammates to protect our backs! In the face of the difficulties that we will encounter on our way home, we should not only unite in spirits, but also in wisdom. Brothers, you should not leave the problems to be solve by the leaders, you should take the initiative to find a solution. As long as we work together, then any problems won''t be able to intimidate us!

    Brothers, let us unite just like a one man! Then the power of this man can be as powerful as Ares! The wisdom is as profound as Athena! The enemies and difficulties along the way will be easily crushed by us!¡± At this point, Davos raised his fists and shouted, ¡°Brothers, remember that only by uniting can we create miracles! Every step we take is creating history! Let''s fight side by side!!¡±

    ¡°HOOAH!!!¡­¡± The cheers from the field shook the earth andsted for a long time.

    ¡°Davos! Davos!¡­¡± His name was shouted and many people have teared due to excitement. There are even people begging him, ¡°Say a few more words! Davos, just a few more words¡­¡±

    As soon as Davos walked to the wooden stage, the soldiers gathered around him and lifted him together, then passed him to the people behind, as if he was a strategos that had returned victoriously.

    This made Cleanor, who was about to go up on stage look silly, ¡®the morale of the soldiers has already been stirred up to this extent, is it still necessary for the others to go up?¡¯

    ¡°At least in terms of speaking, he is better than any of us!¡± Xanthicles sincerely admired.

    ¡°Fighting is not a matter of speaking, but of spears and shields!¡± Timasion reluctantly said.

    It was impossible for Xenophon to say that he was not jealous after seeing Davos getting thrown up in the distance. Xenophon with the consent of Cheirisophus, was ready to appear on stage because Hieronymus wasn''t good with words, and had made careful preparations in order to show his talents in front of the whole mercenary troops, but now that this happened¡­

    In fact, Cheirisophus agree with Timasion in his heart. The Spartans have always been tired of the eloquence of the Athenians, just as how the Athenians hated the old-fashioned and inflexible Spartans, but he had to admit that Davos performance was beyond his imagination, not only did did he achieved their goal, but he exceeded the goal of inspiring the whole mercenary troops. It seems that this young man can be elected as a leader was not only by borrowing the name of the gods, but also by his own ability¡­

    The captains of Menon camp were also pleasantly surprised, even Amintas, who had some opinions about Davos being elected as the leader, told Antonios as he watched Davos get crowded by the soldiers from the other camps, ¡°Our new leader seems to be doing well.¡± You must know that he used to call Davos ¡°little kid¡±.

    Antoniosughed, ¡®Davos, Davos, you always surprise people!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Finally, Cheirisophus went up on stage again, and announced that his camp would depart tomorrow, and march northward, then he also informed the whole mercenary troops of matters that needs attention and preparations.

    The general assembly of the mercenary troops has thus ended.

    The scattered soldiers recalled the speech of Davos with relish and praise,¡®Sure enough, the reputation of the ¡°God''s Favored¡± is well deserve!¡¯

    The soldiers at Davos'' camp, surrounded their new leader in praise, as they returned to their camp with their heads held high, while they preached his deeds to the remaining soldiers.

    Davos finally got rid of the excited soldiers and went back to his old tent, before it suddenly urred to him that Menon''s tent was his new ce.

    When he arrived at his new ce, Mersis was standing at the entrance of the tent. He greeted him with an odd look, ¡°Davos, there''s someone waiting for you.¡±

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    ¡°You will know when you go in.¡± Mersis tried to indicate the tent with his lips, and had a wretched appearance doing it.

    Davos curiously opened the curtain, and in the middle of the tent stood a woman, a tall and graceful woman¡­

    Since his rebirth, Davos has seen Greek and Egyptian women of this era in Mersis supply unit and Herpus medical unit, but there wasn''t any woman who could make his heart full of desire by just looking at the back¡­

    Where did Mersis find her? Davos couldn''t help but swallow.

 Chapter 33: Cheiristoya

    Just then, the woman turned around and Davos couldn''t help but stare at her eyes: a woman with beautiful blonde hair and her hair was simply piled up in a bun which looked like a cloud behind her head, revealing a slender white neck. A pair of curved eyebrows beneath her smooth forehead, bright blue eyes like the Aegean Sea. Curved eyshes that shadowed the eyes, which add a slight hazy temptation. The bridge of her nose is not entirely straight, but has a small curve, thus it look less heroic and more cute and graceful. Her thick and even lips have brilliant blood color, and a delicate white face that is as smooth as a goose eggs. Finally, with a perfect curve that outlined her slightly raised chin¡­

    Despite having seen countless beautiful women on television in his previous life, the beauty of this woman still made Davos dazzled¡­

    She opened her lips lightly and revealed her white and even teeth, ¡°Esteemed leader, Davos, I am Cheiristoya.

    ¡°¡­er¡­¡± Davos subconsciously repeatedly rummage his memory, ¡®Who is Cheiristoya? Am I familiar with her?¡¯

    Cheiristoya obviously saw a lot of men who had forgotten themselves in front of her, so she didn''t show any contempt and step forward and softly said, ¡°I am the daughter of Pronifos, an aristocrat of Miletus, and the concubine of the Persian prince, Cyrus the Younger. I came to seek asylum from you!¡±

    The concubine of Cyrus the Younger?! Davos was so excited that he suddenly remembered what Olivos had said before and blurted out, ¡°You are the¡­woman who fled from the Persian soldiers when Cyrus the Younger was killed!¡±

    As soon as he spoke, he felt that what he said was insensitive and quickly said, ¡°I''m sorry! I shouldn''t¡­shouldn''t-¡±

    ¡°It doesn''t matter¡­ this is the arrangement of the goddess of fate.¡± Cheiristoya looked dejected, ¡°I was lucky that I was able to escape, but the other sisters¡­¡±

    Her mournful grief made Davos'' heart throb again. He scolded himself for being worthless, ¡®I am not a virgin and was soon getting married in my previous life!¡¯

    But after all, it was the first time that he had been alone with such a beautiful woman. He asked while coughing unnaturally, ¡°Where were you before?¡±

    ¡°Clearchus was a trustworthy leader who, for the sake of Cyrus the Younger sheltered me. Unfortunately¡­¡±

    Despite being attracted by the beauty of Cheiristoya, Davos was still clear-headed and so he continued to ask, ¡°Although Clearchus is dead, Timasion had be the new leader, and you can let him continue to shelter you. Now that we are at war with Persia, you don''t have to worry about anything anymore.¡±

    ¡°But Timasion doesn''t have much prestige as Clearchus in his camp. He wouldn''t be able to control those who wanted to¡­ the people that wants to shame me.¡± Cheiristoya blushed while crying.

    Davos had no intention of admiring her beauty, and now that he had calmed down and thought more about it. He thought to himself, ¡®I publicly advocated unity at the general assembly and as soon as I returned from Timasion''s camp, this beautiful woman ran to my quarter and if he didn''t understand the situation, he might thought that I was greedy for her beauty and had abducted her, regardless of the friendly troops!¡¯

    He was lost in thoughts, while Cheiristoya became anxious since she didn''t see Davos responding, ¡°I heard that you are the ¡°favored¡± of Hades, the soldiers of the entire camp, revered you, and so I have chosen you among the leaders. That''s why, while you were at the general assembly, I took advantage and sneak over when the management wasx. For the sake of the gods, you must help me!¡± In a moment of desperation, she went forward and grabbed Davos'' hand, pleading.

    The two were close to each other, and so Davos could smell the fragrance of her beautiful hair, with him slightly lowering his head, he could see her white and plump breast. He suppressed the urge to embrace her and said, ¡°Do not worry, I''ll help you.¡± With that, he took a step back and shouted, ¡°Asistese in!¡±

    Cheiristoya gave a ¡°Ah¡± sound and retreated in a hurry, her face blushed again.

    As the herald of Davos, Asistes had been waiting outside his quarter, and when he heard the order, he immediately came in and became speechless by the situation inside.

    ¡°Go to Cheirisophus and say, ¡®The Milesian concubine of Cyrus the Younger, Cheiristoya, wants to march with our camp and ask him if he agrees¡¯¡±

    ¡°¡­Asistes!¡­Asistes! Do you understand?¡±

    ¡°¡­oh¡­oh¡­I understand.¡± Asistes regained his senses and hurriedly took back his gaze and answered in a hurry.

    ¡°I see, why aren''t you leaving then!¡±

    ¡°Yes! Yes!!¡± He didn''t forget to sneak a nce before he went out.

    ¡°This little guy!¡± Davosughed and said, ¡°Don''t me him, who told you to be too charming!¡± He couldn''t help make a joke.

    Cheiristoya chuckled, ¡°Leader, you seem to be younger than him, but I don''t see you behaving like him.¡±

    Davos had an awkward smile and there was a moment of silence inside his quarter.

    ¡°Will Cheirisophus agree in letting me stay?¡± Cheiristoya was the one to speak first and asked with concern.

    ¡°I don''t think that it''s a big problem. You are free and not a ve to anyone. You have the right to choose where you want to go.¡± Davos consoled her and said, ¡°In fact, Cheirisophus is your best choice to seek refuge.¡±

    ¡°I don''t like Spartans!¡± Cheiristoya answered very simply.

    For some reason, Davos was relieved.

    When she heard the phrase ¡®You are free and not a ve to anyone¡¯, Cheiristoya suddenly felt like crying, and her gaze was roaming over Davos. A short whileter, she said softly, ¡°Leader Davos, where are you from?¡±

    ¡°Just call me Davos.¡± Davos corrected her, and his remnant memories poured into his mind, ¡°I am a Thessalian, my home is in a vige near Macedonia.¡±

    ¡°Doesn''t your parents worry about youing out as a mercenary so young?¡±

    ¡°My parents have already passed away.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I didn''t know¡­¡± Cheiristoya repeatedly apologized.

    ¡°It''s fine.¡± Davos waved his hand, he didn''t feel anything about this body''s parents, he really didn''t feel anything due to his rebirth, but Cheiristoya''s question reminded him of his previous life''s parents, which made him sad.

    Cheiristoya looked at him quietly, and she suddenly felt that there was a slight throbbing. On one hand, the young age of the leader and the death of his parents stimted her maternal instinct to protect him. While on the other hand, his calmness beyond his age made her feel like she was talking to someone at the same age as her. This difference highlighted the mystery of Davos, which greatly attracted Cheiristoya.

    ¡°They all say that you are the ¡®favored¡¯of Hades, is that true?¡± When Cheiristoya uttered this sentence, she realized that she was too presumptuous.

    Nevertheless, Davos did not mind, and asked back, ¡°Do you believe it?¡±

    ¡°I believe!¡± Cheiristoya immediately made up for her previous mistake.

    Davos smiled and said slowly, ¡°In difficult times, we always find a God to trust, so that our mind won''t copse out of fear. But if we depend too much on God instead of our own effort to get out of predicaments, then it will only speed up our end¡­¡±

    Cheiristoya slightly opened her mouth, as if she was deeply pondering¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    He doesn''t know why the two of them unexpectedly have an agreeable chat.

    For Davos, the repression and distress of his travels have been vented.

    For Cheiristoya, the daughter of a Milesian aristocrat and the death of her mother from an early age, while her stepmother did not care about her¡­ when she grew up, Miletus was besieged by Cyrus the Younger, and in order to preserve his own family and power, the only father who loved her, gave Cheiristoya to Cyrus the Younger. Cyrus was very fond of her, but in private, the other concubines harassed her out of jealousy. After the death of Cyrus the Younger, she fled to the camp of Clearchus and every day she got confronted by the guards of the supply unit and the lustful gaze of several captains, which made her uneasy¡­ Presently, she rarely confides about the oppression she had suffered with someone that she had just met¡­

    As their chatting gets heated, Asistes came in, followed by the herald of the whole mercenary troops, Tolmides.

 Chapter 34: Guards

    ¡°Leader, Cheirisophus ordered Tolmides to confirm whether the situation is true.¡± Asistes reported.

    Tolmides also saluted.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Davos nodded and agreed, he understood that this was a normal procedure. With the cautiousness of Cheirisophus, he must confirm that Cheiristoya voluntarily asked toe to the camp of Davos, and wasn''t being threatened.

    Tolmides, who was known as the first herald of the whole mercenary troops, was obviously much better than Asistes. He calmly faced the beauty and charm of Cheiristoya and ask her the details, and when he got a positive answer, he turned to face Davos and said, ¡°Since Cheiristoya voluntarily came to you, Cheirisophus and several other leaders had said before I came that, ¡®Cyrus the Younger has already died, but he will always be a good friend of the Greeks! We must not forget the aid he did to Greece! We must take good care of his concubine, Cheiristoya, who is also our fellow Greek, this is the hospitality of us Greek!¡¯ I hope that leader, Davos, will take good care of Cheiristoya and not let her be taken advantage!¡±

    ¡®I am afraid that he can''t forget the aid of Cyrus the Younger to Sparta! ¡¯ Davos criticized him in his heart and then asked, ¡°What is the attitude of Timasion towards this matter?¡±

    Tolmides understood what Davos was worried about and did not hesitate to answer, ¡°Leader Timasion has no objection to this!¡±

    ¡°That''s good!¡± Davos nodded. ¡°Asistes, you take Cheiristoya to Mersis and let him be responsible for her settlement!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Asistes answered excitedly .

    ¡°Thank you, Leader Davos.¡± Cheiristoya walked out calmly.

    ¡°Cheiristoya! You can directly tell me if you have any difficulties!¡± Davos couldn''t help but shout.

    ¡°I will.¡± a smile shed acrossed her face.

    When they went out, Tolmides smiled at him, ¡°Leader Davos, you deserve to be the ¡®God''s Favored¡¯, your speech was not only great, and even the most beautiful woman in the mercenary camp took the initiative to go to you!¡±

    ¡°The first herald of the whole mercenary troops is not only urate in giving orders, but is also great at giving ttering words!¡±

    The twoughed.

    Tolmides looked at the young but clever leader and seriously asked, ¡°When I came in, I noticed that there were no guards outside your quarter.¡±

    Davos did not directly say that it was because he hadn''t had the time to arranged it due to theck of time, but instead, he modestly asked for advice, ¡°Before today, I was an ordinary soldier, the brothers in the camp trusted me and unanimously elected me as the new leader. If I immediately arranged guards, then it will iste me from my brothers. Will it make them think that I have changed?¡±

    Tolmied positively said, ¡°Military rules are military rules, it is there in order to ensure victory in battle! Look at how much chaos the death of Clearchus had caused the whole mercenary troops, you should know that the safety of your life is very important to your camp! At the same time, establishing guards will also prevent idle personnel, who doesn''t have anything to do, from frequently entering and leaving your quarter and interfering with your thinking and rest, which is equally important!¡±

    Davos nodded and said, ¡°Thank you for your teaching, I got it!¡±

    Tolmides looked at the modest manner of Davos, and said it with certainty without any contempt, ¡°It''s not easy to be a good leader, but I believe you can do it well!¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your encouragement!¡± Tolmides'' words dispelled hisst concern.

    After sending Tolmides away, and when Asistes returned, he immediately said to him, ¡°You go to Antonios and ask him to send the squad of Hielos to be my guard.¡±

    ¡°Understand!¡± When Asistes turned to leave, he was called back by Davos, ¡°Asi, I had just became a leader. I am not too familiar with military affairs, you should point out the things that I neglected.¡±

    Asistes blinked and politely said, ¡°Then let me say this first. You should appoint 2 more heralds to me, otherwise once the battle starts, the conveying of orders will be dyed.¡± It is indeed true that it would take too long for one person to convey orders to 14 captains, plus the supply unit and field hospital, and in battle, time is life.

    ¡®I was careless¡¯ Davos hurriedly said, ¡°Yes, you can choose personnel from the whole camp.¡±

    ¡°And horses.¡±

    ¡°Go look for Mersis.¡±

    Asistes rushed out.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Hielos, you have finally arrived,e in!¡± Davos happily weed him.

    ¡°Leader!¡± Hielos immediately saluted.

    ¡°You are all my good brothers, so you can just address me with my name in private.¡± Davos gave him a warm hug.

    ¡°Just like i have said, even if Davos became the leader, he won''t forget us! He is not Menon, he is Davos!¡± Matonis hit Davos'' chest with his fist.

    Davos smiled and said, ¡°Don''t me me for giving you additional tasks.¡±

    ¡°The guards have better treatment than an ordinary soldiers, so you are the one taking care of us. You can rest assured that with us, there will absolutely be no one that can hurt you!¡± Matonis patted his chest and made a pledge.

    ¡°It''s your duty to protect me, and if I get hurt then Matonis, you will be punished! And as yous punishment, you will only be given half of the food!¡± In front of his former squadmates, Davos deliberately created a rxed atmosphere.

    ¡°Damn it, you are even more terrible than Menon!¡± Matonis scratched his head andined.

    Everyoneughed.

    ¡°Davos, you can rest assured that I will arrange your guards!¡± Hielos said it with seriousness.

    Davos nodded.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Next, Davos called Marigi and asked him to act as a guide.

    Because the death of Clearchus made Marigi felt worried, and at the same time, made him no longer worried about getting discovered due to the Greek mercenaries fighting the Persians. Therefore, he readily agreed to the request of Davos.

    Davos was given detailed information about the the terrain ahead and the surrounding barbarians, especially the Carduchians¡­

    Just after sending Marigi away, he found that Matonis was fully armed and was standing at the entrance of his quarter. Davos didn''t disturb him, when he saw that Matonis was staring straight ahead, and as he turned around, he suddenly saw that there was 2 javelins on the back of Matonis and so he stopped.

    The proposal to equip the Greek hoplite with javelins could be said to be his failed proposal. At that time, he thought of the Roman heavy infantry in history, he also hope that the Greek hoplite, who could only fight at closebat, could also have a mid-range projectile firepower and attack the fast-moving Persian cavalry. Who knew that when the 2 troops were on good terms for quite a long time, the 2 javelins that they carried became a burden and unfavorable when marching. Therefore, most of the soldiers threw away their javelins, and only the squad of Hielos firmly believed on Davos and still carried it with them, but they cut the javelin into a meter long and was inserted in their back with a strap fixed so that they can easily insert and take it out, and it is also convenient to carry.

    Davos thought that it might be useful in future battle.

    That night, Davos didn''t slept well. After all, the next day was his first time marching with the troops or maybe his first time leading a battle. It was impossible for him to not be nervous, and so he tossed and turned around untilte at night.

    The next day, he was woken up by Asistes.

    ¡°What time is it now?¡± Davos asked with a slight guilt.

    ¡°The soldiers are currently eating, and it''s still too early to depart.¡± Asistes said, and brought him breakfast ¨C two pieces of bread, a piece of cheese, a sausage, and a ss of water.

    ¡°This is quite plenty, the soldiers are also eating this?¡± Davos asked while pointing to the breakfast.

    ¡°Almost. Because there may be battles today, and so we must eat more to gain strength.¡±

    Davos was relieved.

    He ate his meal then after a while, there was a long copper horn sound that was heard throughout the camp. Davos began to wear his armor, and all his other equipment remained the same, except for his helmet that was reced with a red helmet with a feather on its top.

    The soldiers were also dressed neatly, they came out one after another and began to dismantle their tents and sent them to the supply units.

    Then they began to line up.

    ¡°First Unit! First Unit!¡­¡±

    ¡°Second unit! The second unit is here!¡­¡±

    ¡°Brothers of the fourth unit and the fifth unit areing!¡­¡±

    The shouts came and gone, and from time to time they were apanied by horses and cattle, it was the supply unit on a wagon for the animals, and the whole camp was like a noisy market.

 Chapter 35: Mithridates Scheme

    After a long time, his adjutant, Philesius, came to report, ¡°All the troops are ready.¡±

    Davos dere it in a deadpan tone, ¡°Set out.¡±

    Previously, he didn''t felt it obvious while he was in the squad, but now he found the problem while looking at the whole situation as the leader. In his previous life, although he wasn''t a soldier, but he saw movies and visited forums and knew that one of the foundations for an army to win battles was strict discipline and quick mobility. In military training in universities, when they setup emergency assembly they calcte it by minutes. Now, it took more than an hour from when the horn sound till they queue, and their sloppiness doused half of his excitement as a new leader.

    He can only quietly observe and record all their shorings since he currently doesn''t have any prestige in the mercenary troops, he then need to think about a solution and wait until the time is ripe to talk about rectifying the troops and reforming the military system, it will probably take him a long time.

    When nearly half of the troops has left the camp, Philesius then said, ¡°Leader Davos, we should also leave.¡±

    Davos nodded and Hielos had already brought his horse. Yesterday, Davos was nervous when he learned that the leader has to ride a horse, since he didn''t know how to ride a horse in his previous life. But who knew that he was able to freely control the horse after he had mounted it. Turns out that one of the best horse-riding races in the Mediterranean world at this time was the Thessalian. The original owner of his body had grazed sheep and horses from an early age, and with his remnant memory and the instinct of his body memory were enough for Davos to freely control his horse.

    He grabbed the horse rein and mounted the horse, he then slightly mped his legs on the horse belly. The horse neighed and trotted forward with its four feet.

    Davos held his head high and sat upright. Yesterday, Tolmides'' words made him stop thinking about sharing the joys and sorrows with the soldiers and giving the horses to the old, weak, and disabled soldiers. Now he needs to be on the horse in order to always remind the soldiers that he, Davos, is the leader of the whole troops! As for the way of buying the heart of the people, he would wait until he be a famous strategos.

    Riding on a horse and looking at the vast marching ahead, Davos naturally grew a sense of pride in his heart, ¡®Real man should be like this¡¯

    Davos took control of his horse, followed by Philesius and Asistes, then by Hielos squad who were on foot. After leaving the camp and marching ahead, they reached the assembly ce for the whole mercenary troops.

    Davos had thought that his team was slow, and didn''t expect that the other team haven''t arrived yet. It seemed that the sloppiness was amon problem of the mercenaries, and everyone was ustomed to it.

    The Spartan troops of Cheirisophus had already stood in front. When Davos rode over to greet him, there was a smallmotion in the troops, the soldiers from the other camp recognized him as the leader who made a wonderful speech yesterday, but there were still some people who felt superior and thought of him as a young man who is still wet behind the ears. Jealousy, dissatisfaction, and bad words that questioned hismands, made Assistes, who followed him to turn red from anger.

    Only the troops of Cheirisophus was quiet as if they didn''t see himing, which made Davos seriously look at these real Spartan warriors. They are dressed in aplete set of arms, arrange in a neat square formation with each individual fiercely standing quietly, like a tall and straight pine, bing a unique sight in this noisy assembly. Davos felt their sharp and murderous re and that a powerful force would be unleashed once this silence breaks out! Body, skill, tactics, and discipline are all in one, this are the Spartan warriors!

    Davos looked at them enviously, ¡®When can Imand such an elite soldiers!¡¯ Heter learned that only about a third of Cheirisophus'' troops were genuine Spartans, the rest were Perioikoi.

    On both sides of the Spartan troops were the small mercenaries such as Sossis and Pasion. After the whole mercenary assembly, most of them joined the troops of Cheirisophus, while several other leaders also joined the other camps, and the only one they were not interested was the camp of Davos. Davos felt helpless about it.

    This time, the troops of Davos was fast in their formation because they basically adhered by the order when leaving the camp, the outermost part was the hoplite column, which was divided into four columns, the first column was arrange towards the rear in turn. The innermost part was the Peltast, divided into two columns, and it have the same length as the hoplite column, around half a mile long. When the enemy attacked from the outside of the left wing, the soldiers in the advancing column could turn right at once, with the hoplite at the front and the peltast at the rear, which will quickly formed a regrbat formation. The supply unit was located inside the huge open space on the left side of the peltast. Davos and his guards were between the peltast and the supply unit.

    About half an hourter, when the troopspleted lining up, the copper horn rang out once more, and they can finally depart.

    The speed of their march wasn''t fast, it was mainly due to the supply unit with the tents, food, medicine, goods, and the other materials that could not be carried by people were carried by horses and cattle. The horses couldn''t pull wagons that are too heavy, otherwise the harness will squeeze their neck and trachea, which will lead to suffocation, and even though the cattle are stronger than horses, they have poor stamina and bad temper.

    Davos saw Mersis, who was in the supply unit, shuttling back and forth, dealing with unexpected situations, and from time to time call out the soldiers to help. Davos secretly thanked himself on having followed the advice of Mersis, sending him a unit in advance in order to assist him in the supply unit. Eventually, Davos'' gaze fell on one of the women, Cheiristoya, although she was dressed the same, but her figure and temperament were like a crane among a flock of chickens, which made her easy to recognized.

    Cheiristoya seems to have sense his gaze, so she turned around to look in his direction.

    Davos took back his gaze.

    ¡°The speed of this marching won''t be able to cover 10 miles in an hour.¡± (note: miles in here = chinese miles, which is 500 meter)

    ¡°It is already good without the harassment of the Persians.¡± Philesius was d, and after he just finished talking, there was amotion in the rear.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Davos was nervous and asked.

    Asistes immediately dispatched a herald to the rear to check.

    After a while, the herald rushed back, ¡°It is Mithridates, the Persian general! He brought about 30 cavalry, and they are at the right wing of the whole mercenary troops, loudly pressuring them to surrender!¡±

    Psychological warfare! Davos brows twitched.

    ¡°Mithridates was a general of Cyrus the younger, but his scheme won''t work, we have been fooled by the Persians once, we will be a fool if we get fooled for the second time.¡± Philesius unhurriedly said.

    Davos nodded and said, ¡°Keep watching Mithridates, and keep on asking!¡± At the same time, he made Asistes dispatched another herald, so that the information could be sent back in turn.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°There are more than 20 soldiers that have abandoned their weapons and ran to the Persians!¡­they¡­they surrendered to Mithridates!¡±

    Davos'' heart quivered, it is clear that Philesius had overestimated the wisdom of the mercenary. What''s more, the troops of Hieronymus had a lot of disputes about the leader they elected yesterday. It is now easy for Mithridates to tear a gap between the dissatisfied troops of Hieronymus. Will this lead to a snowball effect for the whole mercenary? Davos began to worry.

    ¡°Mithridates went around the right rear and pressured the troops of Cleanor!¡­ There are around 10 soldiers that had thrown down their weapons and ran to the Persians!¡±

    Damn it! The fear of Davos ising true.

    Philesius was equally nervous.

    It seems that Mithridates was ready to circle around the huge formation of the mercenary and to constantly disintegrate the fighting spirit of the soldiers. And he will soon arrive before Davos'' troops!

    ¡°If we could only get rid of him.¡± Asistes said it with hate. But he also know that this is impossible, the other side is a light cavalry that cane and go like the wind, while their mercenary have no cavalry at all.

    ¡°Just shoot him with a javelin!¡± Matonis who was in the guard squad, shouted while pulling out the javelin on his back.

    ¡°How do you shoot them?! When you take out your javelin, the Persians would have run far away! Besides, the javelins have not yet been shot, but the Persian mounted archer can already shoot from afar!¡± Asistes retorted.

    A sh of inspiration shed through Davos'' mind, he eagerly asked the herald, ¡°What is the distance between Mithridates and the formation when he shouts?¡±

    ¡°Around 100 meters.¡±

    ¡°Did the Persians retreat when the surrendered soldiers ran past?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos asked several questions in session and got the answer. Faced with Philesius'' doubtful gaze, he pondered for a while and then said to him, ¡°Now, I have an idea. Do you think this will work?¡±

 Chapter 36: Decapitation Strike

    He gave a brief summary of his n, and Philesius looked at him with amazement.

    ¡°Will it work?!¡± Davos was urging him.

    Philesius thought it over and hesitatingly said, ¡°¡­it should be feasible, but it won''t necessarily seed.¡±

    ¡°There isn''t any n that can guarantee a 100% sess, but if we don''t try it then there won''t be a chance!¡± Davos decisively gathered the guard team of Hielos and told them of his n in detail. Out of their trust in him, they agreed to this dangerous n without any hesitation.

    Who knew that Davos then added, ¡°This time I will go with you!¡±

    ¡°No! Davos, you are the leader, you can''t take any risks!¡± Philesius immediately objected.

    ¡°The distance back and forth is only a hundred meters, and in a blink of an eye, I would be back, so what is the danger! Besides, I am still a ¡®God''s Favored¡¯ and I have the blessing of Hades. If I die, then doesn''t it mean that this ¡®God''s Favored¡¯ thing is not reliable!¡± Davos persisted with a smile, and pointed to Hielos, ¡°You are my good brother. Now, I will join this assault as a member of Hielos'' squad!¡± Hielos swallowed back the words that he wanted to say to dissuade him.

    ¡°Alright, let us brothers live and die together!¡± Matonis excitedly eximed.

    ¡°Yes, let the others see the courage of the warriors of Thessaly!¡± Olivos, who had been silent, shouted excitedly at this moment.

    At this time, the herald arrived, ¡°Mithridates went to the side of Timasion and shouted¡­ only 3 soldiers surrendered to the Persians!¡± This was the ability of Clearchus in uniting the troops, even in death, he still affects his soldiers.

    ¡°Mithridates will be here soon! There is no time to dy! Philesius, stay here for me!¡± Davos was in a hurry.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Philesius helplessly agreed.

    ¡°Asistes, you immediately inform the captains to get ready¡­¡±

    ¡°Understand!¡± Asistes excitedly said.

    ¡°The squad of Hielos,e with me to the front!¡±

    ¡°Hou!!¡­¡­¡± Everyone screamed at the same time, causing the other soldiers to curiously look back.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Reporting to the ephor, Mithridates is already on his way to Davos camp!¡±

    After hearing the report of Tolmides, Cheirisophus couldn''t help but look at his side.

    Even the troops of prestigious leaders such as Cleanor and Timasion have defected. Can this inexperienced young man control his soldiers? Cheirisophus was full of worries.

    ¡°Tolmides, you immediately go to Timasion and let him send the Cretan archers to go after and attack Mithridates.¡± He finally made a decision.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Tolmides immediately rushed to the rear with his horse.

    ¡®Young man, you have to hold on!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos, who had change into a regr helmet, together with the squad of Hielos were now in the first row, and have javelins on their back, hidden under their shoulders. They faced the west like the other soldiers, filled with vignce and they were tensely paying attention to the rear of the troops.

    Suddenly, someone squeezed into his side and before Davos could look who it was, he then heard Asistes, ¡°Leader, I have already conveyed your orders to the other captains. I am your herald, please let me fight together with you!¡± Asistes seriously beg.

    Davos nodded.

    ¡°Leader, here they are!¡± Hielos quietly reminded him.

    The sound of horse hooves came from the rear and gradually became clear¡­

    Soon, 30 light cavalry appeared in front of them. The first person that is wearing a shiny scaly armor that covered till the knees, must be Mithridates.

    Davos widened his eyes and clenched the copper shield in his hands.

    ¡°Damn coward.¡± Matonis quietly sweared.

    ¡°Greek warriors, I am Mithridates, a good friend of Cyrus the Younger!¡± Mithridates stood at a ce 200 meters ahead of Davos and shouted. His cavalry soldiers repeated what he shouted in Greek at the same time.

    ¡°Moreover, I am still a good friend of Menon! I have always been friendly to you Greeks, especially you, the soldiers of Menon, I have visited your camp a lot of times! Believe me, Clearchus was punished for breaking the agreement, however you did not! The truce agreement is still valid for you! Come on,e to our side! I swear to Vahram (T/N note: another name of Verethragna a Persian god), the god worshipped by my family! That I have no malice against you, and we will safely send you back to Asia Minor! At the same time, Satrap Tissaphernes is ready to hire you once more, because he needs your help since Asia Minor is still not peaceful, and he had prepared a lot of rewards¡­¡±

    ¡°You Persians who have smeared honey on yours mouths, don''t think that we will get fooled!¡± Asistes spat.

    At this time, Davos quietly said, ¡°Get ready ¨C start!¡±

    The squad of Hielos began to shout, ¡°Is it true that you will let us go home?¡±

    ¡°You really won''t hurt us?¡±

    ¡°How much will Tissaphernes pay in hiring us?¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After amotion, they unanimously shouted, ¡°We surrender! Surrender!¡­¡± With that, they threw down their shields and spears and ran towards Mithridates.

    ¡°We also surrender!¡± Another hoplite unit near the squad of Hielos immediately dropped their weapon, and soon they mixed up with the squad of Hielos.

    ¡°General, look! There are many people who surrendered this time!¡± A cavalryman happily said to Mithridates.

    ¡°Of course! Who is Menon, he and Ariaeus has the best rtionship! I think we can keep on shouting here!¡± Mithridates said while feeling proud of himself, because it had such a great effect just as soon as he shouted, which boosted his confidence.

    Davos was running as he stared at the movement of the cavalry of Mithridates, who was opposite of him. At this time, two Persian cavalry ran up to him and made him nervous.

    ¡°Run to the right! Run to the right!¡­¡± They shouted in fluent Greek, while gesturing and turned their horse around to lead the way and signal them to follow.

    ¡°Ignore them! Increase your pace!¡± Davos shouted in a low voice.

    The Greek soldiers did not listen to theirmand and suddenly increase their speed, running to their direction, which caused Mithridates to doubt.

    Just then, the cavalryman beside him shouted in panic, ¡°Not good! They¡­ they have javelins on their backs!¡±

    The reason why he could clearly see it was because he was 30 meters away from the Greek soldiers.

    ¡°Get ready!!!¡± Hielos shouted. The squad members quickly pulled out the javelin on their back and took a great strides forward.

    ¡°Damn!!¡± Mithridates hurriedly pulled the reins, and mped on the belly of the horse and tried to turn the horse''s head and retreat.

    However, it was toote. Matonis threw a javelin that even made him fell due to the strong inertia.

    Among the screams of the Persian cavalry, ten javelins flew towards Mithridates and he had no time to dodge them. Several javelins pierced his body and even the horse had its neck impaled, with a neigh, the horse copse together with him.

    Just as the Persian cavalry panicked, the rapidly closing squad of Hielos threw a second round of javelins and two more cavalry fell.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Antonios, who was watching closely, shouted excitedly, ¡°Sess! They seeded!!¡±

    The soldiers cheered.

    ¡°Quickly aid leader Davos!¡± Kapus screamed calmly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as the two teams were about to retreat, Mithridates, who had just fallen to the ground, suddenly moved and struggled to pull out his right leg that was trapped under the horse. His thick armor had apparently protected his vital point.

    Now he was 20 meters away and was looking around the fleeing Persian cavalry. The situation was so urgent that Davos had no time to think about anything, ¡°Kill him!!¡± Davos was the first to rushed up.

    The soldiers did not hesitate to catch up with him, they picked up the javelin and spear on the ground.

    Matonis threw another javelin and hit a Persian cavalry, who wanted to rescue Mithridates, off his horse, scaring the rest of the cavalry to once more run away.

    Mithridates lifted his dusty face. Looking up at Davos with his grieved smile revealing his bloody mouth, ¡°¡­you¡­ won''t be able to escape¡­¡±

    Davos did not speak, and directly plunged the tip of his spear into his neck.

    T/N: Decapitation Strike: Is a military strategy aimed at removing the leadership ormand and control of a hostile government or group. The strategy of shattering or defeating an enemy by eliminating its military and political leadership has long been utilized in warfare.

 Chapter 37: Raid of Artaozus

    ¡°Go! Hurry up and go!!¡± Hielos pulled him back and took the lead in running, then the soldiers immediately withdrew.

    The Persian cavalry came rushing again with their bows, while several of them lifted Mithridates'' body and the rest went to chase the Greek soldiers. This time, they have learned and divided into 2 so that they can surround Davos on both sides.

    ¡°Watch out for their bows and arrows!¡± Hielos shouted and beckoned the soldiers to disperse.

    Davos, whocked experience in the middle of the team, had slightly hesitated and was suddenly thrown down from behind, then he heard a groan.

    ¡°Olivos!¡± Davos recognized the one with twisted face due to pain, but there was no time for him to think more. Matonis and Giorgris, who was next to them, had quickly pulled them both and run to the curve ahead.

    ¡°Woosh! Woosh!¡­¡± Several arrows came again, and there were two more screams.

    By this time, their reinforcement had arrived, and the peltast row threw their javelins at the Persian cavalry, then held up their leather shield and continued to charge forward. Then came the hoplites with their erected shields that formed a wall of shields to block the arrows.

    The Persian cavalry that were just over 20 people did not dare to fight and quickly fled together with the body of Mithridates.

    Davos then finally had the opportunity to see Olivos'' injury.

    Olivos saw that Davos wasing and quickly broke away from Giorgris.

    ¡°Leader¡­ I¡­ I-¡± Before he could finish, Davos gave him a powerful hug, ¡°My good brother, thank you!!¡±

    Upon hearing this, the gloomy face of Olivos revealed a smile, and his whole body rxed, then came the pain, ¡°Ugh!¡± He groaned.

    Davos had thought that he had touched his wound and hurriedly let go.

    ¡°Hey, Olivos, fortunately the arrow hit you in the ass, if the arrow hit the front, then I won''t have any idea what your scream would be like!¡± Matonis taunted.

    ¡°Damn you Matonis, you should try getting hit next time since you are brave!¡± Olivos touched the arrow on his ass and sarcastically retorted.

    Themotion had returned to the squad of Hielos.

    In addition to Olivos, there was another soldier that got shot in his thigh and the other one in the back, however due to the thick armor, he only suffered a shallow wound.

    ¡°Giogris, you go bring Olivos to Herpus and asked him to treat Olivos well!¡± After that, Davos patted the shoulder of Olivos, ¡°Get treated ande back to fight with us as soon as possible!¡±

    ¡°Yes, leader!¡± Olivos loudly responded.

    ¡°A very good raid! Unexpectedly, you actually seeded. We were all worried about you just now!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you manage to kill Mithridates, and partially took revenge for Menon, the entire mercenary should be grateful!¡±

    ¡°Timasion had said back then that we were crazy to randomly elect a leader, I wonder what he will say now?¡±

    Philesius and the captains, Antonios and Kapus, came together and congratted Davos, while Amintas directly saluted him.

    The clever Asistes brought a horse to let Davos mount it.

    The soldiers consciously gave way to him, while shouting victory as they weed him back to their battle formation¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°What did you say?! Davos killed Mithridates?!¡± After listening to the heralds, Timasion looked as if he couldn''t believe it, ¡°We are currently at war, and if you ryed wrong information then you will be punish!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Davos killed Mithridates!¡± Xenophon eximed, ¡°He came up with a bold n and seeded!¡±

    ¡°Excellent!¡± Hieronymus then spoke with hatred, ¡°This time let see who else wanted to flee! With the death of Mithridates, the Persians will surely vent their anger on those deserters!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Cheirisophus carefully listened to the narrative of Tolmides. Although he very much doesn''t like this young man, but he had to admit that he had done quite well this time and it could even be said that he had saved the whole mercenary troops. Because he very well knew that the mercenariescked discipline, their management wasx and even though they were not afraid of the attack of the enemy and the more they fiercely attack, the more the mercenaries will be united. However, the method of Mithridates will disrupt the morale of the soldiers, which will cause the copse of the whole mercenary over time.

    Thinking of this, he loudly said to Tolmides with a smile on his face, ¡°Please go give my gratitude to leader Davos for his efforts for the whole mercenary troops on my behalf! And also, remind him that the attack of the enemy might soone.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°What?! Mithridates died?!¡± Ariaeus could not believe what he had heard.

    ¡°Yes, general, his body is outside your quarter!¡± said the guard.

    Ariaeus hurried out of his quarter, followed by Artaozus then the confidant sent by Tissaphernes.

    Mithridates'' body had been treated simply, but it¡¯s still terrible with 4~5 wounds and a bloody fist-size hole on his neck in which the blood continuously ooze.

    Ariaeus bent down and was about to closely look at it, when Artaozus couldn''t help but shout at the Persian cavalry that fled, ¡°Who did it?! Who did it?!¡±

    ¡°It is¡­a soldier of Menon, they¡­¡± The Persian cavalrymanpleted describing the whole process as he stuttered.

    ¡°A group of idiots! You actually got defeated by the trash of Menon! Since you did not manage to protect Mithridates, each of you will be subjected to 30shes ording to the militaryw, then as punishment, you will be sent to the supply unit as a servant.¡± Artaozus angrily shouted.

    ¡°General, spare us! General, spare us!!¡± The Persian cavalryman pleaded for mercy.

    Although these cavalryman are proficient in Greek, it didn''t change the fact that Ariaeus has no intention in stopping Artaozus. He instructed the guards to detain the cavalryman and then said, ¡°Go and bring a few Greeks that have run away, I want to asked them in detail.¡±

    ¡°What''s there to ask! Kill them all! Then lead the army to attack those Greek barbarian!¡± Artaozus impatiently shouted.

    ¡°After their leader were captured by us, the mercenaries must have elected new leaders. We must first understand who they are before we can take the next step.¡± Ariaeus patiently persuaded him.

    ¡°You go ask, while I''ll go avenge Mithridates first!¡± Artaozus angrily left.

    Ariaeus shrugged helplessly at the confidant of Tissaphernes. Nominally, he was the leader after the death of Cyrus the Younger. But in fact, Mithridates and Artaozus each had their own troops and both of them were good friend, they confronted Ariaeus in secret and in the open, which often constrained Ariaeus. When Mithridates died today, Ariaeus was secretly pleased,pared with the sly Mithridates, the impulsive Artaozus was much easier to handle¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although Artaozus was impulsive when doing things, but when ites to fighting he wasn''t a fool. He knew that the Persian infantry could not beat the Greek hoplite and so he only chose 200 mounted archers and 200 archers, and hurriedly led them to catch up with the Greek troops.

    Because the troops of Artaozus were mounted archers and archers, therefore they are highly mobile. In the afternoon, the huge formation of the Greeks entered his sight.

    ¡°Instruct the troops to spread out into goose formation and quickly pressure them forward!¡± Artaozus tedly gave instruction, as his gaze became cold and murderous

    The Persian army was on the right rearguard, the troops of Cleanor had anticipated the arrival of the Persians, but when they only saw few enemies, they had thought that they were only gonna shout again like they didst time. Therefore, although they were on guard, they didn''t take them too seriously.

    However, the Persians quickly spread out and approached them, and in the blink of an eye, the distance was only less than 100 meters.

    Cleanor felt something wrong, and shouted, ¡°Prepare for defense!¡±

    As soon as his words fell, the Persian arrows had arrived and most of the arrows fell like raindrops on the soldier''s shields. Because of the Greek soldiers'' tight formation and the close proximity between the hoplite and peltast, some of them were immediately got injured and most of the injured were the peltast.

    ¡°Dispersed the formation and the hoplites rushed forward!¡± Cleanor anxiously conveyed his order.

    The arrows struck once more, some fell and screamed. At this time the troops was slightly in a mess, specially the supply unit that was behind them, the guards and servants rushed northward with the neighing horses and cattle, away from the rearguard in order to avoid the disaster.

    The Persians immediately withdrew, as soon as the 3 hoplite units that were armed with round shields, rushed past the raining arrows.

 Chapter 38: Slingers of Rhodes

    It was impossible for the hoplites to catch up with the lightly armed archers, let alone the faster cavalry. The hoplites charge could notst and when they stopped to rest, the Persian archers began to attack once more.

    The Greek hoplites hid under their round shield, which greatly reduced the chance of injury, but that''s not to say they wouldn''t. First of all, their arms and thighs were unprotected, and secondly, their thick armor is made of linen, although it can prevent the arrows from prating, but some flesh wounds can''t be avoided.

    If they can''t get close to the enemy, then they won''t be able to exert the strength of the hoplites, while the enemy only need to stand and shoot arrows. Cleanor did not dare to dispatch the peltast because their javelins won''t be able to reach as far as arrows, and their protection wasn''t as strong as the hoplites, it will only increase their casualties.

    At this time, Timasion dispatched 200 Cretan archers to reinforce them in haste.

    Cleanor, who had expectations for them was soon disappointed. In the Greek city-states, the Cretan archers was known for their archery, but their range wasn''t as far as the Persian archers who dominated the Mediterranean. On the contrary, in order for them to shorten the range, they had left the hoplites'' protection, which had caused dozens of casualties¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At this time, the entire mercenary troops halted, and the leaders were trying to find a solution.

    Davos also listened anxiously to the heralds of the left wing. At this time, Tolmides came riding on a horse, ¡°Leader Davos, Cheirisophus wants you to dispatched troops and you need to take a detour in order to avoid the scouting of the enemy, then go behind the enemy and attack them.¡±

    When Davos thought about it, he understood the n of Cheirisophus. He looked at Philesius who was beside him, and Philesius nodded at him

    ¡°Asistes, go and inform Kapus toe!¡± Davos ordered.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Philesius thought that Davos would consult with him about who to send, but he instead directly made a decision, and it was the most suitable person. It seems that him asking for advice throughout the journey wasn''t just a front, and the young leader''s ability to learn is really strong.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Kapus led the hoplite unit, Hieronymus, who was on the other side, also sent a hoplite unit, and all of them were trying to circle behind the Persians, then cooperate with Cleanor to surround and annihte them.

    However, the experience Artaozus had long been on guard. The two wings of the goose formation were the Persian archers and mounted archers, they are very loose and can also be used as a scout, and soon they discovered the anomalies, so they quickly retreated and made the attempt of the mercenary to fail.

    The prudent Kapus immediately withdrew as soon as he saw the n failing. While Xenophon, who was the leader on Hieronymus'' side, was unwilling, so he took the initiative to seek a fight and continued pursuing. As a result of chasing and stopping, instead of injuring the Persians, it had caused him more than a dozen of people to be injured. If not for the arrows of Artaozus'' troops running out, then Xenophon''s unit would have lost more. So when he came back, he got reprimanded by Hieronymus.

    Without the harassment of Artaozus, the Greek troops increased their pace and finally arrived at the vige that was mentioned by the guide before the sun had set. Although most of the vigers had fled, it still renewed the soldiers'' spirit. Davos had no intention in stopping the soldiers to pige, and he only suggested that Mersis should capture some Persian ves and promise them freedom in exchange for their sincere help. He then rushed to themander''s quarter.

    He heard theint of Cleanor, before he could enter, ¡°These Persians are like flies, we can''t get rid of them without a fight and there is nothing we can do about them since we don''t have enough cavalry.¡±

    Davos and Philesius went inside, and everyone nodded to them. Compared with yesterday¡¯s alienation, a lot of them took the initiative today. Obviously, Davos'' performance won the recognition of everyone, it was just because they were worried about the attack of Artaozus that they were not able to show their enthusiasm.

    ¡°What should we do if the Persians still attack us like they did today?¡± Cleanor said worried, because he had suffered the most casualties today.

    ¡°What is even more worrying is that if we can''t quickly find a way to defeat the Persians, the Persians will surely think that this method of attack is the most effective against us and they will not only continue using this method, and the next time theye will not only be few hundreds of people, but instead will be thousands of archers and mounted archers! I think that this will be our disaster!¡± Xenophon depressingly said, since he had suffered a lot today.

    The other leaders were equally serious. They had easily won in the previous battle with the Persian king, and the tolerance of Tissaphernes made them believe in their own strength. But now, a small Persian troops,posed entirely of archers and mounted archers had made the hoplites that they are proud of, suffer. They then suddenly realized the shorings of their troops.

    ¡°We have to have the same or longer range than the Persians -¡± said Cheirisophus.

    ¡°The slinger of Rhodes!!¡± Xenophon suddenly shouted.

    Davos brows skip. He heard Antonios say that the Rhodians are good at throwing rocks among the Greek city-states. They can sling a rock up to 400~500 meters and with a high precision within 100 meters. Therefore, the Mediterranean city-states likes to employ the Rhodian slinger as an important reserve force of their army.

    The reason why Davos is familiar with the name of Rhodes, wasn''t only because of the slinger, but it was also because of ¡°One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World¡± that was widely circted in his previous life, ¨C The Colossus of the Sun God of Rhodes that was built on this ind, but it seems that it have been built after Alexander the Great.

    Davos thought to himself. In fact, the Greek city-states have many unique and elite military units, such as the Archers of Crete, the Cavalry of Thessaly, the Slingers of Rhodes, the Hoplites of Sparta, and the Navy of Athens¡­ if Greece was united and these force are integrated then they will surely be able to dominate the Mediterranean! Unfortunately, the Greeks who love freedom have always been a scattered sand. Athens, who was thest one that wanted to make this effort has been defeated and now the hegemon of Greece, Sparta, without looking at history, was impossible to do so because of their extremely closed and conservative political system¡­

    When Davos sighed in his heart, Timasion said with regret, ¡°Unfortunately we don''t have Rhodian slingers!¡±

    ¡°But we have people from Rhodes!¡± Xenophon said excitedly, ¡°Everyone, throwing rocks is a skill that the Rhodians had practice since childhood and they make a living from it, just like how the Cretan makes a living with their archery. When we were recruiting mercenaries in Eurasia, many Rhodians have joined us, but because of the generosity of Cyrus the Younger, made them abandoned their slings due to therge amount of weapons and picked up the round shields and spears that they were only able to afford for arge sum of money, but now it''s time for them to once more pick up their slings!¡±

    ¡°Xenophon is right, we should immediately assemble them and form slingers to fight the Persian archers.¡± Cleanor immediately said.

    Everyone agreed.

    Cheirisophus nodded and said, ¡°Then let''s do that right away. We have a lot of sheep, we can ughter a part of them and use their intestines as slings.¡±

    ¡°In addition, we still need cavalry. Otherwise, we will not be able to catch up with the Persians when they retreat. I suggest that each camp will gather their surplus packhorses and select soldiers who are good at horse-riding and form a cavalry units.¡± Xanthicles said.

    ¡°Agree!¡±

    ¡°Agree!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the face of this crisis, the leaders united and quickly reached an agreement.

    The whole mercenary troops immediately acted. Soon, more than 300 Rhodians, who were good at slings, were organize and more than 50 packhorses were assembled. Most of the cavalryman that was selected came from Davos camp, and most of the soldiers in his camp are Thessalian.

    When Xenophon rmended the Athenian, Lycius, as the captain of the cavalry unit, Davos expressed his disagreement and believed that his own camp, the Thessalian Ledes (rmended by Philesius) was more appropriate.

    Since most of the cavalry were Thessalian, the leaders eventually agreed.

    The next day, instead of continuing the march, the mercenaries took a day off to conduct assault training for the newly formed slingerpany and cavalry unit.

 Chapter 39: Respective Plans

    On this day, the Persians were not idle.

    After Artaozus seeded in harassing the Greeks, he returned to the camp and proudly showed his achievements to Ariaeus, and proposed that Ariaeus should hand over all the archers and mounted archers to him, and he will defeat the Greeks in one fell swoop.

    Ariaeus first cogratted him, then began to find reasons to refuse Artaozus. After all, the army of Cyrus the Younger was defeated in the battle with the Persian king before, and there were only 7,000 people left after he had gathered them up. If he followed what Artaozus had said, then he would only have 3,000 people left under hismand and as the nominalmander of this army, how can he order the whole army if his subordinates have more troops under theirmand than him. What''s more, a Persian army can''t be the Persian army without archers. Thus, the cautious and stingy Ariaeus disapproved of such gambling tactics.

    Artaozus was furious when he saw that Ariaeus did not agree. He believed that Ariaeus was jealous of him and doesn''t want to see him seed.

    Therefore, in a fit of anger, he straight up ran to Tissaphernes camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Can you defeat the Greeks as long as I give you enough archers and cavalry?!¡± Tissaphernes asked with some suspicion.

    ¡°Lord satrap, I have had many contacts with the Greek mercenaries due to Cyrus the Younger and I know the condition of their troops. Most of their soldiers are hoplites and as long as you don''t fight them at a close range, then they wouldn''t be able to exert even a bit of their strength, and they don''t even have enough archers. Therefore, they won''t be our opponent at all. I had only brought 400 mounted archers and archers in attacking them and without losing a soldier, it resulted in about 500 Greek casualties (which is obviously an exaggeration). If not for the arrows running out then the Greek would have even more casualties!¡± Artaozus said with a respectful attitude, ¡°Therefore, I want to increase the number of archers and mounted archers, which will increase our long-range attacks on the Greeks, and in turn, will increase their casualties, and I hope to bring them down faster in order to solve these Greek barbarians for you lord and for the king as soon as possible!¡±

    He then switch the conversation to some other subject, ¡°But Ariaeus refused my proposal, so I can onlye to you, lord Satrap!¡±

    Tissaphernes did not answer directly, but said with a sad expression, ¡°I am very sad and surprised that Mithridates died in battle!¡±

    ¡°At the same time, his death may have also returned the confidence to the Greeks that have lost their leader!¡± Tissaphernes turned grave, ¡°I heard that the Spartan ephor, Cheirisophus, has be the newmander of the mercenary troops, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes, lord Satrap. That''s what the Greek soldiers that have deserted said.¡± said Artaozus.

    ¡°We must absolutely not allow him to seed in taking over this Greek troops and obtain prestige!¡± Tissaphernes said in a cold and firm tone, ¡°We must constantly attack them, let them flee continuously, and make them cry for death and mourn for hunger! Artaozus, since your method is very useful then continue using it to fight against the Greeks! I''ll give you 2000 archers and 500 mounted archers. In addition, there''s Ariaeus -¡±

    Tissaphernes turned to Siste, who was standing by and said, ¡°I have to trouble you to go first, Since Ariaeus dared not fight the Greeks, I will give the soldiers to those who had the ability tomand them! Otherwise, I don''t mind discussing with him what he did during the rebellion of Cyrus the Younger!¡±

    Sisteughed disapprovingly, ¡°Lord satrap, you don''t have to be so angry. I believe that Ariaeus is a sensible man.¡±

    ¡°He better be!¡± The gaze of Tissaphernes shed a bit of chill.

    ¡°Thank you for your trust, lord Satrap, I will bring you the news of victory!¡± Artaozus was thrilled and said his thanks in a loud voice.

    ¡°When you win, you will be my adjutant.¡± Tissaphernes made a promise.

    As Artaozus followed Siste out of the tent in high spirits, Orontes said with concern, ¡°Can Artaozus seed?¡±

    ¡°Since he had won a perfect victory, why can''t he have a second one? If we can get rid of the Greeks at once, then I am willing to bet!¡± Tissaphernes firmly said.

    ¡°I didn''t expect the Spartan ephor to be in this mercenary! It seems that the rebellion of Cyrus the Younger must have received the support of the Spartans!¡± Said Orontes in a hateful tone, as the son-inw of king Artaxerxes, he is certainly wary of any party that may be friendly to Cyrus the Younger.

    ¡°The Greeks hated us for decades. This is the reason why I opposed funding Sparta against Athens, it was a pity that his majesty Darius was deceived by Cyrus the Younger, removing me from my post and recing me with Cyrus the younger and supported Sparta!¡± Tissaphernes bitterly said, ¡°What is the result! Sparta supported the rebellion of Cyrus the Younger, so that they can profit from it! It was in our best interest that Sparta and Athens should continue fighting instead of helping Sparta to win!¡±

    ¡°You are right, Tissaphernes! When the matter here is over, I''ll go and advise the king to reconsider the rtionship with Sparta.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is why we have to quickly solve these Greeks. Artaozus will definitely bring us good news!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At dusk of that day, the leaders once more gathered at the military quarter.

    ¡°The slingerpany already have slings in their hand, and after a day of training, they are already skillful in using it, and they can now go to battle and kill the enemy!¡± Cleanor had reported that his troops at the rearguard had lost the most in the battle yesterday. Therefore, at his strong request, the newpany was temporarily under hismand.

    Then, Davos also made a report, ¡°The cavalry unit has also no problem in going to battle and killing the enemy.¡± Because most of the cavalryman came from his camp and since he is once more in the nk, and so, the cavalry was temporarily ce under his control.

    Davos briefly spoke. After watching the cavalry''s day of training, he also got a general idea of the ways the cavalry attack in this era, horse collision, spear stab, javelin throw, archery. Because there are no stirrups, they dare not let the horse run as fast as it could, nor they dare not go all out, otherwise they would easily fall off the horse.

    The newly built cavalry is equipped with only one weapon ¨C the spear, so their best way of attack is to chase the fleeing enemy.

    At this moment, Cheirisophus said, ¡°Everyone, I had taken the guide out of the camp in order to explore the route that we will take tomorrow and their surrounding terrain -¡±

    ¡°That was too dangerous! Now the Persian scouts are roaming around our camp, if you hade across them then you would''ve been in trouble!¡± Timasion shouted.

    ¡°I was prepared for that, and with the blessing of Zeus, I didn''t meet the Persians.¡± Cheirisophus nodded to Timasion and expressed his gratitude for his concern, ¡°Instead, I found an important discovery.¡±

    ¡°What important discovery?!¡± Cleanor asked urgently.

    ¡°I found that there are several mountains 4 miles ahead and there is only one valley that we could pass. Otherwise, we would have to take a longer path.¡± Cheirisophus said as he use the wooden stick on the grass, ¡°This valley can only amodate up to 20 people side by side.¡±

    ¡°What you meant is that¡­ you fear the Persians will attack us as we pass through the valley!¡± Xanthicles asked worriedly.

    ¡°This is indeed a problem. However, this can be solved. We will depart through the valley before dawn, and the Persians will never be able to think about it.¡± Xenophon had thought about it and said.

    ¡°This is a good method! The Persians are afraid of the night, specially when their cavalry could not see the path under their feet in the dark. That is why when we were marching with Cyrus the Younger, they always waited until dawn before leaving the camp. And the day before yesterday, Mithridates had only caught up with us long after dawn. If it still the same tomorrow, then we would have already passed through the valley.¡± Cleanor agreed and the others also agreed, they then turned their attention to the final decision-maker, Cheirisophus.

    Cheirisophus nced at the crowd and said in a calm tone, ¡°Everyone, I have a n. Since the Persians are keeping up with us, then we can use this valley to our advantage and strike them hard!¡±

 Chapter 40: Hellish Encirclement and Annihilation (I)

    ¡°What do you mean¡­¡± Xanthicles thought about it and asked, ¡°After passing through the valley, we will immediately start the formation and fight the Persians that came chasing us.¡±

    ¡°Moreover, the path in the valley is narrow and will dy their retreat, which will make it easier for us to catch up with them. The more Persians thate chasing, the slower their retreat from the valley, and the more Persians we could kill!¡± Timasion excitedly said.

    ¡°But the Persians are not fools, why will they risk and cross the valley if they saw that we are ready?¡± Xenophon''s question stunned everyone.

    Cheirisophus said with confidence, ¡°That''s why we won''t attack them near the entrance of the valley. Once the Persians catch up with us, then we will attack! Therefore, we need to lure them to chase us!¡±

    ¡°Right! Anyway, the Persians won''t dare to fight us head-on, and we have the slingers and cavalry, which will surely give the Persians an unexpected surprise! At that time, the whole troops will attack them together and drive them to the entrance of the valley, and the narrowness of the valley will dy their retreat and help us catch up with them!¡­¡±

    Everyone said their opinions and soon the n was perfected.

    Suddenly someone said, ¡°We should ambush the Persian army on this side of the valley and immediately block it after they cross it.¡±

    Everyone was stunned and abruptly turned around, it was Davos, he had been sitting in the corner and was seriously listening to them.

    ¡°¡­Do you want to annihte them all?!¡± Cheirisophus looked at Davos, as he tried to suppressed his astonishment and said slowly.

    Davos extended his left five fingers, then squeezed it into a fist and forcefully mmed it, ¡°Of course! If we just defeated them, then they will surely return to once more attack us, after they retreated and regroup. Only by surrounding and annihting them can we give the greatest deterrence to the Persians!¡±

    The Greeks advocates strength and preferred head-on sh, this characteristics was further emphasized by the fact that their mercenary troops mainly consist of hoplites. The same is true for the Spartans who are the best at fighting, the Battle of Marathon, the Battle of tea¡­ not to mention that these big battles were won by Greeks through their strength and head-on collision. Even the countless small battles were seldom roundabout, outnking, ambushing, surprise attack, and surround and annihtion¡­ Everyone in theter generations knows some of these mostmon military terms well, and even though they seem simple, but it''s almost nk in this era, throughout the military history of the Greek city-states, the hoplites were their main fighting force. Of course, such battles asionally ured, but few people paid attention to it and was just skimmed. Hundreds of yearster, Hannibal, themander of Carthage, killed half of the men in Rome with repeated battle of annihtion, which have force Rome, the overlord of the Mediterranean, to learn from their enemies and finally take the military tactics of the ssical West to a great level.

    Davos, whose soul had came fromter generation, is certainly won''t be restricted by this era. Although his military experience is still immature, but he is two thousand years ahead with his military thoughts. What he was thinking at this time was a sentence often said inter generation, It is better to cut off one finger than to injure ten.

    Cheirisophus looked calmly at this young man with an immature face, but he was shocked by his courage and concept. He admit that Davos'' proposal was tempting and feasible, but he still asked cautiously, ¡°There is a dense forest not far from the valley, but if we have too many soldiers for ambush, then they will be easily spotted by the cavalry scout of the Persian. But if there are too few soldiers and if there are too many Persians thates, then how can they stop the Persians from retreating? What if the Persians doesn''te chasing tomorrow? You should know that they didn''te today.¡±

    Davos had already thought about it and answered seriously, ¡°There is no n in the world that is perfect, there are risks in any military actions, therefore we should consider all possibilities as thoroughly as possible. First of all, I want to ask you, Cheirisophus, how far is this forest from the entrance of the valley?¡±

    ¡°About 3 miles.¡± Cheirisophus blurted out as if the terrain had been imprinted in his mind. This made Davos admire him very much. Surveying the topography is a necessary skill for a qualifiedmander, and he also need to study it!

    At the same time, Cheirisophus'' words cleared his biggest concern about the n, he said it with his analysis, ¡°ording to what has been said before, when the whole mercenary troops sets out before dawn, then the troops for the ambush will be able to arrive at the forest, and the enemy cavalry scout should still be sleeping. We only need 300~400 soldiers for the ambush, therefore the chance for them to be discovered will be small, and the Persians will only think of fleeing and won''t have the time to organize resistance, although we won''t be able to wipe them out, but the results won''t be too bad!¡±

    ¡®Surrounding the three sides was theorized by Sun Tzu, a military strategist and the first one to raise the ancient art of war to a new height, and should be living in the same era!¡¯ Davos'' inexplicable sense of pride made him more rxed, ¡°As for the Persians noting, then you don''t have to worry. If the enemy hasn''t yet appeared after noon, the troops that is task for the ambush could withdraw on their own initiative, and their actions will be more swift since they don''t have any baggage, and our main force will also be at the entrance of the valley, so there won''t be any big problems¡­¡± (note: it is about surrounding a ce, but only 3 sides have troops and leaving 1 side unguarded in order to give the enemy hope of escape, and then take advantage of the situation to surround them and gradually annihte them.

    Davos'' detailed thoughts eventually conquered all the other leaders that are present and they all agreed with his suggestion: Adding an ambush force.

    Cheirisophus, who had always been unable to get used to Davos because of his youth, couldn''t help but treasure his talents, but the way the Spartans treasure their younger generation is different, ¡°Davos, are you willing tomand this ambush force?¡±

    Davos was stunned, he saw trust and expectation in the gaze of Cheirisophus. He carefully thought about it and despite the obstruction of Philesius, and faced with theplicated gaze of everyone, he nodded, ¡°I can!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next day, before dawn, the Greeks got up at the urging of the bugle, they packed up their baggage and equipment, and departed with sleepy eyes.

    There is only a glimmer of light appearing on the horizon when they arrived at the entrance of the valley.

    Davos led three hoplite units and one peltast unit, and separated from the main mercenary force. The leaders then sent their blessings one after another.

    ¡°Zeus will be with you!¡± This is what Cheirisophus had said.

    ¡°May Ares give you strength!¡± This is what Timasion had said.

    ¡°May Athena give you good fortune!¡± This is what Xenophon had said.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In order to fight with the Persians, the whole mercenary troops are united.

    ¡°Take care of the leader! Come back safely!¡± Philesius said seriously.

    ¡°Do not worry, Philesius, we will take care of the leader!¡± Antonios interrupted.

    ¡°You take care as well!¡± Davos said while giving Philesius a powerful hug. Then, in the gazes of the remaining soldiers and officers had begun to change into admiration, as he led the troops along the foot of the mountain and rushed to the forest on the left side¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In fact, Artaozus acted earlier than the day before, because his troops had grown sorge that there were around 4,500 archers and 1,500 mounted archers, which doubled his confidence and made him eager to crush the Greek mercenary troops as soon as possible in order for him to get the adjutant position that was promised by Tissaphernes earlier.

    The scout reported back that the Greeks had long left their camp and crossed the valley, and the distance was 20 miles away from the Persian army.

    He took it for granted and thought that the Greeks acted so quickly in order to avoid their attacks, and felt anxious thinking about the oath that he had pledge to Tissaphernes, ¡®They must not be allowed to run away, we must crush them today!¡¯

    So he urged the troops to speed up the march. When they passed through the valley, they did not stop because the scout had told him that the Greeks were 5~6 miles away from the mouth of the valley.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Leader Davos, the Persians have entered the valley!¡± Asistes ran back to the forest and reported it to Davos.

    ¡°How many people?¡± asked Antonios on the side.

    ¡°Their troops is very long, I am afraid that there are thousands of people!¡± Asistes said as he gasped.

    ¡°This is really a big fish!¡± Amintas whistled.

    ¡°Then we will immediately implement the second n that we had discussedst night.¡± Davos was nervous, but he manage to control his facial expression.

    ¡°Brothers, start working hard!¡± Kapus shouted in a low voice.

 Chapter 41: Hellish Encirclement and Annihilation (II)

    ¡°Report, the Persians came out of the valley and are already came chasing!¡±

    ¡°Very good. How many people?¡±

    ¡°There are about 6,000~7,000 people, all of whom seems to be archers and mounted archers!¡±

    ¡°Damn Persian! They must have a ridiculous idea of using arrows to defeat us all!¡±

    ¡°That is just right! The more thates, the more we kill!¡±

    ¡°Can Davos block them?¡±

    ¡°That is why, our attack must be fast and powerful!¡± Cheirisophus firmly said, ¡°Everyone, return to yourmand post at once and immediately spread out the formation, and move out!¡±

    ¡°Hou!!¡­¡± The leaders are itching for a fight and began to move out.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Artaozus left the valley, he couldn''t wait to spread out his battle formation, and just like the day before yesterday, the archers were in the middle and the cavalry were on both wings.

    Just 2 miles after leaving the mouth of the valley, the scout came back to report, ¡°The Greeks areing toward us!¡±

    Although Artaozus was in high spirit, he after all has a lot ofbat experience. He doesn''t want to be confined near the mouth of the valley due to his attack tactics needing space to maneuver. So he immediately ordered his entire troops to move to the left.

    The archers and mounted archers are all highly mobile, but it still takes time for 7,000-man troops to change their battle formation, which the Greeks did not give them.

    Not long after Artaozus gave his instruction, the Greeks appeared in his sight. He suddenly became nervous, and he clearly knows that it is seeking death to change formation while the enemy is advancing.

    He ordered that the battle formation be restored and quickly thought it in his mind that in a little while, after 2 rounds of arrows are fired, the advance of the enemy will be disrupted and they should quickly move to the left, breaking away from the Greeks and finding another opportunity to fight.

    However, his face quickly changed, because the Greek''s front line was very long, it far exceeded both his wings, and as they move to their direction, both wings continuously extend.

    Artaozus is aware of the traditional Greek phnx. They often piled the formation very thickly, usually more than 7~8 rows, and crushed the other side with a powerful impact. Now the other side''s formation is so thin that they only have 2~3 rows, why did they dare do that? Artaozus soon understood that it is due to their side being all mounted archers and archers, the Greeks can still win without using the strength of numerous people to crush them.

    The Greeks wanted to surround them! He was careless! Artaozus was a little flustered and his expression change to confusion. He wanted to immediately withdraw, but he felt that since the formation was already been spread out, and if they dejectedly went back, then the morale would be affected, and the important thing is that they will be dyed.

    He had made an oath. He thought to himself that even if they don''t have the time left to retreat, they should at least shoot a round of arrows, 7,000 arrows can disrupt the Greek''s formation and may even cause chaos.

    With this in mind, Artaozus decided to take risks. He quickly called the officers under hismand and told them to remember the order of withdrawal¡­

    When everything was properly arranged, he felt a lot more relieved. Looking at the approaching Greeks, he decided to wait and instructed the arrows to be fired when the distance between the two sides is about 100 meters.

    Come on, Greek barbarians,e and die! He smiled maliciously. However, at a distance of about 200 meters, a brass bugle sounded on the opposite side, and the greek stopped moving forward! He was anxious, but he doesn''t want his troops to move forward, because it is easy to cause chaos when turning a sudden attack to a retreat, while Artaozus only wanted a smooth retreat. But if he wait for the Greeks to attack, he now felt that there are too many troops and there might be some problems on themands due to inconsistency.

    Then he saw the Greek hoplites facing him stretch out countless arms behind and started swinging overhead.

    Slingers!! Artaozus was so frightened that he remembered that there were no slingers in the Greek mercenaries, why did they appear all of a sudden?!

    Then he doesn''t have the time to think about it, countless fist-sized stones crashed into the middle of the Persian army like hailstones. These Persian archers were drawing their bows, when they suddenly got hit. They aren''t protected by armor, and their head got badly battered and even directly got knocked unconscious¡­

    There was chaos in the Persian army.

    The rate of the slingers are very fast, and soon another flying stones was thrown from the other side''s formation, which have covered the sky¡­

    Artaozus''s eyes turned red from anxiousness and hoarsely shouted, ¡°Retreat! QUICKLY RETREAT!¡­¡±

    The bugler was preparing to blow the bugle, but there was a loud brass bugle that sounded on the opposite side, and the silent Greek hoplites roared, ¡°Ares!!!¡± The whole Greek front started taking big steps rushing towards the Persians like a surging tide without fear of the reefs and shallows ahead, vowing to swallow up thend. It was an unprecedented momentum, strong enough to crush the Persian morale. The front of the Greek troops split open a passage in which dozens of cavalry poured out and took the lead to charge at the enemy Persians.

    The Persians totally copsed! They did not listent to the officer''s order and even pulled them in their arms as they ran back at full speed. The order of withdrawal that was arranged beforehand could not be carried out. The cavalry, archers, right wing, left wing, and center have all rushed to the mouth of the valley like a swarm of bees. They only have one idea in their minds, ¡®Get away from those terrible Greeks!¡¯

    Defeated! Defeated! Defeated without shooting a single arrow!! Artaozus had participated in the Battle of Cunaxa before, and as a teammate of the Greeks, he cheered at them as they easily defeated the Persian king''s army. But now that he is personally facing the charge of the Greeks, he felt the horror of the Greek hoplites and at this moment, his brain was nk, but his hands were sping around the neck of his horse, and was surrounded by his retinues as they rushed to the mouth of the valley. He was close to the mouth of the valley due to him being at the rear of the center. Therefore, he and his cavalry retinues were ahead of the Persian army as they run.

    The mouth of the valley is ahead in which the vast space suddenly narrowed, and the steep and continuous peaks made the air to only flow in the valley''s mouth, making Artaozus, who had just entered the valley, almost got blinded by the intense mountain wind.

    ¡°Hia!¡± He mped the belly of his horse and clearly knew that the faster they cross the valley, the less troops he would lose!

    The path on the valley is not a straight line, but a curved ¡°S¡± shape. It wasn''t a problem for the Persian cavalry who rode on sands all year round, they have good control on their horses and they didn''t slow down too much even if there is a curve ahead.

    Just as they whirled around the foot of the mountain, a half-man high wall made of stacked stones and wood appeared in front of them. Artaozus and his cavalry were unable to stop their horses from crashing into it. People and horses immediately screamed loudly¡­

    Artaozus was thrown out and what he eventually saw was the rapidly erged mountain wall in front of him.

    The defeated Persians entered the valley like a torrent and filled it up as they push forward¡­

    When the rest of the cavalry at the forefront stopped moving in horror, the soldiers in the rear were still desperately running¡­

    Therefore, a more tragic scene happened. The soldiers at the front were crushed and trampled by the soldiersing from behind, while the struggling soldiers end up tripping the rushing soldiers, and the defeated soldiers still crazily pouring in, in order to escape the ughtering of the Greeks¡­

    Inside the valley, people fell, trampled, fell, trampled¡­ Behind the stone wall, the Persians piled up inyers extending all the way to the entrance of the valley, and even some of the soldiers have been trampled into minced meat, while the others are still struggling and screaming in the river of blood¡­ it''s hell on earth!

    ¡°Vertical shield wall!¡±

    ¡°Javelin ready!¡±

    As Davos saw the Persian soldiers pushing each other in front of the stone wall, although he was slightly nervous, he still calmly transmitted his orders very clearly!

    The peltast led by Epiphanes first shot those Persians that are struggling to climb the stone wall. Then the Greek hoplites formed a shield wall in a dense formation so that they can block their path, and the soldiers in the front four rows stuck their chest on the back of the soldiers that are in the first row in order to support them, and their spears can also reach in front of the soldiers on the first row and together, formed a wall of spear that tightly block the path and easily stab the panicked and unorganized Persians that are trying to flee.

    Davos simply build the stone wall by asking the soldiers to carry stones and wood. His original intention was to prevent the charge of the Persian cavalry, because even if there are multiple rows of hoplites, they won''t necessarily be able to block a horse once it goes wild, and they would suffer heavy losses. Therefore, he used a barricade to slow down the Persian cavalry. Unexpectedly, the effect of the stone wall was far beyond his imagination, the valley was blocked with mountain of corpses and it made it impossible for the defeated force to gather together to attack Davos'' line of defense.

    The battle did notst long, there is no way out for the defeated Persians that were being followed by pursuers in the middle of hell, theypletely had a mental breakdown and surrendered one after another¡­

 Chapter 42: Reminiscing the Ancient Capital

    Several leaders couldn''t help but have their blood freezes after they rushed to rendezvous with Davos and seeing the tragedy in the valley. They look at Davos with a slight awe, and Xenophon said, ¡°¡­Davos¡­you¡­you deserve to be¡­favored by¡­Hades!¡±

    Davos was equally unsettled, as he repeatedlyfort himself in his mind, ¡®This is war! This is war!¡¯

    ¡°What to do with these Persians?¡± He noticed that the soldiers were collecting weapons and armors of the soldiers that surrendered. He suddenly felt slightly sympathetic, and asked Cheirisophus.

    Cheirisophus mercilessly replied, ¡°After collecting their weapons and armor, cut off the tendons in their hands and feet, and stab their thighs, then return them back and let Tissaphernes have a headache.¡±

    Davos was silent, of course he understood Cheirisophus'' purpose. The mercenary doesn''t have extra food and people to look after them, and Tissaphernes will need to send out people to look after the injured Persians, which will naturally reduce the number of soldiers attacking them.

    ¡°Davos, you did a great job!¡± Cheirisophus looked around and said, ¡°I think the Persians will be frightened by the sight in here!¡±

    When Davos led his troops out of the valley, the soldiers that they passed by cheered at the bloody people as much as they could, because they know that it was this young leader that led a few people to block the path of arge number of Persians, and made the mercenary have a perfect victory.

    The young Davos had won the recognition of the whole mercenary troops with his feat.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the afternoon, Tissaphernes main force unhurriedly arrived at the valley.

    When Tissaphernes saw the tragedy in the valley and the wounded soldiers lying on the ground and struggling, he angrily threw his helmet to the ground. He then sent a small group of troops that he trusted to deal with the aftermath, while the other troops were forbidden to enter the valley and took another path to bypassed the mountains.

    Ariaeus, who followed Tissaphernes, stayed silent, he did not see Artaozus'' body, but it must have been among the numerous corpses. In these 3 days, the 2 generals that have fought him for power have died in battle one after another. At this time, he doesn''t have a trace of joy, but instead, his lips are gone and his teeth felt cold¡­(chinese idiom about having mutual dependency when confronted with a powerful and aggressive enemy)

    In this battle, more than 3,000 Persians died and more than 3,000 were injured and no one manage to escape, while the casualties of the Greek mercenary were negligible.

    Perhaps it was really like Cheirisophus had said, that the Persians got frightened so much that they didn''t show up for days. This made it easier for the Greek mercenaries to plunder and march all the way to Larissa<sup>[1]</sup>, a city on Tigris river.

    This is a magnificent great city. The lower part of the city wall is made of stone and the upper part is made of earth bricks, the wall is about 30 meters high, 8 meters wide, and 10 miles long. Such a magnificent city wall made the Greek mercenaries have no interest in attacking it. Moreover, the city has fewer peoplepared to the cities that they had encountered along the Tigris river, and most of the fields and viges outside the city are deserted, which seems to be somewhat deste.

    ¡°Larissa, it was said that its former name was Kalhu, it was first a great city under Assyria, then was taken by the Medes. The great king Cyrus defeated the Medes, but he wasn''t able to breach the city. Finally, Mithra, the sun god, covered the city of Kalhu''s light with dark clouds and made its day as dark as night, which terrified the residents and made them think that the gods had abandoned them, so they abandoned the city and fled. King Cyrus then seized the city¡­¡± Said Marigi.

    Ever since Davos learned from Cheirisophus about ¡°understanding the topography¡± being important for a qualifiedmander, he took Marigi as his guide and kept him at his side. Xenophon, as an adjutant of Hieronymus, was too busy that it was impossible for him toe and talk with Davos as easily as before. As a merchant, Marigi not only knew the surrounding terrain, but also knew many story about the history of Mesopotamia, which adds a lot of fun to Davos'' tense and tiring march.

    ¡°Hey, you Persians have a sun god, we also have Apollo, who is more powerful?¡± Matonis, who was working as a guard, said.

    Marigi nced back beside Davos and disdainfully said, ¡°Mithra is the master of nature, he ensure the abundance of vegetation, fertilend, and made people live and work in peace and contentment. Therefore, Mithra is worshipped by all! He is not a small god canpare!¡±

    ¡°What did you say?! How dare you insult Apollo!!¡± Matonis angrily wanted to beat up Marigi, but was pulled back by Hielos.

    Marigi was scared and hid behind, but Davos snapped at him, ¡°Matonis'' question did not offend you, but you insulted our gods that us Greeks respected! If you don''t apologize immediately, then I won''t stop them from beating you in anger!¡± The Persian''s sense of superiority that thoughtlessly came out made him have a headache, it was time to teach him a lesson.

    Marigi looked back and saw the anger in the soldier''s gaze, he knew that he would have been torn to pieces if it hadn''t been for Davos. As a merchant, adaptability is his nature, so he quickly bowed down and sincerely apologized, and even gave himself a p in the face.

    It was only when he saw that Marigi was forgiven that Davos asked the questions that he had been wondering before, ¡°Why does the city look so deste?¡±

    Marigi vaguely said, while sping his red cheeks with one hand, ¡°Because the inhabitants here are mainly Medes.¡± After that, he stayed quiet.

    Davos thought it over and it dawned on him, ¡°The Persian royal court does not attach importance to this area because it was the core area of the former Medes and Assyria for fear that their old fire might be rekindled, and so they even adopted a suppression policy, right?¡±

    Davos see Marigi looking at himself in amazement, and knew that he had guessed the main point and he couldn''t help but somewhat proudly said, ¡°Let me guess the methods they had used. For example, the people here are often conscripted to join the army to fight? Higher tax?¡­¡±

    ¡°Leader Davos, if you are really what they called favored by god, then you''re really quite different from the rest that only have muscles and no brains!¡± Marigi looked at Davos with amazement and sighed, for he had just suffered a loss and said in a low voice, ¡°If you are a Persian, you would also have been sessful as an official of Persia!¡±

    Davos smiled and said, ¡°Unfortunately, I don''t like Persia even though it is a big country.¡±

    ¡°Because you are Greek?¡±

    Davos did not reply, he looked at Larissa not far away and was distracted, is he a Greek? In addition to this body, his soul and thoughts, from the bottom of his heart, considered himself to be a Chinese. Greek tradition and culture can not assimte the people that came from the 21st century, even to the extent that it had little impact on him. Only the reality of his helplessness and sincere friendship in war that made himself acknowledge to be a part of this team. Don''t look at his usual tone, ¡°We Greeks are what¡­¡± It is just to fool the Greeks in order to boost the morale and highlight his position as a leader, in a word ¨C to survive! Therefore, if Persia who is superior than Greece, extended an olive branch to him, he would not hesitate to join Persia. However, he looked down on Persia, because the political system of most Greek city-states is more simr to countries in the 21st century, which naturally has an affinity with modern people that advocates freedom, and even Athens is more democratic than modern society¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next day, they marched to Mesp.

    ¡°This is Nineveh, the capital of the former Assyrian kingdom. Allegedly, Medea, the wife of thest king of Medes, took refuge in the city after us, Persians, seized the kingdom of Medes. The great king Cyrus led an army to besiege the city since it was thest castle of the Medes that had not been captured for a long time. Bahram, the god of war among the gods, saw that there are too many Persians that died and injured. Therefore, he sent out an earth-shaking thunder that made the whole city tremble, and it was then conquered¡­.¡± Marigi still served as their guide and ¡°narrator¡±.

    ¡°Haha, the Persian gods are really great that they even went to help.¡± Matonis mocked him at the back, and with the lesson of yesterday, Marigi ignored him.

    Davos immediately looked at the city on the Tigris river. The height of the wall of the capital of the former Assyrian kingdom alone is about 17 meters high, Kalhu is already a magnificent city, but it seems that it is only a third of Nineveh. He could imagine the strength and prosperity of the Assyrian kingdom which was founded by military force, when it swept across the western kingdoms! At this time, the capital is deste and ruined, the wild weeds and numerous thorns on the walls swayed in the river wind, it seems to be telling of its current miserable state.

    A sense of vicissitudes of history came to his mind, and Davos naturally remembered the poem ¡°Where, before me, are the ages that have gone? And where, behind me, are theing generations? I think of heaven and earth, without limit, without end, and I am all alone and my tears fall down.<sup>[2]</sup>¡± He sighed with regret, ¡°No matter how powerful a country is, there is a time for its demise!¡±

    [1] Larissa is an ancient Assyrian city located 30 kilometres (20 mi) south of the city of Mosul, It was a major Assyrian city between approximately 1350 BC and 610 BC. The city is located in a strategic position 10 kilometres (6 mi) north of the point that the river Tigris meets its tributary the Great Zab.

    [2] On a Gate-tower at youzhou is one of the 300 Tang Poems and was made by Chen Zi''ang, there is also this song.

 Chapter 43: Archery Battle

    ¡°Will it also happen to Persia?¡± Asistes curiously asked.

    ¡°What about Greece?¡± Marigi immediately looked back and asked, not willing to be outdone.

    Davos looked at them and said it somewhat serious, ¡°If you live long enough, then you might be able to see it in 50 years.¡±

    ¡°Is this an oracle?¡± Asistes asked excitedly.

    Marigi obviously didn''t believe it.

    Davos smiled and did not reply. If the p of his butterfly wing is weak enough to not change the course of history, decadester (he can''t remember the exact time), Alexander of Macedonia will conquer Greece and destroy Persia. And since the Greeks does not consider the Macedonian in the north as one of them. Therefore, in a sense, he conquered the 2 most powerful forces in the Mediterranean at that time.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    For the next 2 days, the Greek mercenary continued to march at ease.

    Tissaphernes army finally appeared on the third day.

    Currently, Davos had basically use the light cavalry unit of 50 Greeks as scouts and sent them out. After all, the Persian cavalry are stronger individually, and the Greek cavalry is no match against them when fighting one-on-one. So they, in a group of 5, did not dare leave the main force too far, and only moved within 2~3 miles around the formation. When they saw the Persian army from afar, they immediately returned.

    ¡°The Persians areing, prepare to defend!¡±

    ¡°Cheirisophus ordered for the defense to be ready!¡±

    The heralds quickly conveyed the order around the huge formation.

    The Greek mercenary used arge hollow square formation to protect the supply unit. Therefore, it was impossible to change position before they meet the enemy. They just made the supply unit gather in the center, the soldiers were armed with shield and spears, and raise their vignce, while they slow down the marching speed and keep the formation intact.

    Soon, the Persians appeared in the rear of the troops. From the army g that is fluttering, the soldiers realized that Tissaphernes hade. The Greek mercenary had easily defeated him in the Battle of Cunaxa, so they did not take him too seriously.

    Then, on the left wing of Tissaphernes, another troops appeared and as the formation advance, the Greeks'' heart tighten, it was another army of more than 10,000 people! Everyone was familiar on the emblem on the army g, the Satrap of Armenia, Orontes, had arrive, which the leaders had already expected.

    Then, on the right wing of Tissaphernes, anotherrge army appeared, with no less than 10,000 people, the g held high is familiar to everyone.

    ¡°Oh, I remember! That is the army we met on our way, which is said to be led by the brother of the Persian king!¡± Asistes shouted.

    ¡°The army that was supposed to march in the opposite direction of ours is here! I''m afraid that they have been quietly following us! Tissaphernes had evil intention to us for a long time!¡± said Philesius.

    Davos nodded a little stiff, with his hands clutching the reins.

    Tissaphernes army also contained the remnants of Cyrus the Younger led by Ariaeus. The 4 army came together magnificently and spread out in a geese shape formation, as they slowly approach the Greek mercenary.

    This seemingly endless, dense crowd was the most the Greek mercenary had seen since the Battle of Cunaxa. Last time, they had Cyrus the Younger to rely on and the mercenary was only responsible for the right wing, but they now need to face the Persian army and everyone was inevitably nervous.

    Despite the tension, the Greeks realized that their only way to live is through a bloody battle. Cleanor watched the distance of the marching enemy, and as they were about to enter the range of the slingers, he immediately gave an order, ¡°Slingers, get ready!¡±

    The slingers in the entire rearguard immediately started swinging their slings. More than 300 meters away, the uracy and strength of the flying stones will be worse, but there are so many Persians, it was so dense that almost every stone that fell evoke a scream. There was chaos in the middle of the Persian army, and their pace of advance almost stopped.

    ¡°Lord Satrap, the attack of the enemy is too fierce! Should we retreat temporarily and let the troops on both wings go forward first?¡± An adjutant beside Tissaphernes suggested it to him.

    Tissaphernes'' face was equally unsightly, but he did not hesitate to refuse. Although the king appointed him as themander of the n to expel the Greeks, Orontes only came to assist him, while the king''s brother, Siste, only help due to their friendship. One of them is the same as him, a Satrap, but he is the king''s son-inw, while the other one is the king''s brother. How could he expect them to help him if he doesn''t do his best? Moreover, they have a close rtionship with the king, and if they want back to privately tell Artaxerxes about his performance, then the good impression that he had built in the heart of the Persian king will be destroyed.

    Tissaphernes fiercely nced at his adjutant and immediately ordered, ¡°Speed up and continue to move forward!¡± This time, he amassed nearly 50,000 troops. He have plenty of people! Since the Greeks want topete with him with long-range firepower, then he wants to see who shoots better! Look at who canst! Anyway, he wasn''t ready for a frontal sh with the Greeks. after the Battle of Cunaxa, the scene where the Greek hoplite''s charge had unexpectedly defeated the left wing of the Persian army so easily, had happened beside him and left him a great impact.

    The Persians screamed and ran all the way, Tissaphernes even sent the imperial guards to supervise the war and cut down the deserters one by one to warn the whole army. Under such circumstances, both wings of the Persian army quickly surrounded the mercenaries, and because the Persians had too many troops and the mercenaries were in a square formation, so the Persian army had to stretched out its front and almost all the mercenaries were surrounded.

    Davos had already dismounted, and the horse was led to the supply unit in the center of the square formation. He was not as nervous when facing the approaching enemy, as he was at the start, ¡°Shield Wall!¡±

    Asistes and the other 2 heralds conveyed the order of Davos throughout the troops in the left wing.

    4 hoplite units began to move closer, with their round shields ovepping with each other and soon, a long copper wall was erected. The shield of the Greek hoplite is unique among the infantry of the Mediterranean countries, the round shield is 1 meter in diameter, the core of the wood is covered with copper. It wasn''t held by hand, but instead has 2 grips that the arm can pass through in the back of the shield, which save them some efforts and it is also not easy to slip, and because it is big and hard enough, the arrow have a difficult time prating it.

    The archers that strayed behind the hoplite had quickly went near the shield wall, so that they can reduce the damage of the other side''s arrows.

    Because of the previous total annihtion of Artaozus'' 6,000 people, not only did the mercenary reced the bows of the Cretan archers with the Persian''sposite bow, they also selected soldiers who are good with bows from the hoplites and peltast unit and had them joined the ranks of archers. The number of the archers in the mercenary reached 500, and they were scattered in the rearguard and in the left and right wings.

    When the Persian army approached within a hundred meters, both sides almost simultaneously fired their arrows.

    ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang!¡­¡± A series of bows and strings rang, and countless arrows flew to the air, like a huge dark cloud covering the blue sky and the scorching sun. The denseness of the arrows had even caused numerous arrows to collide in the air, when most of the ¡°dark clouds¡± fell on the mercenaries, there was a clear ¡°ng! ng! ng!¡­¡± that sounded, and sometimes there was a scream or two; And when a small part of the ¡°dark cloud¡± fell on the side of the Persian army, there were a lot of screams¡­

    Arrows and arrows came and went between the two sides.

    The Persians even pushed their frontline within 50 meters away and stop moving, no longer taking a single step. Because the Persians are clear that further ahead will have the Greek peltast go into battle.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The archery battlested for some time.

    Apart from the cleannd beneath the long square shield wall, the mercenaries were surrounded by densely packed arrows, which made the Greek archers with empty arrows no longer worry about it, they simply just plucked an ¡°arrow grass¡± from the ground and return fire.

    Davos got used to the sound of arrows hitting the shield, but what he was more worried about was the muffled groan that came into his ears from time to time, which meant that there was someone that got hit by an arrow. His left arm was somewhat numb, but he remained in the same position without moving, and he did not dare leave the shield. Now both sides tenaciously fighting to see who canst till the end.

 Chapter 44: Medical Benevolence

    Now, Tissaphernes was in a dilemma. For this offensive, he also specially prepared manyrge shield, but his recklessness on having too much light infantry on his army made not even half of them be protected. There were too many soldiers and the formation was too dense, which made most of the stones and arrows of the mercenary troops hit. Because of his coercion, the soldiers could barely maintain their morale, but the horses of the cavalry were wounded and wildly run around throwing a tantrum, which end up colliding with some soldiers and made the formation chaotic. By now, most of the cavalry had retreated to the rear.

    Tissaphernes looked at the formation on his side that is thinning and the groans that he could hear. He look at the opposite Greek shield wall that wasn''t as tightly close as before, although the protection of the Greek hoplite is tight, but they cannotpletely avoid the arrows at close range. Will he continue? He hesitated, after paying the price, but not getting the result he wanted, and such miserable retreat will not only affect the morale, but will also attract the dissatisfaction and contempt of the other generals. But if they continue the archery battle, the casualties will only increase and before the Greeks copse, his own troops will first be in turmoil¡­

    Just then, a herald came, ¡°Lord Satrap, lord Siste said that he had too many casualties and had suggested to either immediately attack? or retreat?¡±

    Tissaphernes became relieve and answered without hesitation, ¡°Retreat!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Greek soldiers who had been struggling could not believe their eyes when they saw the Persians receding like the tides. They waited for a while and when they saw that the Persians did not appear again, they then began to cheer¡­

    In this battle, the Persian army suffered more than 4,000 casualties, and the mercenaries also have more than 900 casualties. However, most of the wounded were arrow wounds in their hands and feet.

    After the battle, the soldiers were exhausted and hurriedly cleaned up the battlefield. The troops went north for a while and before noon, they began to camp and rest¡­

    In his quarter, Davos and the officers urgently discussed how to treat the wounded. Due to this battle, the troops under the jurisdiction of Davos had incurred 19 death and 185 wounded, which was totally beyond the capacity of the medical camp, they must mobilize the whole troops for treatment.

    Amintas disagreed and said, ¡°There is no need for such troubles. When we went out to fight as soldiers, we have long been aware of dying in battle! It''s just an arrow wound, just do a few casual treatment, that was how we have handled it before.¡±

    When Davos looked around the crowd, he felt that Amintas is not the only one who had such an idea. Therefore, he said with earnestness, ¡°You guys, we are far away from our families, our hometown and going out to fight, we aren''t only united in battle! In fact, we regard our friends as our rtives, and the camp as our home. Can we watch ourrades struggled with their wounds and remain indifferent! If so, when we are wounded, there won''t be anyone willing to help us! You-¡± Davos said it with a determination, ¡°Remember, it used to be before! But now, as long as you are my troops, we have to make a belief that we will never let go of an enemy, nor will we give up on ourrades, we will live and die together!¡±

    ¡°Good Point!!¡± Philesius could not help shout with praise. The other officers fervently apuded.

    Davos'' words touched them and the whole camp immediately went into action.

    First, arge area was opened in the center of the camp to be the location of the medical camp. Davos then divided the wounded into 3 categories, minor, moderate, and severe. The soldiers were also divided into four groups, the hardworking are responsible for the medical camp, to clean up the blood and dirt at any time, and to expel the flies, mosquitoes, and flying insects. Those with strong bodies were responsible for carrying and supporting the wounded. The skillful one are responsible for helping the doctors and nurses to pull out the arrows, debride the wounds and bandaging. Another group that had worked as a carpenter in their hometown were responsible for cutting down branches and making stretchers. The one with severe wounds were directly sent to Herpus, because he is the only one who could handle it. While most of those with minor wounds can return to the camp after getting the arrows pulled out, debrided and bandaged. And the others remained in the medical camp for observation and consider whether to suture them for further treatment depending on the situation.

    Under themand of Davos, the entire rescue operation was carried out in an orderly and highly efficient manner. By afternoon, the wounded at Davos camp had been treated.

    At this moment, the words that Davos had said in his quarter were advertise into the ears of the soldiers by Antonios and the others. Davos got his authority due to relying on the name of ¡°God''s Favored¡±, which was an instinctive act of the soldiers in resorting to gods when they are helpless. Later, Davos killed Mithridates and Artaozus, he gradually won the soldier''s recognition of hismanding ability with his courage and feats. This time, his touching words and practical actions finally conquered the hearts of all soldiers in his camp. Everyone gave him another nickname, ¡°The Benevolent¡±, and even began to call the young leader, ¡°Our Davos¡±.

    Thisrge-scale rescue operation also shocked the other camps, it started when an individual soldier helped a wounded and came here to ask for help. Davos agreed. But soon, the news spread and more and more wounded came, and the staff of the medical camp is obviously insufficient. The soldiers in Davos camp were somewhat dissatisfied and they began to quarrel with the outsiders due to them upying the resources of their own camp.

    At this time, Cleanor and Timasion came after hearing about it. After a quick visit to the medical camp and facing Davos, the 2 leaders(including Timasion, who doesn''t get along with Davos) have became slightly more respectful, since they also thought that such an unusual and efficient medical camp was obviously not an average man can do. Even though they used to disdain at the rumor that Davos is ¡°God''s Favored¡±.

    Davos agreed in treating their wounded soldiers without any hesitation, but because there are too many wounded soldiers(As the 2 rearguards, they suffered the most and more than 500 people were wounded) they will need to send people to help, and they will need more supplies, such as linen, earthen pots, wood, tents, and so on. They even agreed in sending their physician to study and help. Davos was so generous, of course with some selfishness, because he believed that the medical knowledge he had learned in his previous life was enough to attract the physicians to stay and expand his medical camp.

    Cleanor and Timasion gratefully left. Later, the other leaders also came, and Davos made the samemitment and request to them.

    On the way back, the adjutant of Cheirisophus praised the ability and generosity of Davos.

    This made the adjutant felt strange. Cheirisophus frankly then said, ¡°I admit that I was biased against him previously. Davos is indeed an excellent talented man! Especially what he founded¡­the medi¡­the medical camp is very helpful in battle. Sparta need this in order to deal with the uing war.¡±

    ¡°War? What war?!¡± asked the adjutant in surprise.

    ¡°The Persian war against Sparta.¡± Cheirisophus grave appearance, ¡°Cyrus the Younger, who was friendly with us, is dead and we were involved in the rebellion against the new Persian king. And the person in charge of Asia Minor has now been reced by Tissaphernes, who oppose Sparta. You must know, in our agreement with Persia, there are some in Asia Minor that have objection, and the new Persian king is likely tounch an attack¡­all indications are unfavorable to us.¡±

    The adjutant listened and was silent. Sparta and Athens have been at war for more than 2 decades, and even though Sparta finally won, but their losses were also huge. Now, they will face Persia, who is much more powerful than Athens, even though he is a brave and fearless Spartan, he still felt a great pressure.

    Cheirisophus looked at him and change the subject, ¡°Do you think Davos will join us?¡±

    ¡°Of course! We are Sparta ¨C the hegemon of Greece!¡± the adjutant said proudly.

    ¡°I hope so.¡± Cheirisophus nodded.

 Chapter 45: Spring Breeze

    Herpus was focused on treating the patients and had no time to manage the medical camp and maintain order. What''s more, he isn''t good at management and prefer to study medicine. So when everything is working smoothly, Davos had to leave Hielos behind to take charge of the medical camp for the time being. He is wasted being the head of a small medical camp and he can only go find him a suitable position in the future. However, as a trusted subordinate of Davos, Hielos who work steadily and was clever, therefore Davos intends to train him into his powerful arm.

    When Davos returned to his quarter, it was close to dusk.

    When he finally have spare time, he began to look back on today''s battle in order to analyze his problems inmanding the battle, and to find a better way do deal with it. At the same time, hepared it with the military knowledge he knew in his previous life, this is the homework he must do before he goes to bed every day, and it is also the method he came up with in order to improve his militarymanding ability more quickly. Some people engage in war all their lives and has always been a famous generals, others are young enough to turn war into art, but the most important thing is their attitude towards war.

    Thest battle gave Davos an insight into the limitations of terrain and space on the infantry in the cold weapon era, the trampling caused by fear, and the damage to a dense formation! Today, he understand the inability of the archers in dealing with the hoplites.

    What about throwing javelins at the hoplite? Davos thought that it will be more lethal than arrows, he once asked Matonis to throw a javelin into an abandoned armor and he could prate the heavy armor at a close range, as for the copper shield, he could also make a hole in it. Therefore, why didn''t Tissaphernes do that? The answer is obvious, he doesn''t have a javelin soldiers, while the Greek mercenaries have nearly 3,000 peltast, and they are mostly Thracians, they are the most powerful peltast in the Mediterranean, with a first-ss javelin skill.

    He also thought about the javelin<sup>[1]</sup> used by the Roman soldiers in the future, the shank is very thin and will bend when it struck the shield and it bes a burden to the movement of the enemy, and they would need to throw away their shields thus effectively reducing the enemy''s defense. He even went on to imagine what would happen if Tissaphernes had such heavy infantry as well. When Davos thought about it, he felt that the Greeks only had one way and that is to surrender. Because even the Battle of Cannae in his previous life, Hannibal dared to use a thin arc front creatively in order to face the thick Roman army. The most important prerequisite was that his cavalry is much stronger than the Roman in order to defeat both wings andpletely encircle them. At present, the Persian cavalry was dozens of times more than the Greeks¡­

    Davos kept on thinking while writing down his experience on a papyrus with Chinese characters. This time, he stood in the perspective of Tissaphernes and thought about what the Persians would do next¡­

    Then someone came in, ¡°Leader Davos, there is someone looking for you outside.¡±

    ¡°Olivos, it''s you! Is your injury all right?!¡± Davos was surpised when he found that it was Olivos was the one standing in front of him, and made him not notice his strange expression.

    ¡°I''m okay, Herpus allowed me to return.¡± Olivos reluctantly exined that he had actually requested to leave on his own initiative. Herpus saw that he had no problem, and that today the medical camp had received too many wounded soldiers, so he let him go.

    ¡°Why are you standing guard? You have just recovered and you should rest more. What about Hielos?¡± Davos asked with concern, and as soon as he spoke, he remembered that he had left Hielos in the medical camp.

    Olivos hurriedly went out and brought in the visitor.

    The visitor was dressed in an elegant chiton, her head was covered with himation(i.e. a cloak)<sup>[2]</sup>, and the loose linen clothes can hardly hide her graceful figure.

    ¡°Cheiristoya!¡± Davos blurted out.

    The visitor stretched out her slender snow-white hand, lifted her himation and showed her beautiful face. She move graceful and bowed, ¡°Leader Davos!¡±

    Olivos winked and went out.

    Davos remembered what Olivos said when he just got reborn, ¡®Cheiristoya is as beautiful as Aphrodite¡¯.

    Cheiristoya saw Davos distracted, and guiltily said, ¡°Leader Davos does not wee me?¡±

    ¡°Your arrival makes me happy that made me forget what to say, and your beauty makes my mind unable to think!¡± Davos has a 19 year old body, while his thought is that of a 35 year old. There was a bit of teasing on his praise.

    ¡°Leader Davos, you really have a way with words!¡± Cheiristoya smiled and said, ¡°Over the past few days, I heard everyone praising your achievements in the supply unit! Mithridates and Artaozus, as far as I know, are excellent generals of Cyrus the Younger and they lost to you, it was enough to dispel anyone''s doubts about your ability. I came to congratte you, I am not sure if it''s toote?!¡±

    ¡°Your words are worth thousands of other people''s words!¡± Davosughed, ¡°You didn''te just to congratte me, right?¡±

    ¡°I have a request!¡± Cheiristoya looked at Davos, ¡°You had said that ¡®I cane to you if I have any needs.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Of course! Of course! you can say it.¡±

    ¡°I want to go to your medical camp!¡± Christovia seriously said.

    ¡°What?¡± Davos thought he heard it wrongly, ¡°Someone in the medical camp treated you badly?¡±

    ¡°Mersis is very kind to me.¡± Cheiristoya paused for a while, thinking about her words, ¡°Everyone is busy with marching and fighting, I am the only one doing nothing¡­ I''ve been to the medical camp several times, and I think I can do what the ves do, and I can do it better than them!¡±

    ¡°Are you sure you want to go to the medical camp? In there, you will see terrible wounds and scarlet blood every day, you will touch the dirty body of the soldiers,forting patients who went mad due to pain, and may even be harassed by them¡­¡±

    Davos tried to persuade Cheiristoya to give up her thoughts, but she looked determined, ¡°I am not afraid! In fact, you don''t know much about the wounded soldiers in your camp, they did not bully them, instead they were very grateful to these former female ves¡­¡± Cheiristoya closed her eyes and seemed to recall what she had observed at that time.

    Davos watched her, he feels like seeing a woman struggling to do something meaningful in the face of modern society in order to prove her existence.

    ¡°Okay, I approve.¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡± Cheiristoya opened her eyes in disbelief. The Greek city-states are very conservative towards female citizens. They are under the control of their father before marriage, husband after marriage, and sons when they are old. They have no freedom of their own(of course,mon women are exceptions). Cheiristoya was insecure, fearful of doing nothing, being abandoned by the mercenaries, and envious of the respect that the female ves in the medical camp received. Through contacts with Davos, she found that the young leader is different, and so she tried to request it, but she didn''t expect to get an approval so soon.

    In fact, Davos doesn''t know much about the traditional customs of the Greeks. On the contrary, he has long been ustomed to the concept of equality between men and women in the modern society. Women are the majority in hospitals, he only opposed it at first due to him being worried that the beauty of Cheiristoya would cause trouble.

    ¡°Really!¡± Davos earnestly said.

    Cheiristoya rushed to him with excitement, and he involuntarily stretched out his hands towards her back and embrace her, and smelled a fragrant scent. At that moment, heaven''s thunder set fire to the earth¡­ (uhm something like the 2 develop their feelings rapidly, like a spark, or well something not suitable for children ( ?¡ã ?? ?¡ã))

    ¡°Olivos, why aren''t you standing on guard, and instead, eavesdropping on the tent?! This is a vition of military rules and you will be expelled from the camp!¡± Shouted Giorgris, who hade to change post.

    ¡°Shh!¡± Olivos made a silent gesture and mysteriously said in a low tone, ¡°Come and listen, there''s a fierce war going on inside!¡±

    ¡°War situation?¡± Giorgris was slightly confused.

    Olivos pulled him over. Immediately, they heard bloody moans and also heated pantinging from the tent¡­

    ¡°Davos'' spring ising!¡± Olivos'' face was full of admiration, ¡°This guy is blessed by gods, and actually took the most beautiful woman in our whole camp¡­¡±

    Pilum ¨C was a javelinmonly used by the Roman army in ancient times.

    Chiton ¨C The chiton was a simple tunic garment of lighter linen and usually pleated that was worn by both sexes and all ages.

    Himation -The himation was a simple outer garment worn over the peplos or chiton.

 Chapter 46: Mountain Warfare

    On the second day of the march, Davos rode on his horse feeling content, and his mind was filled with the pleasure he had with Cheiristoyast night. Cheiristoya is not only beautiful, but her body is also sexy as her appearance, her snow-white smooth skin and undting mountains made him fond of it, and her extremely flexible body allowed him to indulge in it, and tried to vent the desire of this young and strong body that was umted for 19 years. She stayed tillte at night, and if not for Olivos covering it up for him outside, then I''m afraid that a morning person would''ve expose his good deed. Therefore, he let go of Olivos'' ¡°crime¡± of eavesdropping.

    After the passion, Cheiristoya rested on his arms and coyly expressed her willingness to be with him. Davos felt that the barrier between him and the world seemed to be much smaller, with this concern, it made him think about the path to take in the future. Davos, who is an adult and came from modern society, knew that passion cannotst. Cheiristoya was born in a noble family, and she was a concubine of Cyrus the Younger and enjoyed a luxurious life. However, he is just a mercenary, an ordinarymoner in Greek society, he isn''t even a citizen and have no fixed home and just wandering around. It is okay in a short time, but he isn''t sure that Cheiristoya won''t be tired of it after a long time¡­ of course, this idea was buried in his heart, and it is currently not the time to think about it, because the main problem at present was to return to Greece safely and alive.

    The emergence of the Persians ruined his good mood.

    This time, Tissaphernes changed his strategy, no longer attacking, but to harass. The Persians followed the mercenaries and kept a safe distance, from time to time, a team of mounted archer get closer and shot a round of arrows and immediately withdraw. The damage to the mercenaries isn''t great, but it made their nerves always in a tense state, which affected their marching speed and morale.

    In this regard, the leaders have no choice and the only thing they can do is to mix the slingers, archers and hoplites, so that when faced with the fast-moving Persian mounted archers, they can force them to not be too aggressive.

    At the same time, the Greek mercenaries encountered other difficulties. As the distance to the Corduene mountains became nearer and nearer, the ins gradually became hills and the terrain became rugged. The huge square formation of the Greek mercenary can''t be kept intact, specially when crossing the rivers and trekking the narrow mountain paths, the whole formation fell apart. The Persian cavalry took advantage of the situation and used their archery to cause more confusion to the mercenaries.

    After the leaders discussed about it, they had to take the small mercenary troops that had joined Cheirisophus at the vanguard(because so far, most of the attacks of the Persians came from the rear and nks), and have formed 4~5 units, each with about 200 people and are ced inside of the nks and rearguard camps. As soon as there is a big crack in the formation, or the formation ispressed due to the narrow terrain, they will rush out to form a new rearguard force to block the charge of the Persian cavalry and provide protection for the archers and slingers who will arrived afterwards.

    In this way, the mercenaries had tried their best to deal with the harassment of the Persian cavalry while marching, this situationsted for 4~5 days. The whole mercenary troops were relieved when the current area became a continuous mountain ridge, because they all know that it is impossible for the cavalry to go up the mountain.

    They pantingly trekked the rugged mountain path, over the first mountain, to the foot of the second mountain, the troops then stopped to rest due to fatigue.

    Most of the soldiers took off their armor, wiped their sweat, and sat down to rest. In addition to resting, the guards of the supply camp also need to check the injuries and damages to the animals and wagons. The whole troops gathered in a narrow area between the 2 mountains, ready to have a rest and resume the march, once their strength is restored.

    Suddenly, there came an attack, countless arrows and stones swoosh, and the mercenaries were caught unprepared, the soldiers and women screamed, the animals run wild and the whole mercenary troops became a mess.

    The first to react was Cheirisophus and his 800 spartan warriors, because these Spartans didn''t discard their weapons and armors like the other soldiers after they came down the mountain, and they still have plenty of strength due to their strict daily training. When Cheirisophus found that the attack came from the second mountain, he immediately and decisively gave an order, ¡°Sparta, ADVANCE!¡±

    The Spartan warriors immediately followed him and rushed to the top of the mountain with their shields.

    The Persian light infantry can shoot very fast, with a series of arrows nting down the mountain.

    After the initial chaos, the mercenaries also reacted quickly. After all, they were all veteran soldiers who had been through war, they quickly grabbed their round shield that are beside them and hid themselves under it. Only the personnel of the supply camp, except the guards, are mostly ves and women that have been plundered, have nobat experience. Driven by fear, most of them did not escape, but screamed and ran, so a lot of them got injured in the dense rain of arrows.

    At this time, Davos was very anxious. These days, he didn''t go see Cheiristoya in order to take into ount the impact in the camp. Now, the situation is urgent, and he doesn''t know whether she is safe or not.

    ¡°Asis, tell the officers to form a shield wall and move closer to the supply camp and the medical camp!¡± He shouted.

    ¡°Yes, leader!¡±

    In fact, even without his order, Philesius, Kapus, and Antonios had led their troops to lift the round shield on their heads and form a shield formation to move towards the center.

    Olivos and Matonis rushed forward with their shields to protect Davos.

    Davos yelled, ¡°Marigi! Marigi, are you okay?!¡±

    ¡°I''m fine!¡± Shouted Marigi behind him.

    ¡°Fast, protect him, don''t let him get hurt!¡± Davos gave his order.

    Although Matonis looked down on the Persian, he still carried out Davos'' order meticulously.

    Currently, he was the acting captain of the guard team, under his order, Giorgris and several people came to protect Marigi.

    Marigi stared at Davos'' back, without saying a word, his gaze was filled with gratitude.

    Davos had no time to see the situation of Marigi. He was half kneeling trying to look at the direction of the supply camp from under his shield, as he looked around the chaotic scene.

    He hurried to the center anxiously, and he was slightly relieved after he saw that there is also a shield formation arranged in the medical camp. In order to avoid suspicion, he first shouted, ¡°Herpus! Herpus!¡±

    ¡°I am here!¡± The voice of Herpus came from the shield formation, ¡°We are all fine!¡±

    Hearing this, Davos became at ease. At this time, Hielos came over and briefed him on the situation; the reason why the doctors and the female ves in the medical camp were safe was rted to Cheiristoya. When the first wave of arrows rained, she immediately called them to hide under the wagon, Hielos then directed more than 100 wounded soldiers to form a shield formation to protect the safety of most people.

    Davos highly praised Hielos and Cheiristoya''s quick and calm response in the face of danger, and made him have better understanding of this woman. This was perhaps the reason why she was the only concubine of Cyrus the Younger that have manage to escape the plundering of the Persians.

    The supply camp have it much worse, Mersis was not injured under the protection of the guards, but there were many ves and women that got hit by arrows, and several animals died. In the face of Mersis'' weeping, Davos, who was used to life and death, did not send people to protect the nonbatants that had already scattered. Fortunately, the attack of the Persians did notst long, because the troops led by Cheirisophus were about to rush to the top of the mountain.

    Of course, the Persians would not insist on fighting the mercenaries, and they quickly retreated.

    Cheirisophus left the Spartan warrior at the top of the mountain as a precaution.

    After going down the mountain, Cheirisophus called the leaders together to discuss the countermeasures, and said, ¡°The Persians are light infantry, so we can''t catch up with them, although they retreated, they will probably continue to attacks us with arrows in the third and fourth mountain. Our troops is toorge to evade.¡±

    In fact, he had already figured out a countermeasure on his way back from the mountain, ¡°I have just carefully surveyed at the top of the mountain, these mountains are not high and doesn''t upy muchnd. We can send a unit to first go around the right side of the next mountain to the back, then I will lead my soldiers at the front. If the Persians want to upy a higher ce and continue attacking us, then we will cut off the enemy''s route of retreat.¡±

    Cheirisophus poked at the sketched on the ground with a branch, ¡°Afterwards, we will surround and wiped them.¡±

 Chapter 47: Cheiristoyas Appointment

    ¡°Good idea, but I don''t think the Persians have the courage to stay and attack us.¡± Said Xanthicles regretfully.

    ¡°Yeah, the Persians are timid like rabbits.¡± Timasion cursed, the casualty of the soldiers made him angry and helpless.

    ¡°Let me lead the soldiers to bypass the mountain!¡± Xenophon took the initiative to request for the war task.

    Hieronymus'' face suddenly changed, he thought of Xenophon''s reckless dispatch of troops which resulted in most of the damage to the soldiers

    ¡°I think Xenophon can do it!¡± Davos immediately agreed.

    ¡°We have no time to dy, we must immediately act, else we may have to spend the night in the mountains tonight!¡± Cleanor looked up at the weather and said anxiously.

    Hence, Xenophon''s request was quickly approved, and the leaders went back to reorganize their troops.

    Davosg behind, as if thinking of something.

    When Cheirisophus saw it, he couldn''t help but stopped and asked, ¡°What does leader Davos thinking?¡±

    Davos was slightly surprised to see the normally reticent Cheirisophus who rarely took the initiative and asked him a question, ¡°I was thinking¡­um¡­fortunately, the Persians didn''t build a defensive camp on the mountains, otherwise we would lose a lot.¡±

    ¡°You overestimate Tissaphernes. Although the Persian cavalry and archers move fast, their overall marching speed is much slower than ours. These Persian nobles, led by Tissaphernes, doesn''t have the strength of us Greeks to endure hardship, they marched with magnificent tents, beautiful concubines, dancers, and arge number of ves and so on. Everyday, they must wait for the sun toe out before they depart , otherwise it will be too cold, and they must stay away from the enemy camp at dusk, because it will be too dark. Under their influence, how could the Persian soldiers not be influenced by them? I estimate that these Persian soldiers who had attacked us had just arrived recently.¡± Cheirisophus seriously analyzed.

    Davos original thought that the mercenary troops was already bloated, but the Persian was even worse. He thought about it and said, ¡°Would the effect be better if the Persians split these light infantry into several teams and hide them in the rear, nk, and front of our army in the forest andunch attacks in turn?¡±

    Cheirisophus frowned and asked, ¡°You mean¡­¡±

    ¡°Just like back then, the Persians willunch an attack on the mountain ahead, and when we drove them away and think that we are safe, the Persians willunch an attack in the rear¡­and then¡­this will not only cause more casualties on our troops, but also force us to run back and forth, dispersing our forces, we will then need to be careful on every step forward, thus greatly slow down our marching speed.¡±

    Cheirisophus looked at him in surprise, ¡°You are thinking about these things all this time¡­¡±

    It''s very rare for Davos to see such expression on Cheirisophus'' face, and said it with some embarrassment, ¡°Because Ick experience, so I need to study and think more¡­¡±

    Cheirisophus returned to his serious and rigid face, ¡°It''s indeed a good method. However, not anyone can use it, because it requires a lot of courage, training and the ability of the strategos toplete such tactics. Do you think the Persian army can do it?¡±

    Davos shook his head.

    Cheirisophus gave him a deep nce and said, ¡°If you have any ideaster, then we can discuss it together.¡± After that, he strode away.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The attack of the Persians resulted in more than a thousand casualties in the mercenaries, more than half of them were nonbatants.

    There are more than 150 casualties in Davos camp, and most of them were animals that got shot, so nearly half of the soldiers had been ordered to go to the supply camp to help the wounded and carry the supplies.

    The entire mercenary troops were affect by this and made their movement slower than before, but the vanguard troops made smooth progress, because Xenophon led the troops to make a quick detour around the mountains, while the Persians were hesitant and afraid of being attack at the front and back, so they did not dare to block them in the front, and allowed the mercenaries to passed through the mountain area smoothly.

    At dusk, the soldiers found Persian viges ahead of them. What happened next was that the Mercenaries ransacked the viges and stayed there. Fortunately, they also found that the viges collected a lot of supplies for Tissaphernes army, which improved the morale of the soldiers after enjoying the abundant food. While Davos'' medical camp was busy again tillte at night¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the passion, Cheiristoya was all over Davos'' body, while Davos'' hands fondle her smooth and stic skin. They were still immersed with the previous fierce battle¡­

    After a while, Davos said, ¡°Herpus said that you learned very fast in the medical camp, and helped him manage the wounded soldiers and female ves very well. The wounded soldiers listened to you very much and gave you the nickname ¡®Persephone on Earth¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Uhm.¡± Cheiristoya snorted and slightly raised her head with a sly smile, ¡°Then, I will not be your woman!¡±

    Davos'' gaze sweep past her charming smile, long and thin goose-like neck, and the half-hidden and half-exposed snowy-white skin in the lining. All of a sudden, the desire in his heart came back, and he couldn''t stop himself, he once more pressed his body under her under and said pantingly, ¡°I just want you to be my woman¡­¡±

    Cheiristoya smiled and said while pretending to be surprised, ¡°You are spheming the gods.¡±

    ¡°I am not afraid!¡± Davos held her tightly¡­

    Cheiristoya shivered and her hands sped tightly around Davos'' arms.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Davos.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡±

    ¡°Do you know why the wounded soldiers listened to me?¡±

    ¡°I don''t know.¡± In fact, Davos knew.

    ¡°I told Hielos to tell them that ¡®I am your woman!'', you have a high prestige in the mercenary troops now, and they will be hesitant, and I also asked Herpus to give the ultimate treatment to a wounded soldier that tried to molest me, and his wailing didn''t stop until evening. I think it also gave them a good warning!¡­Davos¡­what do you think of me¡­¡± Cheiristoyaid powerless on Davos and murmured.

    ¡°You did a good job, better than what I expected!¡± Davos sniffed her ck hair and said, ¡°Hielos can''t stay in the medical camp all the time, and Herpus is focused on improving his medical skills, so I want you to manage the medical camp.¡±

    ¡°What did you say?! You want me to manage the medical camp?!!¡± Cheiristoya''s astonished gaze were mixed with pleasant surprised.

    ¡°Just like what you had said before, your father was busy with the political affair of Miletus, and you helped him in managing the ves of the farm. These days, your performance in the medical camp also showed that you are fully capable of managing this small group.¡± In his previous life, Davos was used to the tradition of equality between men and women. He doesn''t like the Greeks of this era in binding women firmly in their home, nor he doesn''t mind women appearing in public or even performing better than him, ¡°Of course, Herpus is still the nominal medical officer. After all, we need to take into ount the opinion of others, but in fact, you will be the one in charge of management. Wait for a while, I will go and talk to Herpus.¡±

    ¡°Davos!¡± Cheiristoya hugged him and excitedly said, ¡°It''s great that I followed you!¡±

    ¡°Don''t get excited, you still have a mission. You are to try to persuade the physicians from the other camps, who hade to the medical camp to help, to voluntarily stay, as well as the wounded soldiers.¡± Said Davos while he patted her on the back.

    ¡°Yes, leader!¡± Cheiristoya''s naked body, saluted while giggling, which have an unspeakable sexy seduction, if it wasn''t for Davos being exhausted, he would definitely do it once more.

    Cheiristoya saw Davos'' gaze was about to spurt out a me, and so shezily put on her chiton, ¡°Davos, I can understand why you want to expand the medical camp since it is really understaffed right now. But why should we persuade those wounded soldiers to stay?¡±

    Of course, Davos can''t say that when he came to this strange world, he has a strong sence of insecurity, so the more soldiers hemanded, the more he can dispel his uneasiness. In front of Cheiristoya''s curious gaze, he revealed a little of his intention, ¡°We still have a long way to go till we get home, I don''t know how many difficulties we will face. It is better for us to have the soldiers under us than them being led by others, so that we can be more safer and can disy their abilities to the fullest!¡±

    After hearing this, Cheiristoya looked at Davos'' young face and was stunned, he is an ambitious and confident man. In a trance, his face coincided with that of Cyrus the Younger, which made Cheiristoya slightly afraid, so she stepped forward and hugged Davos.

 Chapter 48: Race Against Time (I)

    ¡°What''s wrong?¡± Davos felt the strange look on her face.

    ¡°¡­back to Greece¡­what do you want to do?¡± Cheiristoya asked softly.

    ¡°Oh¡­ I haven''t thought about it yet¡­¡± Said Davos, but in fact, he was thinking about it all this time, but he hadn''t figure it out, ¡°But one thing is for sure, no matter where I go, I will take you!¡±

    Cheiristoya put her face on Davos'' broad shoulder, stroked his rough skin and firmly said, ¡°I''ll follow you wherever you go!¡± After that, she thought of something and stressed one sentence, ¡°But you''d better not go back to Asia Minor!¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Davos was slightly surprised.

    ¡°Because it could be a battlefield.¡± Cheiristoya'' words surprised Davos, ¡°I heard from Cyrus the Younger-¡°

    Cheiristoya subconsciously nced at Davos once more and saw that there was no abnormality on his expression, and so she added, ¡°The conflict between Sparta and Tissaphernes is deep, and the Spartans were involved in the Persian rebellion. Now that Tissaphernes is back in Asia Minor, he will not miss this chance to punish Sparta. Because Sparta is now the protector of the Greek city-states, and is bound to rece Athens as the protector of the Greek city-states in Asia Minor. However, in order to get the support of the Persians, Sparta reached an agreement with them, Sparta agreed to hand over the Greek city-states in Asia Minor to Persia. At the end of the war with Athens, Sparta had been dragging out this agreement, and¡­ Cyrus the Younger, for some reason, did not urge Sparta. So¡­¡±

    ¡°So, now that the new king sat on the throne, Tissaphernes will return to Asia Minor and will surely urge Sparta to fulfill the original agreement on behalf of the Persian king!¡± Davos didn''t expect that there was such a secret between Sparta and Persia. Sparta acting shameless suprised him, but it was understandable. If Sparta agreed, then it''s a betrayal for the Greek hegemon to actually give thend of his countryman to the enemies of the Greeks, this is simply ¡°betraying the mothend¡±! There is no doubt that it will greatly damage their prestige that they had established after winning the Peloponnesian War, and even some city-states will rise up against its hegemon due to dissatisfaction. If they disagree, then it will be a vition of the agreement, and a war may erupt.

    Davos stroked his chin and was deep in thought, ¡®Did Cheirisophus took the initiative to talk to me in order to win me over?¡¯ He thought about it and suddenly made him recall something, ¡°Cheiristoya, I''m not going to Asia Minor, but are you not gonna go back to Miletus?¡±

    ¡°I just said that I would follow you!¡± Cheiristoya then said with a slight gloom on her expression, ¡°Besides, I will bring disaster to my family if I go back now.¡±

    Davos immediately understood what she meant, as a concubine of Cyrus the younger, she is an important family of a rebel, her return will undoubtedly attract the Persian authorities to her family in Miletus.

    Thinking about this, Davosforted her and said, ¡°You can rest assure that one day, I will let you go home!¡±

    Cheiristoya looked at Davos, who was very serious, and the haze on her face gradually fade, ¡°I believe in you!¡±

    She put the himation on her head and said, ¡°Now that you made me manage the medical camp, I will start exercising my rights. I will give those female ves their freedom, so that they will work harder to take care of the wounded.¡±

    ¡°This is your right. But I have to speak to Mersis first.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    3 dayster, the mercenary troops began marching.

    In the afternoon, Tissaphernes came with his army.

    When the leaders got the news from the scouts, they quickly led the troops to the nearby vige and started camping since there are too many soldiers in the mercenary troops who can''t fight at this time; the wounded, the soldiers carrying the wounded, then the soldiers carrying the weapons of the wounded and the soldiers carrying them. The reduction of arge number of soldiers who can fight made it impossible for the mercenaries to march and fight at the same time like they did before.

    When Tissaphernes army arrived at the vige, the mercenaries found that the g representing Orontes and Siste was nowhere to be found. The officers spected that the reason why Tissaphernes didn''t appear for a while was due to him seeing off the two royal nobles. At the same time, they began to worry about theter routes. They don''t have to worry about the Persian king''s brother, but Orontes is the satrap of Armenia, and will likely intercept the mercenaries on their way to Armenia.

    The Persian army was attacked by the slingers of the mercenaries, then they also started shooting arrows in front of the camp, and the two sides started their daily long-range attack on each other. Due to this method of attack, the Persian army suffered losses, specially now that the mercenaries have the protection of a camp and the advantage is more obvious. The leaders couldn''t understand why the shrewd Tissaphernes was in a rash.

    The battlested only for a dozen minutes, and Tissaphernes then retreated with his army. The camp of the Persian army is 5km away from the mercenary camp because they are afraid of getting attacked at night due to them having many cavalry, which will lead to chaos.

    After the leaders discussed, they decided to let the soldiers rest at dusk, march before dawn, and camp if the Persian army catches up. This is not only to ensure the safety of the troops, but also won''t dy their march.

    In fact, this arrangements of the leaders seemed superfluous, since the Persian army did not appear for 3 consecutive days until the 4th morning, the cavalry ahead of them reported that the path ahead was narrow, and there are several peaks on the side of the road, among which, traces of Persians were found on the lower mountain. The previous lesson made the leaders extremely cautious.

    ¡°Just like before, I will lead a unit around the right side of the mountain in order to drive them away.¡± Because of his previous sess, Xenophon said it with his face full of confidence.

    Just then, the scouts at the rear came to report that they had found the great army of Tissaphernes!

    This news immediately made the leaders nervous, since thebat effectiveness of the mercenaries is not as good as before, and they have too many wounded, so the mercenaries are afraid to fight with all their strength. At this time, the whole troops is located in a hilly area, the terrain is narrow which is not conducive to the deployment of the troops. In addition, the amount of people is too dense which will greatly increase the casualties under the long-range attack. It is obvious that this time, Tissaphernes carefully nned to give the mercenaries a huge blow.

    Emergency! Cheirisophus was not able to discuss with the other leaders, and seriously said to Xenophon, ¡°You need to get rid of the Persians that upied the mountains as fast as possible in order to ensure our smooth passage. As long as you captured the mountain, we will be able to guard the mountain path, and Tissaphernes won''t dare pursue us anymore.¡±

    ¡°I need some light infantry!¡± Xenophon immediately made his request.

    ¡°I can''t give you the archers and slingers since they are the only one that can fight Tissaphernes.¡± Cheirisophus made a statement in advance.

    ¡°I have 500 peltast that I can dispatch.¡± First of all, Davos had said that they can''t save their strength at this time and must work together in order to weather the storm.

    Xenophon was very grateful to Davos because he has expressed his support to him many times in public.

    ¡°I''ll give you 800 Thracian peltast!¡± Timasion nce then said it out loud. Because the former leader of Timasion, Clearchus, used the money given to him by Cyrus the Younger to recruit mercenaries in Chersonese and attacked the Thracian army near Hellespont for more than a year, and so he recruited many Thracians, which made his camp have the most peltast among the Greek mercenaries.

    Xenophon once more expressed his gratitude, he then quickly set off together with his 200 infantry, for a total of 1,500 soldiers.

    The leaders also ordered the whole mercenary troops to speed up their march and move closer to the mountain path while raising their guard.

    When Xenophon led his troops to the foot of the mountain and found that the Persians upied a mountain, as he was about to order an attack, at this time, Epiphanes, the leader of the first peltast unit under Davos, put forward his opinion. He pointed to the mountain and said, ¡°Xenophon, look at the mountain next to the Persians. If we attack the Persians directly, they may retreat to the higher mountain again¡­this will not only dy us, but also make our attack more difficult. It''s better for us to upy the higher mountain peak first, and then throw javelins and stones at the Persians, so that we can easily defeat them.¡±

    The peltast captains all said that the approach of Epiphanes was good, and so, Xenophon followed it and ordered the troops to quickly upy the mountain peak!

 Chapter 49: Race Against Time (II)

    The Persians were prepared to defend against the attack of the mercenaries. Later, they gradually discovered that the mercenaries route was clearly the nearby mountain. They were shocked and realized that they had made a mistake, they then gathered their troops to march towards the nearby mountain¡­

    By this time, Tissaphernes army was approaching the mountain pass, while the mercenaries formed their formation near the mountain pass. The supply camp and the wounded were all concentrated in the rear, which was close to the mountain upied by the Persians. If the Persians on the mountain shot their arrows with all their strength, then they would be able to reach the edge of the mercenary troops. But at this moment, these Persians and Xenophon''s troops were all rushing to the mountain peak from 2 directions at the same time.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Hold the shield!¡±

    ¡°Slingers be ready!¡±

    ¡°Archers be ready!¡±

    The leaders with their imposing expression, gave the orders to their troops loudly. In front of the mercenary troops, the Persians approach them like tides, and slowly spread their formation¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Fast! Fast! Brothers, persevere, you arepeting for our survival! At this moment, with a little more strength, we will be able to march more easily in the future and avoid many troublesome battles!¡± Xenophon encouraged the troops as he led the way up the mountain.

    When they reached the mountainside, the soldiers obviously felt muscle-ache, panting and slowing down. They could see that when the Persians on the side of the mountain peak are doing the same thing, and gave them a sense of urgency, which made them dare not rx.

    Although the Persians are closer to the mountain peak, but they are on the steeper side of the mountain, unlike the mercenaries who are walking on the gentle slope behind the mountain.

    In the ¡°mountainpetition¡± between the 2 troops, the Greek had thestugh. They manage to get to the top of the mountain first and threw javelins and stones at the Persians who were climbing in spite of their fatigue.

    The Persians turned around and fled, they even abandoned their original position as they run to the foot of the mountain..

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The long-range attack of Tissaphernes is still going on. Although the casualties of his troops are increasing, he still did not give the order to withdraw, which greatly pressured the mercenaries, but just as they are struggling to support, the cavalry scout rushed to report that Xenophon had sent a message that they have upied the mountain and had driven away the Persians!

    ¡°Retreat!¡± Cheirisophus breathed a sigh of relief.

    As a result, the mercenaries began an orderly retreat¡­

    The Persian army closed in step by step¡­

    When all the mercenaries retreated into the mountain path, and the Persians who were still following them entered the range of Xenophon troops, they were then hit by the stones and javelins from the top of the mountain, only then did they blow the bugle to sound the retreat¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The mercenaries walked down the mountain path and entered a in. There are quite a few viges here, the mercenaries then began camping, treat the wounded, and provide a lot of rations, because the guides said that the mountain ahead is Corduene. For this reason, the leaders held an important meeting.

    ¡°We Greeks resisted Persia, and the Carduchians are also against Persia. ording to the guides, the Persians had sent around 100,000 troops to attack the Carduchians, but they were defeated. Since we and the Carduchians are all enemies of Persia, we and the Carduchians should be able to get along with each other. What''s more, we only need to go to Armenia and will not infringe on the Carduchians in any way, and as long as we send envoys to express our wish of peace with them, I believe that they will ept it!¡­¡± Xenophon spoke with fervor and assurance, he had be more confident after this period of time.

    ¡°Get on friendly terms with them? That''s easy to say!¡± Timasion sneered at him, he didn''t like the public disy of Xenophon. Both Davos and Xenophon are young and outstanding, and are showing too much of their ability, which made Cleanor, Timasion and other veteran mercenaries to be somewhat dissatisfied, ¡°Ten thousand troops have entered their territory, and they have defeated the Persian army many times, the Carduchians won''t be tense?! Are they not afraid?! I don''t believe it! Oh¡­you said that we are only passing through Corduene, but if we suddenly attack when passing through their settlement? The price they will pay would be too high, would the Carduchians take this risk? You should know that the Carduchians are fierce and savage, and even Persia, who has vast territory that surround them, is afraid. Would they agree with our demands, from us who came from thousands of miles away?!¡±

    After Timasion just finished speaking, Cleanor then said, ¡°A few days ago, my soldiers captured several Carduchians ves of the Persians. After questioning them, I learned that ¡®Carduchians¡¯ was only the name given by the Persians to the people living in this mountain area, In fact, there many tribes and different races in the Corduene mountain, they often fight and kill each other for the benefit of their tribe, and some of the tribes even went so far as to be mortal enemies. Now the problem is ¨C even if we can get an agreement on one tribe, after climbing few mountains, we may be attack by another tribe. But if we go negotiate with each individual tribes then the negotiation will take too long, which will have us starving. You must know that the Corduene mountain is a barrennd and have shortage of food!¡±

    ¡°It seems that we can only forcefully enter!¡± At this moment, Hieronymus, who rarely talked, said with a strong tone, ¡°When we enter Corduene, we won''t take the initiative to attack them, but if anyone dares to attack us then we will hit them hard!¡±

    ¡°At that time, I don''t know who will be fiercer¡± Xanthicles helplessly said, ¡°Before, when the Persians upied the mountains, they caused us a lot of trouble and it was just a few mountains! But once we enter Corduene, it will be all mountains. Most of us are hoplites and we have a lot of supplies, we will have a difficult time marching, let alone fight. The Carduchians are familiar with the terrain, climbing is a skill they have trained since childhood, while we can only rely on a guide. And the mountain path is narrow, and our troops will only get longer, and the Carduchians can appear out of nowhere to attack us, but we have no way to seize them¡­¡± Xanthicles'' words made everyone silent.

    Xenophon then took the opportunity to say, ¡°So we still have to negotiate with the Carduchians?¡±

    Everyone ignored him and looked at Cheirisophus.

    Cheirisophus looked at Davos, who hadn''t spoke in the corner, and asked, ¡°Leader Davos, what do you think?¡±

    Davos smiled and slowly said, ¡°After listening to what everyone had said just now, there is in fact 2 opinions. First, is to negotiate with the Carduchians, the advantage is safety, and the disadvantage is that will take too much time and the Carduchians may disagree. Second, is to forcefully enter, which has the advantage of saving time, but the disadvantage is the heavy casualties. Therefore, why don''t webine these 2 opinions into 1?¡±

    Into 1 method? Everyone looked at each other, and Cheirisophus was also confused.

    Philesius, who was next to him, saw their expressions and made him inwardlyughed. In fact, the officers of Davos camp had already discussed this matterst night. When Davos told them his method, everyone was shocked by his strange idea and made them admit that this method is feasible. Now, he can''t help but feel a sense of superiority in front of the leaders.

    They all asked in unison, ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°Find a tribe, cooperate with them and let them open a path for us!¡± Said Davos.

    Everyone was stunned.

    Xenophon was the first to react, ¡°Davos, you mean¡­to have the Carduchians fight the other Carduchians?! Is this possible?¡±

    ¡°Benefits, as long as there are benefits, then everything is possible!¡± Said Davos possitively.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    During the 3 days the mercenaries camp, the Persian cavalry appeared several times, attacking individual soldiers who had separated from the troops, taking away the livestock and trying to set the vige on fire.

    After the leaders discussed, they thought that Tissaphernes was doing this in order to prevent the mercenaries from entering Corduene, and even burned the territory and people of the Persian king. In order to prevent him from doing anything more insane, the mercenary troops entered Corduene ahead of time.

    So in the morning of the fourth day, the mercenaries decamp and started marching northward.

    Tissaphernes watched the long dragon troops of the Greek mercenaries from afar, gradually being shrouded by the shadows of the mountains¡­

 Chapter 50: Negotiation

    ¡°Lord satrap, are we really letting these Greeks go like this?¡± The adjustant on his side asked unwillingly.

    ¡°Letting them go?!¡± Tissaphernes ruthlessly nced at him, ¡°This is the king''s order, I have seeded in driving the Greek savages into Corduene ording to his will! Do you believe that they will have an easy time?!¡±

    Tissaphernes fiercely said, while pointing to the mountains, ¡°Steep and narrow mountain paths, snake and insect infested forest, and the fierce Carduchians will devour their courage! Even if they manage to get past the Carduchians, there is still the army of Orontes waiting for them! Even if Orontes could not stop them, they would meet the Chalybian, Chaldaean, Macrones¡­and let these savages fight against each other! Let see how many Greek savages that can go back to Greece in the end?!¡±

    He sneered and said, ¡°We don''t need to spend all our time and energy here, since we still have important things to do in Asia Minor. Troops, withdraw! Let''s return!¡± He simply called out, then turned his horse around and didn''t notice the expressionless face of Ariaeus not far away, with a slight daze while subconciously once more looking back at the rolling mountain: It was a great feat in capturing the Greek mercenary leaders, with everything going well, but due to Mithridates and Artaozus getting killed, and more than 10,000 soldiers were killed, it had led to his achievement getting reduced. Next, he hope that the Greeks, as they hope, willpletely annihte themselves in the mountains so that it will solve the hatred on his heart!

    But, can it really be done?

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The mercenaries arrived at the edge of Corduene mountain on the second day and began camping. The next move will depend on the sess of Marigi''s mission to the Carduchian tribe.

    Davos and the other leaders sent Marigi to the mountain pass, apanied by dozens of soldiers led by Hielos. They drove several wagons full of armor, shields, and spears from the dead Persian soldiers, which are the equipment that the Carduchians arecking. In addition, there are a dozen Carduchians, mainly the ves that Mersis intercepted from the Persian vige under the order of Davos.

    ¡°Marigi, it''s all up to you!¡± Davos gave him a big hug and whispered in his ear, ¡°If things don''t work out, then leave as soon as possible and Hielos will help you escape. It doesn''t matter if the negotiation isn''t sessful, since we could just forcefully enter, while your safety is the most important thing.¡±

    Marigi was stunned, then looked at the other leaders behind Davos, and immediately said, ¡°Don''t worry, with these weapons, our negotiation with those Carduchians is already half sessful! I have many dealings with the leader of this tribe, Kangmoro, and I still know him better. He has always been very ambitious, and tried his best to make his tribe stronger by monopolizing the trade channel between the mountains of Armenia, Corduene, and Medea. Therefore, he fought with the surrounding tribes and I believe our proposal will make him interested!¡±

    ¡°I hope so.¡± Timasion came forward, then said with a blunt tone, ¡°You''d better hurry up, don''t forget, we can only wait for you here for a day!¡±

    Marigi nced at him and didn''t continue speaking.

    Davos ignored Timasion and went to give Hielos a more powerful hug. For Hielos, who strongly urged him to move forward and repeatedly persuade him a lot of times, knew that Davos choice is right. Only this most powerful confidant can make Marigi fully believe that in any case, Davos will not give them up easily.

    Davos felt thankful in his heart and said to Hilos, ¡°Come back safe, brother!¡±

    Hielos took a step back and performed a solemn salute.

    Davos watched as they walk into the forest until the dense treespletely covered them¡­

    ¡°It feels weird that we were driven here by the Persians, yet we still have to rely on a Persian to help us out of danger.¡± Said Cleanor in a strange tone.

    ¡°Don''t think too much, Cleanor. Aren''t we all looking forward to the Persian being sessful?¡± Said Xanthicles lightly.

    ¡°Perhaps this is the arrangement of the gods, they are pleased with this kind of marvelous collision of fate.¡± Xenophon''s gaze is full of expectations, ¡°And now we have to wait patiently.¡±

    ¡°In addition to waiting, get ready to fight.¡± Cheirisophus reminded everyone. With that, he turned around and went back to the camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, the mercenary leaders banned all the soldiers from going out, in order to prevent these idle mercenaries from plundering and shing with the Carduchians, which will affect their ns, and at the same time, raising the defense against the attacks from the Carduchians or Persians.

    But nothing happened on that day. There are asionally only few Carduchians with fur jackets and red stripes on their faces that wandered around the camp with hatchets and bows.

    The soldiers watched and tried to find fault.

    Compared with the rxed andfortable soldiers, the leaders were worried about whether their n can be epted by the Carduchians, specially Davos, who didn''t manage to sleep well all night.

    Until the early morning of the next day, Asistes entered his quarter and woke him up, ¡°Marigi is back!¡±

    Davos was so excited that his drowsiness disappeared.

    ¡°Leader Kangmoro, the leader of the Carduchian tribe, has listened to my suggestion and is willing to form an alliance with us!¡± Marigi''s excited voice sounded behind Asistes.

    ¡°Great!¡± Davos jumped up and put his hands on the shoulders of Marigi and happily said, ¡°You saved the entire mercenary, and all Greek soldiers would like to thank you!¡±

    There was a smile on the face of Marigi, and he looked embarassed, ¡°Hielos and the others didn''t return because Kangmoro was going to entertain them.¡±

    Davos was stunned, he heard the unusual tone of Marigi, and asked with hisplexion turned unsightly, ¡°Hostage?¡±

    Marigi immediately exined, ¡°Yes, in order to be safe, because Kangmoro wants to discuss the alliance with the leaders in person!¡±

    Davos'' face softened a little and asked, ¡°When? Where?¡±

    ¡°He originally wanted to negotiate with you in a fortified mountain vige, but I refused. Finally, after repeated arguments, the ce was set at the foot of the mountain ahead this afternoon.¡± Marigi stressed the difficulty of his negotiations.

    ¡°This afternoon¡­at the foot of the mountain ahead¡­¡± Davos pondered and raised his eyebrows and said, ¡°It seems that this Kangmoro is eager to form an alliance with us!¡±

    ¡°Yes, leader!¡±

    ¡°What are you waiting for! Come with me and go to Cheirisophus and the others!¡± After that, they strode out.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the afternoon, Cheirisophus, Cleanor, Davos, and 50 Spartan warriors was led by Marigi to the foot of the mountain. In order to avoid repeating the same mistake that Clearchus and the other leaders being captured all at once, the other mercenary leaders led their troops to the mountain pass 500 meters away from the foot of the mountain.

    ¡°Right over there.¡± In front of Marigi''s finger, there is a stump on the grass not far away and was bigger than the round shield of the Greek soldiers. The section is polished smooth and t, it was half a man tall and have several wooden blocks around it. Besides the stump, there is a curved path extending up to the depth of the mountain¡­

    ¡°This Carduchian leader is a man with high aspiration.¡± As the one advocating this n, Davos had to show his confidence, so he was the first to walk over and removed the dust and leaves from the stump and sat down.

    Cheirisophus also calmly sat down.

    Cleanor looked around, then sat down slowly.

    Marigi was standing beside Davos.

    At this time, it is alreadyte autumn. It was warm when they march in the Tigris river before. In the Corduene mountain, the weather turned cold and the grass began to wither, the leaves continued to fall as the mountain wind blow, and the ground was covered with a thinkyer of leaves.

    Cheirisophus looked up at the branches that started to get bare and worriedly said , ¡°We must pass through this mountain area as soon as possible, otherwise it will be colder once winteres, and the soldiers doesn''t have thick clothes to keep them warm¡­¡±

    What Cheirisophus said reminded Davos of the thing that he never really thought about.

    When the 3 people began to discuss how to cope with the arrival of winter, the Carduchians came, dozen of sturdy young men, as well as an old man dressed strangely.

 Chapter 51: Carduchians

    Cheirisophus'' gaze was focused on the man in the middle first, he was slightly thinpared with the brawny men around him, but he is wearing a short-sleeved leather robe with a lot of bright-colored fur to make up for the defect in his body shape. In addition, he is wearing a tawny Persian robe covering his exposed legs.

    When his light brown gleaming eyes locked on the men of Cheirisophus, he raised his right hand and listened to the shout of the old Carduchian, ¡°The leader of the Carduchian''s great Sokangte tribe greets the guests from afar!¡±

    The mountain people strike their wooden shield with the hatchet, and came a sound from their mouth, ¡°O LA O LA¡­¡±

    The high-pitched, animal like roar made Davos'' eardrum ufortable. Several of the mercenary leaders were at a loss because the old man spoke in thenguage of the Carduchian. Marigi immediately tranted it to them in a low voice, and soon they regained their calm, and even Davos curiously enjoyed the primitive way of hospitality.

    Marigi, with the consent of the leaders, also loudly shouted in thenguage of the Carduchians, ¡°The Spartan ephor, Cheirisophus, sends his friendly greetings to chief Kangmoro!¡± Just as his voice fades, the 50 silent Spartan warriors shouted at the same time, ¡°HOO! HAA!¡± Apanied by the two roars was a uniform stabbing on the ground with their spear, and the opening and joining of their round shield, then the silence was restored. Compared with the noise of the other side, the Spartan warriors were low-key and reserved, but it gave an invisible pressure on the people.

    Kangmoro''splexion slightly changed, and his eyes were fixed on the 50 warriors who were as tall and straight as pine, and with a big symbol ¡°¦«¡± in the center of their round shield held in their hand, while muttering to himself, ¡°Sparta¡­¡±

    Over the past centuries, the prestige of the Spartan warriors has spread throughout the Mediterranean, and even the people in this remote mountain area have heard a bit about them. He raised his right hand, and the roaring of the mountain people stopped. He then said in the Persiannguage, ¡°Wee! Please sit down!¡±

    As an ephor of Sparta, Cheirisophus, who often have contacts with Persia, can of course undestand it, he then also replied him in the Persiannguage, ¡°Please sit down as well!¡±

    The negotiations officially began¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    To Davos expectation, the seemingly Carduchian savages were particrly shrewd in their negotiations, specially Kangmoro. Their demands were to use the Greeks mercenaries as aborer and hired thugs, and their reasons were quite adequate, ¡®When our tribe be an ally of the Greek mercenaries, it will then offend the powerful Persia and also get isted and excluded by the other tribes in Corduene. There must be enough benefits to make the whole tribe to agree in signing the alliance.¡¯

    The Greek''s negotiating ability is also not weak. Cheirisophus'' diplomatic ability is beyond doubt since Sparta had sent him as a liaison to Cyrus the Younger. While Davos, as the main director of the urban High-Teach Development Zone in his previous life, had participated in many business negotiations. Plus Marigi, a merchant who is greatly familiar with the Carduchians.

    Before they came, the mercenaries had already agreed on the bottom line that they must adhere to: and that is, the marching route of the Greek mercenaries must be decided by them and not at the mercy of outsiders. They deliberately showed that they didn''t attach great importance to this alliance. When the negotiation was in a stalemate, Cleanor had repeatedly said that it was okay if the alliance doesn''t seed since their soldiers can just forcefully enter.

    Due to this, the chief of the Sokangte tribe have a headache. After all, they are the first stumbling block on the way of the mercenaries to Armenia. They can undoubtedly take advantage of them, but they have to choose to fight and defeat the Greeks who had defeated Persia. Of course, they can also choose not to fight head-on, the Mercenaries have no way to attack them, but their stronghold can''t be move, so their houses and goods can''t be saved. What''s more, this will hit the prestige of Kangmoro, and will increase the coveting of the surrounding tribes on the Sokangte tribe.

    After several shes, the alliance was finally reached:

    First, the Greek mercenaries and the Sokangte tribe of Corduene became allies, and the two sides will be on friendly terms and refrain from attacking each other.

    Second, The Greek mercenaries will decide their own marching route, and the tribes near the route will be attack by the mercenaries and the Sokangte tribe together. The mercenaries will get 60% of the goods and wealth, while the Sokangte tribe will get 40%. The captured enemies will be handed over to the Sokangte tribe. The mercenaries could not kill or plunder indiscriminately without the consent of the Sokangte tribe.

    Third, During the operation, Cheirisophus and Kangmoro will coordinate themand, and if there are differences that cannot be resolved, the operation will be cancelled. (This one was originally put forward by Cheirisophus for fear that Kangmoro, for the sake of the interests of the tribe and regardless of the lives of the mercenaries, will take some tactics against the mercenaries. Therefore, this was specially emphasized. In fact, this part has not been implemented in the end, because after tasting the sweetness, Kangmoro was afraid that the mercenaries would cancel assault n. Therefore, when the mercenaries have any objection, he would take the initiative to seek a solution while consulting Cheirisophus.)

    Fourth, If the Sokangte tribe has special targets to attack and is not near the marching route of the mercenaries, then they can hire the Greeks to attack, but they will need to consult with the leaders and obtain the consent of the mercenary soldiers. (This one is mainly the request of Kangmoro, while Cheirisophus and Davos, after discussing, thought that if this cooperation between the two sides went smoothly, then the targets to be attacked will only be close to each other, and it is not impossible for the mercenaries to be employed. After all, since the death of Cyrus the Younger, the soldiers are no longer paid.)¡­The alliance will be implemented on the same day, and ends when the Greek mercenaries leaves Corduene.

    Thest step to implement the alliance is a sacrifice. Cheirisophus was ready for this, he ordered 3 whitembs to be ughtered, and the fresh blood was to be ced on the stump. The Sokangte tribe also ughtered a deer.

    Then the two sides inserted wood strips around the stump, lit it on fire, and read aloud the uses of the alliance written in Persian on the two animal skins. There were no priests in the mercenary troops, so Cheirisophus had to do it. On the Carduchian side, it was performed by the oddly dressed witch.

    When the sacrifice was over and the two sides began to discuss their next action, a mountain wind came and caused the leaf to fall and blew out the torches around the stump, which made the expression of everyone change. The Greeks, including the silent Spartans, respectfully called out the name of ¡°Zeus¡±, while the Carduchians fell to their knees and paid respect to the mountain god that they worshipped. Obviously, everyone thought that the gods hade by and made their presence known in order to recognized this alliance.

    As a result, the attitude of both sides was much more energetic. Kangmoro had even sent one of his sons to the mercenary troops as a guide.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    20 dayster, the mercenaries left the Corduene mountains and entered the ins.

    In the past 20 days, the mercenaries cooperated with the Sokangte tribe to breach 4 mountain viges and also defeated an alliance of Carduchian tribes. The casualties in the battle were not small, but they manage to seize a lot of supplies, which made their rations keep up during the long march in the mountains. The gains of the Sokangte tribe was even greater, most of the captured mountain people, except the fanatics, are forced to join the Sokangte tribe. No one knew how big the poption of the Sokangte tribe became, but it''s obvious that Kangmoro was satisfied, as it can be seen from his sincere gift of a good white wolf skin to Cheirisophus at the time of their parting.

    One afternoon, they found some viges after a few days since the mercenaries had marched in the in. Hence, the mercenaries happily stopped moving forward, and started driving away the vigers, plundering supplies, and camping in the vige. They can finally sleep well without worrying about getting bitten by snakes and insects.

    The next morning, the mercenaries marched to the river Centrites(T/N: Kentrites or Botan River), which is the border between Armenia and the country of the Carduchians, the river is about 60 meters wide.

    ording to the guide, the troops came to the ce where there was a pontoon bridge, but found that it had been burned.

    The leaders looked at the burning marks of the bridge piles on the river bank, and their hearts sank: the Persians are nearby!

    Cheirisophus immediately order Ledes and his cavalry squad to explore the surrounding area(after they entered the mountain area, the cavalry squad lost a lot of horses, leaving only 5~6). At the same time, he ordered some soldiers go down the river to explore the depth of the water.

    After they received the order, several soldiers that are good swimmer took off their armor and walked into the river, the water reached their chest when they reached the middle of the river.

    At this time, someone shouted, ¡°Persian!¡±

    Immediately, there was amotion in the troops. There are many Persian cavalry on the other side of the hill, while on the in below the hill, are Persian infantry in battle formation. They raise the dust which filled the whole sky as they marched towards the river bank¡­

 Chapter 52: Crossing the River (I)

    ¡°All troops in formation!¡± the officers shouted.

    The soldiers in the river retreated in a hurry and were almost swept away by the current.

    ¡°There are many big and round rocks at the bottom of the river, which makes it slippery and hard to walk!¡± The soldiers reported it to the leaders after they came ashore.

    ¡°It seems that it is difficult for us to cross the river from here when there are Persians on the opposite side!¡± Said Timasion helplessly, while the other leaders agreed. They watched the other side closely: the Persians had stopped moving forward as they were close to the river bank, and their row were about a mile long and seemed that they have no less than 20,000 soldiers.

    ¡°It''s the army of Orontes!¡± Said Cleanor while in shocked.

    Xenophon regretfully said, ¡°It seems that he is ahead of us.¡±

    Xanthicles pointed to the other side of the river in amazement and said, ¡°Look, he hired a lot of Chaldaeans!¡±

    Chaldaeans? Davers didn''t know about them, as he looked at Philesius in confusion.

    ¡°The Chaldaeans are tribes living in Armenia. They are said to be fierce and aggressive. The Persians like to recruit them as heavy infantry.¡± Exined Philesius, as he pointed to the other side, ¡°Look, that''s them!¡±

    In the direction of his fingers, Davos saw some Chaldaeans in leather helmet, robes, long shields and spears standing at the forefront of the Persian army.

    ¡°Orontes seems to be trying to stop us, but too bad, the Chaldaean are not our opponent!¡± Said Timasion not willing to be outdone.

    ¡°But with this river, everything is hard to say.¡± Said Xanthicles with a slight pessimistic.

    ¡°Have the soldiers camp and rest first, then send people to explore whether there is a better ce in the river to cross on foot.¡± Said Cheirisophus calmly.

    The order was conveyed and the troops retreated to a camp less than a mile from the river Centrites.

    Before long, Ledes brought back informations, there are no trace of the Persians found on the river bank, but there are some Carduchians spotted in the nearby mountains spying on them. This made the leaders frown.

    ¡°Go get Izam.¡± Said Cheirisophus.

    Izam was the son of Kangmoro, the chief of Sokangte tribe, that was sent to be their guide. As a result, the energetic young man had a strong curiosity about the distant Greece as he stayed with the Greeks for 20 days. He didn''t want to go back to the secluded mountain vige, and wanted to go out wandering from ce to ce. With the consent of Kangmoro, the mercenaries epted him.

    When Izam got the news, he was stunned and immediately swore that those Carduchians were not sent by the Sokangte tribe. And volunteered himself to scout.

    With the consent of the leaders, Ledes took him with him. 30 minutester, he came back to report that those men are from the tribes that had allied together in the mountains to attack the Greek mercenaries, some of whom he had seen before.

    After Izam left, Xenophon breathed a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Just like what I had said, Kangmoro and us have cooperated very well previously. They couldn''t have started having ideas as soon as we split up.¡±

    Cleanor snorted, ¡°Don''t readily ce your trust on those Carduchians. How do you know that this son of Kangmoro didn''t lie?! We have all seen what Kangmoro does, after every battle, he would argue with us about the ownership of the spoils for half a day. He won''t even let go a y pot. Such a greedy man, now that we are going to fight the Persians again, how can he let this great chance slip by!¡±

    ¡°Let alone now that the alliance has ended, and there is nothing restraining him anymore!¡± Timasion added.

    ¡°We have his son!¡± Reminded Xenophon.

    ¡°I heard that he has more than 10 sons. It is no deal to him if one died. And who knows if Kangmoro had made up his mind and let him to be a spy?!¡± Cleanor retorted.

    Davos, who was sitting in the corner, looked at the atmosphere of the quarter. Xenophon is an active and energetic man, with his recent familiarity with the mercenary affairs, he became more active. In the views of some leaders, they think that he is showing off, and will try to look for opportunities to strike him from time to time. Davos had once advised him to restrain himself, but his answer was, ¡°I haven''t done anything wrong. Hades had asked me toe here, not to please someone, but to contribute in saving the lives of more than ten thousand Greek brothers!¡±

    In contrast, the younger Davos is much more modest. When he became a leader, he worked hard to perform and won respect and prestige for himself, he is usually reserved when discussing matters and often just listens, since he knew that these leaders have been wandering on the battlefield for many years and have rich experience, which is worth learning and reflecting on.

    ¡°We all know that Kangmoro is an ambitious and intelligent man who knows when and what he would do. Now, the most important thing that the Sokangte tribe should do is to quickly annex and digest the four tribes, and have them integrate into his tribe so that they can be his strength. Therefore, I don''t think he will provoke us just after leaving the mountain and parting with us, since his tribe''s internal situation is still unstable, and he knows that our troops is powerful, specially since he has a lot of enemies around him.¡± Said Davos in a low voice. He has a good rtionship with Xenophon, and so wants to help him both in public and private.

    ¡°So, the people that hade to spy on us, just as the kid said, are from the tribes that we had defeated. But instead of attacking the Sokangte tribe, they provoke us who are much more powerful.¡± Taunted Cleanor.

    ¡°Just like what you had said previously, they hade to see if they can get some small advantages.¡± Davos responded wittily.

    Cheirisophus said, ¡°Whether they are members of the Sokangte tribe or not, as long as we are on guard, we are not afraid of anyone in the in. It is currently important to find a way to cross the river, break through the defense line of Orontes, and enter Armenia. Otherwise, the longer we are dyed, the greater the difficulty.¡±

    The leaders were silent.

    Time passed, and they still have no discovery.

    The next day, there was still no good news, but there was a lot of bad news. There were more and more Carduchians in the nearby mountains, and Ledes had roughly estimated that there were more than a thousand people. It seems that the Persian soldiers on the opposite side are also increasing, while they sense that their supplies are rapidly decreasing, and the soldiers who went out to collect firewood got attacked by the Carduchians from time to time¡­

    The grim situation not ony made the soldiers worried, but the leaders had also felt it. As the leaders discussed, Xenophon suggested that Izam should go back to his tribe and find his father, Kangmoro, to see if he could help the mercenaries drive out the Carduchians.

    He was then ridiculed by Timasion, and the two sides had even quarreled.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the morning of the third day, Xenophon, with 2 young soldiers, entered the tent proudly. The 2 soldiers had found a ce where they could easily walk across the river.

    Hearing this news, the previous conflicts of the leaders had disappeared, and they be excited.

    In order not to attract the attention of the Persians on the other side, Cheirisophus changed into a normal soldier outfit and walked with the soldiers to the ce where they could cross the river¡­

    By the time he came back, they saw the rxed expression of Cheirisophus, and realized that he had crossed the river.

 Chapter 53: Crossing the River (II)

    ¡°The ce to cross the river is 4 km upstream from our camp. The width of the river is about 85 meters, and the deepest part reaches till the waist. The bottom of the river is sand and gravel, which is neither too slippery nor hard. This side of the river bank is t, while the other side has many rocks¡­¡± Cheirisophus gave a brief summary of the exploration he carried out.

    ¡°This is most probably the best ce to cross the river! Let''s gather the whole troops at once and cross the river quickly!¡± Said Timasion excitedly.

    ¡°However, we should also consider that Orontes troops will stop us on the other side of the river. If we cross the river forcibly, then the casualties of our soldiers will increase!¡± Xanthicles said cautiously.

    ¡°The Persians would never imagine that we would wade across the river so easily! And as long as we rush to the other side of the river at the fastest speed, we will definitely be able to give them a sneak attack!¡± Said Timasion confidently.

    ¡°Don''t forget, there are Carduchians on our rear! What about our supply camp? Moreover, the Persians have a lot more troops than us, and they also have the Chaldaeans. As long as they can withstand our impact for a while on the river back, then we will be in trouble. And who knows how long the sand in the river can support the soldiers!¡± Said Xanthicles with a slight concern.

    Timasion ask straight away, ¡°Do you have a better method?¡±

    Xanthicles said, ¡°Aren''t we all here to discuss how to cross the river smoothly and minimize our losses?¡±

    ¡°I thought you came up with something?¡± Timasion looked at him.

    ¡°I have a suggestion.¡± Xenophon interjected, ¡°We can split some of the soldiers to protect the supply camp. When the main troops is ready to cross the river, these soldiers will lead the supply camp to pretend to cross the river at the former pontoon bridge. The Persians will surely think that we will gonna cross the river again from there, we will then attack them from the rear and we will split our troops to defend, once the main troops defeat the enemy on the opposite side, then these soldiers protecting the supply camp will go back to the ce where the troops fought and cross the river. In this way, the troops are scatted and the supply camp is protected. What do you think?¡± Said Xenophon while being slightly proud.

    They have to admit that Xenophon''s n is good, and everyone lost in thoughts. After a while, Cleanor asked, ¡°The supply camp is veryrge, how many soldiers do we need to assign to protect it? If it is too many, then it will affect the time in defeating the Persians. Moreover, the supply camp and the soldiers will march back and forth and not only will they get easily exhausted, but they will also be easily attacked by the Carduchians. Have you considered this?¡±

    ¡°This¡­¡± Xenophon hesitatingly said, ¡°It is inevitable that there will be casualties in war, but as long as we can minimize our loss¡­¡±

    At this point, Davos said, ¡°Xenophon''s words inspired me, and allowed me to think of a solution.¡±

    Everyone focused on him as soon as he started talking, because it was proven a lot of times that this youngest leader had never spoke casually, and his suggestion has always solved the problems.

    ¡°We won''t cross the river during the day.¡± Davos looked at the leaders and saw that they were slightly astonished as they continued to listen quietly, ¡°In the evening, we will send troops across the river to find a ce to hide after the Persians have all gone to sleep in their camp. When our main troops are fighting the Persians tomorrow, those troops will sneak attack the rear of the Persian formation, which will end up disrupting their formation and it will not only let us defeat the Persians, but also possibly wipe out some of them, thus weakening the Persians. And therefore, once we enter Armenia, we will be able to reach the ck Sea more smoothly¡­¡±

    Everyone''s eyes brighten. Davos'' suggestion is trully ingenious and out of the ordinary. But in fact, the thinking of the leaders are just trapped in the military tradition of shing head-on that the Greeks had admired for centuries, while Davos'' n to cross the river was inspired by the strategy adopted by the Great Red Army in his previous life when they liberated Hainan by bining the smuggling of small troops and therge troop forcefully crossed the river at the front."

    ¡°Davos, the soldiers doesn''t have any experience in crossing the river at night. How many soldiers will you dispatch to cross the river first? In case of any disturbance caused by their fear when crossing the river, it will easily lead to drowning and death, and will even rm the Persians and have our efforts go for naught. And it will also make the Persians know about the location of the river crossing that we have worked hard to find!¡± The way Cleanor speak is a lot more polite than when he spoke with Xenophon, and his concern was also an important reason why the mercenaries dare not cross at night.

    ¡°And how will you hide the troops after you go ashore? When will they start attacking the rear of the Persians? I''m afraid that all of these needs to be taken into consideration.¡± Reminded Timasion.

    Daves said without any hesitation, ¡°The problem you had said is not a problem for that troops!¡± Then he looked at Cheirisophus.

    Cheirisophus nodded in agreement.

    That night, 700 Spartans sessfully sneaked across the river Centrites.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Early morning of the next day, the mercenaries began to march out.

    The Persians saw it and quickly gathered on the other side.

    The mercenaries ughtered 3mbs, and the leaders offered them to the god of the ocean and river, Oceanos, and the entire mercenary troops sang a song of praise.

    Orontes had a premonition that the Greeks might cross the river, and so he ordered his army to be ready at once.

    After the prayer, the mercenaries began marching downstream along the river bank. After a few miles, they stopped and rested for a while. They then head upstream¡­

    The handsome satrap of Armenia, who was deeply favored by the Persian king, did not understand where the Greeks were going. He thought that they won''t dare cross the river when there are Persian troops on the other side and was instead trying to find a way out. He felt pleased as he watched them scurrying around like headless flies.

    The Persian army continued to follow the marching on the other side.

    Finally, the mercenaries arrived at the crossing ce that was marked by Cheirisophus, and immediately stopped. Then ording to the prior n, with the end of the left wing as the axis, the whole troops whirled towards the river bank¡­

    Before Orontes could understand it, the mercenaries had formed a formation facing the river Centrites. The whole troops was split into 3 sections, the first one has about 7,000 soldiers who are prepared to cross the river and fight the Persian army. They are standing on the river bank in a narrow, thin and vertical formation (because the reach of the river is not long). The second one is the supply camp, they are closely followed by, the third one, which has about 3,000 soldiers and they are at the rear of the supply camp, and have their back turned towards the river bank in order to prevent the Carduchians from making a surprise attack.

    Just as the Persian army slowly adjust their formation, the mercenaries blow the bugle to start the attack and the 7,000 soldiers stepped into the river Centrites without any hesitation¡­

    Orontesplexion changed. He finally understood that the Greeks were ready to cross the river from here!

    Without worrying about the long-range attack of the mercenaries and slingers, Orontes urgently shouted, ¡°Fast! Have the infantry block them! Archers! Archers, quickly shoot your arrows!¡± As he screamed, he hoped that the river Centrites would slow down the progress of the mercenaries, while their archers would cause chaos on the Greeks, which would lead to the Greeks drowning due to panic and crowding. After that moment of panic, Orontes, regained hisposure. After all, he himself tried the depth of the river.

    Perhaps this is his chance to earn great contribution! He thought excitedly.

    Davos followed behind the soldiers of the right wing at the front, treading on the hard river sand and made great stride.

    In the early winter, the river water was already piercing cold, but at that moment, the morale of the soldiers were high and made them have no time to feel it. Their hearts were only filled with one thought: To rush to the opposite river bank as fast as possible!

 Chapter 54: Crossing the River (III)

    When they reached the middle of the river, the water depth was just like what Cheirisophus had said, only till their crotch, whichpletely relieved the soldiers who were slightly worried and made their pace even faster.

    The Persian army was originally some distance away from the river bank, but due to their haste, their speed was affected by the rocks on the river bank. The slingers behind the mercenaries used their long range to disrupt the Persian army''s formation, so there are some confused Persian troops that had not yet arrived at the shore, while the archers hasn''t shot 2 rounds of arrows in all, when the mercenaries had rushed ashore.

    Orontes, A persian nobleman who had spent most of his time drinking wine and ying with the dancer in his camp, never had a detailed search and understanding of the surrounding areas of the battlefired. He waspletely in a panic faced with the fact that the mercenaries waded across the river so easily and quickly, and had approached him ferociously like hungry wolves.

    Luckily, his adjutant was calm and had urged the infantry to quicklye to the front.

    After the first several mercenaries rushed ashore, they had to slow down because of the rugged rocks on the shore, which gave the Persian army time to breathe. Finally, they surrounded them like a tide and gradually enclosed the mercenaries on the shore¡­

    The mercenaries are never afraid of melee fights. The shields on their left hand protected their bodies and teammates, while the spear on their right hand was raised high above the shield and pierce the enemy in the opposite direction. Then the soldiers in the next several rows tried to extend their spears as far as they can, which will protect their teammates at the front by deterring the enemy. Although the soldiers behind the formation can''t participate in the fighting, but they didn''t stand by watching, they tried their best in pushing the soldiers in the front, hoping to push back the other side''s front with their strength, or even crush them¡­

    The fierce Chaldaeans directly faced the fierce impact of the mercenaries, and they did not show any weakness and fought back with their spears. The more troops and the higher terrain of the Persians had offset some of the impact of the Greek hoplites. The archers and the mounted archers at the rear of the Persian army did not dare show any weakness, as they counterattack by shooting a round of arrows at the long-range attackers of the Greek, the slingers and archers.

    The two sides fought a bloody battle on the north bank of the river Centrites. If the mercenaries win, they will set foot on thend of Armenia and ravage itsnd, which is what Orontes and his Armenian soldiers would not wish to see. And if the mercenaries fail, they will face their doom. Therefore, both sides are doing their best.

    The mercenaries standing in the river faced their biggest dilemma: on one hand, the piercing cold river is gradually sapping their strength, on the other hand, most of the arrows of the Persians fell on them. They brought their round shields in order to protect themselves and at the same time, to prevent them from being washed away by the river.

    Davos saw it with his own eyes when a soldier had slipped, and the soldiers around him stepped forward to save him. He got separated from the protection of the shield and was shot by an arrow, he then fell on the water. He was not seriously injured, but he was having a hard time getting up due to the heavy armor¡­

    Why haven''t the Spartan warriors appeared? Davos anxiously await.

    Orontes, who was standing on the top of arge rock, was reassured with the bnce of the war. He saw the mercenaries struggling to not get washed downstream of the river Centrites from time to time, and started having hope. Of course, he can''t see nor will he go see his men falling down again and again¡­

    Suddenly, there was a huge noise from the right wing of the formation.

    ¡°What is Artuchas doing?¡± Orontes looked to the right angrily, and saw an amazing scene: The light infantry and archers in the rear of the right wing were running away in panic, behind these defeated soldiers were hundreds of fully armed Greek soldiers forming a thin infantry line, driving the defeated soldiers to the center¡­

    ¡°Greek! It''s the Greek!! Fast! Fast!¡­¡± Orontes panicked once more, disorder shouting burst out from his mouth.

    His adjutant hurried up together with the satrap''s personal guard to try stop the defeated troops, so that they can prevent them from rushing to the center of the formation. But who knew that those Greek soldiers werepletely different from those ordinary Greek hoplites. They run fast and chased after the defeated soldiers who fell behind, a wave of their shield will make them faint, and stabbing them in one hit, they are an efficient killing machine. The Persians run like demon beast, the personal guards couldn''t stop them and within a moment, they were forced to flee to the left and the front, and the formation on the right wing and center of the Persian fell apart¡­

    And the mercenaries who got blocked on the river bank easily broke trough the defense line of the frightened Chaldaeans and began their killing¡­

    It must be mention that the Spartan warriors had been engaged in military training since their childhood, and they have a strong tactical literacy. ording to the prior rough n, they will start by deliberately driving the defeated soldiers to the river bank. Except for a few clear-headed Persians, most of the soldiers did not know the direction, but fled by following the flow of people. However, once they saw the wide river Centrites, they all cried desperately¡­

    After the guards guarded Ortas to escape to a safe ce, Orontes saw that the mighty 20,000-strong army now only has a few hundred people, and can''t help but cry. He knew that with his power he could not stop the Greek mercenaries from embarking on the territory of Armenia.

    The mercenary leaders were excited. They made a quick decision in the face of arge number of surrendered soldiers, releasing the soldiers of Armenia of other ethnic groups, such as the Chaldaeans, and showed them the goodwill of the Greek mercenaries, while the Persians, the leaders, including Davos, chose to kill them!

    The Greek hoplite lined up in a dense formation, and ignored the demands of thousands unarmed Persian soldiers, as they use their shield walls and spears to drove them towards the river Centrites, stabbing them, using stones and arrows to pushed them in the river in chaos. The people who fell in the water will pull the other people down for their own survival, just like crabs inside a pot pulling each other''s legs with no one able to escape¡­

    Before long, Davos looked at the river covered with floating corpses. He sighed and looked away to the other side: he could not see a trace of the Carduchians, they were obviously got scared when they saw the unexpected great defeat of the army.

    The supply camp and the mercenaries behind were able to cross the river Centrites easily. Afterwards, under the leadership of the leaders, the whole mercenary troops upied the empty camp of Orontes, with the Persians leaving behind a lot of materials and supplies. The entire mercenary troops had once more made another sacrifice to Zeus and Oceanus, and began the victory celebration.

    Because everyone knew that after the defeat of Orontes, no one in Armenia can stop them from moving forward, which made them more confident that they can return to Greece!

    First volume end: (T/N: will just tl some part of it)

    Afterpleting the first volume, Davos adventure in Persia came to an end. In fact, this content that I wrote is only a small part of Xenophon''s ¡¶Anabasis¡·. The mercenaries will also experienced a lot of difficulties and setbacks, but there is no need for me to waste ink on it, because that''s not the focus of the book.

 Chapter 55: Byzantium

    In 657 BC, Byzas, the prince of Megara(next to Athens, southwest), was going to lead his people to the coast of Asia Minor to establish a colony. He asked the oracle of Apollo at Delphi on where to choose the proper ce to build the city. He got a vague answer: ¡®Build the city opposite thend of the blind.¡¯

    At the beginning, Byzas didn''t understand the meaning of the oracle of Apollo. But when his ship came to Chalcedon, east of Bosporus, he suddenly understood the meaning of the oracle. Because Chalcedon''s geographical position was so bad that it couldn''t see the opposite Golden Horn, it was clear that only the blind could build the city. Thefore, he built a colonial city on the other side of Chalcedon and named it, Byzantium.

    Because Megara is not a strong city-state, and has limited immigrants, after hundreds of years of development, Byzantium is still a small city, but its position has gradually became important. After the rise of Athens, the food had mostly came from the city-states on the ck Sea. Therefore, Byzantium, which had conquered Chalcedon, became the hub of the sea passage that guarded the ck Sea and the Aegean Sea, which naturally made Athens interested. Later, Byzantium joined the Delian League and became allies with Athens.

    After the Peloponnesian War, Sparta, as the victor, had also took a fancy to the geographical position of Byzantium. They did not only supported a puppet governance in Byzantium, but also stationed troops in the city to control the Bosporus Straight.

    One day, in the early spring on 399 BC, Burkes'' ship sailed into the port of Byzantium. Standingg on the bow of the ship, he could see more than 100 warships in the port, and was relieved for a while, ¡®I should be able to make it in time.¡¯

    When he ordered the crew to slowly navigate the ship into the designated dock in ordance with the instructions of the port management personnel. The people who were busy in the port suddenly screamed. In this chaos, many people jumped on the ship in panic, untied the cable and left the port. Without the coordination andmand, the ships collided with each other and made a mess. Even some of the ships were knocked over and the crew members fell in the water in panic¡­

    Burkes hastily ordered the boat to go back, but fortunately he had not yet entered the dock and escaped. He reluctantly stopped the ship outside the port and looked at the situation. A lot of people held the same idea as him. After a while, hundreds of ships, big and small, were moored outside the port, floating up and down in the sea.

    Looking at the port which was still busy previously, it had now became empty and left a mess in the blink of an eye. Burkes was confused, so he asked the neighboring ship loudly, ¡°Er, what''s going on?¡±

    ¡°It''s those wretched mercenaries! Those mercenaries came back from Persia and will attack Byzantium!¡±

    ¡°The mercenaries is attacking Byzantium?!¡± Burkes'' heart abruptly leaped, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°I don''t know. I heard that the Spartans lied to them and said, ¡®As long as we get to Byzantium, we will provide support¡¯ as a result, when they arrived in Byzantium, they didn''t keep their promises, and cheated them out of the city and closed the gates. Therefore, those mercenaries got angry. s, in this world, soldiers with shields and spears are like bandits. Unfortunately, all of us are ordinary citizens!¡± An old man, who looked like the captain, answered, ¡°Brother, you aren''t a Byzantine, where are you from?¡±

    Burkes hesitated a little and said, ¡°Thurii.¡±

    ¡°Thurii¡­ Oh, I know that city, isn''t it in Great Greece(Magna Graecia)? I haven''t been there, but I have been to Taras(Tarentum/Taranto), it''s a good ce, and prosperous! I say¡­it must be nice to you guys! Now Asia Minor is in a mess, and a war might happen!¡­¡±

    Burkes isn''t in the mood to listen to the old man, and so he asked, ¡°Who is in charge of Byzantium now?¡±

    ¡°The Spartan governor-general(Harmost), Cleander.¡± The old manined, ¡°The Spartans only know how to kill, and not how to manage a city! It had only been a few years since they upied Byzantium! Look, it became much more worse than before¡­s!¡±

    Burkes'' heart jolted, and asked, ¡°What''s your name, old man? You''ve been a captain for a long time! You must be familiar with other shipowner in here!¡±

    ¡°Piss of Byzantium. I started operating the ship when the Athenian Pericles became the polemarchos. At that time, he also led the Athenian fleet to buy wheat in the ck Sea, and I have seen him! I am familiar with the captains and crew in here. I grew up watching a lot of people¡­¡± As the old man boasted his past, he seemingly asked unintentionally, ¡°Why? do you need a ship?¡±

    ¡°Uhm¡­if it''s possible,¡° Said Burkes vaguely.

    ¡°Is it for transporting?¡± The old man continued asking, ¡°Food? Wood? Stone? Olive oil?¡­¡±

    In the face of this old man who relied on his experience, Burkes had no choice but to think about it and say, ¡°¡­maybe people.¡±

    The old man''s eyes widened, and the experienced man immediately thought of something, ¡°Are they mercenaries?! No wonder you had ask me if I know all the shipowners here! Good! Excellent! Let''s get rid of them immediately, Byzantium might be peaceful for a while!¡±

    Burkes neither admitted nor denied it.

    At this time, a signal came from the port that signals everyone that everything is safe and the ships were allowed to enter the port.

    ¡°Hey, boy! If you want to use a boat, you cane to the port and say this to any Byzantine in the port, ¡®I''m looking for old Piri¡¯, and they will bring you to me!¡± The old man was still at the stern, leaving a loud message to Burkes.

    ¡°Okay!¡± Burkes replied, while thinking whether to first go visit the Spartan''s governor-general of Byzantium, Cleander?

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Not far from Byzantine are some Thracian viges, where the Greek mercenaries camps are endless. It is already dusk, and most of the soldiers went to rest. There was a quarter that is filled with the flickering of the candlelight.

    Davos was thinking so hard in his quarter that he didn''t notice Cheiristoya entering.

    ¡°Dear, what are you thinking?¡± Cheiristoya asked softly, while holding Davos in her arms from behind.

    Davos sniffed her hair and sighed, then said, ¡°Today, we had arranged the soldiers to make a scene, letting them act like they will attack Byzantium and had manage to force the Spartans to soften for a while and had them agree in giving us some supplies, but this did not solve the fundamental problem.

    Mersis infiltrated the city and got some information. Thimbron, a Spartan general, was appointed as the harmost of Asia Minor of Sparta, he had arrived at Ephesus and began recruiting soldiers.

    Cleander of Sparta has trapped us here and want us to help them in eliminating the nearby Thracians, but I fear that there''s still a chance that they will want us to help them fight the Persians.¡±

    ¡°Wasn''t Cheirisophus greatly valued you? When he went back to report, he entrusted Anaxibius to take care of you. Unfortunately, you ignored Anaxibius advances, and now, he is currently intimate with Xenophon.¡± Cheiristoya made fun of him while stroking his face.

    ¡°Xenophon is an expert at this, and I am not interested in Sparta.¡± Davos irritably scratched his head, ¡°If we follow Sparta to war, then I am afraid that we won''t even have a ce to die. Unfortunately, we are currently a fish out of the sea, and at the mercy of the humans!¡±

    Cheiristoya kissed him on the face, ¡°Dear, don''t be disheartened. I unexpectedly encountered a man when I came, he may be able to solve your troubles.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± Davos heard her words.

    Cheiristoya turned around and shouted out of the tent, ¡°Martius, let him in.¡±

 Chapter 56: Thurii

    Davos looked attentively. He saw a middle-aged maning inside his quarter, he was of medium height and had a kind and amiable face.

    The middgle-aged man was also staring at Davos. Although he had previously heard some rumors about this mercenary leader, but he was still surprised at his youth. But at this time, Davos was slightly differentpared to the time he was in the Battle of River Centrites half a year ago. Not only did he have a round of stubble on his chin and a scar on his face, but the hardship and bloody battles along the way made him more fierce, and his gaze became more sharp and threatening.

    ¡°Burkes, a citizen of Thurii, hade to greet leader Davos!¡± The middgle-aged man came forward and saluted Davos.

    ¡°Thurii?¡± Davos was a bit confused, he knew nothing about a city-state with this name in his previous life, and his body''s uneducated memory couldn''t help him.

    At this moment, Cheiristoya saw his confusion and exined softly, ¡°The city of Thurii is located in the west of Magna Graecia''s Gulf of Taras. It is the youngest Greek colonial city-states in southern Italy. After Sybaris was destroyed twice by Crotone(Kroton/Krotone), the Sybarites, who had lost their home, had then asked Athens for help. At that time, Pericles, the polemarchos of Athens, responded to the request of the Sybarites and decided to build a new pan-Greek city-state on the site of Sybaris. Therefore, he sent a call to all the Greek city-states, including Miletus, to go there to emigrate. That is the origin of Thurii¡­¡±

    ¡°Lady, what you had said is correct. I respect your profound knowledge!¡± Although Burkes was surprised at the presence of a woman in an important ces of discussion, but he was still polite.

    ¡°Sybaris¡­Sybaris¡­¡± Davos felt that the name was familiar. He repeated saying it a few times and suddenly remembered, ¡°Oh, isn''t the life in there so luxurious that even their war horses are used to train dancing, which resulted in Crotone beating Sybaris'' music?!¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Looking at Davos'' excited appearance, Burkes wondered if his ability was as miraculous as the rumor.

    The reason why Davos remembered this story is due to the history of their ruin which caused by the luxurious life of the Sybaris and have be a fable story of the west in his previous life, and this story is also rted to Pythagoras, a famous mathematician in ancient Greece. Ah, Italy!¡­Davos thought a bit and suddenly became interested, ¡°You came to me for what?¡±

    Burkes was nervous. At first, he was full of confidence, but the refusal of several leaders had made him a little anxious about the gain and loss. Davos was hisst hope, ¡°Thurii is suffering from the invasions of the aborigines, and so I want to hire you and your soldiers to help us repel these aborigines.¡±

    Davos and Cheiristoya looked at each other.

    Burkes continued, ¡°We will of course pay you an ample sry!¡±

    ¡°How much can you pay?¡± Davos leaned forward and asked interestedly.

    Burkes felt hopeful and immediately became spirited, ¡°A soldier can get 1 daric gold coin a month!¡±

    Davos sat back instead of talking.

    ¡°Oh, I remember incorrectly. It should be one and a half¡­ ah, no! Not! It should be 2, 2 daric gold coins!¡­¡± Burkes saw that Davos'' face was still expressionless and his words were quivering.

    ¡°Is there an important event in Thurii that made you so anxious?!¡± Davos suddenly revealed a smile.

    Hearing this, Burkes, ¡®Crap, I underestimated this young man, and at the same time I was too anxious in hiring him, and end up giving myself away under theposure of this young man.¡¯

    ¡°Burkes, if you want us to work with Thurii, you''d better tell me the truth!¡± Davos'' tone showed that he won''t tolerate refusal.

    Burkes heard a slight hope, so he adjusted his mood and said heavily, ¡°Lucanian, the aborigines of Italy, had invaded the territory of Thurii. After a unanimous decision, the citizens'' congress of Thurii decided to send troops to fight back the Lucanians. Therefore, we sent 10,000 hoplites and 1,000 cavalry, but it resulted in our defeat¡­the savage and cruel Lucanians ughtered our soldiers, cut their bodies into pieces and stacked them outside the city¡­only less than 300 citizens manage to return to the city¡­When I departed, the aborigines had not yet attacked the city, but they had upied the city north of Thurii, Amendra, which caused considerable panic to the citizens of Thurii¡­now, all their hopes have been entrusted to me! Therefore¡­therefore¡­¡± Burkes wept as he said this.

    Davos, who had seen a lot of tragedies in this past year, was cold as steel. About Burkes'' grieved, although he was familiar with it, but he didn''t saw it, and so he asked him in astonishment, ¡°So many soldiers, are they all citizens of Thurii?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Thurii is one of the most prosperous city-states in Magna Graecia!¡± Burkes wiped his tears and said with a little pride.

    ¡°11,000 troops have failed, are the Lucanians formidable?¡± Davos continued in curiously asking questions.

    ¡°No, in fact, the Lucanians seems to only have 8,000 people.¡± Burkes was afraid that Davos would be frigtened, so he added, ¡°It''s just¡­it''s just that the internal of Thurii¡­um¡­um¡­the main reason is that there is no goodmander, they rashly advanced and got ambushed¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, so that''s how.¡± Davos stroked the stubble on his chin and asked, ¡°Why not seek help from the other city-states?¡±

    ¡°We have a defensive alliance in the southern Italian Greek city-states, but in recent years, we don''t know why the aborigines began invading the territory of the city-states, Taras and Locri¡­and Krotone doesn''t have the extra strength to support us, and Syracuse is facing the attack of the Carthaginians¡­I have also asked Sparta for help, but Sparta seems to be fighting with Persia, and had refuse my request, but agreed to make it convenient for me to hire soldiers in Greece¡­¡± Said Burkes helplessly

    ¡°The whole of Greece is currently not short of troops. Why do you look for us?¡± Davos once more asked.

    Burkes immediately said, tteringly, ¡°I already recruited some soldiers in Ephesus, but I heard about you! You manage to safely return from the middle of Persia, your bravery and strength have been strongly proven. If we can hire you who are experience with war, then there won''t be a problem in defeating the Lucanians! Therefore, as soon as I heard from a merchant ship at Ephesus had spotted you in Chrysopolis, I had immediately rushed there. However, I didn''t expect you to once more return to Byzantium.¡±

    Burkes''pliments didn''t affect Davos'' thinking, he nodded and continued to ask, ¡°Are the Lucanians strong? What kind of weapons do they have?What is their equipment? What are theirbat characteristics?¡­.¡±

    One question after another, like nails hitting the brain of Burkes. At first, Burkes was able to answer it with ease, butter, it was very difficult, because Davos had asked someplex questions, for example: How big is the territory of the Lucanians? How many cities they have? What do they mainly live on? What about their political system? What about their foreign contacts?¡­

    Burkes tried his best to answer Davos'' questions, and at the same time, was surprised that a mercenary leader could ask such advanced questions. After feeling Davos was different, his confidence had also increase, because only those who wanted to go would think of a detailed understanding of the situation.

    ¡°I have a general idea of the situation.¡± After Davos'' said this, Burkes took a long breath. This was several times more difficult than answering the questions at the lesia!

    ¡°I think Timasion, Xanthicles, and Cleanor had all rejected you, didn''t they?¡± Said Davos.

    Burkes once more looked at him in astonishment.

    ¡°My camp is at the back, you have to pass through them before you can reach me. And as far as I know, Timasion wanted to go back to his hometown, Aeolian. Xanthicles and Cleanor were invited by one of the Thracians'' tribal leader to work for him. And Xenophon is now with Anaxibius, so I''m your only choice, isn''t it?¡±

    Davos'' shrewdness has made Burkes no longer want to hide anything, and frankly said, ¡°Yes, leader Davos, you are my only choice! Will you then refuse or ept?¡±

 Chapter 57: Davos Camp

    Davos smiled, ¡°My answer is to ept Thurii''s employment.¡±

    Despite having some mental preparation, Burkes still couldn''t help but look surprised.

    ¡°Don''t be happy too early! This is just my personal opinion, and I still have to persuade my officers and soldiers. Many of them fought in Persia for more than a year, and are tired of the war and are eager to return to their hometown.¡± Davos poured cold water on him first, and then said, ¡°However, I will try my best to persuade them, and of course, the higher the sry, the more you can impress them.¡±

    ¡°A soldier will get 2 daric gold coin a month!¡± Burkes said decisively.

    Davos thought about it and asked, ¡°How many people do you need?¡±

    ¡°Of course, the more the better!¡± Burkes said it without thinking.

    ¡°Oh, such a big tone! If I take 5,000 people, the monthly sry and supplies will be a huge number, can Thurii afford it?¡±

    ¡°Just like I had said, Thurii is one of the most prosperous city-states in Magna Graecia! Even if you bring 10,000 people, Thurii can easily support you for a year on her own!¡± Said Burker confidently.

    ¡°Well, I hope so.¡± Davos cautiously expressed his optimism and asked, ¡°Furthermore, how are we going to Thurii? How many ships do you have?¡±

    ¡°I''ve talked with the shipowners of Byzantium. When the timees, so long as I can pay, then no matter how many ships you want, how many ships there would be!¡±

    ¡°So, will the Spartans here agree to let us depart to Thurii?¡± At this time, Davos asked his most concerned question.

    ¡°I have been authorized by the Senate of Sparta. Meanwhile, the harmost of Byzantium, Cleander, is having a headache about your existence, and he will be happy to see you leave.¡± Said Burkes confidently.

    Hence, Davos simply responded, ¡°It looks like you''ve already arranged it. And so, tomorrow morning, I will tell you about the number of soldiers I will lead and discuss a more detailed employment agreement with you.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I''lle back tomorrow morning. I hope to receive your good news!¡± Although there were some twists and turns at the start, but it was finally settles, and Burkes left happily.

    ¡°Dear, do you really intend to go to Turui?¡± Said Cheiristoya, who had been listening quietly.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Davos turned around and his eyes shine with excitement, ¡°Cheiristoya, maybe this is a good opportunity! An opportunity for us to change from a fish in the water to a fisherman that will cast the!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Matonis sat on the ground, excited and curious in his mind. You must know that he has never participated in any decision-making discussion in the camp since he served as a squad leader. This time, the herald, Asistes, urgently informed them that these squad leaders would attend the meeting. Will there be a huge decision?

    He looked around and saw that not far away, Olivos was talking andughing loudly with others. This kid is now also a squad leader, equal to his position, and he will be upset every time he see him, and so he shouted, ¡°Olivos, here is a war council and not your tent, so be quiet!¡±

    Olivos turned around and smiled, ¡°It turned out to be the brave Matonis. Did you punish those 2 soldiers who vited the military rules and robbed the Byzantium citizens?¡±

    Although Matonis waspletely angry from hearing this, but he dare not shout again.

    Since entering Armenia, Davos has been the leader of the mercenaries. His military abilities has not only been recognized by the officers and soldiers, but also conquered their hearts. Therefore, he began to gradually rectify and reform his troops.

    At that time, during the journey in Armenia, the mercenaries had small conflicts with the aborigines, and there were not a few casualties, including the officers. What''s more, Armenia and theter area such as Phasian and Tubal were mostly mountainous areas, which maderger troops not easy to spread out. Therefore, ording to the actual situation, Davos merged the troops of 1,400 men into 7 units of 200 men and a unit had 4 toons of 50 men, this not only mademanding convenient, but also more flexible and varied in fighting in the mountains, because a unit has enough strength to repel a small group of enemies, while another has the ability to undertake independentbast tasks, and because it has 4 toons. It can use 2 toons to fight head-on and another toon to detour and nk, and then have 1 toon to be ready(reserve) and so on.

    After this reorganizing, thebat effectiveness of his troops has greatly improved, and even some soldiers are proud to say this in private, ¡°Our Davos is not only favored by Hades, but also enlightened by Athena!¡±

    While some of the officers were killed and wounded, Davos had then promoted his capable trusted subordinates. For example, Hielos had been promoted into a captain, while Matonis, Olivos, Georgris, and others have be a squad leader, making him more firmly in control of his own troops.

    He then began to carry out the second step of his reform n, devising a ¡¶Military Law¡·, and strictly retrain the soldiers. For the free and loose mercenaries, it is like killing them, but at that time, the situation was special. A considerable part of the conflict with the aborigines was caused by the soldier''s wanton plundering. Therefore, the best way to reduce the conflict was to regte military discipline. However, Davos did not purge the military discipline, but also made some regtions in the military aspects such as marching, camping, and scouting. For example, Davos was previously surprised by the simplicity of the mercenaries in building their camps, and sometimes there is no protection at all, so he stipted that when camping, the camps must need to dig trenches,y an abatis(field fortification), and build earthen wall.

    At first, the soldiers were not willing to carry it out, since they were very tired after marching and fighting, and now they need to do such hard work, even if they are tired or not! However, when the mountain people attack the camp twice at night, the other camp suffed a huge defeat and the soldiers had suffered casualties. Only Davos'' troops were safe under the protection of the trenches and walls. It was only then did the soldiers began to ept this rule from their hearts. Of course, Davos only made some simple regtions in various aspects and didn''t dare to be too strict. For example, in his previous life, running away in battle is considered a heavy offense worth beheading since ancient times, but if he did it, then the soldiers in his camp might revolt. Therefore, he only applied some lighter punishment like caning(not too much), fasting, and so on. for the Greeks who value honor, it''s a shame for them to be stripped of their pants and get spanked in front of theirrades. And so unless it''s a special case, they will try their best to abide by the rules.

    Of course, there are many soldiers who couldn''t stand the restrain and ran to the other camps. In addition to the dead and wounded soldiers, the number of soldiers in Davos camp should have been greatly reduced. You must know that when the whole Greek mercenaries returned to Byzantium, they were reduced from the original 13,000(soldiers only) to 9000(half more than the number in history, in which Davos yed a great role). However, the number of soldiers under hismand is not much different from when he took over, and have about 1,4000 soldiers.

    There are 4 reasons why the number of soldiers has not decreased. First, Davos managed his troops as fair and just as possible, no matter whether they are officers or ordinary soldiers, they were all treated equally and without making any exception. Every time they fought and plundered, the goods they got were distributed to the soldiers ording to their merit by Marigi, with him getting nothing. Second, his troops have the strongestbat effectiveness and have the least casualties, specially after the military reform. For the soldiers who wanted to go home alive, they of course have a strong dependence on him. Third, the medical camp he built treated a lot of wounded soldiers, and half of them chose to stay, of which the intentional guidance of Cheiristoya yed a great role. Fourth, the charisma of Davos. ¡°Favored by God¡± and military genius made him quite mysterious, and he is kind to the soldiers and even use his horses to carry the wounded many times¡­the soldiers were happy to ept hismand and affectionately call him ¡°our Davos¡±.

    Now, Davos had led his mercenary troops in many battles for half a year, and under this special environment, they have begun to adapt to the militaryw that seems rtively simple to Davos, but these militaryws are already strict for these soldiers. Therefore, Matonis knew that his soldiers had vited the rule made by Davos before they came to Byzantium, and they are bound to be punished, but it is hard for him to ept this and so tried to shield this pair. But at this time, he had no time to think too much, because Davos had opened the tent, and stepped into the meeting ce together with Marigi.

    Author Note: The incident were more than 10,000 militia in Thurii were annihted by the Lucanians is historicaly true, but about 10 yearster (the exact time is unknown), the cause will be mentionedter.

 Chapter 58: Oracle

    Inside the quarter of the leader, Davos, were no more than 40 people, and so he asked the leader of the guards, Martius, to lead 30 members (the number of the guard has also increased), to make a space in front of the quarter to prevent strangers froming in to spy, and to light the torches around¡­

    Davos'' gaze swept over everyone''s face:

    Captain of the first hoplite unit ¨C the prudent and magnanimous, Kapus

    Captain of the second hoplite unit ¨C the one good at understanding people and seizing the opportunity inbat, Antonios

    Captain of the third hoplite unit ¨C the brave, Amintas

    Captain of the fourth hoplite unit ¨C the one good at thinking and nning, Alexius

    Captain of the fifth hoplite unit ¨C his most trusted subordinate, Hielos

    Captain of the first peltast unit ¨C the one with strong tactical skill, Epiphanes

    Captain of the second peltast unit ¨C the one worshipping Davos for his devotion to god, Cid

    As well as the logistic officer ¨C Mersis, medical officer ¨C Herpus, the herald ¨C Asistes, and the cavalry captain ¨C Ledes (although his horses are few, Davos still retains them, after all, they have a lot of experience in cavalrybat). There are also 28 squad leader, all of whom are experience and talented officers. Plus the 1,400 veterans who have been through a long expedition for more than a year. This is his whole troops in this world!

    Tonight, he must persuade them that they must continue to follow him, after a long year''s expedition, to another country a thousand miles away. He isn''t confident about this when he thought about it. He coughed lightly and said, ¡°Brothers, the farce you yed in Byzantium today is good! Cleander immediately expressed sympathy for our situation and is willing to provide us with some food. This is all your credit!¡±

    Everyoneughed.

    Olivos then loudly said, ¡°Leader, this is not a farce, but aedy. You should''ve seen those Byzantines fainting due to fear!¡±

    There was another burst ofughter, only Matonis have a guilty conscience and so he had to lower his head to snigger.

    ¡°Yeah,edy.¡± Davos sighed and said, ¡°However, how long can thisedyst? We are trapped here and we can''t go anywhere, and we also dare not leave. ording to a reliable information, Sparta is ready to fight with Persia. The strategos, Thimbron of Sparta, has arrived at Ephesus to recruit soldiers. How could he let go of us veterans, who have a rich experience in fighting against Persia! It won''t be long till we once more fight in the Persiannd!¡±

    ¡°Is this real? I''m tired of fighting the Persians, and I don''t want to go back!¡±

    ¡°How could this happen! I''m already ready to buy a piece ofnd in Crete and find a wife¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The crowd immediately became agitated, and there was a great deal of uneasiness in the discussion¡­

    Davos didn''t answer them, but he instead told another amazing information, ¡°What''s more, Cleander is about to step down, and will be rece by Aristarchus of Sparta!¡±

    Someone leaked an ¡°ah¡± cry.

    Davos nced in that direction and coldly said, ¡°Some of you may know him, and some of you don''t. I will inform you that this Spartan was very famous in the previous war with Athens! Not because he fought bravely, but-¡± Davos with an imposing expression said as he heavily emphasized, ¡°He sold the Greeks, who have been defeated, into very twice!!¡±

    This is like pouring a pot of cold water into a pot of boiling oil, and immediately burst the pot.

    ¡°Is he going to sell us?!¡±

    ¡°I''ll fight him if he dares to do so!¡±

    ¡°We are free people, and not the enemy of Sparta! There is no reason for him to do so, and this is against the Greek tradition!¡±

    ¡°Sparta was already unreasonable and overbearing, but now as the hegemon of Greece, they can do something that isn''t far from a final say!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos watched the panic crowd, and said with a voice full of emotions, ¡°We Greeks are free. We live through hardship in order to live. However, in the eyes of the Spartans and the citizens of those city-states, we arendless pariah, thieves and robbers that threatens the stability of the city-states! Therefore, Anaxibius can deceive us(referring to how the Spartan admiral deceived them in order for them to go to Byzantium by saying he will pay them and then broke his words as soon as they arrived)! Cleander has also deceived us, deceived us out of the city and closed the city gates, and we not only have no food, but also face arge number of Thracians! Sparta is so strong, do we dare to resist?! We will either be sold into very that we will be starved and be ill dressed, until one day we die due to exhaustion on the farms and mines, and then be dumped into the wilderness. Or go to fight together with Sparta and our body will be covered with wounds every day until we die in some unknown wilderness. Of course, we may be lucky to return home safely, but what about it?! As a freeperson withoutnd, we are strangers in any city-states, and we aren''t entitled to the rights of any city-states, and be cast aside until we die without anyone knowing us¡­¡±

    Everyone listened quietly, so quiet that they could hear someone sobbing¡­

    At this time, Davos is also full of tears, ¡°Is this the result we want after a year of fighting bloodily in Persia and struggling to return home! Do you not even want the right to have a peaceful and happy life!! Surely it doesn''t mean that there is no ce for us poor freepeople to live in peace!!!¡±

    Davos'' heartful howl and questioning awakened all the officers inside the quarter. They clenched their fist and their teeth, and their gaze filled with anger and agony¡­

    Hielos stood up shaking and reaching out his hands and said, ¡°Leader Davos! Ourmander! Favored of Hades! Please tell us on what we need to do?! What we need to do in order to get rid of our predicament!!¡±

    ¡°Yes, leader Daves leader, we need your oracle!!¡± The words of Hielos had reminded many people, and Kapus and Antonios excitedly plead Davos.

    When the gaze of everyone were on the face of Davos, his expresion became extremely solemn, ¡°Last night¡­a man came into my dream. The golden light on his body made me not see his face clearly¡­he pulled me out of the bed, through the window, all the way to the air¡­I look down in fear, and in front of me is the Mediterranean Sea, which is clearly just like the one in the painting¡­the Peloponnesian penins is like a hammer deep into the sea, and in the west next to it is Italy which is like a leather boot¡­and further west, I saw the pirs of Heracles as a gatekeeper separating the Mediterranean from the ocean¡­the Mediterranean coast of Egypt is like a long green carpet stretching all the way to Africa¡­¡±

    Davos'' dreamlike narration attracted everyone, and they found that the Mediterranean sea is indeed looked like this when theypared their geographical cognition, which made them believe what Davos said.

    ¡°At that time, the person that radiates a golden light said something to me.¡±

    ¡°What did he say?¡± Everyone asked.

    ¡°He said, ¡®Davos, you and your soldiers have a mission in the west of Mediterranean!¡¯, after that, he pushed me down from the air, and I then woke up.¡± Said Davos with a lingering fear, and still in a dreamlike trance.

    ¡°West of Mediterranean? Where is that?¡±

    ¡°Sicily?¡±

    ¡°It could be Italy.¡±

    ¡°Iberia is also a possibility.¡±

    ¡°Why not Nubia.¡± (T/N: should be Numidia since Nubia is in south, while Numidia is in the west¡­but Å¬±ÈÑÇ is Nubia)

    ¡°Who is that man that is radiating golden light? Hades?¡±

    ¡°How could Hades radiate golden light? It should be Athena!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    During everyone''s spection, Davos sighed. Since he became the leader, he deliberately avoided his status as the ¡°God''s Favored¡± and won the trust of his subordinates through his own ability. But it''s a big deal this time, and he had to resort to the Greek gods once more, and he purposely made a vague oracle.

    Since the oracles are ambiguous. For example, there used to be a kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor, and it wanted to fight with Persia, so they went to Delphi and spent a lot of money to get the oracle of Apollo. And the oracle said that a great power will perish. And so the Lydians happily went back to war, but the result was the demise of the kingdom of Lydia. The exnation of the priest of Apollo is that the kingdom of Lydia was also a great power in Asia Minor.

 Chapter 59: To Magna Graecia

    ¡°At first I didn''t know what the ¡®West of the Mediterranean¡¯ meant. But today, when the Thurian came to find me, I then understood that the dream hade true!¡± Davos gave a brief introduction about Burkes with a little excitement.

    ¡°Thurii wants to hire us to fight the aborigines?¡± Asked Kapus.

    ¡°Yes, I heard that the whole Magna Graecia is threatened by the aborigines, and Thurii is the city-state that have suffered the most.¡± Exined Davos.

    While everyone were still thinking whether to ept the invitation, Antonios stood up and said, ¡°Persia is far away from us, and so is Thurii. There is no difference between going to war in Thurii and in Persia!¡±

    Davos secretly cast a look of appreciation towards Antonios, because he put forward their doubt on the surface, which made it convenient for Davos to exin it further. Davos seriously said, ¡°If we follow Sparta to fight Persia. If we win, Sparta will reap the profits and we will only get a meager payment. If we are defeated, we will die on a foreignnd, and even our soul will not return to hell(T/N: Underworld, Hades'' ce, etc.). While going to Magna Graecia will be different-¡±

    Davos looked at everyone and said with a slight excitement, ¡°First of all, as I just said, the payment Thurii will give us is 2 daric gold coins per person per month, which is much more than what Cyrus the Younger gave us. Secondly, Magna Graecia is the same as us, Greeks, fighting for them on thend of the same race not only we will notck support, but also receive consideration and concern. Thirdly, Magna Graecia is different from the barren maind Greece, there are many rivers, fertilend, and each city-states are very rich. Does anyone here knew how many people lived in Athens during the time of Pericles?¡± Davos asked while he looked at Alexius, because this hoplite captain from Megara had studied in Athens for 2 years when he was young.

    Sure enough, he lived up to Davos'' expectations, he pondered about it for a bit, and said, ¡°Around 300,000 people.¡±

    ¡°Yes, 300,000 people, an amazing number! But do you know? A few decades ago, there were also 300,000 people in Syracuse, Magna Graecia! And in Thurii, Crotone, Locri, Taranto(Taras), Lijim(t/n: not sure about this one, maybe it is Rhegium?), Agrigento, and so on are all big city-states like Syracuse (Davos learned this information from Cheiristoya)! Therefore, the ce we are going to is not a remote and backwardnd, but a prosperous city, where there are many opportunities waiting for us!¡± Davos spoke highly about the prosperity of Magna Graecia.

    ¡°Leader Davos, what opportunity? Defeating the Lu¡­Lucanians and receiving a lot of rewards, or there is still something else?!¡± The sharp Epiphanes notice the ambiguity in Davos'' words and asked.

    ¡°Good question! What I''m about to say is thest and greatest benefit of going to Thurii-¡± Davos put up a finger and said it briskly, ¡°The messenger said, ¡®Because of therge-scale invasion of the Lucanians and Bruttii, some small towns in Magna Graecia, especially in southern part, were upied by the the native people.¡¯ What does this mean to us?!¡±

    Davos clenched his fingers into a fist and vigorously raised it in the air, ¡°It means that once we get a foothold in Magna Graecia and recapture a small city, we will have an opportunity to be the master of the city! We will no longer bendless people who are looked down upon. We will be a city-state citizens who own and! We will no longer be a mercenaries that can''t decide our own destiny, but instead be the master of a city-state! I think this is the mission ¡®The man in my dream¡¯ told me! No matter what your decision is, I have decided to go to Magna Graecia and fulfill my mission!!¡±

    The meeting ce fell into a strange silence, and only the sound of rapid breathing can be heard, and everyone''s gazes are fixed on Davos'' fist that was raised high, with full of utmost desire. For thousands of years, the Greek city-states have been fighting with each other for the small and sandy barrennd of Greece. Wasn''t it all just for thend?! The Greeks became a seafaring nation, it was because they were force due to more people and lessnd! The mercenaries have no choice but wander ces to ces in order to live! Now, a hope to own and is ced in front of them, how can it not make them ted, lest the mes of hope blow out!

    At this time of silence, Cid weakly said, ¡°But there are a lot of powerful native people there, and even the people in Magna Graecia can''t stop them, we-¡±

    ¡°We are not trash like those in Magna Graecia! The Lucanians will not be more powerful than the Carduchians! Don''t go if you are afraid!¡± Amintas shouted in disdain.

    ¡°Who said that I won''t go! Leader Davos, since this is the mission Hades gave you, then I will help youplete it even if I give my life!¡± Cid unclenched his hands and knelt to Davos.

    ¡°Davos, I''m your shield, how could you possibly go to Thurii without me!¡± Hielos raised his right fist and stood up.

    ¡°And I, Amintas, am your spear. It''s not enough to only have a shield without a spear!¡± Another fist was raised.

    ¡°Leader, please let me continue to help you deal with military affairs, so that you have more time to think about how to win the battle!¡± Philesius stood up.

    ¡°Leader, you naturally can''t do without a vanguard in Thurii!¡± Antonios stood up.

    ¡°Leader, let me take charge of the center for you!¡± Kapus also stood up.

    ¡°And I, Alexius, will always be your reserve force at the critical moments!¡± Another fist was raised high.

    ¡°How can you go to Thurii without us the peltast who can fight and shoot!¡± Epiphanes stood up smiling.

    ¡°Davos, don''t forget, you are stillcking an important supply unit officer!¡± A chubby fist was raised.

    ¡°My respected teacher, I will still continue learning medical theory from you, so wherever you go, I will follow!¡± Herpus stood up seriously.

    ¡°I''m your herald, you can''t leave without me! Asistes hastily stood up.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos looked at the more than 40 fist raised up straight to the sky, like a small forest rising to prepare for the baptism of theing storm. He couldn''t help have his blood boil and he suddenly waved his right hand forward, ¡°BROTHERS, FOLLOW ME TO THE WEST TO FIND OUR ¡®ELYSIUM PARADISE¡¯!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After receiving a warm response from the officers, Davos discussed with them to keep the real purpose of going to Thurii a secret, else there will be many who will obstruct them.

    Everyone immediately swore to the god of the underworld.

    Afterwards, Davos told them to go back and to try every means to persuade the soldiers to go with them, and also to covertly go to the other camps and secretly persuade the soldiers to join. Davos doesn''t want to let go of these veterans with richbat experience, so that they could once more fight together.

    Davos then took Mariji back to the main tent and before he could spoke, Mariji said, ¡°I would like to go to Thurii with you.¡±

    Davos turned around and smiled, ¡°You''re smart.¡±

    ¡°Isn''t that the reason why you allowed me inside?¡± Mariji said angrily, ¡°What will you do if I do not agree? Kill me?¡±

    Davos shook his head and said, ¡°I''ll just tie your hands and feet, throw you in the cabin, and will only let you out once we get to Thurii.¡±

    ¡°Davos, I always thought that you are a cultured, knowledgeable and righteous Greek. I didn''t expect you to be a bandit like them!¡± Mariji said while gritting his teeth.

    ¡°Is this what a ve says to his master who had grace him with saving his life?¡± Said Davos while pretending to be surprised.

    ¡°ve?¡± Mariji''s face was shocked, as he look at Davos'' expression.

    Author''s Note: Elysium Paradise ¨C In Greek Mythology, after the trial of the three judges of hell, the innocent will be allowed to enter Elysium Paradise, where it is beautiful and peaceful, without any worry about food and clothing. And it still part of the area controlled by Hades. It was once said that the heaven in Christianity was modeled after Elysium.

 Chapter 60: Agreement Signing

    ¡°What do you think you are in the eyes of Timasion and Cleanor? Think what will happen to you, your wife and daughter, if I leave you here!¡± Davos sneered.

    ¡°You said that you will send us back to Asia Minor!¡± Mariji said indignantly.

    ¡°Didn''t you hear that there will be a war in Asia Minor?¡±

    ¡°W¡­We can just go to a remote mountain area in Asia Minor and live there covertly!¡± Mariji stubbornly said.

    ¡°It''s a waste for your talent. Mariji, I have always thought that even though Cyrus the Younger allowed you to be his royal trader, but it had buried your ability! It is certainly due to your family background that had limited your sess! But if you follow me, you will not be restricted and I will give you a vast world to disy your talents!¡± Davos made a promise to him.

    ¡°Follow you?! To fight and kill the aborigines, and then lord over a ¡®small vige¡¯?¡± Marigi sneered.

    ¡°Mariji, there is a saying in the east called ¡®east of the river for 30 years, west of the river for 30 years¡¯(T/N: Chinese Idiom thingy ¨C 30 years of Hedong, 30 years of Hexi or The pendulum has swung back). Your founding monarch of Persia, Cyrus the Great, was just a leader of a small tribe in Persia at first. He was humiliated by Medea, and who knew that he would build a powerful empire in a few decades! Today, I''m just a leader of a mercenary, and in a few decades there might be a glorious day!¡± Davos said with confidence and pride.

    ¡°You¡­how can youpare yourself to Cyrus the Great!¡± Mariji said scornfully, but in a much lower voice. He did not dare look straight due to Davos'' gaze. He hesitated again and again, and quiveringly said, ¡°Do I have a choice?¡±

    Davos smiled, ¡°Say it!¡±

    ¡°If¡­if you do seed, what will you make me do?¡± Mariji raised his head and looked at Davos.

    Davos pondered for a bit, raised two of his fingers and seriously said, ¡°Two choices. One is to have you be the foreign minister in charge of foreign affairs within all the city-states. The other is to establish a new Ministry of Commerce that will be in charge of all business and trade affairs.¡±

    Mariji hesitated and finally made up his mind, ¡°Thest time that I negotiated with the Sokangte tribe, I was already in a state of anxiety, so I choose the second one!¡±

    ¡°Okay, I''ll save it for you!¡± Davos promised.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next day, Burkes was very excited to learn that all the officers of Davos'' camp are going to Thurii. Davos asked Mariji to negotiate an employment agreement with Burkes, while he went out to focused on persuading the soldiers to ept Thurii''s employment.

    In fact, most of the mercenaries are mostly destitute, and there is nothing to worry about. They had chosen the life of licking blood, and their long career in wars had made them unable to adapt to a peaceful life, and the great gap between their yearning for their hometown while in Persia and the treatment they received when they returned to the Greek city-state, and they are also attracted by the charm of Davos and the rich payment of Thurii. So most of the soldiers are willing to go to Magna Graecia with Davos, while only 300 chose to stay. At the same time, the lobbying of the officers in the other camps had also gotten results. As they were about to return to their hometown, the officers had neither the intention nor the ability to control the soldiers, which made the soldiers in the other camp join in session. By evening, the total number of Davos'' troops was more than 2000, including the general, Hieronymus.

    The fierce debates have also fallen into dust. The main content of the final employment agreement are:

    I ¨C Thurii hire the troops led by the leader Davos, a total of 2133 soldiers. The sry is 2 Daric gold coins per soldier every month, which must be paid off at the end of each month, and provide the camp 1 jin(500 grams) of wheat flour per person per day for free. In case of any default or dy, the sry and supplies would be doubled in the next month. (This is the lesson they learned from Cyrus the Younger. Because of his early death, the mercenaries not only did not get paid, but also had to lose their lives, and it took them a year toe back from Persia. So Davos had learned from it, and in case the mercenaries beat back the Lucanians earlier, it would be troublesome for them since Thurii won''t hire them anymore! So the time limit was set by him, whether the task ispleted or not, they must be paid ording to the agreement)

    II ¨C The mercenaries are only responsible for defending Thurii and fighting back the Lucanians on the territory directly under Thurii. If there is any other request, it will be discussed separately. (This is proposed by Davos for fear that the Thurians will give additional difficult task, such as attacking the territory of Lucanians and so on. which will reduce Davos'' strength.)

    III ¨C When the mercenaries arrive in Thurii, they are not allowed to vite thews governing Thurii, and if they do, they will be punished in odance with thews of Thurii.

    IV ¨C The mercenaries are not allowed to enter the city of Thurii without permission.

    V ¨C In battle, the stuff the mercenaries seize belongs to the mercenaries.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The agreement was signed on April 1 of the second year of the 95th Olympic Games (399 BC) and ends on April 1 of the third year. At the end of the signing period, the parties shall decide whether to renew the contract ording to their wished.

    After Burkes swore to the gods in the name of the Thurii council together with Davos, he signed his own names on the agreements written on both parchment. (under Cheiristoya''s tutge, Davos has mastered writing in Greek)

    Burkes tucked the parchment into his arms and asked casually, ¡°Leader Davos, there is something that I don''t quite understand. Those ves and women that you will take to Thurii, not only will you be responsible for their own food, but also in protecting them from being robbed by the Lucanians. It''s obvious that they will be a burden, isn''t it better to sell them here? Why do you have to take them?¡±

    There are nearly 500 ves and women, and in order to prevent Burkes from being suspicious, Davos had to answer seriously, ¡°Most of the mercenaries are single, they don''t have the money to buy ves to help them with their work, nor to marry. So they regard these ves and women plundered from Persia as their precious property. If I don''t take them, the soldiers may also not go to Thurii with us!¡±

    ¡°In fact, that is unnecessary. A yearter, they will all be rich.¡± Burkes said jokingly, he was in a good mood after the agreement was signed sessfully.

    ¡°They must need to be alive!¡± Replied Davos.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Burkes shrugged helplessly and said, ¡°I''m just worried that they will affect your battle. Now that the agreement has been signed, we will set out next year, and I have contacted the ship. Now I will go to the city and prepare food and water ording to the number of your troops.¡±

    ¡°Cleander has allowed us in the city?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I almost forgot!¡± Burker pped his forehead with his hand, ¡°Cleander allowed you to enter the city, but had ask for you to enter the city without your weapons.¡±

    ¡°No weapons?¡± Davos felt a chill in his heart.

    ¡°Exactly, abandon your shield, spear and sword.¡± Burkes consoled him, ¡°Howerer, it doesn''t matter. When we arrive to Thurii, we will equip you with new weapons and equipment.¡±

    ¡°No, it matters. It matters a lot!¡± Davos said seriously, ¡°We will never give up our weapons!¡± Not to mention the fact that they were cheated in the past. On their way back, the local natives that they also met with smiles many times had raised their swords in a sh. In case this is Cleander''s scheme, wouldn''t it be just offering their necks if they went into the city without a weapon! Davos would never allow his life to be in the hands of others! The weapons are what he depends on!

    ¡°If you don''t abandon your weapons, Cleander won''t let you inside the city, and we won''t be able to set off!¡± Burkes said anxiously.

    Davos thought about it and made a concession, ¡°I can let the soldiers cover their spears and swords with clothes, but we will never abandon our weapons!¡± He once more reaffirm.

    Burkes had topromise after seeing Davos'' tough attitude, ¡°Alright, I''ll go negotiate with Cleander again.¡±

    Author''s Note: The ancient Greek chronology mainly uses the number of Olympic Games to calcte the year, because the ancient Olympic Games were also held once every four years.

 Chapter 61: Farewell

    Cleander finally agreed to the request of the mercenaries to bring weapons into the city. It wasn''t due to Davospromise of wrapping the weapons with clothes, but the key to opening the city gate was the half Taras coins that Burkes sent to Cleander. After Davos found out the truth, he had eimed, ¡®The Spartans that had lived a simple life began epting bribes!¡¯

    The next morning, the leaders, the officers and the soldiers of the various mercenary camps all came to see off the troops that is on their way.

    As theirrades who had fought with them together for a year, were not only the soldiers, but also the officers and leaders of the other camps have offered their sincere blessing, even Timasion, who didn''t like Davos at first, had gave him a strong hug, ¡°If I were a few years younger, I would''ve followed you to Magna Graecia.¡±

    ¡°You are still not old.¡± Davos smiled.

    Timasion pointed to his chest, ¡°This part is old, and just want to go home! Anyway, I hope youe back alive! And-¡± Timasion took a deep breath and whispered, ¡°Thank you for the great help. If it wasn''t for you, there would be a lot more people that died!¡±

    ¡°This is the result of our efforts! It''s my honor fighting with you!¡± Davos modestly said.

    ¡°It''s my pleasure. May Zeus bless you all the best!¡± Timasion sincerely said.

    ¡°You too! I hope we can meet again!¡± Davos waved goodbye to him.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Timasion, Cleanor, Xanticles and their soldiers retreated several hundred meters, then the gates of Byzantium opened, and Davos led his troops into Byzantium.

    Xanticles eximed, ¡°How time flies! It''s finally time to part! The scene of Davos giving his speech on the stage seems like it had just happened yesterday!¡±

    Xanticles'' words aroused sentiment of several leaders: they fought together for more than half a year, and then they finally began to go on their separate ways.

    Several people silently looked at Byzantium, until the city gate closed.

    At this time, the herald, Tolmides, said, ¡°Do you think that Davos is really favored by Hades?¡±

    ¡°If not, then he is a very capable leader. But have you seen such a young capable leader before?¡± Timasion asked, preferring to admit that Davos was favored by the gods rather than acknowledging him to be better than them.

    Cleanor and Xanticles shook their heads.

    ¡°I think once Cheirisophus finds out that Davos had gone to Magna Graecia, he would be very regretful. Back then, you can see Cheirisophus obviously wanting Davos to be an honored guest of Sparta. And before leaving, he ask Anaxibius to looked after him. Unfortunately, Anaxibius dislike the young man, and Davos would rather go to Magna Graecia than Sparta.¡± Cleanor said gloatingly.

    ¡°No one likes Sparta, they are too overbearing!¡± Timasion''s words resonated with everyone.

    ¡°But why did Hieronymus choose to go to Magna Graecia?¡± Tolmides asked.

    ¡°It''s because of that Athenian!¡± Timasion frowned, ¡°The soldiers re-elected their leader in Sinope(Sinop), and as a result, Hieronymus lost his position as the leader and had that mouthy Xenophon took it. He might''ve wanted to stay away from here and prove himself in Magna Graecia.¡±

    ¡°It''s good to not be the leader, at least he doesn''t need to worry about so many things. However, soon, we can easily go home!¡± Said Xanticles, which also attracted the feelings of several others.

    Perhaps they realize that there wasn''t much time for the next meeting, and the four of them solemnly took a salute and then turned their horse''s and went to their respective camps.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Both sides of the street were Spartan soldiers armed with their dazzling spears, as they watch Davos'' troops marched to the port.

    The mercenaries tried not to look at the Spartans on both sides of the street and the Byzantium citizens that were behind them, as they look straight ahead and move forward in a serious manner.

    ¡°Damn mercenaries, leave Byzantium!¡± A Byzantium citizen suddenly roared and threw a rotten dates at Davos, who was walking at the front, destroying the previous calm.

    ¡°Get out of Byzantium!¡±

    ¡°Bandits!¡±

    ¡°Thieves!¡±

    ¡°The Gods will punish you, so that you will die a violent death!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The citizens of Byzantium were swearing and throwing things at the mercenaries that were in the middle of the street.

    Although Davos had expected this in advance, and warned the mercenaries. But at this moment, he felt the danger and covered his head with one hand, and shouted, ¡°Asistes, lead your heralds and tell each officers that they must strictly control their soldiers and not let them leave the troops!¡±

    Davos'' order came in time, as some of the newly hired became angry. If not for the armed Spartans on the side of the street, they would have rushed to fight with the citizens of Byzantium.

    The officers ran up and down to stop them from making any mistakes, and Davos also timely ordered, ¡°Whole troops, RUSH FORWARD!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Cleander, who was standing at the tform at the roof of the praetorium, looked down at the mercenaries passing through the street. He was surprised to see that these scattered and undisciplined mercenaries were able to restrain themselves and didn''t have a conflict with the citizen of Byzantium, which made his n to collect the weapons of the mercenaries to waste.

    ¡°Who is the leader of this mercenary?¡± He casually asked.

    ¡°It seems to be¡­Davos.¡± The adjutant thought and replied.

    Davos? Cleander thought that the name was familiar, but he could not remember where he had heard it before, ¡°The mercenaries he led were not bad.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to stop them, my lord?¡±

    ¡°Forget it.¡± Cleander waved his hand. He had taken the bribes of Thurii merchant. The reason why he also designed this small scheme was that once there was a conflict, he would be able to confiscate the weapons of the mercenaries.

    The mercenaries braved this humiliation, endured their anger, and speed up their march, hoping to reach the port within a fewer steps.

    When the mercenaries and the female ves got on the ship respectively, everything was properly arranged, and the fleet of 57 merchant ships left the port of Byzantium, the soldiers began to yell, even the good tempered Asistes could not help but shout aloud, ¡°Byzantium, someday I will return this humiliation!¡±

    Davos ignored how the soldiers vented their anger, as he stood quietly at the stern of the boat, watching the city of Byzantium disappear below the horizon.

    The fleet entered the sea of Marmara, then turned south and halfway they were stopped by dozen Spartan warships.

    Burkes had to let his boat pass by and get on the Spartan gship in person, asking the Spartans to let them go.

    After a while, he asked his men to carry a big box to the warship.

    After waiting for about an hour, he and his men went back to the boat and took a long breath and gave the order, ¡°Depart.¡±

    ¡°What''s going on?¡± Asked Davos curiously.

    ¡°The Spartans now control this strait, and anyrge fleet passing through it must be examined by them, especially since I hired you from Byzantium.¡± Said Burkes as he took the cup he handed him.

    ¡°Why is that?¡± Davos was more curios.

    ¡°Since Sparta defeated Athen and took control of the Aegean Sea, it has been stipted that ¡®any city-state that wants to hire soldiers within the sphere of influence of Sparta must obtain their permission.¡¯ And Byzantium is now being upied by Sparta, which also belongs to the sphere of influence of Sparta. In the past, Sparta only allowed Dionysius of Syracuse to hire soldiers in Sparta for a long time, and even the local soldiers.¡±

    ¡°Dionysius?¡±

    ¡°The tyrant and dictator of Syracuse!¡± Burkes said in disgust, he obviously did not have a good impression of him, and Davos noted the name.

    ¡°Fortunately, in this special case, I manage to persuade the council of elders of Sparta to issue a certificate of employment.¡± Burkes took a sip of water and sighed, ¡°Even so, I had to spend another half Taras to passed through. s¡­how could the general of Sparta be so greedy now!¡±

    He looked at Davos and said, ¡°I hope you can prove that my expenses is worth it with your performance in the battlefield.¡±

    ¡°You''ll see!¡± Said Davos seriously.

    Then someone on the opposite ship shouted, ¡°Davos! Davos!¡±

    Author''s Note: It is only up to this chapter that the story of Davos in Persia came to an end. Does he still have a meeting with the mercenary leaders such as Timasion and Cleanor, as well as with the Persian Satraps such as Tissaphernes and Orontes?

    Find out next time on Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Z

 Chapter 62: Arrival

    Davos looked at the triremes besides him, only to see someone waving at him at the side of the ship.

    ¡°Hey, Xenophon, I didn''t think that I would have a chance to say goodbye to you!¡±

    ¡°Davos, I epted the request of Anaxibius and hurried to Byzantium to gather our mercenaries again and rush to Asia Minor. I did not expect that you are going to Magna Graecia! Stay, let''s continue fighting together side by side!¡± Xenophon made a sincere request to Davos.

    Davos secretly thought ¡®that was close'', then shruggered his shoulders and seriously said, ¡°I''m sorry, I have already signed an agreement with Thurii and made an oath to Hades!¡±

    ¡°That is¡­unfortunate!¡± Xenophon, who respected the gods, expressed his regret, ¡°We won''t be able to fight together!¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems that Sparta is going to war with Persia. I can only wish you the protection of Zeus in the next war!¡± Davos said it from the bottom of his heart.

    ¡°I wish you the same!¡± Xenophon sincerely said, ¡°I would have like to invite you to Athens to meet my teacher, Socrates. He would have been interested with your new ideas! And one of his students, my good friend to, have simr point of view as you. You two would''ve been good friends! Unfortunately¡­¡±

    ¡°One day I will go to Athens! I believe you would be able to finished the story of our battles in Persia. Don''t forget to send me a copy.¡± Davos only knew that Xenophonter wrote the Anabasis, but he doesn''t remember Xenophon''s life experience. After all, he was not a historian in his previous life.

    ¡°Don''t worry, I''ll make you another copy.¡± Xenophonughed.

    Davos vaguely remembered that Socrates was convicted and was poisoned by the Athenian authorities. He didn''t know the exact time, but he remembered that Socrates could have chosen to be expelled from Athens, but he insisted on staying and wanted to wake up the numb Athenian citizens with his death. So Davos gave up the decision to remind Xenophon and just waved and said, ¡°Goodbye!¡±

    ¡°Goodbye!¡±

    Who knew that this goodbye would have a great change, friends bes enemies. Which is hard to predict¡­

    As the fleet moved forward, the ships of Sparta gradually disappeared under the blue sky¡­

    Seeing that Davos was still standing at the stern, Burkes couldn''t help but walk over and said, ¡°Still missing your Athenian friend??¡±

    ¡°Xenophon is a talented and capable person!¡± Davos was disappointed. After all, Xenophon was the first historical celebrity that connect this world with his previous life.

    ¡°Athens is built up by a group of talented people to create its glory!¡± Burkes said with deep thoughts, ¡°Even we have the same glory as Athens, Only after Thurii is established it has prosper!¡±

    ¡°Oh, is it?¡± Burkes'' words seeded in arousing Davos'' interest.

    ¡°At that time, the leaders in charge of the establishment of Thurii were two highly capable Athenians, Lampon and Xenocritus, as well as Protagoras, a famous schr in Athens, who had made thews for Thurii. Athens also invited Hippodamus, a famous Greek architect, to design the city of Thurii and was responsible for its construction at the same time, though other celebrated names in Athens moved to Thurii. One was Herodotus, a schr who writes history. The other one is Lysias, a famous orator. There was even Cleandridas, a Spartan, who took control the war for Thurii. As a result, Thurii can keep the peace with Crotone to the south. Fight for the Siritris in with Taranto to the north. Defend against the invasion of Lucanians and Bruttii to the west. Strengthen trade with Greece. Therefore, in one fell swoop, it became a great power in Magna Graecia!¡± Burkes couldn''t help recall the past.

    Davos listened carefully.

    Then, Burkes'' proud expression faded, ¡°Unfortunately, Athens lost to Sparta. Now Sparta is the overlord of Greece¡­¡±

    ¡°Does it have a huge impact on Thurii?¡± Asked Davos.

    Burkes didn''t want to say more, and just replied, ¡°When you arrive to Thurii, you will find out.¡±

    Davos smiled andforted him, ¡°Don''t worry, Sparta''s hegemony won''tst long.¡±

    Davos'' astonishing words immediately attracted Burkes'' attention, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because the Spartans are starting to take bribes.¡± Davos said half-jokingly, ¡°The unique system that havee from ancient times for Sparta was intended to train the Spartan citizens into a fierce warriors, only in this way can several Spartans suppress the more numbered Helots, and dominate Greece with external rule. For this reason, only by letting the Spartan citizens maintain a in and simple life can they ensure basic equality. Otherwise, the citizens of Sparta will raise objections, ¡®why do you eat well and wear warm clothes? while I ept cruel training since I was a kid, and I need to be 30 years old to get out of the single life in the military camp.¡¯ So they closed their gates,mercial trades are banned, the use of more portable currency are banned, banned debate, banned drama, banned poetry, banned writting and selling books other than military affairs. Everyone says that Spartans are terrible because the Spartans have no other entertainment except fighting and killing! Now, Sparta has be the hegemon of Greece, the strategic areas need to be garrisoned, their fleets needs to sail, and the Spartans needs to leave their country and stay out for half a year and they will of course touch things that they haven''t been exposed to before. It''s not easy to maintain a in and simple life, but it''s too easy to destroy it! Once the spirit of the Spartans to dominate Greece has been eroded, how long can Sparta maintain their hegemony!!¡±

    Burkes had never heard anyone use such simple and vividnguage to analyze the political system of Sparta, just like a sharp dagger stabbing at the fragile core of the Spartan system, which sounds very reasonable. He looked at Davos in a daze, this young man made him feel a little awe, and he suddenly remembered the rumor regarding Davos being ¡®God''s Favored¡¯. He opened his mouth and found that his voice was dry. He coughed several times and couldn''t help but ask, ¡°If it''s so, who will be the opponent of Sparta in Greece?¡±

    Davos shrugged, ¡°I''m not a god, how would I know,¡± He raised his head and looked up at the seagulls flying in the blue sky, Thebes, Macedonia¡­ a string of city-state names shed through his mind, and he doesn''t know why there was a sense of pride in his heart¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After being stopped by the Spartan warship, Burkes ordered the fleet to travel both day and night for fear of further idents.

    A few dayster, after arriving at the ind of Euboea, they went ashore to replenish food and fresh water, and then sailed through the Cydes Inds, bypassing the Attica Penins in Athens, because there was no time to go ashore, and Davos could only regretfully look westward on the ship to the famous ssic, Athens, which was not in sight.

    Then, the fleet passed through Argos, and carefully bypassed the Peloponnese Penins, until they reached the ind of Zakynthos, and finally went ashore for a night. The next day, they sailed northward to the ind of Corfu. Then they turned to the west and entered the Gulf of Taranto, named after the powerhouse in Magna Graecia, Taranto.

    This is a calm harbor, the wet sea breeze can''t lift a wave. The blue water is like a smooth and clear blue silk, countless ships are like silver shuttling around, weaving a beautiful picture on this huge blue silk.

    When the mercenaries saw this beautiful scene, their bodies and minds which was exhausted by the long sea voyage, had suddenly became excited and began to make trouble.

    Burkes''rge fleet has also attracted the attention of those interested parties, a few triremes with a ¡°person riding dolphins¡± on their sails came to meet them.

    ¡°It''s okay, it''s Taranto''s ship.¡± Burkes talks to Davos as the fleet''s leading ship moved forward.

    ¡°Are we in the waters controlled by Taranto?¡± Asked Davos curiously.

    ¡°Not yet. This is just an agreement between several city-states in this gulf, in order to maintain information between each other, just in case.¡± Exined Burkes.

    Seeing the warship of Taranto turning around and leaving, the fleet continues to move forward¡­

    About an hourter, Burkes pointed in front of him and said, ¡°Ahead is Thurii.¡±

    Davos quickly held on to the ship''s side and looked at it with his wide gaze. More than 500 meters ahead was a green coastline, including a white ¡°streamer¡± from west to east, straight into the sea; at the end of the ¡°streamer¡±, countless white sails gathered, thousands of seagulls swirled in the sky, but there was no shadow of the city to be seen¡­

 Chapter 63: Ruins

    Burkes seemed to noticed Davos'' doubts and exined it to him, ¡°The city of Thurii is situated about 10km from the river Crati.¡±

    Davos went ¡°Oh¡±, and asked, ¡°How can there be so many ships that are here trading when Thurii is fighting with the Lucanians?¡±

    ¡°The Lucanians have no ships and therefore they are unable to cut off the sea trade of Thurii, and more war means that more goods and materials are needed. These merchant ships hase to earn money¡­¡± As the two people talk, the fleet has stopped advancing forward.

    The leading ship went ahead alone and soon merged with the white sails¡­

    About an hourter, the leading ship returned and approached the ship of Burkes, and then a man came up.

    ¡°Burkes, atst, you''re back! I had thought that the Lucanians had frightened you into migrating to Greece.¡± The guy came forward whilrughing.

    ¡°How could I leave, if you who is the most timid, didn''t leave.¡± Burkes joked and gave him a hug.

    ¡°Did everything went well?¡±

    ¡°Is Thurii fine?¡±

    The two asked andughed at the same time.

    ¡°The city of Thurii should still be safe from just seeing your rxed appearance.¡±

    ¡°As you know, those savage Lucanians doesn''t have any superb skills. They could neither build siege equipment nor build ships. They can only destroy viges and farms outside of the city. Fortunately, the wheats had already been harvested in autumn. In winter, the Lucanians outside the city broke away and had to return to the northern mountains, leaving only a small number of soldiers in Amendra-¡±

    ¡°Wait, you are talking about the gue?¡± Burkes'' face was startled.

    ¡°The Lucanians have killed thousands of Thurii citizens and piled their bodies outside of the city. Zeus was angry and punished the Lucanians, but we, the people of Thurii, were not hurt at all!¡± Said the guy with anger and pride.

    Burkes praised Zeus.

    The guy continued, ¡°Now that it''s getting warmer, they would start going south again. Fortunately, Taranto sent reinforcements.¡±

    ¡°As the one who advocates the Magna Graecia defense alliance, they should''ve sent reinforcements long ago!¡±

    ¡°We can''t me them. They just repulsed the attack of the Messappi, and soon after, sent 1,500 hoplites and 50 cavry and the leader is Archytas.¡±

    ¡°Which Archytas?¡±

    ¡°Which other Archytas! Of course, the son of Histiaeus the former archon of Taranto, the genius among the citizens of Taranto!¡±

    ¡°Speaking of geniuses, I also have one here.¡± Burkes pulled Davos and said to Polyx, ¡°I''d like to introduce you to Davos of Thessaly, a Greek mercenary general in an expedition to Persia¡± Said Burkes seriously. Then, pointing to the guy, and said, ¡°Davos, this is the strategos selected by Thurii this year, my good friend ¨C Polyx!¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Strategos Polyx!¡± Davos saluted slightly.

    ¡°Wee.¡± Polyx nodded, then turned to Burkes, ¡°What did you just say? A Persian expedition?¡±

    Burkes saw Polyx''s casual behavior, and so he promoted Davos'' deeds greatly. Polyx''s gaze on him immediately became enthusiastic, ¡°It''s difficult to imagine! Davos, you are so young and yet have done such an amazing thing! Under the siege of thousands of enemies in the middle of Persia, and leading the soldiers back home! Truly¡­amazing!¡±

    Davos said sincerely, ¡°This is the result of the joint efforts with my brothers, and many have died on our way home¡­¡±

    ¡°I invited the camp of Davos to Thurii, hoping that they will help us in defeating the Lucanians with their rich fighting experience!¡± Burkes took this opportunity to exin how he hired Davos'' camp at a high cost in advanced.

    ¡°You came just at the right time. We are currently deliberating on a counterattack against the Lucanians.¡± Polyx said to Burkes, ¡°I havee here in order to tell you that the general assembly had agreed that your fleet would disembark at the wharf at the estuary, and let Davos and his mercenary troops camp in the old city of Sybarys.¡±

    ¡°What?! Letting them camp in the old city of Sybarys!!¡± Burkes'' face changed, and he immediately pulled Polyx aside and whispered, ¡°Are you crazy?! Have you forgotten that when Thurii was built, we have an agreement with Crotone that the site of the old city of Sybarys could not be touch! Otherwise, we would have build the city of Thurii on the location of Sybaris, since it is clear that it has a better location and a better port!¡±

    ¡°Every Thuriian knows about what you had said. But this is the result of Kunogta''s strong advocacy, and the other strategos agreed! The soldiers you hired before have been camping in Sybarys for nearly a month.¡± Polyx''s shrugged in order to show that it had nothing to do with him.

    ¡°Kunogta again! He had expelled the Athenians, and now he wants to infuriate Crotone. Does he want to destroy Thurii!¡± Said Burkes angrily.

    ¡°It''s not as bad as you have said. Decades had passed and the Thurii have been abiding by this agreement. The grass of Sybarys has grown taller than that of the others, and now that Thurii is suffering from war and it is only just using it as a temporary camp. Besides, Crotone doesn''t have time to pay attention to this matter either, they are fighting fiercely with the Bruttii. Where else would these mercenaries camp? I''m afraid that when you add up the previous and this time''s mercenaries will reach up to 4 ¨C 5 thousand people. The camp built must upy arge area. Now, all around Thurii are farnd and viges, except for that wastnd¡­¡±

    ¡°Didn''t you say that all the farnd and viges outside the city have been destroyed?¡± Asked Burkes.

    ¡°After the Lucanians retreated, the people went back to their viges and towns and began rebuilding. Otherwise, they would all gather in the city and would have problems sooner orter! As for those fields, the farmers have already sown all the wheat seeds, otherwise there will be no harvest this year.¡±

    ¡°What if the Lucanians return?¡± Asked Burkes worriedly.

    ¡°That is why we are discussing on how to repel them.¡±

    Burkes stared at Polyx for a long time without saying any words, and finally said, ¡°It seems that the strategoi are very united, and brave! And have forgotten how they fled in panicst year!¡±

    Polyx was embarrassed and speechless.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Because the channel had been cleared in advance, Burkes'' fleet got into the estuary smoothly, but disembarking became more troubesome because there was only a simple wharf.

    Burkes, Davos, Philesius, Asistes, and the guards were the first to disembarked first, and stood on the soft ground.

    Philesius bent down and reached for a handful of soil, twisted it with his fingers and put it on the tip of his nose and sniffed as if it was not soil but delicacies. Then he reached for Davos and said excitedly, ¡°It''s ck!¡±

    Davos certainly understand what he meant. Before Burkes'' eyes turned around, he eimed, ¡°This is a fertilend!¡±

    Burkes said proudly, ¡°Of course! The in of Sybarys has several rivers, including the river Crati. It is not only rich in water, but also hasrge fertile and t area. It is the bestnd in this area. Otherwise, the luxury life of Sybarys would not havee!¡±

    After a short walk away from the back of the river, a group of people saw the ruins among the weeds. This is the old location of the city of Sybarys.

    Davos came to a huge stone and stopped. Although it was covered with moss, the fine texture and dark red color of the t stone surfaced, which proved that it was good marble. Looking at it, there are many such stones here, hidden under the grass, half buried in the soil¡­

    To know that Greece and Italy produce white marbles more, and only Africa is rich in red marble, naturally the price is not cheap. Although Davos doesn''t know the price, there were few such stones in the previous cities, which were obviously not easy to get, ¡°What a good stone! Why didn''t Thurii use it when they build the city?¡± He asked Burkes seemingly casual.

    Author''s Note: Magna Graecia refers to the Greek city-states in the south of Italy, which is the foot part of the ¡°boot¡± in Italy. The specific Greek city-states will be mentionedter in this book.

 Chapter 64: Scuffle!

    Burkes hesitated for a while whether to tell the truth. After all, this is an open secret, and he doesn''t want this to affect the trust that was built between them, ¡°When Thurii built the city, Athens had an agreement with Crotone, ¡®Crotone will keep the peace with Thurii, while Thurii shall not build a city on the location of Sybarys, and will retain Sybarys as it is.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Those tyrant Crotone! Did they really n to use a ruined wastnd to show Crotone''s power to those who passed by it?¡± Asked Davos curiously.

    ¡°Maybe, but it is also a reminder to Thurii that they will never make the same mistake as Sybarys!¡± Said Burkes with firm expression.

    ¡°Thurii sure can endure.¡± Said Davos jokingly, and saw that Burkes expression turned grim, but some stuff had to be asked, ¡°We are now camping here, is this not a vition of the agreement?¡±

    Burkes pretended to be rxed and said, ¡°Now that the situation is urgent, I believe Crotone would be able to understand it.¡±

    ¡°I hope that is also what Crotone thinks.¡± Replied Davos.

    Burkes didn''t speak anymore, he had learned the shrewdness of Davos and believed that Davos had seen the link.

    As the group continued to move forward, there were fewer and fewer broken walls and stones, and the ground became more leveled¡­

    Philesius, who was at the front, stopped and turned around and said, ¡°Leader, I think we should build the camp here and use it as the center.¡±

    Davos stood on a big rock and looked around, about 200 meters away north from the mercenary camp that they had arrived at earlier, the river Crati in the south, the sea in the east, and the west are farnds.

    He came down and poked his right toe into the soil. Under the thinyer of soil, there were basically hard stuffs, and should be the bricks that wasid in the city of Sybarys. This area should be the center of Sybarys.

    Davos agreed in his mind, and nodded and said, ¡°Yes.¡±

    Philesius turned and went back to inform the soldiers who were still disembarking at the wharf.

    At this time, dozens of people came out of opposite mercenary camp and rushed to their side.

    ¡°Hey, where did you lote from?¡± One of them shouted.

    Burkes recognized the man, and said, ¡°Drakos, This is their leader, Davos of Thessaly, they have been invited by Thurii. And just like you, they will fight against the Lucanians.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡­¡± When Drakos saw that Davos was too young, he could not help but felt it odd and looked down on him. When he saw that Asistes leading a convoy to mark and measure the groud, his expression changes slightly, ¡°What are they doing?¡±

    ¡°We are going to camp here, and our two armies will be neighbors!¡± Said Davos with a smile.

    ¡°You will camp here?!¡± Drakos'' eyes opened wide and said it aloud.

    ¡°It''s convenient to camp here, and we can cooperate together.¡± Davos saw the change in his expression, but he did not care.

    ¡°Who will cooperate with you! Don''t drag us down! You aren''t allowed to camp here, you have to withdraw at least 300 meters south of here!¡± Drakos ordered with a fierce shout.

    ¡°300 meters to the south means that our camp will be by the river!¡± Davos reminded him.

    ¡°I don''t care! You have to leave here at once!¡± Drakos made a threatening stance.

    ¡°Drakos, this is thend of Thurii. You have no right to make such decisions!¡± Burkes yelled at him.

    ¡°But you, Thurii, had made this ruins of Sybarys as the camp for us mercenaries, then I have the right since we are the first to arrive here!¡± Said Drakos proudly.

    Burkes wanted to talk again, but Davos pulled him.

    ¡°I see. It seems that who is in charge here must depend on his strength.¡± Davos sneered.

    ¡°Oh,d, you are an understanding fellow. What''s wrong, you want to fight?!¡± Drakos said with a condenscing smile.

    Davos called Asistes and whispered, ¡°Go get the troops and tell them that there''s a good opportunity to move around.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Asistes ran back excitedly.

    ¡°Martius, what are you waiting for? Follow me!¡± Said Davos and rushed past him.

    At the start, Martius was also a warrior with the same reputation as Matonis in Hielos team. He became the captain of the guard team, and had to manage them on a regr basis. He had a lot of courage and ruthlessness, and he rarely met a good opportunity. He led the 30 guards like wolves as they rushed forward.

    When Drakos saw Davos rushing, he threw a punch aiming at Davos'' head.

    Davos had already been on guard. He went low, but at the same time, his speed was not reduced, and he was close to the right side of Drakos.

    Drakos waste in recovering his right fist, just as he was about to turn.

    Davos'' left fist struck his waist rib like lightning, which made him bend down subconsciously. Then Davos'' right hook hit him hard on the chin, which made his strong body jump up and fall.

    Burkes who was at the back was so scared that his spine was sweating cold as he saw that within a sh, Drakos wasn''t able to stand. At normal times, Davos had a gentle appearance as they had good conversation, which made Burkes think that the young man had conquered the mercenary soldiers with his wisdom. Unexpectedly, his fierceness was also astounding. Under the leadership of Martius, he can see that the other guards are as fierce and precise like the tigers. They cooperated with each other to defend and attack, although there are 10 more people on the other side, they are like a group of loose sand, and they are always trapped between 2 ¨C 3 people. Soon they are all beaten down and the side of Martius had basically no loss. (T/N: More like lions)

    Burkes wanted to say something, but he heard footsteps rumbling behind him.

    ¡°Davos, here we are!¡± At the lead was Matonis.

    Davos saw a lot of people rushing out of the opposite camp, but their speed was obviously not as fast as the one on his side. So he said, ¡°How many people they have is how many people we will send, and everyone can take turns beating them all down, but they must not die!¡±

    ¡°Roar!¡± The soldiers howled excitedly and couldn''t wait for the other camp to arrive.

    A huge scuffle between hundreds of people started, and the victor was soon decided. The result was obvious, the soldiers of the other camp saw their teammates falling down to the ground from afar, moaning incessantly, and were too afraid to rush.

    Seeing this situation, Burkes was d that he had made the correct decision in hiring Davos'' camp, and at the same time, he said worriedly, ¡°Haven''t you gone too far? How will you be able to cooperate with each other in the future?

    Davos rubbed his knuckles, andforted him, ¡°You don''t know anything about us mercenaries. After this fight, I believe that there will be no friction, and they will understand who has the right in making decisions in here!¡±

    These words gave Burkes another understanding about Davos¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Matonis, if it wasn''t for the 2 daric gold coins a month, I wouldn''t have joined your camp!¡­¡± Xetippus, a mercenary who joined the camp of Davos in Byzantium,ined to the squad leader, Matonis, while digging trenches. ¡°After more than 10 days in the ship, and we finally arrived in Thurii, but Davos didn''t let us have a rest, and had instead made us immediately dig trenches and build camps¡­¡±

    Matonis red and said, ¡°If you don''t want to do it, then don''t do it!¡±

    ¡°I don''t want to be spanked!¡± Xetippus thought of something, and the more he thought about it, the more scared he was, ¡°No wonder some people used to say that your camp was manage strictly, they really weren''t joking! If you don''t move you get spanked, I can''t stand this anymore! We are mercenaries, not Spartans¡­¡±

    Matonis missed the soldiers he had led previously. After all, after a half a year of polishing they are already familiar with the things stipted in the militaryw issued by Davos, when and what to do. Even without his urging, his brothers could finish it with their own initiative. But after half of the veterans were pulled out and got stuffed with the new soldiers that was recruited in Byzantium, there were a lot of small incidents urring along the way, which made Matonis anxious and angry, such as this guy in front him thatined a lot. Matonis didn''t want to talk to him, but he had to remind him, ¡°Boy, your digging is too shallow! The leader''s request is a ¡°U¡± type ditch with a width of 3 meters and a depth of 3 meters. As you can see, you haven''t dug deep enough and this won''t passed the requirement!¡±

 Chapter 65: Camp Building!

    Xetippus looked to the left and right, as he still wanted to say something more, but when he saw the face of Matonis, he immediately shut his mouth. He was afraid of Matonis, beacause he knew that he really dared to punched people with his fist. Of course, his guards was also famous in the whole camp, and so he held up his tools and dug them hard to the ground¡­

    Matonis was toozy to deal with him, so he picked up the wooden basket that was filled with soil, then stepped on the woodendder to go up to the ground, and poured the soil into the earthen wall that was being built in the ditch. He looked at the progress of his own team, which was pretty good. But after looking at the situation of Olivos'' team that was next to him, he was immediately worried, and so he stood by the trench and shouted, ¡°Brothers, let''s work hard. Let''s strive to be the first toplete it this time and get the reward promised by the leader! If someone doesn''t work hard and drags us down, then I will never let him go!!!¡±

    ¡°Roar!¡± The veterans howled, while most of the recruits mostly responded weakly¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Leader, we need to not only dig trenches, earth walls, and sentry towers, but we also need to build wooden fences for the walls, and after the wooden fences, we still need to build walkways, and before the trenches, we need to dig pits and bury sharp wooden stakes¡­the requirements of this camp are tooplicated! And thebor needed is much more intense than before, and the soldiers areining. Is this really necessary?! ¡± Asked Asistes who was puzzled.

    As Davos watched the progress of the camp construction, he replied positively, ¡°Of course, it''s necessary! Burkes said that at least 10,000 Lucanians had attackedst year! Unlike Thurii, we aren''t protected by a thick and tall walls. Can we resist the attack of the Lucanians if we don''t build a well defended camp?! When we are besieged by the Lucanians, will the Thuriianse to our rescue?!¡±

    Asistes shook his head.

    ¡°So what if it''s a little bit tiring to build such aplex camp, but with it, the soldiers will feel at ease when they rest and sleep in it, and the enemy will have no way to deal with us! Moreover, the camp can bepleted within a few days.¡± Davos nce at Asistes, and then said, ¡°Before, I asked you to assemble the soldiers who had worked as carpenters in the team and set up an engineering camp. Now, have them lead the soldiers and fumble for the construction of wooden fences, sentries and walkways, with this as experience, we can do it again easier when we construct camps in the future.¡±

    Asistes said sincerely, ¡°Boss, you are so thorough!¡±

    Davos smiled. This was an effective method that was condensed by the Roman army through a hundreds of years of war in history. He directly drew lessons from it and pushed it vigorously. It is his hoped that the military tradition of the Roman Legion of ¡°No matter where you go, you must build a sold camp first¡± will also be the habit of his own army.

    ¡°Leader, Philesius is back¡± Asistes saw Philesiusing from the north.

    Davos hurried up and asked, ¡°How is it?¡±

    ¡°Burkes is right. There is a small river about 5 km to the north, and there are mountain forest on the other side of the river¡±

    ¡°Is it easy to cross the river?¡±

    ¡°The river is very shallow, but we found scouts of the Lucanians. ording to the guide, they may be from the city of Amendra.¡±

    This news made Davos ponder for a while, and he said decisively, ¡°Burkes said that this is the only Lucanian army left in the north of Thurii and their number is notrge. I will give you 500 soldiers and 100 strong ves, and lead them to the mountain forest and let some of them cut down the trees. The others will be responsible for keeping an eye. If possible, you will go north again and look at the situation around the city of Amendra.¡±

    ¡°Ok.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On a huge rock a hundreds meters away from Davos camp, Drakos and two other leaders are standing while watching.

    ¡°What are those guys doing? A camp, that needed to be soplicated?! They are clearly building a city! Do the Thuriians allowed them to do this?¡± One of the leaders said sarcastically.

    ¡°Adrian, you have to admit that if such aplex camp is built, the Lucanians will have very difficult time attacking it! On the contrary, if you look at our camp, it''s much simpler! Listening to the Thurriians, the Lucanians are currently gathering forces in Laus. If they go south on arge scale, we will be the first to suffer! Should we consider re-strengthening our camp?¡± Another leader made a suggestion.

    ¡°Sesta, you aren''t ignorant of the nature of our soldiers. When they ask for money, they are active, but once you let them work, they will all be trying to escape work!¡± Adrian said helplessly.

    ¡°Yeah, this is what I find strange. They-¡± Sesta pointed to the soldiers who were working very hard in the distance, and said curiously, ¡°They aren''t like mercenaries at all, and even the citizen-soldiers of some city-states aren''t like them as well. But, they are instead a bit like the Spartans! But just now, I heard their ent, Thessaly, Rhodes, Thrace, Crete, Chersonesus, Chalcis¡­Every ce has their own ent, just like ours! But why is the difference so big?!¡±

    ¡°Don''t think about it. Although we had a fight with them, they didn''t mean anything to us. They also offered to help us treat our wounded, let''s not provoke them in the future. Besides, it''s also good that they are powerful, we can feel at ease with them around us!¡± Adrian said with emotion and jumped down from the stone, ¡°Come, don''t stand here for a long time and made them think that we have any schemes!¡±

    Adrian felt their horror, and he couldn''t help but want to stay away from them.

    ¡°I think we should still try and let our soldiers reinforce our camp''s defense again!¡± Sesta also jumped down as well.

    ¡°Well, let''s go back and discuss it with the soldiers.¡± Adrian shrugged helplessly, as he walked a few steps, he thought of something, and turned around and shouted, ¡°Drakos, let''s go!¡±

    Drakos grinned and his red swollen lower jaw still hurt when he touch it. He took a deep look at Davos'' camp and followed them.

    Soon after returning to the camp, the wounded had also came back. These mercenaries were mainly from Ionia and Asia Minor (Because Burkes recruited them in Miletus at that time), and from their mouth, they learned that those mercenaries were the Greek mercenaries who fought on an expedition together with Cyrus the Younger! It must be known that after they arrived at the area in the ck Sea, the merchants and sailors, the merchant ships of the cities on the ck sea who had went to Greece to do business with Asia Minor and Ionia, had spread the events of the Greek mercenaries fighting in Persia through exaggerations and dyeing the chatters of taverns and inns, which had made them famous as they marched along the ck sea as it was already spread in Ionia. Many mercenaries understood their plight, but they end up envying their experience and had regarded them as heroes. After all, no Greek army had ever reached the central region of Persia so far.

    Now that the group who had beaten them was part of the Persian expedition army, the mercenaries'' resentment had not only disappeared, but also sincerely eximed, ¡®No wonder they are so fierce, it turns out that they are the Greek mercenaries who hade back from the expedition in Persian, and they are currently right next to us!¡¯

    The soldiers who couldn''t suppress their surprise rushed out of the camps'' gate, regardless of the obstruction of their leaders, and ran to the camp of Davos, hoping to hear their heroic tale in Persia¡­

 Chapter 66: Inquiry and Explanation (I)

    At this time, Burkes was in the city hall being question by the Strategoi of Thurii.

    The political system of Thurii is simr to that of Athens. Most of the times, the administrative management of city-states adopts the ¡°10 strategoi responsibility system¡± (After all, it is a city that was established under the leadership of Athens, but it is also different from that of Athens, which was elected by the general assembly of the citizen. At the time of its establishment, the main immigrants from Thurii came from 10 regions of Greece, namely Arcadia, Achea, Boeotia, Ionia, Athens, Doris¡­Therefore, the annual election is from the citizens of Thurii in these 10 regions, each electing a Strategos, and the Polemarchos has always been from the descendants of Athens.)

    But after the end of the Peloponnesian War and the defeat of Athens, in order to prevent the retaliation of Sparta and the city-states of Magna Graecia that had joined the Spartan Alliance. (such as Taranto, Crotone, Syracuse, etc. which are all strong states) Under the push of Kunogta. all the descendants of Athens in Thurii were expelled. Currently, there are only ¡°9 Strategoi¡± left in Thurii, and the polemarchos was re-elected by the council among the nine strategoi that was elected by the various ethnic group. Kunogta has been the polemarchos for 4 consecutive years, untilst year after the tragic defeat of Thurii due to the invasion of Lucania, the great majority had then voted Friis, who they thought that had the most military talent. Although he lost his position as the polemarchos, Kunogta was still elected as one of the 9 strategoi. After all, his poprity in the Arcadianmunity is too high.

    Now, taking the employment agreement signed by Burkes, he asked, ¡°Burkes, as the person in charge of recruitment, you should know about the price of mercenaries in the whole Greek region. Around how much?¡±

    ¡°Usually about a half daric gold coins a month.¡± Replied Burkes truthfully.

    ¡°Hm, it''s about the same as what I know. I noticed that the first of the 2 employment agreements did follow the half daric gold coins per month, but the second one-¡± Kunogta, facing the other generals, said loudly, ¡°They are also the same that have more than 2000 mercenaries, but the payment you gave them is 2 daric gold coin per month!¡±

    When they heard this, the other generals were surprised.

    Before Burkes could exin, Kunogta help up the parchment with the agreement and continued, ¡°Not only that, but also you have signed a half a year''s employment with them. ording to the above agreement, no matter whether the war ends or not, you have to pay them 2 daric gold coins every month! Think about it, if the Lucanians put off the attacks ording to this agreement, these mercenaries will be able to get nearly 25,000 gold coins without doing anything for half a year!¡±

    ¡°Oh my god, this is too much!¡± Everyone was shocked once more, another general, Nianses, said angrily, ¡°Last year, in order to prepare military funds to fend off the army of Lucanians attacking Thurii, we took out 300 Taras out of the treasury. As a result, in order to provide for the families of the citizens that were killed in the war, another 50 Taras were taken out. In order to defend against the Lucanians from attacking the city, another 150 Taras were taken out in order to make weapons, repair the city walls, summoning the citizens to be militia. By this year, in order to buy and supply food for the reinforcements and mercenaries of Taranto, as well as another 120 taras to repair the damaged viges, farnd and other facilities, which is not enough! Before the war began, the treasury was almost empty. Before that, we had discussed whether to levy a special war tax on the citizens. This is the wealth umted by Thurii over the years and the hard-earned tax ie of the citizens! As the strategos in charge of the city''s finance and taxation, I can''t stand such a ridiculous agreement. I refuse to pay them!¡±

    ¡°Yes, we don''t recognize this agreement!¡± Most strategoi followed suit.

    At this time, the polemarchos, Friis, said, ¡°Kunogta, the Lucanians are gathering forces in Laus, this news has been confirmed, and we all know that. Therefore, there is no possibility that the Lucanians will not attack in half a year, because they started gathering their army, which made the consumption of their food very huge, and the grain production capacity of the area in Lucania is impossible to support them for half a year, if they cancelled their gathering, it will only weaken the prestige of the chief of the tribal alliance, unless there is a special circumstance, the invasion of the Lucanians wille soon! And in this time of crisis, we need more soldiers to help us resist the attack of the Lucanians!¡±

    ¡°Friis, don''t rule out idents. For example, people thought that after the victory of the Lucanians, they would attack the city, but in the end, they encountered a gue and were forced to retreat¡­¡± Kunogta retorted, ¡°Whether the enemy attack or not is not the key, the key is that this agreement makes those mercenaries, no matter what the situation, will have gains, while Thurii will be the only one who will suffer loses. That''s the problem! I don''t think the person in charge that you have rmended, Burkes, did his best in his mission! Look at his treatment of the mercenaries, not only the sry, but also this, look¡­¡®The mercenaries led by Davos are only responsible for defending Thurii and fighting back the attacks of Lucanians on Thurii. If there are other missions, they must be decided by the two sides through consultation¡­¡¯¡± Kunogta read aloud the terms of the agreement, then sneered at Burkes and said, ¡°Are you sure that you are recruiting mercenaries, and not the Spartans?! We are the one spending money, we are the master, but now, these mercenaries have be honored guest that we would need to ask their consent for everything! I now have serious doubts that Burkes had a private dealing with this mercenary. I ask for a financial officer to investigate this!¡±

    ¡°Enough, Kunogta!¡± Friis finally couldn''t help but shout, ¡°Although I rmended Burkes, but all strategoi had decided it together. Don''t forget that you are the second one to agree! It showed that his ability has been recognized by everyone. In such a short period of time, he went all over the world and worked hard to recruit more than 4,000 soldiers for Thurii. He solved the problems of the shortage of military resources in Thurii at once, he reassured the citizens and guaranteed the security of the city-state! He should have been rewarded by the city-state and thanked by the citizens, but now, he is receiving your humiliation here. Is this how Thurii should treat a citizen who has contributed to the city-state! If so, who will volunteer to work for Thurii in the future!!¡± Friis'' words put the city hall in a temporary silence.

    Burkes said, ¡°I didn''t expect the finance of the city-state would be in such distress! However, the reason why this agreement was signed and these soldiers were recruited was that on the one hand, the situation was urgent at that time, on the other hand, they were worth it! They are not Spartans, but they are not weaker than the Spartans!¡±

    This remark immediately attracted the attention of everyone. Nianses obviously did not believe it and sarcastically said, ¡°We all know that the Spartans have been trained as warriors since they were young, and therefore, they are so fierce once they grow up. Is there a second city-state in this world that adopted a simr system? Oh¡­are they perhaps the Immortals of Persia that was mentioned in Herodotus'' ¡¶Histories¡·, are they Persians?¡±

    Burkes looked coldly at Nianses, ¡°These soldiers do have something to do with the Persians!¡±

    ¡°Oh?!¡± Friis asked with interest, ¡°Do this mercenary have a special origin?¡±

    Burkes saw that the Strategos'' gazes were all focused on himself, and he looked at Polyx, who had kept silent all this time, and calmly said, ¡°After receiving the task assigned by the Strategoi, I had then set out on the same day by ship. As a result, when I passed the Adriatic Sea, I encountered two pirate ships, and was almost captured by them. Fortunately, with the blessings of Poseidon, there was a strong wind, and risking the ship, I escaped and sailed all the way to Crete, and then went ashore to rest and repair the ship. I wanted to recruit some archers there, but the locals told me, ¡®It''s alright to recruit a small number of people, but if you need arge number, you would need to get permission from Sparta, because Crete is now part of the Spartan alliance.¡¯ He also told me that most of the mercenaries are now gathered in Asia Minor and suggested that I go there to recruit, but it''s better to first get permission from Sparta. After careful consideration, I decided to go to Sparta.¡±

    Several Strategos were unconsciously nervous. Although they had expelled the citizens of Thurii who were descendants of Athens in order to eliminate the retaliation of the allied city-state of Sparta, and turned the 10 major ethnic groups in Thurii into 9, they still did not know what the attitude of Sparta towards Thurii.

 Chapter 67: Inquiry and Explanation (II)

    ¡°¡­I pretended to be an emissary of Thurii and after several effort, I have finally arrived in Sparta. At the council of elders, I told the elders of Sparta about the disaster of Thurii and asked them for reinforcement. The elders of Sparta sympathized with what we have encountered, but they do not have any reinforcement to send. Instead, they gave a certificate permitting us to recruit¡­¡±

    ¡°Brilliant!¡± When Burkes said this, Friis couldn''t help praised him loudly, and several other strategoi were relieved. It seems that Sparta didn''t care much about Thurii''s help to Athens.

    ¡°Thanks to our timely measures, Sparta can treat us with such an attitude.¡± Kunogta said on the sides and the several strategos agreed. No matter whether Sparta''s attitude was change because of Thurii''s exiling the descendants of Athens, or whether Sparta didn''t pay attention to Thurii at all, these strategos who had expressed their support and recognition of exiling the Athenian descendants needed this false recognition to dispel their guilt.

    Burkes nced at the strategos and continued, ¡°When I arrived in Miletus and recruited Drakos, Sesta, and the other mercenaries, I heard a lot of news about Cyrus the Younger leading the Greek mercenaries to invade Persia and had attempted to usurp the throne.¡±

    Several strategos nodded their heads. Although Thurii was thousands of kilometers away from Asia Minor, they still heard this news. Not to mention the merchant ship that frequently exchanged between the East and the West of Mediterranean, the first group of mercenaries could only be station outside the city, but there were constant peddlers even going to the camps to do business, so as to spread some news and stories to the city¡­

    ¡°The Greek mercenaries defeated the army of the Persian king. Although Cyrus the Younger was killed in the war, they still manage to defeat the troops of Tissaphernes, the Satrap of Asia Minor, and Orontes, the Satrap of Armenia, many times on their way back to Greece. It was said tbat tbey had also killed several famous generals of Persia! They marched thousands of kilometers, constantly fighting with the aborigines, which have many different mountain tribes that made the Persians have an headache. Strategos, do you think such a Greek mercenarycks experience in fighting? Is theirbat power amazing? Are theyparable to Spartans?¡±

    ¡°Is this the mercenary that you employed-¡± Some of the startegos eximed, ¡°The Greek mercenary who went to Persia?¡±

    ¡°Yes, strategos.¡± Seeing the mixed expression of surprise and excitement, Burkes finally was relieved, ¡°The reason why we failed in ourst battle with the Lucanians was not only because of the carelessness of Asikulodox, but also because the citizens had lived in peace for a long time andcked the experience in battle.¡±

    In fact, it was not the wish of Asikulodox to take the initiative to invade the territory of the Lucanians, but after they defeated the invasion of the Lucanians, all the citizens of Thurii, including the strategoi, were pushing for it. This strong desire to retaliate against the Lucanians made the whole army march forward lightly on the enemy''snd, and had almost cost all the troops to be destroyed.

    At this time, Burkes, in vition of his will, put the me on Asikulodox. (which was made to be the scapegoat of the citizen assembly of Thurii after their defeat) Seeing that the strategos nodded their heads in agreement, he could not help but hate himself, but he still said seriously, ¡°I think if such an army can be hired, the danger faced by Thurii can not only be taken over, but also have the Lucanians take a huge hit. Therefore, I arrange for my men to stay in taverns and inns to inquire about the whereabouts and movements of the Greek expeditionary force at any time. Soon after, I learned that they had arrived at Heraclea on the banks of the ck Sea, but at the same time, I learned another bad news, ¡®Sparta and Persia are going to war, and the Spartan strategos, Thimbron, has even been appointed as the governor of Asia Minor, and has arrived in Miletus to start recruiting troops.¡¯ I was afraid that this Greek mercenary would be recruited by Sparta, so I went to Hellespont overnight by a fast ship and found them in Byzantium.

    But most of the mercenaries were tired of fighting and don''t want to go far away from their home to fight in a distant and unfamiliar Thurii. Only when the leader of Davos'' camp, under the temptation of high sry and after agreeing on some of their demands, did they ept our employment. After I took them out of Byzantium, we were stopped by the Spartan fleet, and turns out that Thimbron, governor of Asia Minor of Sparta, sent messengers to let the whole Greek expeditionary troops to fight for him. Davos'' troops was the best in the expeditionary troops, and several Persian generals had actually died in their hands. However, it''s only because they have signed the employment agreement, and with the recruitment permission issued by the Spartan Ephors, and paying half Taras to bribe the Spartan emissary, did they let the fleet go¡­¡±

    ¡°You guys, after epting the task we gave him, Burkes had gone through difficulties and dangers, that he even risk his life. Instead of getting afraid and giving up, he has used his intelligence and tenacity to finallyplete this recruitment, which could be said to be beyond our expectation! He not only brought a strong help to Thurii, but had also let us know about the attitude of Sparta towards Thurii, we should thank him! All citizens of Thurii should thank him!¡± Said Friis excitedly, and was the first to pped.

    The other strategoi apuded, and the apusested for a while.

    Burkes didn''t know what to say at the moment.

    Kunogta stepped forward and sincerely said, ¡°Burkes, you are the hero of Thurii! Please forgive me from what I had said just now. I shouldn''t have been so suspicious of you, it''s just that the financial problems of Thurii have been a headache for us recently. Would you ept my apology?¡±

    Burkes nodded his eptance.

    Next, Nianses also expressed his apology.

    Another general, Ansitanos, said ¡°Should we visit the leader of the Greek mercenary who went on an expedition to Persia to show our wee to them?¡±

    ¡°Ansitanos, I know you want to learn more about Persia from their mouth, in order toplete the sequel of Herodotus'' ¡¶Histories¡·.¡± Kunogta said, ¡°But it''s currently not a good time. I admit that thebat power of the troops mentioned by Burkes is amazing, but they are mercenaries and outsiders after all! And we represent Thurii! As you know, it is not umon for soldiers who are used to killing to frighten the enemy and threat ourselves at the same time. We can''t pamper them and let them have unnecessary illusions, and if we give them too much attention, what would the other mercenaries think?! What would the reinforcement from Taranto think?!¡±

    ¡°That''s right! They are just free people, and we paid them to fight for us!¡± Shouted Nianses.

    Kunogta took the opportunity to take over the conversion and continued, ¡°Nianses is right! No matter how strong a mercenary is, they are still a mercenary. We pay, so we are the employers. You guys, don''t get the rtionship wrong!¡±

    Although there are some disagreements with Kunogta in governing philosophy, Friis also has to nod his head and say, ¡°Kunogta is right. We will treat them just like the mercenaries before, and there is no need to pay too much attention to them.¡±

    At this time, he said, ¡°Since we have a strong reinforcements and the Lucanians are about to attack again, shall we once more discuss the n?¡±

    Kunogta immediately said, ¡°The Viges and farms outside the city have been repaired, and the wheat seeds have been sown, we have to fight back the Lucanians before they can destroy the property of the citizens again!¡±

    ¡°Thest time that we were defeated was because we were so aggressive, and had 10,000 of our citizens killed, so we must be careful! You should know that ording to the news, the number of troops that the Lucanians have may exceed 10,000.¡± Friis said cautiously, ¡°The number of our soldiers, plus mercenaries and reinforcements from Taranto, is no more than 9,000, including many citizens over the age of 40.¡±

 Chapter 68: Reconnaissance (I)

    Kunogta said, ¡°The reason why Asikulodox failed was due to him leading his army to attack Laus. Because of the unfamiliar terrain, he was ambushed by the enemy on the mountain path. If it was on the in of Thurii were we face the Lucanians, who are poorly equipped and are loosely organized, then they aren''t the opponent of our Greek''s hoplite, and even if our number is smaller, it still won''t be a problem.¡±

    ¡°Friis, we can''t afford this war. If we hide in the city and let the enemy trample on our farnd, burn our viges, fishing grounds and mines again, and needing to hold a citizen assembly every month in order to discuss whether to levy war taxes in order to pay the mercenaries'' sries and food. I don''t think the citizens will agree.¡± Said Nianses as he stepped forward.

    ¡°Of course, the citizens will not agree! Friis, the citizens had chosen you as the polemarchos, because they think that you have the ability to quickly turn the tide of war, driving out the Lucanians, and ensuring the safety of Thurii. Just like how after you get into power, you had immediately sent Burkes out to recruit soldiers, and had then sent envoys to Taranto to ask for help. Now that the strong reinforcements havee, you should not hesitate any more. So you have to make a decision as soon as possible in order to live up to the expectations of the citizen!¡± Polyx, who had been silent before, had also spoke.

    Burkes didn''t expect that Polyx would also joined in the urging of Friis. Having been noticed by Kunogta, he retreated to the corner, and he had remembered something, ¡®Important military meetings that involved the secrets of the city, must have the irrelevant people to take the initiative to leave¡¯ for this reason, the guards brought Burkes out of the city hall.

    Burkes stood on the steps of the city hall and stayed for a while: from a rational point of view, he felt that he should believe the judgment of Friis. After all,pared with the other strategos who had no experience in war, Friis, who was over 60 years old, took part in the war with Taranto when he was young, and sessively served as the leader of the hoplites, and have a rich experience in fighting. But emotionally, he also hopes to defeat the terrible Lucanians quickly, because every Thurians wants those bandits to stay away from their homnd, and Davos'' troops had also given him the confidence.

    Under the influence of this indecision, he subconsciously went to the port. After a while, he stopped, and although the strategos in the city hall had epted the agreement that he had signed, but if he still had frequent contacts with the troops of Davos, then he might get criticized, and so he sighed and returned to his home¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos would not be aware that there was a dispute against them that had urred in the city hall of Thurii. Although he found it strange that Burkes, who had promised him to report to the strategos of Thurii, had never came back. However, his main focus are invested on the construction of the camp.

    These days, all the soldiers had worked together and made the camp in Thurii take shape. At this time, Burkes ordered his men to send four horses and said that they could use them.

    Davos had been aware of the deliberate estrangement between Burkes and the top official of Thurii, but he didn''t care about it. After all, when their troops had passed through many Greek city-states along the ck Sea, those city-states had the same attitude towards the mercenaries.

    He then asked for Burkes'' men to convey his appreciation to him, and then made Philesius to stay in the camp and deal with the military affairs. He took Asistes, Ledes, and a ve of Burkes as his guide and rode around Thurii to check on the terrain.

    In the spring of April, the in of Sybaris which is t and fertile have grasses growing and birds flying, which makes a pleasing scenery. (although some Thurians call it the in of Thurii)

    Davos and his party were in a good mood as they rode their horses, while their gaze kept jumping into the green fields and canals, as well as the hard-working ves and farmers. The wide dirt road was muddy due to the frequent spring rains, and from time to time, you can see ves of a caravan pushing the carriages out of the mud¡­

    A sudden though shed through Davos'' mind: This situation was alsomon in the Greek city-states in the ck sea. The Greeks who are good at business are not very interested in constructing roads that can promote trade cirction. Their energy seems to be all invested in maritime trade and ships, but the Romans who rose after them had created the mostplex and advance road work in the Mediterranean in their era.

    About 10 kilometers west along the river Crati, you can see a big city standing on the north bank of the river.

    At this time, the guide said, ¡°That''s Thurii! When choosing the location of the city, the Athenians had found the junction of the river Crati and the river Coscile which was a good ce to build the city. Because the river here is very wide and the flow is gentle, you can build a wharf that can amodate a lot of merchant ships. When they were going to build the city here, they found that there was a huge natural fountain here, and the local people called it Thurii, and so they named the new city, Thurii¡­¡±

    ¡°It''s a very interesting story.¡± Replied Davos as he look up, and seeing lots of boats in the river Crati that made him not even see the other side.

    ¡°It would have been better to just rebuild the old city of Sybaris since it is better to build a port by the sea!¡± Said Asistes who was perplex.

    Davos knew about it from Burkes, and so he didn''t want to discuss it, and so he points his finger forward and said, ¡°Let''s go around the city.¡±

    Because Thurii was built at the junction of the two rivers, and therefore, it was divided into three parts: South, North, and the delta that stick out at the junction of the two rivers.

    Davos and his party walked about a kilo-meter along the moat outside the north city wall of Thurii which is made ofrge strips of rock, and the gap between the rock is closely connected. The wall is at least ten meters high, and twenty meters away from the wall is a moat which is five meters wide and is connected to the river Crati, and its depth shouldn''t be shallow. All of these are enough to give the invaders a headache. On the other hand, 3 ¨C 4 squads of sentinels patrols the city back and forth, which made them feel the war is approaching.

    The young Asistes had even jokingly waved at them.

    Along the north bank of the river Coscile, Davos soon saw floating bridge on the river. He then noticed that the delta between the two rivers was not t, but hilly. Listing to the guide: These uneven, undting hills have be the key to prevent the spring river from surging and turning thend between the two rivers into a swamp.

    After about 10 kilometers, the terrain began to rise gradually, and the ground had also change from pure soil to sandy soil. Fortunately, the riverside is rtively t.

    Davos and his party went a few meters further, and the upper reaches of the river Coscile had turned from west to southwest, while another river rushed down from the west, where it joined with the river Coscile.

    ¡°This is the river Tiro, a tributary of river Coscile. It''s the hated river of the Thurians.¡± Said the guide.

    ¡°Why?¡± Asistes asked curiously.

    ¡°It is because there are hotsprings upstream.¡± The guide gave an irrelevant answer.

    ¡°Hot Spring?!¡± Davos, on the contrary, became interested.

    They sped up their speed, but when they got to the ce, they were all dumbfounded. The river Tiro here has be a small river only several meters wide. On the south bank of the river, there are indeed pools of steaming hot water. However, countless streams flowed out from the rock crevices at the foot of the mountain, turning this area of rock and grass into a swamp.

    ¡°In spring, the snow on the mountain melts and they all be small streams and mixed together with the hot spring, and finally, they all flow into the river Tiro. During rainy season when the river Tiro surged, instead of overflowing the riverbank, it will flow back to the hot spring swamp on the south bank. As well as, the north bank, there-¡± The guide points to the front, ¡°A big hirst.¡±

    Davos looked at the front and saw that the bank that is in front of him seemed to have been bitten off, as it sank down to form a huge half bowl shape, and below it was the river bank that have tall gentle slopes surrounding it.

 Chapter 69: Reconnaissance (II)

    A group of people went down the slope and into the huge hirst. It was much easier to walk here than the one before: thend was soft, the road was t, which also in the same level as the river.

    ¡°You just said that the Thuriians hate this hot spring swarmp. Why?¡± Asistes is still has an invisible attachment on this problems.

    The guide nced at him and said, ¡°Because of the hot spring, the water temperature of this swamp is very warm all the year round, so there are many mosquitoes that severely bites, so the Thurians almost don''t want toe here.¡±

    Asistes looked across the river with wide gaze, and the water mist that greatly covered his sight, which add some mystery to the swamp.

    Without saying a word, Davos stared at the big hirst, the river Tiro and the hot spring swamp on the other side, while thinking about something.

    After about a 250 meters walk, the river hirst came to an end. They had to dismount and walk up the slope, because the mud was so slippery they couldn''t ride at all.

    On the slope, after leaving the river hirst, it''s all uphill. There are fewer and fewer farnd, but more and more trees, which have be more and more dense, until there is no trace of human settlements.

    By this time, they had reached the open area on the hillside, but the guide refused to go forward, ¡°It''s too dangerous to cross the ridge, since the camp of the Lucanians is ahead!¡±

    Davos tried every possible way to persuade the guide, and therefore, the guide agreed to take them to have a look.

    Standing on the top of the hill, facing the sharp mountain wind, and looking forward: there is a higher hills ahead, which should have been full of green scenery. However, arge number of trees have been cut down to clear arge area, and countless tents are scattered in disorder. From a distance, the Lucanians are as small as ants, and are densely packed¡­

    ¡°Wow, there are many people!¡± Asistes, who had seen thousands of Persian troops, could not help but say.

    Davos didn''t speak. He carefully looked around for a while, then pointed somewhere in front of him, and asked, ¡°What is that ce!¡±

    The pale-faced guide looked nkly and asked, ¡°Where!¡±

    ¡°On the right side of the hill, it seems that¡­from time to time a team of Lucanians appears from there¡­!¡± Said Davos who had pulled the guide, and pointed forward once more.

    The guide opened his eyes wide, confirming it carefully, and said, ¡°Oh, that''s the mountain pass. It is a mountain path for people to pass and it leads all the way to the territory of the Lucanians!¡±

    ¡°How long is the mountain path?¡± Davos continued asking.

    ¡°I haven''t traveled through it. But, I heard that it''s more than 20 kilometers. It seems like it isn''t that far, but it''s hard to walk through the mountain path. I''m afraid that it will take me a day or two to walk through it. Oh! By the way, it was in this mountain path that the army of Thurii got ambushed before being defeated¡­¡± Said the guide with lingering fear on his face.

    Davos looked at the continuous mountains behind the hill and was lost in thought.

    ¡°Turii should''ve build a fortress here, so that the Lucanians couldn''t easily invade!¡± Said Ledes.

    ¡°Originally, Thurii had a camp here, but there was no major event for decades. In addition, the conditions here are simple, so there are not many citizens willing to stay here. We didn''t expect that the Lucanians would suddenly attack, and as a result¡­¡± Said the guide dejectedly.

    ¡°If the Thurians were here, then we would have nothing to do.¡± Said Davos lightly: from the fact that there is almost no development in this mountainous area means that the Thurians are not interested in this ce at all. It would be strange if they can remain here, this is themon fault of the Greeks, a country that loves sailing and business. They have no interest in mountains at all.

    Under the continuous urging of the guide, the party embarked on the return journey.

    Seeing the rxed look on Davos'' party, this family ve that was regarded as a confidant by Burkes, had heard from his master that these people were all experienced soldiers, and so he couldn''t help ask, ¡°Davos, do you think we can defeat those Lucanians?¡±

    ¡°I won''t know until we fight!¡± Said Davos lightly.

    This time, they went east along the right edge of the in of Sybaris, which was also a continuous mountain. The sound of the stream apanied them all the way to the east, and finally converged into a river. When Davos, who was travelling along the south bank of the river, saw the soldiers cutting trees on the other bank, he remembered that this was the river mentioned by Felix ¨C and the guide called it the river Sibari.

    Seeing that it was dusk, Davos then dismissed his n to continue exploring the north. He got off his horse and crossed the river, he then help leveled the tree trunk with the soldiers, and carried the wood back to the camp.

    After supper, he listened to the reports of Philesius and the officers of the various units, he then confirmed that all the mercenaries were working well and had then sent them away, Davos settled down and drew the terrain he saw during the daytime reconnaissance on the ground using a branch. He repeatedly modified it until he was satisfied, he then looked at it for a long time and firmly remembered the pattern and scene in his mind. Of course, this is just a sketch. Next, he need to send scouts to further improve it, such as the general area of the in of Sibari, the width and depth of the river Crati, the area of the hirst, and so on.

    Intelligence work is the most important in war, and terrain investigation is the most important in intelligence work! More than half a year''s war has taught Davos a lot. Andbined with his knowledge from his previous life, he has always believed that the famous generals also needed ¡°99 points of sweat plus 1 point of talent¡±. He is not the type of general that can just sit high in themand room and control the troops to win the battle. Therefore, he has been working hard.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next day, under the guidance of the guide, Davos and his party continued exploring the north. Across the river Sibari, there is about 5 kilo-meters distance from the mountain to the bay. Thend between them is even more t, and it is still part of the in of Sibari, but the Thurians did not nt wheat here, but nted olive trees and vineyards.

    Listening to the guide: The wine here is famous all over Magna Graecia. This reminded Davos of the story in his previous life about the luxurious bathing with wine by the ancient Sybarians. Those wine had probably came from here.

    But at this time, the vineyards were overgrown with weeds and was neglected.

    ¡°That''s because from time to time, the Lucanians in Amendra are wandering around. The people are afraid and dare note¡­¡± Exined the guide.

    ¡°Thurii should send troops to protect their citizens!¡± Said Asisted with disdain.

    ¡°After theirst defeat, I''m afraid that the strength of Thurii is insufficient. Keeping Thurii has be their priority.¡± Said Davos.

    ¡°Leader Davos is right!¡± The guide took advantage of the situation to escape from this embarrassment.

    ¡°Isn''t it true that there are not many Lucanians in the city of Amendra? We can provide protection for the Thurians here, and of course you have to pay a little for it.¡± Said Asistes jokingly.

    ¡°Asi, in the future, you will also lead the soldiers independently. You must remember one thing, don''t scatter your forces easily!¡± Davos then added, ¡°Our main task now is to help Thurii defeat the army of the Lucanians, and leave the rest alone for now. As long as we win, Amendra won''t be a problem at all!¡±

    Asistes and Ledes listened carefully and nodded.

    The group continued on until a river blocked their way.

    ¡°This is the river Saraceno, which is the boundary between Thurii and Amendra.¡± Said the guide.

    ¡°So that''s the territory of Amendra.¡± Davos pointed in front.

    ¡°Yes, it is possible to encounter the Lucanians at any time. Therefore, we need to go back.¡± The guide is afraid of encountering difficulties.

    And Davos became obviously interested, ¡°Can this river be traversed?¡±

    Before the guide could answer, Asistes, who had been unable to hold back, had driven his horse to jump into the river, and reached the other side of the ten meter wide river in a sh.

    ¡°The depth of the water will reach until the thigh!¡± Asistes stood in front of the horse.

    ¡°Ledes, Philesius left a hundred soldiers at the logging site for protection. You bring them here, and we will cross the river together.¡± Davos immediately gave his order.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Ledes rode back excitedly.

    At this time, the guide can only wait helplessly.

    Ten minutester, Ledes came back in a hurry with more than a hundred heavily armed soldiers.

    The soldiers, though breathless, were equally excited. Seeing them, Davos was even more daring, ¡°Let''s cross the river!¡±

    The guide didn''t understand why these people were so excited. Didn''t he know that there are terrible Lucanians on the other side of the river? But as a ve, he could not stopped and had to follow them in fear.

 Chapter 70: Reconnaissance (III)

    After crossing the river Saraceno, Davos obviously felt that the terrain was rising. The mountains and the coast were parallel to each other to the north, but the distance between was shortening a lot. The narrow space increased the safety of Davos'' trip, but he didn''t take it lightly. Asistes and Ledes served as the scouts of the team, paying close attention to the situation in the mountains in order to prevent the enemy from detouring and following their way back.

    On the way to the next ce, Davos did not see the coast with soft beach. Instead, it was steep rocky walls and craggy rocks. The sea beat the coast rhythmically, with a quite amazing momentum.

    ¡®It seems that there couldn''t be any port in Amendra¡¯. Thought Davos, a loss rose from the bottom of his heart.

    At this moment, the guide shouted, ¡°Look, that''s Amendra.¡±

    Following the direction of the guide''s finger, a city appeared in the distance.

    The spirit of Davos lifted up, mping the belly of his horse, and rushed forward for a while, and then the soldiers quickly catch up.

    Now he can clearly see that Amendra is actually a mountain city, which is not in line with the Greek''s tradition! It was built on a mountain and the height seems not low, as it face the east and overlook the Gulf of Taranto. The morning mist among the mountains and forest pervaded around it, it looks faint and graceful.

    Davos move forward in order to see clearly.

    The guide cautiously followed, because less than a few hundred meters away is Amendra. Although he could not see any Lucanians, it doesn''t mean that the Lucanians would note out to ¡®wee¡¯ them after someone had arrived at their door!

    At this time, another river blocked their way. The width of the river is less than 10 meters, and the bottom of the river can clearly be seen. There is no problem to walk through it.

    ¡°This is the river Sisno, and there is another river called river Burano not far to the north. Amendra is between these two rivers. That''s all, we can''t cross the river anymore.¡± The guide begged.

    Davos couldn''t help exim: The Apennine Penins is so rich on water resources! No wonder the citizens of Magna Graecia are more nourished than the aborigines, the snow in the Apennine melts and finally formed rivers. The rivers wash the earth and rocks on the mountains to the londs year after year, this is why thends can be fertile! It''s heaven and earth whenpared with barrennd of Greece!

    During war, the mountain cities are generally easy to defend and hard to attack, but they need to solve two problems: Food and water. Since Amendra is surrounded by rivers, water won''t be a problem¡­ Thought Davos as he watched the city of Amendra not far away. It seemed to be a small city, at least 100 meters from the ground, but the slope was gentle, with a stone walls around the city''s periphery¡­

    When the guide saw that Davos did not cross the river, but also did not leave and repeatedly looked at Amendra as he stood by the river. Therefore, the guide started getting anxious and wanted to urge him once more.

    Davos asked, ¡°What is the rtionship between Amendra and Thurii? A city that was built by immigrants of Thurii?¡±

    This guide is not an ordinary ve. As a domestic ve, he apanied Burkes in studying and ying together when they were young. When he grew up, he followed Burkes to travel around and do business. As an important assistant of Burkes, he was also knowledgeable. In fact, the reason why Burkes send him to act as their guide was because of his guilt in breaking his promise, and so the guide told Davos a very extensive historical answer. After he thinking for a bit, he answered, ¡°It was said that the city of Amendra was built by the aborigines here a long time ago, and waster upied by Sybaris. After Crotone destroyed Sybaris, they did not bother taking over it¡­and after the establishment of Thurii, Amendra took the initiative to form an alliance with Thurii. And together with Thurii, it once resisted the attack of Taranto in the north¡­¡±

    Alliance? Looking at the small city of Amendra, and considering the scale of Thurii, it is obvious that the two cities are not of the same size. If they want to have an equal right to speak, it will be very difficult and so Amendra is actually a vassal in a nominal alliance. However, Davos was secretly relieved as long as it Amendra is not a colonial city of Thurii.

    He hase to this era for more than half a year, and he specially learned a lot about the actual situation of the Greek city-state,pletely reversing the concept of the city-states about it being just a city that he had known in his previous life. After the Greeks established the city, they would try to expand outward, establishing viges and towns, and bringing the surroundingnd under its control. When thend is beyond the direct control of the city due to its distance, they would establish a colonial city or capture other cities. One of the reason is to maintain the momentum of expansion, and the other is to provide protection for the surrounding area of the main city.

    At first, this kind of colonial city obeyed the orders of its mother state. After all, the citizens of the colonial city had migrated from the mother state, and even the governor might have been appointed by the mother state. With the passage of time, the Greek''s nature of loving independence and freedom hase into y. In addition, the Greek city-state''s politics is a closed political management, which naturally rejected unity, and why they go independent. However, due to the proximity of geography, as long as the mother state maintains their advantage in strength, and does not bully their neighbors excessively, they will form a natural alliance with the mother state. However, if the colonial city and the mother state are separated by the sea or too far away, just like in the past decades, because of the estrangement of rtionship, it is likely that they will be two different city-states, or even be enemies of each other, such as Corinth and Korkyra(Corfu).

    It is obvious that Amendra was the colonial city of Sybaris, and it was only an affiliated ally to Thurii. Therefore, thend here does not belong to Thurii¡­ Davos pondered, and once more asked, ¡°How did the Lucanians manage to capture this city?¡±

    ¡°I don''t know about that. It seems that few of the citizens of Amendra have escaped¡­at that time, Thurii was in a state of mourning for the defeat of the whole army and the killing of countless citizens. Thurii was also busy defending the attack of the Lucanians and had ignored the citizens of Amendra that came to request help. Later, we did not know where they went?¡­¡± The guide said without care, but Davos kept it in mind.

    At this time, Asistes said, ¡°Boss, someone hade out of the city!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Vespa, the leader of the Lucanians in the city of Amendra, has been fretting for some time, because the city of Grumentum had sent messengers asking him to lead the tribe and participate in the second invasion on Thurii that will be started by the tribal alliance of the Lucanians.

    The tribe of Vespa had originally lived on the bank of the upper reaches of the river Agri in the southeast of the city of Grumentum. There are many tribal settlements there, and the tribe of Vespa is one of therger ones. They have been living by grazing and simple farming, for decades, they did not have anything to do with the surrounding tribes. But the year beforest, after the marriage and alliance between the city of Grumentum and Pyxous, the powerful city of Grumentum became more powerful and they no longer need to consider the bnce of the equally powerful city of Potentia in the northwest. And so they began their expansion by attacking the settlements and viges of the surrounding small tribes. Under the pressure of the army of Grumentum, Vespa who did not want to get swallowed by them, fled to the southeast and hid in the forest at the junction of the western mountains of Amendra and Heraclea. Because of their suffering from hunger and disease, some of them died, which included the two sons of Vespa. Just as Vespa could hardly hold on and wanted to surrender to Grumentum in order to survive, heard a message.

    Since the expansion of Grumentum, the poption and military strength have greatly increased, but at the same time, there came a problem ¨C food. Originally, the mountain area of Lucania was not rich in grain production, and it relied more on grazing, which also depended on the nature of food. The winter of the previous year was much colder than that of previous years, and arge number of livestock were frozen to death, which made food a big problem for Grumentum in maintaining its hegemony in the south of Lucania. Therefore,st winter, Grumentum joined forces with Pyxous and led the army together with Nerulum, who recognized their status as the leader of this alliance.

    Laus¡­waited for the troops of the Tribal city to join in and prepare to attack Thurii.

    Vespa began to think of wanting to fish in troubled waters when the two sides were fighting, so that his tribe could escape from the danger of destruction. Therefore, he mobilize his whole tribe in building rafts, storing food, and preparing to plunder the east.

    Just then, he heard a good news: Thurii had attacked Laus with 10,000 troops and the whole army was wiped out.

    Vespa was overjoyed and thought that the good opportunity had arrived. Therefore, he immediately ordered his whole tribe to take a raft, go down the river and forcefully cross the dangerous river, and finally enter the territory of Amendra.

    Note: Grumentum

    Pyxous

    Nerulum

    Laus

    Potentia(Potenza)

 Chapter 71: Reconnaissance (IV)

    Originally, he only intended to take this opportunity to plunder Amendra and Thurii, but his scouts reported that the people of Amendra were leaving the city with a lot of baggage.

    How could Vespa and his people let go of such a good opportunity, they immediately caught up and started attacking the city of Amendra. For Vespa, this is the blessing of the mountain god, Asinu! Their tribe won an easy victory, they not only seized arge number of materials, but also upied a city and it is a mountain city that the Lucanians like to live in, and also captured arge number of ¡°ves¡±.

    But he soon realized that it was quite difficult for his tribe with only a thousand warriors to upy a city. First of all, he had to assign hundreds of his warriors to look after the thousands of prisoners. Then he had to prevent the Thurians from taking back the city of Amendra. And then, the most troublesome is Grumentum. After all, at the beginning, Vespa did not want to ept the annexation of Grumentum. However, taking advantage of the bloody battle and victory of the Lucanian alliance, it didn''t take much effort to get the results that should have belonged to Grumentum, so how can Akpir, the great leader of Grumentum, spare them! However, making Vespa give up Amendra and running back to the mountains again..how could Vespa and his people, who have had enough of the hardship of wandering ces to ces without a home, give up thefort that they have obtained.

    Just as he was hesitating. A few dayster, a good news came that the Lucanian tribal alliance that was preparing to besiege the city of Thurii, was forced to withdraw due to the outbreak of a gue.

    Vespa was overjoyed and had even praised the mountain god, Asinu.

    In the following months, because of the great decline in their strength, Thurii did not send troops to retake the city of Amendra which gave Vespa and his people a rare period of stability.

    In the spring of this year, a messenger from Grumentum crossed the mountains and came to the city of Amendra, bringing the order of Akpir, in which he is strongly asking him to join the Lucanian alliance and to prepare the second invasion on Thurii.

    Vespa promised, but he sneered in his heart, because the messenger didn''t mention the ownership of the city of Amendra after the war.

    He now understand that if he wants to keep the city of Amendra, he can only hope that the Luanian alliance and Thurii will both lose in order for his tribe to get a chance to survive. He can then use the time to slowly integrate the power of Amendra and restore the vitality of his tribe. Therefore, he wasn''t worried when he find out that the mercenaries were constantlying to Thurii, instead, he was happy.

    He restrained his people from going out of the city as much as possible, it is not to stimte Thurii, but to let the Greeks prepare for the war.

    Today, the spy reported that there is a Greek army with more than 100 people have invaded the territory of Amendra.

    He was quite suprised. This is the first time that a Greek army has appeareed in Amendra since the warst year. Did they came to attack the city? Why only a hundred people? Are they the vanguard? Despite the threat of the Lucanian alliance, Thurii wants to deal with them first? From his careful observation in the past few months, this isn''t like what the Thurians do!

    With a lot of doubts, Vespa stepped on the wall and look down from the mountain. More than 100 Greek soldiers stood alone on the river Sisno for quite some time without moving, and there was also no movement from their back.

    ¡®¡¯They came here to investigate the situation!¡¯ Vespa is sure about it.

    Therefore, he decided to show their strength in order to dispel the illusions of the Greeks. He asked his son, Bagul, to lead a thousand warriors out of the city, and only leaving a hundred warriors to guard the captives.

    Bagul led the Lucanian warriors and rushed out from the gate.

    ¡°Leader, look at their weapons!¡± Shouted Asistes.

    Armor, shields, spear, they are all dressed as Greek hoplites. No wonder Asistes was shocked, as he had thought that Amendra had been taken back by the Greek army!

    Davos look at them carefully and said while smiling, ¡°They should be Lucanians, who have looted the weapons and armor of the citizens of Amendra and equipped it themselves. Unfortunately, they are just like that, and they are far from being a real hoplite.¡±

    The Greek hoplite formation is tightly packed, and before a battle, they will basically slowly move forward and maintaining a straight line. They watch those Lucanian warriors on the opposite side, their formations are not only loose, but also varied.

    The guide was extremely nervous when he saw that the Lucanian warrors had left the city. He then notice that Davos was still in the mood to joke around, which made him to swear at him.

    At this time, Davos said, ¡°Retreat, let''s go back!¡±

    If the guide could be pardoned, he would take the horse and galloped.

    The soldiers turned around in unison and began to jog.

    Davos remained until the soldiers had left him behind, and then he started to walk slowly together with Asistes and Ledes, which made the guide awkward.

    The Greeks were slow to retreat, while the Lucanians were slow to pursue. Therefore, the two sides kept a certain distance.

    It wasn''t until Davos and his entourage crossed the river Sqieno that the Lucanian stopped on the north bank.

    ¡°A thousand men¡­a thousand men¡­¡± Davos asked while deep in his thought, ¡°Asi, do you think the Lucanians in Amendra wants to fight us or not?¡±

    ¡°Of course, they don''t want to. You can just look at their posture.¡± Said Asistes without thinking.

    ¡°I heard from Burkes that there aren''t many Lucanians in Amendra. How many are there?¡± Asked Davos to the guide.

    ¡°There is indeed a talk in Thurii, but it seems that no one knows exactly how many Lucanians are in Amendra.¡± The guide was confused.

    With a mysterious smile, Davos change the topic, ¡°What is the north of Amendra?¡±

    The guide became more calm once they returned to thend of Thurii, ¡°10 kilometers to the north is the river Sinni, then further north is river Agri, and on the other side is the city of Heraclea, where the in of Siris is located and it is a fertilend. Decades ago, there were wars between Thurii and Taranto due to thatnd.¡± (T/N: This is Heraclea Lucania, ancient name of the river is Aciris and Siris which is now Agri and Sinni.)

    ¡°Who won?¡± Asked Asistes curiously.

    ¡°We Thurians won twice, but Taranto is a powerful city-state in Magna Graecia, they had kept on sending troops and made the warst a long time. Atst, the two sides signed an agreement to jointly build Heraclea.¡± The guide said with a bit of pride.

    ¡°Oh, I didn''t think Thurii was strong before.¡± Said Asistes.

    ¡°That is because Thurii had the strategos, Cleandridas. He was a Spartan!¡± Said the guide reverently, and then he thought of something. He was not reconciled and curled his lips, ¡°Last time, even if thhe Lucanians defeated Thurii, it was because they had ambushed Thurii with trickery. If they fought head-on, they would not be the opponent of Thurii at all.¡±

    Asistes also wanted to argue, but he was stopped by Davos, ¡°While it''s still early, let''s hurry to the south of Thurii and take a look.¡±

    The guide didn''t understand what the young mercenary leader was doing all day long. The west and north, it was understandable since there are Lucanians, but there are no enemies to the south. However, it also reassured him because these mercenaries were too brave and made him tremble with fear of having an idents.

    Davos and his party crossed the floating brige not far west of the city of Thurii, and reached the delta between the two rives. Here, they saw carts going back and forth on a road leading to the west¡­

    The guide told them that this is to transport copper ore and stones to the city of Thurii. Recently, due to the war, the city is in urgent need of stones and bronze ware.

    ¡°Are there copper mine and a stone mine to the west of Thurii?¡± Davos blinked as he watched the uneven dirt road through the hills.

    ¡°Yeah. Due to the Lucanians not being able to cross the river Coscile.¡± The very talkative guide didn''t want to say much at the moment, and he hurriedly ended the conversation and took them to the pontoon on the river Crati.

    The river Crati is at least 50 meters long, and because it is currently spring, the water current is fast and the floating bridge swings back and forth. Davos was afraid of having their horses fall into the water and so they had to lead the horses on foot.

    After crossing the river Crati, thend was still a part of the in of Sybaris. This is a green and t passage between the mountains and the coast, which is obviously much wider than the coastal passage of Amendra. Here, you can see a lot of Thurians working in the farnd, which is obviously the only safe area in Thurii.

    About 5 kilometers south, the passageway abruptly narrowed, this is because there is arge area of beach near the sea.

    The guide stopped the horse here and said, ¡°Ahead is the territory of Castellon. Do you still want to see it?¡±

    Note: Castellon (¿¨Ë¹ÌØÂ¡)

    Heraclea: It was originally a city-state called, Siris, that was founded by a Greek colonists before Heraclea. Siris may have been destroyed in 550 BC by the joint force of Sybaris and Metapontum.

 Chapter 72: Goals!

    ¡°Ca¡­Castellon is a big city?¡± Asistes asked curiously.

    The guide shook his head and said, ¡°It''s a small city, it was built by the Sybarites and it is now independent.¡±

    When he heard this, Davos looked to the south and sighed with heartfelt regret. He thought that at that time, the sphere of influence of Sybaris had reached Amendra in the north and Castellon in the south¡­such a powerful city-state was destroyed by the smaller Crotone! The sentence ¡°Life sprung from sorrow and cmity, and perish due to ease and pleasure¡± is correct.

    A good whileter, Davos said, ¡°Let''s go back.¡±

    After the guide left, Davos said to Asistes and Ledes: ¡°Have you ever seen a hound meeting a bear?¡±

    The two shook their heads. It is important to know that there are no bears in Greece, only when they arrived in the Carduchian mountains did they find out that there are such strongnd animals in the world.

    ¡°The fur on the hound''s entire body will stand up, showing its sharp teeth and barking at the bear desperately as it makes a posture like it is about to attack. In fact, it knows that it can''t beat the bear and it just wants to show its strength so that the bear knows that they aren''t easy to mess with¡­¡± Davos saw it in an online video in his previous life.

    After all, Asistes was young, so he immediately responded with what he just saw today, ¡°Leader, do you mean¡­the Lucanians in Amendra?¡±

    ¡°The Lucanians in Amendra wants to scare us away, but they have exposed their thoughts and strength. I think they only have more than 1,000 warriors in the city!¡± Said Davos confidently.

    At this time, Ledes also understood and said excitedly, ¡°Leader¡­you are gonna lead us to take Amendra?!!¡±

    After all, they had attended the secret military meeting before they came to Magna Graecia, and they knew what the real purpose of the mercenaries is.

    ¡°Brothers, before the n is implemented, we should keep it in to ourselves and not say a word out! Otherwise, the soldiers might end up spreading it out carelessly, Thurii will stop us, the Lucanians will strengthen their defense, and the other forces will disrupt our ns, because they will not want any strange foreign group taking root here! Do you understand!!¡± Davos seriously warned them.

    ¡°Understood!!¡± They nodded and answered.

    ¡°I decided to cover my mouth when I go to sleep.¡± Asistes jokingly said.

    Looking at the excited face of the two, Davos said, ¡°Now I have a task for you two. Ledes!¡±

    ¡°Here!¡±

    ¡°You will lead your men to monitor the camp of Lucania in the west and the city of Amendra in the north and report it to me everyday. At the same time, you should try your best in finding out the defense situation of Amendra, the more detailed it is, the better. But don''t let the Lucanians in the city find out about it. Can you do it?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Ledes made a powerful salute.

    ¡°Asistes!¡±

    ¡°Here!¡±

    ¡°You secretly searched for the citizens who had escaped from Amendra, and then try your best to bring them to our camp, and don''t let the Thurians know about it.¡±

    ¡°Understand!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Burkes listened to the guide carefully as he retell him about him leading Davos for the past 2 days, and he was surprised by the seriousness of Davos'' investigation on the surrounding environment of Thurii. In his impression, even the Spartan Cleandridas who was once hailed as a famous strategos by Thurii, didn''t personally investigate nor face the enemy alone like Davos.

    BurkesHe couldn''t help but ask, ¡°Moras, what do you think of Davos?¡±

    Moras thought for a bit and said, ¡°Master, Leader Davos is very kind to people!¡±

    Moras, as an Egyptian ve, although he was regarded by Burkes as his confidant, but his contempt to him was obvious in the eyes of the other Thurii citizens. However, he did not feel that in Davos. On the contrary, Davos had always talked with him in an equal manner and had never ordered him around.

    Burkes nodded, and he thought that Davos was a very cultured man even though he is a mercenary.

    ¡°And what else?¡± He asked again.

    ¡°Uhm¡­ he has been thinking about ablot of things¡­asking questions, which I couldn''t understand, and it feels like he is a bit mysterious.¡± Continued Moras.

    Strangely, Burkes had felt this before, as he contemte it a bit more. After all, Davos wasn''t even 20 years old, is this due to the temperament of being a ¡°God''s Favored¡±? He was dumbfounded and didn''t believe the gossips that the mercenaries had been spreading.

    ¡°And he is brave and he doesn''t seem to be afraid of the Lucanians at all!¡± Said Moras.

    ¡°He had experience huge war in person! Besides, charging at the front during battle and guarding the rear during retreat are the bearing of a great strategos. Just like what Cleandridas did. However, Davos is only 19 years old! ¡± Eximed Burkes, as he remember Archytas who went to visit Friis in the morning, the young aristocrat from Taranto is also very young. When he first saw him, Archytas was on the ground trying to figure out a mathematical problem. The rumors of him being the most gifted member of the Pythagorean school is probably true. The young aristocrat from the other side of the gulf is not pretentious, but is gentle and polite, and he is also sincere in his willingness to fully help Thurii to defeat the Lucanians.

    The promise of Archytas is very precious! It must be known that beforeing to Thurii, Archytas had led his army on several separate expeditions to repel the fierce Messapians that havee invading Taranto. Although he is not very good with words, but it can be seen that the soldiers of Taranto treat this youngmander with sincere respect, which is very simr to the attitude of the mercenaries towards Davos. These are two young people with extraordinary talent! Why didn''t Thurii have them? Thinking of the son of Cleandridas, Asikulodox, Burkes felt lost, and at the same time, he suddenly thought about whether he could talk with Friis to make Davos a citizen of Thurii.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    A few dayster, the mercenary camp was built and the soldiers were finally able to have a good rest.

    Adrien and Sesta had taken this opportunity to visit Davos.

    Davos received them warmly, the little conflict that had happened before had long been forgotten as both sides had a good time with their talks. As Davos said, the two mercenaries are on the same boat, and only by working together can theyplete the mission and live to get their pay.

    In fact, long before the leaders of both sides met, the soldiers of both sides had already begun getting close. On the one hand, Adrien''s mercenaries were curious about the Greek expedition troops, on the other hand, both sides are mostly from the Ionian region which can be regarded as their hometown, specially in this unfamiliar ce. Therefore, at the end of the day, it was Adrien and their soldiers, as well as Davos'' soldiers who had built the camp together as they listened to the story of the expedition. The leaders of both sides did not prevent them, instead, they are d about it.

    Davos had also reached an agreement with Adrien to build a passageway that connects both camps, so that if one side suffers difficulty, the other side will provide assitance.

    In fact, both sides knew that the recruits under Adrien will have higher chance suffering difficulties than the experienced troops of Davos. However, Davos did not hesitate in agreeing. He then sent the two leaders out of the camp, then Adrien and Sesta thanked him again and bid their goodbyes.

    A soldier, who was not far away, pointed to Davos and said proudly, ¡°Look, that''s our leader, Davos the God''s favored!¡±

    ¡°He''s Davos? He''s so young?¡± Another soldier from Adrien''s camp couldn''t believe it.

    ¡°What''s wrong with him being young! Several Persian generals died in his hands. He is like a lion when he charge, which made even the Spartans afraid! Can''t you even tell that your leader is so respectful to Davos!¡± Said the soldier proudly.

    At this time, another soldier cut in, ¡°And leader Davos is very kind to us soldiers! Even if you are seriously injured, he will not abandon you! I got shot by a Persian arrow, and my body was burning hot like fire and I thought that I was going to die. However, it was leader Davos who saved me from hell¡­¡± He lifted his clothes to expose his wound and treated it as a medal instead of a scar.

    Hearing this, the soldier looked envious, ¡°If only leader Davos couldmand us!!¡±

 Chapter 73: Request of Mersis

    In the evening, Cheiristoya came to the tent of Davos and heard about what happened in the daytime. With her understanding of Davos, she said, ¡°Do you want to annex those mercenaries?¡±

    ¡°I really want to help them.¡± Said Davos seriously.

    ¡°Really?¡± Cheiristoya smiled, her plump chest pressed against Davos strong chest, she raised her head and her sexy red lips were charming.

    ¡°Really.¡± Davos lowered his head and held her soft and moist lips, and sucked on it hard.

    This kiss ignited their desires. Davos reached out his hands to hold Cheiristoya¡­

    At this time, the voice of Martius was heard from outside, ¡°Leader, Mersis and Mariji want to see you.¡±

    Davos murmured and wanted to say, ¡°No!¡±

    Cheiristoya giggled and pinched him, and said, ¡°Having Mersis and Mariji who contradict each othere to see you then it must definitely be important!¡±

    Davos knew that she was right. Therefore, he reluctantly put down Cheiristoya and kissed her twice on the lips.

    Cheiristoya pushed him away.

    Mersis and Mariji entered the tent and saw Cheiristoya in it. They didn''t care at all, as the intimate rtionship between Davos and Cheiristoya had been an open secret in the whole camp. They then immediately exined their intention to Davos.

    It turned out that even during the time the soldiers began building the camp, Mersis and his men were not idle. No, It could be said that the Thurians were not idle, although the mercenaries are forbidden to enter the city of Thurii, the Greeks were famous for being good at business. As soon as they heard that there were mercenariesing, the merchants and peddlers came running to the old city of Sybaris to see if there was any business opportunity. In addition to the food provided by Thurii, the mercenaries also needed other daily necessities, and so the two sides came to an agreement.

    At the beginning of the trade, it was only one-sided. The Thurians were the sellers and the mercenaries were the buyers. However, Mersis soon found out that these Thurian merchants were interested in something in the camp. When the mercenaries were on their way back to Greece, they had not only captured women and ves, but also robbed arge number of gold and silver wares, and some work of arts, such as wood carvings, exquisite gold statues, ivory carvings that are full of exotic tradition, and even some strange peculiar fragrance, they could use those as decorations, as souvenirs and as boasting evidence. Although throughout their way, many of the things that they had robbed such as numerous gold and silver wares and some work of arts had been lost during their continuous battles, but there are still some that have remained.

    For the merchants of Thurii, who are thousands of miles away from Persia, these objects from the hintend of Persia and some unheard races are very exotic, which made them felt that these are very novel, and they immediately realized the value of these things and expressed their intention to buy them from Mersis.

    Mersis is not a fool. Of course, he couldn''t sell those at a low price. Besides, some of the items doesn''t belong to him, but had been stored by the soldiers in the supply camp for safekeeping. He thought about it and decided to first go see Mariji, because for these stuffs, only Mariji, who is also a Persian, can exin their origin, as well as the cultural meaning and values they represent.

    Mariji gave him a suggestion: Why not make a market that is managed by the mercenaries and deal with Magna Graecia and perhaps collect taxes.

    Taxing on and in another countries?! Mersis thought the idea was too crazy, but he couldn''t resist the temptation of money, and so he went to look for Davos together with Mariji.

    Building a market? Davos thinks that this is a good idea, not only can it meet the needs of the mercenaries, but it can also be a ce to expand the influence of the mercenaries. It also helps them to understand the market situation in Magna Graecia, training the merchant teams in the mercenary, collecting intelligence and to search for talents¡­and so on. But from the perspective of the leader of the mercenaries, Davos, who had a huge n on Magna Graecia certainly needs to think moreprehensively and thoroughly than Mersis.

    The more he thought about it, the more he feels that this is a wonderful idea, and so he immediately nodded and said, ¡°A market can be build. Tomorrow, I will have the soldiers build a market between the east side of the camp and the coast. Mariji is responsible for the construction of the market, but we don''t have much time, so do not make it tooplex. When it''s finished, you will be responsible for its management and operation¡­¡± Mariji was excited after hearing what Davos had said.

    Davos then reminded him, ¡°My requirement is that the market can be simple, but it needs to be orderly, fair and tidy in order to expand the reputation of the market as much as possible and attract more merchants from the other city-states to trade here. As for the tax collection, you do not need to think about it, I don''t want to make the Thurians be unhappy, but you can think of other ways, such as letting our ves help carry goods and providing cheap wastewater¡­and so on. And if the market is booming, then you can charge shop fees.¡±

    Mariji nodded and said, ¡°Leader, I didn''t expect your wisdom in business to be amazing!¡±

    Davos smiled as these ideas had long rotting in the industrial age. But since the time he promised Mariji, this guy has entered into his state very fast. Does this guy really want to be in charge of the ministry ofmerce?

    Davos then faced the somewhat depressed Mersis, ¡°Mersis, you will be incharge in our dealings with Magna Graecia.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Okay!¡± Mersis rejoiced.

    ¡°Don''t touch the valuables of the soldiers that they have left in the supply camp, unless they are willing to sell them, but you need to sign an agreement with them, in addition to a small fee for selling it¡­well, you can negotiate with the owner, but it''s better that it won''t exceed 1/50th of how much the item got sold. The rest should be returned to the owner, do not conceal it nor embezzle it! Mariji, you are in charge of supervising it!¡± Davos seriously instructed Mersis.

    ¡°Davos, you are too partial! 1/50th is too little, at least make it 1/20th! It''s not so easy for us to sell things, while also standing in the sun for half a day and the energy we would spend to convince people¡­¡± Mersis muttered his grievance.

    ¡°1/20th is too much, at least no more than 1/35th, that''s all¡± Davos wasn''t in the mood to debate with him, ¡°Instead of thinking of ways to get our soldier''s money, you should think of ways to increase your trading projects and increase your financial resources!¡±

    Hearing this, Mersis started pondering and soon a smile appeared on his chubby face, ¡°There are some races from Persia and Armenia in the supply camp, and many of them had also learned the massage skills of the medical camp, which will absolutely be a novel experience for the men in Greece. We can then set high prices¡­¡± The exuberant voice of Mersis was then interrupted by Cheiristoya''s cough.

    Talking about this kind of business in front of a woman, this guy¡­Davos doesn''t know whether tough or cry, then said, ¡°I can give you idea. The physicians in our medical camp are very skilled, and besides, there are no major injuries in our camp now. Therefore, it''s better for them to open a clinic in the market that is to build, and collect consultation fees when they go see the doctor. You can discuss about the details with Cheiristoya.¡± Originally, there were eight physicians in the medical camp, but two of them left when they departed Byzantium. While six of the physicians led by Herpus continued to stay in the medical camp under the strong attraction of the so-called mysterious medical knowledge that Hades had imparted, and was taught by Davos from time to time. (In fact, those are just the basic knowledge of modern medicine)

    When he heard Cheiristoya''s name, Mersis, who had his eye''s shine, looked bitter.

    Cheiristoya didn''t embarrassed Mersis, this fat man seemed to bully her, but Cheiristoya understood his importance to Davos. Therefore, she seriously discussed about setting up a clinic with him, and how to distribute the consultation fee and so on. But she asked Mersis to not force the women in the supply camp.

    Mersis cried out injustice and said, ¡°Most of the women in the supply camp were captured by the soldiers during our way back to Greece, and few of them were ves in the supply camp that needs to take care of the animals and manage the goods, and only a few dozens that are really used to this will be ***¡­ to earn money with this method.¡±

    ¡°I''m afraid that there will more than that.¡± Mariji butted in.

    Note: In the time of ancient Greece and Rome, there was no percentage, butmerce was already developed, and so the merchants and even the ordinary citizens were very good in using fractions toplete contracts and transactions. However, in order to make reading conveniently, percentage will be use as much as possible from the onward.

 Chapter 74: Mercenary Market Information (I)

    ¡°Persian, you shut up! I did not treat your wife and children badly when they were in the supply camp!¡± Said Mersis angrily.

    ¡°Mersis, you are really gonna have these dozens of ves to receive¡­receive guest¡­?¡± Cheiristoya asked seriously while she blushed.

    Mersis knew that he could not conceal it, and so he had to say, ¡°There are still some women who have been captured by soldiers, but those soldiers had died in battle. As they have lost the one supporting them and are unwilling to do heavy work, and as they were influenced by these people and so they think that it is easier to earn money by doing this stuff. After all, we give priority to the soldiers for our food, and they also want to live¡­¡±

    ¡°Then why haven''t you let them go?¡± Asked Cheiristoya.

    ¡°Let them go? Where would they go? Their hometown is hundreds or thousands of miles away! They can''t go back, and instead of being captured and enved by the city-states and tribes along the way, they felt that it is better to just stay in our camp since they at least have a better life¡­¡± Said Mersis while pretending to bepassionate.

    ¡°These are all the faults of the soldiers!¡± Eximed Davos as he ce his hand around the dejected Cheiristoya, and said, ¡°Mersis, you don''t have to force them¡­What I am thinking is, we will provide them with food for free, and once we find a ce to settle down in Magna Graecia, we will have them marry the soldiers¡­in the future, our soldiers will no longer plunder, because we will no longer be mercenaries!¡±

    ¡°Leader, you are so kind!¡± Mersis hurriedly said apliment and hurriedly went away, as he doesn''t want to face Cheiristoya''s reproachful look.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As time goes on. the news from the west became more and more worrying, the camp of the Lucanians in the mountain pass on the west is expanding as the day goes by. While the Thurians who are working on the northern bank of the river Crati became increasingly fewer¡­until a dozen dayster, the scouts of the Lucanians appeared on the outskirts of Thurii and it had caused panic among the people in the city. The strategoi in the town hall knew that the attack of the Lucanians wasing, and so they had to get ready.

    Therefore, Burkes, with a mission in mind, took a boat to the simple warf at the mouth of river Krati andnded. (The Greeks has a bad habit that as long as the ce can be reached by a boat, they will never walk.)

    On the shore, Burkes found that this ce was obviously more popr than the other parts of the Sybaris in. People walk in crowds on the wide and rammed dirt road that leads to a fortified enclosure.

    ¡°What is that?¡± Asked Burkes to Moras.

    ¡°That is the market that was built by the mercenaries that I had reported to youst time.¡±

    He didn''t care about it when Moras told him, but at this moment, he became interested. Anyway, it won''t take him much time to go to the mercenary camp even if he enters the market to check it.

    Before he entered the gate of the market, the voices of people filled his ears. In front of the gate stood two women in gorgeous clothing, and both of them are beautiful with a graceful appearance. From their appearance, he knew that they are not Greeks, but the greek they spoke is sweet and pleasing, ¡°Dear guests, wee! Is this your first visit?¡±

    Moras couldn''t help but nod.

    ¡°If you are here to sell things, then there is a wooden room behind the gate, which is the market management office. You can find the person in charge to select a stall for you, but they will charge you a small fee.¡±

    ¡°How much it would cost?¡± Asked Burkes in a hurry.

    ¡°1 obol a day.¡± (T/N: Obol is a currency in ancient greece andcording to Plutarch they were originally spits of copper or bronze traded by weight, while six obols make a drachma or a handful, since that was as many as the hand could grasp.)

    ¡®The price is very cheap, BUT these mercenaries actually dare use thend of Thurii to profit!¡¯ Burkes is a little angry.

    ¡°However, the stalls are currently full, so you can onlye back tomorrow.¡±

    This broken ce is so popr! Burkes was taken aback, and tentatively said, ¡°If I have a little extra money, can you give me a stall?¡±

    ¡°Dear guests, we don''t charge this fee to earn money, but in order to maintain the order of this market. The assistance we will provide you even exceeds the value of an obol, and we just hope that the stall owners can fully disy the value of the stall and earn far more than an obol every day!¡±

    If a modern man heard this, he would feel that this sentence is very familiar. However, Burkes and Moras becamepletely shock.

    The woman continued, ¡°If you are here to shop, then there is a wooden sign hanging on the door of the market management office, which tells about the little requirement of our market for every customer. I hope you canply with them, and if you encounter fraud or dispute during transaction, then you can go to the market management office to ask for help and they will dly help you in solving it¡­¡±

    Burkes and Moras had also traveled far and wide. But at this moment, they were astounded by the words of the women. In the Greek city-states that they had been to, they had never heard of such market that had such considerations for merchants and customers. With strong curiosity, they came to the market management office.

    This is a simple wooden house with arge window that face the direction of the market. Several people are sitting by the window and politely answer the customers who came to ask questions.

    ¡°Hi! Is there any problem that we need to solve?¡± A dark-skinned, thin Egyptian politely asked Moras, who was looking through the window.

    Moras was just about to make a perfunctory remark when someone inside shouted, ¡°Lord Burkes, wee!¡± A middle-aged man with brown hair and a long beard opened the door and warmly greeted him.

    ¡°You are?¡± Burkes felt that he was familiar.

    ¡°The chief official of the ministry ofmerce of Davos, my name is Mariji.¡± Mariji wasn''t modest enough in telling him about his official post that Davos had promised him.

    Burkes didn''t pay attention to what he had just said, but first corrected what Mariji said, ¡°No! Please don''t call me lord! I''m just an ordinary citizen of Thurii.¡± Then he asked with curiosity, ¡°Are you a Persian?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Instead of avoiding this taboo, Mariji is a bit pleased of himself.

    ¡°What kind of races do you have here?¡± Eximed Burkes, then pointed to the ¡°window¡± and asked with puzzlement, ¡°What are these scales here for?¡±

    ¡°If a customer feels that the amount they bought is not enough, such as olive oil and fishes¡­and so on, they can take it here to weigh them, and once he learns that it iscking, the management will find the seller and punish him. If it is a serious case, his stall will be cancelled and he will not be allowed to enter the market anymore.¡±

    ¡°Hm, this is indeed a good idea and it''s very thoughtful. Has such thing happened already?¡± Burkes said lightly, since he felt that the mercenaries doesn''t have the right to punish anyone on thend of Thurii, but he thought that it would be better to talk to their leaders about such matters.

    ¡°Only once, but after getting punished, no simr thing ever happened.¡± Mariji looked at him and cautiously said.

    ¡°You wrote on this board that there is ¡®no spitting, littering, and the sellers must keep the booth clean.¡¯ Why the need to emphasize this?! There is no such requirements in the markets of all city-states that I have been to, including Agora of Athens!¡± This is what interest Burkes most.

    ¡°This is the suggestion of leader Davos. He said that ¡®the market is a ce where people flow densely, and where garbage and sewage run rampart. When there is more garbage, it would not only stink and make people ufortable, but it will also attract arge number of flies and mosquitoes, which will affect the mood of everyone that are buying and selling stuffs. The most important thing is that those will lead to the urrence of epidemics!¡¯¡± Said Mariji discreetly.

    ¡°So serious?!¡± Burkes was a bit surprised.

    ¡°The leader is the favored of Hades, and his words cannot be ignored! We not only remind our customers, but also we have ten ves to clean the whole market. I can say that although our market is simple, it is cleaner than any other market! We have spent so much sweat and effort, and so we charge a small fee.¡± Here, Mariji exined a bit for him without any change to his expression.

    Burkes inhaled the still fresh air and looked at the t ground, while lost in his thought.

 Chapter 75: Mercenary Market Information (II)

    ¡°I really admire leader Davos, he is not only good inmanding, but also has good business ideas! He put forward a lot of valuable suggestions, such as, at the entrance of the market, I was originally going to put two fully armed soldiers to guard it, but the leader said, ¡®that won''t do, we would scare the customers who havee to buy and sell things. Therefore, we also need to consider the feelings of the customers.¡¯ Therefore it became what you see now and it seems that the customers are responding well to it by now¡­hahaha¡­by the way, it is also his suggestion to include these scales. There are many such suggestions, but the main reason why this market can be so lively within 20 days is mainly due to his contribution! I think that even if he is not a mercenary, he can certainly still be a sessful merchant with his talent!¡± Mariji''s words came from the bottom of his heart.

    ¡°Yeah, he is really surprising.¡± Answered Burkes, while thinking about something.

    He turned and went to the market, and Mariji hurriedly followed him as his guide.

    As the crowd of people moves foward, the first stall is of course owned by the mercenaries, and so the area is very huge, and there are many strange objects and exquisite gold and silver wares ced in different categories¡­there are many people who had stop, look and ask about the price.

    ¡°Mersis!¡± Mariji shouted.

    The fatty who wasmanding the ves to move things behind the stall, had turned around and proudly said, ¡°Mariji, are you here to congratte me?! I have sold a lot today!¡±

    Before waiting for Mariji to answer, he had then notice Burkes, and a smile immediately appeared on his face, ¡°Burkes, you havee to buy things as well. You are just in time, since I have good stuff here. Guess what it is?¡± As he said that, he held up the things in his hand, which were glittering and shining, it was a thin silver rope, and filled with small pieces of gold as thin as cicada wing in the middle, forming an inverted triangle and another silver rope at the top¡­

    When Mariji''s eyes narrowed, he then heard Mersis shouting, ¡°Mariji, don''t talk!¡±

    ¡°What is this?¡± Asked Moras curiously.

    Mersis saw that all the people had gathered around curiously and he put on a dirty smile and said mysteriously, ¡°This is the gift of Cyrus the Younger to his most beautiful concubine. This wonderful thing was specially request by Cyrus the Younger to the best goldsmith in Persia, which can provide joy in that respect! Guess where would Cyrus the Younger''s concubine wear it?¡±

    ¡°Is it¡­down there¡­¡± Someone shouted with uncertainly.

    ¡°That''s right. You seemed to have a lot of experienced!¡± Mersis finished talking, and there was ambiguousughter around him.

    ¡°It was said that Cyrus the Younger''s concubine wore it every night, and together with Cyrus the Younger¡­well¡­when Cyrus the Younger died in the war, his concubine was captured by the king of Persia, and this thing was left in the camp and was picked up by our soldiers.¡± Mersis held it up and shed it in front of the crowd, ¡°You can smell it, it may also have the body fragrance of the concubine of Cyrus the Younger! I wanted to keep it, but I don''t have a wife. If you think about it, you can buy it and take it home, then enjoy the life of the Persian royal family with your wife or lover!¡±

    After hearing this, Burkes also got moved.

    A man besides him, has shouted, ¡°How much is it? I''ll buy it!¡±

    To his surprised, Burkes recognize that this man is a merchant of the city-state of Scylletium.

    ¡°It''s not expensive at all. Look at how exquisite this stuff is! Moreover, these are made out of pure gold!¡± Mersis shook the gold in his hand and it made a ¡°swoosh swoosh¡± sound, ¡°The lowest price is¡­hmm¡­50 Daric gold coins.¡±

    ¡°I have 55 gold coins. So I will take this!¡± Shouted the Scylletium merchant.

    ¡°I have 60!¡± Shouted another one.

    ¡°Hey, I bought it first!¡±

    ¡°But I offered more!¡±

    ¡°65 Daric gold coins!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Mariji didn''t expect Mersis to make such a huge profit by turning the rare ornaments of Persian nobles into an object of royalty. But he didn''t want to remind Mersis that once Cheiristoya heard about it, I am afraid that her opinion of him would turn badly.

    He hurriedly followed once he noticed that Burkes was squeezing out of the crowd.

    ¡°It seems the merchants of the other city-states areing here to do business.¡± Said Burkes.

    ¡°There are quite a few. Taranto, Scylletium, Caulonia, Crotone, and other city-states.¡±

    Burkes was startled when he heard Crotone.

    At this time, Moras pointed to a dozen strong men in front of him and said, ¡°Are all of them soldiers of your camp.¡±

    Mariji looked at them and replied, ¡°They might be the soldiers of the mercenary camp next to us.¡±

    ¡°It looks like there are a lot of soldiers shopping in this market, and it seems that your soldiers are very rich.¡± Said Burkes jokingly.

    Mariji smiled and casually said, ¡°After all, mercenaries doesn''t even know if there would be tomorrow. So if you have money, you must enjoy it.¡±

    When Burkes heard this, his expression became gloomy and sighed, ¡°Indeed, it''s not easy for anyone to live in this turbulent world.¡±

    Mariji didn''t speak. In fact, the soldiers in Davos'' camp doesn''t have such thoughts at all. Davos inherited and carried out the practice of Menon, he strengthened the role of the supply camp, and during wartime, the soldiers will leave most of their belongings in the supply camp for safekeeping, and had even made it clear who would inherit their belongings in case of misfortune by writing in the supply camp registration form . So that after their death, they can hand over his remains to his sessor¡­and so on. Moreover, when the soldiers is in urgent need of money and they don''t have enough, as long as their request is reasonable they can borrow money from Davos, the leader of the mercenary. Mersis will then deduct the money they borrowed from their monthly sry and there is no interest¡­these practices in the supply camp has not only enabled the soldiers to reduce their worries and fight with all their strength, but also reduce their bad habits in the camp, such as gambling, usury and wasteful spending.

    Mariji is sure that most of the soldiers who are squandering money in the market are not from Davos'' camp. What''s more, there is a quota limit for the number of soldiers who are allowed to leave the camp every day, and there is only enough space for 2 small team, and they must return to the camp in time, or they will be punished ording to the militaryw.

    Mariji had witnessed the efforts of Davos to change the army. How many times had he faced criticism, and had almost caused the army to disband, but he didn''t give in and ovee it. Now, these soldiers are able to follow the rules of the military, and most of the time, they are either in the training ground, building camp facilities, or going to the supply camp to see how much their money has increased. From the ze in their eyes, you can feel that they are no longer an ordinary mercenary.

    Mariji had also seen the Spartan army led by Cheirisophus, a group of disciplined killing machines, but in addition to fighting, theycked the passion for life. He had also seen the Persian army, despite theirrge army, their discipline isx andck conviction, specially those who enlisted in the army. While the army of Davos not only has the bravery and discipline of the Spartans, but also has the faith to fight for a better life. Besides, they have a magicalmander. What if Davos didn''t only have 2,000 men, but 20,000 or even 30,000? This beautiful idea is one of the reasons why Mariji stayed¡­

    ¡°It seems that you have everything in this market!¡± The voice of Burkes had interrupted Mariji''s thoughts.

    ¡°There is also a cksmith shop!¡±

    ¡°It''s just a small shop that receive orders. Thurii won''t let us into the city, but we need to purchase weapons and also we must repair them.¡± Exined Mariji.

    ¡°And this one y pots?¡±

    ¡°We can''t make soup with just our hands.¡±

    ¡°Cloth shop?¡±

    ¡°The clothing of the soldiers haven''t been change for half a year. You can''t expect them to wear armor on days that they don''t fight.¡±

    ¡°Then stone shop?¡±

    ¡°We can''t just use trees for our camp, the key ces still need to use stones in order to keep it firm.¡±

    ¡°What about this boat shop?! Don''t tell me that you mercenaries needs to build a fleet!¡± The expression of Burkes was full of rage and shouted, ¡°You robber! You are robbing the market of Thurii and stealing the wealth of Thurii!¡±

    Mariji lowered his head and argued in a low voice, ¡°The amount of goods being bought and sold is not much-¡±

    Note: Scylletium, a city-state in Magna Graecia, it is located south of Crotone.

 Chapter 76: Davos Camp

    ¡°It''s only because there is just a small wharf here!¡± Burkes'' chest heaved with rage. Just now, he realized that as he walk through the market that the reason why the types of business here are soplete is not due to the needs of the mercenaries, but the needs of the merchants and surrounding residents. No matter how wide the river Crati is, it is still not as wide as the sea, and due to that, when there are too many merchant ships, it would take them time to wait in order to enter the port of Thurii, and after entering the market, there will be tax on transactions. But now, the mercenaries have built a market near the coast, and once their ships arrived at the wharf, they can just unload the goods, and when they enter the market, they only need to pay an 1 Obol (which is the same as it being free) and without the need to pay the tax. As for the buyers, Thurii is not far away and there are many sailors and fisherman¡­and so on, but they are mainly free men and not citizens of Thurii, and they are more willing to go a few more distance to buy cheaper goods (because they don''t need to pay taxes, therefore they are cheap) than buying in the market of Thurii. What''s more, there are merchants from various city-states that got attracted by those exotic stuffs, hirings and selling military goods.

    Although Burkes was angry, but he didn''t continue what he want to say because he notice that Mariji has his head facing down and was ready to be criticized, ¡°Forget it, I''ll just tell Davos about this! You can''t even decide about it because you are just a Persian ve.¡±

    When Mariji heard this, his body trembled and almost shouted, You are the Persian ve! Your whole family are Persian ves! You Greek savages are blind! I had been the royal trader of the Persian royalty!!

    Fortunately, he finally held himself back, but didn''t want to talk anymore and so he walk behind them.

    As they approached the west gate of the market, Burkes found that there was a meter tall wall separating the area, and there was arge wooden hut in it. Compared with the noisy stall, it was quiet here, but there was a long line at the entrance¡­

    ¡°This is¡­¡± Asked Burkes with some doubt.

    Despite his dissatisfaction, Mariji still had to exin, ¡°This is a clinic, the physicians in our camp have been learning from our leader, Davos, for a long period of time, and with their excellent medical skills, a lot of people who had been ill had their health improved after their treatment, and so they are very popr now. Most of the time when the market is about to close, the patients still doesn''t want to leave.¡±

    ¡°They are really so great?!¡± Burkes was a bit shocked, and Moras whisped into his ear, ¡°Master, the olddy cane here to have her illness check, and maybe they can really cure it.¡±

    Burkes watched the ¡°long dragon¡± in front of the hut and nodded, and he suddenly realized something and asked, ¡°You just said that these physicians have learned their medical skill from Davos? Davos also teach medical advice?!¡±

    ¡°Of course! The leader is favored by Hades, and so he of course can understand the mysteries of diseases that brought death to people.¡± Said Mariji proudly.

    After leaving the market and bidding farewell to Mariji, Moras then asked, ¡°Master, are there really people who are good atmanding battles, good at business and treat diseases?¡±

    ¡°Isn''t there Davos? And he is also the favored of Hades.¡± Said Burkes indifferently.

    A few hundred meters to the west, the camp of Davos came into their view. It is more urate to call it a military fort than a camp as there is a 3 meters wide and 3 meters deep trenches, 3 meter high earthen rampart with a 2 meter tall wooden wall for protection. The sentry patrol can be seen behind the wooden wall, so it can be judged that there are also walkways on the wooden wall. Inside the wall are several 6 meters tall watchtowers which overlook the trenches and blindsides under the wooden walls. The middle of the wall has a wooden gate ced in it, and above it is a simple gate tower¡­

    Burkes and Moras carefully walked along the straight path in front of the camp''s gate, because there were several huge wooden signs on the side of the pathway: ¡°There are traps, please take the pathway!¡±

    Moras looked at the glint on the tall grass along the road and guessing what kind of traps in there, and eximed, ¡°Master, we don''t seem to have such aplex fortification in Thurii.¡±

    Burkes is a bit gloomy, as he started worrying about a problem: What will Crotone think when they see that these mercenaries had build something like a city here?

    The guards at the gate of the camp asked them what they want and he then immediately sent someone in to report it.

    After a while, Asistes came out and led them inside.

    In the camp, all the grass and debris were cleared up and the ground was ttened and cleaned. As expected, there is indeed a wooden walkway that wasid and the wall beyond the walkway could just barely block the chest of the soldier. There are also several wide woodendders that could be use to go up the walkway. While the tents are ced in an orderly manner and there is a wide open space between the tent and the wall, there is also wide pathway between the tents and these leads to the center of the camp, and in the center of the camp is a circr stockade.

    Seeing that Burkes was full of doubts, Asistes exined, ¡°Inside is the supply camp and medical camp, as well as the tents of the leader and the officers. During battle, once the enemy breaks through the periphery, we can retreat inside and continue defending.¡±

    ¡°This is really the mostplex and thorough military camp that I have ever seen!¡± Even if he have some opinions about the mercenaries, but at this moment, Burkes could not help but eximed.

    Asistes said with a pleased smile, ¡°Leader Davos said that this is the most basic camp fortification, while the moreplicated one can''t be done now. And he has said that ¡®You can never remain undefeated in battle, but a strong camp can provide protection for the soldiers if they fail and reduce the casualties while improving the morale. Therefore, even if you need to work hard, you must build it patiently and carefully. If you sweat more in time of peace then you will bleed less in time of war¡­¡¯¡±

    ¡°If you sweat more in time of peace then you will bleed less in time of war¡­¡± Burkes muttered these words and he suddenly realized that he was going to meet a mercenary leader with rich experience in war. Without consulting Davos, the strategoi of Thurii had made a n in advance and wanted him toply. Is this appropriate?

    At this time, Moras asked, ¡°Why is it that there is only a few soldiers that can be seen in the camp?¡±

    ¡°Our brothers are all currently participating in the ¡®Tug of War¡¯petition at the back.¡±

    ¡°Tug of war?¡± Both of them became curious when they heard a strange word.

    In fact, there was a huge shouting ahead of them and Asistes just simply took them around the central circr stockade and walked into a wide field where they saw a dense crowd. Thousands of soldiers forming 5 ¨C 6 circles, and each of their face are flushing red with excitement as they clenched their fist while shouting.

    ¡°Second team of the firstpany, WIN!¡±

    ¡°Fourth team of the fifthpany, YOU CAN DO IT!¡±

    ¡°Come on! Come on! Use more strength!¡±

    ¡°WIN!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Such an intense and exciting event, and Burkes had only seen it during athletic games, and his blood is already boiling even though he is just currently listening to the shouting and still haven''t seen the actual scene.

    Seeing through the thoughts of the two, Asistes squeezed himself into the cirle and let them in to watch, while he went to go to the leader first.

    On the ground in the middle of the circle is a rope that is 40 meters long, which should have been made with several ship ropes and has a thickness of a fist.

    At this time, a person in the middle of the open space shouted, ¡°Next round, from the 2nd team of the 3rd unit and the 1st team of the 7th unit, please enter!¡±

    Soon, more than a hundred strong men entered the circle. After confirming the number and name, the man then said, ¡°Both parties, get ready.¡±

    And so, both parties pick up the rope.

    Burkes then noticed that there was a red rope tied in the middle of the rope, with a heavy object hanging at the end of the rope which directly points to a white line on the ground, and there was also another white line on both sides of the white line.

    ¡°Match begins!¡± shouted the man who Burkes considered to be simr to the referee of atheletic games.

    A hundred strong men on both sides tried their best to pull the rope to their side, and the sound of cheering resounded like the roaring of a tsunami¡­

    Just watching the red rope swinging to the left then right then back¡­after a period of stalement, it started to move to the left by a huge margin¡­and the cheers also reached the climax.

    Finally, the red rope reached the white line on the left.

    The referee waved his hand. The game is over!

    Cheers and sighs broke out at the same time¡­

    The two of them watched it with great interest, when Asistes manage to find them and they left reluctantly.

 Chapter 77: War Plan

    ¡°Burkes, I haven''t seen you for some time. I thought you had forgotten this old friend of yours!¡± Davos greeted him with a smile.

    ¡°How could I forget! I had just came back and so I had a lot of backlogs that needs to be dealt urgently, and I have no spare time for a while¡± Exined Burkes.

    ¡°Oh, so have you finished it now?¡± Davos jokingly said.

    ¡°Still not finished.¡± Burkes then added, ¡°However, there is an important order from the city hall of Thurii for me to convey.¡±

    ¡°Oh, what''s the important order? The lords of Thurii finally remembered us mercenaries.¡± Davos said teasingly.

    ¡°Shall I speak here?¡± Burkes looked around.

    ¡°I''m sorry, this is my negligence, then let''s go to my tent.¡± Davos led them to the center of the camp while he apologized.

    ¡°Have you learned this ¡®Tug of War¡¯ from Persia?¡± Asked Burkes.

    ¡°I came up with it mainly because I was worried that if the soldiers stayed in the camp for a long time and have nothing to do then some idents may happen. Therefore, I have thempete in sports not only to consume their energy, but also to exercise their bodies and develop their teamwork. As a matter of fact, there is a reward for the final champion of thispetition, and I put out a lot of money myself.¡±

    ¡°You handled these mercenaries very well!¡± Praised Burkes, and he then change the topic, ¡°But you don''t have to worry about it anymore. Soon, you will have some stuff to do.¡±

    Davos was not surprised, ¡°The Lucanians are already started appearing. While Thurii isn''t taking any actions, and made me thought that you were ready to give them thend outside of the city.¡±

    Hearing the resentment in Davos'' words, Burkes was thinking about how to respond, but the afterglow on his eyes made him see a 4-meter high stone wall inside the wooden wall on the right, which shocked him and said, ¡°Do you still n to build a stone wall?¡±

    Davos blinked, ¡°The floor of the wooden wall is rtively wet, so it is not strong enough. Therefore, a stone wall is built inside using stone debris to prevent it from being broken.¡±

    ¡°You and your soldiers are so great that the camp you built turned into a city!¡± Burkes vaguely criticized.

    ¡°We can''t help it. The number of our people is too small, and if we don''t make the camp stronger, once Thurii is surrounded and us mercenaries needs help as we also get surrounded, then who will help us? Therefore, we have to rely on ourselves!¡± Said Davos frankly.

    ¡°The market outside is also rted to the defense of the camp?¡± Asked Burkes rhetorically.

    ¡°At first, I just wanted to rely on the market to buy and sell some stuffs that we need for our daily needs. However, I didn''t expect that it would be like this¡­but you don''t have to worry, when the Lucanians are defeated, everything will be back to normal.¡± Davos assured him.

    Burkes just wants to gain some psychological advantage in the following conversation. After all, only the city hall and council can make a decision whether to force the mercenaries to close the market, and so he no longer pursued it, but had instead decided to go back and report it to Friis. After entering the tent of Davos, he immediately said, ¡°ording to the situation, the Lucanians may attack Thurii in 2 days. After deliberating, the strategoi decided to meet the enemy and ask for you to participate in that battle.¡±

    ¡°Please tell me, what is the n of the strategoi of Thurii?¡± Said Davos sarcastically. In fact, he felt helpless, as a participant in this war, he didn''t even have the right to participate in the discussion, which he find it really strange. He didn''t know that this is the same back when the Greek mercenaries were under themand of Cyrus the Younger, but at that time, the mercenaries ounted for half of their number, and they were powerful. Therefore, Cyrus the Younger heavily relied on them, to add to that, he had cheated the mercenaries in advance and concealed about the rebellion. Therefore, when there was certain demands, he would consult with them such as Clearchus¡­at the time of Davos transmigration, Cyrus the Younger had died in the war, and so the mercenaries were the main force in everything, so everyone was discussing about everything. Currently, Davos started having a bad feeling just like when he first came to this world, that everything was decided by others and he could not decide his fate.

    Burkes was also equally helpless. In fact, Friis once proposed to let the leaders of the mercenaries to participate in the discussion and n the battle together, but Kunogta firmly refused saying that it was to prevent incident like with Dionysius. (Dionysius is the tyrant of Syracuse during this time, he was once driven out of power by those democratic. Afterwards, he quietly led the mercenaries into the city and crushed the democratics and thus secure the throne of dictator of Syracuse) The proposal of hiring mercenaries was proposed by Friis, which had been discussed by the strategoi and the council approved it. They then sent Burkes to start recruiting by the rmendation of Friis, and so he need to avoid suspicion.

    ¡°ording to the scouts, there are more than 10,000 men in the Lucanian coalition. While on our side, you have more than 2,000 soldiers, Drakos also has more than 2,000 soldiers, Taranto has sent 1,500 reinforcements, and Thurii have 4,000 with 200 cavalry, and the total number is close to 10,000¡­¡±

    Burkes finished introducing the forces of both sides, then picked up a branch andpared it on the ground, ¡°The stragoi n is that the reinforcements of Taranto will be on the right wing and due to their minimum number a thousand soldiers of Adrien and Sesta will be added to them. The center will be our army, but because of thest defeat, the number of young and middle-aged citizens of Thurii has been greatly reduced, and due to that, more than half of the 4,000 soldiers are citizens over 40 years old. Therefore, we will add a thousand soldiers from Drakos in the center. Because your troops are experienced and powerful you will be in charge of the left wing together with a hundred cavalry. Another 100 Taranto cavalry will be on the right, and of course, this is just a n. When ites to the battlefield, it may change depending on the situation of the enemy¡­¡± Burkes finished exining and he looked at the expression of the face of Davos.

    Davos held his chin on one hand and looked at the drawing on the ground as he contemte and said nothing for a long time.

    Burkes started to get nervous.

    ¡°Would you like to hear my opininon?¡± Davos raised his head and pointed to the drawing on the ground and calmly said, ¡°This troops allocation given by Thurii should be rtively bnced. And it is obvious that the strategoi wanted to use defense to drag down the enemy''s attack through a long confrontation.¡±

    Burkes nodded because Friis had said something simr when he exined it to him about why he had done it this way. Davos really deserved his reputation, from just him looking at the drawing he managed toinfer the intentions of the strategos.

    ¡°Although I haven''t fought with the Lucanians, but I have fought with many mountain races in Persia. Their fighting characteristics should be simr, they are fierce, loosely organized and poorly equipped. Maybe that is the reason why your strategos have the confidence to take this kind of formation. However, there are a few problems that needs to remind your strategos-¡± Davos turned around and raised his tone, and said,

    ¡°Last year, there are more than 10,000 citizens of Thurii that was killed in the battle with Lucanians, which means that nearly 10,000 sets of excellent Greek hoplite equipment fell into the hands of the Lucanians. They can then use these equipment topletely update their simple equipment, I have encountered this situation while scouting Amendra. Secondly, ording to my scouting, there are at least 13,000 warriors in the Lucanian coalition, which is 3,000 more than us. This mean that their formation will be denser than us, not only will they have greater impact and pushing force than us, but also the threat of getting nked. They have just won a great victory, and their morale will be much higher when facing us, and as far as I can see, you Thurians are afraid of the Lucanians from the bottom of your hearts, and so it''s hard to say who will retreat first after a long battle.¡± Davos uses the branch to draw on the ground, which represents Thurii''s center, ¡°Don''t forget, half of your force has ¡®old men¡¯ included.¡±

    Burkes confidence about the ¡°Greek hoplite shing with the savages without being afraid of them in the face of war¡± was shaken due to the words of Davos.

    ¡°Do you want to hear my n?¡± Said Davos at this time.

 Chapter 78: Before the Battle

    ¡°Please say it!¡± Said Burkes.

    ¡°The arrangement will be the same, I will still be on the left, Taranto on the right and Thurii will be in the center. But I will ce all the 2,000 mercenaries and 200 cavalry from Adrien, Drakos and Sesta on the left. Then I will lead the more than 4,000 infantry and 200 cavalry to defeat the enemy''s right wing in the shortest possible time, and by cooperating with the center to attack the enemy''s center, then it would only be a matter of time before we won the whole battle.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure you can defeat the enemy in the shortest period of time after we give you the right tomand the 2,000 mercenaries and 200 cavalry?!¡± Asked Burkes.

    ¡°There are so many unexpected factors in battles that I won''t know it until without fighting them. However, in my opinion, my n has a much more likely possibility to win than the one you said!¡± Davos is trying to convince Burkes.

    After a long silence, Burkes murmured, ¡°But the thoughts of the strategoi is that their n is more likely to seed¡­in any case, I will report your proposal to strategos Friis, and the others and they will decide whether to adopt your proposal or not.¡±

    Davos understood the implication in the words of Burkes, and a trace of disappointment surfaced on his face, but he sood recovered, ¡°If you can''t give me 2,000 mercenaries, then you can also just give me 200 cavalry.¡±

    Burkes shook his head, ¡°You should know it better than me that it''s a military tradition to having cavalry on both wings. What''s more, a hundred of them are from Taranto, and they won''t leave their own countrymen behind to go to the left wing.¡±

    Davos couldn''t change his mind and so after thinking about it, he asked, ¡°How strong is the reinforcements of Taranto?¡±

    ¡°They should be strong. Archytas has led them twice in defeating the Messapians, a race as strong as the Lucanians.¡± Said Burkes in high regard.

    ¡°Archytas¡­¡± Davos remembered the name and said with determination, ¡°In that case, send all the 200 cavalry to the right.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure about it and it is not just because of your anger?¡± Asked Burkes in shocked.

    ¡°For me, war is the most important event that determines the rise and fall of a city-state and the fate of countless lives! Therefore, for this war that has no close rtionship with me will also devote myself to it without any selfishness and negligence! However, it''s hard to say in regards to the strategoi of Thurii, did they investigate about the strength of the Lucanian coalition in details? Did they trained all their troops in advance so that they can cooperate with each other in battle?¡­¡±

    Davos'' discontent has finally showed up through his questioning, which made Burkes blushed from shame. He felt that Davos has really put his all into this battle and he had tried several times to say something but stop, and he resolutely said, ¡°Davos, you can rest assured that once I am done with the camp of Drakos, I will rush back and pass on your proposal to Friis and ask him to seriously consider it!¡±

    After Burkes left, Davos immediately called Asistes, ¡°How are our brothers doing with their practice on climbing a stone wall using a grappling hook?¡±

    ¡°They could climb the stone wall easily. Leader, the grappling hook you have designed is really a great climbing tool!¡±

    ¡°Wonderful!¡± There was finally a smile on Davos'' face, ¡°Now, you go to the market and tell Mariji that I want to order another 20 sets of grappling hooks, and ask him to urge the cksmith to finish them as soon as possible in 2 days!¡±

    ¡°Roger, I will immediately go.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the early morning on thest day of April, 399 A.D., the climate is warm and the sun shone brightly, the flowers are blooming all over the mountain and it''s a good day for an outing.

    However, there are lots of scouts in the ins of Sybaris and the air is filled with killing intent.

    The officers filled the tent of the mercenary leader. Davos looks at everyone: some of them are his oldrades who had been following him, such as Hielos, Antonios, Capus, and so on while the others are those who have newly joined, such as Hieronymus, Agacia, etc. And now, all of them have tense expression as if they are facing a formidable enemy and are waiting for Davos instructions.

    ¡°The army of the Lucanians has advance to Thurii, and Thurii hase to inform us to immediately leave the camp and join them. Brothers!¡± Davos smiled and said with confidence, ¡°It''s time to make those ignorant and arrogant Thurians see how powerful the Greek expeditionary army is!¡±

    ¡°Hoo!!!¡± The officers fighting spirit soared.

    ¡°ording to the previous arrangement, the 5th hoplite unit led by Hielos and the 3rd peltast unit led by Arpernst* will stay in the camp to prevent the enemies from Amendra''s sneak attack. The rest of the troops will leave in order.¡±(Note: They areposed of mercenaries who joined in Byzantium, which includes archer and slingers, totaling more than 200) .¡±

    ¡°By yourmand!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the army of Thurii left the city, they then saw the mercenaries of Davos waiting early outside the city.

    ¡°This is the Greek Expeditionary troops?! I think that statement is exaggerated, you see, these soldiers are either squatting or lying on their sides, with their spears and shields all thrown aside. They are not soldiers at all!¡± Kunogta''s face is filled with disappointed from spending a lot of money but getting an inferior product.

    Friis wasn''t in the mood to argue with Kunogta about thismon military knowledge because he is worried about the uing war.

    When suddenly, a young man that is next to him said without any hesitation, ¡°The messengers that we had sent to inform them had juste back, but this army is already standing here waiting for us. This shows that this army has a strong ability to mobilize and carry out orders! As for them lying and squatting, it is for them to conserve their physical strength before the battle, which also shows that they are experienced and are able to rxed even though the war ising! I now have some faith that they have the ability to support the left wing on their own!¡±

    Kunogta quietly ¡®hmph''. After all, this young man is a distinguished guest of Thurii, and so he had to shut his mouth.

    At this time, Davos, led by Burkes, came to them.

    ¡°Strategos Friis, I''m Davos, the leader of this mercenary General Ferris!¡± Davos while riding on his horse, immediately gave his greeting.

    ¡°Although I have already heard it from Burkes, but your young age still surprises me! Young leader, thank you for helping Thurii. Let''s fight the enemy together!¡± Friis also responded to him.

    ¡°As you wish, strategos Friis.¡± Answered Davos, and then he turned to Kunogta, who, of course, he could urately say his name due to the instructions of Burkes, ¡°Hello, strategos Kunogta!¡±

    ¡°Leader Davos, your proposal is very daring and to be honest, I am very impressed. But after discussing it, we had thought that it is too risky, and so we didn''t adopt it. I hope you don''t mind it!¡± Kunogta apologized for that, and he rode his horse forward and patted the shoulder of Davos to show his closeness.

    ¡°The purpose of pre-war discussion is to gather ideas. Once a decision is made, it is necessary to firmly implement the order. Don''t worry, I''m also a soldier, and so it''s naturally my duty to carry it out!¡±

    ¡°A good sentence, ¡®It''s naturally the duty of the soldiers to carry out orders¡¯¡± The young man praised him loudly and introduced himself, ¡°Hello, leader Davos! I am Archytas of Taranto, I have heard the legends of the Greek expeditionary army, and you did not disappoint me after seeing you today!¡±

    Davos fixed his gaze at the young man in front of him, although dressed in military uniform, but he still looks gentle and elegant with a sincere smile on his face and a pair of bright eyes, ¡°Strategos Archytas*, it''s my honor to fight together with the mathematical and military genius of Taranto!¡± (Note: Taranto is a double ruling system, and so there is no ¡®strategos¡¯ position and it is just an honorary title.)

    Davos returned the friendly greeting and continued, ¡°I think there is an inevitable connection between mathematics and military. Every soldiers in the formation is a point, and countless points forms a straight line and a square. The basic condition for victory is how to make every point give full y to its role¡­¡±

    ¡°You''re right!¡± Archytas was happy and asked kindly, ¡°Leader Davos also studies mathematics as well?¡±

    ¡°I don''t know much about mathematics, but I am full of respect for the Pythagorean school!¡± Said Davos.

    When Archytas saw that he spoke with sincerity, he immediately became very friendly with him and was ready to talk again.

    But Friis interrupted him, ¡°The leaders of the other mercenaries areing, and now we need to rify our respective responsibilities and unify the orders.¡±

    Note: Archytas, the second historical celebrity in this novel, has too few historical recordspared with Xenophon, and his activities are focused mainly in Magna Gracia. Maybe there are readers that are mathematics majors that are familiar with him, he has great ideas in ssical mathematics and physics. Archimedes used pulleys to make machinery to defeat the Romans besieging Syracuse. And pulleys was first researched by Archytas and Archimedes developed it.

 Chapter 79: The Battle of Thurii (I)

    The signals for the attack and retreat of the Greek city-states are almost the same. Thurii''s military arrangement hasn''t change, except that 200 cavalry will be allocated to Archytas, which made Archytas have a favorable impression on Davos and thanked him.

    Burkes stood not far away and watched them discussed. He doesn''t understand why Davos would have a good opinion on the Pythagorean School right now, as he hadn''t heard of it before. Doesn''t he know that no city-states in Magna Graecia have a good opinion on the Pythagorean School besides Taranto, which made this mysterious group having a hard time surviving in Magna Graecia. I''m afraid that due to this, it will affect the perception of Friis and Kunogta on him.

    Just as Burkes started worrying about Davos, the meeting would soon be over, and Davos jumped on his horse, and trod slowly to his own troops, while he observed the other troops that were going to fight together with them. The reinforcements of Taranto that is led by Archytas, all of whom are strong young men in their twenties and thirties, they are full of energy as they carried their round shields on their left shoulders, spears on their right, marching while talking with theirpanions and have rxed expression. However, most of the citizen soldiers of Thurii have a serious expression, many of whom have gray hair and also have their back slightly bent¡­

    Davos frowned while looking at them, and suddenly felt that there is something wrong. He pointed to them and asked Burkes who was besides him, and said, ¡°What''s going on? Why are these soldiers in leather armor?¡­and some of them are even half naked, and there are a lot of soldiers who are like this¡­not right, your troops should only be more than 4,000!¡±

    Burkes answered, ¡°Those are free men and outsiders(foreigners) that are living in Thurii. After discussing about it, the citizen assembly of Thurii adopted a resolution, ¡®All free men and foreigners who took part in the war will be citizens of Thurii after we win the war.¡¯, it is thanks to your suggestion that made us remember. Currently, the number of troops that Thurii have is about 6,000 men.¡± Burkes is a bitcent.

    This slightly eased Davos'' uneasiness, and he eximed, ¡°I didn''t think that there are a lot of free men in Thurii!¡±

    ¡°In fact, this is only a part of them, and there are still more than half that are just watching and didn''t join the war.¡± At the same time, Burkes'' words surprised Davos and made him think about it.

    The Thurii alliance is divided into 3 parts, namely, the left wing, center, and right wing, and they lined up on the ins of Sybaris, and slowly advanced westward along the river Crati, and sending scout cavalry to and fro, reporting the movements of the Lucanians.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    A herald came rushing and said to Davos, ¡°Strategos Friis has ordered you to stop advancing and to stay your ground here!¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Davos nodded in response, then said to the bugler, ¡°Blow the bugle, and halt the advance!¡±

    When the bugle rang, the mercenaries soon stopped advancing.

    ¡°Formation!¡± Daveus ordered again.

    The bugler sounded the round brass bugle again.

    Immediately, the mercenary column''s head move to the right, and its tail advance forward. Davos'' army is based on units as the basic ofbat (squads are only for management role, and can''t fight independently). When arranging the columns, it would be arranged ording to four columns of one unit, and then turned to row. Therefore, when the ¡°long dragon¡± of the whole troops turned and faced the west, the formation is basicallypleted, and the speed ofpletion is very fast.

    Davos put the first hoplite unit on the far right, because this side is connected with Thurii on the center, so the stable first hoplite unit leader, Kapus, will takemand of the attack and retreat of the team to prevent the disconnection from the center. At the far left is the third hoplite unit''s that is led by Amintas, considering therge number of enemies, the nk at the far left have a chance to get surrounded. Therefore, a captain who dares to fight will keep the morale of the soldiers high. In fact, Davos was thinking of Hieronymus, who is also brave and has a more experience in battles to be more suitable for this task. However, Davos is not sure because he is the only leader who had joined from the former expeditionary troops, and there are too many recruits (who joined Davos'' troops in Byzantium). Fortunately, there are 2 peltast units behind Amintas, and Davos thinks that he will have no problem in stabilizing the defense. Traditionally, the Greek''s phnx has at least 8 rows, while Davos'' only has 4 because of the small number of his troops, and also to ensure the length in the front, and so the thickness can only be thinner. But Davos believes that the experienced mercenaries are capable of blocking arge number of enemies.

    The left wing has finished with their formation, while the center are still in the middle of arranging. The shouts of the officers and the orders of the heralds, and the reminders to the soldiers are all mixing together, just like a noisy market¡­ Friis ced the 1,000 mercenaries of Drakos at the forefront, and the citizen soldiers of Thurii is in the middle, afterwards are the free men¡­

    The right wing is also fast with their formation. Archytas ced the citizen soldiers of Taranto in the front, and behind them are the mercenaries, while the 200 cavalry are ced at the far right. And his phnx is 8 rows thick.

    Finally, the center''s formation ispleted, and the left wing, center, and right wing''s formation forms a line. The priests of Thurii carried the statue of Apollo, the sun god and the protector of Thurii, and came to the front of the phnx and began singing hymns. They then offered blood and food to pray for their victory, the soldiers also began praying silently to Apollo for his protection. The soldiers of Taranto are also praying, but not to the sun god, as their city-state had their own patron god, Poseidon, and the city-state even have a legendary demigod, Phnthus. Most mercenaries believed in Ares and Zeus, but Davos'' soldiers are different, they used to believed in Ares, but after Davos led them to victory one after another and created many miracles, they then began believing in Hades¡­

    When the whole army is busy in their prayers to their gods, the scouts returned one after another, bringing news that the Lucanians areing. The scouts of the Lucanians also appeared in front of them and were forced to quickly retreat due to therge number of Greek cavalry.

    ¡°The Lucanians are less than 2 kilo-meters from us¡­we should start preparing!¡± Kunogta said nervously.

    Friis waved his hand and said, ¡°Don''t worry, the Lucanians won''t attack immediately. Their army has not yet appeared and even if it does, it would take them a while for them to arrange their battle formation.¡±

    Kunogta bitterly backs down.

    After a while, they saw a golden light shining all over the distant field, like a golden flood surging to the east.

    Kunogta took a deep breath and nervously said, ¡°It''s just as the young mercenary leader had said, the Lucanians did indeed reced their weapons and armors with ours, which will make it a bit troublesome!¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry, even if the Lucanians change their equipment, they won''t be able to learn the troops formation of us Greeks in such a short time, rather, they have abandoned their own strengths. Perhaps this is a good thing for us instead.¡± Friis calmly reassured them, and then face the herald and said, ¡°Go inform the officers of all units quickly, so that they don''t feel anxious, and have the soldiers continue to rest.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Damn it, the sun is on our backs, and it''s shining on them, which makes our eyes ufortable. During the battle, it will affect the javelin throwing of Epiphanes and Cid!¡± Matonis felt a bit uneasy.

    ¡°What can we do about it, who told us to be located in the east. Isn''t Apollo the patron god of Thurii? Make them pray to Apollo so that he won''te out today.¡± Olivos cracks a joke.

    ¡°It''s better to go ask our leader, Davos, and have Hades turn the day into night. Then, there is no need to fight this war.¡± Bantered Epiphanes.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The mercenaries are resting, while the officers gathered around Davos and joke around, as they didn''t take therge number of Lucanians in front of them seriously.

 Chapter 80: The Battle of Thurii (II)

    The Lucanian alliance stopped their advance a kilo-meter away from the Greeks, and they then also started to get in formation.

    The Greeks just quietly waited for them and did not take this chance to attack. This is not surprising, because Thurii hopes to redeem themselves from their miserable defeat during the first war, while the Lucanians also hopes to use this war topletely eliminate the remaining forces of Thurii, and so a war is themon will of both sides.

    If they attack the Lucanians at this time, then the Lucanians will only just retreat without thempleting their formation, and infantry will have a hard time catching up to the opposing infantry with a gap of a kilo-meter distance, and this will only lead to the dy of the battle. This is uneptable to the strategoi of Thurii who have alreadypleted their preparations, as well as the citizens of Thurii, because this means that they will remain in a state of anxiety.

    The Greeks gave the Lucanians enough time toplete their formation, and the Lucanians have also made full use of it. The Lucanians'' scout reported the general situation of the Greek army''s formation to the leaders of the alliance and after an urgent discussions, the alliance leaders quickly decided their warriors position in the formation: Akpir, the great leader of the city-state Grumentum, will lead 6,000 of his tribal warriors in the center, on the left wing are the 4,500 warriors of the city-state of Nerulum and Laos, while on the right wing are abined 5,500 warriors, of which 4,000 warriors is led by Cincinnag, the great leader of Pixous, which is another powerful tribe in the Lucania region and is also the main ally of Grumentum, together with 1,500 warriors from a tribe in the Brutium region. The total strength of the Lucanian alliance is 16,000 warriors, with them not having any cavalry.

    Grumentum has been fighting for the past 2 years, and its leader, Akpir, can be regarded as a highly experienced on things about military. Before the war, he had sent a lot of spies into the port of Thurii(the port is the ce with thergest number of free men, where fish and dragons mixed together, and so it makes it harder to get found out), which allowed Akpir to get a lot of information andbining with the information of the spies that have returned, made him form a n in his mind: In the Greek army, although many of the citizen soldiers in the center are old, but they arerge in number, which could not be underestimated, and so he would personally deal with them. The Greek army''s right wing is the reinforcements from Taranto, and he heard that they have repeatedly defeated the Messapians in Taranto, and their strength is not bad. The one facing them will be Nerulum and Laus, and because they are sister cities, their cooperation wouldn''t pose a problem and so, 4,500 warriors are more than enough to deal with them. The left wing of the Greek army is the least in number, and their difference with the other other two can be seen almost at a nce, due to their number being too small. It is said that this Greek mercenary once traveled to Persia, but after hearing the stories about them, it made Akpir thinks that the rumors about this mercenary were exaggerated. It is precisely because they got defeated in Persia and just fled, it''s nothing more than just the Greeks, who are engaged in trades, boasting about themselves. He had no idea about the distant power in the orient, Persia, and he also believe that the strength of only 2,000 soldiers would be limited, and the bravery of the warriors of Pixous is no less than that of Grumentum, and the ability of its leader, Cincinnag, is not weak, nor that of his son, Gennat(who is also the son-inw of Akpir), with 4,000 warriors and together with 1,500 Brutians, they have almost 3 times the strength than the other side, so they canpletely defeat the left wing of the Greek''s in one fell swoop. Thus the victory of his right wing is already guaranteed.

    The Lucanianspleted their formation much faster because their formation is not as solid as the Greeks, and their loose formation made their already huge troops looks more massive.

    With the long-drawn-out sounds of several ox horn ringing out, an astonishing number of troops slowly advance towards the Greek army¡­

    The battle is about to begin! Friis'' somewhat blurred old eyes caught sight of the enemy''s shadow on the opposite side. He took a deep breath and puffed his shriveled chest, turned around and dismounted, then ordered his ve, ¡°Go get my weapons and helmet!¡±

    Just then, he heard a noise from the soldiers at the front.

    ¡°What happened?¡± He asked doubtfully, and the people around him became doubtful as well. He had to mount his horse once more and look at the front. There was no change, but looking in the direction of the disturbed soldiers, he saw hundreds of soldiers on the left that are rushing out of the formation and running straight to the Lucanians¡­

    What are they doing?¡­are they going to surrender to the enemy?¡­when Friis thought of this possibility, his heart went cold: Is it true about what some people said that ¡®The mercenaries doesn''t have any sense of belonging and so they are not reliable¡¯!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Epiphanes and Cid led more than 600 peltast out of the formation and rushed to the right wing of the Lucanian alliance. Of course, they did not go to surrender, but carried out a new tactic that they had been practicing in ordance with the requirements of their leader, Davos. Before the two armies collide, they will have the peltast kill the enemy at a range first in order to crush the enemy''s morale and make their formation in disorder.

    In the face of arge number of enemies, the hundreds of lonely soldiers are like small trees in the wind that are in danger of being blown away at any time. This kind of psychological pressure and fear will make the cowards copse. However, these soldiers have been tempered a hundreds of times in their journey throughout Persia, their spirit has be extremely tenacious, and although their formation is scattered, they are not in disorder. Instead, their speed in charging forward is getting faster.

    When they were less than 400 meters away from the enemy, Epiphanes and Cid almost shouted at the same time, ¡°Slingers, get ready!¡±

    The slingers stopped and began to untie the slings around their waist, while the rest of the soldiers continued to advance forward, and as soon as they were 100 meters away from the enemy, the archers halted their advance, while the 400 peltast continue running¡­

    The reason why Gennat is loved by the tribal warriors of Pixous is because he personally takes the lead during every battle and rushes to the front line. At first, he was puzzled when he saw these Greeks in leather armor in two loose lines rushing forward. To the north of Pixous is the Greek city-state of Elea, Pixous has invaded its territory a lot of times, and both sides fought frequently. Therefore, Gennat is familiar with how the Greeks'' fight, but he has never seen such weird behavior. But soon, he was taken a back when the Greeks raised their glittering spears and taking big strides in order to make preparations for throwing the spear, ¡°Watch out for the javelins!!! Defense!!!¡±

    Soon, hundreds of javelins came howling with a fierce wind. The experienced peltast did not throw it in a straight line, but in an oblique direction. Although the Lucanians were equipped with the Greek hoplite''s equipment, they still haven''t learned the principle of ¡®I protect the others, and they will protect me¡¯ of the Greek hoplites. They hurriedly protected themselves with the round shields, which made the original loose front line exposed arge gap. The javelins, which had its spearhead specially thickened by Davos, crossed the gap between shields, and most of them prated the multiyered linen armor and into the pleural region of the tribal warriors, as shrill cries sounded and they fell down.

    Gennat was quick to respond and blocked the javelins with his shield, but the javelin even manage to pierce the bronzeyer of the round shield and get stuck to it. Just as he was nning to pull out the javelin, the man next to him shouted, ¡°Be careful, archers!!¡±

    Arrows and stones fell like raindrops¡­

    Gennnat got hit on the head, and although his head is protected by a helmet, it still made him dizzy and he almost fell down.

    This wave of arrows and stones hit the Lucanians. Even though the Lucanians have suffered only a bit of loss, but the first few rows in the middle of the right wing of the Lucania were in chaos. However, the Greek''s peltast took this opportunity to throw a second round of javelins, which greatly increase the javelins lethality¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Friis and Kunogta were stunned when they saw this kind of sight, as they could only guessed the strength of the mercenaries of Davos, but they had never thought that it would be such a novel tactic, and its effect is so rming!

    Kunogta eximed excitedly after seeing that some part of the forefront of the enemy''s right wing has almost fallen apart, ¡°We should have learned this tactics from the mercenaries earlier and adopted it!¡±

    Friis shook his head and said, ¡°Our peltast aren''t so courageous in attacking a huge number of enemies with only a few hundreds of meters away from their formation, only these mercenaries who have experienced hundreds of battles dares to use this. I am afraid that this tactic is what they learned from Persia.¡± There is still a trace of regret in Friis: Before the start of the sh, the strength of Davos'' mercenaries has exceeded his expectations. Perhaps if they have given him another 2,000 mercenaries, just like what the young leader had suggested¡­

    Friis put his thoughts down because the original strategy have been implemented, and it is better to carry it out to the end! This is the experience that he had gained through his many years in the army.

    ¡°Get ready to fight, the enemy is about to attack!¡± He reminded the soldiers that are around him as he dismount and started to wear his helmet.

 Chapter 81: The Battle of Thurii (III)

    ¡°Oh, these brothers are amazing! They are indeed worthy of being a hero who killed their way through Persia and return to Greece!¡±

    ¡°Look at those slingers, they are all my fellow Rhodians!¡±

    ¡°And those Thracians, see how urate they throw their javelins! I really want to remove this heavy armor and pick a javelin and join them!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Drakos heard the admiration and envy of the soldiers around him, he firmly squeezed the belt behind his shield and said with a zing intent for battle, ¡°Come savages,e and taste our strength!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The confident leader of Pixous, Cincinnag, had never thought that his troops will suffer loses even before the battle start, and what made him even more depressed is that the traditional weapons of the Lucanians were javelins, spears and daggers, while the javelin were also their main strengths. In order to better attack the Greeks, most of them have equipped heavy equipment, and only a few warriors in the rear formation have a javelin, while the enemy''s arrows and stones could even reached their rear, while only a few of their warriors that have javelin were able to fight back and they try to avoid the enemy''s attack. However, they couldn''t see the enemy, and their numbers are few and scattered, which naturally made their results bad. Fortunately, the peltast of the enemy is not a lot, and the two ends of the right-wing''s formation are not affected. Therefore, under the helplessness of Cincinnag, he could only urge both ends to advance forward toward the middle in order to try encircle or disperse these damned and terrible enemies¡­

    The Lucanians at the center and left wing saw the tragic experience of the right wing, fearing that they would also suffer the same situations, both the warriors and the leaders subconsciously elerated their progress, hoping to sh with the Greek''s as soon as possible.

    Tens of thousands of warriors took huge step and charge forward, which shook the earth.

    All stragoi and leaders such as Archytas, Friis, Drakos and so on., started shouting, ¡°Shield, DEFENSE!¡±

    The soldiers on the front row of the phnx formation took a slight stepped forward with their left foot, and step firmly on the ground with their right foot, with the round shield guarding their left while raising their spears and pointing it forward. The soldiers in the rear then stacked one by one against the back of the soldiers that are in front, while stabbing their spears forward, connecting with the shields¡­The whole phnx is like a huge metal monster with long thorns.

    A hundred meter charge on a slightly higher terrain (though the in of Sybaris is t, but the terrain gradually increase to the west), the Lucanian warriors directly crashed into the Greek hoplites'' phnx with a strong momentum,

    With a loud bang at the end of April of 399 BC, the battle between Thurii and Lucania officially started¡­

    This war is a life and death for both sides, but in the eyes of powerful city-states in the Mediterranean, it is simply insignificant. Carthage and Syracuse will not pay attention to it because both sides are gathering their strength in order to fight for the dominance of Sicily, as they are about to start a new round of war. Rome won''t pay attention to it because they are busy besieging and attacking the Etruscan city, Veii, on the upper reaches of the river Tiber. Sparta and Persia will not pay attention to it, because both sides are preparing for theing war in Asia Minor. Athens will not pay attention to it, because they are more focused on how to recover their strength as soon as possible, while enduring the overbearing behavior of Sparta. Macedonia will not pay attention it as its kingdom is divided and its kings are frequently getting changed, and the Macedonians who are suffering from internal and external troubles may be yearning for a powerful monarch to save them in this deep water¡­ Hundreds of kingdoms, city-states and races in the Mediterranean are busy trying to survive or conquering, and they have no idea or ability to understand the fight between two unknown forces in the southern part of the Italian penins. However, this war (It''ster called the Battle of Thurii) opened a new chapter in the magnificent ancient history of the Mediterranean.

    The Lucanians are a mountain tribe, they are enthusiastic and impulsive, and during their rapid charge, their fighting spirit continue to rise. Therefore, when they saw the spear shield formation that are in front them, some of the warriors didn''t even take into consideration the impact of the shield that their leaders have emphasized before, as their brains have already been filled with their high morale and so they leap straight to it. Specially Grumentum that have produced arge number of brave men due to long-term war, and so the number of people adopting this ¡°reckless¡± action were not the minority. Although they are more likely to get stabbed, but they will disturb the defensive formation of the Greeks.

    In particr, the soldiers of Thurii and the mercenaries of Drakos in the center did not even trained together before, and so their cooperation iscking. The connection between rows in their phnx is not very tight, and in addition, Drakos has never seen this kind of charging from the mountain people and so hecks the means to deal with it. Thus, the center of the Greek army fell into a hard battle from the very beginning¡­

    The soldiers of Tarantum on the right-wing are obviously much more experienced in dealing with the charging of the Lucanian warriors, and also considering that the warriors of Nerulum and Laus are far less fiercer than those of Grumentum, as they have not caused too much impact on the right wing of the Greek army. The shields of both sides collided with each other, and the spears hase and gone as they began pushing and fighting¡­ 200 cavalries also galloped forward and asionally hitting the left nk of the Lucanians, and they will immediately withdraw as long as the warriors of Lucania tried to block them. The Greek cavalry''s are like a flower that are raised in a greenhouse as their skill in riding is far from the superb skill of the Numidians, and they are not as fierce as the Gaul and the Germanic, and the only thing they could do is just to harass. But even so, the Lucanians on the left wing was on guard and they dare not go all out in their offense. Therefore, even though they have more people than the right wing of the Greek army and their phnx formation is more solid, both sides remained in a stalemate¡­

    When both the left and the center of the Lucanians had begun their battle, but the right wing of Lucania could only advance slowly due to the peltast attacking them as the peltast retreat, which slowed down the progress of the Lucanians, and the distance between the two armies were kept close to 50 meters. The Peltast then withdrew from the front and partially retreated to the rear through the special gap on the phnx formation.

    At this time, the formation of the right wing of the Lucanian has be a crescent moon, with both ends protruding and the center sunken. Cincinnag has lost control of his troops and he is no longer able to reorganize the formation and the only thing he can do is tomand the bugler to blow the order to charge. There is only a 50 meter distance left for the final sprint, but when their horn is blown, there is also another bronze bugle that rang out from the opposite side, which made Cincinnag alert and nervous trying to guess the next step of the fierce enemy on the opposite side. Gennat, who is at the forefront on the front line has suffered many injuries, when he notice the Greek hoplites on the opposite side raising their right arm and their bodies titling back, and their legs lunging forward, this action¡­made Gennat, who was like a frightened bird, hid his whole body under his shield with great speed.

    Thousands of javelines flew tens of meters in an instant and fell into the formation of the Lucanian who are just about to charge. What was set off was no longer a drizzle like before, but a heavy rain of death. In an instant, it resulted in hundreds of casualties and has almost hindered the advance of the Lucanians¡­

    And just then, the horrible bronze bugle rang out again, and the Greek mercenaries immediately shouted, ¡°Hades!!!¡± As they charged forward armed with shield and spears.

    The mercenaries did not charge at the same, as the soldiers at their right end didn''t advance forward because of the connection with the center, and only the soldiers at the middle and left end had rushed towards the enemy without considering the thinness of their own formation nor therge number of enemies, just like a dragon swinging its tail.

    The front line of the Lucanians have not yet recovered from the javelin attack and their whole formation was in chaos. But at this moment, the mercenaries charge came one after another. The soldiers skillfully used the kic energy that was converted from their charging speed and strike the opponents with their fitted shields in order to open up the opponent''s defense, then the spears in their right hand strike like a viper to stab the throat or the face of the enemy quickly and urate. This made the front row of the Lucanians copsed at the same time¡­

    The Lucanians at the rear got frightened by such horrible efficiency in attacking and threatening momentum. Even though they boasted their bravery earlier they can''t help but flinch now¡­the mercenaries are chasing, while the Lucanians are retreating¡­the copse of the right wing of the Lucanian is just around the corner.

    Note: Vergae is the northernmost town of the Brutti and it borders Laos.

 Chapter 82: The Battle of Thurii (IV)

    Although Cincinnag, who is at the back of the phnx formation, couldn''t understand the situation of the battle in details, but it''s an indisputable fact that his troops are retreating while screams can be heard from time to time. Looking on both sides, there are even soldiers running away in the distance¡­Cincinnag was very anxious and angry, but at this moment, he had no time to think about why such situation happened, and the most urgent thing he needs to do now is to stop this disadvantage or else the right-wing would be defeated, which will then lead to the defeat of the whole Lucanian tribal alliance! Although he is rted as an inw to the Great Chieftain of Grumentum, but Cincinnag does not think that the tyrant will easily forgive Pyxous. Now, the soldiers of Pyxous are at the midst of the battle and he could no longermand them as the only one left who he canmands are the warriors that have not yet joined the battle.

    ¡°Go and call the Vergaens to help! Tell their chieftain that if we lose this battle, then Lucania will not forgive Vergae!¡± Shouted Cincinnag to his guard.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Great chief, the Lucanians are going too far! It''s clearly Cincinnag who had thought that they could easily beat the Greeks without us, but now he is saying that their failure is our fault!¡± The young Salu said angrily.

    Sedrum looked at the situation on the battlefield not far away and did not respond.

    ¡°These Greeks are so powerful that they are beating the Lucanians with their small number!¡± Salu looked ahead and said excitedly and hesitantly added, ¡°Great chief, the Luanians are going to lose! Otherwise¡­we should stop fighting and leave! Maybe¡­maybe we can break away from their alliance!¡±

    At this time, Sedrum said, ¡°Even if the Lucanians are defeated, how many of their people will die? Will the Greeks dare enter the mountains?¡­As long as the Lucanians still maintain their strength, they will still have the final say, unless we, like our fellow tribesmen move south, and fight Crotone for theirnd.¡± Eximed Sedrum, ¡°Command our warriors to go in formation and push forward from the right end!¡±

    2,000 Brutians, d in leather armour and armed with wooden shields and spears, formed a much solid phnx than the Lucanians, and joined at the right-end of the Pyxous'' formation that is about to copse.

    The Lucanians that are about to copse could not push the battle formation of the Brutti, and they instead got pushed forward. In order to survive, most of the Lucanian warriors had no choice but to turn around and fight. After all, the Lucanian formation is thick and it is only due to them panicking that led them to flee, rather than the mercenaries ughtering them. Once their reinforcements arrived, they gradually stabilized their emotions and positions, and their formation began to recover¡­

    The casualties of the Lucanians are still increasing, but the mercenaries are gradually retreating¡­the pushing force that was generated by the extra-thick formation of the Lucanians and the Brutians which obviously can''t bepared to the thin formation of the mercenaries. Once the gap between the two sides became narrow, their superb fighting skill will no longer y a great role. Fortunately, the experienced mercenaries took the initiative to slowly retreat in order to relieve the pressure exerted by the other side¡­

    Davos is not like the other strategoi that personally go in battle, and so once the battle begun, he fully focused in watching the development of the battle. He rode on his horse from left to right and right to left at the rear of the phnx formation and paid close attention to the progress of the battle, and givingmands at any time through his heralds. Prior to this, it made him excited when the right end of the Lucanian formation was about to copse. However, his disappointment could be imagined when the battle situation reversed, but he didn''t urge his soldiers to attack again, because he knew that, in addition to the factors of the arrival of the enemy''s reinforcements, it is also rted to the stamina of the soldiers. It is impossible for them to maintain such a fierce attack for too long, and as long one is a human, there will be a limit to their stamina, not to mention that they were heavy infantry. Even at this critical moment, Davos ordered the peltast who had retreated to the rear to join in the attack on the rightmost end of the enemy. Unfortunately¡­

    If he had those 2,000 mercenaries and 200 cavalry under his ownmand, then his soldiers are now chasing a defeated army! He can only me himself for being too confident and not insisting on getting more troops from Thurii¡­ as soon as this thought of regret came out of his mind, Davos nipped it out. In war, any unexpected situation may happen, themanders can''t foresee them, and the only thing he can do at this moment is to keep a cool head and try not to let his excessive emotions affect his judgment.

    The front of the mercenaries was originally an ¡°arc¡±, but now it has gradually ttened. As the phnx move backward, Davos realized that the soldiers, whilepeting with the enemy''s powerful pushing force, should not only prevent the thin formation from being broken, but also kill as much enemy as they could in this battle. The consumption of their stamina and energy is quite huge, it''s already very good that they could maintain such situation! Unless there is a major ident, the left wing of the Thurii alliance will not improve, as for the center, the return of Asistes told him that it is not optimistic, and it is even worse than the left wing. The only one that are currently in an advantage is the right wing, but it isn''t much (this is the judgment of Asistes, who went to scout on a horseback, and based it on the fact that Taranto''s front only moved forward a bit). After learning that the overall situation of the battle is not favorable, Davos removed the luck from his mind and he considered to withdraw his troops once the battle is lost.

    5 kilo-meters in the in of Sybaris, nearly 30,000 soldiers are fighting for their life and death. Dust swirls in the air and the noise of battle rose to the skies as the conflict intensify, and bloods sttering¡­after more than an hour of fierce fighting, the Greek army gradually felt restless.

    The number of the Lucanian alliance is more than 6,500, but ording to the observation of the scouts of Thurii and Davos, they estimated that there were about 13,000 Lucanians. In fact, the cunning Akpir hid some of his troops in the back of the mountain of their camp, while 2,000 men of Vergae joined at thest moment, which caused the Greek to make a mistake in their judgment, and the impression of Friis of the Lucanians remained a few years ago (he did not participate in the battlest year). In fact, in recent years, the Lucanians developed very fast, specially Grumentum, which has begun to break away from the tribal alliance tradition and started to develop towards a kingdom. In the recent 2 years of tribal annexation war, the warriors of Grumentum have be more brave and tenacious due to their frequent baptism of blood.

    In the old concept of the stragoi of Thurii, as long as they kept on fighting head-on, the loosely organized Lucanians are bound to be crushed by the strength of the Greek hoplites. However, the facts prove how ridiculous their ideas are, specially the center of the Greek army with the mercenaries in the front row and the citizen soldiers in the middle, and the free men at the back. The three forces can never be effectivelybined as one, and under the fierce charge of the warriors of Grumentum, the center of the Greek army begun to retreat¡­as the battle went on, the three different groups of soldiers begun starting to have their own ideas: The mercenaries fought for money, in the case of a hopeless victory, they of course will think of what they need to do, which is to save their lives first. The citizen soldiers of Thurii did indeed fought as hard as they can, but half of them are middle-aged, whose stamina has reached their limit, but they still continued in their struggle, because Thurii is their home and must not be trampled by the savages. And the free men have a just try attitude in joining the war, winning will get them their citizenship, and if they lose they will just flee Thurii and go to another city-states to live a new life.

    As the center of the Greek army retreated faster and faster, the gap between them and the left and right wings widened. And when the warriors of Grumentum rushed into the gap on both sides and started attacking the center of the Greek army from the sides, the whole center formation broke up and the soldiers fled everywhere¡­

    Davos, who has been paying close attention to the situation, sighed. He suppressed his disappointment and decisively ordered their retreat, themand to signal their retreat is quite special as it was designed by Davos, which is quite differentpared to the general Greek army. First, it''s a long sound, followed by the same sound that signals a charge. The soldier repeatedly sounded the salpinx three times, and most of the Lucanian warriors thought that the mercenaries would charge again. In this daze moment, the mercenaries widened the distance up a bit, and the peltast in the rear formation threw their javelins once more (this is really the courage of skilled men, without any strict training, it would easy for them to identally hurt theirrades by mistake). While the Lucanians were busy defending, the mercenaries quicklypleted a series of retreating actions, such as turning, running, and so on¡­

    Note: Cosentia, the central town of the Brutti region.

 Chapter 83: Retreat

    Taranto''s reinforcement who are on the right wing of the Greek army were also forced to retreat. Fortunately, they have 200 cavalry who are ready by the side, and the Lucanian warriors that are in front of them did not dare to catch up too much, fearing that once they scattered, they will be taken advantage by the Greek cavalry, and so their retreat is rtively smooth¡­

    Only the center of the Greek army have scattered all over the ce without any order¡­

    ¡°Strategos Friis, we are defeated! We lost!! What should we do? What should we do?!¡­¡± Kunogta, a strategos who is usually quick witted and eloquent in the city hall, is now in a panic.

    ¡°What else can we do!¡± Friis smiled bitterly and said regretfully, ¡°It''s my fault that I couldn''t hold on to my own suggestion! It''s my fault that I looked down on the enemy! It''s my fault that I was too stubborn and failed to listen to the suggestion of the others! Thurii''s defeat today lies with me!¡±

    He looked at the fleeing soldiers that run past him, and his expression became very firm, ¡°You all go back to Thurii, and have the citizens to prepare for defense! And I will buy time for Thurii to repent to Apollo!¡± As he said this, he took up his shield and spear with his dried-up arm, and pushed away the fleeing troops and faced the surging enemy. The guards, ves, and men that are around him shouted, ¡°For Thurii!¡± Hundreds of people gathered around the old strategos and went against the flow. Wherever he went, had infected some of the citizens of Thurii and they stopped running, and joined him.

    Kunogta hesitated for a moment, and finally set off with his horse to escape, running andforting himself at the same time: Friis said it well, if everyone here died, then who will protect Thurii!

    Friis, who is a 60-year old strategos, faced the enemy and led 800 men, and shouted, ¡°Apollo!¡± As he took the lead in killing the enemy, andunched a counter charge with them. The soldiers bravely killed the enemy without fearing their death. To their surprise, the warriors of Grumentum who were scattered due to their pursuit have almost exposed their formation, and had forced Grumentum to gather up their warriors and encircle this small group of extremely brave and tenacious soldiers of Thurii¡­

    The most tragic scene of the battle finally came to an end. 800 Thurians led by Friis have all died in this battle, and none escaped.

    Kunogta was eager to hurry back to Thurii, and was almost knocked down on his horse by some of the fleeing soldiers several times on his way to escape. He was worried about the safety of the city and regretted a bit that he joined in the battle in order to gain fame¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The city of Thurii is only a few kilo-meters away from the battlefield, and the people in the city are all paying attention to this war, which is rted to the fate of the city. Every family prays for the soldiers either at their home or in the square.

    When the scout rode back to the city in a panic, and shouted, ¡°WE LOST! WE LOST!¡± At this time, the news quickly spread all over the city like a thunderbolt, which made the people felt like the sky is about to copse. Those that are timid have fainted immediately, while those that are suspicious thought that the scouts are just spreading rumors and they wanted to drag him off the horse and beat him. Those that are pessimistic imed that Thurii will perish, and have everyone quickly flee the city. Those rogues took this opportunity to stir up trouble and fish in troubled waters in order to take advantage of this chaos to get some benefits¡­the whole city, specially in the square can hear sounds of crying and it is extremely chaotic.

    The two of the most important leaders of the ¡°Nine Strategoi¡± are on the battlefield. Fortunately, they have experience in dealing with the defeat fromst year, and at this critical moment, several of the strategoi led by Nianses stood up and have first sent out guards to maintain the order of the city, and then called on the public in the square to take up arms to defend their homes, whether they are men, women, old and young. He then led these people and the ves to the city wall.

    At this time, several nobles on horseback headed by Kunogta rushed across the drawbridge and into the city.

    The people who heard the news immediately surrounded them and inquired about their rtives. Kunogta, who knew that the situation was urgent, didn''t hear them out, and anxiously shouted, ¡°The Lucanians areing soon! Close the gate! CLOSE THE GATE!! DON''T LET THEM COME IN!! OTHERWISE THURII WILL BE FINISH!!!¡±

    Nianses frowned and said, ¡°If the gate is closed, then the soldiers will not be able to enter the city!¡±

    ¡°Have them go around the walls and jump into the river Crati. We will then pick them up by boat! The Lucanians could not swim!¡± Kunogta had already worked out a countermeasures while on the road.

    At this time of crisis and everyone panicking, the appearance of Kunogta and his suggestion immediately gave the people a backbone. They discussed it and as soon as they found that it is feasible, they immediately pulled up the drawbridge, closed the gate of the city and began shouting to the soldiers that are running towards the city, ¡°Jump into the river, there are boats waiting to pick you up! JUMP INTO THE RIVER¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos sent Asistes back to the camp first to report the situation of the war. He then led his troops to retreat to the camp quickly. Beside him is Ledes, who held up the g in order to guide the whole troops.

    The warriors of Pyxous were attacked by the peltast previously, and so the distance between them and the mercenaries widened. And Grumentum received the counterattack of Friis, which dyed their pursuit. So the retreat of the mercenaries was smooth without risking too much. However, along their way, the fleeing soldiers rushed into their ranks, and the mercenaries knocked them down with their shields, but due to the organized retreat of the mercenaries of Davos, and their neat military had appeared had cause them to naturally attract the panic-stricken soldiers. And even if the mercenaries treated them violently, they just let them swear and beat them up, as they continue to follow them like tamed dogs¡­

    When the troops passed through the city of Thurii, the troops of Davos became a bit bloated, but he didn''t care as he looked at the countless troops in the distance under the city of Thurii, and then looked back at the movement of their pursuers. He then took the g and handed it to Asistes and said to Ledes, ¡°Go to the city of Thurii and tell the soldiers that the Lucanians will arrive soon. Our camp''s defense is very strong and have theme to our camp first in order for them to evade the enemy.¡± (T/L Note: Didn''t Asistes went ahead?)

    Ledes left following the order.

    ¡°EVERYONE, TO THE RIGHT!¡± Shouted Davos, the red g waving in the wind guiding the soldiers, but not directly to the west gate of the camp, but towards the south gate.

    The warriors of Pyxous led by Gennat, chased the mercenaries. Since the time he became a warrior, he had participated in dozens of battles, and had never been so timid or had even nearly lost his life. However, these Greeks, after wantonly killing his people, wanted to escape, which made him angry. Therefore, in his eyes, there is only this mercenary: To catch up to them and ughter them!!!

    He doesn''t care about those defeated soldiers under the city of Thurii, even if they are closer to him. As a result, the Pyxous troops collided with the warriors of Grumentum, who were chasing the defeated soldiers, and when the two armies finally separated, the mercenaries of Davos had already entered their camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The strategoi of Thurii led by Kunogta, have little experience on the battlefield (the only one with rich experience has died in the battle), and so they could only think about the problem simply.

    It is true that some people left the gate and jumped into the river Crati because of their shouting, but some of the soldiers didn''t want to leave. After all, the gate is in front of them, and they were already exhausted that they didn''t want to go around a long way to just jump into the cold river Crati. They were begging and swearing under the city, and due to this moment of dy, the warriors of Grumentum arrived. They begun chasing and killing them, and the defeated soldiers who were unwilling to jump into the river, have no other choice but to jump. But due to their panic and the time being short, they didn''t manage to remove their armors and many of them immediately sank into the river and drowned alive¡­

    The people in the city watched their rtives get killed or drowned. They loudly cried and some women even jumped out of the city wall, smashing their bodies in order to apany their dead husbands to hell¡­

    The ferocious appearance of the Lucanian warriors and this bloody and tragic scene became the nightmare of the Thurians that they could never get rid throughout their life¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Lucanians failed to catch up in time, which relieved Davos. However, they didn''t directly enter the west gate, but went around towards the south gate, and so he was worried that the soldiers would enter the camp slowly. However, his fears did not disappear, as it is even worse than what he had expected, as the panicking soldiers disturbed the order of his troops entering the camp.

    Davos had no time to regret. He rushed to the wooden wall and directly ordered his soldiers to knock-off more than a dozen defeated soldiers, which shocked and terrified them and made his troops enter the camp smoothly.

 Chapter 84: Camps Defense

    By this time, the Lucanians entered Davos'' sight.

    ¡°Act ording to the defensive deployment that we have trained previously!¡± Davos immediately gave his orders to the captains.

    The captains began to orderlymand their subordinates to go to their designated positions:

    ¡°FIRST HOPLITE UNIT, follow me to the north gate''s eastern wooden wall!¡±

    ¡°BROTHERS OF THE SECOND HOPLITE UNIT, follow me to the south gate''s northern wooden wall!¡± (T/L Note: Errrrr)

    ¡°BROTHERS OF THE THIRD HOPLITE UNIT, follow me to the training ground! Damn it, move faster!¡±

    ¡°The archers of the first peltast unit will be led by their team leader!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Soon, the soldiers were in ce, and only the group of defeated soldiers are left and are surrounded by the guards.

    ¡°How many?¡± Asked Davos to Philesius, who had just been cated.

    ¡°Quite a lot! Nearly 400 men, and most of them are free men and are unarmed.¡± Said Philesius.

    ¡°Mersis!¡± Shouted Davos.

    Mersis came in a hurry.

    ¡°How many javelins do we have left?¡±

    ¡°Five hundred and twenty-six. These two days, the cksmith shop in Thurii urgently made them, and all the money we made in the market was spent on making these weapons¡­¡± Comined Mersis.

    At this time, Davos is not interested in listening to his nagging, and said to Philesius, ¡°Give each of them a javelin, then assign several people to each unit and have them participate in the defense!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Philesius then walked towards the defeated soldiers.

    Mersis stood still.

    Davos understand what he was hesitating about, and immediately said, ¡°Once the javelin is used, we will retrieve them back. Besides, the Lucanians will send us their weapons!¡±

    This immediately made Mersis smile, and he immediately told the ves to carry the weapons in the camp. Out of his trust in Davos, he did not consider at all that the mercenaries might not be able to defeat the enemy, and their camp would be upied.

    The mercenaries stood behind the wooden wall without any worries, as they calmly watched the enemies who were flooding towards their camp. They even have the time to educate the new recruits.

    ¡°Now, do you think that it''s not necessary too build such aplex camp?¡± Asked Matonis with a smile.

    ¡°It''s necessary!¡± He said excitedly, ¡°Now, I hope that these savages can taste the traps that I dug!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While relying on the wooden wall, the mercenaries seize the time to recover a bit of their stamina, while preparing to happily watch a y. The fifth hoplite unit of Hielos, because they did not participate in the previous battle, wish for the enemy to rush over and start fighting them.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Once the warriors of Pyxous separated from the army of Grumentum, they immediately pursued eastward.

    Gennat ran at the forefront, and the mercenary camp entered his sight, and he roared, ¡°CHARGE! KILL THEM ALL!!¡±

    The warriors roared in session, and their fatigue seemed to disperse with their roar, and charge faster.

    ¡°Captain, the Lucanians are less than 200 meters away from the camp!¡± The leader of the archer troops shouted to Arpernst.

    ¡°Remind me once they enter 100 meters!¡± Replied Arpenst, then he turned around and gave orders to the slingers behind him, ¡°Get ready!¡±

    The slingers had to wait under the wall due to the walkway behind the wall being too narrow for them to spread out. At this time, they, one by one silently took out an egg sized rocks from their leather bags and ce them into the pocket in the middle of their slings.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    100 meters!

    The soldiers on the wooden wall were all staring ahead and could not help but cheer when they saw many Lucanians stepping into the mark location.

    Gennat didn''t know what the Greek''s in the camp said, but he subconsciously raised the round shield in his hand. During their pursuit, many of their warriors thought that the round shield is too heavy and affected their speed, and so they threw it away. But he still kept it.

    ¡°Greeks, you will soon be silenced!¡± He murmured viciously, but suddenly, his right foot was hurt.

    ¡°There are traps!¡± He was shocked and instinctively pulled back his foot, but a more severe pain came, which made him unable to speak. Looking down, arge piece of flesh was torn off in his right calf, and bled. Looking at the barren grass, there is a sharp iron thorn with a barb, about 30cm long, that was obliquely inserted into the soil. He tried to pull it hard, but he couldn''t pull it out. He then strike thepact soil and then saw that the lower end of the thorn was tightly attached into a piece of wood, which was deeply buried in the soil. No wonder that it could tear off his flesh and skin so easily.

    ¡°Vicious Greeks!¡­¡± Cursed Gennat, as he tore a piece of linen from his body, and wrapped it around his injured leg, then supported himself up with his spear as he resisted the pain and shouted, ¡°Be careful, there are iron barbs on the ground!!¡±

    But his warning came toote. Many warriors fell to the ground and screamed, while the mercenaries on the wooden wall cheered loudly when they heard their screams, ¡°The barb works! Another one fell for it again!¡­¡±

    The veterans proudly told the recruits that this is the masterpiece of their leader, Davos, so that the recruits will be awed. As a matter of fact, this is the standard configuration of the Roman garrison. Davos learned this from the military history forum, although this kind of trap seems to be not very lethal. In fact, the injury on the foot in enough to make a soldier lose his ability to fight during the cold weapon era.

    The Lucanian warriors that cane afterwards, saw this tragedy and naturally became more careful. They bent down, and searched carefully among the weeds and rocks, and moved forward slowly to avoid those terrible traps. Who knew that the range attack of the mercenaries came immediately. Although the slingers could not see the enemy, they still have the archers to observe on the sentry tower and in addition, therge number of the warriors of Pyxous, made their uracy not reduce. In order to avoid these rocks, it was impossible for them to pay attention to the ground under their feet, and so the warriors of Pyxous were either hit by the rocks or got stabbed by the iron barbs¡­

    After struggling for tens of meters, they encountered a more terrible trap ¨C the mercenaries called it the ¡°tombstone¡±. It''s a hole about 1.5 meters deep, under which are sharp wooden pikes buried, and was covered by loose soil. If they step on it carelessly, and with the effect of gravity, the sharp wooden pikes is enough to pierce through the soles of their feet¡­

    When Cincinnag, the great leader of Pyxous, arrived. He saw countless warriors falling to the ground and covering their feet. The voice of mourning resounded most of the time, and the other warriors standing hundred of meters away from the enemy camp, have their face filled with fear and hesitated to move forward¡­

    ¡°What''s the matter?! Why are you not attacking?!¡± Cincinnag asked angrily, and looked at the countless warriors who fell on the ground.

    ¡°Father.¡± Using the spear as his crutch, Gennat walked up to him step by step and said as hement, ¡°These despicable Greeks haveid out many traps outside of their camp, we¡­many of our warriors have gotten injured and yet, we still couldn''t get into their camp.¡±

    ¡°Warrior?! So all of you can also be called warriors!!¡± Cincinnag''s swearing made everyone around him look down in shame.

    Looking at his most highly regarded son, made him in a difficult position and embarrassed. His son''s normally vigorous expression was reced by tiredness and loss. Cincinnag became more distressed and his tone became softer, ¡°How is your injury?¡±

    ¡°It''s okay father, this is just a flesh wound.¡± Gennat forced himself and said, ¡°Just that¡­there are too many casualties among our people¡­can''t¡­we can''t attack anymore¡­¡±

    Cincinnag nodded a bit, and looked at the mercenary camp not far away, and thought of the casualties that these mercenaries had caused to his soldiers. A sense of hatred welled inside him, ¡°Have the Brutians attack!¡±

    After the defeat of the Greek army, the warriors of Vergae did not have the same impulse as the Pyxous for revenge, and so their speed in pursuing was not fast. Therefore, they arrived at the same time as Cincinnag, and the tragic appearance of the warriors of Pyxous entered into their sight. However, under the low eaves they must bow their heads*, and as the leader of the city of Vergae, Sedrum epted the order of Cincinnag, but he made a request to borrow the round shield of the warrior of Pyxous. (T/L note: chinese proverb meaning that they are controlled by others and so they have to bow their heads and obey.)

    And Cincinnag agreed.

    Pyxous gave orders to Vergae and in order for them to not make them angry, they could only endure it and prove to them that they are better than Pyxous. They learned from the experience of Pyxous and did not walk on the grasnd. Instead, they only charge in the narrow and t passage in front of the enemy camp. They protected their heads tightly with their round shields and formed a long line, then advance cautiously.

 Chapter 85: Contradiction

    The rocks of the enemies are all blocked by the round shield, and so they did not get harmed. The warriors are also d that they found the right way. After another ten meters, they only have less than 50 meters until the gate of the camp.

    But then, the four sentry towers behind the wall in the west of the mercenary camp began attacking them. The arrows that pours down from different angles made it not easy for them to block, and if they try to move the round shield to prevent the arrows from their sides, they would then get hit by the enemies'' rocks. As they have all gathered in the middle path, it allowed the archers and the slingers of the mercenary to just concentrate their firepower, due to that, the arrows and the rocks hit them from all direction like hail. In an instant, dozens of their people were killed, and the vanguard of Vergae were almost destroyed, which scared the rest of them and made them forget the experience of Pyxous as they fled. As a result, the traps of the mercenaries made new contributions, and in a short time, hundred of Vergae were killed.

    No matter how much Cincinnag urged, Sedrum did not continue their offense.

    The mercenaries were overjoyed to see the enemy flee in a panic, but when the enemy stopped attacking, they became dissatisfied once more. After all, fighting back against the enemy were mainly due to the traps and the peltast. They couldn''t even touch a single hair of the enemy, and so they started shouting and swearing at them due to their dissatisfaction.

    Seeing this situation, Davos nodded to himself, ¡®the soldiers morale is still there!¡¯

    He didn''t expect that the relentless and aggressive attack of the enemy would stop so quickly, even if there are trenches in front of the camp. If he thought about it more carefully, he would find that after the previous battle, the Lucanians have consumed a lot of their energy and stamina. It is only due to the stimtion of victory and revenge that allowed them to maintain the strong desire to fight. As a matter of fact, these tribes are not good at siege battle, and they will calm down after suffering setbacks in front of the fortified camp of the mercenary of Davos.

    Davos analyzed the situation of the war and added this experience for future defensive operation. At the same time, he sent Asistes through the passage towards the camp of Drakos to learn about the situation of the war.

    The information that he got back is also gratifying: due to the enthusiasm of the expeditionary soldiers in building their camp, Drakos, Adrien and Sesta had also led their soldiers to dig deeper trenches outside their camp and to reinforce their walls. Although they weren''t able to arrangeplex andplicated traps (this requires certain technical ability and experience), it is still enough to make the pursuing enemy suffer. After all, Taranto''s reinforcement has also retreated into their camp, which helped the defeated mercenaries to recover their morale quickly.

    The soldiers of Nerulum and Laus attacked for a while, but after suffering some casualties, they found that the defense of the mercenary is tight, and when they learned that they couldn''t beat them immediately, they naturally gave up their offense, and so they are obviously much smarter than the Pyxous who wanted revenge.

    After they ensured their security, Davos'' attention is no longer focused on the gradually calmed battlefield. As he needed to calm down in order to think on what they should do next.

    If they couldn''t do a decisive battle, then it will be very difficult for the Lucanians to capture the city of Thurii. Davos had visited it many times, and the six meter wide moat and the ten meter high wall are very difficult for the Lucanians whock siege equipment and experience. Besides, they also don''t have any boat, so they can''te and go freely on the river Crati.

    The Lucanians will never set up an army just to win a battle. Their purpose should be to upy the in of Sybaris, build a camp, herd their cattle and sheep, and grow wheat on this t and fertilend¡­

    The Thurians lost a lot in these two battles. Obviously, they couldn''t fight back against the invasion of the Lucania for the time being. But they also have the in on the south back of the river Crati, and so they couldst for some time, while they umte their strength, recruit soldiers and fight back¡­

    But this situation is not good for the mercenaries of Davos who are on the north bank of the river Crati. Their defeat on this battle have not only affected his next n, but also made the mercenaries the target of the Lucanians. At the same time, Davos did not want to be a pawn of the Thurians in holding back the attack of the Lucanians for them. But having him lead his troops to leave here, and leave Magna Graecia, is also uneptable! Here are all their hopes, dreams and ambitions! Davos can''t stand leaving without seeding and to once more fight for survival!¡­what should he do¡­what should he do?¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The other one who is also worried is Vespa, the Lucanian leader that upied the city of Amendra, because he did not respond to the order of Grumentum to send troops for this war. He wanted to wait for the result of the war between the two armies before deciding and so they stayed. But when he learned that there were more than 15,000 warriors in the Lucanian alliance and had easily defeated Thurii, did he only start to panic. He hurriedly called the several elders to discuss a countermeasures, then asked the priest to make a divination. Which made Vespa, who had a heated discussion and preliminary countermeasures, to feel a bit relieved.

    He then sent an envoy and a small groups of warriors to transport a team pack with wine and food to the ins of Sybaris. He hoped that this friendly way of rewarding the tribal alliance of Lucania could get him a bit understanding from the leader of Grumentum and willy some foundation for him to beg for forgiveness. If the envoy feels that the situation is not good, then they could only escape back to the mountains at night.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After being defeated, Cincinnag is still unwilling and have sent his people to the east, south, and north of the mercenary camp to scout. But the result is disheartening: not only were there traps, trenches, and sentries, but there is also a passage in the north that connects with the nearby camp, so they could get timely support.

    Then he drop his illusion and stand down with his people, waiting for the arrival of Akpir.

    After waiting for a long time, Akpir finally led his army to them. After all, it''s not easy to gather the six thousand warriors that have scatted to pursue the fleeing soldiers of Thurii.

    The warriors of Grumentum killed all the soldiers outside of Thurii, and some of the warriors have red eyes, as they have been forced to cross the moat and invaded the city of Thurii. But the result is, the people of Thurii who shared the same hatred with the people at the city wall have angrily attacked them with arrows, javelins and rocks, and so they could only hurriedly retreat in panic.

    Seeing this situation, Akpir also took a break from trying his luck below the city of Thurii. Therefore, he had to reorganize his troops and rushed to joined with the others, but when he saw that most of the warriors of Pyxous were wounded and tired, he was surprised and asked why.

    Cincinnag told him how his people fought bravely, but the mercenaries they met were very vicious and cunning¡­and so on. At the same time, theyined about the Vergae''s passiveness and negligent in this battle, and even the criminal act of killing the Lucanians during the fighting.

    Sedrum, the leader of Vergae, didn''t expect that Cincinnag wouldin first. He hurriedly cried out for being wronged, and also said angrily, ¡°Leader Akpir, you must know that it is not that we did not fought with all our strength, but it''s due to leader Cincinnag being too confident, and thought that only the bravery of the warriors of Pyxous is enough to defeat the left wing of the Greeks, and so he has arrange the warriors of Vergae to be ce in the rear. He is the leader of the right wing, so I can only obey his order. On the contrary, when the front line of Pyxous was about to fall, it is the warriors of Vergae who fought bravely and helped the Pyxous to stabilize the situation and save our right wing. Therefore, we Vergae have made great contributions to the victory of this war! As for us killing the Pyxous warriors, it is because their fleeing warriors are disrupting the formation of the right wing, and so, in order to prevent them from fleeing, we have force them to rejoin the battle. In fact, not many Pyxous got wounded, and it is only due to our emergency approach that the right wing was able to finally defeat the enemy. And we have also suffered hundreds of casualties while trying to attack the camp of the Greeks¡­¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! If it weren''t for you, Brutians being unwilling at first, then how could we fought a lot harder! Just now, when we were attacking the Greek camp, you Vergae people arrivedst!¡± Shouted Cincinnag angrily, ¡°Gennat, tell us, how many of our warriors that got killed by Vergae?!¡±

    Gennat hesitated for a bit, and, under his father''s sharp gaze, he muttered, ¡°About¡­about 150 warriors, and all of them got¡­stabbed by a spear from behind.¡±

    When Gennat finished talking, both the Pyxous and the Vergae started ring at each other, and the atmosphere became quite tense¡­

 Chapter 86: Undercurrent

    Both Cincinnag and Sedrum looked at Akpir.

    Akpir watched all this and he knew very well that the Vergaean did indeed not fight with all their might. After all, they are Brutians and not Lucanians. Of course, what Sedrum said might also be true, that they saved the right wing and contributed to them winning this battle! He also knew Cincinnag very well, he is greedy for petty stuff and likes to bullies the weak and is afraid of the strong. Even though it''s his duty to reward and punish him, but he can''t really do it ording to their agreement. Pyxous is the most important ally of Grumentum, as it is only with their support that Grumentum had be so powerful today. Moreover, Pyxous is also a powerful tribe in Lucania, criticizing or even punishing the leader of Pyxous in front of the Brutians will inevitably lead to the dissatisfaction of Pyxous and will cause the Lucanian tribal alliance to break apart.

    The Brutians inhabited areas bordered the south of Lucania, and their tribes are not unified. Therefore, their strength is weaker, which naturally made them the next target of Grumentum''s expedition after they defeat Thurii and upy the in of Sybaris. Vergae is the most adjacent city of the Brutians to the territory of Lucania, and them actively surrendering(under the threat of the army of the Lucanian alliance) gave Grumentum a springboard to enter the Brutti region, and so he can''t treat them too harshly. However, he can''t just make his position unclear, because Lucania is the master, while the Brutians are doomed to be enved!¡­

    After making up his mind, he slowly said, ¡°Winning this battle is the result of our joint efforts! Therefore, after we upy this ce, I will give you spoils ording to your performance! But-¡± His sharp gaze made Sedrum''s heart tremble, ¡°As an ally, killing yourrades is an ugly act of breaking your promise, and the gods will punish you! So, Vergae must pay a fine enough to satisfy Pyxous topensate for their loss! At the same time, we will offer the same number of Vergaean to be buried!¡±

    ¡°WHAT!!!¡± Hearing this, all the warriors of Vergae yelled in anger.

    The warriors of Grumentum and Pyxous then immediately surrounded them.

    ¡°Sedrum, do you agree or disagree with my decision?¡± Akpir stared at the great leader of Vergae with cold gaze.

    Sedrum stayed silent as he bowed his head, while clenching his fist, his face turned pale and his forehead was covered with sweat.

    ¡°Great leader, you must not agree! The Lucanians have bullied us too much, so we should not obey them! Let''s just go back!!¡± Salu yelled in anger.

    ¡°Yes! Let''s go back! Great leader, Let''s just go back!!¡­¡± Said the warriors of Vergae.

    ¡°Go back?!¡± Cincinnag sneered at them and said to Akpir, ¡°You see, these Brutians are not reliable. They want to quit the alliance that they have sworn to the gods to join so quickly! In this case, it''s better to¡­¡±

    Hearing this, Sedrum was shocked. He suddenly raised his head, and saw the sneering face of Cincinnag and the cold expression of Akpir.

    As he looked around, the Lucanians surrounded his people with their shields and spears. Although the warriors of Vergae desperately struggled, they are too few and they only wore leather armor, and they did not even have any shields and only have their speard. Their equipment is too simple¡­the fingernails of Sedrum dug deep into his palms¡­as he struggled to squeeze out a sentence, ¡°I¡­I agree¡­¡±

    ¡°Great leader!!¡­¡± The cry of the warriors of Vergae is like a hammer that struck the already fragile heart of Sedrum. He staggered a few steps and sat down on the ground.

    ¡°It''s up to Wudlei to supervise the execution of their punishment.¡± Said Akpir, as he choose a neutral person as he is worried about them causing a riot due to Cincinnag stimting the Brutians.

    ¡°Alright.¡± Answered Wudlei, the leader of Nerulum.

    ¡°When we upy this ce, I will allocate a piece ofnd in the ins of Sybris to you Sedrum, so that your people can graze here, as thisnd is a much more fertile than thend of you Brutians!¡± After Akpir punished them, he then gave Vergae the carrot.

    ¡°Great leader¡­thank you¡­¡± Sedrum held his grief and said his thanks.

    Instead of waiting for Cincinnag to speak, Akpir asked kindly, ¡°Gennat, my dear child, how is your injury?¡±

    Gennat endured the pain and straightened his chest, ¡°Leader, I''m okay. It''s just a flesh wound.¡±

    ¡°That''s good. You should protect yourself more, since I don''t want my daughter to be a widow at such a young age, and I am still waiting for my grandson!¡± Laughed Akpir, and the warriors around him alsoughed together, which made Gennat a bit embarrassed and shy.

    Cincinnag breathed a sigh of relief, because Akpir still attached great importance to Gennat, and his promise to Pyxous would not change due to this setback.

    ¡°So the best warrior of Lucania has been humiliated by a much smaller number of Greeks!¡± A sarcastic voice came together with theughter of the soldiers.

    Gennat followed the direction of this voice and saw that it was Seville, a tribal leader in the city of Grumentum. He had proposed to the daughter of Akpir, but the great leader married his daughter to Gennat for the sake of tribal interest. And from then on, Seville didn''t have a good opinion of him.

    Gennat, unwilling to show weakness, said, ¡°If you have the ability, then why don''t you try capturing this camp!¡±

    ¡°Alright, I will show you the power of the warriors of Grumentum!¡± Seville was excited and did not refuse. He turned around and called, ¡°Brothers-¡±

    ¡°That''s enough!¡± Akpir''s deep and dignified voice immediately stopped the young leader''s impulse, ¡°Let''s go back to our camp!¡±

    As soon as his voice fades away, Cincinnag cried out, ¡°Go back now?! We aren''t going to continue attacking this camp?¡±

    Akpir looked up at the sky and said, ¡°It''s almost dusk. Our warriors are very tired, and we have killed thest citizen soldier outside of Thurii, and they won''t be able to stop us from taking root in thisnd. When we go back, we will have the wounded rest and recover our strength and to prepare equipment. Tomorrow, we will build a city here, a city of Lucania!¡± Akpir''s voice became a bit agitated, ¡°These mercenaries are not worth our concern at all. If they dare toe out, then we will defeat them, and if they don''te out, then we will just block them so that they will not get any support from Thurii, and will doomed themselves. As for Taranto''s reinforcement, it is said that the rtionship between Taranto and the Messapians is currently tense, so they won''t be able to stay long here!¡±

    The others were lost in thought.

    Wudlei asked, ¡°Akpir, are we not going to Amendra?¡±

    ¡°Tomorrow.¡± Although he didn''t pay attention to the mercenaries on the surface, theirbat strength still surprised him. The tribe that captured Amendra did not join them ording to his order, but if he led his army to Amendra at this moment, then they will likely refuse to open their gates. Although their strength is 10 times than that of the other party, the Lucanians are not good with siege. Besides, the city is a mountain city, if they couldn''t capture it quickly, once eveninges, their warriors will be extremely tired and won''t be able to eat, and there is still the threat of the mercenaries and Taranto''s reinforcement behind them. Besides that, there is also a group of unstable Vergaean in their midst, and Akpir is afraid that something unexpected will happen. Why should the Lucanian alliance take such a risk in exchange for a steady and assured victory.

    ¡°If that tribal leader in Amendra is smart, then they should go back to the mountains as they had done back then. Otherwise, I will make them know who has the final say in the region of Lucania.¡± A ruthless sneer appeared on Akpir''s face.

    Hearing this, Cincinnag''s face twitched a few times.

 Chapter 87: Choice

    The Lucanians retreated.

    As the soldiers cheered, Philesius came to the camp''s main quarter to meet Davos, but he saw him absorbed drawing something on the ground with a wooden stick. Sometimes he will raised his head to think of something, and sometimes he will anxiously walked back and forth, unaware of the outside world.

    Philesius called him a few times, but seeing that there is no response, he simply just stood aside and watch him. He then poke his head to see what Davos was drawing. On the ground is a rough and messy, and could barely be discerned topographic map around Thurii, the river Crati and its tributary, the river Coscile. The square at the intersection of the two rivers should represent the city of Thurii¡­but he doesn''t know what this thin line refer to. ¡®This thin line that is connected to the river Cosceli, is it river Tiro? And what are the dots and circles around river Tiro represent?¡­¡¯

    Just as he was about to think harder, he suddenly heard Davos shouting something in a strangenguage. He looked up and saw his very excited expression and his face flushed red.

    Did he just talk to Hades just now? Philesius thought of some of the rumors, which jolted his heart.

    ¡°Philesius, you just came in time. Go and tell all the captains, and squad leaders toe for a meeting.¡± Davos said suddenly, and the unquestionable firmness of his voice shocked Philesius.

    After Philesius left, Davos took a deep look at the patterns on the ground, and once again said in a firm tone, ¡°Whether we seed or failed, I will bet it all here!¡±

    He stretched out his foot and wiped away the patterns on the ground. He resolutely sat on the wooden chair in the middle of the main quarter. While waiting for his tense and excited mood to calm down, as he await for the arrival of his officers.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    During the construction of the camp, Davos expanded his quarter to meet the needs for the war. However, when dozens of officers stood inside his quarter, the space inside is still very narrow, but no one cared about it. As they are more worried on where they will go once they lose this battle. Previously, they didn''t have the time to think about it due to them needing to fight, but now, every officers are worried and so their gaze are all fixed on Davos, and hope that their leader who led them out of trouble and constantly created miracles can show them their way.

    ¡°Brothers.¡± Said Davos, ¡°We were defeated. And although the Lucanians have retreated, they will stille again tomorrow. The Lucanians had long wanted to upy this fertile in of Sybaris. For this reason, theyunched two battles against Thurii and defeated them at great cost. As a result, Thurii suffered huge damage and hid inside their city, and the Lucanians will never give up on the in of Sybaris! So what should we do?¡±

    Davos looked around at everyone, but he did not want them to argue at this time due to the time being short, and continued, ¡°Although I haven''t publicly said it, I''m afraid that all of you have already know, because you all have been working hard for it. Yes, Amendra is my target! It''s the city that I chose for us in Magna Graecia! It''s our future home!!¡±

    Most of the officers were calm and only a few were surprised.

    ¡°But if the Lucanians takes over the in of Sybaris, then even if we capture Amendra, it will then be the focus of their attack! Because our number is too small and the weakest, and they also bear a grudge against us! Even if we beat them back once more like we did today, as long as they are here, they will always be a great threat to us! So what should we do?¡± Asked Davos a second time.

    ¡°It goes without saying, it is to defeat them!¡± There was someone that shouted during this silence, and it is the voice of Matonis.

    ¡°You are right! In fact, the Lucanians are not as strong as what Thurii had said. As long as they scattered, we can defeat them!¡± Amintas also loudly said.

    These two brave officers can charge fearlessly even when faced with enemy ten times their number.

    But Kapus, Alexis, Philesius and the others obviously don''t agree with their ideas and are trying to refute them.

    Davosughed, ¡°Well said, we must attack the Lucanian alliance, but it is not to attack the scattered ones, but to annihte them in one fell swoop! Only in this way will we be able to settle down in Amendra with a peace of mind, and to deter the obstruction of Thurii and other forces, so that we can freely nt wheat and graze animals on thend of Amendra!¡±

    Annihting the Lucanian alliance?!! Everyone was stricken dumb with amazement.

    ¡°Leader, we only have 2000 soldiers. Even if we surround them, we won''t be able to do it. How could we annihte the Lucanians that have tens of thousands of warriors?¡± Philesius'' words voiced the doubts of all officers that are present.

    ¡°It is not only us, but there are also Taranto''s reinforcement and the mercenaries of Drakos.¡±

    ¡°Even if you add them, it''s only 6000. While the Lucanians have more than twice the troops than us!¡± Said Kapus, while shaking his head.

    ¡°Are the reinforcement from Taranto and the other mercenaries even willing to attack the Lucanians?¡± Antonios ask the main problem.

    ¡°They don''t know yet, but I''m confident that I will be able to persuade them to agree!¡± Davos looked at everyone with confidence. Seeing that they were still full of doubts, he then added in a loud voice, ¡°Brothers, remember this, ¡®victory or defeat of a war is not determined by the number of soldiers, but depends on the quality of the soldiers, their level of morale and the quality of their weapons¡­and the most important thing is to work out a feasible and careful n, to let us lead the enemy by the nose, restrain the enemy''s advantage, and give full strength to our advantage in order to get the final victory!¡±

    Everyone are absorbed in their thoughts.

    Amintas impatiently urge, ¡°Leader Davos, tell us about your n!¡±

    ¡°Asistes, go and get the map of Thurii.¡± Davos ordered.

    Asistes immediately brought the map that had been carefully drawn on a parchment some days ago after their repeated reconnaisance.

    Davos spread the map on the wooden table, and everyone gathered at once.

    ¡°Please look¡­this is the camp of the Lucanian, this is the river Tiro¡­¡± Pointing to the points and lines on the map, Davos then spoke slowly and in details to exin his n.

    Everyone carefully listened and pondered.

    When Davos finished speaking, there was a silence.

    Then, they began to quietly discussed in small groups.

    Davos waited quietly for a moment and said, ¡°Brothers, this n, is it feasible?¡±

    ¡°Leader.¡± Alexis sincerely praised him, ¡°I have never seen such a wonderful idea. This is simply an ingenious n!¡±

    ¡°Alexis is right. ording to this n, not only will the advantage of the enemy due to theirrge number be remove, but will also allow us to easily exert our strength!¡±

    ¡°Our leader is really worthy of being our leader. Our great leader. The favored of Hades!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    For a moment, words of ttery is thrown.

    Davos seriously said, ¡°This is not the time for ttery, as this is a critical moment of our life and death! So let''s talk about your opinions. We need to gather our wisdom to ovee this difficulties and win!¡±

    Everyone look at each other. Alexis coughed a few times, and his expression became serious, and first said, ¡°Leader, ording to your n, the first thing we need to solve is how to lure our enemies¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After their heated discussion, the battle n was finally set, and the atmosphere in the main quarter became warm.

    ¡°Brothers, the war is about to begin! Go back and tell the soldiers, tell them what we have been concealing! This war is not for Thurii, nor for the officers, BUT FOR THEMSELVES, FOR THE LAND WE ALL DREAM OFF!! HADES WILL BLESS US!!!¡±

    ¡°WHOAAA!!!¡± Davos'' stirring words ignited everyone''s emotion. Even a person with a warm and watery nature like Philesius is now burning with the me of hope at this moment¡­

 Chapter 88: Allies

    When Archytas walked into the camp, cheers came from every tent that he passed. The air was filled with excitement and happiness, even if a man is downhearted he will also be infected. He could not help but exim, ¡®This mercenaries is indeed a powerful force that has experienced many battles and became the headache of Persia!¡¯ during the day, he saw it with his own eyes how these mercenaries attacked the Lucanians with their novel tactics and fierce assaults. and what was moremendable is how they are able to maintain such a high morale even after getting defeated in battle!

    Archytas desired to see Davos immediatey grew even more.

    As soon as he arrived outside his quarter, the young man who made him have favorable impression went out to meet him, and said, ¡°Strategos Arhytas, we are going to attack the Lucanian alliance tomorrow, so I hope that we could get the help of Taranto''s reinforcement.¡±

    Archytas couldn''t believe what he just heard, ¡°¡­do you mean to attack the Lucanians?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Is it the 15,000 Lucanian army in the west, and not the ones in Amendra?¡± Archytas asked once more.

    ¡°That''s right, it''s the Lucanian alliance that is in the west!¡± Davos nodded.

    After receiving an affirmative answer, Archytas stared at Davos for a long time, and reluctantly suppressed his excitement, and said, ¡°¡­what are you nning to do?¡±

    ¡°Come on, let''s enter inside to discuss.¡± Davos quickly brought Archytas to his quarter, they arrive at the map and told his ns in detail¡­

    Archytas held his chin and thought for a long time, then slowly said, ¡°I have to say that this is a very bold n, which almost uses the troops to the extreme. Moreover, this is certainly feasible, which is very tempting for me¡­¡±

    ¡°So, will Taranto''s reinforcement join?¡± Asked Davos.

    Although Archytas didn''t speak, Davos was not worried. After a long silence, Archytas saw that Davos was still calm and could not help but say, ¡°It seems that you are already sure that I will agree.¡±

    ¡°I have heard that Heraclea is an ally of Taranto. If we win tomorrow, Taranto will not have to worry about the west anymore, and you can just focus in dealing with the Messapians.¡± Davos said slowly. In fact, his words are more courteous. Heraclea is not only an ally of Taranto, but is actually a subordinate controlled by Taranto. 20 years ago, their higher ups were either immigrants of Taranto or was directly assigned by Taranto. Although Heraclea is nearly no longer the subordinate of Taranto as before, their influence on Heraclea is still strong, and regards Heraclea as its barrier to the west. If the Lucanians were to upy the in of Sybaris and the neighboring Amendra, then the threat to Heraclea would be too great even to the northern Metapontum, which is an important reason for Taranto''s reinforcement.

    Archytas finally nodded, ¡°Taranto is very happy to fight side by side with the Greek warriors of the Persian expedition!¡±

    ¡°This is really wonderful. It is due to Taranto''s reinforcements that you led that I dare put forward this n, because you are great with battle!¡± Davos said it from the bottom of his heart.

    After they discussed the details, Archytas suddenly said, ¡°Davos, I have a suggestion for you to consider.¡±

    ¡°Please say it.¡± Davos was surprised at Archytas seriousness.

    ¡°Whether we win or lose the next battle, I sincerely invite you to be a citizen of Taranto! And I will fully rmend you to the elder and hope that you will take an important administrative position.¡± Archytas made a seriousmitment.

    Davos didn''t expect Archytas to make such a request, which caught him off guard, ¡°¡­well¡­well, I have heard that it''s hard for an outsider to be a citizen of a great city.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Archytas frankly nodded, but then he added, ¡°However, people with extraordinary talents like you will be warmly invited in any city-states of Magna Graecia! After all, this is not Athens, and we are all colonies. The main thing is that they should have the vision to discover talents!¡± Archytas pointed to his eyes with pride.

    ¡°Only just me, and not including my brothers?¡± Davos though of a reason to refuse.

    ¡°If too many people join Taranto, then neither the archon nor the elder will decide, as we would need to hold an lesia to make a collective vote, which is very difficult.¡± Said Archytas in embarrassment.

    ¡°Thank you for the invitation, after the battle tomorrow, I will seriously consider this issue.¡± Said Davos, while pretending to be serious.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Due to the invitation of Davos, Adrien, Sesta and even Drakos came.

    Davos told them about his n, and all three were shocked.

    In today''s battle, they are not like Taranto''s reinforcements and Davos'' mercenaries that have lost less. They have suffered 400 casualties, specially the troops of Drakos. For those with only 2000 people, it could be said that they have been injured, so if they were to agree on the request of Davos, then their casualties would be even greater. Therefore, Adrien and Sesta are a bit hesitant.

    ¡°Leader Davos, I am willing to participate in the battle tomorrow!¡± Drakos, who had been depressed all the time, said suddenly, which startled the other two.

    ¡°The Lucanians are not terrifying, but the Thurians have dragged us down today. I believe that fighting with you tomorrow will make them taste defeat!¡± Said Drakos reluctantly.

    Davos did not expect that the first one to agree would be Drakos, who had previously fought against him, which made him look at this leader''s desire to fight and toughness. Seeing that the other two were still hesitating, he immediately added, ¡°This battle against the Lucanians is not for the crappy payment of Thurii, but to win back Amendra and be its master after defeating the Lucanians!¡±

    Davos'' words once more shocked them.

    ¡°Are you sure you will be able to capture the city of Amendra?¡± Sesta asked in astonishment.

    ¡°We have attacked many fortified viges in Persia. A small mountain city won''t pose a problem!¡± Davos said confidently, ¡°At that time, we will invite you to be citizens of Amendra, acquire thend there andy a foundation in the rich Magna Graecia! Of course, if you just want to go back to the war-torn and impoverished Iona, then just think that I haven''t said anything.¡±

    ¡°You¡­.really mean it?! ¡­really let us obtainnds?¡± Adrien stutteringly asked.

    ¡°Of course, this is what we all yearned!¡± Said Davos.

    ¡°But¡­but¡­¡± Adrien, calmed his excitement, and asked, ¡°Is there no objection from Thurii and Taranto?¡±

    ¡°Thurii has been hit hard, and they have no ability to oppose it.¡± Sneered Davos, ¡°As for Taranto, maybe they will be even happier that we do this because we have the ability to defend Amendra and protect the western border of Taranto from the encroachment of the mountain tribes.¡±

    The three looked at each other and said at the same time, ¡°We are willing to join!¡±

    ¡°Great!¡± Davos said happily, ¡°Now we are a family! Let''s fight together for our own future!¡±

    After discussing the details of the n, Davos told them to keep it confidential and not let Taranto know about it for the time being.

    After seeing off the three men, Davos prepared to let some freemen who were going back to Thurii to return. After that, he was going to asked Burkes toe to the camp quickly and discuss urgent matters. Unexpectedly, the guard came in and announced, ¡°Burkes is outside of the camp and has asked to meet you.¡±

    Davos was surprised and immediately think about the urgent needs that the town hall and the council of Thurii for him.

    Sure enough, as soon as Burkes entered his quarter, he couldn''t wait and asked, ¡°Leader Davos, do you still intend to carry out our original agreement?¡±

    Davos looked puzzled and said, ¡°I am a man who keeps his promise, but the problem now is that we lost the battle. When my troops retreated, a lot of our weapons are lost and a lot of my soldiers are injured. Tomorrow, the Lucanians will defely carry out arge scale attack here! My troops are currentlycking weapons and manpower, I''m afraid that we won''t be able to resist. Before you came, my officers had just finished discussing it with me, and they proposed to leave here, even if we don''t get paid!¡±

 Chapter 89: Luring the enemies into an ambush

    ¡°How can that be! You have sworn to the gods!¡± Burkes entreated eagerly, ¡°Leader Davos, please! Have your soldiers stay and help Thurii! Payment¡­we will double your payment! Lack of weapons¡­there are a lot more in Thurii, I will immediately get it for you! Lack of people¡­the battle today, as you can see, Thurii suffered more than 2000 casualties, there is no one left!¡± Burkes cried and nearly fell to his knees.

    But the expression of Davos turned cold.

    Burkes then said in a hurry, ¡°Let me think again¡­think again¡­oh¡­although there is none left in Thurii, there are still enough ves that are mining in the mines. They are all young men and are rtively strong, so we can give you as much as you want!¡±

    Davos touched his chin and thought for a long time before he said with reluctance, ¡°¡­hmm¡­but we don''t have food to support these ves.¡±

    ¡°There is enough grains and meat in Thurii, so we can give you as much as you want!¡± As long as Davos promised to stay, he can put forward any request to Burkes, as he seemed to try his best to satisy Davos¡­

    On that night, the whole of Thurii was busy. In order to survive, the people braved their grief and drove hundreds of cargo ship full of weapons, food, ves and tents (Because Taranto''s reinforcements refused to enter the city and were willing to stay in the camp of the mercenary, so they had to prepare tents for them) and sent them to the simple wharf at the estuary¡­

    Davos ordered Mersis to lead his men in the camp to take over the goods and let the soldiers rest early to recover their energy¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just before dawn, the mercenaries in front of Davos'' camp had finished their formation. Davos inspected them before the battle, and their high spirited morale made him nod his head.

    ¡°Matonis, are you ready?¡± Looking at his oldrades that is in front him, made Davos asked.

    ¡°I can''t wait!¡± Shouted Matonis.

    ¡°In a while, there will be plenty of enemies to fight, and on average, each of our brothers has to kill three enemies to ensure our victory. Are you sure?¡± Asked Davos with a smile.

    ¡®YES!!!¡¯ The soldiers around shouted in unison, mixed with the unwillingness of Matonis, ¡°Three is not enough for me!¡±

    Davosughed, turned around and mounted the horse led by Asistes, he came to the front of the army, and in the face of countless excited and hopeful eyes, he yelled, ¡°Brothers, I see hope in your gazes, and after today''s battle, I hope that you will turn that hope into reality! HADES WILL BLESS US!¡±

    ¡°FOR VICTORY!¡±

    ¡°FOR VICTORY!!¡±

    ¡°FOR VICTORY!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the endless shouting, Davos seriously said to Philesius, ¡°I await for your good news!¡±

    ¡°Leader, rest assured, with the blessing of Hades, we will seed!¡± Said Philesius excitedly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Seeing his troops that were heading north disappeared in the morning mist, Davos took a long breath, and knew that the war that decide his fate was about to begin¡­

    ¡°Asi, let''s go back to the camp! Start our preparations!¡± He eximed in an energetic and excited tone.

    ¡°Yes!!¡± Asistes'' response was equally energetic.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Hey, do you hear that? There seems to be an army marching.¡± The guards on the walls of Thurii reminded theirpanions.

    ¡°Did the Lucanians came to attack us?!¡± Another guard, of course, heard the sound and said in rm.

    ¡°Ring the rms and inform the citizens!¡± The guards ran to the gate tower.

    But when the citizen soldiers of Thurii reach the wall, the outside became silent.

    Facing the fog outside of the city, the cavalry refused to go scout, so they had to wait until the fog disperse¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    By morning, the sun had risen into the sky and the fog dissipated.

    A horn resounded throughout the camp of the Lucanians, as the warriors began to prepare for their advance into the ins of Sybaris.

    Just then, a guard rushed into the camp, ¡°The enemy ising! The enemy ising!¡±

    How could their enemy dare attack their camp? The Lucanian warriors curiously looked outside of their camp.

    200 heavily armed Greek hoplites appeared outside, and under the gazes of tens of thousand of eyes, they stopped at a distance of a hundred meters and began throwing some round objects into their camp.

    After those thingsnded, the warriors found that these are the heads of the Lucanian warriors that have died in the camp of the mercenaries (for fear of their casualties increasing, the Lucanian warrors did not dare take the bodies of theirrades from the traps outside of Davos'' camp yesterday). They were beheaded and their eyes were gouged out, and their death was tragic¡­

    When the mes of anger of the Lucanian warrior was ignited, the Greek soldiers outside the camp raised their skirts and started urinating and shouting.

    The Lucanian warriors were infuriated and broke through the obstruction of their leaders, as thousands of men rushed out of the camp and relentlessly lunge on the Greek soldiers.

    The Greek soldiers immediately turned around and ran. But after going around the ridge, the pursuing Lucanian warriors were shock to find that there are nearly 2,000 Greek soldiers waiting for them. It was toote for them to escape, as a round of javelin rained on them and immediately caused the Lucanian warriors to fall. Then, it was followed by the Greek soldiers'' powerful charge, whichpletely destroyed the warrior''s morale.

    Then, the Greek soldiers began pursuing them. Under the gaze of everyone in the Lucanian camp, the Greek soldiers quickly knocked down the escaping Lucanian warriors one after another, then they stabbed the fallen warriors a few more times to ensure that they are dead.

    This cruel way of killing and the screams of their people made the Lucanian warriors and their leaders, who have witnessed all of this in the camp, unable to contain their anger. However, they were deterred by the number and ferociousness of the other side, and so they began to ask their Great leader.

    Before Akpir could respond, Gennat suddenly shouted, ¡°I know them! They are those damned mercenaries who we fought yesterday!¡±

    Akpir said with wide-eyed, ¡°Child, are you sure?¡±

    ¡°I won''t mistake them even if they were beaten to death!¡± Gennat who have suffered bitterly had his hatred grow.

    ¡°Great leader, let me lead 3,000 warriors to fight them and avenge our fellow warriors from Pyxous!¡± Seville came forward requesting to lead his men.

    Gennat red at him and went forward as well.

    Akpir eximed, ¡°How dare these Greek mercenaries leave their camp in order to harass us! This is just right, wipe them all out here and this will save us from once more attacking their camp!¡± The more Akpir spoke, the more enrage he got, ¡°Immediately blow the horn to attack and form a formation outside the camp. After we defeat them, we will take advantage of this situation and march into the ins of Sybaris!¡±

    All the leaders were equally excited, and only the leader of Vergae, Sedrum, remained silent.

    Akpir nced at him and said in a deep voice, ¡°Sedrum, do you have any questions about my decision?¡±

    Sedrum said with a bitter smile, ¡°Leader, I will absolutely obey your orders! It''s just that¡­afterst night, the warriors of Vergae¡­refuse to fight¡­¡±

    ¡°Did such a thing happen?!¡± Akpir stared at him.

    ¡°My warriors said, ¡®If you are not killed by the enemy on the battlefield, then you will be killed by your own people when you return. Anyway, it''s better to just lie in the camp and let your own people kill you, at least, we don''t need to get tired.¡¯ I can''t persuade them, since they don''t even listen!¡± Sedrum lowered his head.

    ¡°Akpir, the Vergae doesn''t listen to your orders, so they must have some malicious intentions. We need to capture them immediately!¡± Cincinnag stood up and pointed to Sedrum.

    Sedrum''splexion changed slightly.

    Akpir interrupted Cincinnag, ¡°Alright, since the warriors of Vergae doesn''t want to fight, then they could just stay and guard the camp.¡±

    Sedrum was relieved. Cincinnag wanted to say more, but with a wave of his hand, Akpir impatiently said, ¡°The warriors of Pyxous have also suffered heavy casualties yesterday, and so they will guard the camp together with the warriors of Vergae. When we defeat the Greeks, you will go and deliver the cattle, sheep, tents, equipment and all the camp supplies to the ins of Sybaris.¡±

    Cincinnag stopped making trouble, and epted Akpir''s order and stopped the objection of his son, Gennat. However, this did not reduce the ill feeling of Akpir towards him. Originally, after returning to the camp yesterday, Akpir intended to let Sedrum kill some dozens of seriously injured Vergae, but Cincinnag insisted on killing 150 warriors of Vergae as sacrifice. This approached obviously made the Vergae distance themselves.

    After looking at Sedrum, Akpir knew that it was time for him to seriously consider the issue of Vergae, but for now, the in of Sybaris is his main target. Therefore, he need to make Pyxous monitor these outsiders for the time being.

    The horn continued to blow, and the Lucanian warriors leave the camp and began forming up.

 Chapter 90: The Battle of the Great River (I)

    And the Greeks stopped their chase, and began gathering up their ranks and slowly move forward.

    In addition to the warriors of Pyxous and Vergae, there were also the wounded warriors of the other three cities. Outside of the camp are more than 9,000 warriors, from south to north, the formation''s length was about several meters, and they all belonged to the tribes of Grumentum, Nerulum, and Laus. Therefore, their speed in forming their formation is slow.

    A mere 2,000 Greek mercenaries seemed to be too weak in front of a titan, which is the Lucanian tribe, but they suddenly turned left as they slowly move a hundred meters away from the enemies'' formation.

    When the leaders of the Lucanians failed to respond, the Greek army manage to quickly approached the right wing of the Lucanian alliance. And the Lucanian warriors that are in a disorderly formation watched in horror as the Greek army threw javelins at them, andunched a fierce attack¡­

    In the blink of an eye, the right-wing end of the Lucanian army copse¡­

    ¡°These despicable Greeks went against their creed andunched an attack without waiting for us to finish our battle formation!..¡± Seville furiously curse.

    Akpir found that he had made a mistake in sending out arge army against the small and capable Greek army, just like when a bull face a flexible mouse, they are too big too move and ineffective.

    ¡°Blow the horn, and have the warriors attack immediately!¡± Akpir quickly ordered, while the Greek army continued attacking the left wing along with the right end of the right wing, ¡°Surround them! Don''t let them run away!¡±

    At the same time, the other leaders issued simr orders.

    The Lucanians, who were freed from their restraints, were like hounds that quickly pounce on the Greeks whom they hated so much, with them wanting to tear up the Greeks who had repeatedly made fun of them and humiliated them.

    The Greek army immediately turned and ran eastward. As they ran, they threw away their round shields, their spears, and their swords, to ensure that they would not be overtaken by the Lucanians who were chasing them like crazy.

    The Greeks ran like hell at the front, and the Lucanians kept up with them, and gradually formed a long, dense line which was several meters long¡­

    The Greeks turned around the ridge and ran eastward along the low mountain path for about 5 kilo-meters. All the soldiers were out of breath, and behind them were the Lucanians who continued to follow them.

    At this time, the Greeks left the mountain path and approached the river Tiro. They then ran down the gentle slope and came to the shoal of the great river on the other side of the famous hot spring swamp. Although the soil here is moist and soft, the terrain is t. Compared with the uneven, rock covered mountain path, their running became easier and faster. Of course, the Lucanians still followed them down the river, otherwise, they won''t be able to catch up with the Greeks¡­

    ¡°Brothers, hold on for a bit more, we will¡­soon be there!¡± Philesius, who was running at the front, breathed heavily with his hoarse voice to cheer up the soldiers around him. In fact, as a veteran that is over 40 years old, this long-distance running had almost exhausted his strength.

    After the Greeks ran across the shoal and over the gentle hillside, the Lucanians still followed closely. However, when they were just about to step on the top of the slope, they were surprised to find rows of heavily armed Greek hoplites that were in formation waiting for them.

    ¡°It''s an ambush-¡± The words of the warrior at the front have not yet manage to yell it, when the spear of the Greek pierced his chest.

    The Lucanian warriors, who had been exhausted due to their running, hadpletely lost their ability to dodge. They rolled down like dumplings one by one under the relentless stabbing of numerous spears of the Greek hoplites, while the warriors at the back doesn''t know the situation at the front and were still running forward¡­

    At this time, Taranto''s reinforcements were responsible for intercepting the enemies, while the soldiers of Davos'' mercenaries, had been the one responsible for luring the enemy, and were currently eating bread and drinking hot water, while the women and ves of the supply camp brought new shields, spears and swords to quickly equip each soldier. The mercenaries knew that their time was tight and they had to replenish their strength as quickly as possible, then rush forward at the fastest toplete their encirclement.

    Mersis also knew that his time was very tight, and after replenishing the mercenaries, he had to take the armed guards of the supply camp, the ves, and also the ves from Thurii, and the dozen of mercenary soldiers that served as the captains of the ve soldiers and were in charge ofmanding them. Their total number was about 1000, including more than a dozen pack animals, and rushed to the narrow area in front of the mountain path to build a defensive line and block the reinforcements of the Lucanian alliance.

    Drakos, Adrien, Sesta led about 1,500 mercenaries and hid on the side of the shoal of the river, which was more than 1 kilo-meter long, although their rank is rtively weak. Fortunately, there are about 700 peltast soldier and 700 armed mine ves behind them. Between the two troops were Davos and his guards.

    ¡°Leader!¡± Asistes came riding his horse and excitedly said, ¡°Our troops has already begun to advance rapidly to the western mountain path!¡±

    Davos nodded and tried his best to suppress his excitement and nervousness. The beginning of their operation can be said to be fruitful, as he looked at the dense enemy below, his lowest estimate is at 8000~9000 which is more than half of the troops of the Lucanian alliance being concentrated here. Excluding the warriors that was killed yesterday, the warriors left in the enemy camp should be no more than 5,000. After annihting the enemy in front him, the Lucanians will no longer be able to make trouble in the in of Sybaris. So they should take this advantage while the enemy''s organization is being chaotic on the shoal of the river tounch an attack and win as soon as possible.

    ¡°Peltast unit, ATTACK!¡± Davos decisively gave his order.

    Afterwards, Epiphanes and Cid led the peltast units towards the front of the mercenaries, while Arpernst ordered the slingers and archers to start loading their ammo¡­

    The front is blocked, but the Lucanians were still rushing due to their inertia. Soon, countless Lucanian warriors crowded together under this great river about a few hundred meters wide and more than a kilo-meter long. A lot of them already felt that there is something wrong and were shouting at each other anxiously¡­

    At this time, numerous Greek soldiers appeared on the slopes on their side.

    ¡°Enemies!¡±

    ¡°It''s an ambushed!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Along with their cries, javelins, arrows, and rocks poured down on them¡­

    The warriors were so crowded and in order to make it convenient for them to chase, most of them have thrown away their shields and helmets, and some even remove their armors. In the absence of any protection, the mercenaries'' peltast doesn''t even need to aim, and each of their javelin, rocks, and arrows easily hit their target.

    ¡°Quickly retreat!!¡± Theirpanions fell down one by one, and the frightened warriors wanted to escape. However, in the crowded and narrow space, some of them were trying to avoid the rocks, some wanted to retreat, and some wanted to kill the Greeks that were in front of them in anger¡­each of them have their own ideas, and run in all ces like a headless fly, but this got their whole troops in chaos, which made it difficult for them toplete a smooth retreat. On the contrary, they are more likely to get trampled. In the face of death, the terrified warriors push down the people that are in front of them, and them silently dying at the feet of countless people¡­

    The leaders of the tribes and the warriors were very anxious after seeing this. However, in the turbulent and noisy crowd, any shouting and obstruction were futile, and the Lucanian''s bugler fell far behind their ranks and could not be depend on.

    ¡°Kill them! Follow me to kill them!¡­¡± With his sturdy body, Seville squeezed through the panic-stricken warriors. Armed with a spear, he kept yelling angrily as he rushed to the gentle slope at the side of the river¡­

    His charge attracted the attention of both sides and reminded the panicking warriors to avoid the rain of arrows. Some warriors began to follow him as they brave the enemy''s range attack and ran up the gentle slope.

    Cid pulled out a javelin, wrapped a thin strip of cloth around the middle of the javelin, and the leather ring was wrapped around his finger. He stretched his body like a bow string and stared at Seville, who was getting closer and closer to him, and remained still. When he saw that Seville blocked a javelin thrown by a peltast soldiers with his round shield, and his feet were slipping due to the excessive force, did he threw the javelin at Seville. The leather ring in his hand was covered with the cloth strips, and used it to pull the javelin in ordance with the situation. The javelin not only have a strong kic energy but also a rotation. In a blink of an eye, it urately prated Seville''s linen armor.

 Chapter 91: The Battle of the Great River (II)

    Seville staggered back a few steps as he struggled to throw the spear that he held in his hand in order to fight back, but his already tired body had been struck once more, and so he fell and slid down the slope¡­

    Seville''s death did not frightened the warriors that followed. Their belief to survive gave them temporary courage and strength. Even though numerous warriors were repeatedly shot down, but a lot more warriors rushed up. Seeing that the Lucanian warriors are approaching the top of the slope¡­

    A salpinx resounded and the peltast unit quickly retreated from the gap between the hoplites'' formation. The hoplites stepped forward and formed a long and thin phnx formation, and stood at the top of the slope to destroy the hope of the enemy from escaping. While the peltast that were behind them continued to throw their javelins, arrows and rocks, regardless whether their arms are sore, as they threw their projectiles in a perfect arc over the hoplites at the front and rain down on the slope, continuously killing the enemies. And the ves at the back brought bundles of arrows and javelins to replenish the projectiles of the peltast.

    Drakos stood at the forefront of the defensive line and faced the enemies who are beginning to rush up the slope. He doesn''t feel any tension and fear, on the contrary, his morale soared, ¡°Brothers, drive them down!¡±

    ¡°HOUU!!!¡± His morale infected the soldiers as they raised their shields and spears, and roared at the same time.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the great leader of Grumentum and the leader of the Lucanian alliance, Akpir, who is over 50 years old, is unlikely to rush into pursuit like a young soldier. And so, he did not chase them. Of course, his guards that areposed of 400 Grumentum warriors is in charge of his safety, and couldn''t possibly just leave him alone to chase the Greeks. Like them, the leaders of Nerulum and Laus were in the same situation. There are a total of about 700 warriors in these three groups.

    Once they reach the hot spring swamp, they heard the sound of fierce fighting and screaming¡­

    Theplexion of the leaders changed.

    ¡°Go quickly!¡± Akpir urgently issued his order.

    The fast-moving group suddenly encountered the mercenaries of Davos who were also rushing toplete the encirclement.

    Philesius saw the enemy on the mountain path, and his heart ¡°thump¡±. Fortunately, due to his experience, he manage to quickly make his own arrangement. The first, second and third units that were under themand of Kapus, will block the encircled enemy. While the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh units will follow him to attack the enemy ahead.

    At the same time, Philesius dispatched the herald, ¡°Tell Mersis to arrive quickly together with the ves!¡±

    When Akpir saw that the Greeks dared to divide their troops in the face of this situation, made him feel more and more uneasy. ¡®If there are no any urgent matter, then would these timid Greeks even dare to divide their troops?!¡¯ And he immediately issued an order, ¡°Attack them with everything you got!¡±

    The two heavily armed groups and are both elites, collided directly with each other without deploying any formation¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Kapus led his troops to the west of the great river and ran into the startled Lucanian warriors who had manage to just climbed out of the slope.

    The enemies were immediately hit, leaving dozens of corpses rolling down the slope, and the mercenaries immediately closed the gap of the encirclement.

    Now, to the east of the great river is Taranto''s reinforcements. To the north is Drakos and their mercenaries, and also all the peltast and ve soldiers. To the west are the hoplites of Davos'' mercenaries. To the south are the hot spring swamps and the river Tiro, which gets flooded due to spring rain.

    More than 9,000 Lucanian troops were surrounded in a narrow low-lying area about a kilo-meter long and few hundred meters wide. While the total strength of those that encircled them was only over 7,000 (plus the ve soldiers). The encircling line is weak, specially the one in the west, as there were only about 600 of Davos'' mercenaries, which is almost only a single row of infantry and extends to the north towards the mercenaries of Drakos in order to connect with their formation, just like a thin skin of a dumplings with a lot of stuffing and are in danger of breaking at any time. Fortunately, the Lucanians inside the encirclement are temporarily disordered and disorganized, as they collided with each other like headless flies and are unable to form a unified front.

    In the n of Davos, the range attack of the peltast is the main factor in weakening the strength of the enemy. His Persian expeditionary troops have not only yed a role inpleting the encirclement, but also was his most trusted offensive force. Now, due to an ident, the force of this expeditionary troops have split up. After Davos learned about this emergency situation from the scout, even though he was anxious, it was still one of the several possibilities that can happen in his n. Therefore, he has a countermeasure.

    So he immediately sent his cavalry to urge Mersis to speed up his progress to the ce where Philesius is currently fighting. And join Philesius in wiping out the unexpected enemy in one fell swoop, then rejoin the encirclement and annihte the Lucanians.

    Now is the key moment to the victory of the Greeks.

    Akpir also realize its importance.

    Two elite troops bloodily fought with each other. On one hand, the warriors selected from all of the Lucanian tribe alliance are still energetic from not having fought any fierce battle. On the other hand, the Greek mercenaries who had gone on an expedition to Persia were experienced and highly skilled, but their constant running had made themck stamina. However, the course of the battle surprised Akpir. He originally thought that the Greeks that did not form a phnx formation will be weaker in this kind of melee fighting, and it should be the Lucanian warriors that are used to this kind of fighting have the advantage. However, the Lucanian warriors were gradually beginning to be pushed back¡­

    Standing high in the rear, Akpir observed that the Greeks will often gather in groups of dozens(in fact, this is the uniqueness of the units of Davos''s mercenaries). They weren''t just very organized, but also flexible, and they have a tacit cooperation between them, which made it more lethal. While the Lucanians which is like a piece of loose sand were cut into pieces by them¡­

    This made him realize the seriousness of the matter. So he quickly sent a small group of warriors and ordered them to quickly return to the camp, and inform the leader of Pyxous, Cincinnag, to immediately lead the remaining warriors toe and help him defeat this enemy, and to destroy their scheme!

    The warriors that went back to report the situation were then followed by Ledes st night, Davos borrowed ten horses from Burkes to rebuild the mercenary''s cavalry team). But due to the rugged mountain path, the speed of the cavalry couldn''t be fully utilized. Therefore, several wounded warriors manage to escape from their pursuit and ran all the way back into the camp of Lucania.

    ¡°Quick¡­quickly inform leader Cincinnag! We were ambushed, and he need to send reinforcements!¡± They shouted urgently at the warriors who were about to withdraw from the camp.

    However, the expression of the surrounding warriors began to be somewhat strange.

    ¡°Crap, they are Vergaean!¡± The warriors who reported about the situation found that these people were different, and were shocked.

    But the man squatting down saw him and asked him, ¡°Ambush?! What happened?!¡±

    He seemed to remember that the man who just spoke was a leader of Vergae named Salu¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Akpir asked the Pyxous and Vergae to take charge of the evacuation of the camp, but Cincinnag left all the hard work to the Vergae, while he and his son and other several leaders were in the main tent and are currently discussing about ¡°how to protect the interest of Pyxous after upying the ins of Sybaris¡±. When the guards suddenly burst in and shouted in panic, ¡°Great leader, it''s not good! The Vergae suddenly attacked us!¡±

    ¡®What!!¡¯ Cincinnag was startled and immediately sweared angrily, ¡°Those Vergae, they don''t want to live anymore!!¡±

    When he stepped out of the tent, he saw a scene far beyond his expectation. Smoke billowed everywhere in the camp as countless tents were burning, and the Vergae''s were armed with spears and were divided into numerous groups, chasing and ughtering the unprepared Pyxous'' warriors. While the other Pyxous warriors fled in panic¡­

    Cincinnag''s ears were filled with the shrill screams of his people, which almost drove him mad, ¡°Ahhhhhh!!¡­I knew that we should''ve killed these despicable Brutians, but Akpir just won''t listen!¡­Gennat quick! Quickly go and organize the warriors to fight back! Fight back! Beat them back! Kill them all! And destroy Vergae!!¡­Aaahh!!¡­¡±

    There was no need for him to say more as Gennat and the other leaders had already rushed out in a hurry.

    But for Pyxous, this situation is the worse, as the Vergae hade prepared, while Pyxous has suffered too many casualties yesterday (more than a thousand people were injured), and most of their warriors have stayed in their tents to take care of theirrades, while the Vergaeans set fire everywhere, causing many Pyxous to be burned alive in their tents¡­

 Chapter 92: The Battle of the Great River (III)

    For a time, there was chaos in the camp, and Gennat and the others weren''t able to gather up enough warriors to fight back the revolt caused by Vergae¡­

    ¡°Captain, look!¡± The mercenary cavalry that was outside the camp of the Lucanians, eximed excitedly.

    Ledes was upset that he wasn''t able to stop all the warriors from going back. Unexpectedly, the enemy''s camp was suddenly lit on fire, and then saw the people inside began fighting each other, and couldn''t believe what he saw.

    ¡°Captain, they have an internal struggle! The enemy is in conflict!!¡± The cavalryman continued to shout excitedly.

    Ledes suppressed his excitement and observed for a while. After confirming it, he then said, ¡°Come! Let''s go back and tell leader Davos that there is a serious internal struggle in the enemy camp and they have no ability to send reinforcements for the time being!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos was worried about the situation as he didn''t know about the internal struggle in the camp of the Lucanians.

    Although the Lucanian warriors were ill equipped and were alreadycking in stamina, they were still like the tides in the sea that continuously pounds the Greek defensive line one after another, and their blood boils with the screams of theirpatriots. If they were stabbed by a spear, they will hold on the spear tightly, and if they are knocked down by a shield, they will try their best to grab the feet of the Greek soldiers before sliding down the slope¡­

    The Greek defensive line on the north was crumbling.

    ¡°Report, leader Drakos is down!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Davos was surprised. He had already felt themotions of the mercenaries at the front even though he was at the rear of the hoplite row, and it was now spreading.

    ¡°Have Archytas select 300 of his men to aid the north!¡± Urged Davos.

    ¡°Leader, you have already gave this order not too long ago. Taranto has no soldiers that they could send and they are also in a difficult situation!¡± Prompted Asistes.

    ¡°Right.¡± Davos kneaded his face, as this is his first time to independentlymand such a huge battle and it is relevant to his future fate and of his soldiers, which made him a bit nervous. He took a deep breath in order to calm himself down, and then decisively ordered, ¡°Give themand to the ve troops and the peltast units to join the battle!¡±

    He then looked back at Martius and said, ¡°It''s time for us to also join!¡±

    ¡°Hooo!¡± Martius excitedly beat his round shield with his kopis, while the other guards drop their spears and drew out their kopis, and roared loudly. Those that are experienced knew that in such a crowded battlefield, longer weapons are no longer effective.

    Davos took the lead in the charge, and the guard team of Martius followed closely and quickly protected him, while Asistes held the g high behind Davos.

    The waving g made the mercenaries that was about to disperse, hesitate. While it also allowed the Lucanians to find their target, as they gradually get closer to Davos, which relieved the pressure on the other defensive line. However, the pressure on Davos suddenly increase¡­

    At this time, the salpinx rang out.

    Although the peltast soldiers''s hands and feet were already numb due to their frequent throwing of javelins, they did not hesitate in raising their leather shields and Rhomphaia* under the leadership of Epiphanes and Cid, and rushed to close the gap on the defensive line. (T/L note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhomphaia)

    And the ve soldiers couldn''t wait anymore, for Davos had promised them that they would be free as long as they win this battle. Therefore, as soon as they receive the order, they chanted, ¡°FOR FREEDOM!!!¡±

    With a lot of energy and high morale, they forced some of the enemies that manage to breach the defensive line, down slope even though they don''t have anybat skills. At the same time, some of the enemies were also pushed down by the mercenaries¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Another group that were also shouting ¡°For Freedom¡±, was the team led by Mersis. Under the leadership of the veterans of the mercenaries, the 1,000 ves have not only manage to quickly arrive at the location of Philesius, but also manage to bypass the two sides that are in the middle of a tangled warfare, and hit the nk and rear of the enemy like a hammer.

    Akpir and the other two chieftains, who were worrying about the war situation at the rear, were the first to bear the brunt of the attack, and the small number of guards around them could not hold back the fierce assault of the excited ves.

    ¡°Why?! Why hasn''t Cincinnag arrived yet?!¡± Akpir shouted angrily.

    ¡°Leader, leave here quickly or you won''t be able to escape anymore!¡± His subordinates urged him anxiously.

    Withdraw? Leaving nearly 10,000 warriors here?! How could Akpir just give up, he still wants to hold his ground, but he then heard a mournful cry not far away, ¡°Chief! Chief!¡­¡±

    Wudlei, the Chieftain of Nerulum, have numerous spear wounds in his body and fell to the ground.

    Akpir finally stopped hesitating, and under the desperate protection of his subordinates, Akpir and the chieftain of Laos, T, fled westward with a few dozens of people in panic. While the remaining 500 Lucanian warriors were wrapped up like dumplings.

    At this time, the cavalry team of Ledes had just rushed back to the battlefield and shouted, ¡°There is an infighting at the camp of the enemy, and their reinforcements will note for the time being!¡±

    This good news greatly boosted the morale of the mercenaries, while the warriors who could understand the Greeknguage among the Lucanians were shocked (as the neighbors of Greek city-states, although the Lucanians are hostile with them, they also conducted trades and many of them knew Greek). In addition, their leader had fled and so their morale plummeted¡­

    500 Lucanian warriors were either killed or have fled. While the mixed troops did not rest, as Philesius ordered the ve soldiers of Mersis and the mercenaries to reinforce the western defensive line.

    At this time, the situation of the western defensive line was even worse than that of the northern defensive line. The troops led by Kapus were limited and are stretched. The thin defensive line was breached by the surging flow of the Lucanians.

    Kapus, Antonios, and Alexius joined the battle and fought the Lucanian warriors with their shields and spears. (ording to the militaryw formted by Davos: without any special circumstances, the captains are not allowed to battle with the enemy in person, so as to prevent the troops from being out of control.)

    At this time of crisis, Philesius had finally manage to lead his troops to arrive quickly, and nearly 2,000 soldiers joined in, which finally secured the defensive line¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The battlested more than an hour, and the assault of the Lucanian alliance on the defensive line began to weaken¡­

    The whole shoal area is full of warriors wounded by stabbing, grabbing, arrows, rocks, and even getting trampled by their own people. There were endless groaning, shouting and crying, as the sound gets louder and louder, the number of tribal warriors who are still fighting is getting lesser and lesser¡­

    Seeing that there is no longer any hope in breaking through, an increasingly number of warriors stepped into the river Tiro and fled to the hot spring swamp. As a result, they were either washed away by the river or their feet getting stuck in the muddy swamp and couldn''t move¡­

    At this moment, Davos took this opportunity and resolutely issued the order to attack.

    The salpinx sounded in a high and rapid way. Stimted by the impending victory, the soldiers of the Greek army, led by their strategoi Davos, Archytas and Philesius,unched a final attack from the east, west, and north to the almost defenseless enemy at the foot of the slope. The Lucanian warriors were unable to resist and retreated in session¡­In the end, except for a small number of warriors that have surrendered, the rest were killed, either by getting forced into the river Tiro and the hot spring swamp, dying from arrows, and getting struck by a javelin¡­

    The first major battle that Davos independently conducted during his long military career: The battle of the Great River ter, it will also be known as the hot spring swamp war of annihtion), with about 7,500 mixed troops (including ves) against more than 9,000 Lucanian warriors. And the final result with the Greek army only losing more than a thousand people(half of them were ves) and the Lucanian alliance with more than 9,000 warriors getting annihted, except for the 400 warriors that have surrendered. Davos won a great victory.

    And the whole river shoal is covered with numerous corpses and rivers of blood¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The efforts of Cincinnag, Gennat and the others were in vain. The defeat of Pyxous was irreversible, as they could only fled the camp with more than 200 people, and watch as the me burned their camp into ashes miles away¡­

    And their sworn enemy ¨C the Vergaen, under the leadership of Sedrum, entered the mountain path on the west and set foot on their way back home.

 Chapter 93: Postwar

    ¡°Chieftain, when Akpir returns, he will probably go crazy once he sees such a sight!¡± Salu stood at the mountain pass, and watched the burning camp, with indescribable satisfaction in his heart.

    ¡°So what! Even a crazy Akpir can stillmand his army to destroy Vergae!¡± Said Sedrum worriedly, as heined about Salu''s arbitrarily attacking Pyxous, which forced him to take action.

    ¡°Vergae is not easy to attack. As long as we build a defense on the mountain path, they can only attack uphill. Not to mention that they might not even be able to reach Vergae!¡± Salu thenined, ¡°We shouldn''t have sumbed to their threats, and have joined this wretched alliance!¡±

    ¡°Salu, it''s easy for you to say that! Laus is very familiar with our terrain, and we don''t have any reinforcement. Our warriors would die one after another, and our food is not enough. We can''t afford this war!¡­¡± Sedrum told his helplessness.

    ¡°Rest assured, Chief! I don''t think the Lucanian alliance wille!¡± Salu confidentlyforted Sedrum, ¡°You have also heard what the guards of Akpir had said previously! The Lucanians were ambushed and they even need to return to call for reinforcements. It can be seen that their situation is very bad!¡±

    ¡°I hope so.¡± Sighed Sedrum and seriously said, ¡°What we need to do now is to return to Vergae immediately, and recruit people to strengthen our defense and send someone to Cosenza to ask for their help!¡±

    ¡°Ask Cosenza for their help?!¡± Salu was taken aback.

    ¡°These past few days, I have been thinking¡­if the Brutians kept fighting against each other, then the Lucanians and the Greeks will always oppress us!¡±

    ¡°Yes, we should join forces with Cosenza, just like the alliance of the Lucanians.¡± Salu is still young and has less hatred towards the other Brutian tribes.

    Sedrum didn''t say anything, as he fell in deep thought.

    At this time, Salu excitedly said, ¡°Chief, since we have be enemies with Lucania, can''t we take this opportunity to plunder Laus as we pass by it?!¡±

    ¡°I think you have lost your mind! Are you still worthy of being a leader if you don''t cherish the life of your people? Laus still have Avinoges! It''s already a problem for us to cross the lower reaches of the river Laus without making them suspicious, and yet you still think about plundering!¡­¡± Sedrumshed out at him, and finally, the excited young leader bowed his head. As their team walk for a while, Salu couldn''t help say, ¡°I didn''t expect that the defeated Thurii could still ambush the Lucanians. Could it be that they got reinforcements from Taranto or Crotone?¡±

    Sedrum did not answer, but looked back at the smoke that rose to the sky, and couldn''t help but excitedly think, ¡®If the Lucanian alliance have indeed suffered heavy losses in the ambush of the Greeks, then the situation in this region will have great changes! What should Vergae do?¡­.¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Cincinnag retreated to the east together with his remaining people. And there is only one thing in his mind and that is to find Akpir and lead their army to ughter the city of Vergae, and avenge his men!

    They then run into the defeated warriors of Akpir on their way.

    Akpir hoped to return to their camp quickly in order to get their reinforcements so that they could turn this defeat. But when he found out from the mouth of Cincinnag that the Vergaeans have rebelled and Pyxous have suffered heavy casualties, and their camp was burned to ashes had made him so anxious that he suddenly fainted on the spot.

    And Cincinnag have also learned that the more than 9,000 warriors were ambushed by the Greek army, and they still don''t know what their fate is, which made him dumbfounded then and there¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the morning, the strategoi of the city hall of Thurii receive a report from the guards on the wall that there is a suspiciousrge force outside the city.

    When the morning fog cleared, the scouts went out to explore, and soon brought back their report that there is nothing unusual around the city of Thurii. It''s just that the camp of the mercenary is practically empty.

    The strategoi were shocked: Last night, Burkes came back and said that the mercenaries were willing to stay, and due to this reason, the city of Thurii was busy all night preparing supplies for those greedy mercenaries. Unexpectedly, they went back on their words and fled that very night?!

    The strategoi denounced the mercenaries and some of them have even suggested that they should dispatch warships to the sea to search for their tracks and strike them hard to make them return.

    But then, the scout that went to search the west came back.

    ¡°WHAT?!! The mercenaries had allied with Taranto''s reinforcements in order to attack the Lucanian alliance?!!¡± Kunogta couldn''t believe what he had just heard.

    The strategoi of the city hall reacted very strongly.

    Nianses sweared, ¡°That lunatic Davos. He is trying to ruin Thurii''s hope!¡±

    ¡°Yes! Without the protection of the mercenaries, Thurii will face the attack of the Lucanians alone. What should we do?¡± Said Polyx worriedly.

    Kunogta decisively said, ¡°Send Burkes immediately and have him persuade the mercenaries to return at all costs! Thurii will not allow them to mess thing up!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    However, Burkes failed, as Davos, who had always been kind to him, have strongly rejected his demands, and have his people send him back to the city and to await for the news of their victory.

    ¡°I think that Davos is very confident in defeating the Lucanians. Shouldn''t we believe in him?¡± Burkesforted the strategoi in a way that made even himself doubt it.

    His words immediately incur the strategoi''s severe reprimand.

    Kunogta criticized him for not being able to judge a person''s character.

    Polyx didn''t directly me him due to their friendship, butined that the mercenaries were immature and could not even keep their promise.

    Nianses angrily used him of wasting money, food, and supplies of the city''s treasury and recruiting a group of useless mercenaries, and threatened him by suggesting that he would be tried at the council.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Thurii''s strategoi spent the whole morningining, hurling profanities, and being uneasy. They however did not have the courage to send the city''s only 2,000 citizen soldiers out to help.

    In the afternoon, the sentinel on the wall of Thurii once more heard rumbling footsteps, and sent out a scout. The scout then saw the returning troops of the mercenaries. Although their armor were broken and covered with blood, and were supporting their woundedrades, they don''t appear to be demoralize from getting defeated. On the contrary, they are full of energy, as they talk andugh throughout the way. In their ranks, more than a dozen pack animals loaded with armors and weapons, and many ves were also holding several sets of armors, and were also carrying shields, spears and helmets, while they held their heads high and looked proud. At the back of the troops are hundreds of naked men that are escorted by soldiers as they limp towards the camp of the mercenaries. When they saw their long hair, he immediately knew that they were not Greeks¡­

    The scout''s heart leaped wildly as he guessed of a possibility! An almost impossible possibility!

    Just then, one of the mercenaries'' cavalry galloped towards him, and raised his hands up to show that he is unarmed, so as not to frightened the Thurian.

    As expected, the scout of Thurii stayed still. The mercenary cavalry came to him, reined in his horse, and said with pride, ¡°Our leader, Davos, asked you to pass on to the strategoi of Thurii that our mercenaries and Taranto''s reinforcements have wiped out the main force of the Lucanian alliance on the shoal of the great river. And we have driven them out of the territory of Thurii!¡±

    ¡°You¡­you have really defeated the Lucanians?!¡± The scout asked in disbelief, and his voice quivered.

    ¡°Of course it is true. There is no need for us to lie!¡± The mercenary cavalry then pointed with pride to the prisoners in their ranks and said, ¡°What''s more, our leader asked me to remind you, Thurians, that the shoal of the great river is full of corpses, and he hope that you can deal with them as soon as possible. Otherwise, if it''s left for a long time, it will easily lead to a gue.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Before the scout could even reached the city, he had already waved his hands and excitedly eximed, ¡°VICTORY! WE WON!! THE LUCANIANS ARE WIPE OUT!!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the city hall, the energy of the strategoi was exhausted due to suffering a long period of uneasiness.

    At this time, the cheers outside resounded and became louder and louder, and woke up the drowsy strategoi.

 Chapter 94: Night Raid

    ¡°What''s going on?¡± Asked Nianses.

    ¡°Bang¡± with a loud noise, the door of the city hall was pushed open, and the guards rushed in with a look of excitement, ¡°Reporting, the scout came back, and he said¡­he said¡­he said that the mercenaries won! The Lucanian alliance have been wiped out!!¡±

    ¡°Is this true?!¡± The strategoi could hardly believe what they heard and asked at the same time.

    ¡°The scout are just outside. He also went to the shoal where the mercenaries fought the Lucanians, and said that there were corpses of the Lucanians there!!¡±

    ¡°Unbelievable! Truly unbelievable! They really won!!¡± Nianses murmured.

    ¡°How did they do it?!¡± Kunogta went to the battefield yesterday, and the ferociousness of the Lucanian warriors still scares him. Besides, he knows the great difference between both sides. Therefore, this news of victory is a miracle to him.

    ¡°What kind of person is Davos?¡± At this moment, Ansitanos was interested in getting to know this miraculous mercenary leader.

    Polyx immediately remembered the smiling young man that he had seen on the ship of Burkes, but he did not expect that the young man, who seemed harmless, had annihted the Lucanian alliance, which Thurii had regarded as monster, and saved the city of Thurii, which was in great danger.

    ¡°He is a young man, but it''s rumored in the mercenary that he is favored by Hades! He is also called as miracle maker! On their way back from Persia¡­¡± Burkes, who had been reprimanded by the strategoi, was very proud to say aloud about the heroic deeds of Davos that he had heard. And there was only one thing stirring in his mind, ¡®He did it! He really did it!¡¯

    The strategoi did notugh at these seemingly absurd rumors, nor face the excited gaze of Burkes, as they stride out of the city hall one after another.

    On the square of the city hall, countless women, children and old people in ck gauze who were mourning before, had now shouting victory. Some even cried, but they were tears of joy, and now the haze in the minds of the people of Thurii has disappeared.

    The scout also brought a message from Davos, hoping that Thurii would send people to clean up the battlefield and to bury the corpses in order to prevent a gue.

    Out of caution, the strategoi decided to send someone first to check the battefield. When they arrived at the shoal of the great river, the sight in front of them made them gasp: the shoal area, including the hot spring swamp have turned into a river of blood, filled with naked corpses (the mercenaries stripped away their armor and weapons), which is basically a hell on earth¡­

    ¡°This is a frightening miracle!¡± The whole body of Nianses shuddered, ¡°The dreadful favored of Hades!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In order to thank the leaders and strategoi, Davos, Archytas, Drakos, Adrien and Sesta for their contribution to Thurii. The strategoi discussed in the council and decided to send Burkes to apany Ansitanos to the camp of the mercenaries, and invite them to the victory celebration in Thurii. And to ept the gratitude of the Thurian and at the same time, bringing a hundred barrels of wine and fifty barrels of olive oil to reward the soldiers.

    A group of people rushed to the camp, but they were stopped by the guard, iming that the officers and the soldiers were extremely tired after a day of fierce fighting, and most of them had fallen asleep to recover their energy. Therefore, the guards were informed that no one was allowed to enter the camp to prevent any idents.

    Burkes kept trying to persuade them, but the guard stood firm. Burkes had been to the camp of Davos several times before, and he knew that their military discipline is very strict. In addtion, the camp is really quiet, and so the Thurians had no choice but to leave.

    Then, they found Archytas.

    Archytas was very happy to receive them, but when they exined their intention, Archytas looked embarrassed and said, ¡°To tell you the truth, this victory is entirely due to the ingenious n of Davos, and Taranto had only assisted. If Davos doesn''t go, then we of course can''t go, in order to avoid being ridiculed!¡±

    Ansitanos had no other choice but to try invite them again tomorrow.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The mercenary soldiers were indeed forced to rest, but the officers, as well as Adrien and Sesta, were currently in Davos'' quarter.

    After getting the report from the guards, Davos then said with a smile, ¡°Thurii used to be on guard against us, as if we were thieves, but now they want to please us. Too bad that they are a bitte!¡±

    ¡°Yes, seeing the Thurian''s face makes me puke. We did not kill the Lucanians for them.¡± Amintas said scornfully.

    ¡°It''s too bad that we would miss the celebration of Thurii. There might even be beautiful girls waiting for our leader!¡± Olivos'' words caused a burst ofughter.

    Davos looked at him ridiculously, ¡°Otherwise, I''ll give this opportunity to you?¡±

    ¡°I can''t.¡± Olivos shook his head, ¡°It''s Davos that Thurii had invited, not an insignificant person like me. It''d be better for me to just keep on sleeping in the camp!¡± Olivos'' antics caused another burst ofughter.

    ¡°Leader, we still need to maintain a good rtionship with Thurii. After all, they will be our neighbor.¡± Cautioned Philesius.

    Davos nodded, Then his gaze fell on Adrien and Sesta, and asked them with concern, ¡°What''s the condition of Drakos?¡±

    ¡°He is much better now after the treatment of Herpus, and have told us to follow your orders!¡± Sesta said gratefully, and Adrien nodded.

    Of course, Davos recognized that Sesta had expressed his obedience to Davos through the words of Drakos. And he immediately said, ¡°That''s great. We don''t want to lose a warrior like Drakos! If he had not stood at the front line to resist the enemy''s attack and boost the morale of the soldiers, then the northern defensive line would have been breach!¡­¡± After praising Drakos, he then looked around at everyone and said, ¡°Let me repeat the battle n for tonight!¡±

    The crowd immediately stoppedughing and focused on Davos.

    Davos took up the stick and pointed to the wooden table, on which was a model of a city made of y, ¡°At 2 o''clock tonight, the whole army will leave for Amendra and will be on standby on the river Sisno. Hielos!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Don''t make our effort in building that stone wall in vain. I hope that your more than 10 days of training can be fruitful.¡±

    ¡°Leader, don''t worry!¡± Said Hielos confidently, ¡°The soldiers will climb up the wall and open the gate in the shortest time using the grappling hook.¡±

    Davos nodded and then said, ¡°In case the enemy finds out about it, our sneak attack will be obstructed. Therefore, Kapus and Antonios, both of your units will carry longdders. Alexius, your unit will carry the battering ram at the fastest speed, and rushed to the city gate to assault it!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± The three answered immediately.

    ¡°After the gate is opened, Amintas, you and your unit will be the vanguard that will break through the enemy''s line of defense as quickly as possible and enter the city!¡±

    ¡°It''s finally my turn!¡± Amintas grinned.

    ¡°After entering the city, all the troops, under the lead of the guide of Amendra, will quickly attacked the top of the mountain along these two mountains paths ording to my previous arrangement.¡± Davos pointed the stick on the model of the city, ¡°ording to the people of Amendra, there are not manyrge and t areas in this mountain city, and it is only the city hall, the square, and the temple at the top of the mountain. Therefore, these three ces are most likely where they camp and the ce where the Lucanians imprisoned the people of Amendra. So you must upy these ces as quickly as possible. Is that clear?!¡±

    ¡°Yes!!!¡± They all shouted at the same time.

    At this time, Alexius asked, ¡°When can we light the torches?¡±

    ¡°Good question!¡± Davos realized that he had missed an important thing. So he thought for a moment and said, ¡°When the city gate is opened, or when the sneak attack fails, you can then ignite it once you carry out your assault! Everyone-¡± Said Davos, and emphasize, ¡°Tomorrow, Thurii may ask us for help in recapturing Amendra, or the Lucanians will escape Amendra, and so, our chance is only tonight! Only when we take Amendra back from the Lucanians on our own, can she be our spoils, which would saves us a lot of troubles and truly be the master of Amendra! So tonight, there can only be a sess, and no failure!!!¡±

    ¡°HOOO!!!¡±

 Chapter 95: Recapture

    Vespa could not imagine that things would go through such twists and turns.

    Yesterday afternoon, when his envoy arrived at the in of Sybaris, the Lucanian alliance army had to retreat back due to their for fear of being attacked by the Greek army. Today, Vespa anxiously await for the Lucanian army to arrive in the in of Sybaris. Unexpectedly, in the afternoon, his scout returned in a hurry: The Greek mercenariespletely annihted the Lucanian army on the shoal of river Tiro!

    Vespa was stupefied, and felt frightened. He wanted to immediately get away from those terrible mercenaries. The farther away, the better!

    The powerful tribes of the Lucanians have suffered heavy losses together, and their control of the surrounding tribes will inevitably weaken, and means that Vespa''s tribes will not be oppress once they return to the mountains of Lucania. However, it made him reluctant to just leave empty handed and to give up the mountains of spoils that they had seized in the city.

    At this time, another sentence from the scout made him calm. The Greeks has also suffered a lot, and they have at least a thousand casualties.

    Indeed. Doesn''t the Greeks also need to rest after a great war? Vespa scolded himself for being muddled, and made his people to start loading their baggage and supplies, and depending on the situation, they will transport it in batches.

    After a busy afternoon. In the evening, his men were tired and fell asleep.

    This dy became a small regret in his life. However, several decadester, when his people and descendants talked about this day, they are all d that they did not immediately leave¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Late at night, a full moon hung on the sky, bringing a glimmer of light to the dark night.

    The moonlight is like water, quietly scattering in the ins of Sybaris, only to see a long line quietly advancing to the north along the river bank, then crossing the river Sybari, over the abandoned vineyards, across the river Saraceno. Their speed did not decrease, instead they got faster and faster, until they arrived on river Sisno in which the whole troops stopped.

    Every soldiers were very excited when they glimpsed at the city of Amendra in the moonlight.

    Davos took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He then wave down his hand at Hielos.

    Commence the attack!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    This night, Vespa had a nice dream. He did not leave Amendra, but lived here for many many years, and every day, he will inspect his flocks of farm animals, then wander in the olive trees full of fruits, while drinking sweet wine¡­

    ¡°Chieftain, not good! The Greeks invaded the city!¡± The guard rushed inside in panic.

    ¡°What did you say?!!¡± Vespa woke up with a start.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Early the next morning, Archytas, who just woke up from his sleep, got a strange report from the guards: the mercenaries next to them have disappeared!

    He immediately went to check, and it is truly empty.

    Archytas immediately felt like something was wrong. They then went to the nearby camp of Davos, where they still saw people inside the camp. However, they were all people from the supply camp, medical camp, wounded soldiers, women, and arge number of ves (they are mainly from Thurii). And they were all loading their baggage and are preparing to leave¡­

    Archytas strode forward and caught Mersis, who was shouting and ordering the ves, ¡°Mersis, where is Davos and his soldiers?¡±

    Mersis hesitated and did not respond, which made him more suspicious.

    Just then, a familiar voice came from behind, ¡°Archytas, I apologize for beingte, and made you worried.¡±

    Archytas looked back and saw Davos smiling. He looked tired, but in a good mood, ¡°Where have your soldiers gone?¡±

    ¡°I have a good news for you.¡± Davos dismounted from his mount and gave the reins to Asistes, and calmly said, ¡°We have taken Amendra back!¡±

    ¡°WHEN?¡± Archytas was startled.

    ¡°Last night.¡±

    Capturing a mountain city in one night?! Davos seems to be not lying base from his expression. It must be known that siege is a big problem for any city-state army. The battle yesterday has made Archytas marvel at Davos'' great courage, creative strategy, strongmanding ability, and the ability to mix different troops. However, the fact that he conquered a mountain city in one night made Archytas, who had many experience in battles, to bepletely in awe, ¡°Davos, you have once againpleted another impossible mission. I''m so jealous!¡±

    Archytas'' frankness made Davosugh, ¡°In fact, we were blessed by the goddesses of fates(Moirai). The Lucanians arex in their defense and werepletely unprepared.¡±

    ¡°Oh, is that so.¡± Archytas was curious on this topic and wanted him to continue, but Davos then seriously said, ¡°I wish to get the support of you and Taranto.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Archytas looked at Davos'' serious expression and was suddenly became dumbfounded.

    Davos gazed at him and said, word by word, ¡°We the mercenaries wants to be the citizens of Amendra!¡±

    Archytas was once again dumbfounded, and doubtfully asked, ¡°All the mercenaries?! Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°This is the wish of all of us mercenaries!¡± Said Davos firm and loud voice.

    Archytas'' expression became serious. He looked around, whether it was Mersis, Asistes, or even the busy guards, have all stopped their work and looked at him with expectant gazes. Archytas turned around and looked at Davos, and said, ¡°It seems that the capture of Amendra was not a sudden move on your part.¡±

    Davos did not answer straight away, and instead said with emotion, ¡°Archytas, you were born into the aristocracy of Taranto, and have lived a good life. You can''t understand the situation of us mercenaries that wandered around, and couldn''t decide where to live and die. To have a home is what we yearned the most!¡±

    Archytas was silent for a moment and asked, ¡°Does Marcellus, archon of Amendra, agree?¡±

    ¡°He was seriously wounded the day the Lucanians upied Amendra, and died few dayster. Another archon, tephrost night, when we attacked Amendra, its people were held in the temple of Zeus on the top of the mountain. Before we reach the top of the mountain, under the leadership of tephro, theyunched an attack on the guards of the Lucanian. As a result, a fierce battle broke out between both sides, and by the time we arrived, tephro had already died, including some members of the council¡­¡± Said Davos.

    Archytas gazed at Davos, as Davos calmly continued, ¡°ording to our statistics, there are about 1,000 people living in Amendra, and they are not in good health. And nearly half of them are old people, and a lot are wounded. Even if we leave, I''m afraid that they won''t be able to maintain the normal management and work of Amendra, let alone to defend this mountain city.¡±

    Archytas understood that Davos had not only wanted the mercenaries to be the citizens of Amendra, but also to be its master. He was shocked by the ambition of Davos and evasively said, ¡°You should first ask Thurii. After all, they are the ally of Amendra.¡±

    ¡°Archytas, to be honest with you, Thurii has suffered two disastrous defeats and suffered great losses. I''m afraid that they won''t be able to take care of Amendra. Although the weak Amendra is not rich, its position is still very important. I''m afraid that it will attract other forces. At least if it is in our hands, we can defend it and are willing to form an alliance with Taranto in order to protect the security of the region and ensure that Heraclea will not be threatened by the aborigines again!¡± Davos made a seriousmitment.

    After all, the poor performance of Thurii in the war with the Lucania had almost caused a disaster in this region. Therefore, Archytas said cautiously, but made his stance clear, ¡°I don''t have the right to decide whether you can have Amendra, it will require the consent of the council of Taranto! I will send a boat back to Taranto at once and I hope that you can send someone to express your wishes to the council of Taranto!¡±

    ¡°Archytas, thank you very much!¡± Said Davos excitedly.

    ¡°My only regret is that you couldn''t be a citizen of Taranto.¡± Said Archytas honestly.

    Davos was greatly touched and said, ¡°But we will be allies. And maybe we will one day fight side by side once more!¡±

    Without getting the consent of the people of Amendra, and without consulting the opinion of her ally, Thurii. They have decided the ownership of the city through their conversation andughter.

 Chapter 96: Davos Thoughts

    Despite the absence of Davos and Archytas, the victory celebration of Thurii was still held, and the whole city temporarily suppressed their grief and celebrated their hard won victory.

    In particr, the banquet held by the strategoi hadsted untilte at night. Ansitanos, who had drunk many pots of wine, had been sleeping until the sun went up, and so it was almost noon when he left the city. However, when he arrived at the empty camp of Davos, he was suddenly dumbfounded. Fortunately, Taranto''s reinforcements were still in the camp of the mercenaries, and they then learned from them that the mercenaries had gone to Amendra.

    The mercenaries recaptured the city of Amendra! This astonishing news had once again shocked Ansitanos and Burkes.

    They immediately went northward, as they were eager to see Davos. But halfway through, Ansitanos suddenly halted their march, ¡°Let''s return immediately.¡±

    ¡°Strategos, why?¡± Asked the puzzled Burkes.

    Ansitanos, who had calmed down, sighed, ¡°The mercenaries were so anxious in capturing Amendrast night. And today, even their ves and supplies have moved into the city. What does this mean?¡±

    With an ¡°Ah¡±, Burkes eximed in surprised, ¡°They¡­they want to upy Amendra?!¡±

    Ansitanos nodded, and said with a bit of mncholy, ¡°More importantly ¨C Archytas had also went to Amendra, so what does this mean?¡±

    After getting reminded by Ansitanos, Burkes came to his senses and once more eximed, ¡°Taranto supports the mercenaries in their upation of Amendra?!¡±

    ¡°Maybe it is just Archytas'' personal wish¡­¡± Ansitanosfort is not only for Burkes, but also for himself, ¡°If Taranto truly supports the mercenaries, then can Thurii refuse? Taranto and the mercenaries are the heroes who saved Thurii¡­¡± Ansitanos sighed again, worriedly, ¡°Ah¡­and from now on, the troops of Taranto can now cross over Heraclea and get to the ins of Syberis!¡±

    ¡°Then¡­what should we do?!¡± Asked Burkes anxiously.

    ¡°Of course, it is to go back and discuss a countermeasure, and then¡­¡± Said Ansitanos, judging from his helpless expression, he obviously doesn''t think that Thurii had any good way to obstruct the mercenaries from taking over Amendra.

    On the way back to the city, he kept murmuring to himself, ¡°s¡­only half a year had passed and Thurii was reduced to this¡­teacher was right that a ¡®War is the quickest way to change the rise and fall of a city-state.¡¯ What Thurii currentlycks is a military talent like Davos and Archytas!¡­¡±

    Hearing this. Burkes remembered that he didn''t even got the chance to invite Davos to join Thurii. And now it seems that even if he did, Davos would not agree. He remembered that his ve, Moras, had led Davos to scout the surroundings of Amendra. He fears that at that time, Davos already had intention for this mountain city! Before the situation could even be resolve, he had actually began nning on capturing Amendra and finally achieved it, is this luck? No, He had led the mercenaries to win these two battles, which he finally achieved with his own effort!

    Although the force upation of the mercenaries on Amendra infringed on the interest of Thurii. But in the mind of Burkes, he was not sure whether he should resent him more or be amazed¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos apanied Archytas on his visit to Amendra.

    As he listened to how Davos was able to capture this mountain cityst night. Archytas inspected the route that the mercenaries took when attacking and enthusiastically tried to use the grappling hook.

    After entering the city gate, Archytas saw a lot of bloodstains along the way, and every few steps, he saw mercenary soldiers and their faces were filled with the same excitement and pride as Davos. He hesitated again and again, and decided to put forward his suggestion to Davos, ¡°Davos, I think that it is better for your mercenaries to get the consent of the citizens of Amendra if they want to join the city-state sessfully.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Okay!¡± Answered Davos.

    Archytas saw his perfunctory answer and thought about it, and prepared to persuade him, ¡°If a city-state wants to have a good order, it must not only have strictws, but also abide by them all the time. After a long time. thew will form a good tradition for the city-states and it will naturally be its cornerstone, and it will bring security to the people, and bring development to the city-state. If you harm it since the very beginning¡­¡± Archytas stopped, then pointed at the strange shaped pine tree growing on the hillside, and meaningfully said, ¡°It will be like this pine tree, if it''s crooked since the start, no matter how desperate it grows, it will never be a towering tree.¡±

    Davos, of course, understood the metaphor of Archytas, which made him ponder. The Chinese historical tradition is in emphasizing the result that no matter what means are to be used as long as it seed in the end, everything that has been done before will be forgiven and finally be acknowledged. This is why there is ¡°The winner is the king¡±, ¡°Act first, talkter¡± and other popr saying. However, Davos, who had graduated from the University of Political Science andw in his previous life, and knows that in the Roman Republic, which is known as the ¡°Son of Law¡±, it''sw and traditions restrict the excessive behavior of the officials. Even if there are many disruption, the country will not have any great turmoil. Caesar, who crossed the Rubicon, did not allow the army to enter Rome because it was a tradition. Mark Anthony, who doted on Cleopatra, did not agree on her request to merge the Jewish kingdom into Egypt, because it was the duty of every Roman citizen to not damage the interest of Rome. Octavian, who was in power, did not immediately change the Roman Republic into an empire, because it was a deep-rooted tradition that the Senate and <strong>Comitia</strong>* were the center of power of Rome, and he could only slowly change the Roman constitution gradually for decades¡­However, the leader of the guard, out of public interest, assassinated the one that he had been guarding since childhood, the radical Roman Emperor, Calig. As a result, a bad tradition of frequently assassinating the Roman Emperors by their guards was established¡­

    It was fine if Davos was only a leader who only cared for immediate interests and sought immediate pleasure, but his ambition was not limited to the small Amendra. The advise of Archytas woke him up like a sudden blow to his head. The actions of the mercenaries should not only consider the feelings of the people of Amendra, but also be favourable for his future rule. Considering that the mercenaries are outsiders, this act of plunder by taking root in Magna Graecia will make the feelings of the surrounding city-states to be obviously unwee and will be easily isted.

    Davos decided to change his previous approach of being impatient for quick sess and instant benefits. At the same time, he will also need to change his behavior afterwards. And so, he began to think from the perspective of a real Greek.

    ¡°Archytas, thank you for reminding me!¡± Thanks to Archytas, Davos decided to immediately put one of his ideas into actions, ¡°I heard that the Pythagorean school situation in Magna Graecia is not good.¡±

    When Archytas heard this, his expression became dim andplicated, ¡°Yes. Many of the people in the city-states in Magna Graecia does not agree with the idea of our school. They suppressed our members by various means, so that most of our disciples had to leave Magna Graecia and go back to maind Greece. Now, only Taranto is the only one tolerant of our school.¡±

    ¡°I agree with your school ¡®All is number¡¯. I think that if you use ¡®number¡¯ in managing the city-state, it will be more borate and efficient. I also agree with your school''s encouragement of self-control, abstinence, purity and obedience. At the same time, you dare break the customs of this world by allowing women to take part in studying, which is even more a pioneering work!¡± Davos then added sincerely, ¡°If the mercenaries bes the master of Amendra. I will certainly invite members of the Pythagorean school here to train students, set up schools, and get funded by the city-state.¡±

    The reason why Archytas was so frank about the present situation of the Pythagorean school was because Pythagorean school is famous in Magna Graecia, and before that, Davos had also expressed his favor for the school. However, he did not expect that Davos was so fond of the school that reached such a level and couldn''t respond for a while, ¡°What you say is true?¡±

    ¡°Should I pledge to the gods?¡±

    ¡°On behalf of the school, I am grateful for your support! I will tell the members of the school about your proposal as soon as possible!¡± Said Archytas excitedly.

 Chapter 97: Cornelius

    Cornelius was excited and anxious as he was led into the city hall by the soldiers.

    Since the upation of Amendra by the Lucanians. the life of Cornelius had been hell for the past six months. During the day, they will go out to graze the animals, cut down trees and carry the goods under the supervision of the Lucanians. If they ck off, the lightest punishment would be getting scolded while in the worst case it would be getting whipped or not given any food. In the evening, he was imprisoned with the others in the temple of Zeus. Although the temple isrge, thousands of people crowded together to do their daily routine* inside. The air was dirty and the space was narrow. Moreover, the children often made noises and the adults weep, which made him to not be able to sleep soundly every night. At the same time, the Lucanians only gave them food enough to make them half full, which made them weak, and a lot of them constantly fall ill and die. (TL note: eat, drink, shit, pee, sleep)

    During his long period of imprisonment, Cornelius, like everyone else, was exhausted both physically and mentally. And had already epted his fate and felt that he would live such an empty life until he quietly go to the underworld¡­.

    However yesterday, they were urgently gathered together to load the carts and carry supplies, and were busy tillte night. Even the ferocious Lucanians started to work as well, and Cornelius noticed the panic in their expression.

    Sure enough, the people who could understand thenguage of the Lucanians quietly told them that he had overheard what the Lucanians were talking about, and they said that ¡°¡­the army of Grumentum was annihted by some Greek mercenary.¡± and ¡°Those Greeks are murderous monsters, and are terrifying¡­¡± and so on.

    This news cheered the people of Amendra, as they saw hope of getting freed from their hardship. In the middle of the night, many people tossed and turned, and were unable to sleep. They then heard the faint sound of battle¡­

    What is happening?!! The sensitive people of Amendra got up one after another, and came to the gate of the temple and peek through the crack. The Lucanian guards panicked and yelled at each other, which allowed the people in the temple to hear what they said clearly, ¡°The Greeks attacked the city!¡±

    They were so flustered that the archon, tephro, who had always acted decisively, saw that the guards were leaving one after another. It seemed that they were going to reinforce their troops that were fighting down the mountain, and so he immediately organized the citizens to fight back. The people of Amendra, who hated the Lucanians, work together to break through the gate and knock down the few remaining Lucanian guards with rocks and their fists.

    They had juste out of the temple, but had encountered the Lucanians who had returned (In fact, the Lucanian warriors were totally unable to fight back the attack of the mercenaries. In his desperation, Vespa thought to hold the thousand of Greeks in the temple as hostage in exchange for the survival of his tribe.) Of course, the unarmed and frail people of Amendra were not the opponents of the Lucanian warriors. However, the angry and hopeful people of Amendra did not want to surrender again, as they had just broken out of their cage and their reinforcements wereing. As a result, the archon tephro was the first to die, and almost all the strong and powerful citizens who were charging at the front were almost annihted. Just as the Lucanians could no longer control their impulse and were ready to kill the rest of the trembling people of Amendra, the Greek mercenaries arrived.

    In front of the people of Amendra, these strong and burly soldiers showed their great power. In a sh, the enemies who had just been extremely vicious were crushed, and they then knelt down and surrendered.

    The people of Amendra couldn''t stop themselves from shaking, when the murderous soldiers approached them. Unexpectedly, these soldiers were full of concern and supported those that are weak, and prepared a clean bed, giving them steaming hot porridge, and the physicians carefully examined their bodies and treated their wounds.

    Cornelius left tears of gratitude more than once, and he, like the others, began asking about the origin of this brave and caring troops. The soldiers, the physicians, the women who had bandaged their wounds and were called ¡°nurse¡± by the soldiers, as well as the ves, had told the people of Amendra everything about themselves. Therefore, Cornelius knew that this Greek army hade from Asia Minor, and under the leadership of the Persian prince, Cyrus the Younger, they went deep into the territory of Persia to fight against the Persian king. Then, they safely returned to Byzantium, and epted the employment of Thurii and came to Magna Graecia. After losing the battle that the Thurians had led, the mercenaries took the lead and joined with Taranto''s reinforcements, andpletely annihted the Lucanian alliance. Then, without even resting, they went to capture Amendrast night and saved them¡­

    The story of the mercenaries is as legendary and fascinating as the epic ¡¶Odyssey¡·. What made Cornelius felt even more amazed is the leader of the mercenaries, Davos. ording to the soldiers, this young leader was at first just an ordinary soldier, and there was nothing special about him. However, while they were fighting the army of the Persian King, he fell into aa and after waking up, his character had not only changed a lot but also his intelligence and wisdom, and have manage to solved a lot of problems. The soldiers thought that it is due to Hades favoring him that he got enlightened and why he have changed. Hence they choose him as their leader, and Davos lived up to their expectations and created one miracle after another. He led the soldiers out of the Persian encirclement and return to Greece. When they got defeated in the battle and everyone was pessimistic, he resolutelyunched an attack on the powerful Lucanian alliance and annihted the enemy with a mix of troops, and created an almost impossible miracle. And then, when the others thought that the mercenaries needed a break after the war, he thenunched another attack on Amendra within that day¡­

    Therefore, when the mercenary told Cornelius that their leader, Davos, wanted to see him, he was so eager to see the man that have led such a unique army and was respected and admired by his soldiers, and was called the ¡°God''s Favored¡±, ¡°The son of miracles¡±, ¡°Our Davos¡±.

    As soon as he entered the hall, he met a smiling young man and called out to him kindly, ¡°Lord Cornelius!¡±

    Cornelius was dumbfounded, ¡°Are you?¡±

    The guard that led him said with pride, ¡°This is our leader, Davos!¡±

    Although he learned from the mercenaries that Davos was a young man, Cornelius was still surprised by how young he is and so easygoing. He is totally different from the mercenary leader that have experienced many battles in his imagination. For a moment, he forgot his manners.

    Davos was also looking at the Elder of Amendra. It was said that his family was one of the founders of Amendra more than 200 years ago, which has continued to this day. Even though there have been countless archons and elders, and Cornelius himself is only an elder, but he is kind and helpful, and has a high reputation among the people, which is why Davos had chosen him first. Looking at the middle-aged man who had been in prison for a long time, Davos asked him with concern, ¡°I heard that you were woundedst night, are you feeling better now?¡±

    Cornelius touch the bandage on his abdomen and said gratefully, ¡°A lot better! Your physicians are very skilled! Leader Davos, I am thankful that you manage to arrived in timest night, otherwise we would all be finished!¡±

    Davos heart jolted and looked carefully at Cornelius, his sincere appearance didn''t seem to be a lie. Last night, when he learned that the Lucanians had a fierce battle with the people of Amendra that have escape the temple, he deliberately slowed down the pace of their attack, which resulted in the death of most of the young citizen of Amendra. He felt a bit guilty and quickly said, ¡°Err¡­ Lord Cornelius, thank you foring here today, I have something to tell you.. We will be leaving soon.¡±

    Cornelius was startled, ¡°WHY?¡±

    ¡°Although the Lucanians have suffered heavy damage this time, but after all, they have arge poption, and we heard that Potentia is going to help Grumentum. Therefore, Thurii urgently asked us to go back and help them defend their city.¡±

 Chapter 98: Ecclesia

    ¡°THURII AGAIN! Selfish Thurii! May the goddess of misfortune curse them!¡± Said Cornelius as he gnash his teeth.

    Davos can guess the reason (Archytas told him) why a good man who had always been kind to others can hate like this, but he pretends to be curious, ¡°Lord Cornelius, I seem to remember that Thurii and Amendra were allies, but you seem to hate them very much.¡±

    ¡°The Thurians forced us to leave Amendra temporarily to help them defend Thurii, otherwise they would not help Amendra if the Lucanians besieged them. At that time, the Lucanians were invading the south and the north was safe, and so we had no choice but to carry arge amount of supplies and opened the city gate to prepare to move to Thurii¡­.as a result, we were unprepared¡­the Lucanians had taken advantage of the situation and took a risk by drifting down from the river Sinni¡­over the past six months, we have suffered a lot¡­the temple was defiled, the women were assaulted, the children were starved to death, and the citizens were ughtered¡­¡± At this point, Cornelius was in tears, ¡°All of these came from the selfish decision of Thurii, whose own city is still intact! Every one of us, Amendra, hates the Thurians more than the Lucanians!¡±

    ¡°s!¡­¡± Davos sighed, and doesn''t know what to say.

    ¡°I heard that your soldiers said that it was your own decision to take back Amendra, and not the order of Thurii?¡± Asked Cornelius, while he wipe his tears.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°That''s good. It means that we don''t owe Thurii anything! As long you will stay, we will pay twice the sry Thurii had offered to hire you.¡± Said Cornelius decisively.

    Davos helplessly said, ¡°Why? This is not necessary. We numbered 3,000, our food consumption and sry every month won''t be a small amount, neither is Amendra a wealthy city-state. Moreover, even if we ept your employment, we will only be able to leave once our deadline with Thurii is over. We are people that have no home, and we need to constantly leave to ept employment and earn money to make a living¡­¡± On the contrary, his words reminded Cornelius, ¡°No home¡­¡± He then blurted out, ¡°Then stay.¡±

    As soon as he uttered it, he seemed to have gotten encouraged and said it a loud, ¡°Yes, all of you stay! Be a citizen of Amendra!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Previously, the square in Amendra was used by the Lucanians as the location for their camp, and it is the only ce in the city where the mercenaries met with a decent resistancest night. This afternoon, the square has been cleaned up, and only the remnants of blood on the marble floor revealed that there had been a battle.

    In addition to the young children, the remaining people, including the women and minors have gathered in the square.

    At this moment, standing on the central wooden tform of the square are the five renowned citizens of Amendra, headed by Cornelius. Cornelius observed almost all the people in Amendra, whether they are old and young, and most of them were women. A lot of them are still physically weak and even need the help of the mercenaries and the physicians. A year ago, there were 4,000 citizens of Amendra (citizens of Greek city states can only be adult males), with a total poption of more than 10,000. Now, there are only a few thousand of people, and they are mainly elderly, children and women, and are unable to sessfully do the daily task of protecting the city, nting wheat and herding animals, which strengthened his resolved.

    ¡°Citizens, women, and children of Amendra, I, Cornelius, a member of the council, have gathered you all here today because there is an important matter for us to decide together! More than 200 years ago, our ancestors left Sybaris to build a city here. And over the past 200 years, with the nourishment of the two rivers, and the protection of the mountain of Amendra, we have a stable life with abundant supplies. Even when our mother state, Sybaris, was destroyed, ournd was never affected by war. But¡­sincest year, when our citizens followed the Thurians into the territory of the Lucanians, we¡­¡± Cornelius shed tears and many of the audience began to cry.

    ¡°My wife didn''t want to be assaulted by the Lucanians and so shemitted suicide¡­and one of my children died of an illness¡­and you all have the same miserable experience as me¡­for 200 years, this is the only time Amendra has encountered the mes of war, and this one has almost made Amendra a thing of the past, just like our mother state, Sybaris. When we prayed for our salvation in the temple of Zeus day and night, did Zeus finally respond to our prayers and sent our saviors. They are the mercenaries from the Ionian region of Greece, ourpatriots!¡± Cornelius then pointed to the rear of the crowd, and Davos, with his officers and some soldiers, as well as Archytas who stand as a witness, were standing there quietly waiting.

    ¡°They have defeated the ferocious Lucanians, and rescued us from our suffering, and took care of us! To be honest, I have met a lot of mercenaries before, but they are totally different, as they are just like our family!¡­¡± Cornelius'' words won the approval of many people, in particr were the emotional women.

    ¡°However, they are about to leave, and leave Magna Graecia!¡± As soon as he finished speaking, many people began to panic.

    ¡°If they leave, then what should we do? Who will ensure the safety of Amendra? Thurii?¡± Cornelius paused, and there were a lot of swearing.

    ¡°NO! I would rather be killed by the Lucanians than get deceived by the Thurians!¡±

    ¡°The selfish Thurians are no longer allowed to set foot on the city of Amendra ever again!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Taking advantage of the anger of the peole, Cornelius then said, ¡°This time this bitter lesson had taught us that we can only rely on ourselves to defend our own homes! But Amendra is very weak now, so what should we do?¡± Cornelius nced at the people under the stage and asked this question, which caused them to think deeply.

    ¡°The archons of Amendra are dead. As a member of the elders, I, Cornelius, have filed for an important proposal and applied for an lesia and vote to decide whether it will be passed. Because the number of citizen is small, and this concerns the interests of every one of us, so I specially ask all Amendrans to vote.¡± Cornelius has just finished his speech, then the five other people on the stage expressed their support.

    Most of the women under the stage were excited about their first vote in their lives, and naturally those who wants to oppose it couldn''t go against the flow.

    ¡°I have heard that Cornelius of Amendra is a good man, but doesn''t care much on politics. I didn''t expect that he would make such an amazing move today!¡± Said Archytas to Davos, while feeling surprised and doubt. After all, it is unprecedented for women to vote for the city-state affairs. Perhaps it had only happened in ancient times. It was said that the reason why Athena could be the patron of Athens was because the women voting yed a major role.

    Davosughed and said nothing. It is certainly his idea to allow the women to vote. Compared with men that valued interest, the women are more emotional and yearns for the protection of the strong. In the face of the mercenaries who saved them and have treated them kindly, their choice can be imagined.

    ¡°Since we all agree to this, then my proposal is -¡± Cornelius nced at the distant Davos and said, ¡°To ept our benefactor, all the mercenaries that have rescued Amendra and to be a citizen of Amendra. Then we will no longer have to worry about the safety of our city-state!¡±

    There was an uproar in the crowd. After all, it isn''t easy for a freeman to be a citizen of a Greek city-state. Moreover, it''s very rare to ept more than 3,000 people to be citizens of a city-state at the same time. (after all, Greece is not Rome)

    But after amotion, a woman raised her right arm first, and shouted, ¡°Agree!¡± Afterwards, the voice of ¡°Agreement¡± rang out all over the square.

 Chapter 99: Thuriis Loss

    Looking at the countless raised right arms in front of him, Archytas said happily and with a trace of regret, ¡°Davos, your wish hase true. Congrattions!¡±

    Davos was relieved and said sincerely, ¡°Thank you! I also earnestly hope that the council of Taranto will agree to my proposal, so that we can be allies!¡±

    ¡°A total of 1,382 people have participated in the voting of this proposal, 1,076 have agreed and 306 opposed, and so, this proposal is passed! I dere that -¡± When Cornelius saw the result, his mood was a bitplicated at the beginning, but he was soon relieved. So he used all his energy and shouted, ¡°From now on, all the mercenaries will be citizens of Amendra!!!¡±

    As soon as Cornelius'' voice fell, the soldiers around Davos roared with joy. Then the excited officers warmly hugged Davos, and they kept saying a sentence to him, ¡°Leader, we finally have a home!!!¡±

    Hearing this, Davos became absent-minded, ¡®Home?!¡­unfortunately, my real home is not in this world¡­¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time as the lesia of Amendra was held, the envoy of Thurii, led by Ansitanos, reached the gate of Amendra.

    ¡°We are the envoy of Thurii. We want to meet your leader, please open the gate quickly!¡± Burkes said to the guard in the city.

    Before the guard could answer, a man came out and swear, ¡°GO BACK, THURIANS! AMENDOLARA DOESN''T WELCOME YOU!¡±

    On hearing this, the envoys were a bit angry, and even the always gentle Ansitanos eimed angrily, ¡°Rude mercenaries, don''t think that you can do whatever you want after defeating the Lucanians, by ignoring thews of the Greek city-states and forcibly upying other Greek city-states!¡±

    The man sneered and said, ¡°Hmph, it seems that you really cared about the life and death of the people of Amendra! OPEN YOUR EYES AND SEE CLEARLY, I am a citizen of Amendra who has lived here since I was a kid!¡±

    Ansitanos was dumbfounded, and Burkes finally recognize him. After all, he is a merchant, and had often came to Amendra for trade and knew a lot of people, ¡°Is that you, Anticles?!¡±

    ¡°You didn''t expect that I am still alive?!¡± Anticles spoke bitterly, ¡°Thanks to Thurii, the Lucanians had cut off my right hand, but fortunately, I survived. Most of my neighbors andrades are dead due to your selfish demands and threats, and made them anxious in reaching that damned city of yours. As a result, they were unprepared and got attacked by the Lucanians. All the sufferings of Amendra was caused by Thurii! From now on, you Thurians are not wee here! This is not my personal will, but themon will of every Amendra that have survived!¡±

    Burkes, Ansitanos, and the envoys were shocked. They did not expect that the citizens of Amendra would treat them like this.

    Although Amendra and Thurii are allies, their strength were quite different. There were more than 20,000 citizens in Thurii, and with a total poption of about 100,000. In addition, the number of freeman is close to 140,000, without counting the ves. While thergest poption of Amendra were more than 10,000. As a result, Thurii had treated Amendra more like its own subordinate city-state, and rarely considered their feelings. When the Thurians received the report that Amendra was captured by the Lucanians, besides expressing their regret, they were more worried about whether it will threaten the northern part of the in of Sybaris. When the fleeing citizens of Amendra asked Thurii for help in getting back their lost territory, the Thurians had just ignored them and have only considered on how to defend against the Lucanians. Now that they have felt the resentment of the citizens of Amendra being so deep, besides from being shocked, they were rmed.

    ¡°Don''t think that you can ask anything more from Amendra, we will never listen to you Thurians ever again! Do you hear those cheers?!¡± Anticlesughed wildly and patted the shoulder of the guard with his left hand and said, ¡°All the people of Amendra have voted to ept all the mercenaries as citizens of Amendra! Therefore, they have not forcible upied Amendra, as they have be the citizens of Amendra legally! I heard that the Lucanians that have defeated Thurii twice was annihted by them, and now anyone who wants to invade Amendra in the future should first taste the strength of our new citizen!¡± The threat in Anticles'' words made the envoy looked unsightly.

    In theughter of Anticles, the envoy of Thurii went back with resentment.

    Anticles stoppedughing and turned to looked at the guard that was beside him happily. When the guard felt nervous, Anticles then showed his pleased expression and asked, ¡°What''s your name?¡±

    ¡°Trotidis.¡±

    ¡°Where are you from?¡±

    ¡°Thessaly, the same as leader Davos.¡±

    ¡°Your age?¡±

    ¡°28.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After asking a series of questions, Anticles then said to the guard, who was still in doubt, ¡°I have two daughters. One is 21 year old, she is pretty and her husband is dead and has a 2-year old son. And my other daughter is only 16 years old and is not engaged. Choose one and be my son-inw. Decide tonight and tomorrow, I will bring you to my home and get you married.¡±

    Trotidis was stunned, and the other guard came forward to congratte him and then said unashamed, ¡°Anticles, you have two daughters, so let me be your other son-inw.¡±

    And there wasughter on the wall.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The envoy of Thurii kept on shouting.

    ¡°Who is that Anticles?¡± Ansitanos asked quietly.

    ¡°A noble of Amendra, and is the captain of the patrol team and the fire brigade.¡± Answered Burkes.

    Ansitanos said, ¡°Oh¡± and didn''t say anymore.

    ¡°Strategos, even if the people of Amendra have some problems with Thurii, but I know that the mercenary leader, Davos. Although he is young, he is very dependable and has a good impression of Thurii. Besides, we have an agreement with him, and will not be easily swayed by the people of Amendra. I believed that after a while, when the people of Amendra have calmed down, we can still have a good talk with them.¡±

    ¡°I hope so.¡± Ansitanos sighed, ¡°The mercenaries are now the legal citizens of Amendra, and so our protest will have no effect. In view of the present situation, we will have to discuss a new countermeasures once we returned. Oh!¡­Burkes, do you think what I am thinking?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°My teacher had once said, ¡®After the Peloponnesian war, because the Spartan was superior to others, they have treated their neighbors with harshness and cruelty. Therefore, the Greek city-states that were far away from Sparta made contact with the more friendly Athens, and eventually lead to the formation of the Delian League*.¡¯¡± Ansitanos thought and bitterly remorsed, ¡°Are we really tyrannical? It''s not good to be so proud without having a powerful strength!¡­¡± https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delian_League

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the voting, the women and children withdrew from the square, and Cornelius asked Archytas to leave, because the next step is the real lesia of Amendra.

    In addition to the guards that were patrolling the city walls and the soldiers guarding the prisoners, there were 512 original citizen of Amendra and 2,920 newly promoted citizens (which includes the 1,837 mercenaries of Davos and the 1,083 of other mercenaries ) in the square, with a total of 3,432 citizens of Amendra.

    Cornelius wanted to continue with the following topics but the cheering of the mercenaries interrupted the lesia for a while, and waited until the square regain its calm, and said loudly, ¡°Citizens of Amendra, since most of you are new citizens, it is necessary to first teach you the political system of Amendra. Amendra is simr to Taran¡­.simr to Athens.¡± Cornelius originally wanted to say Taranto, but on second thought, these mercenaries were from Ionia and probably did not know about Taranto, and so he mentioned Athens, a well-known city-state, forparison.

 Chapter 100: A king or an Archon?

    ¡°The highest authority of Athens and Amendra is the lesia, as all the citizens are allowed to participate and decide on the legal, military, and diplomatic affairs of the city-state. Athens has a system of ¡®Ten Strategoi¡¯, while Amendra has 2 archons, who are in charge of the internal affairs of the city-state in peacetime and serve as the polemarchos of the army in times of war, and they are elected by the lesia every year. Athens has the council of 500, while Amendra has the council of 100 elder, and its members are also elected by the lesia every year. They are responsible for the implementation and trials of thews of the city-state, and assist the archons in managing the city-state, as well as ordinary foreign affairs. They also have an important task of examining and providing candidates for archonship. Originally, the election of an archon is held in june every year. The elders nominates the candidates and the lesia will elect them. However, because Amendra has just experience a war, and there is a need to urgently elect an archon in order to lead the people to rebuild our home. Therefore, an exception will be held today. I''d like to invite Davos, the former leader of the mercenaries, and the main officers toe to the stage and to discuss it with each other and elect the candidate for archonship first.¡± As soon as Cornelius spoke, the new citizens (former mercenaries) were getting impatient.

    ¡°Who else to choose! The archon of Amendra can only be our leader, Davos!¡± Someone shouted in the crowd and it immediately got the approval of the new citizens.

    ¡°Yes! We are not going to pick anyone but leader Davos!¡±

    ¡°Only Davos can lead us and continue to create miracles!¡±

    ¡°With Leader Davos being the polemarchos of a hundred battles, we won''t need to worry about losing!¡±

    ¡°Leader Davos for archon!¡±

    ¡°Davos!¡±

    ¡°Davos!!¡±

    ¡°Davos!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Thousands of the newly joined citizens that are in the square unanimously shouted the name of Davos, and their momentum is overwhelming.

    Cornelius encountered this situation for the first time, and he could not help but panic and immediately turned to look at Davos for help.

    Davos smiled and said a word to Asistes, who immediately ran to the back of the square.

    Soon, there was a loud sounding salpinx that rang out in the venue, which immediately silence these former mercenaries of Davos, and the other mercenaries have also gradually stopped shouting.

    Cornelius was rmed by the powerful charisma of Davos: There is no doubt that Davos would be the archon. Therefore, the other archon must be chosen among the original citizens of Amendra.

    Cornelius was anxiously thinking on how he should say it, when suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, ¡°Brothers, although we have chosen leader Davos as the archon, don''t forget that he will need to share his power with another person, and next year, there will be a need to elect a new archon. But who can do better than leader Davos! Who can create more miracles than leader Davos! Who canmand a battle better than leader Davos! Who else is more favored by the gods than leader Davos!¡±

    ¡°NO ONE!!¡±

    ¡°NONE!!¡±

    ¡°Are you all willing to let an inexperienced and ipetent man rule over you?¡± Another man shouted.

    ¡°NO!!¡± This is what the mercenaries were worried about.

    ¡°Brothers, think about it. Is democracy really good? Think of Athens, it is once the most powerful city-state in Greece, but it was destroyed by a group of ipetent politician fighting against each other! Think about the city-states that we passed through in the ck Sea, which are also democratic, and the governance of their city-state are very bad. An army must obey themand of a wise strategos in order to win. If a city-state wants to be strong, then it should follow this principle. Brothers, in the past year, we have experienced a lot of difficulties, but we have also gained a lot of knowledge. We have seen the vast territory of Persia, the tyranny of Sparta, and the tyranny of Thurii¡­are you willing to enjoy freedom under democracy and live your life being bullied, or are you willing to be strong under the leadership of leader Davos?! Soldiers, tell us you choice!¡± Davos nodded unnoticeable at Olivos, who was shouting in the crowd.

    ¡°King Davos!¡± Suddenly, there was a loud shout in the crowd, and Cornelius and the others on the stage, as well as the original citizens of Amendra were shocked.

    Both Sesta and Adrien turned to look at Davos not far away, as well as the senior officers of these mercenaries around him, such as Antonios, Kapus and Amintas who remained calm. If they knew Davos better, they would find that the people that led the soldiers in the venue were Hielos, Matonis, Olivos and so on. Sesta and Adrien looked at each and remained silent.

    With that loud shout, the whole venue fell into a terrible silence, but soon, the new citizens began to shout, ¡°King Davos.¡± It was sparse at first, but in the end, it became more louder and clearer.

    Cornelius and the others looked at each other, and one of them wanted to rush out but was held back, and he finally gave up. In the face of the overwhelming momentum of thousands of people, no one dared to summon up their courage and shout, ¡°You are wrong! Amendra will never let someone to be elected as king! Thew of Amendra does not allow it! The citizens of Amendra will never allow it either!!¡± The reason they manage to live to this day and not die in the hands of the Lucanians like the rest of the citizens of Amendra is because they are not brave enough, and that''s why Davos chose them. However, most of the citizens of Amendra are old, weak, sick and disabled. They have neither the intention nor the capability to confront the mercenaries.

    Cornelius suddenly regretted in promising to allow the mercenaries to join Amendra, but the current situation did not allow him to think much about it. And once again, he turned his pleading gaze to Davos.

    Davos saw that the time was right. The new citizens then saw his figure appear on the stage, which made them more excited and shouted at the same time, ¡°King Davos!¡±

    ¡°King Davos!!¡±

    ¡°King Davos!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Cornelius gave Davos aplicated look and gave way.

    Davos faced the crowd under the stage, and the shouting had almost burst his ears. He then swung his hand down with a majestic air¡­

    The venue gradually became calm.

    ¡°Soldiers, no, you should now be called citizens of Amendra! When we left Byzantium, I said to the officers that ¡®you will be citizens of a city-state and will have your ownnd.¡¯ In less than two months, I have fulfilled my promise. Today''s harvest, you have won it with your sweat and blood, and indomitable spirit! You deserve it. Congrattions to you ¨C the new citizens of Amendra!!¡±

    ¡°Hooray!¡±

    ¡°Hooray!!¡± The new citizens cheered excitedly, and some even shed tears.

    ¡°Thank you very much for your trust in choosing me to be the king of Amendra. For me, being king does not mean that I will have great powers to oppress the citizens and gain benefits for myself. It means that I will have greater responsibility to make the citizens of Amendra live a happier life, and make our city-state stronger and free from being bullied by others! Although I have the confidence to do so, but -¡± Paused Davos, and Cornelius was so tense that his heart was about to leap out of his throat.

    ¡°I will have to apologize to you, but I can''t be king.¡± As soon as this was said, the rest of the people in the stage breathed a sigh of relief, while the new citizens were in a state of uproar.

    ¡°Why?!¡± The new citizens are asking questions.

    ¡°Because there are few Greek city-states that adopt the monarchy system, even Sparta has a dual kingship (Macedon does not count, as the Greeks do not regard them as a Greek city-state). If I be the king of Amendra, then Amendra would be rejected by the city-states of Magna Graecia, and if Amendra wants to develop, it will need to trade with other city-states. In order to be strong, Amendra needs to unite with the other city-states. If Amendra was isted and has no allies, then all great ideas will be nothing. What''s more terrible is that Amendra will be attacked by other Greek city-states who doesn''t like monarchy. Therefore, for the sake of Amendra, I can''t be a king!¡±

 Chapter 101: Archon for life

    After hearing what Davos said, Cornelius and the others nodded, and they all felt that Davos was very calm and clear-minded, and that there is no problem for him to be an archon. On the other hand, the new citizens were somewhat frustrated and sighed.

    At this moment, Hielos cried out in the crowd, ¡°Since you can''t be a king, then you can always be an archon for life! Just like Dionysius of Syracuse, the surrounding city-states weren''t hostile to Syracuse, but instead they turned to Syracuse to ask for their help!¡±

    ¡°Yes! Be an archon for life! So that we won''t have to worry about mediocre people managing Amendra!¡± Added Olivos.

    ¡°Davos, archon for life!¡± Matonis, Giorgris and the others then yelled.

    The enthusiasm of the new citizens were rekindled.

    Cornelius was anxious while he listened to the waves of appeals, and wanted to tell the mercenaries who only knew how to kill that Dionysius of Syracuse, was not elected by the lesia, and had seize the city-state by force. And also Syracuse is the most powerful city-state in Magna Graecia, how would the other city-states dare to be hostile to it.

    Faced with the noisy crowd, Cornelius backed down again, and he once again cast his gaze to Davos, hoping that the cool headed young leader could once again veto the unreasonable demands of the soldiers, ¡°Since the citizens of Amendra have chosen me to be the archon for life! I will dly ept this position that you have entrusted to me, I swear to Hades that I will use all my wisdom and ability to lead all of you in making Amendra to be more prosperous and powerful, and give you a better future!¡±

    There was a huge chearing under the stage.

    ¡°These people don''t know anything about freedom! They have no idea what an archon for life means! Cornelius, you have to persuade the young leader!¡± Listening to hispanion''s tone of panic, Cornelius summoned up his courage and stepped forward, ¡°Davos¡­uhm¡­it is against thew and tradition of Amendra, because we never have the position of archon for life. This farce must be stop!¡±

    Davos suddenly turned around, ¡°Farce?! You say that this is a farce?! Is the lesia not the highest authority of a city-state! A bill doesn''t need to be proposed by it, but the lesia needs to approved it before it can be implemented, right?! The people under the stage shouting are the citizens of Amendra! And the ones that are shouting are more than half of them! The bill that they had proposed and have passed due to their vote is in ordance with the legal procedures of Amendra!!¡­¡±

    Davos words were like nails hitting Cornelius, and he could only respond stutteringly, ¡°But¡­but¡­¡±

    ¡°Otherwise, you want to say to them that ¡®citizens, your proposal is uneptable, and we won''t acknowledge it!¡¯¡± Davos continued with a sneer.

    Cornelius watched the crowd under the stage as they continued to cheer. He swallowed his saliva and subconsciously shrank back.

    Davos sneered and said to Cornelius, ¡°The model of the Greek city-state''s democracy, Athens, after its defeat, some citizens have already begun doubting democracy. Then Athens started the ¡®Thirty Tyrants¡¯ and it is inseparable from their support. Many Greek city-states in the east have already begun abandoning their democracy. And alsom wasn''t it due to the bad effect of democracy that led Amendra to suffer today?¡±

    Davos words was very loud, and Cornelius wasn''t the only one who heard it but also the other citizens on the stage. Indeed, at that time, the archon, Marcellus, strongly advocated to defend against the Lucanians in the city and have opposed leaving the city. However, another archon, tephro, was more inclined to temporarily move to Thurii, which made the citizens to be divided into two factions. Due to both sides being in dispute, some people were forced to leave Amendra without waiting for a resolution to be reached, which includes those that Cornelius led. Finally, in order to prevent division, the people of Amendra had to pass a resolution and leave together¡­

    Guilt and fear came to him at the same time. Cornelius felt his throat dry, and so he swallowed his saliva again. He then heard Davos solemnly say, ¡°Don''t worry, I swear to Hades that your rights and interests will not only be protected, but it will also be better!¡­¡±

    Just as Davos made a promise to Cornelius and the others, someone in the stage then said, ¡°I agree in making Davos to be archon for life!¡±

    ¡°I agree!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    All the citizens have agreed.

    Cornelius made his way to the front, step by step with heavy steps. He didn''t know what will the consequences of this decision would bring to Amendra, but he knows that if this matter doesn''t reach any satisfying results, then the angry mercenaries will definitely smash Amendra into pieces.

    Cornelius, who wasn''t in the mood to regret whether he had ¡°led the wolves into their house¡±, stood in front of the stage, and calmed himself down and reluctantly said, ¡°The proposal on making Davos the archon of Amendra for life is passed. From today on, Davos will be Amendra''s archon for life until his soul returns to the underworld¡­¡±

    ¡°Hooray!¡±

    ¡°Hooray!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The new citizens under the stage cheered like they had won a great victory, forming a sea of joy.

    While the original citizens of Amendra: Some were angry and quietly cursing; while some were indifferent as if it has nothing to do with themselves; and some cheered together with the new citizens¡­

    Sesta and a handful of officers who have different views were disappointed, but they all tried to smile.

    With a smile on his face, Davos strode forward and said in a loud voice, ¡°As your newly appointed archon for life, and in order to better govern Amendra, I propose to make Cornelius to be the deputy archon!¡±

    ¡°Agree!¡± Not only the new citizens who were enthusiastic, but also many of the original citizens, who thinks that with the help of Cornelius, this young and unfamiliar archon will at least not mess around, but they did not know that the mood of Cornelius has fallen to the bottom.

    Cornelius wasn''t depress due to the fact that Davos changed the power structure of Amendra and created a new post, but the main reason is that he had hope to elect another archon, even if it needs to be elected once a year. It will at least check and bnce the power of Davos, but he didn''t expect that Davos would not give him this opportunity at all, and directly erased the political tradition of ¡°dual archonship¡± of Amendra. The post of deputy archon is a subordinate to the archon, and it seems that Davos wanted to be autocratic!

    As far as Davos is concerned, after more than a half year of honing and with his experience in his previous life, it had made him not agree with the democratic system of the Greek city-state in this world. Specially in this war-torn era, and felt confident that his rule and being supplemented by the masses is more effective than a multi-person split governance! and also a lot more powerful!

    After analysing it and preparing in advance, he believed that: Although the Greeks all have the tradition of independence and freedom, specific problems need to be considered in details. Specially for the special job of the mercenaries, as they are used to obedience due to them fighting outside of Greece for many years. Otherwise, they will not be able to win. The soldiers worship the general who had led them to win many battles, but the great reputation that Davos umted over the past six months is enough to make the soldiers entrust their lives to him, and after their previous experience in Persia, where they have seen the vastness of the Persian Empire, and their views on monarchy and dictatorship were naturally different from those of ordinary Greeks. Of course, if they vote after living a stable life for half a year, then the situation might be different.

    After his careful nning, Davos finally achieved his goal. An archon for life is in fact, a lifetime autocrat! In his memory, S and Caesar seemed to have held this position in the previous Roman history. He had just changed ¡°dictatorship¡± to ¡°ruling¡± as a cover up because he is afraid of arousing the resentment of the other city-states.

    Davos looked at the cheering crowd, and his heart was full of excitement and thoughts. Under the western sky, the sun was about to set, and once today is over, the old Amendra will be the past, and tomorrow, a new Amendra will be created¡­

    Note: In the test of blood and fire, Davos won a foothold for himself, but Amendra is so insignificant among the thousands of city-states in the Mediterranean. If he wants to realize his ambition, he still has a long way to go. In the process of developing himself, he will also face a more arduous and cruel tests!

 Chapter 102: The first council meeting (I)

    In the evening, there was a bright candle in the city hall of Amendra.

    Davos, Cornelius, and the five renowned citizens who had stood on the stage together with Cornelius before, as well as Sesta, Adrien, and the captains of the units headed by Kapus and Antonios. Davos had also insisted on calling Herpus, Mersis, Ledes, Asistes, and the leaders of each squads. Dozens of people gathered together to discuss the redevelopment of Amendra.

    As the only archon, Davos naturally became the chief of the council and sat in the middle of the city hall, ¡°Citizens, the reconstruction of Amendra needs a lot of work, but we are pressed for time. First of all, we have toplete electing council members.¡±

    Davos said seriously, ¡°The council(Boule)*, is an important institution of the city-state of Amendra, as they are chosen from the most experienced and wise elites among the citizens of a city-state. They put forward suggestions and advise to the archon, selecting candidates for senior officials position to be approve by the archon, and to supervise the operation of the city-state, from auditing financial affairs to the morality and customs of the citizens, and have the power to propose bills. The high ranking officials of the city-states are also elected from the members of the council. Therefore, the council must also have certain administrative ability. This is what you oncecked as mercenaries. Fortunately, the poption of Amendra is notrge, and so you should start learning and sincerely consult Cornelius and the respected original citizens for advice¡­¡± https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boule_(ancient_Greece)">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boule_(ancient_Greece)

    Cornelius was not amused by the fact that a 20-year-old youth was teaching a group of men in their thirties and forties and them seriously nodding. To his surprise, a young man that was said to be from a remote vige in Thessaly that had never lived in a city was so familiar with the political structure of Amendra¡­. ¡®is this really the so-called revtion of Hades?!¡¯

    Due to getting absent-minded, he intentionally or unintentionally ignored how Davos had partially altered the functions of the council.

    ¡°And so, I propose Cornelius, Tritodemos, Stromboli, Scambras, and Raphias to be one of the elders.¡±

    Except for Cornelius, who had been an elder before, the other four were not. Davos repaid their efforts in giving the mercenaries their own home. At the same time, it''s also him fulfilling his promise. With the exception of Cornelius, the other four could not stop from smiling.

    ¡°Agree!¡± Although the officers in the venue raised their hands, they weren''t following Davos blindly, but also out of their guilt as they had to make up for them upying thends of other people and seizing their rights.

    ¡°Sesta, Adrien and Drakos, as leaders of the mercenaries, should also join the council.¡± Continued Davos.

    ¡°Agree!¡± Not only the officers raised their hands to express their opinions, but also the new elders began performing their duties.

    At this moment, Sesta whispered a few words to Adrien, then he stood up and walked to the center of the city hall, and said in a loud voice, ¡°Adrien and Drakos had asked me to thank all of you, specially to you, archon! When we came to Magna Graecia, we had only wanted to earn some money and make a living. We didn''t even expect to be citizens of Amendra, let alone enter the council! These are all the things that the archon and all of you here have given to us. Even though we don''t have anything to repay you, we will certainly contribute all our strength to Amendra!¡±

    ¡°p p¡± apuse rang out, as the former mercenary officers pped hard. While Sesta was returning to his seat, Davos had gotten a new impression of the mercenary leader who he only had been in few contact.

    ¡°The 12 senior officers of the mercenaries, namely Philesius, Antonios, Kapus, Amintas, Hielos, Hieronymus, Agasias, Epiphanes, Cid, Arpenst and Ledes, and the 2 head of their respective departments, Mersis and Herpus, I rmend them to join the council.¡± Continued Davos.

    ¡°Agree!!¡± This time, the voice of approval is a lot louder.

    Davos nced at the familiar faces at the back row, such as Matonis, Olivos, Asistes, Giorgris, and Martius, and said calmly, ¡°As for the squad leaders and the others, I am not going to rmend you for the time being.¡±

    As soon as he finish speaking, there was sighing at the back row, but no one dared to question Davos.

    He continued to exin, ¡°It is because most of you are still very young (when saying this, Davos obviously did not include himself, and the others had taken it for granted). A few months ago, you were soldiers,cking experience in managing a city-state and handling political affairs, but don''t be discouraged. As long as you actively participate in the affairs of the city-state and strive to improve yourself. As I had said previously, the council will always be open to excellent citizens of the city!¡±

    Davos'' words of encouragement had cheered up the squad leaders.

    Davos then went on to say to the new elders, ¡°Although the council has no sry, they are very important to the city-state. I hope that you can prove through your performance that you are worthy of this lofty position. ording to what I had discussed with Cornelius before, once you enter the council, you would be an elder for life (this is the benefit that Davos gave to Cornelius, which is actually what Davos had already expected). But I don''t want it to be like this, and so I will discuss it with you to formte some regtions. Those who are notpetent for this position or vite thews of the city-state, should voluntarily withdraw or else will be remove by the council.¡±

    When they heard this, they suddenly felt cold in their heart.

    ¡°I guess this is the end for electing the council. Cornelius, do you have anything else to add?¡± Davos asked his deputy politely.

    As the only former elder in this assembly, Cornelius had never had the chance to speak due to the strength of Davos. And now, he thinks that it is necessary to give a good advise to these beginners, ¡°First of all, I want to let you all know that it is not only the elders who are not paid, but also the other administrative position of Amendra who won''t even get a 1 obol sry, as it is the honor for every citizens to serve the city-state!¡­¡± Cornelius had taken this opportunity to educate these new citizens of Amendra and then reminded Davos, ¡°Amendra has a hundred elders, which is far from enough-¡±

    ¡°If we don''t have enough, then we will have these position be vacant first, until we have suitable candidates to make it up.¡± Davos would not be constrained by the traditional system of Amendra, let alone listen to Cornelius who relied on old teachings. At the same time, he believes that hastily replenishing the number of elders will only reduce their quality and ability. And also, more than 20 elders were enough for the poption of Amendra, which has only about 5,000.

    Cornelius opened his mouth, but he was unable to persuade him.

    ¡°What administrative positions does Amendra have now?¡± Davos continued to ask him.

    ¡°The executive magistrate of the city that is, the one responsible for assisting the archon in managing the affairs of the city-state, maintaining order in the city, and taking charge of litigation. Under its jurisdiction are departments such as the patrol force, fire brigade and the prison. The position changes once a year, and the council -¡± Cornelius looked at Davos, who was staring at him, and hesitated for a moment and then changed his words, ¡°The council will be the one to propose the candidates, and the archon will be the¡­the one to give the final decision¡­¡±

    Davos was not very familiar with the various official functions of the Greek city-states. Athens and Sparta were just the typical examples, as there are hundreds of Greek city-states. Even if their political system were basically the same, but there are also various differences between them. However, he was familiar with the Roman system. In his previous life, he had also taken courses in this field, and the system of Amendra was somewhat simr to that of Rome, and the post of executive magistrate was somewhat simr to that of the Roman''s praetor. And so he said to Cornelius, ¡°It seems that the duties of the chief executive of the city are not only the same as those of the deputy archon, but also moreprehensive and more eptable to the citizens. I think you should take up this post and the position of deputy archon is obviously my negligence, and can be remove.¡± (T/L note: We will just call it praetor¡­much shorter)

 Chapter 103: The first council meeting (II)

    The proposal of Davos has been recognized by everyone, specially the new citizens who werepletely unfamiliar with thews of Amendra and how they will manage prosecution. But as time goes by, arge number of mercenaries and other foreigners will pour into Amendra, and over time, they will surely be in conflict with the local people. As the candidate recognized by both sides, Cornelius should be able to resolve this kind of conflict.

    Corneliusughed bitterly in his heart: Within half a day, his post as deputy archon was removed. Although the jurisdiction of praetor isrger than that of the newly established post, the deputy archon is after all the second inmand, which means that it will check and bnce the archon, while the praetor is a thorough subordinate of the archon. However, Davos is now inplete control of the council, and from now on, although he is young, he seems to be familiar with politics. Even Raphias, thinks that he is more suitable for this position. What else can he say.

    ¡°I am willing to serve as the praetor of the city!¡± At this moment, he have beenpletely subdued.

    Davos looked at him and said with a smile, ¡°Cornelius, you will have a lot of work, specially maintaining the order of the city. Therefore, we should give you a suitable patrol captain.¡±

    Then, he looked at the others, ¡°Next, we will select the patrol captain. Although this is a low-level position, most of you have no experience of holding a city-state public office, and so I suggest that you should start from the bottom and umte experience. All of you here, including the elders of the council, can rmend themselves!¡±

    Davos'' words made them lost in thought.

    ¡°Your majesty, the position of patrol captain has already been taken!¡± Remind Cornelius.

    ¡°Oh, who is it?¡±

    ¡°Anticles, who also serves as the captain of the fire brigade. During his term, he was highly praised by the citizen, but his right hand was cut off by the Lucanians. However, he is already okay.¡±

    ¡°Since he is wounded, once there is a conflict, he won''t be able to intimidate those troublemakers, and so just have him continue to serve as the captain of the fire brigade. Fire fighting and disaster relief for the citizens of the city-state is a big thing, specially in Amendra, in which fire and mudslides are terrible disasters. Therefore, the captain of the fire brigade has a great responsibility, and it really need an experienced and capable citizen to serve! I suggest that we also add a vice-captain for the fire brigade, and you all can rmend yourselves and learn how to prevent disasters.¡± Said Davos seriously.

    ¡°Lord archon, what you said is very reasonable.¡± Cornelius had to admit that Davos had a deep understanding of the importance of the fire brigade in the mountain city of Amendra. Of course, he couldn''t even imagine that Davos had been a vige official in a mountain vige in his previous life.

    ¡°So, who would like to be the patrol captain?¡± As soon as Davos spoke, two men, Sesta and Hielos, rose to their feet.

    Davos thought for a moment and said, ¡°Sesta, the number of former mercenaries that have participated in the Persian expedition is thergest among the new citizens. In Persia, these soldiers have killed, plundered¡­and have done everything. Fortunately, there are militaryws in the camp, but I''m afraid that now that they have return to the city, they won''t be able to adopt for a while, and some ident might happen. And since you don''t know them well, I''m afraid that they won''t listen to you, and so I will rmend Hielos as the patrol captain.¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry my lord! I will help lord Cornelius to keep the city in order!¡± Promised Hielos.

    ¡°Cornelius, what do you think?¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°I agree.¡± Cornelius did not hesitate. As he had already notice that Davos is determined to give various position of the city-state to his own people.

    Instead of showing disappointment, Sesta once again asked, ¡°Well, I want to apply as the vice-captain of the fire brigade!¡±

    ¡°Alright, I have no objection.¡± Davos nodded.

    Naturally, the appointment of the two men was passed smoothly.

    ¡°Next, is there an inspector?¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°Yes.¡± As soon as Cornelius nodded, he saw that most people wereughing.

    Davos exined to Cornelius who was a puzzled, ¡°When we were in Persia, there was a Spartan inspector who led hundreds of Spartan soldiers to fight with us, and so they are familiar with this position. However, I think that the inspectors in Sparta and Amendra must be very different.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Asked Olivos.

    ¡°Because the power of the Spartan ephors(inspector) is so great that they can supervise their king. However, the power of inspector in Amendra shouldn''t be so great.¡± Exined Davos. Of course, even if there was one before, he would never allow it to happen again.

    ¡°They can even supervise the king?!¡± Olivos and some of the crowd looked surprised.

    And Cornelius was no longer surprised on why Davos knew so much, as he begun to believe the rumor of the mercenaries about Davos being favored by gods!

    ¡°The inspector of Amendra is mainly responsible for reviewing the list of elders of the council, supervising theirte arrival and early departure at the council meeting, supervising the civic morality of the city-state, conducting investigation on the citizens, examining the expenditure of the public property of the city, and managing public works¡­¡± The crowd took a breath of cold air once Cornelius finished talking. The inspector of Amendra is also very powerful!

    Seeing that everyone were restless, Davos then said, ¡°You should all bear in mind that it won''t be easy to be an inspector. First of all, you should be able to write reports. Second, you should be able to do calction and understand financial reports.¡± Davos didn''t say that it doesn''t matter if the inspector is illiterate and can''t do calction, as long as his ves can. However, ves that can read, write, and calcte are high-end goods in the ve market, and ordinary people can''t afford them, and they will also be reluctant in buying them.

    Hearing this, most people gave up as most of the new citizens were born in poverty, it''s already good that they know few words, and it''s just extravagant to even be able to write report and check ounts. However, there are still people who stood up to rmend themselves, Antonios and Alexius, as well as two nobles of Amendra, Raphias and Stromboli.

    Even though two captains under hismand rmended themselves, Davos didn''t show any favoritism, and so all the people in the council meeting voted. In the end, Antonios won, and the reason is very simple: Davos had promoted almost all the members of Hielos'' squad to be officers, and the squad of Hielos was under Antonios at that time, and he himself had also ask for favor and so he naturally got the most vote.

    ¡°Alexius, don''t be discourage, as this position is change once a year. Maybe it will be your turn next year.¡± Davos said jokingly.

    Alexius didn''t feel depressed, and instead, he smiled and said, ¡°I don''t have to wait that long, I only need to wait for Antonios to step down, then I will take it up.¡±

    Antonios red at him, ¡°Am I really that bad¡±

    The new citizensughed, while Raphias and the other original citizens were silent, and Davos notice it.

    ¡°In addition, we have financial officer who are responsible for managing the treasury, collection of taxes, public goods such as stone mines, and the management of the poption of the city-state.¡±

    As soon as Cornelius'' voice fell, Mersis stood up and Raphias followed.

    To liven up the atmosphere, Davos smiled and said, ¡°Olivos, why don''t you rmend yourself?¡±

    Olivos shook his head vigorously, ¡°I have a headache when ites to mathematics. In case the tax collected is less and the inspector finds out about it, then I won''t be able to afford it.¡±

    There was another burst ofughter.

    ¡°I think that Mersis is the most suitable for this position. Back then, he was the one in charge of the supply camp and his ounting of the money and supplies were very clear, and there weren''t any shortage nor became greedy and no oneined about him¡­¡± Continued Olivos.

    If they do voting again, then it will definitely be the former mercenary to win again. Although this will achieve the goal of Davos in controlling Amendrapletely, it is not beneficial to the unity of the city-state. Therefore, Davos thought about it and said to Cornelius, ¡°I think we can setup another position, a census officer. The financial officer is the one to be in charge of the finance and taxation, while the census officer is the one responsible for the management of the poption. Citizens, the families of the citizens, even the ves and liberated ves, and all foreign freemen will be under its jurisdiction. The census officer''s work is very heavy, because there are thousands of new citizens to register, and in the future, it might be even be busier. And so, I rmend Mersis as the financial officer and Raphias as the census officer.¡±

 Chapter 104: The first council meeting (III)

    Cornelius now understand it clearly that Davos is trying to remake a new political system of Amendra. And with Davos already being the one in control of Amendra and the council, the only thing Cornelius could do is nod.

    The appointment of these two people naturally passed.

    ¡°Hol¡­my lord, even after adding up the spoils that we seized from the Lucanians, we only have more than 3,000 drachmas in the treasury of Amendra¡­.¡± Cautioned Mersis.

    ¡°Hah, you just got elected and you are already started working, the enthusiasm of this public servant is too high!¡± Epiphanes jokingly said, and the crowdughed.

    ¡°3,000 drachmas, and it''s not even a Tarant*¡­¡± Davos muttered to himself while frowning. (T/L note: Taranto/Tarant coin is muchrgerpared to other silver coins)

    Cornelius felt his face heating up and quickly exined, ¡°Amendra has no port and that there are not many merchantsing to trade with us. And there are quarries avable in many city-states and so, only Heraclea will buy some stones from us every year¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems that there is a need to set up amercial officer responsible for the management of trades and to think of more ways to earn money for Amendra.¡± Said Davos.

    Mersis'' eyes lit up and said, ¡°I rmend Mariji to be themercial officer.¡±

    ¡°Oh, are you on good terms with him now?¡± Davos was surprised.

    In fact, it wasn''t due to the rtionship of Mersis and Mariji improving, but it is due to Mersis wouldn''t need to worry about money since Mariji is great at getting a lot of profit, which Mersis knows very well.

    ¡°Although Mariji is a persian, he has a strong ability in trades. Before that, he did a great job in the market that we had set-up next to our camp.¡± Olivos shouted from the back row.

    ¡°I also agree with him bing themercial officer. I have been to that market and it was really bustling.¡± Added Epiphanes.

    ¡°Olivos has a crush on Mariji''s daughter and wants to take this opportunity to please his future father-inw.¡± Said Matonis to make fun of Olivos.

    ¡°Shut up you big oaf!¡± Olivos swears.

    ¡°Quiet! The council is a sacred ce, and it''s not the ce for you to hurl insults at each other! Anyone that tries to say nonsense stuff will be driven out of here!¡± Davos red at them fiercely: A very good proposal was messed up by these two, and he is afraid that it will cause the others to think badly.

    Matonis and Olivos immediately shut their mouth.

    ¡°This Mariji is a Persian?¡± Asked Cornelius.

    ¡°He was, but afterwards, due to the persecution of the Persian King, he, together with his family, joined us to fight against Persia, and came to Magna Graecia to participate in the fight against the Lucanians. He is one of my soldiers and therefore, he is now a citizen of Amendra. This morning, I have sent him to Taranto to discuss our alliance, and he is indeed a very outstanding talent! I believe that with him as themercial officer, the gold and silver in our treasury will significantly increase!¡± Davos spoke highly of Mariji.

    Cornelius attentively listened. He hesitated at the proposal of Davos and nced at Raphias several times, trying to signal him if he have no objection to it as the new census officer and not just have him oppose everything by himself!

    Raphias hesitated, he then stood up and said, ¡°But he is a Persian¡­the Greek city-state has never had -¡±

    ¡°What''s wrong if he is a Persian! As long as he is really willing to be our citizen and had made so many contributions for us, then we should ept him!¡± Davos suddenly stood up then faced all the people in the city hall and said out loud, ¡°Originally, I wanted to wait until the right time to say this, but since the census officer has already mentioned this sensitive issue, so I would like to share some of my opinions with everyone here.¡±

    ¡°We all know that in almost all Greek city-states, it is very difficult to obtain citizenship. The richer and stronger a city-state is, the more difficult it is to obtain citizenship. For example, in Sparta, it is almost impossible for foreigners to obtain citizenship; in Athens, the current rule is that ¡®only when both parents are Athenians, can a child be an Athenian citizen once he reach adulthood.¡¯ Why is it so difficult to obtain citizenship?¡± Davos raised his question out loud, and the people sitting in the meeting ce fell into silence for a short time, specially the new citizens as they remembered the sweat and blood that they had paid for their citizenship and the huge risk they had taken. The words of Davos resonated with them.

    ¡°That''s because they are afraid that outsiders will share political rights,nd and wealth of the city-state with them.¡± Said Alexius bitterly.

    ¡°That''s right! The selfishness of the Greek city-state made them refuse outsiders from joining them, and at the same time gave up the opportunity to strengthen themselves! After their defeat in Sicily, Athens was unable to recover, why? Because they don''t have enough young citizens. Sparta, even though they now dominate Greece, had mainly sent mercenaries and allies to fight, why? Because they only have 3,500 citizens and they need them to prevent the Helots from rebelling. The Spartan citizens who love war could only fight less and less, and eventually lose their hegemony. Let''s take a look at our neighbor, Thurii, after the defeat of the Lucanian alliance, and knows that we had defeated them, they were careful not to open their gates, why? Because they don''t have enough young citizens to defend against us.¡±

    Everyoneughed, and so did the original citizens. On the issue of Thurii, everyone had the same understanding.

    ¡°And then look at Persia, which we have been to. Howrge is the territory of Persia?¡±

    ¡°Large, toorge!¡± The new citizens answered at the same time.

    ¡°Are there many Persians?¡±

    ¡°A lot! People from various races!¡±

    ¡°At the beginning, Persia was just a small tribe which was bullied by the Medes. However, Cyrus, the leader of their tribe, was very wise and open-minded. He was friendly with the surrounding tribes and generously epted other tribes, and the races that was oppressed by the Medes who had dominated the in of Mesopotamia turned to him one after another. Later, even their enemy, Media, surrendered to Persia. Persia is like a snowball on the top of a mountain, and in just a few decades, a small tribe has be a huge empire¡­¡±

    Everyone carefully listened on Davos retelling of the history of Persia, including the well-educated Cornelius. He only knew little about Persia, a great country in the east, and listened with great interest.

    ¡°Why is the Persian Empire so powerful? It is because they had epted other tribes as their own people, just as the Mediterranean sea is big because of the numerous rivers flowing into it.¡± Davos words made everyone ponder.

    ¡°As I had said before, if you are only content with farming in a small city-state every day, until other cities and forces be strong, and leads arge army towards our city and forced us to obediently surrender and be their vassals, then I will not say much. But if you are not satisfied with today''s ordinariness, and want to make Amendra stronger and not be bullied by others, then please remember that the people is always the greatest wealth of a city-state! We Amendra, must not be closed and conservatives like the other city-states! We need to be open, and must sincerely ept everyone who is willing to join Amendra and contribute to its prosperity, no matter where they had came from. Only in this way, will our strength grow rapidly! Perhaps you would say that Amendra doesn''t have so muchnd and wealth to share with them. It is because your eyes are only focus on the smallnd of Amendra!¡±

    Looking around the crowd, Davos pointed his left hand towards the west and said with great enthusiasm, ¡°Look around us. There are the Lucanians and Brutians in the west, Messapians, Peucetians and Daunians in the east, and I heard that there are also Samnites to the north of Naples¡­and so on. There are so many indigenous people¡­ don''t they have enoughnd and wealth to share?!!¡±

    ¡°Defeat them and take theirnd!¡­¡± The squad leaders headed by Matonis were shouting with excitement, and most of the new citizens were excited because this is the first time that their leader, Davos, had showed them his great ambition. For these former mercenaries who had their horizons broadened in Persia, after meeting the basic needs of bing citizens of a city-state, Davos had given them a greater ambition, and with great ambition, these mercenaries, who were no longer able to cultivatend, graze or do farm work, and were used to fighting on the battlefield, had immediately gotten a new motivation, and they regarded it as their lifelong goal and became the biggest supporting force for Davos to consolidate his power.

 Chapter 105: The first council meeting (IV)

    ¡°But¡­but¡­a war will result in many people dying¡­Amendra¡­too many of our people died!¡± Cornelius stammered.

    ¡°With leader Davos leading us, we will only be victorious. Surely, you also want to take revenge?! To attack the Lucanians?!¡± Amintas looked at Cornelius with a slight contempt.

    Before Cornelius could answer, Protesus and Tritodemos, who were behind him, cried out, ¡°Of course we want to have our revenge! We must make those wicked savages taste the strength of Amendra!¡­¡±

    Amendra has been weak for a long time, and its people were also thinking of changing! Davos was very happy to see this change, and he immediately said, ¡°Although conquering the indigenous people is our goal, we are not going to war blindly. First we need to strengthen the power of Amendra, and then wait for an opportunity. Therefore, do you all agree in submitting this proposal ¡®Anyone who is interested in joining and bing a citizen of Amendra will be epted by the council of Amendra as long as they are willing to abide by thews of Amendra and meet some conditions¡¯ to the lesia and to first vote for it? As for the conditions that needs to be fulfilled, we will need to discuss it again and then decide.¡±

    ¡°AGREE!!¡± Shouted everyone.

    Cornelius sighed and closed his eyes for a bit. He now understand that from now on, Amendra will no longer be the traditional conservative Amendra that will not change for decades, because ording to the currentposition of the citizens of Amendra (new citizens ounted for the vast majority) and with the atmosphere at this time, this proposal is bound to be passed by the lesia.

    (A few dayster, Davos'' proposal was approved with a lot of votes in the lesia. This proposal will beter known as the ¡°Davos Immigration Law¡± written by the world historian in the history of Europe inter generations. Its promulgation has changed the tradition of the city-states in Magna Graecia, and changed the political system of the entire Greek world, and finally changed the history of the Mediterranean Sea.)

    ¡°In that case, I rmend Mariji to be elected as themercial officer, so that he can be the first benificiary of our new bill and set a good example forter generations.¡±

    ¡°Agree!¡±

    ¡°We have no problem!¡± The new citizens, specially the squad leaders, have all agreed. This the reason why Davos insisted on letting them participate, and with their support, even if some of the original citizens were dissatisfied, they could only keep their silence.

    At this moment, the mood on the venue is very different from before. With a new goal, the enthusiasm of these new citizens is obviously high, and Davos decided to strike while the iron is hot, ¡°Do we have an aedile* in Amendra?¡± (T/L Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aedile)

    ¡°Aedile?¡± Cornelius said that he had never heard of it, ¡°You mean the one responsible for the construction of public buildings? Amendra has no such fixed position. If the council decides to build a public facilities, then we will just elect a temporary person to be in charge.¡±

    ¡°The duty of an aedile is not only to build some public facilities, but also to supervise and build various buildings in the city, and to regrly maintain them. At the same time, he would need to supervise the cleanliness, hygiene and safety of the roads, and pay attention to the entertainment facilities of the city. His responsibilities does not only involve the daily life of the citizens, but also rte to the image of the city-state, ranging from building wells, and roads to the temples and the arena, is the scope of his authority, which can be said to be a very important position!¡± Said Davos seriously.

    ¡°Which city-state has this position?¡± Cornelius was a bit suprised.

    Davosughed and didn''t answer, because the city-state that has this official position is Rome, which had the world''s top in terms of architectural technology in his previous life. Of course, he doesn''t know whether the current Rome had such an official position.

    ¡°Since our goal of development is to attack the indigenous people, it is very important to create this official position, because we need to build solid, wide and t roads and bridges to facilitate our army''s transportation, and to connect and dominate thend that we would upy in the future. We also need to build magnificent buildings to show our superior culture to the indigenous people and speed up their submission to us.¡± After another ardent sentence, Davos then asked, ¡°Who would like to rmend himself?¡±

    ¡°I''m afraid that someone has to have experience in construction to take it.¡± Said someone, and everyone who was eager to try became hesitant.

    Alexius decisively stood up.

    Davos smiled and asked, ¡°Alexius, do you have any experience as a bricyer before?¡±

    ¡°My lord, since I am the only one who has rmended myself, does it mean that this position is considered mine?¡± Alexius asked instead of answering.

    ¡°I have no objection. How about everyone else?¡± Davos looks at the others.

    ¡°Since there is no one else but him, then just let him have it!¡±

    ¡°But can he do it?¡±

    Everyone said in session.

    ¡°Tell me, how will you guarantee that you can do your job well as an aedile??¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°Although I don''t know how to build, I can still learn, and I can also have someone who is proficient in construction as my subordinate. Even if there is no such person in Amendra, I can go to the nearby city-states and find one among the freemen and I will apply for his citizenship ording to the bill that you have proposed my lord Davos¡­¡± Said Alexius confidently.

    The others suddenly realize that they can still do it this way.

    Many of them began to consider whether or not to rmend themselves.

    ¡°It seems that you are already thinking on how to do your best on your job as an aedile!¡± Davos then said with appreciation, ¡°I hope that you and your men will research on construction technology, so that the construction technology of Amendra can be ahead of other Greek city-states!¡±

    ¡°I will try to do my best!¡± Said Alexius.

    ¡°The treasury of Amendra is not rich. So if we want to buildrge-scale projects, I''m afraid¡­¡± Cautioned Cornelius.

    ¡°Of course, we won''t do a lot of constructions now, and we will only just setup the organization first, and then act once we have a lot of money.¡± After a few words to relieve Cornelius, Davos then continued, ¡°Next, I propose the establishment of a military officer to be responsible for the defense of the city, the training of the citizens, researching and maintenance of weapons and equipment, pre-war preparation and post-war statistics¡­and so on.¡±

    ¡°Agree!¡± For the new militant citizen, this position is the most important, so they are a bit excited.

    But when Davos asked, ¡°So who do you think is the best fit for this position?¡±

    The new citizens became dumbfounded. To say who is the most prestigious in the army that deserve this position is without a doubt, Davos, but he is already the archon, and he himself is also the suprememander of the army of the city-state. Besides him, they can also consider Hieronymus, after all, he was once a mercenary leader, but he is a neer in Davos'' troops. As for the others, Kapus, Amintas, Epiphanes¡­and so on, these squad leaders have made many achievements in the war, and each has their own characteristics. However, it wasn''t clear who is the best of them.

    In the end, the gazes of everyone fell on Philesius. This former mercenary adjutant who was usually low-key and was easy to be overlooked. In fact, he had been a mercenary for nearly 20 years, he has rich military experience and is familiar with military affairs. Since Davos became the leader, he had been carefully assisting him, Davos'' sess was inseparable from his silent assistance, which includes camping, training, pre-war preparation, post-war stastics and so on. ¡®Isn''t the work he is already doing is the work of a military officer now?! It turned out that this position proposed by leader Davos is for him!¡® With this in mind, everyone became at ease.

    Therefore, Philesius was smoothly elected.

    ¡°Before, in the mercenary, we have a militaryw, but it was rtively simple. And so I hope that once you assume your post, you will gather everyone in a few days, and I will also participate in the discussion and formte a more perfect militaryw, so as to help us train our citizens and to guide them.¡± Said Davos seriously.

    ¡°Got it.¡± Philesius nodded.

    On hearing the need to enact a stricter militaryw, Matonis and the others at the back immediatelymented.

    When Davos heard them, he sternly said, ¡°In the past, we were mercenaries, and in order to survive, we followed the orders of our employers and attacked others indiscriminately. We could kill and plunder at will, but from now on, you are the citizens of Amendra, and the interests of Amendra are your interests. Your image when going out to war also represents the image of Amendra, unnecessary killing and looting will only provoke more enemies for Amendra and cause the people of Magna Graecia to hate us. Moreover, we now have a grand goal, and without strict training and aplete militaryw, how can we build an army of Amendra''s citizen with discipline and strength! However with it, we can win againstrge numbers of indigenous people with the small number of Amendra and dominate Magna Graecia!¡±

 Chapter 106: The first council meeting (V)

    Hearing these words, the new citizens no longerined, and their eyes shone, and have all said, ¡®We will take the lead in abiding the new militaryw!¡¯

    Sesta and Adrien have heard that in Davos mercenaries, there is a militaryw with numerous provisions, and the reason why his soldiers were strong was closely rted to the militaryw''s strict requirements. At that time, they were also very curious on why a small mercenary had made a special militaryw for themselves, and now, they have a chance to personally experience it!

    For the original citizens like Cornelius, it was only during the battle in front of the temple that they had seen the ferociousness of the mercenary, as they had only heard about the destruction of the Lucanian alliance and their attack on the city of Amendra. Amendra and Thurii had fought together many times before, and naturally, the city-states have some conventional militaryw in order to ensure the smooth progress of the military operations. However, this is the first time that they heard the need to specially formte aplete militaryw.

    And so, Cornelius reminded, ¡°I just hope that the military training does not affect the daily work of the citizens.¡±

    ¡°I believe that Philesius can coordinate it.¡± Davos had faith in Philesius, and then he said with a smile to the captains, ¡°The military officer, Philesius, must have other subordinate to serve as training instructors, and so you can discuss it with him.¡±

    As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of people rush over topete in rmending themselves, leaving Philesius exhausted.

    Although the literacy and arithmetic of the officers weren''t good. They are, however capable of demonstrating their abilities to the public as new citizens of Amendra.

    ¡°It seems that they are eager to contribute to the city-state!¡± Said Davos.

    Cornelius nodded on the surface, but in his heart he thought that these new citizens who are used to fighting on the battlefield were unable to stay idle. And he hope that they can abide by thews of the city-state!

    ¡°For the time being, that''s all for the main body of the city-state.¡± Davos'' words made Cornelius breathe a sigh of relief. Every time the new archon proposed a new post, it will impact the tradition of Amendra, which made Cornelius have mixed feelings..

    ¡°And now, there is a very important matter that requires all the elders of the council and the officers in order to solve.¡± The seriousness of Davos made Cornelius tense again.

    ¡°And that is the resettlement of our new citizens and the distribution ofnd.¡± As soon as this was said, the officers who were pestering Philesius had immediately stopped, and they all looked at Davos.

    ¡°In order to maintain the harmony and stability of the city-state, and to not disturb the people who have just been liberated from the imprisonment of the Lucanians, we, the new citizens will voluntarily set up tents and live in the square tonight and even tomorrow night. However, this is not a long-term solution, nor reasonable! After all, in order to protect thisnd, many of ourrades were killed in the battlefield, which had brought peace to Amendra today!¡± At this point, Davos was somewhat emotional, ¡°And So, we must settle them down as soon as possible and allocate them thend that they deserve in order to repay their contributions and their rights as citizens! Otherwise, if we dy it, it will be very difficult to guarantee that there won''t be a problem!¡±

    Davos'' words excited the new citizens that were currently present, while the original citizens have theirplexion changed.

    ¡°Now, how many women that have lost their husbands among the people of Amendra?¡± Davos asked Cornelius.

    ¡°I''m afraid that it is more than a thousand. The exact number will be known after we do a census.¡± Said Cornelius as he looked at Raphias.

    ¡°When the meeting is over, I will immediately get to it.¡± Said Raphias, the new census officer.

    ¡°Then tomorrow morning, please call them all to the square. Officers, you will also gather all the unmarried soldiers to the square, and the two sides will meet each other. However, neither the arrangement of the elders nor forcing them will be allowed, and it will depend on their own ability and charm. Both men and women must voluntarily get together. In addition, the unmarried girls in Amendra should also participate in this blind date.¡± After Davos finished speaking, Cornelius and the original citizens were fine with it, as Davos had already told them about his idea and had convinced them while they were on their way to the city hall.

    The new citizens burst into discussion. It should be known that in addition to a very small number of mercenaries who had been married, and also another small number that have manage to capture local women in Persia and have forced them to be their wives, but the more than 2,000 of them are still single. But under the leadership of Davos, these mercenaries had not only be a citizen of a city-state, but had also solved this problem. This is a really good thing! Because these women have status in the city-state and are not freeman or concubines that they had bought. If they marry them, they will also get thend and wealth left by the women''s ex husband.

    ¡°GREAT! My brothers finally have hope now!¡±

    ¡°Don''t be happy, Matonis. Your subordinates that are like you will have a hard time finding a wife! If you want a woman to like you, being strong is not enough!¡±

    ¡°Isn''t it already good to be strong? I can at least give them protection and I am able to do more farm work. I think that''s what they need the most now! And Olivos, if you dare go to the square tomorrow, I''m afraid that the Persian girl will ignore you.¡±

    ¡°Hieronymus, you loghead. This time, you definitely must speak a lot more to the girls. This is not only rted to your happinness, but also to give example to your men!¡±

    ¡°Giorgris, why aren''t you talking? You don''t have to be so nervous. If you go to the square tomorrow, you only need to be your usual self, and Aphrodite will arrange a woman for you!¡±

    ¡°Captain Hielos, don''t just care about me. Settle your marriage first!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos grinned as his men excitedly talk to each other.

    The originally citizens like Cornelius were somewhat helpless, the women who were originally citizens of Greek city-states were very traditional, and they seldom appear in public, let alone meet strange men. Their marriage is arrange by their parents, and their husband is a citizen of the city-state or a citizen of the neighboring city-state. After their marriage, she will be under her husband, and her responsibility is to give birth to their children and take care of the housework. If the husband dies early, she will still have her children so it would still be okay, and the property will belong to the child and she will need to manage it, and raised the child. In the future, her child will take care of her. If they have no children, then the husband''s family will have a reason to let her go and have her remarry¡­

    There were about 4,000 citizens in Amendra, but now there are less than 500. They don''t have enough strength to defend the city and enoughbor to support so many women, children and elderly. Cornelius and their willingness to ept the mercenaries as citizens of their city-state were mainly for this reason, and of course, they are also grateful. In the same way, it is also out of their helplessness in allowing the women to break the tradition of the Greek city-states to appear in public for such arge-scale event. After all, this will be the best way to settle down the soldiers and quickly integrate into Amendra and be a true citizen.

    ¡°At the same time, I want to remind you. When you marry the woman you selected, you should treat her children from her ex husband as your own and properly raise them up. You should also take care of the elderly in her family as your own. And¡­well¡­I hope that you won''t me her for the humiliation she had received from the Lucanians, because it''s not their fault! But the fault of the men of Amendra as they have not done their duty to protect them! We are real Greek warriors, what we should do is to take good care of them and never let them suffer such humiliation again! And then we will carefully prepare until the day we invade the Lucania and let those aborigines taste the strength of the men of Amendra!¡± Said Davos seriously.

    ¡°Leader, you are right!¡±

    ¡°Get rid of those Lucanians!¡±

    ¡°Leader, you can rest assured that we will take good care of the women, the elderly and the children!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The new citizens were in an uproar and made a promise.

    The original citizens felt that every word Davos was like a whip that made their faces hurt.

    ¡°I suggest that after the meet-up tomorrow is over and every couple is determined, we will hold a grand wedding on an auspicious day. All the men and women who have confirmed their rtionship, including those who were taken in Persia before, and of course, also including my wedding, will be held together!¡±

    The city hall became lively again.

    ¡°Leader, you have finally decided to marry Cheiristoya!¡±

    ¡°How enviable, Cheiristoya is a wonderful woman!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos ignored themotion and asked Cornelius, ¡°Do we have a priest of Hera?¡±

    ¡°No, Amendra worshipped Zeus. And the nearest and most famous temple of Hera is in Metapontum.¡±

    ¡°Then send someone to Metapontum and invite a priest of Hera to preside over this grand wedding for us and to bless the newlyweds!¡±

    Although Hera was the patron saint of marriage, the traditional wedding ceremony of the Greek city-state does not require the priest of Hera to be present. Hence why Cornelius was puzzled.

    Davos looked at him and said, ¡°Because this wedding means the rebirth of Amendra. I hope that Hera will bless these people who represent the future of Amendra! And I remember that the archon has the right to supervise the rituals and create festivals.¡±

    Cornelius had wanted to say, ¡®That was the power of the archon at the end of the era of monarchy. But now, it is the era of democracy, the right to supervise sacrificial rites and make festivals has long been given to the council.¡¯

    But prior to this, Davos had already gained a lot of rights beyond those of the former archon of Amendra. He was numb and under the sharp gaze of Davos, he could only helplessly nod and said, ¡°Yes.¡± And this nod meant that, as an archon for life, Davos had taken the most sacred religious authority of Amendra from the council.

 Chapter 107: The first council meeting (VI)

    ¡°I suggest that the wedding day should be the Marriage Day and the celebration of Hera, so that the citizens can remember the suffering and rebirth of Amendra, and make them realize the importance of marriage and family, which is much more conductive to the unity of the citizens of Amendra!¡­¡± Davos said solemnly and made Cornelius surprised by the depth of his consideration on the problem and his sincere thoughts for Amendra. He nodded his head and said, ¡°My lord, I think that all the citizens will be happy to have such a wonderful festival!¡±

    ¡°Yes, we all agree in establishing a celebration of Hera and Day of Marriage!¡± The original citizens had also expressed their approval, and not to mention the new citizens.

    At this time, Hielos stood up and asked with concern, ¡°My lord, how should we deal with the soldiers who were unable to find a woman to marry?¡±

    Davos was prepared for this, and motioned to Cornelius to answer it.

    ¡°Before the war with the Lucanians, Amendra had 4,000 citizens¡­at present, there are only more than 500 citizens and more than a thousand widows¡­as a result, more than 2,000 families and couples perished, and so¡­there are enough houses to amodate the new citizens. Of course, if the former owner of the house has children or elderly left behind, then we hope that the new citizens can take care of them¡­¡± Said Cornelius with tears twinkling in his eyes, and the rest of the original citizens were sad.

    Looking at the new citizens, Davos said it out loud, ¡°It''s not hope, but a must, as they will definitely raise them! Because you have epted the legacy of the original owner, including theirnd and wealth, so it is only natural that you should do the duty for the original owner!¡±

    ¡°My lord, you can rest assured that we will let our brothers take good care of the elderly and the children!¡± Hielos was the first to make amitment, and the other officers also expressed their support. Amintas even said, ¡°I will beat those, who upies the house but doesn''t support the elderly and children, to death!¡±

    Davos nodded, ¡°Good. I hope that you officers can strengthen the management of the soldiers! At the same time, the council will issue a bill to carry out its implementation.¡± Said Davos, then he looked at Antonios, ¡°This is the duty of the inspector. Antonios, if you find someone who vites thew and abuse or doesn''t take care the orphans and the elderly, you must report it to the council immediately, and we will deprive them of their citizenship and expel them from Amendra!¡± Davos'' harsh words made everyone feel nervous.

    ¡°I will supervise them carefully!¡± Antonios pledge earnestly.

    The original citizens nodded in silence, as they appreciate Davos on his firm protection of the rights and interests of the elderly and children.

    ¡°Well then, next, let''s talk about the issues that you are most concerned about.¡± Said Davos with a smile in order to ease the atmosphere, ¡°The council will introduce a bill to ensure that each new citizen has at least 2 hectares ofnd. Of course, some people may be lucky enough to find a good wife and inherit morend, while others may have less. But it doesn''t matter, since I will ask Mersis, the financial officer, to make a detailed statistics of thend wealth that everyone owns, and after obtaining newnds in the future, priority will be given to the citizens who have lessnd. Are you all satisfied with this arrangement?¡±

    ¡°Satisfied!!¡±

    ¡°It''s fair!!¡± Eximed the crowd excitedly.

    By this time, nearly two hours have passed, and it was alreadyte, but the citizens were so excited that Davos decided to put forward an issue that he had been thinking about for a long time and had never made up his mind. He took a deep breath and stood in the center of the meeting ce. Facing the crowd, he said it out loud, ¡°Men, as citizens of a city-state, it is your right to participate in all political activities of the city-state. It is your duty and right as a soldier to fight in a war and defend the city-state. Because it is impossible for freemen and ves to join the army of the city-state unless there is a special circumstances. Only citizens have the right to fight for the city-state, so it is also your political right.¡±

    Both of the original and new citizens nodded with approval.

    ¡°However, it''s not easy to manage a city well. It costs money to build all kinds of public facilities. It costs money to repair the city defense and equip weapons. In case of a great disaster, we will need money to help the people. If it''s only four or five days war, the citizens can bring their own rations to solve the problem, but after extended time, the city-state will still need to buy the food that they will need, let alone hire carts, boats,borers, and so on, which will cost money. Moreover, the public officials in our city-state have no sry at present, and all of us are willing to contribute to the city-state. In the future, the management area will berger and the affairs will be heavier, as a public official, there will be almost no free time to take care of their own farnd and grazing in their home, his ie will be less than that of the citizens who are not public officials, and this will be unfair and I am afraid that the public will no longer be willing to continue holding their position. Therefore, if a city-state wants to develop healthily, it can''t do without enough money in the treasury!¡±

    For most of the new citizens who were born poor, they do not know that the operation of the city-state is soplex, and so they keenly listened. The original citizen felt that the young archon for life is able to think so deeply about the problems of the city-state as soon as he took office, and their worries about hisck of experience were dispelled. Cornelius, on the other hand, felt his brows twitch, and he had a hunch that something big was going to happen.

    Davos continued on saying, ¡°The revenue of the treasury of Amendra is quite small. As Cornelius had exined the reason just now, which had hindered the development of the city-state. In the future, we will upy morends, and more people will join Amendra, will they be able to fight for the city-state like us? I''m afraid that they won''t, because the reward is too little and if they obtained it easily, they won''t cherish it too much!¡±

    ¡°That''s right!¡± The original citizens cried out, as they were not satisfied with the immigration bill that Davos had proposed.

    Davos, of course, understood what they were thinking. With a sneer in his hear, he said in a loud voice, ¡°And so, I propose to charge a 1%nd tax every year to the citizens of Amendra who own and!¡±

    As soon as this was said, it felt like lightning hitting the ground, and the whole city hall was stunned, and it was like someone had poke a nest of hos and they started buzzing.

    Cornlius tightened his hands and feet and shouted, ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°Did I hear you right? Do you want to collectnd tax on the citizens of the city-state?¡± Asked Stromboli feeling unsure.

    His attitude was still polite, while the old man, Scambras, rushed directly to Davos and pointed to Davos'' nose and asked, ¡°ARE YOU STILL A GREEK?! Don''t you know that the tradition of the Greek city-state is that they will never collectnd taxes on their citizens! You''re crazy about money! If you want to be an archon like this, then can we still live?!¡±

    Although the new citizens had also criticized Davos, they won''t allow others to insult their leader that they respected, specially the squad leaders. With Matonis as the lead, he quickly rushed over and pushed Scambras away, ¡°HEY OLD MAN. HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO THE ARCHON IN THIS WAY?¡±

    ¡°I''m going to say, whatever is the problem! You ignorant country bumpkin who don''t even know the serious consequences of havingnd tax!¡± Scambras face turned red and curse in contempt.

    This angered the group of young squad leaders, ¡°WHAT DID YOU SAY?! Say it again, believe it or not, I''ll beat you up!¡­¡± He rebuke while pushing Scambras.

    The weak body of Scambras was unable to bear the strength of these experienced officers, and he sat down on the ground grasping for breath. Cornelius and the other original citizen rushed forward to help him, and some have quarreled with the officers.

    The two sides were in chaos.

    ¡°QUIET! BE QUIET!¡± Davos was also anxious now, and went directly to stop them from fighting.

    Finally, the two sides were separated.

    Scambras was still swearing, and Matonis was ring, then he lowered his head and did not dare to speak.

    At this moment, Mersis stood up and said, ¡°One percent of tax is very low! In Persia, we all know that theirnd tax is over 10%!¡­¡± As a financial officer, he is certainly concerned about loading the treasury.

    ¡°That is Persia, the tradition of the Greek is to never collectnd tax from its citizen!¡± Stromboli retorted.

    ¡°There was in the era of monarchy.¡±

    ¡°That was hundreds of years ago, and it''s now the era of democracy. Archon Davos himself had promised that he would ¡®not be a king¡¯. I think that if there is and tax, all citizens will oppose it!¡± Stromboli looked at Davos in a quiet but threatening tone.

    Davos looked at the crowd. Due to the prestige of Davos, the new citizens did not say anything against it, and they just continued to watch. While the original citizens obviously have dissatisfaction on their faces. Only Mersis was really supportive. Then Davosughed and said, ¡°I haven''t finished my proposal, and you are all so excited. Don''t worry, and allow me to finish my proposal first. Citizens who have lived in the city of Amendra before today, will have theirnd to be tax-free in order to thank them as the descendants of the city founder and their contributions to Amendra for the past 200 years. When the treasury has money, we will cast a batch of ¡®Amendra Founder Silver Badge¡¯, and each original citizens will receive one, which they can keep forever and wear it on grand public asions, so that those who hade after will know that their family has a long tradition and glory.¡±

    As soon as he said this, the original citizens and Scambras, who was still chattering, did not speak anymore. This is glory! Although they had no choice but to let the mercenaries join Amendra, their pride and the reality of getting oppressed by the aborigines made them ufortable, and Davos had given them a chance to show off their identity forever! Compared with this, the tax money is nothing, not to mention that it won''t be collected from them.

    ¡°Agree!¡± Scambras was the first to shout.

    ¡°This is not fair! You will collecting tax on us, but not them!¡± Eimed Matonis in discontent.

 Chapter 108: Proposal

    Davos ignored him and went on to say, ¡°For the new citizens who had defeated the Lucanian alliance and recaptured the city of Amendra, and had joined Amendra today, theirnd will be tax-free! At the same time, a batch of ¡®Amendra''s Rebirth Silver Badge¡¯ will be cast, and each of the newly joined citizens today will have one and permanently keep it, so that the future generation can know of their achievements!¡±

    ¡°That''s just about right!¡± Matonis sat down satisfied.

    Now, the new citizens have also straightened their chest.

    Davos gave honor to both sides, and both sides have epted it with satisfaction, which restored the calmness of the venue. Cornelius could only acknowledge that he has a great political skill.

    ¡°Everyone doesn''t pay taxes, so what is the use mentioning thisw?!¡± Mersis was discontent.

    ¡°Don''t you understand, financial officer.¡± Laughed Cornelius, ¡°All the current citizens don''t have to paynd tax, but those who will be citizens of Amendra will have to pay taxes when they will own and.¡±

    ¡°Please note that you don''t have to pay tax on your existingnd, but you will have to paynd tax for thend you will own in the future.¡± Reminded Davos.

    ¡°If that is the case, then I can ept it.¡± Antonios stood up and said, ¡°Amendra was created by the ancestors of Cornelius and the others, and they have suffered so much for this, and so we should respect them. While we have also paid our blood and sweat for Amendra, and we should get something in return. The citizens who will join us in the future will enjoy these things that we have done for the city-state. So they naturally will have to give something for Amendra, and paying taxes ¨C is what I think to be a good way!¡±

    ¡°Antonios, you are right! We agree to this method!¡± The new citizens have agreed.

    ¡°Yes, we are the founders of a new Amendra! In order to let the future generation know the things we have done today, these tax freend and silver badge are the best proof and glory!¡± Eximed Protesus* excitedly, and the other original citizens did not object. (TL note: One of the 5 renowned citizens.)

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the meeting, the new citizens all went to the square, while the original citizens walked on the rugged mountain path.

    ¡°Cornelius, you had given way too much to that young man tonight! You didn''t even refute thews that he proposed, and just watch him easily persuade those uneducated mercenaries!¡± Comined Stromboli loudly.

    ¡°Hey, Stromboli, don''t just keep shouting ¡®young man'', Davos is our archon, so we should respect him!¡± Raphias looked behind at the not too far citizens that have newly joined, and so he reminded.

    ¡°Archon? I think you mean king. He didn''t even asked our consent to even one of his proposal! Which of his proposal has been discussed with the elders in advance?! He had also allowed so many mindless mercenary soldiers, who only know to be obedient to him, to attend this meeting, it is obvious that he only wants to have the final say!¡±

    Scambras was unable to bear it and interrupted him, ¡°Since you have a problem with the archon, why didn''t you say something at the meeting?¡±

    Stromboli was tongue-tied for a moment, and rolled his eyes, ¡°You weren''t against it, so why should I oppose him alone? I''m not stupid! Oh¡­I know, Cornelius became the praetor and Raphias is now the census officer, they are already a big shot! This is the gift of the archon, and the reason why you are too embarrassed to oppose him, right?¡±

    Scambras rushed and red at him, then said, ¡°Shut up Stromboli! You can''t say that about him, Cornelius did his best to protect this mountain city! Also¡­although the soldiers were rude and hit me. But to be honest, thesews that this young archon have proposed is very interesting, specially the one about the tax payment. I am really surprised, but Amendra has not changed for hundreds of years¡­¡±

    ¡°Uncle Scambras is right! We, Amendra, have suffered so much that we can no longer live as before! Whether it is appointing Davos as archon for life, or his proposal, as long as he can make Amendra strong and no longer be bullied, then I will ept even if the tradition of Amendra is changed!¡± Said Tritodemos seriously, and made several of them nod in secret.

    ¡°Not only will we not be bullied anymore, but we will attack Lucania, defeat and exact vengeance on them!¡± Said Protesus, the youngest of the six, excitedly.

    ¡°Lucania has arge poption, a vast territory and most of them are mountainous areas. It is not so easy to attack them. The young archon is just boasting, nothing more.¡± Said Stromboli doubtfully.

    ¡°It is a fact that Davos had led a small number of mercenaries to wipe out therge number of Lucanian troops! It is also true that Amendra was recaptured in one night! Which strategoi and citizens in Magna Graecia can do these two things?¡± Protesus retorted.

    Stromboli ¡°grunted¡± and did not answer.

    ¡°Did you notice the look in the eyes of the new citizens when they looked at Davos? It is as if they are gazing a god!¡± Protesus said with exaggeration.

    ¡°I heard that they call Davos the god''s favored. Maybe he can really create miracles.¡± Tritodemos said with some expectation, ¡°I have long heard that there is a beautifulke in the northwest of Amendra and the upper reaches of the river Sinni, and the Lucanians call it Docara (nowke Senise). It seems that not only can I go and have a look, but also get a piece ofnd there.¡±

    Stromboli snorted again, but he is only a little less angry.

    ¡°In the end, fighting a war will cause deaths, whether you are good at fighting or not.¡± Cornelius sighed

    ¡°We don''t have to fight anyway. I think those mercenaries are very keen on it themselves.¡± Raphias was indifferent.

    ¡°They are also citizens of Amendra.¡± Cornelius cautioned, then paused for a moment, then eximed, ¡°However, we have all looked down on Davos. Although he is young, he is very familiar with the politics of the city-state. Is it really just like the rumors among the new citizens that he was ¡®enlightened by Hades¡¯?¡±

    His exmations did not get refuted by the other five people, and it obviously surprised everyone.

    ¡°However, we need to further observe the actual ruling ability of Davos. We do not know how much impact and change he will have on Amendra. What we can do now is to try our best to ensure the stability of Amendra, find out the problems and to remind Davos on time. At least, for now, Davos is not the same as Dionysius of Syracuse.¡± Cornelius seriously reminded them.

    The other four nodded, and Stromboli asked, ¡°What if Davos messed up Amendra and don''t listen to our dissuasion?!¡±

    ¡°If that''s the case¡­¡± Cornelius doesn''t know how to answer for a moment.

    ¡°Then get rid of them!¡± Scambras said decisively, ¡°For the sake of Amendra, even if we need to cooperate with Thurii again!¡±

    The others faced each other and finally nod in silence.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    It waste when Davos returned to the square.

    He returned to his tent, where the candle was still bright, and Cheiristoya, who had been waiting for his return, had fallen asleep on the paved floor.

    Davos gently walked to the floor and squatted in front of Cheiristoya. The flickering candlelight reflected her beautiful and sexy face. Her breath was light and long, with a smile on her lips¡­

    She must be dreaming a sweet dream! Davos stared at her quietly, feeling a bit silly. Coming to this unfamiliar world alone and living desperately in order to survive, even if he has a group ofrades who he can entrust his life, but his lonely wandering soul can have a port to seek shelter is only because of her.

    He couldn''t stop himself from reaching out his hand and gently stroke on Cheiristoya''s long and supple hair. He didn''t want her to wake up immediately, but she rubbed her hazy eyes and said sluggishly, ¡°You''re back.¡±

    Davos took her hands, folded them together and said gently, ¡°Cheiristoya of Miletus, would you like to be my, Davos'' wife?¡±

    Cheiristoya''s eyes suddenly glistened, and her beautiful face glowed in the candlelight. With this, one of the things that she had been most worried about while following Davos around no longer exist. She hugged him tightly and whispered her lifelong vow, ¡°I do!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After their passion, Cheiristoyay down on Davos, listening to him talk about what had happened in the meeting that night, and sleepiness gradually came to attack her¡­

    At this moment, Davos said, ¡°Cheiristoya, I''m hesitant to have you do something.¡±

    ¡°What''s the matter?¡± Asked Cheiristoya curiously.

    ¡°Have you ever heard of banks?¡±

    ¡°I have heard of it, isn''t it just loaning money. My father also ran this business in Miletus. I heard him say that he admired the Athenian banker, Pasion*, the most because he not only became the richest man in Athens by loaning money, but also won the respect of the Athenian citizens¡­¡± Cheiristoya thought of the past and was somewhat sad. (TL note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasion)

    ¡°Great! I want you to open a bank in Amendra to give loans to the citizens.¡± Said Davos immediately.

    ¡°Open a bank?! Me?!¡± Cheiristoya was stunned.

    ¡°Yes, you!¡± Davos raised his head and looked at her with trust in his eyes, ¡°If you can manage the medical camp so well, then I am sure that you can run this bank well!¡±

    Cheiristoya calmed herself down and thought for a moment, and reminded him, ¡°This will need ample amount of silver coins.¡±

 Chapter 109: Andrea

    ¡°You don''t have to worry about that. There are still the Tarant(Taranto) coins left by Meno in the camp, and during our way back to Greece we acquired a lot of supplies through fighting and¡­snatching¡­.except those that were allocated to the soldiers and others, there are still some Tarant left. In addition, Mariji and Mersis also made a lot of money in the market that they have previously build. Logically speaking, all these should belong to the mercenary leader¡­I will talk to Mersis and ask him to give you all the money.¡± Davos counted his savings for the past six months.

    ¡°Bank lending invites hatred, and few bankers can do what Pasion did. As the archon of Amendra, I''m afraid that it will invite criticism or even opposition from others!¡± Instead of being surprised by the wealth of Davos, Cheiristoya cautioned him with concern.

    Davos smiled with gratification, ¡°If you can think like this, then it seems that my choice of asking you to open a bank is not wrong!¡± He put his arms around Cheiristoya''s delicate body and said softly, ¡°Why money lending is hated? That''s because the interest demanded by the Greek city-state money lenders are generally too high! I heard that the lowest interest rate is 20%, and once the borrower is unable to pay back the money, then hisnd will be taken to pay off the debt, and his family will be destroyed. Of course, that is not what I want. As the archon for life of Amendra, I hope that every citizen of Amendra will have a good life, so that our city-state will be rich and strong. And the bank itself can promote the development of the city-state trade, but the greedy practices of the bankers have ruined its reputation, and so, I want you to open this bank-¡± Said Davos, ¡°The interest shall not exceed 5%!¡±

    ¡°Only 5%?!¡± Eximed Cheiristoya is surprise.

    ¡°Only with such a low interest rate can the citizens who have the ability to do business have the confidence to borrow money and to realize their ideal. Only in this way can the citizens who are in urgent need of money be saved from the terrible usury and their hope for life can be restored¡­.I believe that the bank you will build will speed up the recovery of the economy of Amendra after the war and promote the great development of its trade.¡± Said Davos confidently.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the next day, these new citizens, who were usually busy with battles and doesn''t care about their appearance with their hair being fluffy and a messy beard, while wearing shabby clothes, have cleaned up the tents in the square early and tried to make themselves as clean as possible. They changed into Doric-style chiton made of light linen, so they all looked tall and straight.

    As they wait on the square with expectant faces. When the whole square was covered with sunshine, the women of Amendra appeared. They came by groups under the leadership of an old woman, with curiosity on their shy faces. Although the Greek woman''s clothes were extremely simple, they tried their best to dress themselves up, by adjusting the density of the sagging folds of the chiton to make the long skirt look elegant and beautiful, and they fastened exquisite metal ornaments and buttons on the joints of their shoulders and cuffs in order to increase their charm. They alsobed their hair ording to their own situation, and apply dark or light make-up on their faces to make them look younger and more attractive.

    When the new citizens saw them, they were just like bees seeing flowers, and they no longer maintain their demeanor as they flocked to them and tried their best to talk to the woman they liked in order to attract her attention.

    On the sidelines, Davos asked a couple of musician to y the lyre and aulus, which add a romantic atmosphere to the rge-scale blind date event¡± in Amendra.

    In fact, the situation on the square soon became less romantic and more heated. After all, beautiful women will always attract many pursuers and even cause conflicts. At this time, Davos will show up in time with his patrol team and warn both sides with his prestige, and then ask the wishes of the heroine of the conflict¡­

    When a group of men and women became attracted to each other, some of them would leave the venue and take a walk along the mountain path to continue their talk in order to improve their understanding. While the others would directly go to Raphias, who was waiting by the square, and to tell him that they were willing to get married. So Raphias will register the names of the two parties and allow the women to take him home (in fact, in the Greek tradition, they must first get married before they can live together. However, Davos convinced Cornelius that they only need to obtain an official confirmation and registration of Amendra, to be husband and wife, and they will only need to owe a wedding, which they can make up forter.)

    It is not only the men who actively pursue women, as some of the older or less attractive women will also take the initiative to talk to the men they like to show their advantages, such as being good at weaving, making wine, making olive oil or showing off that they are of noble origin and have rich families.

    By the afternoon, there were few women left in the square, but there were still a lot of men.

    At this time, Davos notice at one of the corner of the square, were many new citizens that had formed arge circle, and so he look for someone to inquire about the situation. It turned out that there is a youngdy of Amendra in the circle who have ignored all the men who hade up to talk to her, but she is just too beautiful. Therefore, the men were still very persistent in trying to impress her, and so far, no one had seeded.

    Davos was curious, and because dragging it down like this won''t resolve it, and will easily lead to conflict, so he called Raphias and they squeezed into the crowd together.

    ¡°Hey girl, herees our leader, Davos. If you still don''t like him, then you will have to find a god to be your husband.¡± Someone in the crowd jokingly said.

    When the woman heard this, she raised her head and opened her sleepy eyes.

    Davos looked at her, the woman has a snow-white skin, a beautiful face and a pair of big and bright eyes¡­

    Raphias had immediately recognized her and whisphered to Davos, ¡°Her name is Andrea. Her husband followed the army of Thurii to attack Lucaniast year, but he died in Laus, leaving her to live alone together with her 3 year old son. She seems to be only 20 years old¡­¡±

    As Davos was listening, Andrea stepped forward and said, ¡°Are you the archon, Davos?¡±

    ¡°I am.¡±

    ¡°I wish to tell you something.¡± Andrea said directly.

    Davos was taken aback for a bit, ¡°Say it.¡±

    Andrea looked around and pleaded, ¡°I want to talk to you alone, is it alright?¡±

    Davos immediately felt that things might not be easy. He hesitated for a bit, but seeing the urgency in the gaze of Andrea, he nodded and said, ¡°Come with me.¡±

    Seeing that Davos was going to take Andrea away, some of the new citizens were unwilling and said, ¡°Leader Davos, you already have the beautiful Cheiristoya, so don''t snatch her from us as well!¡±

    Davosughed, ¡°Brothers, don''t worry. She just wants to have a word with me alone. As you all know, I already have Cheiristoya. If I mess around, she won''t allow me to go to bed tonight!¡±

    Davos'' dirty joke made themugh, and they made way for them.

    Davos took Andrea to a quiet part of the square, which was then surrounded by the patrols.

    ¡°Go ahead and tell me what is the matter?¡± Davos asked in a soft tone.

    Andrea bit her lip and hesitated several times. Finally, she got her courage and asked, ¡°I want to kno¡­Bagul¡­he¡­how is he now?¡±

    ¡°Bagul? Who?¡± Davos asked uncertainly.

    ¡°He¡­he is a Lucanian¡­¡± Andrea''s voice was suddenly as quiet as a mosquito, ¡°I was in the temple, when I saw you knock him down and caught him¡­he¡­how is he now?¡±

    Seeing Andrea''s flushed cheeks, he would have been a fool if he still don''t understand what''s going on, ¡°You like the Lucanian? Why?¡±

    Davos'' calm tone made Andrea panic, ¡°I¡­I just¡­¡±

    ¡°I won''t me you, so don''t be nervous. Tell me truth and maybe I can help you.¡± Davos action had immediately soothed her.

    ¡°Really?! Can you really help me?¡± Eximed Andrea, as if she had found a straw to clutch at.

    Davos made a ¡®hush'' gesture and said, ¡°First, tell me why you like him.¡±

    Finally, Andrea began to tell her story.

    It turned out that Andrea had been praised as ¡°the rose of Amendra¡± by the people due to her beauty, and have many pursuers. Later, she was arranged by her father to marry a rich and handsome young nobleman of Amendra four years ago. Although there was no contact between them before their marriage, Andrea was still satisfied with the marriage. However, after their marriage and having lived together for a long time, she found that her husband was a jealous person, and he doesn''t allow her to have contact with any men. Therefore, for this reason, he had executed two of their male ves, and Andrea, who was only 16 years old and full of life, could only be confined in her home. Her husband also had a much more terrible bad habit, drinking. He often held banquets at their home or attend to the parties of other people, and when he return home, he will be often drunk and abused her. Andrea, who had just be a young woman, couldn''t stand it and so she ran back to her parent''s house, but her father forced her back and warned her, ¡®As a woman, you should treat your husband as if you were a ve serving her master. I hope that you won''te back again, so that our family will not be the object of ridicule.¡¯ Andrea then came back to her new home, and endured what her husband did to her.

    Fortunately, she became pregnant soon after. During the birth of their child, her husband stopped abusing her, but he then began to hang out with prostitutes and female ves. As this is the hobby of the male citizens of Greece, so Andrea could barely ept it, but what she couldn''t tolerate was that sometimes her husband will forced her to watch as he had sex with a female ve. As a noble city-state woman, the lowly ve girl who was usually under her control would look at her with strange gaze, and Andrea''s dignity as the mistress of the house was trampled on mercilessly. As a result, she began to have a conflict with her husband, and one time, she was even directly knocked out unconscious by her husband. From then on, Andrea was afraid and hated her husband to the extreme, but for the sake of her young child, she could only swallow her tears and bear it silently.

 Chapter 110: The Happiness of Giorgris

    Last year, when the army of Thurii had suffered a crushing defeat in Lucania and the other women were crying for their dead husband, only Andrea had closed the door of her house and wept at home, as she was finally released from her sea of suffering!

    Who knew, that few dayster, the Lucanians attacked Amendra, and all the people were taken captive, and she was no exception. The Lucanian warriors took a fancy to her beauty and escorted her to Bagul to please the sessor of the tribal chief.

    Seeing this tall and huge man with long hair, and looks different from the Greeks, Andrea shuddered and began toment her fate in her heart. However, the strong man in front of her did not force himself on her, and had instead spoke Greek tofort her and to not be afraid¡­

    When most of the people of Amendra were held in the temple, Andrea and her son had lived in their own home, and everyday Bagul will bring them abundant food in person. He cared for her, but never touched her, which made Andrea to gradually lower her guard and finally fell in love with this Lucanian man. She felt that,pared with her original husband, and although Bagul looked fierce, he was calm, loving and caring¡­a hundred times better than her ex husband! The young woman had experience what love is for the first time. Finally one day, she took the initiative to invite Bagul into her room¡­since then, as long as Bagul visit her, she would be inseparable from him. She felt happy: If her previous married life was hell, then now it is paradise!

    So when Bagul anxiously told her that the Lucanians were defeated, and their tribe was ready to retreat to the mountains, and when he asked if she would like to go with him, she had only hesitated for a moment and agreed.

    The night before yesterday, the mercenaries attacked the city of Amendra. Andrea took her child with Bagul and together with his people to the temple of Zeus at the top of the mountain, and when she saw the Lucanians and the people of Amendra fighting in front of the temple, she didn''t felt concern about herpatriots as much. Instead, her gaze was focused on Bagul, and finally she saw him getting knocked down by the mercenaries¡­

    Davos didn''t expect that he would encounter a ridiculous plot in this world. As a political figure, he certainly won''t be moved by Andrea''s story and infatuation, but what he thought of was the question of how to deal with the Lucanian prisoners. At yesterday''s meeting, he did not mention anything about the Lucanian prisoners, as he was afraid that the grieving original citizens and their family members, would burn them to ashes due to their anger. And so he was waiting, waiting for the hatred of these original citizens to diminish over time, and for those that were left behind to forget the old grudges due to them establishing a new family.

    ¡°If you don''t choose a new citizen to marry, then ording to the presentw, yournd and property will be subject to the supervision of the city-state government until you get married again, or your son grows up and we will return it to him. Do you understand?¡± Warned Davos.

    ¡°I understand. I am willing to donate my husband''s property that he left behind to the city-state, as long as¡­as long as you ensure that Bagul live and treat him well!¡± Andrea pleaded.

    ¡°When the Lucanians were captured, they were only imprisoned and not killed or abused. That is, if the person you mentioned was not seriously injured first.¡±

    ¡°He didn''t! He didn''t!¡­ I saw that he had only gotten knocked down, and when you captured him, he was already awake!¡± Said Andrea excitedly.

    ¡°Hmm, I''ll go back and find if there is someone called Bagul. If so, I''ll arrange you to meet him.¡± Said Davos.

    ¡°Truly?!! My lord, this is really wonderful! Thank you! Thank you very much!! You are as kind as the goddess Hera!!¡­¡± Andrea was so happy that she fell down on her knees in front of Davos.

    Davos gaze were fixed on the soldiers in the square who had nothing to gain, and his mind is full of thoughts, the Lucanians they captured were not only warriors, but also elderly, women and children. It seems that this tribe originally wanted to take root in Amendra. With these elderly, women and children, he has more confidence to control the warriors of this tribe. Moreover, if his soldiers were allowed to marry a single Lucanian woman, then the citizens of Amendra will be rted to the captured Lucanian tribe, and his hidden n of ¡°assimting the losers¡± will be one step closer. Therefore, he must act on this matter immediately.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Giorgris followed a woman named Daerys, or well, Daeneya(because he was too nervous and had made him misheard her name), and came to Raphias, the census officer.

    Because he met Giorgris at the council meetingst night, so Raphias had purposely slowed down his introduction of Daeneya''s family to Giorgris, and asked if he would like to marry Daeneya.

    Giorgris was a bit shy and has a cramped expression, as he did not know what to say.

    Daeneya whispered to him from the side, ¡°Quickly say yes.¡±

    So he nodded and everything was like a dream to him.

    Giorgris didn''t want to participate in the ¡°blind date¡± but he was forced toe by his subordinates. From the beginning, he just stood in the corner and didn''t want to go to the flocks of women like the others did. However, when he was idle and wanted to sleep, a woman appeared in front of him and took the initiative to say her name to him, and introduce her family, then immediately said to him that she had fancied him and wanted him to be her husband.

    Giorgris was blinded by the beautiful face of the woman, and did not know what to do. Under the woman''s soft words, he nodded his head and then was taken out of the square by the woman.

    As a 30-years old woman who had already married twice, she despises those girls who indulge on the rhetoric of men. As she thinks that a honest and stable man is the one that can bring happiness to women. So in the square, when she saw Giorgris who was ufortable in the corner, she fell in love with him.

    Daeneya''s home is halfway up the hill, which was fairlyrge.

    When Daeneya opened the door, she saw Giorgris just standing outside and was still hesitating whether to go in. So she smiled and took his hand and said to him, ¡°Come on in, from now on, this will be your home, and you are the master here!¡±

    Home?! This word touched the self-abased and lonely heart of Giorgris.

    Giorgris looked around curiously as he followed Daeneya into the gate. On the periphery were high walls of square stones of regr shape and coated with lime. After entering the gate, there is an open courtyard between the entrance and the hall. The courtyard is surrounded by colonnades and formed a central hall. In the middle of the courtyard is a pool, the water in the pool was mainly from rain water, and it leads to the underground reservoir for daily use (this waster told by Daeneya). There are many kinds of nts around the pool, and in the middle of the pool stands a statue of a girl in white marble. She is naked, enchanting and delicate¡­seeing this, Giorgris blushed and his heart beat¡­.

    Daeneya led him around the pool, into the hall and then forced Giorgris to lie beside her on a cushioned kline(couch), she then said with concern, ¡°Are you hungry? If so, I will go cook first.¡±

    ¡°I''lle as well.¡± Giorgris tried to get up, but was held down by Daeneya, ¡°No, this is a woman''s business. Instead, you go take a bath first and have a rest.¡± With that, she yelled upstairs, ¡°Ibiya! Ibiya!¡±

    With a clear response, a dark skinned ve girl rushed downstairs.

    ¡°From now on, he will be your master!¡± Said Daeneya with a slight dignity.

    The girl modestly walked to Giorgris, with a bit of curiosity in her eyes, and bowed respectfully, ¡°Master!¡±

    ¡°You go boil a bucket of hot water for your master, then help wash him, and afterwards, dressed him into new clothes!¡± Ordered Daeneya.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Giorgris was lying in a big wooden barrel full of hot water, his face was flushed red and his heart was beating with enthusiasm.

    Because Ibiya was only wearing a thin linen cloth, while she scrubbed his body. His well toned-body clung to her wet and vaguely see-through cloth, which made the young Giorgris gulp, ¡®Is this the life of a city-state citizen?¡¯

    Even though he was in a state of nervousness, he was more surprised.

    The dinner was bread and olives, and Daeneya apologetically said, ¡°Sorry that the dinner is too simple. I couldn''t do anything because Cornelius only gave me this much, and he also said that it would be like this for some time toe.¡±

    Recalling the meetingst night, Giorgrisforted her by saying, ¡°Don''t worry, leader Davos¡­his lord has sent someone to Taranto to ask for assistance, and fortunately, the grains that the Lucanians have forced you to nt can be harvested in the early autumn. After the council arrangends for the new citizens like me these few days, you will be able to take back your ownnd.¡±

    ¡°Is that true?!¡±

    ¡°At the council meetingst night, the archon had made the decision after discussing it with everyone.¡± Said Giorgris trying to show off a bit.

    ¡°Great!¡± Daeneya said happily. In fact, what she was more happy about was that she did not expect that the young Giorgris who looks ordinary, could attend the council meeting of the city-state. She really indeed picked up a treasure, ¡°However, you are wrong. What we want to take back is not mynd, but yournd!¡±

    That night, Daeneya tried her best to serve Giorgris who was still a virgin¡­

    On a starry night, the same passionate and romantic scene took ce in many newly established family in Amendra.

 Chapter 111: Bagul

    Davos and Cheiristoya were assigned to a house, the original owner is the former archon of Amendra, Marcellus. At the same time, he has two children, a 6 year old daughter, Cynthia, and a 3 year old son, Adoris.

    After learning about it in the afternoon, Cheiristoya immediately asked for some ves from Mersis and rushed to the house of Marcellus. The house was basically cleaned by the time Davos got there, but he didn''t have the time to enjoy his new home, as he even need to hurriedly took a few bites of bread and meet the two children that they will adopt. The two children hid behind Cheiristoya nervously and watched him secretly. It was obvious that the 21-year old Cheiristoya had won the trust of the two orphans.

    Before he could speak, Asistes hurriedly came in and said, ¡°Bagul has been brought.¡±

    Davos asked Asistes to take the man to the wing room.

    After starving for a day, Bagul had been then taken to the wing room while his hands were tied, and he simply just fell t on the ground, as his physical weakness and mental despair made him lost hope to live.

    At this time, He heard a voice, ¡°Is this the son of Vespa, the Lucanian tribe leader, and the Lucanians call him the warrior Bagul?¡±

    Another voice answered, ¡°Yes, archon.¡±

    ¡°Why does he looked like a dead dog?¡± Hearing this taunt, Bagul still remained motionless and even his eyelids did not blink.

    ¡°Andrea praised him for being a warrior, but he doesn''t even dare to look at me. Hahaha¡± The guy continued to taunt him.

    However, this time, Bagul opened his eyes, and a man younger than the person who brought him just now came into his sight. He was a little surprised, because he clearly heard that this guy was called the archon.

    ¡°An¡­how is Andrea?¡± There was a deep concern in his hoarse and frail voice.

    Instead of continue make fun of him, Davos stepped forward and said seriously, ¡°She is fine. Just that, she has been begging me to release you, and wants to be with you.¡±

    Bagul closed his eyes, and his blood-stained, tanned face showed extreme pain. He suddenly turned over, and his chest began to heave sharply¡­

    After a long time, he opened his eyes and looked at Davos, ¡°¡­release? Can you release us out?! Will you give us freedom?!¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Davos sneered, ¡°Think about what you have done in Amendra. You ughtered the citizens of Amendra, assaulted the women of Amendra, forced the people of Amendra to do heavybor and confined them in a narrow space, and only gave them a small amount of water¡­in less than half a year, the number of citizens of Amendra has dropped from 1,500 to 500*. This is the crimemitted by you and your people! The elderly, the young, women, and children of Amendra would like to eat your meat and drink your blood! Do you think that you can get away from getting punish!!¡± (TL note: I think the number of citizens that died is from them suffering from the tribe of Bagul, while the other 2,500 citizens that died was when Thurii invaded the Lucanian cities?)

    Davos'' words were like a gust of wind blowing out the candle in Bagul''s eye, as hey on the ground as rigid as a puppet, and his face was shrouded with despair.

    ¡°However-¡± Davos change his tune, ¡°I, Davos, the new archon of Amendra, will not approve of killing as revenge! Of course, the crimesmitted by the Lucanians needs to be paid back, but I hope that it will be in a different way.¡±

    A bit of hope have return to Bagul''s eyes, and he looked up at Davos and couldn''t wait to ask, ¡°What way?¡±

    ¡°All the men of your tribe will be ves of the city of Amendra! They will be responsible for building roads, repairing city walls, digging canals, tilling the farnd. grazing the animals¡­and as auxiliary soldiers in wartime, and will apany the citizens on expedition!¡± Davos stared at Bagul.

    Bagul was silent for a moment. In fact, they had done the same to the people of Amendra after they upied Amendra. ¡®God Asinu, is this our retribution!¡¯ But he was not worried about the men of his tribes, ¡°What about the women?¡±

    ¡°Of course, they will also be ves of the city. They can go shear the wool of the animals, learn to weave, beat olives¡­as for the adolescent girls and widows among them, my soldiers, the new citizens of Amendra will marry them!¡± Davos increased his voice to entuate hisst sentence.

    Bagul was shocked by his words, he sat up and looked at Davos in disbelief, ¡°Not as a concubine?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, as their wives!¡± Affirmed Davos, ¡°This is my sincerity! So I ask you and your people to be ves of Amendra for 5 years, you must bear the insults of any citizens in silence. Of course, if a citizen of the city tried to attack you, he will be severely punished. But if your people flee or attack the citizens of the city, then if one tried to escape, I will execute 10 Lucanians! If you hurt a citizen, I will also execute 10 of your people!¡± At this point, Davos'' expression turned a bit grim.

    Bagul was silent for a moment and then asked, ¡°What about 5 yearster?¡±

    ¡°5 yearster, all of you will be freemen. If you want to be citizens of Amendra, you can apply to the city-state. If you want to go back to your hometown, then we will not stop you. However, I think that you will not choose to leave anymore.¡± Said Davos confidently, ¡°In addition, if you perform well, such as helping citizens win a war, building a good road in a short time¡­and so on, then the 5 year period can be reduced¡­¡±

    Bagul''s expression at this time was much more livelypared to when he just came. After all, from a doomed death to a hope for freedom, one could imagine his joy. Moreover, he felt the kindness of the new archon to the Lucanians. Otherwise, he would not let his soldiers marry a Lucanian women and make them rtives with the captured people. And so he said, ¡°I personally agree with your proposal. However, I have to go back and discuss it with my tribesman, specially my father. After getting their consent, shall we sign a contract?¡±

    ¡°Contract?¡± Davos sneered, ¡°There''s no contract here. You can only believe on my words.¡±

    ¡°WHAT!!¡± Bagul was taken aback. This matter concerns the life and death of his tribe, but he can only rely on a few words of the other party.

    ¡°Don''t you know that all the citizens of Amendra wanted to execute you, but I did not agree. (in fact, the new citizens have no ill feeling towards the Lucanians. After all, they are not the victims, but became the winner and beneficiaries.) Under these circumstances, I can only convinced them, and your good performance and time will slowly wipe out their hatred. So you are not qualified to sign a contract with me, you will need to either trust me, or go back to prison until you die!¡± Said Davos sternly.

    Bagul''s face went paled and said with a hoarse voice, ¡°You are too young¡­so why should we¡­¡±

    Davos confidently said, ¡°Why? Because I am the leader of the troops that defeated you Lucanians. The soldiers trust me because I always keep my promise! And as the archon for life of Amendra, the people are willing to believe me, because I promised to bring protection to Amendra, so that they will never suffer from such disaster again!¡±

    Bagul looked at Davos, the strength of his eyes and frankness in his words made Bagul choose to give in, and he said, ¡°I will go back to discuss it with my people. If they agree, I hope that you can keep your promise!¡±

    ¡°Of course! As a matter of fact, the citizens who will be rtives of your tribe will even take the initiative themselves to ask for your freedom.¡± There was a smile on Davos'' face.

    When Bagul heard his words, he did not respond anymore. Relying on women to fight for their freedom is a shame for these Lucanian warriors, but who told them to be the loser of the war!

    After Bagul left, Davos then said to Asistes, who was silent, ¡°Tomorrow, you will be the one responsible to take Bagul to the ce where the Lucanian women are being held. Then ask him to pick out the women who are going to marry our soldiers, and then have them dressed up. At the same time, you will have your uncle, Antonios, and Kapus, and the officers to incite the soldier toe to the council to make a demand to marry a Lucanian woman!¡±

    ¡°Will the soldiers be even willing to marry an indigenous woman?¡± Asked Asistes curiously.

    ¡°That is why you will spread a rumor that the Lucanian women are tall, fit, and are hardworking¡­¡±

    ¡°Are these all¡­true?¡± Asistes was skeptical. It must be know that the Greeks advocate ¡°the beauty of the human body¡±, just saying a ¡°fit body¡± will attract the attention of many Greek men.

    ¡°Of course it is true. Think about the Lucanians who live in the mountains, they will climb up and down every day. What''s more, they are famous for herding animals in Magna Graecia, and the beef that the Lucanian''s produce are the best offering for the temple of Zeus in the city-states of Magna Graecia. They eat more meat, while we eat more grains¡­ who do you think will grow bigger?!¡­¡± Exined Davos.

    Asistes recalled the captured Lucanians and nodded.

    ¡°In addition to marrying a woman from Lucania, there are also preferentialws from the city-state*, ¡®If we upy thend in Lucania in the future, we will give them priority to it or allocate morend, because they are the son-inw of the Lucanians, which make it easier for them to get along with the locals.¡¯¡± Davos further increased the appeal to the soldiers. (Actually, he just temporarily thought of it and haven''t yet brought it to the council.)

    ¡°I will do it.¡± Even Asistes was a bit moved when he heard this, but he still had some doubts, ¡°Lord Davos, I still don''t understand, these Lucanians have be our captives, so it is a matter of course to turn them into ves. So why even bother to make it so troublesome? And you even need to promised them?¡±

 Chapter 112: Proposal concerning the slaves

    Davos patiently exined it to him, ¡°Which one is better, forcing them to work while getting beaten or them doing it voluntarily?¡±

    ¡°Thetter, of course.¡±

    ¡°What''s more, I don''t want them to be ves, but to be a citizen of Amendra. Only in this way can we continue to strengthen our strength! And if you think about it, one day, when the indigenous people of Lucania trembled with fear under the threat of our spears, saw some soldiers in our ranks who had the same appearance and spoke the samenguage as them, but wore Greek armor, ate Greek food, and talked freely with the Greeks, what would they think?¡±

    Asistes thought for a while and said feeling unsure, ¡°They might surrender?¡±

    ¡°That''s right, Bagul and the others will be the examples of the Lucanians, and make them know that they will not be abused but will live a good life if they surrender to us. Think about how the Persians treats foreigners, and we will do it better than them, because we will treat the foreigners as equals, ept them more leniently and let them enjoy the same rights as us. Only in this way can we eliminate the estrangement between them and us, and quickly make Amendra stronger!¡­¡± Said Davos earnestly and passionately. In this era, he did not want to be a lone traveler, as he wants to spread his political ideas to the people around him, infect them and change the narrow thinking of the Greek city-states.

    Asistes then said with admiration, ¡°My lord, you think so far ahead!¡±

    ¡°Asi, I heard that you haven''t pick a wife this time. Are you interested in choosing a Lucanian woman as your wife? If so, I will ask Bagul if he has any sister, and you can be his rtive.¡± Said Davos jokingly.

    Asistes immediately remembered the terrifying appearance of Bagul and shook his head.

    ¡°Joking aside, if you do marry a Lucanian woman. Then one day once we have conquered Lucania, I might appoint you as the satrap(governor) of Lucania.¡± Said Davos half-jokingly.

    Satrap?! Asistes thought of the majestic appearance of Tissaphernes, the Persian Satrap of Asia Minor, and as a young man, he was really moved. However, he didn''t think much about how throughout the Mediterranean region, the position of satrap has only existed in the Persian Empire, and the satrap was appointed only by the king of Persia¡­

    Watching the back of the departing Asistes, Davos was still thinking whether it is necessary to set up a low-level public office under the archon -clerk, so that the work of Asistes can be justified, and Davos use this chance to also train a group of like-minded young men and be his assistant in governing the city in the future.

    Davos was still thinking about it, when Cheiristoya came in and told him, ¡°Olivos is here.¡±

    Davos wondered what this guy wanteding sote at night.

    Olivos'' voice could even be heard before he even came in, ¡°My lord, your house is so big! I would''ve lost if there was no one to guide me¡­oh, this marble statue is really good, which master has created this masterpiece? Looking at the outline of these muscles¡­¡± Olivos started a long, rambling conversation.

    Davos looked at him and said, ¡°I will drive you out of here if you don''t say what you came here for!¡±

    ¡°No! No! I really have something to ask for your help!¡± Said Olivos hurriedly, ¡°Archon, you must help me with this matter!¡± He begged.

    ¡°What''s the matter?!¡± Davos, who seemed to be impatient, had be more interested in Olivos'' problem.

    Olivos suddenly became bashful, and mumbled, ¡°I¡­I want you¡­to¡­help me propose marriage to Mariji.¡±

    ¡°What? To propose a marriage?¡± Davos didn''t hear it clearly.

    Olivos took a deep breath and then eximed, ¡°I have fallen in love with the daughter of Mariji, Mitra. I want you to help me propose our marriage to Mariji!¡±

    Davos finally understood, ¡®It turns out that the jokes that they made these few days are true! When did this guy fell in love with Mariji''s daughter?¡¯

    Davos couldn''t remember what Mariji''s daughter looked like, as he only remember that she was a petite and shy girl.

    ¡°You like her, but does she like you?¡± Davos must clear this matter first.

    ¡°Of course, she is willing to be with me!¡± Olivos said confidently.

    ¡°Does Mariji know about it?¡± Asked Davos again.

    ¡°He doesn''t know. However, Mitra''s mother is very much in favor of our rtionship, but she can''t make the decision.¡±

    It is natural that she couldn''t be the one to make the decision. In this era, both Greeks and Persians are dominated by men. Davos'' won''t even consider it, even if he put aside Olivos'' licentious past, but since that incident happened, he had changed a lot. Instead of taking women by force, he would even dissuade others from doing it. On one hand, Olivos is his savior, while on the other hand, Mariji is the talent that he could even regard as his own arm. So Davos is happy to see theirbination, ¡°I''ll go and propose it to Mariji. I will try my best to get you both together, but it will depend on your performance.¡± As soon as he finished speaking, Olivos jumped up happily, ¡°Great! Wonderful! Davos, you really are a good man!¡± Olivos gave Davos a big hug,

    Davos was dumbfounded as he look at Olivos who was singing and dancing out of the courtyard. He was actually given the good person card.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the next morning, the new citizens that are still single had protested in front of the council, demanding a solution to their problems ofcking women to marry and offered a suggestions that they could even ept marrying a Lucanian women.

    The council then held an emergency meeting to discuss this matter. In the continuous protest outside of the court, the council elders headed by the archon, Davos, had no choice but to pass a resolution* and agreed to allow the new citizens to marry a Lucanian women who were once the enemy of Amendra. (Davos and the new citizen elders were all acting)

    At the same time, the council had also passed another resolution: To turn all the captives Lucanians into the ves of the city-state, and they will work for free until the day they died. However, no Amendran shall harm these ves, for they are the wealth of the city.

    After that, Davos put forward another bill.

    Cornelius was unconsciously tense when he saw that Davos would propose another bill, because the things that he repeatedly proposed will destroy the tradition of Amendra and made Cornelius slightly depressed. However, this proposal was rtively normal.

    Prior to their attack on the Lucanian alliance, Davos had promised the ves to set them free once they won.

    After wiping out the Lucanian alliance, Thurii had brought back the more than a thousand ves that they had lent to Davos, as well as his request to grant them freedom, as their promised before the war. The remaining 300 ves, who were looted and collected by the mercenaries throughout their journey in Persia, and had apanied them through countless battles and tribtions. ording to Davos, these ves is their own people, and as a result, more than 20 elders unanimously approved the proposal of Davos.

    However, another proposal of Davos caused controversy that will allow the ves who had be freeman to freely leave or apply to be citizens of Amendra.

    Stromboli was the first to stand up and expressed his strong opposition, ¡°There has never been such a precedent in Amendra to allow the ves to be a citizen of the city-state! If you do this, then Amendra will be theughing stock in Magna Graecia!¡± His words were approved by the several original citizen elders.

    At this time, Antonios stood up and retorted, ¡°Please note that after we passed the previous bill, they are no longer ves, but freemen. And every city-state has a precedence of epting freemen as citizens, this is specially true for Amendra, who had epted us outsiders with magnanimity, and made us citizens of Amendra, which also includes a Persian! Why couldn''t we be magnanimous with these freemen! And we are already currently discussing the ¡¶Immigration Act¡· that was proposed by Lord Davos. Isn''t it just right that these former ves, who are now freemen, and have contributed and sacrificed for the sake of Amendra, are the first to benefit of this bill!¡±

    The new citizens agreed one after another, while the original citizens were tongue tied.

    Amintas stood up and told them the story of his life when he was saved by a ve during the battle in Persia. Atst, he said it out loud, ¡°They are not ves, but our brothers! So we should return this favor!¡±

    Herpus had also briefly described how the ves in the medical camp helped the physicians to rescue the wounded day and night.

    Then, Mersis also exaggerated how his ves could quickly calcte money, distribute goods and supplies without any error, so as to provide the best guarantee for the sess of the mercenaries, and is proud to im that they are the best managers!

    Although there were only 21 people in the meeting ce, the atmosphere gradually turned heated, and there was no need for Davos to speak. The proposal was passed, and after discussing it, the resolution is as follow: After the application for citizenship is confirmed, they will have a 2-years probation period. During this time, they will have to learn to speak Greek and be familiar with thews of the city of Amendra. They also must not have any records of viting thews, and when the 2-years probation period is over, they will pay 200 drachmas to the city-state to be a prepatory citizen. When there is a major campaign in Amendra, they can voluntarily participate, which will shorten their probation period ording to their achievements.

    At that time, the elders did not realize that the passage of thisw, together with the previous ¡¶Davos'' Immigration Act¡·, will have a profound impact on theter Mediterranean Greek history. The example of Mariji and the 300 ves bing Greek citizens hadter became an important precedent on the eptance of freemen and ves in the city-states under the rule of Davos.

 Chapter 113: The aid of Taranto

    At the meeting ce, some people were stillining about whether the 200 drachmas is too much.

    Some people retorted that paying more is necessary, because only in this way can they think that it is not easy to be a citizen of Amendra and will know how to cherish it.

    In the next day, the census officer, Raphias, reported that the Archon''s wife, Cheiristoya, had paid money in advance for 10 freeman, and at the same time, Mersis had also paid in advance for 6 freeman.

    Only then did the other realize the value of this group of freeman. Not to mention the sinister insight of Mersis, as he had searched many talented people who were able to write and calcte, as well as craftsmen with excellent skills. Most of the ordinary ves were also physically strong, because they were the one doing thebor of the supply camp. And after fighting a lot of times and with a little bit of training, they could be a qualified soldiers. What''s more, they are mainly Persian farmers. In the Mediterranean region, there are 3 countries that have a very experienced farmers in growing crops: The first are the Persians, the fertilend in the two river basins has trained excellent farmers. The second are the Egyptians, the Nile Valley, which surges every July, makes the Egyptians only love to do two things in their life, farming and worshiping their god. The third one are the Carthaginians, the two powerful magical weapons of Carthage are sea trading and agriculture, for this reason, they had evenpiled a special book about agriculture. As for the Greeks, because their nativend is barren, and so they could only do maritime trade, herding animals, nting olives and brewing wine, and crafting handicrafts¡­however, these new citizens have been fighting all over the ce, and are bad at farming.

    As a result, the 300 freeman were quickly divided up. The citizens who did not manage to employ them had to go to Taranto''s market to buy ves (at that time, Taranto had thergest ve market in Magna Graecia). Some citizens even fancied therge number of freeman in their neighbor, Thurii. Of course, this is a story forter.

    The council did not immediately disbanded after they finish handling the vew, because Mariji had returned from Taranto.

    If one had taken the sea route from Amendra to Taranto, it won''t be far, and with a downwind from the port of Thurii, one can arrive there in less than two hours. However, it was a mistake for Davos to send Mariji to Taranto, because as a Persian, Mariji wasn''t allowed in the council of Taranto, but he had no other better talents to use at that time. Fortunately, Archytas anticipated this situation and wrote a letter, and have Mariji take it to his father, Histiaeus. With Mariji''s ttery and the rich and novel gifts that he had bought, it made the senior elder Histiaeus to actively mediated for him. Thus, the council and the archon of Taranto showed enthusiasm for Amendra''s initiative to form an alliance with Taranto.

    Of course, it wasn''t due to Histiaeus that made Taranto so enthusiastic about the proposal of the mercenary. The actual reason is that, Although Taranto and Thurii has an armistice for decades, and both are a part of a defensive alliance, they are, after all, a loose alliance with no binding force. Because this alliance was initiated by Taranto, and they need to actively made some efforts in order for some city-states that have umted deep hatred with each other, to not actively tear each other part, such as Crotone and Locri. Including Taranto, who was somewhat hostile to Thurii. After all, Taranto, as one of the most powerful city-state in Magna Graecia, was defeated twice in a row against the newly built city-state. In the end, although they have an armistice agreement signed in order to build Heraclea peacefully, Taranto greatly lost its face in Magna Graecia. Amendra, who was once a member of the alliance of Thurii, now wants to form an alliance with Taranto. The council of Taranto had suddenly regained its face. Moreover, the addition of Amendra means that their affiliated city-state, Heraclea, will now be well protected. How can there be any reason for them refuse!

    However, another request of Mariji have put them in a dilemma, as Mariji asked Taranto for assistance on the ground that Amendra had just experienced a war and was in urgent needs of supplies in order to maintain their living. As a newly established ally, it is easy for them to help with some material things, because Taranto is also a wealthy city-state. However, the amount of supplies that Mariji had demanded was a lot, and the elders needed to discuss this matter.

    It wasn''t until the next day, when Archytas manage to lead his troops back to Taranto, and reported the course of the expedition, had emphasized the fighting strength of the mercenaries and the outstanding military talent of their leader, Davos. He also stressed that the mercenaries who were now the new citizens were the one in power in Amendra.

    In fact, Mariji had already long praised the performance of the mercenaries on them wiping out the Lucanian alliance. However, it had instead aroused the dissatisfaction of some elders that had thought that they just wanted to take the credit of the work of Taranto''s reinforcement. But now that Archytas, whom they trusted, had said the same thing, and had praised Davos so much, they then realized that the new Amendra could do much more than protect Heraclea from the wind and rain. Therefore, they not only did not cut down the number of supplies that Mariji had requested, but had also added something extra.

    When Mariji read out the agreement with Taranto in the city hall, the original citizens didn''t feel much when they heard it. As it still the same alliance and the contents did not change much, the only thing that was changed was their partner, from Thurii to Taranto. However, the one that had attracted their attention was the Persian and now a citizen of Amendra, Mariji, not only was he fluent in Greek, but had made them remember the twows that was passed, which made the original citizens feltplicated for a while.

    Next, Mariji read out the list of the aid that Taranto had sent: 100 tons of grains, 1,000 kilograms of salted fish, 200 sets of round shields and spears, and a hundred piece of linen cloth¡­

    They were surprised every time they heard about the quantity of the supplies. Finally, before Mariji could even finished reading it all out, everyone had cheered, ¡®Taranto is so generous!¡¯ Not to mention the other things, a hundred tons of grain is already enough to keep the whole poption of Amendra alive for six months, and the wheat fields of Amendra should be ready to be harvested by that time. Amendra''s biggest difficulty was easily solved and had made the elders think that they are dreaming.

    ¡°Due to the sheer amount of supplies, Taranto needed to divide it into several batches and transport it to Heraclea and then to here. The first batch will arrive tomorrow!¡± Everyone apuded as soon as Mariji finished speaking.

    By taking advantage of the situation, Davos say out loud, ¡°Brothers, in view of the great achievement of Mariji for Amendra, I propose that Mariji, a citizen and the city-statemercial officer of Amendra, to be a council elder!¡±

    The proposal was warmly supported by the new citizens, while the original citizens reluctantly raised their hands.

    Next, the council had also decided to send an envoy, led by the praetor, Cornelius, and the inspector, Antonios, to visit Taranto the next day to express their gratitude to their ally and further discuss the details of the treaty.

    At the end of the council meeting, Mariji followed Davos out of the city hall.

    ¡°Thank you for your help! You had not only made me a citizen of Amendra and amercial officer, but also a council elder!¡± Said Mariji gratefully.

    ¡°See, I didn''t lie to you.¡± Davosughed.

    ¡°My lord, I know you have always abide by your promise. It is impossible for you to deceive others!¡± Mariji seemed to have forgotten what he had said when he came to Magna Graecia.

    ¡°Mariji, you must remember that this is not my decision, it is the gratitude of the elders of the council and your reward for your contribution to Amendra!¡± Davos, modest as he was, said it as reminder.

    Mariji looked around and whispered, ¡°What council! I only know for a fact that without you my lord, I''m afraid that I won''t even be a citizen of Amendra. I, Mariji, will always be faithful to you my lord Davos!¡±

    Mariji''s words were sincere, and Davosughed again and said, ¡°It seems that you still have to get used to being a citizen of a Greek city-state.¡±

    Mariji wanted to say more, but Davos patted him on the shoulder and asked, ¡°How about Taranto?¡±

    Mariji is a smart person, and instead of continuing what he was gonna say, he instead seriously said, ¡°The time is too short, and after walking around in a hurry, I feel that Taranto is a big city with a lot of people and a lot of them are wealthy¡­there are a lot of merchant ships in their ports, and their market is prosperous. I estimated that their trading volume in a day is not low¡­¡± Mariji looked envious.

    Davos nodded and asked, ¡°I heard that the Messapians are invading Taranto. What''s the situation now?¡±

    If he had not joined the mercenaries, Mariji would not even have cared about the situation, let alone find out about it. After learning from the mercenaries, he had some understanding of the military, ¡°The Messapians have retreated, and their invading troops were mainlyposed of cavalry and light infantry. They did not sh with the hoplite of Taranto at all. They can only invade thends outside of the city of Taranto, but Taranto had no way to deal with them, because they couldn''t catch up with them.¡±

    ¡°Cavalry? Do they have a lot of cavalries?¡± Asked Davos keenly.

    ¡°I don''t know. However, it seems that the terrains to the south of Taranto does not have many mountainous areas and rivers, and most of it are t grasnd, so the Messapians graze a lot of animals there.¡±

    Davos thought that in the Apennine Penins, besides the Gauls in the north that raised horses on the vast ins and marshes in the river Po basin, which had made their cavalry to be very strong. While the other forces in other ces are mainly infantry, and only a small number of cavalry act as a facade. He didn''t expect that in the south, in the ¡°Italian Leather Boot¡± or ¡°Heel¡± there is a tribe that has a cavalry as their main force. After this, it is a must to have Antonios visit Taranto and look into the strength of the Messapian''s army. (In fact, the information of Mariji is wrong. The cavalry is not the main force of the Messapians.)

    Note: The Messapis was said to be a race that havee from Illyria* a long time ago (*it is now Epirus in Albania today). The people who immigrated to the ¡°heel¡± of southern Italy were regarded as an indigenous people because they have arrived earlier before the great colonial era of Greece.

 Chapter 114: Heras Ceremony and Wedding Celebration

    He then said to Mariji, while suppressing his excitement, ¡°Currently, the city-state is suffering from theck of money in the treasury, and you have return just in time. As themercial officer of Amendra, it is your duty to change the situation in where Amendra does not have much trade, and increase the tax revenue for the treasury! I hope that you can do your best for the city-state by investigate and toe up with a good n!¡±

    ¡°I will do my best!¡± Mariji was itching to to do it.

    ¡°And-¡± Davos stopped as soon as he spoke, ¡®I''ll discuss about the marriage proposal after a few days. After all, Mariji has just returned.¡¯

    Mariji saw that Davos did not continue what he was gonna say, nor did he dare to ask, and just said, ¡°Oh right, milord. Two men from the Pythagorean school of Taranto had came together with me to Amendra and said that they were invited by you.¡±

    ¡°Where are they now?¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°They ought to be looking for you.¡± Said Mariji feeling unsure.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Soon, Davos met the people from the Pythagorean school in his own house. One of them is called Marticoris, and the other is Metotikles, both of whom looked young and should not be over thirty.

    Hence, Davos who had just returned home, said with a smile, ¡°Both of you look so young!¡±

    This annoyed Marticoris, who eximed, ¡°Mathematics is not about judging the level with age. No one in Taranto canpare with my speed in calction! Do you think that I am willing to evene to this remote town myseff?¡±

    Davosughed, ¡°You see, I have be an archon as a young man. If I look down on your young age, doesn''t it mean that I am also looking down on myself?¡±

    Marticoris was taken aback.

    ¡°On the contrary, I am d that the Pythagorean school is full of young people. Because young people are energetic. Because young people are ambitious. Because young people, are the one that dares to break the rules, and think about the things that their predecessors doesn''t dare to think! This is specially important in the academic field, isn''t it?¡± Said Davos passionately.

    The previous silent Metotikles opened his eyes wide.

    Marticoris muttered embarrassedly, ¡°What you had said is very reasonable¡­¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry! I will strongly support the development of your school in Amendra, and I will also provide you with arge house free of charge for your residence and ce of lecture. As long as you do not vite thews of Amendra, you can train your students in Amendra without any restrictions. I believe that with your ability, you will be able to create a brilliant career in Amendra that your colleagues in Taranto couldn''t do! So you must make up for the regret of Pythagoras, your father!¡±

    Davos''mitment and encouragement ignited the passion of the two young man. After they showed their respect to him, they asked him to send someone to take them to their house, as they need to take a short rest so that they can start their work immediately.

    Davos naturally weed them. When the two men were far away, Davos could still hear Marticoris'' voice, ¡°That archon is not bad! He is really better! Better than Taranto''s¡­¡±

    ¡°Marticoris, keep your voice down. You are still in other people''s house!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos listened and he was unable to stop himself fromughing.

    ¡°Are you really gonna give your full support to the Pythagorean school in Amendra?¡± Cheiristoya came from the wing room, then put her hand on Davos'' shoulder, and said with a bit of worry, ¡°I heard that the Pythagorean school has a bad reputation, due to them being secretive and disrespectful to the gods. On the contrary, they think that everything is made up of ¡°numbers¡±¡­in the past, they had many conflicts with the lesia and the council in many city-states in Magna Graecia!¡±

    Davos did not take it to mind and smiled, ¡°What''s the problem with it? Aren''t we, Greeks, already ustomed to the harmony between man and god?! And we won''t be in the same situation as the Egyptians who werepletely ruled by the Gods, and those who do not respect the Gods will be executed. Besides, it is not easy to be a disciple of the Pythagorean school, apart from a small number of highly educated nobles, while ordinary people wouldn''t even be able to pass their test, which is the reason why their school cannot grow, and that, they are against democracy!¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Cheiristoya''s eyes rolled and said, ¡°Do you think that they will support you?¡±

    ¡°Whether they support me or not won''t affect me!¡± Shrugged Davos and added, ¡°However, it will at least means that they won''t be a big problem. What''s more, don''t think that they only study mathematics, as they are also interested in philosophy, music, art¡­and study them thoroughly. There is also another area that you are interested in, as they advocate the equality between men and women in academics.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Asked Cheiristoya in astonishment.

    ¡°It''s true. I heard from Archytas that Pythagoras'' wife is his student.¡± Davos then smiled, ¡°With them moving in, you won''t have any shortage of employees in your bank that can do ounting.¡±

    ¡°Didn''t you say that they won''t be able to grow?¡± Cheiristoya remembered what he had said just then.

    ¡°Of course it is impossible with the way how the Pythagoreans teach. However, after the two young men hit a wall, I don''t believe that they still won''t change.¡± Said Davos confidently.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the early morning, the wild flowers bloomed all over the Amendra mountain, a colorful and romantic sea of flowers. Most of them are purple thyme, which swayed in the mountain wind and spread a strong fragrance all over the city.

    A pair of men and women dressed up, and came out of their homes and gathered in the square¡­

    More than 1,500 newlyweds turned the small square into a happy sea of people. The dawn shone on their happy smiling faces, and their gazes were intensely focused on the central tform. There stands the statue of Hera from the temple of Hera in Metapontum. The goddess holds a scepter in her right hand, while she twists the corner of her clothes with her left hand, as she face the newlyweds under the stage with a kind smile.

    Around the statue were several priestesses in white robes, dancing the sacred dance of offering, and singing the hymn of Hera¡­

    After the ceremony, the high priest of Hera said to the countless newlyweds with her deep and clear voice, ¡°Today is a beautiful day, and Hera is here to witness your happy union! The Greeks value family the most, and a happy marriage is a sign of the prosperity of a family and the cornerstone of the city-state''s stability!¡­¡±

    The high priest stepped forward and asked, ¡°Hera had entrusted me to ask all the men present, ¡®Are you willing to protect your wife from the wind and rain, no matter how difficult the situation that you encounter and love her until the end of your life?¡¯¡±

    The men, headed by Davos, said without any hesitation, ¡°I do!!!¡±

    ¡°Hera had entrusted me to ask all the women present, ¡®Are you willing to manage your husband''s home and raise your children no matter how difficult life is, and respect him till the end of life?¡¯¡±

    The women headed by Cheiristoya said from the bottom of their heart, ¡°I do!!!¡±

    The high priest was smiling, ¡°Now the newlyweds can kiss each other!¡±

    Davos and Cheiristoya, Giorgris and Daeneya, Olivos and Mitra (because of the early arrival of the priestess of Hera from Metapontum yesterday afternoon, Davos had to hurriedly propose the marriage to Mariji, and Mariji readily agreed. In fact, Mariji, who was influenced by the monarchy system of Persia, hadn''t cared much about the reputation and wealth of Olivos. What he cared the most was how Olivos was a close friend of Davos, and that Davos had personally proposed the marriage)¡­countless newlywed couples gaze affectionately with each other and kissed sweetly¡­

    Stromboli, who was watching from the side, couldn''t bear to look at this, and protested in a low voice, ¡°This is against the Greek tradition! This is too vulgar! Inspector¡­the inspector should stop them!¡±

    ¡°The inspector had already went to Taranto.¡± Scambras said with a smile, ¡°I think this Hera''s ceremony is very interesting.¡±

    ¡°¡®A happy marriage is a sign of the prosperity of a family and the cornerstone of the city-state''s stability.¡¯ This sentence does make sense!¡± Eximed Raphias.

    ¡°I have never seen a Hera''s ceremony like this before.¡± Cornelius had some doubts.

    ¡°I heard that the archon rushed to the high priest''s residencest night to discuss something. This must be the archon''s idea.¡± Guessed Protesus.

    ¡°Listening to what you are saying, it seems that your archon is an interesting young man.¡± Anlokris, the envoy of Heraclea, looked at the square and said with a smile.

    ¡°The goddess Hera wish for your happiness!¡± The high priest, with both her hands raised to the heaven, said devoutly.

    Several priestesses began to sprinkle holy water under the stage, and the newlyweds also devoutly sang the hymn of Hera.

    Just after the wedding ceremony, the fire fighter on the side of the venue started to sprinkle water using a water filled jar. Although they had been informed in advance, the women still screamed and hid in the arms of their men, while the men protected their wives, and also wanted to steal the jars from the fire fighter. The screams of the whole venue continued, and the square was lively and bustling with excitement¡­

    ¡°How interesting! How interesting!¡± With an excited look on his face, Protesus suddenly turned and ran back.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Asked Tritodemos.

    ¡°To go and get a water jar!¡± Protesus ran without looking back.

    ¡°Getting a jar?¡± Tritodemos was taken aback, and he soon understood what he meant. Looking at the bustling venue, he also wanted to join the fun, and shouted, ¡°Get more jars!¡±

    ¡°Yes, get more!¡± Scambras was also like a kid, and hemented, ¡°Too bad that i got married early!¡±

    ¡°Amendra hasn''t been so lively for such a long time!¡± Sighed Raphias.

    Stromboli was touched by this sentenced, as he watched the water mist rising in the square and condensed into a rainbow under the sun. He stoppedining for a while and murmured, ¡°Won''t this celebration be held on this day every year in the future?!¡±

 Chapter 115: The invitation of Syracuse

    After the mass wedding, Davos did not go home immediately. As he and the elders met with the envoys of Metapontum and Heraclea in the council.

    One is the ally of Taranto, and the other is the affiliated city-state of Taranto, and now, Amendra has be an ally of Taranto, and so their discussion went on smoothly and friendly. Davos put forward the proposal of Amendra wanting to get along with Metapontum and Heraclea, and help each other. In which the envoys of the two city-state had readily epted. The three sides also discussed on strengthening their exchanged and trades¡­

    Davos finally returned to his home after a busy afternoon. However, he did not expect to have a guest waiting.

    The sharp-eyed middle-aged envoy presented a rich gift, and he then politely introduced himself, ¡°Greetings, honorable archon, Davos! I am Herolis of Syracuse, the envoy of the great strategos, Dionysius.¡±

    Davos was shocked when he heard the two words ¡°Syracuse¡± and ¡°Dionysius¡±.

    In his previous life, when mentioning Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, he could only think of the story of the sword of Damocles*. This story reminded Davos that it is very dangerous for him to be a tyrant in the Greek city-state. Besides that, he had no deep impression on Dionysius or even Syracuse, and he is just like other ordinary people where his gaze were focused on Athens, Sparta, and Rome. And the only thing that he knows is that during the Peloponnesian war, the Athenian army waspletely destroyed in Syracuse, the philosopher to stayed in Syracuse, and the mathematician Archimedes died in Syracuse¡­that''s it. (T/N: Damocles)

    However, when he came to this era, specially aftering to Magna Graecia, he often went to find Burkes, Cornelius and others to talk about the local conditions and customs of Magna Graecia, so he knew that Syracuse was not an ordinary big city-state. If the Greek city-states manage to sessfully resisted the invasion of the Persian army with Athens and Sparta as their allies, then under the leadership of Syracuse, the city-states in Magna Graecia and Sicily had defeated the Carthaginian army to the south (coincidentally, the day of their victory was the same as the Battle of Smis in the east), and helped the Greek city-states in the Apennine Penins to fend off the aborigines'' invasion. Therefore, several decades ago, Syracuse was the Hegemon of the Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean, and ruled with tyranny at that time. This time, Syracuse had once again implemented the system of tyranny, and the one in the throne is Dionysius, the so-called great strategos.

    After having a brief understanding of how Dionysius usurped the power from others, he can see that he is not only skillful in using his power, but is also ruthless. His military and political abilities are not weak, and his luck is also good (Carthage took advantage of Syracuse''s civil strife and attacked Syracuse and its allies, and even to the extent of them managing to siege the city of Syracuse. As a result, a gue broke out and Dionysius repelled them). What''s more, he also knows the truth that ¡°whoever muster a powerful army can be the emperor*¡± as he vigorously trained and employed private troops to consolidate his power¡­so Davos hasbeled this tyrant of Syracuse as ¡°dangerous¡±. Even if he doesn''t know what happened to this man in his previous life, but he had read something from a book in his previous life, and one of the words in it that had impressed him deeply, ¡®from the very start, a rising country will consciously or unconsciously wants to firmly hold in its hands the power andnd it once acquired when it was strong.¡¯ Syracuse used to be the hegemon of Sicily and the city-states of Magna Graecia! What about the current Syracuse? It must be known that people with little ambition won''t even dare to be a tyrant¡­ (TL Note: Original is "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun" is a phrase which was coined by Chinesemunist leader Mao Zedong. Both are same thing with thetter is just a modern reiteration, and I think the other one is much more in line with the settings.)

    Davos fell into deep thoughts, but his face was full of smile, ¡°Oh, I can''t believe that the distinguished Syracuse wille to our small mountain city! Please have a seat!¡±

    When Herolis sat down, Davos asked him, ¡°Lord Herolis, is there anything that Syracuse has sent you to do?¡±

    ¡°I was given an order, and when I set out to Thurii, I didn''t know that you had already be the archon of Amendra. So the original order is no longer applicable, but I think that I should still say it.¡± Herolis cleared his throat and said, ¡°When the story of you and your army wiping out the Lucanian alliance with only a small number of troops in Thurii spreads to Sicily. The Greeks in Sicily were very happy, and they all said that this was a brilliant victory over the aborigines in Magna Graecia in these years! When Dionysius learned about it, he had immediately decided to hire you to Sicily with a generous sry to fight against Carthage, the enemy of the city-states in Magna Graecia and the dog of the Persians.¡±

    Davos was relieved and pretended to be curious and ask, ¡°Good pay?! How good is it?¡±

    ¡°A soldier will receive 4 daric a month, and you will get 20 daric a month.¡± Herolis then looked at Davos.

    Davos looked surprised, ¡°4 daric gold coins¡­that is more than double than the payment of Thurii to us! Is Syracuse so rich?!¡±

    ¡°Being able to invite the heroes of the Persian expedition and the famous strategos that wiped out the Lucanian alliance''s troops, is a glory for Syracuse and no amount of money is worth it!¡±

    ¡®It seems that I have now be a famous general!¡¯ Davos rubbed his stubble on his chin with a bit of pride in his heart. He greatly like the envoy, but he still said with regret, ¡°It''s a pity that we are no longer mercenaries, but a citizen of Amendra.¡±

    ¡°Yea, I didn''t expect that you and your army would recapture Amendra without even resting after wiping out the Lucanian alliance. This is another brilliant victory!¡± Herolis sincerely praised him, as it was more difficult to attack a city than fight in a field. And of course, he did not know that Davos and the mercenaries had attacked the Lucanians at night, and so, he sincerely said, ¡°Amendra is lucky to invite you to be their citizens! However, I would need to abandon the order that I have epted. And now, I want to make a new request on behalf of the great strategos, Dionysius of Syracuse.¡±

    Davos gestured for him to say it.

    ¡°I would like to invite you to lead the army of Amendra and Syracuse to fight back the invasion of Carthage and to bring peace to the Greek city-states in Sicily! Of course, Syracuse will pay your army the same generous reward. And at the same time, I know that Amendra had just experienced a war, and so, Syracuse is willing to provide you with your urgently needed supplies free of charge, so that Amendra could recover as soon as possible!¡±

    Davos dodged the question and had instead asked, ¡°I heard that Syracuse and Carthage had signed an agreement for truce the year beforest. Did Carthage tear up the agreement and start the war again?¡±

    Herolis was a bit embarrassed, but soon said seriously, ¡°Carthage chose a truce because their army had suffered from the gue at that time, which was the punishment of Apollo! However, Carthage had still upied many Greek city-states in Sicily, from Selinus in the westernmost part, to Agrigento the southern coast of Sicily, then to G and Kamarina near Syracuse. Thousands of Greeks lived a life worse than death under the very of the Carthaginians. Moreover, the huge army of Carthage is stationed in Kamarina, which threatened Syracuse. Whether it is for the sake of Syracuse''s safety or to rescue the people of G and Agrigento, Syracuse must deal a heavy blow to Carthage in order to stop the city-states that was established by the Phoenicians from coveting the Greek city-states in Sicily, and restore the Greek''s former territory in Sicily!¡±

    Davos thought about it for some time(in fact, he had already made a decision), then he shook his head and said, ¡°I would like to help the people of Sicily, but I am already the archon of Amendra, and I have to be responsible for them. You see, I am always busy all day, and I don''t even have the time to rest, let alone travel far away. And the citizens of Amendra are currently busy reorganizing their homes, restoring the agriculture and order of the city-state, as well as its security, and they are unlikely to follow me to Sicily. So I could only give you and the great strategos, Dionysius, my thanks for your invitation. However, I can only apologize!¡±

    Herolis had only a bit of hope in getting a favorable answer. Therefore, he didn''t feel too disappointed, and he just sighed and said, ¡°What a pity! I just hope that we would have a chance to cooperate in the future.¡±

    Davos then said politely, ¡°Please convey my apology and thanks to Dionysius, the great strategos!¡±

    Davos then sent out Herolis.

    When they approached the gate, Herolis stopped then turned around and said, ¡°Lord Davos, can you allow me to ask a personal question?¡±

    ¡°Say it.¡±

    ¡°As far as I know, when you recaptured Amendra, you could have let your men take over Amendra, because the citizens of Amendra were almost wiped out¡­what made you choose to let the people of Amendra hold a voting to decide whether you will stay or not?¡± Asked Herolis earnestly.

    Facing the probing gaze of Herolis, Davos secretly wondered whether this envoy was dissatisfied with Dionysius'' seizing of Syracuse using mercenaries and ruling it with an iron fist.

    After looking at each other for a while, Davos then said, ¡°We, mercenaries, are tired of war and death, and we just wanted to live a peaceful life, and not to loot wealth and gain power. If we don''t want Amendra to fall into riots again and again, then every soldiers who wants to be a citizen of the city-state should follow thews of Amendra and follow the legal procedures of the city-state to be a citizen of the city-state. Then the original citizens won''t have anyints against us, and we will also have a peace of mind, so that the whole city-state can remain stable¡­¡±

    Herolis was silent for a moment, and he looked at Davos with a lot more respect, ¡°It''s my pleasure in knowing you!¡±

 Chapter 116: Dionysius, the Tyrant

    Davos watched as Herolis, the envoy of Syracuse, leave. When he returned to the living room, he looked more grave and worried. The trees wanted to be quiet, but the wind won''t stop blowing. It seemed that Syracuse was getting ready to fight Carthage. No matter what the oue was, Amendra needs to develop and strengthen itself as soon as possible in order to gain a firm foothold in troubled times.

    Two dayster, Dionysius, the Tyrant of Syracuse, heard the report of Herolis in his pce. At first, he was gloomy, and then heughed, ¡°A little mercenary leader has be an archon for life! Macias, what do you think?¡±

    Macias, a former leader of a Campanian mercenary, stood next to him and said without hesitation, ¡°My lord, I think that as a leader of a mercenary, he should have focused on how to win a battle, and get more gold and honor for himself, instead of doing something that he had never done. Although it might seem to be good, it can easily lead to his failure, and it will also drag down the innocent.¡±

    ¡°You are right!¡± Praised Dionysius, and then patted his throne, ¡°I trembled everyday whenever I sit in this ce, as I don''t even dare to ck even the slightest! A mercenary who is only brave and fierce dares to be a tyrant of a city!¡±

    Herolis was unable to restrain himself and said, ¡°My lord, this Davos is not a tyrant, but an archon for life elected by the people of Amendra!¡±

    ¡°Herolis, what do you mean by that?!¡± Dionysius stared at Herolis with a gaze as sharp as a knife.

    It was only then that Herolis realized that he had inadvertently touched Dionysius'' reverse scale. Immediately, he was wet with cold sweat, and so he lowered his head, and did not dare to speak again.

    Dionysius looked at him carefully for a long time, then withdrew his gaze and said scornfully, ¡°He is just ying a petty trick. We can only say that this young man is a bit clever, so it is no wonder that can win several battles. Unfortunately, he has only a small vision. Philistus*, do you know how many citizens there are in Amendra?¡± (T/N: Philistus was a Greek historian from Sicily.)

    On the left of Dionysius, a middle-aged man with elegant temperament opened his mouth, ¡°As far as I know, they should have less than 4,000 citizens. And of course, their current number is far below that now.¡±

    ¡°Hearing that, even if Amendra had not been troubled by war, they only have 4,000 citizens. They aren''t even as good as our Greek city of Syracuse that have as many citizens in a block.¡± Dionysius shrugged and said with a slight disdain.

    The pce resounded with scatteredughter.

    ¡°If that mercenary leader named Davos had came to me quickly, then after defeating Carthage, he can then choose either Mars, Ziz(Palermo), Eryx(Erice), Isuli Egadi, Segesta and other cities to be a tyrant. Those are a lot better than the small city of Amendra. It''s a pity that he won''t have another chance!¡± Said Dionysius with great pride, and then he looked at Macias, ¡°How is our troops preparation in attacking Carthage?¡±

    ¡°At present, we now have more than 10,000 mercenaries that havee to camp outside Syracuse, and we can also mobilize at least 40,000 citizen soldiers in Syracuse, including about 20,000 troops of the cities like Catania, Leontinoi, Tannurus and Pachino¡­in addition, there are also 2,000 cavalries. My lord, your army is a powerful army that has never been seen in the history of a Greek city-state! Even the most powerful Athens did not have such a huge military strength!¡± Said Macias excitedly.

    Dionysius, however, has a calm expression and turned his gaze to his young brother, Leptines*, ¡°How is the preparation of the navy?¡± (T/N: Leptines is a brother of Dionysius and is one of his military leaders.)

    Although Leptines is the brother of Dionysius, he, however is, straightforward and frank. Because of this, Dionysius trusted his brother very much and promoted him to be the chiefmander of the navy of Syracuse. He then replied, ¡°We now have 150 triremes, and together with other warships, we have a total of 320rge and small warships.¡±

    ¡°Not enough¡­¡± Dionysius sighed, and his fingers began to tap on his throne, ¡°You see, when fighting Carthage, you need 2 things ¨C ships and cavalry, and we don''t have enough of both. Leptines, it seems that you have to urge the other cities to speed up the construction of warships. As for cavalries, Macias, send your people to the Apennine Penins to recruit some Celtic cavalry. Philistus, go to Sparta and ask for some Thessalians cavalry. Men, we have to speed up our progress! Once next springes, we are going to attack G!¡±

    The three immediately responded that they will do their best to fulfill the task assigned by Dionysius.

    ¡°Macias, you need to work harder! It''s shameful that a leader of a small mercenary can wipe out those barbaric aborigines with only 2000 men, while we have thergest army of a Greek city-state, but we couldn''t even create a greater glory!¡± Dionysius was still thinking about the refusal of Davos, and so he encouraged Macias.

    ¡°My lord, be assured that I won''t let you down!¡± Macias dered immediately.

    ¡°Very well, Macias!¡± Praised Dionysius, and then he waved, ¡°Philistus, stay, and you all can go.¡±

    Herolis, Macias, Leptines, and two other courtiers withdrew, but the gaze of Dionysius was fixed on the back of Herolis, until Philistus called his name.

    ¡°Do you think that Herolis has changed a bit?¡± His finger tapped on the throne.

    Philistus was startled, and cautiously defended Herolis, ¡°My lord, I did not find anything wrong. Herolis is still the same Herolis as before.¡±

    Dionysius looked at him, ¡°I know that you have a good rtionship with him. As I also cherish the help that he gave in my most difficult time, and so, I don''t want anything that can destroy our friendship!¡± Said Dionysius with emotion, ¡°¡­Recently, I heard that he was studying the history of Egypt. I think of giving him some time off so that he can concentrate on his study¡­¡± Murmured Dionysius to himself, and Philistus sighed in his heart, ¡°My lord, I understand¡­¡±

    ¡°This is merely a temproary arrangement¡­¡± Comforted Dionysius.

    ¡°Phili, Philoxenus* is your good friend, can you invite him here.¡± Dionysius changed the topic and said, ¡°I have just written a poem and I''d like to invite him together with you to evaluate it. You know, thest time I discussed poetry with him, I had offended him by not saying anything and he haven''te here for three months already.¡± (TL Note: Philoxenus of Cythera was a Greek dithyrambic poet.)

    ¡°Philoxenus is a good man, but he likes to put on airs. I will try my best to persuade him toe.¡± Philistusughed and joked, ¡°My lord, you, a great strategos, even takes your time to meet ordinary citizens!¡±

    Dionysius alsoughed and spread out his hands, ¡°So, who said that I am a dictator!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    During this time, Davos and Philesius, the military officer, were busy with reorganizing the city-state''s army.

    After the mercenaries became citizens of Amendra, and the more than thousand soldiers of Drakos, Sesta, and Adrien, and the more than 1,800 soldiers under Davos, and nearly 300 former ves that became freeman. In addition, about 250 original citizens of the city-state that are still in the range of the service age. The total number of people who can fight in the city is about 3,500.

    Originally, the highest position of the mercenary was the brigademander (in fact, this was the position of Davos), and the highest unit was a brigade. However, with the increase number of of soldiers, the original established unit could not adapt to the actual situation of the city state. After discussing it with Philesius, Davos decided to add a higher tier unit, which he named ¡°Legion¡±, and the highestmander of the army is still Davos himself, with a strength of 7,000 men. It isposed of seven brigades (6 hoplite brigades and one peltast brigade), with a thousand people in each brigade and the highest rankmander (willter bemonly known as ¡°Senior Centurion¡±). A brigade has 5 centuria with 200 people in each centuria, and the highest rank leader of a centuria (will also be known as Centurion). A centuria has four toons under its jurisdiction, each of which has 50 people and its highest rank is called a toon captain.

    Because of the influence of Rome from his previous life, Davos had nned to cancel the toon and change it into a hundred man unit. However, Philesius raised his objection, as he thought that a toon was superior in a skirmish and mountain warfare, because of their mobility and flexibility, and with the support of 4 toons, the centuria''s ability to go indepedent was greatly enhanced. After much deliberation, Davos finally agreed with Philesius. Since then, the toon was established as a unique military unit in the city-state under the control of Davos. As the lowest ranking officer, the toon captain yed a key role in connecting the army, and waster called the ¡°leader of the soldiers¡± by the soldiers. Later, many strategoi under Davos were proud of being a toon captain. As a result, Davos issued a military order that stiptes the need for them to serve as a toon captain for 2 years before they can be promoted to a higher rank in the legion, which made the position of a toon captain to be more dazzling, and of course, this is something in the future.

    A toon consist of 5 squads, each of which has ten men and a squad is led by a squad leader ter, it was renamed as Sergeant, which is assumed by veteran soldiers). In addition, the legion also has a cavalry, engineering camp, medical camp, logistic camp¡­and the actual number of people in a legion might be as high as 8,000. Of course, these are all just assumptions for now.

    Since there are currently only about 3,500 soldiers in the city-state of Amendra, Davos had to organized them into four brigades.

    The soldiers of the first brigades were all from the mercenaries that Davos had led. However, the selection of the leader of the first brigade gave Davos and Philesius a little headache. In terms of ability and prestige, Antonios isparable to Kapus, but considering that Antonios was serving as a city-state inspector and was the third most powerful official in the city-state, only next to the archon and the praetor. So for the sake of equality, Davos, after talking to the two men, decided that Kapus would be the leader of the first brigade.

 Chapter 117: Legion and Flag (I)

    For the position of centurion that was vacated after the promotion of Kapus, Davos has proposed that the 20 toon captains of the five centuria under the first brigade should be selected as candidates for the soldiers to vote. After the results came out, Davos was somewhat surprised when he learned that Matonis was the one elected, and he was elected for the following reasons: First, because he protected the weak, so the soldiers loved him. Second, he fought bravely, so the soldiers respected him.

    While the soldiers of the second brigade areposed of the mercenaries brought by Drakos, Sesta and Adrien. Since Drakos brought the most mercenaries, coupled with his bravery and tenacity in battle, and is often the one in the frontline. Therefore, Drakos was chosen as the leader of the second brigade, while Sesta and Adrien became the centurion of the first and second centuria of the second brigade.

    Then the third brigade consisted of the 6th and 7th unit (they are mainly the ones that have joined the mercenary of Davos in Byzantium), the original citizens of Amendra, the freeman of the city-state who were the former ves of the logistics camp, and a small number of Drakos'' mercenaries. The senior centurion of the third brigade is Hieronymus, who had been one of the leaders of the mercenaries in Persia and this can be regarded as him ¡°getting back his position¡±. Agasias is the centurion of the first centuria of the third brigade.

    Then there was the seventh brigade*, namely the peltast brigade, and the senior centurion of the first brigade is Epiphanes, who also served as the centurion of the first centuria. While the centurion of the second centuria is Cid, and the third centuria is Arpenst. They have a total of more than 600 people. (T/N: Yes, 7th brigade Æß´ó¡­might be because the 4th-6th brigade is for the hoplite unit.)

    And then, there''s the cavalry, which is led by Ledes.

    Davos had also made a strict regtions on the helmets of the officers at all ranks. The top of the helmet of a toon captain must be decorated with a white crest, the crest on a centurion''s helmet must be red, the crest on a senior centurion must be purple, while the legion''s mainmander have a red, white, and purple crest on their helmet. At the same time, it is also stipted that the crest of the officers must be arranged from front to back, so as to facilitate unity and management in battle.

    But as soon as the new regtions came out, the officers had immediately went to either the weapon shops of Heraclea or Thurii* to modify their helmet, because this is a soldier''s honor. In his previous life, when Davos watched movies and televisions, he always thought that the high crest on the helmets of ancient western generals were just for the sake of appearance and to show off their identities, and it is without a doubt that it is shy. However, after more than a half a year''s battle career, Davos became deeply aware of the necessity for this kind of appearance. After a long fierce battle between two sides, the formations will easily be chaotic, and once a soldier ends up splitting off with his team and the team became disorganized, they could not only search for the g in the crowded battlefield, but also to search the officers through their tall and gorgeous crest of their helmet, and they will voluntarily moved closer to the officers and reorganized the formation to restore theirbat strength. (*at this moment, Amendra is in a state of deficiency, and there are no shops.)

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the early morning, the citizens of Amendra, as well as the freeman, came to the square armed.

    The freeman had just escape from their very and had no money to buy weapons and equipment. However, after the defeat of Thurii in thest battle, the Thurians had presented thousands ofplete set of weapons and equipment to Davos mercenary, in order to have them continue defending the ins of Sybaris and hold the Lucanians. And after the annihtion of the Lucanian alliance, the mercenaries stripped off nearly 10,000 sets of shield and armors from thousands of corpses (which also includes the one in the camp of the Lucanians where it was burned to the grounds). Of course, all of these weapons and equipment were owned by the mercenaries and were not included in the weapon warehouse of Amendra.

    The officers had a heated discussion on how to distribute the spoils and the consensus was that the money from the sales of the spoils will be divided equally among the soldiers. Then Davos put forward his own suggestions that the wounded and the disabled soldiers will setup a weapon shop in the market of Amendra that specialize in repairing and selling weapons and equipment that they have seized inbat, and the profits that they obtained will be used to subsidize the lives of the soldiers who were injured and even disabled in the battle now and also in the future.

    After all, no one could guarantee that they won''t get injured in the future. With these ¡°disability subsidies¡±, they would have less worry when fighting.

    As a result, arge weapon shop had quickly opened andunched its own signboard ¡°Legion¡±. The store isrge and it has a lot of weapons and equipment, and considering that a full set of a hoplite equipment is worth 400 to 600 drachmas, which is not low, so they have even allowed for the equipment to be rented. And even though the rent is not a small sum of money, the freeman are still willing to rent it because they know that only by joining the army and participating in a war can they be citizens quickly and acquirends! At the same time, being a soldier is a glory for the citizens and the best way for the freeman to improve their city-state status quickly!

    But where did they get the money to rent it? The freeman did not need to worry about it for a long time, as they soon found out that a bank had opened and it is called ¡°Cheiristoya¡±, and the interest rate was very lowpared with the loan interest in Greek city-states at that time). As they all know, Cheiristoya is the wife of the archon, and these freeman who had apanied the mercenaries for thousands of miles knew about her and so they decided to borrow from this bank. This was also the first loan from Cheiristoya''s bank.

    Now, once the soldiers arrive at the square, they will go and find the squad that they were assigned to and joined the leadership of their squad leaders, and then merge into a centuria to form a small phnx formation. Finally, they will go to their designated area in the brigade in sequence. Although the whole process is slow, it was not chaotic, and they finally formed into three phnx formation in an orderly manner.

    However, the third brigade is still trying to form their ranks¡­

    On the stage, Philesius saw Davos frowned a bit and hurriedly said, ¡°My lord, the third brigade has the mostplicated assembly of soldiers, specially those who have never received military training before, and the original citizens of Amendra didn''t even received strict training, so -¡±

    Davos interrupted him, ¡°I understand, and so, Hieronymus has a lot of responsibility. I heard that he asked for a lot of veterans from the first brigade, and even the amiable Kapus was anxious for him.¡±

    ¡°Yes, my lord. Hieronymus is also anxious, as he is a very responsible person!¡± Exined Philesius tactfully.

    Davosughed, ¡°Soldiers should be conscientious in their duty and they must not admit defeat. I believe that Hieronymus will be able to make the third brigade to catch up quickly!¡±

    Then he asked, ¡°Did the Lucanians came?¡±

    ¡°They are here.¡± Philesius pointed to a small slope in the southeast corner of the square, and said anxiously, ¡°My lord, there are 800~900 of them, in case that something goes wrong -¡±

    ¡°No need to worry!¡± Said Davos disapprovingly, ¡°The soldiers in the square can wipe them out. I don''t think that Vespa and his son are so stupid. What''s more, even the women of their tribe have be the wives of our citizens. And most of them have even came here today to cheer for their husbands¡­¡±

    Davos looked at the distant hillside and ordered, ¡°Beat the drum.¡±

    The drummer waved his drumstick and began to beat the big drum in front of him rhythmically.

    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡­¡± Hearing the drums, the soldiers on the square began to step in ce and continue to adjust their formation. When the four phnx formation were in order, the sound of their footsteps were in sync, ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡­¡± The magnificent marching steps made the birds fly and the wild animals to run away, like a thunder in the sky and the rumbling of a mountain¡­

    Cornelius and the other elders were shocked and muttered to themselves, ¡°This¡­this is the army that shook Persia and destroyed the Lucanians! As expected¡­they are really different!¡±

    When the Lucanians saw this, most of them went pale and became quiet.

    While the women and the children outside the square cheered with excitement.

    Davos felt the tremor of the mountain and hurriedly waved his hand to stop.

    The drummer hit the drum twice and then stop, and the square soon became quiet, as if the huge noise had never even happened. A freeman''s throat was itchy that made him coughed, and the veteran squad leader that was nearby red at him.

    Davos took two steps forward on the stage, ¡°Brothers!¡±

    The crowd shouted at the same time, ¡°Davos!!!¡±

    ¡°How is your happy life these days?¡±

    ¡°Great!!!¡±

    ¡°I am afraid that, because your life is too good, it had made your feet soft and made you not even be able to wield your spears!¡±

    The soldiers were allughing ambigously.

    ¡°Many of you have fought together with me in Persia and won great fame! And you followed me to Magna Graecia, defeated the Lucanian alliance and made a brilliant achievements! Now that you are all citizens of Amendra, this is a new beginning! From now on, you must guard, develop and expand Amendra, and create an evesting glory for the future generations!¡± Said Davos passionately.

    The soldiers brandished their spears up and down and eimed in great excitement.

    ¡°For Amendra!¡±

    ¡°For Amendra!!¡±

    ¡°For Amendra!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°You are not a soldier, so why are you so happy?¡± Stromboli was unable to stop himself from saying it after seeing Anticles, who was beside him, holding up his left hand and cheered together with the soldiers.

    ¡°This is a real army! This is the army that we, Amendrans, have long longed for!¡± Said Anticles excitedly, ncing over his right arm, and his expression darkened again, ¡°It''s a pity that I won''t be able to follow them to war anymore¡­¡±

    Stromboli, after all, was an old neighbor of Anticles, and had a good rtionship with him. Instead of continuing his sarcasm, he then said with concern, ¡°Didn''t you hate them, these outsiders that have stolen your position as the patrol captain?!¡±

 Chapter 118: Legion and Flag (II)

    ¡°That was just a moment of anger. As a matter of fact, Hielos is a very nice and humble man, and he oftenes to me to asks questions.¡± Anticles then said frankly, ¡°Besides, my two new son-inws are new citizens, specially my eldest son-inw, who is a toon captain! See there¡­the tall man with a white crest on his helmet is my eldest son-inw¡±

    ¡°Hey Anticles, he''s just a toon leader! And they only manage a few people! Back then, you and I were even a strategos.¡± Stromboli disagreed.

    ¡°That''s different, because we were appointed by the archon due to our status as a noble. However, ording to Trotidis, archon Davos had stipted that ¡®a toon captain must have experienced many battles and be recognized by the soldiers. The soldiers will then elect him and then be approved by their superiors before they can be appointed.¡¯ In order for them tomand the same experienced and proud soldiers under them.¡± Said Anticles with pride.

    Stromboli didn''t talk back anymore, as he could not deny it, because they were able tomand the powerful soldiers of the Persian expedition army.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Cheiristoya, with teary eyes, looked at Davos standing high in the middle of the square: This is the husband that she had chosen during such chaotic times, and it turned out that her vision is correct, and Davos had achieved his dream!

    ¡°The archon is so awesome!¡± A clear voice had awakened her, and she knew that it was Andrea without needing to look back. A few day ago, Cheiristoya learned about Andrea''s story during a small chat with Davos. She was moved by her infatuation and had asked Andrea for her help because she was running a bank and currentlycking staffs. And so Andrea had readily agreed, and soon they became friends. And with Mrs. Davos, Cheiristoya, as her shield, Andrea received less gossip and ring.

    ¡°Why? Do you like Davos?¡± Joked Cheiristoya.

    ¡°Madam, you jest.¡±

    ¡°I heard that Davos had ordered the Lucanians toe and watch the ceremony. After that, I will go and ask Davos to arrange for you to meet him, how about it?¡± Said Cheiristoya.

    Andrea expressed her gratefulness, ¡°Madam, thank you!¡±

    Cheiristoya looked back at her and said, ¡°Are you really going to wait 5 years for him?¡±

    Andrea nodded without hesitation.

    After sighing, Cheiristoya remembered what Davos had said, ¡°Then you should persuade Bagul to take good care of his people and to not make any mistakes, and to seriouslyplete the various task that the city-state had assigned them. Once the city-state has any major campaign, they should actively participate in it, and strive to make achievements, so that they can shorten their 5 year period as soon as possible!¡­¡±

    Andrea nodded.

    Cheiristoya said, ¡°Sister, I sincerely hope that your wait will not be too long, and your wish wille true eventually.¡±

    Andrea bit her lips and sobbed.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The military officer, Philesius, came forward and said in a loud voice, ¡°Now, on behalf of the council, I dere the establishment of Amendra''s first Legion! And the head of the legion will be the archon for life, Davos!¡±

    The crowd gave a thunderous cheers.

    ¡°Now to confer the g of the first Legion!¡±

    The sound of salpinx rang out and soon the square turned solemn.

    Philesius, with a serious expression, held a four meter g in his hands. Davos then took it with both of his hands and held it high, then walked slowly around the stage.

    Mersis yelled from the field, ¡°See that! That''s the g that I have spent several days carefully designing and urging people to do it. Isn''t it beautiful?!!¡±

    ¡°You designed it?¡± Mariji''s face was filled with suspicion.

    Mersisughed and said, ¡°I''m kidding. Davos was the one who designed the gs, but if not for me, the gs wouldn''t have been made so quickly!¡±

    The soldiers held their breath and looked at the golden g in the sky. At the top of the g was a bronze statue of Hades holding a bident* (they have no other choice as Amendra is currently poor and they can only use brass for the time being.) Under the statue is a circle of red fluffy g tassels, and then the g pole is covered with a square, reddish wool and hemp fabric. The g is embroidered with a golden Greek ¡°The first legion¡±, and on the middle of the other side is the Hesperus. Then Davos pointed to the Hesperus and shouted to the soldiers under the stage, ¡°Brothers of the first legion, as the founder of the new army of Amendra, this Hesperus represents your honor in wiping out the Lucanian alliance and taking back Amendra!¡± (T/N: I have no idea¡­maybe on the top of the pole.)

    The soldiers cheered loudly, and they then straightened their chest and looked at the Hesperus on the g, with full of pride in their gazes.

    ¡°And every time you win a huge victory, there will be a Hesperus drawn on it, so that everyone will remember your achievements! I hope that the Hesperus will spread all over this army g with your constant victory!¡± The soldiers cheered with excitement due to the ardent expectation of Davos, ¡°For victory!¡±

    ¡°For victory!¡±

    ¡°For victory!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The morale of the soldiers in the square reached its peak.

    ¡°In my decades of experience in fighting for the city-states, I have never heard of such a military g! And such a way to boost morale! As a citizen soldier, how glorious it would have been to fight under such a military g!!¡± Anticles yearned for the g very much.

    ¡°It seems that there is a statue of Hades mounted on the top of the g*. This is Davos'' vague im that he is the favored of Hades!¡± Said Stromboli with discontent.

    <strong>Maybe something like this?</strong>

    ¡°Many people already think that this is true!¡± Said Anticles, and he covered the end of his right hand with his left hand and said with a sigh, ¡°Besides, Hades is on our side and will bring death to our enemies, which is a good thing! We can expect that our first army will be a frightening army! It''s a pity that I can''t fight under the g of Hades!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Now, the g bearer of the First Legion, Martius,e to the stage and receive the g!¡± Shouted Philesius.

    Martius, the normally bold captain of the guard, felt a bit nervous at this moment. He once more tightened his armor and straightened his helmet, and then walked to the stage solemnly, then stood in front of Davos, then his right fist pounded his left chest.

    Davos returned his salute, and said in a loud voice, ¡°The g bearer of the Legion is the bravest soldier of the whole army, and it is also the highest honor! I hope that you will hold the g of war high on the battlefield, and no matter how dangerous it is, you will always move forward and encourage the whole army to win!¡±

    Martius solemnly took over the g and swore, ¡°Hades, I, Martius, will treasure the g as much as my own eyes, and will always move forward and to never retreat!¡±

    Amidst the cheers, Matonis murmured, ¡°If I hadn''t became a centurion, then this g bearer position would have been mine!¡±

    ¡°Next, now we will invite the senior centurion of the first brigade toe on stage and ept the g of the first brigade!¡±

    Before Kapus went to the stage, the soldiers behind him began urging him, ¡°Hurry up captain! Go and take the g!¡­¡±

    However, Kapus took his time to go to the stage.

    Davos then took the g from the guard''s hand and earnestly said to Kapus, ¡°The first brigade of the Legion is the role model of the whole army, it is the elite of the elite! In a battlefield, the first brigade should be in the ce where it is the most difficult and the most dangerous, and they must face the difficulties and open the door to victory for the whole army! I hope that you will remember that!¡±

    ¡°The first brigade of the first Legion will certainly not disappoint the archon. The first brigade will always be the spear of the whole army!¡± Kapus'' voice was as hard and powerful as a rock.

    He took the g of the first brigade and looked at it carefully. Unlike the Legion g, the top of it is an iron statue of the death god Thanatos, who is under Hades, and he is brandishing a sword, while wearing a ck robe, and spreading his wings, with a ferocious face. On the gpole below the statue is also a red g tassel and the g is embroidered with a golden Greek ¡°The first brigade of the First legion¡±, and on the other side is also a Hesperus¡­

    Kapus then waved the g, and the soldiers of the first brigade that were under the stage cheered.

    Then came Drakos, the senior centurion of the second brigade. He was still covered with bandages, but he was fully armed, and staggered towards the stage, then the soldiers under the stage cheered with encouragement.

    Looking at this tough guy who he had fought with, Davos asked with concern, ¡°Drakos, are you alright?¡±

    ¡°The physician said that I am all right.¡± Drakos calmly faced Davos, who had beaten him, and now, he only had respect in his heart, ¡°Thank you for your concern!¡±

    ¡°The first battle with Lucania had showed me the bravery of the soldiers of the second brigade. But to be honest,pared with the first brigade, there is still a big gap. I hope that you will discipline and train them in ordance with the militaryw in future training, so that they can catch up as soon as possible!¡± Said Davos with great expectation.

    ¡°Rest assured archon, the second brigade will not lose to anyone!¡± Said Drakos with firm determination.

    When Hieronymus, the senior centurion of the third brigade, came to the stage, Davos said nothing more because he knew that he would train his team as hard as he could.

    When the captain of the seventh brigade, Epiphanes, came to the stage, the nimble senior centurion took the initiative to ask Davos, ¡°My lord, as you can see, my brigade has the least number of people, and we are still short of about 500 people, so can I send someone to Thrace, Crete, and Rhodes to recruit some peltast, archers and slingers?¡±

    ¡°As a freeman of Amendra?¡± Asked Davos with a forced smile.

    ¡°Naturally, they will start as a freeman, and then, in ordance with your earlier proposal in the council, they can then apply to be a citizen of Amendra after a few years.¡± Said Epiphanes whileughing.

    Davos was happy to see this happen, but he reminded Epiphanes.

 Chapter 119: Marijis Business Plan (I)

    Davos reminded Epiphanes, ¡°If these new people came, I''m afraid that you will need to submit a new proposal to the council meeting for the elders to discuss and review, because they are after all, different from the freeman of the third brigade, but I can tell you for sure that I will do my best so that your proposal get passed. However, if they want to be a citizen, I''m afraid that the conditions for them will be much more difficult, and they should be mentally prepared. In addition, it''s better to quietly go to the eastern Mediterranean and not to provoke Sparta!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Said Epiphanes excitedly.

    Then he finally, took the g, and at the top of the g was an iron statue of Tisiphone, the goddess of vengeance, the goddess feared by the Greeks, holding a torch on one hand and a snake as a whip. The g under the statue is also embroidered with the Hesperus and the brigade number¡­

    And at the top of the centuria''s g is an iron statue of Cerberus, the three headed dog of hell¡­

    The whole ceremonysted for nearly two hours, and from beginning to the end, the morale of the soldiers was high and the cheers from the side, continued.

    In the end, Davos raised the army g again, and the groups of gs such as the legion, brigade, centuria, toon, the gold(bronze), and iron statues, the red and yellow g tassels, the red, purple, and white helmet crest has added a bit of luster to this ce, but more importantly, with these, the morale of the soldiers will be even higher, and the officers will be able tomand them more efficiently and act more quickly¡­

    Davos was happy to see a genuine army taking shape. He waved the g and yelled, ¡°Where the g is, the army is there! If the g fell, then the army is dead! The military g signifies the armies! Invincibility!¡±

    ¡°Where the g is, the army is there!!! If the g fell, then the army is dead!!! The military g signifies the armies!!! Invincibility!!!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Most of the Lucanians couldn''t understand what the soldiers in the square were shouting, but the huge pressure caused by their shouting had scared anyone with hostility.

    Both Vespa and his son, Bagul, understood what they said and so they remained silent for a bit longer.

    Finally, Vespa let out a long sigh, as if to spit out the uneasiness in his heart, ¡°Son, do you remember the wolves that we often see in the mountains? After a powerful wolf king defeats the other lone wolves, some of the lone wolves would choose to submit to him. Do you think that those wolves are very timid?¡±

    ¡°No, father¡­ I think that they are the most intelligent, because they know that only under the leadership of the powerful wolf king, will they have enough food, and won''t be attacked by other vicious enemies, and their blood will continue!¡­while those arrogant wolves will either die old and lonely in the mountain or be the food of other beasts!¡­¡± Bagul understood what his father was thinking, and so he took this opportunity tofort him.

    Vespa nodded and slowly made up his mind, ¡°When I was young, I used to lead my people around to make a living, and saw many Greek city-states armies, such as Naples, Thurii, Taranto¡­but never before has an army of Greeks moved me so much as they did! You have to know that Amendra is just a small city, but with such an army, the archon may not want to stay simple. Since we couldn''t beat them and have be their captives, then¡­we can only make a choice that is more favorable to the survival of our people. I just hope that the Greeks will not break their promise!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the whole city was still immersed in the spectacr scene on the square yesterday, themercial officer, Mariji, had told Davos about his business n at Davos'' home, ¡°My lord, we, Amendra, are few and poor, ournd is also impoverished, and we don''t have many rich citizens, and have no special output, and we have no port, which makes it very difficult to attract foreign merchants to our ce to trade with us ording to the usual method¡­¡±

    Nodded Davos, but the truth is that, why has Amendra been a small city for more than 200 years, and has always maintained the poption of citizens at 4,000? Because this small city can not support more people, so the extra people can only migrate to other ces to make a living. Therefore, Amendra has always been a small city. Davos believed that Mariji dares to tell this fact, because he must havee up with some good methods.

    ¡°But -¡± Mariji then raised his voice and said, ¡°Our neighbor, Thurii, has a very prosperous port, and everyday there are hundreds of merchants ships from other city-states thates to Thurii to trade. Heraclea, our other neighbor, although it has only been built for a shorter time, has 20~30 merchant ships thates to trades with them everyday. The port of Metapontum, which is further away from us, is also prosperous¡­but ording to my observation these days, there are some problems in their ports and markets. Because there are too many merchant ships and too many goods, that their warehouse is no longer enough, and they need to queue up in order to rent a warehouse. Therefore, the goods are stacked on the open space, but they are easy to get stolen or rot if they are exposed to the sun for a long time. At the same time, because of therge number of foreign sailors and theck of inns in the city, not only the cost of living is rising, but also the price of food, which made themin very much. In addition, there are a lot of people in the port, which makes it prone to disputes, and in case of disputes, the city-state is not only too slow to solve the problems, which dys the merchant''s time, but also tends to be partial to the people of the city-state¡­¡± Mariji said about the disadvantages of the many neighboring city-states'' ports. Obviously, he did a full investigation and evenbined with some of his own experiences when he was a merchant.

    Hearing this, Davos could guess what business he was going to do in Amendra. These days, when he was chatting with his wife, Cheiristoya, he found thatpared with the modern people in his previous life, the Mediterranean merchants in this era wasn''tcking in the economic concepts, and even the banking industry in Athens had insurance (mainly marine insurance). Moreover, the Athenians have learned how to use money to promote and consolidate themercial hegemony of Athens. Before the Peloponnesian war, the Athenians used the silver from the mines of Laurion to cast high-purity silver ¡°owl¡± coins*, and even at the most difficult times of Athens, they still did not reduce the purity of their silver coins, which made them very popr among Greek city-states. Then, Athens forced the unification of currency in the Delian League, which made Athens to firmly control the trade of the Delian League and consolidate its hegemon, and only more than 2,000 yearster that Uncle Sam picked up the work that the Athenians had done. Therefore, Davos did not dare to underestimate the wisdom of these ancient people, and instead of rashly expressing his opinion, he carefully listened to Mariji.

    ¡°The distance between Thurii and us is not more than 25 kilometers, so is Heraclea, and it is only more than 45 kilometers away from Metapontum, which only needs more than an hour to reach by horse, and a caravan can arrive in half a day. Therefore -¡± Mariji looked at Davos with acent smile, ¡°We can build a lot of warehouse between the river Bradanus and river Saraceno in Amendra for lower rents. In addition, arge number of simple inn can be built and charge them with lower fee and provide rich and sufficient food and drinks. I believe that this will certainly attract foreign merchants, sailors, and freeman to settle in. When there are more people, we can build a bigger and better market next to these warehouses and inn ording to the market that we had established in Thurii before, and to protect the interests of these merchants and sailors with our good service and then the trade of Amendra will certainly prosper!¡±

    Said Mariji confidently, Davos could not help but p his hands, ¡®Isn''t this the distribution center in his previous life?!¡¯

    ¡°Excellent! It seems that you are worthy of being themercial officer!¡± Davos did not hide his appreciation of Mariji, ¡°Back then, Cyrus the Younger, had only allowed you to be the trade director of Medes, which had really buried your talent!¡±

    When talking about Cyrus the Younger, Mariji became gloomy and said, ¡°Because his highness likes soldiers and farmers more than merchants, and he had said many times that he likes ¡®two kinds of people best, one is the one who can buy farm tools and livestock for thend, and cultivate thend well, and the other is the one that can defend thend, farm tools and livestock best.¡¯¡±

    Davos thought carefully and sighed, ¡°Yes, after all, Persia has a vastnd, farmers and herdsmen ounted for the vast majority of their people. Therefore, ensuring the stability of Persia is the most important issue, and with so many dependent states, cities and races paying taxes to the Persian royal family every year, Persia is not short of wealth, so Cyrus the Younger is right. If he was alive, he might have been a good Persian king, unfortunately, when many people''s hopes are pinned on him alone, his life is no longer belonged to him. However, he doesn''t know this, and he had instead, took such a huge risk and lead troops to battle in person¡­what a pity!¡±

    Mariji sighed as well.

    ¡°I approve of your n! However, I would like to add a few more points.¡± After Davos finished speaking, Mariji immediately raised his ears, as he knew that Davos had extraordinary talent in business. The temporary market that they had built in Thurii before was so lively, is mainly because of the hands of the archon.

    ¡°One is the road. At present, there is only one dirt road between us and Thurii and Heraclea, which made it too difficult to walk, and not conducive to the merchants in transporting their goods. Therefore, we must build a t, wide and solid road, and to also build strong bridges on those rivers, and so we need to start preparing for this soon. The other is that the warehouse and inn should not only reduce the cost of rent, but also to ensure the cleanliness and safety, and no theft or robbery is allowed. This requires you to discuss with Hielos ande up with a solution. By the way, what are the tariff of Thurii, Heraclea and Metapontum?¡±

    ¡°It depends on what kind of goods the merchant is selling. The tariff onmonly used and is urgently needed by the city-state is low, which is generally only 2%, while for foreign goods that are notmonly used by the city-states, or even threaten the survival of the citizens that produce simr goods, has a tariff as high as 20~30%¡­¡± Mariji gave a serious ount of what he had learned.

 Chapter 120: Marijis Business Plan (II)

    It seems that the ancient Greeks were not fools, as they also knows how to protect the economy of their city-states.

    ¡°We currently have nothing in Amendra, so we don''t need to worry about lowering our tariffs. Therefore, when the surrounding city-states charges 2% then we charge 1%, when they take 20%, we take 10%¡­as long as we can attract them to us, then our trade will develop, and the citizens will take the initiative themselves to look for opportunities to earn money for their families.¡± Withcking money, Davos has made up his mind to undercut the other city-states.

    ¡°Lord Davos, I await for your decision!¡± Mariji was happy, but he quickly reminded, ¡°Heraclea and Metapontum have a good rtion with us and are in the same alliance, and so I believe that we can have a good negation with them, but the rtionship between Thurii and us is not good, and so they might hinder the foreign merchants from transporting their goods from Thurii to store it to us, and then to transport it back to the market of Thurii to sell.¡±

    This is really a problem! Davos rubbed his chin in embarrassment.

    Originally, the Davos mercenary had a good rtionship with Thurii, and Davos was also the great benefactor that has saved Thurii. However, after the mercenaries became citizens of Amendra, in view of the animosity of the native Amendrans to Thurii, Davos wasn''t willing to take the initiative to contact the envoys of Thurii, which had also angered them after many of their visits got blocked. Amendra, who was originally a ¡°little brother¡± of Thurii, is now inexplicably arrogant, and it had dampened the self-esteem of the Thurians, and at the same time, they were also angry at the ¡°deception¡± of the Davos mercenary.

    As a result, the rtionship between the two sides became rigid. And such stalemate is not only unfavorable to Amendra, but also for Davos, because this will not only affect the economic diplomacy of Amendra, but also the strategic n of Davos and themitments that he had made in the council.

    In his n, Amendra should take advantage of the weakening of the Lucanians, and to invade theirnds. But these days, when he calmed down and studied the map carefully, and also to personally scout the surrounding terrain, he found a big problem. On the north side of Amendra there is Heraclea, an ally and is being backed by Taranto. In the south, there is Thurii, although their strength has been severely weakened, Davos couldn''t lead his army to attack them, because Thurii and Amendra have no hatred, and they were once allies, and they were also the one that invited them(mercenaries). This will undoubtedly arouse the dissatisfaction and vignce of the city-states in Magna Graecia, and Amendra''s small size couldn''t dare to provoke them. On the west side of Amendra, between Amendra and Heraclea, you can indeed reach Lucania by trekking up the river Siris, and this is the road that Vespa took when he led his people.

    For this reason, Davos also went to inquire Bagul about it, only then did he find out that the west of Amendra is a wilderness with many mountains, rivers andkes, dense forests, with a lot of snakes and insects. The tribe of Bagul had stayed there for more than a year, and from the more than 10,000 tribesman that they have, in the end, only less than 4,000 were left. This is the reason why after they had upied Amendra, Vespa did not want to go back to Lucania. If they want to use the river path, going down to reach Amendra is much better, while if they went up against the current to reach Lucania, the number of casualties caused by injuries on the road alone will be staggering, and if the Lucanians were to attack them, then the reinforcements at the back wouldn''t be able to help them.

    Therefore, the only way to get there is to trek the rugged mountain road westward through the ins of Syberis to Laos. Although the road is long, at least there will be fewer nonbat rted casualties, and in order to pass through the ins of Syberis, they must have a good rtionship with Thurii.

    Davos rubbed his chin. He had nned to wait for a while for the new family of Amendra to settle down and their hatred to gradually fade and forgotten, which will make it better when negotiating again. But now, it seems that whether it is to improve the economic and trade, or to enhance their military strength, they must solve the bottleneck of the diplomatic rtions with Thurii. So Davos made up his mind, ¡°Mariji, don''t worry! This afternoon, I will hold a meeting in the council to discuss the issue of Thurii, and hope to improve the diplomatic rtions with them.¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos, as long as you put forward a proposal, do they even dare not approve it?¡± Mariji wasn''t ttering him, but was telling the truth. However, Davos had to take into considerations the feelings of the elders like Cornelius. After all, this is about the solidarity between the old and new citizens of Amendra. But he didn''t want to discuss it with Mariji now, and so he justughed. After all, it will take a long time for a Persian to adapt to the political system of the Greeks.

    Mariji looked at his expression and immediately stopped discussing it. Then he raised his voice and said, ¡°Oh, lord Davos, I have another idea that I have almost forgotten to say. The medical skills of the physicians in the medical camp of our mercenaries are quite high, and when we opened a clinic in the market that we have built in Thurii, many citizens and freeman came to see the physicians, andter, more and more patients came to visit. And when we wanted to tear down the market and move to Amendra, some of the patients have even begged us not to leave¡­do you think that we should also open a big clinic in Amendra?! And to attract patients from neighboring city-states toe see the physicians, we can also allow them live and eat in Amendra, buy goods, and increase the ie of our city.¡±

    Mariji''s words really reminded Davos. Recently, he has been busy, so he had forgotten that Amendra still have a special product, that is ¨C medical treatment! Therefore, he excitedly said, ¡°A clinic is too small, so we will build arge hospital!¡±

    ¡°Hospital?¡±

    ¡°The hospital doesn''t only give consultation to patients, but also allow them to live in the hospital, and it is more conducive to the rehabilitation of the patients due to the physicians being able to observe their conditions and continue their treatment at the same time. And they can also conduct medical research, hold medical lectures and train young physicians¡­I believe that such a ce will attract a lot of patients toe for treatment!¡± Davos exined to him in detail.

    Mariji went in a daze. Although he didn''t understand some of the contents, he couldn''t stop himself from saying, ¡°When I was at Persia, I have never heard of such clinic that can turn into this kind of hospital that you had just mentioned, my lord. This is really¡­really wonderful!¡±

    ¡°What I said is indeed good, but we can only do it step by step in order to reach the level that I had mentioned. Therefore, we better make some preparation first. To tell you the truth, I still owe Herpus two medical sses!¡± What Davos said reminded Mariji that the young man in front of him is the real leader of the medical camp, and the physicians respect him so much whenever they mention him. A young man who knows everything about military affairs, politics,merce and medicine is definitely a gift of god! Leaving the house of Davos, Mariji felt that he had chosen the right person to follow.

    While Davos is currently thinking at this moment that if they want to build Amendra into a medical center of Greece, then can Amendra also be turned into a huge recreational/amusement center?!

    Thinking of this, Davos then immediately went to the wing room.

    In the wing room, Cheiristoya is working with several freeman servants who are currently working as ountants for the bank loans. Next to her is Azune (Azune is an Egyptian ves who was sent to the medical camp by Mersis, and while Cheiristoya was in charge of the medical camp, she found that Azune was smart and capable and so she asked Azune to follow her.) She was currently arranging work task with several male and females ves whom Cheiristoya had just bought from Taranto.

    Azune saw Davos as soon as he entered. So she immediately bowed her head and said, ¡°My lord, wee back.¡±

    The freeman also saluted respectfully, while the new ves were confused.

    ¡°Cheiristoya, have you found a leatherworker?¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°Yes. But the money for the leatherworker is enough for me to buy four ~ five ves.¡± Comined Cheiristoya.

    ¡°Business should be done in a long term. Regardless of the fact that a leatherworker cost a lot more money now, butter, they will earn enough money to buy tens of thousands of ves.¡± Davos said half jokingly and half serious, while he didn''t dare to make any intimate moves in front of everyone.

    ¡°Okay, great merchant!¡± Cheiristoya nce at him and said, ¡°Our family needs a leatherworker anyway.¡± She then pointed to one of the ves, ¡°That''s the one you want.¡±

    Davos walked over, and the skinny old man bowed to him respectfully, ¡°Master.¡±

    ¡°Are you a Greek?!¡± Davos was slightly surprised when he saw his appearance.

    ¡°Yes, master.¡±

    ¡°From where? What''s your name? Why did you be a ve?¡±

    ¡°I am Tulkas, and I came from Ephesus. I became ves because I couldn''t pay my debts.¡± The old man said calmly.

    ¡°In a few years, as long as your craftsmanship is good, then you can save enough money to redeem yourself and be a freeman.¡± Promised Davos.

    ¡°My son died on the battlefield, while my wife died early, and so now, I lived alone. So if master doesn''t drive me away, then I would like to stay here until the day I meet Charon¡­¡± Davos was taken a back and he could only nod helplessly, ¡°In that case, you can rest assured that you can spend your remaining years here.¡± With that, he took Tulkas to the atrium and used a stick to draw a pattern on the soil where the nts were nted.

    ¡°Is this an olive?¡± Tulkas looked at the simple pattern on the ground and said uncertainly.

    ¡°This is a Rugby ball made of cowhide!¡± Said Davos with gleaming eyes.

    ¡°Rugby?!¡± Tulkas eyes widened.

 Chapter 121: Alliance with Thurii (I)

    In the afternoon, at the council meeting, Davos proposed to contact Thurii and improve their diplomatic rtion, but it was met with the strong opposition from Stromboli and the other elders.

    Instead of voting immediately, Davos said earnestly, ¡°Elders, I urge you to consider this proposal calmly and seriously, and to not be blinded by hatred! You are the elite of the city-state, so you should create more livelihood for the people of the city-state and point them to the right direction for the prosperity of the city-state! Will the security of the city-state improved by being friends with Thurii?! Will the trade of the city-state improved by being friends with Thurii?! Will the war with Lucania give us more advantage by being friends with Thurii?! As long as you are sincere for the city-state and for the sake of our descendants, I believe that you will make the right choice! Remember, individuals can have grudges, but there is only eternal benefits between city-states!¡±

    The word of Davos obviously move Cornelius, and most of them bowed their heads and thought about it.

    At this time, Scambras stood up and said angrily, ¡°Will we just forget what Thurii has done to us and greet them with a smile?! Davos, you have never felt the tragic experience of having your wife and son die. Hence, why you can easily talk about making friends with Thurii here!¡­¡±

    ¡°I am just talking about improving rtions with Thurii and not about forgetting your hatred. There''s a saying in the east that ¡®it''s never toote for a gentleman to take his revenge within ten years.¡¯ We will use Thurii to strengthen ourselves, until one day we are strong enough to the have the Thurians swallow the bitter fruit of our hatred!¡± Argued Davos.

    ¡°Just that I don''t know how long we have to wait¡­¡± Muttered Scambras, the discontent on his face faded.

    The result of the final voting is that, except for Stromboli, Scambras and Raphias abstaining, the rest of the elders voted in favor and the proposal of Davos, passed smoothly.

    Davos acted immediately, and he asked Asistes to send someone into the port of Thurii to give a message to Burkes that Amendra is willing to repair the rtionship with Thurii.

    And in order to show their sincerity, Thurii sent a delegation of delegates headed by Kunogta, Nianses, and Ansitanos.

    For the sake of reciprocating the diplomatic etiquette, Amendra also sent a delegation headed by the archon, Davos, the city''s praetor, Cornelius, the inspector, Antonios, themercial officer, Mariji, and the council elder, Stromboli (he himself strongly asked to participate), and at the same time, he put forward a special request, that the delegates of Thurii should not cross the river Saraceno, and the meeting should be held on the southern bank of the river.

    Just as the delegate of Thurii exited the gate of the city, they then received a message from the north and it was like a blow to their head, which had immediately halved their happiness. Without having any alternative, they still agreed to this proposal.

    In the morning, the two sides met on the bank of the river.

    With the exception of Kunogta, this is the first time that the other Thurians meet Davos the hero that have wiped out the Lucanian alliance and have saved Thurii, and now, he is the archon for life of Amendra. Although he is still young, none of them dared to underestimate him. On the contrary, in addition to respect, they were somewhat afraid of him.

    However, Kunogta''s thoughts were deeper. After all, when he met him for the first time, he had p the shoulder of Davos and said some words of concern and encouragement as an elder meeting a younger generation. At that time, Davos seemed to be mild tempered and even a bit shy. Kunogta had of course, did not pay attention to it, and even doubted in his heart when he heard that the mercenaries manage to aplish the impossible. At this time, Davos was as gentle and friendly as when he had met him for the first time, but Kunogta felt his heart tremble: In just one move, nearly 10,000 Lucanians perished, and at the same time, he could make the people of Amendra to willingly choose him as an archon for life. Isn''t it frightening that the young man who nowpletely controls the power of Amendra can still maintain such a seemingly humble attitude!

    Ansitanos didn''t think it too much, and he just thought that when the meeting is over, he would ask Davos to tell him about their experience in Persia.

    The main representative of the two sides sat down under a temporary shelter made by the soldiers.

    ¡°Before the meeting, allow me to say a few words.¡± Kunogta stood up and said emotionally, ¡°This invasion of the Lucanians has caused great disaster to both Thurii and Amendra! The city of Amendra was taken over, and the people were captured and most of them died from getting abused. While in Thurii, nearly 13,000 citizens died in the war, and every family mourned and everyday, the whole city of Thurii is covered with the sound of mourning¡­Here, on behalf of the strategoi and elders of Thurii, I would like to express our deep condolence to the people that died in the two cities¡­¡± With that, he shed tears from the corners of his eyes, and the delegates of Thurii bowed their heads with sadness.

    Davos was taken aback, as he didn''t expect that the Thurians would do this, and he hesitated whether he should also put on a sad expression. Then a sneer came from behind, ¡°If it wasn''t for your unreasonable demands, then we, the people of Amendra, would not have gone through such sufferings! Stop acting here and get down to business!¡±

    Stromboli''s voice broke the mncholic mood created by Kunogta, which made the Thurians in the meeting ce to be a bit embarrassed. However, Kunogta continued to look at Davos and said gratefully, ¡°Fortunately, Lord Davos, you have led those brave mercenaries to fight back against the powerful Lucanians, and saved Thurii and Amendra! You are the hero in the eyes of the Thurians! Several times ago, we have tried to invite you to the victory celebration and to ept the heartfelt gratitude of the people of Thurii to you, but we weren''t able to. Which have cause the other strategoi and I, and also the elders to be heavily criticized by the people!¡± When he said this, Nianses and Ansitanos nodded in agreement.

    ¡°I hope that once the discussion is over, you will be able to visit Thurii! This is the wish of the whole city of Thurii¡± Kunogta gave the invitation with sincere expression.

    In the face of this kind of hospitality, Davos could not immediately refuse. Fortunately, Stromboli once more sneered, ¡°Lord Davos is now the archon for life of Amendra. His visit to other city-states is no longer his personal matter and needs to be discussed and decided by the council!¡±

    ¡°Then, we await for the decision of the council of Amendra. However, the people of Thurii will once more criticized us.¡± Kunogta looked disappointed, and then he said, ¡°Now that both Thurii and Amendra are actively engaged in postwar reconstruction, Thurii is willing to give our full help if Amendra needs anything!¡±

    As soon as Kunogta said this, Stromboli stood up and shouted, ¡°Amendra doesn''t need any help from Thurii, because once we ept it, it may cost us more next time!¡±

    Kunogta''s expression did not changed, then said to Davos without even looking at Stromboli, ¡°Who is the one in charge of Amendra?¡±

    Davos smiled slightly and then said, ¡°Let''s start the discussion.¡±

    Hearing this, the members of the Amendra''s delegates straightened up immediately.

    Kunogta looked at him, and felt afraid in his heart.

    Ansitanos was the first one to say, ¡°Everyone, we all know that there had been a 41 years alliance between Thurii and Amendra, and thest alliance agreement has not yet ended. So, Thurii and Amendra should continue to maintain our former alliance.¡±

    Stromboli wanted to speak again, but was immediately held back by Cornelius, and shook his head.

    Stromboli held himself back and spat on the ground.

    ¡°Amendra also agreed to renew the alliance with Thurii -¡± As soon as Antonios said this, the Thurians all beamed with joy, ¡°But on one condition, that it will not harm the interest of Taranto. That is to say, if there is a war between Taranto and Thurii, Amendra will be on the side of Taranto.¡±

    As soon as Antonios said this, the delegates of Thurii was in a state of uproar.

    ¡°You have vited your vows to the gods! Remember that the alliance between Thurii and Amendra has not yet ended. Therefore, it is against the alliance agreement for you to privately contact Taranto and sign an agreement. Considering the friendship with Amendra for many years, we do not intend to raise this matter for the time being. But now you think that we are weak and easy to deceived, and have even made such a shameless request!¡± Nianses stood up and shouted.

    ¡°You Thurians should also remember that when you Thurians broke your oath and did not immediately send reinforcements to rescue the fallen Amendra, the former Amendra died on the day when it got upied by the Lucanians! The one in front of you now is the newly born Amendra, if there was any debt owed to Thurii before, I believe that the Amendrans have already paid it off with their half a years imprisonment, but has the debt owed by Thurii been paid off yet?! In the most difficult time of Amendra, Taranto gave Amendra the greatest help! Therefore, Amendra has nothing to repay them back besides our utmost sincerity! What did Thurii gave to Amendra? It is the fall of the city of Amendra, and the imprisonment of its people!!¡± The words of Davos stabbed Nianses like a sharp dagger and made him unable to say anything.

    Stromboli roared, ¡°I have already said it a lot of times that we shouldn''t even bother talking about alliance with these selfish Thurians. They will never be considerate to others, and will just think about themselves! If it wasn''t for Davos insisting oning, I wouldn''t even bothering to meet them. Them being not satisfied, makes me happy! If they are going to teach us a lesson, then I am even more happy, and the spears of the citizens of Amendra is ready!¡±

 Chapter 122: Alliance with Thurii (II)

    On hearing this, many of the delegates of the Thurians were shocked.

    Kunogta had no choice but to suggest the need for them to have a private discussion on the issue first before making a decision.

    Davos nodded in agreement. And when he saw the delegates of Thurii going far away, he turned around and gave Stromboli a thumbs up, ¡°Lord Stromboli, you said it so well!¡±

    ¡°What I had said is the truth!¡± Said Stromboli while ring at them.

    ¡°What I want is the truth!¡± Laughed Davos.

    Stromboli alsoughed. Today, in front of the Thurians, he let out his pent up anger!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Everyone, it seems that Amendra has reached an alliance agreement with Taranto, and it is certain that they have obtained the consent of Taranto to put forward such condition. If we do not agree to their condition, then this negotiation will not continue.¡± Kunogta said with a serious expression.

    ¡°Then we don''t need to negotiate with them! Anyway, the threat of the Lucanians has already been solved, and so we don''t need to even bother with those Amendrans!¡± Said Nianses angrily, as he thought of how the Amendrans have treated the envoys of Thurii with respect a year ago, but now, in just a blink of an eye, they even dare to point and yell at the strategoi of Thurii. The great difference in their attitude had made him unable to bear it, ¡°Damn Taranto, I thought that they were sincere in helping Thurii, but I didn''t expect them to scheme in secret!¡±

    Ansitanos said helplessly, ¡°Who allowed us to be defeated in the war! It is thew of history that a weak city-state cannot be respected. We have all received information that the Bruttians have stopped their war with Crotone, and some people in the council of Crotone have started to talk ¡®regarding us using the location of the ruins of Sybaris¡¯, which should arouse our vignce. If they attacked, we will also have the hostile Amendra on our back, which will put us in a very dangerous situation! In addition, we also know that the Lucanians are very vengeful. After this war, we don''t know when they will be able to recover, but once they do, they will start their invasion again, and the one to bear the brunt of their attack is us, Thurii. Can we beat them? Don''t we need the help of Amendra¡­. ¡±

    Ansitanos'' words made the rest of the people worried, and Nianses snorted coldly, but did not argued back again.

    ¡°In fact, the key to this question is whether Taranto has the ambition to encroach on Thurii.¡± Kunogta reminded everyone, and he analyzed it seriously, ¡°I don''t think that Taranto is attempting to do that. Otherwise, they would not spare any effort in advocating and establishing a Magna Graecia defense alliance to deal with the indigenous people. If they want to get their hands on Thurii, I''m afraid that city-states such as Crotone and Scylletium will join us against them, and the alliance will copse, and all their efforts over the past few years will be in vain. And even if they upy our city-state and support a puppet government that favored them, it is not worth their loss, because they will face three powerful enemies: The Messapians in the southeast, the Lucanians in the northwest, and the Crotonian alliance in the southwest. Once the Lucanians or Crotone invades, then Taranto, as the ¡®mother state¡¯, will need to send more than 1000~2000 people to Thurii to deal with them. So the reason I think why Taranto did this is because we have beaten them and they wanted to have a small revenge. Since our ancestors were able to build a city more than 40 years ago, then we will make Thurii into a great Greek city-state in just a short year! As long as we temporarily endure it and work together, we will be able to make Thurii rise again in a short period of time! Then, we will return the humiliation that Amendra and Taranto gave to us, just like what our forefathers did!¡±

    ¡°Lord Kunogta is right!¡± Kunogta''s words inspired the spirit and confidence of everyone present. Returning to the negotiating table, the Thurians readily agreed to the first condition put forward by Amendra.

    Looking at Kunogta, Davos knew that this gloomy looking old man yed a big part of it.

    At this time, Antonios stood up again and said, ¡°At the beginning of April, our archon, Davos, signed an employment agreement with Thurii. The main content of the agreement is to ¡®assist Thurii in defending against and repelling the Lucanians.¡¯ The term of the agreement is half a year, and during this half a year, regardless of whether the task ispleted or not, Thurii will need to pay the regr remuneration to the mercenaries and a certain amount of grain. This is the original agreement.¡±

    Antonios handed the sheepskin to Ansitanos, who is on the opposite side, ¡°ording to the agreement, even if the Lucanians have been repulsed, Thurii will still need to continue paying the sry of the mercenaries and supplies, and the mercenaries will continue to implement the requirements of the agreement, that is ¡®to defend Thurii until the end of the half year period.¡¯ Now it''s time for you to pay the sry and the grain.¡±

    Kunogta nodded and when he was about to answer.

    Nianses stood up quickly and said, ¡°Thurii will not carry out this employment agreement!¡±

    Not only was the delegates of Amendra in an uproar, but the Thurians were also surprised. They had discussed this matter before they came, and thought that it is necessary to implement this agreement, because Davos had be the archon for life of Amendra, and to employ him is tantamount to employing Amendra. First of all, this will satisfy the poor self-esteem of the Thurians, and the most important thing is that the strength of the current Thurii has been greatly weakened, and in fact, they need the protection of the strong mercenaries led by Davos, in order for them to safely recover. At that time, Nianses had objected on the ground that the treasury was empty. Finally, he was convinced by Kunogta, but, unexpectedly, at such a critical time, he turned back on his words and caught the delegates of Thurii by surprise.

    Under the cold stare of Kunogta, Nianses heart trembled and hurriedly avoid it. Forced to the edge of the cliff because of his impulse, he hardened himself and continued to say, ¡°First of all, the target of Thurii''s contract was the mercenaries. Now the mercenaries have be citizens of Amendra, and the identity of the party signing the contract has changed. However, the employment of the citizen soldiers of a city-state involves moreplicated interest rtions and procedures, which can not be solved by this simple employment agreement. Secondly, you should take note that the name of the one who signed this agreement is the strategos, Friis, at the beginning, he asked Burkes to be in charge for the recruitment of the mercenaries. But when the agreement was taken back to the city hall of Thurii, most of the strategoi objected to the contents of the agreement. In the end, Friis forcibly passed the agreement as the Polemarchos, and he said that he would be responsible for preparing half of the sries and supplies, so he signed it with his own name on the agreement. But now, he and his family had mostly died in the battle, so¡­¡±

    ¡°Ptew! They are not only selfish, but are also dishonest and shameless. They even nder the old man who fought for Thurii to death!¡­¡± Stromboli once againshed out at the Thurians to shame in order to vent the anger of the Amendrans.

    Davos saw that Kunogta was anxiously pulling Ansitanos, and so he turned around and winked at Mariji. Mariji immediately stood up and said, ¡°We agree with your proposal in scrapping this employment agreement! But it isn''t because we believe in your exnation, but because we don''t want to add extra special taxes to the people of Thurii because of Thurii''s empty treasury, which will make the grief stricken people of Thurii even more miserable! After all, Amendra and Thurii were allies for many years!¡± Mariji had apassionate expression.

    The Amendrans, including Stromboli, were serious, which made the Thurians more ashamed.

    On the other hand, Kunogta looked coldly at Nianses, and Nianses felt no sense of aplishment in the argument.

    ¡°Amendra and Thurii should not only defend against ourmon enemies through military, but also to strengthen our cooperation in trade¡­¡± Mariji continued to talk, and tactfully stated the terms that he had previously discussed with Davos.

    Out of guilt, most of the Thurians agreed, not only out of their psychological guilt over the cancetion of the employment agreement before, but also some of the provisions will also help solve the difficulties of Thurii. For example, due to the long-term influx of freeman, foreign merchant ships and sailors, the port of Thurii has be crowded, and made it difficult for them to amodate them all and at a high cost, which ends up with a lot of themining. And also, thest time, in order to win the battle with the Lucanians, the city hall decided to recruit the freeman to fight for the city and they orally announced, ¡®After winning the war, the freeman who participated in the war will be given citizenship of Thurii.¡¯, As a result, the battle ended and Thurii was defeated, and the freeman had suffered heavy casualties, but at the end of the battle, the Lucanian alliance was wiped out, and the living freeman who participated in the war demanded that the city hall of Thurii fulfill its promise. However, after discussing it, the strategoi and the elders believe that the repulsion of the Lucanians was entirely due to the mercenaries and Taranto''s reinforcements, and the freeman did not participate in the subsequent battle. On the contrary, in the previous battle, the freeman were the first to retreat, which led to the defeat of the entire battle. Therefore, there was no reason for the freeman to im their citizenship.

    The freeman were dissatisfied at the refusal of Thurii, and a tense atmosphere begins to pervade the port area. Quarrels, fights and disturbances are gradually increasing and the city hall has to increase the number of patrol teams in the port to deter those dangerous elements. The problem is that there are only more than 3,000 young and middle-aged citizens in Thurii, but there are many more freeman in the port area and the city, which will be a disaster. Therefore, the construction of warehouses and inns in Amendra is conducive in dispersing the crowded flow of people in the port of Thurii and alleviate the contradictions, which is beneficial to Thurii.

    The two sides finally reached an alliance agreement, but they have not yet signed it. For the sake of respecting Taranto, Amendra had to submit the contents of the agreement to the archon and council of Taranto for them to check, and confirmed that the interest of Taranto had not been harmed before they couldplete the signing.

 Chapter 123: Izam of Corduene

    The Thurians were no longer angry at the moment, and they could only nod helplessly.

    On the way back to Thurii, Kunogta rode at the front in a distance, which made the heart of Nianses who was following him felt cold. He tried to stop Kunogta several times, but he got ignored every time. He was able to be a strategos of Thurii due to the strong support of Kunogta, who had proposed that he should be in charge of the treasury and trade on the ground that he was good at financial management and ounting. However, today, without consulting with Kunogta, he arbitrarily changed the decision that they have discussed earlier, and based on his understanding of Kunogta, this strategos, who has never been soft on his opponents, must hate him very much! What should I do? Nianses asked himself anxiously. He had finally be a city-state strategos and doesn''t want to be remove from being a city-state strategos.

    Kunogta does indeed hate Nianses. If it was in the past, he might have made the same choice as Nianses, just like how he had opposed Friis in the city hallst time. However, their defeat on thest battle had aroused the fear in his heart, as he kept on waking up from his dreams countless of times due to the ferocious face of the Lucanians. After this war, he found his weakness, War ¨C it''s a very different world from politics. His political tactics were totally useless in this bloody battlefield, and what was more terrible is that, he found out that Thurii is just strong in appearance but weak in reality, and so he had to maintain the employment agreement even though they are having financial difficulties. As long as he strengthened their ties with the military genius, Davos, he believed that for the next six months, the alliance between Thurii and Amendra will stabilized, but Nianses, a ¡°traitor¡±, destroyed it all!

    Kunogta was angry, and at the end of the meeting, this idiot, who was only a lowly employee of a huge merchant have the guts to say to Ansitanos, ¡°In any case, it''s all the same alliance. Why the need to engage in employment and waste money?¡± He knows nothing! Can an alliance and employment have the same binding force on Amendra?! Did he not see that the shrewd young archon of Amendra wished that we would scrap this agreement earlier, so not only did he not refute it, but he even voluntarily gave it up! This political idiot must not stay in the city hall anymore! He must be remove!

    Ansitanos was still angry that Davos refused his request for an audience. So now he was currently thinking on how to find a reason toe to Amendra after the signing of the agreement and learn about the situation of Persia from the new citizens of Amendra who had gone on an expedition to Persia. Therefore, he did not notice the irregrity of the two strategoi.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Davos came home, he thought of an important thing and pondered it for a long time, but he was still at a loss.

    So he called for Asistes and said, ¡°Now that we are about to sign the alliance agreement with Thurii. We must start preparing our n for Lucania in advance. First of all, we need to know what is the current situation of Lucania is, so that we can devise a precise strategic n and make targeted preparations ording to the actual situation. But the problem is that the Lucanians have little contact with Thurii and Amendra, and it is even more impossible now, so we can only send someone to scout. However, a Greek certainly won''t be able to do it, because the difference in their appearance is too obvious, while I''m afraid that if we send those capture Lucanians, they will take this opportunity to escape, and they would instead, reveal our situation! s!¡­this is too difficult! Asi, do you have any suggestions?¡±

    Asistes also thought about it for a while, and suddenly smiled and said, ¡°Milord, you have forgotten someone. I think he is quite suitable.¡±

    ¡°Oh! Who is it?!¡± Davos was just asking, but he didn''t expect that Asistes thought of a candidate.

    ¡°Izam!¡±

    ¡°¡­the son of the chieftain of the Carduchians!¡± That''s when Davos remembered him. In Byzantium, Izam was in the camp of Timasion, and at that time, the Carducian had no value, so he just regarded him as an ordinary soldier. In addition, they were longing for the future and the morale of the troops were fluctuating, so no one cared about his movements. It''s just that Davos vaguely remembers someone saying to him that Izamter joined his mercenaries, in thepany of Hieronymus. Now that he thought about it, Izam is full of curiosity, cleverness, and ability to learnnguage, which left a certain impression on Davos. Besides that, he grew up in the mountains.

    ¡°Does he look like a Lucanian?¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°He looks like them!¡± Affirmed Assistes, ¡°Their size and body shape are simr, but the color of his hair is slightly different, but this can be dyed. The most important thing is that he married a Lucanian woman, and he can learn thenguage from his wife.¡±

    ¡°Oh, just like you!¡± Davos finally rxed and joked after finding the right person, ¡°I didn''t expect that you really married a Lucanian woman, and she is even the sister of Bagul!¡±

    Now Asistes became shy and stop talking.

    ¡°How does she look? Does she look like his brother?¡± Davos smiled and asked curiously.

    ¡°She is¡­not¡­bad¡­¡± Asistes awkwardly mumbled for some time before he could squeezed out a sentence.

    ¡°Not bad?! That''s good!¡± Davos, who knew his herald better than himself, said positively, ¡°Vespa is the leader of the whole tribe, so he will of course, choose the most beautiful woman in all the tribe to be his wife, and the daughter she gave birth to is certainly not bad. As for Bagul¡­he is ugly.¡±

    Davos continued to tease him, ¡°However, your brother-inw is also very amazing, with how the first beauty of Amendra still loves him and is willing to wait for him for five years.¡±

    Seeing that Asistes didn''t speak and justughed, Davos then said, ¡°Asi, I''ll give you a piece of advice. You should have a better understanding and a tolerant attitude, learn from your wife, and get to know the Lucanians seriously. Maybe one day, when you have enough ability, I will be able send you to Lucania.¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos, can we really conquer Lucania?! I heard from my wife that there are 5~6 major cities in Lucania, with hundreds of tribes and a poption of more than a hundred thousand¡­¡± Asked Asistes, worriedly and doubtingly.

    ¡°As long as you have the guts to think of it, and prepared meticulously and have a precise n, then everything is possible!¡± Davos encourage him.

    Asistes was lost in thoughts.

    ¡°You go and get Izam.¡± Said Davos.

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Davis thought of something and stopped Asistes, who was about to leave, ¡°I have an important task for you! I need you to keep an eye of the movements of the surrounding city-states, such as Taranto, Thurii, Heraclea, Crotone and so on. As well as the newws and changes that they made regarding trade, politics and military, as well as the situation of the people in the city-states and so on. Special personnel should be specially assigned to organize the manpower, collect intelligence, make a brief summary and report it to me in time, so that we can timely formte a correspondingws and measures ording to the situation of our neighboring city-states. You are responsible for this, and I will supplement you with the needed money and manpower.¡±

    ¡°By your will, milord Davos.¡± Asistes agreed without any hesitation.

    Seeing that he was very enthusiastic, Davos reminded him, ¡°It is a tedious task to collect intelligence of city-states, and requires patience and alertness. You currently don''t have experience, so you can start with Thurii first¡­¡± Davos then told Asistes in details about the principles and experiences of intelligence collection that he had seen in books and on the inte in his previous life.

    Asistes listened and remembered it carefully. He was very excited because this will be the first time that he will be independently responsible for a specific thing. It was obvious that this is more interesting and important than what he was doing before when he is just calling people and delivering orders.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Izam and his Lucanian wife were working on their farm.

    As a Carduchian, Izam doesn''t follow the Greek tradition of not allowing his wife to appear in public. When his wife asked him to go to do farm work with him, he not only agreed but was also very happy. In Corduene, when people are in short supply, the women will have to throw spears to hunt or even fight. His wife taking the initiative to go work with him, showed that she had gotten use to her new family, which naturally made Izam very happy. Although the citizens of the city-state who met him on their way to the farm looked at them strangely, he was still very happy and kept talking to his wife in broken Lucanian.

    Since Izam joined the mercenary veryte, thend that was allotted to him was not very good. Not only was hisnd only 2 hectares, but it is also far away from the river, and it is closer to the mountains, so the quality of thend is not high. Fortunately, when he chose to serve as a guide for the Greeks and had expressed his desire to go out on a journey to his strict father, Kangmoro, the chieftain of the Carduchian had given him a lot of money, and he can now finally use it. At the suggestion of his closerades, he bought three ves from Taranto at once, two of them were Egyptian ves and were responsible for farming his fields, and another one is a Greek ve that was responsible for herding the animals for him. After all, hisnd is close to the mountains, so it is more convenient to graze*. In fact, if Cheiristoya had not opened a bank to provide loans at a low interest rates, many of hisrades would have borrowed money from him. (*the mountains are the public property of the city of Amendra, anyone can go in and out to graze, but cutting down trees must first be approved by the city''s financial officer, and a certain fee will be charged ording to the situation. This is the proposal that Davos had proposed and was passed by the council, it is mainly to prevent deforestation) (T/N: Rich boy Izam)

    Izam, with an open mind, went to ask one of his Egyptian ves to teach him how to hold a sickle and plow. While his wife pulled weeds in the wheat field with her hands, another Egyptian ve went to the river to fetch water, and the Greek ve went to the mountain with more than ten cattle that had just been bought for a few days.

 Chapter 124: Heracleides the Architect

    Many people knew the clerk of the ¡°archon¡± Davos, because he often went to ry the order of Davos to the troops. So when Asistes stood on the farm ridge and shouted, Izam immediately dropped his farm tools and ran over.

    Asistes found it funny seeing the independent Carduchian, ¡°Hey Izam, why do you work so hard on the farm and you have even taken your wife with you?!¡±

    ¡°The city-state''s first military training will be carried out in two days, and I heard that it is very tiring and after the training, the archon will teach us an interesting game! So I have to finish the farm work fast, so that I can devote myself to training.¡± Said Izam, as he wipe his sweat.

    Asistes said half jokingly, ¡°Your farm is pretty decent, you are more like a Greek than us Greeks!¡±

    Izamughed and regarded the words of Asistes as a praise, ¡°It''s easy to work, but it''s troublesome to get water. I needed to waste a ve just to fetch water!¡± Heined.

    ¡°I heard that lord Davos asked Alexius to convene the carpenters in order to discuss some kind of ¡®waterwheel¡¯ that should be build. After itspletion, it will be ced on the river bank, so that the water of the river can flow directly to higher fields like yours.¡± Whispered Asistes.

    ¡°Oh, is there such a magical thing! What is this ¡®waterwheel¡¯?!¡± Izam asked curiously.

    ¡°From what I heard from lord Davos, it''s like a carriage wheel. You can ask lord Davos what kind of wheel it is.¡± Shrugged Asistes, and said that he wasn''t very clear.

    ¡°How could I even dare ask the archon!¡± Said Izam in veneration. When he first served as the guide of the mercenary, he often came to Davos, at that time, he was more curious about this young man who had manage to be a leader of the mercenary. However, with the repeated sess of the mercenaries that he had led, Davos weight in Izam''s heart became more and more important. In addition, there was a lot of rumors about him in the army, ¡°He''s a God''s Favored¡±, and some rumors even said that ¡°Davos is the son of Hades¡±. This made Izam, who was a Carduchian that worship the Gods more, hold the young leader in veneration. In Byzantium, when Davos called on the mercenaries to follow him to Magna Graecia, even though it was thousands of miles away from his hometown, Izam did not hesitate to follow him, because he firmly believed that by following the ¡°Son of God¡±, they would never suffer defeat.

    ¡°Now you have a chance. Lord Davos wants to see you.¡± Said Asistes with a smile.

    ¡°Really?!¡± Izam asked in disbelief.

    ¡°Of course! How would I dare make fun of you in the name of lord Davos!¡± As soon as Asistes said it, Izam cheered and he then called out to his Lucanian wife, and ran towards the direction of the city of Amendra without wiping his face.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Izam, we finally meet again! I heard that the council has given you a house and and, and that you are now married. How are you now? Are you used to it? Do you cry because you miss your hometown?¡­¡±

    As soon as they met, Davos greeted him with concern, which made Izam rxed. He then excitedly told him about his experience during this time, while Davos listened carefully and then said, ¡°You see how the Greeks, Carduchians, Lucanians can live together very well, like a big family, right?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty!¡± Izam boldly added, ¡°As far as I know, many of my teammates that have married a Lucanian, have said that they have found a good wife, and even if they don''t speak Greek that well, and couldn''t weave cloth, make bread, normand the ves to work¡­but they will take the initiative to help their husband in doing heavy work. Moreover, they express their feelings in a very warm way, and they dare try all kinds of things with their husband at night¡­¡± ( ?¡ã ?? ?¡ã)

    Said Izam, although it was a bit vulgar, Davos stillughed, ¡°Yes, our Greek women are too traditional and conservative, both sides should learn from each other andmunicate!¡±

    Izam notice that Davos was so amiable, he became more daring and said, ¡°It''s just¡­it''s just that these Lucanian women miss their rtives very much, and hope that their rtives can get back their freedom as soon as possible!¡±

    In fact, Davos was very happy to see such a situation happen, ¡°Rest assured, the city-state does not abuse their rtives and have been taken good care. As long as they can abide by the agreement, then they can get back their freedom once the deadline we agreed ends, and as long as they perform well, this period can be shortened. You can go back and tell your wife that she can tell the other Lucanian women that the city-state will arrange for them to meet their rtives in a while!¡±

    ¡°I will, milord.¡± Nodded Izam.

    ¡°I called you here today to ask if you are willing to take a mission.¡± Davos finally got to the point. He looked at Izam and said, ¡°We need to know what''s going on in Lucania. Currently, we don''t know the situation in there, and so I need someone to sneak in and collect information. And so, Asistes has rmended you.¡±

    ¡°I am willing!¡± Answered Izam without any hesitation.

    Davos did not expect that he would get an answer so quickly, and so reminded him, ¡°This is a very dangerous task, and is even life-threatening. So are you sure that you won''t reconsider it?¡±

    ¡°I''m sure!¡± Although Izam yearns for the prosperity of the outside world, the strict regtion of the army always made him felt ufortable. And he likes the feeling of running freely in the mountains and forest, and the excitement of quietly approaching his prey, and now, he finally has a good opportunity, ¡°But, milord archon, please give me some time to prepare.¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry, you can take your time to prepare carefully. As long as you sessfully return from Lucania, I will set up a mountain reconnaissance team with you as their captain. In addition, after you leave, I will have Cheiristoya pay attention to your family''s situation and solve their difficulties at any time!¡±

    Themitment and care of Davos had made Izam grateful and excited, and so said it out loud, ¡°Rest assured milord! I will do my best in finding out the situation of Lucania and return sessfully! Please keep the position of the mountain reconnaissance''s captain for me!¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± Davos likes his confident subordinate. Setting up a mountain reconnaissance team is what he was thinking these days. After all, the Apennine Penins has arge number of mountains, which restricted the cavalry scouts. A mountain reconnaissance team that can easily cross mountains and do a concealed observation will give more help to the army of Amendra.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Bagul was leading his people to build warehouses and inns for Amendra, and they are divided into several groups: One is responsible for cutting down trees, another one is responsible for grinding stones, and thest one is for tamping down the foundation.

    There were also a dozen or so craftsmen of the city-state, some of whom weremanding the Lucanian ves toy the foundations, and the others were making measurements.

    Alexius and Heracleides were on the site monitoring the progress of the project and looking at the drawings.

    Heracleides, is an apprentice of the famous Greek urban nner, Hippodamus, and had participated in the design and construction of the city of Thurii with his teacher when he was young. His greatest regret was that he wasn''t able to stay in Thurii at that time, since he returned to Athens together with his teacher, else he would have been one of the first citizen of Thurii. Later, the political enemies of Pericles used his mistress Aspasia of epting bribes during the construction of the Parthenon, and made Hippodamus to be inexplicably involved, and so he was imprisoned. While Heracleides was also expelled from Athens, and had to return to his hometown in despair. Then the Peloponnesian war broke out, and his hometown fell into the chaos of war and he began to struggle in life¡­

    Twenty yearster, he took his wife''s girdle and fled from his hometown that was upied by Sparta to the rtively war-torn Greek maind, then to the rtively peaceful Magna Graecia, to Thurii which he had contributed. However, the city was no longer the one that needed arge number of immigrants and talents like when it had been built, and so the city hall refused to ept him as a citizen of the city-state, Heracleides, who was penniless, had to live at the port for more than 20 years. For the past 20 years, he, together with his son had built houses for others and maintain the city walls¡­for their living, which gained him some fame and had manage to saved some money. However, he was still a freeman living in a crowded and humid shack without anynd and status. And now, he is old, and his wife had died of illness a few years ago. He does not have much demand for life, but his only regret was that his son, Heracleides the Younger, was still young and have fully inherited his skills and should have had a brighter future¡­

    Just as he was worrying about the future of his child day and night, one day, a stranger entered his shack that he shared with others, and he still remembers their conversion clearly.

    ¡°Who is Heracleides?¡±

    ¡°That is me. Who are you?¡±

    ¡°I heard that you were an apprentice of Hippodamus, and that you had contributed in building the city of Thurii?¡±

    ¡°Yes, this is indeed the truth, and I have never lied about it.¡±

    ¡°Then, are you willing to be hired by Amendra to supervise the construction of some projects with a sry of 50 drachmas a month?¡±

    ¡°What kind of project?¡±

    ¡°I don''t know much about it, but when you go to Amendra, Alexius will tell you about it, and at the same time, he also asked me to tell you, ¡®If you do a good job and truly have a great architectural talent, then he will rmend you to the archon, lord Davos, for you to be a citizen of Amendra.¡¯¡±

    He then immediately heard the envy of the people behind him.

    Note: Hippodamus, is a native of Miletus, and a friend of Pericles. He is the most famous master of architectural nning in ancient Greece, the Piraeus and the Agora of Athens are his own work.

 Chapter 125: New Roads

    Heracleides had once went to the city of Amendra to help build a courtyard for a family. In recent times, the name of Amendra had frequently appeared in the mouths of the freeman in the port of Thurii, ¡®All the mercenaries who had wiped out that Lucanian alliance and won high prestige have be a citizen of Amendra. Their leader, Davos, had even be an archon, and they had also turned their ves into freeman, and was even said that they will be given citizenship in the future¡¯¡­these days, with the restart of the trade with Amendra, many of the recent events in Amendra had spreads among the freeman of Thurii, and there are even some magical things that the lowest people of Thurii have never dared to think of, but they extremely yearns for it! The freeman and even the ves of Thurii were originally living an ordinary and peaceful life but it was like having a stone thrown into the water and stirred up the fishes.

    This made Heracleides, who had lived for a long time, to unable to stop his excitement, ¡®Since this is the invitation of Amendra, then surely their won''t be a problem with their promise?!¡¯

    Therefore, Heracleides asked eagerly, ¡°Can I take my son with me?! His talent in architecture is no worse than mine!¡±

    ¡°You may.¡±

    In the envious gaze of others, he and his son packed their baggage in a hurry, and followed the man to Amendra. When he saw Alexius, his first sentence made Heracleides excited, ¡°I am Alexius, the aedile that is responsible for the construction, maintenance and supervision of all the city-state buildings. In the other Greek city-states, there is no such post, so you can see the great importance that Amendra attach to architecture, and as long as you have the talent in this field, then you will be put in important position!¡±

    Feeling that Amendra attached great importance to architecture, the old heart of Heracleides began to ignite his enthusiasm for construction just like when he was young.

    The first task of Heracleides was to design and build warehouses and inns, which were not difficult for him, and his n was soon passed by the Council. Then he and his son led a dozen craftsmen and nearly a thousand Lucanian ves to start the construction under the city of Amendra.

    Although Heracleides is a shrivelled and a thin old man, he is still very energetic and meticulous. He wandered around the construction sites every day to urge the construction speed and check the quality of the project. He will severely criticize them if he found that their work is slow, and immediately correct it if there is a mistake in their work, and he even give a demonstration in person. If there was any deviation in the measurement, he would immediately have them re-measure it until it was urate. The craftsmen and ves were both respectful and afraid of this old man.

    Today, Alexius went to look for Heracleides and handed him a paper scroll and said, ¡°This is the next construction task, it is to build a road from the river Siris to the city of Amendra and then to the river Saraceno, so you should start preparing. And the archon asked the road to be built in the way he had drawn.¡±

    ¡°Your archon knows nothing!¡± Heracleides was unable to stop himself from saying that. As a craftsman who has been engaged in construction for many years, he has his own persistence and pride, and what he dislike the most is the ignorant trying to interfere with his work.

    ¡°You should look at the archon''s drawing first.¡± Alexius reminded him.

    The ignorant bystander is the only archon for life of Amendra! It is directly rted to whether he and his son can be a citizen of the city-state! Heracleides suddenly remembered that and he was drench in cold sweat. After decades of suffering, he thought that as long as the design of the archon is not too out of line and him modifying it slightly, then he will do as he had requested.

    At this moment, he and his son''s survival triumph over his high pride.

    He unfolded the paper scroll and swept his gaze without a care. However, his gaze seemed to be stuck and could not be pulled out.

    Alexius saw that he was seriously looking and so he smiled. He got up and looked around, the scattering dust around the construction site, the craftsmen and ves were working in full swings. After two days'' absence, the whole construction site had greatly change¡­

    This made him feel excited, ¡°At this rate, could we finish it in half a year?!¡±

    ¡°Half a year?! Four months is enough! If those Lucanians were smarter, then three months would be enough!¡± Said Heracleides, without even looking up.

    ¡°It seems that you are not very satisfied with these ves.¡± Laughed Alexius.

    ¡°They don''t know anything about construction. I don''t even know how many words I had spent and my voice has even be hoarse. I''m not satisfied with them, so can you give me another batch?!¡± Comined Heracleides.

    ¡°You know that it is impossible.¡±

    ¡°However, the Lucanians are not as frightening as I had thought. Maybe they are more afraid of you, and so they are so obedient!¡± Sighed Heracleides, those who have experienced war know what is the most important in troubled times.

    ¡°These Lucanians are not afraid of us, but the method of lord Davos works!¡± Eximed Alexius.

    Speaking of Davos, Heracleides turned his gaze back to the drawing then pointed to the patterns on the paper and said seriously, ¡°The road construction drawing of the archon is moreplex than your usual road, but if you think about it carefully, it is very reasonable. First, tamp the earthen road, theny ayer of sand, theny ayer of gravel on the sand, and finally pave a more tightly assembled stone b. There are ditches on both sides of the road, and a soil wall is built outside the ditch¡­I can just imagined that if such a road is built, it will not only prevent water and sand, the road itself will be strong and resilient, and won''t be easy damaged by loaded carriage. I have never seen such a road before. What a wonderful design! If this is what your archon thinks, then he is a great master of road architecture!¡± This time, Heracleides said it from the bottom of his heart.

    Alexius was already used to the fact that Davos repeatedly created miracles. Now that Heracleides had approved of his drawing, he was relieved and said, ¡°So you agree to build the road ording the drawing?¡±

    ¡°Of course! I also want to see what kind of road will be built with this method look like sooner!¡± The wrinkled old man said excitedly. But then, he pointed to a part on the paper and asked in doubt, ¡°We all know that the mortar used for construction is made of limestone mixed with water to dposed it and add sand. However, the drawing emphasized that the mortar used to splice the cracks of the stone b should not only use limestone mixed with water and sand, but also add a certain amount of pozznic ash. The archon call this mortar¡­ce¡­ment, does this really work?¡±

    ¡°The citizens of Amendra all knows that lord Davos, the archon, is the favored of Hades, and so this must be the revtion of Hades. I believe that you will understand the magic of this kind of thing after you try it.¡± Said Alexius solemnly.

    ¡°You are right. How would I know if I don''t try it!¡± Heracleides became interested, ¡°I remember that Sicily and its nearby inds have many volcanoes. Back in ancient times, this ce was said to be the ce where Hephaestus, the God of Fire, forged his magical weapons. Hmm, we can send a ship to load a ship full of pozznic ash back, which should not cost much.¡±

    ¡°Heracleides!¡± Alexius suddenly became serious, ¡°ording to you and your son''s previous performance, lord Davos has suggested a proposal, and with the approval of the council of Amendra, you and Heracleides the Younger, have be a preparatory citizen of Amendra. During this two-year inspection period, if you perform well and continue to contribute to Amendra, then you and your son will be an official citizen of Amendra. Congrattions!¡±

    Heracleides was taken aback, he tried to open his dry lips, but no words coulde out, and in the blink of an eye, tears fell out.

    Alexius was touched by it, and his tone became softer, ¡°As a preparatory citizen of Amendra, you must know that the archon, lord Davos, has repeatedly told me, ¡®The method of making cement is the highest secret of the city of Amendra!¡¯ Except for you and your son, you are not allowed to tell it to anyone else. If it gets leak, the council will send the inspector to investigate your responsibility, and you may be severely punished. I hope that you can find a way to use and protect its secrets!¡±

    Heracleides immediately became nervous, and he hurriedly crammed the drawings into his arms¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The 18 years old Arsinis, was training in the military camp for the second time, and as a young adult, this is also the second time in his life to participate in the military training. In the past, he only learned how to hold a shield and wield a spear under the guidance of his father. Other times, he was either learningnguage or exercising in the arena with his other friends, but since the war between Thurii and the Lucanians, his life has changed dramatically. His father died in the battle, and his mother died in imprisonment, and the 18 year old Arsinis inherited the property of his family.

    ording to the ¡¶City-state Military Service Act¡· issued by Davos after he became the archon for life, all adult citizens of the city-state must attend the military camp training every six days during the busy farming season, and once every three days during leisure time after the autumn harvest and before the spring sowing. Arsinis couldn''t wait to learnbat skills, so that he would be able to gallop on the battlefield as soon as possible and defeat the Lucanians to avenge his parents. But the first training, was beyond his imagination of a military camp. In addition to the rugby game that the archon had taught at the end, which was very interesting, the rest of the time was not only arduous but also boring.

    The second training was still the same as thest one. The recruits will first put on the Corinthian helmets, linen armor, bronze greaves, round shields, spears and kopis on their waists. Then they will walk 5 kilometers wearing the full gear, and they had to walk slowly and had to withstand the instructor''s stick. Last time, he saw several freeman recruits being beaten by their instructors. Although their equipment weighed nearly 20kg, Arsinis didn''t feel that it is too heavy due to his innate traits and acquired training.

 Chapter 126: Recruits and Training (I)

    The instructor told Arsinis that the battle in a war is very short, and the time is more spent on marching and camping. Therefore, to be a well-trained citizen soldier of Amendra, they should first adapt to and learn how to march.

    Arsinis trusted his instructor because he was said to be a well-known warrior in the whole army. He controlled his pace and adjusted his breathing ording to the method of his instructor, so as to save his stamina. (T/N: wonder who he is)

    During their march, he also saw a group of Lucanian ves passing them with their newly cut trees. In the past, he would have express his anger by insulting and throwing stones at them, but now, he will not. On one hand, he has adapted to their existence, who are the property of the city-state and are creating wealth for the city-state, and injuring them means that they will get punished. On the other hand, their instructor had told them that such a practice is the performance of the weak, and the truly strong one should defeat their enemies in the battlefield. Arsinis wants to be a strong man!

    The five kilometer march ended, but the training is not over at all. After taking a break, the recruits began their charge training, a training program that slightly excite Arsinis. The heavily armed recruits will from a dense phnx, and with the beating of the drums, they will start moving. The sound of the drum went from slow to fast, and the speed of the recruits changed from fast walking to jogging, and then to running. Across a narrow, trench, over a ridge, and so from time to time, the recruits fell, and the most difficult part of the charge training is to maintain the formation while running. Everyone should not charge ahead or fall behind, so that the phnx formation can rush to the target as a whole. The recruits tends to often lose sight of one another, and so the instructor on the side kept on scolding them¡­

    After the charge training, all the recruits were numbed, and so they threw their spears, shields and helmets aside, and they all fell directly on the ground gasping for breath. But the training was not over, the instructor kicked and pulled them, and drove the recruits to the river.

    The next training program is swimming, which is the favorite sports of the recruits of Amendra like Arsinis. Although Amendra is a mountain city, there are still many rivers in its territory, so the citizens can go and swim. Arsinis, and the others cheered and quickly took of their gear, and with a ¡°plop¡± they plunge into the water and the cool river water had immediately taken away the dry heat brought by their training, and wash away all the sweat and dust on their body, and eliminate their fatigue¡­after swimming in the water for a while, Arsinis and the others went ashore, because the recruits had a show to watch¡­which is, the veterans who usually look at them from above and contempt were clumsily swimming in the river. It is a fact that the Greeks are maritime nation and most of them can swim, but some of the city-states are located in mountainous and ind areas with few rivers, so they did not have a chance to learn how to swim from childhood, such as Thessaly.

    Although these veterans swam awkwardly and repeatedly drunk water, they still persisted in continuing their practice¡­

    Arsinis grinned, but then stoppedughing. He remembered that his instructor had said about the importance of swimming. When they were in Persia, and were marching hard and fighting the Persians, and during their journey, they had to go through many mountains and rivers. Some of hisrades, who were unable to swim, brave the arrows of the enemies and was forced to cross the river, and so they slipped and fell into the river and drowned in vain. Therefore, in the war, the soldiers will encounter all kinds of unexpected situations, and so it is better for them to learn all kinds ofbat skills, in order for them to save themselves and kill the enemy.

    At this time, a huge cheering from the front had awakened Arsinis from his thoughts.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Arsinis asked his teammate who was looking at the river.

    ¡°The archon is swimming with everyone.¡± The one who answered him is Melisander. His father died in the war, and his mother who was in her thirties has just married Philesius, a new elder of the council. Melisander is only 16 years old and has not yet reached the age of service. However, he insisted on participating in the training, and his reason is the same as that of Arsinis, and his stepfather, Philesius, was entangled about this and so, he had to go and ask Davos. Then Davos approved of his participation in the training. However, he is not allowed to go to the battlefield until he bes an adult. Because Arsinis was close to his age, and is the youngest in the military camp, they soon became good friend.

    ¡°The archon also came to swim as well?!¡± Arsinis was astonished.

    ¡°Lord Davos will always do it himself first before asking others to do it. You usually don''t see it, but the archon and the veterans usually trains together.¡± The voice of their instructor rang in their ears.

    Arsinis nodded and ran down the river excitedly.

    ¡°Wait for me!¡± Shouted Melisander.

    They had squeeze into the crowd, and they then saw that there were five people in the river swimming hard at the beat of the drums. One of them swum in the water, and his body kept leaning to the left and then to right, it is a swimming movement that they had never seen before, and he quickly moved forward like a big fish and had long left the others behind¡­

    When the drums stopped, the man stood up. The river''s water at most reach his waist, he is the archon Davos, whom Arsinis had met before at the lesia.

    At this time, Davos said with a smile, ¡°Who else would like toe down andpete with me?¡±

    The soldiers who were cheering loudly before had immediately went quiet.

    Seeing that there is no response, Davos turned around and hugged the people who hadpeted with him, and was ready to go ashore.

    Melisander then gave Arsinis a big push, and so Arsinis rushed out of the crowd. Facing the gaze of everyone, he hurriedly shouted, ¡°I¡­I wanna do it!¡±

    The soldiers were in an uproar, ¡°It''s just a youngster!¡± There is regret in their words.

    ¡°What''s the matter with him being young! Lord Davos is only a few years older than us!¡± Retorted Melisander, and the crowd soon became speechless.

    ¡°Well said, Melisander! A man must not depend on the number of their age!¡± Said Davos to Melisander with a smile. He recognized this young man because of Philesius, and then he focused his gaze on Arsinis, ¡°It''s always the young people that have the courage to challenge things!¡±

    Arsinis walk nervously to Davos. The Greeks of this era view strong body as a beauty, and swimming naturally trains the whole body. Davos was of medium height and his body is well-proportioned, and his gaze were particrly sharp, but the sharpness of his gaze was covered by his smile.

    Davos was also looking at Arsinis, and said with a smile, ¡°I don''t think that I have seen you before, are you a new recruit?¡±

    ¡°Yes, lord Archon. My name is Arsinis, the son of Aligoras.¡± Said Arsinis nervously, ¡°I¡­I may not be able to swim as fast as you, but I am willing topete with you.¡±

    Davos praised him, ¡°As a soldier, you must have the courage to dare face challenges! We, the soldiers of Amendra, should have and must have such fighting spirit!¡±

    As soon as Davos finished saying it, the soldiers on the shore shouted at the same time, ¡°Banzai! Banzai!! Banzai!!!¡­¡± (T/N: omae wa mou shindeiru )

    In such a mood, Arsinis suddenly rxed and was filled with strength. The result of thepetition: He, of course, lost.

    Davos patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him, ¡°Train hard and you will definitely be a brave warrior!¡±

    Arsinis nodded his head. It was strange since Davos is only two years older than him, but he felt like a respected elder talking to him.

    ¡°Who is your instructor?¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°Matonis.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that guy.¡± Davos had a smile on his face, ¡°If you train under his guidance, then you will definitely feel happy because he is very protective. But also painful, because he is very demanding, specially to you.¡±

    Hisst sentence made Arsinis puzzled.

    Davos raished his head and called to the soldiers around him, ¡°Brothers, is my swimming fast?¡±

    ¡°Fast!!!¡±

    ¡°Do you want to learn it?¡±

    ¡°YES!!!¡±

    ¡°I will write down the main point of my swimming skill and add it to the training item in the ¡¶Military Book¡·, and you, yourselves will practice it ording to this in the future. I hope that you can learn it as soon as possible!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After their swimming, the sun has already risen in the middle of the sky, and it''s finally time for them to eat. Traditionally, the Greeks only eat twice a day, but Davos believes that the soldiers who trained hard, needs to consume too much, and so they must eat lunch in order for them toplete their day''s training.

    The soldiers took out bread and cheese they brought from their home, while Philesius, the military officer, provided each soldiers with a bowl of mutton soup together with his subordinates and ves. The money for the mutton soup is from the disabled soldier''s fund in the weapon shop. In the future, the money from selling other goods in addition to the weapons will be included in the military, so that the cost of training can be covered.

    Arsinis ate his bread and drunk his steaming mutton soup, and felt his whole body regain strength, ¡°Melisander, I heard the old man say that the ¡®Archon is too strong, and he by himself had decided all thews and proposal, and he doesn''t give the others a chance to discuss it and he wants to be a dictator.¡¯ However, today, the archon seems to be easy to get along!¡±

    Melisander, who was next to him, then said, ¡°Don''t listen to those old men, they are just jealous! Because, lord Davos, as soon as they have be a citizens of Amendra, they then became the archon and elders, and they themselves have the ability. Otherwise, do you think Thurii will ask us to sign an equal alliance agreement with them? I also hope that lord Davos will have more power, and not like before where it took the elders for a long time to discussed a matter and couldn''t even resolve it! Look, Amendra has change so much now!¡±

    ¡°You are right!¡± Arsinis took a gulp of mutton soup and looked at Melisander, ¡°It seems that you and your stepfather get along well.¡±

    Melisander was taken aback and then took a few bites of the bread before he vaguely said, ¡°He isn''t bad¡­he is very kind to my mother¡­so he is okay for me, but it would be better if he could be as brave as our instructor¡­¡±

 Chapter 127: Recruits and Training (II)

    ¡°Just like the instructor?!¡± Laughed Arsinis, ¡°In that case¡­while you are staying at home! Melisander, get up and run¡­Melisander, stop eating ande train with me¡­Melisander, take this rock and walk around the courtyard ten times¡­¡± Arsinis imitated the voice of Matonis, with exaggeration.

    ¡°Arsinis, do you want me to tell the instructor what you had just said and see who will run tenps with a rock?¡± Melisander pretended to threaten him.

    Arsinis repeatedly asked for forgiveness, and Melisander spared him.

    ¡°Are we really going to attack Lucania?¡± Asked Arsinis.

    ¡°Do you think that the reason why we have trained so hard is just to defend Amendra?!¡± Melisander said scornfully, ¡°It would be a waste of our strength, if it is!¡±

    ¡°Hey -¡± Arsinis excitedly said, ¡°If we really manage to take thend of Lucania, can I find a Lucanian woman to be my wife? I have seen many Lucanian wives of the new citizens these days, and they are tall and plump, and can do heavy work. They are totally different from our Greek women¡­¡±

    ¡°Isn''t it too early for you to think about that now!¡± Asked Melisander in surprise.

    ¡°I am not like you. My home is empty and I am all alone¡­¡± Arsinis became dispirited.

    ¡°Then let''s practice our skill of ughtering enemies and together, we will conquer Lucania, and then marry a Lucanian women and have a lot of children!¡± Melisander encouraged him.

    ¡°Yes, let''s work hard together!¡± Arsinis and Melisander shook hands.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After lunch, the recruits did not have a long break, and soon, Arsinis and the others assembled again.

    The training in the afternoon started with individual fighting, but it isn''t a one-on-one, but a group battle with three people holding a round shield in their left hand* and a long rod in their right hand, which is heavier than the spears. (The shield should have been a heavier wooden shield made of thicker wood, but they don''t have the time nor manpower to make it.)

    Arsinis found that his rod was thicker and that his teammates, Melisander and another youngpanion were reced by two stronger teammates. He then cast a puzzled gaze at his instructor who was supervising them.

    Matonis looked at him and sternly said, ¡°If you want to be a warrior, then you have to train harder.¡±

    Arsinis now understood what the Archon had meant. Instead of arguing, he just epted it in silence.

    The training begins, Arsinis was the one to attack first. He roared and held his round shield, and charge into the ¡°enemy¡± at the front with all his strength. With a ¡°bang¡±, the body of the ¡°enemy¡± shook, then Arsinis immediately stabbed the long wooden rod dipped in lime powder at the round shield in the hand of another ¡°enemy¡± who was hiding behind the other ¡°enemy¡±. The stabbing action must be fast, otherwise, the ¡°enemy¡± in front him will soon be able to stand firm and block the path of attack¡­

    After ten rounds of attack, each person will take a break and then do a step and stab, that is, holding a round shield and a long wooden rod, they will step forward to hit the head of the humanoid target that is in front of them.

    After hitting it ten rounds, they will then had a rest and then continue the training. It was still a group of three, but this time, the long wooden rod was reced by a short rod, which was the same length as a kopis. Arsinis'' rod was still thicker, and this time, he did not have any doubt. The content of the practice is still to hit and stab the ¡°enemy¡± who was hiding behind the shield. However, due to the much shorter length of the rod, the attacker must use greater strength to break through the ¡°enemy¡± at the front and take his position to stab the ¡°enemy¡± at his back. This is also a ten round training.

    Then continue onto the next round of practice ¨C hitting humanoid target. First of all, each recruit is required to use the wooden rod in their hands to hit the target made of thick wood that was assigned to them, and make way into the mud and stand upright and steady: Then the recruits were armed with rods and round shields, and like facing a real enemy, they will need to do their best to stab the ¡°head¡± and ¡°face¡± of the wooden target, and sometimes attack its ribs, stab its leg, and slice its kneepit(popliteal fossa)¡­

    Under the strict requirements of their instructor, they need to step back then leap forward, doing various stabbing and cutting motions¡­

    After these training programs arepleted, they are already limp and numb, and don''t even have the energy to lift anything.

    At this moment, Matonis then said, ¡°You are all doing better thanst time! It seems that the reason you all can still hold on is that, after you all went backst time, you did some training at your home every day, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡± The recruits answered weakly.

    ¡°Good! If you keep on training like this, then you will soon be a qualified Amendran Hoplite.¡± Matonis then smiled with encouragement, ¡°Next, a new training program will be added, and all of you will return to your centuria and train together with the veterans.¡±

    Not long after Matonis finished his speech, a salpinx resounded throughout the camp. At the urging of Matonis, the recruits dressed neatly and carried their round shields and spears. As they had been training with thick wooden rods which was heavier than a spear, now that they had reced the rod with a spear, they felt the spear as light as a feather. Arsinis then remembered what instructor Matonis had said when he answered the soldiers''ints in the first training, ¡®When you train, you will hold heavier rods, but when you go to the battlefield, your real weapons will be much lighter. So you will feel very rxed, and you will be more powerful and energetic when fighting.¡¯

    Arsinis also remembered that when he was young, he watched his father participate in the training of the city-state soldiers, but they only practice marching in formation once in a few months and then a one-on-one training. Their training program was simple and rxed, far from the training he is carrying out now, it is not only arduous andplicated, but also progress step by step, just like a child learning words. The requirements are very reasonable, but are also very strict and the amount of training is veryrge. It is no wonder that the veterans were able to defeat the Lucanian alliance! He also heard that these training methods are all from the training regtions in the ¡¶Military Law¡· that was newlypiled in Amendra and was mainly written by the archon, lord Davos. He is really a mysterious man!

    Arsinis and Melisander were not in the same centuria, and he did not even have the time to say goodbye to Melisander, as he had to hurriedly searched the third centuria. ording to his instructor, Matonis, the captain of this centuria is called Giorgris, and he was once hisrade on the same squad, and he has a mild temper. (T/N: all native citizen and freeman of Amendra are in the third brigade)

    He shouldn''t be stricter than Matonis! This is the only thing Arsinis is thinking about. After the salpinx sounded, thousands of people moved together, and the training ground was full of dust, and he could only barely see the bright red g standing high on the training ground. Arsinis spent a lot of time looking for his centuria, and he became more and more anxious. Finally, he managed to find the g with the number of the centuria that he belonged to.

    As soon as the toon captain, Trotidis saw him, he sternly said to him, ¡°Soldier, you arete! Considering that this is your first time, you will not be punished. But I hope that there won''t be another time!¡±

    Arsinis repeatedly nodded, and under the leadership of the squad leader, he quickly went to his position.

    At this time, a 30 year old man came over and said to him kindly, ¡°I am Xethippus, and I will be your squad leader.¡±

    ¡°Hello, squad leader!¡± Arsinis quickly saluted to him.

    Xethippus looked at him and said, ¡°Hmm, you are a strong guy! Are you a recruit!¡±

    ¡°Yessir.¡±

    ¡°A native citizen of Amendra?¡±

    ¡°Yessir.¡±

    ¡°Hmmm, who is your instructor?¡±

    ¡°Matonis.¡±

    ¡°What?! That madman?!¡±

    ¡°Sir, do you know instructor Matonis?¡±

    ¡°I used to be under him, but due to the reorganization of the army and because of my excellent performance, I was forced toe here in the third brigade. Matonis didn''t want to let me go, but Giorgris was his best friend. But I didn''t think that when I came here, I would run into you, the student of Matonis. This is all the arrangement of the goddess of Fates.¡± In fact, Matonis thought that he was too naggy, and so, when the third brigade came to ask for some people, he directly rmended him and he doesn''t have any reason to keep him.

    ¡°Don''t worry, I will take good care of you!¡± Said Xethippus seriously.

    ¡°Thank you sir!¡± Arsinis said gratefully.

    ¡°Xethippus, stop talking and start preparing for the training!¡± At this moment, Trotidis shouted at the front.

    ¡°I know!¡± Xethippus gave a reply, and then murmured, ¡°You are lucky to be a toon captain. If I was the first to follow lord Davos, I would have been a centurion now¡­¡±

    Arsinis felt it strange hearing what he said.

    The soldier next to him said, ¡°Our squad leader likes to nag, but he is very nice.¡±

    I hope so. Thought Arsinis.

    Since the previous training intensity was very intense, the training of the centuria only allowed the soldiers to familiarize themselves with theirrades and carry out small phnx formation and marching training. For the soldiers of the first brigade, this exercise is just a kind of leisure in order for them to recover their physical strength, because they are already familiar with each other. While for the third brigade, this is necessary because they are a new unit, and the soldiers in the brigade are not familiar with each other.

    ording to the traditional military training method of the Greek city-state, the army officers are rtively fixed in their position, while the soldiers will often be changed. During war, the citizens are called to the square and will be randomly assigned to a team ording to the order or drawing lots. This will prevent the soldiers and officers to huddle in the same team together and affect the normal political order and democratic election of the city-state.

    While Davos believes that a fixed military team is favourable to the improvement of the team''s unity and sense of honor, and during battle, they will be more united and more effective inbat. Therefore, the soldiers of Amendra are all fixed in a certain team, and the squad leaders have a certain term for their position and they will be reced once their term ends, so to prevent any soldier from harboring too big of an ambition in recing the leader.

 Chapter 128: Rugby

    The squad training duration is not too long, but with the help of Xethippus, Arsinis manage to quickly integrate into his squad.

    Then the squad was merged into the centuria for further formation training, and Arsinis begun to be more familiar with the moreplex tactical instructions and gs: The rhythm of the drums, and at what speed. The salpinx sound when advancing. The salpinx sounds when retreating, and the salpinx sound when they are gonna charge.

    In addition, under the different sounds of the drums and salpinx, they also paid attention to the direction of the g. When the g points forward in a certain direction, then they would move, rush or charge in that direction. If the g is facing a certain direction backward, then they would slowly retreat in that direction. If the g circles around continuously, then it means that they need to stop moving, rest, be alert or start preparing. They also need to learn how to quickly change the column into a row, and then to quickly split the phnx formation into lines and move quickly. There are also someplex tactical operations, such as the second and third toon to go in defense, and the first and fourth toon do a pincer attack.

    Then the next step was to merge with the brigade. But this time, instead of theplicated tactical instructions, it was more about the transformation of the formation. For example, the fish scale formation (Named by Davos, which is in fact the Roman''s checkerboard formation), which rapidly change into arge phnx formation, then therge phnx formation will then change back to the fish scale formation. The front row will retreat, and the rear row will move forward, which will then form a newrge phnx formation. In addition, the phnx formation can rotate to the left and right while keeping the formation close.

    And finally, a great joint training of the whole Legion. Besides the formation transformation, they also increase the cooperation with the other brigades. For example, when advancing, the peltast brigade at the rear will quickly pass through the gap of the fish scale formation and rush to the front of the formation, then the peltast soldiers will scatter into a line, then make a throwing and shooting action, and then quickly retreat to the rear from the gap of the formation, and then the fish scale formation will quickly merge and form a huge phnx formation. When a sharp salpinx sounded, it means that the cavalry on both wings willunch an attack (although there are currently only few cavalry now, Davos still specially prepared a tactic for them). The peltast unit in the peltast brigade (the seventh brigade) which had retreated behind the phnx formation before, will then follow behind the cavalry. When the cavalry attacked with their spears, the peltast will then follow them behind in a loose formation while holding wooden shields and Rhomphaia, then the hoplites in a formation will slowly push forward.

    Arsinis had never seen so many novel ways of attack and defense, which has greatly broadened his horizons. At the same time, he was also troubled by the changing g instructions, but with the constant reminding of his squad leader, Xethippus, and hisrades, it made Arsinis and the others to not make a huge mistake. Gradually, they were able to keep up with the pace of training.

    It was still early when the training ended due to it being May already.

    At this time, the archon, Davos, stepped onto the temporary stage.

    The tired soldiers became excited.

    ¡°Brothers, what are we going to do next?!!¡± Said Davos.

    ¡°Rugby!!!¡±

    ¡°Are you now familiar with all the rules after thest practise?¡±

    ¡°We are!!!¡±

    ¡°Then, let''s begin!!!¡±

    ¡°Just likest time, we will set up four fields. First will be, the first toon of the first centuria of the first brigade vs the first toon of the first centuria of the seventh brigade. Next, the first toon of the first centuria of the second brigade vs the first toon of the first centuria of the third brigade. There are only 4 hourss* in a match, and the one who scored the most will be the winner and the losers will be eliminated, and the winning team will need to prepare for the next round.¡± (T/N: 20 minutes each? No idea about rugby)

    While the soldiers were waiting for the archon to say ¡°Get ready¡±, Davos, however, continued to say, ¡°Now, I am announcing a new rules and that is, each team must have five Lucanian ves to join them.¡±

    The soldiers went into an uproar, while the senior officers such as Kapus, Drakos, and Hieronymus have already been informed by Davos in advance, and that this is an effort of the archon in order to integrate the Lucanians.

    And no one dares to refute the order of Davos, so Bagul and the other 40 Lucanian ves were taken to the training ground.

    Bagul and the others were originally grinding stones, but Alexius suddenly gathered them together and then pointed at the 40 people that Bagul led, and said that they are the best 40 men among the ves that are working today. And as a reward, they will be allowed to y rugby with the citizens of Amendra.

    Bagul needed to trante it to them because most of the Lucanians do not understand Greek. The ves were restless and worried that this was a scheme of the Greeks and that they wanted to take advantage on them.

    And so Alexius swore to the God that they will be able toe back before dark!

    Bagul and the others were then brought into the training camp and stood in front of the Greek soldiers.

    However, when most of the soldiers were still at a loss, Olivos, the toon captain of the first toon of the first centuria of the first brigade, quickly picked Bagul and the other four strong Lucanian ves. Then the others finally reacted, and in a sh, the 40 ves werepletely divided by the teams ying in the first round.

    Davos briefly exined to them the rules of the game, and Bagul tranted it to them. The others that were incorporated to the team of Olivos, listened to Bagul but they couldn''t fully understand it.

    The rugby field is a t grasnd about 100 meters long and 50 meters wide, with white line every 10 meters drawn using lime powder. There are wooden poles inserted at the intersection of the white lines in order to prevent unclear boundaries due to the lime power being wiped off during intense game.

    ording to the requirements of Davos, the centurion can only serve as coaches, and the toon captain must serve as the team''s quarterback, because the coach should arrange the tactics ording to the advantage and disadvantages of his side and the opponent. And the quarterback is the core of the team on the field, and so he will be the one to change the tactics ording to the changes and lead the yers to victory. Davos wanted to train the leadership andmand ability of the officers with this, because he thought that rugby a modern sport in his previous life, was very simr to the cold weapon battle of the ancient time. The middle base and the two wings can not only utilize the strength, speed and agility of the soldiers, but also trained the unity and cooperation of the whole team, and at the same time, it can also train the centurion and the toon captains for them to think calmly and quickly, and make the correct response in the intensepetition. This is very beneficial to the whole army, because of the systematic andplex units (temporarilycking cavalry) that Davos created, and in order for them to exert its true power, as it is very dependent on the ability of the middle and low-level officers.

    First, the two sides will draw a lot in order to decide the order of the attack.

    Olivos was lucky to draw the first to attack, and the ¡°coach¡± Antonios began to arrange the tactics of the team, ¡°Bagul, you are new here, so you should first just watch and get familiar with this game, and learn.¡±

    Bagul nodded, ¡®it seems they are ying a game.¡¯

    All the soldiers around were serious, which made the ves to be also serious.

    ¡°You, you, you, you, and you will go first, you all must pay attention when catching the rugby ball from the other side after the kick-off. After receiving the ball, do not hesitate to pass it to Olivos, Olivos you will pass the ball to the big man and have him run with the ball to test the strength of the other side, and the others will pay attention in blocking the opponents for him!¡± Antonios arrange the tactics against the yers on the field.

    At this time, the whistle sounded and the referee, Drakos, urged the yers of both teams to get into position. ording to the rule, the senior centurions will serve as the referee, and so there are a total of four referees. But since Epiphanes, is the senior centurion of the seventh brigade and was also the centurion of the first centuria. So the cavalry captain, Ledes, will take over.

    The soldiers took off their helmets, greaves, swords and other metal equipment, and they only wore their linen armor in order to prevent injury. At the same time, the two sides wrapped a prepared linen strips that are dyed red and blue around their upper bodies, and tied it tightly in order to distinguish the two teams. There are 55 yers on each side plus the five ves, and only 11 yers are allowed to y in the field at a time. However, rugby is a very exhausting sports, and also because the soldiers are already tired from their training, so they have to constantly change yers in order to maintain their strength.

    Drakos gave the signal and the game begins.

    The hourss also started to trickle.

    The team of Epiphanes kicked the ball into the opponent''s part of the field and rushed to the other side immediately.

    Antonios to his surprise, found that the other side actually sent the five ves at the start and wondered if they were using the ves'' abundant stamina in order to block their attack rather than the soldiers. Antonios then decided to watch the game first before making any adjustments.

    A soldier jumped up, and receive the ball, and an opponent rushed toward him.

    Although the opponent was also wearing a linen armor, it turns out that he is a Lucanian.

    The soldier with the ball was taken aback, and this distraction was immediately grabbed by the other side. Fortunately, he fell down to the ground in time to press the ball under his body.

    Antonios and the members that were outside of the field cried a sound of regret, while the opponent side was shouting and several yers excitedly came forward to pat the Lucanian to express encouragement.

    And like that, an offensive opportunity was wasted. ording to the rules made by Davos, the attacker has three chances, and during this period, they must move forward to the field of the opponent by ten meters, and then get the three attacking opportunities. Otherwise, the opponent will be the one to attack.

    Olivos wasn''t in a rush, and even crack a joke, ¡°Xenotemas, did you have fun with your wife so many timesst night that have made you so weak that you couldn''t even pass the ball?!¡±

    The yersughed.

    ¡°Well, brothers, this offense of ours must show them the strength of the strongest toon in the whole army!¡± (ording to Davos'' militaryw, the ¡°First¡±, is not just a number, but also the embodiment of their ability and honor. The first brigade is the strongest brigade of the whole army. And in the same way, the first toon of the first brigade is also the strongest not only of its own brigade, but also of all the toons of the whole army.)

    The soldiers shouted and their morale soared.

    The two sides line up on the white line where the ball had stopped, and the center of the two sides shed with each other. On one side, they are ready to catch the ball and the other side was ready to block them.

    The whistle sounded.

 Chapter 129: The Sorrow of Kunogelata

    The center of both sides tried their best to push each other. Atst, a soldier of Antonios got the ball and passed it back to Olivos under his crotch, and Olivos immediately threw it hard to Tagetinos, the big man on the left.

    Tagetinos received the ball and made a spin, dodges, jumped forward to grab his opponent, and rushes forward while holding the ball.

    Another opponent leaped from the side.

    Xenotemas manage to stop the opponent in time.

    Tagetinos is a strong man, and once he manage to speed up, he is unstoppable. Even though he was grabbed by the opponents twice, he was able throw them away with his powerful momentum.

    Seeing that Tagetinos had already rush through between the second mark on their own field, had made Epiphanes unable to maintain hisposure and shouted anxiously outside the field.

    At this time, a team member from the rear nk manage to quickly caught up with him, and did his all to pounce at him, he opened his arms in the air and held the feet of Tagetinos firmly and urately.

    Tagetinos fell down on the grass. Fortunately, he manage to hold the ball in his arms and didn''t lose it.

    The members of Epiphanes'' team rushed up and patted the body of the yer excitedly. He was a Lucanian, and although he could not understand what the Greeks were shouting about, he could still feel the joy and kindness in their words, and so he opened his mouth andughed as well.

    The Lucanians on Antonios'' team suddenly eximed.

    ¡°What did they say?¡± Antonios ask Bagul.

    ¡°They are shouting the man''s name. His name is Litom.¡± Bagul pointed to the Lucanian yer on the field, ¡°He is a famous warrior in our tribe and is also a very powerful hunter!¡±

    Antonios nodded thoughtfully.

    Drakos ran over and asked with concern, ¡°How are you? Is there something wrong?!¡±

    Tagetinos struggled to stand up, he then took two steps to show that he was okay. Because it is easy to be injured due to confrontation in rugby, and it is currently impossible to make protective gear for every soldier under the current conditions of Amendra, and so Davos had strictly stiptes that, an offense can only be disrupted by catching, grasping, pulling and blocking. It is not allowed to hurt the yers with dangerous actions such as collision, punching and kicking. Otherwise, they will be prohibited to participate in thepetition. Therefore, the soldiers were afraid of getting banned and so they were very cautious. At the same time, Davos arranged a doctor nearby to be ready.

    ¡°Great! Great! Great job! We have progress so much. Now let''s work harder to score this point!¡± Olivos pped his hands hard to encourage his teammates and arrange a new tactics.

    The game resume again, Olivos gets the ball and threw it to Tagetinos.

    Tagetinos with the ball, ran two steps then he saw two opponents rushing to him, and he immediately threw the ball back to Olivos.

    Olivos, under the protection of his teammates, thew the ball back to Tagetinos again.

    The big guy quickly threw the ball back to Olivos again.

    For the third time, Olivos was going to throw it to Tagetinos, when he caught the attention of the other side, so he jerked to one side of his body, shook his wrist, and tried to throw the ball to the front at the right side, when suddenly, he was knocked down by the opponent.

    In the screams of the yers on the field, the ball flew a distance of 20 meters in the air, and was about to fly out of the baseline. Then a yer of Antonios'' team rushed over, jumped up and held out his hand to block the ball, but he failed in catching it because it was too fast. So afternding, he quickly jumped up again, but still did not grasp it firmly, and the opponent was already rushing over to catch it.

    In the regret of the soldiers watching the game, the team of Antonios lost their offensive chance.

    While the ves in the field were also shouting loudly.

    ¡°What are they shouting about?¡± Asked Antonios curiously.

    ¡°They said that ¡®if it''s them, then they will be able to catch the ball!¡¯¡± Exined Bagul, ¡°We Lucanians have been walking and hunting in the mountains and forests since we were a child, and we often climb high ces and the other races may not be able to match us!¡±

    Antonios nodded and said, ¡°Now it is time for us to defend. You five will y together.¡±

    Bagul was taken aback, and then became excited. After watching the game off the court for a while, he thought that the game was very interesting and exciting, and so he was eager to try it.

    ¡°In addition, I suggest that after you go back, you''d better urge your people to learn Greek, otherwise you won''t be able tomunicate during the game!¡± Antonios reminded him with profound meaning.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As it was already gettingte, the more than 800 Lucanian ves were anxiously waiting on the construction site. Some of them even became restless and began to quarrel with the soldiers who were supervising them.

    At this moment, the forty ves came back talking andughing.

    ¡°Hey, are you all okay?!!¡± The people of their tribe came forward one after another and asked with concern.

    ¡°Don''t worry, we are fine!¡± Bagulforted them, and his face was filled with excitement.

    ¡°Hey, the Greeks invented this interesting game called rugby! You didn''t see it, but in the final round of the game, Bagul jumped up and caught the ball in the air, then he evaded the defense of two people in a row, and scored directly with a charge and help his team to win the championship!¡± One of the returning ves said excitedly.

    ¡°It''s not a charge, but a touchdown¡± Corrected Bagul.

    ¡°If it wasn''t for my team''s bad cooperation, we would have beaten you and entered the final match!¡± Said Litom unconvinced.

    ¡°Brother, you should know that the reason for your poor cooperation is due tonguage barrier! If you want to defeat me next time, then you must learn Greek well!¡± Bagul warned him.

    Litom thought about it and nodded seriously.

    The ves that were waiting were confused: What game¡­match¡­championship?

    Then, the returning ves begun to excitedly tell them about their experience in the training camp of Amendra. From the initial curiosity of the ves that were waiting to a lot of people bing interested in the game, and they made a secret decision that next time, they would work harder on the construction site, and strive to be selected, and participate in this interesting game!

    From this day on, the progress of various projects in Amendra has been greatly improved¡­

    For the native citizen of Amendra*, they are destined to spend a sleepless night. Arsinis, for example, cannot forget the fact that his parents died due to the Lucanian. But when he carried the ball forward, the Lucanians on the same team with him, have repeatedly blocked his opponents and made him score. When he hugged his Lucanian teammate due to excitement, he threw away his hatred out of the air. When he returned to his home and thought about it, his heart became contradicting. This is the charm of modern group sports in Davos'' previous life, when individuals integrate into the group and win by unity, any previous hatred and conflicts will be eliminated by the joy of victory. This is the intention of Davos on why he had force each team to have five Lucanian ves join them. (T/N: Author use Â¬¿¨ÀûÑÇ which is Lucania, but with the context it should be Amendra)

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next morning, after breakfast, when Davos was about to go out to inspect the carpenters'' production of the elevated waterwheel, he then saw Asistes rushing in.

    ¡°What happened?!¡± Asked Davos immediately.

    ¡°Kunogta¡­.Kunogta has been expelled from Thurii, and is now leading his family¡­and also his nsman to the direction of Amendra!¡± Said Asistes, panting.

    What?!! Davos was taken aback.

    It turned out that after the signing of the alliance agreement, Kunogta had sent people to investigate the financial situation of Thurii''s treasury on the ground that ¡°they need to develop a new business n to enrich the empty treasury.¡±

    While the investigation was in progress, rumors began to spread in the city of Thurii, ¡°The hasty battle against the Lucanians was the doing of Kunogta. At that time, Friis and the mercenary leader were strongly opposed to it, and even the hero who saves Thurii, Davos, had submitted another more feasible n, but all of them were rejected by Kunogta and under his urging and tyranny, the old strategos, Friis, was forced to fight. In the battle, it was the early escape of Kunogta that led to the copse of the center''s phnx formation, while Friis died bravely¡­¡±

    With the help of some person with intention, the rumor spread quickly throughout the city. Because some of the rumors were facts, the doubtful people went to find witnesses, and some selectively believed the facts, because they were the families of those that died in the war. Even though their grief was suppressed by the victory of Davos, now they need to vent it to someone, and Kunogta is the best candidate. So anger broke out among the people and they gathered and shouted, ¡°Kunogta, step down!¡­punish Kunogta severely!¡­¡± This shouting surrounded the city hall.

    Seeing that something bad might happen to him, so Kunogta slipped back to his home from the back door of the city hall. Unexpectedly, the people who heard about it went to surround his house as well.

    Kunogta urgently ordered his family and ves to step up their guard to prevent the people from rushing into his house. He stood in the courtyard wall and yelled at the angry people.

    When the two sides were in a stalemate, someone suddenly shouted, ¡°Everyone, don''t forget that it was Kunogta who forced the city gate to be close after he manage to escape back to the city! As a result, the fleeing citizens were unable to enter the city, and more than half of them were killed by the Lucanians! HE IS A MURDERER!!¡±

    This reminded many people of Kunogta''s shouting, ¡°Close the city gate!¡± In fact, this measure under state of emergency at that time have saved the people of the city. But at this moment, the angry people would not think about it at all, and they only remember how they watched their rtives being ughtered likembs under the city wall. They hated their own powerlessness and, of course, hated the ¡°culprit¡± even more£¡

    And so, a more intense conflict urred. The people forcefully rush into the house of Kunogta, and the people in the courtyard tried to stop them, but the angry people even carried a log, and finally opened the gate and countless crazy people poured into the courtyard. If Kunogta had not pretended to be dead and the ves had not been loyal to their master, then he would have been killed on the spot.

    On this day, the people had looted the home of Kunogta like a mob. One of his sons was killed, and his daughter was raped and hadmitted suicide, many of his nsmen and ves were injured, and most of the family''s wealth was looted.

 Chapter 130: Welcome to Amendolara

    On this day, the people had looted the home of Kunogta like a mob. One of his sons was killed, and his daughter was raped and hadmitted suicide, many of his nsmen and ves were injured, and most of the family''s property was looted.

    The next day, the heartbroken Kunogta was unable to walk due to his injury, and so he sent a letter to the city hall, expressing his willingness to resign as a strategos. However, the people were still angry and worried that Kunogta would retaliate for what they had done yesterday. Therefore, they continued to rally and protest in front of the city hall and demanded that an lesia must be held immediately. Strategos Nianses and the others agreed ¡°reluctantly¡±.

    After that, the lesia was quickly held soon, and the first topic was: The people proposed to expel Kunogta, and most of the citizens painted ¡°agree¡± on the pottery, and the proposal was passed. As a result, Kunogta who served as the Polemarchos for several consecutive years after the Peloponnesian war and helped Thurii escaped the vengeance of the new Greek hegemon, Sparta, and her allies, was expelled from Thurii by the ¡°ostracism¡± that was invented by the Athenians.

    The second topic of the lesia was to re-elect the ¡°Nine Strategos¡±. In the end, Nianses was elected as the Polemarchos, Burkes was also elected as a strategos because of his sessful employment of Davos mercenary, and on the other hand, Ansitanos did not get elected because when the people was besieging the city hall, he defended Kunogta and so he was abandoned by the people.

    Kunogta got the news while he was at home. He was silent for a long time and let out a deep sigh. Originally, ording to the ¡°ostracism¡±, he could only return to the city-state ten years after leaving, but he was determined to leave this city. After obtaining the consent of his wife, children and his people, they began to pack up their baggage in the afternoon of that day, and sold his house and fields at a very low price, and during this period, only Ansitanos had visited him once.

    A dayter, Kunogta, with his family, and some of the people who were with him, and nearly a hundred ves that were loyal to him, were ready to leave the city while carrying baggage and pack of loaded carts.

    After hearing about it, the people of Thurii came one after another, but it is not to see them off, but to hurl insults and vent their resentment. They even threw things at Kunogta and his family members, and all the people apanying him were afraid of getting hit and so they lowered their heads and run quickly. Only Kunogta, who was lying on the cart due to his injury, was calm in the face of countless angry gazes. A few years ago, he expelled the Athenian citizens of Thurii in the same way, and today, he is experiencing the same situation!

    He also recalled the Asikulodox family who had also been expelled due to the defeat in the war, and the native Sybarians who had been expelled and even killed on arge scale shortly after the city was built¡­

    Is this the Greek democracy? He suddenly had some doubt, until his youngest son, Dicaeogta, woke him up from his thoughts and said, ¡°Father, Nianses is there!¡±

    He looked in the direction where his son''s finger pointed. Nianses was standing above the city gate and was looking down at him.

    Kunogta, who has been involved in politics for many years, knows who is the one behind what happened, and at this moment, when they gazes met, it did not arouse any more hatred in his heart.

    He just watched quietly until he got out of the city gate, and he looked back at his mother city, which have given birth to him and raised him up.

    Suddenly, he said, ¡°Nianses steered this beast called ¡°public opinion¡± to deal with me. This time, I had underestimated him, but I am afraid that if he want to control this beast with just his ability, then something will happen sooner orter¡­¡±

    Dicaeogta said not fully understanding it, ¡°Will this bad guy be driven out of Thurii?!¡±

    ¡°Who knows¡­¡± Kunogta turned back, stroked his son''s head with one hand, and looked at their uncertain future in the north. He then nervously said, ¡°Let''s go, just as we have discussed before, we will go to Amendra first¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Kunogta and his party came to the river Saraceno, they then saw the archon of Amendra, Davos, leading several elders and a team of guards waiting on the opposite bank.

    When Kunogta heard about it, he told the ves to drive the cart to the front.

    Seeing Kunogta lying on the cart, Davos said in a loud voice, ¡°Lord Kunogta, I''m d that you have chosen toe to Amendra! After hearing that you areing, and after an urgent discussion, our Council have decided to grant you the citizenship of Amendra. Are you willing to ept it?¡±

    Perhaps this move of Amendra is just them being sincere, after all, Kunogta was only expelled from the city-state, and was not deprived of his citizenship. He could return to Thurii ten yearster, as he only need to live in another city-state for 10 years.

    But when Kunogta heard this, his slightly uneasy mood finally recovered and he immediately expressed his gratitude to Davos and said sincerely, ¡°I am very happy to be a citizen of the same city-state as you, lord Davos!¡±

    His nsmen were also relieved. Although Thurii and Amendra had just signed an alliance agreement, but with the bad rtionship between the two cities, they were afraid that Amendra would refuse them.

    In fact, because of this problem, Davos did not wee Kunogta with great fanfare, for fear of causing dissatisfaction among the native citizens. As for Kunogta, Davos had only met him twice and did not know much about him. However, the two meetings had made him feel the political ability of Kunogta to be not low, and ording to the information he got, during the time he served as the polemarchos, Thurii was always able to maintain their political stability and trade prosperity, which showed that his political ability was excellent. Unfortunately, due to his poor military ability, he lost his seat as the polemarchos and was eventually expelled from Thurii. But this was in line with Davos, and what''s more, this expulsion incident made Davos felt something was amiss, so he actively weed Kunogta.

    On the way to Amendra, both sides avoided talking about Thurii.

    ¡°There are still some vacant houses in Amendra that can be lent to you and your family. However, I suggest that you buy it because the price is not high. As for your people, they can only rent it for the time being, because they are not citizens of Amendra.¡± The financial officer Mersis did not care that Kunogta was a new guest, and gave him a serious introduction.

    Kunogta understood it and said, ¡°I heard that the city-state has recently passed an ¡¶Immigration Law¡·. Do you know if they meet the requirements? Can they apply to be citizen of Amendra?¡±

    Has this matter already begun to spread to Thurii?! Davos was d to hear this news, and so he immediately exined in detail, ¡°Of course, they can apply. Raphias, the census officer, is the one responsible for this matter, I think that there won''t be a problem in registering them after they are interviewed. However, ording to the provision of the ¡¶Immigration Law¡·, there will be a long period of evaluation, which usually takes two years. If you are familiar with thews and customs of Amendra, and there is no vition of thew and discipline, then they can be a preparatory citizens first, and they then can enjoy some of the rights of a city-state citizen, but it will take another two-three years for them to be an official citizen¡­¡±

    ¡°In other words, it will take five to six years for them to be an official citizen of Amendra?!¡± Kunogta was a little surprised. After all, these people left Thurii voluntarily because of him, and he was responsible for their future life.

    Davos, of course, notice the objection regarding this, so he stressed, ¡°Because, ording to the neww of Amendra, the official citizens of the city-state are to be ¡®allocated a share ofnd¡¯, and so we can''t be careless!¡±

    Kunogta thought that he had heard it wrong and looked at Davos in surprise, but his expression is serious and he didn''t look like he is lying. It must be known that the right to give citizens a ¡®share ofnd¡¯ is only granted when the city was first built. Thend of Thurii is muchrger than that of Amendra, and since its establishment, no nd¡¯ has been allocated to new citizens. Even though Amendra has a much longer history than Thurii, itsnd is even less than that of Thurii. Where can they get surplusnd to allocate to new citizens?! And even pass it as a city-statew?! Kunogta would like to question Davos, but he is just a neer here, if he doesn''t take the young archon seriously, it will make them feel ufortable. Besides, he can still ask about it in the future, so he changed the subject, ¡°I have also heard that the ves in your city-state could easily be freeman and have the opportunity to be citizens of the city.¡±

    ¡°It is true, but their circumstances are special. If you want your ves to be citizens of Amendra, the conditions will be more difficult.¡± Said Davos truthfully.

    ¡°As long as there is a chance, I will try my best to make them citizens in order to repay their loyalty in protecting me and my family in Thurii!¡± Kunogta finally said something about this matter, but his face was calm, as if he had seen everything in the world.

    This Kunogta was quite different from the understanding of Davos. Did this incident gave him a rare lesson?! Some people grow up in setbacks, while others abandon themselves. If Kunogta is the former, then Amendra is lucky. Davos thought of this and sighed, ¡°These ves are lucky to have you as their master!¡±

    Kunogta immediately responded, ¡°Amendra, with you as the archon, has undergone unprecedented changes, which is also the luck of the city-state!¡±

    ¡°There is no way besides to change!¡± Davos, without modesty, said firmly, ¡°In today''s troubled times, if we don''t change, we would be destroyed. If we change, we will survive!¡±

    After hearing this, Kunogta pondered this sentence in silence. When they reach the foot of the mountain of Amendra, he then saw Lucanian ves who were busy on the construction site. Kunogta stopped and looked at them withplicated expression for a long time, and then said in surprise, ¡°I can''t believe that these Lucanians are so obedient! I''m afraid that there are at least more than a thousand people here, but there are not many soldiers guarding them and yet they are still working so hard!¡±

    ¡°Because the city-state did not cut off their way out due to their crimes, but have given them hope!¡± Said Davos meaningfully.

    ¡°Hope?!¡±

    ¡°Why do the Greeks and the Lucanians have to kill each other to death?! Why can''t we live together peacefully in a city-state?!¡± Because of seeing some gratifying changes in Kunogta, Davos decided to reveal some stuff in advance.

    His words run wildly in the heart of Kunogta, and he suddenly look at him with disbelief.

 Chapter 131: Mathematics and Waterwheel

    ¡°Other city-states regardnd as the greatest wealth, so they are not willing to ept outsiders and freeman, and they are also not willing to share the benefits and wealth of the city-state with them. On the contrary I think ¡°people¡± is the greatest wealth of a city-state! With people, we can grow food, make art and create wealth! With people, we can build weapons, army and defend the city-state! And with enough people, we can get much morend!¡± Said Davos firmly.

    His words had an unprecedented impact on Kunogta, as smart as he is, he certainly did not know how they will get enoughnd. Apparently, Davos was implicitly telling him the source of the ¡°allocatednd¡± for the new citizens, so he kept quiet¡­

    Then, Sostratus, the eldest son of Kunogta, saw some of the warehouses and inns on the construction site that were nearlypleted and asked, ¡°I heard that you are going to attract merchants from Thurii and other city-states to store their goods and lodging here. These warehouses and inns that are under construction will be it?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°It seems that there will be a lot of warehouses and inns that are going to be built here. Is the city-state going to manage them all by themselves?¡± Asked Sostratus again.

    Mersis heard what he meant, and so he immediately said, ¡°Of course not! We don''t have so much public officials in the city-state, and everyone has their own business and so we are ready to have a public auction and rent them out.¡±

    ¡°Auction¡± was a new word, and the Greek merchant genes made him quickly understand what was going on, and so he asked, ¡°Can we participate?¡±

    ¡°You are very wee!¡± Replied Mersis happily.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although he had been busy from moving and arranging the house most of the day and the whole family was tired, Kunogta still woke up early the next morning. Getting up early was a habit that he had developed after many years. The ve helped him get up and dressed, and then he decided to go out for a walk with the help of the ves and came back to have breakfast.

    Kunogta''s house is at the foot of the mountain of Amendra. After allocating the houses to the new citizens, there are still many vacant houses here, and it can be seen that in the previous war, it had done great harm to Amendra. Only after Kunogta came here did he understand why the native people of Amendra were so angry with Thurii.

    Most of these empty houses were rented to the freeman at a low price, so as soon as Kunogta went out, he could see freeman rushing to work by groups. Their faces were full of vitality and passion that the freeman in the city of Thurii did not have, and even when they meet Kunogta, who is a stranger, they would still speak with him with strange Greek and pay friendly greetings.

    Kunogta knew the reason why they were so passionate about life, because they had changed from ves to freeman, and their employers have also paid the so-called ¡°preparatory citizenship tax¡± to the city-state for them, and as long as they abide thew and work hard, then they can be a preparatory citizen of the city-state in two years.

    It was currently June and the weather has began to get hot. While the city of Amendra is rtively cool due to it being built on a mountain, and the sea breeze and mountain wind take turns to cool down the small city.

    As Kunogta walked up the road, from time to time, he will meet citizens who will go down the mountain, and they are all going to work in the fields. Both the native and new citizens said hello andughed at each other, which was very harmonious. The ves who followed them also showed great spirit, and all these must be the deeds of those mercenary ves who could be citizens that have given them hope.

    What really surprised Kunogta was that there is also a woman that apanied a citizen. She was a citizen''s wife, not the wife of a freeman (in order to make a living, the wives of a freeman often came out to work and earn money in order to support their families, such as setting up stalls, being employed in a restaurant, and so on.) She was going to apany her husband to work in the field. It seems that his son had mentioned to him about some strange things in the city yesterday afternoon, and looking at the appearance of the woman, she is indeed a Lucanian woman. If he was a traditional and conservative foreigner, then he would have made a fuss. However, Kunogta, who had been in politics for many years, had first thought of the significance that is represented by this phenomenon. Apparently, Davos was not just barking about it, but he was indeed trying to assimte the Lucanians in various ways.

    This young man has extraordinary ambition! Under his leadership, the small city of Amendra had be strange and different, and in such a short period of time, it became full of vitality! Kunogta had be more interested, and he noticed that there were many people going down the mountain, but there were also many people going up the mountain, including many children. When he asked, he found out that there is a Pythagorean disciple teaching mathematics for free on the square.

    There is a Pythagorean school here! After getting surprised, Kunogta suddenly remembered the scene of their first meeting and instantly understood that it must have been Archytas! The Pythagorean school is against democracy and supporting aristocratic politics. Will Davos tolerate them?!

    But Kunogta had thought about how Davos is an archon for life, and so, Amendra is not a democracy!

    Coming to the square, there are already some people around the stage, on which a young man is teaching basic mathematics.

    This young man was Metoticles. At the beginning, he and Marticoris got the promise of Davos to recruit apprentices. However, they strictly followed the Pythagorean requirements, which is, the disciples must have a certain mathematical foundation, and so a test is required.

    But when they excitedly went door-to-door to inquire, they were rejected. First of all, most of the new citizens have a low level of education, and they are currently have just been assigned a field and houses, and so they are busy taking care of everything. How can they have the time for a test and study? Even though there are a few who wants to learn in order to prepare for public services in the future, they need to pass the test first. Although the education level of the native citizens are higher than that of the new citizens, on the one hand, they are busy doing funeral services to their rtives, and on the other hand, the Pythagorean school''s reputation in Magna Graecia is not good, with them being a secret association that worship evil gods (they regard ¡°number¡± as their god), and they oppose the city-state and so on, it has long been spread to all city-state, and so they are, of course, not weed.

    After busying for several days, they did not get any new disciples, which greatly shocked them. And so they wandered around the city-state all day long, and inadvertently discovered the Hades numeral (which is actually the Arabic numerals) that Davos had taught to Mersis to use for bookkeeping. It must be known that the Greek schrs who study mathematics in this era have a headache due to the tedious writing of Greek characters that represents numbers more than 10,000, which brought a lot of trouble for schrs in carrying out calction. However, the Hades numeral are simple, easy to learn and easy to remember, and it can easily solve the problem that gave them the most headache in the field of mathematics. This will certainly improve the efficiency of their mathematical research, and the most important thing is that mathematics will be more easy to poprized among the public. (In history, Archimedes was the first person to solve the Greek problem, as he had invented the method of myriad (exponent).)

    Thinking of this, the two men felt like they hit the jackpot. However, Mersis refused to teach them the secret of how to use this symbol, ¡°Lord Davos is the one that have taught this, and it is said that this is a gift from Hades. And so, you must first get his permission for you to learn it!¡±

    And so, they had to look for Davos again, which they thought that it would be more difficult to get his agreement. But Davos immediately agreed and said that, ¡°Mathematicses from daily life, and so naturally, I hope everyone can learn it, so that they can apply it to their daily life to solve the problems that they encountered in life and provide convenience. This is the real significance of learning knowledge!¡±

    The two young men were greatly touched by the words of Davos.

    Therefore, Davos had put forward a suggestions: That they are to open a free public lecture on mathematics on the square to teach the citizens of the city who are willing toe and learn the basics of mathematics, and the council is willing to endorse them in advocating the active participation of the public, which can also cultivate arge number of mathematics enthusiasts for the Pythagorean school over a long period of time. Which would naturally, make the Pythagorean school take root in Amendra.

    The two young and vigorous disciples did not want to return to Taranto with nothing to show. So after much deliberation, they finally decided to break the tradition of Pythagorean school and taught in public.

    After getting their agreement, Davos was very happy and immediately invited them to participate in the designing in the manufacture of the waterwheel.

    In his previous life, Davos had seen a lot of waterwheel in southern China, which seemed to be very easy thing to make, but when Davos had asked Alexius, the aedile, to lead the carpenter to try and make it, he found that it was not easy to make. It wasn''t due to the uneven force on the support frame and made it copsed, or that the wheel axle angle which was not the same and caused the rotation to fail¡­and so on. But it was in fact, the involvement of precise mathematical calction and the application of mathematical mechanics in making the waterwheel. In this era, mathematicians are also often both versed in mathematical mechanics and physics. And because of his close rtion with the two, Davos had to ask the two young Pythagorean disciples for help.

    When he took out the simple design of the waterwheel and exined its use, they were then immediately got attracted. After careful observation, they thought that this was a perfect gift of the ¡°God of Mathematics¡± to help human beings live a better life pletely ignoring that this was the idea of Davos). In addition, under the leadership of Archytas, the Pythagorean school of Taranto has begun to involve in the study of mathematical mechanics for several years, and it just so happen that they can apply what they have learned, and so the two had immediately expressed their willingness to help develop the waterwheel.

    Today, while Metoticles was teaching on the stage, Marticoris has begun to build the waterwheel on the river Siris. Although Metoticles was worried, he tried his best to stabilize his mood to finish the lecture with good quality and quantity and patiently answered the questions of the public. After that, he hurriedly went down the mountain¡­

    In a narrow section of the river Siris, the surging river pushes the huge waterwheel axle to slowly rotate. When the bucket full of river water goes up to the center above the waterwheel, it then went down and dump the water into a wooden channel, the water was then led into the canal through the wooden channel, and flow into arge and small, meandering canals and then lead the cool and clear water of river Siris into the higher fields¡­

 Chapter 132: The Situation in Lucania

    Every people who have witnessed this cheered, while the Lucanian ves, who were involved in the digging of the canals and building the waterwheel, were taken aback and suspected this to be a supernatural work.

    ¡°Lord Davos, this is an amazing gift from Zeus! Great! With¡­this¡­waterwheel, Amendra will have an additional 300 acres ofnd.¡± Said Cornelius excitedly.

    ¡°It''s not only the increase ofnd, but also the convenience in using water for the people in the future!¡± Scambras was also happy.

    ¡°Everyone, this is not the gift of Zeus! So we have to thank our lord, Davos! The waterwheel is designed and provided by Lord Davos himself. If this is really a gift from the gods, then it must be from Hades!¡± Mariji''s impolite words embarrassed Cornelius.

    Davos did not stop Mariji''s impoliteness or show any modesty, as he needed to have these native citizens know that under his control, Amendra would leave the past and shine brilliantly!

    There is a sharp contrast between the jubtion of the people and the uneasiness of several native citizen statesmen!

    Just then, Asistes came to tell him that Izam is back!

    So Davos then immediately assigned the task of hosting the ceremony to Cornelius, who took over this glorious task with aplicated expression.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos rushed back to his house together with Asistes.

    Izam, with his dusty face, long shaggy hair and beard, and wearing a tattered Lucanian leather robe, stood in front of him barefooted, which made Davos barely recognize him.

    It turned out that after Izam came back to the city, he immediately came to see Davos without even going back to his home first. As his superior, Davos praised Izam''s enthusiasm for work, but he could not stop himself from expressing his concern, and so, he asked the female ves to take Izam to take a bath, cut his hair and shave his beard (the Greeks and Romans have different style of beards). Then Davos arranged a sumptuous lunch and invited Izam for a talk.

    In the rxed mood that Davos had created and after several sses of wine, Izam gradually rxed and said, ¡°Lord Davos¡­uh¡­¡± Izam belched due to the wine and continued on, ¡°In ordance with your orders, I dressed up in disguise and crossed the mountain path in the western mountain area of the Sybaris in. I went to Laos first, it was located at the estuary of the river which the natives call the ¡°Lao River¡±. The city was not big, but it was made of stone, and it has a port. Therefore, they weren''t strict on their guard, so I manage to mixed in and worked at the port by carrying goods every day, and I manage to get to know several ves in the port, try to guess who they are.¡±

    ¡°They should be Greeks.¡± Davos was not surprised due to the Lucanians managing to invade the area of Thurii many times, and capturing many Greeks.

    But the answer of Izam manage to surprise him, ¡°To be precise, they are the descendants of the Sybarites, and Laos was built by the Sybarites. ording to these people, the reason why the Sybarites built Laos was to use it as the transit port for Sybaris to trade with Naples, Etrusca, and also Messana. At that time, Laos was very prosperous¡­but with the destruction of Sybaris, Laos lost its support, and was soon upied by Nerulum that went south.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really¡­¡± Davos did felt surprised, and asked, ¡°So, the old Sybarites became ves? How many Greek ves are there in Laos now?¡±

    ¡°I don''t know how many Greek ves there are, but when the Lucanians attacked Laos, some Greeks have voluntarily surrendered and joined the Lucanian¡­Avinoges, one of the chieftain of Laos, is a descendant of these people, and the tribe that he leads is also the descendants of those Sybarites. The Lucanians don''t trust them because they are not pure blooded Lucanians, and so they often insult them and suppress them. Although these Greek ves also hate these people and thought that it was due to their betrayal that had lead to the fall of Laos, they do not hate Avinoges that much, and most of them thought that he was a good man, because he often helped them¡­¡±

    Izam took a few more sips of wine and excitedly said, ¡°At present, the city of Laos is not stable because some of the Lucanian tribes headed by T, the great chieftain of Laos, left Avinoges to stay behind and to not participate in the invasion of Thurii in order to prevent Avinoges from sharing the spoils. But they didn''t expect that you would lead us to wipe out almost all the Lucanians that have invaded Thurii! Haha¡­T, the great chieftain of Laos, fled back to the city with only a few dozen warriors. On the contrary, Avinoges became the most powerful leader in Laos. As a result, Lord, guess what happened?¡±

    Izam seemed to be a bit drunk, and did not pay attention to his speech anymore, but Davos did not care about it. His mind jolted at once and said, ¡°He wants to annex the tribe of Avinoges?¡±

    Izam pped the wooden chair and said, ¡°My lord, you are amazing and you manage to guess it!¡± He grabbed a piece of bread, tore arge part of it and put it into his mouth, and chewed it loudly.

    Asistes'' eyebrows twiched and was about to reprimand him, but Davos waves his hand to stop him.

    ¡°I heard from the ves at the port that T had invited Avinoges to a dinner, they didn''t know what happened, but when he came back, they saw that several of his guards were wounded. From that day on, Avinoges hid at his home and never went to the city to discuss business. I then went to walk around his house, and saw that it was now surrounded by warriors armed with weapons, and they said that the reason why Avinoges did not fought back was to observe the situation of Nerulum.¡±

    ¡°Nerulum?¡± Davos listened seriously.

    ¡°Yessir.¡± Izam scratched his head in embarrassment and said, ¡°I had nned to go north and explore the central region of Lucania, but Nerulum controlled the passage to the north in the upper reaches of the Lao river, which is now heavily guarded and can not be passed by strangers. Laos originally obeyed the orders of Nerulum, but all the warriors who went out to battle had died, and I heard that Wudlei, the great chieftain of Nerulum, had died in our hands, and their strength was greatly damaged.¡± At this point, Izam became a bitcent, ¡°Several chieftains in the city of Nerulum are busy fighting for the position of the great chieftain, and I heard that they almost fought with each other.¡± Said Izam, then he subconsciously picked up the ss, but found that it was empty, and so Davos got up to refill it.

    Izam sat still and just said thanks. Davos did not take it seriously and sat down to continue listening to him, ¡°My Lord, I remember that after wiping out the main force of the Lucanian alliance and rushed to their camp. Didn''t we see that the camp had been burnt to ashes and there were still many corpses? At that time, many have spected that it was caused by the internal strife among the Lucanians, and now I know who did it.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± Davos leaned forward to show his concern.

    ¡°The Vergaeans!¡±

    ¡°Vergae?¡±

    ¡°My lord, the city of Vergae is to the south of Laos, and it is not too far from it and it is a city of the Brutti. Because of the strength of the Lucanians, they were forced to join their alliance, but because they were outsiders, they were often bullied, so¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmm, the Bruttians¡­¡± Davos rubbed his chin. For this native race, who is also a neighbor of Thurii, he knew less about them, and only knew that due to their geographic location, they posed only a little threat to Thurii, but they cause huge trouble to the several Greek city-states in the south.

    ¡°When the Vergaeans fled back, they announced that they had separated from the Lucanian alliance and they then started building walls and had sent many warriors to patrol their borders, and blocked the passage south of Laos.¡± Izam took a few more sips of wine.

    ¡°You only know how to drink and talk so much. Is there any information about Grumentum?¡± Said Asistes impatiently.

    ¡°Izam went alone to explore Lucania, an unfamiliar ce. After a lot of hardship, he brought back valuable information, so him drinking wine is nothing, but you should not just drink alcohol, you should also eat more fruit, which is good for your body.¡± Said Davos with concern.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Izam responded with gratefulness, so he immediately put down his ss, coughed a few times, and said seriously, ¡°Although I didn''t go to the city of Grumentum to scout, I still manage to get some urate information.¡±

    On hearing this, Davos and Asistes both roused their attention by 200%. After all, Grumentum was the main culprit of thest war and the leader of the Lucanian alliance, and their every move is rted to Davos'' offensive n.

    ¡°Pyxous, another port city in the region of Lucania, and it is a strong city in the Lucanian alliance and was only second to Grumentum, and I heard that it is also a city made of stone.¡± Instead of mentioning Grumentum first, Izam brought the topic to Pyxous.

    City made of stone! On hearing this, his mind jolted. ording to his understanding over the past six months, the Greeks love to build cities using stones, while the mountain tribes use wood to build their cities. There is already the precedent, which is Laos, and it is also a port city, so he suspect that Pyxous was also captured by the Lucanians from the Greeks.

    ¡°Pyxous and Laos had maritime trade, so some information came to Laos from the merchants and sailors of Pyxous. They said that most of the warriors of Grumentum had died in our hands, and though Akpir, the great chieftain, had manage to escape, he had lost his consciousness, even now. After this information spread out, many tribes that Grumentum had forcibly annex began to leave the control of Grumentum, and Grumentum was powerless to stop them, because the chieftains of Grumentum were busy fighting for the position of the great chieftain. Originally, the strength of Akpir''s tribe was still the most powerful among all the tribes in the city, but his son Lusau met a strong opponent, which is Gennat, the son of Cincinnag, the great chieftain of Pyxous-¡± Then Izam stopped talking, twisted a dried fig and stuffed it into his mouth.

 Chapter 133: Amendolaras Medical Treatment

    ¡°Since you said that Gennat is a Pyxousian, how could he fight for the position of the great chieftain of Grumentum?¡± Asked Asistes in doubt.

    Izam had delibaretly stop at the climax, and now he grinned, ¡°Because Akpir had married his daughter to Gennat so that they could make Pyxous their ally. Therefore, Grumentum and the great leader of Pyxous have be a family, and Gennat became the son-inw of Akpir. It was also said that Cincinnag had also bought several of the chieftains of Grumentum, so Gennat could get the support of some of the tribes in Grumentum. However, Lusau had no choice but to ask help from another powerful tribe of Lucania, namely Potentia, and Cincinnag had also immediately asked for their arbitration, but Potentia did not gave any statement. Now that both sides are gathering together, the merchants and sailors said that a great war may break out at any time to decide who will be the great chieftain of Grumentum!¡±

    Davos did not expect that the war would not only split the Lucanian alliance, but also change the power structure of the Lucanian region. Now that there are undercurrents everywhere, this will be a great opportunity for Amendra.

    ¡°Can you make a map of Lucania?¡± Asked Davos urgently. Before Izam left, he asked this of him repeatedly.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Affirmed Izam.

    And so, the three came to the mud in the courtyard of the house. Then Izam drew the map carefully with a stick, while Asistes stood at the side with a parchment and a reed pen. After Izam finished his drawing, he then drew the map on the parchment.

    Davos observed the map carefully and listened to Izam.

    He found that the mountain road to the west of Thurii did not lead directly to Laos, but between Laos and Nerulum. The city of Laos, at the estuary of the Lao river, guards thend passage from the Brutti area to the Lucanian area, and the city of Vergae of the Brutti is the barrier of the Brutti to prevent the Lucanians from invading. Compared with Laos, Nerulum is more important for Amendra, because it guards the passage to the north into Lucania, and only after upying it, can Amendra have a variety of options for further upation of Lucania¡­

    ¡°Izam, the information that you have brought is very important. You have made a great contribution to the city-state! So I have decided to set up a reconnaissance team, and you will be its captain. For the time being, there will only be 20 people in it, and you can go to each brigade to choose your people. If they don''t let them go, then you can ask them toe to me!¡± While Davos praised him, he also immediately fulfilled his promise.

    ¡°Milord, thank you!¡± Izam almost jumped with excitement.

    ¡°Go back home quickly. Your wife must have missed you very much since you are not at home for more than ten days! By the way, the waterwheel has been built along the Siris river to divert the water into your fields, so you don''t have to worry about fetching water anymore!¡±

    ¡°Great!¡± Izam was so happy to rush outside.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Davos stopped him, and then asked the ves to bring tworge jars of wine and said, ¡°Since you like the wine so much, then take it home and drink it slowly.¡±

    Izam once again expressed his thanks, then took one in each of his hand and went home happily.

    ¡°Milord, this kid is too rude!¡± Asistes was dissatisfied with Izam''s behavior in the living room.

    ¡°He is still a Carduchian.¡± Laughed Davos, ¡°Asi, don''t put too much emphasis on these superficial things, the main thing is here and here.¡±

    Davos pointed to his chest and head, then said, ¡°Izam has sessfullypleted the task I have given him, which is not easy. He is a talented young man! As long as someone is talented and isn''t bad, then we should use him, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Milord.¡±

    ¡°Now that we know the situation in Lucania, how should we attack it? You go back and think about it, ande over tomorrow and we will have a good discussion.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After breakfast, Kunogta suddenly felt ufortable in his chest, so he had to be helped by the ves to go to the ¡°hospital¡± in Amendra.

    The hospital is located in the lower part* of Amendra near the city gate. It is said that in order to support the development of the hospital, the archon, Davos, had specially approved two empty houses next to each other and gave them over to Herpus to set up the hospital. (note: reason why there is an upper and lower part is because it is a mountain city)

    Kunogta had heard rumors in Thurii that the physicians of Davos mercenary are highly skilled, but when he arrived at the hospital, he was taken aback by what he saw. From the gate to the foot of the mountains, are hundreds of patients waiting in a long line, which have even affected the entrance and exit of the city gate. The people of Amendra then saw a business opportunities and so they set up stalls near the hospital to sell food, water, and also renting wooden chairs, hats and so on, which had actually turned into a very lively small market here.

    Antonios, the inspector, had once reported this matter to Davos, besides sending more patrols to maintain order, Davos has no other choice for the time being, and so, he can only order the aedile, Alexius, to build arge hospital next to the warehouses and inns afterpleting their construction, and then move the hospital out in order to restore the traffic in the city.

    And so, Kunogta''s loyal ve went to rent a wooden chair and have him sit down, and then went inside to looked for a physician to see if he could give him priority. However, as soon as he arrived at the entrance, he was stopped by the patrol in charge of maintaining the order. After knowing the situation, he said that he was powerless and added, ¡°There are many people who came here to see a physician which have a more serious problem than your master, but they also went to queue like the others. Unless it''s life-threatening, no matter who you are, you can only queue up outside!¡±

    The ve reluctantly took a number te and returned to Kunogta. But unexpectedly, the other patients in the hospital of Amendra besides Amendrans are mainly from Heraclea and Thurii. When the Thurians among the patients saw Kunogta sitting beside him, they began to shout at him as soon as they recognize him. The ce then became chaotic for a while, which made all the guards at the gate toe over.

    It made Kunogta so angry that he didn''t even bother to have his illness check and so he went home. But in the evening, his chest began to feel a slight pain, which made him not sleep well all night and so he had to rush to the hospital early the next morning, but it turned out that the entrance of the hospital was deserted, and when he went to ask the nurse who was left behind, did he only find out that the archon Davos would give lectures to the physicians this morning and in order for them to concentrate on their study and discussion, they won''t take a look at patients on this day.

    Since the lectures of the physicians were not as open as those of the Pythagorean disciples, and was only open to physicians and nurses, so Kunogta could not enter, and he could only admit that it is his bad luck.

    By noon at his home, Kunogta not only felt pain on his chest, but also had difficulty in breathing, and he was unable to get out of bed. So his son, Sostratus, had no choice but to break into the physician''s meeting ce.

    Davos, who was having a heated discussion and exchanging his experience of treatment and consultation with the physicians, was shocked when he heard about the situation of Kunogta, and so, he immediately sent Herpus to Kunogta''s home to check him.

    Herpus asked about condition of Kunogta in detail, and after a careful physical examination, did he concluded that when Kunogta was beaten up before, his chest rib has a bone fracture, and it was not treated immediately. Aftering to Amendra, besides not having good rest, he even went to hike the mountain, which resulted to a fracture of his sternum. The fractured sternum then pierced his lung, which had caused his current condition. With his diagnosis, Herpus manage to treat Kunogta and his condition began to improve, and so, Kunogta has repeatedly praised Herpus for his excellent medical skills.

    However, Davos, who was still at the hospital, had found some problems in the newly established hospital through the difficulty of Kunogta to see a physician. First of all, although the reputation of Amendra''s hospital has been expanded and other economic benefits have been brought about, it is now more difficult for the citizens of Amendra to see a physician than before (because there are too many foreign patients), this should not happen, because it does not reflect the sense of superiority as a citizen of Amendra. Fortunately, he found out about it in time, otherwise, the citizens will umte resentment over time, and this resentment will then be aimed at Davos. After all, he is the one that initiated the establishment of the hospital, and he is also the teacher in name of the physicians. Therefore, a special way for the citizens of Amendra must be established in the hospital, regardless of the severity of their illness, they must get priority in seeing a physician! Also priority in treatment! It is to let the patients in other cities see the privilege of being a citizen of Amendra and let them know the happiness of being a citizen of Amendra!

    Secondly, during medical lectures, a physician must stay in the hospital to deal with emergencies. And that medical lectures should not be too frequent, so as not to affect curing normal illnesses and treatment.

    Thirdly, in view of the fact that there are too many patients thates in a day, Davos thinks that it is a good thing since it will increase the ie of inns and other industries in Amendra. However, if a patient with serious problem cannot be treated in time, then the reputation of the hospital will be affected, and the best and only way is to increase the number of physicians. There are currently six physicians in the hospital, but it will take time to train a good physicians (not counting witch doctors and quack doctors), Amendra can''t train new physicians in a short time, so they have to tempt physicians from other city-states. If the reputation of the hospital continues to expand, then it will naturally attract the physicians of other city-states toe study. Then a proposal can be passed in the council that allows foreign physicians who are willing to stay in Amendra be epted as a formal student of the hospital, and for him to have ess to all the medical theories, medical records and research contents, and the city-state will then immediately grant him the citizenship of Amendra¡­they will also consider extending the scope of citizenship to teachers. Physicians and teachers are also talents that are highly needed in this era, which are essential for the survival and development of a city-state. However, Amendra is short of both, specially teachers.

    Note: At the end of the Roman Republic, when Caesar was in office, he enacted a bill on granting foreign doctors and teachers citizenship.

 Chapter 134: Slave Disturbance

    A few dayster, Kunogta, who was lying in bed and was recuperating, heard a news about some of the ves in the quarry in Thurii had caused an uprising. They then knocked down the guards that were supervising them and escape Thurii, and some of the ves had actually fled to Amendra to ask for protection, and then an envoy of Thurii arrived to ask Amendra to return the ves.

    Currently, in the council of Amendra, the envoy of Thurii and the representatives of the ves that have fled were ring at each other.

    Plesinas, a new strategos of Thurii, if Kunogta was here, would surely recognize that this man was one of the main instigator inciting the people of Thurii to expel him. And right now, he is facing the statesmen of Amendra and said loudly, ¡°Amendra is the ally of Thurii, is this how you treat the envoy of your ally?! This is a humiliation having a lowly ve stand in the same ce as me, a noble strategos! If Amendra does not respond in good faith to the request of Thurii, then Thurii will reconsider the agreement with Amendra!¡±

    As soon as he said this statement, the statesmen sitting in the wooden chairs in the city hall were in an uproar.

    At this time, Antonios, the inspector, stood up and said, ¡°Dear envoy of Thurii, we have not yet begun discussing the request of Thurii, but unexpectedly, as soon as you came in, you took the initiative to walk to the center of the council hall. So I have forgotten to remind you that your position is here.¡± Antonios pointed to a position at the front of the venue, ¡°I had thought a noble envoy of Thurii should know more about diplomatic etiquette of city-states than us, and also, without any permission, foreign envoys should remain silent.¡±

    And a burst ofughter came from the statesmen.

    Plesinas wasn''t embarrassed at all and then pointed at the ves and continues to say aloud, ¡°I have never heard of a lowly ves sitting in on a great discussion regarding city-states! The council is a sacred ce of the city of Amendra, how can a lowly ve desecrate it!¡±

    ¡°This is because, as a representatives of the ves who had fled to Amendra, his demands are rted to Amendra and Thurii. So I think it is necessary to let him speak out his demands, and let us noble people have a fair discussion and judge whether his request is reasonable. So, dear envoy of Thurii, are you going to keep on standing there so that our meeting can''t officially begin?!¡± Davos, who was sitting at the front and center of the meeting ce, had a calm tone and a sense of dignity which made Plesinas sit in his seat.

    ¡°ve, you can now say what your demand is.¡± Eximed Cornelius, the city''s praetor and the rotating chairman of the council.

    The ves bowed respectfully and said, ¡°I am Aristocrates, your excellencies. The first thing I want to make clear is that I am not born as a lowly ve. My father was a nobleman of Cyrenaica, he is mainly engaged in Silphium, with hundreds of ves and arge farm. Eight years ago, my father took me to Olympia by boat to watch the Olympics. But on our way, we have encountered some pirates¡­my father¡­my father was killed and I was sold to Thurii¡­*¡± (T/N: Also known as siplhion, it was a nt that was used in ssical antiquity as a seasoning, perfume, aphrodisiac, or as a medicine. It was also used as a contraceptive by ancient Greeks and Romans. It was the essential item of trade from the ancient North African city of Cyrene, and was so critical to the Cyrenian economy that most of their coins bore a picture of the nt.)

    Aristocrates took a deep breath and suppressed his sadness, ¡°I didn''tin too much in spite of my misfortune, as this might be the punishment of the gods. In Thurii, I did my best toplete the work assigned by my master and had never ck. It wasn''t until two months ago that the city-state gathered us together and took us to the mercenary camp, and you, your majesty, have stood before us and called on us to fight for Thurii.¡± Aristocrates saluted to him respectfully, ¡°You also had said that ¡®As long as we win, you will be free!¡¯ For the sake of freedom, we, who have never taken arms, have taken up arms! For the sake of freedom, we, who have never killed any, have fought against the vicious Lucanians! And these vicious Lucanians are the one that have defeated Thurii, but freedom have made us fearless! We fought bravely, and when we won the war, we, who numbered two thousand has only a thousand left¡­¡±

    Aristocrates inhaled gently and the new citizen statesmen were in a daze, as if they were once more in the same situation battling fiercely for life.

    ¡°We are waiting for that exciting moment toe, but what await for us were the cold swords and spears! Thurii was saved, while we were taken back to the dark and wet cave, carrying heavy ores. We protested, but we only got beatings and starvation¡­when we were in despair, we heard news that the ves of the mercenaries who had fought together with us were now freeman, and might be citizens of a city-state in the future. Why are the ves that are the same with us, and the same as us that have fought for Thurii, but the results arepletely different! So we are unwilling and we then attacked the guards of the mine, and fled here just to ask your majesty, does your oath in the name of the God still count?!¡±

    Aristocrates'' heart-warming narration moved the statesmen that are present, and the council hall was silent for a moment, and only Plesinas shouted, ¡°He is lying! They are not the ves who had fought in the battle at all!!¡±

    Antonios got up immediately and said, ¡°We have a way to prove whether they are the ves who participated in the war. Because the freeman of Amendra had once fought together with them and had spent a day and night together, so they are familiar with them. I have sent them to the prison where the ves are being held for identification, and I request that the representative of the freeman be allowed to testify in the council.¡±

    ¡°Agree!¡±

    ¡°Agree!!¡±

    The statesmen were in favor of it, and the opposition of Plesinas waspletely drowned out.

    Taking advantage of this free time, Davos looked at Aristocrates with interest, he had a thick beard and a few scars on his face, his skin was dark and his figure was a little bent, but it still showed his young face, and so he asked, ¡°What you asked me just now, I will answer you in a moment. But I want to ask you this, judging from what you have just said, you are obviously well educated, so why did you became a mining ve?¡± Well educated ves like Aristocrates, whose prices were generally very high, would be a waste if they only do dirty and hardbor that ordinary ves could do.

    Aristocratesughed bitterly, ¡°I was originally bought by a rich merchant in Thurii to help him manage his vineyard and winery. I did a good job and have won his trust, and he also said that he would give me my freedom¡­unfortunately, he died due to illness¡­his wife was soon married again, and my new master gave me away free of charge to the city of Thurii, who were in short supply of mining ves, so they took me away¡­¡±

    There must have been someplicated internal information in this, but seeing Aristocrates calm look and that he had already epted his unpleasant situation from his expression. So Davos said with admiration, ¡°What I think is that the gods are not punishing you, but are testing you!¡±

    Aristocrates suddenly became excited when he heard this, as he had obviously felt something out of his words.

    At this moment, the representatives of the freeman entered the council hall. After they swore an oath to the gods, they then said the answer: these ves that have fled were indeed the one that have participated in the battle!

    Plesinas didn''t agree so he stood up and retorted, ¡°It''smon for the city-state to have their ves participate in battles! For example, Sparta often have the Helots fight together with them, and have won countless victories. Did the Sparta gave the Helots their freedom? Obviously not! With the years of friendship between Thurii and Amendra, and the busy trade during this period, I don''t think that archon Davos would have made that promised! This ve is obviously lying! It is a Greek virtue to return a lost property back to its owner! So once again, I will ask the council of Amendra to return these ves who belonged and are the property of Thurii, back to Thurii!¡±

    The expression of Aristocrates changed slightly, and then looked at Davos.

    Davos looked at the arrogant and inflexible Plesinas, and sneered in his heart, because this Thurian was subtly threatening him and Amendra!

    Then he stood up with a serious expression on his face, and said to Aristocrates, ¡°I can answer what you have just asked me. I Davos. The promised made by the Archon of Amendra is like the burning mes of hell, which will never be extinguished! Yes, I have promise to give you your freedom after we are victorious! Because you are the ves of Thurii, so I had asked Burkes to testify it, and asked him to write my promise on paper and return to Thurii for the strategoi to sign it. Before the battle began, when Burkes came to try and persuade us back, so I had once again made him reaffirmed mymitment to you, but I didn''t expect that until this day, you are still in chains!¡±

    Davos with a deep feeling of grief on his face, eximed, ¡°You have saved Thurii, and Thurii owes you! You helped the mercenaries, and so Amendra owes you! I will ask the envoy of Thurii to give back your freedom!¡±

    As soon as Davos finished speaking, the statesmen shouted out at the same time, ¡°Give them their freedom! Thurian, since you have sworn to the God, you should give the freedom to these poor and respectable ves!¡±

    Plesinas looked flustered and said, ¡°Thurii has never seen an agreement in giving them their freedom! I haven''t seen it either! Lord Davos, you must have been mistaken! Yes, you must have made a mistake!¡±

    Note: Silphium is said to be a kind of herb, which was abundant in Cyrenaica in ancient times, and was used as a valuable feed to promote growth of livestock, as well as seasoning on foods. Most importantly, it was said that it could improve the stamina of men. Therefore, it was very popr in ancient Mediterranean countries and became the pir industry of Cyrenaica and made a lot of money, and it was even depicted in their coinage. Unfortunately, there were so many males in the Mediterranean who needed it that eventually, it became extinct. Now there is no real Silphium.

 Chapter 135: Thuriis diplomatic affair

    So Davos took out a parchment from his arms and sneered, ¡°The Thurians are so forgetful! Fortunately, I still have one here!¡± Then he handed the parchment over to the statesmen then passed it on to each other. Sure enough, the promise to give freedom to ves were written in it, and the signature of Burkes as a witness and also the signatures of the two strategoi, Kunogta and Nianses.

    At that time, in order to keep the mercenaries from leaving the Sybaris in and for them to stick on their camp, the strategoi of Thurii had agreed to whatever conditions they propose. ording to their experience, it is very difficult for the mercenaries to hold out for a long time, so if they can kill more Lucanians, then it is fine if they consume more. And these more than 2,000 ves were regarded as throwing a meat-stuffed bun at a dog*. Unexpectedly, the mercenaries dared to take the initiative to attack the enemy and won. (T/N: Chinese idiom means something like they won''t feel any pain by throwing them away.)

    And now, Nianses, known for being frugal, is in power. So he of course, will not be willing to turn these more than a thousand ves into freeman. But the most important point is that if these ves were converted into freeman, then what about the other mining ves? They will certainly have some thoughts, and they should not forget that there are still 8,000~9,000 mining ves. Once there is a disturbance, it will be very difficult to control them with the current number of citizens in Thurii. Not to mention that there are still a group of freeman on the port that are still making trouble over the issue of their citizenship with Thurii.

    And when the paper was passed to Plesinas, he didn''t even look at it, he hardened himself and tore it into pieces with his hands, ¡°This is fake! This is fake!¡±

    This scoundrel''s insolent behavior immediately angered all the people that are present. Scambras, who was hot tempered, rushed forward first, grabbed Plesinas and directly punched him, while swearing, ¡°Who told you to tear it! Who told you to tear it! Treacherous Thurii! You Thurians should go to hell!¡±

    A punch, and another punch¡­if it was not for someone else pulling Scambras away in time, then Plesinas would have been beaten until he lost consciousness. At this moment, Plesinas cried out in fear, ¡°Murder! Murder! Is Amendra nning to go to war with Thurii?!!¡±

    ¡°Drive him out of Amendra! Don''t forget to give him all the drachmas to pay for the payment of all the mining ves that have fled to Amendra, lest Thurii would say that we have stolen their property.¡± Said Davos in disgust.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Grimaced Mersis and replied, ¡°Uhm, we might not have enough money.¡±

    Davos thought for a while and said, ¡°Then write a ¡®we owe you'' in the name of the council of Amendra, and to pay them once we have the money.¡±

    ¡°But in this way, I am afraid that all the other ves who had participated in the war will run to Amendra!¡± Reminded Cornelius.

    ¡°Then let theme. They have helped us win the war with the Lucanians, and they have paid it with their blood and lives. The impartial Hades is looking at us above, and he hope that we can fulfill our oath to him.¡± Said Davos with a solemn expression.

    ¡°This is a bargain for the Thurians!¡± Said Mersis with resentment.

    ¡°The punishment of the gods will alwayse if you break the oath that you have pledged to the gods.¡± Said Davos, then he turned back to Aristocrates, who was still shocked by what happened just now, and said, ¡°Now that you are free, you can go wherever you want to go.¡±

    Aristocrates did not expect that the result they wanted woulde so soon, and his whole body trembled with excitement, ¡°Thank you, Milord! We are¡­willing to stay in Amendra¡­and¡­I am personally willing to repay Amendra for the money that you had paid for our freedom!¡±

    Davos looked at him, seeing him speak with sincerity, he nodded approvingly, ¡°Alright!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Plesinas returned to Thurii, he naturally publicized the ¡°evil deeds¡± of Amendra to arouse the public''s anger.

    Of course, Amendra also had measures to deal with it. Through the mouth of the patients who hade to see the physicians in Amendra, they spread what happened in the council that day among the people of Thurii.

    For some time, the people of Thurii couldn''t tell which version of the story were true.

    However, the city hall of Thurii had quickly acted. They strongly demanded Amendra to return the ves that have fled, or else Amendra will break the agreement, and Thurii would never sit idly by.

    The statesmen of Amendra refused and reminded Thurii that they should keep their promise that they had made and give their benefactor (the ves that have participated in the war) their freedom.

    Thurii then announced that the people of the city were forbidden to go to Amendra. And foreign merchants who went to Amendra were taxed heavily when they came to trade in Thurii.

    Since the warehouses and inns of Amendra is still not beenpletely finished, so there are only few merchants going to Amendra, but there are a lot of patients from other city-states thates, which has little impact on the negligible trade of Amendra. However, Amendra still took action, and they arranged the military training of the citizen soldiers on the Saraceno river, which made the Thurians and the ves who were farming in the Sybaris in to be nervous.

    No further action was taken by the city hall of Thurii apart from protesting to Amendra, and the two sides suddenly remained silent.

    For Davos, he didn''t want to have a bad rtionship with Thurii, but when things got to this point, he had to make a choice, choosing Thurii is beneficial to his n of attacking the Lucania in the future, but he has to destroy his previous promise. While choosing to liberate the ves will fulfill his promise, but it could endanger the alliance with Thurii. Davos thought that destroying the alliance with Thurii could be made up in the future, but once his promise was destroyed, then it will leave a bad impression on Magna Graecia which is hard to eliminate, even if the promise was only aimed at the ves. Adhering to his promise is not only rted to his integrity, but also to the integrity of Amendra. Because many of the newws enacted by Amendra depends on the trust of the people and foreigners, they should be convinced that under any circumstances, Amendra will keep her promise. This is the foundation of his country!

    And just when the rtionship between Amendra and Thurii was in a deadlock, a guest came to the city of Thurii, it is the envoy of Crotone..

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the end of june, the statesmen of Amendra held a meeting to discuss holding a trial to select athletes to participate in the Isthmian Games held in the summer following the Olympic games. This is one of the four world-famouspetition in Panhellenic Greece. Although It is not as old as the Olympic games, it is also a famous event. Davos and the statesmen hope that the athletes can show to the Greek cities the bearing of the new Amendra.

    Davos even considered going to Corinth with the selected athletes (because Corinth is the location of the Isthmian games). In his previous life, he had no money nor time to go to the Olympic games, but in this era, he could enjoy the most original ssical games as a VIP.

    Just when the statesmen were happily discussing how to hold the trial, a surprising information came: Something big happened in the city of Thurii!

    It turned out that an envoy of Crotone came to Thurii to condemn them of their crime. He imed that a town had been built on the old location of Sybaris by Thurii, which vited the agreement they signed with Crotone.

    Nianses and the other strategoi quickly exined that because of therge-scale attack of the Lucanians, Thurii had no choice but to let the mercenaries build a camp there temporarily, which was vacated quickly afterwards¡­

    However, the envoy of Crotone refused to ept their reason and insisted that Thurii had vited their agreement. If they do not want to cause serious consequences to the rtions between the two cities, apensation must be paid for such acts. In fact, the real reason for the envoy''s questioning Thurii is that, after the war between Crotone and Brutti ended, they have consumed a lot of money and supplies from their treasury, and some people in the city council have put forward such a proposal. In addition, the strength of Thurii was greatly weakened at this time. Therefore, the Crotonians had thought that Thurii would not risk offending the strong city-state Crotone and reject their im, at most there will be a dispute in the amount ofpensation, but they can bargain. So the envoy of Crotone issued a huge list ofpensation.

    When the strategoi of Thurii saw the list, they immediately understood that Crotone was here not to condemn them, but to ckmail them!

    All of a sudden, the strategoi mored, specially Nianses who had be the polemarchos. Although he look at the problem moreprehensively, but his frugal nature has not changed, you can see it just from him not hesitating to have a stalemate with Amendra, and not wanting to turn the thousand of ves into freeman. Naturally, he would not ept the ckmail of Crotone. So he said to the envoy, ¡°The council of Thurii needs to discuss the matter collectively before we can give Crotone our answer.¡±

    After the envoy left, he immediately asked Plesinas to secretly inform the public of this matter and incite them to protest in the ce where the envoy is staying. The purpose of Nianses is to: First, the envoy can see the anger and determination of the people of Thurii and create favourable conditions for the next negotiation. Second, even if apensation agreement is signed in the future, this will reduce the criticism of the masses to the city hall.

    However, it never urred to him that the people of Thurii had be more crazy and irrational after thest incident where they have expelled Kunogta. Moreover, they were guided by some people with intentions, who were not under the control of Plesinas.

    They are the descendants of the Sybarites. A hundred years ago, Crotone defeated and destroyed the city of Sybaris. The people who have lost their homes have then rebuilt the city and soon made it prosperous again. After Crotone found out about it, they then sent troops again to capture the city and topletely destroy it. Finally, Pericles of Athens responded to their request and called on all the Greeks to rebuild Sybaris. So the elites of Athens and immigrants from all over Greece flocked to build Thurii on the ins of Sybaris. But soon after, the Sybarites shed with Athens and the other immigrants, because the Sybarites wanted to make Thurii into a Sybaris Thurii, which of course was not eptable by the other immigrants. As a result, there was a bloody conflict and the Sybarites were expelled. However, the Sybarites, were after all, the local snakes, so a small number of them manage to remain in secret. In these people''s minds, Crotone is their lifetime enemy that have destroyed their homes and reduced them to such a situation, and so they have passed this hatred to their descendants, and now that an opportunity havee, how could the descendants of Sybaris let go of it.

    Thousands of crazy people could not be stopped by just a few soldiers. They rushed into the ce where the envoy was staying and beat the envoy of Crotone. When Nianses heard about it and arrived with arge contingent of guards, the envoy was already dead.

 Chapter 136: Outbreak of War

    After an urgent discussion with the council, the terrified strategoi decided to send an envoy to ask for forgiveness to Crotone and to tell them that they are willing to make allpensation.

    When this information reached Amendra, Davos and the statesmen were shocked: After all, the envoy of a city-state represents the city-state itself, and it is a taboo to kill them, because that may mean war.

    So Amendra immediately cancelled their n to participate in the Isthmian Games and began to pay a close attention to the development of the situation.

    ¡°Father, this is it! The Thurians will be punished by the gods!¡± Sostratus ran into the backyard excitedly.

    Kunogta, who was lying on his bed and basking in the sun, was not as excited as his eldest son. The former Polemarchos of Thurii, sighed with a sad look, ¡°Just like what I had kept telling! Just like what I had kept telling, Nianses will harm Thurii!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the envoy of Thurii rushed to Crotone, in fact, the strategoi of Crotone had already receive the information through the merchant ship, so they only listened to the envoy''s words coldly and they dismissed Thurii''s proposal of ¡°willing to make anypensation¡± by saying one sentence, ¡°We can go to Thurii and take as much as we want!¡±

    Crotone has already tolerated Thurii for a long time. Since the defeat of Sybaris a hundred years ago, Crotone''s strength has been on the rise, bing an important power in Magna Graecia. However, due to the strong strength of Athens, they were forced to allow the creation of the city of Thurii, which was undoubtedly a great shame for Crotone, who was used to dominating the ¡°sole¡± of South Italy. After this incident, the new debt and the old debt will be calcted together, which can also make up for their empty treasury, this will be like killing two birds with one stone.

    On the same day, Crotone''s lesia have sessfully passed a resolution to dere war on Thurii andunched a war mobilization to the citizens. On the morning of the third day, they have gathered 7,000 strong citizens. In addition, Aprustum and Scylletium sent 3,000 militia to join them, while Terina, who had just gone through a war and had faced the Bruttians directly, sent only 30 cavalry. Caulonia had also expressed their intention to join this war, which was politely refuse by the Crotone, because the south of Caulonia is the Locri alliance, and Locri and Crotone have been in a bad rtionship for a long time. Caulonia is an important barrier to the south of Crotone, so there can be no mistakes.

    Four dayster, after offering a sacrifice at the temple of Apollo in Crotone and divining auspiciousness, one of the ten strategoi, then led arge army of ten thousand troops and march towards their enemy.

    The war between Crotone and Thurii has finally broken out.

    After receiving the information that the army of Crotone was already marching toward Thurii, Nianses had be extremely anxious. At the reminder of his colleagues, he proposed to the council that an lesia must be held urgently.

    At the lesia, he made a passionate speech, first of all, it is about the failure of the peace attempt made by the council of Thurii, and exined the answer of the Crotones, which immediately aroused the indignation of many citizens. But when they heard that Crotone had ten thousand troops attacking, there was a long silence in the venue. It should be known that although the number of troops of Crotone was smaller than that of the Lucanian alliance, they are a true Greek hoplite army, and Crotone''s citizen soldiers were always known for their strength in Magna Graecia.

    At this time, Ariphes, the vineyard owner, shouted, ¡°We should send an envoy once more to make peace with Crotone and to give them whatever they want.¡±

    ¡°Their demand is only more money and supplies, but the main point is that our treasury has bottomed out!¡± Strategos Bolus stood up and then said, ¡°We can''t give them more money unless we impose an extra war tax on the citizens.¡±

    When they heard the collection of taxes, the ce fell into silence again.

    In the end, the war-torn citizens, who were already afraid of war, made apromise. They reluctantly said that they agreed with the city hall''s tax collection requirements in order to avoid the mes of war reaching Thurii, but they were afraid that even this would not satisfy the appetite of the Crotonians..

    ¡°We have to first try.¡± Plesinas raised his arms and shouted, ¡°If you lose your wealth, you can earn it back, but it''s toote to regret when you lose your loved ones!¡±

    And so the proposal was passed, and Nianses has temporarily breathed a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Why don''t you send someone to Taranto and asked them to help us make peace with Crotone?! Since Taranto advocates the establishment of the Magna Graecia''s defensive alliance, then they certainly does not want a war between city-states!¡± Another person stood up and then said, ¡°Moreover, with Taranto''s powerful strength, Crotone will certainly be worried about them, and an armistice is more likely to happen!¡±

    ¡°That''s a great idea, Enanilus!¡± As the owner of thergest shipyard in Thurii, Nianses couldn''t easily offend him, so he nodded repeatedly, ¡°Thank you for reminding me, we will immediately send someone to Taranto!¡±

    ¡°Even if there is a possibility of an armistice, we should also be ready in case of a failure! What should we do if Crotone insist on fighting?¡± Another man stood up and said.

    As soon as Nianses saw him, he identified that it was Ansitanos who was talking. Although the rtionship between the two was strained because of Kunogta, he had to admit that his proposal very reasonable. So, Nianses asked, ¡°Do you have any good advice, lord Ansitanos?¡±

    ¡°First of all, we will have our citizens arm themselves. Crotone has arge force, so we can''t fight them head-on outside the city. Therefore, the high wall will help us resist their attack and weaken their morale¡­¡±

    The words of Ansitanos have been recognized by many citizens, ¡°Yes, the city of Thurii is strong, and even though the Lucanians had manage to reach the city twice, they still couldn''t do anything about it. So it will be the same with Crotone!¡±

    Ansitanos continued, ¡°Next¡­Amendra is our ally, and everyone here knows the strength of their soldiers, and so we should request for their aid!¡±

    When ites to Amendra, Nianses is as miserable as eating a fly. However, all the participants agreed, ¡°Ansitanos is right! We should go and ask them for their help. Only if there are here, can we be at ease!¡±

    ¡°I have said it for a long time that it is not worth fighting Amendra for the sake of a few ves. I am afraid that it won''t be easy to ask for their help now!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Nianses heard these words, he was embarrassed, and then said, ¡°This is a good proposal. Burkes, you are to go to Amendra.¡±

    Burkes, who had always been mild tempered, immediately refused, ¡°I am notpetent. It is better to let the capable Plesinas go.¡±

    On hearing this, Plesinas bowed his head and did not speak. He knew that if he went, he would not only fail to request reinforcements, but might also be beaten severely.

    It is not surprising that Burkes won''t cooperate. At the start, he urged the city hall to fulfill its promise to give the ves their freedom, but the city hall ignored his proposal, which led to the ve uprising, and some of the ves have fled to Amendra. At this time, as a strategos, Burkes understand Davos and thought that it would be better to fulfill his promise and give freedom to the ves, so as to make good friends with him.

    Nianses and the other strategoi had not only rejected his proposal, but also thought that, due to the rtionship between him and Davos, it would be difficult for him to demand the ves back from Amendra, and so they had sent the arrogant and inflexible Plesinas. What Burkes had said just now is the same words that Nianses had said when he refused to send him as an envoy to Amendra, and now, Burkes has returned it back to him intact. One can only imagine the expression on the face of Nianses.

    At this moment, even if Nianses secretly hates Burkes, he could only plead, ¡°Burkes, this is a matter of life and death for Thurii! No one but you canplete this task! I hope that you can go to Amendra and request reinforcements from Davos!¡±

    Burkes just snorted and simply nodded his head in response to the request of the citizens.

    ¡°Amendra is a small city-state, so they should not be able to send too many reinforcements. So it is still up to us to rely on ourselves.¡± Ansitanos continued, ¡°I propose to mobilize the freeman and promise to give them citizenship. Of course, we have made the same promise before, but we haven''t fulfilled it. This time, in order to win their trust, as long as they promise to participate in the war, we will grant them citizenship immediately!¡±

    Another proposal of Ansitanos have made Nianses felt ufortable. Let alone him, the citizens who participated in the lesia almost did not agree with him because of their interest. Atst, Ansitanos only got an answer, ¡°We will consider itter¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    During the time of the lesia in Thurii, the army of Crotone has arrived outside the city of Krimisa after a half day''s march.

    Krimisa, was originally a colonial city-state of Sybaris. After the fall of Sybaris, it changed side to the alliance of Crotone. After Athens construction of Thurii, an agreement with Crotone specifically mentioned that Roscianum* and Krimisa must remain neutral. (T/N: We are renaming Castellon into Roscianum, because we couldn''t find any city-state with that name and the only city-state in the same location as Castellon is called Roscianum.)

    And now, in front of the army of Crotone, Krimisa did not hesitate to open their gates to wee them, and they even took the initiative to dispatch a thousand men to join the army of Crotone.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Mnseus of Crotone, he is 45 years old, and he have won two Olympic wrestling championship and one Isthmian wrestling championship when he was young. He took part in many battles against Locri and the Brutians, and he had independentlymanded a battle twice and won¡­he fought bravely and often took the lead in charging, but he was not liked by the soldiers because he always liked to attribute the victory to himself¡­It was said that he was tall and handsome, and lived a luxurious life and he was very popr with the women of Crotone. For this reason, the men envied him and deliberately did not vote for him, making him lose the election of strategoi many times. His friends had even often advised him to ¡®not pay too much attention in dressing up and to keep a low profile.¡¯ But he replied with, ¡®Apollo have given me a strong body and a wise brain. If no one envies me, then I won''t be able to show my exceptionality!¡¯¡±

 Chapter 137: Repaying Evil with Kindness

    ¡°Asi, you did a great job collecting this much information about themander of Crotone, Mnseus!¡± Praised Davos after listening to Asistes.

    ¡°It''s mainly because he is so famous in Crotone that as soon as our people arrived at the port of Crotone, they manage to get his information from everywhere¡­¡± Said Asistes truthfully.

    Davos nodded, ¡°We can see that this Mnseus is a proud man. In such a battle concerning the survival of a city-state, why was he made as themander?¡±

    Asistes answered, ¡°It might be due to how Mnseus has never been defeated in the battles that he had participated in. Besides, he fought bravely and liked to attack quickly. Crotone must have wanted to settle the battle with Thurii as soon as possible. Moreover, they had also sent Timaras, an old and steady man, as his adjutant. I believe that he would be able to bnce Mnseus¡­¡±

    ¡°Hmmm¡­your analysis is reasonable!¡± Davos thought of something and asked, ¡°What are the characteristics of the soldiers of Crotone?¡±

    ¡°The citizens of Crotone are keen on physical training, and they have many famous athletes. In each of the four major sports events, and the athletes of Crotone has always won the championship, specially in wrestling, boxing and discus throw. Therefore, the citizens of several city-states have always say that Crotone''s soldiers are powerful, attack fiercely and agile¡­¡±

    Davos rubbed his chin, ¡°That is to say, their individualbat strength is very strong. What about their group strength? Do they often conduct military training?¡±

    Asistesughed, ¡°Milord, not every city-state trained as frequently as us, Amendrans, and the intensity of our training is also high. The Crotonians spent much less time training on military drill than on the arena!¡±

    ¡°It seems that you are not satisfied with our training.¡± Davosughed as well.

    ¡°Howe? I like the training best! Specially rugby!¡± Asistes immediately defended himself.

    ¡°Isn''t rugby a sport?!¡± Continued to ask Davos.

    After a burst ofughter, Asistes asked, ¡°Milord, will the war between Crotone and Thurii affect us?¡±

    ¡°It is impossible for us to not get affected!¡± Sighed Davos, ¡°A weak neighbor is always much safer than a new neighbor who is strong. At the most critical moment, Amendra still had no other choice but to go to Thurii. Those idiot Thurians did those stupid stuff, and now it seems that our n to attack Lucania need to be postponed¡­sigh, it is hard to predict what will happen!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Burkes rushed to Amendra and asked for reinforments from Davos.

    In the council, the statesmen argued fiercely. Most of the native citizen statesmen like Cornelius and Raphias who does not support sending reinforcements and they believed that this is what the Thurians had brought to themselves. What is more, Amendra and Thurii are allies in name only, but in fact, they are already in the state of the alliance breaking apart. So there is no need for Amendra to offend a powerful city-state for a neighbor who frequently causes trouble for itself. Moreover, the army sent by Crotone seems to be very strong, and even if Thurii and Amendra unites, they still won''t be able to defeat the Crotonians.

    The new citizens, such as Kapus and Hielos, believed that currently, Crotone has a very strong momentum, and so Amendra should wait for a chance and make a decision ording to the situation.

    But Alexius, Antonios, and the other new citizens have different opinions. They think that it is necessary to protect Thurii in order to ensure the safety of the surrounding environment of Amendra. The wall of the city of Thurii is high and thick, even if Amendra does not battle them head-on, they can at least help Thurii guard the city inside it. As long as the attack of Crotone is blocked, then they will have to withdraw within a month. After all, the daily food consumption of tens of thousands of soldiers isn''t a small amount.

    Alexius and Antonios spoke in a reserved way, while Epiphanes said it in a loud voice without any scruple, ¡°We would rather have our neighbor to be the weak Thurii than a strong Crotone, which would make us uneasy day and night, unless Amendra joins the alliance of Crotone, but are you all willing?¡±

    Burkes, the envoy of Thurii, would be ashamed if he were to hear this, but he was currently staying in the wing room of the council, waiting for the final decision of the meeting.

    Epiphanes'' words have move the statesmen that are present, but after a long discussion, Davos still has to be the one to give the final decision.

    Davos looked around at everyone and said solemnly, ¡°I don''t need to go into details because you have already analyzed the situation very clearly. What I want to say is that we have signed a treaty of alliance with Thurii, which is a sacred treaty signed under to eyes of the gods and in their names! In the past, we have ridiculed Thurii for their treachery, and now, when a greater dangeres, can we keep our oath?!¡±

    Davos pauses, seeing their shame and contemtion, he raised his voice once more and said, ¡°OF COURSE WE CAN! We want to prove to all the city-states of Magna Graecia that, as an ancient city-state with a long history, Amendra, will stick to her promise and uphold the glory and tradition that we had inherited from ancient heroes, such as Heracles, Theseus, and Achilles, regardless how difficult the situation is!¡±

    When Davos went to look for Burkes, he announced to him the decision of the council, ¡°Amendra has decided to abide by our previous agreement and to send reinforcements.¡±

    Burkes was in tears.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Due to the flooding in the area to the north of Krimisa, swamps and mud ts have formed, which have slowed down the march of the troops of Crotone. It took them a day to arrive at Roscianum, a city that had join the alliance of Crotone after the destruction of Sybaris. Instead of resisting, they opened the gate and weed Mnseus into the city.

    In the city of Roscianum, Mnseus met the envoy of Thurii and Taranto who were waiting.

    Faced with the pleading of the envoy of Thurii, he did not even have the patience to listen, and just said impatiently, ¡°The sword of Crotone has been pulled out of its sheath, and it will never be sheathed without tasting blood.¡±

    Mnseus still showed a slight respect for the envoy of Taranto, but he asked, ¡°What would Taranto do if a city-state that have vited your agreement with them and have killed your envoy at the same time?! Can the lost dignity of Taranto bepensated just by them paying for some money?!¡±

    The envoy of Taranto was unable to respond for a moment.

    Mnseus looked at him with disdain and said firmly, ¡°And so Thurii will be punished!¡±

    As night fell, the strategos of Crotone was ready to go to bed, when the guard hastily reported, ¡°Strategos, there are two people outside that wants to see you and they said that they have an important information to tell you regarding Thurii¡­and wants to exchange with you.¡±

    Important information regaring Thurii?! Mnseus became interested, ¡°Bring them in!¡±

    The two sailors, under the watch of the guards, went inside the bedroom of Mnseus trembling.

    ¡°So let''s talk about that important information that you want to trade with me.¡± Mnseus, with one of his hand on his head, whileying on his side on the bed, looked at them with disdain, ¡°If it is really valuable, then I will consider your request.¡±

    The two looked at each other, and one of them made up his mind and quietly said, ¡°Noble strategos, I am a freeman from Thurii¡­¡±

    With the sailor''s words, the gaze of Mnseus brightened, and he turned over and sat up with excitement on his face¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although Davos promised to send reinforcements, he did not immediately summoned his troops to set out. After all, it was Thurii who was asking for help. If Amendra were to immediately rushed to help, the world would onlyugh at him for his childishness.

    He first agreed in order for Thurii to stabilize the morale of their army and their people, so that the people of Thurii could boost their fighting spirit against Crotone. However, Davos wanted to wait and see. First, it is to observe the fighting situation of both sides and understand the army of Crotone. Second, only when Thurii needed the reinforcements the most can they reduce the casualties of the soldiers of Amendra, and to gain the gratitude of the people of Thurii, and to increase the chance of defeating Crotone. In any case, Amendra is not far away from Thurii and only need a half a day walk to reach.

    Amendra''s response made Nianses be temporarily relieved, and at the same time, he was very grateful to Amendra and regretted his extreme behavior. After this information was spread to the people of Thurii, the low morale began to rise and praise Amendra one after another. But the information from the south had made their hearts tighten. It took only two days for the army of Crotone to arrive at Roscianum, and both Krimisa and Roscianum did not resist them and had opened their gates to greet them. Moreover, they have strengthened the army of Crotone, and more importantly, Crotone rejected Thurii and Taranto''s peace agreement¡­

    The iing bad news frightened Nianses. On the one hand, he is cursing Crotone, Krimisa and Roscianum in the bottom of his heart, and at the same time, he asked Burkes to go to Amendra and urged them to send their reinforcements quickly. While he also asked the citizens to reorganize their weapons and to strengthen their defense. He even began to consider whether to implement the advice of Ansinatos and mobilize the freeman to participate in the war.

    However, on the next day, the army of Crotone that are stationed outside of the city of Roscianum did not move, and they even sent some people to invite back the envoy of Thurii, saying that a peace could be negotiated.

    When this news reached Thurii, the strategoi and the people were in a tense mood, and were looking forward to a good news about the armistice.

    In the afternoon, Mnseus dered that the negotiation broke down and expelled the envoy of Thurii on the grounds that the envoy of Thurii had dyed toply with the request of Crotone and was not sincere (in fact, Mnseus had asked too much and refused to give in), and then he immediately ordered his troops that had been prepared to advance to Thurii.

    When Nianses heard about this, the army of Crotone was already under the gate of Thurii.

 Chapter 138: The Fall of Thurii

    The salpinx to signal the attack rang over the city of Thurii, the freeman and the ves that have gathered in the port area of the northern and southern part of the city, got the signal to immediately start a riot. They took out their hidden weapons and attacked the defenders.

    The town on the southern part of the city on the south bank of the Crati river, was initially for the citizens who went to the ins on the south bank of the Crati river that will sometimes worked toote, and since it is dangerous to cross the river at night, so they have built some huts on the south bank for the night. Later, it gradually developed into a vige, and because of the asional crossing of the Bruttis on the mountain, and them taking the livestock, killing the citizens, so a wall was built in there for their safety. Therefore, the southern town is not big and it doesn''t have much guards. But now, due to the increase of guards these past two days and the fake news of armistice, they were unprepared. The attack of the freeman made them react in a hurry, and were now already having difficulty in resisting them.

    Therefore, the soldiers of Crotone were hardly wounded when they crossed the moat. They erect a siegedder, and quickly upied the city gate, then they drop down the suspension bridge and opened the gate, then the army of Crotone poured in and disperse the garrison, and orderly boarded the ferry, cargo ship and merchant ship, and the freeman served as sailors and quickly sailed to the port on the northern part.

    The strategos of Thurii were all flustered when they heard that the army of Crotone had reach the city and they had not yet have the time to give an order, when a tragic news of the freeman revolting at the port on the northern and southern part of the city came. They hastily summoned the citizens to the port to suppress the freeman, and the elderly over 50 years old and the young people over 14 years old had all put on their armor and took up shields and spears. For them, this is a crucial moment for the survival of Thurii, and every citizens must stand up to defend their homnd.

    Although it took some time to gather the citizens, they all hate the same people, and the unarmed freeman can only continuously retreat, but then, the army of Crotonended.

    As soon as they went ashore, they immediately went straight to the army of Thurii and the nearly destroyed frontline of the freeman was soon stabilized.

    The two sides were fighting in the narrow streets of the port. Although the soldiers of Crotone that hadnded were far more than the citizens of Thurii, they could not deploy all their soldiers in the narrow alleys. Although the soldiers of Crotone are tall and strong, and the troops of Thurii are mixed with the elderly and young ones, and even the strategoi have also put on their armor. Behind them are hundreds of Thurian women who kept shouting and cheering for their family. It is a solemn and tragic cry! While the Crotone fought hard, the Thurian were desperate, and so the situation remained in a stalemate!

    Mnseus, who had always been at the front, was dragged behind because of the water leakage on his boat, and when he got on the port, it was already full with boats and could only look for a ce tond. Seeing that the battle situation is in a stalemate, he immediately ordered the buildings on both sides of the road to be demolished.

    When the soldiers of Crotone began to encircle them from both sides, the Thurians gradually lost their support, they persisted for a while, but finally they could only retreat in the face of their citizens getting constantly killed.

    Nianses didn''t want to escape, and so he face the enemy that came in great number. Since getting his position, this civilian born strategos has been highly praised by the citizens for his humble and hard-working attitude. However, less than two months after he reached the top of the city-states'' highest position, Thurii has suffered a great disaster, and he could only die under the spears of the soldiers of Crotone, while several other strategoi, such as Bolus had fled for their lives.

    Burkes and Plesinas led some citizens, women and children to retreat into the acropolis on the hillside behind the city, where the temple of Apollo and the altar of the goddess Hera were located, and its me has been burning for the past 41 years since itspletion, and it is the ce where the spirit of the citizens of Thurii is kept, and it is the resting ce of their souls, a holy ce! And the people of Thurii has decided to make their final resistance on this ce.

    After Mnseus upied and pacified the rest of the city, it was alreadyte. So he ordered his soldiers to light the torches and surround the acropolis, and then sent Bolus as a messenger: Surrender immediately or we will burn the acropolis of Thurii.

    They didn''t expect that the Crotonians to be so cruel. After all, Apollo was also the patron god of Crotone. After a painful choice, they opened the door, and at this moment, Crotone hadpletely upied the city of Thurii.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos was watching the citizen''s military training in the training camp, when the information regarding Thurii reached him. He and the officers were shocked to learn that Thurii had fallen.

    ¡°I didn''t expect that Thurii would fall like this!¡± Hielos said emotionally.

    ¡°If it wasn''t for Thurii for not managing to handle the conflict against the freeman and the ves, then how could Crotone win so easily!¡± Amintas is obviously not convinced by Crotone''s victory.

    ¡°However, the strategos of Crotone is not so simple. Even with the help of the freeman, he was still able to use a scheme to deceive the Thurians in advance, and then make a sudden attack and it is even organized that he manage to conquer the city of Thurii in less than five hours, and the soldiers of Crotone can also be said to be well-trained!¡± Davos analyzed the Crotonians rationally, ¡°The army of the Crotone is, in addition to the 800 Spartans that was led by Cheirisophus, one of the strongest enemies that we have met so far. So we must be more alert!¡± Davos warned everyone.

    ¡°BUT WE ARE NOT AFRAID OF HIM!¡± Eximed Amintas feeling unconvinced.

    ¡°Right, we all must have this kind of spirit! We attach importance to the enemy, but we are not afraid of them and we dare to fight any enemy!¡± Davos encourage everyone

    ¡°Legatus*, what should we do next?¡± Asked Alexius. (note: While inside the military camp, they would call Davos with his military position and not his administrative position)

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Davos asked him back without answering him.

    Alexius thought for a moment and said, ¡°We should send more scouts to monitor the army of Crotone, and to strengthen the defense of Amendra¡­¡±

    ¡°Very well, we will quietly observe for now.¡± Said Davos. Davos is happy to see that despite Crotone conquering Thurii and demonstrating their strength, none of his officers suggested to curry favour with Crotone.

    Looking at the soldiers who were actively training on the training ground, and thinking of the army of Crotone that was raiding the city of Thurii, Davos felt no fear in his heart.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At this time, in the city of Thurii, Mnseus did not restrain his soldiers after they have upied the city. As a result, the soldiers ran wild in the city, looting, injuring the people and even the women, the people of Thurii were miserable.

    Mnseus took a fancy to one of the most luxurious mansions. After expelling its master away, he lived in the house himself and held a banquet with his officers to celebrate their victory.

    While he was drinking, he heard the prostitute in his army say that there is a disciple of Herodotus, a historian in the city of Thurii. So he immediately became interested, and have the guards to invite this person.

    When Ansitanos arrived here, he saw a group of Crotonians lying in the couch in the hall, sipping wine and eating delicious food, while holding beautiful women in their arms. Most of those who took the initiative to smile and flirt were high-ss prostitute, while those who forced themselves to look happy were the women of Thurii.

    Some of the Crotonians were boasting about the victory and ttering Mnseus, while the others were making vulgar jokes, and its protagonist is the stupid and pitiful Thurii, while some only cared about their own actions and did shameful things directly in public with the women in their arms¡­amid theughter and cheerful voices, Ansitanos entered the hall with a taut expression and stepped on the marble floor, which was wet due to wine.

    ¡°Oh, herees the historian of Thurii!¡± Even though Mnseus has drank a lot of wine, his mind was still clear. Then he patted the breast of the woman in his arms, ¡°Go and pour him a ss of wine.¡±

    The woman handed the wine to Ansitanos, then he took a sip without hesitation.

    ¡°Thurian, are you drinking to celebrate our victory?!¡± An officer took this opportunity to press on him andugh.

    ¡°No, I am just reminiscing the city of Sybaris, which was once famous for its wine. At that time, they were strong and Crotone was weak, just like today with Crotone and Thurii, but in the end, the oppressor had eventually perished.¡± Ansitanos calmly said.

    ¡°Ha! Ha! Ha!¡­¡± Laughed Mnseus, ¡°But it was the weak Crotone who had destroyed the mighty Sybaris! Today, the weak Thurii was upied by the powerful Crotone, so your statement ispletely wrong!¡±

    ¡°The gods are looking from above, and even the most powerful city-state will still perish in the end.¡± Ansitanos replied strongly.

    ¡°Maybe one day¡­uck¡­¡± Mnseus belched and said disapprovingly, ¡°But you and I may not have the chance to see it.¡± Saying that, he then sat up and said in a loud voice, ¡°I heard that you are a disciple of Herodotus. So if you were to write the history in the future, will my name and this brilliant victory be included in your book for future generations to know?!¡±

    ¡°No, it will only be the crimes and evil deeds that you havemitted in Thurii¡± Replied Ansitanos coldly.

    ¡°Audacious!¡±

    ¡°Do you not want to live anymore, Thurian!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the officers heard what he said, they shouted at him in session and even threw some foods at him.

    Mnseus waved his hand and did not regard Ansitanos'' provocation. Instead, he held up his ss and said triumphantly, ¡°¡®The winner proves his strength by his actions, while the loser can only prove his weakness by his excuse.¡¯ This is an athlete''s maxim. Ancient heroes only enjoy the joy of conquering Troy, and no one had cared about the suffering of the conquered Trojans. If you are defeated, then you must recognized it, just like the Lucanians¡­¡±

    Speaking of this, he suddenly thought of something and asked, ¡°I heard that the archon of Amendra, Da..Davos has wiped out 10,000 warriors of the Lucanian alliance with only 6,000 men, is this true? or False? or is this the work of Taranto? Or this is indeed his feat?¡±

    ¡°He was indeed the one that nned and organized that battle.¡± Ansitanos answered truthfully.

    ¡°In that case, this Davos guy¡­who is better him or me?¡± Mnseus was eager to have a go.

    Ansitanos looked at him, and said, ¡°Behind you stands the powerful Crotone, while behind him is only a small Amendra.¡±

 Chapter 139: Intimidation

    ¡°So what?!¡± Mnseus nced at him with a not convince expression on his flushed and drunken face, ¡°The ce where he and I were born is the arrangement of fate, so it is only natural that he is doomed to lost!¡±

    He asked in a loud voice again, ¡°Thurii and Amendra are allies, and I heard that when my army was approaching Thurii, Amendra has promised to send reinforcements, right?¡±

    ¡°It is true that the envoy of Amendra had once said, ¡®just give us a few days to gather troops and wait for the reinforcements to arrive, so Thurii must definitely hold on!¡¯¡± Answered Ansitanos, adding a little more to emphasize the original words of the Amendrans, as he saw the face of Mnseus get more flushed.

    Mnseus turned to Timaras who was next to him and said, ¡°Tomorrow, send someone to question Amendra, ¡®Ask them whether they want to be the enemy of Crotone? and to make them immediately break the alliance agreement with Thurii and form an alliance with us!¡¯¡±

    Timaras hesitated, ¡°Amendra is allied with Taranto!¡±

    ¡°So what if they are in alliance with Taranto? They had also formed an alliance with Thurii, so why can''t they form an alliance with us?¡± Said Mnseus.

    ¡°Alright.¡± Timaras reluctantly agreed.

    Mnseus turned his ss, with his eyes gleaming, ¡®Davos, what will you do?¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The news about Crotone capturing Thurii had spread quickly across Magna Graecia, and Thurii immediately became the focus of attention.

    The city-states such as Taranto, Locri, and Rhegium had all paid close attention to the development of the situation. Even the people of Syracuse in Sicily who were preparing their troops and supplies in order to attack Carthage has also paid attention to it. After all, Locri is an ally of Syracuse, and Dionysius had even married a notable family of Locri, Doris, the sister of Demodokas, who is the current polemarchos of Locri. Locri and Crotone are enemies, and so Crotone getting stronger is not what Locri and Syracuse wants to see, as it is also rted to Dionysius'' long-term strategic n.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The envoy of Crotone came to Amendra and brought with him the order of Mnseus for them to surrender to him, which made the political atmosphere in Amendra tense.

    There was a heated debate at the Council meeting.

    Cornelius, Raphias, and Stromboli believed that Crotone who had won a great victory, had came to unt their great strength. While Amendra, who had just experience a war, could not stop them, and in order to prevent their territory from being destroyed, they should temporarilypromise and agree with the demands of Crotone.

    Scambras, Tritodemos and Protesus, however, suggested that they should dy the time and ask Taranto to test Crotone, and act depending on the situation.

    While almost all of the new citizen statesmen were hardliners. They were angered by the arrogance of the envoy of Crotone once he came to the city, and so they firmly said, ¡®Amendra must not yield to the threat of Crotone. If Crotone sends troops to invade, then they must taste the strength of Amendra!¡¯

    After the army of Crotone upied Thurii, Davos had already expected that such a thing would happen. As a leader who had relied on his military prestige to convince the mercenaries and has be an archon for life of Amendra by his military might, he must not show a trace of weakness and concession, because that will shake his power. So he resolutely said, ¡°Since Amendra has already made a decision before, then we should stick to it! Don''t undermine the trust of Taranto in us! What''s more, Magna Graecia should not think that Amendra is a city-state that will yield to power and disregard its principles for its own sake!¡±

    The powerful words of Davos put an end to the Council meeting.

    When the envoy of Crotone received the reply of Amendra, he was surprised at first, and then he threatened fiercely, ¡°Are you not afraid of experiencing the same thing that happened to Thurii?!¡±

    ¡°You can try.¡± Replied Davos coldly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The resentful envoy returned together with the reply of Davos, ¡°Dear strategos of Crotone, we Amendrans are awed by your victory. However, abiding by the agreement signed in the name of the gods is a century old tradition passed down in Amendra. I hope that you can understand!¡­¡±

    After reading it, Mnseusughed angrily, and tore the letter to pieces, ¡°The archon of Amendra is quite courageous¡­haha¡­how would a mercenary know how to keep his promise?!¡±

    He walked back and forth in the hall and made up his mind, ¡°It seems that we need to teach this disobedient little city-state a lesson! Timaras, go and gather eight thousand men and go to Amendra!¡±

    Timaras anxiously said, ¡°But Taranto-¡±

    Mnseus waved his hand, ¡°Don''t worry, I won''t act recklessly.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the troops of Crotone left the city, they marched rapidly to the north.

    The scouts of Amendra immediately reported it back, and the people of Amendra became nervous when they learned about it.

    Cornelius, Raphias and the others had once again suggested to Davos that they should soften up to Crotone and join its alliance.

    Davos then said, ¡°I am not ustomed to being forced to make peace with a sword and a spear!¡±

    The new citizen statesmen, however, were eager for a battle, and calling for the mobilization of the troops and shed head-on with the arrogant Crotonians, but they were also forced down by Davos.

    Davos then ordered everyone to go back to the city andplete the defense.

    Due to his authority, the officers had no choice but to obey his orders.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Council of Taranto also paid a close attention to the movement of Crotone''s army. They got the newster than Amendra, and the archon immediately held an urgent consultations with the statesmen.

    The statesmen had said one after another, ¡®Crotone ignored that Amendra was an ally of Taranto, and attacked it tantly, which shows that they look down at Taranto! There must be a serious protest against it!¡¯

    However, most of them were cautious about whether Taranto should take part in the war in the event of a battle between Crotone''s army and Amendra, saying that they should act depending on the development of the situation. After all, Taranto and Crotone are great powers of Magna Graecia, and each with a group of allies. Once there is a war, it won''t just end with just a few battles.

    Archytas volunteered in the council to go meet the Crotonianmander, Mnseus, and it was then approved. Taranto then sent an envoy to go to Crotone by boat, and it only took a half day to reach there with favorable wind.

    While the council of Taranto was still in a discussion, Mnseus had already led his army across the river Saraceno, and two hourster, they reach the foot of the mountain. He looked at Amendra over the hill, the city wall is full of armed soldiers and under the direct sunlight from the east, made it looks like a shining wall, and he couldn''t help but say, ¡°The soldiers of Amendra all look like this. If I attack them in the morning, the sunlight will make my soldiers suffer.¡±

    He ordered his troops to form a phnx formation, which was more than 500 meters long, and slowly approached the city wall. They beat the round shield, and shouted a battle cry, which was very powerful¡­

    However, under the strict orders of the officers, the soldiers of Amendra just stood quietly at the top of the city wall without saying a word.

    Arsinis was unable to bear it and said, ¡°Captain, the Crotonians are too arrogant. We should also shout back.¡±

    The squad leader Xethipus, however, only quietly said, ¡°Shut up, this is the order of the Archon, do you want to vite the militaryw?¡±

    As soon as Arsinis heard this, he stoppedining.

    ¡°Anyway, you must remember, as long as the Crotonians doesn''t attack, we will just watch them perform. As long as they dare to attack, hmph¡­¡± Reminded Xethipus.

    ¡°Understood!¡± Arsinis tightened his grip on the spear in his hand. Even though the enemy troops under the city looked extremely massive, Arsinis still looked forward to their attack, so that his skills that he had trained hard during this period could be used.

    Seeing that the Amendrans did not respond, Mnseus immediately stopped the marching and sent someone to the city to ask to see the archon of Amendra, Davos. However, there was no reaction from the top of the city wall.

    Mnseus thought that Davos was afraid and dare not have a direct conversation with him, and so he simply sent some soldiers to insult him.

    ¡°Davos is a coward, and so, he dare not face the army of Crotone!¡±

    ¡°The Amendrans doesn''t even dare to take breath the moment they saw the army of Crotone!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the recruits heard this, their faces turned red and they began toin. Then they were scolded by the veterans, ¡°Courage and cowardice, you won''t know until you fight, so what''s the use of talking about it. As for the Archon, when he led us to defeat the Persians many times, I''m afraid that these Crotonians are still enjoying the cheers of the audience on the stadium.¡±

    In fact, these veterans were also holding themselves back, but the experienced ones are used to following the orders of Davos, and they also don''t want to waste their energy on unnecessary things.

    Even though the soldiers of Crotone were getting hoarse, the Amendrans still didn''t have any reaction.

    Mnseus was not amused with it, and so he finally ordered, ¡°Burn down all these buildings as a warning to Amendra!¡±

    Mnseus was humiliated and angered by the silent Amendra. And so, all the warehouses and inns that were about to bepleted at the foot of the mountain of Amendra burned in mes, and the efforts of the Amendrans for several months were destroyed¡­

    The ming ze reflected the angry faces of countless soldiers on the wall. Their eyes widened and red at the departing Crotonians¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When this news reached the Council, everyone in the meeting ce became angry.

    Only Davos looked calm, as he listened attentively to Asistes, who came back from the city, and he carefully described the performance of the army of Crotone under the city. From this, he inferred the character and psychology of Mnseus and verified the things he already knows.

    ¡°Did the Crotonians do this in order to dere war on us?¡± Said Raphias in surprise.

    ¡°The Crotonians has invaded our territory and burned our buildings. This is already a deration of war!¡± Reminded Philesius.

 Chapter 140: Burning the City

    ¡°The Crotonians are oppressing us, so why won''t the soldiers give them a good beating?!!¡± Stromboli, who wanted topromise with Crotone, was also angry.

    ¡°The soldiers have obeyed the orders of Lord Davos and guarded the city, but they all wanted to eat the meat of the Crotonians raw!¡± Amintas vented his resentment to Davos.

    ¡°Milord Archon, are we just going to watch the Crotonians go wild on ournd?¡± Scambras shouted with reluctance.

    ¡°Of course not!¡± Answered Davos, with a strange gleam in his eyes, ¡°Retracting ones fist in order to hit harder. The army of Crotone is stronger than us, this is a fact. So we have to wait, just like in boxing, a good yer always defends first and wait for the opponent to show his weakness, and thennd a fatal blow! ¡±

    Everyone in the meeting ce was shocked.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    By the time Archytasnded at Thurii, Mnseus had already returned to the city.

    Archytas, on behalf of Taranto, made a serious protest to Mnseus, and Mnseus said with objection, ¡°Crotone has no malice towards Amendra. I just wanted to go out and greet this young Archon, who was said to be able to win against enemy with more number with only less men. But I didn''t expect that he was too timid to evene out and meet me!¡±

    Archytas breathed a sigh of relief for a moment, and then he dropped a ruthless sentence, ¡°If Crotone goes to war with Amendra, Taranto will unite with Metapontum and Heraclea, and will not hesitate to fight Crotone!¡±

    At the same time, he also advised Mnseus, ¡°Since Crotone has now upied Thurii, you have already washed away your shame and won a great glory. Then you should now go back to Crotone and restore peace to thend. Else, I am sure that Locri will be as happy as Taranto!¡±

    Mnseus could naturally hear the threat in the words of Archytas. He was calm and did not respond.

    Afterpleting his mission, Archytas rushed to Amendra.

    Once he reach the foot of the mountain, he saw the ruins of buildings, which were burned to ashes and smoke stilling out. He became nervous once more.

    When he entered the city, the anger on the people''s faces came into his gaze. Therefore, as soon as he saw Davos, he expressed his sympathy and concern for what had happened to Amendra, and then frankly said, ¡°Davos, Taranto has no intention to fight Crotone for the time being. I hope that you can understand this.¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry, even though we are angry at the actions of Crotone, we can still hold ourselves back.¡± Davos then said calmly, ¡°If a man is bitten by a dog, will he stille back to get bitten again?!¡±

    Archytas didn''t smile. The calmer Davos shows, the more uneasy he felt. After the destruction of the Lucanian alliance, the soldiers in Taranto went to celebrate their victory, but Davos and his men went back to camp and sleep, saying that they wanted to recover their strength. However, the next day, he told him that, ¡®We have taken back Amendra!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the envoy of Taranto arrived at Crotone, the Council in the town hall of Crotone were having a heated discussion on the ¡°follow-up upation of the city of Thurii¡±.

    Conservatives such as the strategos, Lysias, had suggested that, after plundering the wealth of Thurii, they should support a puppet government that favoured Crotone, and then for them to retreat in order to avoid causing discontent among the surrounding city-states.

    Radicals like the polemarchos, Milo* (he has the same name as Milo, a famous athlete of Crotone a hundred years ago. Because this athlete is so legendary, he was regarded as a hero in Crotone, and so many Crotonian childen are named Milo by their parents.) considered that, Thuri and Crotone have already formed a deep hatred, so it is very difficult for a puppet government to keep their seats. Moreover, Thurii is close to Taranto, and so they will need to leave a garrison on it. However, not only will Crotone''s own strength be dispersed, but will also cause hatred between them, and the local people and Taranto over a long period of time. So the best way is to burn the city!

    ¡°Burn the city?!!¡± The other strategoi and members of the council were taken aback.

    ¡°Yes, burn the city!¡± Milo then said excitedly, ¡°Our forefathers defeated Sybaris and destroyed their city twice. Thest time was to dig a channel in the Crati river and destroy the city of Sybaris with a flood, which created a great reputation and frightened Magna Graecia. The city of Sybaris was exchange for the prosperity of Crotone and our hegemon of this region! However, since the time we were defeated by the allied force of Locri and Rhegium a few decades ago, some of the city-states no longer respect us as much and has even secretly oppose us. So we need to re-establish the dignity of Crotone! Now, a great opportunity is in front of us. This is a gift from the gods! If we miss it, we will be punished!

    Moreover, after the destruction of Thurii, the Sybaris ins will be and with no owners for a time. So we can first recruit immigrants from the city-states who had be friends with us from Greece or other ces. Then after building a new city on the Sybaris ins, we can then send somendless citizens to be new immigrants of the new city, and I believe that with this, the surrounding city-states will not find any fault against us, and the strength of Crotone will expand to the north and strengthened our power¡­¡±

    The words of Milo were both inspiring and doable, and it was then approved by the majority of the Council.

    So, an envoy of Crotone soon arrived at Thurii. At themand of Crotone''s city hall, Mnseus, who was idle, became excited and said happily, ¡°As the third strategos to destroy the city-state on the ins of Sybaris, I will definitely be remembered in history!¡±

    He then moved quickly. First, he asked the freeman to join him and build a pontoon bridge on the Crati river using boats (the original pontoon bridge had been burned by the Thurians.)

    Then there was the framing up, iming to punish those that were behind the killing of the envoy of Crotone. As a result, the rich merchants in Thurii were arrested, tortured, imprisoned and even executed, and all their family''s wealth was confiscated.

    Soon, the impatient Mnseus thought that this method was too slow and had no patience. So he simply ordered to plunder all the food and wealth in the city!

    All of a sudden, the whole city of Thurii was mourning. The people of Thurii who were lying on the ground and wailing did not expect that a more terrible disaster would befall on them soon after¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The scout of Amendra who was moving outside the city of Thurii, saw from a distance that the soldiers of Crotone were escorting the people of Thurii to go out of the city.

    After a while, the city was full of smoke, and soon, a fire broke out¡­

    The scout then immediately reported it to Ledes.

    Ledes was shocked and quickly rode across the Saraceno river to confirm it.

    At this time, Thurii had be a city of me, and the people outside the city were mourning¡­

    Soon, Davos received this urgent news, and immediately got dumbfounded. ¡®Crotone is destroying the city?! Are they going to retreat?!¡¯

    Asistes cursed Crotone for this cruelty, while Davos sat down and rubbed his chin, and pondered what this event will mean to Amendra.

    Then, Asistes saw that Davos got up again and paced up and down the hall with a strange expression.

    Davos suddenly asked in a trembling voice, ¡°If Crotone''s army depart now, then where will they possibly be by dusk?¡±

    Asistes thought for a moment and said, ¡°They should not be able to march that fast with so much baggage. So it is estimated that they should arrive at Roscianum by dusk.¡±

    ¡°Will Roscianum allow the army into the city?¡± Asked Davos urgently.

    ¡°That is impossible! These guys have just looted and burned the city of Thurii!¡±

    Davos nodded. Asistes'' opinion was in line with his thought. He walked back and forth a few steps and finally made up his mind, ¡°Tell Ledes to keep an eye on whether the pontoon bridge on the Crati river has been burned down! At the same time, send Izam''s reconnaissance team to follow the army of Crotone, and find out where they will camp and how it is arrange¡­find all the details, but they must be hidden and don''t let the Crotonians find out! Then I want him to send someone to report to me at all time!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± Asistes replied excitedly. After following him for so long, he knew that Davos must be brewing a big storm. He still was unable to restrain himself and ask excitedly, ¡°Milord, are we going to attack this army of Crotone?!¡±

    ¡°To attack or not will depend on whether the Crotonians will give us a chance!¡± Sneered Davos, ¡°Crotone, a wolf who owes a lot of blood debts, wants to go back easily, will find it that it won''t be easy. I believe that the just Hades will take care of us! And so, it''s time for us to show our fangs!¡±

    In fact, there is another reason for why he had made up his mind. The destruction of the city of Thurii gave him a greater chance than attacking Lucania, an opportunity to make Amendra stronger quickly! But this needs him to once again gamble!

    The Council meeting was held urgently. When Davos announced the news that ¡°Thurii was burned¡±, the statesmen were not surprised. Before they came, they had already digested the shocking news. However, the native statesmen were in aplex mood. They once hated the selfishness of Thurii, which had caused Amendra to suffer heavy losses, but when a more tragic retribution came to Thurii, they found that they did not feel so happy and sympathy overwhelmed their hatred.

    But then Davos said with indignation, ¡°Crotone''s crime must be punished! As an ally of Thurii, we Amendrans have the duty to avenge the people of Thurii! Of course, it is more necessary for us to tell Crotone that the ins of Sybaris is not a ce for them to juste and go whenever they want! I dere Amendra to mobilize for war and prepare to attack the army of Crotone!¡±

    As soon as he said this, there was an uproar at the venue.

    ¡°Great! It''s time to beat those damn Crotonians!¡± Eximed Amintas excitedly.

 Chapter 141: Rescue

    ¡°Lord Archon, there are many Crotones, while there are only a few of us. If we attack them rashly, won''t it be likely-¡± As soon as Cornelius spoken his worries, Amintas immediately rebuke, ¡°If you don''t understand war, then don''t blindly poke yourself into it!¡±

    Davos immediately berated Amintas and asked him to apologized. Then he exined to the native elders like Cornelius, ¡°As the archon of Amendra and at the same time, as a leader who is well experience in the battlefield, I specially treasure the life of the citizens of Amendra. If I don''t have full assurance, then I won''t carelessly attack the powerful army of Crotone! The Crotonians have upied Thurii, which won them great glory and bountiful spoils, and us, Amendrans, have chosen to make a concession. They must be very proud, and their strategos, Mnseus, is definitely much more prouder! These Crotonian soldiers, loaded with spoils, who are on their way back, are all probably thinking about how to get back to their home and how to get their share of wealth, and so, they have no desire to fight. And so, when they set their camp, they will be exhausted, and the security of the camp would be lightened, and so, we will strike them hard while they are asleep, just like the time we recaptured Amendra!¡± When Davos saw that Cornelius and the others were pondering, he then added, ¡°Of course, if our scouts find that the camp of Crotone is well defended, then we can only cancel our attack.¡±

    Philesius emphasized it, ¡°His lord archon''s n is indeed feasible!¡±

    Antonios said, ¡°I agree!¡±

    At this time, Scambras, Tritodemos and Protesus expressed their approval in advance, and the strategy was approved immediately.

    ¡°Now, go and gather the citizens of the four brigades to the square immediately. All the senior centurion must pay attention in telling the soldiers to not make any noise, and to keep quiet! I don''t want the spies of Crotone to find out that something is amiss!¡± Davos calmly ordered, ¡°My strategy is¡­¡±

    Philesius and the elders who served as officers of the Legion all epted their orders.

    Davos then said to Cornelius seriously, ¡°Thurii has suffered such a disaster, and as its allies, we should go help its people. I want to set up a Thurii Emergency Rescue Committee under yourmand, to provide Thurii with food, amodation, treatment and other assistance¡­¡±

    Cornelius only hesitated for a moment and nodded.

    The other native elders who hated Thurii kept silent, but Stromboli still reminded him, ¡°If we took some food to help the Thurians, I am afraid that we won''t have enough.¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry!¡± Davos then said confidently, ¡°The Crotonians have looted so much food that once we defeat Mnseus, we will have so much.¡± He also added a sentence to himself, ¡®Of course, we will get more important things!¡¯

    ¡°I hope that the Crotonians are as unprepared as you have said.¡± Stromboli didn''t argue any more because he also have expectations.

    Thinking of another person in the city-state who was familiar with Thurii, and so Davos asked, ¡°By the way, is the wound of Kunogta already healed?¡±

    ¡°He should be much better now. I saw him in the temple yesterday, and he walked down the mountain alone without the help of his ves.¡± Said Scambras.

    ¡°Then have him be your assistant, as he is very familiar with the people and stuffs in Thurii.¡± Said Davos to Cornelius.

    ¡°But he was previously-¡± Cornelius hesitated.

    ¡°What I think is, since he was after all, born in Thurii, and it is also his mother country in where he grew up and where he had lived for decades. The damage that was done to him couldn''t bepared to his worry and yearning for Thurii in his heart, specially after the city of Thurii was burned down!¡± Affirmed Davos, although he has only been in contact with him for a few times. In his impression of the old man, (in fact, Kunogta is in his early 50s) he had spent most of his energy on the stability and prosperity of Thurii in the past few years, and he did not even hesitate to offend so many people, and so, he definitely won''t easily discard Thurii.

    Sure enough, Kunogta, who had heard the city of Thurii getting burned, had almost made him faint in grief. He then immediately went to the house of Cornelius in order to discuss with him how to rescue Thurii.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    And now, in his own house, Davos summoned the leader of Lucania, Vespa, and his son, Bagul.

    ¡°Tonight, we are going to attack the army of Crotone, and so, I hope that you will join us. If we win, your five-year service will be halved.¡± Davos didn''t beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

    ¡°Attack the army of Crotone?! I heard that they numbered more than 10,000!¡± Although Vespa is currently a ve, his eyes and ears were not blocked, and so he hesitated.

    ¡°Let''s join!¡± Said Bagul immediately.

    ¡°Son, you-¡± Vespa was frightened and was about to give him a warning re.

    Bagul did not look at his father, but raised his head and shouted it once more, ¡°We Lucanians will join!¡± Because of his age, and status as a leader, Vespa was only confined in the city and was not forced to take part in thebor service. During this period, Bagul had participated in a lot of Rugby matches, from which he learned about the special features of Amendra''s citizen army. He had also chatted with the soldiers in private, and knowing the miracles of the young archon that was in from of him, he believed that since Amendra dared to attack, they would surely have a chance to seed. This was a good opportunity for his tribe.

    ¡°Good! Very good!!¡± Davos was not only happy with Bagul''s agreement, but was also excited due to the ¡°assimtion policy¡± which had achieved results so quickly.

    Davos came forward and patted the shoulder of Bagul and said with a bit of excitement, ¡°I believe that this decision of yours will be very good for you and your people!¡±

    Bagul did not dodge it.

    And Vespa could only sigh.

    ¡°What you will do next, is for you to have your brother-inw, Asistes, be your adjutant and you will be the senior centurion of the Lucanian brigade.¡± Davos then looked behind him, and Asistes could only smile shyly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At noon, the army of Crotone have abandoned the thousands of people of Thurii outside the ruins of the city, and they retreated with arge number of looted supplies, but they did not burn the pontoon bridge.

    The information was transmitted back to Amendra. Davos, apanied by the priests, arrived at the temple of Zeus at the top of the mountain and offered a bull as a sacrifice. While the hymn is being sang, he prayed to Zeus for this time''s expedition, the priests blessed him and performed a sacred divination.

    Davos then went back to the square and told all the citizens that were waiting, ¡°The prophecy of Zeus is a good omen! We will definitely win!¡±

    Because of the military order, the citizens without armor did not shout for joy, but they all showed a look of excitement and fanaticism.

    The whole city of Amendra began to take action.

    Watching the people rush out of the gate with carts loaded with food and supplies. The words of Caesar that he had said in front of the Rubicon River in Davos'' previous life, inexplicably appeared in Davos'' mind, ¡°Alea iacta est!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As for what happened on that day, Ansitanos, who wrote the ¡¶History of Magna Graecia¡· more than ten years after, has described it in detail in the chapter ¡¶The Burning of Thurii¡·.

    On that day, the sky was dark and the thick dark clouds were very low. It seemed that the gods had shown an ominous omen from the start¡­

    The soldiers of Crotone are not men, they are bandits, they are beasts! They snatched all the food that they can eat, even taking the porridge in the bowls of the children. They plundered all the valuable things, even the artificial tooth in the mouth of the people. Anyone that dares toe forward to stop them will be trampled down by them mercilessly and might even lose their lives. For those who had knelt down and beg, they just gave them a cold stare. From every house came the cry of despair of the people of Thurii, and every street was filled with the blood and tears of the people of Thurii. What kind of sins did the Thuriansmitted that they have invited such a terrible demon! (It should be said that the position of Ansitanos in the book ¡¶History of Magna Graecia¡· is basically neutral, but in this chapter, he had put his strong feelings, and made theter Crotonians to protest, believing that Ansitanos had seriously exaggerated the facts, which was not beneficial to the unity of the country, and demanded for it to be removed. Ansitanos, however, refused and so thewsuit went on for a very long time.)

    Finally, the soldiers of Crotone drove the people out of the city with spears and shields, then they covered every corner of the city with branches and hay, and oiled the city and so, the city began to burn¡­

    The Thurians watched as their homes turn to ashes in the fire, and their temples copsed, but they could not do anything about it. Did the gods abandon Thurii and let Hephaestus cast down the mes of wrath?!

    After the Crotonians retreated, the people of Thurii ran into the city like madman, regardless of the smoke and the mes in the city. The hot temperature fumigated their flesh and blood, but they still desperately rushed into the ashes braving the mes, looking for anything that could still be used¡­

    No shelter, no food, no clothes, no money, how can the Thurians survive in the ins of Sybaris that have be a wilderness¡­

    Just when they were in despair, the Amendrans appeared.

    Thousands of Amendrans, with hundreds of loaded cart (half of which were filled with hidden weapons and equipment), began to rescue the people of Thurii, they set up tents and excavate camps¡­Kunogta has alreadypletely forgotten what the Thurians had done to him before, and even though his injuries that he got from getting beaten before was still not fully healed, he still kept running around every corner to help all the Thurians that are in need. While the Praetor of Amendra, Cornelius, arrange the manpower, distribute the supplies and organized the rescue work in a very orderly manner¡­

    Finally, allow me to mention Davos. At that time, he was the archon of Amendra and the hero who saved the city of Thurii from the Lucanians. However, this was the first time that the Thurians had met him, and they had met him in such a situation. In their eyes, this young man, who seems to have just be an adult, was as friendly as the child of their own family. He always wears a gentle smile, listen to the suffering of the people with great attention, andforts the injured with a gentle voice. He picked up the crying children and wipe away their tears and dust for them, he lift up the injured old people and gave them soft bread..

    Under the leadership of Davos, the Amendrans were like their rtives, they did their best to help the Thurians. Davos had once more rescued the people of Thurii, so that the people who had lost their homes did not suffer from hunger and disease. The Thurians thanked the people of Amendra from the bottom of their heart, and specially thanked the hero, Davos, who saved the people of Thurii twice!

    -Excerpt from ¡¶History of Magna Graecia¡· by Ansitanos

 Chapter 142: Surprise Attack (I)

    Timaras, had at first, suggested that some of the spoils should be shipped back to Crotone in advance, since there were too many of it.

    However, Mnseus rejected it. His reason is that Roscianum and Krimisa has joined the Crotone Alliance for the first time, so they would need to show them of their results in conquering Thurii and the serious consequences of fighting against Crotone.

    In fact, there was another reason in his heart, it was because he was afraid that the spoils that will be shipped back would be privately divided up by the group of people in the city hall, which would end up him having much lesser share of wealth.

    As for why they didn''t burn the pontoon bridge? The worry of Davos was totally unnecessary, because Mnseus doesn''t even regard Amendra at all, and after the destruction of the city of Thurii, there is no longer any force in the northern part of Magna Graecia that could threaten Crotone anymore, and in order to facilitate the migration of the Crotonians to Sybaris, they needed the pontoon bridge.

    Crotone''s marching line was 5 kilo-meters long, and most of them were fully loaded carts, so their marching was extremely slow. However, they still manage to arrived in Roscianum by dusk.

    The Roscianums were really afraid. The polemarchos, Amikles, led the city''s top officials with a smile on their faces, they opened the city to wee Mnseus, who had won a victory, and held a grand victory banquet for him, as well as the other strategos of Crotone. At the same time, they euphemistically said to Mnseus, that the city of Roscianum is too small to hold such arge army, and if so many spoils are stored in the city and in case it got lost, it wouldn''t be good if a conflict broke out.

    While also saying that the city of Roscianum has prepared plenty of wines and food for the soldiers of Crotone to celebrate their victory and to make up for Roscianum failing in letting them enter into the city.

    Mnseus was not a man who would care about his soldiers. Seeing that the Roscianums were so thoughtful, he readily agreed and lead a dozen of his senior officers, such as Timaras, into the city with Amikles.

    On their way into the city, Mnseus heard his scout, who had returned, that the people of Amendra had rushed to the Sybaris in to help the people of Thurii. Then he said with augh, ¡°The Amendrans are just wasting their efforts, because we will be back soon, and the Sybaris in can only belong to Crotone!¡±

    When the soldiers of Crotone heard that there was wine and meat to eat, they sped up their march. It was alreadyte when they started camping, and so they just only set up their tents because they couldn''t wait to start drinking and eat the meat to celebrate their victory, and made a lot of loud noises tillte at night. However, their tired body couldn''t resist the attack of the God of Sleep, so they fell deep asleep¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Ansitanos did not wrote this part in his book. On this day, the citizens of Amendra, contrary to their usual training habits, had only set their tents up roughly, and built their camp simply and had all began to sleep. As a matter of fact, during the afternoon, it was mainly the women, teenagers, and elderly Amendrans who were outside to help the people of Thurii¡­

    For this war, almost everyone in the city have went out.

    That night, Davos did not allow the people of Thurii to enter the newly built camp for amodation, and so the exhausted people fell asleep in the ground and under the cover of the sky. The officers then woke up the soldiers of Amendra in the camp one after another. While their eyes were still sleepy they began to eat the prepared bread, drink the hot mutton soup, and ate a little mutton and cheese in silence. Although they had dinner a few hours ago, these food will allow them to store more protein and calories, which will be consumed by the following long-distance march and battle. Then they began to put on their armor that they have taken out of the loaded cart, and began checking their spears, kopis and round shields.

    At this time, in the middle of the camp, a few torches were erected in an open space. Davos, and the officers were under the faint light of the fire and were carefully observing a terrain model of the camp of Crotone, which was simply made out of y ording to the information that they had gotten from Izam.

    ¡°Mnseus was a bit cautious. He made his troops cross the Trionto river and camped in the south of the city of Roscianum, and had thought that they are safe, since the city of Roscianum is blocking the way. However, this would make his soldiers more unprepared.¡± Davos used a stick to point out in the model of the Trionto river that separates the city of Roscianum from the camp of Crotone, ¡°So Izam has repeatedly tried to cross on the different sections of the river, and he said that there is one section on the river that ispletely walk-able and it is located in the middle of the river, which is far away from the camp of Crotone and they weren''t found out. So he sent someone back to report that the ¡®Crotonians had spent the night drinking in their camp.¡¯ So I believed that they will be sleeping like dead pigs when we attack them tomorrow.¡± The words of Davos made everyoneugh.

    ¡°They also didn''t dig any trenches, nor set up fences and an abatis, and they might not even have some guards by tomorrow morning. Do they think that they are just walking in their own courtyard?! And made them so rxed!¡± The officers were not amused by the situation that Davos introduced, and were infuriated. They were secretly angry, and so they must definitely not let go of these arrogant Crotonians.

    ¡°The only thing troublesome is that their tents are very scattered and the space is rtivelyrge. This part of the south protrudes arge part, because this is where they stored the spoils that they had plundered.¡± Davos made a huge circle over the camp model with his stick and said cautiously, ¡°Our citizen soldiers and the Lucanian brigade led by Bagul are only about 5,000* and in order to be able to encircle the camp of the Crotonians, we can only attack them with a single row of soldiers.¡± (note: Arpenst sent some of his people to the eastern Mediterranean to recruit about 500 freeman from Thrace, Rhodes, and Crete, in order to make the seventh brigadeplete.)

    ¡°Don''t worry Legatus, one row is enough! It is indeed difficult to deal with people with only that, but it is easy to deal with a group of sleeping pigs!¡± The words of Amintas made the crowd cover their mouths andugh.

    Davos smiled and said to Kapus who was besides him, ¡°The south of the camp will be handed over to your first brigade. You will be the one to attack first, and because the area in the south isrge, and there are a lot of carts and spoils blocking your path, so you and your subordinates must discuss a way to solve these problems. I have only one request, whether the first brigade can be the first in the whole army depends on whether you can keep up with the attacking speed of the other groups, or even be faster than them!¡±

    At the same time, Kapus, who is usually prudent, was also excited and said, ¡°Rest assured, the first brigade will live up to your expectations!¡±

    Davos nodded and turned to Drakos, ¡°The second brigade will go to the eastern part of the camp, and only after the first brigade attack, can you start your attack. The first thing the frightened enemies will think of is to escape into the city, so you should use the most violent attack to expel their idea!¡±

    Drakos looked at Kapus, and then said, ¡°Legatus, our second brigade will prove that we are no worse than the first brigade!¡±

    ¡°Hmm. that''s the confidence!¡± Davos nodded then turned to Hieronymos, ¡°The third brigade will be attacking from the west. Although most of your troops are new recruits, I believe that the third brigade will perform well.¡±

    Hieronymos clenched his fist and said, ¡°Rest assured!¡±

    ¡°Epiphanes.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°You and Cid will lead the peltast soldiers of the seventh brigade to attack from the north.¡±

    ¡°Legatus, isn''t our number less?¡± Epiphanes immediately questioned.

    ¡°Don''t worry. Is Bagul here?¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°Here I am!¡± Said Bagul behind the crowd.

    ¡°Come to the front.¡± Davos beckoned him toe, and then said, ¡°The Lucanian brigade that you lead will join the attack in the north, with Epiphanes as themander.¡±

    Bagul hesitated to look at Epiphanes, while Epiphanes just gave him a friendly smile. He then lowered his head and said, ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°The peltast soldiers are good at closebat, while the impact of your Lucanian warriors are also very powerful, and the enemy may not even consider running north at first because of the Trionto river. And so, I am not worried about your offensive strength, but what I am worried about is yourck of cooperation and the sudden advance might lead a gap. So after you get in position, you should have a goodmunication and solve the problem of how to improve the cooperation and control the offensive rhythm.¡±

    ¡°And more importantly!¡± Davos entuated his voice and said with a serious expression, ¡°Bagul, I have already told you before, and I would like to stress it again that before the battle, whether marching or sneaking, you have to be quiet and must not alert the enemy! So you must warn your tribesmen and for them to take care of their mouths. If anyone disobeys the order and affect this operation, ording to ¡¶Amendra''s Military Law¡· those with serious cases will be executed!¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡± Bagul was secretly frightened, and so, after deciding to go back, he will immediately discussed it with Asistes on how to prevent his people from making mistakes.

    ¡°Legatus, will us archers and slingers not take part in this operation?¡± Arpenst saw that there was no ce for him in the deployment, so he was unable to stop himself from asking.

    ¡°We of course cannot do without you.¡± Laughed Davos, ¡°Arpenst, you will lead the archers and slingers to ambush along the road leading to the city of Roscianum in the east of the camp. Once someonees out of the city to rescue them, you will deal them the greatest damage!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°ording to the intelligence of Izam, the soldiers of Roscianum who went together with Crotone did not return to the city because they wanted to celebrate their victory in the camp. So there should not be many soldiers in the city who can fight, and theirbat strength should not be strong. Oh¡­there are also the high-ranking officers of Crotone who are having fun in the city. I estimate that their legs will be weak in the morning, and won''t be able to wield their weapons¡­¡± Davos finished speaking, and the crowdughed quietly.

    ¡°After you are all in your position, and have deployed your centuria in the attacking row, but you must remember that ¨C there must be no gap in the attacking row between toons and toons, between centuria and centuria, and between brigades and brigades!¡±

 Chapter 143: Surprise Attack (II)

    Davos stood up and looked around the crowd, and said with a deep and powerful voice, ¡°The first battle tomorrow morning will determine the ownership of the Sybaris in! Will determine the future of us, citizens of Amendra! When the battle starts, there will be no salphinx and no shouting! We must be cruel! Be fierce! Be quick! Destroy the enemy in their sleep with the fastest speed! Rush to the center with the fastest speed! The faster we advance, the closer and thicker the formation will be, and the more flustered the enemy will be. We will then surround them in the center and force them to surrender! Brothers, the Crotonians are like a pot of barley porridge now, and so let''s see which brigade will eat the fastest and eat the best!¡±

    The crowd didn''t reply, but there was a burning sense of battle in their eyes¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the early summer night in the southern part of the Apennine Penins, the weather is still rtively cool. Unfortunately, there is no moon nor star in the dark sky.

    Amendra''s troops began to set out. The first toon of the first centuria of the first brigade left the camp in turn. The head of eachpany held a lighted torch to illuminate the road ahead. The five thousand strong troops marched quietly and orderly. The sound of the river, the sound of the insects and frogs, and even the howling of wild animals in the distance covered up the sound of their marching and the collision of their armor. From a distance, you could only see the faint sh of fire every few hundred meters.

    Crossing the pontoon bridge at night was one of the biggest trouble of the march. The troops march in two columns to ensure that there is enough space on the bridge deck and both sides will take care of each other. Fortunately, most of the soldiers in the first brigade who walked at the front had participated in the Persian expedition. So they were very experienced at marching at night, they manage to sessfully crossed the first pontoon bridge and then passed the second one as well. Their good performance gave confidence to the subsequent troops.

    The second brigade had also manage to arrived on the other side.

    The speed of the third brigade''s marching began to slow down once they reach the bridge. Arsinis stepped on the board that goes ups and downs, looking at the dark river that was flowing under the pontoon, and imagining its depth, his body could not help but shake along with the bridge''s board, and his body was about to learn out. At this time, a hand firmly grasped his arm.

    ¡°Don''t panic, look up at the front and don''t look down at your feet!¡± It was the voice of Xethippus, the squad leader, who was in parallel with him. He stabilized his mood and did it ording to the squad leader''s method, which was much better.

    After a few steps, he heard a ssh behind him, followed by a cry for help.

    Someone fell into the water! Arsinis was shocked.

    ¡°Don''t look back, and move forward!¡± The voice of Xethippus, who usually love to nag, was unusually calm at this time.

    Arsinis finally manage to set foot on the junction of the two rivers. With this experience, it made crossing the second pontoon bridge much easier.

    In order to help the Lucanians cross the river smoothly, Epiphanes had thought of a way, which is to let a Greek and a Lucanian walk side by side on the pontoon bridge. With the help of these veterans, most of the Lucanians had also manage to cross the river smoothly.

    When he reach the south bank of the river Crati and set foot on solid ground, Arsinis'' nervous mood fell to the ground, then he ask the squad leader, ¡°What about ourrades who have fallen in the river?¡±

    ¡°The Legatus has asked the military officer, Philesius, to arrange some people on both sides of the river to rescue them. As long as they throw away their round shields, spears, and helmet, and swim to the shore, of course, and also depends if they trained their swimming skill seriously. Now you realize the importance of training, every training should bepleted seriously, because maybe you will use it one day in the future.¡± Xethippus seized every opportunity to educate the recruits.

    Arsinis nodded seriously.

    Two hourster, the troops approached the city of Roscianum and all the torches were extinguished. Being led by the squad of Izam, they came to the middle reaches of the Trionto river(Roscianum was located at the mouth of river Trionto), they then formed eight columns and the soldiers held their spears in front of and behind each other (the shield is hung on the shoulders of the soldiers and the helmet is hung on the neck.) and wade through the river. Although this section of the river is the widest, its depth doesn''t even reach the waist, and the current is not rapid. In addition to a lot of pebbles, the river crossing on the river Trionto didn''t cause any trouble to the soldiers.

    The camp of Crotone wasn''t far away.

    It''s still currently deep in the night, and the sky still haven''t yet brightened. And under the leadership of the mountain reconnaissance team, each brigade quietly and unhurriedly went to their predetermined position and began to lie down and rest to recover their stamina. The officers went closer to observed the camp of Crotone,paring it with what they saw in the previous map, they began to adjust and arranged the attack position of their teams.

    As soon as there was a glimmer of light in the eastern sky, the officers began to wake up the rest of the soldiers. While they were tidying up their weapons and equipment, the toon captains made a quiet pre-war mobilizations. For the veterans, just saying ¡®These arrogant Crotonians have the courage to insult our Lord Davos and burned our buildings. And now, we have to make them pay the price with blood, with our spears and shields.¡¯ That was enough to ignite their anger. For the recruits, in addition to encouragement, they should also be reminded of some details that needs to be paid attention to in the battle, such as ¡®Don''t just focus on charging by yourself, but move forward with your whole team. When the spear goes into the body of the enemy and can''t be pulled out, then don''t waste time in pulling it out, and just draw out your kopis and continue shing them¡¯ and so on.

    Arsinis began to line up together with hisrades, and then putting on his heavy Corinthian helmet, but he didn''t feel the usual sense of being isted from the world. Although he couldn''t sense his teammates that were behind him (because they are in a separate column). However, through the eye hole of his helmet, he saw not only the tents erected by the Crotonians a hundred meters away, but also the thin front rank formed by his Amendransrades which have reflected the light in the corner of his eyes, which extended infinitely along the terrain and encircled the camp in an arc until it was out of his sight¡­

    Arsinis stepped forward and approached the camp of Crotone. The nearest tent was less than 40 meters away, and there was still a dead silence ahead.

    Arsinis was both excited and regretful. He wanted to fight the sober Crotonians in order to show his developing skill.

    At this time, there was a loud scream from the front of the camp.

    Xethippus said in a low voice, ¡°Advance!¡±

    Everyone then began to stride forward. The shields next to each other rubbed and made a low ¡°bang bang¡± sound. Their feet in leather sandals stepped on the mud soaked by the dew, leaving rows of clear footprints.

    Arsinis had long been aware of the sleeping enemies lying outside the tent, but when he stood in front of them, he became hesitant.

    ¡°Do it!¡± Therade next to him urged him and at the same time, he stabbed his spear into the throat of the enemy. The enemy suddenly opened his eyes and held his throat with his hands. He wanted to scream, but he couldn''t make a sound. His expression was filled with extreme pain and his whole face was distorted.

    When hisrade pulled out his spear, the blood from the wound gushes out like a fountain. The wounded enemy begins to breathe heavily, which made the other enemy woke up from his sleep.

    ¡°Why are you not doing it yet!¡± Hisrade once more said. Arsinis finally stopped hesitating, and he quickly stabbed out his spear and pierced the enemy''s chest.

    Hisrade turned his head and nodded to Arsinis. Although the expression on his face could not be seen due to his helmet, Arsinis still could guess that it must be a satisfied smile. Inspired by that smile, he resisted the difort in his stomach and continued killing the enemy that were still sleeping outside the tent.

    There is a tent in front of the squad, which blocked their route. Xethippus made a gesture, and the ten soldiers surrounded the tent and then plunged their spears inside. There was a burst of poking apanied by screams as blood sshed on the curtain.

    ¡°Arsinis!¡± Shouted Xethippus.

    Arsinis immediately held up his shield, bent down and went inside the tent, and soon came out and said, ¡°There are four men, two¡­blerch¡­two are seriously injured, and the others¡­blerch¡­are all dead.¡±

    ¡°Regardless, keep going!¡± Xethippus waved his hand, then looked at Arsinis and said, ¡°Even if you vomit, do not stop and move forward.¡±

    After a long march, Arsinis saw the enemying out of the tent by groups in front of them. They were wearing short sleeve linen clothes, some were even naked and most of them were unarmed. They seemed to still have not beenpletely awakened from their drunkenness and drowsiness. They looked at Arsinis and didn''t understand what was going on until they saw Arsinis and the others stabbing some of them down. The screams have woken them up, they did not rush forward to fight, but cried out in panic, ¡°There are enemies! There are enemies!¡­¡± Under the attack of Arsinis and the others, they fled everywhere. The panic and confusion had made Arsinis remember that when he was a child, he went up on the mountain together with his father and saw some sheep getting chased by hungry wolves.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Kelebus'' ancestor were the earliest immigrants of Crotone, so they were allocated arge and fertile ¡°share ofnd¡± and his whole family lived a rtively rich farming and pastoral life. However, with the passage of time and the rise of trading, many merchant citizens gained amazing wealth, and used the wealth to gain considerable power in Crotone''s political arena, and have be the new nobles of Crotone. Kelebus'' grandfather was an ambitious man, he envied these merchants and was no longer satisfied with farming. So he was determined to devote himself to the business trend and win a brighter future for his family. So he mortgaged theirnd, loaned arge sum of money, bought several ships, and started to do port transshipment trade with full of goods, sailing between the Greek city-state of Zakynthos in Iberia, Massalia in Gaul, Naples on the west coast of Italy, and back to Crotone.

    At first, everything went well and he made a lot of money, but then, when the cargo ship passed through the strait of Messana(Messina), it was caught in a vortex, and the ship was destroyed and the people on board died. Then the family of Kelebus began to decline, and when he grew up, his life was in a state of poverty. Apart from having the status of a citizen of Crotone, he had nothing like a freeman from other city-states. However, he could vote in the lesia and join the army to fight.

 Chapter 144: Surprise Attack (III)

    This time, he went out to follow Mnseus to battle, but he didn''t expect that it would be so smooth. They easily manage to capture the city of Thurii, and Kelebus had also managed to seized a lot of spoils. ¡®No wonder that many people had said that Mnseus was favored by the Goddess of Fortune.¡¯ Moreover, he heard that the city hall of Crotone are preparing for the immigration to the Sybaris in. After returning to Crotone, he would first cash in his spoils, saved money, marry a wife and then joined the immigration team of Crotone. Thend in the Sybaris in is more t and vast than that of Crotone, so he should be able to get a share ofnd.

    That night, Kelebus had a beautiful dream, but was awakened due to pain. He opened his eyes and saw hisrades running out of the tent like a ho who had their nest destroyed. He was trampled by several feet by the entrance of the tent.

    ¡°Watch it!¡± He roared angrily.

    ¡°Enemy attack! Come out and fight!¡± Hisrades shouted while they rushed out of the tent.

    ¡°Enemy attack? Where is the enemy?¡± Kelebus was still a bit confused.

    At this time, he heard screams one after another, so he roused his spirit and used his hands to push on the ground and reluctantly stood up. He drank a lot of winest night without mixing it with water. So he was a bit dizzy, and he couldn''t fully control his body, and almost fell down, because of that, he had no time to wear his helmet and armor. He grabbed his spear from the ground and staggered out of the tent. He could see the well-armed hoplites lining up in a tight formation, then they quickly approached them. His twopanions rushed up with their spears, but were soon stabbed by the enemy. The tacit cooperation, concise and skillful skill hadpletely awakened Kelebus, and fear instantly coursed through his whole body in an instant, and so, he threw away his spear and ran away..

    ¡°Run away! Get out of the way!¡± With a strong desire to survive, Kelebus looked at the direction of the sun in the sky as he run. He decided to flee to the east, because the city of Roscianum is in the east.

    After running for a while, he saw some people running towards him, but they shouted out in horror, ¡°There are enemies, run quickly!¡­¡±

    ¡®There are enemies in the east as well?!¡¯ When he heard it, it made Kelebus flustered and end up following them.

    Next, he ran around like a headless fly, and more and more people started following him, many animals had even fled together with them, which had injured many people, but still couldn''t escape.

    By this time, Kelebus became more flustered and understood that they were surrounded, and the encirclement was shrinking.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Legion headquarters of Davos is just behind the second brigade, between the camp of Crotone and the city of Roscianum. Thirty guards were waiting, and their attention were focused on the east, and captain Martius raised the Legion g. While Davos was carefully listening to the report of Ledes on thetest situation of the battle from his cavalry team.

    ¡°The first brigade had started their offense!¡±

    ¡°The second brigade had also started their offense!¡±

    ¡°The third brigade had also started their offense!¡±

    ¡°The seventh brigade and the Lucanian brigade had also started their offense!¡±

    ¡°The first brigade manage to break in and the enemy did not resist!¡±

    ¡°The second brigade is smoothly advancing!¡±

    ¡°The first brigade crossed the logistic area and continued to advance!¡±

    ¡°So quickly?!¡± Davos was somewhat surprised and asked, ¡°How did they do it?¡±

    Ledes replied, ¡°All the freeman and ves who had taken refuge in Crotone were all around the logistic area. When they saw our troops, they all ran away. Kapus and his troops bypass the area and just left some troops to clear the area, while the rest of the troops advanced.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, Kapus made the right decision!¡± Davos nodded approvingly.

    At this time, another cavalry report came, ¡°The second brigade has turned into two rows!¡±

    ¡°The brigade has be two rows!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Legatus, our offense went smooth and the encirclement is shrinking rapidly!¡± Asistes was excited.

    ¡°Yes, it went smoothly beyond my expectation!¡± Davos breathed and his nervousness was relieved, and then he asked Ledes, ¡°Is there no movement in the city of Roscianum?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°It seems that the vignce of the enemy and their reaction to danger is very low, seems like Arpenst won''t be able to fight this time.¡± Davos was in the mood to joke around, ¡°When that champion wakes up from his sleep, he would be confused and ask, ¡®Where did my troops go?¡¯¡±

    There was a burst ofughter from the people around.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In fact, Davos'' judgment was still wrong. The sentry of Roscianum did not fail to notice that there was something amiss in the camp of Crotone. Although the Crotonian camp is few kilo-meters away from the city, and due to the covering of the woods and rivers, even the outline of the camp cannot be seen even when standing on the city wall. However, the sentries can still vaguely hear the huge sound with a mix of screaming of tens of thousands of soldiers.

    And so, the sentries reported this abnormal situation to the captain, but the captain had thought that the camp of the Crotonians should be very safe! The Bruttians in the west were cut off by the mountains, to the north, while Thurii has been burned, and the Trionto river protects them, and in the south, Krimisa has also joined Crotone, and Roscianum is in the northeast, and so, Crotone doesn''t have any enemy at the moment. Is it the arrogant Crotonians who got up early in the morning and started partying again?

    Out of habit of his profession, he still symbolically sent some cavalry to see what happened. As a result, just as they are passing through the woods, they were all annihted by the archers of Arpenst who stayed there for an ambush.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the further reduction of the encirclement, some centuria had even changed into three rows because the line of attack is shrinking. While the army of Crotone who are surrounded became more and more crowded due to the reduction of space.

    Even though Mnseus and the other senior officers were invited to the city for a party and failed to return, the captains were still there. In particr, as soon as the officers who were sleeping in the middle of the camp realized that the situation was not right, they began to ask their men to put on their armor, take up weapons (because most of them were drunk) and to get ready to fight. It was just that the attack of the Amendrans were so fast that there were fleeing soldiers everywhere, which disrupted their hastily organized troops. But now, when the space is sopressed and the deserters couldn''t run around anymore, the captain with a bright crest on their helmet became their backbone.

    ¡°We are surrounded. We can only survive if we break out through the east! Go east!¡­¡± The captains yelled in unison to attract the attention of the people around them. Under their leadership, they began to rush towards the sun, and the army of Amendra has also faced the most severe test since their surprise attack.

    Drakos did not panic at all when he saw the dense enemying. This is not the first time that his second brigade has encountered this situation. Thest time, they had blocked the vicious Lucanian''s attack, and after several months of training, they are now more confident in blocking these poorly armed, without any armor and even naked enemies.

    ¡°Defend on the spot!¡± Drakos ordered the drummers. (note: each brigade is equipped with five drummers, who can not only convey instructions, but also adjust the pace of the soldiers with the sound of drums during the march in order to keep the formation consistent and to also boost morale.)

    The rhythmic sound of the drums sounded, and the g bearers of each centuria waved their gs. In fact, ording to the judgment of the centurion, they have already began telling their soldiers to stop and defend.

    The charge of Crotone is like a row of big waves, even though it is impressive, its power is scattered. The defense of the second brigade was like an iron wall, thin but strong.

    The two armies collided. One has maintained their offensive, and consumed a lot of stamina, while the other had fled from the very start and are exhausted. One is fully armed, while the other is not fully equipped. One has lesser number, while the other one has more. The oue of a sh between the two sides is obvious, however, the Crotonians have finally showed their bravery at this critical moment. Without weapons, they hit them with their bodies and feet, when they got stabbed by the spears, they will grabbed it tightly with their bare hands.

    For a moment, the second brigade is in a arduous struggle.

    When Davos learned about it, he immediately ordered, ¡°The rest of the brigade speed up their attack and bring down the enemy!¡±

    At the same time, he ordered Ledes to send Arpenst back with the peltast to assist in the attack of the second brigade, while Davos had also led his guards forward.

    When the Legion g appeared behind the defense line of the second group, and the bronze statue of Hades shone in the morning light, the soldiers of the second brigade who had been struggling had their morale boosted greatly.

    ¡°Drakos, can you still hold on?¡± Davos asked the senior centurion of the second brigade, who wasmanding in the rear.

    ¡°Legatus, we will soon be able to defeat the enemy!¡± Drakos clenched his teeth and turned to the drummers and yelled, ¡°Beat the drums to signal the attack! We must attack!¡±

    Under the gaze of themander and the sound of the drums that signals attack, the soldiers became full of energy. Although they only have three rows in their formation and were rtively thinpared to the enemy, they still manage to start their counterattack. They vigorously waved their round shield and strike forward, and the spears in their hand prates into the exposed gap. If the enemy grabbed their spears, they will pull out their kopis and then shed them. Originally, the confrontation between Greek hoplite was very taxing. The metal rattled when their shields collided with each other, and the ttering sounds of the spears on the armor, and the sound of the kopis shing at each other. It was impossible to defeat the opponent in just a short time, but now, with every swing, every stab, and every sh, you can hear the enemy groaning in pain, the tearing sound of metal stabbing into the bones and flesh of the enemy, and the string of blood brought by the kopis¡­

    The rapid counterattack of the second brigade resisted the impact of the enemy, and the courage of the majority of the Crotonians, who were unarmed and didn''t even have an armor, were quickly weakened before the iron wall.

    The peltast who arrived soon rained arrows and stones at the rear off the Crotonians'' formation, making their subsequent forces unable to keep up to form a concentrated force.

    Thest weight on the scale of the war was the fierce attack of the other three brigades. The encirclement was shrinking rapidly, and the Crotonian army in the center was almost crowded with people, making it difficult for them to turn around, let alone break through.

    Nearly ten thousand of men were tightly surrounded in this big circle less than 500 meters round. The arrows and stones in the sky kept on falling, and the shouts of ¡®surrender and you won''t be killed'' rang around, and with people constantly screaming and falling down, the panic and fear quickly permeated the enemy¡­

    The freeman and the ves were the first to kneel on their knees.

    Followed by the soldiers of Scylletium, Krimisa and Roscianum.

    Then finally, the exhausted Crotonians lowered their proud head¡­

 Chapter 145: Post Victory

    The sentries of the city of Roscianum were still waiting for their cavalry to return, and the noise at the camp of Crotone seemed to have disappeared. Out of doubt, the captain himself had led ten cavalry out of the city from the south gate, crossed the pontoon bridge, and went westward through the forest. Everything was still the same*, until they reached around the bank of the Trionto river and climbed up the high slope. What appeared in front of them was a shocking scene. In the vast tnd where the Crotonians had camped, was a mess of copsed tents, scattered weapons, horses and animals that are running wildly, and what was more terrible was the dense number of corpses, and the seriously wounded soldiers struggling in pain, and the bright rednd stained with blood. In the middle of the camp, were many heavily armed soldiers, who have surrounded a huge number of people that were not well dressed, and kept their encirclement, then they escorted a row of captives that have their hands bound¡­. (note: Arpenst'' peltast had already hidden the bodies of the previous scouts and removed the traces.)

    A tremendous fear gripped the heart of the captain, ¡®The Crotonians were defeated?!!!¡¯

    The captain quickly turned his horse around and galloped towards the city of Roscianum, while these terrible and strange enemies have still not notice them¡­

    ¡°Legatus, the cavalry of Roscianum has returned to their city.¡± Ledes came to report.

    ¡°Asistes, inform the 7th brigade and the Lucanian brigade to set an ambush in the woods. The city of Roscianum will probably¡­no, it should be Mnseus who will give us a great gift! Ledes, you keep a close watch on the city of Roscianum!¡± Davos gave the order.

    ¡°Roger!¡± Ledes followed Davos order and Asistes then sent a herald to the north.

    After a while, Davos then ordered Asistes again, ¡°How long has it been since a cavalry been sent to Mersis?¡±

    ¡°About half an hour¡­Legatus, there are too many goods in the logistic area! Since some of the animals were injured and some have even scattered during the attack, and we are short of beasts of burden to carry the supplies.¡± Said Asistes, slightly worried.

    Davos smiled and pointed to the prisoners, who are not far away, crouching on the ground under the pressure of spears and swords, ¡°Aren''t they already a ready-made ¡®beast of burden¡¯? It doesn''t matter if they walk slowly, as it will also consume their strength. Anyway, these Crotonians who have trainedpetitively for a long time can still be useful.¡±

    ¡°Ah! Why didn''t I thought about that! Legatus, you alwayse up with great idea!¡± Eximed Asistes and praised him.

    ¡°Asi, if only your ability to handle things is as good or better as your ability to tter!¡± After the great victory, Davos was also in a good mood, and so he joked around with Asistes for a while, and then said, ¡°Let''s go and see the soldiers. They are the heroes of this victory.¡±

    In the distance, a glittering g was slowly approaching, and a strategos wearing a distinctive helmet with a purple, white, and red crest appeared on the battlefield, and those cruel and ruthless enemies immediately gave out thunderous cheers, and so, the gazes of the captives were filled with horror and sorrow.

    ¡°Davos!!¡±

    ¡°Davos!!¡±

    ¡°Victory!!¡±

    ¡°Victory!!¡±

    The clever men among the captives had immediately thought that this strategos was probably the Archon of Amendra whom they had insulted, and these enemies were the owners of the buildings that they had burned. At that time, they hadughed at the cowardice of the citizens of Amendra, but now they are shaking under the spears of these ¡°timid¡± enemies¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The polemarchos of Roscianum, Amikles, was shocked by the emergency news from the captain of the city defense, and immediately sent someone to inform Mnseus and his subordinates.

    Mnseus was sleeping in a guest house with a high-ss prostitute in his arms, but he was then forcefully awakened and so, he was extremely dissatisfied. But after hearing the anxious report from his subordinate, he manage to immediately wake up. Then said, ¡°Maybe the enemy had broken into our camp and was captured by our soldiers¡­¡±

    Timaras shook his head with great concern, ¡°The Roscianum had said, ¡®although the gs held by the heavily armed soldiers are blurry from a distance, but it is not the g of Crotone because of its peculiar shape and style!¡¯ Mnseus, we have to rescue them!¡±

    ¡°¡­ah¡­ah, you''re right, you are right¡­¡± Mnseus has never expected that they would suddenly get attack while they werecent about returning home triumphantly. He was unable to stop himself from getting flustered, ¡°Come! Come with me and find Amikles and ask him to send out all the citizens of Roscianum together with us in order to rescue them!¡±

    Amikles, naturally, could notpletely agree with Mnseus, as he must first ensure the safety of Roscianum, but he did not dare to offend Crotone by refusing the request of Mnseus. Moreover, some of the soldiers of Roscianum were also trapped in the camp, and so, he hastily assembled 700 citizen soldiers and were led by Mnseus and his subordinates, to rescue the captives.

    Mnseus hastily marched towards the camp, while Timaras had advised him to be cautious, but he said, ¡°ording to the information of the Roscianum, the number of the enemy is smaller than us, and they have estimated that the reason they manage to win is because they did a sneak attack. Now that they are still in the same ce and want to turn our soldiers into captives, our sudden attack will certainly surprise them. At the same time, it will also arouse the resistance of the soldiers who have surrendered. The enemy will instead be defeated by us! I will make these thugs who have the audacity to attack Crotone pay a heavy price!¡± Mnseus is like a gambler who had his eyes turned red, and was looking forward to hisst big bet, in order to win back all his previous losses.

    When his troops passed through the forest in a marching column, they were suddenly got attack by the peltast of Amendra who were lying in ambush. Epiphanes led the peltast to rain down arrows, stones and javelins at them, causing a lot of casualties. While the soldiers of Roscianum was in a state of panic, the Lucanians rushed into the enemy line with a Greek kopis like a tiger attacking a sheep¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Legatus, the reinforcements of Crotone has been defeated! With the few exceptions who had managed to escape back to Roscianum, the others were either killed or captured!¡± Ledes rushed back to report it excitedly.

    Davos nodded, without feeling much joy, as this was a well prepared ambush, so victory is already assured.

    Seeing the calm expression on Davos face, Ledes added, ¡°The Lucanians have also managed to capture two high-ranking officers of Crotone, Mnseus and Timaras!¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± Davos smiles, but not because they manage to capture the enemy''s high-ranking officers, ¡°The Lucanians have made a great contributions, so their sentence will be reduced by half a year.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the Lucanians cut into the Roscianum''s ranks, Mnseus'' many years of military experience have told him that failure was inevitable.

    So he immediately turned around and raw away. However, the Lucanians seemed to recognize him, and after paying several casualties, they manage to push him down and dragged him to Davos.

    ¡°Mnseus, we finally meet.¡± A gentle young voice sounded in his ears.

    Mnseus struggled to raise his head. His handsome face was scarred by the sand and stone that were along the way as he got dragged. His vision was blurred by blood, he blinked his eyes hard. Then an unfamiliar young face appeared in front of him.

    ¡°Who¡­are you?¡±

    ¡°The archon of Amendra, Davos.¡±

    ¡°Amendra? Davos?¡± Mnseus, who had his head repeatedly hit before, was a bit slow to respond, and suddenly, his eyes widened, ¡°Amendra?! Amendra!! You are despicable to sneakily attack us without dering war! You have vited the tradition of the Greek city-state and defiled the honor of the Greeks. The Greek city-states of Magna Graecia will punish Amendra!¡±

    ¡°Champion of the Olympics, aren''t you too conceited?!¡± sneered Davos, ¡°The war had already started when your troops entered the territory of Amendra without permission and burned our buildings. As for the sneak attack, I vaguely remember that an athlete''s maxim is ¡®the winner proves his strength by his actions, and the loser can only conceal his weakness with excuses.¡¯ I am not sure if I am right?¡±

    Mnseus bowed his head and said in a low voice, ¡°I hope that you will treat me and the soldiers well. Crotone will pay Amendra enough ransom.¡±

    ¡°It isn''t me that will decide whether you will get treated welll.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­who?¡±

    ¡°The surviving people of Thurii!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Mersis arrived at the camp of Crotone, he saw the mountains of spoils and burst intoughter. But he soon got upset, because these loaded carts couldn''t cross the river.

    Davos then said with confidence, ¡°It''s simple, we cross the river by the fording ce.¡±

    Therefore, after the soldiers and the people of Amendra have cleaned up all the valuable things in the camp of Crotone (including weapons, armors, and linen shirts worn by the dead enemy), formed a long line heading east, through the forest, and can be seen in the city of Roscianum on the north bank of the Trionto river.

    Davos could even hear the panicked voices of the enemy who were at the top of the city wall. So he jokingly said to Mersis, ¡°Didn''t you say that we don''t have enough beasts of burden? You can go and borrow some from the Roscianums¡±

    Mersis did indeed sent people to borrow some beast of burdens.

    At the top of the city wall, the polemarchos of Roscianum, Amikles, and the others watched the heavily armed Greek infantry march on the south bank of the Trionto river with their spears and shields. And under the escort of their spears and shields, were prisoners who were dejected, stained with blood, carrying heavy things and faltering, as well as jubnt people in civilian clothing and the logistic camp full of items¡­the long line bypassed the city and went straight to the boats. The expression of every Roscianum were tense and puzzled, but there was no anger nor greed, because most of the citizens of Roscianum have lost half of their numbers. Now that they don''t even have enough troops for defending the city, how could they even dare to provoke this terrible army.

    ¡°They¡­where did they came from?¡± One member of the council asked nervously.

    Amikles looked at the direction where they are marching, and said with uncertainty, ¡°They are heading north, they are probably¡­from Amendra.¡±

    ¡°The mercenaries who have defeated the Lucanians?!¡± The strategos Gorkes'' eyes widened.

    ¡°Very likely!¡± Said Amikles to Gorkes, and Amikles strengthened his spection, ¡°Maybe only they could dare to defeat the powerful Crotonians!¡±

    ¡°They¡­they have sent someone!¡± Someone shouted with a trembling voice.

    The people on the top of the city wall, from the soldiers to the strategoi, had all became nervous.

    ¡°We are citizens of Amendra. The archon, Davos, has asked me to borrow a hundred beast of burden from you. We will return them back after we have finished our transportation!¡±

    The voice of the one that hade to the city was clear, then everyone looked at each other.

    Davos! The hero in the rumor who had saved Thurii! The Archon of Amendra! Amikles could only smile bitterly. This is the second time that Davos has saved Thurii, but it has also made Roscianum suffer.

    In the top of the city wall of Roscianum, the strategoi and the council member agreed after a brief discussion. It wasn''t because of Davos good reputation in keeping his promise, but in the words of Amikles, ¡®The situation in the northern part of Magna Graecia is bound to change greatly because of the destruction and capturing of the huge army of Crotone by the Amendrans. So we need to act carefully, and what is more, many of our citizens might have be the captives of Amendra, and leaving a good impression on them, might make us be able to negotiate with them in the future.¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the early morning, a few people of Thurii who had already woken up, saw the people of Amendra who had rescued them have gathered together and began to cross the pontoon bridge and head south. They were surprised and uneasy, ¡®Are the Amendrans going to leave us?¡¯

    At noon, all the people of Thurii, and some of the freeman and ves have woken up in front of an empty camp, their helplessness and despair reached the utmost point. Then they prostrated on the ground and crying, because the words of Cornelius, Stromboli and other few people have persuaded them that ¡®Amendra had went to war with the army of Crotone and has won¡¯ this is totally unbelievable, and even those who are overly emotional have sweared.

    At this time, someone yelled in horror, ¡°Look! Look! An army ising!¡±

    They all look back in a hurry, then the people of Thurii saw a majestic army, led by a strange g that they had never seen before, crossing the pontoon bridge with vigorous steps and marching towards their direction.

    ¡°That''s our army! The army of Amendra! They are back victoriously!¡± Cornelius, the Praetor of the city of Amendra, who had not approved the war with Crotone at the previous council meeting, although the resolution was passed, he still has a hidden uneasiness. But at this moment, he cheered like a child.

    Kunogta looked at the approaching army of Amendra, and there was only one thing in his mind, ¡°The Amendrans have won! They won!! They have defeated the powerful army of Crotone!!!¡±

    The people of Thurii were skeptical.

    But soon, when the troops at the front stepped on the north bank of the Crati river and approached them, they could see that it was the young and gentle archon of Amendra who was walking at the head of the army and was under that peculiar g! At this moment, he is fully armed, but not wearing a helmet, and was waving at them with a smile. The hot sun reflected from his shining armor as it emitted the most dazzling light like a god.

    At this time, some people with sharp eyes noticed that behind Davos was a person walking with his hands tied on his back, naked and being led, and once he walked slowly, the guard with a spear will leave a wound on his body. Why does this man look like Mnseus, the demon who ordered the burning of Thurii?! Did the army of Crotone really got defeated by Amendra?!!

    There is no doubt about it, because behind the vanguard troops, they saw soldiers of Amendra holding spears and escorting young men with heavy loads that were all naked and faltering along the way. The troops stretches all the way to the south with no end in sight¡­

    Looking at this incredible spectacle, the people of Thurii burst into tears. They cried,ughed and screamed, and threw rubble at the soldiers of Crotone. Some even went to fight them like lunatics¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Standing on a makeshift wooden stage. Davos looked at the people of Thurii who quickly came together with the old and the young. He said with a solemn, but passionate loud voice, ¡°People of Thurii, in these days, the Crotonians had upied your homes. You have lost your loved ones and your homes, and you have cried helplessly on its ruins! But the gods have not forsaken you. He has made your neighbor, the brave Amendra, not afraid of the strong enemy and defeat the demons that have destroyed Thurii! The gods have also asked the kind people of Amendra to help you with what you need, food and clothing! The night will pass and the light will shine in front of you! Although you have no home, we can build a morefortable house! You have no city, we can rebuild a stronger city! You have no temple, we can rebuild a more magnificent temple! People of Thurii, wipe your tears, lift your chest and join hands with the people of Amendra and together, we will build a much beautiful home and build a city-state free from foreign invasion!¡±

    The people of Thurii have once again burst into tears. They cheered and worshipped, the hero Davos, who had saved Thurii twice, as if he was a god.

    Davos gave his order, ¡®the captured senior officers headed by Mnseus and Timaras will be put on the wooden stage, and their life and death will be decided by the people of Thurii.¡¯

    The cheers of the people of Thurii reached its peak. They rushed forward, venting their anger with stones, stick, fist and teeth. Soon the Crotonians have be bloody and miserable, but the people of Thurii did not stop, even though the enemy had fallen to the ground and was dying.¡­

    Watching this bloody scene, Ansitanos could only sigh, ¡°From now on, I am afraid that Thurii will be different¡­¡±

    Kunogta then pointed to Davos, who was standing on the side of the wooden stage, watching the execution and said with a dignified expression, ¡°It is not that I am afraid, but that Thurii will certainly change!¡±

    Ansitanos was silent¡­

    This conclude this volume. If you want to know how Davos will resettle the people of Thurii who had lost their homes, and whether he would take the Sybaris into his pocket, and the impact of this great victory on Magna Graecia and whether the defeated Crotonians would start a greater war¡­.then stay tune for the next volume: Theonia''s City-State Union

 Chapter 146: Establishing the Thua Union

    In the afternoon, Davos held an urgent meeting with the council of Amendra and he have invited Kunogta, as well as more than a dozen notable and influential citizens of Thurii, including Ansitanos and Burkes, and even Plesinas and Bolus.

    Asistes was puzzled and asked, ¡°My lord, why should we allow, a brazen and vile person like Plesinas, take part as well?¡±

    Davos answered him with seriousness, ¡°To us, Plesinas is shameless and vile. While for Thurii, he was a patriot who was willing to destroy his own honor for the benefit of the city-state. So we should also respect such people!¡±

    ¡°What about Bolus? He is a deserter!¡±

    Davos did not answer. He looked at Kunogta and though Kunogta was betrayed by Nianses and Bolus, he still suggested Davos to invite Bolus to attend this meeting, because his family has always been a rallying force of the immigrants of Boeotia in Thurii.

    Ever since the time when the people of Amendra havee to help the people of Thurii, Plesinas has been in a state of anxiety and even wants to leave Thurii and go to other city-states. When the herald of Amendra have found him and sent him an invitation, he was skeptical. Then the heralds ryed the words of Davos to him, and it made Plesinas to shed tears. It was because the people of Thurii, who had gotten the help of the people of Amendra for these past few days, had felt guilty and so they pushed the me on Plesinas for breaking the friendship between Thurii and Amendra. Even his family are alienating him, and the affirmation of Davos had made him very grateful.

    At the same time, the invitation to Plesinas has also made the people of Thurii to see the attitude of Amendra to let bygones be bygones, which relieved many of them that have made efforts to antagonize Amendra.

    But because of the poor conditions, the meeting was held on the meadow. The people sat on the ground in a circle, and was surrounded by the guards.

    At the meeting, Davos had proposed the establishment of the Thurii-Amendra Union, and the citizens of the two cities will share an Archon and a Council, and invite the statesmen of Thurii to join, including Kunogta to be a member of the new union''s Senate*. (T/N: We are now changing Council to Senate, but only for the Thurii-Amendra Union in order to reflect this new change that the new union had brought and how Davos is copying some aspects of Rome. Or do you prefer to just keep it as council? )

    This proposal was discussed by Davos in advance with the statesmen of Thurii, who were in a weak position and were heavily reliant on the aid and protection of Amendra. In addition, they can also join the senate, so why should they refuse?

    This news soon reached the people of Thurii, most of whom were cheering. The main reason is that if this union is established, then they will be able to ept the aid of Amendra and the protection of Amendra''s powerful soldiers, without worrying about betrayal and worrying about being abandoned, because everyone have be a family!!

    The cheers was transmitted back to the ears of the new statesmen of Thurii, who were in the meeting, and theirst concern disappeared.

    Then Davos added, since Thurii and Amendra have be a family, thews of Amendra should also apply to Thurii, and the rights and obligations enjoyed by the people of Amendra should also apply to the citizens of Thurii.

    With the exception of a small number of statesmen of Thurii who had a slight objection regarding thew about ¡°citizens who owns and will have to pay a one percentnd tax every year¡±, the proposal of Davos was passed by a huge vote.

    Then Davos have also put forward the fulfillment of the previousmitment in granting freedom to the ves who had taken part in the battle with the Lucanian alliance. And also, to make the freeman, that have taken part in the battle with the Lucanians alliance, but had not betrayed Thurii and joined the army of Crotone, a preparatory citizen of the new union. While the leader of the freeman, who have started the rebellion that led to the fall of Thurii, shall be sentenced to death by the people of Thurii!

    The proposal was passed without debate. Because through the burning of the city of Thurii, the people of Thurii have also carried out deep reflection in themselves, and they realized that it was precisely because of Thurii''s breaking its promise and improper treatment of the freeman and ves that have led to this disaster.

    After listening to the proposal of Davos, Plesinas was slightly embarrassed. And to his surprise, Davos had suggested that Plesinas will be the one responsible for implementing this proposal. This was a good opportunity for Plesinas to wash his own stain, and he was once again grateful to Davos.

    In fact, most of the freeman who have participated in the battle of the Lucanian alliance have participated in the rebellion, and have followed the troops of Crotone to carry the spoils to Crotone. As a result, they were captured by the army of Amendra. While the ves who manage to escape because of the fall of Thurii, most of the miner ves have fled to the mountains, while most of the ves in the city have chosen to stay, because in most case, they will still end up being a ve if they flee to other ces, and if they were captured by the aborigines, their situation would be even worse. Hence, it would still better for them to follow a familiar master, in addition to having no freedom, they could still live a good life. There are very few freeman and ves that have really meet the requirements of the bill, but for those who still lingered in the ruins of Thurii and have not left, this is undoubtedly a great news. They also thought about the rumors regarding the Archon having a good opinion on the ves and freeman, and he was also an Archon for life, which means that they will have more opportunities to be free and be official citizen in the future.

    By stabilizing the feelings of the freeman and the ves, and stimting their enthusiasm for the new union, it guaranteed the security of Thurii, because they are far more numerous than the citizens of Thurii.

    The first Senate meeting of Thurii-Amendra Union was highly efficient, passing numerous proposals to help the reconstruction of Thurii, and Davos had also proposed Kunogta to be the Praetor of the city of Thurii and was elected with a high vote, and among the votes, are from the votes of the statesmen of Thurii. The main reason is due to Kunogta sparing no effort in helping the people of Thurii, which made them feel guilty. In addition, the shrewd statesmen of Thurii also knew that the future political situation will be dominated by the people of Amendra for a long time. So if Kunogta can be valued by Davos, then they will need to work hard in order to make Kunogta speak for the people of Thurii.

    Since the two cities are not far away from each other, so the office of the city''s praetor will be shared by both cities. If necessary, they can assign a deputy or an assistant to each city for them to perform their duties.

    Simultaneously, a Council responsible for Thurii''s reconstruction was established, it was led by Davos and was supplemented by the two city''s praetors, Cornelius and Kunogta, to lead the reconstruction of the whole of Thurii.

    In the end, Burkes was the one to ask the questions that the people of Thurii were worried about, ¡°What if the Crotonianse again?¡±

    Davos expression didn''t change and said with a smile, ¡°I think the military officer can answer this question.¡±

    Philesius stood up and said, ¡°Everyone, I would like to briefly introduce our army''s achievement this time. We have sent out a total of 4,895 soldiers, and more than 6,000 enemies were killed and 9,000 enemies were captured (this is a very high casualty rate, with an average of one soldier of Amendra defeating more than one enemy. ording to the average battle, even though thebat strength of the soldiers of Amendra was strong, this situation shouldn''t happen at all, as it was only because of the sneak attack at that time that made Crotone suffer such a high casualty, under such special circumstance like drunkenness, sleeping,ck of armor and weapons), and only 72 of our citizens have died, while 200 were injured.¡±

    As soon as this was said, the senators of Thurii were astounded.

    Philesius continued, ¡°Of the nine thousand prisoners, there are about five thousand Crotonian. (mainly because the Crotonians have arranged the camp with the soldiers from other city-states to be on the periphery)¡± Philesius then took a look at Davos, then continued, ¡°We can use these captives to force Crotone to have a truce with us. If the truce agreement fails, even though Thurii has been burned down, the walls are made of stones, and most of them are still in good condition. So we can organize arge number of people to repair the wall quickly and defend against the attack of Crotone. At the same time, we can also seek assistance from Taranto.¡±

    ¡°Will Taranto help us?¡± Burkes was puzzled. It must be know that Thurii have already tried it before, but Taranto has only sent an envoy as a symbolic and there was no more movement after they failed to persuade Crotone.

    ¡°Now that the strength of Crotone has been greatly damage, not only Taranto will help us, but Locri will also take action!¡± Kunogta, who was familiar with the situation of the city-states in Magna Graecia, said, ¡°Milord, we should organize our manpower now, and build the wall of the city first, and then try to form an alliance with Taranto at once!¡±

    ¡°We and Taranto are allies!¡± Said Amintas abruptly.

    ¡°That''s not the same, it was Amendra who signed with Taranto, and now, Amendra has be the Thurii-Amendra Union.¡± Antonios exined it to him in a low voice.

    Amintas scratched his head in embarrassment.

    ¡°Lord Kunogta, you have reminded me that we indeed need the help of Taranto now!¡± In his mind, he didn''t think the assistance of Taranto was necessary, but they need to understand the attitude of Taranto. Because Amendra, was originally just a humble ally of Taranto, but suddenly, it became a two city-state union, and its strength has increased rapidly. What would Taranto think? Kunogta has reminded him! So Davos express his gratitude.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Mariji and Ansitanos were then ordered to go to the Council of Taranto.

    When the archon of Taranto and elders heard that Amendra has defeated the army of Crotone, they still couldn''t believe it. Tens of thousands soldiers of Crotone were defeated and captured in one morning. This was not the fanatical, but undisciplined, ferocious, but couldn''tst long, Lucanians, but a real Greek citizen soldiers, and it is even the citizen soldier of Crotone who are known for their sports and strength. How could it not shock Taranto!

 Chapter 147: Renewing the Alliance

    ¡°It seems that Davos is indeed blessed by the gods, as he had created another miracle!¡± Archytas sighed, his eyes were sincere without a hint of jealousy, but more on curiosity, ¡°I want to know how Davos manage to beat Crotone!¡±

    Marigi briefly told them about the process of the battle, and he emphasized that it was a night attack, and that the Crotonians were too proud and unprepared. They not only did not build a camp with seriousness, but also were drunk, which have made their surprise attack easier.

    However, the statesmen of Taranto were still shocked by the military talent of Davos. It was clear that the victory of the young Archon against the Lucanians was not a fluke, nor did he rely on the reinforcements that Taranto had sent.

    The statesmen of Taranto became even more cautious to the envoys of Amendra.

    One of the Archon, Umacas, said, ¡°Amendran, since you have already won, then what are you doing here in Taranto? Are you here to unt your achievements?¡±

    ¡°We, people of Amendra, have always been filled with respect to Taranto that have saved us! So we never dare think to show off!¡± Marigi bowed to them to show his respect, and then said, ¡°We are here because Thuriii, who have lost their home, and Amendra have formed a Union. Therefore, it is necessary to revise our agreement with Taranto.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?!!¡± There was an uproar in the Council, ¡°The people of Thurii have formed a Union with you? What Union?¡±

    ¡°You sure that you, Amendrans, have not taken thend of Thurii by force? Just like how your leader have taken over Amendra!¡± Eximed one of the statesmen.

    ¡°I protest to what his lord has said!¡± Marigi shouted out angrily, ¡°This is not only an insult to our Archon! But also an insult to Amendra! I can''t believe that this came from Amendra''s closest ally!¡±

    ¡°Lord Diaoms, what you have said is not right! On the day of the lesia in Amendra, I was there and witness it with my own eyes on how the people of Amendra warmly invited the mercenaries to be their citizens!¡± Archytas stood up to defend Amendra.

    Despite the affirmation of Archytas, Diaoms still strongly retorted, ¡°If it wasn''t for the coercion of Amendra, then why would Thurii choose to unite with the weak and poor Amendra, rather than the rich and powerful Taranto?¡±

    ¡°Diaoms is right. If it wasn''t for Amendra''s threat, then Thurii would have chosen Taranto!¡± Many of them immediately agreed.

    The people of Taranto think that they are the best! Marigi sneered in his heart, and immediately wanted to refute them, but he was held back by Ansitanos, who stood up and said, ¡°Esteemed statesmen of Taranto. I am Ansitanos, I was originally a strategos of Thurii, and I have visited Taranto a lot of times in the past. Some of you should know me, such as lord Umacas and lord Disitimas¡­¡±

    The statesman that he had named had to nod.

    ¡°As a citizen of Thurii, I swear to Apollo that Amendra did not threaten Thurii with force! On the contrary, when the city of Thurii was upied by Crotone, that it even made the people of Thurii thought that they had been abandoned by the gods and have even given up struggling. However, only the weak Amendra is the only one that have not yielded to the powerful Crotone, and even though the powerful army of the enemy came to their border, they still adhered to their treaty with Thurii! When the city of Thurii was burned down, and we, the people of Thurii have lost our homes, and were threatened by wounds, disease and hunger, it was the people of Amendra that havee in time to hep us selflessly! Seeing the atrocious crime of burning the city, that the Crotonians havemitted, which is unheard of in the history of Greece, plundering all our things that we use to depend on in order to survive, without any punishment. When they left, no other city-state of Magna Graecia came out to uphold justice. Only the weak Amendra had dared to fight against the powerful Crotone, the enemy of Thurii and avenged us!

    What other city-states can do the things that Amendra did to Thurii?! We, the people of Thurii, regard Amendra as our hero that have saved us, and we even regarded them as a family. Therefore, from the bottom of our hearts, we are willing to share one Archon and a Senate with the people of Amendra, and share the rights and obligations as its citizens. They are like a brother in a family, without making any distinction between us. Hence why it is a natural choice for us, the people of Thurii!¡­¡±

    After listening to Ansitanos'' warm words, the Council of Taranto fell into silence, and some even felt ashamed.

    After a while, the Archon, Umacas, said coldly, ¡°Both Amendra and Thurii have united, and their strength is greatly stronger than before, and the prestige of Amendra alone can make the other city-states not dare invade them. It doesn''t seem to make sense for you to talk about alliance with Taranto.¡±

    Marigi put on a sincere expression and said, ¡°Before we came, Lord Davos had told me again and again that ¡®Taranto is the great benefactor of Amendra when we were in our most difficult situation! And if there would be any changes in Amendra in the future, our gratitude to Taranto will never change. I hope to have a long-term alliance with Taranto and to always be friends. We hope to have the opportunity to repay this kindness in the future!¡¯¡±

    The council of Taranto became quiet again.

    Another archon, Disitimas, stood up and said, ¡°Now, let us have the two envoys from Amendra and Thurii to leave for the time being while we discuss about the alliance.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Everyone, it is rumored that the Archon of Amendra, Davos, is a very young man. Young men are always energetic and full of ambition. He was a mercenary leader more than half a year ago, and now he is the Archon for life of two city-states. With such a fast rate of promotion, he is very simr to that man in Syracuse, Sicily! Hence why I don''t trust him very much!¡± Diaoms expressed his concern, ¡°I am afraid that if we were to form an alliance with them today, then one day they will turn their spear against us, Taranto!¡±

    The words of Diaoms made the statesmenugh, ¡°Diaoms, you are too timid! As for the three~four thousand citizens of Amendra, as well as the thousands of citizens left in Thurii, I am afraid that they will only have less than ten thousand people, will Taranto be afraid of them?!! Are you really a man of Taranto?!¡±

    ¡°It is even a question whether Amendra and Thurii can survive the wrath of Taranto*. Do they still have the time to think about other things?¡± (T/N: This should be Crotone)

    In theughter of the statesmen, Diaoms sneered at them, ¡°Everyone, when Thurii was founded, our ancestors in the Council of Taranto have also mocked them like what you are all doing today. What is the result? We were defeated twice by the people of Thurii! But it seems that we have not learned our lesson!¡±

    After hearing the words of Diaoms, some of them were thinking, while the others were not worried, and some have even rebuke him, ¡°That Thurii had the strong support from Athens, otherwise, we would have been the final winner! The current Amendra and Thurii are far from beingpared with the old Thurii. Diaoms, if Taranto even has to worry about this, then what are we still doing here? It would be better for us to immgrate as soon as possible!¡±

    ¡°I am just reminding everyone that Taranto needs to be vignt against Amendra! Amendra has such an Archon with a shocking military talent, and now they have merged with Thurii. In the future, they may be a strong city-state in the northern part of Magna Graecia, and cause trouble to Taranto. In order to prevent such a situation to happen, we must not support them, but should deliberately limit their development!¡± Said Diaoms patiently persuading them.

    Archytas stood up immediately and said in a loud voice, ¡°Since lord Diaoms is afraid of Amendra, then it stands to reason that we should make them our ally more, because their Archon has always kept his promise. Whether it was when he was still employed by Thurii, in where he had still led the mercenaries to stay and then turned defeat into victory, even though Thurii was miserably defeated and faced the danger of encirclement by the Lucanian alliance. When the army of Crotone reach their city, they still didn''t give up on their treaty with Thurii. All this shows that once the alliance with them is formed, Davos, as the archon for life, will not harm Taranto, but will even lend a helping hand when Taranto gets in trouble one day!¡±

    Then, Disitimas said, ¡°Archytas is right, statesmen, don''t forget who is the greatest threat to Taranto? It is not Amendra, it is not Thurii, but the Messapians who surround Taranto! The Messapians are hard to deal with, and those damned Athenians have taught them the tactics of the hoplites and armor making. Now, it is more and more difficult to deal with them every year. How many people they have killed, and how many farnds that they have destroyed every year! Our roots and temples are here, not in Amendra, not in Thurii! We should know that Taranto has only one city, while the Messapians upied most of Apulia. If they are allowed to grow in this way, we may lose all ournds outside the city and be trapped inside. This is the real reason why we advocate the establishment of the Magnra Graecia defensive alliance! So, isn''t it a good thing that Amendra and Thurii united?!¡±

    There was a long silence among the statesmen, and most of them became serious.

    In the end, ¡°The Taranto ¨C Thurii-Amendra alliance¡± proposal was passed. When the two sides concluded the treaty, although Taranto had promoted this new alliance as an ally with rtively equal strength, Thurii-Amendra still proposed that Taranto should still be the leader in future joint military operations.

    Marigi and Ansitanos did not raise any objection. Hence, the treaty was concluded.

 Chapter 148: The envoy of Crotone-Lysias

    When the report of the defeat of their army reached Crotone, the whole city became rmed.

    The city hall urgently called for a meeting, and it became a heated debate.

    On the one hand, Milo, the Polemarchos, denounced the despicableness of Amendra (referring to their sneak attack) and the ipetence of Mnseus, and proposed to organized another army to attack Amendra and restore the prestige of Crotone.

    Lysias opposed Milo and thought that, it was because of his order to burn the city that have caused the uneasiness of the surrounding city-states, and made them hostile to Crotone. Now that Crotone has suffered a great defeat, he should not use any more swords to avoid being besieged by the city-states such as Locri, Taranto and Amendra.

    Both sides have their own supoorters, and neither could convince the other.

    Half a dayter, a news that the united Amendra-Thurii* that had been deliberately spread had arrived. The Thua Union has captured more than five thousand men of Crotone, about a thousand men of Aprustum and Scylletium, about one thousand two hundred men of Krimisa and Roscianum, and more than a thousand freeman and ves¡­ (note: hereafter referred to as the Thua Union)

    The grieving people of Crotone heard about it and gain hope. They gathered and went to the city hall to make the Council buy back their loved ones.

    Then came another news, the Thua Union and Taranto have formed a military alliance.

    Milo finally stopped clinging to his own ideas, and after discussing it, the Council have finally decided to send Lysias as an envoy to Thurii in order to buy back the Crotonian captives of the Thua Union. If necessary, an armistice agreement could be signed.

    Lysias led the delegation to the north by boat, just in time to catch the wind. Half a dayter, they arrived at the estuary of the river Crati. Here he saw an astonishing sight: Innumerable merchant ships were densely arranged in the estuary like a wooden wall. From time to time, there will be ships sailing out of the wooden wall, and new ships wille from every directions¡­

    Wasn''t Thurii burned down? How can so many merchant shipe to tade? Lysias is full of doubt.

    Soon, his doubts were answered, as a crude fishing boat came close, ¡°Hello, have youe here to trade or something else?¡± Said a man in the bow.

    After receiving the instructions of Lysias, the attendant then asked, ¡°What do you do?¡±

    ¡°See the pattern on the sails?¡± The man pointed his hands up with a proud expression. A ck hair and me wrapped around the center of a cold, shining weapon ¨C the symbol of Hades, the Bident, ¡°You see, our Archon, Lord Davos, is a descendant of Hades! I am Seclian, and I am currently appointed by themercial officer, Lord Mariji, responsible to navigate the ships in order to keep the water way clear. So you must first tell me what you are here for or I will have to ask you to leave so as not to block the ships that are behind you.¡±

    Lysias hesitated for a moment, then he firmly made his decision, and called out to the other party, ¡°We are the delegates from Crotone, that have specially came here to negotiate with the Thua Union!¡±

    Instead of anger, insult and other extreme emotions, Seclian looked calm, he then nodded and said, ¡°You, Crotonians sure are calm that you only manage to arrived here just now. While the delegates of Roscianum, Krimisa and Scylletium have arrived earlier!¡±

    Lysias heart jolted, and his entourage asked him with curiousity, ¡°Why are you not angry?¡±

    ¡°Should I be angry because you are Crotonians?¡± Shrugged Seclian, ¡°You have burned Thurii, but I am not a citizen of Thurii. I am just a freeman. On the contrary, I am very grateful to you, Crotonians.¡±

    Seclian gave a mysterious smile, and then said, ¡°Let''s stop talking, and follow my boat, so that you won''t block the water way.¡±

    Seclian''s fishing boat led Lysias into the river Crati and sailed upstream.

    Looking at the estuary of the north bank, Lysias could see that several simple wooden docks had been built on the shore. Goods were constantly getting unloaded from the merchant''s ships, and the goods were then transported to the earthen enclosure not far from the dock by a cart. The location it was heading seemed to be the location of the old city of Sybaris.

    Lysias frowned. Initially, Crotone had sent an envoy to question why Thurii had vited their agreement, which was all agreed by the members of the Council. However, Lysias was opposed in sending troops to attack Thurii and avenge the envoy. By epting the apology of Thurii and getting morepensation, means that they already achieved their goal, so there is no need to send troops to war. It is not only a waste of money, but also, he is afraid that there will be an ident. And now, after the defeat of Crotone, Thurii finally no longer cares about the attitude of Crotone and began to take advantage of the old city of Sybaris.

    ¡°You still haven''t said why you should thank Crotone.¡± One of the envoy asked with curiousity.

    Seclian said in a loud voice from the fishing boat, ¡°Isn''t it already obvious?! If it had not been for you, Crotone, who had burned down Thurii, there would have been no Thua Union, and Davos would not be our Archon. He is a descendant of Hades, and even though his status is noble, he is still very concerned about the ordinary people. He also doesn''t discriminate against freeman and ves, and he is very friendly, just like an ordinary citizen! Have you ever heard of ¡¶Amendra''s Immigration Law¡· that Lord Davos have proposed and made intow? Oh wait, it should now be called ¡¶Thua Immigration Law¡·.¡±

    The Crotonians shook their heads.

    With an expression saying ¡°such ignorance¡±, Seclian said aloud the main content of the immigrationw, and then excitedly said, ¡°Lord Davos has said that thisw will be implemented when the city of Thurii''s first phase ispleted. All the freeman who wants to be a citizen of Thurii and have perform well, can apply to the census officer. And if they manage to be a preparatory citizens, then they will be able to join the army and fight, then receive a share ofnd! Now mypanions are working so hard, hoping to finish building Thurii tomorrow. Maybe the next time youe here, I would already then be an official citizen!¡±

    Seeing Seclian''s intoxicated appearance, some people can''t help but refute, ¡°I have never heard of any city-state that allows outsiders to be a citizen so easily. Maybe this immigrationw is a scheme, in order to make you work harder for them!¡±

    ¡°Shut your mouth. Don''t spout nonsense!¡± Seclian was furious, ¡°How could Lord Davos, standing in front of all freeman and ves, dere thisw as not real! Who is lord Davos?! In the face of Thurii''s threat, he would rather break off diplomatic ties and pay for the promised freedom of the ves that have fled! In the face of your, the army of Crotone, he would rather fight with you than break off all rtions with the conquered Thurii! Lord Davos has proven that he is a man who keeps his promise, and so I believe what he says, and all of us believe it! If it wasn''t for youing here to negotiate, I would have already sent you below the river to feed the fishes!!¡±

    The Crotonians turned red, and couldn''t stop themselves from cursing him out. Lysias then stopped the impulse of his entourage.

    Seclian watched the movement of the ship in the rear coldly. Seeing that the situation have soon calmed down, he was a bit disappointed. And so, he deliberately spat out his sputom towards the river in his back, and then ignored them.

    Lysias was lost in his thoughts: As far as he knows, the number of citizens in Thurii may not exceed three thousand, while that of Amendra is estimated to be only four thousand at most. Crotone alone has more than thirty thousand citizens in its city, and they also have their affiliated city-state, Aprustum, allied city-states such as Scylletium, Caulonia and so on. But if the Thua Union can make use of the tens of thousands of freeman and ves here, then they really need to pay them attention. It''s just that, by hurrying to make the outsiders from all over the ces to be citizens of the city-state, can their loyalty to the city-state bepared with that of the native people who have been citizens of the city for generations?

    Lysias was skeptical.

    Looking at the river, he saw that many fishing boats with a Bident symbol on their sails came and went¡­

    And now, a tall city-wall appeared on the banks of the river, Lysias knew that they are approaching the city of Thurii, and he looked at the two towers on the city wall. In the past, there was an iron chain connecting the two towers that are facing each other, which was quite spectacr. But when an enemy ships attack, the iron chain would then be drop down to prevent the enemy from entering the city through the water. As a result, Mnseus had used the traitors to directly attack the southern town, making the chain ineffective, and now it is already gone, it must have been cut off by Mnseus¡­when he thinks of Mnseus, although the rtionship between Lysias and Mnseus is not very good, and even their ruling philosophy arepletely opposite, he still can''t help but feel sad after hearing about his tragic end (when he was killed by the people of Thurii, his body is too bloody and you can''t even identify it as a human).

    The fishing boat of Secliannded at the dock in the city of Thurii. He then got out of the boat and ran to report to a group of soldiers that are stationed at the dock.

    A group of soldiers, led by their captain, soon approach them.

    The Crotonians soon noticed that even within the city, the soldiers still maintained aplete formation.

    ¡°Strategos, we should get off the ship.¡± His entourage reminded Lysias who was still lost in his thoughts.

    Lysias, who had regain his senses, looked around. He had been to Thurii several times, and at that time, there were more than a dozen docks in the port of Thurii, which were made of stone and wood. In the port area, there were hundreds of ships dock in it, and rows after rows of warehouses, inns, and residence. But now, there are only a few stone docks that are far away at each other, all of which are burnt ck. Of course, all of these are the masterpiece of Crotone!

    Lysias got off the ship with a calm expression on his face. The same group of soldiers then calmly examined them and confirmed that they were indeed the envoys of Crotone. Immediately, one of the soldiers rode to report it to the Senate, while the delegates continued to wait.

    Seclian returned to his fishing boat and was dazed by the imposing look of the patrol captain. He was in a daze, until hispanion came to remind him, ¡°Seclian, it''s time for us to leave the dock!¡±

 Chapter 149: Reconstruction of Thurii

    ¡°I will be like him in the future!¡± Seclian said it out confidently, full of hope for the future, ¡°Untie the rope, let''s go to the estuary of the sea!¡±

    Lysias also looked at the patrol captain in front of him, and asked, ¡°Are you a citizen of Amendra?¡±

    The patrol captain looked at him and said, ¡°No, we are citizens of the Thua Union!¡±

    ¡°Apologies.¡± Lysias then asked him politely, ¡°I would like to ask what is the situation of the soldiers of Crotone who you have captured.¡±

    ¡°I can''t tell you where they are being held, because it is a military secret!¡± The patrol captain said seriously, ¡°But I can tell you that they are in good condition now, and even Lord Davos had let the hospital treat the wounded soldiers, but if your negotiations fail, then their situation might turn bad. I heard that the statesmen of Thurii, had strongly suggested that they should be sent to the mine!¡±

    Lysias was surprised. Letting the captives go mining will have them absolutely die! He remembered that after the Athenian army failed to attack Syracuse, about five thousand ~ six thousand men were captured and they were then sent to mine in the quarry. In just a few years, almost all of them have died! This made him a bit nervous.

    After a while, a soldier came back and whispered into the ears of the patrol captain, ¡°Lead them using the farthest route.¡±

    And so the patrol captain immediately nodded and said to the delegates of Crotone, ¡°The Senate has agreed to meet you. Let''s go.¡±

    After the group passed through the ruins of the port and entered the city, the delegates of Crotone could not believe what they see. Compared with the very cold port just now, this ce is filled with people and noise, both men and women, old and young, are busy. Some are cleaning up the ashes and carrying stones and debris. Some have already started to tamp on thend again, and pile the ground ording to the instructions of the craftsmen. Then, more and more people build wooden frames, putting stones and bricks around the wall. Bricks, mortar and wood¡­?? The whole main city of Thurii has be arge construction site, where people sweat and enthusiastically rebuild their homes. They are so focused in what they are doing that when the delegates of Crotone passed by, almost no one looked up.

    Although thousands of people were working at the same time, the noise was not chaotic, but are well organized. Lysias noticed that some people with red ropes on their heads yed an important role in it. They directed and coordinated the operation on the construction site. And the real master was a gaunt old man. He kept on patrolling the ce, and when he found a problem, he would stopped and check the drawing. Then he will talk to the people around him, and someone will then rushed to correct it.

    ¡°Who is he?¡± Some of the delegates of Crotone asked curiously.

    ¡°Heracleides, the disciple of the Greek architect, Hippodamus.¡± Replied by the patrol captain.

    Heracleides was originally going to continue to direct the construction of the road from Amendra to Thurii after finishing the construction of the warehouses and inns in Amendra. However, after he heard that the Senate was going to rebuild Thurii, he immediately volunteered to design and preside over the reconstruction work of Thurii.

    Davos readily agreed, and put forward some of his own requirements for the construction of the new Thurii.

    Heracleides have aplex feelings about this city, which has recorded his glory and where he had lived for 20 years. He is so familiar with it that he can walk around the city smoothly even with his eyes closed. He can count the height of the terrain and the curvature of the river bank in every ce¡­he poured all of his emotions into his pen and finished the design drawings of the new city of Thurii overnight.

    Davos looked at it with great admiration. After that, Heracleides spent every day on the construction site, full of energy and meticulous supervision of the operation of the reconstruction work. His enthusiasm for the work has also infected the people who were rebuilding their homes for themselves, and so, the reconstruction progress was sped up.

    And the delegates of Crotone certainly did not know the extent on how much the people of Thurii respected this gaunt old man, nor remembered who Hippodamus was. And so, they only responded politely, then they turned their attention to other ces.

    Lysias asked, seemingly unintentionally, ¡°I am afraid that there must be more than 10,000 people working here? There should not be so many people in Thurii left. Could it be that the people of Amendra are among them?¡±

    ¡°We do indeed have some people of Amendra, but most of them are freeman and ves.¡± The captain looked at Lysias, as if he knew what he was thinking, and said without any concealment, ¡°You must be wondering why these freeman and ves are working so hard? It is not only because they may be citizens of the city in the future, but also because the Archon, Lord Davos, has passed a temporary decree in the senate that ¡®the widowed women of Thurii are allowed to marry a freeman, but they must be willing to marry them.¡¯¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Lysias was astonished.

    ¡°Crotonians, you should know that the citizens of Thurii that died were not only those who you have ughtered after your upation of Thurii. More than 10,000 citizens have died in the prior war with Lucania, almost all of them have wives that have be widowed. And I heard that Thurii was going to issue a decree in allowing citizens to marry more than one wife. This shows how much Thurii are short in men.¡± The captain showed a faint smile, ¡°Now, these freeman are working hard in order to show their performance in front of the women of Thurii, who were busy rebuilding their homes, and earn their favor. You should know that once they seed, they will not only get a wife, but also be a preparatory citizen of Thurii immediately and also get a house. Although they won''t get a share ofnd, but these won''t be a problem. These guys are really too lucky to have so many educated and beautiful women of Thurii to choose from, like us back in Amendra-¡±

    ¡°Captain, don''tin. Your wife is a famous beauty of Amendra and is also a Persian beauty. Don''t you know how much the other citizens envy you?!¡± One of the soldiers couldn''t stop himself from saying it.

    ¡°Ha! Ha! Ha!¡­¡± The captainughed brazenly, ¡°Of course! Of course! My wife is the most beautiful woman in all Amendra besides the wife of the Archon! Beautiful and cultured! And I wasining for you sake for not catching up with the times!¡±

    ¡°My Lucanian wife is very good! Not only is she enthusiastic and tall, but also big here¡­¡± A soldier patted himself on the chest and said intoxicatedly, ¡°Greek women can''t evenpare!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    A group of soldiers began to argue about which woman was the most beautiful. The more they say, the more vulgar it became, but Lysias was not interested in listening to it.

    These decrees issued by the Thua Union is a total deviant for the conservative Greek nobleman like Lysias. And it is totally impossible for Crotone, a city-state that has been built for a hundred of years and whose n and phraties were already firm. But he had to admit, for the people of Thurii who had lost their homes and have lost a lot of their elite citizens, this is a good way for them to boost the strength of the city-state quickly. However, Thurii, who can quickly recover their strength and once again prosper, is not what Lysias would like to see, because they are the mortal enemy of Crotone!

    Lysias thought of this and went out of the city together with the team. On their way to the camp, they ¡°just in time¡± saw a dozen of group of soldiers training. They seemed to be ying a game with about fifty people on each side(it is actually a toon). They use a long wooden rod wrapped with coarse cloth on the head and use it as a spear, and a crude board is used as a round shield. The two sides will charge and stab at each other as if they are in a real battle, until one side manage to draw a white lime powder on the other side, the game won''t be over. The losing soldier will then squat down and put his hands behind his back jump around the field (frog jumping) as punishment.

    You can see that this game stimtes actualbat and it is quite hot and fierce. Lysias saw it with his own eyes on how several soldiers that got stabbed and directly went off to receive treatment. However, the enthusiasm of the soldiers did not diminished. They kept on pping and cheering, wanting to join. The bloodlust and fighting desire of the soldiers were evident.

    Some of the delegates asked curiously, ¡°Do you usually train like this?¡±

    The patrol captain chuckled, ¡°We practice every five days, and there are a lot of training courses from morning to evening in each training session. This is just one of the less intense training course.¡±

    The delegates of Crotone looked at each other. It was obvious that the intensity of the Thua Union''s military training is significantly higher than that of Crotone''s soldiers who had spent most of their time in the Amphitheatre.

    Lysias did not fully believed the words of the captain, but he can also see from this that the soldiers of Amendra are trained strictly and are experienced in the battlefield. Otherwise, it would not be possible for them to defeat the army of Crotone so easily, even if it is a sneak attack.

    After entering the camp, they were then led to a big tent in the center. The patrol captain went inside and reported that Lysias and his entourage are waiting outside the tent.

    Then, a man came outside the tent, and Lysias looked at him and felt that he looks familiar, but he couldn''t remember who this guy was for a moment.

    The man did not expect to meet Lysias at this time, and so he was taken aback, then he calmed down. He smiled at Lysias and immediately turned away.

    Lysias gazed at him, trying to remember who he was.

    ¡°His lord Archon has asked you to get inside!¡± The voice of the patrol captain sounded from behind.

    So Lysias immediately returned from his thoughts, then opened the tent and went inside.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The patrol captain then took the soldiers out of the camp, and his serious expression immediately turned into a smile, ¡°Brothers, how was my performance just now?¡±

    ¡°Captain Olivos, you did great! You are very serious, like you were apletely different person!¡± One soldier praised.

    ¡°I don''t think it became better. There''s a joke about women in the middle of the conversation, which showed too much of his identity!¡± Another soldier had raised his own objection.

    ¡°What?!¡± Olivos looked at him with contempt and discontentedly said, ¡°Xenotemas, you are not serious in carrying out your mission today, so you must ept your punishment!¡±

 Chapter 150: Armistice Agreement and the Alliance of Thua Union

    ¡°No way¡­captain, you¡­you are taking this opportunity to retaliate.¡± Cried Xenotemas.

    Olivosughed and said, ¡°Brothers, let''s go back and continue patrolling the city, and teach the freeman who fought at each other for the women.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Captain!¡± A group of soldiers wereughing as they walk towards the city of Thurii.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    There was a long wooden table inside the tent, and there were several people sitting and in the middle was a young man. Lysias heard that Davos, the Archon of Amendra, was very young and it is obviously him. Next to him was a bearded man who he happened to know, Kunogta, the Polemarchos of the former Thurii, and the other person doesn''t look like a Greek.

    Kunogta had of course, recognized Lysias and whispered to Davos. Davos then looked at Lysias as he listened to Kunogta. This middle-aged man from Crotone is slender and handsome, with a well trimmed beard. ording to Kunogta, he is the leader of Crotone''s conservatives, and even though the conservatives of Crotone has been declining, he still manage to get elected as a strategos by the citizens for ten consecutive years.

    Lysias stepped forward and then said, ¡°I am Lysias, who hade to Thurii on behalf of Crotone¡­to negotiate with the Thua Union!¡±

    ¡°Wee, strategos Lysias.¡± Davos stretched out his right hand and motioned him to sit on the opposite side of the wooden table, then looked at him calmly and said, ¡°We are recently busy in rebuilding the city of Thurii, and we also have to meet the delegates of the other city-states. The time is very tight, so you can just immediately tell us what you want ining here.¡±

    Lysias didn''t expect that Davos would be so direct. He coughed a few times to cover up his surprise, and then said, ¡°In that case, I would like to say our, Crotone''s request. We hope that the Thua Union will release all the Crotonian captives and her allies, then Crotone will cease war with the Thua Union in order to achieve peace!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡± Davos looked at him andughed, ¡°The Crotonians have killed our citizens, destroyed our city-state, and looted our wealth. You just said, ¡®we will have a truce¡¯ and so we would unconditionally release the culprits who caused this disaster? Are you naive or just shameless?¡±

    Lysias, with a calm expression, said, ¡°Lord Davos, don''t forget, that this war was not initiated by Crotone.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, I don''t want to argue with you about who is right and who is wrong. Please go back.¡± Davos just straightforwardly wave of his hand.

    Lysias was taken aback. After just saying a couple of words, he no longer wants to talk about it. The approach of Davos of not following the diplomatic manner had aroused his anger, ¡°Your lordship, are you not afraid to once more fight Crotone! We can organize another army thirty thousand strong at any time, and we will not make the same mistake that we had made before!¡±

    On hearing Lysias threat, Davos only replied, ¡°Speaking of it, we are not afraid of war! The Union will also not make the same mistakes that Thurii had done before! We will also kill all the captives and sacrifice their blood to the gods. Then we will defend the city wall so that you Crotonians will use human life to fill every step forward! The people of Thua Union are not afraid of Death and will never surrender, even if the young, the old, and the women die! If Thurii falls, then we will just go back to Amendra! If Amendra falls, then we will just go to Heraclea! As long as the enemy still tramples on our territory, we will continue fighting them till the end!¡±

    After hearing what Davos has said, Kunogta, who was originally averse to war, was also enthusiastic, and so he blurted out, ¡°Yes, this is our, Thua Union''s conduct in the face of aggression!¡±

    Lysias was shocked by the morale of the other side. He clearly felt that this newly established Union was not only weaker than the old Thurii, but also more militant. It is not a good choice to start a war with the Thua Union!

    He was about to say a few words to ease the mood, but Davos said aloud, ¡°Kunogta, go and call back the envoy of Locri who had just left. We need to have a good discussion with him regarding the alliance terms that he had just proposed!¡±

    The envoy of Locri! Lysias'' heart leaped wildly, and he suddenly remember that the man who he thought looks familiar just now was Metelofes of Locri. Even though he went to Crotone in order to negotiate twice, he still didn''t manage to remember him.

    ¡°Milord Archon, tell me what you want.¡± Lysias had to give in first.

    Davos stopped Kunogta, who had just stood up, and said, ¡°Wait.¡±

    Marigi straightened himself up and said in a loud voice, ¡°What our, Thua Union demand is,

    First, because Crotone had burned down the city of Thurii, which had caused the people of Thurii to lost their homes. In order topensate for their loss and to rebuild the city, Crotone needs topensate the Thua Union with two thousand Tarants.

    Secondly, if Crotone wants to buy back your soldiers, then you will need to pay 500 drachmas for each soldiers. At the same time, as the culprits of burning the city, these captured soldiers must work in Thurii for a year to absolve their sins.

    Thirdly, Crotone must allow Krimisa, Roscianum and Thua Union to be allies.

    Fourth, the peace treaty between the Thua Union and Crotone willst for five years, during which, the two sides will have mutual non-aggression¡£¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After hearing this, Lysias shook his head again and again, ¡°Your demands are too high for Crotone to agree.¡±

    And so, a long negotiation began.

    And so Davos handed this difficult task to Marigi. Afterwards, he went to another tent not far away.

    Here, Davos went to with Amikles of Roscianum.

    As the polemarchos of the city of Roscianum, the fact that he was able toe to Thurii in person has showed his attitude. As soon as he saw Davos, he began to tter him and said, ¡°I have long heard that the Archon of Amendra is a hero who is favored by Hades. Seeing you today, made me realize that you are indeed different from ordinary people!¡±

    Davos said with a smile, ¡°What is the matter that it even made lord Amikles toe to Thurii?¡±

    Amikles did not answer directly and emotionally said, ¡°Lord Davos, in fact, the three city-states of Thurii, Amendra and Roscianum have amon origins. We are all the children of Sybaris (there were also some people who were descendants of Sybarites when Thurii was founded, which can be barely counted). We all havee from the same ce! Back when Sybaris was strong, Roscianum had contacts with Amendra. How peaceful and tranquil it was back then! Unfortunately, after the fall of Sybaris, Roscianum had been forced to join the alliance of Crotone and was then bullied. Fortunately, Roscianum manage to be independent with the establishment of Thurii, and have enjoyed nearly 40 years of peaceful life!¡±

    ¡°Roscianum is now sandwiched between the Thua Union and Crotone, so it is hard for you to stay neutral!¡± Davos interrupted him and said seriously, ¡°Since Roscianum has a lot of connections with Thurii and Amendra, why don''t you join us again! Crotone and us, are currently in negotiations, and if an agreement is reached, Crotone will not interfere with Roscianum''s choice. As long as Roscianum be allies with the Thua Union, we will unconditionally release the Roscianum captives. And as an ally of Thua Union, we will not interfere in the internal matters of Roscianum, and we also do not need you to pay tribute and we only need you to agree to two conditions.¡±

    ¡°What are your conditions?¡± Amikles eagerly asked, he is obviously a little bit excited.

    There was a smile in the corner of Davos'' lips, ¡°First, after the alliance is formed, Roscianum should not form any agreements and alliance with other city-states and forces. Second, when the Thua Union goes out for battle, the city of Roscianum must send troops to participate, and the strategos of Thua Union willmand the whole army. The spoils obtained after the victory will be distributed ording to the proportion of troops sent by both sides.¡±

    After carefully considering these two conditions and the benefits of joining the alliance, Amikles'' eyes gradually brightened¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After more than a day of negotiations, the armistice agreement between Crotone and the Thua Union was finally established.

    First, Crotone will make a one-timepensation of thirty tarants to the Thua Union. (the reason for the big difference from the price that Marigi have set first, is because Crotone only suffered a slight set back, and in addition to this war, their previous war with the Bruttis, this two sessive wars have greatly consumed the treasury of Crotone. If the price is too high, the agreement would not be reached.)

    Secondly, the price for each captured soldiers are 200 drachmas, and they have to work in the territory of the Thua Union for half a year. The Thua Union also needs to ensure the safety and health of each captives and allow their family members to visit. (Taking into ount the captured soldiers of Aprustum, Scylletium, there are about 6,000 captives of Crotone and his allies in the Thua Union. And each soldiers is equivalent to the price of four cattle. The price is neither too high nor toow, and if all the soldiers are bought back, this alone will bring 200 Tarants to the Thua Union. Moreover, the Thua Union will only need to provide basic food and amodation for these captives. And in order for them to eat and dress well, they will have to rely on Crotone and his allies to find a way. In fact, the captive''s food were provided by their families. And the Thua Union will have 6,000 people as freebor for half a year. The families of these soldiers had also brought extra ie to the city of Thurii with them buying food and needing amodation.)

    Lysias was firmly opposed regarding the need for them to serve, but Marigi was also extremely persistent and have even frankly said, ¡°We are afraid that after these captives return, Crotone will immediately arm them again and once more attack Thurii.¡± In the end, the two sides reached apromised, and Lysias, who was not at ease, had specially added a use in the agreement, ¡°You are not allowed to make the captives mine!¡±)

 Chapter 151: Pregnancy

    Third, Crotone must not interfere in Roscianum''s joining the alliance with Thua Union, however, Krimisa must remain neutral. (After all, Krimisa is very close to Crotone, and them joining the alliance with Thua Union will be like a sharp knife against Crotone''s abdomen. So Lysias, will of course, not agree with this, and Marigi didn''t insist on it, because the Thua Union doesn''t even have the strength to help Krimisa defend against the attack of the enemy. Therefore, Davos has decided that the Krimisian captives will be the same as that of Crotone. Six monthster, they will then be released, and the envoy of Krimisa is very grateful, and promised that, ¡°We won''t be enemy with Thua Union!¡±)

    Fourth, the Thua Union must not form an alliance with Locri, nor sign any agreement that is against Crotone. (Lysias strongly insist this, and Marigi pretended to be in a dilemma. But in fact, Davos had already told him in private, ¡°We currently do not have any n to form an alliance with Locri, in order to not provoke Crotone and having the negotiations break down.¡± Marigi used this as a bargaining chip in order to force Lysias to make some concessions in other aspects.)

    Fifth, from the date of signing the agreement, Crotone and Thua Union will maintain the armistice for three years, and will renew the agreement ording to the situation after the agreement expires.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The delegates of Crotone returned to their home city-state with the preliminary agreement. After the confirmation of the Council, they once again went to the city of Thurii.

    When they returned to Thurii, the attentive Lysias noticed that the smoke and burn marks in the walls of Thurii is no longer there, and the copsed areas were filled with newly built stone bricks and mortar, which looked like it is new from a distance. He was shocked by thebor''s high efficiency and the enthusiasm of the people of Thurii. In fact, in his heart, he did not want to have any conflict with the Thua Union, but when he left, Milo had repeatedly reminded him, ¡®Even if an armistice agreement is to be sign, it should not exceed two years.¡¯

    Lysias understand that most of the strategoi of Crotone and its Council members, headed by Milo, does not ept their defeat this time, and they are ready to take revenge in the future! Crotone is famous for its sportspetition in Greece, and the personality of its people is also characterize with unyielding sportsmanship, which is somewhat simr to that of the Amendrans in the Thua Union, who he had been in contact with for more than two days.

    With a sigh, Lysias and his party entered the camp on Thurii again.

    Apart from changing the duration to ¡°two years¡±, there were no other major changes in the other contents of the armistice agreement. The two sides offered a sacrifice to Apollo, and chanted the names of the gods and pledge that ¡°Crotone and Thua Union will never vite the armistice agreement¡±, then they signed their respective city-states'' name and their own sacred vows. (Why to Apollo? Because Crotone and the former Thurii worshipped Apollo as their city''s patron god, so that both sides could abide by the agreement.)

    Afterpleting the agreement, Lysias was eager to return, and Davos and the others would not detain him. Before sending Lysias to embark on the ship, Davos said with sincerity, ¡°I hope that Crotone and Thua Union will never go to war again!¡±

    The sharp gaze of Davos made Lysias felt that the scheme of Milo had already been seen through by this young archon, and he immediately said, ¡°Apollo sees from above, and this is also my sincere wish!¡±

    Staring at the bow of the ship, and the still noisy construction site on the city of Thurii, and looking at the merchant ships that were passing by at the estuary of the sea, Lysias left Thurii with full of worry¡­

    Davos and his entourage were at the dock and were watching the ship of Crotone depart.

    Cornelius then said, ¡°Now we are safe!¡±

    ¡°Yes, we are temporarily safe! But I am afraid that Crotone wille attack us in two years!¡± Said Kunogta calmly.

    ¡°That''s right. Otherwise, they would not specifically ask for a shorter armistice period. Therefore, we must make full use of these two years to make the Thua Union stronger as soon as possible, so that any forces that covet us will not dare invade!¡± Davos encouraged everyone.

    ¡°Yes!¡± It aroused everyone''s spirit.

    ¡°Lord Davos, let''s look at thepensation in the armistice agreement-¡± Marigi immediately wanted to request it.

    But Davos interrupted him and said, ¡°All of these will go to the treasury and will be in the custody of Mersis.¡±

    Mersis'' eyes brightened up.

    ¡°It''s use will be nned, managed and disbursed by the Redevelopment Council, and, also the previously seized supplies will be used entirely for the daily expenses of the people of the city''s reconstruction and public construction. Any department that needs allowance must submit an application to the Redevelopment Council for approval before they can get the funding, and the financial officer will be the one responsible for its supervision!¡±

    When Davos finished speaking, Mersis winked at Marigi, and Marigi looked away in anger and didn''t want to look at him.

    ¡°In addition, on the first day of each month, Mersis, you must give a detailed report on the collection and expenditure of the treasury at the meeting, If there is a mistake, you will need to take full responsibility!¡± Said Davos sternly.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Mersis answered weakly.

    ¡°Asistes, go and tell the captives about the agreement. If the Crotonians doesn''t want them to mine, then we will have them build roads. We will build a road connecting Heraclea, Amendra, Thurii and Roscianum, and have the son of Heracleides¡­¡±

    ¡°Heracleides the Younger.¡±

    ¡°Yes, him. To lead the whole road project, and have him take a group of craftsmen to supervise and manage the project ording to the previous drawing n.¡±

    ¡°Understood, Lord Archon.¡± Alexius, the aedile, responded.

    ¡°I can understand the reason of building a road connecting Heraclea, Amendra and Thurii. But why Roscianum as well? Since Crotone will likelyunch an attack in two years'' time, and it is impossible for Roscianum to stop them, then won''t it make more convenient for the enemy to march after the road is built?¡± Ansitanos asked with doubt. The other statesmen of Thurii also showed concern.

    So Davos exined with seriousness, ¡°If we build a road leading to Roscianum, then we will have more frequent exchange and trade with Roscianum, and be more closely connected, which will make Roscianum be more inseparable from us. And with this road, our troops and supplies can reach Roscianum faster. Roscianum is also our ally now, so we have the responsibility to maintain their security, and in the future, Roscianum will be our vanguard to defend against the enemy from the south. Of course, building the road will also make it easier for the enemy to get to us, and so, we must do our best to keep the enemy out of our territory so that they can''t use our road.¡±

    Ansitanos and Kunogta were absorb in their thoughts, some were motivated by it, while the others were skeptical¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After a busy day and returning to his tentte at night, Davos found someone waiting for him inside the tent.

    ¡°Andrea, why are you here? What happened to Cheristoya?!¡± Asked Davos impatiently.

    Andrea bowed respectfully, ¡°Milord Archon, because Madam knows how busy you are in the reconstruction of the city of Thurii, so she does not want to disturb your work, but I think that I should tell you about it.¡±

    ¡°What''s the matter?!¡± Asked Davos urgingly.

    ¡°A few days ago, Madam has vomited and couldn''t eat anything, and so I wondered if she is pregnant. And so, I asked Lord Herpus to examine her, and she is indeed pregnant.¡± As soon as Andrea finished speaking, Davos became surprised and asked once more, ¡°Cheristoya is really pregnant?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Milord.¡±

    ¡°Great! Great!¡­¡± Davos hugged Andrea with excitement, then spin her around several times, ignoring the shyness of Andrea.

    He then shouted out loudly, ¡°Martius! Martius!¡±

    ¡°What''s the matter, Milord?¡± Martius came inside.

    ¡°Go fetch my horse, I want to go back to Amendra!¡± Said Davos impatiently.

    ¡°Milord, it is already toote, and the road is not safe, so you should return tomorrow.¡± Said Martius.

    ¡°I can''t wait that long! Cheristoya is pregnant! And I am going to be a father for the first time, so I need to go back to see her right now!!¡± Said Davos firmly and excitedly.

    ¡°Congrattions Milord! This is the blessing of Hera! In that case, we will escort you back.¡± Said Martius, who was also happy.

    ¡°Great!¡±

    A group of people galloped out of the camp, and the rapid sound of the horses'' hooves awakened many people in the camp, ¡°Who is riding in the camp sote? This is against the rule!¡±

    ¡°I heard that the wife of the Archon is pregnant, and so, he is going back home!¡±

    ¡°Really?! Then this is really a happy event!!¡±

    Late at night, the originally quiet camp became lively with cheering.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos came home in a hurry and run upstairs, then he saw a small head poking out of the door, looking out warily.

    ¡°Cynthia!¡± He picked up his little daughter and gave her a kiss, ¡°It''s already sote, why haven''t you gone to bed? Do you want to get spank?!¡±

    ¡°I woke up because of you.¡± Cynthia wiped the saliva from her face with her little hand, andined with her mouth pouting.

    ¡°Oh, I''m sorry.¡± Davos patter her on the head with a smile, and then said, ¡°Where is your brother?¡±

    ¡°Sleeping inside.¡±

    ¡°What about your Mom?¡±

    Cynthia hesitated and pointed to the master bedroom.

    Davos put her down and patted her on the bottom, ¡°Go to bed then.¡± With that, he then strode to the master bedroom.

    Cheiristoya was looking at the ount book under the oilmp, when she heard the sound of footsteps, she turned her head and looked, and was surprised, ¡°Howe you are back?¡±

    ¡°If I didn''te back, you would have kept it a secret from me, right?¡± Said Davos, pretending to be angry. He then sat down next to Cheiristoya, put his arm around her, and patted her plump hips twice with his other hand, ¡°How dare you not tell me that we will have a child?!¡±

    ¡°You already know about it?¡± Cheiristoya then put her arms around Davos'' neck, ¡°Did Andrea tell you about it?¡±

    ¡°Fortunately she told me about it in time!¡± Davos then pointed to the thick ount book on the table, then scolded her, ¡°You aren''t taking good care of your body and our child! From now on, Andrea and the others will take care of these things, and you need to take good care of yourself at home and let our child grow up healthily!¡±

 Chapter 152: The War Preparation of Syracuse and the Trade Revival of Thua Union

    Davos gently stroked the smooth, but not yet swollen stomach of Cheiristoya, and said, ¡°Until our child is born smoothly. Do you understand!¡±

    Despite Davos'' domineering tone, Cheiristoya still enjoyed his stern attitude. She then put her head on his chest and softly replied, ¡°I understand¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos then gently moved the sleeping Cheiristoya away, then got out of the bed carefully, and crept to the wing room. Then he fumbled to light the oilmp in front of the niche beside the window. The shing light illuminated the bronze statue of Hera, who was twisting her garment and smiling.

    For the very first time, Davos knelt down and prayed devoutly with tears in his eyes. However, what he said was not a prayer to Hera, ¡°Dear Mom and Dad, do you know? Your son has finally has a child of his own in this world. I hope that you can bless him toe to this world smoothly, grow up healthily, continue my bloodline and inherit my position¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the pce on the ind of Ortygia, Dionysius was discussing important matters with Philistus and Leptines. Then, his chief intelligence officer, Hipparinus, came up to him and handed him a copy of the intelligence.

    Dionysius then looked at it, but he couldn''t believe what he had read, ¡°Is this real?!¡±

    ¡°When did the intelligence that I have confirmed ever be wrong!¡± Said Hipparinus coldly.

    Dionysius didn''t care about the attitude of Hipparinus. After all, Hipparinus was his father-inw and one of his colleagues who had firmly supported him in the process of gaining power over Syracuse. Dionysius then eximed, ¡°It''s unbelievable that the young mercenary leader has manage to win again! And this time, he defeated Crotone, who had given the Locri headaches!¡±

    ¡°It''s just a sneak attack.¡± After reading the information from his brother, Leptines obviously didn''t appreciate the way Davos won.

    ¡°Brother, you have to understand, whether it is a sneak attack or a frontal sh, as long as you win, it is praiseworthy! And he was able to win against enemy with more number than his, twice in a row. It seems that this man is indeed a powerful strategos!¡± Said Dionysius seriously, and he suddenly sighed, ¡°Davos¡­Davos¡­what a pity¡­unfortunately¡­¡±

    ¡°Milord, do you still want to recruit him?¡± Asked Philistus.

    Dionysius shook his head, ¡°He is obviously not satisfied with just being a mercenary leader. He had already manage to sessfully be an Archon for life of Amendra before, and now, after defeating Crotone, I am afraid that he is thinking about how to bring Thurii under his control¡­this young man is not simple, and I had previously underestimated him. It seems that we should pay more attention to him in the future!¡± Said Dionysius seriously.

    ¡°Got it.¡± Replied Hipparinus.

    Dionysius sighed in his heart when he saw Leptines with a look of disapproval. His brother is loyal and diligent, but his scheming is not good. However, because of this, he could entrust important mission to him, not to those who have different intentions. The lesson of his father-inw, Hermocrates*, must be kept in his mind! (Note: Hermocrates is the former father-inw of Dionysius, the leader of Syracuse, and the hero who had defeated the invasion of Athens. The democrats of Syracuse were worried about his dictatorship and so, they incited the people to expel him. After he was expelled, he led the Sicilian people to resist the attack of Carthage. Finally, the democrats of Syracuse were extremely afraid of his brilliance and schemed him to return to Syracuse and killed him.)

    ¡°By the way, how is Herolis now?¡± Dionysius thought of the man who he had set aside.

    ¡°He has been quiet for the past few months.¡± Said Hipparinus.

    And so, Dionysius then said to Philistus, ¡°Herolis has been resting long enough. Phili, go and get him back and have him help you to prepare for this war.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± Philistus looked joyful.

    Dionysius looked at Philistus and Hipparinus, and thought of Herolis, who was currently far away in Egypt. It was these people who had firmly supported himself in his most difficult times! Herolis should still be loyal to himself. This time, it was just a small warning to him, so that he would watch out what he says in the future.

    After telling Philistus about what he should do, Dionysius was much more rxed. He then turned his attention to his main concern, ¡°How is the migration of the people of Leontinoi to Syracuse going on?¡±

    ¡°They have been resettled, and are busy adapting to the new environment, and their conduct is currently stable.¡± Answered Philistus.

    ¡°That''s good.¡± Dionysius then turned to Leptines and said, ¡°How is the work of the craftsmen going?¡±

    ¡°They are done!¡± Leptines was waiting for his brother to ask about it, then he said excitedly, ¡°It''s power is so great! It''s the weapon of the god of war! It can shoot 6 kilo-grams of stones a hundred meters away, and an average city wall that is hit by it for more than ten times, will certainly copse!¡±

    ¡°Good! You go and reward those craftsmen for me, and let them make more of this thing, but you must pay attention to secrecy. If anyone divulges it, I will have his entire family killed!¡± Said Dionysius grimly, ¡°Next year, I will surprise those Carthaginian!¡±

    ¡°Why don''t we attack now?¡± Said Leptines, then added, ¡°We have conquered the Greek city-states in the eastern part of Sicily outside of Messana, and we have a huge number of troops and these powerful siege weapons. The cities of Carthage in the west of Sicily won''t be able to resist our attack.¡±

    ¡°We must be careful in dealing with Carthage, because they can bring thousands of soldiers from Africa at any time, and so, we must be very sure before we go to war!¡± Said Dionysius.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    During this period, Kunogta had been very busy with the reconstruction of Thurii. He slept in the camp every night and seldom takes a trip back to Amendra.

    Just after dinner, his eldest son, Sostratus, heard the news about his return. He called out with a smile on his face, ¡°Father, you are back!¡±

    ¡°Yea.¡± Kunogta then snorted, ¡°I heard that you have been wandering outside all this time, and have not participated in the reconstruction of Thurii. Are you still a citizen of Thua Union?!¡±

    ¡°It is already good that I didn''t cheered when Thurii was destroyed. It''s impossible for me to work with those murderers that have killed my brother and raped my sister!¡± Sostratus looked indignant, and at the same time he exined, ¡°But I didn''t just wander around either, I have participated in the military training organized by Amendra for four times. Let alone the fact that the military training of Amendra is veryplicated and arduous. After each training, I would feel like dying! It is no wonder that Amen¡­no, our soldiers are so capable. What is more, the game called rugby that was invented by the Archon is very interesting¡­¡±

    Sostratus'' mention of his dead brother and sister is like lifting a scar in the heart of Kunogta, which made his face darkened.

    When Sostratus noticed it, he immediately changed the topic and excitedly said, ¡°Except for the military training, I have been working with themercial officer, Lord Marigi, for the rest of the time. Father, you might not know, but since the time we sent out the news that ¡®the reconstruction of the city of Thurii needs a lot of materials¡¯, arge number of merchant ships havee from all over. In addition, our market tax rate is low, the service is good and the management is strict, and so, the merchants in various city-states were full of praise. Now, those merchants have settled in our port and have upied it. The current market is no longer enough and so, we need to expand it, but now, the manpower is all with you, so I guess that the day after tomorrow, Lord Marigi wille looking for you.¡±

    ¡°Is this true?!¡± Kunogta had been staying in the city of Thurii all this time, and had no time to go to the port to check on it. He didn''t expect that just two months ago, that the port and market that Marigi and his people had roughly build in the area of the estuary in the location of the city of Sybaris, had be so prosperous in just a short time.

    ¡°Of course it is true! And I remember it very clearly, because I am helped Lord Marigi to keep tab on it. And almost every day, it would costs about ten tarants to buy the materials that is needed for the city''s reconstruction. At the same time, the taxes collected and the profits from the things that have been sold have reached eight tarants. Otherwise, where do you think the materials other than wood and stone havee from?!¡± Said Sostratus.

    ¡°Davos had managed gather such excellent people! I didn''t expect that Marigi, a Persian, was so capable in business!¡± Eximed Kunogta.

    He then looked at his son, and said faintly, ¡°Tell me, what do you need from me?¡± Kunogta knows his son well.

    ¡°Uhm¡­uhm¡­the warehouse and inns at the foot of the mountain of Amendra were burned down by the Crotonians, but they are now about to be built by the Crotonian captives. I heard from Lord Marigi that he would auction these new warehouses and inns and rent them to the people of the Thua Union to make money¡­uhm¡­I want to participate, but I don''t have enough money, and so I want to find you father to¡­borrow some.¡±

    ¡°How much do you want?¡±

    ¡°Uhm¡­fiv..five tarants.¡± Said Sostratus, summoning up his courage. This was almost half of Kunogta''s wealth.

    ¡°Are you going to rent them all?¡±

    ¡°Yes, father. At present, there are many merchant ships in Thurii, but our ports have not yet been built. Arge number of merchants and sailors can not find a ce to eat and lodge, and there is no ce for them to store their goods. There are warehouses and inns in Amendra, and the roads between the two city-states are under construction. I am thinking of taking these warehouses and inns to earn a lot of money for our family!¡± Said Sostratus confidently.

    Kunogta pondered for a moment, then looked at his son and said, ¡°My son, since I was expelled from Thurii, I have reflected on my previous practices. And I felt that I have been too radical in my previous work, and frequently did not consider the feelings of the others, so that when that incident had happened, no one came to help us willingly¡­¡±

 Chapter 153: The construction of bridges and the discussion in the Senate

    Kunogta could only sigh with a sad expression, and said, ¡°Davos had Amendra built these warehouses and inns, in hopes that it will increase the revenue of the treasury and benefit the people. If you are the only one who will own all those warehouses and inns, what do you think Amendra would think?! Specially since we are still outsiders. Doing business and managing the city-state are one and the same, it is not for you to only earn money, but also to win the hearts of the people.¡± Kunogta told his son with great care that Davos should be the role model that Sostratus should learn from. After this period of observation, he found that the young leader doesn''t only have outstanding military talents, but was also a genius in politics. As for each proposal that he put forward, he always considered the issue from the perspective of the city-state and the people, and he rarely cared for his personal interests. Therefore, it made people forget that he is actually an Archon for life. And as long as Davos stays like this, then Kunogta is willing to be ordered by him.

    ¡°Father¡­I understand.¡± After pondering about it, Sostratus gave a slight reluctant answer.

    ¡°It''s good that you understand.¡± Chucked Kunogta, then he remembered something, and so he asked, ¡°Sostratus, it seems that you intend to do business, are you not going to take up public office?¡±

    ¡°Is it not possible to hold public office and do business at the same time in Thua Union?¡± Asked Sostratus with doubt.

    ¡°Of course it is possible. Since you like to stay in the market, then you might as well be a tax collector under Marigi, but you have to pass an examination.¡±

    ¡°Examination?¡±

    ¡°If you can''t calcte, then how can you be a tax collector?!¡±

    ¡°This is easy.¡±

    ¡°In a few days, the Thua Union Public Service Act proposed by the Archon, Lord Davos, will be announced. And all the citizens in Thua Union will have the right to hold public office and receive remuneration.¡± Kunogta decided to give his son a thorough detail of the matter.

    ¡°Isn''t that like Athens?¡± Eximed Sostratus.

    ¡°It is not quite the same as that of Athens, You will find out about it.¡± Said Kunogta, but in his heart, he could only sigh. The announcement of thisw will make the people who has been very supportive of Davos to love him even more! What a terrific young man, to be able to think about it and carry it out.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Three months after the signing of the armistice agreement between Thua Union and Crotone, the main road from the Siris river''s fording ce to Thurii waspleted. The Lucanians who have taken part in the road construction were awarded by the Senate of the Thua Union on the same day: Their sentence got reduce by a half a year.

    With this, the Lucanians only have a year and a half of hardbor left*. Of course, they and the Crotonian captives needs to continue building the road to Roscianum. (note: Fighting the Crotonians have reduced their sentence by 2 and half years, and it was once again reduce by half a year because of them managing to capture the high-ranking officers such as Mnseus.)

    After the construction of the road between Heraclea and Thurii, the wide and t and solid road has elerated the speed of the pedestrian and carriages, and the time required for the journey was reduced by at least two fifths, which is a great convenience, specially for transportation.

    In fact, after the ves and the captives have straightened out and became proficient in the process of the road construction, their progress became very fast. However, the main difficulty they encountered lied on the bridge. This section of the road will pass through four rivers, except for Siris river, which was located at the border between Amendra and Heraclea, which already have a pontoon bridge there. So three more bridges needed to be built and Davos requires that the bridge must be a t bridge and not a pontoon bridge nor arch bridge, in order to facilitate the transportation of goods.

    Heracleides the Younger had spent most of his time thinking on how to build the bridge. He even went to asked not only his father, but also the experienced craftsmen and even the two Pythagorean disciples. What kind of geometric bracket that can make the bridge more stable? Only after his ideas matured, did he submit his bridge construction n to Davos, which got his approval. However, the Archon had asked that the captives must not be allowed to build the bridge, and had instead allowed the soldiers to participate in the construction.

    At the same time, Davos issued an order that the soldiers must participate in the road construction in the morning of the military training day. Davos hoped that the soldiers could master the skills of building roads and bridges, in order to prepare them for future campaigns.

    So Heracleides the Younger then ordered the soldiers to tie up the two bunch of logs, one end of which was pointed and nted into the riverbed, and then another bunch of logs was driven into the riverbed, symmetrically 10 meters parallel to the stump. Then a thick wood was erected between the two group of logs, which was stuck in the gap at the upper end of the log (because the two piece of logs that were fixed together) they then tightened it up and tied it. In this way, a row of piers werepleted, then they will spread wooden boards on the piers to make the bridge''s deck, with this, the main body of the bridge ispleted. The work that followed was much easier, making guardrails, then additional support were added to the pier in order to prevent long-term water impact¡­and so on. It took them seven days to finish the first bridge, which was 15 meters long and 9 meters wide t bridge and stretches across the Burano river.

    With the experience of making the first bridge, the construction of thetter bridge became faster¡­by the time the third bridge was built, it only took them two days toplete it.

    After hearing this, Davos greatly praised him and asked Heracleides the Younger to incorporate the methods and the steps of building t wooden bridges into the¡¶Thua Union Military Book¡·.

    Heracleides the Younger was greatly encouraged, but then he gotten a headache, because building a bridge over the Crati river is much more difficult. Although it will be built at the ce of the pontoon bridge on the west of the city of Thurii, but there was a delta in the middle, and the Coscile river is also more than 20 meters wide and the water was too deep to walk. Heracleides the Younger had to find a way on how to drive a bridge piles into the riverbed more easily and for it to be stable.

    While he was thinking hard about it, Davos has also said, ¡°Currently, the Thua Union will only build wooden t bridges. But in the future, we will build stone bridges and make it possible for a trireme to pass through under the bridge. If you can do all of this, then you will be known as the master of bridge construction and be remembered by future generations!¡± in order to encourage and stimte him.

    The word of Davos made Heracleides the Younger feel the pressure, but at the same time, it ignited his spirit¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    A few dayster, the reconstruction of the city of Thurii came to a temporary end. Countless freeman flocked to the census office, and the census officer, Raphias, received tens of thousands of applicants to be a citizen of Thurii in a day. He was so busy that he had to ask for more staff from the Senate.

    And the Senate is currently holding a meeting in order to discuss about the construction of arge square that could amodate tens of thousands of citizens to hold an lesia and to gather troops when the union goes on a campaign.

    ¡°I have no objection to the construction of the Grand Square. And from the distress letter of Raphias, we can see that our official citizens can easily surpass 10,000 in a few years.¡± After nearly half a year of hard work in the post of Praetor of Amendra, specially in the past three months, Cornelius'' experience and self-confidence have increase which allowed him to talk andughed in front of dozens of statesmen, and it has also aroused theughter of a group of statesmen.

    Then Cornelius questioned, ¡°However, I am not sure if we also need to build an assembly hall that can amodate 600 people for the Senate. At present, the number of statesmen is less than 50, and building such arge assembly hall will not only a waste of manpower and materials for the reconstruction of the city of Thurii, but also make us sit in such arge ce to discuss issues, which will not be pleasant.¡±

    The words of Cornelius were shared by some statesmen.

    At this moment, Davos got up from the meadow, which have immediately attracted the attention of everyone. It wasn''t only because the building of such a grand assembly hall is his proposal, but also because the statesmen of Thurii who had managed to survived this disaster, are awed at Davos, who was able to rescue Thurii twice and gained the highest authority of the new union.

    ¡°The reconstruction of Thurii is not only to rebuild the homes of our people, but also to consider and n the future development of the union. Therefore, we have to build better roads, better bridges, better ports, bigger squares, more orderly neighborhood, and elevated viaducts that have never been seen before¡­In the future, the new city of Thurii will be one of the most beautiful city-states in Magna Graecia and even the whole Greek world! Therefore, the Senate which is the central power of the Union, and where the statesmen of the Union will discuss and decide the survival, development and prosperity of the Union every day. If the ce where the people often paid attention to and where they will oftene to visit have not changed, and stay simple and thrifty, will make the people dissatisfied and they will say, ¡®Look, that little Senate hall can''t match our beautiful city at all, and makes our beautiful Thurii ugly!¡¯¡±

    While the statesmen chuckled, many of them nodded to show that Davos was right.

    Then, someone says, ¡°Milord, then we¡­we can make the assembly hall more beautiful, but it doesn''t have to be that big.¡±

    Davos felt that the voice was unfamiliar, and so he looked at him and turns out, it was Bolus, whom he had met before, ¡°The reason why I have proposed to build an assembly hall that can amodate 600 people, is because I am thinking about the future. The statesmen of Amendra knows that half a year ago, there were only 20 statesmen in the Senate, but now, we have close to 50. Maybe in the future, we would allow other city-states or tribes join our inion, and will need to include their statesmen and tribal leaders of their city-states into our Senate, just as what we have done, in order to make the new city-states that joins and the union integrate smoothly, and to stabilize the hearts of the new people that will join and to ensure their interests?! For example, a yearter, the tribe of Vespa wille and ask us for them to join us as a citizen of the union. And Roscianum, for example, may ask to join our union one day¡­¡±

    The statesmen of Amendra knew that Davos had long nned to attack Lucania. This time, he had sessfully defeated Crotone and merged with Thurii, which have convinced them of the ability of Davos. Therefore, they had no objection.

 Chapter 154: Shocking disputes over the reconstruction of the temple

    The statesmen of Thurii were surprised after hearing the ambition of Davos for the first time.

    Burkes stared at Davos, who was talking andughing in the circle. He remembered the time when he had worked so hard to invite him to Magna Graecia because he was a capable mercenary leader. However, he did not expect that this young man had such a great ambition, he not only saved Thurii, but also changed the political situation in Magna Graecia! Because ording to Davos, the assembly hall of 600 people means that many city-states will be merge into the union!

    The other statesmen of Thurii where discussing it with each other in a low voice, and some even asked, ¡°Who is Vespa?¡±

    They were either suspicious or excited, but most of them did not raise any objection. After all, with the help of Amendra that was led by Davos, they and Thurii were lucky to be reborn. Before they be familiar with the young Archon, they would not rashly object him.

    Only Bolus said something about it, ¡°There must be a limit to the number of statesmen, as it is impossible to expand it indefinitely.¡±

    ¡°600! Because the new assembly hall can only hold 600 people! But I believe that the situation of our union will be very different once the establishment is full. At that time, there mighte a new bill and a new assembly hall!¡± Said Davos without hesitation.

    The self-confidence of Davos made Bolus envious. He could not restrain himself from saying, ¡°Unfortunately, I am afraid that I won''t be able to see that day.¡±

    When he said this, everyone''s expression changed.

    Davos looked at him and said lightly, ¡°Lord Bolus, I believe that you will be able to see it!¡±

    In an instant, Bolus felt his back soaked with cold sweat. Although Davos did not scold him, he still felt an invisible pressure, and so, he kept his head down and kept quiet.

    ¡°Milord Archon, the Senate is a life-long tenure. So how can the citizens of this union be statesmen?¡± Kunogta changed the topic in this way.

    ¡°Although your question has nothing to do with the question of ¡®whether to build the senate assembly hall or not¡¯, but it doesn''t matter, I would like to tell you about my opinion.¡± Davos withdrew his gaze, organized his words, then said slowly, ¡°Our public officials are currently elected once a year, but I don''t think that this is appropriate. For example, once Amintas is elected as the Aedile-¡±

    Amintas immediately eimed, ¡°Milord, I am not interested in architecture at all!¡±

    Everyoneughed.

    ¡°I know, this is just an example.¡± Davos alsoughed, ¡°Amintas doesn''t know anything about architecture, but in this position, he would need to serve the public, and so he has to put his energy into understanding and learning his work as an aedile. When he finally mastered the knowledge of architecture and understand the needs of various parts of the union''s project, his tenure is finally approaching its end. In this year, he has hardly done any effective work, but if he was given another year, his work will certainly be much better than that of his first year, because he has basically understood the whole construction situation of the union and the needs of each city-states. So in the third year, his work efficiency will be even higher, because he has already became fully familiar with it. So he would be able to apply for funds from the Senate, direct the builders, craftsmen,borers and ves to buildrge-scale buildings and maintain public facilities. Moreover, he will finally be able to get some achievements, right?¡±

    Everyone nodded.

    Amintas then yelled, ¡°Yes!!¡±

    And another burst ofugher rang out.

    ¡°Therefore, it is a waste of time and inefficient to elect a civil servant once a year. This should be changed, but the specific tenure of each public position needs to be discussedter. Now back to the question of Kunogta¡­.¡± Facing the crowd, Davos said with seriousness, ¡°Under thew that we are going to issue, every citizens has the right to be a civil servant. In my opinion, a citizen who has just reached age of 18 and wants to be a statesman of the Senate, will need to. Firstly, he would need to held at least three kinds of low-ranking public positions for five years, such as patrolman, fireman, census writer, and so on. At the same time, he must join the army and fight, and must have participated in more than two major battles before he can apply to the Senate and ask for a higher position.¡±

    By this time, he would have rich experience working at the bottom, and be physically strong and familiar with war and he should be about 30 years old. ording to his performance, ability and specialty, the Senate can decide whether to let him serve as a city defense captain, a fire brigade chief, a census officer, an aedile, amercial officer, a financial officer, or an inspector.

    Then he must held two or more intermediate public positions, or served as a senior centurion or even as a centurion for three years. By this time, he should have reached the age of 40, and he will be more stable, and familiar with the political affairs and also be able to handle moreplex situations, and can also lead the troops to war.

    Then at this point, he can finally apply to join the Senate. The Senate will then decide whether he can be a statesmen ording to his performance. But the Praetor of a city-states can only be held by a statesmen of the Senate. I wonder if you approve of my idea?¡±

    ¡°Agree! Agree! Young men should exercise more!¡± Eximed the statesmen.

    ¡®For at least 20 years, we won''t have to worry!¡¯ This is the thoughts of a few ordinary people.

    The statesmen elected in this way will definitely be an outstanding elite among the citizens, and the fact that a fool like Nianses bing a polemarchos will never appear again in the union! Kunogta gave his full approval from the bottom of his heart.

    ¡®It seems that we would need to take up more public position and umte administrative experience in order to avoid being looked down upon by the young people in the future!¡¯ This are the thoughts of the hard-working people like Hielos.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The vast majority of the statesmen agreed with the idea of Davos, because whether it is to extend the length of public service or serve as the city-states'' praetor, makes the interest of the current statesmen more protected, but some people have raised objections.

    ¡°There are only a few public position in the union. So if we extend the tenure, I am afraid that many people will not be able to serve.¡± Said Ansitanos with concern.

    ¡°For now, there are only these many positions, but in the future, it might be possible for someone to go to a city hundreds of kilo-meters away to take his post. At that time, every city would probably need low-level census officers, low-level financial officers and other low-level officials, and then be under the control of the senior census officers, senior financial officers and other senior officials under the Senate. So we need to also establish amittee in the Senate to supervise, manage and evaluate the performance of these public officials.¡±

    The ambition contained in the words of Davos had made some people feel excited and some to be skeptical. But on the whole, everyone was very happy because the establishment of a newmittee would give many idle statesmen something to do, and their power will also not be small.

    Only Mersis was worried, ¡°If there will be so many public officials in the future, then how much should their sries be?!¡±

    And another burst ofughter rang out.

    Davos had to say, ¡°We will talk about their sryter.¡±

    The resolution of ¡°building a Senate Assembly Hall of 600 people¡± was passed. Next, is to discuss the construction of temples.

    There wasn''t any need to discuss the issue of constructing the temples, because ording to reasons, they can just build the new temples directly on the location of the old temple. The statesmen did not have much objection to this, and so, the resolution was about to pass smoothly. But suddenly, Plesinas stood up and spoke out loud, ¡°I am against rebuilding the temple of Apollo!¡±

    Everyone was taken aback.

    Plesinas was very satisfied with the result of his words. Then he took a look at Davos, whilepletely ignoring the astonished expression of everyone else, and continued to say in a loud voice, ¡°Because our devotion to Apollo have not gotten us the protection of the sun god! The betrayal of the freeman, the upation of Thurii, and the whole city were mourning, but Apollo have turned a blind eye to it, and the gods cannot stand by idly and watch his inaction, and so, his temple has suffered a disaster and turned his mes into ashes!¡±

    It seems that Plesinas have med Apollo for the destruction of the city of Thurii, which seemed to be sphemous. However, as the protector of Thurii, Apollo did not even protect his temple. This have indeed made the statesmen who believed in him to feel odd, and after being ¡°reminded¡± by Plesinas, ¡®Did Apollo abandon Thurii?¡¯

    Davos looked at Plesinas with interest.

    ¡°Who¡­who saved the citizens of Thurii and avenged Thurii?! It is beyond doubt that it was the citizens of Amendra! But which god is supporting the army of Amendra?! Look at the g that is held high by the brave citizen soldiers. Isn''t it Hades who waved his bident to bring death to the Crotonians?! It was Hades who have blessed the mercenaries in the hot spring swamp, and have made the god of death blow the wind of the underworld and easily took the lives of 8,000 Lucanians! Now that Thurii have reborn from its ruins, and Amendra and Thurii have be one. Then, Hades, as the patron god of the army of Amendra, and is also the one who have saved Thurii twice be our patron. This is the reason why Apollo yielded, and so, we should not forget the blessing and protection of Hades! Therefore, the new temple of Thurii should be the temple of Hades, in order to protect the longsting peace and tranquility of Thurii!¡±

    When Plesinas finished his speech, the statesmen went into an uproar.

    Kunogta turned to look at Davos, and found that Davos was also surprised. ¡®Could it be that this is Plesinas'' own thoughts?¡¯

    ¡°Plesinas, you should know that Apollo is the main god worshipped in the city-states of Magna Graecia(the other one is Hera). It is because of his blessings that have allowed our ancestors to smoothly arrive here in Magna Graecia, and to sessfully build the city-states. Apollo is very important to the people of Thurii!¡± Reminded Ansitanos.

    ¡°Of course I know it. The citizens can still build an altar of Apollo and continue to worship him, but as the protector of the city-states, his inaction has ended his mission! We need a new and powerful protector that is more willing to protect us, and to maintain the peace of Thurii in this troubled time! So we should build the temple of Hades in our Acropolis!¡± Said Plesinas proudly.

    ¡°From what I remember, there is hardly any temple of Hades in Greece, let alone being a patron god of a city-state. Why? Because the kingdom of Hades is dark and terrifying, which made the people afraid of him! I am afraid that no one wants to go to the Acropolis after the temple of Hades is built! Not to mention gettingughed at by the other city-states!¡± Bolus stood up and objected.

 Chapter 155: The influence of the Temple of Hades in the future

    Plesinas was obviously well prepared. He then calmly said, ¡°Don''t forget that Hades is also the one in charge of Elysium, a ce filled with sunshine in which you won''t worry about death, clothes, and sorrows. It is a ce that any Greek would like to go after death! Besides, Hades, as the king of underworld, controls the wealth of the underworld and can protect the mineral resources of our Union''s territory! As for his terrifying and dreadful nature, it is aimed towards the enemy, because he will bring death to the enemy, while bringing us victory!¡±

    ¡°That''s right, all hail Hades!¡± Cheered Amintas.

    ¡°I agree with building the temple of Hades! Because he had already brought us victories, and he will bring us more!¡±

    ¡°Our Archon is the descendant of Hades, and having Hades as our protector, he will protect the Union more!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The former mercenary statesmen expressed their approval one after another, and have created a huge momentum.

    Bolus could only sit down bitterly, and the others weren''t able to stand against the momentum.

    Davos tap his thigh with his left hand, and watched them calmly. He did not talk about it with Plesinas in advance, and because he was very busy this time, he wasn''t able to think about it at all. However, he did not expect that Plesinas would give him a huge surprise, which made him realize that there are many things that can be done.

    His brain started to quickly think about the pros and cons of this, and then he stood up, which made the gaze of everyone focused on him, ¡°Gentlemen, when we are helpless, we pray to the gods. When we are lost, we pray to the gods. The gods doesn''t only possess powerful divine powers, but can also enlighten us in wisdom and mind. Hades is a god who can give us a lot of help, not only can he bring victory to our army, but he also can enlighten us.

    Look, good people can go to Elysium and live a happy life after death. However, those who did evil before their death could not escape the trial of Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus, and they will in the end suffer in hell. Hades is an impartial and selfless God. Once his temple is established in the city, it will always remind the people that even if the wicked manage to temporarily escape the restrain of thew, they will not be able to escape the punishment of the underworld after death, which will force them to repent and do good while they are alive. And for the people who do good and worship Hades will also encourage them to not give up the good in their heart due to temporary grievance, because the beautiful Elysium will call them¡­in this way, the morality of the people of our Union will be better, the order of the city-state will be more orderly, and the citizens will get along more friendly! Isn''t that right?¡±

    ¡°I agree! With the temple of Hades, my work will be much easier!¡± The inspector, Antonios, immediately echoed.

    While some were still hesitating, Davos continued, ¡°For the construction of the temple of Hades, I suggest that there can be one main temple and auxiliary temple. The main temple should be painted with bright and cheerful colors, and the happy images of Elysium be drawn on it, which shows that Hades is gentle and kind. But the auxiliary temple is dark and terrifying, surrounded by the images of hell, and shows the indifference and majestess of Hades. In addition, we can also build a memorial hall for our heroes in the main hall, and the citizens who died for the Union and the city-states should have their names engraved on it and enjoy the people''s respect and worship! And their heroic souls will be together with Hades in Elysium!¡±

    When Davos said his idea with emotion, it has moved the statesmen, specially thest sentence, and so, they finally decided to build the temple of Hades.

    Then, Davos proposed that the construction of the temple will be entrusted to Plesinas and it got passed.

    Letting Plesinas be in charge of the most important public building project of the Union is not only because of the good intentions of Davos, but also because of his proposal in constructing the temple of Hades, and without a doubt, Plesinas would work twice harder to build it.

    When the meeting was over, Plesinas came to thank Davos in private, and Davos had also reminded him to discuss it with Heracleides.

    The next agenda is ¡°about the distribution of thend in Thurii¡±. Mnseus had ughtered the nobles and rich merchants in Thurii, and among the remaining citizens, there were almost no people that owns a lot ofnds except for a few people, such as Burkes, Bolus, Ariphes, Enanilus, Marsyas and so on.

    Because of the destruction of the city of Thurii, the newly established Union Senate have redistributed thends to the native citizens of Thurii, in order to avoid disputes and ensure fairness. Basically, each family is guaranteed to have 3,333 square meter* ofnd, and only a few people have expressed their objection. Among them, Bolus is the one who opposed it the most. His reason is very simple, because his family used to have more than 333,333 square meter ofnd, but now, only 3,333 square meter ofnd was allocated to them, which is not enough. (T/N: The unit here is Mu(Ä¶) and 1 Mu is something like 666.67 square meters. So 5 Mu is 3,333 square meters)

    As soon as he caused trouble, people like Ariphes, Marsyas and others just watched indifferently.

    And Davos only quietly let Burkes to stand up and take the lead to give up their originalnd willingly and ept the new allocation ofnd.

    At the same time, he secretly signaled Amintas and the others to stand up and attack Bolus, and even reminded him that the old Thurii has already been destroyed, and though the new city is being rebuilt, it has nothing to do with the old city. If someone insist on connecting it to the old city, then it is necessary to tell the crimesmitted by some people in the destruction of Thurii to the public, and trust that the people won''t just expel these aplices who have ruined their families!

    Bolus was so frightened that he no longer dare to oppose it, and naturally, the others could only agree. In fact, this is the greed in their hearts, they did not imagine that in this war, they would not only lostnd and wealth, but also arge number of nsmen and ves. Even if morend was allocated to them, they will not even have enough manpower for it, and even they won''t be able to support so many people.

    After this resolution got passed, the insufficient nd¡± that was allocated to some citizens of Amendra before will also be supplemented this time.

    The Sybaris in has a vast area and fertilend. After the distribution ofnd to the citizens of the Union, the Senate found that they only upied less than one tenth of the area of the Sybaris in, and there was arge amount ofnd left unused. For the Thua Union, which was currently in urgent need of money and food, how could they just watch it be wasted.

    After discussing it with the statesmen, Davos announced the¡¶Land Lease Law¡·, that is, all the preparatory citizens of the Union can lease the publd of the Union, but thend area won''t be more than 3,333 square meter, and the annual tax is one tenth of thend''s ie.

    Mersis had proposed for the tax to be 1/5th, but was rejected by Davos. He believed that since one has be a preparatory citizen, then he must enjoy the benefits of the Union in advance, in order to encourage the other freeman to join the Union.

    At the same time, the decree of the Senate has also announced that all preparatory citizens who actively engaged in agriculture and pay taxes can smoothly be official citizen after their preparatory period ends.

    This is the suggestion from Kunogta. He thinks that farming can show whether a person is hardworking, patient, and strong. A good farmer is a good citizen of the city-state, so this is also a kind of assessment.

    The statesmen agreed with him. Later, it became amon practice that all preparatory citizens had to rent and for two~three years.

    Morend, means more people will rentnd. So Davos proposed that the post of agricultural officer should be establish in order to centrally manage thend allocation, leasing and farming of the Union.

    The proposal was passed, and Burkes was nominated for the position.

    At the same time, the responsibility of the military officer, Philesius is also very important, because only three more months left until the Crotonian captives gets released. In order to prevent Crotone from suddenly breaking the agreement after the captives return, the Thua Union must train arge number of preparatory citizens and enable them to have certainbat strength after three months. As a result, Philesius had to order more veterans to join the boot camp as instructors on training day.

    The next topic is still the proposal of Davos, that is, paying the Union''s low-ranking civil servants about three obols a day in order to support their living needs.

    When the proposal was put forward, Mersis stood up hurriedly, ¡°Lord Davos, since every citizens will own and and only pays 1 percent of the annual tax, then their ie is already more than enough to support their daily needs. It is the duty of the citizens of a city-state to serve the public and it is also a kind of honor. So why should we pay them?! If, ording to your proposal, a low-ranking civil servant is paid about three obols a day, then the treasury will need to pay him about 16 drachmas a month. Currently, we estimate that the Thua Union may need about 200 low-ranking civil servant, which is about a Tarant a month. This is not a small cost! We can''t follow the examples of Athens, Athens has the mines of Laurion, and so they can produce three tarants a day, while we are spending more than what we make!¡±

    ¡°Rest assured Mersis. We will take our time discussing it.¡± Davos motioned Mersis to calm down and asked, ¡°How many clerk do you have?¡±

    ¡°Five, but they are all preparatory citizens.¡±

    ¡°Do theye to work in the treasury every day?¡±

    ¡°No, because we didn''t have much revenue in the treasury. So we just asked them toe over when we needed to. The rest of the time, they will rent and from the citizens to farm.¡±

    ¡°And now?¡±

    ¡°Now¡­now that there is Thurii, and with the market and the port, the tariff alone brings in a lot of money to us every day. So they will of course have to follow me to and fro between the treasury, the market and the port every day.¡±

    ¡°Then, do they still have the time to farm now?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°So, what do they live on?¡±

 Chapter 156: The Thua Union in the eyes of the foreigners (I)

    Mersis looked at Davos timidly, and said, ¡°I¡­I also had given them a share of rations and supplies that¡­that we distribute to the citizens of the Thua Union every day¡­¡±

    Then he hurriedly exined, ¡°All of these are recorded, so you can check it.¡±

    Davos calmly asked, ¡°These rations and supplies can be counted as money?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡­¡±

    ¡°You see, you are already aware of the difficulty of those low-ranking civil servants, even before our proposal is passed, since you are already paying them.¡±

    The statesmen burst intoughter.

    Mersis was unable to talk back.

    Davos struck while the iron is hot and said, ¡°Your clerks are the ves that you have given back their freedom and had followed us since our time in Persia. Now that the ¡¶Land Leasing Law¡·is about to be publicize, it is certain that arge number of preparatory citizens will go to Burkes to apply to rent and, while your clerks can only contribute silently to the city-state. A yearter, what do you think they will think if all the other preparatory citizens have food, clothing and are rich, while they can only live on your charity? What would their families think? Will they still feel that it is an honor to work as a civil servant?¡±

    ¡°We canter just employ¡­official citizens.¡± Said Mersis with a low voice.

    ¡°So, what you meant is that we should just employ the citizens to work as a low-ranking civil servant in the Union?! Is it because thend of the citizens is already being taken care of by their ves, and so they can work without worries, right?¡±

    Mersis nodded.

    Davos then asked Cornelius, ¡°The families of ordinary citizens in our union, generally only have one ves, right? And they will also need to lead the ve to work, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Lord Archon. There are also some families that don''t even have ves.¡± Replied Cornelius.

    ¡°If the citizens go to work for the Union, then thebor force in their home will be reduced by half, and their family''s ie will also be reduced, right?! And in the long run, working as a civil servant will be a burden to them! And the reason our Union can function normally is because of the, scribes under Raphias, the firemen, guards, jailers, jurors under Cornelius, the water patrol and the market officer under Marigi¡­the hard work that these lower rank civil servants contributed! We cannot just let the horses run and not let them eat grass. We should not only make them feel that it is an honor to serve the city-state, but also a kind of welfare, which will allow them to go home with money every day and make their families be happy as well. Only in this way can more and better citizens be willing to contribute to the city! Of course, all of you here, will not get any sry, as we should not allow money to corrode the dignity of our Senate!¡± The words of Davos resonated with everyone.

    ¡°That''s right!¡±

    ¡°Excellent!¡±

    The statesmen straightened their chests and agreed.

    Davos patted the shoulder of Mersis, who was a bit depress, and said to him, ¡°And paying the sries of civil servants will also help you get more taxes.¡±

    ¡°Really?!!¡± Mersis raised his head abruptly.

    Davos looked around and saw that Kunogta was also surprised, and so he said in a loud voice, ¡°When a citizen has money in his hand, he will have the desire to buy things, a bronze pot, a pottery pot, a pot of olive oil, a set of tables and chairs¡­even more luxurious stuffs such as wine, spices¡­when citizens have money to buy things, the market will also be prosperous, and you will receive more tax¡­¡±

    Mersis then said, ¡°But most of the money will be earned by outsiders.¡±

    ¡°That is currently the case. But once our products will be produced¡­let''s have Marigi exin the situation.¡±

    Marigi stood up and said excitedly, ¡°As of yesterday, there has been a pottery workshop, olive oil workshop, masonry workshop, milling shop, two carpentry shops, a paint shop and a stone carving shop in the market of Thurii. At the same time, there is also arge winery being nned, which is about to start.¡±

    ¡°That''s the winery of Ariphes, whose family has been famous throughout Magna Graecia for decades!¡± Kunogta interjected, then pointed to an old man.

    ¡°Thanks to the loan from the bank of Cheiristoya, my family can now rebuild the vineyard and winery!¡± Ariphes nodded his thanks to Davos, and the people of the Union now know who the real owner is behind the bank that has contributed so much to the reconstruction of Thurii.

    ¡°We should impose high taxes on the same types of foreign goods to protect our Union''s emerging business.¡± Kunogta suggested.

    ¡°You are right!¡± Nodded Davos, ¡°In fact, ourmercial officer, Marigi, is already currently preparing to implement some new measures in the market of Thurii. If it is the samemodity, we should levy low taxes on our merchants and high taxes on foreign merchants. And themodities that we currently need and cannot produce for the time being, we will still use low taxes in order to encourage them to actively transport thesemodities to Thurii to sell. For very importantmodities, we can produce them, but we must notpete with foreign merchants for the time being and will give them subsidies. For foreign luxury goods, in view of the limited money in the pockets of the citizens, we would need to levy heavy taxes on them for the time being, so that the citizens will not easily yield to temptation. In this way, we can guide them to buy our ownmodities. Only in this way, can our own business prosper!¡±

    Everyone nodded their approval.

    Davos once more said it out loud, ¡°Gentlemen, we must understand that the silver coins in the treasury that are not in use, is not money, but are just a pile of metals. Only when it flows, can it generate huge profits, so that our citizens can live a better life, ourmerce and trade prosper more, and at the same time, will make our treasury be more abundant!¡±

    ¡°Agree! Agree!¡­¡± Some of them even pped their hands.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Tios, a Corinthian merchant, wandered through the noisy and crowded market of Thurii, and saw the excited people of Thurii talking to each other excitedly, ¡°The Thua Union has announced the ¡¶Civil Service Law¡·, any citizens of the Thua Union can apply for public office, they will start from the bottom and if they perform well, they can take up higher positions. The Union even intends to pay these civil servants 1 to 4 obols a day¡­¡±

    ¡®OMZBy Zeus, the Thua Union wants to copy Athens?! Are they as rich as Athens?!¡¯ Tios did not want to listen to the citizens of the Thua Union. Although he thinks that the Union will not be able to be as sessful as the Athenians, he was still jealous.

    As an ordinary citizen of Corinth, although Tios is very rich, he could only serve as a bottom-level official, because only nobles could serve as members of the City Council (Corinth use a noble system), and so he had chosen to join the merchant world. The reason why he came to Thurii this time is because of the rtions between Corinth and Sparta is currently tense, and a war might erupt at any time. Therefore, he needed to reserve food for emergencies.

    200 years ago, the trade in Corinth have developed. Weapons, pottery and othermodities were sold to the coastal city-states in the Mediterranean and had made them rich. Later, Athens have caught up andpeted with Corinth in all aspects of trades, especially in the pottery industry which the Corinthians was proud of, which has given Corinth a heavy blow that they have never recovered. Now, the trades of Corinth are not as good as it used to be, but it is still a great city-state on the Peloponnesian Penins, and is still rich. As a city-state not rich in grain, Corinth had always bought food from foreign city-states, and their grain was generally imported from the ck sea. But now, the fleet of Sparta sails across the Aegean Sea, and so, in order to prevent any idents, Tios had chosen toe to the western Mediterranean.

    Sicily was his first choice. Unfortunately, the price of grain in Sicily, which is famous for their abundant wheat, has risen recently. He heard that Syracuse was buying food on arge scale, and it seems that there will be something important that will happen in Sicily. When Tios felt this, he was hesitating whether to go to Carthage. But just then, he heard that Thurii was in the process of reconstruction and is in urgent need of arge number of supplies, and the tariff was very low.

    Tios became greatly interested and asked about the food situation of Thurii, who knew that the Sybaris in is famous for its rich wine, wheat, livestock and beeswax during the period of Thurii''s ¡°Grain harvest¡±. And so, he decided to change his destination to Thurii. (By the end of the summer, the wheat harvest in Amendra was abundant, while the wheat in Thurii was forcibly harvested by the Crotonians in advance, and in the end, all of it fell into the hands of Davos. Therefore, the Thua Union has abundant food. Besides meeting the rations of the people, there is still enough surplus of food to sell.)

    When his merchant ship finally squeezed into the port, he went to the dock and found the so-called ¡°market management office¡±. When he saw the market officer, heined, ¡°Your ports need to be expanded. It''s too small! And it had wasted a lot of my time!¡±

    The market officer politely replied, ¡°Yes, you are right. We will also expand the port. I apologize for the difficulties that this temporary port has caused you! Is there anything that I can do for you?¡±

    The apologies of the officer have dispelled most of Tios'' resentment. He had wanted to go to the market first, but the attitude of the market officer has won his favor, so he said his request directly.

    The officer immediately checked the transaction log of the day and introduced him to a seller. In fact, Nicobulos, the seller is under the agricultural officer, Burkes, who is responsible for the sale of agricultural products of Amendra.

    After seeing the samples and negotiating the price, Tios has decided to buy five ships worth of wheat.

    However, Nicobulos has told him that a 5 ships worth of wheat is a lot, and there is not so much stock in the market. And so, it will need to be deploy in Amendra and be delivered tomorrow.

    So Tios expressed his understanding.

    Out of apoloy, Nicobulos then told him, ¡®The inns in the port area is currently full, so you''d better go to Amendra, where there is an inn in the special business area. The amodation isfortable, cheap and quiet.¡¯

 Chapter 157: The Thua Union in the eyes of foreigners (II)

    Through the management office, Tios contacted Thurii''s four ship owners (because he only has one ship with him), under the guarantee of the market officer (the officer assured him that the shipowners will do their best to help him transport the goods, because they are all the preparatory citizens of the Thua Union. If they fail to fulfill the agreement, the Union will consider that their integrity is questionable and will immediately cancel their citizenship) and so Tios was assured and discussed the price with the shipowners. After signing the agreement, he is now rxed and so, he leisurely explored the market.

    Although the market of Thurii is rtively crude, it has a strict management, good order, clean environment, and it has at least no peculiar smell, which is very rare.

    There are also many kinds ofmodities in the market.

    In the crowded market, Tios identally found a ce with arge open space, and it only has arge house, but he could see the market patrol team patrolling the streets around the house. So Tios curiously walked over and saw a sign outside the house that said, Cheiristoya''s Bank.

    In many Greek city-states, there are banks in all the prosperous cities. This is not a new thing. However, it is rare to see such a long line in front of the bank''s entrance and all the people were excited. In addition to currency exchange, a bank will also provide loans and the interest rate of the loan is usually 20% and even 30%. Usually, unless a merchant is in an urgent need of money, or has no other way besides going to the bank to borrow money, otherwise, he will never go near it. What is more, it is rare for borrowers to be so happy at the thought of repaying so much interest.

    Therefore, Tios came forward to ask politely, only then did he find out that, this bank''s loan interest rate is only five percent!

    Tios thought that he had misheard it, as everyone must know, the Mediterranean trade is well developed, and after a trip, you can get more than 10% of the profits. Of course, the premise is that there are no idents, such as pirates, storms, and so on¡­so a 5% interest is equivalent to the bank lending money in vain! No wonder the customers are lining up in front of the entrance!

    Tios, too, was greatly moved, wondering whether he should borrow arge sum of money in order to buy more wheat.

    However, when he asked at the counter, he found out that this bank only provided loans to the citizens of the Thua Union.

    Which made him depressed.

    On the way out of the market, he calcted in his mind that his five ships of wheat, due to the low tariff and the rtively low price of the wheat, could earn him at least one tarant when he sold it back to the city-state of Corinth. Therefore, despite the announcement of the Thua Union''s ¡¶Civil Service Law¡· and being slightly depressed from learning about the Cheiristoya''s bank''s preferential treatment for the people of the new union, he was still happy. He then felt tired and hungry due to the day''s work, so he decided to stay in Amendra as Nicobulos has suggested.

    As soon as he got out of the market, someone has stopped him and asked, ¡°Are you going to Amendra? Do you want to take a carriage?¡±

    ¡°A Carriage?¡± Tios saw six carriages drawn by horses on the grass not far from the market. The roads in most parts of Greece are rugged and uneven, so it is not suitable to ride a carriage, and it cost a lot of money to raise and maintain horses. Therefore, only a few wealthy merchants and nobles use it as an entertainment tool. Just like the racing events in the Olympic games, this is the only time an ordinary spectator can have a chance to see them. And though Tios has some wealth, he had never ridden a carriage since he was young, and so he asked with curiousness, ¡°Can I take a carriage to Amendra?¡±

    ¡°Of course! You will know if you try it. It is fast andfortable, and it will only take you a few hours to get to Amendra.¡± The old coachman strongly rmended it.

    ¡°How much?¡± Tios became interested.

    ¡°Just 2 obols.¡± Seeing a business, the coachman also revealed a smile on his face.

    The price of 2 obols is really not expensive. So Tios decided to experience the feeling of riding a carriage. He sat on the carriage''s seat which was padded with wheat straw and covered with fur, which was very soft.

    Solikos waved the reins and steered the carriage forward slowly.

    A few coachmen nearby eximed in envy, ¡°Soli, you manage to get another customer again!¡±

    Solikosughed, ¡°Ha ha, just wait patiently and it will be your turn soon.¡± The carriage was already on the move, while he was talking.

    Solikos flicked his whip and the horse began to trot, and the wheels began to elerate¡­

    Soon, the horse began to gallop¡­

    ¡°How is it?!¡± Solikos shouted as he controls the reins.

    ¡°Excellent! It''s so great-¡± As soon as Tios opened his mouth, the strong wind rushed through his throat, and an invisible force pushed him back tightly on the chair and the scenery on both sides was rapidly going by. He liked the high-speed stimtion. It wasn''t because Tios has never ridden a horse, it''s just that riding a horse is too bumpy and after a long time, his buttocks and thighs will hurt, unlike now which is sofortable.

    He, of course, know that this was mainly due to the road, which was so t and solid, and it is also wide enough to have 6 carriages running side by side. At the same time, he also noticed that there were ditches and trees parallel to the road on both of its side. When he thought about it, he manage to understand the intention of the builders, and could not help but exim, ¡°Your roads are really well built!¡±

    ¡°Of course, this is the best road in all of Greece!¡± Tios did not refute the words of Solikos, because it was true that he had never seen such a good road in all the city-states that he had visited.

    ¡°I heard that the road was designed by our Archon, Lord Davos, himself! He is indeed the descendant of Hades, as he can do anything!¡± Solikos said with pride.

    Tios has only heard the name of Davos after arriving in Thurii, but after half a day, his ears were already filled with the deeds of this man, when Davos led the mercenaries to repel the Persian army multiple times¡­when Davos defeated huge number of enemies with only few men, and annihting the Lucanian army, and capturing the army of Crotone¡­when Davos drafted and proposed to enact the ¡¶Immigration Act¡·¡­and so on.

    Tios did not believe the rumors about Davos being a descendant of Hades, because many Greek city-states and rulers have imed to have some kind of intimate rtionship with the gods, such as the Spartans iming that they were the descendants of Hercules, Athens iming that their city-state had always been under the protection of Athena. Even Corinth itself has imed that it has a very close rtionship with Poseidon, and even dedicated the Isthmian games in his name¡­

    However, it was the thing that Davos did that surprised Tios. If all these things were really done by the Archon, then it can be said that the Thua Union has almost all relied on Davos'' own strength. It is no wonder that the people of the Thua Union are full of reverence when they mentioned him. And he even heard that Davos is still a very young and unfathomable man! Would he be the Periander or Pheidon of the Thua Union? (Periander, one of the Seven Wise men of ancient Greece, was the ruler of Corinth in the 7th century B.C., and had made Corinth the richest city-state in Greece. Pheidon, is the king of Argos in 7th century B.C., he is the arch enemy of Sparta and he had once ruled the Peloponnesian Penins and made the Spartans tremble in fear under his prestige.)

    ¡°Not only does Lord Davos took good care about us ordinary people, but his wife is also a good person!¡± Solikos then continued, ¡°It was she who proposed that the citizens who could drive carriages be allowed to take people on this road, and provided us with loans, even though my properties were burned in a fire by Crotone. Otherwise, how could I even afford to buy an expensive horse carriage?¡±

    ¡°What''s her name?!¡± Asked Tios out loud against the wind, and he thought of a possibility.

    ¡°Can the name of the Archon''s wife be asked casually?!¡± Solikos pretended to be angry and thenughed, ¡°But our lord doesn''t care about such conservative tradition of city-states, and had even allowed his wife to appear in public and to open a bank that provided low interest loans for the citizens. Her name is the name of the bank-¡±

    ¡°Cheiristoya''s Bank!¡± Tios blurted it out.

    ¡°Yes, as long as you have been to the bank, you will see it. And she is the most beautiful woman in our Thua Union!¡± Solikos sincerely praised, ¡°I recently heard that she is currently pregnant. Hence why she didn''t appear in the market for a long time. Both of them are good people, and everyone hope that she would give birth to a healthy boy that can be an excellent archon in the future.¡±

    ¡°You mean to make their son inherit his position? Won''t this make the government of Thua Union into a monarchy?¡± Solikos was taken aback by the question of Tios, and thenughed, ¡°It''s just an idle talk, why are you taking it seriously?¡±

    He raised his hand and flicked the whip in the air. The horses that was trying to gallop to the middle of the road became scared and obediently returned to its original path.

    Solikos drove his horse for a while, and then he said seriously, ¡°You have to know that the strategoi and the statesmen in the old city hall of Thurii knew nothing but debate and quarrel every day. The way to transport ores is so bad, and even after so many days, I still haven''t seen the city hall do anything to change it. It can¡¯t evenpare to the order of the archon for life, Davos, who had managed to make such a good road in just more than three months. What is more important is that once a war broke out, not only the strategoi and the Council, but even us citizens will convene an lesia only for our own interests, to vent our hatred and to deny all proposals that are not favorable to us. And in the end, nothing will happen, and the army of the enemy will already be outside the city¡­¡±

    Solikos sighed heavily and shook his head vigorously. He seemed to want to throw away all the painful memories, ¡°The democratic system used to be very free, but we in Thurii have already tasted the pain of our city being destroyed. The management of a city-state should not be directed by people who knew nothing, but should let the truly capable people to implement their ability and govern the city-state ording to their ns without any interference¡­¡±

 Chapter 158: Turns out that beer was invented by the Egyptians

    Speaking of this, Solikos raised his voice and said, ¡°But now, with Archon Davos as the backbone and the other statesmen as the auxiliary, the Union will be much more efficient. Moreover, all citizens will now havend, and will no longer worry about their livelihood, let alone getting invaded by enemies. What is more, they can now freely get employed as a civil servant and get paid, which is a lot better than before! So, even if Thua Union has indeed turned into a monarchy system, there is nothing wrong with it. As long as the future kings can be like Lord Davos, the people of the Union will support it as well, is what I think!¡±

    Tios listened to his words and fell into a deep thought. The Greeks were born to love politics. From ancient times to the present, every citizens of a city-state will seek the perfect system that will make their city-state more prosperous and the citizens to be freer. A few decades ago, Athens have be the role model for all the city-states to follow. However, after their defeat in the Peloponnesian War, it had made many people to see the disadvantages of the Athenian democratic system. Some nobles, including the philosophers, began to praise Sparta, which have followed the ancient Greek system of semi-monarchy and semi-democracy. However, the hegemony of Sparta had specially disgusted the neighboring countries in the Peloponnesian penins. And the governing system of Thua Union seems to be interesting as well¡­thought Tios in his heart.

    The carriage continues to move, and when it crossed the wooden bridge, Tios looked back and observed for a long time.

    Even though there are a lot of pedestrians and animal-drawn vehicles on the road, they are all very orderly and do not interfere with each other.

    Tios looked around and found something, ¡°You all seemed to be walking on the right of the road?!¡± He eximed with doubt.

    ¡°That''s right, you seem to have observed it carefully!¡± Solikos eximed happily, ¡°After this road was built. Lord Davos had erected a monument at the fording ce of Amendra, Thurii, and Heraclea, suggesting that all travelers should walk to the right. In the first few days, a lot of people didn''t listen to it, and frequently crossed the road. But because this road is so good, it made the speed of carriages and mounts to be rtively fast, so there are several people getting injured, which resulted in the road getting congested. We then realized that what Lord Davos had said was right! You see, our Archon is like this, even though he has a lot of power, he does not often use it to coerce his people to obey but tries his best to persuade the other party. This is one of the reasons why we aren''t worried, even though he is the only archon!¡±

    ¡°The Thua Union has indeed have a good Archon!¡± Sighed Tios, ¡°What is more, I notice that every other distance, there will be a stone tablet on the side of the road, which engraved the distance from Amendra and Heraclea. He is so careful in managing a road, seems like the government of the city-state considers the feelings of the people.¡±

    ¡°Yea!!¡± Solikos whipped his whip and straightened his chest with pride.

    ¡°How much do you earn every day by driving a carriage?¡± Asked Tios.

    Solikos, who was happy, then frankly said, ¡°At the start, I only earn 10 obols a day, and most of them were from the new people of the Thua Union. But now, when working from morning to night with almost no rest, I can earn at least 46 obols. If it continues like this and by deducting the cost of taking care of the horse and its fodder, then I can earn about 600 obols, which is nearly 100 drachmas a month. And in four months, I would then be able to pay off my loan and its interest!¡±

    They talked happily. And because there were not many carts on the road, and the road is very smooth, so they manage to arrive at the warehouse and inn area under the city of Amendra in less than two hours. As a matter of fact, it is not as quiet as what the market officer has said, but it isn''t too noisy.

    Solikos and Tios got out of the carriage, then he said to him, ¡°I suggest that you should go to Cheiristoya''s restaurant for dinner. Their mutton soup and tripe are very delicious, and the price is not expensive. I usually go there to eat every few days. I also didn''t expect that the offal that people usually don''t want will be so delicious and had made me spent half of my money on it.¡±

    ¡°Is it so delicious?¡± Tios was doubting.

    ¡°You will know once you try it.¡± Said Solikos, then another customer got on the carriage, and so he waved at him to say goodbye.

    ¡°May Hermes bless you so that your wish wille true as soon as possible!¡± Tios also gave his blessing.

    Seeing that Solikos drove away, Tios was already hungry and his stomach begun to grumble, and so, he decided to go to the restaurant that Solikos has rmended first.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Compared with Amendra, thend, poption and works in Thurii is far more. Therefore, the Senate hall will be relocated to Thurii, even though the Senate hall is still not been built yet. Because most of the statesmen''s homes are in Amendra, the redevelopment council has allocated some houses in Thurii to the statesmen, in order to facilitate the speed and convenience of the discussion in the future. Because of Davos'' busy work, and the need to discuss political matters and public officials in his home, he was also given a new house, twice the size of his house in Amendra. Davos wanted to refuse at first, but Cheiristoya like the house so much that he could only ept it.

    The house is located on a high-lying hillside on the bank of the river inside the city of Thurii. By just standing at the gate of the courtyard, you can have a panoramic view of the beautiful scenery of the Crati river and Cosceli river, and on the other hillside at the north, is the former temple of Apollo (The temple of Hades is now currently being built on it) and also the Acropolis, which shows that the location is very excellent.

    It waste September, which is the beginning of autumn, but the climate in the southern Apennine penins was still hot. Fortunately, the river breeze thates from time to time cooled Cheiristoya.

    The courtyard of the new house isrge. Some time ago, Cheiristoya has invited a bricyer to build a wall in the middle, and putting a door to it, and thus divides the courtyard into the front and back. In the front yard, there is a room for the ves and also the reception room(Andron*), while the rear has the bedroom for Davos and her, a room for their adopted daughter and son, and a ce for their personal servants. (T/N: A ce to receive male guest)

    Cheiristoya has stayed in the rear all this time, the environment was quiet and private. At this time, she is wearing a light linen clothes, and together with her female ve, Azune, nts her favorite flowers and nts in the backyard of the courtyard. Her clothes flutters and her snow-white chest was faintly visible, which made people have fancy thoughts.

    Andrea then entered the backyard with the permission of the ve girl at the entrance. Andrea then saw Cheiristoya putting down her picked, then took the towel from Azune and wiped her sweat.

    Andrea hurriedly walked over and warned her, ¡°Madam, the physician has said that you should take a quiet rest during this period of pregnancy, so as to ensure the smooth growth of the baby, and you should also not exercise vigorously!¡±

    ¡°I am no longer vomiting much now. and Davos has also said that ¡®proper exercise will help me, and my child be healthy.¡¯¡± Said Cheiristoya, stroking her belly, and her delicate face brimming with tenderness.

    ¡°Even though Lord Davos is so busy, he still cares so much about you and your child! Madame, Hera has blessed you with a good husband!¡± Andrea''s timelypliment made Cheiristoya smile even more, ¡°Andrea, you shouldn''t envy me, because you will be together with Bagul in another year! I did not expect that it would be so soon!¡±

    ¡°It''s all due to the Lord Archon. Bagul and his people are very grateful!¡± Said Andrea sincerely.

    ¡°Are Bagul and the others willing to stay and be a citizen of Thua Union after they havepleted their sentence?¡± Cheiristoya handed the towel back to Azune and ask, seemingly unintentional.

    ¡°Bagul told me that ¡®most of the young people are willing to stay, because even though they are tired, they are very happy and felt safe. So, they do not want to go back to the mountains and live a life filled with fear. And only few elderlies were hesitating, which also includes his father¡­¡¯¡± At this point, Andrea was a little bit worried. Of course, she would like the Lucanians to stay, so that her marriage would be more smooth.

    ¡°Don''t worry, Davos will definitely try to make sure that they will all stay!¡± Cheiristoyaforted her, then she picked up a jar from the nearby table, then poured a ss of water and handed it to Andrea, ¡°You have just came from the market, so you must be thirsty. Here, have a drink.¡±

    Andrea hurriedly took the cup, then she swept her eyes on it, and she saw that the cup has a golden yellow liquid on it, and with a white foam floating on it. She didn''t dare to ask immediately, so she first took a sip then tasted that it was bitter and sweet, and was also cold.

    She could not stop herself from trying to drink once more. Arge amount of foam wrapped in liquid flowed into her stomach smoothly, making her burp a few times and she suddenly felt her body gets hotter and also felt refreshed.

    ¡°What kind of drink is this?¡± She asked in amazement.

    ¡°It''s delicious right? I have it soaked in well water for quite some time.¡± Cheiristoya grinned and said, ¡°As for what it is, I will have Azune exin it to you.¡±

    The dark-skinned and pretty Azune hurriedly said, ¡°It''s called beer, and it is a kind of alcohol that we Egyptians love to drink. A few months ago, I heard Lord Davos said to his wife ¡®I am considering making the Rugby as a formalpetitive sport, which will be very popr to the public. However, there is still ack of good drink, so that people can sit in the arena and watch the game in the scorching sun, which will not only quench their thirst, but also make them lively¡­¡¯ , so I was unable to stop myself from saying ¡®You can try the drinks of the Egyptians.¡¯¡±

    Hearing this, Cheiristoya ¡°hahaha¡±ughed and said, ¡°You should''ve seen the expression on Davos face. He was very surprised and looked at Azune and asked her several times, ¡®What''s the name of this drink?¡¯, then he asked about the color, taste and the production process of it. Later, he sweared something about ¡®I¡­I was tricked by the Germans and turns out that the beer was invented by the Egyptians.¡¯ Then he urged me to find someone to make it, and so I had to send someone to the ve market in Taranto, and pay a high price to buy an Egyptian ves who could make beer and have him make it.¡±

    Author''s note: Each civilization has left their own unique mark on the world, and the Egyptian civilization also has many interesting inventions. I will just list some of the things that women are interested in, eye shadow, wig, nail polish, various essories, rose bath, milk bath, hair care, essential oil¡­and perfume was not invented by the French, as there was even a provision in Egypt three thousand years ago that made using perfume in public ces to be illegal. All the interesting life of the Egyptians will be described in detail in the second half of this novel, and this is just a brief introduction!

 Chapter 159: Becoming rich and noble, nothing is forgotten

    Cheiristoya then pointed to the cup of Andrea and said, ¡°This beer is made from barley, and the one you are currently drinking has been made through many experiments. It tastes good, but there is a little bit of scum, but Davos said that ¡®It doesn''t matter, drinking these things is good for your health.¡¯ Currently, even though I need to drink a little bit every day to quench my thirst, but it won''t easily make me drunk¡­¡±

    ¡°This beer has a special taste, but after drinking it, it will make me still want to drink more! Please give me another one!¡± Said Andrea, then she gave the cup to Azune.

    Azune then filled the cup again. Then she took another sip and then said, ¡°Madam, I have a good news to tell you. Most of the money that we have lent to the citizens of Amendra in April has been paid off!¡±

    ¡°So fast?!¡± Cheiristoya was slightly surprised.

    ¡°I heard that there are currently wars going on in Sicily and the Peloponnesian Penins, and so in this year''s wheat harvest, the price has increased. In addition, our restaurant has also actively purchased animals, which also included their internal organs, and so, they made a lot of extra money.¡± Exined Andrea, ¡°Therefore, they manage to pay both the loan and the interest, and some people even want to continue borrowing more money to buy more animals to meet the needs of our restaurant.¡±

    ¡°Good! If they can earn money, then we will be able to get back the loan, and we can then earn more money. Both sides will benefit and ording to Davos, this is called a ¡®win-win situation¡¯. What''s more, we can also lend money to the citizens of Thurii in the Union who needs a lot of money!¡±

    ¡°Madam, we got 400 drachmas for the loan interest this time, and the restaurant in Amendra has earned about 500 drachmas after only opening for more than a month. So far, we have nearly a thousand drachmas.¡± Said Andrea excitedly.

    ¡°Yes, who would have thought that the entrails of livestock that the people disliked would be so delicious and is also good for the health! If Davos had not put all his heart into governing the city-state, then he would have be a famous merchant in all of Greece!¡± Said Cheiristoya happily, ¡°This time, his advice about this beer has made me very optimistic. It seems that this will be our new money earning business. Now, we are just waiting for the arena to be built!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos is the descendant of Hades, so there is nothing that he couldn''t do! And Bagul greatly respect Lord Davos!¡± Andrea agreed with praised. She then thinks of something, then added, ¡°Madam, several groups of preparatory citizens havee to the bank these days to ask if they can get a loan, because they want to engage in maritime trade.¡±

    ¡°Maritime trade?¡± Cheiristoya frowned, she then thought about it for a bit and then said, ¡°The risk of maritime trade is high. If we are not careful, the ship will be destroyed and the people on it will die, and we won''t be able to recover the loan. What''s more, they are still just a preparatory citizen, and once their trade fails, they could just run away. Then who will pay back our money?! However, Davos has said that the biggest role of our bank is to support themerce of our city-state and promote the prosperity and development of our trade¡­¡± Cheiristoya thought carefully, while forgetting that she was holding a rose that she was going to nt, and the prickles on the stem pricked her finger.

    Azune and Andrea immediately came to help suck her finger and bandage the wound with strips of cloth.

    Cheiristoya didn''t feel anything, so she continued with what she was saying, ¡°We should be careful regarding the application of preparatory citizens for loans. First, we need to investigate their personality and integrity, as well as their navigation skills, and whether they have an equivalent coteral and a trustworthy guarantor¡­if all the above conditions are met, then it would be better to indicate in the agreement that they are forbidden to do a long-distance maritime trade between the east and west of the Mediterranean¡­¡±

    ¡°Madam, I understand.¡± Andrea nodded.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Cheiristoya and Andrea were talking in the backyard, Davos on the other hand, is receiving two guests in the living room.

    ¡°Hieronymus, Agasias, have a seat! This is the first time that the two of you havee to see me!¡± Davos happily weed them, and immediately sent the ves to bring dried figs, dates and wine to entertain them.

    Hieronymus was a bit restrain, while Agasias said with a smile, ¡°Milord, we want to ask for your permission!¡±

    ¡°Hoh, what''s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Milord, when we were all in Persia, in order for us to return to Greece, ourpanions have helped each other, killed the enemy together, and established a deeper friendship and affection. In Byzantium, I, Hieronymus, and a fewrades have followed you to Magna Graecia. However, most of our otherrades have chosen to go back to their home because of confusion and fatigue. And I have thought that they have all manage to go back to their home and living a peaceful, war free life. But who knew that some time ago, some of the peltast that Epiphanes have recruited from the east Mediterranean had said, ¡®The mercenaries of the Persian expedition did not go back to their home, as they were forced by the Spartans to fight the Persians in Asia Minor with only a low sry¡¯.

    When we find out about it, we felt bad. We are enjoying a rich life here, but our formerrades are still suffering in the distance and they might be killed by a javelin, a sword and a spear at any time. Archon, since we have so muchnd left and so many enemies waiting for us to defeat, so why don''t we invite them here?! They are not only experienced in the battlefield, but also havee from the east Mediterranean like us. They have the same habit as us, and we are very familiar with each other, unlike the citizens here-¡± Just as Agasias said this, he saw the expression of Davos change, so he hurriedly did not continue what he was going to say.

    ¡°What is the matter with the citizens here?¡± Asked Davos in a strong tone.

    Agasias stammered, and before he could speak, Hieronymus took over, ¡°Some of the Thurians has said, ¡®You are just a lower ss from Greece, who only knows how to kill, and have no knowledge in managing a city-state at all. You will just end up messing up Thurii¡­¡¯¡±

    Davos lowered his gaze and immediatelyforted them, ¡°They are just a few people, and most of the Thurians are very grateful to us! What is more, the power is in our hands, so just let them say whatever they want to vent their depressed feelings, it won''t hurt us. Am I wrong?!¡± Said Davos.

    ¡°As for inviting Timasion to Thua Union, I haven''t thought about it yet. But now that they are the mercenaries of Sparta, and with our present strength, we dare not provoke the Spartans.¡±

    ¡°Milord!¡± Agasias then say earnestly, ¡°You and I all know that being a mercenary is a free profession, if the conditions are not good, they can leave their employers at any time. They are only staying because if they leave Sparta, they will have nowhere to go, but we could offer them a new choice. As long as you send someone to Asia Minor to spread the news, I believe that they will try their best toe here once they find out our situation!¡±

    The words of Agasias had greatly made Davos interested. It must be known that the only reason why he had managed to achieve his present career, is mainly because of his military victory, and the basis of his victory is the soldiers of the Greek expeditionary army. And future wars will only be more and bigger, so he needs more excellent soldiers. He is tapping on the chair, as he weighed the pros and cons, then he decided to give it a try, ¡°Very well, we will send someone, but it is better to not contact them directly, so we will need to spread the news. Have you decided who to send?¡±

    Both Hieronymus and Agasias beamed with delight at the agreement of Davos.

    ¡°Milord, Hieronymus needs to stay here to train the soldiers, and so, I will be the one to go there.¡± Said Agasias.

    ¡°Alright, but you must pay attention to safety. Go early so that you cane back early!¡± Nodded Davos, then he said to Hieronymus, ¡°How are the citizens'' training these days?¡±

    ¡°The recruits are training very seriously, specially the native citizens of Thurii. They have now mastered all kinds of skills proficiently and are onlycking realbat experienced.¡± Responded Hieronymus.

    ¡°Before long, there will be a lot of new recruits joining the various teams, and our troops will be significantly expanded. I hope that you will strengthen your training and not let theirbat strength to decline. Next year, you will have a chance to let them participate in realbat.¡± Said Davos.

    The eyes of Hieronymus brightened, ¡®Lucania?!¡¯

    After Hieronymus and Agasias left, the expression of Davos became serious. He then called Asistes, ¡°Recently, there are people in Thurii who are dissatisfied with the Amendrans. Find out the reason and who are they!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In October, the leisure season, should be the month of the Greek city-states to hold an lesia and elect the strategoi and archons. However, in the Thua Union, there is only one archon and he is also an archon for life and so, there is need to elect it. While the statesmen of the Senate either have the special approval of the archon or have gotten their seats due to their qualifications. ording to the newly passedw, all senior civil servants will hold their position for 2 years, and the Senate will be the one to elect them and are then appointed by the Archon.

    Fortunately, the citizens of the Thua Union at this time-the Amendrans are busy doing all kinds of business because the warehouse and inn area under the city of Amendra is getting more and more prosperous, and the citizens of the Thua Union-the Thurians, are currently focused on rebuilding their homes. While the preparatory citizens were excited about thends that they have rented for the first time in their lives. They began to till, fertilize and water thend early, and the jobs that they have vacated were filled by the influx of freeman who heard more about the Thua Union. The port area is full of foreign people who speaks various ents, they act as sailors, porters, cleaners, and even do small trading. While doing dirty and hard work, they actively register at the census officer, and they will only need to count the days with their fingers and hope that they can apply for preparatory citizenship immediately after two years.

 Chapter 160: An unexpected visitor

    The prosperity of the port has made the statesmen of the Senate busy.

    The city of Thurii''s praetor, Kunogta, is busy dealing with all kinds of disputes andwsuits all day, and he also has to select the patrolman and firefighters to maintain the order in the booming port area, prevent fires and to pay attention to new management problems brought about by the increasing numbers of preparatory citizens in the city.

    The city of Amendra''s praetor, Cornelius, is also facing the same problem because of the influx of foreign people into the warehouse and inn area and the newly built market.

    The inspector, Antonios, has to pay a close attention to the changes in the moral atmosphere of the people in the two cities, whether the people get along well with each other, whether there is a maltreatment of the elderly, women and children, and whether there is abusement of the freeman and ves.

    Philesius, the military officer, has a headache about how to integrate the huge preparatory citizens into the army and train them into qualified soldiers in the shortest time.

    One can only imagine how busy the census officer, Raphias, is. As he had asked the Senate more than once to increase the number of scribes and archivists.

    Mersis, the financial officer, was busy collectingnd tax and business tax. Although he lost a lot of weight because of this, but the busier the fatty is, the happier he bes.

    Marigi, themerce officer, is under great pressure. He not only have to ensure the high-quality service of the market and the port, but also to maintain the order of the two areas with thergest flow of people, especially in the port areas with arge number of foreign people. At the same time, he should also consider the sustainable development of the trade of the Thua Union. Because with the gradualpletion of the reconstruction of Thurii, the demand for certainmodities among the residents of the city will naturally decrease significantly. How to prevent the sharp decline of foreign trade? He has been trying to find a way out, and Davos has even gave him an advice, ¡®Before the Thua Union can developed a new, unique and high-quality goods, we can only rely on novelpetitive games and entertainment to attract the rich people from other city-states to consume their money in the city¡­¡¯

    Although the agricultural officer, Burkes, was a merchant before, he was also andowner. He had nted grapes, olives, and wheat, so he was familiar with agriculture. So now, he was not only responsible for measuring thend, allocatingnd, leasingnd, resolving disputes between neighbors, but also to provide suggestions to the people ording to the actual situation of the agriculturalnd, in order for them to obtain higher harvest and ie.

    Alexius, the aedile, is undoubtedly one of the busiest senior civil servant. Although the redevelopment council is in charge of the reconstruction of Thurii and is presided over by Heracleides, the specific implementation is his work. He is not only responsible for purchasing various building materials in time, but to also organize human resources and maintaining order of the goods. At the same time, he has to supervise the construction of the roads and bridges that is presided over by Heracleides the Younger. And also, the construction of the new market in Amendra. Therefore, he is busy from morning to night every day, like a tired dog. When he sees Davos, he yells to him saying he will quit, but the next morning, he will devote himself into his busy schedule.

    Besides the statesmen who are so busy serving as civil servants. The other statesmen were not idle, either. They had set upmittees at the initiative of Davos, in order to assist the Union in managing its affairs.

    The important Union mediationmittee isposed of three members. Once there is a big dispute in the city-state and cannot be solved with thew for a moment, they will be the one in charge to solve the dispute.

    The civil servants in the investigationmittee isposed of five members, which are responsible for the monitoring the employment situation of the middle and low-ranking civil servants and establishing files for future promotion as a reference. At the same time, if the people report a civil servant, they will need to investigate whether it is true and to respond to it.

    There are also three members in the coinagemittee. Most of the Greek city-states cast their own coins. First, it is to make trading and earning profit more convenient. Second, it is tomemorate events and the gods that they worship. Third, it is to publicize their existence to other city-states. Of course, the Thua Union is no exception, and they are just waiting for the first coins of their own after the reconstruction of Thurii¡­

    There are also temporarymittees, such as the temple preparationmittee, which is headed by Plesinas. The statesmen of thesemittees serve the same duties as civil servants, most of whom serve for two years and rotate at the end of their term.

    Although October is not the general election day of the Union, it has now be the ¡¶Union Civil Service Act¡·, after the announcement, the various departments have a day to recruit civil servants, and the candidates are gathered. When the candidates are tested, the person in charge will screen those who had pass the test ording to the situation of the citizens. Those who have joined the army and have fought many times, pay taxes on time, abided by discipline andw, and had performed meritorious service or have paid wounds bravely in the battles are preferred. The first two arepulsory. However, if they do not join the army or pay taxes, then they do not have the qualifications to serve as a civil servant. And disabled citizens will be check whether their works will be affected by their disabilities.

    At a time when the statesmen were confused and the citizens were busy with their official duties, Davos met a special guest at his house in Thurii.

    This is a strong middle-aged man, although he is wearing Greek clothes, but it cannot hide the fierce wildness of the mountains. Sure enough, under the watch of the guards, he spoke in strange Greek, ¡°Milord Archon of the Thua Union, Avinoges of Laos has asked me to give his greetings to you on his behalf. I am his brother, Alobamus.¡±

    Davos was shock, but his expression remained unchanged, and said slowly, ¡°Laos? Laos of Lucania?!¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Alobamus stares at Davos and said straightforwardly, ¡°Although Laos is currently belonging to Lucania, my brother and I are both Greek!¡±

    Davos already knew about it, so he was calm and looked at Asistes who was next to him.

    Asistes immediately asked, ¡°As far as we know, Avinoges is an important leader of Laos. Before the war between Lucania and Thurii, he had strongly supported the alliance of Lucania and Thurii to fight. He is one of the main enemies of our Thua Union, so it is not important whether he is a Greek or not!¡±

    Alobamus didn''t expect that the other side knew about their situation very well, and it was useless using the same race card, which made him a bit flustered, ¡°We are Greeks! Laos is a colony built by Sybaris. A hundred years ago, the Lucanians march south when the city of Sybaris was destroyed by Crotone, and no other city-state had sent troops to rescue Laos. We, people of Laos, had no other choice but to turn to Lucania in order to save our people. However, we have not forgotten the noble Greek blood flowing in our veins. We still speak Greek at our home, worship the great Apollo and Hera, and we look forward to returning back to Greece! Because of this, the Lucanians are very wary of us, oppress us, insult us, and regard us as a different race. In order not to be doubted and destroyed by them, we needed to do something against our own wishes!¡±

    Alobamus look at Davos with respect then said excitedly, ¡°And my brother and I have been greatly heartened to hear that you, Milord, have defeated the Lucanian alliance with only fewer men! I couldn''t imagine that not long after, you had managed to lead your army again to defeat the mighty Crotone, and be the master of Amendra and Thurii, which are adjacent to the territory of Lucania! My brother admires your great military achievements and sincerely hopes to get your help, and let us, the suffering descendants of Sybaris and the city of Laos, to return to the embrace of Greece!¡±

    Davos was not moved by the praised of Alobamus, and just nodded calmly, ¡°What kind of help do you need from Thua Union?¡±

    ¡°My brother hopes to form an alliance with Thua Union and fight against the Lucanians together, after taking back Laos!¡± Alobamus said excitedly.

    ¡®Sure enough!¡¯ Said Davos to himself, then he said, ¡°What kind of agreement?¡±

    ¡°Just like the agreement with Thua Union and Roscianum-¡± Alobamus recalled what Avinoges had taught him, ¡°As an ally, the Thua Union does not interfere in the internal affairs of its allies, you can only manage¡­diplo¡­diplomatic power and war leadership¡­¡±

    Obviously, Avinoges has conducted a detailed investigation on Thua Union and havee prepared, which shows that they attach great importance to this visit! After Davos grasped the situation, he said without showing any interest, ¡°I see. You can go back to your amodation and wait for me to discuss it together with the statesmen before I can give you an answer.¡±

    ¡°I hope that lord Archon will give me an answer as soon as possible!¡± Alobamus said anxiously.

    ¡°Why?¡± Davos pretended that he could not understand.

    Alobamus was unable to respond for a moment.

    Asistes then said with a smile, ¡°It''s because Nerulum has chosen a new leader and has urged Avinoges to lead his people to the city of Nerulum, right?¡±

    Alobamus was stunned, ¡®The people of Thua Union already knows everything!¡¯

    ¡°Hmm, I''ll give you the answer as soon as possible.¡± Said Davos with certainty this time.

    After Alobamus left uneasily, Davos then asked, ¡°Asi, what do you think of the requirements of Laos?¡±

    ¡°Milord, just as we have analyzed before, Avinoges has been forced to resist, but ording to his present situation, even if we make more demands, he will still certainly agree. It would be too good for him if we give him the same agreement as that of Roscianum!¡± Said Asistes with reluctance.

    Davos shook his head and said, ¡°Although Avinoges rebelled against Lucania and can only rely on us. But if our demands are too harsh, Avinoges will be discontent. If there is any ident, it is likely that he will rebel once again! We have no foundation to the west of the mountains, so we must rely on the full help of Laos. As long as Laos joins our alliance, we will have a foothold in the west coast of the Apennine penins, which will greatly promote the trade development of our alliance! Therefore, we should have a long-term vision and don''t weigh inparison with those small benefits!¡±

    What Davos said made Asistes felt ashamed and so he nodded again and again, and then he heard Davos say, ¡°Of course, it is not like we are not asking for anything. My request is ¨C Nerulum!¡±

 Chapter 161: Join hands

    Davos urgently called in Philesius, Kapus, Drakos, Hieronymus, Epiphanes and other high-ranking officers to discuss the countermeasure against the alliance with Laos.

    After that, he asked for an urgent Senate meeting, and after the discussion, the proposal of Davos was approved.

    That night. Alobamus was again taken to the house of Davos.

    ¡°Did you have a good rest, our distinguished guest from Laos?¡± Said Davos jokingly.

    Looking around, Alobamus saw a few more people around Davos, and asked eagerly, ¡°Milord, have you made a decision?¡±

    ¡°Yes, after our deliberation, our Senate has decided to ept Laos as an ally of Thua Union!¡± Said Davos with a smile.

    ¡°Great!¡± Alobamus could not hide his excitement. Before he came here, he had listened to Avinoges'' detailed introduction on how to negotiate with the Greeks and the procedures for signing a treaty. For such a major event, the Greeks would hold a meeting, and would need two to three days of repeated discussion until there would be a result. Therefore, he had urged Davos. Unexpectedly, it only took a half a day for the Thua Union to make a decision. This new force is indeed different.

    ¡°It''s just that I have heard that Nerulum has sent 800 soldiers to Laos. Can you and your brother take over Laos easily?¡± Davos asked with concern.

    After the previous conversation, Alobamus was not surprised on why Davos knew Laos so well. So, he said with confidence, ¡°There''s no problem. Not only do we have more than a thousand soldiers, but also the ves in the port are descendants of Sybarites just like us, and they are willing to follow ourmand! We have lived in the city of Laos for generation, while the newly arrived Lucanians don''t even know how many streets there are in Laos. How can they be our opponent! It''s just that after we take over Laos, we will definitely be attack by Nerulum or even Grumentum, so we need your support!¡±

    ¡°That is to say, the risk in the process of taking over the city is not big. But after taking over Laos, it may lead to the retaliation from the Lucanians, right?¡± Asked Davos patiently.

    Alobamus nodded involuntarily.

    ¡°Then I have a better way for you to capture Laos smoothly without theter risk!¡± Davos said with temptation.

    ¡°What should we do?¡± Asked Alobamus impatiently.

    ¡°Help us take down Nerulum first, which will cut off the passage for the Lucanians to go south to rescue Laos. By then, you won''t even have to attack Laos, because the Lucanians in the city will have to surrender once they lose their support.¡±

    There''s a lot of truth in what Davos said. And Alobamus was greatly became interested, but said with concern, ¡°Although Nerulum is not a city made of stone, it is still not easy to attack it. If we can''t take it down fast, in case our n will be exposed, Grumentum wille to rescue.¡±

    ¡°We are not going to siege Nerulum.¡± Laughed Davos.

    Alobamus was puzzled.

    ¡°How many warriors does Nerulum have?¡± Davos continued.

    ¡°They originally have nearly 6,000 warriors. But after getting defeated by you, they only have more than 2,000 left. Now, there are 800 warriors in Laos, so there are only more than a thousand warriors left in the city of Nerulum.¡± Alobamus answered truthfully.

    ¡°Besides those warriors, do they have others that can fight?¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°Rest of their people are elderly, women and children. Nerulum only has a small area, and theirnd is barren. Hence, they couldn''t support too many tribes. The reason why they have so many warriors is because, we, Laos have given them a lot of food every year.¡± When Alobamus thought of the oppression and exploitation of Laos by Nerulum for so many years, his hatred rose.

    Davosughed, ¡°My request is very simple, I only need you to help us open the gate of Nerulum, and the rest will be left to us.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Alobamus set out to return to Laos. Along with him were Asistes, the scribe of the Thua Union''s archon, and Izam, the leader of the mountain reconnaissance team. They took the agreement for Avinoges to sign it, and to also confirmed that the one signing it was Avinoges himself. Then they will further discuss the conquering of Nerulum and Laos.

    Meanwhile, the high-ranking officers of the Union began to discuss on how to attack the city of Nerulum with the map left by Alobamus, and at the same time, they began to mobilize for war in secret. Although Alobamus said that there are only more than a thousand warriors in the city of Nerulum, Davos still decided to adopt the strategy of Lion fighting a Hare for the sake of insurance. Besides the first brigade, who will stay in Thua Union, the second, third and seventh brigades with rations enough for 5 days, will prepare for a surprise attack on Nerulum.

    In addition, Davos was also preparing a banquet for two people.

    ¡°Chief Vespa, have a seat!¡±

    ¡°Milord, you are very kind. I am no longer the tribal chief, but just a prisoner of Thua Union.¡± Said Vespa in a dull tone.

    ¡°That is only for the time being. When you be a citizen of Thua Union, you will still be the chief of this tribe!¡± Said Davos, tofort him, as well as making a promise.

    Vespa''s heart moved.

    Then Davos also said to Bagul, who was holding himself back, ¡°Haha, the camp''s most famous rugby quarterback, did building a road made you stronger? Am I right, Andrea?¡±

    Andrea, who was following behind Cheiristoya, blushed and bowed her head.

    ¡°Milord Archon!¡± Bagul said with a smile.

    ¡°Sit down! Sit down!¡± After Davos had asked his guests to sit down, he then said in a loud voice, ¡°There are no outsiders here today. Chief Vespa and Bagul, you are all my old friends! This is my wife, Cheiristoya.¡±

    Cheiristoya nodded and smiled to the two.

    ¡°And there is no need for me to introduce this person.¡± Davos pointed to Andrea and said with a smile, ¡°I am still waiting to attend your wedding!¡±

    Andrea and Bagul have their faced flushed red, and Vespa could only show his helplessness. Although he doesn''t like Bagul marrying to a Greek woman, in the present situation, marrying a Greek woman is of great help to their tribe.

    ¡°And so today, we don''t need to pay attention to etiquette. You can sit and eat however you like! I have prepared some novel food here, which has not been release in the restaurant, and you are the first to taste it. I hope that you would enjoy it!¡± The words of Davos aroused everyone''s curiosity. Even Vespa, who did not go out very much, knew that Cheiristoya''s restaurant is very famous in the Union.

    Davos himself took the lead in setting an example. He moved a wooden chair to sit in front of the dining table instead of lying on the couch. He had long been dissatisfied with the sitting posture in Greek banquet, which is not good for digestion and health. Davos inviting Cheiristoya and Andrea to the banquet is also against the tradition of the Greek, and because he did not treat them as outsiders, Vespa and Bagul felt that Davos was bold and generous.

    The ves first served some fruits and snacks to each person, and then ced a jar of wine and a jar of golden liquid.

    Bagul drank it with curiosity, and suddenly a cold feeling flowed through his entire body, and he could not stop himself from asking, ¡°What is this drink? It''s so good!¡±

    ¡°It''s an Egyptian alcohol called beer.¡± Andrea, who was learning modern sales talk, exined to her lover, ¡°ording to his lord''s request, after the ves have carefully brewed it, this drink will be better.¡±

    ¡°Huh, this is better than some soft wine. This alcohol is what men should drink!¡± Bagul took another gulp and then spoke out loud.

    Vespa took a sip due to getting influence by his son, and then took a few more sips in silence.

    When Davos saw this, he looked at Cheiristoya with a smile and said, ¡°How can you just drink beer without good food?¡±

    Cheiristoya immediately signaled Azune.

    Azune then ordered the servants to bring an iron object to each person''s part of the table, which was as tall as the wooden table. On top of it was a pot containing water and some spices. The servants began to light the wood and put it into the cavity under the pot.

    They watched it with curiosity and the ves then brought two tes to each person.

    ¡°Is this mutton?¡± Vespa looked at the thin, red and white slices of meat on the te and said with doubt.

    ¡°This is mutton. This is beef.¡± Davos pointed to them and said, ¡°I call this kind of food beef and mutton hotpot.¡± While the water in the pot is boiling, Davos took a piece of beef and put it in the pot. The beef rolled in the boiling water and soon turned white, Davos then scooped it up with a woodendle that have holes in it, put it in a te with dipping sauce, dipped it a few times, then took it and put it into his mouth with a look of intoxication.

    After trying it, they all looked surprised. Bagul even said, ¡°I have never eaten such a delicious beef. How do you make this?¡±

    ¡°Skin the ughtered sheep or cow, after that, remove the bone and blood, then put it in the cer, then send some people to the mountains to collect a lot of ice and put them into the cer. Seal it up, and after a day, take out the frozen beef and mutton, then you can cut it thinly, with a knife, then put it in boiling water and wait for it to be cook¡­¡± Davos exined it patiently.

    ¡°And what is this thing?¡± Bagul continued to ask, pointing to the small te.

    ¡°It''s a dipping sauce to regte the vor of the beef and mutton. This dipping sauce are made from shrimp, shellfish¡­uhm¡­there are also sea grass and so on. Afterwards, you will chopped it, mix it and then ferment it, then add a bit of spices, but you will need to ask my chef on how to make it.¡±

    ¡°This kind of food looks simple. But I didn''t expect it to be so troublesome!¡± Bagul could only sigh and had to give up his n to try making it in his home in the future.

    Davos smiled, then he turned to Andrea and asked, ¡°Our great merchant, do you think this will be popr in our restaurant?¡±

 Chapter 162: Persuade

    ¡°Uhm¡­it''s going to be very popr!¡± Andrea was embarrassed, so she blocked her mouth with her hand. Then after she swallowed the delicious mutton, Andrea sincerely praised it. At the same time, she also put forward her own opinions, ¡°But this food is more troublesome to cook because you need to continuously add firewood in order to maintain the heat.¡±

    ¡°Andrea, you are right. Therefore, to eat such food, we would need to have a special staff to serve them, and our charges will naturally be more expensive. And it''s not just for this food, but some other stuff as well.¡± Exined Cheiristoya, while gesturing to the ve that was on stand-by.

    The ves then immediately brought up the cut tripe, seaweed and so on. After nching and tasting it, they also thought that its taste is also very good.

    At this time, Davos talked to Vespa and Bagul, ¡°You see, after ughtering a sheep, the fur can be used for clothing to keep out the cold, the bones can be used for the soup, the meat can be eaten, the intestines can be use for making sausages and other purposes, and other viscera can be made into delicious food¡­almost all parts of a livestock can be sold for money. With our full promotion, the Greeks will gradually start to like eating beef and mutton*, and the Lucanians are the best at grazing, and the Lucanians'' sheep and cattle are famous in the whole of Magna Graecia. In the future, the livestock of Lucania will be weed by the citizen of Thua Union, and the life of you, Lucanians, will be better¡­¡± (The main food of the Greeks and the Romans are grains)

    Vespa and Bagul did not expect that Davos would extend the livelihood of the Lucanians through this meal. An archon of a Greek city-state is considering how to make the life of the Lucanians better, this had made them felt strange and be emotional. For a while, they do not know what to say.

    At this point, Davos raised his ss, ¡°Come on, let''s keep on drinking!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Eating new dishes, drinking new alcohol, and having two beauties to adjust the atmosphere, they naturally enjoyed the banquet.

    Three men were left in the andron after they have eaten their fill.

    Vespa ask directly while feeling tipsy, ¡°Archon, what did you mean that I could still be the leader of the tribe?¡±

    ¡°When you have finished your sentence and be citizens of the Thua Union, I will invite you to be a member of the Senate, which will allow you to make suggestions for the Lucanians who live in the Thua Union and safeguard their interests. Is that not the equivalent of being a chieftain of a tribe?¡± Exined Davos.

    After hearing this, Vespa was somewhat moved. After nearly half a year as a prisoner in Amendra, he understood that Davos had really wanted the Lucanians to stay, otherwise, he would not try to reduce their sentence. Most of the young people in his tribe also wanted to be citizens of the Thua Union and enjoy the prosperous life that they couldn''t even dream of enjoying in the mountains. However, as the leader of the tribe, he was still worried. But now, Davos made a promise to him.

    Hence, Vespa continued to say without restraint due to him being drunk, ¡°If you want my people to be your citizens, ording to your rules, I am afraid that it will take five years, which would be too long!¡± After all, he is very old.

    ¡°ording to the ¡¶Thua Union Immigration Act¡·, it will indeed take you five years toplete your service, from applying to be a preparatory citizen to bing an official citizen. However, there is a special mission. If your tribe participate in it, I will apply to the Senate to make all the men of your tribe into official citizen of Thua Union when youpleted the special mission. And you, will not only be a member of the Senate, but also Bagul. I will also rmend him to be a member of the Senate!¡± Davos spoke something amazing.

    The expression of Bagul became excited when he heard this.

    Vespa was naturally excited as well, but he is much more experienced than Bagul. Davos was able to give them such favorable terms, which showed that the mission was not simple, ¡°What kind of mission it is?¡± He asked with a bit of caution.

    Davos looked at them and said, ¡°The leader of Laos, Avinoges, has formed an alliance with Thua Union, and is ready to help us to capture Nerulum.¡±

    Both were shocked and then fell into silence. Thua Union is ready to dere war on the Lucanians! Making Vespa and Bagul help Thua Union to fight against Greek, won''t be a problem. However, it is not easy for them to attack their own people, although the Lucanian tribes often fought with each other, massacre and extermination of an entire tribe rarely happens.

    Seeing that they were just silent and did not say any objection, Davos could guess what they were worried about, and so he said, ¡°In the future, like the Greeks, the Lucanians under the rule of Thua Union will not only enjoy the rights and obligations of the citizens of the Union, but also maintain their own cultural traditions and customs. And the union will not interfere with it, but will also protect it.¡±

    When Vespa heard this, he was moved and asked, ¡°Can we continue worshipping our gods?!¡±

    ¡°Not only can you continue to worship your gods, but you can also build altars and temples for them. I heard. That you Lucanians have an important event called¡­uhm¡­Bull Festival?¡±

    ¡°Bullfighting Festival.*¡± Bagul interjected. (Note: a celebration in where two bulls fight each other in order to celebrate and bless the prosperity of their livestock.)

    ¡°After joining the union, this can also be continued! And we will make it bigger, by having us Greeks participate!¡± Said Davos with great interest.

    ¡°Milord, are all of these true?¡± Vespa was visibly moved.

    ¡°I can swear to Hades!¡± Said Davos solemnly.

    Since the culture, customs and religion of the Lucanians are not changed, then it is equivalent to just having the great chieftain of the Lucanian tribe be reced by the Senate of Thua Union and Davos. Moreover, if Lucania can be unified, the disputes and killing will be reduced, and bring peace to Lucania!

    Vespa found a proper excuse for hispromise. And so after a bit of discussion with Bagul, Vespa immediately said that they are willing to join the army of Thua Union and participate in the military campaign in capturing Nerulum.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next day, the Thua Union held another emergency Senate meeting.

    The meeting was held in Amendra for the sake of confidentiality, because Thurii''s Senate Hall had not been constructed. So, early in the morning, Solikos and other coachmen brought these noble statesmen to the city of Amendra.

    There are two topics for this meeting. First, Asistes brought back the agreement signed by Avinoges himself, and the war against Lucania was about to start, which made all the members of the Senate to be excited. And the other topic is to make the tribe of Vespa be citizens of the Thua Union.

    Although ording to the ¡¶Immigration Act¡·, many outsiders have be citizens and preparatory citizens. The most typical example is Marigi, who is currently sitting in the room. But with such arge number, and what is more, they are the Lucanians who have caused great harm to Thurii and Amendra, to be citizens of Thua Union, it made it difficult for many statesmen(specially the statesmen of Thurii) to ept it.

    Many people expressed their opposition, among which, the words of Bolus were the most unsound, and he protested loudly, ¡°Milord, this is a serious harm to the feelings of us the people of Amendra and Thurii, by making the Greek civilized city into a barbaric and dirty stronghold of the Lucanians, and letting the people who have just survived the war with Lucania be their ves again!¡±

    Even Scambras and Stromboli, who had begun to ept and support Davos, joined the opposition.

    Antonios, Kapus, Alexius and the others all stood up and supported the decision of Davos. They all thought that the Lucanians also loved life and were civilized and polite like the Greeks. Moreover, they had built the roads and help Thua Union defeat the Crotonians, you can see how much they wanted to serve the Union!

    Bolus immediately retorted, ¡°This is just a rush measure by which the cunning Lucanians did in order to gain freedom. In short, you outsiders can''t understand our pain!¡±

    The words of Bolus infuriated the statesmen who were former mercenary, and the debate at the meeting became fierce, even to the extent of swearing at each other.

    Raphias, the rotating chairman, rang the bronze bell several times to stop the argument, but they all ignored him.

    So, Davos had to stand up and shout, ¡°BE QUIET! Otherwise, you can go out!¡±

    The silence in the meeting soon return. Bolus wanted to say more, but when he saw the sharp gaze of Davos stabbing at him like a knife, he immediately lowered his head.

    Davos then looked at everyone and eximed, ¡°Since you all think that the alliance with Avinoges and capturing Nerulum is of great benefit in stabilizing the western side of the Union and preventing the invasion of Lucania. Then for now, let''s put aside other reasons such as emotion and seriously consider this problem. After taking Nerulum, how will we manage it?¡±

    Davos paused, then without waiting for the others to answer, he continued, ¡°ording to what you had just said, if we want to stabilize Nerulum, then we can only kill all the Lucanians in the city, or make all of them into ves and moved them to Thurii, and then we will emigrate our people to Nerulum, right?¡±

    This was the traditional practice of the Greeks in the colonial era, and there was no objection from the statesmen who had opposed before.

    ¡°First of all, Nerulum is a mountain city, and it is located in mountainous area. There is not much arablend in there, so we can only rely on grazing. Making the Greeks who love the sea move to the mountain city surrounded by mountains and thend production is not abundant, I am not sure how many people are willing to go there. I believe that you can give me an urate answer.¡±

    The wise statesmen like Kunogta and Cornelius just stood by and no one else came forward to answer it.

 Chapter 163: Heated debate in the Senate

    The wise statesmen like Kunogta and Cornelius just stood by and no one else came forward to answer it.

    Davos continued, ¡°Then let''s look to the north of Nerulum, which are all the territory of Lucania, as well as severalrge cities and towns. I heard that their total poption is more than 100,000, which is several times more than our poption. Although they are still fighting with each other, once the Greeks upy their traditional territory and threatened their own security, will they unite against us? Even if we defeat them, as long as they hide in the mountains, we won''t be able to do anything else, and it will make the Lucanians hate us even more. They are familiar with every mountains and every rivers there, and they will change their tactics by attacking our farms and the citizens that will go herding, raiding our supplies and caravans, and the output of Nerulum cannot support arge number of people. There are only a few of us, while the Lucanians have more, if we couldn''t conquer them, they will devour us instead. Then what should we do?¡±

    Davos sneered when he saw that someone was trying to say something, ¡°One might say, ¡®Isn''t there Laos? They will help us!¡¯ Yes, Laos is indeed our ally. But when we, the alliance leader, asked them again and again for military support and supplies, it might be okay at the beginning. But after a long time, do you think that Laos will not look down on our strength and have other thoughts?! Don''t forget, Avinoges is not a pure Greek, and they have never cooperated with us Greeks before. And so, we can''t expect him to stick to the agreement forever.¡±

    Davos paused for a moment to give them time to think, and then continued, ¡°Therefore, we can only constantly transport food from Thurii and Amendra, and to increase the number of soldiers in Nerulum. Not to mention that it is difficult to traverse the mountain road, which will make the war cost huge. Do you think that it is meaningful to continuously invest and consume the valuable human and material resources of Thua Union into a city without any benefits?! What is more, there is also a powerful Crotone, who are ready to take their revenge!¡±

    ¡°Then what is the reason for us to attack Nerulum and provoke the Lucanians?¡± At the words of Davos, Bolus began to flinch.

    ¡°You should have deep impression on the Lucanians that have invaded Thurii many times. Although they have suffered defeat this time, they, after all, have numerous poption. If we do not attack and weaken them, they will be able to recover their strength, and they will surelye to invade us again. Of course, we hope to keep them out of the union''s territory, rather than let the war burn on ournd and destroy our farms and houses that we had work-hard!¡± Alexius stood up and answered.

    ¡°Can the Lucanians help us stabilize Nerulum and solve the difficulties that the Archon has said?¡± At this moment, Scambras stood up and asked.

    There was a slight smile on Davos'' face, ¡°First of all, they are Lucanians, and the victory over Nerulum will helped us stabilize the mood of the city''s residents. There are also rich and poor people in Lucania, so we should capture the rich and their warriors and turn them into ves. Then we will distribute the captured livestock to the poor and let the mixed team of Greeks and Lucania be responsible for managing the whole city. At the same time, there are also powerful tribes and weak tribes in the tribal alliance of Lucania. Some tribes, like Vespa, who are unwilling to join us, but because of the war and it is hard to survive, they will wander around the city. So we can open a market on the border of Nerulum, and use our pottery, iron products and other goods to attract those poor tribes toe exchange their livestock, furs, prey and so on., and give them appropriate help when necessary. Over time, they will be happy to be close to us. In this way, we not only have promoted our trade, provided food for the garrison soldiers, but also weakened the power of the Lucanians.

    You might ask why would the Lucanians believe in us Greeks and be willing to be close to us?¡± Davos then said, ¡°Because Vespa and Bagul are there, and they are involved in the management of the city. In the eyes of the Lucanians, they still worship the gods of Lucania, maintain the traditional customs of Lucania, and so, they are still true Lucanians! But they are the citizens of Thua Union, dressed in gorgeous clothes, drinks wine and live in afortable houses¡­their way of life is bound to arouse the envy of the Lucanians and eventually lead to the willingness of other Lucanians to join our alliance!¡±

    ¡°But allowing Bagul and the other Lucanians who have only been in the Thua Union for half a year, be released to thend that they are familiar with. What if they rebelled?¡± Asked Stromboli.

    ¡°If we give them citizenship, and treat them as we treat our people, and let them live in a civilization far beyond the reach of Lucania, a brilliant culture created by our ancestors through generations of hard work and wisdom! I firmly believe that they will be assimted by us, instead of us being assimted through their ignorance and backwardness! Of course, there is a small possibility of them rebelling, but I think that this risk is worth taking! Because if we fail, we will only lose more than a thousand ves and postpone our n to attack Lucania. But if we seed, we will get a vastnd and the hundred thousand poption of Lucania. With all this, do we still need to worry about Crotone?! No, Crotone is just a small stone on our path forward, we can just kick them off easily and wee a broader world!¡±

    Davos'' passionate speech made the statesmen excited, and they began to talk to each other excitedly.

    Then Davos announced that the meeting was temporarily adjourned.

    Then he went to Kunogta and Cornelius, the city¡¯s praetor, and hope that they would take the lead in supporting his proposal.

    ¡°I have carefully listened to your n to stabilize Nerulum with the tribe of Vespa and Bagul, and I think that is worth a try.¡± Said Cornelius, while abandoning his personal feelings.

    ¡°Lord Davos, are the circumstances that you have mentioned before is so dangerous and difficult without the help of the Lucanians like Vespa?¡± Kunogta asked in a slightly skeptical way.

    ¡°If you think about the worst, then you can work for the best.¡± Answered Davos.

    Kunogta thought about it and nodded.

    At the second meeting, most of the statesmen agreed under the guidance of Kunogta and Cornelius, and so, the proposal of Davos was passed. Bagul will then lead nearly a thousand Lucanian warriors to join the army, and after capturing Nerulum, they will all be eligible for citizenship, and Vespa and Bagul will also join the Senate.

    Although few statesmen, led by Bolus,mented, ¡®This is an unprecedented disgrace to the Greek city-states! The sacred Senate Hall will be defiled by the dirty smell of those aborigines!¡¯

    But most of the statesmen just ignored their noises, and were all looking forward to the huge gains that they will get in Lucania¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As soon as Philesius stepped into his house, he heard the courtyard being very lively.

    The courtyard was assigned to Philesius. And his wife, Delia, who was originally going to nt some apples and fig trees in the courtyard, and Philesius had no objection to it, but his adopted son objected to it, because he wanted to transform the courtyard into a training ground, so that he could exercise his body and skills at any time. In the end, his loving wife agreed to it.

    As soon as he heard the noise in the courtyard, Philesius knew that it was Melisander and was practicing with someone.

    He walked up the corridor and came closer to see that it was Melisander''s friend, Arsinis. The young man appearing here is obviously because of the campaign tomorrow.

    When Philesius thought of his appointment today, his heart was filled with tension. He never expected that Davos would make him themander of the campaign to Nerulum. To date, since the time he was a mercenary, he had only managed tomand battles alone a few times, and he felt even more pressure under the dazzling aura of Davos.

    He leaned against the colonnade, to think about it, while watching the battle between the two young men in the field.

    ¡°You''re back!¡± His wife''s gentle voice sounded behind him, ¡°This is the drink that I have just boiled today, and with some dates, it should be sweeter. Quench your thirst first with this.¡±

    Philesius held the warm drink (because it''s almost winter), then Delia said with a smile, ¡°For dinner today, I had made your favorite roasted cod, stewed mutton, boiled porridge and bread. Because Arsinis will stay here tonight, so the dinner is a little more than usual.¡±

    Philesius took a sip and said, ¡°It''s very nice to have a visitor in our house and make it more lively.¡±

    Delia was busy cooking dinner in the kitchen and directing the ves to set the table. Philesius looked at her busy figure and couldn''t help eximing that his choice was correct. Although Delia was a little older, she was a diligent and virtuous Greek woman, who arranged the family affairs in an orderly manner.

    The training on the field was finally over, then Melisander said, ¡°Arsinis, you had only managed to beat me because you are two years older than me. Once Ie out of age, I will no longer lose to you!¡±

    ¡°When you be an adult, I don''t even know how many real battles I would have experienced!¡± Arsinis retorted without showing weakness. As soon as he turned around, he saw Philesius outside the courtyard, and called out with respect ¡°Lord Philesius!¡±

 Chapter 164: Spy

    Arsinis saw Philesius outside the courtyard and called out with respect ¡°Lord Philesius!¡±

    ¡°We are at home, so just call me uncle!¡± Said Philesius amiably.

    ¡°Uncle Philesius!¡± Arsinis said it obediently.

    ¡°Father.¡± Said Melisander in a low voice. Compared to before, he was now able to say ¡°father¡±, but he is still not used to it.

    Philesius didn''t care about this, and he thenforted Melisander, ¡°My son, I just saw your battle with Arsinis. Your strength and speed are no less than that of your good friend, but you are still inexperienced, especially experience in the battlefield. You will only be able to understand it once you experienced war several times.¡±

    ¡°But I have to be eighteen to go to war! Father, why don''t you talk to Lord Davos again-¡± Said Melisander eagerly.

    ¡°Didn''t I try it several times already?! Lord Davos values militaryw very much and will not take the lead in setting a precedent for you.¡± Said Philesius with seriousness.

    Melisander could only hit the pir in frustration

    Philesius did not pay any more attention to him. He turned to look at Arsinis and said, ¡°We will set off tomorrow, are you ready?¡±

    ¡°Uncle, I can''t wait to defeat the Lucanians and capture their towns under themand of Lord Davos.¡± Said Arsinis excitedly.

    Philesius looked at him with a smile and said, ¡°Tomorrow, Lord Davos will not lead the army. He will just stay in Thurii to deal with the unions affairs, and guard against the Crotonians!¡±

    ¡°Then who will lead us to attack Nerulum tomorrow?¡± Asked Arsinis eagerly.

    Philesius thenughed.

    ¡°Uncle, is it you?!¡± Eximed Arsinis.

    ¡°Is that true?! Father, have you be the armymander?!¡± Melisander looked surprised, and the ¡°father¡± that he said was so loud.

    At that moment, Philesius was filled with pride, and the tension in his heart was swept away. He would win the battle and let the children be proud of him!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the third day, when it was about to dawn, and most of the union''s people were still asleep, about 4,000 people from the second, third and seventh brigades and also the Lucanian brigades were about to leave outside the northern part of Thurii.

    Davos, as the founder of this army, did not personallymand the battle for the first time, and the soldiers will also fight without themand of Davos for the first time. Both sides were more or less uneasy. So Davos rode pass all the soldiers on the expedition, and every time he passed a unit, he would nced at the soldiers with trusting eyes and tell them, ¡°Brothers, I await the news of your victory! By the time youe back, the Aps¨ªda tou Thri¨¢mvou* should bepleted. Then I will hold a triumphal victory for you, so that all the people in the Union will be proud of you!¡± (T/N: Arc de Triomphe/Triumphal Arch)

    Because of the regtions in advance, the officers and the soldiers, who will go for the expedition could not shout for joy, but their morale was high, and their spirit was ignited.

    The officers of the first brigade also came to see them off. Their way of seeing them off was different from that of Davos. They yed various jokes on the officers of the expeditions, such as Drakos, Sesta, Hieronymus and Epiphanes, ¡°If it wasn''t due to our brigade shouldering the responsibility of protecting the Union, then it wouldn''t even be your turn to capture Nerulum! I heard that there will be a triumphal ceremony for you! Damn it, you are really luck. If you lose in this battle, then don''t bother to return!¡± There was a strong jealousy in their words, but it also aroused thepetitiveness of the officers, such as Drakos, Hieronymus, Epiphanes and so on.

    In the end, Davos came to the front of the Lucanian brigade. He did not say much. He first made a solemn salute and then said in a loud voice, ¡°Congrattions, our Lucanian brothers! You are about to be citizens of Thua Union, and from today on, we will be one family!¡±

    The Lucanian soldiers have been ying rugby with the Union''s soldiers for months. In the soldiers'' training days, Davos would even allow the Lucanians to stop building the roads, so that they can participate in the military training, so now, they could uniformly do the union''s salute.

    Seeing this, Davos was very happy. He took a new g from the guard''s captain, Martius, and held it high to show it in front of the Lucanian soldiers. This is a beautiful brigade g, it has the same bronze statue, the god of death and a bright red star below which represents the brigade participating in the battle against Crotone and won.

    Most of the Lucanian soldiers have started to study Greek, though they still couldn''t read the Greek characters yet. However, this g belongs to them, which is no different from the other gs, and had made them happy. And Bagul saw the words on the g. The fourth brigade of the first legion!

    They truly are now a family! Bagul took over the g excitedly, and then said, ¡°Legatus, you can rest assured that the fourth brigade will sessfullyplete the mission and guide the Lucanians to join our union!¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± Davos turned his expectation into a fist and strike his chest hard¡­

    Leaving them, Davos came to themander of this military expedition, Philesius, ¡°It''s all up to you now!¡±

    Philesius suppressed his nervousness and responded with a powerful salute, ¡°Legatus, you can rest assured!¡±

    ¡°Depart!¡± Nodded Davos.

    Under the guidance of the legion''s Hades g, the troops quietly headed west¡­

    Davos gazed at the long line, and stood for a long time¡­

    Some of the preparatory citizens and ves who got up early and worked in the fields west of Thurii were so surprised that they forgot their work, when they saw the Union''s troops marching along the road besides the fields.

    Of course, the military action of Thua Union could not escape the eyes of those that are paying attention.

    Due to Crotone suffering a great loss in thest attack by Amendra, in order for them to grasp the movement of Thua Union, they have sent severalndless citizens to enter the port of Thurii as a freeman in order to collect intelligence, one of them was Teratus.

    Because the statesmen of Thua Union had frequently went to Amendra for meetings two days ago, it had attracted his attention. Therefore, he had a hunch that there was a major event that happened in Thua Union, so he paid close attention to the city of Thurii. And so today, he found that the army of Thurii went out, so he sat in the grass and determined the approximate number of troops before he made a leisurely and slow walk to the port.

    What he did not know was that there were also people staring at him not far behind him. Of course he doesn''t know that due to him advocating the alienation of the people of Thurii in the Thua Union, and also the rtionship between the people of Amendra and the former mercenaries, it has aroused the vignce of Davos, which in the end, had exposed himself.

    ¡°Brother, this man is collecting important information about our Union again. We should go forward and catch him immediately, so as not to reveal the fact that we have sent our troops to an expedition!¡±

    ¡°Brother, no. Asistes had once told us that ¡®We should not disturb them.¡¯ So, we should first go and tell it to Asistes.¡±

    When they returned to the city and came to the residence of Asistes, they were told by the ve who opened the door that Asistes was not there, and that he had joined the expedition as an adjutant of the fourth brigade.

    The two men were in a daze. The person in charge of them is not present, ¡®What should we do?¡¯

    At this time, the ve of Asistes asked, ¡°Any of you is called Aristias?¡±

    ¡°I am.¡± One of them answered.

    The ve looked at him curiously, and then said, ¡°The goddess of faith has blessed you! The master told me to tell you that you should go straight to Lord Davos!¡±

    They were very excited and did not hesitate for a moment to go to the mansion of Davos, and they were easily received by Davos.

    After listening to their reports, Davos was not surprised. Instead, he looked at them with interest. The short man seemed nervous and anxious, while the tall and thin one was much more calm. Davos looked at him, and he was also looking at Davos.

    ¡°Do you know why I didn''t let you go after this spy of Crotone?¡± Asked Davos suddenly.

    The short man didn''t know what to say, but the tall and thin man said calmly, ¡°I believe that Milord must have your own n. This spy may be able to y a certain role, and Milord is not afraid of Crotone knowing about our troops being dispatch!¡±

    Davos'' eyes lit up, he then looked at him and said, ¡°Your name is Aristias?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± The tall and thin man nodded.

    Davos then look at the other person, ¡°Your name is Antrapolis?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Yes! Antrapolis is me!¡± The short man replied excitedly.

    ¡°Thank you very much for your effort for the city! Asistes once introduced you to me in detail, and he said ¡®The two of you are brothers, and are from Katane, Sicily, and have applied to be a preparatory citizens of Thua Union¡­¡¯ Asistes also specifically mentioned you, Aristias, and said that you used your wisdom to quickly find the spy of Crotone, and did a good job!¡± Praised Davos.

    After hearing the praise of the Archon, who is also a military genius, and the ¡°God''s favored¡± of Thua Union, the calm Aristias has also showed a trace ofcency.

    ¡°You have received education?¡± Asked Davos again.

    ¡°Yes. When we were young, our parents have hired tutors for us¡­¡± Aristias'' calm words were mixed with some pain.

    ¡°The vicious Dionysius had not only captured Katane, but also turned most of its people who did not manage to escape into ves. A small part of them were forcibly moved to Syracuse, and the bandits of Syracuse upied ournds!¡­¡± Antrapolis said angrily.

    ¡°Hm, Sicily is like a volcano that is about to erupt!¡± Davos said with a sigh, remembering what he had learned these days. Then he changed the conversation, ¡°Don''t you think that this Crotonian, who was sent to collect intelligence, is stupid, by trying to spread rumors, which ends up exposing himself?¡±

 Chapter 165: Arriving on the lands of the Lucanians

    ¡°Of course, otherwise, we would not have found him so easily.¡± Replied Antrapolis first.

    While Aristias pondered about the purpose of Davos'' question.

    Davos nced at him and said with seriousness, ¡°This Crotonian did not do IT well enough. A good spy can not only urately and timely collect information, but to also distinguish the information''s authenticity. And in the event of a war, they can also create chaos within the enemy, alienate the enemy, destroy their unity, destroy the walls, shipyards, weapon storage and other valuable facilities of the enemy state, and provide the greatest help for their city-state to win the battle that they are facing. And so, they will be the secret soldiers of our Thua Union!¡±

    Seeing that the two were lost in their thoughts, Davos then said, ¡°Aristias, would you like to be the one in charge of such an organization for me? Collect intelligence, and train such excellent team to help the alliance?¡±

    This sudden invitation surprised them.

    Antrapolis nudged his brother with his elbow excitedly. Aristias was also excited, but he could still maintain his calmness. He hesitated and said, ¡°But Asistes¡­¡±

    Davos nodded to himself, ¡°Asistes has other important tasks toplete, and will no longer be the head of this organization.¡±

    ¡°I am willing to work for you, Milord!¡± Aristias straightforwardly answered.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Half a dayter, the polemarchos of Crotone, Milo, received the intelligence from the spy, ¡®In the early morning, about 4,000 soldiers of Thua Union left Thurii and marched westward.¡¯

    Milo pondered about it, ¡®As far as the position of Thurii is concerned, there is only one force to its west ¨C the Lucanians. Is it possible that Thurii will go to war with the Lucanians again? Is it Laos or Nerulum?¡¯

    Milo suddenly became excited. Although Lucania is far away from Crotone and was separated by several forces, they still have a bit of understanding and little contact with them, ¡®The Lucanians are the powerful indigenous forces that the rich and powerful Greek city-state alliance, the alliance of Campania dare not provoke! Thua Union, however, has defeated the Lucanian alliance once before, so did they believe that they could create another miracle by having 4,000 men to win against enemy with only lesser troops? Even if they seed, aren''t they afraid to trigger another war with all Lucanians? Can the Union, who are still under reconstruction, sustain such constant consumption? Maybe the young Archon was daze by his previous victory?!¡­¡¯

    Several thoughts shed through Milo''s mind, which made him suddenly have an idea of just watching a y, ¡®Maybe we won''t even need to wait for the armistice to end to dere war again. The Lucanians will once more go to Thurii, so we should make our preparation¡­¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Milo received the intelligence, the Thua Union''s troops had reached the entrance to the pass to Lucania. Here, the Union had set up a simple sentry post. Every day, there will be three sentries stationed here, if there is any situation, they will immediately light the beacon fire and informed Thurii to prepare for battle.

    The mountain reconnaissance team led by Izam had set out early to find out whether there was any abnormality in the mountain path.

    Then the troops began to enter the mountain path.

    The widest part of the narrow mountain path can amodate up to four people in parallel. On both sides are steep mountains and towering trees. The mountain path is not only narrow, but also rugged, and it is all uphill. If they are not careful, they will end up slipping down and wounding their whole body¡­

    In the future, a cold joke of a soldier will then be circted in the whole army. ¡®If the enemy were to push down arge round stone in the mountain path, it will roll down the mountain path and wipes out the entire Thua Union''s army¡­.''

    The autumn weather in Magna Graecia is still hot during October, the snakes and insects are all still active in the mountains, and the wolves can be seen from time to time. The soldiers trudged along the mountain path with their rations, weapons and equipment weighing nearly 30 kilograms, they are all sweating and are very tired. However, no one dared to fall behind, once they fell behind, they might fall and be injured or get attacked by wild animals.

    At night, they were unable to build camps ording to the military regtions, so they can only sleep in the mountain path, but it is still necessary to carry out guard duty. Listening to the howling of all kinds of wild animals in the mountains, and looking at the green and dim lights that shes in the dark, even if the guards have countlessrades lying beside them, they still couldn''t help but feel chilled.

    For the rest of the soldiers, the biggest difficulty in the mountain is the weather. At the end of autumn, the temperature in the mountain suddenly became cold. The soldiers were well prepared, as they all took out the sheepskin and went to sleep, and moreover, campfires were set up in the middle of the soldiers every ten meters, but it was still a bit cold¡­when they woke up in the morning, some soldiers ends up screaming, because there were some things near them: Lynxes, hedgehogs, badgers, and the most terrifying are the poisonous snakes¡­and as a result, several soldiers were bitten.

    Most of the soldiers had only one thought in their hearts, that is, to get out of the mountain path quickly and capture Nerulum!

    After two nights, the troops began to go downhill. At the reminder of Bagul, Philesius knew that they had traversed more than half of the way, so he ordered the troops to slow down.

    The team of Izam had already crossed the mountain and had reached the exit of the mountain path. He asked most of his men to continue to monitor the movement of the surrounding areas and guard the expeditionary troops. He then took advantage of the night to avoid being detected by the sentry post in the pass and rushed to Laos to inform Avinoges.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    T, the great chieftain of Laos, was in a good mood these days, because Avinoges has finally agreed to move his people to Nerulum, and they have been preparing for the relocation these days.

    In the early morning of the next day, he received a report from his men that Avinoges was going to send his people to Nerulum in batches, and now, the first group has left the city for Nerulum.

    Tughed, ¡°Avinoges, Avinoges! Aren''t you a smart person?! How could you be so stupid this time! If you go with all your tribes, then with your overwhelming numerical strength, they won''t dare to split you up too much and will just swallow up some of your people. But if you leave in groups, they will gobble them all up! But this is just right, since we won''t have to worry about these bastards of Laos anymore!¡±

    Thinking of the days where he had to endure and hold back because he was afraid of the riots caused by Avinoges. T took a deep breath and said, ¡®The days of fear are finally over!¡¯

    He is now much more rxed, so he immediately asked his servants to bring the beautiful Greek ve, who was offered to him by his servants a few days ago, to have a good time.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Alobamus led the team to the exit of the mountain pass. There was originally no sentry here, however,st year, when the army of Thurii invades Laos, though the Lucanian won a great victory, it also made them realize the need to set up sentries.

    This exit is just between Laos and Nerulum. As Laos was attached to Nerulum, so Nerulum was the one in charge of the sentry. As a result, it became the ce where the Nerulum warriors ckmailed those merchants who go to and fro between Laos and Nerulum to trade.

    In the morning, when the sentries saw a huge convoying from the south, their first thought was to extort more money, even if they belonged to Avinoges, the famous chieftain of Laos.

    Alobamus, the leader of this team, agreed to the sentries'' unreasonable demand. After leading the convoy into the sentry post, they suddenlyunched an attack, and easily get rid of these ten greedy Nerulum warriors.

    Then, Izam, who was hiding in the convoy, ran into the pass immediately. An hourter, the Thua army immediately came out to join Alobamus. The fourth brigade(Lucanian brigade) took off their armor and put it into the carts, then they changed into the tattered leather robes and scattered, while the other three brigades were far in the back.

    When Alobamus saw Baguling up, he was taken aback, ¡°I heard from Izam that there are Lucanians in the army of Thua Union, but I didn''t expect that there are so many of them!¡±

    He was speaking in Lucanian, and Bagul cracked a smile and said in Greek, ¡°Asinu will bless our cooperation.¡±

    ¡°R¡­ight¡­¡±When Alobamus was warmly embraced by Bagul, he had still not fully recovered.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    T had sent some people to follow Alobamus, to see if they have sessfully entered the hands of Nerulum, seeing that the convoy had stayed at the sentry post for a long time, had made them puzzled, then when they saw countless Greeks in armor, they were shocked, ¡°Avinoges has rebelled, he has colluded with the Greeks!¡±

    So, they then immediately returned to Laos like a frightened rabbit.

    But Avinoges, who knew T very well, was already prepared for it. T''s men had not yet rushed back to Laos, when the warriors of Avinoges, who were hiding on both sides of the road and were watching for any abnormalities, had rushed to capture them.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Moeris heard the report from his men that there were dust flying in the south and feared that there is arge armying!

    ¡°That must be Avinoges who had brought his people!¡± He immediately determined.

    In the past few days, Avinoges has sent some people to say that they are going to move here, and he had also sent his younger brother, Alobamus, many times to confirm the ce where his people will live, where they will graze and where they will work, and had put forward a lot of requirements. It not only made the whole city know about it but had also made the chieftains such as Rhiam have a headache. However, since Avinoges is so serious, it is obvious that he was unable to withstand the pressure of the two cities and so, he could only move.

    In the end, the leaders of Nerulum discussed and decided to agree on the request of Avinoges first. But once he enters Nerulum, it will no longer be up to him. At present, they are in urgent need of warriors and strongbor, so they are all looking forward at the fat meat of the tribe of Avinoges.

    Moeris went up the wooden wall and soon saw the convoy. There were dozens of carts, and even though there are not a lot of warriors, there are many ves. Under the threat of the warriors'' whip and spear, some of them have carried heavy loads, and some help push the carts¡­behind them, were many elderly and women, some of them even have children. There are also livestock on both sides of the convoy, which made the whole convoy huge and bloated. In the dust fog, the people were shouting, and the livestock were making a lot of noises.

 Chapter 166: Deceiving a City

    Soon, when the convoy reached the city, a man came out of the convoy and went to the gate, and shouted, ¡°Open the gate quickly! Open the gate!¡±

    Moeris recognized that it was Alobamus, and so he hurriedly walked closer to the edge of the wall and stuck his head out, ¡°Chief Alobamus, howe I don''t see chief Avinoges?¡±

    ¡°My brother wille back soon after I settle the elderly, women and children.¡±

    ¡®Damn it, those Laos bastards, they are too cautious!¡¯ Moeris cursed to himself, then said with a smile, ¡°I will need to inform chief Rhiam, so have your people camp outside first.¡±

    ¡°WHAT?! You want us to camp out in the wild!!¡± Alobamus shouted angrily, ¡°We have been walking for so long and the children and elderly could no longer stand it! Let us inside, so that we can rest!¡±

    ¡°Chief Alobamus, there are too many of you. If you alle in at once, it will disturb the order in the city.¡± Moeris secretly sweared in his heart, but he still patiently persuade Alobamus.

    ¡°What?! We are too many?! Aren''t you the one that made us move here?! But now, because we are too many! Good! Good! So this is how Nerulum treats us!¡± Shouted Alobamus, then he turned to the others and said, ¡°Go, let''s all go back!¡±

    Moeris became flustered. The chieftains had finally managed to make the tribe of Avinoges move here, but if they go back now because of him, then his good days will be over.

    ¡°Wait, chief Alobamus! I will open the gate and let you inside! But please maintain order and don''t cause trouble!¡± Moeris shouted hurriedly.

    Alobamus immediately turned around and smiled, ¡°Alright, thank you for taking care of our tribe! As thanks, I will give you five sheep as a gift!¡±

    The Lucanians are direct in bribing, so Moeris doesn''t have any worries and yells, ¡°Open the gate!¡± At the same time, he told his subordinates, ¡°Immediately notify chief Rhiam that Alobamus and his people havee.¡±

    Then Moeris himself ran to the gate and was ready to receive the gift of Alobamus.

    Alobamus asked the people to lead the livestock in order to avoid blocking the gate. Then he had made his men catch five sheep and gave them to Moeris.

    Moeris repeatedly expressed his thanks.

    ¡°Captain, is it okay to ughter one, so that we can have a good meal?¡± Greedily said by one of his subordinates.

    ¡°Don''t worry, but first, help me get these sheep back to my home!¡± Moeris kicked his men.

    Some ves were pushing and pulling the carts of Alobamus, one after another, through the gate in an orderly manner. And some ves were also mixed in the convoy carrying the baggage¡­

    Moeris watched them by the gate and then felt that something was wrong. So he subconsciously asked Alobamus, ¡°How could you have so many Lucanian ves?¡±

    With an odd smile, Alobamus drew out his dagger and stabbed him.

    It was abrupt, so Moeris had no time to dodge it. He could only watch the cold dagger tip pierce into his chest.

    ¡°Start!¡± Yelled Alobamus, while he shed at Moeris'' other guards.

    The ¡°ves¡± immediately threw away the heavy objects that they were carrying, and quickly drew out the weapons in the carts.

    ¡°Murder!¡±

    ¡°Laos is rebelling!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Seeing this scene, the people of Nerulum, who were watching, screamed and fled.

    Bagul, who was at the forefront, ordered Litom to lead some soldiers to the woodendders on both sides to kill the small number of guards at the top of the wall, and take control of the gate. Then he and Asistes quickly assembled the other soldiers of the fourth brigade, and under the guidance of Alobamus, moved forward.

    The other brigades, who had been informed of the attack, immediately marched towards the city of Nerulum.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Rhiam got the report from his men, ¡®Avinoges has sent his people first.¡¯ He couldn''t stop himself from being overjoyed, but he didn''t dare to move first. So he could only call the other chieftains to discuss how to divide the tribe of Avinoges. After all, his strength is the weakest among several chieftains. The reason why he was elected as the great chieftain was quiteplicated.

    After the death of the former great chieftain, Wudlei, several chieftains of Nerulum fought for the position of the great chieftain. When a war among themselves was about to break out, the great chieftain of Laos, T, sent an urgent message, ¡®There is a danger of Avinoges rebelling!¡¯ The chieftains all know the importance of Laos to Nerulum, so once Avinoges sessfully rebelled and upied Laos, Nerulum will face food shortage. Moreover, Laos is a city made of stone, with thick walls, which made it difficult for them to defeat Laos with their own troops. So, they would need to ask the neighboring Grumentum for help. However, the situation between Grumentum and Pyxous is also tense, and war is about to break out. So they won''t be able to help Nerulum within a short time. In the face of crisis and the mediation of the priests, they finally came to an agreement. In order to maintain the bnce, Rhiam, who was the weakest and had not participated in the fight for the position of the great chieftain, was chosen as the great chieftain. So now, the new great chieftain had to rely on the other chieftains.

    The great chieftain, Rhiam, had waited until all the chieftains have gathered. When he was ready to start the discussion, his men rushed in flustered, ¡°Great chieftain! Not good! The enemy¡­the enemy has entered the city!¡±

    All the chieftains stood up in shock.

    ¡°What''s going on?! Where is the enemy?!¡± Asked one of the chieftains.

    ¡°A¡­Alobamus has defected! He had also brought in the Greeks!¡±

    ¡°WHAT?!!¡± The panicked chieftains knocked over the tables and chairs and ran out in a hurry.

    ¡°How many enemies are there?¡± Asked Rhiam.

    ¡°Th¡­there are enemies everywhere! They¡­they have already entered the wolf tribes'' ce!¡±

    The wolf tribe is currently the most powerful tribe in the city, and now they have been captured! Rhiam could only sit on the wooden chair in a dejected way and said to himself. ¡°It''s over¡­it''s over¡­¡±

    Under the swift and fierce attack of the brigades of Thua Union, the scattered Nerulum warriors could only retreat and were finally forced to retreat to the sacred forest ¨C it''s where Nerulum worshipped their gods.

    Then the soldiers of Thua Union surrounded them, and under the reminder of Bagul, Philesius did not give the order to storm in.

    ¡°Abinu! Kesima! sa! Are you there?! I am Bagul! Abinu! Kesima! sa! Are you there?! I am Bagul!¡­¡± Bagul stood in front of the sacred forest, and repeatedly yelled several times. Finally, someone responded, ¡°Bagul? You are Bagul?! You are still alive?!¡±

    ¡°Under the protection of God Asinu! Not only am I alive, but am living well! Kesima, surrender with your people, including the other Lucanians! I can assure you that you will not be harmed in any way!¡± The voice of Bagul echoed in the silent forest.

    After a while, there was fighting and screaming inside the forest.

    Philesius looked at Bagul, and Bagul nodded to indicate that everything is alright.

    Soon, the forest became quiet again, and then the gate to it opened. And a tall young man came out cautiously and looked around.

    ¡°Kesima, I am here!¡± Bagul strode forward.

    ¡°Bagul?¡± Kesima eximed in surprise, in what he saw, the majestic appearance of Bagul in his blood-stained Greek armor, holding an intricate helmet with a purple crest on top.

    ¡°You have be a Greek?¡± Kesima hesitantly embraced Bagul.

    ¡°No, I am now a citizen of Thua Union, but I am still a Lucanian!¡± Bagul let go of him, then corrected, while pointing to his side and said in Greek, ¡°Come and meet mymander, Philesius!¡±

    Obviously, Kesima knew Greek. He hesitated for a while and reluctantly came to greet Philesius under the repeated urging of Bagul.

    ¡°What is the situation inside?¡± Asked Philesius bluntly.

    ¡°Rhiam and the other chieftains have been captured by us. We¡­we are willing to surrender¡­¡± Said Kesima in a low voice due to being pressured by the momentum of Philesius.

    ¡°Then, have theme out and surrender!¡± Ordered Philesius.

    Kesima then looked at Bagul for help.

    ¡°Don''t worry, the tribes that are like you that have been forced to join Nerulum will be fine, and only the native tribes from this city will suffer a bit!¡± Bagul promised them.

    Kesima calmed down and he then whistled towards the sacred forest.

    The gates opened again and the Lucanians went out¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Union had managed to capture Nerulum with only minor casualties, and after a midday break, at the repeated request of Alobamus, Philesius, left the second and fourth brigades to stabilize the situation in Nerulum, while he led the third and seventh brigades to the south to assist Avinoges in capturing Laos.

    ording to the new provisions of the ¡¶Civil Service Law¡·: The position of a city''s praetor can only be selected from among the Senate. However, when Davos consulted the statesmen of Thurii and Amendra, who were still hostile to the Lucanians, about the candidate for the city''s praetor of Nerulum, none of them were willing to take up this post, so he can only choose from the statesmen of the former mercenary. As the military officer of Thua Union, Philesius must return to Thurii immediately after finishing this battle, and he still has a lot of military work to do. The first brigade stayed in Thurii. While the second brigade''s senior centurion, Drakos, the third brigade''s senior centurion, Hieronymus, and the seventh brigade''s senior centurion, Epiphanes, were not interested in government affairs. Bagul, the senior centurion of the fourth brigade, has just be a citizen of the union and is also a Lucanian, so he is not suitable to be the praetor of Nerulum for the time being¡­in the end, it was only Sesta, the centurion of the first centuria of the second brigade, who was suitable for the position.

    Sesta himself is interested in administrative affairs, and he is also humble and hard-working. During his tenure as the deputy captain of the fire brigade of Amendra, he soon became familiar with and mastered the work of the fire brigade. And the fire brigade captain, Anticles, had willingly taken the initiative to yield his position to him.

    Hence, Davos proposed that after capturing Nerulum, Sesta will be appointed as the praetor of Nerulum.

 Chapter 167: Killing and Appeasement (I)

    Sesta himself agreed to it and expressed his gratitude to Davos for his rmendation. While the other statesmen have no objection. If there is an objection, I am afraid that it would be Anticles who was in Amendra, because he now has to continue to serve as the captain of the fire brigade.

    At the same time, Davos has also made Asistes take up the post of being the clerk of Sesta, to assist him in dealing with the affairs of Nerulum and carrying out policies that targets the Lucanians. In addition, he had also appointed Bagul as the special inspector of Nerulum, dealing with various disputes and contradictions in the city, and coordinating the rtionship between the Lucanians and the Greeks¡­and so on.

    After capturing Nerulum, the first thing Sesta did was to screen out the captives. First of all, the ruling native people of Nerulum and their affiliated family members were detained, while those small tribes that were forced to joined Nerulum, were advised to submit. He gave this task to Bagul.

    The second is, to release the ves. Nerulum had a lot of ves, and many of them came from two sources. First, the Greeks that were captured by the Lucanians, and most of them were people of Thurii, because Nerulum was close to Thurii, so they harassed them every year. Especially after the great defeat of the army of Thuriist year, the Lucanian alliance went deep into the Sybaris ins and captured a lot of people in Thurii. The second was the Lucanians, mainly those tribes that were defeated by the Lucanian alliance led by Grumentum and were unwilling to submit to Nerulum. These Lucanian ves were left to Bagul and Asistes to manage.

    The Greek ves were summoned outside of the city by Sesta. Looking at these skinny Greeks who once had plenty of food and clothing, and even the women were not covered with clothes¡­Sesta was greatly concerned, and so he said, ¡°Greeks, you have all suffered. However, today, Hades has sent us the Thua Union to save and avenge you!¡±

    With that, most of the ves burst into tears.

    At themand of Sesta, the soldiers took the nearly 700 naked captives to the Greek ves and gave each of them spears and swords, then Sesta said out loud, ¡°You may take on your revenge on those who have oppressed and humiliated you!¡±

    As soon as Asistes noticed that the situation was not right, he tried to stop Sesta and said, ¡°Milord, you can''t do this. This is a vition of the order of the Senate!¡±

    ¡°So what?!¡± Sesta pointed to the Greek ves and said angrily, ¡°Look at them! Any Greek who sees this will do what I will do! The Archon have ughtered the high-ranking officers of Crotone in Thurii and told Magna Graecia that the Thua Union should not be provoked! And today, I want the Lucanians to know that the Greeks can''t be provoked!¡±

    As he was saying this, a fierce male Greek ve howled, then he grabbed a spear in both of his hands, then rushed up towards one of the captives and stabbed him.

    With this as an example, the other ves rushed to kill them. Knowing that the disaster ising, the captives screamed in horror and tried to resist. The soldiers who have surrounded them knocked them down with their shields, to stifle their attempts and then allowed the ves to continue killing them¡­

    The killing continued, but in the end, it didn''t go on, because the remaining captives were protected by the female Greek ves¡­

    Sesta was astonished. Asistes then went to inquire about the situation, and when he returned, he told Sesta with a sad expression, ¡°These women were either raped by these captives and have given birth to their children, or that they are still pregnant¡­pity!¡­it''s because these Greek men did not do their best to protect them that they have fallen into such a miserable situation!¡­Milord, will you still continue?¡±

    ¡°Damn Lucanians!¡± Sesta fiercely sweared, then he raised his hand and said coldly, ¡°Stop!¡±

    After the order was sent out, there were still ves brandishing the spears, threatening the female ves that were in front of the Lucanians to move away. But the soldiers immediately went to disarm them.

    Sesta then stepped forward, then put his foot on a corpse and called to the Greek ves, ¡°Listen up! ording to the neww passed by Thua Union, ¡®Those who were formerly citizens of Thurii and Amendra or were ves of the people of Thurii and Amendra* will immediately be citizens of Thua Union! Those who are not citizens or ves of Thurii and Amendra, if you want to stay in Thua Union, then after two years, you can apply to be a preparatory citizen of Thua Union. Three yearster, if you meet the requirements, you can be an official citizen!¡¯ So, would you like to stay in Nerulum or go back to Thurii?¡± (note: In Greek city-states, the women of the city-state cannot be a citizen, but they are still part of the people of the city-state)

    Most of the male ves said that they wanted to go back to Thurii, while most of the women hesitated. Because the Greek city-states of this era have a very strict requirements on the women''s chastity. Not only before marriage, but especially after marriage, The women can only stay in the house after marriage and not in public ces, they must be as diligent and frugal as bees when managing the housework, and even the design of the houses had considered the prevention of their wife from cheating. Therefore, the bedrooms of traditional Greek couples are all on the second floor, and the only stairway is at the door of the living room. So that both the master and the ves could see when the woman goes in and out. This is to prevent the husband from being tired of his wife and staying in a brothel for a long time, which will lead to the resentment of his wife who could only sleep in their bedroom alone. Some city-states even stipte the frequency of sex of the citizens. For example, Solon of Athens has stipted in the Athenianw that, ¡®Having sex three times a month is enough care for a virtuous wife of a citizen.¡¯

    Now, arge number of Greek women who have long been ves of other races have given birth to children, and some are currently pregnant¡­what will happen to their families when they return to Thurii?! Every female ve didn''t dare think about it, nor face it¡­

    Just then, Asistes stood up and said in a loud voice, ¡°At the suggestion of Lord Davos, the archon for life of Thua Union, and was passed by the Senate, ¡®Any Lucanian who marries a woman of Thua Union will automatically be a preparatory citizen of Thua Union and after two years, they will be an official citizens, and enjoy the rights of having and allocated to them by the Union and a tax exemption for two years. Any Greek man who marries a Lucanian woman in Thua Union and is willing to be a citizen of Thua Union will automatically be a preparatory citizen and be an official citizen after two years, and will also enjoy the right ofnd allotment and tax exemption for two years.¡¯¡±

    ¡°¡­is this true?¡± The ves couldn''t believe what they had heard, so someone braced himself to ask.

    ¡°Of course it is true! The couples who will marry ording to my previous statement can immediately go to Nerulum''s town¡­no, at the house of the great chieftain to register!¡± Eximed Sesta affirmatively.

    These female Greek ves, like a long drought, shed tears with excitement. They knew that as long as there was thisw, and as long as Nerulum was in the hands of Thua Union, they could live in thisnd with their heads held high! The archon, Lord Davos, was such a good man for them!

    The male Greek ves, who were not citizens of Thurii, hesitated for a moment and made a decision. In contrast to taking a long time to be an official citizen of Thurii, marrying a Lucanian woman will immediately make them enjoy many benefits, which seems to be more attractive!

    Asistes could guess that once this bill is announced in Thurii and Amendra, countless freemen wille to Nerulum and take the lead to marry a Lucanian woman!

    He then looked at the execution ground, where the bodies were piled up like hills and their fresh blood like a flowing river, and thought that at least arge number of widows in Nerulum will be taken care of.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The bloody scene created by Sesta outside the city scared all the Lucanians, and the bereaved families wept in fear.

    Even in the evening, when Bagul hosted a banquet for some well-known Lucanians, such as Kesima and sa, they were still trembling.

    ¡°Sit down! Sit down! We are all old friends, sit down!¡­¡± Bagul subconsciously imitated the expression and the tone of Davos when he had served them before, but the guests couldn''t rx.

    ¡°Kesima, why I still couldn¡¯t see Abinu even now?¡± Asked Bagul, while ncing at the crowd.

    ¡°Abinu¡­he once had a quarrel with the son of Wudlei, Tamalu, and was killed!¡± Said Kesima gloomily.

    ¡°Damn Wudlei! Damn those big tribes that have oppressed us! Where is this Tamalu now?¡± Roared Bagul angrily.

    ¡°He is dead! Thest time they went to Thurii, he died at the hands of the Greeks, just like his father, Wudlei.¡± Said sa, while taking a nce at Asistes, who was beside Bagul.

    ¡°Hmph, too bad¡­I couldn''t avenge him myself! However, it is good that Abinu can serve the mountain god!¡± Sighed Bagul and he then calmed down.

    At this time, one of his guests said, ¡°Wudlei and Rhiam, have oppressed us. Won''t the Greek also oppress us?! Won''t we get ughtered like what they did to Rhiam earlier?!¡±

    ¡°Right! Right! The Greeks have killed more than 500 Lucanians, who have surrendered, outside the city in one breath!¡±

    ¡°Soon, they will also kill us like livestock!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    There was amotion among the guests, who had vented their dissatisfaction at the Greeks.

    At this time, Asistes felt that the massacre outside the city had an impact on the hearts of the people. So, he had to stand up and said, ¡°We, the Thua Union, will never oppress you! We-¡±

    ¡°How can a Greek attend a Lucanian banquet?!!¡± A voice from the guests interrupted Asistes.

    ¡°Of course he can!¡± At this time, Bagul did not wait for the guests to cause another disturbance. He immediately said, ¡°He is the son-inw of the Lucanians, my brother-inw, and the husband of Dina!¡±

 Chapter 168: Killing and Appeasement (Ii)

    Amidst the uproar, a voice eximed, ¡°The husband of Dina? sa, it seems that you¡­no longer have a chance!¡±

    For the first time, this sentence had caused a slight smile from the guests.

    ¡°I had thought that you were all killed in the pursuit of Grumentum¡­¡± Said sa bitterly, ¡°So¡­I already have taken a wife.¡±

    ¡°At that time, we couldn''t make sure that we could live to this day!¡± The words of Bagul resonated with the guests, and he then continued, ¡°So tonight, we will just drink and nothing else! Let''s celebrate that we are still alive today!¡±

    ¡°That''s right!¡± Kesima took a sip of the wine and eximed, ¡°Good wine! This is the first time that I have drunk such a good wine! So tonight, I have to drink all the good wine of Bagul!¡±

    There was a burst ofughter.

    Bagul was secretly grateful to Kesima''s help. He then raised his ss and shouted, ¡°Come, let''s thank god Asinu for his protection!¡±

    Bagul took the lead in leading the party. After several drinks, the atmosphere of the banquet became lively and their sses were filled with wine. Bagul then stood up and said to Asistes, ¡°Brother-inw,e, let me introduce you to my guests!¡±

    Asistes carried a wine jar in one and a ss in the other.

    ¡°This is Kesima, my childhood friend and my wrestling opponent, but he couldn''t beat me!¡±

    ¡°Don''t listen to his drivel!¡±

    ¡°You don''t believe me? Then we should fight again on another day!¡±

    ¡°Why another day? Let''s do it after the banquet is over, do you dare?¡±

    ¡°Good, I am just afraid that you wouldn''t!¡± Bagul readily agreed.

    Hearing that there will be a wrestling match to watch, the other guests were also excited.

    Asistes greeted Kesima, then they both toast their sses together ording to the etiquette of Lucania, and drink all of it at once.

    ¡°Good!¡± Yelled someone. Apparently, Asistes, who was a Greek, began to attract their attention.

    ¡°This is sa, my good friend, and he used to be the suitor of Dina!¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you!¡± Asistes came forward to toast his ss with him and said, ¡°Don''t worry, Dina is living well, and I will continue to treat her well!¡±

    sa red at Asistes and spat out, ¡°Let''s have a matchter, do you dare?!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Replied Asistes, raising his ss and drinking it.

    ¡°Good!!¡± The other guests shouted one after another, and they began to think that the Greeks were very agreeable.

    ¡°This is Uncle Hermon, who used to take us fishing when we were young. His fishing skill is the best among all the Lucanians!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As he mingled with their circle, and finished drinking a jar of wine, Asistes felt like he was walking on air, but with this, the wariness of the guests had disappeared.

    ¡°Brother-inw, you must know¡­.¡± Bagul, who returned to his seat, said in a serious tone, ¡°In the past, we were all just a small tribe living in the mountains between the upper reaches of the Lao river and the Agri river. So, we often had contacts with each other and often united to fight against foreign enemies. However, after the establishment of the alliance between Grumentum and Nerulum, we were unable to confront them at all in the face of their strong strength. Some were forced to join Grumentum, some were like Kesima and sa who were forced to join Nerulum, and some of them had escape the mountains like us¡­but I didn''t expect that we would still be able to get together again¡­¡± Said Bagul emotionally, ¡°If father knows it, he will not be able to sleep at all!¡±

    The words of Bagul have made the guests that were present reminisce, most of whom were deeply saddened.

    At this time, Bagul patted Asistes on his shoulder and said in a loud voice, ¡°My brother-inw has another identity. He is a follower of Thua Union''s Archon. This time, Lord Davos had sent him to help manage Nerulum!¡±

    As soon as his words came out, the guests all eximed in amazement.

    ¡°Davos? You mean the Greek who had killed more than 10,000 men of Akpir with only a few thousand people?!¡±

    ¡°Asistes, I heard that Davos had managed to defeat 10,000 Crotonians with only a few thousand people again afterwards?¡±

    ¡°I also heard that he is a son of a Greek god?¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    It was no wonder that the guests were surprised. Although Nerulum and Thurii were cut off by war, there is still the port in Laos. As long as there is foreign trade, news from the outside would still reach Nerulum. The Lucanians who were wondering why the powerful Lucanian alliance got defeated, heard the name of Davos for the first time, and as long as they paid attention to it, they would hear more about him from foreign merchants in the port of Laos.

    For the Lucanians, who were superstitious and worshipped the strong, they were awed by this powerful and mysterious Greek who managed to achieve so much. So when Bagul learned about it from the captives, he immediately realized that he could take advantage of this, and so, he did not mention the position of Asistes and just said that he is a follower of Davos, which immediately put a halo on Asistes.

    Asistes then took the opportunity to say, ¡°Lord Davos once said that, ¡®In Lucania, the big tribes oppress the small tribes, annex their tribes and plunder their livestock. In the end, the chieftains of the big tribes are as rich as kings, and the people from the small tribes are treated only a bit better than the ves.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°That''s right!¡±

    The words of Asistes resonated with the guests.

    ¡°And we, the Thua Union, will never oppress you!¡± Asistes said with great certainty, ¡°Before I came, Lord Davos told me again and again, ¡®Treat the Lucanians like our own people!¡¯ and ¡®Under the rule of Thua Union, the Greeks, Lucanians, Egyptians and other races will all enjoy the same rights and obligations regardless of their status!¡¯¡±

    ¡°This is true!¡± Bagul immediately took the lead and proved it, ¡°Marigi, the chiefmercial officer of the Thua Union, is a Persian, but he is also a citizen of the Union! And even though I am a Lucanian, I am still able to be the captain of the fourth brigade of the first legion of Thua Union, and I am also a member of the Senate! And my father, Vespa, is also a member of the Senate!¡±

    The guests found it hard to believe. Lucania is surrounded by Greek city-states, and the long-term contact and exchanges between them made them roughly know about the Greek city-state''s system. The statesmen of a Council(Senate) is equivalent to the chieftain of arge tribe in Lucania. He can participate in the discussions and decisions in the tribal alliance, and they can even influence the decision of the great chieftain.

    ¡°How can I be a citizen of Thua Union?!¡± Many people felt envious and couldn''t stop themselves from asking aloud.

    ¡°As long as you are willing to join the Union, you can be a preparatory citizens, and as long as you abide thews of the union and perform well, then you will be able to be an official citizen in five years*.¡± Exined Asistes. (Note: The Senate of Thua Union had considered the special situation of the Lucanians, so long as they are willing to submit, they can be a preparatory citizen. But for the sake of fairness, like the Greeks, they could only be an official citizen after five years.)

    ¡°This prepar¡­.what is the difference between a preparatory citizen and an official citizen?¡± Some attentive people notice the difference between the two words.

    ¡°Preparatory citizens do not enjoy some of the rights of an official citizen, such as the allocation ofnd by the Union, the ability to hold public office¡­and so on. However, the preparatory citizens enjoy the protection of the Union and can get its assistance. For example, once you be a preparatory citizen, if you are willing to farm, then the Union will lease thend of Nerulum to you to nt, and the tax rate is only 5%(this is a new policy to encourage the preparatory citizens to move to Nerulum.) If you are willing to graze, then you can rent some livestock and the tax rate is also 5%. You should know that it is not so easy for many Greek freemen to be a preparatory citizen of the union. After applying for it, they will have to go through at least two years of inspection before they can be a preparatory citizen.¡±

    ¡°This is indeed the case. The Senate of Thua Union has considered the vignce of us Lucanians against the Greeks, in order for them to show the sincerity of the Union, the conditions for the Lucanians to be a preparatory citizens have been rxed, and many citizens had criticized them for this!¡± Bagul once again endorsed the Union.

    In fact, the two were just worrying too much. Most of the guests don''t care about this, because previously, about half of their ie will go to Nerulum every year. As for the small tribal chiefs who usually have to go out to war and rely on hunting to survive, the tax rate given by the Thua Union is already too good! So, the guests were eager to discuss it with each other.

    ¡°Aren''t you afraid that we would take the livestock that you have given and run away with it?¡± Someone jokingly said.

    ¡°We are not afraid!¡± said Asistes confidently, ¡°With just these few livestock, we would then be able to differentiate those who are not fit to be a citizen of the Union. And where can those people who stole the livestock go? Run to other Lucanian tribes, who will then take away their livestock and continue to be oppressed by an unfamiliar chieftain? Or to other Greek city-states and be their ve? Or roam alone in the wild until they froze to death, die of disease, or starve to death? It''s better to stay in a friendly and peaceful Thua Union and live a stable life! The Union also respects the culture and customs of Lucania, and allows you to have your own temple, freedom to sacrifice, and have your own festivals, as long as it does not vite thews of the Union and disturb the public order¡­.¡±

    After listening to this, every guest fell into thinking.

    At this time, someone shouted, ¡°How can I be a statesman of the Thua Union?¡±

    Bagul recognized the one who spoke, Hemon, andughed to himself. At the beginning, the tribe of Hemon was second only to the tribe of Vespa, which was thergest among the tribes in the area between the Lao river, and the Agri river, but now, they only have a few hundred warriors.

 Chapter 169: The return of Laos and the Glory of Sybaris

    ¡°I had led my people to build new roads and residential areas for the Thua Union, and I had also led my people to participate in the battle against Crotone, and now, we have captured Nerulum. Hence why I had be a statesman of the Senate!¡± said Bagul with pride, ¡°And even though my father didn''t do anything else, he had bravely led more than 2,000 people to join a Greek Union, which no other Lucanians had ever done before. He created a history and had agreed and encouraged me to lead our people to do everything for the Union, and so, Lord Davos has invited him to join the Senate!¡±

    Everyone could only exim in admiration.

    Asistes also stressed, ¡°The Senate is open to any citizen in the Union. As long as you make enough contribution to the Union, the Senate will take the initiative to invite you!¡­.¡±

    Hemon nodded with understanding.

    ¡°But, what if Grumentum, Pyxous, and even Potentia attack Nerulum, who had just joined Thua Union?¡± Someone asked with concern.

    ¡°I think you all know very well that Grumentum and Pyxous are currently fighting each other, they are in such a mess that they wouldn''t be able to care about us in a short time. And even if they attack, there is nothing for you to be afraid of, because we have Lord Davos!¡± Said Asistes in a loud voice, this sentence is worth thousands of words, which immediately relieved everyone''s worries.

    ¡°I am willing to lead my people to join Thua Union!¡± Said Kesima, standing up.

    ¡°I am willing as well!¡± Said sa, while also standing up.

    ¡°I won''t let Vespa be proud of himself in the Senate!¡± Hemon stood up, as well.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Seeing that almost all the guests are willing to join and be a preparatory citizen of the Union, Bagul and Asistes looked at each other and smiled. They then raised their sses and said, ¡°Let''s drink to the Thua Union, which belongs not only to the Greeks but also to the Lucanians.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next morning, the troops of Avinoges opened the city gate and the army of Thua Union joined them. After easily defeating the garrison of Lucania, he finally rushed into the residence of the great chieftain. When they caught T, the great chieftain of Laos, he was shivering in his bed, and next to himy a female Greek ve who had been strangled to death, with her body turned cold. Then the angry Thua Union soldiers immediately pierced his chest with their spears.

    Avinoges then graciously invited Philesius to lead his troops to camp in the city, but was politely refused by Philesius, ¡°Laos has just been recaptured, and the order in the city still needs to be rectified. If there are too many soldiers in the city, I am afraid that it will cause chaos to you and affect the friendship between Laos and Thua Union! We will rest outside the city for a while, and then leave. Lord Davos had exined it to us before we came here!¡±

    The persistence of Philesius and the initiative of the Thua Union for the sake of Laos made Avinoges very moved. So, he gave Philesius half of the money and livestock that they have seized to show his gratitude.

    Philesius did not refuse it. In addition to the loot that they seized in Nerulum, the Thua Union has gained a lot in this campaign. ording to the order of the Senate, all the livestock will be left to Nerulum for Sesta to use in assisting the Lucanians who had joined the Thua Union, while most of the money will be brought back to Thurii, part of it will be use as military funds, and another part of it will be turned over to the treasury, and a small part will be given to the soldiers as rewards. The weapons that they had seized will be donated to the soldiers'' council free of charge.

    Philesius then left the second and fourth brigades to guard Nerulum for the time being, and then led the rest of the troops to leave Laos with only 5 days¡¯ worth of rations. Then they came to the entrance of the pass and the whole army stopped and began to build their camp ording to the order of Philesius.

    Alobamus, who was apanying him, was surprised.

    In the face of Alobamus''s inquiry, Philesius replied truthfully, ¡°The order of the Senate* was, ¡®After capturing Laos and Nerulum, the army must build a fortress at the entrance of the mountain pass and send soldiers to guard it in order to prevent the invasion of Lucania in the north in the future. So that even after they encircle Nerulum, they won''t be able to hinder the support of Thua Union to Nerulum and Laos by blocking the mountain road.¡¯¡±

    Alobamus was silent for a moment and asked, ¡°What about the trade and personnel exchanges between Laos and Nerulum in the future¡­.¡±

    ¡°It won''t be affected! They can pass through the fortress without any fee!¡± Said Philesius affirmatively.

    In order not to destroy the good alliance rtion that had just been established between Laos and Thua Union, Alobamus had no choice but to express his approval. In fact, both sides understand that building a fortress here and protecting the mountain road connecting to Thurii, is not only for the Thua Union to smoothly support Nerulum in the future against the army of Lucania, but also, if one day, Laos betrays the alliance or there are other abnormalities, the army of Thua Union can still go through the fortress and go straight to the city of Laos. This is an open conspiracy!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Early in the morning, many Lucanians, who wanted to join the Union, and to rent livestock and farnd, have swarmed into the temporary residence of Sesta.

    Sesta was very happy to let Bagul and the soldiers of the fourth brigade to maintain the order and act as his interpreters. And the deputies of the census officer and agricultural officer were all prepared.

    Household registration, signing, fingerprint¡­.

    Writing lease contract, signing, seal¡­.

    However, more and more Lucanians came. Not only because of the group effect, but also because of the ¡¶Intermarriage Law¡· that Thua Union had announced in order to quickly consolidate the newly upied Nerulum, which have made some smart Lucanians to realize that they must get the benefits from Thua Union quickly, else the Greeks from Thurii will rob them.

    On the northwest of Nerulum is the Lao River, on the other side of the river is a mountain that is not too steep. To the southeast is a narrow and t valley less than a kilo-meter wide, which leads directly to Laos. Further east, there are continuous and insurmountable mountains, with only one path leading to Thurii. Only in the northeast on the area between the upper reaches of the Lao river and the upper reaches of the Agri river, although the terrain is high, the soil is still fertile and it used to be the settlement of many small tribes, andter fell under the control of Nerulum. The shape of this area is irregr, the terrain is rugged, and part of it is divided by mountains, which is not easy to measure and distribute. Therefore, Bagul suggested to Sesta that thend be divided ording to the number of tribes, and the tax will be collected by the chieftains of each tribe. And those Lucanians without tribes will havends allocated to them separately*. This will save them time and manpower and avoid direct friction and conflict between the Union and the Lucanians of Nerulum. (note: In fact, this situation is rtively rare.)

    Sesta agreed with the suggestion of Bagul after he considered the peculiarity of the mountain area in Lucania and the Lucanian tribes.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as Sesta was racking his brain on how to govern Nerulum, Davos received an urgent report on the situation on the west, it was the victory of Nerulum and Laos that he had already expected, and the only part of his uneasiness caused by the fact that he did not lead it directly was eliminated. He has repeatedly warned himself that he cannot follow the steps of Napoleon. The Mediterranean is veryrge, and Thua Union will inevitably encounter many enemies in the future, so he needs more excellentmanders who can independentlymand operations.

    The performance of Sesta in Nerulum was beyond his expectation, however¡­after handing the papyrus roll over to Aristocrates and asked him, with a slight anger, ¡°What do you think about Sesta allowing the Greek ves to ughter the Lucanian captives?¡±

    After he made the decision to let Asistes assist Sesta in governing Nerulum, Davos did not intend to let Asistes return to be his clerk. The young eagle will eventually grow up and fly in the vast sky independently, but he still needs to find another candidate.

    Davos remembered Aristocrates, who had faced Plesinas, who hade to demand the return of the ves that fled to Amendra. He was able to defend himself calmly and moved the Senate, and so, he sent Aristias to look for him, and turns out, he ends up working in Cheiristoya''s new restaurant in Thurii, and when Aristias told him that Lord Davos needs a secretary*, he readily epted it. (because the clerk is a public office, and Aristocrates is only a freeman, so he cannot be appointed as one.)

    As a result, when Davos came home that night, Cheiristoyained that he dug people into her own ce, and finally carried out her ¡°revenge¡± and had almost squeezed him dry¡­.

    ¡°Milord, I don''t know anything about Nerulum, so I can''tment about it.¡± Aristocrates, who had suffered a lot since childhood, was much more cautious than Asistes.

    Davos nced at him, ¡®Is this a subtle reminder to me?¡¯

    Davos thought for a moment and said slowly, ¡°You are right. About the situation of Nerulum, Sesta knows it better than us. Since he was appointed to manage Nerulum, we should just let him do what he thinks is right¡­but I didn''t expect that Sesta, who was usually ordinary in normal times, would act so straightforwardly and violently, which is much more fiercer than me!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Because the Senate Hall of Thurii has not yet beenpleted, the meeting of the Senate in the afternoon was still held in Amendra.

    At the meeting, Davos announced loudly that the Thua Union had sessfully captured Nerulum and helped Avinoges recapture Laos.

    Although the statesmen had already received the news before the meeting, they still cheered loudly.

    Then Davos said passionately, ¡°Everyone, from today on, the Thua Union will now have the territory of Thurii, Amendra, and Nerulum, and we also have two allies, Roscianum and Laos, who are our main allies. Although Krimisa is still neutral and Poseidonia is still in the hands of the Lucanians, we now have Nerulum. In addition to the shortage of poption, and the prosperity of trade and prestige not being enough, but we, Thua Union, has basically restored the territory and allies of Sybaris a hundred years ago, and with this, we will recreate the glory of Sybaris in Magna Graecia once more!¡±

 Chapter 170: Theonia City-State Union

    Sybaris! Although Sybaris has be theughing stock of the whole Magna Graecia and the negative model of the city-states, it is undeniable that more than a hundred years ago, it was thergest city-state in Magna Graecia, which spanned to the east and west of the Apennine Penins and had ruled many city-states, it had shocked many native races such as the Bruttiis, Lucanias, and possessed amazing wealth. At that time, Syracuse was only a small city-state and Taranto and Crotone could only look up to it. Recalling the past glory of Sybaris and reveling in their vision for the future, the statesmen once again cheered with excitement and even eximed excitedly, ¡°Let¡¯s cross the Siris river, take Grumentum and take back our Poseidonia!¡±

    When did Poseidonia be ours?! Davosughed to himself but was d to see this happen.

    At this time, Vespa stood up and asked with concern, ¡°Lord Davos, what''s the situation with Grumentum and the other Lucanians?¡±

    ¡°Because our attack was sessful and no one managed to escape, I estimate that the Lucanians in the north are still clueless about it. Sesta is now seizing this moment to stabilize the situation in Nerulum, and with the full assistance of Bagul, arge number of Lucanians and ves in Nerulum are willing to be our citizens. So now, Sesta and Asistes are busy registering them, distributingnd and distributing the livestock for these Lucanians that have joined us, and also strengthening the defense of the city¡­.in addition, Asistes is also building a fortress in Lao river, and they will be able to return in two days. Even if the Lucanians in the north learned about it, they would not be able to attack Nerulum for the time being. ording to the information that we had received before, we all know that Pyxous has just had a battle with Grumentum, and due to the rebellion of some chieftains, Lusau, the son of Akpir who upied the city of Grumentum, was defeated, and had led his people to flee to Potentia, and Potentia sheltered him. Obviously, even if Cincinnag of Pyxous upied the city of Grumentum, he also had to be careful about the intervention of Potentia. With this, Nerulum is safe for the time being!¡±

    The words of Davos had dispelled some of the statesmen''s worries, and the ce became enthusiastic.

    However, Cornelius loudly said, ¡°Everyone, there is an important problem which needs to be solved by the Senate!¡±

    Most of the statesmen were taken aback, ¡®What is the important problem in this day of victory?¡¯

    ¡°Before, we had two cities, Amendra and Thurii, so we had called it Thua Union. It was simple and clear, and the people understood its meaning as soon as they heard it. But now, there is Nerulum. If we still call it Thua Union, it would not be right!¡± Said Cornelius earnestly.

    The carefulness of Cornelius made the statesmen realize that it was indeed inappropriate. This is tantamount to excluding Nerulum. What will the people of Nerulum think in the future? Moreover, from the perspective of the development trend, the majority of Nerulum will be the Lucanians. So many efforts and a lot of bills have been made just to bring the Lucanians into the Union, this was a long-term n that was gradually agreed by the statesmen. And just because of a name problem, it may lead to discord and division, and the long-term efforts of the Union will be in vain! This is really an important problem that needs to be solved immediately!

    ¡°Then let''s call it the Thurii-Amendra-Nerulum Union!¡± The answer of Amintas was simple and clear, but some of the statesmen couldn''t stop themselves fromughing.

    ¡°Well, it''s convenient to call it that way. But¡­what if we manage to take Grumentum? Should we go on to name it Thurii-Amendra-Nerulum-Grumentum Union?! If this continues¡­every time we mention the official name of our union in the future, it will take a lot of time!¡± Said Mersis with exaggeration.

    Everyone burst outughing.

    Amintas said angrily, ¡°Mersis, then give us a better name!¡±

    ¡°It''s simple, since we want to restore the glory of Sybaris and regain its amazing wealth¡­.¡± while saying this, they felt that Mersis was salivating, ¡°We will simply call it New Sybaris!¡±

    As soon as he said this, Kunogta shook his head in opposition, ¡°This name is not good! This will easily intensify our rtionship with Crotone, and it will also make the neighboring city-states feel uneasy!¡±

    Ansitanos agreed, ¡°Yes, when the trade was prosperous, there waspetition with many city-states in Magna Graecia, and their rtionship was not very good, even the Campania Alliance* to the north of Lucania was hostile to Sybaris. We must not have a stalemate with our neighbors just because of a name!¡­¡± (Note: Campania is the alliance of Naples)

    As a historian, Ansitanos'' words had naturally won the attention and recognition of the statesmen. Many old statesmen have already thought of a good name, but it may cause discontent among the neighbors, and could only swallow it back to their stomachs, such as Antonios'' ¡°The Magna Graecia Union¡±. At this time, the statesmen found that it was not easy to choose a name. They should not only let it contain a certain meaning but must also represent all the cities in the union. At the same time, they should consider the future development and the rtionship with neighboring city-states. Some of the statesmen pondered and discussed it quietly, while some just simply turned their gaze to Davos¡­.

    ¡°It''s not easy to choose a name, but I have thought of one and all of you will definitely like it!¡± Someone said confidently.

    It was Plesinas.

    ¡°Say it!¡± At the urging of the statesmen, Plesinas said it slowly, word by word, we will call it Theonia City-State Union!¡°¡±

    When the statesmen with only a bit of culture like Amintas were still pondering over the meaning of the name, many of them then turned to look at Davos once more.

    Davos did not expect it. He really ignored the issue of the union''s name before. When everyone was thinking about a name, he was also thinking about it, but he did not expect that Plesinas would manage to repeatedly surprise him. The name of Davos means ¡°Son of God¡±. Some of the people in the Union think that the name of the Archon was given by the gods, otherwise, how could his parents know whether their children will be the favored of Hades, or is his descendant! And ¡°Theos¡± refers to god, and the name ¡°Theonia¡± means thend of god. Therefore, the two names ¡°Theonia¡± and ¡°Davos¡± are closely rted. (T/N: We are not sure if the fact besides "Theos" is correct.)

    Before Davos could make a statement, Marigi has already eximed, ¡°Good name! Good name! The Greeks have a tradition of naming the city-states with the names of the gods, just like Poseidonia, that was mentioned earlier, as well as Athens that we all know of¡­.our Union have been blessed by Hades for many times, that had made us win against forces that outnumbered us, to defeat the strong, and develop so rapidly in just a short time! To thank Hades, the symbol of our Union is Hades, and the g of our army is Hades, and we are also building a temple for him, but that is still not enough! The people of the whole Union deserve his blessing, so the name ¡®Theonia'' is just right! I believe that with it, the development of our Union will be much more faster!¡­.¡±

    Having a Persian talk about gods and blessings of the Greeks seems strange. However, the statesmen here are all listening very carefully. Some of them have already nodded their approval. Due to the troops going on a campaign, a lot of the former mercenary statesmen who firmly supported Davos are missing, without these people cheering, the ce was a bit quiet.

    Davos looked around, and his gaze fell on Cornelius and Kunogta, ¡°The two praetor, what do you think of this name?¡±

    Cornelius bowed his head and said, ¡°I have no objection.¡±

    Kunogta nced at Plesinas, then looked at Davos and said, ¡°I totally agree. This is a good name!¡±

    ¡°Then we shall call it Theonia City-State Union!¡± Davos calmly made the final decision.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the end of the meeting, Davos went out together with the statesmen, but he did not deliberately talk to Plesinas.

    Just after leaving the Senate hall, all the statesmen were surprised: In front of the Senate hall of Amendra, were a lot of people standing densely, which extended to the foot of the mountain. Among them were the wives who had lost their husbands in the hands of the Lucanians, the elderly who had lost their children, the children who had lost their fathers, the hundreds and thousands of Thurians that are suffering from their phobia due to the Lucanians, and the Amendrans who were worried about the situation of the war at the front line (almost all the families of the soldiers on the campaign are in Amendra)¡­at this moment, they all stood still and when they saw Davos and the otherse out, no one knew who shouted it first, but it was then followed by a roar like a tsunami, ¡°ALL HAIL THUA UNION!!!¡±

    ¡°LONG LIVE THE SENATE!!!¡±

    ¡°LONG LIVE LORD DAVOS¡±

    ¡°THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU¡­.¡±

    Everyone was cheering heartily with tears in their eyes¡­this was years of humiliation getting cleared! This was afort from having their hatred settled! This was a joy from being no longer afraid from now on!

    The Thua Union that was led by Davos had captured Nerulum, which had solved the troubles of Thurii for many years. The people''s sincere gratitude had infected all the statesmen. At this moment, they all felt the pride of being a part of the Senate of Thua Union, just as Davos had said, ¡®We must lead the people to create a prosperous and powerful Theonia City-state Union! And making the Theonian, no matter which city-state in the Mediterranean, be proud to im that they are citizens of Theonia, and that no foreign forces dare to invade Theonia!¡¯

    Naturally, Teratus saw this magnificent and moving spectacle, no matter how he felt in his heart, the message that he sent back to the city hall of Crotone was brief, ¡®The Thua Union has captured Nerulum, and Laos has be its ally.¡¯

    The strategoi of Crotone, such as Milo and Lysias, and the members of the council were surprised. Less than a year after the arrival of the mercenaries that were led by Davos to Magna Graecia, the high winning rate of the battles that they had led made them feel dread.

 Chapter 171: Meeting Timasion

    After a discussion, they decided to first observe the development of the situation. After all, the Greeks leaving the seaside to upy the mountains of the indigenous people, has no sessful precedent in the history of Greek colonization of the western Mediterranean. Even if Thua Union captured Nerulum, how will they suppress the resistance in a mountainous area full of Lucanians? That is the big question.

    At the same time, the city hall decided to send merchant ships to establish trade rtions with Pyxous as much as possible, to keep up to date of the developments in Lucania.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Ephesus, located on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, is a famous city of the kingdom of Lydia. It was said that Ephesus was built by the Athenian colonists around 900 B.C. after hundreds of years of development, it, along with Miletus in the south and Samos, became the three most dazzling pearls among the Greek city-states in Asia Minor.

    At the center of the triangle formed by the three prosperous city-states is mount Mykale, on which there is a sanctuary ¡°Panionium¡±, which means the sanctuary of all the Ionians. It was once the ce where the Greeks of Asia Minor gathered to celebrate their alliance. Although it has lost its former glory, it is still a ce where the Greeks of Asia Minor often go to worship. At the same time, the influence of another temple is increasing day by day. This is the temple of Artemis, the masterpiece built in Ephesus.

    A hundred years ago, when Ephesus was still attached to Lydia, it had be the trade center of Asia Minor. Citizens of various city-states flocked to Ephesus. After they finished doing their business and work, they would naturally pay homage to the temple for spiritualfort. As a result, the Ephesians found that the original altar could no longer meet the demand, and the believers often had conflicts in order to upy a good ce to pray. Therefore, the construction of a temple became a top priority. At that time, the rich king of Lydia, Croesus, donated generously (this king, whoter donated arge sum of money to Delphi to seek the Oracle, and was misled into fighting with Persia and finally perished.) And a new temple was built on the original crude location of the altar, and the most famous architect and sculptors at that time were invited to design the temple.

    The temple that was built is 100 meters long and 55 meters wide, with 127 huge columns of 18 meters high supporting the huge roof of the temple. The whole temple was basically made of huge stones with a length of 5~8 meters high, which is magnificent and heavy. In the temple, the bronze statue of Artemis is 2 meters high, with a crown on her head and a bow in her hand, she had a kind face and a vivid expression. There is no roof above her, so the believers can look up to the sky and be together with the goddess in the temple¡­.

    After thepletion of the temple of Artemis, it soon became another holynd for the Greeks in Asia Minor. Even though the destruction of the kingdom of Lydia and the outbreak of the Peloponnesian war and many other events happened sessively, it did not diminish its status. And there are still an endless stream of Greeks who came to worship every day for hundreds of years.

    On this day, a brawny Greek came to the temple in a hurry. He looked around and went straight along with the crowd to the temple''s entrance.

    The temple is too big, and the steps alone consist of dozens of steps. After climbing the steps, he was a bit short of breath even though he is physically trained.

    ¡°Timasion!¡± He heard a familiar voice shouting in front of him.

    As he went along the flow of people, a man in purple chiton stood at the entrance of the temple and waved at him.

    ¡°Agasias?!¡± Timasion walked towards this man, who had a seemingly extraordinary bearing, in disbelief.

    ¡°Call me lord Agasias! I am now a statesman of the Senate of Thua Union!¡± Agasias shook his sleeve, which exposed his left hand, then gently held his sleeve*, (this is the so-called aristocratic action often performed by the statesmen of Thurii in their meeting.) jokingly.

    ¡°You really have be a¡­master of a city-state?!¡± Timasion looked at him and asked in a trembling voice.

    ¡°Not just a city-state, but a master of two city-states!¡± Agasias held out two fingers and carefully exined, ¡°Davos is the archon for life of these two city-states!¡±

    ¡°The archon for life?! This is hard to believe¡­.¡± Murmured Timasion, it must be known that it has only been more than half a year, and the memory of their parting from Davos was still very clear, and yet now, there is a big difference between himself and Davos!

    ¡°I am telling the truth! If you don''t believe me, Artemis can be the witness. I will go inside and pledge an oath to her!¡± Said Agasias seriously, while pointing to the temple behind him.

    Timasion shook his head and looked at Agasias thoughtfully, ¡°I believe you! What do you want that you havee all the way here to see me?¡±

    ¡°Although we have sessfully changed our status, we have not forgotten ourrades, who had brave countless dangers together!¡± Agasias held out his hand and said sincerely, ¡°Archon Davos had sent me to invite you to Magna Graecia!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Thimbron has been holding his anger backtely.

    Since the time he was sent to Asia Minor by the Gerousia(Spartan council of elders) as the harmost of Asia Minor, he had led the army against Tissaphernes, the Satrap of Asia Minor, and had captured many Persian cities. And had forced Tissaphernes to not dare attack the Greek city-states in Asia Minor, and had thought that he had done a great job for Sparta, but because he had encountered some difficulties when besieging Larissa, and had failed to attain victory after a few months, and had instead, suffered some small losses, and in the end, that damned inspector had actually asked him to give up Larissa and attack the Kairan area instead! He was indignant; however, he didn''t dare to not obey.

    Since the end of the Peloponnesian war, Lysander had gained great prestige because of him defeating the Athenian navy. In order to strengthen his power, he had put forward a number of bills to the Gerousia and had it passed. One of them was to expand the power of the inspector, so that these civilian-born inspectors could go out with the army and find faults, whether they were ordinary strategoi or kings, and to question them any time. If the problem is serious, they can also propose to the Gerousia for punishment.

    So Thimbron was then forced to return to Ephesus, where he was going to rest for a while, and then set out to attack Kaira. However, within a few days, he had received bad news: Several Greek city-states in Asia Minor had sent messengers to Sparta, using him of allowing his soldiers to plunder the allies of Sparta in Asia Minor.

    At first, he was angry and threw all the valuable statues in the living room, and then he was worried about the gain and loss because what the messengers of Asia Minor hadined about was true. At the beginning, he brought 5,300 soldiers to Asia Minor, including a thousand liberated Helots, 4,000 other Peloponnesian people, and 300 Athenian cavalries. After arriving in Asia Minor, with the help of the allies, many soldiers were recruited, and most of them were mercenaries who had participated in the expedition to Persia with Cyrus the Younger, which made his troops reach 15,000 soldiers. However, there was hardly any real Spartan soldier in this huge troop, and the sries of so many soldiers cannot be sustained for a long time with only the donations of the Greek city-states of Asia Minor. Therefore, it is inevitable to plunder the upied Persian cities and territories. However, when the troops passed through their allies, the mercenaries who had be ustomed to plundering couldn''t control their limbs, and started looting theirpatriots'' property, which had happened frequently. Thimbron, however, did not use military discipline to restrain them, and had instead thought that, ¡®Since we are fighting hard for you, it is proper to have you pay a price!¡¯

    And now, the revenge of the Greeks in Asia Minor ising.

    That night, Thimbron couldn''t sleep.

    The next day, the inspector, Cheirisophus, came over and told him coldly, ¡°Thimbron, the Gerousia has sent Dercylidas to take over your position, and you have to go back to Sparta for a trial! You must stay in this house for now, and you are not allowed to leave until Dercylidas arrives!¡±

    Thimbron sat down and watched as Cheirisophus arranged soldiers to guard his door. He couldn''t restrain himself from shouting, ¡°Don''t worry, I won''t run away like Clearchus! Even if I go back to Sparta for a trial, I will be acquitted!¡±

    Without looking at him, Cheirisophus replied, ¡°I hope so!¡±

    Cheirisophus came out of Thimbron''s house and was finally relieved. For the Gerousia to investigate Thimbron, he is very wee, because he was the one behind it.

    The reason for why he did this was because he knew very well that Sparta had made great determination and had spent a lot of money to fight against Persia, which includes strategic considerations. The radical faction in Sparta that was led by Lysander, believed that they should go out of the narrow Greek territory and extend their influence to the more vast and rich Asia Minor, defeat the Persians, and be the patron of the Greek city-states of Asia Minor, and then be the hegemon of the eastern Mediterranean and fulfill the dream of the Spartans from generation to generation. It was precisely because Cheirisophus had traveled with the expeditionary forces to the interior of Persia, and had seen the vast and rich Mesopotamian in, that he was in favor of the radicals and deeply understood the hard work of Lysander. But Thimbron was a pure Spartan soldier, he did not think anything except fighting and killing. He attacked the Persians while conniving at the soldiers plundering their allies. And so, the allies in Asia Minor hadined about Thimbron''s troops and began to feel dissatisfied with Sparta.

    Seeing that more than half a year''s effort would be in vain, Cheirisophus had admonished Thimbron several times, but Thimbron first pretended to listen, but did not carry it out. Later, he just simply refused to listen.

    In desperation, Cheirisophus secretly encouraged the allies in Asia Minor to file aint in Sparta, and now, his goal has been achieved. As for theing Dercylidas, he has always been known for his resourcefulness. He is a Spartan strategos who can think with his head, and Cheirisophus believes that he will not make the same mistake as Thimbron and will cooperate well with himself.

 Chapter 172: The worries of Cheirisophus

    Cheirisophus'' good mood continued until Thimbron''s adjutant came to him.

    ¡°What are you talking about?! All the soldiers had run away?!!!¡± Cheirisophus was so surprised that his first reaction was whether Thimbron yed a trick.

    ¡°Not all of them, just those who had participated in the expedition of Cyrus the younger! After returning to Ephesus, the troops were stationed outside the city, because¡­because of the investigation of Thimbron, I have not visited the camp these days¡­.¡± Said the adjutant carefully, ¡°It wasn''t until you asked me to act as Thimbron''s recement for the time being¡­that I then decided to gather the whole army for a lecture to prevent the soldiers from feeling uneasy about Thimbron being transferred. As a result, I found that there were more than 3,000 soldiers missing¡­.¡±

    ¡®More than 3,000 soldiers!¡¯ Cheirisophus took a deep breath, ¡®This is not a small amount! Once Dercylidas arrived at Ephesus and found that the number of troops he was going to lead was greatly reduced, then he would probably me himself for not handling Thimbron well, leading to the fluctuation of the morale of the military.¡¯

    ¡°Is it because Thimbron had connived at their plundering and was afraid of getting punished?¡± It''s no wonder that Cheirisophus had asked this, because he knew so much about the mercenaries that went on the expedition with Cyrus the Younger.

    ¡°No.¡± The adjutant''s reply relieved him a bit and made him curious.

    ¡°When I found out about this, I immediately blocked the camp and started an investigation. I quickly learned the truth from the mercenaries who had participated in the expedition with Cyrus the Younger.¡± The adjutant then showed a strange expression, ¡°They had ran away because of a rumor!¡±

    ¡°Rumor?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Recently, there is a rumor circting outside the city, it is said that ¡®another group of mercenaries who had participated in the Persian expedition together with these mercenaries had gone to Magna Graecia, under the leadership of a leader named Davos. They defeated the barbarians there and established a union there called Thua Union, and had be the archon of the Union, and the mercenaries who had followed him had be the citizens of the city-state, and were givennd. While the officers of the mercenary became¡­uhm¡­nobles, one after another, and had taken high positions¡­.¡¯ These simple-minded mercenaries thought that this was real. So many of them had wanted to go to Magna Graecia and share the benefits of their formerrades. But I heard them say that this man named Davos, had only split up with them for only less than half a year. How could he have done so many things? This is obviously a lie!¡± When the adjutant finished speaking, he saw Cheirisophus frowning and was deep in thought.

    ¡°Where did these rumorse from?¡± Cheirisophus asked seriously.

    ¡°It seems that it came from the port market in Ephesus, after they had gone to buy some goods.¡±

    ¡°Are the leaders of the mercenaries still there?¡± Cheirisophus once more asked.

    ¡°Besides Xenophon, the other leaders like Timasion, Xanticles, Cleanor¡­had all run away. Some soldiers had stayed because Xenophon had convinced them¡­.¡±

    ¡°Send someone to the council of Ephesus and ask them to send a patrol to block the port immediately. You can also send some troops to help. If you find any deserters, then arrest them immediately and escort them back to the camp! At the same time, inform the neighboring cities with ports to take the same measures!¡± Cheirisophus made a quick decision.

    ¡°What to do with the mercenaries that have been captured?¡±

    ¡°In front of the whole army, set an example by having the officers and leaders-¡± Cheirisophus coldly made a gesture of beheading.

    After seeing off the adjutant, Cheirisophus'' emotion fluctuated and could not be calmed. The escape of the mercenaries had started a few days ago, and only taking measure now is already a bitte. It seems that while sending Thimbron back to Sparta, he would need to also write a letter to the Gerousia to exin the situation here. Otherwise, when Dercylidas finds out and asks about this matter, he will be passive! ¡®Ah¡­Xenophon should''ve known about this early, why did he not inform me?!¡¯

    Cheirisophus then thought about how Xenophon had a good rtionship with many of the leaders during their expedition to Persia, especially Davos. He was able to persuade the soldiers to stay was already his consideration to Sparta.

    Davos!¡­half a yearter, hearing this familiar and also unfamiliar name again, made a clear image of the extremely young mercenary leader to appear in his mind. For Davos, he had always regretted that he had failed to keep him in Sparta.

    He remembered that when he came back to Sparta to report on his previous experience, he met Anaxibius, the formermander of the navy, who hade back from his post. When he had asked him about Davos, Anaxibius asked back nkly, ¡®Davos? who?¡¯ He had wished that he could have pped him on the spot, due to him forgetting all the things that he had repeatedly told him, and had let Sparta to miss this Greek military genius. Later, as he helped Thimbron settle Asia Minor, he had be busier, and so he had forgotten about him temporarily. Unexpectedly, he heard his name again. This unforgettable young man has already made a position in Magna Graecia?! If this is indeed true, then it is amazing! But it also shows that he did not misread the person at all! I just don''t know if he has anything to do with this desertion. I hope that it is not his instigation, else the Gerousia will definitely send someone to investigate it!

    It is just that Davos has now taken root in Magna Graecia and he obviously won''t consider joining Sparta anymore. What a pity¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Xenophon actually knew more than what Cheirisophus had guessed. He even knew that Timasion went to the temple of Artemis in Ephesus to meet Agasias, and only after receiving his promise did he return to the camp and encourage the soldiers to go to Thua Union.

    Xenophon had also received the invitation of Agasias. He was really surprised by the fact that Davos had be the archon for life of two city-states in Magna Graecia. He was also curious about how Davos achieved such a brilliant achievement in just half a year! Both of them are young men, one is a rural man from the edge of Greek civilization, while the other is an elite trained by Athens, the center of Greek culture. Now, the ¡°rural man¡± had already mastered the supreme power of two city-states, but the elite was still fighting for survival in a foreignnd. To say that he was envious and jealous, Xenophon must have it in his heart. But he refused to leave here just to start a new life in the unfamiliar Magna Graecia.

    It wasn''t because of his self-esteem, but as an Athenian, Xenophon had always believed that Athens was the center of the world. After experiencing defeat in the Peloponnesian War, the expedition of Cyrus the Younger and the battle with Sparta in Asia Minor, seeing the vast territory and political corruption of Persia, the weakness of Greek city-states in Asia Minor and the military tyranny of the Spartans. Why couldn''t an economically prosperous Athens and a military powerful Sparta join hands to lead the divided and struggling Greek city-states to defeat Persia, which has always been hostile to Greece, and create a new era for the Greeks?!

    For this ideal, he was willing to continue to fight in this unfamiliarnd and cooperate closely with the Spartans who he had long been interested in. Therefore, although he did not report Timasion because of their rtionship asrades for more than two years, he had also prevented more soldiers from leaving. He was also relieved to learn that the Spartanmander was about to change, because he also thinks that Thimbron was not a qualified harmost of Asia Minor, even though he had kept winning battles.

    He wrote down the events that happened in the past few days. But the event when Timasion and the others left the military camp and went to Thua Union, he hesitated for a moment, but he still decided not to write it down. It was not out of confidentiality, but he always adhered to his principle that the eastern Mediterranean is the focus of his work. And the western Mediterranean is far away from the center of civilization, so it is not worth much attention.

    After that, he packed up his drafts and decided to go to Cheirisophus to have a good discussion. He had some ideas and suggestions on how to manage these mercenaries and prevent their morale from drifting.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the construction of the fortress (The fortress is an enhanced version of a military camp), Philesius left a centuria to guard it and then led the rest of the third and seventh brigade back to Thurii.

    Davos went to meet them outside the city and delivered a passionate speech to the soldiers. After that, the troops were disbanded, and the soldiers went home. On the other hand, Philesius came to the house of Davos and told him in detail the process of capturing Nerulum and Laos, as well as the general situation of Nerulum.

    After listening carefully, Davos asked, ¡°Do the soldiers of the first centuria of the second and third brigade have any dissatisfaction with staying in Nerulum for about ten days?¡±

    ¡°Not for the time being.¡± Replied Philesius, ¡°Since you, Milord, have promulgated a new n for the distribution of spoils, with having the soldiers that remained to get more. I think they are very happy.¡±

    Davos nodded and sighed, ¡°We are not like Persia that have their soldiers supported by their state and are especially responsible for fighting and can carry outbat tasks for a long time. Five days is the limit of our Union soldiers in a volunteer battle. If it exceeds this time, we will have to prepare food for the soldiers. Moreover, if the time is too long, it will dy their farming and earning money. And we can''t let the citizens who fought for our Union to get poorer and poorer. Therefore, the distribution of spoils is not only for this time! I hope that after you get back to work, you and Mersis can discuss a long-term n for the distribution of spoils, with having three priorities.

    First, the families of the soldiers who are killed in the war must be given preferential treatment. Second, the troops and soldiers who have made outstanding achievements in the war must be given preferential treatment. Third, the troops and soldiers who undertake the most arduousbat mission must be given preferential treatment¡­.what is more, in future campaigns, we may also involve our allied forces for a joint operation. Therefore, this must be taken into consideration when formting strategic distribution ns, and a fair and equitable distribution must be achieved!¡±

 Chapter 173: The Visit of Davos (I)

    ¡°I understand. I will go and discuss it with Mersis tomorrow.¡± Nodded Philesius.

    ¡°Mersis is a miser, he may want to save more money to the treasury, so you must stick to your principle.¡± Said Davos half-jokingly.

    ¡°Then I will take Amintas and Matonis tomorrow.¡± Said Philesius seriously, then they bothughed.

    Taking advantage of the happy mood, Philesius carefully put forward his own idea, ¡°Milord, since one can get a sry when holding a public office, shouldn''t one also get some sry if they couldn''t go home due to the need to serve for a long time in war time?¡±

    ¡°Heh, you, the military officer, have begun to learn to get benefits for your own department.¡± Davos pointed to him and said with a smile.

    Philesius replied with a smile, ¡°If not, the soldiers will me me for not fulfilling my duties during my term.¡±

    ¡°ording to reason, it should be. I remember someone had said, ¡®The sailors in Athens are paid two obols a day, and the hoplites are four obols¡­¡¯¡± Recalled Davos.

    ¡°It is indeed the case, milord.¡±

    Davos sighed, ¡°But that is Athens, one of the wealthiest city-state in Mediterranean, and so they could afford it. While the Theonian Union couldn''t. There are currently less than 200 civil servants, but the treasury could only barely afford their sry. While there are thousands or even tens of thousands of soldiers to go on a campaign, even if one soldier only gets one obol a day, if you calcte it, how much money do we have to pay every day! The reconstruction of Thurii and the sry of the civil servant have already made Mersis unable to stand it anymore, if you were to mention this, I''m afraid that he will fight you desperately.¡±

    Davosughed then said with certainty, ¡°But once the Union is rich in the future, you can rest assured that I will not let the soldiers that go on a campaign suffer losses!¡±

    Although it was only the verbal promise of Davos, Philesius knew that this is certain. It is not only because Davos had already kept his word, but also because Philesius had worked with Davos for a long time, so he deeply knew that Davos is a man with great ambition, and an army that can''t conduct prolonged war won''t be able to fulfill his ambition.

    ¡°How is the military disciple of the troops in Nerulum?¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°It''s not bad. There was no conflict with the Lucanians of Nerulum.¡± Philesiusughed, ¡°Of course, it has something to do with the triumphant return that you will hold for them. They are afraid of viting the military disciple and not being able to attend the ceremony.¡±

    ¡°A soldier with a sense of honor is a good citizen!¡± Sighed Davos, thinking of thoserades of his that had gone on an expedition to Persia together, and are nowing. Hoping that they, who were ustomed to plunder and being unrestrained would not cause too much trouble in the Theonian Union.

    Suppressing the concern that had just emerged in his heart, he looked at Philesius, ¡°Are you ready to face the public?¡±

    ¡°I¡­.¡± The gentle mannered man, who had spent half of his life in the battlefield, seemed nervous and shy.

    ¡°Hey, there is nothing to be nervous about. You are not the only one who will go there, there are also Drakos, Epiphanes, and Hieronymus! You need to show the image of our Theonian strategoi to the people of the Union and let them know that only by fighting bravely for the Union can they enjoy such lofty honor!¡± Said Davos solemnly, while he patted Philesius on the shoulder.

    Philesius understood the significance of this triumphant return for the army, so he was unable to make himself rx.

    Davos had to change the topic, ¡°By the way, Bagul and the fourth brigade are also going to participate in this triumphant return, so we have to let the first brigade go to Nerulum to rece them for a few days.¡±

    Davos then thoughtfully said, ¡°After that, the soldiers of Bagul''s fourth brigade will settle in Nerulum. In this way, they can defend Nerulum, which will also save us on military expenses¡­ However, the military quality of the fourth brigade is far from meeting our requirements, so we must send some instructors in turn to carry out strict training¡­.¡±

    Seeing that Philesius hesitated to speak, he asked in doubt, ¡°Are you anxious about the fourth brigade?¡±

    ¡°No, I am not anxious about the fourth brigade. Bagul is a good leader, and he is also the son-inw of the Greeks, and most of his soldiers believed in him, and the sisters of these Lucanian warriors are basically married to our citizens. So, in our Union, in particr, the Greek citizens of Amendra and the Lucanians have a very close rtionship. Therefore, during the campaign, the fourth brigade has been very proactive in cooperating with the other brigades!¡± praised Philesius, ¡°I just want to ask you, Milord, how to solve the problem of the Lao Fortress, in which we would need to have soldiers stationed there for a long time?¡± There is no such profession as a soldier in the Theonia Union, so it is impossible for the soldiers to leave their livelihood and stay there for a long time.

    In Philesius'' opinion, this is a difficult problem, but Davos had already thought of a solution, ¡°We will have the preparatory citizens to take turns, this can be regarded as an assessment content that they must carry out to be an official citizen of the Union. At the same time, the veterans are also allowed to serve as instructors and officers in the Lao Fortress to manage and train them. In this way, Lao Fortress will be regarded as a military training base of the Union. First, to train the preparatory citizens to be qualified soldiers. Second, train the veterans to be qualified reserve officers. Third, with this, Lao Fortress will be garrisoned for a long time¡­.¡±

    Davos spoke after a great deliberation, ¡°The Lao Fortress controls the main road from Thurii to Laos and to Lucania, and I believe that this road will soon be busy with the rapid increase of merchants. Think about it. Instead of going through the Strait of Messana and epting the exploitation of Messana and Rhegium, the caravan can now reach the port of Laos on the west coast of the Apennine Penins directly bynd. And Laos is our ally, which will give preferential tariff. Therefore, this is very attractive to Greek merchants. In addition, as long as we can stabilize the situation in Lucania, some Lucanian goods, such as fur, cattle, sheep¡­.and so on., can also attract the attention of the merchants. Therefore, we can collect a very small percentage of tariff at the Lao fortress, without damaging the enthusiasm of the merchants, and will also allow the union to use this money to buy food and supplies for the garrison. At the same time, it should be more than enough to pay a certain amount of living expenses to the soldiers who were unable to work for two ~ three months¡­.¡±

    At first, the business content that Davos talked about had made Philesius felt dizzy. It wasn''t until Davos mentioned the garrison troops of Lao Fortress that Philesius understood that the food and sry of the garrison troops could be easily solved by collecting taxes. This simple solution of Davos had made Philesius admire him more.

    ¡°So, it will take about three days to get to Nerulum from Thurii via the mountain road?¡± Davos suddenly asked.

    ¡°Yes, Milord. We started out at a rtively fast pace, even so, it still took us three day, and if we were to march at normal speed, it will take about four days.¡± Replied Philesius.

    ¡°I am afraid that it will take more time if there are more loaded carts.¡± Davos tapped his finger on the chair''s armrest and muttered to himself, ¡°So it is necessary to put it on agenda the building of a road between Thurii-Nerulum-Laos. It is best to build the road of the three cities at the same time, so as to connect Thurii and Lucania, and strengthen the connection and enhance their integration¡­.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Three dayster, Davos suggested for him to go to Nerulum on the Senate.

    Some statesmen tried to dissuade him from going there at this time, due to the instability of the political situation in Nerulum.

    Davos replied firmly, ¡°Hence why I am going to Nerulum, to make it more stable!¡± Which finally convinced the Senate.

    The group that will travel to Nerulum includes more than a dozen statesmen who hold no public position, such as Vespa, Scambras, Tritodemos, and so on. and were escorted by the officers and soldiers of the first brigade. At the same time, the first brigade is also going there to temporarily rece the fourth brigade stationed in Nerulum, so that they cane back to participate in the triumphant return. In addition, there are also the families of the soldiers of the fourth brigade, and some merchants of the Union.

    Heracleides the Younger has been recently busy thinking about how to build a wooden bridge over the Crati river. Finally, he got some ideas, and was about to start the construction experiment. However, he was forced by Davos to join, so that he could inspect the ce where he would build the road connecting Thurii-Nerulum-Laos.

    Heracleides the Younger did not have his father''s stubbornness, and Davos was also kind to him, so he put aside his work for the time being and went to Nerulum together with Davos. But once he enters his working state, his degree of concentration can make him ignore the bad environment around him and even the identity of the people that were with him.

    ¡°In this mountain, there are a lot of sharp rocks on the ground, which must be polished off. This will undoubtedly increase the workload and slow down the speed of the road construction.¡±

    ¡°You see, there are also a lot of drifting soil on the mountain wall. Once it rains, it may be washed down and block the road. Therefore, it must be fixed with mortar, and the small trees growing on the cliff must be cut down!¡±

    ¡°This section of the mountain road is too narrow for even a cart to pass through, so it must be widened!¡­hmmm, I think that we can burn thisrge bulging part of the mountain and pour cold water on it, to have it burst. But be careful not to burn the forest!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos and the statesmen gathered around Heracleides the Younger like a student, listening to him observe and analyze how to build the mountain road. Naturally, the speed of the whole group would not move too fast.

    In the evening, the whole group could only sleep on the mountain road in the open air, and the guard team and the first brigade arranged the warning lines and sentries.

    For the family members of the fourth brigade, the mountains are their home. After a year of being away, they finally returned to this familiarnd, and their breathing became much smoother. Theyy on the ground with ease and soon fell asleep.

    While most of the soldiers of the first brigade have travelled to Persia, so they had mostmonly camp in the field.

    And the merchants travel around, and for profit, they can bear anything.

 Chapter 174: The Visit of Davos (II)

    For the Amendran statesmen like Scambras, they felt that this is nothingpared with the cmity of getting imprisoned for half a year.

    Only the statesmen of Thurii who listened to the howling of all kinds of wild animals in the mountain and thinking about the insects and ants that drills out of the soil have their hair stands on end. However, the Archon had taken the lead in sleeping on the ground wrapped in a woolen nket. They toss and turn, but found it hard to fall asleep. Then they heard the voice of the Lucanian statesman, Vespa, ¡°Milord, I¡­I would like to ask¡­now that we had taken Nerulum, does our Union intend to continue our attack northward?¡±

    His voice, though small, was very clear in the dark.

    The Thurian statesmen, who couldn''t sleep, couldn''t stop from saying, ¡°Capturing Nerulum is to prevent the Lucanians from attacking Thurii, and it''s impossible to attack the north. You see, the mountain road is so difficult to trek which will make it very difficult to transport food. In addition, we are not familiar with the terrain in the north. The mountains are rugged and uneven, so our hoplites can''t be deployed and it is easy to be ambushed by the Lucanians. I don''t want to see the¡­tragedy of the army of Thurii being wiped out by the Lucanians¡­be repeated¡­¡±

    Listening to the voice of the statesman, Davos recognized that it was Enanilus. His family was famous for its shipbuilding, and he once owned two shipyards in the port of Thurii and could skillfully build a Trireme. Unfortunately, it waspletely damaged when the Crotonians burned the city. Now, the shipyard is currently being rebuilt. One of his younger brothers had died in the battle when the army of Thurii attacked Laos.

    ¡°Enanilus is right. We are not ready to attack the north. We currently need to have a firm foothold in Nerulum first. Then we need to let the Lucanians of Nerulum to gradually integrate into the Union, and we need to let more Lucanian tribes in the north to acknowledge our Union. All these will take time.¡±

    What Davos had said made Vespa feel relieved. He was afraid that Davos would be impulsive after taking Nerulum and would continue to attack northward. Then his tribe would have been the one in the lead, and their losses would have been heavy.

    However, Enanilus understood the meaning of the words of Davos, ¡°Milord, listening to what you had just said. Are we going to attack the Lucanian region north of Nerulum in the future?¡±

    ¡°Of course. When the news of victory got transmitted back to Thurii, didn''t you all shouted to defeat all the Lucanians? I even remember someone had said to even take Poseidonia!¡± Said Davos smilingly.

    ¡°That''s what I had said.¡± Another voice sounded, and through the bonfire, Davos recognized the one who had spoken was Marsyas.

    Marsyas sat up next to Enanilus and said with embarrassment, ¡°At that time, it was on impulse. After trekking this road today, I now know why the army of Thurii¡­their annihtion was not only due to the negligence of themander, but also rted to the bad environment here¡­¡± The family of Marsyas made a fortune by mining. Before Crotone attacked Thurii, his family had more than a thousand mining ve, and were contracted by the city-state to quarry. After the end of the war, they only have no more than 50 ves left. Now, they mainly undertake the grinding and carving work of some stone materials in the temples, the Senate Hall, and the Grand Square.

    Davos noticed that most of the statesmen have woken up and gathered around, so he said with seriousness, ¡°What impulse? Why can''t we attack the north and take Poseidonia and Pyxous?! We need to have our own port city on the west coast, after all, Laos is only our ally. With them our maritime trade will be more convenient and the revenue of our treasury will be greatly increased. Pyxous and Poseidonia also have better ports, but because of the ethnic rtionship, the Lucanians did not put it to good use, but our Union can easily do it. Isn''t that right, Lord Enanilus?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Lord Davos. But¡­.¡± Enanilus was still hesitant to say whether this would be too risky.

    Davos then turned his head to Vespa, ¡°I heard that there are a few small iron mines in the Lucania region, right?¡±

    ¡°Indeed, there are. They are mainly distributed in the mountains between Potentia and Grumentum.¡± Vespa then added with pride, ¡°That is why the Lucanians can make armors and short swords, and are not like those Bruttians who only have crude spears.¡±

    ¡°If there are iron ores, then there may be other minerals, such as copper, tin, lead¡­that we might discover in the future, coupled with the wood, fur, livestock and so on., with these, the Lucanian mountains also contain great wealth, isn''t that right? Marsyas.¡± The night has covered the meaningful smile on the face of Davos.

    ¡°Y¡­yes!¡± Marsyas'' voice became a bit agitated.

    ¡°The most important thing is that we, Greeks, love the sea so much that as a result, we have built our cities along the coastline, which, although beneficial to the acquisition of the wealth in the sea, are also vulnerable to an attack and not good in defense. The Union should vigorously advance ind, expand our living space and integrate with Lucania. In this way, even in the event of a very strong enemy invasion and we couldn''t defend the coastal city, we can still retreat to the mountains. With the Lucanian citizens as the backing, the mountain area is our home. We can attack any enemy who dares to attack the mountain area rashly, and finally defeat the powerful enemy!¡±

    At the end of Davos'' warning words, there was no one to respond. Only a rapid breathing could be heard, and finally, after a long time, someone asked, ¡°Milord, do you think that we will encounter a strong enemy?¡±

    ¡°Currently, isn''t Crotone a powerful enemy? A hundred years ago, Sybaris was powerful in Magna Graecia, didn''t they also attract the enemies¡¯ attack?! Didn''t the powerful Athens also suffer the attack of the Peloponnesian alliance?! When a city-state is strong, other cities will try their best to hinder its development or even overthrow it, either because of fear or because they have challenged its status! This is a troubled time, so we must try our best to strengthen ourselves, or we will be like the former Thurii, the defeat in a battle will make it decline¡­.¡±

    The people around him, especially the statesmen of Thurii, were lost in thoughts¡­.

    ¡°Why don''t we attack Grumentum now?! We all know that there was a battle between Grumentum and Pyxous, and both sides have suffered heavy losses. Now is a good opportunity to attack it!¡± When Scambras epted the ideas of Davos, he immediately became a bit radical.

    ¡°If two brothers in a family are fighting, and an outsideres in and steals things. Do you think the two brothers will continue to fight, or will they join forces to kill the outsider first?¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°You mean our attack will make the Lucanians unite against us?¡± Scambras responded immediately.

    ¡°Yes, it is very likely!¡±

    ¡°But we have already entered the home of the Lucanians!¡± Protesus used this metaphor and continued.

    Davos replied calmly, ¡°Yes, but we can tell them, ¡®we are retaliating for what they have stolen from usst time, and we will only take that and won''t take more. We can also sign an agreement with them to stop stealing within a certain period of time, as long as we have Nerulum, it is enough.¡¯ Even if they have doubts, they will choose to believe it, becausepared with the Greeks, who are not very interested in the harsh mountainous areas, their hostile cousins are more threatening. Once defeated, the whole tribe will be swallowed up and their families will be ves. In order to defeat the opponent early and concentrate on driving us away, what will they do?¡±

    Protesus'' eyes lit up and said loudly, ¡°The battle between them will be more intense!¡±

    ¡°In this way, there will be more tribes in Lucania who will be poor because of the war¡­.¡± When Davos said this, he thought of something and said apologetically, ¡°Lord Vespa, I hope you can understand me.¡±

    With a bitter look on his face, he could only shake his head bitterly and said in a low voice, ¡°It''smon to have wars among tribes here.¡±

    ¡°Yes, these weak tribes had no choice before, but now they have. On the one hand, to win the war, the big tribe will ferociously exploit them. On the other hand is Nerulum with its peaceful life, who they will choose is obvious.¡± Davos sincerely asked Vespa, ¡°In order to unify Lucania as soon as possible, so that this mountain region will no longer kill each other, I hope that Lord Vespa, after you arrive at Nerulum, you can walk among the tribes and tell them that our Union is friendly to the Lucanians, in order for them to understand us and are more willing to join us¡­.¡±

    Vespa was silent for a moment and squeezed out a sentence, ¡°I''ll try my best!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At noon the next day, the group finally walked out of the mountain road and arrived at the Lao Fortress.

    After carefully inspecting the situation of the Lao Fortress, Davos praised the soldiers of the first centuria of the second brigade for being able to defend the Lao Fortress with diligence and hadpleted the final defense mission, and announced that at the end of his visit to Nerulum and returning to the fortress, they can then return to Thurii with him and be at the front of the ranks in a triumphant fashion.

    The soldiers cheered in unison.

    After hearing this, the soldiers of the first brigade murmured with a bit of indignation, ¡°A bunch of recruits¡­they are just lucky. If we were not guarding Thurii¡­.¡±

    Although the first brigade''s soldiersined, it did not prevent them from marching northward.

    At present, the area that they can pass through is much more spacious, about a kilo-meter wide. There are mountains to the east, and the Lao river to the west. The river surface of Lao river is not wide. However, most of the cliffs on both sides of the river haverge water drops and deep water channels, so it is difficult forrge troops to reach the opposite bank.

    Heracleides the Younger looked at the terrain throughout the way, he shook his head and sighed, ¡°I am afraid that it is very difficult to build a bridge on the upper reaches of the Lao river!¡±

 Chapter 175: The Visit of Davos (III)

    Hearing his words, Davos also fell into thinking, but after all, he had seen a lot in his previous life, so he tentatively asked, ¡°Can we build a suspension bridge?¡±

    ¡°Suspension bridge?¡± Heracleides the Younger looked at him for advice, as he always attached great importance to the suggestion of Davos.

    Thus, Davos told Heracleides the Younger the general structure of the bridge (which he does not know very well.)

    Heracleides the Younger, who had rich experience in bridge construction, had his eyes brightened. He pondered about it along the way, standing on the cliff from time to time and looking across the river where there are continuous low hills and lush woods. As long as there is a bridge, this area will no longer be impassable¡­.

    After walking for a while, Heracleides the Younger said to Davos, ¡°It seems that it is indeed easier to build a suspension bridge on the Lao river. Of course, we have to go through specific experiments to make a conclusion. However, the most important material for this suspension bridge should be the rope. Just now, it will take at least 50 meters long and tough rope to reach the opposite bank¡­.¡±

    ¡°The rope is not the problem.¡± Enanilus, worthy of being a shipbuilder, interjected, ¡°We can just lengthen the gears of the sailboats. I can guarantee that it is strong and durable enough.¡±

    ¡°However, the number of people passing through the bridge at one time is limited, so we need to build several more.¡± Added Davos.

    Heracleides the Younger nodded, then his gaze was fixed on the ground and continued to think.

    During the march, Davos carefully observed the terrain around him. From time to time, he will see Lucanians grazing in the mountain on the right side. Perhaps they were nervous and alert at such arge group, especially the armed first brigade. Some simply hid behind the trees and rocks to peep, and even the sheep ran out of the mountain and ran into the convoy, but the Lucanians dare note to ask for it.

    ¡°They should be the Lucanians from Nerulum? The livestock that they are grazing should be rented from the Union, right?¡± Asked Davos with interest.

    So, Vespa took the sheep from the soldiers, then he went to the edge of the mountain and called them in Lucanian.

    After a long time, he returned the sheep to them and came back to Davos.

    The statesmen gathered around to find out what he had discuss with the local people.

    ¡°Lord Davos, they are indeed from Nerulum, but they are not all Lucanians. There are also some Greeks who were once a ve of Wudlei, and are now free and had married Lucanian widows, and are now a preparatory citizen of the Union. Two other Lucanians, who were once ves, are now preparatory citizen of the Union, and one of them had married a Greek woman, who was also a ve before. The other shepherds were all small tribal people who had been oppressed by Wudlei and have now be preparatory citizen of the Union¡­¡±

    ¡°What is their attitude towards the Union?¡± Asked Scambras.

    Vespa looked at him and replied, ¡°They are very grateful that the Union has saved them! Now that they have be citizens, they feel very free, and only have a bit ofint.¡±

    ¡°What are theyining about?!¡± Asked Scambras.

    ¡°Theirint is that the Union is not allowing them to rent more livestock.¡± Vespa kept a straight face and tried not to smile.

    ¡°Their idea is good, but there are only so many livestock. If they ask for more, others won''t be able to rent one.¡± Scambras muttered.

    ¡°Do they have any objection to the 5% tax?¡± Asked Marsyas.

    ¡°The tax is already much less than before, and now they hope that the livestock can give birth to more offspring, because they will all belong to them.¡± Answered Vespa.

    ¡°It seems that Sesta and Bagul did a good job in Nerulum, and the people here are beginning to ept us¡­.¡± Smiled Davos.

    Even the statesmen who had opposed the admission of the Lucanians had to agree with Davos.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the afternoon, Davos'' group arrived in Nerulum.

    Nerulum is simr to Amendra, it is also built on a small hillside, but it isrger than the city of Amendra and has wooden walls.

    Here, the cliffs on the east bank of the Lao river are inclined and gentle, and people can easily reach the river. From here, the terrain gradually gets higher, but the area is more and more open. Further north is the area between the Lao river and the upper reaches of the Siris river. The Lucanians call this area ¡°Fertile soil in the mountains¡±. In fact, its terrain is not t, butpared with the mountainous area, it is much better. Moreover, thend is more fertile and suitable for farming. Therefore, it has be the settlement of the small tribes. This is obviously the reason why the Lucanians of Nerulum chose to build a city here.

    In the morning, Kesima was informed by the praetor that Davos, the archon for life of the Theonia Union, was about to visit.

    Like other Lucanian youth, Kesima signed up enthusiastically and came to wee Davos. After this period of publicity and hearsay, Kesima had long been eager to see the famous strategos of the Union and the rumors about him being ¡°The son of god.¡±

    Although they waited for a long time, when he saw the arrival of the huge group, Kesima, who was already a bit tired, quickly liven up and strode forward together with Sesta. Davos is very young, but everyone around him sincerely respect him, which makes him exude a kind of unspeakable dignity. However, his face always dons a kind of friendly smile and give sincere greetings to everyone. Dignity and gentleness have actually formed a strange harmony in him¡­.

    ¡°Milord, I have vited the order of the Senate and have made a mistake!¡± Sesta said to Davos, frankly.

    ¡°No, we do not understand the situation here, and you done a good job! Facts have proven that you are an excellent praetor. This is themon opinion of the statesmen and me!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Milord!¡± Sesta was relieved when he heard from the ves sent by Philesius that the Senate was not dissatisfied with his killings of the captives.

    ¡°Greetings, Lord Davos!¡±

    ¡°Bagul, you have aplished the mission that was assigned to you by the Union! I will also fulfill my promise to you. You see, I have brought not only your father, your people, but also a special guest. Guess who it is?¡± Compared with his conversation with Sesta, Davos was more rxed when facing Bagul and even joked around.

    ¡°I can''t guess it.¡± Replied Bagul, while scratching his head.

    ¡°Go look at the back.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­.Andrea?!¡±

    ¡°It''s a littlete to recognize her. Andrea will punish you for forgetting her!¡± Said Davos jokingly. Andrea then red at Bagul fiercely, with a flushed face.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡­.¡± Laughed everyone.

    ¡°I wanted to hold a wedding for you here, but Andrea insisted on holding it at Hera''s wedding ceremony in April next year, so you can discuss it with yourselves. I can''t help you with it!¡± Teased Davos, which drew another burst ofughter.

    ¡°Greetings Lord Davos! I am Hemon.¡± A middle-aged man stepped forward and said with respect.

    ¡°Oh, I know you! Sesta praised you, saying that you have cooperated with him actively to stabilize the situation of the city, and helped him solve many problems. Thank you very much!¡± Davos praised him loudly.

    ¡°It is nothing. I am also a citizen of the Union!¡± Hemon felt that it was worth it to make the number one in the Union remember him.

    ¡°Yes, it is very good to know you! This Union is mine and yours, and also belongs to the Greeks and the Lucanians!¡­.¡±

    ¡°You are right, Lord Davos!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Kesima listened and unconsciously felt excited. He felt as if he had really integrated into the Union.

    Then Davos came to him.

    ¡°Lord Davos, I am Kesima!¡± He strode forward and greeted him with great respect.

    Davos also returned his greetings, and said happily, ¡°I heard that you are a good friend of Bagul, and he talk a lot about. I am also a good friend of Bagul, and I don''t know if I have the chance to also be your good friend?¡±

    ¡°Of course! Of course!¡± Kesima agreed excitedly.

    Davos greeted the people who came out to meet him, and then asked Sesta, ¡°Why haven''t Asistese?¡±

    ¡°Because the time to wait had taken a bit long, the second and fourth brigade went to y rugby to kill time, and Asistes served as the referee.¡±

    ¡°Didn''t I ask Izam to tell you that you don''t have to ask so many people toe out to meet me?¡± Criticized Davos.

    ¡°They came on their own free will, and they all hope to be praised by you milord.¡± Exined Sesta.

    ¡°But now it seems that rugby is more attractive than me!¡± Davos jokingly said, eliminating any previous dissatisfaction.

    He looked along the direction where Sesta pointed: There was arge circle of people not far from the north of the gate, cheering and eximing can be heard from time to time¡­.

    ¡°Because the arena in Thurii hasn''t been built yet, so thepetition has not started. And now you guys have started it here first!¡± Laughed Davos.

    ¡°Yes, the soldiers of the second and fourth brigades are ying football every day, which often attracts the people toe watch.¡± Sesta then said with some concern, ¡°I am afraid that they would be too addicted to the game and would dy their work.¡±

    ¡°So, Bagul and Drakos must warn their soldiers.¡± Davos nodded then said, ¡°However, it seems that the citizens here like this game too.¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos, we love rugby very much. It is already excited just watching the game!¡± Interrupted Kesima.

    ¡°Can you y?¡± Davos asked with interest.

    ¡°We are not familiar with the rule of the game, so we could only watch and learn. In fact, we have been watching it for a long time already!¡± Said sa with discontent.

 Chapter 176: The Visit of Davos (IV)

    ¡°Haha, that''s because he hasn''t yed it himself!¡± With that, Davos said, ¡°Do you want to y it?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I want to!!¡­.¡± The Lucanian youths scrambled to answer.

    ¡°Good! I am going to be the quarterback. Whom of you would like to join me to challenge the winner of this match?¡± Shouted Davos.

    ¡°Me, I am willing!¡± Eximed Kesima.

    sa also stepped forward¡­and soon, a team of fifty-five men was formed, with the exception of Davos, and the captain of the guard, Martius, who were Greeks, the rest were all Lucanian youths. Davos then led them to the field, and more Lucanians soon followed. The guards didn''t stop them because of the instructions of Davos.

    Sesta then grabbed Kapus, hoping that he couldmand the soldiers of the first brigade to maintain the order of the field.

    The family members of the fourth brigade were then arranged to enter the city, while the statesmen of Thurii walked slowly towards the arena.

    ¡°Vespa, have you really, as what your son had said, be a member of the Senate of Theonia Union?!¡± Hemon looked at Vespa, who was among the statesmen, with admiration. He was dressed in the same clothes as the other statesmen, and his gestures seemed to have the semnce of a great man.

    This kind of envious look greatly satisfied the vanity of Vespa. He was not only seen by Hemon, but also many of his former acquaintances. It was a mixture of surprise, fear and respect, which made Vespa feel that he had returned home in glory. This kind of pleasure drowned his guilt of turning to the ¡°enemy¡±.

    ¡°It is of course true!¡± As the other statesmen did, he shook the sleeves of his chiton, revealing the purple sleeves that symbolizes the statesmen of the Senate, ¡°Just like what the Archon had just said, ¡®the Union belongs to the Greeks and also to the Lucanians.¡¯ So it is normal for the Lucanians to enter the Senate of the Union and be a statesman!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos is indeed very friendly to us Lucanians, and being able to get the recognition of those young people so soon shows that he is sincere and has no prejudice against the Lucanians! But-¡± Hemon pointed covertly at the statesmen of Thurii in front of him, and whispered, ¡°Their attitude towards us seems to be bad.¡±

    ¡°There is no way! They are either from Thurii or Amendra, and have suffered from us, Lucanians. It is impossible for them to change their attitude in a short time. Lord Davos has said that it would take time for their attitude to change. Fortunately, the Union is mainly decided by the Archon!¡± Vespa frankly whispered back.

    ¡°What do you do as a member of the Senate?¡± Asked Hemon curiously.

    ¡°Putting forward proposals, passingws, discussing major events in the Union, and assist the Archon toe up with solutions¡­.¡± Vespa said with a bit ofcency, ¡°Sometimes, I have to be responsible for some specific matters. For example, I am now in charge of the affairs of the citizens in the Lucanian region. As long as there are issues rted to Lucania, the Senate will first ask for my opinions, and I can also put forward my own suggestions and ns to safeguard the interest of the Lucanians, it''s like¡­.uhm¡­.uhm¡­.for example, my proposal to levy a 5% tax on the Lucanian citizens of Nerulum. Originally, the Greek preparatory citizens in the Union would be charged 10% of thend they rent¡­.¡± Vespa was obviously boasting, because he was not in the Senate when this proposal was passed.

    ¡°Oh! You have done us a great service!¡­.¡± Hemon looked at him with admiration, which made Vespa morecent. Fortunately, he had not forgotten his main mission in Nerulum, ¡°It is just that there are only two Lucanians in the Senate, Bagul and I. And Bagul might always stay in Nerulum in the future. And I am too weak to argue with so many Greek statesmen, so I can''t fight for more interests for the Lucanians! s¡­.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­.can other Lucanians be a¡­.statesman of the Senate?! This will also help you get more benefit for us, Lucanians!¡± Asked Hemon eagerly.

    Vespaughed to himself, ¡®What other Lucanians? Isn''t it just you for you! I know what kind of person you are, so why the need to pretend!¡¯

    Vespa cleared his throat and said, ¡°Of course, as long as he can make great contributions to the Union, for example, making more Lucanians to join the Union, get more support from the Lucanians, and be able toplete some difficult mission in the Lucanian region¡­.and so on. If the Senate feels that he can y a more important role, it would then be easy to make him a member of the Senate¡­.¡±

    Hemon listened carefully, his eyes shone with scorching light¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the evening, Davos and the statesmen listened to the report of Sesta at the praetor''s residence.

    ¡°To this day, Nerulum has registered 2,503 preparatory citizens, of whom, 2,2001 are Lucanians and 302 are Greeks. These days, there are 627 marriages between Greeks and Lucanians. And we have allocated 785 cattle and 5,400 sheep, and we have 203 cattle and 2,000 sheep left to be distributed to the soldiers of the fourth brigade.¡± Said Asistes, then Bagul immediately expressed his thanks. (T/N: Remember, females are not counted as citizens)

    ¡°Now, the small tribes in Nerulum, captives and ves have all be preparatory citizens of the Union. If the fourth brigade settles here, there will be 3,455 citizens including the preparatory citizens¡­.¡± As soon as Asistes had finished speaking, Davos said directly, ¡°I can tell you clearly that the fourth brigade will settle in Nerulum and be the backbone to stabilize and defend Nerulum.¡±

    ¡°That is what the soldiers of the fourth brigade want! As citizens of the Union, we will firmly control Nerulum for the Union!¡± Bagul stated his position with seriousness.

    The statesmen nodded, satisfied with his answer.

    ¡°Lord Sesta, Bagul and Asistes, you have been able to stabilize the situation in Nerulum in such a short period of time and have achieved so much. On behalf of the Senate, I would like to express my sincere respect for your outstanding performance.¡± With that, Davos took the lead to apud.

    In the apuse, all three of them were excited: Sesta was excited because he used his performance to prove to Davos that his talens is not inferior to those of the leaders of the Persian expedition, thus attracting the attention of the archon; Bagul was excited because his and the performance of the Lucanians were recognized by these Greek statesmen, which will make it easier for them to integrate into the Union; Asistes was excited because he has proved to Davos that he has the ability to be independent. Maybe next time, Davos will assign him more important tasks.

    ¡°In addition, ording to Bagul, the leaders of the small tribes, such as Hemon, Kesima and sa, are going to send people to the mountains to persuade the tribes who had fled to the mountains to join the Union. And in these past two days, Laos hade to Nerulum and asked to join the Union.¡± Asistes added.

    ¡°Our livestock are now not enough. What should we do?¡± Asked Scambras hurriedly.

    ¡°All these tribes have livestock, so we just need to allocatend to them, because we have enoughnd.¡± Replied Bagul.

    ¡°Even if the ¡®Fertilend between the mountain ridge¡¯ has been divided in the future, we can still go to Thurii. Now, after thend in Thurii has been handed over to the preparatory citizens, there will still be a lot of vacantnd to the west (mainly thends to the west of Cosceli river), which are already ready to be leased to the registered freeman who have applied for preparatory citizenship.¡± Davos reminded everyone.

    Some of them nodded, while the others were hesitant.

    ¡°As for Laos, let''s wait for Avinoges toe and discuss with us.¡± Said Davos hesitantly.

    ¡°Will Avinogese?¡± Marsyas asked with uncertainty.

    ¡°He muste!¡± Protesus eximed, ¡°The Union had helped him capture Laos, and yet, he has not expressed his gratitude to us. Now that we have arrived in Nerulum and yet he still has note, couldn''t we, as allies go to Laos!¡±

    ¡°Maybe he doesn''t know that we are here yet.¡± Said Sesta to help Avinoges.

    ¡°Laos and Nerulum have always been in contact with each other. With so many of us and in such a big situation, it is impossible for him to remain uninformed. By tomorrow, we will know whether he wille or not. If he doesn''te, then we would need to reconsider the sincerity of Laos!¡± Davos understood that Sesta, as the praetor of Nerulum, would need the support of Laos in the future, but as the Archon, Davos needed to consider the overall situation from a higher position.

    The statesmen agreed with the words of Davos.

    ¡°Sesta and Bagul, after you have settled down the people of Nerulum, you should seize this moment to train the military, and I will send instructors from Philesius to train them. We should break up the youth of each tribe and try to mix them up with Greek citizens. If there are not enough Greeks, we should also mix them with other tribes. We must not let the soldiers of the same tribes be together! And¡­.rugby games can be held as much as possible. It seems that the youth of Lucania like this game very much!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Milord. They have told me many times that rugby is much more interesting than bullfighting. We Lucanians like this kind of fierce sport!¡± Bagul interjected.

    ¡°Then let thempete, but a team has to be a mix of Greeks and Lucanians, which will also help the Lucanians learn to speak Greek. Oh¡­.speaking of it, Bagul, you must think of a way to make the Lucanians of Nerulum learn to speak Greek as much as possible!¡±

    ¡°I''ll try my best, milord.¡±

 Chapter 177: The Arrival of Avinoges

    Then he asked the question that the statesmen were all concerned about, ¡°What is happening on Grumentum in the north?¡±

    ¡°On the day after we had captured Nerulum, the scouts of Grumentum entered the ¡®Fertilend between the mountain ridge¡¯ After being discovered by the soldiers of the fourth brigade, they immediately fled.¡± Answered Sesta.

    ¡°So soon? Did they find out that we have captured Nerulum?¡± Davos asked in doubt, because the Senate had received the war report that no one had escaped after they had captured Nerulum.

    ¡°Erm¡­.it''s like this¡­.¡± Seeing that there was something wrong on the expression of Davos, so Sesta quickly exined, ¡°Bagul and I had analyzed it afterwards that when we attacked Nerulum, some people of the city were grazing on the mountains, and when they saw that the city fell, they directly fled to Grumentum¡­.since then, the scout of Grumentum have never been seen again. Then we sent the team of Izam to scout, and at the same time, through the information from the Lucanians who came from the north, we learned that Cincinnag, the chieftain of Pyxous, had a very bad rtionship with the tribes that had betrayed Lusau after they upied Grumentum. Those tribes did not obey the orders of Cincinnag because he had not fulfilled his promise to them. Now, each side upies half of the city and are on guard against each other. Perhaps for this reason, Grumentum did not take any action against our upation of Nerulum!¡±

    The improvement of the situation in the north did not make Davos feel better. On the contrary, he looked serious and asked, ¡°Why hasn''t anyone reported these things to the Senate first?! The Senate will not interfere with your governance of Nerulum, but we manage the entire Union, every urate intelligence and information determines the next step of the Senate, to go war with Grumentum? To have peace with Grumentum? Do we need to mobilize the entire Union?¡­and so on. Do you think a single Nerulum can take the offensive of the Lucanians?!¡±

    Davos'' unceremonious criticism made Sesta unable to lift his head up, and Asistes felt more guilty: Originally, he was going to report it to Davos, but Sesta said,¡®We need to first figure out the situation, because if we were to ask the Senate for instructions every time, it would just show how incapable we are.¡¯ Out of the bravado nature of being young, he agreed. But when they managed to get to the bottom of the matter, they heard that Davos and the others wereing, so they put it aside for now. But they didn''t expect Davos would be so angry.

    ¡°Lord Sesta, you have vited the orders of the Senate and have killed the captives without authorization! Because the Archon has interceded for you, so the Senate did not pursue the matter seriously! Now, you are making your own decision, and aren''t taking the Senate seriously. Do you think that the Senate will not impeach you because you have a two-year term?!¡± Scambras criticized him loudly.

    Then the statesmen expressed their dissatisfaction on the approach of Sesta one after another.

    Sesta''s face flushed red, but he cleverly remained silent and did not argue for himself.

    Of course, Davos would not let the praetor and the aides that he himself rmended continue to be criticized, so he said, ¡°Your achievements are still major! However, I hope that you can learn from this lesson and keep in contact with the Senate at any time so that we can have a timely grasp on the situation in the Lucania region¡­.¡± As Davos said this, he decided that once he goes back, he would increase his investment in his private intelligence organizations, and urge Aristias to expand their area.

    ¡°Is there anything else you have forgotten to report?¡± Davos reminded him again.

    ¡°Everyone!¡± Asistes blushed, he summoned up his courage and said, ¡°The day before yesterday, a Lucanian came toin and said, ¡®My daughter married a Greek, and the Greek got the status of a preparatory citizen. But after he managed to rent the allocatednd, he began to treat my daughter badly. He beat her and swore at her every day and said that he wanted to divorce.¡¯ After our verification, what he had said is indeed true. So we then warned the Greek, saying, ¡®If you dare to divorce her, we will cancel your preparatory citizenship and expel you from the Union!¡¯ But I am afraid that this is not the only case. I hope the Senate pays attention to this matter!¡±

    ¡°What you have done is correct! However, for such a shameless person, I think that we should give him a beating as a warning!¡± Although he doesn''t like the Lucanians, he much more doesn''t like the people who take advantage of thew and y tricks.

    ¡°It seems that it is necessary for us to investigate the living conditions of those freeman who had married Thurii women, and to amend the previous marriagews by adding additional requirements, such as to not allow divorce within 5~8 years¡­.¡± Said Davos thoughtfully.

    His words aroused the approval of the statesmen and so they discussed the amendment of the marriagew.

    On that night, after the crowd left, Asistes admitted his mistake to Davos. Instead of criticizing him, he praised his performance in Nerulum that had exceeded his expectations. He hoped that he could continue to y a greater role in Nerulum and be able to stick to his own ideas and not be influenced by the opinions of other people¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the morning of the next day, the expectations of the statesmen of Theonia did not fail, Avinoges of Laos drove arge number of livestock, and carts loaded with animal furs and jewelry (mainly amber), and ten Tarants as thanks for the help of Theonia. This time, the statesmen of Theonia did notin, and they immediately held a simple but grand banquet for the arrival of Avinoges.

    The banquet was held at the praetor''s residence in Nerulum. Davos and the statesmen were present, which also included Sesta and Bagul. On the other hand, only Avinoges and his 17-year old son, Henepolis, were present. The position of this father and son in the banquet was arranged to be on the left side of Davos.

    Avinoges was about 40 years old, he has a burly figure and looks more like a Lucanian than a Greek. He looks simple and honest, though he wore a Greek chiton, he seems to be ufortable. It seems that he seldom wears these kinds of clothes. While his son looks weak and delicate, but has the elegant demeanor of a Greek nobleman.

    Although Davos is very young, Avinoges was very respectful towards him. When he followed him into the living room, he was half a body behind and always used honorific terms. Suddenly, as soon as Henepolis was seated at the table, Henepolis immediately asked, ¡°I heard that the Greeks always eat while lying down when they hold banquets. Why is this so different?¡±

    Avinoges gave him a warning nce, while Scambras, who was opposite of him, then said with a smile, ¡°Young man, you know a lot about the way of life of the Greeks.¡±

    ¡°Naturally, I am a Greek!¡± Henepolis responded impolitely. Perhaps because he was rude, Avinoges patted him.

    ¡°Our Union''s hospital has studied that eating while lying down is not good for digesting the food, and it is easy to get fat (in fact, it was a study that Herpus did under the instruction of Davos and then preached it to the patients who came to see the physicians.) And sitting while eating your food can help your food to smoothly reach the intestines and stomach, which is good for your health. For elderly like me, this is very important, so it is natural to choose the correct way to eat.¡± Scambras said with a smile, in the Greek tradition, the elderly are always very tolerant of young and handsome boys.

    ¡°Even in our remote Laos, there are often people who praise the skill of the Theonia Union''s physicians. Of course, what they said is very correct.¡± As soon as Avinoges finished speaking, Henepolis interjected curiously, ¡°I heard that the physicians of your Union have been guided by Hades. Is this true?¡±

    ¡°I am not sure about that.¡± Davos said perfunctorily with a smile, ¡°If you have the opportunity, you can go to Thurii in person and ask Herpus, the head of the hospital.¡±

    Then, Henepolis nodded his head vigorously and said, ¡°Uhm, I will go to Thurii soon, and I will ask the person you have just mentioned¡­.uhm¡­.Herpus.¡±

    When they heard this, everyone looked at each other.

    Then Avinoges said, ¡°Lord Davos, I have a request.¡±

    ¡°Say it!¡±

    ¡°I want my son to live in the Union.¡±

    As soon as he said this, everyone was surprised.

    ¡°Lord Avinoges!¡± Davos thought that the leader of Laos was worried that Theonia would break the bridge, so he seriously said, ¡°The alliance between the Union and Laos is a sacred covenant made under the witness of the gods! Unless Laos breaks the contract, we, the Theonia Union, will not break the oath under any circumstances. You can rest assured!¡±

    ¡°The story of Lord Davos'' adherence to his promise, no one in Magna Graecia does not know about it, so I of course believe it! I didn''t say this because I am worried about the agreement, but¡­.¡± Avinoges said with a bitter smile, ¡°Erm¡­.my child is frail and sickly since he was young. I heard that the medical skills of the alliance are superb, and my son has been longing for the Greek culture since he was a child. Therefore, even if it adds trouble to the Union, I will still put forward this decision, but as a father, I hope that the Union will agree to my request!¡±

    Avinoges said it so sincerely that Davos made a decision after exchanging nces with the statesmen, ¡°In that case, on behalf of the Union, I would like to wee Henepolis to Thurii as a long-term guest! And give him the greatest care in education and medical care, so that he can live a healthy and happy life in the Union, and to be able to return to Laos in the future and inherit your heritage, because he is your only son!¡±

    As soon as Davos finished speaking, Henepolis cheered, ¡°Great! I can finally go to Thurii!¡­.¡±

 Chapter 178: Having an audience with Cincinnag

    Avinoges lovingly touched his son''s head, and there was a bit of reluctance in his eyes. A momentter, he expressed his thanks to Davos.

    After that, the rtionship between the two sides became much closer and the banquet became lively.

    After several sses of wine, Avinoges eximed, ¡°Lord Davos, we, Laos, are ready to be like the Union and would like to also implement the system of archon for life. Do you think that it is okay?¡±

    The statesmen were slightly surprised, but Davos looked calm and said with a smile, ¡°It is very clear in our agreement that the Union will not interfere in the internal affairs of any allied city-states. We only need the allies to advance and retreat together militarily, and maintain unity in diplomacy and strengthen economic exchanges¡­.¡±

    Avinoges was happy in his heart and listened to what Davos is saying, ¡°But-¡± Avinoges suddenly began to be nervous again.

    ¡°I have some small suggestions for Laos, I hope you can always ensure its stability. Otherwise, when there is a riot and you can''t solve it, we will have to send troops to help you restore the order of Laos. Sending troops to fight is hard work that costs money and effort, right?¡± Said Davos half jokingly, then the statesmen echoed.

    Avinoges was relieved. In fact, he didn''t want to be an archon for life, and Laos was not used to the Greek system, but they only wanted to keep the Theonia Union from thinking that Laos is just a city of the indigenuous, so he choose to be the archon for life, because he thinks that this position is very simr to the great chieftain. So at this moment, he happily said, ¡°I feel very honored to be an ally of the Theonia Union! I can assure Lord Davos and the statesmen that I, Avinoges, will do my best to ensure the stability of Laos and will always be the best ally of the Theonia Union!¡±

    ¡°Good!!!¡± The crowd apuded.

    ¡°I''d like to perform a dance for the esteemed Lord Davos and all the lords to express my most sincere gratitude!¡± Amidst the cheering, Avinoges was also excited. He took a sip of the wine in his ss, strode to the center of the hall, and began to shake his shoulders, he then turned around and sing aloud,

    ¡°The high mountains,

    Where Asinu resides,

    At the foot of the mountain is where we graze the cattle and sheep,

    Beautiful young girls sh in the mountains and forest,

    Their happy figures are like leaping deer,

    That has caught my attention.

    ¡­.¡±

    Vespa and Bagul began to sing along. Although Davos and the other statesmen could not understand what they were singing, they all beat and hummed the tune softly¡­.

    Avinoges has endured humiliation, and had been cautious for decades. He was swept away in the heroic singing and vigorous dancing, leaving nothing but happiness in his heart, which he could not express.

    When he took his seat, apuse rang out ceaselessly.

    Scambras stood up with a flushed face, belched and said. ¡°Er¡­.the guest from Laos has performed a dance¡­erm¡­our Union should also respond to it. So I will sing you the hymn of Zeus¡­.¡±

    ¡°Great! Great!!¡­.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    A few days ago, Cincinnag was ecstatic, because he had defeated Lusau, the son of Akpir, and upied the city of Grumentum. With two big cities, he could be the new overlord of Lucania.

    But then, a series of events made him realize that it was not easy to rece Akpir.

    Because he was reluctant to allocate most of the property of the tribe of Akpir to the tribes that betrayed Lusau, and he is even more reluctant to divide most of thend owned by the tribe of Akpir to the tribes in Grumentum. On the other hand, he is a miser, while on the other, the tribes of the city of Pyxous who had followed him also needed to be rewarded. Of course, he can tell who is close to whom.

    His breach of the agreement naturally aroused the anger of the tribes in Grumentum, who had united to upy the northern part of the city, and refused to allow the subordinates of Cincinnag to enter the area under their control without permission, and threatened to drive Cincinnag out of Grumentum.

    Cincinnag was furious, because he had already regarded himself as the master of Pyxous and Grumentum. How could he allow anyone to damage his majesty. So at hismand, the Pyxous fought several small battles with the Grumentum tribes in the city. At the same time, he again tried to use a scheme to try to break up the tribes that had united against him by bribing, but he failed, because none of the chieftains of Grumentum were willing to believe his promise again.

    Cincinnag racks his brains on how to clean up the Grumentum tribe that betrayed him, when the worst news hase: Nerulum has been captured!

    He immediately asked the Lucanian herders who had fled to Grumentum and heard them say, ¡°We saw countless Greek soldiers enter the city of Nerulum.¡± He could hardly believe this fact: Nerulum was taken over by the Greeks!

    ¡®How could this be possible?!¡¯ Since more than a hundred years ago, the Lucanians have been upying thend of other races since the time they moved southward from the central Apennine Penins, and have no records of having theirrge cities be upied by other races! With suspicion, Cincinnag sent out some scouts to check it.

    Although the north of the city of Nerulum is heavily guarded, the Lucanians are a race that mainly graze and hunts, so their scouts manage to sneak into the mountains within the control of Nerulum and got urate information from the Nerulum folks that have went up the mountain to graze: Nerulum is being currently ruled by the Theonia City-State Union, which was ruled by Davos, a Greek, who had defeated the Lucanian alliance.

    Hearing these, Cincinnag was in a state of panic. His first thought was to run back to Pyxous, which is far away from the Greeks who had defeated the mighty Akpir!

    Then, he wanted to reach apromise with the tribes of Grumentum to deal with the possible attack of the Greeks. However, the disadvantaged tribes of Grumentum believed that this was a great opportunity to force Cincinnag to give in and make the Pyxousian withdraw from the city of Grumentum¡­.and so on. But this is uneptable to Cincinnag.

    Cincinnag, with powerful enemies outside and troubles on the inside, was unwilling to give up the city of Grumentum, which he had spent countless efforts and sacrifices. After agonizing for several days, he finally decided: At the risk of losing Pyxous, he will once again draw more warriors from the city of Pyxous to Grumentum. First, they will work together to bring down these hostile tribes, and thoroughly master this central city of the Lucanians.

    Just as he was about to send a herald to Pyxous and give the order of dispatch to Gennat, who was guarding the city of Pyxous, the guard came in and reported, ¡®A Lucanian, who imed to be the envoy of Nerulum, hade asked to see the great chieftain.¡¯

    Cincinnag was so surprised that he hesitated for a moment, but he still decided to meet him.

    When Hemon was brought into the Great Hall of Grumentum, he kept looking around: At the entrance of the hall stood two rows of fierce warriors, and Cincinnag sat high on the central part of the hall. Sitting on both sides were the chieftains of the tribes of Pyxous¡­.

    Looking at this majestic hall, Hemon recalls the rumors that he had long heard that says that Akpir wants to be the king of the Lucanians. At least from the hall of this unusual chieftain, he may have such a n, but it''s a pity¡­.

    Hemon was lost in thought, when he heard Cincinnag spoke, ¡°I didn''t expect that you would be the envoy of Nerulum! I heard that your city has been upied by the Greeks, but is that true?¡±

    The tribe of Hemon before being annexed by Nerulum was also very influential in the ¡°Fertilend between the mountain ridge¡±. So he, the tribal chieftain, was also known in the Lucanian region. He greeted Cincinnag respectfully and then said, ¡°Esteemed chieftain Cincinnag, Nerulum is now part of Theonia Union, and under the leadership of Avinoges, Laos has be an ally of Theonia Union-¡±

    ¡°What?! Laos has also surrendered to the Greeks?!!¡±

    ¡°I''ve said it for a long time that those bastards of the Greeks are unreliable!¡±

    ¡°What are we going to do now?! Without Laos, the Greeks can attack us safely!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The words of Hemons were like thunder, which made the chieftains who were sitting there in panic. Cincinnag used to like this high seat because it can reflect the dignity of a great chieftain, but at this moment, he hated this seat due to it being too conspicuous that made his fears noticeable. He held the armrest of the seat tightly and looked at Hemon who was standing there with a smile, just like watching a y. This turned Cincinnag''s fear into anger, ¡°Damned Nerulum! You have forgotten the teaching of Asinu and surrendered to our enemies! Do you think my sword is not sharp enough?!¡±

    ¡°You are wrong, chieftain. We didn''t surrender to the Greeks, but have be citizens of Theonia Union! Not only can we still continue worship Asinu, but as long as we have enough money, we can also go to Thurii, and Amendra¡­.we can also build the temple of Asinu on thends of Thua Union without interference, we can also continue our bullfighting every autumn in Nerulum, and the custom of bride kidnapping among the Lucanians is not change*¡­.the Lucanians of Nerulum, like me, have volunteered to be citizens of Theonia Union, but, we are still Lucanians, we have more freedom, with morend and more livestock, and we only pay very little tax!¡± Hemon boasts of the benefits of being a citizen of Theonia Union. (T/N: Is a practice in which a man abducts the woman he wishes to marry.)

    The chieftains and the warriors in the hall are in disbelief, ¡°Can the Greeks be so good to us Lucanians?¡±

    ¡°Davos, the archon of Theonia Union, the man who had defeated Akpir, had said, ¡®Theonia is not only a union of the Greeks, but also a union of the Lucanians!¡¯ If you don''t believe me, you can ask the chieftain of the Merino tribe, Vespa, and his son. They have be citizens of Theonia Union much earlier, and have now be a statesmen of Theonia! And Theonia Union also intend to continue-¡±

 Chapter 179: Sparta

    ¡°Silence! Drag this Lucanian traitor and chop him up, then feed him to the dog!¡± Eximed Cincinnag, he must not allow Hemon to preach the benefits of joining the Greeks here, which may end undermining the morale of the people.

    ¡°Kill me? Great! The archon of Theonia, Davos, is the most protective! When you attacked his camp, he had annihted the Lucanian army! When the Crotonians invaded his territory, he then captured all the Crotonians as captives! If you kill me, a citizen of Theonian Union, believe it or not, tomorrow, the troops of Theonia Union will appear here!¡± Hemon allowed the soldiers to hold him, and shouted fearlessly.

    The face of Cincinnag twitched a few times, then he changed his words and said, ¡°Get¡­get him out of here!¡±

    Hemonughed inwardly. He had heard that the chieftain of Pyxous is a coward who bullies the weak and is afraid of the strong. As expected, if it was Akpir, Hemon would not dare to offer himself to get killed, ¡°Don''t you want to hear the good news that I have brought?!¡±

    ¡°What is it?!¡± Asked the chieftains impatiently.

    Hemon pushed aside the guard and said it aloud, ¡°As the envoy of Theonia Union, I was appointed by the Senate to talk about the possibility of peace with Grumentum and Pyxous!¡±

    Cincinnag was shocked when he heard what Hemon had said.

    ¡°The Greeks won''te to attack us?!¡±

    ¡°Great! We don''t have to abandon Grumentum!¡±

    ¡°You can''t trust the Greeks! If they really wanted peace, then why would they upy Nerulum?!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    They felt a sense of relief even during the fierce argument among the chieftains.

    ¡°Foolish Pyxous, have you forgotten the Lucanian''s old saying? ¡®If you have a big club in your hand, then there is no need to be afraid of the wolves.¡¯¡± Hemonughed, ¡°Will you sit down and talk with Theonia if they didn''t upy Nerulum?! In fact, the Greeks who love the sea are not interested in thend of Lucania at all. Mountains are everywhere, thend is barren, and the roads are extremely bad. It is very difficult for them to do business or travel. The reason why the Union upied Nerulum was to block you from going south, because the Lucanians have always attacked Thurii through Nerulum¡­.¡±

    The chieftains thought that this was a fact, and so they stopped talking.

    Then Cincinnag once more asked with uncertainty, ¡°Do the Greeks really intend to have a peace with me?!¡±

    ¡°Of course! Else, why am I here?!¡± Said Hemon in a sullen voice.

    Cincinnag felt rxed. He leaned back in his chair and said, ¡°Is it because Nerulum is still in a mess, and are afraid that I will take advantage of this and attack?¡±

    ¡°Great chieftain, aren''t you talking about yourself?¡± Hemon said sarcastically.

    Cincinnag coughed awkwardly, and said, ¡°Erm, let me listen to your¡­.Theonia Union''s condition.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Both sides have a desire for peace, and naturally, the negotiations went smoothly.

    One dayter, they have reached an agreement. The boundary between Theonia City-State Union, Pyxous and Grumentum is the pass between the two rivers, the two sides are not allowed to invade each other, and they can open markets at the intersection. Theonia Union must not support the enemies of Pyxous, and if there are small tribes or vagrant mountain people who are not under the control of Pyxous and want to go to Nerulum, then Pyxous must not stop them¡­.

    The term of agreement is one year. Originally, Cincinnag hoped that the term would be five years, but Hemon rejected it. His reason is that many people in the Union doubt whether Pyxous can abide by the agreement. If Pyxous manage to win the trust of the statesmen of Theonia Union with their good performance, then after a year, the next renewal people can be extended.

    Cincinnag was angry, but he was helpless, because he needed the peace agreement more than the Greeks, so that he could deal with the hostile tribes in the city of Grumentum without any worries, and then against Potentia who had sheltered Lusau. As for Theonia Union, he could wait until he became the great chieftain of Lucania¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Prior to the signing of Theonia Union and Cincinnag, Avinoges of Laos had reached a new agreement with the Union. First, Laos agreed to build the Thurii-Nerulum-Laos road and was willing to provide arge number ofbor (There was arge number of Greek ves in Laos, they are mainly descendants of the Sybarites, and they have now be freemen. However, Avinoges was unable to give themnd and had to sell theirbor to make a living. In addition, the Lucanians of the old Laos were either killed or have be ves.) At the same time, Avinoges also intended to provide all the funds for the road construction. In this regard, Davos politely declined his good intention, and finally proposed that they should share it equally.

    Second, without the permission of Laos, Theonia Union is not allowed to convert the people of Laos who have entered or fled into the Union into the Union''s citizens, and they are responsible for returning them back to Laos.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the southernmost tip of the Peloponnesian Penins, there is a piece ofnd called Lacedaemon in ancient times, and it is now called Laconia. Thend is surrounded by some natural barriers, in the east and the south faces the sea, in the north is the gray and terrible Parnon mountains, in the west is the tall and deste Taygetus mountain, and its five w-like peaks are often covered with snow even in hot summer. The small in under the protection of these dangerous terrain, have the Eurotas river run through from the north to the south. On the crags of the promontory at its entrance, the red rock is the tomb of Helen, who once charmed Greece and triggered the ten-year Trojan War. Along the entrance of the river, up to the middle of the river, is a city without walls. Its name is Sparta.

    This is a rather rustic city. Although it seems to upy arge area, except for the temple, the other buildings are low and crude, but there is a kind of tranquility and peace peculiar to the countryside. In the early morning, the people in the city got up early one after another, the Helots went to farm in the fields, while the housewives did housework at home. Some men went out to participate in military training and some went to participate in political matters.

    The Gerousia and Ephors are the two major powers in Sparta. On this day, the two powers were dealing with Asia Minor at the same time. For the powerful Ephors, Thimbron''s rhetoric about Cheirisophus at Ephesus was doomed to be a joke. The evidence of his dereliction of duty is conclusive. Moreover, the envoys of the city-states in Asia Minor are still waiting for the result of the trial in Sparta. No one dared to speak for Thimbron, he was then fined and sentenced to exileship.

    At this point, Thimbron will be expelled from Sparta.

    In the Ephorate, except for king Agis II, who was unable to attend the meeting because of his serious illness, he could only entrust his younger brother, Agesus II, to attend the meeting. All the other 29 elders attended the meeting on time and discussed the aftermath of the city-state of Elis.

    The city-state of Elis was located near the Olympia region of the Peloponnesian Penins. It has always been supported by Sparta to win the right to host the Olympic Games from another city-state. However, during the Peloponnesian War, they took refuge in Athens, and in the year beforest, they stopped the Spartan king, Agis II, who went to Olympia to offer a sacrifice to the temple of Zeus because of the oracle of Delphi¡­.

    These things finally infuriated the Spartans. Six years after the surrender of Athens, they dered war on Elis and sent king Agis II, who had been humiliated, to invade Elis. If it was not for the earthquake that made Agis II think that it was not a good omen, and withdraw his troops. Then the war would have been over at the beginning of this year. At the urging of the inspector, a monthter, Agis II then led his troops to sessfully invade the territory of Elis once more, burning, killing and looting, destroying the fields and the buildings, and capturing arge number of livestock and ves. Finally, they arrived in Elis, a city without the protection of the walls, under the threat of the powerful troops of Sparta, the people trembled. Then the people, out of fear, rioted in the end. Although the chaos was suppressed, the national strength of the city-state of Elis was greatly damaged.

    Agis II did not take advantage to capture Elis. After all, this is an ancient Greek city-state, as the host of the Olympic Games, they enjoy a reputation in the Greek city-states. So Agis II could only withdraw and return home, then soon fell ill.

    After a discussion, the elders agreed that, if Elis, whose strength was greatly damaged, does not want to be attacked by Sparta next year, then they will certainlye to the peace talks. So, Sparta must force Elis to allow three of its towns to be independent, which will then further weaken the strength of Elis and make it no longer able to resist Sparta. If Elis agrees, then Sparta will allow them to have the right to host the Olympic Games and to also have the jurisdiction of the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia.

    The reason why the elders of Sparta do not want to return the Olympic Games and the jurisdiction of the sanctuary of Zeus to Pisa* is because they think that Pisa resents Sparta since the time Pisa has been separated from the Olympia region by Sparta a hundred years ago. And also due to Pisa having a good rtionship with the mortal enemy of Sparta ¨C Argos. (T/N: was a town, or perhaps an independent district, in Peloponnesus. It included Olympia, the site of the Ancient Olympic Games, and Dyspontium. This area subsequently formed part of the territory of ancient Elis.)

    After dealing with Elis, Lysander stood up and said, ¡°Elders, I believe that you have read the report of Cheirisophus at Ephesus. The investigation council hopes that we cane up with a solution as soon as possible.¡±

    An elder murmured discontentedly, ¡°The investigation council is too overbearing now, and are now evenmanding us!¡±

    All the people who were present seemed to not hear it, and only king Pausanias had said abruptly, ¡°Isn''t it because of the support of Lysander?!¡±

 Chapter 180: Spartas Punishment

    The conference hall suddenly fell into a cold silence, the elders all know that Pausanias and Lysander have a very stiff rtionship.

    An elder coughed twice and asked, ¡°Why haven''t I heard of this Thua Union that was mentioned in the report?¡±

    ¡°It''s a newly formed union, it''s full name is Thurii-Amendra Union!¡± The exnation of Lysander left the elders who paid little attention to the western Mediterranean Sea in a daze. However, after some investigation, Lysander reminded them, ¡°Do you all remember the time when the envoy of Thurii came to Sparta to ask for help a year ago?¡±

    ¡°Erm¡­yes, and we have rejected his request at that time.¡± The Elder Leucippus nodded and said, ¡°But we have given Thurii the right to recruit mercenaries in the Greek city-states of the eastern Mediterranean. For a city-state that once supported Athens and sent troops to war. If it weren''t for them being invaded by those savages, out of morality as fellow Greeks, we had shown them the generosity and kindness of Sparta, otherwise¡­.¡±

    ¡°That''s right!¡± The other elders chimed in.

    ¡°It is this envoy of Thurii that has obtained the permission of the Gerousia and arrived in Byzantium, he then recruited some of the mercenaries who had just returned from the Persian expedition, and it was these mercenaries who helped Thurii defeat those savages, and they then recaptured Amendra, which was also upied by the savages. Eventually, these mercenaries have be citizens of Amendra, and their leader is called¡­.called¡­Davos, and he has even be the archon for life of Amendra.¡± When Lysander said this, Agesus II shouted in surprise, ¡°Cheirisophus had once said to me, ¡®During my expedition to Persia, I have found a military genius named Davos. So I wanted to apply to the Gerousia to let him be a distinguished guest of Sparta, and give himnd to settle in Laconia.¡¯ Is that the same person that Cheirisophus was talking about?!¡±

    ¡°Military genius?¡± sneed by Diopetus, an elder,, ¡°Isn''t it ridiculous to talk about military genius in front of us Spartans?!¡±

    ¡°We Spartans all know that there is no such thing as genius in battle, only with continuous training from childhood to adulthood and continuous battles to gain rich experience. When they get old enough, every Spartan citizen can be an excellentmander!¡± Elder Leucippus said with pride.

    ¡°You are right!¡± Said Agesus.

    Lysander looked at them and continued on, ¡°Before long, we all know that Crotone upied Thurii and burned down the city, and it was this Davos who led the Amendrans to attack the army who were ready to return back to Crotone, and captured them. After that, Thurii and Amendra formed a union, and Davos is still the archon for life¡­.¡±

    ¡°It turns out that Crotone was defeated by these mercenaries. It seems that this Davos person has indeed some abilities.¡± An elder eximed.

    ¡°Archon for life of two city-states! I am afraid that this Davos is ambitious and wants to be the tyrant of Magna Graecia like Dionysius!¡± Leucippus reminded everyone.

    ¡°It has be clear that these mercenaries who have settled in Magna Graecia wanted to have their fellow mercenaries who had fought together with them, to help them in Magna Graecia, so they sent people to Ephesus to incite the mercenaries to flee!¡± Diopetus eximed.

    ¡°The report of Cheirisophus didn''t mention anyone found to be causing trouble, perhaps it was because these mercenaries heard the news about Magna Graecia.¡± Another elder wanted everyone to not take these too seriously.

    ¡°Then why haven''t we heard anything about these rumors in Sparta? This is obviously done by people who have intention!¡± Diopetus retorted.

    Several people argued. Although Lysander and another elder were at odds with each other, Lysander still said, ¡°As long as there is a connection between these two things, if we Spartans say that it was the Thua Union who did it, then they did it!¡±

    ¡°Agree! That''s the way we Spartans do!¡± Lysander''s tough approach was approved by the elders headed by Leucippus. Pausinias inwardly scorned Lysander, who has always been known for his anti-tradition, said that he would carry out the tradition of Sparta. But he could only remain silent and did not object.

    At the end of the argument, the culprit was found, and how to punish the Thua Union, the opinion of everyone are almost the same, that is, to send people to denounce the Union, and demandpensation for the losses of Sparta, and send back the mercenaries who fled to Thua Union!

    Lysander added, ¡°Since Davos of Thua Union is good atmanding, then let him lead his troops to join the army of Dercylidas and fight against the Persians!¡±

    ¡°Agree! It''s their punishment for sabotaging the Spartans in Asia Minor!¡± Several elders agreed.

    All the elders had determined the fate of Thua Union.

    At this time, Agesus asked, ¡°What if Thua Union refuses our request?¡±

    ¡°If they dare! Then it means war with Sparta!¡± Diopetus just finished speaking, then felt that something was wrong.

    Pausanias immediately responded, ¡°Now we are currently dealing with the Persians and defending the Peloponnesian Penins, and are currently preparing to attack the city-states that are dissatisfied with Sparta like Elis. I am afraid that we will not be able to send troops to Magna Graecia.¡±

    ¡°Agree! Magna Graecia has always had a good rtionship with Sparta, and we have never sent troops to Magna Graecia. If the city-states were to be dissatisfied with us, the gain will not be worth the loss.¡± Another elder chimed in.

    ¡°Will we just tolerate the Thua Union trampling on the dignity of Sparta?¡± An elder eximed in anger.

    ¡°Rest assured, even if we don''t know how the Thua Union will react to this, even if they refuse and we can''t send troops, isn''t there still Syracuse?¡± Lysander said with a smile. His words awakened the elders. Sparta supported Syracuse and even ignored the fact that Dionysius is a tyrant. They hoped that in the western Mediterranean, a ce that has not yet been touched by the Spartan army, there would be a strong city-state that is friendly with Sparta and is able to act ording to the will of Sparta and stabilize the situation there. Therefore, the elders no longer entangled themselves in this issue and began to discuss the candidate to send to Thua Union.

    ¡°I will go.¡± Agesus rmended himself, because he was a little interested in the Davos that Cheirisophus mentioned.

    ¡°Not you, else the Thua Union will look down on Sparta!¡± As soon as Diopetus said this, the other elders felt that he had gone too far. Obviously, this was Diopetus mocking Agesusmeness.

    In the face of such humiliation, Agesus still manage to keep his calm. It seems that he had been facing the scorn of others for decades and so his mind had be extremely strong, and his expression remains unchanged. He wanted to say something more, but.

    Lysander said, ¡°The Thua Union, a remote union of small cities, is not worthy of the noble royal family of Sparta, the Greek overlord!¡±

    Lysander''s words not only restored the dignity of Agesus, but also blocked him from going to Thua Union.

    ¡°I propose Phidias to be the envoy.¡± Lysander rmended.

    The elders then eximed, ¡°Phidias?! That guy is quick-tempered and wilful!¡±

    ¡°We need a strong envoy to force Thua Union to give in!¡± Lysander said firmly.

    Afterwards, they have finally determined Phidias to be the envoy that will go to Thua Union.

    At the end of the meeting, Lysander stopped Agesus, who was about to leave, ¡°Are you stillining for not letting you go to Thua Union?¡±

    Agesus shook his head, he had already thought about it, and then said with a smile, ¡°I think that you are doing this for my own good, isn''t it because of Agis?¡±

    Lysander then put his hand on his shoulder with satisfaction and whispered, ¡°Agis won''t be able tost. You must not let his illegitimate son, Leotychides, to take advantage of your absence¡­.rest assured, I am always on your side¡­.¡±

    Agesus immediately expressed his thanks to Lysander.

    Lysander smiled. He liked the prudent and humble character of Agesus. Agesus was friendly and respectful to him, and is easy to control¡­.

    Lysander didn''t see it, but behind him, Pausanias watched him and Agesus talking andughing.

    Pausanias called Diopetus and said in a low voice, ¡°Look, our ¡®reformer¡¯ have been very close to Agesustely.¡±

    Diopetus looked coldly at them, then turned to Pausanias and said, ¡°Although Leotychides will undoubtedly seed the throne, there have been rumors recently. In order to ensure that he can seed Agis, I need to ask for your help.¡±

    ¡°You are asking me to ask Delphi for an oracle in the name of the king?¡± Pausanias immediately understood what the request of Diopetus was. Since ancient times, the two kings of Sparta imed to be the close descendants of Heracles. So they have a privilege that other Spartans do not have, it was up to them to ask Delphi for an oracle and therefore, have the power to interpret it.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Diopetus looked at him with expectation.

    ¡°I will send someone to Delphi!¡± Pausanias then simply nodded, ¡°I will never let that fellow extend his ambition to our royal family!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The time hase to November, if it was in the ancient times hundred of years ago, this would have been not a good time for sailing, but with the progress of navigation technology, even in the Mediterranean Sea where there are many storms in winter, the main trading routes are still very busy.

    The merchant ships that Timasion, Xanticles, Cleanor and the others took had finally arrived at the Gulf of Taranto in Magna Graecia.

    ¡°In front of us is Thurii, our city-state!¡± Said Agasias excitedly, while pointing to the looming green coastline ahead.

    They all leaned to the side of the ship and looked forward.

 Chapter 181: Triumphant Return and Former Comrades (I)

    After some time, they could finally see the port on the shore and the dense ships that are just like wooden walls.

    ¡°There are so many ships. It seems that this ce is not worse than Ephesus!¡± Eximed Xanticles, but Agasias did not respond, because he noticed that after being away from Thurii for more than a month, the port had changed significantly, not only did its area expand, but also the number of docks and the buildings in the breakwaters increased.

    At this time, a patrol boat greeted them and motioned them to stop.

    ¡°I am Agasias, a statesmen of the Senate of Thua Union, and I would like to disembark at the dock in the city of Thurii!¡± Agasias stood in the bow of the ship in a majestic manner, which made the mercenaries admire.

    The one who can be the captain of a water patrol team must be a citizen of the Union. Even though he have only met more than a dozen statesmen, he still have an impression of him, and so the captain signaled to bring the patrol boat closer, only after a careful inspection and confirmation did he give a respectful greeting, and said out loud, ¡°Esteemed Agasias, I, Mithridates, the captain of the Union''s water patrol, greets you! You must have been out of the Union for some time, haven''t you milord?¡±

    ¡°Indeed, I have gone to Ephesus before September, and have juste back.¡±

    ¡°No wonder that you didn''t know that the name of the union has now changed to Theonia City-State Union, and is no longer Thua Union!¡±

    ¡°What?! The name has changed?! Why?!¡± Agasias asked in surprise.

    ¡°Because the Union has managed to capture Nerulum, so we now have another city. The name of Thua Union is no longer applicable. Not only that, Laos has be our ally! Lord Davos has fulfilled his promise and we will no longer have to worry about the invasion of the Lucanians anymore!¡± Mithridates said excitedly.

    ¡®Captured Nerulum, Laos became an ally, and the union changed its name!¡¯ Agasias didn''t expect that so much stuff would have happened just a few months after he left the Union, it''s as if it had be a stranger. He wanted to return to the city immediately, but the patrol boat was still in front of him, ¡°Milord, today, the Union is holding the triumphant return in Thurii for the strategoi and soldiers who have returned from Lucania! In order to prevent idents, the Union had stipted that no vessel can enter the Crati river, so you need to disembark at the port.¡± Mithridates then looked at the mercenaries that are behind Agasias, and reminded him, ¡°In addition, the Union stipted that, besides the citizen of the Union, preparatory citizen and invited guests, foreigners and freemen can only watch outside the city, which is also for safety!¡±

    Although Agasias was disappointed, Agasias also knew that the Union is justified in doing so. So he reluctantly said with a smile, ¡°Thank you. I will disembark at the port right away. Has the triumphant return begun yet?¡±

    ¡°It shouldn''t have started yet, so you might be able to catch up.¡±

    As soon as the patrol boat left, the mercenaries swarmed around Agasias.

    ¡°Agasias, you really did not deceive us and have indeed be a nobleman of a city!¡±

    ¡°Esteemed Agasias, when can we be like you?¡±

    ¡°Congrattions to Theonia Union for getting another city! Agasias, how strong is Theonia Union now in Magna Graecia?¡±

    Facing both the envious and surprised gaze, the vanity of Agasias was greatly satisfied. He then replied to the question of Timasion with pride, ¡°As I have told you before, the Union owns both Thurii and Amendra, and has now also gotten Nerulum. We also have two affiliated city-states, which are Laos and Roscianum. These are really big cities, each with subordinate towns and viges. In particr, Thurii, whosend area is no less than that of Attica in Athens, and is far more fertile than it is. Moreover, the Union has a lot ofnd left, as long as we have enough citizens to farm, then our strength in Magna Graecia will definitely be unmatched!¡±

    ¡°Then what are we waiting for, let''s hurry up and see Davos!¡± Everyone shouted eagerly.

    The merchant ship entered the port ording to the water patrol¡¯s instructions and then docked at the port.

    As soon as they got out of the dock, they were stopped by a patrol team. All the other properties of Timasion and the others that they had robbed were changed into money, except for the armor, shields and spears that they are carrying, which made the patrol thought that they were all carrying dangerous weapons, and it''s especially bad since the triumphant return was about to start. Even though Agasias act as a guarantor of the Senate, they are still required to store their weapons, otherwise, they cannot enter the territory of the Union.

    They then reluctantly store their weapons back to the merchant ship. Faced with theints of the mercenaries, Agasias had to exin, ¡°At present, there are few citizens in the Union, but there are too many freemen and foreigners pouring in, and so there are often fights and disturbances. These are all for the sake of the security of the Union, hence why the requirements are so strict!¡±

    Some of the mercenaries still have someints, but Timasion, Cleanor, Xanticles and the other leaders were all silent. Because Agasias had reminded them many times that all of them were used to being free, so, ¡°After arriving at the Union, you must abide by thews and regtions, and do not cause trouble, because thews of the Union are very strict!¡± Most of the dozens of people who followed Agasias were mercenary leaders and officers, and they are quite disciplined. So they didn''t think much of the words of Agasias before, but at this moment, cold water was poured onto their excitement, because even the guarantee of Agasias who is a statesman of the Union would not work. So one can imagine the seriousness of the people here.

    But the fact is, they have forgotten their status as mercenaries. For a long time, they were not allowed to enter other cities even if they were recruited by that city.

    The port has indeed changed a lot, not only has it expanded its area, the docks and houses have also increased, and a city wall has also been built with soldiers standing guard and patrolling. Agasias'' group had to pass through the guards under the wall to enter the Union''s territory.

    The guards at this checkpoint asked them carefully and registered them before allowing them to pass.

    Timasion frowned and then said, ¡°Agasias, you have strict requirements here. We''d best follow you, and I am afraid that our other brothers who wille hereter will encounter some trouble!¡±

    ¡°It doesn''t matter. I wille here every day to pick them up.¡± Agasias also thought of this problem, so he just answered him straightforwardly. Three thousand people are not a small number, and everyone has expressed their intention to join Agasias to wee theirrades.

    The market of Thurii is on this side of the city wall, and has also expanded a lot. Next to the market, there are more buildings: Weapon Shops, Cloth Shops, Carriage Repair Shops, Ship Rigging Workshops, Gold and Silver Processing Workshops, Pack Animal Rental Shops, Bakeries, Inns, Restaurants¡­but the market which was supposed to be very noisy, seemed to be a bit deserted.

    Agasias and the others bypassed the market and came to the side of the road. Dozens of coachmen then surrounded them, ¡°Are you going to see the triumphant return? It''s about to start, if you take a carriage now, you may be able to catch up!¡­.¡± The coachmen persuaded them with words.

    Although the market is only a few kilometers away from Thurii, the mercenaries are willing to experience the feeling of riding a carriage.

    The carriage was fast and stable as it galloped on the t road. The mercenaries were still indulging in the excitement of speed, when they heard a huge noise.

    In front of the city of Thurii were packs of people, that have burst into thunderous cheers, and only one sentence resounded, ¡°Here theye!!! Here theye!!!¡­.¡±

    In the west of the city, facing the gentle sunrise, a long golden dragon marches towards the city¡­.

    The coachmen then stopped the carriages, because there were many people squeezing in front. However, standing on the carriage made them still see what is happening:

    The g bearers who marched at the front were the bravest and the most notable in this campaign, Litom did not expect to get this honor, so much so that from the start of the march until now, his normal rigid face was filled with smiles. He is about to reach the crowd, so he once more straightens his chest and raises the Legion''s g high. Cheers, exmation, praise came together and rushed towards them. It''s like a magic medicine that made his whole body full of strength¡­.

    Timasion narrowed his gaze and saw that the majestic bronze statue of Hades that was holding the bident was at the top of the g, which made him remember the rumor that ¡°Davos is the favored of Hades¡±.

    Looking at the golden characters and the four golden stars embroidered on the g of the ¡°First Legion¡±, and listening to the narration of Agasias of its origin, made them all feel a bit lost.

    Next to the g bearer of the Legion is the military g, which was under the grim statue of death with its wings spread out, and the g is embroidered with ¡°The Second Brigade¡±. Originally, the fourth brigade, who is the one that has made the greatest contribution in this battle, should be at the front, but considering the perception of the people, Davos ends up giving the honor to the second brigade. After all, they have also worked hard and made great achievements, and no one had any objection based on their achievements in guarding the Lao Fortress. Aspensation, Davos gave the Lucanians the honor to be the Legion''s g bearer.

    The soldiers marched vigorously and passed through the crowds with their heads held high, enjoying the cheering of the people¡­.

    The mercenaries paid close attention to them, the amateurs watched the excitement, while the experts appreciated this moment. Xanticles then said to Agasias, ¡°Your soldiers are excellent. They have good morale and momentum!¡±

    ¡°But are worse than us!¡± Said Cleanor, unconvinced.

    Agasias didn''t say anything and justughed.

    At this time, Tolmides eximed, ¡°Look at those soldiers, they should not be Greek!¡±

    Agasias fixed his gaze on them: The second brigade to pass through the crowd and the g was embroidered with ¡°The fourth brigade of the first Legion.¡±

    When did the Union have a fourth brigade? With doubt, Agasias looked at the soldiers, at the same time, he thought about the fact that they had captured the city of Nerulum in Lucania. He then understood the reason why Davos did this, ¡°They are Lucanian, since they are now part of the Legion, I am afraid that they are now Union citizens.¡±

 Chapter 182: Triumphant Return and Former Comrades (II)

    ¡°Can foreigners be citizens of your Union?¡± Eximed Xanticles.

    Agasias didn''t know the situation. So, he could only give a vague answer, ¡°¡­.there are, of course, some special reasons for this, because our Union is more open than other Greek city-states and so, we are more tolerant. And it is alsomon for foreigners to be citizens of the Union, just like the Persian merchant that you all know and was used to be with Davos, and now, not only is he a citizen of the Union, he is also a member of the Senate and he is also the seniormercial officer of the Union.¡±

    ¡°Whoa!¡­¡± They were all amazed, and some people even jokingly said, ¡°Since a Persian can be a statesman, then shouldn''t be us, who are yourrades and have been with you for a long time and have shared hardships, be more fitting?!¡±

    ¡°Agree! Agree!¡­.¡± Some people echoed.

    In order to attract Timasion to Magna Graecia, Agasias said some unrealistic things, but now, he couldn''t take it back. And it was Solikos, the coachman, who could no longer listen to them, interjected, ¡°You foreigners, stop talking nonsense. It''s not easy to be a statesman of our Union! ording to ¡¶Theonia Union''s Civil Service Act¡· a citizen must first serve as a low-rank civil servant for at least six years and perform well before he can be promoted to a middle-rank civil servant. Only after five years of excellent performance as a middle-rank civil servant can he enter the Senate. However, the first thing is to pay taxes on time every year, and to actively join the army and fight wars and have no record of viting thews and be disciplined¡­.Do you think it''s so easy to be a statesman?! As for the current statesmen, they have made contributions to the establishment of the Union, and the one you were talking about, the Persian, Marigi, the reason for why the port and market of Thurii can be as prosperous as it is today, is all his credit! While the Lucanians, Vespa and Bagul, who have recently joined the Senate, I heard that it was because of them that Nerulum was able to stabilize so quickly! Foreigners, just because you have opened your mouth, so you will be a statesman? May I ask what have you done for the Union?!¡±

    The mercenaries were unable to speak for a moment.

    ¡°So, if you want to stay in the Union and develop, you should be more practical by first bing a citizen of the Union.¡± Solikos becamecent and admonished them seriously.

    ¡°Old fogey, it''s tiring listening to your nonsense!¡± Toras and some of the young mercenary officers yelled in exasperation. Timasion and the others stopped them, but they had already angered the coachmen. The coachmen then immediately yelled for the mercenaries to get out of the wagons, and some of the mercenaries after getting out, couldn''t stop themselves from talking back and the two sides began to argue. Agasias tried to persuade them, and Solikos also persuaded hispanions. With the help of Timasion and Xanticles, the two sides reached an agreement. Their argument had almost attracted the intervention of the patrols that were maintaining the order outside the city.

    Then Solikos and the coachmen took their fare and drove the wagons away from the mercenaries.

    Solikos looked at the sturdy backs of these mercenaries, then said to the others, ¡°If these people were to stay in Thurii, I am afraid that they will be a headache for the patrol.¡±

    Timasion then asked Agasias in a low voice, ¡°Is it so difficult to be a statesman of Theonia Union?¡±

    Agasias nodded in silence.

    ¡°If we had known that you would have this status today, we would''ve followed you in Byzantium!¡± Xanticles sighed with regret then added, ¡°This is the arrangement of the goddess of destiny, there is nothing we could do about it. We don''t have to be a statesman of the Senate, it''s already good to be a citizen and have and!¡±

    ¡°Then we might as well be a freeman in Asia Minor, and we would not have needed to run to such a remote ce, and be bound by this and that. Agasias, you are right!¡± Cleanor said indignantly.

    Agasias was embarrassed and didn''t know how to respond. The group then continued to watch the parade with their own thoughts.

    The ranks and march of the soldiers of the fourth brigade were not very neat, but they are tall, sturdy and are very stunning. For the first time, these Lucanians from the mountainous areas received the cheers and praise from the public, they then discard their inferiorityplex and restraint as foreign race. They were all excited and even waved back to the crowds.

    After the fourth brigade passed by, they were followed by more than a dozen of loaded carts filled with dazzling and glittering gold and silver kitchen wares, statues, jewelries and coins seized by the army from Nerulum and the wealth that Laos presented to the Union¡­.and so on.

    It made the crowd even more amazed. If it weren''t for the powerful soldiers around the carts, I''m afraid that some people would not be able to stop themselves from grabbing some.

    War brings not only death, but also wealth! Davos used the most direct way to present it to the Senate and people of the Union.

    ¡°Will all the spoils that you get be handed over to the Union?¡± Timasion asked curiously.

    Agasias answered, ¡°A small part of it will be allocated to the soldiers that participated in the war, and most part will be handed over to the treasury and private possession is not allowed.¡±

    ¡°If there are no spoils, then there is no passion to fight. Who would be willing to fight to the death then!¡± Cleanor said with discontent.

    Agasias thought for a moment and said with seriousness, ¡°They are citizens of the Union. It is their responsibility to join the army to fight and defend our territory. Moreover, after the spoils are turned over, it will still be used for them, such as pensions for the soldiers that died, and to care for the disabled soldiers, and the maintenance and recements of weapons and equipment. Do we have these benefits when we were mercenaries before?! Think of our brothers who have died on the battlefield and couldn''t even return home!!¡± Said Agasias with some anger. He obviously has some dissatisfaction with these people who used to be hisrades.

    Cleanor snorted and stopped talking.

    While Timasion and Xanticles were greatly moved.

    Then, Tolmides eximed, ¡°Look, who is that?!¡±

    After the loaded carts, five wagons appeared. The first one was a wagon pulled by two pure white horses(the original n was for the wagon to be pulled by four horses, but it was because Thurii was now in a state of ruin and there were not so many horses, so they changed to two horses.) A man in shining armor stood tall on the beautifully carved wagon. He was not wearing a helmet, which was to make the people see his face. However, his expression was a little bit serious, and it was obviously not suitable for such a lively asion.

    ¡°Philesius! That¡¯s Philesius!¡± Eximed the mercenaries.

    The people were also shouting his name and cheering, ¡°Philesius! The hero of the Union! The one who had defeated the Lucanians!¡­.¡±

    Philesius, who was surrounded by the people, naturally could not see his formerrades. Facing the heartfelt thanks of the people, he finally squeezed out a smile and waved his arms around.

    After Philesius, came a man in the second wagon pulled by a motley horse. The mercenaries didn''t know him, and after listening to the introduction of Agasias, they learned that he is Drakos, the senior centurion of the second brigade of the first legion of the Union. He was also a mercenary and has participated in all the battles after Davos arrived in Magna Graecia, hence why he got his present status.

    The man in the third wagon made the mercenaries exim again, ¡°Hieronymus!!¡±

    Hieronymus, who was squeezed out of the leader position by Xenophon, had been ridiculed by many people in secret. Some have even looked down on his behavior of following Davos back in Byzantium, believing that he was abandoning himself and giving up his dignity to follow a young man with less experience and qualifications than him. Now, the man that they looked down now stands tall in the wagon. Although his expression is as serious as a wood carving, the cheers of the crowds did not decrease at all, which shows that he has be a pivotal figure in the Union.

    On the wagon that followed, they also don''t know him, but he looks like a Lucanian. He was Bagul, the senior centurion of the fourth brigade. As the only Lucanian who rode in a wagon, he was both proud and afraid that the people of the Union would ignore him because he was a foreign race. However, the scene of jubtion made him feel relieved. This is the case outside the city, so he no longer needs to worry once he is inside the city, because there are his father, Vespa, and arge number of Lucanian preparatory citizens from Nerulum, such as Hemon, Kesima and sa, who hade to Thurii to watch the triumphant return. At this moment, he was thinking that his image in the wagon will certainly inspire the Lucanians of the Union to y more actively for the Union!

    The man in thest wagon had once again made the mercenaries exim, ¡°That''s Epiphanes!!¡±

    Because of his easy-going character, Epiphanes got along well with the leaders of other camps during the expedition to Persia, and they all knew him very well. At this moment, he was smiling and waving to everyone around him. His movements were natural and free, and some women of the freemen were shouting his name in an attempt to attract his attention. What they did not know was that the captain of the seventh brigade was more interested in men than women.

    Looking at the high spirited appearance of their formerrades, one can only imagine the loss in the hearts of Timasion and the others. One must know that, in Persia, Philesius was only an adjutant, Epiphanes was only a squad leader, and Hieronymus was an ousted strategos, and were not like Timasion, Xanticles and Cleanor, who havemanded thousands of soldiers and discussed the fate of the whole mercenary¡­.but today, the former little soldiers are now prominent figure in such arge Union, and the former leaders who held powers and have fought in Asia Minor for a year, had ended up being a mercenary hated by any city-state. After this contrast, Timasion and Cleanor felt very ufortable.

    When the legion g entered the north gade, colorful petals were scattered from the sky, which fell on the soldiers, adding a bit of romance to the valiant soldiers¡­.

    There was even more cheering inside the city.

    After they enter the city of Thurii from the north gate, they then walk a few blocks ahead and then turn to the west, they were then able to reach the square.

 Chapter 183: Triumphant Return: The Highest Honor of a Unions Warrior

    The rooftops on the streets were filled with people. They called out the names of their families, interacted with the soldiers in excitement, and proudly introduced their husbands or fathers, who were marching, to their neighbors with pride, and made every soldier feel that they were returning home in full glory.

    Philesius, who was advancing forward, passed his house, so he subconsciously looked at it. On the roof of his house were filled with people, when suddenly a young man shouted and danced around, it was Melisander! In the noisy crowd, he could still hear the shouting of Melisander, ¡°That''s my father! That''s my father! Father! Father!!¡­.¡± And by Melisander''s side, was Delia, who was watching him with a smile¡­.

    Philesius smiled, a smile that came from the bottom of his heart¡­.

    The marching army then turned west, and here stood a huge arch made of white marble. Davos called it Arc de Triomphe(¦¡¦×?¦Ä¦Á ¦Ó¦Ï¦Ô ¦¨¦Ñ¦É?¦Ì¦Â¦Ï¦Ô): The vault has the image of goddess of victory, and the stone walls on the lintel are carved ording to the suggestion of Davos so that theter generations will remember the foundations that they hadid to found the Theonia City-State Union: The battle to annihte the Lucanian alliance, re-capturing Amendra at night, the surprise attack on the Crotonian army, and the ingenious take over of Nerulum, will be carved. However, due to theck of time, they still haven''t found a good sculptor, and the arch is still currently nk.

    After passing through the Arc de Triomphe and continuing towards the west, the road gradually widens. At the end of the road is the newly built square, which was immediately put into use and it''s stillcking a name because of the time being tight

    Litom, who was holding the g, quickened his pace, for he had already noticed the dozens of white clothed figures on the stage of the square. ording to the prior instructions that he had received, he knew that those were Lord Davos, the archon that he respected, and the statesmen of the senate who were waiting for their arrival.

    ¡°Here theye! Here theye!¡­.¡± Eximed Henepolis excitedly.

    ¡°Be quiet, son.¡± Avinoges held down the restless Henepolis and he then said to Davos, ¡°Milord, thank you for taking care of Henepolis during this time!¡± After Henepolis arrived in Thurii, Davos did not make him stay in an inn, but had allowed him to stay in his own home.

    ¡°Henepolis is very sensible! He love to learn as well! His teacher, Ansitanos, likes him very much! And after he came, my house became a lot more lively!¡± Said Davos with a smile.

    These past two days, Avinoges found out from Henepolis that Davos had taken good care of him. Avinoges is not someone who just talks about being grateful, so he secretly determined that he would repay Davos for his kindness in the future. He then changed the topic, ¡°Milord, your warriors areing!¡±

    ¡°They are not only the warriors of the Union, but also the warriors of our alliance, they are the one who will guard the security of the whole alliance!¡± Said Davos with a smile.

    The polemarchos of Roscianum, Amikles, nodded in agreement. As a member of the Theonia Alliance, the leaders of Roscianum and Laos were invited to attend the Triumphant Return, and they all dly epted the invitation.

    At this moment, when they saw the troops marching towards them neatly, they did not feel that Theonia Union was showing off its force to them, because Theonia Union as the leader of the alliance, would not be like Athens in the Delian League who would exploit its allies and ask for tributes. And Theonia Union will not interfere in the internal affairs of its allies like Sparta in the Peloponnesian League. As for sending troops to war, it is their obligation as an allied city-state and also a show of equality. Therefore, the stronger Theonia Union is, the safer they will feel as an ally.

    Davos looked at the troops that are heading to the square and his thoughts was filled with imagination: Why did he not let the officers and strategos go first like the Romans in his previous life, and had instead let the soldiers be at the front?; First, it is in order to train the sense of honor of the soldiers and highlight the concept of equality in the Union, and the morale of the troops will be greatly improved. Second, it is to reduce the influence of the victorious strategoi on the people, so as to avoid some idents in the long run. For this reason, he had also let Philesius be in the middle, and made several senior centurions enjoy the honor of riding in a wagon. Even so, this kind of novel way to celebrate their victory that has never been held in a Greek city-state is a great honor.

    The salpinx resounded and the drums rang, and the soldiers began to enter the square.

    ¡°I can''t believe it! Litom is unexpectedly at the forefront!¡±

    ¡°Who is Litom?¡±

    ¡°He is a famous hunter in the tribe of Bagul!¡±

    ¡°Look! He is the one walking at the front, and is actually ahead of the Greeks. The Union truly has no prejudice against us Lucanians!¡±

    ¡°Look! Look! Bagul! Bagul is unexpectedly riding in a wagon! So envious!!¡±

    ¡°When can I be like him?!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Among the crowds on the square, were the Lucanians like Kesima, sa and Hemon, who came from Nerulum, and had yelled and screamed and danced with excitement¡­.

    Naturally, Bagul could not see them amidst the dense crowd. The coachmen drove the wagon around the square, and after going for a round, they then drove towards the center of the square. Bagul''s majestic figure is like a huge rock, which has aroused huge waves in the hearts of the Lucanian youths, ¡®A warrior should enjoy such glory!¡¯

    When the drum beatings stopped and the square became quiet, the soldiers then looked at the Union''s Archon who was standing tall on the stage.

    Davos then stepped forward and said in a loud voice, ¡°Warriors of the Union, in these 20-odd days that you have been away from your families and had rushed to the strange mountainous region. You had fought with the fierce enemy and captured Nerulum. At the same time, you helped our ally recover Laos and solved the problem of Thurii being attacked by the enemies from the mountains for many years. Thank you! The Senate thanks you! The Union also thanks you! The Senate and I would like to express our most solemn gratitude to your efforts and sacrifices!¡± With that, Davos took the lead and solemnly bowed to the officers and men that were in front of him.

    Roars rang out in the square in a sh.

    ¡°All hail Davos¡±

    ¡°All hail the senate!¡±

    ¡°All hail the Union!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The soldiers screamed with excitement.

    ¡°Because of your efforts, Theonia Union is now officially established! After the deliberation and decision of the senate, today''s Triumphant Return will be a festival on the whole union to celebrate the birth of Theonia Union! And the military g will be the g of the Union, and will flutter all over the union!¡±

    ¡°Long live the Union! Long live the Union!! Long live the Union!!!¡­.¡±

    Listening to the cheers of the soldiers and the people, Davos believed that the national day and the national g will surely unite all the people of all ethnic groups under the Union and add a lot of weight to the formation of a brand new race in the Mediterranean!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the afternoon, Davos hosted a banquet for Timasion, Xanticles, Cleanor and Tolmides at his residence in Thurii, and they were apanied by Agasias, Philesius and Hieronymus.

    Eating new and delicious food, drinking mellow alcohol, and recalling the battles that they had fought together in the past. The mood of the banquet was quite warm.

    At this moment, Cleanor belched and asked, ¡°Davos, looking at your beautiful courtyard and you bing the archon and themander of the army, how enviable¡­.erm¡­.when can we be like you?!¡±

    ¡®Here ites!¡¯ Agasias immediately aroused himself.

    Davosughed and then said with seriousness, ¡°As long as you work hard to make contributions to the Union, it will not be a problem for you to be a citizen of the Union, get and, and have the same life as me! In fact, there are wealthier people in the Union than me¡­.¡±

    ¡°Contribution? What kind of contribution?! I have heard that it will take five years for one to be an official citizens in your Union, not to mention bing a statesman of the Senate, which is even more difficult!¡± Comined Cleanor.

    ¡°Yes, thews of the union are like this. All foreigners and freemen need to abide by this, and there are no exceptions!¡± Said Davos calmly with firmness.

    ¡°But-¡± Cleanor, pretending to be drunk, pointed to Agasias and said loudly, ¡°Erm¡­.that is not what Agasias had told us back in Ephesus, he said that ¡®As long as wee to Magna Graecia, we will soon be citizens and get and! And even be statesman of the Senate!¡¯ It is because of listening to his words that we came to such a far away ce. Now, you are telling us that it will take five years to achieve all this?! What is more, I heard that the Lucanian warriors in the Triumphant Return were ves half a year ago, and manage to be official citizens only after half a year, and their leaders had also be statesmen. Are we inferior to those aborigines?!!¡±

    The atmosphere in the living room suddenly became tense.

    Agasias clenched his fist angrily. In order to attract Timasion, he had indeed said some inducing words, but it was not as exaggerated as what Cleanor is saying. He wanted to retort, but in such a situation, it would undoubtedly make the situation be more tense.

    Agasias hesitated, Philesius also hesitated to say something, and Hieronymus frowned and looked at Davos. On the other side, Timasion, Xanticles, and Tolmides seemed to not hear anything and continued eating, but they secrealy pricked their ears up¡­.

    Davos'' expression did not change, he then cast aforting gaze to Agasias and said slowly, ¡°Cleanor, rest assured. Just sit down and listen to what I will say¡­.¡±

    Cleanor tried to stir things up, but it was like setting a fire on a wet cotton cloth, which didn''t seem to work¡­.

    So, he could only sit down angrily.

    ¡°To tell you the truth, why does it take five years for some people and only half a year for others? It''s all about interests!¡± Davos looked at these mercenary leaders and said seriously, ¡°Because the Lucanians were able to help the Union to pacify Nerulum, they can even help the Union to conquer more Lucanian territory, what is more, they have made a lot of contributions to the Union before. They have built the roads that you travelled by wagon, they then helped us defeat Crotone, and they also actively learn Greek and have tried to understand andply with thews of the Union. For such a group that are willing to integrate into the Union and can bring great benefits to the Union, it is natural that the Senate will give them citizenship in advance, and the people have no objection because they all know that the Union will get much more than what we paid!

    Agasias is right. Although you don''t have the advantages of the native people like the Lucanians, you are good at fighting and there will be no less wars in the Union in the future. As long as you win many battles and let the Senate see your value, it will not be a problem for you to be citizens in advance!¡±

 Chapter 184: Cloud and Rain (Love Making)

    Agasias breathed a sigh of relief. He was grateful to Davos for fulfilling his previousmitment.

    Timasion and the others listened very carefully, and Cleanor wasn''t satisfied, ¡°Davos, you are the archon for life, and I heard that you are in control of the Senate, aren''t you the same like¡­.the one from Athens¡­.uhm¡­.Peisistratus*? Whatws are needed, isn''t it just a word for you? Why do you need to make it so troublesome, you can just immediately make us citizens, no?!¡± (T/N: Peisistratus is the tyrant of ancient Athens whose unification of Attica and consolidation and rapid improvement of Athens'' prosperity helped to make possible the city''ster preeminence in Greece.)

    ¡°Cleanor, you have gone too far!¡± Yelled Philesius.

    Davos waved his hand to indicate that it was okay, and continued to patiently say, ¡°You want to say that I am a tyrant, right?¡±

    At this time, Cleanor realized that he had gone too far. After all, Davos at this time was no longer the one he could talk to on an equal footing. Therefore, he bowed his head and did not dare to respond.

    ¡°I will tell you one fact, and not anything else. There are currently more than a thousand mercenaries in the union, and more than 5,000 formal soldiers, plus more than 20,000 preparatory citizens. Most of them are Greeks of Magna Graecia. As foreigners, we still ount for half of the number of statesmen in the Senate. So, do the local people have no objections? I definitely think that there must be, so why does no one rise up against us?¡± Davos said this, then he paused for a moment to give them time to think, and then continued, ¡°Because we have tried our best to be fair and just. We have treated the Amendrans, the Thurians, the Lucanians, the foreigners and the freemen in strict ordance with thews of the union. If I were to propose aw today that will give you citizenship, then tomorrow, with more than 20,000 preparatory citizens, they will make trouble in the Senate, and the Senate will thenunch an impeachment against me. Can we, who are only more than a thousand foreigners, beat the tens of thousands of citizens of the union? Even if we win, will the union still exist? So as a friend, I can help you as much as possible! But as the ruler of a union, I can''t give you special treatment. I hope that you can understand it!¡­.¡± Davos'' serious words made the ce quiet.

    At this time, Hieronymus apologetically said, ¡°Lord Davos, we have long been in Thurii, but I have never thought about these things and had made you worry about us all this time, I am really sorry!¡±

    ¡°I haven''t thought about it either, and had thought that it is just right for us to enjoy such a life!¡± Said Philesius with emotion.

    ¡°That is how it should be, don''t think too much and live naturally, cultivate thend, and battle once it is time to fight. You have never caused me any trouble and have always supported me and helped me maintain the current situation. I would like to propose a toast to you all!¡± With that, Davos raised his ss and drank together with Philesius, Agasias and Hieronymus.

    Timasion and Xanticles looked at each and nodded. Then Timasion said, ¡°Davos, I''d like to know what arrangements and suggestions you have once our 3,000 brothers arrived?¡±

    Davos thought about it and said, ¡°I suggest that after theye, they should first apply for a ¡®willing to be a union''s citizen¡¯ to the census office in Thurii¡­.afterwards, they should go find a ce to live first, they can find a cheap ce to stay in the inn area in Amendra. They can also help the citizen to rentnd to farm, in this way, they can save the rent and just live in someone''s house. Of course, they can also find friends who they are familiar with before and live in their home, such as Kapus, Antonios¡­.most of the soldiers in the first brigade were mercenaries from the Persian expedition. I think that all of you should be familiar with them. They will soone back from Nerulum, then Philesius will arrange for one or two of you in one family to settle the amodation problem¡­.

    Afterwards, they will need to look for a job. Now, the harbors and markets are booming, there is a great need for a lot ofbor, and the road from Thurii to Nerulum is about to start construction, so it will also require a lot ofbor, hence why it will not be difficult to find a job. When you find a job, you must work hard, it''s not only to earn money, but at the same time, to show your diligence to the staff of the census office responsible for investigation, and that you are not an idler, which will help you in bing an official citizen in the future. In addition, on the military training day, Philesius will arrange for you to participate. Thebat method of the union is rtivelyplex, so you need to be familiar with it to avoid idents due to poor cooperation. I estimate that by next year, the union mayunch a war against the Lucanian region. As long as you perform well in the battle, I think that it will not be a problem to shorten the period of you bing a citizen of the union!¡­.¡±

    Obviously, after a careful consideration, the proposal of Davos had made sense to Timasion and the others.

    At this time, Xanticles expressed his concern, ¡°I heard that during the inspection period, if a problem were to happen, then it will be much more difficult to be a citizen. Davos, as you know, us mercenaries when fighting outside, because we are used to freedom, will inevitably vite thews of the union, at that time-¡±

    ¡°I understand!¡± Davos nodded cautiously and then saidfortingly, ¡°As long as it''s just the first offense, it will not be a big problem. But I hope that you can remind everyone who wille to the Union in time and manage them. In addition¡­.erm, I have a suggestion. I know that every one of you hase to Magna Graecia with armor and weapons, I hope that you can hand your weapons to Philesius for the time being, and let him keep them in the armory. After a while, when you get used to the life here, Philesius will give them back to you.¡±

    As soon as Davos finished speaking, Timasion was about to speak, but was immediately interrupted by Davos, ¡°Don''t worry, the union will not embezzle your weapons! In the armory of Theonia, there are numerous weapons and equipment from the soldiers of Crotone and Nerulum. The main reason why I suggested that is because once the other brotheres here, they will inevitably have conflicts with other people. However, if they were to use their weapons to injure or even kill, then it will not be easy to solve it! Of course, this is just my suggestion. You can go back and think about it carefully¡­.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After sending off the guests, Davos went up to the second floor.

    Cheiristoya was standing at the window, when she heard the sound of footstep. She then asked softly, ¡°How was the banquet?¡±

    Davos sat down on the bed with a long sigh, ¡°I haven''t seen them for more than half a year, they are still the same, but we are no longer what we were.¡±

    Cheiristoya, slightly frowning, walked slowly up to Davos and sat down, ¡°Are they asking too much?¡±

    Davos nodded, ¡°They wanted to be a citizen of the union immediately and to also be a statesman of the Senate!¡±

    ¡°Who brought it up?¡± Cheiristoya then pressed her slender finger on Davos'' lips and said mischievously, ¡°Let me guess¡­.hmmm, it must be Cleanor, isn''t it?¡±

    Davos smiled, ¡°Among these people, Xanticles is humble, Tolmides is sleek, Timasion is prideful, and only Cleanor is a bastard and he used to hate me and Xenophon. If not him, then who else! But I think all of them have this idea.¡±

    ¡°Who made you so outstanding that you only need half a year to reach where you are now¡­.¡± Cheiristoya''s white hands rubbed Davos'' face, gazing at him admiringly, then murmured, ¡°Anyone who have meet you will be mad with jealousy¡­.¡±

    ¡°Are you one of those crazy people?¡± Davos sped her hand and said with a smile.

    ¡°I love you, I am crazily in love with you!¡± Said Cheiristoya affectionately, then gave her husband a deep kiss.

    Then the kiss ignited the passion of Davos, who was depressed due to his wife''s pregnancy. So, he decided to temporarily put his annoyance behind him for the time being, he then carefully held Cheiristoya''s waist with one hand then caressed her bulging abdomen with the other and gently said, ¡°Is my son happy today?¡±

    ¡°Who said that it will be a boy? I still haven''t gone to the temple of Hera yet!¡± Cheiristoya look at him coquettishly.

    ¡°If it will be a girl, then she will definitely be beautiful and kind like you.¡± As Davos said this, his hand began to move down slowly, and his heated palm entered Cheiristoya''s sensitive area, and made her whole body begin to tremble slightly.

    ¡°I¡­.I am pregnant with your child¡­.no¡­.we can''t¡­.or you go find Azune¡­.¡± Said Cheiristoya pantingly.

    ¡°Who says that you can''t do it if you are pregnant? You can definitely do it as long as you are stable. I am the teacher of Herpus, so I have the final say¡­.¡± Davos softly spoke to her, and the heat of his breath blew on Cheiristoya''s long white neck. His strong breath has filled Cheiristoya¡¯s nose and listening to his words has made her whole body hot. Finally, she could not stop herself any longer and she gently leaned her arms on the bed¡­.

    Davos then immediately took off her clothes for her. Cheiristoya''s body was much more plump than before, which might be due to her pregnancy¡­.

    Davos'' breathing had also be rapid, he then gently licked the smooth skin of Cheiristoya¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Did you hear that?! Davos wants us to farm! To build roads! For the past ten years, we have done nothing but kill! BUT TO BUILD ROADS?! And he wants us to hand over our weapons? Aren''t we just letting them bully us?!¡­.¡± On the way back to the inn, Cleanor vented his dissatisfaction loudly.

    ¡°What Davos said is also reasonable. It is not easy to govern such arge union. Besides, they are also outsiders, so it is natural for them to be careful when doing things. It is impossible for them to give us special privileges¡­.¡±

    ¡°Their strength is insufficient, isn''t that why they had asked for our help?! ¡± Cleanor retorted, then after a few steps, he might''ve felt that he was a bit dogmatic, so he sighed, ¡°I just¡­.just can''t figure out why they can have all these, while we still haven''t gotten anything yet?!¡±

 Chapter 185: The arrival of Sparta

    As soon as he said this, everyone felt depressed.

    ¡°This is the arrangement of the goddess of fate. Who told us not to follow Davos back then?!¡± Tolmides said it with a sigh, ¡°It still not toote for us to follow him since he has made such a great career in only half a year!¡±

    Listening to the words of Tolmides, Xanticles, who was already in his old age, looked up at the quiet starry sky, and his heart was filled with sadness, ¡°I don''t know how you feel, but I am already old and I am tired of wandering around and fighting. I always fear that after today, there will no longer be a tomorrow. It would be good for me to settle down here¡­.¡±

    After saying this, everyone became quiet.

    ¡°Erm, everyone, don''t think about the future, but first think about how we will receive our otherpanions, and prevent them from making trouble, otherwise, we will be in trouble!¡± Timasion reminded everyone worriedly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Timasion''s concerns were answered the next morning.

    When Timasion and the others hadn''t yet arrived at the port, they learned that there were more than a dozen foreigners looting in the market, and also having conflicts with the management personnel who hade there, and injuring people, until all the market patrol teams arrived and arrested them. Timasion then rushed and saw that it was theirrades. In the end, he asked Agasias to pay and make a promise and the mercenaries were also fined for a month''s worth of hard work before the matter was settled.

    In order to prevent such a thing from happening again, Timasion rented a house in the port.

    Even so, every day, the conflicts and disputes began to increase, most of which were rted to these mercenaries. Even some of the statesmen proposed to expel these mercenaries from the Union and restore peace to the Union at the meeting. Eventually, the proposal was aborted under the opposition of Agasias, Antonios, Kapus and the others, but it also made Davos feel a bit of pressure.

    The time passed quickly, and by the end of November, the shipyard of Enanilus waspleted. The statesmen such as Davos and the others hade to congratte thepletion of the shipyard and ordered three triremes.

    The establishment of the Theonian Fleet as soon as possible has been put on the agenda of the Senate in order to protect the increasingly prosperous harbor and the maritime trade of the Union. At the same time, it is also necessary to change the embarrassing fact that the Theonia Union has no fleet and has even fewer ships than its two allies.

    By the beginning of December, the assembly hall of the Senate of Thurii waspleted, which finally brought an end to the sad history of the statesmen who had to go to Amendra once they had an important meeting, which is no longer confidential and is also energy consuming. And the sorrows of the coachmen of driving them for free has alsoe to an end.

    At the same time, thend part of the bridge on the Crati river that is still under construction has beenpleted, and the Thurii''s Sports Square is also about to bepleted.

    When the good news from various construction sites came, a small warship with arge ¡°¦«¡± symbol on its sails entered the Gulf of Taranto in Magna Graecia. When the various ships saw that symbol, they had all taken the initiative to avoid it and made way for it.

    Phidias, the Spartan strategos who was just over 30 years old, had taken it for granted. He then instructed the helmsman to drive straight to the harbor of Thurii without the need to avoid the ships.

    In the western Mediterranean, Sparta deals with Syracuse the most and therefore has some knowledge of Sicily, but most Spartans have little understanding of Magna Graecia. Apart from seeing the athletes from the city-states of Magna Graecia at the Sport Games, they have no contact with other aspects. Because true Spartan citizens can¡¯t do trade and do not have any trade rtions with the city-states of Magna Graecia¡­.therefore, after entering this area, Phidias looked at everything around him with interest.

    After looking at the port of Thurii for a while, he then said to his entourage, Dorotheus, ¡°There are quite a lot of merchant ships here. I think that this ce is simr to Corinth.¡±

    Dorotheus is a Perioikoi. The Periokoi are also Lacedaemon, it''s just that they are non-Spartan citizens and most of them live on the border of Laconia. They have personal freedom, and have the right to handle local affairs, but they don''t have political rights in Sparta. In the past, they mainly engaged in trades that the Spartan citizens could not engage in, but now, because of the years of war, the number of citizens in Sparta has decreased, and so, they also began to join the army. It''s because of the different upations that he was engaged in the past that made Dorotheus have a character that was rarely seen in Sparta. He watched the ships passing through the mouth of the Crati river, then he deliberately asked, ¡°The trade in Corinth is sluggish and it is not as lively as here. Phidias, you should''ve ask me ¡®How does itpare with Athens?¡¯¡±

    When ites to Athens, the face of Phidias became unsightly. Originally, when Athens was defeated, Lysander founded the ¡°Thirty Tyrants¡± in Athens, to try manipte Athens'' political situation. Although some Athenians revolted, with the full support of Sparta to this puppet government, the Athenians who were rebellious did not have wonderful days. However, King Pausanias and the elders headed by Diopetus who were at odds with Lysander, not only did they deprive Lysander of his militarymand, he had also advocated to the Gerousia to negotiate peace with the Athenian Democrats. In the end, the Athenian Democrats overthrew the Thirty Tyrants and established a new democratic regime. Moreover, Athens, which has learned a bitter lesson, has adopted more flexible policies than before. On the other hand, they tried to please Sparta, on the other hand, they are trying every means to restore trade and agriculture after the war. A few years have passed and the trade in Athens began to boom again.

    Phidias snorted and stopped talking.

    At this moment, the Theonian water patrol boat came near.

    Phidias then said aloud, ¡°I am the envoy of Sparta, I want to meet the archon of your Union!¡±

    The water patrol did not dare to neglect him, and so they immediately sailed back to Thurii.

    Diplomatic matters like the visit of Sparta are of course handled by the Senate. But it is impossible for the more than 50 statesmen of the Senate to stay in the Senate hall every day, because not every day will have big events that need them to deal with. Moreover, many of them have official posts, so Davos adopted a rotating system, that is to say, every five statesmen are on duty for one day in the Senate Hall, and the next day, the other five will take over.

    Just as the patrol boat rushed to deliver the news to the Senate Hall, Davos had already received the urgent report from Aristias in his courtyard.

    The envoy of Sparta is here! Davos frowned and immediately thought that Sparta might havee for Timasion and the others.

    Soon, the patrol boat returned to the mouth of the river and signaled the Spartan warship to follow it.

    Beforeing, Phidias didn''t know anything about Thurii, and so, he did not know that the city and the harbor were not at the same ce, which was simr to Athens. However, because the harbor was not connected with the city wall, it is easy to upy the harbor once a war breaks out. Phidias looked at everything in front of him from a military point of view.

    ¡°There is no such big river in Athens, and you can see that the terrain is very t, and the soil should be very fertile, so the agriculture in Thurii should be very good!¡± While his entourage, Dorotheus, looked at it from an economic point of view.

    After a few kilometers of sailing, Phidias saw the watchtower of Thurii on both sides of the river. Both watchtowers have chains hanging in mid-air across the Crati river. Phidias knows that once a foreign enemy fleet breaks through the mouth of the river, the iron chain will be lowered which will then block the warship''s path to the city.

    The patrol boat finally entered the dock on the north bank.

    Phidias noticed that the docks, trestles, and houses on the shore were all clean and tidy, except for the docks on the outermost side which were scorched ck. So, Dorotheus asked the captain of the water patrol with curiosity.

    ¡°Our archon Davos has asked us to preserve it. They are all over the city, which also includes temples, because he wants every citizen to see the ruins wherever we go and remind ourselves all the time that the city was burned down by the invaders. So we have to remember this great shame, and not let Thurii be oppressed again. Only with victory can we regain our former glory! Just a few days ago, we had repaired a ruin because we managed to capture Nerulum!¡±

    Looking at the captain''s serious and proud expression, Phidias looked at him disapprovingly on the surface, but felt moved in his heart.

    At this moment, a group of guards came.

    Phidias looked at their mindset and every move, and he can see that this is a team that has been well trained. The soldiers have a strong discipline and certainly have rich practical experience. To be frank, he has never seen a patrolman that can maintain a good formation and be ready to fight at any time, in any other city-state except for the citizens of Sparta. Phidias was indeed a bit surprised.

    The water patrol captain then handed over the task of escorting them to the patrol captain, Olivos, and then sailed away.

    ¡°Pleasee with me to the Senate, but your soldiers must stay on board!¡± Olivos said to Phidias with seriousness, ¡°The Union has a rule that forbids foreign soldiers from entering the city!¡±

    ¡°They are Spartan warriors! They are free to go in and out of any Greek city-state!¡± Phidias said in a loud voice. Although it is a bit exaggerated, the Spartans do indeed have this privilege in many Greek cities in the easter Mediterranean. Hence why so many city-states are dissatisfied with them.

    Olivos looked at him and said disapprovingly, ¡°I know who you are, but I don''t care what you do in other city-states, as long as you step on thend of Theonia, you must abide by ourws!¡±

    Phidias was very angry, but Olivos, the patrol captain, did not give in and look at him with a firm expression of ¡°Either you abide by the rules of the Union or you leave the territory of the Union.¡±

    Finally, Dorotheus made apromise and allowed the Spartan soldiers to change into civilian clothing before they were allowed to go.

    Phidias then angrily entered the city of Thurii. Before he came, he had heard that Thurii had been burned down by Crotone a few months ago, but now, he could hardly see any trace of it in the city. The streets are straight and wide, the new courtyards are well-spaced, and the roofs are filled with blooming flowers. Looking in the distance, you can also see that there are two long elevated aqueducts extending from the huge wheel-like devices on the river bank to the two urban areas in the east and west through the towering water tower. The river water was then drawn into several pools where the children yed, there are also fountains and statues in the pool. The people also used these to draw water and to rest. The water then continues to flow through the drain holes in the several directions under the pool, along the ditch beside the street, flowing in front of thousands of houses, washing away the garbage and dust, and making the whole city clean and tidy, and with the moisture of water, the who city is full of vitality.

 Chapter 186: Arrogance: The Symbol of Sparta

    In general, the most stunning buildings of a Greek city-state are the temples, arenas, amphitheatres¡­.but at this moment, Phidias and his entourage have not seen manyrge-scale buildings, and was instead been impressed by the careful and thoughtful design and the clean and tidy appearance of the city. Phidias has been to the famous city-states in the Mediterranean, although Athens is prosperous, it is noisy and dirty. Although Sparta is quiet, it must be noted that the whole city is as simple as a city-state in the countryside. Only Thurii have managed to blend together simplicity, freedom, elegance, quietness, and tidiness, with full charm.

    Dorotheus then asked, ¡°Who is the one who designed this city?¡±

    ¡°Heracleides, the disciple of Hippodamus!¡± Olivos, who was watching their astonishment, said it out loud.

    ¡°Oh, Hippodamus!¡± Eximed Dorotheus. The name is not unfamiliar to the Spartans, because he was the one who designed and built the port in Piraeus port, which has created a lot of wealth for Athens. At the beginning, the Spartans had also made great efforts to capture the port.

    Further on, they saw a huge white arch across the street, which the Spartans had never seen in any other city-state.

    Dorotheus asked with curiosity, ¡°What is the use of this arch?¡±

    The expression of Olivos suddenly became solemn, and said in a deep voice, ¡°This is the Arc de Triomphe! Strategos and soldiers returning from victory will march through the gate to ept the homage and the cheering of the Archon, the Senate and the people of the whole Union. A triumphal victory return was held not long ago because we have captured Nerulum. s, it''s a pity that our first brigade can only wait for the next opportunity¡­.¡±

    Phidias did not see the regretful expression of Olivos as he and several Spartan soldiers that were behind him were looking up at the huge Arc de Triomphe. Besides feeling shocked, there is envy. As a warrior, it is their greatest wish to win the cheers of the people of their own city after defeating the enemy! And make them feel that their blood and sacrifices are sacred and meaningful! But in the Greek city-states where democracy prevails, this is almost impossible to happen, because the Democrats believe that this will give the strategoi too much prestige and lead to dictatorship. And even though Sparta is a militant city-state, the Ephors would never allow victory to be excessively promoted and let these young, bloodthirsty Spartans go out of control, Lysander is the best example. But now, there is a colonial city-state in the remote western Mediterranean outside of Greece who had actually done it, and will continue to do so, and made him feel conflicted. Phidias originally did not want to talk to the patrol captain, but now he asked, ¡°How often do you do military training?¡±

    ¡°Why do you ask!¡± Olivos expression became serious. He thought for a moment and said, ¡°However, it''s okay to tell you. During the busy farming season of our Union, we train every seven days. But now that it is the ck season, we train almost every two~three days, and we train almost the whole day!¡±

    ¡®Such frequent military training has surpassed most Greek city-states. No wonder these soldiers seem to be well-trained. This is also a city-state that advocates military might!¡¯ Phidias has a hunch that it will be difficult for him to achieve his purpose.

    Passing through the wide and t ¦­?¦Ê¦Ç(Victory) Square(after the Triumphant Return, the new square has finally had its own name. Since the main function of the square is to gather the troops before going for a campaign and to hold the Triumphant Return after a war, so they named it ¡°Victory¡±), Phidias finally entered the Grand Senate Hall of Thurii.

    This assembly hall is sorge that it could amodate thousands of people. Seeing Phidiasing in, all the statesmen stood up and gave an apuse to wee him, and saluted respectfully to show their respect to Sparta, which finally made Phidias feel happy.

    A young man in the lead then said, ¡°Wee, the Spartan envoy from afar! What prompted you toe to our Theonia Union?¡±

    Phidias thought that this must be the military genius and the archon of Theonia Union that was mentioned by Cheirisophus. And Phidias also started to think that the Triumphant Return was nned by him.

    Phidias looked at him with sharp gaze and aggression.

    And Davos did not evade his gaze, and he also looked back at him, as if to see through his purpose.

    What Davos sees: The Spartan is dressed in a bright scarlet himation, with long hair not often seen in ordinary Greeks, and his rough face is not only scarred, but also has arrogance and looks at everything in contempt.

    Davos, who has a deep understanding of this era, felt that the image of this envoy was the normal image of the Spartans when facing strangers, and only Cheirisophus was an exception.

    The two people faced and stared coldly at each other, and the air suddenly became tense.

    Kunogta coughed twice, trying to break the mood that suddenly became tense.

    Phidias then spoke and said bluntly, ¡°I havee here on behalf of Sparta to denounce the Theonia Union!¡±

    As soon as this statement was said, the statesmen went into an uproar.

    ¡°In order to protect the Greek city-states in Asia Minor and the interests of Greece as a whole, Spata had sent troops across the sea to Asia Minor to fight against the Persians. However, at such a critical time, some of our soldiers fled the battlefield in Asia Minor because of your temptation, which hindered the war against the Persians. Even Thimbron, the harmost of Asia Minor, was exiled by the Gerousia! Therefore, the Gerousia has sent me to denounce you for this treacherous act!¡±

    Is it really grave?! The statesmen looked at each other and were slightly nervous.

    ¡°I don''t understand.¡± Kunogta asked suspiciously, ¡°You said that we tempted your soldiers, but Theonia Union is thousands of miles away from Asia Minor, and we seldom interact with you Sparta. So, how could we tempt your soldiers to flee?¡±

    ¡°That''s right! As a newly established Union, not only do we have no contact with Sparta, we don''t even know where Asia Minor is!¡± Said Plesinas, exaggeratingly.

    As if Phidias didn''t hear it, and just looked at Davos and sneered, ¡°Those soldiers are mercenaries who have participated in the Persian expedition! And your archon had fought in Persia for more than a year and some of you, have deep friendship with them. Our officers in Asia Minor have witnessed with their own eyes the frequent entry of strangers into these mercenary camps¡­.¡±

    Agasias then saw Antonios and Kapus, who was quietly casting an inquiring gaze at him, so he shook his head gently.

    ¡°Are you sure these strangers are our Union''s citizens?¡± Asked Antonios.

    ¡°What I am sure is that these deserters are on their way to Magna Graecia!¡± Said Phidias decisively, ¡°Therefore, the Spartan Gerousia has decided that ¡®Theonia Union must hand over all the mercenaries who have escaped here, and -¡¯¡± He raised his voice, ¡°As punishment to Theonia Union for hindering the war of Sparta against Persia, we demand for your archon to lead 5,000 soldiers to Asia Minor and join Sparta in our battle against the Persians!¡±

    ¡°What?!!¡± The statesmen were shocked and mored, ¡°We, Theonia Union, have no diplomatic rtions with Spara, so why do you Spartans dare order us?!!¡±

    ¡°As Greeks, you have hindered the holy war of Sparta against Persia on behalf of the Greeks! And also because Sparta is the leader of all Greece!!¡± Said Phidias haughtily.

    Davosughed.

    Hearing the scorn in hisugher, the agitated statesmen suddenly calmed down.

    Mersis asked him quippingly, ¡°Lord Davos, what are youughing at?¡±

    ¡°I amughing at the shamelessness of the Spartans!¡± Davos cast a contemptuous nce at Phidias, ¡°Didn''t Sparta defeat Athens by colluding with Persia, who has always been the enemy of the Greeks, and killing your fellow Greeks?!! So, why is Sparta now fighting against Persia, who was once their ally?¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Mersis quickly spoke.

    ¡°I heard that Sparta had signed an agreement with Persia before in order for Persia to support them to defeat Athens, agreeing to give up protecting the city-states in Asia Minor and give the jurisdiction to the Persian. After winning the war, Sparta reneged, so the war between Sparta and Persia happened¡­.¡± Davos looked at the somewhat unnatural expression of Phidias and said discourteously, ¡°Such a city-state that betrays the interests of the Greek city-state and repeatedly breaks its promise says that their war with Persia is a holy war on behalf of all Greece! Do you think that it is not funny?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is indeed ridiculous! It is a shame for us Greeks to have such a shameless city-state!¡± The statesmen, led by Antonios and Amintas, deliberatelyughed loudly.

    Phidia''s face turned red and shouted, ¡°YOU DARE INSULT SPARTA? ARE YOU NOT AFRAID OF THE WRATH OF SPARTA?!¡±

    Theughter still continued.

    Amintas then said excitedly, ¡°Wrath? Are you talking about war? That''s great, I can''t wait for the next Triumphant Return!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos, you should let us the first brigade take on the next battle. The soldiers couldn''t wait any longer!¡± Even Kapus, who had always been quiet at meetings, came to join the fun. Obviously, he was infuriated by the unreasonable tyranny of the Spartans.

    ¡°That''s right, the first brigade has always been following you, Lord Davos, since before, and yet, they still have not participated in the Triumphant Return and so, the soldiers are already having some thoughts.¡± Antonios also added.

    Phidias was dumbfounded, and his anger had been skillfully changed into a battle assignment by these Theonians.

    ¡°Is the Theonia Union prepared to go to war against Sparta?¡± Phidias shouted angrily.

 Chapter 187: The incitement of Phidias

    ¡°Theonia Union has no intention of going to war with any Greek city-state, but if any city-state wants to start a war, insult us and invade ournd! Gentlemen, what is our answer?¡± Davos looked at everyone and asked loudly.

    ¡°Fight to the death! Destroy the enemy!¡±

    ¡°Fight to the death!¡­.¡± The former mercenary statesmen shouted at the same time.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Phidias came out of the Senate Hall with a stern face, Dorotheus greeted him and noticed that his expression was not looking good, so he asked, ¡°How is the situation?!¡±

    ¡°Go! Board the ship! We will go back!¡± Phidias eximed angrily.

    Under the ¡°escort¡± of the patrol team, the men of Phidias rushed back to the port and boarded the ship, then they sailed to the sea under the watch of two patrol boats.

    ¡°Hey, if my ships were to hit them!¡± Phidias pointed to a patrol boat and asked angrily, ¡°Will they sink?!¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡­.¡± Dorotheus was shocked. Before he arrived at the Senate Hall, he already had a premonition that this mission would fail, but they had actually made Phidias so angry¡­what happened in the Senate Hall? But he didn''t dare to ask.

    Phidias looked at the city of Thurii which was about to disappear from his sight, he then buried his humiliation in his heart and said in a cold voice, ¡°Let''s go to Roscianum!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Milord, I fear that our expulsion of the Spartan envoy this time will be detrimental to the union.¡± Said Cornelius worriedly.

    ¡°I have kept on saying that we should''ve driven those mercenaries away! But you insist on them staying, and now, the trouble ising!¡± Bolus said discontentedly.

    In the face of their condemnation, Kapus and Agasias, who were formerrades of these mercenaries, found it hard to defend them. But at this time, Plesinas stood up and said, ¡°Aren''t those mercenaries been punished by the union''sw for their mistakes already?! Didn''t the other freeman have also made mistakes?! So why must we get rid of those mercenaries?! Everyone, now, our union is in dire need ofbor, it is through the open, free and equal attitude of the union that made us attract so many foreigners and freemen. So there is no reason to hastily drive away those who havee to the union, as it will only damage our image and will only make all the Greeks who want to join us be in doubt!¡±

    ¡°But what if Sparta deres war on us?¡± Asked Ariphes who was somewhat worried.

    ¡°So what?! Do you want to ept the unreasonable request of Sparta to have Lord Davos lead our citizens to Asia Minor?¡± Plesinas angrily rebuke.

    ¡°I¡­.I¡­.¡± Ariphes cast a nce at Davos with a guilty conscience and no longer dared to speak.

    ¡°Sparta might not even dare to fight us!¡± Said Davos with a confident smile, ¡°We are not a small city-state, but a powerful force in Magna Graecia! If Sparta wants to win, I am afraid that they will find that it won''t be easy! But now, most of their energy is focused on Asia Minor, and the war with Persia won''t be easy, and won''t easily end! I also heard that not long ago, Sparta had a war with the city-state of Elis(Elea), which was responsible for hosting the Olympic Games. It can be seen that even on the Peloponnesian Penins, there are many city-states that are dissatisfied with Sparta. At this time, I doubt that they would even dare to wage another war in Magna Graecia!¡± Said Davos, but in his heart, he regretted that he had not given careful consideration to the fact that he had rashly agreed to Agasias. There has never been an absolute thing in the world, if in case Sparta goes crazy and goes to war with Theonia Union, though Davos is not afraid to fight Sparta, his nned expansion of the Union will be ruined.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Spartan warship sailed to Roscianum and it was beyond the expectations of the union, and the patrol boat immediately reported this discovery to the senate.

    After an urgent consultation with the statesmen, Davos decided to send a herald to Roscianum immediately together with the order of the senate: For Roscianum to not entertain the envoy of Sparta.

    The herald rode on a fast horse and quickly arrived at the city of Roscianum by taking advantage of the newly built Thurii-Roscianum road. The polemarchos of Roscianum, Amikles, have led the other strategoi and some members of the Boule(council of 500) to the port in order to meet the envoy of Sparta. After all, the envoy of Sparta, the hegemon of the Greek city-state hase to Roscianum, a small remote city-state, so they certainly do not dare neglect them.

    Seeing Phidias disembark, they went to greet him and to introduce themselves, but suddenly, the subordinate of Amikles hurried over and handed him a parchment. After reading the content, theplexion of Amikles turned pale and then hurriedly said to Phidias, ¡°Esteemed envoy of Sparta, please wait a moment, because there is something urgent that we need to discuss!¡±

    Before Phidias could give his reply, Amikles hurriedly gathered the strategoi and the members of the Council to the distance.

    ¡°It seems that something has happened?¡± Dorotheus saw them forming a circle and was arguing about something.

    Phidias did not speak and only looked at the distance and felt that it wouldn''t go well.

    Amikles then return with a somewhat resolute expression, ¡°Esteemed envoy of Sparta, I am sorry to tell you that Roscianum, as a member of Theonia Union, has just received a strict request from Theonia to not allow you to enter the city of Roscianum! So-¡± Amikles then waved apologetically, then a group of soldiers came.

    ¡°THIS IS AN INSULT TO SPARTA! Have you ever thought of the consequence of your choice?!¡± Phidias threatened angrily. He originally wanted to alienate the rtionship between Roscianum and Theonia after getting into the city of Roscianum. Because as far as he knows, it hasn''t been long since Roscianum joined the alliance. Besides, he also wants to stay here for a few days and send soldiers into the port of Thurii to catch some of the mercenaries that have fled, then go back to the Gerousia, and at the same time, to retaliate against Theonia Union. But now, it seems that it is impossible to achieve his goal.

    Watching Phidias leave in anger, Amikles breathed a sigh of relief and became worried again, ¡®The Theonia Union is too courageous to provoke the Spartans, what should we do if they were to indeed lead an army to attack?!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Phidias was still not willing, so he made the ship turn and head to Taranto.

    Phidias does not believe that Theonia Union can influence Taranto, a strong city-state in Magna Graecia. Moever, Taranto is a child of Sparta and the rtionship between the two is friendly.

    The establishment of Taranto is somewhat dramatic. A hundred years ago, Sparta was greedy for the fertilend in thend west of Laconia, so theyunched a war, and finally, after nearly a hundred years of fighting, Sparta managed topletely annexed Messenia. They then turned the same Greeks of Messenia into helots, but due to the Spartan men needing to fight outside of their homnd for a long time, the women that stayed became lonely. As a result, they had a rtionship with the Partheniae(sons of Helots) in Sparta and gave birth to a number of babies, but after they grew up, Sparta did not acknowledge them. Therefore, after many efforts, Phnthus, the leader of the Partheniae, obtained the opportunity from Sparta to allow him to request an oracle from Delphi. As a result, the Temple of Apollo gave a puzzling oracle: Find a ce where rain can fall from a clear sky and you can build a city there. So, Sparta agreed for Phnthus to lead the illegitimate children and the exiles to leave Sparta to establish a colony.

    Phnthus led his group to sail westward in search of a settlement. Their fleet crossed the Adriatic Sea and went to the Gulf of Taranto, along the way, they saw many ces but they did not meet the requirements of the oracle. However, the long sea voyage has made the peoplein and depressed, and Phnthus himself was also very frustrated. So he then told his wife about his distress, then his wife, in order tofort him, ced his head on herp. However, his sentimental wife has be depressed instead. When Phnthus felt her tears sshing on his forehead, he suddenly realized the real meaning of the oracle, because the meaning of his wife¡¯s name is ¡°Clear Sky¡±. So he immediately ordered the people to disembark, and the ce where they disembark was Apulia. They then built a city there and named it after Taras, the son of Poseidon.

    Although the founders of Taranto left because they couldn''t obtain Spartan citizenship, and though they developed Taranto into a democratic city-state, it''s a dual archonship, their council system and the lesia, are simr to those of Amendra and are all derived from Sparta''s dual kingship, the Council of Elders(Gerousia), and the Ape(lesia version of Sparta), with the absence of the Ephors. It became a prosperousmercial city, which is quite different from its mother-state of Sparta, which has always adhered to the agricultural tradition, but they have always maintained a good rtionship with Sparta. During the Peloponnesian War, Taranto stood firmly on the side of Sparta and when the Athenian fleet expedition to Sicily passed through Magna Graecia, they did not allow them to anchor and refuse to provide them food and water. So Athens retaliated by strongly supporting the Messapians against Taranto.

    Naturally, the arrival of Phidias was warmly weed by Taranto. However, after exchanging greetings with the senior officials of Taranto, he immediately mentioned the insolence of Theonia Union and theck of respect as a traditional Greek city-state, and he reminded the statesmen of Taranto that Theonia Union advocates force and aggression, which is a threat to the city-states in Magna Graecia.

    He also advised Taranto not to form an alliance with Theonia Union and to also limit its expansion.

    The newly appointed archon Diaoms and Umakas evaded the subject and continued to chat andugh, until Phidias forced them to take a stand. Then, they said with a smile that there must be some misunderstand between Theonia Union and Sparta, so Taranto is willing to help them mediate. Besides that, they did not mention anything else.

 Chapter 188: The action of Taranto and the remorse of Agasias

    Seeing Phidias board the ship and leave the port of Taranto, the expression of Diaoms immediately changed and then said to Umakas, ¡°The Spartan said something correct. If Taranto does not pull itself together, then even Theonia, a new city-state without any historical tradition will look down on us!¡±

    ¡°Are you really nning to start a war against the Messapians?!¡± Umakas asked hesitantly.

    ¡°Haven''t the Messapians been waging war against us all this time?!¡± Diaoms asked back, then said, ¡°It is because we have always been tolerant to the Messapians that they increasingly think that we, Taranto, are weak, so their invasion has increased and made the other city-states in Magna Graecia ignore Taranto more! We have to fight back, andpletely deal with the Messapians!¡±

    ¡°Topletely deal?! That is not what you had told mest time!¡± Said Umakas, frowning.

    Diaoms slipped up, so he hastily said, ¡°I mean, we first of all, should concentrate on capturing Manduria and then see if we have the chance to capture Brentesion, so that our strength will be greatly strengthened! We can then slowly capture the other city of the Messapians¡­.¡±

    Umakas became a bit excited, but he was still hesitant, ¡°Do we even have the strength to beat the main force of the Messapians in one fell swoop?¡±

    ¡°Of course we have!¡± Said Diaoms firmly, and in order to persuade his colleague, he added, ¡°And we also have a strong reinforcement!¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± Umakas was taken aback.

    Diaoms then pointed to the west of the sea, ¡°Theonia, our ally, we have helped them for so long already, now it is the time for them to contribute!¡±

    Umakas eventually said, ¡°I will support your proposal in the council.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Shit, Theonia, Roscianum and Taranto are all in one group!¡± Said Phidias angrily on the ship.

    ¡°Why don''t we go to Crotone?¡± Dorotheus cautiously advised.

    Phidias stared at him and said, ¡°We will go to Syracuse!¡±

    Of course, Phidias knew that Crotone and Theonia have a bad rtionship because of the previous war, but the reason why he didn''t go there is because he knows that the enemy of Crotone is not only Theonia. Their rtionship with Locri is much worse, and Locri is an ally of Syracuse, the ally of Sparta in Magna Graecia. If he were to go to Crotone, Syracuse would file aint to Sparta. Though it was to take his revenge on Theonia, he didn''t want to be exiled like Thimbron, and what is more,pared with Crotone, Syracuse is a much better partner.

    Phidias had heard that the Sicilian Tyrant was a little bit overbearing and so in order to get along with him, he learned his lesson of being too outspoken in Magna Graecia, so he changed his approach to achieve his own goal.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The new Cheiristoya''s restaurant in Thurii is located in the southwest part of the city and is near the port. Compared with the other Cheiristoya''s restaurant that is next to Thurii''s market, its customers are mainly the citizens of the union, foreign envoys and rich merchants, so they offer high-end dishes, such as hotpot beef and mutton. And so, a part of the restaurant was specially partitioned into an open-air small courtyard, so as to exhaust the smoke while barbecuing.

    Timasion, Xanticles and Cleanor were invited into the courtyard by Agasias, and they were not unfamiliar with the dishes that are in front of them, for they had already enjoyed these dishes in the house of Davos.

    Cleanor was interested in the price of the hotpot, and so he asked the ve that was serving him, ¡°How much does it cost to eat this?¡±

    The ve thought for a moment and said, ¡°Distinguished guest, it depends on how much you eat. Usually, a person pays about two~five drachmas.¡±

    ¡°It is so expensive!¡± Cleanor eximed in surprise, ¡°I couldn''t even earn one drachma a day now!¡±

    ¡°It is more expensive than ordinary dishes, but it''s worth it!¡± The ve patiently exined, ¡°First of all, the beef and mutton in our restaurant is purchased from Nerulum and Lucania, which is famous in all of Greece, and the price is not cheap. Secondly, the restaurant also needs to send people to the top of the mountain in the west to collect unmelted ice and snow in order to freeze the meat, which is a very risky thing! Then, there are also some ves that are good at cutting meat to constantly slice the meat for you, and the restaurant has also hired chefs from Egypt to prepare various condiments for you. Finally, I will serve you¡­.you see, there are so manyplicated processes and so many people needed to make the hotpot that you like. Do you still think that this is expensive?!¡±

    ¡°You have a smart mouth!¡± After hearing what the ve said, Cleanor couldn''t help but sigh. Then he once again sighed and frankly said, ¡°It is a pity that you are a ve!¡±

    ¡°Though I am a ve now, my merciful Master still pays me every day. ording to the ve act of the union, ¡®A ve can be a freeman as long as he has worked hard for his master for more than four years, and raise enough money to redeem himself while also having the consent of his master.¡¯ And our master, Cheiristoya, is as kind as Lord Davos, and has made a sacred oath in front of Hades! Therefore, I think I can be a Theonian citizen in ten years!¡± The eyes of the ve sparkled with gratitude and hope.

    ¡®Davos, you always win the support of the popce! Aren''t you afraid that the owners of the ves will be against you?¡¯ Cleanor, who was watching the slightly excited ve, did not utter what he was thinking and casually asked, ¡°What is your name?¡±

    ¡°Tanarus.¡±

    ¡°I hope that your wish wille true.¡± Cleanor said contrary to his thoughts.

    Tanarus happily replied, ¡°Thank you for your blessing, kind guest!¡±

    ¡°Look, there is finally a man that praise Cleanor!¡± Timasion jokes..

    ¡°Timasion, you are just jealous, aren''t you?!¡± Cleanor held up the beer mug and pretended to be angry, ¡°Come on, let''s drink!¡±

    ¡°Ho, you want to challenge me with only that much?!¡± Timasion did not take the mug, and took up a jar, ¡°Come on, let''s finish this in one drinking.¡±

    ¡°Let''s drink!¡± They looked at each and drank it.

    Xanticles cried out, ¡°You two, drink slowly. Agasias spent a lot of money to treat us to dinner.¡± Then, he jokingly said to Agasias, ¡°This restaurant should be the property of Davos. So you should have a discount when you check out.¡±

    ¡°Erm¡­.don''t worry about Agasias, he is a statesman, so how can he not even have dozens of drachmas?¡± Cleanor, belch, and said loudly with sourness in his words.

    ¡°Cleanor is right. You don''t have to worry about money, and let''s eat and drink tonight!¡± Said Agasias loudly, as if he had not heard the sarcasm of Cleanor.

    ¡°Give me another beer!¡± Timasion then said to Tanarus, ¡°This is a good liquor. I love it!¡±

    ¡°Give me another mug as well!¡± Cleanor followed.

    ¡°Please wait a moment.¡± Tanarus rushed to the door and called out the needs of the guests to the waiter in the lobby.

    The banquetsted about half an hour, and everyone was slightly drunk.

    ¡°A year ago, we fought with the Persians every day, and every day, we saw the stiff bodies of ourrades. At that time, we didn''t even have much hope that we would be able to return to Greece alive, let alone to drink and eat so happily like today¡­.¡± Xanticles said with emotion, ¡°It wasn''t easy! We really have to thank the gods for their protection and blessing!¡±

    ¡°Let''s drink to the fact that we can be together alive!¡± Timasion raised his mug,

    ¡°Thank Zeus(Hades) for his blessing!¡± The others also responded.

    Xanticles put down his mug and said, ¡°Agasias, you didn''t call us to just eat and drink, right?¡± Xanticles who was attentive, has long noticed that the expression of Agasias was a bit depressed.

    Agasias stretched out the spoon to scoop out the meat and paused in the air. A short whileter, he put down the spoon, wiped the stains from his mouth with his hands, then he looked at the three people who were looking at him and said, ¡°Today, the envoy of Sparta came and asked the union to capture you and hand you over to Sparta¡­.¡±

    The information about the arrival of a Spartan warship in Thurii has long been spread in the port. Of course, Timasion knew that the envoy of Sparta hade specially for them.

    ¡°How did you answer the Spartans?¡± Cleanor asked urgently, and the other two were nervous as well.

    ¡°Don''t worry, even though the Spartans have threatened us with war, Davos still firmly refused the envoy!¡± The reply of Agasias made the three people be relieved.

    ¡°Davos is worthy of being the leader who always wins every battle. He isn''t even afraid of the threat of the Spartan at all!¡± At this moment, Cleanor praised Davos.

    ¡°In fact, the Spartans are not frightening. We have followed them to fight in Asia Minor for more than half a year, so we know about them. Though their strategoi are really experienced inbat, there are too few Spartan citizens that can be sent to the battlefield. They mainly rely on the army of their allies and us, mercenaries to fight. In fact, theirbat strength is not very strong and it is very difficult for them to deal with the Persians alone. I don''t think that they have the spare strength to wage war against the union!¡­.¡± Timasion also consoled him.

    These words didn''t seem to have much effect on Agasias. His gaze were fixed on the ground that was in front of him and his face was full of apologies and murmured, ¡°It was I who had forced Davos to bring you here from Asia Minor¡­.and in order to attract you all toe, I have also offered you some conditions that the union did not gave, because I wanted you all to live a peaceful life like us, but when you came, I didn''t expect that¡­.there will be so many conflicts and disputes that made you suffer so much and also the dissatisfaction of the union''s citizens¡­.s, Sparta is now even hostile to the union! For this reason, Davos was also med by the statesmen! I¡­.am I really wrong in this matter?¡±

 Chapter 189: The vigilance of Dionysius and the funeral of the Spartan king

    The three looked at each other.

    Xanticles thenforted him, ¡°Agasias, you have done nothing wrong! We are all very grateful to you for saving us from the battlefield of death in Asia Minor! As long as we stay in the union patiently, we believe that we will eventually obtain citizenship andnd, and it is just a bit ufortable now. As for Sparta, you have to believe Timasion and I that they will not be hostile to the union for at least three to four years!¡±

    The Greeks like to drink alcohol with water. Agasias thought that it will not be easy for him to get drunk and made a stupid move, even though he didn¡¯t drink beer tonight, he had drank liquor without water and finally got drunk.

    Timasion and the others could only help him get home with difficulty.

    When they came out, the three people sighed.

    Cleanor''s mouth twitched and said, ¡°He regrets that he had called us to Magna Graecia¡­is he not going to help us anymore?!¡±

    ¡°Agasias is not such a man!¡± Xanticles shook his head, ¡°I think he is just under too much pressure recently and wants to drink to rx. But we should really restrain those who don''t listen to us!¡±

    They argued for a while, but when they turned around, they saw Timasion walking slowly, and was thinking about something.

    ¡°Timasion, what are you thinking?! It''s time that we went back to the port!¡± Shouted Cleanor.

    Timasion looked at them and said slowly and seriously, ¡°I remember that Davos used to say, ¡®It''s better to rely on yourself than to rely on others¡¯!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Phidias arrived at Syracuse, he was warmly weed by Dionysius. He invited him and his entourage to his pce and organized a banquet and apanied him in person.

    Looking at the attractive dance of the beautiful ves in the center of the banquet hall, Phidias, who had developed strong self-control in the military camp since childhood, also felt thirsty. So he had even drunk several mouthfuls of liquor.

    ¡®I heard that Lysander had lived in a small city-state in Asia Minor that he controlled at that time and lived like the princes in the east. It should be like this!¡¯ thought Phidias.

    ¡°Phidias, I heard that you went to Theonia, has the matter been resolved?¡± Dionysius casually asked, because the Spartan warship had made a trip to the Gulf of Taranto, so the news regarding it had already been spread to Syracuse.

    ¡°Yes, but it is without sess.¡± Phidias frankly admitted, with some appreciation in his tone, ¡°The Archon and statesmen of Theonia Union are very unyielding, and even in the face of Sparta, they refused to give in!¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± Dionysius was slightly surprised and said, ¡°Sounds like you have a good impression of them?¡±

    ¡°Although the time we met is not long, I can feel that they highly value battles and victory, they respect capable strategoi and warriors, and train very frequently, which is simr to us Spartans!¡± Phidias wasn''t stingy in his praise, ¡°And the new union is developing very fast. I heard that it was only a small city-state more than half a year ago, but now, it has three cities and two affiliated allies. I believe that it won''t be long before it bes a powerful force that dominates Magna Graecia!¡±

    After hearing this, Dionysius squeezed out a smile and said, ¡°This is a great news. At least the natives of Magna Graecia will encounter a worthy enemy.¡± Having said that, the mug that he was holding went ¡°bang¡± and the wine sshed on the table. He then immediately changed the topic to his army that was about to attack Carthage.

    Phidias noticed it and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the way back to Sparta, Dorotheus, who had endured it for a long time, asked, ¡°Phidias, why did you praise Theonia at the banquet?¡±

    ¡°Mypliment will make Dionysius sleepless!¡± Phidias said with a smile, ¡°Since the time of the former tyrant of Syracuse, Gelon I*, Syracuse has been regarded as the leader of Sicily and Magna Graecia. I remember the old man once said that Gelon has even sent troops to the north in Campania in central Apennine in order to defeat the Etruscans who had besieged Cumae¡­.but Dionysius was more ambitious. He used force to turn the Greek city-states in southeast Sicily into a subordinate of Syracuse. Would he allow a powerful force in Magna Graecia to threaten the status of Syracuse?!¡­.unfortunately, he is going to attack Carthage soon, so he can''t take action against Theonia in a short time¡­.¡± (T/N: Gelon I: was a 5th-century BC ruler of G and Syracuse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelon)

    ¡°Oh, I see!¡± Dorotheus was suddenly enlightened, but he immediately asked, ¡°Since Dionysius is interested in Magna Graecia, Theonia might not be as important in his mind as Rhegium and Crotone.¡±

    ¡°Yea.¡± Phidias acknowledge it, ¡°The current strength of Theonia is not as powerful as these traditional states in Magna Graecia, but its speed of development will also arouse his vignce.¡±

    Dorotheus recalled the magnificent sight he had seen when they were invited by Dionysius to inspect his army. He could not help exim, ¡°Dionysius is so powerful that he can send arge army of 50,000 men and 3,000 cavalry to attack Carthage!¡±

    ¡°Although they have many men, I don''t think that they even have many soldiers who are really good at fighting!¡± Said Phidias, half of his statement was fact, while the other was out of jealousy because even Sparta, who had be the Greek hegemon, could not send such a huge army at one time. So one can imagine the strength of Syracuse and its affiliated city-states.

    ¡®Syracuse, Carthage, and Theonia should ughter each other!¡¯ Phidias cursed in his heart.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Entering the new year (398 BC), the Thurii-Roscianum road has beenpletely finished, and the thousands of Crotonian captives of Theonia returned to Roscianum because the six-month period has ended.

    For Davos, he was bing more and more nervous and excited, because the stomach of Cheiristoya was getting bigger and bigger, and it is only less than a month before her due date.

    At this time, information came from Nerulum that Potentia has officially announced that they would support the son of Akpir, Lusau, to retake Grumentum, and asked Cincinnag to return to Pyxous, otherwise, Potentia would send troops to join the war.

    Cincinnag became nervous, and so he sent envoys to the tribes of Grumentum who were upying the southern part of the city and expressing his willingness to immediately implement their earlier demands, as long as they can re-unite to deal with the army of Potentia that wille.

    And these tribal chieftains were very happy with Cincinnag''s soft approach, and they were also afraid that once Lusau where to retake Grumentum, he would find them to seek revenge. Because they knew that Lusau, like his father, was also a man who always repaid grievance.

    Everyone believed that it was due to external pressure that forced the two forces in the city topromise and re-unite. However, when the chieftains came to the center of the city to prepare for the peace talks, they didn''t expect that Cincinnag had prepared arge number of warriors to ambush them in advance.

    Because their chieftains were killed, it made the tribes in the southern part of the city unprepared. As a result, under the nned attack of Pyxous'' warriors, their casualties were heavy. Some warriors have surrendered and some of them fled the city of Grumentum.

    In the face of the military threat of Potentia, Cincinnag resolutely unified Grumentum in one fell swoop. Knowing about this, even Davos had to admire the determination and ruthlessness of Cincinnag, but he didn''t know that the reason why Cincinnag managed to do this was mostly because of the painful memory of being attacked by the Vergae''s from behind.

    Soon, Sesta sent a report to the Senate saying: As a result of Cincinnag''s ughter in Grumentum, some Lucanians fled to Nerulum. In addition, with the impending war with Pyxous and Potentia, the small tribes that are sandwiched between the two forces had fled to the south one after another for fear of being caught in the mes of war. As a result, the number of registered preparatory citizens in Nerulum has increased to 8,000. However, Nerulum doesn''t have enoughnd to allocate and could not support such arge poption, so he demanded that some of the Lucanians should first go to Thurii.

    After a repeated discussion with the statesmen, especially during this period of time where the stability of Nerulum and the good performance of the Lucanians had led to the senate¡¯s agreement in epting their migration.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Phidias returned to Sparta, his report to Theonia did not attract the attention of the Gerousia. One of the reason is that he has always acted on his own, and the Spartan elders who were familiar with him were disgusted at his repeated emphasis on the ¡°Theonia Union is disrespectful to Sparta and is arrogant, so they must be punished¡± because they all knew that it was he, who had caused trouble and caused such a result. The more important reason is that the elders do not have the energy to deal with this matter now, because Agis, one of the two kings of Sparta, has died due to his illness.

    Since the time of Homer, Sparta has been ruled by two kings. And both kings were known as the direct descendants of Heracles, and was born from two hereditary royal families: One is the Agiad family in the center of Sparta and the other one is the Eurypontid family in southern Laconia. Agis was born into the Eurypontid family. Although in this era, due to the rise of democracy, the monarchy of Sparta has been greatly restricted, but they still enjoy many honors, especially at the time of their death. The whole territory of Sparta was preparing for the funeral of Agis: The cavalry galloped around Laconia to announce the death of king Agis; The women beat the iron pans and spread the news all over Sparta. After learning about what happened, each family must send out two free people, one male and one female, in mourning clothes; The Perioikoi* also had to send a fixed number of people to attend the funeral organized by the Gerousia. (T/N: Perioikoi means those dwelling around ¨C they were the members of a social ss and poption group of non-citizen that inhabited Laconia and Messenia.)

    The funeralsted ten days, during which public matters could not be dealt with. After ten days, the elder''s first priority was to elect a new king.

 Chapter 190: The Court in the Market of Thurii

    ording to thew of Sparta, the throne will be inherited by the eldest son, but if the eldest was born before the king seeded, he would need to give way to the oldest son born after the session. If the deceased king has no offspring, the throne will be inherited by his nearest male rtive. And if the heir is still young, he will be under a regent. (The founder of Sparta''s current regime is the regent, Lycurgus.)

    Agis has only one son, Leotychides, who is 23 years old, so it should be logical for him to take over as the new king. However, whether Leotychides was the child of Agis has always been a topic of gossip among the Spartans. During the Peloponnesian War, the Athenian strategos Alcibiades took refuge in Sparta, and king Agis valued him very much. However, he did not expect that the handsome and romantic Athenian would seduce his queen, and even made the whole Sparta find out about it. The humiliated Agis threatened to dismember Alcibiades, but after knowing about it in advance, Alcibiades cleverly ran back to Athens. Before long, the wife of Agis became pregnant. Therefore, the people of Sparta had doubts about making Leotychides king.

    While the brother of Agis, Agesus, who is 45 years old, has always performed excellently. In the eyes of the public, he is a traditional and pure Spartan. Although he isme, he also has the support of many people.

    The elders can already infer that the next issue of session to the throne will be enough for them to worry about. So, how can they even have the thought to deal with a trivial matter such as Theonia?

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Corinthian merchant, Tios, came to Thurii for the second time. The port has changed a lot after not being here for a few months: First of all, the Theonian dug inward on the estuary of the Crati river, thus expanding the port. Two long stone breakwaters were like a giant''s arm encircling the merchant ships that are entering the port. The docks are no longer as simple as they were when thest time they came, a wooden trestle bridge goes deep into the shore, and on the bank are orderly stone houses and buildings, and there is also a wide and t road for transportation¡­.

    Although there are many merchant ships going to and fro the sea and port, the management personnel of the port still manage tomand them to dock and unload the goods in an orderly manner with high efficiency. The porters at the port are also very quick in their work and they seldom actzily or even try to cheat others.

    From time to time, Tios saw people wearing white chitons walking back and forth between the docks while holding papers and pens, and wherever they went, thoseborers became more diligent. Later, after he asked the other merchants he found out that those people are public officials sent by Theonia''s census office and are responsible in examining the usualbor performance of those freemen who want to be citizens of the union. If there are any bad deeds, it will be much more difficult for them to get the status of a preparatory citizen when the inspection deadline ends.

    Of course, the two ~ three small groups of armed soldiers patrolling back and forth in the port has also helped maintain the order.

    When Tios entered the port, he found that the Theonia Union had surrounded the port with a thick and tall wall, and the market was outside the wall.

    When he came to the market, it was also a noisy ce. The original wall of the market has been demolished, because there are too many shops, the speed of the market expansion can not keep up with the increasing number of shops. Shops and workshops line by row and upy all the open space, leaving only a wide passage for customers to buy and sell, transport goods and for the firefighters to extinguish fires.

    In addition, there are two special buildings that are independent of the market.

    One of them is the hospital. Most Greeks in the northern part of Magna Graecia know that the physicians of Theonia Union are highly skilled. and some people even say that they are much better than the physicians of Crotone! Moreover, Davos has created an unprecedented general hospital in Greece, which is obviously different from the asklepieion. Regardless of the facilities, system and management, it is very standardized and strict. This is an unprecedented treatment method for patients who went to see a physician. That kind of sacredness had even made the patient feel better even before the physicians started their treatment. For the physicians, it is like a ma that attracted their attention, and it was said that if it wasn''t for the rigid rtionship between Theonia Union and Crotone, many Crotonian physicians would have liked toe here to study and visit. Naturally, every day, the front of the hospital is filled with people.

    On the other hand, a lot of people were watching the other building, only after Tios asked did he found out that it was the court that was specially establish by Theonia Union for the market and port of Thurii in order to quickly deal with various trade disputes and conflicts that urs frequently every day, and to provide convenience for the merchants, customers, as well as therge number of sailors andborers. Tios was very interested in this pioneering work that other Greek city-states did not have, so he squeezed into the crowd.

    The Theonia Union had set up the post of Judge in early November, mainly because after the influx of arge number of immigrants, the city''s praetor had to deal with more detailed andplicated legal disputes. So all the three praetors areining. Therefore, Davos proposed to establish the post of Chief Judge after discussing it in the senate(In Greek city-states, there is no special judge, and the case is often judged by the strategoi or the archon. In Athens, there is not even a judge, and the jury is the one that makes the verdict. In Theonia, as the only Archon, Davos certainly has the highest judicial power. However, he is busy with public affairs, so unless it is a major case, it is impossible for him to spend time to deal withmon disputes. Therefore, this power was initially delegated to the praetors.) The Chief Judge oversees the junior judges that are assigned to various cities and handles appeal cases. One of the names to be elected by the senate was Bolus, but when it was submitted to Davos to review it, he didn''t say anything. In the end, the winner was Protesus(due to the strong rmendation of Davos).

    Protesus was originally supposed to be in the court of Thurii(though it has not beenpleted yet), and his subordinates was the one in charge of the court next to the market. However, the newly established union is like the morning sun. The people are busy with their own affairs and there are fewplicated and influential cases for him to deal with. Therefore, the energetic and idle new judge hase to the market and seized the power of his subordinates and tries the case in person.

    ¡°What is the next case?¡± Protesus asked eagerly as soon as he settled a dispute.

    The second judge, Praxileos, looked at him bitterly. Praxileos was a former subordinate of Kunogta and he assisted the praetor in legal affairs at the city hall, but after the judicial power was separated this time, and because there were not many people who were proficient in thew in the union. So Kunogta rmended him and was quickly promoted to be a junior judge, and so, he had also entered the ranks of middle-ranking officials in the union. Who knew that after a few days of happiness, his court was taken over by Protesus, and he did not dare to say anything. After all, Protesus is not only a stateman of Theonia, but is also the chief judge. In order to show the importance of thew to the union, Davos made the position second only to the praetor of a city as soon as the position was established. And as the boss of Praxileos, Protesus has the right to report his performance to the Civil Service Council that is under the senate and to rmend him when he wants to transfer.

    ¡°It is the wife of a union''s citizen ussing a Rhegium merchant of discrimination against her.¡± Said Praxileos.

    ¡°Discrimination?¡± Protesus had some doubt.

    ¡°That woman is a Lucanian.¡± Whispered Praxileos.

    ¡°Oh.¡± Protesus nodded, ¡°Then bring both theinant and the defendant.¡±

    The court in the market is not big, and can only aodate a judge, clerks, guards and other public officials. Theinant and the defendant can only stand outside the open court with iron railings behind them. The public can freely watch outside the railing, so that the public and the outsiders can understand the union''sw and achieve the role to preach and educate the people, and at the same time, let the judges be supervised by the people.

    A man and a woman entered the court, under the guidance of the guard. They then first recited the names of the three judges of Hades, Minos, Rhadamanthus and Aeacus, and swore by their names that all the things they say is the truth.

    Then theinant gave her statement.

    The young Lucanian woman spoke with a weird but fluent Greek, ¡°Your honor, I am the wife of Izam, a citizen of the union. Today, when I came to the market to buy an earthenware jar for the olive oil, I arrived at his shop-¡± The woman then pointed to the merchant next to her and said, ¡°I found that the pottery he sold had many designs and they are also very beautiful, so I decided to buy them from him. He then suddenly became angry at me just because I had taken a bit longer to select a pottery and said, ¡®Damn barbarian, do you want to buy it or not? If you can''t afford it then don''t touch my pottery with your dirty hands, otherwise my pottery will be broken. It won''t even be enough to make you a ve in order topensate for it!¡¯ and he said¡­.he said¡­.¡±

    ¡°Your honor, she is lying! I have never said anything like that!¡± The merchant shouted.

    ¡°Silence! Wait for her to finish speaking, and it will be your turn to speak afterwards!¡± Yelled Protesus, and then said to the woman, ¡°You can continue.¡±

    ¡°He also said-¡± The woman blushed, then she red at the merchant and gritted her teeth, ¡°He also said, ¡®A barbarian woman like you is not worthy of such noble pottery. It is better for you to be my ve and make me happy¡­.If I am happy, I may reward you with a piece of pottery-¡¯¡±

    Author Note 1: The involvement of Alcibiades as a third party has been described in my other novel ¡¶´Ó³Ç°îµ½µÛ¹ú¡·

    Author Note 2: The provision on the session to the throne of Sparta ¡°If the eldest son was born before the king seeded the throne, he would need to give way to the oldest son born after his father''s enthronement.¡± There seems to be a simr tradition in Persia. One of the main reasons why Cyrus the Younger wanted to rebel at the beginning of the novel is that he was the eldest son born after his father ascended the throne, but his elder brother, Artaxerses, king of Persia, was not. Therefore, he thought that he was the rightful king.

 Chapter 191: Amendolaras Economic Development Zone

    ¡°NO! I DIDN''T SAY THAT!¡± Seeing the sudden change of the judge¡¯s expression, the merchant hurriedly refuted. Suddenly, there were angry voices behind him, ¡°How dare you discriminate against us Lucanians, do you no longer wish to live?¡±

    ¡°Izam is a brave warrior of our union. How dare you shame his wife! Your honor, please punish this lecher severely!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The merchant could only secretlyin. He originally thought that the woman was just a pretty good-looking Lucanian ve, because she just ask the price and had taken her a long time to buy, so it made him confuse for a moment and had said those words, but he didn''t expect that the woman he provoke is the wife of a citizen of Theonia. In fact, it was because he had only been here for a few days and didn''t understand the customs here, and because most of the wives of other city-state citizens stayed at home. If a woman can go to the market to buy and sell things, if they are not foreign women, then they must be female ves, and even if you try to take advantage of them, no one would care even if you touch them twice. However, Theonia is different, many of its citizens married Lucanian women, while many Theonian Greek women married Lucanian preparatory citizens. These foreign races did not have as manyplicated practices as the Greeks, and they acted boldly and openly, which naturally had gradually influenced and changed the conservative Greek citizens of Theonia. In addition, their revered archon, Lord Davos, had even allowed his wife to appear in public and had even opened banks and restaurants in the market, which naturally further promoted the change of their practice. Therefore, it is nowmon to see the wife of Theonian citizens in the market.

    ¡°Defendant, what theinant said is the truth?¡± Protesus asked. Seeing that the merchant wanted to open his mouth immediately, he reminded him in a loud voice, ¡°If you only discriminate against her, then you will only pay fines and a corporal punishment, but if you were to still lie after swearing an oath in front of the gods, then it will be a crime of sphemy and you would be punished by having your tongue pulled out! So you have to think clearly before you speak!¡±

    When the merchant heard it, he was silent for a long time, and his forhead was dripping with sweat and he finally said in a low voice, ¡°What she said¡­.most of them are the truth¡­.but¡­.but I didn''t know that discrimination against diffirent race is also against thew!¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Protesus looked at him with seriousness, ¡°When you rent a stall, didn''t you familiarize yourself with the ¡¶In order to do business in Theonia, you must follow these regtions¡· that was written by the market management office?¡±

    ¡°No¡­.¡±The merchant wanted to deny it, but he suddenly remembered one of the regtions of the market management office of Theonia: If you are not familiar with the regtion, then you are not allowed to rent a stall. So, he could only nod and say, ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°In that case, since you know thew and have still vited it! First of all, if you vite thew ¡®In Theonia it is forbidden to discrimate against different races¡¯ you are to pay a fine of ten drachmas and a corporal punishment of getting caned twice, so that your memory will improve and never do it again! As for your harassment against theinant, but had not done any action, this¡­.does our union have aw in this respect?¡± Protesus asked Praxileos.

    Praxileos thought about it and shook his head.

    ¡°It seems that at the next meeting of the senate, I will have things to do.¡± Protesus muttered to himself. He then thought about it and said, ¡°As to what your punishment for harassing theinant is, I will leave it to theinant to decide.¡±

    The merchant trembled, he then looked at theinant with a pleading gaze. The young Lucanian woman did not decline and simply said, ¡°Then have the administrator of the market management office to punish him by having him do five days ofpulsorybor.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, alright!¡± Protesus apuded the proposal of theinant, ¡°Defendant, you can choose to not ept the ¡®five-daypulsorybor¡¯ that was proposed by theinant, but you will be expelled from the union and will never be allowed to do business here!¡± Then Protesus said with a more serious tone, ¡°Are you willing to ept this punishment?¡±

    As a merchant, dignity is not important. What matters is whether he can earn money. His pottery business in Thurii is very prosperous these days, so he of course does not want to be expelled from the union for such a small matter, and so he naturally epted the punishment.

    The next dispute was the opposite, it was a conflict between a registered freeman vendor and a foreign merchant. The fact is clear and the evidence is conclusive, so there is no need to dispute about this and can be punished directly in ordance with the market management regtions with the vition of ¡°Do not discriminate against foreign merchants¡± and ¡°fighting and making trouble¡±. However, during the trial, the freeman refused to admit the beating, and constantly hinted to Protesus that he is a follower of Bolus, and had been working for him. So he hoped that the judge could put the matter to rest.

    The young and energetic Protesus couldn''t understand why these people often showed off their noble birth, especially Bolus who looked down on statesmen that were not from Thurii. So he took this opportunity and would not let him go and loudly denounced, ¡°Audacious, how dare you ruin the reputation of Lord Bolus! You have not only bullied theinant, but have also hurt him and have behaved cruelly! And you still refuse to admit your crime and have vited your oath. So I will also sentence you to the crime of sphemy and carry it out immediately!¡±

    The freeman was shocked and immediately asked for mercy, while the crowds cheered Protesus loudly.

    In the end, the freeman was unwilling to ept the ¡°tongue pulling¡±, and had instead chosen to receive the equivalent punishment of getting caned 40 times and carried it out of court. At the same time, the scribe recorded his crime, and even if he recovers, the census office will expel him from Theonia.

    The cases in the market and port are just some minor disputes and conflicts, so the judgment process is very fast and there is no need for cumbersome legal procedures,wyers and juries¡­.

    Tios watch from outside of the court for a while and understood that this small court is to show the citizens, ves, and outsiders the just position of Theonia Union, and to safeguard the legitimate rights of allw-abiding people in the territory of Theonia, specially for the merchants like them who have traveled from ce to ce, which moved them.

    Merchants like Tios are considered citizens with status in their own city-state, so when they are doing business in other city-states, the local citizens are often envious of them and hold the mentality that ¡°These outsiders wants to take the money of the city-state¡± and have often taken some hostile actions, and the officials of the city-state often favors the citizens of the city (because they need the support of the citizens in elections). Among the Greek city-states, Athens has the best attitude towards outsiders who had settled and did business in their city-state, because of their super developed trade and crafts, they need an open attitude to wee the technology, capital investment and employment brought by foreigners, and so on., So they gave the foreigners considerable power in thew, apart from being unable to ownnd and hold public office, outsiders could even contract mines in Athens, monopolize shipment and so on.

    The generosity of Athens is naturally rewarded with kindness from the foreigners. In normal times, they would make some charitable donations, such as repairing the temple, holding theater celebrations and allowing the citizens of Athens to watch it for free. When Athens is in danger, they will also step forward like the Athenian citizens to serve as a soldier, or purchase weapons and equipment, and even triremes and donate them to the government of Athens.

    And now, Theonia is likely to follow the footsteps of Athens, and was even bolder than Athens in some aspects. Tios hade this time because the Senate of Theonia Union had passed a neww: Allowing foreign merchants to lease thend between the Saraceno river and Siris river as and for crafting for a period of 20 years.

    This news had immediately caused a stir among the foreign merchants in the market of Thurii and quickly spread to Magna Graecia. Most of the merchants who have been to Thurii are optimistic about the business prospects of Theonia Union, what is more, Theonia has allowed Laos to join its alliance, so that any merchants who does trade in the union can enter Laos at a favorable price and open up trade with Naples, Marseille, Gaul, Iberian Penins and Mauritania. In particr, the construction of Thurii-Laos road has begun. With the quality of the road built by Theonia, thepleted road will certainly make transportation between the two cities be more convenient, and they estimate that the shortest time to get from Thurii to Laos is only two days, which is not much different from the time needed for shipping through cargo ship, moreover, the risk of going by sea is greater, because as long as one encounter pirates or storm, all their efforts may be destroyed. At the same time, when crossing the Strait of Messana(Messina), the city-states of Messana and Rhegium, one south and one north, charge high tolls, which will greatly reduce the profits that they will earn.

    Thend through which Tios travelled when hest stayed at Amendra, though it is t, thend is hard(mostly gravel). Because it can not be used as agriculturalnd, so it was not included in the ¡®allocatednd¡¯. Most of thend has been left idle except for a small part of thend where the Amendra military camp was built for public militia training. For Tios, such barrennd was also full of value, he thought to get one and then open a weapon workshop.

    After profiting from thest trade, Tios became more interested in this newly emerging union. He realizes that Theonia is a union that advocates military might, otherwise, they will not hold a Triumphant Return to give honor to victorious strategoi and soldiers. Therefore, Theonia will have no less wars in the future, and with the rapidly increasing number of Theonian citizens, it will mean that there will be a greater demand for weapons. ording to his understanding, there is arge weapon shop in the port of Thurii, which he found out to be established by the union in order to provide for the families of the soldiers who have died in battle and also to take care of the disabled soldiers. Most of the weapons and equipment that are sold were seized, most of which needs to be repaired. Basically, Theonia has no production of aplete set of heavy infantry equipment from scratch, nor they have the ability to do it, which allowed Tios to see a chance to earn money.

    The most famousmodity of Corinth right now are weapons. Corinth''s weapons and equipment are well-known throughout Greece, and Tios had done this field of business before and had rich experience. Moreover, Tios is able to hire the highly skilled Corinthian cksmith and set up a smithy in the union. This not only saved him shipping costs, but also facilitated the acquisition of raw materials and the cost will also be lower, because Thurii has copper mines and the iron ores of Lucania. And he can tailor-made high-quality armor and weapons for the citizens of the union, or he can also sell them to the union in bulk, or even to the aborigines(Theonia Union does not restrict the exportation of weapons). This is more profitable and stable than buying and selling grain, so he couldn''t wait to join the auction after he made a decision.

 Chapter 192: Theonias Rugby Competition (I)

    After leaving the market, Tios saw that rows of stables had been built on the roadside, long gone from the crude and messy sight filled with horse dung.

    Tios had a good impression of the old coachman, so he wanted to ride in his wagon again, so he began to shout loudly, ¡°Solikos! Solikos!¡­.¡±

    ¡°Hey, the old man is rich now, so he no longer drives his wagon, get on my wagon instead!¡± Yelled someone.

    ¡°Stop talking nonsense, or else I will beat you up!¡± Solikos said it with a smile.

    Tios got on the wagon and said where he was going.

    ¡°Oh, you are also going to see thend that will be leased out?! There are so many people who havee to visit it recently!¡±

    Tios nodded and said with a smile, ¡°I heard that you have made a fortune?!¡±

    ¡°They are just spouting nonsense, it¡¯s just that, after paying off the loan and interest of the wagon, I bought another wagon and rented it to a freeman, because I believe that I can soon pay off the loan again! And then I will buy another one¡­.¡± Solikos said with confidence.

    ¡°Congrattions!¡± Tios then praised him, ¡°It seems that in another year, you will be a wagon merchant.¡±

    Solikosughed when he heard it.

    ¡°I remember that you are a Theonian citizen. The union should have given you an ¡®allocatednd¡¯. If you are here to earn money by driving a wagon, then what will happen to yournd? I heard that there are agricultural officers in your union, who are responsible for supervising how the citizens utilize theirnd.¡± Tios asked curiously.

    ¡°I have rented it out to a freeman to farm, so there won''t be any problems.¡± Solikos replied.

    Solikos drove the wagon on the Thurii-Amendra road, then the wagon sped up on the Sybaris in. On both sides of the road are houses built on the thousands of farnd.

    ¡®They are finally building viges!¡¯ Thought Tios: The development of the new Thurii is very rapid and has begun to gradually recover its former prosperity and it is evenpletely different from the former Thurii, and might even surpass the powerful city-states in Magna Graecia!

    After crossing a wooden bridge, the wagon then passed the vineyards and wineries, which is the famous wine producing area in Magna Graecia.

    After crossing the Saraceno river, they finally entered the territory of Amendra. Thend to be leased is on the side of the road and has already been partitioned into pieces ofnd for rent with a stick inserted on eachnd. Thends are close to the main road, which made transportation convenient; Thend is also close to the river, which made it convenient to provide water for the workshop; It is also close to the forest, which have a lot of trees to be cut(Theonia Union naturally has strict rules for cutting down trees). In addition, after building the workshops on the leasednd, they can also build a house for themselves and for their employees to live on, so that they can have a ce to rest while they are doing business in Theonia. There is the sea in the front, forest at the back, river on the side, and a road for easy travel. This is an ideal ce to live! He believes that every foreign merchant who wants to rent here has the idea of building a workshop and a residence at the same time. Twenty years is enough for them to double their investment, provided that Theonia Union still existed.

    After several idealnds, Tios wanted to find a ce to rest first, because the so-called ¡°auction¡± would not be held until tomorrow.

    At this time, Solikos suggested to him, ¡°You havee just in time today. The arena in Thurii waspleted yesterday, and in order to celebrate it, Lord Davos announced that a ¡®A rugbypetition for the four cities will be held in the arena today and tomorrow!¡¯. If you are free in the afternoon, you can go and have a look. I heard that it is very exciting and is even more lively than thepetition in the Olympics!¡±

    ¡°Rugby?¡± Tios was curious and puzzled.

    ¡°It''s a game invented by Lord Davos. I heard that he got the idea from Hades!¡± Said Solikos.

    ¡°It is¡­it is¡­the game where two teamspete for a ball made of cowhide and shaped like an olive¡­uhm¡­and score¡­.I don''t know how to describe it. Anyway, people who have seen this game say that it''s very interesting and fun! You will know it after you go see it.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I will go and take a look.¡± Tios became interested due to the strong rmendation of Solikos.

    ¡°Then you should go early, I heard that because there are so many people, you won''t be able to enter if you arete!¡± Solikos kindly reminded him.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The arena is located in the east of the northern part of Thurii. It is close to the port of the city and far away from the main area of the city. It was built here in order to not affect the daily life of the people of Thurii.

    The city guards, who are usually strict in their inspection, are rtivelyx today. As long as they do not carry weapons, they will basically let them enter after they count the number of people. However, if the number of people exceeds the specified number, then they are prohibited from entering the city.

    Tios was lucky to enter the city because he hade early. While on his way, he met a Cretan merchant, Dicaeapolis, who was engaged in the olive oil business. He also came to watch the rugby matches. He had seen one in the morning and was fascinated by this novel game. In his words, this is the best gift given to the Greeks by Hades, and no sports can match it!

    This aroused the interest of Tios even more.

    At the entrance of the arena, a long line has formed. Although there are many people, they still abide by the order under the supervision of a group of soldiers.

    At this time, Dicaeapolis let Tios guard his ce while he went to a nearby shop that has a ¡°beer¡± sign on it. He then picked up two jars of beer and two bags of dried fruit and gave half to Tios.

    Tios was too embarrassed to say thanks, and had instead asked, ¡°How much is it?¡±

    Dicaeapolis said, ¡°It''s fate to meet you here and watch a rugby game together! If you pay, then it means that you don''t like to be friends with us Cretans!¡±

    So, Tios had no choice but to ept it, and he became more fond of the frankness and zeal of Dicaeapolis. At the same time, he noticed that many people went to buy beer, drinks and snacks.

    Dicaeapolis then told him, ¡°Because the match is long, and we have to watch it under the sun, so it is easy to be thirsty and hungry. In addition, there are a lot of spectators entering the arena, in case they want to pee and can''t find a ce, then this-¡± he held up the liquor jar in his hand and said with a teasing smile, ¡°After emptying it, you can then use it as a urinal¡­.¡±

    The guards at the entrance of the arena allowed a group of people to enter and then another group after a while. When it was finally their turn, the arena was obviously not full yet. The guard then signaled that they could enter and follow the passage on their right hand side, while on their left side was another passage, but they could not go in because it led to the seats for the distinguished guest. Almost all the arenas were designed in this way.

    The arena of Thurii is not veryrge, all the stone benches around the arena can seat about 4,000 people at most. In fact, more than 4,500 people have entered the arena, and half of them are freemen and foreigners. Like other arenas, its sports field is surrounded by a track field, but inside the track field is a t rectangr sandynd, which is divided into several areas by dozens of white lines.

    Dicaeapolis patiently exined the rules of the game to Tios and told him why it was called the Four City Rugby Competition, ¡°The four cities are Amendra, Thurii, Nerulum and Laos. Listening to my Theonian friends, this game was first yed by Lord Davos as part of a military training, starting with those mercenaries who became citizens of Amendra¡­ter, Thurii and Amendra united to conduct military training for the citizens of Thurii and the preparatory citizens. Naturally, they learned this game as well¡­afterwards, after they captured Nerulum, the first batch of Lucanian soldiers then taught the Lucanians of Nerulum about this game¡­.as for Laos, it was when they sent arge number ofbors to help build the roads, with the Theonians as the foreman. During their break, the Theonians taught the people of Laos how to y this game, in order to prevent them from being too exhausted due to work.

    It might be due to Laos having just started to learn the game, but they were not skilled and it seemed that they didn''t cooperate well. Therefore, when they yed against Thurii in the morning, they easily lost. This afternoon, the match would be between Amndra and Nerulum. I heard that the strength difference between the two sides is not big, so it might be interesting to watch!¡±

    ¡°You seemed to know a lot!¡± Eximed Tios.

    ¡°It''s because it interests me that I naturally want to understand it.¡± Dicaeapolis said with pride, ¡°I have been here for some time now and I have made friends with several citizens of Theonia. One of them is also a toon captain of their so-called Legion, and he told me that¡­.¡±

    ¡°Why is there no Roscianum?¡± A voice then came from the side.

    Dicaeapolis turned his head and saw that some people had gathered around them.

    ¡°It might be because they have less contact with the citizens of the Union and have no chance to learn¡­.¡± Dicaeapolis shrugged, ¡°However, this morning, I saw some Roscianums watching the game, and I believe that after thispetition, the next time it will be held, I am sure that it will be a five city rugbypetition.¡±

    ¡°Cretan, you are right. We Roscianums will join next year!¡± Someone in the crowd shouted.

    ¡°Agree, we will make suggestions to the council once we go back!¡± Another echoed.

    Dicaeapolis winked at Tios and whispered, ¡°You see, I am right.¡±

    Suddenly, a salpinx sounded and the athletes began to enter.

    At this time, the yers were not crudely dressed as they were when they were ying rugby in the military camp. Now, they are all wearing fluffy leather caps that could cover their whole head and neck, and a thick protective clothing made of wool and linen, and are also dyed red and blue to distinguish them, and they even have strange symbols embroidered on the back of their protective clothes in order for the referee to identify the yers. (Author''s Note: It is actually Arabic numerals, it is because Greek numerals are soplicated and are not easy to use.)

    As the yers from both sides entered the field, a strong and rhythmic drum beat rang out.

    The red team immediately formed a neat phnx formation to match the beat of the drums, and with vigorous strength, they danced the dance that praised Ares when winning on the battlefield in a neat movement¡­.then came the warm cheers from the audience.

 Chapter 193: Theonias Rugby Competition (II)

    Then the sound of the drum beats vanished, then came a long and powerful horn sound.

    The blue team members also began to dance enthusiastically in a loose formation. Their movements were weird and unrestrained, and were filled with primitive wildness, which had made everyone be excited¡­.

    When the horn sound stopped, the two teams then lined up and earnestly greeted the audience, the cheering in the arena continued for a long time¡­.

    Tios became interested by this new and unprecedented opening that had made him to not hear Dicaeapolis clearly.

    ¡°Tios, which team do you want to win?¡±

    ¡°The blue team!¡± Tios answered without thinking, the blue team''s wild war dance had caught his eyes.

    ¡°You want the Lucanians to win?!¡± Dicaeapolis was a bit surprised.

    ¡°The blue team is the team of Nerulum?!¡± Tios had only suddenly realized that their dance movement was out of the ordinary.

    ¡°Thepetition information is posted at the entrance of the arena. Didn''t you read it?¡± Dicaeapolis then stressed, ¡°I support Amendra! Many of its citizens are from Crete, which also includes my friends*.¡± (Referring to the soldiers of the seventh brigade of the first legion.)

    At this time, the yers from both sides turned around and faced the seats of the distinguished guests. Amidst themotion, Tios saw a man standing on the seats of the distinguished guests.

    ¡°He is the one and only archon for life of Theonia Union, Davos!¡± There was awe and jealousy in the voice of Dicaeapolis.

    But that wasn''t the case for Tios, instead, he has a strong urge to see the legendary favoured of the gods with his own eyes.

    He then saw Davos swung down his right hand, then the rapid and sharp salpinx sounded in session, then the match started.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Lord Davos, there are a lot more people that havee to watch the game this afternoon than in the morning. ording to the report of the guards who were in charge of allowing the entree of the people at the entrance, many of them were merchants from various city-states.¡± Marigi then excitedly added, ¡°It seems that your n to attract the rich people from the surrounding city-states to Thurii for consumption with wonderfulpetitions is quite possible!¡±

    Mersis was also excited, ¡°I just went to the arena for a walk and the beers, juices, and dried fruits were almost sold out. And we have even managed to sell a lot of hats and linen cushions!¡±

    ¡°It is mostly due to rugby being too fascinating!¡± As the praetor of Thurii, Kunogta was also one of the persons in charge of thepetition. He had participated in the preparation work from the aspects of organization, publicity, security and safety in ordance with the instruction of Davos. He personally developed the nned rugbypetition into this current situation, and he was also shocked, ¡°Lord Davos, I think the rugby games can be held regrly in the future and we can charge a fee for it. It would be like watching a y.¡±

    ¡°Will the money from the tickets go to the state treasury?¡± Mersis hurriedly asked.

    ¡°Of course, it belongs to the state treasury, but the sries of the yers and the pensions of the injured yers should be paid in order to encourage more people to actively participate in the sport. The rest of the money will be use to prepare for the construction of more arenas in Amendra and in Nerulum¡­Kunogta, Cornelius, Marigi, Alexius and Mersis you need to form a rugby athleticmittee to discuss how to further promote rugby and attract more foreigners to watch and formte a more detailed and perfect n and to quickly implement it. After rugby bes popr in Magna Graecia in the future, we can also host a rugby tournament in Magna Graecia, and invite the teams of various city-states to participate!¡­.¡±

    The words of Davos have inspired Kunogta: There are four Games with great influence in the Greek city-states in this era. The Olympic Games held by the city-state of Elis in the Peloponnesian Penins is the oldest and the most sacred, which was mainly to honor Zeus, and the temple of Zeus in Olympia is the holynd of the Greeks(one of the seven wonders of the ancient world); The Isthmian Games held by Corinth was mainly dedicated to Poseidon; The Pythian Games held by the famous temple at Delphi in Greece is to celebrate Apollo, the sun god; There is also the Nemean Games, which are held by the Argives who imed to have the noblest royal blood in ancient times, the Nemean Games is also to honour Zeus. In addition, there is also the Panathenaic Game to honor Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, and also the Panathenaic festival held by Athens is equally influential. Moreover, it is not only a sportspetition, but also music, poetry, ys and other kinds ofpetitions. Whenever these celebrations are held locally, famous people from all over Greece gather there, and the eyes of all Greeks are focused on there, winning a great reputation for the host city. If the rugby game were to develop well, then holding arge-scale panGreek rugby match to honor Hades, will not only expand the influence of Theonia Union, but will also make Kunogta famous in history and gain the favor of the gods.

    Seeing that they were in a trance and having shortness of breath, Davos vaguely guessed what they were thinking: In the ancient history, the Roman''s diator Games was famous throughout the Mediterranean, but his Theonia Union does not need such a bloody, cruel and inhumane savage events to entertain the public, nor to inspire the people''s warrior heart. Theonia can do a better one! Besides rugby, they can also hold basketball in the future¡­.ah, basketball might not be good because the requirements for the ball are too high. Can the current technology even do it?¡­.while Football may be possible. Davos then thought about going back and asking the leather tanner, Tulkas, to try it¡­.

    ¡°SCORE! A TOUCHDOWN SCORE! Good job Tagetinos!¡± Amintas and Matonis, who were watching the game, excitedly yelled and clinked their mugs to celebrate.

    ¡°Buy me another beer.¡± Said Amintas to the ve attendants.

    ¡°Master, the beer outside are all sold out.¡±

    ¡°No more?!¡± Amintas immediately turned around and eximed, ¡°Lord Davos, your beer is a great drink, but there are too few!¡±

    Davos smiled bitterly, it seemed that he needed to expand the brewery again. While thinking of it, he thought of another matter.

    ¡°Everyone!¡± Davos then said out loud, ¡°As you all know, my wife has recently bought the hot spring swamp area north of Thurii.¡±

    Burkes was the first to nod his head. As the chief agricultural officer, he himself handles thend sale process. At that time, he also advised Cheiristoya to, ¡®In addition to a few hot springs in the area where the mosquitoes breed, you can neither farm nor build houses there. So don''t waste money in buying them.¡¯

    ¡°I am going to build arge-scale hot spring bath there to attract the merchants in Magna Graecia and the Theonia people to soak in and have a rest, because it involves the drainage and filling of the swamps, the area of the hot springs, diverting the Tiro river, and the construction of the baths¡­.which all needs arge investment. Are any of you willing to cooperate with me to invest in this hot spring bath?¡± Davos sincerely invited the statesmen.

    Soak in a bath?! The Greeks of this era did not have the habit of the ancient Romans who liked to take a bath. They lived a simple life and didn''t like to take a bath. If their bodies were too dirty, they would just put olive oil on their bodies, then scrape them with special tools and then wash them with water. Therefore, there are many statesmen who are hesitant about this new thing.

    Marigi, who has enjoyed the luxury life of Persia, was the first to shout, ¡°ME! I want to invest!¡± Marigi had often discussed with Davos about the trade development of the union, so he naturally knew about the young archon''s ability in business. Among his other businesses like the Cheiristoya''s bank, restaurants and breweries are so prosperous, and all their sess is due to Davos.

    ¡°I! I, as well!¡± Mersis was also someone who understood the talent of Davos in business.

    ¡°I will also invent some money as well.¡± Kunogta and Cornelius said sessively. As the two praetors who often discuss the city-state management with Davos, they certainly have some understanding of the talent of Davos.

    ¡°We will also join.¡± The officers of the former mercenaries, such as Hielos, Matonis, Amintas, Antonios, Alexius and so on, have blind trust in him.

    In addition to several Thurian statesmen, such as Burkes and Ansitanos, who are willing to put in a small amount of money to show their support, the others, such as Bolus and Enanilus, have made it clear that they are not optimistic about it.

    The Amendran statesmen such as Scambras and Stromboli, originally did not believe that the hot spring baths could profit, but they had instead chosen to support Davos, whom they regard as an Amendran, because of the disapproval of the Thurian statesmen.

    Vespa didn''t understand any of it at all, but he knew that he was in absolute disadvantage in the senate, so he could only follow Davos.

    Davos originally raised the matter about the funds for business purposes from the statesmen in order to tie their interest together, and to also promote harmony in the senate, and yet, it became a demonstration of the statesmen attitude towards him.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Tios kept his gaze on the field, the game was indeed very exciting, which was beyond his imagination.

    He originally thought that whether this kind of ball games will be simr to a kind of stone ball throwing game in Sparta, but now, it seems that it ispletely iparable.

    Dicaeapolis supported the team of Amendra, but he doesn''t know why he feels that Nerulum would win from the bottom of his heart, even though the current score is 3:0, and Nerulum is behind.

    Tios was a bit anxious and inwardly cheered Nerulum.

    Now, it is the turn of Nerulum to attack. The red team obviously cooperates with each other well and knows how to use tactics. They cut off the passing line of the yer of the blue team who was currently holding the ball, and forced him to the foul-line, then two red team yers rushed forward. The yer of the blue team no longer has any room to dodge, so he could only throw the ball from his crotch to the rear before being knocked down. The quarterback of the blue team was fast and quickly caught the ball, then two more red team yers immediately trapped him¡­.

    Just when Tios yelled, ¡°Crap!¡± The quarterback of the blue team made a lunge and used his strong body to sh with the yer of the red team who hade up to stop him and made him go unsteady, then the quarterback threw the rugby ball hard.

 Chapter 194: The Ambition of Timasion

    It was a long pass of nearly forty meters! The rugby ball flew high and fast. The blue team''s supporters watched its trajectory andmented that this pass will definitely go out of bound, and it would be then the time for the offense and defense to change again!

    But at this moment, they saw a yer of the blue team on the right-wing run pass the red team''s interception and quickly rushed to it and jumped high.

    ¡°By Zeus, he managed to jump so high!¡± In the exmation of the audience, the yer of the blue team stretched out his long arm to block the rugby ball that was flying fast in mid air. When he was falling down, he held the rugby ball tightly with both hands, and the touchdown area was only a few meters in front of him.

    ¡°Stop him!¡± The red team yers yelled anxiously, which could even be heard by the audience.

    A red team yer nearest to the blue team yer rushed forward. The blue team yer did not evade, with the strong inertia of his previous sprint, he threw his whole body out with all his effort together with the red team yer who had managed to grab his legs, and they heavilynded in the touchdown area with the ball still firmly in his hands.

    TOUCHDOWN!

    Tios, like the other Nerulum fans, became excited by the brilliant performance of the yer of the blue team. He was unable to restrain his excitement, he suddenly stood up and started to dance and shout, and had even drank a mouthful of beer. The cold foam had washed away his restlessness and had made him feel refreshed.

    After he sat back down, he realized that his hands were full of sweat due to his nervousness. This is indeed a more excitingpetition than the traditional Greek sports!

    Dicaeapolis looked at him and suddenly said, ¡°So you support Nerulum!¡±

    Tios embarrassedly made an excuse, ¡°Someone has to support them, who are of different races, so that the game will be more intense and exciting!¡±

    Dicaeapolis nodded in agreement.

    At this moment, several referees ran to the touchdown area because the blue team yer who scored just now had not yet stood up.

    What happened? Tios began to get nervous again.

    The referee waved to the physician on the court, and soon even a stretcher was carried over. The blue team yer shook his head and refused to lie down on the stretcher. His left arm drooped as he struggled to stand up¡­.

    ¡°It seems that his arm is dislocated.¡± Said Dicaeapolis.

    The injured yer walked down the court and waved his right hand to the surrounding audience to apologize. His brilliant and heroic performance have impressed the audience, and so, they gave him a heroic respect with warm apuse and cheers.

    ¡°Rugby is really a game for the brave warriors!¡± Tios said emotionally.

    At this moment, the audience who had asked Dicaeapolis priorly could not wait to say, ¡°I will call on the citizens of Roscianum to learn rugby tonight, and we will have a wonderful performance in the next rugby game!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as the eyes of Theonia Union and most foreigners were focused on the rugby game, in one of the houses in a low-cost residential area under the city of Amendra, Timasion, Cleanor, and Toras had gathered for a confidential meeting.

    ¡°Leaders, I have contacted all our brothers. There are about 1,700 men who are willing to follow us.¡± Said Toras, the trusted subordinate of Timasion and a former mercenary officer.

    ¡°1,700 men¡­.¡± Cleanor said with some dissatisfaction, ¡°The number is still a bit low.¡±

    ¡°It''s enough to attack Krimisa!¡± Timasion said calmly and resolutely, ¡°I have investigated Krimisa in detail. After theirst war, there are only more than a thousand citizens in this small ce who could participate in battle, defeating them will not be a problem, but, the problem would be how to quickly take the city of Krimisa?!¡±

    ¡°So we must carefully prepare siege equipment, and at the same time, we must keep it a secret and not leak it out, because once Davos and the others find out, they will not only stop us, but will also make Krimisa be alert!¡± Reminded Cleanor.

    ¡°I didn''t tell anyone the truth. I had only told them what you have taught me leader Cleanor that, ¡®We are going to take them to Syracuse and ept the employment of Dionysius to attack Carthage, because after the war, Syracuse will make us citizens!¡¯¡± Said Toras.

    ¡°For Xanticles and Tolmides, we should not tell them that we are leaving. I have tried to talk to them several times, but I feel that they are already satisfied with their life here¡­¡± Cleanor said with contempt, ¡°Xanticles and the others would rather go work as porters in the port than take up arms to fight on the battlefield. They have turned from warriors into a group of cowards!¡±

    ¡°When we be the master of Krimisa, they will regret it!¡± Timasion consoled Cleanor.

    ¡°What if¡­.once we capture Krimisa, Crotone will then lead their army to attack us?¡± Toras said anxiously.

    ¡°It''s simple!¡± Cleanor said with a bit of ridicule, ¡°As soon as we capture Krimisa, we will immediately send someone to inform Davos that ¡®Krimisa is willing to join Theonia Union.¡¯ Davos will not abandon us! Even if he really forgot our previous friendship, Philesius, Agasias, Hieronymus¡­and the other officers like old Diogenes who is also now a statesman, and the soldiers who have fought together with us and are now citizens of Theonia will also speak for us. Therefore, Davos will not ignore the opinions of so many people. Didn''t he im that it was the people who had elected him?! Can he go against the will of so many people?! Isn''t that right, Timasion?!¡±

    ¡°Indeed, the way Davos and the others manage to acquire Amendra and be the rulers of a city-state in Magna Graecia! We can also learn from their experience and obtain Krimisa with their help! We are no worse than them! Why are they so up high, while we are so down below?!¡± After arriving at Theonia, Timasion, who has been silent, is now voicing his thoughts and his face is full of rivalry.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    A few dayster, when Davos received a report from Aristias that there was a change in the mercenaries that was led by Timasion and Cleanor, Timasion had taken the initiative toe see him.

    ¡°You are leaving the union?!¡± Davos heard the request of Timasion and was slightly surprised.

    ¡°We will go to Syracuse and help Dionysius attack the Carthaginians. I heard that he promised that ¡®After they win the war, you can be a citizen of Syracuse and get allocated a fertilend.¡¯¡± Said Timasion with seriousness.

    Davos was silent, because of what Aristias had said (Syracuse had a grudge against him), and that Davos knew a lot about Syracuse, and Dionysius had indeed made such a promise to the mercenaries.

    Timasion, seeing that Davos was silent, continued to say, ¡°Davos, we are very grateful to you and Agasias for your help and care. However, we are all used to our freedom and are unable to adapt to the strictws here, and also because we are unable to be a citizen of the union immediately. Our brothers have started to have some opinions, and I think that our departure will be good for you and for us!¡±

    Davos gazed at Timasion. Seeing the resolve on his face, he nodded slowly and said, ¡°Hmm, so you are going to Sicily. Is there anything I can help you with?¡±

    ¡°Please return our weapons and equipment that are stored in your armory to us, and¡­can you be our guarantor, so that we can hire a number of ships to transport us to Syracuse?¡­erm, if you can also give us some tents so that after we arrive in Syracuse, we can camp in the wild before we get hired¡­of course, if you can also give us some more food¡­.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The news that themore than 1,700 mercenaries led by Timasion and Cleanor were leaving Theonia Union had caused a small stir among the statesmen.

    For statesmen like Kunogta, Cornelius, Protesus and the others who had taken up important positions and have been tortured by these often trouble causing mercenaries in recent months, think that it is a great thing.

    For the statesmen that were former mercenaries such as Philesius, Agasias, and Hieronymus, they are deeply saddened.

    Although Davos expressed regret on the surface, he felt much more relieved. After all, many people in the union now know that Timasion was hisrade when he was in Persia, so as long as they have done any huge problem in the union, not only are there people in the senate(the Thurian statesmen that are headed by Bolus) who would make aint, but the masses as well. If things go on like this, it will certainly damage the prestige of Davos.

    On the day Timasion led the mercenaries to leave, the statesmen that were former mercenaries and many other former mercenary soldiers have gone to the port to see them off.

    Facing the apology of Agasias, Timasion gave him a strong hug, ¡°Among ourrades, I am mostly grateful to you, because you have truly wanted to help us! Zeus watches from above, so he will surely repay your kindness!¡±

    On the other hand, Cleanor gloatingly said to Xanticles, Tolmides and the others, ¡°One day, you will find that it was your mistake that you didn''t leave with us. Then at that time, you wille to us and beg!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Looking at the transport ship filled with mercenaries that were leaving the port. Agasias was disappointed, he then dejectedly said to Davos, ¡°Did I make a mistake and should not have let theme to join the union?¡±

    Davos patted him on the shoulder, and then pointed to the side and said, ¡°You didn''t make a mistake. Not every mercenary likes to live a life of constant fighting. Didn''t they choose the union with your help?¡±

    Following the direction of Davos'' finger, the mercenaries such as Xanticles, Tolmides, and others who were leaving to continue their day''s work after seeing off theirpanions¡­.

    ¡°During this period of time that you were in contact with them, I believe that you have noticed it.¡± Davos said to the depressed Agasias, ¡°Today, we are no longer what we were in Persia, but they are still the same. We have epted those who are willing to ept the new changes, but those who are not willing to adapt to the new environment like Timasion, leaving is the best choice for them!¡±

 Chapter 195: Surprise attack on Krimisa

    After hearing what Davos has said, Agasias looked at the distant ship, remembering theints of Cleanor and the others about themselves during this period. Agasias nodded and said, ¡°You are right!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Half an hourter, the transport ship was far away from Thurii and was heading south on the route leading to Syracuse.

    Timasion, who was in the first ship, gave an order, and the soldiers on board immediately took action to capture the captain and the sailors and said aloud, ¡°We will not hurt you, we just want you to go off course!¡±

    While appeasing the frightened captain and sailors, they raised the red gs on the main mast and scattered them on the other ships. The officers who had been secretly informed by Timasion a day before their departure, saw the signal g flying high on the first ship and immediately started to take control on the other 40 ships.

    ¡°Go to the beach between Krimisa and Roscianum!¡± Timasion gave the order to the captain.

    ¡°What are you going to do?!¡± The captain, though flustered, still shouted.

    The soldier who held him gave him a kick and said, ¡°Hurry up and do what our leader had ordered!¡±

    Seeing that the captain was hurt, the sailors began to be agitated. They only shrank back after two of them got stabbed by a mercenary.

    ¡°We are all registered freemen of Theonia Union. Are you not afraid to arouse the anger of the union?!¡± The captain looked at the wounded sailor who was struggling on the deck and shouted out angrily.

    ¡®This is really a problem!¡¯ Timasion had spent more than two months in the union and knew about thew of Theonia. Even those sailors who have only registered but have not yet be a preparatory citizens, if they are treated unfairly in foreign city-states, ording to thew, Theonia Union is obliged to negotiate with the concerned city-state, not to mention their protection of official citizens. If they were to really kill them, he fears that the statesmen who were once theirrades in the senate of Theonia will be infuriated and say that ¡®Thew is thew¡¯, and they will no longer be able to use Theonia to keep Krimisa.

    So he sent someone to help the two wounded sailors and bandaged their wounds and then said to the captain as kind as possible, ¡°In the name of Zeus, I, Timasion, have no intention of infringing upon the union. As long as you send us ashore, you can sail away!¡±

    The captain then turned to the helmsman in doubt.

    Timasion hurriedly but quietly told his men, ¡°Try to tell ourpanions on the other ship to not hurt anyone as much as possible!¡±

    Why is it trying? It is because this is a makeshift team, and they are also a mercenary, it is only because they do not want to be bound by the union, and because the two leaders, Timasion and Cleanor, have high prestige that they are willing to follow theirmand. However, if they were to control them, Timasion himself has no such ability.

    Another half an hourter, under the guidance of the two guides who they paid expensively, the fleetnded on a sparsely popted beach closer to Roscianum in order to avoid being discovered by Krimisa.

    While the captain was still worried about whether there would be damage to the bottom of the ship, the soldiers then pushed them off the ship.

    ¡°You said that you would let us go!¡± The captain yelled to Timasion in panic.

    ¡°I did, but not now. We will need you to stay here a little bit longer so that you will not report us back!¡± Said Timasion coldly. He then ordered the soldiers to pull the boat to the beach, then tie up the captain and the sailors and throw them into the grass. While implementing it, the sailors resisted, and naturally, there will be casualties, but Timasion doesn''t have the time to worry about them at this time. He and Cleanor and the other officers had quickly gathered the mercenaries together, and then took out some timbers hidden under the tent that was given by Davos and their formerrades, then they all worked together to quickly make adder.

    Timasion knew that Davos was very cautious. So he only asked for tents and food, not only to hide some siege equipment, but also to numb him. And now, after each soldier had carried enough ration for two days, he then said to the captain, ¡°The supplies on your ship belong to your archon, Davos. So don''t forget to return it back to him when you go back.¡±

    Afterwards, he ignored the crew''s cry and led the mercenaries to the south.

    During daytime, it is difficult to hide the trace of 1,700 people moving on the in, especially in the sunny season of spring sowing. Timasion''s initial idea was to disembark at night, but that meant that the fleet of more than 40 ships could only roam around the sea during the day. If they are too close to the coast, it will easily arouse the vignce and suspicion of patrol boats and the merchant ships that are passing through Crotone and Krimisa, if it is too far away from the coast, it would be difficult to distinguish the direction and make an uratending in the dark, and are also prone to idents.

    Therefore, Timasion and the others had prepared to strike Krimisa by surprise and the key was to move quickly! Fast enough to make Krimisa not able to react quickly even if they learned about it.

    Between Roscianum and Krimisa is a rtivelyrge marsh, which was caused by the long-term flooding of the Traeis river and its tributaries. At the beginning of Decemberst year, Timasion hade here to check the terrain. It waspletely easy to traverse on the coast, and also, in order to facilitate thend exchange and trade between Krimisa and Roscianum, a fording ce and pontoon bridge were also built.

    However, what Timasion didn''t expect was that by the end of December, when spring came, the snow melted, and the torrential rain in January this year has made the river water surge far more than in previous years, which naturally expand the march significantlypared with previous years, which brought great difficulties to the mercenaries'' rapid march.

    While Timasion and the others trudged in the marsh, they asionally saw farmers and ves who were leading their livestock, chickens and ducks to the edge of the marsh to forage. When they saw the mercenaries in the distance, they immediately ran away in panic. Later, scattered cavalries began to appear in the sight of Timasion, which let them know that their surprise attack had failed.

    Timasion immediately convened some of the officers, such as Cleanor and Toras, to urgently discuss whether to cancel their n to attack Krimisa.

    Mostly everyone such as Cleanor and Toras, insisted on moving forward, because they had already taken such a long time of waiting and careful preparation to get such a good opportunity. If they give up easily and return to Theonia, they will only be ridiculed. What''s more, if their attempts were to be found out by the others, Davos will definitely be wary of them, and the Thurians will no longer be kind to them. At that time, they can only leave Magna Graecia and will never encounter such a good opportunity again!

    When Timasion saw that everyone had the same idea, he immediately put forward his revised n after thinking about it: In order to speed up their marching, they should rush to the city before the Krimisians put up their defense, capture Krimisa in the shortest time and then defend against the possible reinforcements of Krimisa, and obtain the approval of Theonia Union for them to join the Theonia alliance after obtaining Krimisa. With the protection of Theonia, their safety will be guaranteed!

    The officers had no objection to his new n, so they immediately put it into action.

    ¡°Brothers, speed up! Pick up the pace! As long as we get out of here, Krimisa will be like a delicious olive waiting for us to pick!¡± Timasion cheered up the depressed mercenaries.

    Cleanor, Toras and the other officers were also urging them.

    The soldiers who had been fighting for such a long time also knew that the situation was urgent, so they could not tolerate the slightest hesitation. They cursed at the terrible environment while struggling to advance¡­finally, the army managed to get out of the marsh.

    At this time, one of the cavalry, who had been watching them, came forward and shouted, ¡°I am Timacharis, the captain of the patrol team of Krimisa! Stranger, you are trespassing on the territory of Krimisa! Immediately-¡± His voice stopped, as a javelin pierced his chest and he fell down on his horse, then the several cavalries who were nearby were immediately frightened and ran away.

    ¡°Damn it, who threw the javelin?!!¡± Timasion, who was walking forward, yelled. He wanted to cajole the Krimisians in order to buy some time for their attack, but he did not anticipate it to be immediately destroyed by these bloodthirsty mercenaries.

    ¡°Now that it has happened, don''t me them anymore, lest it affect the morale of our brothers!¡± Whispered Cleanor.

    Since the time they disembark, Timasion had experienced sessive troubles, which had made him depressed. However, he had to restrain himself, ¡®Cleanor is right! We need to hurry up!¡¯

    After spitting a mouthful of phlegm, he then asked the guide, ¡°How much longer till we reach Krimisa?¡±

    The guide could only swallow his saliva after he saw the twisted and ferocious expression of Timasion, and said in a trembling voice, ¡°¡­.about¡­about 5 kilomers away¡­.¡±

    Timasion looked at the sky and said to the herald, ¡°Have the brothers work harder. We will continue on rushing, we will then rest once we get to Krimisa!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While on their way, they could no longer see anyone. The farmers and ves who had been working hard in the fields have apparently learned about them and had fled into the city.

    Half an hourter, Timasion saw the city of Krimisa in the distance. He then immediately told the troops to stop rushing and advance slowly.

    The city of Krimisa is located at Cbria in the region of Punto Alice. More than 200 years ago, it was originally the settlement of the indigenous people, and was thenter upied by the Sybaris, who had then built the city of Krimisa. It has since then be the sub-state of Sybaris until the fall of Sybaris a hundred years ago, and the weak Krimisa had to rely on its strong neighbor, Crotone. Decadester, thanks to the establishment of Thurii, Athens had reached an agreement with Crotone, which made Krimisa and Roscianum be independent. However, the war between Thurii and Crotone had broken the neutrality of Krimisa, because they wanted to join the powerful Crotone and to at least share some fruits of victory. However, they never thought that the powerful Crotone would be defeated by the weak Amendra, and so Krimisa had also paid a heavy price of nearly 2,000 casualties.

 Chapter 196: Storming Krimisa

    Although the Thua Union had not punished Krimisa in the end, Krimisa had to return to bing neutral again, and the strategoi and statesmen of Krimisa were uneasy. Although Crotone lost, they had not lost their strength: And the merchants who had been to Thurii marveled at the rapid development of Theonia Union. One of them has suffered humiliation of losing in a war for the first time after many years, and the other has suffered from having their city burned. The two forces will surely fight again. This is the consensus of the top-level of Krimisa, but this will be a disaster for them, who is sandwiched between Crotone and Theonia.

    After Roscianum joined the Theonia alliance, Theonia had built a road that connects Roscianum, and had given them trade preferences. As a result, the trade of Roscianum had rapidly grown in just a short period of more than half a year. Despite the envy of the Krimisians, most of them will not try to curry favor with Theonia. After all, Krimisa is closer to Crotone and has been influenced by them for a long time. Both in terms of feelings and interests, the Krimisians are more inclined to Crotone.

    When the council of Krimisa received an urgent report from the cavalry that there were countless soldiers crossing the marsh in the north, which made everyone shocked, though some of them have thought to check out the situation first.

    However, the polemarchos, Androlis, strongly opposed the opinion of everyone and insisted on: While they send out scouts to check out the situation, they would send someone to Crotone to ask for their help.

    He then eximed, ¡°Everyone, these men that havee from the north, armed or not, from Theonia or from other ces, but they have stepped into our territory without permission. It is without a doubt that they have malicious intent! Krimisa has not yet recovered from our previous defeat, and there are no more than a thousand citizens who can fight. I am afraid that once we have a thorough understanding of them, the enemy would have already arrived, and then it will be toote to ask for help! I''d rather ask for help first and apologize to the Crotonianster if I made a mistake than losing our ancestral home because of hesitation!¡±

    The words of Androlis had convinced most of them. Half an hour after they sent a herald to Crotone, the scouts brought back a news that made them worry: About two thousands soldiers, most of which are hoplites, rushed to Krimisa with longdders, and had killed a Krimisian cavalry who went to question them.

    ¡®They are enemies!¡¯ The members of the Krimisa''s council no longer need to doubt, but they had no time to thank Androlis for his foresight, as they had to inform the citizens to start arming themselves, and at this moment, they had also issued an emergency mobilization order for battle, which ordered all the people who can fight to go to the wall.

    As a small town, Krimisa does not have any special products and the trade of its port is not developed. Even so, Androlis and the other strategoi had learned the lesson of the old Thurii and had immediately granted citizenship to nearly 500 young and strong freemen and asked them to participate in the battle.

    Just as the Krimisians were preparing for the battle, the mercenaries had already advanced to more than 200 meters from the northern part of Krimisa, and Timasion could now already see the shadowy figures of the guards on the top of the wall.

    ¡°It seems that the Krimisians are ready!¡± Cleanor said with a bit of disappointment.

    While the expression of Timasion remained unchanged. Timasion then said, ¡°Since our surprise attack n can no longer be used, then we will take Krimisa by storm!¡±

    He then immediately ordered, ¡°Brothers, take a rest on the spot!¡±

    He, Cleanor and Toras and the other officers quickly gathered together to discuss how to attack the city of Krimisa.

    The city wall of Krimisa is only four meters high, and there is only a three meter wide moat outside. There are no fortifications or traps, such a simple city defense is not worth mentioningpared to the cities that they had captured in Asia Minor with Thimbron. Even though the city wall was full of soldiers, Timasion and the officers did not think that they could withstand the powerful offense of the mercenaries because Krimisa have been at peace without experiencing war for decades, and half a year ago, when they followed the army of Crotone against the union, the Krimisians werepletely massacred.

    Timasion, Cleanor and the officers firmly believed that the Krimisian soldiers, who have nobat experience and have low morale, are all ipetent!

    After quicklypleting the deployment, Timasion went to the front of the formation and said to the mercenaries, ¡°Brothers, I believe that you will never forget the two months that you have stayed in Theonia Union! You have left there and have followed us here because you are not satisfied! Why is it that Davos and the others who were mercenaries like us, have everything, while we have nothing?!¡± Timasion turned around and then pointed to the city of Krimisa and shouted, ¡°Now, the opportunity is in front of us, once we take down this city, we will also be noblemen! And be the masters of the city as well!!¡±

    The mercenaries beat the shield with their spears and roared to vent their depression and frustration over the past two months. At the same time, they also wanted to win and hope for a better life in the future!

    Their roars have even reached the top of the city wall, which made the Krimisians pale.

    The strategos in charge of military affairs, Eurypus, was anxious when he saw this situation. In order to boost their morale, he then shouted, ¡°Citizens, the number of enemies is asrge as ours! But we have walls and moats to protect us, so they won''t be able to hurt us! What is more, the Crotonians are on their way to aid us!¡±

    When the Krimisian heard of reinforcements, they became a bit courageous.

    ¡°Attack!¡± Timasion saw that the morale was high and so he gave the order without hesitation.

    And so, the salpinx sounded, and Cleanor led his troops to the west of Krimisa, while Timasion led his troops to the north.

    The hoplites were at the front, with 5 men carrying longdders, and were marching slowly in a very loose formation, and the light infantries were at the back. As they were about to enter the range of the archers of Krimisa, they started to take off their round shields, then use the shield to protect their head and chest, and moved forward by staying low.

    The arrows that came from the walls were like rain, but the mercenaries were not afraid. They then manage to arrive at the moat without a suspense, then several people helped to put the six meter long woodendder on the moat. When they stepped on the longdder to cross the moat,pared to hoplites identally falling into the moat, the arrows did not cause as much as casualties to the hoplites.

    Eurypus, who was watching the skillful tactics and calm performance of the enemy, had made him nervous. ¡®These enemies are experienced and I fear that it will not be easy to deal with them!¡¯

    ¡°Come on! Go and prepare more stones, wood and x oil, and bring them to the top of the wall at once!¡± Eurypus shouted anxiously.

    After the hoplite basically crossed the moat, they took the longdder again, and quickly rushed to the bottom of the wall, they thenid the longdder against the wall, but there are still some longdders on the moat that were not retracted, as it is for the light infantries to use to cross the moat.

    The Krimisians then rushed to throw woods and stone, and poured the x oils. As the torch dropped, the me rose and the casualties of the mercenaries sharply increased¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the height of the fierce battle between Krimisa and the mercenaries, Davos received

    an rming information that Timasion had not gone to Syracuse, but had instead went to Krimisa.

    On the eastern coast of Magna Graecia, there are frequent ships thate and go, so when they see more than 40 empty ships stranded on the beach, there will always be curious merchant ships that stop to investigate. They then found the captains and sailors who were bound and were left in the grass.

    After being rescued, they immediately sailed back to the port of Thurii andined to the guards about what happened.

    After Davos learned about it, he became furious. As the guarantor of Timasion, the hijacking of the transport ship and the 15 casualties of the sailors have already made him angry, but what made him even more angry was that, Timasion had led more than a thousand mercenaries tond on the coast between Roscianum and Krimisa.

    With a bit of thinking, he managed to guess what their goal was, ¡®Krimisa! Those audacious mercenaries actually have the idea of taking Krimisa! I had even felt sorry for their departure! Damn Timasion, he cheated us all!¡¯ Whileining about his carelessness, Davos was already thinking about the consequence of the action of the mercenaries: Whether they manage to take Krimisa or not, they will break the delicate bnce between Theonia and Crotone, and now, Theonia has to start to prepare earlier now!

    But when he thought of holding a senate meeting, Davos felt a bit of a headache, because some people will certainly take this opportunity to make trouble. Although it will not have any actual impact on him, he indeed had made a mistake! And sure enough, those in power must not be easily influenced by their personal feelings. If he had hindered his personal feelings and not agreed to Agasias at the start, then how could there have been so many things afterwards! This is a profound lesson that he should bear in mind!¡­.

    ¡°Aristocrates, immediately send someone to Philesius, Agasias, Hieronymus, Kapus, and Antonions and have theme here!¡± Davos told Aristocrates that he needed to talk to these former mercenaries.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Leader, our men are going up fast!¡± His subordinate shouted with excitement.

    Timasion became spirited, he then exposed his head from under his round shield and peeped up. He then saw a soldier managing to step on the battlement not far away.

    At this time, seven spears pierced straight towards the soldier who was busy blocking it with his round shield, but because of this, he could not stand firmly and was forcibly pushed down the wall. However, the wall was only four meters high and there were corpses on the ground, so he did not suffer so much damage after he fell. The soldier then unsteadily stood up, he was currently not fully awake and have even forgotten to take a precautions when a rock hit his head*, so he fell down again, but this time, he didn''t get up. (Because the Corinthian helmet is bulky and the vision is too narrow for a siege so they had taken it off.

    Seeing this situation, Timasion then shouted, ¡°Have Execias and the others to get closer to the wall to give more support to the hoplites who are sieging the city!¡±

    ¡°Leader¡­.¡± The herald''s face showed an awkward expression, ¡°They are light infantries who arecking protection. Doing so will make them vulnerable to arrows!¡±

 Chapter 197: Capturing the City

    ¡°You should know that we are sieging a city! Sieging!!¡± Timasion shouted angrily, ¡°If the hoplites can''t go up the walls or open the gates, then saving their lives is useless! Quickly! Quickly!!¡±

    Timasion sent heralds across the moat to the light infantries. Then he turned his gaze and swept the ground under the city wall. There were countless corpses littered in all directions, and there were also mercenaries and Krimisians struggling and groaning¡­.

    Timasion had already seen such sights so many times. Before going to Magna Graecia, they were under themand of Thimbron, as theyunched a siege on Larissa(Larissa Phrikonis) in Asia Minor for several months. Therefore, he had a deep understanding of the difficulty of a siege. It''s just that¡­he has no other choice but to keep on sieging, because time is the key to their sess.

    ¡°Leader, be careful!¡± The shouts of his subordinates made him subconsciously hide his head under his round shield, when he suddenly heard a ¡°ng¡± sound, and the back of his hand shook. An arrow hit the surface of his shield and bounced back.

    As soon as he breathed a sigh of relief, he then heard people shouting ¡°Aaaah! Aaaaahhhh!¡±, followed by a loud ¡°bang¡± sound.

    There is no need for him to see it, because he already knew that the siegedder was pushed down by the enemy, and the agitation in his heart began to grow.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Strategos, the archers unit of the enemy is nowing!¡± The panic cry of the soldiers had rmed Eurypus.

    The light infantries who were initially in front of the moat had quickly rushed under the city wall. Compared with the poorly trained soldiers of Krimisa, the archery skill of these enemies are urate and fierce. Soon, most of the casualties of the citizens were caused by them.

    ¡°Don''t worry about the enemy on thedder. Concentrate on attacking the archers of the enemy!¡± Eurypus run around to give orders to the archers.

    ¡°The enemy hase up again!¡± The soldiers stopped Eurypus by shouting in panic. Not far away, a mercenary had managed to reach the top of the city wall. Facing a thrusting spear, he covered his upper body with a shield and jumped forward. Not only did the spear fail to stab him, he had also managed to crash onto the enemy. He did not immediately get up, and instead, with his right hand, quickly shed with his kopis randomly, shing the unprotected thighs of several enemy soldiers. He then got up, but did not take advantage of the chaos to attack, and he instead retreated to thedder, with his back against the parapet, he then squatted down and covered his body with his round shield.

    The spears of the soldiers did little harm on him. On the contrary, they did not dare to approach him because they were afraid that his sword would stretch out from under his shield and sh their feet. During this dy, another mercenary managed to get on the top of the city wall.

    ¡°Push forward! Block them!¡± Eurypus led the reserve soldiers, and the dense spears forced the enemy to the corner.

    ¡°Get rid of their shields!¡± As soon as Eurypus shouted his order, the soldier next to him let out a shrill scream, as a javelin pierced his chest.

    The light infantries under the city tried their best to support theirrades, bows, arrows and javelins were concentrated on this section of the city wall, and the hoplites had also increased their pace on climbing the city wall.

    Eurypus hurriedly mobilized all the remaining troops to block them. After a fierce battle between the two sides, the mercenaries were driven down, but this part of the alure was filled with injured and dead Krimisian soldiers.

    Facing such a group of enemies who are obviously experienced inbat and are fierce and bloodthirsty, every time they manage to make an opening, they will cause a lot of damage to the defending soldiers. Eurypus felt hard pressed, and his extra manpower began to dwindle, ¡°Go and tell strategos Androlis that the enemy has put all their strength into the northern wall! Have him send troops for reinforcements because we can''t hold it anymore!¡±

    Androlis also has no soldiers to spare. However, since the enemy has been storming the north and west, their troops that are responsible for the eastern part have been idle at this time of crisis.

    Androlis immediately made a decision, he then sent someone to inform Pleitinas, the strategos in charge of the eastern wall, to immediately lead the troops that are stationed there to reinforce Eurypus.

    ¡°Timasion! Leader Timasion!¡­.¡± The herald, while avoiding the arrows, had run to TImasion in a hurry, ¡°The enemy on the eastern wall has left!¡±

    ¡°I saw it!¡± Timasion was a bit excited, ¡°Go and tell Toras to act at once!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Looking at the herald that was leaving, Timasion immediately raised his arms and shouted, ¡°Brothers, work harder! Attack together with me! The enemy could no longerst!¡± After that, he wore his round shield and took a few strides to the front of thedder and grabbed it with his right hand. The mercenaries guarding thedder supported him to climb up, Timasion then climbed thedder, while the mercenary that was in front of him had already reached the top of the city wall. Timasion then soon reach the top of thedder, he then quickly drew out his kopis and stepped onto the alure, he protected his front chest, ignoring the spears and swords, he leaped forward, and crash on the enemy by force, and the kopis in his hand had also shed forward at the same time.

    ¡°Protect each other''s back! Protect each other''s back!¡± Shouted Timasion while shing the enemy.

    The mercenaries who had huddled in the corner of the wall, immediately drew closer to each other.

    Encouraged by their leader, Timasion. The mercenariesunched another fierce attack and tore many openings into the defense of the enemy on the northern wall. If the soldiers led by Pleitinas did not arrive, then the troops of Eurypus would not have been able to keep on defending.

    Both sides fought fiercely in the walkway, as the Krimisian''s morale soar due to the influx of reinforcements, they were ready to drive the mercenaries out of the city wall again.

    At this time, a huge disturbance came from the eastern wall.

    ¡°The enemy ising! The enemy ising!¡­.¡± The soldiers screamed in panic.

    Eurypus hurriedly turned his head to look at the east, he then saw that many peltast, armed with leather shields and rhomphaia, rushed along the walkway of the eastern wall.

    Eurypus had no time to think about how these people got there, he quickly asked Pleitinas to lead the reinforcements back in order to intercept the enemy, but the two sides are currently intertwined fighting each other and it is now difficult to extract their troops.

    However, the attack of the Thracian peltasts of the mercenaries were very quick. They broke into the crowd and in a narrow space, the rhomphaia exerts a terrifying killing power. If they are caught by the sharp de, then their muscles and bones will be cut off. If the hook of the de hits your neck, then it will be sliced off¡­the soldiers of Krimisa fell down in a sh, and had made them frightened that they retreated, while the peltasts chase them like maggots on bones, and the nearby mercenaries also took advantage of this chaos to climb the city wall¡­.

    The defense on the eastern end part of the northern wall of Krimisa has been torn open, and the experienced mercenaries drove the Krimisian soldiers to retreat westward¡­.

    In the crowded walkway, the panic stricken Krimisian, in order to escape, had pushed each other, and had caused some people to fall from the city wall¡­.

    Eurypus and Pleitinas had also be flustered seeing this tragedy. They were afraid of the misfortune and had retreated from the walkway in a hurry. As a result, the mercenaries easily managed to upy the walkway near the city gate, and blocked the countless Krimisian who were left¡­.

    The mercenaries then killed them mercilessly, forcing more Krimisian to jump off the wall¡­.

    Androlis, who was originally organizing and coordinating the defense under the city wall, saw this tragic sight and listened to the continuous screams of the citizens. However, at this critical moment, he had to resist his grief and arrange for the demobilized soldiers and the people to retreat to the acropolis in the southern part of the city for the final defense¡­

    The mercenaries then upied the northern wall, they then opened the gate, and the soldiers outside the city rushed in¡­.

    ¡°Leader, we won! We have captured Krimisa!¡± The subordinate, who was supporting Timasion, shouted with joy.

    Timasion was stabbed in the thigh and had a stab wound in his right arm. If the enemy didn''t fall down on his own, then he would have died under the spear. At this moment, he was also very excited, ¡°We can now also say that we have a city!¡± Timasion said with content. The mercenaries were able to capture the wall because of the sess of his n. In Theonia Union, his formerrades had told him in detail how they captured Amendra. They also let him know about the special siege equipment, Grappling Hook, and got its sketch. Timasion then sent some people to the cksmith shops in Heraclea and made dozens of them. When they attacked Krimisa, he deliberately attacked both the western and northern wall of the city. Once he manages to force the Krimisian who are defending the eastern wall toe support either the western and northern wall(to the south is a river), Toras will then lead dozens of trained peltast soldiers to climb the eastern wall with grappling hooks. Even if they are found out, they will not attract the attention of the enemy because they are not carryingdders. In this way, the peltast soldiers manage to climb up the wall with the grappling hook and give a fatal blow to Krimisa.

    After Timasion entered the city, he joined up with Cleanor, who had captured the western gate, andmanded the mercenaries to continue pursuing the defeated soldiers.

    At first, everything went well, but gradually, the mercenaries went out of control. They then began to break into the houses, looting and even capturing women¡­.

    Timasion was furious, not because he was against looting, but because the battle was not over. Heter learned that the forces of Krimisa were hiding in the acropolis, so they must take them down in one go andpletely upy Krimisa in order to celebrate their victory.

    But the excited mercenaries did things by instinct and refused to obey his orders. Timasion finally felt what Davos felt at the beginning. Knowing that it was useless, Timasion still shouted and vented his grievances.

    ¡°Leader, they are all in the acropolis anyway, so they won''t be able to run away. We will only need to block the acropolis and wait until our brothers finish what they are doing. Afterwards, we can gather them again and attack the acropolis.¡± Toras consoled him.

    ¡°I am not worried about Krimisa, I am worried about Crotone!¡± Timasion said anxiously.

    ¡°Even if Krimisa were to ask Crotone for reinforcements while we were attacking the city, it would still take some time for the herald to arrived at Crotone, for the council of Crotone to discuss it, for them to make a decision to mobilized their army ande here¡­.with so many processes, the fastest time it would take them toe here would be in the evening. I don''t believe that the Crotonians have the courage of Davos to attack the city at night! We have already captured the whole city of Krimisa and the heralds that we have sent should have already arrived at the senate of Theonia. By the time Crotone attacks tomorrow, Davos and the others, should have already made a decision.¡± Cleanor seriously analyzed it for Timasion.

 Chapter 198: Fall

    ¡°So there is no need for us to worry about Crotone, and the most important thing to worry about is whether Theonia will ept our upation of Krimisa and be their ally!¡± This is what concerned Cleanor the most.

    ¡°I don''t know¡­.¡± Timasion thought about it, but he was still not sure, ¡°I am afraid that the other city-states would not ept our upation like this. After all, they are all Greeks of Magna Graecia, and they are all full of vignce against us, mercenaries. If we want to seed, we can only gamble and take a risk! If we want to be safe, then it would be better to stay in Theonia Union!¡±

    At this moment, Timasion cheered himself up, while Cleanor, seeing that sess is in sight was a bit worried about his gains and losses, ¡°I hope that Agasias and the others can persuade Davos!¡±

    ¡°If Crotone does indeed send reinforcements, then tomorrow, we can only pretend to be soldiers of Theonia and try to dy them for a while!¡± Timasion gritted his teeth fiercely. They had already deceived Theonia once anyway, so he didn''t mind doing it again for a second time. He then pointed to the chaotic sight in front of him and said anxiously, ¡°No matter what the decision of Theonia is, and whether Crotone will send reinforcements, we must first attend to our own matter. We need to take over the whole city as soon as possible, and imprison the Krimisians, and then send some scouts to check the south, so that our brothers can be prepared for defense! Things like this must end as soon as possible, otherwise, we will always be anxious!¡±

    ¡°Forcibly issuing an order to prohibit looting and murder, otherwise they will be punished ording to militaryw¡­.¡± Cleanor then added with a wry smile, ¡°That is pretty much what Davos would do, that''s what he did when we were in Persia. We must not copy him¡­moreover, during the siege, more than 200 of our brothers had died and many were injured. So we need to let them vent their anger. Timasion, don''t irritate them. We should instead take our time¡­.¡±

    ¡°To tell you the truth, when we were in Persia, weughed at Davos and said that he was a fool¡­and it is only until today, that I realized that we were really the stupid one!¡­I¡­I have to admire Davos, because he always thinks in the long term¡­once we settle down, we must rectify our military discipline!!¡± Timasion eximed and made up his mind.

    He then immediately sent heralds to each officer and told them to try their best to gather their troops. While he and Cleanor rushed to the acropolis of Krimisa with their own soldiers and sent someone to persuade the Krimisians to surrender.

    And their answer was, ¡°NEVER!!!¡±

    Due to that, the two sides confronted each other until the afternoon.

    Seeing that more and more enemies are now besieging the acropolis, and have even begun to prepare siege equipment, the gaze of the Krimisians that were trapped became more and more desperate. They realized that the attack of the enemy was imminent, and many people began to wail. Androlis, with a grave expression, is ready to live and die with the acropolis.

    But at this moment, there was a disturbance in the still quiet camp of the enemy.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°The army of Crotone is approaching the north gate?! How can this be possible?!¡± Cleanor felt like getting struck by lightning, he was too rmed that he didn''t want to believe that the information they got was real.

    Toras was both flustered and puzzled, ¡°Our scouts in the south¡­they really did not see any sign of the Crotonians in the south?!¡±

    ¡°Leader, it¡­it is real! The Crotonians are already forming up their ranks outside the city, and they¡­will soon start attacking!!¡± The guard captain of Timasion, who was in charge of guarding the northern wall, anxiously shouted.

    Timasion barely managed to keep hisposure. How could he not believe his trusted subordinate? After thinking for a bit, his expression changed, ¡°Damn! This is our negligence. They might havee by boat just like us!¡±

    ¡°How¡­how many soldiers are there?¡± Cleanor asked nervously, hoping that the guard captain would say a small number.

    ¡°I am afraid that they numbered at least 5,000¡­.¡± The words of the guard captain destroyed the hope of everyone. They then gaze at Timasion.

    And in this desperate situation, Timasion asked, ¡°Brothers, shall we withdraw?¡±

    ¡°I¡­I¡­¡± Cleanor, while looking at the acropolis that was in front of him, struggled inwardly, with unwillingness, he shouted, ¡°We are not like the Krimisians! We can block them with the help of the wall! As long as we can hold on until tomorrow! As long as we can hold on until tomorrow!¡­Timasion, you have said it yourself that if we want to be the rulers of Krimisa, we can only take a risk! Then we will risk our life in this gamble! Even if I die, I don''t want to go back to Theonia Union and have themugh at me!!¡±

    ¡°Me as well. What is there to be afraid of death?! With the help of the city wall, we can block the Crotonians!¡± With fierceness in his expression, Toras spoke what most officers and soldiers wanted to say.

    ¡°Agree, we will fight Crotone!¡± Everyone immediately echoed.

    Timasion no longer hesitated, he gazed at the mercenaries that are still present, and gave his order in a powerful tone, ¡°Cleanor! Toras! Quickly gather all our brothers who are still scattered in the city and quickly lead them to the city wall!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡°Parthax! Lead 200 men and keep an eye on the acropolis! If those Krimisians dare toe out, then kill all of them!¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me leader!¡±

    ¡°The rest will follow me to the northern gate, and make the Crotonians taste our strength! And ensure that they will never take our city!¡± Timasion clenched his fist and shouted.

    ¡°la*!!!¡± The mercenaries roared and their morale soared. (T/N: Battle cry)

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Timasion was an excellentmander, he was able tomand the mercenaries calmly and ingeniously make the enemy move to another ce in order to break in into the city of Krimisa in the shortest possible time. However, as a warrior, he was blinded by jealousy and impatience. The only thing he could see is that the strength of Krimisa, a small and neutral city-state in Magna Graecia, could be captured with just their strength. Hecked the quality of a politician to consider the rtionship between the city-states of Magna Graecia, especially the attitude of Crotone towards its neighbor, Krimisa.

    Prior to the creation of Theonia, Crotone did not attach much importance to Krimisa, on the one hand, it is because of their agreement with Athens, and on the other, Thurii did not pose a threat to Crotone. However, after they were defeated by Theonia Union, the situation changed greatly. Theonia had captured Nerulum, while Laos joined the Theonia alliance, and Theonia had opened up thend trade routes between the east and west¡­and so on. Theonia is rapidly bing stronger and prosperous, which made the Crotonians restless, and they started to feel the threat of this emerging power in the north. The strategic position of Krimisa as a buffer zone has be extremely important. Therefore, in the past six months, Crotone has stepped up their efforts to win over Krimisa.

    This is why the first thought of Krimisa when they heard of an attack was to seek help from Crotone. At the same time, when Crotone heard that Krimisa was attacked by an enemy from the north, their first reaction was that ¡°The Theonians have finally begun their attack!¡±, and so, the council of Crotone had almost immediately approved the proposal to send reinforcements. At the same time, considering that it might be the Theonians, because the herald of Krimisa only said, ¡°There are only two thousand enemies¡±, for caution''s sake, they dispatched an army of 10,000 men.

    The reason Timasion thought that the reinforcements of Crotone were all in the north was because 5,000 men were already quiterge for only reinforcements between city-states. Therefore, he had sent almost all his troops to defend the northern wall, and also taking both the east and the west into consideration, but he never thought that another fleet would enter the estuary of the river in the south, and break into the almost empty port and forciblynd 5,000 Crotonians. The soldiers then immediately upied the south gate and easily defeated the two hundred men of Parthax. After meeting with the Krimisians in the acropolis, they continued to go north.

    Not only the strength of both sides vastly differs, but the mercenaries are also in a dangerous situation of being sandwiched. After learning that ¡°Arge number of Crotonian soldiers broke into the city from the south¡±, the mercenaries lost their morale, and Timasion and Cleanor felt helpless at this moment.

    When the Crotonians from the south had arrived, the mercenaries just resisted them for a bit and then fled in all directions.

    Timasion, who was in the city, saw the fleeing mercenaries being driven away and ughtered by the Crotonians like livestock, just as what they had done to the Krimisians before. The wrath of the goddess of Vengeance had quickly fallen on the mercenaries so quickly, which made him feel empty.

    ¡°Timasion, go! Let''s go to the north!¡± Cleanor cried anxiously.

    Timasion just shook his head. His gaze thennded to the north with a relieved smile, ¡®Davos, in the end, I lost¡­.¡¯

    Without hesitation, Timasion drew out his kopis and slit his neck.

    Cleanor didn''t have the time to grieve. He took the few people with him to get out of the city with a grappling hook.

    The Krimisians hated them for burning, ughtering and looting their city, and the Crotonians meddled till the end, as they continued their pursuit. In the end, except for a few who had managed to escape, most of them were either killed or captured. Cleanor and Toras finally surrendered, but they were beheaded by the angry Krimisians¡­.

    By interrogating the captured mercenaries, Crotone and Krimisa learned that these vicious enemies were mercenaries from Asia Minor and Ionia, and that they had fought together with the archon of Theonia, Davos, and they had even live in Theonia for more than two months before. Their attack on Krimisa was a premeditated independent action of these mercenaries.

    Although Theonia is seemingly unrted, the strategoi of Crotone and its statesmen thought that they had found the best excuse. Unless Crotone is willing to maintain peace with Theonia for a long time, they are undoubtedly a great threat to Crotone to allow them to develop. Only now that Theonia is currently a fledgling can Crotone wage war and destroy this emerging union!

    With the vast majority of the warring faction, this proposal was smoothly passed. Even Lysias, who was someone from the moderate function, did not firmly oppose it. He is obviously aware of the threat of Theonia.

 Chapter 199: The trouble caused by the mercenaries

    The Crotonians mobilized their troops to reinforce Krimisa. Such a huge development had naturally attracted the attention of the spies of Aristias, who were stationed at the port of Crotone.

    In the early morning of the next day, when the herald sent by the mercenary arrived at the house of Davos, Davos had already learned about the reinforcement of Crotone from Aristias. So, he immediately judged that the situation of Timasion and the others is grave.

    Therefore, when Phrigres, the herald of the mercenaries, asked him, ¡°Lord Davos, leader Timasion have managed to capture Krimisa, and we hope to join the Theonia alliance and get additional soldiers right away!¡±

    Davos, with a heavy heart, told his formerrade who had worked as an interpreter in the camp of Meno, andter worked for him. However, he had chosen to leave when they were in Byzantium, ¡°Phrigres, you arete. I have just learned that ¡®at noon yesterday, nearly 10,000 soldiers from Crotone had set out by ship.¡¯ They should have arrived at Krimisa in the afternoon of that day, and I don''t think that Timasion and his men will be able to keep Krimisa¡­.¡±

    ¡°TEN THOUSAND SOLDIERS?!¡± Phrigres froze at the spot when he heard it.

    ¡°I have sent someone to inquire about it, and I believe that we will find out the truth by noon.¡± Added Davos.

    ¡°Maybe¡­maybe they are still defending Krimisa¡­.¡± Phrigres came back to his senses and prayed, ¡°Lord¡­leader Davos, as someone who had fought together with us, please¡­please send an army to Krimisa and help them!! Otherwise, I fear that it will already be toote once you learn about what happened!!¡­.¡±

    Phrigres call of ¡°leader¡± had made the mood of Davos fluctuate, but he still shook his head and said, ¡°Hmph¡­I can''t mobilize the army immediately just because I want to! This requires the consent of most members of the senate, and without urate information, they will not agree! Because if the Krimisians manage to recapture their city and the army of Theonia where to enter the territory of Krimisa, then this would be a vition of our agreement with Crotone, which means that it will be war! A war with Crotone!!¡±

    The impatient Phrigres had obviously not heard the patient exnation of Davos, and had almost frantically shouted, ¡°If you want to rescue our brothers, then it''s inevitable to go to war with Crotone! What are you afraid of?! You are the only archon for life of Theonia, so you have the final say! Send troops, please, leader Davos! The lives of Timasion, Cleanor, and all our mercenary brothers are waiting for you to rescue them!!¡­.¡±

    Davos shook his head, and had no idea how to properly tell him, ¡°You go and have a rest first. I will inform you once I find out the situation.¡± Then he motioned to the servant to take him away.

    Phrigres pushed away the servant and shouted, ¡°Davos, you would have died in Persia without the help of Timasion and our brothers! But look at how you treat your formerrades now! When we arrived here, you did not provide any help, and had let us suffer a lot of grievances. Now, the life of Timasion and the others are threatened and are asking for your help, and yet, you don''t even lend a helping hand, and you instead give an excuse by saying ¡®it needs the approval of the senate¡¯¡­.¡±

    Phrigres yelled at Davos for his ingratitude, and made Davos angry when he heard that and thought, ¡®You have falsely imed that you will go to Syracuse, but in fact, you had invaded and upied Krimisa without even discussing it with me! Isn¡¯t it because you wanted to take advantage of me and Agasias and have Theonia take the me for you? You did not even think about how this will make Theonia and myself passive! Now that you have failed, you came here begging, without even apologizing. In the end, who is ungrateful? Do you think that I am a pushover?!¡¯

    In his present position, there is no need for him to argue with a simple minded mercenary, so he simply made the guards drag Phrigres out of his house.

    There was a lot of noise in the living room, which made Cheiristoya, with the help of Azune,e down from the second floor with a big stomach and asked with concern, ¡°I just heard a quarrel. What happened?¡±

    ¡°It''s nothing.¡± Davos squeezed out a smile and whispered with reproach, ¡°You are about to give birth, yet here you are still walking around and not taking a rest.¡±

    Cheiristoya no longer asked, she then said while clutching her bulging stomach, ¡°Our child had kicked me just now, which woke me up.¡±

    ¡°My child, be good, and let your mother have a rest!¡± Davos put his face on Cheiristoya''s stomach and said softly.

    ¡°Oh my, he kicked me again!¡± Said Cheiristoya with pleasant surprise.

    ¡°Madam, he must be a boy, because he is so naughty!¡± Azune said with a smile.

    ¡°Naughty little guy!¡± Davos patted her stomach and said softly, ¡°Cheiristoya, I will apany you with your walk.¡±

    At this moment, he and Cheiristoya are both smiling happily.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After Phrigres was kicked out of the house of Davos, he immediately regretted it. The entrance of the house was tightly shut so that he could not open it, so he went to look for Philesius and the others.

    Who knew that Philesius, Kapus, Antonios and the others had either hid from him or apologised to him for having no way to help him.

    In the end, Agasias told him that, ¡°During the time when the mercenaries have caused trouble in the union. Lord Davos and the others were under a lot of pressure in the senate. Especially this time, when you rashly invaded Krimisa without telling Theonia. As a result, several Thurian statesmen, such as Bolus, had directly named and criticized Davos at the senate meeting, saying that he is using Theonia for the personal gain of the mercenaries! This is the first time that Lord Davos faced such severe criticism and humiliation since he became the archon! Under such circumstances, Davos could not mobilize the army without authorization!¡±

    After listening, Phrigres finally seemed to understand, and realized that they had thought things too simple.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At noon, the information from Krimisa hade: All the mercenaries were wiped out.

    Davos sat alone in silence, and after a long time, he let out a sigh.

    The incident seemed to havee to an end, but Davos realized that it was far from over.

    Just as what he had expected, in the afternoon, a transport ship from Crotone sailed into the port of Thurii, then two people disembark from the transport ship: The strategos of Crotone, Lysias, and the polemarchos of Krimisa, Androlis.

    What does this mean? Theplexion of the statesmen, who were in charge of weing them, changed slightly.

    Because two corpses were also taken out from the ship: Timasion and Cleanor.

    This greatly saddens the statesmen who were former mercenaries such as Philesius and Agasias.

    Therefore, when they started the senate meeting today, the atmosphere was already very tense and grave .

    Androlis, the polemarchos of Krimisa, was the first one to speak. He was tearful and used the mercenaries of all kinds of evil deeds that they hadmitted in Krimisa and the pain that the Krimisians had suffered. Then he burst into tears, ¡°Why do the Krimisians, who were living peacefully for decades, have suffered from wars in session?! Could it be that we had identally offended Ares, which made Ares vent his anger on the people of Krimisa?!¡­.¡±

    Lysias looked around and noticed that some of the statesmen of Theonia looked unnatural, while the archon, Davos, listened attentively and asionally nodded with a sympathetic expression. With a sneer in his heart, he stood up and went to the center of the senate hall, he embraced Androlis and greeted the statesmen of Theonia, ¡°Esteemed Archon and statesmen of Theonia Union, what I would like to say as an envoy of Crotone, we have manage to send reinforcements in time to save Krimisa from being destroyed by a group of bandits! After the war, we interrogated the captives and learned that these bandits were mercenaries from Asia Minor who have fought together with Lord Davos and some of the current statesmen, in Persia for more than a year. Andter, by your invitation, they havee to Magna Graecia and registered in your union to be a citizen of Theonia. Is this true?!¡±

    ¡°That''s right.¡± Davos acknowledged it with a nod.

    Lysias did not expect that Davos would straightforwardly answer, which made him unable to speak for a bit. He then raised his voice and said loudly, ¡°ording to the confession of the captives, ¡®they were instigated by Theonia to raid Krimisa and to turn Krimisa into an ally of Theonia-¡¯¡±

    ¡°Nonsense!¡±

    ¡°Rubbish!¡±

    ¡°This is a false charge!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Amintas, Dragos, Agasias and the others stood up and shouted.

    ¡°Whether you admit it or not, this is a fact! The corpses of the two leaders of the bandits are still on the port, and some of you had even shed tears.¡± Lysias pointed with a serious expression, then shouted, ¡°Theonians, you have broken the armistice agreement with Crotone, and you still want to deny it!¡±

    Androlis then red and pointed at Davos and cursed, ¡°Since the time you outsiders havee to Magna Graecia, there has not been a day of peace! No, it is not because Krimisa angered Ares, but it is your expansion and aggression that have brought wars to the city-states of Magna Graecia! The grievances of thousands of Krimisians must be answered and Theonia must be punished!¡±

    There was an uproar in the Senate Hall.

    Davos stood up, walked to Androlis and said while sneering, ¡°I initially wanted to express our apology to Krimisa, even though we have nothing to do with it.¡±

    Androlis was about to open his mouth to refute, but Davos looked at him and shouted, ¡°SHUT UP!¡±

    Which frightened him.

    ¡°But now, I can see that both of you havee here together not to find out the truth, but to join hands to suppress us, Theonians! Come on, say the conditions that you have prepared, let''s hear how harsh it is!¡± Davos saw through their intentions, and his unconventional remarks had made Lysias lost for words and also to remind the statesmen who are still clueless.

 Chapter 200: The War Potential of Theonia

    ¡°Crotonian, let us hear how huge the appetite of Crotone is, by taking advantage of our Theonia!¡± Amintas, Scambras, and the other statesmen began to shout. A short while ago, they still felt guilty, but all of a sudden, they have joined together against amon enemy.

    Lysias nced at Davos, ¡®This young man must not be underestimated!¡¯

    He cleared his throat and said, ¡°Crotone and Krimisa demand Theonia topensate Krimisa for the great losses they suffered in this battle by paying them 500 tarants-¡±

    ¡°What! FIVE HUNDRED TARANTS!! YOU ARE CRAZY!!!¡± Shouted Mersis.

    Lysias ignored him, he looked at everyone and continued, ¡°Secondly, in order to prevent the aggressive Theonia from invading its neighboring city-states again, we ask Theonia to dissolve the union and allow Amendra and Nerulum to be independent, and to also abolish the alliance!¡±

    ¡°What?! Did I hear you wrong?! What right does Crotone have to tell us what to do!¡±

    ¡°We will never agree. This is a humiliation to Theonia!¡±

    ¡°LEAVE! You are out of your mind to even dare say such a thing at the Senate of Theonia!¡±

    ¡°Only a fool would agree to such a request! And only a fool would make such a request!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the senate hall, the statesmen screamed angrily. While those that have short fuse such as Amintas and Scambras even want to beat Lysias, but were stopped by Kunogta, Cornelius and others. Everything is a mess.

    Lysias and Androlis looked at it as if they were not responsible for this mess, until Davos stepped forward and said, ¡°Do you hear me?! This is our answer!¡±

    Davos then said it loudly, word by word, ¡°WE! DON''T!! AGREE!!!¡±

    ¡°Then that means war, because you were the one who broke the agreement first.¡± Said Lysias sternly.

    ¡°Then war it is, isn''t that your real purpose bying here?¡± Davos had already seen through their n, and he was toozy to argue with them. Their condemnation is just a pretext.

    Davos brushed it lightly and had made Lysias not see the reaction that he expected, just like punching the air, so he subconsciously said, ¡°War! I am talking about war between Crotone and Theonia!¡±

    Davos slightly smiled, he turned around and said, ¡°Are we afraid of a war with Crotone?¡±

    ¡°Wonderful! We can finally fight again!¡±

    ¡°I can''t wait to beat Crotone up!¡±

    ¡°We have defeated Crotone once, so we can defeat them again! And this time, we will burn the city of Crotone!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Facing the high-morale of the statesmen, which had exceeded the expectation of Lysias and had made him feel a bit uneasy.

    ¡°Kunogta, write down the demands of Crotone. We will use it in the next negotiation.¡± Davos said abruptly.

    ¡°Next negotiation?¡± Lysias was confused.

    ¡°Yes, after the war is over!¡±

    Lysias felt afraid by the burning will to fight in Davos'' eyes¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After sending off the envoy, the mood on the senate hall was still warm. Compared with the high morale of the statesmen who were former mercenaries, the statesmen of Amendra and Thurii expressed more concern about the uing war.

    Kunogta spoke what everyone is thinking, ¡°Milord, are you sure that we will go to war with Crotone? Crotone has been a strong city-state in Magna Graecia for decades, and they also have a strong alliance, and can organize an army of 40,000 men! They also have 25 triremes, while we don''t even have one. Once the war starts, Crotone can easily block our port. This time, I am afraid that they will not make the same mistake of underestimating the enemy again¡­.¡±

    Davos listened carefully, then he looked at everyone. He could feel their fear of Crotone, especially the Thurians, which was the influence of having their city destroyed by Crotone thrice.

    He thought about it for a bit, then just as he was about to answer, a voice suddenly cut in, ¡°I have told you to get rid of those damned mercenaries, but you didn¡¯t even listen. And now, the vengeance of Crotone hase! We should first investigate those people who had indulged in those mercenaries!¡± It was Bolus.

    Agasias and the others red at him.

    ¡°Am I wrong?!¡± Bolus red back in order to not be outdone.

    ¡°Now that the war has broken out, it is meaningless to argue about this. All of us should unite and tide over the difficulties together, and we should not make arguments and weaken our strength!¡± Burkes persuaded his friend.

    ¡°It is precisely because this incident has led to a war that we need to figure out the problem in order to avoid simr incidents in the future!¡± Bolus stubbornly retorted.

    Then Antonios stood up and said, ¡°As the chief inspector, many people have recently reported to me that during the reconstruction of the city of Thurii, statesmen such as Burkes and Plesinas often went to the homes of the people to express their apologies. However, some people, as the subordinate of Nianses, who were responsible for the burning of Thurii, swaggered in and out of the senate everyday showing no remorse for the people of Thurii. We were asked to conduct a thorough investigation in case something simr happens again¡­.¡±

    The expression of Bolus changed drastically.

    Davos deliberately asked, ¡°Bolus, do you think that it is necessary to clear this matter first?¡±

    ¡°I¡­I¡­.¡± Bolus trembled slightly at the sharp gaze of Davos.

    ¡°Antonios, just like what Burkes had said, now is the time that we should unite and deal with this war that will decide our life and death, all other matters will be put on hold.¡± The calm tone of Davos prated through the ears of Bolus, as if he was pardoned, which made him rxed and slumped on the stone bench.

    Antonios nced at Bolus with contempt, he then turned around and said, ¡°Understood, lord archon.¡±

    Davos then said with a rxed expression, ¡°Apologies, I was interrupted just now. What I want to say is that, everyone, you are all busy with your own matters during this period, so it''s natural that you don''t know much about the military strength of the union now. Scambras, do you think that the number of soldiers in our union is still only more than 5,000?¡±

    Scambras, who was a stubborn old man, touched his beard and said with a smile, ¡°There must be more than that! There are currently more than 6,000 official citizens in Amendra, while I don''t know much regarding the other cities, but it is certain that they also have more.¡±

    ¡°Let us have Philesius, our chief military officer, tell us exactly how many soldiers we have.¡± Philesius stood up after Davos finished speaking, ¡°Fellow statesmen, the numbers that I will state is the number of people in Thurii, Amendra and Nerulum that have participated in military training and have been enlisted into the army. However, this figure is lower than the total number of those registered by the census office of lord Raphias, this is because citizens over the age of 45 and those that are in some special trades who are protected by the city-state, such as physicians, engineer, schrs and so on., were not included in the military training system.¡±

    The statesmen nodded and turned their attention to Philesius.

    ¡°There are about 5,500 citizens from Amendra who have participated in military training for more than 3 months, in Nerulum there are about 4,300, while there are 14,800 in Thurii.¡± Seeing the surprised expression of the statesmen, Philesius continued, ¡°Among them are 7,000 official citizens, and all the rest are preparatory citizens. At the end of December, lord archon has ordered me to reorganize them into three legions.¡±

    The first legion is mainlyposed of veterans and preparatory citizens of Amendra, they are the strongest, and the legatus will be Kapus.

    The citizens and preparatory citizens of Thurill will form the second legion, and Drakos will be the legatus.

    The third legion is mainly the official citizens and preparatory citizens of Nerulum, the legatus will be Hieronymus and the first senior centurion is Bagul.

    The regr number of soldiers in each legion is now 7,000, and the total number of soldiers in the three legions is 21,000. In addition, there is a reserve force with 3,600 men, so the total will be 24,600. There is also the cavalry force that Ledes is leading, which has about 300 men¡­.¡±

    ¡°Philesius did not even mention the freemen that have registered in the census office. In fact, we could even organize 20,000 freemen who have been trained to fight as light infantry. Besides, Laos can also provide us around 3,000 reinforcements, and even though Roscianum can not provide many troops, they at least have 50 cavalries¡­.¡± Davos looked at everyone and said in a passionate tone, ¡°If we were to mobilize the whole army, then we can at least dispatch nearly 50,000 soldiers! Considering the need to guard the port of Nerulum and Thurii, the actual number of troops that we can dispatch is certainly far less than this number, but it is certain that we won''t have too much difference with Crotone! Gentlemen, you can rest assured that the situation of fighting enemies with a lesser number of soldiers will not happen again! Onnd, we canpete with Crotone!¡± The words of Davos made the statesmen excited. Statesmen such as Amintas were even more confident and shouted, ¡°Back when we have fewer soldiers, we were not afraid of Crotone, and now, Crotone is no longer our match!¡±

    ¡°As for the sea.¡± Davos looked at Kunogta and said, ¡°We can''t really do anything about it, but what else can the fleet of Crotone do besides block our port?! As long as they dare to enter the estuary of Crati river, we will annihte them! And our cavalry will keep an eye on the beaches from Amendra to Roscianum to prevent the Crotonians from sneaking in. I don''t believe that Crotone would do such a risky thing as long as they have a normal mind. Theonia and Crotone are so close that victory and defeat can only be determined innd!¡±

 Chapter 201: The Outbreak of the Second Crotone War

    Kunogta, who had a grave expression, was greatly relieved. He thought for a while and said, ¡°I am afraid that the war between us and Crotone won''t end in just three days. So, how should we solve the problem with the food supply for the tens of thousands of soldiers, this is the main issue that we should consider.¡±

    Marigi then immediately said, ¡°I will go to the market now and suspend all the trades regarding wheat, and I will also immediately purchase all the flour and other foods in order to prevent the merchants from having malicious intent by raising the prices of grains once they learned about the outbreak of war. I also suggest that we should immediately send someone to Heraclea to buy food as a reserve¡­.¡±

    Davos nodded and agreed. Although Mersis is sad, he still took Marigi to the treasury to take the money.

    Burkes stood up at this time and said, ¡°It is now the season of wheat sowing, if most of the citizens went to war, it would seriously affect this year''s harvest. So I propose to suspend the mining instead, and organize the thousands of ves to farm thend of the citizens, and at the same time, give some preferential treatment to the freemen of the union, and let them take the initiative to help, so that ournd will not be short ofbor.¡±

    ¡°Burkes, you are very considerate.¡± Davos said solemnly, ¡°Cornelius, Kunogta, and ¨C (Nerulum, after all, is far away, so Sesta naturally can''t attend the senate meetings every time)¡± Then the gaze of Davos moved to the people at the back, ¡°Vespa, Hemon (Hemon had been sent to Grumentum many times and had even managed to sessfully signed a peace treaty with Cincinnag, and he even repeatedly persuade the small tribes of Lucania to submit to the union. His influence among the Lucanians is even stronger than that of Vespa. In the end, Bagul suggested to Davos to make him a statesman and Davos suggested it to the senate, the statesmen then voted for it, and now, he became the third Lucanian statesman.), you will discuss it together with Burkes and work out a feasible n as soon as possible to ensure that our farming and grazing will not have problems because of the war.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Several people answered.

    ¡°Philesius, immediately issue a war mobilization order to all cities in the union! In addition, send someone to inform Laos and Roscianum, and ask them to provide reinforcements¡­oh¡­and¡­hmm¡­tell Roscianum to strengthen their city''s defense and burn the pontoon bridge on the Trionto river!¡±

    Philesius was taken aback, he wanted to say that there is no bridge on the Trionto river. But out of faith and obedience to Davos, he immediately epted the order and said, ¡°I will immediately send someone.¡±

    ¡°Plesinas.¡± Davos apologetically said to him, ¡°We have to suspend the construction of the temple and invest all the revenues of the treasury into this war!¡±

    ¡°I understand and I also agree with it!¡± Replied Plesinas.

    Davos nodded his head, then looked at the statesmen in the senate hall. He clenched his fist and raised his arm, and loudly said, ¡°Everyone, Crotone has destroyed the city on the Sybaris ins three times! After we have beaten them, they must have been very resentful of Theonia! Why? Because they are afraid that Theonia will take revenge on them after we have be strong, so they will try their best to destroy Theonia while still in her cradle, so this war is not something we can avoid just because we want to avoid it! The war hase. We must unite together to defeat Crotone once more and burn their city, and open up a wider world for the future of Theonia!¡±

    ¡°War! War! If we can beat Crotone once, then we can beat them again!¡± Kapus, Antonios, Amintas and other statesmen, who were former mercenaries, raised their arms.

    ¡°Fight the Crotonians to the death!!¡± Scambras, Protesus, and other Amendran statesmen vigorously responded.

    ¡°Thurii can never be destroyed again! We will do our best to fight Crotone!¡± Some Thurian statesmen such as Burkes and Ansitanos had also expressed their support.

    ¡°We, Lucanians, are also citizens of the union, so we will defend Theonia with all our might!¡± Of course, the two Lucanian statesmen, Vespa and Hemon, supported the decision of Davos.

    In the excitement of the ¡°deration of war¡±, the two praetor, Kunogta and Cornelius, who had been hesitant, also decisively said, ¡®We will lead the officials and the people that are under their jurisdiction to prepare for this war.¡¯

    ¡°BANG!!!¡­¡± While Marigi led his people to the market to buy grain, the huge bell that was casted for the temple of Hades and was temporarily ced in front of the gate of the Grand Senate Hall, because the temple was not yetpleted. And today is the first time that the bell was rang. Then the cavalry galloped out to Amendra, to Nerulum, to Laos, and to Roscianum!

    When the people heard the bell rang throughout the whole city, most of them were still in a daze.

    At this time, the patrolmen ran through the streets and kept shouting, ¡°Attention, citizens! Attention, citizens! The war has broken out! The war has broken out! All citizens who have participated in the military training should immediately gather in the Victory Square! Immediately go to the Victory Square!¡­.¡±

    On the vast Sybaris in, the cavalries that were sent out had also shouted the same words in every vige.

    The war had suddenlye, so it is natural for the people to have doubts and panic. However, the strict military training that they had participated in has taught the citizens and preparatory citizens, discipline and obedience. They put down their housework, stopped their work, prayed to the statues of the gods that were enshrined at their homes, and hugged their families and bid farewell. They then took all their weapons, equipment and rations, and converged into the Victory Square in Thurii from all directions¡­.

    Such an obvious move by the city of Thurii had naturally attracted the attention of Teratus, who had then written a secret letter, ¡®Thurii had issued a war mobilization order, and had rushed to buy foods in the market. There was also a riot in the port but was put under control, and for the time being, I am not clear about the situation in the other cities.¡¯

    On his way back from the port after sending the secret letter, he saw a group of freemen with sad expressions rushing to their crude shacks, and a trace of regret rose in his heart. After staying in Thurii for more than half a year, he had gradually fallen in love with this vibrant city. He has ridden a horse-drawn wagon, had eaten hotpot, and watched the exciting and fierce rugby games¡­he admits that the life here in Thurii was more interesting and more humane than that of Crotone. If he was not a Crotonian, he would be willing to live here for a few years and then strive to be a citizen of Theonia. Unfortunately¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After leaving the Crati river, the transport ship of Lysias did not immediately return to Crotone, but instead went to Roscianum first.

    At this time, Roscianum still did not know that a war between Theonia and Crotone had broken out. Out of etiquette, they went to meet Lysias.

    When Lysias told them that ¡°Crotone and Theonia Union is at war¡± the strategoi of Roscianum and the statesmen were shocked.

    Lysias then threatened them and said, ¡°The 40,0000 soldiers of Crotone are nowing, this is thergest army even in Magna Graecia! Roscianum can only be spared if you leave the Theonia Alliance and join Crotone, else, you will be destroyed!¡±

    Although they were really afraid of Crotone, their alliance with Theonia Union had brought them too many benefits since the time they had joined the alliance. Transportation and trade has be more convenient, the ie of the people and their state''s treasury has increased. Moreover, the status of Roscianum has improved a lot. And up to now, Theonia has never discriminated against Roscianum. In fact, ording to their agreement, they will never pay any tribute to Theonia or be ordered to do things that are against their will. On the contrary, they were invited to participate in any of their important celebrations¡­with each passing days, the poprity of Theonia to the Roscianum is increasing, and they seem to have found the feeling of a happy and safe life just like the time they were under the protection of Sybaris a hundred years ago.

    In the end, Roscianum reluctantly refused the request of Lysias, and Amikles said in a roundabout way, ¡°ording to the agreement with Theonia, we have no right to sign any treaties or agreements with other city-states, so we are very sorry!¡­.¡±

    Lysias could only reluctantly leave the port.

    By this time, the cavalry of Theonia had arrived and told the council of Roscianum that the union was gathering troops, and soon, up to 20,000 troops would arrive to help defend Roscianum.

    Amikles and the others becamepletely relieved, they then began to follow the instructions of Theonia to reinforce the city walls, stack food, burn the pontoon bridges, and close the port.

    Lysias then saw the billowing smoke on the Trionto river while aboard the ship, which made him understand the determination of Roscianum. At the same time, he was surprised by the strong influence of Theonia, which strengthened his determination to agree to the war with Theonia.

    The transport ship he was on had quickly moved south, passing through Krimisa, where the fleet of Crotone had been waiting. After they got the news of ¡°The war has broken out¡± from Lysias, they could not wait to stretch out their sail and head straight to Theonia¡­.

    At this time, Davos sent Plesinas to Taranto under the reminder of Kunogta, to ask them for 40 triremes to aid Theonia at sea and prevent the fleet of Crotone from blocking the port of Thurii.

    However, under the strong opposition of Diaoms, the council of Taranto, after a heated discussion, regretfully told Plesinas that the request of Theonia hade toote, because after the new year, the Messapians invaded Taranto again, and Diaoms led the army to repel them. The council believed that Messapians must be given a heavy lesson and to get rid of their arrogance. Therefore, Diaoms will once again lead the army to attack Manduria, the stronghold of Messapians. And the warships of Taranto had also rushed to the Adriatic Sea to harass the interior of the Messapians and to stop them from sending reinforcement to Manduria. Therefore, Taranto is unable to help Theonia and can only allow them to buy low priced food at Heraclea.

    Author''s note: Because of some questions of the readers, here is a description of the poption in Magna Graecia: ording to several data, the number of soldiers that went to attack Lucania at that time in history was 10,000-15,000. It means that there are many militia in the city of Thurii, because of the fact that they even dare to send such arge number of soldiers away from the city. Therefore, the author of one of the documents spectes that at that time, the poption of Thurii was at least above 200,000 (total number, not just the citizens). While in other datas, it shows that at the peak of Taranto, they have a poption of at least 300,000, which shows that Taranto is not weaker than Athens. Taranto entered their final glory during the time of Archytas. Ten years after the start of the novel, the poption of Taranto at this time is no less than 250,000. Then Crotone, who isparable to Taranto, and has a huge geographical area and poption that might not even be less. While the rtively smaller city-states such as Rhegium and Locri have smaller territory and certainly have fewer poption than that of the above-mentioned city-states, they are still an influential city-states in Magna Graecia, with a poption of no less than 100,000. Thebined poption of these major city-states in Magna Graecia is more than a million, and if we were to include the other city-states in Magna Graecia such as Terina, which is located in the Euphemia in, and Metapontum, which is famous for their agriculture, then thebined poption of Magna Graecia may be more than 1.5 million.

    Taking into ount a part of the poption of Lucania, it is just right for Theonia to be able to dispatch 50,000 soldiers. Don''t forget, Theonia is not worse than the other long established city-states even though it is an emerging union. In terms of Theonia¡¯s poptionposition, the number of old people among the freemen is naturally fewer than that of the young. So I estimate that the poption of Theonia is about 250,000. Of course, this is only a rough estimate, because freemen kept pouring in.

 Chapter 202: War Preparation

    Plesinas had indeed not seen any warships of Taranto patrolling the coastal waters when he entered the great port of Taranto. Nevertheless, he still continued to brazenly ask the council of Taranto, ¡®Even if you only send a few warships to Thurii.¡¯

    It was a part of his petty calction that Crotone would never dare provoke Taranto while they are at war with Theonia. Therefore, even if only a few warships of Taranto patrol the coast of Theonia, it will be enough to serve as a facade, and it can also y a role of deterring them, thus ensuring the basic safety of the coastline of Theonia.

    However, even with the persuasion of Plesinas, the council of Taranto firmly refused, and let this brazen man go back in vain.

    As soon as Plesinas returned to the port of Thurii, the fleet of Crotone arrived and the maritime trade route of Thurii was immediately cut off, and made the port fall into panic.

    Olivos with arge number of patrolmen arrived to help Marigi maintain the order.

    After finding out the decision of Taranto, Davos pondered for a while and said to Aristocrates, who was beside him, ¡°I seem to remember that the envoy of Sparta had been to Taranto?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Aristias reported ¡®The Spartans hope that Taranto would abolish their alliance with us and take the lead to be against us, but it was rejected by the council of Taranto.¡¯¡±

    ¡°But it had still worked.¡± Sighed Davos, then he sneered, ¡®Taranto wants to just sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight! In the end, this war will depend on us!¡¯

    ¡°Tell Aristias that you can now close the for that Crotonian spy.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Theonians closed the port, just like what Teratus had expected, and so, he had already made arrangements in advance that a fast-moving ship of Crotone would receive the information from him every night on a particr beach at the estuary of the Crati river.

    Just as he was about to start writing the confidential report again, the door of his house was suddenly opened and five people came rushing in.

    In his panic, he subconsciously grabbed the parchment in his hand and just as he yelled, ¡°Who are you-¡± he got pushed down to the ground by the person who had rushed in, then the man broke the clenched hand of Teratus and took away the parchment, and the expression on Teratus'' face suddenly changed.

    ¡°This afternoon, about 10,000 soldiers were stationed in the military camp of Thurii, and a thousand hoplite were stationed in the port. I have also heard that the soldiers of Amendra are on their way to Thurii. Nerulum-¡± A clear voice sounded above his head, ¡°Teratus, I have to admit that your observation and calction skills are very good. The information written to Crotone is also in ordance with facts. It''s no wonder that Crotone has sent you here to Thurii and made you stay for half a year. I wonder what your impression of this ce is?¡±

    At hearing this, Teratus already understood that his whereabouts were in the hands of the Theonians.

    When he was forced to stand, he saw a tall and thin middle-aged man with elegant appearance standing in front of him and was looking at him with great interest.

    ¡°What do you n to do with me?¡± Asked Teratus with a hoarse voice.

    The tall and thin person did not speak, and he instead took an object from someone else''s hand and brought it near to Teratus: It was a small wooden knife that was carved roughly.

    Teratus'' eyes suddenly widened and looked shocked. He struggled and shouted, ¡°What have you done to my son?! You have captured my son didn''t you?!! He is only seven years old! Hera watches from above, please spare him!! Spare him!! I will do whatever you want me to do!!¡­.¡± Teratus begged bitterly and finally broke down in tears.

    Then, the tall and thin person said coldly, ¡°Your wife and son are still in Crotone, but they are being watched by our men. My name is Aristias, the chief intelligence officer* of the archon, Lord Davos. I will give you a choice. Work for Theonia. If you refuse, not only do you die, but your sick wife will also die due tock of money and your son will be a ve. But if you agree, you will be a preparatory citizen of Theonia, and we will try our best to rescue your wife and son, and will let the physicians of the union treat your wife. You should already know that our union''s physicians are better than Crotone!¡± Aristias paused for a bit, and seeing Teratus lowering his head, he then continued, ¡°You can choose whether to live or die.¡± (Though Davos had promised him this position, he is still currently a freeman, so he still has not be a formal official yet.)

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At dusk, the polemarchos of Crotone, Milo, received a confidential report from Thurii saying that this afternoon, Thurii had begun to gather their soldiers. ording to the report, about 4,000 citizens in the city have gathered in the Victory Square. While the viges outside the city are still being gathered and norge number of citizens have entered the city. And Thurii has also sent about a thousand soldiers to the port and has sent many cavalry to inspect the coast, and there are no troops from Amendra and Nerulum that have arrived yet.

    In the past six months, Milo knew a lot about Theonia due to the intelligence that Teratus has sent and also the information he learned from the released soldiers, and so, he was very vignt towards Theonia. Therefore, he had been prepared in advance and immediately did a war mobilization after he helped Krimisa take out the mercenaries. This time, in order topletely defeat Theonia, Crotone and its subordinate city-state, Aprustum have assembled all the forces that they could muster: Twenty thousand in Crotone and three thousand in Aprustum; Scylletium, an ally of Crotone, who is a big city, but due to thest attack on Theonia Union, they have suffered the most serious losses, but for revenge, they still squeezed out and dispatched 2,000 troops. Terina, a city-state close to the Bruttians, have also sent a thousand men, and this time, Crotone did not refuse them. Only Caulonia was refused by Crotone, because south of Caulonia is the enemy of Crotone, the Locri and its allies. Although in recent years, there hasn''t been any changes, Crotone knew that Locri had been eyeing the north all this time. If Locri were to suddenly attacked and capture Caulonia while they were fighting Theonia, then they would be able to easily take Scylletium which is currently short of soldiers and strategoi, and approach the empty Crotone from the rear¡­.therefore, their vignce and defense against Locri must not be rxed.

    At the same time, the battle with Theonia should be started as soon as possible, without waiting for the troops of Theonia to arrive. Therefore, Crotone''s protracted pre-war preparation against the Greek city-state seemed particrly efficient this time. Not only did theypleted the assembly in one day, but their reinforcements from their allies have also stepped up their pace by their urging

    As a matter of fact, Locri was extremely pleased to learn of the outbreak of war between Crotone and Theonia. After a discussion, the council of Locri has sent an envoy to Theonia. However, Crotone had not only blocked the road to the north bynd, but had also sent their warships to patrol the sea, which have forced the envoy of Locri to change course by first changing direction of the transport ship to northeast of Taranto and disembark then take arge circle bynd.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos was analyzing the military intelligence of Crotone with the high-ranking officers of the army and discussing the countermeasures against the enemy, when Aristocrates came in and whispered a few words to him. Davos nodded and said, ¡°Let theme in.¡±

    Davos then turned to the officers and said, ¡°Brothers, Xanticles and Tolmides havee.¡±

    The living room which was noisy due to their argument has soon be quiet.

    Xanticles and Tolmides came in with a worried expression on their faces. But they didn''t expect that there would be so many people in the living room, which has made them freeze.

    At this time, Davos said with a smile, ¡°I was just about to call you two, but you unexpectedly came here first. We are just about to begin discussing how to deal with the Crotonians. Come in and tell us what you think.¡±

    Xanticles and Tolmides looked at each other, then knelt on the ground and said apologetically, ¡°Lord Davos¡­and¡­fellowrades, we are¡­very sorry! We have brought war to Theonia and have troubled you! Timasion and Cleanor have been in contact with the mercenaries some time ago and have even repeatedly asked us for our opinions, which made has thought that they just wanted to leave here, but we didn''t expect¡­we-¡±

    ¡°What Timasion and the others did, it has nothing to do with you!¡± Davos interrupted them and said with a serious expression, ¡°Everyone has their own thoughts and a life they like to live. You and the other mercenaries have chosen to stay instead of leaving, which shows that you agree with the system of Theonia, and like to live here and are willing to be citizens of Theonia. Therefore,e fight with us! In front of the army of Crotone, the time of your test hase! Use your braveness to fight back the doubts of others, prove to the Theonians that we didn''t misread your characters, but also to prove your determination to defend Theonia to the death and let the Theonians open their arms to wee you!¡±

    ¡°Davos is right! Xanticles, Tolmides, let''s fight together and defeat the Crotonians! And avenge Timasion and the others!¡±

    ¡°Wonderful, we can finally fight together in battle again!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Amintas and Antonios extended a warm wee to Xanticles and Tolmides, which made them relieved.

    Author''s Note: The fourth volume hase to a close after the Crotonians have assembled theirrge army to attack Theonia Union. Want to know if Theonia can survive the fierce attack of the Crotonians? Can they reverse the situation and win? Continue reading the next volume: The Overlord of South Italy

 Chapter 203: Before the War

    On the morning of the next day, the reinforcements from Scylletium and Terina has arrived, and Crotone also received information from Thurii that about 4,000 reinforcements from Amendra have arrived in Thurii, and the Theonian citizens from the Sybaris ns has entered and gathered in the Victory Square. ording to the amount of people, there are about 8,000 and they then moved into the military camp in the northern part of the city of Thurii. Afterwards, there is no longer any movement, it seems that Theonia is still waiting for the reinforcements from Nerulum and Laos.

    This information had prompted Milo to take immediate action. Under his active urging, the council has passed an order to attack Thurii. Milo, the polemarchos, is themander of the army and another strategos, Philederus, served as his adjutant. He led about 27,000 soldiers, with 20,000 of them being hoplites, and 6,500 being light infantry. Of the 6,500 light infantry, 4,000 of them were soldiers wearing light armor, leather shields and spears, but they were not capable of spear throwing(they are not a peltast unit). and they also have 800 cavalries. In addition to the regr army, they also have arge number of ves and freemen to transport the supplies, which makes the actual number of the whole army as high as 40,000.

    For this reason, Crotone has organized arge fleet in their port, and had taken them nearly three hours to load the supplies and get the soldiers on board. It wasn''t until noon that the convoy, under the escort of the fleet of Crotone, sailed northward. After passing through Krimisa, another 500 soldiers joined in, bringing the total number ofbat troops to 27,500.

    Because the whole process of boarding at the port of Crotone was cumbersome, protracted and chaotic, Milo became even worried that the situation would be even worse when they disembark. He and Philederus were also quite concerned about the intelligence of Teratus regarding ¡°The shoreline of Theonia is being watched by their cavalries.¡±, for the sake of safety, they did not dare tond on the coast north of Roscianum, and had instead, after passing through the marsh, they immediately stopped at the ce where Timasion and the mercenaries hadnded a few days ago.

    Milo had first let the cavalry to disembark the ship in order to expand the range of their surveince to 1 kilometer, and then start to disembark on arge scale after confirming that there was no enemy. Countless soldiers with weapons and equipment, some have even led horses, have jumped off the transport ship and stepped into the sea and arrived at the shore, because there was no dock, the ves and the freemen had to carry the food, tents and other materials to the shore.

    The whole beach was filled with a dense number of people, and it was messy and noisy with the shouting and the neighing of the horses, and even the officers were in a hurry; The disorderly arrangement of the supplies had even affected the formation of the soldiers, so Philederus has to beat and scold the ves¡­which had taken a long time to rectify all this trouble, and after all this matter, it was already dusk and everyone was dead tired.

    After confirming the campsite, Milo issued an order with strict requirements: Each team must build a solid camp and arrange sentries, negligence is not allowed!

    The defeat of Mnseus is a lesson that they have learned. This time, Crotone has the absolute advantage and even the opportunity to move first, and they only need to advance steadily and victory is just around the corner.

    Capture Roscianum tomorrow and make it a forward base for the army and fleet of Crotone¡­Milo has already conceived the next military action n in his mind, and gradually fell asleep.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the main tent of the camp in Thurii, Davos, the chief military officer-Philesius, the legatus of the first legion-Kapus, the legatus of the second legion-Drakos, the captain of the cavalry-Ledes were analysing the situation of the enemy.

    On the wooden table was a two-meter square smooth wooden board, on which a detailed map of Magna Graecia was drawn. Philesius, who was holding a stick, pointed to the map on the board and said, ¡°Everyone, we just received a report from our scouts, the Crotonians have sent about 30,000 soldiers and they havended here on the coast south of Roscianum. I estimate that by tomorrow, they will attack Roscianum!¡±

    ¡°30,000 men?!¡± The cavalry captain, Ledes, took a deep breath, ¡°I am afraid that Crotone has sent out all their citizens to deal with us!¡±

    ¡°30,000 men is nothing!¡± Eximed Drakos then said, ¡°If the third legion can arrive in time, plus the freemen that we have recruited, then we will have more than 30,000 men! And even if we don''t have the 30,000 men, Crotone is not our match!¡±

    ¡°But the soldiers of Crotone are all citizens!¡± Kapus looked at Davos with a slightly worried look, ¡°Milord, do we really not wait for the third legion to arrive and just go straight to Roscianum?¡±

    Davos then said calmly, ¡°We don''t have the time. This time, Crotone is determined to destroy Theonia, this is why they have prepared so much and have marched so fast! If we wait, it means that we will give up Roscianum. This will not only undermine the reputation that Theonia has just established, but it will also allow the enemy to enter the Sybaris in, which is a vition of our previous promises! And if we were to fight the Crotonians on the in, it is not guaranteed that we will win, and if we were to use the defense of the city wall, the war will thenst longer, which is not good for us!¡± Davos took the stick from Philesius then pointed to the curved marked on the map of the Trionto river, and said, ¡°So we must make full use of the river!¡±

    As for the n of Davos, all of them here are already clear. Philesius finally opened his mouth and asked a question, ¡°Lord Davos, will the Crotonians rush to cross the Trionto river with their troops?! I heard that theirmander, Milo, is someone with richbat experience.¡±

    Davosughed and said with seriousness, ¡°There is no guarantee that any n can work, but Milo is now misguided with the false information that I have sent. Seeing that he is so eager to gather the troops, means that he wants to reach the city before we finish our assembly, which means that he is very likely to be caught in our trap. Naturally, if he doesn''t fall for it, then we can just go back to Thurii and fight a long defensive battle with the Crotonians!¡±

    ¡°He will be tricked!¡± Drakos spoke of the expectations of all the officers that are present, because all of them do not want the Crotonians to set foot on thend of Theonia.

    ¡°How many cavalries do they have?¡± Ledes asked an important question.

    ¡°About 800.¡± Replied Philesius.

    Ledes clenched his first, because his cavalry did not have the upper hand in terms of number or experience. So the only thing he can do is to see whether the wonderful tactics of Davos would work.

    ¡°Brothers!¡± Davos looked at these officers who were eager to give it a go. He knew that there was no need for him to rile them up because their morale was bound to go high. So he just calmly said, ¡°It is already gettingte. You all should go back to your respective teams and follow the previous n! Hades will bless us and tomorrow it will all go well!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    That night, the camp of Crotone was safe.

    In the early morning of the next day, the sky was clear and rainless. Milo woke up and felt that he was rxed and energetic, and the intelligence from Thurii was delivered in time: ¡®The reinforcements from Laos and Nerulum have yet to arrive and in the afternoon, 3,000 soldiers from Thurii have rushed to Roscianum.¡¯

    The confidential report should have been sent outst night, and at the same time, the warship of Crotone have cruised the coast of Thurii in the morning and have not found any trace ofrge-scale military operations on the road of Thurii-Roscianum¡­.Milo thought that the Theonians should have found out about the arrival of the army of Crotone, but they were still in the process of war mobilization, so they can only send 3,000 reinforcements. But they want to keep Roscianum with only these 3,000 soldiers?! ording to his understanding, Roscianum has only more than 4,000 soldiers, and the city-wall of the small Roscianum is less than four meters high, it is without a doubt that they will not be able to stop the army of Crotone from crossing the Trionto river and taking Roscianum. Milo even hopes that Roscianum would send all their army to stop them from crossing the river so that he can inflict the greatest damage on them in the wild and easily capture Roscianum. The weather and the situation of the enemy is favourable for Crotone, this is the blessing of Apollo! Crotone must seize this opportunity while Theonia has not yetpleted their war mobilization and their army has not yet been assembled and arrived. He must quickly cross the Trionto river, take Roscianum as soon as possible, and then fight with the army of Theonia!

    Milo immediately discussed it with Philederus and made a n for crossing the river.

    Under the further urging of Milo, the army was then quickly re-arranged, of which 22,000 soldiers were led by Milo and marched northwest: The other 4,500 soldiers and 500 cavalries, led by Philederus, will march north.

    There are two ideal walking ces for the Trionto river: The first one is located in the middle reaches of the river, it is not only shallow and t, but the length you can traverse is more than a kilometer, this was the ce where Davos crossed when he attacked Mnseus. The other is located downstream, and it is just west of Roscianum, with short reaches but has deep depth.

    The n of Crotone to cross the river is for the five thousand men led by Philederus to contain and attract the enemy, but they will not cross the river immediately. Instead, the army led by Milo will be crossing the wider section of the river first.

    The army of Crotone led by Milo formed a column of eight with a length of 2 kilometers.

    The ears of Milo, who was in the center, is filled with the sound of noisy footsteps and armor collision¡­.however, he felt it extremely pleasant, because the huge army gave him sufficient confidence and have even given him a leisure time to think about something: Both the cities of Roscianum and Krimisa were built on the north bank of the river, this is because they were the child city-states of Sybaris and so they were closer to Sybaris and were on guard against Crotone. ¡®After this war, we should force them to move their city to the southern bank! As for Thurii¡­if everything goes well, I don''t mind destroying it for the fourth time!¡¯

    ¡°Reporting, our scouts that have crossed the river were surrounded by the enemies'' cavalry, four have died and only two have managed to escape and return back.¡±

    ¡°Have they discovered anything?¡±

    ¡°They saw thousands of enemies marching along the north bank.¡±

    ¡®Thousands? Are they following us?¡¯ Milo thought for a moment and said, ¡°Has Philederus reached their destination?¡±

 Chapter 204: Ambush

    ¡°They still have not yet reached the location.¡±

    ¡°Tell those at the front to slow down their pace, and at the same time, let Philederus speed up their march to attract the attention of the enemy. Also¡­now that the situation is clear, have Alexias(captain of Crotone''s cavalry) withdraw the scouts, don''t waste our cavalries for nothing!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    After giving the order, Milo casted his gaze on the forest ahead. He is quite familiar with this ce, because after passing through it and further going west, it is the ce where the army of Mnseus was attacked. After the peace agreement with Theonia was signed, Milo has personally led some people to take the thousands of corpses of Crotonians and their allies¡­that tragic sight had made him unable to forget it for a long time!

    Milo tugged at the reins of his horse, ¡®This time, Crotone will wash away her shame and avenge our people!¡¯

    When they stepped out of the forest, there was a t wilderness in front of them. The river surface of the Trionto river narrowed down here, so it is impossible for them to traverse through the water. This was the reason why Mnseus chose this ce to camp.

    ¡°Enemy! There is an enemy ahead!!¡± The soldiers near the river bank became restless.

    On the opposite bank of the Trionto river, a heavily armed Theonian formation marched westward along the river bank.

    It seemed that the Theonians have noticed their movements and are ready to prevent them from crossing the river. However, Milo wasn''t too worried, although he could not see all the enemy on the opposite side, he could still feel that their number was not toorge. Just like what the report had said, the vanguard troops sent by the Theonians to Roscianum was less than 4,000, and they have to also defend against Philederus. How many enemies could there be to stop his troops from crossing the river!

    The upper reaches of the Trionto river run through the narrow valley between the mountains until it rushes out of the canyon then will meet the lond and be like a child out of control as it happily expands its territory to both sides. As a result, the width of the river reaches around 40 meters. At the same time, the water slows down and the depth decreases. After flowing slowly for more than 1 kilometer, the river surface will narrow and be deeper again because of the elevation of the terrain.

    Now, on the south bank of the Trionto river, Milo arranged his 22,000 soldiers(including the 2,000 light infantry) into a formation of a long phnx with a thickness of 10 columns and covered the entire traversable area. Because the number of the enemies on the other side of the river is only 5,000 and also have the same formation as Crotone. However, not only the thickness of their formation is thinner, their formation is also very loose, and so, Milo firmly believes that even with the help of the Trionto river, the Theonians will not be able to block the advance of Crotone, and their thin formation is bound to be broken by the massive army of Crotone!

    ¡°Attack!¡± Milo, who was located behind the center, gave the orders to the soldiers.

    The loud sounding salpinx resounded through the quietly flowing Trionto river. The whole phnx then began to move slowly towards the river bank, except for the 2,000 soldiers led by Milo at the center that didn''t move because the forces on their side had already far exceeded the enemy, so he didn''t need to send them to fight.

    Kelebus is one of the 20,000 soldiers. After he was captured by the Theoniansst time, he had been building roads while being imprisoned and had suffered a lot. And his family, in order to redeem him, have incurred a lot of debt, so in addition to his strong desire for revenge, he also hoped to defeat the Theonians to obtain a lot of spoils in order to pay off his debts.

    Thend here is not soft with fine sand, but was instead covered with pebbles of different shapes and sizes, which made the ground hard and is easy to slip. Therefore, they had to walk slowly and steadily¡­.

    The Trionto river is just in front of them, and through the small eyehole of his Corinthian helmet, Kelebus saw many people rushing out of the enemies'' formation on the opposite bank. Without waiting for the reminder of his squad captain, he quickly raised his round shield and ced it in front of his chest.

    ¡°ng!¡± The arrow of the Theonian struck his bronze shield and made a harsh sound, but it didn''t hurt him. Then with his right foot, he stepped into the river.

    ¡°Watchout!!¡± The shout of the officer echoed. Kelebus subconsciously looked up and saw countless ck dots in the air.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± He quickly raised his shield up in order to protect his head.

    At this time, he listened to the officer''s urgent cry, ¡°Watch out!!¡±

    However, the hearing and eyesight of the hoplites were severely impaired, resulting in their slower response than ordinary people, and many of them, including Kelebus, were unable to quickly follow the order. He then felt a slight blow on his chest, then a little pain. An arrow managed to stab through his left chest even after prating the severalyers of tightly woven and glued linen armor. However, the kic energy of the arrow was exhausted and it''s tip just barely touched his skin. With his experience, Kelebus knew that the damage was not great.

    However, his teammate who was shot in his unguarded thighs, had fallen into the river screaming and his blood turned the river red. Looking at his teammate struggling in the water, even though Kelebus wanted to help him, his strength iscking and the cunning Theonians have made him upied by fending off the arrows that they have shot. So Kelebus could only watch as his teammate finally stopped struggling and floated on the river, which naturally had made him feel sad¡­.

    ¡°Stride forward! Stride forward!¡­.¡± The officers yelled and urged the soldiers to speed up their crossing.

    The depth of the river is not deep, it is just below their knee, but there are lots of pebbles at the bottom of the river, which made it a bit slippery. Therefore, Kelebus squatted down and protected his head and chest with his round shield, and the water protecting his legs, with this, the probability of getting hit by an arrow was greatly reduced, but they were unable to move forward fast. After the initial panic, the soldiers gradually calmed down and moved forward slowly while protecting themselves against the arrows. At the same time, in the process of advancing, they readjusted their formation which has be a bit messy.

    After almost reaching the middle of the river, the depth of the water has no longer increased, and Kelebus who was on the right side of the phnx formation, could not even feel the strength of the current. At this time, he observed that some of their enemies have rushed out of their formation and had almost ran into the river, and is only less than 20 meters away from them, then the tip of the javelins that they are holding gleamed coldly in the sunlight¡­Kelebus'' heart jump wildly, so he instinctively sat down and had almost all soak his whole body in the water.

    ¡°Watch out for the javelins!!¡­.¡± The shouting of the officer increased significantly, because the javelins did more damage to the hoplites than the arrows.

    Kelebus then heard the wind whistling in his ear and then heard a ¡°Bang!¡± The spear pierced through the copper ting and the wooden board then his left arm, and the strong impact had even pushed him backward and brought down the soldiers behind him. If it was not for the timely help of his teammates, these soldiers in heavy helmets and heavy armor will drown from this seemingly gentle and harmless river water. It can be seen how powerful the javelin throw of the enemy is as it caused another panic to the frontline of the Crotonian army.

    At this time, the light infantry in the rear had closely followed, and finally, they could start fighting back. Their arrows fell like raindrops on the opposite bank of the river, forcing the enemies'' range unit not to attack the frontline wantonly.

    The casualties of the Crotonians were only a fraction. Although Milo felt a bit of headache, he didn''t pay much attention to it. He was only surprised that nearly half of the 5,000 enemy troops on the opposite side were light infantry. Their skillful cooperation, tactics, fierceness and urate attack that he has never seen in his previous battles, has aroused his vignce. But there is no doubt about the oue of this battle, because-

    ¡°Strategos! Our troops reach the other side! We reach the other side!¡­.¡± The men around him cheered.

    Milo thought it was easy to cross the Trionto river, but looking at the bodies floating on the river and looking at the relieved expressions of his men, it showed that the light infantry of the other side was powerful beyond their expectations.

    ¡°Beat the drums! Don''t let them escape!¡± Milo, on his horse, could vaguely see that when his soldiers stepped on the other side, the light infantry of the enemy had quickly passed through the gap between their phnx formation and retreated to the rear.

    ¡°Yes, strategos!¡± As soon as the herald''s voice dropped, he heard a loud salpinx sound on the other side of the river. This deafening sound needs at least ten salpinx to y at the same time.

    Milo couldn''t hide his shock, ¡®Could it be that Theonia has sent more than 5,000 troops to Roscianum?!¡¯ These thoughts shed through the minds of Milo and his men, and their gaze were fixed on the rear of the enemy.

    ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡­.¡± The war drum was quickly beaten, and it reached the ears of Kelebus, who had managed toe ashore, and had increased their confidence..

    ¡°Attack! Attack!¡­.¡± Without the attack of the arrows and javelins, the officers were full of excitement while giving orders.

    The soldiers of Crotone then called out the name of Apollo and marched toward the enemy.

    However, a loud cry came from the opposite side, and a red g suddenly rose from behind. Then there were soldiers tightly lining up and with the same fierce drum beatings, they quickly rushed to theirrades who had served as baits. Then sessive gs were erected and fluttered in the wind which evoked the painful memories of the Crotonians who had been captured, like Kelebus.

    ¡®We have been deceived! This is an ambush!¡¯ Every Crotonian soldiers had a simr thoughts running in their minds, but this thoughts was rapidly swallowing their morale, making them hesitant and wandering on the shore, cowering while watching the Theonian army join their first troops and started to reorganize their formation¡­.

 Chapter 205: Battle of Trionto River (I)

    It wasn''t only the soldiers, but at the moment when the army of Theonia appeared, the mind of Milo had also gone nk, his body trembled and his face became pale, ¡®He was deceived! Deceived by these cunning Theonians!¡¯ It was a very wrong military action for any qualified strategos to rashly let his army cross the river in front of an equally huge number of enemies, while thinking that there are only a few enemies! However, it''s already toote for him to retreat. Retreating in front of the enemy and going back to cross the river is a taboo, because for the soldiers of the city-state who do training at peace time, this means that they have been defeated without a fight. And the Theonians can easily attack them and turn the seemingly gentle Trionto river into the tomb of the Crotonians.

    Milo did not expect that the battle between Crotone and Theonia would unfold at this time and ce. However, in the face of the decisive battle rted to the life and death of a city-state, he could only try to force himself to calm down, and put his guilt and fear behind him, and instead to focus on the battle that is in front of him, ¡°Blow all the salpinx! Beat all the drums! Let the soldiers rush forward! Cross the river bravely! We can only now hope for victory!!¡± Milo waved his arm anxiously.

    The herald directly jumped into the river and shouted.

    The sudden increase of salpinx and drums urged the army to advance forward, and the officers in the formation were also aware of the danger and had taken the lead.

    The army of Crotone then began to increase their pace, but the formation of the army of Theonia was rapidly reorganized. Because of all the pebbles, neither side charged like what they usually do in the past, and instead approached each other slowly¡­.

    When the distance between the two sides was only more than 20 meters, Kelebus saw that amidst the shouting of the officers, the enemy on the opposite side suddenly stopped moving, then the frontline of the enemy slightly squatted and countless cold gleaming light appeared in the rear of the formation of the enemy. The actions of the enemy had let him immediately understand what was going to happen, so he immediately squatted, and he didn''t even have the time to shout the word ¡°Javelin¡±.

    Listening to the continuous ¡°Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!¡­.¡± sound like a gust of wind, apanied with the incessant screams, the frontline of Crotone''s whole army fell down in a blink of an eye, which had not only interrupted the pace of the Crotonian soldiers, but had also made the phnx formation at the front to be somewhat fragmented.

    The Theonians did not stop, as another round of javelin was thrown. At such a close distance, the lethality of the heavy javelin is quite frightening.

    Just as the soldiers of Crotone were in a hurry to avoid the javelins and rescue theirpanions, the Theonians took this opportunity to march forward, bashing the frightened Crotonians with their round shield and thrusting their spears at the enemy who had just survive under the rain of javelin¡­.

    Had it not been for the rear row to make it in time, then the frontline of Crotone would have copsed already. However, it had also kept the troops of Crotone to not be able to retreat back to the bank of the river, and Milo''s well prepared formation is now in trouble. In addition to their frontal sh, another effective way of attack is to push each other with the thickness of their formation to achieve a breakthrough. However, the current situation of the Crotonians is not only unable to form a unified joint attack, but they could only slowly retreat under the strong push of the enemy.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the javelin that covered the sky flew into the formation of Crotone, Milo felt that his heart was about to stop beating.

    ¡®The hoplites of Theonia can also throw javelins!¡¯ Milo regretted that he was too careless and that he didn''t go to learn more about the tactical characteristics of the army of Theonia. Looking at their light infantry and their hoplites, it is obvious that they are a well-trained force with unique tactics!

    Just as Milo was grieving over the death and injury of his soldiers and regretting his negligence, his men watched the fight on the other side and anxiously shouted, ¡°These damned Theonians have so many infantry! It must be their reinforcements from Nerulum and Laos!¡±

    Indeed, ording to the heralds that havee from the left and right wing, the Theonian formation has almost the same length as them and can even force their own formation to fall back. Although they have the advantage in terrain, he fears that the thickness of their formation is not thinner than their own. ¡®Does the current Theonia have about 20,000 soldiers?¡¯ Listening to the report of his subordinate, it was just like a sh of lightning striking the mind of Milo. Due to his determination to take his revenge, he had always carefully studied the confidential reports that havee from Thurii, so he knew something about the Theonia Union.

    He remembered the report saying that it will take at least three days to reach Nerulum from Thurii and it will take the same amount of time to get to Laos, so even if the mobilization order have reach Nerulum and Laos, it would take at least 6 more days to gather the troops then depart and reach Thurii. After all, the construction of the Thurii-Nerulum-Laos road was only recently started, and it has only been four days since the deration of war, unless the Theonian has called up their troops in advance. However, three days ago, the mercenaries had not yet attacked Krimisa, he had even tortured the several prisoners, including Cleanor and Toras, and they had all said that they had concealed their invasion of Krimisa to Davos. Therefore, the reinforcements of Nerulum and Laos should still be on their way to Thurii. Where did Theonia get so many infantries?

    Thurii and Amendra don''t have so many citizens. Milo can be sure of this, he then suddenly remembered something, ¡®¡­.freemen?! It is those so-called registered freemen of Theonia!!¡¯

    Milo suddenly remembered that in the previous reports, Theonia have frequently organized their freemen for military training. Milo still remembers that many of the statesmen of Crotone have ridiculed Theonia for their hunger that they even turned those vulgar freemen into city-state citizens! But the present situation shows that the method of Theonia is effective, and the armour and spears of these former poor freemen are all from the soldiers of Crotone who had died or have been captured in the previous war!

    Despite his resentment, Milo understood it more clearly that Thurii had even sent these freemen to the battlefield, so it means that they should''ve sent all the people that they can send and that they might not even have any extra troops left!!

    Milo watched the battlefield and got spirited, ¡°Eurydemos!¡±

    ¡°Strategos, what is the matter?¡± A subordinate of his responded.

    ¡°Immediately lead these two thousand soldiers to the east and give themand to Philederus.¡±

    ¡°What?! Strategos, didn''t you want them to step forward to strengthen the center?!¡± Eurydemos asked with doubt.

    ¡°Follow my order!¡± Milo red at him, his friend''s son is indeed a hard working man, but he talked too much, ¡°Tell strategos Philederus that there will not be too many enemies on his side, so he should take this chance to cross the river as soon as possible, regardless of casualties. After he defeats the enemy, he will need to rush here to attack the Theonian army! Victory or defeat of this battle will depend on his action!¡± Milo said with seriousness.

    ¡°Understood!¡± Eurydemos, reminded by Milo, rushed to carry out the order excitedly after seeing an opportunity to win.

    Milo jumped down from his horse, armed with spears and shields, as he led his escort guards to traverse the river and join the battle. He then shouted in order to make the soldiers fight more bravely.

    Since most of the hoplites of the Theonian are preparatory citizens, he does not believe that these novices who were freemen half a year ago and have never had anybat experience could grasp thebat essence of a hoplite in just half a year! This is where his confidence lies in, he firmly believed that even though the soldiers of Crotone were in disadvantage, they could still hold on until the arrival of Philederus.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the center of the Theonian army, a big g stands tall and the top of the g is the statue of Hades, and the g is obviouslyrger than the g of the legions, and it is only embroidered withrge golden characters ¡°Davos¡±.

    There are three legions in the Theonian Union, naturally, Davos has to abdicate and return to his original position. But ording to the old tradition, the archon is also the highestmander of the city-state. Therefore, the position of Davos in the union is the highest, the Grand Legatus of the Theonia Union army (Grand Marshal).

    Currently, Davos was watching the enemy on the other side.

    ¡°Grand Legatus, the troops of the enemies are now stepping into the river!¡± Aristocrates reminded him loudly, as a talent that pique the interest of Davos, he had the intention to train him like what he did to Asistes, so he was allowed to follow him in this war. However, he is still a freeman, so Davos could only temporarily make him his assistant.

    Davos had been waiting for this moment, so he then called out, ¡°Tolmides!¡±

    ¡°Milord, please give your orders!¡± The reply of Tolmides was his sincere respect of Davos.

    The rapid march of Crotone was greatly beyond their expectation. In the case that the troops of Nerulum and Laos could not arrive in time, then there would be a big difference between the forces of both sides. During their military discussion, many people proposed to abandon Roscianum and instead defend Thurii while waiting for the reinforcements to arrive before doing the decisive battle. However, Davos insisted on making Roscianum the battleground. Out of his long established prestige, he finally managed to persuade everyone.

    He then recruited all the citizens and preparatory citizens of Thurii and Amendra who have participated in the military training and were able to fight, he even included some of the freemen who had just arrived in Thurii. He really had taken a great risk, by fully concentrating all the army of Theonia in Roscianum, and leaving Thurii and Amendra with almost no defense except for a few troops that were left in the port. If the fleet of Crotone were tond on the shores of the Sybaris in, Theonia wouldn''t be able to resist them for a while, but Davos had still dared to take such a bold move.

 Chapter 206: Battle of Trionto River (II)

    Just like what Davos had expected, the army of Crotone had crossed the river in this ce and the Theonian army had been lying in wait. The Theonian army, which had arge number of new recruits, have upied thend and used novel tactics to inflict the greatest damage on the army of Crotone, which was famous for their bravery in Magna Graecia, and took the upper hand.

    When he was in Persia, Davos was famous for his ability in wiping out the enemy, battling in an ingenious way and only suffering few casualties. Tolmides, as the herald of the whole mercenary, was the one responsible for the coordination of the whole mercenaries, but the camp of Davos was always the most strict, so Tolmides could only take a glimpse of his military ability. When he arrived in Thurii, he heard that Davos had led the army many times, which made his heart itch for a long time. In this military operation, Tolmides served as the deputy herald(because he is still a freeman), so he have participated in the whole process, so he managed to finally witnessed how Davos held on to his opinion against the others, conceiving strategies that he have never seen before, and making all the department of the union to carry out actions around his n like: Making the elderly and women walk in the port in armor to confuse the fleet of the enemy; A detailed arrangement in their marching at night to make it possible for the new recruits and freemen who have never had any experience to reach the city of Roscianum smoothly; The army carrying out strict discipline and topletely blockade the city of Roscianum to prevent the information from leaking out. The mountain reconnaissance team of Izam being sent to cross the river to spy on the movement of the enemy and to report at all times. At the same time, the cavalry was sent to intercept the scouts of the enemy that had crossed the river, so that the enemy knew nothing about the situation on the other side of the Trionto river, then leading the army to quietly and quickly hide before daylight, and setting bait in front of the river bank(referring to the four thousand soldiers) and at the same time, to cover the trail of the army. And deliberately deploying more than a thousand people in the Trionto river, so that the Crotonians will not dare to take the risk of having heavy casualties by traversing the other part of the river and instead to choose the safer middle section of the river.

    Throughout the whole military operation, the strategy of Davos was fully demonstrated: Deception, rapid march, reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance, ambush, temptation¡­.have been perfectlybined to sessfully lure the enemy and achieve his goal, which has expanded the sight of Tolmides. In this era, most of the wars between city-states were to recruit soldiers then fight in a ce that was epted by both sides, or when one side was stronger, the other side would defend stubbornly until their reinforcements arrived and then counterattack. Themanders of both sides will only use tactics during the battles(this is what the Spartans are good at.) Initially, Davos made ns ording to the situation, and made a series ofplex and delicate actions to achieve his goal, just like carving the bloody battle into a fine and beautiful Athenian pottery. Just as what Davos himself had said, ¡°War is rted to the survival of a city-state, so we must be careful and cautious before taking any action.¡±

    ¡®This is why Davos became the archon of a powerful union, while Timasion died in a small city-state!¡¯ Tolmides was lost in his thoughts.

    ¡°Tolmides, go to the east and inform Xanticles, Epiphanes, Cid and Ledes that the enemy will soon cross the river. Tell them to get ready and act ording to the n.¡± Davos gave the order.

    ¡°Roger!¡± Tolmides got on his horse and galloped eastward, and though the tactics that will be used in the east would be more bizarre, he already had faith in Davos.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Philederus was startled when he learned from Eurydemos that Milo had led his army to cross the river and encountered the Theonian army and that he was currently in a bitter battle. The Theonians had nearly 20,000 troops lying in wait on the other side of the Trionto river, which was totally beyond their expectation.

    ¡®Is there also an ambush here?¡¯ Looking at the more than a thousand light infantry deployed on the opposite bank, he couldn''t stop himself from thinking about it. He had hoped that Milo woulde to help him drive away the enemy after he crossed the river, so as to reduce the casualties of his soldiers. But now, he instead would need to lead his troops to help Milo. The situation was so dire that he was unable to think straight.

    In this ce, there is no room for more than 6,000 soldiers to cross the river at the same time. So he had to quickly divide his army into three: The front, the center, and the rear. At the front are more than 3,000 hoplites, with their strong defense, they can reduce the casualties from the arrows and javelins of the enemies and sessfully reach the opposite bank to disperse the enemy. Close behind them are the 500 cavalry, who can chase down the light infantry of the enemy and crush them, and finally in the rear, were nearly 3,000 light armored soldiers.

    After suffering from the long-range attack of the Theonians, and after paying some casualties, the hoplites of Crotone finally stepped into the river. However, they no longer needed to chase them because the light infantry of the Theonian had already fled, and so, Philederus managed to lead his army to cross the river smoothly.

    ¡°Strategos, will you have us pursue them?¡± Asked Alexias, the captain of the cavalry.

    Philederus shook his head and said cautiously, ¡°We are now going to help Milo, your cavalry will be the one to guard our surroundings, so don''t act rashly.¡±

    Philederus had just made his troops turn westward to march, when suddenly, the sound of salpinx came from the north.

    Philederus'' heart tightened, ¡®Sure enough, there is an ambush!¡¯

    At this moment, Alexias also rushed over and said with a puzzled expression, ¡°Strategos, an enemy force is heading here from the north. They numbered seven thousand, and all of them were archers, slingers, peltasts and hundreds of cavalries.¡±

    Philederus was taken aback, ¡°There are no hoplites?¡±

    ¡°None!¡± Alexias nodded.

    Philederus, though puzzled, was obviously relieved, so he decisively gave the order, ¡°Everyone, face the north!¡± Since the attacking army of Theonia had no hoplites, it meant that theycked the ability to have a frontal sh, so Philederus did not mind to defeat them first before marching in order to reduce their harassment.

    ¡°Alexias, how many cavalries the enemy have?¡±

    ¡°More than 400.¡±

    ¡°It''s fortunate that we have twice as many cavalry as they do.¡± Philederus became more rxed and said, ¡°Alexias, your cavalry will particrly be important when fighting the enemies'' light infantry. So I will need you to lead the cavalry to defeat the enemies'' cavalry, and do your best to not pursue them, and instead attack the nk of the enemy¡¯s center, do you understand?!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Alexias then went away.

    And the army of Theonia moved quickly, not long after, they appeared in Philederus¡¯ line of sight. When he roughly saw the enemy, he became surprised, because the light infantry of the other side was too light. No matter if it''s the archers or peltasts, they are all wearing thin linen clothes, and even the cavalry are either armored or just in in clothes. They are extremely shabby.

    ¡®Are all these freemen have been recruited from the port of Thurii?¡¯ Philederus couldn''t help stop from smiling, ¡®What Milo had guessed is correct, the Theonians did indeed only have a few citizens so they now have a shortage of troops, that they even have to result in using light infantry. He could even sweep them all with just the cavalries trampling them!¡¯

    500 meters away from them, the soldiers of Theonia suddenly stopped and began to reorganize their formation.

    ¡°I think the Crotonians will be very surprised to see us. They must have thought that we are only here to harass them, but they have no idea that we have allowed them to cross the river with the purpose of wiping them all out here.¡± Said Tolmides.

    ¡°This battle will prove to the Greeks that the light infantry is as important as the heavy infantry and that the light infantry can easily defeat them as long as the strategy is right!¡± Epiphanes said with confidence.

    ¡°The important point is to see whether Ledes and Xanticles can wipe out the cavalry of the enemy first.¡± Tolmides was still a bit worried.

    ¡°Rest assured, Lord Davos, the favored of Hades, has carefully devised this strategy! He is the favored of Hades!¡± Cid said with admiration.

    ¡°You and I couldn¡¯t even expect it, let alone our enemy! They are all going to fall for it!¡± Just as he finished speaking, Epiphanes then jumped to his horse and joined the ranks of the soldiers and ordered them to widen the gap so that the formation became more loose, which will make it easier to shoot and run.

    Cid had also rushed to the right wing to give the same order, while the cavalry formation of Ledes on the left wing was also loose. In this, the left, center and right wing of Theonia had almost doubled in area, just like a fermented bread.

    For Philederus, this will be the first time that he would encounter such a situation, he hesitated for a while and finally decided to make his formation be morepact. However, the arrangement of the soldiers were still dense as usual, because he felt that although both the heavy infantry and the light infantry could not hit at a far away ce, and as a unit that is good at close rangebat with strong shing strength, the dense formation is their magic weapon for defeating the enemy. At this moment, the traditional habitual thinking of Philederus has confined his thoughts, which resulted in the Crotone¡¯s army¡¯s length to be equal to that of the center of Theonia and had allowed the Theonian army to encircle the army of Crotone in a crescent way.

    However, Philederus was not worried, because he knew that the number of soldiers on both sides were not much different, and as long as the soldiers of Crotone can get near to the enemy, then they will be victorious, and the greatest guarantee for his confidence is due to the double the number of cavalries. Because the length of the formation of the enemy was too long, he needed to order the cavalry of Alexias to break away from the center and directly face the cavalry of the enemy.

    The center of Crotone has 3,000 light armored soldiers, whose speed is faster than that of a hoplite. When the cavalry manage to defeat their opponent, they will then go nk the center, and with the speed of the lightly armored soldiers, they can cooperate with the cavalries to defeat the center of the enemy. As for the more than 3,000 hoplites on the left wing, Philederus certainly understood that they could not catch up with the light infantry with their slow speed, this is why they only need to move slowly and protect themselves from being pinned down by the right wing of the enemy and prevent them from reinforcing the center.

 Chapter 207: Battle of Trionto River (III)

    On the side of Theonia, there are 3,000 light infantries on both the center and on the right wing, which includes arches, slingers and peltast. Most of them are freemen from the port of Thurii, while hundreds of them are veterans and are drawn from the original first, second and light infantry brigade, and served as officers.

    The more than 400 cavalry on the left wing has always been just an extra, but ording to the current n, this time, they will y an important key to win this war. It is no wonder that Ledes, who has always been serious, has be out of breath due to him repeatedly ordering each cavalry squad captain to the things that they should pay attention to once the battle starts.

    ¡°Captain, we are already clear what to do, so you don''t have to worry so much!¡± Said Solikos. Thisrge group of coachmen that was financed by the Cheiristoya''s bank had not only increased the taxes of the union, but had also made a group that are good at horse riding and have enough horses. Therefore, they have be the main targets of the cavalry recruitments. As citizens, they are duty bound to put on their armor and fight. Though the age of Solikos is just above the age limit for conscription, he is still very active, at the age of 50 it might have been tough for him to be an infantry soldier, but he thinks that with his experience, he is more than capable enough to be a captain.

    ¡°Is that so, then prepare to fight.¡± Nodded Ledes.

    ¡°We are clear about it, but do the people behind us understand it? Won''t they screw it up!¡± Said by a young cavalry squad captain.

    Ledes looked back at him and said, ¡°Don''t worry, Cleitus and the others have fought more battles than the salts that you have ever eaten, and in Persia, they have even faced more cavalry!¡±

    The young cavalry squad captain was not convinced and had wanted to say more, but suddenly, someone had shouted out, ¡°Look, our slingers are starting to attack!¡±

    There was no sound of salpinx or shouting when the slingers, under the leadership of the veterans, slipped out of the formation and quickly ran to the frontline. They then started to brandished their slings at a distance of more than 200 meters, and the soldiers of Crotone, who were still in formation, immediately enjoyed the baptism of the ¡°rain of stones¡±, and many of their soldiers did not even have the time to raise their shield for protection, and had gotten their head struck.

    ¡°Shameless Theonians! Deceitful Theonians! Apollo will punish you!¡± Philederus did not expect the enemy to attack in this way, so he was caught off guard and could only curse at them.

    ¡°ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK THEM NOW!¡± He shouted angrily.

    Then a salpinx that signals the attack was blown.

    Alexias, who was waiting for a long time, pointed his spear forward, ¡°Cavalry! Advance!!¡±

    The 800 cavalry of Crotone were in an inverted fan-shaped formation, their legs mped on their horse''s belly and shook their reins, then the horses began to gallop forward.

    While the cavalry of Ledes formed a loose wedge-shaped formation with two experienced riders at the front, each holding a red g and brandishing it in the wind. Seeing that the enemy had begun to move, Ledes then took a deep breath in order to restrain his excitement, then patted the neck of his horse, and watched as the enemy''s horse reached a certain distance before shouting, ¡°Forward!¡±

    ¡°Go! Go!¡­.¡± Everyone yelled and urged their horses to move forward. Different from the cavalries of Crotone who had held the reins with their left hands and the spears with their right hand, the cavalries of Theonia held the reins with both hands, and their spears are still hung on their straps. The cavalries controlled the speed of their horses and did not dare to let them gallop as fast as possible. Otherwise, they would easily fall down before they could get closer to the enemy.

    The sun at noon in the spring is not hot, but the horses are puffing clouds of dust everytime they raise their hooves, and soon they cross the distance of 500 meters in a sh.

    When the distance was only 50 meters left, Ledes shouted at the g bearer that was right besides him, ¡°Turn right!!!¡±

    Solikos, who was parallel on his left, had also immediately shouted, ¡°Turn left!!!¡±

    The two g bearers in the front had quickly separated to the left and right.

    Duringbats between cavalry, because the cavalry''s speed is too fast, the one in the rear may break away from the formation if they do not pay attention, due to this, the wedge-shaped formation is characterized by a small front and arge rear, so the cavalry at the back can see the forward direction. In addition, with the red g waving in the wind on both sides, even during the dusty battlefield, the Theonian cavalry can still basically follow the g bearers. Therefore, they managed to sessfully divide the wedge-shaped formation into two parts, and bypassed the iing enemy from the front.

    The cavalry of Crotone did not expect that the Theonians would make such a move. They werepletely dumbfounded, but they did not dare to stop nor make any other move without prior nning and coordination, because not only will they disrupt the formation, they will also end up getting knocked down by the cavalry at their back and getting trampled together with the mud, so the only thing they can do is to continue galloping and then turn around.

    But after passing the Theonian cavalry, they saw, with astonishment, an innumerable sharp spears protruding from the morning mist, revealing a ferocious chill to them.

    ¡°Hoplites! Hopl-¡± Eximed by the Crotonian cavalryman, while trying to pull the reins of his horse, but his strong inertia had made him unable to stop, and he ended up getting mmed into the spears. In an instant, the spear was broken and blood sshed.

    Some of the hoplites were hit and flew out due to the powerful impact, but the other soldiers did not see it and still kept on holding their spears with the spear¡¯s butt at the ground, and in front of them were dozens of horses and people falling in a row, struggling in the river of blood¡­

    There is no real heavy cavalry in this era, due to this, it¡¯s not just the cavalries of the Greeks, but also the cavalries of any Mediterranean country has never faced a tight formation of spears and dared to charge towards it. The cavalries at the back had tried to control their horses in order to prevent them from colliding with the forest of spears, but the sensitive and timid horses neighed and suddenly stopped their fast galloping body, and due to the inertia, the riders flew straight into the forest of spears and was then skewered¡­.

    Amidst the cavalries, Alexias managed to stop his galloping horse. However, some of hisrades have fallen down, some of them are going around in circles, some of them are shouting, and some of them have their horses stopped moving. Their wails, shouts and the neigh of the horses have mingled together, and the whole cavalry of Crotone was in a mess¡­.

    Knowing that he was caught in the scheme of the Theonians, Alexias was in a dire situation, and he was unable to think carefully, so he could only order, ¡°Turn left! Turn left! Get out from the side!¡±

    Alexias shouted loudly, and the escorts that were around him have shouted as well. The chaotic Crotonian cavalry had finally got a pir of support, and soon, there was order.

    Just as they managed to turn their horse and tried to dodge the spear formation that was in front them, the two cavalry units of the Theonians had suddenly closed like human arms.

    Soon, there were wails all around Alexias, he now realized that his troops were surrounded: A cavalry unit being surrounded by both infantry and cavalry, which should''ve been impossible, but it has now be a reality!

    ¡°ughter your way to the left! ughter them!¡± Alexias shouted in anger.

    But a more powerful voice which had covered his shouts hade from the front, and the salpinx that signals the hoplites to charge was then blown.

    ¡°Brothers, kill all these Crotonians and avenge Timasion and the others!¡± Xanticles took off his helmet and is the first to rush with a spear.

    Then more than a thousand mercenaries roared and followed him forward. The soldiers who had been knocked down and were struggling to get up, had hurriedly drawn out their swords and joined the battle.

    The previously solid ¡°spear wall¡± has suddenly turned into a pervasive water that prated into the Crotonian cavalries who were in a mess. It was easy for these experienced mercenaries to kill the stationary cavalries, and had adopted the method of two mercenaries fighting one cavalry: One is responsible for restraining and attracting the attention of their opponent, while the other will take the opportunity and quickly approaches from either the side and the rear, and urately stabs their spears upward, and the spear tip prates into the lung through the space between the armor under the ribs, and reached the heart and kills the target. If they avoid the stab, the mercenary will sweep down their spear and knock down the cavalryman, and before they can get up, they will get a heavy kick on their head and neck.

    The efficiency of the mercenaries in killing is very high, and the Theonian cavalrymen have subconsciously kept away from these fiends.

    The battle had ended quickly. Besides the dozens of Crotonian cavalries who have managed to escape and the more than 100 cavalries that have surrendered, all the others have died. The Theonians has also managed to obtain more than 400 horses, with only 50 cavalrymen and 20 mercenaries injured and killed. This is aplete victory! The strategy that Davos has conceived has worked! Ledes kept on smiling as he listened to his men''s report, but he knew that the whole battle was not yet over.

    He then assigned 70 cavalries to continue pursuing the enemy and then urged the rest of the cavalries to go to the nearby city of Roscianum, ¡°Hurry up and retrieve your javelins!¡±

    ¡°Ledes, we will go with you.¡± Xanticles and a number of mercenaries came riding on the captured horses.

    ¡°You¡­.¡± Ledes instinctively wanted to refuse, but the mercenaries have yed a decisive role in the battle.

    Xanticles saw through his thoughts and said, ¡°You currently don''t have many cavalries. Although we are not good at horse riding, we are better at throwing javelins than you, and the more people means the more pressure we can put on the Crotonians and it''s better to end this battle earlier in order to reinforce Davos as soon as possible!¡±

    The words of Xanticles have reminded Ledes and have made him no longer obsessed with the question of whether they are a cavalrymen or not, ¡°I hope that you can keep up with us, because I won''t stop to wait for you.¡±

    ¡°Rest Assured.¡± Laughed Xanticles.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Philederus did not know that his cavalries was almost destroyed, and now the light armored soldiers that he led in the center were in trouble.

    As soon as the salpinx was blown, the light armored soldiers advanced.

    While the enemies'' slingers retreated in a hurry.

    Then the arrow rain came¡­and then the javelins¡­.

    After paying some casualties, the light armored soldiers manage to get closer to the enemy.

    Suddenly, the light infantries in the center retreated as a whole.

    The light armored soldiers began to pursue them again, and the enemy retreated again. If the light armored soldiers pursue them faster, the enemy retreats faster; If the light armored soldiers pursue them slowly, the enemy will retreat slowly¡­the two sides have always maintained a distance of only tens of meters.

 Chapter 208: Battle of Trionto River (IV)

    Although the light armored soldiers are ¡°light armored¡±, they still have ¡°armors¡±. Moreover, with a leather shield and a spear in their hands, how could they catch up with an enemy who was only wearing a single piece of clothing. However, if they were to stop chasing, the enemies'' range attack wille.

    What''s more problematic is that the enemy in the center has gradually divided into three groups, when the light armored soldiers are advancing, one of them will draw the light armored soldiers into the formation, and the other two will go to the nk of the light armored soldiers.

    As the light armored soldiers advance, their nk will get attacked by the enemy. If they focus their attention at the front, they won''t be able to take care of their nks, and if they were to take care of their nks, then they won''t be able to defend against the enemy at the front. The light armored soldiers of Crotone could only recklessly charge like a wild boar, and as a result, not only did they fail to do anything to the enemy, their own casualties have gradually increased.

    ¡°Where are the cavalries?! Why haven¡¯t theye yet! What is Alexias doing!!¡± Seeing his soldiers fall one by one, Philederus became impatient and couldn''t stop himself from shouting. This was the first time that he realized how hard it was to fight an enemy who was all light infantry with only just pure infantry. They couldn''t even catch up with them, let alone fight them, and they have instead be living targets of the enemy.

    ¡°Retreat to the left! Retreat to the left!!¡± Eximed Philederus, and his escorts echoed what he shouted. If in the previous pursuit the excited soldiers could not hear what Philederus was shouting, but now that they are all gathered together and are carefully avoiding the arrows and stones, and was already a bit afraid and tired, they manage to hear the orders of Philederus and it is exactly what they wished, and so, the light armored soldiers retreated in a hurry.

    Who knew that the light infantry of Theonia are like maggots on a bone and won''t let them go.

    Philederus had initially meant to retreat back to the left and join up with their hoplites who were on the left-wing, so that they could protect the nks of the light armored soldiers and reduce their casualties before the cavalry returned from their victory. (Philederus is still convinced that Crotone would win.)

    However, he didn''t know that the hoplites that he originally thought would still be in his left rear were actually diverted by the right-wing light infantry of the enemy. The enemy had actually deliberately retreated slowly to the northwest, and the slow moving hoplites had unknowingly changed from facing north to northwest, and as a result, the distance between the center and the left-wing of Crotone had widened.

    The light armored soldiers retreated quickly for a period of time, but not only did they not meet their left-wing, their casualties had quickly increased because they could not protect themselves well while retreating, and now, they are forced to turn around again and protect themselves with just their leather shields, and slowly retreat to avoid the rain of arrows. They could only watch as the number of injured and fallenrades on the ground and getting ughtered by the enemies increased, and the morale of the light armored soldiers was shaking.

    At this time, they suddenly heard the sound of horse'' hooves at their rear, but they could not look back as they had to focus on avoiding the arrows. However, they still exhaled a sigh of relief, ¡°Cavalries! Our cavalry has arrived atst!!¡±

    Philederus wondered how the cavalries of Alexias got to their rear, because he had told him that after defeating the left-wing of the enemy, he would lead the cavalry to attack the center of the enemy from the other side. When he started to feel annoyed, someone shouted in a hurry, ¡°Javelins! Be careful of the javelins! They are enemies!!¡±

    Apanied by this cry, hundreds of javelins howled from the rear.

    Philederus, who was at the rear of the formation and was wearing a brightly colored helmet of a strategos, had naturally be the target of their attack and he immediately got struck by three javelins. When Philederus fell, he still could not understand how the superior cavalry of Crotone lost!

    The cavalry that they had high hopes turned out to be the enemy! This has be thest straw to crush the light armored soldiers. Their morale vanished and they all fled in different directions, and the light infantry and the cavalry of Theonia had taken advantage of this situation to chase them. The light armored soldiers of Crotone were unable to run faster than these poorly equipped light infantry, let alone the speed of the cavalry. After the Theonians caught up with them, most of the Crotonian soldiers had chosen to surrender.

    After dealing with the cavalry of Crotone on the right-wing and the light armoured soldiers at the center, the Theonians then concentrated on dealing with the difficult hoplites.

    When the more than 3,000 Crotonian hoplites were surrounded by the more than 7,000 light infantry and cavalry of Theonia, these hoplites has soon understood that their center and right-wing might have encountered a disaster, specially after seeing the head of Philederus being held up by the cavalry of Ledes and circling around the hoplites and shouting for their surrender. The blow to the hearts of these Crotonians could only be imagined.

    The strategos in charge of the hoplites was Philos of Crotone, and his adjutant was Batrius of Scylletium, and the two of them had a dispute in the face of such a critical situation.

    Philos believed that the light infantry could not do much damage on them. So as long as they could keep on advancing and reach the main force in front of the river fording, they could then get their aid to defeat the army of Theonia, and the final victory would still belong to Crotone.

    While Batrius thinks that under their current circumstance of getting fully encircled and being attacked and the morale of the soldiers is very low, and the destination they want to reach is at least more than 3 kilometers, so it is almost impossible for the soldiers to keep going forward to the western reach of the river.

    Neither side could persuade each other, and in the end, they parted ways. With the 1,700 soldiers from Scylletium and Terina, Batrius began to retreat and prepare to return to the south bank of Trionto river, while Philos led the 1,400 Crotonian hoplites and began to head west at a fast pace.

    The sudden division of the troops of Crotone had caused trouble to the several high-ranking officers of Theonia.

    Ledes and Cid believed that they should surround the hoplites that are heading west with hoplites and chase the retreating enemy with a small number of troops.

    Epiphanes objected. He thought that since the enemy is already retreating, it shows that their morale is already low, and as long as they continue pursuing and attacking them, they will surely surrender. After that, they can just re-encircle the remaining hoplites andpletely wipe them out, which will make the next part of the strategy to be implemented easier. And his opinion was supported by Xanticles.

    The situation is urgent and there is no time for them to argue. So the force of Theonia was also divided into two, with Epiphanes and Xanticles leading their troops to pursue the retreating hoplites.

    Although the citizens of Scylletium have suffered many casualties from the attack of Theonia half a year ago, they are not Crotonians and do not have much conflict of interest with Theonia, and the main reason for them joining the war was because of their treaty and avenging their dead citizens was only second, but when the situation of the war worsen and have started to threaten their lives, they will certainly no longer fight so hard. So when the troops were divided, they were greatly in favour of it, because they think that the attention of the Theonians will be focused on the Crotonians who are heading west. However, they did not expect that the Theonians would continue to pursue them inrge numbers, they got flustered and once they arrived at the lower reaches of the Trionto river, they suddenly remembered how they had paid a great price when crossing this river before, and now that there are more enemies, their attack will certainly be more fierce.

    The Terinians were the first to surrender, then Batrius led the Scylletiums to surrender afterwards.

    The hoplites of Crotone had said to quicken their pace, but their speed was not much faster than before. Although the hoplites have good protection, it does not mean that they are not afraid of the long-ranged attacks of arrows, javelins and stones. The impact of the stones on their helmets will make them dizzy, while they would need to be careful of the arrows because their thighs, toes and hands are not protected, and their armor can''tpletely block the short-range attack of an archer. Naturally, their big round shield with a diameter of one meter and covered with copper te can indeedpletely resist the attack from the front. However, the enemy is not only in the front, but also in the nk and rear. So how will they be able to protect themselves from them?

    The distance left till they reach the main army of Crotone is only a few kilometers away, which usually takes an hour when marching normally. Now that half an hour has passed, it is only less than a kilometer away¡­but some of theirrades are constantly falling down from getting struck by arrows and javelins, they are like a giant beast that are constantly getting bitten and bloodied by the agile wolves, and are getting weaker and more exhausted. There is no hope ahead and the arrows and javelins of the enemies seems to be infinite(Davos asked the Roscianums to donate all the arrows and javelins that they had been umting for many years, and carried them to the rear of the battlefield.) When Epiphanes and Xanticles, who had returned together with their troops, threw the captured gs of Scylletium and Terina to the front of the hoplites of Crotone, who were surrounded. The morale of the Crotonians that was already crumbling due to them trying to defend against the long-range attack of the Theonians for so long, had finally shattered. At the time of their surrender, there were only less than a thousand soldiers left.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Arsinis who was a recruit half a year ago, is now a squad captain of the first legion, and he is in charge of nine soldiers, six of whom are preparatory citizens and recruits.

    The rapid expansion of the Theonian army in the past six months has brought about many problems, especially in such a fierce war where the quality of hoplites on both sides has gradually shown over time. The hoplites are not only a qualified heavy infantry with armor, shield and spear, but they also have trust and tacit understanding with each other. On apact formation, a hoplite holds a shield in his left hand and a spear in his right hand. The heavy copper ted round shield will naturally make him lean to the left, which will not only make him protect his left chest but will also protect the right chest of hisrade on the left, and his right chest will be protected by the shield of hisrade on the right. In this way, the surface of the shield will form a line to defend against the attack of the enemy and they will only need to move the round shield back and forth to defend. Such movement not only consumes less physical strength, but it makes it easy for the formation to be disrupted. But with this, they will only need to focus on two actions, to stab continuously with their right hand and to keep pushing forward. And they will need to trust theirrades to protect themselves. This is the key to a sessful hoplite phnx.

    A city-state has at least a few thousand citizens and at the most tens of thousands. And the citizens were either neighbors or their rtives, and they yed together since childhood. When they are young, they will receive hoplite training from their elders, participate inpetitions and study together, once they be adults, they will work together and attend parties together¡­.although there is not much public collective military training every year, the trust have already formed from their childhood training, and as long as they stand on the battlefield, they will naturally stand together and twist into a rope.

 Chapter 209: Battle of Trionto River (V)

    But the freemen of Theonia are different, they havee from various ces, and have developed the habit of only being concerned about their own interest. Even before they have be a preparatory citizens of Theonia, most of them have not received hoplite training or been on the battlefield since they were young. And more than half a year of intensive training couldn''tpletely eliminate their long-standing habits. So when the enemy''s spear stabbed a freeman¡¯s right chest, he should have left it to hisrade on the right to defend it and use his spear to counter-attack, and force the other side to defend in order to reduce the pressure. However, due to his instinctive reaction, he drew back his shield, and as a result, hisrade on the left had half of his body exposed to the spear of the enemy¡­this kind of vicious cycle led to the fact that everyone could only take care of themselves, so that the frontline is no longer tightly closed, not only they are unable to effectively advance together, but they had also let the Crotonians squeeze in from the gap, and use their own ability to further disrupt the Theonian''s formation.

    The first legion of Theonia was originally the legion with the most number of veterans and also the strongest among the legions. They used to have four brigades who are all veterans, but arge number of veterans were recruited to serve as officers at all ranks of the three legions, and Davos had also sent 300 veterans to the reserve team and as a result, arge number of new recruits have to be added, which led to a sharp decline in theirbat strength. Even under the condition of upying a favourable terrain and taking the lead as soon as the war started, not only did they not take the opportunity to drive all the enemies on the opposite side down the river, but after a long period of stalemate, they had actually began to retreat slowly under the crazy counter-attack of the Crotonians¡­.

    The squad of Arsinis was initially in the second row at the frontline, but several of the front row soldiers had fallen, so he loudly shouted andmanded his men to work together to drive the iing enemy out and fill in the gap. After a long time of fighting, the arms of Arsinis had swollen with pain, and he was even more exhausted due tomanding these ignorant recruits. However, the fierce gaze from the helmets of the enemy has constantly reminded him, ¡®Fight! Keep on fighting! Otherwise, only defeat and death awaits!¡¯

    ¡°It''s the responsibility of the captain to lead his soldiers to fight bravely and win!¡± This is the advice given to him by his former squad captain, Xethippus, who is now a toon captain, when he went to congratte him by bing a toon captain and he had always kept it in his mind.

    In the most difficult moment of the battle, these low-level officers of Theonia yed an important role as a pir.

    In the battle of hoplites, Theonia was at a disadvantage, but in the battle of light infantry, Theonia has the upper hand. Not only is the number of light infantries increased by a thousand, but more than half of them are veterans from Asia Minor, and they have three kinds of light infantries: Stone slingers, archers and peltast, and they are all from Rhodes, Crete and Thrace, which are the famous ces of light infantries in the Mediterranean sea. So how can it be possible for Crotone, who does not attach importance to the use of light infantry, to fight against it. Even though there were hoplites between the two sides, the light infantry of Crotone were getting killed and were forced to retreat due to the arrows and stones that were shot urately.

    Once the protection of the light infantry weakened, the rear of Crotone''s hoplite formation were then attacked by the light infantry of Theonia. Generally, these soldiers in the rear of the phnx formation have not participated in the battle, and should still be energetic, but the fact is that most of them have been soaking in the river for a long time, and the river water in early spring is freezing, which has taken a lot of heat from them, and has made them hungry and exhausted. Therefore, in the face of the enemy''s long-ranged attack, their response has be somewhat sluggish. If not for the hoplites being well protected, their casualties would be extremely heavy.

    Because each side has its own difficulties and disadvantages, they ended up being in a stalemate.

    In the face of this situation, Milo was not in a hurry, because he has already achieved his goal by having a stalemate. Because the key to the victory of Crotonees from the 7,000 odd men who have circled downstream of the Trionto river, and he firmly believed that the final victory would belong to Crotone.

    And the archon of Theonia, Davos, also held the same idea, and he had already gotten the good news from one of the cavalry of Ledes, ¡®The troops of Crotone in the lower reaches of the Trionto river have either been killed or have surrendered. Ledes and Epiphanes will lead their troops to rest a bit and then they will then cross the Trionto river and attack the rear of the army of Crotone.¡¯

    Davos was finally relieved and looking at the scratching and frustrated expression of the man next to him, he could not stop himself from teasing him, ¡°Matonis, is your scalp itchy?¡±

    ¡°Grand legatus!-¡± Matonisined loudly, ¡°Thest time when we went to capture Nerulum, our brigade failed to participate in the battle and so we didn¡¯t manage to join the triumphant return! And this time, you have kidnapped me as the captain of the reserve team. We are going to win soon, and it''s too unfair that I am still stuck here doing nothing!¡±

    Davos smiled and said, ¡°Don''t worry, it should now be the time for you to join.¡±

    After saying this, he then issued an order, ¡°Signal the order for the formation change, let the soldiers at the frontline to retreat and the soldiers in the second line to go forward!¡±

    ¡°Grand legatus, we are about to win. So why should we bother to make a very difficult formation change! Most of them are new recruits, if something goes wrong, it will cause the entire phnx-¡± Although Matonis is eager to fight, he doesn''t want to see the union be defeated.

    ¡°The formation that we have trained for so long has never been used in actualbat. If we don''t umte experience now that we are about to win, then when?!¡± Davos then seriously added, ¡°What''s more, we have retreated in order to lure all the enemies onto the bank of the river, which will make it more difficult for them to escape. Matonis, you are the instructor of the recruits, so you should be confident in the results of the soldier¡¯s long-term training and themanding of the officers!¡±

    ¡°You are the one in charge, so you have the final say! Then is it our turn to join the battle?!¡± Matonis was no longer entangled with this issue, and had instead taken the initiative to join the battle.

    ¡°Lead your men to the right-wing of the phnx, at the junction between the second legion and the three reserve brigades. In case the sudden advance of the enemy will cause chaos, you will need to rush forward in time to block the enemy''s attack and gain time for the soldiers to reorganize their formation!¡±

    ¡°Understood. I will now go! Brothers!-¡± Matonis then began shouting.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The soldiers led by Arsinis were still struggling with the enemy.

    At this time, the salpinx at the rear sounded, which had motivated him. When he heard it again for the second time, he knew that it was the sound that signals for a ¡°formation change¡±.

    ¡°Brothers, hold on! We will soon be able to rest!¡± The officers at the frontline, like Arsinis, reminded the soldiers loudly.

    Then, the centurias at the second line quickly change position, one centuria remained in its ce, while the centuria adjacent to its ce retreated. After a while, the whole phnx formation changed from the original thick long snake formation to a well-organized ¡°checkerboard¡± formation formed by a small phnx of a centuria. Due to some of the soldiers at the frontline of the whole phnx formation not having the support of the soldiers at the rear, they were forced to retreat under the pressure of the enemy but in the end¡­they finally manage to withdraw between the gaps of the ¡°checkerboard¡± formation under themand of the centuria¡¯s drums and military g.

    When the drum of the centuria that Arsinis belonged to didn''t ring, he knew that his centuria was not very lucky, and because the centuria at their rear didn''t withdraw, they couldn''t even retreat for a bit.

    At this time, the toon captain, Xethippus, shouted out, ¡°Brothers, protect our nks!¡±

    With the retreat of the centurias that are near them, the enemy then took advantage of the situation to rush in. Because the frontline of the Theonian formation did not retreat as a whole, the attack of the Crotonians on the formation became uneven, and the two sides'' frontline then interlocked, and the centuria that Arsinis belonged to was under the pressure of getting surrounded on three sides, but the enemy who had squeezed into the gap was also under the same situation. However, The troops of Theonia were prepared with their retreat and every small phnx formation that met with the enemy was under the strongmand of the centurion. On the contrary, the Crotonians were unprepared and disordered, and due to this, even though the Theonians were retreating, the Crotonians couldn''t take advantage of this opportunity to cause greater damage and confusion to the Theonians.

    Then the drums of the centuria sounded, and the 20 x 10 phnx formation formed by the four toon units began to wave rhythmically together with the central military g and began to slowly retreat¡­Arsinis, while defending against the attack of the enemy with his spears and shields, followed the retreat of the centuria at the rear, and their centuria also began to retreat orderly. When the rear centuria stopped moving, Arsinis and the others were then able to withdraw from the gap between the scattered phnx¡­after several rounds of retreat, the soldiers at the frontline were finally able to sessfully withdraw to the rear, and the soldiers at the second line manage to rearranged themselves into the dense formations and be the frontline of the entire formation.

    The reason why the formation was smoothly changed and there was no big confusion(so that the worries of Davos did not be a reality) is that the Crotonians have never seen any army that has dare to carry out such bold and strange formation that were changing back and forth in such a fierce battle, and so they have failed to take effective countermeasures in time. Secondly, when fighting in a dense formation, the army of Crotone is better than Theonia, who has arge number of recruits. However, once the dense formation of both sides is divided into smaller phnx formations due to the formation change, the targeted training conducted by the Theonians with toon and centurias as the tactical units have yed a big role, and theirmand is much more efficient and their actions are more flexible. On the contrary, the actions of Crotone and training are mainly based onrge phnx formation, and theirmand system is crude. After the soldiers poured into the gaps, theirmanding became less effective and fell into disorder, and they had to fight on their own way and were at a disadvantage.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Milo, who was soaking in the river, heard the salpinx and drums of the enemy, which had caused him to be puzzled. Then the formation, which had been in a deadlock for a long time, began to advance forward¡­.

 Chapter 210: Battle of Trionto River (VI)

    ¡®Did we manage to break through? Has Philederus arrived?!¡¯ Milo became excited and had wanted to immediately follow the soldiers to get to the shore, but after a while, his troops stopped moving, and they were then forced to retreat little by little¡­.

    ¡°SOLDIERS, HOLD ON! With a little bit more effort, the enemy will be defeated!¡± Milo, who did not know what was going on, thought that the offense of his troops weakened, even though he knew that his shouts wouldn''t do much, he still kept on shouting in order to boost their morale.

    However, the Crotonian army was never able to manage to advance forward.. The forefront of the Theonian army that has managed toplete the formation change is the newly reced soldiers of the second line. Their physical strength is still abundant, which made up for theirck of experience as hoplites, while the Crotonian soldiers, after fighting for more than three hours, were already exhausted and were struggling to defend themselves, which had naturally weakened their offense.

    Just as they were struggling, a cry of rm came from the rear of the Crotonians as they were retreating to the other side of Trionto river, ¡°Enemy! The enemy ising!!¡­.¡±

    Milo, who was in the center of the formation, could not hear what they were shouting, but the frightened voices had made him turn his head and subconsciously looked back, and the sight he saw had shocked him: In their rear, he saw hundreds of cavalries rushing towards the fleeing light infantry of Crotone, and behind the cavalry were countless soldiers not wearing armor, then they quickly spread out their formations and held their bows and arrows, javelins, and targeted the location of the Crotonians. ¡®Where did theye from?! Where are the troops of Philederus?!!¡­.¡¯ At this moment, Milo was frightened and countless thoughts shed through his mind, and the only thing that had remained was, ¡®We lost!!!¡¯

    In fact, he is not the only one who had seen what happened in the rear, many Crotonians have also seen what happened, and the scouts of Theonia standing high on the opposite bank also saw it. Just as Milo was in a state of panic and the morale of the Crotonian soldiers were shaking, Davos gave the order with great enthusiasm, ¡°Everyone, attack!!!¡±

    The salpinx that signal to attack sounded, and then the same sound sounded on the other side. Just as the hoplites of Theonia began their fierce offense, the nearly 6,000 light infantry of Theoniaposed of freemen fired the first round of arrows, stones and javelins at the right-wing soldiers of Crotone¡­.

    In front of them are the hoplites that are still energetic even after the long battle, at their feet is the cold river water, and the arrows and javelins that were shot to take away their lives. The exhausted soldiers of Crotone could no longer hold on, the right-wing were the first to retreat, then the center, and then the left-wing. The Crotonian''s formation copsed like an avnche and the soldiers rushed to the south bank, and the non-stop long-range attack of the freemen had made them retreat even faster. And the Theonian''s hoplites'' charge has made thisrge-scale retreat even more chaotic. What is it like seeing nearly 20,000 people crossing the river and retreating under the attack on two sides?

    Xanticles, who have witnessed the whole process on the south bank, haveter talked about the defeat of Crotone in that battle to Ansitanos, who hadter wrote the ¡¶History of Magna Graecia¡·, he recalled, ¡°¡­.all the Crotonians cried out in horror ¡®Run for your life! We have lost!¡­.¡¯ The loudness has even overshadowed the sound of our salpinxes. They desperately ran to the south bank and pushed each other, and even the Crotonians, who have fallen behind and were being chased by our soldiers, in order to flee for their lives have frantically knocked down the people in front of them with their shields and spears¡­s¡­although the Trionto river is not deep, almost all the people who have fallen did not stand up again, because once they fall down, not only no one will help them, but also due to their heavy equipments and the constant pushing of theirrades had made them eventually drown in the river¡­as a matter of fact, neither our hoplites'' pursuit nor our light infantries'' long-ranged attack had caused more casualties to the Crotonians than the river¡­it must have been the wrath of Poseidon! It has reminded me of the event when the expeditionary army fought the Persians on the Kentrite river¡­well, when the battle was over, I came back only to see the Crotonians floating on the Trionto river, and it seemed that it had even blocked the river. It really made me shiver! I heard that more than 3,500 corpse wereter recovered, not counting the ones that have floated into the sea¡­.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The soldiers of Crotone, who had managed to flee back to the south bank, had no time to rx. Although the hoplites of Theonia were tired, they still kept on their chase at the urging of Davos and continued to exert psychological pressure on the defeated soldiers. While therge number of freemen who were light infantry and were not burdened by the heavy armor, were the main force of the pursuit. They rushed up from their nks and encircled the right-wing of the Crotonians like a dumpling, and the demoralized Crotonians who were in a desperate situation of getting block at the front and getting pursued by the soldiers, have surrendered one after another.

    After handing over the captives to the hoplites, the light infantries continued their pursuit.

    And now, the cavalry has be the main force of the pursuit. Under the leadership of Ledes, nearly 300 cavalry spread out and crushed the defeated soldiers. The Crotonians were either knocked down by the galloping horses and those who were not hurt were forced to change their direction and were finally captured by the light infantry.

    The fleeing Crotonian soldiers were terrified throughout their way, and finally, because of their exhaustion, they fell on the road. Many soldiers, like Kelebus*, who had been captured once, saw no hope of escape, so they just simply squatted down and surrendered¡­till the end of the day, all the light infantry of Theonia have taken up the task of escorting the captives. (T/N: Author use Teratus but Teratus is a spy of Crotone who is now working with Theonia, so this should be Kelebus)

    In the end, the Crotonians fled into the marsh area, and many of them rushed into such a dangerous area in panic. The Theonian cavalry have also followed them into the marsh, but because of the unfamiliar terrain, many horses were trapped in the mud, and because the sky was getting dark, they had to give up on their chase.

    The battle that decided the fate of Theonia and Crotone hase to an end.

    Crotone has invested about 27,000 men, resulting in 7,000 casualties(because they were defeated, it made it impossible for the wounded soldiers to escape), about 12,000 were captured, 8,000 have fled the battlefield, and only less than 5,000 managed to escaped to Krimisa and more than 3000 men were lost in the forest and in the marsh, some managed to escaped after a few days and some have nevere out ever again. And Milo was lucky enough to escape back to Krimisa under the protection of the guards.

    Theonia had also invested about 24,000 men, with only 4,000 casualties and won a brilliant victory.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, the polemarchos of Roscianum, Amikles, had been paying close attention to the development of the war situation. In order to ensure sufficient firepower of the Theonian''s light infantry, because Davos had asked Roscianum to provide enough arrows and javelins. Therefore, Amikles was also the one responsible for organizing and transporting the military materials to the battlefield. When the troops of Crotone, who were at the lower reaches were wiped out, he had gotten the news even earlier than Davos. At that time, he excitedly told the members of the council of Roscianum that Theonia had won.

    However, everyone was skeptical. After all, Crotone has been powerful in Magna Graecia for many years, and most city-states were deeply afraid of them. Coupled with the fact that their main force was not harmed.

    It wasn''t until an hourter that countless corpses floated down from the upper reaches of the Trionto river, which had caused everyone in the whole city to watch around the port. The guards then went to examine the corpses one by one and determined that they were all Crotonians. After the news came out, the uneasiness of the Roscianums finally disappeared, ¡®The Theonians have certainly won! Our Theonian Alliance has won!!¡¯

    As the cheers resounded throughout the city, the shadow of the threat of Crotone on the Roscianums were finally removed. The strategos and the members of the council looked at each other with a happy smile: They had endured the threat of the Crotonians and took the risk to support Theonia, and they had made the correct decision!

    By the time Davos led his army back to Roscianum, the whole city was illuminated by candles. Amikles then led the statesmen and the people out of the city to greet them. Their momentum was so strong that it had surprised Davos, so he hurriedly dismounted his horse and walked towards them.

    ¡°Long live Theonia Union!!!¡± The crowd erupted into deafening cheers like that of andslide and tsunamis.

    ¡°Lord Davos, congrattions! It is incredible that you have achieved a brilliant victory!!¡± Amikles sincerely congratted Davos.

    ¡°It is all thanks to Hades! And the full assistance of you, the Roscianums!¡± Davos responded modestly.

    ¡°I am afraid that Crotone will not be able to attack again after this defeat.¡± Amikles asked in an indirect way what Davos was going to do next.

    Davos, had of course, understood his implication and gave a smile, ¡°If we don''t take this opportunity to hunt the wounded lion, then do we wait for it to recover and take revenge?! Tomorrow we will attack Krimisa, we will capture it and go straight to Crotone!¡±

    Amikles was relieved and reminded him, ¡°I think that Crotone may do what they have donest time ande to negotiate peace and ask for their captives to be released.¡±

    ¡°Peace?¡± Davos sneered and looked at the 12,000 captives who were escorted past his eyes. At first, he wanted to force these captives to be the vanguard in the attack of Krimisa tomorrow and even Crotone, because he thought that the Crotonians would hesitate in the face of their fellow citizens, and make Theonia easily seize the two cities, which was amon tactic used by the Mongols and Jurchen* to take over the world. (T/N: The Jurchen is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian Tungusic-speaking peoples who lived in the northeast of China,ter known as Manchuria, before the 18th century.)

    But Davos, who has lived in this era for a year and a half, changed his mind and chose to give up. Because he knew that the Greeks of this era still retained some of the characteristics of the ancient times. They respected the heroes, advocated strength and are fond of fighting head-on. To kill the enemy in a battle is justifiable, but to use the captives to attack the city and win will undoubtedly make the people despise and look down on them. Therefore, in the wars of city-states in the past, no one has ever dared to do it.

 Chapter 211: After the Battle of Trionto River

    During the Peloponnesian War, Athens sent arge army to Sicily, which was eventually defeated by the allied force of Syracuse and Sparta, and more than 6,000 of their men were captured. At that time, even though Sparta was faced with a dilemma of being attacked passively at sea and couldn¡¯t break through the walls of Athens onnd, they still did not use the 6,000 captives to attack Athens. So if Davos were to do it, he will certainly set a precedent, but he will bebeled with the word ¡°sinister and cruel¡±, which will not only make the city-states of Magna Graecia be wary of him, but will also alienate the people of Theonia who respected him. This will undoubtedly be a major blow to his prestige. Therefore, with Davos having such a lofty goal, he certainly will not make a mistake of picking up a sesame seed only to lose the watermelon. He didn''t mind capturing Krimisa a little longer because victory is already at hand. Therefore, as soon as the battle ended, he ordered the reserve brigade and the more than 5,000 freemen to escort the captives back to Thurii, leaving only two legions and two reserve brigades in Roscianum.

    Compared to the other night, the people of Roscianum, who were delighted with the victory, were very happy to vacate their rooms and prepared a sumptuous dinner for the Theonians who would stay. However,pared to the legion soldiers who entered the city, the soldiers and freemen, who were tired and hungry, had to escort the captives for another hour or two at night and were much more miserable. However, the first time they took part in the battle, and such arge-scale battle at that, they were able to win. As participants, they not only walked with their heads held high, but even berated the captives. They wished that they could return back immediately and find an acquaintance to boast about their heroic deeds.

    While the condition of the Crotonian captives was the most miserable. In order to make sure they won''t escape, they were stripped of all their armor and clothing, so they were naked while walking in the night. A gust of sea breeze came and they, who had their body heat already exhausted, were shaking and trembling. If they were to slow down, the wooden rod of the spear would be like a whip and cause them unbearable pain.

    Kelebus was also one of the captives. Although he had once again be a captive, he secretly sighed that his fate was not good. However,pared with hisrades who have died in battle or drowned, he was still d that he could survive, so heforted his cryingrades, ¡°Although these Theonians are hateful, they still keep their words. So as long as we do what they ask, we will eventually return to Crotone alive!¡±

    Even though it is dark, the whole city of Thurii still came out to wee the victorious soldiers. After a day of uneasy waiting, they finally could see the returning soldiers, bringing a lot more Crotonian captives than before. With this, they all understood that the Theonian army won the battle without a doubt!

    Different from Roscianum, the Thurians kept on shouting the name of ¡°Davos¡± a lot more in order to celebrate this hard won victory, because they all knew that it was the archon who had stood alone in the senate to start this battle ahead of time and finally win this victory!

    The statesmen were also relieved, especially Philesius, who, as the chief military officer appointed by Davos, had to stay in Thurii without a soldier in his hand, and was always worried about the fleet of Crotone seeing through their camouge andnding at the port. Now, with the return of the reserve brigade and the freemen, he had be confident. Moreover, with the tragic defeat of Crotone, they may not even be able to protect themselves, let alone dare tond and fight in the territory of Theonia.

    Kunogta and some Thurian statesmen asked the soldiers about the whole battle. As a citizen of Thurii, the Theonian Union defeating Crotone, has made them feel thrilled at getting their revenge.

    On that night, both the preparatory citizens and the freemen who had participated in the battle were regarded as heroes by the Theonians, enjoying the warm cheers and abundant rewards. They were proud of themselves, and had also strengthened their confidence to be citizens of Theonia.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Androlis, the polemarchos of Krimisa, was sleeping at his home and was hurriedly woken up by someone who came to report that ¡°The army of Crotone was defeated¡± and he could hardly believe it: Because at the port yesterday, he saw the huge fleet of Crotone with an army of nearly 40,000 men(he included the freemen and ves who were carrying the supplies) ¨C a huge army that has never been seen in Magna Graecia! They should have been able to sweep the Theonia Union, so how could Crotone be the one defeated after just one day?! How could Theonia have more soldiers than Crotone?!! Did Taranto join the war?!!!¡­.

    With countless doubts in his heart, Androlis quickly put on his clothes and rushed to the north gate, where Eurypus, Pleitinas and others were.

    Under the light of the fire, he saw the Crotonians running from the north like bereaved dogs. Their feet were unstable, their minds were in a trance and their faces were covered with panic and exhaustion. Their helmets were gone, their armors were also thrown away, and even their shields and spears were lost. They stumbled into the city gate andy down on the ground and weakly shouted, ¡°Is there anything to eat? Is there anything to eat?¡­.¡±

    Seeing the tragic sight of the Crotonians, Androlis suddenly felt anxious.

    In the end, they could only wait until Milo returned, although he was also in the same state as the soldiers, his mental state is still good.

    ¡°Strategos Milo, what should we do next?!¡± Androlis asked urgently, and this is exactly what the people of Krimisa were most concerned about at the moment.

    Instead of answering immediately, Milo asked, ¡°Is there anything to eat? I am gonna die of hunger!¡±

    When Androlis watched Milo and the soldiers who had escaped gorging on the dry and cold bread, he had felt more or less disdain.

    Milo was not in the mood to observe what the Krimisians were thinking. He just ate and pondered over how to appease the Krimisians. After trudging through the marsh, he gradually regained hisposure, and while on his way back, he regretted that he had made a series of mistakes in belittling the enemy before the battle, which has led to their defeat. At the same time, he also thought about how to deal with the attack of the victorious Theonians¡­Krimisa is undoubtedly the most important link to save them from their defeat!

    He wiped the crumbs of his mouth with his hand, and stood up and put the expressions of everyone around him in his sight, ¡°Everyone¡­I am sorry, we have been ambushed by the Theonians, and fighting against them¡­we have suffered defeat, though I don''t know how many people have been lost¡­it definitely will not be less¡­.¡±

    The countless soldiers that were struggling in the water shed through the mind of Milo. He clenched his fist so hard that it pierced through his palm and started bleeding, ¡°And the casualties of the Theonians is¡­much less than us¡­¡±

    ¡®What?!!¡¯ Everyone was shocked: Tens of thousands of soldiers went out to battle, and yet they only caused little damage to the army of Theonia, while causing heavy losses to themselves, ¡®This is unbelievable! How can this battle be fought?!!¡¯

    ¡°Did the Theonians dispatch more soldiers than us? Or did Taranto also join?¡± Asked Androlis urgently.

    Milo smiled bitterly. He didn''t want to tell the truth, but even if he didn''t say it, once the Theonians arrived, the Krimisians would soon find out about it and it would make the Krimisians more dissatisfied with Crotone, and so, it would be better for him to speak the truth and let the Krimisians be prepared so that both sides can work together. Therefore, he truthfully said, ¡°The Theonians dispatched around the same number as us, and Taranto didn''t join¡­.¡±

    ¡°Are you Crotonians all made of flour?!* You are always easily defeated by the Theonians!¡± Pleitinas shouted angrily. (T/N: Something like the ¡®soft persimmon'' thingy you can find in other novel)

    He shouted what the officials of Krimisa were thinking. Theirst defeat had made it hard for Krimisa and their envoy had even made a promise to the Theonians, ¡®We, Krimisians, will no longer be your enemies as long as our people are released!¡¯ But this time, Krimisa had gone back on their promise and assisted Crotone to attack Theonia, who had once let Krimisa go. If they were to lose again, what should they do?

    Milo opened his eyes and red at them. When he was young, he was the champion of many Olympic Games, and hadter be the polemarchos of Crotone for a long time. This kind of strength had frightened Pleitinas a bit, so he avoided the sharp gaze of Milo and daringly said, ¡°If it weren''t because you Crotonians had waged a war against Theonia and saying that ¡®We will surely teach the Theonians a painful lesson!¡¯ We the people of Krimisa, out of our trust in our allies*, had dered war on Theonia. Now that you have lost, and you have lost so badly! What should we do?!¡± (*In thest agreement between Crotone and Theonia, Krimisa was made a neutral city-state. However, Krimisa had already been deeply influenced by Crotone and so they considered themselves as an ally of Crotone.)

    ¡°That is right. If it weren''t for you forcing us, how would we even dare provoke Theonia!¡± Someone in the crowd echoed.

    ¡®What forcing! You Krimisians wanted to follow Crotone in order to get some benefits from Theonia!¡¯ Milo sneered inwardly, but he could not say this, otherwise it would only intensify their contradiction.

    ¡°So what do you want? Do you want to negotiate an armistice with Theonia?¡± Milo looked around and said seriously, ¡°Now that Theonia has the advantage, they will certainly want more. After Davos takes over Krimisa, wouldn''t he ughter the people of Krimisa in order to avenge his mercenary brothers? He could also turn Krimisa into a city-state that they control like Nerulum!¡±

    Afer Milo finished what he was saying, the expressions of the people of Krimisa became unsightly.

    ¡°The only thing we can do now is to defend the city of Krimisa! Theonia does not have a fleet, and the sea is under our control. Therefore, we can use the fleet to transport food and soldiers at any time, and the Theonians can''t trap us!¡± Said Milo.

 Chapter 212: The enemy passed through the earthen wall

    ¡°Although we have lost in the battle, we could at least organize another 20,000 soldiers. So if Theonia were to attack Krimisa, we will certainly give them a heavy blow! At that time, Theonia would have already been sieging for some time and they would have been exhausted, so their only choice would be to ask for a peace talk, and we will be the one that has the initiative. And we might even be able to find some opportunities to defeat the Theonians during the defense of Krimisa!¡±

    After Milo finished speaking, everyone became lost in their thoughts.

    Eurypus then said, ¡°So Krimisa will once again be a battlefield.¡±

    This sentence awakened the statesmen of Krimisa, but Milo immediately said, ¡°Yes, the city of Krimisa is the key to the next war, but it will be the soldiers of Crotone who will defend it. If the people of Krimisa felt that it is dangerous here, then they could board the ship and take shelter in Crotone. We will provide them with sufficient necessity for them to live and guarantee that it willst until the end of the war. If there is damage to the houses and property in the city, Crotone willpensate for it¡­.¡±

    Milo''s idea was very considerate, so the Krimisians have nothing to say, and his words also reminded these people in a vague way, ¡®The city of Krimisa is filled with soldiers of Crotone. Even if they want to make peace with Theonia in private, they have to ask whether the spears in the hands of Crotone will agree. If the Crotonians were angered, the situation would only get worse!

    ¡°Strategos Milo, Krimisa will fully support you in fighting the Theonians here!¡± Androlis soon made a clear statement on behalf of the council of Krimisa.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the early morning of the next day, Davos with the two legions and the two reserve brigades, with a total of about 16,000 men*, march towards the city of Krimisa. (this refers to the number of soldiers that can fight, excluding the engineering camp, medical camp, logistics camp, cavalry, salpinx and the drummer, and so on.)

    In the morning, the army of Theonia arrived in the marsh.

    Davos then left one of the engineering camp of the legion to investigate the geographical conditions of the marsh, fill the marsh as soon as possible, and build the roads and bridges on the river, so as to facilitate the smooth passage of future transport of caravans, and at the same time, he had also taken into ount the construction of the Roscianum-Krimisa road in the future. In order to prevent them from being attacked by the Crotonians, he had also left two reserve brigades to build a camp here. In addition to protecting the engineering camp and the people of Roscianum who hade to participate in the construction, they are to also protect the transport route.

    Davos then took the lead in crossing the marsh with the soldiers.

    In the afternoon, the army of Theonia entered Krimisa.

    By this time, the more than 5,000 soldiers of Crotone were already on standby on the wall of Krimisa.

    After observing for a while, Davos gave up the idea of an immediate attack and instead ordered the building of a camp.

    The captain of the engineering camp immediately came to inquire about the requirements of Davos for the camp. Davos then pointed to the city of Krimisa and said, ¡°First surround it from the north.¡±

    He immediately understood what Davos meant and immediately led his men to inspect the topography, terrain and water source, and calcte the area for the base of the camp¡­and so on., in order to select the site for the camp. Before long, he took his men 400 meters away from the city and began to insert a thin wooden pole every 20 meters¡­.

    At themand of the two legatus of the army, Kapus and Drakos, except for the two brigades in charge of defending and the cavalry of Ledes, the rest of the soldiers will immediately be construction workers, some are responsible for logging, some for digging trenches, and some are responsible for making earthen wall¡­the whole army was operating in an orderly manner, and even Davos had taken part in digging with a pickaxe¡­.

    Milo, who was on the wall, noticed that the army of Theonia did not immediately attack the city, which made him somewhat disappointed and also somewhat d. But then, the sight of the army of Theonia building the camp was so lively and spectacr, and the camp being so close to the city had exceeded his expectation. So he kept on thinking of doing a sneak attack.

    However, the two heavily armed infantry and cavalry of Theonia that are patrolling outside the city had made him dismiss this thought. He also did not think that the Crotonian soldiers who had just experienced defeat had the courage to go out of the city to fight against arge number of Theonians.

    He could see that the Theonians wanted to besiege Krimisa, but if this dyed their siege, then he was in favour of their approach.

    The Theonians were very efficient in building the camps. By dusk, they had dug out a 1.5 kilometer long trench and had built an earthen wall that surrounds the east, west and north of the city of Krimisa. Now, some of the soldiers started setting up an abatis in front of the trenches, and some have begun building the camps inside the wall¡­ Originally, the loaded carts of the engineering camp had timbers that could be quickly disassembled and assembled to immediately build the camp gates, sentries and fences(this is the ¡°modr¡± that Davos proposed to the engineering camp, which was the result of repeated testing by the engineers and carpenters.), but due to the fact that the loaded carts were easily trapped in the mud in the marsh area, they could not transport it to Krimisa in time.

    Even so, Milo was amazed, naturally he would not have known that there is a ¡°Camp Building¡± in Theonia''s military training program. After seeing the uneasiness of the soldiers, he finally made up his mind.

    In the middle of the night, he decided to send 500 soldiers to attack the enemy''s camp while the Theonians were fast asleep due to the long march and constructing the camp. Even if they could only manage to make a small setback to the enemy, it would still boost their morale.

    ording to the observations of the warships on the sea during the day, there are also trenches in the north of the Theonian camp. Milo is however afraid ofnding and attacking from the coast, north of the camp of Theonia, because once they are found, he is afraid that they won''t be able to return, so he chooses the south side of the camp of Theonia near the sea.

    The 500 soldiers of Crotone quietly approached the camp of Theonia and while they were carefully crossing the abatis, they were then discovered by the sentry that was hiding behind the earthen wall. He quickly went to a nearby tent and quietly woke up the toon captain and also woke up the others.

    ¡°Larys, you did a great job! Now, you need to go to the rear of the camp with my name te and inform the cavalry that there is an enemy attack here!¡± The toon captain Xethippus, praised the recruit who was also a preparatory citizen and handed him an egg-sized iron statue of a three-headed dog engraved with the legion, the centuria and the toon units number.

    ¡°Roger!¡± Larys then ran.

    Xethippus then asked his subordinate, Thratyllus, to keep the other toon captain and centurion informed, while he took several soldiers to check the situation of the enemy, and found that their number was not toorge, so an idea immediately came to his mind.

    The Crotonian soldiers passed through the abatis, climbed over the trench, and over the earthen wall. When they saw that there was still no movement in the enemy camp, they became excited. They then began to light the incendiary they were carrying, but because there was still a distance between the enemy''s camp and the wall, they still had to cautiously continue to increase their pace.

    All of a sudden, the soldiers at the front suddenly had their feet sunk and their soles were then pierced by a sharp objects, which made them scream. It turned out that after the earthen wall, the Theonians had also set up multiple traps to slow down the enemy once they managed to get through the earthen wall, in order for the Theonians to rearrange their defense and counterattack.

    While the enemy was in a panic, the Theonian soldiers ran out from behind the camp and hurled javelins at the Crotonian soldiers. Many of them screamed and fell, and the courage of the rest of the Crotonian to continue fighting had disappeared, they then turned and fled in terror¡­.

    And the Theonians continued their pursuit through the safe route in the trap.

    In the silence of the night, the sound of fighting was particrly clear. So Davos was woken up and had quickly dressed just as the captain of the guard, Martius, came to report, ¡°Grand legatus, the Crotonians have sneaked in and have been repelled by the third brigade of the second legion, and the cavalry of Ledes started their attack, and I believe that the enemy won''t be able to escape.¡±

    Davos nodded, then a map of the distribution of each legion, brigade and centuria in the camp had immediately came to his mind, ¡°The third brigade of the second legion is the brigade of Giorgris¡­I remember that his brigade was in the easternmost part of the camp, which is close to the sea.¡±

    ¡°Yes milord.¡±

    ¡°The brigade of Giorgris has performed well, and they had strictly implemented the sentry duty system ording to the ¡¶Military Law¡·, and reacted quickly after discovering the enemy, which should be rewarded! And the sentry who had discovered the enemy in time should be rewarded even more!¡± Said Davos while looking at Aristocrates who had just arrived.

    Aristocrates immediately wrote it down and will report it tomorrow.

    ¡°What about the other brigades?¡± Asked Davos once more.

    ¡°Each brigade was informed in time and there were no major disturbances.¡± Replied Martius.

    Davos was very satisfied that the troops had managed to still maintain the smoothmunication and order while in the dark, the strict training during normal times has yed a factor, ¡°The Crotonians wanted to copy our sneak attack, but too bad that we are not like the Crotonians. Everyone, get some sleep, because tomorrow, we will be busy.¡± With that, he turned around and entered the tent and soon fell asleep.

    After speaking a few words with the guards guarding the tent, Martius then left.

    Only Aristocrates, who was on the battlefield for the first time, could not calm down and could only stare at the burning brazier in front of the tent for a moment. When night came, it was necessary to set up a brazier in front of themander''s tent and was also stipted in the ¡°Theonia Military Law¡±, ording to the exnation of Davos: First, it is convenient when reporting the situation at night. Second, night attack and when idents such as Camp hysteria* urs, the soldiers can find the location of themander at a nce in the midst of chaos, in order to stabilize their morale and reorganize the soldiers. In a word, because themander is the key to the morale and hope of the whole army, so in the dark, it is necessary that the soldiers are able to see themander¡¯s tent anytime and anywhere, which helps to eliminate their fear of the dark. (T/N: Due to the camp being crowded and the soldiers are exhausted and are under great mental stress, when someone screamed in the night due to nightmares and such, it will often triggers a chain reaction and cause the entire camp to fall into a state of hysteria and might even kill each other.)

    Listening to the gentle snore of Davos from inside the tent, and feeling the heat from the brazier, the tension that Aristocrates felt quickly dissipated¡­.

    Of the 500 soldiers who left the city, only a few dozen had managed to escape the interception of the cavalry of Theonia and fled back to the city.

    After Milo learned about it, he stayed there standing for a long time. ¡®This seemingly crude and unfinished camp of the Theonians was unexpectedly so heavily guarded.¡¯ This lesson had made him to finally throw away thest trace of the ¡®enemy just being lucky¡¯ and now admits, from the bottom of his heart, that the army of Theonia is a well-trained army!

    He then decided to stop taking risks and defend Krimisa with all his strength.

 Chapter 213: Disagreement in Crotone

    Just as the Theonian army arrived in Krimisa, the news that the ¡°Crotonian army was defeated in battle and suffered heavy casualties, with only more than 5,000 men managed to flee to Krimisa¡± reached Crotone and shocked the whole city.

    If their defeat in the first war was caused by the negligence of Mnseus and the shameless attack of the Amendrans, then this time, even with Crotone forming a much stronger army thanst time and having their trusted strategos, Milo, who is equally experienced and reliable, as themander. The Crotonian army had still been defeated and the situation was much more grave than thest war, with more than 20,000 of their men couldn¡¯t even escape. Did they die? Or were they captured? There has been no news so far.

    This time, every family of the citizens of Crotone was worried about the life and death of their family members and wept. At the same time, the backlog of anger broke out under the guidance of the spies of Theonia, and the people gathered to protest at the city hall and demanded that the lesia be held immediately.

    In the face of the angry crowd, the council of Crotone was forced to respond to their demand, and the lesia was held in a hurry.

    At the lesia, the people angrily criticized the ipetence of the strategoi and the statesmen of the council that had led to the defeat of their army, who had a clear advantage and put their city-state in a dangerous situation. They proposed that Milo must be dismissed in his position as the polemarchos and be sent back to the city for a trial. At the same time, they should immediately start peace negotiation with Theonia and to redeem the captured citizen soldiers.

    With the support of the majority of the citizens, the proposal was sessfully passed.

    At this time, a herald sent by Milo had arrived in Crotone and brought back his message, ¡°Milo is asking for reinforcements because the army of Theonia has surrounded Krimisa.¡±

    As long as one is not a fool, everyone knows that once Theonia captures Krimisa, they will then be able to enter the ins of Crotone, destroy their farnd, burn their viges and reach the city of Crotone. If the situation of the war really turns out to be like this, then it will be like the time Sybaris invaded them a hundred years ago. The ins of Crotone will once again be invaded by the enemy at the north and the peaceful life of the people of Crotone will be destroyed, which is uneptable to the people.

    ¡°Reinforce Krimisa and hold on to it¡± has be themon opinion of the citizens of Crotone. However, they had already sent out the young and middle-aged citizens of Crotone, so if they wanted to send more soldiers, then they would need to loosen the age of military service, while recruiting freemen as well. Fortunately, they will only need to defend the city of Krimisa, so as long as they can shoot arrows and throw javelins, which is what the freemen and sailors are good at, it will not be a problem to piece together a considerable number of reinforcements. But the problem will be the one to lead them, because all the citizens who could fight and could go to war were already in the army of Milo, including Milo himself.

    The citizens finally reached an agreement to select several candidates after arguing for a long time. However, the candidates that they had selected refused to ept the position, when everyone started condemning them, they immediately said, ¡°Even Milo and Philederus, who are great strategoi, have been defeated. So how can we, who seldom go to battle,mand an army who arecking citizen soldiers to resist the attack of the Theonians? It''s not that we don''t want to take responsibility in fulfilling our obligations as citizens, but that we are afraid that we will not bepetent enough for this crucial position and that our city-state will suffer another defeat!¡±

    After they finished speaking, the lesia of thousands of people suddenly fell into a dead silence, and thebatants of Crotone were in the predicament of having no one to lead them.

    Then Lysias stood up and said, ¡°Citizens, you all know that Milo and I often have disputes over some issues and have a bad rtionship. However, I also have to respect the contribution of Milo to the city-state. He had led us many times to repel the invasion of the Bruttians against our alliance, and had twice forced Locri to withdraw from the territory of Caulonia. This is the reason why you have selected him as the polemarchos many times! I have always been jealous of his military talent, but now that he has lost, Milo, who has alway won more than he loses, has been defeated miserably in the battle that decides the fate of the city-state. Do you believe that he was careless and had taken this important battle as a game?!¡±

    The words of Lysias had made the impatient citizens ponder.

    ¡°Of course not, this only shows that the archon of Theonia, Davos, has stronger military talent! By now, this is a fact that any Crotonian has to admit and must now face!¡± Lysias sighed and said aloud again, ¡°After our defeat half a year ago, I think you all should know that Davos has won all the battles that he had personallymanded since the time he led the mercenaries to Thurii, and had triumph multiple times over armies with numbers superior to them. This is why there is today''s Theonia Union! Now, are there any citizens of Crotone who are more capable than Milo and are capable of fighting against the archon of Theonia, Davos?!¡±

    Although the pale-faced citizens whispered with each other under the stage, none of them stood up to rmend themselves or someone.

    ¡°If not, why not let Milo continue to lead the army?! I believe that Milo, who has suffered a defeat, has learned his lesson and will try his best to defend Krimisa for Crotone and for himself! Citizens, Crotone is now facing the biggest crisis! I hope that you can put aside your likes and dislikes, and choose the right person to defend our city-state out of the interest of the public!¡± Lysias cried out.

    His words had obviously yed a role. In the new round of election, Milo is still themander of the army, but his position as the polemarchos was deprived, and he had to be tried once the war ended.

    With a satisfactory result, Lysias still didn''t look rxed, because he knew that he would soon meet with Davos again as an envoy. Just a few days after meeting with him, the whole situation has reversed, and Lysias still remembers what Davos had said when he left Thurii, and it has now be a reality.

    In the early morning of the next day, the army of Theonia still did not attack, but had continued to improve their camp, not only were they setting traps in front of the camp, but some soldiers that were protecting the engineering camp had also begun to build wooden bridges on the river.

    When Milo, who was on the city wall, witnessed all of this, he was surprised: The cunning Davos is still able to take his time and continue building their camp. Will he really siege Krimisa?

    He hesitated again and again, but still did not dare to send his few troops to harass them.

    In the afternoon, Milo was finally relieved. The 5,000 reinforcements of Crotone were transported to the city of Krimisa by ship, increasing the strength of the city to 10,000 men.

    In the port, he also saw Lysias, who got off the ship with the soldiers, and his expression then changed, ¡°Did the council send you to talk about peace negotiation?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± The answer of Lysias relieved Milo, but Lysias immediately added, ¡°It''s the lesia that has sent me.¡±

    When ites to the lesia, the face of Milo became even more ugly, and seriously said, ¡°I don''t think that the¡­Theonians who are in advantage will agree to a truce and negotiate peace at this time, and even if they agree, the conditions that they will put forward must be very harsh!¡±

    ¡°You are right, but the people of Crotone are now more eager to know the safety of their families. However, it''s necessary to first try to understand the requirements of the Theonians.¡± Lysias shrugged helplessly.

    The face of Milo twitched at the words of Lysias, he then coughed a few times and said in a low voice, ¡°I heard that at the lesia¡­it was your speech¡­that had saved me from being escorted back home now¡­.¡±

    ¡°In fact, like the rest of the citizens, I wish I could put you on a trial, for those who had died in this battle! But Crotone urgently needs you now, so for the sake of the city and for yourself, I hope that you can win several times in the next battle andy a good foundation for the future peace negotiation!¡± What Lysias said had made Milo feel ashamed, so he didn''t say anything else and just clenched his fist.

    Then Lysias, apanied by Milo, went up to the city wall, and looked at the enemy: Not far below the city wall is the camp of Theonia, from the east to the west there are continuous camps, which are not only orderly arranged, but also has trenches, walls, abatis and sentry towers¡­and so on.

    Even Lysias, who did not know much about military matters, could feel the strict security of the camp of Theonia while standing on the city wall.

    Milo saw the expression of Lysias and said, ¡°I don''t think these Theonians are like yourmon Greeks. We Greeks like to fight, but we don''t like to do dirty and tiring work after a battle. But as soon as these Theonians arrived here, they were like rats, constantly digging holes to build their nests, and it had only taken them more than a day to build their current camp, which had also led me to lose my men when I sent hundreds of soldiers to attack them! Now that they are building a bridge over the river, they must also want to build a camp on the south bank and besiege Krimisa on all sides.¡±

    Milo stopped for a moment and said loudly, ¡°However, now that we have these reinforcements, I am going to teach these arrogant Theonians a lesson!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The troops who were ordered to walk across the river to build bridges in the south bank were the second and third brigades of the first legion, and were under themand of Matonis. This is what Matonis had actively asked of Davos, as the strategos of the reserve brigade in thest battle, he almost didn''t manage to participate in the battle and had to hold back his strength, so this time, he must perform well.

    So as soon as he led the troops to the bridge site on the south bank, he immediately used one brigade to stand guard and another brigade to dig trenches and to also build an earthen wall, even with all of these, he still did not see even a shadow of the enemy.

 Chapter 214: The Counterattack of Milo

    Matonis cursed at those timid Crotonians, so without any other choice, he just let some soldiers participate in the construction of the bridge.

    The river is not too wide or too deep, so with sufficientbor, the soldiers on both sides of the river will soonplete the construction of the wooden bridge under themand of the engineering camp and in ordance with the bridge building steps in the ¡¶Military Law¡·. However, Matonis received a report from the scout that about 8,000 Crotonian light infantry areing to attack them!

    His lethargic expression suddenly brightened, ¡°Brothers, stand up, we will soon fight!¡±

    What kind of people bring what kind of soldiers. The soldiers, who had been lying down and resting, had stood up immediately and put on their equipment, and quickly approached the earthen wall and were keeping an eye out with excitement, and the soldiers who were building the bridge had also rushed back after hearing about it.

    It wasn''t long before they saw the Crotonians.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After Milo fled back to Krimisa, Milo had specially questioned the very few surviving soldiers under Philederus, and came to a surprising conclusion, ¡®The army of Philederus was defeated by the light infantry of Theonia!¡¯ And currently, he has less heavy infantry and more light infantry, which is why he decided to copy the tactics of the enemy. He had even allowed some of the soldiers of the fleet of Crotone that was docked at the port of Krimisa to join the battle.

    8,000 men then came ashore from the southern bank of the river. And under his leadership, they stormed along the river to the troops of Theonia that is stationed in the southern bank of the river.

    When he saw the trenches and walls built by the Theonians, Miloughed: The Theonians have bounded their own hands and feet, and had made it more favorable to the attack of light infantry.

    Two hundred meters away from the Theonians, he loosely spread out his troops and surrounded the Theonians with a semi-circr formation, with the rear of the enemy being the river.

    With an order, the archers advanced to within 100 meters and began shooting arrows.

    For the hoplites of Theonia with the protection of the wall, the sky filled with arrows seems frightening, but it did not do much harm to them, as they only need to raise their shield to cover their head. The Theonian soldiers even have the time to joke around, ¡°The Crotonians must have known that our arrows were nearly used up in thest battle, so they havee to send us more.¡± But the rxed mood of the Theonian hoplites soon disappeared.

    The light infantry of Crotone continued to move forward, and once the distance was only about 50 meters, the uracy of their archers greatly increased.

    Of course, the Theonian hoplites, who were protected by their round shield and the earthen wall, had still only suffered little damage.

    However, once the peltast of Crotone continued to advance within 30 meters, the Theonian hoplites began to feel the pressure. Naturally, just by squatting behind the wall will make them not suffer any damage. Anyway, the enemies are light infantry, so they will not dare fight them head-on. However, shrinking their head like a turtle is not the style of Matonis, what is more, once they shrink to the wall, they won''t be able to know the movement of the enemy. What if they bypass the defensive line and go down the river to burn the wooden bridge that is currently being constructed?!

    Matonis is now themander of the south bank troops and he knows exactly what his responsibilities are.

    ¡°Javelins!¡± With a roar, he suddenly stood up from behind the wall, quickly put down his shield, leaned back and without even running up and by just relying on his core strength and arm strength, he manage to throw his javelin to more than 20 meters and pierced through the chest of a Crotonian peltast, and then immediately squatted down.

    The Theonian soldiers, who had been suppressed by the arrows, got the order of Matonis and immediately began to fight back. Countless javelins flew over the walls and trenches, plunging into the Crotonian army and sshing blood. While the arrows and javelins of Crotone also fell on the hoplites of Theonia and the casualties on both sides began to increase.

    Milo paid close attention to the development of the situation and he began to appreciate the advantage of using arge number of light infantry to attack the simple hoplites. Unfortunately, the Theonian¡¯s hoplite is not the traditional Greek hoplites, and the javelins thrown by them had caused great damage to the light infantry of Crotone who had weak protection and the ratio of casualty on both sides varied greatly.

    However Milo believed that trading a few light infantry for a hoplite is worth doing, because Crotone is currently not short of freemen and sailors, and the only thing theyck is citizens who can serve as hoplites.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Strategos Epiphanes, the enemy''s attack on the south bank is now fierce! Strategos Matonis wants your reinforcements!¡± The herald brought the message of Matonis.

    ¡°I know!¡± Epiphanes frowned and responded. He thought for a while and said, ¡°Antiliochus!¡±

    ¡°Here!¡±

    ¡°I want you to lead the slingers across the river and immediately support Matonis!¡± Epiphanes looking at the centurion of the slingers, he then added, ¡°Remember! Don''t enter the camp of Matonis, otherwise, the narrow camp will make you unable to avoid the attack of therge number of light infantry of Crotone! So you have to go around the periphery of the enemy and attack them with the long range of the slingers!¡±

    ¡°I understand strategos!¡± Antiliochus hurriedly went to gather his men.

    The establishment of the light infantry brigade(the seventh brigade) of the Theonian legion is somewhat different from that of the hoplites. ording to the ¡¶Military Law¡·, the hoplite brigade has five centurias under its jurisdiction, each of which has 200 men and a total of 1,000 men; Although the established light infantry brigade has 1,000 men, there are only three centurias, namely, the centuria of the slingers, the centuria of the archers and the centuria of the peltasts, and the number of people under each centuria is varied.

    This is becausepared to the hoplite, the light infantry has a higher need for expertise and though the peltast has it better, the archers and slingers have it harder to be a qualified light infantry without long-term training. Therefore, theposition of the light infantry brigade of Theonia is often determined by the actual situation of their region. For example: The light infantry of the first legion, the numbers of each centuria are almost the same, but their peltast are actually the Thracian peltast soldiers; The light infantry of the second legion mainly came from the preparatory citizens of Thurii, and most of them were born as freemen and sailors, so they had more archers and fewer peltast; The light infantry of the third legion mainly came from the Lucanians, so the majority of them are peltast. Because the formation of the light infantry is loose, flexible and rarely in direct contact with the enemy, so more or less, the light infantry has little influence onmanding operations.

    ¡°Strategos, now that Antiliochus has taken the slingers, wouldn¡¯t the warship of Crotone that is moored in the river, take this opportunity to go up against the river to destroy our newly built wooden bridge once they see that our number has decreased¡­.¡± The centurion of the peltast, Zeniaris, said worryingly.

    ¡°I really hope that they wille. Even if we now have fewer soldiers, I have the confidence of destroying them! Not like now that we can neither attack nor retreat, and just allow those wooden ships that are staying there to hold us here, and we can''t even go to reinforce ourrades on the other side!¡± Said Epiphanes angrily.

    ¡°Since they don''t dare toe, then we can just go and attack them!¡± Interjected by a handsome young man, a guard besides Epiphanes.

    Epiphanes pped him on the back of the head and said with a smile, ¡°Idiot, the ce where the enemies'' ship is anchored is the deepest part of the river. If we were to attack those warships, it would be like attacking enemies that are on the top of the wall, and my own loss will berger, while the loss of the enemy will be small. So why should I do this kind of battle knowing that I will suffer losses?¡±

    ¡°Now that we are on the river bank and there are some obstacles in the river, will the enemy who knew that they will be beaten passively still continue toe here? Will they do such a stupid thing?!¡± The handsome guard asked back.

    For a moment, Epiphanes was speechless and then he gave him a nudge with his hand, and thenughed, ¡°Okay, it seems that you have made great progress!¡± Then he sighed helplessly, ¡°It seems that we are both wasting each other''s time! The grand legatus asked us to protect the wooden bridge, and I had thought that this was a simple task, but turns out, it is really a troublesome task!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Milo and Matonis are battling, Davos has been informed that Milo dared to attack with light infantry, although he was surprised, he still wasn''t worried, ¡°Inform Ledes that his cavalry is temporarily under themand of the first legion. I believe that Kapus will soon be able to repel the enemy!¡±

    Kapus, the legatus of the first legion and under the authority of Davos, had immediately mobilized three hoplite brigade and the cavalry to quickly cross the river, and try to get around the rear of the Crotonians and cut off their retreat.

    Who would have thought that when Milo learned that the reinforcements of Theonia were sooning and even with his advantage, he still ordered their retreat.

    And so, the battle came to a hasty end. Among the 2,000 hoplites led by Matonis, there were 500 casualties and most of them were wounded. While there were more than 700 casualties among the 8,000 men of Milo, most of them were deaths. However, Matonis thought that he had suffered a loss, while Milo thought that Crotone had won a small victory because they had managed to strike the arrogant Theonians and would dy their progress in building the camp and besieging Krimisa.

    But when Milo returned to the city, he had immediately gotten a grave report, ¡®Arge number of troops from the north were entering the camp of Theonia.¡¯

    ¡®They must be the reinforcements from Nerulum!¡¯ Milo suddenly tensed up.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In fact, there are not only the 5,000 soldiers from Nerulum entering the camp of Theonia, but also the 3,000 troops of Laos, which had brought the total number of soldiers of Theonia at the frontline to 22,000.

    The already high morale of the camp of Theonia is now filled with cheering at this moment¡­.

    Davos then went out to greet the worn out archon of Laos, Avinoges, as well as the many high-ranking officers, such as the senior centurion of the first brigade of the third legion ¨C Bagul, his adjutant ¨C Asistes, and the senior centurion of the second brigade ¨C Litom.

    Asistes saluted respectfully, then apologetically said, ¡°Grand Legatus, we arete!¡±

    ¡°It had taken you more than three days to get to Krimisa from Nerulum, is this still slow?!¡± After a serious reply, Davos then praised them with a smile, ¡°You have arrived at the right time, and the next part of the battle will depend on you!¡±

 Chapter 215: The Cooperation of Three Legion

    ¡°Grand legatus, you can rest assured that you can hand over the rest of the battle to us! Our brothers of the third legion have long been eager to take part in the battle and contribute to the union!¡± Bagul said aloud, while pounding his chest.

    ¡°Do not worry, there are plenty of battles for you to take part in!¡± Davos said jokingly, ¡°But you''d better report to your legatus first, because he is the only legatus who is short of soldiers, and he might call your names in his dreams!¡±

    Everyoneughed, and the normally expressionless Hieronymus smiled.

    ¡°Lord Avinoges, thank you for fully supporting Theonia! You have even personally led your troops!¡± Davos came forward and greeted Avinoges to show his sincere thanks.

    ¡°It is our duty as the ally of Theonia to send troops!¡± Avinoges hurriedly replied, ¡°While in Thurii, I had heard of lord Davos'' brilliant record of defeating the army of Crotone once more. It''s another miracle of you triumphing over an army with a superior number than yours! Lord Davos, I am awed by your military talent. The soldiers of Laos believe that by following Theonia, we will be able to win more victories!¡±

    ¡°As long as we in the Theonian alliance remain united, there will be nock of victory!¡± Davos responded passionately.

    ¡°You are right lord Davos!¡± Avinoges immediately nodded in earnest.

    At this moment, Asistes interjected, ¡°Grand legatus, I had almost forgotten one thing. When we were leading the army through the marsh area, the engineering camp was able to repair the road through the marsh area, and they would soon be able to transport the supplies here tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡± Davos excitedly said.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Following Davos into the main tent were, legatus of the first legion ¨C Kapus, legatus of the second legion ¨C Drakos, legatus of the third legion ¨C Hieronymus, and the senior centurion of the first brigade of the third legion ¨C Bagul, the adjutant of the third legion ¨C Asistes, and the archon of Laos ¨C Avinoges.

    In the middle of the main tent is a very smooth wooden table, on which arge map of the southern Magna Graecia was drawn.

    ¡°Kapus, tell us about thetest war situation for our newly arrivedrades.¡± Said Davos.

    ¡°Yes, Milord.¡± Kapus came near to the wooden table, found the symbol of Krimisa on the map and pointed to it and said, ¡°After the defeat of the army of Crotone, and ording to the information obtained from interrogating the captured soldiers, we estimate that there are about 7,000 soldiers of Crotone who had manage to flee the battlefield and have probably all escaped here -¡± Kapus nced at everyone who were listening to him carefully and then said, ¡°Then our first and second legions, with a total of 14,000 troops, arrived outside the city of Krimisa and started building the camps to surround Krimisa from the east, west and north. And today, when we were building the bridge on the river, our troops on the south bank were attacked by nearly 7,000 light infantry, indicating that Krimisa was reinforced by Crotone within this day, and their strength might have reached 14,000 troops. But with your arrival, the total number of our soldiers was brought to 22,000.¡±

    Avinoges and the others gathered around the wooden table, and were staring at the map while listening to Kapus.

    ¡°It will be difficult for 22,000 soldiers to capture a city defended by 14,000 soldiers!¡± Said Avinoges based on his past experience.

    ¡°We don''t have to capture Krimisa.¡± The words of Kapus stunned the neer.

    ¡°If we don''t capture Krimisa, how can we attack Crotone?¡± Bagul asked in surprise.

    ¡°Surround it.¡± Kapus pressed Krimisa on the map with his right hand and drew a circle around it, ¡°If we attack Krimisa with 14,000 Crotonians defending it, it will not only make us suffer heavy casualties, but once Krimisa couldn''t hold on, the Crotonians might retreat back to Crotone by boat and hole up in their city, which will increase the difficulties for our next attack. But if we were to make them keep Krimisa, it will disperse the troops of Crotone and we can then divide our forces-¡± The finger of Kapus slides from the south of the city of Krimisa, to the northern in of Crotone.

    Avinoges, Bagul, Asistes and Litom were staring at the map with wide eyes and were deep in thought.

    ¡°What if the Crotonians were to find out that our number is decreasing and then decide to attack our camp?¡± Avinoges asked with some concern.

    But the othersughed at the same time.

    ¡°We wee their attack. We will make them taste the defense of our, the camp of Theonia!¡± Said Drakos confidently.

    ¡°But, if we don''t attack Krimisa, we might let those Crotonians find out about our intention. What if they take the initiative to withdraw to Crotone?¡± Asistes also raised his own questions.

    ¡°Who said that we will not attack Krimisa? We would still properly attack it and put pressure on them. When they realized that something was wrong, our troops would have already messed up the territory of Crotone, and once the Crotonians withdrew, we could then easily take Krimisa! In a word, ording to the words of the grand legatus¡­that is¡­we should actively make the Crotonians run back and forth, so as to make the Crotonians not be able to concentrate their forces while confronting us¡­.¡± Exined Kapus.

    ¡°How wonderful! I think this must be the n that Lord Davos has conceived. It''s the first time I have seen such a clever strategy! We don''t even need to fight so hard and we could easily achieve our goal!¡± Complimented Avinoges.

    His words were unanimously agreed by everyone.

    Davosughed and said seriously, ¡°Now I am mostly worried about one thing-¡±

    ¡°Our food supply?!¡± The silent Hieronymus interjected, because he had stayed with the army''s logistics camp, so he knows something about it.

    ¡°That''s right.¡± Davos gave him a look of appreciation and said seriously, ¡°The soldiers are about to eat up all the food that they had brought. Next, we have to rely on the food that will be transported from the rear, but to meet the needs of 22,000 men, the amount of food we need is absolutely huge! And Thurii is nearly a hundred kilometer away from Krimisa, and we can''t protect such a long transportation line! If Crotone were to notice this, their warships can justnd on any coast, attack our supply convoy, and even destroy the viges and kill our people and cause us great trouble! So we have toplete our n as soon as possible so that Crotone couldn''t do anything!¡±

    ¡°Hieronymus!¡±

    ¡°Here!¡±

    ¡°You are to immediately lead the third legion to build a camp on the south bank and besiege Krimisa!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Drakos!¡±

    ¡°Here!¡±

    ¡°Draw three brigades from the second legion to assist the troops of lord Avinoges in building the camp on the south bank. The requirement is for you to finish the preliminary works by tonight and topletely besiege Krimisa!¡±

    ¡°Roger!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the afternoon of that day, more than 10,000 soldiers of Theonia crossed the wooden bridge and began to take turns building the camp on the south bank of the river.

    Milo, however, did not rush to send his troops.

    In the evening, the preliminary work on the camp on the south bank waspleted. So far, the Theonian camp had formed a huge semicircle around the city of Krimisa, with the exception of the port facing the sea, which could not be surrounded.

    In the early morning of the next day, the Theonian soldiers continued to improve their camp facilities, while Lysias, the envoy of Crotone arrived at the camp of Theonia at the north. He was blindfolded when he was brought to the tent of Davos.

    ¡°Apologies lord Lysias! You and I are currently at war and so we have to adopt this method.¡± Davos apologizes, however, there was no trace of being sorry on his face. On the contrary, he looks like a hunting dog seeing fresh meat, ¡°I remember that we have just met four days ago. I didn''t expect that we would see each other again so soon. You wouldn''t have brought your harsh condition to threaten us, have you?¡±

    Lysias had naturally heard the taunt in the words of Davos, but he responded as if he didn''t hear it, ¡°Lord Davos, I havee for a peace negotiation. Crotone is willing to sign an armistice agreement with Theonia andpensate you for your losses in the war, and the only thing we hope is that the war between Crotone and Theonia can be quelled, so as to restore peace and tranquility in Magna Graecia!¡±

    Davos thenughed, ¡°If you Crotonians wanted a war, then you start a war. If you wanted to end the war, then youe ask for a truce. Do you think that war is a child''s game?¡±

    Lysias continued to calmly ask, ¡°Then what kind of conditions would make Theonia be willing to ept the armistice?¡±

    ¡°Conditions?¡± With a cold snort, Davos paced back and forth a few steps in order to calm himself down. When he looked at Lysias again, his excited gaze already returned to his previous shrewdness, ¡°Remember what I had said thest time we met? It''s very simple, my conditions are the same as those you have previously mentioned in the senate hall of Thurii!¡±

    Hearing this, the heart of Lysias ¡°thumps¡±.

    ¡°First, Crotone shouldpensate Theonia 5,000 Tarants in one payment. Second, The alliance of Crotone should be dissolved, and Crotone should not form an alliance with any other city-state after that. Third, Krimisa will be merged into Theonia Union!¡­.¡±

    At the end of each of his sentences, the face of Lysias turned uglier. In the end, he just simply shook his head, ¡°Your conditions are too harsh! The council of Crotone will not ept them!¡±

    ¡°It''s better if you don''t ept it! Our soldiers still want more victories in order to get more rewards!¡± Though Davos looked indifferent, there are threats in his words.

    ¡°I admit that the victory of Theonia had made us panicked, but this panic had also prompted us to act together to fight against the enemy who might invade thends of Crotone! The battles that you Theonians willter encounter will only be more and more difficult! Lord Davos, I would like to remind you that grapes can only be sold at a good price when they are fresh, otherwise they will be worthless once they rot.

 Chapter 216: The Suggestion of Kunogelata

    ¡°We''ll just wait and see.¡± Davos said with a smile, without paying attention to the threat of Lysias at all, ¡°But I also want to remind you that the next time youe, my conditions will not be as good as now! Besides, I also want to remind you that we are not the only enemies of Crotone¡­if the war continues, who knows what will happen?!¡±

    Lysias was shocked by his words.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    By noon, the first batch of supplies arrived at the camp.

    With this, Davos breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time a letter written by Kunogta was brought to him mentioning that an envoy of Locri has arrived in Thurii and had proposed to the senate about ¡°Locri and Theonia forming an alliance against Crotone¡±. However, the statesmen did not give a reply to the proposal on the ground that the archon was not present. Afterwards, the envoy fell ill with a high fever due to the exhaustion from his journey and was currently hospitalized for treatment, and so, he could not go look for Davos.

    At the end of his letter, Kunogta had also put forward his own suggestion, ¡°Whether milord archon has the confidence to defeat Crotone independently or not, please consider that the strength of Locri is second only to Crotone, and behind them is the strong support of Syracuse. Destroying or seriously weakening Crotone will lead to Locri annexing the allies of Crotone and they will then be a stronger enemy for Theonia¡­.¡±

    After reading it several times, Davos picked up another letter, in it was the confidential report from Aristias and was sent through a special channel. The report mainly mentioned what happened in Thurii these days, including the arrival of the envoy of Locri. Besides that, it also mentions the events around Theonia, such as: ¡®After Diaoms, the archon of Taranto, led his army to capture Manduria, Archytas led his army to attack the city of Brindisi and continued to fight fiercely with the Messapians.¡¯, ¡®Potentia is now gathering the nearby tribes and seems to be preparing to attack Grumentum¡­.¡¯

    But thest piece of report had caught the attention of Davos, ¡®Dionysius, the supreme strategos of Syracuse, had led 80,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry and 400 warship to fight against Carthage¡¯¡­at the beginning of the year, the whole Greek world in the western Mediterranean was filled with wars, including the war between Theonia and Crotone.

    ¡®80,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, 400 warships?!!!¡¯ Davos widened his eyes and carefully confirmed the number on the letter. Although he knew before that Syracuse was the leading Greek power in the western Mediterranean, the powerful strength it showed at this moment still made Davos worried. After all, Syracuse was located in Sicily, which is not that far from Thurii, as it only needed 2~3 days of travel by boat to reach. And Syracuse has a precedent of interfering in the internal affairs of other city-states in Magna Graecia when Hieron, the brother of Gelon, the tyrant who had created the glory of Syracuse a few decades ago, seeded as the tyrant. So Davos had to be vignt.

    He then picked up the letter of Kunogta again, and once more carefully read it and then pondered for a long time¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After returning to Krimisa, Lysias naturally talked with Milo about his meeting with the archon of Theonia, Davos. Milo was angry at Theonia for daring to put forward such harsh conditions for the peace negotiation with Crotone, but he also felt extremely guilty.

    Throughout the whole morning, Milo just watched the situation in the camp of Theonia on the city wall, thinking about ways to break through the enemy. Whether it''s on the south or the north bank, the soldiers of Theonia continued to build their camps, and pushing their defensive line forward, trenches, abatis, traps, and so on¡­and hadid them at intervals, it feels like they are not the one going to attack, but instead the Crotonians were the one going to attack.

    Milo could only sigh while thinking what method did themander of Theonia use to make such brave and opinionated citizen soldiers willingly continue doing this kind of hard and dirty work. If it were the soldiers of Crotone, they would have already given up and started making trouble.

    At noon, Askamas, themander of the fleet of Crotone, arrived at the port of Krimisa. Which made Milo to finally be excited, because Askamas is part of the ten strategoi of Crotone, and was also the friend of Milo and is a representative of the radicals. Milo believed that he would agree to his n and help him.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After seeing Askamas off and getting his positive reply, Milo can finally rx.

    Just as he was about to lie down and rest for a while, the guard came in and reported that the situation of the enemy outside of the north gate had a change.

    Previously, the soldiers of Theonia had been working hundreds of meters away from the north gate, but at this time, they suddenly pushed to within 100 meters, and were just outside the range of the archers of Crotone. They then began leveling and tamping the ground, and sorting out arge piece of tnd. At the same time, they were guarded by heavily armed infantry on both sides to prevent the Crotonians from attacking them.

    In this era, there were no catapults, and there is a moat and a wall that blocks the enemies, so it is impossible for them to do any harm to the city of Krimisa, so the soldiers of Crotone just watched curiously on the wall without much nervousness.

    Milo was also watching all of this, and he already started feeling tired and just wanted to figure out what the Theonian wanted to do.

    The soldiers of Theonia then began carrying a 5 meter long tree trunk, then cing them on the edge of the tnd, and drove the tree trunks into the soil one by one. Afterwards, they connected and fixed them with ropes, and soon made a wooden frame of about 30 meters long and 5 meters wide.

    ¡°Do the Theonians want to build houses here? Are they not afraid that we would burn it?!¡± A Crotonian soldier cracked a joke, which immediately caused a burst ofughter.

    But he then saw the Theonians carrying heavy sacks and putting them into the edge of the wooden frame and stacked them neatly.

    ¡°Hahaha¡­I think the Thonians don''t just want to build houses, they also want to bake bread(because it''s a sack for grain and flour)!¡± Another Crotonian soldier caused a burst ofughter.

    As thousands of Theonian soldiers participated in the work, a wall of sacks was then built in a twinkling of an eye, and the height of the wall is leveled with the wall of Krimisa, and it is still continuing to rise¡­.

    Seeing this, the expression of Milo changed and the adjutant beside him cried out, ¡°Not good, the enemy is building a taller wall in order to attack us!¡±

    Seeing such a thing in front of them, the Crotonian soldiers who were just watching had realized something and began to panic: There are many powerful slingers in the Theonian light infantry, and they have a longer range, and now, the Theonians had use an ingenious method to quickly build a tform nearly two meters higher than the four meter city wall of Krimisa. This means that once the enemy starts besieging the city, their light infantry can just climb this tall tform and use their height advantage to let their arrows and stones rain on the soldiers on the wall of Krimisa, which will make the defending soldiers at the top of the city wall to be too busy avoiding the attack and not be able to defend¡­Milo then felt cold, ¡®We have to destroy this tform!¡¯

    But he also knew that the enemy would be on guard, so he decided to attack at night.

    Soon after, he saw that the Theonians began digging trenches around the tform, and filled the gaps in the middle of the tform with the excavated soil¡­.

    Milo then started to somewhat lose his mind, ¡®Those Theonians are simply just rats, the only thing they could think of is to dig holes to protect their lives!¡¯

    At dusk, the Theonians built a small camp around the tall tform.

    With this, Milo could only give up his decision to attack at night, because he didn''t want to waste the lives of his soldiers on this hopeless endeavor.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the early morning of the next day, the salpinx on the north camp of Theonia sounded, and the soldiers of the centurias of the second legion carrieddders and formed a small phnx formation, which was a hundred meters away from the city wall.

    Davos then stepped on the tform for the first time, and subconsciously stamped his foot twice, and felt that it was quite stable.

    When he first saw the city of Krimisa, he had the idea of building such a tform, because a four meter high city wall is indeed too short. However, it''s not easy to build an earthen wall taller than the city wall, because it is easy to copse. Fortunately, the engineers havee up with a good idea, using the tree trunks and ropes as the frame, then using sacks as support and then filling it with soil¡­which is not only fast to build, but is also firm.

    Davos then looked at the panoramic view of the northern wall of Krimisa, seeing the soldiers standing on the city wall, he then said to Epiphanes who was next to him, ¡°Can our archers hit the enemy?¡±

    ¡°Grand legatus, our archers won''t have a problem hitting them!¡± Epiphanes said confidently.

    Davos nodded, ¡°Then start the attack.¡±

    ¡°Archers, shoot!¡± At themand of Epiphanes, the archers on the tform began shooting the first round of arrows, and the slingers who were in the rear also began their attack.

    Atst, the siege has finally begun! Milo, who was standing at the top of the northern gate, is now filled with determination. Facing the flying arrows and stones, he shouted, ¡°Defense!¡±

    He had specially arranged for the hoplites to defend the section of the city wall facing the high tform. They then began raising their round shields one after another in order to cover their head¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the south bank of the Crati river in the Sybaris in, is a new vige. Agus is the head of the vige, which is the lowest ranking official in the Theonian administrative system. ording to the newly promulgatedw, the head of the vige is elected by the citizens of the vige with a term of one year.

    However, it is not easy to be a vige chief, because candidates have to meet several necessary conditions: First, they must be a formal citizen of Theonia. Second, they should pay taxes on time and have no record of breaking thew and are disciplined. In addition, those who have served in the army and have made great contributions to the Theonia Union are much more preferred.

 Chapter 217: Crotones naval harassment

    As a result, the new vige wasposed of dozens of households with the majority of them being preparatory citizens. Agus was elected without any dispute because he was one of the mercenaries who had followed Davos to Thurii, and during the siege of the Lucanians, he was seriously injured in his left leg and had be a cripple. After the establishment of the Thua Union, Davos hade to visit these wounded soldiers and Agus had made a request to him, hoping to change his ¡°share¡± ofnd allocated to him in Amendra to the south bank of the Crati river, his purpose was for him to stay away from hisrades who are still active, so as to not get depressed due to his situation.

    With the influx of people and therge-scale development of farnds on the in of Sybaris, new viges have sprung up on this t and fertile in. Originally, in the eyes of the dozens of new households, they found Agus to be difficult to approach, but under the supervision of the public official sent by the senate, Agus was easily elected as the vige chief. Because he found out that Agus was a mercenary veteran who had followed the Favored of Hades, the benevolent archon, the invincible strategos, Davos, and had gone through life and death with him. Looking at Agus, he had immediately be awed.

    Agus was a serious person, since he has be the chief of a vige, he needed to do his duty in maintaining the order of the vige, resolving the disputes among the vigers, teaching morals and customs to the vigers, checking the nting in the farnd in the vige, reminding the vigers to participate in military training on time, supervising their military service and pay taxes, recording the poption growth and guard against epidemic diseases¡­he is in charge of all kind of work, no matter how big or trivial it is.

    Every morning, he gets up and walks around every corner of the vige while clutching a cane, and sometimes, he even drags his injured leg to jump into the mud and repair the canal together with the vigers¡­.

    A few monthster, the whole vige praised him for his performance. When they encounter him, their faces are filled with respect from the bottom of their heart, which has made him find the meaning of his survival and struggle.

    After the battle between Crotone and Theonia started, all the adult men in the vige went to participate in the war. However, the spring was the season of sowing and thebor was obviously insufficient. Although every family has ves, agriculture is after all, different frommerce. If there are too many ves, they will only consume money and food. In fact, when thebor force is tight, they can just rent ves to survive the busiest period. Therefore, each family has only one or two ves. So Agus had to rush to the senate of Thurii, and after registration, he brought 30 ves back to help the whole vige to do farm work.

    Except for Agus, who is disabled, the whole vige only has women, elderly and children, and the rest are all ves and most of whom are males, but Agus was not worried that the ves would cause trouble because thew of the union stiptes that every year on the founding day of Theonia City-State Union(that is, October 30), a group of ves that had work hard and has good performance will be given freedom in front of the temple of Hades. This is their reward and also to show the kindness of Hades. Since the promulgation of thisw, the enthusiasm of the ves of the city-state has be high, and their efficiency has doubled. For the ves in rural areas, it is not easy for farmers to own a ve, and they depend on them so much that it is only natural for them to cherish the ves. So they often treat the ves as a part of their family, and the longer the time they spent, the closer the emotional rtionship between the two sides, and the more freedom the ves could have. And as long as the master is rich and can afford the payment demanded by the union, many of the ves can be freed before their master dies, and after they are free, they will often return to their master''s home and continue to help with the housework as servants.

    With the help of the ves, the spring ploughing of the whole vige waspleted. Of course, in his spare time, Agus willfort the women and elderly in the vige who are worried about their rtives.

    On this day, because the waterwheel in the vige had broken down, Agus had to rush to the city of Thurii early in the morning to find someone to repair it. After making an appointment with a skilled carpenter, he hurriedly went home.

    As soon as he opened the door, the female ve immediately came forward and told him, ¡°Master, madame is sleeping right now and she did not vomit today.¡±

    Agus was relieved. He had fought for most of his life in the battlefield and had thought that he would someday die in the wilderness or live a lonely life. However, he did not expect that he would be a citizen of a city-state and get an allocatednd, marry a wife and establish a family, and now, he will even have a child. This is the blessing of Hades!

    At that time, when he heard the news from the physician, he had danced with joy and had immediately used his savings to buy a female ve to take care of his pregnant wife.

    ¡°Master, have a drink.¡± The female ve then held the wooden cup filled with water.

    However, Agus didn''t immediately drink it, and had instead asked, ¡°Is it boiled?¡± In the past, the Greeks used to drink raw water, but Herpus, who is highly skilled in medicine, had repeatedly appealed to the citizens to drink ¡°boiled water¡± and insisted that this can reduce the incidence of diseases. Agus was no stranger to this, because during the Persian expedition, Davos had strictly demanded his mercenaries regarding this matter. And for the sake of his unborn child, he needed to take good care of his body.

    The female ve nodded, so he drank the water with confidence.

    ¡°Bang!¡± The door was suddenly pushed open and made a loud noise, then a child half of Agus¡¯ height came in.

    Agus red and was about to reprimand the boy.

    The boy then pantingly said, ¡°Uncle Agus, I was just picking shells on the beach¡­I then saw¡­saw a big ship stopping on the beach, and many people disembark with weapons!¡±

    Enemies!! Agus immediately became alert, he then turned to the ve and said, ¡°Go to the field and call back Pomis(he is the male ve of the family), and have him immediately help my wife to go north and wait for me in the square of Thurii!¡±

    ¡°Yes, master!¡± The female ve then ran outside.

    ¡°Boy.¡± Agus then remembered that the boy''s name was Patroclus. He was usually mischievous and was often beaten up by his father, ¡°When you saw those people, is there anyone else by the sea?¡±

    ¡°I am the only one.¡±

    Agus then asked, ¡°Can you ride a mule?¡±

    ¡°I have ridden other people''s cows and mules many times.¡± The clever boy was obviously aware of the emergency, so he confided his secrets and was not afraid of being scolded.

    ¡°Do you know about the vige in the south, which is very close to us?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I had fought with a kid in that vige.¡±

    ¡°Uncle wants you to ride my mule and immediately go there to inform them and say ¡®the enemy ising, and to immediately evacuate!¡¯ Can you do it?¡±

    ¡°I can!¡± The boy nodded hard.

    ¡°Good boy!¡± Agus praised and stroked the head of the boy. Suddenly he remembered something, and then took out the seal of the vige head issued by the praetor of Thurii, and put it into the boy''s hand, ¡°If they don''t believe you, then show them this.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± The boy nodded again.

    Agus then immediately took the mule from the shed in the courtyard, and the boy easily jumped on the back of the mule.

    ¡°Remember kid, after passing the message, you will then wait for us by the wooden bridge on the Crati river!¡±

    ¡°Got it uncle.¡± The boy then shook the rein and the mule ran out of the courtyard.

    Seeing the boy''s skillful movements, Agus became a bit relieved. As a veteran mercenary, he and most of hisrades have simr ideas, and this union was created by them with their blood and sweat, so they have the responsibility to defend this union, and not just focus on their own viges.

    Agus reluctantly looked at his house, then strode out of the door and limped to the vige square, and went to ring the bronze bell to order the vigers to evacuate immediately.

    Agus then led the ves to support the elderly and the children. Shortly after they left the vige, thick smoke rose behind them¡­.

    The women shouted and cried for their burning vige¡­.

    Agus could still manage to keep his calm. Based on his previous experience of plundering, he judged that the enemy would not go out of the vige immediately to catch up with them. He then urged the vigers to speed up, while changing his fist tightly: His first home in the union was destroyed!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°This morning, three viges in Thurii were destroyed and 15 people were killed, but we didn''t catch the enemy! Philesius, you have to do something! If it goes on like this, the Nike Square will be filled with people who have lost their homes, and then the people of the whole union will fall into panic! Do the soldiers at the front even want to fight?!¡± Kunogta said anxiously, as the praetor of Thurii, he couldn''t watch Thurii, who had finally recovered its prosperity, suffer another disaster.

    ¡°Lord Kunogta, just calm down and sit, in order for us to discuss it slowly.¡± Corneliusforted him, then exined to Philesius, ¡°To tell you the truth, the Crotonians are very cunning. They use their small warships tond on the coast of Thurii and Roscianum, and all of them are sailors with bows and javelins. And the young and middle-aged citizens of our viges have gone to war. Otherwise, how can they attack us so easily! As soon as the enemies found out that our troops had arrived, they would immediately flee back to their ship, and make us unable to catch up with them! And currently, there are only three brigades in the city and they still have to defend the port of Thurii and also to take care of Amendra. We are really short of manpower!¡±

    ¡°But the problem must be solved as soon as possible!¡± Kunogta snorted and then added, ¡°If we don''t have enough people, then we can consider using those freemen!¡±

    ¡°Lord Kunogta, that is a great idea.¡± At this time, Philesius, who had been pondering, then said, ¡°There are tens of thousands of freemen who have nothing to do in the port right now. And as time passes, they are prone to make chaos. Yesterday, there were some freemen who had gone to the camp and said, ¡®We have nothing to eat, give us what the soldiers are eating!¡¯¡±

 Chapter 218: Invasion of the Northern Plain of Crotone

    ¡°The freemen have run out of food?!¡± Asked Kunogta in surprise.

    ¡°The war has broken out so suddenly that many freemen did not manage to stock up on grain in advance. Afterwards, when they wanted to buy grains, it had already been sold out.¡± Philesius looked at the other two men, because the union itself was the cause of it.

    ¡°Then pay them food as their sry and let the freemen fight for the union, instead of just always shortening the assessment period of the citizen as a reward and making the citizenship of the union less valuable! Philesius, if the freemen can make great achievements and defeat the regr army of Crotone under the leadership of the archon, then even without the leadership of the archon, you should have no problem dealing with the invasion of the ordinary sailors of the fleet of Crotone, right?¡± Kunogta asked Philesius in a blunt tone.

    Philesius didn''t take it to heart, and said seriously, ¡°Of course it wouldn¡¯t be a problem! My n is to make every 100 freemen form a team and patrol all the coasts where they cannd, and at the same time, arge brigade will be sent to the Thurii-Roscianum road, and a centuria of hoplites will be stationed every 2.5 kilometers, and have the scout cavalry to make contact between the patrol unit and the stationed centuria. In case of a small group of enemies, then the patrol should be able to repel them, but when they encounter arge number of enemies, the patrol unit must first block the enemy''s surprise attack, and the scout unit will then go inform the nearest centuria and then rushed to attack the enemy together¡­.¡±

    Kunogta was a bit surprised and said, ¡°That''s a great idea.¡±

    ¡°However, I am afraid that we will need to tighten our grain supply again. If we want to use the treasury''s money to buy more grains in Heraclea, Mersis will once againin at us.¡± Cornelius said helplessly.

    ¡°How can war be cheap? But as long as the archon can win the final victory, we will get more money.¡± Since their victory in the battle of Trionto river, Kunogta, who is afraid of war, has be more confident in Davos.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Milo had thought that the Theonian army would attack the city with the help of the tform, but besides their exchange of arrows and stones the whole morning, there were no other movements. In the end, even the light infantry stopped their attack due to their hands losing strength.

    Such an odd calm had puzzled Milo. Naturally, he wouldn''t know that the 5,000 soldiers of the third legion of Theonia and the 3,000 warriors of Laos had entered the northern in of Crotone, and started destroying the farnd and viges, and did the same thing as what the Crotonian sailors had done, except that Davos had given a military order in advance that they are not allowed to kill the people of Crotone. So the soldiers were just intimidating and driving the Crotonians away.

    As early as after their defeat in battle, the council of Crotone had advised the people in the viges on the northern in to flee to the city to temporarily avoid the mes of war. Because of the spring sowing and the absence of any enemy for three days, the people of Crotone had thought that Milo had managed to block the Theonians in Krimisa, so most of them did not leave. But now, the army of Theonians had suddenly appeared in front of them, and made the Crotonians flee to the south in panic.

    In southern Italy, the ins of Crotone isparable to the Sybaris in because of the two rivers. One is the Neto river, which originates from the mountains in the south of the Apennines Mountains and flows from the west to east into the gulf of Taranto. Due to the convergence of many tributaries, the width, depth and flow of this river is greater than that of the Crati river on the Sybaris in. The other is the Esaro river, which also originates from the mountains in the southern Apennines and flows into the sea from north to south. These two rivers from east and south irrigates the in of Crotone, and at the same time cuts the ins of Crotone. On the sea side of the core area is Crotone, a famous powerful city-state in Magna Graecia. As Crotone is close to the gulf of Taranto, it has one of the few deep-water ports among the Greek city-states in the Apennine Penins, and so, Crotone has both fertile ins and excellent ports. A hundred years ago, the main reason for the war between Sybaris and Crotone was that Sybaris wanted to destroy their potential rivals, while Crotone wanted to seize the trade dominance in southern Italy. Therefore, when a small part of the poption of Sybaris fled to Crotone because of the dispute, it had then be the fuse of the war.

    Between the rivers, mountains and the ins, is a city named Aprustum, which was founded by the people of Bruttii. To the west of the northern in of Crotone is the continuous Apennine mountains, which is difficult to pass through. Trekking to the northwest by following the natural valley formed by the Arvo river, a tributary of the Neto river, one can reach the only teau in southern Italy, S teau. The Bruttians that were living there hade from the upper reaches of the Arvo river, and went all the way down to Aprustum following the river

    However, After Crotone had be strong, they could not tolerate having an aborigine city which is only 10 kilometers away from them to control the upper reaches of the two rivers and the passage on the northern in of Crotone, and threaten the safety of Crotone. Therefore, a hundred years ago, Crotoneunched an army to attack the city of Aprustum, and after several struggles, they finally upied the city and drove the Bruttians back to the S teau. Aprustum has nowpletely be a Greek city-state. And as a colonial city of Crotone, Aprustum is nowpletely under their control, and has be their horns, guarding the safety of Crotone.

    The news regarding the invasion of Theonia on the ins of Crotone had spread to the city of Crotone, and had frightened its people. In particr, the 3,000 soldiers of Laos had hurriedly advanced all the way and were now approaching the north bank of the Neto river.

    The defenders on the south bank of the Neto river became flustered, so in order to not let the enemy cross the pontoon bridge and reach the city of Crotone, they had set the several pontoon bridges on the river on fire, which made many people who were fleeing south to be stranded on the northern bank of the river.

    Just as Crotone was ferrying the people by boat, the army of Laos had reached the river bank, and so, the Crotonians cried and were forced to flee northwest along the river bank of the Neto river in panic.

    When the Greeks first came to this in, it had an abundant number of marshes due to the Neto river and its many tributaries and abundant rainfall. However, the Greeks had mature drainage technology, and after hundreds of years of management, there were basically no marshes left. But the people of Crotone are still in danger while escaping, because Laos had sent several units of soldiers to chase them.

    The Crotonians were frightened and tired. Fortunately, before they knew it, there were more young men in their group, and they enthusiastically helped the women to carry their heavy loads, picked up the children, and helped the elderly, which allowed the fleeing group to not abandon the elderly and children. In the end, the soldiers of Laos stopped their chase, and the refugee could already see the city of Aprustum.

    Strategos Phragris, a citizen of Crotone, opened the gate almost without hesitation, and nearly 900 refugees, covered with dust and panicked, entered the city.

    But at this moment, a scout had urgently reported to him that 5,000 Theonian soldiers wereing to attack the city of Aprustum.

    Phragris had immediately panicked once he heard it. In the two wars with Theonia, more than 6,000 men were drawn from Aprustum to join in the war, and were used as fodders and will never return again. And now, there are only more than 700 citizens in the city who can fight, so how can they stop the 5,000 Theonian soldiers who had managed to defeat the army of Crotone?!

    Phragris, whocks actualbat experience, has no confidence. But when his gaze fell on the frightened refugees in the city, he immediately changed his original idea of getting rewarded by the council of Crotone and gaining their favor by escorting the people out of the city.

    ¡°People of Crotone! People of Crotone!!¡± He stood on the stone stairs of the city wall and yelled, but there were loud mors and only a few people paid attention to him. So the soldiers began to shout, and finally, the refugees calmed down and looked at the strategos of Aprustum.

    ¡°People of Crotone, there are 5,000 soldiers of Theonia that areing to destroy this city!¡± As soon as Phragris said this, the crowd then became restless, ¡°What?! The Theonians areing?!¡±

    ¡°Why haven''t you opened the south gate yet? Let us leave here!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The crowd mored more loudly, and Phragris and the soldiers had to calm them down first.

    ¡°Naturally, you can go. But you should know that because Crotone hadunched two wars against Theonia, most of the citizens of Aprustum has followed the army of Crotone and had failed toe back. As a result, there are not many citizen soldiers in the city, and I am afraid that we couldn''t stop therge number of Theonians! Aprustum is the northern barrier of Crotone, so once it is upied by the Theonians, they will then be able to smoothly go south and easily cross the Neto river and enter the central in of Crotone, which will be a disaster!¡­.So I urge all of you who can take up the shield and spear to join us to defend Aprustum! To defend Crotone!¡±

    The words of Phragris were the truth, although Aprustum is supposed to be a city, it is a special case(from the administrative division of Athens, several viges were put together and formed a town). Although it had its own council, there was only one strategos in charge of the city-state, and was elected by Crotone''s ¡°Ten Strategoi¡± every year. So in an emergency, Phragris, who is also a strategos of Crotone, has the right to give orders to the Crotonians.

    The refugees fell into silence, and everyone was thinking and weighing the benefits.

 Chapter 219: Storming Aprustum

    After a while, a young man holding a baby in his arms handed the baby to a woman beside him and stood up.

    The woman grabbed him and whispered in a concerned voice, ¡°You have to be careful!¡±

    The young man felt guilty and avoided the gaze of the woman, ¡°You too!¡± With that, he strode out of the crowd.

    Under his leadership, many people said goodbye to those around them and strode out.

    Phragris patted the young man on the shoulder and asked, ¡°Young man, what is your name?¡±

    ¡°Phryntor.¡±

    Phragris then nced at the woman holding the baby andforted him, saying, ¡°Don''t worry. Once the enemy is defeated, you will soon be together with your wife.¡±

    Phragris thought that the two were husband and wife, and the young man just nodded his head.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The 5,000 soldiers of the third legion led by Hieronymus rushed to Aprustum. Their speed is much slower than the troops of Laos who attacked the northern bank of the Neto river because they have to carry the siege equipment that they had madest night. However, they deliberately set up such a time difference so that the n could proceed smoothly.

    At this time, Hieronymus is talking with Izam while advancing with the troops, ¡°Are you sure your men have entered Aprustum?¡±

    ¡°Of course! I have watched them go inside with my own eyes. If it wasn''t for my appearance being different from the Greeks, I would have gone inside together with my brothers! Legatus, I hope that you can rush to attack the city as soon as possible, because I am afraid that after some time has passed, they will be found out!¡± Pleaded Izam.

    ¡°I understand.¡± Hieronymus promised it immediately, and asked at the same time, ¡°How many people went inside?¡±

    ¡°56 Soldiers.¡± Izam said it immediately, because he knows his subordinates like the back of his hand. With the union¡¯s expansion, the legion has also expanded, and due to this, the mountain reconnaissance team has also expanded, and has now be a centuria.

    Hieronymus was a little surprised. He didn''t expect that so many soldiers had managed to sneak into Aprustum, which made him more confident in taking over the city. Therefore, he told the people ying the salpinx to increase the pace of their march.

    In fact, the marching speed of the soldiers are already in constant increase even without the urging of Hieronymus, because these 5,000 soldiers are from Nerulum, and they had missed the previous battle and so, they are now eager to fight and perform meritorious service.

    The upper reaches of the Neto river are neither deep nor wide, but its banks are higher. Hieronymus was the first to arrive at the north bank, and when he saw many enemies on the other bank drawing their bows, he immediately gave his order, ¡°Seventh brigade, attack!¡±

    The light infantry of the third legion quickly formed a long stretch of skirmishers and scrambled down the river bank, braving the arrows that came at them while crossing the river. After paying a small amount of casualties and climbing on the other side, the enemies had already run away.

    Then the hoplites who followed after, were carryingdders and rafts made of trees and crossed the Neto river with ease.

    The city of Aprustum is not far ahead and it''s on a higher terrain. However, it''s very easy for the Lucanian soldiers who were living in the mountains. Finally, they stopped in front of the city of Aprustum and began to line up at themand of the officers.

    While the soldiers of Aprustum were looking at the enemies under the wall and were nervous, and behind them were the newly joined people, who were even more nervous.

    Strategos Phragris saw an old man trembling, and having his shield fall to the ground many times, and so, he went forward andforted him, ¡°Don''t be afraid, the enemy can''t attack us! And this city has never been conquered by the enemy since the time Crotone owned it! A few decades ago, when we were defeated in the south(referring to the war between Locri and Rhegium against Crotone.) The Bruttians wanted to seize the opportunity to take back Aprustum, and they had a lot more people than the Theonians, but they had still suffered a disastrous defeat and could only go back home!¡±

    His words have reassured the soldiers.

    When Phragris walked along the walkway on the wall, inspecting the whole defense from west to east, and seeing that there were enough soldiers at each crenel, it also gave him enough confidence.

    Aprustum, like Roscianum and Krimisa, is a small city, but because of its important geographical location, the Crotonians has expanded and strengthened its defense many times. Therefore, Aprustum has a seven meter high wall and a four meter wide trench, and it is also irrigated by the tributary of the Neto river to form a wide moat. Moreover, steep mountains are to its west and it is adjacent to another major tributary of the Neto river to its east, with wide river width and deep water depth. Therefore, it has only two gates, the north and south, and so the forces are concentrated on both sides, which made it convenient for defense.

    Izam carefully watched the enemy on the wall, and he suddenly, with a look of joy on his face, ran to Hieronymus and excitedly said in a low voice, ¡°Legatus, my brothers are on the wall!¡±

    Hieronymus, who is always serious, had his countenance and change and impatiently asked, ¡°Where?¡±

    Izam, though excited, remained cautious. Instead of using his fingers to point, he whispered, ¡°On the far left side of the city wall!¡±

    Hieronymus then immediately looked at the far left side of the city wall. It was currently noon, and the sun was hanging in the middle of the sky and shining on the heavily armored soldiers at the top of the city wall. The light shining was dazzling, but there was a ce where it was different. The dazzling round shields were neatly connected in a row, but the reflected light was bright and then dark, obviously, these people were turning the round shields in their hands at the same time. Whoelse would do such a boring and physically consuming thing before the battle? Hieronymus then smiled, ¡°Izam, once we capture Aprustum, your team will be the first to be credited!¡±

    ¡°Thank you lord legatus!¡± Izam was overjoyed.

    With the mountain reconnaissance team as the insider, Hieronymus had quickly made a n to ¡°attack the right side of the enemy to attract the attention of the defenders, while covertly attacking the far left¡±.

    When the salpinx sounded, the soldiers howled like hungry wolves in the mountains and were like tides rushing to the city of Aprustum. Bagul, Asistes, Litom, Kesima, sa and other brigade leaders had also taken the lead and led the charge in person¡­.

    The Crotonian soldiers then began to fire arrows at the enemy who entered their range. But for the Theonian hoplites in heavy armor and helmets, their casualties were minimal. The salpinx that sounded the battle had encouraged the wild lucanian soldiers of the third legion, and if an arrow were to hit their arms and thighs, they would just break the arrow shaft and continue to move forward even though they were wounded.

    They then quickly reached the moat, and ording to their training drill, the soldiers in the front quickly put the five meters long and three meters wide wooden raft on the moat, then the soldiers carrying thedders stepped on the wooden rafts and crossed the moat and went straight to the wall, followed by soldiers holding the round shield and swords.

    At this time, the attack on the city wall began to be fiercer, with arrows, javelins and rocks falling down, and the casualties of the Theonians had suddenly increased¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Lysias did not expect that the situation would be so bad as soon as he returned to Crotone.

    The people who had fled into the city had spread about the invasion of the army of Theonia, and soon, panic spread throughout the city¡­.

    Many statesmen were also very flustered, they had thought that the reason why the army of Theonia could smoothly go south was because the army of Crotone was defeated again and the city of Krimisa was captured, and so they threatened angrily, ¡°Milo must be convicted if he had dared to flee!¡±

    Lysias then retorted, ¡°I have just returned from Krimisa, and when I left, the city of Krimisa is still in the hands of Milo. When you calcte the time, it is impossible for Krimisa to be captured by the enemy in just a few hours and to also reach the north bank of the Neto river. The Theonians must have bypassed Krimisa! I have to admit that the Theonians are too brave, because without a boat, they will not be able to cross the wide Neto river, and as long as Milo holds on to Krimisa, the Theonians invading the ins of Crotone wouldn''t be able to do anything, and they will have to go back in the end.¡±

    ¡°The Theonians can''t cross the Neto river, but they can attack Aprustum!¡± Someone anxiously said.

    ¡°It will not be easy to capture Aprustum, the Bruttians had tried to capture it many times but had failed! I even hope that the Theonians would attack it, and be a great blow to the Theonians!¡± Someone retorted.

    ¡°If we continue to fight like this, then what good is it for us! We Crotonians have suffered huge losses, our farnd has been destroyed, our houses have been burned, the prices are rising, the wealth of our treasury is being consumed, and due to theck ofbor, our trade has also been greatly affected and arge number of our citizens has been captured! The people are already dissatisfied with us. Let us make peace with the Theonians!¡± Some people said pessimistically.

    ¡°Peace negotiation?! Didn''t you hear what Lysias had said about the conditions of the Theonians?! That damned archon of Theonia wants us to disband our alliance, can we agree to that?! Once Aprustum bes independent, Caulonia, Scylletium and Terina will no longer be our allies, then tomorrow, perhaps Locri and Bruttii would have destroyed them and thene all the way here, to Crotone!¡± Someone denounced angrily.

    ¡°Peace negotiations are like buying and selling things. Theonia has offered us their conditions, and so we can continue to negotiate with them and lower their demands¡­.¡±

    ¡°Peace negotiation is okay, but only after the attack of Theonians is repelled! So that we can stand up proudly and talk to the Theonians loudly!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    No one knew when the council had started debating over the issue of ¡°whether to hold peace negotiations with Theonia¡±. Fortunately, they were able to distinguish their priorities and some emergency measures were quickly implemented: The warships will sail into the Neto river and cruise the banks to prevent the Theonians from sneaking in and building bridges. And at the same time, they will hire freemen inrge numbers, some will be guarding Crotone, some will be stationed on the south bank of the Neto river to watch the Theonians on the other side, and a small number of freemen will be sent to Aprustum to strengthen its defense. In addition, they will send people to Krimisa to ask Milo to attack the Theonians who are besieging the city of Krimisa in order to force the invading enemy to withdraw.

 Chapter 220: Fall of Aprustum

    Before the herald of Crotone arrived, Milo had already received a report from the warships cruising along the coast of Krimisa, ¡®The Theonians have invaded the ins of Crotone!¡¯

    Milo was startled, and eximed, ¡®We got fooled by the Theonians! It''s no wonder that they didn''t fully attack us, it turns out that they just did this to attract my attention! And the Theonians in the southern camp had already gone south!¡¯

    However, he hesitated on attacking the southern camp of Theonia. After all, the army of Theonia is still sieging the city. So once he mobilizes his troops, the Theonians will easily see it on their high tform. And if they take this opportunity tounch an attack, Crotone will lose Krimisa, and will be a greater trouble!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The siege of Aprustum was still going on fiercely. Phragris didn''t expect that the Theonians would attack as soon as they arrived, without fearing death.

    Thedders were overturned by the push rod and were quickly set up again. The soldiers climbed up thedder one by one, if one of them was pushed down, the next one would speed up without any hesitation. And the light infantry brigade approached the city without fearing the arrows, while fighting back with their own javelins and arrows at the defenders on the city¡­.

    The fierce attack of the Theonians soon achieved results, the defense on the top of the city wall was broken through many times. When the Theonian soldiers reached the top of the city wall, the defenders soon noticed that these Theonian soldiers in Greek armor were tall, strong, with long hair and strange battle cries. It was obvious that they were not Greeks. They are fierce and powerful, and in order to kill or drive away one of them, the defenders had to pay the lives of several soldiers.

    Due to this, Phragris needed to send his reserve forces many times to help the frontline defenders to drive down the enemies who had managed to reach the top, specially in the far right section of the city wall, where the Theonians attacked the most fiercely.

    Strategos Phragris, who had some experience in guarding a city knew that it is impossible for the Theonians to maintain such a fierce offensive momentum. So as long as they manage tost through this period, the Theonians will soon be helpless. So while he sent all the reserves, he yelled at the soldiers and encouraged them to fight bravely.

    But he didn''t expect that at the most chaotic moment of the battle, themander of the third legion, Hieronymus, who was below the city wall, had ordered his guards to line up and collectively rocked their shields at the left side of the city wall.

    The defenders at the leftmost end of the city wall were concentrating on defending against the enemy''s attack, when suddenly, a shout came from behind them, ¡°Attack!!!¡±

    Those ¡°Crotonians¡± that they had regarded asrades had stabbed them with their swords and spears and easily gotten rid of the defenders. Without waiting for the soldiers of the third legion toe up, these dozens of soldiers of the reconnaissance unit had immediatelyunched an attack on the nearby defenders¡­.

    When Phragris, who was stillmanding the battle on the right side of the city wall, got the report, the Theonians had already captured the left side of the city and arge number of soldiers had quickly climbed up the city wall, then rushed through the walkway and fiercely killed their way towards the center¡­.

    As soon as the Crotonians saw that the situation was not good, they immediately dropped their shields and spears and ran desperately into the city.

    This desertion had immediately induced a domino effect. Under the attack of the Theonian soldiers in the front and the side, the defenders finally copsed. They then scrambled to get out of the city, but the passageways were blocked. The terrified soldiers then directly jumped from the seven meter high city wall to escape, and fell drastically, which resulted in their feet and legs breaking and they ally down on the ground wailing.

    While the people in the city were also terrified and shouted in horror, ¡°The enemy has entered the city! The enemy has entered the city!!¡­.¡±

    They supported the old and the young and hurriedly tried to escape to the south gate and flee to Crotone.

    In the middle of their journey, the reinforcements of Crotone had ran into the people who were in a hurry to escape. When they learned that the city of Aprustum has fallen, they were so surprised that they didn''t even dare to go any further, and had immediately turned around and ran back.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The herald of Crotone arrived in Krimisa and had brought the council''s order to attack.

    Milo, who is no longer the polemarchos and was just a sinner, had finally ended his hesitation and sent his 7,000 soldiers, including more than 2,000 infantry, to attack the camp of Theonia on the south bank of the river.

    Davos, who was observing the movement of the enemy on the high tform, had immediately asked Adrian, the senior centurion of the first brigade of the second legion, to lead 2,000 hoplites and 500 light infantry to cross the river to rece the third legion and to reinforce the 2,000 soldiers led by strategos Matonis of the first brigade of the first legion that was stationed in the southern camp. With a strong camp and reinforcements from the north camp, Matonis has the confidence to repel theserge numbers of enemies.

    However, though the offense of Crotone was thunderous, the rain is small. In front of the camp of Theonia, they ate small losses due to the ¡°iron thorn nail trap¡±, ¡°meat hook¡± and other traps, and had made them to immediately retreat back to the city. Naturally, Milo would not waste Crotone''s only fighting force to sh with the heavily fortified camp of Theonia, when they are alreadycking the courage to attack. So as soon as they found that the camp of the enemy was well defended, he immediately sounded the signal to retreat.

    However, the herald of Crotone was angry at the immediate retreat of the troops and forced Milo to continue to attack, and threatened to dismiss Milo from his position asmander if he did not attack. However, the soldiers expressed their support for Milo one after another, and the envoy could only leave Krimisa and return to the council of Crotone toin.

    However, the council of Crotone was now in a mess due to an astonishing report, ¡°Theonia has captured Aprustum!¡± it was like a bolt from the sky and had made all members of the council to be dumbfounded. And outside the council hall, the people had gathered in the square, while shouting to let the council to quicklye up with a solution to this crisis.

    And this time, the call for peace negotiation is far stronger than before, and some people even said that the conditions of Theonia can be epted as long as peace is restored in the northern in of Crotone.

    While the council was still debating about the peace negotiation, two things happened in session that have prompted them to make a decision atst: First of all, the 500 soldiers of the Theonians third legion had crossed the Neto river and enter the core area of the in of Crotone when they were pursuing the Crotonians, and they have even manage to get close to the city of Crotone, even though they soon retreated back to Aprustum, this astonishing sight had still shocked the defenders and the people in the city. Just when the whole city was in a state of panic, a transport ship from Caulonia entered the port of Crotone, and the envoy of Caulonia then came down from the ship and brought a bigger bad news ¨C Locri has dered war on Caulonia! Their army had moved to Caulonia and the envoy hade to request help from Crotone.

    The thing that the council of Crotone had most worried about finally happened: While Crotone fell into the quagmire of war, their mortal enemy, Locri, will then fiercely attack the allies of Crotone. And Crotone, as the leader of the alliance, was duty bound to send reinforcements, but at this moment, the manpower of Crotone was not even enough to deal with the attack of Theonia. So where else could they get extra troops to help Caulonia? And without the support of Crotone, it is impossible for Caulonia to block the attack of Locri, which means that Croone will face the worst situation of being attacked on both sides, and Crotone is in danger of being destroyed!

    All members of the council had immediately stopped quarreling and quickly reached an agreement: ¡®To reach an armistice agreement with Theonia as soon as possible!¡¯

    Lysias had to go north again, and in order to prevent him from being too unyielding and leading to the failure of the negotiation, he was apanied by another envoy, a member of the council ¨C Sisticos. (He is the one who had previously said that ¡°regardless of what conditions Theonia promised, as long as the peace in the northern in of Crotone is restored, they should agree to it.¡±)

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At this moment, the central army camp of Theonia was filled with a happy atmosphere. Because the news of ¡°The third legion captured the city of Aprustum¡± had cheered them up.

    ¡°Grand legatus, we should take advantage of this great opportunity while the Crotonians are in panic andunch an attack on Krimisa, and we will surely capture it!¡± Said Drakos eagerly, as the legatus of the second legion, his legion''s achievement must not fall behind the third legion.

    ¡°The city of Aprustum is already ours, so it doesn''t make much sense for the Crotonians to stick to Krimisa. I am afraid that they will give up Krimisa soon. And we can then easily capture, so there is no need to sacrifice the lives of our soldiers to storm Krimisa.¡± Kapus said cautiously.

    ¡°However, allowing the more than 10,000 Crotonians to retreat will only increase the difficulty of our attack on Crotone!¡± Drakos retorted loudly.

    Kapus couldn¡¯t talk back for a while. Indeed, Crotone is a big city, not only with a vastnd and arge poption, but also with a ten meter high wall and a six meter wide moat. ording to the conventional way of sieging, they are doomed to do a protracted siege. However, the water is not under the control of Theonia, and so they cannotpletely block Crotone, and the only thing they could do is to attack it with force, but how many soldiers'' lives will it take to face such a formidable city? Can they even capture it? Almost all of them felt uncertain in their hearts. If the strength of the defender is further strengthened, the chances of their victory will be even more slim.

    But with a calm expression, Davos turned and asked, ¡°Lord Avinoges, what do you think we should do next?¡±

    After entering the army tent, apart from congratting Davos on his victory again, Avinoges, who has been observing silently, faced the gaze of Drakos and Kapus, and said, ¡°Why do we have to attack Crotone? Now that we have such a great advantage, why can''t we force Crotone to make peace with us?¡±

    ¡°The Crotonians are about to lose, wouldn''t it be too good for them to negotiate peace now?!¡± Drakos immediately objected.

    Kapus was pondering deeply.

    Then a smile appeared in the corner of Davos'' lips: An archon''s angle of thinking is still different from that of a simple strategos!

    Just as he was about to speak, Martius, the captain of the guard, requested to enter and then brought two letters.

    One is from Philesius. After reading it, Davos frowned and pondered. Then he looked at the second letter with a special mark ¨C it was from Aristias.

 Chapter 221: Peace Negotiation

    Davos looked at the other people and said, ¡°I have two piece of news, one is good and one is bad. Which one do you want to hear first?¡±

    ¡°Let''s listen to the bad news first.¡± Said Drakos.

    ¡°This morning, the supply transport unit returning to Thurii was attacked not far from the marsh by 300 Crotonian sailors. The freemen guarding the supply had lowered their vignce, which had caused 50 casualties and a lot of the animals were lost. Before our soldiers could arrive, the enemy had already fled back to their ship moored on the coast¡­.¡± Said Davos aloud.

    ¡°300 sailors?! As the number of Crotonian taking part in the attack increases, the more they be daring! I remember that we have troops stationed near the marsh though!¡± Said Kapus in surprise.

    ¡°Perhaps this is the reason why the convoy had their vigncex.¡± Davos then said seriously, ¡°We must learn from this lesson to ensure that this will not happen again!¡±

    Kapus and Drakos clenched their fists and strongly nodded.

    ¡°The hateful thing is that we don''t have a fleet, otherwise, how can we just let the Crotonians to easily attack our viges and ughter our people in our territory!¡± Said Drakos angrily.

    They were helpless in this regard. After all, Theonia is a new union who had just been established for less than a year. And the navy is unlike the army that can be sent into the battlefield as long as they have people, weapons, and a few months of strict training. Even if they increase up the speed, it would take at least three months to justunch a warship, especially for a main warship, a trireme. It will also require nearly 200 sailors and experienced helmsman¡­.and so on. And after the training and testing, it will still take several months to skillfully operate the warship in order for it to be effective inbat. Therefore, the navy is an expensive arm that consumes time, money and manpower, and naturally, a small city-state can''t afford it. But with the current strength of Theonia, money and manpower is not a big problem, but what theyck the most is time. So Davos secretly listed the ¡°establishment of the navy¡± as the top priority of the union''s next development after this war with Crotone.

    ¡°Lord Davos, what is the good news?¡± Asked Avinoges.

    Davos smiled, ¡°Locri is going to attack Caulonia! As you had said, in such a situation, Crotone might consider negotiating with us again. If they still don''t move-¡± Davos'' voice suddenly became as cold as the wind, ¡°I will order Hieronymus to send troops across the Neto river and destroy the farnd, viges and canals¡­and all the facilities outside of Crotone and force them toe to negotiate with us!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the second day, Lysias and Sisticos entered the main camp of Theonia.

    Davos looked at them and said with a smile, ¡°Lord Lysias, I had said that we will meet again, but I didn''t expect it to happen so soon.¡±

    Lysias ignored the teasing of Davos and said seriously, ¡°Lord Davos, the conditions that you have put forwardst time had been discussed by the council of Crotone. They had agreed to give up Krimisa, and to hand it over to Theonia and we are also willing to pay a certain amount of money to promote peace! As for the dissolution of the Crotonian alliance-¡±

    Lysias stopped talking for a moment in order to think how to word it better in order to persuade Davos. However, Sisticos cut in and answered, ¡°The council of Crotone had considered it all and agreed to dissolve the alliance, but now that Locri is attacking Caulonia. Based on the deep friendship between Caulonia and Crotone for hundreds of years, Crotone must give assistance to Caulonia, and having the identity as the alliance leader is favorable for Crotone to gather the citizens to form an army to reinforce Caulonia and repel Locri¡­.after we beat Locri back, we will¡­disband¡­.¡± Sisticos suddenly choked up and couldn''t even continue his sentence. The century old hegemony of Crotone in Magna Graecia was built by their ancestors, who had strove to get stronger and fought bloody battles, but now, all of it is going to be wasted¡­so he was unable to hold back his emotion.

    Lysiasined at Sisticos throwing away all their cards to the other side as soon as he spoke, which was totally foolish and at this moment, his heart was filled with sadness.

    ¡°You don''t need to disband the alliance of Crotone!¡± But the words that Davos said were beyond their expectations.

    Looking at their surprised expression, Davos continued, ¡°Theonia can even release the tens of thousands of Crotonian citizens who have been captured!¡±

    Lysias and Sisticos looked at each other and could not believe what they were hearing.

    ¡°But I have one condition.¡± Davos then slowly said, ¡°Theonia does not have the habit of returning what we have gotten.¡±

    Lysias responded quickly, ¡°You mean¡­Aprustum?¡±

    Davos smiled, ¡°It isn''t only that.¡±

    He walked to the map and pointed out a ce, ¡°Our army has already begun to camp here!¡±

    Lysias stepped forward and took a look. Then, he was unable to stop himself from sucking a breath of cold air, ¡°You still wanted thend on the north bank of the Neto river?¡±

    ¡°It''s not that I wanted it, but it is the condition that must be met if you want to negotiate peace!¡± Davos then added solemnly, ¡°Crotone is the aggressor and hadunched two wars against Thurii and Theonia Union. You have burned the city of Thurii, plundered its wealth and wantonly ughtered the people of Theonia. Driven by the goddess Nemesis, we had fought back bravely, and with the help of Hades, we have won one victory after another. The confidence of the people of Theonia is high, and they also want to let Crotone suffer the pain of having their city burned! If there is no rich spoil, our people will never agree in negotiating peace with you! Many people have even suggested that the more than 10,000 captives should be sent to mine, just as how Syracuse had dealt with their Athenian captives!¡±

    The tone of his voice had made Sisticos'' hair stand on end. He naturally know what happened to the Athenian soldiers who were captured, and he said in a trembling voice, ¡°Aprustum plus thend on the north bank of the Neto river, upied almost one third of the territory of Crotone, and there are so many people who used to live on thesends, so if we were to give all of these to Theonia, then what should Crotone do?! It is impossible for the council to agree to this!¡±

    ¡°These two wars had cost Crotone and Aprustum the lives of no less than 20,000 citizens, right? So theirnd should now be free and by moving the people to the city of Crotone, it will enrich your manpower and by redistributingnds thatcksbor force is a good way to reorganize Crotone, while at the same time, you will reach a peace agreement with Theonia, and it will also allow the returning citizens of Crotone to once again form an army to help Caulonia and repel Locri, this is like hitting multiple birds with one stone!¡± Said Davos in a deep voice.

    There seems to be some temptation in the words of Davos, which had made Sisticos to want to nod his head, but he subconsciously looks at Lysias. Lysias, however, shook his head slightly, so Sisticos opened his mouth, but did not speak and then kept quiet.

    ¡°Of course, you can all go back and slowly discuss it. I am not in a hurry, and maybe after just a few days, it will not be you who will be standing in front of me, but Locri. As long as they can work with Theonia, I don''t think that Locri would even care how much thend of Crotone be divided.¡± Said Davos leisurely, with an air of indifference.

    Lysias and Sisticos suddenly felt cold, and Sisticos hastily said, ¡°Esteemed lord Davos, it is indeed true that it will be really hard for the council to agree in¡­giving thend on the north bank of the Neto river to Theonia, but part of thend¡­can still be given to you¡­and we can discuss the exact portion. As for Aprustum-¡±

    On hearing this, Davos immediately cut him short, ¡°Aprustum must be controlled by Theonia. This is not negotiable! To prevent Crotone from breaking your words again, and tearing up the agreement andunching a war!¡±

    Sisticos stood embarrassedly not knowing what to say.

    Lysias sighed at the bottom of his heart, the way how Sisticos had easilypromised, his ipetence and his weak performance had made him speechless, but the council had chosen him! As a matter of fact, Lysias also understood that Crotone has beenpletely passive since the war. So even if he is confident that the army of Theonia will not be able to break through the sturdy city of Crotone, and could even force Theonia to withdraw, but so what! The farnds, viges and other facilities would have been destroyed, and they arecking young and middle-aged citizens, and it will take a long process for Crotone to return to their former prosperity. And their grave situation does not allow Crotone to have the luxury to take their time, and the panicked people do not have the determination to fight. Therefore,promising in exchange for peace and reducing losses for their future revival had be the best choice of the council.

    Lysias no longer hesitated after he thought about it, ¡°Aprustum is Crotone''s northern barrier, so once it falls into the hands of the enemy, it will only make the people of Crotone to feel more uneasy. I think that even if the council agrees, the lesia will oppose it!¡±

    ¡°So you reject the terms of Theonia.¡± Davos looked at Lysias.

    Sisticos anxiously pulled the clothes of Lysias, while Lysias said calmly, ¡°The people of Crotone are against Aprustum falling into the hands of the enemy, but they won''t necessarily be against it if it is being upied by allies.¡±

    ¡°Ally?!¡± Davos, who has always been calm and steadily held the pace of negotiations, also appeared to be a little surprised.

    ¡°That''s right!¡± Lysias raised his head and said in a loud voice, ¡°As long as Theonia and Crotone form an alliance, it will not be a big problem for us to hand over Aprustum and part of the north bank of the Neto river to Theonia.¡±

 Chapter 222: Unusual Alliance Agreement

    Sisticos stood nkly with his mouth wide open.

    While Davos stroked his beard and was lost in his thoughts: ¡®Bing an ally will indeed be excellent!¡¯ Because the biggest obstacle to getting the Crotonians to agree in ceding thend on the north bank of the Neto river and Aprustum is the security of Crotone, so by bing an ally, it will make that obstacle to no longer exist. Because the current Magna Graecia all know that the archon of Theonia is known for always keeping his promise, and Crotone, after this war, had weakened and needed to take shelter under the protection of Theonia. So does Theonia need this alliance? Of course! With so much newnd, just immigrating, administrating and forming a new defense force¡­will take a long time. And their only biggest worry is that the immigrants will sh with the Crotonians near the border, or even provoke another war. But with this alliance, the Theonians can slowly annex, assimte and stabilize this piece ofnd, so an alliance with Crotone will naturally be the best choice for both sides!

    Davos looked at Lysiasplicatedly and thought, ¡®In the face of the enemy he hated, he is still able toe up with a clever proposal to form an alliance with the enemy, even though his own city-state is being pressured. Without a strong determination, it is difficult to keep calm and still be rational!¡¯

    Lysias, seeing that Davos was silent, kept looking at him, and had be a bit flustered, so he urged, ¡°Does Lord Davos agree with this proposal?¡±

    Davos regained hisposure, ¡°What kind of alliance is it?¡±

    ¡°Theonia Union and Crotone will form a separate offensive and defensive alliance!¡± Said Lysias in a deep voice.

    As soon as Davos pondered a bit, he realized that Lysias was ying a clever trick. He didn''t want Theonia to enter the alliance of Crotone and influence the allies of Crotone such as Scylletium, Terina and Caulonia. In this regard, Davos does not care, because he believes that as long as their strength is strong enough, there will naturally be city-states running to them.

    ¡°Theonia Union can only form a defensive alliance with Crotone!¡± Davos calmly responded, it isn''t a problem for Theonia Union to protect Crotone, but to help Crotone expand such as: If Crotone were to attack Locri in the future, ording to their agreement, Theonia will have to lead their army to participate in the attack¡­naturally, Davos would not do such a stupid thing, and Lysias, who was in a weak position, could only agree¡­

    The negotiationsted until the afternoon and manage to work out a preliminary draft: 1) The Theonia Union will form a defensive alliance with Crotone. 2) Theonia will release all the captured soldiers of Crotone and its allies and let them return to Crotone. 3) Crotone will transfer the city of Aprustum and half of thend of the northern bank of Neto river (mainly thend near the side of Krimisa) to Theonia Union. 4) Crotone will pay 500 Tarants in one payment in order to help the Theonians to migrate to Aprustum¡­.

    Finally, the alliance willst for five years. The original requirement of Davos was that the duration of the alliance should be two years, but Lysias strongly demanded to increase it to five years,paring it to when they were negotiating an armistice half a year ago, the situation now ispletely the opposite, which shows that the strength of both sides has switched.

    Krimisa wasn¡¯t mentioned in the pact because Davos thinks that Krimisa is a neutral city-state and does not belong to the alliance of Crotone, so Crotone has no right to discuss on behalf of Krimisa. Lysias, on the other hand, considered how to minimize the stimtion of the people of Crotone due to these agreements and had even re-word the reparation payment into aid. So naturally, it is better for them to not discuss Krimisa. In fact, one with discerning eyes can see that the city of Aprustum and half of thend in the northern bank of the Neto river now belongs to Theonia, which means Krimisa is already surrounded by Theonia, so do the Krimisians even have any other choice?!

    Lysias and Sisticos then returned to Krimisa.

    Milo then immediately asked Lysias about the negotiation, however, Lysias was afraid of creating more trouble, so he just said that the negotiation had just begun, and some of the conditions put forward by the Theonians could only be decided after discussing it with the council, and he then hurriedly boarded the ship and left Krimisa.

    Milo felt uneasy in his heart: The fall of Aprustum and the deration of war by Locri had made Crotone to only have few options and now it only depends on how harsh the conditions of Theonia are.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    However, the one that is more disturbed is the people of Krimisa, even though they are trapped in the city, the things that are happening outside couldn''t escape their ears and eyes through the port. Lysias has appeared many times in the city, so why has hee? They also know in their hearts that a small city-state like them could only struggle to survive amongst the big city-states, so they are quite sensitive to the situation.

    Androlis, the polemarchos of Krimisa, had once taken the initiative to find Lysias. However, Lysias evaded the subject and didn''t talk about the fate of Krimisa in detail, and Milo has been avoiding him. Intentionally or unintentionally¡­all of these had made Androlis feel that this peace negotiation is very unfavorable to Krimisa. Even though Krimisa fully supported Crotone, in the end, they may be abandoned! Androlis felt heartache when thinking of these.

    Therefore, after secretly discussing it with Eurypus, Pleitinas and the others, he decided to no longer sit still and took the initiative to contact Theonia and find a way out for Krimisa.

    Although the defense of the whole city was handed over to the Crotonians, the Krimisians were the local snakes. Their men sneaked out of the city in the middle of the night, crossed the blockade and came to the camp of Theonia. After showing his intention, the guards then brought him to Davos.

    ¡°Krimisa wants to surrender?¡± With a teasing smile, Davos then said, ¡°Your whole city is under the control of Crotone. So what good will your surrender bring me?¡±

    The visitor was unable to respond for a while. After seeing the indifference of Davos, he gritted his teeth and said, ¡°We, Krimisians, still have more than 300 citizens who can fight. Once you attack the city, we are willing to attack the Crotonians from the rear to help you capture Krimisa, and then-¡±

    ¡°Then once the war is over, Krimisa will continue to remain neutral!¡± Said Davos yfully.

    ¡°No! No!¡­.¡± The visitor shook his head in a hurry. By then, Krimisa would have already offended Crotone, so how can they remain neutral! ¡°Krimisa is willing¡­willing to join the alliance of Theonia!¡±

    ¡°It''s already toote!¡± Davos then said seriously, ¡°We don''t need Krimisa to do anything nor join the Theonia Alliance. For Krimisa, there is only one option!¡±

    In an emphatic tone, Davos said firmly, ¡°Be part of Theonia Union! The people of Krimisa will be citizens of Theonia Union! Then thend and property of the Krimisians will be protected, while the strategoi and statesmen will be elected by the senate of Theonia, and some of them will then join as members of the senate!¡­.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When reading out the draft of the pact at the council of Crotone, Lysias and Sisticos thought that it would arouse their indignation and disagreement, but in fact, there were only a few that objected. Just before Lysias came back, the Theonian army had once again appeared in the core area of Crotone and destroyed a vige outside the city. The members of the council witnessed all of this, and at the request of the masses, they hastily assembled thousands of people to get out of the city to stop them, but they were easily defeated and could only flee back into the city in embarrassment. Fortunately, the Theonian soldiers did not take advantage of this victory, and had taken the initiative to retreat.

    The frustration of the Crotonians is conceivable. Besides that, this is literally not an armistice agreement for the defeated, but an alliance agreement of mutual help, although part of thend has been ¡°transferred¡±, most of the Crotonians are happier to be able to wee back the captured Crotonian citizens and form an alliance with Theonia. Because they were now deeply afraid of Davos, the archon of Theonia, and some of them have even started believing that the rumor regarding ¡°Davos is a descendant of Hades¡± and ¡°Favored of Hades¡±. So everyone was relieved that they will no longer be enemies with Theonia who has Davos, and has instead be an ally. Some have even put forward that, ¡®Now that the alliance agreement has been signed, we should ask Theonia to send troops to the south together with the army of Crotone to repel Locri¡­.¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the end of January 398 B.C. the archon of Theonia, Davos, and the strategos of Crotone, Lysias, had formally signed an alliance agreement after offering amb to Apollo outside the city of Krimisa and the second Crotone war came to an end.

    After the news of the end of the war spread, many Crotonian soldiers in Krimisa had cheered. In the past, they have always been invincible, but during the period of time they were fighting Theonia, they were always defeated, this huge contrast had made their morale drop sharply and their depression can be conceived, but they can now finally drop this huge rock in their hearts.

    ¡°Look, this is the voice of the citizens! They are tired of fighting Theonia!¡± This situation made Lysias sigh, and it is also in response to theint of Milo of Lysiaspromising too much in the negotiation.

    Through the window, Milo watched the soldiers throw away their shield and spears, and ran to the bars to drink alcohol, as if they had won a battle.

    At this moment, the guard came in, ¡°Strategos, Androlis asked us when we would leave.¡±

    ¡°Damn Androlis, don''t think that just because Crotone has lost you Krimisians can disrespect us!¡± Milo suddenly yelled at him and vented his anger, ¡°Go and tell them to not annoy me, or else I will make the city of Krimisa be a ruin at mymand!¡±

 Chapter 223: Entering Krimisa

    ¡°Milo, the Krimisians are now citizens of Theonia!¡± Sighed Lysias.

    Milo''s angry shout stopped, he breathed in hard and kicked over the wooden chair by the window and strode out of the room.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The anger of Milo quickly reached the ears of Androlis, but he didn''t care. When the people they sent to contact Theonia brought back the condition of Davos, the strategoi of Krimisa hesitated whether to join Theonia Union, but Androlis had acted decisively, he insisted and finally convinced the public to agree to it.

    ¡°Eurypus, take hundred citizen soldiers to guard the temple to prevent the Crotonian soldiers from robbing our treasury while they are withdrawing!¡±

    ¡°Pleitinas, also take hundreds of citizen soldiers to guard the granary!¡±

    ¡°While me and the others will go see Lysias and see if we could get some of the goods that the Crotonians piled up in the port. After living in Krimisa for quite some time now, the Crotonians should pay for their aodation!¡± Said Androlis threateningly.

    ¡°What about our people? The Crotonian soldiers mighte to their house to cause trouble!¡± Someone asked urgently.

    ¡°Davos has announced that Krimisa is now part of Theonia! So have each household to engrave the words ¡®I am now a citizen of Theonia¡¯ on their wooden door and see if the Crotonians still dares to rob a citizen of Theonia and risk provoking another war!¡±

    After Androlis said it, the people around felt awkward and fell into silence. Krimisa, which has been independent for decades, will now be merged into Theonia Union, and the Theonians will be managing the city of Krimisa in a direct manner, which means that most of the council members of Krimisa will lose their power. If it is not for their current situation, they are not willing to ept it. As a matter of fact, some of the Krimisians have responded to Lysias'' call and are willing to move to Crotone together with the army. It''s only because of the promise made by Davos and the rapid rise of Thurii and Amendelora that have made most Krimisians to stay, because as citizens of a small city-state, they were already fed up with being oppressed by big city-states during this period and they no longer want to live such a life anymore and had chosen the winner of this war, Theonia Union.

    ¡°Everyone, cheer up and work hard to do your task well!¡± Seeing this, Androlis cheered them up, ¡°We are doing this not for the sake of others, but for ourselves. As long as we can smoothly hand over aplete and rich Krimisa to the Theonia Union and let them fully realize our sincerity and ability, then a lot more people will be invited into the senate of Theonia and strive for more interests for Krimisa in the future!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the afternoon, the first ships full of Crotonian soldiers began to leave the port of Krimisa.

    Milo looked dismalpared with the excited soldiers. When the city of Krimisa disappeared from his sight, he turned to look at Lysias and said, ¡°The pact that you have signed means that we will hand over the position of the overlord of Magna Graecia to Theonia! From now on, with just a wink of Theonia, Crotone must follow their order!¡±

    Lysias was silent for a moment and said, ¡°And who is responsible for that?¡±

    The lips of Milo twitched and his face became bitter.

    ¡°It is better for you to think about how you will answer the council once we get back.¡± Sighed Lysias.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time that the Crotonian army left Krimisa by ship, Davos led his army into the city of Krimisa. He had originally only wanted to take a few people in, but was opposed by the other strategoi. For the sake of safety, he was asked to take half of a legion.

    Androlis, Eurypus, Pleitinas¡­and all the people that are left behind from the council of Krimisa came to meet the Theonians outside the city.

    In the camp of Theonia, a light rhythm of salpinx and drums sounded, and the Krimisians were attracted by the music that they had never heard before, and the Theonian soldiers, dressed in clean military clothes, followed the rhythm of the melody and formed a four long column with neat steps and marched slowly to the city of Krimisa.

    At the forefront of the column was Martius, the captain of the guards of Davos. He held high the g representing the grand legatus of the Theonian army, and the statue of Hades that is shining and dazzling. Then there was a bandposed of trumpeters and drummers of the whole army, followed by a team of thousands of outstanding soldiers drawn from the three legions. And the gs of the legions, brigades and centurias were held high in the air in every small part of the column, making the g in the whole column flutter and shine, and the soldiers were all smiling. It was magnificent and had given the Krimisians the feeling that the Theonians are not here to show off their power and sovereignty, but to greet a rtive. Otherwise, the music would not be so cheerful and the colors would not be so gorgeous. Even the Krimisians also noticed that the soldiers of Theonia were not carrying their shields and spears, which surprised them and at the same time became touched, because this meant that the Theonians trusted Krimisa!

    Davos and the other legatus of the army and Avinoges did not ride the horses, and instead walked in the middle of the column and were surrounded by guards wearing red capes, so they are more less eye-catching.

    The procession then stopped at the gate of Krimisa.

    Androlis and the others came to greet them, while Davos, Avinoges, Kapus, Drakos and Hieronymus came out of the column and were escorted by the soldiers.

    Androlis went straight to Davos, not because he had seen him before, but because the news that the archon of Theonia was a young man had been spread all over Greece, and it was clear who was the youngest among them. (T/N: Didn''t Androlis meet Davos when he went to Thurii together with Lysias?)

    ¡°Lord Davos, I, Androlis, the former polemarchos of Krimisa, and the former members of the council of Krimisa, wees you!¡± After that, he bowed respectfully, and some people behind him followed suit, while the others just stood silently.

    Davos immediately greeted him back and said, ¡°Thank you for your trust and support to Theonia Union! Facts will prove that your choice is absolutely right!!¡±

    ¡°Oh, really?! So what will be our benefit from fully supporting Krimisa in joining Theonia?¡± Someone interjected.

    ¡°Of course!¡± Davos ignored the odd tone on the guy''s voice and said in a serious tone, ¡°To be a citizen of Theonia, you will be respected wherever you go! If someone dares to vite your rights, the union will get justice for you no matter if you are a noble or a civilian! If you are brave and are good at fighting, then you can getnds continuously by virtue of your achievements in battles! If you have outstanding ability, then you can take up public office after passing the examination, and then to finally be a statesman of the senate by virtue of your merits! Even if you are an ordinary citizen, you will also enjoy the convenience provided by Theonia Union, like providing cheap, but highly skilled medical care for the citizens, providing smooth roads and bridges for the convenience of the citizens'' travels and businesses, the agricultural officers will provide technical help for farming to the citizens, themercial officers can grant you low interest loans for your business, we also have well-trained soldiers to ensure the security of our territory¡­once you get familiar with the life as a Theonian, understand the system andws of Theonia, you will know how different we are from other city-states, and you will then be proud of being a citizen of Theonia!¡± At this moment, Davos was obviously a little boastful andcent.

    Androlis, Eurypus and the others seemed to be interested, while some were thinking of something.

    ¡°Oh¡­since Theonia is so good, do we have a chance to be an archon in the future?¡± Someone said it at this moment.

    Due to this statement, Kapus, Drakos, Hieronymus and also Avinoges, all widened their eyes, and they felt that the one saying it had evil intentions and had obviously aimed his criticism at Davos.

    While most of the Krimisians turned pale for fear that it would infuriate Davos and be detrimental to Krimisa.

    Davos remained calm, this is undoubtedly what the other city-states criticize the most at Theonia. He knew that Krimisa is different from Amendra and Thurii. The two cities were saved by Davos when they were about to perish, and so the people were grateful for him and needed his protection. Therefore, they had no qualm on Davos being the archon for life of the union. Besides, Davos abided by thew and discussed everything with the members of the senate, and he rarely acts arbitrarily. The only time he used his power was to oppose the public opinion and advocate the battle of Crotone, and they won in the end. Therefore, as time passed, the people began to happily ept Davos. There is no need to mention Nerulum, because the Lucanians believe in the strong, so they naturally have no objection.

    Only Krimisa, who was once an enemy and was conquered by the power of Theonia, has some people that are unwilling and dared to open their mouth to criticize Theonia. So of course, Davos would not be polite to them, ¡°In a short period of time, Theonia can rapidly develop into a powerful city-state in Magna Graecia and even defeat Crotone, because we have a different political system from the other city-states. I heard that some Krimisians have left together with Crotone, so if there are people here who don''t like Theonia, then they can still freely leave now, and those that are willing to stay and be a citizen of Theonia, then you must adapt and abide by the system andws of Theonia as soon as possible!¡±

    The hidden threat in the words of Davos had made some Krimisians, who still wanted to raise objections to stop talking.

    ¡°Look, this Theonia-.¡± The man who spoke just now had wanted tosh out at Theonia again, but his mouth was then covered by the two guards that Androlis sent.

    ¡°Lord Davos, it''s our fault for keeping the soldiers of Theonia waiting outside. Please get up ande inside!¡± Androlis apologetically said.

    ¡°Good!¡± Davos smiles.

 Chapter 224: We are one family

    The people of Krimisa had just seen off the Crotonians and were now weing the Theonian army. They became slightly dazed about this very eye-catching army entering the city.

    But as soon as they reached the square, the Theonian army disbanded, and under the leadership of the officers, the soldiers begun using the tools they brought in the loaded cart and started cleaning the streets that were full of garbage, leveling the damaged roads and even helping the people in repairing their houses¡­they worked hard to clean up the city after the war.

    The Krimisians were first surprised, then they slowly tried to talk to these ¡°conquerors¡±. Eventually, they were affected by the soldiers'' enthusiasm and had joined their ranks of rebuilding their homes with guilt. While the women brought food and water to express their gratitude to the soldiers, and at the same time, they told them about their own difficulties at home, hoping to get their help. Naturally, the soldiers were willing to contribute their strength and enthusiasm.

    In the next afternoon, Krimisa, a war-torn and somewhat lifeless city, became vibrant.

    The members of the former council of Krimisa were surprised to see this situation, and started whispering with each other.

    Androlis, as the former polemarchos of Krimisa, had considered himself as well informed, but he had never seen or heard about soldiers of a conquering city-states helping the people they conquered in repairing their homes after the war. Like the others, he was so surprised and excited that made him not know what to say, ¡°Lord Davos, this¡­this is¡­.¡±

    ¡°From today on, the Krimisians are now citizens of Theonia. We are all one family! As a family, we have to help each other, right?¡± Davos said with a smile.

    Looking at the shocked expression of the people around him, Davos was very satisfied with the effect of what they had done. Beforeing, he had given the soldiers the order ¡°to clean¡±. However, he could not make the soldiers to work willingly just because of his order, and so at the same time, he also told them that, ¡®Because of our victory, and based on the performance of the soldiers, the freemen who have participated in the war will have their citizens'' evaluation period be greatly shortened, and the soldiers who have performed well on the war may immediately be an official citizen! With this victory, Theonia will get a lot ofnd, and all the soldiers participating in the war will be rewarded with ¡°allocatednd¡± for their contributions. And thend allocated will mainly be near Krimisa, and so, the Krimisians will be the new home for some soldiers, and because of the sessive wars in Krimisa within half a year, arge number of male citizens were killed and wounded. Now, there are more women than men, and so Davos encourages every soldier that is still single to win the favor of the women of Krimisa with their action!¡¯ It is for these reasons that the soldiers do not have the pride of the winner, and instead use practical actions to win the favor of the Krimisians, their future neighbors.

    ¡°And you-¡± Davos continued, ¡°The treasury, the granary¡­have been protected well and were not robbed by the defeated Crotonian soldiers, and you had managed topletely hand it over to the union. Isn''t it because you agree with Theonia Union and regarded yourself as citizens of Theonia that you were so thorough! I am sure that the senate of Theonia will recognize your efforts!¡±

    Everyone believed at the implication of Davos, and so their faces were beaming with happiness.

    Davos looked at their smile, but he was very clear in his heart that even though the number of statesmen of the senate is far from full, this time, the senate will definitely need to be cautious and send people to secretly investigate who is the most prestigious and charismatic among the people of Krimisa. Only those who are willing to be citizens of Theonia and are hard working will be invited to join the senate, while the election is used as a cover. As a territory that was just merged into the union, he and the senate must firmly control Krimisa to prevent any idents.

    ¡°Lord Davos, please follow me to the port and check the supplies that we have taken from the Crotonians.¡± The former polemarchos of Krimisa remained calm.

    This made Davos look at Androlis with some appreciation and said, ¡°Good!¡±

    After inspecting the city of Krimisa, Davos immediately ordered for some of the food and supplies that were obtained be distributed to the Krimisians topensate them for their losses that they have suffered as a result of the war.

    This generous act had won the favor of the people. He had also ordered Kapus to lead the 2,000 soldiers of the first legion to stay in the city to maintain and stabilize the order and to continue helping the people in repairing the damaged buildings. While the rest of the army will continue to stay in the camp outside the city and begin burying the pitfalls and pulling out the iron nails¡­and so on, and return the environment around the camp to normal. Davos, on the other hand, politely declined the invitation of Androlis for dinner and led the cavalry of Ledes, apanied by Hieronymus, to Aprustum.

    Davos could see either farnds or viges, as well as crisscrossing canals as they gallop on the broad in of Crotone with slightly undting terrain. Although he couldn''t see any visible human activities, some viges have smokesing out. Except for the asional bereaved wailings, the vigers are afraid to cast hateful gazes on the group of Davos. However, this did not affect Davos and his entourage, as they kept on looking at the newly acquirednd of Theonia with great interest.

    Ledes then said excitedly, ¡°Although the terrain is not as t as the Sybaris in, its soil seems to be not as worse as the Sybaris in!¡±

    ¡°It seems that you want to exchange all of yournds to here.¡± Said Davos jokingly.

    ¡°Milord, I don''t n to do that. I will feel ufortable to do anything if I have the Crotonians next to me.¡± Said Ledes while shaking his head.

    ¡°In such a fertilend, you are still so picky. It''s true that the rich are the ones that don''t know the pain of the poor.¡± Davos continued to tease him.

    The cavalrymen had also taken this opportunity to make fun of their captain.

    At this time, Hieronymus who was next to him, said, ¡°No matter how good thend is, if there is no powerful strength, then it is impossible to keep it.¡±

    Davos took advantage of this situation and said, ¡°That is right, so we definitely must not follow the steps of Crotone. We should continue to strengthen our training and defend our homnd! Your cavalry team, in particr, has made great achievements this time, but you must not get it over your head, and continue to improve your horsemanship and learn new cavalry tactics together with your captain. I hope that you all can be an important attacking force in the Theonian army and be the one to decide the oue of the battle! Do you have that confidence?¡±

    ¡°YES!!!¡± The cavalries raised their spears and cried out excitedly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Standing at the top of the city wall of Aprustum, with a panoramic view, one can see the continuous mountains and snow to the west, the rushing torrents, cliffs, and the green fertile fields of the in of Crotone to the east. When the weather is excellent, it is even possible to take a glimpse of the hustle and bustle outside the city of Crotone to the southeast¡­.

    ¡°Such an amazing ce! The Crotonians had actually given this to us!¡± Said Davos while groping the thick battlement.

    ¡°Of course, it''s not that the Crotonians wanted to give this to us, but they could not take it back!¡± Bagul said confidently, ¡°The terrain of Aprustum is very good. With the city being this high, I will only need 2,000 soldiers to block the attack of 20,000 soldiers!¡±

    Davos, who has checked the defense of the city in detail, nodded in agreement.

    ¡°The mountain reconnaissance unit of Izam helped a lot in capturing this city!¡± The words of Hieronymus had reminded Davos, so he turned to look at the young Carduchian that was apanying them, ¡°Izam, your unit has made a great contribution this time. Every soldiers who had taken part in capturing the city will have their great contribution be recorded!¡±

    ¡°I thank the grand legatus on behalf of my brothers!¡± Izam then excitedly said, ¡°Milord, as long as you can expand my reconnaissance unit to a thousand people, we will be able to y a greater role!¡±

    Hieronymus and Asistes then looked at each other because the request of this Carduchian is so direct.

    Davos did not mind it and smilingly said, ¡°The role of the mountain reconnaissance unit is to scout, disturb and destroy the enemy from within, it is not for you to engage the enemy in a head-on confrontation. If you want so many people,manding them will not be convenient and it will be easier for the enemy to find you¡­.¡± Instead of refusing, Davos thought about it seriously and said, ¡°It is not impossible for me to expand it, but first, I would like to see you make an expansion and training n. How many more people will be added, how will you organize and train the expanded mountain reconnaissance unit and how to make this new team adapt to and enhance its special role in wartime.¡±

    ¡°Great, thank you milord!¡± Izam cried out with undisguised joy.

    ¡°If you just want to be a strategos(senior centurion), then say it earlier!¡± Asistes took this opportunity to tease him.

    ¡°You are now all strategos, so I naturally can''t fall behind.¡± Izam said it confidently.

    Everyone burst intoughter.

    ¡°Are all the original inhabitants of the city gone?¡± Asked Davos, turning around and looking down at the city.

    ¡°The Crotonians came to the city and read the pact that they had just signed to the people here, and they vigorously mobilized them to leave. They all cried and made some noises, but they all eventually left, leaving no one. Moreover, we allowed them to take away their belongings. However, they also wanted to take away public property, but we rejected them, because this is our spoils!¡± Said Asistes.

    ¡°It''s good that all the residents of Aprustum are now gone, as we can now start immigrating our people and take firm control of this city!¡± Davos also warned, ¡°As soon as possible, you should make a clear inventory of the property in Aprustum and then make a list so that you can divide it with Laos and Roscianum.¡±

 Chapter 225: Son

    ¡°Those are our spoils, it has nothing to do with Laos and Roscianum!¡± Bagul immediately objected.

    ¡°Bagul, calm down. Do you know what is stipted in the Theonian Alliance agreement?¡± Davos asked patiently.

    Bagul shook his head. He became a citizen of Theonia for just half a year, and he had not even fully understood thews of the union, let alone the alliance agreement.

    ¡°When Theonia is at war, all allies need to send troops to participate in the war, and the spoils they get will be fairly divided¡­.¡± Said Asistes, who was beside him.

    ¡°Yes, fairly divided!¡± Davos emphasized in a loud voice, ¡°As an ally of Theonia, Laos had immediately sent 3,000 soldiers and even their archon, Avinoges, had personally led it himself as soon as he found out that we had dered war with Crotone. While Roscianum had not only refused Crotone''s invitation, but they had also given us great help in the battle. These two allies had given their full support to Theonia during the war. Could it be that we Theonia is too stingy that we are too reluctant to share the spoils with them? Then which city-state would like to fight together with us in the future! In my opinion, it wouldn''t even matter if we give all the spoils to them, because we still got a more precious things-¡±

    In the face of Hieronymus, Bagul and Asistes, Davos slowly uttered a word, ¡°Land!¡±

    The three men immediately understood that the spoils they got could be shared, but thend won in the war is owned by Theonia alone. Theonia had used the soldiers of their allies to expand their territory for themselves, which was actually quite a good deal.

    ¡°Grand legatus, speaking ofnd, I have a situation to report to you.¡± Asistes interrupted, ¡°Many Lucanian soldiers of the third legion thinks that the mountains around Aprustum are suitable for grazing, and the environment is even better for grazing than that of Nerulum, so they have ask me if they can get their share ofnd here.¡±

    ¡°You mean that they ask for an allocatednd for their own?¡± Davos reacted very quickly and immediately understood the meaning of Asistes'' words.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Asistes said in embarrassment, ¡°They didn''t know whether they will get any morend, because their tribes have already been allocated a settlements in Nerulum.¡±

    Instead of answering immediately, Davos looked at Bagul and asked, ¡°Do you know about this?¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Bagul answered truthfully, ¡°Asistes had already discussed it with me. Most of the soldiers who hade to ask for an ¡®allocatednd¡¯ hade from various tribes in Nerulum. It is because they have seen that the Greek soldiers can own their ownnd, while they have to share it with their tribes, that is why they requested that they want to ¡®leave their own tribe and live alone¡¯.¡±

    Davos looked at him and continued, ¡°Do you think that their demand is reasonable?¡±

    ¡°I think that it is very reasonable!¡± Without considering the thoughts of Davos, Bagul replied without any hesitation, which had made Asistes worried, ¡°The ¡®allocatednd¡¯ that the soldiers earned in exchange for fighting for their lives should be owned by themselves, and the soldiers being independent will be more beneficial to their integration into Theonia.¡±

    There was a smile on Davos'' face, ¡°I am d that you can think of it that way! But what do the leaders of those Lucanian tribes think?¡±

    ¡°I don''t think that they would object.¡± Bagul obviously thought about this issue and said, ¡°In the past, the reason why the Lucanian tribes absorbed manpower was in order for them to survive and strengthen themselves, but now that they are under the protection of Theonia Union, we no longer have a crisis for survival. On the contrary, the departure of these soldiers will make thend in the hands of the tribe be richer, which is a good thing.¡±

    ¡°Then I agree to give an allocatednd to those Lucanians who wants to be independent.¡± His words made Bagul and Asistes happy, but as he pondered, he began to pace back and forth. He is happy to see that the Lucanians tribes will be broken up and be eventually integrated into the union. However, he is worried that such a radical action will arouse the resentment of the leaders of these small tribes, which will not be favourable to the infiltration of Theonia into the northern region of Lucania in the future, so he should be careful, ¡°But before doing that, after we return to Thurii, I will first let your father and Hemon go to Nerulum to test the attitude of those tribal leaders and try to persuade them. Hence, the allocation ofnd to these soldiers may be dyed¡­.¡±

    Bagul and Asistes agreed.

    ¡°If some of the soldiers of the third legion also settles here, then the training and gathering of the whole legion will be very troublesome in the future!¡± At this time, Hieronymus raised an objection.

    Davos smiled and said, ¡°It is not only the third legion, but also the first and second legions will have many of their soldiers settling down in Aprustum and Krimisa. Who told us to gain so muchnd so quickly? With this muchnd, if we don''t allocate it to the citizens, preparatory citizens and registered freemen who have made achievements in this war, then thisnd will be left idle for the enemy to take! I am afraid that after thend allocation ispleted, we will have more than three legions¡­Philesius(Military Officer), Raphias(Census Officer), Burkes (Agricultural Officer) and you(Hieronymus), Kapus, Drakos and the senior centurion will be the one in charge ofing up a suitable n for the specific personal arrangements and organization¡­.¡±

    Hieronymus reluctantly agreed, while Bagul and Asistes were a little bit excited because the expansion of the army will mean that there is a chance for them to be a legatus.

    At this moment, Davos suddenly became conscious that in less than a year after they came to Thurii, they have experienced four wars, and under the circumstances of sessive victories, thend, poption and the army have expanded so fast! And thought that it might be the time for them to stop and integrate the union first.

    ¡°Oh, isn''t that Aristocrates?¡± Izam said suddenly.

    They looked down below the city wall and saw Aristocrates passing through the moat and was about to knock at the gate.

    It was already getting dark, and yet Aristocrates had stille running to find himself, it is certain that there is something important! Thinking of this, Davos hurriedly went down the city wall.

    As soon as Davos arrived at the gate of the city, Aristocrates had already entered the city. When he saw Davos, though he was tired, he still smiled and said, ¡°Lord Davos, I have gotten a letter from Thurii today! Congrattions milord, your wife have given birth to a boy yesterday morning!¡±

    Davos rejoiced with excitement, he tried to take a deep breath to calm himself but his excitement did not weaken, ¡°A son! I have a son now!! My own son!!!¡­.¡± Davos abruptly hit Hieronymus who was next to him and shouted excitedly.

    ¡°Congrattions milord! This is the blessing of Hera!!!¡­.¡± Hieronymus, Bagul, Asistes and the others, including the soldiers who were around and heard it had all congratted him.

    Davos grinned and hugged them warmly to express his joy. At the same time, he teased them that they should work hard and to not fall too far behind him.

    Then he nned to take an escort to return to Krimisa and after quickly arranging all the matters, he would then rush back to Thurii at night. However, he was stopped by Hieronymus and the others, and even forced Davos against his will to stay in Aprustum for the night. Because it would already be dark once he set out, and he would even need to cross the mountain roads and rivers, and the war had just ended. If an ident were to happen, they would not be able to exin it to the people of Theonia.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next day, Cheiristoya had just finished feeding the baby and fell asleep.

    Azune was holding the baby in her arms and was basking in the sun in the courtyard, she then noticed that the baby had pooped, so she had to go back to the outer room of the bedroom, scrub him with warm water and put on a new cloth diaper and then told the other ves to wash the dirty clothes.

    Afterwards, she put the baby back into the crib near the bed and sang to him. Gradually, the baby closed his eyes, and so Azune took advantage of her spare time andy beside the bed for a nap. In a daze, she felt someone patting her on the shoulder, ¡°Azune.¡±

    Azune immediately woke up, looked around and could not believe who she saw, ¡°Master, you are back!¡±

    Davos made a hush gesture and asked in a low voice, ¡°How is Cheiristoya?¡±

    ¡°Lord Herpus said that she and the baby are healthy, but thedy needs to take care of herself for a while. Lady Cheiristoya is currently sleeping in the bedroom.¡± Azune whispered, ¡°Master,e and take a look at how cute the little master is!¡±

    Davos crept forward and looked at his son carefully with excitement and curiosity. In fact, the child who was just a few days old wasn''t really cute because of his red and wrinkled skin. But Davos was so fascinated that he couldn''t stop himself from stretching out a finger and gently touching the baby''s red face.

    The sleeping child seemed to feel itchy and scratched his face with his little hand.

    Davos felt it amusing and so poked him again.

    When the child scratched his face again, he opened his big and bright blue eyes, and so, the father and son looked at each other closely, then the child curled his mouth and cried loudly.

    Whether in his previous life or in his present life, Davos had be a father for the first time. So he had no experience in dealing with the current situation and was at a loss.

    Azune then took the baby and tried to calm him.

    ¡°Azune, is he hungry again?¡± Cheiristoya''s soft voice came from the bedroom.

    ¡°He is not hungry madam, just that, the master has returned!¡± Azune said excitedly.

    ¡°Ah!¡± Cheiristoya eximed in surprise.

    Davos then walked quickly into the bedroom and saw Cheiristoya lying on the bed and was a little bit tired, but herplexion wasn''t bad.

    ¡°You are back!¡± There was a joy in her eyes.

    ¡°I am back!¡± Davos sat on the edge of the bed, he then leaned over and kissed his wife.

    ¡°Thank you for doing your best!¡± He said softly.

    Cheiristoya propped herself up and snuggled into the arms of Davos, with a happy expression on her face, ¡°Have you seen our child?!¡±

 Chapter 226: Crotokatax Davos

    ¡°Yea, I saw him. He is good looking, just like you!¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t given him a name yet because I was waiting for you toe back.¡±

    On the way back, Davos had already thought about the name of his child. He put his arm around his wife''s shoulder and the other arm around her chin. He thought about it and then said, ¡°I remember the first time I found out that you were pregnant was when I have just beaten Crotone¡­this time, he was born when we defeated Crotone again, and the war with Crotone has just ended. This child is so closely tied to Crotone, which should be the wish of Hades! So I think that it''s better to name our child¡­Crotokatax, what do you think?¡±

    ¡°Crotokatax¡­Crotokatax¡­¡± Cheiristoya softly said it several times, then she looked at her husband with slight worry, ¡°Wouldn''t this name causeints?¡± (kataktit¨ªs means Conqueror, and Crotokatax means conqueror of Crotone)

    Davos smiled and said, ¡°If my child has this name, then when he grows up, the Theonians will think about our hardship in founding Theonia and the contribution of his father to the union, and so they will be kinder to him! And at the same time, if our child has an ambition, then with the encouragement of this name, he will create his own glory!¡­.¡±

    Cheiristoya, who wasn''t too satisfied with the name, thought about it and finally nodded, ¡°Okay, his name will be Crotokatax then.¡±

    As soon as she said this, the crying of the child in the outer room suddenly stopped.

    Cheiristoya covered her mouth and looked at Davos in surprise, ¡°My god, Hera blessed this name! Our child epted his name!¡±

    At this time, Azune came in with the child in her arms.

    Cheiristoya took him and whispered, ¡°Little¡­little child, this is your father. Call him father.¡±

    The child cried ¡°dada¡± and moved around.

    ¡°Look, he is calling for you!¡± Cheiristoya said with a gentle smile, then she carefully ced the child in front of Davos.

    Davos then carefully took him in his arms for fear that he might hurt the little guy.

    This time, the child did not cry. He opened his eyes and looked at Davos curiously with his bright eyes, and scratched the face of Davos with his two chubby hands.

    Davos just let him y around. But at this moment, Davos felt the blood surging through his heart and excitedly said, ¡°Cheiristoya, I am going to take my name as the family name and pass it on to our children, and then they will pass it on to future generations. I believe that the Davos family will be the most dazzling family in the Mediterranean!¡±

    The eyes of Cheiristoya brightened at the words of Davos. Most Greeks only have a first name but no family name, and in order for them to distinguish people having the same names, they will often add their native ce or other annotation to their first name, such as: Socrates of Athens, Socrates ¨C son of Asidates and so on., but the nobles of Persia, the great country in the east, have family names. As a native of Miletus in Asia Minor, Cheiristoya realized the ambition of her husband from his words, and so, she repeated her son''s future name with great interest, ¡°Crotokatax Davos¡­.¡±

    At this time, Davos caught a glimpse of a small head poking out of the bedroom¡¯s door.

    ¡°Cynthia,e in!¡± He beckoned.

    The seven-year-old Cynthia took the nearly five-year-old Adoris, and went to the bed with hesitation.

    ¡°Come and see your little brother!¡± Davos said happily to both siblings.

    ¡°You now have a child¡­do¡­do you still want us?¡± Cynthia asked timidly.

    Davos was taken aback. He didn''t expect that his adopted daughter would be so sensitive. After handing his child to Cheiristoya, he held both of them to his chest and said aloud, ¡°You will always be my children, so how could I not want you?!¡±

    Cheiristoya also softly said, ¡°And mommy also hopes that you can take good care and protect your little brother once you grow up!¡±

    The two children wereforted by the husband and wife, and their sadness had immediately disappeared. Then they took a look at the baby in the arms of Cheiristoya with curiosity.

    ¡°Can I touch him?¡± Asked Cynthia in a low voice.

    ¡°Of course you can.¡± Cheiristoya smiled softly.

    Cynthia carefully touched the baby''s face, ¡°What''s the name of my brother?¡±

    ¡°Crotokatax, his nickname is¡­uhm¡­Cro.¡±

    ¡°He is so small.¡± Adoris also gently grasped the baby''s hand with curiosity, and said like a small adult, ¡°Brother, I will protect you.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Hey, wake up! Wake up!!¡­¡± Kelebus, who is in a deep sleep, was forcefully awakened. He still felt sleepy even after opening his sleepy eye, so he turned over and was about to continue his dream.

    Immediately, a whip soaked in water strike his body, it was so painful that it made him jumped up in pain, and the demon like voice of the supervisor sounded in his ear, ¡°Go to the quarry immediately, Lord Lysimenes wants to say something!¡±

    Kelebus, who was scared of getting hit by the whip again, had dragged his sore legs and endured his hunger as he staggered out of the mines. But he identally knocked down hispanion, while hispanion subconsciously stretched out his hand and pulled him, so both of them fell on the ground. Kelebus stayed lying down for a while before getting up. During which, he was whipped again several times by the supervisor.

    The Crotonian captives were like ants staggering out of the mines and gathered in the circr square in the mines, with lots of freshly dug marbles.

    On the guard tower at the entrance, Lysimenes, the person in charge of Thurii¡¯s quarry, was impatiently watching the sight below, and he then ordered his men, ¡°They are too slow. Go and make these Crotonians to hurry up!¡±

    As a result, the Crotonians were likembs that were driven toward the guard tower by the supervisors with their sticks and whips.

    This simr sight was also happening in front of the construction site of the Temple of Hades and the copper mine in Thurii.

    ¡°Crotonians, I wish I could keep you here for hundreds of years due to the crimes that you havemitted on Thurii! And let your dirty flesh and blood flow into the sewage and your fragile bones to be powder!¡­¡± Lysimenes cursed maliciously, ¡°But the great Hades was kind enough to let Theonia sign an armistice with your damn Crotone, and¡­be an ally¡­so now, all of you can go home¡­.¡±

    After Lysimenes reluctantly said these words, the square suddenly fell into a dead silence, and the captives couldn''t believe what they were hearing.

    ¡°He¡­what did he just say?¡± Thepanion next to Kelebus asked in a trembling voice.

    ¡°He¡­he just said that we could go home¡­.¡± Murmured Kelebus, then he seemed to realize something and grabbed the shoulder of hispanion, ¡°Did you hear that?! We can go home! We are free!¡­.¡±

    Only after countless people confirmed what they heard was true, did they be so excited and started shedding tears. They hugged each other, cheered, kissed thend under their feet, and closed their eyes and felt the warm sunshine¡­these days, they were like ves digging in a dark cave while enduring the beating of their supervisor. They couldn''t even eat enough and sleep well¡­making these Crotonian citizens who lived afortable life nearly copsed. They have never felt freedom to be so precious as they do today.

    Lysimenes snorted coldly not wanting to watch them any longer, ¡°Get the bread and cheese and let them eat.¡±

    ¡°What if they resist after eating their fill?! With so many captives, we couldn''t handle them!¡± One of his subordinates hesitatingly said.

    ¡°That would be better!¡± Lysimenes sneered, ¡°If they broke the contract that they have just signed, then we can just annihte them all!¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Once they are done eating, let them take a bath in the river and change their clothes, so that those Crotonians won''t say that we are abusing our captives.¡±

    ¡®Is this not called abuse?!¡¯ His subordinate silently criticize.

    With the arrival of Crotone''s envoy, the captives finally became convinced of the fact that ¡°Theonia and Crotone have be allies and that they are now finally going home.¡± They then began marching towards the port of Thurii under the protection of fully armed Theonian soldiers.

    Why the need for protection? For fear that the radicals of Thurii would harm the unarmed and weakened Crotonian captives. Kelebus had already experienced that situation half a year ago, but this time, the Thurians did not cause any trouble to the huge group who wanted to return to Crotone, like he had worried. And even when they arrived at the port, they could only see few Thurians.

    Where are the people of Thurii? This thought only shed in the mind of Kelebus, then his mind becamepletely upied with the joy of finally going home smoothly!

    It was only when the transport ship left the port of Thurii that the captives became relieved.

    ¡°I will never return to this damn ce again!¡± One of the captives vented, and was echoed by most of the soldiers, including Kelebus: Two wars, and they became a captive twice, especially the second one was so nightmarish that it had made them to not even want to recall it. Each of them had more or less fear of Theonia in their heart!

    In fact, in the second Crotonian war, Theonia had treated the captives in this way because they had to. After all, managing tens of thousands of captives was very difficult and most of the male citizens of Theonia were busy fighting, and at the same time, the Crotonian fleet kept raiding the coast of Thurii from time to time. So once the captives rioted, the consequences would be unimaginable. That is why the senate decided to treat them like ves and keep them away from the cost by imprisoning them in the mining area in the mountain and crushing the Crotonian captives with harsh environment, hunger and heavybor.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    And the reason for why the Theonians are not paying attention to the Crotonian captives who left Thurii was because their heroes are sooning back!

    The third legion left 3,000 men under the leadership of Asistes to temporarily defend the city of Aprustum. And the first legion left 2,000 men and was led by Hielos to be in charge of Krimisa for the time being, while the rest returned.

 Chapter 227: Triumphant Return

    Davos rushed to meet the soldiers after the army stayed for the night in Roscianum.

    In the early morning of the next day, the whole army, who were dressed in a new attire, marched forward and lined-up in ordance with the predetermined order for the triumphant return.

    After crossing the bridge, there were already thousands of freemen who had participated in the battle and the Greek mercenaries that Xanticles led were waiting to join the parade. Davos also changed his ride into a quadriga*, while Kapus, Drakos, Hieronymus and the archon of Laos, Avinoges had rode a chariot drawn by two horses, followed by the army marching toward the city of Thurii that is not far away. (T/N: A chariot drawn by four horses.)

    When the freemen and some of the family members of the preparatory citizens, who had been waiting for a long time outside the city, saw the soldiers from a distance, it immediately caused a burst of tsunami like cheering.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Arsinis could never have imagined of bing the g bearer of the triumphant return. At that time, all the legions had nominated numerous candidates, but Davos, was the one who personally named him. As one of the squad leaders of the legion, Arsinis had led a team of recruits and fought in the frontline while facing the fierce attack of the enemy. He had not only taken the lead, but alsomanded the recruits so well and dealt with the situation calmly in the battle that decided the victory and direction of the second war with Crotone. And even in the case of having more than half of his squad being wounded, as the representative of the whole army, Arsinis still fought back bravely!

    When Arsinis, who admired Davos, heard his praise, he became even more grateful to the union''s archon!

    At this moment, Arsinis held the g that represents the whole army. Faced with the cheering of the crowd and seeing the thousands of waving arms, he straightened his chest with pride¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the face of such a marvelous sight, even Tolmides who had gone through numerous brutal battles, could not keep his calm and excitedly said to Xanticles who was beside him, ¡°After so many years of fighting, this is the first time I have realized the pride of being a soldier. Davos is really amazing!¡±

    Xanticles continued to look straight ahead while saying, ¡°Stop looking around! March seriously, don''t disgrace our mercenaries!¡±

    Tolmides quickly straightened his chest and raised his head, but he teased Xanticles, ¡°Old man, you are more serious than me!¡±

    ¡°Taking a part in the triumphant return is nothing. In the future, we will also sit on the chariot like Hieronymus and ept the cheers of the people!¡± Xanticles'' face flushed with excitement.

    ¡°That is right!¡± Tolmides'' pride soared, ¡°I heard from Davos that because of this battle, our citizenship evaluation period will be greatly shortened. And if there are a few more such battles, we will soon be able to be an official citizen of Theonia! By then¡­he he!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Kleigenes! That''s Kleigenes!!¡­.¡±

    ¡°Stop shouting! He can''t hear you, he is now a hero of the union!¡±

    ¡°Hero?! With that thin body of his, I can beat him down even with one of my hands tied! If it wasn''t for his archery being better than me, I would be the one receiving the cheering now!¡±

    ¡°Yea, this guy was just favored by the goddess of luck! It seems that we all need to practice archery in our spare time and get selected the next time the conscription officerse to recruit!¡±

    ¡°Yea!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the ranks of the freemen entered the sight of the public, they had cheered even more intensely. After all, among the people outside the city that are weing them, a lot of them are freemen. Seeing that their formerpanions who worked together with them bing heroes of Theonia had made them envious, but this had also encouraged their yearning for a battle and killing the enemy.

    There are more than 20,000 soldiers that participated in the triumphant return, and the column that was formed was 3 kilometers long. When the rank of freemen who were at the end had just entered the weing area outside the city, the g bearers at the head of the parade had just passed the Arc de Triomphe in the city.

    Solikos looked at the carvings on the Arc De Triomphe, then he emotionally said to Ledes, ¡°Last time, I was just a spectator watching the triumphant return, and now, I am a soldier participating in it!¡±

    Ledesughed and said, ¡°So how do you feel?¡±

    ¡°Great!¡±

    ¡°Our cavalry used to be so weak that it couldn''t even be used inbat. But from now on, our Theonian cavalry must be the heroes of the triumphal every time!¡± Ledes ambitiously said, his eyes staring at the other gs besides the cavalry g in front of him. Although the contents of the g could not be seen from the rear, he knew that there was a text on it that was written by Davos, the words were ¡°defeating the cavalry of Crotone with lesser number of cavalry and deciding the victory of the battle¡± because of this achievement, Davos put the cavalry behind the g bearers.

    Because there were too many soldiers participating in the triumphant return, the Nike Square could not amodate them at all, and made it prone to idents and so after arriving at the square, the marching troops were not allowed to stay. So after walking around the square for a while, they will then go out of the city from another street to the east gate.

    In front of the senate hall on the west side of the square, is a tform, in which the statesmen solemnly paid great attention to the soldiers that were passing.

    Amikles, who was invited to watch the ceremony, saw the valiant and high spirited army that was passing by the tform in neat steps. And involuntary eximed, ¡°I didn''t expect that we would manage to win against the overbearing and arrogant Crotonians! This is really a great victory!¡± He was d that he had made the right choice of standing firmly on the side of Theonia before the war had started.

    His words were approved by most of the statesmen, but Scambras disagreed, ¡°With Davos, victory is guaranteed! With him as the grand legatus, I had never doubted that the victor of this war would belong to our union! It''s just that I think we should have taken advantage of the weakness of Crotone topletely defeat them!¡±

    A small number of Thurian statesmen agreed, and even Pollux said, ¡°Davos did not consider the feelings of us people of Thurii on this issue and had let the Crotonians go!¡±

    As soon as he said this, Scambras looked at him threateningly.

    ¡°Lord Davos did the right thing!¡± Kunogta sternly added, ¡°A greatmander is the one that can lead the soldiers to victory! However, those who can use victory to win enough benefits for the union are the real leader! If the war had continued, Theonia would have suffered great losses! It is fortunate that we have such a great archon as Davos!¡±

    ¡°Lord Kunogta is right!¡± Said Cornelius, ¡°In this war, Lord Davos had not only won a lot of fertilend for Theonia, but had also made the influence of Theonia reach the southern end of Magna Graecia!¡±

    ¡°Next is how we will manage and allocate these newnds, which will cause us to spend a lot of time discussing and solving¡­.¡± Tridodemosughed, ¡°This is really a sweet but troubling matter!¡±

    Everyone understood it and smiled. The statesmen of the senate have a noble status and handled many matters, but they have no sry. Therefore, in order to improve their enthusiasm, while gaining their favor and stimte their interest in expanding, the ¡¶War Act¡· that Davos had proposed and passed, stiptes that thend they won in each war, except for thend that will be allocated to the new citizens and the ¡°allocatednd¡± that will be rewarded to the citizen soldiers for their meritorious service, each of the hard working members of the senate will also receive and as reward, but it will not exceed the averagend area that the soldiers, who are participating in the war, will get. Even though it seems that the rewardednd is not too much, with the current expansion rate of Theonia, it will definitely add up to arge sum.

    Pollux began thinking of something, while Amikles became envious.

    ¡°Look, herees our hero!¡± The shout of Plesinas had grabbed the attention of everyone back to the square.

    Davos, who was dressed in his military attire and was standing on the chariot, had appeared in the Nike Square. He then waved to the people around him with a smile, which pushed the triumphant return to the climax.

    The crowd screamed and danced with excitement as they waved their arms wildly and shouted the name of Davos. They even ignored the blockade of guards on the roadside and vited the regtions and rushed into the parade. They crowded Davos and stretched out their arms wanting to touch this man who had saved Thurii and defeated Crotone twice and brought glory to the people of Theonia.

    The guards became nervous and were afraid of having any idents.

    Davos, however, had a calm expression and had even stepped out of the chariot and greeted the people. He then asked them whether they had suffered any losses in the war and whether they needed the help of the union¡­and so on.

    Due to this, the people ardently love their archon even more. They gathered around him and escorted him to the tform, and left with reluctance.

    The statesmen then came forward.

    Kunogta first criticized him, ¡°Lord Davos, the situation just now was too dangerous! You should have stayed in the chariot and wait for the guards to escort you!¡±

    ¡°What danger!¡± Davos smiled, ¡°The statesmen and the people are just like fathers and children. As fathers, it is natural for them to love their children, and the children naturally love their fathers. So how can they hurt their family? Am I wrong?!¡±

    ¡®Father and child?!¡¯ The statesmen that are currently present repeatedly savour this sentence, and they were more or less shocked. Later, these words were spread to the public, which had greatly moved the people, and so, the statesmen of the senate had also gotten a new title ¨C Father.

    However, the worries of Kunogta are not entirely superfluous. Among the people on the square, was someone who hates the senate of Theonia and the archon, Davos ¨C The envoy of Locri, Metelophes, even though he is still suffering from his cold, after learning about the shocking news regarding ¡°Theonia Union signing an armistice agreement with Crotone and formed an alliance¡±, had made him anxious and angry. He hated himself for falling ill at such a critical moment, and at the same time, he was angry at the senate of Theonia.

 Chapter 228: Kings Election

    Metelophes believes that the senate of Theonia had deliberately dyed making a decision and yed him for a fool, when they are already in fact been talking peace negotiation with Crotone and were just wasting his effort on getting to Thurii. ¡®How dare Theonia, a newly established union, make such a fool of and look down on Locri.¡¯

    As a result, he dragged his still sick body to participate in the triumphant return. As an envoy of Locri, the senate arranged him to live in an inn not far from the senate hall and since he was already living in the city and was also an important guest, he naturally was allowed to watch the triumphant return. Originally, he also wanted to meet the archon of Theonia at the end in order to vent his dissatisfaction and at the same time, to express some appropriate threats to Theonia, who had just formed an alliance with Crotone, and forced them to make some changes which is beneficial to Locri. However, after watching this magnificent and lively military victory ceremony, which he had never seen before and caused him to be shocked by Theonia¡¯s huge military strength, high morale and the enthusiasm of the people, which made him realize that this is a union that admires heroes and military might from the statesmen to themon people. He is afraid that they won''t easilypromise, so he just retreated¡­.

    Seeing thest group of freemen leaving, the people then rushed into the square, and the triumphant return was brought to a sessful conclusion with the speech of Davos, ¡°On behalf of the senate, we thank you, people of Theonia!

    When a formidable enemy tried to invade, you did not show any fear nor shrink back, but you had instead worked together and fought bravely! The soldiers without fearing any sacrifices had fought bravely in the frontline, and strove to be heroes. While those working in the rear had spared no effort in delivering supplies, avoiding the surprise attack of the enemy''s fleet, and enduring the grief of losing their loved ones, while supporting us in this battle!

    And now, we have won. This is the result of the citizens, the preparatory citizens, freemen and their families joining hands! We will use this victory tofort the warriors who have died in the battlefield, and hope that their spirits can arrive at Elysium! I, your archon, Davos, also wants to use this victory to tell you that the days of us being bullied have passed, and you will now have a better future! THEONIA HAS WON!¡­¡±

    ¡°Victory for Theonia!!!¡±

    ¡°Victory for the senate!!!¡±

    ¡°Long live Davos!!!¡±

    ¡°Long live Davos!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At this moment, cheers rang out in the square and the whole city of Thurii became a sea of joy!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the funeral of king Agis of Sparta, the Gerousia finally decided to elect a new Spartan king after a period of preparation in order to avoid the throne being vacant for too long and causing domestic political turmoil.

    On this asion, the 29 elders of Sparta had all entered the assembly hall early, and the two candidates for the throne were also present. They were Leotychides, the son of Agis and Agesus, the brother of Agis.

    The speaker of the assembly, Cleostidas, then announced, ¡°The sacred election conference begins! First of all, the candidates will state their reasons for why they should be the king.¡±

    The young and energetic Leotychides was the first one to stand up and shouted to his uncle, ¡°Agesus, the ancientw clearly states that ¡®The son of the king, and not his brother, should be the first to inherit the throne. If the king happens to have no children, then his brother may seed him.¡¯ If you don''t want to lose face, then you''d better leave.¡±

    Agesus did not face his nephew and had instead faced the crowd, then said with a respectful but firm tone, ¡°Esteemed elders, the sessor to the throne should be me, Agesus, the only brother of Agis!¡±

    Leotychides jumped up and yelled to interrupt his uncle, ¡°Agesus, don''t think that just because you areme, you can pretend to be stupid! Stop fooling around and listen, the sacred Spartanw has stipted that as the only son of Agis, I should be the king!¡±

    Agesus then turned his head and looked at the angry Leotychides with some disdain on his face, ¡°Yes, this is what thew stiptes, but only if you are the son of Agis! However, I heard from the man you called father say that ¡®You are not his son!¡¯ more than once.¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Since growing up, simr rumors have always entered the ears of Leotychides, which became his nightmare that troubled him, and it continued to worsen as he grew up. At this time, his face suddenly turned red, he then jumped up from his seat and rushed to grab Agesus and shouted, ¡°Damn cripple! Just because you are my uncle, don''t think that I will not beat you up!¡±

    He tried to hold back his anger and clenched his teeth, ¡°Listen, my mother knows the truth better than my father! To this day, she has always said, ¡®You are the son of the king! You are the son of Agis!¡¯¡­.¡±

    ¡°Quiet! Be quiet! The assembly hall is a sacred ce. Fighting is not allowed, else face expulsion!¡± Warned Cleostidas.

    Agesus brushed aside his nephew''s hand and remained calm as he solemnly said, ¡°Esteemed elders, you might remember that year when an earthquake struck Sparta. Agis left his wife and led the soldiers to do disaster relief for nearly a year. The anger of Poseidon had made the Spartans filled with awe, and at the same time, it also made the most powerful testimony that Leotychides is not the son of Agis! Time! Leotychides was born ten months after Agis left his wife!¡±

    As soon as he said this, the elders fell into thinking, and some have even be serious.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Leotychides once again became furious, but was stopped by the guards who were on standby.

    ¡°Alright, this is the end of the statement of the candidates!¡± Cleostidas then hastened to say, ¡°Does anyone have anything to add?¡±

    Diopetus stood up and said, ¡°Everyone, as everyone knows before this meeting, I had been authorized by Pausanias to go to Delphi on behalf of the Gerousia and ask Apollo for an oracle. And the oracle warned us that ¡®Sparta should be on guard against a cripple bing a king!¡¯ Therefore, I think Apollo warned us that if Agesus bes the king, it will bring danger to Sparta!¡± After that, he passed the scroll parchment to the elders, and some of them nodded as they read it.

    Diopetus nced triumphantly at Lysander, who was sitting in front of him, and then made a gesture to pacify Leotychides.

    The face of Agesus struggled to maintain his calm, but he was already clenching his hand tightly behind his back, because he saw the elders ncing at his foot from time to time, so he subconsciously drew his left foot back.

    At this time, Lysander stood up, and due to his great influence, all the gazes of the crowd suddenly focused on him, ¡°As everyone knows, the oracles of Delphi and Apollo have always been abstruse. If we only try to understand it from the literal meaning, we will oftene to a wrong conclusion!¡± Lysander looked around and said, ¡°At that time, the king of Lydia got an oracle about ¡®a great nation will perish¡¯ and so he thought that Persia would be defeated, but his kingdom is the one that had perished instead. If the Athenians built a wooden wall ording to the literal meaning before the invasion of Persia, then they would not have defeated Persia in the maritime war¡­so we should try to understand the oracle more deeply! If the king we choose is not the true blood of Agis, then our proud dual kingship and the divine blood that was inherited from Heracles be tainted!¡±

    The words of Lysander are thought-provoking and adding his influence, the elders continued to whisper and discuss with each other.

    Leotychides red at Lysander, but he did not dare to insult Lysander like what he did to Agesus. Although his power was intentionally weakened by the Gerousia a few years after the Peloponnesian War, he was still the hero of the Spartans and his charisma was still amazing, so how could someone who is only a sessor to the throne insult him.

    Pausanias, the other Spartan king, had no preference over the two heirs of the throne of Agis, but he was very hostile and wary of Lysander, who had once wanted to shake the ¡°Dual Kingship¡±. Therefore, he would always oppose anything Lysander supported. However, ording to tradition, another king can attend the conference regarding the election of a new king, however, he does not have the right to suggest and vote. Because Sparta is a dual kingship and they wanted to achieve mutual checks and bnce, so the king must avoid any suspicion. Therefore, Pausanias can only signal to an elder that he trusted ¨C Heliopidas.

    Heliopidas hurriedly stood up and stammeringly said, ¡°Sparta is now the overlord of Greece, but if¡­the king of Sparta is¡­uhm¡­someone with a physical disability, it will only cause the other city-states to secretlyugh at Sparta, which will reduce their reverence to us. What is more, Sparta has never had a king with disability in his body! Never had been!¡±

    As soon as he finished speaking, Lysander immediately said, ¡°Indeed, Agesus isme. But he had fought bravely and was righteous. He has alway been respected by our elders and the people, he is a traditional and pure SPARTAN warrior, and has not disgraced the reputation of the royal family! But take a closer look at Leotychides, who do you think he looks like?!¡±

    Leotychides is strong and handsome, and had inherited his appearance more from his mother. However, under the guidance of Lysander''s words and the influence of the rumors, the more the elders look at him, the more they feel that he looks more like the handsome and charming Athenian ¨C Alcibiades.

    Seeing the crowd''s expression, Diopetus became a bit anxious and hurriedly said, ¡°The rumors regarding the birth of Leotychides are just rumors spread by some people in order to achieve their own purposes, and there is no conclusive evidence! And¡­and in our history, we have never let the heirs who have the first right of inheritance fall off from the throne because of false rumors!¡±

 Chapter 229: Affairs in Sparta

    ¡°Diopetus, are you really a Spartan?¡± Lysander sneered, ¡°Don''t forget Demaratus!¡±

    There was an uproar among the elders, Demaratus ¨C a permanent disgrace of the Spartans.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although the Spartan soldiers advocate strength and loathe pleasures, they don''t dislike beautiful women. While the best criterion for judging their future wife is her fertility, the beauty and morality of the Spartan women is a standard criterion for judging her bing the mother of their future children. Since childhood, the Spartan women participated in the training together with the men which gave them their own unique beauty. They have long blonde hair, strong bodies and elegant legs. While the birth of an ugly daughter will make her parents feel frustrated, however, there is still a chance for their daughter to change, that is, for them toe to an ancient sanctuary next to the grave of Helen and pray to the bronze statue of Helen, which is said to make the child grow up beautiful.

    A hundred years ago, a pair of Spartan parents prayed to Helen for their ugly daughter, and the priestess in charge of the sanctuary then grabbed the child''s long hair and made a prediction after seeing the child''s appearance, ¡®She will be the loveliest woman in Lacedaemon.¡¯

    As time went by, the girl became a famous beauty that had even fascinated the Spartan king, so the king used his power to snatched her from her husband. But only seven months after getting taken by the king, the new queen then gave birth to a son. Is the father of the child the king or themoner? However, the Spartans of that time did not delve into it too deeply. Then this child grew up and eventually became a king, he was Demaratus.

    When Demaratus seeded, Cleomenes, another Spartan king, had been in the throne for five years. However, Cleomenes had a much more difficult time seeding the throne, because his father could not make his wife pregnant, the Ephors asked him to divorce his wife and remarry. However, he hesitated and had instead chosen bigamy. But then the first wife gave birth to Cleomenes, while the second wife gave birth to three sons. However, the king had already loved his second wife deeply, and had naturally preferred her children and Cleomenes was not favored by his father. The king had also trained his half-brother Dorieus and had designated him as the legal heir, and the people also think that Dorieus was the finest young man among his generation. However, after the king''s sudden death, the traditional Spartans believed that Cleomenes, who was born to the king''s first wife, had the priority in inheriting the throne, so Cleomenes, who seeded the throne, exiled his brothers on the ground of sending Dorius to colonize the western Mediterranean. (T/N: This part is wrong. First, Cleomenes is the child of Ananxandridas II and his second wife and is also the eldest among the siblings, while the first wife of Ananxandridas II gave birth to 3 sons(Dorieus, Leonidas(yes, the legendary Leonidas), Cleombrotus). Secondly, ¡®the traditional Spartans¡¯ made Cleomenes as the king because he is the oldest among the brothers. Thirdly, Cleomenes did not exile his half-brothers, it is just Dorieus being impulsive and not wanting to be under his brother, so he left in order to establish a colony but tragically failed twice.)

    Cleomenes is shrewd, resourceful, ambitious and eager for power. So how could Demaratus, who had just seeded the throne, be his opponent? And so, Demaratus, who has no foundation, had been overtaken by Cleomenes. And for more than 20 years, Cleomenes held the power alone in Sparta, he defeated Argos, controlled Arcadia, intervened in Delphi and even interfered in the political situation in Athens¡­all of these had expanded the power of Sparta to northern Greece. At this time, the king of Persia, Xerxes, was ready to invade Greece again and he had also learned from the mistake of Darius, and so, he sent arge number of spies to Greece in order to divide and alienate the city-states. Aegina, an ind city-state not far from the Peloponnesian Penins, had offered Earth and Water* to Persia, due to this, Cleomenes denounced this treachery and decided to punish Aegina. (T/N: Earth and Water symbolized that those who surrender to Persia will give up all their rights over theirnd and every product ofnd, and by giving the earth and water, they recognized the Persian authority over everything, even their lives will now belong to the king of Persia.)

    The people of Aegina had to rush to Demaratus, another Spartan king, for help. And Demaratus was very happy to cause trouble for his political opponent, so he secretly joined hands with the elders in the Gerousia who were not willing to fight with Persia and actively provided support. This infuriated Cleomenes, and made him to finally decide to solve this intolerable coregency once and for all. Therefore, at the council meeting that Cleomenes initiated, he questioned the life of Demaratus. Not only did Cleomenes win over the people of Demaratus and most of the elders, but he had also bribed the priests of Delphi, so that the oracle they had requested would be detrimental to Demaratus. Hence, Demaratus was deposed from his throne and defected to Xerxes.

    However, thecency of the victorious Cleomenes did notst long, because his bribery to Delphi was soon leaked, which angered the Spartans. When he was found guilty, he first fled Sparta thenter returned. But after returning, he was relieved of his power, and from then on, he just kept on drinking, beating and yelling at people, which made everyone think that he became crazy. His two half-brothers, Leonidas and Cleombrotus then locked him in the temple and announced that he became mad. However, the next day, the people found him dead with the flesh of his body being mutted using the knife in his hand.

    This had caused a hugemotion! Everyone kept on saying that this is Cleomenes¡¯ punishment for his desecration and the public generally recognized the cause as, ¡®suicide.¡¯

    Soon after, Leonidas became king. But in private, the rumors that were spread from time to time says that Cleomenes died at the hand of his two brothers.

    And the reason why Leonidas led 300 of his personal guards to Thermope to defend against the Persian army was because the situation forced him to do so, while also proving his innocence to the Spartans.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    This was a treacherous history for the Spartans, and could even be said to be a disgrace. Everyone in the assembly hall fell in silence for a moment.

    Cleostidas, the assembly''s speaker, simply dered, ¡°The election for the new king begins!¡±

    Both Agesus and Leotychides have their own shorings and have their own supporters. Therefore, the debate between both sides was mainly to fight over the neutral elders¡­and the result of the final vote ¨C Agesus won.

    With tears of humiliation, Leotychides red at the elders who congratted Agesus with hatred, and then left quietly¡­.

    Then Cleostidas asked the guards to allow the five Ephors who had been waiting outside the assembly hall to enter and announce the results of the elections to them.

    The Ephors then went to Agesus. Agesus stood solemnly and listened as they read aloud, ¡°The great Zeus stands as witness, ording to the result of the Gerousia''s voting, we dered by the divine blood of Heracles that Agesus is the king of Sparta!¡±

    No matter how hard it was for Agesus to maintain his calm, his voice still trembled as he swore, ¡°I, Agesus, swear in the name of Zeus that I will govern and rule Sparta ording to thews of the city-state!¡±

    And the Ephors responded at the same time, ¡°As long as you keep your oaths, we will ensure that your kingship willst forever!¡±

    In the year of 398 B.C., Agesus became the king of Sparta.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the southeastern end of Sicily, Dionysius led the infantry, soldiers and warships of Syracuse to march westward along the southern coast of sicily.

    While liberating the city of Kamarina, which was forced to pay tribute to Carthage, Dionysius learned about ¡°Theonia defeating Crotone¡± and had made him silent for a moment, and then said to the attendant beside him, ¡°Immediately write to Philistus and say that I agreed to the request of Locri to send reinforcements as soon as possible!¡±

    Then he ordered the heralds to urge the army, which was about to take a rest day, to continue marching westward.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Crotone has made peace with Theonia!¡± Umakas, the archon of Taranto, was surprised after receiving the news from Crotone, ¡°I didn''t expect that Theonia, which was a small city-state a year ago and had even needed our protection to survive, has now rapidly developed and be a powerful union in Magna Graecia!¡±

    The former archon, and now elder of the council, Disitimas, sighed, ¡°Fortunately, we are allied with Theonia!¡±

    Umakas shook his head, ¡°The safety of Taranto must not depend on the promise of others!¡± and firmly added, ¡°We should speed up the conquest of the Messapians and strengthen the power of Taranto as soon as possible, so that we can have the confidence to talk face to face with Theonia!¡±

    ¡°Our attack on Manduria has caused great casualties to our citizens! But you still went to attack Brindisi, which will cause even more citizens of Taranto to die! How could the council agree to your radical approach!¡± Said Disitimas, with some indignation.

    Umakas looked at Disitimas with a trace of contempt in his gaze, ¡°Disitimas, my good friend, you still don''t understand! This is not only the will of the majority of the statesmen, but is also the will of the masses! Stimted by the rapid rise of Theonia, the people had already be tired of the decades of inaction of the council! And they hate how they get harassed by the Messapians every year! They want change! Although they are casualties among the citizens, it is much more difficult for the Messapians to invade our territory after we be the master of Manduria! I believe that once Archytas learned that Crotone was forced to make peace with Theonia, he will also increase his attack on Brindisi even without our urging!¡±

    After a moment of silence, Disitimas hesitatingly said, ¡°I am a little worried that such arge-scale attack will stimte the Peucetians in the north, who were of the same race as the Messapians¡­.¡±

    ¡°So if we don''t attack, they will not regard us as an enemy?¡± Umakas retorted, ¡°As long as we capture Brindisi, we will not only cut off the connection between the Messapians and the north, but will also link up the trade with the Adriatic Sea, which give us a lot of benefits in doing so¡­if we encounter the Peucetians just like what you have said and see our city being almost empty and take this opportunity to attack, then we can still-¡±

    Umakas then looked at Disitimas, and soon, Disitimas understood what he meant and sighed, ¡°Ask our ally Theonia for help!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although Lysias tried his best to defend Milo, the lesia still made a decision to sentence him by ¡°expulsion, and to not allow him to return for ten years¡±.

 Chapter 230: Senate meeting after the war (I)

    After that, the lesia held an election for the position of the polemarchos, and Lysias, who had brought peace to Crotone, had been elected. Although many people criticized him for ceding their territory, the more than 10,000 citizens who returned to their family were grateful to Lysias for rescuing them from hell in time, so most of them have voted for him. At the same time, there was also the strategos Sisticos, who had participated in the peace negotiation together with Lysias. For a long time toe, the conservatives in the council of Crotone clearly had the upper hand.

    Crotone''s newly formed ten strategoi was very clear that their top priority is to defeat Locri and rescue their allies. After careful consideration, they decided to appoint three strategoi with richbat experience that had been previously captured by Theonia to lead them.

    As a result, the soldiers who had just returned to Crotone had to go out again in their armors. In addition to the soldiers(including the 10,000 hoplites), they had also recruited freemen. After they had prepared the rations, they immediately set out for Caulonia.

    However, the council had objections and demanded that more citizens must be left to protect the nearly emptied city of Crotone.

    Although Lysias was a conservative, he was not cowardly. He not only did not agree, but had even sent envoys to Aprustum to tell the Theonian defenders that the city of Crotone was almost empty, and so they hoped to get help from them, their allies, when needed.

    While receiving a clear response from Asistes, Crotone''s fleet, under the leadership of the navy strategos Askamas, sailed to Caulonia with bothrge and small warships.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as Crotone was about to fight with Locri, the senate of Theonia voted for five candidates from Krimisa to enter the senate, which included Androlis, Eurypus and Pleitinas.

    This matter is just an appetizer for today''s long senate meeting, followed by rewarding the soldiers who had taken part in the war with Crotone. As the number of people involved in the war were too many, Philesius, the military officer, and Raphias, the senior census officer, had only roughly set a rough figure at the meeting: About a number of official citizens will receivends ording to their merits in the war. The statesmen headed by Davos had suggested that thend should be allocated to the city where the citizens live as much as possible. Naturally, if they voluntary want to change theirnd, then they should satisfy their wish;

    The second is the registered freemen who had participated in the war, due to winning several sessive battles, more than half of them will directly start the evaluation period of bing an official citizen in ordance with thew. Because arge amount ofnd and acquiring two cities in this war, so it has made them in urgent need of people to quickly upy thesends and defend the new cities. Therefore, although their official citizenship evaluation period is not yet over, the senate still decided to grant them 3,333 square meter ¡°Allocated Land¡± in Krimisa, Aprustum and the northern in of Crotone, because they still have not yet be official citizens, so the tax they will pay during this period of time is stillnd ie tax and it is only when they be official citizens that thend tax be reduced to 1%;

    For the nearly 6,000 freemen who took part in the war, the evaluation period for them to be preparatory citizens will be reduced by half, and they will be given the priority to rent thend of the city-state, of course, the tax burden will remain unchanged;

    For the soldiers who died in the war, whether they are citizens or freemen, as long as their rtives are still alive, the senate will give them the rewards of normal soldiers, and at the same time give them generous pensions, mainly from the spoils they got in the war. (T/N: Hmm, no mention of the preparatory citizens)

    The whole reward and distribution will be mainly decided by the agricultural officer ¨C Burkes and the census officer ¨C Raphias, with the assistance of the three legatus of the army, Kapus, Drakos and Hieronymus.

    ¡°The citizens of Theonia havee when they were called to perform their duties and fought bravely for the union. The senate, as the helmsman of the union''s ship, should also give them corresponding praise and fair care. We should not let our warriors shed blood and tears at the same time! Only in this way can more people contribute to the prosperity and strength of the union!¡­.¡± At the end of the day, Davos reminded Burkes and the others of what they should do with a passionate speech.

    After that, the next topic was about discussing the candidates for the position of praetor for the city of Krimisa and Aprustum.

    There are many statesmen who have signed up to run as praetor of Krimisa, because it is a port city with excellent conditions. Although Krimisa is adjacent to Crotone, they have now be an ally after all, and Aprustum is in the middle, which naturally made the governing environment to be rtively safe.

    The result of the final voting was that Scambras got the highest number of votes, which had surprised some people. However, when they thought carefully about it, though Scambras is a hot tempered old man, he is a straightforward person and if he makes a mistake, he will correct it. He also doesn''t scheme much and is willing to help the younger generations. Therefore, many people are willing to associate with him.

    ording to thew of Theonia, Davos has the power to veto over any proposal of the Senate, but as long as the proposal is reasonable, he seldom uses this power. Just like now, he thinks that the elected praetor of Krimisa is not bad, and the forthright and friendly character of Scambras may even win the favor of the Krimisians who are hostile to the Theonians. For this reason, he was the first to congratte Scambras.

    ¡°Archon, rest assured. I will make the Krimisians recognize Theonia as soon as possible, while coordinating the rtionship between the locals and the new immigrants¡­.¡± Scambras gave an enthusiastic pledge to Davos.

    Scambras, who is over 50 years old, had already grasped the two major problems that he needs to devote his energy to solve after he bes the praetor of Krimisa, even before taking office, ¡°With you in Krimisa, the senate has nothing to worry about!¡±

    As for the candidates for the praetor of Aprustum, Davos said in advance, ¡°Aprustum is different from Krimisa. It is located in the middle and upper reaches of the Neto river. So from time to time, it is harassed by the Bruttians to the north and it is also necessary to guard against and deter other Greek city-states in the south from coveting the northern in of Crotone, and to also coordinate the rtionship with the Crotonians.¡±

    In addition, Davos told the statesmen that there are a number of Lucanian warriors who are willing to move to Aprustum. As a result, in addition to the Lucanian region(which included Nerulum of course), Aprustum has the highest proportion of Lucanian residents in the cities of Theonia. Therefore, the requirements for the praetor of Aprustum is rtively high. First of all, he should have rtively strong military strength, while making the Lucanians who have not been in Theonia for a long time and are still somewhat free and loose to obey him.

    Letting those statesmen who have suffered from the war with the Lucanians, such as Amendra and Thurii who always had an unforgettable fear in their hearts to deal with them independently. And Vespa and Hemon who likes to make active suggestions on issues concerning Lucania, but when ites to the affairs regarding the Greeks, they will always just calmly watch and only act as voters. While most of the statesmen who were former mercenaries were either unwilling to deal with administrative matters, or they are not capable of doing them, while those with stronger administrative ability, such Antonios and Alexius, also hold important positions and could not leave. Therefore, when the rotating chairperson, Cornelius, announced that those who would like to be the praetor of Aprustum to raise their hands, no one responded for a while.

    When Davos saw this, he was a little surprised. But then, a person''s name came into his mind ¨C Asistes. However, Asistes was not a member of the Senate and ording to thew, he was not allowed to serve as the praetor of a city: He had now realize that those who did not be a statesmen of the Senate before the promulgation of the ¡¶Theonia''s Civil Service Law¡·, had made it harder for them to enter the Senate. For those guys who only wanted to fight, it was undoubtedly impossible for them to enter the administrative affairs and raise their position step by step. So it seems that he needs to add some special articles to the ¡¶Civil Service Law¡· for the strategoi of the legion to enter the Senate¡­.

    Davos, who was thinking about it, then saw a man in the crowd raise his hand. He was once the squad captain of Davos and also his most reliable follower ¨C Hielos!

    For quite some time, Davos was busy with his affairs, while Hielos served as the patrol captain of Amendra, so apart from the meeting in the senate, they didn''t have many opportunities to meet with each other, but he still learned about his performances. With the prosperity of storage, aodation and food in the city of Amendra, arge number of immigrants have poured in, but there has still been no major conflict, which proves the performance of Hielos to be very great. And his ability to deal with emergencies and the fairness of coordinating and solving the conflicts between the residents and the outsiders have been highly praised by the people of Amendra and also the praetor, Cornelius. As for his military strength, Davos evaluated him as good at using hoplites, which is suitable for Aprustum, which was in a special geographical position. So Davos believes that Hielos will not have a big problem winning over the Lucanians with his rich experience as a mercenary. As for administrative experience¡­.

    Davos thought that he could just let Asistes stay in Aprustum for a period of time to help Hielos deal with government affairs. And he believes that with Hielos serious learning attitude, he will soon be able to govern the city independently.

    After a long wait, Hielos was the only one to raise his hand. So Cornelius could only helplessly announce Hielos to be the only candidate for the praetor of Aprustum.

    ¡°As Hielos is the most suitable person, I agree of him bing the praetor of Aprustum!¡± Davos had first made his support clear.

    Afterwards, Kapus, Antonios and the others also agreed, and so the selection of the praetor of Aprustum was determined. Only Cornelius sighed, ¡°Although I would like to congratte Hielos, I still have to express my regret for Amendra''s loss of a good patrol captain!¡±

 Chapter 231: Senate meeting after the war (II)

    Hielos expressed his gratitude at Cornelius for his disguised praise.

    Davos said, ¡°Then allow me to rmend a suitable patrol captain for Amendra.¡±

    Cornelius immediately cheered up, ¡°Lord archon, please go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Epiphanes, he will be an outstanding patrol captain.¡± Davos then pointed to the back.

    ¡°Wha?!¡± Epiphanes, who was talking with Cid in a low voice, had not expected that he would be named and replied in surprised, ¡°Why me?!¡±

    ¡°For you to focus more of your energy on the administrative affairs of the union and set a good example for your men, instead of scourging the young men of Theonia all day long!¡± Said Davos half jokingly.

    Everyone burst outughing. It is widely known that Epiphanes likes beautiful young men. In fact many statesmen also have this hobby, but Epiphanes was more obvious. It is not only a trend, but also a tradition for the Greeks to love and care for young men. Even though Davos felt ufortable, he still showed respect and didn''t want to force a change. Besides this, what Davos appreciates most about Epiphanes is that on the battlefield, he is able to think calmly and deal withplex situations flexibly, and can always aplish the tasks given to him and could even exceed his expectations.

    Under the pressure of Davos and the repeated pleading of Cornelius, Epiphanes could only agree.

    The helpless expression of Epiphanes had once more caused Amintas and the others to burst outughing.

    By this point in the meeting, it was already noon, and Cornelius announced that the meeting would be adjourned for half an hour. Then the ves, who had been waiting outside the Senate hall, immediately came in to give their masters water and food to fill their stomach.

    Even with a half-hour break, Davos still has no free time. So while chewing his bread, he discussed with Scambras and Hielos about the problems that they would need to solve after taking their office and how the two cities should cooperate and strengthen ties with each other in order to cope with the situations that may arise in the south at any time.

    Then Kunogta approached him to discuss how to arrange the five new statesmen. As a statesmen of the senate, their residence should be ced in Thurii in order to make it convenient for them to perform their duties. And even if they were a praetor of other cities, they would still not move out their residence in Thurii. After all, the tenure of a praetor of a city is only two years, while the tenure of a statesman is for life.

    There are a lot of publds in Thurii that are not being used, which is controlled by the senate and will not be granted easily. Naturally, it is not possible to allocate a smallnd for the new statesmen to build their houses for free, because it is clearly stated in the ¡¶Theonian Land Law¡· that even if Davos were to buy and, he still has to pay the market price. But due to the influx of people in this year, the price of residentialnd in Thurii has been increasing again and again, and this trend will definitely increase sharply now that Theonia has defeated Crotone.

    However, Kunogta hopes that thend given to the new statesmen by the senate will be sold at the original price in order to show the sincerity of the senate of Theonia and appease these new people.

    Davos agreed, and had also considered that in case some of the five new Krimisian statesmen really can''te up with the money, the treasury will pay it first and they will then repay it backter.

    At the end of the half-hour break, the senate meeting continued.

    Davos stood up and said his first proposal, ¡°Although Theonia won this war with Crotone, some problems havee out. Among which is the navy, it is the most important and must be urgently solved!¡±

    This sentence had immediately aroused a strong resonance among the statesmen as soon as Davos had said this.

    ¡°The archon is right! In this war, the biggest loss that we have suffered from Crotone was due to their fleets that have gone ashore and continuously plundered, burning down many viges in Thurii and killing many of our people. Up to now, the civil servants in Thurii are still suffering in trying to resettle the people and rebuilding their homes!¡± Comined Kunogta.

    ¡°If we, Theonia, also have a navy, and it is as strong as our army, then Crotone would have long surrendered when we won the battle, and we wouldn''t even need to encircle Krimisa!¡± Emphasized Amintas.

    ¡°The trade of Theonia Union is bing more and more prosperous, and our territory is also expanding rapidly. And so, we need a strong fleet to protect our maritime trade and prevent our long coastline from being attacked by enemy fleets and having our ports blocked by enemy warships!¡± Marigi warned loudly.

    ¡°That''s right! We need a strong navy to protect the security of Theonia Union!¡± Everyone agreed.

    ¡°Now that we have reached a consensus, my proposal is -" Davos looked at everyone and then said, ¡°Besides elerating thepletion of the triremes that are under construction, we will also build seven more triremes this year. I had asked Enanilus about it and told me that Thurii''s shipyard doesn''t have enough docks to fulfill such arge order, but Krimisa also has arge shipyard and has the ability to manufacture triremes, so we can hand in a small part of the order to them. In the future, we will build ten triremes every year, until we have a fleet of triremes five yearster. At the same time, we will also have ten medium-sized warships(i.e, hundred-man warships) and another ten small warships. Thus we will have a more powerful Theonian Navy.¡±

    Everyone thought that the n was feasible, and only Mersis disagreed, ¡°No! No way! With that, the Union will spend more than 100 talents a year! That is too much!¡± (T/N: Ancient Greek currency goes 1 Talent = 60 Minae = 6,000 Drachmae = 36,000 Oboloi.)

    ¡°Although it will cost us a bit more, I think that our treasury can afford it. Last year, we had only collectednd tax,nd rent tax and trade tax alone, but this year, the lowest estimate given by Marigi is that the treasury''s revenue will at least double.¡± When Davos said this, many of the statesmen were surprised. Unknowingly, the revenue of Theonia was almost equal to that of Taranto and Crotone, and it should be more than enough to spend a small part of the money to build a fleet.

    ¡°Lord Mersis and everyone, in fact, it wouldn''t even cost more than a hundred talents to build ten triremes a year.¡± Marigi stood up and reminded them, ¡°The cost of building a warship mainly consists of two parts, one is the timber, and the other is the manufacturing. However, there are countless cedars of high quality in the mountains of our union''s territory, especially in the mountains of Lucania, which are the most suitable when constructing triremes. I heard that back then, there was a special agreement between Athens and Thurii, with Thurii providing Athens with a certain amount of timber for shipbuilding every year.¡±

    ¡°There is indeed such an agreement of Thurii providing Athens with at least a thousand pieces of timber for shipbuilding every year, and if necessary, it will be doubled.¡± Said Enanilus. At the beginning, in order toplete the agreement, the Thurians had cut down arge number of trees for decades. Although they earned some money, the cedar trees in the mountains around Thurii became fewer. Moreover, there were more than a dozenrge shipyards in Athens, and so there was no need to make the ships in Thurii. Therefore, the family of Enanilus had alwaysined about this. Later, there were many barren mountains around Thurii due to excessive logging, and the Thurians soon noticed the disadvantages, and so they began buying timber from the other city-states in Magna Graecia and then selling it to Athens while earning some difference.

    ¡°In thetter part of the war between Athens and Sparta, we were forced to cancel the agreement after the navy of Sparta held the advantage.¡± Added Kunogta.

    Davos nodded. As the archon of the union, he naturally knows about this agreement and even thinks that the reasoning for why the Athenian strategos, Pericles, agreed to the establishment of Thurii and had called for the establishment of a great pan Greek city-state was just a high sounding reason, and the real strategic purpose was for timber. Athens had two natural defects. First, they couldn''t produce much local food and had to rely on imports to maintain the needs of their city-state''s huge poption. Therefore, they have built many colonies along the coast of Greece leading to the ck sea or had controlled major city-states, such as Byzantium, and in order for them to ensure the smooth passage of food from the ck Sea, they need a strong navy. And the Athenians also ambitiously want to build a strong Mediterranean Greek city-state alliance, which also needed a strong navy. However, the second major defect of Athens is that it does not have many forests in its nativend, and there are no trees that can make high-quality warships. What''s more, with the size of Athens navy and merchant ships, the required timber is bound to be a lot. Therefore, looking for timbers for shipbuilding has be a strategic issue rted to whether Athens can maintain its strength. Egypt has no forest and even though Persia has timber, they will not sell it to their enemy, Athens. Though northern Greece and Thrace has forest, it is however located ind, cutting and transportation will be a problem, which will make the cost to be high, so Magna Graecia, which has the Apennine mountains running through it, has be an important timber purchasing location for Athens, and Thurii, which was established by the Athenians, was naturally the main supplier of timber.

    ¡°So I would like to ask the senate to discuss a n to allow the union''s ves to cut down a certain number of cedars every year to be used as timbers for the warship and it wouldn''t even cost us an obol. As for the manufacturing costs-¡± Marigi looked at Enanilus and said, while seemingly joking, ¡°I don''t think that lord Enanilus will charge the union a high fee.¡±

    Enanilus smiled helplessly.

    Everyone thought that Marigi was reasonable, and their worry about the cost dissipated a lot.

    ¡°But have you considered the maintenance of these warships after they are built? It is also a huge expense!¡± Said Mersis unconvinced.

    ¡°Enanilus and I already had a discussion regarding this.¡± Said Davos, and Enanilus nodded indicating that what Davos said is the truth.

    ¡°We will naturally not leave the warships idle at the dock when there is no war. Except for a small part of them that will be use to patrol the coast of the union and some of them getting repaired in the dock, the rest can serve as escorts for the merchant ships, especially in the passage from the estuary of the Adriatic sea to the Greek maind, where there are frequent incidents of piracy. They can also temporarily serve as arge cargo ship in order to transport goods for friendly city states¡­you see, our navy will not only earn its maintenance costs, but it will also train the seamen''s navigation skills, wouldn''t this be great?¡± When Davos finished with his thoughts, Mersis stopped talking.

    ¡°In addition, we need to find a qualifiedmander(nauarch) for theing navy of Theonia. His current task will be to assist the military officer ¨C Philesius, supervise the construction of warships, cooperate with the financial officer ¨C Mersis in auditing the payment, and in the future, when the warship is built, he will also be the one in charge in recruiting sailors and crew members, conducting regr military training, arranging coastal patrol and -¡± Davos said emphatically, ¡°Win the naval battle. Do you have any qualified candidates to rmend?¡±

 Chapter 232: Senate meeting after the war (III)

    The statesmen looked at each other and for a moment, they did not speak. The statesmen that were former mercenaries were proficient innd battle, but not at sea. While the Lucanian statesmen understood mountain warfare, but feared the sea. And Amendra has neither port nor warship, and its statesmen have no experience in naval warfare. So only the statesmen of Thurii are left¡­.

    Kunogta looked at the others and then said, ¡°I rmend Enanilus, who used to be Thurii''s nauarch*.¡± (T/N: Admiral/Navarch)

    The other Thurian statesmen had also expressed their agreement. Davos also recognized the talent of Enanilus in this aspect, otherwise, he would not have discussed with him about the preparation of the navy in advance. And now, the only thing they need to worry about is that the family of Enanilus owned the shipyard, and Davos was worried about his private use of public stuff. But when he thought about it, how could the shrewd and stingy Mersis be fooled.

    ¡®Compared with the army, there are still too few people who know how to do naval warfare!¡¯ Sighed Davos.

    In the end, Enanilus became the nauarch of Theonia¡¯s navy and excitedly said, ¡°We, Theonia, have a strong hoplites, so I no longer need to worry about having our warships being burned down in the port before they could even depart!¡± It seems that the fact that the warships of Thurii were either destroyed or captured by Crotone before they could even depart has always haunted him.

    ¡°The army of Theonia has already gained its prestige. Therefore, the things I need to do is to lead the new navy to actively cooperate with the army and create greater victory for the protection of Theonia Union!¡± With that, all the statesmen, including Amintas, apuded at the inauguration of Enanilus with a smile on their faces.

    Pollux gazed at the figure of Enanilus with a sneer on his face.

    The second proposal of Davos was about the construction of the Roscianum-Krimisa-Aprustum road. As soon as the proposal came out, it was unanimously approved by all the statesmen. Because Theonia has enjoyed the benefits of having roads constructed, and even if Davos did not mention it, the other statesmen will make simr proposals. By now, the Theonians already have a huge difference in concept with the other Greeks, and they no longer think that a city-state only needs to have a convenient maritime transportation and to not even bother to consider the roads and the likes. They not only care about the ess to the sea, but they now also think that building a good road is a necessary infrastructure for the development of a city-state.

    However, the second proposal of Davos is not yet over, and continued, ¡°When we were sieging Krimisa, the herald brought messages between Thurii and Krimisa every day, and they had to travel back and forth for more than 50 kilometers, which exhausted the hoses a lot, and had made some important news to not be delivered in time. I then thought of a question, with the gradual expansion of our territory, the border cities will only get farther and farther away from Thurii which is in the center of our territory, so how can we grasp the situation of the other Theonian cities in time in order for our senate to timely respond in case of some emergencies?¡±

    Davos'' question aroused the spection of everyone.

    ¡°Since the merchant ships, who frequentlye and go, could keep track of the situation in other cities-¡± Marigi then suggested, ¡°Then we can use boats for the delivery of messages, which is fast and doesn''t even need horses.¡±

    ¡°There are several problems in sending messages by boat. First, boats can''t navigate during storms, especially in winter. Second, this will only be applicable to cities with ports, and impossible to deliver from ind cities such as Nerulum and Aprustum. Third, during wars, messages and reports transported by ships are prone to interception due to the sea being too big to be fully defended, and the army can''t always march along the coastline, so how can emergency orders and messages be delivered from the ship to themanders in time?¡±

    When Davos pointed out the disadvantages of using ships to deliver messages, Marigi became unable to respond for a while, and had embarrassedly said, ¡°Milord, I haven''t thought about it yet.¡±

    ¡°It seems that we still have to go bynd. We are now building roads to connect the cities of Theonia, so we can use mules and horses to deliver the messages more quickly and conveniently than before.¡± Said Cornelius.

    ¡°You are right about us needing to rely mainly onnd, and then be supplemented by the sea. I think that what we should do now is to arrange a special personnel to be responsible for the delivery of messages and the daily matters of the city, so I propose for the union to set up a post office.¡± Said Davos with confidence.

    ¡®Post office?!¡¯ Everyone felt unfamiliar with the words that Davos had just spoken. It''s obvious that Davos had made it himself.

    ¡°The main function of the post office is to receive letters and parcels from the people of Theonia and then deliver them to the recipients¡­.¡± Davos gesture with his hands and exined patiently, ¡°We will first set up post offices in every city, then equipped them with personnel who will receive and deliver the letters every day. At the same time, we will set up post stations every 20 kilometers on the main road, which will also have personnel staying there. There will be a simple lodging and also extra horses in the post station, so when a messenger arrives at the post stations, he can go in and have rest, drink water and then continue his work¡­in this way, while the post office usually serve the public, every day the news from the other cities will be gathered to the senate through it, which will allow us to understand the situation in the territory of Theonia. And during wartime, the heralds of the military can use each post station through the main road to replenish their water, change horses and quickly deliver the military orders¡­.¡±

    ¡°This is a wonderful idea!¡± Kunogta kept on praising, ¡°Pos¡­if the post office is established, it will not only help the army and the people, but also strengthen the contact between the people of various cities, and the cities of Theonia will be closer! I think that¡­in the future, we can also set up post offices in our allies to strengthen our exchanges with them.¡± As a statesman who was a former archon, Kunogta immediately understood the bright future brought by the establishment of the post office to Theonia Union.

    ¡°I hope that the post office can be established as soon as possible! When I get to Krimisa, I won''t have to worry too much about my children!¡± Scambras said happily.

    ¡°But I constantly hear you say that ¡®they are not obedient and that you don''t want to live with them¡¯, isn¡¯t that right?¡± Asked Stromboli.

    Scambras raised his head and siad, ¡°Those people that have no children shouldn''t speak.¡±

    This had almost provoked Stromboli to quarrel with him, and made everyoneugh, then persuaded them to stop fighting.

    Mersis then stood up with a bitter face, ¡°Lord archon, regarding the building of a post office and post station. How much does the treasury have to spend on constructing them, the sries of the civil servants and the cost of raising horses?¡±

    Even without the exnation of Davos, Marigi immediately said, ¡°Mersis, do you still not understand?! The post office will charge the delivery of their letters and parcels. There is also lodging in the post stations, so we could also charge the people that want to stay there. Mersis, I don''t know how you became the financial officer!¡±

    Marigi seized the opportunity to make fun of Mersis.

    Mersis didn''t pay him attention, and had instead eagerly asked Davos, ¡°Is there a fee for the delivery? How much?¡±

    Davos nodded, ¡°The main purpose for setting up a post office was to deliver information and make it convenient for the public, so we can''t make it too expensive. Therefore, I think an obol for a letter will do. While the price for the delivery of packages will depend on its size and weight, Marigi and the person that will be in charge of the post office will be the one discussing it.¡±

    ¡°One letter, one obol. I think the public will be happy to ept this price. But I am afraid the post office will be very busy in the future.¡± Laughed Cornelius, ¡°Because after we allocate thend this time, many citizen''s shares ofnd will be in different cities, and this post office will be really needed to send messages in order to strengthen the management of thend.¡±

    The words of Cornelius have resonated with the many statesmen, not only the ordinary citizens gotnds allocated to them, but also the statesmen. Therefore, they all agreed with the proposal of Davos.

    After Mersis calctes the ie of the post office, he found that the ie was considerable and immediately asked, ¡°Will the ie of the post office be turned over to the treasury?¡±

    ¡°After deducting the sries of the personnel and the various costs, the remaining ie will naturally be handed over to the treasury.¡± The words of Davos had made Mersis smile, ¡°In addition, I propose to set up a Road Bureau, which will be responsible for the nning, construction, maintenance and management of the roadside facilities of all the roads in the union.¡±

    The proposal of Davos was also approved by the statesmen who enjoyed the benefit of the road, and they also knew that after a road is built, it will need long-term maintenance, otherwise it will be dpidated in just a few years.

    ¡°Then we will have to charge for the use of the road in the future.¡± Mersis looked at Davos with glistening eyes.

    ¡°Free.¡± Davos uttered a word.

    ¡°Building roads to connect the city will costs us at least more than 10 Tarants* and the subsequent maintenance will also cost us additional expenses, so couldn''t we charge even a little?¡± Asked Mersis. (this does not include the cost of thend use, because thend that will be used for the road is nned in advance before thend is distributed to the citizens and it belongs to the union, so there is no need to spend money. Otherwise, the cost will be more than doubled when the price of thend is included.)

    ¡°The roads are different from the postal service. If we were to charge a fee, most of the people can just not use the road that we have built, which won¡¯t even affect their travels. On the contrary, the road that we built painstakingly to serve the people, will only end up with just a few people using it, which is contrary to our purpose of building the road.¡± Exined Davos seriously.

    ¡°Milord is right! We, the people of Theonia Union can enjoy afortable and smooth road! Can enjoy high technology, but low cost medical care! We can enjoy the convenient¡­.postal service! Our citizens can be allocated and as long as they serve! As long as our citizens pass the test, they will be able to hold public office and get paid!¡­Theonia has created so much happiness for the people. Can Athens, the most prosperous city-state in Greece, do this?¡± Plesinas passionately said.

 Chapter 233: Senate meeting after the war (IV)

    Everyone thought about it and shook their heads. Athens may be the richest city, but they can''t provide so many benefits for its citizens, as a city-state with a long history, they can''t do what Theonia, a newly established city-state union, does because of having too many vested interest groups, deep-rooted legal system and traditional ideas. However, they still manage to take care of themon people in the Greek city-states.

    ¡°Can Persia, the great power of the Mediterranean, do this?¡± Asked Plesinas in a loud voice.

    Everyone shook their heads. Persia is a dictatorship where nobles oppress the civilians and the Persians oppress the other races.

    ¡°Then Theonia is the Elysium of the Greek city-states! I believe that when the Greeks know the rights enjoyed by our citizens, they will certainly be more active in pouring into Theonia!¡± Said Plesinas positively.

    ¡°Plesinas'' guess should be correct. Before the war with Crotone, the number of freemen in the post of Thurii had been growing¡­and now that the war has ended and after we fulfill our promise and even allocatends to the preparatory citizens, it will cause more immigrants to flow into Theonia, therefore, we need to be ready to resettle them.¡± Kunogta took the lead and gave them a warning.

    After hearing this, they were both happy and worried.

    ¡°Now, let me add another right to the citizens of Theonia.¡± Davos then continued, ¡°I just noticed that when you heard Kunogta say that ¡®more immigrants wille to Theonia¡¯, you all seemed worried. What are you all worried about? Are you worried that Theonia will have a difficult time maintaining the city order?! Worried about so many immigrants entering and most of them are civilians with no education, and after they be citizens of Theonia, the overall quality of our citizens will decline?! That it will decline sharply!-¡±

    ¡°You are right lord Davos!¡± Marsyas, a statesman of Thurii, immediately got up and criticized loudly, ¡°Thurii has now such an omen, especially in the port. Those new immigrants with all kinds of ents are rude and uneducated. They often curse and start a fight. I heard that the patrol of the port has to deal with dozens of conflicts in a day. Isn''t that right, Kunogta?¡±

    Kunogta shook his head and seriously corrected him, ¡°It is not that serious. If the freemen want to sessfully be a citizen of the union, they will not dare to vite thew and be disciplined. ording to the statistics, there are no more than five cases a day, and most of them solve the problems by themselves before the patrol team could even arrive.¡±

    Marsyas brought contempt to himself and could only mutter to himself, ¡°There are only three conflicts in a day¡­.¡±

    Pollux looked at Marsyas fiercely.

    Davos smilingly said, ¡°Because of these problems, my next proposal is to set up an akademia in Thurii, where all citizens of Theonia can send their children to learn literacy, arithmetic, painting, music and sports after paying a small fee¡­.¡±

    ¡®Akademia?!¡¯ Everyone pondered over this new word. At this time, the Athenian Akademia had not yet been established, and so the way for the Greeks to receive education was mainly to rely on the rich nobles and rich people to hire private teachers and buy educated ves to educate their children. Or famous schrs setting up private schools, collecting expensive tuition fees and recruiting disciples. It was unheard of having the city-state to fund a school to educate citizens'' children collectively! But the statesmen were very interested, and most of them felt that it would truly be of help to solving the problem of low cultural quality of the citizens of Theonia, so they began asking questions one after another.

    Regarding the akademia, Davos was very familiar with it and with his experience of his previous life,bined with the actual situation of this life, he easily answered their questions.

    For example, Amintas put forward, ¡°What if the citizens also want to study?¡±

    Davos answered him with, ¡°We will set up a special ss in the akademia to educate the adults. Its curriculum and education method are different from that of the childrens, which will make it easier for them to be literate quickly.¡±

    For example, Kunogta''s question is, ¡°Children of different ages have different levels of education, so how can they benefit and advance?¡±

    Davos answered him with, ¡°There are three levels of education: Primary, Secondary and Advance. Children who have never learned anything will join the primary ss and begin to learn how to recognize words, count and read¡­for the children who are already literate and have a certain foundation in arithmetic, they will enter the secondary ss to learn how to use words to make sentences, write and be able to performplex calction operations¡­while advance ss is mainly to master the rhetoric of words, speech, argumentation, and to be able to calcte arge number ofplicated equations¡­this is to prepare for the training of logographer*, ountants, intermediate civil servants and other high-ranking talents of the union¡­.¡± (T/N: logographer ¨C is a title applied to professional authors of judicial discourse in Ancient Greece. In Ancient Greece, thew required the litigant to make his care in front of the court with two sessive speeches. So if a litigant does not feel confident to make his own speech, he would need to seek the service of a logographer to whom he would describe his case. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logographer_(legal))

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The statesmen were satisfied with the detailed answers given by Davos, and even Kunogta, who rarely praised others in public, could not help but marvel, ¡°Milord archon, I now truly think that you are favored by the gods, otherwise, you wouldn''t be able to put forward so many wonderful ideas and have aplete n to implement it at the same time!¡±

    Kunogta''s words were approved by the statesmen.

    Davos continued with a smile, ¡°I propose Ansitanos to be the one in charge of the school.¡±

    ¡°Agree!¡± The statesmen all agreed. Because the most knowledgeable one in the senate is without a doubt, Ansitanos, who was a disciple of Herodotus. Naturally, some people think that Davos, who was rumored to be illiterate but was enlightened by Hades, and has always been mysterious and whose knowledge is hard to estimate, is also knowledgeable.

    ¡°Ah? Me¡­.¡± Ansitanos, who was sitting in the back row and with his thoughts wandering in the sky, shook his head and refused, ¡°I can''t, I don''t have the time! Thucydides haspleted his ¡¶History of the Peloponnesian War¡· and was said to be highly praised by the Athenians, but my ¡¶History of Magna Graecia¡· hasn''t even been written yet!¡±

    At their repeated request, and with Davos and the other statesmen even giving their promise to try their best to contribute materials to Ansitanos'' creation and to seriously cooperate if he wanted to interview them¡­.

    Only after all of these did Ansitanos reluctantly epted it, but he immediately began toin, ¡°Milord, it''s not that I didn''t want to manage the school, it''s just that Thurii, who is only one of the city of Theonia, has thousands of children! And lord archon, you had even said to teach them Greek, arithmetic, painting, music and so on. How many teachers do you think it would need to teach them all of these?! We can¡¯t find that many teachers in Theonia Union to teach the children!¡±

    After saying that, everyone immediately realizes that it is indeed a problem. However, Davos had obviously already thought about it and said calmly, ¡°There are indeed not enough teachers in Theonia Union, but there are in other city-states. When we were in urgent need of Silphium, we specially reduced the tariff for it in order to encourage the merchants of Cyrenaica to transport it to the port of Thurii inrge quantities for sale. So since we are short of teachers, we can naturally make a preferential bill for them in order to encourage foreign schrs to activelye to Theonia!¡±

    The statesmen were lost in their thoughts and Ansitanos asked, ¡°What kind of bill will it be?¡±

    ¡°My proposal is¡­all foreigners thate to Theonia as teachers, even if they are ves, will immediately acquire citizenship of Theonia! But the premise is that they should first pass the examination of our senate to make sure that they have the ability to serve as teachers¡­erm¡­Asitanos can be the one to lead this assessment. But once they get their citizenship and be teachers in the union''s schools, then they must devote their whole life to teaching their knowledge to the children. And if they were to change their professions, then their citizenship will be immediately cancelled and be deported! In addition, the union''s citizenship only applies to the teachers themselves, and therefore, their children will not inherit it unless they also be teachers¡­.¡±

    Everyone became interested at the proposal of Davos.

    Ansitanos, who didn''t care about being the school administrator at the beginning, excitedly said at this moment, ¡°Since Plesinas and Kunogta thought that the Greeks envied the citizens of Theonia and wanted to be Theonian citizens, then I think the situation of Theonia ofcking teachers will soon change!¡­I remember that there was a union''s bill for the physicians before, and now, there is a proposal that favors the teacher. Milord, physicians and teachers are two sacred professions besides the priests of the gods. One is to heal the bodies of people, and the other one is to improve the minds of the people. I thank the archon for your foresight! And I also hope to get your support! With this, the senate of Theonia fully showed their respect for knowledge! And will make our union not only have prosperous trade, powerful military, but also a cultural brilliance! Theonia Union will then be the greatest city-state union!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the evening of the meeting, two other people said that they had a proposal to say and had made the statesmen to order the guards to light the candles in order for them to continue the meeting.

    The first one to speak was Scambras, who had first given his apologies, ¡°Everyone, I am sorry for dying all of you from going home for dinner. Just now, I had consulted lord Davos, Kapus and Hieronymus in detail and I had learned that there is arge marsh in the north of Krimisa, especially in spring, when the rain overflows, it will make the marsh to expand outward, which will affect the road traffic and will upy the farnds¡­.I wonder if we can use a lot ofbor to fill up the marsh and build a dam for the river, which will not only ensure the safety of the territory and prevent the urence of epidemics, it will also increase the fertilend by arge area!¡­.¡±

    ¡°Old man, you have just been elected as the praetor of Krimisa, yet before you could even take your office, you have already begun carrying out your management of Krimisa!¡± Protesus jokingly said whileughing.

    ¡°What? Kid, do you have a problem with that?!¡± Scambras then red at the Amendran junior that he had watched grow up.

 Chapter 234: The plan for Grumentum and the battle on the sea near Scylletium

    Protesus shrugged his shoulder and stopped talking.

    ¡°The technology of draining and filling in the marshes, sinkholes and mudts is a mature technology that we Greeks often use. And the people of Thurii used to build dams on the upper banks of the Cosceli river during rainy season, so we can technically do as what lord Scambras had suggested.¡± Then Kunogta asked seriously, ¡°However, it takes a lot of manpower and materials to fill such arge marsh area and turn it into farnd. Have you considered all of these?¡±

    ¡°Didn''t you just say that there will be a huge influx of freemen in Theonia in the future?! We can recruit arge number of freemen to do this project. For these freemen who will make great contributions to Theonia Union, we should not only shorten their citizen evaluation as incentives, but also to consider giving them an allocatednd in the marsh area, so as to urge them to work harder! Also¡­considering the breeding of mosquitoes there, I hope that Herpus can send physicians to help the people once they get sick and prevent the disease from happening¡­.¡± Scambras kept on talking and also said that although he has never been an archon of a city-state before, he will devote himself to the role of the praetor of Krimisa, and will use his long life experience to think about the problems carefully and to consider things more thoughtfully.

    ¡°Of course, there will not be any problem regarding this.¡± Herpus then immediately added, ¡°We can give our support at any time!¡±

    ¡°Mersis, don''t worry about the money!¡± Scambras then turned to look at the financial officer and said in a loud voice, ¡°Think of how much farnd can the marsh provide once we sessfully transform it! And how muchnd tax you can collect from it! And all of these can be collected every year! Mersis, use your head and think about it!¡±

    Mersis helplessly raised his hand, ¡°Elder, no need to bother, I agree.¡±

    ¡°Does anyone else disagree?¡± The rotating chairperson, Cornelius, asked.

    Everyone, including Davos, shook their heads. Scambras had managed to take care of all the problems by himself.

    Next one to stand up was Vespa, ¡°Milord, I have received a message from Nerulum, ¡®The army of Potentia is approaching the city of Grumentum, and Cincinnag is afraid of the original tribes of Grumentum that he had forcibly annexed, so he did not lead his army to go out of the city to meet the enemy. And now, he is just trying to hold on to the city of Grumentum and he just kept on sending his people to Nerulum in hopes to form an alliance with us to fight Potentia.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Cincinnag has a great idea.¡± Davos then said with a faint smile, ¡°What do you think about this?¡±

    Vespa hesitated for a moment and then said, ¡°I don''t think that it is necessary to form an alliance with Pyxous. The previous events have proven that Cincinnag is not trustworthy. And the battle between Potentia and Pyxous, no matter who wins, the strength of both sides will be weakened, which is very beneficial for Theonia!¡±

    Davos was very happy to see Vespa being able to think like this, which shows that he is already used to the life of the union, and will consider the interest of the union. So he said, ¡°Lord Vespa is correct! However, we will naturally not refuse him strongly, and just say that Theonia has just gone through a great war and needed to rest. Therefore, we are unable to start another war for a while.¡±

    Vespa then expressed his understanding.

    At this time, Hemon said, ¡°It''s not only Cincinnag who hase to asked us, but also the original tribes of Grumentum have also quietly sent their people to contact us, they hope to get our help to drive away Pyxous and the Potentians.¡±

    ¡°What will they give us in exchange?¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°They said ¡®We are willing to be a subordinate of Theonia.¡¯¡± Answered Hemon.

    ¡°It seems that this condition can be considered.¡± Protesus seemed to be a bit interested and had joined in the conversation.

    Davos looked at him and at the other statesmen who were agreeing, and then sneered, ¡°These tribes had once betrayed their great leader, Lusau, and theyter shed with Pyxous. So with just these sentences, the tribes of Grumentum wanted us to fight against the two great forces of Lucania, Potentia and Pyxous, is that possible?! At present, Krimisa and Aprustum need arge number of citizens and preparatory citizens to settle down, and so for a period of time, Theonia''s army will be involved in a series of problems, such as division and reformation. Hence it is impossible for us to send enough soldiers to Lucania. Besides, Bagul, how much role do you think that our hoplites can y in the mountains of Lucania?¡±

    Bagul thought for a while and frankly said, ¡°The reason we were able to capture Nerulum was because of our sneak attack, and though we didn''t even fight the Lucanian warriors head-on, it is, however, difficult for the hoplites to gain the upper hand fighting the Lucanian warriors in the mountains. Just our soldiers walking on the mountain road can already consume a lot of their stamina. Moreover, we are not familiar with the terrain, and on the narrow mountain road, the enemy doesn''t even need to fight us head-on at all, as they only need to push a few rocks to cause us heavy losses, not to mention the difficulty of transporting food.¡±

    ¡°Bagul is right! When we were in Persia, we often encountered simr difficulties when we were going through the mountains of Armenia, and no matter how brave our hoplites were, they couldn''t even do a thing at all.¡± Alexius immediately said, and then the statesmen who were former mercenaries agreed with the words of Bagul one after another.

    The statesmen that have the mostbat experience were not optimistic about fighting in the mountains, which had made Protesus to feel a bit ashamed. However, he was able to recognize his mistakes and said with shame, ¡°It seems that I was a little bit proud of our sessive victories that we have won some time ago.¡±

    The statesmen who agreed to ept the conditions of the tribes of Grumentum also bowed their heads in shame. In the past, war was a painful thing for Thurii and Amendra. However, since theing of Davos, it made them think that victory is easy and has given them the illusion that the soldiers of Theonia are invincible! And so they began to be a bit arrogant.

    However, Davos did not lose his caution. He clearly remembers that when Rome began to conquer Italy in history, the biggest obstacle they encountered was not the Greek city-states along the coast, nor the fierce Gallic tribes in the north, but was the Samnites in the mountainous area in central Italy. When the Roman heavy infantry that dominated the in attacked the Samnites in the mountainous area, they were almost unable to even make a move. The battlested for decades and the Romans have suffered several defeats and were forced to seek peace in humiliation. Davos naturally does not want to repeat the mistakes of Rome.

    ¡°So we are not going to attack Lucania? Archon, don''t forget that you have promised us that we will upy the Lucanian region!¡± A man stood up and questioned Davos.

    It was Pollux! Kunogta, Burkes and the others frowned, while Kapus and Amintas were even more upset, but Davos remained calm, ¡°Just because we aren''t going to attack Lucania doesn''t mean that we are going to give it up. When Potentia and Pyxous goes to war, the most affected are the small tribes scattered in thend near Grumentum and the ordinary people in the city. Hemon told me that the Lucanians who fled to Nerulum said that both Pyxous and Potentia were raiding their cattle, sheep and belongings and had even forced them to be the vanguards¡­.¡±

    ¡°Indeed lord archon. When these people came to Nerulum, they saw that the Lucanians who had be citizens of Theonia were very rich, and had be so envious! And now, they yearn for Grumuntum for its peace to restore so that they can continue to live a quiet life under the protection of a powerful force.¡± Hemon solemnly said, ¡°And we are the only ones who can help them to make their wishe true!¡±

    ¡°So you should send more of your men to do more activities near Grumentum, preferably if they can infiltrate the city, so that these Lucanians who have been affected by the war can understand all of these.¡± Said Davos.

    Hemon nodded in agreement.

    ¡°Bagul, when you go back, tell Sesta to gather all the young Lucanians in Nerulum, and start carrying out the training ording to the originalbat of the Lucanians. However, it would be better to follow the current organization of the troops as it would be more disciplined. In addition, we should keep it a secret and not let the enemy in the north find out.¡±

    The words of Davos made Bagul excited, ¡°When will we attack?¡±

    ¡°Wait for a bit.¡± Uttered by Davos, he then looked around the crowd and said, ¡°I''d rather have Potentia and Garaguso be the vassals of Theonia than let Grumentum be out of our control! The position of the city of Grumentum is very important, as it controls the ess to the north, east and west of Italy, so it must be fully controlled by Theonia herself!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Crotone''s force had just arrived at Scylletium and continued to move south after joining with the small number of reinforcements from Terina and Scylletium. The Crotonian fleet, on the other hand, sailed southward, past Scylletium and almost went close to the sea near Caulonia.

    At this time, the most forward reconnaissance ship sent back a message: ¡®There is a fleet of Locri ahead!¡¯

    The nauarch/strategos of the Crotonian navy, Askamas, immediately ordered the fleet to slow down and to lower the sails, and to arrange the ships and prepare for battle!

    Soon, the warships that had received the orders gathered together to form a formation in which the triremes were in the center and the otherrge and smaller warships were on its nk. They sailed as close to the coast as possible, because of the east wind. Although the sails were lowered, it was still possible to take advantage of the wind, allowing the sailors to save some of their strength, hence why the fleet tried its best to seize the windward position.

    Before the formation was finished, Locri''s fleet appeared on the sea less than a nautical mile away from them.

    Askamas then decisively gave the order to speed up the ship and prepare to attack.

    From west to east, the Crotonian fleet was divided into five columns with ten ships in each column. They were ready to rush into the defensive line of the enemy ships with the extremely fast ships, and then use the advantage of many ships to achieve a one-on-one or two-on-one battle situation (this was the usual naval tactics created by the Athenians to fight more with less.)

 Chapter 235: Crotones Call for Reinforcement

    Although the Locrians have fewer ships, they did not even hesitate to attack as well. The ships of both sides quickly sailed towards each other and crossed paths, but the Locrian¡¯s ship did not stop to tangle with the enemy and had continued to speed, which was beyond the expectations of the Crotonians, thus allowing them to easily break away from the Crotonian fleet at the slight cost of two ships.

    ¡®Do they want to escape?!¡¯ Askamas was surprised at seeing the performance of the Locrian fleet.

    However, the action of the Locrian fleet had once again surprised him. After taking a certain distance from the Crotonian fleet, the Locrian fleet turned its bow again and took an offensive position.

    Askamas didn''t even think about the reason why the Locrians did those extra work for.

    Instead, he ordered his fleet to follow suit.

    Then the two fleets quickly approached each other again, but this time, the Locrian fleet did not escape.

    Then the ships of both sides intertwined, circled and crashed against each other.

    Sea battles are different from that ofnd,nd battles paid extreme attention to formations, and so once the formation is broken, then it often means defeat, but sea battles once it starts, the formation will be scattered and often do individual duel between ships, and to win will depend on the superiority and inferiority of the ships and the skilful ship handling skills of the captains and the sailors.

    Crotone and Locri have known each other for decades. And Askamas was very clear about the strength of the fleet, theposition of the crew, and even the characteristics of the enemy nauarch, and he firmly believes that it was only a matter of time before he could win the naval battle with the advantage of his fleet having six more triremes.

    During the battle, Askamas¡¯ ship went backward with great skill and speed, narrowly avoiding the impact of the enemy ship on the center of their ship. And after escaping the danger, the enemy ship was now ced in front of the bow of his ship. This was a great opportunity, so how could he let it go? So Askamas immediately ordered the sailors to stop rowing backward and move forward again.

    But the enemy ship also spun quickly and turned its bow towards the seat of Askamas.

    Although the enemy ships responded quickly, the experienced Askamas did not give up, and as his ship approached the enemy ships at a high speed, and were about to cross paths with each other, Askamas yelled, ¡°Reel in the oars!¡±

    The keleust¨¥s(boatswain) who was listening to the order in the bottom cabin had immediately conveyed the order to the rowers. The well-trained men immediately pulled back the wooden oars, while the enemy ship had just passed over the bow and had no time to collect the oars. The 20 meters long triremes had smashed most of the wooden oars of the enemy ship close to its side due to the huge inertia and made the enemy ship unable to move forward.

    Just as the sailors cheered and Askamas was ready to turn the bow andpletely sink the enemy''s ship, a fleet of triremes suddenly appeared behind the Crotonian fleet and immediatelyunched an attack on them.

    The Crotonian fleet was in danger of being caught in a pincer.

    In the end, the Crotonian fleet was badly defeated, with some ships sunk, some captured and some were severely damaged. And Askamas could only lead a handful of ships to break out of the enemy''s encirclement.

    On the way back to Crotone, Askamas thought bitterly about where the extra ships of Locri hade from.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The naval victory had encouraged the Locrian army that was sieging Caulonia. Early the next morning, when the Crotonian''s reinforcements arrived near the city, the Locrian army, despite their fatigue due to their attack on the city, had immediately attacked the reinforcements from Crotone.

    While the Crotonian army did not shy away from the challenge.

    As a result, both sides fought a fierce battle on the outskirts of the northern part of the city of Caulonia.

    In terms of military strength, Locri was a bit stronger, but due to the need to divide their troops in order to besiege Caulonia, the two sides only had a small difference in troops. However, the majority of the Locrian army were hoplites and light armoured infantry, while Crotone has a clear advantage in regards to the light infantryposed of carefully selected freemen.

    The strategos of Locri was worried about the impact of the Crotonian hoplites, and so he had thickened the column. However, the Crotonians had learned a lot from the bitter experience of fighting against the Theonian army. Therefore, just after the formation waspleted, they immediately sent the light infantry to attack, and due to the small number of light infantry on the side of Locri, they were soon defeated.

    Then the Crotonian light infantry began throwing javelins at the Locrian army and the infantry of Locri then began to suffer huge numbers of casualties.

    In the face of the overwhelming hoplite charge of Locri, the Crotonian light infantry who neither has the strict organization and discipline as the Theonian light infantry, nor an experienced veterans to stabilize the morale of the army, nor has excellent and flexible strategoi like Epiphanes, Cid and Arpenst, nor has the stimtion of getting citizenship,nds and other rewards, what''s more, the Crotonian hoplites had no extra space for them to retreat, and so both the light infantry and the hoplites could only flee the battlefield in panic. As a result, many light infantry couldn''t escape and died under the charge of the hoplites of Locri. After finally escaping, and with the efforts of the strategoi, the light infantry tried to regroup but was immediately attacked by the cavalry of Locri and was forced to disperse again.

    However, the attack of the light infantry had also consumed and dispersed the strength of the infantry of Locri, and now, only infantry vs infantry is left on the battlefield. One side had juste out of the sufferings at the hands of Theonia, and their body has not yet recovered. While on the other side, they had attacked Caulonia in session and hadn''t gotten enough rest. One side has fewer soldiers, but they have the determination to wash away their humiliation and defend their territory, while the other side has more soldiers, but their morale is slightly low after being attacked by the light infantry.

    After nearly two hours of battle, Locri finally gave up and retreated.

    In this battle, the number of casualties in Crotone was simr to that with Locri. However, the majority of the casualties of Crotone were freemen.

    Although Locri was defeated, the casualties were not serious and they had also stopped their siege on Caulonia.

    Due to this, the reinforcement of Crotone managed to smoothly enter the city of Caulonia and were warmly weed by the people in the city, but the situation was not favorable to Crotone.

    And the Locrian army retreated to the camp south of the city, and are still eyeing Caulonia.

    While the fleet of Locri cruises the sea and blocks the sea routes of Crotone. And due to this, Crotone has now also felt the pain that Theonia had suffered before.

    At this time, the city of Crotone had most of their troops out of the city, while Locri still had some extra strength left. Two dayster, more than a thousand Locrian soldiersnded on the coast between Crotone Scylletium, and had begun their invasion to the territory of Crotone northward while they burned, ughtered and plundered along the way.

    After experiencing the tragic defeat of the naval battle, the Crotonians were once again frightened by the news of the invasion of Locri. And the council used Lysias of doing whatever he wants and making the city empty and are now unable to send troops to repel the enemy''s invasion.

    Lysias did not refute the council''s criticism of him, as he was also shocked by the disastrous defeat of the Crotonian fleet. At this time, he could only propose to the council to mobilize the whole city and send envoys to Theonia and Aprustum to ask for help.

    In this situation, Crotone actually has no other way out, it''s just that they had just ended the war with Theonia, and there are still some hatred for Theonia in the whole city that had not disappear, however, they had to beg Theonia for help, which made both the members of the council and the public to be embarrassed.

    Aprustum was not far from Crotone, with great speed, Sisticos managed to arrive at the south gate of Aprustum in less than two hours.

    Although Theonia had made peace with Crotone, they still did not rx their defense of Aprustum and had instead made it stricter, with groups of sentries patrolling back and forth in the city wall and guards being stationed in front of the city gate, and though there are only a few pedestrians going in and out of the city gate, the guards still continue to diligently carry out their task, which made Sisticos able to patiently ept the inspection of the guards.

    Then the captain of the city guard appeared before and had brought with him the order from the praetor of the city, Hielos, that allows him to enter the city.

    As soon as he entered the city, he was surprised by what he saw: The main street, which was not wide, had some people digging ditches on both sides of the street, while some people struck the stones stacked on the roadside with hammers and awls, and then spread the cut stones on the dirt road, and some others were tearing down some of the building that hinders the smooth road and were rebuilding the brick walls¡­.

    There were also those who were carrying soils, stones and garbage¡­countless strong men were busy with their work and had turned this ce into a big construction site. Everyone was doing a lot of work and almost no one stopped to look at him.

    ¡°What are they doing?¡± Asked Sisticos with curiosity.

    The captain replied, ¡°Because we will be moving here in the future, so we need to build our own home because the roads in this city are too narrow and uneven, and the garbage and sewages were everywhere¡­.¡±

    The captain said a lot of the city¡¯s disadvantages, which made Sisticos feel amused, he had oftene to Aprustum and felt that it was no different from Taranto, so how could this Theonian say that? And so he immediately asked, ¡°Are you not Greeks?¡±

    ¡°We are Lucanians, but we are citizens of Theonia!¡± Said by the captain of the city guard loudly.

    ¡°You speak Greek well.¡± Then, with a word of praise, Sisticos changed the subject, ¡°I have heard that the Lucanian region is full of mountains, barrennd, and you often could barely eat. So I didn''t expect that you would care so much about your living environment.¡±

    ¡°Ever since our tribe joined Theonia, we no longer suffer from hunger!¡± The captain, blushed as if he had been humiliated and said loudly, ¡°Though the ce where we used to live is not as good as the houses here, it is still not good enoughpared to what I have seen in Thurii!¡±

 Chapter 236: Hielos Decision

    The captain then continued loudly, ¡°The legion engineers often tell us that ¡®building a t road will make walking easier, and digging ditches for the sewage and taking away the garbages can keep the city clean, while the viaduct brings clear water directly into the city, saving us the trouble of carrying the water back and forth and allowing for the continuous use of water¡­.¡¯

    Praetor Hielos had also told us of what lord Davos had said, ¡®All facilities that gives convenience to the people in Thurii should also be build in other cities of Theonia, so that every Theonian citizens, whether in Thurii or in other cities, can enjoy a clean and convenient life!¡­.¡¯¡±

    The excited voice of the captain had attracted some of the soldiers that were working to look. For fear of causing any misunderstanding, Sisticos no longer talked back and the captain also did not want to say anything more to the Crotonian envoy who looked down on the Lucanians.

    While walking quietly, Sisticos saw schr like people measuring something with instruments at the corner of the street(it''s a framing square which is used to measure whether the building is perpendicr or not) and some people use lime powder to draw lines on the roadside and telling the soldiers where to dig the ditch¡­everyone¡¯s expression was so attentive and had made Sisticos to be somewhat interested.

    The Greeks can build solemn and grand temples, grand arenas, exquisite and solid amphitheatre¡­even though they have the most advanced construction technologies in the Mediterranean of this era, they do not apply it to improve the lives of the people. And the people are also used to their simple material life and devote their energies to politics, sports,petitions, drama¡­it seems that the Theonians are the only one that invest a lot of manpower and material resources in roads, bridges, ditches, viaducts, and other infrastructure that the Greek city-states are not willing to do. Sisticos has never been to the newly build Thurii, but the Theonian road is quite famous in the whole Magna Graecia, and it seems that even the barbaric Lucanians yearns for the way of life created by Theonia, so there must be something attractive about it¡­unconsciously, he arrived at the city hall of Aprustum and met Hielos, who had just taken his post for only less than two days, and the temporary garrison officer ¨C Asistes.

    After listening to the request of Sisticos, Hielos and Asistes became slightly surprised. After all, the bloody war with Crotone has just ended and has now be allies. But the Crotonians, who were once their enemies, are now asking them for their help¡­.

    Even though the two strategoi have been on the battlefield for a long time, they still somewhat have a hard time epting it emotionally.

    Hielos said with cautiousness, ¡°Helping Crotone to defend against Locri means that Theonia will fight Locri. Deciding such a huge decision is not up to us as it needs the permission of the senate of Theonia.¡±

    ¡°We naturally understand this. Therefore, we have also sent another envoy to Thurii on a fast ship. But Locri''s army has already invaded ournd and started burning our viges and killing our people¡­I am afraid that once the order of the senate of Theonia arrives, many of our people would have lost their lives! And a lot of houses will be burned down!¡­.¡± Sisticos begged and said with tears, ¡°Since the foundation of Theonia, you have always kept your promise. So as an ally of Crotone, will Theonia just watch Crotone suffer and perish?!¡±

    The two strategoi who did not have much political experience felt a bit embarrassed. So Asistes could only say that on the ground that the matter was so important, they would need to discuss it, and so he led Sisticos, who was wiping his tears, out.

    When Asistes returned to the hall, Hielos had already regained hisposure and said, ¡°Asistes, I will agree to the request of the envoy of Crotone. I will send our troops to the west bank of the Targines river to prevent Locri from entering the core area of Crotone.¡±

    ¡°What?! You will make lord Davos extremely angry if you go to war with Locri without the permission of the senate!¡± Asistes remembered that in Nerulum, Sesta had taken the initiative and caused himself to be criticized by Davos, so he immediately shook his head like a rattle, ¡°No! This will definitely not work!¡±

    ¡°Who said that we need to go to war with Locri in order to stop them? We will instead do this¡­.¡± Hielos said carefully of his own considerations.

    After hearing this, Asistes thought about it carefully with a slight worry on his face, ¡°Isn''t this too risky?! What if Locri really attacks our troops regardless of everything?¡±

    ¡°Asistes, you should know that even though Theonia Union had only been established for only less than a year, we have a high reputation in Magna Graecia, not only for our sessive military victories, but also because lord Davos had always led us to stick to our own beliefs! When we were very weak, we didn''t even give up our alliance with Thurii in the face of the powerful Crotone. Now that our allies are asking us for help, and don''t lend a helping hand even though we can, then what is the use of the defense alliance agreement that we have just signed with Crotone?! What will the Crotonians think? When we came here, Lord Davos and the senate warned us that we should keep the peace and friendship with Crotone, so in this situation, can we still achieve it?! Will the other city-state in Magna Graecia still believe that we Theonians can keep our promise? I know that if lord Davos was in the face of this situation, he would not hesitate to send troops to protect Crotone! If Locri dares to attack, then we would just fight back without hesitation!¡±

    Asistes was slightly touched after hearing Hielos say those words with seriousness, and defended himself in a low voice, ¡°It''s not that I do not agree in sending troops, it''s just that I want to get the instruction of lord Davos first.¡±

    ¡°It would take more than a day at the earliest for the order to arrive, and by then, Locri would have already crossed the Targines river and caused great losses to the outskirts of Crotone. Since we want to help Crotone, then it is a must to be there when they need us the most!¡±

    Hielos spoke with a firm and powerful tone, and Asistes was moved by it, ¡°Erm, I agree. But we need to send a herald to Thurii as soon as possible to exin our decision!¡±

    ¡°That''s natural!¡± Said Hielos and nodded.

    Sisticos was informed by Hielos that Theonia would fulfill their agreement and Aprustum would send troops to help Crotone defend their territory. Sisticos was unable to restrain his excitement and repeatedly thanked Hielos and Asistes.

    Once Hielos made the decision to set out, the whole Aprustum began to take action, and the 2,500 troops of the third legion were quickly assembled and were led by Asistes to immediately set out south, while Hielos just left about 500 men to defend Aprustum.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The thousand men vanguard of Locri met almost no resistance and smoothly approached Targines river, while leaving behind a piece of ruins. If it was the ancient times hundreds of years ago where the war between the city-states was still tender, the two sides would have agreed on the time and ce for the battle, and before the battle starts, there was even a duel between warriors, and the victorious side seldom chased the loser. But now, the war between city-states became very fierce with the defeated side getting destroyed. Therefore, when the powerful party were to attack, the weaker side naturally can only hide in their city and defend, and if the attackers are not willing to attack the city, then they can instead choose to destroy the farnds, burn viges and ughter people¡­it''s amon practice in order to force the other side to fight. For example: During the Peloponnesian War, when Sparta attacked Athens bynd, Athens knew that they could notpete with Sparta, so the Athenians hid in the long wall of Athens, which had led to the Attica region to be trampled by into a barren wilderness.

    These means can also weaken the morale of the enemy city-state, just like what the Theonian soldiers did in Crotone and what the Crotonian soldiers did on the Sybaris ins. And the decades-long feud between Locri and Crotone had given the people of Locri another purpose in doing these things ¨C to vent their anger. Therefore, they did it thoroughly and had even slowed down their march.

    Hearing that the Targines river was not far ahead, the soldiers of Locri wished to cross it immediately and rush into the core of Crotone to burn and loot. But when they rushed to the west bank of the Targines river, they found an army in front of them blocking their way.

    Theophantes, the strategos who was leading the army of Locri, began to murmur to himself, ¡®Didn''t the navy say that Crotone had sent all their soldiers and had emptied their city? Are they newly recruited freemen?¡¯

    When he looked closely, he saw that the army in front of him was arranged in a neat phnx formation, and each of them was tall and upright, with helmet, chest armor, shin armor, round shield, spear, which is a full hoplite equipment. The whole phnx formation was silent like a mountain, but their oppressive momentum had made the Locris, who were still talking andughing, be quiet.

    ¡°Look at the g!¡± Someone pointed to the center of the phnx formation on the opposite side, which was holding a red g high, and eximed.

    The soldiers with good eyes can see that at the top of the g is a bronze statue with wings and a sword.

    ¡°That looks like the god of death.¡± Said someone with uncertainty.

    God of death?! Theophantes remembered what Metofeles, who had just returned to Locri a few days ago, told the council regarding what he had seen and heard in Theonia. He immediately realized that this unusual army ahead was not from Crotone, but Theonia, who had forced Crotone to make peace with them not long ago, a mysterious city-state that did not even exist a year ago, but is now ying an important role in the city-state alliance in Magna Graecia!

    Theophantes immediately became nervous and began to reorganize his scattered ranks.

    At this time, a small group of cavalry came from the opposite side and stood about 50 meters away from the formation of Locri. And the strategos in the middle, wearing a helmet with a purple crest, spoke out loud, while the other cavalry served as the herald, ¡°I am Asistes, a senior centurion of the third legion of Theonia Union! Theonia and Crotone have signed a defensive alliance, and ording to the agreement, Theonia has the responsibility to protect the territory of Crotone! Locri, Theonia has no intention to go war with you, but if you continue to stay in thends of Crotone, then we will have to drive you out!¡±

    Amotion in the formation of Locri broke out.

    Damn! Theophantes murmured, and the most worrying thing had finally happened.

    When the news of the alliance between Theonia and Crotone reached Locri a few days ago, it had shocked the whole council and everyone began denouncing Crotone for their shamelessness and cowardness.

 Chapter 237: Spartas Syssitia

    Some Locrians have backed out and proposed that Crotone is already enough to keep Locri in check, and now they have a much more powerful ally that Locri couldn¡¯t match. Therefore, they should withdraw their troops immediately!

    At the same time, many people were against it and said that this is a rare opportunity to beat Crotone, and what''s more, Theonia and Crotone are just in a defensive alliance and so the Theonians should not intervene. Moreover, the war between them has just ended, so Theonia''s losses should be great, and their hatred to the Crotonians shouldn''t have been eliminated immediately and they definitely would not do their best to help Crotone. Therefore, they should seize this opportunity to attack!

    Both sides continued to argue for a while until Demodekas brought good news about Syracuse agreeing to assist them, which turned the worries of the statesmen of the council into joy and agreed to continue the war.

    When the council of Locri sent Theophantes to attack Crotone, they had only mostly considered that Theonia would not send their troops. Therefore, the council did not even determine the specific measures of what they should do if Theonia were to send troops.

    Now that the Theonians were standing in front of them, Theophantes mind went nk, ¡®Attack?!¡­this means war with Theonia!¡¯ As a member of the council, he knew in his heart that the reason for the wishful thinking of the council of Locri was that they were too excited to defeat Crotone and therefore ignored the existence of any variables, and Theonia was undoubtedly the biggest variable. The Theonians were able to defeat Crotone, whom Locri had been unable to defeat and in addition, the scene in the triumphant return that was described by Metolephes made Theophantes a little bit afraid that if he were to attack, it will lead to Theonia joining the war and expand the war. Although Syracuse, the ally of Locri, had agreed to help, they are now fighting against Carthage with all their strength. So apart from a small naval assistance, it is impossible for the Syracusians to provide more help. And if he were to be defeated, the members of the council will certainly ce the responsibility on him.

    But if he didn¡¯t fight¡­.and just retreat like that, it will not only damage his honor, but also the prestige of Locri and be med once he returns¡­.

    While Theophantes was still hesitating, some of the soldiers began making noises.

    ¡°Theonians! Do not think that you are great! Just because you ask us to withdraw, we would withdraw?! I will tell you this, WE WILL NOT RETREAT!¡±

    ¡°That''s right, we Locrians are not easy to mess with! Locri has existed in Magna Graecia for hundreds of years! What is Theonia? I have never heard of it!¡±

    ¡°If we don''t retreat, what will you do to us?!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The mouring of the soldiers made Theophantes anxious and angry. He had no more than a thousand men in his hands and half of them were sailors. Along the way, a lot of the soldiers began leading sheep and cattle, and had plundered a lot of spoils. Blinded by their greed, they no longer had the appearance of a soldier and now, they even got the courage to fight with the Theonians?!

    Theophantes was about to retreat but had not yet given the orders, when the other side''s drums sounded and the stationary phnx began moving, then came a rtively neat sound of footsteps. It is like a thick iron wall marching straight towards them, and the Locrian soldiers that were shouting immediately became silent.

    Theophantes sighed and said, ¡°Retreat!¡±

    As soon as the order was given, and before the salpinx could even be heard, the Locrian soldiers had already turned around and ran, and the whole formation hadpletely broken apart.

    Theophantes was unable to stop the soldiers'' disorder and frantic retreat, as if death was chasing behind them. And with their wish to escape much faster, they had even thrown their spoils that they had plundered¡­.

    Asistes didn''t expect that he would push back the Locrians so easily. And so, while sending a small number of soldiers to clean up the battlefield, he led the rest to follow the Locrians. It wasn''t until he saw the Locrians scrambling to get on the ship and leave the coast did he lead the soldiers back, and at the same time, they also return all the spoils that they had collected to the Crotonians who came to express their gratitude with mixed feelings, which made the Crotonians to be both grateful and ashamed.

    Theophantes was naturally not willing to return to Locri just like that, so after the fleet sailed southward for a while, he led his team tond on the coast of Scylletium, which was not yet an ally of Theonia¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In Sparta, there is a building covering an extremely wide area, and the simple stone pirs supported the roof to shelter the people from the wind and rain. There is venttion on three sides and a kitchen on one side, and the vast hall is filled with long wooden tables and chairs. This is the Spartan citizen''s mess hall.

    At meal time, the Spartans gather here from all directions, line up in order and get their share of ¡°Syssitia*¡± and then eat in the mess hall, which can seat 500 people at the same time. On a sunny day, dining tables were even set on the grass outside, and thousands of Spartan citizens gathered to eat together regardless of age and ranks. Everyone''s food is roughly the same, which not only reflects the equality of the Spartan citizens, but also emphasizes their unity. The Spartans, who emphasized discipline and obedience, always keep this grand dining scene in order. This was themunal dining system for which Sparta was famous in Greece. (T/N: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syssitia)

    The food they receive is not free, but had to be produced from the nd¡± allocated to the citizens by the city-state and paid to the city-state in order to enjoy the syssitia. In fact, even if it was said that thend was owned by the citizen, the citizens themselves do not have the right to use thend, but are instead managed by the city-states and the helots being the one cultivating thend. But once the citizens lost their allocatednd and could not pay for the output, then they lost the right to participate in the syssitia and thus be marginalized by the people of the city-states. Therefore, themunal dining system founded by the Spartans is not only a dining system, but also an important political authentication of being a citizen of Spartan.

    Since the Peloponnesian War, the Spartan''s mess hall had a difficult time to recreate the spectacle of thousands of men eating together. Their citizens were either away on long campaigns or have died, and the number of people eating here has never exceeded 500. Even after their victory, their number had still not recovered, because the Spartan''s fleet needed to patrol the Aegean Sea, and garrisoned some of the important geographical city-states conquered by Sparta in order to keep their loyalty. Although most of the soldiers are mercenaries, perioikoi and helots, the strategoi and high ranking officers must be authentic Spartan citizens.

    On this day, there were no more than a hundred Spartan citizens in the mess hall.

    Phidias sat at the mess hall and chewed the bread in his hand, while recalling the ession of the new king to the throne not long ago. Agesus became the king, which was beyond many people''s expectation, but Phidias was happy, because Agesus had several close contacts with him and thought that Agesus is a kind and wise man, and will be a good king.

    ¡°Hey look! There are two wretched helots over there!¡± A man at a nearby table suddenly shouted, and following the direction of his finger, Phidias saw that the two men dining at the opposite table immediately looked a little unnatural, although both were also topless, but in terms of shape and skin color, they were different from a real Spartan citizen.

    ¡°They are new citizens. To be able to enjoy syssitia means that they have made enough contribution in the war, and that they are able to impress the conservative Gerousia to give them freedom and citizenship, and to also give them an allocatednd, which is not easy! So we should respect them as real warriors!¡± Another man said gently.

    ¡°Hmph, who knows if Lysander did some tricks?! During the war, he used his power to turn a lot of perioikoi and helots into Spartan citizens on the pretext of defeating Athens!¡± The man lowered his voice and said with indignation.

    ¡°No matter how brave we Spartans are, we can''t withstand the casualties caused by the frequent wars. Without these new citizens, we wouldn''t have won against Athens.¡±

    ¡°But look how many around here are real Spartans, while several of myrades were temporarily deprived of their citizenship and have been reduced to inferior status because they couldn''t pay their share of themunal meal!¡­if it continues like this, will Sparta still be Sparta?!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­you are right¡­.¡±

    ¡°I tell you, we¡­.¡± The man leaned close to anotherpanion and whispered.

    The Spartans have always been taciturn, especially when eating. So when these citizens had not only talked a lot, but also whispering, it became hard not to attract the attention of Phidias. Just when he was about to turn his head to see who this person was, someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder and said, ¡°Phidias, king Agesus invites you toe over.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Phidias immediately stuffed thest bit of bread into his mouth and finished his porridge, and wiped his mouth. He then stood up and followed the soldiers to the front of the mess hall. He subconsciously looked back at the person just now, but that guy had already finished his meal and left the mess hall, so he could only see his back.

    Phidias shook his head to dispel the doubt in his heart and went to the new king of Sparta. At this moment, Agesus was different from his previous self, he looks more calm and more dignified.

    Phidias bowed respectfully.

    ¡°Phidias, sit down.¡± Agesus looked at him with a smile and said, ¡°You and I are old friends, so there is no need for you to be polite.¡±

    After hearing this, Phidias stopped being modest and immediately sat down opposite of Agesus.

    ¡°Are you full? If it''s still not enough, I have a lot more here.¡± Said Agesus, while pushing a te over.

    The Spartan king also had to take part in the syssitia, and their food was no different from the other citizens. And the only privilege he has is that he could get a double portion of themunal meal. It wasn¡¯t for the king to eat more, but for the Spartan king to use the extra portion to invite others to eat with him, it is not necessarily for the invited person to be a Spartan citizen, as they can even be foreigners. The previous king, Agis, entertained Alcibiades in this way.

    In fact, the Spartanmunal meal is not delicious, but it is a kind of political expression that means that the invited person is the king''s guest of honor, and to allow the Spartan king to use this power to draw someone in, resolve conflicts and to nurture trusted followers¡­and today, Agesus gave this honor to Phidias.

 Chapter 238: Agesilaus Intention

    Phidias dly epted it, as he happened to be still a bit hungry. He picked up another piece of bread, spread some honey on it and ate it.

    Agesus patiently waited for him to finish his meal before he said, ¡°Can you tell me the details of yourst mission to Magna Graecia?¡±

    Phidias became happy, because when he came back to report to the Gerousia, however, due to the death of king Agis, the elders were busy with the funeral and the election of a new king, so they simply did not care about other matters.

    Just as Phidias finished his brief mission to Magna Graecia, the new king of Sparta expressed his concern for Theonia, and Phidias immediately gave a detailed ount of his mission to Theonia without any exaggeration.

    Agesus propped his head on one hand, and straightened his limp foot and listened carefully, while showing a pondering expression on his face.

    When Phidias finished his ount, Agesus said, ¡°It seems that the Theonians have embarrassed you, and that your impression of them is not good.¡±

    ¡°I am angry because of Theonia''sck of respect for Sparta, but as far as I am concerned -¡± Phidias paused for a moment and said truthfully, ¡°Actually, I appreciate Theonia''s¡­.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡± Agesus was a little surprised and asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps it is due to their unyieldingness that they had shown¡­¡± Phidias then said with a sigh as he recall the situation at that time, ¡°Although I was in Thurii for just a short time and didn''t have deep contact with the Theonian citizens, it gave me a feeling that the¡­the Theonian soldiers were also very disciplined, and I even heard that the senate of Theonia held a celebration ceremony to the strategoi and soldiers that have returned victorious. It gave me the feeling¡­the feeling that¡­.¡±

    Phidias pondered and said, ¡°Theonia is like the Sparta of Magna Graecia¡­.¡±

    Agesus was taken aback, and then teased him, ¡°You actuallypare a city-state union ruled by a tyrant to Sparta where our citizens are equal and free.¡±

    ¡°Although there is only one archon in Theonia, and it is still a lifelong archon, they still have the senate. And from my experience in the senate of Theonia, those statesmen seemed to be able to influence thew-making of Theonia, and the rtionship between the archon and the statesmen of the senate is¡­uhm¡­anyway, it is not like Syracuse, where Dionysius is the one who has the final say.¡± Phidias said with seriousness.

    ¡°You don''t seem to like Syracuse.¡± Said Agesus while ncing at him.

    ¡°I don''t think that anyone who hears that Syracuse can mobilize such a huge army to attack Carthage will be in a good mood!¡± Phidias straightforwardly said, ¡°The tens of thousands of infantry are nothing. But the main issue is that there are thousands of cavalry and a huge fleet no weaker than us! And Dionysius is an ambitious man!¡±

    Agesus looked at him and smiled, ¡°I am d that you can see these, Phidias! In thetter part of the war with Athens, we began to pay attention to the west and it was through the alliance with Syracuse that Sparta could get involved in the matters of the west. Carthage is the ally of Persia in the western Mediterranean, so we need an ally in the western Mediterranean to suppress Carthage and protect the rear of Sparta. Hence why we supported Syracuse, and at the same time, made Sparta to gradually deepen our influence among the Greek powers in the west. However, some of the past practices of Sparta has blindly allowed Syracuse to expand and allowed it to annex the Greek cities in Sicily, which might cause trouble to ourselves in the end. We don''t want our allies to be too weak, but we can''t allow them to be too strong.¡±

    ¡°You are right, milord! But now, Carthage still has the advantage in Sicily and our strength is concentrated in Asia Minor. So for now, we should continue supporting Syracuse for the time being.¡± Phidias understood the obscure meaning of Agesus, but he was still thinking about the city-state and said frankly.

    ¡°There is no need for us to do anything, because the power to restrain the expansion of Syracuse has emerged.¡± Agesus did not feel unhappy, but instead, smiled at him with relief and said, ¡°It''s the one who had made you unhappy, Theonia.¡±

    ¡°Theonia!¡± Phidias was surprised and then shook his head, ¡°Theonia can''tpare with Syracuse at all. Syracuse is too strong in terms of territory, poption, trade and military strength.¡±

    ¡°That is true for now, but Theonia is expanding very fast.¡± Agesus then said with aplicated expression, ¡°I have just received a report from Magna Graecia that Theonia has defeated Crotone and forced them to cede their territory and sign an alliance agreement with Theonia¡­.¡±

    ¡°When did this happen?!¡± Phidias widened his eyes. Not long after he left Magna Graecia, Theonia has actually defeated Crotone once again!

    Phidias could not believe it, ¡°Crotone is obviously stronger than Theonia, and this time, Crotone should not have made the same mistake asst, so how could they¡­.¡±

    ¡°A hundred years ago, before the war between Sybaris and Crotone, many Greek city-states thought the same, but the result was that the weak Crotone has won!¡± Agesus sighed, ¡°Cheirisophus is right. Davos is a military genius. Although Sparta had missed him regretfully, it would still be good if he could lead Theonia against Syracuse.¡±

    ¡°Theonia will definitely sh with Syracuse!¡± Phidias was still thinking about how Theonia defeated Crotone, which has caused him to be slightly absent-minded, so he replied with a strong tone.

    Agesus didn''t mind and said, ¡°Now that Syracuse has upied the eastern part of Sicily, with our support and with their own strength, it will not be a big problem for them to drive Carthage out of the eastern part of SIcily, and it is even possible for them topletely expel Carthage out of Sicily, and even if they couldn''t, Syracuse will definitely be the leader of the Greek city-states in Sicily. And just like you have said, Dionysius is an ambitious man, so will he be satisfied with just those?¡± Said Agesus, while dipping his fingers in the porridge and drawing a simple map of Sicily on the dining table.

    Phidias shook his head.

    ¡°So will he lead his soldiers into Africa?¡± Asked Agesus.

    Phidias shook his head hard. Agesus was naturally joking, because Africa is the base camp of Carthage, and has been there for hundreds of years. So if Syracuse dares to send an army to set foot on thend of Africa, Carthage will certainly make sure that none of them will return, just like what happened to the army led by Dorieus, the elder brother of the Spartan king, Cleomenes, that was exiled a hundred years ago.

    ¡°And so, this is the only ce where Syracuse can expand its power-¡± Agesus then drew a rough outline over Sicily, ¡°Sicily and Magna Graecia is only separated by a narrow strait, and they are all Greek city-states, and Dionysius has always been cruel to his fellow Greeks¡­.¡±

    ¡°You are right.¡± Phidias nodded in agreement. He and Agesus did not even think about the Greek maind in the east of Sicily, because they thought that Dionysius would not dare to offend these powerful city-states with long history no matter how bold he was.

    ¡°Now that the Theonians have subdued the Crotonians, the only powerful city-states further south of Crotone are only Locri and Rhegium. And Locri and Syracuse are allies, with Crotone and Locri being mortal enemies, and now, Crotone is allied with Theonia. Therefore, sooner orter, Theonia will have a conflict with Syracuse¡­.¡± Agesus analyzed.

    Phidias looked at the table and shook his head and said, ¡°Theonia is still too weak.¡±

    ¡°As long as the army of Dionysius set foot on thend of Magna Graecia, I am afraid that all the other city-states, except for Locri and Taranto, will unite around Theonia.¡± Agesus said solemnly, ¡°We don''t want another Syracuse in the western Mediterranean, but I believe that Davos will be able to make Theonia create enough trouble for Syracuse, so that Dionysius wouldn''t be able to conquer Magna Graecia in a short time, and it will give Sparta the time to mediate. Don''t forget, there is also Taranto in Magna Graecia, which is a friendly colony established by Sparta.¡±

    Thinking of what happened in Taranto, Phidias said, ¡°Taranto may not listen to us.¡±

    ¡°Wait until Theonia and Syracuse be strong, and by then, they will definitely listen.¡± Agesus sneered and stretched out three fingers, and propped them on the table, ¡°Syracuse, Theonia and Taranto are the three important city-states that maintain the stability of the western Mediterranean. This is what the Gerousia discussed after learning of Syracuse''s attack on the western part of Sicily and Theonia defeating Crotone. Therefore, you no longer have to worry about Theonia anymore.¡±

    ¡°Esteemed king Agesus, I understand!¡± Phidias understood that the indifferent elders in the Gerousia would not care about the tangles in the heart of a young strategos, and it was instead Agesus who wasforting him. For this, Phidias was very grateful.

    Agesus gave a faint smile, as if it was just a matter of lifting his hand, and said, ¡°There is another reason for why I have called you.¡±

    Phidias immediately leaned forward with a serious expression.

    Note: Agesus and Phidias underestimated the boldness of Dionysius. In history, Dionysius have sent mercenaries to attack Greece together with pirates. Of course, their target was not Sparta, but the sacred sanctuary of all Greeks ¨C Delphi. Dionysius attempted to plunder the temple of Apollo of their hundreds of years of umted wealth in order to make up for their empty treasury caused by his long war.

 Chapter 239: The indignation of Leotychides

    ¡°With regards to the supervision of the implementation of the peace treaty and the cession ofnd and the resettlement of immigrants in the city-state of Elea, which was temporarily put on hold due to the death of Agis, I have rmended to the Gerousia for you to be the one responsible, I wonder if you are willing to go?¡± Said Agesus with seriousness.

    ¡°I am!¡± Phidias blurted out and said that apart from military training and attending the king''s funeral during this period of time, he had nothing else to do. So when he sees other people being sent to foreign ces one after another to perform important tasks, it was inevitable for him to feel disappointed. Now that Agesus had ced such a delicious job in front of him, so how could he not be moved and grateful!

    ¡°Thank you very much for your trust in me king Agesus! You bing our king is a gift from Zeus to Sparta!!¡±

    Agesus smiled from hearing the ttery of the talented young Spartan, Phidias.

    After Agesus and Phidias left, there were only a few dozen people in the mess hall remaining. A young man with linen cloth on his head then appeared stealthily from behind the pir while looking at the back of Agesus with hatred.

    He then hurriedly went to get his share ofmunal meals when the cook who was distributing the food jokingly said, ¡°Leotychides, why are you dressed like this? You look like a woman.¡±

    A Periokoi dared to make fun of him. If it had been the past Leotychides, he would have angrily beaten him to the point of possible cutting off his arms and legs, but at this time, the son of the previous king had no desire to argue, so after finding a corner to sit down, he then start eating his bread, and for some reason, tears welled up in his eyes. His failure of taking the throne had made him a joke in Sparta, while his usurper uncle had given half of the family''s fortune that was left by his father to those people who were having difficulty and thus won their support, and began praising the benevolence and righteousness of Agesus. While some people proposed to expel him and his mother out of Sparta on the reason that ¡®He and his mother are not Spartans, and are a disgrace to Sparta.¡¯ Although the Gerousia refuted this absurd proposal, the Spartans looked at Leotychides with increasing contempt.

    ¡°What have I done wrong?! That made the goddess of fate to punish me like this?! To prove myself, I grew up participating in ¡®Agoge*¡¯ which the sons of kings were not supposed to participate, and I have always excelled in all the training and tried my best to fight at the front in every battle. And I had always caused all my peers to be dumbfounded in my debates, and wrote better articles than them, but why?! Why?! They couldn''t see all of these and instead always focused on those rumors to insult me and my mother!! Damned Agesus! Damned Gerousia! Damn Agis, if you had not treated my mother so badly, how could there be such rumors spreading?!¡± In the end, Leotychides began ming his dead father, ¡°I can''t stand such humiliation anymore! I will take my mother and leave this disgusting ce! I will leave Sparta!!¡± (T/N: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agoge)

    Leotychides finally made up his mind, but when he was about to reach his destination, he saw a lot of people around the door of his house, and they were shaking their heads and sighing, while looking solemn. A sense of uneasiness suddenly rose from his heart.

    ¡°Leotychides!¡± Someone who have a good rtionship with him saw him and said with sadness, ¡°Your mothermited suicide.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Theophantes'' troops were plundering the territory of Scylletium, which made the garrison of Scylletium to go out of the city to meet with the enemy, but the Locrians retreated immediately.

    The next day, the Locrians reappeared.

    When the troops of Scylletium pursued them to the coast as they had done yesterday, they found that nearly two thousand Locrian soldiers were waiting for them.

    The troops of Scylletium, which had been pursuing them and were no longer in a formation, had soon retreated, but the Scylletians had paid hundreds of casualties under the pursuit of the cavalry of Locri, and now, they could only hide in the city and could not go out. The only thing they could do was to send people to ask for help from the Crotonian army in Caulonia.

    As the leader of the alliance, the Crotonian had to send 3,000 soldiers to assist Scylletium, but the Locrians had once more retreated to the sea.

    Just as the Crotonian reinforcement hesitated whether to stay in Scylletium or return to Caulonia, 3,000 Locrians, Medmans and Hipponian troops marched along the west coast and crossed the Grande river, and entered the territory of Terina.

    Terina, who had learned from the mistake of Scylletium, did not dare to rush out but went to ask Crotone for help.

    Soon after the Crotonian reinforcements left Scylletium and went to Terina, the Locrians once againnded on the coast of Scylletium.

    The Crotonian troops were forced to move back and forth, but they could not even touch a single hair of the Locrians, and had no ce to vent their anger.

    While Scylletium and Terina were also suffering, and their newly sown farms getting destroyed, and the people''s weariness of war began to rise.

    Finally, the Crotonians found out that the more than 20 ships that have suddenly appeared during the naval battle, were not secretly built by the Locrians, but had insteade from the assistance of Syracuse.

    This news had made the herald of Crotone panicked.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    During this time, in addition to dealing with the affairs of the union, Davos, who returned to Thurii, was staying at his home together with his wife and were taking care of their new-born baby, while educating his adopted children. He led a very full and happy life. Even if the envoy of Crotone hade to Thurii and asked for Theonia''s help, it still did not cause him any anxiety, because Hielos and Asistes had managed to push back the Locrians who invaded the territory of Crotone.

    For this reason, the statesmen in the senate were praising Davos for choosing the right praetor of Aprustum.

    In his letter to Hielos and Asistes, Davos greatly appreciated their decisiveness of taking the right measures in such aplex situation, and encouraged them to act boldly when the situation was critical and to not dy the time by being too concerned about his own feeling and waiting for the orders of the senate.

    The excellent performance of Hielos had also made Davos to bepletely relieved and to devote more of his energy in resettling Aprustum and Krimisa.

    But at this moment, he got a report from Aristias that the ¡°envoys of Crotone, Scylletium, Terina and Caulonia journeyed north together¡± and their purpose ofing to Thurii was obviously about the war between Crotone and Locri that Aristias was reporting to him these recent days.

    The first thought of Davos was that this was a rare opportunity for Theonia to expand its strength and influence and that it was not uneptable to engage Locri in a war byparison.

    But then, he began to hesitate due to the ¡°special attention¡± of Aristias, who was in Catania, to Syracuse, so he also knew the truth regarding the defeat of the Crotonian fleet. Syracuse is the real ally of Locri and they have also sent reinforcements in this war, so Davos fighting Locri will certainly offend Syracuse, but is it worth it?

    Davos had to consider it carefully.

    In his previous life, he didn''t know much about the history of Syracuse and only knew that Archimedes of Syracuse was one of the culprits that triggered the second Punic War. And the Romans easily crushed Syracuse as if Syracuse''s strength was not worth mentioning, but it must be known that it was the Romans who used the power of the whole Italy to fight against Syracuse, which was in a period of decline.

    When Davos crossed the Mediterranean world, it was in Magna Graecia where he felt the reverence of the Greek city-states of Italy for this great city-state of Sicily ¨C Syracuse. Syracuse had repelled Carthage and dominated Sicily and Magna Graecia decades before, and now it seems that they are trying to regain their former glory and have the tendency to unify and rule the Greek city-states in Sicily and Magna Graecia. Although Sicily is only an ind, itsnd is fertile and it is a famous wheat producing area in the western Mediterranean (mainly due to the volcanic ash), and what is more, the Greeks colonized Sicily inrge numbers and had developed it very early on. In addition, Sicily being near the center of the Mediterranean Sea has made it be an important hub of trade between the eastern and western Mediterranean. All of these are the reasons why Sicily developedmerce and agriculture. Just looking at how Syracuse, who had only upied the southeastern part of Sicily, could organize such arge army which Theonia, who was still in its infancy, couldpare.

    However, Davos is not a frog in the well who can not see the potential danger, on the contrary, countless cases in his previous life''s history, as well as the theories of politics, economy, geography and topography, and so on., all told him that no matter how much Theonia evade, once Syracuse truly defeats Carthage and unifies the Greek city-states in Sicily, then the rapid rise of Theonia will certainly attract the attention of Syracuse and will be an obstacle to its expansion, or even be the target for Syracuse¡¯s next attack. So it is better to take advantage of the fact that Syracuse is caught in the quagmire of war with Carthage to seize this time to strengthen itself in order to have the strength to confront Syracuse in the future.

    So after careful consideration, Davos finally made a decision and went to convince the senate.

    Sisticos was the envoy of Crotone, and because of his apaniment with Lysias and concluding a truce with Theonia and signing an alliance agreement, and then going alone to ¡°persuade¡± the Theonians that were garrison in Aprustum to help Crotone repel the Locrians, had made almost everyone in the council of Crotone(except Lysias) to unanimously elected him to go to Theonia. So for the very first time, he was so highly regarded by the statesmen of Crotone, and the three envoys from the other city-states who apanied him also looked up to him during their journey. Hence why Sisticos inevitably became somewhat proud.

    Entering the city of Thurii, the envoys felt that the new city was not as bustling and wide as the city of Crotone. However, there is not a lot of crowding and noise.

 Chapter 240: Davos Proposal

    The t and wide streets, the neatly divided neighborhoods, and the neat and orderly houses¡­all of these had given away the Theonians'' regard for hygiene and order. The viaduct which stands high and spanned the whole city, the huge water wheels that were turning slowly and the uniquely shaped fountains and the flowing waters on both sides of the road¡­shows that the Theonians, as Greeks, have their own characteristics and pursuit of architectural art and technology.

    What made the envoys stop were the white and towering Arc de Triomphe, the imposing Nike Square and the grand and magnificent Senate Grand Assembly hall, which clearly demonstrate the ambition and pursuit of Theonia. If they had seen this before, they might have secretlyughed at the overconfidence of Theonia, but after facing this city-state union in the second Crotonian War, they had clearly noticed that this emerging city, from the very beginning of its establishment, was different from other Greek city-states and had extraordinary ambitions.

    Among other things, if you just look at the temple of Hades, which is about to bepleted on the distant hill, it is only Theonia in the whole of Greece that have taken Hades as their patron god.

    While the envoys were carefully scrutinizing the center of this rapidly growing new city-state union as they headed west to the Senate, the people of Thurii left their homes one after another and went east in droves.

    ¡°Did they just saynd allocation?¡± Asked the envoy of Scylletium curiously.

    ¡°Yes, I heard it as well.¡± Then the envoy of Terina directly asked, ¡°Are you going to allocate the newnds that you have just upied to the citizens?¡±

    ¡°Everyone, Theonia did not forcibly upy thosends, all of thosends were all legally acquired in ordance with our agreement with Crotone.¡± Plesinas, who hade to meet them, immediately corrected them.

    Even though the envoys did not retort, they stillined within themselves.

    ¡°ording to the ¡¶Theonian Military Law¡· and the ¡¶Theonian CItizenship Law¡· and the promises made by the senate before the war, all the citizens and preparatory citizens who participated in the war will be granted an allocatednd.¡± Plesinas continued without hiding anything, ¡°ording to the achievements of the soldiers in the war and the actual situation of thend in the the northern ins of Crotone, Aprustum, and Krimisa¡­the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Military Affairs under the Senate have done a lot of work during this period of time, and today is the day they will announce the results of the allocation ofnd, not only for the people of Thurii, but also the people of Amendra and Nerulum wille and due to the number of people that wille, we can only hold it outside the city¡­envoys, if you are interested, you can go see it once the meeting is over.¡±

    ¡°We''d better hurry to the Senate first and get it over. The people of our city-state are still looking forward to our report!¡± Seeing that the other envoys were somewhat interested, Sisticos reminded them loudly and took this opportunity to hide his inner shame, after all, Theonia was allocating thend that they have forced Crotone to cede.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Sisticos knew that this mission would not be as easy as thest time, but he did not expect that all the statesmen of the Senate of Theonia were very firm in opposing the dispatching of troops in the face of the request of the envoys of the four city-states.

    ¡­.¡°The war has just ended and the loss of Theonia is also great. We don''t have enough money and food to cope with another war!¡±¡­..

    ¡­.¡°The citizens of Theonia have just put down their shield and spears and obtained thend that they had just been assigned. They are all about to take a good rest and start nting wheat on their newly gottennds while spring is still not yet over in order to catch up with the harvest, so there must be no fighting!¡±¡­.

    ¡­.¡°There is no need for Theonia to make an enemy of Locri and thus end up provoking Syracuse, a powerful city-state!¡±¡­.

    All in all, the thousands of words can be summed up in one sentence, ¡®Theonia just wants to recuperate and not meddle.¡¯

    Due to this, the envoys of Scylletium, Terina and Caulonia expressed their willingness to sign the ¡¶Defensive Alliance Agreement¡· with Theonia, just like Crotone, but were strongly opposed by the statesmen of Theonia, whose reason was simple: Because with Theonia''s current strength, almost no force in south Italia dares to provoke them, while Caulonia, Terina and Scylletium kept getting invaded by the Locri and Brutti from time to time, so if this agreement was passed, it would be tantamount to these three city-states hiring a powerful city-state union to protect their security for free, which was obviously only beneficial to them and not to Theonia in any way.

    Sisticos then became anxious because the negotiation reached a deadlock, but he could not do anything.

    At this time, the envoy of Terina eagerly said, ¡°What if I were to ask for us to join the Theonia Alliance?¡±

    The envoy of Terina did not say it on a whim, because when they passed by Roscianum, Amikles and the others had entertained them warmly. At the banquet, the statesmen of Roscianum intentionally or unintentionally mentioned the many benefits Roscianum gained after they joined the alliance of Theonia, and at the same time, they saw the stability and prosperity of the people in Roscianum with their own eyes which made the envoys to be somewhat interested.

    When he heard this, Sisticos was suddenly surprised and subconsciously shouted, ¡°Siprus, do you know what you are talking about?!¡±

    ¡°To save Terina!¡± The envoy Siprus justified, ¡°We, Terinians, have always abided by the agreement in the Crotonian Alliance and have always responded to the call of Crotone, we paid our tribute on time every year, and in every war we actively send troops and food! But what we are getting now in exchange is the devastation of the territory of Terina by the Locrians. Terina is a small city-state, but we live between Hipponion(the city-state allied with Locri, and are located in the south of Terina) and the Bruttians. If we can''t repel Locri as soon as possible, then even if the Bruttians do not attack, I am afraid that the people of Terina will all starve to death!¡±

    Sisticos wanted to say that if Terina were to run out of food, Crotone will help them.

    But he immediately swallowed his words. Crotone has just suffered heavy losses in these two wars with Theonia, and because of the blockade of the Locrian fleet, the whole city of Crotone also faced food shortage. This is also the main reason why Crotone urgently agreed for the three city-states in their alliance to ask Theonia for help.

    Then he warned loudly, ¡°Do you not know that by joining the alliance of Theonia, you can no longer have any alliance with any other city-states! If Terina withdraws from the Crotonian Alliance, then we will immediately withdraw our troops that are helping Terina to defend. And if the enemies were to invade in the future, we will no longer give Terina any more help!¡±

    These words of Sisticos were not only aimed at Terina, but also a reminder to the envoy of Scylletium, Caulonia and even the Senate of Theonia. After all, Crotone is currently the main force in the south that is resisting Locri. So if Crotone were to withdraw, it would not only bring disaster to the other city-states but will also hinder the ns of Theonia.

    Hence why the envoys of Scylletium and Caulonia who had some intentions had remained silent, and the envoy of Terina, Siprus, felt like he was riding a tiger at this moment and found it hard to dismount.

    Seeing this, Davos slowly said, ¡°All envoys from the city-states in the Crotonian alliance, if Theonia were to agree to your request and send troops to repel Locri, Locri and even Syracuse will most likely focus their anger on their defeat on Theonia. Therefore, no sane Theonian will make such a foolish decision that will harm the interests of our own union to help you.¡±

    The words of Davos made the expression of the envoys gloomy.

    Davos then changed the subject, ¡°But as you had said just now, whether it''s Theonia or Crotone or Scylletium¡­because of conflicts of interest and contradictions, which might even lead to wars, it is ultimately a matter between our city-states in Magna Graecia. However, the collusion of Locri with Syracuse in the war between the city-states in Magna Graecia had undoubtedly brought a hungry wolf to a flock of sheep and threatened the security of Magna Graecia. Therefore, we need to take advantage while Syracuse is currently busy fighting with Carthage and end the war with Locri as soon as possible in order to not give Syracuse an excuse to interfere. Therefore, whether it is to send troops or not, we in the Senate of Theonia feel a dilemma! Because the people need a good reason to make them feel that they are not fighting a meaningless battle for the outsiders, and Theonia does not want to be abandoned after helping you and face a strong enemy alone in the future!¡±

    The envoys fell into silence and what Davos meant was very obvious.

    Sisticos, however, was troubled, as he remember the warning of Lysias before he left: Theonia may not want therge amount of gold and silver and supplies that the Crotonian Alliance promised to give in order for Theonia to send troops, nor sign the Defensive Alliance Agreement with the city-states, because they might want more¡­.

    Then Davos added, ¡°I have a proposal for you all to consider.¡±

    When he paused, all of the envoys pricked up their ears.

    ¡°Theonia, Crotone, Scylletium, Caulonia and Terina, our five city-states will form an alliance together to resist and attack the enemies who dared to invade ournds together, while having mutual nonaggression with each others, and if there are conflicts with each other, then the conflicts must be resolved through discussion!¡­.¡±

    Sure enough, when the envoys hear this, except for Sisticos whose face went darker, the others were obviously became excited, especially the envoy of Terina, Siprus, who became energetic again and asked, ¡°Milord archon, may I ask who will be the leader of this alliance?¡±

    As soon as this question came out, Sisticos became nervous.

    With a smile, Davos said, ¡°Alliance no matter how big or small needs to get along equally, and when problems arise and it is difficult toe to an agreement, then they can resolve it through voting¡­.¡±

    The answer of Davos was beyond their expectations, as they had thought that the reason why Theonia proposed to form a new alliance was an attempt to gain dominance of this alliance, and the eyes of the envoys, with the exception of Sisticos, brightened.

 Chapter 241: The Family Situation of Kunogelata

    It must be known that the Crotonian Alliance, whether in foreign affairs or war, was dominated by Crotone, while the other city-states had to pay tribute every year. Naturally, Crotone contributed great efforts on the safety of the alliance in resisting foreign enemies, but with the strength of Crotone, they often decided many things without even consulting their allies, and their allies could only support them, just like their deration of war with Theonia previously. But now, ording to the proposal of Davos, the opinions of the small city-states in the alliance can be valued in the new alliance, which is a good news for Terina, Caulonia and Scylletium.

    ¡°I agree with the archon''s proposal in establishing such an alliance among our several city-states, so that our city-states in Magna Graecia can unite together to protect our interests and prevent enemies from angering us!¡± The envoy of Terina, Siprus, was the first to express his support.

    Then the envoy of Scylletium agreed to the proposal, because his city was under the protection of the Crotonian army, and the envoy of Caulonia only implicitly expressed his approval.

    Afterwards, everyone''s gaze was all focused on the body of Sisticos.

    Sisticos¡¯ mind was in a mess at this moment, because he knew that as soon as he gave his assent, this new alliance would be formed and the Crotonian Alliance would no longer exist and the century-long dominance of Crotone on Magna Graecia would end. In fact, after the second Crotonian war, the strength of Crotne had declined, but they still have the Crotonian Alliance as a cover tofort their people.

    Sisticos did not dare take such a big responsibility, and to be the scapegoat of the people''s me, so he said, ¡°This matter¡­I¡­I do not have the power to decide, it¡­it must be discussed and decided by the council.¡±

    The other envoys were disappointed at Sistico¡¯ dying tactics, while Davos calmly said, ¡°It doesn''t matter, we can wait.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Negotiations can wait, but the war will not stop.

    The army of Syracuse managed to easily upy Agrigento, which was the secondrgest Greek city-state in Sicily.

    A few dayster, with a small amount of reinforcements, the Locrian army came out of their camp and marched towards the city of Caulonia. Although the Crotonian reinforcements still had more than 2,000 soldiers stranded in the territory of Scylletium, they still resolutely joined hands with the soldiers of Caulonia and went out to meet with the enemy. An hour after the battle started, the Locrians began to gain the upper hand due to theirrge number of men, if it wasn''t for the coincidental gust of wind that prevented the Locrian cavalry from chasing them, then the joint forces of Crotone and Caulonia would have suffered not just a minor setback.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the beginning, after the reconstruction of Thurii, each statesman of the senate was assigned a house. And Kunogta had chosen a courtyard far away from his former residence so as to not think of the past and get depressed.

    That night, when he came home, the living room was still lit with candle light, and his eldest son, Sostratus, came out and said, ¡°Father, you have returned sote today, did something happen in the city again?¡±

    Kunogta nced at his son while taking off his sweaty himation, he then stood on the courtyard and asked the male ve to bring water to wash his body and then said, ¡°Androlis of Krimisa and the others have arrived at the Senate, which had caused me to busy today by registering them in the census office, assigning them residence and a whole lot of other matters¡­.¡±

    ¡°But there is no need for you to do these things yourself tho, you can just let your men do them.¡±

    ¡°What do you know! Considering that Krimisa has just been merged into the union, we need to show these statesmen who represent the people of Krimisa that Theonia attaches great importance to them, so as to eliminate their worries¡­.¡±

    Sostratus, leaned against the porch pir and said without regard, ¡°Is that what Davos demanded again?¡±

    ¡°Fool!¡± Kunogta grabbed the wet cloth from the hand of the ve and threw it at Sostratus and shouted, ¡°I have told you a lot of time to not disrespect the archon, and yet you still do not listen!¡±

    ¡°When did I disrespect the lord archon?!¡± Sostratus cried out in aggravation while picking up the wet cloth and carefully threw it to the ve, ¡°Lord Davos is mymander, and I have always obeyed the militaryw and his orders. It''s just that I can''t change the way I talk.¡±

    Kunogta looked at his son''szy appearance and could not stop himself from sighing. It seems that his son really is not fit for politics. Thinking of this, he asked, ¡°Is the reason why you are waiting for me sote and still haven''t gone to bed is because you want to borrow money from me again?¡±

    ¡°Father, you are looking down on me. Thest time I borrowed money from you was to contract the warehouses and inns in Amendra, apart from paying you back and the rent I paid, guess how much I made?¡± Sostratus asked smugly and Kunogta just ignored him.

    ¡°1 talent and 20 minae!¡± Sostratus shook his finger and triumphantly said, ¡°If it wasn''t for the war with Crotone and the port of Thurii getting blocked, then I would have earned more money!¡± (T/N: Ancient Greek currency which goes 1 Talent = 60 Minae = 6,000 Drachmae = 36,000 Oboloi.)

    After a pause, he continued, ¡°Father, I have something to discuss with you.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Kunogta realized that his son must be up to something and said in a pretend casual manner.

    Sostratus looked at his face and said casually, ¡°After the war, the reward that the alliance will allocate to you and me is a total of 2,700 square meter ofnd in the northern ins of Crotone, which I would like to exchange to someone else for thend of Amendra.¡±

    ¡°What?! You are going to trade the fertile Crotone in for the barrennd of Amendra?!!¡± Kunogta, who no longer valued money, could not be careless when faced with the issue ofnd, becausend was the lifeblood of the Greeks.

    ¡°Father, let me exin!¡± Sostratus hurriedly said.

    Kunogta knew that his son must have a reason, so he rinsed his body and changed into clean clothes, then sat in the living room and listened to his son carefully.

    ¡°Father, you are the praetor of Thurii, so you should know the trade volume of the port has been rising since the reconstruction of Thuriist year.¡± Sostratus''s words made Kunogta to snort. How could he not know of these things? He could even tell the number of cargo ships entering and leaving the port of Thurii every month and the amount ofmercial tax for the market trade. Marigi had made a detailed n to revitalize the trade of the union and had put a lot of effort to make this ne true.

    ¡°Why could I earn money?! It is because the port of Thurii can no longer amodate so many goods and foreigners, with the convenient transportation, it has made the warehouses and inns in Amendra to be very popr. Now that we have defeated Crotone, we have not only expanded our territory once again, but also became a real power in Magna Graecia. Therefore, merchants and freemen will continue to flock here, however, the Senate has approved aw that forbids the use of the fertilend of the Sybaris in for other purposes besides farming, otherwise it will be taken back-¡±

    ¡°Right, Burkes was the one in charge of this, it is to protect the arablend of Thurii.¡± Kunogta interrupted.

    ¡°I also agree with thisw!¡± Sostratus first praised it and then said, ¡°In this way, Amendra became the inevitable choice of these foreign merchants and freemen. Moreover, all thends in the industrial zone that Marigi establishedst year have been auctioned off. I went there a few days ago to see, and a weapon workshop, pottery workshop and a stone carving shop have been started one after another. These are allrge-scale workshops that require a lot ofbor and ves, so there is a great demand for amodation, food and even entertainment. And a while back, I had a preliminary discussion with someone else to exchange 2,700 square meter ofnd on the Crotonian in to 5,400 square meter ofnd on Amendra near the industrial area. With such arge piece ofnd, I can build arge number of cheap housing and warehouses on it. Just the annual rent collected alone would not be a small amount, and we can also build some small stores to rent to others to do bakery, garments and so on¡­and if I have the money in the future, I can buy a lot of ves and then rent them out to make a profit.¡± Sostratus talks about his dream.

    ¡°Father, no matter how fertile thend is, it will suffer heavy losses once faminees. But ording to my n, as long as our Theonia Union remains strong, then our family''s annual ie will be much more than when doing farming!¡±

    Looking at his son''s spirited face, Kunogta pondered for a long time and then said, ¡°Sostratus, from now on, you will be the one in charge of the family''s finances, and I will announce this tomorrow and have Kleosus(the ve housekeeper of Kunogta) listen to your arrangement from now on.¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡± Sostratus couldn''t believe what he was hearing.

    ¡°Of course! Since you have talent in trade, I won''t let you bury it. But-¡± Kunogta added, ¡°When I die, half of what you earn will be given to your brother. Can you promise me that?¡±

    Under the gaze of Kunogta, Sostratus calmed down and thought carefully and solemnly said, ¡°Since the time when our family was driven out of Thurii, and my sister Sefina¡­left us, it made me even more cherish our family! Dicaeogta is my only brother, so I will sign the agreement as father had requested, and once you go to¡­Elysium, I will share half of the family''s fortune with him! And once my sister remarries, I will prepare a rich dowry for her!¡±

    ¡°Good! Very good!!¡± Kunogta was very relieved and felt that he had made no mistake in his decision. While the words of Sostratus had reminded him of one of his worries.

    Diana, his eldest daughter, was already married when they were driven out of Thurii, so she did not follow them to Amendra and got insulted by her husband''s family in the city of Thurii. And when her husband died during the attack of Crotone on Thurii, her husband''s family had driven her out of the house.

 Chapter 242: The establishment of the South Italia Alliance

    Fortunately, shortly after Crotone burned the city, Davos led his army to take back Thurii, and Diana returned to her home, however, she became depressed. She is now 23 years old, and as a father, Kunogta wanted to make his children happy, so he wanted to find a good husband for her, which also became his worries.

    ¡°Sostratus, what do you think of Hielos?¡± Kunogta asked abruptly.

    ¡°About what?¡± Sostratus wondered why his father had mentioned Hielos all of a sudden.

    ¡°In the event of him bing your brother-inw.¡±

    ¡°You want to choose Hielos to be Diana''s husband?!¡± Sostratus'' eyes widened in surprise. Seeing his father nodding his head seriously, he quickly thought about it carefully and said, ¡°Although I am a soldier under him, he is the senior centurion, and so he does not have much contact with us at normal times. The only thing I know is that although he trains strictly, he is fair and takes good care of us¡­I heard that he is still single and has no bad hobbies. Therefore, if sister were to marry him, then she should be well taken care of! But, father, why did you choose him? It seems that none of the statesmen of Thurii are willing to marry their daughter to these former mercenaries!¡±

    ¡°These people are still immersed in the past honor of their family, and are still hesitant and unwilling to ept the change of Thurii!¡± Kunogta sneered and said solemnly, ¡°Why do I want you to show respect to the archon?! It is because he is indeed favored by the gods. He is so young, but has great ability and means. The people love him, the army supports him, and the Senate ispletely under his control! If you don''t want our family to experience such tragedy again, then the best way is undoubtedly to be family with the former mercenary veterans that have followed the archon to Persia! Hielos¡­I heard that he was the captain of the archon in Persia, and had taken good care of him. Although Hielos always kept a low profile in the Senate, it can be seen that the archon trusted him very much. Besides, although he used to be a mercenary, ording to Cornelius, he is modest, firm and good at learning from others, so I believe that he will walk smoothly in the politics of Theonia in the future!¡­.¡±

    ¡°Father, don¡¯t think that it would be easy. Among the statesman who were former mercenaries that was brought by Da¡­the lord archon, Hielos is one of the few who are not married, he is only in his 30s and is a statesman, I believe that whether in Amendra, or in Thurii there will not be few who will offer him marriage, however, he is still single now¡­I imagine that he may not agree to your request!¡± Sostratus reminded Kunogta.

    ¡°I will naturally not go to him directly. I will instead let the archone forward and I am sure that Davos will be happy to do it!¡± Kunogta stroked his beard and said with a proud smile, ¡°I had asked the archon in order to test the water, and he was very concerned about the marriage of Hielos. So with him as the matchmaker, and with the talent and appearance of Diana, how could Hielos not agree!¡±

    ¡°It seems that from now on, I will have to please my sister more, so that she won''t let my brother-inw put me in the forefront of the phnx formation when she is not happy¡­.¡± Sostratus made a joke, which reminded Kunogta about something and quickly said, ¡°Don''t go out for these two days, Sostratus. The first legion will go south soon.¡±

    ¡°Has the agreement of the alliance been signed? Didn''t Crotone heavily oppose it?¡± Sostratus asked in surprise. With his father being a statesman, he naturally knew more about the politics of the union than ordinary citizens.

    ¡°Terina, Scylletium and Caulonia had all spoken in favor of it; so what good can Crotone''s opposition alone do? Besides, the current situation is very unfavorable to them! Even Lysias had rushed to Thurii, so you can see how anxious the Crotonians are!¡± At this point, Kunogta begame a little bit excited, ¡°We only need for the agreement to be signed and once the alliance is established, Theonia will truly be the leader of Magna Graecia!¡±

    ¡°What leader? I have heard that all the allies in this new alliance will treat each other equally, without distinction!¡±

    ¡°It looks like that on the surface, but the strength of the city-states still determines the weight of their words in this new alliance, especially when it does not involve the interests of the other allies.¡± Kunogta then said with sincere admiration, ¡°The archon is really amazing! Proposing such a way of alliance, which was immediately supported by the other city-states while isting Crotone and forced them to join. So once the new alliance is established, it will also disintegrate the current Crotonian Alliance, and let us Theonia to smoothly squeeze into Crotone''s sphere of influence and be the de facto leader of this alliance!¡±

    ¡°Is this not because of the archon making full use of our victory over Crotone?¡± What Sostratus said is just a reminder of the opposition of Kunogta in starting the war in advance.

    Kunogta was silent for a moment and instead of directly responding to his son''s question, he sighed and said, ¡°I didn''t expect that during my lifetime, I would still be able to see Thurii bing the center of Magna Graecia! Son, just as you had said before, Thurii is bound to usher in a big development!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On thest day of February 398 B.C., Theonia, Crotone, Scylletium, Caulonia and Terina finally reached an agreement and signed a treaty to establish the South Italia Alliance.

    Out of Crotone''s insistence, the agreement specifically stiptes that when discussing a decision, Theonia and Crotone will have two votes each, while the other three allies each have one vote.

    The alliance''s base will be in Scylletium. At the start, Crotone asked for the alliance''s base to be set up on their territory, which was opposed by the other city-states. Later, Davos proposed it to be ced in Scylletium, which was approved by the other city-states, because apart from Theonia, Scylletium was in the center of the other allies, and its strength was not very strong, which made them feel at ease.

    On normal days, the base of the South Italia Alliance will have personnel stationed in it to handle and negotiate the affairs among the allies.

    With the Crotonian Alliance being officially disbanded, the new military defense alliance signed by Theonia and Crotone had also be invalid. And Crotone who had to pay 500 Talents to Theonia for the war reparations, but had only paid the initial 80 Talents and the rest were then annulled. This is one of the reasons why Crotone had finally agreed to join the South Italia Alliance, but it had left Mersis to hyperventte and regret.

    At this point, Theonia has the following treaties: Theonia Alliance, which is an alliance dominated by Theonia Union, due to Theonia controlling the diplomatic power of the alliance (i.e. other allies in this alliance are not allowed to sign any treaty or agreement with any city-states) and military dominance, so the other allied city-states are actually vassals of Theonia. Next is the alliance agreement with Taranto, due to the rapid expansion of Theonia, this agreement has been amended twice, from the initial dominance of Taranto to equal treatment and mutual assistance, and so far there has only been more trade andmerce, but no joint military. Finally, there is the newly established South Italia Alliance. In addition, there was also the non-aggression peace agreement signed with Pyxous in the north. With the exception of the Locrian League and the more southern alliance of Rhegium and one of two small city-states, Theonia and the other city-states in Magna Graecia had created a peaceful and stable surrounding environment for themselves in the form of alliance.

    What Theonia urgently needs to do at this moment is without a doubt to fulfill the agreement and repel Locri.

    This war is different from the previous battle, as it would take four days just to arrive at the battlefield, therefore, resolving this battle just by relying on the soldiers carrying rations that wouldst for a few days is not feasible. Theirst battle with Crotone, the Crotonian fleet''s raid had already made the Theonians suffer a lot, and this time, the battle with Locri was even much more further away, which makes the food transport route to be much longer, and the Locrians also controlled the coastline, which would be a huge test for Theonia''s logistic.

    In this regard, Davos adopted the following strategis. First of all, Mersis was responsible for the rapid formation of a huge logistic team, which would carry at least a month''s worth of rations enough for 10,000 people to eat. Then the transport team will depart together with the reinforcements, which would not only ensure the safety of the transport team, but will also reduce thebor force, escort and the surplus consumption of food. Secondly, it is to end the war as soon as possible, so for this reason, Davos sent the most elite of their army ¨C the first legion.

    Preparing military supplies, purchasing pack animals¡­these preparations for the war naturally cost a lot, but this time, Mersis was not stingy and had bought them, because the cost was shared equally by all the allies.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the rooster''s first caw sounded in the city of Amendra, Giorgris had turned over and sat up, and his wife Daeneya had woken up as well.

    ¡°Go sleep a little longer.¡± Giorgris said softly, ¡°I am leaving.¡±

    ¡°I can''t sleep! I will send you to Thurii!¡± Although Daeneya was older than Giorgris, she likes to act coquettish, because it makes her feel younger than Giorgris and Giorgris also enjoys this feeling.

    However today, Giorgris shook his head, ¡°It''s not good for the child for you to walk so far while being pregnant.¡±

    ¡°Who said that?! Herpus said that pregnant women should exercise more in order for a smooth delivery and the baby to be healthy!¡± Daeneya retorted.

    Giorgris didn''t talk back anymore, as he trusted Herpus very much and that he is the direct disciple of the favored of the gods ¡°Davos¡±. And also, he could not stand Daeneya''s repeated request, so he had to take her together with a male ve to carry his weapons and equipment, then left home and went out of the city.

    It was currently dawn and the hired wagons from the port of Thurii were already rushing to Amendra to snatch their customers, for they all knew that this morning, the first legion of Theonia was to assemble, reorganize and then depart at the Nike Square in Thurii.

 Chapter 243: Theonias Deployment

    Giorgris is considered a rich man in Amendra(it''s actually his wife), as he owns 7,000 square meters ofnds in Amendra, all nted with olive trees over ten years old and had his own oil press to make olive oil, originally the family only had a simple wagon, mainly used to transport thepleted olive oil to the port of Thurii, but since Daeneya married Giorgris, and considering the frequent travel of Giorgris between Thurii and Amendra for military training and handling military affairs, and in order to provide an appearance for her husband, she had bought a carriage for him to ride in, but usually, he just rode on the horse more often.

    Although there were not many pedestrians on the road at this time, all the carriages still departed orderly. It has been almost a year since the construction of the Amendra-Thurii road, and in order for it to be safe and convenient, the people have formed some customary rules under the guidance of the union.

    But now the Department of Road Management of the alliance has been established and Heracleides the Younger has been sessfully elected as the head of the department. ording to the new department, Heracleides the Younger was ready to start two things immediately: First, he was going to submit to the Senate a bill for the maintenance and use of the roads of Theonia, that is, he was going to convert these customary road rules of the people into official roadwsmon to the union and improve the efficiency of the use of the roads. Second, he was going to propose to archon Davos a new road design and a n to renovate the old ones.

    The coachmen drove the horses to gallop at a constant speed, and the wooden wheels tightly mped with iron sheets ¡°ttered¡± on the t road.

    In the bumpy carriage, Giorgris listened to his wife''s chatter and thought about what he heard about the new department.

    ¡°Tomorrow, I am going to buy more ves.¡± His wife''s words caught his attention.

    ¡°Don''t we have enough ves already?¡± Giorgris said with doubt.

    ¡°I still haven''t seen the 2,000 square meter ofnds that was allocated to you in Krimisa and I heard that they are all goodnd. ording to the regtions of the Ministry of Agriculture, it can only be used to grow wheat. But now, you are busy with the military affairs of the union, so how can you have the spare time to work in Krimisa? Naturally, I will need to buy more ves to look after the farms for us.¡± Exined Daeneya.

    ¡°It''s only 2,000 square meter ofnd, there is no need for so many ves and it will cost us a lot of money just to support them.¡± Giorgris used to be poor, but he still kept his good habit of being thrifty.

    ¡°Dear, you do not know but the average citizen of Theonia now has at least two~three ves in their family, and everyone understands that the only way to build merit, gain honor and win morend and concessions in war is to give the adult male of the family free time for military training. The ve market, which was only built six months ago at the port of Thurii, has now expanded several times. And the price of ordinary ves has increased from 160 drachmae to 200 drachmae. If we don''t buy more now, then once we want to buy more ves in the future, I am afraid that the price will have gone up to 300 drachmae.¡±

    ¡°Besides, we can send the extra ves to Krimisa just in time to speed up the tilling of our farm, digging ditches,and to catch up on the nting of wheat seedlings, and when the farm work there is finished, a few can be sent back to the oil presses in Amendra to assist in the transportation of the pottery pots, and go to the port to take care of our olive oil shop¡­during the busiest autumn season, morebor will be needed to harvest wheat, grinding the olives, extracting the oil and also grinding flour¡­when the timees for farming, we will have enough ves to use, so there will be no need to hire temporaryborers, which is a waste of money and is inefficient¡­.¡± Daeneya exined it to Giorgris in detail.

    Giorgris doesn''t know much about this, but he trusted his wife''s ability, so he nodded and said, ¡°In that case, do as you say.¡±

    Daeneya then happily snuggled in the arms of Giorgris.

    After a while, the carriage stopped in front of the south gate of the city of Thurii. ording to the rules, the carriage could not enter the city, so the couple had to get off and walk, while their ves carried his weapons behind them.

    Along the way, they could see many citizens being apanied by their wives, and even the elderly and the children came to see them off.

    Ever since Davos took the initiative to often take Cheiristoya out in public and with the integration of arge number of Lucanians, the tradition that the wives of the citizens of Greek city-states should stay at home and show their faces sparingly was now rarely observed in Theonia.

    ¡°Giorgris! Giorgris!¡±

    Giorgris heard someone calling him, and when he looked back, he saw that it was Olivos.

    Olivos then came over together with his Persian wife, Mitra.

    After the four greeted each other, Olivos excitedly said, ¡°I heard that you are back in the first legion this time!¡±

    ¡°Due to captain Hielos bing the praetor of Aprustum, I had temporarily came back.¡± Giorgris kept his old habit while in Persia and called Hielos, captain.

    ¡°What do you mean temporary! Davos will definitely make you stay in the first legion for sure!¡± Olivos curled his lips and gave a mysterious smile.

    ¡°Why?¡± Asked Giorgris with suspicion.

    ¡°As the senior centurion of the first legion, it will be easier to be the legatus of another legion afterwards.¡± Olivos then came over and said in a low voice, ¡°I heard that yesterday, Davos proposed a bill to the Senate and passed, ¡®Anyone who has served as a Legatus for five years with outstanding performance can be a member of the Senate after getting elected by the statesmen!¡¯¡±

    Before Giorgris could speak, Daeneya, who was listening, said excitedly, ¡°So my husband will be a member of the Senate in the future?!¡±

    Olivos looked at her and said with a smile, ¡°Yes, but after me. To be a statesman of the Senate, it''s not just a matter of being able to fight, you also need to have administrative skills. Like me, I have not only served as the patrol captain of Thurii, but have also invited a private teacher to teach me how to read, count and speak, and next year, I will try to be a mid-rank agricultural officer and amercial officer¡­¡±

    Daeneya looked at her silent husband and made up her mind to also urge him to strengthen his study and engage in more local affairs and to not always train the recruits¡­and so on.

    Olivos found it interesting and fitting for the honest Giorgris to marry a shrewd-looking wife.

    He looked at Daeneya carefully and suddenly said, ¡°Are you pregnant?¡±

    Daeneya stroked her belly with pride, ¡°Yes, for five months!¡±

    ¡°My wife is pregnant as well!¡± Olivos announced it with the same pride and Mitra bowed her head embarrassedly.

    ¡°I am afraid that the rest of ourrades are like captain Hielos and Matonis, and are not married.¡± Giorgris suddenly said.

    ¡°You¡­you are not keeping up with the time! Kunogta had taken a fancy to Hielos and wanted him to be his son-inw, and wants Davos to be his matchmaker and Davos has already agreed to it! As for Matonis, didn''t you notice that he was acting a little strange when we left Krimisa?¡± Olivos said with a smile, ¡°I asked my men to quietly go to his brigade and inquire about it, and turns out, this big guy became infatuated with a girl in Krimisa¡­.hahaha!¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡± Giorgris was pleasantly surprised.

    ¡°Of course it is! But do not ask him, else he will beat you up and it will also implicate me.¡± Warned Olivos.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In ordance with the agreement, Theonia not only wanted to defeat Locri as soon as possible, but also to show their power to the city-states in the South Italia Alliance in order to increase its influence in this region. Therefore, Theonia had not only sent the most elite of their legion ¨C the first legion, but had also transferred the experienced soldiers from the other legions to supplement the soldiers that are missing in the first legion due to injuries and illness. Even the personnel in charge of transporting the supplies wereposed of more than a thousand mercenaries led by Xanticles, which not only ensured the safety of the supplies, but also provided a powerful supplement to thebat forces. Naturally, Davos and Philesius had their own selfishness, hoping that these formerrades of theirs would make more contributions in order to be a preparatory citizens of Theonia as soon as possible.

    The first legion has more than 7000 men, with 1,500 men escorting the logistic unit, a total of nearly 9,000 men, and countless supply wagons made up of pack animals. A huge team then set out to the south.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The first time Locri heard of Theonia Union(it wasn''t yet called by that name at that time) was in the first Crotonian War. The army of Crotone was defeated and captured by the Amendran army, which was much smaller than them.

    The Locrians became more excited than surprised, as they were very happy to see another city-state in the north of Crotone that could give Crotone a trouble ¡°The enemy of the enemy is a friend¡± so Locri sent envoys to contact Amendra in the hope of establishing an alliance with them to deal with Crotone. However, the Amendrans did not say anything and instead signed an armistice agreement with Crotone and returned the captured soldiers of Crotone six monthster. Moreover, during the negotiation, they had even used Locri as a bargaining chip to threaten Crotone and achieve their goal of armistice, so the Locrians began to have resentment against Amendra.

    Half a yearter, the second Crotonian war broke out, and the Crotonian army invaded Theonia Union formed mainly by the Amendrans. Locri, having taken a sigh of relief, did not forget that their greatest enemy was Crotone and so, they quickly sent an envoy to prepare for another alliance with Theonia, but because of various factors, the envoy ¨C Metolephes, failed to get in touch with Davos in time, however, in just a few days, the Crotonian army was badly defeated at the Trionto river, and only a few thousand men had manage to retreat back to Krimisa to defend against the counter-attack of the Theonian army.

 Chapter 244: Peace in South Italia under the leadership of Theonia

    The Locrians were shocked and rmed by what they have learned. For decades, Locri has been unable to beat Crotone, while the newly established Theonia Union had beaten Crotone twice in a row.

    Naturally, the most important thing for Locri was that Crotone had suffered heavy losses and was still in a bitter battle with Theonia, which is a great opportunity for them. Unable to wait for the report of their envoy, Locri began to n their attack on the Crotonian Alliance, and in order for them to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop, they mobilized for war within the Locrian League and at the same time, the elder brother of Dionysius'' wife and the polemarchos of Locri ¨C Demodokas, asked Syracuse for help. At this time, Syracuse hadunched another war against Carthage and their powerfulnd army was capturing towns one after another, and only their navy had not met the enemy for the time being, so apart from some ships escorting the army along the coastline, the rest had stayed in the port of Syracuse for standby.

    On one hand, out of their friendship with Locri and on the other was to make preparations for the future, so Dionysius sent more than 20 Triremes to assist the Locrians.

    With Syracuse as their backing, Locri could no longer wait to start the war.

    Who knew that Theonia and Crotone made truce again, and they had not only signed a defensive alliance agreement, but had also released all the captives. Metelophes felt that he was yed a fool, and so he returned home in anger.

    The Locrians were angry at Theonia for ignoring Locri''s good intention over and over again, and intentionally or unintentionally hindering the n of Locri. It is only because they were currently fully engaged in dealing with their rival Crotone that they did not want to createplications and temporarily held back their anger for now. And at the same time, Locri began to be wary of Theonia.

    After that, although the battle with Crotone had a small setback, they were still able topletely win a naval battle with the reinforcements from Syracuse. While the Crotonian army, which has lost the protection of the navy, was not strong enough and was forced to move back and forth by the Locrians and was put in a passive situation.

    Just when Locri saw hope of victory, the news came that the envoys of the Crotonian Alliance had gathered in Thurii to ask Theonia for reinforcements!

    The thing that Locri was worrying the most has happened. Given that the previous performance of Metelophes was unsatisfactory, they immediately sent Phantepes, who was the most eloquent in Locri. However, his arrival had not only failed to change the mind of Theonia, but had also elerated the establishment of the South Italia Alliance.

    As he left Thurii, Phantepes said angrily to the statesmen of the Senate of Theonia, ¡°Apollo had bear witness at how we Locrians had always paid respect to the Theonians, but every time we offer an olive branch, we instead get the malicious deception and fooling of Theonia. From this day forward, Locri and Theonia will be enemies! The next time wee, there will be no more envoy of peace, but the wrath of Ares and a powerful army!¡±

    The statesmen''s expression changed slightly, however, Davos calmly replied, ¡°Previously, when the Crotoniansunched the warst time, their envoys were standing where you are now and said simr things as you have, but now?¡±

    Despite Davos'' calmed appearance, he knew that the Locrians were dominant on sea, so after the deration of war on Theonia, they would likely repeat what the Crotonian fleet had done to Theonia. Due to this, he had to reorganize the cavalries of Ledes to patrol the coastline, while resuming the measures taken by Philesius in response to the Crotonian fleet''s raid, and the Senate to suspend the immigration to Aprustum and Krimisa.

    But a few dayster, nothing happened.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the first legion arrived at Aprustum, the more than a thousand soldiers that were stationed there had joined the army, which increased the number of soldiers involved in the war to more than ten thousand.

    Five dayster, the army arrived in the city of Caulonia without any ident. The reason why they arrived two days longer than the previous n was that they had not expected the bad condition of the roads in the south of Magna Graecia, and the warm hospitality of the people when they passed through Scylletium.

    After the reinforcements from Theonia arrived at the battlefield, the Caulonians were ted, but they still waited for the Theonians to finish their rest before immediatelyunching an attack on the camp of Locri in the south of Caulonia. However, they did not expect that the Locrians would send an envoy to talk about an armistice before their n could even be implemented.

    A hundred years ago, Crotone won the war against Sybaris and quickly became a powerful city-state in Magna Graecia, and had the ambition to dominate southern Italia and hadunched an attack on the south many times. The most serious case was when Locri and the neighboring city-states were under Crotone''s attack and were defeated. Finally, in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of Sybaris, Locri and Rhegium joined forces tounch a counterattack against Crotone and had taken advantage of Crotone''s carelessness to severely hurt the Crotonian army.

    The strength of Crotone was greatly hurt that made them unable to attack the south for a while, and in order to prevent the Crotonians from regaining their strength, Locri and Rhegium began a long-term attack on the Crotonian Alliance, and had even work together with the Bruttians in the north. For decades, Crotone has been beset by the threat of the Bruttians in the north, Locri and Rhegium in the south and was struggling to cope with them, which have exhausted them greatly and are unable to regain their strength. Therefore, when Athens wanted to establish the city of Thurii in the Sybaris in, they could only make concessions and sign the agreement.

    However, the cooperation between Locri and Rhegium was not close, so after the threat of Crotone had waned, the conflict between the two emerged. Their biggest conflict was due to the two city-states being both coastal cities and their proximity to each other had inevitably caused a rivalry in the sea trade. But due to Rhegium controlling half of the Strait of Messana, they had gained the upper hand in the sea trade, while Locri opened up a trade route from Locri to Medma and Hipponion (both of which were cities on the west coast of Magna Graecia), allowing the Greek merchants to reach the west coast bynd-based trade routes without having to go through the Strait of Messana and paying higher toll fee, and thus robbed a lot of profit from Rhegium''s port that serve as a transit for the trade in the western Mediterranean¡­.

    These conflicts added up and finally burst out a few years ago.

    Dionysius, who had just be Syracuse''s supreme militarymander, had his wife killed by angry mobs in a previous power struggle. He was widowed and wanted to remarry, and as a tyrant this was also a political union to secure his power. So after marrying the daughter of a prominent nobleman who supported him in Syracuse, he had also wanted to marry another wife and his eyes were set on another house in Rhegium, which was only a strait away from Sicily. On the one hand, it''s because Rhegium''s geographical position is too important, and on the other, there is a woman in the city of Rhegium whose reputation was spread in all directions.

    But the people of Rhegium refused, as they were full of vignce against Dionysius, who was the tyrant of Syracuse, and they had not forgotten that the tyrants of Syracuse since the time of Gelon had coveted Rhegium, which have forced Rhegium to make an alliance with Carthage to protect itself.

    However, due to their refusal, Dionysius had no choice but to propose to the Locrians, and Locri agreed, which led to theplete breakdown of the alliance between Locri and Rhegium.

    As for why Dionysius did not go look for Crotone? It is because during the Peloponnesian War, Crotone and Thurii were on the side of Athens and even provided assistance when the Athenian army attacked Syracuse. While Taranto, the city-state created by the Spartans, had always been close to Sparta and was only of small significance to Dionysius.

    However, the departure of Rhegium made it difficult for Locri to create trouble for Crotone again with only their strength. So it wasn''t until Theonia beat Crotone twice that their hopes were rekindled.

    During the mobilization for war, Locri had also sent envoys to the Bruttians, and the Bruttians, who had always epted the invitation of Locri before, had refused their request this time, and gave the reason that due to their attack on Terinast year, it had resulted in heavy losses and so they needed to recuperate.

    But the Locrian envoy found that the Bruttian tribes in Cosenza seemed to be making some changes.

    With the help of the Syracusan Navy, Locri then attacked the Crotonian Alliance. However, it turned out that even though Crotone was greatly weakened, a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse. Although the Locrian had the upper hand, they could not win quickly.

    Now, Theonia had joined the war, and for Locri, the situation has taken a sharp turn.

    After the diplomacy with Theonia had failed, the first thing the Locrians did was to go to Syracuse, and Dionysius then met the Locrian envoy in a hurry in the newly upied city of Selinunte.

    After hearing the envoy''s request, Dionysius frowned and thought for a moment and bluntly said, ¡°The war between Syracuse and Carthage is at a critical time, so I have no reinforcements to send! Go and ask for a truce! Once I have pacified Sicily, I will help Locri get back this debt!¡±

    Therefore, the envoy could only reluctantly return to Locri.

    The Locrians were not fools. Without reinforcements, they have no chance to win, so their only way out is to ask for peace. After decades of entanglement with Crotone in which fighting and truce was amon urrence, the Locrians were already used to it and will not insist on a hopeless battle just because of honor.

    Therefore, when the first legion of Theonia came with great momentum, but there was no battle that urred and they had instead be a mediator.

    Fortunately, the South Italia Alliance were greatly impressed by the Theonian army, especially the Caulonians, who were surprised to find that the Theonian soldiers who had set up camp outside Caulonia had just stayed quietly inside their camp during the negotiations without making disturbing behavior, which was even better than the Crotonians who had been the allies of Caulonia for decades.

    Syprus the envoy of Terina had arrived in Caulonia together with the army. Therefore, he had a more detailed andprehensive assessment of the Theonian army when he returned to Terina after the negotiations and reported it to the council.

 Chapter 245: The four strifes in western Mediterranean

    Siprus made a detailed andprehensive assessment on the Theonian army at the Terina council meeting, ¡°¡­.What impressed me the most was the discipline and obedience of the Theonian soldiers, which was different from the armies of other allied city-states that I had ever seen, including ourselves. I had heard that the Theonians has a special militaryw to regte the behaviors of the soldiers and has a strict rules on all aspects of military training, marching and camping¡­and so on., and there are also military inspectors in the army to supervise its implementation, and the soldiers were visibly not against getting punished if they were to break the militaryw, on the contrary, they are ashamed¡­.

    I have learned from the Theonian soldiers that they had to train every five days during their free time even during farming season, which is already a surprising amount for us in Terina, and they seemed to be very happy to train and were notining about wasting their farnds because of training¡­in order to use the shield, spears, bow and javelins in their hands skillfully, and maintain aplete formation during a march. They are not only serious in building their camp, but also have a clear division ofbor and high efficiency. Therefore, they were able to build a well guarded camp in a very short amount of time that made me amazed¡­.

    In addition, there is another obvious difference between the Theonian army and the other city-states, that is, their strategos and officers at all ranks were not temporarily appointed after a war mobilization, but have always held these positions in the army. Hence they are not only experienced inbat, but are also familiar with every soldier under their jurisdiction. Therefore, they are able tomand the soldiers very smoothly while they are marching and constructing their camps, and have a tacit cooperation with each other¡­and so, the superiors and the subordinates understood well about their responsibilities when executing the orders¡­.

    What is even more surprising to me is that these soldiers are not afraid of fighting, and are instead eager for a battle, which reminded me of the Spartans in Greece. Although I haven''t seen them fight yet, the fact that they were able to defeat Crotone with less number of soldiers is proof enough of the Theonian army''s military strength. In short, I see the Theonian army as a finely crafted, well-maintained and terrifying weapon of war!¡­.¡±

    After listening to Siprus, the council of Terina decided to give Theonia as much support as possible in the South Italia Alliance as long as it does not affect their own interests.

    After several days of negotiations, the peace agreement was finally reached: Locri willpensate Caulonia, Terina, Scylletium and Crotone for a certain amount of wealth and both sides will then achieve a truce¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as peace was restored in south Italia, a big war soon broke out in the Lucanian region, northwest of Theonia in early March.

    The army of Potentia besieged and attacked Grumentum for more than ten days. And Gennat of Pyxous led his troops to attack the rear of the Potentia''s army, while Cincinnag, seeing the arrival of reinforcements, also led his troops to attack at the same time. Afterwards, Pyxous and Grumentum chased the Potentians who had lost their camp and fled in disarray.

    When Pyxous and Grumentum broke into the camp of Potentia and saw the herds of livestocks, piles of grain and many other tribal women and numerous ves that were captured by Potentia as they marched. Both Pyxous and Grumentum had no longer any more intention to pursue Potentia, and had instead begun plundering the camp''s properties and women, which caused a conflict.

    Pyxous believes that they are the one that defeated the army of Potentia and so the spoils should belong to them, while Grumentum believed that most of the properties that were plundered by Potentia are from the tribes belonging to Grumentum outside the city and should be returned to Grumentum.

    What started as a quarrel and conflict soon turned into an armed struggle, especially the people of Grumentum, who originally had a superior status in the Lucanian Alliance, not only had many of their chieftains were killed, but during this period of time were Pyxous ruled them, the Pyxousian had treated them with contempt and provocation which made the people of Grumentum feel lost and humiliated. In addition, the Pyxousian soldiers who followed Cincinnag were domineering in Grumentum. Therefore, the pent up resentment in their hearts finally burst out after getting stirred up and so the people of Grumentum gathered one after another and madly attacked the camp of Pyxous, and both sides started a bloody battle.

    Cincinnag could not stop the fight, and when he finally decided to finally wipe out the erratic Grumentum people, the chieftain of Potentia, Polet, led some of his reorganized warriors to return and fight them again. The Pyxousians, who were fighting with the people of Grumentum in the camp, suffered a tragic defeat. And Cincinnag and his son could only flee into the mountains together with the remnants of their army, not even daring to return to Grumentum. In the end, they manage to return to Pyxous.

    And Potentia finally captured Grumentum.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time, after two months of sieging and struggling hard, Taranto finally captured Brindisi, a small city on the east of Taranto near the Adriatic Sea, which was a big breakthrough in the territory expansion of Taranto since their establishment.

    The people dedicated their praise to Diaoms and Archytas who had led the army. Archytas, however, could not be happy. The attack on the Messapians was supported by the city-state, and though they have achieved the initial n agreed by the council and opening thend route between Taranto and the Adriatic Sea and cutting off the Messapians from the north, and blocking them in the penins, but the price they had paid was high, with 4,000 casualties among the Taranto''s soldiers.

    The Messapians are famous in Magna Graecia for their ferocity. A few hundred years ago, during the Great Greek colonial era, many Greek city-states were established in Magna Graecia, but on this "heel", there was only Taranto. While the other colonial city-states are getting attacked and assimted by the nearby aborigines and expanding their territory. The people of Taranto, who have the advantage due to their position, arementing their misfortunes that their neighbors to the east, the Messapians, were not only fierce and numerous, but also that the Messapians were notpletely barbaric aborigines. ording to their own ims, they were Illyrians from the north of Greece near the Adriatic sea, with culture and tradition simr to that of the Greeks(the Greeks never recognized them and still regarded them as barbarians), and had prevented Taranto from advancing ind for hundreds of years. Especially a few decades ago when Taranto supported Sparta in the Peloponnesian War and had caused Athens to be hostile on them, so Athens supported the Messapians against Taranto, and since then, the Messapian''s invasion of Taranto began to increase, which had cause the people to suffer.

    This time, if not for the stimtion due to the rapid rise of Theonia, then the Council of Taranto might not have made up their mind to attack the Messapians. However, Archytas knew that although they had temporarily won, the Messapians would never give up and the war with them wouldst for a long time.

    The wailing of the wounded soldiers outside the city had mixed with the proud and ferocious cry of the crows pecking at the corpses, which made the people tremble¡­.

    Archytas, who was standing on the low wall of Brindisi, stared nkly at the western sky dyed scarlet like blood by the setting sun and his heart was full of fear for the future¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In April, Syracuse''s army continued to march westward, and the city-states such as Eryx and Hesa opened their cities and surrendered one after another. Only Segesta remained loyal to Carthage and was besieged.

    In the middle of the day, Dionysius'' army arrived at the westernmost end of Sicily and faced the ind city in the bay and was also Carthage''s important base in Sicily ¨C Motya.

    Motya destroyed the causeway connecting to thend and prepared to defend it by the sea.

    While Dionysiusmanded the army to rebuild the causeway, while leading an expedition to the nearby areas. However, Segesta repelled the attack of Syracuse, which forced Syracuse to continue sieging it.

    In May, when the causeway waspleted, Dionysius led his army back to attack Motya.

    At this time, Carthage had also prepared to send troops to rescue this precarious city on the sea. They had first adopted the strategy of besieging the base of Syracuse to relieve Motya by sending ships to Syracuse and breaking into therge port and destroying the ships docked there, in an attempt to lure Dionysius back, but Dionysius did not move.

    The Carthaginian general, Himilco, had no choice but to lead his army to rescue Motya, while therge number of Carthaginian ships bypassed the Cape of Palermo and sailed aggressively into the bay in an attempt to destroy the Syracusan ships that remained near the beach.

    Dionysius, who had been waiting for a long time, hadid down dozens of new weapons on the beach ¨C Ballista. At themand of Dionysius, a bowl-sized round stone flew out and smashed into the Carthaginian ships¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos was examining a silverish white coin in his hand. It weighed four grams and was very close to the standard circle, with the head of hades with long beard and hair and engraved with the letters ¡°Theonian Union¡± on one side. On the other side is a leafy por tree(the sacred tree of Hades) and engraved with the letters ¡°The third year of the 95th Olympia Games.¡± And the image on both sides are located at the center, with subtle engraving, distinctive concave and convex, and clear letters.

    Davos then tossed the coin and caught it, weighed it in his hand and asked, ¡°How much silver does it contain?¡±

    Tritodemos came forward and said, ¡°ording to your proposal and the Senate''s coinagew, the purity of a drachma silver coin is more than 95%, which isparable to the purity of the Athenian ¡°owl¡±(The Laurion silver coin known throughout Greece), but-¡± Tritodemos said anxiously, ¡°We don''t have therge silver mine of Athens, and the revenue of the treasure mainlyes from trade and taxes, so issuing silver coins of such high purity would be a great loss.¡±

    Davos nodded and exined patiently, ¡°We will certainly suffer some losses, but I had already exined it very clearly in the Senate meeting. Now, Theonia''s monthly treasury revenue is nearly 50 talents, and ording to the analysis of Marigi, this figure will increase more once we have closer ties with the other allies in the South Italia Alliance¡­therefore, we can bear this loss. Moreover, we have a market management office in each city, as well as banks for exchange, which, together with the additional fees charged, can partiallypensate for the losses incurred by the union''s minting¡­.¡±

 Chapter 246: Silver Coin of Theonia and the Institute of Mathematics

    In this era, the currencies that are circting in the Mediterranean trade were gold and silver. The Persians mainly use gold coins, while the Greek city-states did not have so many gold mines, so they mainly use silver coins. Because each city-states had the right to cast their own silver coins, the whole Mediterranean currency market was quite chaotic, and the weight of the coins issued by different city-states and the purity were not uniform, which brought difficulties in trading, hence why currency exchange came into being.

    At the mention of a currency exchange, Tritodemosined in his heart: In Greek city-states, the bank is the one undertaking the business of currency exchange, and the more prosperous the city-state is, the more developed the banking industry be, however, although there are many banks in each city of Theonia, they all belong to one person, Cheiristoya, the wife of Davos the archon of Theonia. Naturally, this is not the result of any administrative interference by Davos, but rather the fact that the Bank of Cheiristoya, since its establishment, had an average of loan repayment far less than the 15% interest rate of the Greek city-states, which is only 5% on its main business loans.

    Although the Bank of Cheiristoya had broken the tacit rules of banking in the Greek city-states, there were no major wealthy merchants in Amendra and Thurii that would obstruct them at that time. On the contrary, because of its low interest loans, countless families and small shops were helped out of their initial difficulties, thus gaining reputations for the Bank of Cheiristoya. The trade of Theonia these days was no longerparable to what it used to be, with some merchants taking up the idea of opening banks, but they were forced to implement the low-interest loans in the union. However, the Bank of Cheiristoya has made its brand popr among the Theonian poption making the people trust and appreciate it. Therefore, there is often a long line at the entrance of the Bank of Cheiristoya while there are only a few customers at the other bank. Normalpetition is not possible, and ying other means is even more impossible. Don''t forget that the one behind the Bank of Cheiristoya stands Davos, the sole archon for life of Theonia. Because banks do not earn them money, the merchants had to invest in other industries, and with the expansion of Theonia Union, there are many industries that will earn them money and even though thepetition has also be fierce, there is only one bank.

    Tritodemos looked at the man in front of him, who was already the most powerful man in Theonia at such a young age, and he even has a smart and beautiful wife who earns a lot of money for him, which is enviable!

    Davos didn''t notice the unusual gaze of Tritodemos, as he paid all his attention on the coins. He picked up two more silver coins and looked at them carefully, they were almost identical, so he asked with concern, ¡°What do you think of the style and design of these Theonian silver coins whenpared to the Athenian silver coin?¡±

    The ¡°Owl¡± in Athens not only has high purity of silver, but also has exquisite patterns. Even though Athens was defeated and the Delian League was dissolved, and were no longer able to force the other city-states to use the Laurion silver coins, the merchants and the people of the Greek city-states still voluntarily used it, and many merchants had even went to Athens just to exchange for their coins and put them in their own homes as art collections. Hence, the silver coins of Athens are the most widely circted and used hard currency in the Greek city-states.

    ¡°I have repeatedlypared a dozen Laurion silver coins minted in different years with some people in the Coin Minting Committee, and we all agree that our Theonian coins are as pure and well engraved as theirs! And-¡± Tritodemos picked up the silver coin, rubbed the rim if the coin and excitedly said, ¡°Archon, the suggestion that you have given at the beginning of using a simple bezel instead of the traditional method of makingplicated and rough serration had not only improves the efficiency but had even made it to be less prone to erosion, and everyone thinks that it is asplex as the pirs of the temple! I believe that the Theonian silver coin will be liked by the people after it is issued!¡± Tritodemos said excitedly.

    Davos'' expression remained calm. The design that he suggested was based on the characteristics of ancient Chinese coins, so there was nothing to be proud of. Instead, he was more concerned about whether the Theonian coins could quickly circte and be the main currency used in the city-states in the South Italia Alliance. This was not only to expand the influence of Theonia, but also to dominate the currency in Magna Graecia and control the economy and trade of the city-states in the South Italia Alliance.

    Like Athens, even in thetter stages of the Peloponnesian War, when the trading shrank, the financial situation fell, and the Laurion mines produced less silver ore, they still had not reduced the purity of the ¡°Owl¡±. Therefore, the Athenian was rewarded for their adherence to their mary credit, only a few years after the end of the war, more and more merchants came to the port of Piraeus, and now, the Athenian trade was gradually returning to its former prosperity.

    ¡°Lord Tritodemos, your Coin Minting Committee has put a lot of effort into this small silver coin these past few months! I believe that once we sessfully issue it and get epted by the people of Magna Graecia, your name will be left in the Hall of Sages!¡± Hearing the words of praise from Davos, Tritodemos suddenly became excited. With thepletion of the Temple of Hades, some special architectural structures in the temple became popr among the people. For example, there are two side halls in the temple, one is called the Hall of Valor, dedicated to the warriors who had died defending the safety of the union, and the other one is called the Hall of Sages, where the names of the citizens who made outstanding contributions to the union would be engraved in it. It was said that Davos was the one that had designed it. As citizens of the union, especially the statesmen, there is no one who does not want to leave his name in history, so it is inevitable that Tritodemos couldn''t control his emotion and was overjoyed.

    At this time, a voice of discontent rang out, ¡°Since these are all the work of the Coin Minting Committee and has nothing to do with our Institute of Mathematics, then don''t look for us again for making the ¡®Order of Original Citizenship of Amendra¡¯¡­and other things!¡± Tritodemos looked back and saw that it was Marticoris, so he said to Davos, ¡°It''s all thanks to Marticoris and Metoticles of the Institute of Mathematics that we could make such exquisite coins. If it wasn''t for the coin mold that they have designed and that water powered¡­water powered¡­.¡±

    ¡°It''s a water powered press!¡± Marticoris added impatiently.

    Tritodemos coughed awkwardly and said, ¡°It is because they have designed these wonderful tools that we can make exquisite coins! Not to mention that it has already surpassed the coins designed by Pythagoras for Metapontum, and it is evenparable to the Athenians coins that are famous all over Greece!¡±

    ¡°These are all not our credit¡­.¡± Being told that their skills were superior to those of their founder Pythagoras, the ever-stable Marticoris said modestly, ¡°If it wasn''t for the waterwheel that Lord Davos have designed, which has given us inspirations, we would not have thought of using water power instead of human power, but unfortunately, the force generated by the water flow of the Cosceli river was not strong enough to make therge water powered forging hammer that you have mentionedst time that can continuously strikerge pieces of cast iron to work.¡±

    ¡°Then use a dam.¡± Blurted Davos.

    ¡°Dam?!¡± Marticoris'' eyes brightened.

    ¡°We''ll talk about itter.¡± Currently, there are construction going on all over Theonia, including the resettlement of Aprustum and Krimisa, the construction of the Temple of Hades, road constructions, transforming the marsh of Krimisa, and the construction of the bathhouse in the hotspring of Thurii¡­so there is not enoughbor to build a more demanding andplex dams. So Davos digressed and said to Tritodemos, ¡°Marticoris and the others will notpete with you for this credit, for they are the mathematicians who are destined to be famous throughout Greece in the future, and there will certainly be statues of them on the Hall of Sages!¡±

    Faced with such high praise, Marticoris was also slightly embarrassed, he stroked his head andughed. While the performance of Metoticles who was beside him, although he was a little bit more stable, could hardly hide the excitement on his face.

    After sending off Tritodemos, there were only two guests left in the living room, Marticoris and Metoticles. Now they are no longer the ordinary disciples of the Pythagorean School that he had first met. As early asst year, by virtue of their achievements in making waterwheels and poprizing mathematics among the people for free, Davos proposed a bill of the ¡¶Drawing Foreign Schrs¡· in the Senate meeting, which was passed(together with the previous ¡¶Physician Act¡· and ¡¶Teacher Act¡· which was approved afterwards, andter generations would call these three acts of Theonia the transformation of the quality of the citizens) making them official citizens of Theonia.

    Although they had studied mathematics in Taranto, they were not citizens of Taranto. They were from the Sicilian city-state of Leontinoi, but due to their love of mathematics and admiration for Pythagoras, they had stayed in Taranto for a long time and had be homeless after their home was upied by Syracuse. And the main reason for why the Pythagorean School let theme to Amendra was because they were of no importance to the school. However, in the Theonia Union, their status changed dramatically, they not only havends and houses, but were also respected by the people, and Davos had also privately funded the construction of a Institute of Mathematics for them, providing free assistants, ves and various materials and funds, so that they can devote themselves to the theoretical research and practical applications of mathematics without outside interference.

    Mathematicians of this era did not only study mathematics, they were also involved in the fields of physics and astronomy, for example, Pythagoras had his own ideas in temperament and aesthetics, and the famous ¡°golden ratio¡± was first proposed by him. For this reason, Davos asionally asked the Institute of Mathematics for some of his own requests, and Marticoris and his colleagues were willing to shelve their research for the time being andplete the tasks assigned by Davos, not because of the power of the archon, but because the various instruments and devices that Davos envisioned involved the use of someplex and even novel mathematical and physics knowledge, which is of great benefit in consolidating and studying the theories of mathematics and physics.

 Chapter 247: Ballista

    ¡°What are you researchingtely?¡± Davos asked with a smile.

    ¡°In addition to helping the Senate in designing the molds and tools for minting silver coins, we are mostly researching pulleys.¡± Said Metoticles truthfully.

    ¡°Pulley?!¡± When Davos heard it, he became interested.

    ¡°Last year, when you defeated Crotone and annexed Thurii, Archytas hade to Amendra.¡± Marticoris casually said

    Davos did not mind it, and just nodded.

    ¡°He saw our new waterwheel and became greatly interested, so he came to discuss its application principle with us, and at the same time, he also mentioned that he recently became interested in mathematical mechanics and began studying the application of pulleys¡­.¡± Marticoris then said with some embarrassment, ¡°So I¡­.¡± He took a look at Metoticles, ¡°We¡­have also started studying pulleys as well¡­.¡±

    Davos understood. Although Archytas is an important figure and mathematical genius of the Pythagorean School, and these two are just ordinary disciples, they, however, are aspetitive as anyone in the academic field, especially Marticoris. He has a vigorous energy, great curiosity and inquisitiveness, and now under the condition of a better life, he has a strong desire to learn and improve his shorings, and devote all his energy to research in order topete with Archytas in academics.

    ¡°How is your research going?¡± Davos gently interrupted Marticoris who was stammering. Although Davos had forgotten a lot of the scientific knowledge that he learned from his teacher and school in his previous life, not so much as to not even know what a pulley is, which is just the basics of physics in junior high school.

    ¡°We have already created the mathematical form for why pulleys can reduce the effort needed, and have verified its correctness many times. Naturally, it is thanks to the numerical symbols that you have invented that has saved us a lot of time and effort. Now we are further experimenting with multiple pulleybinations to refine our theory¡­by then, this discovery will change the whole Mediterranean world! Imagine a person using a pulley to pull up a boulder to more than ten meters high! Imagine a man using a pulley to pull a small boat by himself¡­.¡± When Marticoris talks about math, his eyes light up and his hands move around.

    Instead of being surprised like what they had expected, Davos said while smiling, ¡°I believe that your research and invention will bring great convenience to the life of the union''s people!¡±

    They nced at each other and were a little depressed. Davos, as the favored of Hades, seemed to have long seen the future development of a mathematical research, so that whenever they stood in front of him, they would always not feel the superiority of being a schr.

    Marticoris had no choice but toin, ¡°If you hadn''t asked us to assist in the minting of the coins, then our research would have progressed faster!¡±

    ¡°Isn''t it for you to prove your ability to the Pythagorean School through coin minting?¡± Davosughed, when he handed over the issue of coin minting to Tritodemos, he did not consider the two disciples of the Pythagorean School. However, the high demand that he requested had made it difficult for Tritodemos. In the end, Tritodemos took the initiative to find Davos and asked Marticoris to help them, because decades ago after Pythagoras was expelled by the Crotonians, he had stayed in Metapontum and designed an borate minting mold for Metapontum. which made the coins of this unknown Greek city-states to be very popr in Magna Graecia. Therefore, he thought of asking Marticoris of the Pythagorean School to help them.

    ¡°Compared with the era of Pythagoras, the research on the design of coin molds in the school has be more perfect, so-¡± As soon as Marticoris spoke modestly, Metoticles snorted, ¡°But they do not have a water powered presses, hence why our silver coins are far better than theirs.¡±

    After spending so much time together, Davos basically understood the two young men in front of him. Back then, most people of the Pythagorean School did not want toe to Amendra, a small remote city, so they forcibly appointed these two unknown foreign disciples, which has given a big blow to these two sensitive Leontinians. But under the long-term intentional guidance of Davos, the two people who have low positions in the school have gradually deviated from and disagreed with some philosophies of the school, and are even willing topete with their former teachers and ssmates.

    With a smile, Davos took out a piece of papyrus and said, ¡°I have a drawing here, which is about the use of pulley, I wonder if you can make it?¡±

    ¡°Let me see! Let me see!¡± As soon as Davos'' voice fell, Metoticles was unable to hold himself back and snatch it from him.

    Metoticles leaned over and looked at the drawing and asked, ¡°What is the name of this instrument?¡±

    ¡°The Syracusans call it a ballista. I heard that it can shoot a stone that weighs 6 kilogram at a distance of several hundred meters. More than ten days ago, the Syracusans used it to repel the reinforcements of Carthage.¡± Davos looked calm, but his heart was not.

    Davos was surprised when Aristias reported the situation of the sea battle of Motya to him. The Theonian catapults are still in its trial stage, and yet the Syracusans ballista and gastraphetes* have appeared inrge quantities in Motya, and sessfully sank many Carthaginian ships. Its strength and uracy are notparable to Theonian''s crude catapult, which shows the gap between Syracuse and Theonia in military technology. This made Davos feel the pressure and he immediately ordered Aristias to get the blueprints of the Syracusans ballista at all costs!

    As for Aristias, who hated Syracuse, he could not wait to steal it. So after paying a great price, he got a rough draft of the Syracusans ballista.

    Hearing the name ¡°Syracuse¡±, the two schrs, who had also lost their homes, looked more serious and wished that they could get the blueprints.

    ¡°Metoticles.¡± At this time, Davos asked, ¡°I wonder how is the thing that I had told youst time about attracting and recruiting more of your fellow ssmates to Theonia to expand the scale of the research institute and further promote the research of mathematical theory and application is going?¡±

    Metoticles looked away from the drawing with some reluctance and said helplessly, ¡°Archon, since the school has denounced us for viting the rules by giving lectures in public, many students have cut off theirmunications with us. And only those few foreign students who have good rtions with me have listened to my introduction of the good environment in Theonia and are willing toe.¡±

    ¡°As long as they are willing toe, Theonia will fulfill its promise! In addition, if they have any needs, you can immediately tell me and I will try my best to satisfy them! Theonia will do its best to create the best environment and conditions for you to study, discuss and research, and even though there are only a few of you, I believe that you will be able to achieve fruitful results not much less than those over in Taranto!¡±

    Davos showed no reservation in fully supporting the Institute of Mathematics, which not only made Metoticles grateful, but also aroused his ambition. He then solemnly said, ¡°We won''t let you down!¡±

    ¡°How is your discussion about sending teachers to teach at the akademia?¡± Davos asked once more.

    ¡°Initially, we were hesitant because there were too few people. Now that some of our ssmates areing and after discussing it with Marticoris, I had thought that you were right. Going to lecture at the akademia can help us sort out our own mathematical theory, consolidate our basic knowledge and expand the influence of the research institute. And we might even be able to get new inspiration whilemunicating with the students¡­hence why we are willing to send someone, however, we have a requirement.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Once we find a student talented in mathematics in the akademia, we hope to give him special training and for him to join the research institute in the future.¡± Metoticles somewhat said, because it was his and Marticoris'' personal desire, since they had fallen out with the Pythagorean school in Taranto, they also wanted to develop their own academic groups topete with the Pythagorean School.

    ¡°Of course, it is of no problem. But you need to first ask the students for their consent.¡± Davos did not hesitate to agree. In fact, he was very happy to see Marticoris and Metoticles consider the problem from their own interests, which showed that they deviate more and more from the Pythagorean School of Taranto in both emotion and action.

    ¡°In addition, during peacetime, I also n to let those engineering technicians from various legions toe to the Institute of Mathematics as your assistants, which can not only solve your shortage of manpower, but to also closelybine theory with practical application.¡±

    ¡°They are naturally wee to help the Institute!¡± Metoticles, who was better at handling things than Marticoris, said euphemistically, ¡°But we don''t have enough money to pay their sries.¡±

    ¡°You will have it soon.¡± Davos said with a smile, ¡°The watermill designed by you has been tested and improved the efficiency of flour milling by several times, which can save a lot of time and animal power for the people. And I have already ordered people to build watermills in Amendra, Thurii and Krimisa respectively, so the price of one kilogram of flour has be very low, which is less than one third of an obol, I believe that soon, the people will be willing to use the watermill after they have tried it. In ordance with our agreement, the research institute will receive 20% of the proceeds from the application of the device you have invented, and I think that will be a considerable amount of money that will be entirely at your disposal. And I also hope that you will make good use of this money, especially for the main inventors, and encourage their enthusiasm. Only in this way can more people be inspired to invent better instruments, and your ie will also be more.¡±

 Chapter 248: Akademia of Theonia (I)

    Marticoris waspletely obsessed with mathematics and didn''t care aboutmon things. While Metoticles was different, he is not averse in spending time on various matters, what''s more, mathematics gave him a careful mind, so that he is quite capable of managing the institute, arranging manpower and making ns, which is why Davos have made him serve as the director of the institute. In this regard, Marticoris raised both hands in favor.

    ¡°I''ll think about it.¡± Metoticles replied cautiously.

    ¡°I now understood the principle of this ballista!¡± At this moment, Marticoris came to Davos excitedly and pointed to the drawing and excitedly eximed, ¡°Look here! Look here! The most important thing of this ballista is these two things, one is the string made of strong animal tendons, and the other is the pulley that can pull the string with less effort. In addition, the longer the slider, the farther its range will be, because the string will be pulled as far as possible, then the more force it will rebound and give to the stone¡­I think the Syracusans are very stupid, as they had only use one pulley system which is too simple and harder to use. In fact, making a pulley set and fixing it to the end of the slider will make it much easier to pull the string to the end of the slider. Give me the best carpenters and materials, and I will soon be able to make a better ballista than them!¡±

    The confident look of Marticoris satisfied Davos and he then said with a smile, ¡°I have just told Metoticles that I am going to send the engineering technicians of the Legion engineering camp to the Institute of Mathematics as your assistant, and Theonia has the best cattle in the western Mediterranean ¨C The Lucanian cattle, which can supply you with a lot of high-quality beef tendon at any time.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡± With that, Marticoris took the drawing and walked out.

    ¡°Marticoris, I have an idea.¡± Davos stopped him in a hurry, ¡°If the ballista can urately tell where the stone will fall before shooting the stone, then it would be helpful for the operator to urately hit the target.¡±

    ¡°This¡­.¡± As for the proposal put forward by Davos, Marticoris and Metoticles did not feel that it was an additional burden, on the contrary, they started thinking about it.

    ¡°I still have another idea.¡± Davos then said seriously, ¡°I think that no matter how much force we use and how many angles we throw the object, the trajectory of the object in the air should be like this -¡± Davos stretched out his finger and drew different arcs in the air.

    Marticoris and Metoticles were staring at Davos'' moving finger and were lost in their thoughts.

    ¡°If there is no wind and the ground is at the same level, and with the highest point of the trajectory of the thrown object in the air as the center, the two sides of the trajectory when folded up should be able to ovep¡­.¡± Davos said in a calm tone.

    Both of them were shocked and suddenly became excited.

    ¡°Hold on¡­archon, this¡­this is¡­has Hades given you a revtion again?!¡± Asked Metoticles, stutteringly. There have been several simr situations in the past, when Davos talked to them both, he would asionally put forward some novel ideas, which were verified to be correct afterwards, and each time, it allowed both of them to achieve a breakthrough in their study of mathematical theory, and also greatly expand their knowledge.

    ¡°You can think as such.¡± Davos smiled mysteriously.

    ¡°Come! Come! Now draw the trajectory in order for us to take a closer look!¡± Marticoris excitedly took Davos by the hand and walked outside without saying anything.

    Davos understood what he meant. The floor of the living room was paved with marble, so naturally, they could only draw on the mud in the courtyard, so he followed him out of the living room.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Mother,e,e and see! Father is doing something in your garden together with someone, and has stepped on all of your flowers!¡± Cynthia pointed to Davos and yelled loudly.

    ¡°Shh!¡± Cheiristoya made a hush gesture and whispered, ¡°Don''t wake up your brother!¡±

    She came to the window, looked down and frowned slightly, then she turned back and said with a smile, ¡°It''s nothing. It''s just your father and some uncles talking about some mathematics.¡± Although Cheiristoya loves her flowers, she is a woman who will never embarrass her husband in public.

    ¡°What is mathematics?¡± Adoris who was next to her asked curiously.

    ¡°That''s a very interesting knowledge and your sister will soon learn it.¡± Cheiristoya smilingly said.

    ¡°Can I go to school, too?¡± Asked Adoris longingly. (E/N: We will interchange between school and akademia)

    ¡°Of course.¡± Cheiristoya stroked his head, ¡°But you are still young, so you will have to wait another year.¡±

    ¡°I don''t want to wait! I want to go to school together with my sister now!¡± Adoris said with dissatisfaction.

    ¡°Brother, stop causing trouble! Listen to what mother says, or I won''t let father tell you a story at night!¡± As soon as this was said, Adoris, though he was pouting, had quieted down.

    ¡°Mother, is it really good to go to school and study with other boys?¡± Cynthia said hesitantly to Cheiristoya. At this time, Cynthia was seven years old. ording to the Greek tradition, a girl could marry at 16 years old, so she already knew about many things. Since childhood, her biological mother taught her how to be a good woman in a Greek family. In her impression, her mother never went out of the house, but now, she would need to study with many boys in public year after year, day after day, which made her feel a little uneasy.

    Cheiristoya pulled Cynthia to her body,bed her long, slightly messy hair and said softly, ¡°Child, do you know how lucky you are?! Apart from Theonia, girls like you in other Greek city-states are trapped in their houses for most of their lives. They are busy raising their children and managing housework, and they don''t even know what the outside world is like. They haven''t seen the sports game, drama, or even the sea. Do you want your life to be like them in the future?!¡±

    Cynthia shook her head in fear.

    Cheiristoya continued emotionally, ¡°Your father is a great man! He worked hard to persuade the Senate to give you girls the same learning opportunities as the boys. At that time, not only you but also the girls from other citizens'' families will go to school. Cynthia, you will not be alone at the school. Therefore, you should study hard and prove that women are no worse than men. Don''t let your father''s efforts be in vain!¡±

    Cynthia nodded her head.

    In fact, although the social customs of the newly rising Theonia Union are different from those of other Greek city-states, and are more open to women, when Davos proposed ¡°allow the girls to go to school together with the boys¡± in the Senate, he was opposed by many statesmen.

    Davos was only able to persuade them with a passage that resonated with everyone, ¡°¡­.by allowing the daughters of the citizens of Theonia to also go to school will not only allow them to learn more knowledge and skills, they will also learn how to get along with the boys. Knowledge will make them more cultured, more temperate and more intelligent. When they grow up and get married, they will have moremon topics and hobbies with their husbands, which will reduce the possibility of their husbands going out to find brothels and ensure the stability of the family. It will also help them in managing their family affairs wisely and not be hoodwinked by cunning ves. It will also enable them to raise their children better, so that the future citizens of Theonia can develop good habits in their early years, which is vital for their entire lives!¡­.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In this era, because there is no electric light, most people go to bed as soon as it gets dark, except for a few rich people who continue to work with candles. Because they go to bed early, they will get up early in the morning, often after the rooster crowed. But for the diligent Theonians, most of them get up much earlier, often before dawn, when the stars are still shining on the night, in order to start preparing for their work. Only the children don''t like to get up early and only start washing up after getting urged by their parents.

    Today, however, the 13 year old Patroclus got up very early. After washing up in a hurry, he helped his mother bake bread, which made his mother feel very grateful: His always naughty son really grew up after the invasion of Crotone.

    At the dinner table, his mother asked again with concern, ¡°Clus, do you really not want me to send you to the aka¡­akademia?¡±

    Patroclus shook his head like a rattle, ¡°No! When the bad guys from Crotone came, I was alone in sending messages to several nearby viges! Even uncle Agus praised me as a warrior. I am already old enough, and the akademia is in the city, if I still need you to send me, it would be embarrassing!¡±

    ¡°But-¡± As soon as her mother''s words were uttered, she was interrupted by Patroclus'' father ¨C Periandorus, ¡°Let him go alone!¡±

    Periandorus looked at Patroclus seriously, ¡°When you arrive at the school, you should listen to the teacher, do what you are told and If you don''t perform well, I will beat you up!¡± His illiterate father naturally hopes that his son can write well and have a better future, but he couldn''t say anything better to encourage him, so he can only use his usual tone to frighten his son. However, Patroclus, who often talks back, answered cleverly, ¡°I know father!¡±

    When Periandorus got surprised, a knock on the door came, ¡°Who is it?¡±

    ¡°It''s me.¡±

    ¡°It''s uncle Agus!¡± Patroclus cheered and rushed to open the door.

    ¡°It''s time for little Clus to go to school today.¡± As soon as Agus came in, he touched Patroclus'' head with a smile and said, ¡°I have brought you a schoolbag, a stylus, a few wax-coated practice tablets, and a small folding wooden chair that you can use for school.¡±

 Chapter 249: Akademia of Theonia (II)

    This era can''t bepared withter generations, the price of papyrus is still expensive for themoners and is generally used for formal writing. While the children learn to practice writing mostly with sand and y, so Patroclus had prepared a wooden frame containing sand, even though the writing in a wax wooden tablet can be stored for a longer period of time and it is also easy to carry and the price is low, but Patroclus'' parents could not afford to spend this money. As for the small foldable wooden chair, it is the masterpiece of the newly-built Cheiristoya''s school supply store and the price is cheap and had soon be popr as it got released. It is much better than the simple wooden stool made by Patroclus'' parents.

    Hence why when Patroclus received the gift of Agus, he became so excited that he jumped so high.

    ¡°Vige chief¡­this¡­this¡­.¡± Periandorus, who had been strictly disciplining his son just now, was both grateful and cowered in the face of Agus, who was a former mercenary and has now a high prestige and didn''t know what to say.

    ¡°What?!¡± Agus stared at him, ¡°Little Clus saved a few viges, this is the reward that he deserves! I like this boy, he is courageous, flexible and does not panic when things go wrong, and once he can read and count, he will definitely be better than you in the future!¡±

    Patroclus'' father became so excited from hearing Agus high evaluation of his son that he agreed to it.

    While Patroclus'' mother covered her face, as she could not stop her tears from flowing down. She remembered those hard days when she followed her husband who was working as a porter at the port and wharf, and epted employment by helping merchants watch their stalls in the market together with her son. She was busy every day from morning to night, she not only had to endure the discrimination and demanding customers, but also had to endure the severe heat and cold that had even made her faint several times due to heatstrong, and had topensate for the lost goods. It made her to not even know how she manage to get through those hard days¡­.fortunately, the Theonia city-state union was established, and the great archon, Davos, was the one in power, and had made the poor vagrants like them to have the opportunity to be citizens of a city-state, to ownnd and houses, and to live a stable and prosperous life¡­.

    Therefore, she hopes that her son will not follow her husband''s old path, and should study well and then be a civil servant in the city-state in the future and live a decent life.

    After breakfast, Patroclus ced his school supplies into his brand-new linen schoolbag, and was then led by his mother to the altar in their home. In the past, they only have a humble statue of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, and Ares, the god of war. One was to hope for a good harvest and the other was to bless her husband who was a soldier in the army during the war. It wasn''t until her son had to go to school that the statue of Apollo, the sun god, was added, because this god was also in charge of art.

    Under the lead of his mother, Patroclus prayed to Apollo.

    Afterwards, his mother handed Patroclus four drachmae, which was the tuition fee for one academic year. Only after her repeated instructions could Patroclus finally go on his way.

    It was still dawn and the curved moon was still vaguely visible in the sky. Fortunately, it was summer and he was wearing a short linen shirt and bare legs. Otherwise, the dew on the grass on the roadside would surely wet his clothes.

    The cool and fresh morning wind, mixed with the smell of earth and some herbs, blew on Patroclus, making him happy and unable to restrain his excitement. He shouted twice and then heard a ¡°Glug! Glug!¡± from the canal on the side of the road, which was the sound of frightened minnows. In the past, Patroclus would have taken off his leather sandals and jumped into the canal and made a mess of it, but today, his mind was already at the akademia.

    He was humming a tune as he stride forward while carrying a schoolbag, wooden chair and tablet.

    On the main road, the number of pedestrians increased significantly. wagons with passengers, caravans filled with goods, farmers with their livestocks¡­.of course, there are also many parents with their children going to the akademia to sign up, and the bustling flow of people going to the city of Thurii as well as the port and market.

    Davos initial n was to build the akademia on a hillside to the west side of the city of Thurii, on the north bank of the Tiro river, where there are mountains and rivers, and arge area of wilderness which would allow for further expansion, and also allow them to build a park in the future, making the Akademia of Theonia to be thergest educational centre of the Theonia Union.

    However, as the discussion with Kunogta and the others, Davos canceled the n for the time being. After all, the majority of students were children, not only is the north bank of the Tiro river far, but it is also a bit deste there now, and would be too physically demanding for the children and not very safe. Therefore, the akademia was finally located in the delta area at the confluence of the Crati and Cosceli river, which is not only part of the greater urban area of Thurii, but also right in the middle of the Sybaris in, making it easier for the children of the citizens of Theonia on both sides of the Crati river to arrive at the akademia on time.

    None of the statesmen objected, because they knew that it was for the children of the citizens of Theonia, which also includes their own children. Therefore, the construction efficiency was very high, in less than half a year the walls, ssrooms, school buildings and yground were built, which naturally could not be aesthetically pleasing due to it being built in such a short period of time. However, the yground for the children to y and train wasrge enough to amodate all the parents who came to enroll their children today.

    Thousands of people crowded in the yground, for fear of idents happening, Ansitanos also invited patrols to maintain the order.

    Patroclus stood in the line and was looking around. He then noticed that there were not many children like him who hade to enroll alone, and there were only a few children as old as him, so when a lot of curious gazes were focused on him, he felt a little ufortable.

    At this time, there was amotion behind the line, and the noise became more and more loud, and the people around looked back, which made Patroclus very curious.

    ¡°It''s lord Davos'' wife, Cheiristoya, and her daughter!¡±

    ¡°How can his daughter be so big already when lord Davos is still very young?!¡±

    ¡°That''s his adopted daughter, I heard that she is the daughter of Marcellus, the former archon of Amendra¡­.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Lord Davos'' daughter?! Patroclus became more curious after hearing the people around him. So he squatted down and looked through the gap between the crowd to see a tall adult woman, as elegant and beautiful as the goddess of beauty ¨C Aphrodite. Next to her is a lovely girl, although she is a little shy, she also looks around quietly and curiously, and when she notices a pair of young gazes between the gaps, she doesn''t dodge it, and instead, she opens her bright eyes and gazes back at him.

    Patroclus then quickly and shyly avoided her gaze.

    ¡°Madam, pleasee to the front!¡± It was not only out of respect for Davos, but also out of gratitude to Cheiristoya, because her bank has helped many families, hence why so many people are willing to give up their ce.

    Cheiristoya expressed her thanks, but she politely declined. As the wife of the most powerful person in the Theonia Union, the intelligent Cheiristoya has always ced herself as an ordinary person in public, in order to not give any chance to the political opponents of Davos. She had originally intended to let Azune apany her daughter if it was not for the fact that today''s enrollment is very important to Cynthia. For this reason, she had specifically wore a simple dress in order to try to keep a low profile while apanying her daughter to school, and the result, it has still caused somemotions.

    Finally, order was restored and enrollment continued.

    It was finally Patroclus'' turn. Under the gaze of the staff, he said his name and his parents'', and handed over the certificate issued by Agus.

    ording to the enrollment rules of the Akademia of Theonia, only the children of official Theonian citizens can enroll. This was partly to reduce the pressure on the akademia and to control the number of students; more importantly, it is to let foreigners and ves who worked in Theonia to know that only when they be official citizens of Theonia can they enjoy these rights, which makes the identity of an official citizens of Theonia to be more precious and urges them to work harder to achieve this goal.

    Patroclus'' father was only a preparatory citizen, so ording to the regtions, he is not eligible for admission. However, Agus had applied to the Senate for his outstanding performance in the war, so in view of the child''s contribution in the war, the statesmen finally took him as a special case and gave their approval. Therefore, Patroclus is actually the only student in the akademia whose parents are not official citizens of Theonia.

    Unaware of his own specialness, the staff member, after Patroclus'' found his name in the student register and confirming his identity, looked at him with interest and after taking the tuition fee, he ticked off Patroclus'' name and encouraged him, ¡°You will be studying in ssroom One from now on. Go on and study hard, little man!¡±

    Patroclus then rushed out of the crowd and came to the edge of the yground, where rows of buildings were hung with a big wooden sign with Greek letters on them.

    However, Patroclus became dumbfounded as he could not read a word and had to go and ask someone else.

    ¡°Hello, where is ssroom One?¡±

    At this moment, a clear voice came from behind him, ¡°ssroom One is beside you, idiot!¡±

    Patroclus turned his head and saw the daughter of the archon, whom he had just seen earlier, standing behind him and looking at him with big bright eyes and a teasing smile on her round face.

    ¡°Cynthia, it''s rude of you to say that. Apologize to this little brother.¡± Cheiristoya gently reproached her.

    Cynthia usually listens to Cheiristoya, but when she faces a boy who was only a few years older than herself, she couldn''t say a thing, and her little face suddenly turns red and so she hurriedly turns her head away.

    Therefore, Cheiristoya had to personally apologize to Patroclus.

    Facing the noble wife of the archon, the 13-year old Patroclus was at a loss. So he bowed his head shyly and even said ¡°It''s okay! It''s okay¡­.¡± then fled in a hurry.

 Chapter 250: Akademia of Theonia (III)

    The ssroom of Theonia is a cube of three and a half meters in height; and is a colonnaded structure, with the interior being paved with cement and a brick wall was built to the northern side and was stered in order to keep it smooth and was painted with ck paint, while the other three sides were open in order to ensure sufficient light, and the roof is supported by numerous stone columns.

    Before Patroclus entered the ssroom, he saw many children already sitting inside, and so Patroclus had to sit in the back row if he didn''t want to sit outside the stone pirs and be exposed to the sun. He was not happy about this, but as soon as he saw that they were all boys (although the Senate had agreed to the proposal that girls could study at the akademia, but the traditional habits of the Greeks for many years still made them to make some restrictions, that men and women could not be in the same ssroom), his usual mischievous nature began to show up.

    Carrying his folding chair, he squeezed at the front and shouted, ¡°Move back! Make room for me!¡±

    Most of the boys in the ssroom are only seven or eight years old, so the 13-year old Patroclus seems to be a huge man. Everyone had no choice but to retreat due to fear, but one of the children came forward and talked back to Patroclus.

    With both of them refusing to give in, the verbal confrontation developed into a physical altercation, and by the time the teacher had arrived, he saw Patroclus throwing the boy to the ground.

    He then quickly came forward to stop, then asked the cause of the fight and he immediately sent the culprit to stand outside the ssroom.

    However, Patroclus did not obey.

    The teacher then sternly said, ¡°If you don''t want to ept your punishment, then you don''t have toe back to the akademia anymore!¡±

    Although Patroclus was stubborn, he knew the importance of the matter, so he obediently walked out of the ssroom. Who knew that the boy who he had beaten took the opportunity to give him a kick in the butt, which infuriated the teacher and yelled, ¡°You go out as well!¡±

    After dealing with the fight, the teacher ced a big hourss on the wooden table, then sat on a wooden chair and took out the student list, and said to the children sitting around him, ¡°From today on, I will be the one teaching you Greek in this ssroom. My name is Onatas¡­.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Hey big guy, I am Sthephilos, the adopted son of Amintas. What is your name?¡± The grudges between boyse and go quickly, and both of them who were standing outside the ssroom felt very helpless and so he was unable to stop himself from not replying.

    ¡°Patroclus, son of Periandorus.¡± Patroclus casually replied, then he thought of something and asked quickly, ¡°Your father''s name is Amintas? Which Amintas?!¡±

    ¡°It is of course the brave Amintas of the first legion!¡± Sthephilos said with pride.

    ¡°My father, Periandorus, is under your father, Amintas.¡± Patroclus said in surprise.

    And so both boys got together¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the past two years, the consequences of the military actions of Dionysius in unifying the southeastern Sicily resulted in many people being forced to flee their homes, most of them then became attracted to the Theonian Migration Act and chose toe to Thurii, which is not too far from Sicily.

    As the first ce to be developed and colonised by the Greeks in the western Mediterranean, Sicily was not only well developed in agriculture and trade, but also had closer cultural links with the maind Greece, and its cultural heritage was somewhat deeper than that of the city-states in the Italian Penins, so some Sicilians manage to sessfully passed the test organized by Ansitanos to be teachers of Theonia Union, and one of them was Onatas.

    He chose to be a teacher of the newly established Akademia of Theonia even though his sry was not as much as that of a private teacher, he, however, could immediately be a citizen of Theonia and get an allocatednd.

    There is no standardised textbook and the content and pace of their teaching is at the discretion of the teacher, however, the akademia requires that: After three academic years, primary students must be able to recognize and write at least a thousand Greek words, read texts with urate pronunciation, and write short articles with clear text and meaning, in order for them to be able to pass the test and be secondary students smoothly. Moreover, every teacher''s teaching performance will be assessed every year, and the teacher with poor performance for three consecutive years will be disqualified, which means that he will be deprived of all the rights given to teachers by Theonia.

    Therefore, Onatas has a sense of urgency in his heart. As a highly educated cultured person, he couldn''t allow himself to lose to other teachers, however, when he was learning knowledge, his parents hired teachers to teach him one-on-one at home, but now, he has to face more than 30 students in the akademia, so how could he ensure his teaching would be effective?

    Onatas had seriously thought about it beforehand, so as soon as he came in, he punished the two children that were fighting, and after the roll call, he severely stressed the need to abide the rules of the ssroom, and the students that vites the rules would be scolded and punished, and might even be expelled from the akademia.

    In this way, the noisy ssroom became quiet.

    Onatas was very satisfied with its effect. He then stood up and picked up a white stylus from the wooden table, which was said to be made from limestone boiled down and mixed with some substances such as animal fat, which was then dried in the sun. Onatas had previously tried it out and he was able to write so clearly on the ck wall that he could read it even from the back of the ssroom.

    Facing the more than 30 pairs of curious gazes, Onatas was overwhelmed with emotion. How lucky the children living in this new city-state union that attached so much importance to the quality of education of its citizens. They had not only created an unprecedented teaching system in the Greek city-state, but also attracted high-quality foreigners to serve as teachers with all kinds of favourable conditions, and even taking the trouble to research and make teaching materials!

    At this moment, Onatas was already a citizen of Theonia, so he felt a sense of pride. He propped up his left hand on the t wall and wrote a string of letters with the white stylus on his right hand, ¡°Before I teach you the Greek alphabet, I hope that you know the word ¡®Theonia¡¯! Whether you are Greek or Lucanian, you live and grow up in Theonia and will be citizens of Theonia in the future. So read aloud with me, ¡®T-H-E-O-N-I-A¡¯¡­.¡±

    ¡°Theonia!!¡­.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    For most of the children of the citizens of a city-state, they would have already begun to learn how to write under the guidance of their parents at the age of six. Therefore,pared with the students who are eager to answer questions, Patroclus seems to be having a very difficulty in his learning progress.

    However, when it came to mathematics lessons, because of Patroclus growing up manning the market stalls together with his mother since childhood and being influenced by what he heard and saw, it had made him show great sensitivity to numbers, and even the teachers from the Institute of Mathematics had paid attention to his performance.

    By noon, the morning ss ended.

    Originally, Greeks had two meals a day, but as a result of Davos'' influence and the military training, the Theonians had begun to get used to three meals a day. The children living in Thurii could go back to their home to eat their meals, while those who were far away, such as Patroclus, had been informed by the akademia in advance and so they had prepared dry food for lunch, and some children whose families had ves, had sent their ves to buy lunch in the city¡­.

    By the afternoon, the main focus was on outdoor sses. For the girls, it was dancing and music, and the akademia had even invited the priestess of the temple of Hera to teach. For the boys, physical training such as, running and long jump, and are supplemented by some of the simplest military exercises, such as queuing, formation and marching as a unit, and so on., which is taught by disabled veterans, so that the children can develop military discipline from childhood, and gradually understand and be familiar with the formation changes and some basic tactics of Theonia light and heavy infantry, and to know how to unite and cooperate, and so on., once they be adults, they would be able to easily integrate into the legion once they are called up. In this regard, Davos and the Senate humbly borrowed some of the Spartan''s practices.

    After the military training, the children''s favorite sport is a new ball game invented by the archon ¨C Football, because it is not as fierce and easy to get injured like rugby.

    The children chase each other, controlling a nearly circr-looking ball made of stitched cowhide and stuffed with inted tripe, and pass the ball to each other until they kick the ball into the goal¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Our initial design of the road had caused the trees to be too close to the road, and over time, their roots tend to burrow out of the road and damage the roadbed, which has urred many times on Thurii-Amendra road¡­.and currently, the pedestrian, livestocks and horse-drawn wagons are all using the road. During the day when the road is busy and is packed with people and livestock, it had not only caused long periods of obstructions, but it had also led to numerous idents involving collisions¡­.

    My suggestion is to cut down the trees on both sides of the main road and build another road for the pedestrian outside the canals. In this way, the people and livestocks can traverse separately and not interfere with each other, and makes the main road to be more essible¡­.¡±

    Davos read the ¡¶n for the Reconstruction of the Road¡· written by Heracleides the Younger while listening to his exnation, which surprised him after hearing him.

    He admits that there were some defects in his design when he first built the road, such as the problem of the trees by the road. For example, he did not expect that the development of Theonia was so rapid that after more than a year, the four horse-wide road would not be enough¡­.

    But he did not expect that Heracleides the Younger was able to think ofying sidewalks so soon. Naturally, he knew that sidewalks were not new things in the era of science and technology. In the middle andte period of the Roman Republic, which even had aplete set of road systems, such as roads, sidewalks and drainage.

    With a gentle expression, he asked, ¡°What else needs improvements?¡±

    Heracleides the Younger pondered, ¡°Archon, if a foreigner sets out from Crotone and wants to walk to Thurii, he would be tired, thirsty and hungry from walking for a long time. He wouldn''t even know how far is the next town¡­where he could eat¡­a ce to stay¡­so for the convenience of the pedestrians, we have ced stone tablets besides the main road in every other distance to mark the distance between nearby towns¡­.and¡­um¡­.aren''t we building post stations? We can engrave the distance of the post station on the stone tablet, so that when the pedestrians see the stone tablet, they can n their own itinerary ording to the above tips, and avoid sleeping in the wild at night¡­.¡±

 Chapter 251: Prelude to War

    ¡°Great!¡± Davos stood up excitedly, ¡°Heracleides the Younger, it''s really amazing for you to be able to think about this!¡±

    ¡°Milord, it wasn''t my idea alone, it was a proposal made after discussing it with the rest of the Department of Road Management.¡± The young Heracleides said truthfully, while feeling some doubts: ¡®How could the mere idea of road reconstruction made this young archon who was favored by god be so excited?¡¯

    Of course, he would not understand that what was on Davos'' mind was the identity of the Greeks. Through the historical materials in his previous life and his personal experience in this era, he felt that the Greeks were indeed a superior race. They have created splendid civilization in science and technology, culture, military, politics, sports and so on., but why did Rome, not Greece, was the one to unify the Mediterranean?

    Davos believes that there are some fatal ws in the identity of the Greeks: The Greek city-states, which have built numerous magnificent temples, arenas and theatres, were unable to keep their cities clean and orderly¡­therefore, since the time he became the leader of the mercenaries, he began to restrain the loose mercenaries with strict militaryws, and he deliberately guided and changed the Greeks.

    Heracleides the Younger''s Department of Road Management was able to pay attention to these details and make changes. This earnest and down-to-earth way of thinking of the people has of course made Davos gratified, and praised them, ¡°My vision wasn''t mistaken, you are not only an excellent road and bridge architect, but also a good road director to manage the road system in the Theonia Union!¡±

    Heracleides the Younger was a little embarrassed by the praise, but continued to say, ¡°The reconstruction of the road will cost a lot, and I am worried that the Senate-¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry, the Senate will pass your proposal.¡± Davos made a pledge, ¡°The benefits of the road on Theonia are enormous. The reconstruction of the road will only make it more convenient for people to travel and transport goods, which is a good thing and it is worth the cost.¡±

    ¡°Then I can feel relieved!¡± Heracleides the Younger was very grateful to Davos, because this young man was the one who made him and his father no longer wander around! It was this young man who made him find his own career! And it was the support of this young man that made him stand out in Theonia politics!

    ¡°How is your father?¡±

    Davos'' words brought him to his senses, ¡°Not so good. Recently, he often wakes up at night coughing incessantly and blood can be seen in his sputum¡­.I told him to rest more at home and it wouldn¡¯t be a problem to just let Piasikos watch the temple, but he just doesn''t listen!¡± Said Heracleides the Younger with a worried face.

    Davos sighed. In fact, Herpus, who had gone to check Heracleides, had already told him in secret that this stubborn thin old man is running out of time¡­.

    Davosforted him softly, ¡°Your father treats the newly built city of Thurii as if it is his own child, hence why he couldn''t be relieved! Don''t worry, I will let Herpus send his physicians to take care of your father at all times¡­.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After seeing off Heracleides the Younger, Davos stretches to go back to apany his sleeping wife and children.

    But at this time, Ribaso, the one managing the ves came in and said, ¡°Master, lord Philesius, Bagul, Vespa and Hemon, came to see you.¡±

    Davos of course knew why these people were here, it was a matter of whether the arrangements that Theonia had made all this time would finally bear fruit, so he needed to rouse himself up, ¡°Invite the four statesmen toe in.¡±

    In a word, Davos has some helplessness because the public officials in several cities of Theonia Union, such as the Praetor, Judges and tax officials, and so on., all have their offices, namely, the city hall. However, as the one with the highest authority in the union including the only archon, had no personal office other than the Great Senate Hall, where they deliberate on city-state matters and discussed and enacted bills. The senate had already discussed the construction of a grand office building for the statesmen of the union several times, but due to various factors such as money and manpower, the proposal just remained on paper.

    After the four men were seated, Philesius, as the military officer, first said, ¡°Lord Davos, we are here to ask you if it''s finally the time to start the n to take Grumentum?¡±

    ¡°What is the situation of Grumentum now?¡± Davos asked seriously. In fact, he had already understood the situation of Lucania through Aristias.

    ¡°Archon.¡± Hemon leaned forward and said, ¡°Not long after Potentia defeated Pyxous and upied Grumentum, their great chieftain Pamot led the main army back to Potentia, leaving his brother Polet, with 2,000 tribal warriors to be stationed in the city of Grumentum. And the son of Akpir, the former great chieftain of Grumentum, had also stayed in the city to help Polet manage Grumentum.¡±

    Davos then said with a smile, ¡°That Lusau who was betrayed by his own people?! Potentia really dared to use him?!¡±

    ¡°You are right milord. It was a mistake of Pamot to leave Lusau!¡± Vespa took over the conversation and said with a sneer, ¡°I have dealt with the man Lusau, he is a tyrant and extremely vindictive, and he was the one who led the army that drove my tribe into the mountains¡­.I heard that when he was in Potentia, he ttered Pamot like a dog. Perhaps it was because of this that Pamot mistakenly believed that he would help Potentia stabilize their governance of Grumentum.¡±

    However, after returning to Grumentum and getting the support of several tribes, Lusau''s strength was strengthened and he began to be arrogant. Although the leaders of those tribes who had betrayed him had been killed by Cincinnag, Lusau still didn''t spare those tribes. He often sent new tribes to stir up disputes and then use the excuse of disobedience to punished them, and take the opportunity to encroach on their settlements and pastures¡­he often verbally agree on the orders of Polet, however, once he turns his back, he would not carry it out, and even opposed them.

    And those warriors from Potentia, who were victorious, likewise oppressed the people of Grumentum, even though Polet treated the tribes inside and outside the city gently, he could not keep his men in check, much less let Lusau obey his orders.

    Now, the people of Grumentum hates Lusau, hate the Potentians!¡± Said Vespa, while looking at Hemon, ¡°So when the envoys that Hemon and I sent to the city made contact with them quietly, they were greeted with enthusiasm and were desperate for us to drive out the Potentians! ¡±

    ¡°The people of Grumentum hate Lusau, but we should thank him!¡± Davos jokes, and everyoneughed.

    Davos then asked, ¡°What do they want?¡±

    ¡°They are willing to join Theonia, but they hope that after we capture Grumentum, we can let them move to Nerulum, and give themnd no less than their current residence and pasture. And for Theonia to not interfere in their management of the people like those tribes in Nerulum. For this reason, they are willing to provide their greatest assistance to Theonia to capture the city of Grumentum.¡±

    After hearing Hemon''s words, Davos was slightly surprised, ¡°Isn¡¯t their request so simple?¡±

    ¡°Initially, they asked far more than that, but our men made them realize that having betrayed Lusau, and then Cincinnag, and are now trying to drive out the Potentians, then the only one they could rely on would be our Theonia Union, and it is not wise to spite the masters that will provide them refuge in the future!¡± Hemon then added with somecency, ¡°The peaceful and quiet life of the Lucanians in Theonia and the good reputation of the union for keeping its promise made them finally choose to cooperate with us.¡±

    ¡°In that case, why don''t they stay in Grumentum after we capture it? It''s their hometown after all.¡± Davos had some doubts.

    ¡°Milord, that''s because they are afraid!¡± Bagul said with contempt, ¡°They do not dare to face the wrath of Potentia and Pyxous, because they think that these two powers wille to retake the city of Grumentum again in the future!¡±

    ¡°These guys are perceptive.¡± Davos murmured. To tell the truth, Davos was not at ease to leave these erratic tribes in Grumentum, but since they knew enough to leave voluntarily, Davos naturally has to return the favor, ¡°Is there any spare pastures in Nerulum to amodate them?¡±

    ¡°Not for the time being.¡± Vespa hesitated, ¡°However, I have already negotiated with all the tribal chieftains of Nerulum, some of them are willing to move to Grumentum in exchange for the settlement of the tribes in Grumentum, but they want to bepensated with the mining rights of iron ore in Grumentum.¡±

    Davos shook his head gently. The iron ore of Grumentum has long been coveted by some statesmen of the Senate. For example, statesmen such as Marsyas have approached him several times, hoping to contract the iron mine of Grumentum.

    He pondered for a while and said, ¡°It''s impossible for them to get the mining rights, but they can get part of the proceeds from the iron ore, for exactly how much, Hemon you will go and negotiate with them, but it must not be more than 20%, provided that they provide the manpower and participate in the mining and transportation of the ore.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I will go to Nerulum tomorrow and talk to them.¡± Hemon nodded.

    ¡°Are the soldiers ready? And has the attack n been drawn up?¡± Davos then turned his gaze to Bagul.

 Chapter 252: Attack Plan

    Bagul, on hearing this, stood up and went to the map prepared by Davos, then he pointed to the pass between the upper reaches of the Lao river and the Cinni river, and said, ¡°The Pyxous once built a camp here, it was mainly to guard against us, and after the Potentians upied Grumentum, they did not abandon it and had instead strengthened it. ording to the report of the reconnaissance team, there are about 200 Potentian warriors stationed in this camp. Although there are not many people, the narrow pass is not favourable to the deployment of troops. Hence why we won''t be able to win it in a short time, on the contrary, it will arouse the vignce of the Potentians in Grumentum, and if they were to reinforce it quickly, it would be a big trouble for us!

    After carefully considering it, Lord Sesta and I decided not to take the mountain pass, but to follow lord Davos¡¯ previous advice, to cross the Lao river directly, then march from the mountain road and attack Grumentum.¡±

    ¡°Although the Lao river is not wide, it has steep cliffs on both sides of the river. Even a Lucanian with powerful climbing ability will take a lot of effort to climb it, so how can you cross the river with thousands of people?¡± Hemon questioned.

    Bagul looked at Davos.

    Davos smiled and nodded.

    So Bagul said, ¡°Lord Davos asked the men of Heracleides the Younger to follow us for several days and carefully surveyed both sides of the Lao river. They then said that they are able to build a rope bridge on both sides of the Lao river in just one or two days, and it wouldn¡¯t even be a problem for 6,000 soldiers to cross it! Currently, the ropes and nks for the bridge have been prepared and are just waiting for the orders of lord Davos.¡±

    Hemon and Vespa looked at each other, they hadn''t heard a word about this even though they had been trying to mobilise and n for the tribes outside Grumentum to attack the camp that was defending the mountain pass and open the way for the attacking troops.

    When Davos saw that the two of them look unnatural, he immediately and cautiously said, ¡°ording to the ¡¶Theonia Military Law¡·, military ns must be kept secret, and if they are leaked, they will be punished and in serious cases, they may even be executed. It is only because you are a participant in this operation that Bagul told you about the n. I hope that once you go back, you would keep it a secret and not let it out.¡±

    After hearing these words, Vespa and Hemon released some of the difort in their hearts and made immediate assurances.

    ¡°From Nerulum to Grumentum, it would take more than a day, and even if the 6,000 troops are hidden, they can be easily found.¡± Philesius reminded them.

    Before Bagul could answer, Hemon said in advance, ¡°If Bagul leads his troops across the river and takes the southern mountain road, then there is nothing to worry¡­.¡± Hemon''s fingers crossed the Lao river on the map and said confidently, ¡°Because of our efforts during this period of time, the tribes in those settlements in the south of the city of Grumentum are basically willing to be part of Theonia. At that time, I will follow the troops of Bagul and I am sure that the tribes there will not only not reveal our whereabouts, but will also help us reach the city of Grumentum more quickly.¡±

    ¡°If lord Hemon will go, then it would be the greatest help when attacking Grumentum!¡± Davos smiled in wee and said, ¡°In order to prevent idents, I will send Izam''s reconnaissance team to sneak in to the area of Grumentum in advance, and try to block several mountains roads in the south leading to the city and stop those Lucanians that may report, so that once youunch your attack on the city of Grumentum, the enemy will not know anything!¡±

    ¡°The tribes in the city promised us that if we attack, they will gather about 500 men to attack the south gate guarded by Lusau.¡± Hemon had gotten even more excited from Davos'' praise.

    ¡°With thebined efforts of several lords, our attack is now well prepared.¡± Davos opened his hands with a rxed smile, looked at Bagul and said with seriousness, ¡°Bagul, you will be the onemanding the frontline, the specific deployment in battle and the cooperation with our allies in the city will be up to you, while I will stay here in Thurii and will not interfere. I just hope that you will try to think about difficulties that you will encounter and have countermeasures in case something unexpected happens!¡±

    Bagul nodded with seriousness, and felt the pressure. Vespa, who was sitting next to him, patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him.

    In Hemon''s eyes, there was both excitement and envy, because this was the first time that a Lucanian would independently lead a battle in Theonia Union. Making Bagul having a brighter future, but he was already married, otherwise, he would marry his daughter to him.

    ¡°Anything else you need?¡± Davos asked again.

    Bagul hesitated and said, ¡°I fear that once I take away all the soldiers in Nerulum, the defense of the city will be somewhat empty. So I hope that some of the soldiers in Thurii can temporarily protect the safety of Nerulum.¡±

    While Davos was still pondering, Philesius immediately said, ¡°Milord, I think it''s possible to have Xanticles and his men to go to Nerulum, and-¡±

    ¡°And these mercenaries who came back from Persia together with me have a rich experience in fighting in the mountain.¡± After being reminded by Philesius, Davos remembered that Thurii had this elite force who does not cultivate farms and are just doing odd jobs in the port, ¡°They can also help you capture Grumentum.¡±

    ¡°With their help, I am more confident in taking Grumentum!¡± Bagul said excitedly.

    Davos stood up and looked at the four men, ¡°Tomorrow, I will propose in the Senate for us to attack Grumentum. And the only thing I hope is that you will work together and get the news of victory as soon as possible.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After more than two days of trekking, a thousand mercenaries led by Xanticles finally walked out of the mountains and reached the Lao fortress.

    Due to the need of confidentiality, the Lao fortress has blocked the passage to the north, iming that there are a group of Lucanians fleeing from Grumentum and are hiding in the mountains and robbing the people and merchants of Nerulum many times, so Nerulum sent troops to search for them. As a result, there are only a few pedestrians on the road leading to Nerulum, and there are no merchants who usuallye and go to trade.

    ¡°It''s only after getting here can we see t roads, so the rest of the way should be easier.¡± Comined Tolmides, ¡°I heard that the road from Nerulum to Thurii has been under construction for over a year now, and I can''t believe that it''s still only up to here!¡±

    ¡°After all, it''s in the mountains, not in the ins. It''s not like you do not know how difficult a mountain road is, and for Davos wanting it to be a t road, I wouldn''t even think about it if it were me! Therefore, it is normal for the roads to be built here slowly, as long as they can finish it in the end.¡± Xanticles said tofort him.

    ¡°Ticles, You have only been in Theonia for half a year, and yet you are already speaking up for Davos!¡± Teased Tolmides.

    Xanticles looked at him and said, ¡°Aren''t you also?¡±

    Both of themughed.

    ¡°I hope that this expedition goes well, so that we can all be preparatory citizens of Theonia.¡± Said Tolmides expectantly. Previously, he followed the first legion to Caulonia, however, Locri sought peace without putting up any fight, which thwarted the mercenaries'' attempt to get credits.

    ¡°I am not worried about that. What I am worried about is whether our weapon and equipment change will affect our fighting and increase our casualties!¡± Xanticles looked back at the sweaty, topless soldiers and said anxiously.

    In order to march and fight in the mountains, Davos suggested to Xanticles that the mercenaries should for the time being refrain from wearing the Corinthian helmets, thick and airtight linen armor, bronze gaiter, and heavy round shields, and instead changed into the armors of the Lucanian warriors, leather helmet, short robes and wooden shields(in the battle with the Lucanian tribal alliance and the battle to capture Nerulum, Theonia had captured arge number of weapons and equipment of the Lucanians and left them in Thurii''s weapon storage, which was never been used afterwards). Xanticles, who had experience fighting in the mountain, finally epted the advice of Davos after thinking about it repeatedly.

    ¡°Don''t worry, we have a lot more men than the enemy, not to mention that we have people from the inside, so it will not be a problem. And it is indeed much easier for our brothers to march with the Lucanian equipment. Otherwise, just climbing the mountain alone will be enough to wear us out. But here-¡± Tolmides pointed to the t but always rising terrain ahead and said, ¡°We still need to climb all the way up!¡±

    Xanticles knew that Tolmides was right, it was just that he was too old to adapt to the new changes, so he remained silent.

    Tolmides approached him and whispered, ¡°Recently, I heard from Agasias that Davos had several discussions with Philesius and the three legatus of the army in preparation for the changing of the weapons and equipment of the Theonian soldiers, in order to make them lighter and more suitable for long-distance marching and mountain battle¡­.¡±

    Xanticles was stunned, and was slightly worried and said, ¡°Is this information true? Without copper on the shield and heavy armor, would it still be a Greek hoplite?!¡±

    ¡°Ticles, don''t forget that the Greek hoplites used bronze armor decades ago! Wasn''t it because it was too heavy to fight that it was finally reced with the current linen armor?!¡± Tolmides reminded, ¡°Besides, that is not what you should be concerned about. What you should be thinking about is why Davos wants to improve his soldiers'' equipment!¡±

    Xanticles was not a fool, and he immediately realized it after a reminder, ¡°Davos wants to expand north?!¡± Changing the equipment of the army of a city-state was certainly not for just one battle or several battles, but to serve the long-term ns of the city-state as a whole. Davos wanted to make the soldiers'' armor light and durable, which is advantageous in the mountains, so when these characteristics werebined and when looking at the surroundings of Theonia, Davos'' intentions became more obvious; only the north of Theonia, in the middle of the Apennine penins in the north, will there be more mountains and more mountain races.

 Chapter 253: Attack on Grumentum

    Thinking of Davos'' possible strategic n in the future, Xanticles took a deep breath, ¡°Tolmides, it seems that I won''t be able to escape from the battlefield for the rest of my life!¡±

    ¡°At least you don''t have to worry about not getting a chance to be a legatus of the army or even a statesman of the Senate! ¡± Tolmides said excitedly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Grumentum is a mountain city, and unlike the mountain upied by Amendra which is just under 200 meters high, the mountain upied by Grumentum is about 300 meters high.

    Initially, the wooden walls of the city of Grumentum were built at the foot of the mountain, then during the reign of Akpir as the Great Chieftain, he expanded on arge scale, annexed and reorganized the surrounding small tribes and moved them into the city. However, because of theck of amodation, he had to expand the city further, thus doubling the area of Grumentum and dividing the city into three parts: The majority of the outer part of the city is inhabited by the newly assimted tribes; The inner part is inhabited by tribes that originally belonged to Grumentum; And the core area which is at the top of the mountain, also has wooden walls and inhabited by the tribe of the great chieftain. At its peak, there were nearly 30,000 people living in the city alone.

    However, after the defeat of the Lucanian tribe alliance at the hands of the mercenaries of Davos and Akpir being seriously injured, and with Lusaucking prestige and could not unify the tribes of Grumentum, and a war with Pyxous breaking out, some of the tribes in Grumentum began to flee. After Cincinnag captured Grumentum and in order to control the whole city, he had killed the chieftains of the various tribes and the people who didn''t obey him, which led to everyone fearing for their lives and so they had to leave the city, which caused the poption to be greatly reduced. And with the number of people not being enough to defend the city, and after the deration of war of Potentia, Cincinnag moved all the inhabitants into the inner part of the city and burned the houses and walls in the outer part of the city.

    After the Potentians became the new master of the city, they did not rebuild the outer part. At this time, the inner wall had three gates, east, west and south, and the north was near to the cliffs.

    Polet''s initial deployment was for 500 Potentian warriors to be stationed in each of the three gates, followed by the scattered tribes of the former Grumentum and further up the mountain is the tribe of Lusau who not only served as the reserve force in the event of a war but also to monitor the movements of these tribes. Once there were signs of riot, they would easily pacify it, while Polet would be at the core area at the top of the mountain together with 500 elite Potentian warriors,manding Grumentum from the top.

    However, the implementation of this set of deployment was destroyed not long ago, and the saboteur was Lusau. After he had grown stronger, he no longer wanted to follow Polet''s order, especially when Polet lost badly to Cincinnag and nearly trapped in the city. Therefore, he strongly demanded to guard the area of one of the gates.

    Polet was finally forced to let Lusau defend the south gate. Because of the oppression of Lusau to the people, the tribes in the city were reluctant to live in the southern area and began to concentrate more on the area in the east gate.

    Polet was well aware of the current situation of the city, but his prestige and strength are not enough to deter the increasingly overbearing Lusau, and due to the recklessness of Lusau, the Potentians started to be unhappy with him and he was now losing control of his warriors and the anger of the residents in the city of Grumentum is growing day by day. Polet felt like he was sitting in the crater of a volcano, and this sense of crisis made him finally decide to send someone to return to Potentia toin about his current predicament to his elder brother, Pamot, and ask for Lusau to be transferred. And at the same time, to send more Potentian warriors to stabilize the situation in Grumentum.

    After finally making this decision, Polet seems to have rxed considerably and spent thest two days actively patrolling the city, as well as reprimanding the chieftains for the sloppiness of the guards at the eastern gate.

    On that day, Polet returned to his residence at the top of the mountain. It was almost dusk and was feeling hungry, so he asked his guards to roast a leg of amb and to bring a jar of wine.

    When suddenly, he heard the sound of shouting and killinging from down the mountain. One must know that he is currently hundreds of meters high, and to still be able to hear the sounds from below means that themotion was not small.

    Polet''s expression suddenly changed. He immediately ran out of his residence and met the guards who came in a hurry to report, ¡°Chieftain, the enemy is attacking the city! The people of Grumentum started attacking our warriors!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± The words of the guard were like a bolt from the sky, which made Polet pale.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At dusk, it was the time for the warriors to have dinner. The Potentians were eating cheese, beef and mutton while venting their dissatisfaction on their leader, Polet because he had tormented them over the past two days.

    When they were finally satisfied with their food and drink, the horn suddenly sounded. And when the chieftains of the various tribes led their warriors out of the camp, many of them could not believe that a war hade suddenly without any warning.

    They hurriedly took up arms and reorganized their formation.

    However, the enemy''s attack was very quick. As soon as they burst out of the dense forest and were revealed to the city''s guard, they quickly approached the eastern, western and southern gate of the city of Grumentum¡­.

    The guards on the top of the wooden wall on the eastern gate just watched helplessly as the enemies in front of them converged into a few narrow paths leading to the various gates, and couldn¡¯t do anything due to the undting hills and dense wooden fences.

    If arge number of arrows and javelins had been thrown at this time, then the dense mass of enemies would have been badly wounded, however, only a dozen arrowsnded in the enemy line, making no significant ssh at all.

    ¡°Come! Come on! Hurry up!! The enemy is getting closer!!¡± The warrior on the top of the walls anxiously turned around to urge hisrades who are still wandering under the city wall. Suddenly, his voice stops: At the camp of Potentia, a group of several hundred people, armed with spears and in a column, rushes down.

    It''s reinforcements from the people of Grumentum! The warrior at the top of the city wall felt slightly relieved, but what happened next left him frozen.

    This group of Grumentums rammed straight into the rearguard of Potentia below the city wall, who were hastily preparing to go up to the city wall, and shouted, ¡°DIE! DAMN POTENTIA PIGS!¡­.¡± and thrust their spears at the Potentia warriors who were still at a loss¡­.

    Shouts and screams of death mixed and the city became chaotic¡­.

    While taking advantage of the chaos inside the city, the enemies outside have already reached the bottom of the city wall. They then throw their sacks filled with soil into the trenches and soon make a path, then they rush under the wooden walls to erect longdders¡­.

    The warriors of Potentia resisted tenaciously, but most of them were fighting fiercely with the tribesmen of Grumentum, and while there were few warriors on the city walls, the enemy continued to attack upwards, regardless of their life and death, and it wasn''t long before the enemy reaches the top of the city wall¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Polet, who was at the lookout tower at the top of the hill, saw that the enemy kept on pouring in on the eastern wall below the mountain and the defence line was in danger, which had made him extremely anxious, ¡°Take my wolf''s teeth and immediately go and tell Lusau that the eastern gate is in danger, and ask him to send some warriors to help defend, otherwise, the enemy will enter into the city and everyone will not be able to escape!¡±

    ¡°Yes, chief!¡± The guard nervously epted the order.

    Seeing the guards rushed down the mountain, Polet is still not at ease, so he also ordered the 500 Potentian warriors to go to the eastern gate.

    After giving the order, Polet took a moment to calm down and think about where the enemy hade from.

    ¡®Pyxous? Are they still able to send out so many warriors even after suffering a great defeat?¡¯

    ¡®Is it the Theonians?¡¯ The thought of the powerful union of Greek city-states in the south made Polet hold his breath. Even though Potentia is not adjacent to Theonia, they still feel the pressure from the south from time to time, not only because it is powerful, but also because the Lucanians were not adverse to this union dominated by the Greeks, which is the most terrible! This terrible situation had made it impossible for the Lucanians to work together against this outsider! This is the reason why Pamot had to finally make up his mind to conquer Grumentum, because only by strengthening themselves can theypete with this powerful city-state with amazing expansion speed. Therefore, when Pamot left, he repeatedly urged Polet to focus on the movements of the Theonia Union. Of course, Polet attached great importance to this, so he sent 200 warriors of his tribe to guard the mountain pass, and at the same time, he also sent spies to the south to monitor the movement of Nerulum. It was only due to Nerulum being heavily guarded and a lot of guards were set up to block the northern passage that made the spies unable to return.

    Now, there is no unusual newsing from the camp that is guarding the mountain pass, and the enemies that are sieging the city are all dressed in the clothes of the Lucanians, which made Polet''s suspicion to the only stay on Theonia for a while and then move to hisst suspect ¨C Garaguso, as the most traditional tribe in Lucania, they preferred to live in the mountains rather than on the nds, away from the heart of Lucania. The city of Garaguso was built in the mountains to the north-east of the region, and for decades, had rarely involved themselves in the disputes among other tribes, and refused to unite with other tribes, except for some Lucanian tribes. When Akpir united the south of Lucania, he didn''t bother them either. ¡®Could it be that Garaguso had changed their traditions this time?¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    By this time, the eastern wall had been upied by the Theonian soldiers and continued to march into the city without even resting.

    At the front were the 500 mercenaries led by Xanticles, while the other 500 mercenaries led by Tolmides stayed to guard Nerulum.

    Immediately behind the mercenaries were the 1,500 Lucanian warriors led by Litom, one of the senior centurion of the third legion. 2,000 soldiers led by Kesima were at the western gate, and 2,500 soldiers led by Bagul himself at the southern gate. Bagul had distributed his forces almost equally and had no choice but to do so, because the city of Grumentum was built close to the mountains, with crowded houses and narrow mountain paths. Therefore, with so many troops concentrated in one ce, not only will they not be able to exert their strength, but will also easily cause congestion and affect their attack.

 Chapter 254: Occupying Grumentum and Eleas Concern

    Some of the mercenaries at the top of the eastern gate, armed with shields and spears, rushed down the wooden wall and attacked the Potentian warriors inside the city to support the people of Grumentum, while the rest of the mercenaries ran to the gate and turned the locked winch in order to open the eastern gate so that the subsequent soldiers to swarm in.

    While the warriors of Potentia, who are defending the eastern gate, suffered from a pincer attack and are struggling.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Lusau was truly scared when he received the orders from Polet. He did not expect that there was another rebellion among these tribes in the city of Grumentum. His first reaction was not to worry about the situation in the east gate but to fear that these warriors would also have problems, because most of the more than 1,000 warriors were tribal warriors that had surrendered to him after returning to the city and since the enemy in the southern gate was attacking fiercely, he did not dare to disperse his forces at all, hence why he refused to send reinforcements.

    However, the warriors stationed on the mountain had immediately gone down the mountain to rescue the Potentians in the eastern gate as soon as they received the order, but by the time they arrived, theirpanions in the eastern gate were already in a difficult situation, so the leader of the group had to lead the way into the enemy line without even thinking.

    The reinforcements of Potentia made the battle in the eastern gate moreplicated: The mercenaries and warriors of Grumentum pincered the defenders in the eastern gate, while the Grumentum warriors were pincered by the Potentian reinforcements and the defenders in the eastern gate, and the four forces fought each other in this narrow area inside the city near the gate¡­.

    The first to react was Xanticles, who, thanks to the Theonian Military Law, had been drilled many times during this period of training about the militarymanders should not fight on the frontline except under special circumstances.

    Hence why he stayed at the rear during this time. In this chaotic situation, with his rich experience on the battlefield, he had quickly made a decision and ordered the mercenaries to retreat slowly to the city wall, and informed Kesima to lead his soldiers around the houses so that they could encircle the enemy.

    The retreat of the mercenaries gave the Potentian warriors hope in this bitter battle and thought that the enemy wouldn''t be able to bear it anymore, so their morale increased greatly, while the people of Grumentum felt desperate and their morale had almost copsed, but the progress of the Potentian warriors had gradually got them surrounded and so they had to fight for their survival.

    However, Polet who was at the top of the mountain was frightened, because what he saw was that the enemy was retreating in an orderly and organized manner, while the enemies who had entered from the city gate were circling between the houses on both sides and are gradually forming a huge encirclement, encircling the Potentian defenders and the reinforcements, including the people of Grumentum, while some enemies were standing at the top of the city wall and are raising their javelins in their hands, and at such a distance, it is almost a certainty that every throw they make will hit someone¡­.

    Polet closed his eyes painfully, now he is sure that the enemy is from the terrifying Theonia Union because even though the warriors of Lucania are full of passion when fighting, their formations are always loose, and they have no such strong organized and tight formation.

    Polet cursed at Lusau who did not obey his order and hesitated whether to send hisst troops to the eastern gate where there was no hope¡­.

    Then came the deadly javelin rain and the fierce attack of the mercenaries which finally led to the defeat of the eastern defenders, and the narrowing of the encirclement was like a noose around the neck of the reinforcing Potentian warriors, who finally surrendered in despair.

    In the end, Polet did not send his remaining 500 soldiers but had instead held on to the top of the mountain.

    Next, Xanticles and Kesima led their army to attack the southern gate, and Lusau who was already unable to defend was overwhelmed and killed by the uncontroble Grumentum warriors as they retreated to the west.

    As darkness fell, the Theonian army defeated the defenders on the east, west and south gates and entered the city of Grumentum. Only the 500 warriors led by Polet at the top of the mountain were left and were frightened when the Theonian army approached them.

    At this time, Hemon held up his torch and went up the mountain alone, ready to persuade Polet to surrender.

    In order to save their lives, Polet finally agreed to surrender. The warriors then had toy down their weapons, open the mountain gate and follow Hemon down the mountain empty-handed.

    Polet then bitterly said to Hemon, ¡°Are you not afraid of the anger of Asinu for helping the Greeks to kill our own people and take theirnd?!¡±

    Hemon looked back and said, ¡°You are wrong. I am not helping the Greeks, I am helping the Lucanians, and so Asinu will only be happy about it!¡±

    Theonia captured Grumentum with only 600 casualties, while Lusau and his men were ughtered.

    A few dayster, Potentia signed an armistice agreement with Theonia, and the more than 1,000 Potenian captives were then safely returned to the city of Potentia.

    Different from the fall of Nerulum, the news of Grumentum''s change of ownership quickly spread all over the Lucanian region, causing great waves among many small tribes and even multiple forces.

    Even though Theonia did not take any further military actions, they have instead gradually implemented their n that they have drawn up in advance: With Bagul serving as the praetor of Grumentum, Hemon serving as the intermediate judge of the city, Asistes was transferred to take up the post of an intermediate prosecutor and inspector of the city, and Kesima taking the post of patrol captain.

    The first thing Bagul did when he took his post was to take control of the mountain pass camp between Nerulum and Grumentum. Secondly, only 2,000 soldiers were left in Grumentum, and the remaining 3,000 soldiers and the mercenaries led by Xanticles returned to their own cities, such as Nerulum, Thurii and Aprustum, to relieve the pressure on the military supplies. And several tribes in Grumentum went south together with them.

    What they needed to do next was to fulfil the previous promises of Vespa and Hemon to the small tribes around Grumentum, by epting them to join Theonia Union and allocate them theirnds and abolishing many of the previous exploitation of Grumentum and Potentia on them¡­.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After learning about Theonia Union upation of Grumentum, Cincinnag cursed them for their insidiousness and cunning. But on the surface, Pyxous, who had suffered greatly, had to send envoys to Thurii to express their goodwill for peace.

    Even Garaguso, who rarely participates in the tribal disputes in Lucania, sent envoys so that they could know the intentions of this powerful new neighbour.

    Potentia was forced to sign an armistice agreement with Theonia because of the issue of the captives, however, as the dominant tribe in the northern Lucania, Theonia''s attack had hurt its dignity and angered the various chieftains of Potentia, but their great chieftain ¨C Pamot, had suppressed their anger and had instead chosen to be patient.

    The strong Greek atmosphere of the Theonia Union was so unique in the Lucania region, which had immediately attracted the attention of another Greek city-state in the area, which was Elea.

    Elea was also one of the many Greek colonies established on the Italian Penins in the Magna Graecia colonial era, decades after the first city-state to be built ¨C Cumae, with the three neighbouring seaside cities of Elea, Pyxous and Poseidonia being founded one after another. Compared with the other two cities, Elea who was in the middle seems to be a little unknown, but in the process of the great southward migration of the Lucanians a hundred years ago, Poseidonia and Pyxous fell one after another, while Elea, who was weaker, survives tenaciously. However, Elea, who was surrounded by the Lucanians, was in danger of being destroyed at any moment, if it wasn¡¯t for the contradictions between the alliance of several tribes of Lucania such as Potentia, Pyxous and Grumentum¡­..and making Elea into a buffer zone, which caused the Lucanian attack to ceased.

    But for decades, Elea''s situation was not easy. Part of thend outside their city has been upied by foreign races and would harass them from time to time, which made it very dangerous for their people to go out of the city due to them being an easy target for the plundering of the Lucanians and turning them into ves. Therefore, Elea had to rely on the production and processing of handicrafts, as well as the development of maritime trade, cargo shipment, port services¡­.and so on., to barely maintain the operation of the city-state and the life of the people.

    But with the emergence of Theonia, Elea could finally see the dawn.

    Therefore, after a discussion, all citizens decided to send an envoy to Theonia, a new Greek city-state union, to express their will of an alliance.

    Kanos who was a council member happily took over this glorious mission.

    However, it is impossible to go to Theonia bynd, because Potentia and Pyxous will not allow him to pass through theirnd, so he can only go by sea. However, the good thing is that the passenger ship did not need to go around the Strait of Messana, because the Eleans knew that Laos is an ally of Theonia.

    The passenger ship carrying Kanos, with the help of the strong south wind, drove south like an arrow.

    While Kanos who was standing in the bow of the ship thought about his mission, when his Etruscan ve, Aino, pointed to the east and suddenly shouted, ¡°Pyxous!¡±

    Kanos looked up and in his field of vision wasnd on distant east and was just like a small green belt with a little white dot on it which was Pyxous ¨C once the sister city of Elea, but has now be a nest of foreign race and a nightmare of Elea.

    While grieving for Pyxous, Kanos also made up his mind for Elea to never make the same mistake again!

    Because it was downwind, the ship sailed for two hours and arrived at Laos.

    Kanos had been to Laos before and knew more about the port. Although Laos was upied by the Lucanians at that time, they did not prohibit trade with the Greeks. It was only because of the habits of the Lucania ¨C like plundering and racial discrimination that had made their reputation to be not very good. Therefore, there was not much direct trade between the Greeks and Laos.

    But what Kanos saw in the port today was an endless stream of merchant shipsing in and out, a dense mass ofbourers at the port and each of them was busy loading and unloading goods without stopping, and there are a lot of food and rubbish remnants floating on the surface of the port and in the foaming waters, which attracts numerous sea birds to circle and peck.

 Chapter 255: The Banquet of Avinoges

    Just one year after Laos joined Theonia, the change on Laos'' port was so much that it had truly surprised Kanos.

    His boat even needed to wait for some time before a dock was freed for him to anchor. An official sent by the city hall of Laos, who had received the news, was already on the port waiting to greet him, and Kanos dly epted the invitation to meet the master of the city, the archon Avinoges.

    ¡°Could it be that the port is this busy every day?¡± Kanos asked.

    ¡°Yes.¡± The official then added with pride, ¡°The merchants of Theonia Union like toe to us and charter ships to trade with the Gaul in the north or the Iberian Penins in the west, and thennd here full of goods and carry them back to Thurii. A few months ago, after the establishment of the South Italia Alliance, we had even gotten busier! Because as long as they are allies of Theonia Union, we in Laos will provide the best services and preferential fees for docking, amodation and water supply. Now, after Grumentum became a part of Theonia Union, more merchants had starteding here, and most of them came here for the excellent iron ore of Grumentum¡­and we also greatly wee the merchants of Elea to trade here as well!¡±

    Kanos was just about to respond with a smile when suddenly, an angry voice sounded from the front, ¡°Damn moron, don''t get in the way!¡±

    Then came the sound of screaming, and Kanos then saw two naked men lying on their back by the roadside and their bodies were covered with bloodstained whip marks and several heavy sacks dumped on one side.

    ¡°These ves are Lucanians.¡± For fear of leaving a bad impression on the guests, the official hastily exined, ¡°Their ancestors had forcibly captured Laos and made all the Greeks of Laos their ves, and making our lives worse than death for generations. And lord Avinoges then led us to take back Laos! A year ago, they were the masters of this city, and they had treated us like livestock, but now we Greeks are the master of Laos once more and they are now also tasting what it is like to be a ve!¡±

    Kanos looked at the excited official and thought about how he doesn''t look like a pure Greek.

    ¡°You have turned all the Lucanians in this city into ves?!¡± Kanos asked.

    ¡°Not all. Some of them are rtives of the Lucanian citizens of Theonia Union, and wereter released by lord Avinoges and went to Nerulum, and they may have now be citizens of Theonia. I don''t know why the Theonians are so tolerant of these savages who believe in strange gods!¡± The official murmured in a low voice. Although he said it with some hatred, he did not vent it as loudly as he had.

    This also shows the influence of Theonia on the people of the city-states that are affiliated with them.

    The city of Laos that was located near the estuary of the Lao river was not too big and it only has less than 5,000 citizens: Some of them were part of the tribe under themand of the Avinoges, which was the core of his strength in bing the archon for life of Laos, and so when these people became citizens, Avinoges had given them an allotment ofnd. The others were the original Greek ves that were liberated by Avinoges and had also given them citizenship, but nond was allocated to them. So for them to make a living, they either serve as a low-level civil servant in the city or be hired workers or worked at the port¡­fortunately, the tax burden in Laos is not heavy, as long as they are hardworking and are willing to work, they should still be able to earn small savings.

    Although Avinoges imed to be a descendant of the Greeks, he himself knew from his heart that he was of mixed blood, like most of the citizens in Laos, so Avinoges and the citizens of Laos have simr feelings of inferiority, exclusion and ethnic identity. Moreover, he rescued them from very, and as long as he treated the people well, they will support him. Therefore, although he learned from Davos and had made himself an archon for life, the truth is the council of Laos was only a decoration, and they don''t even have an lesia, and Avinoges is the only one making decisions whether it is big or small, he was a real tyrant.

    In this so-called city hall, which is actually the residence of the lord of the city, Kanos met Avinoges. The burly, fat and slightly ferocious archon of Laos had even prepared a banquet to warmly wee Kanos.

    After taking his seat, he also raised his wine cup and expressed his sincere thanks to Avinoges for his hospitality, ¡°I came to Laos three years ago, but this time, I found that Laos has changed a lot, especially the trade in the port is now very prosperous. It has only been just over a year since Laos gained its freedom, and yet it has achieved so much. Lord archon must have put a lot of effort into this!¡±

    Kanos'' words of praise were soothing to the ears of Avinoges, which had even made himugh heartily and said, ¡°It is natural as I have given it all, but I should thank the allies of Laos more. Because in this alliance, Laos has enjoyed a lot of conveniences!¡­¡±

    Kanos listened attentively.

    Then Avinoges asked, ¡°Is the reason why Elea has sent you here is to join the Theonia Union?¡±

    Kanos was stunned. With the current situation of Elea, and the fact that they have sent someone to go to Theonia at this time, anyone with a good eye can roughly guess the purpose of their mission, but Kanos didn''t expect Avinoges to ask him so directly. He put down his cup and thought about it, and vaguely said, ¡°Whether to join the alliance or to adopt other forms of alliance will depend on the oue of the negotiation with Theonia.¡±

    Avinoges looked at him and grinned, ¡°Please forgive me for speaking directly, but with my understanding of Theonia and Elea''s current strength, I am afraid that Theonia will not ept other forms of agreement.¡±

    This is obviously to say that Elea is not strong enough, so don''t expect to get better treatment in the talks with Theonia. Kanos was a little embarrassed and then bowed his head to drink and didn''t respond.

    Then Avinoges said, ¡°I heard that Elea has close contacts with the Greek city-states of Campania. Theonia may not ept Elea to join the alliance if Elea has any alliance with Campania, because they do not allow the city-states in their alliance to have any diplomatic rtions with other city-states.¡±

    Kanos was a little surprised because he did not know that there was such a rule between Theonia and her allies, ¡°Thank you for your reminder! Even though the city-state of Campania has given Elea some help, Elea has no alliance agreement with any city-state.¡± Answered Kanos without hesitation.

    In fact, the Campania alliance headed by Neapolis and Capua has not agreed to ept Elea, because there are two powerful races between Campania and Elea, namely Samnites and the Lucanians, and Elea is not strong enough. Once they be an alliance, only Campania will continue to help Elea, while Elea could barely contribute to the Campania alliance, so how could the shrewd Greeks do such a loss-making business. The only reason why Elea was able to trade with Campania was due to mutual demand, with Elea needing to recruit mercenaries from Campania to defend against the attack of the Lucanian, and they had to pay for them.

    ¡°That would be great. With that Elea can join Theonia Union, and with the strength and reputation of Theonia, the Lucanians will no longer be your problem. And with Elea and Laos being the only two coastal ports of Theonia Alliance in the Tyrrhenian Sea, we could cooperate and strengthen our trade exchange in the future¡­.¡± Avinoges smiled excitedly and seems to have given his advice without any motives.

    Kanos was silent for a moment, but how could he express his position without even seeing the archon of Theonia, so he changed the topic, ¡°Lord archon must have met the archon of Theonia union, lord Davos, right? So what kind of person is he?¡±

    ¡°I saw him a lot of times, and have even fought with him side by side!¡± Avinoges looked proud as he wiped the wine stains off his mouth and said seriously, ¡°Here is a piece of advice! Don''t look down on him just because he is young, he is an amazing man!¡±

    Since Elea wants to have a cooperation with Theonia, they naturally made some investigation of Theonia, and naturally, the focus of their investigation was Davos. The members of the council of Elea had given Davos both praise and criticism. What they appreciate is his extraordinary ability in making Theonia rise in such a short time, which is inseparable from his efforts. However, what worried them is that he is the only archon and an archon for life for that, how is that different from Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse.

    Would Elea''s coboration with Theonia lead the wolf into their house? The prosperity of Laos had made Kanos'' worries to be reduced, while the words of Avinoges had made his curiously stronger, ¡®Is this the admiration of a tyrant to a tyrant?¡¯

    ¡°By the way, I can take you to Thurii tomorrow.¡± Said Avinoges suddenly.

    ¡°Milord, I am very grateful for your hospitality! So how could I dare to make you send me in person? It will just make me uneasy!¡± Kanos was moved but had tactfully declined.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡­.¡± Avinogesughed loudly, ¡°You don''t have to thank me, the ride was just along the way. The temple of Hades in Thurii has beenpleted and Theonia has invited me toe for the celebration ceremony!¡±

    The teasing of Avinoges had made Kanos embarrassed, but he was even more surprised by what he just said, ¡®Temple of Hades?!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Hearing that Heracleides had fainted when the Temple of Hades waspleted and that he was in aa, Davos immediately put off all his business and rushed to Heracleides'' home.

    Although Heracleides managed to wake up, he was not able to move. His eyes were half-open, his mouth was wide open and his chest was heaving up and down like a ragged below and making a harsh ¡°wheezing¡± sound¡­

 Chapter 256: The Proposal to make Hades as the Theonians belief

    Herpus stood on the side of the bed, with a grave expression. He then shook his head slightly at Davos.

    Davos walked with heavy steps to the bed and gazed at the thin old man.

    Heracleides didn''t react even with the arrival of Davos.

    Davos held his right hand, which was only skin and bone, and was covered with dust. He then held it tightly and said in a sincere voice, ¡°Heracleides, thank you for your contribution to Theonia! Your name will be remembered by the people of Theonia!!¡­.¡±

    The words of Davos seemed to work as Heracleides closed his eyes slowly and the sound of breathing disappeared¡­

    Herpus came over quickly, put his head on Heracleides'' chest and listened carefully, then reached to the tip of his nose to feel his breathing. Finally, Herpus shook his head and said quietly, ¡°He''s gone¡­.¡±

    Soon, there was the sound of crying in the crowded courtyard, and all the architects, craftsmen, sculptors, ves¡­and so on were all mourning.

    Davos then spoke in a sorrowful whisper, ¡°Elysium wees your entry. Hades will give you shelter and you will be his guest and build a splendid pce for your residence. Whether on earth or in heaven, the great name of Heracleides will be praised¡­¡±

    Heracleides the Younger, who was crying beside him listened to the eulogy of Davos, he then wiped his tears and expressed his thanks to the archon.

    Davos patted him kindly on the shoulder as a sign offort and said, ¡°The celebration ceremony for thepletion of the Temple of Hades will be held the day after tomorrow, so I need you to find the best sculptor immediately to make your father''s bust in these two days, and he will be the first person to enter the Hall of Sages for the public to revere.¡±

    ¡®This was a glorious event!¡¯ Heracleides the Younger stopped crying in excitement and thought for a moment, and then turned to speak with another man that was grieving.

    The man came and saluted Davos respectfully, and said excitedly, ¡°Lord Davos, it''s an honour for my teacher to be held in such high esteem by you! And it''s also glory for all of us builders and craftsmen! I will go talk with the best sculptor immediately, and finish the production of the teacher''s bust in two days!¡±

    ¡°Piasikos, I have heard Heracleides talk about you many times.¡± Davos nodded and encouraged him, ¡°Heracleides is now gone, so as his best disciple, you should not only continue to carry forward the skills you inherited from him but also study new building techniques and to train more excellent disciples! Amendra, Nerulum, Grumentum, Krimisa, Aprustum¡­and so on., in the future, there will be more cities waiting for you to re-n and build a clean, practical and beautiful city like Thurii. I hope that in the future, you will also be able to enter the Hall of Sages like your teacher!¡­.¡±

    What Davos said made Piasikos excited.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the way back to the city, Davos called Plesinas to listen to his sacrificial procedures and arrangements for the celebration ceremony of thepletion of the Temple of Hades.

    Finally, Plesinas said, ¡°Now all the celebrations, including milord¡¯s lighting of the torch, have been practised many times to make sure there are no big mistakes. However, there is still one problem that needs to be solved, that is, we are short of priests that will be in charge of the temple.¡±

    In the era of nobility, the archon had the rights to hold sacrificial ceremonies, so he also served as the high priest. Nowadays, with the power and prestige of Davos, not to mention the fact that he was the ¡°Favored¡± of Hades, it is only logical for him to be the high priest. However, selecting the priest who will be the one to usually preside over the temple is now a dilemma for the Senate.

    Hades, one of the 12 main gods in Greece, was also worshipped, but because of his death and darkness trait, only a few city-states have built temples that are dedicated to him, and so he had no priest. There was even a proposal made by the statesmen of Thurii to invite the believers of the Eleusinian Mysteries, which was popr in Athens but was opposed by everyone. The reason was that the Eleusinian Mysteries worshipped Persephone, the wife of Hades, and Demeter, the goddess of fertility, and not Hades himself, and it was inappropriate for the priests of the other gods and goddesses to be transferred, which was why the Senate had been arguing about it for a long time. Naturally, this also has something to do with the fact that Davos had not given his opinion.

    At this point, Davos, as if not realizing that he was the one responsible for the problem, did not respond directly to Plesinas'' words, and had instead looked at the statesman of the Senate with great interest. He changed from the enemy that he had been when they had first met to a political helper with whom he had cooperated well, and due to Plesinas showing his loyalty and unique talent, which he appreciated very much, ¡°Plesinas, you have done a good job in building the Temple of Hades. What do you intend to do next?¡±

    There was a thrill in Plesinas'' heart, as he thought that this was the way of Davos rewarding him, so Plesinas immediately said, ¡°I want to run as the grand inspector next year!¡±

    Davos nodded. As he was on foot and with only an escort following him from behind, the people of Thurii, when they saw him, greeted him respectfully, and he, of course, nodded to the people from time to and time and then took this opportunity to say, ¡°The woman who had greeted us just now is a Lucania, and she should believe in Asinu, and this one is a Thracian and the gods they believe in most should be Dionysius and Ares, and that one¡­you see, the citizens of Theonia hade from all over the Mediterranean and they believe in hundreds of gods. In the future, as the territory of Theonia continues to expand, the number of races that bes citizens of Theonia will increase, and the number of gods in the Theonian Union will also increase. Although Theonia has a powerful military force to protect the lives of the citizens and an advanced and elegant culture which increases the citizens'' sense of belonging, but-¡± Davos pointed to his head and seriously said, ¡°But it is a mess! If Theonia were to encounter any major disaster, it will be very difficult for the people to unite and tide over the difficulties together. In that case, all our efforts will be in vain!¡±

    Since ancient times, the Greeks have always believed in multiple gods, so they seldom care about the beliefs of other races, and so Plesinas did not expect that Davos would take this religious issue so seriously and wondered what his intention is.

    ¡°Have you ever heard of the Jews?¡± Davos asked suddenly.

    ¡°I¡­I seem to have heard it from someone that they are¡­a race of people in Persia who are good at doing business¡­.¡± Plesinas struggled to recall. The Jews at this time were not like the Jews under the peaceful rule of the Roman Empire hundreds of yearster, where they were free to do business and settle down anywhere, and thus were in frequent conflict with the Greeks, but because the western Mediterranean at this time was controlled by two major races who were skilled inmerce ¨C the Greeks and the Carthaginians, hence why the jews have no ce in the western Mediterranean and were, therefore, less well known.

    ¡°Jews weren¡¯t just known for their business, they are monotheistic and they believe in only one god.¡±

    ¡°Only one god?!¡± Plesinas could not believe what he was hearing. Among all the kingdoms, city-states and races in the Mediterranean, there is actually a race that believed in only one god.

    ¡°Yes, the Jews believe in only one god!¡± Davos answered him and said seriously, ¡°Jews are a small and weak race, and had lived in Egypt in the past and were enved by the Egyptian Pharaoh and lived a hard life until a Jewish hero, Moses, appeared and led the Jews through all the hardship in escaping Egypt, and after decades of wandering and bloody struggle, they eventually captured thend of Canaan and established their own country. However, it didn''tst long, as the Assyrians destroyed the Jewish kingdom and sent all the Jews to Babylon as ves, and stayed as ves until Cyrus, the king of the Persians, destroyed Assyria and freed the Jews.

    Afterwards, they returned to their homnd and rebuilt their country and religion. And during the turbulent century in Asia Minor, many other races that had lived alongside the Jews have perished, while the Jews had survived through the tribtions. Why?¡± After a pause, Davos gave Plesinas a time to think and then said in a deep voice, ¡°Because their strong faith and worship of the one God has kept them united which allowed them to not lose themselves nor forget the roots of their own race in the face of other more glorious ethnic civilizations!¡±

    Plesinas thought about what Davos had said and what he was trying to express, and then said with some hesitation, ¡°Milord, the Greeks believe in many gods, and the people of Theonia believe in even more gods, these are traditions that have been passed down and ingrained! If¡­we were forced them to believe in one god, I am afraid¡­I am afraid that there will be huge trouble!¡±

    Seeing the worried look of Plesinas, Davos then said with a smile, ¡°I will naturally not make such a stupid proposal, but we can take the initiative to guide more people to believe in Hades so that the Theonians from all ces and races can be as close to each other in spirit, isn''t that right?!¡±

    ¡°Milord, even if we build the Temple of Hades, the habits of the Greeks will not change easily. When going out to sea, they will pray to Poseidon. When doing business, they will pray to Hermes. When they are working at the farm, they will sing the hymn of Demeter¡­the Greeks are very realistic and prayed to whatever gods and goddesses for their needs, so they couldn''t just pray to Hades!¡± Said Plesinas while shaking his head.

    ¡°The people may pray to the other gods, but I hope that the Temple of Hades will be a ce of peace for their souls! That is why I want to build the Hall of Valor and the Hall of Sages, and the Prison of the Wicked within the Temple of Hades, so that the Temple of Hades will be a sacred ce for Theonia Union and to promote good and punish evil, a sacred ce for the people to pay their respects and remember the heroes of the union! But this is still not enough-¡± Davos raised his head and looked in the direction of the temple ahead.

 Chapter 257: The Celebration Ceremony for the Completion of the Temple of Hades (I)

    ¡°The temples of the traditional Greek city-states are just like the nobles standing high, waiting for the people to donate money to build a sacred treasury, but rarely take the initiative to help the poor people of the city-state. What I envision is for the priests and priestesses of the Temple of Hades to use the money donated by the people to help the poor and needy, to aid the sick who could not afford to see a physician, to listen to the doubts and worries of the people of the union, and to use words to enlighten and remove the people''s confusion¡­and for the annual ceremony to free the ves to be presided by the temple¡­Plesinas, how could the people not be grateful to the temple and believe in it when the Temple of Hades could provide so much help to the people of Theonia!¡±

    It was as if the words of Davos had opened a window for Plesinas, and the approached that Davos proposed, which was different from the tradition temple, had given him a glimpse of the bright future of the Temple of Hades, and had made him so excited that he didn''t know what to say.

    ¡°Elysium is the paradise built by Hades in hell, and his temple should be the paradise on earth, the ce where the hearts of the people return! In time, we will build the Temple of Hades in every Theonia city, uniting the people from every direction and all the races around it. Then Theonia Union will have nothing to be afraid of!¡± The tempting voice of Davos then rang clearly in the ears of Plesinas, ¡°Plesinas, will you help me aplish this great cause and be the high priest of the Temple of Hades?¡±

    Plesinas faced the expectant gaze of Davos, he weighed it in his heart and then nodded heavily, ¡°I ept!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Kanos followed Avinoges to Thurii and stayed in the guest house on the south side of Nike Square.

    Strategoi, distinguished statesmen and citizens of the South Italia Alliance such as Caulonia, Terina, Scylletium and Crotone, were invited to attend the ceremony. The guesthouse of Thurii would have been inadequate If it were not for the fact that Amikles of Roscianum and the others had not lived in the house of Kunogta and Cornelius temporarily, and the chieftains of the Lucanian tribes of Nerulum and Grumentum were scattered and had borrowed the house of Vespa and Hemon, while Avinoges of Laos had even directly lived in the house of Davos, and thus lightening the task of the officials who were in charge of the reception.

    At this time, the hall of the guesthouse is very busy, even though the distinguished guests belong to different city-states, they all belong to the same alliance. It is difficult for them to get together and so they have taken this opportunity to visit each other to discuss their views on the current affairs¡­

    Although Kanos was an outsider, he was received politely by the Theonian side, however, his request to visit Davos was not well received.

    The person in charge told him, ¡°The archon, lord Davos, is busy preparing for tomorrow''s celebration and he doesn''t have the time to see you until after tomorrow.¡±

    Although he was envious of the conversion andughter of the other people, Kanos heard that an envoy of Pyxous had also arrived in Thurii, so he and his men stayed in the room quietly in order to avoid conflict. It wasn''t until the taste of the unique food in Thurii that the anxiety of Kanos was temporarily relieved.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the early morning of the next day, the Theonian citizens, family members, freemen and even the ves had gathered from all directions to the city of Thurii and entered the centre of Thurii one after another with the help of thousands of Theonian soldiers that are tasked to maintain order.

    In just a short period of time, all the courtyards, houses and even the roofs were crowded with people and at a nce, the crowd was so spectacr that only therge open space in Nike Square remained.

    Kanos was arranged on the left side of the tform in front of the square, while the envoy of Pyxous was arranged on the right side, the carefulness of the receptionist of Theonia helped Kanos avoid the embarrassment of meeting them suddenly and enabled him to calm down and enjoy the celebration.

    ¡°Oh, there are so many people! The Theonians are so brave and are not afraid of a riot happening, which will make this ce a disaster!¡± Someone beside Kanos said worriedly.

    ¡°It would be good if there is a riot, as it would be the end of Theonia!¡± Another man gloated loudly.

    Kanos, like everyone else, looked at him.

    ¡°Eudemus, how could the Crotonians let you into the council! If there''s a riot here, do you think we can escape?!¡± Someone recognized the one who had just spoken and so, he retorted loudly.

    ¡°Why run away! Isn''t this the celebration ceremony for thepletion of the Temple of Hades! Why don''t we all go see Hades!!¡± Eudemus had the look of a man who was unafraid of life and death.

    ¡°Did the proud Crotonian begin to use verbal irony to vent their defeat?!¡± Someone immediately sneered.

    Eudemus'' expression immediately changed.

    Kanos didn''t pay attention to the verbal conflicts of the people around him and just looked around the square carefully: With so many people, it should be very noisy here. But the people were either sitting or standing and being as quiet as possible, and rarely moved around. Maybe they have been warned by the union in advance, but for the self-respecting and freedom-minded Greeks, this kind of performance is also quite amazing! Kanos had discovered this when he entered the city of Thurii yesterday, and now his impression was strengthened again.

    At this time, the loud salpinx sounded together, announcing that the ceremony was about to begin, and the people consciously stopped talking and focused their curious gazes on the Nike Square.

    Hundreds of men in Greek armour entered the arena, while Plesinas led 10 men and 50 women in white robes to the stage with solemn steps.

    The Theonian culture is more open and even the outside of the square was filled with a lot of people with their wives and daughters watching the festivities, but the presence of dozens of women at the same time, especially on such a sacred asion that not even the priestesses of the Temple of Hera or Aphrodite have, have led to the whispers from not only the people of the union but also from the allied envoys.

    Neat salpinx resounded through the city again, and the square became quiet.

    Then came a long and high pitched voice from Plesinas, ¡°In the first year of the 95th Olympic Games, in the kingdom of Persia thousands of miles away from us, a group of Greek warriors were recruited by the prince of Persia ¨C Cyrus the Younger, who loved Greece, in order for him to overthrow the tyrannical king of Persia. However, after the great war, the one who employed them had died and the mercenary leaders were deceived and captured by the Persians. Then the whole group of mercenaries fell into despair, but the great Hades did not abandon them¡­.¡±

    As soon as Plesinas'' voice fell, more than a dozen harpists began to pluck the strings under the tform. On the stage, 50 women in white robes opened their mouths together, and an ethereal humming, like a wisp of wind, blew across the audience.

    With a jolt, Kanos felt the sweat on his skin stand up. The traditional hymn of the Greek temple could not bepared with the harmony trained by the modern bel canto and basking in the beautiful and harmonious songs seemed to wash even the soul.

    The rest of the audiences, like Kanos, werepletely immersed in the humming, and they were also affected by the heaviness in their weeping-like chant.

    The soldiers on the field used exaggerated body movements to show the weeping, helplessness and despair, and only one man in the centre lies motionless on the ground.

    At this time, the humming gradually weakened to silence, and the soldiers on the field began to fall asleep¡­

    Just when the people felt lost, a high pitched voice sounded again, like lightning across the night sky, invigorating the audience.

    Then they saw a man walking out of the corridor. He was tall, strong, with long ck hair and a thick ck beard wearing a ck robe, holding a bident and walked majestically to the centre of the square.

    Someone in the audience eximed, ¡°Hades?! I know he is Hades!¡±

    There was a slightmotion in the crowd, and more people were staring at the scene, and they had already begun to be attracted by this new performance.

    Then ¡°Hades¡± came to the centre of the field, stood next to the man who had been lying still, then waved his bident as if he was using his divine power¡­

    The song disappeared again. Then the exit of ¡°Hades¡± attracted the public to turn around and look.

    ¡°Boom! Boom!¡­.¡± In the quiet square, the drum began ringing out. Then the man who was lying turned over and sat up, and began waking up the others and waving his arms and encouraging the people. Finally, everyone gathered around him, and someone ced a helmet adorned with a red crown on him and began lining up in front of him, and marched forward under his leadership¡­.

    Seeing this, anyone who had heard of the legends of the archon Davos has now vaguely understood. The most dazzling leader on the field should be the one who once travelled to Persia ¨C Davos!

    ¡°Davos seems to have forgotten that he was not the only mercenary leader in Persia.¡± Tolmides, who was also watching the celebration,ined.

    ¡°Yesterday, Davos went to look for me and said that this was a need for the performance, so he hoped that we could understand it.¡± Xanticles shrugged, and his expression remained calmed.

    ¡°Well, this is Theonia, so he has the final say!¡± Tolmides said helplessly, ¡°But this kind of performance is very interesting!¡±

    The drums ranged from sparse to dense and interspersed with military salpinx.

    ¡°Wow!!!¡± With the audience''s exmations, teams of soldiers, including cavalry, infantry and archers, appeared in the corridor. They were dressed in robes, holding long shields and in loose formation, and were under themand of a general wearing glittering scale armour, and then approached the Greek mercenaries in the square¡­

    ¡°They are ¡®Persians¡¯!¡± Someone in the audience was unable to refrain from shouting.

 Chapter 258: The Celebration Ceremony for the Completion of the Temple of Hades (II)

    The Greek soldiers on the field seemed to have heard the cry, and they immediately put on their helmets, picked up their shields and tied up their red cloaks, and formed a tight formation to fight against the enemy''s attack¡­

    However, there were too many ¡°Persians¡± who swarmed in and surrounded the warriors. The cavalry galloped back and forth around the perimeter, the archers kept shooting their arrows into the air (all with their arrowheads cut off), while the infantry smiled strangely¡­

    The audience can only see the dazzling red and the roar of the warriors through the gaps in the ¡°Persian¡± encirclement.

    The drums are getting louder and stronger¡­

    The Greek phnx also retreated step by step under the attack of the ¡°Persians¡± and seems that they will soon retreat to the edge of the square¡­

    The gazes of the general public werepletely absorbed by the tense scene on the field, and someone shouted anxiously, ¡°Fight! Greeks!¡±

    It resonated with the whole audience.

    ¡°Fight!!! Greeks!!!¡­.¡± The audience began shouting.

    At this time, the high pitched humming sounded again, and ¡°Hades¡± stood at the front of the stage at some point, and slowly swung his bident¡­

    Surrounded by the Greek soldiers suddenly issuing a neat and powerful shout, ¡°Hah! Oorah!! Hades!!! Hah!¡­.¡± and more than a dozen salpinx were yed at the right time.

    The ¡°Persians¡± began to retreat and finally dispersed¡­

    The red square formation of the Greek mercenaries was nowpletely disyed in front of the audience, and they charged forward like a wall of iron with their neat and powerful strides together with the rhythmic beat of the drums¡­

    The crowd was enthused and those who had never seen or participated in the Theonian military training, as well as the distinguished guests were overwhelmed by the strength and beauty of the soldiers on the field, they cheered, shouted and apuded.

    The ¡°Persian General¡± who had fallen behind was then pulled down by the charge of ¡°Davos¡±, he then stepped on the ¡°Persian General¡± and raised his spear, then pierced the ¡°enemy¡± in the chest with an exaggerated movement.

    ¡°Davos! Davos!! Davos!!!¡­.¡± The people couldn''t help but burst into thunderous cheering.

    ¡°The lord archon had said before that he wanted us to see apletely different ceremony and he has done it!¡± Marigi, standing at the back of the tform, said aloud in exmation as he nced at his fellow statesmen who have varying expressions on their face.

    ¡°Yes, it''s indeed a very different ceremony! Lord Davos is afraid that the public will forget his heroic deeds that he even promoted himself on such a sacred asion!¡± Said Pollux.

    Kunogta and Cornelius looked at each other and did not say anything, but they were a little uneasy.

    ¡°He really did it! Haven''t you noticed?! This will definitely be a new kind of drama, a different kind of drama from the one or two people acting, it is a drama where hundreds and thousands of people recreate the spectacr historical event!¡­.¡± On the contrary, Ansitanos became so excited that he became slightly incoherent due to Davos enlightening him.

    Wonderful chorus, music apaniment, close to real battle and the performance of hundreds of people had truly shocked the audience and even the statesmen of the Senate.

    ¡°I look forward to the next performance!¡± Mersis'' heartfelt admiration had reminded him of the difficult times in Persia, and his words are also amon opinion of the former mercenaries.

    But Amintas curled his lips and quietly said, ¡°The fighting scene is too fake!¡±

    ¡°Didn''t you hear Ansitanos? This is acting, not real fighting. Look at the excited people. Davos is telling them our heroic deeds in this way of performance!¡± Antonios, who was next to him, rebuked Amintas in a low voice.

    ¡°I think it was Olivos who was ying Davos¡­he really did a great job! But Ledes who was ying the Persian general is no good, he is like a log!¡­.¡± Epiphanes'' interestingments attracted the statesmen who were former mercenaries.

    Next, ¡°Hades¡± led the mercenaries to Magna Graecia, the Lucanian invasion of Thurii and the mercenaries defeating the Lucanian alliance¡­

    A group of Lucanians, such as Vespa and Hemon, watched the y nervously.

    Obviously, Davos had taken their feelings into consideration, and so the harm that the Lucanians once caused to the Thurians was only a brief passing, on the contrary, he focused more on thest scene. Apanied by the cheerful and enthusiastic singing and drumming, ¡°Hades¡± made ¡°Davos¡± lead the Greeks to make peace with the Lucanians. They wrestled with each other, drank wine and put their arms around each other, and finally joined hands in arge circle, while ¡°Hades¡± stood in the centre of the circle. The crowd then sang the ode of Hades, threw their arms and legs around and expanded and narrowed the circle, and the atmosphere was very warm that it attracted the people from outside to join in, and so the ode of Hades resounded throughout the city¡­

    Hades, as the lord of the underworld, was said to be dark, cruel and frightening, hence why he is far less popr than Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo and the other gods among the Greeks. Kanos was just like the other Greeks in his likes and dislikes of Hades, so he was surprised when he heard that Theonia wanted to make Hades their patron god. He was distracted at first, but he was now so captivated by the wonderful performance in the square that it had made him have a good impression of Hades and could not stop himself from singing the ode of Hades with everyone.

    It wasn''t only him, but also the Lucanian chieftains, who only worshipped Asinu, started asking the others about the meaning of the words in a strange and stiff Greek, and some had even hummed along. In contrast to the overwhelming devotion of the majority of the Theonian poption, the invited guests from the South Italia Alliance had different ideas, and some, like the Crotonians, had even expected the Theonians to make a fool of themselves during the celebration ceremony.

    But at this moment, they were also shocked by this unprecedented ceremony in the whole of Greece, and the polemarchos of Crotone, Lysias, sighed and said, ¡°It seems that the faith of Hades will truly take root among these Theonians.¡±

    ¡°Hera and Apollo were the gods that the Greeks of the western Mediterranean believe in the most, and only these Theonians and the savages will believe Hades!¡± Askamas said angrily as his good friend Milo was expelled because he was defeated by Theonia, and so he had some resentment in his heart. What is more, Crotone has the most magnificent Temple of Apollo in Magna Graecia, and the Greeks from other city-states often go there to pay their homage to it. Therefore, although the performance in the square made him amazed, he stillined, ¡°Look, it''s almost noon and it is already hot, but when are we going to be allowed to see the Temple of Hades?!¡±

    ¡°Yea, my legs are starting to go numb now!¡± Another seemingly yful remark by another strategos of Crotone caused a stir among the guests.

    ¡°ng!!!¡­.¡± Then a long and powerful bell suddenly rang, which shocked the people who were disappointed with the end of the performance.

    ¡°Look¡­the¡­the Temple of Hades!¡± There were constant exmations in the crowd.

    In the northwest of the Nike Square, on the hill behind the Grand Senate Hall, the building, which was half-covered by many scaffolds andrge pieces of linen in the early morning, had finally fully revealed its true appearance as the people were concentrated on the performance on the square: A towering, grand white building shining in the hot sunlight!

    Plesinas then took the lead, followed by the 50 white-robed priestess and the statesmen of the Senate, then the distinguished guests of the city-state, and the people on the north side of the square, followed by the people on the south side of the square¡­everyone began to move slowly towards the Temple of Hades under the orderly guidance of the soldiers¡­

    The bronze bell was still being rung unhurriedly, more clearly and deeply, and soothed the urgent mood of the people.

    As they get closer to the Temple of Hades, it became clearer to the eyes of the people. This is a very unique temple, it''s height is no different from other temples, but its length is twice as long as thergest temple in all of the city-states in Magna Graecia. More importantly, as the site of the city-state''s protection, ording to tradition, it is also the centre of a city-state, and it should be enclosed by walls and be the acropolis of Thurii, just like the former Temple of Apollo in Thurii. However, not only does it not have any walls, but it also has stone stairs from the east, west, south and north, allowing easy ess to the temple.

    Androlis, who just recently became a statesman of the Senate, curiously asked Cornelius, who he got along well with during this period, ¡°Why is there no wall in this new temple?¡±

    Cornelius then replied to him seriously, ¡°This is the proposal of Lord Davos so that the people can freely visit the temple to make offerings and prayers in order to show their love of Hades!¡±

    Davos is the favoured of Hades and the high priest of the temple, and so proposals regarding the Temple of Hades would not normally be opposed. Androlis looked at the temple, but the hundred years of tradition had still made him confused, ¡°But in this way, Thurii will have no acropolis!¡±

    Cornelius sighed, his expression became slightly strange and said, ¡°Lord Davos insisted that there will be no more Acropolis to be built in Thurii. He said something like this-¡± At this point, there was a bit more hardness in the tone of the always mild-mannered praetor of Amendra, ¡°¡®The cities in the Theonia Union are the walls of the union, and Thurii is the acropolis of the union, and so Theonia no longer need an extra Acropolis!¡¯¡±

    After listening to this sentence, Androlis was taken aback, ¡®Having the city as the wall?!¡­.seeing the whole territory as a city?!¡­¡¯ A sense of pride budded in his heart and the figure of the young archon came into his mind. He couldn''t help but be impressed by the kind of heart and spirit he has, and felt that it was no wonder that he can build a strong city-state union!

    The people climbed up the stairs and at about 30 meters from the temple, the soldiers had formed a circr line and the people could only stand outside the line. The whole hill was filled with so many people that, except for the little bit of white at the top, it became almost a ¡°mountain of people¡±.

 Chapter 259: The Celebration Ceremony for the Completion of the Temple of Hades (III)

    When the bell stopped ringing, Plesinas and the priestess came out of the crowd, they then stood on both sides of the entrance of the temple and began to sing in unison.

    This time, it''s no longer just pure humming, but now with lyrics, ¡°

    Hades is just and strict,

    His light shines on earth,

    Our hearts are filled with enthusiasm,

    As we enter your sanctuary,

    Your light shines on us,

    ¡­.¡±

    ¡°This¡­is this a new ode to Hades?!¡± The hearts of the people were filled with surprise, and the distinctive melody was so wonderful and magnificent. As the song continues, they be deeply moved by the sacredness and ideals shown in the song.

    Countless people fell to their knees devoutly, singing the ode of Hades and tears streaming down their eyes¡­

    When the song ended, some people were still unable to extricate themselves until those around them cheered, ¡°DAVOS!!!¡­¡± Only then did they realise that at some point, the archon of Theonia and the high priest of the union ¨C Davos, appeared on the circr altar in front of the temple and was dressed in white robes, with a white himation on his head and a torch in his hand, while Plesinas was at his side carrying arge, smooth, concave bronze mirror with another male priest.

    The people''s eyes widened with curiosity, for there had been rumours of a heated debate among the statesmen about the ¡°Sacred me of the Temple of Hades¡± because the sacred fire is not only the symbol of the Greek city-states, but also a symbol of civilization, especially the Greek city-state in the western Mediterranean were all the city-states are colonies, therefore, the sacred fire of the acropolis was not lit by just any random fire source, but was taken by the founders of the colony from the temples of their mother-states and kept until the new city was built. Once the fire is lit, it will burn from generation to generation and the memory of their homnd will be passed onto the next generation!

    Therefore, the statesmen who were born in Thurii, headed by Pollux, propose to light it with the mes from Athens once more, which was strongly opposed by Antonios, Amintas and the others, and the reason for that is the old Thurii no longer exist, and the new Thurii is not a child of Athens!

    As for the proposal of Cornelius of ¡°lighting it with the fire from the Temple of Zeus in Amendra¡±, but the statesmen of Thurii thought that Amendra was not enough to represent the whole Theonia Union.

    There was a heated argument between the statesmen, and finally, Davos said, ¡°Since Theonia is a newly built city-state union, and we have no mother state, and we are the only city-state with the Temple of Hades as our patron temple in the Mediterranean. What I think is that Hades will grant us the sacred fire on the day of the temple celebration to show his favour to Theonia!¡±

    And his words were spread all over the city on the same day, and soon all over the union. Now, no matter whether they are ordinary people, statesmen of the Senate or the distinguished guest who just learned about it, they are all watching curiously and excitedly at the unlighted torch in the hands of Davos and waiting for either a miracle or the biggest joke of Magna Graecia.

    Facing the entrance of the temple, Davos knelt solemnly on the altar while holding the torch high in his hand.

    Plesinas and the priest stepped back and painstakingly raised the bronze mirror and slowly turned it to adjust the angle and then focused the hot sunlight on a cluster of scrap papyrus protruding from the top of the torch¡­

    The already known ode to Hades was once again sung by the priestesses and the sound spread to the sky¡­

    At noon, the sun was scorching hot, however, the sweating people didn''t even realize it as their attention was focused on the motionless Davos¡­

    Time goes by as seconds turn to minutes.

    The bronze mirror shines brightly, but the torch remains the same¡­

    ¡°I think it''s just his arrogance saying that Hades will grant the sacred fire, and thinks that he can do anything!¡± Pollux sneered in a low voice. He had a lot to do with the fact that the words of Davos in the Senate Hall had been spread so widely and so quickly because he wanted to see Davos make a fool of himself at this moment, which would be a great blow to the young archon''s prestige!

    Burkes patted him to kindly remind him to be quiet.

    However, Pollux gave him a contempt look. Burkes was a good friend of his, but now, he is one of the strong supporters of Davos in the Senate among the Thurian statesmen. Pollux would not have wanted to associate with him again if it were not for some certain reasons.

    Suddenly, he seemed to see smokeing from the top of the torch and had thought that he had seen wrong, so he blinked his eyes hard.

    Then voices of surprise can be heard from all directions.

    Soon, the smoke turned into a small beating cluster of reddish-yellow mes that had quickly ignited the linen soaked in olive oil.

    mes!

    ¡°Oh, Hades!¡± The whole hill seemed to shake as the people who witnessed this miracle with their own eyes let out a thunderous cheering.

    Even the distinguished guests looked at each other in disbelief. ¡®Could it be that Theonia is truly favoured by Hades?!¡¯

    ¡®Davos truly has the favour of Hades?!¡¯ The statesmen looked at him in awe, while the body of Pollux slightly trembles, as he seemed to see the imposing eyes of Hades staring at him coldly in the torch held by Davos.

    Although Davos had practised it several times before and had even specially chosen a sunny day and even used the square performance to extend the ceremony to noon, he was still a bit nervous. After all, it was in front of tens of thousands of people, so if he were to mess it up, his deliberate n and the prestige as the favoured of god would be destroyed! Fortunately, he managed to seed with the blessing of Hades!

    Davos slowly rose to his feet, then held the torch high and walked slowly, as he bathed in the cheers of the people pushing him to the top again and again¡­

    With the apaniment of the priests, he walked into the temple and lit each of the dark bronze braziers in front of the statue of Hades. From this day onward, the me of the Temple of Hades will continue to burn day and night, blessing Theonia with prosperity.

    Once Davos walked out of the temple, a loud salpinx rang out, apanied by a low drumbeat, and the three legatus of the military, Kapus, Drakos and Hieronymus, and the eight senior centurions, in full military dress, each carrying three stone steles and was escorted by 40 toon captain, and arrived at the front of the temple.

    As most of the people looked at the three stone steles which were as tall as a man with confusion, the words of the high priest, with the help of the envoy, reached the ears of the people, ¡°The establishment and development of Theonia City-State Union cannot do without the protection of Hades! Nor could it have been possible without the efforts of the citizens who had paid for it! Today, when we enjoy peace and prosperity, we shall not forget these brave men who gave their lives to defend Theonia!¡± Having said this, Davos fell on his knees before the stone stele with a solemn expression.

    Then, the legatus of the army, senior centurion and the toon captains and all the soldiers present have knelt on the ground in front of the stone steles.

    The inscribed stone steles was no longer a cold stone in the eyes of the people, but a vivid figure with names¡­

    ¡°Sob¡­.¡± In addition to the distinguished guests, the hill became filled with Theonians who were kneeling, and in this solemn atmosphere, there were suppressed sobs from the families of the soldiers who had died in battle.

    ¡°Our brave warriors had not died, as their spirit lives forever!¡±

    ¡°Our brave warriors had not died, as their spirit lives forever!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos led the people to kneel on the stone stele.

    At this moment, the grass and trees sympathize, and heaven and earth are in sorrow. Then a strong wind was blown at the right time and even the sun was covered by the clouds, which further convinced the people that their cries were answered.

    As the people continued to pray¡­

    The salpinx and drums were yed in unison and the strategoi and the officers walked in neat steps, carrying the stone steles into the temple under the gazes of thousands of pairs of eyes.

    ¡°The Theonians paid their respects to their warriors to such an extent!¡± Lysias had heard that the Theonians held a triumphant return ceremony for their victorious army, and was now moved by the sight of them bringing the stone steles of the warriors that have died to the temple.

    ¡°With such a sacred act, how can the Theonian citizens not be willing to fight to the death?¡± The strategos and nauarh of Crotone, Askamas, look serious and no longer have the mood to ridicule the Theonians.

    He and Lysias looked at each other and were thinking the same question, ¡®In case of another war with Theonia happens in the future, can Crotone defeat such an enemy with high morale?¡¯

    More or less, the distinguished guests from the South Italia Alliance all felt this way, while Kanos felt happy to see the strength of Theonia.

    After the sound of the drum disappeared, the sound of a harp rang¡­

    With the melodious sound of the harp, Heracleides the Younger and Piasikos carried a stone bust to the front of the temple.

    ¡°People of Theonia, please tell me who was the one that had designed and nned the new Thurii? Who was the one that had led us to build it?¡± Shouted Davos.

    ¡°¡­.Heracleides!¡± The answers were not in sync.

    ¡°Who designed and built the Temple of Hades?¡± Davos asked again.

    ¡°Heracleides!¡± This time, the answer is much neater.

    ¡°No matter whether it is building a new city or a temple, he alwayses first and thest to leave every day, and even if he were seriously ill, he still devoted all his heart to the designing of the city that he loves and finally dedicates his life.¡± Davos once again asked aloud, ¡°Who is he?¡±

    ¡°Heracleides!!!¡± A neat and powerful answer echoed.

    ¡°In view of Heracleides'' contribution to Theonia, his bust will be ced in the Hall of Sages in the Temple of Hades and be favoured by Hades, and for him to continue to contribute his talent to Elysium! And at the same time, in the years toe, as long as the people of Theonia make great contributions to the prosperity and development of Theonia, their busts will also be ced in the temple and be revered by theter generations and their souls will live with the union!¡± Because of the miracle of the sacred fire, it felt like Davos was possessed by Hades at this moment, and his words had naturally inspired the people.

    Author''s Note: At the beginning of writing, I was not sure whether focusing sunlight with a concave copper mirror could ignite a papyrus. Later, I remember the Roman siege of Syracuse a hundred yearster where Archimedes designed a lot of equipment to help defend the city. One of them was to let the soldiers stand at the top of the wall while holding hundreds of concave bronze mirrors and focusing the sunlight to ignite the sails of the Roman ships that were anchored in the bay. If the sails can be lit, then it should not be a problem to light a papyrus and in such a short distance.

 Chapter 260: The Uniqueness of the Temple of Hades

    When Davos bowed to the bust of Heracleides, all the people had bowed and wished that they would also receive such favour when they died.

    It was already afternoon when the bust was carried into the temple. Although the people were a little tired, they were still in high spirits because of the unprecedented new ceremony.

    And finally, thest and most important thing left to do is to enter the temple to look around and pray.

    Under themand of Davos, the soldiers maintained the order and the people consciously abided and entered the temple orderly.

    After experiencing the previous ceremony, Kanos'' perception of Hades was greatly improved, and at this moment, he was eager to enter the temple and find out what was inside.

    Following the flow of people stepping on the entrance stairs and stepping on the base of the temple, they could see a statue on both sides of the main gate of the temple. On the left is a handsome young man holding a harp and ying it to his heart, on the right is a beautiful woman with her hand twirling her clothes and smiling as she looked tenderly at the youth.

    The two cream-coloured marble statues were smooth and felt lifelike. The deep gaze between them created a beautiful atmosphere.

    Kanos'' gaze wandered back and forth between the two statues until someone eximed, ¡°Could this be the hero Orpheus and his beautiful wife Eurydice?!¡±

    Immediately after getting reminded, Kanos looked at the statues carefully and found that he was right because their names were engraved on the base of the statue.

    Orpheus is the son of Apollo, the sun god, and Calliope, a muse of literature and art. Orpheus'' wife, Eurydice, was bitten by a poisonous snake and died, and Orpheus, who loved her deeply, ventured into the underworld and impressed Hades and Persephone with his beautiful song, and was then allowed to take the soul of Eurydice. But before leaving the underworld, he could not look at Eurydice, otherwise, she would stay in the underworld forever. Orpheus kept his promise and trudged hard with his wife, and when he was about to leave the underworld, he identally took a nce at his wife, which led Eurydice to be taken back to the underworld, and Orpheus died of depression.

    But at this moment, what the two statues were showing is not sadness and resentment, but happiness and warmth.

    Under the influence of this emotion, Kanos entered the temple in a calm state of mind and was then greeted by the three stone steles that had been carried into the temple earlier.

    Kanos saw the letters engraved on the eaves and learned that this was the Hall of Valor.

    The Hall of Valor was just a side hall of the temple, it wasn''t toorge and had colourful paintings on the wall. Kanos looked at them carefully and the main paintings on it were the humble beginnings of the former mercenaries, crossing the sea to save the people, fighting the barbarians, building a new city and the dramatic war that led to the establishment of the union¡­

    Even Kanos, an outsider, couldn''t help but sigh about the hardship of the Theonians venture, however, he did not revere it as devoutly as the Theonians, and instead, he went to the brazier and bowed before it, then came out through the side door.

    On the right side is another side hall, and it should be the Hall of Sages that was mentioned by the people just now, and it seems that many people stopped inside.

    Kanos went straight ahead, crossed the middle entrance and entered the main hall of the temple.

    This hall is more than 20 meters high, so as soon as the people enter inside, they will immediately be aware of one''s insignificance. In front of the hall stands a bronze statue over ten meters high, and the huge figure also gives the people a strong sense of oppression. Fortunately, this statue of Hades does not show the ferocious and fearsome face of legend, on the contrary, this statue of Hades has an expression of that of a kind and gentle image of an elderly. Beside him is another statue, the beautiful queen of the underworld, Persephone, who is holding her husband by the arm and smiling at everyone. The most feared of the Greek gods, the king of the underworld, Hades, and was also joined by the queen of the underworld in a way that makes one feel close to her.

    Looking at the ground, a carefully selected patchwork of bright and colourful striped marble as smooth as a mirror, with the four walls being painted colourfully with dense forests, verdant green hills, turquoise grasnds and all sorts of rare and exotic animals, fairies and gods, and the humans areughing and ying and enjoying themselves in perfect harmony¡­the sunlight from the skylight in the centre of the temple and the windows on both sides of the temple reflected the bright colours of the temple, which had made the hall more magnificent, and made them felt like they are in a fairnd, causing many Theonians to feel enchanted and murmured, ¡°Elysium?! This is Elysium?!¡­¡± They fell to their knees in front of the sacred fire and are unwilling to get up.

    To maintain order, the soldiers had no choice but to urge them again and again.

    Seeing this situation, Kanos had to sigh. The bold and ingenious design of the Theonians had turned hell into paradise and evil into good! In such a warm ce, there is no longer a need to worry about no oneing here to worship!

    When Kanos walked out of the temple, he could not stop himself from savouring the beautiful scene in the temple.

    ¡°The temple on that side is frightening! Many people dared not go in!¡±

    ¡°No way?! It''s very wonderful inside! If the soldiers were not urging me, I would have stayed more!¡±

    ¡°Over there¡­that side ispletely different from this side. If you don''t believe me, you can go and see it!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The voices of the people reached the ears of Kanos, which have taken him aback, ¡®There is another temple? No, there''s already one here, could it be¡­it can''t be?!¡­.¡¯

    Many people were as shocked as Kanos. It''s normal to be surprised. After all, the temples of the ancient Greek city-states have been a temple dedicated to the main god since ancient times, even though the appearance of the statue of Persephone, the queen of the underworld, in this temple is a bold breakthrough, fortunately, the people regard the queen of the underworld as a subordinate god of Hades, which is not too surprising! But they never thought that the designers had a bolder way and had divided the temple into two parts ¨C one temple and two gods! It was no wonder that the temple of Hades is twice the length of most temples!

    Under the strong impetus of doubt and curiosity, Kanos quickly went to the other side of the temple by passing through the outer corridor of the temple, which was supported by a dozen huge Doric-type pirs.

    Sure enough, there is another entrance to the temple, which was equally filled with people.

    There are also two stone sculptures on both sides of the entrance, but they were painted ck, they were the ferryman of the river Styx ¨C Charon, and the one guarding the gate of the underworld, the multi-headed dog ¨C Cerberus.

    Entering the entrance is a side hall, which has the name ¡°Prison of the Wicked¡± engraved on it, in the centre is the terrifying statue of the god of death ¨C Thanatos, holding a sword, with sentences engraved in ck letters, ¡°Here will be the prison of the traitors! Here will be the prison of those who have murdered! Here will be the prison of those who have raped!!¡­.¡±

    At the end of each sentence, there is a bloody skull painted on it, which sends chills down to their spine. And the four walls are painted with all sorts of horrific images of ferocious demons tormenting souls, which further added chills.

    Kanos staggered, as the terrible sight had made him hesitate to continue inside.

    At this time, he saw a ¡°Confessional Room¡± on the right side of the hall, next to which was arge and bold inscription, ¡°If you correct one''s mistake, god will forgive it!¡±

    Kanos calmed himself and continued as he crossed the confessional room and stepped into the main hall.

    Here is a ck world. ck marble floor, ck walls, no skylight, no windows, so there is no sunlight, and only the burning brazier in front of the statue brought glimmers of light to the temple, but it does not add much to the warmth of the temple, but rather the bright and flickering me stamped a gloom on everyone''s face.

    There is no longer the beautiful and gentle queen of the underworld beside the dozen-meter high statue of Hades, and Hades was d in a ck robe and wielding a bident, with imposing face and threatening gaze that seems to be able to discern those who are good and those who are evil.

    In front of him, are the three 3-meter tall statues of Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus, each with a cold expression. One holds a scroll, the other is questioning sternly and the one in the middle is holding a scale with a weight on one side and a bright red heart on the other. This is the only red colour in the whole temple, but it made all the believers in the temple look tense and sweaty because it was so eye-catch that it seems to ask, ¡®How is your conscience?¡¯

    Kanos walked out of the temple in a trance, and even the fresh air couldn''t make him feel rxed: It was a test of the soul!

    Kanos walked down the hill and was unable to stop himself from looking back at the magnificent temple.

    The people emerging from one side of the temple are smiling and are happy, while the people emerging from the other side looked grave and lost in their thoughts. Heaven and hell are pr opposites, yet perfectly contained in one temple. The genius idea of the Theonians had conceived this unusual temple and Kanos wondered what effect it would have on the Theonians in the future

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At dusk, the hustle and bustle of Thurii have still not yet ended. The people in the streets are still talking about the celebration for thepletion of the temple in the daytime with great interests, including the famous Cheiristoya''s Restaurant.

    While munching bread and mutton soup, Kanos listened to their conversation.

    Only then did he know that the unusual design of the Temple of Hades was originally proposed by the archon Davos, and even those unprecedented ceremonies in the celebration was also based on his arrangement, which made him more curious of what kind of person the archon of Theonia was.

    At the celebration, Kanos had only seen Davos in front of the temple from afar, he looked very young but with extraordinary bearings. The thought of how he had yet to meet this Theonian authority had made Kanos feel a little dejected.

    ¡°May I sit here?¡± A man came across the wooden table and asked politely.

    Kanos nodded.

    ¡°Give me a big te of tripe!¡± The man yelled. Not long after he sat down, a steaming food was brought. He quickly scooped arge spoon of sauce in the earthenware pot on the table with a wooden spoon and put it on the te. It was a sauce made from brewing shellfish. It tasted strange, which Kanos couldn''t still get used to, however, the man on the other side dipped the sauce with tripe and ate it with relish.

    ¡°Mmm, this is still delicious! I haven''t eaten it in months and I have been thinking about it every day, but I am still craving it!¡± The man looked enthralled, which caused Kanos to give a small smile.

    The man looked at Kanos and said, ¡°Do you know that when the Greek mercenaries were in Persia and Davos had just started as an ordinary soldier, it was this tripe that had made him conquer the mouths of the other soldiers and had attracted the attention of everyone, andter became the leader of the mercenaries!¡±

    Author''s Note: The idea of two gods in one temple was not an original idea of Davos. Hundreds of yearster, Caesar Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, one of the five great emperors of Rome, designed and presided over the construction of the Temple of Venus and Roma, which was dedicated to the goddess Venus on one side and to the goddess Roma* on the other side. And the ruins of the temple are just in front of the Colosseum in Rome. (that is, the deified personification of Rome)

 Chapter 261: The Secret of Theonias Strength? (I)

    ¡°Oh, that''s interesting!¡± Kanos smiled, while subconsciously looking at the man on the opposite side. He is tall and lean, with a thin face and with a hawkish nose, and a weak disposition.

    Seeing that Kanos was looking at him, the man raised his head and said with a smile, ¡°I have met you at the guest house in Thurii. I am Siprus and I havee from Terina.¡±

    Kanos hesitated for a moment and said, ¡°¡­I am from¡­Elea.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Elea.¡± Siprus didn''t appear to be too surprised. He looked at Kanos and said seriously, ¡°I have been to Elea several times, and we have the same dilemma as Elea. Thends of Terina were often invaded by the Bruttians, while Elea is surrounded by the Lucanians, and the only difference between us is that we have allies behind our back, while you have to fight alone most of the time.¡±

    Siprus'' words touched Kanos'' heart and this feeling of empathy had made him feel close to Siprus and he unconsciously leaned forward.

    ¡°I believe that the reason why you havee here was on behalf of Elea to ask Theonia for their help.¡± Added Siprus.

    Kanos hesitated once more and then said, ¡°Elea hase to seek an alliance with Theonia¡­.¡±

    Siprus saw his worries andforted him by saying, ¡°Don''t worry, Theonia will surely form an alliance with you!¡±

    When Kanos saw the strength and prosperity of the Theonians in Thurii these two days, he became a little bit worried. The weak Elea could not attract the interest of Theonia, and they might be unwilling to provoke the vicious Lucanians.

    At this moment, he put aside his guard and asked, ¡°Why are you so sure?¡±

    ¡°Because the location of Elea is very important.¡± Siprus picked a piece of tripe with a wooden stick then threw it into his mouth, chewed it carefully and said, ¡°As it is beneficial for the unification of Theonia in the Lucanian region.¡±

    ¡°Theonia wants to upy the entire Lucanian region, how is that possible?!¡± Kanos was astounded.

    ¡°It''s certainly quite possible. Theonia''s polity dictates its ambition to expand.¡± Said Siprus with aplicated expression on his face.

    ¡°You mean-¡± Kanos suddenly realized, he looked around and bowed his head, ¡°Theonia is run by a tyrant?!¡± City-states with a tyrant are always cruel, greedy and aggressive, as both Gelon, the tyrant of Syracuse decades ago, and his sessor Hieron, the former tyrant of Rhegium ¨C Anaxilus, and now Dionysius, have sessively proved it.

    Siprus shook his head. He was a thoughtful man, and since hisst mission to Theonia, he had been analysing the reason for the rapid rise of this emerging union out of curiosity, ¡°Not exactly, I don''t know whether the archon of Theonia, Davos, is a tyrant or not, but he is without a doubt the supreme ruler of the Theonian army, he has the sacrificial rights, he is the supreme leader of the city-state union and he is the grand statesman of the highest authority of Theonia ¨C the Senate and has a great deal of influence, yet he does not do whatever he wants. His proposals even needed the approval from the majority of the statesmen, and the Senate has the power to elect and appoint senior civil servants, however, he has the right to veto it. The important events like waging war and making a truce are also decided collectively by the Senate, so unlike a tyrant who can easily decide the life and death of a citizen, his actions are still subjected to thews of the union. However, there is no doubt that he has more power than the king of Sparta and the strategos of the democratic city-states¡­.¡±

    Kanos listened carefully and thought deeply, ¡°No wonder¡­I have heard that this archon often does not want the protection of his guards in the city of Thurii and often goes in and out of the streets of Thurii alone, not at all like Dionysius who lives in his pce and having thousands of mercenaries to protect him. In this way, he seemed to look like a¡­.uhm¡­.democratic king.¡±

    ¡°Democratic king?!¡± Siprus listened and pped the table excitedly, ¡°This word is very suitable to show the position of Davos in Theonia Union! It is because of this unique system of archonship in Theonia that their rapid rise has been created.¡±

    ¡°Do you mean to say that Davos was the sole reason for the strength of Theonia?¡± Kanos asked in surprise.

    ¡°Mmm¡­Davos is of course a very capable archon, but Theonia''s political system is also very unusual-¡± It was a rare asion for Siprus to find someone to rte to, and Kanos'' question was a convenient way for him to continue to borate on what he had been thinking on for some time, however, after eating a lot of sauce, he felt his throat getting a bit dry. After swallowing his saliva, he continued to say, ¡°Kanos, do you drink beer? The beer in this shop is delicious. I heard that it was brewed by the ves under themand of Davos after many experiments. This guy has not only a strong ability in military and politics but also a unique talent in business. It is no wonder that he is called the favoured of god!¡±

    Beer is a drink for the bottom people of the city-state, but Kanos became interested after listening to Siprus.

    Then Siprus immediately said in a loud voice, ¡°Give us two big beers!¡±

    Then a long, thin-necked jar was ced in front of Kanos. After picking it up, a faint aroma hit his nose. Kanos then hurriedly took a sip and the cool golden liquid went down smoothly into his belly, dissipating most of the dryness from his body, and couldn''t stop himself from taking another gulp.

    ¡°Taste good doesn''t it!¡± Siprus said smugly upon seeing his reaction.

    Kanos nodded, he belched and asked, ¡°What''s different about the Theonian system that you have just mentioned?¡±

    After taking a sip of the beer, Siprus slowly said, ¡°Whether it is Crotone or us, Terina, the highest power is the lesia, which decides everything in the city-state. Secondly, their number of council members was reduced, usually, at least 300~400 people attended the council meeting to discuss and solve the usual city-state affairs. While the strategoi are elected by the lesia and they are only the highest executor of the decisions made by the lesia and the council, right?¡±

    ¡°Right, so is Elea. The democratic system of the Greek city-states is basically like this.¡±

    ¡°The Theonia system came from Amendra, and Amendra¡­I guess that after they have separated from Sybaris, they were influenced by Taranto, just like Heraclea and Metapontum, because Taranto was a child-state of Sparta, and changed the ¡®Dual Kingship¡¯ to ¡®Dual Archonship¡¯ and the Gerousia to the Council, except that the archon is elected by the lesia. However, after Davos led the mercenaries to join Amendra, not only did he change the dual archonship to a sole archon for life, but at the same time, the lesia seems to have never been held afterwards¡­.¡± Said Siprus in a deep voice.

    ¡°Theonia has put aside the lesia?!¡± Kanos nearly eximed in surprise, but if it were based on what he learned previously before he had spoken to Siprus ¨C that Davos was a tyrant ¨C then it would not have surprised Kanos that there was no lesia in Theonia. But Siprus had told him that ¡°Davos was not a tyrant and was equally subject by the Senate¡± hence why his perception of Theonia became that ¨C it was still a rtively normal union of city-states ¨C which is why he overreacted a little when he heard what Siprus had just said.

    ¡°Theonia''s lesia has not explicitly been put aside, but it was just not held¡­.¡± Siprus slowly added, ¡°I think that it might be due to the special circumstance of Theonia Union that prevented it from being held. After all, the citizens of Theonia are scattered in several cities and are ofplex origin, there were Greeks, there were also a considerable number of foreigners, there were also Thurians, as well as Amendrans and Krimisians¡­holding an lesia would be both time consuming and prone to arguments over their interest that would not allow anything to be decided¡­.¡±

    After careful consideration, Kanos had to admit, ¡°Maybe, that might be an important reason. Just like Elea, even though we don''t have many citizens and live in the same city for generations, we still can''t reach an agreement on many important issues on every lesia that was held, let alone an emerging new union like Theonia, where the citizense fromplex backgrounds.

    Siprus patted the jar with his hand, he hesitated for some time, tilting his head back and taking a sip before continuing, ¡°In fact, the lesia handles various affairs¡­on any given subject, it makes it easier for the citizens to voice their opinions and exercise their vetoes just based on their preferences and interests, rather than the interests of the city-state, which often results in the issues to remain unresolved for a long time, especially in times of crisis! An lesia that is unable to unify its opinion quickly can put the city-state in great danger, and it is because of this reason that Terina who had been facing the invasion of the Bruttians for a long time now, has a different system than those other city-states from the South Italia Alliance such as Crotone and Scylletium, that is, in the event of an enemy invasion, Terina will immediately elect a strategos, with supreme authority, to decide all the affairs of the city during the war! In order to avoid endless discussions and disputes!¡±

    Kanos smiled, ¡°Elea will also elect a dictator during the most difficult times of war, with supreme power over the city-state, much like your grand strategos that you speak of.¡±

    Themon understanding had made Siprus stop hesitating and said bluntly, ¡°You see, both Terina and Elea realized that there are some shorings with the lesia, but we have only made small changes. However, Theonia hadpletely put aside the lesia and made use of the ability of the archon, Davos, and the rich administrative experience of the statesmen of the Senate, who numbered less than a hundred, to be able to passws and make decisions quickly in the interest of the development of the city-state union, and Theonia has also enactedws that no other lesia of the city-states in the South Italia Alliance could have passed, two of which are very important! These twows have yed a very important role in the rise of Theonia as a newly formed union!¡±

 Chapter 262: The Secret of Theonias Strength? (II)

    ¡°Oh, which two?¡± Kanos leaned his body forward once more.

    ¡°The first is-¡± Siprus unhurriedly ced a wooden stick on the table and said, ¡°Anyone can apply to be granted a Theonian citizenship, whether they are foreigners, a captured enemy citizen, and even a freed ve, as long as they meet the requirements¡­.¡±

    Kanos took a breath, Elea had also given citizenship to freemen, but that was all due to war and a shortage of soldiers andbour, hence why it is really hard to imagine that Theonia would constantly grant citizenship, ¡°Does that¡­that¡­mean that the citizenship in Theonia is not that important? And they couldn''t enjoy most of the rights of the union? And what kind of people can be a citizen of the union? How are they able to maintain the order of the city-state?¡­.¡±

    ¡°Being a citizen of Theonia is very attractive!¡± Faced with Kanos'' tons of questions, Siprus shook his head and said in a deep voice, ¡°Apart from the other rights, just the right of each new citizen receiving an allocated 3,333 square meter ofnd is enough to drive the freemen crazy. Not to mention that newnds can be allocated to citizens depending on their achievements in their military service.¡±

    ¡°That¡­is that true?!¡± Kanos found it hard to believe, and he couldn''t stop himself from gulping, because as citizens of Elea, who had been trapped in the city for a long time,nds were very attractive to them.

    ¡°Of course it is true. Otherwise, why would Theonia, with its small army, have been able to easily recruit 7,000 freemen without spending money in the previous decisive battle between Theonia and Crotone, and the freemen were even extremely brave in helping Theonia defeat Crotone. All of it was due to the allure of the citizenship of Theonia.¡± Looking around at those who were eating and talking enthusiastically, Siprus turned back and continued, ¡°As for whether it will disturb the order of the city-state, there are at least twenty~thirty Theonians present at today''s celebration ceremony, right?¡±

    After this reminder from Siprus, Kanos immediately understood, ¡°It is the first time I have seen a union celebration and festival where so many people attended and without any major disruptions. I am afraid that it wasn''t just because of therge number of patrolling soldiers that were maintaining the order.¡±

    Siprus responded in a low voice, ¡°This naturally had a lot to do with thews of Theonia Union that governed the citizens, freemen and even the ves. The city of Thurii has not only more patrols than any other city-states but also courts. And these courts not only try cases and disputes but also record the names of those who break thew. If they are freemen, it will affect whether they can obtain their citizenship on time; If they are citizens, it will affect their allocation ofnd¡­therefore, for a better future, the vast majority of people living in Theonia will consciously abide by thews here¡­.¡±

    ¡°That''s a fantastic idea! Over time, the Theonians will naturally form the habit of abiding by thew. No wonder¡­.¡± Kanos couldn''t help but praise, ¡°This solution fundamentally solves the possible disorder that might happen in Theonia due to theplex origins of the people. I wonder who came up with this idea in the first ce¡­.¡±

    He then saw a smile on Siprus'' face, and then he realized, ¡°Was it Davos again?¡±

    Siprus nodded.

    Kanos shrugged helplessly, there was nothing more he could say about the archon of Theonia.

    ¡°What is the secondw?¡± Siprus'' familiarity with Theonia and his unique inside had deepened Kanos'' understanding of Theonia, so he was eager to know more.

    ¡°Sub-city-state.¡± Two words came out of Siprus'' mouth, and a strange gleam shed through his eyes, ¡°Theonia''s way of dealing with their sub-city or territories they have upied is very different from that of most Greek city-states.¡±

    ¡°What''s the difference?¡± Kanos was once again drawn to the words of Siprus and hurriedly asked.

    ¡°Do you know Aprustum?¡±

    ¡°I have heard that it used to be a city of the Bruttians, and hadter be a sub-city-state of Crotone, and has now be part of Theonia Union.¡±

    ¡°Let''s take Aprustum as an example. What did the Crotonians do after they upied it? They have killed all the Bruttians in the city, and move thendless citizens of Crotone to the city of Aprustum, where it has the same political system as Crotone.¡± Siprus pricked a piece of tripe and tossed it into his mouth with a mocking grin and said, ¡°The inhabitants of Aprustum are citizens of Crotone and its government is the government of Crotone. It is reasonable to say that Aprustum has be a part of Crotone, but why have there been two riots in Aprustum in recent decades and demanding secession from Crotone?¡±

    ¡°There have been two riots in Aprustum?¡± Kanos was slightly surprised because as far as he could remember, Aprustum was a city in Crotone.

    ¡°Yes, Twice.¡± Siprus stretched out two fingers and said slowly, ¡°Due to Crotone quickly quelling the riots and deliberately blocked the news, you, Elea, who is far away in the north, naturally do not know about it¡­although it is true that Aprustum waspletely attached to Crotone at first, 20 years ago, the situation has changed. ording to thew of Crotone, only Aprustum men whose fathers were citizens of Crotone could be a Crotonian citizen, and over time, some foreigners came to Aprustum and married women from the city and had children who could not be citizens of Crotone and can only be a citizen of Aprustum¡­some people who were born in this small city and had grown up there had naturally be more attached to Aprustum than to Crotone, and they do not want to apply to be citizens of Crotone¡­

    In this way, there are more and more true Aprustum citizens in this small city, more than the citizens of Crotone, and their willingness to safeguard the interests of Aprustum alone outweighed that of Crotone. And for the Crotonians, as the blood became more and more distant, they treated Aprustum more and more like ves, rather than their own people. When there is a war, they will ce the Aprustums in the forefront; In the event of and dispute, the Crotonians were favoured¡­with the growing resentment against Crotonians among the Aprustums, how could they not demand independence?!¡±

    When Kanos heard this, he nodded and took a big gulp of beer.

    ¡°The measures taken by Crotone against Aprustum after the riot was to kill the people who firmly resist Crotone and then to relocate arge number of Crotonian citizens to the small city while supporting the Aprustums who were close to Crotone and to give the citizens of Crotone control over the supreme power of Aprustum. But more than ten years ago, there was another riot in Aprustum, and the situation was the same as thest¡­as far as I know, the Greek city-states did roughly the same thing with their colonies and territories they upied, and even though Aprustum was very close to Crotone, which was a powerful city-state in Magna Graecia and has enough power to control Aprustum, a small city, and yet such thing still happened. It is verymon for those sub-states that were far away from their mother-state, or for those where the mother-state was not strong enough, to be unable to unite with their sub-state to strengthen themselves. What is even more terrible is that the mother-states bing enemies with their sub-states instead¡­there are many such examples!¡­.¡± Siprus said with a sigh.

    His words reminded Kanos of Elea''s mother state. Elea had once sent envoys to her mother-state to ask for help, but had ignored the plight of Elea and refused to provide any help, and so both sides have be strangers. Kanos was slightly sentimental, ¡°You are right!¡± With that, he raised the mug and invited Siprus to a toast.

    Kanos wiped off the foam on his lips and asked, ¡°How does Theonia treat the territories they upied?¡±

    Siprus took another wooden stick and put it on the wooden table and slowly said, ¡°After Theonia upied Aprustum, the first thing they implemented was to dere, ¡®All Aprustums who are willing to stay will be citizens of Theonia.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Hah?!¡± Kanos was surprised.

    ¡°Although there are very few Aprustums who choose to stay, I think they have made the right choice.¡± After emphasizing a sentence, Siprus continued to say, ¡°The second thing that Theonia implemented was ¨C the appointment of civil servants by the Theonian Senate to govern Aprustum, and the supreme administrator of the city is the Praetor, who must be a statesman of Theonia, and as I recall, the current praetor of Aprustum was¡­Hielos of the Senate of Theonia, a statesman who had a close rtionship with Davos.

    You see, the residents of Aprustum are now Theonian citizens, and ording to the Theonian Law, ¡®As long as either of the parents is a Theonian, their children will be Theonian as soon as they are born. Besides, the authorities of Aprustum are directly appointed by the Senate, and any Theonian citizen can apply for public office in the city-state. After a long period of serving as a public official, those who have rich experience and outstanding performance can be a statesman of the Theonian Senate.¡¯¡±

    Siprus said with a slightly excited expression, ¡°This will make it less likely for the residents of Aprustum to betray the Theonian Union, either now, orter, as they enjoy the same rights as the citizens of Theonia in the other cities of the union. Aprustum is already a part of the Theonia Union, and it is also directly managed by the Senate of the union, and whether it is paying taxes or doing military service, it will directly enhance the strength of the union. Hence why Theonia was able to muster about the same number of soldiers and resources as Crotone, even though they are weaker back then. Because this form of government could better concentrate all the power of the cities under their jurisdiction! While Crotone and Aprustum could not even support each other to the fullest extent, let alone its allies Scylletium and our Terina. And that, I fear, is what is most intimidating about Theonia Union, that everynd they gain would strengthen the union!¡±

 Chapter 263: Slave Liberation Ceremony and Theonias Rugby Tournament

    Siprus continued, ¡°Now that Nerulum and Grumentum that once belonged to the Lucanians are now part of the Theonia Union, hence why many Lucanians have be Theonian citizens. So how could the Lucanians from other tribes truly hate Theonia?! On the contrary, with the help of Elea, Theonia can take advantage of the weakness of the Lucanian tribes to upy the whole Lucania region, which would greatly strengthen Theonia, so how could Theonia not ally with Elea?¡±

    Kanos fell silent, as he thought about all the things that Siprus said for some time, and then said, ¡°With Theonia bing more powerful, won''t the other city-states belonging to the South Italia Alliance feel afraid?¡±

    Siprus was still excited, he took a big gulp of beer and said without hesitation, ¡°No matter what other city-states think, I think that the strength of Theonia will only be a good thing for Elea. We are already tired of the frequent wars between city-states and the stronger Theonia bes the more they can bring peace to thisnd. After all, from the way Theonia has done things in the past, it has always been friendly to its allies, unless you are the one to take the initiative to invade Theonia, and they are far less brutal than the Syracusans in the south!¡±

    Kanos understood what Siprus meant by ¡°brutal¡±. Dionysius, after capturing the Greek city-states of Sicily, would sometimes go too far as to ughter the inhabitants and turn all the remaining captives into ves, something that had never been done before in the history of the western Mediterranean, which had greatly shocked the Greeks in Sicily and Magna Graecia, that had made Kanos to even hear about it even from as far away as Elea. He looked at Siprus across the table and thought maliciously, ¡®Could it be that the cruelty of Dionysius was one of the main reasons why these city-states are willing to ally with Theonia?¡¯

    He asked curiously, ¡°The Theonian government is so special that I suppose the city-states in southern Magna Graecia, including Terina, have noticed. Have any city-states tried to implement these Theonian bills that are beneficial to the expansion of the city-state?¡±

    Siprus was taken aback and thenughed bitterly, ¡°At today''s celebration ceremony, I had also talked about this topic with several members of the council of Crotone that I know, and we think that it is impossible. Think about it, first of all, would all the citizens of the city-state agree?¡±

    Once he was reminded, it dawned on Kanos. How could the conservative and xenophobic citizens of Greek city-states allow outsiders to share the wealth and rights of their city-state?! And the highest authority of a city-state is the lesia, which isposed of most of the citizens of the city-state, which would undoubtedly not let these unfavourable bills andws to be passed!

    ¡°Why can Theonia do it?¡± Kanos raised his question.

    ¡°This¡­.¡± Siprus gently patted the table and pondered about it, ¡°I don''t know the detailed reasons, but the great power and prestige of the archon Davos is undoubtedly the most important reason.¡±

    Kanos agrees with this, but it is impossible for an archon like Davos to appear in Elea.

    ¡°But¡­.¡± Siprus looked at Kanos and hesitated, ¡°There are still some problems in an emerging city-state union like Theonia¡­.¡±

    ¡°Like?¡± Asked Kanos urgently.

    Siprus suddenly turned around, at some point without him knowing, the waiter stood behind his back and he could only shake his head and did not continue to speak.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next morning, the celebration of thepletion of the Temple of Hades continued.

    This time, it was in front of the temple and was presided over by the high priest, Davos, it was to grant freedom to the ves of the union in the name of Hades.

    Since this was the first time that this was held, not many ves were released and most of them were union members who had made outstanding achievements in this past year, while most of the private ves havee from Davos'' household.

    With the expansion of the territory of Theonia Union, the banks and restaurants opened by Cheiristoya had also increased rapidly. At the same time, she is constantly exploring newmercial channels, such as Cheiristoya''s shop, which mainly sells school supplies of the new Akademia of Theonia, as well as rugby and football equipment. For this reason, she had bought arge number of ves to ensure sufficientbour and at the same time, she had given freedom to those ves who were outstanding. On the one hand, he wanted to use them as an example to give hope to the other ves and motivate them to work harder; on the other hand, Davos set an example as an archon and guided the people to treat their ves well, to ease the conflict between the ves and their masters and society as a whole within the whole Theonia Union.

    Among the ves released by Davos and Cheiristoya was their servant, Azune, who had already told Cheiristoya that even if she gets her freedom, she is still willing to serve Cheiristoya as her employee, and of course, Cheiristoya greatly wees her. As a matter of fact, apart from the change of status, Azune''s way of life was not much different from before, including receiving a sry, since Cheiristoya had already been paying her, a close female ve, since back then.

    Because private ves usually spend a long time together with their masters, they would often develop a familial-like bond, therefore, it is not umon for the master to release the ves before his death or for the ve to continue serving their masters after they had been freed. However, for the ves who had just gotten their freedom, there is one more thing they must do as soon as possible, that is, they should immediately apply to the union''s census office to be preparatory citizens.

    After the liberation ceremony, the celebration began.

    The drama paid by the union will be performed continuously for three days in the new theatre in Thurii for free. If it was in Athens, there will be countless people lining up for the number te to enjoy it. But in Theonia, especially in Thurii, the people are more interested in Theonia''s Rugby Games. Last year, the Rugby Games had only included four cities, namely Amendra, Thurii, Nerulum and Laos, which have attracted countless people''s attention. This year, Krimisa, Roscianum, Aprustum and even the newly merged Grumentum, have even formed a team to participate(it is mainlyposed of soldiers from the third legion who moved to Grumentum). The expansion of the team had made thepetition to be even more intense, and the opening ceremony to be even more formal.

    The distinguished guests of Theonia Union and the South Italia Alliance had all received invitations. After the whole arena was filled, a loud bronze salpinx resounded throughout the arena and the yers of each city marched into the arena in turn and walked around.

    The people cheered enthusiastically and were especially excited when they saw the yers of their city.

    Amikles apuded hard as he watched the Roscianum yers march past the grandstand and said loudly to those around him, ¡°Look, that is our, Roscianum'', yers! At the front of the line is Gorkes, they are as strong as a herd of Lucanian bulls!¡±

    Then came a burst of warmughter from those around him.

    Androlis, Eurypus and Pleitinas, the three new members of Theonia''s Senate, couldn''t understand why the polemarchos of Roscianum was so excited, while Kunogta could only smile and whispered an exnation to them, ¡°Last year, when we held the Rugby Games, we had invited Roscianum and Laos. As a result, Laos had joined, while Roscianum didn''t, hence why a lot of people made fun of them and said that ¡®The people of Roscianum are timid in nature and they do not dare to take part in this kind of fierce game for men.¡¯ and it seems that this remark had stimted them, and so this year, they had specially organized a team to prove themselves, and even their strategos, Gorkes, have personally joined.¡±

    For the three people who have never seen a rugby game, they still couldn''t understand the enthusiasm and craziness shown by the Theonians. However, the surrounding craziness had still infected them, and like the guests from other city-states, they apuded the yers that were marching.

    Then they saw the team representing Krimisa, with the yer at the front of the group holding a wooden sign with ¡°Krimisa¡± in bright red letters, however, most of the 50 men were unfamiliar faces.

    Androlis knew that in recent months, there have been citizens and preparatory citizens of Theonia who have moved to Krimisa due to thend allocation. Therefore, even if they have just joined Theonia Union, their team''s skills won''t be too bad.

    Androlis also saw a few familiar faces in the team, and they were just as excited as the rest of the team, as they talked cordially with their teammates while waving to the crowd. These former citizens of Krimisa are now citizens of Theonia, and even though it was only just a few months, they had already integrated naturally with the team. Which made Androlis feelplicated for a while.

    ¡°Lord Androlis, I am looking forward to seeing the performance of the yers of Krimisa.¡± Kunogta''s meaningful words brought Androlis back to his senses.

    ¡°Don''t worry, they will definitely perform better than Roscianum.¡± Androlis feigned calmness, which caused several people tough.

    Eight teams finally stood in the middle of the field.

    At this time, Davos stood up from the spectator stand and the boiling arena gradually quieted down.

    The distinguished guests from the South Italia Alliance were shocked and envied the great prestige of Davos among the Theonians which was evident.

    Davos'' voice sounded in the arena, ¡°Hundreds of years ago, the great god Zeus created the Olympic Games. From then on, the fiercepetition reced the bloodshed, and there has been less war and more peace between the Greek city-states! And a year ago, the great Hades brought us rugby, which has since flourished in Theonia Union, a fierce sports game in which people gained health, happiness, unity and friendship! Today, the best yers of Theonia Union and the Alliance had gathered here to thank Hades for his gift, and topete in the most exciting and fierce rugbypetition and fight for the only championship! yers, fight on! Hades will bless you!¡±

 Chapter 264: Eleas Affiliation

    The speech of Davos was met with thunderous apuse, and the yers and the audience became enthusiastic from hearing what Davos had said, and had joined the crowd off-field in singing the ode of Hades. After that, the teams hurriedly left and the Rugby Games officially began.

    ording to the new tournament rules, the eight teams will be divided into two groups, A and B. And the winner ofst year and the runner-up, Thurii and Amendra are seeded in the two groups, with the remaining teams drawing lots to determine their groups.

    Finally, the members of group A were Thurii, Nerulum, Krimisa and Grumentum, and the members of group B were Amendra, Laos, Roscianum and Aprustum.

    And the two groups willpete in a single round-robin with one point for a win and zero points for a loss, there are no ties and the teams with the same number of points will go in a knockout stage with the top two teams in the group going to the final and finally decide who will be the champion.

    In order to make a good start, Davos selected Thurii vs Nerulum as the opening match to attract the audience''s attention.

    When Thurii and Nerulum re-entered the field, the crowd roared. Due to the majority of the audience being Thurians, they had naturally cheered for their home team, while the Lucanians were mostly cheering Nerulum. Amongst the cheers were the names of Tagetinos and Litom that were mentioned the most, because one is a strong and powerful running back and the other is a flexible and fast running back, and both of them are famous scorers of their respective teams.

    Bagul who was in the audience was so enthusiastic that he shouted loudly while waving his fists and stamping his feet, he no longer has the appearance of a powerful statesman. If it wasn''t for the fact that he had just be the praetor of Grumentum and was so busy that he had no time to train with the team, he would not have stayed as just a spectator.

    Asistes, who was next to him, saw through his mind and teased him by saying, ¡°Now that you are the praetor of Grumentum, you should support the team of Grumentum. Nerulum is the main opponent of Grumentum and for Grumentum to enter the knockout stage, you should hope that they will lose.¡±

    Bagul red at him and then actually felt entangled.

    The referee blew the whistle and the match began.

    As the athletic powerhouse of Magna Graecia, the Crotonians are still dismissive of the Theonian Rugby Games, despite the fact that it had be well-known in Magna Graecia. Now, with the progress of thepetition, these Crotonians that were invited became captivated by the fierce collision and confrontation. Even the Crotonian strategos and nauarch Askamas, who had been talking a lot before, have stopped his ridicule. The strict organization, reasonable rules, unique ball game, as well as the blood-curdling athletic scenes had still shocked this young strategos who had participated in the four majorpetitions on behalf of Crotone many times, and he eximed, ¡°I didn''t expect that this Rugby is such a sport, it''s much more interesting than Sparta''s shot-put that you can only y by yourself. It really is very interesting and is very suitable for us Crotonians to participate!¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Someone nearby asked.

    ¡°You see, there are a lot of people on the field, and even though it looks chaotic, there are basically only two movements, which is attacking and defending.¡± Askamas pointed his finger to the field and made a reasonable analysis, ¡°To achieve these two points, the yers need to have great strength, fast speed, and not be afraid of collision, which is what our Crotonian athletes are good at!¡±

    Askamas'' arrogant words had attracted the people around him to nod. The athletes of Crotone have long been dominant in wrestling and boxing, and have a rich experience in training the athletes'' strength and explosive power.

    ¡°Once we return, we should persuade the lesia to allow the Crotonians to practice rugby and join next year to beat these Theonian teams!¡± Askamas looked around at the cheering Theonian audiences, with some anger in his eyes.

    At this time, Thurii''s Tagetinos scored a touchdown with the ball in his hand and the crowd erupted into joy, which has made Askamas itch even more.

    ¡°Lord Askamas is right! Next year, we will take part and beat the Theonians!¡± Some Crotonians said with hatred. Being defeated by the Theonians had made these proud Crotonians feel aggrieved, so they wanted to win back their dignity in thepetition to prove the strength of Crotone, just like what Askamas said.

    Lysias frowned as he listened to the chatter of hispanions. He wasn''tpletely fascinated by the game and was instead thinking about some deeper issues. There are four traditional games and a Panathenaea that is famous in Greece and known throughout the Mediterranean, and the athletes from the city-states of Magna Graecia attended it in great numbers, and are far more active than the Greek city-states along the coast of Asia Minor, and excelled at each of the sports. However, Magna Graecia itself does not have any influential sports games, and Crotone, who lovepetition, had once tried and failed to organise one even with only the city-states of Magna Graecia participating. On the one hand, Crotone was not influential enough that they could not make the people of Magna Graecia agree with them; On the other hand, there were long-standing conflicts of interest between several city-states and no agreement could be reached. As a result, it became a regret for the Crotonians!

    Now, although Theonia''s Rugby Game is only a single game tournament, it has included so many city-states of Magna Graecia, and it seems that they are still able to attract more city-states to participate¡­allowing Lysias to see a vague glimpse of a regional tournament.

    Is this a coincidence? Or did the Theonians do this on purpose? Lysias looked at the figure of Davos in the front row. Through these two days of contact, this seemingly gentle young archon has given him the impression of being a man of great depth. In just a few months, Theonia had not only stabilised the newly upied Aprustum and Krimisa but had also recently captured Grumentum, arge city in the Lucanian region.

    While the Crotonian lesia is still arguing over a number of issues such as whether the newly added native inhabitants of Aprustum will be granted citizenship and the redistribution of the ins of Crotone, which was damaged due to the war.

    At first, Lysias wanted to get through this difficult period and let Crotone rise again, but after having more and more contact with Theonia, and every time hepared the fast-growing Theonia with the stagnant Crotone, Lysias almost lost his confidence. If it goes on like this, Crotone would be left far behind by Theonia!

    Even though he was anxious, he could do nothing. This had always been the case with Crotone''s democracy. He had also researched why the governance of Theonia was so efficient, but those methods can not be implemented in Crotone. Sometimes he had even thought that joining the union would be the best thing for Crotone.

    At the words of Askamas, Lysiasughed at their naiveness, because even if Crotone were to send their team next year, so what if they could beat Theonia? Win or Lose, Theonia will still be the big winner!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the third day, as the Rugby tournament was still in full swing, the envoy of Elea, Kanos, was granted an audience by Davos.

    The young archon received him very warmly, and Kanos, after two days, had now a deeper understanding of Theonia Union and had put aside his initial reservation, and so the two men engaged in a friendly conversation.

    Davos listened carefully as Kanos talked about the current predicament of Elea, and learned from Kanos some information regarding the Campania region and the Samnium region¡­the conversation was pleasant, and in the end, an alliance agreement was reached with Elea joining the Theonia Alliance.

    After the signing of the alliance agreement, the tension from the heart of Kanos could finally be rxed because of Davos'' solemn promise of, ¡®If any power dared to invade Elea, Theonia would immediately send troops to aid their ally, Elea, and repel the enemy!¡¯

    And at the same time, Davos had also implicitly said that in the future, when Theonia takes action in the Lucania region, he hopes that Elea can actively cooperate.

    Kanos readily promised, and he realized with tion that atst, he is now able to see the arrival of hope for the end of the nightmare that has gued Elea for decades, and the feeling of relying on a powerful force is truly reassuring!

    Kanos'' mood was pleasant as he walked out of the living room. Then he saw a maning towards him and waved at him with a smile.

    ¡®Why is Siprus here?¡¯ Kanos'' mind wondered as he returned the gesture.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Milord, since we have be allies with Elea, do we still need to talk with the envoys of Pyxous, Potentia and Garaguso?¡± Asked Aristocrates with curiosity.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Davos was very rxed as he watched the back of the departing Kanos. Elea joining the union had made him feel one step closer to his goal of integrating Lucania.

    ¡°I think¡­that we should take advantage now that the strength of Pyxous and Potentia had weakened, and while they are still unaware that Elea has joined the union to suddenlyunch an attack that will surely take down either Pyxous or Potentia easily!¡± Aristocrates had been following Davos for quite some time now that he had more or less learned of getting the most out of the situation with the least casualties.

    However, Davos shook his head slightly and did not agree, ¡°Your n for a surprise attack is indeed good, but it is not suitable to implement it at this time.¡±

    ¡°Why milord?¡± Aristocrates quickly asked with a bit of dissatisfaction.

    ¡°You were also there yesterday when Bagul and Asistes came to report the situation of Grumentum. The situation in Grumentum is not very promising, conflicts arise between the tribes from time to time, which has almost led to a small battle¡­after all, Grumentum is different from Nerulum. Grumentum is located in the heart of the Lucanian region, with many tribes fromplex origins, and surrounded by enemies. It will take at least a year or two of hard work for Bagul and the others to get these Lucanians to merge with us from the bottom of their hearts and ept our governance¡­if we were to rashly attack the other areas now, should something unexpected happen, then there is a possibility of an upheaval happening in Grumentum and will likely repeat the tragedy of Thurii¡­.¡± Said Davos calmly.

 Chapter 265: Alarming news from Terina

    Aristocrates understood what the ¡°Tragedy of Thurii¡± mentioned by Davos, it refers to the fact that the Thurians went to attack the Lucanians two years ago and rashly entered the mountain area, and eventually, all died on the bank of the Lao River.

    After thinking about it, he still has some reluctance in his heart, ¡°But¡­it would be a shame to miss such a good opportunity!¡±

    ¡°Aristocrates.¡± Davos smiled, ¡°I would like to ask you something, is Theonia stronger now, or is Pyxous or Potentia stronger?¡±

    ¡°It is without a doubt that it is us, Theonia! Even if Pyxous and Potentia joined hands, they are still not our rivals!¡± Aristocrates answered back without hesitation.

    ¡°Since that is the case, what we should do is to eat them like when eating a bread, take a bite and slowly chew them and swallow them into our stomach and then turn them into our strength until we are full, instead of eating them in one bite one after another without swallowing and ends up choking.¡± Davos exined patiently.

    ¡°I understand milord!¡± Aristocrates said with sincerity, he is smart enough to understand what Davos meant. They should first spend time and energy to gain a firm foothold in the centre of Lucania, and then use Theonia''s strength to crush Pyxous and Potentia from the front without slowing down.

    ¡°And so we also have to negotiate with the envoys of Pyxous and Potentia and sign peace agreements with them, such as non-aggression to appease them and prevent them from tantly making trouble in the surrounding areas of Grumentum, but the duration of the agreements must not be too long.¡± There was a hint of murderous intent in Davos'' gentle tone.

    ¡°As for Garaguso¡­I heard that they are located in the depths of the mountain and have little contact with the outside world, and their living environment is poor, so we can consider allying with them and strengthen trade exchanges¡­.¡± As Davos was speaking, he heard voices from the outside of the living room, and he immediately stopped talking and smiled, ¡°Seems like there is an interesting guest.¡±

    ¡°Interesting guests?¡± Aristocrates rarely heard suchments from Davos, and so he looked out the door curiously, when it dawned on him as Ribaso, the one who was managing the ves, led a man in, ¡®So it was him!¡¯

    When the envoys of the city-states of South Italia came together to ask Theonia for help, Siprus, a native of Terina, was quite notable for his long, thin, spear-like figure. Even his behaviour is quite notable, not only due to being the first envoy among the Crotonian alliance to give full support to Theonia''s offer to create a South Italia Alliance but even during the time Theonia sent reinforcement, the envoy of Terina, Siprus, had strongly demanded to march together with the Theonian army and had even eaten and lived together with the soldiers. There was even a report that during Terina''s lesia, Siprus had greatly praised the military might of the Theonian army and proposed that Terina strengthen their cooperation with Theonia¡­

    Aristocrates remembers that after hearing about this man''s performance, Davos hadmented that Siprus was quick-witted, observant and has a flexible mind that knows how to adapt!

    Hence why he is one of the distinguished guests proposed and invited by Davos.

    At this moment, as Davos gazed at Siprus, the thought that came to his mind was the confidential report regarding the conversation between Siprus and the envoy of Elea in the Cheiristoya''s Restaurantst night!

    Davos knew that after Theonia defeated Crotone and its emergence as one of the most important and powerful forces in South Italia, it was only natural that it would attract a lot of attention. And while Theonia''s unique political system can''t escape the attention of those who wanted to see it, not many have analysed it as detailedly as Siprus did¡­

    ¡°Siprus, a good friend of Theonia, we very much wee you!¡± Davos said in a loud, happy voice, ¡°I have been busy with the celebration these days, so I have wanted to invite you after the celebration to express my thanks, but I didn''t expect that¡­.¡±

    Siprus greeted him respectfully and said, ¡°Archon, I insisted oning to visit because I was forced to do so and the city-state urgently asked me to convey a proposal to you.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­what proposal?¡± Davos motioned Siprus to sit down and speak.

    Siprus nced at Aristocrates and he stopped talking.

    ¡°I would like to introduce you, Aristocrates, a very talented young man, he is my exclusive scribe*.¡± Aristocrates was deeply moved by Davos'' words. (In fact, the reason why he is only a scribe is that he has not yet be a preparatory citizen.)

    Siprus nodded to him, then he sat down on the wooden chair and then asked, ¡°Does milord archon know about the Bruttians?¡±

    As soon as the words came out, Davos understood what Siprus meant, ¡°I know something about this neighbour to the west of Theonia Union. The Bruttians are native to Italia and also live in the form of tribes, however,pared with the Lucanians, they are fewer in number and less of a danger to Theonia. And I heard that they often attack Terina.¡± Said Davos while looking at Siprus with a smile.

    ¡°It is not just Terina, they are also attacking Aprustum and the south of Thurii from time to time.¡± Cautioned Siprus.

    ¡°But after all, their attack has only been few and far between, and since the establishment of Theonia Union, the harassment on us haspletely not been seen.¡± Davos said with a rxed look.

    ¡°In fact, sincest year, the Bruttians have stopped invading all the territories of the Greek city-states, and it wasn''t just because of thebined forces of Crotone, Scylletium and us Terina inflicting heavy losses on the Bruttians.¡± Siprus paused for a moment, as he sensed the focus of Davos'' gaze. He deliberately increased his tone and said, ¡°It''s also because of the great changes that have taken ce within the Bruttians.¡±

    ¡°What change?¡± Said Davos with a jolt in his heart, while his expression is still calm.

    ¡°Terina is on the border with the city of mpetia of the Bruttians, and having fought the Bruttians all year round, we are rtively familiar with them and has some sources of information.¡± Then the expression of Siprus became grave, ¡°Last year, we heard that the chieftains of the Bruttian tribes had gathered in the city of Consentia to discuss the formation of a tribal coalition.¡±

    ¡°Is that true?!¡± Davos was startled and couldn''t stop himself from leaning forward. It was no wonder that he became slightly upset because the reason why he had pretended not to care was that when he found out that the visit of Siprus was due to the Bruttians, he did not want to be too enthusiastic and lose too many chips when discussing the future attack on the Bruttians, who after all could not pose as great a threat to Theonia as the Lucanians.

    As far as he knows, in the small mountain area upied by the Bruttians, their tribe has always been scattered: The tribes in the north are centred on the city of Vergae, and due to its border with Laos, they had close rtions with the Lucanians in the past and had even been present during the previous invasion of Thurii by the coalition of Lucanian tribes. The tribe in the middle is centred on the great city of Consentia and is the strongest among the tribes. In the east, on the upper reaches of the Crati River, live other Bruttian tribes, who had built the small city of Besidice, and in the past, they asionally cross over the mountains to plunder the southern part of the Sybaris in. In the southeast of Consentia, is another small city, Anbania and was said to have been built by the tribes that originally fled from the city of Aprustum when it fell to Crotone. To the south of Consentia is the city of mpetia, and borders Terina and is also responsible for the invasions on Terina.

    The mountainous region of the Bruttian, with its high mountains and rugged road, and is the only high teau in south Italia. The city of Vergae and mpetia guards the narrow passage between the north and south of the west coast, and Besidice and Anbania block the only two mountain roads connecting with the east coast, making these four areas a fortress. Since the time it has been called thend of the Bruttians, it has always been the Bruttians that rushed out of the mountains and invaded the others, while they have never been invaded, however, there were a lot of internal tribal wars. Most of the wars were started by Consentia, who was the most powerful and wanted to annex the other tribes. In addition to mpetia''s close rtion with Consentia, Vergae had remained neutral, while Besidice and Anbania often joined hands to fight against Consentia. It is precisely the frequent inter-tribal wars that had consumed the strength of the Bruttians, making them less of a threat to the city-states in Magna Graecia. However now that the Bruttians that are always fighting each other now even want to establish a tribal coalition, which greatly increases the threat they pose to the Greeks, especially Theonia, whose majority of their territory bordered the Bruttian mountains.

    ¡°It''s certainly true.¡± Siprus affirmed, ¡°Because in May this year, the Bruttian Tribal Coalition was established! It was reported that all the Bruttian tribes have elected Pian, the chieftain of Consentia, as the chieftain of the coalition, while Sedrum the chieftain of Vergae, Likumu the chieftain of Besidice, Bodiam the chieftain of Anbania, and Pangam the chieftain of mpetia became the elders of the coalition, with Consentia as the centre of the coalition and governs all the Bruttian tribes¡­¡±

    After hearing the words of Siprus, Davos could no longer sit still. He stood up and paced back and forth slowly, then asked in a deep voice, ¡°Where did you get all this information from?¡±

    When Siprus saw such a disy from Davos, he knew that the matter had attracted the great attention of the highest power of Theonia, and he was immediately in a great mood.

    However, little did he know that the reason why Davos cared so much about this matter was not only because the Bruttians had formed a tribal coalition that could cause danger to the territories of Theonia Union, but also because Davos had already been considering the Bruttian issues for quite some time now.

    With Theonia defeating Crotone and with the establishment of the South Italia Alliance, it had made it so that only a few powers could contend against Theonia in south Italia.

 Chapter 266: Assault on Bruttii?

    Another power in Magna Graecia is Rhegium in the far ¡°tip¡± of Italia and has remained neutral to the strife in Magna Graecia, and they cared much more about shipping and trade than to seek hegemony; While Locri now has a grudge against Theonia, but they are separated from Theonia by the South Italia Alliance and Crotone alone was enough to make them suffer, it would be enough to defeat Locri just by Theonia sending small reinforcements. As for Syracuse, the backer behind Locri, they are still tangled up with Carthage and had no spare energy to focus on thend north of Sicily. Therefore, the only force that Davos had to consider from making South Italia into the most stable base of Theonia Union were the Bruttians.

    The area in which the Bruttians live was not coveted for its high terrain, as itsnd is not fertile and it is not near the sea. However, due to its existence, the territory of Theonia from Aprustum to Grumentum has changed into a long, thin ¡°S¡±-shape. Especially in the east, as cities such as Aprustum, Krimisa, their ally ¨C Roscianum, Thurii and Amendra are lined up along the coast and formed a narrow passage. For the sea-loving Greeks, this is not unusual, but for Davos, who has been influenced by more than 2,000 years of history, had felt a deep sense of uneasiness with such a territory being too t and without a depth. And with an excessively long coastline, any ce would be an easy target for an enemy''s attack in the event of a powerful foreign invasion. And while the army of Theonia is marching, it will lengthen the army''s supply line and be another extremely vulnerable target, a disadvantage that had already been shown in the war with Crotone. Therefore, at the same time as the formation of the Theonian Navy, Davos had set his eyes on the Bruttian mountains.

    Although the transportation between the Bruttian mountains and the territory of Theonia is not very convenient, if they were to have it, the Theonian territory in south Italia would then be united. The river valley paths north of Aprustum, the mountain path to the north of the southern city of Thurii and the mountain paths on the southern bank of the Crati River could all be transformed into a passage between Theonia and Brutti, not to mention that the soldiers of Grumentum and Nerulum can directly cross the west coast of the Bruttian mountains and reach Terina more quickly. Besides, the Bruttians are weak and not united, which made it easy to conquer them.

    Davos'' original n was to wait until Theonia''s three new territories, Aprustum, Krimisa and Grumentum had stabilised beforeunching his ns against the Bruttians. Hence why Davos had asked Izam to send some people to the Bruttians to collect information some time ago, but he didn''t expect that the Bruttians to be heavily on guard, and Izam''s people could barely speak theirnguage, so instead of getting information, they lost several people. Therefore, Davos had to suspend his reconnaissance, but to his surprise, the envoy of Terina ¨C Siprus had brought him rming news.

    ¡°The Bruttian region is different from Lucania, as they are surrounded by Greek city-states.¡± Said Siprus seriously, ¡°Therefore, every year, some Greeks or ves flee for a range of reasons such as crime and persecution by political enemies to the Bruttian region and gradually formed a unique tribe¡­many years ago we, Terina, have be closely associated with this tribe, to whom we secretly sold some of their much-needed goods, while they passed on to us some news from the mountains, and by Terina relying on this tribe, we have prevented many times in advance the invasion of the Bruttians.

    And this time¡­they have contacted us for several days in a row because the coalition of Bruttian tribes has threatened their survival, so there should be no doubt about its authenticity!¡± Siprus emphasized once more.

    Davos was surprised, ¡°What''s the name of this tribe?¡±

    ¡°Siro, which means ¡®Heron¡¯¡±

    Davos nodded, as he didn''t need to ask Siprus as he could already guess that the reason such a tribe made up of Greeks could survive in that mountainous region was by taking advantage of the tribal disputes, and had even perhaps yed the role of mercenaries or a ck market, but now that the Bruttians hadpleted their integration, this foreign tribes would lose their ground.

    Then came another question in Davos'' mind, ¡°Why haven''t the Bruttians formed an alliance like the Lucanians, but had instead centralized their power? Won''t the other tribes object?¡±

    Siprus said with a wry smile as he looked at Davos, ¡°I don''t know much about the specific reasons¡­but maybe¡­it had learned from its neighbours. So far, at least, no major disturbances have been heard in the Bruttian region.¡±

    Davos noticed the teasing in Siprus'' words, and was shocked, ¡°Back then, the organization of the Lucanian tribal alliance was loose and each tribe had their own interests, which made it impossible to concentrate all the power, hence why the danger to Theonia was much less. But if like Theonia, they could concentrate their power to a higher degree, then it would be worthy of Theonia''s vignce!¡±

    Davos sat back in his chair and looked at Siprus and said solemnly, ¡°Terina has sent you to tell me this news, so do you have any suggestions?¡±

    Siprus had managed to understand Davos¡¯ style of speak from thest time, so he stopped beating around the bush and frankly said, ¡°The council of Terina hopes that Theonia will lead the South Italia Alliance in an active offence against the Bruttians and wipe out this tribal union before they can be a real threat and return peace to the people of the city-states in Magna Graecia.¡±

    ¡°South Italia Alliance¡­.¡± Davos murmured, then he touched his chin and started pondering for a moment and then said, ¡°Starting a war would be a huge event, especially against a big force like the whole Bruttians! Moreover, Theonia has just ended a war not long ago, so it may take some time for the Senate to make a decision on this issue¡­.¡±

    Siprus nodded in understanding.

    ¡°In that case, Siprus, you better stay in Thurii for a while and get a good feel for the life of a Theonian, while making it convenient for us to discuss the attack on the Bruttii with you at any time.¡±

    When Davos sent out the invitation, Siprus immediately agreed and said with a smile, ¡°Thurii is a city-statepletely different from the other Greek city-states! I love the architecture and the tidiness, and more importantly the food that can''t be found anywhere else!¡±

    Davos smiled and didn''t ask Siprus about what he had said in Cheiristoya''s Restaurant about ¡®the w in the political system of Theonia¡¯ even until he had sent Siprus away. For he did not want anyone to know that Davos had eyes and ears all over Thurii, because no one likes to be watched at all times.

    In fact, this practice of Davos was not the first of its time. As early as 70 years ago, Hiero, the sessor of the Tyrant of Syracuse, Gelon, had implemented the ¡°secret police¡± which caused great public disgust. Of course, Davos, who cares about his reputation, will not be stupid enough to expose these dark sides, and in fact, he himself knows the biggest problem of the Theonian government.

    After the Senate of Theonia had deliberately refrained from holding the lesia, ordinary citizens no longer have the opportunity to participate in politics. In Persia, this would not have been a problem, but this was Greece, and the Greek citizens were notoriously enthusiastic about political participation among the Mediterranean countries and city-states, and even Sparta, the most conservative oligarch had allowed its citizens to express their opinions on thews and proposals that were made, not by voting of course, but by using the strength of their voices to either support a ¡°yes or no¡±. The reason why the political situation of Theonia is still stable was due to the poption of these Greek cities in Theonia Union dropping sharply after the war, and the rest of the people are still busy reconstructing their homes, and the fear of war had made them eager for the protection of the strong, and the army under themand of Davos can give them this great sense of safety; While the majority of the former freemen, who were the majority of the poption, had always been on the edge of the city-states and are busy with their livelihoods and at the same time, they have no right to participate in the affairs of the city-states, and therefore had neither developed the habit of participating in politics nor have shown much enthusiasm for it; Not to mention the Lucanian citizens, who were formerly at the mercy of the elders and chieftains in their tribes, but now, in the union, these are all the things that are now decided by the Senate, and they are not in any way out of ce.

    And Davos knew that such a stable situation would notst forever. Once the union bes stronger and the people be richer, they would then have higher demands. But Davos was not worried about this, as he had already taken corresponding measures to deal with it. For now, it is better to let the people of Theonia continue familiarizing themselves with the existing system until they be ustomed to it¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the end of July, Dionysius had led the Syracusan army tounch a full-scale attack on the core city of Carthage in Sicily, Motya.

    The causeway they have built from the coast has connected the small ind in the bay, and with this, they are now able to directly transport the siege equipment near to the city, and so, the fierce siege war began; The people of Motya used bows and javelins, and throwing burning tar to kill the Syracusan soldiers, while the Syracusan used dozens of ballista to bombard the walls of Motya, forcing the defenders to stand on top of the walls¡­

    After several days of fierce fighting, the sieging ram used by the Syracusans broke a big gap in the city wall of Motya, and the Syracusan army rushed in and the city wall of Motya fell.

    Dionysius became very excited as he thought that victory was in his hand, but the bloody battle had just begun.

    When the residents of Motya saw that the Carthaginian reinforcements were defeated by the ballistas in the bay, they had realized that they would have to fight alone. They also understand that the conflicts and wars between Carthage and the Greeks in Sicily for decades had umted countless hatred, and so there was no way out for them even if they were to surrender, hence why they decided to fight to the death.

 Chapter 267: The Kinadon incident and the counterattack of Messapi

    The area of the city of Motya is small, and it can be used as the most important stronghold of Carthage in Sicily, however, it has arge poption and in order to let everyone have a ce to live, the residents of Motya build their houses tall, which are generally six or seven storeys-high, just like a spire.

    When the soldiers of Syracuse rushed into the city, they were surprised to find that the residents of Motya not only had no intention to surrender but also tenaciously guarded every street and house. When the soldiers want to break through the barriers in the streets, the residents of Motya throw stones, javelins and even boiling water and hot oil from the top of their houses, causing a lot of damage to the soldiers in Syracuse.

    Due to this, Dionysius had to suspend his offence and had to summon countless engineers to spend time building a siege tower of the same height as the houses in Motya. The siege tower they built was six storeys-high, with wheels under it and was huge¡­when everything was ready, the Syracusans resumed their attack.

    The ten siege towers were then pushed by arge number ofbourers. From the east, west, south and north of the city, along the widened gap on the city wall and the road, into the city of Motya, once they are near the houses, they would then lower the top bridges to the roofs of the houses, and the Syracusan soldiers would then climb the woodendder in the tower, reached the exit and entered the houses via the bridges. While the inhabitants of Motya threw burning woods and tars at the siege towers and fought to the death to prevent the enemy from entering.

    Thus, the strangest battle in the city of Motya happened. Both sides fought in mid-air, with limbs and blood pouring from the air, and the soldiers and the residents falling from floors more than ten meters high, covered in fire, screaming and corpses scattered on the ground¡­

    Due to the desperate struggle of the residents of Motya, the attack of Syracuse had only made little progress, and the battle then fell into a stalemate¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In Sparta, the new king Agesus and the elders are no longer in the mood to pay attention to the war in Asia Minor, because a plot that threatens their rule has surfaced.

    Kinadon, a former Spartan citizen who no longer enjoys the privileges of a Spartan citizen, was relegated to a second-ss status because he could no longer afford to pay for the Syssitia. In the beginning, he just wanted to get revenge on the Spartan nobles out of hatred, but after a long-term observation and constant contact with other ruling sses in the territory of Sparta, he gradually realized how terrible the Spartan system with its inhuman ughtering and oppression of the Helots and the terrible treatment to the Per¨ªoikoi who has also contributed their sweat and blood to the city, and so he decided to overthrow Sparta''s oligarchy.

    During this period with the frequent wars, the citizens of Sparta and the Per¨ªoikoi and even the Helots were constantly being enlisted to fight, and thend was bing deste for theck ofbour, but the tax burden of the city-state has instead increased, causing the discontent of all the sses of people on Sparta to increase sharply. Therefore, under the secretmunication and propaganda of Kinadon at every opportunity, arge number of people in the territory of Sparta were inspired by his ideas to join his organisation, which even included the dissatisfied Spartan citizens.

    As time went on, the number of this rebel group was increasing, but just as they were ready to take certain actions, some participants, out of fear, had reported to the Gerousia.

    The king, the ephors and the Gerousia were shocked by the news, and because of this, they hurriedly held an informal meeting. Afterwards, they decided to send Kinadon to lead some young men to carry out the ¡°clean-up operation¡± in the outskirts of the town. The so-called ¡°clean-up operation¡± is an open and legal official action proposed by the Spartan government so that they could kill some helots regrly every year, due to their fear of the excessive poption of the helots that could threaten the rule of the Spartans, not only to remind them of the cruelty of Sparta but also to temper the young Spartan citizens.

    Kinadon wasn''t suspicious about received the order, rather, he was pleased, but it wasn¡¯t because he was excited about having the right to kill any helots he encountered at will, but because he felt that with this right to roam freely, he could take the opportunity to contact the organisation and start a riot.

    But his simple thought andck of vignce had led to his arrest shortly after leaving the city by the Spartan warriors, who had been lying in ambush and was then taken to a cell. After getting severely tortured by the Spartans, who are very experienced in extracting confessions due to torturing and oppressing the helots for many years, Kinadon finally revealed some of the organisation''s key leaders.

    While searching for the rebels in the whole city, the inspector escorted the wounded Kinadon around the city to make a public disy, while dering to the people that are watching that Kinadon is a despicable traitor who wanted to incite the helots to start a riot to overthrow the Spartans and rob them of their wealth and be king himself.

    As soon as Kinadon tried to open his mouth, the Spartans whipped him and also hit him with a club that has an iron spike. Kinadon was bathed in blood all over his body, and in the eyes of the people were anger and disdain, which had made him falter and stumbled to the ground and in the end, he died.

    The Spartan government seeded in eliminating Kinadon, while also discrediting him and making the Spartans who did not know the truth hate these rebels. However, there were too many people involved in the conspiracy, and the incident was far from over. Hence why the two kings, the Gerousia and the ephors were busy stabilizing the domestic situation in the ensuing period.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The rugby tournament in Theoniasted for more than ten days, and the exciting games and fierce rivalries not only drove the people of Theonia and the distinguished guests from their allies crazy, but even the foreign merchants who hade to trade in Thurii became fascinated. When it came to the quarter-finals, not only was the arena packed, there were even countless people shouting outside the arena.

    Kunogta even needed to urgently increase the number of patrols to strengthen the maintenance of the order to avoid idents.

    And in the final, it was still between the two strongest teams, Thurii and Amendra.

    From the whistle to the end, the audience stood and cheered for the two teams¡­

    In the end, Amendra won a narrow victory and avenged their defeatst year.

    When the unsatisfied audiences were about to leave, the tournament host announced loudly, ¡°Next, a football exhibition match will be held to thank the people for their full support!¡±

    Football, as the name suggests, it is to kick a ball, but how do you y a game by just kicking a ball? Many audiences who had not yet seen the sport sat back down to watch with confusion and curiosity.

    Then the staff in the arena moved up to the goal and redrew the lines with lime powder.

    Just as the audience began whispering with their friends who knew the situation, the yers of both sides came on the court and the referee stood in the centre with a round ball in his hand.

    With a whistle, the game began.

    The audience was surprised to find that the round ball managed to bounce on the ground, while the yers used their feet and other parts of their bodies to touch the ball, but not with their hands, which is the exact opposite of rugby.

    When the yers use their feet to control the ball, and make all kinds of wonderful movements and dribbles the ball past the opponents, the audience bes surprised. When the yers run like the wind with the ball and shoot hard, the audience couldn''t stop themselves from cheering.

    When the audience began to immerse themselves in the game, they realized that the Theonians had invented another ball game no less fun than rugby, and it is without a doubt would take Theonia Union and Magna Graecia by storm!

    At the end of the match, the host announced, ¡°A football tournament will be held in Theonia next year to celebrate the day of the founding of the union!¡±

    The audience left the arena with their interest being unsatisfied, and for some time afterwards, their conversation would revolve around the rugby tournament and the football tournament that will be held next year. While the merchants started pondering about the business opportunities of this great tournament and took these novelties to other ports and cities, which will make the fame of Theonia¡¯s ball games slowly expand its influence in Magna Graecia¡­

    At the end of the football match, the statesmen in the Grand Senate Hall have a dignified expression. Initially, they were just discussing whether tounch a war against Bruttii, but unexpectedly, Taranto had sent an envoy¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Earlier this year, Taranto had assembled arge force to capture Manduria, a stronghold city of the Messapians built specifically to attack Taranto, while spending several months and paying a huge price to also conquer Brindisi, an important port city of the Messapians, which greatly doubled the territory of Taranto.

    In their tion, the people of Taranto still did not dare to be careless. Although they had badly beaten the Messapians, they would never give up. Centuries of fighting with the Messapians had given Taranto a deep understanding of the habits of this race, hence why Taranto had sent more soldiers to the newly captured cities while stepping up the repairs on the city defences.

    Over the past few months, the area of Apulia (the ¡°heel¡± of Italy) has been calm.

    And based on the estimated strength of the Messapians and the geographical locations and importance of Brindisi and Manduria, the council of Taranto had given detailed consideration in advance. Therefore, they asked the young Archytas to lead more soldiers to defend Brindisi, which is farther and more important to Taranto, while only deploying not too many men on Manduria, due to it not being too far away from Taranto, and also because the troops on Taranto and Brindisi cane to reinforce Manduria at any time, and it is impossible for the Messapians to attack both cities at the same time with their strength.

    On the morning of the fifth day after the celebration of Hades, Archytas, who was inspecting the construction process at the port of Brindisi, had received a herald from the council of Taranto.

    ¡°Manduria has been attacked by the Messapians?! How many people do they have?!¡± Archytas was slightly surprised.

    ¡°ording to the scouts, the enemy is many, no less than ten thousand men, and are fiercely attacking! The council sent two thousand men to Manduria to temporarily suppress the enemy''s offence for the time being¡­¡±

 Chapter 268: Returning to rescue

    The messenger continued to ry the order of the council, ¡°Lord Diaoms thought that the Messapian army attacking Manduria might be thest strength of the Messapians. Therefore, the council orders you to lead as many soldiers as possible to return, while ensuring the safety of Brindisi, and then join hands with the reinforcements from Heraclea and Metapontum and march to Manduria and defeat the Messapians once and for all! Topletely ensure the safety of our new territories!¡±

    Archytas lowered his head and pondered, ¡°Taranto had lost nearly 5,000 men in the battle for Manduria and Brindisi, and the Messapians had suffered no fewer casualties than Taranto, as can be seen from the bodies of the Messapian that was buried after the battle. Although the Messapian alliance had seven city-states, the only one that can send tens of thousands of troops was theirrgest city-state Rudiae, therefore, the Messapian''s manpower should have reached their limit¡­however, why not attack Brindisi, which was wedged into the Messapian territory, instead of Manduria, which was closer to Taranto and be easier to rescue?¡±

    But after a second thought, he cursed himself for being muddled: Brindisi was defended by 8,000 soldiers, while Manduria only had 2,000, so it is without a doubt obvious which was the easier city to capture.

    He looked up at the messenger who was waiting for his reply and asked, ¡°How many men Metapontum and Heraclea have sent?¡±

    ¡°As a result of their great lossst time, both cities had said that they can only send 3,000 men this time.¡± The messenger answered.

    Archytas'' expression became slightly gloomy: He had fought side by side with their allies before, and he certainly knew what their casualties were. However, the final result was exclusive for Taranto alone, while Heraclea and Metapontum only got some rewards. However, isn''t it in this way that Theonia had defeated its rivals and grew rapidly?

    Thinking of this, he no longer felt guilty, but became concerned about the city-state union across the gulf, which made him feelplicated, ¡°The council¡­did they send an envoy to Theonia to ask for help?¡±

    The messenger hesitated and shook his head with an odd expression.

    Archytas'' thoughts shifted and had immediately understood that it was not only Diaoms, one of the newly elected archon this year, who had always resented the Theonia Union, but the others too had more or less the same mentality. As a great city-state in South Italia with a history of 300 years, it is a disgrace and dishonour to ask for help from a newly emerging city-state union that has just been established for less than two years, besides, what would their allies and other city-states in Magna Graecia think! What''s more, unlike Heraclea and Metapontum which was dominated by Taranto, Theonia is in an equal offensive and defensive alliance with Taranto, and Theonia''s overall strength might even be better than¡­Taranto. Therefore, it is impossible to ask Theonia for their help without paying a certain price. Hence why Taranto would never send an envoy to Theonia until they are in a crisis.

    Archytas pondered for a moment and simply said, ¡°I am going to let Pebareus stay here in Brindisi together with 2,000 men, while I will take 6,000 men back to Taranto, while you have to return together with me, as I do not have enough cavalry to escort you back alone.¡±

    The messenger was relieved and so he agreed. He had been terrified by the Messapians'' unpredictable light cavalry, and it had cost the cavalry squad escorting him a dozen lives just to get him safely into the city of Brindisi.

    In the afternoon, the freemen who got the news came one after another, and watch in fear as 6,000 soldiers of Taranto leave the city. Although Taranto looked down upon the new and historical union of Theonian city-states, they had begun to learn from Theonia how to deal with the problems of their newly upied territories. After seizing the two cities, the council had immediately promised the foreigners and freemen in Taranto that as long as they were willing to move to Brindisi and Manduria, they would acquirend and be citizens of Taranto, and at the same time, Brindisi and Manduria would also be under Taranto. Therefore, despite knowing that there is a lot of risks, many freemen had stille with their families. But now that a war has broken out once more, and having the defensive force of Brindisi to be reduced, so how could they not be nervous.

    Between Brindisi on the east coast of Apulia and Taranto on the west coast would have been a straight road if not for the mountainous strip running east-west. Therefore, the army of Archytas could choose two directions when returning to Taranto: One was to go northward around the mountains and then westward to Taranto; or head straight west, past Manduria and go around the mountains to get to Taranto. Archytas had chosen the former which was naturally due to the road to the north being very safe except for the only Messapian city, Alytia, which they needed to keep in their mind. While choosing thetter means that they will always have to be alert to the raids of some Messapian cities in the dense forest in the south with Rudiae as the centre.

    Not long after Archytas'' troops left the city and detoured past the mountains, the scout reported that he had found a small group of Messapian cavalries snooping around.

    Archytas didn''t care much, because even though Taranto had taken Brindisi, the Messapian calvaries still swarmed along the route from Taranto to Brindisi from time to time and interfering with the exchange of personnel and transportation of supplies between Taranto and Brindisi, so Taranto had sent soldiers to attack these cavalries many times, but thanks to the speed of their horses, they would always run away early and reappeared when Taranto¡¯s soldiers return in vain. Taranto had no choice besides considering building a new vige and fortress between the two cities once the situation in Brindisi stabilised, so as to upy the areapletely. And in the meantime, Taranto had specially set up troops that are abination of heavy infantry and archers that are a good match for these fast-moving cavalry in order to ensure the connection and transportation between the two cities, and Archytas had done the same as well.

    After detouring past the mountains, the terrain leading to Taranto is t and open, so Archytas divided the marching column into five columns, with a small number of light infantry in the middle, while the heavy infantry on the outside. The length of the whole column is about 1.5 kilometres long. Taranto and Brindisi are about 50 kilometres apart, and Archytas estimated that with their current speed, they would be able to arrive by evening.

    Archytas controlled the speed of the troops'' marching and moved forward without slowing down.

    However, over time, more and more Messapian cavalries are appearing, roaming around the marching force and attacking their scouts, causing Archytas to take back his already small cavalry and therefore no longer able to get a view of the surroundings beyond what they could see.

    As amander, although Archytas was well aware that there was no more strong Messapian force near the north side of the mountains between Brindisi and Taranto after thest war, this feeling as if he was blind gave him uneasiness, so he immediately ordered the troops to quicken their march so that they could reach Sigeon as soon as possible.

    Sigeon is a vige in the north of Taranto, and before the capture of Brindisi and due to it being adjacent to the Messapian territory, it was built as a small fortress, with strong earthen walls and multiple outposts to defend against the Messapians encroachment.

    The salpinx was then sounded and themanding officers began urging the noisy soldiers.

    Suddenly, a loud salpinx had also sounded in front of the troops, which made the soldiers at the vanguard to be taken aback, ¡®Could it be that our army ising?¡¯

    ¡°This is a signal to attack!¡± Some of the soldiers began eximing.

    Just as amotion started in the troops, the order of Archytas'' came, ¡®Stop! Immediately spread up to the west, light infantry at the front, the hoplites at the back!¡¯

    The officers immediately took action tomand the soldiers to go in formation.

    Archytas, escorted by the cavalries, rode to the front of the line.

    A hundred metres away, the loose Messapian cavalry stared at them like a wolf, while he looked through the gap between the enemy cavalry, and began wondering that if this were the army of the Messapian, how many soldiers could they have spared to prevent their troops from returning to Taranto, now that the main army of the Messapians is in Manduria?

    Just as he contemted, the marching column of Taranto began to spread out slowly to the west. The officers and the soldiers shouted to each other and started looking for their position while making a huge noise.

    In front of the formation, Archytas and the nearby Messapian cavalries confronted each other quietly¡­

    ¡®Here theye!¡¯ Archytas'' eyelids twitched, he blinked hard and widened his eyes, only to see a line of small ck dots appearing on the horizon a few hundred meters away, which was gradually growing bigger and longer¡­

    As they got closer, Archytas and the others could see them more clearly: They also have uniformed round shields and bronze helmets and spears, and the same dense formation, but they are still not certain that it is an army from Taranto, because the Messapian soldiers are also equipped with the same equipment, which was all thanks to the Athenians!

    When they got closer, the g could finally be seen and the adjutant of Archytas eximed, ¡°Strategos, it''s the army of Alytia!¡±

    Alytia is a city-state in the northernmost part of the Messapian territory, and it is adjacent to the territory of the Peucetians, and whenever there was a conflict between Messapi and Peucetia, Alytia bore the brunt of it, so being a border city, it had a strong military capability and was the closest to Brindisi. When Taranto attacked Brindisi, the Alytians hade to reinforce them but they were repulsed by Archytas.

    Archytas had also specially set up sentries in the north of Brindisi to monitor the movement of Alytia, and now that the troops of Alytia are present and Archytas had not been warned, it was clear that something had happened to the sentry post to the north.

    At the moment, Archytas was not in the mood to mourn. He stared intently at the enemy''s formation, and with his mathematician''s mind, he had quickly deduced that the enemy''s force is roughly less than 3,000.

    ¡®Nearly 3,000 men dared to stop us from returning?!¡¯ Archytas didn''t feel at ease and was instead felt more confused.

    But there was no more time for him to think about it, as the quiet Messapian cavalry rushed forward with a cry. While Archytas led the cavalries to turn their horses quickly and return to the formation. And the light infantry, who were already in the front of the phnx formation, came forward to shoot their arrows.

 Chapter 269: Messapi-Peuceti Alliance

    The cunning Messapian cavalry then quickly move diagonally which then exposed the infantry phnx behind them.

    Then the Messapian army stopped their advance, and once again entered a stand-off with the army of Archytas a hundred meters away.

    However, Archytas couldn¡¯t wait any longer, with having twice the strength of the enemy and his uneasiness also prompted him to immediately order to sound the salpinx!

    In Taranto, there are a lot of people who are envious or look down on the Theonians, however, Archytas wasn''t one of them. He not only had a good rtionship with Davos, but he had also carefully studied his military tactics and absorbed some of them and applied them to his troops. Increasing the number of light infantry, organizing them separately, and giving full y to their ability is a major change in his army.

    When the light infantry attack the enemy first, the length of Archytas'' formation was far longer than the right-wing rear of the enemy''s phnx formation, so he had alsomanded the right-wing hoplites to advance and prepare to encircle the left-wing of the enemy.

    While the Messapian phnx remained motionless, the Messapian cavalry that is surrounding the formation of Taranto, pressed up from all sides and threw javelins at the soldiers of Taranto in an attempt to disrupt and hinder the enemies¡¯ adance.

    Archytas remained unmoved, as the salpinx kept on ying while the hoplites would soon enter the distance where they would be able to charge.

    Then came a mighty and long horn sound ringing on the battlefield.

    Archytas was startled, ¡®This sound came from the rear?!!!¡¯

    ¡°There are enemies in the rear! There are enemies in the rear!!¡­.¡± Some soldiers at the rear of the right-wing of the phnx formation began to shout in panic. Then rumbling footsteps could be heard and shadowy figures in the morning fog could be seen in the rear of the phnx formation.

    ¡®We walked into a trap! The Messapian had set up an ambush here!¡¯ Archytas'' heart began thumping for a while, and a thought shed through his mind quickly, ¡®To advance or to retreat?¡¯ he must make a decision immediately.

    Fortunately, he had learned from the Theonian army, of having themander not be in the phnx and instead outside. Before this incident, some people had used him in the council that carrying out a decadent aristocratic style in battle and not fighting side by side with the citizens is an act of greed for life and fear of death.

    However, he did not change his approach due to some criticism, and thanks to this, he was now able to make adjustments before the battle starts, ¡°Halt! Immediately retreat to the left rear while keeping the formation intact!¡± Archytas immediately gave the orders to the heralds and the men ying the salpinx. He hoped that by retreating, he would be able to turn the bad situation of being pincered into a direct attack on the two enemies.

    The salpinx sounded. And the heralds galloped behind the phnx and shouted the orders.

    For the ordinary Greek city-state army, retreating to the left and back is aplex tactical action, which is difficult to achieve even in training, let alone on the battlefield. However, Archytas believes that the army he led, which has been fighting for half a year, like the Theonian army and is strictly trained by him, can do it.

    In the many battles with the Messapians, Archytas had learnt of the bravery and tenacity of this race. He was not confident that he could defeat the enemy on the west, even with him having twice the number, head-on in a very short time, and he also did not want to fall into a dangerous situation of being caught between the front and the back, so the only way was to get out of the current battlefield immediately and regroup. Since the main force of Messapian was attacking Manduria, he was confident that the enemy here was not much more numerous than his army, if at all, and he was confident of defeating them in a frontal encounter!

    The phnx stopped their marching and had begun to retreat slowly, but instead of the Taranto army advancing, the Messapian infantry began to charge. Along with this, the Messapian cavalry had also begun to intensify their attack, howling and even driving their horses towards the phnx in an attempt to disrupt Taranto''s retreat.

    The desperate fighting of the Messapian cavalry had surprised Archytas and had begun to feel the determination of the Messapians to annihte his army here, which made it hard for him to keep his calm.

    ¡®Continue to retreat or strengthen the defence?¡¯ Once again, Archytas had caught himself in a difficult choice.

    However, time was pressing. The Messapian cavalry had rushed to the front and the light infantry quickly retreated to both sides. Hindered by the Messapian cavalry, the hoplites of Taranto, who could not retreat with all their strength, had to turn around to fight.

    And in the face of such a dilemma, on the one hand, he had let the light infantry use arrows to disperse the Messapian cavalry, and told the officers to shorten the length of the hoplite''s phnx and thicken the column; At the same time, the soldiers at the back of the phnx formation will turn back quickly and faced theing enemy and move forward for more than ten meters. In this way, the whole formation changes from the original ¡°Snake formation¡± to ¡°Two-line formation¡±, which is parallel with each other in order to protect each other''s rear.

    Archytas believes that even if his troops are temporarily passive, he could repel the Messapians with a sturdy defence!

    The Messapian cavalry in the rear then withdraw to the sides, then came the clear rumbling footsteps and the loud cries from the morning mist¡­

    When the shadowy enemy approached, the Taranto soldiers were taken aback. Not only were the enemies staggering in numbers, but they were not dressed in the same attire as the Messapian soldiers. They were armed with wooden shields and spears, wearing simple helmets and breasttes.

    ¡°Lord Archytas, it''s the Peucetians! It''s the Peucetians!!¡± After receiving the report from the scouts, Archytas had also be shocked, ¡®The Messapian and the Peucetians had united!¡¯ For decades, the Messapian and Peucetians have always harboured hatred and frequent conflict with each other, but now, they have joined hands!!

    Watching as more and more Peucetians warriors rushing in, Archytas shuddered, not only for the safety of this army but also for the situation of Taranto¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Congrattions, king of the Peucetians! Taranto¡¯s army has now been surrounded!¡± Timogeras, archon of Alytia, shouted with apliment.

    ¡°Yes, the Archytas who had made you lose a lot of battle is now surrounded by my brave warriors. Kill them quickly! So that we could attack Brindisi afterwards!¡± Telemani, the king of the Peucetians, had a joyful expression while not forgetting to mock the Messapians.

    However, half an hourter, the g of Taranto in the encirclement still stood upright. Besidespressing the encirclement, the Messapian-Peucetians alliance did not make any substantial progress. On the contrary, because of the concentration of Taranto''s soldiers, their attack had encountered greater resistance.

    The king of the Peucetians himself had personally joined the expedition, bringing with him more than 10,000 warriors, which, together with the soldiers of Alytia, was more than double the number of Archytas'' army.

    In this situation where the opponent was already surrounded, the battle had be harder.

    The king of the Peucetians, the archon of Alytia and the generals of Peucetti had all gazed at the dusty battlefield with a startled look.

    ¡°Fight! Taranto fight! Son of Taras, don''t stop waving your spear! Remember, every time you kill an enemy, your parents, wife and children will be safer!¡­.¡± In the centre of the encirclement, Archytas galloped back and forth while dodging theing arrows and javelins, and shouted loudly to boost the morale.

    His voice had be hoarse, his horse was panting, but he didn''t notice it at all. He knew that this time he was in grave danger, but even if he had to die, he wanted to inflict a heavy blow on the enemy and reduce the threat to his home city.

    Taranto''s formation has changed from ¡°=¡± to a round formation. Encouraged by him, the light infantry in the centre kept shooting their arrows, regardless of their fingers being cut by their bowstring and their arm muscles being strained; The hoplites kept close to each other and work together to resist the powerful impact of the enemy, and at the same time, they held their spears high and stab and withdraw from the top of the closely arranged shield wall. Once their spearhead breaks, they will immediately draw out their swords and continue to sh at the enemy¡­they knew that the only way to survive was to fight to their death, so even with the constant fall of theirrades around them, it still did not shake their fighting spirit.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    An hourter, the king of Peucetians'' face turned blue, because the g of Taranto still stood, but his generals had asked him to stop the attack because their soldiers were already tired and their casualties were not small.

    ¡°Waste, a bunch of waste! Are you still the descendant of the heroic king Lycaon of Arcadia! Look at the Greeks that are surrounded by you, they are not as tall as us, nor are they as numerous as us, and if that scares you, I will have to rece you and let true warriors takemand of my warriors!¡­.¡± Telemani swore and waved his arm, and almost sweeping the spear in his hand into the face of the general in front of his horse.

    ¡°Esteemed king of the Peucetians, Archytas is indeed a famous strategos of Taranto, and the army hemands is truly powerful! We shouldn''t waste too much of our troops here as we have to take back Brindisi!¡± Timogeras suppressed his gloating mood and persuaded him.

    ¡°You mean to stop fighting?¡± Telemani nced at him and said with disdain.

    ¡°The only reason why these Taranto soldiers are fighting to their death is that they do not have a way to escape, so if our encirclement can open a passage¡­.¡± There was a sly smile on Timogeras'' face.

    ¡°You mean-¡± Telemani was not a mediocre king, when he was young, he had led his army around for the sake of Peucetti''s might, and he was just being too obsessed with victory at this time, but with the reminder of Timogeras, he had immediately woken up and turned his attention to the Messapian and Peucetian cavalries that are waiting silently on either side of the battlefield, who had merged and are close to a thousand, but they are now useless because the enemy was surrounded.

    ¡°I had the same thought!¡± Telemani said loudly while raising his chest to hide his earlier loss of temper. He then drove his horse forward and pointed his spear at Taranto''s g standing in the middle of the chaotic battlefield, ¡°Just don''t let Archytas escape!¡±

    Because the Peucetians had many troops and the Messapians are in desperate need of their help, so the Messapian-Peucetians alliance deliberated and chose to give way in the direction of Alytia¡¯s army.

 Chapter 270: The Death of Archytas

    Timogeras lifted a rock and ended up smashing his own feet. Retreating in the middle of a battle, even if it is only a small part of them, was still very dangerous and could lead to an overall defeat if he was not careful.

    Fortunately for him, the soldiers of Taranto, who had been in a state ofplete defence for some time, had not fully reacted when the enemy in front of them had disappeared. And the soldiers of Taranto, who were already tired, could not believe what they were seeing and became ecstatic as they watched the enemy copse in front of them which then revealed arge gap.

    ¡°We repelled the enemy!!!¡±

    ¡°The enemy has fled! We¡­we have won!!!¡±

    In the middle of the battlefield, how can the soldiers who have been shrouded in the shadow of death for more than an hour could think so much? Just like how a drowning person will desperately try to grasp tightly even if it is just a floating straw. They cheered, and joy seemed to have reced their fatigue as they rushed out of the gap regardless of everything, which had also led the nearby soldiers to run out involuntarily.

    When Archytas discovered that the situation was abnormal, the whole army was like a flood of water, and not only did the soldiers rush towards the gap, but the high morale that they had umted was also quickly swept away.

    ¡°Stop right there, all of you! Don''t mess up! Stay in formation and then rush out as a whole!¡­.¡± Archytas tried desperately to calm down the chaotic soldiers, but it was in vain. On the contrary, the Peucetians increased their attack and forced the people of Taranto to speed up their escape.

    ¡°Strategos, it is useless. We ought to run as well!¡± The adjutant cautioned him hurriedly.

    The demoralized soldiers were totally unable to resist the attack of the Peucetians, and the casualties began to increase. The incessant scream reached the ears of Archytas, which added to his agitation, and as he looked at the guards around him bing all panic-stricken, he had to pull himself together and shouted, ¡°Follow me and kill! Follow me and kill our way out!!¡­.¡±

    Archytas tried tomand the soldiers to concentrate their strength and charge westward and to expand the gap, and even defeat the Alytians so that more people could escape from the encirclement. However, on one side the enemy was attacking victoriously, while on the other side were the soldiers that had no intention to fight, and most of them only wanted to run away while ignoring his orders.

    ¡®The soldiers of Taranto stillck training and experience!¡¯ He sighed deeply in his heart, while also thinking, ¡®What would Davos do if he were in this situation and is leading the Theonian army?¡¯

    Just as his thoughts wandered off, the guards had nked him and rushed out of the gap under the push of the soldiers.

    ¡°Strategos, let''s run away!¡± The adjutant urged him impatiently.

    ¡®Run? Where can I run?¡¯ What Archytas could see in the distance was a group of enemy cavalries galloping across the t field and reaping the lives of the soldiers of Taranto who were running for their lives; while close to him were several teams of enemy cavalry that are rushing towards him and are shouting something¡­

    ¡°It''s a pity that I haven''tpleted my research on that lifting apparatus¡­.¡± Archytas sighed again. Academically, he had regrets. Politically, he always advocated that the Greek city-states of South Italia should unite to fight against foreign enemies, and it seems that Theonia would fulfil this ideal of his¡­

    At this moment, he put all his attachment and regret behind him as he drew out his sword and took the lead and rushed towards the enemy¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the setting sun falling and the tired birds returning to their nests, the dust and fog of the battlefield dispersed, and the sound of killing went away, and only leaving corpses everywhere and blood flowing.

    Telemani, apanied by Timogeras and a general of Peucetti, came to the body of Archytas.

    This young military strategos, a Greek mathematical genius with high hopes from the people of Taranto, had three javelins piercing his body and copsed among the bodies of several horses. Strangely, you could see no pain nor anger on his pale face, on the contrary, he was rather very serene¡­

    ¡°I thought it was a great man, but it is just a young man without even a beard!¡± The Peucetian general muttered disdainfully.

    Telemani stares at him which made him close his mouth.

    Telemani gazed at Archytas'' body for a moment and then said, ¡°Cut off his head, and show it to the Greeks of Brindisi, and bury his body.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    It was not untilte at night, when a handful of soldiers fled, with great difficulty, back to Taranto, that the people learned of the near-total loss of 6,000 soldiers, and the whole city was shrouded in great sorrow.

    Compared with their defeat, the sacrifice of arge number of citizens, and the unknown whereabouts of Archytas, the council was even more shocked by the alliance of Peucetti and the Messapi, which doubled the pressure on Taranto.

    The council of Taranto immediately held an emergency meetingte at night, only to find that the defeat in the battle had reduced the council''s number by nearly one-twentieth, as there was still no news regarding the six statesmen who had apanied the army, including Archytas.

    With grief, the people discussed how to deal with the difficult situation. At the end of the battle, Brindisi will be besieged by thebined forces of Messapi and Peucetti, and the main force of Messapi are still surrounding Manduria. With nearly 6,000 young and able-bodied citizens killed and wounded, and with the loss of up to 10,000 Taranto soldiers from the sessive battles in the past few months, not to mention that nearly 6,000 soldiers trapped in the two cities, and what remained of Taranto was more than enough to defend, but less than enough to attack.

    However, not only the statesmen of the council could not ept it, but also the people would never agree to it. So the only way was to ask for reinforcements.

    But who to ask for help became their point of debate. Heraclea and Metapontum, as affiliated allies, were already at their limit with 3,000 men, and that Taranto would be facing an attack of perhaps 20,000~30,000 men from the Messapi-Peuceti alliance, which was far from enough. Therefore, the only option for Taranto was to ask for help from a city-state with a strong army, and Taranto had only a few choices.

    Sparta in the east, as the mother-state of Taranto, had a good rtionship with each other. During the Peloponnesian War, Taranto had stood on the side of Sparta, which added weight to the friendship between the two city-states, which was the choice of some conservative statesmen headed by Diaoms; In the west, Theonia, as an ally of Taranto, had quickly be a union with six cities and two subordinate city-states within two years, and they had almost not been defeat in the battles that they have participated in. In one of the battles, they have even managed to send out 20,000 troops, and their strength was evident in their ability to deal even if they were vastly outnumbered. This was the choice of another archon, Umakas, and some of the statesmen; While some statesmen had also mentioned Syracuse in the south due to their rtionship with Sparta, so Taranto and Syracuse still had some contacts. However, as a city-state of Magna Graecia, Taranto was also wary of Syracuse''s involvement in the affairs of South Italia. Besides, at this time, Syracuse was still fighting against Carthage, so how could they have spare strength to help Taranto? Therefore, they weren''t considered.

    At the end of the discussion, most people tended to turn to Theonia for help. As Umakas said, ¡°We, people of Taranto, had helped them selflessly when Davos was still just a leader of a mercenary: Archytas has led our soldiers to help them defeat the Luanians; When they covertly upied Amendra, we risked to offend the other city-states in Magna Graecia, even to selflessly helping them by acknowledging the legitimacy of their upation of Amendra, and we have also provided them with food and protected them from the attack of Thurii. When Thurii was burned and when Theonia was attacked by Crotone, it was we who extended our hand of friendship to them¡­it is precisely because of Taranto''s selfless help time and time again that the Theonia City-State Union is what it is today(of course, Umakas simply ignores the fact that Taranto had not sent any reinforcements during the battle with Crotone, as per as their agreement)! We, the people of Taranto, did not ask for rewards just because we have given favours to others. But we should also give the Theonians, who had enjoyed our help and have been restless in their hearts, a chance to repay us!¡­.¡±

    ¡°Archon, you are right! We should generously give Theonia a chance to repay us!¡­.¡± In fact, Theonia was the best choice to ask for help, both in terms of distance between the city-states and their current state of strength, not to mention that the two city-states are already in an alliance, while Sparta is currently involved in a war against Persia. It was just Taranto being ashamed for not sending troops to help Theonia in the past, and the reserve of being a powerful city-state in Magna Graecia with a long history that made them hesitant. With the tactful words of Umakas, it had managed to satisfy the vanity of the statesmen, which finally led them to an agreement.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Archytas is dead?!!¡± Davos looked in disbelief.

    ¡°Yes, archon, This morning, several soldiers who had fled back to Taranto had said that they saw the Messapians carrying the body of strategos Archytas on the battlefield¡­.¡± Said Polidorus, the envoy of Taranto, in a sombre tone.

    ¡°How can a group of soldiers who are busy running for their lives see it clearly?!¡± Davos still didn''t want to believe this fact, ¡°Maybe he was hurt and was captured?¡±

    ¡°We also hoped that strategos Archytas is still alive, but even if he is still alive and falls into the hands of the Messapians, he will also¡­.¡± Said Polidorus, unable to continue.

    Davos understood what he meant: As the main leader of Taranto''s army, the Messapians had seldom won against Archytas, especially this attack on Manduria and Brindisi which had dealt such a huge blow to the Messapians that they could not wait to drink his blood and eat his flesh! If he does fall into their hands this time, the fate of Archytas can be imagined!

 Chapter 271: The Theonians abide by their promise

    Davos leaned back on his chair and did not speak as grief enveloped him for a moment¡­in this era, Davos has never stopped fighting and had long been used to life and death, and even if a mercenary soldier he had once shared a difficult situation with were to fall in front of him, it would have hardly made a ripple in his heart. But when he learned the news today, he had lost control of his emotion¡­

    In fact, even though Archytas had not spent a long time with Davos, the two had immediately hit it off. This gentle and refined nobleman of Taranto was like a generous elder brother who helped Davos on many asions. When Davos was still unknown, Archytas, as a statesman and strategos of Taranto, did notin when he help Davos to repel the Lucanians; And after Davos captured Amendra, Archytas had not only not feel any dissatisfaction with regards to Davos'' deception, but he had also actively let Taranto to ally with Amendra, and at the same time, he had advised Davos not to seize power by violent means; Although the rtionship between Taranto and Theonia began to drift apart, Archytas was still actively campaigning for friendship between the two city-states, enabling food to be bought from Taranto even when the port of Thurii was blocked by Crotone¡­

    Davos was so immersed in his memories that his eyes began to moisten. He took a long and deep breath and then said aloud to Polidorus, with a solemn expression, ¡°Theonia is Taranto''s ally, and it''s Theonia''s responsibility to help his ally repel the invasion of the enemy. Therefore, I will immediately request a Senate meeting! And I am confident that every statesman of Theonia will not hesitate to agree to send troops to rescue our friendly ally!¡±

    Polidorus was sure that Umakas was right that the rtionship between Archytas and Davos was extraordinary. And with the Senate of Theonia being said to be Davos'' alone, just getting his permission in advance means that there won''t be a problem in asking for their help this time!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Polidorus told the request of the statesmen of Taranto in the Great Senate Hall, with Davos taking a stand, there was little opposition.

    Most of the statesmen from Amendra and Thurii still remember the aid that Taranto had given them in their most difficult times. Kunogta and the others had even said that keeping promises has always been the principle of the Theonians. And with Theonia bing a powerful union in Magna Graecia, they should be brave enough to take up the responsibility of defending the city-states in South Italia and showing their sincerity to the surrounding city-states!

    These words struck a chord in the hearts of everyone, and so the Senate voted unanimously to send reinforcement to Taranto, but there was a dispute over the number of troops to be sent.

    Some statesmen, headed by Cornelius and Burkes thought that since it would soon be the autumn harvest season if too many young and able-bodied men were to be deployed at once and even with the help of the ves, the harvesting would still be greatly affected. Therefore, they have suggested that no more than one Legion should be dispatched.

    While a small number of Thurian statesmen headed by Pollux had thought that Theonia Union had been in too many wars within the past two years, and the people were already tired and in urgent need of recuperation. What''s more, with the help of Metapontum and Heraclea, Taranto''s military strength has not been greatly weakened, so Theonia only needs to send 3,000 men to show their sincerity.

    However, Antonios, Kapus and other military statesmen raised their objection that thebination of Messapi and Peucetti was too powerful, so if Theonia were to only dispatch too few reinforcements, they would not be able to help Taranto to end the war quickly, and with the duration of the war being longer, it will affect the return of the reinforcements they have sent and will cause dissatisfaction among the people. Besides, only by sending arge number of soldiers can they take the lead in the war and avoid being randomly grouped up and ordered by Taranto, resulting in the soldiers being sacrificed in vain.

    And so they suggested that it would be better to send two legions to Taranto.

    The opinions of the military statesmen had convinced most of the statesmen, but the huge number of 14,000 soldiers in the two legions had still made the statesmen hesitant. In the end, everyone handed over the decision to Davos.

    Davos naturally agreed with the opinion of Antonios and the others, and he then said, ¡°Now that we have agreed to send reinforcements, we should show the sincerity and courage of Theonia as Taranto''s ally to the greatest extent. With the assistance of the two legions and the allied force of Taranto, we should be able to repel the enemy quickly and allow our citizens to return and take care of their farms as soon as possible¡­¡±

    When Davos spoke this, he had consciously and unconsciously put the Theonian army in the position as the main force of the allied army, forgetting that once they arrived in Taranto, they would only be a visiting army. And no one in the Senate felt it strange, but rather had taken it for granted.

    This time, there was no need for Mersis to worry about the dispatching of the troops, because when Polidorus learned that Theonia would send a huge contingent of 14,000 men, he was overjoyed and said to Davos in a loud voice, ¡°The rations and needed supplies for the Theonian reinforcements will be provided by Taranto!¡±

    Burkes of the Ministry of Agriculture had to get busy to ensure that each soldier''s farm could be better cared for while its owner was away.

    Grumentum, Krimisa and Aprustum had only recently been integrated into the union and so they could not easily send troops into battle, while Nerulum, as the most stable rear of Theonia in the Lucanian region, also had the responsibility of having to send troops to stabilise Grumentum at any time, and so they would not send citizens from the city as far as Taranto unless there was an exceptional circumstance. Therefore, the citizens that Davos chose to go to war were all from Thurii and Amendra, which are very close to each other, and these are the first and second legion. In this way, it will also save time and energy for Burkes when supervising the farnds.

    And at the same time, the Senate began to recall the soldiers belonging to the first and second legion who are going to Corinth to participate in the Isthmian Games.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Isthmian Games is one of the four major games in Greece which is held in the summer and autumn of the second year of the Olympiad. It is a celebration dedicated to Poseidon.

    Davos didn''t know much about it, and it was Crotone''s polemarchos Lysias who, when bidding him farewell after the Hades celebrations, had sighed about the excitement of the Theonian Rugby Tournament and inadvertently mentioned that Crotone would soon be joining for the Isthmian Games in which Davos began to consider.

    Today, the mercenaries led by Davos have not only taken root in Magna Graecia but also the Theonian Union he founded has be one of the most powerful in Magna Graecia, which is no less powerful than that of Sybaris a hundred years ago. However, while the exploits of Theonia are still well known in Sicily, they remainrgely unknown from eastward of Sicily to Greece itself, and even less so to the Ionian Inds of the Aegean, let alone the Greek city-states of Asia Minor.

    Theonia was now past the dormant point and needed to strengthen its ties with the Greek city-states of the eastern Mediterranean, which would be of great benefit in promoting trades and attracting freemen. Therefore, the proposal of Davos in the Senate to organize athletes to participate in the Isthmian Games was met with enthusiasm from the statesmen.

    The enthusiasm of the Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean in participating in the four major Greek Games is not less than that of the Greek native people, and also much more active than that of the city-states in Asia Minor: First of all, the four major games are held either in the Peloponnesian Penins or near the Gulf of Corinth, which is closer to Magna Graecia and Sicily than Asia Minor; Secondly, these colonial city-states in the western Mediterranean have superior geographical location, fertilend and rich mineral resources, so most of them are rtively richer than their mother-city in Greece itself, and as there was no opportunity forparison, the games became a stage for these ¡°city-states rich men¡± in the western Mediterranean to show off their luxury by donating arge amounts of gold and silver to the temple treasury, and holdingrge-scale banquets for the athletes of the city-states¡­and so on., and to the dumbfounded eyes of the native people in Greece who were living a simple life, the Greeks of the western Mediterranean were ridiculed out of jealousy as ¡°wretched people who have nothing but gold and silver¡±.

    The Greeks of the western Mediterranean are not only able to show off their wealth at the Games but also get outstanding achievements. Crotone is a famous professional champion of major sports games, Syracuse is another, and athletes from Taranto, Locri and Agrigento have won numerous championships, while Sybaris, the former Thurii and Naples have all excelled in the Games. They are all keen to show their mother-city in Greece through the Games that although they are only colony or descendants of colonists, they are still far better than the Greeks in Greece.

    And the proposal of Davos had merely inherited the glorious tradition of the Greeks in Magna Graecia.

    After the announcement of the participation in the Games in the various cities, the Theonian citizens enthusiastically signed up, forcing the union to hold a trialpetition. Finally, ten people were qualified topete in Corinth, including Tagetinos who would take part in the wrestlingpetition, Matonis taking part in the javelinpetition, Amintas signing up for the ¡°armed distance race¡±, and Solikos taking part in the chariotpetition¡­but now, they all have to return to the first and second legion to prepare for the battle at Taranto.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although it was only a few months ago since the war that Theonia Union participated in had ended and the enemy they are about to face is quite formidable, it still did not dampen the enthusiasm of the citizens to go to war. Apart from the fact that war allowed them to umte merit and gain citizenship ornd, the establishment of the Hall of Heroes and Hall of Sages in the Temple of Hades had also greatly stimted their pursuit of honour.

    Just as the citizens of Thurii and Amendra were making active preparations for the expedition to Taranto, at the residence of the archon, Davos and the Chief of Military ¨C Philesius, and the two legatus ¨C Kapus and Drakos, were listening attentively to the detailed introduction of the two major powers in the Apulia region ¨C Messapi and Peucetti, by the envoy of Taranto ¨C Polidorus, ¡°I think the several lords have heard the story that has been passed down since a long time ago¡­.¡±

 Chapter 272: History of the Three race

    Polidorus narrated, ¡°¡­in ancient times, Lycaon ¨C the king of Arcadia, was arrogant and disrespectful to Zeus. One day, he came up with a malicious idea to test Zeus, so he killed a servant*, cooked his meat into a soup, and invited Zeus to dinner. Zeus saw through his trick, destroyed his pce with lightning and turned Lycaon into a wolf, and then destroyed his kingdom¡­¡± (T/N: The most famous variant of the myth is Lycaon roasting one of his children and serve it to Zeus)

    ¡°I know about this legend, that the king of Arcadia was sacrilegious to the great god, so it is only natural that he and his kingdom were punished by Zeus, but what does this have to do with the Messapians?¡± Philesius interjected curiously.

    Polidorus nced at Davos and saw that he was also interested, so he said with a smile, ¡°Yes, everyone in Greece knows the story of Lycaon, but his story is not yet over¡­Lycaon had three sons*, when the kingdom was destroyed, they took their own people and ves, crossed the Adriatic Sea by boat then settled down on the south of Italia.¡± (T/N: Lycaon has 50 sons and almost each of them has founded a city in Arcadia.)

    Polidorus looked at the crowd and said in a deep voice, ¡°The names of these three sons are Daunius, Peucetius and Messapius.¡± (T/N: http://.forumancientcoins/cparada/GML/Lycaon2.html)

    ¡°Oh.¡± Philesius was slightly surprised.

    ¡°After hundreds of years, the nsmen led by these three sons have grown, and they have named their tribes after the first three leaders to distinguish themselves from each other¡­this has been passed down among the Messapi, and due to us Tarantines being at war with them long enough, we manage to find out about it.¡±

    When Polidorus finished speaking, Kapus asked anxiously, ¡°And there is also a Daunian?! These three races were originally of the same race, so once we go to war with the Messapi-Peuceti alliance, wouldn''t the Daunian suddenly join?!¡±

    Polidorus hastily exined, ¡°Although they used to be of the same race, after hundreds of years of development, whether it is the Messapi, Peuceti, and Dauni, they are now all big races with dozens of tribes with more than 100,000 people, each of which has its own fixed territory. Not only do they have different political systems, but they also have conflicts of interest and have even be mortal enemies.

    The Daunian are to the north of the Peucetians, and it was said that they have arge river and fertilend, and they have at least 5 big cities. While the Peucetians are sandwiched between the Daunians and the Messapians, and they have neither fertilend nor excellent port cities and trade channels like the Messapians, so they have a much more difficult time in developing. Therefore, they used topete with the Daunians fornd on both sides of the Ofanto River, hence why the two races were mortal enemies and could never unite. And to the south, the Peucetians and the Messapians have also shed from time to time, and it is only because of our, Taranto''s, presence that the fighting between them has not been so fierce¡­¡±

    Davos bowed his head and looked at the sketch of Taranto and the surrounding forces that Polidorus had roughly drawn at his request while listening to his narration. Then he suddenly asked, ¡°What''s the difference between the political systems of Dauni, Peuceti and Messapi?¡±

    Polidorus did not expect that Davos would ask this. He frowned and thought for a long time before saying, ¡°Uhm¡­at present, the government of the various city-states of Messapi now is somewhat simr to our Greek city-states, but more than ten years ago, they were still a unified kingdom under their king ¨C Artas, who offered hospitality to those Athenians who were going to attack Syracuse, and had even sent arge number of their warriors to join them¡­¡± Speaking of this, Polidorus sneered, ¡°The territories of the Messapians are surrounded by our Greek city-states with frequent trade contacts. Therefore, the Messapians have long been influenced by the Greek''s democratic ideas, due to this, their nobles, tribes and cities have been mouring to limit the power of the king, while Artas was a fool who had still chosen to have close contact with the Athenians. He knew nothing of the insidiousness of the Athenians, and just within a few years after the destruction of the Athenian army at Syracuse, the Messapian nobles revolted and the rule of Artas was overthrown, while he had lost his life¡­then, all the cities of the Messapi became independent one after another and were nowrgely ruled by the nobles who then elect an archon each year to rule the city-state along with a council of nobles, these Messapian city-states then formed a Messapian League with Rudiae at their head, and rarely fought with each other and are rtively united-¡±

    When Polidorus said this, he spoke it in a somewhat lower tone instead, making Davos realise that this emerging Messapian city-states alliance seemed to give Taranto an even bigger headache.

    ¡°While Peuceti and Dauni are still ruled by a king¡­¡± Polidorus quickly changed the topic to the other two races, ¡°The difference between them is that the king of Peuceti has more power, while the king of the Dauni¡­is said to be constrained by the various city lords¡­¡±

    Davos listened thoughtfully, then asked, ¡°Since Messapi and Peuceti have been in conflict, so why have they now formed an alliance?¡±

    Polidorus said with a bitter smile, ¡°You are asking me¡­however, ording to the council''s analysis, the reason why the Messapians are willing to ally with Peuceti is that they are afraid of the offence of Taranto!¡±

    There was a trace of pride on Polidorus'' face, while Davos nodded as he looked at the map again, but in his mind, he was thinking: Some time ago when Taranto attacked the Messapians, he heard that Taranto had suffered a lot of casualties, but they still manage to capture Brindisi and Manduria, and once they secured their newly captured territory, they could cut off the Messapians from the north, and with Taranto''s naval strength being one of the best in Magna Graecia, they could surround the Messapians and slowly swallow them. And even if Taranto lost men, they would still be able to supplement it with freemen, but the Messapians who have their people die one after another would only be weaker and weaker. This is probably the original n of the statesmen of Taranto.

    ¡°As for Peuceti, perhaps they would rather have the Messapians who have the same blood as them be next to their territory than a foreign race! Besides, with the alliance with the Messapians, the Peucetians could fight against the Daunians with all their strength¡­¡±

    This was only Polidorus'' guess, and Davos thought that there must be other reasons, otherwise, why would the Peucetians who are in a bad situation be willing to take risk in offending a powerful city-state in Magna Graecia?!

    ¡°The Peucetians sent out arge army to war, aren''t they afraid that the Daunians would take this opportunity to attack?¡± Asked Kapus.

    ¡°I heard that the Peucetians had attacked the Dauniansst year and were defeated, and lost thend they upied on the south bank of the Ofanto River, and the Peucetians eventually signed an armistice agreement with the Daunians.¡±

    ¡°Can an armistice agreement guarantee that the Daunians will not attack?¡±

    Polidorus shrugged his shoulder and said angrily, ¡°Who knows what is going on in the minds of these idiot barbarians. The Peucetians are already on ournd anyway!¡±

    Drakos yawned as he was not interested in what Polidorus was saying, but he was too embarrassed to interrupt once he saw that Davos was listening carefully.

    At this time, he saw that Polidorus stopped talking, so he could not wait to ask, ¡°What are the characteristics of the Messapians and the Peucetians'' army?¡±

    When ites to this issue, Polidorus had naturally be emotional again, ¡°The Messapians used to have a lot of cavalry like the Peucetians, but their infantry was bad as they not only have no good armour, their formation was also loose, with the Messapianscking discipline that they don''t even know how to arrange a phnx formation, so they never dared to fight with us head-on, and they only know how to do sneak attacks and harassment, just like cowardly bandits! But the Athenians-¡± Polidorus increased his tone, ¡°We are the children of Sparta, so during the Peloponnesian War, we naturally were on the side of our mother-city, but the Athenians went so far as to help a foreign race by supplying the Messapians with armour and weapons, and had even sent men to help train their heavy infantry and encouraging the Messapians to fight against us! The Messapians, having mastered our Greek tactics and with the support of Athens, did more harm to us than ever before! If it had not been for Archytas-¡± At this point, Polidorus became slightly gloomy.

    Drakos did not care at all about the change of Polidorus'' mood and continued to ask, ¡°What are thebat characteristics of the Messapian cavalry?¡±

    Polidorus nced at the others helplessly, but seeing that everyone was all interested, he could only say, ¡°The Messapians are good riders. They could control the direction of the horses only by their legs even without holding the reins, moreover, they are good at throwing spears while on horseback, which is a threat to our hoplites.¡±

    Davos and Philesius then looked at each other.

    Polidorus noticed it, so he hurriedly said, ¡°Although the Messapian cavalry is more powerful than our cavalry, is after all just a supplement in battle, and it is the heavy infantry that really makes the difference on the battlefield. And even if the Messapians had once had the help of the Athenians, their heavy infantry is still no match to a real Greek hoplite!¡±

    Drakos once more asked, ¡°How many men do the Messapian-Peucetian alliance have? How many citizens can Taranto send to war?¡±

    Polidorus looked at him, he then spread both his hands and said, ¡°I am just an envoy. It is up to the Council to decide how many citizens they would send to war, and I can''t make the decision. As for how many men there are in the Messapian-Peucetian alliance¡­we don''t even know whether Archytas is alive or dead, let alone the enemies'' number of troops. However, I estimate that there should be no more than 30,000 men, while among the citizens in Taranto who can fight now, including the garrisoned troops in Brindisi and Manduria, there are at least 16,000 young citizens and together with your own troops of 14,000, plus the 3,000 men from Metapontum and Heraclea, the total number of our joined troops is well over 30,000. Therefore, we should be able to defeat the Messapi-Peuceti alliance without difficulty!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After seeing off Polidorus, Davos returned to his mansion and continued the discussion.

    ¡°Lord Davos, if, it is as the envoy said that Taranto can send tens of thousands of men to join us, then we should rescue Manduria first.¡± Drakos then pointed to the map and said confidently, ¡°With our troops being twice as thebined Messapi-Peuceti troops, we can not only defeat them, but we can even consider swallowing some of them. Which would make it much easier once we advance to the north to reinforce Brindisi.¡±

 Chapter 273: Theonias Interest Comes First

    ¡°I am afraid that instead of saving Manduria first, Taranto would make us rescue Brindisi first! Because at least for now, Manduria is safe, while Brindisi, with only two thousand soldiers and is far away from Taranto, was in much more danger!¡± Kapus said anxiously.

    ¡°If that is the case, we must not agree!¡± Drakos looked at Davos and said firmly.

    ¡°Milord, if we don''t repel the enemies that are in Manduria and we instead venture north, the Messapians could cut off our transport routes once Manduria is captured and we would be in danger of being pincered on both sides. So it would be best if we could gainmand of the allied force, but if we can''t takemand, then at least the autonomy of our Theonian army must be guaranteed!¡± Philesius also suggested solemnly.

    Davos nodded in agreement.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After Kapus and Drakos had gone, Davos was left alone with Philesius.

    ¡°How is the preparation for the army that would go in the expedition progressing??¡±

    ¡°All the soldiers of the first and second legions have returned to the city for standby, but there are still many soldiers who have not yet changed their weapons and equipment.¡± Said Philesius, seeing that Davos'' face was slightly uneasy, so he hastily exined, ¡°It is not that they didn''t actively rece them, but that there are only three weapon shops in Thurii and Amendra. So they are unable toplete the production of tens of thousands of new armour and shields in just a few months, as just tanning the cowhide is already a time-consuming process, and with its quantity being so many that if it were not for the fact that we have the Lucanians of Nerulum and Grumentum grazingrge numbers of livestock, it would have taken us years just to get enough hides¡­¡±

    ¡°In that case, we''d better use old equipment in this battle, while making the soldiers go to the weapons shop and temporarily exchange their original bronze helmets and shields.¡± Davos said with slight regret when he suddenly remembered something, ¡°I heard that a Corinthian businessman built arge weapon workshop in the economic development zone of Amendra, we could consider giving him some orders, but I do not know if he is willing to ept a trade-in.¡±

    ¡°The merchant''s name is Tios. I have spoken to him and he is more than happy to ept it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, he is a smart man, but too bad, he is a foreigner.¡± Davos thought of the simple water-powered forging hammer that had been sessfully developed by the Institute of Mathematics and was considering finding a suitable big merchant to cooperate with. As a machine that could greatly save manpower and improve the efficiency of forging copper and iron, so naturally, Davos had to put it in his own hands for confidentiality.

    ¡°In addition, I have contacted the civil shipping association of the port(this is an unofficial shipping organization proposed by Davos and nned by Marigi, which has just been established, and all the Theonian merchant ships and passenger ships have joined its purpose in order to maintain the order of the port, prevent viciouspetition, improve the efficiency of the industry, and facilitate cost management). Polidorus also said that Taranto''s ships will alsoe to the port to help with the transportation so that we can transport all the soldiers of the two legions to Taranto''s port at one time. Maybe the day after tomorrow, our army will be ready to sail to Taranto.¡± Philesius continued with slight excitement.

    ¡°Philesius, how many days does it usually take for a Greek city-state to go to war from mobilizing its citizens?¡±

    Davos'' question has made Philesius to be taken aback, and he thought that Davos wanted to make aparison, so he said, ¡°From the mobilization of war to the selection of citizens, to the arranging of their household¡¯s affairs, to the preparations of the weapons and equipment and food, to the forming the army and determining the officers¡­would take at least about three to four days, while we only need two days at most.¡±

    ¡°What if tens of thousands of people were to be mobilized?¡±

    ¡°Then it might take longer, maybe six or seven days, but for us, Theonia-¡± Before Philesius finished speaking, Davos waved his hand and said, ¡°Then there is no need for us to be in too much of a hurry, as we can just set out after five days.¡±

    Philesius thought that he had heard wrong, so Davos looked at Philesius and said in a deep voice, ¡°In the past, although Taranto often fought with the Messapians, they had never attacked the Messapians with suchplete disregard for the lives of their citizens as they did this time, do you know why?¡±

    Philesius was not a fool, after more than a year of being the Chief of Military, both of his administrative ability and vision improved a lot, and he replied immediately, ¡°It''s because of us.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is due to us!¡± Davos added firmly, ¡°The rapid increase of our union''s strength has put pressure on Taranto, and South Italia is not big enough that it can only amodate for one hegemon, and that hegemon can only be Theonia! Now that Hades has helped us by putting Taranto in a difficult position, we must, therefore, seize this opportunity.¡±

    Then came a sneer from Davos, ¡°We can abide by the alliance agreement and help Taranto repel the Messapi-Peuceti alliance, but it should not be to help Taranto destroy their enemies and stabilize their newly upied territories!¡±

    Davos behaved calmly that one might even say he was cold because even his friendship with Archytas has not affected his decision on political matters.

    As the second-inmand of the army, Philesius had helped Davos for more than two years, and he knew more about this leader of theirs than the other strategos, such as deliberately dying the attack and causing heavy losses to the citizens of Amendra, deceiving Cornelius into bing an archon for life, and so on. The young archon was not as honest and upright as he appeared to be, but perhaps that is why he was able to lead the mercenaries to the heights that they have now reached, something that rough men like him, Kapus, Amintas and so on., who only knew how to fight, could never have achieved.

    Philesius exhaled lightly, breathing out of his mind the enthusiasm that Davos had shown when facing Polidorus and the cold expression that he now wore¡­

    ¡°I understand, milord.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the next few days, Davos entrusted Avinoges, the archon of Laos, who was still watching the game and enjoying the food at Thurii, to find out all he could about the Bruttians to confirm whether the words of Siprus of Terina were true.

    While spending the rest of his time in his mansion reading carefully the information collected by Aristias about Taranto and Messapi. And if he has time, he would use it to apany his wife, Cheiristoya, and his son Crotokatax, who is now more than one year old.

    Polidorus, however, was anxious day by day that he kept visiting Davos and Philesius several times, but they had rejected him with legitimate reasons. Besides, it is a fact that there are more and more soldiers gathering in Thurii every day, and mobilizing tens of thousands of soldiers to fight would take a longer time. However, the situation in Taranto is getting worse every day that they urgently needed the Theonian army to rescue them.

    On the day after the defeat of Archytas, a fast messenger from Brindisi returned to Taranto to inform the council that when Archytas died in the battle, the Messapi-Peuceti alliance threw his head into the city and built a ¡°mountain of corpses¡±, using the thousands of corpses of Taranto''s soldiers, outside the city, and threatens the garrison of Brindisi to open the city and surrender, which caused the people in the city to panicked. And after the Messapi-Peuceti alliance had waited for a long time and had still not received a reply, they then began their attack on the city.

    Brindisi urgently asked Taranto for help and imed that the enemy forces were too strong and the defenders were few. Moreover, they did not get enough time topletely repair the broken city wall, and if they did not get reinforcements, Brindisi would fall in two~three days.

    When the Council of Taranto was discussing urgently ¡°how to rescue Brindisi¡±, another news came regarding the Messapian army that was besieging Manduria to disappear!

    The statesmen of the council, led by Umakas and Diaoms, were not relieved to hear this news. Although it was impossible to know the direction of the main force of the Messapians because of the blockade by the Messapian cavalry, everyone could still roughly guess even without thinking that the Messapians were most likely heading east to join the Peucetian army, and means that Brindisi is in danger!

    Although it has already been reported that Theonia would send more than ten thousand reinforcements, however, they would certainly not arrive within a short time. But if Taranto wants to send their troops to reinforce from thend, in the face of the blockade of tens of thousands of Messapi-Peuceti alliance, the Council thinks that this is simply them seeking death, so they finally decided that they would reinforce Brindisi from the sea so that they would be able to hold out until the allied force of Taranto and Theoniaes to their rescue.

    Taranto then sent 80 ships, including 40 triremes, which are almost all of Taranto''s naval force, escorting a convoy filled with 4,000 soldiers to Brindisi.

    After bypassing the ¡°Heel¡± of the Italian Penins, the fleet was intercepted by the Messapi-Peuceti united fleet near Hodrum, a city-state of the Messapians.

    Although the Peucetians'' navy is not strong, and they only have one port city, Barium, it is already good enough for them to scrape together half a dozen ships. However, the Messapians are different, as most of their city-states such as Alytia, Brindisi, Mesania, Uzentum, Hodrum are port cities. On the contrary, theirrgest city-state Rudiae is an ind city, located in the centre of the Messapian region and it is the capital of the former Messapian kingdom. Due to this, the Messapians were not weak in seafaring and had a more developed marine trade, andter, thanks to the Athenians, they were not only able to build their own triremes, but were also skilled in using the advanced naval warfare techniques of the Greeks, which had caused Taranto a lot of trouble at sea previously, and this time, thergest naval battle between Taranto and Messapi is about to break out. The Messapians have gathered all their city-state''s ships, 58 in all, including 25 triremes, plus the six ships of Peuceti, making a total of 64 ships.

    One side is in a hurry to reinforce, while the other has to fight tooth and nail to intercept, and so both sides started engaging in a fierce battle at sea¡­

    Although the Messapians had fewer ships, they attacked bravely, and even though Taranto had many ships, they had to consider the transport convoy behind them, so they were instead timid in their attack.

 Chapter 274: Another Huge Blow

    The battlested for four hours, in the end, Taranto lost fifteen ships, including four triremes and four transport ships, while the Messapi-Peuceti fleet lost twenty-three ships, including seven triremes, which caused the Messapi-Peuceti fleet to take the initiative to retreat, while the Tarantine navy, who was busy saving the drowning soldiers had no intention of pursuing them, as they just wanted to leave this strange area on the sea as soon as possible and arrive at Brindisi toplete their task of reinforcing it.

    Simultaneously as the fierce sea battle, the Messapi-Peuceti alliance learned the n of Taranto to reinforce Brindisi from the sea. Therefore, despite the fatigue of the twenty thousand Messapi-Peuceti soldiers, they haveunched their biggest siege and begun carryingdders, pushing siege equipment and storming Brindisi¡­

    After two days of hard fighting, only a few hundred defenders left on Brindisi. It is only with the help of the freemen in the city that they could still support even today, but facing the flood of enemies, the inexperienced freemen panicked¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Once the navy of Taranto arrived at the port of Brindisi, the soldiers began to go ashore. However, before they could assemble and form up, the city of Brindisi was breached. The defeated soldiers, freemen and their families ran to the port in panic, trying to find a ship to get out of the city that has fallen as quickly as possible. And the soldiers who hade to reinforce them also began to feel the grave situation and asked to get reboarded and leave. Everyone rushed to the ship, followed by the cry for help from the defeated soldiers and their families, and the whole port was then filled with people and had made the order to be chaotic, causing people to fall into the sea from the pushing¡­

    In the face of such a situation, the nauarch was at a loss for a while and could onlymand the ships under hismand to save the people. However, the Messapi-Peuceti allied force''s pursuit made the men scramble for their lives, pushing each other and scrambling to climb aboard, causing the two ships to capsize from being overloaded.

    The nauarch felt the situation to be grim, so he urgently ordered the fleet to leave the port, but due to the soldiers and sailors fighting, several ships were unable to get out of the port.

    At this time, the warriors of the Messapi-Peuceti alliance had already managed to get in, they were like hungry wolves rushing to the people of Taranto, who were trembling with fear, and started killing them wantonly even those who had already raised their hands and surrendered, and soon, the blood that is flowing on the port dyed the sea red¡­

    The soldiers, sailors, and survivors who managed to board the Tarantine fleet could not bear to witness such a tragic sight, so they fled the port in haste. However, the disaster was far from over, and they were soon intercepted by the defeated fleet of the Messapi-Peuceti navy. Although the Tarantine fleet has many ships, the ships were now filled with people, which has caused them to lose their speed and flexibility and became a sitting duck for the Messapi-Peuceti ships.

    During the fierce battle, the ships of Taranto were overturned, but there were no ships to rescue the people who fell into the water, and the sailors who were terrified by the tragic sight in the port had only one thing they wanted, and that is, to return to their home. And now, both sides changed positions, with Taranto only having 45 ships remaining, with only some transport ships managing to leave the battlefield.

    However, the Messapi-Peuceti fleet who had won was still in hot pursuit¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the fourth day after Polidorus asked Theonia for help, the Messapi-Peuceti, who managed to recapture Brindisi, marched westward after a short rest. In the afternoon, they started to surround Manduria once again, which caused the whole city of Taranto to panic, and so they sent envoys to Theonia to ask for help one after another¡­

    In the early morning of the fifth day, the Theonian reinforcements finally set out.

    It was early September, and the morning started to be cooler.

    After saying goodbye to their families, the first and second legion''s soldiers began to form a line in Nike Square.

    After counting their numbers, the Grand Legatus ¨C Davos, announced their departure.

    The whole army first marched to the northwest of the city, then arrived at the hill of the Temple of Hades, and knelt to pray devoutly.

    The bronze bells in the temple rang, and the priest in charge ¨C Plesinas, led dozens of priests and priestesses of the Temple of Hades to sing the ode of Hades for the soldiers and give them blessings.

    If it was in other city-states, it would be even necessary to make divination before going to war, but Davos had cancelled this practice. War is a matter of life and death for a city-state, and victory depends on strength, strict training and careful nning and not on the illusory thing called divine luck, and Davos does not want his soldiers to develop this bad habit.

    At the end of the prayer, the whole army headed east and went out of the gate then to the port of Thurii. The families of the soldiers and the people who came to see them off were on both sides of the roads.

    What made Polidorusment was that only a few family members cried and refused to let the soldiers go out, some wished for the soldiers¡¯ safety and encouraged them to obtain military achievements at the same time, while some were envious of the good luck of the soldiers and were not convinced and thought that they would perform better if they were the one chosen.

    ¡°The Theonians love war!¡± Polidorus had forgotten who had said this to him in the first ce. He couldn''t help but look at Davos, themander of this army who was beside him, a young man at the age of 20 who at the moment was showing apose and serious expression beyond his age, ¡®The fact that the Theonians have such amander who is good at war, is the reason why they have risen to prominence today!¡¯

    But under the pressure of the enemy army, the strength of the Theonian army had made Polidorus feel a bit relieved because the Theonian army can be relied on.

    Hundreds of transport ships, including those that are from Theonia, Taranto, Metapontum, Heraclea and even Roscianum are docked in the port¡­

    Under the guidance of the port management, the troops entered each dock in an orderly manner, and under themand of their officers, they began to orderly board the ships in turn.

    Polidorus'' transport ship was the first to leave the port because he had to go back to Taranto to inform the council to prepare to wee the Theonian reinforcements.

    Along with him was Antonios, who needed to coordinate with Taranto on many matters, such as the entry of the Theonian army into the port, settling the army, provision of the military and so on., originally, this task should be left to Philesius, but with Davos leaving Theonia, someone needed to defend Thurii in case of idents. Philesius, as the second-inmand of the army, was naturally the most suitable person. With Philesius unable to go, and the two legatus ¨C Kapus and Drakos, only knew how to fight and are unsociable people, Davos can only let Antonios, the senior centurion of the first legion to be in charge of themunication. In fact, Alexius, the second senior centurion of the first legion, is also a suitable person, but Davos thinks that Antonios is more tactful than Alexius.

    There are also some special personnel on the Theonian army on board this ship, such as the engineering brigade of the legion. Because the ce to settle the Theonian army in Taranto has been determined in advance, the engineers will go to the site first to investigate the terrain, n how to build the camp, the size of the camp, theyout of the tent, the width of the trench and so on., so that the army can start building the camp as soon as they arrived at Taranto.

    The soldiers stepped on the rickety deck and put their helmets, linen armour, round shields, shin protector, spears and javelins close to the side of the ship as they waved goodbye to their families and friends on the shore.

    And so, the ships began to leave the port one after another.

    In the morning, with a strong northeast wind blowing in the Gulf of Taranto, all the ships began to lower their sails and took advantage of the wind to head straight east, with waves asionallypping at their hulls from the side and rear, sshing and wetting the clothes of the soldiers, but it could not dampen their spirits in any way.

    ¡°I heard that the people of Taranto are very rich, with us helping them to defeat those aborigines this time, will they give us enough silver coins to thank us?¡± One of the recruits said excitedly.

    ¡°Fool, do you know how many soldiers are going to Taranto this time? It''s 14,000! This does not even include the Cavalry Brigade, Engineering Brigade, Medical Camp¡­so even if Taranto gives us dozens of Talents, how much of those coins can be distributed to each man after handing over some for the legion¡¯s fund?!¡± Another soldier admonished him in disbelief, ¡°You might as well kill a few more aborigines and umte more war achievements so that the union can allocate a few more square metres ofnd to you!¡±

    ¡°Speaking about war, I get angry just by thinking about it! The third legion is too lucky, they captured Aprustum, and then Grumentum, why do they always get picked?! Just because they are mostly Lucanians! And when we finally go out to rescue the city-states in the south, but before we could even start fighting, the Locrians are already begging for peace. Tell me, wouldn''t this make you angry? I just hope that this time, those aborigines won''t copy the Locrians and make us go on an expedition in vain!¡± The words of another soldier resonated with the soldiers around him, which stirred up their worries.

    ¡°Don''t worry, the Messapians wouldn''t be like the weak Locrians. I heard that they are very fierce and Taranto couldn''t even take advantage of them. Otherwise, Taranto would have already established several sub-cities nearby, and what''s more, this time, the Messapians have allied with the Peucetians and have defeated Taranto one battle after another. Their morale is increasing, and they might even try to destroy Taranto, so how could they negotiate peace with us?!¡± Said a soldier who knew something about Taranto.

    ¡°That would be wonderful! Only by defeating the Messapians can we show the power of Theonia and we will then be heroes that have saved Taranto!¡± One of the soldiers dered it in a loud voice, which aroused the excited cheers of everyone.

    ¡°I heard that all the women in Taranto are beautiful. Then, if we be heroes, can we marry one back?¡± Someone poked fun at the idea and was immediately shoved by another person, ¡°Pesias, stop dreaming! The citizens of Taranto are arrogant, and they always looked down on the people of other city-states in Magna Graecia. Do you think that they would marry their daughter to us who they only see as ¡°farmers¡±?!¡±

    ¡°Is that true, Sitares?¡± Asked Pesias curiously.

 Chapter 275: Leotychides

    ¡°Well¡­the Tarantines don''t show it clearly as what Hybaterus said, but they do not like to associate with our city-state.¡± Sitares, who knew Taranto very well, answered thoughtfully, ¡°It is only in thest few years, because of the Messapians¡¯ constant invasion, that they propose to build a South Italia defensive alliance in Magna Graecia to resist the aborigine barbarians jointly! Although city-states like Thurii and Crotone have joined previously, they are not that active¡­¡±

    ¡°Why do the Tarantines look down on us?¡± Eximed Hybaterus, ¡°Brothers, you should all know about the Tarantines saying that they are descendants of Sparta, but in fact, it is all a lie! They are the descendants of bastards, children born of Spartan women and ves*-¡± (T/N: Not really ves but Perioeci aka freemen.)

    As soon as he spoke these words, the soldiers went into an uproar as most of them were poor people with little education, so they naturally do not know about the history of Taranto, which made them surprised and asked, ¡°Hybaterus, is that true?! The Tarantines were descendants of Spartan women and ves-¡±

    ¡°Of course it is true! Any soldier who is a citizen of the old Thurii should know about this. I heard that hundreds of years ago, when the Spartan men fought outside of Sparta for a long time, the women¡­hehe¡­felt lonely, so they got together with the ves! After the children were born and had grown up, the Spartan men who came back and found out about it could not bear the humiliation and drove them out of the city-state. Therefore, the Spartans built Taranto not because they had too many people and not enough food, but for the stability and reputation of Sparta, so it should not be Taranto who is looking down on us, but it should be us who is looking down on them! They are just a bunch of bastards! A group of-¡± Hybaterus wasughing triumphantly when he suddenly heard the people around him shouting, ¡°Be careful! Get out of the way!¡±

    Before he could react, a heavy blow struck his face, and he fell forward with his surroundings darkening; fortunately, hisrades supported him from behind.

    ¡°Hey, why did you hit him!¡± Shocked, the soldiers rushed forward to stop the enraged soldier.

    ¡°Shut your mouth! Shut up! If you dare say it again, I will beat you to death!¡­¡± The soldier''s eyes were red, and his face was furious as he roared towards Hybaterus.

    ¡°Prosous, shut up, you are mad!¡± Sitares, who was the squad captain, rushed forward to angrily reprimand the soldier, ¡°For your provocation and assault on yourrades, you will receive punishment ording to the militaryw!¡±

    At this time, Hybaterus woke up and became enraged once he saw the man clearly, ¡°How dare you hit me! Brothers, let''s beat him up! Beat this disgusting stone*!¡± With that, he dashed over, pushed Sitares aside and wrestled with Prosous, and several other soldiers were encouraged by him to join in the fight. (T/N: Will be exinedter.)

    The ship became a mess, and the noisy shouting had naturally alerted the toon captain, who was on the same ship. By the time he arrived with his men, Prosous had already knocked the soldiers, including Hybaterus, to the ground.

    ¡°Prosous, do you want to be driven out of Theonia?!¡± Prosous, who was still angry, shuddered by the shout of Pamanius. Thinking of something, he immediately stopped fighting and just stood in the same ce.

    ¡°Go and tie him up!¡± Ordered Pamanius.

    The soldiers hesitated toe forward, while Prosous remained motionless, which allowed them to pin him down on the deck.

    ¡°toon captain, he was the one who started it. I did not provoke him when he suddenly rushed forward and struck me!¡± Hybaterus points to the bruise on his face andins to Pamanius.

    ¡°Don''t speak for now.¡± Pamanius ignored him and had instead asked the squad captain ¨C Sitares for the reason, which immediately made his face darken.

    ¡°Why did you beat yourrade?!¡± Asked Pamanius.

    Prosous was pinned to the ground with his hands tied behind his back; however, he still did not say a word as Pamanius continued interrogating him.

    Pamanius is now feeling a headache.

    Previously, the first and second legions had to expand their recruitments to make up for the shortage of troops because many of the soldiers had moved to Krimisa and Aprustum, where the fourth legion would be established.

    Prosous, a registered foreigner who applied to be a preparatory citizen, was said to havee from Argos. After entering the camp, his performance in the training had soon surprised the instructors, as this young man is not only physically strong but also highly skilled. He is good at using shield, spear, sword and javelin, and he is also adept at marching in formation and listening to orders. He even managed to learn some of the unique Theonian tactical movements and easily won first ce in the camp''s recruitpetition.

    The instructors were amazed by his military talent, and the officers of all ranks have also heard of his deeds and scrambled to have him join their team. Matonis is also one of them, and it is said that he had even used his connection with Davos to eventually get him to his team, and he reminded Pamanius several times to focus on him.

    However, Pamanius soon discovered that Prosous had a huge shoring ¨C he was not sociable. During training, he performed very well, but he doesn''t like to talk during their rest, and he even seldom talked with his squadmates, always sitting alone and not knowing what he is thinking, so his squadmates nicknamed him ¡°stone¡± and was used of being arrogant, which is why many had helped Hybaterus in the fight just now, it was clear that the soldiers in his squad did not like him.

    ¡°Very well, there is no need for you to say anything now, as the military inspector will make you say it once we get ashore!¡± Pamanius angrily left this sentence as he still had to figure out how to mention this to Matonis.

    Prosous was tied to the mast, and even with the strange looks that the soldiers around him give, it still did not bother him, and he did not even care about the punishment of the military inspector. His eyes were still red as he bowed his head and tried not to let his tears fall because, at this moment, he thought of his mother.

    Prosous is not his real name, his real name is Leotychides, the son of Agis, the previous king of Sparta, and his mother had ended up choosing tomit suicide because of the rumours, and so he finally made up his mind to leave Sparta.

    In search of a shelter, he found that there were not many ces for him to choose from. The eastern Mediterranean is now the world of Sparta, and Persia, which is at war with Sparta, could be one of the ces he could go, however, although Leotychides wanted to get his revenge on Sparta, he did not want to discredit himself and his father and make the people think that they made the correct to choice in choosing his uncle, Agesus, to inherit the throne. The western Mediterranean is beyond the reach of Spartan forces, and there are many Greek city-states, however, he hopes that one day, he could give Sparta trouble for his humiliation and making his mother die, so there are only a few city-states he could choose from.

    Syracuse is one, but they are allied with Sparta. Carthage is another, but they are a foreign race and could not speak Greek, which made Leotychides not understand them. In the end, he chose Theonia because of the usation of Phidias of them not having any respect for Sparta when he went to report to the Gerousia, which made him very curious about this rare union of city-states who dared to look down on Sparta. Before that, the inspector ¨C Cheirisophus, had even rmended to the Gerousia a person he called ¡°A Greek with extraordinary military talent¡±, and this man is now the archon of Theonia

    When he sought the opportunity to flee Sparta and came to Magna Graecia, he discovered that Theonia''s influence was great in Magna Graecia, and they had almost be the most powerful city-state in South Italia, just less than two years after its establishment.

    Amazed by the rapid rise of Theonia, Leotychides took up residence in the port of Thurii to observe the city. After learning about Theonia''s past, its unique system of governance and city atmosphere, and especially after seeing the triumphant return, he had a hunch that one day, this city-state would be able to make his wishe true. Leotychides felt that he hade to the right ce and so he decided to stay in Theonia while remaining anonymous.

    With some of the wealth that his father, Agis, had secretly stored in Crete to support himself, he then applied to the union to be a Theonian citizen. And thanks to his childhood training in Sparta''s cruel ¡°Agoge¡±, he stood out from the rest of the Theonian recruits and was granted full citizenship before he could even be a preparatory citizen.

    But he was still despairing about the loss of his mother and with his unforgettable hatred of Sparta, he was unable to integrate into this new group. And the word ¡°bastard¡± has be so taboo to him that it had made him mad just by hearing it.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Gulf of Taranto is simr to a gourd in shape with two naturally formed circr bays that are stacked together; it not only expanded the capacity of the port but also made it more secure. The Tarantines had fortified both the opening and the narrowing of the gourd-bay and had even built two watergates to strengthen the defence of the port even more.

    At this moment, the first watergate was wide open, and countless transport ships carrying troops entered and were guided and supervised by dozens of Tarantine patrol boats, and sailed one after another to the northwestern corner of the bay. The coastline of the whole bay is quite long, and the city of Taranto, being in the southeastern corner of the bay, could not hold all thend defences of the bay, so Taranto ced the Theonian reinforcements in the northwestern corner of the bay, which was the weakest point of Taranto''s control of the bay and also out of a desire to have Theonia help in its defence.

    When Davos'' ship passed the first watergate, he was struck by the fact that the rough sea, was not rough here at all, which made him sigh at this marvel: He was surprised to learn that despite the breakwater and the inward excavation and widening of the port, the port of Thurii was still somewhat crowded and in case of a storm, the ships will inevitably be damaged, but unlike here, they don''t have to consider these problems at all, as their port is an excellent natural port. And he wondered about another famous port in Magna Graecia, the port of Crotone?

    Author''s Note: I have a little time today, so I want to discuss Archytas in history. The information I collected is mostly about his achievements in mathematics, but in other aspects, there are only a few. He is known as ¡°Pericles of Magna Graecia", after bing the archon of Taranto in his middle-aged year, Taranto has be prosperous and powerful in Apulia for more than a decade, but please note that even during this period of prosperity, they had never upied Brindisi and Manduria, which means that Taranto''s prosperity was still defensive. When to was rejected by Dionysius II, Archytas had invited him as a guest of Taranto, and to had considered Archytas to be his ideal philosophical king, because the Pythagorean School seeded mathematics, but also had their own philosophy. Archytas eventually died in a shipwreck, and his body is said to have only been retrieved a centuryter.

    At the beginning of this book, I have no n to write about his death at this time, but the butterfly effect of the MC has made the Tarantines, who always take defensive measures against the attack of the Messapians on arge scale, take the offensive, and eventually, it hase to this point as I was writing it and became out of my control. And it is better for him to die on the battlefield than to sleep on the bottom of the sea, and his achievements in mathematics can only be aplished by others, and I hope that it would be the Theonian Akademia.

 Chapter 276: The Meetings Undercurrent

    Instead of following the fleet, Davos instead sailed ahead through the second water-gate towards the main port of Taranto.

    Although it is currently wartime, the port of Taranto was still very busy, and even more so than usual, as the continuation of the war had increased the demand for all kinds of goods in Taranto, and despite the full assistance of the port staff, it had still taken a long while for Davos'' ship to dock.

    Davos was not in a hurry, he carefully observed the port andpared it with the port of Thurii¡­

    Once they got ashore, the Tarantines were attracted by the sight of Davos and his party, especially by his guards that were in full military uniform and were led by Martius, that had made them even stop what they were doing and watched curiously. And some people who knew what is happening had guessed that they might be the reinforcements from Theonia, but none of them expressed their wee, let alone the cheers that aremon in the port of Thurii. They just looked on coldly, and some had even shown sadness in their eyes. Davos noticed that many women were wearing ck cloth on their heads, and the shadow of defeat had shrouded the people of Taranto.

    The group of statesmen of the council of Taranto, out of reserve as an old and powerful city-state, did not go to the port to meet them and had instead waited at the gates of the city.

    ¡°Here they are!¡± With this shout, the crowd shook themselves to their feet and looked forward.

    The one approaching them is a young man, he has a calm look with a steady gait and a sense of steadiness far different from that of ordinary young people. However, as an archon of a city-state, he is indeed too young.

    Umakas nudge on Diaoms, who was still lost in his thoughts, and was about to remind him.

    Diaoms understood what Umakas about to say and said, ¡°I understand¡­who told us to ask for help from others.¡±

    After speaking this, he strode forward and said, ¡°Wee, the young archon of Theonia. We had been waiting for the arrival of our closest ally, Theonia, like a dry field waiting for rain. Thank the gods that you have finallye atst!¡±

    Umakas frowned and was worried that Davos would not be happy from hearing that.

    Then Davos immediately said with an apologetic expression, ¡°I apologise! As you know, it is only less than two years since the establishment of Theonia Union, and this is the first time that we sent nearly 20,000 people as reinforcements, which is almost two-thirds of the number of citizens of Thurii, and it is also the season when the autumn harvest is about to start, as well as the first time that so many soldiers are being transported across the sea, all these matters are tooplicated and we are too inexperienced, so we have only arrived today, and I hope that we have not dyed anything important.¡±

    ¡°You are notte! You are notte! In fact, you are just in time!¡± Said Umakas hurriedly, ¡°I honestly didn''t expect that Theonia would send such huge troops, which really helped us a lot! Lord Davos, we, the people of Taranto, thank you very much for your generous help!¡±

    At this time, Polidorus finally had a chance to interject and started the introduction, ¡°Lord Davos, this is our archon of Taranto, Lord Umakas.¡±

    Judging from what he said just now, the archon was at least somewhat amodating for Theonia, so Davos paid him respect.

    ¡°This is Diaoms, the other archon of Taranto.¡± Polidorus continued on the introduction.

    Davos nced at him: Narrow eyes, thin nose, thin lips, a serious expression with a mean gaze, which is obviously due to his prejudiced against Theonia, ording to the information of Aristias, there are a lot of such people in the council of Taranto, but Davos had still paid his respect seriously.

    Next, they would meet the statesmen of the Council of Taranto in turn, which have been derived from the Spartan''s Gerousia, but they have much more statesman than the Spartan''s Gerousia, which has only 30 seats, and the council of Taranto is elected annually by all citizens, just like the archons.

    ¡°This is-¡± Before Polidorus could finish speaking, the old man in front of him raised his eyebrows and red then pointed at Davos and cursed, ¡°You still have the face toe to Taranto! When you promised to promote our school in Amendra, we had sent our apprentices to Amendra to help you. But who knew that not only have you let them betray the school, but you had also let them use money to lure more apprentices to leave Taranto! My son still regarded you as his friend, even though this is how you repay the Pythagorean school for its selfless help to Theonia! The only thing I can say to you is that Taranto does not wee you!¡±

    Davos didn''t expect to meet a Pythagorean here, so he was rather embarrassed. He then looked back at Polidorus and asked, ¡°Who is he?¡±

    ¡°Histiaeus, the father of Archytas.¡± Replied Polidorus.

    Davos countenance obviously changed, no matter how unhappy the old man was, Davos still paid his respect, ¡°Archytas is my good friend and I will avenge him by repelling the Messapians and bring back his body so that you would be able to mourn him, uncle!¡±

    ¡°Even without the help of Theonia, we Taranto can defeat the Messapians and take back my son''s body!¡± Histiaeus'' had tears in his eyes, but he remained stubborn.

    At this moment, a cavalry came galloping and shouting repeatedly throughout the way, ¡°The fleet is back! The fleet is back!¡­¡±

    After hearing him, the statesmen immediately left Davos and his party behind and ran to the port.

    Polidorus hurriedly exined to him, and Davos listened with understanding and offered to go along to see what was going on.

    Standing high outside the port and looking down at the beach: At the central dock of the port of Taranto, a line of warships slowly entered¡­

    Polidorus opened his eyes wide and counted the number of ships. The more he counted, the more flustered he became. Finally, he said with a trembling voice, ¡°There¡­there are only 19 warships and 25 transport ships¡­¡±

    If Davos hadn''t helped him in time, Polidorus would have copsed.

    Davos had also frowned. ording to Polidorus, when the fleet of Taranto left the port, it had 80 warships and 100 transport ships and 4000 soldiers on board. But now, only a quarter of the ships have returned, which is definitely a huge loss for Taranto, not only in ships and men but also in sailors, with a trireme needing close to 200 sailors for it to be fully manned, anyone can imagine how much loss this has caused to the manpower of Taranto''s port.

    This has also given a warning to Davos: Before gaining absolute control over the sea, they must be cautious when transporting soldiers across the sea by ships!

    All the people in the port were in great grief that even though Davos was far away, he could still hear the sound of mourning.

    Polidorus was still stretching out his neck to look, hoping that there were still some ships that were justgging behind which caused them to not be able to enter the port in time. In the end, he gave up and grip his hands tightly and repeatedly said, ¡°Lord Davos, Taranto truly need the full help of Theonia!¡±

    Davos nodded and thought to himself: Counting this naval battle, he feared that the war between Taranto and Messapi had resulted in tens of thousands of casualties among the soldiers of Taranto which had really hurt them.

    As the Council of Taranto is still busy dealing with the aftermath, the uing meeting can only be postponed.

    Davos did not care, so he just went back and started the construction of the camp with the soldiers.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The defeat of a major naval battle has repercussions in every war. Compensating for the casualties was just the bare minimum, it is also necessary to repair the remaining ships, speeding up the rebuilding of a new fleet, reassuring the merchants in the port and making sure that the sea trade routes had not been cut off by the enemy¡­however, the pressing war situation forced Taranto to put theseplicated aftermaths aside for the next day as all of these could not be resolved in just a day or two, as it is necessary for them to immediately start the joint war meeting in order tounch and-based counter-attack against the Messapi-Peuceti alliance as soon possible so that they could reduce the enemy''s threat to the city of Taranto.

    Considering that Theonia''s archon was left out in the cold yesterday due to unforeseen events, Umakas decided to invite him personally.

    Umakas then rode to the northwest corner of the bay and got surprised by the sight of a huge military camp, with trenches, fences, gates, guard towers, tents¡­everything was there, and it had only taken the Theonians one day to build a ¡°city¡± in this rtively sparsely popted area!

    Umakas was naturally not aware of Theonia''s emphasis on the importance of camp construction during wartimes that they had even standardised some of their camp facilities after being repeatedly researched and tried by the army engineers at the initiative of Davos, such as the materials needed for the camp gate and guard tower were already made in Thurii in advance and transported by the logistics camp. After arriving at their destination, they would only need to assemble it ording to the actual situation, which saved them time and effort, and they would then take it back after the camp was removed. Of course, the premise is for them to have a strong logistics and transportation capacity and better road conditions.

    Umakas became startled when he heard someone calling him. When he looked carefully, it turned out to be Timias, a theatre owner in the city of Taranto, which naturally made him asked with curiosity, ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°Business of course.¡± Timias then pointed to the women dressed up around him and said helplessly, ¡°When we lost in the war with the Messapians, the citizens didn''t have the mood to go to the theatre or y with the girls, which has caused me to not gain any profit for two months now. When I heard that nearly 20,000 reinforcements from Theonia havee, I came here to see if there is any chance to earn money. However, the guards here wouldn''t even allow us to get inside!¡±

    When he heard this, Umakas was slightly embarrassed: Timias'' theatre mainly attracts people to earn money by performing some vulgar and obscene ys, and at the same time, he also worked part-time by providing male and female prostitutes for the rich, as they were mostly actors, they were more popr because of their high quality, but he didn''t expect that he would evene to the camp of Theonia. So he persuaded him, ¡°A war is about to break, so you should not disturb the rest of the Theonians.¡±

 Chapter 277: Military Discussion

    ¡°What''s wrong if there is a war?! Before the war I, Timias, had not only provided good service to the soldiers, we had even served you, Umakas, at your door on more than one asion, and I have not heard you say that it had interfered your rest!¡± Timias said out loud, and some of the women were even winking at Umakas.

    ¡°Hmph¡­if you want to stay here, then stay!¡± Umakas was furious and angry, but he could not show it in public, so he ended the discussion with some annoyance and drove his horse forward, asking the guards to go in and report.

    ¡°Lord Umakas, when you see the archon of Theonia, can you help us¡­to get us inside¡­¡± Seeing that Umakas was going to enter the camp, Timias went near him with a smile, while Umakas just ignored him and went straight in.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Davos left the camp, Timias and the women tried to surround him, but Martius led the guards and drove them aside.

    Umakas pretended not to hear it, while Davos justughed and pointed to a noisy area in front of the camp, ¡°The mind of the Taratines is so flexible. We had just built the camp yesterday, and today, a lively market was immediately built here. To tell you the truth, it has made it convenient for our army to gather necessary supplies; however, prostitutes are strictly prohibited in the army, and ording to the ¡¶Theonian Military Law¡·, offenders will be deprived of citizenship. So even if they were to enter the camp, no one would dare to get in contact with him in vition of the militaryw.¡±

    Umakas blushed slightly, and he sighed, ¡°Your militaryws are so strict, it is no wonder that you have such an excellent record in battle.¡±

    The meeting was held in the manor of Umakas, on the outskirts of Taranto.

    In the meeting room, Davos met not only Diaoms but also the archon of Heraclea ¨C Teriphias, and the archon of Metapontum ¨C Taudeles.

    Diaoms still has the same expression as yesterday, but he at least didn''t say anything; presumably, the bad news of the naval fleet defeat had knocked the wind out of his sails.

    Taudeles greeted Davos very politely while Teriphias did not only shake the hands of Davos, he had even given him an embrace while talking andughing. After all, Heraclea is next to Amendra, and when the mercenaries led by Davos had just established their foothold in Amendra, they had constant dealings with Heraclea, and in less than two years, the two had established a rtively close rtionship.

    After everyone sat down, Umakas once again said, ¡°Esteemed lords, thank you for the selfless help that you have offered us in Taranto''s time of trouble! On behalf of the Council of Taranto, and the people of Taranto, Diaoms and I would like to express our heartfelt thanks to you! Having said that, Umakas bowed his head earnestly to the three men.¡±

    Diaoms also reluctantly followed suit, and the three men had also returned their politeness.

    After all the courtesy, it was finally time to get down to business.

    Diaoms then stood up and said, ¡°Manduria, with less than 4,000 soldiers, has been under siege for two days! ording to reliable information, there are 30,000 men in the Messapi-Peuceti alliance. If we don''t act immediately, Manduria will suffer the same fate as Brindisi! Hence why the Council of Taranto has decided to immediately dispatch the soldiers to liberate Manduria and to find an opportunity to fight the Messapi-Peuceti army, do any of you have an objection?¡±

    His eyes then swept over Taudeles, Teriphias and finally on Davos. Heraclea and Metapontum, city-states affiliated with Taranto, have always obeyed their orders, so the question of Diaoms is naturally aimed at Theonia.

    The two archons have given a positive answer, but instead of speaking immediately, Davos stood up and walked to the side of Umakas, who had a detailed map of Taranto on the wooden table in front of him and could see that the icon representing Manduria was not far from the south of Taranto, after making a gesture, he asked, ¡°How far is Manduria from here?¡±

    ¡°Less than 25 kilometres.¡± Replied Umakas.

    25 kilometres. Davos then estimated that with the normal marching speed of the Theonian army at 7.5 kilometres per hour, they would arrive in three hours. Manduria is located on a ¡°coastal corridor¡±, with the sea on one side and mountains and forests on the other; however, Manduria is not located on the seashore but on the mountains. Considering that Taranto is not far to the north of the city, the Messapians must have considered Taranto¡¯s naval strength when building this city so that they could make full use of their strengths while avoiding their weaknesses.

    ¡°How wide is it?¡± Davos pointed on the ¡°corridor¡± on the map with his two fingers.

    ¡°The narrowest part is 3 kilometres.¡± Replied Umakas.

    ¡®3 Metres. A formation spread by amander with 30,000 troops can already exceed this length.¡¯ After thinking about it, Davos asked again, ¡°How many soldiers are Taranto going to send?¡±

    As soon as Umakas was about to answer, Diaoms could not stop himself and shouted, ¡°DO YOU AGREE TO SEND TROOPS OR NOT? Make a quick decision and stop asking about this or that, as it will just dy our time!-¡±

    ¡°Diaoms!¡± Shouted Umakas in a hurry, for fear that Diaoms'' words might infuriate Davos.

    Diaoms was just angered by the fact that Davos had not only shown any respect for himself as an archon but had acted as if he were the one presiding over the meeting. At this moment, he remembered the advice of the statesmen of the Council and the dangerous situation of Taranto, so he could only snort and swallow his anger.

    Davos looked at Diaoms calmly and said slowly, ¡°Starting a war is not only rted to the life and death of the soldiers but also the rise and fall of a city-state. As the decision-makers of the war, we must carefully consider whether Taranto has a chance to experience another defeat?!¡±

    Everyone was moved by what Davos had said, and Diaoms only snorted again while he cautiously muttered, ¡°That''s just a reason for your timidness.¡±

    Davosughed and said nothing.

    Timid? No one else in this room will agree with what Diaoms said. After all, the battlesmanded by Davos in the past have always been against superior numbers, which has proved everything. Rather, Taranto was the one that was eagerly urging the reinforcements from Theonia in the face of the Messapi-Peuceti alliance, so who was being timid?

    Umakas noticed that Teriphias was winking at Taudeles with a slight sneer on his face. He couldn''t remain calm from his shame, so he quickly mediated in a roundabout way, ¡°Lord Davos, please forgive Diaoms for his rudeness, he was just too anxious about the current¡­situation of Taranto, and it was only on impulse on why he had spoken those words carelessly and without consideration!¡±

    As he apologised, Umakas winked at Diaoms.

    And Diaoms could only hold his anger, but he did not apologise, and he just stops talking instead.

    ¡°Taranto will dispatch ten thousand soldiers.¡± Then Umakas said, ¡°With your reinforcements, the total force will reach 27,000, which is not much different from the number of Messapi-Peuceti troops. After we liberate Manduria, the number of soldiers of Taranto will increase to 14,000, so the total number of troops will be 31,000, which is already a veryrge number that it wouldn''t be a problem to repel the Messapi-Peuceti alliance.¡±

    ¡°It''s best if things go as you say, but-¡± Davos exerted his strength on the icon on the map representing Manduria, ¡°Have you thought about if the Messapi-Peuceti retreated instead of fighting with us?¡±

    ¡°That''s impossible! The Messapians are hot-tempered and have a ruthless nature; they love fighting and regard retreat as cowardice.¡± Diaoms immediately retorted.

    ¡°The fact that the Messapians were able to join hands with the Peuceti in ambushing Archytas is already an obvious fact that they do not only know how to fight bravely and fiercely.¡± By the time he reached Taranto, Davos had also learned the truth about Archytas'' defeat, at which point he patiently analysed, ¡°From what I had heard, the Messapians'' infantry is not as good as our hoplites, especially the Peucetians who is much worse. Even though their cavalry is strong, the area in Manduria is narrow, so if the two sides fight, it would not be good for their cavalry''s attack but would be favourable for our hoplites, and wise men will not fail to take this into consideration¡­here, perhaps this is their ideal battlefield.¡± Davos pointed to the rtivelyrge gap between Manduria and Brindisi, where there are no symbols of mountains.

    ¡°However, if the enemy were to retreat, we would then be able to join up with the defenders on Manduria, which would cause our strength to increased, so the Messapi-Peuceti alliance would then be faced with a difficult choice, and it is not impossible for them to choose to just directly retreat.¡± Cautioned Davos.

    ¡°That makes sense.¡± Teriphias nodded in agreement. Heraclea''s strength was not very strong, and they had already suffered considerable losses following Taranto''s previous conquest of the Messapi region. Therefore, he naturally hopes to repel the Messapians without losing a single soldier and just fulfil his obligations as an ally without any idents.

    Taudeles also had the same mentality.

    Umakas and Diaoms then looked at each other, and there was worry on their faces, as they knew in their hearts that it would not be good for Taranto if the Messapi-Peuceti were to choose to retreat just as Davos had said.

    The Greek city-states organised tens of thousands of soldiers to go out and fight, often in the interest of a quick battle. After all, if it takes too long, not only would the supplies be consumed, but arge number of citizens would be gone for a long time, which would cause the affairs of the city-state to bergely on hold so that by the time the war is over, the city-state would be in disorder and the houses and farms to be vacant, and the crops would have already died. Therefore, to date, the only ones capable of fighting for long periods have been Athens, Sparta and Syracuse, all of whom had the support of powerful city-state alliances behind them.

    If the Messapi-Peuceti alliance were to retreat, the tens of thousands of Theonian reinforcements would surely not be able to stay for an extended period, so once the Messapians were to attack again, could Taranto ask Theonia for reinforcements again? Taranto had finally gathered such arge army, and the only thing they hoped for was that they would be able to deal a serious blow to the Messapi-Peuceti alliance in one fell swoop to change the fate of Taranto.

 Chapter 278: A surprising turn of event

    ¡°If the Messapi-Peuceti dares to retreat, we will go and destroy Brindisi! I don''t believe these aborigines would still be able to ignore it!¡± Diaoms shouted threateningly.

    Davos looked at him with surprise, ¡®This is indeed a good idea!¡¯

    Davos notice that Diaoms used the word ¡°Destroy¡±. Hence the seemingly ill-tempered archon of Taranto had wisely realised that even if Taranto took back Brindisi, with their current strength, they would not be able to hold on to it and would instead increase the number of their casualties. Not to mention that the city defence of Brindisi had weakened from being fought over many times that it could no longer stop the Messapi-Peuceti alliance, so it is better just to destroy it. But do the Messapians, who had done all they can do to retake Brindisi, just ept it? This is why Diaoms'' idea has undoubtedly hit the core of the Messapians.

    For Davos, with the strength of Taranto taking a severe hit, if the Messapians and Peucetians are allowed to continue their rampage and expansion, then there will be serious trouble that would arise in this Greek area in the eastern part of South Italia. As Theonia is bing more powerful, Davos, who had already regarded South Italia as Theonia''s backyard, certainly does not want to see such a situation happen. Hence why he had led 14,000 soldiers to Taranto not to sightsee, as his goal is the same as that of the Council of Taranto ¨C to defeat the Messapi-Peuceti alliance! Moreover, both sides have an equal number of troops, and Davos believes that, given the Theonian legions¡¯ capabilities, the final victory would belong to Theonia! So he finally said, ¡°I agree with Lord Diaoms'' proposal, Theonia is willing to reinforce Manduria.¡±

    Now it is Diaoms'' turn to look at him in surprise.

    ¡°That''s wonderful! Now that we have reached an agreement, we will send troops together at noon!¡± Said Umakas.

    ¡°Time is tight.¡± Teriphiasined.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Diaoms stood up, looked at the crowd and eximed, ¡°There is a saying in the port of Taranto, ¡®No matter how many sailors there are in a ship, they have to obey the orders of the helmsman so that they could reach their destination smoothly.¡¯ In the same way, we must have a suprememander in such a huge army for everyone to obey so that there will be no confusion during battle.¡±

    ¡°Diaoms is right. The Messapi-Peuceti alliance is very powerful, so we must stick together and follow orders while fighting to be victorious. Therefore, it is necessary to elect a suprememander tomand all the armies!¡± Umakas immediately added, ¡°Naturally, the suprememander does not decide all the ns and orders alone. As it is still needed to be discussed and agreed by everyone before they can be implemented, except in emergency situation.¡±

    Umakas looked at Davos, as these words were obviously for him, ¡°All of you here aremanders from their own city-state''s armies, and, I suggest that you select the person you think is the most suitable, which naturally includes yourself, and the one with most votes will be the suprememander.¡±

    ¡°Who is themander of Taranto''s army?¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°It''s Diaoms, the archon of Taranto.¡± Umakas then took this opportunity to praise his colleague, ¡°His military ability is even stronger than that of Archytas, and he had led the army to fight against the Messapians many times in the past, it is why he was elected as the archon by the citizens of Taranto this year. Prior ago, he and Archytas had captured Manduria and Brindisi together, so he is very familiar with the area where we are going to fight, and I believe that he can lead thebined army to win this war!¡± After praising Diaoms, he, of course, understood that there was another meaning to Davos'' question and hastened to rify, ¡°I am not going to vote, but rather, I will just act as the arbiter for this selection.¡±

    The two archons of Taranto''s answer sound fair, but in fact, it showed that they are sure that they would be able to win the position of suprememander. Vote?! Davos sneered: Heraclea and Matapontum are city-states affiliated with Taranto, so except for his own vote, he won''t be able to win any at all!

    Davos has made up his mind that even if Taranto gets themand of the whole army, no one but himself would be able tomand his troops. He could still consider reasonable orders, but unreasonable ones can just be ignored. But then the army, which was originallyposed of several city-states, would be even more scattered and in such arge-scale battle, it would be challenging to win. So he decided to fight for it, ¡°I don''t think that this method is appropriate for determining the suprememander. War is a very cruel thing, and thousands of people are either killed or wounded in battle, and a goodmander can reduce the casualties of his soldiers as much as possible and get the biggest victory at a smaller cost. Therefore, the selection of the suprememander must depend on the ability and past achievements of the selected person.

    Besides, we must also consider that we are an army made up of multiple city-states. Although everyone says that we should obey the suprememander''smand, once the battle starts, inevitably, we will more or less think more about our own city-state army. Therefore, the more soldiers that can fully obey themand of the suprememander, the more they can lead the progress of the battle smoothly!¡± Davos then nced at everyone then said in a more serious tone, ¡°Based on the above considerations; I think I am the most suitable to be the suprememander!¡±

    As soon as Davos'' voice fell, Diaoms stood up and shouted, ¡°HOW MUCH EXPERIENCE DO YOU HAVE WHEN YOU ARE JUST A BOY WITHOUT EVEN A BEARD?! Hmph! You wanted to be the suprememander?! It''s impossible! The soldiers of Theonia are as young and stupid as you, so how could theypare to the soldiers of Taranto who have been fighting against the vicious Messapians all year round!¡±

    In the face of Diaoms'' insults, Davos calmly uttered a sentence, ¡°As amander, you must remain calm in order to cope with theplicated situation of the battlefield, that alone makes you not qualified!¡±

    Diaoms was enraged again and wanted to swear.

    It was at this moment that Umakas stood up to stop him. From the bottom of his heart, he also felt that Davos was the most suitable choice for the position of suprememander. Still, the statesmen of the Council of Taranto, out of political considerations, asked him to try his best to fight for this position. Because the war with the Messapians has greatly hurt Taranto''s strength, what would Heraclea and Metapontum think if they were to lose themand for the next battle? What would the other Greek city-states in Magna Graecia think? Wouldn''t they all think that Taranto could not do anything but rely on Theonia?! The proud Tarantines could not afford to lose their face.

    ¡°Lord Davos has put forward another proposal, and since we are an allied force, all the city-state armies should be equal. Therefore, to save time, I think we should simply decide whether to adopt Lord Davos'' proposal or my previous proposal? Let''s start the voting now!¡± With a smile on his face, Umakas spoke decisively and cunningly and grabbed Davos with words.

    At this time, a brief silence shrouded the meeting room.

    ¡°I agree with Umakas!¡± Diaoms said first.

    Davos opened his mouth, but he didn''t speak in the end.

    Umakas was pleased that Davos had no objection as Diaoms could finally be the suprememander.

    ¡°I agree with lord Davos!¡± A voice suddenly interrupted the calmness of the room and also broke the fantasy of Umakas.

    The two archons of Taranto and Davos looked at the one who had spoken at the same time.

    ¡®Teriphias?! How could it be Teriphias?!!¡¯ Umakas was in disbelief.

    ¡°Teriphias, say it again! Who do you support?!!¡± Diaoms was willing to believe that he had heard wrong, and so he demanded Teriphias to redo his choice but spoke in a rather impolite tone.

    Teriphias, too, was nervous. So he avoided the fierce gaze of Diaoms, then he turned his head to look at Davos, who was equally surprised and could barely squeeze out a smile.

    A thought then crossed the mind of Davos, ¡®Now that Taranto began to decline, could it be that Heraclea would want to grab on to Theonia for her own safety?¡¯

    In fact, Davos was only right about one of the reasons. More importantly is that the archon of Heraclea, Teriphias, has sensed that thebination of Messapi and Peuceti will make it more difficult for the weakened Taranto to defend their territory. And the people of Heraclea had previouslyined greatly about the casualties of Hereclea''s soldiers who had gone out with the army of Taranto, so if they want to change this situation, they have to find a way to jump away from the tattered old ship of Taranto, and Theonia, who is closer to Heraclea, is certainly a better ce to take refuge.

    Davos had certainly not thought of that much at this moment, but he was overjoyed by Heraclea''s initiative to take refuge. No matter how long the friendship and alliance are, they are not as reliable as interests and strength! Davos sighed emotionally; he then smiled and nodded to Teriphias.

    ¡°Davos, the archon of Theonia and a famous strategos of south Italia, has never been defeated in the battles that he had taken part in! So I firmly support him as the suprememander!¡± Teriphias'' tone became more firm.

    ¡°I rmend myself as the suprememander!¡± Davos followed immediately; Teriphias has given him a big surprise after losing all hope from getting elected on such a rule.

    Now the situation is 1:2.

    Umakas did not expect the situation to turn out like this, and what was worse than not getting the position of suprememander was the attitude of Heraclea towards the Taranto alliance. He was in such turmoil that he could no longer hide his emotions and looked at Teriphias with resentment.

    And Diaoms, who was more concerned about this election, turned his attention to Taudeles: With his support, the vote between Diaoms and the young man would then be 2:2, and Umakas, as the arbiter, would then be able to find a way to help Diaoms get the position of suprememander.

    As he was thinking of this, he saw that Taudeles, under the gaze of everyone, lowered his head slowly.

 Chapter 279: The response of the Messapi-Peuceti Alliance

    Diaoms began to feel uneasy.

    ¡°I¡­I abstain¡­¡± Said Taudeles reluctantly.

    ¡°What did you say!!¡± Diaoms knocked down his chair as he stood up.

    ¡°I abstain!¡± Once again, Taudeles'' affirmation was like a bolt out of a clear sky on the head of Umakas, and he only felt everything turn dark.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the end, Davos became the suprememander of the allied force. He then invited Umakas to act as his adjutant, which not only facilitated coordination andmand but also gave Taranto a way out of this awkward situation.

    As soon as the meeting was over, Teriphias followed Davos as they walked out of the room while talking andughing.

    Taudeles walked hesitantly behind but got caught up by Diaoms and questioned, ¡°Taudeles, what do you mean by this?! Are you also going to betray our alliance too?!¡±

    Looking at Diaoms'' furious face, the archon of Metapontum sighed and said with guilt, ¡°To the north of Metapontum, on the upper reaches of Bradano River, is the city of Garaguso, where the Lucanian tribes gather. You must know that we used to have conflicts with these Lucanians, but it was just a minor problem. However, in the past two years, the conflict has intensified. ording to the information we have received, the main reason is that the number of Lucanians in Garaguso is increasing, and the barren mountains are no longer able to support them. I had even heard that some tribes began quarrelling with each other and want to move south to obtain morend. If they truly go south, it will bring huge trouble to us, the city of Metapontum!¡±

    ¡°If the Lucanians dare to invade thend of Metapontum, Taranto would help you defeat these aborigines!¡± Blurted Diaoms.

    ¡°Could Taranto be ready for a long-term war with the Lucanians in your current situation?¡± Asked Taudeles.

    Diaoms was unable to respond. At present, Taranto has two powerful enemies, Messapi and Peuceti, which have already overwhelmed them. If they were to provoke the Lucanians this time, not to mention the Council, any citizen of Taranto would have to think twice.

    ¡°I heard that when Theonia held thepletion ceremony of the Temple of Hades, the Lucanians of Garaguso went to Thurii to express their desire for peace with the Theonians. With Theonia upying most of thends of the Lucanians, they have be the most powerful force there, and no Lucanian tribe dares to ignore them. I think that if Theonia were to protest against Garaguso, the Lucanians of Garaguso would think carefully¡­as the people of Metapontum all hope that war can be avoided. And that Metapontum would not be able to help you defend against the Messapi while facing the invasion of the Lucanians at the same time.¡± Taudeles politely expressed the sacrifice of Metapontum to Taranto. Then he said to Diaoms with a slight apology, ¡°It is just only a position. Isn''t it that you Tarantines are in urgent need of a victory, and lord Davos is good when ites to war! Rest assured, Metapontum will always remain as Taranto''s greatest ally!¡±

    Taudeles knew that he could not be as reckless as Teriphias. After all, Heraclea¡¯s establishment was only more than 30 years ago, so their rtionship with Taranto was not that strong andplex, and that their territory being closer to Theonia. While Metapontum is different, they have a friendship with Taranto that is over 200 years, and most of the citizens of the two city-states were either close or distant rtives, not something that could just be broken easily.

    Watching Taudeles leave, Diaoms'' resentment wouldn¡¯t disappear quickly.

    Umakas then came near andforted him, ¡°Now that Davos has be the suprememander of the allied troops, it may be a good thing as he had to let his troops do their best when fighting the Messapians. Otherwise, it will damage his reputation.¡±

    Diaoms snorted, but he didn''t lose his temper again and was instead at a loss: The reason he became the archon was that the rapid rise of Theonia had stimted the Tarantines, and his radical ideas were approved by the people and passed in the lesia. For the first time in Taranto''s history, they hadunched a massive attack on the Messapians without regard for the lives of the citizens, not realising that perhaps the strength of Taranto had frightened its neighbours and had actually brought together the two races that had always been in conflict and had never been united, which led to Taranto¡¯s current predicament.

    ¡°The most important thing now is that we must hold a Council meeting immediately! Tell the statesmen that Heraclea and Metapontum have changed their attitude towards Taranto!¡± Umakas looked with seriousness.

    Diaoms was shocked and became dejected: In just a few months, Taranto''s status as a powerful city-state was now under great threat! How could such a situation happen? Is it true that as what that damned young man had said that war is rted to the rise and fall of the city-state? But why is it that, in just less than two years after its establishment, Theonia, who has never stopped warring, has be more and more powerful?!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile, outside Manduria, in the tent of the Messapi-Peuceti camp, the archons of the city-states of Messapi and the king of the Peuceti, Telemani, were discussing the new information they received.

    ¡°Are you sure that more than 10,000 foreign soldiers have reinforced Taranto?¡± Telemani asked with a startled look.

    ¡°This news hase from our men who sneaked into the port of Taranto. For this reason, lord Timogeras specially sent cavalry to scout near the port of Taranto, and there is indeed a huge military camp built. To be precise, it should be the reinforcements sent by Theonia, an ally of Taranto.¡± Said Pasimeus, archon of Rudiae.

    ¡°Theonia, it is a union of city-states just west of the Gulf of Taranto. I heard that their archon is a young man who has never lost in battle.¡± Said Karminus, the archon of Uzentum. Uzentum is just south of Taranto, on the east coast of the Gulf of Taranto, so he knew more about Theonia, which is on the west coast, than the other Messapian city-states.

    ¡°Never lost a battle?! How many battles has this archon of Theonia has fought in?! The head of Archytas, the military genius of Taranto, who the Greeks boasted before is still hanging on the gates of Brindisi!¡± Telemani then looked at Pasimeus, the leader of the city-states of Messapi, and said cautiously, ¡°However, Theonia''s ten thousand reinforcements is indeed a huge problem. We have been storming Manduria for two days without any progress, but we have instead lost many warriors. This damn city! You have built it to be too strong! Now that Taranto has reinforcement, they are bound to reinforce Manduria, and their troops will not be less than ours, while we are already tired from fighting for many days, so I suggest that we temporarily withdraw. Anyway, those Greek foreigners will not stay in Taranto for such a long time, and it will not be toote for us to capture Manduria after they leave.¡±

    ¡°Our king is right! Our warriors have been fighting for such a long time now, with many casualties, and our food is running out, and we won''t be able to capture Manduria in just a day or two. The enemy''s reinforcements would soone, and if we were to fight the enemy head-on at this time, we would not have the advantage. Therefore, retreat is the best option for us.¡± The general behind Telemani expressed his support.

    The archons of Messapi began to exchange nces. Indeed, unlike Brindisi, Manduria was built as a vanguard base for the Messapians to defend and attack Taranto, therefore, although the city is small, its walls are high and strong, but the archons of Messapi thinks that the Peucetians no longer want to fight anymore because they had already enjoyed the benefits of their agreement, that is, after taking back Brindisi, Messapi and Peuceti would jointly share its management, after all, it is one of the most important port cities on the Apennine penins, and hereafter the Peucetians would also enjoy the benefits of sea trade, and so they no longer want to pay anymore and pretended that the siege was difficult, hence why they wanted to go back on their words!

    Pasimeus did not use Telemani of breaking the contract but said quietly, ¡°King of the Peucetians, with your wisdom, you should be able to see that if we were to retreat at this time, all the victories we have won before would be lost again! The Tarantines will never stop their attack just because they have saved Manduria, and Brindisi will be their next target. Can Brindisi, who has few defenders and damaged city walls, resist the army of Taranto? And once we retreat, it would be impossible for us to assemble such a huge army in a short time! At that time, we can only watch as our people in Brindisi be ughtered or enved by the Greeks!¡±

    Telemani became startled: Just now, he was holding the mentality of taking advantage without suffering any losses and did not consider that there are more than 2,000 Peucetians who have just moved to Brindisi!

    When Pasimeus saw him staying quiet, he continued, ¡°What is more, we have made so much effort and paid so many of our warrior''s lives to make Taranto suffer more than ever. ording to the information we have received, Taranto''s adult citizens are now either dead or disabled, and most of those who can fight are young and old, so if we are able to deal another heavy blow to Taranto in theing battle, Taranto will no longer be able to resist our attack for time toe. Although it would be challenging for us to take Taranto, thend outside the city, especially to the west, will belong to us, Messapi and Peuceti!¡±

    Telemani became interested. He rubbed his hands together and thought for a long time before saying, ¡°If we really continue the battle, we must not have a head-on confrontation with Taranto''s reinforcements, as the Greek hoplites that are in a formation are like stones, too hard to bite!¡±

    ¡°You are the suprememander and have a long experience in fighting, so we will follow your orders.¡± Pasimeus said humbly, with lowered posture, which has satisfied Telemani.

    Telemani''s tone has also softened, ¡°My suggestion is to lure Taranto¡­¡±

 Chapter 280: Conflict

    The Theonian camp was, after all, close to the city of Taranto and are far away from the battlefield that they did not need to construct it in a veryplex and fortified manner. Therefore, the next day when Davos attended the war meeting, the whole camp was at rest. ording to the militaryw, one man from each squad would be allowed to go out during non-wartime and return by sunset.

    But now that they are in a state of semibat and it is uncertain when the army will go to the battlefield. So, Antonios, who also served as the military officer, issued an order: ¡®All the soldiers who go out can only roam around the camp and return at once, once you hear the salpinx.¡¯

    While the soldiers that were staying in the camp were not idle, as most of them were keen on some confrontation games organised by the upper rank of the Legion: Tug of war, Rugby, Football¡­and so on., which made the soldiers happy, but there is one thing that is forbidden, gambling, once found, they would be dealt ording to the militaryw.

    The reason why the soldiers were going out was to see the famous city in South Italia ¨C Taranto. After all, most of them were not merchants nor wealthy people, so they had to work in the fields all year round and have no time to travel to Taranto, which is only one gulf away. However, since the stiption does not allow them to enter Taranto, they could only visit the makeshift market in front of the camp.

    Hence why the merchants in Taranto began calling to them.

    ¡°Come take a look! The skin of a hippopotamus, a divine creature from the great eastern nation ¨C Egypt! Look at how thick it is! See, even if we were to sh it with a knife twice¡­there''s not even a mark on it! If you use this to make leather armour, it would not only be light but also strong, so you don''t have to worry about getting hurt in battle!¡±

    ¡°Brother, have you ever seen such a straight sword? Look, it has a sharp edge on both sides, and it''s very sharp!¡­it doesn''t matter, hold it and try it out¡­isn''t it a bit heavy? This is a short sword used by the natives of the Iberian Penins, and it is said that the reason why the Carthaginians have not been able to conquer the Iberian Penins is due to suffering from this weapon!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In order to earn the soldier''s money, the most important thing in this small market is to sell weapons, followed by food.

    ¡°Try this date from Libya. It''s small but very sweet, much sweeter than a fig!¡±

    ¡°Ostrich meat from Bedouin! You haven''t tasted it? Come and have a taste!¡­what is an ostrich?¡­erm, I will tell you, it is the biggest bird that I have ever seen. It''s as big as a horse, but it cannot fly and can only run. But it can run faster than a horse in the desert!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the famous trading city-state in Magna Graecia, Taranto had a more prosperous and more diverse range of goods than Thurii, as could be seen even in this makeshift market.

    The soldiers wandered around with great interest, but they did not just walk around without buying, as citizens and preparatory citizens of Theonia, they were allocatednd which was enough to feed and clothe them while selling their extra grain and livestock at the market for extra money, plus the share of spoils of war after every battle they won, hence why their pockets were still rtively full.

    Olivos was also one of the people who asked to go out while temporarily handing over the military affairs to his adjutant and strolled in the makeshift market to rx.

    At this time, he stood in front of a metal ornament booth, picked up a palm-sized gold ornament and looked at it carefully.

    ¡°This is a statue of Horus, an Egyptian god, carved from the hands of a famous master carver of the Temple of Memphis. See how exquisite the carving is? Wear it, and you will be blessed by Horus!¡± The merchant highly rmended it.

    Olivos gently shook his head, put the thing down and said regretfully, ¡°It is good, but I only believe in Hades.¡±

    ¡°Hades won''t me you for worshipping other gods asionally, and they handle different aspects¡­¡± The attitude of the Greeks towards the gods is close, but they are not obsessed with them, as they believed in multiple gods; when going out to sea, they would worship the god of the sea, when in battle, they would worship the god of war, in business, they would worship Hermes, and inpetitions, they would worship Apollo¡­that''s why the merchant tries to persuade him.

    But Olivos shook his head and left the stall.

    The merchant was so angry that he cursed behind Olivos'' back, ¡°The Theonians are blockheads!¡±

    If it had been before, Olivos would have turned back and argued with the merchant, but now he understood that his identity was now different, and he couldn''t even care.

    Further on, he saw some big tents set up in front of them, and in front of the tents stood some beautiful women, while a fat merchant called out, ¡°The cheapest price! The mostfortable enjoyment! Just for five drachmae, you can have a good time with the most beautiful girl in Taranto¡­¡±

    Olivos frowned; ever since that incident happened in Persia, he has changed his ways. And now, whenever someone mentions the word ¡°prostitution¡±, he felt disgusted.

    He turned around and walked back, but Timias took a fancy on him, rushed to him, grabbed him and shouted, ¡°Don''t go, seven drachmae for two girls. What do you think? This is already a big loss for me!¡±

    Olivos said nothing, and with a strong wave of his left hand, it caused Timias to fall back and sat down on the ground.

    After a long time of hard work and no business, the theatre owner of Taranto finally got angry and stood up and swore, ¡°Damned Theonians! A bunch of country bumpkins! You don''t even know how to enjoy happiness! What militaryw! I have never heard that in Taranto''s army. That is just a piece of crap that your lowly archon hase up with for the convenience of ruling you! He wants you to have no freedom, no democracy, and only obedience to his orders! If you don''t resist it, then you deserved to be ruled by a dictator and just obey him like ves!¡­¡±

    Olivos, who heard it, was boiling with rage and strode over.

    When the other soldiers on the side also heard these words, they all became furious: This fat man had insulted not only them but also insulted their grand legatus!

    In an instant, Timias was surrounded.

    Timias looked at the furious faces in horror and screamed, ¡°What do you want to do?! This is Taranto!-¡±

    Before he could even finish speaking, Olivos said, ¡°Beat him!¡± While throwing a right fist first, directly to Timias'' fat face¡­

    The Tarantines in the market heard the scream from the encirclement of the Theonian soldiers, but no one dared to stop them.

    Then came a salpinx sound at the right time.

    ¡°It''s the assembly call!¡± The soldiers eximed.

    All the soldiers in the makeshift market put down the things they were doing almost at the same time and quickly ran back to their camp, and in a sh, there was no more Theonian in the market.

    The speed at which the Theonian soldiers returned to camp was as if the previousmotion was just a dream, and only the theatre owner was lying on the ground groaning¡­

    When the gate of the camp opened again, a heavily armed army came out, marching out from the three camp gates: east, north and the south, at the same time, thus speeding up their exit.

    The merchants of Taranto were equally surprised at the sight of these Theonian soldiers, who were previously joking in the market, but this casualness did not affect their tidiness and speed of movement.

    The two legions left the camp, but they did not leave it unmanned. There was also a reserve of soldiers from the logistics camp and a thousand or so Theonian freemen as a supplement of the legion, who usually serve as guards and helpers of the logistics camp, will also participate in battles at critical times. Even though the tasks of these reserve soldiers are alsoplicated and arduous, countless freemen still scramble to join them every time they go to war because these will help the freemen to umte their merits and shorten the time needed to be a preparatory citizen.

    As a matter of fact, in addition to the soldiers of the seventh brigade, there are also the medical camp, engineering camp, logistics camp and reconnaissance camp¡­their real number far exceeds 7,000. If they march in Theonia, Davos will do his best to arrange the marching column even if the queue would extend the troops very long because the smooth and solid road system of Theonia would speed up their marching. But the suburbs of Taranto, the wealthiest city-state in South Italia, were surprisingly all dirt roads, and it is the same wherever they go. Thus, Davos simply divided the army into four groups, with each group having five columns*, and marched forward in a wide front.

    The road was dusty and noisy.

    Many Tarantines watched by the roadside, while having mixed feelings in the face of the mighty Theonian army, but in a time of crisis of their city-state, reinforcements in such arge number and such appearance had given them a sense of security in a time of fear and uncertainty.

    It wasn''t long before the Theonian army arrived outside Taranto.

    When Umakas was informed, he was surprised by the speed at which the Theonian army assembled, knowing that the soldiers of Taranto were still currently gathering in the square.

    Although Diaoms was also surprised, he retorted, ¡°The soldiers of Theonia are all in the camp, so they can immediately depart at the sound of the salpinx. Unlike us who still have to notify every town and every street¡­¡±

    So Umakas had to rush out of the city, apologise to Davos and ask the Theonian army to wait outside the city for a while, while inviting Davos into the city to have a drink and rest at his residence. After all, it was still noon in early autumn, and the sun was still scorching hot.

    However, Davos politely declined Umakas'' good intention. How could he leave his soldiers that are suffering while enjoyingfort alone?

    Before long, Teriphias led a thousand Heraclian soldiers out of the city to join the Theonian army.

    After a while, two thousand soldiers led by Taudeles had arrived as well.

    Only after more than an hour did the city gate of Taranto open again, and the noisy wailings of people could be heard¡­

    ¡°Hmph! Are we going to the battlefield or to a cemetery?! Why are they all crying like that? We are just going to fight the aborigines!¡­¡± Because of the incident in the morning, Olivos didn''t have a good impression of the Tarantines, so when he saw such a messy farewell, he was filled with sarcasm.

 Chapter 281: Retreat?

    Matonis was concerned about something else. After looking westward for a while, he said with a worried frown, ¡°The Tarantine army has taken so much time just to assemble! And I can also see that many of the Tarantine soldiers have barely reached adulthood. How effective can such an army be?!¡±

    ¡°Just don''t expect anything from them; when the timees, we will still be on our own. The only thing these delicate Tarantines have to do on the battlefield is to clean it up and collect the spoils for us after we defeat the enemy.¡± Said Olivos scornfully.

    ¡°Olivos, don''t underestimate the enemy! Lord Davos has said that the Messapians are not only fierce in battle but also have a tough personality and are not easy to deal with, so we must pay great attention and must unite the Tarantines and do our best to defeat them!¡± Reminded Giorgris.

    Giorgris is the senior centurion of the third legion, but ording to the new legion establishment rules: The officers and soldiers of the first and second legions should be citizens, preparatory citizens and freemen of Thurii and Amendra; While the third legion isposed of the people of Grumentum and Nerulum; And the fourth legion, on the other hand, must consist of the people of Krimisa and Aprustum. That was done mainly to facilitate the management of the army, training, mobilisation, marching, and for the improvement of efficiency, but of course, this would easily lead to the formation of various factions and parties that only considers the interest of their legion, but Davos had already considered it, as the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, at least at the early stage of the union, by increasing the transferring of the officers in the future it would solve the drawbacks. So Giorgris, who was still living in Amendra, and did not n to move elsewhere, was transferred from the third legion to the first legion while still serving as a senior centurion.

    Although Olivos had already gotten used on Giorgris'' picking on him, he was still unconvinced and also wanted to refute, but Alexius said, ¡°Giorgris is right. This war is different from past wars, as this involves cooperation with other city-states, especially Taranto, and we must not only take it very seriously, but we must be careful in our rtions with the Tarantines army. Otherwise, if our allies do not fully support us, then at a critical moment, doom will befall us. You all know that Thurii is a gulf away from here, which has made it difficult for us to return¡­¡±

    Alexius is a veteran senior centurion, so Olivos couldn''t say anything while the other senior centurions agreed with Alexius.

    Amintas pped Olivos on the shoulder and eximed, ¡°To tell you the truth, I also don''t like these feminine Tarantines! But in order to win, we have to bear it for the time being, and once we defeat the Messapians, I would like to see if the Tarantines would thank us!¡±

    With that, heughed, and so did Olivos.

    ¡°Alright, everyone, return to your own brigade, the Tarantine army has nowe out, and it¡¯s finally the time for us to form up and depart!¡± The legatus of the first legion ¨C Kapus, reminded everyone.

    Soon after, the big send-off crowd left the city gates, but the women hesitated to continue walking as the ground ahead sat andy a dense mass of Theonian soldiers who are talking loudly,ughing and saying rude words, many of whom have even shown their upper body, which made the conservative Tarantine women feel shy.

    While the Tarantine soldiers were dissatisfied with this and pointed to the Theonians, who were currently resting, and said some strange remarks.

    ¡°As expected, they are all just a boorish country-bumpkin!¡± Diaoms hadn¡¯t seen what the army of Theonia looked like when they first arrived with his own eyes, so after seeing this situation, he also expressed his dissatisfaction, ¡°Where is Davos? Have him gather his men quickly!¡± Diaoms used the word ¡°his men¡± to express his disdain.

    ¡°He should be there.¡± Umakas guessed and pointed to the biggest and most dazzling g in front of them.

    ¡°His military g is very fancy!¡± Diaoms snorted and rode together with Umakas.

    Like the people around him, Davos took off his armour and was only wearing a linen cloth while sitting on the mud and talking with the soldiers.

    Martius was the first to notice the archons of Taranto that wereing and whispered a few words in Davos'' ear, who then turned around to look.

    ¡°Lord Davos, when shall we leave?¡± Asked Umakas before Diaoms could.

    Davos nced at the restless looking Diaoms and said faintly, ¡°It''s time to depart. The soldiers had been waiting under the sun for more than an hour, and we were almost dried out.¡±

    Diaoms realised that this was a veiled criticism from Davos on the slow movement of the Tarantine army that led to the soldiers of Theonia being sox, so he could only cough a few times.

    ¡°Sound the salpinx and gather up!¡± Davis no longer entangled with this problem and gave his order decisively.

    As soon as the salpinx sounded, the soldiers who were resting in various positions moved quickly and helped each other in wearing their armour; And the officers at all ranks began calling their subordinates back, and the gmen waved the military gs and shouting their team''s name and indicating their positions.

    For a while, dust and noise were everywhere, but it soon became calm again.

    Diaoms could no longer see the sight of soldiers sitting around, chatting, sleeping and disorganised that was in front of him, but a queue of fully equipped and neatly arranged infantries¡­

    Diaoms took a deep breath of cold air. As a Tarantine strategos who had experienced many battles, he understood in his heart that to be able to do this meant that the army had rigorous training and a very strong discipline.

    Looking back at Taranto again, he could still see that the soldiers and the people are still hugging each other and saying their goodbyes, and some are even weeping in tears, having no sign about going out to meet the enemy in battle.

    Diaoms, whose face was hanging by a thread, without saying a word, turned his horse around and hurried back¡­

    At this moment, Teriphias and Taudeles had also arrived.

    Davos, already in military uniform, said seriously, ¡°Before we depart, we need to discuss the order of the march.¡±

    He nced at everyone then said, ¡°My advice is that the Theonian army would be at the front, Heraclea in the middle followed by Metapontum, and Taranto would be at the end.¡±

    As soon as Umakas heard this, he understood the intention of Davos. Once the enemy attacked, the Theonian army who stood in the front would block them, giving the troops at the back enough time to react and prepare.

    This suggestion is truly without selfish motives, and so Umakas nodded in agreement. Teriphias and Taudeles were, even more, had no objections, as their army was the weakest, and the only thing they desire is to be in the safe middle.

    ¡°ording to what you saidst time. The terrain from here to Manduria is t, so I will divide the army into five groups, widen the gap between and march side by side. It will not only make it easier to deal with the sudden attacks of the enemy, but it will also shorten the time for us to reach Manduria, and it will also help to protect the logistics by having them protected in the middle.¡± Continued Davos.

    Umakas hesitated for a moment. Although Davos said it with ease, if one hadn''t been trained in this aspect, the columns might get tangled with each other during the march.

    ¡°I''ll have to discuss this with Diaoms first.¡± Said Umakas cautiously.

    The other two had no objections as they had fewer soldiers and were easy to manage.

    ¡°Also, when sending out scouts, I suggest for it to be a mix of Theonian and Tarantine cavalry.¡± If one doesn''t know the enemy¡¯s situation at any time, it is equivalent to amander having no eyes and ears, so despite hearing that the Messapi cavalry are formidable, Davos had still ordered Ledes to bring 200 cavalrymen over by ship. As someone who hade from the future and had knowledge of ancient military history, cavalry was one of the arms that Davos wanted to focus on training. Therefore, even if there is some loss, making the Theonian cavalry understand the things they are missing and work hard to make up for is still worth making. At the same time, he brought with him Izam''s reconnaissance brigade to understand and familiarise the terrains and mountains of thisnd for the future.

    Since the start of the war, with the loss of the cavalry being great, some nobles had even refused to join the army, so Umakas greatly weed this proposal.

    When Umakas went back to convey to Diaoms the suggestion of Davos, Diaoms replied after a moment of thinking, ¡°What Theonia can do, Taranto can certainly do it as well!¡±

    After a reorganisation, the TheTa allied troops set off.

    As a matter of fact, the Messapi-Peuceti troops quickly withdrew and retreated to a camp 2 kilometres south of Manduria after knowing that the Greek army was departing. Thus the allied army of TheTa entered the city of Manduria at dusk without experiencing any fighting or even losing any scouts.

    The rendezvous with the defenders had boosted the morale of the soldiers, especially the Tarantines. At the same time, with their increase of strength, themander decided to take a rest for the night and advanced straight into the Messapi-Peuceti camp the next day. The only problem for them was that the small city of Manduria was overcrowded with nearly 30,000 men, and it was a challenge to arrange amodation for the soldiers.

    The next day, at daybreak, Solikos led a mixed cavalry team to the Messapi-Peuceti camp to find out the situation, but only to find it empty.

    At the same time, under the guidance of the Tarantine cavalry, the cavalry team was then divided into two groups. One will go all the way south, in the direction of Uzentum, while the other will go all the way east, in the direction of Brindisi, to continue searching the trace of the enemy.

    When Davos and the others were informed, they realised that the enemy was nning to run away, so they immediately assembled their troops. In the process, the cavalry came again to report that they found the trace of arge enemy army in the east.

    When hearing this, their first reaction was that the Messapi-Peuceti would retreat to Brindisi.

    ¡°We can''t let them retreat to Brindisi; otherwise, we would be forced to siege the city, which would cause the casualties of our soldiers to be very severe! We need to catch up with them and fight them on the spot!¡± Diaoms shouted impatiently, as the memory of the tragic situation of sieging Brindisi was still fresh in his mind.

 Chapter 282: The scheme of the Messapi-Peuceti Alliance

    Both Heraclea and Metapontum had sent troops to thest siege of Brindisi, so both archons and Umakas had learned their lesson the hard way.

    Davos agreed with this, but he had a vague feeling that something was wrong, however, he couldn''t pinpoint it out. As they have not found the trace of the enemy in the direction of Uzentum, the possibility of getting pincered between the front and back by the Messapi-Peuceti alliance was ruled out.

    So in order to pursue the enemy, the whole army moved quickly and even left behind the logistics in the city of Manduria while taking the 3,000 garrison troops, so now, the total number of the Tarantine army has reached 13,000, and the whole allied army has reached more than 30,000.

    They then pursued northwards in the same order as yesterday''s march. After 5 kilometres, they received another report from the scouts that the Messapi-Peuceti alliance had entered the mountains to the north.

    ¡®With Brindisi already in front of them, the huge Messapi-Peuceti army had instead gone to the mountains?!¡¯ Davos had some doubts, and Umakas, who was beside him, thought of something, and his expression became aghast.

    ¡°They may be going to the Anlen Hills!¡± Diaoms nervously said after hearing the report.

    Only after listening to both of them did Davos find out that the coastal corridors were not all thorny, forested and rugged mountains, but that there was a hilly area between the mountains that is not too difficult to traverse. Through it, one could reach the eastern part of Taranto. In the early days, the Messapians often used toe out of this area to harass the Tarantines. Later, when Taranto became strong, they began building defensive camps and guard towers near the exit of the hills to strengthen their surveince so that the Messapians, who were exhausted by their journey through the hills, were often repulsed by the Tarantines, who were waiting for them. Later, influenced by the Greeks, the Messapians gradually became civilised and were no longer used to mountain warfare. In addition, with the establishment of Manduria, they now had a more convenient base to attack Taranto, so in recent decades, the Messapians no longer use the Anlen Hills to break into Taranto''s territory.

    ¡°That is to say¡­the defensive camp in there has been abandoned?!¡± Davos realised this immediately.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Umakas was still thinking about how to say it when Diaoms immediately said, ¡°We have not abandoned the camp, it''s just that after Archytas'' army waspletely wiped out, and with the Messapi-Peuceti allianceunching arge-scale attack, most of the people that are outside the city have fled into the city, so we have naturally withdrawn the soldiers in the camp. Therefore, it would now be easy for the Messapians to enter ournd, destroy the fields we are about to harvest, burn our viges, and ughter the people who have not yet left! That is why we have to catch up and stop them at once! And repel them!¡±

    Diaoms had agitation on his expression, and Umakas was also looking worried, but Davos was not swayed. He paced back and forth as his brain began to think quickly.

    ¡°What are you hesitating about! If we don''t act now, we won''t be able to catch up to them!¡± Diaoms urged loudly.

    ¡°Why chase them!¡± Davos stopped in his track and reminded with a serious expression, ¡°Don''t forget what you said before, ¡®If the enemy retreats, we will immediately attack Brindisi and force the Messapians to fight a decisive battle against us.¡¯¡±

    Diaoms was unable to respond for a while, so Umakas hurriedly exined, ¡°Now the situation is different, as the Messapian army can rush into our territory and wreak havoc, which will cause panic among the people and they might even attack the city of Taranto!¡±

    ¡°Although the Messapi-Peuceti hasrge troops, Taranto is not easy to capture, whereas Brindisi is easy to take.¡± Davos pointed his finger ahead and spoke earnestly, ¡°Besides, it''s hard for heavy infantry to catch up with infantry, so it''s better to take the initiative to attack and capture Brindisi than to passively chase the Messapi-Peuceti and get led around by the nose. If they still don''te, then we will head north! I don''t believe that they will still note for a decisive battle!¡±

    Umakas bit his lips as it was hard for him to make a decision, while Diaoms still shook his head stubbornly, ¡°No! What the enemy wants to destroy is not your Theoniannd, so you naturally do not care! But that''s ournd, and I would rather drive them out of Taranto first and capture Bridisiter.¡±

    On hearing this, Davos became angry, ¡°Can you me me for that?! When during the war council, you neither marked it on the map nor exined that a god damned Anlen Hill that they could pass through in the mountains! The reason why I would not have us go there was because you said that the roads there wereplicated and the terrain is unfamiliar, so in case the enemy set an ambush there-¡±

    While speaking, Davos'' mind jolted and caught a sh of inspiration, ¡°I see! Now I see! Because of the cavalry! You have said before that the Messapian cavalry intercepted Taranto''s scout, causing great losses to your cavalry. But this time, we have not been attacked by the Messapian cavalry even now; why? Could it be that the Messapian cavalries have died from a gue?¡±

    Davos looked at everyone confidently and said in a more serious tone, ¡°No! The Messapians want us to know where their army is going, and they want us to follow them because they must have set up an ambush in Anlen Hills! So we definitely can''t go to Anlen Hills and bury the only army that can save Taranto there!¡±

    Umakas'' countenance changed by these words, and Diaoms became silent.

    ¡°I agree with lord Davos! We should attack Brindisi!¡± Eximed Teriphias.

    ¡°I agree.¡± Taudeles nodded in agreement.

    The two armymanders made their stance clear, which made the proposal of Davos be passed.

    Diaoms could only mount his horse with reluctance on his face.

    ¡°Lord Diaoms!¡± Davos called out in a loud voice, ¡°Remember that Theonia is here to help Taranto and not to be humiliated! As the archon of Theonia and the one elected as the suprememander of this expedition, if there is any more disrespect to the suprememander and disobedience, I see no need for this joint army to exist!¡±

    Davos'' words rang loudly, and a dead silence fell over the ce. Even Teriphias and Taudeles were shocked at the toughness of this seemingly gentle young archon.

    Umakas had to cough a few times and said, ¡°Lord Diaoms is just feeling anxious-¡±

    Davos interrupted him with a wave of his hand and said in a cold voice, ¡°Why does the Theonian army always win and remain undefeated? Because of discipline and obedience! An army of more than 30,000 men without a unifiedmand would have been a mess! Since we already know that it would be a failure, then why bother to go out to battle!¡±

    Under the threat of Davos and the gaze of everyone, Diaoms turned red, and under the invisible pressure, he finally squeezed out a sentence, ¡°I understand.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the Anlen Hills, the king of Peuceti ¨C Telemani, and the archons of the Messapian city-states, were waiting with bated breath, but the report of the scouts that have returned has dampened their enthusiasm.

    ¡°What did you say?! The Greeks did note this way and had instead continued to head east¡­Brindisi, their aim is Brindisi!¡± Eximed Telemani, he cared more about that coastal city than the Messapians because, for the archons, Brindisi is just an ally city, but for Telemani, it is a part of his new territory and a source of his wealth.

    ¡°Don''t worry, king of Peuceti.¡± Pasimeus, archon of Rudiae, encouraged, ¡°Our cavalry went to inform Bridisi yesterday, and I believe that the inhabitants should have already left temporarily before the Greeks could get there. Even if the Greeks were to enter the city, they would not get anything, and if they dare immigrate to Brindisi again, then we don''t mind getting another batch of Greek ves once we take it back! I think we should wait a little longer and let the cavalry make the burning of the viges in Taranto even more intense! I don''t believe that the Tarantines can continue heading east after they learn of this!¡±

    The words of Pasimeus calmed Telemani down, and after thinking about it, he said fiercely, ¡°Kill some of the Greeks we have captured in Brindisi, then throw their bodies on the road and see how the Greeks react!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Report!¡­more than a dozen smoke rises over the Anlen Hills and has caused the whole sky to ckened, and that there are many corpses of Tarantines scattered on the road, among them were women and children¡­¡±

    ¡°I just need you to watch the enemy''s movements and see if theye out of the hills!¡± Davos interjected on the report of the scout, ¡°Go back and tell your captain that he should send a Theonian cavalry the next time he reports!¡±

    The Tarantine scout rode away furiously.

    Davos only looked at the silent Umakas who was next to him and reminded him once again, ¡°The Messapians are tempting us to go to Anlen Hills, hence why we should not go!¡±

    Umakas frowned and remained silent.

    Davos no longer said anything. He then turned around and whispered to the herald ¨C Tolmides, ¡°Inform the officers to speed up the march and get away from that dangerous ce sooner.¡±

    All the mercenaries led by Xanticles have now be preparatory citizens because of their repeated military achievements. Philesius, the Chief of Military, has incorporated them all into the vacant 1st and 2nd legions, with Xanticles bing the senior centurion of the 6th brigade of the first legion. For a preparatory citizen, this was a high position, but most of the centurion and senior centurion in the army are members of the Persian expeditionary army, so they had instead felt that Xanticles'' position is lower. After all, he was one of the five leaders. Therefore, once he bes an official citizen, he will quickly be promoted.

    Tolmides, on the other hand, had the reputation of ¡°the first herald¡± in the mercenary troops before, and his ability to manage the rtions with all parties, a timely and urate manner when delivering orders and to get even the most uncooperative squad officers to ept and carry them out, have made him won the trust of the leaders.

 Chapter 283: Ambush and Counter-Ambush

    With Asistes upied with the local government matters, Davos has been without a suitable herald. And as the war expanded and the increasing number of men, Davos has be overwhelmed with theplexity of the situation and is in urgent need of assistance, and Tolmides is undoubtedly a suitable candidate. Therefore, Davos first appointed him to act as the acting herald, with the intention of slowly developing a team of staff to assist him in dealing with military matters of the expedition.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Instead of returning immediately to the Anlen Hills, the Tarantine scout went to the Tarantine army and reported the situation to Diaoms in a more exaggerated way.

    Before Diaoms could respond, the soldiers around him began shouting, ¡°Milord, we can''t ignore the Messapians ughtering our families and burning our fields! Those outsiders pretended that they do not know anything, for it is not their city that suffered!¡±

    ¡°That''s right! We can''t take orders from those outsiders! We will go fight the Messapians and avenge our loved ones ourselves!¡±

    ¡°Go to Anlen Hills, chase those Messapians and kill them!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The roar of the soldiers gradually made the Tarantine soldiers find out about the situation, and this collective fanaticism infected every Tarantine soldier, which in turn increased themotion of the army and in turn got out of hand.

    Diaoms was also infected, but he could still think more. After getting elected as an archon, he himself promoted the war against the Messapians, but now that the war has caused severe damage to Taranto, however, due to the war situation being critical, the Tarantines still did not have the time to deal with the one responsible for this mess. Now, in the face of boiling public opinion, if he still ignores it, then even if they take back Brindisi, the angry citizens will expel him from the city-state and leave him to bear a lifetime of humiliation!

    Diaoms forced himself to forget the fear that Davos had left in his heart when he lost his temper. Facing the army with boiling morale, he finally made up his mind, ¡°Order the whole army to turn left and hasten towards the Anlen Hills!¡±

    The soldiers erupted into cheers and immediately began to move.

    When the Tarantines army left, the first to notice was the people of Metapontum that were in front of them, which rmed Taudeles, so he immediately sent someone to inform Davos.

    ¡°Bastard! Bloody bastard!¡± Davos lost control of his emotions after hearing about it, for his worst fear hase true.

    After calming his mood, he turned to the other archon of Taranto, who had been silent, and said, ¡°Lord Umakas, the situation is urgent. I need you to dissuade Diaoms and let him return together with his troops at once!¡±

    Umakas shook his head, ¡°I know Diaoms. He is as stubborn as a rock, and since he has decided to disobey your orders, it is impossible to persuade him to return!¡±

    Davos looked at him in the eye and said in anger, ¡°So you mean that you are not going?!¡±

    Umakas'' eye twitch, ¡°I mean, it''s useless to go as I can''t persuade him.¡±

    ¡°Tolmides!¡± The roar of Davos startled Umakas, who was uneasy.

    ¡°Yes, lordmander!¡± Came a powerful reply from Tolmides.

    ¡°Go find that bastard and tell him, ¡®If you don''te back, I will immediately lead my troops back to Theonia.¡¯ Go and return quickly!¡± Davos gave the order with indignation.

    ¡°Roger!¡± Tolmides nodded cautiously and mounted his horse.

    ¡°Da¡­lord Davos, will you really-¡± Umakas asked cautiously, but Davos shouted at him impatiently, ¡°Shut up!¡±

    Davos was furious as this was the first time that someone has disobeyed orders since leading an army! The two archons sang in chorus like a snake and mouse. At the same time, he thought that he should no longer participate in such a coalition in the future. Since its creation, he had not had a smooth ride, and he had spent most of his on bncing the rtionship with Taranto''s army, and now, they had dragged them down and were in danger of defeat. Is it really necessary to return immediately?

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Milord, if the Theonians were to leave, our forces will no longer be equal to therge number of Messapi-Peuceti!¡± The adjutant of Taranto''s army said anxiously while watching at the departing herald of Theonia.

    ¡°Don''t fret. The Theonians will definitely follow! Isn''t the Theonian always iming that they keep their ¡®promises¡¯?! Since they want to be the leader of the Greek city-states in South Italia, if they were to abandon their allies and flee the battlefield before the war even begins, then who will be willing to trust Theonia if such cowardly behaviour is known to the other city-states!¡± Diaoms was confident on the surface but was still uneasy on the inside.

    So he ordered, ¡°Have the soldiers slow down their march.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Tolmides told Davos of Diaoms'' refusal, Davos had already recovered hisposure.

    ¡°Got it.¡± Davos replied lightly.

    ¡°Lord Davos, what shall we do now?¡± Asked Taudeles.

    Davos looked at everyone. After taking into ount the concerns of Umakas, the uneasiness of Taudeles, and the casualness of Teriphias, he firmly said, ¡°Have the whole army turn around and reinforce that idiot!¡±

    Umakas showed his gratitude, and Taudeles became at ease, and only Teriphias asked, ¡°What if there is an ambush in Anlen Hills?¡±

    ¡°All the more reason to go, not to save Diaoms, but to save thousands of Tarantine citizens!¡± Now that he has decided to go, Davos will undoubtedly have to make his words sound better. In fact, the reason why he wanted to reinforce is not only what Diaoms has said, but also the fact that Heraclea had already be close with Theonia and Metapontum is already starting to waver, but if Taranto were to suffer a heavy defeat in this battle, it would no longer be possible to stop the Messapi-Peuceti, and these fierce aborigines could always go north along the coast and invade Metapontum at any time and threaten Heraclea, so Theonia will have to send troops to rescue them. Therefore, it''s better to save Taranto''s army while they are on the battlefield, repel the Messapi-Peuceti and maintain the bnce of power in thisnd. As the founder of Theonia, temporarily bearing his dislike of the archon of Taranto is nothing as long as it is for the sake of the union''s strength.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Anlen Hills are, in fact, the junction of two mountain ranges and dotted withrge and small hills, most of whom are several dozen metres high and rounded at the top, which, when viewed from above, looks likerge green mushrooms, which present a strange natural beauty.

    But for those who want to pass through it, it is a disaster. Although the hills are not high, they are wide and sloping, not easy to climb. Besides, the hills are continuous, so the only way to pass through them with less effort is to pass through the gentle areas between them, making the original straight path be tortuous. Moreover, as few people have passed through here for decades, the green grass has now grown everywhere, submerging the paths that were once on the open.

    The Tarantine army saved a lot of trouble finding their way with the scouts, who had followed the Messapi-Peuceti, leading the way, and the pirs of smoke in the distance as a mark. During their journey, everything went well except for the soldiersining about the difficult path and that they didn''t even see any sign of the Messapians or even the Peucetians.

    And when he received words from the scouts who had arrived that the Theonian army had also entered Anlen Hills, Diaomsughed, ¡®Young man, you are not even close to beating me!¡¯

    He breathed out his displeasure and looked into the distance, the heavy smoke was not too far, and he estimated that they could probably reach there after a few more hills.

    They could already see the corpses of Tarantines on the grass, each one dying a miserable way, which aroused the anger of the soldiers as if they could hear the helpless cries of help and the screams of their loved ones not far away, and as if their tired bodies were filled with strength again. Hence, they involuntarily sped up, and the whole column was soon stretched out due to the narrow path and bing even more scattered and weak.

    Then the Messapians'' salpinx suddenly rang out among the hills, which struck the hearts of every Tarantine soldier like a heavy hammer, and Diaoms, who was pleased with himself for having fooled Davos, turned instantly pale¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Catch up with them! Don''t let them escape!¡± Solikos anxiously yelled at his men.

    Although the Theonian cavalry chased at full speed regardless of danger and even having their teammates asionally falling off their horses because of the rough mountain path, the distance between them and the fleeing Messapian cavalry was still getting farther and farther.

    The Messapians manoeuvred their horses as if they were part of their bodies, running at full speed through the mountain path without any obstacle, leaving Solikos and the others sigh in disbelief and watching helplessly as the Messapians cavalry got away.

    At this time, the shout of their ¡°legatus¡± came from the rear of Solikos. When he turned around, he saw Ledesing.

    With one hand on the reins, he saluted to Ledes. The Theonian cavalry is an independent unit, with a total number of less than a thousand men, and does not belong to any legion. Although Ledes is only a senior centurion, his position is somewhat simr to that of a legatus.

    Looking at the back of the Messapians who are already far away, with a serious expression, he turned to look at Solikos and said, ¡°A lot of Messapi-Peuceti cavalries might soone, so we must do all our might to stop them from finding out the direction of the army for as long as possible!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± Solikos responded at once but felt the weight of the task in his heart. He had heard that the Messapian cavalries could number in the thousands and were highly skilled in horse riding, not something that the Theonian cavalry, which hade with only 200 riders or so, could stop. Fortunately, the hills are numerous, which is not only not favourable to the spreading of troops and detouring off the cavalries, but they also cannot bring the advantage of the enemy¡¯srge number of cavalry into y.

    Seeing his nervousness, Ledes added, ¡°Lord Davos has sent over 200 peltasts to help us, and they will soon be here.¡±

 Chapter 284: Battle of Anlen Hills (I)

    Solikos was relieved from hearing this, as he knew the power of the peltast of the 7th brigade of the first legion, especially in a narrow mountain path where there is not enough room to dodge, it would be difficult to avoid the javelin throw of the peltast.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Pasimeus, archon of Rudiae, led the soldiers of the city-state alliance of Messapi to rush down the hills on both sides and attack the Tarantines in the mountain path.

    While the Peucetians and the Alytian soldiers did not join the battle after finding out that the Theonians had entered the Anlen Hills as well.

    Telemani hopes to see them rush to reinforce the Tarantines so that even if they had more soldiers than the Peucetians, a second ambush would still be able to wipe them out.

    But the report of the scouts that have returned dashed his hopes.

    ¡°What?! The Theonians didn''t enter that mountain path and had instead disappeared?!¡± Telemani sprang to his feet and yelled, ¡°And you have the nerve to say that you don''t know? Don''t think that just because you are a Messapian, I would not dare punish you! You must go find out where the Theonians have gone!¡±

    ¡°King of Peuceti, the Theonians had suddenly sent hundreds of cavalries to encircle our scouts, and it¡¯s already their luck to escape.¡± Timogeras, the archon of Alytia, came forward and calmed him, ¡°The Theonians will certainlye to rescue the Tarantines. The main point is for us to find out the direction they would appear, and it is only in that way we would be able to intercept them in time. Otherwise, the situation would be more dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Send out all the cavalries and search for them as quickly as you can! I don''t believe they can hide an army of tens of thousands of men!¡± Telemani shouted indignantly, the cunning Theonians had clearlye prepared and made all of Telemani''s arrangements go down the drain while thinking about the fact that the Theonian army had ignored the temptation of the Messapi-Peuceti and marched straight to Brindisi earlier and made Telemani realise that he had underestimated themander of Theonia.

    ¡°What''s the name of the youngmander of Theonia?¡± Telemani asked with seriousness.

    ¡°It seems¡­it is Davos.¡± Replied Timogeras.

    Telemani repeated the name a few times, with his eyes lighting up with excitement.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the ce where the Tarantines were ambushed as the centre of the circle, the cavalries fought on every mountain path and on the lower slopes of every hill in a half fan area to the south, while Davos seize the opportunity to spread the mountain reconnaissance brigade to scout ahead and lead the army to the ce where the sound of battle is.

    However, Davos had not expected that although the hills here are not too high, they covered arge area and that sometimes the hills were so connected that there was no path through them, besides passing through the low ces between the hills. Their original n was to make a slight detour to the east to avoid the ambush of the Messapi-Peuceti and rush to the rear of the enemy and rescue the Tarantine soldiers. However, that slight detour has instead be longer.

    With the increasing distance, the soldiers of Heraclea and Metapontumined endlessly. And the soldiers of Theonia also had some discontent in their hearts, but few people spoke it out.

    While Umakas was extremely anxious due to the scouts¡¯ report and the distant sound of fighting has shattered his wishful thinking, ¡®The Messapians had indeed set up an ambush!¡¯

    As soon as he thought of the warning of Davos, remorse filled his heart as he tasted the bitter fruit of his failure to trust Davos more firmly and prevent Diaoms from acting arbitrarily.

    At this moment, he pinned all his hopes on Davos, but he did not urge him so as not to annoy the young military genius and affect their rescuing of the Tarantine army.

    Davos was also anxious, and he was also irritated due to the long march in the mountains and seeing the soldiers¡¯ exhaustion. From hearing the sounds of fighting and screaming bing clearer, the battlefield should be not far ahead, but he was unsure if there were any more difficult hills they needed to pass that would force them to take a long detour.

    ¡°Lordmander, Izam has returned!¡± Shouted Tolmides.

    ¡°Quick! Bring him here quickly!¡± Davos hurried forward to greet him.

    ¡°Lordmander, ahead¡­there is no need to take a detour, and we can go straight through¡­¡± Izam panted heavily. After giving a military salute, he said eagerly, ¡°There are only two more hills to pass before we reach the battlefield. However, my subordinates have spotted the enemy rushing here as well!¡±

    Davos calmed down, after all, with so much time passing, it''s natural that the Messapi-Peuceti alliance discovered the movement of his army, and since they were already on the inner circle, they no longer feel it is a pity. Besides, the other side is in a hurry, so they surely do not have any defensive measures, and an ambush is even more unlikely. As long as they do not have to take another detour, the Theonian army fears no one in a frontal confrontation!

    At his request, Izam drew a simple map on the ground using a branch.

    After pointing out the main points and asking them in detail, Davos already thought up a n in his mind, ¡°Order the whole army to go through behind the hill quickly and then form up. The first legion would be on the left, the second on the right, and the rest are to be in reserve!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Tolmides replied excitedly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In fact, the Theonian reinforcements have made a big detour as they were already approaching the exit of the Anlen Hills, which is equivalent to reaching the rear of the Messapi-Peuceti alliance, where the terrain gradually levelled off.

    Endless hillsy in front of the Theonian army after crossing the mountain path. Fortunately, these hills were no more than 30 meters in height and easy to climb.

    After going over it, they would reach the battlefield! The Theonian soldiers listened to the sound of battleing from the other side of the hill and watched as more and more foreign enemies appear on the hill as theirbativeness began to boil¡­

    ¡®We finally caught up!¡¯ The king of the Peuceti climbed the hills and let out a long exhale. He then looked at the Greek soldiers who were pouring out of the path in front of him.

    ¡°My king, look there!¡± A Peucetian general pointed down the hill. Several Greeks, wearing brightly coloured helmets, were galloping along the path in front of the hills, stopping from time to time to point and discuss something while being followed by a group of soldiers, one of whom was holding a shining golden military banner.

    ¡°DA-V-OS!¡± Telemani murmured the name, which he found a bit awkward to pronounce, and took a few steps forward, subconsciously trying to get a better look at his opponent.

    ¡°My king, do you want me to send some archers to shoot them?¡± Asked the Peucetian general.

    ¡°Of course not!¡± Telemani refused without even thinking about it. He looked at his men and said with a slightly excited appearance, ¡°Let''s have a real battle with the young Greek strategos and the Greek Hoplite!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos carefully controlled his horse and galloped back and forth along the road to observe the whole terrain of the battlefield.

    ¡°Where do you think would be the easiest ce for us to break through?¡± Asked Davos suddenly.

    ¡°There!¡± Kapus and Drakos pointed to the same ce at the same time.

    It was the lowest point between the endless hills, only four meters high. It is not only gentle but also wide enough.

    Davos nodded but reminded, ¡°The easiest ce to break through is often the ce where the enemy defends the most tightly!¡±

    He stared at both of them with a gleaming gaze, ¡°Now, the Tarantine army is under siege, and time is of the essence, so I am going to have Amintas'' brigade attack there and try to break through the enemy line in the shortest possible time!¡± Antonios'' first brigade has the strongestprehensivebat strength, but the brigade led by the brave Amintas did have a stronger impact, and what Davos needed most at this time was time.

    Kapus nodded to show his understanding, while Drakos wanted to say something, but he did not say anything after hearing Davos.

    ¡°When the legions are ready, you willunch the attack on your own!¡± Davos gave the order decisively.

    After Kapus and Drakos gave their military salute, they hurriedly returned to their legion.

    ¡°Let the armies of Heraclea and Metapontum spread out on the right side of the second legion as far as possible so that they can attack immediately once the second legionunches their attack.¡± Davos continued to give orders.

    ¡°Understood, lordmander!¡± Tolmides and two heralds immediately went back to the path behind them.

    When Davos finished all the arrangements, Umakas asked with suspicion, ¡°Why did lord Davos put Teriphias and Taudeles on the right? Wouldn''t this make the enemy''s formation on our left longer than ours?¡±

    ¡°We should arrange our formation ording to the actual situation so that we can have the initiative in every battle. Our aim now is to break through the enemy''s obstruction and rescue the Tarantine army, while the enemy¡¯s aim is to stop us from advancing. The reason why we have more soldiers on the right-wing than the enemy is to have an easier time making a breakthrough on the right-wing. Therefore, even if the enemy manages to block our left-wing, the right-wing would be able to break through, which would be equal to defeating the enemy''s attempt to intercept us¡­¡± After giving his orders, Davos had some free time, so he patiently exined to Umakas, ¡°Besides, don''t you see that the further you go to the right, the more gentle the hill bes(because it''s close to the edge of the hill), allowing the slightly weaker Heraclea and Metapontum troops to give full y to their strength.¡±

    ¡°But the enemy can see our formation on the top of the hill, and they will certainly make a change.¡± Reminded Umakas.

    Davos smiled confidently, ¡°They don''t have time.¡±

    Umakas was curious and wanted to ask why they do not have enough time when he heard Davos shouting, ¡°Matonis, why aren¡¯t you leading your troops?!¡±

    ¡°Davos¡­oh, lordmander!¡± Seeing that Davos looked seriously, Matonis suddenly became nervous, ¡°I¡­I request¡­that my brigade attack there.¡± Matonis pointed his finger in the distance to the breakthrough that they have discussed earlier.

 Chapter 285: Battle of Anlen Hills (II)

    ¡°I promise that my soldiers would ughter them in the shortest possible time!¡± After remembering the purpose of hising here, Matonis gathered his courage and said it loudly.

    Davos'' face sank, ¡°Nonsense! Do you think that this is a rugby game that you can do whatever you want?! Hurry back tomand your brigade. If it affects the attack of the whole army, the militaryw will not spare you!¡±

    After seeing Matonis left with resentment, Davos turned to Tolmides and said, ¡°Tell Amintas that Matonis has asked to rece his brigade on the grounds that the third brigade of Matonis can do a better job, and at the same time, tell him to figure it out himself.¡±

    Tolmides immediately understood the intention of Davos and rode away.

    Umakas had mixed feelings when he saw that Davosmanded his strategoi and soldiers like his arms, not at allparable to the strategoi temporarily appointed by Taranto.

    ¡°Lord Umakas, Let''s go up the hill.¡± Said Davos as he led his guards to the hill behind them.

    ¡°Eh?¡± Umakas asked in amazement, ¡°Lord Davos, aren''t we going to take part in the battle?¡±

    ¡°If I take part in the attack, who will direct the battle?¡± Laughed Davos.

    ¡°Do you still need tomand after the battle begins?¡± Umakas, who had also taken part in many battles when he was young, could not understand how an archon could ¡°hide¡± behind his troops instead of taking the lead. However, he could clearly see that the soldiers behind Davos looked as though it was natural and did not think their archon was a coward.

    Umakas could only follow with doubts.

    ¡°Lordmander, I¡­what should my brigade do?¡± Izam rushed up to him and asked him directly. Now his men havepleted the task of scouting the road and are returning from various directions.

    ¡°Your brigade¡­¡± Davos turned to look at the reconnaissance men gathering not far away, and he had almost forgotten about this vital force. He thought about it and said, ¡°For the time being, they will act as a reserve and have them first hide in the mountain path we came from and rest.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­as reserves?!¡± Izam was not satisfied after hearing it.

    ¡°Don''t worry, fighting in the mountain is your speciality, so after the battle begins, you are all indispensable.¡± Comforted Davos.

    Izamughed.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°How did it go? I told you that you would fail! You still don''t understand Davos even after you have been with him for so long. Once the battle starts, he ispletely like a different person, and no matter how close you are with him, he will strictly required you to obey orders; otherwise¡­hmph¡­¡± Olivos saw the dejected Matonis returning, so heforted him while making a joke.

    Matonis ignored him and went straight to the military banner of his brigade.

    ¡°Strategos, all centuria have formed up!¡± His adjutant came forward to report.

    ¡°Gather all the centurions. There is something I need to say!¡± Said Matonis with a calm expression.

    Soon after, five centurions arrived.

    ¡°All of you listen. I have only one request, and that is for all the soldiers to attack with all their might and for our third brigade be the first to break through the enemy lines!¡± Matonis looked straight at them and said decisively, ¡°Which centuria, which toon, which squad, which soldiers not performing well, will not only get a scolding from me!¡±

    ¡°Roger!!¡± The centurions answered loudly without feeling the pressure; on the contrary, all of them looked excited.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Brothers, listen, take off your helmets!¡± A squad leader gave the order.

    Although the soldiers took off their heavy Corinthian helmets as ordered, some of the recruits were surprised, ¡°War is about to begin, so why do we have to take off our helmets instead? Wouldn''t that make it easier to get hurt?¡±

    The veterans who have gone through the expedition in Persia and had fought in many mountain battles told them, ¡°We have to climb up and fight with our heads up; the helmets are too heavy and tend to make us fall. Moreover, the eyehole of the helmet is small, and when we tilt our heads, the helmets will slide backwards and tend to block our view, which is not good during battles¡­¡±

    ¡°But without the protection of helmets, we would easily get wounded!¡± The recruits are still worried.

    ¡°You still have a shield.¡± The old soldiers posed, holding his shield above his head and lean his body forward, ¡°See! The round shield and the slope would protect you from injury!¡± At this point, he sighed, ¡°It''s a pity that we couldn''t wear our new helmets this time; otherwise, it would be no problem to climb and fight with them on!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°King, look at the right-wing of the enemy!¡± The Peucetian general, Pulo, pointed down the hill: Behind the ¡°phnx¡± formation of the Greeks, there was a steady stream of troops moving towards the far-right¡­

    ¡°They clearly have more people on the right than on the left! We don''t have that many troops on our side, so if we want to form a formation as long as theirs, we''d have to thin our formation, which would weaken the defence, but if we don''t do anything, their soldiers would go around the outside of our left-wing and attack our nk¡­¡±

    Telemani frowned as he watches the changes at the foot of the hill. He understood the enemy¡¯s intention and saw that the enemy had only formed ¡°small phnxes¡± one after another and did not form arge phnx formation, hence why he thought that there was still enough time for them to adjust.

    The Peucetian troops were on the top of the hill, so Davos could not see the approximate number of the Messapi-Peucetis. As a matter of fact, the army of Telemani is less than 12,000, together with the more than 3,000 Messapian soldiers of Alytia, which totalled about 15,000. Inparison, Theonia alone has about 14,000 men in the two legions, plus a thousand mountain reconnaissance brigade, and abined 3,000 men from Heraclea and Metapontum, a full 3,000 more men than the Messapi-Peucetis alliance that are in front of them.

    With Telemani being outnumbered, his greatest strength was the hill, and he must not lose this advantage. So he made an immediate decision, ¡°Pulo, quickly take 1,500 men to reinforce our left-wing!¡±

    Just as the Peucetians began to deploy their troops to the left in a panic, the salpinx suddenly sounded at the foot of the hill.

    Telemani was greatly shocked, ¡®The Greeks were in a hurry that they would even attack before they couldplete their phnx?¡¯

    To his puzzled gaze, the ¡°small phnxes¡± formed by the Theonians had begun to move slowly forward. When he turned to look at his own army, although the Peucetians did not have tightly arrange phnxes like the Greeks, they also have a neat and orderly formation, but due to deploying his troops, his soldiers are now in a mess.

    ¡°Pulo, stop the deployment!¡± He hurriedly ordered.

    ¡°Understood! But what about the left-wing?¡±

    Telemani thought for a moment and said, ¡°Go and tell Timogeras to bring all the cavalries that are idle to help our left-wing!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Teriphias likewise did not expect the Theonians to start attacking so soon, while his army was still on its way to the right-wing.

    ¡°Milord, what shall we do?!¡± Asked his subordinate anxiously.

    ¡°Let''s go to our position first.¡± Said Teriphias while striving to maintain hisposure.

    Fortunately, because of the advance of the Theonian army, the path became less narrow and more convenient for them to march.

    When Davos heard the salpinx, he couldn''t help but praise, ¡°The first legion sure move fast!¡±

    Then the salpinx on the right sounded.

    He nodded, ¡°The second legion is not slow either!¡±

    ¡°Lordmander!¡± Tolmides came rushing from the foot of the hill and said while panting, ¡°The troops of Heraclea and Metapontum have not still arrived at their predetermined positions and cannotunch an attack.¡±

    ¡°No need to fret, as it is better for us for their attack to be dyed.¡± Said Davos calmly, as if everything was under control.

    Tolmides was intelligent, so he understood what Davos meant after getting a reminder. If the soldiers of Heraclea and Metanpontum, who are weak, were to attack at the same time, they will be at a disadvantage against the fierce Messapi-Peucetis alliance and will probably suffer a loss and be a drag for the whole army. Therefore, theirte arrival will put the enemy at a loss and make the enemy engage the second legion, making thete arrival of Teriphias and his 3,000 men an extra surprise on the battlefield!

    Umakas, on the other hand, could not be as rxed as Davos. His heart began to beat as fast as the sound of the salpinx, and his gazes moved with the movement of the troops at the foot of the hill. The battle of nearly 40,000 men was about to begin, and the victor of this battle would decide the fate of the Tarantine army¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Tarantine army, whose fate was about to be decided, is not far from the battlefield. On the narrow winding mountain path, their 3-kilometre long column was ambushed by the Messapians and thrown into confusion and panic,pletely disorganised and out ofmand, and left to fight on their own.

    Diaoms did not have the time to regret not listening to Davos, as he shouted loudly to cheer up the soldiers around him to fight bravely for survival. But on the heated battlefield, his voice is like a stone thrown into a torrent, making no difference.

    The Messapians attack from both sides, graduallypressing them into the mountain path, making it difficult for them even to swing their spears.

    Diaoms was in despair as his ears were filled with the shrill cries of the soldiers¡­

    At this moment, amotion arises from both sides of the battlefield¡­

    ¡°Salpinx! It''s the salpinx! Our reinforcements areing!¡± The soldiers¡¯ cheers burst into the numb ears of Diaoms, making him perk up and listen carefully.

    The noises that filled the whole sky could not cover the sharp salpinx, which has broken through many obstacles and faintly echoes in the valley where the noise of battle was so loud¡­

    The image of Davos immediately came to Diaoms mind, but at this moment, instead of disgust, he eximed with delight, ¡°Citizens, hold on! The Theonians areing!¡±

    Needless to say, the soldiers who have seen the hope to live had naturally had their morale rise. And the Messapians stepped up their attacks¡­

 Chapter 286: Battle of Anlen Hills (III)

    ¡°Archers, prepare!¡± Once Pulo saw the Greeksing into range, he immediately gave the order. The height difference of tens of meters not only extended the range of the archers and enhanced the lethality of the arrows, and at the same time, it shortened the range of the archers on the other side. As a result, the long-range firepower of the Messapi-Peuceti alliance was at a great advantage, such as the benefit of having the high ground.

    But just as the Peucetians pulled their bows, countless ck dots whizzed from the foot of the hill, hitting the Peucetians with inferior equipment and causing the archers to scream in pain.

    ¡®The Greeks have slingers!¡¯ A chill rose in the heart of Telemani.

    Unfortunately for Davos, the two light infantry brigades of the two legions ¨C Epiphanes and Cid, only had about 400 slingers under theirmand, which was not enough to suppress the enemy, and the only thing they can do is disrupt their shooting.

    The arrows continued to fall like raindrops, prompting the soldiers to hold their shields above their heads and advance slowly step by step. Unfortunately, the terrain had limited them from using the hoplite''s killer weapon, ¡°charge¡±, and they could only endure the noise of arrows pecking at the bronze shield and making ¡°ng ng ng¡± noise.

    When they began climbing the mountain, javelins hit their shields fiercely, causing some soldiers to be injured.

    The wounded soldiers then fell to the ground, huddling together and covering themselves with the shields as they wait for the medical camp to rescue them.

    In the middle of the battlefield, the hoplites of Alytia were stationed at the ce where Theonia focused their attack ¨C the lowest point of the terrain.

    ¡°Come on! Hurry up!¡­¡± Amintas kept urging the soldiers, as he did not want to lose to Matonis, a junior in the mercenary. Therefore, he broke the rules of Theonia''s militaryw and took the lead in fighting at the forefront of the brigade, which made the soldiers who had been tired after a long march be excited and followed closely behind.

    While charging through the rain of arrows to a distance more than 20 metres from the enemy, the whole brigade suddenly stopped their advance.

    ¡°Defence!¡± Timogeras gave a loud order as he thought that the enemy was about to charge.

    Even if the gentle slope here is only a few metres high, this height is still enough for the Greeks to pay a heavy price!

    However, what came was not the Greeks¡¯ charge, but nearly a thousand javelins, which to the horror of the Messapians, drove powerfully into their phnxes with whistling wind, raising a chorus of screams.

    Timogeras had no idea that the Theonian hoplites could throw javelins, he shouted in exasperation without even caring about his surprise, ¡°Shields up! Use your shield to defend!¡­¡±

    Amintas quickly took out his second javelin and roared, ¡°Rush with me!¡± With that, he was the first to rush to the enemy with a shield in his left hand and a javelin in his right.

    The soldiers followed.

    Timogeras was surprised: Normally, the Greeks hoplites would have broken up from their formation when charging, but the enemy on the opposite side still managed to maintain a basic formation, charging in fast like a thick wall of iron which made him feel suffocated.

    ¡°Defence! Defence!¡± He hoarsely shouted in a somewhat panicked voice.

    However, the soldiers were not able to recover from their panic due to the javelins, while the brigade of Amintas arrived in a sh, stepping on the gentle slope a few metres high, took a few strides and with the help of momentum, they pushed forward with their left arm that was holding the shields, ¡°Bang!¡­¡± After the sound of continuous metallic impact, the Messapian soldiers, who were unable to defend themselves together due to the chaotic formation, were forced to retreat unconsciously to ease the impact.

    This retreat made it impossible for the dense mass of Messapian soldiers to take care of theirrades who fell to the ground from either getting stabbed by javelins or tripped by those at their back. On the back was the panic shouting of theirrades while only on the front were javelins stabbing towards them like poisonous snakes. For a moment, they were in a mess and could only continue to fall back, which allowed most of the soldiers of Amintas'' brigade to step on the slope.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the leader of the seventh brigade of the second legion, Cid has a habit of praying before a battle.

    He is not the only one doing it but also asks his men to do it together. In the past, he prayed to Ares, the god of war, but after following Davos, he changed his worship to Theonia''s patron god ¨C Hades, the god of the underworld. After singing the ode of Hades, he stood up and said, ¡°The slingers are to continue attacking the enemy here, while the archers will follow the infantry closely. Once in range, shoot the enemy on the hill. Peltast, follow me!¡±

    The peltast captain, Satirus, quickly advised, ¡°Strategos, you should continuemanding and let me lead our brothers to attack.¡±

    Cid red at him, ¡°Now is a good chance for us to prove our peltast. So how can I hide behind!¡± In recent months, opinions sprung up in the army that the role of peltast has be dispensable as we already have the archers and slingers for long-range attacks and the hoplite throwing javelins for close-range attacks, so it is better to abolish this branch and rece it with light-armoured soldiers simr to the mountain reconnaissance brigade.

    Naturally, Epiphanes and Cid, who grew up as peltast, strongly opposed this opinion and always expressed their thoughts to Davos that the peltast can never be reced, that they can''t be reced!

    Now is the time to prove the value of the peltast.

    Epiphanes and Cid led nearly 500 peltasts; they scattered in pairs and in groups of three as they pass through the gaps in the ¡°fish-scale formation¡± of the hoplites.

    Leotychides'' toon was at the forefront of the front line, and he himself was in the middle of the first column of the toon''s phnx. On that day, he was locked up for half a day for assaulting hisrades, originally, he had to be punished by the military stick, but considering that the war was about to start, the military inspector postponed the punishment until after the war and allowed him to atone for his crime by doing meritorious service.

    At this moment, Leotychides had already started climbing. Although he was not wearing a helmet, he was still carrying more than 40 kilograms of equipment and even had to carry weapons in both hands, so it was not easy to stabilise his body. Fortunately, it was early autumn, it was warm and dry, and grasses overgrew the hills; even though it hadn''t rained for ten days, the soil was still soft, and when you take a step on it, it will leave a small pit. Leotychides and his teammates slowly made their way up, one step at a time.

    While the Messapians attacked them with even more ferocity, throwing their javelins from more than 30 metres high and directly hitting the shields, causing huge impacts. Most of them could pierce the bronze shields, and the remaining force had even pushed Leotychides backwards, so he quickly trusted the end of his spear into the soil to stabilise his body.

    Some of the soldiers had already lost their bnce from what he could see due to the impact. They slipped down and had even dragged down theirrades that were behind. Fortunately, the Theonians'' peculiar offensive formation is like a sawtooth, neither continuous nor dense, so it did not affect the orderly advance of the whole army.

    Since Leotychides entered the training camp, he became interested in Theonia''s unique formations and found that these formations were moreplex than the traditional Greek phnx formations; not only was it very effective, it was also very suitable for all terrains. After analysing it privately, he thought it was more ingenious than Sparta''s tactics, which he had received training since childhood. Later, when he learned that it was the archon, Davos, who had invented this unique formation on his own, he had an impulse to discuss his views regarding formations. Unfortunately, it was only a fantasy, because Davos was the highest power of Theonia, while his current status was not the crown prince of Sparta, but only a freeman of Theonia, so he could only watch Davos from a distance whenever Davos gave lectures on the training ground¡¯s stage.

    At present, the Peucetian'' javelin came again.

    Leotychides put aside his distracting thoughts, bent down and fixed his heels, and opened his eyes wide to see the direction of the flying javelin. He tilted his shield slightly, causing the javelin¡¯s tip to make a string of sparks on the shield causing most of the momentum to be negated, which reduced the impact on him.

    As soon as Leotychides breathed a sigh of relief, he heard a cry from arade on the right. He was shaking and was about to fall, so Leotychides quickly released his spear, stuck out his right hand in a sh and grabbed the man''s arm.

    The man was Hybaterus. Hybaterus hesitated a bit and immediately shouted with sincerity, ¡°Prosous, thank you!¡±

    And Leotychides only nodded at him. Although there are contradictions between them, the battlefield is the melting pot of men''s friendship.

    At this time, he looked up and saw someone running to the front of the formation.

    A peltast! Leotychides blinked as he understood this type of unit. During the Peloponnesian War, Sparta had employed many Thracian peltasts as an auxiliary to the hoplites. However, in the battle sequence of the Theonian army, the peltasts are regarded as an important force. Therefore, their status is not lower than that of a hoplite.

    These peltasts with leather shields in their left hand and rhomphaia on their right, while wearing thin cloth robes, approached the enemies on the hills in the form of scattered soldiers while deftly avoiding the javelins of the Peucetians.

    Why can they be so fast and agile? It is because they are holding rhomphaia, an odd weapon with an almost curved de that they could plunge into the earth, which would easily provide strong support to their climbing.

    When Cid soon got close to the enemy, five to six spears came at him simultaneously.

    Cid was very calm; he squatted down suddenly that his soft leather armour had almost stuck to the ground along the slope, with the leather shield protecting the top of his head blocking the spear.

    Standing on the top of the hill, the Peucetians found it difficult to stab the enemy, who was almost on the ground and at such a low angle. And the ground sloped downward so much that they needed to move forward.

    Quick as a sh, Cid pushed his legs back and mmed his whole body into the enemy, quickly reaching out to his rhomphaia and hooking one of the Peucetian warriors feet with it and pulling down hard.

    Rhomphaias were weapons used by the Thracians with a straight or slightly curved single-edged de attached to a pole, which in most cases was considerably shorter than the de.

 Chapter 287: Battle of Anlen Hills (IV)

    The Peucetian warrior screamed; he lost his bnce and rolled down the hill shrieking.

    Cid then avoided the iing spear swiftly by rolling to the left¡­

    Such a situation frequently yed on the Peucetian defensive line, forcing the Peucetians to retreat involuntarily, which naturally reduced the javelin thrown to the Theonian soldiers.

    ¡°7th Brigade, good job!¡± Behind Leotychides, some soldiers praised loudly.

    ¡°Speed up the climbing!¡­¡± Taking advantage of this opportunity, the toon captain ¨C Pamanius, who was in the centre of the small phnx, urged loudly.

    And the g bearers began waving the g forward continuously.

    Leotychides and his teammates saw the peltasts being alone, so how could they be willing tog. They cooperated with each other and tried to climb upwards, and soon they reach the 30-metres height. The peltasts then retreated to both sides of the small phnx, leaving only the enemy in front of them.

    ¡°Hades!!!¡± The soldiers shouted out the name of the union''s patron god. They then raised their shields and met the enemy¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The troops of Teriphias and Taudeles finally arrived at their pre-determined position on the right-wing. Usually, it would have taken them longer to re-organise before they couldunch an attack. However, since the Theonian army was already engaged in battle, it had stimted them to increase their pace.

    As there was no enemy in front of them, Teriphias and Taudeles mixed the light infantry into the phnx to increase its thickness and began climbing up the hill in a more scattered formation.

    Without an enemy, they quickly went up the gentle slope more than 20 metres high, and they would then be able to attack the enemy''s nk and decide the victor of this battle.

    But when they stepped onto the hill with confidence and ease, arge number of enemies suddenly appeared at the top of the hill.

    ¡®Messapian cavalry!¡¯ Teriphias was startled but then began to calm down. Although the Messapian cavalry is powerful, the terrain here is not t, and there is not enough ce for them to gallop. Do they even dare to fight the hoplites head-on?

    And so, the Heraclea and Metapontum joint army continued their advance while the cavalry on the top of the slope began throwing their short javelins.

    Just as the Greeks raised their shields in defence, many began to exim, ¡°Cavalry! The Messapian cavalry is behind us!!¡±

    Every soldier could only hear the rumbling cries behind them as arge group of Messapian cavalry came around the hill from a distance and began throwing javelins at the rear of the Greek soldiers who were climbing the hill.

    With this sudden blow, it had caused confusion on Heraclea ¨C Metapontum¡¯s joint army for a while.

    In fact, there are not only Messapian cavalry but also Peucetian cavalry, a full 1,300 cavalries. At this moment, the cavalrymen at the top of the hill began stroking the head of their mounts and began whispering something. In their eyes was reluctance, but soon their expression became firm.

    ¡°Lycaon!!!¡± The Peucetian cavalry raised their hands and shouted.

    ¡°Lycaon!!!¡± The Messapian cavalry also shouted one after another. King Lycaon had dared to test the Greek god Zeus, and though he was turned into a wolf, most of his descendants considered him a hero and would shout his name before a battle to boost their morale. The Messapians, who had gradually abandoned this tradition due to the influence of Hellenization, are now picking it up again.

    The cavalry on the top of the hill sp their hands tightly around the necks of their horses and their legs mping down hard on their bellies, and soon, hundreds of horses began running down the hill in a loose formation, and their speed became increasingly faster. Although from time to time, a cavalryman rolled down to the ground together with his horse, it still did not affect the speed and morale of the cavalries.

    ¡°Rai¡­raise your shield¡­¡± Teriphias mind became nk for a moment from seeing this situation.

    In the eyes of the Heracleaan-Metapontum soldiers, it was like facing a huge boulder rolling down the mountain, so who would dare to block it! Just as they tried to dodge in fear, the cavalry had already crashed head-on into the formation. Suddenly, horses and people screamed, cavalrymen flew, and the Greek soldiers tumbled to the ground; almost no one was standing.

    In an instant, the Greek phnx copsed.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos soon received a report from Tolmides, ¡®Arge number of enemy cavalry suddenly appeared on the right-wing.¡¯

    He immediately felt a little uneasy and made a quick decision, ¡°Izam, lead your brigade to reinforce Teriphias and Taudeles, and after you repel the enemy cavalry, continue attacking the enemy''s nk!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± Izam finally got the mission he was waiting for. He mmed his chest with his left fist and saluted to Davos. After that, he ran down to the hill and shouted to his men, ¡°Brothers, follow me to ughter the enemy!¡±

    Amidst the cheers, the reconnaissance brigade¡¯s soldiers, with a small leather shield in their left hand and a dagger in their right hand, rushed to the right-wing.

    Even though Umakas could not understand why these Theonians were so eager to fight, he was amazed by their high morale. He secretly made up his mind for Taranto to try not to have a conflict with the battle-hungry Theonians unless they had no choice but to do so.

    ¡°Lord Davos, the Messapian cavalry could not defeat the Greek hoplites no matter how powerful they are. Besides, this is a hilly area, so there is no need for you to send more troops to reinforce them.¡± Umakas couldn''t help but advise.

    ¡°How could the Messapians, who are good cavalries, not know what we all know, and yet, they still sent their cavalry. So there is definitely something suspicious about that.¡± Davos said calmly.

    Umakas became more worried when he heard the reasonable deduction of Davos.

    Before this, the herald Tolmides had collected the information that was sent back by the heralds, who were on stand-by in the rear of the two legions and each brigade without interruption. He then gave their reports to Davos, ¡°The brigade led by Amintas had forced the Messapian heavy infantry at the bottom of the central hill backwards¡­the first and second legions on the left and right-wings also had a slight advantage in fighting with the Peucetians who upied the high grounds. And, after withdrawing from the frontline, the two light infantry brigades have joined forces and detoured to the left (because the Heraclean and Metapontum troops were on the right-wing) to attack the enemy''s nk¡­¡±

    With having the advantage on all fronts, Davos has realised that the enemy had fewer troops than him, and for the first time since arriving in Magna Graecia and leading his army to battle, he had now the strength to send reinforcements to nip any possible disadvantage in the bud.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Telemani, the king of Peuceti, did not expect the battlefield¡¯s current situation to bepletely opposite of what he had imagined. Not only were the Messapian, who were heavily defended in the lower part of the hill, forced back, but even his proud Peucetian warriors, who had a clear geographical advantage, failed to repel the enemy.

    Although they are now in a stalemate, judging from the situation of the battlefield, this stalemate won''tst because Telemani knows that his warriors are poorly equipped and have fewer men. Earlier, he had dispatched almost all his men to help the left-wing, just so that they could make their own formation and the enemy formation to be roughly equal in length and prevent their nk from being attacked. But when the geographical advantage and the bravery of his warriors are not enough to block and repel the enemy, the stalemate will only benefit the other side. Now, the only good news he received was that the cavalry had defeated the enemy on the far left-wing.

    Telemani hoped that after quickly dispersing the defeated enemy, they would then assist the left-wing in defeating the enemy in front of them, so as toy the foundation for the victory of the battle.

    At this time, Telemani felt a bit uneasy after seeing one of his scouts galloping to the foot of the hill from a distance, dismounting and hurriedly ran up the hill.

    ¡°My king, more than a thousand enemies have reinforced the left-wing and our cavalry has fallen into a¡­hard battle!¡±

    In fact, it is only an understatement to say that it was a hard battle. In reality, when the mixed cavalry of Messapi-Peuceti rushed down from the top of the hill and attacked the defeated Heraclea-Metapontum joint army and after pursuing the fleeing enemies, but due to the mountain path being narrow and the enemy and their allies are mixed together, it was somewhat tight, and so the speed advantage of the cavalry waspletely lost, but the Greek soldiers who had lost their courage just continued to run away without even putting up a fight. But when Izam''s brigade bypassed the mountain path and surrounded them from both sides of the hill, the disaster of the Messapi-Peuceti cavalry came.

    Riding on a horse without a saddle and fighting in ce, the riders could not fight the Theonians with all their strength, and it was almost impossible for them to retreat immediately due to the crowded path. Under the protection of their leather shield, the soldiers of the mountain reconnaissance brigade could not only stab the riders with their short swords but also the horses. And the defeated Greek soldiers who finally had reinforcements gradually regained their morale and started to fight back¡­and the Messapi-Peuceti cavalry who had trapped themselves in a deadly situation was not far from being defeated.

    ¡°What?! How can the Greeks still have troops that they haven''t send to battle!!¡± Telemani red at the scout. In this era, the city-states did not have the habit of having a reserve force during a war and would send all their troops to battle. Therefore, Telemani had dared to risk using cavalry attacks in such a terrain that was obviously unfavourable to cavalries, and now, his greatest hope of victory was extinguished.

    He took a few steps forward and looked at the top of the opposite hill where a golden g stand, and knew that the enemy''smander was there.

    ¡°A military genius of South Italia¡­¡± Murmured Telemani in low spirits.

    ¡°My king, what shall we do now?¡± Pulo, seeing that Telemani''s mind was wandering, asked hastily.

    ¡®What to do? Retreat?¡¯ Now that the two armies are still entangled with each other, how can they easily retreat? It will only increase the casualties of the Peucetians. They had still underestimated the Theonians! He had heard that this is just a newly established city-state union, yet itsbat strength is very strong. ¡®If we could avoid fighting them in the future, then we should try our best to avoid them¡­¡¯ There was a trace of fear in Telemani''s heart, regretting that he should not have yed around and should have chosen to ambush the Tarantines instead and give the task of intercepting the Theonian reinforcements to the Messapians¡­

    ¡°¡­wait.¡± After a long time, Telemani could only spat out a word.

    Pulo was startled, and soon understood what Telemani meant, it was to wait for the Messapians to defeat the Tarantines ande to reinforce them as soon as possible, that is to put their hope on others, which is not Telemani''s usual practice!

    Pulo thought worriedly in his heart, ¡®But what if the Messapians werete!¡¯

 Chapter 288: Battle of Anlen Hills (V)

    The Peucetians had sent a herald to the ce where they ambushed the Tarantine. However, he could not find the archons of the city-states of Messapi as Pasimeus led them in engaging the Tarantine army to surround and annihte them.

    The Greek hoplites have a strong defence and are powerful in closebat, but a hoplite that could only defend and does not attack is only a hard shell, and it would only be a matter of time and energy to break them.

    The Messapians¡¯ initial ambush had cut off the serpentine column of Taranto into more than ten sections. However, surrounding each section of the enemy had caused the Messapian soldiers to be outnumbered, but as the battle progressed, the casualties of Taranto increased, causing each encirclement to shrink smaller and smaller.

    If they had not heard the salpinx of Theonia, then the Tarantines might have already given up fighting, and now, the only thing supporting them is their belief to live. But with the gradual elimination of a small encirclement after another, the shackles around the remaining soldiers¡¯ necks began to tighten.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Hybaterus had heard of Prosous'' excellent performance in the recruit training camp, but he did not expect that Prosous was not soft-hearted in killing in a real battlefield, and he felt like this was not his first battle (it was not). His shield defence, sh and thrusting were skilful and ingenious, even though he does not swing his spear randomly, but as long as he strikes, it would cause an enemy to scream, which is truly cruel and urate. The ruthlessness of Prosous made the fierce Peucetians afraid that they subconsciously avoided his attack.

    Under the lead of Prosous, his teammatespeted against each other, causing the Peucetians¡¯ defensive line to be in danger.

    Matonis, who was in the middle of the brigade and was in charge of supervising the battle, was overjoyed to see such sight and asked excitedly, ¡°Who is the warrior rushing at the front?¡±

    Pamanius, the toon captain, replied quickly, ¡°Prosous!¡±

    ¡°He is Prosous!!¡± His teammates had also rushed to answer.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Lordmander, Matonis'' third brigade has broken through the enemy''s line of defence!¡±

    ¡°The fourth brigade of Amintas has also broken through!¡±

    ¡°The light infantry brigade of Epiphanes and Cid has defeated the enemy''s nk!¡±

    ¡°Izam''s mountain reconnaissance brigade together with the troops of Heraclea and Metapontum had defeated the enemy''s nk!¡±

    One good news after another hade. When Tolmides reported it to Davos, Umakas could not help exim excitedly, ¡°Great! We finally won!¡±

    Davos also showed a relieved smile, ¡°Order. Blow the salpinx again and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Retreat! Retreat! Go!¡± Even though Telemani''s expression looked bleak, he was still calm. After all, it is not like he had not experienced defeat, in thest war with Dauni, he had lost a lot ofnds, yet he still survived.

    In fact, there was no need for his orders as the whole army had copsed and the Peucetian soldiers fled for their lives.

    Before leaving, Telemani did not forget to take a look at the top of the opposite hill again, as if to keep the dazzling g firmly in his mind.

    ¡°My king, do you want to warn the Messapians?¡± Reminded Pulo.

    Telemani was in low spirit and wasn''t in the mood to speak much and just watch at the defeated soldiers all over the hills. He might as well give them a favour at a small cost, ¡°Send someone to tell them that the Theonians had attacked fiercely and that we could not hold them off. Whether to retreat or continue fighting, let them decide for themselves.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    One after another, the soldiers beside Diaoms fell, and he himself was wounded in many ces and felt that he would return to the underworld this time. Suddenly, the Messapians surrounding them went intomotion.

    He heard the enemy shouting something. Unfortunately, he could not understand the Messapi''snguage, but someone among the soldiers was already shouting excitedly in a tired voice, ¡°The Messapians says that the Peucetians were defeated! The Theonians have won! We are saved!!¡±

    The despairing soldiers had immediately cheered up from hearing these words and shouted the news of victory to each other, and finally merging into one, ¡°Hold on! Hold on!! The Theonian reinforcement will be here soon!!!¡±

    As time pass by with difficulty, the attack of the Messapians gradually weakened and in the end, they retreated.

    In the face of the retreat of the Messapians, Diaoms has no intention to chase them. In fact, he could notmand any soldiers at the moment as all the Tarantine soldiers, like him, had exhausted their strength and energy for more than two hours.

    He sat down on the ground and no longer wanted to stand up. The joy of surviving could not match the unhappiness at the sight of the soldiers¡¯ corpses and the groaning of the wounded.

    In this battle, the Messapians have suffered 1,200 casualties, mainly from the near-total annihtion of the cavalry reinforcement and the heavy infantry of Alytia.

    While the Peucetians¡¯ casualties were less than 600, the reason for their low casualties was that in a frontal confrontation between infantries, they tended to only suffer few casualties, and the primary losses are after their defeat. For example, in the second battle between Theonia and Crotone, they relied on the light infantry and cavalry to pursue and capture most of the fleeing Crotonian hoplites. However, such a good opportunity did not appear in this battle because the Peucetians are familiar with the terrain and have simple equipment. These characteristics have made it impossible for the Theonian hoplites to catch up with them once they fled, and the Theonian cavalries did not even join in this battle. Even if they were to appear on the battlefield, there was still no way for them to defeat the Peucetians in the mountains.

    On the other side of the war, the Tarantine has suffered more than 4,000 casualties, nearly one-third of its military strength, most of which had died in the battle; The Theonians have 600 casualties, but most of them were the result of getting injured by falling from the hill; While Heraclea and Metapontum have more than 800 casualties. Thus, although it was the Messapi-Peuceti alliance who had eventually retreated, the Greek allied force was the one actually suffering the more severe losses. Moreover, the Messapians and the Peucetians have lost arge number of cavalry, while Theonia had gotten nearly 400 high-quality horses.

    When Davos saw Diaoms, he did not assume the attitude of a saviour and continued to face him in his usual manner while enthusiastically directing the medical camp to aid the wounded soldiers of Taranto, much to Diaoms'' shame.

    The Messapi-Peuceti had withdrawn from the Anlen Hills, entered the territory of Taranto and soon retreated northward.

    However, the Greek allied troops were unable to chase them due to fatigue and having too many wounded soldiers. For the time being, they settled in a few nearby viges to rest while sending men to the city of Taranto to report the war situation and escort the wounded soldiers back to the camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, the Senate of Theonia received a man.

    His name is Mithrobates, and he hade to ask Theonia for help. However, he had note from any of the allied city-states of Theonia but from the Siro tribe in the territory of Brutti.

    It turned out that the Bruttii tribal union in Consentia was in the process of unification. In the process of their unification, they began to elerate the incorporation and merging of the small andrge tribes within their borders; with the general trend and force submission, most tribes had chosen toply, but few tribes led by the Siro tribe refused the integration.

    ording to Mithrobates, they are Greeks, and most of them were only forced to flee into the mountains to avoid disaster after the destruction of Sybaris. They have the pride as a Greek, so how could they be incorporated by barbarians and live a barbaric life?!

    After several unsessful attempts by the envoys sent by the city of Consentia in Bruttii to persuade the Siro tribe, there was no longer any movement, so the people of the Siro tribe thought that the matter was over. However, a few monthster, after Consentiapleted its authority over most of the tribes of Brutii and was effectively ruling them, they had sent another envoy to Siro.

    But this time, the envoy demanded that the Siro tribe immediately submit to the rule of the tribal union, else they would send arge army to eliminate them.

    It was then that the Siro tribes panicked and hastily sent Mithrobates to Terina for help.

    Terina admitted that they had no ability to intervene in this matter. Fortunately, they had already let Siprusmunicate with the archon of Theonia, Davos, beforehand, so they had Mithrobates go to Theonia to ask for help.

    On this day, the Senate¡¯s rotating chairperson was Cornelius. He looked at the envoy that imed to be Greek but looked nothing like one, so he was puzzled.

    Seeing the doubts of the statemen, Mithrobates exined, ¡°I inherited my Bruttian mother''s face, and it is because I do not look like Greek that the chieftain of Siro chose me, as only in this way would I not arouse the suspicion of the surrounding Bruttians.¡±

    Cornelius murmured to himself: Before going to battle, Davos once raised the issue of Bruttii but was interrupted because of Taranto''s request for help before they could conduct a detailed discussion.

    At this moment, Pollux stood up and said, ¡°What could Theonia do? Protest to the Bruttians to stop annexing this small tribe? I am afraid none of you here will believe that just one word from us would make the Bruttians stop what they have been preparing for so long. What will we do if the Bruttians refuse? If we give up, we will only lose Davos'' prestige of Theonia being the most powerful union! But if we want to take further action, I can''t think of any other measures besides war.

    However, the Theonian citizens have enough war this year! Now our archon is still leading our citizens to fight the powerful Messapians and Peucetians in Taranto!¡± Pollux then pointed to Mithrobates, and looked at him with pity then said, ¡°And look at this envoy of Siro, just because he had said that they are Greeks, it would be better to fight than to kick them, but who knows if it''s the truth! Are we willing to send our citizens once again to an unfamiliar and terrible battlefield to fight against the fierce Bruttians for a race that does not even look like Greek at all?!¡±

 Chapter 289: A request for help from the Siro tribe

    Pollux'' words spoke most of the concerns of the statesmen of the Senate. The statesmen born in Thurii and Amendra, including Kunogta, have suffered the disaster of having their city destroyed, so they have a deep fear of war. And the statesmen of Krimisa, such as Androlis, Eurypus and Pleitinas, supported their decision because they were neers and were closer to Cornelius and Kunogta.

    With the statesmen of the main war faction being either sent by Davos to other city-states to hold important posts, such as Hielos, Sesta, Bagul, and so on or have followed him to Taranto, like Kapus, Drakos, Antonios, Alexius and so on. The only one left is the Chief of Military ¨C Philesius and the Chief Commercial Officer ¨C Marigi, and they decisively said that they should support the Siro tribe and stop the annexation of Consentia and not let the Bruttian tribal union be more powerful.

    Even Mersis, another trusted subordinate of Davos, wavered because he worried about the outbreak of war consuming a lot of money and goods.

    While Vespa and Hemon, who were born in Lucania, have expressed their support for the Siro tribe based on simr experiences.

    Overall, only a few people support the Siro tribe, as most of the statesmen are against interfering in the internal affairs of the Bruttii to avoid another war.

    Pollux was pleased with himself on the fact that his opinion won the support of the majority in the Senate and was about to be adopted for the first time.

    But at this moment, Plesinas stood up, ¡°Esteemed statesmen, I remember lord Davos briefly mentioning about the Bruttians before he left, and he said worriedly, ¡®Bruttii may be a great danger to our Theonia!¡¯ That is why I think that any decision involving Bruttii must be made known to the archon, lord Davos and have him make the final decision, especially if we cannot reach an agreement.¡±

    Plesinas is not an ordinary statesman as the chief priest in charge of the Temple of Hades; he devoted most of his energy to the affairs of the temple, training young priests and priestesses, improving the various systems of the temple, and to also supervise the construction of temples in other cities¡­it can be seen that Davos, who was the high priest, valued him greatly that he even allowed him to do whatever he wanted, while Plesinas had also repaid Davos'' trust with his excellent performance that in such a short period, the belief of Hades was epted by the people of other cities in Theonia, which was inseparable from his efforts. Therefore, he not only has a certain reputation among the Theonians but also has weight in the Senate.

    As soon as he spoke up, the others would have to re-evaluate the real intention of his words. After all, behind him stood Davos.

    Philesius and Mersis were also part of Davos'' inner circle, except that these two men, one focused on military affairs and the other obsessed with money, are not sensitive in politics. Although Marigi is no stranger to politics, he is, unfortunately, a citizen of Persian origin. In the absence of Davos in the Senate, most of the statesmen of Thurii and Amendra tend to ignore his opinions, intentionally or unintentionally.

    Pollux thought that Plesinas was deliberately sabotaging him, and for a moment, could not help but stand up and angrily say, ¡°Davos! Davos! Can''t the Senate decide anything or do anything without Davos!!¡±

    Plesinas then said while pretending to be surprised, ¡°Lord Pollux, in your eyes, have we done anything?! Lord Kunogta and lord Cornelius exhausted themselves every day for the prosperity and stability of Thurii and Amendra! Lord Burkes had travelled all the cities and viges of Theonia to supervise the people''s farming! Lord Vespa and Lord Hemon had paid close attention to the situation of the tribes in the Lucanian region and would even go there to resolve it once conflict arises! Lord Stromboli has created a silver coin for our Theonia that could beparable to the ¡®owl¡¯! Lord Ansitanos is building new akademias for the other cities of Theonia! Lord Herpus called on the city-states of Magna Graecia to hold the first Medical Symposia in all of Greece! Lord Protesus proposed new bills now and then to improve thews of Theonia! The union''s public service managementmittee, headed by lord Tritodemos, is concerned about the appointment and performances of each public officials in each city every day! Lord Enanilus is supervising the constructions of the warships and worked hard to train our navy! Lord Scambras¡­¡±

    Plesinas would salute respectfully to the statesman who he had just told of his deeds in his work, and the statesmen whose name was mentioned smiled in response. He continued speaking without hesitation, almost going through most of the statesmen, ¡°The reason why we have so many things to work on and enjoy, is because of lord Davos'' great leadership, which has led to the powerful Theonia we have today, and which has allowed us to govern the increasingly huge union''s territory without the worry of being invaded by other city-states! Who among us has better military talent than lord Davos? Better leadership? Have a stronger ability to judge the situation?¡­¡±

    ¡°No one!¡± Although only Mersis answered, all the statesmen remained silent, and they were more or less agreed with it in their hearts.

    ¡°In that case, when ites to such an important matter that concerns the safety of Theonia Union, then even if lord Davos is not here, we should listen to his opinion before making a decision. Because there is no one here who can make the right judgment better than him!¡± The words of Plesinas made a small number of statesmen, mainly Pollux, who were dissatisfied with Davos'' excessive control over the Senate speechless. Indeed, there was nothing wrong with Davos¡¯ decisions so far, and that is why Theonia had developed so quickly.

    At this point, Kunogta came out in support of the proposal to ¡°leave the issue of the Siro tribe to Davos¡±.

    The statesmen of Amendra, headed by Cornelius, the statesmen of Thurii such as Ansitanos, Burkes, Enanilus, Marsyas¡­had all agreed, so the matter was settled.

    After the meeting, Plesinas and Herpus walked out of the Senate Hall together. They were discussing whether some of the freemen and foreigners who were believers of Hades, who had no money to cure their illness, could be treated by the hospital first and thenter be paid by the newly established relief fund of the Temple of Hades. (note: The money was from the Theonians who donated when theye to the temple to pray.)

    ¡°Chief Priest!¡± Plesinas heard someone calling him. After looking back, Marigi quickly caught up with him, ¡°If it wasn''t for you, I am afraid that the request of the Siro tribe would have been rejected!¡±

    After two years of training in specific government affairs, Plesinas has be much more mature and stable than before. He then immediately said with modesty, ¡°I did not do anything. It is all due to the prestige of lord Davos ying a major role. Although Pollux shouted loudly, his persuasion ability was very average.¡±

    ¡°Lately, Pollux has been very active!¡± Marigi said meaningfully.

    ¡°Don''t worry. He can''t do anything.¡± Replied Plesinas immediately.

    ¡°This Pollux is so annoying. Why did you let him into the Senate in the first ce?!¡± Herpus, who did not care anything besides medicine, not even politics, interjected.

    Plesinas coughed a few times.

    At that time, when Davos led the army to repel the Crotonian army and wanted to take control of Thurii, in order to soothe and stabilise the Thurian poption and also to attract useful talents, he recruited those who survived the burning of the city and were of good reputation, status and skill into the Senate, which also includes Plesinas, who had once opposed Davos. Facts have proved that this method is very effective as it had not only made the people of Thurii ept the Amendrans led by Davos quickly but also allowed him to dig a lot of talents, such as Burkes, Plesinas, Ansitanos, and the Nauarch of the Navy ¨C Enanilus¡­

    Herpus'' thoughtless words had embarrassed Plesinas, so Marigi steps forward to rescue him, ¡°Lord Philesius is going to hold a dinner banquet this evening. Would lord Plesinas be interested in it?¡±

    Plesinas'' eye lit up, he knew that although Davos valued him, Davos trusted the group of former mercenary statesmen and citizens who had been through life and death with him more, and these people were more united, making them the most powerful political force in Theonia and even more so militarily. Now that he got an invitation, does it mean that this group recognised him?

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next day when Davos, Diaoms, Umakas, Teriphias and Taudeles discussed the army''s next n of action, there came another disagreement.

    Teriphias believed that although the allied forces were the ¡°victor¡± of this battle, the soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and it was not advisable to continue the attack. Instead, they should withdraw to the city for recovery and then attack when the Messapi-Peuceti alliance invades again.

    While Diaoms was inclined to this opinion from the bottom of his heart, but as themander of this Tarantine army, the soldier had suffered a lot of casualties with very few results. Once the people find out the situation, they will pour their anger on him. So in order to not get impeached by the lesia, it is necessary to get a decent battle record. Therefore, he suggested that after a short rest, they would continue north and attack Brindisi. If the Messapi-Peuceti alliance intercepts them, then they would engage them in a battle, but this time, they would fight on the in. The Greek hoplites and the Greek phnxes would be useful, while the Messapi-Peuceti cavalries had already suffered heavy losses; therefore, the Greek alliance would have the upper hand in this battle, even though they were fewer in number. And if the Messapi-Peuceti alliance avoided this battle, they would capture Brindisi, rescue the captured Tarantines, obtain the spoils of war, capture the aborigines in the city and take them back to Taranto and turn them into ves to appease the people and make up for their mistakes.

    Umakas also had a simr idea, but Taudeles supported Teriphias'' opinion this time because there were too many casualties among Metapontum soldiers.

 Chapter 290: The Messapi-Peuceti alliances plea for armistice

    In the end, the four men turned their gaze to the suprememander of this joint army, Davos.

    However, at this moment, Davos was in a dilemma: After Diaoms'' unauthorised actions and the easy copse of Heraclea and Metapontum had made him frustrated with such a joint operation and worried that pig-like allies would drag him down. Teriphias just wanted to take his army back to the city, while he himself wanted to immediately bring back his troops to Thurii. But doing so would undoubtedly destroy the alliance with Taranto and may also impact the image of ¡°keeping promises¡± that Theonia has worked hard to build.

    As he hesitated, the guard came in and reported that the Messapians had sent an envoy.

    Everyone was surprised.

    With a thought in his mind, Davos asked that the Messapian envoy be let in and to hear what he had to say.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Initially, after regrouping the routed soldiers and reorganising the army, the various archons of Messapi, led by Pasimeus, thought that although the final result of the battle was not very good, with the allied force choosing to retreat and the cavalry suffering heavy losses, the army of Taranto should have suffered even more severe losses. Therefore, the strength of their armypared with the army of Taranto, on the contrary, was more advantageous than before the battle. So in the next battle, they should take the initiative and continue attacking the Tarantines.

    King Telemani of Peuceti, who had receivedin by several Messapian archons, and whose failure to stop the reinforcements had led to the loss of a good opportunity, had expressed his strong opposition because the main force of the Greek alliance, the Theonian army, has a unique formation, is well-trained, and itsbat strength is so terrifying that they could even repel the Peucetians who had the high grounds on the battle, so he fears that when they fight on the in, the Messapi-Peuceti army would be even less of a match for the Greek alliance army with the Theonian army as the main force.

    The Messapians archon, who knew more or less about the fighting strength of the Peucetians, felt that it was unbelievable that the always unruly Telemani would say such a thing.

    At this time, Timogeras stood up to back up Telemani. He once again stressed the terrifyingness of the Theonian army that they were even able to beat the Alytian heavy infantry, who has a much thicker formation than the Theonian hoplites!

    At the same time, he also reminded everyone that the Theonian hoplites could throw javelins, which cause significant damage to the infantry at a close range.

    Finally, the expression of the archons had be grave.

    Kaminus, archon of Uzentum, said worriedly, ¡°I heard that Theonia is a huge city-state union on the other side of the Gulf, which governs more than five cities and many allied city-states, and that its strength is stronger than Taranto and that they could easily send tens of thousands of men to reinforce Taranto. Therefore, even if we finally defeat them, I think that they can still send tens of thousands of men more, but could we afford such losses?¡±

    After a short silence, Pasimeus said slowly and helplessly, ¡°Maybe we should make peace with Theonia¡­¡±

    ¡®Peace?!¡¯ Everyone looked surprised.

    Only Telemani remained calm, and Pasimeus looked at him and sighed in his heart, ¡®It seems that the Peucetians have little desire to fight, and if we continue the war, I am afraid that they will no do their best.¡¯

    Therefore, Pasimeus'' desire for an armistice began to grow stronger. He then stood to his feet and said thoughtfully, ¡°The Theonians have never had any conflict with us and are far away. The only reason why they are at war with us is that they are the allies of Taranto and havee here to fulfil their agreement. Defeating us would not do any good to Theonia; on the contrary, it would result in casualties among their soldiers due to the battle. So if we offer an armistice, do you think Theonia would be willing to ept it?! As long as this powerful outsider leaves, there will only be one Taranto left, andter¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Timogeras, the archon of Alytia, volunteered to go to the Greek camp, and only after the guards confirmed that he was not armed did they allowed him to enter the military tent.

    In addition to the guards, there are five Greek strategoi in the military tent, and Timogeras'' gaze fell on the youngest strategos, ¡®He should be the archon of Theonia, and the one that forced the Messapi-Peuceti to send an envoy to the Greek camp ¨C Davos!¡¯

    Out of caution, he nodded to the young strategos, then asked in Greek, ¡°Are you Davos, the archon of Theonia?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Davos nodded.

    ¡°It''s an honour to meet you!¡± Timogeras respectfully performed a Messapian greeting and then said, ¡°I am Timogeras, Archon of Alytia. I am here to represent the Messapi-Peuceti alliance and havee as an envoy to discuss with you how to end this meaningless war.¡±

    ¡®Sure enough, they want to negotiate peace!¡¯ Although Davos was happy, he said with a calm tone, ¡°I think you have got the wrong person to negotiate with. You should discuss it with the two archons of Taranto, lord Umakas and lord Diaoms.¡± His body slightly moved sideways, and his left hand gestured to the two people at the rear.

    ¡°We have just defeated you, and you want to make peace?!¡± Diaoms, who already hates the Messapians, was even more furious because as soon as Timogeras came in, he ignored Taranto, ¡°Go back and tell yourpanions wearing animal skins that Taranto does not ept your peace! We are going to keep attacking and take back Brindisi! If you have the courage, you can try stopping us!¡±

    ¡°Defeated by you?¡± Timogeras sneered sarcastically, ¡°You and I know who lost more in the previous battle. If this is considered a defeat for us, then we don''t mind having more. Without the timely reinforcements from the Theonians, I am afraid that you would have long been a corpse, and you actually have the gall to yell at me here!¡±

    In the face of Diaoms'' bark, Timogeras continued to say in a loud voice, ¡°The warriors of Messapi and Peuceti are ready to kill the enemies who dare to invade our territory even if we sacrifice our lives! I just don''t know if the Tarantines has such courage as well?¡±

    After he finished speaking, he did not wait for Diaoms to retort and immediately turned to face Davos again and said, ¡°The bravery of the Theonians has won the respect of the Messapians. And Telemani, the king of Peuceti, admires you very much, and he specially asked me to greet you on his behalf! Just that, I would like to ask lord Davos, the Theonians crossed the Gulf and fought against us who had no conflicts and contradictions in the past. If you win, you won''t get any benefits, but if you lost, your bones would be buried in a foreignnd. Is it worth it?¡±

    Davos was very well aware that the archon of Messapi hade in and kept using various ways to separate the rtionship between Theonia and Taranto. So he said and emphasise, ¡°Taranto is a friendly ally of Theonia, and it is Theonia''s duty to abide by the agreement and assist our allies in defending against foreign aggression! Besides, Theonia has an obligation to maintain the peace of the neighbouring Greek city-states, because only when there is no war in neighbouringnd can the Theonians have a peaceful life.¡±

    The words of Davos revealed his hope and ambition for Theonia.

    Teriphias and Taudeles'' eyes lit up as they listened.

    And Umakas was lost in his thought.

    Timogeras'' expression changed slightly, and he understood the warning given to him by Davos. So he quickly responded, ¡°Lord Davos, from what you have said, you are here to help Taranto resist the invasion. But the truth is that Taranto is not suffering from our Messapians'' invasion; we are just taking back our, Messapians''nd! Manduria is a city of the Messapi! Brindisi is also a city-state of the Messapi! Since the beginning of this year, the Tarantines have attacked our people¡¯snd, taken Manduria and Brindisi, which belongs to us, killed countless Messapian warriors, and turned countless Messapians, including women and children, into ves of Taranto! We fought back and just wanted to take back our ownnd and avenge our people! Lord Davos, you said that Theonia had an obligation to help its neighbours to maintain peace and resist aggression. Does it also include helping your allies to invade other city''snd and ughter their people?!¡±

    Timogeras'' words were so emotional that both Umakas and Diaoms went pale, while Davos secretly praised him in his heart, ¡®Smart, straight to the point!¡¯

    Davos immediately put on an awkward expression, ¡°This¡­this¡­¡±

    ¡°Damn you Messapian, don''t act all pitiful!¡± Diaoms angrily retorted, ¡°Who has been invading who all these years?! Who is the real victim! Who has been running to Taranto every summer to loot food and kill people! This year we have only attacked in response to the call of vengeance and to collect the blood debt you have owed to Taranto over the years!¡±

    In the face of Diaoms'' strong rebuttal, Timogeras remained calm and said, ¡°Why do we invade Taranto every year? The reason is very simple, thisnd of Taranto originally belongs to us Messapians! Hundreds of years ago, your ancestors took over thisnd and drove out the weak Messapians who lived here!¡±

    ¡°So what! Hundreds of years have already passed, and thisnd belongs to us, Taranto, now!¡±

    ¡°Since you can take it from us, then we, of course, can take it back!¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately for you, you could not! On the contrary, after a few years, Manduria will be a city-state of Taranto!¡±

    ¡°Diaoms!¡± Umakas shouted, interrupting the two who were shouting at each other, as the two men had strayed from the subject of their argument, and the three archons headed by Davos were already showing impatience.

    Umakas hurriedly said, ¡°Messapi, you are not here to quarrel, are you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not, I came for peace! As lord Davos said, Messapi and Taranto have lost too many men in this war!¡± Timogeras immediately looked solemn.

 Chapter 291: The Arrival of Marigi

    ¡°Listen-¡± As soon as Diaoms spoke out, Umakas interrupted him, ¡°Let''s first listen to the terms of the Messapians.¡±

    Timogeras cleared his throat and said, ¡°Taranto, Messapi and Peuceti immediately cease the war, return each respective territories and each other''s prisoner of war, and both sides would sign an armistice with a duration of two years, within which, they shall not invade each other. Afterwards, whether to renew the contract would depend on the situation after the expiration of the agreement¡­¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by returning each respective territories?¡± Umakas keenly perceive the problem of this sentence.

    ¡°Of course, it is to return to the state before the war began, and the upied territories be returned!¡± Said Timogeras.

    Diaoms cursed loudly, ¡°You want us to give up Manduria? Dream on! If you want it, then exchange it with the lives of your Messapians!¡±

    Even though the negotiations quickly broke down, Timogeras was in no hurry and had even thrown down some words, ¡°I hope that you will reconsider it seriously. Our Messapian camp awaits your arrival!¡± With that, he left without even listening to Diaoms'' cursing. And he could see that except for Taranto''s stubborn attitude, the archon of Theonia ¨C Davos, and the strategoi of Metapontum and Heraclea were all somewhat interested by the offer of peace, which means that the Greek alliance were not irond and that he could do something about it.

    What Timogeras could see, Umakas undoubtedly could as well. So he exined to Davos, ¡°We cannot agree to such a demand for peace negotiations, and even if we did, it would not work because the people of Taranto would not agree to give up Manduria that we have obtained by paying the blood of our citizens!¡±

    Davos smiled, ¡°I understand, but you can bargain as negotiations are like buying and selling goods. The Messapians don''t necessarily have to take back Manduria.¡±

    Hearing that, Umakas was a little worried, ¡°The Messapians have no sincerity, and the peace agreement they proposed would onlyst for two years. In two years, Taranto still could not regain its strength to cope with the aggression that they might start again!¡±

    Davos pondered for a moment, and just as he was about to speak, Tolmides lifted the tent and came in, ¡°Archon, the Senate sent an urgent message saying that there are movements in Bruttii!¡±

    Davos stood up abruptly and asked, ¡°Where is the message?!¡±

    ¡°The messenger is waiting for you in your tent, milord!¡±

    With an anxious expression, Davos went straight out without even saying a word.

    And the remaining people could only look at each other.

    ¡°Bruttians?¡± Umakas felt that the name was familiar, but he couldn''t remember it, while Diaoms was not even familiar with them.

    ¡°The Bruttians are aborigines living in the mountains west of Theonia and are very close. Previously, whenever theye down the mountain, they would plunder the people and properties of Thurii, Roscianum and other city-states¡­¡± Teriphias gave a detailed exnation.

    ¡°This¡­Bruttians should not be powerful, right?¡± Umakas asked with hope.

    Teriphias thought about it seriously, seemingly solemn, but intending to exaggerate the truth, he said, ¡°The Bruttians have very little interaction with the outside world because no other race has ever managed to invade theirnd*. And I heard that they have dozens of tribes and more than five huge cities and that they are even stronger than the Peucetians.¡± (The city of Vergae submitted to the Lucanian coalition of its own ord, so strictly speaking, the Lucanians had not entered thend of the Brutti.)

    After hearing this, both Umakas and Diaoms became uneasy.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When he left the main military tent, the anxiety on Davos'' face disappeared without a trace, and he even has the leisure to tease Tolmides, ¡°That was a good performance just now.¡±

    Tolmidesughed as well. Back then, he was known as the ¡°first herald of the mercenaries¡±, one of the main reasons was that he was good at understanding the leaders¡¯ intentions and difficulties and did his best to help achieve or resolve them. It is because he felt the contradictions within Davos that he took the opportunity and used the request of the Siro tribe and shout so loud inside the tent. However, he was unsure whether Davos would ept his initiative, as this was the first time he got appointed as the herald of Davos. Even though the two of them hade and gone in Persia, there is a big difference in status between him and Davos now. And the words of Davos have dispelled his uneasiness.

    ¡°What is the specific situation?¡± Asked Davos in a good mood. Through the time he had spent understanding the Bruttians, even if this race were to move towards unity, he does not think the Bruttians can now pose any significant threat to the Theonia Union.

    ¡°It is reported that a tribe of Greeks in Brutti has sent someone to our Senate asking for help because they refused to obey the order of Consentia, and Consentia wanted to send an army to destroy them. For details, you can ask Marigi, who is waiting for you in your tent.¡± Said Tolmides seriously.

    ¡°Oh, Marigi is here as well.¡± Even though there was movement in Davos'' heart, his pace remained the same, ¡®Greek tribes?¡­they should be the Siro tribe¡­just when I am about to take a nap, someone sent a pillow, just in time to kill two birds with one stone!¡­¡¯

    He kept thinking the whole way and soon reached his tent.

    After reading the urgent letter sent by the rotating chairperson of the Senate, Cornelius, and listening carefully to Marigi''s narration, a slight smile appeared on his lips, ¡°Wasn''t it because of Pollux that you, the busiest Chief of Commerce of the union hade to deliver the letter to me?¡±

    ¡°A Pollux who only barks in the Senate and has no power does not require my attention!¡± Marigi''s eyebrow twitched, ¡°I came to Taranto mainly to take this opportunity to learn about their port. However, lord Davos, it is indeed a fact that Pollux has been a little too active these days, which have caused some statesmen to have other ideas¡­¡± Marigi took a few steps closer and lowered his voice as if to remind Davos of something.

    Davos looked calm, but his heartbeat beat fast. He does not care much about Pollux'' dissatisfaction with him because there are only a few other statesmen in the Senate that would respond to him, and he needed such an ¡°opposition¡± to show that the Senate not only have his own voice. But if Pollux thinks that he is weak due to his indulgence of him and be rampant, and leads to some possible chain reaction, then he needs to wake him up¡­

    When Marigi saw that Davos was lost in his thoughts, he knew that his words had worked, and so he changed to another matter, ¡°Milord, I heard from the reserve soldiers at Taranto that ¡®over the past two days, many people in Taranto have been besieging the camp gate, not only hurling abuse at our soldiers but also demanding for the criminals to be punished.¡¯¡±

    ¡°What criminal? What happened?¡± Davos frowned and asked again, as he is quite sensitive to vitions of military discipline.

    ¡°They said that¡­some of our soldiers have beaten up a theatre owner in Taranto in the makeshift market outside the camp.¡±

    ¡°Such a thing happened?¡± As soon as Davos heard this, he got angry and shouted, ¡°Tolmides!¡±

    Tolmides answered and came in.

    ¡°Go and tell Kapus and Drakos to send their respective military inspectors to thoroughly investigate who in their respective legions was involved in the fighting in the makeshift market before we left for battle!¡± After saying this, his anger somewhat subside. After thinking more, he added, ¡°And what is the cause of it?¡±

    After Tolmides left, Davos put the matter aside for a while, then turned to Marigi and asked, ¡°What''s the price of grain in the market of Thurii now?¡±

    ¡°It''s high! Because of the war in Sicily and the war here, especially the war between Syracuse and Carthagested so long and the number of participants being a lot that there was a great demand for grains, which had even affected the price of grain in the market of Thurii¡­¡± When ites tomerce and trade, Marigi knows a lot, ¡°However, the grain in Theonia is growing well this year, and in another ten days, after the people finished the harvest, the price of grain in Thurii should have a huge drop¡­¡±

    Davos stroked the only few beards under his chin, paced back and forth and said, ¡°Then once you return, tell Mersis to use the money in the treasury to buy grains quietly and at least guarantee reserves enough tost four legions for two months.¡±

    Marigi''s eyes brightened. He did not even bother to think that such a use of the treasury by Davos without the consent of the Senate was a vition of the Theonianw, as a Persian, who still followed the monarchy system as his core, thought it was reasonable. What he was interested in was, ¡°Milord, have you decided to support the Siro tribe and take action against the Bruttians?¡±

    Davos looked at the excited Marigi and warned him gently, ¡°I am just preparing for the worst, but I hope that you can keep this a secret and don''t do anything extra!¡±

    The extra thing, of course, refers to Marigi''s use of information about the war to make profits for himself.

    No matter how shrewd Marigi is, he still immediately made a solemn promise. He then asked, ¡°Milord, if we go war with the Bruttians, what about Taranto?¡±

    Davos smiled faintly, ¡°Taranto could no longer fight, especially with your arrival. I am afraid that the two archons of Taranto are already discussing how to make peace with the Messapians.¡±

    Marigi''s eye lit up again as he thought about the people of Taranto that he saw along the road dressed in ck veils with sad expressions. As themercial officer of Theonia, the fall of Taranto is absolutely a good thing, as he could finally see the hope that the port of Thurii would be able to surpass the most prosperous port in the Gulf of Taranto!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In fact, it was the people of Taranto who first proposed peace negotiations with the Messapians. After learning the truth about the war from the wounded soldiers, they began to hate Diaoms'' recklessness and were disappointed with the whole prospect of the war. A few months ago, it was they who had pushed the Council tounch the war against Messapi; however, a few monthster, except for the blood that had been shed, Taranto had only gained a little.

 Chapter 292: Lead by Example

    For a long time, the people nourished by the prosperous trade and fertilend of Taranto, now that they felt the cruelty of war, they no longer have the ambition topete with Theonia, and the only thing they hope now is that no more loved ones in their own homes would be sacrificed.

    At the strong demand of the citizens, the Council hastily organised an lesia. After a heated debate, they finally decided to use the victory of the battle to offer a truce with the Messapians.

    In order to prevent the resistance of the radical archon ¨C Diaoms, the lesia started the election of the next archon in advance. Umakas was still elected while Disitimas was once again be the archon, with the mission of going to Messapi andplete the peace negotiation.

    As for Diaoms, the Tarantines are not as radical as the Crotonians and did not demand a trial, but his return to power in Taranto would be fraught with difficulties.

    While Disitimas was on his way to the Tarantine camp, Davos was writing a reply to the Senate of Theonia, ¡®Esteemed statesmen, after leading the army to Taranto, we had fought with 30,000 Messapi-Peuceti troops in the Anlen Hills yesterday and won, even though our soldiers only suffered few casualties, the Tarantines suffered heavy casualties¡­¡¯

    Judging from the results of the battle, the decline of Taranto is inevitable. Therefore, the archon of Heraclea, Teriphias, took the initiative to express his intention to join the Theonia Alliance, and the archon of Metapontum, Taudeles, is wavering.

    Statesmen, you may not have realised it, but Theonia Union is no longer the weak and small city-state that had been invaded by powerful city-states in the past and has now be the most powerful force in South Italia! Since Theonia has now be the hegemon of South Italia and be a concern to other city-states, we must therefore change our cautious and conservative manner and show the vigour of a powerful union. Only in this way can the city-states of South Italia unite around Theonia and defend the safety of Theonia, and Theonia will, in turn, protect the peace and stability of all Greek city-states in South Italia. And protecting the lives of every Greek should be what the Senate of Theonia should strive to achieve!

    Siro, a Greek tribe living among foreign race, hade to us to ask for help in their time of crisis, which is a test to us. Rejecting them would cast doubts on our allies and on the city-states that are watching, but if we were to ept it, it will inspire encouragement to the city-states that have expectations to Theonia because Theonia has lent a helping hand on even a small tribe like Siro that we would even go to war with the Bruttii. And it would make them think that Theonia would give all their can to help other city-states once they were in danger!

    In addition, even if we were to go to war with the Bruttians due to defending the Siro tribe, we don''t have to regret it because a war between Theonia and the Brutti is inevitable! The reason why the Siro tribe asked for our help because Consentia is uniting the Bruttian tribes to form a more powerful and terrifying Bruttian Tribal Union, just like the former Lucanian Tribal Coalition. As we all know, the Brutti Region¡¯snd is barren and unproductive. Hence, the Bruttians would often cross the mountains and plunder the Greek city-states to obtain goods and poption. And now, with the formation of a unified Bruttian Tribal Union, they are bound to expand outwards to achieve greater development of their race!

    But look around Brutti; they are either surrounded by territories of Theonia or adjacent to our allies. Brutti is like a beast lying beside Theonia, so do we tame it before it could grow up? Or are we going to fight it once it is all grown up? The answer is undoubtedly the former!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos then gave the letter to Marigi.

    After seeing him off, Tolmides came in and told Davos in detail about the investigation regarding the soldiers assaulting a man.

    Davos became moved after discovering that the soldiers had vited the militaryw because of him as he had not even expected it.

    He murmured, ¡°Olivos¡­¡± and had difficulty deciding.

    Tolmides took the opportunity to convince him, ¡°Milord, it is because the Tarantine man insulted our soldiers¡­and you, that made Olivos and the others angry that they have assaulted him. I think they are not the ones at fault in this matter. And-¡±

    Davos raise his head to look at him, and Tolmides immediately shut his mouth.

    ¡°Yes, for my sake¡­¡± Davos sighed and decided in his heart, ¡°Go and tell Kapus and Drakos to leave half of his men to be stationed in the camp and lead the rest of the soldiers to the threshing floor in the middle of the vige and then call the military judge.¡±

    ¡°Milord!¡± After hearing this, Tolmides wanted to convince him again.

    With a wave of his hand, Davos did not allow him to say more, ¡°Go and carry out my order.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Brothers!¡± Standing on a high haystack, facing several thousand Theonian soldiers, Davos eximed, ¡°In order to fulfil Theonia''s agreement with Taranto, you have gone to great lengths and came to this unfamiliarnd, fought bravely and defeated the fierce and cunning Messapians and Peucetians. I, and the Senate and all the people of Theonia, thank you!¡±

    The soldiers puffer their chests out with pride.

    After a long pause, Davos continued, ¡°But an incident had happened, a few of our brothers had beaten up a theatre owner of Taranto. At that time¡­¡±

    The soldiers pricked up their ears and listened carefully, and although the militaryw restricts them and could not move about, their eyes darted around, all guessing who had done it.

    ¡°Although it is the other party that first provoke, the Theonian militaryw is not a decoration. If you hit someone, you will be punished.¡± Davos then shouted with a serious expression, ¡°Judge!¡±

    The military judge besides Davos eximed, ¡°ording to the Theonian Military Law, soldiers who oppress or assault the people of allied cities during a war will get punished with a minimum of 20 military sticks, depending on the severity of the situation. However, because of the other party''s repeated provocation and malicious words, forcing the soldiers that are present to retaliate angrily¡­after consulting with the grand legatus, I have decided on the punishment ¨C each offending soldiers will receive ten military sticks as punishment!¡±

    The soldiers were relieved as this was a light punishment for them, who often received it during military training.

    ¡°Olivos,e out.¡± The judge continued.

    When Olivos came out of the rank, there was a smallmotion among the soldiers, as they had not expected that a senior centurion had taken part in it.

    Leotychides was also quite surprised, as he had not expected that the Theonians, in order to maintain military discipline, would punish a senior centurion without hesitation just because they have assaulted a citizen of an allied city! In his memory, the equally disciplined Spartan army could not do the same, as they are only disciplined during wartime. But in peacetime, especially on thend of allies, the soldiers did not have strict restrictions on their actions and therefore ran amok, which causes great grievance to the local people, such as Corinth, Megara, and so on. Leotychides as the son of Agis, the Spartan king, had not received princely treatment, and he had also taken part in many battles as a soldier, so he had a better understanding of the Spartan army.

    Olivos walked to the front calmly, as he was already prepared to be punished after assaulting someone.

    After the judge called out the name of the offenders, Olivos saw Davos on the haystack cast his gaze on him, and he then heard him say out loud, ¡°Besides, there is another person who needs to be punished by the militaryw, and that''s ME!¡±

    After making this statement, the whole army went into an uproar.

    Kapus, Drakos, Antonios, Alexius, Amintas and other high ranking officers were all shocked from hearing this, and for a moment, they forgot to restrain the soldiers. With the reminder of Davos, they manage to restore order in the ranks after great difficulty.

    ¡°Why am I also needed to be punished?¡± Davos pointed to the offenders and said in a sincere tone, ¡°Olivos, as a senior centurion, does he not know that assaulting someone will vite the militaryw?! Do our other brothers not know the pain of being beaten up with a military stick?! Of course, they do. No one in the legion was unfamiliar with the Theonian militaryw. But why did our brothers of the first legion did not have such problems in Crotone, in Scylletium, in Caulonia, but made mistakes here in Taranto, across the Gulf?! Because the Tarantines were mainly insulting me, and Olivos and the others became angry in order to defend my prestige as themander of this army! As the archon of Theonia and yourmander, I led you to help Taranto, but I did not win the respect of the Tarantines for you and allowed them to belittle and insult us! This is my dereliction of duty, my responsibility! Since they have to be punished, then you have to punish me first, or else-¡± Davos pounded his chest, ¡°I won''t feel good here, and I can''t forgive myself, so do not dissuade me! I will ept the punishment of ten military sticks together with these brothers! Drakos shall supervise the punishment, and no trickery shall be allowed!¡±

    As Davos finished speaking, silence shrouded the threshing floor.

    Each soldier gazes at their grand legatus with an excited expression and their chests rising and falling sharply.

    Olivos only felt heat in his eyes as tears flow down his cheeks. He couldn''t stop himself from waving his arms and shout, ¡°All hail Davos!¡±

    Olivos took the lead, and a tremendous mour spread over the whole vige, with ¡°Theonia win!¡± praise and ¡°Damn Taranto!¡± swearing mixed in.

    Davos, looking at everything calmly, reminded the equally excited judge, ¡°Prepare the punishment.¡±

    With that, he went down the haystack and stood next to Olivos.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As soon as Disitimas arrived at Taranto''s camp, he immediately summoned the citizens. First of all, he announced the resolution of the lesia, dismissing Diaoms from his archonship and having his guards ¡°escort¡± him back to the city, and then discussed with Umakas the truce with the Messapians.

 Chapter 293: Envoy to Brutti (I)

    After some discussion, they both agreed that they should first get Theonia''s support for the negotiation to seed.

    So they hurried to the Theonian camp, just in time to hear the thunderous cheer in the camp.

    Both of them felt confused when the herald of Theonia, Tolmides, arrived with the orders from Davos to allow them to enter the camp.

    ¡°Are you in the middle of a drill?¡± Asked Umakas curiously.

    Tolmides said with a look of respect, ¡°Do you mean this cheering sound? That''s ourmander, lord Davos, receiving punishment!¡±

    ¡°What did you say?!¡± Umakas thought that he had heard wrong.

    Tolmides briefly exined the previous matter with seriousness, which caused Umakas and Disitimas to be taken aback, ¡®The archon of Theonia punished not only the offending soldiers for beating up a Tarantine citizen but also himself?!¡¯

    Instead of feeling grateful, they felt more and more fear in their heart. ¡®An archon of a union being punished for such a trifle matter¡¯ was something they had never heard of in all Greek history they knew! Both of them had also served as an archon several times andmanded the city-state army countless times, so they naturally understood the importance of discipline in the military during wars. With such a strict requirement for military discipline, it is no wonder that the Theonian army could defeat the fierce Peucetians!

    ¡°Frightening Davos!¡­¡± Sighed Disitimas in a low voice.

    Umakas happened to hear it and was stunned. He then understood the meaning of Disitimas'' words. In order to achieve his goal, Davos could even be cruel to himself! And through the contact with Davos during this period, Umakas deeply felt that it was not good for Taranto for Theonia to have such an archon for life¡­fortunately, the citizens of Taranto have finally reached an agreement on the peace negotiation. Otherwise, with the current state of mind of the Theonian soldiers, if they were to attack Messapi again, who knows what would have happened! ¡®Damned Timias! Can''t these free-spirited Tarantines think more about the city-state before making trouble?!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the two archons saw Davos, he was lying in the military tent and receive medical treatment. When Davos learned of their intention, although he was surprised, he immediately expressed his support.

    After a discussion among themselves, in the early morning of the next day, the Taranto allied army pulled out of the camp and marched east.

    On the way to Brindisi, the Messapi-Peuceti alliance blocked the way, and the two sides face each other.

    After an hour''s confrontation, the Taranto allied troops had not sounded the salpinx. The Tarantines who cared about face expressed them in this way, and the shrewd Pasimeus soon understood the intention of the Greeks. After witnessing the tight formation and the high morale of the Theonian soldiers, Telemani''s words weighed even more in his heart.

    Without further pretence, he sent Timogeras again.

    And so, the negotiations between both sides began.

    At dusk, Taranto, Messapi, and Peuceti reached a peace agreement. Both sides would immediately cease war, Taranto will return Manduria to Messapi, and the three sides return the prisoners and soldiers'' corpses, respectively. And Taranto, Messapi and Peuceti will not invade each other for ten years¡­

    In addition, Taranto signed a trade agreement with Peuceti.

    In fact, Taranto returning Mandura was ast resort. The Council of Taranto, after prior discussion, had finally agreed that with the alliance of Messapi and Peuceti, one Manduria alone would no longer be able to stop the Messapi''s invasion because they could invade from the wider east of Taranto together with the Peucetians. And due to the repeated defeats, the number of citizens in Taranto has sharply been reduced. If the citizens were to be moved to Manduria, Taranto''s strength will not only be weakened but also be easily besieged.

    Before the negotiations, the two archons had made it clear to Davos that in order to thank Theonia for their selfless help, they are willing to hand over Manduria to Theonia for free. However, Davos is not a shortsighted man, and it was clear that this is Taranto''s attempt to drive Theonia in the fight against Messapi and Peuceti and shield Taranto from the wind and rain.

    Davos naturally did not want to be taken advantage of, and with Theonia''s current strength, they are still not able to fight on both fronts, so he politely refused.

    So Umakas and Disitimas could only take Mandura as a bargaining chip and moved Telemani with the trade agreement, which finally forced Pasimeus to give in and sign the ten-year peace agreement.

    At the time of the signing of the agreement, Telemani made a small request to meet the archon of Theonia, Davos. However, Davos politely refused him on the grounds that he had not recovered from his wounds and was not in a position to meet people.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time as Taranto conducting peace negotiation, the statesmen of the Senate of Theonia had finally passed a resolution in support of the Siro tribe after reading Davos'' reply.

    When discussing who to send to Consentia, Marigi immediately stood up and rmended Pollux while also praising his eloquence that would surely persuade the Bruttian tribal union to spare the Siro tribe.

    After that, Mersis and Philesius vied with each other in praising Pollux, believing that he was the best choice to be sent.

    The actions of the statesmen, who were former mercenary, have scared Pollux to death. He immediately felt that the followers of Davos are intentionally targeting him, so if he really went to Consentia, he fears that he will not be able toe back!

    He was a man who would not easily take risks, so he stood up in a hurry and refused. Under the verbal siege of Marigi and the others, Pollux did not hesitate to degrade himself and had almost even begged for mercy.

    Only after this did Marigi and the others stop teasing him. In the end, Androlis, a new member of the Senate and without any specific positions, volunteered to go.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Taranto allied army returned to Taranto together with the freed Tarantines and the remains of the soldiers, which of course included Archytas'' body that was pieced together.

    The Council of Taranto, after being warned by Umakas, had even forbidden the people to leave the city, allowing the Theonian army to return to their camp without incident.

    After attending the funeral of Archytas, Davos and some of the soldiers who remained behind returned to Thurii by ship first.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After epting the mission to be the envoy, Androlis left with threepanions for Consentia that afternoon.

    He did not take the road that led west from Thurii, across the mountain road to Laos, and then to Vergae, although it would make their journey safer, most of these roads were in the mountain, which would take them too much time. Instead, they choose to take the path on the south bank of the Crati River, go up the river and reach Besidice and then go south to Consentia.

    After crossing the wooden bridge over the Crati River, Androlis and hispanions walked westward along the south bank of the Crati River. And as the terrain became higher, the road became narrower. After passing thest sentry post of Thurii, only a dirt road appears in front of them, which could only amodate three people side by side: On the left side is a steep cliff, on the right side is a steep slope more than 10 metres high, and at the bottom of the slope is the roaring Crati River.

    When Androlis looked down, he saw the dark blue roaring river, constantly hitting the rocks below, making a loud and shocking sound, one after another, huge whirlpools appeared and disappeared in which you couldn''t even know how deep the bottom is¡­

    Androlis'' legs became slightly soft, and so they carefully assisted each other to move forward.

    Due to being soak by the rain, some of the sections of the road had copsed, making only one person able to pass through it.

    The groups walked for four hours, but it was as if they had walked for a day which had expended their physical energy very fast. Fortunately, the path gradually descends, and the road became wider and wider. Suddenly, their eyes opened wide: Continuous green mountains, the river that has narrowed, but its current is more rapid than the Crati River, and between the mountains and river is a low-lying tnd, and on thisnd stands a small city ¨C Besidice.

    The Bruttian sentries soon stopped Androlis and hispanions at the exit of the mountain path. Only long after, they made their intention clear that they were then escorted through the defensive camp blocking the intersection and into the city of Besidice and led to the shabby assembly hall of Besidice.

    Although it was called a hall, it was, in fact, just arger wooden hut with firewood burning in a pit in the centre. In early September, the weather in the city of Thurii is still warm, and most of the people are still wearing thin bare-shouldered summer chiton, but here in Besidice mountains, which are not too far from Thurii. The fire pits do not only provide light but also keep the cold away.

    Three men were sitting around the fire pit and were all wearing fur coats. The youngest of them stood up and went to Androlis, with his fierce eyes filled with curiosity, ¡°Greeks, why have youe here in the mountains?! Don''t you know that we Bruttians do not wee you!¡±

    After listening to the trantion of his attendant, Androlis calmly said, ¡°I am the envoy of Theonia, and I have been sent to Consentia by the Senate¡¯s order to discuss something important with your leaders.¡±

    ¡°Something important?! What is it?!¡± He asked with interest.

    Androlis said seriously, ¡°I apologise. I am unable to say it until I see your leaders.¡±

    The young man''s expression immediately changed, and he yelled with hostility, ¡°If you do not say it, I will not allow you to pass through Besidice! I now suspect you of being spies! Men, arrest them, and give each other tenshes, and lock them up in the sheep pen!¡±

    Androlis and his entourage became pale.

    ¡°Kanaru, wait!¡± At this time, the man next to him stood up and stopped him, ¡°They are Theonians. It''s best not to hurt these people until the great chieftain and the others give their reply!¡±

 Chapter 294: Envoy to Bruttii (II)

    ¡°Since when have we Bruttians been so friendly to the Greeks! Are we afraid of them just because they are Theonians?!¡± Kanaru shouted angrily. Although the Bruttians were closed off, they still knew some of the matters that are happening from the outside. And the sudden rise of a powerful union of city-states around Bruttii had put the tribal chieftains under pressure. Only young men like Kanaru were not convinced, ¡°We are wolves, while the Greeks are just sheep, so no matter how many and fat the sheep are, they would never be able to fight the wolves!¡±

    ¡°Kanaru, don''t forget what your father said to you when he was leaving, surely you do not want him to get angry when he hears that you do not listen to us again, and deprive you of the power you just got and transfer it to your brother.¡± Another older man also stepped forward to persuade him.

    Kanaru seemed to remember something and his face paled slightly and angrily left. While leaving, he red at Androlis angrily.

    Androlis was listening to hispanion''s trantion of their conversation when he saw the older man approach and say in a gentle tone, ¡°Envoy of Theonia, my name is Baripiri, I am the chieftain of Besidice, and he is Burim, another chieftain of Besidice.¡±

    Androlis greeted him with a smile and gave his name.

    ¡°We will immediately send someone to inform Consentia of your arrival. In the meantime, stay here in Besidice temporarily. As soon as your entry is granted, we will even send someone to escort you to Consentia.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The sleeping of the Bruttians is simple, as they will only cover themselves with animal furs and slept directly on the wooden floor around the fire pit.

    After an afternoon''s trekking and fright, Androlis and his group were already dead tired, so after dinner, they lie down and soon fell asleep.

    In the dark, only one person still had his eyes open.

    Among Androlis'' threepanions, one was his most trusted ve, who took good care of his necessities during their journey. Another one is Adepiges, a registered freeman of Theonia; with Androlis not being able to understand Bruttii, the Senate had especially found a trantor for him. The Bruttians had captured the mother of Adepiges, who is a Greek, and got pregnant after getting r*ped, and since his childhood, he was a ve of the Bruttians. After having experienced the hardship of life, he finally seized the opportunity to escape from the Bruttii mountains, and he ended up in Thurii. Hisstpanion, the one who had not yet fallen asleep, was rmended to Androlis by Marigi, saying that he was a part of the Ministry of Military Affairs and needed to know what was going on inside the Bruttii region in case of a future war with the Bruttians, but the truth is, he is a reserve citizen of Theonia named Antrapolis, brother of Aristias, Davos'' private intelligence officer.

    With Izam''s reconnaissance team following Davos to Taranto, Antrapolis needed to perform the scouting duties. At this moment, he was trying to recall in his mind what he had seen during the day, like how long it took them to reach Besidice from Theonia, the difficulty of traversing the road, the location and sturdiness of the city of Besidice, its poption and the number of soldiers, and the personalities of the chieftains of Besidice that he judged from their conversations¡­and so on. Antrapolis recalled them over and over until he engraved them clearly in his mind, with some vague points that needed to be further confirmed by him the next day.

    After that, Antrapolis turned his gaze to Androlis, who was sleeping opposite him. His other mission was to closely monitor and observe the performance of the new statesman from Krimisa during their mission to Consentia.

    That was not the first time that Antrapolis had done such a thing. At the start, he was somewhat resistant. He even said to his brother, Aristias, that the former tyrant of Syracuse, Hiero, had gotten a notorious reputation from creating a secret service system to wantonly monitor the private lives of the citizens of the city-state. Therefore, he did not want Davos, to whom they were attached, to be such a person.

    However, Aristias persuaded him that the notorious reputation of Hiero was mainly because he is too autocratic and is overly suspicious and oppressive of the citizens, which made the people seethe with resentment. Davos, on the other hand, as an archon for life, was open-minded and cool-headed, and he knew well how to safeguard the freedom of the people, so he definitely won''t make such a mistake. And what is more, he has such an outstanding capability, and had shown it through the rapid rise of Theonia Union, and was the best strategos whom the brothers had chosen to fight against Syracuse and rebuild Catania. Therefore, one of Aristias'' important duties was to consolidate Davos leadership and preventing people with ulterior motives from making trouble.

    After getting convinced by his brother, Antrapolis began following and investigating the movements of several statesmen. It can be said that the vast majority of statesmen supported and agreed with the archon for life status of Davos, and despite the dissatisfaction of Pollux and a very few others, it had only stayed in words and did not take any concrete actions. As for Androlis, he was the leader of the Krimisians who joined the Senate. Aftering to Thurii, besides attending the Senate meeting, he usually stayed in seclusion and had little contact with the other statesmen, which attracted Aristias'' curiosity. Therefore, this mission was an excellent opportunity to find out more about this Krimisian and also to provide a reference for Davos to use when appointing senior public officials in the future. At least from his current performance, although Androlis is a noble of Krimisa, he could endure hardship and is courageous. Therefore, Antrapolis is looking forward to his next performance.

    The next afternoon, a messenger came from Consentia, bringing a message allowing the entry of Androlis and hispanions to Consentia. Consentia.

    Baripiri had also sent ten warriors to escort the Theonian envoys to Consentia.

    After leaving the city, they began to walk westward along the mountain path and shortly after, they were stopped.

    Kanaru rode up and appeared before them and smugly said, ¡°Greeks, I still have not entertained you, yet you want to leave just like that?¡±

    Androlis and the others immediately became nervous.

    At this time, the soldier in charge of the escort came forward to talk to Kanaru, but Kanaru sent his men to stop him, ¡°Don''t worry, I won¡¯t let you go back without an exnation.¡±

    After giving his promise, his face sank, and his eyes became fierce, ¡°Give them fiveshes! Let them know that it is not easy for the Greeks to pass through my Besidice without paying the price!¡±

    After saying this, the Bruttian warriors swarmed Androlis and the others, who had no time to react and pinned them to the ground.

    Each of them was given fiveshes, and their skin was shredded, which made Adepiges so angry at the beating that he cursed in Bruttian.

    Kanaru listened but justughed it out and shouted, ¡°Give them three moreshes!¡±

    Adepiges wanted to swear more, but Androlis said to him in a low voice, ¡°Adepiges, don''t forget what we came here for!¡±

    Adepiges shuddered at the words and slowly lowered his head.

    Seeing that the Greeks were not responding, Kanaru became bored, and he did not dare to go too far to avoid his father''s anger, ¡°Timid Greeks, go.¡± Shaking the reins with both hands, Kanaru rode eastward along the road.

    The four people help each other and walk forward with difficulty.

    Although the terrain is getting higher, the road is no longer rugged and difficult to walk on. In front of them are gentle swaying grasses dotted with colourful wildflowers, just like a vast and colourful carpet, which extends to the distance¡­with herds of cattle, sheep, and horses grazing quietly on the slope or raising their hooves and running and frolicking. There are also scattered huts in the area, some of which have rising smoke from cooking.

    And the number of people they could see on the road gradually increased, driving the cattle and sheep, carrying goods on their backs, and are appearing in various parts of the slope, heading in the same direction.

    In the evening, under the moonlight, Androlis saw a looming huge ck shadow appearing in front of him, and he knew that they had reached Consentia.

    As the time to enter the city had passed, Androlis and his group had to set up tents outside the city for the night.

    Early the following day, the Bruttian warriors who escorted them had immediately gone to inform the city.

    Soon, Androlis and his group were weed by the guards sent by the tribal union and invited to enter Consentia.

    After breakfast, Androlis was taken to the assembly hall of Consentia, which was more magnificent than the hut in Besidice.

    On the centre sat a person, and on each of his side sat three people, and the seats seem to have been divided into primary and secondary, with the central seat being obviously higher.

    Androlis respectfully bowed while thinking about the things he heard about the Bruttian tribes forming a tribal union under the leadership of the chieftain of Consentia, ¡°Esteemed great Chieftain, I am Androlis an envoy of Theonia, bringing with me the greetings from the Senate of Theonia!¡±

    Before Adepiges could trante it, the man said in Greek, ¡°Envoy of Theonia, wee to Consentia, the centre of the Bruttii Tribal Union. I am Pian, the chieftain of the whole tribal union.¡±

    As soon as his voice fell, the man nearest to him on the lower left stood up and asked in Greek, ¡°I wonder what the envoy hade here for, as Brutti and Theonia had never had any dealings before?¡±

    As soon as this was said, the others in the assembly hall focused on Androlis.

    Androlis had not expected for the Bruttians to put their question on the table as soon as they meet, but instead of immediately answering, he turned to look at him and asked, ¡°And you are, may I ask?¡±

    ¡°Sedrum, the chieftain of Vergae, and also one of the elders of this tribal union.¡± Sedrum is the only one of the great leaders who have ever met Theonia. A year ago, when the Lucanian coalition attacked Thurii, he led his people to attack the camp of Davos, the former mercenary leader and now the archon of Theonia. Later, Davos devised a n to encircle and annihte the Lucanian coalition, which made Sedrum seize the opportunity to revolt against the Lucanian coalition. After that, due to the proximity of Vergae to Laos, he learned about the turmoil in Laos, the rise in power of Avinoges, the joining of Laos to the Theonia Alliance¡­and other series of events that happened one after another like a revolvingntern. Therefore, although he had not yet met Davos nor dealt directly with Theonia, he was wary of Davos and Theonia. So when he found that the envoy that Theonia had sent has arrived, Sedrum warned the others to act with caution because Theonia''s strength has now clearly exceeded Bruttii.

 Chapter 295: Envoy to Bruttii (III)

    Androlis nodded at him and then looked around at everyone while they looked at him back with vignce and scrutiny, which lowered his expectations for the sess of this mission a bit more.

    Androlis secretly encouraged himself, rallying his emotions as quickly as possible to make his words more powerful, ¡°Great chieftains of Bruttii, Theonia, as the leader of the alliance of Greek city-states(here, he obviously exaggerated the position of Theonia.) has the responsibility to maintain the peace among the Greek city-states in South Italia and protect the lives and properties of the Greeks, and Theonia has been doing this for more than half a year already. A few months ago, Theonia had presided over the mediation of the war between Crotone and Locri, and a few days ago, at the request of our allies, we had sent troops to aid Taranto against the invasion of the Messapi and Peuceti¡­¡±

    When Androlis said this, he saw the expression of the crowd bing grave.

    ¡°Siro, a tribe, made up of Greeks, has been living peacefully in this mountain and has always been friendly with the surrounding tribes, but now you threatened their survival. Your newly formed tribal union had threatened this weak tribe that has never harmed any Bruttians by making them leave their homes where they have lived for decades and ept your, Consentia''s, integration, so they have no choice but to seek help from Theonia. In order to protect the life and property of the Greeks in South Italia, the Senate of Theonia reached an agreement and sent me here, hoping that the Bruttii Tribal Union would stop threatening the Siro tribe and restore their peaceful life!¡±

    After Androlis finished his speech, the people present looked at each other, but they did not appear surprised. Yesterday, when they discussed the reasons for Theonia sending an envoy to Bruttii, some people have guessed that Theonia hade for Siro.

    And the one who had guessed it is the great chieftain of mpetia ¨C Pangam, due to the settlement of the Siro tribe being not far from the north of mpetia. At this moment, he stood up angrily, ¡°Arrogant Theonians, Siro lived in thend of Bruttii. Their food and clothing are produced in thisnd, so they are Bruttians. And this is Bruttii''s internal matters and has nothing to do with you Greeks! If you havee here just for this, then you can go back! Bruttii does not wee you, and we do not like a force outside the mountain interfering in Bruttii''s matters!¡±

    Androlis sneered, ¡°The only reason why this region is called Bruttii is simply because of therge number of Bruttii tribes have gathered here, so the people are ustomed to calling this mountain as the Bruttii region. In fact, this mountain region is neither under the jurisdiction of a country nor a city-state, so there is no unified territory or border! And everyone knows that Siro is a tribe that was formed by Greeks and have been living in thisnd since a hundred years ago, so they have the right to continue living here independently!¡±

    Likumu, the Great Chieftain of Besidice, was as quick-tempered as his son Kanaru, so he immediately yelled at Androlis, ¡°What right do the Theonians have to dictate what we should do on ournds! We have intended to deal with the Siro tribe in a few days, but now that you have said that, I have decided to send arge army to destroy it this afternoon!¡±

    ¡°If Theonia can make Krimisa, Aprustum, and Nerulum independent, then it won''t be a big problem for us to spare Siro.¡± Bodiam, the Great Chieftain of Anbania, said mockingly.

    Androlis stood silently as if he had not heard their cursing.

    At this point, Sedrum asked aloud, ¡°What if we refuse your, Theonia''s, request?¡±

    The sound of cursing in the assembly hall abruptly stopped.

    ¡°I have only been asked to deliver the message of the Senate. If you do not ept, the Senate of Theonia will need to discuss before making its next decision.¡± Androlis remained calm, but his tone became heavier, ¡°However, Theonia has always kept its promise, and no matter how much price we paid, we would not allow our allies to be oppressed, as one example after another has already proven everything. As I have said just now, in order to fulfil our promise with Taranto, our archon, lord Davos has led 15,000 soldiers to fight against Messapi, who invaded thend of our ally, Taranto. A battle report hade when I was just about to leave for Consentia, ¡®Lord Davos led an army and defeated the 30,000 Messapi-Peuceti troops in the mountain and caused the Messapi-Peuceti alliance to suffer numerous casualties, which forced them to sign a peace agreement with Taranto.¡¯ Soon, lord Davos will lead the victorious army back to Thurii for a Triumphant Return!¡±

    ¡®Threat! This is a naked threat!¡¯ Everyone at the assembly hall looked at each other, and the Great Chieftain Likumu jumped to his feet and cursed and threatened that they are not afraid to go to war with Theonia.

    ¡°Be quiet! Be quiet!¡± Phitara, the high priest of Brutii, stood up to maintain the order.

    ¡°Theonians, we Bruttians are not afraid of war!¡± Pian, who was sitting in the middle, spoke up and added, ¡°However, Bruttii and Theonia are neighbours, and once a conflict urs, there will besting damage to the rtionship between the two races and will lead to constant war. In order to avoid the possible sacrifice of countless lives just because of the Siro tribe, we Bruttians are willing to make a concession that we will not punish the Siro for viting our order, but we will have them safely leave Bruttii.¡±

    ¡°Pian, what are you spouting about! Bruttii will never give concession to Theonia!¡± Likumu immediately expressed his displeasure.

    ¡°What about thend? You will just take away thend where the Siro has lived for generations?¡± Androlis reacted quickly, so he promptly asked.

    Pian nced at Likumu. Even though he was still angry, he didn''t say anymore.

    The high priest, Phitara, admonished Androlis, ¡°Theonians, do not be too greedy. It''s already our, Bruttii Tribal Union''s, greatest kindness of not turning the Siro people into ves!¡±

    Androlis shook his head and said in a strong stone, ¡°But the order the Senate has given me was that ¡®The Siro''s right to live independently in Bruttii must be guaranteed!¡¯¡±

    The light in Pian''s eye dimmed away, and his tone became indifferent, ¡°In that case, we will decide after we discuss it.¡±

    ¡°Besides, we do not know the current situation of the Siro tribe, so we need to send some people to understand it before we can make a judgment.¡± Sedrum quickly interjected.

    After the guards sent Androlis out, the discussion in the assembly hall became more intense.

    ¡°Theonia is oppressing us too much, even though they are saying something about defending the Greeks in South Italia, I think that they just don''t want to see us Bruttians unite, so they are deliberately creating trouble for us!¡± Said Pangam angrily.

    The high priest Phitara nodded and encourage everyone, ¡°Therefore, we Bruttians need to unite more closely in order not to be afraid of the Greeks and Lucanians!¡±

    ¡°Why don''t we give these nasty Theonians-¡± Likumu waved his hand and made a beheading gesture.

    ¡°That must not be done!¡± Sedrum said quickly, ¡°Both the Greeks and the Lucanians have rules for treating envoys well, even in times of war. We, Bruttii, are bing a powerful union, and it is all the more reason to abide by these generally agreed rules of all races. Not to mention that killing the envoys will only infuriate the Theonians, and war will be inevitable.¡±

    ¡°Theonia is nothing! My people and I are not afraid of them!¡± Likumu said without showing weakness.

    ¡°We are naturally not afraid of Theonia! But once war erupts, our great cause of unifying Bruttii will be seriously affected!¡± Said Pian solemnly.

    ¡°I think that it is better to imprison them for a few days and only let them out once we settled the Siro. At that time, even if they want to defend Siro, the Siro tribe will no longer exist, and so they can only ept this fact.¡± Bodiam suggested.

    Inspired by it, Sedrum had a bright idea and said, ¡°Everyone, I think that is a good idea, and we can change it a bit more¡­¡±

    After Sedrum finished expressing his idea, the others thought it was a good method, and only Likumu disdained it and said impatiently, ¡°Why the need to make it soplicated? it is as if we Bruttians are afraid of the Theonians!¡±

    Pian ignored him and cautiously reminded them, ¡°It is feasible to implement the suggestion of elder Sedrum. However, we should also be prepared for a possible war, in case the Theonians do not ept our approach!¡±

    After a brief silence, Likumu first said, ¡°I admit that Theonia is better than us, but as long as they enter the Bruttii mountains, I can guarantee that they will never be able to leave! Because no one is more familiar with the mountains and teaus here than us, Amara(goddess of snow, mountains, and teaus that the Bruttians worshipped) has sheltered us Bruttians, who have been living here quietly for hundreds of years, and will continue to protect our people!¡±

    Likumu''s words gave everyone encouragement.

    The high priest, Phitara, said, ¡°In addition, we need to find allies on our fight against Theonia, so as to reduce the pressure of facing Theonia alone.

    ¡®Ally?¡¯ The Bruttii region has been surrounded by Theonia and its allies, so where can they find allies? As they pondered it, Sedrum suddenly eximed excitedly, ¡°Lucanians! We can ask the Lucanians! Theonia''s capture of Grumentum has already threatened the safety of Pyxous and Potentia, so if they don''t want to be the next Grumentum, then they should be willing to ally with us.¡±

    Pian''s eye brightened. The reason why he did not think of the Lucanians is that two years ago, the Lucanians were still the most feared enemies of the Bruttians. When Vergae surrendered to the Lucanian Coalition, it had made the situation in the Bruttii region to be critical that it had even made Pian make up his mind to lead his tribe to move southward, and it is why he had led the army of Consentia to unite with mpetia to attack Terina and fight a fierce war with Crotone and its allies. But just two yearster, the former powerful Lucanians have been reduced to this point, which can not help but cause Pian''s vignce.

    ¡°Elder Sedrum is a good friend of the Lucanians, so it is no wonder that only you can think of them. Therefore, it''s better for you to be the one to talk about the alliance with the Lucanians.¡± Likumu sneered loudly, ignoring that Sedrum and he were elders of the Bruttian Union.

 Chapter 296: Return

    Back then, Sedrum, the chieftain of Vergae, had led his tribe to join the Lucania Coalition, which has frightened all the tribes in the Bruttii region and felt that they were in great danger. Although things have changed, many of them still have a prejudice against Sedrum and Vergae, which had be the worry of Sedrum. Originally, he was the first to abandon the past hatred among the tribes and hade to Consentia on his own initiative, and he is also the first to propose the establishment of the Bruttian union. Not to mention that the strength of Vergae in the Bruttii region is second only to Consentia, but in this assembly hall, his weight is much less than Likumu.

    At this time, he just ignored Likumu''s taunt while he solemnly said to Pian, ¡°Leave the matter of alliance with Pyxous and Potentia to me!¡±

    Even at the end of the meeting, no one suggested letting the Siro tribe to exist independently.

    Because once they do that, it will strengthen the confidence of the other tribes, who do not want to be merged and integrated, resist the new union, and the road to the reunification of Bruttii will no longer be smooth.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Adepiges, with a dejected expression, walked back into the house.

    ¡°How is it? They are still not letting us go out?!¡± Antrapolis came forward and asked.

    Adepiges shook his head and said angrily, ¡°It''s still the same words, saying ¡®Some tribes in the city have rioted and they still have not yet solved it, so they are afraid that if they hurt us by mistake, it will lead to tension with Theonia. That''s why they have strengthened our protection.¡¯ and so on. I think that they just want to imprison us!¡±

    ¡°Maybe they want to cover our eyes and ears and seize this time to solve the Siro tribe!¡± Antrapolis looks anxiously at Androlis.

    Androlis, on the contrary, is just lying leisurely on his seat and letting his ves apply medicine to the wounds that he received from the whipping of the Bruttians. The reason why he was not in a hurry was that in the Senate, the letter of Davos had said, ¡°Help the Siro tribe by protesting against the Bruttians¡± Theonia was just using this as a good excuse in intervening in Bruttii matters and destroy the union of Bruttian tribes. If the Bruttii did not ept it and destroy Siro instead, then Theonia would have a reason to send troops to Bruttii, which is probably the real intention of Davos.

    After nearly being together for half a year, Androlis had never looked down on the young archon. On the contrary, he understood the terrifyingness of Davos'' seemingly sincere smile. Therefore, this mission, whether it seeds or not, the goal of Theonia has been achieved.

    So he calmly said, ¡°There is no need to rush, as we could just leisurely wait.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Three dayster, Androlis had once again entered the assembly hall of Consentia, with Pian telling him the bad news that a civil strife happened in the Siro tribe. Some wanted to return to the Greek city-state, and some had wanted to be merged into Consentia. As a result, a conflict between the two sides broke out. Finally, the people who supported integrating into Consentia ughtered the other side¡­

    He also asked Androlis to meet with several leaders of the Siro tribe, who had repeatedly asked to join Consentinia and firmly refused any help from Theonia.

    During the whole process, Androlis seldom spoke, which led to the illusion that the Theonians seemed to have no choice but to ept the result.

    When Pian said to Androlis with an apologetic expression, ¡°Things have already happened, and the only thing we can do now is to do our best in settling down the Siro people that are still living! We are worried that Theonia might misunderstand the Bruttii Tribal Union and make some radical decisions. Therefore, we hope that lord Androlis will convey our sincere apology and our sincere wish to have friendly exchanges with Theonia to your Senate after you return to Thurii!¡­¡±

    Androlis calmly said, ¡°I will report the truth about what happened to the Senate, and I will also convey your friendly words without leaving a single word. As for the decision of the Senate, I am unable to guess¡­¡±

    Consentia did not prevent Androlis from leaving; on the contrary, they have even presented him with numerous valuable gifts, with Consentia even giving him a rather grand send-off.

    During the send-off, Sedrum was the leading role, as he had not only sent hundreds of Vergae warriors as guards but also personally apanied Androlis out of Consentia. Because Androlis had put into consideration that the road into the Bruttii mountains was not only difficult, but also the unfriendliness of the city of Besidice, coupled with the request of Antrapolis, so he decided to return without using the path they had traversed and instead, they went northward from Consentia to Vergae, to Laos, and then back to Thurii through the Lao Fortress.

    After more than half a day''s trek, they arrived at Vergae.

    Sedrum had specially prepared a feast with abundant food and warmly invited Androlis to the banquet.

    The next day, Androlis left the Bruttii mountains and arrived in Laos.

    The archon of Laos, Avinoges, led all the influential men of the city out to meet them, and it was only then that Androlispletely rxed.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos'' ship arrived at the port of Thurii together with other transport ship. However, as there were a lot of people in the port, with the Theonians swarming to wee the safe return of their families, Davos did not disembark with the soldiers as the noise and crowding were not favourable to the protection of the archon of Theonia, so Davos followed Martius'' advice and sailed westward along the Crati River and dock in the city of Thurii. Afterwards, Davos quietly returned to his mansion.

    Ribaso, a housekeeper who was a former ve, was busily urging two ves to clean the cistern in the middle of the courtyard when he saw Davosing in, so he eximed with surprise, ¡°Master, you are back!¡±

    ¡°How was everyone while I was gone?¡± Davos asked with a smile.

    ¡°Everything is good. Madame had been thinking and praying for you in the Temple of Hades every day! We..we have also gone to the Temple of Hades to pray for you!¡­thanks to Hades! You have safely returned so soon, master!¡± Ribaso said happily.

    Davos then happily handed him something, ¡°This is a Carthaginian leather hat that I bought for you in Taranto. It can protect you from the wind and sand and the cold in winter.¡±

    Ribaso took the gift from Davos and was so excited that he fell to his knees with a ¡°thud¡± and thanked him.

    Davos quickly stopped him, ¡°Now that you are a freeman and are in charge of so many ves, you do not need to kneel as it undermines your authority as a supervisor. Do you understand?!¡±

    With that, Davos could no longer wait to go through the front door and into the backyard.

    ¡°Boss, master is very kind to you! That he even bought you things!¡± A ve who had recently arrived said enviously.

    Ribaso folded the leather cap carefully and ced it in his arms. Instead of being smug about it, he warned him by saying, ¡°You are still new here, so you do not know that although master''s status is a noble, he is very kind to the ves in his house. As long as you keep working diligently, master will see to it that in the future, you will not only be rewarded but will also get rid of your status as a ve and be a freeman.¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡±

    ¡°Aren''t I enough as a good example?!¡± Said Ribaso as he patted his chest.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Master, you are back!¡±

    ¡°Hey Azune, you are still as beautiful as before, and you haven''t changed a bit.¡±

    ¡°Madame is the one who should be called beautiful! Besides, you have only been away for a few days, and people are not like weather that would easily change!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos!¡±

    ¡°Oh, Andrea here as well! are you currently discussing business?¡±

    Cheiristoya stood up with a smile on her face and walked towards Davos while holding the baby in her arms, ¡°We were just discussing that once Andrea gave birth, if it is a girl, she would marry little Kro!¡±

    Davos nced at Andrea''s prominent belly and said with a smile, ¡°I agree! As long as she doesn''t look like Bagul, then Andrea''s daughter would definitely be beautiful, and our little Kro would be the one taking advantage of it! Isn''t that right, my child?¡± Davos took little Kro and raised his son in his hands and rocked him gently.

    The little guy was not afraid at all, on the contrary, he happily swung around his arms and legs in the air.

    ¡°You see, my child agrees.¡± Laughed Davos.

    Cheiristoya pinched him on the shoulder and scolded, ¡°You have sent Bagul to Grumentum while Andrea was pregnant with no one to take care of her, and you still have the nerve to say that?¡±

    ¡°It''s not me who decided it. The Senate was the one who appointed him.¡± Davos rubbed his shoulder while exaggeratedlyining that he was wronged.

    Andrea blushed and said, ¡°I am in Thurii now and have my family to look after me. I am fine as Bagul would asionallye back for a day or two, so there is nothing I need to worry about at all!¡±

    Since Bagul was the praetor of Grumentum, he could have Andrea apany him. However, Andrea had just gotten pregnant, and what''s more, they had just upied Grumentum, so it is currently unstable. For the sake of safety, Bagul persuaded Andrea to stay in Thurii.

    ¡°At noon, we will have a small banquet to celebrate your triumphant return! And also to wish Andrea a sessful birth with the blessing of the great goddess Hera! Is that okay?¡± Cheiristoya suggested to Davos in a low voice.

    Davos naturally had no problem with it.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos woke from his sleep and reached out to block the dazzling sunlight shining through the open window.

    He lifted the quilt and got ready to get up, however, this has caused the bare back of his wife, Cheiristoya, to be exposed.

    After the banquet at noon, Davos carried Cheiristoya into the bedroom after seeing off Andrea and Azune taking little Kro.

    A long separation had made their heart grow fonder. Moreover, the boring military life was more than enough to keep Davos'' energyst for nearly an hour, with Cheiristoya cl***xing more than three times.

 Chapter 297: Classified Report

    Davos gently lifted the covers and looked at the body of Cheiristoya, it has only been six months after giving birth, and she has now regained her former slender and attractive body; white skin, long and lean legs, plump and smooth breast, and firm buttocks¡­

    Davos was unable to stop himself from reaching out and slowly stroke upwards along her lovely toes¡­he began to feel the heat in his body rising¡­

    ¡°¡­Ahn¡­Davos¡­let me¡­sleep a little longer, I''m still so sleepy¡­¡± Cheiristoya squirmed and said drowsily.

    So Davos could only resist his desires and covered his wife with the quilt.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Hoh, your brother went with Androlis to Consentia.¡± Davos sat in his study as he listened to Aristias regarding the things that happened in Theonia and the surrounding area while he was away.

    ¡°It''s has been six days, but there is still no report.¡± Aristias answered truthfully.

    Davos felt something from his speech, so he asked, ¡°Are you not worried?¡±

    Aristias was silent.

    ¡°Be at ease, the Bruttians does not have the courage to hurt our envoy! They might even be on their way back; else they may have been imprisoned by the Bruttians¡­¡± Davos earnestly reassured him and added, ¡°After a few more days, if there is still no news, then Theonia will give a ¡®threat of war¡¯ to Bruttii and force the Bruttians to release them!¡±

    ¡°¡­thank you, milord!¡± Aristias said with some anxiousness and gratitude.

    Davos solemnly patted him on the shoulder and said, ¡°Theonia will never treat the brave men, who dared to risk their lives for Theonia, badly! Once your brother returns, he will immediately be an official citizen, much earlier than you! However, there is nothing for you to worry about as I will keep everything you did in mind!¡±

    Aristias did not reply but instead saluted him with great respect.

    ¡°Anything else?¡± Asked Davos.

    Aristias adjusted his emotion and said in a deep voice, ¡°There is. It''s about Pollux.¡±

    ¡°Pollux?¡± Davos blinked.

    ¡°We found out that Pollux has liberated many ves in his family, and then these liberated ves applied to the Ministry of Agriculture to lease a lot ofnd with his help¡­¡± Aristias said here and looked at Davos.

    Davos listened calmly. From what Aristias had said, there seems to be nothing unusual about what Pollux had done, on the contrary, Davos might even need to praise him for responding to his call in setting an example by freeing many ves.

    But Davos knew that it would never be that simple.

    ¡°These liberated ves used a portion of the ie from thend they leased to pay taxes, a portion for their own use, while most of the ie they obtained went to Pollux.¡±

    Hearing this, Davos eyes widened, ¡°How much profit they give to Pollux?¡±

    ¡°I am not clear about the exact portion, but I fear that it''s not a small number. Because he had about 35 liberated ves that applied for a total of 120,000 square meters ofnd.¡± Said Aristias as he looked at the record in his hand.

    ¡°These ves should know about Theonia''s Act onnd leasing, so why no one had reported it?¡± Eximed Davos.

    ¡°We learned that these ves were all born ves of Pollux''s family, and they had lived in his family for at least 20 years, so they should be very loyal to him. Secondly, through his connection to the Ministry of Agriculture, Pollux had these ves rent fertilend. In addition to the 20%nd tax and the money given to Pollux*, the remaining ie, even though it is small, it is still far more than what they earn as ves. Moreover, these farnds were all close to each other, so the liberated ves lived collectively in severalrge houses, monitored each other. There is also report that some of them have ¡®their families¡¯ living together with them, but in fact, they are probably the people sent by Pollux to supervise them¡­¡± (note: registered freeman had to pay 20% of thend tax, preparatory citizens had to pay 10%, and citizens only need to pay 1% of thend tax)

    Once Aristias finished reporting, Davos'' eyes narrowed to a slit, with a cold gleam glinting in the slits, and he asked angrily, ¡°Does Burkes know about this?¡±

    ¡°Judging from the signs, he should not know.¡± Aristias answered seriously.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Davos stared at Aristias'' face for a while and was slightly relieved. He had a good impression of Burkes, especially after Davos led the army to defeat Crotone and took over Thurii. Burkes had not only taken the initiative to cooperate and stabilise the political situation in Thurii, but he had also responded positively to the new policies that Davos promulgated. Although both he and Pollux were famous nobles in Thurii and owned manynds, he took the initiative to give up the ownership of most of hisnd and even freed some of his ves¡­

    ¡°If it is only not¡­¡± Davos said softly, but he knew in his heart that Burkes would be dragged down due to their friendship this time.

    ¡°Is there anyone else that has done this?¡± Davos asked again sullenly.

    ¡°We are still investigating, but there are so many people, and we don''t have enough people¡­¡± Aristias said with difficulty.

    ¡°Make a n for how many people you need. After I read and think that it is feasible, then I will increase your funds. This matter must be carefully investigated for me! Investigate it carefully! You should focus on all statesmen of the Senate and citizens who hold public office!¡± Davos'' tone was stern, as he did not expect that less than two years after Theonia''s establishment, there is corruption breeding, which made him very angry.

    But as an archon, Davos also had to consider other issues, so he reminded, ¡°The investigation must be carried out quietly, without alerting anyone, and report to me as soon as a situation arises!¡±

    ¡°I understand, milord!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Davos! Davos!¡­¡± Mersis shouted his name angrily and hurried into the living room.

    Knowing that the fatty must have something to ask of him again, Davos looked at him and said, ¡°Mersis, you need to call me by my title here.¡±

    ¡°Understood, milord archon.¡± Mersis went close to Davos, stretched both his hands forward and said, ¡°Please remove me from my position. I could not do this job!¡±

    ¡°Why? You want to take some time off and travel somewhere else?¡± Davos first teased him, but when he saw Mersis'' serious expression, he said in surprise, ¡°Haven''t you doing quite well in your duties?!¡±

    ¡°Haven''t you made Marigi bring me word to prepare rations for four legions for two months in advance, right?¡± Questioned Mersis.

    Davos understood it not and nodded, ¡°Yes, I was the one who told that to Marigi.¡±

    ¡°That''s impossible for me!¡± Marigi said angrily, ¡°Four legions of at least 30,000 men would consume 30,000 kilograms of grains every day. If it is for two months, that would be 2 million kilograms! Such a huge amount of grain, not counting the price increaseter, we would have to pay at least¡­now, the treasury simply does not have so much money. Even if we include thend tax for September and October and the usual business tax revenue, it is still would not be enough, because we still have to pay: The sries of all public officials; The Roscianum ¨C Krimisa road and the Krimisa ¨C Aprustum road; The reconstruction of the marsh area in Krimisa; And Plesina''s application to build small temples of Hades in other cities such as Amendra, Krimisa and Nerulum! Which of these projects does not cost money?! Huh! All of them costs a lot of money!¡±

    ¡°Alright, Mersis. I know you have tried every means to save money for Theonia, and it is indeed very hard! But if you quit, I won''t be able to find a better Chief of Finance than you in the union! Do you have the heart to watch our hard-earned union copse just because of theck of effective management of the treasury?¡± Davos quickly praised him.

    ¡°Now that the union is getting bigger and bigger, the ie and expenses would naturally be a lot. In order to manage them well, it is indeed not something ordinary people could do!¡± Mersis, having received the praise of Davos, had immediately be energetic, and his previous foul mood had dissipated. He no longer expressed his dissatisfaction but thought about it and said, ¡°Archon, I can at most prepare enough grain for three legions andst for one month! If you can''t ept it, then rece me!¡±

    ¡®One month!¡¯ Davos stroked his chin. In the past, when leading the army to battle, most of the battles took ce near the territories of Theonia, and the scope and scale of these battles were small and ended quickly. However, this time, the purpose of this war with Bruttii is to conquer a region, which would make them an enemy of an entire race, so its degree of difficulty would greatly increase. Even if the war goes well, he predicts that the end of it will be longer than before, and two months was just his conservative estimate. But he did not expect that this would already make Theonia feel overwhelmed and unable to provide full support.

    ¡®War is a contest of national strength!¡¯ This saying popped into the mind of Davos, and felt helpless. He thought about the beginning of the year when Syracuse led 80,000 men to attack Carthage, and even though the war has alreadysted for half a year, it is still not yet over. Theonia had risen too fast, their umtion is insufficient, and their foundation is too thin!

    ¡°Davos, I have a solution to the problem of military supplies.¡± Mersis stepped forward and closely called Davos'' name and said mysteriously.

    ¡°Oh, what is it?¡± Davos'' heart was stirred.

    ¡°The autumn harvest is sooning. After the autumn harvest, almost all the citizens will have enough food in their homes, so we can have each of them bring their own food rations enough tost for 20 days or even a month, which would solve the ration problem!¡±

 Chapter 298: Henipolis

    Hearing this, Davos fell into thinking: The custom of the citizens of the Greek city-states when going out to war was to bring their own rations that wouldst for three days, not more than five days at most, and more than that is basically the same as making them give a direct donation which he has never heard of before. Citizens have an obligation to fight for the city and to sacrifice their blood and life, but they have no obligation to donate their own property for the city. He fears that doing so will not only arouse the discontent of the citizens but will also dampen their morale and set a bad precedent¡­

    Seeing Davos'' hesitation, Mersis continued to convince him, ¡°Although we asked the soldiers to bring more rations, they still would not lose out. After defeating Bruttii, they would get more allocatednd!¡±

    Davos pondered for a moment. He then shook his head and said, ¡°The allocation ofnd ording to military merits is a n that Theonia has worked out, so we cannot use this bill to give additional benefits for the citizens.¡±

    ¡°Davos¡­¡± Mersis still wants to convince him.

    Davos interrupted him. After pondering about it, he then added, ¡°But¡­Mersis, you have reminded me that we can instead borrow a certain amount of grain from the citizens in the name of the Senate¡­and then repay the citizens that we have borrowed the grains from with interest once the treasury is abundant. What do you think of this method?¡±

    ¡°That''s a good idea!¡± Mersis said loudly, ¡°But the interest should not be too high.¡±

    ¡°You will be the one to decide about the interest.¡± Davos became happy after seeing the problem of military supplies being solved, ¡°You are the best financial officer in Theonia! But you''d better work out a n as soon as possible and put it forward at the Senate meeting.¡±

    ¡°With your support, Davos, is there any bill that won''t be passed?¡± Mersis was also in a good mood and had taken this opportunity to tter him and then added, ¡°I went to the Tiro River the day before yesterday, and I saw that your¡­the one under construction¡­ehm¡­the hot spring bath is about to bepleted. When are you going to officially open it? Don''t forget to inform me first, as I want to be the first citizen to enter the huge hot spring bathroom and enjoy it!¡±

    When they were in Persia, Mersis enjoyed the massage of the female ves that Davos had trained. Moreover, he had also heard that thebination of massage and hot spring bath was not only morefortable but also more beneficial to the body and he had been long yearning it. Since the hot spring bath construction had started, he had run to inspect it more times than Davos, the actual owner.

    Davos naturally knew about it, so he happily agreed.

    After seeing off Mersis, Davos went back to the living room and pondered over the map of the Bruttii region drawn by the envoy from Siro, ¡®How to fight the war with the Bruttians? Which would be the best ce to breakthrough in order to shorten the war?¡­¡¯

    After a long pondering, he got up and went for a walk in the corridor to rx and clear his mind.

    ¡°Father!¡± In the middle of the courtyard, Adoris, who was ying catch with the ves, waved at him.

    Davos also responded with a smile and reminded him to be careful. After more than a year of living together, the two siblings that Davos adopted, who were unfamiliar and formal with him at the beginning, had now finally integrated into the family. ording to Cheiristoya, Cynthia, in particr, had be very sensible and often helped her look after little Kro. Since his return, Davos has still not seen the bright and lovely adopted daughter of his. Now, she should still be studying in the akademia.

    Davos pondered as he walked around the corridor. After walking a circle, he came across Henipolis, who had just returned from the outside.

    As the son of Avinoges, the archon of Laos, when Henipolis first came to study in Thurii, Davos made him stay in his own home from the very start. This is not only to win over Avinoges but also to develop Henipolis'' sense of identity with Theonia. This practice of Davos had also gradually spread among the statesmen of the Senate, so instead of staying in the guesthouse, most of the children of the leading figures of the city-states of the union such as Roscianum and Nerulum or the children of the chieftains of the small Lucanian tribes that hade to Thurii to y and study were invited to stay in the homes of the statesmen, which even include the children of Amikles, the polemarchos of Roscianum and are now living in Kunogta''s house.

    ¡°Milord, you are back?!¡± As soon as he saw Davos, Henipolis began to shout, ¡°How did the beating of the barbarians go?!¡±

    Davosughed and only said a faint word, ¡°Taranto has signed a peace agreement with them.¡± Then he changes the topic, ¡°I heard that you are learning from lord Ansitanos.¡±

    When Henipolis first arrived, he was at a loss. First, he went to the hospital and said that he wanted to learn medical skills, but after staying for a while, he backed out due to being unable to bear the wailing of the patients and bloodiness. Then he went to the Institute of Mathematics but had gotten a headache due to the tedious arithmetic. He then went to the arena for a while and practised. It wasn''t until after the establishment of the akademia and applied to study under Ansitanos, a famous schr in South Italia, that he did quite well for at least these few months.

    ¡°Milord, old man Ansitanos had gone too much and is using me as his ve, not only giving me a lot of work as a scribe, but I am also often running errands for him¡­¡± Henipolis poured out his grievances.

    ¡°In that case, I will go and talk with Ansitanos and get you another teacher.¡± Said Davos seriously and looked at him with consideration.

    Henipolis waved his hand and said, ¡°No! Don''t! If you say that, I would not even know how he would torture me afterwards!¡±

    He lowered his head and stammeringly said, ¡°¡­actua¡­actually, studying with him¡­has really taught me a lot and got me interested in history¡­today, he even asked me toe back and write an article on ¡®why did Sybaris perish.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Davos became interested, ¡°What is the reason for why Sybaris perished?¡±

    ¡°Of course, it was due to the difference in themanding ability between Sybaris and Crotone during their war! The reason why Crotone was able to defeat Sybaris is that they have Pythagoras, just as we in Theonia were able to defeat Crotone today because we have you, milord!¡± Answered Henipolis without thinking while giving ttery.

    ¡®We!¡¯ When Davos heard this word, his eyes brightened andughed, ¡°There is a more important reason. The long years of a rich and luxurious life had not only eroded the body of the Sybarians but also corrupted their thoughts, making them lose courage and morale. Otherwise, even if Pythagoras won the battle with skills, Sybaris, who had a powerful national strength, could reorganise the army and use their abundant resources and sufficient poption to continue fighting the Crotonians on a protracted battle, so as to not allow the Crotonians to take advantage of their victory and easily upy their city-state!

    It''s the same with Crotone today. As the hegemon of Magna Graecia, they have be proud and had lost their vignce, and at the same time, they have be used to peace that when our troops set foot on Crotone''s in, they hastily demanded peace. If they had chosen to continue fighting with us, Theonia, our union would not have achieved the position we have today so quickly. That is why there is a saying that goes, ¡®Difficult environment makes the city-state strive for survival, andfortable environment makes the city-state easy to perish!¡¯¡±

    Henipolis'' eyes lit up and repeatedly recited thest sentence and said excitedly, ¡°Milord, what you said is wonderful! I am going to put it in my article and let the old man know how good I am!¡±

    Davos said, ¡°Don''t say that I was the one who said that.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    Then a burst ofughter resounded in the courtyard.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    A few dayster, Androlis returned to Thurii. Once the Senate heard what the Bruttians had done, they were outraged and threatened to punish the Bruttians severely.

    A dayter, Siprus ¨C the envoy of Terina, came to Thurii with a small number of people from Siro who were lucky enough to escape from the Bruttian Tribal Union.

    Davos received them personally and made a formal promise that Theonia would, in due course, seek justice for them from the Bruttian Tribal Union.

    Then these people whose family had been ughtered and had lost their homes had not only told about their tragic experience to the Senate but also told the Theonians in the square and at the assembly ce, which aroused the sympathy of many citizens, ¡®We should help these poor Greeks and take revenge on those abominable Bruttians!¡¯

    For a time, a tense war atmosphere permeated the territory of Theonia, but the Senate did not mobilise for war because the autumn harvest hade¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Corinth, a Greek city-state on the Peloponnesian Penins and a city-state with a long history like Sparta, is located in the geographical centre of Greece, making it an ideal ce not only for Greek alliance gatherings, such as the Greco-Persian War decades ago but also for the Peloponnesian alliance armies to gathering and departing here. Its unique geographical locations also bring convenience to its trade.

    As early as more than a hundred years ago, Corinth was famous throughout Greece. Not only were they one of the richest in the Mediterranean, but also culturally developed. For this reason, the strong and confident Corinthians founded the Isthmian Games and soon became one of the four major games in Greece.

    This quadrennial celebration of Poseidon, the god of the sea, which follows the Olympic Games, should have been held this summer, but for some reasons, it was postponed to September. Even so, a steady stream of Greeks had stille to the city of Isthmus from all corners of the Mediterranean to participate in and watch the games, and almost all the prominent Greek city-states had sent athletes, even Sparta, which had some conflicts with Corinth in the past few years, had still sent a team. Except for Athens, which still held a grudge at the end of the Peloponnesian War. When the city-states of the Peloponnesian League were discussing what to do with Athens, the Corinthians strongly insisted on killing all the Athenians and turning the whole Attica region into a wilderness, and thus they had not sent any participants.

 Chapter 299: Pride and Prejudice

    In the arena, the audience seats were already crowded as the excited people await the start of the preliminaries eagerly. yers from various city-states entered the arena one after another and were met with the cheerings of the audience.

    However, the referee is still at the entrance arguing with someone, which dyed the match. The audience began to mour with discontent, so a Corinthian official, who is responsible for maintaining the order of thepetition, rushed to the entrance and asked the referee, ¡°What''s going on? Why haven''t you started the game?¡±

    ¡°Look, this guy is saying that he is a runner in this group race and also had a number. But he is not a Greek!¡±

    The Corinthian official looked at the ce where the referee''s finger is pointed: The athlete has shoulder-length brown hair, deep sunken eyes, a tall nose, thick lips, slender body, strong muscles and even though his naked upper body was coated with olive oil, the fairness of his skin could still be seen¡­his appearance is clearly not a Greek.

    The official was taken aback, ¡°How could the priests of the temple allow him to participate in thepetition?!¡±

    ¡°I think it was the officials of his city-state who registered for him, as the priest doesn''t know that he is of foreign race.¡± Replied the referee.

    The official snarled, ¡°Which city-state yer is he from? Don''t they know the registration rules for the Isthmian Games?!¡±

    ¡°Theonia! We are from Theonia!¡± Adrian squeezed over and eximed, ¡°Although Litom is a Lucanian, he is a citizen of Theonia, so ording to the rules of the Isthmian Games, as long as he is a citizen of a Greek city-state, he can participate, so he is eligible!¡±

    Theonia?! The official thought that the name seemed familiar, but he could not recall where he heard it and thought that it was not arge or powerful city-state, so he lectured him with a stern face, ¡°It is a well-known fact that only Greeks can take part in the games because no Greek city-state had ever given citizenship to a foreign race! Stop blocking here and dying the games! Leave now, or I will send someone to throw you out!¡±

    Adrien became speechless. He was born poor and grew up as a mercenary, so he had never participated in a single Greek Games and naturally did not understand its rules. This time, the Senate of Theonia had decided to send a team to take part in thepetition, and they had thought it would be best to have a statesman as the leader to show that they attached importance to the Isthmian Games. The reason why Adrian had actively signed up because he likes sports. Apart from this aspect, there were only a few ces in the Senate where he, a statesman who only knows how to fight and cannot read nor write, could use his talents. Therefore, after taking charge of Theonia''s team, he went to Crotone several times to ask for advice from the experienced athletes. He also led the team and departed together with the Crotonian team to Corinth. But now it seems that Crotone are hiding something, and he fears that their goal is to see Theonia making a fool of themselves.

    When Adrian was feeling regret, Litom shouted, ¡°Lord Davos, the archon of our union, said that ¡®No matter what race, as long as they are a citizen of our union, they should enjoy the same rights!¡¯ Therefore in Theonia, whether they are Greeks, Lucanians, Thracians, they can all y rugby together!¡±

    The Corinthian official was taken aback by Litom''s strange pronunciation and thenughed angrily. He raised his head and shouted to the audience above the arena, ¡°Everyone, is this foreign race correct?!¡±

    The audience, who had been waiting impatiently for a long time, rushed to the lowest floor of the audience seat and shouted, ¡°What ridiculous facy! Those who can say these kinds of words can only be the leaders of your barbarians!¡±

    ¡°Barbarian, get out of the arena! Go back to the city-state that had given you citizenship and allow you topete! That ce could only be dirty and terrible!¡±

    ¡°Get out, savages! Don''t defile the sacred ce of our Greeks!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Mockery and swearing struck Litom and Adrian like swords.

    Adrian''s face became pale.

    Litom, on the other hand, was furious as he was a person who lovedpetition and never gave in to defeat. Ever since he became a citizen of Theonia and heard about the Four Great Games, he had been eager topete with all the athletes in Greece because he thinks that no one can run faster than him! When the news of Theonia sending yers to participate in the Isthmian Games reaches his ears, even though it was already a bitte, he still hurriedly went to sign up for it. But he was not allowed topete just after he had reported his name!

    Looking at the bustling arena, he was not reconciled. After giving a sudden roar, he ran out.

    ¡°Hey! What are you doing?!¡± Eximed the referee.

    ¡°Catch him! Catch him!!¡± The Corinthian official screamed with impatience.

    Litom opened his legs with force, waved his arms vigorously and roared like a wolf. He ran on the soft soil barefooted, and he was as light and fast as the free mountain wind whistling in the wilderness, as he darted with all his might, leaving the Corinthian official and men who tried to catch him far behind.

    The Corinthian officials¡¯ anxious shouts alerted the athletes who were still waiting at the starting line to start chasing the wild barbarian.

    Instead of feeling afraid, Litom became more excited.

    The audiences were amazed at seeing: In the face of the yers'' encirclement and interception, the barbarian, who was moving as agile as a civet cat and as fast as a cheetah, shed past them one after another¡­

    Even though the race has be a chase and capture, most of the audience had not only notin but also felt the excitement that made some of them even stand up to cheer for the ¡°lone hero¡± on the field.

    As one of the best running back in Theonia''s Rugby Games, Litom uses his skills to skillfully dodge while maintaining his forward speed for one¡­two¡­threeps¡­

    The cheers grew louder and louder, and it was only when the Corinthian officials called in more people to blocked the space on the field that they manage to hold him.

    The panting Corinthian official came near to Litom and punched him without saying a word.

    Litom struggled to break free, but there were too many people holding him, and he could only re at the Corinthian official.

    ¡°Stop! Stop!¡­¡± Adrian came in a hurry and grabbed the first raised by the Corinthian official, ¡°Let go of our citizen, or I will protest to the Council of Corinth!¡±

    ¡°Protest?!¡± The Corinthian official looked at him and sneered, ¡°Arrest him as well! Disrupting the sacred Isthmian Games is a major crime!! Lock them up first and let your weird city-state make reparations, then have theme to collect you!¡±

    After this, a group of men escorted Litom and Adrian off the field.

    At this time, Litom struggled and roared, ¡°I, LITOM, A CITIZEN OF THEONIA, IS THE CHAMPION OF THE ISTHMIAN RACE!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The game resumed after the order on the arena was restored, but the audiences were still talking about the farce that had just taken ce.

    ¡°That guy just now did run very fast. Unfortunately, he was a barbarian. Otherwise, he could have really won the championship!¡±

    ¡°What race is he? He said that he was a citizen of a Greek city-state, so which city-state that had actually granted citizenship to a barbarian?!¡±

    ¡°I think he said that it is Theonia¡­is Theonia even a Greek city-state? Howe I have never heard of it?¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The audience of the Isthmian Games hade from all over the Mediterranean, and of course, there were Greeks from the Western Mediterranean, who naturally became the ones to answer these questions.

    ¡°Theonia is a city-state union located in the north-central part of Magna Graecia and had been founded onlyst year, and its main city is Thurii. That barbarian just now should be a Lucanian, as Theonia had upied a lot ofnd of Lucania, and they had also wantonly granted citizenship to the Lucanians living in their territory.¡±

    ¡°In other words, this Theonia Union had not only given citizenship to one barbarian?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is not only the Lucanians, but also Thracians, Egyptians¡­as long as they are willing to be citizens of Theonia, they will be able to be a formal Theonian citizen after a few years, and they will also be able to get an ¡®allocatednd¡¯!¡±

    ¡°Oh wise, Athena, have I gotten dizzy and misheard it?! Not only can barbarians be citizens, but they can also get an allocatednd?! This is simply¡­simply¡­is Theonia really a Greek city-state union?!¡±

    ¡°Iabycus, you Peloponnesians are indifferent to what is happening in the western Mediterranean. As long as you arrive at the Gulf of Taranto by ship, the most frequently heard word is Theonia. There are not only thousands of freemen flocking to Theonia to be citizens, but the councils of all the city-states of Magna Graecia are watching the movements of Theonia¡­¡±

    ¡°I can still understand the freemen wanting to be citizens and get an allocatednd. But why is it that even the top officials of the various city-states in Magna Graecia-¡±

    ¡°Because Theonia is already the most powerful city-state union in South Italia!¡±

    ¡°What?! Are you kidding me?! I still remember that the powerful city-states of Magna Graecia were Crotone and Taranto?!!¡±

    ¡°Haha, not long ago, Crotone twice lost to Theonia in a war and has long lost its former glory. And Taranto¡­just when I came to Thurii, heard that it was forced to ask Theonia¡¯s help to drive the barbarians, who were invading their territory, away with Theonia promising to send reinforcements. You won¡¯t even be able to imagine how big Theonia''s territory is! Theonia now controls Thurii, Amendra, Krimisa, and Lucania, with Laos and Roscianum bing affiliated city-state, and they are also allied with Taranto. In addition, Crotone, Terina, Scylletium and Caulonia had also allied with Theonia¡­now tell me if it is still not the most powerful city-state in Magna Graecia!¡±

 Chapter 300: The beginning of the war with Bruttii

    ¡°Oh¡­wait wait wait¡­I just remember you saying that it had only been a year since the foundation of Theonia, but it had now be the hegemon of Magna Graecia in less than two years?! That''s just¡­just¡­¡±

    ¡°You want to say it¡¯s a ¡®miracle¡¯, don''t you? It''s been said that the archon of Theonia is ¡®God''s Favoured¡¯ of Hades. Even though he is very young, he has never lost in the battles that hemanded. Lucania, Crotone, Locri¡­have lost to him sessively, and perhaps it''s a miracle!¡±

    ¡°From what you have said, Theonia is powerful in Magna Graecia that it would be better for Corinth not to have a bad rtionship with them due to this small matter in the arena¡­¡±

    ¡°That''s your Corinth''s business, Iabycus.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, Hipparchus, tell me about your city. Rhegium is also in Magna Graecia, so why have you not allied with the mighty Theonia?¡±

    ¡°We, people of Rhegium, have no intention to fight for the hegemony in Magna Graecia, and we just want to live a good life.¡±

    ¡°Everyone thinks that as well, but Hipparchus, the gods are temperamental, and they may one day involve Rhegium in the conflict of the city-state in Magna Graecia. Therefore, instead of being passive, it would be better for you to take the initiative to find a strong ally¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Since this farce happened, everyone talked about that barbarian and the strange city-state union ¨C Theonia. It is only after that incident that the name of Theonia began to be known to more Greeks in Greece.

    At this time, in the audience seat in the arena, many people were inquiring about the origins of Theonia.

    Among the audience were two young men who are from Thebes. After listening to the conversation between Hipparchus and Iabycus, one of them said excitedly, ¡°Theonia¡­what a peculiar city-state union! What do you think, Epaminondas?¡±

    The other young men sighed, ¡°To be able to dominate Magna Graecia in such a short time is not only due to the ability of the archon, but Theonia Union''s political system must have its unique features!¡±

    ¡°You have also thought the same as what I have¡­I have decided!¡± The young man shouted, ¡°After I finished my studies next year, I will go to Theonia. You must go there with me together.¡±

    Epaminondas shook his head, ¡°I apologise, Pelopidas! As you know, in recent years, my teacher Lysis has been propagating the teachings of the Pythagorean School in Corinth these past few years, so I no longer need to go to Taranto anymore. Instead, I could just learn from him who is nearby and help him deal with some affairs at the same time. Therefore, I can''t go that far away to avoid dys.¡±

    The young man named Pelopidas pressed Epaminondas'' arms and said, ¡°Didn''t that man just said that the central city of Theonia is Thurii, which is just across from the Gulf of Taranto and less than three days by boat from the Gulf of Corinth, which is not far at all. Besides, you are my best friend, so how can you bear to let me go away alone?¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Corinth imprisoned Adrian and Litom, while the rest of Theonian athletes were no longer in the mood topete, so they hurriedly sent someone back to Thurii to report.

    The Senate held a meeting to discuss the matter, and a few statesmen, led by Pollox, argued that the recklessness of Litom had tarnished the image of Theonia, and Adrian, as the head of the delegation, has failed to manage the team well and made Theonia theughing stock in all Greece. Therefore, the union should punish them!

    While Davos firmly opposed it, saying that Adrian and Litom''s action was not wrong, what is wrong is the conservative Corinthians, whose narrow-mindedness rejects the Theonians who are made up of multi-ethnic groups! Since the self-proimed orthodox Greek natives rejected the participation of Theonian citizens, who areposed of Lucanians, Thracians and other races, then there is no need for Theonia to participate in the four majorpetitions! As Theonia have the ability and strength to organise their own games!¡­

    Most of the statesmen supported the speech of Davos, especially Vespa, Hemon, Bagul, Marigi and Epiphanes.

    However, there was nothing more the Senate could do to get Corinth to release Litom and Adrian. After all, Corinth was an old Greek power and would not take the newly rising Theonia Union seriously, and the current strength of Theonia can not affect Corinth. Therefore, the only way is for them to send envoys to apologise to Corint and donate a certain amount of money to the Temple of Poseidon in Corinth so that the members of the delegation can return safely.

    All but Mersis agreed. For Davos, the most important thing for Theonia is to concentrate on dealing with the Bruttians and not make a fuss, so this resolution of the Senate, despite his reluctance, can only temporarily endure it this time.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    During the autumn harvest, the citizens are busy harvesting.

    Davos also did not stay idle. Davos, together with Heracleides the Younger, Metoticles, Mersis and others, quietly went to Aprustum to survey the valley leading to Anbania several times. They then went to the upper north bank of the Crati River to carefully observe the river and the location and environment of Besidice on the other side of the river. They had also gone to Laos to investigate the mountain road leading to Vergae. Everywhere they went, they had to calcte the speed and depth of the rivers, considering the possibility of building roads, bridges and the transportation of grains.

    Aftering back, Davos also discussed the attack n repeatedly with high ranking officers such as Philesius, Kapus and Drakos.

    At the end of September, before the autumn harvest was over, news came from Terina that some Bruttians had broken into Terina''s territory. However, the Terinian had captured them!

    But the truth is: After Androlis went to Consentia, the Bruttii Tribal Union speed up their attack and annexation of the tribes that refused to be integrated, forcing some of the Bruttians, who did not want to join the union to escape from the mountains.

    On the other hand, Davos used this as an excuse to let Aristias dispatch his spies to spread rumours in Thurii, Amendra, Krimisa and other cities that the Bruttians are unifying the tribes. After they established a powerful tribal union, they willunch an attack on Theonia. Now, it is just a probing attack by the Bruttians¡­

    At the same time, they also reminded everyone that they should not forget the blood debts of the Bruttians who plundered the Greek city-states in Magna Graecia many times!

    A tense atmosphere soon shrouded the cities in Theonia, and the citizens were even more furious, and they strongly demanded that they should begin a war against the Bruttians, pay back the blood debts and eliminate this danger!

    At the beginning of October, the autumn harvest was over, and there was a call for war in Theonia. The time was finally ripe to move against Bruttii.

    After several rounds of discussion, the Senate announced to the citizens, ¡®The Bruttians ignored Theonia''s warnings and proposal of peace and had wantonly destroyed the allies of Theonia, the Siro tribe. Based on the agreement and morality, Theonia deres war on the Bruttians!¡¯

    Finally, the war with Bruttii officially began!

    In the square in Aprustum, soldiers from the fourth legion from Krimisa and Aprustum gathers¡­

    In Thurii''s Nike Square, the soldiers from the first and second legion from Thurii and Amendra gathers¡­

    In the square in Nerulum, some of the soldiers of the third legion assemble¡­

    Grumentum, because of its extremely important location and in order to stabilise the situation in the Lucania region, the citizens belonging to the third legion in the city could not move lightly.

    Just as the preparations for the war were all in order, Davos once again met up with the Siro tribe survivors leader, Hegasitus, at his residence.

    ¡°Theonia has dered war on the Bruttians, and soon you will hear the news of victory. Despite our warning, Bruttii had still wantonly ughtered our fellow Greeks, and we will surely punish them for it!¡± Davos made a solemn promise.

    Hegasitus said with tears in his eyes, ¡°Lord Davos, thank you! Thank you very much for your selfless help to our weak tribe! You are worthy of being the Favoured of Hades! You are the guardian of justice in Magna Graecia! All of us surviving people of Siro will pray to Hades and wish you health and safety! I also wish the citizens of Theonia a quick and victorious return! And also, I have a small request. I''d like to ask for your approval.¡±

    ¡°Oh, what is your request?¡±

    ¡°My people and I hope to join your army, fight side by side with you, and take revenge on the Bruttians!¡± Said Hegasitus excitedly.

    ¡°I can understand your feelings, but the Theonian army has undergone hard training and strict discipline. If there is a vition of military rules, the most serious case would be beheading! And I am afraid that your participation will not increase our strength but will instead affect our fighting because once the militaryw is vited, do you think you will not be punished for it? Therefore, I can''t agree to your request.¡± Davos politely but firmly refused.

    Hegasitus, with a disappointed expression, said reluctantly, ¡°Then¡­we can¡­be your guide!¡±

    ¡°We only need 2~3 people as a guide.¡± Seeing Hegasitus'' disappointment, he felt that the time was ripe, so he said, ¡°But there is one thing you can do, and when you do it well, it will be the biggest blow to the Bruttii Tribal Union!¡±

    ¡°What is it?!¡± Asked Hegasitus.

    ¡°Last time, I heard from you that some tribes in the Bruttii region were not willing to merge, but they had to give in because of the strength of the Bruttii Tribal Union. Therefore, I hope you can sneak back to Bruttii, wait for the news that Theonia''s army has entered the Bruttii mountains, and then persuade these tribes to rise against this tribal union. By then, it will be easy for us to defeat the Bruttii Tribal Union!¡± Davos said here, then looked at him with slight apologetically, ¡°However, for you guys, it''s more dangerous going back than when you escape-¡±

 Chapter 301: Prelude to War (I)

    ¡°As long as we could beat Consentia, we are willing to do anything!¡± Said Hegasitus radiating with decisiveness.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The news that Theonia had dered war on the Bruttians had spread rapidly throughout Magna Graecia. Roscianum immediately sent someone to the Senate of Theonia to say that they are willing to send a thousand light and heavy infantry and fifty cavalries to the war.

    Laos had also sent someone to actively express that they would send 3,000 light and heavy infantry to battle.

    Even Heraclea, who had just joined the Theonia Alliance, was not willing to be outdone. They are willing to send 500 infantry and 100 cavalries to fight.

    Although the numbers and strength of these troops were nowhere near those of the four legions of Theonia, Davos had still readily epted them as the participation of allies in a war was a sign of unity of the Theonia Alliance. Only by fighting side by side could they deepen their friendship with their allies and gradually influence and assimte their military systems.

    Although the Council of Taranto knew in advance that there was a conflict between Theonia and the Bruttians (from what Tolmides had leaked), they had mixed feelings after they learned about the outbreak of war hade because: If Theonia won, the gap between Taranto and Theonia would only widen; But if Theonia suffered a heavy loss, then the Messapi and Peuceti, who had just signed an armistice may have new thoughts. Taranto''s manpower and resources are now devoted to the recovery of the war-torn territories of Taranto, so it is impossible for Taranto to assist Theonia. However, not long ago, Theonia had saved Taranto from a crisis by honouring their agreement.

    Therefore, the Council of Taranto sent an envoy, Polidorus, to Thurii and politely inquired, ¡°What do you need from Taranto?¡±

    Davos had naturally noticed the embarrassment of Polidorus, so he immediately expressed his gratitude for Taranto''s concern and said politely, ¡°For the time being, Theonia doesn''t need the help of Taranto.¡±

    However, Davos'' politeness showed his confidence and made Polidorus feel slightly guilty while letting out a sigh of relief.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Crotonians equally have mixed feelings, and even most hope that the warunched by Theonia will suffer a tragic defeat. However, Scylettium, Terina, and Caulonia had all sent envoys, so Crotone naturally had to show something, as they were, after all, part of the South Italia Alliance.

    However, the Senate of Theonia politely declined their expectation of participating in the war on the ground that these city-states had just gone through war and needed to guard against Locri. At the same time, he put forward his own request that he hopes they can provide some military provisions and allow the army of Theonia to pass through their territory and wait for an opportunity to attack Bruttii from Terina''s side.

    The envoys of Crotone and other city-states had immediately agreed.

    The envoys even boasted that their city-state is willing to provide free food for the Theonian army attacking from Terina''s side until the end of the war.

    While the envoy of Terina just spoke a little, as he actually knew inwardly that the Senate of Theonia had long had a secret agreement with Siprus to attack mpetia together! This time, he hade with the other envoys just as a cover-up.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Father, it seems that the Vergaeans are right. Theonia has dered war on Bruttii! We-¡± Gennat said excitedly.

    Cincinnag interrupted his son with a sneer, ¡°What are we going to do?¡­dere war on Theonia as well?! We a grudge against the Theonians, but don''t forget that Sedrum, that old bastard, had ughtered our people! If it weren''t for Elea, that Vergaean envoy would never have walked out of Pyxous!¡± Said Cincinnag in a hateful voice.

    The loss of Grumentum had allowed the Theonians to enter the heart of Lucania, and the small independent Lucanian tribes have been defecting to Theonia one after another like flies gathering around sh''t. Although the Theonians had not yet taken any further action at Grumentum, they still had made the Pyxousians feel the pressure. Although the envoy of Pyxous came to Thurii and brought back the promise of peace by the archon of Theonia, how could the cunning Cincinnag easily believe on that thin piece of paper!

    Especially when Elea had announced their joining of the Theonia Alliance, it was like a huge drum causing a huge stir in Pyxous, as this meant that not only did the Pyxousians not dare to consider Elea as a slice of fat meat that they could plunder every year as they had done before, but it had also made the city of Pyxous be surrounded by Theonia and its allies from hereafter. Potentia should also feel the same danger, so when the envoy of Bruttii arrived and with his help, the two tribal power of Lucania, which had a feud for a long time, finally decided to unite to fight against Theonia in order to survive.

    ¡°We have to be patient and not be in a hurry!¡± Said Cincinnag to his son.

    ¡°Until when?¡±

    ¡°Wait until both Theonia and Bruttii fought to exhaustion! Wait until Potentia to act first!¡± Cincinnag''s narrowed eyes gleamed with cold light.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the assembly hall of Consentia, the Great Chieftains of the Bruttii Tribal Union were urgently discussing the information that their scouts had reported.

    ¡°Yesterday, Davos had led what they called the first and second legions out of Thurii and marched westward, seemingly preparing to pass through the mountains to Laos¡­in Aprustum¡­uh, the fourth legion is also starting to move south¡­Everyone, the attack of Theonia ising!¡± Pian said with a grave expression.

    ¡°It''s about time! We have long carefully prepared to let these arrogant Theonians taste the strength of Bruttii!¡± Likumu waved his fist excitedly.

    ¡°It seems that the main focus of Theonia''s attack is Vergae! Because their archon, Davos, had personally led the first and second legion, together with the third legion of Nerulum and the army of Laos, and the number of soldiers he leads may even be as high as 20,000! Not only did we strengthened Vergae''s defence, but we have also built several defensive camps on the mountain road¡­however, we only have at most 4,000 soldiers, and I fear that we would have a difficult time resisting the attack of so many Theonian soldiers!¡± Said Sedrum, looking at the others with mncholy.

    ¡°Sedrum, you coward! You have started to be afraid before the war even starts!¡± Likumu sneered.

    ¡°It''s normal for Vergae not to be able to stop the full attack of the Theonians alone. The fourth legion of Theonia had also headed south. They must be nning to attack the north of the city of Terina, together with the Terinian army, whose soldiers I fear numbered over ten thousand, while the warriors of the city of mpetia are but two thousand, so for mpetia to hold on, we must have your reinforcements!¡± Pangam defended both Sedrum and himself.

    Sedrum nodded gratefully to him.

    ¡°Just after Bruttii had united into a tribal union, we have met a strong enemy. This is the test of Amara and Brutus! Under the protection of the gods and goddesses, we must unite closely and defeat the enemy in order to forge the future glory for the people of Bruttii!¡± The high priests, Phitara, said with a solemn expression. The Bruttians prided themselves on being the descendants of Brutus, who is the legendary ancient hero, demigod and protector of the Bruttians, and Brutus was the son of Heracles and the Queen of Bruttii ¨C Valentia.

    ¡°The high priest is correct!¡± Pian looked at everyone and said, ¡°I will lead ten thousand Consentian warriors together with Petaru to reinforce Vergae!¡±

    Ten thousand warriors are almost the whole force of Consentia, so Sedrum hurriedly bowed and said gratefully, ¡°Grand Chieftain, thank you for your full assistance!¡±

    ¡°This is what I should do as we are allrades in the same union now. If the city of Vergae couldn''t hold on, then can Consentia be safeguarded?! If Consentia is upied, what way out can there be for Besidice and Anbania?!¡± Pian said this as if tofort Sedrum, but in fact, it was more of a reminder to Bodiam and Likumu.

    ¡°On the southeast of Anbania that leads to Aprustum is a narrow valley, and the Theonians does not dare to attack from here, as once found, our warriors would not even need to fight, and they just need to stand on the top of the valley and throw rocks at them, which would be enough to cause them heavy casualties. Therefore, I am willing to lead 3,000 warriors to reinforce mpetia!¡± Bodiam immediately made his stance.

    Likumu, unwilling to fall behind, said aloud, ¡°The situation in Besidice is simr to that of Anbania. There are mountains and rivers as barriers, so the Theonians can''t enter through my territory at all. Therefore, I am willing to take two thousand warriors to help Pangam beat back the Theonians!¡±

    Pangam also expressed his thanks to the two great chieftains.

    ¡°Brutus from above¡­this is how we should be! As long as we Bruttians work together as one, no amount of Greeks would be able to defeat us!¡± Phitara chanted the name of their god in a low voice.

    ¡°Although Anbania and Besidice have a geographical advantage, we should always be vignt to prevent the Theonians from sneaking! You should all know how cunning the archon of Theonia is that it had even made Crotone lost twice with his cunningness, and Nerulum and Grumentum were also captured due to his sneak attack!¡± Pian solemnly admonished the two chieftains, hoping for them to strengthen their vignce.

    ¡°Don''t worry. We have sentries at every peak of the valley, which would alert us as soon as the Theonians move.¡± Said Bodiam seriously.

    ¡°The riverbank path of Thurii leading to Besidice has long been blocked by a strong defensive camp built by us! If the Theonians were toe attacking, we would annihte them!¡± Likumu said with confidence.

 Chapter 302: Prelude to War (II)

    Pian nodded. He could only remind them that although he had been elected as the Grand Chieftain of the newly created tribal union, he, in fact, had no right to interfere with the management of these tribal cities at all. He then turned to ask Sedrum again, ¡°Pyxous and Potentia had agreed to ally with us, so do you think that they will attack Theonia?¡±

    ¡°That''s hard to say¡­¡± Sedrum said with hesitation, ¡°It is because the Theonians are attacking us and not them. Judging from Cincinnag''s cunningness, he will never be the first to attack unless we defeat the Theonians!¡±

    Disappointment shed on Pian''s eyes but soon went back to normal. Pian then shouted to motivate the crowd, ¡°Everyone, as long as we hold off the attack of the Theonians and persist for even half a month and not allow the Theonians to enter the Bruttii mountains, would make their morale to be crushed, their transportation to suffer difficulties, and the Lucanians, who the Theonians oppress, will take this opportunity to rise and revolt, which would surely make the Theonians fall into trouble! At that time, it would be our time to counter-attack,pletely defeat the blockade of Theonia and seize the fertile innd of the Greeks for our future generations! ¡±

    Pian''s words of encouragement made everyone''s blood boil, and Likumu yelled, ¡°DEFEAT THE THEONIANS!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Constructing roads in the winding and rugged mountains is a huge andplicated project that costs a lot of manpower and resources and tests the engineering technology of a country. The construction of Thurii-Laos road started earlyst year, and even though a lot of manpower has been invested in its construction, it is still not beenpleted yet. Therefore, the 20,000 troops led by Davos and the huge logistics camp travelled in the mountains for five days before they could reach the Lao Fortress.

    And Hielos led the fourth legion to the outside of Terina and met the strategoi and council member of Terina that hade out to the city to meet them. The atmosphere is amiable as Siprus started the introduction.

    However, Hielos declined the Terinians'' invitation to dinner in the city and insisted on staying together with the soldiers, which won the praise of a group of politicians.

    He then led his troops to camp on the coast 5 kilometres northwest of Terina, where the exit of the coastal path was only 5-6 kilometres away from mpetia.

    After Hielos arranged for the camp¡¯s construction, he immediately took some guards and Siprus to get close to mpetia.

    On the left side is a cliff and on the right is a mountain. This coastal path leading to Consentia teau is not wide, but the ce where mpetia is located is even narrower. Even though the city of mpetia is not more than 200 metres long, it hadpletely blocked the way in and out. Although the walls are only four metres high, the entire city is on higher ground. From where Hielos is, the road slopes upward and narrows more and more¡­which would make the soldiers spend a lot more energy just to reach the city, not to mention trying to avoid the enemy''s rain of arrows and javelins. Fortunately, its geographical environment is somewhat simr to that of Aprustum, so the soldiers have experience in this kind of terrain due to their regr training.

    As Hielos examined the road, he began pondering whether the two siege weapons that had just been equipped in the third legion could be pushed to the city.

    Seeing Hielos staring at the city of mpetia and remaining silent for a long time, Siprus thought that he got intimidated by the difficulty of the siege. So he reminded him by saying, ¡°There are still a few trails in the mountains near here that we could use to bypass mpetia and go north to Consentia.¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡± Hielos turned his head abruptly.

    ¡°Yes, otherwise, how could Siro and the other tribes that rebelled against Consentia escape Bruttii.¡±

    ¡°Then those people also know about it?¡± Hielos pointed to the city of mpetia ahead.

    Siprus understood what he meant, so he affirmed, ¡°Naturally, they do.¡±

    Hielos had no luck, but he still decided to send someone to do some reconnaissance first.

    ¡°I heard that mpetia has a port.¡± Hielos once again asked.

    ¡°There is, but it is not big.¡± Said Siprus. He then dismounted and went to the edge of the cliff.

    Hielos didn''t act brave and dismounted the horse, as he did not think that he had excellent horsemanship. In case the horse was frightened and fell off the edge of the cliff, then the fourth legion would have lost one legion leaders even before the battle started.

    ¡°There it is!¡± Pointed Siprus ahead, and his voice sounding a bit wispy under the strong sea breeze.

    Hielos fixed his eyes on the cliff jutting out from thend, with a height difference of nearly 100 metres from sea-level, he caught sight of the coast a few kilometres away from the north of mpetia, where he saw a t piece ofnd with a modest beach with a simple port with few dozens of boats docked on it¡­

    Siprus then said, ¡°ording to the information from the Siro tribe and from what our ships have observed whenever they pass through the city of mpetia, the port of mpetia is built at the estuary of Savuto River-¡±

    ¡°Savuto River¡±

    ¡°The Savuto River is arge river within the territory of mpetia. Although the city in front of us is either surrounded by mountains or the sea and seems to be barren, in fact, not far to the north is a small in around the Savuto River, and along the Savuto River is a valley to the north that you can traverse to reach Consentia smoothly.¡± Speaking of this, Siprus showed a contemptuous smile, ¡°It is said that the reason why the Bruttians built the city of mpetia here is that they were afraid that we would destroy and plunder their farnd and pasture on the Savuto in. However, we, Terinians, could not evenpletely farm on all the fertilend on the Ophemia in, so we wouldn''t even covet this meagre in. With their city being 5 kilometres away from the Savuto River, it madebour to be inconvenient, so they had to build a small town on the banks of the river-¡±

    ¡°How is the defence of this town?¡± Hielos abruptly interrupted Siprus.

    ¡°I heard that this town doesn''t even have a wall.¡±

    It made Hielos relieved from hearing it, as he did not want to spend more effort after capturing mpetia just to capture a small town so that they couldpletely upy the territory of Bruttii.

    ¡°In the past, mpetia was not rich in production, and had poor shipbuilding technology and had little contact with other city-states in Italia, so they almost do not have any maritime trade, but-¡± Siprus said anxiously, ¡°Now that they had established the Bruttii Tribal Union, this port has be the only port for the Bruttians, so I believe they will develop it soon.¡±

    Hielos nodded. However, they have no clue that the Bruttians managed to break through the blockade of Theonia and formed an alliance with Pyxous and Potentia.

    ¡°Legatus, look!¡± At this time, his guard reminded him loudly.

    mpetia''s gate opened wide, and a group of men rushed out.

    ¡°Go!¡± Hielos order his team to return to quickly return to the camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°See, the Theonians are cowards!¡± Likumu, who was holding a spear,ughed wildly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos reached the Lao Fortress, where Sesta and Hieronymus had long been waiting.

    ¡°Lord archon, the people of Nerulum have been mobilised to listen to the arrangements of the city hall and are ready to carry provisions, constructing camps and transportation of the wounded¡­¡± Sesta took the initiative to report.

    ¡°Do the Lucanian tribes have any problem with it?¡±

    ¡°No. In fact, they are pleased to see us conquering the Bruttians, as the stronger Theonia is, the safer they will be. In addition, with this, Lucania will no longer only be the non-Greek race of Theonia. Moreover, they are also willing to provide a base for the legion, but in that case, our soldiers will have to be careful of Lucanian women breaking into their tents at night. You should know that Greek citizens of Theonia are very popr now!¡± Sesta said jokingly.

    Davos became amused andughed hard. He then looked at Sesta and said with some emotion, ¡°Lord Sesta, to think that you were a mercenary that has never held a public office in a city-state or even has experience of managing a city.¡±

    Sesta shook his head, ¡°Back then, I worked so hard just to have a bite of bread, so how could I have imagined that I would have today? It is all because you, milord, have brought us unimaginable changes!¡±

    ¡°We should be able to seize the opportunities that have been provided to us. As a mercenary with no experience in managing a city, you have firmly chosen to leave the familiar army ande to this unfamiliarnd, facing the Lucanians, who were still hostile at that time, without fearing difficulties, working and boldly solving problems. Now, I can say that Nerulum is fully andpletely a Theonian territory! Sesta, you have done an excellent job! Not only do I think so, but so do other members of the Senate! You are now the one with the most administrative experience among the statesman of the Senate in our mercenary army! When your term ends next year, I think the Senate will definitely have more important tasks to give you!¡± Davos did not spare words in expressing his appreciation for Sesta.

    After hearing this, Sesta was both proud and excited while keeping a few moments of rity, ¡°Milord, you are the one who has to have the most administrative experience in our mercenary!¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Davos looked left and right and said, ¡°I do not count. Did you not all say that I am ¡°Favoured of Gods¡±? All of it is because of Hades!¡±

    Then came a burst ofughter.

    ¡°Milord.¡± Hieronymus could not help but say, ¡°What is the mission of our third legion in this war?¡± The third legion did not have a role when they sent reinforcements to Taranto, and the war mobilisation did not give any specific instructions to the third legion, which made Hieronymus inevitably worried.

    Davos looked at this legatus who hadpletely relocated his home to Nerulum in order to facilitate training andmanding of the third legion that made him not even able to attend the regr Senate meetings. If Sesta had political ambition, this taciturn man had made his home in the military camp. Therefore, even though he was Greek andmanded the third legion that was mostly Lucanians, those Lucanian warriors, who once hated the Greeks, were very obedient to him for this very reason.

 Chapter 303: Probe

    Although Davos was in a good mood, he did not joke with this ever taciturn man, so he seriously said, ¡°As an important force to stabilise the Lucanian region, your third legion will be stationed on Nerulum and Grumentum. With Theonia at war with the Bruttians, wouldn''t Pyxous and Potentia take this opportunity to start a war to take back Grumentum?¡±

    The words of Davos made Sesta, and Hieronymus thought about it.

    After a while, Hieronymus said dejectedly, ¡°Milord, do you mean to keep the third legion in ce to prevent the invasion of Pyxous and Potentia?¡±

    ¡°Not just for defence.¡± With a soft smile, Davos said in a deep voice, ¡°If they dare to tear up the peace agreement, then Theonia would conquer Bruttii and take Pyxous and Potentia at the same time!¡±

    War on all fronts?! Sesta and Hieronymus looked at each other and marvelled at the young archon''s extraordinary courage, but it had also made them worried.

    ¡°Don''t forget, ELea.¡± Reminded Davos.

    ¡°What good is that meagre strength of Elea?¡± Sesta said, unimpressed.

    However, Hieronymus, who had long experience in battle, suddenly thought of something and became more sure after seeing Davos'' smile, ¡°Milord, I will discuss with Bagul how to lure them.¡±

    ¡°When we meet Avinoges, I will also ask him the use of their port, and I am sure he will agree.¡± Laughed Davos.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Lord Avinoges, I haven''t seen you for just two months, but you seem to have gained a lot more weight.¡± Davos said half-jokingly to the archon of Laos, who hade to meet him.

    Avinoges patted his protruding belly with a smile, ¡°Who told Theonia to be so good! With you protecting our a**, everything is developing so well in Laos that I don''t even need to worry about anything besides what new food your wife''s restaurant would make. Could I be the first one to taste it?!¡±

    Looking at his trembling fat face, Davos could not help but caution, ¡°I suggest that you still try to keep your weight down a bit by not eating too much at each meal. It will also be good for your health.¡±

    Avinoges thought of something. He then patted his head with his right hand and said, ¡°Oh, I almost forgot that, milord, is also a miraculous doctor! Since you have said that, I will try to control my weight gain.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for trusting me.¡± Davos picked up on the implication that he was going to control his weight rather than lowering it. It was clear that he does not care much about his body.

    Thinking of the first time he saw Avinoges, his muscr body has now increased a size, but all of it was fat. And then, looking at Alobamus, who was beside him, had be even thinner than he was a year ago. Davos had also heard that Avinoges left most of the administration of the city-state to his brother. Once they have lost their sense of worry, lost their goal to strive for, and learned to crave for pleasure, they would have difficulty getting back on their feet..Davosmented it in his heart.

    ¡°Lord Davos, this¡­the second legion of Theonia seems to be¡­there seems to be something wrong!¡± Alobamus, looking at the troops marching past them with the g held high, eximed in disbelief.

    ¡°Brother, I heard that the Theonian army is recently recing their weapons and equipment into a new one, so it is natural that it is different from before!¡± Avinoges interrupted Alobamus then ordered his brother, ¡°The war with Bruttii is about to begin, immediately go and blockade the port as well as all the passages outside the city and forbid anyone to enter or leave!¡­¡±

    Davos couldn''t stop himself from nodding. Avinoges was still the leader of the descendants of Sybaris who had dared to unite with Theonia and overthrow the rule of the Lucanians. Although his body had changed significantly, his mind was still clear, his military sense was still very sharp, and his political reactions were extremely quick that he couldplete all the deployment without Davos having to ask.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the rapid sound of the salpinx, the soldiers quickly retreated down the slope of the mountain as rocks and logs rolled downward, chasing after them. If a soldier were unfortunately struck, his nearbyrades would rush forward to help, as screams rang out from time to time¡­

    Kapus, who was was the foot of the mountain, had a gloomy expression from seeing such sight and he couldn''t help but sigh, ¡°Such terrain is too unfavourable for us that we couldn''t even bring to y the advantage of the legion.¡±

    ¡°It''s not like our attack in these past few days were in vain, as we at least manage to capture one of the enemy''s camp and advanced our line of attack here.¡± Antoniosforted him.

    ¡°We did not capture it. It was the Bruttii taking the initiative in giving up on it. Up to now, we haven''t even seen a shadow of the enemy, but our brothers had suffered 300 casualties!¡± Kapus said with pain in his heart.

    ¡°Not many have died. All of those are mainly from injuries and fractures. After treatment in the medical camp, most of them could recover. That''s already very good enough, as there is no war where no one died, like when we were in Persia¡­¡± Antonios continued tofort him.

    ¡°But our brother''s did not die from fighting the enemy. Such a way of death is unjust to our brothers! ording to the guide, there is still five kilometres till we reach Vergae! Five kilometres! On such a difficult mountain road! I am afraid that by the time we reach Vergae, all of our men would be dead!¡± Shouted Amintas irritably, ¡°When will the second legion start to move?! A long time has already passed, and yet there is still no movement! If we had known that this was the case, Kapus, you should have strongly demanded that our first legion should have carried out that mission!¡±

    ¡°Who told our first legion to be too famous?! If we don''t attack here, how could we possibly convince the Bruttians that our focus of attack is here! Only in this way can we attract the main force of Bruttii!¡± Alexius then said calmly and admiringly, ¡°Only the Grand Legatus dared to do so! Who would have thought that we would attack Vergae at the risk of the lives of our citizens just to mobilise the enemy!¡±

    ¡°Quiet!¡± Signalled Kapus. He then looked around and said quietly, ¡°I hope that the second legion can aplish their mission so that our brother''s sacrifice won''t be in vain!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Chieftain, the Greeks are retreating!¡±

    Hearing the report from his excited subordinate, Saru not only did not rejoice but was somewhat disappointed, ¡°The Theonians fled as fast as rabbits. If only they had gotten over that ridge, more of them would have died when we pushed down the rocks on the mountain path!¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry, as long as they are still going to attack Vergae, there will be more opportunities like this!¡± Sedrum stood up and praised him, ¡°We have resisted the enemy for three days! Despite Theonia sending their first legion, which they called the ¡®strongest army¡¯, to attack, instead of making any progress, many of their soldiers were either wounded or died! Saru, you have done a great job!¡±

    ¡°If this situation continued like this, we canpletely keep the Theonians from reaching Vergae for a month!¡± Saru then said confidently, ¡°Great Chieftain, we could deal the Greeks by ourselves and just let the Consentians go back. The soldiers are angry at them, as they had upied our house and ate our food, but they did not fight!¡±

    ¡°The Consentians is still mainly eating the food that they brought with them, Consentia and we are now united, and there are still many opportunities to fight together in the future. Therefore, you should get used to it and persuade our soldiers not toin too much.¡± Sedrum said to him patiently, ¡°Besides, from the looks of things, the Theonians have not done their best, as they should still adapting to the terrain here. Don''t forget, they still have a force made up of Lucanians and the troops from Laos, who we have not yet seen. So we can''t be rash! Have you forgotten how the Lucanian coalition attacked our city?!¡±

    ¡°I haven''t forgotten it!¡± Saru clenched his fist.

    ¡°Yesterday, a report came from mpetia that the Greeks there were trying to sneak in through the trail but were fortunately spotted in time to repel them. We should have also been on guard against the Lucaniansing from the mountains, but it is because of Consentia''srge army defending the city that we can fight the enemy here with confidence and boldness.¡± Sedrum continued to persuade.

    Saru nodded in silence.

    ¡°Theter the Theonians reach Vergae, the faster their morale will drop, the more food they will consume and the more chance we have in defeating them! By then, the glory of the Bruttii wille!¡­¡± He initially intended to persuade and motivate Saru, but as he spoke, the more excited Sedrum be.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The setting sun was almost behind the mountain, and the earth gradually descends into darkness.

    The herdsman drove the cattle and sheep early, and the children who ran wildly in the mountains during the day were also called home by their parents because at night, the mountains are the world of wild animals.

    The wilderness outside the city of Besidice has been deserted; asionally, one could hear the wolves howling. In the silent dusk, the roaring of the Crati River during the day is more magnificent, which has been the case for thousands of years, and the residents of Besidice has long been used to it, and they feel that the louder the sound of the waves is, the more the protection of the Crati River is shown, so they all sleep peacefully with the sound of the waves.

    But they have no idea that on the other side of the river, in the thick woods, thousands of Theonian soldiers were marching, and all the sounds they made were covered by the sound of the river.

    The upper reaches of the Crati River have steep cliffs on both sides, but not all ces are like this. In front of the levelled ground in the location of Besidice is a riverbank about ten metres long, where the people of Besidice often go to draw water and do theirundry. On the other side of the river is a gentle slope where you can use to go down the river, and the jagged rocks could amodate ten people.

 Chapter 304: Hero

    At this moment, in the piles of rock is an axle and a wheel, with ropes as thick as a wrist wrapped around it. On the other end of the rope is tied to the waist of a big brawny man with his naked upper body covered with an air-filledmb intestine.

    Even though the Thurians were raised and lived on the Crati River, their entire body trembles when they genuinely stand at the edge of this roaring river, while the Legatus and his men could only watch with mouth open, but you could not even hear a sound from it. In front of them is the Crati River, and their only little light is the setting sun, which made them see the surging water sshing up several metres high waves and the soul-stirring whirlpool on the river¡­

    If ordinary people were to see and hear these, they would have long been scared that they would not have been able to stand up. However, before they be a citizen of Theonia, he and hispanions were all sailors, and had lived on the sea all year round and were used to fighting in the strong wind and waves. Therefore, he firmly believed that by relying on his ability and experience, he would sessfullyplete their mission and fight for a bright future for himself and his family!

    Frightened by the surging river, thembs were led out trembling and unable to even make noises.

    Drakos then cut off themb''s head with a dagger, ce the head squarely on the reef, and smeared themb¡¯s blood on the face of each warrior, and everyone prayed piously to the river god ¨C Akheloios.

    Then, the brawny man stood up and saluted Drakos. He then stood up by the river and looked at the left side of the opposite bank in front of him, which would be his destination. Subconsciously, he touched the rope to make sure that it was firmly tied. After taking a deep breath, he roared then dive swiftly into the water like a mermaid, and the waves immediately covered his body¡­

    The dark river rushed forward and made it difficult to find his trail, and only the creaking of the axle could be heard¡­

    Drakos'' eyes followed the rope extending into the river as his state of mind became tenser and tenser¡­

    Before this, after surveying the terrain around the Bruttii mountains, Davos proposed that the best breakthrough in this war was in Besidice. When he told his n, Philesius and the legatus became stunned as it was too risky to swim a hundred metres of rough waves while carrying 6 kilograms of weight(the weight of the rope and the force of the river) and not be found by the enemy sentry!

    Davos, however, came up with strong evidence. Marticoris of the Institute of Mathematics ran specifically to the entry point and lowered down a trunk several times and found that the river would eventually push the tree trunk near the shoal on the opposite bank. He had also calcted the flow speed and the direction of the river here and thought that a person should be able to reach the other bank.

    Davos had also asked one of Androlis''panion(which is actually Antrapolis) on his mission to Bruttii to tell his discovery that the people of Besidice had built defensive camps and sentry towers in front of the river trail to the south and on the road leading to Consentia to the north, except for the absence of a post in front of the river bank. Maybe it is because Besidice is just ahead, or perhaps this roaring, unnavigable stretch of the river gave the people of Besidice confidence.

    As a strategoi, getting into a long and hard drawn-out battle with the enemy is unwanted, but this is likely to happen in this war with Brutti. In the end, the strategoi of Theonia agreed to Davos'' risky n.

    In a blink, the 100-metre rope reached the limit stretching the rope straightly, and a huge force pulled the axle and wheel. If not for a few of the soldiers pulling it with all their strength, the axle and wheel would have been drawn into the river.

    Drakos was disappointed, as the first soldier to go into the water must have failed. Otherwise, the rope would not have been so stretched. Still, he signalled the soldiers to continue holding on a little longer, hoping that the soldier would be able to untie the ropes from his body. With the buoyancy of themb''s intestine and the addition of more than a dozen boats in the middle reaches of the Crati River waiting with theirs open, there was a good chance he would be rescued.

    However, the rope continued to be stretched, and the soldiers kept having a tug-of-war with the river until exhaustion.

    Drakos, in the end, could only make a quick decision. He pulled out his sword and prepared to cut the rope. With a loud bang, the wheel and axle flew up and would have seriously injured Drakos if he had not dodged quickly.

    The rope, together with the axle, plunged into the river without a ssh.

    The men on the shore stood still as grief and fear began to envelop everyone.

    Drakos quickly snapped back to his senses; as the Legatus of the second legion, he was the heart of the legion, so he must not panic.

    He immediately signalled the soldiers to quickly climb up the slope and carry a new axle and wheel and ropes down.

    For such a sturdy 100-metre rope, all of Thurii''s ship workshops worked on them overnight for several days just to produce three sets of such ropes. That means that the second legion only has three chances at most.

    ¡°Who will go next?!¡± Drakos looked at the two remaining soldiers who had been selected.

    In front of the frightening force of nature, coupled with the previous tragedy, the two good swimmers flinched, and, after looking at each other, they bowed their heads under the expectant gaze of Drakos.

    A wave of anger red up in Drakos'' mind, and when he was about to curse-

    ¡°Let me go!¡± At that moment, a man walked up to him.

    Drakos took a good look at him and saw that it was the man rmended by the newly formed Theonian navy. He was said to be the fastest swimmer in the Navy, only to be put on standby because he was not sturdy enough. Davos and the others thought that it would be difficult for him to swim the 100-metre raging rapids with his weight. But at this critical juncture, his courage to face difficulties lifted Drakos'' spirit.

    Without saying more, Drakos personally dressed him in a shawl made ofmb intestine and tied the ropes, then he solemnly said, ¡°Hades will protect you!¡± The failure of thest soldier caused Drakos to subconsciously cast away the river god Akheloios and rece him with his most trusted Hades.

    ¡°Rest assured, I, Seklian, am the one who wants to leave my name in the Hall of Valor!¡± The sailor said confidently, strode to the most advanced reef. The afterglow of the setting sun casting what little warm light there on his slender, well-proportioned, streamlined body.

    As he plunges into the water, Drakos'' heart was once again stuck on his throat. How could he not be nervous?! If they failed again, those two cowards would probably be even more afraid to go up! Without swimming to the opposite shoal, the troops would not be able to reach the other side safely, let alone capture the city of Besidice. If the predetermined battle n couldn''t seed, then they have to implement the second n¡­this means that the extra time, energy and rations consumed will make the war against Bruttii even more difficult!

    ¡°Legatus¡­it''s¡­over!¡±

    There was no need for the soldiers to shout with anxiety as Drakos had seen the axle stop turning.

    ¡®Failed again?¡¯ Drakos'' heart sank, but he was unwilling to give up, so he shouted, ¡°Hold onto the rope!¡±

    He shouted as he stepped forward to help. The rough rope was pulled back and forth across their palm leaving bloodstain¡­but Drakos felt the force not as great as before, so his spirits lifted, ¡°Brothers, hold on! Hold on!¡­¡±

    He rouses the spirit of the soldiers around him while the pulling force of the rope gradually weakened, and eventually, it ckened.

    ¡®Sess?!¡¯ Drakos looked at the blurry opposite bank in disbelief. He felt as if his whole strength had been sapped. He sat down on the rock as the soldiers around him cheered.

    The rope tightened bit by bit again¡­stop¡­move¡­stop¡­move¡­

    They didn''t know how long it took, but just when Drakos felt that the time that had passed was long. Finally, the rope tightened again, and there came three faint vibrations, and after a while, three more¡­

    Drakos confirmed the signal. He held back his excitement and shouted to the soldiers, ¡°Move! Tie it to the tree! Hurry up! Hurry up!¡±

    In the evening, a long rope spanned across the Crati River, connecting the two banks.

    A soldier of the second legion with his feet coiled around the rope, hands clenched and moved forward by alternating them. His whole body hanged upside down in the air, and the lowest part of his body is only two metres from the river, with the spray of the river soaking his whole body. What''s more terrible is that the roaring of the river is like a dragon whispering in his ears, coupled with the shaking of the rope¡­

    Although the soldiers trained specially for this day, the reality requires them to have greater courage. It was clear that this soldier had enough guts and his rope climbing skills were quite fast, so they arranged for him to be the first to cross the ¡°rope bridge¡±. In addition, in order to cross quickly and ensure safety on the ropes while climbing, the soldiers did not wear helmets, armours, shin guard and copper shields. Instead, they only had a spear and a small wooden shield strapped tightly to their backs, and, of course, another rope was tied to the first soldier crossing the river.

    When he finally got to the big tree on the other side of the river, he saw Seklian waiting under the tree, his chest dripping with blood, clearly wounded.

    It turned out that the strong river carried him across the reef and hit him on the rocks, which almost made him faint. But his desire to survive caused him to endure the pain of being stabbed by the sharp edge of the rock on his chest. And just as his arms hugged the rock tightly, Drakos and his men pulled the rope with all their strength, giving him a chance to breathe. Then with all his strength, he struggled to climb up the reef, taking one careful step at a time to move up to the river bank¡­

    With the joint effort of Seklian and the soldier, they connected the second rope. Then the soldiers of the first brigade of the second legion began crossing the river in turn.

    Even though there are two rope bridges, the soldiers¡¯ speed is still very slow because only when the current soldier reaches the opposite bank could the next soldier start. After all, hanging two or more people on the same rope at the same time would be a great burden on both the rope, which had taken a great deal of effort to connect the two sides and the tree, which was the backbone of the rope bridge. And Drakos did not dare to take the risk.

    Note: Seklian had appeared before at the end of the first Crotone-Theonia War. He was the captain of the patrol boat when Lysias went to Thurii to negotiate peace.

 Chapter 305: Shouldering an important responsibility alone

    Courage is not the only thing the soldiers need if they want to cross the rope bridge smoothly and reach the other side, they also need skill. Although it is only about 100 metres, it still takes a lot of time, and if the soldiers are clumsy, they could only cross the river at a snail''s pace. Even though the soldiers behind them were anxious, they did not dare to make a sound, as several of theirpanions fell into the river and disappeared.

    It was alreadyte in the night, and a third of the first brigade had still not yet crossed. Feeling the time was running out and that he could no longer wait around, Drakos ordered the centurions of the first brigade, who had not yet crossed the river, to organise the soldiers behind them to cross the river. He then reminded Adrian, the senior centurion of the first brigade who had already crossed the river, that as soon as daybreak, he would immediately lead the first brigade to raid the defensive camp along the river trail and capture it. Thus ensuring the smooth entry of the second legion to the territory of Besidice and join forces to capture the city of Besidice.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Most of the soldiers, who had crossed the river,y quietly and in an orderly manner on the riverbank under themand of their respective toon captain and squad leaders. Taking time to rest, calm their nerves and recover their strength and energy so that they could be in better shape for theing battle. In contrast, a small number of soldiers, who are in a better state, would sneak into the forests and use the tools they carried to cut small trees as quietly as possible, cutting off the branches and making simple woodendders.

    As the senior centurion, Adrian took several guards and crept not far from the defensive camp to observe itsyout under the faint light of the campfire.

    At this time, he felt someone patting him on the back. When he looked back, it turned out that it was the centurion of the first centuria.

    He followed him away from the defensive camp before sitting up and asked, ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°The warrior who swam across the Crati River has an urgent matter with you and wants to see you.¡±

    ¡°What is the urgent matter? Is he dying?!¡± Said Adrian impatiently.

    Adrian had been quite irritable for the past few days. In order to organise the delegation to participate in the Isthmian Games, he had even asked for the approval of Davos to not follow the second legion to participate in the reinforcement of Taranto. In the end, the troops who went to war came back with honour while the sports dtion that he led became theughing stock of the whole of Greece. On his return, a few statesmen of the Senate attacked him for this incident, and even though Davos and the statesmen who were former mercenary defended him and did not receive much me, he still felt frustrated in his heart.

    With the outbreak of the war with Bruttii, his old friend Drakos, who knew him well, gave him a good opportunity to prove himself and to wash away his shame by approving the first brigade that he was in charge of to take up the important task of crossing the river first, upy the defensive camp of the enemy and weing the whole legion. Therefore, he has been holding back.

    Adrian hesitated for a moment. In the end, considering the credits of Seklian, he had decided to take the time to see him.

    At that moment, a physician, who had crossed the river, was treating Seklian. Apart from superficial wounds, his most serious injuries were two broken bones on his ribs on the left side and some damage to his left lung. The physician fixed the broken bone and bandaged the wound.

    Seeing Adrian, Seklian struggled to get up but was stopped by the physician.

    ¡°You''d better lie down!¡± Adrian''s tone became softer after he saw that he was seriously injured, ¡°I heard that you are looking for me?¡±

    ¡°Y¡­yes¡­strategos¡­¡± Seklian strained his lungs as soon as he spoke, which made his face distorts in pain, and his voice hissing like broken below as he struggled to say, ¡°I heard that you gave the order to attack the defensive camp of the enemy in the east¡­just after dawn¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, this is the legatus'' order.¡± Adrian thought he wanted to fight, so he said, ¡°You need to rest now and not take part in the next battle.¡±

    ¡°If¡­if you were to attack the defensive camp first¡­then the enemy in the city will find out that¡­we areing¡­and will defend the city with all their might¡­since we want to capture Besidice¡­it would undoubtedly make it more difficult, and the casualties of our brothers would have increased¡­why¡­why not just attack the city of Besidice instead?!¡­I swam across the river¡­I know that they would never think of us¡­¡± Seklian said anxiously, panting even more. The physician had even told him to stop talking and have a good rest.

    Although his words are disjointedly and were not clear, Adrian still understood what he meant. The city of Besidice is not on guard, so they should attack and capture it!

    Andrian''s eye lit up: Leading a brigade to capture a city independently would undoubtedly wash away his previous humiliation! As for sneaking attack on the city, there have been many experiences of Theonia in this respect. The key in capturing Amendra, Nerulum and Grumentum were to act suddenly, attack violently and advance quickly, and give the enemy the most significant blow in the shortest time and make them fall into a mess. Davos had summed all of these and written them into the tactical chapter of the Theonian Military Book.

    Adrian still remembers a sentence that Davos repeatedly stressed: To be bold and careful in nning at the same time.

    Now, he has made up his mind. Not only to capture the defensive camp but also to attack the city of Besidice! Thus he had to think hard about the situation regarding the city of Besidice.

    Davos once wrote a booklet about the city of Besidice(actually, it was thanks to Antrapolis), and all the officers of the second legion could even recite it backwards. When Adrian closed his eyes, he could see in his mind a sketch of the interior of the city: The city of Besidice was a small city with walls not made of stones but of dualyered woods (With the Bruttii¡¯s being surrounded by Greek city-states, and were greatly influenced. The city walls of various cities were diverse ording to their economic strength and degree of threat. The walls of mpetia, Consentia and Vergae were made of stone, Besidice, on the other hand, has a solid wooden wall, while Anbania only has a simple wooden wall), and there were about 3,000 warriors inside the city. ording to the continuous observation and surveince they did, the city of Besidice had sent no less than 2,000 troops to the west, but they still have not yet returned. Therefore, the remaining strength of Besidice, including the defensive camp, should be simr to that of the first brigade.

    Adrian, who could not think of it before because he was used to following orders from his superiors, had now decided. After repeated consideration, he decided to send 300 men to attack the defensive camp while he would personally lead 700 men to attack the city of Besidice.

    He immediately called the centurions and toon captains to reconsider the offensive n while sending more soldiers into the woods to make moredders. Naturally, their movement was muchrger than before, however, the darkness of the night and the surging river provided the best cover for their actions. For a hundred years, Besidice had been peaceful, hence why they had not built any sentry tower outside the city, and the few sentries on the wooden walls went to sleep early, and silence still covered the whole city¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As time goes by, Adrian tossed and turned and have a hard time sleeping.

    However, the night would still eventually pass. When a glimmer of light appeared in the sky, he rolled over and sat up, tapped the herald beside him awake and whispered, ¡°Inform the centurions to start moving!¡±

    The herald then went to notify the centurions, and the centurions went to inform the toon captains, and the toon captain went to tell the squad leaders to wake up their men.

    The soldiers yawned, picked up the wooden shields and spears, then carried thedders and advanced along with the officers.

    There were no drums, no salpinx, and everything was quiet. The soldiers'' eyes stared dazedly at the g in front of them. With the slow progress of the team, the scattered formation gradually became neat and orderly, and soberness reced the daze on the soldiers'' faces.

    150 metres¡­100 metres¡­50 metres¡­the team reached the trench of the city, yet there is still no movement on the wall.

    In the three-metre wide and three-metre deep trench were countless sharp wooden stakes, which made the soldiers unable to cross with their bare hands, while on the other side of the trench is a wooden wall.

    One end of thedder was then stuck in the earth and held up by the soldiers, but the other end was not long enough to reach the top of the wall. So once the soldiers reached the far end of thedder, they would reach up with their hands as far as they could, grasped the wall and, with a strong push, tumbled up the wall.

    The sentries that were still wrapped in pelts were still sleeping soundly on the corridor against the wall, but the shaking and rattling of the walls alerted them to open their eyes. However, it was already toote: A dozen woodendders were ced on the wall, with more than a dozen soldiers climbing up the wall at one time, which soon filled the corridor, and the sentry could not even understand what was going on. They either died under the spear or became captives.

    Then, the soldiers at the top of the wall quickly opened the city gate, and the centurions of each centuria led the soldiers into the city immediately. They then divided the soldiers ording to their n into the three roads and pushed forward quickly along the streets.

    ¡®Sess!¡¯ Adrian cheered excitedly, ¡°Blow the salpinx!¡±

    At this time, the salpinx and the drum rang out together, and the soldiers had also taken this opportunity to roar. And immediately, the city was in a state of chaos as if an earthquake had urred. Some, even though they were naked, had still gone out to check the situation; Some had hastily grabbed their weapons and rushed out of their houses but were met by soldiers marching along the streets and stabbing their spears without hesitation, causing the whole city to be filled with shrieks and screams for a while¡­the bloodshed had made the people of Besidice frightened, and just simply hid in their houses, not daring to make noises.

    Although the city of Besidice was built in the mountains, it is located on a levelled ground and is, in fact, a t city, which made the advancement of the first brigade to be very fast. In front of them was the residence of the great chieftain in the centre of the city, which also serves as the assembly hall.

    Such big movement in the city had naturally startled Kanaru, who was still sleeping. As soon as he sat up with sleepy eyes, his men burst in and said, ¡°Chief, n¡­.not good! The enemy¡­the enemy, had gotten inside the city!¡±

 Chapter 306: North and South Pinned Down, Breaking Through the Middle

    ¡°What?!¡± Kanaru could not believe what he is hearing, and the shock had made himpletely awake. He could clearly hear the noiseing from outside the house, ¡°Enemy?! Where are the enemies?! Is it the Consentians?!¡± Kanaru was at a loss due to the sudden change, and it was not without reason that he subconsciously thought that the enemy was Consentia. Because of the terrain, the Greeks had never trespassed the territory of Besidice. However, Consentia had fought with them many times. In order to defend against Consentia, Besidice had built a small fortress to the west side of the teau leading to Consentia. However, because Bruttii was moving towards unification, and for them to show their sincerity, Likumu removed the fortress and had kept only one sentry post. For this reason, Kanaru had quarrelled with his father.

    Kanaru became furious at his clueless men, ¡°Get out of here! Check it out and report back to me! Wait¡±

    ¡°Go and inform Chieftain Baripiri and Chieftain Burim to bring their tribesmen to the assembly hall!¡±

    ¡°Blow the horn and tell everyone to gather here!¡±

    ¡°Have everyone arm themselves and follow me to drive away the enemy!¡±

    Kanaru''s orders were decisive, but it was difficult to carry out. The people of Besidice had never encountered such difficulties, so theycked the means to cope with it, hence why the people in the assembly hall were panicked and confused.

    After managing to organise a few dozen tribesmen, Kanaru hurried outside and bumped into an enemy who had pounced at him aggressively.

    Kanaru shouted and rushed up, brandishing his iron rod first. When his iron rod struck down, it knocked down the enemy in front of him, which made even the enemy¡¯s wooden shield to be knocked down, showing his great strength.

    ¡°Don''t fight him head-on. Go around him and deal with the others first!¡± Seeing this, Adrian made an instant decision.

    ¡®Greek!¡¯ At this time, Kanaru managed to look at the enemy in detail, which greatly surprised him. But at this moment, he had no time to think about how the Theonians intruded into Besidice.

    Adrian giving order had made Kanaru think that he was the leader of the Greeks, so he immediately rushed into Adrian''s direction.

    The experienced Adrian did not panic, and he continuedmanding the soldiers around him to quickly retreat and not engage Kanaru head-on.

    Kanaru became anxious and pursued him at every step, but he didn''t realise that the Theonian soldiers had blocked his men and separated them from him.

    He became infuriated at Adrian, who kept evading h. It wasn''t until Kanaru heard the shrill screams of his men that he hade around. He turned around and found that the Greeks had scattered his men, so he had to turn back to rescue them.

    Adrianmanded the soldiers to give chase and continued the entanglement.

    At this time, the other two teams had arrived one after another from the other streets.

    Seeing that the enemy outnumbered them, Kanaru no longer dared to continue fighting and immediately led his surviving tribesmen back to the assembly hall. In the process of their retreat, a javelin hit him, and it pierced into his cheek. However, he had still managed to fight back the Theonian soldiers, who had tried to take advantage of the opportunity and enter the assembly hall.

    After retreating into the assembly hall and closing the door, Kanaru could no longer stand on his feet and fell to the ground, causing his tribesmen to be shocked from seeing it.

    ¡°Reporting. Strategos, we had captured the injured Burim, a chieftain of Besidice!¡± The centurion of the first centuria of the first brigade reported to Adrian.

    Adrian had divided the seven hundred soldiers who entered the city into three teams for a purpose. ording to the information they have gotten, he knew that there were three tribes in the city of Besidice. After asking Adepiges to interrogate the captives, they find out where the three chieftains lived, and so he immediately began to carry out the ¡°decapitation strike*¡±. It seems that everything is going well. (T/N: Carrying out a targeted attack against the enemy.)

    ¡®Burim''s residence is the closest to the city gate and should have been unprepared, but howe the other team had also arrived so quickly?¡¯

    The centurion of the second centuria gave the answer, ¡°Before we could even start our attack, a chieftain of Besidice led his people to surrender!¡±

    ¡®Surrender!¡¯ Adrian did not expect such a situation. He remembered that this chieftain should be called Baripiri, and he had tried his best to assist the great chieftain of Besidice over the past ten years and is quite famous among the people of Besidice. Thinking of Davos'' instruction, Adrian immediately asked his men to invite Baripiri.

    The 50-year-old Baripiri had white hair and beard, which shows his age. When he saw Adrian talk to him with a favourable attitude, he calmed down and immediately agreed to speak for Theonia to make the people in the residence of the great chieftain to surrender.

    Baripiri was good at judging the situation. When Likumu''s tribe was strong, he gave up being the candidate for the great chieftain and had instead fully supported Likumu as the great chieftain of Besidice. Thus gain Likumu''s trust over the years and benefiting his tribe a lot. At the beginning of the war between Bruttii and Theonia, because the city of Besidice was only a river away from Thurii, he made great efforts to understand this strong neighbour. Realising that Bruttii could never defeat Theonia, but relying on the terrain, they might be able to force a peace agreement. However, during the chaos in the city, the people told him in panic that based on the appearance of the enemy, ¡®the attackers may be Greeks¡¯. After calmly thinking, he felt that the defeat of the Brutians was inevitable as they had lost their geographical advantage, so he immediately ordered his tribesmen to take the initiative to surrender. The words of a tribal chieftain who had served for 30 years had made most of them expressed their obedience while those few who objected were taken down on the spot under his order.

    His surrender had caused the resistance in the city to reduce quickly.

    Now, standing in front of the great chieftain''s residence, he shouted at the people inside. When the Bruttians, who were lying on the courtyard¡¯s wall, peep out, they saw that even Baripiri had surrendered to the Greeks. One can imagine the shock in their hearts.

    Only Kanaru, who was lying on his sickbed, cursed after learning the betrayal of Baripiri and vowed that after the Greeks were destroyed, Baripiri would be cut into pieces!

    Kanaru endured his wounds and ordered his men to gather everyone in the courtyard to stand firm and defend to thest, only to be greeted by icy re.

    Shortly after Baripiri''s shouting, the gate opened, and Kanaru¡¯s men went out to surrender together with the body of Kanaru, who, ording to them, have died due to his wounds.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The three troops of the first brigade in charge of raiding the defensive camp had a rtively smooth start. After all, the camp was constructed to defend against the attack on the east, and they could not even expect the enemy to attack from the west. For a moment, they were caught unprepared and allowed the Theonian soldiers to enter the camp easily.

    However, as it was during the war and this was the front line of Besidice, the warriors were still alert and quickly organised their resistance. In particr, the four towering sentry towers in the camp, which were initially used to shower the river trail with arrows and attack the enemy''s middle and rear from a distance, are now using its height advantage to slow down the fierce attack of the Theonians with their arrows, who suffered some casualties because the second legion soldiers were not wearing armours.

    The Bruttians fought hard to resist, while the Theonian soldiers, though more numerous, could not fully capture the camp in a short time.

    The fightingsted for some time until the warriors of Besidice saw the fire in the city, which made them gradually lost their morale.

    When the main force of the second legion trekked through the river trail and reached the defensive camp of Besidice, the battle had already ceased, and so the troops entered the territory of Besidice smoothly.

    When Drakos heard the report that Adrian was leading his brigade to attack the city of Besidice, he ignored his fatigue and led his troops to reinforce him in great haste.

    Reaching the gates of Besidice, he saw Adrian standing there with a smile on his face, making Drakos unable to understand how a city could easily change hands.

    ¡°Adrian, you sure have a lot of guts! That you did not even leave a small battle for us!¡± Drakos pointed to his friend, angry and annoyed, not knowing what to say.

    ¡°Legatus, please enter the city!¡± Capturing both the defensive camp and the city of Besidice with only one brigade and achieving such a brilliant record made the gloom in Adrian''s heart to dissipate, and he made an inviting gesture with a smile.

    Drakos waved his hand and said seriously, ¡°Once the Brutians find out that we have captured the city of Besidice, they will certainly send arge army to capture it back again! If they failed, they would build another fortress in the west to prevent us from entering the Consentia teau! Now, we don''t have the time to rest and must quickly build a fortress to the west of Bruttii before the Brutians attack, and prevent the enemy from entering Besidice and wee the arrival of the main force led by Lord Davos!¡±

    Adrian''s heart jolted: This had been part of the n, only he had gotten too carried away by his victory. Luckily, Drakos was still clear-headed!

    ¡°Hurry and call Adepiges!¡± Adrian ordered his men to call the Theonian freeman, who acted as the guide for the troops.

    On the other hand, Drakos told the whole army to not enter the city and continue going north and build a camp.

    Even though some of the exhausted soldiersined, they still obeyed the orders and marched westward.

    As the representative of the side that had surrendered, Baripiri was also at the forefront of the group that left the city to greet Drakos. Seeing this, he could not help but sigh in dismay.

    At this moment, Drakos approached him.

    Baripiri knew the identity of the approaching man thanks to Adrian ¨C Drakos, the legatus of the second legion. He had a deep understanding of Theonia and knew that the entire Theonia Union has four legions, and each legion having seven thousand to eight thousand men, more than twice the total number of warriors in Besidice. And Drakos was the one inmand of such a number of troops and is the key to his own life, and the lives of his tribesmen are under his control. Thus Baripiri had to greet him respectfully.

    Drakos hurriedly stepped forward and stopped him, ¡°Chieftain of Besidice, thank you so much! Because of your help, the casualties of our soldiers and the people of Besidice has reduced. Once this war is over, Bruttii may be a part of Theonia, so once the Senate elects a new statesman from Bruttii, I would be d to vote for you!¡±

 Chapter 307: After Capturing The City

    Although Drakos doesn''t like saying such things, that does not mean that he would not say it. Besides, he didn''t dare to make such promises without having been instructed by Davos in advance. However, his words are too straightforward making Baripiri both sad and happy: Sad that Besidice and even Bruttii might no longer exist as an independent power in the future. And happy that he could hope to be one of the statesmen of the Theonian Senate. As far as he knows, there are several Lucanian statesmen in the Theonian Senate who had fought for many rights for the Lucanians in Theonia. If that is the case, then a new page in Besidice''s history is still worth waiting for as well¡­

    ¡°I will also vote for you!¡± Adrian also offered his good intention.

    Feeling grateful, Baripiri decided to cooperate with the Theonians to seek a better future for his tribe and for Besidice!

    The people of Besidice had once built a defensive camp on the western mountain trail to defend against Consentia and therefore built it in a narrow mountain pass for defence. In contrast, the second legion would build a fortress for both defence and offence. Thus, Adepiges led the soldiers to the exit of the mountain path, and in front of it is the gradually opened teau. Although the mountain path here is wider and the amount ofbour had undoubtedly increased, building camps and city defence had already be a habit for the soldiers due to being given an hour of training in this aspect in every military training session.

    The engineers surveyed the terrain and made drawings for the fortress.

    The soldiers were then quickly divided into several teams: Those responsible for logging, those responsible for levelling the ground, those responsible for assembling basic defensive contraptions such as sentry towers and walls, and those responsible for digging trenches andying out various traps in front of the fortress to be built, such as sharp stakes, pitfall and so on¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After learning that Adrian captured the city of Besidice, Drakos immediately sent his escort back together with the news.

    After an arduous trek, the escort arrived at Thurii''s sentry post, not far from the junction of Thurii-Amendra road, where a herald was waiting.

    After receiving the news of victory, the herald immediately galloped south through the built road, past Roscianum, Krimisa, Aprustum, Scylletium and finally to Terina¡­by utilising rys, changing the herald and horses, and galloping day and night, the news finally reached into the hands of Hielos, the legatus of the fourth legion, after a day and a half.

    Hielos was overjoyed, but he did not forget to continue to send the herald to Laos. Through the port of Terina, he would immediately take a fast boat and quickly set out to sail north to Laos.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    It was already the twelfth day since the start of the war, and Davos epted the hospitality of Avinoges in his mansion.

    At this time, Davos was talking about Avinoges'' son''s performance in Thurii, ¡°Lord Ansitanos praised him several times in front of me for his talent in the study of history!¡±

    After hearing what Davos said, Avinoges was both happy and worried, ¡°I am naturally happy for him to be a historian, but Heni¡­is my only son, and I hope that he will seed me in the future.¡± There is a sense of probing on Avinoges'' words.

    Davos, seemingly oblivious, said without hesitation, ¡°Don''t worry, being a historian and an archon won''t conflict. Moreover, after having a detailed understanding of the rise and fall of many city-states in the past, Henipolis will know more on how to lead the people of Laos and make the city-state more peaceful and prosperous!¡±

    ¡°Milord, what you said is wonderful!¡± Avinoges raised his cup with great pleasure, ¡°I''d like to propose a toast to you and thank you for taking care of my son for the past year!¡±

    Davos smiled and responded with a toast.

    At this time, a guard came reporting that the legatus of the Theonian army, Kapus, had something important and request for an audience.

    ¡°Invite him quickly!¡± Avinoges said to Davos in a disgruntled way, ¡°I have invited lord Kapus several times, but he kept refusing. Since he is here now, then we must let him have a few good drinks!¡±

    As soon as he stepped into the hall, Kapus excitedly shouted, ¡°Grand legatus, the second legion has captured the city of Besidice!¡±

    ¡®What?!¡¯ Avinoges looked shocked.

    ¡°Great! Drakos had done an excellent job!¡± Davos, obviously prepared for this, excitedly finished his wine in one gulp, stood up and said, ¡°The men of the first legion have suffered during this time! Tell them to cheer up, and we will go back to Thurii immediately and depart to Besidice. The real war is about to begin!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± The equally excited Kapus answered aloud.

    ¡°Have you sent someone to inform Sesta?¡±

    ¡°Yes, he is already rushing.¡±

    ¡°Good. We can now implement the n of Sesta, Hieronymus, Bagul and the others! The key to sess will depend on whether the other side will be obedient.¡±

    Kapus turned to leave, but Avinoges did not stop him as he was still immersed in this astonishing news.

    ¡°Lord Avinoges.¡± Davos turned to him and said, ¡°I will leave Laos with the first legion and the other troops and return to Thurii. I hope you can lead the warriors of Laos to keep up the attack on the city of Vergae to prevent them from drawing troops to rescue Besidice. Also, I hope that you will provide your help to Sesta and their ns!¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry, the business of Theonia is the business of Laos, and I will do my best to carry it out.¡± Avinoges spoke like a soldier facing a general, making a solemn promise.

    Watching Davos'' back as he left, Avinoges let out a long breath. Having previous seen Davos using the allies troops plus some reserves passing themselves as the second legion, it had made him wonder what the real second legion is doing. Still, he did not expect that in less than ten days, the second legion could capture the treacherous city of Besidice! ¡®Davos¡­was truly a fearsome man! Thank goodness that Laos was an ally of Theonia!¡¯

    Avinoges did not dare to enquire how the second legion had captured Besidice; all he knew was that with the conquering of Besidice, the defeat of the Bruttians is now sealed and that South Italia would belong to the sphere of influence of Theonia!

    Which made him slightly disappointed¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the Theonians captured Besidice, a very small number of Bruttians fled to Consentia.

    Because Pian had led his army to the city of Vergae, and only the high priest ¨C Phitara, was in the inner city. When he heard the news, it made him so shocked that he dropped his wooden staff to the ground and nearly tripped himself. And the news that the Greeks now upied Besidice spread quickly throughout the city, causing panic among the people.

    At the same time as messengers were sent to mpetia and Vergae, Consentia had also sent some people to spy on the enemy''s movements in the city of Besidice.

    The distance from Consentia to mpetia and from Consentia to Vergae was not much different, but the terrain to mpetia is downward, so the messenger managed to arrive earlier.

    At this time, Pangam, the great chieftain of mpetia, was entertaining Likumu and Bodiam after having just foiled the scheme of the Theonians. The Theonians had attempted to take a more remote mountain route and go around to the rear, further away from mpetia, only to be discovered by the Bruttians, who had already been on alert. Thus the Theonians could only hurriedly withdraw before arge number of troops could arrive.

    ¡°The Greeks are cowards. They only know how to sneak and don''t dare to have a real fight with me. This war is boring!¡± Likumuined loudly as he drank, ¡°What a fool this strategos of Theonia is! He had already tried to sneak through mpetia once before and were found out, yet he still wants to try it again¡­does he think that we are all fools?¡±

    Bodiam said with a smile, ¡°I am afraid that he does not have a screw loose on his head, but that he can''t do anything else. The day after the fourth legion arrived, itunched an attack on us and ended up retreating before they could even reach the city. I even saw in the city that they took quite a few casualties.¡±

    ¡°These Greeks have excellent weapons, but they fear death too much! If we continue fighting like this, let alone defend for two months, defending for a year won¡¯t even be a problem!¡± Pangam eximed, raising his ss, and now his confidence was also growing.

    ¡°Sedrum said that the Theonian army is powerful, and their archon has a strong,manding ability¡­but in my opinion, all of that are bullsh*t! And he is also a coward!¡± Likumu huped and pounded his right fist hard on the wooden table, ¡°Why don''t we just take advantage of the low morale of the Theonians and attack their camp?!¡±

    ¡°That¡­that is too dangerous! In case¡­¡± Bodiam was slightly worried.

    ¡°What is there to be scared of?!¡± Likumu red at him and interjected, ¡°We have more than 7,000 warriors while the enemy is no more than 10,000, and they are all cowards. If we defeat them, there won''t even a need for us to defend here!¡±

    Pangam became slightly tempted. Although both Bodiam and Likumu brought some of their own rations, mpetia still needed to supply some of them. Moreover, their settlement also brought troubles to the residents of mpetia, making Pangam devote most of his energy to resolving these disputes and conflicts.

    When he was just about to say something, a guard suddenly broke in.

    ¡°Bang!¡± The cup fell on the floor, and the wine spilt all over the floor.

    ¡°What did you say?! Besidice has been upied by the Theonians?!¡± Likumu rushed over and grabbed the messenger. With a flushed face, he cursed angrily, ¡°Don''t spew rubbish! Don''t spew rubbish! There is no way for Besidice to be conquered by the Theonians! Impossible! Do you think I will not pull out your tongue and feed it to the dogs!¡­¡±

    ¡°Great chieftain, it is true! I have here a letter for you from the high priest! Help!¡­¡± The messenger struggled to cry for help while Pangam and Bodiam were equally shocked. Seeing this, they had to stop Likumu first, and they both stepped forward and pulled Likumu back, finally separating the two men.

    ¡°Yes, this is indeed the seal of the high priest!¡± Bodiam quickly nced at the letter the messenger had handed him.

 Chapter 308: Bruttii Trembles

    After quickly reading the letter, Bodiam cautiously said to Likumu, who had not yet regained hisposure, ¡°The letter says that some of the survivors of Besidice have fled to Consentia¡­Likumu, you can go to Consentia first to confirm whether this matter is true.¡±

    After saying that, he handed the letter over.

    Likumu dumbfoundedly looked at the letter Bodiam handed to him as if it was not a papyrus but raging mes. He hurriedly avoided it and sat back in his seat and said with nk eyes, ¡°What should I do? What should I do?¡­¡±

    Listening to Likumu''s helpless murmur, Pangam and Bodiam looked at each other, feeling both shocked and confused. Just now, they were still celebrating their victory and even had the confidence to go out of the city and fight the Theonians. However, in the blink of an eye, this confidence and arrogance were shattered by this shocking news. What should they do now?

    They were also lost in their thoughts¡­

    ¡°I have to go back! I have to go back at once! Take back my Besidice and save my people!¡± Likumu sprang to his feet and strode out the door.

    On hearing this, Pangam hurriedly stepped forward to convince him, ¡°Don''t worry. It is still not clear what''s going on in Besidice. We will first send someone to take a look as we wait for the news from Pian and the others. It''s still would not be toote to act once everyone has discussed it.¡±

    ¡°You are naturally not in a hurry as it''s not mpetia that is upied! If I wait any longer, all my people will be dead!¡± Likumu unceremoniously threw down these words and left Pangam''s residence without even looking back.

    ¡°Great chieftain Likumu is right. This is not the time for us to just wait.¡± Bodiam came over and said to Pangam, who was still somewhat absentminded, ¡°With the fall of Besidice, our defensive n against Theonia has failed. Now what we are most worried about is that the Theonian troops will ughter their way out from the city of Besidice, and we will all be in danger! I must immediately lead my warriors to Consentia, where I will meet with Pian and discuss what do to next.¡±

    ¡°If you all go, what about the enemy here?!¡± Pangam said in rm.

    ¡°Can''t you see that the Theonians have deceived us?!¡± Bodiam said with some irritation, ¡°The enemy here is just a lure for the Theonians to attract us. Their real focus of attack is in the direction of Besidice!¡±

    Pangam was taken aback for a second as Bodiam leave, and could only cursed, ¡°Damn cowards!¡­¡± No one knew whether he was cursing the Theonians or the two great chieftains.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In Vergae, the chieftains of Consentia, Pian and Petaru, and the great chieftain of Vergae ¨C Sedrum, are discussing the withdrawal of troops.

    It turned out that, except for the first few fierce attacks and the capture of a camp, the attacks of the Theonians were gradually weakening due to the tenacious resistance of the Bruttians and had almost stopped attacking these days. As a result, Sedrum suggested to Pian, ¡°Grand chieftain, judging by the state of Theonia''s action now, their morale is weakening, and we would be able to withstand their next attack. Therefore, I propose that a small number of Consentian warriors be left to assist in defending Vergae while the main force can return to Consentia and be the reserve force for the whole war to deal with Theonia''s attack from other directions, which will also greatly reduce the pressure on our rations¡­¡±

    Indeed, there are ten thousand Consentian warriors stationed in the city of Vergae without a thing to do. It is important to know that it has only been two years since the tribes of Bruttii have united together, and the conflicts and grudges in the past decades will not disappear so quickly. Moreover, the first close contact between the two cities hadsted for so long that conflicts and shes would inevitably happen. Thus Pian thinks that Sedrum''s proposal is eptable, and this will also help reduce friction.

    After thinking about it, he finally decided to lead 8,000 warriors back to Consentia while Petaru would lead 2,000 men to continue helping Vergae defend the city.

    Petaru is one of the members of the highest authority of the Bruttii Tribal Union, the ¡°Seven Elders¡±, and is also the youngest. With Pian having no sons and no capable figures in his tribe and as a great chieftain of the tribe with lofty aspirations, Pian was not narrow-minded and worked hard to unify the tribes of Brutii. Therefore, he wed his daughter to Petaru, the chieftain of the secondrgest tribe in Consentia, and did his best to help and insisted on promoting Petaru to be one of the elders of the newly established Tribal Union, regardless of the opposition of his people and other great chieftains. It was not only due to Petaru would strengthen the weight of Consentia in the Union¡¯s elders as his son-inw, but also because he hoped that after his death, Petaru could use his identity as his son-inw to truly make the first and second tribe of Consentia merge and be the most powerful tribe in the Bruttii region. Then Petaru''s position in the Union would be unshakable, and the Tribal Union would be able to continue its stable development.

    Petaru dly epted this decision. He is willing to stay in Vergae for a longer time to deepen his understanding and to enhance his friendship with the chieftains of Vergae. Although Likumu looked down on Sedrum and secretly called him ¡°Traitor and Coward¡±, but the strength of Vergae is not weak and is deserving to be a friend of Consentia.

    Even though the battle is still ongoing, the several chieftains all felt that the situation of Bruttii is good, so their worries about Theonia''s powerful force lessened. Thus the men happily discussed with each other until the messenger broke into the assembly hall in panic.

    The shocking news of the ¡°fall of Besidice¡± had rmed everyone present.

    Pian, who had always been calm, had actually shown strong doubts about this news like Likumu and seemed unwilling to believe this fact until confirming the letter from the high priest ¨C Phitara.

    He was doubtful not to mention the other people, and the whole hall fell into silence.

    After a long time passed, Sedrum bitterly said, ¡°We have been deceived! The Theonians had attacked Vergae and mpetia just to distract our troops and divert our attention. Their real target should be Besidice!¡±

    As the grand chieftain of the recently established Bruttii Tribal Union, Pian had already adjusted his thoughts after that silence. He then suppressed the pain brought by the sudden blow and said loudly, ¡°We still have hope! The main force of Theonia is certainly here, and there are nearly ten thousand Theonians in mpetia, so there should not be many enemies in Besidice. Therefore, we should immediately mobilise arge number of troops to quickly recapture Besidice before they could gather arge number of troops in there!¡±

    Sedrum also immediately said, ¡°Even if we can''t take back Besidice, we should at least block the road from Besidice to the Consentia teau!¡±

    Pian nced at Sedrum. He felt that the chieftain of Vergae was a bit pessimistic, but at this time, he obviously did not have the time to worry too much. He then said to Petaru, ¡°I will first rush back to Consentia and urge the other tribes that have just joined the union to provide as many warriors as possible. At the same time, I will send someone to inform Likumu and Bodiam to lead their warriors back to Consentia to rendezvous, while you lead the ten thousand Consentian warriors to rush back!¡±

    ¡°I understand, grand chieftain!¡± Petaru became calm after hearing the arrangement of Pian.

    ¡°I apologise, elder Sedrum. You can only rely on yourself here!¡± Although the other great chieftains were still not used to it, Pian always insisted on calling them by their new position in the union.

    ¡°Don''t worry, grand chieftain.¡± Sedrum responded confidently, ¡°Since Vergae is not the aim of Theonia, I am confident in defending it! But¡­I don''t know what would great chieftain Likumu would do when he heard what happened.¡±

    Pian''s expression change after Sedrum¡¯s words reminded him, ¡°You''re right! I must leave immediately.¡±

    Pian and Petaru left one after another, while Sedrum remained lost in his thoughts.

    Salu, who had been silent, came forward and said, ¡°Chieftain, do you think that¡­we could take back Besidice?¡±

    Sedrum sighed, ¡°Who knows¡­the archon of Theonia made a fool of us. Wouldn''t he already prepared after capturing Besidice?¡±

    Salu opened his mouth and stutteringly said, ¡°You¡­you mean¡­that we are going to lose?!¡±

    Sedrum sighed again, ¡°I''m afraid that only Amara and Brutus would know¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the war broke out between Theonia and the Bruttians, more than half of the citizens of Thurii went to war, and the city became somewhat deste, except for the Temple of Hades, which was overcrowded. After the spectacr ceremony and the relentless propaganda of Plesinas'' subordinates, the people of Thurii and Amendra have be very trusting of this great god, who is famous for his cruelty and terrifyingness among the Olympian gods.

    All over the hillside were people prostrating and praying that the Theonian army would soon defeat the Bruttians so that their loved ones could return safely.

    Plesinas led the priests, priestesses and holy women of the Temple of Hades¡­tofort the people whoe to pray every day and do their best in helping them, providing drinking water, shelter and even physicians¡­

    For the safety of Thurii, the Senate decided to strictly check the people that are entering the city gate temporarily, only allowing the citizens to enter.

    Compared with the deste Thurii, the port and market are still busy: Wagons of grain, salted fish, meat and weapons were pulled out from the port and market to the outside of Thurii, where Mersis then distributed them. At the start of the war, some of these supplies were sent to the camp in the west of the city (where the second legion initially hid), while most of them went through the mountains to Laos, and finally, a small portion was then shipped by sea via the port to Scylettium and then to Terina.

 Chapter 309: Cheers from Thurii

    In the market, Cheiristoya''s Restaurant is still packed every day, where the preparatory citizens and freemen of Theonia, as well as merchants and sailors from all other ces, taste good food, drink good alcohol and talk about current events. Of course, there are also some gossips, such as rumours about Davos'' mother having s*x with Hades in her dream and became pregnant. There are also debates regarding the patrol captain of Thurii that everyone loved and hate, Olivos and his Persian wife, whether they are doing Greek position or Persian position when making love¡­and so on.

    Of course, the war with Bruttii is the most discussed during this time. The preparatory citizens and the freemen, who had participated in military training, had seen the might of the Theonian soldiers and were convinced that Theonia would win. On the other hand, many foreign sailors and merchants expressed doubts because the war had been ongoing for more than ten days, yet there was still no progress. In the end, the two sides either quarrel or fight, making the restaurant be the most frequented ce of the market patrol.

    Dicaeapolis and Tios sat in the corner eating mutton and drinking beer while listening to the others talking loudly about the war that was going on.

    Dicaeapolis sighed, ¡°This is the only bad thing about Theonia Union. There are too many wars. So far, there have been three wars just this year, and my business had gotten affected,¡±

    Tiosforted him, saying, ¡°There is no ce in this world now where there is no war! Even in Corinth, the people are worried about when a war will break out with Sparta due to their deepening conflict. Theonia is still pretty good. At least they haven''t lost so far, and they are always the one attacking other city-states¡­¡± There was a look of envy on Tios'' face.

    ¡°You are now running a weapon workshop and buying and selling weapons, so of course, you hope that there are more wars! I heard that the archon of Theonia visited your workshop some time ago.¡± Dicaeapolis also expressed envy.

    ¡°That''s right.¡± Tios was rather smug as he leaned his head in and whispered, ¡°You are my friend, so I am not afraid to tell you that Theonia is improving its weapons and equipment. They have a huge number of soldiers, but their own weapon production is too low that even if they were to produce for five years, they still wouldn¡¯t be able to give every soldier new weapons and armours. And my weapon workshop is the onlyrge weapon workshop in Theonia, so the archon who likes war naturally favours me!¡±

    ¡°I am afraid this¡­has to be tens of thousands of sets of weapons and armour. You are going to be rich!¡± Dicaeapolis said enviously.

    ¡°I won''t make that much money.¡± Tios shook his head and said, ¡°The archon, Davos, though young, is a shrewd man. He proposed to rece old weapons and armours with new ones and pay slightly more for the production at most.¡±

    ¡°Old weapons? You mean even those that are rusting?¡±

    ¡°No, the Theonian soldiers no longer use the traditional Corinthians helmets, bronze shields and shin guards of the Greek city-state, but had designed a leather helmet iid with iron pieces and with jaws, the shield is wood covered with cowhide, but it is half a human height, and it had to be curved. Making this kind of shield was too difficult that I don''t even know why they want to design it like this¡­¡± Tios described his doubts andints.

    ¡°The archon of Theonia is a famous strategos of Magna Graecia, so he naturally has his reasons for this design, and you only need to do what he says, so why think so much. And listening to you say so, you can resell those traditional Greek weapons and equipment to other city-states, which is also profitable.¡± Dicaeapolis reminded.

    ¡°But you did not include the shipping, the taxes and the time spent in selling it in other cities¡­¡± Tios took a sip of the alcohol, then a puzzled expression appeared on his face, ¡°In fact, I don''t care much about these as it is a rare opportunity to have a good rtionship with the archon while earning some money! But Davos said something to me when he left the weapon workshop that made me unable to sleep for some time¡­¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Asked Dicaeapolis curiously.

    ¡°He said, ¡®unfortunately, you are not a Theonian citizen, else we could have further cooperation with you.¡¯¡±

    Dicaeapolis was stunned and pondered over the sentence. Then his eyes suddenly lit up, ¡°He meant for you to be a Theonian citizen.¡±

    ¡°I think so as well.¡± Tios sighed, ¡°But ording to the Theonian Law, if I want to be a citizen of Theonia, then I will no longer be a citizen of Corinth, and it would also take me a long time to be a citizen of Theonia.¡±

    ¡°What''s so great about being a Corinthian citizen anyway? Do you even own and?¡±

    ¡°I have nond in Corinth.¡±

    ¡°ording to what you have said, Corinth is likely to have a war with Sparta. Can Corinth defeat Sparta?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Then it''s better for you to prepare now than lose your family. You are not too old, and waiting for a few years in Theonia wouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem. Moreover, bing a citizen of Theonia allows you to own your ownnd and further your business. With such a good thing, the goddess of luck is blessing you. So why do you hesitate?!¡±

    Dicaeapolis'' words wakened him up, and after a contemtion, Tios finally made up his mind, ¡°My dear friend, thank you for reminding me! You are right. I really should have decided earlier!¡±

    Dicaeapolisughs, ¡°Actually, I also want to be a citizen of Theonia. The longer I live in Theonia, the less I want to go back to Crete, which is small, barren and boring. Here, I can watch wonderful rugby and football games, eat delicious food, and have a physician treat you if you get sick. If you have nothing to do, you can go hunt in the mountains or fish in theke. Theonia is a vibrant city-state union where the political situation is stable. Even though it is already strong, it is still bing stronger that no other city-state dares to invade it, and only it bullies others!¡±

    Listening to Dicaeapolis, Tios raised his mug and said, ¡°Shall we go register at the census office of the city?¡±

    Dicaeapolis was stunned, thenughed, ¡°Okay, let''s go together!¡±

    The two drain their mug, wiping away the knots in their hearts as they talk andugh, feeling more cheerful.

    However, the guests at the next table were arguing. When Dicaeapolis listened carefully, it turned out that it was because of the Isthmian Games, so he snicked, ¡±Tios, be careful. Don''t mention that you are a Corinthian here.

    Speaking of this, Tios said angrily, ¡°Most of the Council of Corinth are fools, I am afraid that this is the first time they have heard of the name Theonia, so they simply looked down on this new city-state union, but they do not know that this new city-state union is several times stronger than Corinth, and offending it will not do Corinth any good!¡±

    Dicaeapolis felt the same way, ¡°Not only Corinth, but most city-state citizens in Greece have a disdainful attitude towards the city-state in the western Mediterranean. They always think that the city-states here are just colonies and treat them as country bumpkins from remote areas. In fact, they don''t know that not only Syracuse but also Theonia is as powerful as Sparta and Athens, while city-states such as Taranto and Crotone are even among the top powers even in Greece itself.¡±

    ¡°Yea, offending a powerful Theonia would make the future of Corinth bleak¡­¡± Tios said with some worry.

    ¡°Why do you even need to worry about that? You have already decided to be a Theonian citizen anyway.¡±

    ¡°But I still have a lot of rtives and friends in Corinth!¡±

    As the two discussed, a deafening cheer suddenly rang out from the market.

    The people in the restaurant didn''t know what was going on and were curiously asking each other. A patrolman then came in and said excitedly, ¡°All hail Theonia! Our brave soldiers, under the leadership of the great archon, Davos, has captured the city of Besidice in Bruttii!¡±

    ¡°Great! We won again!¡±

    ¡°Isn''t Besidice the small city on the south bank of the Crati River, next to our Thurii?! No Greek has even been there before. I heard that the terrain there was very perilous, yet we actually captured it?!! It has only been a few days since the war started!!¡±

    ¡°Brave soldiers, attack! Keep on your offence and try to capture Consentia as soon as possible!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Cheering filled the whole restaurant.

    At this time, the waiter came out and said, ¡°To celebrate this victory, my madame decided that the food and drink you want today are free!¡±

    ¡°Hooray for the generous wife of the archon, the beautiful Cheiristoya!¡± The guests stamped their feet with joy and cheered.

    ¡°Wonderful, please give me something to drink as well!¡± The patrolman said happily.

    ¡°Wine or beer?¡± Asked the waiter.

    ¡°Look how I am sweating, so of course I would drink beer to quench my thirst.¡± When he got handed a full cup of beer, the patrolman raised it high and said loudly, ¡°Everyone, to our omnipotent archon, Lord Davos! And to our brave citizens who are fighting in the war!¡±

    Everyone in the restaurant, including Dicaeapolis and Tios, raised their cup while the guests at the next table came to have a toast with them and said, ¡°Congrattions to you both for joining the ranks of Theonia''s citizens! This is certainly the correct decision!¡±

    Dicaeapolis looked at him in surprise, ¡°You heard everything?¡±

    The man blinked, ¡°Otherwise, why do you think I cursed the Corinthians?¡±

    Tiosughed with relief at this moment, ¡°This is the arrangement of the goddess of Fate that we could usher such good news after making our decision!¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Dicaeapolis nodded in agreement.

    ¡°Cheers!¡± Several wooden mugs collided, and the liquor sshed all over.

 Chapter 310: Fall of Motya

    ¡°Cheers!!!¡± All the guests in the restaurant drank with joy.

    ¡°In addition, the Senate issued a notice-¡± The patrolman looked around and said solemnly, ¡°That the freemen who have participated in Theonia military training can immediately register in the Nike Square, as the Ministry of Military wants to draft two thousand freemen to go to Besidice and assist the legion in the battle-¡±

    ¡°Why did you not say that earlier! With only two thousand spots, I am afraid that it would only take a while for all to be taken.¡±

    ¡°Go! Let''s go!¡± Comints soon filled the restaurant, and after a burst, most of the diners run out.

    And Dicaeapolis and Tios could only look at each other.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Now there is a sea of people in Nike Square.

    The Census Registry Department first has to confirm that the freemen whoe to register are indeed previously registered. Then the court staff will check the records to make sure that they have notmitted any crime during their stay in Theonia. Then, the military training camp officers will select those who are physically fit, young and have shown seriousness in their previous training. Only after passing all these tests will the Census Registry Department will confirm, take a note, and sign their records, which would be the basis for shortening their time to bing a preparatory citizen in the future.

    These sets of procedures were followed by hundreds of public officials of the unions alone, and the various files were stacked like a hill. To prevent idents, they have even mobilised a thousand heavily armed reserve soldiers to maintain orders.

    In fact, even though more than ten thousand freemen came to the square, they were still able to abide by the order, not because they were afraid of those soldiers staring at them, but because they knew that even if they were not selected this time, it doesn''t matter, as they do notck the opportunity to make contributions in Theonia. There is the temple that is being built in Amendra that is short ofbour and is calling for freemen; the construction of Krimisa-Aprustum road is also calling for freemen¡­suchrge construction jobs, even though the union only provides three meals a day and minimal pay, could likewise help the freemen reach their aspirations of bing a preparatory citizen of Theonia sooner.

    However, if the freemen were to disturb the public order of the union and vite the Theonian Law, then the way to bing a citizen of Theonia will be even more difficult, and they might even be expelled from Theonia. Therefore, even if they are not selected, these freemen would at most swear, but they would not dare to have any radical behaviours. And if someone thinks that the selection process is unfair, they could appeal it to the notary office set up by the Ministry of Investigation on the other side of the square for a reassessment.

    Standing outside the Senate''s Great Assembly Hall, looking at the heated sight of Nike Square in front of him, Philesius suddenly said, ¡°In fact, I still think that it''s better to send the soldiers of the Legion reserve to help the second legion in Besidice. They have also undergone rigorous training, and the gap between them and the legion soldiers are notrge. Compared with these freemen, they are more effective and are more able to obey orders.¡±

    Marigi, who was next to him, asked back, ¡°If you were to send out all the soldiers, Thurii would be empty. Then what should we do in case of an enemy attack or a bigmotion happens?¡±

    Philesius was at a loss for a moment. He then hesitatingly said, ¡°Thurii is surrounded by either cities of the union or allies, so where would the sneak attacke?¡±

    ¡°We could sneak on Besidice, so why can''t someone else sneak on Thurii?¡± Quibbled Marigi. In fact, what he was thinking was about Philesius, besides being good at military affairs, was aplete idiot in politics. With Davos leading the army outside, then there must definitely be an army to stay. Now the Senate members are moreplex than before, so in case of chaos, they could immediately suppress it.

    At this time, Mersis is on the same page as Marigi, though his exnation came from a different angle.

    ¡°Send the reserve?!¡± Mersis shouted, ¡°That''s easy for you to say! Philesius, you must know how much effort Davos and I put into preparing for this war! Not only did the treasury run out of money, but we also owed a huge debt to the citizens, yet we could only provide rations for four legions to go out fighting for four months. And the rations of a reserve soldier are the same as those of a legion soldier, at least 1.5 kilograms of grain a day and two salted fish for their rations, while the rations for these freemen are much simpler that as long as they are barely fed, it would be enough. Philesius, use your head and just don''t think how to fight every time. If you were to fight without food, you would all have starved to death.¡±

    Mersis and Philesius are old acquaintance, so Philesius naturally understood the character of this fat man. Therefore, instead of talking back, he showed eptance with an open-mind

    Behind them was Androlis, who was still shocked by the news of the victory he heard this morning.

    ¡°Androlis, didn¡¯t you say that the city of Besidice upied a geographical advance and was almost impossible to capture, but how did the lord archon capture it so quickly?¡± Eurypus asked in confusion.

    ¡°I am also at a loss, and the messenger who brought back the news did not tell us in detail of the capturing of Besidice.¡± Androlis'' mind was still filled with the thrilling images of walking along the riverside trail, and he said helplessly, ¡°It''s true that Besidice has a natural geographical advantage making it difficult to conquer, but who let our archon be the favoured of Hades? With the blessing of Hades, even with the greatest difficulties, it would just be a breeze for him. You can ask him for the details after he returns victoriously."

    ¡°It seems that the lord archon is really very powerful inmanding the citizens to battle. Eurypus, why don''t we apply to him and join these legions of Theonia as well.¡± Pleitinas suggested.

    ¡°I had already inquired about it. The unique legion system created by the archon is quite different from the military system of an ordinary city-state. Every promotion in the army has a strict assessment. Even if it¡¯s you and me, who are statesmen of the Senate, must also start training again from the military camp as we are not familiar with the tactics and the military formations¡­¡± Eurypus was still quite angry about this. To think that he, who had an honourable status as a nobleman of Krimisa and now a statesman of the Theonian Senate, had to sweat and train together with those poor freemen, ording to Philesius of the Ministry of Military, who was a former mercenary,

    ¡°If we need to train, then train. Could it be that we are no better than those freemen?!¡± Pleitinas did not mind it at all.

    Listening to their arguments, Androlis could only sigh. It seems that it is not only him that have epted the fact that he became a citizen of Theonia, but so did Pleitinas and Eurypus. Even though he has been the polemarchos of Krimisa for several years, the plundering of a small Bruttian tribe had made him and the city-state people worry, while in Theonia, just by sitting in the Senate alone is enough to decide the life and death of the whole Bruttii race! There is an old saying that, ¡°the higher you stand, the more scenery you can see. And the more you are used to eating delicious food, the more you naturally looked down on those hard bread.¡±

    On the other side of the terrace, Kunogta and Cornelius are talking about another issue.

    ¡°With the upation of Besidice, it seems that the day of our conquest of Bruttii will soone!¡± Cornelius couldn''t help sighing as he watched Theonia move from weak to strong for only two years.

    On the other hand, Kunogta was considering moresting issues, ¡°However, it would be a big problem on how to deal with the Bruttians after they are defeated!¡±

    Cornelius thought for a moment and said with uncertainty, ¡°We should govern the Bruttians the same way as we govern the Lucanians!¡±

    Kunogta considered it for a moment and then said, ¡°The Bruttians are different from the Lucanians¡­¡± Here, he stopped talking and couldn''t help but shake his head again, ¡®How far would the war would go on? What agreement would be signed?¡¯ It is still too early to consider this as it is still impossible to predict the oue. However, if they were to conquer the Bruttii region, then from now on, Thurii will bepletely safe!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the Sicilian ind of Motya, the war still continuing, in the same way, day after day. The people of Motya are all soldiers, and despite the heavy casualties, they still did not give in. The Syracusans'' attack advanced bit by bit, but they still failed to upy the whole city despite their considerable cost.

    As time went on, Dionysius became more and more anxious that it even made him execute two guards for petty reasons.

    Finally, he realised that a forceful attack on Motya was not good. After epting the proposal of the former mercenary leader Marsyas, he decided to organise a death squad to sneak into the area defended by the Motyans at night.

    Fortunately, his gamble seeded. After a short but fierce battle, they finally shattered the resistance of the Motyans.

    However, the Greek soldiers had no desire to grab and loot their spoils at all. Having lost too many of theirrades in the previous battle, the only thing they wanted was to exact revenge. And with the atrocities of the Carthaginian general ¨C Hanibal* ten years ago still fresh in their minds, they had also decided to be as cruel and ruthless as the Carthaginians had been towards the Greek cities, and so the massacre began. (This Hannibal is not the Hannibal during the Roman era. There were many Carthaginian generals named Hannibal in the different periods of Carthage, and this Hannibal is also more famous as the head of the Magonids.)

    After a day of continued ughter, which Dionysius eventually put a stop to, not because he was merciful, but because he thought that the dead could not be captives, hence the victorious soldiers turned their pleasure in ughtering to plundering, looting this city of Carthage of everything of value and selling all the captives as ves.

    Dionysius then left a group of men to guard this empty city, which was filled with corpses, and another to continue attacking Segesta while leading the rest of his army back to Syracuse. At this moment, the Carthaginians still have a few coastal cities left in the northwest corner of Sicily, such as Eryx, Salus, and Palermo. It was not that he did not want to eliminate the remaining Carthaginians in Sicilypletely, but that the rations he had prepared for his army were almost gone, and as it was already October, the winter is approaching. Thus he decided to return to the city for the winter ande back next spring to solve Segesta.

    The fall of Motya is a great honour for Dionysius and a great victory for the Greek city-states that had never been aplished in the history of Sicily. For the Carthaginians, however, it was the greatest blow. With the loss of Motya, the Carthaginian cities on the continent of Africa will face the Greek forces in Sicily directly, seriously threatening their safety.

 Chapter 311: Changes in Lucania

    In the Carthaginian Senate, the radical faction led by the Magonids, who the people strongly supported, had vigorously criticised the conservative factions led by Hanno. Finally, their proposal to attack Syracuse and rebuild a defensive barrier for Carthage to the north was passed.

    Thus the Carthaginian senate re-appointed Himilco, the head of the Magonids and one of the shophtim of Carthage (simr to an archon), as the suprememander. He then began recalling the army sent to explore the Iberian Penins, whose suprememander was Himilco''s brother, Mago, and had also begun preparing provisions for the army.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    A few days ago, a huge incident happened in Grumentum. Two small tribes in the north of Grumentum had a conflict due to territory disputes and even had an armed fight. Bagul, the praetor of the city, went to mediate in person but was suddenly caught unprepared and was suddenly besieged by tribal warriors. Fortunately, thanks to his personal guards, he managed to escape to the city of Grumentum. And soon after, the news about Bagul being seriously injured and in grave danger had spread. At the same time, the city gate was closed, and the city was under tight security, but no soldiers were sent to attack the two tribes who openly raised the g of rebellion.

    For a while, the tribes under Grumentum''s jurisdiction living outside the city were on edge as rumours spread everywhere.

    The news soon reached Pyxous and Potentia.

    ¡°Son, that old fox, Pamot, has finally taken action! We could no longer wait, and we must send troops immediately to attack Grumentum!¡± Said Cincinnag excitedly and anxiously.

    ¡°Father, haven''t you said that we should only send troops after Potentia send troops?¡± Gennat asked puzzledly after seeing Cincinnag being excited.

    ¡°The situation is now different! Even though Potentia had not dispatched their troops, they had already acted. Didn''t you hear that ¡®The praetor of Grumentum was ambushed and was seriously wounded¡¯? This must be the work of Pamot and the others that have secretly instigated the Grumentum tribes close to Potentia! Normally, the Theonians should have dispatched their troops to retaliate against those tribes, but the Theonians did not and had instead locked the city gate. What does that mean?¡±

    Cincinnag then said excitedly, ¡°It shows that the Theonians simply do not have any spare troops to suppress those rebellious tribes, as all their soldiers have been dispatch to attack Bruttii. Why has the Bruttian envoy who came here yesterday was no longer nervous as he was thest time when he came to begged us to join him? He has already made it very clear that ¡®even though the Theonians have sent nearly twenty thousand troops to attack the Bruttii mountains from the north, they were still unable to attack the city of Vergae and had instead suffered heavy casualties. And even the ten thousand soldiers sent to conquer mpetia from the south were likewise unable to advance further beyond the mountains.¡¯ The Theonians was caught in the battle with the Bruttians, therefore, the only thing they wanted was to keep the city of Grumentum. Right now, those tribes in Grumentum are panicking like calves that have lost their mothers. So we must rush ahead of Potentia and immediately send our troops to Grumentum''s territory, and those tribes will surely submit one after another, and our force will grow rapidly. By the time Pamot arrives, it will already be toote, and Grumentum will be in our hands!¡± Thinking of this, Cincinnag couldn''t help fromugh.

    ¡°Father, I will immediately gather the warriors!¡± Gennat was so excited by the words of his father that he immediately runs out of the living room, while Cincinnag''s voice filled with hatred could be heard from behind, ¡°Cunning Theonians, who dared to take away my Grumentum, the day of revenge that I have been waiting has finallye! O god Asinu, I, Cincinnag, will offer the blood of the Greeks to you in the hope of receiving your blessing!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Brother, what are you still hesitating?!¡± Polet shouted anxiously, ¡°Pyxous are the first to strike! It must have been the cunning Cincinnag who won over the tribes of Grumentum and nned to inflict heavy losses to Theonia and Bagul! Now, Pyxous must have already sent out their army! If we still don''t send our troops, Grumentum will fall to Pyxous!¡±

    Compared with the impatient Polet, Pamot ¨C the great chieftain of Potentia who was over fifty years old, after hearing these words, not even his eyebrows move, and he slowly said, ¡°I will still say the same time ¨C Wait.¡±

    ¡°Brother. If you don''t want to take risks, why don''t I take some of our warriors to Grumentum first-¡± Polet was so anxious that he wanted to say more, but Pamot''s expression became more serious. He looked at his brother and said in a cold voice, ¡°I am still the one in charge of Potentia. If you want to give orders, wait until after I die.¡±

    Polet no longer dared to say anything more as he and Pamot were nearly twenty years apart. In fact, his father died early, making his elder brother take care of him and brought him up. Therefore, although they were brothers, they were more like father and son.

    ¡°Polet.¡± Pamot''s tone softened, ¡°Don''t forget how we lost Grumentum.¡±

    Polet no longer spoke, but he still does not look convinced.

    Pamot sighed. His face slightly more gloomy, ¡°I know that over the years, you have beenining that I have been too cautious in my actions that I did not even interfere in the internal disputes of Lucania and had allowed Akpir to get stronger, and now, I even refuse to move to act on the fat piece of meat which is Grumentum¡­but you must know that we in Potentia are different from Pyxous and Grumentum. They are surrounded by fellow Lucanians, but to our north are the terrible Samnites. Don''t forget what our ancestors always warned us, ¡®We were driven to this mountain area from the north by these Samnites.¡¯ Don''t look at how these Samnites tribes no longer fight with us now, as the only reason we are still safe now is that we have enough warriors, and they also have to deal with the Greeks in the west. But if our strength weakens, do you think those hungry wolves will leave Potentia alone?!¡±

    Polet was slightly moved.

    ¡°At the start of the year, I did not resist your repeated request and have sent troops to Grumentum. In the end, you and our warriors were captured by the Theonians¡­do you know¡­that at that time, the Samnites have sent an envoy expressing their willingness to help us defeat the Theonians?!¡±

    Now, Polet was visibly moved. He couldn''t stop himself from asking, ¡°There is such a thing?! Did you agree?!¡±

    ¡°Agree?¡± Pamot sneered, ¡°If I had agreed, Potentia would have already belonged to the Samnites. Fortunately, we have made peace with Theonia in time and released you, which made me relieved. Now, the situation in Grumentum isplicated, and I can''t even guess the oue of the war between Theonia and Bruttii will be¡­if we are not sure, then we should not easily send troops. If Cincinnag wants to take Grumentum, then let them. The Theonians are not that easy to deal with.¡±

    After hearing this, Polet was silent for a while. He then reluctantly asked, ¡°If so, why did you agree to ally with Bruttii?¡±

    Pamot''s hazy eyes shed with a glint of light, ¡°The alliance is also for an additional way out for us. With Asinu''s blessing, we might get a good opportunity¡­so now, we have to be still and wait patiently¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Pian rushed back to Consentia and was just in time to intercept Likumu, who had hastily led his troops back from mpetia. Finally, with difficulties, Pian persuaded him to stay in Consentia and attack Besidice together after gathering the army.

    But not long after, the scouts returned, reporting that the Greeks were building a fortress on the path leading to Besidice.

    Pian could no longer sit still any longer. If the Greeks were allowed to build the fortress, it would undoubtedly add more difficulties in taking back Besidice. Thus he had no choice but to let Likumu lead his warriors to obstruct and gave him an additional thousand warriors from other tribes while repeatedly telling him not to fight the Greeks to the death.

    After three hours of rushing with his troops, Likumu could already faintly see the Greeks ahead and stared in disbelief at the Greeks turning the exit of the mountain path into a huge construction site, digging pits, driving piles of stakes, moving wood¡­a site buzzing with activity. They had even erected a wooden wall that is three metre high and dozens of metres long, with gates, battlements, trenches, abatis¡­all the necessary defensive facilities of a fortress basicallypleted.

    Likumu had acted quickly, but it was already a day and a half since the second legion upied Besidice. The legion''s legatus, Drakos, had seized this favourable opportunity and divided his seven thousand soldiers into three teams and took turns to build the fortress day and night. The soldiers also knew that the time was short, so they put all their strength into the construction. In addition, the engineering camp had assembled some of the defensive facilities. Thus by the time Likumu finally arrived, the fortress had already taken shape.

    When the scattered scouts found the Bruttian troops, they immediately rushed back to report. Then a salpinx rang throughout the fortress, and the working soldiers slowly retreated.

    Likumu was even angrier that the Greeks were doing whatever they wanted in his territory than being surprised at the speed at which the Theonian soldiers built the fortress, knowing that it took eight days for Besidice just to remove the defensive camp facing Consentia.

    ¡°Kill those Greeks who are outside the fortress!¡± At hismand, the horn sounded and his warriors, filled with hatred at the enemy who had taken their homes, rushed to the unarmed Theonians like fierce wolves.

    Under themand of the officers, the Theonian soldiers didn''t panic as they continued to go through the gate orderly and retreated to the wall. The soldiers at the end of the queue had even turned their heads rather leisurely to look back, expecting something good to happen.

    At a distance of fifty-metres from the city wall, the charging Bruttian soldiers suddenly screamed and fell to the ground. When they pulled out their feet, they were all drenched in blood, either from being pierced by a stake buried in the grass or the caltrop* that drills bloody holes in their foot. And the narrow foot trap that could twist their ankles¡­

 Chapter 312: Baripiris Scheme

    Last year, the Vergaeans already had a taste of it, but apparently, Sedrum did not tell the other Bruttians about their painful experience.

    ¡°There is a trap in front of!¡­¡±

    The momentum of the Bruttians'' charge came to a halt, and just as they stopped, Drakos, who was on top of the wooden wall, ordered, ¡°Archers, prepare!¡±

    Baripiri, who was next to him, hurriedly called out, ¡°Legatus, please don''t do it yet! They are the warriors of Besidice. Allow me to try persuading them to surrender!¡±

    Thurii had reinforced the second legion, and its strength increased to nine thousand, but a third of the soldiers stayed in Besidice to prevent unrest. At the same time, Drakos invited Baripiri to the fortress that was under construction. The reason he gave was to assist the soldiers of the second legion in familiarizing themselves with the terrain and learning more about the attacking enemy once the Bruttians arrived. But in reality, it was to transfer the most influential chieftain away from the city of Besidice to ensure the safety of the newly upied city. Unexpectedly, this chieftain could y a role contrary to his expectations.

    Drakos looked at the anxious face of Baripiri and hesitated for a moment, and nodded.

    Baripiri held the crenel of the wall with both hands and shouted with all his strength, ¡°People of Besidice, I am Baripiri! Although the city of Besidice has changed its owner, your families remain safe! Your parents, wives and children are looking forward to your safe return! Come home! The Theonians will not hurt you. Instead, they will ept you as their citizens! Come home! Your families are waiting for you at your home!¡­¡±

    Within 50 metres outside the city, the warriors, who were supporting theirpanions and advancing cautiously, had clearly heard the affectionate cry in the Bruttiannguageing from the fortress walls.

    ¡°It''s the voice of chieftain Baripiri!¡­¡± For the people of Besidice, this voice is very familiar because Baripiri has always been respected among the Besidisians. Gradually, the groaning of the wounded warriors became less, and some had even forgotten to help theirrades. They listened carefully and began to whisper to each other.

    Likumu, who learned about the situation in the rear, was furious and stormed out, ¡°Baripiri, this damned old man! Why haven''t I notice that he was so vicious! It must be him! He must have betrayed us and allowed the Theonians to take my city! I will skin him alive! Eat his flesh!! And ughter his whole family!!!¡­¡±

    Likumu could only swear at him, as no matter how furious he bes, he knew that at this moment that the warriors couldn¡¯t continue fighting, so he had to order a temporary retreat.

    However, when the horn sounded, a small number of warriors still lingered around.

    Likumu became anxious and angry, causing him to hastily sent other tribal warriors with spears to drive them away. Only after great difficulty did they manage to withdraw from the battlefield, which had almost led to a conflict.

    No longer daring to stay, Likumu hurriedly retreated several kilometres away.

    The warriors helped each other and sighed throughout their retreat, and the morale of the warriors sank lower.

    When Drakos, who was on the wooden wall, saw this, he didn''t seize this opportunity to attack because Baripiri had given him a better idea.

    Likumu was now at his wits'' end as the Theonians filled the area 50 metres beyond the wooden wall with traps, and Baripiri¡¯s words had even distracted his warriors. While ordering to set up camp, he sent some scouts to report the enemy¡¯s situation to Consentia. After much pondering, Likumu decided to summon the chieftains of the Basidisian warriors and told them to emphasise to the warriors that they should not believe what the traitor had said. Their families had be ves of the Greeks, and only by retaking Besidice can their families be freed¡­

    Just as he had vehemently told his men to go back and boost the warrior''s morale, a guard came in and reported that a group of Besidisian women had arrived at the camp.

    It turned out that Baripiri had gathered some wives of the warriors under Likumu. These women were all belonged to the old age group and were told that their husbands are outside, and if they want to keep them from dying in battle, they have to go and call them back! However, it was possible that they would not be able to return once they went.

    Under the guidance of Theonian soldiers, these women walked out of the trap, travelled for several kilometres, and came to Likumu'' camp. Once the warriors who were guarding the camp saw that they were their rtives, they opened the fence and weed them instead of blocking them.

    As a result, there was soon a touching scene of couples meeting each other in tears. These women would then tell their husbands that the Theonian soldiers did not hurt a single Besidisian after capturing the whole city. On the contrary, they have sent physicians to help those who were wounded, put out the burning mes, and repaired the damaged houses¡­and now, even the order in the city has gradually restored.

    While a small number of Besidisian warriors grieved when they learned from the women that their families had died in the battle.

    In the camp, the warriors all gathered in one ce, and this mixed spectacle of sadness and joy is both lively and somewhat amusing. However, Likumu felt terrified after learning about it.

    ¡®This is the Theonian''s conspiracy!¡¯ Likumu hurriedly sent guards to try to separate the women from the warriors.

    He wanted to prevent the situation from expanding, but he did not want this action to intensify the conflict. Watching at the women being forcibly pulled away and crying, some of whom had even fallen to the ground because of resistance, but the guards still dragged them away without any consideration. From seeing this, the Besidisian warriors became furious that they surrounded the guards from Likumu''s tribe, which wasposed of his most trusted men.

    At this moment, these guards, who usually relied on the power of Likumu to act tyrannically, saw that the situation was not good, so they all knelt down begging for mercy. However, the angry warriors ignored their pleas. They rushed at them and beat them up. Gradually, the guards were at death¡¯s door under the beating and kicking of countless people. The warriors then stopped in fear after finding out that the guards were dying.

    ¡°Since Likumu won''t spare us from killing his people! Why don''t we capture him while we have so many people and then go back home!¡± At that moment, a young Besidisian shouted, which immediately became the beacon for the confused warriors.

    Without thinking more, they gathered and rushed toward Likumu''s tent.

    Likumu, who had received this bad news, had no time to regret it. He hurriedly mounted his horse and fled to the ce where the other tribal warriors were camping. He then asked them to send troops to quell the rebellion immediately but was refused.

    With only having a thousand warriors against more than two thousand angry Besidisian warriors, without the orders of their chieftains, how can they obey the orders of Likumu, who was just a union elder and was already all of his own?

    So when the Besidisian warriors approached the camp, Likumu, feeling the danger, fled again on horseback.

    Facing the other tribal warriors, who were standing by, the gradually calming Besidisian warriors took the initiative to retreat for fear that Likumu would bring troops to retaliate.

    ¡°Let''s return to Besidice, as what chieftain Baripiri said!¡± When the confused Besidisians did not know what to do next, the young warrior shouted again. In fact, this was the only way they could choose.

    Outside the newly built fortress of the Theonians, Baripiri, together with several reputable old men from Besidice, came to meet the restless warriors.

    Drakos had not expected that Baripiri''s proposal would be so sessful, making him both excited and somewhat distressed on how to deal with the more than two thousand Besidisian warriors. If he were to simply just leave them all in the city, Drakos would feel uneasy. Fortunately, this time, he managed to repel iing the enemy''s attack without even moving his men, gaining him more time. He was now desperately hoping that Davos would arrive early with his army.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Cincinnag had decided to lead six thousand Pyxousian warriors to Grumentum together with his son, Gennat. And just as he had expected, as soon as his army arrived, the tribes in the northern region of Grumentum came to submit to him, including the two tribes, who had ambushed Bagul.

    Cincinnag, learning from his past mistake, had now treated all the tribes who came to take refuge with enthusiasm, which had quickly captured the hearts of these anxious minor tribal chieftains. Soon, his troops had been expanded to tens of thousands of men and continued marching south.

    When the report reached the city hall of Grumentum, Bagul, who was ¡°seriously injured¡±, was sitting on a chair unharmed, with a slightly worried expression, ¡°Although we have spread the rumours that ¡®Theonia was at a disadvantaged in the war against Bruttii¡¯ and that ¡®I am seriously injured¡¯ in order to confuse the enemy, but I didn''t expect that all the tribes in the north to defect to Pyxous so quickly. Sigh! All our previous efforts were in vain!¡±

    Asistes sneered, ¡°As what lord Davos had said, ¡®Only in the face of crisis can we see which tribes are truly loyal to Theonia! And which ones are the traitors!¡¯ In the past six months, we have spent most of our energy mediating the territorial and property disputes of these tribes. However, they are all wolves that couldn''t be tamed! Now it''s the time to take care of all those tribes that have betrayed us except those few that we have arranged andpletely bring the territory of Grumentum under our control!¡±

    ¡°They are all Lucanians!¡± Bagul knew that Asistes was right. Still, he was unable to stop himself from sighing again.

    After being surprised, Asistes tried to convince him, ¡°Brother, aren''t there a few civil wars in the past among the Lucanians? All of which caused rivers of blood, otherwise your tribe would not be forced to risk moving to Amendra. However, after we unify Lucania, the Lucanians, as citizens of Theonia, will no longer kill each other again, and their lives will be better and better! Don''t you think so as well?!¡±

 Chapter 313: Ballista

    Bagul listened to his brother-inw''s words, and his expression gradually became firm, and said loudly, ¡°You''re right, even though I am a Lucanian, I am also a citizen of Theonia. We must not let go of this great opportunity to unify Lucania!¡±

    ¡°Brother, however, there is now a problem.¡± Seeing that Bagul''s thoughts were now clear, Asistes immediately asked, ¡°As you could see, the strength of Pyxious is growing too fast. Do we not need to reinforce Kesima and his tribe?¡±

    ¡°By us not doing anything, that cunning Cincinnag will be more convinced that we are really in trouble.¡± With Bagul¡¯s confusion cleared, he now fully devote himself to the battle that was about to start, ¡°Besides, these tribes in the south are long prepared as we have informed them in advance. Everything is now ready, and we only await the arrival of the legatus ¨C Hieronymus and Litom. I believe that Litom is eager to wash away the shame he suffered in the Isthmian Games with a big victory!¡±

    Although Asistes also looked forward to the early arrival of the battle, Davos had entrusted him to be the assistant of Bagul with the order to assist Bagul in organising a good n for the Battle of Grumentum. Thus he had to slightly consider the problem more carefully so as to help the brash Bagul check and fill in his deficiency, ¡°There is still no movement in Potentia, could there be a problem?¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry, the Potentians are already terrified at theirst defeat, and they also have to defend against the Samnites, so they can''t afford another loss. In addition, as far as I know, their great chieftain ¨C Pamot, is a veryposed man that by the time he wants to make a move, we would already haveunched an attack on the city of Pyxious!¡± Bagulughed confidently.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Likumu fled back to Consentia in a state of disarray, which surprised Pian. After listening to Likumu''s ordeal, he was surprised and regretted it. He was shocked by the news that the Theonian''s fortress was about to bepleted. At the same time, he regretted that even though he knew that the Theonians had captured Besidice, he still sent the Besidisian warriors to attack it, which was indeed a stupid move made by him in his haste. And he became distressed with the loss of more than two thousand elite warriors, given the shortage of Bruttian warriors!

    Although Likumu assured him that as long as he came to the frontline, even if these Besidisians would not switch sides, they would not be willing to fight. Pian was not going to believe himpletely, as this grumpy, violent chieftain of Besidice was not very good at winning the people''s heart. Besides, the revolt of these Besidisian warriors had a lot to do with him.

    At this time, Pian could only suppress his anxiety. While waiting for the arrival of the army led by Petaru, he ordered the other tribes to send as many warriors as possible.

    At dusk, Petaru had not only arrived together with the army, but he also had rendezvous with the great chieftain of Anbania ¨C Bodiam, who had arrived together with his army. Only then did Pian feel slightly more relieved.

    Early the following day, nearly 20,000 warriors, consisting of 11,000 Consentian warriors, 2,500 Anbanian warriors and 5,000 warriors from other races, led by Pian, Petaru, Bodiam and Likumu, together with 2,000 ves, marched eastward.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Great chieftain, not good! The enemy is about to attack the city!¡± When he heard the report from his subordinates, Pangam wasn''t too nervous. After Likumu and Bodiam left with their troops in session, the Theonians did not appear for two days in a row, which made him begin to believe what Bodiam had said about mpettia being not the focus of Theonia''s attack!

    ¡°There is nothing to panic about. It¡¯s not like the Theonians hadn¡¯t attacked before, and we had even easily repulse them! Rxed, with the strong walls of mpettia, the Theonians wouldn''t be able to do anything to us!¡± Pangam cheered up his men.

    ¡°But, this siege of the Theonians are unlike the ones before. They have started digging¡­¡±

    ¡°Dig?¡±

    By the time Pangam arrived at the wall, the soldiers of the fourth legion had already paved the slope a hundred metres away from the wall with earth and stones, creating a levelled ground of about 20 metres in length.

    Then Pangam saw the Theonians cing a wooden frame about a man''s height¡­the Bruttian warriors were curious and guessed what it was, and many thought it was a tool for the Greeks to offer sacrifices to their gods.

    Pangam continued to stare at it, watching the enemy carrying wooden boxes to the side of the wooden frame, and his uneasiness continued to increase¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Ready? Is it ready to be fired?¡± Hielos came to the front of what Davos called the ¡°Ballista brigade¡± and asked the ballista captain.

    The ballista captain replied with embarrassment, ¡°We still need the spotter to position the ballista.¡±

    The spotter, who was standing beside the captain, was an apprentice of the Institute of Mathematics established by Davos. After hearing Hielos'' question, he turned to look back and said, ¡°Yes, but we have to try a shot first.¡±

    He pointed to the wall ahead and added, ¡°Although the city wall is about 100 metres away, the terrain of the city is higher, making it harder to judge thending point. Thus I need to see the result of the test shot first before I could correct it.¡±

    The captain nodded his head to show his understanding, while Hielos was a bit at a loss. He knew that he could not learn all kinds of knowledge as easily as Davos and get along with those learned schrs. However, even though he does not understand it, he still knew that since Davos selected the spotter from the Institute of Mathematics that he valued, there must be no question about his ability.

    ¡°Put the elevation lever in the middle position and draw the bowstring to its maximum.¡± Said the spotter.

    Immediately, the captain gave a loud order to all the artillerist.

    The artillerists immediately turned the multiple sets of pulleys at the end of the ballistae, and the iron hook began pulling the bowstring (This is Marticoris'' improvement of Syracuse''s ballista after getting some achievements in the study of pulleys, making it easier for the artillerists to pull the bowstring). As the bowstring moved further and further backwards, it drove a section of the two wooden ballista arms fixed to the main beam by the torsion spring set to move backwards as well. The artillerists felt some strain, and even the torsion spring set attached inside the main bean also began emitting ¡°Creaking¡± noises. As the bowstring was pulled to the end of the guide rail, the artillerist busily jammed the pulley¡¯s shaft.

    ¡°Prepare the ballista!¡± Ordered the captain. Then the artillerists took out a round stone ammunition (it was made by mixing gravel with "Davos'' cement, solidified in a round mould and polished by ves, so the shape was round and smooth), they then ce it in the woven mesh bag in the middle of the bowstring.

    ¡°Fire!¡± At themand of the captain, the artillerist press the snap springs, and the spring set made of two thick bull tendons tightly twisted, causing the pulled crossbow arms to rebound suddenly. The huge force generated by torsion drove the bowstring, which then pushed the stone ammunition to roll forward like lightning on the smooth guide rail and then pressed through the circr hole at the middle-end of the main beam.

    Under the gaze of Hielos, the stone ball flew out and turned into a small ck spot in the air.

    But in Pangam''s sight, the small dot in the air quickly becamerger. Under the exmation of the warriors, it flew over the city wall and fell into the city, smashing through the roof of a household, which caused screams.

    Then the warriors began talking about what it was in a panic.

    Pangam''s expression became gloomy, ¡®This is undoubtedly Theonia''s new siege weapon, but why haven''t they use it before? And only use it now to attack the city after Likumu and Bodiam left? Is all of these nned?¡¯

    ¡°The elevation angle is high, and the shooting distance is about 300 metres.¡± After observing the flight trajectory of the stone ball, the spotter made a general judgment. He then carefully looked at theparison table about elevation angle, torque scale and range drawn by the Institute of Mathematics that were based on the newly researched parabolic equation and then said, ¡°Set the elevation lever a step forward, pull the bowstring to the maximum then fire another round.¡±

    While the captain was giving order and the artillerists were busy, the spotter then said to Hielos, ¡°ording to our research, the upper and middle sections of a wall are rtively weak, so our ballista should try to attack this area as much as possible¡­¡±

    Hielos nodded as he listened.

    The stone ball flew out again, but this time, it hit the city wall urately. With a loud bang, debris sshed, and one could clearly hear the enemy¡¯s cries even with a distance of 100 metres.

    Both the spotter and the captain were obviously satisfied with the result, so they continued to order, ¡°All ballistae fire ording to the previous settings.¡±

    Then more than a dozen stone balls flew out one after another and blossoming on the enemy''s wall.

    ¡°Keep firing, don''t stop!¡± Even though Hielos was satisfied with the power of the ballista, he did not rely entirely on this secret weapon and had prepared another hand, ¡°Order the soldiers to start building a ramp!¡±

    The herald then left after getting the order.

    Hielos then turned to look at Siprus, who had been following all this time, and said, ¡°Lord Siprus, I hope that your men can also assist in the siege.¡±

    ¡°Legatus Hielos, there is no need for you to be polite. Just give me your orders!¡± Siprus said humbly, his eyes not deviating from the stone balls whistling in the air, a roar spread to his heart full of shock, ¡®This siege weapon invented by the Theonians and the four metre-high tower that the engineers were building in the cam. Could there be even any city-state''s walls that could withstand the attack of the Theonians? Will the era when the Greeks, even if they are defeated, could still resist the attack of a powerful enemy as long as they hide in the citye to an end?¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the assembly hall of Besidice, Drakos, the legatus of the second legion, sats in the centre. On his left are the seven senior centurions. On his right are Baripiri and Burim, who got persuaded by Baripiri to surrender, and the newly elected chieftain of Likumu''s tribe, Kreru (the young man who took the lead in driving away Likumu).

 Chapter 314: Fortress offense and defense (I)

    ¡°Everyone, Consentia''s army has entered the Bruttian camp not far away. ording to the reports of the scouts, the number of the enemy may be more than 20,000.¡± Drakos told the crowd. Instead of feeling nervous learning about the enemy, he was relieved.

    Drakos had a headache about cing the two thousand Besidisian warriors who had voluntarily surrendered. It was Baripiri who had given him a suggestion saying that since Likumu will soon lead Consentia''s army back for revenge, then except for a few wounded warriors who need to return to Besidice to recuperate, the others should stay in the newly built fortress and assist the Theonians in defending against Likumu''s attack. To prevent Drakos from suspecting that he had too much military power, Baripiri also proposed that the chieftains of each tribe should lead their warriors.

    Bagul was very grateful for Baripiri''s understanding, but after all, the battle between Theonia and Besidice had just ended, and some families of Besidisian warriors had died in the hands of Theonian soldiers. Thus eliminating the hatred between the two groups would not be easy. A conflict between the two groups would be inevitable in such a small fortress, which was what Drakos and Baripiri most worried about. Drakos had always been bad at dealing with such matters, so he was desperate to divert the soldiers'' attention in resisting the enemy''s attack.

    When Drakos finished speaking, Adepiges tranted his words into Bruttian while the senior centurions were all itching for a battle.

    Although Kreru was nervous, he knew that he had to help the Theonians block the Bruttian union or else the enemy would get inside. And what he fears the most is that he would be the first person that Likumu would kill.

    Baripiri sat still, but his thoughts were simr to those of the young Kreru.

    Only Burim, who was covering his abdomen with one hand, which had been stabbed with a spear by a Theonian soldier and waster wrapped tightly with cloth by a physician, said in astonishment, ¡°Twenty thousand Consentian warriors?! Consentia have that many warriors now?¡±

    ¡°I think Pian had also gathered the warriors from Anbania and other tribes.¡± Said Baripiri.

    It had slightly reduced Burim¡¯s astonishment, but he still eximed, ¡°Twenty thousand warriors! That is a powerful army that Bruttii has never had!¡±

    ¡°Just those?! Theonia had defeated forces that have more than 20,000 troops, Crotone in the south! And Messapi and Peuceti across the gulf!¡­rather than fearing enemiesing inrge numbers, we are more afraid that the enemy thates would be too little!¡± Said Trotidis with great enthusiasm. He was the son-inw of Anticles and was only a squad captain when they first arrived in Thurii as mercenaries, and now he is a senior centurion.

    The other senior centurions nodded at his words.

    Burim was still not convinced and wanted to say more but was stop by Baripiri.

    The senior centurion, Adrian, watch the situation then looked at Drakos. Noticing that the legatus doesn''t seem to have the intention to speak, and from knowing his old friend''s temperament, he had to stand up and mediate, ¡°Although Consentia''s army is huge, we also have tens of thousands of soldiers and a fortress as a defence. ording to lord Davos, ¡®it''s very difficult for the attacking side to defeat the defending side without having several more times of their strength.¡¯ Besides, lord Davos will soon arrive together with the army he led.¡±

    Obviously, the name of Davos made Burim lose the desire to retort.

    Seeing silence returned to the hall, Drakos then ask, ¡°Cid, how is the training of the two thousand newly arrived Theonian freemen that was handed to you?¡±

    Cid then said with satisfaction, ¡°These freemen sent by the Senate have been strictly selected and have all gone through much military training and can obey orders properly. While archery and javelin are their strong points, they could also fight in closebat for a while. I have already grouped them into teams and are perfectly capable of being useful in defending the city.¡±

    ¡°Excellent.¡± However, despite his satisfaction, there was no smile on his face, and he continued with a stern expression, ¡°Given the small size of the wooden wall¡¯s walkway, it definitely won''t be able to amodate too many soldiers. That is why when the enemy attacks, you will lead the light infantry brigade and the two thousand freemen to carry out continuous long-range attacks until the enemy reaches the wall. Afterwards, you will immediatelymand them to retreat while letting the archers continue shooting the enemies to disrupt their rhythm.¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, legatus! With Hades blessing my brigade, my men would repulse the enemy that you won''t even have the chance to fight!¡± Cid said confidently.

    Drakos was happy seeing such morale among his men, but he won''t praise and encourage it or even joke and enliven the mood as Davos does. He just nodded slightly without responding. Then he looked around at the other senior centurions to tell his battle n ¡°Once Cid''s troops retreat from the wall, the first and second brigade and the Besidisian warriors would quickly go up the city wall! The first and second brigade will defend the southern wall while the Besidisian warriors would defend the northern side, leaving no gap for the enemy''s attack!

    The third and fourth brigades will wait in the fortress as reserves and immediately give support as soon as a dangerous situation arises!

    While the fifth and sixth brigades would stay in Besidice!¡­do you understand your task?!¡±

    ¡°I understand! With Brutus'' blessing, we Besidisian warriors will never allow a Consentian to climb up the wooden wall!¡± The young and patriotic Kreru was the first to respond. While also making amitment to Drakos on behalf of Baripiri and the silent Burim.

    ¡°Legatus, that''s not fair! Our fifth and sixth brigade also want to go to the fortress and kill the enemy!¡± Trotidis, the senior centurion of the sixth brigade, protested.

    Although the senior centurion of the fifth brigade did not say anything, just the expression on his face had exined it all.

    ¡°That''s an order!¡± Drakos said firmly with a scowl on his face.

    ¡°But-¡± Trotidis wanted to refute but was interrupted by Adrian, ¡°Trotidis, you must understand that the city of Besidice is very important to us! If Consentia were to break through the fortress, you who are left in Besidice would be ourst line of defence to stop the enemy from blocking the mountains and also to wee the army led by lord Davos!¡±

    In order to wake him up, Adrian had to be that person. Even though Trotidis is impulsive, he is not a fool, and he immediately understood the meaning of Adrian. If there are no Theonian soldiers stationed in Besidice and got taken back, then the third legion''s way out would be cut off. Not only will they fall into great danger, but they will also make the n made by Davos fail!

    ¡°I¡­ept the order.¡± Answered Trotidis.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    A Bruttian¡¯s horn sounded from a distance.

    Cid, standing on the battlement, looked at it: The yellow-green grasses in front were covered by a dense number of enemies, like a ck tide rushing to the wall¡­

    The formation of the Bruttians could be said to be rtively neat andpact, unlike the loose formation of the Lucanians. The Bruttians then stopped their advance, two hundred meters away from the fortress.

    ¡°Get the ves. Have them fill up those traps for me!¡± Pian ordered.

    Two thousand ves, mainly Greeks, who have been captured from Magna Graecia by the Bruttian tribes over the years, came to the forefront under the threat of the warriors with spears, carrying a sack full of soil and began moving forward¡­

    ¡°Strategos, they have entered the trap area!¡± The soldier next to Cid reminded him anxiously.

    Cid looked at him, thenughed and said, ¡°You''re a new recruit, right? No need to fret and let more enemye into range.¡±

    A ve then dropped the sack on his back, turned and ran, then came another ve to fill the next gap¡­one after another, the scene was both tense and somewhat chaotic. From time to time, a ve would identally step on a trap and let out a shrill scream, which made more ves nervous about throwing sacks.

    But for the Bruttian warriors who were supervising the ves, not only did they beat the ves with whips, but they also stabbed them to death with their spear.

    Facing the threat of death, the ves did not dare to be sluggish. They ran to the rear of the formation obediently and then picked up another sack to continue paving the road.

    ¡°Archers, ready!¡± Cid felt that the time was ripe and raised his right hand.

    Standing on the four metre-high wooden wall, the more than 500 archers of the seventh brigade and two thousand freemen drew their bows in session.

    Eighty metres, which is precisely within the range of the archers! After silently praying to Hades, Cid swung his right downward with force, ¡°Fire!¡±

    ¡°Swish! Swish! Swish!¡­¡± With the continuous sound of bowstrings, more than 2,000 sharp arrows soared into the sky. In an instant, they whizzed down and scattered evenly among the ves.

    Pian''s countenance change from witnessing this sight. It was not because of the casualties of the ves, but because he did not expect that Theonia has so many archers, and from judging the fall of the arrows, their archers¡¯ skill was not even bad.

    ¡®Could it be that the Theonian army here was not haphazardly put together but the main force of the enemy?!¡¯ The report of the Besidisians that have fled to Consentia had told him that the enemy that attacks Besidice was not too many, and they should not be more than a thousand! And ording to Likumu, who escaped back to Consentia yesterday, the number of the enemy had increased by another two thousand¡­all this information made him have considerable confidence in retaking Besidice. However, aftering here, he was already surprised by the size of the fortress that had begun to take shape and became even more rmed by a mere round of arrows from the Theonians.

    ¡°Grand chieftain, the enemy has too many archers!¡± Petaru had obviously realised this and said with some concern.

    Pian remained calm, ¡°Let these Greek ves, even if they all die, continue consuming the arrows of the Theonians!¡±

    The Bruttian warriors then executed a dozen ves that escaped, shocking the others. As a steady stream of relentless arrows were fired from the wall, the ves were once again forced to fill in the trench¡­

 Chapter 315: Fortress offense and defense (II)

    Eighty metres¡­seventy¡­sixty¡­the closer they get to the wooden wall, the more intense the attack, the fewer the ves, and most of them have be stepping stones lying on the grass.

    The fear of death made several ves throw away their sacks and rush forward. Even with the sharp wooden stakes and other traps piercing their legs with blood and gore and screaming in agony, they still refused to stop moving forward, ¡°Ow!¡­ow!¡­I¡­I am a Greek!¡­I am a Greek!!¡­¡±

    The anguished cry surprised the soldiers on the wall, and they all looked at Cid with pleading eyes.

    Seeing this, Cid had also be hesitant.

    At this time, more than a dozen Bruttian warriors, ordered by their chieftain, rushed out of the formation, stepped on the sacks on the ground and threw spears at the ves that got blocked by the abatis and could not move forward.

    The screams of the Greek ves before dying made Cid make a ruthless decision, and he roared angrily, ¡°Continue firing!¡±

    Countless arrows filled with sorrow and anger continued to fall¡­finally sweeping away almost all the ves and Bruttians in range.

    Although these ves were almost naked and unprotected, two thousand were still either killed or wounded in the trap area within a short time, that they could not even reach the trench in front of the wall, causing the Bruttian chieftains to suck in a breath of cold air.

    ¡°Grand Chieftain, look¡­¡± Bodiam looked at Pian hesitantly.

    ¡°Send other tribal warriors to fill the trap! We have almost reached the wall!¡± Pian''s tone was cold and firm. Havinge this far, he has to take a shot at the enemy''s strength no matter what and will never retreat easily.

    Thousand of Bruttian warriors, in pairs, with shields in one hand and sacks in the other, began to march towards the wall in a very loose formation.

    Cid very much hoped that the enemy''s advance would be slower so that the soldiers¡¯ sore and numb arms could recover for even a little bit of time.

    ¡°Shoot again!¡± Cid waved his arm again.

    The Bruttian warriors obviously had more fighting experience than the ves, so when they saw the arrows covering the sky, they immediately stopped, crouched down, huddled together, and protected their whole body with the shield. The arrows rained down on them, and amidst the ¡°Bang! Bang! Tak! Tak!¡± the warriors screaming became lesser than before. However, when they advanced to more than 30 metres away from the wall, the abatis set up here made them unable to advance forward. Then on the wall, not only the archers but also the peltasts joined in the battle. In a moment, javelins and arrows began pouring down, and the Bruttian warriors suffered a lot of casualties and began to flee in panic.

    ¡°Great chieftain!¡± Even Petaru was unable to bear it any longer.

    ¡°Attack again!¡± Pian ordered with a firm intention, ¡°Elder Petaru, you lead 4,000 warriors to attack the northern wall! Elder Bodiam, attack the south! Elder Likumu, take the middle path! Don''t worry as we only need to follow our previous n, clear the obstacles on the road, fill up the trench, and then attack the fortress¡­¡±

    As the soldiers on the wall cheered at Brutti''s defeat, the enemy began attacking again not long after. This time, they were divided into small groups of dozens of men and were densely grouped together, with several wooden shields as big as a door.

    And the road extending towards the gate was the only ce without traps as it was the passage reserved for the third legion. At this moment, there were also Bruttian warriors pushing a wooden cart full of sacks filled with earth, forcing their way towards the gate.

    The experienced Cid knows that when the enemy is well protected, blindly shooting arrows will only yield meagre results and only waste arrows and energy. Therefore, he stopped the soldiers from shooting in waves and waited for the enemy to leave the big wooden shield before firing again.

    The wooden cart'' distance to the wall was only a hundred metres, but the Theonian light infantry focused their attack on the wooden cart in the middle of the road, causing the Bruttian warriors to just want toy down on the road. However, the angry roar of Likumu urges the frightened Bruttian warriors to push the cart forward. Finally, they manage to reach the trench with difficulty, ready to dump the sacks piled up like a hill on the cart into the trench.

    ¡°Oil pot!¡± Cid yelled calmly. Then more than a dozen slingers lifted the olive oil pots they have collected from Besidice and threw them to the wooden carts causing the y pots to shatter and oil sshing everywhere, quickly soaking the wooden carts.

    ¡°me arrow!¡± Cid shouted while firing a ming arrow himself.

    As soon as more than five ming arrows hit the wooden cart, it ignited rapidly, causing even the several Bruttian warriors who were pushing the cart to catch on fire. They then dropped down and started rolling all over in a panic.

    ¡°Fool! Hurry up! Push it down! Push the cart down!¡± Likumu seeing the situation bing urgent roared and threw down his shield. He risked being shot and pushed aside the hesitant warriors in front of him and rushed up. Ignoring the burning mes, he grabbed the handle with both hands and pushed it forward with all his might.

    The Bruttian warriors had gotten encouraged from witnessing this had rushed up to his side one after another.

    As the wooden cart was burning, the javelins and arrows rained on them.

    Under the leadership of Likumu, the Bruttian warriors tried their best to push the carts. With a ¡°boom¡±, they pushed down the whole wooden cart in the trench, and the sacks inside had half-filled the three-metre deep and three-metre wide trench. With the crisscrossing wooden stakes in the trench are now buried, the Bruttian warriors could now step on the sacks in the trench and cross it with only one big step.

    As the warriors celebrate their sess, Likumu fell into a pool of blood with two javelins piercing his body¡­

    ¡®Likumu is dead!¡¯ Hearing this, Pian could not help but feel sad. Although his rtionship with Likumu is average, they had still shared amon cause¡­

    After paying a great price, the Bruttian warriors approached the trench and began throwing sacks into it.

    Pian gave the order atst, ¡°All troops, attack!¡±

    Ten thousand warriors were divided into two groups, one carrying longdders and another carrying battering ram, and began approaching the wall.

    Just as the Bruttian sounded the horn, the Theonian also blew their salpinx, and the soldiers of the first and second brigades began going up the wall.

    Taking advantage of the time while the Theonian changing their position, the Bruttian warriors stepped on the bodies of theirpanions and took a huge stride on the trench. Then the soldiers of the third legion immediately threw a heavy shower of javelins, causing the Bruttian warriors that got hit to fall directly into the trench¡­

    Reaching below the wall, the warriors looked up and cried out in dismay. As it turned out, the Theonians had ced countless pointed logs extending from the bottom of the crenels, making it impossible for thedder to reach the crenel directly. Even if the warriors manage to climb thedder, they are still a short distance away from the wall, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty of the siege.

    As a Bruttian warrior got distracted, a stone hit him in the middle of his head.

    ¡°Well done!¡± Kreru pped the meritorious Besidisian warrior and shouted, ¡°Men, fight hard and don''t let a single Consentian go back alive!¡±

    The battle raged on, with the Theonian soldiers and Besidisian warriors throwing javelins, stone, stabbing with their spears, pushing with a pole and shing with their sword¡­they did all they could to stop the Bruttians.

    And the Bruttians, besides sieging the wall with longdders, had also used logs to batter the wall. Under the cover of the Bruttians¡¯ javelins, dozen warriors holding massive logs had not only struck the gates, but they had also struck the wooden wall. Because Pian and his men thought that although the Theonians manage to build the wall in such a short time, it should not be very sturdy.

    But in reality, it is. The wooden wall built by the Theonian soldiers was actually a doubleyer wall with the middle of it being filled with the soil taken from digging the trench, and the upper part was paved with wooden boards to form a passage on the wall. However, due to theck of time, the soil was not fullypacted, and the wooden wall not carefully reinforced.

    After discovering their attempts, Drakos had to divert some of his forces to attack these unprotected warriors.

    However, these two methods were not the only thing Pian prepared.

    ¡°Strategos, there''s a fire!¡± The soldiers loudly reminded Adrian. He looked down and saw a fire at the bottom of the wall, and several Bruttian warriors carried y pots and were pouring oil on the wall, making the mes get bigger.

    ¡°Hurry and shoot that guy!¡± Adrian, while directing the soldiers to throw javelins, also yelled anxiously, ¡°Pour down the sand! Pour it down quickly!¡­¡±

    Due to theck of time andck of supplies, the wall has not been treated for fire protection. Fortunately, Drakos had already considered this when discussing with the senior centurions on how to defend the fortress and thought that they should ce cloth bags filled with soils in the wall''s walkway.

    Even after putting out the fire, Adrian''s expression was still serious. He reminded the officers and the soldiers to pay attention to any enemy with y pots and make every effort to stop them from reaching the wall.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The siege was bloody and brutal. Pian anguished every time he sawdders being pushed down and the warriors falling from the top of the wall, but as the leader of this whole army, he had to pay attention to the war¡¯s progress. He moved forward, again and again, just to see more clearly, and finally reach the edge of the area filled with traps.

    Maybe it was due to the corpse on the ground that made his horse feel uneasy that it neighed, burrowing its front hooves on the ground.

    Pian did not expect that the Theonians had not only used only three days to establish a rtivelyplete defensive system, but also the soldiers'' experience and strength in defending the fortress was not weak.

    Pian''s faith was gradually wearing off as he watches the Bruttian warriors struggles and groans under the wall¡­

    Compared with the wall in the northern section, which is well defended, well-coordinated and well-ordered. The southern section, which the Besidisian warriors defended, was not unified inmand, weakbat strength, and low morale. After an hour of defence, some Bruttian warriors had begun climbing the wall.

 Chapter 316: Bruttiis retreat and Eleas invasion

    Fortunately, there is a sentry tower more than one metre taller than the wall. With the support of the light infantries'' arrow and javelinsunched by the freemen led by Cid, the wall in the southern section remain rtively safe.

    Cid fired an arrow piercing through the enemy''s chest that it even prated the thick leather armour, and the enemy fell towards the ground.

    He then tried to reach for another arrow but found out that his quiver was empty.

    ¡°Fetch me a new quiver!¡± Cid shook his right hand and ordered the guard next to him.

    A momentter, the guard hurried back. He handed him a quiver with ten arrows and said, ¡°Strategos, the quartermaster requested that you save your arrows as there are not many arrows left.¡±

    ¡°How did it get used so fast?!¡± Cid said with some dissatisfaction.

    ¡°I asked him that as well. He said that the light infantry and the freemen have more than two thousand archers, and a quiver has ten arrows, so that is around twenty thousand arrows, and now, almost all the archers have used up their quivers¡­he also said¡­also said that ¡®the arrows are all bought with money, and the price is not low. This time, due to their prior n, our second legion needed it for defence, so Mersis had distributed 30,000 arrows to us. Otherwise, they would never have let us waste them like this!¡¯¡± The guard said with some grievance.

    Although Cid was a bit angry, the quartermaster of the logistics brigade was now under Mersis. Thinking of that stingy fatty, Cid felt some headache. He then said in a loud voice, ¡°Brothers, even if we run out of arrows, there''s nothing to worry about as we still have our rhomphaia and javelins, right?!¡±

    ¡°Yes!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Pian was anxious with the situation at a deadlock. He looked back at the warriors resting in the rear and hesitated whether to send hisst 5,000 men. However, the narrow battlefield made it too crowded under the wall that no matter how many people there, it would not change anything.

    Just then, he heard a ¡°boom¡­¡± behind him, followed by cheers.

    ¡°The wall has copsed! The enemy''s wall has copsed!!¡­¡± As the warriors at his side cheered, Pian turned back in excitement: Arge opening had appeared in the middle of the southern section of the wall, and the Bruttian warriors rushed in¡­

    ¡°Don''t panic! Don''t panic!¡± Burim shouted to appease the panicking Besidisian warriors. With Baripiri being too old, his nephew was the one leading the warriors in his tribes. Thus among the three chieftains in Besidice, Burim was the oldest, the most qualified and the most prestigious. Although he did not want to fight the Consentians, he had to work hard for the survival of his people on the battlefield.

    ¡°Hold your position. The wall will not copse again!¡­¡± Shouted Burim. He knew full well that the hole on the other side was caused by the warriors'' negligence, causing the wall to be burned with oil and hit by a ramming ram.

    ¡°Hold on! Don''t worry about the enemies rushing in. The Theonians will deal with them!¡­¡± He said that because he had already seen fully armed Theonian soldiers lining up behind the copsed section of the wall. He was surprised by the rapid and orderly movement of Theonian troops.

    For the soldiers of the third and fourth brigades of the second legion, the copse of the wall was a good thing as they could finally make up for theirment of not being able to go up the wall to kill the enemy¡­

    When the Bruttian warriors stepped on the copsed soil and kicked open the broken wall, and rushed inside, they were surprised to find that they were facing an iron wall surrounded by countless copper shields and sharp spears. At the rhythmic sound of the war drums, the Theonian soldier steadily struck and retracted their spears, with each jab potentially taking a life¡­

    The Bruttian warriors who rushed in could not form a formation with theirpanions, nor were they organised by their officers. And with only their bravery, not only they could not resist the group attack of the Theonian army, but they also had to guard against the arrows from the towers and the javelins of the Besidisian warriors.

    Within a short time after they stepped into the wall, the casualties of the Bruttian warriors increased sharply. Although they want to retreat, their way back was blocked by the excited oing warriors.

    The third and fourth brigades of the second legion advanced steadily, shrinking the encirclement, causing the Bruttian warriors to huddle together, making it harder for them to even wield their weapons.

    Pian was delighted at the sight of many Bruttian warriors rushing into the gap, but their advance suddenly halted, with the warriors lingering around the opening unable to enter. Then he became shocked at watching the Bruttian warriors who suddenly fled in disarray. Soon after, a team of brightly armoured Theonian soldiers came out of the wall¡¯s opening, who then took advantage of the situation to attack the nk of the other Bruttians who were still attacking the walls. After a while, the disorder retreat was no longer just the point of the gap but evolved into the entire Bruttian offensive line¡­

    Witnessing this, Pian''s heart sank with disappointment, as he could see that the Theonian army upying Besidice was not just a minor force of Theonia with only a few thousand soldiers as judged by the chieftains. But it is most like that whatever legion that Theonia imed!

    ¡°Retreat¡­¡± He shouted with pain.

    However, after gathering the defeated warriors and returning to the camp in frustration, he received a piece of even worse news.

    ¡°What did you say?! There''s a revolt in Consentia?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, grand chieftain. In the early morning of the following day, several tribes suddenly led their people to attack the inner city after you left. If not for chieftain Kaduk leading his troops in time, I am afraid that they would have seeded! Currently, they are upying the western side of the outer city, and the high priest sent me to inform you quickly and hope that you can quickly quench these rebels and restore peace to the city of Consentia!¡± Said the messenger anxiously.

    ¡°I understand. Go back and tell the high priest that I will immediately return with my army and to not panic and defend the inner city first with Kaduk!¡± Pian made a quick decision. In the first ce, in order for the ¡®Council of Seven Elder¡¯ to monitor and rule those disobedient tribes, they have decided to force them to move to the outer part of Consentia. Now, this revolt was a wake-up call to Pian that the Theonians has had an impact on the tribes in the Bruttian area, especially those who were forced to submit to the union. So he had to act quickly to avoid worsening the situation.

    He then asks Petaru to carry out the order to pull out of the camp.

    Shortly after, Bodiam broke in and eximed with agitation, ¡°Did I hear it wrong? Pian, you want to go back to Consentia?! And just let the Theonians continue to construct their fortress here?!¡±

    ¡°Elder Bodiam, what else can we do? Continue attacking the fortress?!¡± Pian was no longer anxious as when he had just heard the news. He then asked calmly, ¡°I am afraid that there are more than six thousand highly trained Theonian soldiers behind the fortress wall and more than two thousand traitors from Besidice who had taken refuge with them. Besides, with the fortress being well-defended, do you think that we can capture this fortress just by ourselves?! You should know that we have lost nearly two thousand men in today''s battle! TWO THOUSAND MEN!! That''s half the number of Anbanian warriors you have brought!¡±

    After hearing this, Bodiam sat down with disappointment¡­after a while, he raised his head and murmured, ¡°Do we just watch as the Theonian army breaks into our home through Besidice¡­¡±

    ¡°Then let theme!¡± With a loud shout, Pian looked at Bodiam, stepped forward and gave him a strong hug, and said in a firm tone, ¡°We are going to go back and recruit all the Bruttians! We are going to fight the Theonians to the death on the Consentia teau! This war will determine the rise and fall of the Bruttians! And Amara, will protet us!¡±

    ¡°teau¡­¡± Through the reminder of Pian, Bodiam strengthened his morale, ¡°Yes, Amara will bless us! We also have the Consentia teau!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The highly energetic Cincinnag weed the help of many tribes in the north of Grumentum, advancing smoothly to the south and only encounter an obstacle after arriving at the south.

    Those tribes that had previously migrated from Nerulum and were the first to submit to Theonia drove out the messengers sent by Cincinnag and united to prepare against Pyxous as they identified more as a Theonian, and trusted Theonia more than Pyxous, who was far to the west of Grumentum.

    Cincinnag became furious. When he finally started to prepare to lead the army to attack these disobedient tribes, a report came that there was a movement in the city of Grumentum on the north, and about two thousand Theonian soldiers came out of the city.

    This has made Cincinnag worry that if he were to attack the Lucanian tribes in the south, he would be suddenly attacked by the Theonians from the nk, prompting him to withdraw his army.

    As soon as Pyxous''s army withdrew, the Theonians also withdraw into the city as well.

    This happened for two days in a row, making Cincinnag judge that the Theonians were just acting and had neither the courage nor the gut to attack him.

    Thus he asked Genat and two thousand warriors to keep an eye on the city of Grumentum while he himself lead the rest of his troops to conquer the tribes in the south.

    At this time, Pyxous sent a messenger to tell him the bad news, ¡®A thousand Eleans'' invaded Pyxous'' territory, destroying their farms and burning their settlements. But due to their limited strength, they do not dare to attack rashly, so they asked Cincinnag for emergency assistance!¡¯

    After hearing this, Cincinnag stamp with rage.

 Chapter 317: Meeting up in Besidice

    Cincinnag thought to himself in anger, ¡®A small Greek city-state like Elea which have been oppressed and nearly destroyed by us dares to make trouble in my territory?! Is it because they have be a part of the Theonia Alliance that these Greek cowards who only know how to hide in their city became courageous?! Do they not know that no one can save them after provoking us!¡¯

    He swore to himself that he would destroy Elea after conquering Grumentum.

    But dreams are just dreams, and he must solve the current problem. Although it is impossible for only a thousand Eleans to break through Pyxous, just letting them wreak havoc outside the city would shake the tribe''s support for Cincinnag. It should be known that although Cincinnag has made his tribe the dominant among the tribes in Pyxous through various means over the years, his tribe is not the only tribe in Pyxous. After all, even in his tribe, the elders and priests are not in unity with him. During their miserable defeat in Grumentumst time, some of the people of his tribe were already discontent with him. And this time, he must take immediate action against Elea''s invasion. Otherwise, the anger of his warriors alone will give him a headache.

    Thus he had to end the impending attack by sending Gennat together with three thousand warriors (two thousand Pyxousian and a thousand warriors from the other tribes) to return to Pyxous and wipe out all the invading enemies as soon as possible.

    At the same time, this dy meant that the pressure on his military supplies has increased. Thus he needed to send another team of warriors to go collect supplies, and what he meant by ¡°collect¡± is through burning, ughtering, and plundering, which forced those neutral tribes to flee into the mountains or join the tribes in the south of Grumentum, that is, the Theonian side¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In mpetia, the ballistae of the fourth legion of Theonia shoot their stone balls for most of the day, causing the walls to crack in many ces. And the sttering rubbles also killed some of the defenders scaring and demoralising the Bruttian warriors.

    Pangam could only make up his mind to send his troops outte at night to destroy these terrible siege weapons!

    As a matter of fact, the reason why Hielos, who had always been cautious, had not moved the ballistae back to the camp once darkness came and just built an earthen barricade was not due to it being heavy, but it was to lead the snake out of the hole.

    As a result, the soldiers of the fourth legion who were waiting around the ballistae ambushed mpetia''s assault troops, almostpletely wiping them out.

    After losing hundreds of warriors, Pangam no longer dared to act blindly.

    The next day, with the ballistae and light infantries¡¯ long-range attack acting as a cover, the three siege towers built by the soldiers and the Terinians approached the moat. Afterwards, they beganying bs of stone on the front of the towers.

    Then the mpetian warriors were surprised to see three siege towers slowly being ushed up the paved embankment.

    These siege towers are five metres high, two metres higher than the stone wall. The top and bottom¡¯s width is the same, two metres, while the front and rear¡¯s width is three metres. It is made of wood, covered with wet cowhide, with huge wooden wheels at the bottom and wooden crenels and merlons around the top, which can amodate three~four archers. It also has a suspension bridge at the top, and behind it is a long woodendder. Once the siege tower gets close to the city wall, the suspension bridge would be lowered until the top of the wall, and the soldiers would then climb up using thedder and attack directly into the wall through the tower and suspension bridge, making the siege easier.

    The siege tower designed by the Theonian engineers and carpenters was rtively simple and had a single function that could not evenpare to the giant siege tower made by Syracuse. The only highlight of it is that the safety of thebourers was considered, with wooden bars protruding from the top of the wheel on both sides of the siege tower, and a shed-like barrier was ced on the top of the bars. Allowing the people pushing the tower to just stand as the wooden barrier will block the enemy''s arrow for them, allowing them to concentrate on pushing the siege tower forward.

    As the siege tower advance slowly, the warriors of mpetia became stunned. Although the siege tower has been used in Mesopotamia for a long time, it had never appeared in Greece, where there are many small countries and city-states. Even though Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, had taken the lead in innovating the siege technology of Greece, it had only just started and not yet spread, let alone the secluded Bruttians, who had never seen such colossal siege equipment. Arrows and javelins couldn''t even damage it, and a thrown stone couldn''t even reach it; maybe the Theonian siege weapon that couldunch stone balls could destroy it, but mpetia doesn''t have one. Thus the warriors could only watch as it approaches the moat.

    Then the archer in heavy armour got into the siege tower, went up to the top through thedder and began shooting at the warriors on the wall.

    Both sides shoot back and forth. Although there are only a few Theonian archers, they have the higher ground and are protected by their armour and the wooden barrier, which obviously gave them the upper hand.

    And the Theonian soldiers took this opportunity to fill the moat with soil so that they could continue pushing the siege tower towards the city wall.

    The restless Pangam could only desperately order his men to stop the enemy''s attempt while sending some of his men to Consentia to ask for help. However, he himself knew that if he does not receive any reinforcement within a few days, the enemy will breach mpetia¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although the bloody and brutal battle in the fortress has just happened yesterday, it seemed that a long time had already passed.

    Early this morning, Drakos, the legatus of the second legion, Adrian the senior centurion of the first brigade and other officers were waiting outside the city of Besidice with a smile on their faces to wee the arrival of the archon of Theonia and the grand legatus of the whole army.

    Among them are Baripiri, Burim, chieftains of Besidice, Kreru, a new chieftain, and some of the high-standing men in the tribes of Besidice. All of them were either nervous, excited, or thrilled as they await the archon of Theonia.

    For precaution against idents, Drakos deployed the fifth and sixth brigades in the city.

    ¡°Kreru, is it true that the archon of Theonia is younger than us?!¡± Rodom, Baripiri''s nephew, couldn''t help but ask Kreru. He and Kreru had an average rtionship in the past, but after fighting side by side yesterday, the two young men quickly became friends.

    ¡°Yes, I even asked Drakos! But you should not treat him like a young man!¡± Reminded Kreru, while quietly pointing to the officers, ¡°Look at Drakos, and the Theonians, who usually face us with their heads held high, but now they lookpletely different.¡±

    ¡°Of course I understand! I heard from uncle Baripiri say that Davos is a descendant of a Greek god and that he had never lost in battle, so there is no Theonian that dares to be disrespectful to him!¡± Replied Rodom.

    At this time, some soldiers hurriedly ran from the eastern defensive camp and shouted excitedly, ¡°Lord Davos ising! He ising!¡±

    Drakos immediately shouted, ¡°Ready!¡±

    The officers began arranging their uniform, and the salpinx and drums rang out at the same time.

    After a while, the sound of neat footsteps came with the slight vibration of the ground. Soon after, a long queue appeared in front of the crowd. The man at the front of the queue was in full military attire, leather sandals, bronze shin, linen breastte, which was no different from that of average hoplites. The only difference is the helmet which is not the heavy Corinthian helmet but a new type of iron helmet, decorated with long red and purple plumes. The helmet¡¯s front is open, so everyone can clearly see the face, broad forehead, thick eyebrows¡­even though his eyes are not big, it is extremely sharp, although he looks young, he doesn''t look childish, and has a sense of majestic. Even though his pace is big and powerful, it is not too fast, and the whole person seems both full of life andposed¡­

    ¡®He is Davos, the archon of Theonia?!¡¯ The curious Besidisians found their answer from the straightened chests and reverent gazes of the Theonian officers and soldiers.

    At the gaze of several hundreds pair of eyes, Davos got closer to Drakos, who gave a neat military salute, ¡°Grand legatus, all the soldiers of the second legion wee you!¡±

    Davos immediately replied and teasingly said, ¡°Okay, Drakos, you have made a huge stir! Since when did you learn about this stuff?!¡±

    Drakos turned and looked at Adrian with embarrassment.

    Davos understood it andughed, ¡°So this is Andrian''s idea. It seems that his trip to the Isthmian Games was not in vain. However, such ceremonies should be held after the war ends, as everything should be kept simple during a war.¡±

    If others had spoken in this way, Adrian would think that he exposed his scar, which would undoubtedly give birth to resentment in his heart. But due to it being Davos'' words, he thought about it carefully and epted it, ¡°You are right, milord! The war has still not yet ended, so we must take it with seriousness!¡±

    Davos came forward with a hearty smile and gave Adrian a warm hug, ¡°I was startled when I receive the report. Adrian, you captured the city of Besidice with only 700 men, which is bold and decisive! Bravo! Excellent! You and your brigade can get a star all to yourselves! And the people of Theonia will dly sing praise of your victory!¡±

    This is exactly what Adrian was happy to hear. He is so delighted that he doesn''t know how to respond.

    Davos, on the other hand, gave back a salute on Drakos and said, ¡°This time, the second legion not only won the victory of Besidice but also sessfully defend it,ying the first contribution for our next step on conquering Bruttii! Drakos, on behalf of Theonia, I thank you and the brothers of the second legion for your contribution and sacrifice to the union!¡±

 Chapter 318: Winning over Besidice

    Drakos just grinned, proud that the second legion was no longer just a support for the first legion for once.

    Davos patted him on the shoulder and asked, ¡°Where is the hero that crossed the Crati River?¡±

    ¡°He was wounded when crossing the river, so the physician is currently treating him in the city, so for the time being, he is unable to go out.¡± Replied Drakos.

    ¡°Wounded? Is it serious?!¡± Davos asked with concern.

    ¡°From what the physician said, he has a few broken bones on his left rib, lung injury, and some trauma, but he should be able to recover after resting for a few days.¡±

    ¡°Without him, we would not have won today! So we have to take care of him!¡± Davos urge with seriousness.

    ¡°Don''t worry, milord. We will take good care of him!¡±

    Davos nodded and wanted to say more, but he suddenly saw arge group of peopleing over. With a smile, he turned towards the oldest Besidisian, ¡°You are chieftain Baripiri?!¡±

    Baripiri bent down in a hurry and prepared to perform the highest salutation of the Bruttians, ¡°Baripiri, the chieftain of Pega tribe of Besidice, pays my respect to the archon, lord Davos!¡±

    Davos hastily stopped him and said enthusiastically, ¡°Thank you! If it weren¡¯t for your help, we would not have restored peace in Besidice so soon! The people of Theonia and Besidice are grateful to you! With your decisiveness and selflessness, they will no longer loss their loved ones in vain!¡­¡±

    What Davos said made the white-haired old man excited. These days, a lot of Besidisians called him a ¡°traitor¡±. At this moment, the young man in front of him had made him feel like finding a ¡°close friend¡±.

    ¡°Because of your merits, and through my proposal, the Theonian Senate urgently held a meeting. After getting the majority of the vote, the proposal was passed. Henceforth, you will be a member of the Senate of Theonia, just like Vespa and Hemon of Lucania, bing a respected statesman of the entire Theonia Union. I wonder if you are willing to ept it?¡±

    After listening to Davos'' words, theposed Baripiri showed a stupefied expression. But soon, he answered without hesitation, as if he was afraid that Davos would go back on his words, ¡°I am! I thank the Senate for the trust they have ced in me!¡±

    Davos grasped his arms and said with augh, ¡°Great! From now on, we are family!¡±

    Drakos, Adrian and the others congratted Baripiri one after another.

    A rare smile finally appeared on Baripiri¡¯s face.

    At this time, the voice of coughing came from behind. Baripiri then remembered that he had overlooked something and turned around to say, ¡°Lord Davos, I''d like to introduce you. This is-¡±

    ¡°Chieftain Burim of Besidice!¡± Before he could introduce him, Davos already gave his greetings first. On his way here, he already had a detailed understanding of the several leading figures in Besidice. And at this moment, he said enthusiastically, ¡°It was with your assistance that Drakos and the others manage to defend the fort! In the same way, the Senate of Theonia invites you to join the Senate in order to reciprocate what you have done!¡±

    After listening to Baripiri''s trantion, Burim stared nkly. Back when he saw the Consentian troops withdrawing from the fortress, he knew that Besidice would no longer belong to Bruttii and will belong to a union dominated by Greeks. However, he was still slightly unable to ept it.

    ¡°Talk! Have you gone silly from being happy?!¡± Baripiri winked at him and gave him a push.

    ¡°I¡­I dly ept¡­¡± Muttered Burim.

    Davos didn''t think much of it and said with augh, ¡°Elder Burim, take care of your wounds! The next battle will depend on your help!¡±

    Just after Burim answered, Kreru squeezed forward, and before he could speak, Davos looked at him and said loudly, ¡°I know you, you are Kreru ¨C the hero of Besidice! If you had not stepped forward, how could the warriors of Besidice go home smoothly!¡±

    After listening to Baripiri''s trantion, Kreru did not expect that the archon of Theonia, who he had never met before, not only recognised him but also knew what he had done, making him excited and pleased with himself.

    ¡°I initially proposed to the Senate that you should join the Senate, but after all, you are too young, and you have never managed a tribe before. So the statesmen of the Senate decided that you should first serve as a Theonian Affairs Officer. After umting a certain amount of administrative experience, the Senate will be open for you!¡± Davos exined to him that he had given his proposal to the Senate. However, it was only for show, as he himself did not want to let this young man into the Senate now, as it will only pull down the quality of the statesmen of the Senate and will make people think that the Senate has a low threshold. Although the quality of the former mercenaries such as Amintas, Arpenst, Ledes and so on., was not very high, it was due to it being at the initial stage, so Davos needed a lot of support. But now, the situation is different.

    Kreru was slightly disappointed. However, not long ago, he was just an ordinary member of Likumu''s tribe in Besidice, and now, he had be the chieftain of a tribe. Hence why he did not expect too much, so he humbly said, ¡°Compared with chieftain Baripiri and Burim, I am stillcking. Thus I will first try my best to make the people adapt to our new home ¨C Theonia.¡±

    Davos nodded. Although this chieftain was young, he was prudent and knew his limit, making Davos satisfied with Kreru.

    Before going to the city, Davos went to the river bank first.

    Davos listened as Drakos narrate the sneak attack on the city of Besidice amidst the roaring Crati River. Despite being the oneing up with the n, he felt thrilled after seeing the rushing river and imagining it. He could not help but say, ¡°I don''t see any problem at Seklian''s wish to be remembered in the Hall of Valor! It was with his and another warrior''s bravery and fearlessness that allowed us to stand on this ce! I hope that their deeds will inspire the citizens of Theonia in contributing to the union, and the union will always remember those who have contributed!¡±

    ¡°I agree, Milord!¡± Drakos felt the same way.

    Most of the Besidisians who went to the riverbank together with Davos now learned the cause of the fall of their city and felt regret over it. Some were still thinking that if they had built even one sentry tower in the riverbank, such an oue would not have happened¡­

    At this moment, Davos turned to look at Baripiri and said to him, ¡°In fact, the distance between Thurii and Besidice is not too far. However, the river mademunication between the two so difficult and likewise made the life of the Besidisians hard! Therefore, once the war ended, we would not only repair the rope bridge but will also build a real bridge, turning the city of Besidice from the poor and isted ce into a ce where merchants gathers and people freely travel, which would surely make the city of Besidice prosper! Because taking the road of Besidice will be the shortest way from Thurii to Consentia teau!¡±

    The words of Davos made Baripiri and the other Besidisians who could understand Greek feel excited.

    Returning to the city gates, Davos refused to let the ¡°troops into the city¡±; thus, the newly arrived first legion, allied troops and legion reserve soldiers were tasks to go expand and move into the eastern defensive camp. However, the Besidisians were still slightly frightened from seeing tens of thousands of fully armed soldiers making a neat turn in front of the city gate.

    After entering the assembly hall of the city of Besidice, Davos began discussing with the three Besidisian chieftains and a few men with high standing about the ownership of Besidice without a moment¡¯s dy. After half a day''s discussion, they finally reached an agreement:

    I ¨C The Senate will send a praetor to manage the city¡¯s administrative affairs after integrating Besidice into Theonia Union.

    II ¨C The jurisdiction over the people andnd to which each tribe owns will still belong to their respective tribes. At the same time, the tribal chieftain shall exercise the right of administration without the interference of the city''s praetor.

    III ¨C The chieftains must paynd taxes on time and must regrly attend military training.

    IV ¨C Since Besidice is the first city in Bruttii to be integrated into Theonia, the tribes may apply to the Senate to change for fertilends for their tribe.

    V ¨C The rights and obligations enjoyed by the Besidisians are the same as those enjoyed by the Lucanians. But at the same time, if a Besidisian was to voluntarily ask to be separated from the tribe and live independently, the chieftains of the tribe should not obstruct them.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After reaching an agreement, Baripiri said with some hesitation, ¡°Lord Davos¡­I have a small request.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead,¡± Davos replied politely.

    ¡°As the archon for life of the most powerful city-state union in South Italia, you have too few guards! Our, Bruttian¡¯s great chieftains alone have two hundred personal guards, and some even having a thousand guards. Thus I hope that my nephew Rodom can be your personal guard and protect your safety. At the same time, he can learn how to be a qualified Theonian citizen from your teaching¡­¡±

    ¡®Rodom?¡¯ Davos thought of the energetic young man in the weing group. He was about to respond when the others in the hall realise the benefits of Baripiri''s proposal and hurriedly shouted, ¡°Lord Davos, my son likewise wants to be your guard!¡±

    ¡°And my two sons as well!¡±

    ¡°There are five in our family!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The reason why the people in the hall were so enthusiastic was due to the tradition of Besidice. During the tyrannical rule of Likumu, almost all of them had sent their children to serve as his guards. Now, as the conquered, they inevitably felt a sense of loss and gain. If they could get closer to the highest authority in Theonia and add an extrayer of protection for their families and tribes, they would already make them happy.

    Davos did not immediately respond as he thought of another thing. ording to the Theonian Law, the archon''s personal guard was limited to a maximum of a hundred men, which Martius had always led.

 Chapter 319: Wiping out Pyxous

    As a warrior as famous as Matonis, Matius is moreposed, has no great ambition, and can be loyal to his duties, so Davos always trusted him. Although the archon''s personal guards are full, they can also serve as guards in important ces such as the Senate Assembly Hall, Temple of Hades, The Arena, etc. Thus the vacant positions can be fully upied by the young men rmended by these chieftains and high-standing tribal men in the hall. Supposing Theonia wanted to integrate the Besidisians into the union as soon as possible. In that case, they should let these young elites of Besidice join Theonia Union to understand the Theonian system as soon as possible, and learning the Theonian culture and get used to life in Theonia. Thus allowing them to integrate into Theonia, then return to influence the rest of the Besidisians.

    Therefore, he needs to go back to the Senate and discuss this matter. But for now, he could agree for them to join as his personal guard as a volunteer of Besidice. After making up his mind, Davos immediately decided.

    Soon, Besidice formed a personal guard of more than 60 men.

    And Davos appointed Rodom as the captain and announced that they would be on duty tonight.

    As soon as he issued the order, Drakos, Kapus and the others vehemently opposed it.

    But Davos insisted and dered, ¡°From now on, Besidice is already the Besidice of Theonia, and the warriors of Besidice are also the soldiers of Theonia! So how could the officers distrust their own soldiers?!¡±

    In the end, Davos reached an agreement with Drakos and Kapus that Martius would be the one leading the guards to patrol outside the courtyard while the Besidisian soldiers would defend the inside.

    After learning about it, Rodom and the others were all greatly moved and vowed never to give lord Davos, who trusted them, the slightest fright.

    And due to this move, the restless Besidisians were put to ease.

    Besides the high-ranking officers of the legion, the ones who are most afraid of idents are the chieftains like Baripiri and high-ranking tribal men. Because they know that in the event of Davos getting into an ident, the two thousand Theonian soldiers in the city and the more than ten thousand soldiers outside will turn their anger towards them and burn the city of Besidice to ashes. Therefore, those men that would serve as guards tonight were greatly reminded by them.

    And so the night passed safely.

    The next day, Davos, who have gotten a night rest, and Kapus, Drakos, the three chieftains of Besidice, as well as the strategoi of the allied troops of Heraclea and Roscianum, who had not slept much at all, discussed how to march on the Consentia teau.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Cincinnag waited for the reinforcements he sent to return after quickly defeating the Eleans. In fact, He didn''t wait long to see Gennat fleeing back, covered in wounds, with a few hundred remnants of his troops.

    ¡°What did you say?! You were ambushed by the Theonians?!¡± Cincinnag could not believe what he heard, ¡°How can there be Theonian troops outside Pyxous?! I have been watching Grumentum all the time, and they haven''t sent any troops!¡±

    Gennat shook his head and said weakly, ¡°Elea¡­I fear that they havee from Elea¡­I¡­I saw it clearly, although they were all wearing Greek armour, most of them were tall, and their hair colour¡­and even in their roaring voices were Lucanians¡­¡±

    After the reminder of his son, Cincinnag''s thoughts were opened, ¡°You mean that they are from Nerulum¡­why haven''t our spies find out about them?!¡±

    While escaping, Gennat had already thought about this matter and said anxiously as he coughed, ¡°They¡­cough¡­should have boarded a ship from Laos¡­instead of going along the coast¡­cough¡­they made a huge detour¡­and our ships are not a match against Laos and Elea''s ship¡­and could only patrol near the port¡­cough¡­it''s already good that they are not blocked¡­father, the enemy has about four thousand men¡­what should we do now?!¡±

    ¡°Return! We must return to Pyxous immediately!¡± Cincinnag had a hunch and added, ¡°Can you still hold on?¡±

    Gennat nodded and said, ¡°Uh¡­what about the other tribes?¡±

    ¡°Let theme with us for now as we need more warriors. If a tribe refuse to follow us -¡± With a sullen look on his face, Cincinnag coldly said, ¡°We will do what we have done in Grumentum once more!¡±

    As soon as his voice fell, a scout came in a hurry, ¡°Reporting to the chieftain. There is a Theonian army to the north of us, about four thousand men!¡±

    ¡°Reporting! The tribes in the South gathered about five thousand soldiers and are on their way towards our camp!¡±

    ¡°Reporting! Chieftain, Grumentum''s army has gone out of their city! I confirmed that their leader is Bagul!¡±

    Ban news came one after another, making Cincinnag drenched in cold sweats. When he heard the reports, he became shocked, ¡°You said that Bagul is not injured?!¡±

    ¡°That seems to be the case, chieftain.¡±

    Cincinnag was petrified. After a while, he murmured, ¡°Plot! This is a plot devised by the Theonians!¡±

    He suddenly thought of something and said in a hurry, ¡°Go and call the chieftain of Lud and Bren tribe. If they refuse toe, then drag them here!¡±

    As soon as the guard went out, one of the chieftains of Pyxous came in staggeringly, ¡°Great chieftain, not good! Lud and Bren are taking the lead in revolting!¡±

    Cincinnag was so anxious that he sprayed a mouthful of blood on the ground.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Theonians were attacking Pyxous'' camp from the north, east and south, but the Pyxousians were in disarray and are unable to organise an effective defence and was thus easily breached.

    After Gennat died in battle, Cincinnag fled to the western mountains with few men, and most of the others surrendered.

    ¡°Legatus Hieronymus, what should we do with these captives?¡± Bagul asked his boss for his instruction.

    ¡°ording to the order of lord Davos, we will demote all of them into ves of the city-state and take them back to Thurii asbours for mining, building roads and temples¡­¡± Said Hieronymus without paying attention to the expression on Bagul''s face, ¡°In addition, draw out another thousand Pyxousian captives to force the tribes in Pyxous to surrender once we attack Pyxous.¡±

    He then gave his order, ¡°Bagul, stay and defend Grumentum. Don¡¯t rx your surveince of Potentia to the north, and if there is anything unusual happening, immediately send a messenger to inform me.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡±

    ¡°Agasias, go and urge the soldiers to speed up the cleanup of the battlefield. Otherwise, we will not be able to rest once eveninges.¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry, legatus. I''ll keep my eyes open like a shepherd watching over his flock and will spank anyone who dares to ck off!¡± Laughed Agasias

    The third legion carried out the decoy n proposed by Davos and perfected it. Afterwards, they have gotten a perfect result, and Hieronymus finally showed a rare smile of relief afterpleting the task.

    ¡°Brother-inw!¡± Asistes called out Bagul, who was walking back with his head down, ¡°Lord Davos once said that ¡®we should not be too kind to the enemies who surrender, because being too kind will make them forget their mistakes and will once more make the same mistake. Thus, we should hold up our sticks sometimes to make them fear and remember their lessons.¡¯ Milord called it the ¡®Carrot and the Stick¡¯ method¡­¡±

    Asistes looked at Bagul, who was lost in his thought and said thoughtfully, ¡°Ourw to appease those tribes in the north is good enough, not only in grantingnd but also selflessly allocating some livestock¡­but when we were in danger, rather than standing together with us through the difficulties, they instead defected to the enemy in a vain attempt to destroy us and get morend! Hence why I believe that this severe punishment will frighten all the Lucanian tribes in thisnd so that when making decisions rted to Theonia, they will all think twice whether they will choose to ept the carrot or the stick!¡±

    Bagul looked at the busy soldiers on the battlefield, who were either demolishing the enemy''s camp, picking up materials on the ground, grabbing the abandoned weapons and even removing the armour from the corpses¡­putting them on a fully-loaded cart, then lifting the enemy''s corpses and throwing them into the piles of burning corpses one after another¡­

    The mountain wind blew and the ashes scattered everywhere in the air.

    Bagul sighed and said, ¡°I hope that after this war ends, peace can really be restored in the Lucanian region!¡±

    Bagul breathed out his sorrows. He then pped Asistes on the shoulder and said in a loud voice, ¡°Anyway, Cincinnag was the one who finally solved our headache. Thus we need to celebrate it! Tonight, I will go to your house as I haven''t tasted my sister''s roasted mutton for a long time!¡±

    A monthter, tired of hiding from the Theonian soldiers while enduring the hardship of the mountains and the increasingly frantic abuse and beatings of Cincinnag, the Lucanians who had fled into the mountains finally took advantage while Cincinnag was asleep and killed him. Afterwards, they descended to the city of Grumentum and surrendered, a story to be told in the future.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The revolting tribes had long since fled by the time Pian led his troops back to Consentia.

    In the following time, Pian led Petaru and Phitra to appease the people in the city and met with the other tribal chieftains¡­

    While he was busy, a messenger from mpetia arrived in Consentia.

    Pian was astounded when he received Pangam''s request for help, as he had never expected that the city of mpetia, which was known to be ¡®easy to defend but hard to attack¡¯, would already be unable to support itself after only defending for more than ten days. Moreover, he was shocked by the two terrible siege weapons of Theonia described in the letter.

 Chapter 320: Betting it all

    In the messenger¡¯s exaggerated retelling, the Theonians have a kind of siege equipment that can throw a round stone the size of a jar hundreds of metres away and hit the walls with such precision that the powerful impact could cause damage to the walls. Under repeated hitting, it could even make the wall copse. While the other siege equipment is like a movable sentry tower, which is built taller than the city wall. The archers at the top of the tower can easily attack the defenders on the city wall, and once it gets close to the city wall, it will drop down a bridge that the enemy can use to easily rush to the top of the city wall¡­thebination of these two siege equipment is the nightmare of any city, and Theonia owns both!

    Pian was now not only worried about mpetia, as he became more worried about Consentia. In his original n, he could¡¯ve retreated to Consentia and use the solid wall to resist the attack of the Theonians until the enemy''s rations ran out. However, the messenger''s narration shook his decision, as he does not want to be trapped in the city and have stones being thrown at his head by the Theonians¡­therefore, they must protect the city of mpetia. Otherwise, once it gets upied by the Theonians, Consentia will then be attacked on both sides.

    But at this moment, with Theonia''s strength upying a great advantage, the Bruttian Union is now in a dilemma. Defending alone is too passive, and the possibility of losing would be greater. Thus Pian was more inclined to risk attacking because as long as they could beat the main force of Theonia, it will solve all their difficulties!

    He then turned his attention to Besidice, who had surrendered, because it is the closest to Thurii ¨C the centre of Theonia, from which the main force of Theonia wille to attack.

    After a lot of thinking, he finally decided to send two thousand reinforcements to mpetia, convincing Bodiam to return to Anbania while sending messengers to Vergae, hoping that Bodiam and Sedrum could bring many warriors as possible to support the battle between Bruttii Union and Theonia.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In order to wait for the arrival of the supplies and meeting the needs of the war, Davos stayed for another two days in Besidice.

    Although Besidice is very close to Thurii, the transport was more difficult due to the road conditions. After learning his lesson and making the subsequent transport easier, Davos ordered his soldiers to each carry five days'' rations again.

    In the early morning of the third day, Davos led the first and second legion, the mountain reconnaissance brigade, cavalry brigade, the army of their allies ¨C Heraclea and Roscianum, the Besidisian warriors, the legion reserve, and the two thousand freemen¡­except for a small part of the legion reserve that would be stationed in the city of Besidice, the total number of men who will go to battle Consentia was about 24,000.

    When it was close to noon, the scouts came to report to Pian that the Theonian army are now entering the Consentia teau, and they could even see the prominent g of the archon of Theonia.

    The report made Pian unable to sit still and immediately held an emergency meeting. Besides Petaru and Phitara, and the exception of Pangam, who was still struggling in repelling the enemy¡¯s attack in mpetia, Bodiam and Sedrum, who had just arrivedst night with their troops, joined, while Likumu died in battle. With only five of the ¡°Seven Elders¡± being present, it inevitable made the mood of everyone in the hall sullen.

    ¡°I expect for the Theonians to camp in this area once they reached Consentia in the afternoon.¡± Pian drew a circle about 3 kilometres to the east of the map with his finger and excitedly said, ¡°With the protection of Amara, we shall take advantage of their difort after entering Consentia and take the initiative to attack them while they are busy building their camp and force them to fight a decisive battle!¡±

    Sedrum understood what Pian meant by ¡°difort¡±. Because the high terrain in the area where Consentia is located was so high that even though an outsider would have no problem moving around normally, it would quickly tire them out and have difficulty breathing after a long period of strenuous movements. While the Bruttian warriors, especially the Consentians, have already adapted to this environment since childhood and no longer experience any abnormalities in their movements.

    Moreover, knowing the battle situation on mpetia, he no longer has any hope in defending the city.

    He and Bodiam looked at each other with a dignified expression. In the end, they could only agree.

    After going back to gather the troops, they waited nervously for the arrival of the Theonian army.

    But half an hourter, Pian urgently called for them.

    ¡°Elders, from the report I have just received, the Theonians stopped moving near the Finita River and begun setting up their camp!¡± Pian said anxiously.

    ¡®Finita River!¡¯ Sedrum and Bodiam rushed to see the map in the middle of the hall.

    The Finita River, even though it is called a river, is actually more like a small stream, which eventually joins the upper reaches of the Crati River and flows through an area of rtively t terrain. The main point is that it is located between Besidice and Consentia.

    ¡°That''s so far from Consentia, and it is still so early, yet they already start resting?!¡± Bodiam muttered in confusion.

    ¡°Those Besidisian traitors! The great goddess Amara will punish them!¡± Phitara said with anger.

    Sedrum understood the high priest''s anger. In his memory, the terrain of Finita River was not as high as here, so the influence of the terrain on the people would not be as evident.

    He quickly nced at Pian and asked, ¡°What should we do now then?¡±

    Pian also cursed. He also thought that the Theonian''s action must be due to the Besidisians ruining his n.

    After thinking about it, he looked at everyone. He said with seriousness, ¡°Currently, mpetia is being attacked by the enemy every day that they could breach it at any moment! Therefore, the only thing we can do is either let the enemy advance slowly and allow them to get used to the weather and environment gradually, or make up our minds and concentrate on attacking them with all our might! It is up to you to choose!¡±

    Sedrum and Bodiam looked at each other again, and their eyes gradually glisten with determination, ¡°Do we even have a choice?!¡±

    ¡°Goddess Amara, bless the children of Brutus!¡± Phitara chanted loudly¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Out of caution, Davos chose to camp near the Finita River.

    After hearing the reminder of Baripiri about ¡®outsiders having difort when entering the Consentia area¡¯, a word immediately came up in his mind ¨C Altitude Sickness: The higher the terrain, the thinner the air, the less oxygen content, and the faster the people get tired due tock of oxygen. Of course, Compared with Tibet in the far east, the height of the Consentia teau is nothing at all, but it is likely to be a decisive factor in a fierce battle.

    With the advantage now in his hands, Davos does not need to take any risks, as he just needs to advance steadily towards Consentia and allow the soldiers to gradually adapt to the altitude and be familiar with the area¡¯s geography. At the same time, it would gradually put pressure on Consentia and deter them from splitting their troops to reinforce mpetia.

    Although he was unable to grasp the developments in mpetia, he believed, out of trust in Hielos and the fourth legion, which had both types of siege equipment, that the fourth legion has an absolute advantage over mpetia. Once mpetia is breached, the Theonian troops could advance, increasing their advantage significantly and deterring the whole Bruttian region, which would directly lead to the disintegration of the Bruttii Union and make the Bruttians yield even without fighting!

    Although the idea was good, Davos did not let his guard down. Per the ¡¶Theonia''s Military Law¡· in the construction of the military camp, he did not let all the soldiers devote themselves to the camp¡¯s building. Instead, he just let the soldiers of the first legion and the reserve brigade work first, with the assistance of the freemen, while the second legion and their allies, as well as the Besidisian warriors, protects them.

    ¡°Why were we the ones to do the camp building first? We are the first legion of Theonia!¡± Hybaterusined about with indignation. He fixed his gaze on the soldiers of the second legion, who were sitting and resting in front of him, as he dug.

    ¡°Perhaps it is because the second legion has just finished fighting the Bruttians the day before yesterday, so the grand legatus gave them a reward!¡± Pesias guessed.

    While listening to his teammates, Leotychides mind wandered: Although the Spartans also attached importance to marching and camping, they didn''t attach much importance to it as Theonia did to the point of paranoia. When the Theonians arrived at a ce to camp, the first thing they would consider is how to build an extremely solid camp that they even have engineers to measure and inspect the site, and even having penalties in case of defects¡­even though Leotychides had practised it many times in the training camp and in Taranto, he was still unable to adapt to it.

    ¡°If our first legion were the one to attack Besidice instead of the second legion, we would havepleted it better! The grand legatus is not unfair, but giving the crucial task to the second legion, while hemanded our first legion to either climb the mountains or march that I don''t even know how many roads we have walked these days, and now the soles of my feet are filled with blisters!¡±

    Hybaterus was chattering away his depression when someone suddenly patted him on the head, ¡°Hybaterus, stop talking and work harder! If you slow down the progress of our camp construction and cause our team to lose to Olivos'' team, strategos Matonis will never let you off lightly!¡± Yelled Sitares, the squad leader.

    At the mention of Matonis, Hybaterus did not dare to say anymore.

    Leotychides was somewhat impressed at the fierce-looking Matonis, who was very protective of his soldiers that could even go to the extreme. Leotychides had even witnessed him several times with those ¡°terrifying¡± military judges because his soldiers were being punished ording to the militaryw for viting discipline and even argued with Davos once. In addition to his incredible strength and superb skills, the soldiers loved and respected Matonis.

 Chapter 321: War is Coming

    However, the strategos was strict with the soldiers on two things: I ¨C In battle, the soldiers are only allowed to advance and not retreat. Otherwise, he would kick the timid soldiers out of the brigade. II ¨C None of them could lose to the sixth brigade ¨C Olivos'' brigade.

    This kind of bickering may seem a bit funny. However, in the Theonian army, it was not umon for centuria topete with each other, brigades to brigades, and legions to legions. And instead of forbidding suchpetition, the officers of all ranks strongly promoted it, such as Tug of War, Rugby, Football¡­all of these popr group sports andpetitions in the military camp are between squad vs squad, toon vs toon, fiercely fighting for victory.

    Leotychides felt that It is precisely because the officers at each rank attaching great importance to victory and defeat that even though these Theonian soldiers were mere farmers, fishermen, merchants, and so on, they quickly developed a sense of honour in their team and fought bravely in battle!¡­

    ¡°Prosous, I heard that you Argives and Spartans are enemies. So have you ever fought a Spartan?¡± Hybaterus, who was quiet for a moment, had begun talking again.

    After thestmotion on the ship and the fierce battle against the Peucettians, Leotychides and his teammates, especially with Hybaterus, became quite friendly. When Leotychides heard this, he did not nce at him to hide the change in his expression. Instead, he continued looking down and dig the soil while quietly replying, ¡°Yes.¡±

    Hybaterus, who be interested, approached him and asked, ¡°Who do you think is better, the Spartans or us?¡±

    Leotychides had not expected Hybaterus to ask this question, making him unable to reply immediately.

    His other teammates also seemed interested in it, and all approached him. While their squad leader, Sitares, did not say anything.

    The truth is, Hybaterus asked the right person, as Leotychides was indeed the best person to answer this question because he was a Spartan that has spent half a year in the Theonian army and even fought in battles. Thus he had considerable knowledge of the military situation between the two forces.

    Facing the curious gazes of hisrades, Leotychides could not refuse. However, he did not know what to say for a while. He put down his pickaxe, patted the dirt on his hands and thought about it carefully before saying, ¡°The Spartans from the age of six carried out a brutalbat training called ¡°Agoge¡±. Except for a small amount of time to learn how to read, they would live in the military camp until theye of age, and their rite of passage is to kill any Helots they encounter alone¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, that''s cruel!¡± Shouted his teammates.

    Remaining unperturbed, Leotychides continued, ¡°After bing an adult, the Spartans would do nothing besides fighting until they die¡­that''s why the Spartans are the strongest warriors in the world, as they are familiar with every detail of battle and could kill their enemies as easily as drinking water!¡± After saying this, his pride as a Spartan came out.

    Some of his teammates booed with discontent.

    ¡°Prosous, with you praising the Spartans so much, are you really an Argive?!¡± Someone chided with dissatisfaction.

    Leotychides was astonished at how he had slightly lost his vignce a bit from getting along with his teammates. So he hastily added, ¡°But the Spartan warriors are too few, and the number of their young citizens is only half of that of Theonian''s legion. Even if the Perioikoi were added, it is only more than ten thousand. While the Theonian soldiers are the best, I know of among the city-state whose soldiers don''t fight for a living! And have a very unique and well-developed military system. I personally think that there are some things that Theonia is even better than Sparta! And the most important thing is that there are many Theonian soldiers and that the number will only continue to increase after defeating the Bruttians this time¡­¡±

    ¡°I know what you mean, Prosous. In a one-on-one fight, we can''t defeat the Spartans, but in a real war, the Spartans are no match against us because their number is too few, right?!¡± Hybaterus interrupted.

    ¡°Our Theonian Union has always emphasised teamwork and cooperation. Hence why no matter how powerful a Spartan is, they will never be able to defeat four-five Theonian soldiers that cooperate closely!¡± Said Pesias.

    ¡°That''s right! No matter how fierce the running back is in a rugby match, he won''t be able to score without the help of his teammates!¡± Another squadmate chimed in.

    Leotychides knew him. He is a Theonian citizen who had vited discipline and suffered punishment several times during the training camp. In thest battle against the Peucettians, they added him as some soldiers under Leotychides''s squad were seriously injured. However, he is now a qualified legion soldier. That is the frightening thing about the Theonian military system as it could train free-spirited Greeks into qualified soldiers through arduous training, sports andpetitions in a short time.

    The Spartans who founded their state with military might have learned a truth during their long conquest: Whether the city-state army is strong, individual strength is only secondary, as the most crucial thing is strict discipline, unconditional obedience and persistence in training. Most Greek cities can neither understand nor achieve those, but the newly established Theonia has required it since the beginning. It was said that all of those were from the hands of Davos, the ruler who the gods have blessed. Compared with Sparta, the truly terrifying thing about Theonia seems to be this young man!

    Leotychides reminded them as he didn''t want his teammates to make a wrong judgment and think Sparta was weak, ¡°Even though there are only a few Spartan soldiers, the Spartan seldom fight alone. Don''t forget, they are the leader of the Peloponnesian League and now is the hegemon of the whole of Greece, with countless soldiers from their allies fighting for them. And most Spartan strategoi are qualifiedmanders¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, I am only talking about aparison between Sparta and our Theonia. If we also talk about allies, then Theonia also has them, Laos, Roscianum¡­¡± Said Hybaterus with discontent.

    ¡°Also Heraclea¡­the South Italia Alliance, such as Crotone, Scylletium, Terina, and¡­¡±

    ¡°Caulonia.¡±

    His teammates scrambled to shout, making Leotychides felt slightly emotional. In the eastern Mediterranean, many city-states talked about Sparta and feared the Spartan warriors, including even the prominent city-states like Athens and Corinth. However, these Theonian soldiers in front of him discussed without fear who was stronger and weaker between Theonia and Sparta, not because they were ignorant, but because their constant victory gave them confidence.

    Their shouting finally alerted their toon captain, Pamanius, who was not far away, looking angry, ¡°All of you are just gossiping instead of digging trenches properly! Do you not fear the militaryw!¡±

    His teammates quickly disperse and went on their own.

    Then their squad captain, Sitares, came over and whispered, ¡°Prosous, you are right! But next time, you should change ¡®you¡¯ to ¡®us¡¯.¡±

    Hearing this, Leotychides couldn''t help but feel embarrassed, as he still hasn''t really integrated into Theonia and regard himself as a Theonian¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the soldiers of the first legion were busy, Davos was talking with Teriphias, the strategos of Heraclea''s troops.

    ¡°You want our engineers toe to Heraclea and build bridges?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Lord Davos. We could hear Theonia¡¯s superb bridge-building skills even in Heraclea. After leading my soldiers, I had gotten a deeper experience after passing through the two wooden bridges in Thurii. As you probably know, there are many rivers in Heraclea''s territory, and the main city of Heraclea is built on the delta surrounded by the Agri River and its tributaries, making the rainy season in April and May the most difficult season for us in Heraclea.¡± Teriphias sighed and said helplessly, ¡°When the river surges, it would often wash away the pontoon bridges would often. Thus we have to sail out to sea every day to fetch them and dock them again for us to get to our farms, so we urgently need some sturdy bridge, just like the wooden bridges on the Crati River!¡±

    After listening to Teriphias'' request, Davos immediately promised, ¡°Heraclea is an ally of Theonia, and it''s our pleasure to assist you!¡±

    ¡°I heard that besides being a master bridge builder, Heracleides the Younger is also serving as a public official of Theonia''s road management. And so, we, Heracleans, are willing to donate fifty tons of grain to Theonia as thanks to Heracleides the Younger and his team for their help during their busy time.¡± Teriphias said sincerely.

    Davos did not refuse as Theonia has a food shortage, and Teriphias'' move was like sending charcoal in the snow. Teriphias'' kind offer made Davos once more think highly of him. Although there are a densework of water and fertilends in Heraclea, fifty tons of grain is by no means a small amount. Besides being a reward for building the bridge, Heraclea'' gift is also an expression of Heraclea''s attitude. In this regard, Davos noted it in his heart.

    With this agreement, the conversation between Davos and Teriphias became more intimate and casual.

    Davos even spoke happily about not expecting that there was such a good grasnd in Consentia, which could be used to raise horses.

    Just as they were enjoying their conversion, the herald, Tolmides, came in with a nervous expression, ¡°Grand legatus, Ledes urgently reported that they have found the Bruttian army marching towards here!¡±

    ¡°How many are they?¡± Davos asked right away.

    ¡°ording to the scouts, there may be twenty thousand men!¡±

    Twenty thousand! Davos no longer has a calm expression, ¡®The Bruttii Union clearly wants to fight a decisive battle here!¡¯

 Chapter 322: Reconnaissance before the Battle of Finita River

    Davos had chosen to camp here because he does not have any n to fight the Bruttii Union now. At the same time, he thought that the Bruttii Union would be more cautious after their failed attack on the fortress the day before. However, he did not expect that the enemy would abandon theirnd advantage and march for dozen of kilometres to challenge them. But since they are here, then let''s fight!

    Both sides were equal in strength, and although half of the Theonian soldiers might be exhausted from building the camp, that was no reason to avoid a war. Davos stood up abruptly and asked. ¡°How is the camp construction?¡±

    ¡°We have already dug the trench and are currently building the earthen wall.¡± Answered Tolmides, then he asked, ¡°Do you want for the soldiers to retreat behind the trenches?¡±

    Davos waved his hand and refused because the Theonian army has always been on offence. Although the trench would make it difficult for the enemy, it will also limit their offensive capabilities and hinder the soldiers'' morale. That''s why besides some exceptional circumstances, he will never do that.

    ¡°Sound the salpinx, gather the soldiers, and then call legatus Kapus and Drakos, as well as the cavalry''s strategos, Ledes¡­and also, call Epiphanes and Cid.¡± Davos gave his orders.

    ¡°Roger.¡± Tolmides swiftly transmitted the orders.

    ¡°Are we going to fight the Bruttians here?¡± Asked Teriphias, who was slightly nervous.

    ¡°Yes, it seems that the end of the war with Bruttii would be shift earlier!¡± Davos smiled confidently, and Teriphias has gotten affected by this smile and rxed. He then gave a Greek military salute, ¡°Then allow me to gather my soldiers first!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Pian led the army towards the Finita River, over a high slope and down to a wide, t meadow. On the field were countless Greeks gathering and forming up, and when viewed from up high, it looked like a hollowed-out mound, which was quite a messy sight.

    ¡°Stop moving and prepare to form up!¡± He immediately ordered.

    Although the Greek''s formation had not yet taken shape, he already has a general impression while looking down from the high slope. On the right side of the Theonians is the intersection of the Finita River and the Crati River. To the left was a t grassy area without any obstacles, and in the rear was a messy mound of earth that they had dug.

    After watching for a while, he finally made up his mind: Since it was difficult to rush on the side near the river as there was little room for attack and manoeuvring, so he ced five thousand tribal warriors, who he had forcibly recruited from the various tribes, on the left; In the middle were the more than five thousand warriors from the city of Anbania and Vergae; While on the right were the twelve thousand warriors of Consentia.

    Obviously, he was trying to use the most numerous and battle-hardened Consentian warriors on the right nk to get the victory.

    Pian''s idea was to take advantage of the enemy''s disorganisation and quickly set up a good battle formation to attack!

    However, in order to form up a good formation with more than twenty thousand men from different tribes in a short time, not only does it need apletemand system, but also long-term military training and highly disciplined soldiers. But these Bruttians failed to meet those requirements. Thus the whole Bruttians¡¯ army could only form up slowly, with horns being blown, drums ringing, people shouting and pushing each other. The entire scene was noisy and chaotic.

    Pian was leisurely watching the enemy''s movement while waiting for his side''s formation to bepleted, but after a while, his face bing a bit unsightly.

    Because the messy Theonians had soon formed ¡°small phnxes¡±, and then the countless small phnxes were like building blocks, which then moved quickly and without interference into their fixed positions like building blocks. Soon, the Theonian formation took shape.

    It was a formation that Pian had never seen before, with the ¡°small phnxes¡± not tightly pack together, leaving gaps between them. From above, it looked like a nket of green and white wool (because the linen breastte was white). Although Pian doesn''t know how powerful such a strange formation would be, the speed with which the Theonians formed up made him uneasy.

    He then loudly said to Petaru, who was beside him, ¡°Hurry and tell Bodiam to act faster!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The chaotic formation of the Theonians that Pian saw was the moment when the soldiers of the first legion scrambled out of the hot camp, help each other wear their armours and returned to their own teams. Now the true formation has appeared, and Davos'' slightly nervous mood has settled down.

    ¡°Milord, our right nk is still trying to form up and has not yet into position!¡± Tolmides reported anxiously.

    ¡°There''s no need to hurry. The right nk consists of mixed soldiers of our allies'' troops and the legion''s reserves.¡± Davos rode on his horse and looked to the left. At the end of autumn, with no rain for more than ten days, thend was dry, and the movement of tens of thousands of soldiers had already stirred up the dirt, so he could only catch a slight glimpse of the right nk.

    Davos leisurely said, ¡°Rather than rushing the formation, Teriphias'' had instead reorganised his soldiers first, which reassures me.¡±

    He then pointed forward, ¡°As you can see, the Bruttians are still not moving on the grass slope, as they are probably still forming up, which just gave us enough time to have the soldiers of the first legion to rest and recover a bit of their strength.¡±

    Tolmides fixed his gaze at the front, five hundred metres away, which was also covered with dust.

    ¡°Tell Ledes.¡± Davos once again ordered, ¡°To send seven or eight cavalry toons to harass the left, centre and right side of the enemy, slow down their formation and observe their response. Afterwards, report back to me.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Wait. Tell Ledes that I am talking about harassment and not fight recklessly. If the enemy''s cavalryes after them, have them immediately return. Don''t let our cavalry get harm!¡± Repeated Davos.

    ¡°Understood, milord.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Children, keep up!¡±

    ¡°Uncle, we can run faster than you without riding a horse.¡±

    ¡°Stinky boy, does your skin itch? I''ll beat you up after we return.¡±

    ¡°Captain, you should have done that a long time ago!¡±

    In a burst ofughter, the cavalry toon led by Solikos crossed the battlefield and reached the Finita River.

    ¡°Halt!¡± Solikos extend his spear, and the whole toon unit stopped.

    ¡°Everyone, dismount!¡±

    ¡°Why, captain?! We are still not in front of the enemy!¡± A cavalryman moured.

    ¡°Obey the orders!¡± Shouted Solikos.

    Although the cavalrymen were reluctant, with the influence of the military, they still obeyed. But with unwillingness, he shouted in dissatisfaction, ¡°Captain, the other unit has already thrown javelins at the enemy! Do you want us to be deserters?!¡±

    ¡°Zip it! Our toon¡¯s order was to harass the enemy¡¯s left nk. However, with the distance being too long, the horses were already a bit tired. So have them rest for a while so as to betterplete our mission! Don¡¯t worry, since I brought you out, I will also make sure to bring you back safely!¡±

    ¡°Alright, captain, we will listen to you. But how long we have to wait?!¡±

    ¡°Until I give the order.¡±

    The cavalrymen had no choice but to pat the restless horses while observing the grey battlefield ahead and watch their teammates in the distance, sometimes rushing into the dust, sometimes withdrawing¡­screams resounding in their ears, making their hearts itch.

    Time passed so slowly that they became a bit impatient. ¡°Get on the horse!¡± the shout of Solikos was like rain in a long drought, which greatly invigorated them.

    The fifty horses began to gallop, gradually forming a wedge formation as they advanced.

    Solikos, who was at the front, raised his spear and brandished it forward twice, ¡°Speed up!¡±

    A thirty-metre high grassy slope appeared at the front. Although it is not steep, it is important to prevent the horses from slowing down on their way up while being attacked by the enemy.

    The horses looked like flying with all four of their hooves. The cavalrymen clung to the horse¡¯ neck and leaned forward to speed up the horses'' ascent.

    Solikos was the first to reach the grassy slope. Dozen of metres away, dense Bruttians stretch out from the bank of Finita River, not knowing how long it extend that it was difficult to count how thick their formation was.

    Solikos felt that he was like an ant standing in front of an elephant. The invisible pressure pressed down on his chest, making him have trouble breathing. He took a deep breath, drew out a spear, mp his legs on the horse¡¯s belly, and speed up his horse again while the cavalry under him followed closely.

    Fifty metres, forty, thirty¡­the raised horse'' hoovesnded on the dry, cracked earth like a drumstick hitting a drum, sending out loud noises, coupled with the rapid advance of the cavalry toon creating a considerable momentum and causing amotion in the Bruttian formation that had just been set up.

    Just as the soldiers of Bruttians pushed each other and eximed, Solikos threw his javelin. Then dozens of javelins plunged into the enemy''s formation, causing a lot of screams ringing out one after another.

    The Bruttians were even more confused that some have withdrawn in panic, while some rushed up in anger¡­

    With a wave of his spear, Solikos and his men turned left more than twenty metres away from the enemy''s formation and galloped forward along the front of the Bruttian''s phnx. Wherever they went, it was like a stone crashing into a calm water surface, but the ripples could not be stopped for a while. At the same time, the enemy''s panic and confusion were reflected in the eyes of Solikos. He realised that they hadpleted their mission, so he decisively ordered, ¡°Turn left!¡±

    As soon as the cavalry turned around, the Bruttian cavalry arrived and chased them.

    However, the Theonian light infantry came out to meet them in time and scared back the hundreds of Bruttian cavalry with their javelins.

    Davos'' clever use of the cavalry''s ¡°reconnaissance¡± to get a response from the Bruttians had given him a general idea of their formation, as reported by Ledes. The Bruttians'' left nk was the worst in terms of its response to the cavalry''s harassment, while the right nk was the strongest, costing the Theonian cavalry a dozen of casualties. Evidently, the Bruttian''s n was the same as that of Davos, that is, to ce the weakest troops on the side near the river and the strongest troops on the other side. After all, this is in line with the principles of the art of war.

 Chapter 323: Cavalrys Offence at the Battle of Finita River

    On the right nk, Davos ce his allies'' troops and the legion''s reserve; On the middle is the first legion; And finally, the second legion on the left nk, as he also wants to use his strongest troops to make a breakthrough from the outside and eventually encircle the enemy.

    After making up his mind, Davos said to Ledes, ¡°The cavalry brigade had worked hard! That¡¯s why have our brothers retreat to the rear and get some rest!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Ledes hurriedly said, ¡°Lord Davos, the enemy''s right nk still have five hundred cavalries. If we were to withdraw to the rear, then who will deal with them?¡±

    ¡°There will be someone to deal with them, while you and your cavalry will need to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy at a critical moment! Until then, have your men and the horses recover their strength!¡± Exined Davos.

    Ledes could only back down.

    Davos immediately asked Tolmides to call Epiphanes and Cid and solemnly said, ¡°Once the enemy attacks, I want you to lead the light infantry and the freemen to strike the enemy''s right nk from a long-range, while also dealing with the enemy''s cavalry and light infantry. This task is difficult. Can you do it?¡±

    ¡°When we were in Persia, we fought with the Persian cavalry and archers and defeated them many times! And the Bruttians will not be stronger than the Persians!¡± Epiphanes said confidently.

    ¡°Hades, bless us!¡± Cid muttered devoutly.

    Davos looked into their eyes and gave them a solemn and firm salute, ¡°I await for your victory!¡±

    After seeing the two, Davos'' battle n has been fully implemented and was just waiting for the Bruttians'' attack.

    At this moment, Martius and Rodom, the nephew of Baripiri, came to him and asked, ¡°Milord, Burim and Kreru, the chieftains of Besidice, insisted on meeting you!¡±

    Davos looked back at the two Besidisian chieftains that the guards stopped. Afterwards, they hurriedly dismounted and rushed over.

    ¡°Archon of Theonia, we Besidisians strongly demand to meet the enemy instead of hiding behind like a coward! This is a shame to our warriors!¡± Eximed Burim emotionally.

    ¡®Shame?¡¯ After listening to the trantion of Adepiges, Davos nced suspiciously at the herald, Tomides, who had been following him.

    Tolmides hastily exined, ¡°I have patiently told chieftain Burim a lot of times, but he seems unwilling to ept the idea of being a reserve¡­¡±

    After hearing this, Davos immediately became serious. He then said in a cold voice, ¡°Since the warriors of Besidice are now Theonians, then you should know that the soldiers of Theonia must obey the orders of their superior unconditionally. But if you are still unable to do so, then lead your troops away! As our true Theonian soldiers will enjoy the glory of victory alone! That''s all!¡± After saying that, he spoke another sentence to Adepiges, ¡°Trante it as it is!¡± He then turned around and left.

    Tolmides followed while turning back from to time, only to see Burim and Kreru leave unhappily.

    ¡°Milord, are you not afraid that the Besidisians will leave in anger?¡± Tolmides said with some worry.

    Davos smiled, ¡°For stubborn people, the more you exin, the more they will ask for more. Hence it is better to cut him off of this idea from the start! Moreover, even if the Besidisians leave, it still won''t affect our victory!¡±

    With suspicion, Tolmides secretly sent some people to observe the movement of the Besidisians. However, he found out that after Burim returned, he obediently led his men to wait in the rear without making any fuss, making Tolmides ashamed. For more than ten years, Tolmides had been dealing with many mercenary leaders, yet his understanding of human nature is still not as good as that of a twenty-year-old youth. And the only thing that could exin it is that he is truly the ¡®God''s Favored¡¯.

    Due to the harassment of the Theonian cavalry, the Bruttians only managed toplete their formation by afternoon. And Pian became somewhat anxious after seeing his warriors no longer as excited as they had been at the beginning. Knowing his people too well, the Bruttians ¨C a race living between the Greeks and the Lucanians, were brave but timid, passionate but meek, these warriors who lived freely in the mountains and teaus, the crucial point is to boost their morale.

    Therefore, Pian led his guards to the front of the formation, while his guards attracted the attention of thousands of warriors with their shouts. Then Pian shouted, ¡°Bruttians, my fellow citizens! For hundreds of years, we have lived freely on this beautiful teau, this ce where Amara has nurtured us with her sweet **, and Brutus giving us peace. But now, our peace has been harmed! Ournd was invaded! Who is taking over our cities?! ughtering our people?!¡±

    ¡°Theonians!!!¡±

    ¡°Those wretched Greeks!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The warriors began to respond angrily.

    ¡°Are we just going to allow these evil foreign race to upy ournd, destroy our temples, r*pe our women, turn our children into ves, lose our freedom and live like livestock?¡± Pian asked in a loud voice while his guards repeated what he said.

    ¡°No!¡± The warriors in front of him responded angrily, which gradually spread throughout the whole formation.

    ¡°No!!!¡± Then twenty thousand Bruttian warriors shouted at the same time.

    ¡°Then defeat the Theonians and get our freedom back!¡± Pian raised his spear high.

    ¡°Kill them!¡±

    ¡°Kill them!!!¡±

    Thousands of warriors roared in hysteria.

    ¡°ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!¡­¡± They then used their spears to beat the ground, and their morale rose sharply.

    Pian likewise gotten affected by this and became excited. Facing the warriors who could no longer bear it, he pointed his spear forward and shouted, ¡°Attack!¡±

    The horn behind sounded, and it rang out everywhere.

    ¡°ROAR!!!¡­¡± Thus the Battle of Finita River, which determined the ownership of the Bruttii region, began.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Hearing the thunderous roars from the other side, Tolmides ends up asking, ¡°Lord Davos, the Bruttians are boosting their morale. Shouldn''t you¡­.¡±

    ¡°In a match, it''s not who has the loudest voice wins. Rather, it is the calm yer who wins. What the soldiers need now is to block the enemy''s attack first. Besides consuming the little strength they have left, unnecessary roaring will also make them lose their defensive position due to being too excited.¡± Said Davos while looking ahead.

    Tolmides nodded his head with admiration.

    ¡°The Bruttians are attacking. Sound the salpinx!¡± When Davos heard the horn from the other side, he also began giving orders. At the same time, he took his guards to pass through the gap between the small phnxes quickly and came to the rear of the formation.

    Then a dozen bronze salpinx blew out a low sound, and the soldiers who were sitting down and resting had immediately picked up their spears and shields stood up and moved their somewhat sore and numb arms and legs. At the same time, their teammates moved closer to each other and arranged the somewhat loose formation closely to meet the uing battle.

    The small phnx formation in the front began to connect with each other quickly. The middle and left nk of the Theonian army soon integrated with the army of their allies in the right nk.

    While Epiphanes and Cid led a total of four thousand light infantry and freemen from the outside of the left nk to the front, having their own division ofbour. After leading the more than 2,500 men fifty metres forward, Cid stopped, and the slingers, archers and a few peltasts lined up in turn, while Epiphanes continued to move to the outside of the left nk with nearly a thousand light shield soldiers and peltasts. As they march, the column soon elongate and was almost out of the battlefield.

    In the salpinx'' sound, the Bruttians'' long line of nearly four kilometres moved forward slowly without having reserve troops.

    The Bruttian scattered their light infantry evenly. And due to the Bruttii mountains being densely forested and having a high teau with many wild animals, it has caused the number of archers to be abundant. Thus the archers had made up the vast majority. Following the light infantry were the infantry, mostly spearmen holding shields and spears. And on the far right were six hundred cavalries. Although the Bruttians upied the whole teau, they mainly use this valuablend for grazing livestock to support theirrge poption. Although they also raised some horses, they are mostly pack horses, and those few who owned war horses were mainly the high-standing men in the tribes. Thus the six hundred horses were almost thergest number the Bruttians could gather.

    As soon as the Bruttians went down the grassy slope, the Theonians slingers immediately baptised the right nk of the Bruttians with a hail of stones. Causing their infantry to march slowly under the protection of their leather shield, and due to them still being too far away from Theonia''s formation, they could not charge too early. However, the Bruttian''s light infantry began to run, as their responsibility was to clear the way for the main force to fight.

    The Bruttian cavalry on the far right nk was already speeding up. During battles, it was always a tradition for the cavalry on both nks to engage the enemy fist, as they were the fastest. However, the previous attack of the Theonian cavalry could be said to be giving them a p in the face, and now they want to get back at them.

    The cavalry shook the reins and mped the horse''s belly, increasing the speed of the horse. And the feeling of running at breakneck speed made their blood boil even more. They then saw the enemy cavalry just three hundred metres away from the rear of the light infantry.

    The cavalry leader charging in the front was thinking in his mind that they have a high chance to win if they first disperse the scattered light infantry in front, then attack the idle cavalry of the enemy. However, he suddenly caught a glimpse of countless figures appearing a few dozen metres away on the right and quickly rushed towards them.

    Uneasiness immediately crept to the cavalry leader. But before he could even respond, countless javelin flew thirty metres and struck the galloping cavalries.

    In an instant, whether it is a man or a horse, once they got hit and fell on the ground, they will have difficulty in surviving and will also affect the nearby charging cavalry.

    Epiphanes knew well about cavalries, so instead of confronting them from the front, he pretended to disengage from the battlefield, but in fact, he was prepared to strike the cavalry from the outside.

 Chapter 324: Midday Break at the Akademia of Theonia

    The speed of the Bruttian cavalry slowed down, but once they stopped, they would be an easier target. In the dust, the cavalry was frightened as besides defending against the javelins thrown by the enemy, they also had to be careful not to be tripped by their fallenrades.

    Seeing theirrades behind them in disarray, those who had already charged ahead had to turn around and charge at these Theonian light infantry to extricate theirrades from their plight.

    Epiphanes soon notice the enemy''s attack, but rather than evacuating with the soldiers, he took some of his peltasts to meet them, knowing that the most terrifying is the charge of the cavalry instead of the spears in the cavalrymen''s hand, which would either break or seriously injure the light infantry who had little protection. In fact, a dense spear formation was the best way to stop a cavalry charge, but the light infantry was not equipped with this and did not have the time to prepare.

    In the face of the fierce Bruttian cavalry, Epiphanes and the experienced former Thracian peltasts unhurriedly untied the rope on the javelins.

    ¡°Throw!¡± Epiphanes threw out his javelin with a roar, which then flew straight in a sh, piercing deeply into the neck of the horse in front of him.

    The horse neighed miserably and thrashed around, throwing the cavalryman off his horse.

    With this round of throwing from the peltast, many cavalrymen were thrown off their horses. But rather than watching the effect of their attack, they instead quickly took out their rhompaia and raised the leather shield on their left hand, squatted on the ground in a bow and arrow stance. Watching the enemy cavalry who had rushed to the front, they quickly rolled to either the left or right. And if they do not have the time to dodge, they would fall to the ground, shrinking their body into a ball and protecting their heads and chests with their shields to block the trampling of the horses. And if they were to see an opportunity, they would cut the horse'' legs with their rhompaia, frightening the horses and throwing off their riders.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the Bruttii cavalry was in trouble, the troops led by Cid already shed with the light infantry of the Bruttii.

    The numerous arrows crisscrossed in the air as dense as a thick cloud and rained down on both sides, taking away lives.

    After a few rounds, the Bruttian light infantry could no longer hold on. After all, Theonia concentrated all their archers on the left, notparable to those of the Bruttian light infantry, which they distributed evenly.

    But in the centre and the right nk of the Theonian army, the Bruttian light infantry can freely shoot their arrows at the Theonian soldiers and even throw javelins within fifty metres.

    The Theonian legion soldiers erected long shield walls and used their thick bronze shields and iron helmets to block the enemy''s long-range attack.

    And the officers shouted, ¡°Hold on! Hold on! Take your time!¡­¡± Preventing the soldiers from throwing their javelins impulsively as it will not only arouse the enemy''s vignce but will also disrupt the overall defence of the team, resulting in an unnecessary increase of casualties.

    Fortunately, after the Bruttian infantry got closer, the light infantry had to retreat quickly through the gap between the infantry''s formation and to the rear. Otherwise, they would have been swept up by the infantry to the frontline and fight face to face with the heavily armed Greek heavy infantry.

    And the Bruttian infantry finally started charging and roaring as they rushed towards the Theonian formation that is ready to meet them.

    Compared to the aggressive Bruttian warriors, the Theonian soldiers were as calm as a mountain, holding the javelin in their hands and focusing their gaze on the enemy in the distance.

    Then the officer shouted, ¡°Javelin!¡±

    On the left, the middle and the right nks, dark clouds rose on the four-kilometre long army formation one after another.

    The charging Bruttians were caught off guard, and the sharp javelin instantly taking the lives of hundreds of warriors. However, the rain of javelins did not slow down the Bruttian warriors, stepping over the corpses of theirrades and advancing much faster, so much so that many Theonian soldiers had not had the time to throw a second javelin before the Bruttians mmed into the shield wall of the Theonian army, instantly causing countless gaps to appear in the shield wall.

    The Bruttian warriors bravely rushed in, trying to widen the gap, while the third and fourth lines of Theonian soldiers quickly raised their shields to meet the enemy and drove them back with their spears.

    For a moment, the soldiers of both sides collided with each other, spears and spears collided, dust fog filling the sky and the sounds of fighting shook the sky¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the midday sun casts its shadow on the tiny sundial, Onatas, who was in charge of teaching Greek, announced that the morning ss was over.

    While the children were cheering, he seriously said, ¡°Children, I hope that you will read the poem of Hesiod once you go home, preferably to be able to recite it by heart. As for these new words I taught, you must memorise them as I will check them tomorrow. Have you remembered them all?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, teacher!¡± The students answered in unison.

    ¡°Especially you, Patroclus.¡± Onatas pointed to the child sitting in the distance and warned, ¡°Go back this time and have your meal. However, I don''t want to see you being punished again tomorrow, understand?¡±

    Patroclus lowered his head in embarrassment.

    And the students around burst intoughter.

    Patroclus'' poor performance in Greek ss was inplete contrast to his fast and urate problem-solving in math ss.

    Onatas then went out of the ssroom, and the students cheered and ran out in session.

    Sthephilos grabbed Patroclus by the arm and urged, ¡°Hurry uP! If we''rete, there will be nothing left!¡±

    The two of them rushed out of the ssroom, but just as soon as they reach the corner, they heard an ¡°ouch¡±, and a little girl was knockdown on the ground.

    ¡°Hey, are the two of you blind?!¡± Cynthia scolded, bent down and asked with concern, ¡°Giada, are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡­I''m alright.¡± Giada replied weakly.

    Cynthia pulled her up and turned to look at the two boys with a fierce re, ¡°Get over here and apologise! Otherwise, you are not allowed to leave!¡± Although Cynthia is younger, the two boys who are extremely active in ss seems to be afraid of her and bowed in a hurry, ¡°We''re sorry, Giada, it''s because we were¡­¡±

    ¡°I''m fine. You guys can go and buy your buttercream bun, or else you will miss it if you arete.¡± Instead of getting angry, Giada reminded them softly.

    The two boys were relieved and ran away quickly, while Patroclus did not forget to nce at Cynthia and quickly looked away.

    Cynthia grunted, ¡°Giada, you are too nice. If it were me, I would never let them off lightly!¡±

    Giada smiled and patted the dust off her body.

    ¡°Oh right! Come to my house for lunch today and eat a real buttercream bun!¡± Cynthia suddenly remembered something and invited her, ¡°My mother told me to bring you home at noon when I left home this morning!¡±

    Giada stopped talking and nod shyly.

    Usually, sports ssed were scheduled at noon in Theonia''s Akademia: Simple military training, rugby and football matches for the boys, while running, jumping and ying some games for the girls, it is why their free time at noon is not long.

    Besides the children in Thurii who have the time to go home for lunch, children whose home are far away could only deal with their stomach problems from nearby. Fortunately, with the expansion of the Akademia¡¯s influence and the increasing number of students, teachers, guards and other personnel, merchants and street vendors saw business opportunities. They set up shops in the designated area outside the school to sell papyrus, stationery, clothes, food¡­and the most famous is the small restaurant built here by the archon''s wife, Cheiristoya, as they provided students with lunch at a low price. And the most popr food for the students recently is the newlyunched buttercream bun. Every day, students and even the teachers line up to buy it, causing the demands to exceed the supply.

    As ssmates in the same ssroom, Cynthia and Giada soon became good friends, and when Cynthia invited her to her home for the first time, she was treated with great hospitality by Cheiristoya. Especially after finding out that Giada is the adopted daughter of Alexius, an oldrade of Davos and a senior centurion of the first legion and a statesman of the Senate(Alexius has always lived in Amendra and has not moved to Thurii). Cheiristoya warmly invited her to the house for lunch every day, and this hospitality brought her and Cynthia closer together as mother and daughter.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The delta between the Crati River and the Cosceli River was originally a settlement for the ves of Thurii, a collection and storage area for stone and copper workshops and a washing area. The security was not only bad, but the environment is also poor, and a lot of waste was poured into the two rivers every day.

    After Davos came to Thurii and saw this situation, he discussed it several times with Kunogta and Marigi on how to govern this area.

    In the end, they moved the union''s public ve settlement to the military camp in the north of the main city of Thurii, which not only kept it away from the residential area of Thurii but also had the nearby military camp to monitor them. So that if there was any abnormality, the army could immediately suppress it. At the same time, the stone workshop was moved to the market next to the port, while the copper workshop was moved to the new economic development zone near Amendra at the beginning of the year and was next to the Saraceno River so that it could get enough personnel nearby and form a good interaction with other workshops. However, the most important thing is that the Crati and Cosceli Rivers, which are rted to the life and health of tens of thousands of people in Thurii, are free from pollution.

    Afterwards, Davos nned the vacatednd as the cultural centre of the whole Theonia Union. Hence, the established Akademia of Theonia Akademia, and the Theonia School Park, which represents the union¡¯s highest scientific and cultural level, is under construction. Herpus, the head of Thurii''s hospital, will also build a medical school within the Akademia, while Metoticles will also move the Institute of Mathematics, and Ansitanos ns to set up a historical research group.

    In order to ensure that the students and teachers can study and research at ease, Davos also asked Heracleides the younger to build another wooden bridge in the middle of the Cosceli River so that the frequent traffic and ore carrying wagons can pass through the north of the delta. And Heracleides the Younger is already working on building an actual stone bridge directly between the north and south part of Thurii.

 Chapter 325: Pollux Criticism

    Patroclus run to the Temple of Athena, not far from the Akademia, after eating lunch with Sthephilos.

    To thank Athens for their significant help in rebuilding Thurii, they built the Temple of Athena as thanks. But after the Peloponnesian War, Thurii forcibly cut off their rtionship with Athens and expelled the Athenians in Thurii. It¡¯s why there are only a few peopleing here to pray, even now.

    The children who like rugby and footballe here to the small square in front of the temple to y. Patroclus became the little star in these sports because at the age of 13, he is already far better than other children in strength, speed and agility, and everyone loves ying with him.

    However, he and Sthephilos are currently not interested in ying, and both of themy down on the wall of the temple and threw stones at the Cosceli River.

    ¡°Sthephilos, it''s almost two months since I saw my father. To tell you the truth, this is the first time I have been separated from my father for such a long time since childhood. I don''t even know how he is now¡­¡± Patroclus looked at the running water, worried andining, ¡°When the first legion passed through Thurii, Lord Davos did not allow them to go look at their home! They went so fast that even when I desperately went after them after ss, I was still unable to catch up to them¡­¡±

    Sthephilos grinned and said, ¡°I heard from my father that the requirements of the soldiers in the legion are very strict, much stricter than those rules of our school. If they were to break the rules, they would get spanked. It is why your father does not dare toe to see you as he is afraid of getting spanked!¡±

    Patroclus red at him, ¡°I don''t see you worrying much about your father.¡±

    Sthephilos stopped throwing stones into the river and loudly said, ¡°I already told you that Amintas is not my father! But¡­he is very kind to my mother and me¡­¡±

    Sthephilos turned his head and thought for a while and added, ¡°He often told me stories of his time in Persia fighting together with the great archon, Davos. He is a hero, and I like him very much. That is why I believe that he will be okay! Because the great archon, Davos, has never lost a battle!¡±

    His optimism infected Patroclus, ¡°You are right, Theonia Union is invincible!¡±

    At this time, a kid excitedly ran into the temple, ¡°Good news! Good news!¡­¡±

    ¡°Prokles, what news made you so happy?!¡± The children stopped ying and looked at him.

    ¡°ssmates, cheers! The third legion, under my father''s leadership, wiped out the invading Pyxous!¡± Eximed Prokles excitedly.

    ¡°Is that true?¡± Patroclus asked hurriedly.

    ¡°Of course, it is true!¡± Prokles raised his head and said, ¡°If you don''t believe me, go to the city of Thurii and see the whole city cheering!¡±

    ¡°No one doubted this victory, but this victory was mainly due to themand of archon Davos, right?¡± Seeing the excited Prokles, Sthephilos remembered that he had not received any news from his father, so he couldn''t help but blurt out.

    Prokles was unable to say anything for a while. He red hard at Sthephilos and yelled, ¡°Anyway, it was my father whomanded the troops at Grumentum, and what''s your father doing now?!¡±

    It''s now Sthephilos'' turn to be speechless.

    Just as the two quarrelled, the other children cheered, ¡°Amazing! Victory!¡±

    ¡°Theonia is winning!¡±

    ¡°The legion is victorious!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Afterwards, the cheering children began lining up ording to the military movements taught by their teachers and yed a game of ¡°Triumphant Return¡±. Patroclus then pulled Prokles and Sthephilos into the line. However, they soon argued who would be the g bearer¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time, in the Senate Hall in Thurii, the statesmen were discussing the affairs of the Theonia Union.

    Marigi, the rotating chairperson, took out a parchment and said, ¡°The praetor of Krimisa, Lord Scambras, sent a letter saying that he had thought of a lot of measures, but even with that, there are still many people in Krimisa who are not willing to sign up for the grain shares. Up to now, the shares allocated to several other cities, even Aprustum, has been snagged. Only Krimisa-¡± Marigi increased his voice, ¡°Even though the shares allocated to it was the least, not even half of the shares were bought! Do you think we should allocate the rest of the shares to Roscianum? Amikles kept on sending someone and say that ¡®The citizens of Roscianum are eager to sign up for the shares we issued!¡¯¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°I have no opinion!¡±

    ¡°Borrowing fifty kilograms of wheat and paying back 58 kilograms in a year is a lucrative profit! Even though Theonia has not taken advantage of the citizens, why is it that there are so many people in Krimisa that are unwilling to sign up? We should think about the reasons!¡± Kunogte reminded everyone.

    Afterwards, most of the statesmen turn their attention to Androlis.

    Looking somewhat embarrassed, he stood up and coughed a few times, then said, ¡°My lords, I¡­I think there are several reasons for this¡­first, Krimisa was thetest to join the Theonia Union, and only half a year has passed since then! But the most important thing is that it''s different from Aprustum¡­¡± Speaking here, he calmed down, cleared his throat and said seriously, ¡°Although the truth is ufortable for everyone, it is a fact that even though the Theonians did not initiate the outbreak of the Crotonian War, many Krimisians believe that Theonia should bear some responsibility. With many Krimisians dying in the war with Theonia, half a year is not enough to dissolve their resentment. And with resentment, they can notpletely trust Theonia¡­¡±

    Androlis'' words caused a brief silence.

    After a while, Cornelius said, ¡°In the first ce, the war with Crotone is unavoidable. Although Krimisa is now part of Theonia, it seems that we still need to do more to dissolve the grievance of the Krimisians. I also hope that the three lords Androlis, Eurypus and Pleitinas, can assist a lot more!¡±

    ¡°This is what should we do, whether as a statesman or as Krimisians!¡± Eurypus said firmly, ¡°And I believe that it won''t be long before the Krimisians would be grateful and proud to be a Theonian citizen!¡±

    The statesmen unanimously agreed at Eurypus'' words.

    Pollux then stood up and said, ¡°Esteemed statesmen, the talked about the grain shares reminded me that Lord Mersis once said that ¡®the amount of military rations exchanged from the people can at mostst the Theonian troops for more than two months.¡¯ Am I correct? Lord Mersis.¡±

    Although he hated Pollux, Mersis had to nod his head and said, ¡°Yes, I did. However-¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡± Pollux interrupted Mersis and quickly said, ¡°Even if we have already captured Besidice, two months is still not enough to conquer a huge area such as the Bruttii region who had more than a hundred thousand poption! Moreover, as we concentrate on dealing with the Bruttians, the Lucanians on the north took advantage of this opportunity to make trouble. Currently, with Ba¡­erm¡­lord Bagul being wounded and that we don''t even know if he is still alive, the Senate is very concerned whether there is a good way to deal with the massive attack of Pyxous on Grumentum?!¡± Pollux said this while looking at Vespa and Hemon with sympathy. Although he inwardly hated these ¡®Barbarians who had infiltrated the Senate¡¯, he still needed these staunch supporters of Davos to doubt the young man.

    ¡°None! Because all the soldiers are at war with the Bruttians! If this goes on, I fear that before we conquer the Bruttii region, Pyxous would have already captured Grumentum and invaded Nerulum! By then, Theonia would fave an attack on two sides, and our army will face the predicament of food shortage, and a great disaster would befall on Theonia¡­my lords, think about it carefully, as this terrible situation is very likely to happen!¡± Pollux eximed with bitterness in his voice.

    A few of the statesmen¡¯s expression changed while the others were lost in their thoughts.

    Seeing this, Marigi hated him more, ¡®This damned Pollux is now making trouble again after being quiet for only a few days!¡¯

    In order to keep it confidential, only Avinoges, Sesta, Hieronymus and the high ranking officers of the third legion knew the n of Davos to entice the Lucanians. Unknowingly, Marigi could only anxiously winked at Plesinas, who was at the rear, hoping that he coulde forward to refute Pollux.

    ¡°We are toobative! As soon as we defeat Crotone, we soon attacked Grumentum. After helping Taranto, we started a war against the Bruttians just a few dayster¡­our crazy expansion has caused uneasiness to the surrounding forces that they have joined hands to deal with us! And Pyxous'' attack is only the beginning. For the sake of Theonia''s long-term safety, we should think more carefully and make somews restricting this practice of wantonly waging war!¡±

    Even though Pollux did not mention Davos, anyone that heard it understood that it was clearly aimed at Davos, and suddenly, silence shrouded the Grand Senate Hall.

    At this moment, they could hear a loud ¡°bang¡± sound of the door being pushed open, and in the quiet, closed space, it became particrly clear.

    Philesius, with a hint of excitement on his face, quickly walked into the meeting.

    Marigi then broke the silence and said, ¡°Lord Philesius, you arete!¡±

 Chapter 326: The army reserve in the Battle of Finita River

    ¡°Esteemed lords, I apologise!¡± Philesius bowed slightly to everyone. Unable to hide his joy, he excitedly said, ¡°I waste because I had to meet the messenger of the third legion. Bringing with him a piece of good news-¡±

    Philesius looked at the statesmen and said in a loud voice, ¡°The third legion has defeated the insurgent force of Pyxous and Grumentum outside the city of Grumentum! Except for a few who escaped, they have captured most of them, while the third legion only suffered few dozens of casualties. Hieronymus, the legatus of the third legion, then led his army to Pyxous. And it is reported that the city is empty, and it is only a matter of time before Pyxous is captured!¡±

    The Senate Hall was abuzz with excitement, ¡°Great! This is a splendid victory!¡±

    ¡°Pyxous! We are finally going to have a coastal city on the west coast that''s truly our own!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The statesmen, who had cold sweat from imagining the scene described by Pollux, burst out with unprecedented cheers.

    Looking at the cheering statesmen dumbfoundedly, Pollux was unable to recover from the sudden reversal for a while¡­after a long time, he unwillingly said in a faint voice, ¡°¡­I didn''t expect that Hieronymus could also create great victory like lord Davos¡­¡±

    ¡°Wrong.¡± Philesius corrected him in a loud voice, ¡°In fact, lord Davos had long nned this victory together with the third legion, and with the help of our allies, Laos and Elea. Otherwise, how could we win so easily!¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Kunogta, Cornelius and the others had an expression as if they already expected it. Then they inquired about the detailed process of the battle with interest.

    Pollux no longer said anything.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    An hour since the start of the battle of Finita River, the battle line between the two sides had changed from a curved, straight line at the beginning to an arcing, crescent moon.

    On the right nk of the Theonian army, the troops led by Teriphias almost kept their position since the start. While the left nk of the Bruttian, which isposed of more than a dozen Bruttian tribes, could not effectively unite into a unified force to keep the pressure on the right nk of Theonia.

    In Theonia''s centre, Vergae, Anbania and some Consentian warriors fought aggressively. After a period of stalemate, the phnx of the first legion began to fall back, making the whole centre sink in gradually. Even though the proud soldiers of the first legion did their best, they had spent too much energy building the camp that after putting on the heavy armour again, they were already a bit tired.

    On Theonia''s left nk, the second legion and the Consentian warriors were still fighting fiercely. Relying on their superhuman endurance from living on the hignd since childhood, they fought to wash away the humiliation they suffered in thest battle. On the other hand, with the second legion solid and strong defence and the full cooperation between the brigades, they were able to maintain their high-intensity attack.

    And only the far left is the ce where Theonia has an absolute advantage. At the start, the peltast led by Epiphanes caused many casualties to the Bruttian cavalry, suffering most of the losses on a melee against the experienced Theonian peltast. If this were not a battle of life and death for the Bruttians, the cavalry leader would have already led the remaining cavalry to flee. However, in order to stop the Theonian light infantry from supporting the other battlefields, he led his men to distance themselves from the Theonian light infantry, and by using the speed of the cavalry, they roam around the periphery and making a surprise attack on the Theonian light infantry that had broken away from their team. However, the Theonian light infantry''s javelin and arrows were not just for show, and the number of Bruttian cavalries continued to decrease.

    However, the light infantry led by Cid encountered some problems. With the Bruttian light infantry¡¯s number and ability could notpare with that of Theonia, the angry Bruttians gave up their long-range attack after suffering from the enemy, rushing up to fight with Cid''s troops with their javelins and short des.

    Cid could have retreated and take a distance, which was the standard tactics of light infantry. However, Cid, who had been fighting alongside Davos in his campaigns, knew very well that if the light infantry and the freemen he led were to retreat suddenly, it would expose the nk of Epiphanes, causing significant losses to the peltasts who were currently fighting with the enemy cavalry. That is why Cid didn''t retreat and fought hard with the Bruttian light infantry. Although he only had a few light infantries in his hands, and the freemen could only cope by shooting arrows and throwing javelins, letting them fight in a melee with the fierce Bruttian would soon be unmanageable.

    Fortunately, Davos still has a lot of cards in his hands. Thus after learning that the left nk was in trouble, he quickly sent the mountain reconnaissance brigade. Then these lightly armed soldiers with leader shields and short swords ran to the leftmost nk and immediately joined the battle, quickly turning the situation around.

    A messenger quickly rushed towards Davos, who was at the rear of the army formation.

    Tolmides then hastened to meet him.

    ¡°Grand legatus, Kapus urgently sent someone to tell you that the first legion is too tired even to lift their copper shields!¡± As soon as he learned about the situation, Tolmides immediately reported it to Davos.

    ¡°It seems that the first legion has reached their limit.¡± Davos concluded.

    ¡°It is not only the first legion. Even Drakos had also sent someone to report that some of his soldiers in the second legion began to feel dizzy and weak that he did not even dare to order the front and rear teams to change for fear of great chaos.¡±

    ¡°If our soldiers are exhausted like this, then the Bruttians won''t fair much better even if they are more fit.¡± Davos stared ahead. Although the dust was everywhere, and the sound of fighting was loud, he was still able to see victory, ¡°Tell the two Besidisian chieftains, Burim and Kreru, who were noisy about fighting the enemy, that now is their chance! I want them to immediately lead the Besidisian warriors to the left nk, attack the enemy''s nk, crush the Consentians with the swiftest attack, and show us the strength of the Besidisian warriors!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± Tolmides replied excitedly.

    ¡°At the same time, Ledes'' cavalry brigade should have already rested enough, so have them assist Epiphanes and Cid. And after quickly defeating the enemy''s cavalry and light infantry, have them go north, crossed the battlefield and attacked the rear of the enemy in the centre. And together with the first legion, defeat them in one fell sweep!¡± Davos clenched his right fist and swung it down heavily.

    ¡°Understood, milord!¡± Tolmides led the two heralds on their horses and galloped to the left as he wanted to convey the order himself.

    Davos then turned his head and looked at the two units that had not yet participated in the battle at the far left.

    A bitter, Tolmides came back, ¡°They have set out.¡±

    ¡°Sound the attack!¡± Davos ordered immediately.

    Soon after, a high pitched salpinx overwhelmed the noise of fighting and rang throughout the battlefield.

    ¡°It''s the attack signal! Brothers, hold on, our reserves are out!¡± Xanticles became energetic from hearing the salpinx. Before the war, Davos told the two army legatus of his n, and the two legatus exined Davos'' tactics to their respective senior centurions, centurions and toon captains. That is why even in such a passive situation, the defensive line of the first and second legion could still hold on because the officers know what ising, and now, the salpinx that they look forward to, sounded.

    ¡°Beat the drum!! Beat the drum!¡± Xanticles shouted the order in a voice that had be hoarse from shouting.

    The drums sounded, and the g pointed forward. Although the soldiers were physically tired, their spirits were invigorated.

    And all the senior centurions of the first and second legions did almost the same thing as Xanticles.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Pian was at the Bruttian''s right nk formation, struggling to advance with the Bruttian warriors when he heard the salpinx sound. Although every step was very difficult, the Consentian warriors continued to move forward.

    ¡®The Theonians are on the brink of copse!¡¯ Such a thought shed through Pian''s mind. Although he was tired, his desire for victory drove him to work even harder. But Theonia''s salpinx jolted his heart, ¡®Could it be that the enemy¡¯s reinforcements came?¡¯

    A sense of urgency came over him, but as he was in the middle of the formation, he could not understand the whole situation. Therefore, he could only intensify his efforts to defeat the enemy in front of him, ¡°Sons of Brutus, work harder! The enemy is copsing!¡­¡± He shouted, and the guards near him called out as well, infecting the other warriors¡­then the Consentian warriors used all their remaining strength to attack desperately.

    However, the defence of the second legion was also greatly enhanced. On the contrary, the advance of Bruttii''s centre and right nk became harder.

    Under the leadership of Burim and Kreru, the more than two thousand Besidisian warriors, who had been holding back for more than an hour and had nowhere to vent their energy, ran and roared wildly, pouncing ferociously on the rear of the Bruttian''s right nk.

    The roaring and the rumbling of footsteps made the Consentian warriors look back in a hurry. Then they saw countless Bruttian warriors dressed like them brandishing their spears and attacking them fiercely.

    ¡°It''s the Besidisians! We are surrounded!!¡­¡± The Consentian warriors turned around in a hurry to resist them.

    At this time, the cavalry brigade of Ledes easily defeated the struggling Bruttian cavalry and light infantry. Just as the cavalry brigade, reconnaissance brigade and the light infantry stop pursuing the defeated warriors and advanced northward in great haste to cross the rear of the enemy''s right nk and attack the rear of Bruttii''s centre, the already exhausted Consentian warriors began dispersing after the ferocious attack of the Besidisians.

 Chapter 327: Sorrow after the war

    The defeat came so quickly that Pian was still unable to believe it because he felt that victory was close to him, ¡°Attack! Keep on attacking! The enemy will soon be defeated!!¡­¡± He tried to stop the warriors from escaping while almost getting knocked down.

    ¡°Chieftain, go! If you don''t retreat, we won''t be able to escape!!¡± The guards forced him to retreat.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Grand legatus, we have won!¡± Tolmides came to report with glee, ¡°The enemy fled in disorder!¡±

    Davos remained calm as he already expected this result. He then said, ¡°The battle is not yet over, as repelling the enemy is not enough, and it will depend on the final result of the battle!¡±

    Usually, in a frontal sh, the defeated side seldom lose more than 10% of their soldiers. And only after the enemy fled, if the pursuit is carried out well, will the casualty rate of the defeated side will increase considerably. That is because the fleeing soldiers have lost their morale and no longer have the intention to resist.

    Thus Davos continued the attack.

    The Theonian soldiers simply threw away their heavy copper shields and helmets, held their spears in both hands and continued pursuing the enemy despite their exhaustion, and cooperated with the reinforcementsing from the nk to surround the enemy.

    The Besidisian warriors, the light infantry and the freemen led by Epiphanes and Cid, and the mountain reconnaissance brigade of Izam set up a ¡°huge¡± from the right nk of the Bruttian army to the rear of Bruttii''s centre. Although this ¡± is not sturdy, and the mesh is toorge, it is still enough to deter the Bruttians who just want to escape.

    Amidst the roaring of the Theonians everywhere, some of the defeated Bruttians simply threw away their weapons and sat on the ground.

    The cavalry brigade of Ledes pursued the fleeing enemy in a wide double horizontal formation. The cavalries with enough strength were like a strainer rounding up the debris¡­

    And only when it was near dusk that the Theonian cavalry stopped their pursuit. After returning from the Consentia teau, the soldierster gave the cavalry the name ¡°Blood Cavalry¡±, which eventually became their official name.

    By this time, the battle was over. At the cost of 1,500 casualties, the Theonia Union caused 5,000 casualties and more than 5,000 captives to the Bruttian Union, winning a great victory.

    Ledes then rushed to meet Davos but was told that the grand legatus went to where they are cremating the deceased.

    Walking on the battlefield filled with corpses, the joy of victory has long vanished.

    The soldiers ced their deadrades on the grass neatly. Afterwards, they carefully ce two Obols on the deceased¡¯s eyes while praying to Hades with tearsing out in their eyes.

    Davos¡¯ pace became slightly heavy after seeing the familiar pale face. Finally, he stopped. A dozen soldiers were weeping around a corpse by the roadside in front of him, headed by a man he happened to know, a centurion of the second legion, Xethippus.

    With a jolt in his heart, he came forward and asked in a low voice, ¡°Who is the deceased?¡±

    ¡°Grand legatus!¡± The officers and the soldiers saluted in a hurry.

    From the gap, he saw the face of the deceased, which was a familiar face. Arsinis, an enthusiastic and cheerful young man from Amendra, and was the hero of the second Crotonian War and the g bearer at the Triumphant Return. During thest attack in this battle, Arsinis, as a toon captain, rushed to the forefront, only to be stabbed in the chest by a thrown spear by an enemy who did not flee¡­

    Listening to the grieving words of Xethippus, Davos took two Obols from the soldiers and ced them on Arsinis'' closed eyelids. A year ago, this brave young man had dared topete with him in swimming, but now his body is as cold as stone. At this moment, Davos wished that Hades really existed in this world because, ording to the Theonians reverence for the King of the Underworld, he would surely give preferential treatment to these Theonian soldiers who died in battle¡­

    After leaving the group of soldiers, Davos walked a little further forward, then stopped and looked at the several burning funeral pyre in the distance with gloom¡­

    After some time, Davos said to Tolmides, who had been following him silently, ¡°Do you think¡­Theonia''s war against Bruttii¡­is correct?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Tolmides was unable to respond for a while.

    However, Davos expression soon became firm, and he said with determination, ¡°Of course! In this era, it is either us destroying the others or the others destroying us. There is no other way besides strengthening ourselves!¡±

    Tolmides agreed with Davos'' words. In the eastern Mediterranean, he saw how the Persians oppress the weaker race and the tyranny of Sparta in Ionia and Asia Minor. Aftering to the western Mediterranean, he also heard about the power of Carthage and the tyranny of Syracuse. However, what Tolmides doesn''t know was that what Davos was worried about was Rome, a Latin city-state in central Italia that he had never heard of.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Grand legatus, our brothers of the first legion, and the reserves¡­are catching up on their rest as they are too tired that almost as soon as they fell to the ground, they fell asleep, not even removing their armour.¡± Kapus said with some pain.

    ¡°This battle¡­whether it was the first and second legion or even the other teams have all done their best and fought hard!¡± Davos sighed, then he reminded Kapus, ¡°But it''s currently autumn, and the night in the mountains is said to be much colder than in Thurii. If our brothers were to fall asleep after a fierce fight and sweating, they might catch a cold! Now that our medical camp is full, I don''t want any unnecessary increase of patients!¡±

    Antonios, who was beside Davos, had once again served as the military officer in the army, as he was already familiar with this position. At this time, he put forward some suggestions, ¡°I suggest that the auxiliary soldiers of the logistics camp take out the nkets and have the soldiers of the first legion use it to cover themselves.¡±

    Davos nodded in agreement. He then looked at Drakos, the legatus of the second legion, who has his head slightly lowered and his hands on his back and his left leg trembling slightly.

    Davos looked at him and asked, ¡°Can weplete our camp tonight?¡±

    ¡°Our brothers of the second legion are currently taking the captives to speed up the construction, along with the mountain reconnaissance brigade and the warriors of Besidice. While lord Teriphias and lord Gorkes (strategos of Roscianum) led our allies also to build their camps under the guidance of the engineers¡­that''s why before the night descends, we will be able toplete the camp!¡±

    Teriphias and Gorkes nodded after Drakos mentioned their names.

    After thanking them, Davos asked, ¡°How is the behaviour of the captives?¡±

    ¡°We have severely punished more than a dozen prisoners who dared to resist, and with the Besidisians as an example, they became quite obedient.¡±

    Davos nodded. He paced back and forth and said, ¡°Don''t abuse them! If you find some Bruttians who are unable to keep working, allow them to stop and take a rest¡­¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°What''s wrong with the wound on your right hand?¡± Drakos was thinking aboutpleting the task given by Davos that he didn''t notice Davos going behind him.

    He hurriedly retracted his hand, stepped back two steps, shook his head and said, ¡°Nothing¡­it''s nothing, I was just identally¡­stabbed by the enemy''s spear¡­¡±

    As he shook his head, Davos caught sight of a bloody wound under his jaw. And Davos, who Herpus revered as a teacher, knew that near this wound is a vital carotid artery. So he could already imagine the thrilling sight and the luck of Drakos.

    At this moment, Davos'' face sank, ¡°You have rushed to the front again, haven''t you?! How many times have I told you that you are the head of the legionmanding more than seven thousand men and not an ordinary soldier! If you were to die, do you know how much impact it will have on the whole battle?! Theonia''s militaryw is just a joke to you, isn''t it?! If you don''t want to obey, then just don''t!¡­¡±

    When Davos scolded him, Drakos hung his head and did not dare utter a word.

    In the eyes of outsiders, a young man scolding a burly man in his 30s like a father scolding his son is a funny sight. But around these high ranking officers of Theonia and important figures of the alliance, they all look serious and tried to hold their breath, which just shows Davos¡¯s might.

    ¡°Temporarily hand over themand of the second legion to Adrian and immediately go to Stesichodas. After getting your wound treated, go to the military inspector and ept your punishment!¡±

    As soon as Davos was done speaking, Drakos nodded repeatedly, then turn around and run away like someone getting an amnesty.

    ¡°Grand legatus, in fact¡­at that time, the soldiers were already exhausted, that is why Drakos wanted to use this method to liven up the soldiers¡­¡± Antonios exined to Davos in a low voice.

    ¡°You all should know Arsinis. After winning the second war with Crotone, he became the g bearer in the Triumphant Return. And now, he is a toon captain of the second legion, a very promising young officer!¡± Davos sighed, ¡°However, I just paid for his fare to cross the river¡­the lower ranking officer will copy what theirmanding officer does. And I don''t want to see the officer positions of the second legion getting vacant. That is why this Drakos, who likes to fight in person, needs to be beaten hard!¡±

    With Davos'' words, Kapus, Antonios and the others have nothing else to say.

 Chapter 328: Sedrum

    After calming down, Davos asked, ¡°Kapus, the first legion is the one in charge of taking care of the Bruttian captives at night, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord.¡±

    ¡°Try to make them feel asfortable as possible while making sure that they don''t escape.¡±

    Kapus hesitated for a moment and said, ¡°I''ll try.¡±

    ¡°Even though they are enemies now, but after this battle¡­well¡­it is certain that the Bruttians will soon be our own. So in order to make this transition more smoothly, we need to stop increasing the hatred, and we have to make an effort.¡± Davos patiently exined to them that was has always been a continuation of politics, and Davos'' position determines that he must see further and consider more.

    On the sideline, Teriphias and Gorkes looked at each other. The continued growth of the Theonia Union should be good for Heraclea and Roscianum.

    ¡°After a while, I might send a man to help you pacify these Bruttian captives, but I am not sure if he is willing to help with that yet, though?¡± Davos rubbed his chin and mused.

    Kapus was curious who Davos was talking about, but he didn''t ask.

    ¡°What''s the situation in the medical camp?¡± Davos thought of another question.

    ¡°There are too many wounded! Stakodas and the others are too busy that they could not even rest. Even Epiphanes had sent the light infantry and the freemen to help the medical camp to carry the wounded¡­¡± Antonios said anxiously.

    ¡°That''s to say that there is no one attending to the wounded Bruttians?!¡± Davos eyes widened at the seriousness of the problem, ¡°Hmm¡­Antonios, go to Stakodas immediately and tell him to draw out two physicians no matter what¡­and at the same time, have the first legion spare a thousand men to assist on treating the wounded Bruttian that needed simple treatment such as debridement and bandaging.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Antonios left quickly.

    ¡°And¡­Tolmides, I''ll write two letters right away while you ask the heralds to take the letters back to Thurii and give them to Herpus and Mersis. I want them to send as many physicians and nurses as possible and deliver more medicine, medical supplies and food¡­¡±

    After they went toplete their assigned task, Davos had now time to face Teriphias and Gorkes alone, ¡°Apologies! I did not expect that after winning this battle, there will be so many things that kept me upied.¡±

    ¡°It''s fine.¡± Teriphias then gave serious praise, ¡°As it has given me a chance to see the excellent management ability of the archon of Theonia! And I really did not expect that there would still be so many things to deal with after a battle, such as the medical treatment of the wounded, treating the captives, constructing the camp, and arranging the sentry posts¡­I truly learned a lot of military knowledge.¡±

    Teriphias'' words came from the bottom of his heart, and Gorkes, beside him, felt the same way. It is a fact that most of the Greek city-states in this era fought near their territory, and so they did not pay much attention to the logistics. And only powerful city-states such as Athens, Sparta, Syracuse and so on, who needed to fight for a long time away from their city-state, would have higher requirements on military logistics. But even so, there are still some situations where the soldiers suffered from a shortage of pay and food. Davos knew that the logistics of the Theonian army was still rough and imperfect, but in the eyes of Teriphias, it was alreadyplicated.

    Thus Davos could only smile and said, ¡°It is all thanks to the full support of Heraclea and Roscianum! With this victory, I believe that the war with Bruttii will soon end. And at that time, the clerk of our logistics camp will carefully count the spoils and distribute them to both of you equally.¡±

    Roscianum has already worked with Theonia three times, making Gorkesfortable with Theonia''s assurance.

    Teriphias had little interest in the spoils of war as Heraclea is rtively wealthy. Naturally, he still epted it so that his citizens didn''te here in vain, and else they wouldin once they go back. However, he was more concerned about another thing, ¡°Lord Davos, I have a request.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Can the Theonian officers help train our citizens in your way of fighting?¡± Teriphias exined with some embarrassment, ¡°Because during the battle, I notice that the fighting style of Theonia was very different from that of Heraclea and Roscianum. And this difference has greatly affected the cooperation among various forces, that''s why¡­¡± In fact, at the beginning of the battle, it was the three thousand Theonian reserves who resisted the Bruttian''s charge and yed the bulwark on the right nk in the subsequent battles. If the reserves are already like this, one can already imagine the strength of Theonia''s legion. That is the reason why Teriphias made up his mind and made a request.

    Davos was surprised on the surfaced, but he was delighted in his heart, ¡®Our allies finally made such a request!¡¯

    He asked, while pretending to be hesitant, ¡°Does the Council of Heraclea approve of this?¡±

    ¡°I will have them agree!¡± Teriphias said resolutely.

    ¡°In that care, when the war with Bruttii is over, I will ask our Chief of military, Philesius, to discuss the training with you.¡± Davos then said half-jokingly, ¡°Lord Teriphias, Theonia''s military training is rigorous, so you have to prepare the citizens of Heraclea in advance.¡±

    With Heraclea as an example, Gorkes was unwilling tog, so he forwarded the same request to Davos.

    After seeing off Teriphias and Gorkes, Davos felt exhausted. However, he still could not rest because there was one person he had to meet, ¡°Go and bring me the important person from Bruttii the Ledes caught.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Sedrum regretted not praying to the goddess Amara seriously before setting out. Now he had the misfortune of tripping and falling off his horse while escaping, followed by his guards scattering due to the swarming fleeing Bruttians. When he finally managed to struggle up from under his wounded horse, he fell behind and became the target of the pursuing Theonian cavalry due to his clothes being different from ordinary Bruttian warriors.

    After bing a captive, he said his name without concealing it.

    Now, his hands tied behind his back and were escorted forward by a Theonian soldier. From afar, he could see a golden military g erected on the grassy slope, with hundreds of soldiers standing neatly in two columns, and a man sat under the g, which should be the archon of Theonia, Davos.

    Sedrum was lost in his thoughts when his footsteps unconsciously elerated.

    As they approached, the two men looked at each other. Sedrum was surprised by the youth of Davos, while Davos was astonished by the old age of Sedrum. As far as he knew, the great chieftain of Vergae was not over fifty years old.

    Davos spoke first, ¡°Untie him.¡±

    Sedrum rubbed his red wrist and took another step forward.

    Davos sat still.

    Sedrum raised his eyebrows and said, ¡°Are you not afraid that I will attack you?¡±

    Davos smiled and said, ¡°You can speak Greek, which saves me the trouble of looking for an interpreter. Go ahead and sit down, as I don''t want to keep looking up.¡±

    Although his voice was not loud, it has an irresistible strength.

    Sedrum hesitated, then he sat down with reluctance.

    Martius, who was behind Davos, let out a sigh of relief.

    ¡°I''ll first answer your question.¡± Davos then slowly said, ¡°First, I have my brave guard here that would make it difficult for you to seed. Second, even if you seed, the predicament that the Bruttians are facing now can not be solved, and making the Theonian soldiers angry will just bring unimaginable punishment to the people in thisnd!¡±

    Sedrum snorted, ¡°Isn''t Theonia now upying ournd, killing our people, looting our properties! If I could beat up the leader who started the war, then I can at least make the Bruttians happy for a while!¡±

    ¡°Are the Bruttians the victim?¡± Davos then seriously said, ¡°No! For decades, the Bruttians have never stopped attacking and plundering the Greek city-states, destroying countless Greek families! Now, we Greeks havee to get our revenge, yet you feel aggrieved. What a joke!¡±

    ¡°You Greeks are foreigners who upied ournds. We¡­we are just getting back what is ours!¡± Sedrum retorted.

    ¡°As far as I know, you Bruttians have originally lived in the central part of Italia and had only migrated here more than two hundred years ago, driving out the original inhabitants of thisnd and settling down, and now you actually im to be the owner of thend in South Italia? Is this ignorance? Or just arrogance?¡± Davos sneered.

    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Sedrum shouted in exasperation.

    ¡°It seems you don''t know. Fortunately, the Greeks have written and recorded the things that happened here for hundreds of years. And the schrs of Thurii have collected the records of the other city-states. So if you ever go to Thurii one day, you can go and see the detailed history of the Bruttians.¡±

    Regarding the Bruttians, Davos had asked Ansitanos for detailed advice, so Sedrum, seeing Davos'' seriousness, seemed a bit discouraged and said simply, ¡°What will you do to us?¡±

    ¡°Do you mean the captured Bruttians or the thing you called Bruttii Union?¡±

    ¡°Naturally, us, who were unfortunate enough to be captured.¡± Sedrum added defiantly, ¡°Although we have lost the battle, as long as Pian and his troops defended the city with all their strength, then no matter how many soldiers you have, you will have a hard time breaking through Consentia. In the end, you can only retreat once you don''t have enough food.¡±

    ¡°You can be at ease, as we will break through Consentia with ease!¡± Davos said confidently.

 Chapter 329: Persuasion

    He reached out his hand and stopped Sedrum, who wanted to speak more, ¡°In this battle, Bruttii suffered five thousand casualties, and with the help of the Besidisians, we have confirmed that most are from Consentia. And at the same time, we also captured more than five thousand men who are mostly also from Consentia.¡± During the war, Pian ced the main force of Consentia in the centre and the right nk, which was the focus of Theonia''s counterattack, leading to such a result.

    ¡°And the others are from Vergae and Anbania. In other words, the important power of the Bruttii Union in maintaining your rule and subduing the other smaller tribes has been greatly weakened. As far as I know, Consentia has forced many smaller tribes to settle in the outer part of Consentia. Therefore, as long as I let the Besidisians make a promise to these tribes and give them freedom and more benefits¡­tell me whether these tribes will take the opportunity to resist and help us capture Consentia?!¡±

    After hearing Davos, Sedrum shuddered and bowed his head because two days ago, there had been a riot in Consentia, so the words of Theonia''s archon could be a reality!

    ¡°Besides, our troops will not immediately attack the city after arriving at Consentia! I heard that the city of Anbania¡¯s defence is extremely simple. Perhaps if I were to send four thousand men, I could easily capture it. And Vergae-¡± When Davos mentioned Vergae, Sedrum shuddered again.

    ¡°How many warriors have you taken from there? Do you think that I can take Vergae by sending ten thousand soldiers with the help of Laos?¡±

    Sedrum clenched his fist, gritted his teeth. Even though his expression was painful, he still did not say a word.

    ¡°After taking Anbania and Vergae, we would then attack Consentia. Oh, you must be wondering why I did not mention mpetia?¡±

    After a pause, Davos continued, ¡°Because the fourth legion of Theonia will soon capture mpetia, you don''t believe it? I think that mpetia must have already asked Consentia for reinforcements because their stone walls could not resist our ballistae and siege towers.¡±

    ¡°Ballista?¡± Sedrum finally raised his head in doubt.

    Davos then generously briefed him on the newly developed siege equipment of Theonia.

    Sedrum''s face became very unsightly. From what he can remember, Pian did not say anything about mpetia, but he knew that Consentia had sent two thousand reinforcements. He had raised an objection to Pian on this matter, but Pian did not budge, which waspletely unlike his previous practice. ording to various signs, he felt that what Davos said was probably the truth, and Pian had long known that mpetia could not hold on and was afraid that it would just cause panic to the Bruttians, so he chose to hide it and decided to make a desperate struggle.

    Sedrum''s heart became cold, and he squeezed out a sentence, ¡°Could it be that Theonia is trying to kill all the Bruttians?¡±

    ¡°Kill all? No, we Theonians are not that cruel.¡± Davos then seriously said, ¡°In my eyes, whether Bruttians, Lucanians, or Greeks, they are all the same.¡±

    Sedrum then stared at him in disbelief.

    ¡°You might want to ask, ¡®If that''s the case, then why did you attack Bruttii¡¯?¡± With a sigh, Davos picked up grass in his right hand and wound it around his finger, ¡°For hundreds of years, the Bruttians and the Greeks regarded each other as enemies, killing each other without stop. If the Bruttii Triban Union is established, the conflict with the Greeks will only intensify. Thus Theonia was forced to take the lead in attacking, not to destroy Bruttii, but to bring the Bruttians into the Theonia Union and be a part of the union. The Mediterranean is big enough to amodate us Greeks and Bruttians to explore, nt and graze¡­so why do we have to fight for such a little barrennd?!¡­¡±

    Sedrum stayed silent for some time and finally said in a low voice, ¡°Do you want the Bruttians tribes to be allies of Theonia?¡±

    ¡°Theonia has paid so many lives of so many citizens, just to make the Bruttians an ally?!¡± Davos'' expression changed. He then increased his voice, ¡°The people of Theonia will not agree, nor will the Senate!¡±

    ¡°Do¡­do you want to make us like the Lucanians of Nerulum?¡­¡± Sedrum said bitterly, with Vergae close to Nerulum, he certainly knew something about the situation there.

    ¡°If Bruttii were to integrate into Theonia, the Bruttians will be Theonian citizens. While the tribal chieftains will still be in charge of their respective tribes, the ones who will be in charge of Vergae, Consentia, mpetia, Anbania, and other cities will be appointed by Theonia''s Senate¡­Besidice has agreed to join Theonia Union, and Baripiri and Burim have also be members of Theonia''s Senate. If you want to learn more about it, you can go to Burim and asked him.¡±

    Sedrum slightly wavered from Davos'' words, but he still asked with reluctance, ¡°Can''t you just let us¡­manage our cities? I fear that there will be trouble because the Bruttians are not used to having other races lead us¡­¡±

    Davos firmly said, ¡°All the territories of Theonia will be governed by the Senate, which will never change! But if you join the Senate, then one day, you might get elected as the praetor of Consentia by the Senate, or even govern the whole Bruttii region¡­¡±

    Dravos drew a big pie, which more or less lessens the resistance of Sedrum. He pondered for a moment and reluctantly said, ¡°¡­I am just the chieftain of Vergae.¡±

    ¡°It doesn''t matter as the only thing you need to decide is the ownership of Vergae.¡± Davos, seeing that Sedrum still kept his head down, hesitating. He added, ¡°You can go and think about it. There is no need for you to rush in making a decision.¡±

    Sedrum replied hurriedly and was about to leave.

    ¡°Wait. I still have one more thing I need your help with.¡±

    Davos'' words made Sedrum flustered. He staggered a few steps and nearly fell down.

    ¡°You need to go and appease the captured Bruttian warriors and tell them, ¡®as long as they follow our orders, the Theonian soldiers will never harm them, and they will be able to return home safely after a while. However, if they were to gather to make a mess and try to escape, our soldiers will not hesitate! Moreover, once Bruttii belongs to Theonia, their families will also be punished!¡¯¡± Davos said sternly.

    ¡°¡­I''ll go talk to them.¡± Sedrum looked mncholy, the wrinkles on his face deepened, and he seemed to age a few more years after his conversation with Davos.

    Watching Sedrum walk unsteadily and being escorted away by the soldiers, Martius asked, ¡°Milord, will that old man surrender?¡±

    Davos smiled, ¡°It''s a good start that he agreed to my request just now. However, if he doesn''t hurry, we won¡¯t need him by then.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The battle of mpetia hase to a critical moment, after days of attack by the ballista, the city wall started crumbling, the trenches had been filled in many ces, and the warriors defending the city had suffered many casualties from the long-range attacks of the ballistae and the archers on top of the siege towers.

    However, the third legion had also paid the price. Five ballistae were damaged because of long-term wear and tear. Two siege towers were burned because of the Bruttians'' fire attack. And they had suffered more than four hundred casualties, most of whom were archers. Still, Hielos kept the intense offensive to pressure mpetia every day, always remembering what Davos had said to him in person, ¡®Now in the Mediterranean, whether it is a Greek city-state or another country, attacking a city poses a huge problem. Therefore, I hope that after you go to mpetia, you won''t fear the difficulties and the number of casualties. You must conquer that kind of stone city and sum up a set of experience on sieging a city for Theonia.¡¯

    In the early morning, the soldiers of the fourth legion and Terina lined up two hundred metres south of mpetia. In front of the huge army were five ballistae and three siege towers. (The requirements for making a ballista is very high, and the keyponents are very intricate, especially the set of springs. It had taken the Institute of Mathematics a lot of time and money just to build ten of them, which the engineers can not repair in just three days. Although the siege tower isrge, making it is notplicated as long as there are enough people.)

    The exhausted mpetian warriors had never seen so many enemies that they could not help but shudder.

    The crows hovering in the air seemed to sense the danger and flew away with a ¡°kaw¡±.

    ¡°Legatus, the preparations are ready!¡± When Hielos heard the report from his men, he immediately said, ¡°Ballista!¡±

    ¡°Ready the ballista!¡± The officers gave the orders.

    The axle rotates, the bowstring is pulled, the stone ball is loaded into the slider, and the angle and range are set.

    ¡°Fire!¡±

    Then five stone balls flew out and bombarded the most damaged section of the wall, opening the prelude to the siege.

    Soon after, the second and third round of continuous bombardment erges the cracks on the city wall¡­

    The city wall that had only gotten a night''s repair was overwhelmed, piece by piece the stone wall crumbling down¡­finally, with a loud roar, a section of the wall copsed, giving rise to a cloud of dust.

    The Theonian soldiers were jubnt, while the mpetian warriors turned pale.

    ¡°Attack!¡± Hielos gave the order promptly as the soldiers¡¯ morale soared high.

    In an instant, the salpinx sounded, and the battle g was waved. The drums rang, and the soldiers roared at the same time. Under the officers¡¯ leadership, the soldiers carried thedders and marched forward in a loose formation in small groups. The huge siege tower also rumbled along the t road towards the city wall with the full force of dozens ofbourers pushing it.

 Chapter 330: Hegesitus

    Pangam''s expression became grim as he watches the enemying likes tides, and the fear on the faces of the soldiers around him worried him. He drew his sword violently and shouted, ¡°Warriors of mpetia, you have sessfully stopped the powerful enemy for nearly a month, and now, our greatest test hase. Think about your parents, wives, and children, who are right behind us and need our protection. Take out your courage, and under the protection of Brutus, we will repel these timid enemies! We, the warriors of Bruttii, will never be ves!¡±

    ¡°The chieftain is right! We absolutely can''t lose. We definitely cannot be ves!¡±

    ¡°Fight the Greeks to the death!!¡±

    The mpetian warriors'' morale rose with Pangam''s words and began pulling the bowstring against the enemy approaching the trench¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Diaolidas, a member of Crotone''s Council of Hundreds, came to Terina with tons of grains and dozens of sheep to support the fourth legion of Theonia in the name of the South-Italia Alliance. However, he mainly came here to observe the progress of Theonia''s war against Bruttii, and he just happened to witness the siege with his own eyes.

    Later, he described what happened on that day to the Council after returning to Crotone, ¡°¡­the Theonians invented a terrifying siege weapon. They call it Ballista. It is like a bow that can shoot stone balls weighing more than ten kilograms, and it can fly hundreds of metres away and hit the city wall with uracy. And after days of continuous bombardment by this new siege equipment, arge gap appeared in the stone wall of mpetia.

    The Theonians also made something called a siege tower. It is like a movable wooden tower, taller than the walls of mpetia. When the Theonians pushed it towards mpetia, the archers on the top of the towers shoot at the enemies on the wall. And once they got closer to the city wall, a heavy drawbridge would be immediately drop down on the siege tower and bridge the gap between the tower and the city wall. Afterwards, the Theonian soldiers would then rush to the top of the city wall through the drawbridge.

    The Theonians had not only used ballistae and siege towers, but they also used a lot ofdders to climb the city walls as we do. I watch as every one of their soldiers rushed to attack, and even if theirrades fell off the wall, they would rarely back down. Their courage was no less than that of our citizens. While the mpetian warriors were not as fierce as they used to when facing us, it might be due to their number being too small, or that they are afraid of Theonia''s terrifying siege equipment¡­anyway, the battle onlysted until the afternoon, when Theonia''s fourth legion breached the city and killed the great chieftain of mpetia, Pangam¡­¡±

    The Council fell silent as Diaolidas finished reporting.

    Not long ago, they have received a report of Theonia conquering Besidice, and now, they once again conquered mpetia¡­¡®When did the Bruttians, who were a headache for Crotone, became so weak?! Or is it just that Theonia''s army has be stronger than Crotone?!¡¯ The Crotonians are at a loss. Initially, when they saw that a war break out, they hoped that Theonia would have a hard time facing the Bruttians so that Crotone could take advantage of it, but now, it seems that this is just Crotone''s beautiful dream and the strength that Theonia has shown made them feel scared.

    ¡°This is a good thing!¡± Then the strategos, Sistikos, stood up and said in a loud voice, ¡°The nightmare that has gued Crotone and other city-states for hundred of years has finally ended! The Crotonians will rejoice when they hear it!¡±

    The words of Sistikos made those who have other thoughts realise that even if they want to pull down Theonia, the lesia might not pass their proposal.

    At this time, the polemarchos, Lysias, stood up and said, ¡°As a member of the alliance, we should be happy for Theonia''s victory! Although the Theonians did not invite Crotone to participate in the war, Crotone, as a member of the South-Italia Alliance, should join hands with the other allies to present enough supplies to Theonia to show them our support!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the day of the fourth legion''s massive siege, the army led by Davos still stayed in the camp on the bank of Finita River.

    The soldiers were busy sending the sick and wounded back to Besidice, while the logistics camp brought the military supplies from Thurii to Besidice.

    Davos was currently staring at the map of the Bruttii mountains in the main tent while thinking about what to do next.

    At this time, Tolmides came in, ¡°Milord, there are a lot of Bruttians outside the camp, and their leader, a man named Hegesitus, asked for an audience.¡±

    Davos immediately said, ¡°Let him in!¡±

    Hegesitus was the one to instigate the previous riot in Consentia, but with the return of Pian''s army, knowing that they were no match, these rebellious tribes fled Consentia in haste. At that time, Pian did not have the energy to suppress them as he was busy dealing with the Theonian army, and these tribes and their families and little food could only flee into the mountains and suffered a lot. Two dayster, their food almost ran out, causing these tribes toin to Hegesitus, and began looking at him with increasingly cold gazes.

    At that moment, the people who went out to check on the situation brought back surprising news. A war broke out between the Bruttii Union and Theonia on the banks of Finita River, resulting in Bruttii''s great defeat, and the huge army that Pian led when setting out from Consentia were greatly reduced when they fled.

    These tribes attitude towards Hegesitus immediately changed after learning about what happened.

    Hegesitus, on the other hand, led these tribes to seek refuge in the Theonian army.

    For the sudden increase of more than two thousand mouths consuming the military ration, Davos did not care as he was more interested in Hegesitus, who had exceeded his expectations.

    He looked at the man with a Greek appearance, but with a height and physique different from that of a Greek, and having long messy hair. He then asked with curiosity, ¡°How did you convince them?¡±

    ¡°Lord archon.¡± Hegesitus knew that his opportunity hase, so he exined in detail, ¡°Before the establishment of the Bruttii Tribal Union, the Consentian tribe headed by Pian was constantly annexing the surrounding weak tribes with force. Since the establishment of the Bruttii Union, in order for them to not arouse the resentment of the great chieftains such as Vergae and Besidice, Pian proposed to establish a ¡®Chieftain Association¡¯ in the union, in which all the tribal chieftains who voluntarily or have forcibly surrendered, saying that they should unite to manage and decide the affairs of the union. But in reality, these tribal chieftains have no power at all, as the union¡¯s affairs were decided by the council of eldersposed of several great chieftains and the high priest (the council of seven elders). And the people of these tribes werepletely split up and forced to form a new tribe, which the union directly managed, and, of course, they had to pay taxes directly to the union every year.

    And the tribal chieftains lost their rights, and the tribal warriors were also not used to their new tribe. Milord, you should know that each tribe has basically had the same blood flowing through them, and after hundreds of years of reproduction, they are all rted by blood. Usually, if they have any difficulties, they will help each other, but now that they are separated from their tribes and needed to live independently, the lives of many warriors became much worse than before. What''s more, in the city of Consentia, the warriors of the big tribes easily oppressed them. Therefore, no matter whether it is the chieftains or warriors, they have dissatisfaction in their hearts¡­¡±

    Davos listened attentively and nodded from time to time. He felt that this set of measures of the Bruttii Tribal Union is even a step further than the system of the Lucanian Tribal Alliance, which has the intent to dismantle the old tribal systempletely and highly centralise the power to the upper level of the union. If they managed to establish this unionpletely, then they would be a great enemy to Theonia.

    ¡°Milord, in order to protect the Siro tribe, you did not hesitate to fight the Bruttii Tribal Union!¡± Hegesitus, after his ttery, continued, ¡°In order to respond to the war, the Bruttii Union had suspended the dismantling of the tribes that haveter surrendered. So after sneaking into Consentia, I said to them that ¡®Theonia will defeat the Bruttii Union and restore the rights and freedom of your tribes!¡¯¡± At this point, Hegesitus cautiously nced at Davos, a little worried that he would be criticised for deciding it by himself.

    ¡°You did the right thing!¡± Praised Davos. From the bottom of his heart, he also hoped that he could, like the Bruttii Union, conquer the various tribes and bring them all under the rule of Theonia. However, he knew that such recklessness would only intensify the conflict between Greeks and the Bruttians and destroy the region¡¯s stability, which was not worth the loss to Theonia. As an organisation of the same race, the Bruttii Union''s strength has far surpassed the other tribes, but they had still allowed these small tribes to fall into rebellion. If the Greeks, who always had a grudge against the Bruttiis, carried out such centralisation measures, then the results wouldn¡¯t have been good. Therefore, Davos decided that after conquering the Bruttians, he would still carry out the same strategy they implemented in Lucania, that is, to boil frogs in warm water*. On the surface, they would promise privileges to the tribes while secretly exerting subtle influence on the Bruttian warriors through the army and culture, which would eventually make them leave the control of the tribe. (note: slow integration) (T/N: There is a fable about this. If you were to put a frog in boiling water, it would jump out, but if you were to heat the water slowly, it will not notice the danger and be boiled to death.)

    ¡°These tribes were a bit interested in my proposal at first, but they were hesitant. But after milord''s army conquered Besidice, shocking the whole of Consentia, only then did they made up their mind.¡± He then excitedly added, ¡°Now that the army of milord defeated the Bruttians again, this victory will cause a huge impact on the situation within Consentia!¡±

 Chapter 331: Impact after the Battle

    ¡°You mean that there is a possibility of another riot in Consentia?¡± Davos asked immediately.

    ¡°This¡­it''s hard to say.¡± After thinking about it, Hegesitus cautiously said, ¡°I heard that in order to prevent these tribal chieftains from staying in the city and causing trouble to the union, he has specially asked them to lead their former tribesmen to join the battle. And when I led the rebel tribes here today, I didn''t hear anything unusual happening in Consentia.¡±

    Davos pondered for a moment and said, ¡°Hegesitus, thank you for your contributions to Theonia! Next time I ask about the situation in the Bruttii region, I will once again trouble you. Anyway, don''t keep those tribal chieftains waiting outside the camp gates. You can bring them all in.¡±

    Hegesitus then emotionally said, ¡°Archon, without you and Theonia''s protection, my people and I couldn''t get our revenge and would have starved to death in the mountains. For Theonia, we are willing to do anything!¡±

    Davos nodded, turned around and said, ¡°Martius, go with him and bring those tribal chieftains in. In addition -¡± Davos whispered to him, ¡°Make sure you take these people to pass through the ce where the great chieftain of Vergae could see.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Sedrum was shocked from seeing the tribal chieftains, who should have been in Consentia, in Theonia''s camp.

    And Davos warmly received these uneasy Bruttian chieftains and made a solemn promise to them that as long as they join Theonia, Theonia will not interfere in their management of their tribe and would even give priority in choosing good settlements and pastures.

    He even opened the map of Theonia and told them that they could choose not only thends in the Bruttii region but also the other vacantnds in Theonia Union.

    The chieftains took a piece of mind. Afterwards, they happily set up their tents next to Theonia''s camp, ready to help Theonia overthrow the oppressive Bruttii Tribal Union so that they could obtain thend promised by Theonia as soon as possible.

    When Davos saw them off, a new idea came to his mind. He then called Kapus and asked him to divide more than five thousand captives into a centuria of 200 men ording to their tribes. The captives will then elect a centurion, toon captain¡­and so on. He also told Kapus to ensure that the captives would not escape and resist while also giving these newly elected centurions prestige among the captives under their jurisdiction, such as the right to distribute food,bour and the right to punish their subordinates¡­

    In Davos'' n, Thurii would be the centre of the Theonia City-State Union, and the Bruttii region, which is very close to Thurii, would be a core area of Theonia. However, Davos was very clear that the biggest difference between the Bruttians and the Lucanians is that there are no big tribes in the Lucanian area in Theonia''s territory. However, ording to the current situation, there are likely to be severalrge Bruttians tribes after conquering Bruttii, which will be an unstable factor for Theonia''s rule of Bruttii in the future, and would also increase the difficulty in governing the Bruttii region.

    That''s why Davos'' main strategy for it was to dismember it and turn therger tribes into smaller tribes, And his approach on these more than five thousand captives was to prepare in advance¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as Davos started nning for conquering the Bruttii region, Consentia is not as what Hegesitus had said that there is no strange thing happening. On the contrary, it is rather erratic¡­

    Kaduk, another chieftain of Consentia, whose tribe''s strength isparable to Petaru''s tribe. However, after Petaru became the son-inw of Pian, things have changed. In the process of merging and annexing the small tribes, Petaru''s tribe, which Pian supported, gained many benefits, strengthening their tribal strength rapidly. Besides, after his tribe became the secondrgest tribe in Consentia and even in the whole Bruttii region, he had also entered the newly established highest authority of the Bruttii Tribal Union, the Seven Council of Elder.

    In this regard, Kaduk became angry and dissatisfied with Pian''s unfairness. However, the strength of Pian and Petaru''s tribe made him pretend to smile and be obedient. This time, when Pian led thergest army in Bruttii''s history to fight the Theonians, he had instead left him to guard Consentia, without having any choice but to ept.

    Even though he became the temporary owner of Consentia, Kaduk has no absolute power, and he knew that Phitara, the high priest whom he secretly mocked as ¡®Pian''s dog¡¯ is staring at him. Knowing that once he did something, Phitara can make half of his two thousand warriors disobey hismand, while the other half is, of course, his own people.

    With the army is out, Consentia had be mostly empty, and the official affairs were greatly reduced. Thus Kaduk spent most of the day bored in the Alliance Hall until the guards came to report the defeat of the Bruttii Union and the defeated warriors entering the city one after another.

    Although they have discussed the possibility of defeat before the battle, Kaduk was still shocked.

    He rushed to the eastern gate, and he could not believe the sight before him. The city''s gate was filled with ragged and exhausted defeated warriors, without helmets, shields and spears, some of whom were even naked and covered in mud. They hastily scramble into the city while looking back. At the first sign of disturbance, they panicked, pushed and squeezed wildly that some of them were even pushed out of the moat and screamed. Once they enter the city, they would immediately lie down on the ground and soon fall asleep¡­

    Kadus had been on the battlefield for a long time and had even suffered some defeat. But he has never seen such a tragic sight before. He couldn''t help but feel shocked, so he immediately mobilised his men to the gate to maintain order and rescue the wounded¡­

    It wasn''t long before he saw Pian. The great chieftain of Consentia didn''t return as when he had left for war, his eyes and expression were dull, and his hands were sping around the horse''s neck. The horse had obviously exhausted its strength to the extreme. It moved forward bit by bit, with every step bing difficult. Suddenly, it fell on its knees and threw Pian to the ground¡­

    The apanying guards rushed up to help Pian, who had been tossed on the horse for more than an hour was also physically and mentally exhausted, and his hands and feet became weak that he could only barely stood up even with the help of the guards. When he saw Kaduk, he weakly said, ¡°¡­be careful¡­be careful of the enemy¡­the enemy''s surprise attack¡­¡± Then he was carried into the city by the guards.

    Seeing Pian in such a sorry state, a gloating cheerful mood surface in Kaduk''s nervous heart, and this mood reached its peak after seeing Petaru.

    Petaru, who was twenty years younger than Pian, faired much better than his father-inw physically, but in spirit, it is obvious that the fierce pursuit of the Theonian cavalry scared him so much that when he entered the city, his mind became lost, shouting uncontrobly in front of the numerous defeated warriors, ¡°The enemy ising after us! The enemy ising after us! Close the gates! Close the gates!¡­¡± Which almost caused great chaos.

    It took Kaduk a great deal of effort to bring order to the ce, mentally cursing Petaru for being a fool while also fearing the Theonians that he had not yet encountered.

    That night, Kaduk remained on high alert.

    The defeated warriors fled back to the city one after another, and the people of Consentia cried all night after learning the bad news, causing the whole city to be shrouded with restlessness throughout the night¡­

    In the early morning of the following day, many warriors managed to flee back to the city.

    In the Hall, Pian, who has regained his strength, manage to temporarily step out of the shadow of yesterday''s tragic defeat, now looking serious.

    Until now, only more than two thousand warriors belonging to him and Petaru''s tribe have escaped, while only more than seven hundred warriors from Anbania and about a thousand warriors from Vergae. And the ones whose warriors have returned thergest are the ones from the smaller tribes, with a total of more than four thousand. What does that mean? It means that as the first and secondrgest tribe of Bruttii, about eight thousand men were either killed or captured by the Theonians! Such a huge number not only made him and Petaru distressed but also made the other tribesmen find reasons to criticise them, threatening their rule in the tribe.

    More importantly, the Bruttii Tribal Union is likely to face disintegration, because Pian who loses his power, has also lost his influence and appeal in the union. Just a moment ago, Anbania''s great chieftain, Bodiam, rejected Pian''s repeated appeal to remain and led his remaining tribesmen to leave Consentia.

    Despite what Pian said is correct, ¡°Anbania is too crude to resist the attack of the Theonians. It''s better for you to move the Anbanians to Consentia for the time being and fight side by side¡­¡±

    However, Bodiam solemnly replied, ¡°The Anbanians have lived in Anbania for generations. We will not abandon ournd even if we die, and we rather sprinkle our blood there!¡±

    The departure of the Anbanians affected the Vergaeans, who had lost their great chieftain and moured to go home as well. In the end, Pian managed to convince them to stay and promised to do his best in saving Sedrum.

    The Vergaeans were only a minor problem. On the contrary, the biggest problem is that after Pian returned to Consentiast night, he quickly fell asleep due to the dual impact of mental and physical exhaustion, making him forget to make some arrangements for the other tribal chieftains.

    As a result, after fleeing back to Consentia, these tribal chieftains did not return to their residence inside Consentia but hid in their previous settlement outside the city.

    One nightter, Pian noticed his great mistake, so he hurriedly sent his men with a team of warriors to urge those tribes to return.

    But the thing he fears the most happened. The warriors were driven out and reported to him with a bruised and swollen face, ¡°Great chieftain, chieftain Tagali refused to go back, and he even threatened to lead his tribes out of Consentia!¡±

 Chapter 332: Victory in Sight

    ¡°These guys are so brave. Do they want to rebel?!¡± After a night''s rest, Petaru recovered, then he asked for Pian''s order with anger, ¡°Great chieftain, I will take a thousand warriors and drag them here!¡±

    Pian shook his head, loosened his clenched fist and turned to look at the high priest, Phitara, and said in a deep voice, ¡°High priest, I request for you to go¡­and ask them what exactly they want and try to appease them.¡±

    ¡°Great chieftain!¡± Petaru shouted hastily, ¡°There is no need to be soft on those guys! Otherwise¡­otherwise, they will be out of our control and may even¡­threaten the security of Consentia!¡±

    With only Pian, Petaru and Phitara left in the Tribal Hall, Pian no longer needs to hide his thoughts. He looked at the two with a strong sorrowful expression and sighed heavily, ¡°Our defeat of this battle is all my responsibility! I¡­I shouldn''t have gambled and fight the Theonians. I thought that even if we couldn''t win, with our knowledge of the terrain, our warriors could have easily get out of the battlefield with our equipment being lighter than the Greeks and then retreat back to the city to defend against the enemy''s siege¡­s¡­I didn''t expect that a battle would cost us too much! Theonia is really different from Crotone and other Greek city-states! I could only apologise to our people!¡­¡±

    ¡°Chieftain, it was not your fault. It was the collective decision of the Council of Elders to fight Theonia¡­¡± Petaruforted his father-inw. He hesitated and whispered, ¡°Why¡­why don''t we make peace with Theonia?¡±

    As soon as these words came out, Pian and Phitara were taken aback.

    ¡°Would the Theonians even agree to a truce with everything that had happened?¡± Phitara expressed his doubt.

    ¡°We could give it a try!¡± Pian''s eye brightened from getting inspiration from Petaru''s words. He thought more and said, ¡°Petaru, send messengers to Theonia''s camp and say to their archon, ¡®Consentia is willing to be an ally of Theonia, just like Laos.¡¯ If the truce works, we could temporarily join Theonia, allowing the return of the captured warriors and give us time to regain our strength slowly. If not, we could still continue negotiating with them patiently. As far as I know, the archon of Theonia is not tyrannical as he had even forgiven Roscianum and Crotone. So why can''t he loosen the rope around our neck! At least it would allow us to buy some time to solve those tribes outside the city. Currently, Consentia could no longer endure another riot!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Consentia''s messenger arrived at Theonia''s camp, Davos listened to their goal. After hearing it, he pointed out that Consentia could only choose topletely integrate into Theonia Union, as there is no other way to go!

    He then tly refused the messenger''s request for further discussion. Now that they have the absolute advantage, how could he give Consentia a chance to breathe?!

    On the third day after the battle, the whole Theonian army pulled out of the camp and marched west. The cavalry spread out to scout the surroundings. The first legion acted as the vanguard. The second legion is on both sides of the centre, escorting the logistics brigade, medical brigade and engineering brigade¡­and the Theonian soldiers supervised the nearly starved Bruttian captives as they carried the supplies, pushing loaded carts and tending to the livestock. While the legion reserve and the allied troops served as the rearguard¡­

    Even on the vast teau, the whole army was still out of sight.

    Three hourster, Davos saw the huge city standing in front of him, Consentia.

    At this time, Ledes, the cavalries¡¯ strategos, rushed in, ¡°Grand legatus, the fourth legion ising here!¡±

    ¡°That''s great!¡± Davos was thrilled, he excitedly mp-on his horse''s belly, and his horse then raised all four hooves and galloped forward. His escort followed closely behind, then followed by the cavalry encircling around him to prevent idents.

    The legatus of the fourth legion, Hielos, likewise received the report and had also speed up his horse from the south. When he saw Davos, he immediately stopped his horse and saluted, ¡°Grand legatus, the fourth legion has captured mpetia and are ordered to follow!¡±

    ¡°Good job!¡± Davos solemnly praised. The current Hielos was no longer the ordinary mercenary at the start. His long-term military and administrative handling made him more dignified and less humble, turning him into a now qualified Theonian legatus.

    ¡°Milord, I amte. The mpetians were very tenacious that they have not only dyed our fourth legion for some time but also made us pay more than seven hundred lives of our brothers!¡± Hielos looked dejected. His gentleness still hadn''t changed much.

    ¡°It''s not your fault as my strategic n was the main reason for why the fourth legion took longer in capturing mpetia. And the soldier''s sacrifice was not wasted because you have captured a well-defended city by force from the front, which will be the most valuable treasure in Theonia''s military!¡± Davos encouraged him and then added, ¡°And, the fourth legion hase at the right time!¡±

    With that, he pointed forward with high spirits, ¡°Go, take me to see the warriors of the fourth legion!¡±

    Davos and Hielos then took the lead in galloping forward, followed by 200 escorts wearing red cloaks (including a hundred Besidisian warriors).

    Rodom, with one hand on the rein, while the other holding the g that Martius have given him, followed closely behind Davos, passing by the marching column of the fourth legion.

    Seeing them, the soldiers of the fourth legion, who were in front, stopped talking and looked at their grand legatus with burning gazes. And Davos, with a solemn expression, raised his right arm and stretched it forward to salute.

    All of a sudden, the soldiers thundered and cheered, ¡°All hail Theonia!!!¡±

    ¡°All hail Theonia!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The sight had not only made Rodom''s blood boil but also made him envious, ¡®Living a life of obscurity in the valley is boring! A man should be on the battlefield like amander!¡¯

    ¡°Do you hear it? The ones that are cheering loudly are the recruits of the fourth legion. I heard that they havee from Terina, and it seems that they have captured mpetia. It is no wonder that they are so energetic, but if we hadn''t defeated the main force of Bruttii, how could they have breached the city so easily! These little guys are stillcking! These following days, we have to let them know that we, the first legion, is the best in the Theonian army!¡­¡± The soldiers of the first legion watched the cheering of the fourth legion.

    At the top of the city wall, the Bruttian warriors watched the sight outside the city with fear. The ¡°long dragon¡± lineing from the northeast and the southwest merged and gave out a frightening cheer and an imposing momentum.

    Pian''s expression became sullen from the news he received yesterday about the ¡°fall of mpetia¡±, which he especially blocked from spreading. However, he did not expect that the Theonians would actually perform such a y outside the city and looking at the expression of the warriors, he knew that the blow to them is enormous.

    At that moment, Tagli''s voice sounded from behind, ¡°The Theonians are already powerful, yet we are too few! And Consentia is too big to defend with our small number. It''s better for us to surrender!¡±

    When Petaru heard this, he turned pale, wishing he could beat up the old man, but he still held himself back. Yesterday, under the mediation of Phitara, he and Tagli reached an agreement: The Bruttii Tribal Union would return Tagli''s original tribesmen and the tribal chieftains and shall not deprive and interfere with their rights again. In return, they finally agreed to join Pian in fighting the Theonians in Consentia.

    However, there is still one issue that they are debating: Tagli and the others demanded the abolishment of the Council of Elders and to delegate the power to deal with the affairs of the union to the Chieftain Association.

    For Pian, agreeing to this request of theirs would mean that the Bruttii Tribal Union that he had been striving for with a high degree of centralization would instead be a loose union of tribes, something he could not tolerate. That is why he postponed this important issue by giving an excuse about ¡°Bodiam is not here, and Sedrum is missing¡±, which cause the discontent of the other tribal chieftains, and now the two sides are at odds with each other.

    Facing the pressure of the Theonian army while Consentia is in such a situation. How could they resist the enemy''s attack? This had caused Pian''s distraught.

    Fortunately, Davos did not order to attack the city and had instead begun building a camp. Relying on the absolute advantage of having thirty thousand troops, he directly ordered the construction to start a kilometre away from the city in order to prepare to besiege Consentia.

    The guards began escorting the captives to dig trenches. With having the first, second, fourth legion, the legion reserve and the allied troops¡­.Davos had enoughbour to build a huge camp and enough men to stand by.

    Just as Davos was preparing to start a detailed reconnaissance around Consentia, Kapus reported that Sedrum asked to meet him.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°You have decided? For Vergae to join Theonia?¡± Davos suppressed the join in his heart and looked at Sedrum calmly.

    ¡°Yes, archon of Theonia.¡± After seeing the arrival of the fourth legion of Theonia, Sedrum immediately realized that what Davos had said to him before was true and that Theonia really had the strength to siege a city. Thus he no longer hesitated and decisively made up his mind, relieving himself of many days of distress, causing the weight on his shoulder to be lighter.

    Davos looked at the great chieftain of Bruttii, who he had not seen for several days and had be older, and asked slowly, ¡°So what would you do now?¡±

 Chapter 333: Conquering Bruttii

    ¡°After our previous defeat, many of my people must have fled to Consentia. And they might now be standing on top of the city wall¡­¡± Sedrum said carefully and added, ¡°Reasonably speaking¡­even if I were to go out now and persuade them to go out the city and surrender, and even try to persuade Pian to give up their resistance, but¡­a wolf king without wolves will not frighten anyone, and will instead get hunted. The Consentians will say that I¡­fearing for my life, have surrendered to Theonia. And my people will probably be determined to resist to the end to wash away this shame-¡± Sedrum paused for a moment, earnestly looked at Davos and continued, ¡°I hope that I can go back to Vergae first, convince the chieftains and the people that were there, and then lead them to join the siege of Consentia, which, I believe, would be more helpful for Theonia in capturing Consentia!¡± With that, he waited for Davos'' answer nervously.

    Davos gazed at him for a moment and smiled, ¡°How long does it take to get to Vergae from here?¡±

    ¡°It would take a long time by walking, but only less than three hours on a horse.¡±

    ¡°Then you can depart on horseback now. I hope that by tomorrow, I could meet the chieftains of Vergae here!¡± Davos said in a decisive and firm tone.

    With astonishment, Sedrum bowed his head and said, ¡°As you wish, milord.¡±

    ¡°Martius.¡±

    ¡°Here!¡±

    ¡°Take some guards and send chieftain Sedrum safely to Vergae. I believe that once Avinoges sees you, he will not stop chieftain Sedrum from entering the city. And at the same time, tell the archon of Laos toe here tomorrow with his army together with Vergae.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Martius hesitated then said, ¡°Milord, but you-¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry. Nothing will happen to me with the other guards and the Besidisian warriors led by Rodom.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Once Sedrum left, Tolmides, who was beside him, asked, ¡°Grand legatus, are you not worried that he is lying?¡±

    Davos watched at the depart back of Sedrum with a slightlyplicated expression, ¡°Sedrum is a smart man, as he had deliberately not mentioned one thing just now.¡±

    After the reminder of Davos, it dawned on Tolmides, ¡°Those Vergaean captives in the camp!¡±

    ¡°This is the hostage that he left behind. If a great chieftain were to leave his own people and escape alone, once the Vergaeans found out about it¡­ We could say that Sedrum had given it some thoughts.¡± Davos smiled, ¡°In fact, I don''t care whether he lied or not because he can''t change the end of the war alone. Rather, he will just give me a reason to wipe out the Vergaeanspletely!¡±

    That night, the inside and outside of the city were peaceful and quiet.

    On the next day, the sleepless Pian rushed to the city wall, waiting for the attack of the Theonians.

    However, the Theonians had still not attacked and instead, they were still building their camp.

    But what Pian didn''t know was that Davos had sent the first legion to attack Anbania, together with a dozen of the officers of the fourth legion, ballistae units and Hegesitus.

    By noon, the warriors defending Consentia were horrified to see an army of about a thousand mening from the north, carrying the g of Vergae, circling Consentia, and finally entering the Theonian camp followed by two thousand armies from Laos.

    Giving the warriors a great shock, ¡®Vergae has surrendered!¡¯

    In particr, the Vergaean soldiers inside the city, after seeing their great chieftain Sedrum and the other chieftains were at the forefront of the team, moured to go out of the city to join them, resulting in a sh with the warriors that havee to stop them.

    Pian was now in a bind. There are about eight hundred Vergaean warriors, while the total number of Consentian warriors in the city was five thousand at most. However, due to therge army of Theonians outside the city, he couldn''t transfer some troops to deal with the Vergaeans. While the other chieftains, led by Tagli, also refused to participate in the encirclement and suppression of the Vergaeans on the excuse that the Bruttians could not kill each other.

    Then at this time, a new situation arises outside the city. The tribes that had rioted in Consentia gathered and began shouting at Tagli, persuading them to surrender.

    Just as Tagli and the other chieftains hesitated, Bodiam, the great chieftain of Anbania, led more than a dozen cavalry in a hurry.

    The fact that even Anbania had surrendered cause a huge blow to the Bruttian warriors in the city. But as a matter of fact, Anbania''s surrender is reasonable, with seven thousand men of Theonia¡¯s first legion appearing outside Anbania, together with the several stone balls fired by the ballistae breaking their walls, and the persuasion of Hegesitus for them to surrender¡­these subsequent actions made the great chieftain, Bodiam, who only had less than a thousand warriors left, to quickly make the right choice.

    With the surrender of Anbania, all the Bruttians in Consentia became more frightened. Because of this, Consentia has be a lone ¡°ind¡± surrounded by enemies!

    Tagli and the other chieftains finally made up their minds to open the city gates and surrender.

    The Theonian soldiers cheered as they rushed into Consentia. While Pian, Petaru and Kaduk had to retreat to the inner part o the city with their tribal warriors, leaving the city in chaos.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Petaru staggered into the tribal hall.

    ¡°Great chieftain!¡± Petaru shouted anxiously, ¡°Great chieftain, that damn Kaduk!¡­he opened the gate and surrendered to the Theonians! We¡­what should we do¡­¡±

    Sitting on the wooden chair, Pian did not panic. He looked at his son-inw calmly and uttered a sentence with difficulties, ¡°Surrender to the Theonians¡­¡±

    Petaru, who was waiting for the answer he wanted, hesitated a bit and said ¡°Yes¡±, then he hurriedly walked out.

    ¡°Petaru.¡± Pian stopped him and said with seriousness, ¡°As a chieftain of the Bruttians, you''re temperament is still a bit hasty. In the future, you should think more before taking action, and¡­¡± Pian''s voice became lower. He then took a breath and said, ¡°Take care of Una!¡±

    Hearing this, Petaru became uneasy, ¡°Father¡­¡±

    Pian waved his hand and said, ¡°Quickly go! Too many of our people have died¡­¡±

    With some reluctance, he watched as the figure of Petaru disappears outside the hall. Then Pian turned around with weariness. On the wall behind him is the g of the Bruttii Tribal Union ¨C A snow-capped mountain towering over the green grasnds that represent thend that nurtured thousands of Bruttians and the goddess Amara that sheltered them.

    Pian stepped forward. He then passionately gaze at the g that he had poured his heart and soul into, as countless thoughts shed through, seeing a unified Bruttii Tribal Union rising in thisnd, but¡­

    ¡°Theonia¡­Theonia¡­¡± Pian repeated the name with resentment, filled with regret. Naturally, he would not know that in the history of Davos'' previous life, Bruttii became a powerful kingdom several decadester. Not only did the Greek city-states tremble under its troops, but even the Lucanians were afraid of them. The great city-states such as Crotone and Thurii, who have be so weak after sessive invasions by Syracuse, had to invite Alexander of Epirus to lead tens of thousands of troops, crossing the sea to Italy in order to attempt to destroy Bruttii in one fell swoop. But the result, near the Finita River, where the Theonians and the Bruttii Union''s troops met, the Bruttians had almostpletely wiped out the Greek allied forces led by Alexander. And from then on, the Greek city-states in South Italia could only hide behind their tall walls and try to survive, leaving no record in history until the arrival of the Romans¡­

    At this time, Pian took down the g of the Bruttii Union, slowly wrapped it around his body, and then drew out a dagger at his waist¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the day before Pianmitted suicide and Davos upying the whole Bruttian territory, the third legion led by Hieronymus arrived at Pyxous, and the Pyxousians who had no troops could only surrender.

    After receiving this news, the great chieftain of Potentia, Pamot, finally made up his mind to send envoys to Thurii and asked to join the Theonian alliance.

    A monthter, Metapontum and Gguso had also joined the Theonian alliance.

    At this time, the alliance of Theonia had upied more than half of thend in South Italia and Lucania and had be the absolute hegemon.

    Note: ording to historical data, the Bruttians had been the vassals of the Lucanians for decades. In the end, they united and established a unified kingdom. At that time, due to the repeated invasion of Dionysius of Syracuse, the strength of the Greek city-states in South Italia was significantly weakened, providing convenience for the growth of Bruttii. If we were to look at the maps of this period, you could see that the Bruttian territory almost upied the whole Cbria region, with the exception of the Greek city-states along the coast.

    In this book, the existence of Theonia interrupted the rise of the Bruttians. Of course, they had also interrupted the rise of the Lucanians.

    In the next volume, more Mediterranean forces will be involved and will make the situations moreplicated. There are also more historical figures appearing, grander war scenes and more treacherous conspiracies and diplomacy¡­so stay tuned!

 Chapter 334: Syracuses Expansion

    Dionysius, apanied by Macias, was inspecting the construction of Syracuse''s fortress when the news of Theonia''s conquest of Bruttii reached Syracuse.

    Seeing the fortress'' nearpletion, he was in a good mood, but when he heard the news, his face immediately became gloomy and blurted out, ¡°Damn Carthage, they are hindering my n!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the early spring of 397 B.C., an army of a hundred thousand led by Carthage''s shofet Himilco set out from Carthage andnded in Sicily after a small-scale battle with the Syracusan Navy at sea. Soon after, they quickly captured Eryx in western Sicily, then stormed the city of Motya and seeded.

    They then forced the Syracusan troops to withdraw from the siege of Segesta. Rather than taking advantage of their victory, Himilco destroyed Motya and built a new city near the coast, and named it Lilybaeum.

    When the Carthaginian army stopped their advance, the cautious Dionysius began stationing his troops in Syracuse.

    Shortly afterying the foundation for Lilybaeum, Himilco led the army to continue their attack eastward just as February arrived. This time, rather than taking the attack route that Syracuse tookst year, he instead took a boat around the northeast corner of Sicily and easily took down the defenceless Messina.

    The fall of Messina became a reminder to Rhegium, who was on the other side of the strait. This great Greek city-state, which was wealthy due to its advantageous geographical position and prosperous port transit trade, had been quietlymunicating with Carthage for many years to prevent Syracuse from coveting the strait of Messina. But all of a sudden, Rhegium''s friendly foreign city-state bared its fangs and captured its sister city-state, Messina. Why sister city-state? It is because Messina was established by the joint colonization of Cumae and Chalcis and was initially named Zancle andter renamed Messina because of the arrival of the immigrants from Messene. The Messinians have long realised that the other side of the Strait must be under their control in order to ensure their safety, so they encouraged their mother-state, Cumae. Cumae together with the Messinians then jointly established the friendly city-state of Rhegium.

    Rhegium became panicked that they hurriedly decided to send envoys to the base of the South-Italia Alliance in Scylletium and ask them to join the alliance. So far, with the exception of Locri and its subordinate city-states, all the other Greek city-states have an alliance agreement with Theonia.

    After theplete destruction of Messina, Carthage built a new city, Tauromenium, on the coast south of Messina, in order for Himilco to please the natives of eastern Sicily, the Sicels, and to prepare for their attack on Syracuse, which he then presented to the Sicels.

    In March, Dionysius felt that he could no longer let the Carthaginians continue attacking its subordinate city-states. And if he still did not do anything, Syracuse''s allies might fall to Carthage. Thus he mobilised both hisnd and sea army to push northward to the in of Catania.

    Hence a naval battle broke out between Syracuse and Carthage near Catania. The Greek warships were more than that of Carthage, and they also had an advantage in equipment. However, Dionysius had appointed his brother, Leptines, due to favouritism. But as themander of the navy, his brother made a mistake in hismand, leading to the defeat of Syracuse''s navy and causing heavy losses.

    As the naval battle happens, the Greek army watches it on the shore. And due to this, they witnessed the tragedy of the navy and began wavering.

    Fortunately, the army led by Himilco did not arrive at the battlefield in time due to Mount Etna, on the southwest of Tauromenium, suddenly erupting, spewing down hotva and destroying the road to the south. The dark volcanic ash blocked the sky, making the Carthaginian army have no choice besides to take a detour.

    And the Syracusan army sang the ode of Hephaestus, the god of fire, silently in awe and hurriedly returned to Syracuse. Then Catana and Leontini fell into Carthage''s hand.

    With the aftereffect of his naval victory, Himilco finally led his army to Syracuse. At the same time, the Carthaginian navy sailed into the harbour of Syracuse, where they then set up camp on the banks of the Anapus river, trying to besiege Syracuse from bothnd and sea.

    At this time, Dionysius anxiously sent messengers to Campania in Italia, Corinth in Greece, Sparta and other city-states to seek emergency assistance. Although Magna Graecia is the closest to Syracuse, Dionysius intentionally or unintentionally ignored this area and did not ask for any help from Theonia Union, the hegemon of South Italia.

    Naturally, Theonia could not send any troops without any invitation, as it would make the Sicilians suspect them of some ulterior motives. Moreover, Theonia, after frequent wars and rapid expansion, also needed time to rest, consolidate and integrate. Therefore, when the Greek city-state in Sicily was facing a critical moment, the Theonians and the Greeks in South Italia just watched from across the sea with mixed feeling.

    The Greek reinforcements from other ces soon came one after another, especially Sparta, who had even sent the young strategos Phidias to lead thirty warships and five hundred Spartan warriors.

    At this time, the Syracusansunched a riot against Dionysius, prompting Phidias to lead the Greek coalition forces to stop the riot. However, they all beganining that it was precisely because of Dionysius'' poormand that Syracuse was now facing a predicament and the people losing their loved ones. And at the same time, they also included Dionysius'' tyrannical rule, begging Sparta and the allies to help them get rid of the shackles of this tyrant.

    Phidias, remembering the advice of Agesus, told them straightforwardly that Sparta came to Syracuse to help Dionysius fight against Carthage, not to help Syracuse overthrow Dionysius. He hoped that the rioting people would calm their anger down and work together to drive out the Carthaginians who were already close to the city.

    At the same time, he also asked Dionysius to make a promise that from now on, he will not retaliate against the people who participated in the riot and to be more tolerant of his rule in the future.

    With the full support of Sparta, Dionysius got through a difficult crisis.

    After the Carthaginians settled down outside the city, they began destroying all the facilities outside Syracuse. They had not only destroyed the farms, viges and towns but also desecrated the gods by destroying the Temple of Zeus on Polichne and also robbing the temples of Demeter and Persephone.

    This kind of desecration angered the Syracusans, and the two sides had many small-scalends and sea battle outside the city and in the great harbour.

    With theing of summer, the situation began benefiting Syracuse. As the temperature rose, the number of mosquitoes in the marshes near the Anapus River increased, causing the bitten Carthaginian soldiers to be tortured by a gue, resulting in an increasing number of deaths.

    At this time, under the pressure of internal and external troubles, Dionysius was inspired and made a clever n. After marching at night and using the tactic of making a sound in the east and striking in the west, the navy andnd forces simultaneously attacked the weakened side of the enemy''s fortress.

    Because of the gue, the Carthaginians were demoralised and unable to fight back against the attack of Syracuse.

    At the cost of thousands of mercenaries'' lives, Dionysius sessively captured the two fortresses, Polichne fortress and Dascon fortress, that the Carthaginians built on the banks of Anapus. At the same time, Dionysius defeated the Carthaginian navy. After suffering sessive casualties, the Carthaginian camp of Himilco was in chaos and was in danger of the whole army being wiped out.

    At this moment, Dionysius ordered to halt the attack.

    That night, in Carthage''s military camp, there are confidential exchanges with the envoy of Dionysius.

    And for the next three days, both sides remained peaceful, and no battles urred.

    On the fourth night, Himilco led the only remaining thirty triremes and fled the port, abandoning most of the Carthaginian soldiers, allies, and mercenaries, which were then annihted by Syracuse and its allies.

    After the great victory, Dionysius did not pursue the Carthaginians. Because the previous Syracusan ousting incident made him aware that he could only secure his tyranny if Carthage continued to exist in Sicily. He had not only allowed the remnants of Himilco''s army to run away but also did not continue sweeping the Phoenician towns in Sicily. Instead, he began focusing on attacking the indigenous power of Sicily, the Sicels, who had be the aplices of Carthage and caused great trouble to Syracuse, making him realise that it was not enough just to unify the Greek city-states on the ind and that he had to expand Syracuse''s sphere of influence in the Sicels'' settlements in order topletely consolidate the east of Sicily.

    Therefore, the Syracusan army began conquering the towns of the Sicels, such as Morgantina, Centuripa, Henna, and etc., forcing more Sicels powers to sign a subsidiary agreement with him.

    He also surrounded Tauromenium, the only coastal city built by Himilco for the Sicels, but failed to capture it momentarily.

    By the second year (396 B.C.), Syracuse''s power had expanded northward to the northeast corner of Sicily.

    On the ruins burned by Carthage, Dionysius rebuilt Messina. The inhabitants of the new city of Messina wereposed of the settlers of Syracuse''s allies such as, Locri, Medma and so on., which were mainly his allies in Magna Graecia. In addition, there were also hundreds of Messenians(Messene) who had just been driven out from their original home by the Spartans and were living without a ce to stay. Because of this, the new inhabitants no longer had any kinship with the Rhegians.

    But soon after, the Spartans sent a messenger to express their dissatisfaction with Dionysius cing the enemies of Sparta in such an important city.

 Chapter 335: Davos Second Wife

    In order to maintain the friendship with Sparta, Dionysius had no choice but to move the Messenians out and build a city not far from Messina in an inconspicuous ce to settle them, naming it Tyndaris.

    The reconstruction of Messena and the construction of the new Tyndaris made Rhegium on the other side of the Strait restless. The Rhegians felt the desire of Dionysius over their city. They even began feeling that if they were to join the South-Italia Alliance, it would still not be safe because, at this moment, Syracuse had not only unified the Greek city-states in the eastern part of Sicily but had also basically conquered the Sicels. With Syracuse¡¯s strength bing greater, it became a big question whether the city-states in South-Italia Alliance are willing to fight against the powerful Syracuse for the sake of Rhegium! However, Theonia, the hegemon of South Italia, might be the only one that still dares to challenge Syracuse.

    Hence, the Rhegians held an lesia. However, even after discussing it for several days, it still bore no result.

    At this time, the Syracusan fleet entered the port of Messena, and their job was to escort the Syracusan army on its westward expedition to the northern coast of Sicily. However, this has stimted the sensitive Rhegians that they hurriedly passed a proposal in the lesia and sent an envoy to Thurii.

    In the Theonian Senate, the envoy of Rhegium proposed, ¡°Rhegium would like to join the Theonia Alliance¡±, shocking the statesmen, including Davos. All the members of Theonia Alliance, such as Laos, Roscianum, Metapontum, Elea, Heraclea and Gguso, were all small and medium-sized city-states in South Italia. And even though Potentia was a big city-state in the alliance, they were forced to join due to circumstances and were not obedient to Theonia. In the past two years, Theonia was busy consolidating and governing the Bruttii and Pyxous and had no time to pay attention to Potentia, which was far away from the edge of the mountains north of Theonia.

    And now, Rhegium had willingly joined the Theonia Alliance on their own ord! Rhegium is a strong city-state in Magna Graecia and even ranks first among the city-state in terms of city trade wealth. With Rhegium''s joining, Theonia''s merchant ships and fleets can smoothly pass through the Strait of Messina, making it more convenient when trading with Iberia, Gaul and other far western city-states in the Mediterranean. At the same time, it also benefitted the navy defending the Theonian city-states of mpetia and Pyxous on the western coast of Italia, as well as the allied city-states of Laos and Elea, connecting Theonia''s territorial waters.

    Of course, the statesmen of Theonia were very happy to ept Rhegium. However, Rhegium''s envoy had put forward a condition, that is, the archon of Theonia must marry a Rhegian, whom the Rhegians had chosen, Agnes.

    Who was Agnes? She was known as the ¡°Rose of Rhegium¡±. When she was sixteen years old, she was so beautiful that she even attracted Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, to propose marriage. However, the vignt Rhegians firmly rejected it.

    The enraged Syracusan envoy left while leaving a sentence, ¡°Our almighty strategos will open his eyes and see who is more qualified than him to marry Agnes!¡±

    Afterwards, Dionysius married a Locrian, adorning the transport ship with jewels and dazzling gold to meet his wife, which became a hot topic in Magna Graecia at that time.

    And because of the words left by the Syracusan envoy, Agnes was not able to marry. And with Syracuse''s continuous expansion, they be more powerful, causing the Rhegium''s men and the whole city-state not to want to provoke Dionysius and focusing the anger of Syracuse''s tyrant on Rhegium.

    That is why, in the past few years, Agnes, who had turned twenty-one, was still single(Greek women usually get married after the age of 14). With no one daring to marry her, she has decided to be a priestess of Artemis, the famous goddess among the Greek gods.

    Now facing the threat of Syracuse, the realistic and sharp Rhegians believes that Davos is the absolute ruler of Theonia. Thus they want to tie Davos and Rhegium together through Agnes to deal with Dionysius.

    Davos, seeing through the thoughts of the Rhegians, immediately refused.

    However, a few dayster, the envoy of Rhegium manages to persuade most of the statesmen, including Mersis, Marigi, Kunogta, Cornelius and the others. They kept visiting Davos, hoping that he would agree to Rhegium''s request and refuting what Davos has said regarding ¡°abiding the monogamousw of Theonia¡± because there were no such rigid provisions in the Theonian Law, and it is only customary. Even in Athens, where monogamy was once explicitly stipted, needed to promote polygamy during the great gue that preceded the Peloponnesian War because of the drastic decrease of the poption.

    At the same time, they also stressed that Dionysius of Syracuse and other tyrants in Sicily had married many wives. That is why the archon for life of Theonia, the hegemon of South-Italia, could also do the same.

    They also refuted the concerns of Davos about Theonia getting dragged into a war with Syracuse because of Rhegium. Philesius, Antonios, and the others even argued that even though Syracuse seems powerful, the Carthaginians will always be their greatest enemy, so how could Dionysius risk offending the equally powerful Theonia at the risk of fighting on both sides.

    As a matter of fact, the news from Sicily seems to prove this as the Syracusan army kept moving westward along the northern coast of Sicily and began to approach the city of Soluntum, finally making the Carthaginian Council, which had already been angered because of Dionysius besiegement of Tauromenium, made up their mind to appoint Mago, the younger brother of Himilco, as the suprememander, recruiting soldiers and preparing to lead the army to Sicily again to resist the attack of Syracuse.

    For the statesmen in charge of governmental affairs in the Theonian Senate, there is only a slight risk but greater gains by epting Rhegium. For the statesmen in charge of the military, Rhegium has a powerful naval fleet that can make up for the shorings of Theonia.

    Under the persuasion of everyone, Davos be hesitant. At this moment, his wife, Cheiristoya, came forward and expressed her support for the senate''s wish for Davos to take the Rhegian woman as his other wife and advised him to ept Agnes.

    Born in Miletus, Asia Minor, Cheiristoya was influenced by the Persian culture and was not opposed to polygamy. Back then, Cyrus the Younger even had more than a dozen concubines. And as a sessful merchant, she knew more about the importance of Rhegium''s submission to Theonia''s business.

    In the end, Davos was persuaded to marry the twenty-one-year-old Rhegian, Agnes, into the household of the Archon of Theonia, while Rhegium sessfully joined the Theonia Alliance, causing great astonishment all over Magna Graecia.

    Dionysius was leading his army and besieging Soluntum when he learned about this and ordered a retreat, only for him to soon reorder, ¡®Sound the attack¡­.¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    During these two years, in thend of Asia Minor, the Greek allied army led by Dercylidas caused great trouble to Persia.

    In 396 B.C., Artaxerxes, the Persian King, at the suggestion of his mother, appointed Conon, an Athenian temporarily living in Persia, as the navarch of the Persian navy.

    Conon, who had taken refuge in Persia, had never forgotten to take his revenge on Sparta. Thus he often went to please the Queen Dowager of Persia, Parysatis. Now that he finally had the military power in his hand, he immediately led 300 Persian warships and actively cooperated with the Persiannd army, causing great casualties to the Spartan army and gave them trouble.

    As a result, Persia proposed a truce, but Sparta refused.

    At this time, Sparta, which was already the Greek hegemon, was not willing to ept the truce while being passive, as it will not only be very unfavourable to Sparta but will also damage Sparta''s prestige among the Greek city-states. Thus the Ephors decided to send King Agesus to rece Dercylidas andunched a greater war in Asia Minor.

    When in front of the Spartans, Agesus always presented himself as an approachable and modest man, but under the mask of obeying the Spartan traditions andws, he hid his ambition. He longed for great glory, worshipped the heroes of the ancient past, and hoped to make the world forget his physical disability and for only his achievements of unprecedented victory to be remembered. That is why when he epted the order from the Ephors, he thought of himself as Agamemnon of this era and wanted to conquer the new Troy, which is Persia.

    And therefore, leading a part of his army, he arrived at the city of Aulis (it is located in the Boetia region, and the most famous city-state in this region is Thebes) to offer a sacrifice, just as Agamemnon, the king of kings, had done before leading the entire Greek army across the sea to attack Troy.

    However, during the solemn ceremony, the Thebans appeared and forcibly interrupted the ceremony, iming that the Spartans had not informed Thebes of their actions.

    This incident cast a shadow over the already tense rtionship between Sparta and Thebes. And for the prideful Agesus, this is a great shame! Thus from then on, he engraves Thebes from his memory.

    Finally, with an army of two thousand new Spartan citizens and a military council of thirty men headed by Lysander, Agesus quietly crossed the sea to Asia Minor and marched into Ephesus.

    Lysander thought that Agesus, whom he had supported, would rely on him, the real ¡°king¡± who conquered Asia Minor and will hand over themand of the Spartan army to him.

 Chapter 336: Corinthian War

    As a Spartan hero that defeated Athens, Lysander once supported all the naval allies of Athens and established a puppet government loyal to Sparta. Now that he came to Asia Minor, the rulers of these city-states often came to visit him, followed him around and even made all kinds of requests on him, as if he were the real king and Agesus was just his follower.

    But soon after, Lysander tasted the might of Agesus. Any request he made to Agesus, even if it was reasonable, was rejected, and Agesus had even secretly sent his men to spread out words that Lysander was only an ordinary member of the Spartan ¡°Thirty Military Council¡± and had no authority.

    As a consequence, Lysander could not fulfil his promises to these people, leading the rulers to realise that the situation had changed and began pleasing Agesus.

    And Agesus'' distancing from Lysander made him uneasy, and he realised that he had been naive, as the new king was by no means a mediocre man that he could manipte.

    At this moment, Lysander was no longer the brilliant Spartan hero a few years ago. The failure of his scheme to overthrow the Spartan System prompted the Ephors to deprive him of his authority. In the end, he could only take the initiative to propose to Agesus to go to the Straight of Hellespont and win over the city-states that were previously affiliated to Persia, which Agesus approved.

    After dealing with the ambitious Lysander, Agesus began showing his military talent. He was more flexible than Dercylidas whenmanding the troops as he moved back and forth between the two satrapies of the two Persian satraps, Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus, leaving the Persian army at a loss. Finally, in the spring of 395 B.C., he defeated Tissaphernes and inflicted severe losses to his army in the Battle of Sardis.

    Due to this tragic defeat, Parysatis, the mother of Artaxerxes, the Persian King, finally seized the opportunity to ask his son to remove Tissaphernes from his position. Afterwards, Tissaphernes was assassinated, thus avenging her younger son, Cyrus.

    When this report reached the army of Agesus, the mercenaries who had experienced the ¡°Retreat of the Ten Thousand¡± were excited. Xenophon also wrote a letter to Davos, who was far away in Thurii, to express his joy and admiration for the Spartan king, Agesus.

    The military action of Agesus in Asia Minor put tremendous pressure on the Persians that the Persian King had to mobilise the troops from other ces to deal with Sparta. As a result, the defence on those ces became empty. In Egypt, the farthest province of Persia, the Egyptians who had been fighting against the Persian rule finally seized this opportunity to rebel under the leadership of Achoris and sessfully driving away the Persians, achieving independence and rebuilding the Kingdom of Egypt. With Achoris bing the new Pharaoh (this is the 29th Dynasty in ancient Egyptian history).

    In order to recapture Egypt, Persia sent envoys to propose a peace agreement with Agesus many times in 395 B.C., but Agesus refused the Persian''s request for peace. Artaxerxes then realise that Agesus¡¯ goal was him, hence why the Spartans had no intention of withdrawing their troops from Asia Minor. Therefore in anger and with the advice of his ministers, he sent his men to Greece and began offering massive mary bribes to the strategoi and statesmen of Thebes, Corinth, Argos and other city-states that were not friendly with Sparta, on the sole condition that they wage war on the Spartans.

    And these city-states answer were all simr, ¡®Even if we don''t receive the money, we are all eager to go to war because the Spartans are too overbearing. They not only disrespect us, but they also repeatedly harm the interests of our city-states!¡¯

    At the instigation of the Persian envoys, these city-states began to negotiate an alliance secretly. Among them, Thebes was the most active in dering war on Sparta and began provoking their ally Locris to stir up a conflict with Sparta''s ally Phocis. When Phocis finally attack Locris, the Thebans dered that in order to defend their allies, they would dere war on Phocis.

    Hence the Thebans began calling their army to invade the territory of Phocis, and the weakened Phocis had to ask for help from Sparta. Although Phocis is small, it is an important city-state near Delphi, which is beneficial for the Spartans in intervening in the religious affairs of Delphi. What''s more, the Spartans still remember that Thebes humiliated and destroyed their ceremony before their expedition to Persia. Thus they are thrilled to find a reason to attack Thebes and immediately decided to punish the Thebans for their contempt and disrespect to Sparta.

    The Spartans started their invasion of Thebes by arranging for two armies, one under the other Spartan king, Pausanias, to advance northward, and the other under Lysander, who had returned to Sparta and was sent by the Ephors to go to Phocis and organise a local coalition to attack Thebes southward. Lysander manages to quicklyplete his task splendidly and also instigated the people of Orchomenus in Boeotia to rebel.

    Facing a powerful threat, the Thebans turned to Athens, the nearest strongest city-state, for help.

    After experiencing a series of ordeals such as their defeat in the Peloponnesian War and the ¡°Thirty Tyrants¡±¡¯ dark rule, the Athenians finally restored the Democratic faction, who had shed their arrogance and reconciled with the nobles of the moderate faction while treating their former allies as equals. Under this pragmatic and stable policy, Athens rapidly recover its strength after nearly a decade. Thus after regaining its strength, Athens wants to eliminate Sparta''s control and gain absolute freedom in military and trade.

    So after receiving a request for help from Thebes, Athens immediately held an lesia. At the lesia, the overwhelming majority of the citizens voted to ally with Thebes, their former enemy, and go to war with Sparta.

    In the end, Thrasybulus, the leader of the democratic faction, who had rebelled and fought the ¡°Thirty Tyrants¡± hard and overthrew them, and bringing Athens back to life, notified the Theban envoy of Athens'' determination and firmly said, ¡°¡­although the port of Piraeus has no walls yet, we Athenians will face the danger bravely and face the cruel Spartans together with you, Thebes!¡±

    The Thebans were moved at the fact that the two city-states that had been feuding for decades had quickly entered into an alliance dering that Thebes and Athens formed a permanent alliance.

    At this moment, the troops led by Lysander and Pausanias approached the region of Boeotia from both south and north, agreeing to meet near the city of Haliartus, to the south of Thebes.

    However, after Lysander''s arrival, the army of Pausanias was still not there. Thus Lysander tried to persuade the Haliartians to betray Thebes.

    And the Haliartians pretended to agree, but the truth was, they are secretly dying the time. And when the Theban reinforcements arrived, they suddenly went out of the city attacking Lysander''s troops together with the army of Thebes.

    Lysander, who hadid the foundation for the Spartan hegemony, died unexpectedly in this battle. However, in the ensuing battle, the Thebans failed topletely defeat the remnant army, which has lost its leader and had instead suffered heavy losses.

    The next day, Pausanias arrived with his army.

    When the Thebans saw that there were numerous, powerful and orderly Spartan troops, their morale fell.

    However, Pausanias did not immediately lead his army to attack and instead camped nearby.

    On the third day, the Athenian reinforcements arrived.

    This made the Thebans be more confident as they joined up with the Athenians and prepared to fight the Spartans.

    Pausanias, however, did not immediately lead his troops towards the coalition forces, nor did he ept the challenge of the enemy. Instead, he gathered the officers under hismand and discussed whether they should go to war immediately or to sign a truce so that they could recover the bodies of Lysander and the other fallen soldiers.

    In the end, the Spartans decided on a truce.

    After the two sides negotiated, the Spartan troops left Boeotia with the bodies of theirrades.

    After seeing the body of Lysander, the Spartan citizens became sad and recalled Lysander''s great contribution to Sparta. Then they turned their grief into anger and used the Spartan King, Pausanias, of deliberately dying the rendezvous time, which killed Lysander and withdrawing without even fighting.

    The Ephors did not fully defend the Spartan king because the death of Lysander and the withdrawal of Sparta had caused significant impacts, which directly led to the establishment of an Anti-Spartan Alliance among the four powerful Greek city-states: Thebes, Athens, Corinth and Argos.

    As a result, Pausanias ¨C the Spartan King, was convicted and exiled.

    The Spartans then became aware that the Anti-Spartan Alliance would do great harm to the hegemony of Sparta, and thus, they quickly called on the army to try to wipe them out.

    And the Anti-Spartan Alliance also quickly gathered its troops in the Isthmus of Corinth, hoping to resist the Spartan''s attack and then attack the Spartan territory andpletely burn the ¡°wasp''s nest.¡±

    Thus both sides began a protracted battle in the Isthmus of Corinth.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the same year, a war in Sicily has taken ce.

    Syracuse and Carthage''s troops fought on the northern coast of Sicily for more than half a year.

    When 394 B.C. came, the important Mediterranean countries and city-states were in the mire of war, while Magna Graecia enjoyed more than three years of peace.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Lycasis came early in the morning and began cleaning and tidying up the clinic. As a physician apprentice, his job was to prepare everything before the physician arrived. But he firmly believes that hard work can win his teacher''s trust and learn real medical skills. Today, he is in a very good mood because he would apany his teacher on a long journey.

    When Nicostratos came to the clinic, Lycasis had alreadypleted packing and Nicostratos, who had never been one to worry about trivial matters, simply asked, ¡°Have you bought everything?¡±

    After receiving affirmation from Lycasis, he nodded and said, ¡°Let''s go.¡±

 Chapter 337: Crotones Physicians

    Lycasis closed the door and hung a wooden sign saying, ¡°Went out of town, clinic close¡±.

    ¡°Hey, Nicostratos, you are going out?!¡± The owner of the butcher shop across the street waved his cleaver and shouted.

    Nicostratos grunted, ignoring the butcher. He always thought that it was because of this butcher, who shouted and hawked across the street every day, that made the rich people unwilling to visit his clinic. Thus he had the thought of moving the clinic several times, but the housing in the city is not cheap, and the location of the houses he could afford is not as good as here. That¡¯s why he doesn''t look kindly to this rude neighbour of his.

    ¡°How long will you be out?!¡± The butcher shop''s owner was already used to the physician''s attitude. Seeing that he didn''t answer, he continued to ask loudly.

    The clever Lycasis saw that his teacher was bing gloomier. Thus he replied on his behalf, ¡°We will be out for about twenty days, Uncle Kus.¡±

    ¡°Too long!¡± The butcher shop''s owner eximed, ¡°What if we get sick and you are still not here?!¡±

    Nicostratos twitched a few times. Finally, he could no longer hold himself back as he turned around and shouted, ¡°Then you should not get sick until I return!¡±

    ¡°That''s not for me to decide whether I get sick or not. All of it is up to the mischief of the gods!¡± The butcher shop''s ownerined.

    Nicostratos no longer want to talk to him anymore. Thus he strode forward.

    ¡°Physician Nicostratos, where are you going that you will be gone for so long?¡± Another person asked.

    This time, Nicostratos stopped because the one who asked was the baker. He was his important customer that rarelyes but paid a lot of money every time he came to see him.

    ¡°To Thurii.¡± He answered seriously.

    ¡°Thurii? You were invited?¡± When the merchant saw Lycasis carrying a medical box, he said with pride, ¡°We Crotonians are famous all over Magna Graecia for our medical skills! Although Theonia has a muchrger territory and is good in fighting, they are still far inferior to Crotone, who has a long history, in other aspects!¡±

    The butcher supported him and said, ¡°You are right! Those people in the north are all refugees. They neither have culture nor tradition!¡±

    Theonia''s influence in Magna Graecia grew year by year, making the ordinary people in the once-powerful Crotone frustrated. Out of bitterness, they always like topare some of their city-state''s advantages with Theonia while ridiculing them to get some psychological satisfaction.

    Nicostratos gave a few perfunctory replies and walked out of his street quickly.

    ¡°Imbecile.¡± It was at this moment that a word came out of his mouth.

    The rise of Crotone''s medicine originated from Democedes a hundred years ago. When he was young, this young Crotonian was determined to be the best physician in the Mediterranean. Thus he travelled all over the ces to learn the art of healing, and afterpleting his studies, he practised in Athens, earning a great deal of money with his skills. Later, he went to Samos to treat its tyrant. However, Samos was captured by the Persians when they attacked Asia Minor, resulting in him bing a captive and escorted to Susa, where he cured Darius, the king of kings, who had sprained his ankle. He was then released to serve the royal family but was restricted from returning to Greece.

    Living in Persia for more than five years, he started missing his hometown, thousands of kilometres away.

    One day, Atossa, the queen of Darius and the daughter of Cyrus the Great, the founder of Persia, suffered from a lump on her breast that no one could cure. After hearing Democedes'' superb medical skills, she reluctantly asked the Greek toe to the inner court for medical treatment and promised that as long as he could cure her, the queen would grant any of his requests.

    As a result, Democedes healed Queen Atossa back to health. Then, at his request, Atossa suggested to Darius that Democedes could travel around Greece together with Persian spies to gather information for their future conquest of Greece.

    With Darius consent, Democedes vowed to return to Susa.

    But the result was, after leaving Persia, he found a chance to get rid of his Persian guards and escape back to Crotone.

    At that time, although Persia was powerful, they had still not yet started their conquest of Greece. Thus they could not affect the western Mediterranean, which was thousands of kilometres away.

    Democedes then opened a clinic in his hometown. Then he began epting many apprentices, where he selflessly imparted his many years of medical experience and the medical skills of Greece and Persia that hebined, which greatly improved the medical level of Crotone and made the physicians of Crotone the second to none in Magna Graecia for a hundred years.

    But in recent years, Theonia''s medical skills improved rapidly, just like the strength of its union. It was even rumoured that even someplicated and diverse diseases that the Crotonian physicians could not solve can be miraculously cured by the Theonian physicians. Even some Greeks not from Theonia are all trying to go to Theonia''s hospital, with most of them going back to their homes happily. Due to this, the reputation of ¡°Theonia''s physicians¡¯ great medical skills that Hades¡¯ taught¡± gradually spread.

    As far as Nicostratos knows, many wealthy Crotonian citizens often go to Thurii, the centre of Theonia, to see a physician in recent years. The Theonian physicians had also set up a ¡°Medical Symposium of South Italia¡±, held once a year in spring, inviting the physicians from Theonia Union and its allies to gather in Thurii and discuss new medical discoveries and exchange medical skills. Last year was the first time it was held, but the conservative Nicostratos didn''t go. However, after chatting with his colleagues who hade back from the medical symposium, the only thing they uttered were words about the novel medical theories and methods they learned from Theonia, which surprised Nicostratos and made him ponder deeply.

    Thus, when Thurii''s hospital invited Theonia''s allies at the beginning of this year, he could no longer sit still to leave.

    Going to Thurii only needed half a day by boat from the port and with the help of a tailwind, but the gloomy Nicostratos suffered from seasickness and had to travel bynd.

    Arriving at the north gate, another physician, Strasippus, was already waiting there for them. Soon after, they left Crotone and walked northward along the soft unpaved road.

    The three then came to the pontoon bridge of the Neto River.

    At the beginning of the Crotonian Second War, the Crotonians burned the pontoon bridge to prevent the Theonians from reaching Crotone. However, after rebuilding it, for some reason, the bridge had not only became narrower but also became less stable than before.

    Strasippus could not stop himself from uttering while crossing the bridge, ¡°On the Crati River in Thurii, there are actual wooden bridges that are not only wide and t but also high enough to allow boats to pass under them. Compared to them, our pontoon bridges are more like those that the barbarians built!¡±

    Nicostratos didn''t say anything. He remembers thatst year when Crotone held an lesia to discuss whether to invite Theonia''s help to build a wooden bridge over the Neto River, most of the Crotonian citizens opposed it, which made this bill not be passed. Nicostratos himself was one of them, as, like most people, his idea is that facilities such as roads and bridges are fine as long as it works, and the money from the treasury should be used in repairing public facilities such as theatres, arenas, temples, and even provide extra benefits for citizens at special celebrations.

    Thanks to the blessings of the gods, Magna Graecia has had good weather in recent years and have bumper harvests. And with the surrounding areas having frequent wars in these two years, the price of grain has risen. Thus after saving enough for their own use, the people would then sell the rest in the market. Therefore this year, when spring came early, the citizens, together with their ves, begun ting in the farms early.

    Walking on the ins of Crotone, one could see endless green grain fields and ves working hard.

    In spring, due to the abundant rainfall, the roads be muddy. Due to this, Nicostratos and his party walked slowly to prevent slipping. However, they only manage to step out of Crotone''s territory by afternoon.

    As they trudged the deep and shallow slippery mud, their feet began getting sore. But a whileter, a t, solid and spacious road appeared before them, relieving everyone.

    ¡°Teacher Strasippus.¡± Lycasis, who had never travelled far away since childhood, eximed excitedly, ¡°Could this be the Krimisa-Aprustrum road that Theonia had built?!¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Strasippus nced at Nicostratos, ¡°Old friend, what do you think of this road?¡±

    Nicostratos snorted and walked straight ahead without speaking. Then he stopped on the side of the road, looking for a vacant block of stone to sit down, as his waist problem already starting acting that it felt like crumbling from their travel.

    Lycasis was young and energetic. Seeing the bustling of theing and going on the road, he wanted to cross and walk down on the result. As a result, he was nearly hit by a fast-moving cart, ushering the driver''s scolding. Feeling embarrassed, he went back to the side.

    After being spoken by Nicostratos, he quieted down. But after a while, he pulled Strasippus again and asked, ¡°What''s that cart for?¡±

    Looking in the direction of his finger, a covered cart drawn by two horses headed north at a rtively high speed, with Theonia''s symbol of ¡°Bident and Three-headed dog¡± painted on both sides of the cart. And the vehicles on the road deliberately avoided it.

    ¡°That''s the postal cart.¡±

    ¡°Postal cart?¡±

    ¡°That''s what the Theonian call it. It''s responsible for delivering letters and parcels to the people between two ces. I even heard that Theonia has a department specially responsible for this.¡± Strasippus said.

    ¡°That''s a good way to make it more convenient for the people of the city-state.¡± Nicostratos interjected.

    ¡°It would have been nice if we had a postal cart in Crotone as well! At least to deliver medicines to the patients, so that they don''t have to waste time by running back and forth.¡± Lycasis said with envy.

    ¡°Young man, that costs money.¡± Strasippus sighed.

 Chapter 338: Cariades the Believer

    ¡°Also, Crotone does not have any other cities, so using the money of the treasury to set up a postal cart to deliver letters would be too wasteful. If¡­Aprustum still belongs to us, then we could have considered it. But if that was the case, our roads and bridges must be built like this.¡± Strasippus stomped his foot. Indeed, Crotone''s uneven, unpaved road would make the carts prone to fall apart.

    ¡°Aprustum!¡± This was the pain in the Crotonians'' hearts. Nicostratos snorted and cursed, ¡°All of it is due to the ipetence of the Council! You know, this ce, which is a fertilend, was still a part of the ins of Crotone a few years ago! But now, all of it belongs to the Theonians¡­¡±

    ¡°It''s time for us to go, else we won''t reach Krimisa tonight to rest!¡± Strasippus changed the subject by reminding them.

    ¡°How far till we reach Krimisa?¡± Asked Nicostratos, rubbing his thigh. As someone who doesn''te out often, he was already a bit tired.

    Strasippus stood up and looked forward carefully. Then he pointed ahead and said, ¡°Lycasis, go and check that milestone and see how far till Krimisa.¡±

    ¡°Could it be that the distance is inscribed on the stone tablet?¡± Lycasis went over in doubt.

    After a while, he pointed to the stone tablet and eximed, ¡°¡®Krimisa ¨C 10 kilometres Ahead¡¯. Is this it?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°And¡­there is also a small house carved next to it and a ¡®3 kilometres ahead¡¯. What does it mean?¡±

    ¡°It means that there is a post station 3 kilometres ahead, which can provide short rest, food and even amodation.¡± A passerby next to Lycasis replied.

    ¡°Oh, thank you!¡± Lycasis politely express his gratitude.

    ¡°Are you a physician?¡± Seeing the medical box he was carrying, the man asked with a smile.

    ¡°Yes. my teacher and I will go to Thurii to attend an¡­erm¡­medical symposium.¡±

    ¡°The physicians of Theonia are highly skilled in medicine and are blessed by Hades to bring back to life those who are dying. So you havee to the right ce to study!¡± The man had a look of understanding, then he added, ¡°What a coincidence! I am also going to Thurii.¡±

    The man''s words made Nicostratos ufortable. So he stood up and said, ¡°Let''s go. We need to hurry.¡±

    The group then started travelling on the sidewalk.

    Out of the sidewalk were fields of grains being nted, no different from what they had seen before. The only difference was that the water channels were crisscrossed, broader and deeper. The ves were more enthusiastic in their work that they even sang in the middle of their work, and their masters not only did not stop them, but some had even begun singing. The Theonian ves were more like normal people than the lifeless ves of Crotone, and this was not an individual case, as almost all the Theonian ves that Lycasis could see were in this state.

    Lycasis couldn''t quite understand it. He was born in a peasant family and knew a lot about a farmer''s life. Farmers in Crotone usually have one or two ves, but they could not afford it anymore if there are more. Because of the need forbour to do farm work, they are very dependent on the ves, so they do not oppress them as hard as the mill owners in the city. Rather, they even regard the ves as part of their families.

    When he was a child, Lycasis was taken care of by a ve in his family. Therefore, he always thought that the honest Thracian old man was more like his father than his birth father.

    ¡®The Crotonian farmers already treat their ves good enough, but could it be that the Theonians treat their ves better?¡¯ Lycasis thought that this was not the case and wanted to consult Strasippus. However, when he turned to look at them, he saw that Nicostratos was busy discussing medical problems with Strasippus. Thus he had to give up for the time being.

    In the corner of his eyes, Lycasis caught a glimpse of the man, who he had talked to before, walking not far behind them. With a jolt, he slowed down his pace, ¡°I am Lycasis from Crotone. Thank you for your exnation just now.¡±

    ¡°I am Cariades, a Scylletian.¡± The man said with a gentle smile, ¡°I have been to Thurii many times, and I know more about Theonia. That''s why if there is something you don''t understand about this city-state union, feel free to ask me.¡±

    The man seemed to perceive his thoughts, making Lycasis feel embarrassed. In the end, he nodded and asked, ¡°I don''t understand why these ves are so happy?¡±

    Following the direction of Lycasis'' finger, Cariades saw the ves singing in the field. He thought for a while and said, ¡°That''s because they saw hope.¡±

    ¡°Hope?¡±

    Cariades became solemnly, then said in a low and long tone, ¡°The great Hades once said that ¡®Everyone''s destiny is different. Some are born rich, some are born poor, some be ves, and some are lucky to be nobles. But as long as we always have good intentions and don''t give up, once our life ends andes to hell for our trial, in the face of the golden scale of equality and selflessness, the status and wealth we have before death are just illusory. What truly decide whether one soul goes to the beautiful Elysium or the terrifying hell is what you have done in your life.¡¯ The good go to Elysium while the evil goes to hell. So those who have struggled all their lives can enjoy music and delicious food, while those who love leisure but hate hard work will suffer hardbour forever.¡±

    Lycasis was taken aback, ¡°You¡­you mean¡­that the reason why these ves work so enthusiastically was to enter Elysium?¡±

    ¡°Not exactly.¡± Cariades then said, ¡°Davos, the archon of Theonia, who had the blood of Hades running through his vein, was enlightened by his father god to pass a bill in the Senate that states, ¡®Every year at the Celebration of Hades, the outstanding ves of the city-states will get their freedom back.¡¯ Thus during this day, Davos will give the ves he owns their freedom. And because Davos was deeply loved by the Theonians, they were also influenced by the archon. Therefore, when they had the spare ability, they would also consider freeing their ves that have made contributions to their families¡­

    I remember thatst year, there was a Nubian ve that was sent to the port market by his master to buy goods. But on his way home, he rescued two drowning children in the Crati River. Not only the father of the child was willing to pay for his freedom, but the whole city unanimously asked for his freedom¡­thus you can see, with Theonia having such an atmosphere¡±, how can these ves not express themselves?!¡±

    Lycasis nodded. Although Crotone also gave the ves their freedom, they still never proposed such bills as what Theonia had done. Moreover, the number of ves released was so frequent and so many.

    There is actually another reason that Cariades did not know. Although the ageposition of the Theonian citizens and the preparatory citizens is dominated by the young and middle-aged (because Theonia received arge number of immigrants), the citizens have to participate in military training more than ten times as many times as that of Crotone and have to undertake some garrison tasks. Thus they do not have the extra energy and time to take good care of theirnd, making them rely more on the ves. Therefore, besides regarding the ves as a member of their family, they even allow them to have more autonomy, which is more beneficial to the enthusiasms of the ves.

    ¡°It is for this reason that the ves of Scylletium fled to mpetia from time to time in the past two years.¡± Cariades added.

    ¡°Ah¡­we also have arge-scale ve desertion in Crotone!¡± Lycasis remembered, ¡°But not to mpetia, but to Aprustum, which is not far from Crotone. At that time, we also held an lesia and sent our people to protest to Aprustum, asking them for the return of the escaped ves. Then they were soon escorted back¡­¡±

    ¡°If Scylletium and Crotone do not make changes on the issue of very, then such things will repeat in the future.¡± Cariades said with a sigh. However, as a Scylletian, he seems to not be worried about the issue, rather, he was somewhat happy in seeing it.

    Naturally, the young Lycasis didn''t think so much about it. He then asked another question with suspicion, ¡°By the way, the thing you just said¡­howe I have never heard of those words of Hades?¡±

    ¡°There are so many things that you haven''t still heard of about the gods.¡± Cariades'' eyes glistened, ¡°You should know that when Zeus and his brothers and sisters joined up to overthrow their father Kronos and divided their father''s power. Hades, as the eldest, could have chosen the sky or the sea as his divine realm, but he rather chooses the dark and damp hell and live underground, creating a fair and warm ce for the weak human soul to reside, ensuring the stability of the earth. Isn''t he amazing?!¡±

    ¡°I¡­is that so?¡± Lycasis then said with suspicion, ¡°But we all know that Hades was forced to choose hell.¡±

    ¡°Have you ever wondered who passed down this fact that you know?¡­without the permission of Zeus, the king of gods, how can mere mortals know such secrets? Zeus ruled the Olympian gods, so he naturally would let the contents of the rumours be beneficial for him. Hades, the king of hell, was introverted and somewhat gloomy looking, and the Greeks do not like him. Thus they all believed that rumour.¡± Cariades continued with a solemn expression, ¡°But in fact, among the gods, Hades is the most devoted and faithful. Zeus is debaucherous and capricious, Poseidon is ruthless and violent, Aries is crazy and bloodthirsty, Hermes is mischievous and yful, Dionysus is drunk and mad, and Apollo is proud and insidious¡­only Hades, have you ever heard of anything bad regarding him?¡±

    After listening to Cariades'' words, Lycasis felt a bit confused. He rubbed his forehead and said, ¡°He¡­kidnapped Demeter''s daughter, Persephone, as his wife.¡±

    Cariades, with an expression of ¡°I know you would say this¡±, seriously exined, ¡°With the bad environment in the underground, there is no goddess that is willing to go. Thus Hades has no choice but to kidnap a wife to marry for himself.¡±

    Note: The description of the road signs in this chapter does note from modern ideas. In the early Roman Empire, there were road signages that are very simr to present days. And the Roman merchants also sold Vicarello Cups for sale to travellers on long journeys, with detailed itineraries for each province engraved to help their travel.

    T/N: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicarello_Cups

    In the , Darius and Atossa were not rted by blood. However, Cyrus the Great¡¯s son, Cambyses II, did marry his two sisters, Atossa and Roxane, in order to ensure that Cyrus'' noble lineage was not tainted. When Persia fell into chaos, Darius seized power in Persia with his cavalries while also taking over the pair of sisters (Atossa and Artystone) as his wives to make his throne appear more orthodox. And Atossa bore the next Persian king, Xerxes.

 Chapter 339: Protest in Krimisa

    ¡°However, Hades didn''t kidnap randomly. With Persephone inheriting her mother, Demeter''s earth attribute, it would help improve Hades¡¯ control of the underground more. Moreover, the beauty and kindness of Persephone can calm the restless souls in hell¡­and in the end, Hades and his wife, Persephone, loved each other deeply, which is much more than Zeus and Hera, Poseidon and his queen. They ruled hell justly and seriously, rewarding good and punishing evil. And due to the fear of getting punished after death, the Theonians do not dare to indulge themselves, resulting in the city-state union bing more peaceful! Therefore, Hades is the one who helps the humans the most among the gods!¡± Cariades said with reverence.

    Cariades'' wordspletely subverted Lycasis'' understanding of the gods. He wanted to refute it but felt that Cariades'' words were reasonable. After a while, he murmured, ¡°Are you a priest of Hades?¡±

    ¡°That''s what I wish, but unfortunately, I am not!¡± Said Cariades with regret.

    ¡°I am a merchant. A year ago, I was doing my business in Thurii, but suddenly, I became seriously ill and was about to lose consciousness, yet my despicable ve even stole my purse. I thought that I would silently go to the underworld in a foreignnd like this¡­¡± Cariades was immersed in his past memories, ¡°¡­but when I woke up, I found myself in a warm bed in the side hall of the Temple of Hades. The priestess in white robes served me food and medicine, while the kind priest often came to visit andfort me from to time. And after some time passed, I soon recovered. However, the priest of Hades had not only not ask me for payment, but he even gave me travelling expenses for my return trip¡­the great Hades was the one who saved my life!¡± Cariades choked, and his eyes moisten, ¡°Later, I learned that I am not the only one that the Temple of Hades treated, but also every Greek who are in distress! Now tell me, which other gods and goddesses had temples that treated the people, as well as the Temple of Hades, did?¡±

    ¡°¡­none.¡± After listening to Cariades, Lycasis could not help yearned for the Temple of Hades in Thurii.

    ¡°That is why this time, I decided to go to Thurii and serve Hades!¡± Cariades said with determination, ¡°In the future, I will return to Scylletium and build a Temple of Hades!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At dusk, Nicostratos and his party arrived at the south bank of the river near Krimisa. Then they entered the city through the wooden bridge.

    ¡°I have inquired about all the inns on my side, but they are already full. What''s the situation on your side?¡± Nicostratos saw Strasippusing with a dejected expression, but he still asked with hope.

    Strasippus shook his head, ¡°It''s the same with the inns in the northern part. There are no vacant rooms. I heard that it is because Theonia''s Day of Marriage ising, and many engaged men and women in the city of Aprustum rushed to the Temple of Hera in Thurii to attend the wedding ceremony, which is why all the rooms of the inns are fully booked¡­¡±

    They became anxious as it was almost dark, but they could not do anything.

    ¡®Are we going to sleep on the street tonight?!¡¯ When Nicostratos thought of this, he unconsciously hugged his thin body.

    ¡°I thought of a way.¡± At this moment, a voice came from behind them. Seeing that the one who had spoken was the Scylletian that he didn''t like very much, however, he no longer hesitated and asked, ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Follow me.¡± With a mysterious smile, Cariades took them to a ce.

    ¡°Is this a temple?¡± Nicostratos looked at the building in front of them with suspicion. Its shape was somewhat simr but also somewhat different from the temples that Nicostratos had seen, as it does not have any walls.

    ¡°This is the Temple of Hades.¡± Strasippus had, after all, saw one in Thurii.

    ¡°What are we doing here?¡± Nicostratos became suddenly nervous because the grim and terrifying Hades was the master of the night.

    ¡°Amodation.¡± Said Cariades, then he went straight in.

    And Lycasis followed with excitement and curiosity.

    After knowing the situation, the temple priest readily agreed to let them rest in the temple, but because the spare rooms in the side halls were already full.

    Fearing that they would disturb Hades, Nicostratos was still a bit scared.

    The priest then said with a smile, ¡°Hades is kind and willing to help the people in need, so you do not have anything to worry about as long as you don''t defile the environment of the temple.¡±

    In fact, there were already people resting on the ground in the main hall, making Nicostratos and the others relieved. The priest even asked the believers to provide them with nkets and hot water so that Greeks like Nicostratos, who had never had contact with the Temple of Hades before, even praised the kindness of ¡°Hades¡±.

    That night, they slept quite peacefully. Naturally, the hall they slept in was the one where Elysium was depicted as no one dared to sleep on the hall on the other side of the temple.

    The following day, after thanking the priests, the group then left the Temple of Hades.

    As Nicostratos was still suffering from back pain, Strasippus suggested for them to take a wagon. Thus their group came to the wagon stop.

    But what they did not expect was that the business here was very sessful as there were no empty wagons until one wagon from Aprustum drop four people that they were able to get in.

    Inside the wagon was a couple. The woman intimately held the man''s arm, and even when she saw strangers getting in, she still didn''t let go.

    The conservative Nicostratos was greatly alerted by this and secretly swore at the Theonians savages who do not even know the traditional Greek etiquette.

    Cariades, who often travels in Theonian territory, was already used to seeing the Theonian women in public, so he had taken the initiative to talk to them. After greeting each other, they found that the man was named Appian, who had be an official citizen of Theonia onlyst year and was living in Aprustum, while the woman is a native of Aprustum. When Theonia signed the peace agreement with Crotone, her family was one of the few who chose to stay, and now it seems that her family was living a good life.

    This has made the Crotonians in the wagon slightly ufortable.

    Just after a short distance, the wagon stopped again and heard a lot of noise outside.

    Strasippus lifted the cover in front of the wagon and asked the driver what happened.

    ¡°In front is the square, and those damned wealthy men and nobles gathered some people to make trouble, thus blocking the road!¡± said the coachman angrily, then continued, ¡°We have to take a detour!¡±

    After Strasippus sat down, he told them the situation, and Nicostratos became interested, ¡°Why are the Krimisians causing amotion?¡±

    ¡°I know a bit regarding it.¡± Cariades pondered then said, ¡°Sincest autumn, a small number of Krimisians begun protesting outside the city hall near the square demanding for the convening of the lesia and giving the citizens the right to participate in politics¡­however, I did not expect that there would be so many people protesting outside the square this year!¡±

    ¡°The citizens of Theonia should have done that a long time ago! Now which of the Greek city-states does not hold an lesia, except Theonia?!¡± Nicostratos said with relief.

    Lycasis mischievously interjected, ¡°Neither does Syracuse.¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Nicostratos red at him, then spoke loudly, ¡°A city-state without an lesia and the people having no rights to participate in politics is just dictatorship! The rule of a dictator will notst long because the citizens would rise up and even overthrow it¡­¡±

    Strasippus pulled him with his hand to stop him from continuing. After all, they only came to participate in the medical symposium, so they should not talk unnecessarily and get involved in the internal strife of Theonia.

    Appian, who had already turned red from anger, retorted loudly, ¡°Only the stupid Krimisians would do such a stupid thing! Such troubles had not happened in Aprustum, Amendra, Thurii, and even in Grumentum! And it is precisely because of the rule of lord Davos that we could even be a citizen, ownnd and have peace! The priests of Hades is right about us knowing how to be grateful! It''s the same with your Crotone. I heard that the war in Greece had been going on for over a year already, and the people''s life there has be more difficult, while our Magna Graecia has enjoyed such a long peace, tell me the reason for why?! Is it not due to our greatmander, the descendant of Hades, Davos?!¡±

    Appian spoke ardently. Although Nicostratos spoke harshly, he is only a physician and not an orator. Thus he is not good at arguing with others and could only re at the young man opposite of him. On the contrary, he could only snort, ¡°¡­another Dionysius¡­¡±

    At this point, the wagon became silent.

    The wagon went around the square, exit through the south gate and back to the road.

    The wagon they were riding in was a four-wheeled wagon drawn over by two horses and could take up to six passengers. The wagon had a canopy and have small windows on the left and right sides, providing plenty of light, and the wooden seats are padded with soft cloth and fur, which could slightly alleviate the continuous vibration. However, even though the roads built by the Theonians are far better than those of other Greek city-states, the bumping on the wagon is still unavoidable. But the most troubling thing for the passengers was the noises because, in order to prevent the wooden wheel from cracking due to wear and tear, an iron ring was mped on the other side of the wheel because of this, when the wheel rotates, the iron ring woulde in contact with the stones on the roads and makes a lot of noise.

    However, in the eyes of the engineers who made the wagons, only Davos had too high of requirements for the wagons to the point that he was a bit picky. For the public, the emergence and poprity of public wagons have greatly facilitated their travel.

 Chapter 340: The Influence of Theonia

    However, a civil organization that especially manages the public wagons in the Theonia Union, the Wagon Guild, was established. Thus these wagons can not be driven and carry people at will, and only those who have their driving skills and wagons passed the assessment can be qualified to operate. Otherwise, once they found a private wagon, the patrol wille knocking on their door.

    Moreover, Theonia also issued a specialw on driving a vehicle. It was said to havee from the proposal of Davos, ¡®Any vehicle must keep to the right on the main road.¡¯ In this way, the passing vehicles would not hinder each other. Therefore, it will reduce the probability of idents and also improve the speed of the wagon.

    Of course, Nicostratos and the others will not bother looking into these details and just enjoy the convenience of the wagon.

    After an hour, the wagon entered the marshy area of the Crucoli River, which is now named Crucoli River in. After more than two years of hard work, the Theonians have sessfully transformed this area by building dams on the Crucoli River, digging drainage and filling and drying the marshy area¡­the marsh, which used to be fishy, filthy and infested with snakes and insects, have been developed into fertile farnd with high yield that even the statesmen of the Senate became greedy.

    However, Davos kept his promise, giving part of thend to the freemen who had participated in this long project. And they were almost sessful in bing citizens of Theonia just by virtue of this feat.

    Some in the Senate even proposed to build a small town on thisnd.

    However, the then praetor of Krimisa, Scambras, vehemently opposed this proposal. Reasoning that Krimisa had spent manpower and resources to support the transformation of this marsh, and with the construction of the Krimisa-Roscianum road, it has given Krimisa the ability to manage this small emerging in¡­

    Under his insistence, the Crucoli in came under the jurisdiction of Krimisa, turning Krimisa, which was originally a small city, leapt to the forefront of the city-states of Theonia Union. This has also caused some natives Krimisians, who have their status rise, to also want to get a share of thend of the Crucoli in. Naturally, the Senate will not allow them to mess around, which also became one of the reasons for the Krimisians to cause amotion.

    Although it is also farnd, it is different from the in of Crotone. As a newly developednd, it is still overgrown with weeds, and under the blessing of Persephone, the goddess of spring, thend is filled with colourful wildflowers, making thend more colourful. In the foggy distance, there is a vige where you can faintly see some smoke rising. And from time to time, you could hear the sound of children''s ying, parents'' scolding and the noises of chickens and dogs, a scene filled with vitality.

    Lycasis, who had been watching the outside through the wagon''s window, suddenly focused his gaze on several shepherds who were leading arge group of livestock to drink by the river. Their dress was different from those of the Greeks, but Lycasis felt that it is familiar.

    ¡°They are Bruttians!¡± With the stinging pain deep in his memory, Lycasis eximed. As a child, he had witnessed the Bruttians'' burning, killing and plundering on the ins of Crotone, which was still fresh in his memory.

    Nicostratos, who was also surprised, leaned to the window and watch.

    ¡°There is no need to be surprised. The Bruttians nowadays do not only live in the mountains in the west but also other parts of the Theonia Union. Even in Aprustum, some Bruttians would evene down from the upper reaches of the Neto River. Apart from the Bruttii mountains, here in ins of Crucoli have the most number of Bruttians. I also heard that several tribes are living here.¡± Appiancently said.

    Lycasis stared at the Bruttian shepherds who were talking freely by the river in dazed, as he couldn''t tell how he felt. For the young men of Crotone, the Bruttians were the ¡°nightmare¡± that their parents used to scare them in order to make them obedient when they were young. However, now, they are citizens conquered by Theonia.

    ¡°I heard that there are battles urring in the Bruttii area in recent years.¡± Nicostratos said thoughtlessly.

    ¡°There are no battles as it is just some small conflicts between Bruttian tribes due tond. And the praetor of Consentia resolves them easily.¡± Exined Appian.

    Nicostratos sneered, and the silence returned in the wagon.

    In this narrow space, the Crotonians and Theonians seem to have a difficult time getting along.

    Before noon, the wagon arrived in the city of Roscianum. The coachman needed to give the exhausted horses some rest to recover their strength, and while he gives the horses grass to eat and water to drink, the passengers have an hour''s rest.

    Nicostratos, on the other hand, negotiated with Strasippus to hire another wagon to send them to Thurii because he could not endure the prideful Theonian citizen, Appian.

    Cariades could only shake his head helplessly as he watched the three Crotonians rushing into the wagon. Then he turned around and went into Cheiristoya''s Restaurant not far away.

    Fortunately, there were still vacant seats avable. And as soon as Cariades sat down, he saw Appian, who was in the same wagon as him, and his fiancee also entering the restaurant. So, after giving his greetings, he began to order.

    Two years ago, Thurii''s cksmiths invented the pan (with the hint of Davos and after countless experiments). And soon after, Cheiristoya¡¯s Restaurant soonunched a series of fried foods made from olive oil, which quickly swept the Theonia Union.

    Cariades ordered a fried cod and two honey bread. Soon after, the waiter served the golden cod meat and fragrant bread on his table, and the hungry man could no longer wait to grab the hot bread and take a huge bite.

    He then quickly picked up a knife, cut a piece of the fish, pick it up with the fork and put it in his mouth¡­

    After quickly finishing hisunch, Cariades stroked his bulging stomach with satisfaction. Afterwards, he cleaned and arranged the tableware, then gave his solemn thanks. There was a rumour that this set of utensils was invented by the archon of Theonia, Davos, after getting inspiration from Hades. Cariades became convinced of this because an iron fork with only two tines was Hades'' bident! (T/N: d that he did not invent chopsticks like most Chinese/Korean/Japanese do when reincarnating/transmigrating.)

    As the waiter removed the te, Cariades ordered a cup of wine, and as he enjoys sipping his wine, he listens to the chatting of the other diners. Cariades, who often visited Theonia Union, could recognize that most of the diners in this restaurant are locals of Roscianum. Although the Greek pronunciation of various Greek city-states is more or less different, the ent of the Theonians is undoubtedly unique, since they included the Lucanians, Bruttians, Thracians, etc., without discrimination¡­after they joined the union and became Theonian citizens, their respective cultures merged that even their ent has changed a lot. However, from time to time, a few strange Lucanian or Bruttian words would mix in, which was the basis for the noble Crotonians and Tarantines to regard them as ¡°Barbarian¡± Theonians.

    However, Cariades does not discriminate like that.

    What these people of Roscianum were talking about was not about the city they are living in, but about their neighbour, Thurii. About how lively the uing marriage celebration will be¡­how beautiful Agnes, the second wife of Theonia''s archon ¨C Davos, is¡­about how Davos could meet the needs of his two beautiful wives?!¡­about Theonia''s Medical Symposium that will be held in Thurii soon and how many physicians of Roscianum that will attend¡­and so on.

    Some also spoke about rumours that Theonia is about to start building the first bridge made of stone¡­

    Some excitedly mention that the third arena that was newly built in Thurii would be used especially for football matches¡­

    Some boast that when they went to teau of Consentiast autumn, they saw how spectacr the horse racing celebration was¡­

    Some retorted that Lucania''s ram fighting is more exciting¡­

    But most will say in agreement that the best and more exciting is undoubtedly the South-Italia Rugbypetition and Theonia Football match¡­

    When the diners began talking about their city-state, they began toin more. Some even imed that it would have been better for Roscianum to be a part of Theonia Union than to be an independent city-state of Theonia Alliance. Although they have more freedom, they couldn''t get more benefits from Theonia Union, and the citizens of Roscianum also want to own morend¡­

    His words went too far, but none of the diners denounced it. Instead, they even approved it.

    ¡®Theonia''s influence in Magna Graecia is growing!¡¯ Cariades thought with a sigh. After estimating the time, he left the restaurant and went to the wagon. Then he saw three crestfallen Crotonian next to the wagon.

    It turned out that all the wagons were hired by the Roscianum''s unmarried couple and the people that wanted to go to Thurii to attend the Marriage¡¯s Day of the Temple of Hera.

    Thus the six people still travelled together, not uttering a word throughout the way.

    After three hours of jolting, the wagon finally stopped.

    ¡°We have arrived.¡± The coachman shouted.

    Lycasis looked out and saw a sea of people, a towering sentry tower and a long wooden bridge.

    ¡°Uhm¡­I don''t think we have yet reached Thurii?¡± Lycasis said with doubt.

    ¡°We are just outside the southern part of Thurii. Horse-drawn vehicles are not allowed to cross the bridge as it would cause congestion. The medical school you are going to is in the Akademia of Theonia, which is not far from the bridge¡­¡± Appian felt awkward getting along with these Crotonians, but as a citizen of Theonia, he still has the consciousness of being the host. After saying these words, he took his fiancee''s hand, got off the wagon, and followed the flow of people towards a checkpoint.

 Chapter 341: Military Training

    Afterwards, the four others likewise disembarked from the carriage and moved forward.

    Those who areing from the south have to go through the Crati River. They have two choices to enter the city of Thurii: First is to enter the southern part of Thurii and take a boat from the port to the main port of the city of Thurii on the other side, which is mainly used by the Theonian citizens and visiting envoys from other city-states. The second, like Cariades, through the wooden bridge in the west of the southern part to reach the Delta where the two rivers meet, then through the wooden bridge to reach the north bank of the Crati River and finally into the main city.

    Nicostratos, who passed the checkpoint, stepped on the wooden bridge. However, Lycasis, unlike his teacher, did not act reserved as he stamped his feet with curiosity, patted the bridge''s railings, and from time to time, craned his neck to watch the boats passing under the bridge¡­then he suddenly cried out, ¡°Look, what are they doing?!¡±

    In the direction that Lycasis pointed, Nicostratos could see a group of teenagers swimming in the river not far from the bridge. However, they were not ying around. On the contrary, they lined up to swim from the north bank to the south bank one after another and then returned. The Greeks were mainly seafaring race, with a lot of them being great swimmers, but it is rare to find any ce where children swam around while wearing leather armour and still find it exciting.

    ¡°Is it a race?¡± Strasippus said with uncertainty.

    ¡°They are currently doing military training.¡± A middle-aged man with a maimed right arm who had been lying on his back on the bridge''s railing and watching for a long time interjected.

    Strasippus looked at him and asked curiously, ¡°Military training?¡±

    ¡°They are all students from the Akademia of Theonia. Per the requirements of ¡¶Theonia''s Education Act¡·, besides learning knowledge, they also need to do military training¡­¡± Exined the middle-aged man.

    ¡°That''s cruel, letting such young children do such dangerous sports by force! What if they run out of strength and drown?! What if they get hit by a boat?¡± Said Nicostratos with discontent.

    In fact, besides the instructors who were apanying the children in the river, there are also several boats on the river ready for rescue. However, the middle-aged man didn''t exin it much and just said faintly, ¡°Ruthless enemies won''t let go of anyone because he is young. And only through strict training could we kill the enemy and not be killed when going on the battlefield.¡±

    Nicostratos became tongue-tied for a while and could only walk away quickly. ¡®Whether they are young or middle-aged, the Theonian men all spoke with an aura of disgust, and their methods were cruel!¡¯

    The middle-aged man ignored the departing foreign men and continued to pay attention to the children''s training in the river until the instructor beckoned them all to the shore. Afterwards, he hurriedly crossed the bridge and descended to the river bank.

    ¡°Oh, Periandorus, my brother!¡± When the instructor saw him, he came forward and gave him a warm hug. Both of them were soldiers under Amintas'' brigade of the first legion, so naturally, their bond ran deep, ¡°Your boy is still doing well as usual, and today he won first ce in his group in armed swimming!¡± The instructor was not stingy in his praise.

    ¡°I witness it all on the bridge.¡±

    ¡°Periandorus, it seems that you are so concerned about your child''s performance in military training recently. Are you going to let him rece you as an adult and let him be a soldier of the Theonian army?¡± the instructor said jokingly.

    To his surprise, Periandorus seriously nodded and said, ¡°I want him to enter the first legion.¡±

    The instructor was astounded and then said, ¡°My brother, although Patroclus performed well, he does not have enoughbat experience, and the number of reserves of the legion now exceeds ten thousand, so he will have a harder time entering the first legion. Moreover, he is still under eighteen, and even if he were of military age, the officers would not be so eager to send a new recruit like him into battle. So it is better to let him work himself into apetent soldier in the legion reserves first.¡±

    Periandorus thought about it and admitted that the instructor was right. However, he was still worried, so he asked, ¡°I am not familiar with the current situation of the legion. How long do you think it will take for Patroclus to enter the legion once he joins the reserve? Especially the first legion?¡±

    The instructorughed and said, ¡°You should hang out with our brothers of the first legion more often, especially our strategos, Aminstas, who cherished past friendship the most. Did you know that he has just been appointed as the legatus of the second legion this year? So if your son wants to enter the second legion, only one word from Amintas is needed. And even if you insist on making Patroclus join the first legion, with Aminstas friendship with Antonios, the legatus of the first legion, he would still only needed few words.¡±

    Periandorus just silently listened to hisrades. Indeed, since the time he was injured, his contact with hisrades and officers have been much less. But now, for the sake of his son, he needs to make some changes.

    ¡°By the way, haven''t you been studying in the Akademia recently? Are you preparing for Thurii''s assessment and be a vige chief? How are your studies?¡± The instructor suddenly remembered and asked curiously.

    Periandorus smiled bitterly, ¡°I don''t even know how to read a word before, and now I am old, and my memory is not as good anymore. And just remembering those letters alone is enough to give me headache¡­¡±

    ¡°Then you have to work harder. I will wait for your entry into the Senate so that you can take good care of our brothers and me.¡± The instructor said jokingly.

    Periandorus gave a rare smile.

    ¡°Father!¡± Patroclus, who had changed his clothes, came over.

    ¡°ss ended?¡±

    Patroclus nodded. He was now almost seventeen and was already taller than Periandorus. Although he was not as strong as the instructor, his body was well-proportioned and sturdy. And for students like him, who woulde of age, the school''s afternoon sses were no longer about sports but more about rigorous military training and actualbat so as to prepare for their military service.

    ¡°Periandorus, don''t forget what I had just said.¡± Seeing the father and son walk away, the instructor reminded him loudly.

    And Periandorus waved with gratefulness.

    ¡°Father, what did you and the instructor talk about?¡± Periandorus asked curiously.

    ¡°About you joining the first legion¡­¡± Periandorus honestly told his son.

    Patroclus gave a long whistle and said, ¡°I heard from Sthephilos that it is impossible for a recruit like me to join the first legion in the first ce. Still, I believe that no matter which legion I get assigned to, I will be the one who would hold the g in the Triumphant Return!¡±

    Periandorus patted the child''s shoulder with satisfaction. Although Patroclus had a jumpy personality, he is an extremely confident child.

    When the father and son left, Patroclus suddenly stopped and called out, ¡°Hey, Cynthia!¡±

    Cynthia, who was going home with her ssmate, turned and smiled at him.

    Patroclus winked at her, ¡°The band on your head is loose.¡±

    Cynthia reached for her hair and found that she had been tricked. She spat at him and said, ¡°I have you, Patro!¡±

    Patroclusughed and continued to watch Cynthia. Only when she went away did he withdraw his gaze.

    As someone who had experienced this, how could Periandorus not understand his son''s thought? It''s just that most people in Thurii know the identity of the girl, she is the adopted daughter of the archon, but Patroclus is just an ordinary Theonian citizen who had just obtained citizenship. There is a huge gap between the two sides. It''s just that his son is stubborn and has his own ideas since he was a child, so it is hard for him to give him advice. He just hopes that it''s just a simple child''s adoration.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Cynthia said goodbye to her friends and went into her home.

    The ve then came quickly and took her schoolbag, while Cynthia immediately gave her greetings and expressed her gratitude.

    Now, the residence of Davos was erged and divided into three courtyards: the front, middle and the rear. The front yard was the residence for the ordinary ves, and the stable was also located here. The middle courtyard was the ce where Davos worked and discussed the union''s affairs, and it is also where the rooms of those managing the ves and the office workers. And the rear courtyard was the residence of Davos and his family.

    Cynthia walked straight ahead, and everywhere she passed, the ves greeted her, and Cynthia returned their greetings. This is Davos'' household rule. Even though Cynthia doesn''t understand it, she had already formed a habit.

    After entering the middle courtyard, she had also encountered Aristias, who she feared among his father''s attendant. She always felt that his eyes, which were less ck and more white, seemed to have some kind of ability to see through the people''s heart. Inparison, she preferred Aristocrates, who was a former scribe, among the followers of Davos. Unfortunately, he has be a Theonian citizen, and has passed the examination of the union under the advice of Davos, and has now be a judge of Thurii''s court.

    Cynthia pushed open the door to the rear courtyard and then heard a familiar voice, ¡°Oh, Cynthia is back.¡±

    Cheiristoya stood by the garden and looked at her with a smile while Azune was bending over and pulling the weeds.

    ¡°Mother!¡± Cynthia let out a cry and ran up to hug Cheiristoya. After years of living together, this sexy, elegant and kind woman has reced her mother''s fading image.

    ¡°Be gentle! Don''t scare your sister, you little imp!¡± Cheiristoya subconsciously covered her protruding belly and flicked Cynthia''s forehead.

    ¡°Sister, I apologise for disturbing your sleep.¡± Cynthia leaned close to Cheiristoya''s stomach and said in a quirky tone.

    Then she suddenly eximed in surprise, ¡°She kicked me! Mother, sister, she kicked me!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I felt it as well.¡± Cheiristoya was also happy. Even though this is her second pregnancy, she still doesn''t know whether it is a boy or a girl. However, after having little Kro, she began wanting to have a daughter; thus, everyone started calling the baby as if it were a girl. And this is the first time that she felt the baby move.

 Chapter 342: Killing Intent

    ¡°She¡­she kicked again!¡± Cried Cheiristoya with a happy smile

    Azune hurried out of the garden, wiped the dust from her hands on her dress, and joined Cynthia in helping Cheiristoya to sit down.

    After the three had their fun, Cheiristoya felt a bit hungry, ¡°Cynthia, your brother has returned and is ying with little Kro upstairs. Go and tell them toe down and get ready for dinner.¡±

    The ¡°brother¡± that Cheiristoya referred to is Cynthia''s biological brother, Adoris, who is now eight years old and is also studying at the Akademia in Thurii.

    After giving an ¡°Oh¡± sound, Cynthia got up to go upstairs, but she suddenly noticed a te of ck stuff on the wooden table beside her. She then curiously asked, ¡°What is this?¡±

    ¡°This is from your aunt Andrea. ording to her, this dried beef meat was salted and smoked. Your father was the one that suggested it and was sent from Grumentum to let us have a taste first.¡± Said Cheiristoya.

    Cynthia then grabbed a small piece and took a bite, ¡°It''s a bit hard.¡±

    She chewed it hard for a while, swallowed it, then said, ¡°After chewing it for long, the taste is not bad. It is just a bit salty and is suitable as a snack.¡±

    ¡°Your father nned to use this dried meat as a part of the soldiers'' rations.¡± Cynthia''s casual remark brightened Cheiristoya because she only cared about how it tastes. As for the use of too much salt, she didn''t care much about it because the production of sea salt has greatly increased since the time Davos had the people of the Akademiae up with a way to improve the salt drying method, causing the price of salt to be extremely cheap.

    Cynthia then shoved a whole piece of dried meat into her mouth then detour past the garden.

    On the other side of the garden is a small altar with a stone statue of Artemis holding a bow in her hand and smiling. The statue is just a person tall, but the carving is lifelike. After the pearl of Rhegium, Agnes, married to Davos, she could not forget the time she served as the priestess of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, even though Davos made her the chief priestess of the Temple of Hera. So, with her husband¡¯s consent, she built a small altar for Artemis in the backyard. Unknowingly, Cynthia had be a devotee of the goddess. It might be because the Greeks regard Artemis as the goddess of the moon, and the night is her world, and the name ¡°Cynthia¡± originally means the moon, which naturally has a sense of closeness. And so, Cynthia prayed devoutly to Artemis before entering the main dwelling.

    Seeing Cynthia entering the house, Azune hesitated and said to Cheiristoya, ¡°Madam, are we not going to wait fordy Agnes toe back for dinner?¡±

    Cheiristoya smiled and said, ¡°She is preparing for tomorrow''s Marriage¡¯s Day. And she will probably be busy in the temple untilte at night, so we don''t have to wait for her. And with her nature, she will not care much about this.¡±

    ¡°What about master?¡±

    ¡°There is no need to wait. The Senate has been holding a meeting these two days that I don''t even know when it will end. We could only me those nobles and merchants who are causing trouble in the square¡­and that damned Pollux!¡± At the mention of this matter, Cheiristoya became a bit irritated.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Esteemed statesmen, not only in Thurii but also Krimisa, Pyxous, Amendra and the other cities have many peopleing to protest in the square. Please open the door and listen to them ¨C listen to their shout, ¡®resume the lesia!¡¯¡±

    Pollux'' passionate speech was immediately interrupted by Antonios, ¡°As far as I know, there are only a few people protesting in Thurii and Krimisa, and not the ¡®majority¡¯ as what you said! Besides, there is no such thing happening in Amendra and Pyxous!¡±

    ¡°Yes, as an Amendran, I can confirm the words of Antonios'' are facts!¡± Said Scambras.

    Pollux already expected this, so he sneered and said, ¡°Just because they did not speak does not mean that no one has objections. The citizens are just hiding their dissatisfaction in their hearts and dare not vent it. It''s funny to think that their request is so simple and not excessive, yet we have to be so nervous? You all should know that as long as a city-state is established by the Greeks, there will always be an lesia! Even if we go back in time to the era of monarchy hundreds of years ago where there were kings, the lesia still existed! Only those city-states that are under the rule of tyrants, who are afraid of the masses and thus suppress them, dare not have an lesia, such as Syracuse.¡±

    Pollux then turned to look at the seated Davos, and with courage, he asked, ¡°Milord archon, is our union ruled by a tyrant?!¡±

    This sentence shocked all those present.

    Davos remained calm as if he had no idea that Pollux was targeting him, ¡°Of course not. Theone Union is under the joint management of the statesmen of the Senate.¡±

    ¡°Then is there a provision in the Theonianw that prohibits lesia?!¡± Pollux became bolder and continued to ask questions.

    ¡°There is naturally no such thing.¡± Davos still replied calmly.

    ¡°In that case, it''s reasonable for the people to ask for an lesia! Therefore, I hope the Senate will consider this matter carefully and don''t let the citizens down!¡± Pollux saw that Davos fell into the trap heid. Thus he took the opportunity to speak out.

    ¡°Lord Pollux. it is not that easy to hold an lesia.¡± Kunogta stood up and said, ¡°The situation of Theonia Union is vastly different from that of other Greek city-states as our citizens are not concentrated in one city-state, but are all over the union, which would take us time and energy just to gather them alone! Besides, the citizens of Theonia are not only Greeks but also Lucanians and Bruttians, who doesn''t know what an lesia is, and have never participated in one. So rashly holding an lesia would not only make them at a loss but also make the lesia chaotic and be a joke to our neighbours¡­¡±

    Kunogta recounted the difficulties of convening an lesia in Theonia. In fact, he has his own selfish idea. As one of the powers of the Senate, he doesn''t want the resumption of the lesia as he was already tired of having to curry favour with the citizens and attack his political enemies in order to be elected in Thurii¡­and so on. Suppose he ends up making even the slightest mistake after being elected. In that case, there is a risk that his political enemies would incite the citizens to force them to step down, which is far less practical than now as they only needed to take care of the Union and¡­Davos.

    And there are actually a lot who have the same ideas as him, such as Cornelius, Scambras, and some statesmen that are always responsible for the important affairs of the union.

    ¡°Lord Kunogta is right! We Bruttians don''t care about any lesia. We are already satisfied as long as we have food, women to sleep, and wine to drink!¡± Sedrum said aloud, pretending to be indifferent, ¡°We Bruttians would dly obey those who are more capable and have bigger fist!¡±

    ¡°It''s the same with us, Lucanians. The lesia is too troublesome for us to even be interested in it!¡± Hemon immediately added.

    The opposition of the Lucanians and the Bruttians, the two other major forces in the Senate, made Pollux¡¯ expression unsightly. Still, he does not intend to give up and continues, ¡°Just because it''s difficult to hold an lesia, we have to give up? Is this the way we Theonians do things?! For example, building the Thurii-Laos road over the tall mountains is very difficult, but in the end, we still manage to build it after several years of hard work!

    Our citizens have been looking forward to the resumption of the lesia for a long time. If during the time when Theonia was first established and is facing the threat of survival, it is understandable that we needed to temporarily suspend the lesia that consumed a lot of time and energy in order to unify our people and focus on defeating the enemy. But now that Theonia is stable and prosperous, and the people bing more wealthy andid-back, as a Greek, who has always had a strong tradition of participating in the politics of the city-state, the Theonian citizens'' demand of convening the lesia will only be more and more intense as time goes by! As the most distinguished representatives of the citizens of Theonia, I hope that you can deeply realise this and make the right choice in time, and not wait until the citizens'' discontent has reached a dangerous level before making a hasty decision, which is not good for the Senate and Theonia!¡±

    Pollux'' words, which are both emotional and threatening, made many turn pale.

    While Davos just looked at Pollux as if thinking of something.

    ¡°Now, it''s up to everyone to vote on whether or not to pass this bill of the resumption of the lesia!¡± The rotating chairperson, Cornelius, announced loudly.

    As usual, the statesmen serving in the legion expressed their opposition, and so did the statesmen, who are Lucanians and Bruttians. Even most of the powerful among the statesmen also disagreed, while most of the statesmen, who were mostly from Thurii, that supported Pollux were not reappointed. But among those in favour, Davos saw Burkes, Petaru, and even the navarch of the Theonian navy, Enanilus.

    Davos narrowed his eyes, and a faint gleam of coldness shed through his eyes.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When they came out of the Senate Hall, it was alreadyte. On a spring night, it was still cold, but the chiton that Pollux was wearing was drenched with cold sweat from his questioning of Davos.

    Although his proposal was rejected again, Pollux became more confident from seeing an increase of people supporting him.

    ¡®Davos could not even do anything. So next time¡­¡¯ Pollux excitedly thought, his footsteps bing stronger, and he spoke more loudly with the statesmen who were travelling with him.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°I don''t know why this timid guy suddenly became more and more rampant!¡± Marigi stood on the steps outside the Senate Hall and looked indignantly at theughing Pollux in the distance. He then said to Davos with some worry, ¡°Milord, you can''t let him continue to be arrogant!¡±

 Chapter 343: Observing Theonias School Park

    Davos said indifferently, ¡°Marigi, I wonder if you ever heard this old saying in the orient?¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Those whom the gods wish to destroy, he first makes them mad.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Nicostratos, Strasippus, and Lycasis were standing in front of the gate of Theonia¡¯s School Park.

    This is an unusual gate, arge white arch, with a huge stone sphere on the top, and a thick sword-shaped stone tablet extending straight from the middle of the arch, supporting the arch and dividing it into two.

    There is a sentence engraved on the stone tablet, ¡®All things have their own rules, and the mystery can only be obtained by unremitting exploration.¡¯

    Nicostratos repeated these words and couldn''t help but nod his head. Then when he looks further down, he saw the signature of ¨C Davos.

    ¡°Davos? Which Davos?¡± Asked Nicostratos in astonishment.

    ¡°Who else?! It''s naturally the archon of Theonia!¡± Strasippus replied.

    ¡°This is the ce where schrs gather, a sacred ce! What qualification does he have?!¡± Nicostratos''plexion changed as he uttered these words.

    Strasippus was shocked and hurriedly discouraged him, ¡°Don''t speak rubbish. Davos is not just an archon. He is also the respected teacher of the physicians of Theonia. Even those schrs who are studying mathematics also respect him. It is even rumoured that they have gotten enlightenment from him, which is why the whole Akademia respect him very much. Besides,st year I heard the lecture given by Davos, and his medical knowledge is truly unique and thought-provoking. It is no wonder why many people called him the ¡®messenger sent by the gods¡¯. If these people hear you insulting him here, they will definitely beat you up!¡±

    ¡°I am not afraid of the Theonians.¡± Nicostratos muttered. He then stopped talking and walked into the gate of the Akademia with Strasippus.

    Lycasis had been staring at the sphere all this time. Even after stepping over the gate and walking a few steps, he still could not stop himself from looking back and saying, ¡°What''s the point of cing such a heavy stone ball on the top? Are they not afraid of it falling down?¡±

    ¡°Little guy, you don''t understand.¡± Inside the gate stood a young man in his twenties and exined loudly, ¡°This sphere symbolises the world where we live-¡±

    ¡°Wait, you meant that thend under our feet is round?!¡± Lycasis interrupted in surprise.

    ¡°Of course, otherwise, why do you always see the ship''s sails first when looking at the ships sailing in the distance. You should know that as early as many years ago, Thales of Miletus had left it as¡­anyway, this problem is hard to exin within a short time. You just need to remember that thend we live on is a big ball!¡± The young man said impatiently. Then he pointed to the arch and said, ¡°What do you think this arch looks like?¡±

    Lycasis, after the reminder, looked attentively, ¡°Oh, it''s a pair of arms!¡±

    ¡°Yes, the arms holding up the sphere signifies that humans can transform Gaia!¡± The young man said excitedly, ¡°But what can we do to transform the earth and ovee the terrible disaster?¡±

    ¡°How would I know?¡± Lycasis angrily eximed while ring at the young man who was forcing himself on him.

    ¡°Read the inscription on that stone tablet.¡± The young man pointed to the sword-shaped stone tablet and said in high spirit, ¡°Only through diligently studying and exploration could we schrs obtain knowledge! Lord Davos had designed this gate with such profound meaning!¡±

    Lycasis sneered at his boasting.

    The young man had apparently not paid attention to the expression of Lycasis, as he continued to pull his hand and said, ¡°Now I will tell you why the stone sphere will not break the arch and fall down. It is because the round arch spreads the weight to both ends.¡± Then he picked up a branch and drew the logic of gravity, ¡°Of course, it could notpletely disperse the gravity of the stone sphere, and the pressure on the arch still exist, that is why the support of the sword-shaped stone tablet is the key.¡±

    The poor Lycasis was utterly at a loss by the young man''s professional exnation. It is as if he was listening to a sacred book.

    Nicostratos, who had been listening due to curiosity, was nowpletely impatient and eximed, ¡°Lycasis, it''s time for us to go! It''s already getting dark, and we must not miss the registration!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Lycasis was so frightened that he pulled his hand hard, nearly causing the young man to fall.

    ¡°Sign up? What''s your name?¡± The young man looked at them with suspicion.

    ¡°We are here for the medical symposium.¡± Strasippus said.

    ¡°You are here for those who are dealing with corpses and skeletons!¡± It dawned on the young man.

    ¡°You¡­go away! go away!¡± He suddenly lost his interest in teaching him, pping and pushing Lycasis'' hand, as if he was afraid of getting infected with some bad luck.

    ¡°Could this man be ill? Crazy.¡± Muttered Lycasis while following Strasippus.

    In the park, the trees are flourishing and greenish, and a gravel paved path is covered among the trees with green shade and intertwining branches.

    The three continued to walk when they suddenly heard a cry, ¡°Be careful, don''t step on it!¡±

    Strasippus quickly stopped, only to find a man crouching on the ground beside him, holding a piece of limestone and scribbling some words and symbols on the t paved stone in front of him.

    The man then protected the stone with his body as he nced at them and urged, ¡°Go! Go away!¡±

    ¡°These people are probably all schrs from the Institute of Mathematics in the Akademia of Theonia. I heard that most of them are from the Pythagorean School of Taranto.¡± Strasippus exined to the dissatisfied Nicostratos.

    ¡®So it is those lunatics!¡¯ Nicostratos suddenly dawned on him. The Pythagorean School worshipped ¡°mathematics as gods¡±, and they also often held some strange rituals and are secretive. In the early years, they had close ties with the nobles of the city-states in Magna Graecia and opposed democracy, which is why many people regarded them as heretics and avoid them like the gue.

    ¡®Theonia unexpected epted them!¡¯ Nicostratos felt a hint of disgust.

    They then saw someone clinging on the trunk of a tree, looking up at the sky and muttering to themselves. Some were walking like puppets, not knowing what they are thinking, and some were lying on the mud, suddenly jumping up, ecstatic, and other strange behaviours, but the group of three no longer found them odd.

    After passing several tall trees, a small gazebo appeared in front of them, where a crowd of people formed a circle, and something seemed to be ced in the centre.

    They fiddled with the object while arguing fiercely.

    Finally, the curious Lycasis approached the gazebo, only to hear them saying something like, ¡°How long should the bridge span be?¡±

    ¡°Where should it be built to ensure the bridge to be levelled?¡±

    ¡°How many columns it would need to support the bridge?¡±

    ¡°How far apart they should be?¡±

    ¡°Are you here for the medical symposium?¡± A man came out of the crowd and asked as he looked at the medicine box that Lycasis was carrying.

    Before Lycasis could answer, Strasippus bowed and said with respect, ¡°Greetings, Stesichodas!¡±

    ¡°You are?¡± Stesichodas looked at him with suspicion, trying hard to recall his name from his memory.

    ¡°I am Strasippus, a physician from Crotone. And this is Nicostratos and Lycasis, both of them are also from Crotone.¡± Strasippus immediately introduce themselves.

    ¡°Oh, look at my memory. Apologies! I remember thatst year, you gave a lecture on the application of aloe vera in the treatment of sports injuries!¡± Stesichodas patted his forehead and said apologetically.

    ¡°Yes, that''s the little experience that I sharedst year. Some time has already passed, and yet you still remember it.¡± Strasippus said with delight.

    ¡°Naturally. Inspired by your lecture, some physicians in our medical school have conducted a more in-depth study of aloe vera this year and have made some new advances, which will be mentioned at this symposium.¡± Stesichodas said seriously.

    ¡°That''s great!¡± Strasippus couldn''t help but cheer, forgetting the somewhat awkward Nicostratos beside him.

    Fortunately, Stesichodas did not forget him, so he took the initiative to greet him, ¡°Wee, physician Nicostratos!¡±

    Nicostratos'' return his greetings reservedly.

    ¡°You as well, Lycasis! Wee to the Akademia of Theonia!¡± Said Stesichodas enthusiastically while leading them to the direction of the medical school.

    Then Stesichodas embarrassedly said as they walked, ¡°Apologies. Today is my turn to meet the physiciansing for the symposium at the Akademia¡¯s gate. But after standing there for most of the day, I felt a bit tired. Thus I took a rest in the gazebo while listening to the discussion of the Institute of Mathematics regarding the construction of a stone bridge that I did not expect that I have almost missed you.¡±

    Strasippus was astounded, ¡°You mean to build a bridge made of stone?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Theonia''s Department of Road and Bridge Management is going to build a bridge made of stone on the Saraceno River to rece the former wooden bridge. After the Senate gave their approval, they handed the design and measurement of the stone bridge to the Institute of Mathematics. Marticoris, the vice-president of the Institute of Mathematics, and a group of people have been arguing about this matter for more than ten days already, however, they have basicallypleted the n. If they sessfully build the stone bridge on the Saraceno River this time, then several more bridges will follow. Then after umting enough experience, Heracleides the Younger can then start the construction of the bridge on the Crati River!¡± Stesichodas smiled. Obviously, he is full of expectation because once there is a direct connection between the main city of Thurii and the southern part, the pedestrians from the south going to the north will instead pass through the stone bridge rather than the wooden bridge passing through the Delta, which would make the environment around Theonia¡¯s School Park to be much quieter.

 Chapter 344: Conspiracy and Marriages Day

    Strasippus and Nicostratos looked at each other with shock in their eyes. Nicostratos even looked back at the group of people still arguing in the gazebo, with his thought regarding them changing.

    He looked back at Stesichodas, who was walking ahead, pulled Strasippus and asked in a low voice, ¡°Who is this man that you have so much respect for him?¡±

    ¡°He is the¡­uhm¡­vice-president of the medical school in the Akademia of Theonia. He is not only highly skilled in medicine but is also very knowledgeable!¡± Strasippus murmured.

    ¡°Highly skilled? How much is he better than you?¡± Nicostratos didn''t care about the other''s position as he only cares about the actual level of the other party¡¯s medical skills.

    ¡°I can''tpare with him at all. The gap in our skills is just like that between a child and an adult. You will find out once you see him treat the patients and listen to his speech.¡± Strasippus said sincerely.

    Nicostratos was utterly speechless as he realised that he and Strasippus have almost the same skill level, ¡®Could it be that this humble middle-aged man is really so amazing?!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the dark of the night, in one of the houses in a vige outside the city of Thurii. After eating their dinner, Teratus asked his wife to pour him some wine as he sat alone in the yard, looking at the starry sky thinking deeply. From time to time, he watched the ves cleaning the farm tools in the yard while the sound of his son reading came from the room lit by an oilmp¡­

    ¡®How wonderful such life is!¡¯ Looking back on himself a few years ago, Teratus could not help but be happy that he had made the correct choice of betraying Crotone, which he is still a bit guilty of. However, he had already done a lot for Crotone and Milo, which even include risking his life by sneaking around mpetia to obtain important information and contributing to Crotone''s efforts to assist Terina in repelling the Bruttians¡­ However, even with all of those, his life remained difficult until he surrendered to Aristias. After Davos defeated Crotone, he fulfilled his promise and brought back Teratus¡¯ wife and children to him safely. So from then on, he began living in Thurii while officially joining the mountain reconnaissance brigade under Davos'' arrangement and umting war credits. At the same time, he is secretly working for Aristias and the archon.

    It wasn''t untilst year that he finally became a Theonian citizen and got the ¡°allocatednd¡± that every Greek dreamed of. At the same time, his children also began attending the Akademia of Theonia. His household even bought two ves to take charge of the work in the fields¡­all this happiness came from the fact that he had made the right choice.

    Thinking of this, he felt that he should pray to Hades. At the start, he was often troubled by guilt that he couldn''t even sleep at night. Finally, after going to the confession room in the Temple of Hades on the advice of Aristias, he gradually became relieved.

    Just as he began to pray to Hades devoutly, a patterned knock sounded from the door.

    ¡°Who is it?¡± Said Teratus in a low voice as he hastened to the door.

    ¡°Teratus, it''s me!¡± A low voice came from the door. However, in the quiet night, the voice was very clear.

    ¡®It''s Aristias!¡¯ Teratus was shocked because Aristias, as his boss, would usually ask him to report at his residence and assign tasks, and he had never gone to Teratus'' house in person, let alone at night.

    He opened the door in a hurry. And under the moonlight, the slender figure of Aristias appeared in front of him.

    Aristias nced seriously at the courtyard behind Teratus, then came in.

    Teratus then lightly closed the door while making excuses to drive the ves to rest.

    While Aristias just stood quietly in the corner of the courtyard. And with the wall and tall willows blocking the moonlight in the sky, the darknesspletely covered his figure.

    After Teratus set things in order, he immediately rushed over to receive the order.

    Aristias did not beat around the bush. He then said in a low voice, ¡°Milord has ordered that you can start to act on the matter that was assigned to you.¡±

    Teratus'' became tense again as the ¡°lord¡± that Aristias spoke of could only be the first man of Theonia whom he both feared and grateful to.

    Teratus then became excited once more, ¡°Chief, where should we start?!¡±

    And the two of them talk in whispers for a while.

    After seeing Aristias leave, Teratus could no longer restrain his excitement that he pped his hand hard, ¡°CLAP!¡±, the clear apuse in the darkness of the night ushered his wife''s voice, who was in the room, ¡°Teratus?!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. You go to bed first.¡± Teratus quicklyforted her and told himself, ¡®Be calm! be calm!¡¯ Although this is an opportunity to make great achievements, it is of great importance and involves too many people who were either in high positions or very wealthy. So he must be careful and cautiously think if there is any mistake in implementing the n.

    Thus with both hands on his back, Teratus walked around and pondered, spending the whole night in the yard¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following day, the sky is blue, and the temperature and weather were just right to travel.

    The Thurians got up early, washed and ate, ced flowers in front of their homes and sprinkled the streets with clean water. The men dressed neatly while the women dressed in fancy clothes. Afterwards, they rushed to the east gate in pairs.

    The Temple of Hera in Thurii was built two years ago due to Theonia''s Marriage''s Day bing more and more grand and influential. But since there is no Temple of Hera in Thurii, they needed to go to Heraclea to invite a priest of Hera before every Marriage''s Day, and they could only hold the event in the Nike Square, which was somewhat unconventional and not in line with Theonia''s identity as the centre of the alliance. Therefore, in response to the people¡¯s needs and the city¡¯s development, the Senate approved the construction of the Temple of Hera.

    However, the temple¡¯s construction cost had note from the Treasury, which was already stretched from all kinds of infrastructure; instead, it came from various donations. With the generous donation from archon Davos as an example, the many statesmen and merchants donated one after another, enabling the Temple of Hera to bepleted after more than a year of construction.

    At that time, due to the political situation of Theonia bing stable after the Bruttian War, finding a location for the Temple of Hera became a problem. Because of several years of rapid development, the number of citizens in Thurii sharply increased that there was not enough space to amodate a new temple, so they could only build it outside the city. This is why the Senate had also put the problem of expanding the city of Thurii on the agenda.

    Contrary to the Greek tradition of building the temple on a high ce, the Theonians built the Temple of Hera on the tnd between the city of Thurii and the port on the bank of the Crati River outside the city.

    Early in the morning, the Theonians gathered from all directions to the Temple of Hera to participate in the annual celebration.

    Even though the sun in the sky has not yet shone, the sea of people was already outside the Temple of Hera, putting significant pressure on the patrol units responsible for maintaining order.

    At the same time, with the number of engaged couples being as high as five hundred, there are many that havee to participate in the blessing this year, causing the Temple of Horae, the goddess of seasons, and the Temple of Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, on the side of the Great Temple of Hera, to be crowded.

    As the people outside the temple became so crowded and noisy, they started to faintly hear the sound of bells from the southwest, from within the city of Thurii, followed by a powerful sound. They all know that these bell sounds came from the four-ton bronze bell in the Temple of Hades, ringing nine times in a row.

    ¡°One! Two! Three!¡­¡± The people also began counting simultaneously at the ringing of the bell (In folklore, Hades'' birthday is September 9, so Theonia had not only changed the annual Hades'' Day to September 9 but also made the temple bell ring nine times for every major celebration).

    ¡®The celebration is about to begin!¡¯ The Theonians began to liven up. As for why the Temple of Hades, the king of the underworld, could announce the beginning of the celebration of Hera, the Theonians were already long ustomed to it and did not doubt it because in the past five years, and with the unremitting efforts of Plesinas and his subordinates, the Theonians have long regarded Hades as the protector of the union and the giver of stability and prosperity to Theonia.

    The crowd began to stir up as they saw groups of musicians holding lyres, flutes, bronze horns, drums¡­and so on, get closer to the steps in front of the temple and stand in order. Then a dozen priestesses dressed in long white robes came out of the temple and stood in front of the tform.

    When the melodious music sounded, the noise began to weaken, and the priestesses began singing in chorus. However, this was not the hymn to Hera, but her daughter, Hebe, the goddess of youth. Therefore, the new hymn was lively and cheerful.

    Singing together with them were dozens of young girls in front of another temple, the Temple of Hebe, the goddess of youth. These young girls stepped lightly into the square along with beautiful singing and dancing, and from time to time, switching to various formations and shapes.

    Since the opening ceremony of the Temple of Hades, the dramatic dancing with spectacr scenes and magnificent momentum had not only shocked the Theonians but also opened up a new form of art. And the priests of all the temples regarded it as one of the indispensable ceremonies for celebrations.

    Watching the girls dancing happily in the square and listening to the music with a slightly strong rhythm, a lot of the girls outside couldn''t stop themselves from shaking their waists.

    After the hymn of Hebe, the maidens stepped back while the children and the priestesses on the temple tform emitted a soft resonant sound as if it was a piece of divine music.

    Everyone in the crowd tiptoed, gazing at the temple one after another, as they all know that it was time for their lord to appear.

    A woman then came out of the temple, dressed in a in white robe, wearing a pomegranate crown while holding a torch, lit by a long bright oilmp in the temple. Her demeanour was dignified and calm, and her exquisite face shows no w as if the whole person is the statue of Hera carved by a famous master. She is so holy that the crowds couldn''t feel a slight hint of sphemy.

 Chapter 345: Marriages Day Celebration and Blessings

    Both the inside and outside of the whole square became silent as the priestess slowly walked towards the tform without looking around, seemingly unaware of what is happening. She then lit the brazier in front of her with the torch because the zing me represented the blessing of the gods.

    Then, facing the square, she gently opened her lips, then a soft and clear voice that was hard to imagineing out from such a seemingly delicate body, making the crowd intoxicated.

    With her as the lead, the priestesses began singing the hymn of Hera. The melody is filled with love for the children, care for the women, guidance for marriage, and protection for the family¡­hence why the hymn was neither loud nor sad, but just like an elder,ing slowly and without haste¡­

    The square was still covered with silence even when the hymn ended, and the people seemed to be still immersed in the teachings of the hymn.

    At this time, the mes in the brazier suddenly became more vigorous, causing the crowd to mour, ¡°Hera is here! She''s watching over us!¡± thinking that it was a good omen.

    Agnes, the chief priestess, gave a slight smile, which was like sunlight pouring into the hearts of the people, and said, ¡°Goddess Hera blesses you!¡±

    As soon as her voice fell, the crowd rose to their feet and cheered, and the melodious music also sounded.

    The couples were then led by the patrols and entered the square one after another causing the whole square to be soon crowded.

    They then began dancing awkwardly to the music because even though the Greeks are good at sports, they are not good at dancing, however, due to Davos making simple adaptations based on the social dancing of his previous life, he made the couples to be trained it specially and perform it atst year''s Marriage''s Day, immediately attracting the praise of the masses andpeted to learn it.

    At this time, everyone held their breath as they bravely show off their household''s elegance. In the narrow space, the couple kept pace with each other, moving in simple steps as they looked at each other. Then they twirled around and changed movements¡­ Although the action is repetitive and straightforward, the couples became happier and happier while dancing and even those who were outside the square started singing and dancing.

    During their dancing, the wife thinks that her husband is the most attractive man while the husband thinks that his wife is the most beautiful, and everyone fell into intoxication. This is precisely the intention of Davos when nning this because the family is the cornerstone of the city-state, so the more solid a family is, the more peaceful the city-state is.

    Even the priestesses on the tform could not resist the slight shaking of their delicate bodies and hummed to the music in low voices.

    At this time, a lively priestess courageously asked Agnes in a low voice, ¡°Priestess, with this dance being created by the lord archon, does this mean that you also dance with the lord archon at your home every day?¡±

    The priestess'' words made Agnes'' rosy lips curled up into a smile. Agnes was a traditional Greek woman, so when Rhegium rejected Dionysius'' proposal, it resulted in no one daring to marry her. However, she did notin about it and just silently entered the Temple of Artemis as a priestess, but after several years, when she thought that she would live such a dull life and live alone, who knew that Artemis would pity this beautiful girl. As Syracuse''s strength began threatening the survival of Rhegium, Agnes, who was shouldering the hopes of the whole city, was sent to the unfamiliar Thurii. At first, she was bewildered and even expected that the rumoured famous strategos, the wise archon of Theonia, to be a domineering man. However, Davos surprised her with his gentleness and thoughtfulness that transcended this era.

    But at this moment, she turned serious and chided the priestess, ¡°It''s currently a celebration, and Hera is now watching us, so we must give it our all!¡±

    The priestesses all knew that although Agnes is the chief priestess of the Temple of Hera, she is gentle and kind to her subordinates and knew that she is really not angry. However, they still obediently stop chattering and stand up again.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the Temple of Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, Appian was both excited and nervous at this moment. He looked around and found that most men and women were like this, except for one young man that attracted his attention, as he was the only one sitting upright on the ground with his eyes tightly closed as if he was asleep.

    Appian stared at the man curiously but found that he doesn¡¯t look familiar. And he couldn''t guess that this man''s identity was unusual as he was the former Spartan prince, Leotychides.

    Having lived in Thurii for several years, Leotychides is now an official citizen of Theonia and a toon captain of the first legion. Under the urging of his old servant, he also found a partner. However, the aesthetic of Spartans is different from that of ordinary Greeks, as they like women who have a fit body and distinct personality, just like his mother who gave him a new copper shield when he first went to the battlefield and even told him, ¡®You either hold it in battle or be carried back with it.¡¯ That is why Leotychides was engaged to a Bruttian girl with a strong personality in the city of Besidice.

    ¡°Everyone, arrange yourselves in order as soon as possible! The blessing ceremony will soon begin! Once the music started, all of you will follow me into the square. Do you all understand?!¡± The priest in charge of guiding reminded the newlyweds again.

    Appian became energetic, ¡®It''s finally starting!¡¯

    Soon after, a piece of soothing but solemn music rang out in the temple. Then a priestess holding a flower basket took the lead out of the temple, and Appian''s fiance took his arm and followed along¡­

    The moment they walked into the square, they were taken aback at the sight of a sea of flowers and colourful petals being scattered from the hands of the people on the side and the hands of the children dressed in lovely clothing and shuttling in the square¡­the petals fell in droves turning into a carpet of flowers for them to step on¡­

    Outside the venue, thousands of people waved colourful cloth and cheered for them, with even some of their acquaintances and friends shouting their names, giving their blessings.

    On this joyous asion, each couple became excited as if they have be the happiest couple in the world.

    At the end of the music, all of the couples stood under the staircase in front of the Temple of Hera.

    After the noise quietened, Agnes then said, ¡°Young men and women, who have been shot by Cupid''s arrow of love, and under the guidance of Aphrodite, you all have fallen in love with each other and came here under the watchful eyes of Hera.

    Hera had asked me to ask the men, who are here, are you willing to be the husband of the beautiful woman beside you? Are you willing to honour her until she grows old, without letting her suffer hardship and to not break thew for the sake of your new home to be built, and doing your best in protecting her and bing an excellent citizen of the city?!¡±

    ¡°I do!¡± Every man did not hesitate to answer loudly, for the priestess'' question was exactly what they were striving for.

    ¡°Women, Hera had asked me to ask you, will you be the wife of the strong man beside you? Are you willing to love and respect him, to raise his children and to make him an excellent citizen of the city?!¡±

    The delicate women at this moment answered firmly, ¡°Yes!¡±

    Agnes looked at those who were outside the square, ¡°Is there anyone who objects to any couple who are here now? If so, say it now!¡±

    No one gave their objection.

    Agnes slightly breathed out, opened her arms and announced in a loud voice, ¡°Thus under the watchful eyes of Hera, it is my greatest pleasure to pronounce the Bride, and the Groom are now husband and wife. I hope that you will love each other forever! If anyone ruins your marriage and family, no matter who they are, will bear Hera''s wrath and thew of Theonia Union! Now, every husband can now kiss your beautiful wife.¡±

    As soon as Agnes'' voice died down, the fire in the brazier beside her suddenly became vigorous again, discharging a bit of spark.

    ¡°Hera! Hera!¡± The crowd and the newlywed all cried out.

    At this time, the music rang out. Compared with the solemn and sacred melody before, the music is now beautiful, warm, sweet and full of happiness.

    Appian''s wife blushed and closed her eyes. When the two lips met, there was only one thought in her heart, ¡®Appian is right in insisting on attending Thurii''s Marriage''s Day. Now I no longer have regrets in this life!¡­¡¯

    When Leotychides'' wife opened her eyes, she saw a tear faintly shining on her husband''s eye as he kissed her, making her surprised that her tough husband could cry as well.

    However, she didn''t know that in the blessing of thousands of people, the only thing Leotychides thought of was how his mother, who had been humiliated and hadmitted suicide, couldn''t give her blessings at this important moment¡­

    By this time, it was already afternoon. The crowd who came to the temple early in the morning and the newlyweds in the square were all tired and hungry, but none of them returned to their homes. On the contrary, everyone was itching because thest part of Marriage''s Day was about to start.

    As soon as Agnes uttered the word ¡°Sprinkle the Water¡±, all the people immediately picked up the earthen jar on the ground filled with water and sshed it on the people nearby. The children who were in charge of scattering the flowers before had now gotten into the square and began sprinkling water on the couple, making the brides scream and the grooms stand up to protect them. Among the yful children were Cynthia, her younger brother Adoris, and their schoolmates¡­

    For a while, the square was boiling in excitement as the water sshed all over the ce.

    Those who had finished pouring water rushed to the Crati River beside the temple, fetching out the water and continued fighting. This is also one of the reasons why the Temple of Hera was built near the river.

    The men who have their chiton drenched would directly take them off and tied it around their waists, revealing their muscr bodies. The Greeks advocate physique beauty, and the Theonians are no exception. Moreover, the poption of the newly established city-state union is mainlyposed of immigrants. Most of them were still young and have received a lot of military training than the average Greek citizen in their spare time. Thus they are stronger, more agile and more willing to show off the results of their training.

    While the women, who have their clothes drenched and have their curves showing, did not care as everyone are like this.

 Chapter 346: Hemis and Agnes

    The Theonian women¡¯s openness and boldness often amaze the foreigners whoe to Theonia for the first time, while those conservatives would secretly ridicule them by calling them ¡°Savages¡±.

    It is indeed a fact that the formation of such openness is influenced by the ¡°customs¡± of the Lucanians and the Bruttians that makes up part of the union''s poption. However, it is also the result of the intentional indulgence of the union''s top officials, mainly by Davos. As one could see, even the chief priestess of the Temple of Hera allowed the newlywed couples to kiss in public and even regarded it as sacred. So what if the women show their faces and curves? The Theonians are already used to it, and this openness has aroused the yearning of the young men and women in the neighbouring allied city-states, not to mention Roscianum. As even the unmarried men and women from Heraclea and Metapontum came to the Marriage''s Day. Davos was pleased with this, as it signified that these ¡°customs¡± of the emerging Theonia Union were now setting the trend and deepening their influence on Magna Graecia.

    At this time, everyone revels in sprinkling water, in which the patrolling soldiers'' existence became unneeded. After a while, one of the patrolling soldiers, as he dodges the sshing water, suggested to Rodom, ¡°Captain, since there won''t be any trouble, why don''t we also join in?!¡±

    Rodom is no longer the young Bruttian who knew nothing about Theonia, as years of training had made him differentpared to a few years ago. Of course, he knows that once a Theonian citizen is guilty of a crime, like tax evasion, it would be extremely difficult for them to enter the legion or even hold a public office. And the Theonians, unless they are crazy, would usually not allow themselves to make such mistakes.

    Nevertheless, he still reprimanded, ¡°Let''s not take chances. In case something really happens, and you and I are not in our post, we would not be able to escape the responsibility!¡±

    When the patrolling soldier did not reply, Rodomforted his tribesman, ¡°Marriage''s Day happens every year, so if you really want to take part in it, then I will give you an off day if you marry a Greek woman next year.¡±

    ¡°How could it be that easy to marry a Greek?¡± Another squad member muttered.

    Per the Theonianw, there are many favourable policies for other races to marry Greek women. However, after Bruttii and a part of Lucania (i.e. Pyxous) were merged into Theonia Union, arge number of foreign races became citizens or preparatory citizens of Theonia, leading to the poprity of Greek women. And in recent years, due to the development of Theonia, thend distribution has been close to saturation, and the number of freemen staying in Theonia''s territory has begun to decrease in just a short period. As a result, many citizens of foreign races have to resort to the women of neighbouring city-states. But most of the non-Theonian Greek women and their families could not ept the proposal of those foreign races who were originally regarded as ¡°barbarians¡±, even if he had be a Theonian citizen.

    ¡°Don''t be discouraged. If you are unable to find one, then let lord Baripirie forward.¡± Rodom suggested, causing the eyes of the patrolmen to brighten.

    Their chieftain, Baripiri, is now a member of the Senate of Theonia. As the strength of Theonia bes stronger, the more the city-states of Magna Graecia became awed at them. Naturally, the statesmen of the Senate of Theonia are well respected by these city-states, so with the endorsement of Baripiri, the chance for the marriage proposal to be sessful would naturally increase.

    While the Theonians were rejoicing with abandon, some foreigners had also participated in this ceremony. However, most did not participate and just watched, including Hemis of Syracuse.

    It made him surprised at witnessing such an event. Although the absurdity of the Marriage''s Day was not as good as Dionysia ¨C the festival of Dionysius, the god of wine, it was more joyous and exciting.

    ording to his observation during his stay in Thurii, the Theonians were strict, rigid and even slightly cautious to the point that they are a bit timid when meeting a patrolling soldier and are far less liberal than the Greek citizens of other city-states.

    However,bining what he is now seeing and the fierce rugby matches he had watched, he had to admit that the Theonians also have their own craziness that even when they are also under the rule of a tyrant (he thought that Davos was a tyrant), but whenparing the current Syracusans to the Theonians, the Theonians are happier and feel less depressed.

    Syracuse, on the other hand, due to the Syracusans almost ousting Dionysius out of his power, made Dionysius exercised his oppressive rule in Syracuse to wantonly search for the democrats, increasing the number of patrols to patrol the city all day, and checking suspicious people, which were all carried out by the mercenaries. He even set up several camps not far from the city and even stationed nearly five thousand mercenaries. And he even gave arge number of mercenaries citizenship (mainly those from Campania) and gave themnd near Syracuse to establish viges and towns to consolidate his rule.

    At the same time, for his own safety, Dionysius forcible evicted the people living on the ind of Ortygia and only allowed himself and his family, as well as his loyal courtiers, to live there. He also continued to strengthen the walls around the ind, built fortresses, and is guarded by his trusted two thousand mercenaries whilepletely using the people of Syracuse to guard against the enemies.

    Hemis shook his head and discarded the dangerous thoughts in his head. In any case, Dionysius appreciate him now. He is not only well paid but had also been quickly promoted. Therefore, he does not want to arouse the suspicion of the tyrant one day due to inappropriate words.

    Seeing that it was gettingte, Hemis judged that it was time for Pollux toe back, so he left behind the peals ofughter without a moment''s hesitation.

    ording to the situation of Pollux in the Senate these days, the problem is gradually favouring him, and the seemingly solid strength of Davos begins wavering. Interestingly enough, Dionysius'' dictatorship and high-handed rule made his throne as stable as a mountain and made the people tremble to the point that no one dares to oppose him. On the contrary, the young archon of Theonia, who was friendly to the people and gentle in his means, made him timid about doing things, allowing Pollux and the others to take advantage of his shorings. Naturally, Hemis would not feel sorry for Davos. In fact, once his work was sessful, Dionysius would even promote him to the point that it was not just a dream for him to sit side by side with an important minister like Philistus!

    Thinking of his, he became excited as he walked towards Pollux'' residence.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Agnes was walking on the corridor of the mansion, and all the ves she encountered bowed down to greet her.

    The ves had different attitudes towards the two beautiful mistresses: Cheiristoya is smart and capable, and she was the one in charge of the household, so everyone was more in admiration of her; while Agnes who had served Artemis then Hera as their priestess, although her character is cold, her temperament was gentle, so the people are respectful of her.

    When she reached the wooden door in the rear courtyard and pushed it open, she heard a loud shout, ¡°Happy Marriage''s Day!¡±

    Then, a white blur came flying towards her, and she could not stop herself from screaming and the water sshing on her body, soaking her thoroughly.

    ¡°Nice, our sneak attack was sessful!¡± Like a child, Davos gave the excited Adoris a high five while Cynthia snickered.

    Seeing this, Agnes alsoughed. As the chief priestess who was standing high on the tform, no one would dare pour water on her. So when she watched the crowd in the square having so much fun, she sometimes thought enviously, ¡®If only I could join!¡¯

    Now, her wish hase true.

    ¡°Mother Agnes, hug! Mother Agnes, hug!¡± Little Kro came running while shouting. For some reason, ever since Agnes got married into the household, this child has been very fond of his new mother.

    Agnes bent down and tried to pick him up. Then she remembered that her clothes were drenched, so she had to stop him, causing Little Kro to cry out with dissatisfaction.

    ¡°Son, stop causing trouble!¡± Cheiristoya''s words immediately calmed little Kro, then she continued, ¡°Sister, you go take a bath and change your clothes first. Azune had already prepared the bath for you.¡±

    ¡°Sister, thank you!¡± Agnes responded with a smile.

    After going upstairs, she found a big wooden barrel in the bedroom, surrounded by mist. She reached for it and found that the water''s temperature was just right, so she quickly took off her priestess'' white robe and stepped into the barrel.

    After standing in front of the temple for a whole day, it is impossible for her not to feel tired. And with the temperature of the water being just right, it was not only nourishing her skin but also giving her a drowsy and pleasant feeling.

    At this time, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind.

    She was startled at first, then she rxed. Because who else would be there besides her husband!?

    ¡°Agnes, you''ve worked hard!¡± Said Davos gently, and the heat of his breath blew on her earlobes, making her feel itchy.

    ¡°Come here, let me have a look!¡± She could hear the eagerness in Davos'' gentle voice. Then with one hand on her arm, he easily pulled her to her feet.

    Agnes subconsciously put her left hand across her chest and her right hand on her bottom, but Davos gently pried opened her hands as his eyes gradually burned with mes, burning every inch of her skin that she couldn''t help but shiver.

    ¡°Agnes, my wife, you are as beautiful as Hera!¡± Davos praised excitedly.

    Agnes suddenly smiled with mischief as she poured a bucket of water on Davos and said, ¡°Happy Marriage''s Day!¡±

    She couldn''t help butugh from seeing Davos'' embarrassing appearance, causing the shaking of her body to add to the temptation.

    ¡°Hmph, I will punish you well!¡± Davos said ¡°meanly¡±. Then he picked her up andid her gently on the bed.

    In Agnes'' nervous and expectant gaze, Davos tore off her chiton and leaned over her.

    ¡°My Hera!¡± He whispered, kissing her tender lips.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    If before, Nicostratos had some doubts about the rumours of Theonia''s superior medical skills, then after a day of the Medical Symposium, he became convinced.

 Chapter 347: Theonias Medical Symposium

    In fact, it was mainly the physicians of Theonia that were talking. On the first day, they were mainly discussing medical theory and all kinds of medical termsing out from the mouth of those young physicians, which was not only unheard of but even all kinds of unique medical theories and discoveries that have overturned their previous knowledge and experience, leaving them pondering, as if a window had been opened for them to see a new and broader world of medicine, making them excited.

    Nicostratus did not eat much dinner as he had spent the whole night thinking about what he heard during the day. At this time, the only thing he hated is that his memory is not good enough to memorise all he learned. Thus he had to lie down in bed trying to remember the things he heard during the day, making him unable to sleep well that night. However, he still went to the Medical School the following morning together with Strasippus, filled with energy.

    When they arrived at the gate of the Akademia of Theonia, there were hundreds of physicians waiting there. Naturally, they were not waiting for the two Crotonians but were waiting for the arrival of Theonia''s archon, Davos, with great expectation.

    Fortunately, Nicostratus was no longer as extreme as he was before he hade to Thurii. Through the exchange the day before, he had conversed with the other physicians, making him deeply understand Davos¡¯s lofty status in Theonia that even the foreign physicians who have heard his speech before spoke of him with respect, which made Nicostratus curious about Davos. Thus he waited as quietly as any other physicians.

    Not long after, Davos came, apanied by the dean of the Medical School, Herpus, together with a dozen guards behind them.

    Then amotion broke out from the physicians trying to meet Davos.

    And the guards immediately wanted to stop them but were called back by Davos. He then weed them with a smile, and Steichidas immediately asked the physicians to observe the order consciously.

    Davos could mostly call those foreign physicians who attended the Medical Symposiumst year by name, and he was happy to converse with them.

    ¡°us, I remember you. You are that famous physician from Metapontum. What wonderful speech have you brought this time?¡± Davos said with a smile to the physician in front of him.

    ¡°Lord Davos, stop teasing me. In front of you, how could I dare be called a famous physician!?¡± us said humbly.

    ¡°In this sacred ce, there is no such thing as ¡®Lords¡¯. There are only physicians and schrs who are engaged in medicine.¡± Davos smiled as he corrected him, ¡°So you can just call me Davos.¡±

    ¡°D-Davos.¡± us bowed respectfully and then said, ¡°Coriopas of Taranto was unable to attend this symposium for some reason. So he had asked me to bring his apologies and his regret of not being able to hear your wonderful speech!¡±

    Davos'' expression became somewhat helpless and sighed, ¡°Although Theonia and Taranto have had some minor misunderstandings and conflicts in the past two years, this should not be an obstacle to academic exchanges!¡±

    After reaching a peace agreement with Messapi, Taranto had gradually recovered their strength. However, they began to feel angry at Heraclea and Metapontum for breaking away from the Tarantine Alliance, and of course, with it, they also hate Theonia that had once rescued them. However, the current might of Theonia can only make them swallow their hatred. Diaoms, the representative of the radicals, was nearly expelled due to the usation of the lesia about him almost losing all the troops by the ambushed of the Messapi-Peuceti coalition, causing his future political career to end. But in the past two years, by cunninglyplying with the people¡¯s wishes and publicly attacking Theonia many times and even denounced the Council as being too weak in dealing with Theonia, which had allowed him to win back the support of the discontent people. Thus, managing to be elected as the archon again at the end ofst autumn.

    As a result, small frictions became frequent between Taranto and Theonia, such as the Tarantines entering the territory of Metapontum many times without any reason; When the fishing boats of Taranto and Theonia meet at sea, they would often exchange insults and cause conflict; The goods piled up by Theonia''s merchant ships at the port of Taranto would often be lost and asionally be seized, which has caused Theonia''s diplomatic envoy to go to Taranto many times to protest. He even joked that ¡®The time I spent here in Taranto is more than thebined time travelling to foreign countries in my life!¡¯

    But in general, the two sides still maintained restraint. After all, they are still in an alliance, and Taranto still needed the support of Theonia as they are still facing pressure from Messapi and Peuceti. It''s just that the newly elected archon yed some tricks to vent out the public''s discontent and respond to their expectations of him. And Theonia, out of guilt for their poaching of Heraclea and Metapontum, had turned a blind eye and tried to put things to rest.

    After exchanging greetings with the physicians, the crowd gathered around him and entered the gate.

    After a short walk, a man rushed out in front, shocking Martius, who was about to run forward to stop the man.

    As he gets closer, they could hear the man shouting excitedly, ¡°Davos, it''spleted! We made it! We have finished the model design of the stone bridge on the Saraceno River! And after our test, we found that there is no problem!¡±

    Finding that it was Marticoris, Martius slowed down. However, this has reminded him to immediately order the guards to patrol around and stop any rash intruders.

    With this news, Davos also became happy, ¡°That''s great! Give the stone bridge model and data to Heracleides the Younger, and once I am done here, I would go check your wonderful results!¡±

    ¡°There is also another good news! We have designed a new pulley block, which can make the lifting arm rotate 360 degrees. So you must go check it and give us some suggestions to improve.¡± Marticoris continued.

    Davos became happier and immediately gave his promise.

    Now, Marticoris is no longer as negligent as when he first came to Amendra. He is now also started undertaking some management tasks while doing research in the Institute of Mathematics. After saying a few words, he hurriedly ran away.

    ¡°Who is that man?¡± Nicostratus was curious about the person who spoke to Davos.

    ¡°Marticoris, he is the vice dean of the Institute of Mathematics, a crazy mathematical genius!¡± Said one of the Theonian physicians.

    ¡°It''s great that Theonia is finally about to build stone bridges!¡± A Heraclean physician said happily. In Heraclea, there are many rivers, and during rainy seasons, the river would sharply rise, almost turning the ce into a marsh. Although they had already asked Theonia to help them build several wooden bridges before, most of them end up getting submerged in the water during the rainy season, so the Heracleans were worried about the durability of the wooden bridges after being repeatedly soaked by the river water and in a long time. But with the stone bridges, they would feel more at ease.

    After seeing the vice dean of the Institute of Mathematics had also asked the young archon for advice, made Nicostratus, who had a good impression of Davos'' cordial greetings just now, looked forward to his speech even more.

    Davos stood on the podium, with the seated physicians below him.

    At their expectant gaze, Davos cleared his throat and said unhurriedly, ¡°As we have already greeted each other at the gate of the Akademia just now, I will not do the same here.¡±

    The physicians gave out a burst of chuckles as each physician who hade on the stage would introduce themselves and greeted their peers, which has gradually be the norm during the Medical Symposium.

    Davos smiled, reaches out his right hand as if he was holding something, ¡°What do you think I am holding in my hands?¡±

    There is nothing! Some people immediately have such thoughts.

    Without waiting for their answer, Davos said, ¡°It is air. The omnipresent air, which was the name we have given it. Although it looks like there is nothing, every one of us, even animals, can not do without it. If you don''t believe me, you can cover your mouth and nose with sacks and iste yourself from the air, and soon you will suffocate and die.

    All of us knows this very well, but why is the seemingly empty air so important to us? What is the rtionship between it and our body? Today, I will talk about this issue, hoping to arouse your thinking.¡±

    As soon as Davos spoke, the physicians widened their eyes and pricked up their ears. Even Herpus and Steichicodas, who were in the front row, leaned forward with a hint of excitement on their faces.

    ¡°For air to connect to our body, it must first enter the body. The entrance, we all know it very well. It is our mouth and nose. But where is the exit?¡± Davos looked at everyone, ¡°Some people will say it''s our buttocks because there is a fart.¡±

    Another round ofughter burst out.

    ¡°Of course not. One could even say that the air that enters our mouth has little to do with the fart we let out.¡± Davos said, facing a wooden mannequin about the size of a human, ¡°Thanks to our physicians of the Medical School for their unremitting research on human anatomy, as well as the exquisite craftsmanship of Thurii that they were able to make the most realistic and exquisite human body structure model in the world. And I will use this model to exin it to everyone.¡±

    In this era, it is illegal to desecrate the bodies in the Greek city-states, and they may even face the death penalty. However, the search for truth prompted a few physicians to risk their lives to dissect corpses silently to solve the mysteries in their minds, and one of the famous physicians was Hippocrates. But in Theonia, because of the high status of physicians, and the fact that Herpus was a part of the Senate, and with Theonia also establishing the Ministry of Healthst year, and more importantly, with the support of the archon, Davos, the Senate specially introduce aw for ¡°dissection¡±. Allowing the Medial School to also use the unimed corpses of ves or the corpses of unrecognised enemies on the battlefield for medical research, but each corpse must be registered in the Ministry of Health and must not be dissected in public ces. After use, the remains must be buried in a specified location in time to avoid causing gues, etc.

 Chapter 348: Davos Academic Lecture

    For this reason, Theonia has be the ce that the Greek physicians yearn.

    Davos then broke open the outer skin of the lower jaw and neck of the model, exposing the inner passage, ¡°Look closely, the passage of the mouth and the nose merged here, and then divided into two passages-¡±

    He then pointed to the hose made of leather, ¡°We all know that the nose is where we breathe air, but the mouth is not only for breathing air, but also for eating food and drinking water, and would then go through their own channels. After the Medical School physicians observed it for a long time, they believe that this pipe is where the air goes through, and they call it the trachea. The other passage behind it is where the food and water pass through, which we call the oesophagus. Now, try touching the bottom of your neck. The rough and hard thing under your skin is the trachea.¡±

    The foreign physicians had actually touched their necks with their hands and realised what Davos said about the windpipe.

    ¡°Some might ask, since the opening of the oesophagus and the trachea are connected, won''t the food and water enter the trachea?¡± Just as he said that, he saw a lot of people nodding. He then said with a smile, ¡°In fact, it''s almost impossible as there is a very soft bone at the opening of the trachea. Therefore when we swallow, it will automatically cover the opening of the trachea and will not let the food and water in. If you are interested, you cane over and look at this mannequin that our Theonian craftsmen had made exquisite skill under the guidance of the physicians, which is quite urate once the lecture is over. However, don''t break it as this model is the treasure of our Medical School, and you could not buy it for any amount of money! Right, Herpus?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, master Davos. Usually, we only use the mannequin when teaching, and we usually do not allow anyone to touch it.¡± Laughed Herpus.

    After Davos and Herpus said this, the foreign physicians were itching to get up and look at the mannequin beside Davos, making the scene quite messy.

    Davos then continued, ¡°I heard that the young physician Kritios of the Medical School had discovered this cartge. For this reason, he had also dissected live pigs and sheep, carefully observing the cartge''s movement and mechanism, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Nodded Herpus.

    ¡°Is he here today?¡± Davos asked with a smile.

    ¡°He is.¡±

    ¡°Then, physician Kritios, please stand up and exin it to everyone.¡± Davos smiled and said.

    Kritios shyly stood up under the pushing of his colleagues.

    ¡°Let''s give Kritios a warm apuse to thank him for this important discovery!¡± Davos was the first to p, then came a big round of apuse, and even his colleagues whistled excitedly.

    Kritios was both nervous and excited.

    Lycasis watched enviously at Kritios, who was standing in front of him. This physician, who seems to be the same age as him, is shyly epting the apuse of everyone, making him thought to himself, ¡®When can I be as famous as he is in Greece, instead of being an apprentice like a ve every day?¡¯

    ¡°Kritios, I look forward to more of your discoveries and achievements in the field of medicine!¡± Davos encouraged him warmly.

    Seeing a young man encouraging another young man with the tone of an elderly seems ridiculous, but most of the physicians that are present doesn''t think so. Kritios chest beat hard from excitement, ¡°Ye¡­yes, master Davos!¡±

    After Kritios sat down, Davos continued, ¡°Sometimes, when you aren''t paying attention while eating, you would suddenly cough. This is due to the cartge not covering the trachea in time and allowing food to enter. So when a motheres to see you with her baby in her arms and tells you that, ¡®my child chokes and cough while drinking milk¡¯, it might also be due to this reason as well¡­¡±

    The foreign physicians noted what Davos said in their minds after confirming simr cases they had seen before.

    ¡°The air goes down the trachea to an organ, which the Theonian Medical School has dissected many times and called it the lung.¡± Said Davos as he breaks open the mannequin¡¯s chest, then taking the left lung carved out of wood and showing it to everyone.

    ¡°As a result of the dissection of the Medical School, we found that there was a lung on each side of our body, which looks like a pig''s dder filled up with air. When you inhale, the air enters and expand the lungs; When you exhale, the air is released, and the lungs shrink. You may find it strange that the air enters the lungs from the mouth and nose, but when you exhale, it would also go through the mouth and nose, just circling back to its origin, seemingly having no meaning. However, I will tell you this. Our body is the most precious treasure given to the world by the gods. It is very wonderful and never does anything meaningless!¡±

    Davos looked at the physicians. After seeing they were all listening attentively, he seriously said, ¡°After the Medical School dissected the body many times, they have found that after the trachea enters the lungs, it would then continuously divide into smaller windpipes, just like the branches of the tree. How big do you think the trachea is at the end?¡±

    Davos then pulled a hair from his head and said, ¡°Only this big! Then what is at the end of such a small trachea? Who here can tell me?!¡±

    Then, a young Theonian physician stood up and said, ¡°Its blood vessels! After dissecting it, we have found that there are many small blood vessels interwoven with these tracheas, and these small blood vessels are connected to the tworge blood vessels from the heart¡­¡±

    ¡°So, what is the use of these two big blood vessels from the heart?¡± Davos proceed to ask.

    ¡°They are responsible for different parts of the heart, one is pumping blood into the lungs, and the other is collecting the blood.¡±

    ¡°What''s is the difference?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­one blood vessel that pumps blood out and the second blood vessels collect the blood back¡­¡± The young physician replied hesitantly.

    ¡°Anything else?¡±

    ¡°Uhm¡­¡±The young physician blushed and was at a loss on how to answer.

    ¡°Thank you for your answer. What''s your name?¡±

    ¡°Strebus from Theonia''s Medical School.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your splendid answer!¡±

    Strebus was disheartened at first, but he smiles again after hearing Davos'' praise.

    ¡°Everyone, the air travels in the lungs and out, the blood goes round and out in the lungs and back into the heart. If nothing is happening, could our bodies be so bored that they are doing such meaningless things? Is that possible?!¡± Davos question drew the crowd to ponder. He then continued, ¡°Of course, this is impossible! As there must be some kind of amazing reaction between the air and the blood in the lungs, but we couldn''t see it with our naked eyes, just like how we can''t see what makes our wound infected. So what is this reaction? And how important is it to our bodies?¡±

    When the physicians heard this, they all showed great interest, so while pondering, they also pricked up their ears to listen to Davos.

    Davos then smiled, ¡°Although I don''t know what happens between the blood and the air, we can see this kind of reaction through some phenomena. Have you ever looked at the blood in a human or an animal? Can you see any differences in the blood?¡±

    ¡°Blood?¡± Herpus fell into thinking. The truth is, Davos did not tell him the theme of today''s speech in advance. So like other people, he was used to the transparent air and didn''t think much about it in depth. In addition, in the past two years, he had be the director of the Ministry of Health, and he also served as the president of Thurii''s hospital and the dean of Theonia''s Medical School. Thus with the increase of administrative matters, he had no time to do medical research.

    Stesichodas, beside him, was also lost in his thoughts.

    ¡°Oh!¡± Someone suddenly remembered something and shouted, ¡°It''s the colour! The colour of the blood!¡±

    It was Kritios who spoke. Davos then looked at this thoughtful and creative young physician with admiration, then he quickly withdraws his gaze, ¡°Yes, it''s the colour of the blood! As long as you have done an animal biopsy, you will notice that the originally dark blood bing bright when it enters the lung and is brought back to the heart through another blood vessel. And since there is only air and blood flowing in the lung, there must be something in the air to cause the blood to change colour! And this something¡­what role does this unseen something y when entering the blood?¡±

    Herpus, Stesichodas, Kritios¡­and all the physicians, including Lycasis, were staring at Davos and holding their breath for fear that they would miss a word.

    Davos also be serious, ¡°We notice that the blood that returns to the heart is once again pumped by the heart to all parts of the body, and the bright red blood is reflected in our bodies. Our lips are red, our fingertips are red, and even our faces turn red after exercising¡­so when we see a person with these characteristics, we can easily tell that the person is healthy and energetic with our years of experience in the study of medicine. But we also sometimes encounter patients with dark lips, ck stuff at the ends of their hands and feet, their face turning blueish, and trembling as they walked, allowing us to easily judge that this person is sick and is very serious. Isn''t this the change that these two types of blood present in the body?! Can we not consider this thing as indispensable to the body as food, making us healthy and energetic?! Can''t we also infer those patients in this category with purple lips and ckened finger that something had gone wrong in one of the pathways of their airways, or lungs, or the blood vessels that enters the lungs, causing something in the air to not reach the whole body through the blood?!¡­¡±

 Chapter 349: Theonias Port Market

    At the end of Davos'' lecture, all the physicians stood up and bowed to him. Then they began pping continuously.

    Words such as ¡°Wonderful¡± and ¡°innovative¡± couldn''t describe Davos'' lecture as he had pushed the medical theory of this era to a more profound and broader world. If the physicians were just groping forward in the dark, then every word of Davos produces a beam of light that they could follow.

    The physicians¡¯ shock and gratitude could not be described in words, as they could only express it through their emotions, including Nicostratos. Although he is not very clear about the human anatomy, he is finally sure that the real mystery of medicines lies here, in Theonia''s Medical School, in Davos!

    Davos bowed and returned their greetings again and again.

    And the apuse continued¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The three-day Medical Exchange Symposium finally ended, and some foreign physicians left, while some, including Nicostratos and Strasippus, applied to stay and continue their visit and studies.

    And for a few days, they worked as assistants at Thurii''s hospital, learning how the physicians of Theonia saw and treated the patients and asionally watch during surgery.

    As for the systematic study of medical theory, human anatomy and so on, Theonia''s Medical School has stringent requirements. Besides the need for the students to be Theonian citizens, preparatory citizens, or freemen who have applied for Theonian citizenship after leaving their home country, they must also pass the strict examination conducted by the Medical School before they could join.

    Nicostratos has an extreme characteristic; once he considers something, he will be more enthusiastic than ordinary people. After being conquered by Theonia''s medicine, he wanted to stay here. However, for people like him, who had a family, to join Theonia was not easy, as they had to go back and discuss the matter.

    His attitude even influenced Strasippus, making him also thought about staying and studying.

    On this day, the two of them decided to go to Thurii''s pharmacy. After visiting the pharmacy, they heard that there was a bigger, broader and moreplete medicinal market in the port, so the two decided to have a look.

    The current port of Thurii is different from a few years ago. Although it is not as good as Crotone''s deep-water port, Taranto''s port¡¯s natural resistance to storms and Rhegiums'' port¡¯s superior geographical location, the port of Thurii has now be thergest port in Magna Graecia.

    The reason is very simple, since Theonia City-State Union has be the hegemon of South Italia, and its strength is far beyond the other city-states. Thus, as the centre of the union, Thurii has a strong advantage in political status, which could be seen through how many freemen wanted to rush into Thurii and be citizens of Theonia; How many envoys and statesmen of the city-states in Magna Graeciaing to Thurii to visit and seek help and consult with the Senate; How many merchants and touristing to experience the unique city-state customs of Theonia, enjoy the unique ball games, celebrations, and even food and entertainment; Not to mention the flow of people within the Theonia Alliance to Thurii from 9 ¨C 5¡­these massive flow of people naturally created a huge demand, which Thurii could notpletely solve by herself, so the merchants who were good at catching business opportunities hade from all directions with merchants ships filled with goods.

    Therefore, the port and market of Thurii have continuously been expanded to the point that it stretched from northward from the estuary of the Crati River to the nearby Temple of Hera.

    After passing the Temple of Hera and entering the port market, Nicostratos and his party soon felt the difficulty of walking. Although Thurii had built several roads between the main city and the port market and even stipted that vehicles and pedestrian have their own path, the huge flow of people still made the traffic packed, causing the people walking in it to rub their shoulders with each other. Although it''s still only warm in spring, the three of them were already sweating.

    At this moment, a team of patrolling soldiers passed by.

    The clever Lycasis quickly followed them, allowing their party to have a slightly easier time with the patrolling soldiers at the lead.

    In fact, the port of Thurii has actually developed into a big town, which was divided into two parts: The part of the port and the part of the market are separated by stones with guards guarding it. After the cargo ships enter the port and are anchored at the dock, the cargo is then directly transported into the market, or ce in the warehouse, or even drop in the shop for sale.

    Marigi, Theonia''s Commercial Chief Officer, nned the market as a straight street lined with stores, warehouses, workshops¡­and goods ormodities of the same kind were then ced in one or several streets as much as possible for easy management and easy trading for the people. Therefore, in the port market of Thurii, there are several trade streets and small markets that were famous in Magna Graecia and even the whole of South Italia.

    For example, the stone market is very prosperous for the Theonia Union, which is keen on building roads and temples. They even own several quarries in the union''s territories. It does not only have a variety of quality marble but also has a lot ofbourers at a lower price.

    And it is matched by the Sculpture Street, the sculptures of the gods in the temples, the monumental pirs in the squares, the milestones lining on the roads¡­had attracted and spawned arge number of sculptors engaged in this industry. Although there has not been a sculpture that could shock the whole of Greece, nor has there been a master sculptor, it has instead produced a lot of middle and low-end sculptures.

    Another extremely famous one is the arms market. Since Theonia conquered Magna Graecia with force, naturally, the production and sale of weapons are very important. Moreover, in order to obtain meritorious service, the people spared no effort in investing money in this aspect, which naturally resulted in hundreds of weapon workshops and shops,rge and small, to gather in the port market. Half of them had evene from other Greek city-states outside the union. And two of the most famous shops are the Legion Weapon Shop under the Ministry of Military Affairs and managed by the Disabled Soldiers Committee, while the other is Tios Weapon Workshop.

    There is also a very famous market ¨C the livestock market. Since Lucania and Bruttii, the two main mountain races with animal husbandry, have joined Theonia Union, and Theonia also owns two teaus and a mountain from the Lucania and Bruttii region with reach grazing resources. In addition, Cheiristoya Restaurant, which was widely spread in the cities of Theonia Union, had most of its recipes made from cattle, sheep and other livestock, giving birth to the Theonians great demand for meat. As they gradually change their diet structure, it has also promoted the breeding of cattle, sheep and other livestock in Lucania and Bruttii.

    The livestock produced in these two areas are not onlyrge in quantities, but their meat is also delicious, which is deeply loved by the Greeks on South Italia who have tasted the food in Cheiristoya Restaurant. In fact, the Lucanian cattle were known for their docile temperament, strong strength and good endurance since long ago, making them the pack animals of choice in the Western Mediterranean. At the same time, the Bruttian horses, although they are not good at galloping, they are good at climbing mountains, hard-working, and an excellent packhorse, which also had a good market in Magna Graecia. Thus in recent years, under the guidance of the Senate''s policy, the Bruttian region began raising arge number of horses. Another important thing to know is that most of the horses used by the carriages in Theonia hade from the Bruttians'' livestock market at the port of Thurii¡­

    There is also a street that is unique only to Theonia and is quite famous throughout South Italia ¨C the Ball Market. The rugby and football games were first yed in the Theonian military camp. Later, they became popr throughout Theonia Union and the alliance, that they even held citypetitions every year. However, the people are not satisfied with the fact that thepetition is only held once a year. Therefore, under the proposal of Davos, the Senate introduced a new billst year, allowing citizens (citizens only, mind you) of each city to organise their own rugby or football teams, which would then be reported to the city or town hall and then organised by the praetor¡¯s of each city to y a rugby or football match against each other, approximately every ten days, in a single round-robin tournament. And the team with the highest score will be the city''s champion and be sent to Thurii to participate in the South Italia Finals. The rugby finals will be held after Hades'' Day on September 9 every year, while the football finals are held on November 1 every year to celebrate the establishment of the union, to determine the champion of the rugby and football for the year. The participating team also included some city-state teams from the alliance, except for some city-states that have been invited but had never taken part, such as Taranto and Crotone.

    As a result, most of the Theonian citizens were both participating and spectating, causing the arena to be often filled to capacity for each match. With the public''s enthusiasm for these games, these have be the main form of entertainment for them more than watching the theatre. And as the saying goes, the whole poption''s passion has naturally led to a boom in the industry, everything from the whistles for the referee to the goal post for the game, as long as the equipment and supplies are rted to rugby and football, they are all sold on this street. This street also includes a number of items for otherpetitive sports. But the most surprising thing is that there is a lot of store selling famous yer merchandise on this street, and the boom in the market has naturally given rise to some highly skilled yers, some of whom have shone in the various citypetitions, some even in the Theonian Finals, so it is only natural that the public will follow them and see them as idols. Thus these shops were born. It has statues and dolls of famous yers in all materials and sizes, as well as sportswear bearing their names and numbers, and so on¡­which shows the prosperity of the trade in this street.

    Another unique and famous street in Thurii''s port market is the herbal medicine market that Nicostratos¡¯ party of three will visit at this time.

 Chapter 350: Thuriis Medical Market

    It''s necessary to know that only Theonia Union, who have the full support and help of Davos, an archon who hade fromter generations and had been influenced by more than two thousand years of medical knowledge, could zealously trained physicians, established hospitals and medical school, and conduct in-depth research on treatment and medication, making Theonia, especially Thurii''s medical trade flourish and far ahead of other city-states and countries in the Mediterranean in this era. Thus the medical street of Thurii''s port market became unique in the whole Mediterranean.

    However, although this street is very famous in South Italia, it is not as crowded with customers as the other streets. After all, most of the people whoe to buy medical materials were mainly physicians and pharmacy staff. While most of the patients would just buy the medicines from a pharmacy in the city, and only a few of them woulde to the market to buy this kind of unprocessed medical materials, while physicians, who have a higher status as Theonian citizens, only ount for a small percentage.

    Because of that, Nicostratos, who had been squeezed in the crowd, felt a lot more rxed aftering to this street. They then curiously visited, watched and consulted the shops one after another.

    As they walked, they came to arge medical store and found that the owner was actually a Bruttian, who was haggling with a customer with his stiff Greek pronunciation, ¡°Lord Olivos, I know that you are from the Ministry of Military Affairs since you buy a lot of ¡®beets¡¯ from me every year. However, this year, you havee to buy too early, and we don''t have that much. You should know that the snow on the Consentian teau has not yetpletely melted, so the only ce that will bear fruit is the lower terrain. Thus the quantity is not much, and the price is certainly higher. If you think that it''s too expensive, then why don''t you wait until summer to buy when the price of beets goes down¡­¡±

    ¡°Come back in the summer?¡­that''s impossible as lord Kapus would tell me to get out!¡± The customer sneered, ¡°I''d better go to another store.¡±

    With that, he was about to leave.

    ¡°Wait!¡± The shopkeeper called him in a hurry. After hesitating, he finally gritted his teeth and said, ¡°For the sake of the fact that our Bruttian soldiers often participate in training and need to drink this kind of fruit to quench their thirst¡­I am willing to reduce the price for another Obol! Lord Olivos, I am really losing money this time!¡±

    Olivos'' anger immediately turned into a smile, ¡°Agum, isn''t an Obol just a pound less? This thing is all over the wild in the Consentian teau, and you don''t even need to spend even one Obol. You only need to pick it up, so why do you feel distressed about it?!¡±

    Agum said with a bitter smile, ¡°Lord Olivos, picking up beets is not as easy as you say. As soon as springes, the women of our tribe would have to step on the slippery mountain path and go up the mountain to pick them. Besides the risk of being hurt by wild animalsing out looking for food, they have to alsopete with other tribes. Up to now, two women have broken their legs and are lying in the hospital! And after picking up the fruit, it would still need to be dried in the sun. However, during spring, it would often rain, so we can only bake it on the stove¡­it is not easy to earn enough money to support thousands of people of the whole tribe!¡±

    Olivos ignored hisint and said casually, ¡°Do you really care about your tribe? Or you think that since you earned less money, your visit to the brother would be lesser?¡±

    Agum''splexion changed. He then said, ¡°Don''t speak nonsense!¡±

    Olivos patted him on the chest and said in a low voice, ¡°Don''t worry, we are all men.¡±

    Agum looked around and stopped talking.

    ¡°Brothers, choose 150-kilogram beets to take away!¡± With Olivos'' shout, dozens of muscr soldiers immediately came up and began squatting on the ground and picking up the fruits.

    Agum immediately said, ¡°There is no need to choose. All of them are authentic beets, and their quality is good! The port market''s management would not allow us to cheat, and I still want to do business here for a long time!¡±

    Olivos looked at him andughed, ¡°That''s right. I should trust you just for the sake of Chief Salu. Then you can weigh 150-kilograms of fruit for us.¡±

    Olivos then said to the soldiers, ¡°I will go to other ces, so after they weighed the fruits, you directly carry them back to the training camp.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    Olivos went out of the door of the store, but thinking of something, he turned around and said, ¡°Agum, yesterday, lord Davos talked to me about the picking of herbs. He said that ¡®don''t over pick the herbs, else they would decrease or even disappear!¡¯¡±

    As soon as Olivos'' spoke of Davos, Agum immediately worship, ¡°Lord Davos is farsighted, which no one else canpare! But, lord Olivos, you are looking down on us Bruttians! We have lived on the teau for generations. The streams, trees, flowers and even the nts on the mountains are all the generous gifts given to us by Amara, the goddess of the teau, to us Bruttians. So if we were to ask too much from the teau, we would surely wee Amara''s wrath!¡±

    Olivos smiled and said, ¡°Good! That''s good!¡± With that, he took a look at Nicostratos and left.

    As Agum told the ves to weigh the beets for the soldiers, Nicostratos, Strasippus and Lycasis took the opportunity to observe the small and hard red fruit.

    ¡°Excuse me, what is the medicinal use of this fruit?¡± Asked Strasippus politely.

    ¡°Oh, this fruit is called beets. In the past, it was all over our teau. However, no one cared about it and only the horses like eating it when they are tired. Later, Thurii''s physicians took it to study and said that boiling it in water and drinking it could quench thirst and eliminate fatigue. Thus it became valuable. In the past two years, Theonia''s Ministry of Military Affairs bought hundreds of kilos of fruit from me every time, due to its effective use when drinking it after military training! You are not Theonians, are you? Buy some and try it back.¡± Agum patiently exined it to them.

    ¡°We are Crotonians!¡± Nicostratos coldly interjected.

    Agum then let out an ¡°Oh¡±, without feeling anything particr, as if the hatred between Crotone and the Bruttians were long past gone.

    ¡°How much is a kilo?¡±

    ¡°Six Obols.¡±

    ¡°Give me a kilo.¡± Said Strasippus, drawing out his coin bag.

    Agum then poured a handful of red fruits from his hands into a straw bag, ¡°Give me seven obols together with this bag.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°What''s the use of this grass?¡± Asked Nicostratos curiously as he stood next to a pile of dried grass that looked like thorns.

    ¡°That is a thorn weed. Thurii''s physician found that pounding it and bathing it in hot water can relieve itching, which is quite good!¡±

    ¡°Can this cure itchy skin?¡± Nicostratos carefully touched the thorns on the grass with suspicion on his eyes.

    ¡°Those physicians in Thurii are all students taught by lord Davos, a descendant of your¡­well, the god of death, and he is highly skilled in the art of healing, just¡­just like your Greek god of healing¡­As¡­.kele..pi¡­¡±

    ¡°Asclepius.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that Greek god. What those physicians of Thurii say could still be false, but this one, I had specifically tried it, and it does have such an effect. Currently, pharmacies often ordered this grass! Now, every tribe in Bruttii, if they have any ancient healing methods passed down, woulde to tell these physicians in Thurii, hoping to be proven useful. I also heard that the Lucanians also does the same¡­and lord Davos is truly worthy of being a descendant of the gods, as he had turned the wildflowers and weeds in our mountains into treasures!¡­¡± Agum said with both gratitude and admiration.

    Nicostratos and Strasippus looked at each other with amazement in their eyes. Through these few days of studying, they learned that the Theonia Medical School was far ahead of other city-states in the study of medical theory, experience in inquiry and treatment, and the development of surgery. Still, they did not expect that they have done so much work, even in the field of medicinal herbs!

    At this time, Lycasis ran into the shop and said excitedly, ¡°Teacher, there is a shop next here that are selling what you saidst time¡­that surgical something tools!¡±

    ¡°Really?! Take me there!¡± Nicostratos dropped the thorn weed in his hand and ran out with Lycasis while Strasippus picked up the straw bag before following them.

    After seeing that all three of them had left, Agum muttered, ¡°Crotonians¡­huh¡­¡±

    Located next to the Bruttians medical store is a shop selling surgical instruments, upying a smaller area, but has a variety of exquisite iron and wooden tools, which are carefully ced in different categories.

    As soon as Nicostratos and the others entered, they looked around with delight. The shopkeeper then asked, ¡°Are you physicians, Theonians?¡±

    ¡°No, we are from Crotone.¡±

    ¡°Then you can only see, not buy!¡±

    ¡°Why!?¡± Lycasis looked at him angrily.

    ¡°These tools were designed by Thurii''s hospital and sent to the iron workshop to be specially made. And they had made such a request, and with the port market''s management in charge of supervision, there is nothing we can do!¡± The shopkeeper shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly.

    ¡°Can''t we buy them even if we pay more?¡± Strasippus asked anxiously.

    ¡°Do not harm me. I don''t want to have any stain on the archives of the Census Registry of the city.¡± red the shopkeeper.

    ¡°Strasippus,e and see!¡± Nicostratos took a sharp knife the size of a leaf and said loudly, ¡°This is the knife that master Herpus used to cut through the skin during the operation. This is-¡±

    Nicostratos picked up another tool and said, ¡°I remember that it was called a mp, which is used to pick up boiling water to¡­uhm, sterilised linen¡­and this¡­this curved needle, which is used to sew the wound. Look at how exquisite they are!¡± Nicostratos could not stop himself from touching each tool.

 Chapter 351: Thuriis Hot Spring Bathhouse

    Strasippus then asked the shopkeeper, ¡°How much does it cost to buy a set of this surgical instrument?¡±

    ¡°A set?!¡± The shopkeeper curled his lips, ¡°You are physicians from a foreign city-state, so it is no wonder that you don''t know that when the physicians in Theonia do their operations, they will use different tools on different types of operations. Moreover, the Theonian Medical School will also have new surgical tool designs from time to time. These surgical instruments that are here in the shop could perform at least five to six different types of operations.¡±

    ¡°And, even if you are allowed to buy it-¡± The shopkeeper looked at the three and rolled his eyes, ¡°You won''t be able to afford it.¡±

    ¡°We can''t afford it?! Tell me, how much do these cost?¡± At this time, Nicostratos also came over, refusing to back down.

    The shopkeeper nced at him, pointed to the shop and said, ¡°The things that you have just picked up are worth about 30 Minae.¡± (T/N: About 18,000 Obols)

    ¡°30 Minae?! Just for these few little things, it is already worth 30 Minae?! This is in robbery!¡± Eximed Lycasis with a look of surprise.

    ¡°Stop spouting nonsense if you don''t understand a thing!¡± The shopkeeper spat and argued, ¡°Do you know how difficult to make these things are? How high are its requirements? I tell you, just making one kind of this knife would take us enough time to make 30 copper shields, and it has to be made by the best foundry in order to make a surgical tool that meets the requirements of that group of physicians. People say it is excellent, ¡®naturally, the tools used on the human body must be very exquisite. Otherwise, it is not to save lives, but to take lives!¡¯ So tell me, should such a price not be high?! And these tools can''t be made by any iron workshop. And in Thurii, only we, Tios Weapon Workshop, have the ability to make this!¡±

    The three became dumbfounded.

    ¡°Also, I was talking about its previous price. Their current price now is 40 Minae.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because we won''t produce these surgical instruments for days toe.¡±

    ¡°Why is that again?¡±

    ¡°Because our workshop has received a big task from Theonia''s Department of Road Management. They want to build stone bridges and need huge iron grates to put into the river and empty it to make it easier to cast the pirs with that slurry rock and stone thingy* in it, so our workshop has to concentrate all the foundry and collect all the good iron ore to make these big guys¡­¡± (note: Which is actually ¡®Davos¡¯ cement)

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as Nicostratos and his group were touring the port market in high spirits, Appian and his wife drove north to the hot spring swamp of the Tiro River, a tributary of the Cosceli River.

    Back then, Davos became famous in the war against the Lucanian coalition by wiping them out,ying the foundation for the establishment of the Theonia Union. The big riverbank, which was covered with corpses at that time, now has a 20-metre high and 2-diameters white memorial pir with the event of that battle carved on it and a bronze statue of Davos holding a shield and spear at the top.

    The great victory in the battle of the great riverbank was initially called ¡°the Pir of Miracles¡± by the people, a metaphor for the miraculous victory of the archon of Theonia, Davos, who overcame arger number of enemies with less. Later, students from various city-states'' schools in the union were often brought here by their teachers so that they could feel the hardship of the early days of Theonia''s establishment and the greatness of Davos, which were alsoter nicknamed ¡° the Pir of Youth¡± by the citizens, as a ce for children to be educated, but it also had a deeper meaning. Since this battle, the Theonia Union is like a newborn child starting to grow up healthily¡­of course, this is something to think aboutter.

    Not far from the memorial pir, there is arge circr burial mound and a tombstone engraved with ¡°the tomb of the warriors who died in the battle of the great riverbank¡±, and below it is an inscription of Davos, ¡°The war was a thing of the past, and our blood has now be one.¡±

    There were also two bronze statues of men standing in front of the burial mound. One is a Lucanian, and the other is a Greek, both smiling, and their strong arms shook with each other. The Greek man''s left hand is pointing to Thurii a few kilometres away to the east, making an inviting gesture, the meaning of which is self-evident.

    In the burial mound, there are no bones. Back then, the Thurians cremated thousands of Lucanian warriors, and it is rumoured that it took them three days and three nights to burn. Then they poured the ashes into the river, feeding the fishes and the shrimps. For political purposes after the establishment of the Theonia Union and under the strong suggestion of Davos, this burial mound was built. Every year, peoplee here to pay homage to it, most of whom were Lucanians.

    Of course, this was not the main reason why this once deste ce has be lively now. On the other side of the Tiro River, where the spear of the statue of Davos was pointed, there was once a hot spring swamp here filled with deserted ponds, snakes and insects, which has now been reced by a huge building. Then using Davos'' cement, dozens of aqueducts were built to bring the hot spring water into the building, and finally, arge canal leading the hot spring water out into the river. This is the famous Thurii''s hot spring in Magna Graecia.

    Although the Greeks don¡¯t like taking baths, the Theonians have developed the habit of taking a bath under the long-term education of the physicians headed by Herpus in recent years. They even learn that it is more beneficial to their health by taking a bath with hot spring water. Thus on the day of the opening of the hot spring, almost all the men of Thurii came to the hot spring swamp to try it.

    As a result, the hot spring became overcrowded. Later, the hot spring also revised its rules and set some limits on the duration and the number of people entering.

    After returning to the city with reluctance after taking a hot spring bath and enjoying all kinds of novel services, the Thurian men began to promote it, ¡°Taking a bath in the huge bathhouse is so amazing.¡± They even praise that this was the Elysium that the archon had built for the mortal world!

    And soon after, the public learned that women were also allowed to enter the hot spring.

    Since then, the Thurians have been flocking to the bathhouse every day and regarded it as an essential enjoyment in life, while the people of other Theonian city-states have alsoe to enjoy it from time to time.

    At the same time, the Thurians even regarded the ¡°hot spring bathhouse¡± as one of the three major entertainments for guests from afar, making the Thurii''s hot spring bathhouse famous. (the other two are tasting Thurii''s food and going to the arena to watch the ball games.)

    Therge hot spring baths will also be free for the public on certain special days in Theonia, making the baths, which are already cheap (just one obol), even more popr. For example, because of the Marriage''s Day, the hot spring became free for all couples who hade to take a bath. And this is the reason why Appian came here with his wife.

    Today, many couples came and were all consciously formed a long line and moved towards the hot spring entrance slowly.

    At this time, amotion happens in the rear of the line. Appian turned his head to look at the situation.

    ¡°What happened?¡± His wife asked curiously.

    ¡°It''s nothing. It¡¯s just that two statesmen of the Senate hade as well.¡± Appian said with indifference. Among the nearly 100 statesmen in the Senate, except for the Thurians, most of the Theonian citizens in other city-states only know the chief statesmen, Davos, the statesmen who had served as the city''s praetor, and the various statesmen who are holding important positions in the legion, which is not surprising. Whether it is training or battling, the citizens that have served in the army will have deeper memories of those officers.

    Finally, after crossing the wooden bridge over the Tiro River and standing at the entrance. The hot spring keeper looked at Appian and his wife and asked, ¡°Are you a couple?¡±

    The two of them nodded.

    ¡°Theonian citizens?¡±

    Appian nodded and said, ¡°We are a couple that has taken part in the Marriage''s Day this year. Do you have a private room for a small bath?¡± With that, he stretched out his left hand and his wife''s right hand. On his ring finger was an iron ring engraved with Hera''s emblem, a ¡°Peacock¡±. At the suggestion of Davos, the Temple of Hera, under the charge of Agnes, apart from presiding over the celebration, they also present the wedding rings blessed by Hera to the newlyweds to encourage and monitor their marriage¡¯s stability. (Of course, there is a small processing fee.)

    ¡°Congrattions!¡± After the keeper confirmed, he turned and looked at the wooden wall nailed with many long nails, only one of which had a key. He took it and give it to Appian, ¡°Hera has blessed you. This is thest one. The room number is written on the wooden board. So that no one can disturb you, you can lock the door after entering the room. And you can just return the key at noon.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Thank you.¡± Appian then led his wife into the middle passage, as the left and right passage lead to the men''s and women''s baths, respectively.

    As time goes on, the queue at the entrance has almost reached the end.

    When the keeper saw the two men in front of him, he was stunned and immediately began to smile, ¡°Lord Pollux, lord Enanilus.¡±

    ¡°Do you have a private room left?¡± Asked Pollux straightforwardly.

    The keeper pointed to the wooden walls with only nails left behind and said apologetically, ¡°Because of the Marriage''s Day, the rooms are all full.¡±

    Pollux pouted with dissatisfaction, then said with sarcasm, ignoring that the keeper is a servant of Davos, ¡°Look at how our archon takes care of the people of Theonia!¡±

    Enanilus did not answer and just let the ves behind him take out four Obols and paid for himself, Pollux, and the two ves apanying them.

    After they went in, the keeper went into the back of the room under the excuse of going to urinate. He then quickly find the hot spring manager and said, ¡°Pollux and Enanilus came together!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After a short walk along the passage on the left, a vast area appeared in front of them. In the middle is arge bath, with several small baths beside it, and they were all releasing steamy hot fogs.

    Many men were soaking in the pool and enjoying the moisture of the hot spring water. Some were lying on the wooden benches beside the bath to be washed by their ves or getting massaged by specially trained ves. There are also a few people leaning against the wooden wall, chatting with each other¡­and they all have one thing inmon ¨C they are all naked.

 Chapter 352: Pollux Persuasion

    Although the hot spring is a bit crowded, it doesn''t make them feel suffocated. Besides the thick and tall stone walls around, the hot spring has no roof, which is beneficial for the cirction of the air. Some even like to take a bath when it rains.

    Looking at the crowded baths in front of him, Pollux said enviously, ¡°I estimate that there would be five~six thousand people that havee here to take a bath today. Davos has earned a lot of money!¡±

    ¡°Who told you not to join when the archon was raising money?¡± Enanilus snapped at him. He then took off his chiton and sandals and gave them to the ves. He then strode towards the hot spring pool on the smooth marble floor.

    Pollux caught up in a hurry.

    Enanilus slowly sat down in the pool water, and the perfect water temperature made him let out afortable sigh. He then picked up hot spring water and thoroughly wet his face.

    With the shadows of people moving back and forth, the crowd''s sight was obscured, making them not notice that two statesmen were sitting naked with them.

    Enanilus closed his eyes, leaned against the bath¡¯s wall, and seemed to have fallen asleep, which made Pollux swallow his words several times.

    After soaking in the hot spring bath for more than ten minutes, Enanilus came to a smaller bath next to him, where the water was not deep, and its bottom was covered with sea sand. Another small bath is paved with pebbles, while another is paved with river sand.

    Enanilus simplyy down and rubbed his back with the soft fine sand¡­soaking for more than ten minutes until his skin turned red. Then he got out of the pool and asked a ve to massage his whole body.

    After another ten minutes, Enanilus got up. Then he asked his ve to pay for the massage, then dragged his rxed body to a deserted corner. He sat down on the bench beside the window and closed his eyes.

    Pollux went close to him, sat down, stretched himself and said, ¡°Taking a hot spring bath is reallyfortable! This hot spring that Davos built has truly brought great benefits to Thurii! Why had we not think of doing this before? He truly deserved to be the god''s favoured!¡±

    Enanilus slowly opened his eyes, looked at him and said slowly, ¡°Now that you know how powerful Davos is, why do you often take the lead to fight him in the Senate? Pollux, I remember that you were not so bold.¡±

    Seeing that Enanilus finally spoke to him, Pollux became relieved. He then said with an aggrieved expression, ¡°Of course, I know that the Theonia Union would not have been where it is today without Davos, and even I, also want to do something together with Davos, but he doesn''t give me a chance at all! He only valued his mercenaries, who could only speak through their fists and even ce them in a high position! Now, there are also those barbarian chieftains who are more savage, with a foul breath, sitting in the Senate every day, shouting in Greek that no one could understand! And the Amendrans, who were once driven by us, wore the so-called ¡®founder badge¡¯ every day, deliberately showing off in front of us¡­we are the true masters of Thurii, but now, we can only stand aside in the Senate! I, Ariphes, Marsyas¡­are just dressed in the cloak of statesmen, just to show it to the Thurians. But in fact, we are no different from ordinary citizens!¡­¡±

    Enanilus nced around. After seeing no one was paying attention to them in the noisy and crowded baths, he warned him in a deep voice, ¡°You are too excited. Keep your voice down! Pollux, you just haven''t gotten your turn yet. Maybe next year, you will be a praetor of a certain city.¡±

    Pollux sneered, ¡°Enanilus, do notfort me, as even you don''t believe what you are saying. Think about it. A Persian can sit on an important position as a Chief Commercial Officer for so many years without getting reced for many years or elected. Am I any less capable than him?! Don''t forget, I also served as one of the ¡®ten strategoi¡¯ of Thurii many times back then. And even due to me having nothing to do in the Senate, Davos would sometimes send me to help this foreigner and be ordered by him! Is the Theonia Union still a ce for us, real Thurian statesmen, to stay?¡±

    Enanilus tried to open his mouth, but no words came out.

    ¡°You would naturally might say, ¡®You, Burkes, Ansitanos, Plesinas are all highly valued by the Senate.¡¯¡± Pollux'' sneered once more, ¡°How can Plesinaspare with us?! He is nothing more than amoner and has now be a dog of Davos, who uses him to bite. Ansitanos, on the other hand, waspletely absorbed in the book he was going to write and had no power over anything else. While Burkes, even though he is still the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, was only working with peasants and ves every day that he could only return to Thurii a few times a month! Sometimes, he can''t even attend an important Senate meeting. He is more like an ordinary union official than a statesman. As for you ¨C Enanilus, you indeed hold power over the navy, just that-¡±

    Pollux then intentionally paused.

    Enanilus turned his head, then asked casually, ¡°Just what?¡±

    With a slight smile, Pollux said, ¡°Over the past few years, Davos has allowed foreigners to build shipyards in Thurii, breaking the monopoly of your family on shipbuilding. What is your opinion about that?¡±

    Enanilus'' brows slightly twitched, then said slowly, ¡°That''s because Theonia''s territory is too wide that we need more warships to protect our coast. And my family¡­can''t produce so many warships in a short time¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, you are really thinking for the sake of the union?!¡± Pollux then said sarcastically while looking at him, ¡°It''s a pity that Davos doesn''t seem grateful to you. What do you think about the fact that he let his second wife''s family get more share of the warship than yours?¡±

    Enanilus became silent. Fortunately, the embarrassment on his face was covered by his flushed skin due to the hot spring water. Due to the monopoly of their shipbuilding in recent years, the management became ck, making thepleted warships have many quality problems. For this reason, Davos had talked to him alone several times. This is why the Senate passed the bill of ¡°allowing merchants of allied city-states to build shipyards in Thurii¡± proposed by Davos.

    ¡°And¡­what do you think of Seklian, the hero who conquered the city of Besidice, the g bearer of the Triumphant Return, whose statue is in the Hall of Valor, and had quickly be themander of the sub-fleet under yourmand from being amon sailor, and even frequent Davos'' house?¡± Pollux''followingt question immediately made Enanilus turn pale.

    ¡°Davos has made you the navarch of the navy because he had no one under him that knew anything about naval warfare. But now, he seems to have found one who seems to be more trustworthy than you! Enanilus, do you think Davos will still need you, you who was originally a noble of Thurii, who is notpatible with his vulgar mercenaries?!¡±

    The words of Pollux was like a venomous snake gnawing into the heart of Enanilus.

    Pollux, who had been paying attention to the expression of Enanilus, sighed, ¡°If we old people of Thurii doesn''t think of any other way, then we will truly be just a bystander in the Senate. But I am unwilling to do nothing until we die of old age!¡±

    Enanilus shook his fist and head, ¡°Pollux, you don''t understand the power of Davos! Even the sailors in my Theonian Navy were made up of preparatory citizens and freemen that regards that young man as the realmander, while I am just an executor of his order. Not to mention the soldiers and strategoi of the Theonian army-¡±

    ¡°Enanilus, do you think that I am plotting to overthrow Davos?!¡± Pollux interrupted him. He then chuckled and shook his head, ¡°No! No! No! I am not that stupid! I admit that¡­Davos has made a great contribution to the Theonia Union that without him, Thurii would no longer exist. The only thing we want is to get some of the rights back to the citizens of Theonia, and at the same time, we want to limit the power of Davos and not make him neglect and deal with us old people of Thurii at his discretion!¡± Pollux then pointed to the men in the bath with a bit of excitement and said, ¡°Do you think that they don''t want to participate in an lesia?! The blood of us, Greeks, are flowing with the passion of loving and the enthusiasm to participate in politics. It''s just that the glory of Davos has made them temporarily forget it. Therefore, as long as someone constantly reminds them, just as I have always done, the situation will change a lot! The people''s protests in Thurii, Krimisa and other cities already show that the situation has changed!¡­Enanilus, for our own sake and Theonia Union, would you like to join me in the Senate to continue our appeal on ¡®holding an lesia¡¯ to make the distribution of Theonia''s right more equal?!¡±

    After listening to the provocative words of Pollux, Enanilus''plexion changed. Finally, he hesitated and said, ¡°But¡­there are too few people in the Senate who support this proposal!¡±

    ¡°In fact, I have already gotten the support of some people¡­¡± Pollux'' whispered a few words in his ear.

    Enanilus became dumbfounded and said, ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°When did I ever deceived you? It''s just like thest time when I told you how to get morend by freeing the ves!¡± Reminded Pollux.

    Enanilus clenched his hands again and again¡­finally, he clenched them into a fist.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Esteemed statesmen of the Senate, I have a proposal.¡± Pollux stood up from his seat.

    Seeing the situation, the others suddenly had a helpless expression of ¡°here we go again¡±.

 Chapter 353: Asking the temple for help

    ¡°Go ahead, lord Pollux.¡± Cornelius, the rotating chairperson, could not express his position, so he can only nod his head to signal the other party to speak.

    ¡°When the tribes of Lucania and Bruttii joined our city-state union, we had a formal agreement with them of ¡®not interfering in the internal affairs of their tribes, and ensuring their independence and integrity.¡¯ However-¡±

    Pollux waved his arm and said in a loud voice, ¡°However, a few years passed, and the independence of those tribes has been seriously affected that even many smaller tribes became no longer exist. What''s the reason for it? It¡¯s because the young and strong men of those tribes have asked for independence and live alone, resulting in a sharp decline in the poption of those tribes. And without having enoughbour to sustain themselves, they have no other choice besides to dissolve their tribes¡­the agreement we signed with the tribes of Lucania and Bruttii was done under the watchful eyes of Hades. But now, the survival of these tribes within the union has been seriously threatened, seriously affecting our reputation in Theonia and causing hesitation and suspicion among the other races in Magna Graecia who want to get closer to us. Thus, in order to be worthy of the support and trust of these tribes, I propose that the Senate should legite the ¡®prohibition of the tribal people from leaving their tribes in order to preserve the tribes'' integrity.¡¯¡±

    Some of the statesmen looked at each other and wondered, ¡®What''s going on?¡¯ Pollux, who does not care about the affairs of those not Greeks to the point of indifference, began to care about tribal matters.

    Vespa, Hemon, Baripiri and the others felt strange, while Sedrum, Bodiam, Petaru, Burim and the others were lost in their thoughts.

    At this moment, Plesinas stood up, ¡°I don''t agree to this proposal! The adult men of Lucania and Bruttii are either Theonian citizens or preparatory citizens. As citizens of the union, they have the right to enjoy the freedom of choice, while the Senate has no right to make such provisions! Don''t you think so as well, lord Tritodemos?¡±

    The current chief justice, Tritodemos, nodded, ¡°The first rule of the Theonian Law is ¡®to protect the citizens¡¯ rights and freedom of choice.¡¯ No neww can vite this! I think that both the tribe and the members of the tribe are hoping that everyone can lead a stable and prosperous life. And from the current situation, they already have a good development in Theonia Union. Thus it is not necessary to make any amendments.¡±

    Davos just listened quietly to their arguments while tapping his fingers on the wooden chair¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Cariades came to the Temple of Hades and asked the Grand Priest, Plesinas, to exin his aspiration.

    Plesinas readily agreed to his request. Thus the young man from Scylletium entered the Temple of Hades to learn as a follower.

    Every day at dawn and dusk, Cariades had to study the teachings of the Temple of Hades, while during the day, he would follow the priests in the temple¡¯s affairs. (Davos was the one who put forward the main teachings of Hades, and it mainly preaches that when people do good and punish evil, love their city-state, family, abide by thew and help others will ascend to Elysium after death, while those who behave the opposite way regrly will go and be punished in hell¡­he also borated on the formation of heaven and earth, the strife of the gods, Elysium and hell basing it on the original Greek gods¡¯ myth. Naturally, it is favouring Hades and establishing him as a good god simr to the eastern Bodhisattva for the sake of mankind. Then it was further interpreted andpiled by Plesinas and several priests. And now, there are several thick books about Hades and his temple alone, not including the deeds of his wife, Persephone.)

    Early in the morning, there is an endless stream of peopleing to the Temple of Hades.

    Farmers, fishermen and merchants who want to go to work, go to sea and do business¡­as long as it is convenient for them, they wille to the temple to pray before leaving with confidence. At the same time, those who came to wish and have their wishes fulfilled would throw some coins into the donation box, light a small oilmp and ce it in front of the statue to express their wishes. And those who came to beg for divination would also draw wooden sticks and ask the priests to answer their questions (the sticks are engraved with mysterious sentences, and whether the answer is good or bad will depend on the level of the priests.) Of course, some who had been helped by the priests of the Temple of Hades would bring some gifts to thanks the temple¡­

    Today, Cariades'' duty was to meet people whoe to give gifts. From morning to now, he has hardly stopped, and even though he was tired, he felt content.

    Just now, when he had just sent a white-haired old man down the hill, he suddenly heard someone shouting, ¡°Help! Help!¡­¡±

    Hearing this sound, he saw a man covered with blood running towards him in panic, while another two men chased after him.

    Although he only stayed in the Temple of Hades for a few days, he had the consciousness of a priest of Hades to help the poor. So he immediately went up and wanted to help the man and asked him what happened.

    Seeing someone standing in front of him, the man became more anxious, as the only thing echoing in his heart was the words of that man, ¡®Only by running to the Temple of Hades and asking for his help would he be able to get out of his current predicament and be an official citizen of Theonia!¡¯

    He reached his hands out and pushed Cariades away as he continues to run to the Temple of Hades.

    Cariades, on the other hand, staggered a few steps and almost fell.

    As he stood up, the two men chasing the man arrived right in front of him. So he immediately questioned them loudly, ¡°Who are you?! What is happening?!¡±

    The two muscr men looked at Cariades, who was in a white robe of the Temple of Hades, with hesitation.

    Just as they began to hesitate, the man had rushed to the temple. Seeing the crowd and priests that areing and going in the temple, they could only leave.

    The man broke into the temple, and with a ¡°plop¡±, he fell on his knees in front of the statue of Hades, kneeling and pleading, ¡°Merciful Hades! Please help me! Help me!¡­¡±

    The crowd inside and outside of the temple heard his miserable cry. Not knowing what happened, they came over to see the situation.

    At this moment, the priest in the temple had alsoe over in a hurry¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    This proposal of Pollux was not passed as he had only won the support of several people such as Petaru, Burim and Bodiam.

    However, after a while, he brought up and asked for the resumption of the lesia again.

    The statesmen started voting again, however this time, the number of people supporting him was close to 15, which includes some statesmen who served in the army such as Enanilus, Eurypus and Pleitinas, as well as the former chieftains of Bruttii tribes, such as Bodiam, Petaru and Burim¡­the result was still less than half, but together with the statesmen who abstained, Pollux'' supporters surprisingly ounted for one-third of the total number of voters.

    This is definitely a huge victory for Pollux, so after the voting, he dered with a bit of pride, ¡°The result of this voting shows that more and more statesmen are aware of the importance of the lesia. If Theonia wants to achieve the same glory as Athens, then we should let more citizens participate in the decision-making of the union so as to truly realise the equality and freedom of the citizens for all the races in Theonia! As time goes on, I believe that the other statesmen who oppose this will also realise it because all of you are the leaders of Theonia and the wisest among the people! I look forward to the day when the lesia will once again be held!¡± The speech of Pollux resounded and powerful.

    The faces of the statesmen changed a bit as they looked at Davos, who was sitting at the front.

    Baripiri now realised the purpose of Pollux'' previous proposal. Pollux knew that his proposal would not be passed, but he wanted the statesmen to see that the plight of the tribe would not be changed as long as the authority of Davos was not restricted, while he could turn the problem for the better. At present, the Bruttian and Lucanian tribes, who are rtively independent, have been greatly impacted in the Theonia Union, so much so that after several years of subtle influence, the youth in each tribe began yearning for the life of a free citizen in the union and are unwilling to be bound by their tribe''s rules¡­

    Baripiri knew about this as his tribe was in the city of Besidice, which is just next to Thurii. The year beforest, Davos, on the grounds of making the management easier, directly transferred Besidice under the jurisdiction of Thurii, making it more closely linked to Thurii both politically and economically. Naturally, they got more affected to the point that his tribe almost existed in name only.

    However, Baripiri was very open-minded, and he understood that this was the trend, not to mention that this is not a bad thing for the Bruttian, as his confidence came from the young man in front of him. But at this moment, the authority of the young archon was being challenged, and he could not help but worry about him.

    However, Davos calmly said, ¡°Esteemed statesmen, Pollux had just mentioned about the lesia just now and said, ¡®only by holding an lesia can we realise equality and freedom of the people.¡¯ Pollux, if you have a good memory, then you should remember how Thurii had rapidly declined a few years ago? How was it burned? What''s the role of Thurii''s lesia and your so-called ¡®equality and freedom¡¯? Can you tell me?¡±

    Hearing this, Kunogta, Ansitanos, Burkes and the others became gloomy.

    Pollux had not expected Davos to mention this. He immediately became tongue-tied and could only argue as if he were lying, ¡°The burning of Thurii was only a short oversight, and Nianses was too careless and allowed the Crotonians to seed in their sneak attack. And the rapid decline of Thurii''s strength is due to the tragic defeat against the Lucanians, which is the result of the ipetence of Asikulodox and Friis and has nothing to do with the lesia!¡±

 Chapter 354: Not even letting one less

    ¡°Is that so?¡± With a sneer, Davos eximed, ¡°I am afraid that none of your former colleagues in Thurii would agree with your reasons. The destruction of the city of Thurii was caused by the deaths of the citizen¡¯s rtives and friends upying their minds and fearing the enemy. And at the same time, some people with ulterior motives stirred the citizens to drive away thepetent leaders! The strategoi that were elected in panic were helpless against the difficulties, while themon people, driven by their own interests, were unwilling to fulfil their promise to grant citizenship to the freemen, which led to the following series of tragedies! All this shows that the main culprit of the destruction of the old city of Thurii is the citizens of Thurii and the lesia they formed!!¡±

    Kunogta sighed. At this moment, the face of his daughter suddenly surfaced in his mind, making him disheartened.

    Momentary, Pollux was unable to respond, then he said with reluctance, ¡°That¡­that is just a special case-¡±

    Davos interrupted his excuse in a loud voice, ¡°The Theonians wants the right to participate in politics? There is no problem with that, as we had already been doing that! The Theonian Law stiptes that ¡®No matter whether they are upper-ss or lower-ss, as long as they are citizens of Theonia, they can take up public offices in the Theonia Union without restriction.¡¯ And we are going to make morews to involve them in Theonia¡¯s administrative decisions further. But-¡±

    Davos increased his voice abruptly and sharply said, ¡°The Senate of Theonia will never indulge the people and allow them to have unlimited freedom, so as to wantonly destroy the order and overall interests of Theonia for their personal interests, or even be used by some people with ulterior motives to destroy the Theonia Union that we have painstakingly established! And the Senate will severely punish anyone who attempts to destroy the peaceful life of Theonia Union today! Without any mercy!!¡±

    Like a giant thunder, the decisive words of Davos exploded in the hearts of Pollux, which made him tremble to the point that he could only say in a low voice, ¡°¡­ording to you, most of the city-states in Greece would have been destroyed because-¡±

    ¡°Bang¡±¡­the door of the assembly hall was suddenly pushed open. Pollux subconsciously looked back and saw Thurii''s patrol captain, Matonis, hurried to the podium of the assembly hall.

    ¡®What is going on?!¡¯ This is not only the question of Pollux but also the question of some statesmen in the meeting.

    Davos narrowed his eyes as he looked at the podium while tapping his finger on the armrest of the chair and thought, ¡®Here we go¡­¡¯

    Cornelius listened to Matonis'' whispers, and his face became more shocked. And from time to time, he would nce at Pollux, making him somewhat restless.

    After Matonis reported the situation, Cornelius, who has never encountered such things before, was momentarily at a loss about how to proceed. So he had to ask for help, ¡°Lord Davos, pleasee here for a moment.¡±

    Davos then walked towards him unhurriedly.

    Seeing the whispering exchange between Davos and Cornelius on the podium, the statesmen became even more curious and puzzled. They all craned their necks and pricked their ears, trying to find out what they are talking about it, as they could vaguely hear Davos firmly saying, ¡°No! We will carry out everything under the Theonian Law!¡­¡±

    At this moment, they heard Cornelius called out, ¡°Chief justice, lord Tritodemos, pleasee to the stage.¡±

    The statesmen became noisy as they tried to guess what has happened.

    The three began exchanging opinions on the podium, and asionally, Tritodemos would ask Matonis, who was standing nearby, to learn about the situation.

    Finally, when Davos returned to his seat, Tritodemos remained at the podium while Cornelius tried to think how to break it to them. After clearing his throat and carefully organising his words, ¡°Uh¡­well¡­everyone, just now-¡±

    ¡°Cornelius, hurry up! Stop making us anxious!¡± Shouted Scambras. And the statesmen burst intoughers, which slightly dispels the tense atmosphere.

    However, Cornelius remained serious, ¡°You guys, just now¡­something has happened in Thurii. A liberated ve was being hunted down as he ran to the Temple of Hades to ask for help¡­¡±

    The statesmen went into an uproar. Although Theonia Union has not long been established, it is not without murder cases. However, ¡®a victim running to the gods to ask for help¡¯ like this is the first time. After all, this would rm Hades, making the need to handle this matter cautiously.

    After Pollux heard the word ¡°liberated ve¡±, he felt an intense uneasiness. He moved his butt back and forth as if his wooden chair had a nail piercing it.

    ¡°The city patrol, led by lord Matonis, rushed to the temple. And under the guidance of the liberated ve, they arrived at the scene of the attack and arrested several men who tried to resist. After a prompt interrogation, the suspect''s detailed ount is basically the same as that of the liberated ve¡­¡± Tritodemos took over the conversation from Cornelius, and his gaze was like two cold beams of light shooting straight to the meeting, ¡°And the one behind the suspects is lord Pollux!¡±

    There was an uproar when this remark came out.

    Just like a cat lit on fire, Pollux sprang up to his feet and shouted, ¡°This is a false usation! I am being framed up!¡­¡±

    ¡°Whether it''s a false usation or not, we still have to go through a more detailed investigation to find out.¡± Tritodemos remained calmed, but his voice was like a sharp knife, ¡°And the provided information has also involved a more serious crime. It¡¯s said that ¡®you, lord Pollux, frequently freed the ves not out of goodwill, but to control them and deceive the Ministry of Agriculture by using your power to rent fertilend for them, while getting most of theirnd ie¡­¡¯ If that is the truth, this is a serious vition of the Theonian Law that says ¡®no illegal possession ofnd! To not restrict the freedom of others!¡­and several otherws!¡¯¡±

    Pollux'' heart jolted wildly, and his mouth panicked, trying to defend himself, ¡°No! This is not true! I¡­I did not coerce any ves, no! They have all voluntarily given it to me! Yes! It''s all voluntary! They¡­voluntarily gave part of their ie to me as thanks for giving them their freedom! If you don''t believe me, go and have a look. Some of the ves that I released has even be official citizens!¡­¡±

    ¡°Do not worry, as we will also investigate what you have said, and we will never let a noble statesman of the Senate be wronged! But thews of Theonia are the same for anyone, even if you are a statesman! Now that this case has involved you, we will temporarily restrict your freedom until this matter is finally resolved.¡± Tritodemos remained expressionless as he said this. Afterwards, several patrolmen entered the assembly hall under the leadership of Matonis, ready to go forward and take hold of Pollux.

    As Pollux desperately try to break free, he saw Davos looking at him coldly. After a sudden realisation, he immediately made a desperate struggle against the statesmen around him, ¡°Esteemed statesmen, this is a conspiracy! This is Davos'' conspiracy! He saw that my efforts had threatened his dictatorship, so he used this despicable means to frame me! Everyone, help me! Please help me! Otherwise, if I were to fall today, then tomorrow, the next would be you! You¡­¡±

    The patrolling soldiers dragged him out as his words still echoed in the assembly hall.

    The previously smug Pollux was now blown away in the dust. This sudden reversal was too stimting that the statesmen looked at Davos with aplicated expression.

    However, Davos did not care what Pollux said at all. He continued to lean back on his wooden chair in a leisurely manner.

    Next, the words of Tritodemos made the statesmen such as Enanilus, Ariphes and Marsyas even more frightened, ¡°Considering the wide range of personnel involves in this case, and after consulting with the archon, we decided to impose military enforcement on the whole city, forbidding anyone from going out until we resolved this matter!¡±

    The senate meeting ended in shock, and while everyone was still in fear and talking, Davos had already strode out through the side door of the assembly hall.

    ¡°Lord Davos, please wait a moment! Please listen to me¡­¡± The usually calm Enanilus was now shouting in a tone simr to begging as he tried to catch up to Davos. And at the same time, Ariphes, Marsyas and the others followed him.

    Kunogta, seeing the situation, sneered. But when he turned around to walked out of the door, he saw Burkes still sitting behind him and muttering, ¡°How could Pollux do such a thing?¡­¡±

    In this senate, Burkes and Ansitanos are the only few statesmen who did not fall out with Kunogta when he was in trouble, so Kunogta said to him, ¡°It''s difficult for the once rich to endure the present poverty.¡±

    Burkes raised his head in amazement while watching as Kunogta walked out of the senate hall.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, the people of the city of Thurii were astonished to see the patrolling soldiers going around, searching the residence of Pollux, and then restricted the freedom of statesmen such as Enanilus, Ariphes and Marsyas.

    In the afternoon, another urgent letter hade from Krimisa, saying that, ¡°in the Temple of Hades, another liberated ve had asked for help.¡± Without waiting for the decision of the Senate, the praetor of Krimisa, Protesus, who had already receive the confidential order of Davos in advance, had ordered the patrol to arrest a few of the original Krimisian nobles. And the news that Eurypus and Pleitinas receive made them panic again.

    In reality, the spies of Davos that Aristias lead had already grasped everything in hand. The only thing they needed is a good reason.

    The news that ¡°nearly ten statesmen were arrested¡± caused a huge political tremor in Thurii, making the people discuss and rumours to spread.

    Hemis, who was in a guesthouse, could feel the violent shaking in Thurii, so he immediately realised that the situation was not good. Thus he quickly packed up his things and prepared to go back to Sicily by boat.

 Chapter 355: Father and Son

    As soon as he went downstairs, Hemis saw three patrols standing in the lobby of the inn.

    ¡°He''s the Syracusan!¡± Then someone next to him identified him loudly.

    The heavily armed patrol came forward and asked coldly, ¡°Hemis of Syracuse?¡±

    ¡°What do you want?!¡± Hemis became a bit flustered. He then eximed, ¡°I am an envoy of Syracuse. I want to meet your archon!¡±

    ¡°Then you have toe with us!¡± The patrol sneered as he forced him out of the inn.

    This scene undoubtedly added to the discussion of the Thurians, who are still confused even today¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Father, I heard that Pollux was locked up for viting thews of the union!¡± Sostratus hurried into the living room.

    Kunogta nced at him and said calmly, ¡°This incident has shaken the whole city, and only now you know? What have you been doing all this time?¡±

    ¡°What else?! Of course, it is to participate in military training. It was my turn today, and I am so exhausted!¡± Sostratusined. He sprawled on the wooden chair and saidzily, ¡°Too bad that the hot spring is closed, else I would havee back a bitter.¡±

    Kunogta frowned, feeling a bit annoyed with theziness of his eldest son. Then he said in a deep voice, ¡°All the young and middle-aged citizens of Theonia have to take part in military training, yet there is no one afraid of hardship and exhaustion like you. Learn from your brother. He had not only taken part in the afternoon training in the Akademia but also took the initiative to find someone to practice fighting aftering back home!¡±

    ¡°That is why the hope of our family will fall on my brother, while I just want to be a rich man, eating delicious food, sleeping with beautiful women and watching sportspetitions.¡± Sostratus said with disapproval.

    Kunogta was just about to speak when his younger son, Dicaeogta, said in a loud voice, ¡°Elder brother, did you know that besides Pollux, they had also detained the other statesmen such as Enanilus, Marsyas, Ariphes and Eurypus.¡±

    ¡°Is that true?!¡± Sostratus stood up, leaned his head forward and asked in an urgent tone, ¡°Old man, you estimatedst time and said that ¡®Enanilus, Marsyas and Ariphes are likely to join Pollux which would cause a huge impact on the authority of Davos¡¯, howe they are all in a dead end now?!¡±

    Kunogta'' face twitched a few times, then gave a cold snort, ¡°What''s so strange about that?! The archon remained in harmony with the other statesmen to the point that even if someone in the Senate pointed at him, he wouldn''t even have a grudge¡­but after spending so much time with him acting like this, I forgot how he had be an archon for life, he is a wolf¡­he was born to eat meat! I am afraid that not only I, but many people in the Senate, will once more felt that kind of feeling when the union was first established¡­hmph¡­¡±

    He then said emotionally, then sneered again, ¡°Not only had these people vite thew, but they actually tried to dream beautiful dreams¡­I fear that this time, Davos will not easily let them off!¡±

    ¡°Never let them go! It''s even said that Pollux had even colluded with a Syracusan! The crime of treason is only punishable by death!!¡± A gleam of hatred shone in Dicaeogta'' eyes, as he could never forget that day¡­when the people of Thurii turned into bandits and rushed into their house¡­and behind those bandits, is the figure of Pollux¡­

    ¡°Syracuse?! You mean that Dionysius have something to do with Pollux?!!¡± Sostratus'' eyes widened.

    It must be known that with the rise of Theonia, it and Syracuse, two powerful andrge city-states, one south and one north, are very close yet have almost no diplomatic contact.

    There is even a story circting in Magna Graecia that illustrates the delicate rtionship between the two city-states: One day, in a port of a city-state in Magna Graecia, a merchant of Syracuse and Theonia met, and they boasted about their country to each other, ¡°Theonia''s establishment was not even a fraction of Syracuse''s several hundred-year of history, with Syracuse being the hegemon of Magna Graecia and Sicily a hundred years ago, and still are!¡±

    While the Theonian merchant retorted, ¡°Don''t be proud of yourself, as it has only taken Theonia Union five years to be so powerful. So in another five years, we will be twice as powerful as Syracuse!¡±

    Naturally, these were just made up by some bored people. And the truth is, although Syracuse and Theonia were like two beasts in the forest, carefully guarding their own territory, both sides tried to not intrude on each other.

    It is why Sostratus was astonished from hearing that ¡°Dionysius had extended his hand to Theonia.¡±

    Kunogta reached out and patted his younger son on the head, as he knew what he was thinking, as this was the eternal pain in his family''s heart, ¡°Is there any collusion between Pollux and Syracuse? It could only be determined after the union''s investigation, so don''t spread such rumours.¡±

    Kunogta pondered for a while, then said with a serious expression, ¡°If there is¡­it would be a huge problem for Theonia!¡±

    ¡°Father, will there be a war?!¡± Asked Sostratus and Dicaeogta at the same time.

    Looking at the excitement in his two son''s eyes, Kunogta knew that his younger son was excited because he is eager to fight, while his older son is probably thinking about how to seize this opportunity to make a fortune in the market. Shaking his head, he pondered for a bit and said, ¡°¡­Syracuse and Theonia are huge and powerful city-states. Every move they make is rted to the security and survival of Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean, making it hard for them to sh! So these will probably end up as diplomatic protests and negotiations¡­¡±

    Dicaeogta sat back depressed, while Sostratus just rolled his eyes, not knowing what was on his mind.

    ¡°Sostratus, I heard from your brother-inw that you went to find him a few days ago and hoped that he could purchase some of your goods¡­¡± Kunogta suddenly changed the topic.

    Sostratus was surprised. He quickly said, ¡°I just gave a small suggestion to him. Father, as you know, my brother-inw is a serious man, so it is impossible for him to agree.¡±

    During the riot in Thruii and the expulsion of Kunogta¡¯s family back then, his youngest daughter killed herself after getting r*ped. At the same time, his eldest daughter was forcefully divorce by her husband''s family and remained single since then. It wasn''t until ¡®Davos was concerned about Hielos'' marriage¡¯ that Kunogta made up his mind and gave his proposal to Davos after learning about it.

    At the urging of both sides, Kunogta''s eldest daughter asked to meet Hielos before deciding whether to get married. Davos, as the matchmaker, had actually agreed to this ¡°absurd¡± request, while Hielos, for the sake of Davos, did not mind it much.

    As a result, after the two met, they hit it off. In particr, after the betrayal of her first marriage, Kunogta''s daughter felt that Hielos was simple, honest, and dependable, a man worthy of a lifelongmitment. Thus she had even taken the initiative to ask Kunogta to contact Hielos.

    In the end, the two got married, which also made the rtionship between Kunogta and Davos go a step further.

    After leaving his position as the praetor of Aprustum and the legatus of the fourth legion, Hielos was right in time in Davos reformation and decentralisation of the Ministry of Military Affairs. Back then, the authority to deal with the specific matters of the army was concentrated on the Chief of Military, but now, Davos divided it into three:

    First: In the military and political aspects, Philesius, the Chief of Military, is responsible for the personnel appointment of the legion, the rotation of the troops, the naval patrols, the citizens'' military service, the statistics of the troops'' performance in the war, and so on. Naturally, important personnel appointments of the legion, such as the legatus and the senior centurion, must be named and confirmed by Davos;

    Second: In terms of military training, Hieronymus, who has retired from the third legion, was responsible for supervising the military training of the citizens in various cities, checking the training''s effectiveness, arranging instructors, and so on;

    Third: In terms of military logistics, the Greek city-states of this era did not have specialised personnel in managing military logistics. Since the time they secured their foothold in Amendra, Davos has sent Mersis to manage the army¡¯s logistics. However, with the expansion of the union and the increase of work, Mersis was too busy just managing the union¡¯s finance. Moreover, local government affairs and the army should not be mixed up and must be separated, which is why there is a need for officers to manage the logistics affairs of the military in a specialised and professional way. So the first one that Davos thought of was Hielos. He not only had abundant military experience but also had a history in administration. He is dedicated and careful in his work, and was also the former squad leader of Davos and one of his most trusted people, and could take on a huge responsibility.

    ¡°Anyway, I forbid you harassing your brother-inw anymore! Especially in this special period!¡± Kunogta ordered with seriousness, as an old statesman, he could already feel that a political storm was about to set off.

    Sostratus bowed his head and nodded.

    How could Kunogta not understand his disobedient son? So he immediately said, ¡°You are no longer young anymore. Several families have sent matchmakers to propose marriage to me, so you should not go out on these two days. Hurry up and settle your marriage!¡±

    ¡°Eh?!¡± Sostratus'' eyes widened.

    ¡°Great! Atst, I am going to have a sister-inw!¡± Dicaeogta jumped with joy.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos was discussing with Burkes, the Chief Agricultural Officer, in the study room at his house.

    ¡°Burkes, I disagree with your resignation from your position as the Chief Agricultural Officer! The statesmen have elected you as the Chief Agricultural Officer for four consecutive years due to their recognition of your achievements in Theonia''s agriculture. You should know, only when you are in the Ministry of Agricultural can our soldiers and I leave the city and go out to fight without worrying that our farms would be deserted¡­¡± Davos sincerely persuaded him.

 Chapter 356: Mixed Reactions

    Burkes remained unswayed and said with a sullen look, ¡°There are so many found guilty of upying illegalnd this time¡­to be honest, I am surprised!¡­and I felt pained at my negligence! So if I don''t resign, I won''t be able to exin it to the Senate and the citizen¡­I also hope that the Senate will investigate me to confirm my innocence!¡±

    Davos listened to him, but a thought shed through his mind: A few years ago, he already knew about the corruption of Pollux and the others, and he had been hiding it and allowing for the problem to expand to involve more people. On the one hand, Pollux and the others had to buy more ves and release them if they wanted to achieve their goal, which was what Davos precisely wished to see. On the other hand, most of those who can do these things are the nobles and wealthy people, as they are the only ones who have the ability and connections to achieve this goal. So Davos took this opportunity to remove those who secretly resist the pro-civilianws that he proposed. Therefore, it''s not that no one has found the problem; it¡¯s just that several important public officials under Burkes have been bribed to cover it up. At the same time, Davos has also secretly suppressed it and did not open the lid until today. So from the bottom of his heart, he felt guilty for Burkes.

    ¡°Dad! Dad!¡­¡± At this time, the door was suddenly pushed open, and Crotokatax, who was more than four years old, ran in, ¡°Come and y with me!¡±

    While saying that, he ran towards Davos'' seat.

    Davos hurriedly hugged him and said with a kind voice, ¡°My little Cro, I am currently talking with your uncle, so I don''t have time now. Won''t you go and y with your brother Adoris?¡±

    ¡°Elder brother is memorising poems and has no time to y with me¡­he said that if he couldn''t recite it well, he will be punished by the teacher tomorrow¡­while sister is helping mother grow flowers. No one cares about me!¡­¡± Little Kro ce his arms around Davos'' neck and gloomily said, ¡°Dad, won''t youe and y with me?¡±

    Seeing the usually revered archon having a hard time dealing with children made Burkes surprised. After sighing, he stood up and said, ¡°Lord Davos, there is no need to persuade me anymore as I have already made up my mind. I will take my leave.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Davos stood up with his son in his arms, ¡°I agree with you stepping down as the Chief of Agriculture Officer, but I won''t allow you to bezy! Now, there are so many things that need to be done in the union, and I alone won''t be enough, so you have to continue helping me!¡±

    Burkes remained silent for a moment, then said, ¡°I''ll think about it¡­¡±

    ¡°No need for you to think about it as it¡¯s your duty as a statesman of Theonia! Once everything is over, you will serve on the Union''s Civil Servant Management Committee!¡± Said Davos with a forceful attitude that would not allow any refusal.

    Burkes neither agreed nor refused. He went to the door and asked hesitantly, ¡°What will the Senate do with Pollux?¡±

    He mentioned the Senate, but in fact, he is asking the decision of Davos. So Davos vaguely replied, ¡°It would be up to the court on how to punish Pollux and the others¡­¡±

    Burkes understood that Davos would not let go of Pollux and the others, so he could only sigh secretly because he also heard the news of Pollux'' collusion with Syracuse.

    ¡°Little Cro! Little Cro!¡­¡± At this time, a beautiful figure of a woman appeared in front of Burkes.

    ¡°Madam!¡± Recognising the second wife of Davos, Agnes, Burkes hurriedly greeted her.

    Unlike Cheiristoya, who knew all the statesmen of the Senate like the back of her hand, Agnes didn''t know most of them, so she just politely responded to his greetings.

    ¡°Mama Agnes! Mama Agnes! When did youe back?!¡­¡± Little Cro became happy, prying open his father''s arms, and ran over excitedly.

    Davos, who finally got freed, apanied Burkes to the gate of his house.

    ¡°Lord Burkes.¡± Davos looked at the dark street and said, ¡°I could still remember the first time I saw you, you were running around to save Thurii, trying your best to do what you think is right to the point that you aren''t afraid of being criticised by the Council of Thurii. Now, although Theonia seems to be powerful, we are also facing many difficulties and even more powerful enemies coveting her. At this time, we can not shrink back, and we must unite and face the difficulties to get through this dangerous situation!¡±

    Burkes just stood at the gate of the house¡­a momentter, he looked at Davos'' expectant gaze and said, ¡°I understand.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next day, the statesmen were shocked by the results of the internal investigations: Pollux and the others had illegally upiednd and colluded with the officials and merchants. However, the more severe issue and the most important thing is that Pollux did have contact with the Syracusan, and he was not the only one who had received gifts.

    Everyone in the Senate felt theplexity of the problem.

    ording to the opinion of Kunogta and Cornelius, they should hold Pollux and the others'' trial in secrecy and send envoys to Syracuse to protest and make Dionysius restrain his ambition¡­

    However, those militants such as Antonios and Amintas demanded that Pollux and others be tried in public, letting everyone know the crimes they havemitted and making them aware of Syracuse¡¯s ambition. Afterwards, they should send envoys to Syracuse, asking them to apologise for this and makepensation.

    In the end, Davos proposed a public hearing of the case in the Nike Square, as the case of Pollux and others brought uproar in the city and rming the whole union, with rumours and fears spreading in every city causing even their allies to be concerned. Hence the Senate must give the people the truth and remind the people of Theonia that Theonia Union is still in a bad situation so that they should not ck off!

    The Senate approved.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Dusk of that day, Androlis, the praetor of Pyxous, received an urgent letter from Davos.

    In the letter, Davos exined the reasons for the arrest of Eurypus, Pleitinas, and some other Krimisians in detail. And at the same time, he also dered that he would give them a fair trial. In addition, in his letter, he praised him, ¡°Androlis, the Senate expresses its gratitude to you for your merits in the Lucanian region. In the two years, you have sat as the praetor of Pyxous. You had not only stabilised the Lucanians in the city and smoothly turn them into Theonians but also developed the port of Pyxous, promoting the prosperity of trade andmerce!¡­¡±

    Androlis stood on the rooftop of the mansion as he read through the letter. After reading it, he became emotional: He had a vague idea about Eurypus and Pleitinas. These two Krimisian colleagues of his were keen to enter and lead the Theonian army. Unfortunately, when they joined the army, Theonia''s war with foreign enemies had stopped, so they had no chance to umte merits. At the same time, they had to familiarise the new way of fighting, even though It''s already hard for them to train with the recruits. However, when the positions of the five legatus became full, they had little hope of bing a legatus of a legion as there are still many people waiting in line behind them who have higher military achievements and fighting experience than them. For them to be able to achieve their current position as centurions was already the grace of Davos for the sake of them being a statesman. However, they felt shameful to hold such lowly positions whenparing with their fellow statesmen like Antonios, Philesius, Kapus and the others, so they went to Davos many times in the hope that they could raise their position in the army again. However, Davos refused and said, ¡°All the military affairs shall be carried out in ordance with Theonia''s Military Law.¡± Since then, they began criticising Davos.

    Then they beganing to Androlis several times, hoping that he, as the leader of the Krimisians, coulde out and join hands with Pollux to propose the resumption of the lesia, which he naturally refused. Regarding the situation of Davos in control of the Senate, he is not without resistance, but Davos did not restrict him; rather, he gave him a broader world to y his talents¡­

    ¡®This is where I have been sweating for years!¡¯, he said as he watched the busy port in the distance while listening to the stiff Greek ent of the people on the nearby streets¡­

    In the afterglow of the setting sun, a sense of achievement rose in his heart¡­

    When he got home, he immediately wrote a reply to Davos, thanking him for his recognition of his work and giving his firm support to the Senate''s decision on the trial of Pollux and the others.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following day, arge wooden tform was erected in Thurii''s Nike Square. In order to maintain order throughout the square, Thurii''s patrol, together with a brigade of the first legion, was temporarily stationed there.

    One after another, Theonians from various ces came to the square. Most of them are ordinary Theonian citizens. Some were freemen who had just be preparatory citizens and have not yet gotten their allocatednd. Some were big foreign merchants who have immigrated to Theonia and became its citizens, and there were also the defendants¡¯ families.

    In the middle of therge wooden tform sat the justice, Tritodemos. ordingly, as the archon of Theonia, Davos, who was also the chief justice, should take the lead in such an important trial. However, he did not attend due to reasons known to all* and neither were the other statesmen ¨C out of avoidance. (*Pollux had always been at odds with him)

    On the front left side of Tritodemos is the jurors. There are 50 members of the jury, including merchants, civil servants, farmers, herdsmen, sailors, artisans¡­citizens from all walks of life, as well as Lucanian and Bruttian. In ordance with the Theonian Law, the court shall randomly select the jury among the citizens registered in the Civil Registry, whether they are rich or poor, races, professions they were engaged in, and so on in order to be as fair as possible.

 Chapter 357: Public Trial

    Theinant and the defendant separated in front of Tritodemos. In ordance with thew, theinant and the defendant are allowed to hirewyers to defend them in the court since they are not necessarily knowledgeable and eloquent about the Theonia Code with its numerous entries. However, Pollux, who was the first to be tried in this case, decided to defend himself because the crimes hemitted had far exceeded what theinant (the liberated ve) had used him of, as the prosecutor appointed by the court had charged him. (The prosecutor was Aristocrates, the former clerk of Davos.)

    After receiving his Theonian preparatory citizenship, Aristocrates, under the suggestion of Davos, tried to work in the court, managing to pass the examination smoothly. Starting from the initial court reporter position, he worked hard and studied Theonian Law diligently. When he became an official citizen of Theonia, he became a circuit judge of the circuit court. Over the past year, he became a new star among Theonia''s judges with his brilliant achievement of convicting more than 200 cases and disputes without error. In this trial, Davos had personally appointed him as the prosecutor, with high hopes for him.

    The uniqueness of Theonia''s court system was due to Davos bringing the court system ofter generations with some modifications.

    It should be known that during this era, the most respected Athenian court has no dedicated judges. The archons could only maintain the court''s procedures, while the jurors had the power of the court. However, the number of jurors is not fixed, as the size of the case determined the number of jurors, and the highest number of jurors could even reach more than two thousand, and the oue of the trial would then be decided by a majority vote system. That is why, in Athens, a jury must participate no matter howrge the case is. Hence, about 3,000 to 4,000 citizens would rush back and forth to various courts in the city and the port every day, causing the other city-states to call the Athenians the Greeks who love litigation.

    However, in Theonia, besides important cases such as Homicide, treason, and so on that needs a jury to decide, the other civil disputes are usually resolved by the judge directly. And even if the defendant demands a jury, it would be likely to be rejected¡­because the citizens of Theonia Union are busy with military training, fieldwork, market trading, constructing public facilities¡­and so on, they do not have so much free time to sit in the court and listen to theinant and the defendant about things that have nothing to do with themselves.

    On the other hand, with the abundant wealth of Athens, the jurors would bepensated with money that some citizens even make a living from it. That is why their citizens are happy in being a jury.

    In short, Theonia could not afford this kind of time and money consuming court system of Athens with their existing strength and financial resources, and that he is not ready to implement it. However, severe crimes were rarelymitted as the Theonians feared that breaking thew would jeopardise their entry into the legions, public office, and obtaining city-states rewards. Hence, such arge-scale trial with jurors is rarely seen by the public, while many people could even say that this is the first time they witnessed how the Theonians court works.

    Soon, the Nike Square was filled with people, and many even kept pouring from the outside¡­

    When the level of the clepsydra* fell to the eight o''clock mark, Tritodemos rang the court''s bell. (Water Clock)

    Since both theinant and the defendant were present, the prosecutor was the first to make a statement. Aristocrates briefly exined how the liberated ve went to the temple, the patrol conducting a search and finding evidence ording to standard regtion¡­he then showed the evidence to the jurors, using Pollux of illegal possession ofnd, restricting the people''s freedom and other crimes.

    Then amotion happened among the audience, causing Tritodemos to ring the bell, reminding everyone to be quiet. Then he signalled that the defendant, Pollux, could now defend himself.

    As a veteran statesman who has long been involved in politics, Pollux remained proud and determined because he knows that if he shows weakness, then the people would consider him guilty. Although he did not participate in the establishment of the legal trial system, he had observed the process of Davos'' persuading the statesmen. Thus he knew that the jurors were the key to him getting acquitted in Theonia''srge-scale trial. Therefore, he said in a passionate voice, ¡°Members of the jurors, at this moment, I think of my father, grandfather¡­as one of the earliest founders of the city of Thurii, they have poured all their hearts and blood on this once wilnd, leading to the current prosperity of the city. Following the example of my father, I had been making my own efforts for this city since I became an adult, took part in battles, served as a low-level official, and was then elected as one of the strategoi of Thurii by many. I had done all my best for this city-state-¡±

    Just then, Aristocrates stood up and interrupted him, ¡°Pollux, as one of the strategoi of Thurii, you are responsible for the burning of Thurii! At thest moment before the city¡¯s destruction, instead of leading the people to fight the enemy, you as a strategos had disappeared! So how dare you say that you had done everything for the city! That is simply not true!!¡± Aristocrates had carefully investigated Pollux beforehand.

    After saying this, someone in the audience cried out, ¡°He''s right! I had fought in the battle against the Crotonians. In that battle, many had died, including Nianses, yet I did not even saw your shadow!¡±

    ¡°Coward!¡±

    ¡°Coward!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Some people in the audience threw their insults.

    ¡°Quiet! Quiet!!¡± Tritodemos rang the bell to remind the people and warned, ¡°You two should refrain from topics unrted to the alleged issue.¡±

    Due to the Theonian court not having that manyrge-scale cases, young prosecutors like Aristocrates are inexperienced. Otherwise, he would have objected when Pollux first spoke.

    However, seeing their initial confrontation had attracted the attention of the audience, making them think that a courtroom is like a battlefield, where they battle with words, and life and death are at stake, which is far intense than watching a y, so the people of Theonia began to widen their eyes in anticipation of the more exciting arguments that would follow.

    Pollux became quite embarrassed as he had forgotten that he was a deserter. Even though he still wants to continue advertising his hard work in the Senate, it is now of no use. He nced at his opponent and began to say, ¡°As a member of the Senate of Theonia, I followed the example of archon Davos and responded to Hades'' revtion, which is why I have given many ves in my household their freedom. So far, I have freed 57 ves, and six of them have even be citizens. Thus besides lord Davos, there is no one else as kind to the ves as I am!¡± Pollux looked around.

    ¡°So out of gratitude, those ves I have freed repaid me by giving some of their money every year. And I could not refuse their kindness, so I reluctantly epted it because, with more money, I could buy more ves and give them freedom!¡­ s, I never thought that I would get used of corruption! This¡­this is a huge blow to my enthusiasm to learn from lord Davos! This is just a misunderstanding!¡­¡± Putting on an aggrieved expression, Pollux looked at the jurors.

    Aristocrates coldly said, ¡°Whether or not Pollux is corrupt, your honour, please allow me to ask the witnesses a question.¡±

    Tritodemos nodded in agreement.

    Aristocrates then called up ten witnesses, all of whom were the liberated ves of Pollux. Some had just been released, some had be preparatory citizens, and some had even be official citizens. These witnesses initially did not want to appear in the court but were forced to appear because it''s one of the duties as citizens of the union.

    After swearing oath of not lying to Hades, Aristocrates asked each of them a question. And as he questioned them, Pollux tried to interrupt several times, causing Tritodemos to reprimand him.

    However, seeing that Pollux was now in a bad situation and that they were afraid of getting charged with perjury, they all confessed the truth.

    With that, the audience around the wooden tform heard that:

    First of all, thend owned by these witnesses is located in the fertile Sybaris in, which is already enviable. It must be noted that when the union was first established, there were more people and lessnd, so to keep thend from being unused, the freemen and liberated ves were allowed to rent thends. Later on, renting thend in the Sybaris in began to be harder to the point that even being a preparatory citizen was not enough to be allowed to rent it. So how could the ves that Pollux had freed rent such goodnd? This has be a huge problem.

    Secondly, after these witnesses had paid the union their taxes, they had to pay Pollux 40% of thend ie as well;

    Thirdly, even those witnesses who had be official citizens had to give 5% of theirnd ie every year. So why do these now citizens still took the initiative to give him money? Because Pollux bribed some people from the Ministry of Agriculture to distribute morends to these people who had be official citizens. Since their allocatednd is often in a rtively remote ce, it was not easily found. As a result, these people would take the initiative to pay Pollux'' household because they were afraid that the Ministry of Agriculture would take back theirnd every time they conduct their annualnd inspection.

    After Aristocrates finished his questioning, Pollux could feel the anger of the people. So he hurriedly said in a loud voice, ¡°They are all lying! They are all lying! I haven''t done any of these at all. Someone is framing me up because he is afraid that I would shake the people''s faith in him!¡±

 Chapter 358: Public Trial and New Bill

    Tritodemos immediately rang the bell, ¡°Defendant, I warn you for thest time! If you keep making random guesses and usations, this court will forbid you from speaking!¡±

    Pollux hurriedly swallowed his words back and looked back at the jurors, wondering whether he managed to influence them by what he had deliberately said. By now, he could already feel that the possibility of him extricating himself from his crime was bing slimmer and slimmer.

    Aristocrates then took out a piece of papyrus and said to the jurors, ¡°This papyrus records the amount of property that the patrols had found at Pollux'' residence. Fortunately, Pollux did not deposit the money in the bank, so we could use the patrols and servants that were there, and the few bystanders who broke into the household by mistake can serve as witnesses. The total amount is-¡± (At that time, the reputation of the Bank of Cheiristoya was already well established, so in order to prevent the loss of money, the people deposited their money in the bank where they only had to pay a very low safekeeping fee every year and could withdraw at any time. Moreover, they could withdraw their money from the various Banks of Cheiristoya in Theonia with the certificate issued by the bank, which was very convenient and popr. However, Pollux refused to deposit his money because Davos¡¯ household owned the bank.)

    Purposely pausing for a bit, Aristocrats then said loudly and clearly in front of thousands of gazes, ¡°22 Talent and 45 Minae!¡± causing shouts of surprises to fill the square.

    Aristocrates then added, ¡°As far as I know, Pollux, besides the ie you receive from your 2.5 acres ofnd, you do not have any other industries.¡±

    Pollux fiercely argued, ¡°Most of them were left by my¡­my grandfather and father¡­¡±

    Smiling with disdain, Aristocrates continued, ¡°But why are most of your family''s coins were Hades Coins*? I had asked your family, and they told me that you have never gone to the bank for an exchange.¡± (Note: Referring to the silver coins issued after the establishment of Theonia Union, which has the face of Hades on the front.)

    Aristocrates¡¯ words blocked pollux¡¯ lie. In his rage, he shouted, ¡°Davos'' household has more money than I, so why aren''t you checking him as well?!¡±

    The crowd then started booing.

    Aristocrates smiled again and said, ¡°As you can see, I don''t even need to speak, as the people are clear about the businesses of Davos'' household. How many Theonian citizens have been helped by the Bank of Cheiristoya''s low-interest rate? How many shops that are about to go bankrupt were saved?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, that''s true!¡±

    ¡°Cheiristoya is kind!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The crowd scrambled in shouting, and the anger that was about to erupt seemed to disappear without a trace. Seeing this, Tritodemos was happy and did not interrupt Aristocrates.

    ¡°And Cheiristoya''s Restaurant and the hot spring does not only made the lives of the people better but also made Thurii be known as ¡®the most stunning city in Magna Graecia¡¯¡­¡±

    ¡°Young man, you are right!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos brought pride to Thurii!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Moreover, the money that lord Davos earned is not stored at his home like you. And he even donated his money for the construction of the temples, libraries and the stone bridge¡­¡±

    ¡°Did lord Davos also donated money to the construction of the stone bridge? I really did not know about that.¡±

    ¡°I heard that after the construction of the library, lord Davos would donate arge number of valuable books.¡±

    ¡°You Thurians are so lucky! If I wanted to read, I have to travel from Krimisa¡­¡±

    ¡°Maybe one day, lord Davos would donate a library to Krimisa as well.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the audience discussed, Tritodemos asked, ¡°Defendant, do you have anything else to say in your defence?¡±

    Like a drowning man who is on hisst struggle, Pollux said, ¡°Yes! Yes! My family used to have 57 acres ofnd! It is the truth as I still have the title deed at my home! But since Davos came, I¡­I voluntarily gave up all mynd, and now, I only owned about 2.5 acres ofnd. I have made such a huge concession for Thurii and Theonia, so shouldn''t you¡­shouldn''t you also consider the loss of my family?!¡±

    ¡°Even if you still have these so-called title deeds-¡± Aristocrates looked at Pollux as he knew that Pollux had messed up, so he was now even more confident, ¡°I hope the defendant understand one thing that is, after Crotone destroyed the city of Thurii, the old Thurii no longer exist. Likewise, its government no longer exist. Therefore, the contract signed by the old city hall of Thurii is naturally invalid. If lord Davos had not led his army to repel the Crotonians, would the Thurians dare to live in Thurii? Obviously not, as they can only be forced to wander to other city-states. Surviving is already difficult enough, let alone ownnd¡­¡±

    At this point, Aristocrates'' tone became a bit heavy, and then he raised his voice again, ¡°Therefore, today''s city of Thurii, even though it is still called Thurii, it is no longer the old city of Thurii. This Thurii is a part of Theonia Union and the centre of Theonia!¡±

    ¡°That''s right. The current Thurii has nothing to do with the old city. You wanting to own more than 57 acres ofnd is just you dreaming!¡±

    ¡°Hades will surely send you, who is a greedy man, to hell and let lord Rhadamanthus whip you hard!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the taunting of the crowd, Pollux¡¯s strength seemed to have been drained as he sat down on his chair dejectedly.

    Tritodemos looked at him and said, ¡°Silence! It''s now up to the jurors to vote whether the defendant is guilty or not!¡±

    With that, the court assistant immediately ces an hourss on the judge''s desk, and the jurors must decide before the hourss gets emptied.

    Each of the jurors has two bronze medals, one engraved with ¡°guilty¡± and the other engraved with ¡°not guilty¡±. The jurors quickly ced a bronze medal in their hands into the bronze pot with hardly any hesitation.

    ¡°ng! ng! ng!¡­¡± The clear sound seemed to strike the heart of Pollux like a hammer.

    After waiting for the end of the voting, the court assistant went over and began counting. He picked up a bronze medal from the jar and showed it to the members of the jury, ¡°Guilt!¡­guilty!¡­guilty!¡­¡±

    Every time he read one, the audience cheered while Pollux turned pale.

    The result came out: 50 votes were guilty, and no one has abstained. (If the results happened to be a tie, then the court''s judge will have the final ruling power.)

    The audiences erupted in cheers, while Pollux'' face became ashen.

    Next is the trial of Ariphes, Marsyas, Enanilus, Eurypus and the other statesmen, as well as some nobles and officials, which is easier in the face of hard evidence, and all were found guilty.

    However, the collective crimesmitted by so many statesmen and officials had made the people feel fear and anger. In the end, the shouting in the square turned into asking a ¡®collective investigation of the Senate and officials, and find out those who are guilty of corruption of public property¡¯, which resounded throughout the city of Thurii.

    The statesmen of the Senate became frightened after the shouting reached their ears. While Davos, who is proposing a bill to the Senate, smiled.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The public trialsted until dusk. After that, many people spontaneously went to the front gate of the Grand Senate Hall, protesting against the statesmen, causing the statesmen to retreat quickly through the back door after the meeting ended. After they came out, all of them looked grave.

    ¡°After the new bill is enacted, the power of our Senate will be greatly restricted! Lord Davos has unexpectedly proposed such a bill. What good will it do him?!¡± Stromboli said with slight dissatisfaction.

    ¡°Lord Davos is correct to do this! Just listen to the shouting of the people in the square-¡± Cornelius pointed to his rear and eximed, ¡°It is the right of the citizens to participate in politics. Wasn''t this always the case in Amendra? It''s not like you haven''t experienced it, so why do you feel ufortable now?!¡±

    Stromboli was stunned. He thought about it and said, ¡°I think the current system is already good. At least we don''t have to worry about the citizens suddenly using us. Let alone the fact that you would get terminated before even finishing your work due to your one-year term ending and not getting re-elected. In Theonia Union, I could think in detail about what I want to do, then n, and then concentrate on implementing it step by step¡­but due to a group of people who only cares about their own interests, people who know nothing could now dictate our affairs!¡±

    Such simr discussions happen among the statesmen who were hurrying back to the city.

    Marigi and Plesinas walked behind.

    ¡°Lord Marigi, even though the citizens¡¯ anger were never directed at him, why did lord Davos proposed such a bill? I usually stayed in the temple, and I know very well that most of them have great respect for lord Davos.¡± Plesinas couldn''t help but speak his doubts.

    Marigiughed and said in a low voice, ¡°You have already answered your own question.¡±

    Plesinas became more confused.

    Marigi raised his head and looked at the setting sun, which was almost hidden behind the mountain. His eyes were lost in a trance as if he is thinking about something. Finally, he murmured, ¡°¡­you Greeks, it has been a long time since the age of monarchy. So you obviously don''t know what the most important thing for a king is!¡±

    Plesinas was not surprised by the metaphor, ¡°for a king¡±. He thought it over carefully, but he was still unable to understand it.

    Marigi lightly spat out a word, ¡°Bnce!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    It was evening, and the night shrouded the city of Thurii, but Cheiristoya''s Restaurant was filled with candlelight and bustling noises.

 Chapter 359: The Merchants Restlessness

    In the corner, Tios and Dicaeapolis quietly sat as they ate delicious food.

    After eating the fried beef on his te, Tios eximed, ¡°Alcohol, please.¡±

    After getting a response, he picked up the clean linen towel on his left-hand side and wiped the oil stain on the corner of his mouth.

    ¡°Anyone who has watched this public trial-¡± Dicaeapolis said while pointing his fork at the loudly arguing diners around him, ¡°are angry, yet you are acting calm.¡±

    ¡°What''s there to be angry about? In my former city-state, Corinth, such thing is not umon.¡± Tios grab the alcohol from the waiter and said thanks. Then he continued, ¡°The nobles control the important positions in the city-state, and the selection of strategoi are always chosen among the more than a dozen or so families. Aren''t Kydonia* the same?¡± (Kydonia* is a city-state on Crete, situated at the westernmost end of the ind.)

    ¡°That''s right. That is why I am as calm as you are.¡±

    Both of themughed.

    ¡°However, you are wrong about something. Kydonia is just my former city-state, as I am a Theonian now.¡± Dicaeapolis acted as if giving a stern warning.

    ¡°You and I both are.¡± Tios smiled and raised his cup as the two men lightly clinked.

    ¡°Still, there is one thing that Pollux has said that¡­I agree with¡­¡± Dicaeapolis looked around, leaned over his head and whispered, ¡°Holding an lesia.¡±

    Tios calmly looked at him and said nothing.

    Dicaeapolis continued to murmur, ¡°The Senate is the one making all the decisions in Theonia Union while we ordinary citizens can neither participate nor oppose them nor decide anything. Although we could also be a statesman of the Senate, the road would be too long! For example, we merchants, who travel all day, couldn''t be a civil official at all-¡±

    Hesitating for a bit, Dicaeapolis said, ¡°If Theonia''s government system remain the same, I fear that¡­that some merchants would leave. After all, having a lot of money but not being able to interfere in any decision of the Senate would always make us merchants afraid, right?¡±

    Tios drunk some alcohol as he suppressed his shock, ¡°Are you among those who want to leave?¡±

    ¡°I certainly won''t leave!¡± Dicaeapolis said with affirmation, ¡°Here has the best food in the Mediterranean! Have the best entertainment andpetition! The best hot spring! And there is no war where we are getting invaded! This ce is simply the Elysium on earth!! So why should I leave?!¡± Said Dicaeapolis loudly as he leaned back in his chair.

    ¡°You are right, friend!¡± Next to him came a reddish, slightly drunk man. He pped Dicaeapolis on the shoulder and said in excitement, ¡°It is all due to lord Davos that we have today''s beautiful city of Thurii! Brothers, let''s give our respect to our great lord, lord Davos!¡±

    With that, the diner on the same table stood up and raised their cups, ¡°To lord Davos!¡±

    Influenced by them, the other diners also stood up one after another.

    ¡°All hail lord Davos!¡±

    ¡°To our great grand legatus!¡±

    The noisy restaurant¡¯s noisebined into one.

    After they finish toasting, someone stood up and jokingly said, ¡°To our damned Senate!¡±

    All of a sudden, there was a lot ofughing and swearing again.

    Dicaeapolis smiled as he watched their noisiness, while Tios reminded him, ¡°But now, Theonia is not without the danger of war!¡±

    Dicaeapolis was taken aback and then said, ¡°Are you worried about Syracuse?¡±

    Tios nodded slightly.

    Dicaeapolis waved his hand unconcernedly, ¡°As a former Corinthian, you should not worry about this issue. In Greece, Sparta, Athens, Corinth, Thebes, Argos and other city-states have dispatched their spies, bribed the statesmen of their enemy city-state, and even defended enemy city-states¡¯ interests in the lesia¡­such things are not umon! So if a war were to happen because of such trifling matters, Greece would have long been in a mess!¡­but, to be honest, things are really bad in Greece right now, especially in Corinth. I heard that Sparta had stationed their army in the territory of Corinth, often fighting the allied forces of Corinth, Athens, Thebes and Argos, causing many to die every day¡­you are so lucky that you were able to move out!¡±

    Tios became silent as Dicaeapolis talked about his mother city-state. He sighed then said, ¡°Yes, the Corinthians are now having a hard time¡­I heard that Agesus, the Spartan king, and his troops havended in northern Greece and are preparing to head south to join hands with the Spartans troops to make a pincer attack. The anti-Spartan coalition is surely in danger!¡­ I should really thank you for your advice. Without your persuasion, I would not have decided to join Theonia so soon!¡±

    Dicaeapolisughed and said, ¡°In that case, how should you thank me?¡±

    Tios knew that he was joking, but he still whispered, ¡°The other day, I went to lord Davos'' house to discuss with him about the donation of the stone bridge. As you know, I have followed lord Davos in his donations many times, which is in line with the newly passed bill of Theonia, ¡®Incentive provision for foreign donors donating for the construction of public buildings.¡¯ Due to that bill, I manage to be a Theonian citizen so quickly¡­¡±

    ¡°You are now a powerful merchant.¡± Said Dicaeapolis.

    Ignoring the slight sourness in his words, Tios continued, ¡°Lord Davos asked me cautiously about some merchants who are protesting in the square. In the end, he said, ¡®It can''t go on like this anymore, Theonia has to change!¡¯¡±

    ¡°Did he really say that?!¡± Asked Dicaeapolis in surprise.

    ¡°Of course. I remember it very well!¡± Tios added with great certainty, ¡°Lord Davos has always been a man of his words!¡±

    A gleam shed through Dicaeapolis''s eyes¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Milord, are you looking for me?¡± Aristias came to Davos'' study room.

    ¡°Aristias, sit down.¡± Davos casually pointed to a wooden chair beside him.

    ¡°Understood, milord.¡± Although Davos was casual, Aristias still sat down with respect and caution.

    Leaning back in his chair, Davos looked at his chief of intelligence and said, ¡°You have been following me for almost five years now, haven''t you?¡±

    ¡°To be exact, it should be four years, seven months and twenty-two days.¡± Said Aristias with seriousness.

    ¡°You could even remember it so clearly.¡± Davosughed and said, ¡°It''s already been long since then, and I still haven''t seen you gain any weight.¡±

    Aristias could only say helplessly, ¡°I have this constitution that made me unable to gain weight no matter how much I eat.¡±

    ¡°If Cheiristoya were to have your constitution, she would be delighted.¡± Davosughed.

    Davos looked at the tall and thin man, then said emotionally, ¡°You have been with me for a long time, and even though you have be a Theonian citizen, you are still willing to continue collecting information for me. With your ability, you could be apetent official no matter what position in the union¡­but you kept making great contributions to the union in silence. Just like this public trial case, I am really grateful to you and also feel guilty at the same time!¡­ ¡±

    A sudden uneasiness came to Aristias mind, ¡®Could it be that Davos would kick me out of here?¡¯

    Tapping his right hand on the arm of the wooden chair, Davos slowly said, ¡°From now on, I can finally do something to repay you for your contribution.¡±

    Aristias was almost distracted by the sudden change of the subject. He then heard Davos continue, ¡°Aristias, you should know Syracuse very well. Tell me, if we were to go war with the powerful city-state of Sicily across the sea, do we have a chance of victory?¡±

    Atst, Aristias'' heart sharply throbbed. He suppressed his excitement and thought about it for some time, and then said, ¡°Milord, I think there is still a considerable gap in strength between Theonia and Syracuse.¡±

    Davos was not surprised by what Aristias said. On the contrary, he was satisfied with his attitude as he could still analyse the issue from an objective standpoint even with his hatred for Syracuse, ¡°Oh, what''s the difference? borate it.¡±

    ¡°ording to what milord had once told me, we can judge the strength of a city-state from four aspects: poption, economic capacity,nd area¡­ehm¡­and¡­move¡­¡±

    ¡°War mobilisation.¡± Reminded Davos.

    ¡°I almost forgot.¡± Aristias reorganised his thought and continued. ¡°Now in Sicily, apart from Lilybaeum, Eryx, Ziz and several of the most western coastal city-states that the Carthaginians controlled, the other areas were under Syracuse¡¯s rule, including the Sicels and the eastern city-states that Dionysius conquered through despicable means such as bribery and assassination. Although the Carthaginians were still fighting fiercely against the Sicilian Greek coalition led by Dionysius at Salus, the Carthaginians had lost a series of battles, ording to thetest information we received. I estimate that it is only a matter of time before their defeat.

    And ording to the information we received from Syracuse, G, Agrigento, Leontinoi¡­.¡± Aristias paused, ¡°andbining the information collected by the people of Catania and Naxos with the information heard by the Theonian merchants who went to the city-states in Sicily to trade, we can have a general understanding of Syracuse''s strength.¡±

    He paused again, And Davos tapped his armrests and said, ¡°Continue.¡±

    ¡°The city-state of Syracuse and its surrounding towns has about 400,000 poption, and the number of other city-states that are directly controlled and affiliated by Dionysius may be close to 1.3 million¡­¡± He then looked at Davos after saying this much.

    Davos remained calm and motioned him to continue.

 Chapter 360: Davos Began To Move

    ¡°Although the area controlled by Dionysius is slightly smaller than that of Theonia, half of Theonia was mountainous and could not grow any grains and other crops, while Sicily is a famous grain-producing area in the Mediterranean. ording to the volume of the grain trade in Syracusest year, Sicily''s grain production may be twice that of ours.

    Besides,pared with our port, Syracuse''s port is prosperous as they almost monopolise the sea trade between the Greeks and the Africans. Even though they are at war with Carthage, many Phoenician merchants can still be seen in the port of Syracuse. Although I am not sure what the monthly tax revenue of Syracuse is, it is definitely much better than those of Thurii with its port''s capacity and the number of merchant ships. Not to mention the city-states that are established 300 years ago, such as Agrigento, Katania, Naxos and Messena, whose port trade is very prosperous!¡­¡±

    Listening to Aristias, Davos nodded involuntarily and said, ¡°Needless to say, Dionysius greatest advantage as a tyrant is that he could concentrate all the resources under his control, including the people to the maximum extent, allowing him tounch a sudden war without the Council''s approval. I remember that you previously said that Dionysius sent about 100,000 men to fight against Carthage on the northern coast of Sicily?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord. To be exact, it should be nearly 80,000 infantry and 20,000 navies.¡±

    ¡°Last time¡­how many men did he send to attack western Sicily?¡± Again, Davos asked.

    ¡°It''s rumoured to be 100,000 as well.¡±

    Davos sighed. ¡°Yes, the reason Syracuse couldunch arge-scale war of 100,00 men is due to him being able to support such a huge number of troops for more than six months of battle in a ce hundreds of kilometres away from their city-state¡­the war potential of Syracuse is really amazing!¡±

    ¡°Milord, although Syracuse is strong, it is not without weakness.¡± Aristias saw that there was a slight depression in the tone of Davos'' voice, so he took the initiative to say, ¡°Dionysius cruelly ruled the Syracusans in order to stop them from revolting against him. He also forced them to pay heavy taxes where they had to pay 20% of their ie to the state treasury every year, which caused the people¡¯s resentment. Moreover, the citizens of other city-states in Sicily also hated him because they not only had to pay high tribute to Syracuse but also had their families either killed by the Syracusans in their conquest, captured or sold to distant ces as ves¡­They hate Syracuse and Dionysius!¡­¡±

    Davos quietly gaze at Aristias, whose face became slightly distorted due to pain. After a while, he said, ¡°You are right. However, as long as Dionysius'' army continues to win and does not suffer great losses, then the hatred of the Sicilians can only stay as hatred, which cannot hurt Dionysius in the slightest. Also, he still has the support of Sparta-¡±

    Aristias said immediately, ¡°But Sparta is now at war. They do not have any spare troops to support Dionysius. Furthermore, in the south of Sicily, there is still Carthage, Syracuse''s mortal enemy.¡±

    ¡°This is really a good opportunity¡­¡± Said Davos as he rubbed his sparse stubble. Theonia Union''s poption is about 800,000, and there is a great difference betweenmercial and agricultural areas and Syracuse. Moreover, Theonia''s military strength is rtively scattered due to its geographical location, making it harder for them to gather, and that their navy is even weaker. So once there is a war with Syracuse, there will be a lot of pressure¡­

    Aristias looked at Davos silently. Although he felt anxious, he did not dare show it as he subconsciously clenched the armrest of the wooden chair.

    ¡°Aristias.¡± Finally, Davos spoke, ¡°I allow you to start sending your men to Sicily. Among the Sicilian city-states, find out those forces that are against Syracuse and Dionysius in detail, and go and establish initial contact with them.¡±

    ¡°Understood, milord.¡± Aristias was so excited that he was unable to stop himself from asking further, ¡°And then?¡±

    Davos looked at him with a piercing gaze, ¡°There is no ¡®then¡¯ before the war with Syracuse.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following day, the public trial of Thurii continued, and it still attracted arge number of Theonian citizens to watch because the content of today''s trial is mainly about whether or not Pollux and the others conspired with Syracuse and plotted to cause disturbance in Theonia.

    Although the Greek city-states also tried cases of citizens conspiring with foreign countries and betraying their country, such as Xenophon, who was tried in absentia by the government of Athens a year earlier for ¡®treason against Athens¡¯ and was sentenced with execution, causing Xenophon to be even more afraid to return to Athens. However, Theonia had written the crime of ¡®treason¡¯ into their code ofw since its establishment and made different sentencing ording to its degree. ¡®Treason¡¯ alone had upied several pages of the code ofw, which shows the importance that Theonia Union attaches to this crime. Today''s trial will be the first trial of treason by the Theonia Union, which was only a few years old. It should be known that the highest sentence for treason is the death penalty.

    Pollux''s mental state is much worsepared with yesterday. Obviously, yesterday''s trial hit him hard, but he still has to pull himself together. Because even though he was found guilty yesterday, the most serious sentence would be depriving his citizenship and getting deported. However, if he is convicted today, he may not be able to save his life.

    Aristocrates then appeared, causing the crowd to wee him warmly. Although the young judge''s back was a little bent, he still won the favour of the public with his quick thinking, sharp words and polite demeanour. Especially when he made Pollux and the others speechless during their debate, some even began inquiring about his family and privately wondered whether they should marry their daughter to this promising young man.

    Pollux still tried to save himself, but unfortunately, there is too much evidence against him.

    In particr, there are many Syracusan silver coins found in his home. In recent years, Syracuse has been engaged in conquest, which naturally caused them to have high expenditure causing their treasury to be almost empty. That is why he constantly collected heavy taxes from the people. Furthermore, Dionysius ignored the reputation of his city-state as he issued a kind of inferior silver coin to make up for the deficit, forcing the Syracusans to use a kind of ¡°tetradrachm silver coin*¡± which was mixed with a lot of lead, in the past two years. Even though this kind of silver coins rarely circted in Theonia''s market, there were many such coins found in the properties of Pollux (It should be noted that Pollux¡¯s household does not do sea trade.) And this kind of coin is also found in the properties of Ariphes and Marsyas. (note: It is a silver coin four times the weight of a drachma)

    More importantly, Aristocrates showed the jurors a few letters found in Pollux''s house. Afterwards, Aristocrates picked out two letters and read them loudly. ¡°¡®¡­lord Pollux, I have received your letter and learned that there had been great progress in the discussion of resuming the lesia in the Senate of Theonia recently, which made his lordship (referring to Dionysius) to be pleased hearing it. So he immediately agreed to the amount of silver coins you requested, and they will soon be shipped to the port of Thurii together with the merchant ships. At the same time, he also asked me to remind you that it is not enough for the merchants and nobles to protests because the main power of Theonia Union is not them but the ordinary citizens who are soldiers of the legion. So if you can get close to them, win them over, and let them join the crowd''s protests, then¡­¡¯¡±

    Pollux continued to deny it and shouted, ¡°This letter is forged!¡­¡±

    ¡°Forged?! Then take a look at this one-¡± Aristocrates picked up the other letter and showed it to the jurors, ¡°It''s the only letter we have found that has your handwriting, and it''s stamped. Look at the date. It is the day of your arrest, that is why you haven¡¯t managed to send this letter. And I believe that everyone here will be very interested in the letter''s content.¡±

    Aristocrates, with a sneer on his face, looked at the frenzied Pollux rushing to snatch the letter. However, the guards, who maintain the order of the court, restrained him. Aristocrates then loudly read again, ¡°¡®¡­lord Philistus¡¯ ¨C I would like to make it clear here to those who may not know who Philistus is, Philistus is the most important statesmen of Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse¡­ ¡®I do not agree with your previous suggestion, as winning the ordinary citizens has little effect on the passing of the ¡®resumption of the lesia¡¯ bill. However, I dide up with a good idea by using some parts in Davos'' bill about the ¡®governance of Lucania and Bruttii¡¯. I believe that after agitating them, the simple-minded so-called non-Greek statesmen will stop supporting that proud young man¡­¡¯¡±

    ¡°This is fake! Someone is trying to frame me!¡­¡± Pollux braved the tide of people''s swearing and shouted desperately.

    Soon after, Aristocrates immediately called the witness.

    After being detained, Hemis, A Syracusan, was interrogated using some cruel methods beyond this era, such as covering his mouth and nose with a linen cloth, and then pouring water on it little by little, and so on., which made his life worse than death. (T/N: Water-boarding an interrogation method by simting drowning and near death)

    Afterwards, Matonis coldly told him that he could either be sent back to Syracuse after telling the truth or refuse and continue the interrogation.

    Between the two choices, he did not hesitate to choose the former.

 Chapter 361: Davos Speech

    When Aristocrates asked his question, Hemis immediately told the truth of hismunication with Pollux following themand of Dionysius.

    Pollux, naturally, denied it in every way, but the restless people erupted like a volcano.

    ¡°Traitor!¡±

    ¡°Betrayer!¡±

    ¡°Hang him! Let hell give harsher punishment to his soul!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Pollux''s collusion with the enemy was not the only reason that enraged the people, but also his contempt for ordinary citizens and looking down on the citizens of different races in his letter. The whole square was like a storm suddenly rising on a calm sea, with huge waves hitting and trying to destroy the temporary court.

    It was not only Pollux and the others that trembles under such powerful momentum, but even justice Tritodemos felt nervous because, ording to Theonian Law, Pollux'' crime was not enough for the death penalty. After all, Syracuse and Theonia were not enemies and were not in a state of war. And as a statesman, Pollux had the legal right to propose the bill of resuming the lesia. However, after the jurors dered him guilty and with yesterday''s trial, Tritodemos hesitated to make a final judgment in the face of the public''s anger. So he could only go discussed with the assistant judge and the prosecutor, Aristocrates, on what to do in a low voice.

    At this time, a loud salpinx rang out.

    The crowd turned to look at where the sound came from: only to see the Senate Hall''s gate opened, with Davos leading the statesmen as they stepped out of the Senate''s Hall.

    Under the protection of the guards, Davos walked down the stairs and onto the wooden tform. (The tform was built beside the stairs)

    Tritodemos hurriedly went forward to give his greetings, but he was stopped by Davos, ¡°This is the court, and you are the master here. I am just here to solve a little trouble for you.¡±

    He then immediately understood what Davos meant, so Tritodemos said gratefully, ¡°Thank you!¡±

    When Davos looked back, he saw Aristocrates greet him respectfully. He then patted him on the shoulder and praised him, ¡°Aristocrates, I didn''t expect for you to do so well.¡±

    Then he greeted the jurors for their hard work.

    Afterwards, his eyes swept over the defendants. Compared to the gazes of Ariphes, Marsyas, and others mixed with fear and pleading, Pollux¡¯s waspletely broken. Then a fierce gleam shown in his desperate eyes, as he pointed at Davos and curse, ¡°Davos, you are afraid that I will fight for more rights for the citizen, so you have fabricated false evidence to frame me. One day, the people will find out who you really are, and you will not escape the fair trial of Hades!¡±

    But Davospletely ignored him and went to the front of the wooden tform. He stretched out his hands and pressed them down, causing a miracle to happen: the square filled with howling winds and waves gradually restored its calmness¡­

    Then he said, ¡°Citizens of Theonia! Families of Theonia citizens! I am pleased to see so many here that hade to participate in this public trial! This shows that you love Theonia Union and care about Theonia''s legal system! Here, on behalf of the Senate, I would like to thank you who had stayed here for these two days!¡±

    With that, he bowed to the crowd.

    The crowd then gave their warm apuse for his encouragement and sympathy.

    ¡°Remember, thew is sacred, especially in Theonia Union because Hades is watching us!¡± Davos pointed below, ¡°We all know that the citizens of Theonia Union hade from all parts of the Mediterranean and are of different races. Because of different customs and cultures, it is inevitable to have conflicts. Thus thew gave Theonia order and united us. That is why we should not protest against the judgment made ording to the union''s code ofw because if the judgment is changed because of your anger, then one day, this injustice may fall on you or your family¡­¡±

    Davos words made the crowd ponder. Some had initially thought that Davos appeared to exert pressure on Tritodemos in order to make the situation worse for his political opponent, Pollux. However, it seems that it is not the case.

    Taking advantage of the calmness in the square, Tritodemos handed down his verdict: Pollux''s punishment for several crimes are deprivation of citizenship, confiscation of illegal property and sentenced to 30 years'' imprisonment; Although Ariphes, Marsyas and the other statesmen epted bribes from Syracuse, there was no clear evidence to show that they had further ties. In addition to yesterday''s judgment, they were deprived of their civil rights, confiscation of illegal property and sentenced to 20 years'' imprisonment; while the statesmen such as Enanilus and Eurypus, who were found without any association with the Syracusans, were sentenced ording to their judgment yesterday, deprivation of citizenship, confiscation of illegal property and a ten years imprisonment¡­

    Davos'' previous words had indeed yed a role. When the crowd heard the verdict, they all hissed with regret, but they didn''t make any further drastic moves.

    However, Pollux suddenly broke away from the restraint of the soldiers and cried out to the audience, ¡°I did all of these for you! For the freedom of the citizens! One day, you will regret today''s judgment on me!¡­¡±

    His behaviour was like pouring a can of oil into a drying furnace, and soon, the crowd''s anger red up once more. They began to curse again angrily, and some even spat on the tform.

    The guards immediately rushed to escort the group of prisoners, such as Pollux, down the wooden tform. And when they passed by Davos, Enanilus did not dare to look at him until they got down and stood under the stairs of the Senate Hall, ncing at the statesmen who were standing on the stairs, feeling endless regret in their heart: Just because of a moment''s greed, they, as a noble statesman who is above tens of thousand people, had now be a prisoner that everyone curses¡­

    At the end of the public trial, Tritodemos, Aristocrates, the jurors and the others left the wooden tform one after another. However, the people on the square did not disperse because Davos did not leave, making them know that the archon must have something to say. Therefore,pared with yesterday''s trial''s ending, the square gradually recovered its calm.

    Facing thousands of expectant gazes, Davos knew clearly what these Theonians want to talk about at this moment and what they want to get.

    But first, he wants to bring up another topic, ¡°Just now, Pollux said that what he did was for the sake of the citizens of Theonia. If he had notmitted the crimes of illegal possession ofnd and restricting the freedom of the citizens, I would be delighted to hear that because that is the duty of a qualified Theonian statesman.¡±

    There was a burst of sneering under the tform, expressing their contempt for the ugly behaviour of Pollux of saying one thing and doing another, which had diluted the slight influence of Pollux''st cry.

    ¡°I am also grateful to lord Dionysius of Syracuse for taking the time to care about the political affairs of the Theonians while fighting against the Carthaginians. I had heard that the Syracusans are not living a rich life, so he does not need to waste a lot of money here. If he had used it on the Syracusans, then maybe, their life would have been better! And the most important thing is-¡± With a sneer, Davos eximed, ¡°He, Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, who could not even wipe the crap on his ass, has no right to dictate our Theonia Union and disturb Theonia''s order!¡±

    Davos'' ironic remarks made the crowdugh.

    ¡°The Senate will send an envoy to Syracuse to protest against Dionysius and asked him to exin and apologise! You might feel worried about Syracuse''s hostility, but I can clearly tell you that even though Syracuse is really strong, we Theonia are also powerful. Since the establishment of the union five years ago, we have not suffered any defeat! On the other hand, Dionysius of Syracuse had suffered some difficulties in dealing with Carthage, a powerful enemy in the south, so how would he dare provoke us and risk being attacked on both sides! Citizens, the Theonian legions,posed of you, are both the true steel walls of Theonia and its extremely sharp sword, armed with you, we can defeat the ambition of any city-state towards Theonia!¡±

    Davos'' words resonated with the people, but more than that, it has stirred up their courage and sense of honour.

    ¡°Lord Davos is right. Our first legion is invincible. We are not afraid of any enemy¡¯s attack!¡±

    ¡°Our second legion is not bad either. As long as Syracuse dare to step on thend of South Italia, we will drive them to the sea and feed them to the fish and shrimp!¡±

    ¡°In the mountains, no one can defeat our third legion, where we are the strongest!¡±

    ¡°You know, among the Theonian legions, our fourth legion is the only one powerful in besieging enemy cities. We are the strongest in terms of siege!¡±

    ¡°We have not only a strong army but also an invinciblemander! Under the protection of Hades, if the Syracusans still dare to fight against us, then there is something wrong with their head!¡±

    ¡°All hail Theonia legion!¡±

    ¡°Long live the grand legatus!¡±

    The initial bickering finally turned into a roar of shouting, and the initial shadow of hearing that ¡°Syracuse is causing trouble¡± was swept away.

    When the cheering subsided, Davos said in a deep voice. ¡°This time, the statesmen such as Pollux and Enanilus hadmitted such a huge crime, upying so much of Theonia''s property, and arge number of union''s officials were involved in this case as well. It had not only shocked the Senate and me, but also you who were here, and even the whole Theonia Union! This is my dereliction of duty! The Senate''s dereliction of duty! You should be angry and me the Senate! But after the anger, we have to think about how to avoid such things from happening again!!¡±

    Author''s Note: Recently, our brothers are discussing the poption of Syracuse. ording to the information that I have collected, in the peak of Syracuse, that is, in the middle of Dionysius'' reign, he not only gained more than half of Sicily but also controlled Magna Graecia. In addition, he established many colonial city-states and even indirectly controlled the Adriatic Sea. At that time, the poption under his rule was about 2.2 million, so considering that Syracuse right now is still in the early days of Dionysius'' reign, I had cut it by half. After all, Sicily is his base and has thergest poption. And ording to historical records, the poption of Syracuse alone is about 200,000.

 Chapter 362: Announcement of New Acts

    Davos'' words made everyone in the square ponder, causing them to began whispering with each other. Some intelligent people realise that the wise archon would not raise such a sensitive topic at this sensitive moment without reason, so they believe that he would announce something exciting.

    As expected, Davos raised his tone and continued, ¡°The Senate, as the highest authority in Theonia and the leader of the citizens, after this event, had immediately reviewed and reflected on itself. So after a repeated discussion and amendments, we had passed the ¡¶Theonian Local Council Act¡· this morning.¡±

    The whole square stirred up.

    ¡°Be quiet! Be quiet!¡± Davos gestured and eximed, ¡°Listen carefully. You can discuss it after I finish. Otherwise, you will miss the key point, and I won''t repeat it the second time.¡±

    After another burst ofughter from the crowd, they all stare at Davos and raise their ears for fear that they will miss every word, making the square quiet.

    ¡°This act allows each city in Theonia Union to establish its own local council, with the citizens of each demo (this is an administrative unit that Theonia established, which is lower than the city and is formed by merging several viges) electing its own council through an election. The basic requirement is to elect one local statesman for every 300 citizens. First of all, they must be Theonian citizens, who have served in the military, have no tax evasion and criminal record, and have performed well. Then these elected members would form the local council of that city to assist the praetor in formting localws and regtions and supervising the work of the officials. The term of office of the local statesmen is two years, and the election would be held during the winter break. Moreover, after the autumn harvest every year, at the end of October, the local statesmen of each city will elect a delegation to attend the Senate¡¯s assembly in Thurii. They would listen to the statesmen''s summary of the development of Theonia for that year, and to put forward their own opinions and participate in revising Theonia''s code ofw and the formtion of the neww¡­¡±

    As soon as Davos said this, the whole square began to boil: The Senate of Theonia finally gave ordinary citizens the right to participate in and discuss politics!

    Tios and Dicaepolis looked at each other as they thought of the same thing. Davos had solved the problem that they were worried about yesterday, and those merchants who heard the news would probably give up their decision to leave Theonia¡­

    Just like the rest of the crowd, they were also excited.

    However, they saw that Davos was still standing on the tform and shouting, ¡°Be quiet! Be quiet! I am still not done yet!¡±

    Through the shouting of dozens of soldiers repeating Davos'' words, the crowd who heard this immediately reminded each other, ¡°The archon still has some else to say!¡­¡±

    The crowd immediately suppressed their excitement and held their breath, hoping to hear more good news from Davos.

    ¡°Theonia Union is different from other city-states, with the Senate directly governing many cities and leading hundreds of thousands of people. But because of too many matters and having toorge of a territory, the Senate can''t achieveprehensive and strict supervision. That is why we couldn''t make sure that each official of the cities is fair and honest, allowing the likes of Pollux, Ariphes and the other criminals who embezzled the public property of the union to appear. But now, the situation would be much better with the help of the local councils¡¯ governance and supervision, but-¡±

    Davos changed his topic, ¡°All Theonian citizens can be elected as local statesmen, including those who have served as officials of the union and those who have stepped down as statesmen and had then taken up public office in the city-state. But I am afraid that some problems would arise after some time had passed.¡±

    After Davos stopped talking, some people in the crowd immediately asked with curiosity, ¡°Milord, what would be the problems?!¡±

    ¡°Aren''t you worried that the statesmen and officials would collude again for money and power?¡± This statement was like pouring a basin of cold water on the crowd, which made them ponder deeply.

    ¡°Lord Davos should not specte about the future local councillors in such an attitude.¡± Raphias, who has been holding the position as Chief Census Officer, whispered his own opinion.

    ¡°No, I think it''s the opposite.¡± Justice Tritodemos, who had just arrived, retorted, ¡°With lord Davos thinking up the worst possible thing that may ur, it allowed him to enact correspondingws to protect them and prevent some people from bing the seconding of Pollux. As what the Theonian Law wants to achieve is, to deter the poption and make them obey thew, rather than catching more criminals.¡±

    At this time, Davos said in a loud voice, ¡°For this reason, I propose that the Senate would discuss and pass the Theonian Tribunus Plebis Act.¡±

    Tribunus Plebis Act? The crowd were puzzled by this unfamiliar term.

    Compared with the slow reaction of the crowd, the expression of the statesmen on the staircase changed. Even Kunogta, who has always been calm, sighed helplessly, ¡°Today is truly the day of victory for the civilians!¡±

    ¡°This is a good thing!¡± Cornelius said happily, ¡°I have misunderstood lord Davos. I did not expect that he would make such a big concession once he made up his mind to let the citizens participate in politics!¡±

    Marigi, who was listening to thements of the statesmen around him, sneered in his heart.

    ¡°This act allows the demos of various cities to elect for a tribune, no more than ten tribunal officers per city, for a term of two years, and the tribunus plebis ¨C as you know from the name ¨C is an official task to protect the civilians. In order to join the tribunus plebis, one must not hold any official post and vowed that he would not hold any official post in the future. Naturally, they must be exceptional citizens who have served in the military, paid their taxes on time, and has no criminal record. Their task is to supervise and expose the illegal activities of the officials and members of the council. And suppose they found that the localws and regtions are detrimental to the interests of the public. In that case, they could amend it after consulting with the local statesmen and even reject it. The Senate will also give the tribunal officers the privilege of ¡®Personal Invibility¡¯ during their tenure unless they themselvesmitted a felony in which they would be sentenced to a heavier penalty! During the annual winter break, the tribunus plebis of each city will elect representatives who wille to Thurii together with the local council¡¯s delegates to report and make rmendations to the archon of Theonia and the highest Chief Inspector and justices¡­ The detailed texts of the two important acts, the Theonian Local Council Act and the Theonian Tribunus Plebis Act, will be posted on the notice wall for you to read carefullyter.¡± (The notice wall is a few walls built under the stairs of the Senate Hall under the proposal of Davos the year beforest. So that when a new bill is passed, or a new order is issued in the Senate, the notice will then be posted on the wall, allowing the people to take time in understanding and learning it.)

    When Davos finished speaking, an eerie quietness suddenly fell over the square. The crowd seemed to be unable to believe that what they heard is true. After all, just yesterday, they were still angry about the corruption of the statesmen, arguing whether to protest in the Grand Senate Hall to allow the convening of an lesia. However, they now suddenly have the right to participate and the power to supervise, especially the position of tribunal officers.

    The people still think that they are dreaming. Some had even asked Davos, ¡°Milord, is this true?¡±

    Davos smiled and said, ¡°Don''t you believe what I said?!¡±

    Due to this, jubtion filled the square, and the ecstasy in the hearts of the people was far more than watching a rugby match, taking a dip in therge hot spring bath, or even attending Hades'' Day, as power and freedom is the natural desire of human beings.

    Those with rich experience have a clearer idea that even in a democratic city-state such as Athens, most of their people could only vote for the strategoi as the people in power are always the wealthy citizens and nobles. After all, the ordinary citizens had to run around all day for their living, so where could they get money to get an education? How can they have the time to deal with the politics of the city-states? When the nobles and the rich rule the city-state, would they even consider the ordinary people? The answer is self-evident. But now, in Theonia Union, the archon and the Senate had taken the initiative to hand over some of their rights to the civilians, allowing them to intervene in the implementation of thews and regtions directly and to investigate those who have broken thews among the officials. Thus how could they not be overjoyed?!

    ¡°Long live Theonia!!!¡±

    ¡°Long live, lord Davos!!!¡±

    These two heartfelt cheers rumble over the square like the alternating waves in the sea until they rang out throughout the city.

    ¡®A new era hase!¡¯ Thought Davos as he stood still in the centre of the turbulent waves: The Senate with its legitive power, the parliament with its political power, the tribunal with its supervisory power, checking each other and creating a bnce, which achieves the initial political structure he envisions. So, where is his position?

    Davos looked at the sun that began to set, warm but not hot, eye-catching but not dazzling¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In Syracuse, the Theonian envoy headed by Ansitanos had been staying here for several days already.

    ¡°Teacher, I have made some inquiries.¡± Henipolis hurriedly went into the room and said angrily to Ansitanos, ¡°The news about Dionysius returning long ago that we received before we arrived was indeed correct. And yesterday, some people had witnessed Dionysius go to the port to meet the second wave of Carthaginian envoys, yet he did note to see us for five days. What does he mean by this?! As the envoy of Theonia, this is simply an insult to our Theonia Union! Teacher, let''s not wait any longer. Let''s go back to Thurii and tell the Senate of how Dionysius humiliated us!¡±

 Chapter 363: Envoys to Syracuse

    ¡°Young man, don''t get so fired up.¡± Ansitanos continued to sit calmly as heforts his student. He then pointed to a jar on the table beside him, ¡°Come and have a taste of this water from Carthage to quench your thirst. It tastes good, sour and sweet. I just had my attendant buy it at the market in Syracuse.¡±

    ¡°No, I won''t drink it!¡± Said Henipolis as he sat angrily on the wooden chair, causing it to make a creaking sound.

    ¡°Heni.¡± knowing his student''s temper, Ansitanos said, ¡°In the future, you will be the archon of Laos, so you must not act on impulse. If we were to return like this without seeing Dionysius, we will not only be med for notpleting our mission, but also the Syracusans will justugh at ourck of manners-¡±

    ¡°It''s clearly Dionysius who do not have any manners by not meeting us in time. How could they me us?!¡± Cried Henipolis defiantly, interrupting Ansitanos.

    ¡°Because they could just say, ¡®I am busy negotiating with the Carthaginians that is why I was unable to meet you immediately¡­¡¯ After all, for the Syracusans, Carthage is more important than us Theonians.¡± Ansitanos said calmly.

    Henipolis snorted and looked at Ansitanos, ¡°Teacher, in fact, Dionysius just wanted to ignore us and make a fool of Theonia, right?!¡±

    ¡°If Dionysius were really such a small-minded person, he would not have been able to sit as the tyrant of Syracuse. I am afraid that he just treats different matters with different importance.¡± Ansitanos stroked his somewhat grey beard, with wisdom gleaming through his eyes, ¡°Hence we should not worry at all, as we only need to wait slowly¡­and see the weight of Theonia Union in Dionysius'' mind.¡±

    Young as he was, Henipolis was not a fool. On the contrary, his talent is the reason why Ansitanos has allowed this student of his to apany him to Syracuse, ¡°Well then, I will go and watch a y in the theatre in the afternoon. Let''s see who has more patience between Dionysius and us and see who couldn''t stand it any longer first! To be honest, although Syracuse isrger and has more poption than Thurii, it does not have the liveliness of Thurii. There is no ball games to watch here, no delicious food to eat, and the only thing you can do is go to the theatre.¡± Henipolis picked up the jar on the table and took a mouthful of it before spatting it all out on the floor, ¡°This stuff is sour and fishy. It¡¯s awful, much worse than beer!¡±

    ¡°Young men truly do not know what taste is.¡± Ansitanos hurriedly took the jar, fearing that Henipolis would waste all the water in it, ¡°You know, the Carthaginians learned to make this from the Numidians, and after some minor improvements, it made the taste more suitable for sailors at sea. In Numidia, this is not just for quenching their thirst, as it is also a part of their food¡­¡±

    ¡°What does this Numidia have to do with us? Listening from your tone, it seems that you just want to study the history of this race.¡± Henipolis said with disapproval, thinking he knew this teacher of his better.

    ¡°It''s not me. It''s the owner of the house you usually live in. He is the one who is very interested in this, asking me about Numidia many times.¡± Said Ansitanos as he takes a sip of the water.

    ¡°You mean lord Davos?!¡± Henipolis immediately became interested, ¡°What is he asking Numidia for?! After all, Theonia Union and Numidia are separated by the sea, Sicily and Carthage, so we definitely won''t have any direct contact with them whatsoever.¡±

    Ansitanos pointed to his head and said slowly, ¡°There are always one or two people in this world who can think from a height that others can''t reach, as they have a vast space here.¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos is indeed an amazing man!¡± said Henipolis from the bottom of his heart. Suddenly, he thought of something and said, ¡°Teacher, now that the Carthaginians have chosen a truce, I fear it is not good for us to meet Dionysius and even worse for Theonia!¡±

    Ansitanos looked at his student with appreciation and asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    Knowing that his teacher was testing him again, he carefully straightened out his thoughts before saying, ¡°In the western Mediterranean, Syracuse has always been the most powerful Greek city-state. However, due to the Carthaginians, they have been stuck in Sicily. Carthage¡¯s powerful force in Sicily has not only kept Syracuse on guard but also threatened its survival many times. That is why dealing with Carthage alone is already very difficult for Syracuse, so where can they have the extra energy to care about things outside Sicily?!

    However, the truth is, the Syracusans have always been interested in our Magna Graecia. I remember that decades ago, Hieron, the tyrant of Syracuse, has even sent his troops into Magna Graecia. But now, in recent years, the situation in Sicily has changed a lot. In Carthage¡¯s two major military campaigns, Syracuse has badly beaten them to the point that they had to offer a truce as they had suffered more than 20,000 casualties. Thus I fear that Carthage could not threaten Syracuse anymore.¡±

    Ansitanos nodded and praised his student''s opinions. However, he believed Syracuse would not take military action against Magna Graecia, so he said, ¡°The Carthaginians¡¯ defeat lied in the fact that even though it appeared that they are at war with Syracuse, but in fact, they are fighting against the power of the entire Greek city-state because the Peloponnesian League headed by Sparta and Napoli in Campania would not allow foreigners topletely upy Sicily and let them cut off the trade routes between the eastern and the western Mediterranean, which could even threaten their rear. So I believed that after these two tragic defeats, the Carthaginians would be smarter and not easily start a war in Sicily, and with its strength in Africa, they will still be the biggest threat to Syracuse.¡±

    ¡°Teacher, you are right! However, at least for now, Syracuse is much more powerful than Carthage. So I fear that after their armistice with Carthage, the Carthaginians will certainly retreat to the west of Sicily, and Syracuse''s unification of Sicily is something that anyone could already see and might happen in the near future.¡± He said anxiously.

    ¡°Yes, that''s what our union should focus on next.¡± Muttered Ansitanos.

    ¡°Paying attention to it is not enough. I don''t think Dionysius would be satisfied being just the hegemon of Sicily. After all, Dionysius is a greedy man, as we could see from him triggering both with Carthage due to his expansion of his territory. So once Sicily is stable, he will probably aim at Magna Graecia.¡±

    Although Ansitanos disagreed with Henipolis'' exaggeration of Syracuse''s threat of war, Ansitanos, as a schr, enjoyed debating with his students, which helped get inspiration. So he frowned and asked, ¡°Why must it be Magna Graecia?¡±

    ¡°Because to the south of Sicily is Carthage, and Dionysius, even though he is arrogant, would still not dare to go into the real territory of Carthage; To the east, is Sparta''s sphere of influence; To the west is the Iberian Penins, which was not only a long voyage, but was also reported to have several colonies of Carthage, and Dionysius would never make the same mistake as Athens unless he had lost his mind. Therefore, the only ce left is Magna Graecia to the north, which was only separated from Sicily by the narrow Strait of Messina. And Dionysius could send a hundred thousand troops to Magna Graecia in just half a day.¡±

    And I believe that Dionysius had long been coveting Magna Graecia. Otherwise, he would not have married a Locrian woman and allied with Locri. Now, even though he was fighting against Carthage, he still did not forget to send spies to make a disturbance in Theonia, which shows his ambition for Magna Graecia!¡±

    ¡°Heni, what you should need to understand is that being ambitious is one thing and being able to wage war is another. Dionysius might covet Magna Graecia, but Magna Graecia has our Theonia Union now.¡± Said Ansitanos. Then a strange thought suddenly rose in his heart, ¡®If Thurii were still the former Thurii, then it would have been unthinkable for the city-states of Magna Graecia to face the behemoth that is Syracuse. Thankfully, Hades had sent Davos, who had established Theonia Union and had almost integrated the power of Magna Graecia, which cause Dionysius to be cautious!¡¯

    ¡°Besides, I heard that Syracuse''s war every year has caused their treasury to be unable to make ends meet, causing the people to be greatly dissatisfied. I believe that you had already felt it when you were strolling around the city these past few days. So under such a bad situation, can Syracuseunch anotherrge-scale war like their previous war against Carthage? I do not think that it is possible. Moreover, we havee to Syracuse this time to show Dionysius the determination of our Theonia Union and to eliminate his unrealistic ambitions once and for all!¡± Said Ansitanos with confidence.

    Henipolis, influenced by him, nodded cautiously.

    At this time, the attendant came into the guestroom and said, ¡°Lord Ansitanos, someone is looking for you outside. They said that Philistus had sent them.¡±

    Philistus, the great minister of Dionysius? Ansitanos and his student looked at each other¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Philistus has invited Ansitanos for a banquet tonight.

    At dusk, the carriage sent by Philistus has already arrived at the guesthouse, and Ansitanos and Henipolis got on the carriage.

    The ce where Ansitanos has been staying is in the urban centre of Syracuse. Syracuse was initially just the Ortygia Ind, but when Gelon became the tyrant of Syracuse a few decades ago, he led arge number of settlers and began expanding ind. Afterwards, the expanded urban area became the central area of Syracuse, with most temples, theatres and markets being concentrated here. However, thisrge area was only a small part of the subsequent expansion of the urban area by Syracuse.

    In the decades after the rise of Gelon, Syracuse expanded the urban area to the northeast, which even includes a ce close to the coast three timesrger than the central area of Syracuse, and this coastal area also had a quarry with abundant reserves.

 Chapter 364: Banquet

    When Dionysius came to power, he was deeply aware of the strategic position of the Epipe teau, which is adjacent to the city for its defence against Carthage (this is where the Athenian army upied and fought a long battle over the walls against the Syracusans). Therefore, he mobilised more than 6,000 freemen who, spurred on by the promise of citizenship, built a wall about 7,500 meters long in a short time, encircling the Epipe teau, which was about six times the area of the central area of Syracuse.

    At this time, Syracuse became thergest city in all of Greece: To its east, it faces the sea and cliffs; To its west and north, it leaned against the mountains, where the roads were dangerous and difficult to climb; Only to the south-west was where its great harbour was located. However, some swamps and rivers hinder the marching of the army, so when the Carthaginianmander, Himilco, led his army to the city of Syracuse, he had no way to capture this huge city, which ultimately led to their defeat due to the outbreak of gue.

    Ansitanos'' carriage drove towards the southeast corner of Syracuse to the ind of Ortygia. Even though it was called an ind, it is, in fact, connected to thend. This ce was where Syracuse was first established andter became the location of Syracuse''s acropolis. Even though most Greek city-states¡¯ Acropolis was located mainly in the centre of the city, the acropolis of Syracuse was oddly situated across the sea.

    Fancying the location of the ind of Ortygia, Dionysius decided to build his pce on it. After learning his lessons from the citizen''s rioting in Syracuse twice, he surrounded the whole ind with walls and stationed garrisons, only allowing his friends and supporters to live on the ind. Naturally, the location of Philistus'' residence is also on the ind.

    The carriage kept on moving until it reaches the isthmus connecting the ind of Ortygia with Sicily. In front of the carriage is a tall wall thatpletely cuts off the road to the ind. There was also a small but fortified tower on the front side of the wall. It is imaginable that once an enemy attacked, the soldiers on the tower and wall would surround them.

    Lost in his thoughts from seeing such an arrangement, Ansitanos returned to the carriage and said to Henipolis in a low voice, ¡°With a leader being on guard against its citizens, how can the citizens respect and love him?!¡±

    ¡°It''s really not easy to be a tyrant as even the citizens of Syracuse had even nearly killed him!¡± Henipolis had been wandering around Syracuse for the past two days and had learned a few things, so he expressed his understanding, ¡°Inparison, lord Davos is much more at ease in Thurii.¡±

    ¡°You should bear it in mind that lord Davos is not a tyrant!¡± Ansitanos notice Henipolis'' tendency topare the status of Davos in Thurii with Dionysius, so he immediately and seriously reminded him, ¡°Lord Davos does not even have the idea of being a tyrant. Otherwise, he would not have created that strange Tribunus Plebis to limit the authority of those in power!¡±

    Ansitanos'' eyes were full of appreciation, and Henipolis could only nod thoughtfully. After a moment, he asked hesitantly, ¡°Teacher, is my father a tyrant?¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After passing the city guard''s questioning, the carriage passed through the gates and entered the ind of Ortygia.

    Philistus'' residence is quite luxurious, especially the reception hall, which isrge and spacious, with coloured marble paving the ground and was polished as smooth as a mirror; Both sides of the paved path are lined with intricately carved, gold-iidmps with five candles as thick as an arm on eachmp post, illuminating the hall as bright as day; And in the hall were more than a dozen beautiful female ves with different skin colours around each table.

    The most important minister of Dionysius, who controlled the civil administration of Syracuse, Philistus, was a little slim, with an air of literacy under his rather handsome features. At this moment, he began introducing the other guests at the banquet to Ansitanos with a smile as kind as a spring breeze on his face.

    ¡°This is Leptines, the brother of the great Dionysius and the navarch of Syracuse!¡±

    ¡°I am pleased to meet you!¡±

    Both sides gave their greetings. Ansitanos took this chance to curiously sized up the other man and thought of how the brother of the tyrant of Syracuse had a rtively simple appearance.

    ¡°This here is another minister of the great Dionysius, and also my best friend, Herolis!¡± The middle-aged man that Philistus mentioned had a sharped and firmed gaze. He then stepped forward and took the initiative to greet him and said, ¡°Wee, Ansitanos of Thurii, I have long heard of your name! A few years ago, I had gone to Amendra and met your archon Davos. Oh, excuse me, he was not the archon of Theonia at that time, but he had given me a deep impression!¡±

    Ansitanos then hurriedly greeted him back and expressed his thanks.

    Philistus then introduced him to the next person, ¡°He is a strategos of Syracuse, Macias.¡±

    Macias was a crude-looking ex-Campanian mercenary leader, and he just simply gave his greetings to Ansitanos.

    Philistus then led Ansitanos to thest guest, ¡°This is also my best friend, the most famous poet-musician in Sicily ¨C Philoxenus!¡±

    The man named Philoxenus then said, ¡°Lord Philistus, you praised me too much. I am but amon person who just loves music and poetry, and I can''tpare with them as I do not hold any post in Syracuse.¡± He pointed to the ones in front of him, ¡°If I hadn''t heard that you were from Thurii and a schr, I wouldn''t havee.¡±

    Philoxenus'' blunt words made Philistus a bit embarrassed, but Henipolis, who was behind Ansitanos, asked in surprise, ¡°Are you Philoxenus?! Amazing! The bards of Thurii often sang your poems, such as ¡®the autumn wind rustles, my heart saddens, former lovers¡­¡¯ Those are all wonderful!¡­¡±

    Philoxenus was quite surprised as he was not expecting to meet an admirer of his from Thurii at this banquet, ¡°You are?¡±

    ¡°Henipolis, a student of Ansitanos.¡± The young man quickly replied.

    ¡°He is also the only son of Avinoges, the archon of Laos!¡± Said Macias.

    Ansitanos was shocked. Looking at the other''s expression, it was apparent that he had already known the identity of his student, ¡®It seemed like Syracuse had already conducted a detailed investigation on us.¡¯

    ¡°Student? What are you learning from him?¡± It was Philoxenus who asked in surprise, as he does not know anything about Ansitanos.

    ¡°I am studying the history of the Mediterranean, as well as training in writing literature and participating in theption of teacher''s books.¡± Replied Henipolis.

    Philoxenus looked at Ansitanos in surprise and asked directly, ¡°What book are you writing?¡±

    Ansitanos then humbly said, ¡°I wanted to write a book about the history of South Italia. I am just starting and currently collecting information¡­¡±

    ¡°Alright, everyone. Let''s sit back at the banquet and talk while we eat.¡± At the urging of Philistus, the crowd went to their seats.

    Soon, the servants brought tes of dishes.

    ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have a chef who can cook the cuisines of Thurii, which is very famous. Hopefully, this food will please you.¡± Philistus said to Ansitanos.

    Ansitanos opened his arms, pointed to the food on his table and said in surprise, ¡°These are all appetising!¡±

    Philistusughed, and as he was about to speak, Leptines then said, ¡°I have heard that your archon, Davos, had invented most of Theonia''s famous food. Is that true?¡±

    ¡°You must know that those delicious foods hade from the restaurant of Davos'' wife, Cheiristoya. So almost all Theonian citizens believe that Davos hade up with them, which includes me.¡± Ansitanos answered politely.

    ¡°I had also heard that he invented rugby and football, which is now popr in Magna Graecia. And even your physicians in Theonia call him a teacher. With Theonia Union being a powerful force, there must be a lot of matters to attend to, so as its archon, how can he still spend so much energy on these small things?¡± Said Macias with a tone of doubt in his words.

    ¡°We could only admit that some people are simply favoured by gods, and naturally, they have more talent and energy than others. Although such examples are rare, they are not umon, such as Periander ¨C the former tyrant of Corinth¡­furthermore, Hades deeply favoured our archon!¡± Ansitanos answered calmly.

    ¡°How can your archon beparable to Periander, who had created the glory of Corinth centuries ago?¡± Philoxenus interjected.

    Henipolis was angered, but Ansitanos hurriedly stopped him with his nce. With his impression of him, Ansitanos felt that this Syracusan poet was a straightforward man, so he said with seriousness, ¡°But in the hearts of Theonian citizens, our archon Davos is far better and more important than Periander! Because he had led the army to defeat powerful enemies time and again; Rebuild the burnt down Thurii; Conquered the barbarians in the mountains; Build roads for the people and make trades prosperous; Built hospitals to help the people''s wounds and illnesses; Supported the establishment of the akademia and schools that improve the people¡¯s quality of educations and encourage the schrs to explore knowledge; Inventing the ball games and delicious food to entertain the people; Also, he established fairws to give citizens more rights¡­and it was the Theonia City-State Union that he established that made Magna Graecia, which had been in constant war in the past, to be peaceful for several years with no more wars happening. Therefore, some Theonian citizens had even called him ¡®father¡¯ at the assembly, as he deserves to be the father of Theonia Union!¡±

    After listening, Philoxenus praised loudly, ¡°If it''s as you say, then I would like to take back my words. With your archon doing so much for Theonia in just a few years, he is indeed remarkable. In some ways, he is¡­better than Dionysius!¡±

 Chapter 365: Heated Discussion

    Several of those that are present had their expression change as soon as he spoke those words. Only Philoxenus would dare topliment an archon of another city-state in public as being better than their own tyrant in Syracuse.

    ¡°Unfortunately, I have heard that Davos of Theonia hade from a lowly background and used to be a shepherd*.¡± Said Macias immediately. (referring to Davos herding sheep and horses in Thessaly before bing a mercenary.)

    Henipolis finally could not hold himself and said, ¡°So does lord Dionysius born noble?! On the contrary, I heard that he was just an ordinary clerk in Syracuse before he had gotten his current position. Lord Davos had once said to me that ¡®real heroes do not care about their origin, because they have relied on their own abilities and not what their family has given.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Well said! That is what I admire about lord Dionysius the most!¡± Philistus praised loudly to cover up Macias, ¡°And all of you here have achieved today''s noble status with your own effort.¡±

    ¡°I agree! I agree!¡­¡± Macias chimed in, trying to hide his embarrassment.

    ¡°Everyone-¡± Philistus hurriedly stood up with his wine, looked around and said loudly, ¡°For the past few days, I have been apanying lord Dionysius in negotiating with the Carthaginians, which led me to be too busy that I could not find the time to entertain our distinguished guests from Theonia! With my friends here apanying me, I will punish myself with a drink to show my apologies!¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± Herolis raised his mug, and so did Leptines, Macias and Philoxenus.

    Ansitanos did not try to dissuade him as he knew that Philistus said these words on behalf of Dionysius, and the wine certainly contained Dionysius'' apology.

    After Philistus and the others¡¯ mugs emptied their mugs, Ansitanos stood up with Henipolis. He then raised his mug and said, ¡°I am very grateful to lord Philistus for his invitation. And I would like to also congratte lord Dionysius on his repeated victory against the mighty Carthage, which is certainly a great victory for Syracuse and the most exciting news that the whole Magna Graecia have heard! With Carthage, the biggest enemy of the Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean, badly hurt, the people of Sicily and Magna Graecia will enjoy a long time peace!¡± Then he and Henipolis emptied their mug all at once.

    ¡°Well said!¡± Philistus raised his mug again and said loudly, ¡°To lord Dionysius! For Syracuse''s victory!¡±

    When the others raised their mugs to cheer, Ansitanos notice the expression of Herolis was not as enthusiastic as the two next to him. And Philoxenus, rather than following what they said, instead shouted, ¡°For the peace of Sicily!¡±

    With a gesture from Philistus, the musicians and dancers walked into the hall. The banquet officially began.

    In the beautiful melodic sound and under the gentle swaying of the dancers, the people began to drink and eat¡­

    When the music stopped, the dancers retired, and due to the charming voice of the beautiful female ve, Henipolis had unconsciously be stuffed. He then saw Macias, who was opposite of him, was already kissing the female ve on the floor. He then looked at Leptines, who was also flirting with another female ve. On the other hand, only Herolis continued to eat in a civilised manner, while Philoxenus dismissed the female ves on both of his sides. Henipolis then turned his head and looked at his teacher sitting beside him and saw that Ansitanos only ate a bit as he watched the music and dancing with a smile¡­causing Henipolis to feel ashamed of his poor self-control.

    At this time, Philistus, who was on the main seat, coughed twice, attracting the attention of everyone to him, and then said, ¡°Lord Ansitanos, since the establishment of Theonia Union, we have basically no formal diplomatic exchanged. This time, could it be that Theonia had sent you to Syracuse for friendship?¡±

    ¡®Finally!¡¯ Ansitanos had already been prepared and was just waiting for this moment. So he immediately smiled and said, ¡°Naturally, it''s for friendship. Syracuse is a great city-state of Sicily, while Theonia is also a powerful union of Magna Graecia. Previously, one of the two sides was busy dealing with Carthage, and the other was doing its best to repel the aborigines in the mountains. Due to various reasons, the two Greek powers that are so close to each other had not established friendly ties andmunication, so much so that something regrettable happened-¡± Ansitanos deliberately halted his words.

    None of the Syracusans spoke up, and it was Philoxenus who asked curiously, ¡°What is this regrettable thing?¡±

    Taking this opportunity, Ansitanos stepped in, ¡°Due to several statesmen of Theonia Union were charged by the people for crimes such as embezzlement and bribery, we had sent people to collect evidence of their vition. So while investigating, we found many ¡®tetradrachm¡¯ from Syracuse in their residence, along with some letters. And these letters-¡± Ansitanos nced at Philistus.

    Philistus looked as if he is listening intently.

    ¡°The main content is a conversation with Pollux, a convicted statesman of Theonia, on ¡®how to disrupt the order of Theonia Union, cause riots among the people and to oust archon Davos¡­¡¯ And so on. And the signature signed on these letters were from ¨C Philistus.¡± Ansitanos once more nced at the host of the banquet, ¡°The letter also mentioned that lord Dionysius was the one who ordered these, and Pollux himself admitted that the reason why he dared to carry out such bold actions against the union was due to the support of Syracuse.¡±

    ¡°Such thing happened?!¡± bewilderment appeared on Philistus'' face. He then said, ¡°I have never written a letter to someone called Po¡­Pollux, this¡­lord Ansitanos, can you bring those said letters and show it to me?¡±

    ¡°I have brought it with me.¡± Ansitanos was already prepared. He then took out a letter from his baggage and gave it to the female ve beside him.

    Philistus promptly received the letter, opened it, and then showed a relieved smile, ¡°Lord Ansitanos, if the handwriting and signature of each letter in your hand are the same, then I can guarantee you that I have not written these letters!¡±

    ¡°Oh?!¡± Ansitanos looked surprised.

    ¡°Go and bring me some of the letters that have my signature on them.¡± Philistus immediately ordered his ve.

    ¡°Let me have a look.¡± Spoke Herolis. Philistus then handed him the letter.

    The banquet became temporary quiet as the ve went to fetch the letter, while Herolis took the letter and said, ¡°¡­lord Ansitanos, I am quite shocked from hearing the news you have just said. However, I want to say my judgment from a neutral standpoint. Philistus is a proud and noble schr who disdains to do such despicable acts that despicable people do. That is why it is impossible for him to have contact with such a greedy and dirty Theonian statesman called Po¡­Po¡­¡±

    ¡°Pollux.¡± Leptines reminded.

    ¡°Regarding Pollux, it is impossible for Philistus tomunicate with him by letter. And lord Dionysius, as the great strategos, was thrilled to see that Theonia had an archon with simr status as himself, which made him feel that he was not alone in the vast western Mediterranean. So how could he do something to undermine the rule of lord Davos!¡±

    ¡°Yes, my brother would never do such a thing!¡± Leptines stressed loudly.

    ¡°If it is as you said-¡± Philistus pondered for a moment. Then he gave his serious analysis, ¡°With lord Dionysius making the current Syracuse powerful and uniting the Greek city-states in Sicily, there are a lot who are jealous of him. I think that everyone here still remembers that when the Carthaginian army reached Syracuse, some people in the city had incited the crowd to riot and oust lord Dionysius. Although the situation had eventually calmed down, in fact, there are still rumours circting in Syracuse over the years, and even some minor rioting and assassinations urring. Otherwise, the great Dionysius would not be living on this heavily fortified ind.

    These people are just like venomous snakes that hide in the caves ignoring the peace and stability of Sicily, seizing any possible opportunity to attack lord Dionysius and our supporters. Even though we defeated Carthage, there is still the Theonia Union in Magna Graecia with simr strength to Syracuse. So if Syracuse and Theonia were to start a war, then they would have the opportunity toe out of the dark again and create unrest in Syracuse to achieve their goal¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you implying that this matter was done by those who oppose lord Dionysius and then med it on you, lord Philistus?¡± Ansitanos asked back with a faint smile.

    ¡°It''s quite possible.¡± Philistus answered seriously.

    ¡°Then how do you exin the fact that a citizen of Syracuse, Hemis, whom we also captured in Thurii, had fully admitted that it was lord Dionysius who appointed him to bribe Pollux and the others in order to sabotage Theonia?¡± Ansitanos sneered.

    ¡°Hemis?¡± Philistus was perplexed and asked the others, ¡°Do we have such a citizen in Syracuse?¡±

    Henipolis was unable to hold himself once more from roaring, ¡°Stop pretending. We have investigated him in detail. Hemis is a citizen of Syracuse who lives in the centre of the city, next to the Temple of Apollo and where the merchants gather. He has two sons, and he is also the clerk of lord Herolis, am I right?¡±

    ¡°Is this true?!¡± Philistus was shocked, and Herolis looked even more surprised. He then turned his head and looked at Philistus. After their gaze met, he hesitantly said, ¡°¡­I do have a clerk named Hemis under me, but¡­a year ago, I was sent to Cyrenaica for a mission, and aftering back, I heard that he had been punished for corruption and lost his position¡­if he is really the same person you caught in Thurii, I truly did not expect him to run to Thurii. If you don''t believe me, then you can go check the court records, and his criminal record was six months ago¡­¡±

    ¡°This is troublesome!¡± Blurted Philistus with his expression bing extremely serious.

    ¡°What''s troublesome?¡± Asked Leptines puzzledly.

    ¡°If the person that lord Ansitanos said was really the same person as the former clerk of Herolis, it means that those opposing lord Dionysius may have already begun lurking as officials of Syracuse!¡± Philistus said with seriousness.

 Chapter 366: Thucydides

    ¡°This¡­what should we do?¡± Leptines began to worry.

    Philistus was about to reply when he saw the ve returning with the letter. He then quickly opened the two letters and asked the ve to take them along with the one that Ansitanos brought, ¡°Lord Ansitanos, could you check if the handwriting is the same?¡±

    Henipolis drew close to his teacher andpared the letters.

    ¡°It''s true that the handwriting is very different.¡± Ansitanos nodded and admitted, while Henipolis did not say anything.

    Philistus then passed the letters.

    ¡°Lord Philistus had obviously not written this letter, as I know that his lordship likes to draw a hook at the end of the letter ¡®I¡¯ in his signature, while this person had written a straight line instead!¡± Eximed Macias.

    Herolis nced at Philistus deeply. Afterwards, he simply spat, ¡°Yes.¡±

    Then he handed the letter to Philoxenus, who was beside him.

    Philoxenus scrutinised it, raised the letter and then said to Ansitanos, ¡°This handwriting is definitely not of Philistus!¡±

    ¡°Well, we finally cleared that up.¡± Philistus showed a relieved expression as he rubbed his hands together. He then said with a serious face, ¡°It seems that someone used my name and made contact with that Pollux and the others that lord Ansinatos mentioned. Even though it looks like they are trying to disrupt the order of Theonia Union, they are actually trying to provoke the rtionship between the two powers, Syracuse and Theonia, in an attempt to induce war. Regarding Hemis, this rtes to the security of Syracuse, so we need to make a detailed investigation! But anyway, since the source of Theonia''s trouble hade from Syracuse, I have unshirkable responsibility as a statesman of Syracuse! Here, I would want to offer my sincerest apology to lord Ansitanos and the Theonia Union!¡± He then stood up and bowed to Ansitanos.

    Ansitanos sat upright and epted his apologies.

    ¡°At the same time, Syracuse is also willing to make reparations as a sign of our desire to be close and friendly with Theonia!¡± Philistus continued to express his expectations.

    ¡°That is another important mission for why I havee here to Syracuse under the order of the Senate.¡± Ansitanos then said solemnly. ¡°The Theonia Union is willing to sign an alliance agreement with Syracuse, not only in terms of diplomatic friendship and mutual prosperity in trade but also military defence. In the mountains to the north of Theonia, there are still powerful barbarians that have repeatedly threatened our borders. Although Syracuse''s powerful enemy, Carthage, has suffered defeat many times, it still has a vast territory and great wealth in its cities in Africa, allowing them to make aeback. Thus Theonia is willing to ally with Syracuse militarily for the security of the Greek city-states of the western Mediterranean!¡­¡±

    A sudden silence shrouded the banquet as soon as Ansitanos uttered those words.

    Anyone with a political discernment could hear the hidden meanings in Ansitanos'' words: One, Ansitanos reminded all present that Carthage is still a powerful enemy of Syracuse and should not make enemies of Theonia. Two, Theonia wanted to stand on equal footing with Syracuse, which was currently the leading Greek city-state in the western Mediterranean.

    ¡°Our mighty Syracuse fears no enemy! Carthage is nothing! If it still dares toe, we will once more defeat them!¡± Macias loudly expressed his disdain for Carthage.

    Philistus, however, apuded and said, ¡°A wonderful proposal! Rest assured, lord Ansitanos. I will report this to lord Dionysius and let him make a decision.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much!¡± Ansitanos expressed his gratitude.

    ¡°Alright! Alright! Now that we have rified the misunderstanding, let''s continue drinking and talking!¡± Said Leptines as he raised his mug.

    ¡°Lord Leptines is right. We should all put aside all those pesky political matters behind. To begin with, I wanted to talk to lord Ansitanos about writing a book about history.¡± Philistus took over the conversation and said emotionally, ¡°Lord Ansitanos, I too had the idea of writing a book on the history of Sicily, but I could not find the time for it for a while because of my busy political schedule. This had made me envious of you for having the time and energy to do what you want to do.¡±

    ¡°The truth is, I did not dare to write before. It is all due to lord Davos'' encouragement and support¡­¡± Once Ansitanos starts discussing writing works about history, he became much more enthusiastic, ¡°However, although I managed to write a part of it now, I had decided to throw it away and start again.¡±

    ¡°Why so?¡± Asked Philistus curiously.

    ¡°Do you know Thucydides?¡± Asked Ansitanos.

    They all shook their head.

    ¡°I also do not know him and only heard about him after lord Davos'' introduction. Although he is still unknown in the Mediterranean, I am sure that his name will spread all over Greece in a few years! I think that he is even greater than Herodotus!¡± Said Ansitanos with reverence.

    ¡°He had written a book about history?¡± After all, Ansitanos had a bit of fame as a schr in Magna Graecia, so his praise naturally made Philistus interested.

    ¡°Yes. Thucydides was an Athenian and had served as one of the ten strategoi. He had even participated in the Peloponnesian War. Butter, he was exiled by the lesia, leading him to live in seclusion in Thrace and spent more than 20 years writing about the history of the Peloponnesian War¡­and after the war, he returned to Athens. But when lord Davos sent someone to visit him, he was already too ill to hold his pen as hey in bed. Afterwards, lord Davos spent a lot of money to copy the manuscript from his nephew and took it back to Thurii for storage in the library that was to be built.

    I''ve read this book carefully, and although it''s not yetpleted, it''s definitely a great historical masterpiece! Thucydides abandoned some of Herodotus'' practices and did not write any rumours, oracles and prophecies in the book, as he truthfully described every major event in the Peloponnesian War in chronological order. And he even wrote at the beginning, ¡®What I have recorded is partly based on my own experience, and partly on the materials provided to me by other witnesses. And I have verified it in the most rigorous and careful way possible¡­¡¯¡±

    Besides, even though he is an Athenian, he does not favour Athens in his book. He described Athens, Sparta and other city-states involved in the war with apletely neutral attitude. He even stated that ¡®I am afraid that my historical work without anecdotes is not very fascinating.¡¯ However, every time I think of this book, I could picture the Peloponnesian War, and I believe that even if decades or centuries passed, people would still want to read it again and again to learn the truth about the war. And all of us schrs who are willing to write history should learn from him and use his historical works as a temte, which is why I decided to rewrite my work!¡±

    After Ansitanos finished speaking with utmost seriousness, Philistus couldn''t sit still and eagerly asked, ¡°What is the name of this history book that Thucydides has written? Has it been published?¡±

    ¡°It''s called the ¡¶History of the Peloponnesian War¡·, and I think that it has not yet been published. However, it shoulde out soon.¡± Ansitanos then added, ¡°If lord Philistus is eager to see it, then I can copy it and send it to you after I get back.¡±

    ¡°That''s much appreciated!¡± Philistus thanked him repeatedly.

    ¡°It''s nothing. I am just d to see another colleague on the road of exploring history!¡± Ansitanos said with sincerity.

    ¡°Well said. I would also hope to consult lord Ansitanos in the future andmunicate with each other in writing history. Come and drink to our friendship!¡± With that, Philistus raised his mug to Ansitanos.

    And the two drank it all at once.

    The crowd cheered happily, and the atmosphere became lively.

    Philistus then put down his mug, wiped the foam from the corners of his mouth and said, ¡°It would have been nice if that schr, Thucydides, that you speak of, is here at this banquet at this moment.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, that''s impossible.¡± Ansitanos said dejectedly, ¡°Thucydides the Athenian¡­had died not long ago¡­¡±

    Philistus'' smiled on his face solidified. He then said aloud, ¡°What?! He is dead?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is the news I received from Athens. I initially intended to make time to visit him in Athens, but¡­¡± Ansitanos looked regretful and sad.

    ¡°What is there to be sad about?! From listening to you, this Athenian had left a great work, so much so that even if he went to the underworld, he would have no regrets.¡± Said Philoxenus, who was slightly intoxicated. Then he shouted, ¡°Bring out the lyre, and I''ll dedicate a song for him!¡±

    ¡°It is such a rare asion to hear Philoxenus sing!¡± Herolis also became excited.

    At the signal of Philistus, the ve brought out the lyre.

    The intoxicated Philoxenus carefully picked the lyre up. After ying a few notes, he gave his praise, ¡°Such a good lyre.¡±

    With that, he stood up then sat down on the table, ignoring the oil staining his clothes.

    The female ve next to him hurriedly removed the food from the table as he began plucking the strings. Then sweet music flowed out of his sliding right hand, his whole being immersed in the music, ¡°In the solitude of the sky,

    We looked at the star that shines radiantly more than the light of the sun,

    What greater joy is there in the world than to walk through the long river of history,

    Converse with the heroes,

    Sing along with the warriors,

    And the Muses offering a crown of olives,

    With Apollo driving the glistening chariot,

    Together with you

    ¡­¡±

    The crowd sang along softly, sending their own sincere silence and blessings for the Athenian whom they had never met.

    On this evening, the host and the guest enjoyed themselves.

 Chapter 367: Dionysius Plan

    Back at the guesthouse, Henipolis was still excited as he followed Ansitanos into his room and couldn''t help ask, ¡°Teacher, that Syracusan spy, Hemis, was sent by Dionysius or those who opposed him?¡±

    ¡°Why are you confused?¡± Ansitanosughed.

    ¡°I initially firmly believed that Dionysius was the one who gave the order, but after hearing Philistus'' exnation¡­¡± Henipolis scratched his head.

    ¡°I can only say that Philistus'' acting was too good that it had fooled you. I am afraid that a man of Philistus'' status has several clerks working under him, so he naturally had different handwriting. Besides, he has already made precautions by having his signature signed by someone else. So it''s normal for Pollux, who has never met with him before, to be kept in the dark.¡± Ansitanos smiled with contempt, ¡°In fact, their acting is not perfect. If you carefully observed them, you will notice that the minister named Herolis looked a bit unnatural when Philistus argued. Obviously, they did not fullymunicate¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, so that''s the case!¡± Henipolis recalled what happened and came to a realisation. He then angrily said, ¡°But teacher, why didn''t you expose him on the spot?¡±

    ¡°Why expose him?¡± Ansitanos smiled and continued, ¡°The fact that Philistus and several others took such great pains to perform just shows that they dare not fall out with us, which is a good thing. The following step is to see if Dionysius is willing to sign the alliance that we propose¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next day, Ansitanos went to meet Dionysius himself.

    In a wide, but not splendid, and even somewhat modest pce, the tall and handsome Dionysius met with Ansitanos.

    The rumoured ruthless Sicilian host had warmly weed the arrival of the envoys of Theonia with amiability. He had also apologised for not being able to meet them in time and said, ¡°I have learned from Philistus that Theonia wants to sign an alliance with us, Syracuse? This is really a wonderful thing! You should already know that the sessive wars have caused great losses to Syracuse''s Treasury, food and poption, and needs to recuperate urgently. So I am very grateful that Theonia can lend a helping hand at this moment! Hence as my representative, I will send Philistus to discuss the alliance with you in detail, and I hope that Syracuse and Theonia can have friendly exchanges from now on and set a good example for other Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean!¡±

    The meeting was short, and soon, Ansitanos left the ind of Ortygia with both some doubts and joy.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After sending off the Theonian envoy, Philistus returned and asked Dionysius with suspicion, ¡°Milord, are you really gonna ally with Theonia?¡±

    ¡°Phili.¡± Dionysius then said in a deep voice as he affectionately called the nickname of his important minister, ¡°At your banquetst night, what the Theonian envoy had said is a fact, ¡®although Carthage has suffered heavy losses, they are still powerful in Africa, and now, they are exploring the Iberian Penins. I heard that they also sent a fleet to sail westward through the pir of Heracles to explore unknownnds¡­I am afraid that the next time Carthage makes itseback, its power would be much stronger than before. On the other hand, Syracuse is limited to this small Sicily, and our territory won''t increase much unless we expand outward!¡±

    This issue was already discussed by Philistus and Dionysius many times, so he certainly knew where Dionysius was aiming his expansion at. However, Philistus reminded with concern, ¡°Still, the strength of Theonia is not weak, and they have basically united the city-states and aborigines in South Italia.¡±

    ¡°You are right.¡± Dionysius nodded cautiously, ¡°Back when you help me take the position of the supreme militarymander, I already had the idea of conquering Magna Graecia, so I married Doris (the daughter of a Locrian noble). However, I never expected that in such a few short years, a Theonia Union would emerge in Magna Graecia!¡±

    Dionysius became annoyed as he gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Perhaps Hades had indeed favoured Davos, but so what! Although the western Mediterranean isrge, it can only amodate one Greek hegemon!¡±

    ¡°We have just finished fighting Carthage, and we still need to rest¡­even if it is temporary.¡± Philistus warned.

    ¡°We can''t dy any longer!¡± Dionysius then shook his head, ¡°It is a fact that Theonia Union has rapidly developed and gotten a bit stronger every year. After carefully studying Theonia, I have to say that the young man called Davos has a way of dealing with the aborigines, and we could learn some of his methods to deal with the Sicels. However, at their current rising pace, the Samnites in the north of Theonia may not be able to block their expansion, allowing them to spread further to the north until they own the whole of Italia. So what should Syracuse do at that time? Just be their essory?!¡± Dionysius, with cold eyes, clenched his fist, swung it down and firmly said, ¡°No, we must concentrate on destroying them while they are unstable and not strong!¡±

    ¡°Then the talk about the alliance with Theonia?¡± Asked Philistus again.

    ¡°Discuss, why not?! We can sign a non-aggression pact of friendship which is good enough to let their vignce down. But as for the alliance ¨C hmph, Syracuse does not have the habit of signing an equal agreement with other Greek city-states!¡± Dionysius said coldly.

    Philistus thought that he had forgotten about Sparta. However, he was certainly not stupid enough to correct Dionysius'' mistake. So he just nodded and said, ¡°I understand.¡±

    ¡°Furthermore¡­we need to elerate the negotiations with Carthage¡­hmm¡­¡± Dionysius paced back and forth, pondering something. Finally, he made up his mind, ¡°We can return thend west of Selinus and Palermo, but they must pay a lot ofpensation, open the grain market to us, provide affordable grain trade and sign a long-term peace treaty¡­this is the price they should pay for breaking the agreement and starting a war again (the truth is, it was Dionysius who have provoked this war). That''s roughly the n, so you should take someone to discuss it and negotiate with them as soon as possible!¡±

    Philistus nodded in understanding.

    ¡°That''s all.¡± Dionysius hinted Philistus to carry out his orders immediately.

    Philistus hesitated and then said, ¡°Uh¡­milord¡­about Hemis, the Theonian envoy said that they could return him to us, you see¡­¡±

    ¡°What do we need him for? What could he even do when hees back?!¡± Dionysius'' expression fell and then said, ¡°Look at his cowardly performance at the public trial in Thurii. That had made me sick! Tell them that Syracuse respects Theonia''sw, and since this man hasmitted a crime in Thurii, we support them to punish him ording to the Theonianw!¡±

    Philistus sighed and walked out of the main hall. He then remembered Ansitanos, with who he had a good conversationst night due to amon hobby. Then a sense of guilt surfaced in his heart as he looked at the distant sea. He then said apologetically in his heart, ¡®Ansitanos, I''m sorry! The things I would do is for Syracuse¡¯s sake¡­¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Ansitanos and Philistus negotiate, Davos met Seclian in his study at his home in Thurii.

    ¡°Lord archon!¡± Seclian did a military greeting as soon as they met.

    ¡°Our hero, Seclian! I have already told you countless times that this is not the training ground, so you do not need to be so formal.¡± Davos looked at the young sub-fleetmander. The years of training had made his face more firm. Davos then nodded secretly, then smiled and said, ¡°Sit down! Sit down, and let''s talk!¡±

    Seclian then sat upright and faced Davos.

    ¡°Could the sailors of the navy be impacted due to the sentencing of Enanilus?¡± Instead of greeting him back, Davos immediately inquired.

    ¡°There is nothing to worry about.¡± Seclian immediately replied, ¡°The soldiers knew about the crimes of Enanilus through the public trial, but the good thing is that Enanilus seldom participated in training and rarely lead the navy. However, could the triremes to be built this year arrive on time?¡±

    ¡°Rest assure. The vition of Enanilus did not involve his family¡¯s shipyard, and the Senate had already sent someone to appease them and had gotten their assurance. And following the Senate¡¯s n for the navy ofunching five triremes a year will not only remain the same but will only increase in the future and not decrease!¡±

    ¡°That''s wonderful!¡± Seclian then excitedly suggested, ¡°The Senate had made the right decision! Although we now have 30 triremes, it is still much safer to at least double the number of warships to protect our coasts.¡±

    Davos nodded, stroked his chin and began thinking.

    Seclian then became a bit nervous as he thought that his request had made the archon, who appreciated him, embarrassed.

    Then Davos said, ¡°What do you think of our naval strength, including the warships of our allies that are part of Theonia Alliance such as Metapontum, Heraclea, and Rhegium, as well as the warships of the South Italia Alliance such as Crotone and Scylletium?¡±

 Chapter 368: The new Navarch of Theonias Navy and the Theonia Play

    Seclian''s heart tightened as he tried to ask, ¡°Milord, are we going to war?¡±

    ¡°That might not happen, however, we should still be prepared. I believe you have heard the public trial in the Nike Square about Syracuse''s desire for our Theonia.¡± Davos was satisfied with Seclian'' vignce as a navarch. He then gazed at Seclian and said seriously, ¡°If a war is to happen, what is the chance of our whole Greek navy winning against the Syracusan navy?¡±

    Seclian''s expression also became tense and serious. Still, he manages to keep his head clear and speak fluently, ¡°Due to the previous war with Locri, Crotone could at most send out 20 triremes, 10 in Scylletium, 8 in Caulonia and about 5 for Terina. As for the city-states in Theonia Alliance, Rhegium has the most triremes at about 30. And for Heraclea and Metapontum, it would already be good enough if they could put together 5. On the other hand, Laos has not mastered the technology of building triremes, while Roscianum and Elea have no triremes and were only using small and medium-sized warships¡­.oh, and Taranto, I almost forgot about them, has about 25 triremes¡­¡±

    ¡®Taranto!¡¯ This reminded Davos of how its rtionship with Theonia became strange, but Davos decided that it was better to improve their rtions in the face of a greater threat.

    ¡°If we concentrate all the naval forces of the city-states in Magna Graecia, we would have about 130 triremes, plus small and medium-sized warship¡­bringing it to nearly 250. And ording to previous information, Syracuse has nearly 400 triremes, and the total number of warships they have will probably be more than 600. Although the gap is huge, fighting Syracuse is not impossible, but-¡± Seclian became mncholic, ¡°The point is that these warships are too scattered that the enemy could attack them individually. And even if we were to gather them together, theck of training and unifiedmand could easily lead them to fight on their own.¡±

    Davos thought for a moment and then said, ¡°If all these warships of Magna Graecia were to received unified training andmand, do you think thisbined fleet will have a chance to defeat the Syracusan navy?¡±

    ¡®A fleet that had just been formed and had no experience of naval warfare was trying to defeat the mighty navy of Syracuse?¡¯ Seclian was not shocked from hearing Davos'' question. Rather, after seriously thinking about it, he decisively said, ¡°I think it''s possible! First of all, the sailors of our navy are very high-spirited. As you know, milord, the quotas of soldiers of the various Theonian legions are now full, and many of the registered freemen and some of the preparatory citizens are unwilling to wait in the reserve legion, so they transferred into the navy. And these young men are eager to build up their merits and shorten their years of service to be a citizen as soon as possible and obtain their allocatednd. Thus they trained hard and eagerly looked forward to the outbreak of war, and they are more eager than anyone else to fight and win.¡±

    Seclian clenched his fist as if to cheer himself up and continued to say loudly. ¡°Secondly, although Syracuse has a lot more warships, they are not gathered together but are anchored in Syracuse, Agrigento and Catania respectively¡­oh, there is also Messina, so it would be extremely time-consuming for Syracuse to gather all its ships together. So we could seize the moment and break one or two of its sub-fleet quickly, changing the naval strength of both sides¡­¡±

    Davos gazed at the young man. He is intelligent, capable and energetic, and is courageous and has the zeal to fight stronger enemies. And from judging his systematic analysis, he had thought deeply about naval warfare and was not confined to the position of a sub-fleetmander, who only trains his men, patrolling, and so on. This is a true naval talent!

    After finally making up his mind, Davos said in a deep voice, ¡°You have spoken well! Our Theonia infantry has always fought against the strong, allowing us to have the Theonia Union we have today. So I hope the navy will also have this spirit of not being afraid of powerful enemies!¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, milord. The Theonia navy will never be worse than the infantry!¡± Seclian immediately pledge.

    Davos looked at him and said in a deep voice, ¡°Seclian, despite your youth, you have always performed greatly, both in training and in managing the fleet. You even have a high reputation among the navies. Given the imprisonment of Enanilus for breaking thew causing the entire Theonian navy to have nomander, this situation cannot continue¡­¡±

    At Davos'' words, Seclian''s heart beat violently.

    ¡°So I have decided to propose to the Senate that you take over as the Navarch of the navy. I believe that this appointment may be made tomorrow.¡±

    Great happiness came crashing down just as Seclian had hoped. He was so excited that he didn''t know what to say and simply expressed his gratitude by saying, ¡°Many thanks, milord! Thank you, milord! Thank you-¡±

    ¡°Don''t thank me yet. You should first understand that this appointment is not an honour, but a heavy responsibility! If a war between Theonia and Syracuse everes. In that case, Theonia''s long coastline will be under attack by Syracuse''s powerful navy, so the fleet you lead must do everything possible to defend the union''snd from the enemy and the citizen from losing their properties. Therefore, your responsibility is great!¡± Said Davos with a serious expression.

    Under the gaze of Davos, Seclian''s expression brimmed with determination, ¡°I understand, milord!¡± he then gave another military salute with great strength.

    The next day, the Senate voted in approval to the appointment of Seclian as the Navarch of the navy, along with two additional bills: First, the warships of the allied city-states of Theonia will be integrated into the Theonian navy, both in training and sailing together; Second, increasing the construction of triremes from five to ten a year.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In Athens, at the amphitheatre of Dionysus, the god of wine, a new y by the famous ywright, Aristophanes, is being staged. It is called ¡¶The Theonians¡·, and it is about a non-Greek Theonian citizen taking part in the Olympic Games. In the y, Aristophanes uses exaggerated yfulness to portray the non-Greek Theonian citizen as someone who is extremely ignorant of Greek tradition and culture and was ridiculously stupid. Since its release, it has been highly praised by Athenian citizens causing the theatres in Athens to be often filled.

    For example, the referee is currently announcing the athletes¡¯ entrance in the centre of the theatre; then, a strangely dressed non-Greek person refused to be naked. So when the referee came to asked him why, his answer was, ¡°There are many snakes and insects in our mountains, so we must wear good clothes else we will get bitten if we are not careful-¡±

    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡± The audience burst intoughter.

    ¡°I like this part so much. It''s so ridiculous!¡± An audience covered his stomach andughed until tears came out.

    ¡°The following part is much more ridiculous. I have already watched this several times!¡± Another audience said excitedly.

    Hearing a whistle on the field, the actor acting as the Theonian non-Greek citizen had tried his best to run. However, the referee stopped the game and asked him why he ran into the circle of the track, to which he replied innocently, ¡°The people of our tribe always take shortcuts when tracking our prey because only in this way can we catch our prey.¡±

    After the referee told him the rules of the games, he grumbled, ¡°These rules are stupid! No wonder I didn''t see you dressed in animal skins and feathers, for you aren¡¯t able to catch some preys.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The audienceughed almost from beginning to end.

    In the end, the non-Greek person won the race championship, and the temple''s priest gave him aurel. However, he threw theurel on the ground and said angrily, ¡°Our archon lied to me. He had said that there would be a reward for winning the championship, but these branches are not worth anything at all!¡±

    So he then turned to the priest and asked for the golden cane in his hand.

    The greed of the non-Greek and the anger of the priests became the finale of the y.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The audience got up and apuded.

    Afterwards, an old man with a grey beard stood up and waved his thanks to the audience. He is Aristophanes, a respected ywright in Athens. Despite his age, he still sat among the audience, as he always does, at the opening of his new work in order to observe the audience''s reaction and ponder about what he could do to improve his work.

    ¡¶The Theonians¡· is a work he created after hearing about the farce that took ce at the Isthmian Games a few years ago. Most Athenians just regarded it as a funnyedy, and only a few manage to understand the y¡¯s meaning.

    More and more city-states such as Theonia in Magna Graecia, Syracuse in Sicily, Napoli in Campania, Thessaly in northern Greece, Macedonia and others began epting non-Greek into Greek society, which started to impact Greece''s own traditional culture. That is what Aristophanes, who has beenmitted to defending Greek traditions, is worried about. Thus he used this ridiculous y to warn the Athenians and even the whole Greek world to be vignt, but he was unsure how much it could change things.

    With the help of the ves, he walked out of the theatre and down the mountain path while the crowd took the initiative to make way for this respected old man.

    Just then, a burst of cheers rang out from the front.

    ¡°What happened?!¡± The audience tapped each other on the shoulder and asked curiously.

    ¡°Win! We won! Conon led his fleet and defeated the Spartan navy in Knidos!!¡± The people ran around shouting, and some even cried with joy.

 Chapter 369: Agesilaus Return

    ¡°Help me sit down.¡± Aristophanes then sat while leaning against the side of the mountain path, watching the cheering crowd and his heart equally throbbed with excitement. Although he knew in his heart that the Athenian Conon was now a navarch employed by Persia and leading the Persian fleet, his victory still made Athens face much less threat at sea.

    Although the lesia approved the alliance with Thebes and dering war on Sparta, the shadow of their defeat in the Peloponnesian War ten years ago and the fierceness of the Spartans pressed on the hearts of every Athenians like a nightmare. Particrly now that the anti-Spartan alliance are still losing more than winning even though the war situation in Isthmus is in a stalemate, and they recently heard that the Spartan king, Agesus, led another army from Asia Minor andnded in Northern Greece, so how could the Athenians remain calm?! Thus the victory of this naval battle was like a timely rain, which lightened the boulders pressing on them, causing them to cheer loudly in order to vent their long-suppressed fear.

    Aristophanes became relieved after seeing the Athenians bing slightly angrier. Afterwards, he showed a surprised expression when he saw a man in shabby clothes sitting on the dusty steps at the corner of the street, leaning against the rough stone wall and reading intently at something.

    This quiet image was in stark contrast to the joy around him, and Aristophanes was familiar with the figure of this person.

    He walked over and shouted with uncertainty, ¡°Antisthenes?¡±

    The man looked at him but had no intention to stand up, ¡°Aristophanes, don''t bother my reading if you are only here to ask me about to''s whereabouts.¡±

    How could Aristophanes not know that although Antisthenes and to were both students of Socrates, they had different ideas, so he said with a bit of teasing, ¡°I just want to tell you that the fleet led by Conon had defeated the Spartan navy, and now the whole city is spreading the news of this victory.¡±

    ¡°So?¡± Antisthenes said disapprovingly, ¡°Victory will only encourage the people to throw themselves more into the war blindly. Athens had only gotten its calm for only a bit, and yet another long war is going to happen¡­¡± Speaking till here, he shook his head and nced at Aristophanes, ¡°You have just returned from the theatre, haven''t you? The new y you wrote, The Theonians, seems to be very popr with the people.¡±

    The negative attitude of Antisthenes towards the victory made Aristophanes dissatisfied, so he said sarcastically, ¡°Oh! It''s my honour that Antisthenes, who has always refused to watch drama, knows about my new y!¡±

    ¡°That''s because the people are talking about it every day these days. I kept saying that you are too nosy. It''s their business to send what kind of Theonian citizens to the Sports Games, so what''s the point of having to write a y satirising them?¡±

    Aristophanes had gotten so angry, but when he was about to refute, Antisthenes, said with his head tilting sideways and his fingers picking his ears, ¡°Do you know that some time ago, after the news of Theonia''s public trial of the traitors and Syracuse''s ambition came to light, Thrasybulus and the statesmen of the council were discussing whether to send envoys to negotiate an alliance with Theonia and make them restrain Syracuse, the ally of Sparta. For that reason, you''d better not perform that y of yours to avoid provoking the Theonians and leading to the failure of the alliance.¡±

    ¡°What Thrasybulus wants to do is their own business, but they have no right to interfere with the legal freedom of an Athenian citizen!¡± Aristophanes shouted angrily.

    ¡°That''s what I was going to say.¡± Antisthenes pointed to the cheering people, ¡°What does their victory have to do with me?¡±

    This has made Aristophanes so angry that he just turned and left. Afterwards, he once more affirmed to himself of his understanding, ¡®The reason why I can be a good friend with to, but remained estranged with Antisthenes is the sense of responsibility.¡¯

    On the other hand, Antisthenes did not care about the departure of Aristophanes. He just gently brushed away the dust of his book and started reading again.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Agesus led his army through Thrace, Macedonia and arriving in central Greece. Even though he heard the news of Sparta''s victory at Corinth in Amphipolis, it still did not cheer him up as the Spartans were still blocked at the Isthmus and could not advance an inch.

    Worried about the war, he increased the pace of the march, but upon arriving in Coroneia, he encountered an eclipse, which caused the soldiers to panicked as it was an ill omen.

    Followed by the news of Sparta''s navy lost at Knidos, and while shocked, he was secretly d that he had chosen to make his way to Boeotia bynd rather than by sea. Otherwise, he might still be blocked in Asia Minor.

    In order to avoid causing the morale of the army to wave, he immediately blocked the news. And at the same time, he also felt that he mustunch a war soon and wash away the bad news with victory.

    Thus he led his troops again and finally entered Boeotia. He then encountered the anti-Spartan allies stationed in Coroneia guarding the passage to Thebes, leading to an inevitable great battle.

    But before the battle, Agesus called Xenophon, the leader of the remnant of the famous ten thousand mercenaries who went to Persia.

    After fighting for Sparta in Asia Minor for five years, the 35-year-old Athenian was now already a veteran strategos. He stood before Agesus like a tall, upright cedar, exuding a manly air.

    Agesus looked at him admiringly and said, ¡°Xenophon, my friend. The enemies of Sparta have formed up in front of us, and only after defeating them could we advance to the city of Thebes. But¡­among the enemies are the reinforcement from Athens, some of them might be your rtives, friends and ssmates. Fighting them would undoubtedly be an extremely painful thing for you¡­s, although I am reluctant, I¡­¡±

    Exuding an unusual regretful looked, Agesus said emotionally, ¡°I¡­will allow you to lead your troops away, or even join the other side. Nevertheless, I am thankful for your selfless help to Sparta in these recent years! And even if you and I will be enemies in the next battle, I still regard you as one of Agesus'' friends.¡±

    Hearing this, Xenophon became furious, ¡°King of Sparta, you are questioning my integrity! Before leading the mercenaries to follow you out of Asia Minor, I had already said that since the Athenian lesia executed my teacher, Socrates, and tried me in absentia, I regarded Athens as an enemy! Besides, I swear to Zeus that I agree with the political idea of Sparta, and I am willing to fight for it! Since you are insisting on me to leave here, then I¡­I will leave.¡± With that, he turned around without reluctance and was about to walk out of the main tent.

    ¡°Xenophon, pardon my rudeness!¡± Agesus hurried forward, grabbed him and apologised, ¡°I just did not want you and yourpatriots to fight each other. However, I now realise that you have great convictions that go far beyond your feelings to your mother state, and for that, I would like to apologise!¡± With that, he bowed sincerely to Xenophon.

    Xenophon scrambled to stop him, and now much of the anger in his heart subsided.

    ¡°My friend, I have decided to appoint you as themander of the army in the centre for tomorrow''s battle.¡± Agesus then made a decisive decision.

    Although Xenophon was a bit surprised, he didn''t reject it and dly took the order, for he knew that there were some rumours about him going around in the army recently. Thus, he secretly vowed that in this battle, he would take practical actions to shut those who questioned him!

    After Xenophon exited the tent, Archidamus, the adjutant of Agesus and was also his son, entered. Afterwards, he became surprised to learn of his father''s decision, ¡°Father, have you truly ced the Athenian tomand our centre?¡±

    ¡°So what if he is an Athenian?!¡± Agesus then said loudly at a volume that the guards outside the tent could hear, ¡°Xenophon is a true friend of I, Agesus! And I have always trusted my friends. Besides, Xenophon is a very talented person, and he deserves my trust!¡±

    At this point, Agesus remembered something. He sighed and said to his son, ¡°You must understand that Sparta had already missed out on Davos that Cheirisophus highly rmended. And now, the Theonia City-State Union that the young man had founded had be a huge problem for Dionysius in just a few short years¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following day, both sides went into formation in Coroneia.

    Agesus led the main Spartan force and formed the left-wing, and faced their long-time enemy, Argos. Xenophon led the remnant of the ten thousand mercenaries and other Asia Minor mercenaries in the centre, and the enemy he is facing is his fellow Athenians. On the right-wing is the Spartan allied Phocis, and their enemy is Thebes, the initiator of this war.

    At the forefront of the Theban army, Pelopidas and Epaminondas, who are now 26, formed in line as hoplites.

    ¡°Why haven''t the salpinx sounded yet?! I am itching for a fight!¡± Pelopidas said eagerly.

    However, Epaminondas did not reply and just looked at the front with mncholy.

    ¡°Epa, what are you worried about? Are you afraid that we can''t beat the Phocis?¡± Said Pelopidas, who noticed something different about his friend.

    ¡°I am not worried about them, as they could never match us. What I am worried about are the Argosians and whether they could fend off the Spartan''s attack.¡± Epaminondas said anxiously.

    ¡°Epa, you worry too much. This is what themander needs to consider, and the only thing we need to do is to defeat the Phocis quickly!¡± Pelopidas pointed the spear forward and said in high spirits.

 Chapter 370: Corvus

    The Battle of Coroneia ended with Agesus defeating the Argosians, the Theban defeating the Phocis, and the mercenaries led by Xenophon charged through the Athenian army. With the situation being not favourable to the anti-Spartan alliance, the alliance took the initiative to retreat.

    But because of too many casualties, Agesus'' troops could not chase them, resulting in the alliance managing to retreat back to their camp without incident and continued defending Coroneia.

    Although Agesus won, he was still unable to pass through Coroneia, and with the constant arrival of the other party''s reinforcements, the anti-Spartan alliance continued to grow.

    Realising that he could not stay here any longer, Agesus had to give up his n to attack the Theban territory. And he could only retreat westward with his army, finally reaching Delphi, crossed the Gulf of Corinth and joined the Spartan army fighting in Corinth.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Seclian once more came to Davos residence, and his respectful attitude towards Davos remained the same even after bing the Navarch of the Theonian navy.

    Davos asked him toe this time was not to congratte him on his promotion, but also to discuss more important matters, ¡°Seclian. These past two days, I have been thinking carefully about the strategy against the Syracusan navy that you told me about before. I think that even though we have a chance to win, the risk is too big. Thus I thought of an idea that would greatly increase the chances of our navy winning.¡±

    ¡°What have you thought up, milord?¡± Seclian hurriedly asked without acting. If someone else were to say so, he would think that he was only ying around. However, how could the words of Davos, who the soldiers praised as a ¡®miracle maker¡¯, not attract his attention?

    ¡°Look at this.¡± Davos then handed Seclian a sheepskin roll.

    Seclian quickly unfolded and took a look, only to see a drawing of a trireme, however, there is something different about the warship. Besides the mast in the ship¡¯s bow, there is also a wooden board with only a few differences from the length of the mast, with low railings on both sides and a downward pointed corner under the top of the wooden board. It is about 12 meters long and 1.2 meters wide, and the sharp thing at the top is a thick iron nail and a hole drilled at the top of the nk, which a rope tied to the mast passed through.

    Seeing the confusion on Seclian''s face, Davos asked him, ¡°Seclian, tell me honestly. How big is the difference between our sailor''s skills in handling warship and Syracuse?¡±

    Seclian hesitated and said, ¡°The Syracusan navy has more experience in actual battle than us, as they have fought the Carthaginians many times. Thus it is only natural for their ship-handling skills to be a bit better than ours¡­however, we are training hard and with the morale of our brothers being higher.¡±

    ¡°But ¨C our navies are still neers who have not been on the battlefield, including yourself.¡± Pointed Davos, which caused Seclian to blushed and wanted to refute.

    Davos waved his hand, indicating that he should not speak for now, ¡°Remember, the navy is different from infantry. Onnd, even if we are defeated, as long as there are enough citizens in the city-state, then one can form an army at any time. On the other hand, during a naval battle, dozens of ships often sank to the bottom of the sea, and thousands of sailors were either sacrificed or captured. Once lost, it is difficult to recover in a short time because manufacturing a triremes needs more than half a year, not to mention the massive amount of resources and money required.

    So during this period, the warships of Syracuse could ravage any coast and port of Theonia and leave ournd deste and our trade stagnant¡­and Syracuse would not allow the Theonia Union, which has a weaker navy, enough time to hone its experience. Still, we can''t afford to lose even once!¡±

    Davos'' words ced tremendous pressure on Seclian.

    Seclian could only clench his fists and pressed them tightly on his thighs as he screamed mentally, ¡®How is this possible?! Even the city-states with powerful navies, such as Athens and Syracuse, have experienced disastrous defeat¡­¡¯

    But just now, his gaze suddenlynded on the drawing, and his heart jolted, ¡®Could it be that the secret to our navy''s victory lies here?¡¯

    ¡°Seclian, since our fleet is inferior to Syracuse in both experience and technology, why do we have topete with them in traditional ship-collision tactics? Don''t forget that we have the best soldiers among the Greek city-states, whether it''s individual prowess or team cooperation, our hoplites are the most powerful in all of Greece. Thus why don''t we move ournd battle to naval battle and give full y to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses, taking hold of the initiative in our own hands?!¡±

    Davos'' words of fighting a naval battle like and battle shed through Seclian'' mind like a bolt of lightning. He picked up the drawing on the table and said, ¡°This wooden bridge¡­this wooden bridge¡­¡±

    Davos smiled and said, ¡°I already discussed this wooden bridge with Marticoris, and he said that he could design a pulley for the warship that would easily pull up the wooden bridge. And at the same time, he can create a circr track around the base of the mast so that it could move the wooden bridge around the mast, allowing us to drop down the wooden bridge on the enemy ship whether they would approach from the front or both sides of the ship. And the iron nail at the top can use the momentum to plunge into the deck of the enemy ship so that they would not be able to leave. After that-¡±

    ¡°After that, the hoplites that are on the ship could step on the enemy''s ship through the wooden bridge.¡± While listening to Davos'' exnation, Seclian, who was currently imagining this novel naval warfare in his mind, couldn''t stop himself from shaking with excitement, ¡°Milord, you are a genius! Turning naval warfare intond warfare and giving full y to our legion''s advantage to not only attack the enemy but also capture the enemy and their ships which would allow us to expand our naval strength rapidly!¡±

    A traditional navarch would find it difficult to ept such an idea. However, Seclian was young after all, and he had just taken his post, so his mind was full of how to beat the enemy. Thus, he quickly epted the new mode of warfare, which saved Davos some saliva.

    Davos then smiled and asked, ¡°Do you think we can implement this n?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely!¡± Seclian stared at the drawing and said, ¡°However, the wooden bridge will affect the ship¡¯s speed while the fleet sails, and in case of a storm, the chance of the ship capsizing will increase. I think that if you can¡­uhm¡­dismantle it at normal times,y it on the deck and install it before a battle¡­moreover, during a battle, the wooden bridge will also affect the manoeuvrability of the warship¡­oh, I forgot that it wouldn¡¯t get in the way as our main mode ofbat will no longer be through collision, but mainly boarding warfare. By the way, how many infantries should we ce per ship?¡±

    Seclian leaned over the table and stared intently at the drawing as he thinks hard and muttered to himself.

    Davos looked at him, feeling both relieved and amused. He then patted him and said, ¡°Go back and think slowly on how to use this new warship device. My suggestion is for you to first find an engineer to install a wooden bridge on a warship. If you were to encounter some problems, you can go to Marticoris of the Institute of Mathematics and ask him to help with the design and solve your problems. Once installed, lead the navies to practise the new tactics first, and if you need the cooperation of the hoplites, you can find Philesius, and he will arrange it for you. One thing you should pay special attention to is to keep this confidential! Remember! We can''t allow our enemy to know of our new tactics until the time we encounter them!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Seclian nodded. He then carefully put the drawings into his arms, and he could no longer wait to leave and go home.

    Suddenly, he stopped, ¡°Milord, this wooden bridge device¡­have you named it?¡±

    ¡°Corvus! It¡¯s called Corvus!¡± An unfathomable smile appeared on Davos'' face.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, a seemingly ordinary transport ship arrived in the Gulf of Taranto, joining among the thousands of ships sailing to and fro the port of Thurii. A 50-year-old man on board then looked at the distantnd and sighed, ¡°Thurii, I am finally back¡­¡±

    ¡°Teacher Lysias, I still feel guilty in forcing you toe to Thurii to fulfil the important task given to me by the Council..¡± A middle-aged man came up to him and apologised to him in a hoarse voice.

    Lysias said passionately, ¡°Isocrates, you need not apologise. I have already told you countless times that I have taken the initiative to volunteer on going to Thurii for this mission. I love Athens and would like to do something for it. Besides, Thurii is the ce where I grew up and where my revered teacher, Tisias, rest. On the contrary, I should havee to pay my respects to him since long ago!¡±

    Lysias was not really the teacher of Isocrates, however, he had studied Lysias'' rhetorics with devotion. At this time, he also looked into the distance and sighed with regret, ¡°Yes, Thurii was a pan Greek city-state that strategos Pericles advocated and had cost Athens too many resources and money! With numerous Athenians that had worked hard for its establishment! But now, it has be one of the cities of a union. Don''t forget, Thurii is also a colony of Athens. We should have condemned Theonia''s behaviour and protected the interest of Thurii¡­ But now, we havee to ask the Theonia Union, who infringes on our interests, for their help. s, o Athens! The Peloponnesian War had cost us so much¡­¡±

    ¡°Isocrates, you must understand that the city of Thurii that we know of has been burned by Crotone! And the present Thurii is the Thurii that the Theonia Union rebuilt¡­¡± Lysias reminded with a sorrowful expression.

 Chapter 371: Guests from Athens

    Lysias fixed his gaze on a fleet of a dozen ships that appeared in his vision and were sailing ahead of him. And behind the fleet, one could faintly see two massive white breakwaters, like a pair of arms extending from both sides of the coast, as if it is holding back the Crati river from flowing into the sea.

    ¡°The current Thurii ispletely a different Thurii¡­¡± Lysias murmured.

    And the Athenian passenger ship finally entered the port and docked.

    From the spection of Isocrates,bined with the information he received about the Theonia Union, and with its location being far from any of the famous trade routes in the eastern and western Mediterranean and having no excellent natural ports, made Lysias believed that the port of Thurii¡¯s maritime trade is mediocre. However, the sight he saw has overturned his idea.

    Even though it is not as prosperous as the port of Piraeus, it still had exceeded his imagination, especially the enormous wooden cranes on each dock attracted his attention: Under the handling of a fewbourers, they could easily hoistrge cargos on the transport ship that usually need more than a dozen powerful men to lift, and then transfer it to the dock.

    Isocrates, who was from Athens with its prosperous maritime trade, immediately realised that if they could use this device in the port of Piraeus, they could significantly improve the unloading capacity of the dock to the merchant ships.

    Thus he went over to see the detailed structure of the device but was rudely warned by the operator of the crane, ¡°Don''t get too close, else the patrol will detain you.¡±

    Thus Isocrates could only return with resentment.

    Suddenly, several burly men arrived in front of Lysias. Then the man at the lead said with a ttering smile, ¡°Hello. I am Sperian, a porter at the port, and this is my number. Do you have anything we need to carry?¡± He then showed Lysias a small round piece of iron pinned to his chest.

    Lysias, who hasn''t returned to Thurii for decades, was really curious. So he took a closer look and saw that the dark iron thing has a pattern of a scale and a string of strange symbols below.

    ¡°What''s the use of this thing?¡± He pointed to the iron thing and asked curiously.

    Sperian then said with a bit of pride, ¡°This can prove that I am a porter officially registered in the port management office. So if there are idents such as cargo loss during our handling, you canin to the port management office and report this number. After the management office personnel verify the situation, they will then punish me andpensate for your losses so that you can rest assured.¡±

    ¡°This is a number?¡± Lysias pointed to the strange line of symbols in surprise.

    ¡°Of course, but it is not Greek numerals.¡± Sperian became happy to show his superiority in front of this old man who looks like a schr, ¡°This is the numerals that our archon, Davos, invented. It''s easy to remember, and it is useful that everyone here uses it everywhere. The number engraved on it is 2410, do you remember?¡±

    Lysias nodded, but his mind shook. It wasn¡¯t because of this strange numeral as he was not a mathematician and is not very sensitive to it. What made him surprised is Thurii''s management of the port, just from the porters alone, the mostmon and lowestbour force in the port, they are already so meticulous. You could already see the ability of Theonia in managing their city, as even in Athens, there are no such measures to regte thebourers in the port of Piraeus. Moreover, from this number, the knowledgeable Lysias could feel the busyness of the port of Thurii, which may be more than what he could see with his eyes.

    ¡®It seems like the rise of Theonia in such a short time is not due to luck!¡¯ Lysias became alert in his heart and then reminded himself to remain calm, ¡°Alright, I will hire you to carry the goods. However, there are many potteries in the goods, so please be careful!¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, as I myself can''t even remember how many times I have handled goods such as potteries.¡± Sperian gave his promise and negotiated for a good price with the attendant of the Athenian envoys.

    By this time, Isocrates also came back.

    Afterwards, Sperian led the Athenian envoys out of the crowded ce and onto the port road with a few men carrying the goods on a cart.

    Isocrates then became even surprised that the road was even wider and smoother than the one leading from the port of Piraeus to Athens. He then looked at the things on both sides of the road, such as the gutter and pavements, showing the strict care the Theonians built their roads.

    Seeing those made Isocrates a bit depressed at the thought that the Athenians could notpare to them as they focused more on participating in city-state affairs such as politics and courts.

    Unable to stop himself, Isocrates crouch down and reach out his hand to touch the greyish-white material that held the stones together so tightly. He then taps on it and felt that the texture was still very hard.

    ¡°Isocrates, are you gonna change your profession?¡± Lysias understood the reason why he did so and could not resist making a joke.

    ¡°Is this your first time to Theonia?¡± Sperian was not surprised by his action, and he then proudly said, ¡°In the territory of Theonia, such roads are everywhere, and they are even wider. And due to the increasing number of merchant shipsing to Thurii each year, this road has been rebuilt many times, leading to most of the surrounding warehouses being demolished. Yet even now, it still seemed a bit narrow.¡±

    ¡®This is still too narrow?¡¯ Lysias became speechless.

    As most of the traffic on this road was wagons and the pedestrians were mainly walking on the pavement, so Sperian had to remind them, ¡°Step back to the pavement and wait for a bit as I will go and bring the wagon. But I should rify beforehand that the price I negotiated with you before was for delivering the goods only. The city of Thurii is more than 5 kilometres away from the port, so if you choose to walk, we will deliver the goods to the gate and wait for you, but if you choose toe with us and ride my wagon, then you have to pay a bit more.¡±

    Lysias was not bewildered at the cunningness of Sperian. Even though he is a schr, he has been making his living in Athens by writing defence statements on behalf of others. And because he is rtively poor, he is familiar with things such as bread and butter, ¡°Isn''t there a wagon here for people to ride?¡±

    ¡°Naturally, there are a lot.¡± Sperian said truthfully, ¡°After leaving the port, there are wagons dedicated to transporting people. However, even though they are much morefortable than my wagon, their price is much higher, while I will only charge you for a small amount for our hard work.¡±

    For the wealthy Athenians, money is not a problem. However, Isocrates was a bit exhausted and is afraid of trouble, so he still reminded, ¡°We are five people. Can we all fit in your wagon?¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡± Sperian didn''t lie. As soon after, he brought two wagons.

    After Sperian and his men carefully loaded the goods into the wagons, Lysias asked, ¡°Are these the wagons you rented?¡±

    ¡°No, these are my wagons.¡± Sperian emphasised the word ¡°My¡± and said proudly, ¡°As a preparatory citizen, I can apply for a loan from the bank of Cheiristoya. Currently, I have already paid the loan and interest on one of the wagons, while I am also almost done with the other one.¡±

    Soon, the two wagons move.

    On the first wagon, Sperian apanied Isocrates and Lysias. Their wagon was the kind that has no canopy, allowing them to have a panoramic view of the port road and its surroundings, which is just what Isocrates wanted. He then noticed that although there are many wagons and carts, they follow some rules, making it not chaotic. And if there is a problem due to congestion, a patrol would quickly arrive to clear it¡­

    On the other hand, Lysias paid more attention to the wagons and carts because they were all pulled by horses. In Lysias'' memory, Thurii was not a city-state abundant in horses, however now, such arge number of horses could be seen in the port, so he asked, ¡°How much is the price of horses here?¡±

    ¡°A mare cost 30 drachmae while a stallion is 22 drachmae.¡±

    ¡°How could it be so cheap?¡± Lysias was startled.

    ¡°Previously, the price of horses in Thurii was more than twice that of now, but ever since Theonia integrated Bruttii, the Bruttians has provided arge number of horses to Thurii''s market. Thus the price of horses has naturally decreased.¡± Said Sperian while patting the ass of the horse, causing it to neigh. Then he proudly said, ¡°The Bruttian horses are good horses with great strength, stamina and temper. And now, even the Rhegians began buying horses from us, and I estimate that the price will rise in the future¡­¡±

    While Sperian spoke, the wagon reached the exit of the port. However, the guards at the city wall need to check them before they could pass.

    Initially, if Isocrates had indicated to the patrol ship that they were envoys of Athens when their ship entered the estuary of the Crati river, they wouldn''t need to enter the port at all as they would have been led by the patrol ship to the dock in the city of Thurii and directly into the Senate of Theonia. However, Isocrates had his own consideration, so he did not do so.

    At this moment, he looked up at the tall walls that towered in front of the wagon, encircling the vast port. He could not help but sigh as he remembers that during the time Athens was powerful, there is also a great wall that protects the port of Piraeus that brought infinite wealth to Athens and connects it all the way to Athens. Unfortunately, after their defeat in the Peloponnesian War, the Spartans forced the Athenians to dismantle the wall. And now that Athens and Thebes joined forces to fight against Sparta, the people became uneasy and are afraid at the thought that the Spartans would break through the isthmus, turning thepletely defenceless port of Piraeus into a piece of meat in the mouths of hungry wolves. Thus the lesia had proposed several times for the reconstruction of the wall. However, this was a huge undertaking, and with Athens being fully engaged in the war, there are undoubtedly many difficulties. Thus it was eventually shelved due to disputes.

    ¡®The day we rebuilt the wall of the port of Piraeus will be the day Athens rose again!¡¯ Isocrates had his own thoughts regarding this.

 Chapter 372: Isocrates Discovery

    After passing through the checkpoint, the wagon drove directly north and passed through the east side of the port market, lined with stored and is crowded. However, it did not attract the attention of Isocrates and Lysias too much. Since learning about the bustling port of Thurii, they already have a preliminary idea of the situation of the market. But even if it is prosperous, it can never bepared with the famous Agora market in Athens.

    Rather, it was the direction of the wagon that attract Lysias'' attention. ¡°Hey, the city of Thurii is in the west. Why are you heading north?¡±

    ¡°No need to worry.¡± Sperian then exined, ¡°Because if we were to head west directly, not only will we have to pass through the busier and longer road but also the Temple of Hera and the Thurii Arena*. And since it is currently May, the rugby matches are heated because a new Thurii champion team will be chosen topete in the final. Therefore, many people will attend there to watch every day, causing the road to not only be crowded but there might even be trouble. That is why we had instead taken a detour to reach the city of Thurii, which is much faster than going straight west.¡± (With the increasing poprity of Rugby and Football games, the arena in the city of Thurii is no longer enough. Thus the year beforest, the citizens of Thurii collectively raised funds and built another arena outside the city. As the venue for the finals of each team in Theonia, the arena inside the city was called Theonia Arena. On the other hand, the arena outside the city is called the Thurii Arena.)

    ¡°So it is like that.¡± Lysias nodded. He had long heard about Theonia''s unique ball game, but due to him experiencing ups and down and was too busy making a living. In addition to him being too old, he wasn¡¯t too interested in this supposedly violent sport.

    On the other hand, Isocrates'' eyes lit up, and he asked, ¡°Can you tell us something about this rugby game?¡±

    Lysias gave Isocrates a surprised look, thinking that this was not quite in line with Isocrates'' hobby, so he must have been thinking of something more profound.

    These words of Isocrates had tickled the itch of Sperian. Thus he immediately told the two men the origin and rules of the rugby all the way to the establishment of the Theonian Rugby Competition.

    As he listens to Sperian exnation of the history of the development of Rugby in Theonia Union, Isocrates observed the wagon driving onto a new road (the Thua Road); he then turned his gaze towards the west. The road facilities did not differ much from the Port Road except it has a slightly narrower road surface.

    In the short time from the time the passenger ship docked at Thurii to the time they stepped out of the port, he had discovered a characteristic of the Theonian poption. That is, you can call it restrained and nd at worst; obedience to order at best. The port is the most chaotic ce in a city-state, so it is surprising that there are very few noises, fighting, brawls and the sight of loud talking and noises even though the port of Thurii is also rtively prosperous. On the other hand, that is impossible for Athens, as the Athenians are always passionate, spirited, proud, and loved to debate and boast about their city-state''s history.

    But after hearing the porter said that the whole poption loves such a kind of savage and rough sports, it made him realise that the Theonians might hide some savagery in their seemingly introverted temperament.

    ¡°This is our first Thurii, so is there any interesting ce here worth visiting?¡± Isocrates cut in suddenly.

    Lysias once more nced at him.

    ¡°Worth visiting?¡± Sperian was surprised and thenughed, ¡°You two should not say that you are here to visit and sightsee when arriving in Thurii, but instead, it is to enjoy the entertainment as there are too many things for you to enjoy here.

    First of all, Cheristoya''s Restaurant is a must-go ce! As it has the best food in all of Greece and even the Mediterranean.

    Secondly, you can take a wonderful bath in the hot spring by the Tiro river in the west of the city, so that you, Greeks, who don''t like bathing can feel its benefits.

    What''s more, the thing I had just said, you can go to the Thurii Arena to watch the rugby and football games. However, it''s hard to know whether you can buy tickets this season.

    Furthermore, you can go to Thurii''s hospital to see a physician and discover the diseases hidden in your body. You should know that the skills of the physicians of Thurii are excellent, as the gods had taught them.

    Oh, I almost forgot. You should also go to the Temple of Hades in the city to pray! It is the only ce of Hades on earth in Greece, and it is extraordinary! So much so that every time I go there to pray and talk to the priests, I felt so rxed aftering back, just like when I soak in the hot spring¡­¡±

    Isocrates and Lysias exchanged nces with each other from time to time while listening to Sperian''s endless rmendation.

    By now, the wagon had arrived near the north of Thurii. In front of it stood a tall arch made of white marble.

    Lysias then recalled some information he had heard about the new city of Thurii and said with uncertainty, ¡°The Arc De Triomphe?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the Arc de Triomphe! This is the second Arc de Triomphe!¡± Sperian then said excitedly, ¡°This is the Arc de Triomphe that was built the year beforest. The victorious returning army will take this as the starting point, enter the city of Thurii and ept the cheering and evaluation of the Theonian citizens, which is the greatest honour in the life of every citizen participating in the war! After the conquest of Bruttii, I had once participated with my fellow conscripted light infantry (that is, the 2,000 freemen) while we followed the legion into the city¡­oh! At that time, all the people of Theonia were cheering for us, the beautiful girls kept on throwing flowers and our respected archon giving an exciting speech, which I will never forget in my life!¡­and after the Triumphant Return, I met my beautiful wife¡­¡±

    Sperian''s expression was mesmerised, but after some time, he sighed, ¡°Unfortunately, these past few years have been too calm that there has been no war. So naturally, there is also no Triumphant Return. s¡­¡±

    ¡°From listening to what you have said, you actually want a war?!¡± The sharp Isocrates immediately asked.

    ¡°Of course, without war, we wouldn''t be able to participate. And if I can''t participate in a war, I won''t be able to shorten my assessment period and won''t be an official citizen of Theonia as soon as possible. Thus I won''t be able to get a fertile allocatednd.¡± Sperian blurted out without hesitation. Then he saw the two men''s expression changed. So he immediately exined, ¡°However, we Theonians rarely takes the initiative to invade others, and only when others invade us would we fight back¡­¡±

    Isocrates naturally did not believe the porter.

    ¡°But war will lead to death, in which there may be your friends¡­or rtives¡­¡±Lysias said in a berating tone.

    ¡°Of course I know that, and the priest of Hades even warned us that ¡®all good things are not easy to get.¡¯ But we are not afraid of death because this is thend blessed by the king of the underworld, Hades. And if I were to die fighting bravely, my wife and children will receive rich pension and care from the union, and my soul will return to Hades'' Hall of Valor and protect our union!¡­¡± Sperian''s face became slightly calm and firm, with a trace of looking forward to the future. However, there wasn''t even a hint of fear.

    This gave Isocrates and Lysias a great shock.

    ¡°Arc de Triomphe, here Ie!¡± Sperian drove right in front of the Arc de Triomphe and shouted with excitement as if he had returned victorious.

    Isocrates frowned as he looked at the numerous reliefs on the arch and the statue of the legion g on the top. He then heard Sperian''s voice, ¡°The reliefs represent the important victorious moments of Theonia, such as lord Davos leading the legion to help Taranto in defeating the Messapi-Peuceti Alliance¡­next is the third legion defeating the Lucanian rebels and recapturing Pyxous (ording to the Senate''s propaganda, the people believed that Pyxous was once a Greek city-state. Hence it is recaptured and not capture)¡­and lord Davos leading an army to conquer Brutii, which I have participated in. There is actually a funny story about this relief; ording to others, the Bruttian statesmen had once protested against engraving the Bruttian War into the relief, believing that it was not good for unity. However, the Lucanian statesmen retorted, ¡®Even though there are three reliefs of us Lucanians, we still did not say anything. So why are you Bruttians so concerned?¡¯ Hehe, and just like that, the Bruttian''s protest ended¡­¡±

    Listening to Sperian''sughter and looking at the Arc de Triomphe, Isocrates couldn''tugh at all.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Lysias, we haven''t seen each other since you received your brother''s letter and rushed to Athens 20 years ago, right?¡± Kunogta looked at Lysias, who had be old and hard to recognised, and sighed emotionally.

    ¡°Yes. When my father died that year, I rushed back to Athens for his funeral. However, I got caught at my brother''s business and got into trouble, so I had to stay and help him. Then¡­Athens suffered a series of disastrous defeats in the war against Sparta. And when the thirty tyrants sat in power, my brother was persecuted, and they seized his properties¡­So much stuff had happened over the years than when our teacher died; I wasn''t able toe back and attend his funeral¡­¡± Lysias'' outwardly calm expression couldn''t hide the remorse and bewilderment contained in his low voice, as well as a bit of exhaustion.

    ¡°We are clear at what happened to you as well. But at that time, Thurii was also facing difficulties, so we could not offer you help. However, before he died, our teacher kept on saying your name and called you the disciple that he most proud of!¡± Said Kunogta, but when he saw tears glistening in Lysias'' eyes, he changed the topic and joked, ¡°Could it be that you have made a fortune in Athens recently that you can give away five such expensive Panathenaic amphorae?¡±

    ¡°I am not wealthy as I don''t have the talent to be a merchant. It is why my father handed over the weapon workshop to my brother.¡± Lysiasughed at himself.

 Chapter 373: The god of foreign races Heracles

    Afterwards, Lysias said thoughtfully, ¡°This time, Athens sent Isocrates to Theonia, and due to him knowing that I had stayed here for many years, Athens invited me to apany him to Thurii-¡±

    ¡°Athens sent you here to Theonia?¡± Kunogta showed a surprised looked. Obviously, he didn''t hear anything in advance and thought that Lysias hade here to visit his old ssmates.

    ¡°You should already know that my father is not an Athenian citizen, so even if I lived in Athens for so many years, I still can''t be an Athenian. Thus I am not the envoy, and I can only assist Isocrates.¡± Lysias could not understand why Kunogta was surprised, so he exined.

    ¡°In that case, you''d better take these potteries back with you. I can''t ept them!¡± Kunogta immediately refused.

    ¡°Why?¡± Lysias was surprised.

    ¡°Previously, Thurii''s trial of the traitors had caused amotion, and I believe that you have also heard of it.¡± After seeing Lysias nod, Kunogta continued and said firmly, ¡°I don''t want to be the second Pollux!¡±

    ¡°But¡­Athens just wants to express its friendly will to your Theonia Union and conclude an alliance at the same time.¡± Lysias said hurriedly.

    ¡°So since Athens is at war with Sparta, who will be the target of this alliance?¡± As a veteran of politics, Kunogta immediately guessed Athen''s motive, ¡°Sparta? Impossible, Theonia is still not powerful enough to face the wrath of the Greek hegemon. Sparta''s staunch ally Syracuse? Unfortunately, we have just signed a friendly agreement with Syracuse.¡±

    Kunogta''s words made Lysias at a loss. Unlike Isocrates, even though Lysias lived in Athens, he was excluded from politics because he was not an Athenian citizen, so he had little political experience. Even in terms of court defence, he could not even go to court to defend someone as he was not an Athenian citizen. Thus he could only write a defence speech for others after careful preparation and nning. As a result, hecked a bit of quick wit, so he didn''t know what to say for a while.

    Kunogta sighed, ¡°Firstly, take back these Panathenaic potteries. And since the Athenian envoys hade from afar, the Theonia Union would naturally meet you. While I make a proposal to the Senate, you should have the Athenian envoys get prepared.¡±

    ¡°That''s great, that''s great¡­¡± Lysias breathed a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Lysias.¡± Kunogta looked at him and suddenly asked, ¡°You used to be a citizen of Thurii. Have you ever thought of returning to Thurii and bing a Theonian citizen?¡±

    Lysias was startled.

    ¡°In Athens, you are an outsider, so even if you have great talents, you will not have a great stage to use them. Come back to Thurii¡­¡± Said Kunogta, then he changed the subject, ¡°Do you know Ansitanos?¡±

    The words of Kunogta made Lysias uneasy, causing him to murmur, ¡°¡­uhm, I know him¡­he is a student of Herodotus, and we often hang out with each other when we were young.¡±

    ¡°Our archon, lord Davos, had proposed the establishment of a Theonian Akademia in Thurii, where the best schrs from all over the union would gather, whether it is to study mathematics, medicine or rhetorics¡­and they will all enjoy the special sry given to them by the union, continue to do their own research at their own pace while teaching what they have learned and theories to excellent students, allowing them to spread their reputation in Magna Graecia and even in the Mediterranean!¡­¡± Kunogta then smiled once he saw Lysias listening carefully.

    ¡°And in the Akademia, there is a branch specialised in teaching literature to students. Besides being a statesman of the Senate, Ansitanos was also the dean of the literature branch. While he taught rhetorics, he also wrote his book about history, for which he enrolled a dozen students and imparted his knowledge. The Senate had also allocated funds for him to hire some people to collect information throughout Magna Graecia for his book¡­however, even though I think that Ansitanos was unmatched in historical stuff, rhetorics is not his strong suit, which is what exactly you are good at. If you were to stay in Theonia, our talent-loving lord Davos would surely ask the Senate to grant you special permission to be a Theonian citizen and also be the dean of the Institute of Literature, teaching the students and writing your works. Which will make your reputation to be as famous as that of Ansitanos in Magna Graecia!¡­¡±

    Kunogta dared to say such a promise due to his understanding of Davos. But these words struck Lysias'' heart like a rock hitting the water and causing countless sshes and ripples¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos nced at the study material given to him by Ansitanos, and he showed a surprised expression, ¡°There is also arge altar of Heracles in the city of Rome? Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord. This great altar is close to the livestock market in Rome. Initially, we heard it from the Capuani merchants who came to trade in Pyxous. Afterwards, we sent someone to confirm it. Milord, as you should know, Heracles once stole the cattle of Geryon and brought them to Eurytheus after a long journey, so many races in the western Mediterranean who live by raising livestock have made Heracles their guardian of livestock¡­¡± Ansitanos did not think that there was anything remarkable about Rome''s devotion to Heracles. Rather, he kept on talking about Heracles.

    In fact, Davos had entrusted Ansitanos to research the activities of Heracles in the western Mediterranean. Because after conquering Bruttii, Davos found it strange that there are many altars and statues of Heracles in the Bruttian region, and the Bruttians even imed that they are the descendant of Heracles, and their ancestor Brutus, was the son of the hero Heracles and their queen Valentia.¡±

    This statement surprised Davos. But with an alien race iming that they are the descendant of a famous Greek god, this allowed Theonia Union to findmon ground for the assimtion of the Bruttian since they were all ¡®of the same race.¡¯

    However, this has caused Davos to pay attention to Heracles, a powerful god of Greek mythology. And from what he learned from Ansitanos and the others, he realises that Heracles was very famous in the western Mediterranean, as half of his ¡°12 Labours¡± had taken ce here. The Greek god spent most of his time wandering in the west Mediterranean; he had been to Sicily, travelled north through Italia, crossed Gaul, and to the Iberian Penins. But before he could steal the golden apples in the garden of Hesperides (the 11thbour), he needed to cross the As Mountains. Therefore, he used his divine power to divide the mountain range, linking the Antic Ocean with the western Mediterranean. And that is the origin of the ¡°Pir of Heracles¡±.

    Heracles then reached the mysterious ind of Erytheia in the Antic Ocean at the westernmost end of the world, killed Geryon, took the herd, retraced his steps through western Europe, and finally returned to Greece¡­and the story of his adventures was widely spread due to his heroic deeds of upholding justice and chivalry, getting the love and recognition of many people of different races. Thus in many parts of the western Mediterranean, there is a legend that he fathered many children from distinguished women of different races, and the Bruttians are just one of them¡­

    Davos then picked the study material again and read it carefully.

    On the other hand, Ansitanos was not in a hurry. He leaned leisurely against the back of his chair, closed his eyes and began conceiving his own book.

    After some time passed, Davos closed the pages, ced the study material on the table, rubbed his tired eyes and asked, ¡°Lord Ansitanos, as a historian, what do you think after wiping away the dust of those myths and legends through this information you have collected?¡±

    Ansitanos opened his eyes as he found Davos'' question interesting. However, this wasn''t a historian is good at, so he thought about it for a while and said, ¡°What I see is the strong attraction of the elegance of the Greek culture to these mountain races who were still in the stage of ignorance. So they all want to associate with Greece to show that their origins were not barbaric.¡±

    ¡°Yes, and this is what we want to see.¡± Davos stroke his chin and said in a deep voice, ¡°It seems that there is a need to build a magnificent Temple of Heracles in Thurii and hold annual celebrations in his honour to strengthen the sense of connection of alien race to Theonia.¡±

    ¡°Milord, that is a wise decision!¡± Ansitanosplimented.

    ¡°But-¡± Davos picked up the study material on the table and changed the subject, ¡°Lord Ansitanos, you have only scratched the surface while you have not yet uncovered the deeper meaning.¡±

    ¡®There is a deeper meaning?¡¯ Ansitanos looked at Davos with suspicion, as he had read the study material many times before giving it to Davos.

    ¡°Look here-¡± Davos turned the page and read it aloud, ¡°On Heracles'' journey back to Greece with his herd of cattle, a lost bull swam across the Strait of Messina and reached a ce called Eryx, where a local ruler captured it. After discovering it, Heracles killed the ruler, recaptured the bull and agreed to return thend to the oppressed natives, while making an agreement that ¡®once his descendants appear in Sicily, the natives have to return thend to them.¡¯¡±

    ¡°There is indeed such a legend about Heracles in Sicily.¡± Ansitanos nodded.

 Chapter 374: A secret hidden in the legends

    ¡°The next part is interesting.¡± Showing a mocking smile, Davos said, ¡°Decades ago, Dorieus a Spartan royal*, brought his men to Sicily and demanded the Eryxians to return thend on the grounds that he is a direct descendant of Heracles. The Eryxians refused, so he led his troops to chase the natives and establish a colonial city near Eryx. But by then, Eryx had begun to be the religious centre of the Carthaginians in Sicily, and the Carthaginians would naturally not allow foreign people to upy their core area. Thus they led arge army to fight back, killing Dorieus and most of his men in the battle.¡±(the older brother of the famous spartan king Cleomenes I, and was the one who expelled him on the grounds of sending him to colonise the western Mediterranean after a failed bid for the throne.)

    ¡°This should be a fact since it¡¯s written in Herodotus'' history.¡± Ansitanos was quite familiar with these historical events in the western Mediterranean.

    ¡°Read this part. Before going to Sicily, Dorieus, the unlucky Spartan prince, had tried to build a colonial city on the Libyan coast west of Cyrenaica and within the sphere of influence of Carthage, for the reason that Heracles killed the giant Antaeus in Africa. However, Carthage soon expelled them. And such simr things are recorded in this document. Lord Ansitanos, as a historian, if you put aside your identity as a Greek and analyse this document from a neutral position, you might find the problem.¡± Said Davos in a low voice.

    ¡°Putting aside my identity as a Greek and stand in a neutral position¡­¡± Murmured Ansitanos as if realising something, retook the document and started reading it. Afterwards, his eyes lit up, ¡°I see! Now I see! These activities of Heracles in the western Mediterranean provide reasonable proof for us Greeks to open up colonies in the western Mediterranean!¡­¡±

    Davos smiled, ¡°Thus, we could say that in the distant past, Heracles was the first Greek hero who has gone to explore the western Mediterranean. Based on all his stories and looking at his journey in the western Mediterranean, many routes are repetitive to the point that it is unreasonable and unnecessary. So, it is clear that some of them might have happened*, some might be fabricated byter Greeks to provide moral grounds for their encroachment on other people''snd and the establishment of colonial cities¡­..¡± Davos pointed to the document and said, ¡°That is why the former Cumaeans have even acquired the skin of the huge wild boar that Heracles killed from Peloponnese to Italia and solemnly stored it in the Temple of Apollo in Cumae to prove to the natives the legitimacy of the Cumaeans upation of thend¡­ On the other hand, there are several theories about the location where Heracles and the giant battled. One of them took ce in Magna Graecia, other ces where severalnds the Carthaginians controlled. We can only say that those Greeks were desperate to find a new home in the western Mediterranean that they even have great courage and dared to have ideas on the Carthaginians..¡± (Davos naturally cannot deny the existence of Heracles as it is equivalent to him denying his status as a god''s descendant.)

    And at this moment, Ansitanos was immersed in joy, ¡°Milord, thank you for waking me up! I finally realised the wonderful things regarding what Thucydides said about standing in a neutral position and writing the true history with an impartial attitude!¡±

    ¡°Once you get rid of the barriers between nations and races, you would be able to do better than him and see the history from a higher position. Thus I believe that you will write a great work!¡±

    Davos'' encouragement made Ansitanos embarrassed, ¡°Milord, I feel that there is still a gap between Thucydides and me.¡±

    Instead of continuing to discuss this issue, Davos talked regarding another matter, ¡°Before you came, Kunogta hade and told me that the envoys of Athens came and visited him¡­¡±

    ¡°Athens had sent an envoy toe to Thurii?¡± Ansitanos was a little surprised. Thinking of something, he asked, ¡°Are they looking for allies for their anti-Sparta Alliance?¡±

    ¡°That should be.¡± Davos then added, ¡°Kunogta also mentioned that there is someone among the envoys who you knew.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± A sudden jolt struck Ansitanos.

    ¡°Lysias.¡± Davos looked at him and slowly said, ¡°Kunogta told me that he is a very talented man, but due to him not being an Athenian, he isn''t doing well in Athens. So he hopes that I can try my best to retain him. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Of course, we have to keep him!¡± Ansitanos then said excitedly, ¡°During my youth, I had frequent dealings with him. From that, I know that he has great talent in rhetorics and oratory! His articles are natural but not boring, and even though they are simple, it''s not uninteresting, and they are easy to arouse resonance with the people. My family even treasured three articles he had written when he was young, and I often take them out to figure out his writing skills and rhetoric techniques¡­ If he could stay, I suggest making him the dean of the Institute of Literature, which is the most suitable ce for him to give full y to his talents.¡±

    Davos appreciated Ansitanos more in his mind upon hearing these, as he did not envy or nder Lysias'' talent. Rather, he praised him unreservedly and from the bottom of his heart and even took the initiative to give way to the talented. This kind of open-mindedness made Davos respect him but also felt ashamed at his vague probing just now. He coughed twice and gently said, ¡°¡­erm¡­I will leave the task of trying to keep Lysias to you. However, I can make a promise here that as long as he is willing to stay, I will immediately propose to the Senate to give him citizenship, allocatednd, and appointing him as the dean of the Institute of Literature of the Akademia of Theonia.¡±

    ¡°I will do my best to make him stay!¡± Ansitanos also gave his pledge without hesitation.

    ¡°If Theonia Union wants to be the centre of the western Mediterranean, military might alone would not do as we also need a glorious culture that can be admired by those races that had juste out of istion and worshipped by other city-states!¡±

    ¡°You are absolutely right, milord! Only a city-state with a splendid civilisation can withstand the passage of time without being forgotten!¡± Ansitanos, who is familiar with history, sincerely praised.

    ¡°In addition, are you familiar with Isocrates, the envoy of Athens?¡± Asked Davos once more.

    ¡°Isocrates?! He was the student of one of the wise men of Athens, Protagoras.¡± Ansitanos then eximed, ¡°Of course I know him. He is no less a rhetorical genius than Lysias. Moreover, he is not only proficient in rhetorics and oratory but also in teaching, which made many youths from various city-states toe to Athens to worship him as their teacher. By the way, what happened today?! Two schrs of Greek literature hade to Thurii at the same time!¡± Said Ansitanos looking excited.

    ¡°Can we retain-¡± Asked Davos hurriedly.

    ¡°That''s impossible!¡± Ansitanos shook his head, ¡°Isocrates is an Athenian citizen. And I also heard that he often preaches that the Greeks, especially the Athenians, are superior to other races in his speeches to the youths. Therefore, it is impossible for him to stay in our union of various races¡­¡±

    Davos sighed with regret. Although he did not have a detailed understanding of Greek history in his previous life, he was familiar with the names of the two ancient Athenian orators, Lysias and Isocrates, as he had studied at the University of Political Science and Law. And in the course of Western Legal History, it is impossible not to hear these two names when talking about ancient times.

    ¡®Either one of them is fine.¡¯ He thought expectantly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following day, Isocrates, who had already learned the general attitude of the Theonian Senate from Lysias, still had great enthusiasm and prepared carefully. Then he arrived at the Theonian Senate, a magnificent ce that can amodate thousands of people.

    However, it looks empty as only less than 100 statesmen are sitting there leisurely.

    If he had seen this situation before fully knowing about Theonia Union, Isocrates would haveughed at Theonia''s wastefulness and blind vanity.

    But after staying in the city of Thurii for more than a day, watching ball games, tasting Thurii''s food, going to the Temple of Hades, visiting the Akademia of Theonia with Lysias under the guidance of Ansitanos. Furthermore, he even dressed up as amoner to mingle in the pubs and chatted with the Theonians¡­ Thus he had some understanding about the Theonia Union and the Senate members. So when he saw therge venue with a small number of statesmen, he did not find it funny; rather, he felt a chill in his heart because he realised the ambition of the Theonians.

    He quickly pushed this annoying thought to the back of his mind so that he could focus all his energy on his speech.

    But at this moment, he felt that someone was looking at him intently. After following the gaze, he could only see a young man sitting in the front row directly in the centre, looking at him and giving a gentle smile.

    Isocrates smiled back as he realised that this young man is the founder of the Theonia Union ¨C the archon Davos. Rumours regarding him filled the streets of Thurii, such as he is Hades'' descendant, a famous strategos that has never lost, a physician who can bring someone back from the dead, a highly clever wise man, a great inventor¡­ But after seeing him in person, Isocrates felt that he was no different from ordinary people, aside from the aura that far exceeded a citizen of his age. That is why it is hard to imagine that this young man was the one who proposed and nned this magnificent Grant Senate Hall.

 Chapter 375: A speech from a historical figure

    Isocrates was unable to stop himself from looking at him again.

    Scambras, the rotating chairperson, knocked on the table with a wooden mallet, officially starting today''s meeting.

    Scambras then loudly announced, ¡°We only have one topic today, and that is, the envoy of Athens hase to Thurii, so let us listen to their request.¡±

    ¡®Upon hearing this, some statesmen who had not heard anything in advance became lively: Athens, a great and famous city-state in the Mediterranean, had actually sent an envoy to our Theonia Union!¡¯

    Amidst the curious gazes, Isocrates walked towards the front. He then stood calmly in front of the crowd and gave a graceful and firm salute to them. He then stood straight with chest up and began his speech, ¡°Esteem statesmen of Theonia, I am Isocrates, an envoy of Athens. Even though this is the first time I have set foot on thend of Thurii, I could feel its warmness. Fifty years ago, Pericles, the great strategos of Athens, had extended a helping hand to the exiled Sybarites, promising them to rebuild a new city. And this city inherited Pericles¡¯ ideal that he pursued all his life ¨C that all Greeks can live regardless of region and races*, and live together in peace and friendship. (*¡®Greeks¡¯ is just a bigger and broader name and concept, as it can actually be divided into different races.)

    Not only did he mobilise Athens, but he also called on the whole of Greece to take action in establishing a beautiful pan-Greek city-state. Naturally, we Athenians have contributed the most, as we had not only used our wealth in our treasury to buy stones, grain, and other materials for the new city and invited the great Greek architect ¨C Hippodamus, to handle the construction nning of the new city. We also sent two of our strategoi to manage the new city, and they had even invited my teacher, Protagoras, to makews for Thurii. Even the historian ¨C Herodotus and the rhetorician ¨C Tisias settled here to nt the seeds of Greek culture and wisdom on the immigrants¡­

    With such all-out support, Thurii became the brightest peal of Magna Graecia as soon as it was built. While we Athenians had returned to the eastern Mediterranean without asking for anything in return and allowed the newly born city to grow independently and freely¡­¡± Isocrates dream was to be an orator, but his voice being hoarse, which is a fatal defect in Athens, where speeches are popr and demanding. Thus he rarely exercised his oratorical talents onrge formal asions and could only reluctantly turn to teach rhetorics and eloquence. Therefore today is the rare time that he could give speeches in public, making him excited.

    The Theonians, however, doesn''t pay much attention to such details. Instead, they felt that Isocrates¡¯ emotion merging with his hoarse voice has a unique attraction. Especially those Lucanian and Bruttian statesmen, who don¡¯t know much about this history, listened with great interest.

    However, the well-informed Kunogta, Burkes, Davos and the others knew well that Athens was not as noble as Isocrates imed. Thanks to Athens and the majority of Athenians among the immigrants, their descendants dominated the political situation of Thurii for the first few decades. However, it is also true that Athens did not force Thurii into joining the Delian League or bing a sub-city-state of Athens, and they had never put forward unreasonable demands to Thurii.

    ¡°And when I set foot on thisnd, where we Athenians had devoted our efforts, today, I was surprised to find that the ideal of strategos Pericles has been realised. I could even say that the current Thurii has exceeded his expectations! Here¡­not only are the immigrants from the various Greek city-state living in peace but there are also other races getting along well with the Greeks.¡± Saying until here, Isocrates felt a bit ufortable. However, his voice was still filled with emotion, ¡°Theonia, the wonderful city-state union, showed a bright prospect of peace for the Mediterranean world filled with ethnic conflicts and wars! To this end, I would like to pay my highest respect to you who led the people, made great efforts and achieved this grand goal!¡± With that, he bent down and bowed respectfully.

    The statesmen such as Cornelius, Scambras, Burkes, Vespa, Hemon, Baripri and Sedrum and even Kunogta and Marigi were moved by his sincere words.

    Even though Davos already knew from Ansitanos that Isocrates was an ¡°Athenian Supremacist¡± and that these words of his were to achieve his purpose of winning the favour of the statesmen. But out of politeness, he still led the statesmen to stand up and return warm apuse.

    Isocrates, on the other hand, did not showcency. He calmly waited for the apuse to weaken and then continued to say, ¡°It is precisely because of this unique friendship between Athens and Thurii that both sides will lend a helping hand to each other in times of difficulties!¡­ Shortly after establishing the city of Thurii, Athens helped Thurii solve the threat of Crotone and signed a peace agreement between Thurii and Crotone; It was also with Athens'' assistance that Thurii defeated Taranto in the Siris in and reached a settlement with Taranto.

    After the war broke out between Athens and Sparta, we had sent an army to capture Syracuse. While we were passing through the city-states of Magna Graecia, only Thurii helped us by sending troops to war!

    A few decades passed by, both Athens and Thurii suffered a misfortune. During the Peloponnesian War, the Athenian region of Attica was utterly reduced to ruins, from which it has not yet been able to recover fully. At the same time, Sparta had upied the city of Athens and supported a group of tyrants who hated democracy and advocated dictatorship. These people ignored thew, wantonly hurt the citizens and robbing our properties. Thus we Athenians, who loved freedom, were forced to flee and suffer the pain of leaving our homes¡­

    While Thurii has also suffered from cruelty, as the Crotinians used tricks that led to the sacking and burning of the city of Thurii that was founded by the sweat of us, Athenians and Thurians with countless people perishing in the fire¡­

    When this rming news reached Athens, the whole city fell into silence, with many of the people who had fond memories and feelings for Thurii fell into tears, including my adjutant, Lysias¡­¡± Isocrates was filled with grief, causing many of the statesmen to be touched.

    ¡°Fortunately, both us, Athenians and Theonians, manage to stand bravely from this huge blow, wiped out our tears, buried our loved ones, and rebuilt our homes with our hands¡­

    Even though the past is now gone, we must not forget it. The current Greek world is still restless, with the powerful running rampant and bullying the weak. Sparta in the East and Syracuse in the west are coveting their surrounding fellow Greeks with greedy and ferocious eyes, just like hungry wolves coveting fat sheep. Thus the weak sheep should unite in order to deter the powerful wolves and avoid reencountering misfortune!

    That is why I havee here. We in Athens stretched out our hands from the east, wanting to once again hold hands with our former brother in the west, Thurii, and connect Greece and Magna Graecia like a bridge. We will not only strengthen trade and cultural exchanges that will allow the lives of the people of both ces to benefit more but also reach an alliance and cooperation with each other in military affairs in order to closely defend our precious freedom and rights that were once robbed!¡±

    After Isocrates'' speech, the Grand Senate Hall was shrouded with silence.

    Davos had to admire the Athenian orator for his euphemism and provocative statement about the alliance. He had even yed the emotion card and even ignored the fact that Thurii had expelled the descendants of Athens, not to mention the fact that Athens used the Delian League they formed to suppress many allies that opposed them. He also ces Athens and Thurii in the position of victims in an attempt to rte with the statesmen.

    Unfortunately, Isocrates had forgotten one thing. This is Theonia and not the lesia. Any decisions and affairs of Theonia are not decided by the lesia but by the statesmen led by Davos. And these statesmen are either veterans who have been in politics for many years, those capable of dealing withplex affairs or the chieftains who have led the lives of thousands of tribe members. It could be said that they are the elites of Theonia Union, and they certainly won''t consider the issue like an ordinary citizen making a decision based on impulse. Perhaps they might be moved for a moment, but when deciding the union¡¯s future, they must think more from the perspective of interests.

    After Isocrates was asked to leave the conference hall, Petaru, Bodiam, and several other former Bruttian chieftains first rose to express their support in allying with Athens to fight against Sparta and Syracuse. However, the truth is, this is not what they wanted, but due to Pollux being sentenced and denounced as a ¡°traitor¡± by all Theonians, Petaru and the others kept feeling uneasy even though they were not involved in these matters and were safe. So they took this opportunity to express their innocence and determination.

    While the other statesmen basically opposed it. Although they learned Dionysius'' ambition in the trial of Pollux, the gap in strength between Theonia and Syracuse made them unwilling to take the initiative to provoke this Greek hegemon in the western Mediterranean. Moreover, Syracuse and Theonia had just signed a friendly agreement.

    Even though Davos is wary of Syracuse, he did not think this was a good time to confront them.

 Chapter 376: Library

    Isocrates anxiously awaits the final decision of the Senate of Theonia in the spacious waiting area in the Senate Hall.

    Soon after, the guards came and asked him to return to the conference hall.

    After entering, he saw that the archon of Theonia, Davos, stood in the centre of the conference hall.

    Davos then smiled at him and asked him to sit. Then he said. ¡°Esteemed envoy of Athens, I am d you bought the friendship of Athens, the great city-state of the Mediterranean, to the Theonia Union. This has finally allowed us, who are in a remote corner of the Greek world, to stop mourning andining at the new y called ¡¶The Theonians¡· by the Athenian ywright ¨C Aristophanes, treating as Theonians as barbarians for the amusement of the Athenian popce¡­¡±

    As soon as he heard this, Isocrates murmured to himself, ¡°It''s over.¡±

    And sure enough, he heard someone shouting angrily behind him, ¡°You Athenians has no right to humiliate us Lucanians!¡±

    ¡°They did not only humiliate the Lucanians but all Theonian citizens!¡± Another shouted angrily.

    ¡°If the Athenians treat us with this attitude, then you Athenians are not wee here!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Angry voices after another struck Isocrates, making him feel like a volcano was about to erupt behind him, causing his expression to change slightly.

    Davos looked at the embarrassed Isocrates and continued, ¡°Isocrates, you imed that Athens and Theonia have a deep friendship, but just talking about it is not enough as you need to also look at the action. Now, ording to our understanding of the actual situation in Athens, we can''t see the friendship of the Athenians towards Theonia. On the contrary, we see that the people of the whole city of Athens ruthlessly ridicule and mock some of the characteristics of the newly emerging city-state union that are different from other Greek city-states. For several months, we have be the topic of conversation during drinking in the pubs and restaurants in Athens. This is not what we expect in a city-state with a long history and tradition that once imed to have the ¡®best education in all of Greece¡¯ should behave! Nor the behaviour of a city-state iming to have a deep affection for Theonia and wants to ally with it!

    That is why we, the citizens of Theonia, are notfortable trusting over our backs to a city-state that discriminates against us while facing a powerful enemy. Therefore, we think it is still too early for us to talk about concluding a military alliance.¡±

    ¡®Damn you, Aristophanes! Damn you!!¡¯ Isocrates cursed countless times in his mind. However, it could not change the reality. Frustrated, he tried to stand up in ast-ditch effort.

    However, Davos quickly stop him with a wave of his hand, motioning him not to interrupt. Then he continued, ¡°Although the present Thurii is no longer the former Thurii, and the Theonia Union has no connection with Athens, we Theonians are by no means an ungrateful people, as we have a clear distinction between kindness and grievance. We return the grievance that others gave us tenfolds, and we repay the kindness that others shown us by tenfold!¡±

    ¡°The archon is right! When we were in our time of trouble, Taranto had allied with us, so we had sent arge army and saved their city-state! In the beginning, Thurii had once given his lord''s mercenary a foothold, so we had not yielded at the Crotonian army¡¯s threat. Instead, we avenged the dead Thurians with a great victory! Theonia regardsmitment as life and friendship as treasure, so we could not promise our friendship lightly!¡± Old man Scamras held his head high. He then nced at Isocrates and put on a proud expression of ¡°Theonia''s friendship is extremely precious.¡±

    Davos smiled and continued, ¡°Since the centre of the Theonia Union is Thurii, we naturally inherited some of the feelings of the former Thurians, that is why we are willing to have friendly exchanged with Athens and to strengthen our exchanges to eliminate misunderstanding between us¡­¡±

    Hearing this, Isocrates understood the meaning of Davos and the other statesmen: Besides military alliance, Theonia is willing to be friendly with Athens. Even though strengthening trade and cultural exchange does not seem to be different from the core meaning of his speech, Isocrates understood the obvious difference. Isocrates had initially talked about cooperation as the elder brother. However, now the Theonians had trampled on his elegance and nobility and told him that Theonia''s friendship is extremely precious, so they could only give a little to Athens depending on their performance¡­

    ¡®Sure enough, this young man is not simple as he was able to sit in the position of the archon and single-handedly create the present Theonia!¡¯ Isocrates looked at Davos in front of him and felt the pressure¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Isocrates gave a speech at the Senate of Theonia, Ansitanos took Lysias to the north side of the Nike Square, where a newly built building that looks like a temple with bronze statues of nine Muses lining up at the bottom of the steps.

    ¡°Is this the Temple of Apollo?¡± Lysias looked at Ansitanos with uncertainty.

    Ansitanos still wore a mischievous smile while not uttering a single word.

    With growing curiosity, Lysias walked up the steps and finally saw several huge letters ¡°Library¡± on the lintel of the temple¡¯s entrance.

    ¡°Is this?¡± Lysias can now guess the function of this building, ¡®Such arge building is only used for books? Do they have so many books?¡¯

    He once more looked at Ansitanos with doubt, hoping that he could give an exnation.

    ¡°This is the library that our archon, lord Davos, took the lead in donating money to build!¡± Ansitanos then proudly pointed to the words and said, ¡°He once said. ¡®Books are the gems of human wisdom, whether it''s Persia, Egypt, Carthage, or even the earlier Sumerians, Hittite, Assyrian¡­the history and civilisation they created have finally converged in words and books, which is humanity¡¯s shared wealth and thedder for us to break away from ignorance and move towards a more brilliant civilisation. Thus we should make every effort to collect them! Protect them! If wars and disasters destroyed these treasures, it would be the most painful loss to humanity! However, besides collecting books, we should also share and read them to more people so that the people of Theonia can use this knowledge to improve themselves and creating wealth and a more brilliant culture. This is the reason for the creation of the library!¡¯¡±

    After hearing this, Lysias became fascinated. He then murmured, ¡°Someone who can speak such great words must be a great person!¡±

    Ansitanos then smiled to himself.

    ¡°Show me inside!¡± Lysias couldn''t wait to get inside but was stopped by the guards at the entrance.

    ¡°This is my friend. He hade with me as he wants to go in and visit.¡± Ansitanos hurried forward to exin.

    ¡°Understood, lord Ansitanos.¡± The guards saluted respectfully.

    ¡°There is still a military in a ce where knowledge is stored!¡± Lysias unhappily said as he walked in.

    ¡°After all, books are precious and fragile. A fire can destroy them all, so naturally, someone needs to protect them to prevent idents.¡± Exined Ansitanos.

    Lysias then expressed his understanding. And after calming his anger, he said, ¡°It seems that not just anyone can enter here.¡±

    ¡°Only Theonian citizens and preparatory citizens can enter.¡±

    ¡°So this gives another motivation for the freemen of Theonia to be citizens.¡± Lysias had gotten to know just how wide the gap was between the rights enjoyed by Theonian citizens, preparatory citizens, and freemen after only staying here for nearly two days. And this gap cannot be bridged, unlike Athens, where you can cross the gap between Athenians and foreigners as long as you work hard.

    ¡°I''m afraid that there are about 40,000 ¨C 50,000 Theonian citizens in Thurii. If they all crowd into this library, could the library still be able to amodate all of them?¡± Lysias asked doubtfully.

    ¡°We have already taken those problems into ount. First of all, the quality of Theonia citizens has not yet reached the level that everyone can read and write. Secondly, it is impossible for them to appear simultaneously, and even if there are too many citizens who want to enter the library, we have ced a limit on how many can enter. However, I am afraid that it will be years till such a situation urs. By then, there might be a second, third or even fourth library in Theonia¡­¡± Ansitanos'' words were filled with confidence in the union.

    Lysias could only remain silent, but soon after, he was captivated by the sight before him: Rows of tall wooden cabs neatly ced in the hall, splitting therge space into a walkway for only three or four people to pass side by side. Each wooden cab is open, separated by a strip of wood into a small rectangr space, containing volumes of books or materials assembled from papyrus or parchment. In front of these bookcases is an area with many wooden tables, with only a few people sitting there quietly reading books.

    The book-loving Lysias was unable to refrain from saying, ¡°There are so many books!¡±

    ¡°In fact, there are not many, as most of the bookcases in the back are empty. After all, it has only been less than 20 days since the library waspleted.¡± Ansitanos then continued emotionally, ¡°Lord Davos had called on the citizens of Theonia to take out their own collection of books from their home, allowing the library to copy and store it here. Afterwards, we also engraved the names of the citizens who had donated their books on the stone tablet. At that time, many citizens responded to his call, causing the scribes of the library to be too busy¡­¡±

    Looking at the direction of Ansitanos'' finger, Lysias saw several stone tablets erected on the left side of the library''s entrance. Previously, he had just looked ahead and overlooked them.

    The stone tablet was densely engraved with people''s names.

    Lysias then noticed that only the first name was written, followed by the title of the book, ¡°This¡­this¡­this is-¡± He touched the title in disbelief.

 Chapter 377: Carthages Current Situation

    ¡°Yes, this is the manuscript of Herodotus'' ¡¶The Histories¡· and the diaries and materials recorded by him during his travels. When Thurii burnt down, his descendants did not bring anything out when they escaped from the fire except these precious materials. Afterwards, they donated everything to the library!¡± Said Ansitanos excitedly.

    ¡°I¡­can I have a look?¡± Even though Lysias''s family was having difficulties in Athens, he didn''t ask anyone for anything. But now, he looked at Ansitanos with eagerness.

    However, Ansitanos shook his head, ¡°Lysias, I apologised, but Herodotus''s original manuscript of The Histories and materials are the most valuable treasures of Theonia, and precious materials such as these are stored up there and protected by special personnel.¡± Ansitanos pointed upward, which is the second floor of the library. ¡°Due to their duties and research, only statesmen of the Senate and schrs of the Akademia of Theonia are allowed to enter. Yet, they could not even bring those precious and confidential materials out and could only read it there.¡±

    ¡°However, if you were to join Theonia, you will be the dean of the Institute of Literature ording to lord Davos'' promise, so it would be easy for you to check any books and materials in the library.¡±

    Lysias stood in his ce as his expression changed. Although he had only been in Theonia for nearly two days, he was shocked at how this vibrant and rapidly developing city-state union with a short history had also attached great importance to knowledge and culture. They had even formted a lot of systems and built many facilities to highlight its importance and ensure its development and inheritance, such as the Akademia of Theonia, Hall of Sages, and the newly built library¡­ With its splendid culture, even Athens does not have such systems and facilities. It respects knowledge and schrs in such an important position as Theonia, a paradise for schrs to give full y to their talent!

    After pondering about it, Lysias finally made up his mind, ¡°After I return to Athens, I will discuss it with my family and decide when toe to Thurii.¡±

    ¡°Splendid!¡± Ansitanos was overjoyed and came forward to pat on Lysias'' shoulder and said, ¡°Lord Davos will be thrilled when he knows that Theonia will have another famous Greek schr! Believe me. You will be better off in Theonia than in Athens!¡±

    ¡°Shh!¡± The librarian poked his head out from behind the reception desk and made a hushing gesture.

    Ansitanos could only nod apologetically.

    At this time, Lysias said with a troubled expression, ¡°Ansitanos, as far as I know, you are the dean of the Institute of Literature.¡±

    ¡°I am more interested in history. Rather, I only reluctantly agreed to be the dean of the Institute of Literature at the request of the archon because no one waspetent at that time. But this has wasted too much time that I should have spent in writing my book. Now there is you who is more capable and has deeper literary attainment than me to take over, and I can''t be happy enough¡­¡± Ansitanos said a lot of things without thinking.

    ¡°Thank you, my friend!¡± Lysias smiled and bowed to Ansitanos. His heart suddenly became relieved after finally making his decision. He looked at the countless rows of bookcases stretching deep into the vast space in front of him, filling the air with the strange scent of wood and paper scraps. He took a deep breath, and he felt somewhat intoxicated, ¡®I will spend the rest of my life here!¡¯

    ¡°Ansitanos, if it is convenient, can you take me to meet the one you called ¡®God''s favoured¡¯ and the undefeated Davos. I would like to see for myself what kind of a great man someone who founded the Akademia of Theonia and built the library should be?!¡± His eyes were filled with curiosity and longing.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the Carthaginian''s envoy''s ship sailed into the circr military port of Carthage, which is famous throughout the Mediterranean, the Carthaginians swarmed at the emerging envoy to learn about the result of the negotiation.

    When they learned that the peace agreement has been signed and that they only needed to pay a certain amount of food, gold and silver to continue owning several cities, including Lilybaeum, Eryx and other city-states in the west of Sicily, everyone cheered, and some even shed tears¡­

    The Sicilian war thatsted for several years cost Carthage a lot of wealth, and many of their citizens were also killed in this long and cruel war.

    Especially during Carthage¡¯s first war with Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, when the shophet Himilco led his army winning a great victory at the start and reaching even the city of Syracuse, but due to the outbreak of gue, they suffered miserably that they only manage to have dozen-odd ships struggling to sail back to the port.

    Hearing this tragic situation, the Carthaginians gathered at the port inquiring about their rtives. After learning that fifty-sixty thousand soldiers (excluding mercenaries) had either died in Sicily or captured, the wails and screams of the bereaved rang throughout the coastline. It was the darkest day in Carthage, and the whole city was in grief.

    Everyone wore ck vail, every household closed their doors to see no visitors, suspended their businesses, and even the temples were closed¡­

    In contrast, the nobility among the nobles in Carthage''s politics, the Magonids, who hade from Carthage''s mother state, the royal family of the famous Phoenician city ¨C Tyre, monopolising the Carthaginian politics for nearly 200 years, had now finally been threatened. Following the disastrous defeat of the Carthaginian army led by Hamilcar, the patriarch of the Magonids, against Gelon the tyrant of Syracuse, in the Battle of Himera more than 70 years ago, the name of the Magonids was linked to defeat on an overseas expedition. And this time, the situation was more serious as almost everyone in the Carthaginian army was lost, but Himilco did not die on the battlefield like his ancestor. Instead, he abandoned hisrades and soldiers and fled back alone. Such an act of desertion is enough to be punished by getting crucified ording to Carthaginianw, but because of the Magonids status as kings in Carthage, the Magonids patriarch was temporarily exempted from the punishment. However, the storm did not end there as the Carthaginian elites, who are already discontent with the Magonids, used the grief and anger of the citizens to push for reform.

    Himilco, the loser who had brought shame to his family, realised that the situation was highly unfavourable to the Magonids. So he confesses to the gods about his sin by wearing cheap and worn linen clothes every day and going to the main Temple of Melqart in Carthage in hopes to redeem himself in this way. But in the end, the citizens'' persecution, ridicule and humiliation made him break down, and six monthster, he locked himself at home and killed himself. Unfortunately, this public act of atonement is still not enough to safeguard the authority of the Magonids.

    Shortly afterwards, Carthage established a new political body ¨C the Hundred and Four, a constitutional authorityposed of members of the aristocracy. Its duty is to supervise the actions of Carthaginian officials and militarymanders and the work of the high court. However, the Magonids was not elected to be a part of it.

    In order to revive the declining power of the Magonids in Carthage and win back prestige among the popce, Mago, the new patriarch of the Magonids and was the younger brother of Himilco, took advantage of their family''s still significant influence in the Senate and the tyrant of Syracuse ¨C Dionysius'' attack on Soluntum and once again provoked Carthage''s third Sicilian war against Syracuse.

    However, the Carthaginian army, which was significantly weakened, was losing more than winning against an increasingly powerful Syracusan army. Mago insisted on continuing, however, Carthage was already tired of war, and with no chance of victory in sight, they feared another disastrous defeat, so ¡°truce¡± became the unanimous voice of the citizens.

    Eventually, an agreement was reached, however, Mago had to bear responsibility for their defeat. So when the Carthaginian envoy in charge of negotiating with Syracuse returned, the whole city was cheering at the arrival of peace. At the same time, only one family felt cold, and one might even say disheartened.

    In a huge residence not far from the mountain in the Acropolis of Carthage, people of the Magonids are paying a memorial ceremony as today is the memorial day of Himilco. However, the loud, noisy music and the cheering of the people outside their residence have obviously destroyed the sorrowful atmosphere.

    But Hasdrubal knew that the Carthaginians are currently worshipping and celebrating Demeter, the Greek goddess of harvest, and her daughter, Persephone.

    The Carthaginians are worshipping Greek gods?! Yes. In Sicily, the Phoenician colonial city-states, which have deep ties between the Greek city-state and Carthage, have lived together for centuries, deepening their influence. Both goddesses, Demeter and Persephone, were not only popr with the Greeks in Sicily, but they were also gradually epted by the Phoenicians, and even the Sicilians believed that Hades, the king of the underworld, had abducted Persephone in Sicily. This cultural influence also prated Carthage, where there were already temples of these two goddesses in Carthage. After the recklessness of Himilco''s army, both goddesses became even more prominent among the Carthaginian gods and goddesses because when Himilco led his army to attack Syracuse, his solder looted the temples of these two goddesses on the southern slope of Epipe. But soon after, a gue broke out in the Carthage''s military camp, leading to their disastrous defeat. Therefore, the Carthaginians think that this is the punishment of the goddesses for their sphemy. After all, Persephone is the queen of the underworld.

    So the frightened Carthaginians even strongly urged the Senate to pass a decree for the mass praying of the two goddesses. To this end, they also specially visited the Greeks who settled in Carthage, assigned them to serve the two goddesses, especially Persephone. They even made it obligatory for the ceremony to be carried out in the Greek manner. And due to this religious ceremony, which continued year after year, the two Greek goddesses came to upy an increasingly important ce in the hearts of the Carthaginian citizens.

 Chapter 378: The Magonids

    This was a humiliation for the Magonids.

    ¡®Who would dare to shout outside the residence when our family was powerful?! Those conceited Carthaginians! They were the reason for our family''s current predicament!¡¯ Hasdrubal could not hold back his anger anymore, turned to the ves outside the hall and shouted, ¡°All of you take a stick and go outside and get rid of all those pests!¡±

    ¡°Hasdrubal!¡± Mago shouted in a low voice, causing the irritable Hasdrubal to shut his mouth unwillingly.

    Mago swept a nce at the few immediate rtives behind him and sighed. In the past, their family looked brilliant. However, for the benefit of Carthage, they fought Syracuse for many years, causing many of their rtives to die on the battlefield. His cousin, Hannibal Mago, became infected with a cold after getting his revenge on their grandfather''s humiliation at his defeat in the Battle of Himera and then died of illness on his return to the city. Another one of his brothers died in the gue in which Himilco had fled, and even his son was, unfortunately, shot in the just-ended war with Syracuse¡­

    Even though the Magonids paid so much, the only thing they received in return was a relentless joint suppression by their political enemies. In the Senate election a few days ago, the influence of the Magonids among the newly appointed statesmen was significantly reduced. And for the first time, Mago, the new patriarch of the Magonids, did not serve as the shophet. This is the first time in a century that the Magonids'' patriarch has failed to be the shophet. In contrast, the Magonids'' main opponent, the Hannonian, another great aristocrat family whose strength is only second to them, has be the big winner of this election. The Hannonian had not only firmly controlled the Senate, but their patriarch ¨C Hanno became the shophet, while the other shophet was his close friend. (T/N: This is actually not true, after Himilco''s death, Mago still became one of the shophet.)

    ¡®We had to prepare early as the family would face even greater difficulties!¡¯ Mago clenched his fists and once again affirmed the decision he made earlier.

    ¡°Hasdrubal.¡± Mago then said to his nephew with seriousness, ¡°You are already 25-years old, and yet you are still reckless. So how would I dare entrust you the task of reviving the family and restoring our glory in the future?!¡±

    ¡°Uncle, I-¡± Hasdrubal wanted to argue but was interrupted by Mago. Mago then simply said, ¡°Go to Iberia. At least there, no one will stare at you and take advantage of your political childishness and bring disaster to the family.¡±

    ¡°You are making me go to Iberia?!¡± Hasdrubal''s mouth dropped open, not expecting to be banished just like that.

    ¡°You are not the only one to leave Carthage, as I will also leave.¡± Mago was about to exin when his 10-year-old daughter Dido asked urgently, ¡°Father, where are you going?¡±

    Mago bowed his head and said to his only daughter, who had the same name as the founding Queen of Carthage ¨C Dido, ¡°I''m just going to Sicily. It''s not far from Carthage, and I cane back at any time.¡±

    ¡°Father, are you going to serve as themander in Sicily to fend off the Greeks?¡± Dido asked again immediately.

    Mago looked at his young but already quite beautiful daughter and sighed at her intelligence. However, it was a pity that she was a woman.

    ncing at the disgruntled Hasdrubal again, he sighed and went on to exin, ¡°Although we have signed a contract with Syracuse, the Senate is still wary of Dionysius. Hence they sent me to Sicily, and even though it is what Hanno wanted, it is also what I hope. Sooner orter, there will be another war between Carthage and Syracuse as the peace between both city-states will notst long. That''s why we must be prepare and take back what our, the Magonids, lost in the war through war!¡± Mago continued firmly, ¡°After I arrived in Sicily, I will start recruiting soldiers, train them strictly and gradually established an effective defensive fortress east of Lilibaeum and Eryx. Afterwards, I will slowly extend the buffer zone with the Greeks eastward as we wait for the time to¡­¡±

    He then patted Hasdrubal''s broad shoulder and said, ¡°Do you think that by sending you to Iberia, I am exiling you? No! It''s because I need your help!¡±

    ¡°You need my help?¡± Hasdrubal felt puzzled and excited at the same time.

    ¡°War consumes men and money. Once we go to war with Syracuse, I fear that Hanno will hold me back by not giving Carthage''s full support. Therefore, we must rely more on ourselves, just like how Hannibal used the family''s wealth to summon an army to help Himera decades ago. The south of Iberia is a fertilend muchrger than Carthage and Sicily, rich in silver, iron ore and other metals. They also have arge poption of indigenous people. Since the fall of the kingdom of Tartessos, there has never been a powerful force there, which should have been a great opportunity given to the Carthaginians by Melqart. However, our people and the elders became toofortable as they would rather do trade and farming in Carthage and Numidia than venture on the unfamiliarnd thousands of kilometres away.

    Since no one in Carthage could do it, it''s up to our family to do it! Hasdrubal, the family has decided to provide you with sufficient manpower and money, so I hope that you can gain a firm foothold in Iberia and upy a stable territory for the family as the strongest backer for my future war with Syracuse!¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, uncle, I won''t let you down!¡± Hasdrubal no longer has any dissatisfaction. On the contrary, he clenched his hands and looked excited.

    Mago looked at him with some uneasiness. He knew his nephew well enough to know that he was good at leading men into battle, but conquering an unfamiliarnd requires more than warfare; it needs administrative and diplomatic skills, which Hasdrubalcked. However, he is the only one among the Magonids immediate family who was up to the task, so he could only think of sending him apetent assistant to make up for his shorings in this regard.

    ¡°Uncle, I''d like to go to Iberia with my brother!¡± A young voice then sounded in the hall.

    ¡°Haka, you can''te!¡± Hasdrubal said tly to a thinned face, pale youth.

    ¡°Developing Iberia has be the most important event that will determine the rise and fall of our Magonid family, so how can I, a member of the family, livefortably alone in the city and just watched my uncle and you go through difficulties outside! And-¡± The young man looked solemnly at the bronze bust of Himilco and the food offering in front of it, ¡°I also hope to avenge father!¡±

    His words made Hasdrubal choked. Afterwards, Hasdrubal said, ¡°But your health-¡±

    ¡°After exercising for some time, my body is now much better. And I will continue doing exercise in Iberia. Besides, you are the one that needs to lead the troops into battle, brother, while I will just stay in the camp¡­¡± Haka exined to both Hasdrubal and Mago.

    ¡°Haka, are you sure you want to go?¡± Mago finally asked.

    ¡°Yes, uncle. I already made up my mind!¡±

    Although Haka said it lightly, Mago knew that once his little nephew decided something, it would be difficult for others to make him change his mind. However, he had been intelligent from a young age and had maturity and steadiness, unlike any other teenage kid. Himilco even once thought that he would bring greater glory to the Magonids in the future, but he had always been weak and ill. Still, Mago believes that if he went to Iberia and assisted Hasdrubal, he would undoubtedly get greater benefits.

    ¡°Now that you have made up your mind, I agree in letting you go. But you should understand that if you could not guarantee your health, it would be difficult for you to help Hasdrubal and our Magonids in the future!¡± Mago said seriously.

    ¡°I understand.¡± Haka nodded.

    ¡°Uncle, but-¡± Hasdrubal wanted to say more due to his uneasiness, but Mago loudly said, ¡°Let''s go and pray to your father for thest time. I hope that he can protect the family''s business and for everything to go well¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Theonia''s rugby and football games are in full swing even though July is a scorching season.

    Davos, who had just return from the Senate meeting, received an urgent letter from Laos.

    ¡°Go to the Akademia of Theonia and call Henipolis back!¡± After reading the letter, he immediately ordered his ve with a severe expression.

    ¡°Yes, master.¡±

    ¡°Milord, why have you hurriedly called me back? I almost got scolded by that old man again.¡± Davos could hear Henipolis voice before he even entered his study, ¡°Since that old Athenian came to the Institute of Literature, we have be much busier than before. Besides reciting poetry and prose every day, we also have to write an article within two to three days. And if we can''t meet his requirements, we have to rewrite it. Milord, why don''t you tell teacher Ansitanos that I don''t want to be a rhetorician, as I just want to continue studying history with him¡­¡±

    ¡°Heni, you no longer have the time to study history.¡± Davos handed him a letter with a solemn expression.

    Henipolis suddenly felt a bad premonition. He quickly received the letter and opened it. He then felt like five thunderbolts had struck him, making his whole body freeze, ¡°¡­this¡­this is not real¡­at the start of the year, my father came to Thurii to see me¡­he was in good health!¡­really good!¡­¡± As he spoke, lines of tears dripped down from both of his eyes.

    Davos sighed: Avinoges fainted at the party and remained unconscious. ording to his previous life''s experience, he feared that it was ¡°Cerebral Oedema¡±. ¡®I have long advised him to stop overeating, but!¡­¡¯

    Henipolis suddenly remembered something. He then suddenly came forward, grabbed Davos'' hands tightly and begged anxiously, ¡°Milord! Milord! You are the favoured of Hades! You are the teacher of all Theonia''s physicians! Please save my father! Save him!!¡­¡±

 Chapter 379: Davos Father-in-law

    ¡°Heni, calm down! I have already sent Herpus to rush to Laos, and after I finish the matter here, I will also rush tomorrow!¡± Davos said loudly.

    ¡°Thank you, milord, thank you!¡­¡± Said Henipolis as he sobbed.

    Although Davos felt sorry for him, he could not let him stay sad like this because he knew that cerebral oedema was an extremely dangerous disease at the level of medical science in this era. Even Theonia can''t do anything about it, and everything is all up to luck for him to wake up. Thus he needs to start nning for the future of Laos.

    ¡°Heni! Heni! Look at me! Look at me!¡± Davos shook Henipolis'' body and shouted at him.

    Henipolis nkly raised his head with tears flowing down his face.

    ¡°I need to tell you that the physicians of Theonia have experience the condition of your father many times. However, the situation after the treatment is not optimistic.¡± Hearing this, Henipolis showed a pained expression.

    ¡°Listen, child. You are already a 25-year-old young man, a distinguished man of Theonia! If your father''s situation is really bad¡­you should bravely take over the burden borne by him by taking care of your mother and the people of Laos, just as your father did! Do you understand?!¡­do you understand!!¡±

    ¡°I¡­understand¡­¡± Henipolis nodded with tears.

    ¡°Good. Go back and pack your things. You should hurry back to Laos, and I will meet you there!¡± Davos patted his thin shoulder encouragingly.

    As he wiped his tears with his hands, Henipolis staggered out. Then, he suddenly stopped, ¡°Milord, I¡­can I ask you for help when I am in trouble?¡±

    ¡°Child.¡± Davos said gently but firmly, ¡°As I have already said, I regard you as my own child, so I will definitely help you with all my might in any difficulties you may face!¡±

    ¡°What happened? I saw Heni crying.¡± Cheiristoya came in with Crotokatax.

    ¡°Dad, I just saw brother Heni crying. He is so big and yet still cry.¡± Little Cro followed to say.

    Davos picked up his child. Even though this guy was almost five years old, he is already quite strong, ¡°Your brother Heni''s father has copsed and still haven''t woken up yet.¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡± Cheiristoya eximed and asked, ¡°Is it serious?¡±

    Davos nodded heavily.

    Cheiristoya became gloomy. She then thought of something and asked, ¡°Is Heni going back to prepare to take over as the archon?¡±

    ¡°Besides him, who else in Laos could?¡± Davos said indifferently.

    ¡°Dad.¡± At this time, little Cro pinched his face and asked worriedly, ¡°Are you going to copse too?¡±

    Davos looked at little Cro and Cheiristoya and answered seriously, ¡°For you, I can''t copse.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Agnes'' father, Athelycus, is a famous noble in Rhegium, and he hade from a family who is one of the earliest immigrants in the city of Rhegium. Decades ago, the famous tyrant of Rhegium ¨C Anaxs, hade from this family. He had also married his daughter to Hiero, the tyrant of Syracuse at that time, butter fell out with him due to the Locrians.

    When Dionysius proposed to Agnes, it was not only due to her beauty but also because of her family''s influence in Rhegium and her connection with Syracuse. But in the end, Rhegium chose Theonia. With Athelycus marrying his daughter to Theonia''s archon, Davos, the Rhegians elected him as one of Rhegium''s strategoi for two consecutive years.

    Athelycus developed his family¡¯s sea trade by taking advantage of the unique geographical location of Rhegium, especially in the trade between the two city-states of Massalia(Marseille) and Zakantha(Sagunto), earning him huge profits. Furthermore, Athelycus has two shipyards, and its shipbuilding capacity is second to none in South Italia. That is why the Theonian Senate approved handing over the construction of six of the ten triremes to be built this year to Athelycus'' shipyard. Of course, this is also the way for Theonia to draw in Rhegium.

    But when he and his son-inw met, the scene was not as harmonious as one expects.

    ¡°What are you talking about? To make Rhegium deliver our six triremes in our fleet to Theonia?!¡±

    ¡°That''s right. And we will still pay you the price of a new ship while you upgrade your fleet with the new ship, wouldn''t that be good?¡±

    ¡°No, it''s not! We can''t give you our existing warships as it will weaken the strength of Rhegium''s fleet!¡±

    ¡°You only have to wait a few more months before you can use the new ship.¡±

    ¡°That''s still not good. With the support of the tyrant of Syracuse, the Messinians are now rampant. That''s why we must have enough warships to deter them! Why couldn''t you just wait a few more months! You can rest assured that our shipyard will deliver the warship to Theonia on time.¡±

    ¡°Our navy is stepping up the training of new tactics, so we urgently need new warships to join in order for us to be familiar with and adapt the tactics as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°New tactics? What new tactics made you so anxious?!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the ve outside the living room heard Athelycus'' voice became louder as if they were quarrelling, he hurriedly went to tell Agnes.

    Hearing it, Agnes felt helpless. Even though she is now the wife of the most powerful archon in South Italia, trying to dissuade her father, who is discussing with her husband, made her uneasy as she grew up under her father''s shouting. Thus she went to get Cheiristoya.

    Cheiristoya, who was walking in the garden, listened to Agnes'' request. She then looked at the sky and said with a confident smile, ¡°Sister, don''t worry. I will go and persuade them.¡±

    After giving a few instructions to Azune, she then stops at the outside of the living room. After listening for a moment, she walked right in and said with a smile, ¡°Davos, lord Athelycus, I apologise for interrupting you. However, dinner is already ready, and the children are waiting. Would you like to continue your discussion after dinner or -¡±

    ¡°After dinner, of course.¡± As soon as Davos heard that the children were hungry, he could no longer sit still. Thus he said to his father-inw, ¡°Let''s finish our meal first before continuing.¡± Then he stood up.

    Athelycus stared at Cheiristoya, but he could not say anything to a pregnant woman, so he just followed them out of the living room.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Davos, to tell the truth, this fish soup is much better than the one made in the restaurant that you opened in Rhegium. Is there anything going on?!¡± The fish-loving Athelycus ate the dinner that was specially prepared for him. He was so satisfied that he forgot his previous displeasure and began joking around.

    ¡°There are none. The restaurant is filled with customers making the time so tight that the chef doesn''t have enough time to cook it well. While here, just marinating this fish had taken over an hour.¡± Exined Davos.

    ¡°Excellent!¡± Athelycus praised. He then took another sip and then asked, ¡°Have you tasted the fish sauce I sentst time?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Its taste is unique. It has both savoury and fresh, and a very pungent vour¡­my chefs are using it as a sauce and trying it with other foods¡­¡± Said Davos.

    ¡°That fish sauce was made by the Phoenicians and was produced in Gadir(Cadiz). The city of Gadir, besides being famous for its abundance of silver, Gadir is also famous for this thing. In North Africa, Iberia, Carthage, western Sicily, the coast of Egypt, Asia Minor, and many ces had regarded this as a delicious seasoning¡­¡± Athelycus took a sip of wine, rinsed his mouth and added, ¡°There are only two kinds of workshops in the city of Gadir, one for refining silver and one for making this fish sauce, and they are roughly split 50/50.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Gadir.¡± Davos knew this ce. It is located at the southern end of the Iberian Penins and is famous for its abundance of silver. The Phoenicians of Tyre had built it as a settlement, but the Carthaginians now controlled it. However, Davos did not expect it to have this industry besides silver.

    ¡°I heard that this fish sauce is made of a¡­uhm, rotten entrails of mackerels mixed with vinegar. I -¡± As soon as Athelycus said this, he heard a vomiting sound. Then he saw Agnes leaning on the table as she began to vomit.

    Athelycus initially showed anger at his daughter''s interruption, but he soon realised what was happening and immediately looked at Davos with eagerness.

    ¡°I haven''t had the time to tell you.¡± Davos then said with a smile, ¡°Agnes is pregnant.¡±

    ¡°Wonderful! She is finally pregnant! I was worried about whether it''s Artemis¡¯ punishment* that even though two years had passed since her marriage, her stomach showed no sign, while Cheiristoya is about to give birth to a second one. Atst, I can finally rest assured!¡± Athelycus smiled happily. He then raised his mug and said, ¡°This is a great event! Davos, let''s have a toast!¡± (referring to how Agnes had first served as the priestess of the famous Artemis, then transferred to be the priestess of Hera, then married.)

    ¡°Cheers!¡± Davos also raised his mug and drank its content all at once.

    Athelycus hupped after putting down his mug.

    Still seeing Agnes vomiting on the table, Davos anxiously motioned for Cheiristoya to ask someone to help Agnes take a rest.

    At this time, Athelycus then said, ¡°Davos, I am ecstatic today, so I have decided to agree to your previous proposal and deliver the six triremes of Rhe¡­uhm¡­Rhegium''s fleet to you first. As for your other suggestions, such as having the two fleets train together, I will have to go back and discuss it with the Council before I can give you an answer.¡±

    When Cheiristoya noticed that they had begun discussing, she knew that Davos and Athelycus would start talking about business again, so she hurriedly asked the children to leave.

 Chapter 380: Rhegiums Request

    When Cheiristoya was about to take little Cro away, he held on to his father''s knees and started crying and making a fuss.

    However, Davos couldn''t take care of him at the moment, so he turned to Athelycus and said, ¡°The Theonian Senate will be pleased to hear this, and I hope that-¡±

    Athelycus waved his hand and hurriedly said, ¡°However, Rhegium also has a small request that we hope Theonia could agree!¡±

    The Greeks of South Italia has a saying that the Rhegians are all merchants that haggles over every penny. And Athelycus is the best among them. Sure enough, Davos couldn¡¯t get anything for free! Thus he could only brace himself as he said, ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°You should already know that the tyrant of Syracuse has rebuilt Messina. And now, Messina haspletely yielded to Syracuse and are now opposing Rhegium at every turn. Moreover, they have an aplice ¨C Tyndaris. It is the colonial city where the tyrant of Syracuse had settled the exiled Messenians, which is not far from Messina. The two city-states joint forces and often disrupt the trade routes of the Strait, and sometimes even detain the merchant ships thate to trade with Rhegium¡­if this were to continue, there would be no one that will dare toe to Rhegium by sea to trade!¡± Athelycus said with mncholy.

    ¡°We even protested to Messina many times, but it all failed. We even sent envoys to Syracuse, but the tyrant would not even meet our envoys! Therefore, after our Council discussed it, we decided to build a colonial city on Peloritani to amodate the exiles of some Sicilian city-states such as Catania, Naxos and Leontinoi¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait.¡± Davos looked at the ves who were waiting on him and said, ¡°Go to the study and get me the map of Sicily.¡± Although Davos has the habit of reading maps every day, he only has a poor memory of Sicily¡¯s terrain and city-state locationspared with his familiarity with South Italia.

    ¡°Dionysius destroyed the city-states such as Catania and Naxo, so those exiles must be full of hatred for Syracuse.¡± Davos knew that many city-states in Magna Graecia had taken in Sicilian exiles because they were wary of Syracuse, so they did not have a problem helping those exiles that Syracuse banished. And Davos naturally thought of Aristias at this moment.

    ¡°That''s for sure, which is why they won''t easily submit to the tyrant!¡± Athelycus said in hatred.

    After the ve brought the map, Davos unfolded it on the table.

    ¡°This is Messina¡­this here is Tyndaris¡­¡± Davos looked at the map carefully.

    Athelycus also leaned over as he looked at the map. He then noticed that the specially drawn map wasrge and meticulous in its details, which was no less than the one stored in Rhegium''s city hall. Obviously, his son-inw paid no less attention to Sicily as even the newly built city-states, such as Lilibaeum, the new city of Messina and Tyndaris, were clearly marked, and even some of those city-states that were destroyed were also marked with an exnation. For example, the city of Himera, on the north coast, has an exnation that it was ¡°Destroyed during the Sicilian warunched by Carthage''smander ¨C Hannibal, fifteen years ago.¡±

    ¡°This Peloritani¡­¡± Davos'' finger stopped in the northeast corner of Sicily. It''s located between Messina and Tyndaris, making its location excellent as it can cut off the connection between the two cities. After all, Messina and Tyndaris are both new cities (Carthage destroyed the old Messina), so they are not that strong. And even with the support of Syracuse, Syracuse had too many city-states under it that it is impossible for them to support Messina and Tyndaris fully. Although Rhegium is not as strong as Syracuse, they are still a powerful and wealthy city-state. Thus if they were to pour a lot of resources into this new city, it would soon surpass both Messina and Tyndaris, thus achieving the purpose of restraining and deterring the two cities.

    But there is a serious problem.

    ¡°Have you taken into ount Syracuse''s attitude?¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°Following the ancient tradition, any Greek city-state has the right to establish a colony. Furthermore, the location of our new city is not within the territory of Messina and Tyndaris¡­¡± Said Athelycus.

    ¡°Dionysius wouldn''t care about Greek tradition with his personality.¡± Davos didn''t think much of it and said with a serious expression, ¡°He had just managed to control the western Sicily, but if there is an outsider that wants to put his hands in his sphere of influence, do you think he will agree?¡±

    ¡°That''s why I havee to Thurii this time. Rhegium hopes to get your support!¡± Athelycus eagerly continued, ¡°For this reason, Rhegium is willing to hand over themand of our fleet to Theonia.¡±

    Initially, the city-states in Theonia Alliance did not have such freedom to bargain with Theonia. However, unlike the other small affiliated city-states, Rhegium was the only powerful Greek city-state in Magna Graecia to join the alliance. Thus the Theonian Senate showed enough tolerance and respect to them that Davos even invited Rhegium to join the South Italia Alliance in order to strengthen Theonia¡¯s voice. On the other hand, the other city-states such as Crotone did not strongly oppose it due to Rhegium''s influence. Hence, Rhegium is the only Greek city-state in Magna Graecia that belongs to both the Theonia Alliance and South Italia Alliance.

    However, Davos remained silent: Support? That is easy to say, as this would mean that it is a war. However, Theonia is trying to avoid war. Otherwise, why would they sign a friendship agreement with Syracuse? Rhegium just wants to drag Theonia into the water!

    ¡°I need to discuss such an important matter with the Senate and even with other city-states in the alliance.¡± Said Davos ambiguously, without giving an immediate answer.

    It took Davos a good deal of time to send the unhappy-looking Athelycus away. And even after that, Davos still paced back and forth in the living room, thinking about the Strait of Messina.

    In the end, he called Aristias.

    ¡°A war would break out!¡± Aristias affirmed, ¡°The reason why Messina and Tyndaris dared to invade Rhegium so boldly was due to the support of Dionysius. Perhaps what Rhegium wanted to do is exactly what Dionysius hoped for, as he couldunch a war against Rhegium, not only will they get their revenge on Rhegium-¡± Said Aristias as he looked at Davos.

    Davos didn''t care what he was hinting at and just said, ¡°Continue.¡±

    ¡°Syracuse would then upy Rhegium and control the whole Strait of Messina, allowing Dionysius to collect taxes on passing merchant ships to support his huge army. Milord, ording to the intelligence we have gathered, Syracuse imed a lot of war reparation in their negotiation with Carthage. Afterwards, they used the money to buy food, build more warships and pay the mercenaries. This is definitely not just to threaten Rhegium!¡± Said Aristias worriedly.

    Davos remained silent as he already knew all this information.

    Aristias continued, ¡°In addition¡­milord, from the intelligence that was recently gathered across Theonia, I have discovered a situation that I hope will attract your attention.¡±

    ¡°Oh, what is it?¡± Davos looked at him.

    ¡°There is currently a growing concern among the preparatory citizens and registered freemen. That is, they are worried that they will no longer be able to obtainnd even if they be an official citizen of Theonia¡­¡±

    Indeed, Theonia Union has basically divided thend under its territory. And the only ces that they have sparends are the Lucanian mountains and the Bruttii regions, but that is not enough for so many preparatory citizens.

    ¡°So, do they want to leave?¡± Davos'' mouth curled up slightly as he said half-jokingly.

    ¡°Theonia is a paradise for freemen, so how could they leave?!¡± Aristias paused then continued, ¡°They hope for a war, use war to win morend, use battles to shorten the years they need to wait to be a citizen and use their achievements in war to getnd!¡±

    Davos'' mood became a bit heavy. The military merit system he designed for Theonia is basically their way of attracting Greek freemen to flock to Theonia. And it is also the motivation for the citizens¡¯ desire for battle and bravery.

    ¡°Those who forget war will be in danger, but those who are militant will die¡­¡± Davos silently recited these words. He affirmed to himself that he must firmly control themanding power of Theonia¡¯s army in his hands. Otherwise, once it gets out of control, the consequences would be unimaginable. However, Theonia is still weak right now, and it still needs this system to grow.

    ¡°Land¡­¡± Davos stroked his chin. Now, Theonia has indeed reached a bottleneck in its expansion. To the south, there is a powerful Syracuse. To the north, there is the Samnites, and Davos knew that the Romans had spent decades conquering this warlike race and had even suffered several disastrous defeats. That''s why Theonia would not easily provoke them before they are ready.

    Further east is the territory of Messapi and Peucetti, and in terms of distance, it is the closest ce to Theonia, but these two races are not easy to deal with, and if they were to join hands, Theonia would need to fight them with all its might to conquer them. However, the current situation does not allow them, and there is also Taranto between them, and even though their rtionship with Theonia is not harmonious, but without its full support, Davos does not dare to send an army to attack Messapi.

 Chapter 381: Visitor from the South

    As for the west, there is the vast sea and severalrge inds such as Sardinia, Corsica, Balearic Inds and so on, which was mainly under Carthage. However, Davos does not dare to offend another powerful force in the western Mediterranean while facing the threat of Syracuse. As for upying a region in Gaul, Davos did not even consider it as Theonia''s navy was not even capable. Besides wasting too much national power due to travelling long distances, they might not even be able to keep it.

    With Theonia''s expansion at its limit, how would he be able to break the stalemate? Davos thought deeply¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Theonians favourite month is September. Apart from being the harvest season, it is also the month when Hades, the patron of Theonia, was born. And during that time, besides the lively festival, Theonia Union would even hold the rugby finals. This is the month of festivity for the Theonians, especially in Thurii.

    In many Greek city-states headed by Athens, September is the month of phebolia (It is the month where the Greeks held a festival offering cakes in the shape of stags to Artemis.) While in Theonia, September was officially designated as the month of Hades. Simrly, April was also designated as the month of marriage and Hera''s Day, while in many Greek city-states, the month of marriage is set in July¡­

    Just from those, it could be seen that Theonia has gradually started deviating from the traditional Greek city-states in terms of life, customs and culture.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, a young man called Megaris came to the port of Thurii. He is a medium-sized man with a well-proportioned and athletic body.

    It was obvious that this was his first timeing to Thurii, as he was surprised at seeing so many ships in the port. Just reaching the dock alone had already taken him a long time, and he even needed to squeeze among the crowd in the port. After getting out of the port, all horse-drawn vehicles were already taken, so he had to walk for more than an hour to arrive outside the city of Thurii, where there was already a long queue.

    However, Megaris was not in a hurry. He patiently waited in line while listening to the people happily talk about ¡°What kind ofrge-scale performance will be held in the Nike Square for this year''s Hades'' Day, or guessing which city''s team will be the winner of this year''s rugby finale¡­¡± It was already noon when he reached the city guards.

    Although he was hungry and thirsty, he still patiently answered the guard¡¯s question.

    ¡°Are you a Theonian citizen? If not, go back. During this time, the city of Thurii is not allowing foreigners and freemen to enter!¡±

    ¡°I am a Theonian citizen, my name is Megaris and I live in Krimisa, my number is 1356¡­¡± Said Megaris fluently.

    The guard stared at him and said, ¡°Show me your identity te.¡± Following the proposal of Davos, Theonia made a palm-sized bronze te for each official citizen since the previous year. Engraved on the front was the citizen¡¯s name, while on the back were the citizen''s city of residence and citizen number. Even though this is just a simple identity authentication, it is already a significant innovation in this era. It is especially convenient for managing the movement of citizens in the territory, particrly for the census officers. Previously, if a citizen living in Thurii broke thew in the city of Aprustum, the city would need to record his vition then send it to the Census Registry Department of Thurii. Afterwards, the census officers would need to find the citizen''s file before they could record his vitions. However, Thurii has tens of thousands of citizens living there, with a lot of them having the same names, so finding them would be a very troublesome thing, but now it has be easier to find them with the citizen number. And although the bronze identity te is simple to make, the number of each te is unique, so checking whether it is a forgery is rtively easy. And making a forgery of this would one be charged with felony ording to the Theonianw, so no one dared to forge it.

    Megaris calmly took the bronze te out of his pocket and handed it to the guard.

    After looking at it carefully, the guard threw the bronze te back to him. With many people going in and out of Thurii every day, it is only natural for the city guard not to register them. He then pointed to the bulging satchel carried by Megaris and said, ¡°What''s in it?¡±

    ¡°They are all coins. With the rugby gamesting nearly a month, it would cost a lot just living here.¡± Said Megaris.

    ¡°Open it.¡± Said the guard as he looked at him seriously.

    Having no choice, Megaris could only open it.

    ¡°clink clink clink¡­¡± The guard reached in and rummaged the coins twice. After checking that all are coins, the guard nodded and said, ¡°Go in.¡±

    Megaris then picked up the satchel, but when he was just about to take two steps.

    ¡°Oh right.¡± The guard shouted behind, causing Megaris'' heart to jerk suddenly.

    ¡°Just to be safe, you''d better deposit all your money in Cheiristoya''s Bank and only withdraw it once you need it.¡±

    Breathing a sigh of relief, Megaris thanked the guard.

    After entering the city, he followed the map he had seen before, and after asking the people he met on the way, he finally found the inn not far from Theonia''s arena.

    In the lobby of the inn were numerous people.

    Just when Megaris squeezed to the counter, the attendant looked at him and said apologetically, ¡°I apologise. The ce is already full.¡±

    ¡°I have a reservation.¡± Megaris hurriedly responded.

    Taken aback, the attendant asked, ¡°What room is it? Who made the reservation?¡±

    ¡°Room 17, and the one who reserved it is Aureas.¡± Megaris answered smoothly.

    The attendant immediately opened the register, ¡°Yes, room 17 was booked for five days. Are you Megaris?¡±

    Megaris then showed him the bronze te.

    After confirming it, the attendant nodded and said, ¡°Please follow me.¡± Then he took Megaris upstairs.

    ¡°Lucky guy.¡± Muttered someone in the lobby. In fact, many people who hade to the festival lived directly in the homes of the people they knew in Thurii. Only some new citizens or preparatory citizens had to stay in the inns because they had no friends and acquaintances in Thurii.

    Megaris entered the room, and after the attendant left, he quickly locked the door and looked carefully at the room¡¯syout.

    Then he went to bed, moved it out and reached the bottom of the bed near the side of the wall. Soon, he took out something tightly wrapped in linen.

    He opened it carefully and saw a blue dagger inside¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the next few days, Megaris travelled through the streets of Thurii, especially the Temple of Hades, where he observed the terrain many times. Except for when he is inquiring about the festival from the Thurians, he always went on his own way and tried not to contact others.

    Soon a problem urred; he fell in love with the food of Cheiristoya''s Restaurant. Despite the many trials of death on the battlefield, this mission had given him a considerable amount of stress. So, where is the best ce in a city-state to relieve that stress? It is, of course, the restaurant.

    As a mercenary, Megaris, who had been living a simple life, was soon enraptured by the delicious food of Cheiristoya''s Restaurant, such as hot pot, beef tripe, fresh fish soup, honey bread and fried cod. Soon, he learned some of the ¡°bad habits¡± among the wealthy Theonians ¨C spending three meals a day in the restaurant.

    But there is one thing that he had forgotten, that is, in order to stay in the guest room in the city of Thurii in time, he came eight days earlier before the festival on September 9. And with the food in Cheiristoya''s Restaurant is not cheap, not to mention that during the festival, the city became crowded, causing the price of goods to rise, especially the food. Therefore, after a few days, Megaris found that he had used up his ¡°Hades'' Coin¡±, so he tried to pay with other city-state currencies, but the waiter refused his payment and said they do not ept coins from other city-states except the coins issued by Theonia.

    Feeling helpless, and at the same time for convenience, Megaris brought all the money in his satchel to Cheiristoya''s Bank.

    When it was finally his turn, the bank employee asked him through the iron window from the counter, ¡°Are you going to deposit or withdraw money?¡±

    ¡°I would like to exchange for Theonian coins.¡± Megaris patted the satchel.

    The employee looked at it then handed out a piece of papyrus, ¡°Write down the name of the currency you are going to exchange and the quantity¡­¡±

    Megaris then said with embarrassment, ¡°I¡­I can''t read.¡±

    The employee often encounters this situation, so he continued to say without a change of tone, ¡°This¡­you can tell me how much money you want to exchange, then give me the money you want to exchange and watch me while I confirm it for you. Do you agree?¡±

    After hesitating, Megaris nodded and told the employee the type and amount of currencies he wanted to exchange.

    The employee listened as he began to take notes. But when he heard ¡°Syracuse''s Tetradrachms¡±, the iron stylus on his hand trembled slightly. However, some Sicilian merchants would sometimese to Thurii and would deposit and exchange coins from time to time.

    After writing it down, he called another employee to count and recheck as Megaris stuffed his satchel into the window.

    The employee opened the satchel and began counting the coins. Although it seems that the employee looked at it carelessly, he is, in fact, examining the coins with great care. His heart then jolted when he saw that the majority of the coins in the bags were ¡°Syracuse''s Tetradrachms¡±, and some of them were even in mint condition¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Lord Ansitanos, you must persuade that child when you go Laos this time! It has only been a few days since he became the archon, but before he could even warm the chair with his ass, he already wants to change thews of Laos by strictly governing the illegal activities in the city¡­¡± Davos continued angrily, ¡°This is like dering war on those nobles of Laos(they are actually the former chieftains of the smaller tribes) and threatened by giving more rights to themoners. Hmph! Who does he think he is? Even his father wouldn''t dare to do that! What does he take Laos for? Theonia or Athens? No, he doesn''t even know that Laos is not a true Greek city-state. It''s just an old tribal union changing its name¡­¡±

 Chapter 382: The Eve of the Festival

    ¡°Henipolis is still young! And with him holding such power in his hand, he got carried away as he just wants to do what he thinks is right, even though he doesn''t understand the actual situation of Laos¡­¡± Ansitanos spoke in a gentle tone.

    ¡°But what Theonia needs now is a stable Laos, so no matter what ideas he has, he had first to stabilise the order of Laos and slowly build up his own prestige. Lord Ansitanos, once you arrived, you should tell him not to be too anxious in governing Laos. After all, with the support of Theonia, his wish will certainly be fulfilled in the future!¡± After venting out his anger, Davos mood improved, and he seriously added, ¡°In addition, you should also warn him to listen to the opinions of his father''s men and respect them, especially his uncle Alobamus, and discuss the matters with him more¡­¡±

    ¡°I understand, Lord Davos. I will try my best to persuade Heni.¡± Ansitanos answered seriously.

    ¡°By the way, how is the ode of Hades that Lysias is writing going on? The festival will begin in two days.¡± Davos asked with concern.

    ¡°It''s almost finished. Even though Lysias is still dissatisfied with some of your requirements and thinks that it is limiting his thinking, it is, after all, a great honour to perform it in front of thousands of Theonian citizens so that he couldn''t be happier.¡± Said Ansitanos jokingly.

    Davos also smiled, ¡°I, of course, hope that he can prove to the Senate and me through this new ode that the Theonian citizenship that I especially applied for him is worth it!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Lord Davos, it seems that this year will be another bumper harvest for grains. But if we were to get more, I fear that we won''t have a ce to store them.¡± Said Baripiri. With Burkes resignation out of guilt and the fact that the storm that shocked Theonia has not yet subsided and with the sensitivity of this position, Davos finally proposed to elect Baripiri, a Bruttian statesman, to this position among the statesmen.

    Initially, the people thought Baripiri would need to adapt first, but they didn''t expect him to act resolutely after taking his post. First, he tly refused prosecutor Sesta¡¯s request to continue investigating the Ministry of Agriculture on the Pollux case, to which Sesta naturally objected. Finally, they brought the issue to Davos, where he eventually put an end to the expansion of the case under the persuasion of Baripiri, which made him win the gratitude of the civil officials under him.

    Afterwards, he started reviewing the situation of the Ministry of Agriculture in detail. After consulting the former Chief Agricultural Officer ¨C Burkes, many times. He then began enacting a new system that strengthened the department''s supervision and improved administrative efficiency, reducing the burden on his people. For example, when Burkes was still in charge, he often travelled to the countryside to understand the situation of the fields, and he even asked his men to do the same. However, Baripiri thought this method was inefficient, so he handed over this responsibility to the vige chiefs, while the officials under the Ministry of Agriculture only needed to make regr inspections and receive reports.

    He then proposed to the Senate to increase the sry of the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture due to how high itsbour intensity as they often have to run around the union and even go down to the fields and assist in nting that they often have no time to take care of their ownnds. Of course, this proposal was not passed, as this only gave the staff under the Ministry of Agriculture a raise in sry, so what would the staff of other departments think?!

    However, due to this, Baripiri won the support of all the staff under the Ministry of Agriculture.

    ¡°So your suggestion is to build another granary?¡± Davos thought for a moment and asked.

    ¡°Milord, the number of granaries in Thurii, Consentia and Grumentum is already enough.¡± Replied Baripiri seriously. After the Bruttian war, Davos suggested the strategy of building granaries and grain reserves after careful consideration. And the slogan ¡°prepare for war and prepare for famine¡± impressed the other statesmen that they approved the construction of granaries around the central cities of Thurii, Consentia and Grumentum, with guards protecting it. And it has already been implemented for two years now.

    ¡°After carefully inspecting the situation in the three granaries, I discovered that the grains stored the year beforest has been somewhat mouldy. If we were to keep them any longer, I fear that they will all go bad, which would be a waste. Therefore, it is better to sell them to make room for the purchase of new grains¡­¡± Baripiri seriously suggested.

    Davos nodded and said, ¡°If that is the case, then just do what you have just said, lord Baripiri.¡±

    After seeing off Baripiri, Davos saw Aristias waiting outside the living room, ¡°What''s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Milord, the information that-¡± Aristias whispered.

    Davos'' face suddenly turned cold when he took the little paper roll and opened it, ¡°Have you confirmed it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord. Teratus especially rushed to Krimisa to check, and he had just returned on horseback today and confirmed that his bronze te is indeed fake. And while he was away, we sent someone to quietly search his room where we found a daggerced in poison¡­¡± Aristias said slowly, word by word, without any emotion.

    ¡°It seems that their target is me! Syracusan tetradrachms¡­hmph, Dionysius!¡± Davos sneered, his eyes gleamed with coldness. He suppressed his violent impulse as he paced back and forth in the corridor.

    Davos eventually halted, but his face became firmer as he said, ¡°Since he hasn''t given up, let hime and make bigger noise!¡±

    Aristias immediately arranged it knowingly.

    Afterwards, Davos sent someone to invite back Baripiri, who was still on the road. He did not only wholly overturned his previous decision. He had even made a hard decision that they would not sell the old grain but also asked Baripiri to buy new grains on arge scale, which they shouldplete in a short time. And he would tell Mersis to cooperate and provide the treasury¡¯s coins.

    Baripiri felt the sudden change of Davos'' attitude was strange, But he did not inquire and instead chose to agree.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Megaris spent almost all his money in the restaurant in the past two days as he enjoyed the delicious food.

    After returning to the guest roomte at night, he locked the door and lit a candle. He then took out the dagger under the bed, stared at it in a daze as he thought back to the promise he made to his lord before he left.

    The candlelight reflected the light of the knife on his face, which was a deep shade of blue¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the birthday of Hades on September 9, the Theonians'' festival was as usual, with thousands of Theonians surrounding the Nike Square.

    As the music rang out, the temple''s priestesses began singing the ode of Hades.

    And with several years of subtle influence, the people were already somewhat familiar with this novel way of singing. Therefore there are singing on and off the stage, resounding throughout the whole city, which was truly spectacr.

    Next, it''s the time for arge-scale theatrical, which is also one of the favourites of the people to watch in the festival. But this time, it was neither about the story of the Greek mercenaries arriving in Magna Graecia under the guidance of Hades, nor the magnificent epic of Theonia Union''s foundation under the protection of Hades, nor other legends of Hades. Instead, a muscr man suddenly walked towards the square, dressed in a lion skin and holding a big club¡­

    The crowd were so impressed with the image that someone immediately shouted, ¡°Heracles! Heracles!¡­¡±

    Along with the beatings of the drum, an unusually tall man walked into the square (he is actually on a stilt, with clothes covering his lower part). Although his appearance was a little bit odd, the crowd felt astonished, ¡®It''s a giant!¡¯

    Many versions of the story told about the ¡°battle between Heracles and the giant¡± taking ce in Africa, but many southerners insisted that the battle had taken ce in South Italia, so with this, it seems that Theonia Union has satisfied their expectations.

    On the square, ¡°Heracles¡± and the ¡°giant¡± fought¡­in the end, the ¡°giant¡± died, causing the crowd to cheer.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Suddenly, a group of people in Bruttian clothing ran onto the square, led by a woman in a gorgeous dress. Afterwards, they congratted ¡°Heracles¡±, and ¡°Heracles¡± then held hands with the woman¡­

    Many were puzzled, but the Bruttian Theonian citizens understood what was happening and soon shouted excitedly, ¡°Queen Valentia!¡±

    ¡°Heracles!¡±

    ¡°Brutus!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    This attracted the other crowd causing them to inquire what was going on.

    Soon after, the Bruttian music rang out in the square, and the Bruttians danced their traditional dance around ¡°Heracles¡± and ¡°Queen Valentia¡±.

    Under the guidance of the Bruttians, the crowd outside the stage also began dancing.

    Lysias watched at this lively grand scene. As the dean of the Insitute of Literature of the Akademia of Theonia, he naturally appreciated the show from a different perspective from ordinary people, ¡°I bet that archon Davos was the one who suggested this. His consideration is profound!¡± His words revealed his admiration for Davos. After all, it is only after meeting Davos that he decided to move to Thurii.

    ¡°In the Theonia Union, the Lucanians and the Bruttians made up a considerable number, and the term ¡®ethnic harmony and integration¡¯ are what the archon has repeatedly been mentioning in the Senate, and he has constantly made efforts!¡± Ansitanos said emotionally.

    ¡°That''s right, and it will not be easy and would take a lot of time!¡± Unlike Isocrates, Lysias does not believe in ¡°Athenian supremacy¡± or ¡°Greek supremacy¡±. On the contrary, because of his extended stay in Athens, he could sense the Athenian xenophobia and conservatism, which made him feel that he found the main reason for Theonia''s rapid rise.

    At this time, therge-scale performance in the square has ended. Ansitanos smiled and said, ¡°Lysias, I can''t wait to hear your Ode to Hades!¡±

    Lysias said confidently, ¡°I am sure that I won''t let you down!¡±

 Chapter 383: Assassination

    Davos had long stopped ying tricks during the ceremony in front of the Temple of Hades, like when the temple was firstpleted. Instead, he followed the traditional ceremony, ughteredmbs, offered blood and food, and sang Hades¡¯ ode. And this time, the ode of Hades is not the previous one, but the one written by Lysias. Davos had read it before and felt that it was well written, which means that the culture of Theonia started to develop.

    Since mortals are equal before the gods, the people who participated in the ceremony are in order of those who arrive first stands in front.

    Megaris stood on the periphery of the square, close to the temple, so when the flow of people surged to the temple, he would walk towards the soldiers, maintaining order. The soldiers formed a sizeable defensive circle surrounding the whole Temple of Hades, with several teams of guards patrolling to keep order and prevent idents.

    More than 20 metres in front of Megaris is Davos. Currently, he was singing the ode together with a group of priests behind him.

    Megaris gulped unconsciously, put down his right hand and touched the hard object near the outside of his thigh.

    After Davos finished singing the ode, the bronze bell rang, ¡°Bang!¡­¡±

    Then they hear Davos'' spirited shout, ¡°Now let''s start praying to the great Hades!¡±

    With that, he lowered his head and closed his eyes. The people followed as they prayed silently, with some even kneeling on the ground, and even the soldiers began praying in their hearts.

    Megaris then saw a group of guards passed by him from the inner circle.

    ¡®Now''s the moment!¡¯ With his eyes open, his powerful right leg stomped on the ground as his whole body charged like a cheetah. He passed through the lower gap between the guards, shed behind them, ced his right hand into his chiton, and pulled the dagger out.

    Among the mercenaries in Campania, Megaris is known for his speed, and the distance of more than 20 metres is only a moment for him. At this time, excitement and tension surged all over his body as he stared at Davos, even though the wind was blowing in his eyes.

    ¡®I''m close! Very close!!¡¯

    He then saw Davos raised his head, neither appearing nervous nor scared and just smiled slightly at him, causing Megaris to feel a ¡°thump¡± in his heart.

    Behind Davos, the two priests who were bowing their heads rushed out in an instant with a small leather shield in their hands. Soon, the leather shield smashed at Megaris with force.

    Because of his inertia, he was unable to dodge. He then felt that his right hand seemed to be struck by a boulder with his bones cracking, and the dagger flew out of his hand.

    Followed by another shield that closed in on his head, immediately fainting him.

    ¡°Is he dead?¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°He just fainted, milord.¡± Answered Martius, who was disguised as a priest.

    ¡°Good.¡± As soon as Davos said these words, some of the people began shouting, ¡°Assassins! There are assassins! They want to assassinate Lord Davos!¡±

    ¡°Murder! There are assassins trying to kill us!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Only then, the people who reacted finally saw the assassin that had fallen in front of Davos. Then they heard someone repeatedly shouting, ¡°Murder! There are assassins!¡­¡± Immediately, the people began rioting.

    ¡®Not good, someone is making trouble!¡¯ Davos'' mind immediately sounded an rm. There are tens of thousands of people in this ceremony, so the consequences would be unimaginable once there is a panic or stampede. ¡®Isn''t this what happened to Mithridates'' troops!?¡¯

    Out of desperation, Davos walked forward and came to the rear of the soldiers and began shouting, ¡°Citizens of Theonia, soldiers of the legion, Imand you to remain calm! Maintain the order! Protect the people!¡±

    Martius and the soldiers followed suit and began shouting.

    Hearing the orders of the grand legatus, the citizens of Theonia began to obey and consciously stood up to calm down the people around them. Soon, the chaos gradually calms down.

    At this time, a woman was pushed forward and fell into the defensive circle with a scream.

    Davos showed concern and was about toe forward and help.

    While the soldier next to her immediately helped her up. But as soon as he lifted her, what he saw was a twisted and murderous face. She then pushed the unsuspecting soldier, quickly pulled out the dagger hidden in her body and stabbed fiercely towards Davos.

    Davos, who was very close to her, could not dodge in time, as he could only watch the bluish dagger thrust towards his chest. But in an instant, Martius, who was behind him, suddenly pushed Davos away with his left hand, and at the same time, his right hand quickly tried to grab the dagger. However, the dagger pierced his palm.

    Martius then roared and hit the woman in the face with his left fist.

    The woman screamed and was knocked back several steps and fell to the ground, convulsing and vomiting blood.

    ¡°Holy father, are you okay?!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos! Milord!¡­.¡±

    Pleisinas and the other priests and the crowds all screamed as they all rushed to Davos with concern.

    ¡°All of you stay where you are!¡± Davos stood up quickly and shouted, ¡°Maintain the order! I am fine!¡±

    As he spoke, the guards rushed over and protected him in the centre.

    ¡°Go and check on your captain!¡± Davos pushed aside the soldiers and hurried towards Martius.

    ¡°Milord, I am fine.¡± Martius whispered after ripping his ceremonial robe from his body and using it to wrap his right hand.

    Davos took a look at his right hand, which had dyed the white linen in red. Afterwards, he patted him on the shoulder but didn''t say anything. Instead, he noted this life-saving grace in his heart.

    He then walked towards the woman.

    At this moment, the woman''s face was extremely gruesome.

    Davos stared at her nkly with his fingers slightly trembles as this was the first time he really felt that death was so close to him aftering into this world for so long.

    ¡®Damn it! Damn¡­¡¯ Just when he felt that he could no longer control the rapidly growing anger in his heart, he could hear the shouting of the soldiers behind him, ¡°Captain, what''s wrong with you?!¡±

    Davos then turned his head and saw Matius feebly fell to the ground.

    ¡®The dagger is poisoned!¡¯ A thought shed through Davos'' mind.

    More than ten yearster, Ansitanos wrote in his ¡¶Histories of Magna Graecia¡·: The Festival of Hades, which was supposed to be a lively event for the Theonians was interrupted by this assassination attempt, which left the captain of Davos'' guard unconscious from his injuries. Hundreds of Theonians were also injured, and more than dozens had died due to the panic during the assassination. But more importantly, the attempted assassination of the Theonian archon ¨C Davos, shocked the whole Theonia Union and the whole city-state of South Italia. At the same time, it also had a far-reaching impact on the political situation of Theonia, South Italia and even the entire western Mediterranean, which the people behind this assassination did not expect¡­

    The historian can easilyugh at the historical event afterwards. But on that day, immediately after the assassination, Thurii put the whole city on lockdown and even imposed a curfew. Many who were staying in their homes and inns were uneasy as rumours about ¡°Davos has been assassinated¡± spread. This caused panic among the Theonians, who have always regarded Davos as their biggest dependence on the Union''s safety.

    And the archon, whom everyone has been worrying about, has now returned home. In the face of the concerns of Cheiristoya, Agnes and the children, who came after hearing the news, Davos could barely assure them. Afterwards, Davos immediately called Aristias angrily, ¡°You and your men are stupid! You unexpectedly allowed an assassin to lurk around me so boldly and didn''t even notice it! If Martius was not to wake up, many of your men must pay for it!¡±

    Aristias gave no excuses. ¡®I was indeed deceived by the enemy this time. Unexpectedly, Megaris was just a cover while the real assassin was a weak woman. Fortunately¡­lord Davos was not hurt!¡¯ Cold sweat drenched Aristias'' back as he thought of that.

    After Davos finished venting his anger, his mood calmed down slightly, and he said sternly, ¡°Aristias, I don''t care what methods you use, you must dig out these ¡®thorns¡¯ hiding in Theonia and those that are hostile to Theonia in the shortest time! I will also allow the patrols under Matonis to cooperate with you.¡±

    Aristias clenched his fist and said, ¡°Rest assured, milord! I will never let you down again!¡±

    ¡°I don''t want to see Theonia''s statesmen or strategoi and the officials of the union assassinated or get into an ident, especially when Theonia is about to take action!¡±

    Rather than making Aristias pressured, Davos'' warning made him excited, ¡®The union wants to take action?! To whom?!¡¯

    As soon as Aristias left, Kunogta and Matonis arrived together. Kunogta had a quirk since his defeat in the Battle of Thurii against the Lucanian Tribal Alliance that year ¨C he is unwilling to stay alone with those military people. However, this time, the situation is urgent.

    When Matonis entered the living room, he was relieved to see that Davos was indeed safe, just like what the others said, so he shouted, ¡°Milord, the assassin has confessed.¡±

    ¡°So fast?!¡± Davos was a bit surprised.

    Matonis grinned but remembered that the atmosphere was wrong, so he had to hold himself back, ¡°When the assassin woke up, he confessed without waiting for us to torture him. His only request was for a few meals at Cheiristoya''s Restaurant before he dies.¡±

    This request was indeed a bit amusing. But Davos was not in the mood tough, so he asked with seriousness, ¡°What did he say?¡±

    Matonis said angrily, ¡°He said he was a Campanian mercenary and had been fighting for Syracuse for several years and that this time, it was Syracuse''s strategos ¨C Macias, who sent him to assassinate you¡­¡±

 Chapter 384: Anger

    ¡®Macias?!¡¯ Davos then remembered what Ansitanos told him, ¡®Macias was the leader of the Campanian mercenaries andter became an important strategos under Dionysius.¡¯

    ¡°You have gotten any evidence?¡± Davos asked.

    ¡°No, he didn''t bring anything when he came to Thurii, while the inn he stayed in and the dagger were all prepared by another person named Aureas. However, he only knew the name but didn''t know what Aureas looked like or what he does¡­¡± Matonis then continued seriously, ¡°Currently, I have sent some men to the inn he stayed hoping to get some information about Aureas.¡±

    After hearing this, Davos once more asked, ¡°What about the woman?¡±

    ¡°No one hade to check on her and said to know her¡­¡± Matonis was a bit depressed.

    ¡°Matonis, it has only been a short time since the assassination, and you have already made great progress!¡± Davosforted him, then his eyes gleamed coldly, ¡°Whether she is from Thurii or other cities since she can participate in the festival means that there is a trace to follow. Besides, both daggers that she and the other man held were very simr andced with poison. Thus she definitely has something to do with Syracuse!¡±

    Davos sneered and ordered him, ¡°Matonis, go find Aristias immediately and have him help you find out the truth as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Matonis turned around and left.

    Afterwards, Kunogta said anxiously and hesitantly, ¡°Lord Davos, are you nning to dere war on Syracuse? Although the assassin had imed that Syracuse ordered him to do it, it has not yet been confirmed, and-¡±

    Davos, who always respects Kunogta, rudely interrupted the old man, ¡°Lord Kunogta, I would like to ask you this. What would happen to Theonia if they really seeded in assassinating me this time?¡±

    Kunogta was taken aback. He thought about it and truthfully said, ¡°There will be¡­unrest¡­¡± It is more than that as a civil war might ur. The three major races within the Union, the Greeks, Lucanians and the Bruttians, are bound to have a conflict; The several army leaders also have equal seniority and prestige that they could not deter the other legions while the officials dominate the Senate. If this goes on¡­Kunogta became more and more frightened as he thought about it.

    ¡°Then what would happen to our South Italia Alliance?¡± Davos stared at Kunogta''s expression while guiding his thoughts. The South Italia Alliance is an alliance of Greek city-states in Magna Graecia led by Theonia. With Theonia''s strength being far beyond the other city-states, it became the pir maintaining the alliance. However, once there is an internal conflict and civil unrest in Theonia Union, weakening it, Crotone and Rhegium might jump out to fight for power. Since the strength of both sides is not much different, then none of them will be convinced of each other, causing the South Italia Alliance to be just an empty shell, not to mention that Crotone is likely to retaliate against Scylletium and Terina for their betrayal. It is also possible that Crotone will dere war on Theonia for revenge, which would lead to theplete copse of the South Italia Alliance¡­

    ¡°We all know that Syracuse has just signed a peace agreement with Carthage, yet we couldn''t see Syracuse demobilising their mercenaries. On the contrary, they are buying grains and building more ships¡­so what are they for? Are they going to help Sparta defeat the Theban Alliance?¡±

    Davos'' question struck Kunogta''s mind: Indeed, Dionysius has long had ambitions for Magna Graecia, so if Theonia Union is in turmoil and the South Italia Alliance became a mess, then Syracuse''s strength would be far beyond those various city-states and alliance in Magna Graecia, allowing them to achieve their goal easily¡­

    Davos stared at the old man in front of him as tiny beads of sweat trickled out quietly from his temples. As a Theonian statesman, Kunogta was elected three times as the Praetor of Thurii due to his contribution to the present prosperity of Thurii. Unfortunately, his biggest drawback was his fear of war.

    ¡°Lord Kunogta, you should already be familiar with me. I am not one who rashly go to war without adequate preparation. Still, we need to take action; otherwise, it would be a terrible thing just letting Syracuse, a vicious wolf, lurk around Theonia, coveting ournd and disturbing our union''s order at any time!¡±

    After hearing Davos'' sincere words, Kunogta pondered for some time. Finally, he changed his mind and said, ¡°Lord Davos, what do you want me to do?¡±

    Davos'' smiled and said, ¡°During the emergency meetingter, I hope that you can support my proposal to mobilise the Theonian citizens in preparation for war with Syracuse!¡±

    ¡®Just to ¡°prepare¡±?¡¯ Kunogta couldn''t believe what he heard. After all, with Davos'' fierce appearance just now, he thought he would immediately start a war with Syracuse.

    ¡°Naturally, there is more. We need to support Rhegium''s establishment of a colonial city on Sicily¡­¡± Davos nced at Kunogta and said word by word, ¡°I also need you to tell the ¡®truth¡¯ of the investigation result about the assassin incident to the other statesmen ¨C namely that Locri sent the assassins at the request of Syracuse!¡±

    Kunogta''s eyes widened, and his face showing surprise, ¡°Lord Davos, are you perhaps-¡±

    ¡°Yes, we will target Locri!¡± Davos'' expression became slightly vicious, and his words became firm, ¡°Dionysius'' alliance with Locri is to make Locri a springboard for Syracuse''s invasion of Magna Graecia, and the existence of Locri made it impossible for us to integrate into a whole. So this time, we need to take advantage of this great opportunity to dere war on Locri. If Syracuse were to rescue them, our chances of winning would be very high as long as they face the army of our South Italia Alliance in thend of Magna Graecia! And if they do note, we will just conquer the city-state that betrayed Magna Graecia!¡±

    Although he had already prepared for the inevitable war between Theonia and Syracuse, Kunogta preferred dealing with Locri first than facing the powerful Syracuse. Back at the founding of Theonia City-State Union, Locri was a powerful state in Magna Graecia, but now, they are no longer worth mentioning in the eyes of the Theonians. Moreover, to be able to think of such a strategy means that Davos was not blinded by anger, so Kunogta began to give advice actively, ¡°It just so happens that for this festival, the strategoi and statesmen of all the city-states of the South Italia Alliance have been invited, such as Lord Athelycus of Rhegium, Lord Lysias of Crotone, Lord Siprus of Terina, Lord Phrytinas of Scylletium, Lord Prinus of Caulonia¡­ And they must have already heard of today''s shocking event, so we could just ce the South Italia Alliance conference that was to be held in Scylletium in Thurii instead. And I believe that we could easily reach an agreement!¡±

    ¡°I believe that they are already waiting for the Senate to send someone to contact them, so we should finish our Senate meeting as soon as possible.¡± Davos reminded.

    ¡°Understood.¡± Kunogta nodded. He then left Davos'' residence with a somewhat heavy step, for he knew that after today, Theonia Union, which had been at peace for more than three years, might once again open the gates of war.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    During the Senate meeting of Theonia, the statesmen were more concerned about the well-being of Davos, especially the statesmen that were former mercenaries, the Lucanians, Amendrans and some Bruttians.

    That''s why when Kunogta told them the ¡°truth¡±, the statesmen were outrage, which allowed for Davos'' proposal of ¡°dering war on Locri¡± to pass easily.

    Although militants like Amintas was slightly disappointed that Davos did not dere war on the culprit, Syracuse. On the other hand, Cornelius, Ansitanos and the others were surprised why Syracuse hid behind Locri. Still, they became relieved for a bit.

    The Senate finally decided to send envoys and question Locri with harsh demands.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After getting home, Davos did not even have the time to rest as he immediately asked someone to invite his father-inw, Athelycus.

    ¡°I am finally relieved to see that you are okay!¡± Athelycus said happily as soon as he saw him, which made Davos feel warm.

    Then Athelycus shouted, ¡°Syracuse! It must be someone from Syracuse who has done that! I''ve long said-¡±

    Davos interrupted him and said decisively, ¡°The Senate of Theonia decided to fully support Rhegium in the establishment of a colonial city in Sicily, but I hope that you can abide by your previous words and hand over Rhegium''s fleet to Theonia for unifiedmand!¡±

    ¡°That''s excellent news. But could Theonia ensure the safety of Rhegium''s coast and trade routes if we were to hand over our fleet to you?¡± Athelycus became reluctant again.

    ¡°I don''t think Syracuse will have the time to bully Rhegium anymore because Theonia will send envoys to question Locri about sending ¡®assassins to assassinate me.¡¯¡± Davos'' words were shocking.

    Athelycus said with astonishment, ¡°How¡­how could it be Locri?¡±

    ¡°Because Theonia and the South Italia Alliance needed to wage war against Locri!¡± Davos said firmly.

    Athelycus was still surprised, but he understood Davos'' intention. He shook his hands, then gripped the chair''s armrest and sat down slowly, ¡°You¡­are you trying to¡­no! Are you trying to lure Syracuse to Magna Graecia¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes. By concentrating the troops of the various city-states in South Italia Alliance on thends of Magna Graecia to fight against Syracuse, we have a higher chance of winning! Father, I need the full support of Rhegium in convincing the other city-states at the South Italia Conference.¡± Davos, who rarely say the word ¡°father¡±, just shows how important this n is.

 Chapter 385: Envoy to Locri

    Athelycus raised his head and gazed at Davos after pondering for some time. He then said, ¡°I promise that I will hand over the control of Rhegium''s fleet under themand of your Theonia Union and will fully support Theonia''s proposal at the South Italia Alliance conference. Of course, you have to understand that this is not because you are my son-inw, but because Rhegium always wished to inflict harm to Syracuse!¡±

    After seeing off Athelycus, Davos invited Theonia''s old friend, Siprus, who is now the elected polemarchos of Terina.

    Siprus readily epted when Davos asked him for his support. Besides Terina being close to Theonia Union and having close business contacts with the nearby city of mpetia and the Bruttian region, Terina also needed them for its protection, ¡°Lord Davos, in fact, there is no need for you to ask Terina''s support in advance as your proposal will be easily get supported by the city-states of South Italia Alliance due to Crotone, Scylletium, Caulonia and our Terina have been a mortal enemy with Locri and its allies for decades. Over the years, they have be the biggest problem that gued our city-states, so this time, if we could get rid of them in one fell swoop, it would make us thrilled. So why would we object?¡±

    Sure enough, it is just like what Siprus has said. They held the emergency conference of the South Italia Alliance in the guesthouse next to the Grand Senate Hall that was used to receive the envoys and important persons from other city-states. In the conference, the other city-states unanimously agreed that: In the event of a war between Theonia and Locri, the South Italia Alliance would join together to form arge army to crush them, and at the same time, they would all get ready for a war with Syracuse.

    It was alreadyte at night when the meeting ended. After seeing off Davos, the strategoi were about to head back to the guesthouse when Lysias shouted, ¡°Look at the sky!¡±

    They saw bright silver lines are drawn in the southwest night sky, which was unusually dazzling in the dark sky.

    Strategos Phrytinas of Scylletium widened his eyes as he looked at it carefully and said disapprovingly, ¡°Such sight happens many times a year. It''s nothing special.¡±

    ¡°But those happened in July and August while we rarely see such sight in September.¡± Said Lysias.

    ¡°It''s truly rare during this season.¡± Said strategos Prinus of Caulonia with a serious expression.

    ¡°This is a good omen!¡± Siprus shouted excitedly, ¡°Perseus is the hero who killed the vicious and sinister Medusa. And now that we have finally made up our minds to dere war on the dictatorial and oppressive Dionysius, we shall eliminate this tyrant who has threatened the safety of the Greek city-states in Magna Graecia and the people for more than a decade. Isn''t this what the hero Perseus wants!?¡±

    ¡°Siprus is right. As long as our, the South Italia Alliance, unite, our actual strength will exceed Syracuse. And just like Perseus killing Medusa, we can beat Syracuse and restore the independence and freedom of the Greek city-state of Sicily!¡± Athelycus encouraged.

    Some of the other city-state strategoi were pondering, and some couldn''t help but nod as if that would relieve them of the tension of a possible war with Locri and subsequently Syracuse¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Davos got home, he was already exhausted, but after hearing that Aristias hade, he roused himself up and met him in the study.

    ¡°Milord, we have found out that the man who reserved the room for Megaris was a merchant from Locri who oftenes to Thurii to buy wine, which is why the owner and the waiter of the inn are familiar with him. Unfortunately, he already left Thurii nine days ago and returned to Locri.¡± Aristias reported.

    ¡°Locrian merchant eh¡­we really didn''t wrongly use someone.¡± Davos sneered. In fact, if one thought about it, it is understandable to suspect Locri. After all, since the Pollux case, the Thurians and even the entire Theonian poption had be wary of the Syracuse who entered their territory. On the contrary, their attitude towards Locri, Syracuse''s ally, remained well.

    ¡°Any progress regarding the investigation of that woman?¡± Davos once more asked.

    ¡°Yes. After our investigation, we found out that she is a concubine of a Krimisian nobleman who had been sentenced during the Pollux case a while ago. She came to Thurii together with several family members of those sentenced in the previous case. Currently, lord Matonis sent his men to find and arrest them.¡±

    ¡®Krimisians again!¡¯ Davos felt that he should write a letter to Protesus, the Praetor of Krimisa, asking him to strengthen the management and reformation of the original residents of Krimisa.

    Davos was also thinking about proposing to the Senate to add a patrol department to lead and coordinate the patrols in the cities, increasing the preservation of order in the cities and the capture of offenders¡­ In other words, improve the status of the patrol and make it official, instead of always letting the soldiers move.

    As he thought about it, again and again, Davos unknowingly came to Cheiristoya''s room. After noticing it, he hurriedly gestured to Azune, who was in the outer room and was about to withdraw.

    Suddenly, Cheiristoya''s voice came from the inner room, ¡°Davos?¡±

    ¡°Why are you still up sote? It''s bad for your health and the baby.¡± Davos said in a low voice.

    ¡°Such an event happened today, and you expect me to sleep while you still haven''te back?!¡± Cheiristoya''s delicate tone showed deep concern, ¡°I want you to sleep with me tonight.¡±

    ¡°Alright! Okay!¡­¡± Davos went inside and sat down by the bed, ¡°See, I am fine.¡±

    Azune quickly lit the candle while hurriedly boiled some water to wash Davos'' face and feet.

    Cheiristoya''s carefully moved her round belly, leaned against Davos and put her hands around him, ¡°Agnes and I¡­were terrified after hearing that assassins attacked you! Thank Hades!¡±

    ¡°Yes, and also thanks to Martius! He is still lying in the hospital and unconscious!¡± Davos sighed and said with hatred, ¡°That''s why we have decided in the Senate to take revenge on Locri and Syracuse!¡±

    ¡°That means¡­war is about to break out again, and it is even with Syracuse¡­¡± Hearing this, Cheiristoya''s delicate body shuddered as she said with some worry, with her arms hugging Davos more tightly.

    Davos gently stroked her back andforted her, ¡°You still don''t know me yet?! When have I ever lost when ites to war?!¡­ Still, I am afraid that I won''t be by your side when you give birth.¡±

    The loss on Cheiristoya''s face shed away. Instead, she softlyforted Davos, ¡°You don''t have to worry, Azune and Agnes are here to take care of me, and even your students (referring to Herpus and the other physicians) are regrlying to see me. So just likest time, I''ll have a smooth delivery. Rather, you must protect yourself, in case you¡­you leave me, Agnes, little Cro, Cynthia, Adoris, the child in our belly, and all those who love and rely on you.¡± At this point, her voice choked a bit.

    Davos could only put his arms around her and whispered to reassure her by saying, ¡°Don''t worry, with Hades'' blessing, I will not be in danger! And this time, the Senate dispatch a hundred more guards for my safety, and they will be even more strict. It''s just that this will make it impossible for our family to go to Thurii''s market in the future. Do you remember back¡­¡±

    Cheiristoya''s snored softly. At some point, she fell asleep, so Davos could onlyy her down t and covered her gently with the nket. He gazed at her slightly frowning pretty fact as a sudden idea surface at the bottom of his heart¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following day was the day when the Theonian Rugby Finals began. Even with yesterday''s event, Thurii did not let it from stopping the event to take ce and held it on time as usual with crowds filling the arena early.

    When the noise began to fill the huge arena, the crowd saw the archon they were worried about appeared in the distinguished guest seat, waving around with a smile on his face.

    The crowd then gave out deafening cheers shaking the whole arena.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the Theonians in Thurii cheered at the opening of the Rugby Final, the Senate''s envoy ¨C Praxileos, reached Locri by ship.

    At present, Praxileos is now an intermediate judge of Theonia. He had just stepped down from his post in Amendra and was waiting for a new appointment in Thurii. And since he is as eloquent as Aristocrates but is much smoother and savvier than him, the Senate appointed him as an envoy to Locri. After all, he became an official of Thurii much longer than Aristocrates.

    Praxileos was thrilled to obey, not that he was unaware of the dangers of the trip, but it was an excellent opportunity to showcase his talent and attract the attention of the statesmen, especially the archon ¨C Davos. With the intermediate judge being the highest position that a Union citizen, who is not a statesman, like him can hold, as statesmen are the only ones that can be a senior judge while archon Davos concurrently hold the highest level. So next, he will either continue serving as an intermediate judge in other cities or transfer to different positions, where he needs toplete five years of service before he can enter the ranks of an elected statesman of the Senate. Thus he must increase his chances of bing a statesman by performing excellently.

    Locri is located near the ¡°toe¡± in South Italia, next to Rhegium. However, even though it did not upy fertile and t ins like Sybaris and Crotone, nor have an excellent geographical position like Rhegium, it instead took advantage of its rtively favourable position near the main trade route of the Strait of Messina by establishing two colonial cities, Medma and Hipponion, on the western coast of South Italia, which happened to be on the trade route leading to the most prosperous trade route to the Tyrrhenian Sea region ¨C Central Italia. By opening up an ancient path that linked the east and west coasts, Locri was able to establish itself as a famous coastal city in the western Mediterranean and thus became a power in Magna Graecia.

 Chapter 386: Declaring War on Locri

    In fact, Theonia and Locri have some ties with each other. During the foundation of Thurii, the wise man of Athenia, Protagoras, created aw for it by adopting thews of the famouswmaker of Locri, Zaleucus, rather than the Athenianw by basing it on the fact that Thurii was a city-state made of numerous immigrants from various origins. And the Theonia Union that was established on the ruins of the old Thurii had taken the essence of the originalws of Thurii.

    Zaleucus was famous for his strictws, and he even once made a rule that ¡°anyone who wants to change any of the existingws must first put a rope around his neck, and once his proposal is not passed, he will be strangled to death.¡± Zaleucus was impartial in enforcing thew throughout his life that even when his son broke thew, he still ordered his eyes to be dug out ording to thew without any hesitation. However, out of the rtionship as father and son, he gouged out one of his eyes instead.

    With such figures setting an example and suchws governing the Locrians, it made the Locrians different from themon Greek city-states, making them famous for their obedience to thew (Of course, with the addition of the Theonianster on.) At the same time, they also know how to obey orders which allowed them to resist Crotone, whose strength is stronger.

    Perhaps it is due to their strictws that Locri''s patron god is unlike most other city-states who chose powerful gods such as Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo and Athena. Instead, they chose two gentle goddesses: Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, and Persephone, the queen of the underworld and the goddess of fertility. They had even built magnificent temples for each of the two goddesses. That''s why when Theonia held the Hades'' Day on September 9 every year, a small number of Locrians would also rush to participate, not only because of the unique ceremony and the liveliness in Thurii but also because the Theonians will also celebrate Persephone while offering sacrifices to Hades.

    And since they have two goddesses as patrons, the social status of Locrian women is higher than that of other city-states. They even allowed them to appear in public with veils and have rights to inherit some properties, which is somewhat simr to Theonia.

    Unfortunately, the two Greek forces with simr cultures and customs had regrettably be enemies even with all of that.

    Before Praxileos could arrive in Locri, the Locrian Council already found out about the assassination attempt on the archon of Theonia. Despite Thurii blocking the whole incident soon after, but as the overlord of South Italia, not only Locri, even other city-states in the South Italia Alliance, as well as Taranto had sent men to stay or hide in the city and port of Thurii, so as to know the development of Theonia at any time, which would allow them to make corresponding countermeasures in time. Therefore, as soon as such a huge riot urred, those people naturally paid attention to it. And after they found out the situation, they returned to their respective city either by boat or horse.

    So that even though Praxileos set out the next day, he still fell behind. After arriving at the port of Locri, the officials at the port had already quickly reported it to the Council, causing the Locrian statesmen to be surprised at why the envoy of Theonia appeared here at this time.

    A few of the strategoi and statesmen of Locri knew more about what really happened in the assassination, such as strategos Demodokas, brother of Doris ¨C the wife of Dionysius, who wishfully believed that Theonia was just going toin to Syracuse again. However, he did not expect that the envoy of Theonia to show up here.

    Although surprised, out of courtesy and respect for Theonia ¨C the hegemon of South Italia, he had invited Praxileos into their Council Hall.

    Like other democratic city-states, the lesia is the highest authority when discussing and deciding important events of the city-state. On the other hand, the council handles the usual minor political matters.

    The Council of Locri is simply a scaled-down lesia, which divides all citizens participating in the lesia into many groups, usually ten, and takes turns participating in city-states matters through the Council. And now, there are eight strategoi and hundreds of council members in the Council hall, which is already a huge assembly several times more than the number of Theonian statesmen.

    After preparing for a bit, Praxileos walked into the centre of the Council Hall at the invitation of the presiding statesman.

    ¡°Esteemed council of Locri, I, Praxileos, came here as an envoy of Theonia Union to ask Locri a question on behalf of all Theonians!¡± Praxileos exined his intention immediately.

    As soon as he uttered this, a wave ofmotion and surprised shrouded the surrounding statesmen. Instead of pausing, Praxileos raised his voice, ¡°I think all of you know the terrible assassination attempt on Davos, the great archon of Theonia and the grand legatus loved by the citizens, and has aroused the anger of all Theonian citizens! Now, after catching the assassin on the spot and interrogating him, he confessed the truth and admitted that he was hired and helped by a Locrian merchant named Aureas, allowing him to sessfully sneak into Thurii and took action against archon Davos-¡±

    ¡°This is a false usation! A frame-up!!¡± Demodokas, the polemarchos of Locri, immediately interrupted Praxileos and retorted loudly, ¡°We, Locrians, will never provoke you Theonians for no reason! And we are not that stupid!¡­¡±

    ¡°But the truth is the truth! After a detailed investigation and after a repeated confirmation, the Senate of Theonia determined that the one behind the assassination was you, Locri!¡± Praxileos pointed angrily at the crowd and shouted angrily.

    The Council immediately exploded into a frenzy, ¡°Are all the statesmen of Theonia, fools?! What does this have to do with us, Locri? Why don''t you instead question Syracuse!¡±

    ¡°This is clearly amon trick used by that lord, who has already assassinated his political opponents a lot of times in other city-states in Sicily!¡±

    ¡°What evidence is so conclusive? That is definitely fabricated! Theonia could onlye and me Locri because you don''t have the guts to mess with Syracuse! And even if that merchant named Au¡­Aureas is a Locrian; some other city-states must have paid him. Did you even manage to interrogate him? You just easily concluded that it was us, Locrians, who ordered it!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Ignoring their arguments and insults, Praxileos continued, ¡°For this reason, the Senate of Theonia and all citizens are extremely angry at the despicable behaviour of Locri and demand that you be punished. First, admit your mistakes to Hades, and you must send an envoy to Thurii to make a public apology to the Senate. Secondly, make reparations to the people of Theonia who were injured and killed in this incident. Finally-¡±

    Praxileos fearlessly faced the enraged crowd, with his voice firm and loud, ¡°Severe your alliance with Syracuse! If so, Theonia will forgive Locri for the things you have done before and ept you into-¡±

    Before Praxileos could finish his words, roars of anger drowned his voice, ¡°We Locrians didn''t do anything wrong, so why should we ept your unreasonable demands!¡±

    ¡°This is humiliation! A humiliation to Locri!!¡±

    ¡°This is Theonia''s scheme! They want to break up Locri''s alliance with Syracuse!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The members of the Council were swearing, with some even rushing towards Praxileos despite the dissuasion of others.

    One of those running was one of the strategos, Theophantes. The short-tempered strategos rushed up and punched Praxileos, instantly knocking him to the ground.

    Just as he was about to kick him, another strategos ¨C Metelophes held him and shouted anxiously, ¡°Don''t vite the sacred tradition of ¡®invibility of envoys¡¯ and thews of Locri!¡±

    Hearing the word w¡± made the Locrians who were rushing and surrounding Praxileos to freeze up.

    Taking this opportunity, Metelophes shouted, ¡°Lord Demodokas, if you still don''t stop them now, they will be severely punished for breaking thew!¡±

    Demodokas, who had just watched, was called out by Metelophes. As the polemarchos, he had to stand up and retort, ¡°Those who humiliate Locri is the enemy of Locri, so how can it be considered breaking thew when they are just defending the honour of the city-state?¡±

    ¡°Milord, you are right!¡± Someone immediately agreed.

    ¡°Alright, all of you should back down. The Council Hall is a sacred ce, and we Locrians are a civilised city-state, unlike Thurii. So we must not do anything to harm the envoy¡­¡± Demodokas spoke as he walked forward while the members of the Council obediently returned to their seats.

    Demodokas had served at the polemarchos of Locri for nine consecutive years, mainly because of his rtionship with Dionysius. Locri initially allied with Syracuse because it wanted to use its power to defeat its long-time enemy ¨C Crotone. However, although Crotone has weakened, a more powerful Theonia Union has emerged, especially after the establishment of the South Italia Alliance.

    Theophantes could only snort and reluctantly retreated.

    Praxileos staggered to his feet, still refusing to admit defeat, ¡°The former city of Thurii had once harmed an envoy and ended up being burned down¡­¡±

    ¡°Theonian, if you want to unt your superiority, you need to consider the ce. This ce is not the city-states in South Italia Alliance that will do all they can to please you Theonians. This is Locri!¡± Demodokas sneered and proudly exined, ¡°Locri neither has nor cares to assassinate your archon, so we refuse any of your unreasonable requests!¡±

    ¡®Refuse!¡¯ Although he already expected this answer, Praxileos is still happy. He calmly wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth with his finger, stretched his arms towards Demodokas, clenched and unclenched it, showing the blood on his palm. He looked at them and solemnly said word by word, ¡°Then that means war!¡±

 Chapter 387: Dionysius Move

    As soon as Praxileos uttered these shocking words, the Council exploded withmotion, and Demodokas'' expression changed as he subconsciously shouted, ¡°Isn''t Theonia afraid of attracting Syracuse''s army?!¡±

    Praxileos smiled. Through the shrill cry of Demodokas, He saw the hidden fear of the polemarchos of Locri, and this discovery made him feel a sense of pride, ¡°From its establishment to the present, Theonia had faced numerous powerful enemies, and in the end, the weak prevailed over the strong, allowing us to create the powerful Theonia Union of today! We are not afraid of Syracuse, but what about you, Locri? Do you dare face the army of Theonia and the South Italia Alliance?¡±

    Demodokas and the others turned pale¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Lord Praxileos, look at those ships. It seems that they might want toe and attack us. What exactly did you do to the Locrians that made them so angry?!¡± The captain of the transport ship carrying Praxileos to Locriined jokingly.

    ¡°You''ll know in a few days.¡± Praxileos stood at the bow of the ship, watching the Locrian ships escorting them. He thenughed boldly, ¡°Don''t worry. The Locrian strategoi won''t allow us to die here. And even if something goes wrong and we all die here, there will be a statue of you and me in the Hall of Valor in the Temple of Hades in Thurii!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Has that damned Theonian envoy left already?¡±

    ¡°Milord, Theonia''s ship has departed smoothly.¡±

    Demodokas exhaled lightly, letting go of his thoughts for the moment.

    While Theophantes, who was next to him, roared, ¡°This is infuriating! The Theonians came here to show off and threaten us, yet we still have to keep them safe!¡±

    ¡°Theophantes, you have to understand.¡± Demodokas immediately put on a serious expression and said in a slightly reprimanding tone, ¡°Whether we fight the Theonians in the future or negotiate to solve this conflict, as long as nothing happens to their envoy, there will be room for reconcilement. You should already know that thebined strength of Theonia and the South Italia Alliance is no worse than that of Syracuse!¡±

    ¡°We Locrians are not afraid of war!¡± Theophantes angrily retorted, but his voice seemed weak.

    Demodokas couldn''t even bother to pay any attention to him anymore. He turned to look at Metolephes and said, ¡°Quickly go to Syracuse and tell the great Dionysius that Theonia framed Locri for the assassination of their archon, and they had dered war on Locri. I hope that he would send reinforcements; otherwise, Locri won''t be able to fend off the armies of Theonia and the South Italia Alliance alone!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the city of Laos, Alobamus returned to his residence with an ugly expression. Noticing it, his wife asked with concern, ¡°Has your nephew given you another problem?!¡±

    After hearing what his wife said, Alobamus became furious and snorted, ¡°Nephew? He doesn''t even consider me as his uncle. Do you know what new tricks he hade up with today? He wants to build a school!¡±

    ¡°School?! What is that?¡± The Lucanian borndy rarely bothered to learn anything about Theonia.

    ¡°Oh, there is no need for you to understand as it''s not a good thing anyway! Just that he also wants to let those children of poor people study in the school. He is crazy!¡± Alobamus mmed his fist on the wooden table to vent his anger.

    ¡°Didn''t his teacher from Thurii came here not long ago and warned him not to mess around?! And have him listen to you¡­¡± His wife reminded him.

    ¡°Listen to me?!¡± Alobamus sneered, ¡°It''s not like you don''t know my nephew. Since childhood, he has been stubborn. And now that his father is dead and he has be the archon, no one can control him!¡­¡±

    Alobamus became angrier, ¡°Go! Go! Pour me some water!¡±

    After his wife left, Alobamus slumped on the couch and remembered his discussion with Henipolis this morning. After he opposed Henipolis'' proposal to build a school, his nephew, who had been drinking, blurted out in a fit of anger, ¡°This won''t work! That won''t work! If everything does not work, what else do you officials have to do?! Look at our allies. The Theonians had managed Thurii so well that I think it''s better to let them manage Laos!¡­¡±

    The more he thought about it, the more rmed he became and because Henipolis is drunk, it means that he is telling the truth! ¡®The boy had lived in Thurii for seven years and had even lived in the house of Davos, causing him to be heavily influenced by Theonia! He even dared to give away the family business that his father and himself had fought so hard to earn to outsiders for nothing! Could¡­could it be that this is the scheme of Theonia''s archon¡­.¡¯

    Alobamus felt cold sweat as soon as the image of Davos appeared in his mind. Just as he was worried about this, his ve came in and said, ¡°Master, there is a man outside hoping to meet you. He said that he is from Syracuse.¡±

    ¡°Dismiss him!¡± Alobamus subconsciously shouted, but he suddenly remembered something, ¡°Wait, you said that he is from Syracuse?¡±

    ¡°That''s what he imed.¡±

    ¡®Syracuse¡­¡¯ Alobamus pondered with uncertainty. Finally, he said with firm determination, ¡°Take him to the guest room.¡±

    When Alobamus saw the visitor, he became surprised at the visitor''s first sentence, ¡°Lord Alobamus, I came to meet you under the order of Lord Dionysius, the supreme militarymander of Syracuse¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Milord, do you think that official of Laos¡­Alobamus, would agree to our request?¡± Asked Philistus.

    ¡°Alobamus, who enjoyed such a high position for a long time, will definitely have his desire to grow. So how could he just allow his rights to be taken away by a young man who has never done anything for Laos? And ording to the intelligence gathered, although the two of them are rtives, they disagree and often quarrel¡­ Previously, Henipolis ¨C the son of Avinoges, has the support of Theonia, so Alobamus didn''t dare say anything, but now that he has our support, do you think he wouldn''t have other ideas?¡± Dionysius said confidently.

    ¡°Only barbarians like Alobamus can be blinded by power, while a cultured man can keep their minds at peace wherever they live.¡± Philistus responded with a vague expression of his innocence.

    Dionysiusughed and said, ¡°Phili, you are talking about me, butpared to you, my knowledge is still far from enough.¡±

    ¡°Who said that? In Syracuse, besides Philoxenus, you are the only one who could write good poetry, milord!¡± Philistus praised him from the bottom of his heart, ¡°Furthermore, you are already standing at the top, so you don''t have any more desire.¡±

    ¡°Phili, it is not easy to sit in this seat!¡± Dionysius patted his seat, pointed to his head and emotionally said, ¡°It''s like having a sharp sword hanging on your neck that might fell at any time¡­¡±

    ¡°Therefore, this position is not something anyone can sit on!¡± Philistusplimented.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Dionysius then change the subject, ¡°I wonder if Davos of Theonia feels the same way¡­¡± Dionysius sighed, and his eyes glinted again, ¡°Phili, you are wrong. It''s not that I don''t have any desire; on the contrary, I have a greater desire!¡±

    ¡°You mean Magna Graecia?¡± Philistus asked understandingly.

    ¡°Too bad that the young man of Theonia did not die in the assassination¡­he even learned his lesson this time. Rather than sending someone to Syracuse, he instead dered war on Locri, thinking that I would obediently go and rescue Locri. Unfortunately, he underestimated me!¡± Dionysius'' cold words were full of killing intent.

    ¡°Milord, I received a report from the north of South Italia, and they promised to mobilise their troops soon!¡± Philistus said with a hint of excitement, ¡°And in the northeast of Theonia did not object to our proposal.¡±

    ¡°Everything is going well. And since we have paid a great price, we naturally have to get the greatest return!¡± Dionysius stared directly at the void of the hall as if overlooking Theonia in the north, ¡°After you go back, you should immediately start arranging the preparations for the expedition, so that once the war in the north started, we will also set out immediately!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the spread of ¡°Theonia''s deration of war on Locri¡± in Magna Graecia, the city-states in the South Italia Alliance had also dered war on Locri.

    For most Theonian citizens, hearing this news made them more excited. After all, they haven''t fought in years!

    Although they had already dered war against Locri, there was no tense atmosphere in the territory of Theonia. On the contrary, the rugby finals in Thurii are still in full swing, and the legionnaires of the participating teams in various cities have not been transferred back to their respective legions to prepare for war. And in order to show the importance of Hades to Theonia, the Senate of Theonia had even announced that ¡°War shall not affect the Theonians celebration of Hades just as war must temporarily put on hold during the Olympic Games.¡±

    However, the primary purpose of slowing down the military mobilisation is to lead the snake out of their cave. Otherwise, if Theonia were to crush Locri, they would not be able to achieve their real strategic objective of luring and annihting the Syracusan reinforcements that wille to Magna Graecia.

    Fortunately, the news from Sicily during this period shows that Dionysius has begun to gather his army and are preparing arge number of ships and supplies¡­

    And Davos believes that even without war mobilisation, the citizens of Theonia will wash and polished their weapons and equipment at home and prepare to face their enemy¡­

    However, Theonia, as the one advocating the war, must need to set an example for the South Italia Alliance. That is why Davos still asked the Senate to issue a war mobilisation order to the fifth and fourth legions stationed in the Brutii region and Crotone in.

 Chapter 388: Spartas Move

    In the early morning, at the legatus'' residence in the city of Aprustum, the adjutant knocked on the room of legatus Epiphanes. A few whilester, the door was opened by a naked young man.

    The already ustomed adjutant shouted towards the rooms, ¡°Legatus, I received an urgent letter from the Senate!¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Said azy voice in the room.

    After a while, Epiphanes came out of the bedroom naked and took the letter from the adjutant.

    The young man stretched out his head trying to look, but Epiphanes patted him on the face and said intimately, ¡°Go back first. I will look for youter.¡±

    The young man then went back inside the room and put on his clothes, and before he left, he didn''t forget to kiss Epiphanes.

    ¡°Such a nice youngd. He is a noble and an educated man from Taranto. Unfortunately, his family is ruined.¡± Epiphanes looked at the man''s back as he left and said to the adjutant with a bit of bragging.

    The adjutant didn''t speak as he didn''t want toment on his strategos'' hobby.

    ¡°You should first read the letter.¡± Under the urging gaze of the adjutant, Epiphanes opened the letter. After reading it, he whistled, ¡°Lord Davos asked our fourth legion to reach Scylletium before October and meet up with the army of the South Italia Alliance and then prepare to attack Locri.¡±

    ¡°Wonderful!¡± The adjutant said excitedly, ¡°I will go and inform the Praetor of Aprustum and Krimisa to issue an order as well as inform the legionnaires in the two cities to assemble and report at the square of Krimisa tomorrow.¡± (The square in Aprustum is too tiny to amodate 8,000 legionnaires.)

    ¡°There''s no need to be in a hurry. The letter states that we only need to reach Scylletium by October, which means Lord Davos does not urgently want to go to war with Locri. So it would just be a waste to go early, and we would just end up eating all our rations. And a 10-day preparation would be just enough for me to have a good discussion with the two praetors about the delivery of military rations and some other preparations, and also to wait for the return of the soldiers that joined the Rugby Finals.¡±

    The adjutant could only nod helplessly at the reasonable exnation of Epiphanes, ¡°Okay, you are the legatus here, so you have the final say. But I fear that Drakos has already led the fifth legion too early and would pretty much curse at us if we arete.¡±

    ¡°That seriously stubborn donkey, but to be honest, I am afraid that he is really going to be mad.¡± Epiphanes shrugged helplessly, and both menughed.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Drakos is currently supervising the training of the soldiers in the fifth legion''s camp outside Consentia.

    Davos wanted to recall him back from the legion the year beforest, but he refused toply with several orders, arguing that he was only good at fighting and not at clerical work, even if he were to work harder. But ording to the militaryw, a legatus can''t serve in the legion for too long(mainly because Davos is afraid that if Drakos were to stay too long, the soldiers would be dependent on him, which would weaken his prestige in their eyes.) so he had to send him to Consentia as the legatus of the newly formed fifth legion. Drakos, however, did not let down Davos'' expectations, and in just a few years, he managed to train the unruly Bruttians to bepetent legionnaires.

    ¡°Legatus, the Senate sent a letter!¡± The guards came in a hurry.

    After reading the letter, Drakos immediately became thrilled and shouted, ¡°Herald! Herald!¡±

    ¡°Here, legatus.¡±

    ¡°Immediately send your men with this letter and go to Vergae, mpetia and Anbania to inform the soldiers of the fifth legions to assemble at Consentia''s square tomorrow. And those who arete will receive 30 beatings!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Legatus, will there be war?!¡± The adjutant asked excitedly.

    ¡°What''s there to be happy? Some time had already passed since our deration of war on Locri, yet only now the mobilisation order has been issued!¡± Drakos said with some dissatisfaction. He then asked his adjutant, ¡°Stay here and supervise their training. I need to immediately go to Consentia and discuss the dispatching of the troops with Praetor Philesius.¡±

    Remembering something, the adjutant reminded Drakos, ¡°Legatus, some of our soldiers are still ying rugby in Thurii, you see-¡±

    ¡°Oh, I almost forgot about that.¡± Drakos thought for a moment and said, ¡°Find the soldiers of the reserves to take their ce first, while sending someone to Thurii urging them to return quickly. Otherwise, don''t me me if they were to miss the battle.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Agesus was currentlyying on his tent with a dignified expression at the stalemate of the Spartan coalition and the anti-Spartan alliance in Corinth, as the enemy kept repelling the Spartan''s offence with the sturdy defence of the city of Corinth, leaving him at a loss.

    Even though Agesus wanted to open another battlefield, he couldn¡¯t do it due to the severe damage of the Spartan fleet. While the Athenian Conon led the huge fleet prepared by Persia directly into the port of Piraeus and handed over the whole fleet to Athens, causing Sparta to face the same dilemma decades ago ¨C they lost the sea.

    ¡®Damned Persians, they are definitely stirring up some trouble in the dark!¡¯ Agesus cursed inwardly, but he obviously forgot that his actions in Asia Minor led to this problem.

    At this time, someone opened the tent and said, ¡°King Agesus, I have arrived.¡±

    ¡°Phidias.¡± Agesus was about to sit up, but Phidias stepped forward daringly, held him down, and said with concern, ¡°Don''t stand up. I heard that you are in poor health these days that you even fainted yesterday.¡± Then Phidias sat down on his legs.

    Agesus, without any pretence and, still half lying on his couch, said, ¡°It''s just an old problem of mine. It will get better after a few days of rest (in fact, it is due to polio.) The reason why I called you this time is that the Gerousia has sent an urgent letter.¡±

    Agesus became serious, ¡°Syracuse is about to attack Magna Graecia, so Dionysius asked for our helped and asked us to send a strategos proficient in warfare to help them defeat Theonia.¡±

    ¡°What?! Is Dionysius about tounch a war in Magna Graecia at this time? What about the assistance he promised us?!¡± Phidias said in surprise.

    ¡°Of course there is¡­¡± Agesus sighed helplessly, ¡°ording to Syracuse, it was Theonia who first dered war on Locri, which forced them to fight and protect their allies¡­but you and I all know that someone tried to assassinate the archon of Theonia more than ten days ago. And even though Theonia imed that it was Locri who did it, the truth is probably not that simple.¡±

    ¡°Damn Dionysius! That bastard couldn''t even keep his promise!¡± Phidias shouted angrily, ¡°If we Spartans had not supported him at the beginning, how could he hold his position as the tyrant of Syracuse!¡­¡±

    ¡°Although the behaviour of Dionysius is troublesome, Theonia and Athens had strengthened their ties some time ago. As you should know, Athens was the one to establish Thurii, and they had always been allies of Athens¡­¡± Agesus gazed at Phidias and seriously said, ¡°Therefore, since this war in Magna Graecia is inevitable, we should not allow Theonia to win! That is why I have rmended you to the Gerousia. Although I know full well of your ability, I still hope that you can put aside your resentment of Dionysius and do your best to help him in winning this war for the sake of Sparta!¡±

    After hearing this, Phidias nodded heavily and said, ¡°King Agesus, there is no need for you to worry. I will go and help Dionysius defeat Theonia as soon as possible and then have him send troops to help Sparta!¡±

    Agesus reminded him with caution, ¡°Don''t be careless, let alone underestimate the young archon of Theonia, Davos! As far as we know, he has never lost in battle. Otherwise, the Theonia Union would not have risen so quickly, much more than we Spartans had expected! And it is precisely because of this pressure that Dionysius turned to us for help, as even when he fought the Carthaginians before, he did not take the initiative to seek our help like this time! To the point that he even said that once there was a war with Theonia and the South Italia Alliance, he was willing to let a strategos of Sparta takemand.¡±

    ¡°Dionysius is really not good at warfare, but Davos-¡± After carefully thinking, Phidias excitedly said, ¡°Although I don''t like this man, I have to admit that he is indeed a great opponent. Still, I am confident in beating him!¡±

    Agesus stared at him for a while before nodding and saying, ¡°That''s right. We Spartans must be fearless. Now, return to your team and prepare the handover. Afterwards, immediately go to Syracuse.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    As he watched Phidias leave, a trace of worry rose in Agesus'' mind. The young archon of Theonia, who he had never met but had always been victorious, has not only put pressure on Dionysius but even gave an invisible pressure to the Spartan King who had been paying attention to Theonia¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time, in the residence of the Polemarchos of Athens, Thrasybulus was talking with Isocrates.

    The simple and noble Isocrates was quite respectful when facing Thrasybulus, as he was a person worthy of his respect in his heart.

    During the reign of the ¡°Thirty Tyrants¡±, many Athenian citizens were persecuted and had to flee everywhere. Thrasybulus, who was a Democrat, did not escape and had instead led a group of Athenian citizens to establish a resistance base at the junction of Attica and Boetia (at that time, although Athens were enemy of Thebes for many years, they still funded this team against Athens that Sparta controlled), in an attempt to overthrow the tyrant''s brutal rule and restore Athens'' independence and democracy. Under the leadership of Thrasybulus, this small team manage to defeat the tyrants¡¯ powerful army.

 Chapter 389: Athens Decision

    After the liberation of Athens, Thrasybulus and the others who regained authority had restored the democracy in Athens. However, they did not retaliate against the supporters of the former tyrants. Instead, they announced political amnesty and strictly implemented it. They even did their best to bridge the contradiction and resentments between the civilians and the wealthy, democrats and aristocrats, in order to make the present Athens more united than at the time of the Peloponnesian War. On the other hand, Thrasybulus and the others also adopted a cautious and moderate policy by forgetting the betrayal of their allies in the Delian League while treating and dealing with the other city-states equally, which made these city-states gradually gather around Athens again through trade and diplomacy. Although Athens was not as domineering as it had been during the reign of Pericles, it still managed to regain its former strength gradually.

    Isocrates'' admired Thrasybulus as, despite his outstanding contribution to the revival of Athens, the Athenians deliberately did not elect him as a strategos for several years because they were worried about him bing a dictator. However, even with all of that, he still offered advice and suggestions for the city-state withoutint.

    ¡°Isocrates, I believe that you already know about Theonia''s deration of war on Locri some time ago.¡± Thrasybulus then asked with concern, ¡°From your judgment as someone who had gone to Thurii. Do you think that there is a possibility of a war between Theonia and Syracuse?¡±

    ¡°There will be war!¡± Isocrates said decisively without hesitation.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Thrasybulus was surprised at Isocrates'' affirmation.

    ¡°Even though I have not been to Syracuse, I still know about Dionysius'' vicious performance in Sicily. He has destroyed several Sicilian Greek city-states, such as Catania and Leontinoi. Because of this man''s extreme greed fornd, he had even sent his men to disturb Theonia''s political order, and I am afraid that he is the one behind the assassination attempt of Theonia''s archon not long ago. Therefore, we could deduce that Magna Graecia is the next ce he wants to annex. And with Theonia targeting his only ally in Magna Graecia, how can he ignore it? So he will certainly send reinforcements to fight Theonia! While Theonia-¡±

    Isocrates weighed his words and slowly said, ¡°I don''t think that they are afraid to go to war with Syracuse. Although its strength is weaker than Syracuse, the citizens of the city-state union are as eager for war, just like a cat pouncing on a mouse. They will, without a doubt, actively participate, and they also have the assistance of Crotone, Rhegium and other city-states in South Italia Alliance¡­.maybe they are already preparing to give Syracuse a heavy blow in Magna Graecia.¡±

    ¡°Like a cat pouncing on a mouse¡­hehe, Isocrates, your words are too exaggerated. There is no such thing as someone loving war.¡± Thrasybulus smiled, and his expression rxed a bit, ¡°Hearing that, it made me quite relieved. If Theonia can go to war with Syracuse, then the pressure on our anti-Spartan alliance will be less. I just hope that Theonia can defeat Syracuse andpletely cut off the reinforcement of Syracuse so that we can focus more on dealing with Sparta.¡±

    ¡°Thrasybulus, my thoughts are exactly opposite of yours. You''d better pray to Athena to have both city-states have mutual defeat.¡± Said Isocrates with a serious expression.

    ¡°Why?¡± Asked Thrasybulus in surprise.

    ¡°I don''t deny my good impression of Theonia.¡± Isocrates then said in his unique hoarse voice, ¡°But this kind of good impression, when you think about it carefully, is shocking¡­ The Theonian citizens love for war is not a joke because ording to the ¡¶Theonian Law¡·, ¡®Only when citizens have military merit can they obtain a betternd.¡¯ I believe that you can understand what crazy things a Greek could do fornd. In fact, what attracted thousands of freemen and foreigners to Theonia was this Law of Theonia and another immigration act that ¡®willingly epting freemen as Theonia citizens¡¯. In turn, these former freemen who became Theonian citizens or what they call preparatory citizens pushed Theonia to expand rapidly in order to obtain morend. Although Theonia did not invade thends of fellow Greeks as recklessly as Syracuse, its rapid expansion of territory is obvious to all. Besides absorbing Greek freemen to be Theonian citizens, they even let other races join as citizens of the union¡­¡±

    Thrasybulus nodded, ¡°I have seen Aristophanes'' ¡¶The Theonians¡·.¡±

    ¡°The Theonia Union had not only made those foreign races be citizens, but they even invited their chieftains to be a statesman of the Senate of Theonia and even a strategos of the army! And with the integration of the Bruttian mountains and Lucania into Theonia, its territory then exceeded thend area of Athens and Sparta.

    Furthermore, under the initiative of their archon, Theonia vigorously constructed roads and bridges, spread the belief of Hades, and even built temples for the non-Greeks, constructed schools and akademia, recruited schrs and physicians, and a kind of ball game that is prevalent in Theonia¡­ If left undisturbed and with its development, a powerful union of city-states that exceed the city-states in Greece in terms of territory and poption but is also no weaker than our Athens in terms of trade and culture may appear on the Italian Penins. And their culture already differs from the traditional Greek culture¡­¡±

    Thrasybulus became startled from hearing Isocrates'' words. He thought for a while and said, ¡°Isocrates, aren''t you overthinking it? You should understand that any rapidly expanding force won''t expand forever. It will either copse due to internal problems or be obstructed by external forces. As was the case with Argos long ago, Persia before the Peloponnesian War and even included us before the war with Sparta. Humans tried to eat more than what they could, and the same happens in countries.¡±

    ¡°But Thrasybulus, Theonia might be an exception.¡± Isocrates hastily reminded him, ¡°Because this union adopts a political systempletely different from any country and city-state in the Mediterranean.¡±

    ¡°Oh? What kind?¡± Thrasybulus asked with interest.

    ¡°From my observation of Theonia, even though they said that they are a union of city-states, but in fact, those city-states belonging to it are not independent cities but are cities ruled directly by the Senate of Theonia. The Senate of Theonia holds the highest power while sending its member to serve as Praetors of various cities such as Thurii, Consentia and Grumentum. They are the ones responsible for the internal affairs and management of the city. The city would then hand the taxes and revenues to the Senate. The city''s army is under the subordinate of the Senate called the ¡®Ministry of Military¡¯ to manage. As you can tell, these cities have no independent administrative capacity and arepletely at themand of the Senate of Theonia¡­¡±

    ¡°They¡­they are a bit like Persia.¡± Thrasybulus uttered but was immediately interrupted by Isocrates, ¡°Theonia is different from Persia. As far as we know, the city lords and satraps of Persia have considerable autonomy. Besides paying taxes and providing troops, The Persian king does not have stronger control over them. It is why, Pharnabazus, the satrap of Asia Minor of Persia, could make his own decision and give us the fleet built with Persian money to use the other day. He even agreed and allowed us Athenians to rebuild the city walls to protect the port of Piraeus. If it were any of the cities under the administration of Theonia Union, it would be impossible for them to make such decisions because the Senate of Theonia firmly controls everything. In my opinion, this can effectively pool all the resources, poption, wealth in the territory to do things that other city-states and countries cannot do.¡±

    After hearing this, Thrasybulus was lost in his thoughts for a while. In the end, he could only stop for a bit and said with a smile, ¡°Isocrates, I asked you whether Theonia would fight Syracuse, and I didn''t expect you to talk to me about the threat of Theonia Union. Since Theonia is so powerful, it seems that there is no need for us to worry about Syracuse anymore. Instead, we should strengthen our diplomatic ties with Theonia and hope they can help us deal with Sparta.¡±

    When Isocrates noticed that Thrasybulus didn''t seem to take his words seriously, so he wanted to say more, but Thrasybulus said seriously, ¡°Isocrates, you should understand that Athens is now focusing on taking advantage of the support of Persia. Moreover, with the whole situation being in our favour, we need to focus on defeating Sparta as soon as possible, weakening this long-standing enemy of ours so that Athens can have a better development! In the Mediterranean, countless city-states and races have their own unique governance, so there is no need for us to worry about this and that, as only the goddess of destiny can grasp the future and no one else. And as long as we in Athens can maintain our city¡¯s unity and stability, handle our rtions with other city-states, develop our trade and strengthen our arms, Athens will still be the glorious Athens that does not need to fear anyone!¡±

    The words of Thrasybulus was exactly the right thing for the likes of Isocrates, who is a believer in the concept of ¡°Athenian supremacy¡±. Isocrates then said wholeheartedly, ¡°You are right. Athens will recast its glory!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the beginning of August, Pamot, the great chieftain of Potentia, received Theonia''s invitation to attend the Hades'' day. But just like the previous years, he politely refused and still only sent his brother Polet to attend.

    It was not because he had any other ideas about Theonia. It¡¯s just that he had never left the territory of Potentia since childhood, as the only thing he likes is staying in his own territory, guarding his people and living afortable life.

 Chapter 390: Enemys situation in the north

    Since its joining in Theonia Alliance, Potentia''s situation improved significantly, with the south side that they usually had to guard had now be its backbone. Apart from their improved trade with Grumentum and Pyxous, even their subordinate city-state, Poseidonia, has followed suit. And their maritime trade volume with the city-states of South Italia increased year by year. Changing the life of the Potentians for the better and its treasury to be abundant. Pamot felt relieved at the thought that his decision of joining the Theonia Alliance was one of the best decisions he ever made!

    The frequent contacts between Potentia and Theonia had naturally influenced the Potetians with some of the cultures of Theonia. For example, the Potentians also began liking Rugby. Some began praying to Hades, the patron god of Theonia, while also worshipping their god Asinu. The priests of Potentia had repeatedlyined this problem to Pamot, but even he was feeling helpless.

    He understood that the Theonians did not deliberately guide the sudden behaviour of the people. Still, the frequent contact of the Potentians with their fellow Lucanians in Grumentum made them feel that the mountain god, Asinu''s y statue is crude and could notpare to the majestic bronze statue of Hades. And when they heard that the Temple of Hades in Thurii is even more magnificent, they became so amazed that they started to change their faith. Furthermore, Hades has so many fascinating stories (From the Book of Hades that Plesinaspiled, many of which are very different from the legends they heard)¡­

    Pamot, on the other hand, thinks that the cultural influence of Theonia on Potentia is not a bad thing because he was also enjoying the elegant Theonian culture, like the lunch he had just eaten, which was a delicacy from Theonia. He thought that shabu-shabu was much better than the roasted and boiledmb he usually ate. He had eaten so much now that he was too full. He then rubbed his stomach and was about to take his hounds for a walk in the courtyard to help digest the food through exercise.

    At this time, his servant came in and reported that chieftain Shasid wanted to see him.

    ¡°Let him in.¡± Pamot frowned as he began to feel a bit uneasy. Shasid''s tribe is located to the north of Potentia, adjacent to the Samnites. It could be said that they are at the forefront of Potentia''s defence against Samnites, so Shasid rarely left his territory and came to the city of Potentia.

    ¡®Could it be that there are some movements from the Samnites?¡¯ As Pamot anxiously thought, Shasid strode into the courtyard, and as soon as he saw Pamot, he anxiously shouted, ¡°Great chieftain, the situation is bad! The Samnites are going to attack Potentia!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Pamot immediately became nervous and asked, ¡°What happened?!¡±

    ¡°A few days ago, my men noticed that many Samnites entered Compsa, making the city became lively, so they thought that they were doing some offerings or celebrations, but it also made us raise our guard. Afterwards, tens of thousands of fully armed Samnites suddenly came from the north of Compsa and built several camps near the city¡­ Great chieftain, the situation is not good! Seeing this, I am afraid that the Samnites are going to attack Potentia again!¡± Said Shasid anxiously.

    ¡°Thousands? Exactly how many?¡± Even though Pamot was a bit flustered, he still tried to calm down and find out the situation first.

    ¡°A¡­about¡­at least 20,000 men! With the Samnites sealing off the area around Compsa, my men couldn''t get inside to investigate!¡± Shasid also felt that what he said was too vague, so he expanded, ¡°But we found that among the Samnites¡¯ banners, not only the banner of Hirpini but even the gs of Pentri and Caudini could be seen!¡±

    Hearing this made Pamot surprised, and he anxiously said, ¡°Could it be that the four tribes of Samnites have gathered in Compsa?!¡±

    ¡°We have not yet seen the banner of Caraceni.¡± Shasid then anxiously added, ¡°Great chieftain, you must immediately send an army to assist me! The Samnites mightunch an attack within a few days, and I fear that my hundreds of warriors won''t be able to fend them!¡±

    ¡°It was already difficult for us to deal with just Hirpini back then! Listening to what you said, there are now at least three Samnite tribes, so even if I send all warriors as reinforcements, it is still impossible to repel them. On the contrary, the Samnites will take this opportunity to destroy our main force in the field and weaken the strength to defend the city of Potentia! s¡­¡± Pamot frowned in sorrow.

    The Lucanians wereposed of numerous tribes that have merged, forming severalrge tribal unions, Potentia, Grumentum, Pyxous, Gguso, Nerulum. These tribes united and fought with each other for their own interest, which continued until the emergence of Theonia; only then did peace was restored in Lucania.

    The Samnites are different from the Lucanians. The Samnites were a race that upied the mountains of central Italia. The Samnites are divided into four major tribes, Hirpini, Pentri, Caudini and Caraceni, but each tribe is rtively united within the tribe. And even their rtionship with the other major tribes is also friendly rarely even have conflict. Each major tribe has a great chieftain, which was jointly elected by all tribes, so it is rare for them to get ousted in the middle of their term unless they provoke public outrage. After all, only those talented and upright characters can be recognised by all tribes, so he will mostly serve as the great chieftain until he dies. And unlike the great chieftain of Lucania, the authority of the Samnites¡¯ great chieftains are much greater, as no matter how far away the tribes live, whether they live in the mountains or valleys, all tribes under the major tribe must obey the orders of the great chieftain whether it is military, diplomatic and other matters. In this regard, the four tribes of Samnite are more like four kingdomspared to the tribal union of Lucania and Bruttii. These characteristics of the Samnites, a race living in barren mountainous areas, is the reason why they could frighten the surrounding Latin, Greek and Lucanians.

    Potentia was only facing Hirpini, thergest of the four tribes of Samnites, which was located in the south of the mountain upied by Samnites and bordered on Potentia. But now, there are two more tribes, so how could Pamot not feel nervous? He paced back and forth in the yard. Finally, he made a decision and said, ¡°Shasid, go back immediately and get your tribes ready. First, quietly transport some materials back to the city, and once you find that the Samnites mightunch an attack, don''t resist them; instead, lead your people to retreat to the city¡­ While I will immediately inform the other tribes to make the same preparations.¡±

    ¡°This¡­this¡­ Great chieftain, are we just going to discard all ournds outside the city to those damn ¡®pheasants*¡¯ to trample on?! Even if we could tolerate the trampling on the farms, pastures and even burned down our houses,¡± Shasid, whose tribe had suffered from the Samnites so often in the past, was not surprised by this as his whole tribe had be ustomed to hiding. Still, he continued with concern, ¡°If the city of Potentia were to be besieged by the Samnites, our food wouldn¡¯t be able to support us for long!¡± (The Samnite warriors like to ce pheasant feathers on the top and both sides of their helmets as a distinction between warrior levels, hence this nickname.)

    ¡°The Theonian army wille and support us soon. Don''t forget that we Potentians are now part of the Theonia Alliance!¡± Pamot has never been so d in his decision to join Theonia Alliance as he is today.

    ¡°Right! Right! Theonia! Theonia wille and save us!¡± Shasid kept on nodding like a chicken pecking on rice. Obviously, he has confidence in this powerful ally to the south of Potentia, knowing that in the three years or so since Potentia joined the Theonia Alliance, his tribal territory had never suffered another Samnite invasion.

    Pamot''s expression became more gloomy as he watched Shahid leave in a hurry. He had heard that Theonia dered war on Locri, so if Potentia were to ask Theonia for help at this time, would Theoniae and help them in time?

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Alexius walked into the city hall of Grumentum, where the Praetor Bagul was waiting for him, ¡°Legatus Alexius!¡± Bagul, who was wearing a chiton, gave a military salute.

    ¡°Lord Bagul!¡± Alexius, dressed in military uniform, however, gave a statesman''s greeting by raising his hand.

    ¡°What lord. Stop making fun of me. Now, I just want to take off my chiton, put on my armour and be an officer under yourmand!¡± Bagul smiled helplessly.

    Back then, Bagul was also the first senior centurion of the third legion and the Praetor of Grumentum, which was a countermeasure to stabilise the Lucanians after just upying Grumentum. Neither the Senate nor Davos would allow the highest administrative power and the highest military power of a region*. Therefore, after Theonia obtained Pyxous and had an advantage in their rule over Lucania, the Senate proposed to let Bagul relinquish one of his posts. (At that time, the legatus of the third army, Hieronymus, was in Thurii, so the senior centurion of the first brigade was the highest military position in Lucania.)

    With Grumentum''s location is in the centre of Lucania, consolidating Theonia''s rule over it canpletely stabilise the whole Lucania, so Davos temporarily removed him from his position in the legion. So, for this reason, he had to persuade him with great pains for several days.

    Realising his meaning, Alexius immediately asked, ¡°What is it? What happened?!¡±

 Chapter 391: Davos Entaglement

    ¡°There is one, and it''s a big one!¡± Bagul said excitedly and seriously.

    ¡°Say it.¡± Alexius strained his ears to listen.

    Bagul took the lead and sat down with Alexius. He then asked his men to bring the newly pickled beef jerky* and beer, ¡°I am usually the one bothering you in the base, but today, you havee to Grumentum, which is rare. In return, I have to treat you well, so let''s drink while we discuss things.¡± (since Davos invented this pickled beer jerky for military ration, it has now gradually been loved by citizens and be a delicious snack for the Theonians, just like dried figs and dates.)

    What Bagul said was the truth. The base of the third legion is built between Pyxous, Grumentum and Nerulum. Alexius, the current legatus, naturally can no longer stay in Thurii like the former legatus, Hieronymus(the system was not perfect at that time.) So during his term as the legatus of the third legion, he has to live in the base. Naturally, the construction of the base was not simple but more like a militarized town. Although Bagul was relieved of his duty in the military, he still visits the base every three or so days to participate in military training andpetitions¡­after going back and forth, he became friends with Alexius.

    Alexius knew his brazen character, so he didn''t refuse at this moment. He grabbed a piece of beef, chewed it and said, ¡°What''s the situation?¡±

    ¡°The Samnites have gathered arge army on the border of Potentia. The report says that they have at least 20,000 men!¡± Bagul said with some excitement.

    ¡®20,000 men!¡¯ Alexius was surprised. He put down his beef jerky and asked hurriedly, ¡°Are you sure that the Samnites are going to attack Potentia?!¡±

    ¡°Potentia sent an envoy asking for help, so how could it be fake?¡± Bagul sipped his beer and said half-jokingly, ¡°Pamot, that stubborn old man who usually doesn¡¯t pay attention to Theonia could no longer sit still at this time. Just after the envoy of Potentia asked help from me, he hurried to Thurii¡­¡±

    ¡°Bagul, you must take this matter seriously, especially at this critical moment when we have just dered war on Locri!¡± Alexius said in a grave tone. Obviously, he considered more things deeply than Bagul. After all, before he took his post, Davos solemnly reminded him that the current task of the third legion is to stabilise the situation in Lucania and purge all those against Theonia. Furthermore, their future goal is the Samnites in the north, a powerful and fierce race that they should not take lightly!

    ¡°I should immediately go back and gather the soldiers of the third legion and get ready for war. At the same time, I need to send the soldiers of the mountain reconnaissance brigade to find out the strength of the Samnites and inform Lord Davos as soon as possible.¡± Alexius stood up immediately.

    As a young man living in the south of Lucania, Bagul did not think too much of the Samnites. Coupled with the sessive victories of the Theonian legions in the past few years, it made him arrogant and underestimated the enemy. However, seeing the cautiousness of Alexius, he also began to attached importance to them, ¡°Should we also have the citizens of the reserved legion get ready as well?¡±

    ¡°Of course! I have a bad feeling that there would be a huge war!¡± Alexius said seriously.

    ¡°A huge war!¡± Bagul repeated, with a hint of excitement on his face.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Milord! Lord Davos! Martius woke up! Martius, he has woken up!¡­¡± Herpus shouted excitedly as soon as he entered the living room.

    ¡°Really?!¡± Davos, who was talking with Heracleides the Younger, stood up in surprise.

    ¡°Just as what you have said before, ¡®If the venom(referring to the poison) is separated from the body and exposed in the air for a long time, it will reduce the toxicity¡­¡¯ It seems that this is indeed the case, and the awakening of Martius is a good example!¡± It is no wonder that Herpus is so excited; after all, most of Theonia''s territory is mountainous, causing numerous people to be bitten by snakes and insects every year. Thurii''s hospital doesn''t have that good treatment for such things; at most, they could only clean up and bandage the wound and using some medicine to nourish the body and rely on the patients themselves to recover. But this time, under the guidance of Davos, the hospital carried out meticulous care and medication on Martius. Finally, they achieved good results, which provided valuable experience and confidence for their future treatment of snakes and other poisonous bites.

    Davos was in no mood to discuss medical issues with him at the moment. So he urgently asked, ¡°How is Martius now?¡±

    ¡°Oh, he has woken up. Although he can open his eyes and move, his limbs are still a bit weak, and he has trouble speaking. Now, he can only lie in the hospital bed, and it will still take some time for him to recover.¡±

    ¡°Take me to see him.¡± Davos said as he pulled Herpus out.

    ¡°Milord, are you still going to see the construction of the stone bridge in Saraceno River today?¡± Asked Heracleides the Younger hurriedly.

    ¡°Haven''t you just erected the pier? I will go see it once you startying the bridge''s deck.¡± Davos waved his hand and said apologetically.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Heracleides the Younger knew how much the awakening of Martius had affected Davos, so he could only helplessly follow Davos out of his residence, only to run into Rodom, the guard captain sent by the Senate.

    ¡°Lord Davos! And two lords! The Senate has called you to an emergency meeting!¡±

    ¡°What happened?!¡± Davos hurriedly asked when he saw the nervousness of Rodom.

    ¡°Potentia asked us for reinforcements and said, ¡®the Samnites are about to invade Potentia!¡¯¡±

    ¡®The Samnites are going to attack Potentia at this time?!¡¯ Davos was surprised, and the news doused his joy like a bucket of cold water.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Senate was having a heated debate whether to send arge number of reinforcements to rescue Potentia.

    The supporters believed that since Potentia is an ally of Theonia, then following the agreement and morality, Theonia must give assistance! Moreover, although they have governed the Lucanian region for nearly five years, the rule of Theonia Union is still not stable. So if the Samnites rushed into the territory ruled by Theonia, it would cause turbulence in that ce again. Thus Theonia should defeat the Samnites as soon as possible before going to war with Locri and even Syracuse to avoid fighting on two fronts.

    While those who opposed believed that thebined army of Potentia, the third legion, and their ally in Lucania ¨C Elea is more than enough to deal with the Samnites without sending more reinforcements. However, once Theonia was about to carry out its war against Locri and Syracuse, they would not be able to draw troops to the north.

    Davos could not make a final decision as his mind was entangled. The Samnites, whose strength he knew from the history in his previous life, were a mountainous race that had been at war with the thriving Rome for decades. So much so that they even defeated the Romans many times and made them endure such humiliation¡­ Davos thinks that the third legion and the Potentian army alone could not defeat the Samnites. Instead, he should do everything possible to put out the sparks before it could be a zing me.

    A massive Samnite invasion hade just before their war with Locri, so Davos doesn''t believe that it has nothing to do with Dionysius. He thought that he had designed a trap and just needed to wait for Dionysius to jump, but he did not expect that Dionysius would directly instigate the Samnites to attack from the north first, causing Theonia to be unable to take care of her tail. Before he could even fight Syracuse, he could already feel the difficulty of fighting Dionysius. ¡®What a terrible opponent!¡¯ Davos had to start re-analysing this tyrant of Syracuse who had taught him a lesson.

    However, due to this, he is sure that Syracuse is determined to fight Theonia. The only thing Davos is worrying about is whether this tyrant of Syracuse still has some cards left in his hand, so he had to raise his guards against it, which is one of the main reasons why he did not make a rash decision.

    Davos returned home with a heavy heart. However, before he had the time to take a drink of water, he learned that Ansitanos hade to visit him. Davos then hurriedly weed him, ¡°Lord Ansitanos, you are finally back!¡±

    ¡°I have travelled more than what I have travelledbined.¡± Ansitanos replied with a smile in return.

    ¡°That''s because you have only walked a little. In the future, you still have to go out more for diplomatic activities like this.¡±

    ¡°Don''t. This has already taken a lot of my time in writing my book.¡±

    ¡°Go out and experience more things, investigate the situation of other city-states so that the book you are writing is more vivid and informative. Back then, Herodotus travelled all over the Mediterranean¡­¡±

    They then entered the living room while talking andughing.

    ¡°Milord, the Senate of Carthage rejected our request for an alliance.¡± After sitting down, Ansitanos said seriously, ¡°They even refused to sign a treaty of friendship and trade with us.¡±

    Davos could still understand Carthage''s refusal to form an alliance. After all, Carthage''s war with Syracuse had just ended, with them suffering a lot and deeded to recover. Now that the situation between Theonia and Syracuse is tense, Carthage, as a neighbour, could naturally feel the tension between the two and will not jump in easily. Still, it''s strange that they refuse to sign a trade treaty with Theonia. After all, Carthage is wealthy due to its maritime trade in the western Mediterranean!

    ¡°Could it be that the Carthaginians are so afraid of Syracuse that they do not dare to have anything to do with us?¡± Davos was a little surprised.

    ¡°When I was in Carthage, I learned something about it. The Magonids, who used to dominate the Senate of Carthage and always had a strong interest in Sicily, lost their standing because of the previous war''s defeat. And now, they are forced to ept the task of building a new colonial city on the Iberian Penins that the Senate of Carthage assigned. Now another influential family has the right to speak in the Senate, and its patriarch, Hanno, is conservative and prefersnd over sea trade. He even put forward a slogan, ¡®March ind to give citizens ess to morend¡­¡¯¡± Ansitanos said slowly.

    ¡®Which means that Carthage will go to war with Libya?¡¯ A thought struck Davos. Compared to Syracuse, which always caused Carthage''s defeat, Libya, with its vast territory and many tribes, was a much easier ce to deal with as it is a te of loose sand. And Carthage had a great idea of ¡°recovering their lost in Sicily from Libya.¡± But due to this, it is even less likely for Carthage to mess with Syracuse.

 Chapter 392: Plans cant keep up with the changes

    Ansitanos said his judgment without hesitation, ¡°Maybe in their eyes, Theonia''s chance of winning is not big. In fact, Carthage didn''t even pay any attention to us, Theonia, as even Hanno didn''te to meet me¡­¡±

    Davos honestly did not expect Carthage, which was able to fight with Rome in his previous life''s history, would be so weak. However, thinking of it again, Carthage and Rome''s battle for supremacy happened a hundred yearster, so Carthage''s development a hundred years earlier is naturally notparable. Thinking about how Carthage, who he is fond of (mainly due to Hannibal''s influence), actually looked down on Theonia had made him a bit depressed. He then noted it in his heart, ¡°One day, you will regret your contempt of Theonia!¡±

    ¡°Lord Ansitanos, do you think Dionysius instigated the Samnites to invade Potentia?¡± Davos asked to confirm his judgment.

    ¡°I heard about that as soon as I came back.¡± Ansitanos drank a mouthful of water and continued to say, ¡°Hmm¡­I think that it is usible. You should know that Syracuse and Campania had close rtions since the time of Gelon, with both sides having frequent trade exchanges and Syracuse even sending troops several times to help the Greek city-states in Campania to defend against the Samnites'' attack¡­ And most of Dionysius'' mercenaries hade from Campania, so Dionysius should be more familiar with the Samnites in the mountains of Campania. Thus it is not impossible for him to persuade the Samnites as long as he is willing to pay the price. Moreover, I am afraid that the Samnites has long been worried about the powerful Theonia.¡±

    Reminded by Ansitanos, Davos suddenly remembered that since Potentia''s joining of the Theonia Alliance, the Samnites¡¯ invasion of Lucania has stopped happening. Obviously, it is due to their fear of Theonia¡­

    Davos secretly regretted that he had focused on stabilising the union in the past few years and had devoted too little effort to the situation around Theonia and the Mediterranean as a whole.

    ¡®This is a lesson for me!¡¯ Davos warned himself and then asked Ansitanos, ¡°Where else do you think Dionysius might use such plot like the Samnites against Theonia?¡±

    Hearing him, Ansitanos stroked his grey beard and began to ponder. After some time passed, he suddenly opened his eyes and said, ¡°Taranto! There is a possibility that it would be Taranto!¡±

    Davos became surprised, ¡®Indeed, Taranto is very likely!¡¯ Syracuse and Taranto have few contacts with each other, but as an ally of Sparta, the mother-state of Taranto, both sides have good rtions, which is likely to lead¡­ Furthermore, due to Theonia taking Heraclea and Metapontum from Taranto(most Tarantines think so), the rtionship between the two sides has be a bit stiff, so much so that despite the alliance agreement, there are still some small frictions between them from time to time. This time, since Theonia dered war on Locri, Taranto, as Theonia''s ally, has not expressed its support or opposition as before. There is not even a single movement, which is not normal!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following day, the Senate of Theonia immediately sent an envoy to Taranto at the request of Davos.

    The Tarantine Council became impatient at the Theonian envoy, who kept asking for their opinion on their ¡°deration of war on Locri¡± and stated that Taranto needed to rest and recuperate from thest war.

    The envoy could only return to Thurii and report the attitude of Taranto to the Senate in detail. Most of the statesmen became relieved, but Davos didn''t rx his vignce. He then sent someone to remind the archons of Metapontum and Heraclea to improve their defence against Taranto and asked Aristias to pay more attention to Taranto¡­ That is all he can do; after all, Taranto has not yet done anything unusual so far.

    At this time, Davos focused more on the Lucanian region in the north.

    The next day, the third legion sent an urgent report to Thurii.

    Compared with the scouts of Potentia, the reconnaissance soldiers of the third legion are much better, as they have all undergone rigorous training under the reconnaissance brigade of Izam. Izam, under the guidance of Davos,bined with his own experience in scouting operations in the past few years, has worked out aplete set of training methods for surveince, mountain climbing and wading through water, ambush, camouge, scouting¡­and much other training. The reconnaissance brigade even has several ways to judge the enemy''s strength, such as they can infer it from the size of the enemy camp, the number of tents and the number of supplies. Of course, the most direct way is to count the number of people, so most of the soldiers in the reconnaissance brigade are from citizens engaged in bookkeeping, banking, trade and other industries that require strong mathematic skills.

    In the military reform of the year beforest, Davos transferred personnel from the reconnaissance brigade of Izam and gave each legion a squad of 100 scouts, thus giving them eyes and ears. Since Italia is a mountainous region, scouting horses were often useless.

    This military report from the third legion described the Samnites in more detail: ¡­ording to the intelligence we gathered, the Samnites'' army assembled in Copsa isposed of the whole Hirpini, Pentri and a part of Caudini warriors. Its current military strength has reached more than 40,000. Seeing that the Samnites'' camp is not expanding in the past few days and the Samnites entering the city of Copsa from the north has significantly reduced, it is highly likely that the Samnites would attack in the next two or three days! With the urgent situation, we, the third legion, requested to carry out ¡°emergencymand*¡± and asked the Senate to send more reinforcements!

    -Signed: Alexius, Legatus of the third legion.

    (In a state of emergency, when the war situation isplex and rapidly changing, repeatedly requesting the Senate of Theonia for every major military operation would only dy the battle and even put the legion in danger. Davos realising that he could not take care of the whole territory every time after the expansion of Theonia¡¯s territory had formted this important military regtion to give the legatus in the battlefield the autonomy of military action, to avoid sluggish and rigidmand that would kill the desire and motivation of the legionmanders and soldiers!)

    ¡®40,000?!¡¯ The statesmen of the Senate were shocked by Samnites'' strength, but they still argued about whether to send more reinforcements. However, Davos has finally made up his mind. He stood up and said firmly, ¡°Everyone, the military situation in Potentia is urgent, and we can''t dy any longer! The huge force of more than 40,000 Samnites is beyond the resistance of the third legion and Pamot''s army! Thus in order to prevent the Samnites from defeating and upying Potentia and taking advantage of the situation to enter our Lucanian territory, I decided to lead the first and second legions to reinforce Potentia and try to repel the enemy in the shortest time!¡±

    ¡°I support the archon''s decision!¡± As soon as Davos'' voice fell, Vespa jumped with joy, and Hemon shouted his support. Still, others were quiet for the time being.

    The status of Davos naturally did not allow the statesmen to remain silent for long. Soon after, Cornelius stood up and asked, ¡°Are we still going to attack Locri?¡±

    ¡°Temporarily stop! The fourth and fifth legions are to return to their post and stand by. At the same time, send envoys to our allied city-states such as Crotone and Scylletium to exin the situation. I believed that they could understand our situation, but-¡± Before Davos finished, Kunogta anxiously interrupted, ¡°But Syracuse may attack Magna Graecia while our main force goes north!¡±

    Kunogta''s words aroused discussions among the statesmen.

    Amintas shouted, ¡°It would be best if Syracuse were toe, as we won''t have to go to Sicily anymore and just beat them directly in Magna Graecia!¡±

    ¡°But when theye, Lord Amintas, you and the bravest and strongest citizens of Theonia may still be ying hide and seek with the Samnites in the mountains of Lucania!¡± Scambras retorted.

    ¡°We will immediately defeat the Samnites ande back soon!¡± Amintas argued loudly.

    ¡°That''s hard to say. In the mountains, we Greeks won''t be able to catch up with those Samnites who are good at climbing. So if you can''t catch them, how will you beat them?¡± Scambras retorted upromisingly.

    ¡°Old man, you should understand that it is the Samnites who are attacking us. There is no need for us to chase them at all as they will take the initiative to fight us!¡±

    ¡°Everyone, please keep quiet!¡± Davos shouted, ¡°The situation is clear. If we don''t act, I am afraid that Syracuse would only watch in Sicily and wait for the right moment. After all, we will still suffer because the threat of the Samnites is right in front of us, so if we just sit idly by, the situation in Lucania would be unimaginable¡­¡± Davos paused for a moment to give the statesmen time to think. He then continued, ¡°Therefore, we can only seize every minute and seconds, concentrate our forces and give priority to the enemy that we can strike! Thus, no matter how far the enemyes from, we must concentrate our forces on one attack to ensure the greatest victory!¡±

    The statesmen began whispering again.

    Kunogta asked again, ¡°Archon, what should we do if Syracuse were to really attack Magna Graecia after you leave?!¡±

    Davos was prepared for this. After calming down, he slowly told the statesmen his spection and n. ¡°If Syracuse wants to attack Magna Graecia, Dionysius should not dream of taking Magna Graecia without having more than 50,000 men! And with such arge number of men and materials, it would take a long time for them tond safely on thend of Magna Graecia¡­¡±

 Chapter 393: Davos Strategic Plan

    Davos continued to say, ¡°Thending of their soldiers,bours and supplies¡­will make the ce to be quite chaotic andck of organisation, so Dionysius would never dare take a risk andnd elsewhere besides its ally, the port of Locri. Thus after the Ministry of Military received the report of Syracuse''s attack, they would send our fourth and fifth legions to Caulonia to quickly reinforce our other allies. They would then use the narrow terrain of Caulonia and the Savuto river to the south of Terina to build a solid camp to defend against the enemy''s attack and buy more time for us to defeat the Samnites and lead the main troops back on a decisive battle with Syracuse.

    For the sake of a unifiedmand of the fourth and fifth legion, I will make Lord Philesius be themander of both fourth and fifth legions and be responsible for the war in the south.¡±

    Davos chose Philesius not only due to his seniority but also because he was in charge of military work, not to mention that he could even make the stubborn Drakos and the jumpy Epiphanes listen to him. However, his character is not tough, making him be swayed by the opinions of his subordinates. Still, he could do nothing as themanders among the strategoi who are more capable have the same qualifications as Drakos and Epiphanes, such as Kapus and Antonios. On the other hand, if you ce those who have lower qualifications than them, such as Hielos and so on, at the top, the two legatus of the legion will not ept it, and it will instead affect the operation.

    The statesmen seriously considered Davos'' n of ¡°defence first and counterattackedter¡±, with most of them thinking it was feasible. After all, they had great confidence in Davos ability and thought that as long as he was inmand of the battle against Syracuse, their chance of winning was great. At the same time, they also epted the candidate that Davos proposed as themander temporarily in charge of the military In the south. After all, Philesius had always been kind to others in the Senate, giving everyone a good impression of him.

    ¡°Then who will take over the position of Praetor of Consentia? Or will Philesius still hold it?¡± Cornelius asked because Philesius is still Consentia''s praetor.

    After all, there is a precedent of ¡°concurrently serving as Praetor and Legatus¡±, such as Hielos, who served as the Praetor of Aprustum and the legatus of the fourth legion after the second Crotonian War, and so did Bagul in Grumentum.

    But Davos said, ¡°Our war with Syracuse will determine the survival of our union. It is the most important event, so we must go all out! Hence we can only find another person to take over as the Praetor of Consentia!¡±

    Davos'' gaze swept through everyone in the Senate. He saw most of the non-military statesmen showed yearning in their eyes, especially the Bruttian statesmen. It is understandable; after all, even though there are currently several cities within Theonia Union, only three are important: Thurii, the centre of Theonia Union. Grumentum, thergest city in the Lucanian region and the hub of the northern part of the union. Consentia, the central city of the Bruttian region. Although each praetor has the same ranking, the praetor of these three cities is virtually superior to others, and it is also an honour to serve as one.

    Of course, Davos knew what the statesmen were thinking about, so he patiently exined, ¡°Considering that once the war with Syracuse begins, the Bruttian region and the Crotone in will soon be the frontline of Theonia closest to the battlefield. Thus, the Praetor of these regions needs to cooperate with the army¡¯s military operations and meet their operational needs, such as housing the wounded, providing new soldiers, transferring food supplies¡­and so on. Therefore, we need a statesman who has both administrative experience and understanding of the operation of the military, for the time being-¡± Davos emphasise the word ¡°for the time being¡± strongly as he does not want to disappoint some of the statesmen too much, ¡°As for the Praetor of Consentia, I propose that Hielos temporarily take up this position.¡±

    The statesmen did not oppose Davos'' proposal due to Hielos'' outstanding performance during his term in Aprustum, which was evident to all. Only Petaru, Kaduk and some others showed disappointment. Moreover, since the trial of Pollux and the others, there were lesser statesmen who opposed Davos'' proposal. Hence, this proposal was easily passed.

    Then Hielos, who had just been appointed, asked, ¡°Archon, since I am going to Consentia, who will take over my current post?¡±

    ¡°Lord Hieronymus, I hope that you can temporarily take the post of quartermaster.¡± Military matters need to be decided by Davos, and others can''t intervene. Davos has long thought of a good candidate; after all, the war is about to start, which means that military training will naturally have to stop.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Hieronymus answered lightly.

    Although he didn''t express his enthusiasm, knowing Hieronymus, Davos still felt assured. Unlike Drakos, who was stubborn and only wanted tomand the battle, the taciturn Hieronymus was serious and pragmatic, so as long as he was given the respect and space to use his talent, he wouldplete his task without a word.

    Still, considering that this is a big war, the pressure of the logistics'' quartermaster will be tremendous. Thus Davos still wants to find him a helper, ¡°Mersis, you have to help Hieronymus!¡±

    Mersis immediately express his hardship, ¡°I am already busy with the things I am responsible for, such as the finance and taxation of so many cities¡­¡± But facing Davos'' stare, his voice gradually lowered. In the end, he could only reluctantly shrugged and said, ¡°I¡­I¡­I''ll try my best.¡±

    Davos then asked, ¡°Lord Hieronymus, how many soldiers in the reserve legion are there in total in Thurii?¡±

    ¡°There are about two thousand two hundred men.¡± Hieronymus, who was very dedicated to his job, blurted out without thinking.

    Davos nodded. He then looked at the crowd and said loudly, ¡°Everyone, I propose establishing two reserve legions in Thurii. So that once the war breaks out, we could use them to defend our city and deal with emergencies.¡±

    ¡°I have no objection.¡± Kunogta said.

    ¡°I agree.¡± Cornelius agreed.

    Even the two statesmen who usually opposed war had agreed, not to mention the other statesmen. The point is that after Davos leaves with the first and second legions, the empty Thurii would make them feel insecure. Thus with the two new legions, they would feel much more at ease.

    ¡°Lord archon, even though the number of the soldiers in the new legion would be sufficient, they do not have the unified new legion weapons and equipment. You should know that most of these reserve soldiers are just preparatory citizens and registered freemen, and they do not have enough money to buy weapons and equipment.¡± Warned Hieronymus.

    Davos thought for a moment and said, ¡°You and Mersis must gather the several arms merchants such as Tios and the Legion''s weapon shop, as well as the manager of Bank of Cheiristoya, to discuss a feasible way to solve the problem of weapons and equipment for the new legion soldiers and try to achieve unity.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Hieronymus replied straightforward.

    Mersis whined, ¡°This would costs money again!¡±

    At this point, Kunogta said, ¡°If the war with Syracuse breaks out, it will be a great war that would consume a lot of our wealth on all fronts. Therefore, I suggest that the Senate step forward and rece the soldiers in making an agreement with the arms merchants to temporarily allow the soldiers to buy weapons on credit and then pay them back with interest after the war ends¡­ I believe the credit of the Senate of Theonia is still worth the money.¡±

    ¡°Your suggestion is wonderful, Lord Kunogta!¡± Mersis immediately cheered up and said, ¡°As citizens of Theonia, these arms merchants should make such contributions!¡±

    ¡°I don''t care how you go about solving the problem of weaponry for the new legion, but you must not force them, else you will have to talk with Tritodemus.¡± Warned Davos.

    ¡°The lord archon is right. The union''sw protects the citizen''s properties, and no one is allowed to infringe it!¡± Warned Tritodemus.

    A smile showed on Mersis'' fat face as he said, ¡°Rest assured, milord. How could I, a statesman, a noble among Theonian citizens, make such a mistake?¡±

    Without paying any further attention to him, Davos walked to the centre of the senate hall, stood upright, and looked at everyone. Afterwards, he said in a passionate and inspiring voice, ¡°Esteemed statesmen, it is thanks to your hard work and dedication that the Theonia Union has be as strong and prosperous as it is today in just a few years! But now, we have encountered the greatest test since the establishment of the union. Syracuse, a Greek city-state that has dominated the western Mediterranean for a hundred years, is like a mountain in front of Theonia, which had blocked not only our progress but also crushed us! The statesmen of Theonia, the elites among the citizens, the leaders of the people, are you willing to sumb to this mountain and be crushed by it? Or will you face it bravely and go through hardship?!¡±

    ¡°Ovee it, and there will be a t and smooth road ahead of Theonia!¡±

    ¡°If we defeat Syracuse, Theonia will no longer have a powerful enemy in the Western Mediterranean!¡±

    ¡°That''s why¡­even if all the citizens of Theonia starve, they will defeat Syracuse!¡±

    ¡°Under the protection of Hades, we will ovee no matter how great the difficulties and powerful the enemy is. We will eventually defeat them!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the guidance of Davos, the statesmen expressed their determination to fight Syracuse to death.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the Senate of Theonia received the urgent report from the third legion, the situation in Potentia had already changed. The Samnites, who were still gathering their warriors, suddenlyunched an attack on Potentia''s territory. With the great chieftain of Potentia, Pamot, ordering all the tribes under them to retreat to the city, the Samnites became unobstructed and advanced rapidly, with some troops even bypassing the city of Potentia and continued to head south¡­

 Chapter 394: The First Battle Between Theonia and Samnite (I)

    Pamot, who was checking the enemy''s situation in the city, was extremely anxious. Still, he did not dare to send the troops out of the city to block them because the enemy had already surrounded Potentia. And the strength of the Samnites far exceeded the information he had received in advance.

    Some of the tribes in the southern part of the Potentian territory became careless and did not evacuate in time as they thought that the Samnites were still far away from them. As a result, they were wiped out or captured by the Samnites or got frightened and desperately retreated further south to the territory of Grumentum.

    The panic brought by these fleeing Potentian tribes naturally spread to the tribes north of Grumentum, and they too began making mour about evacuating to the south. Alexius, who had already received the report from the scouts, felt the urgency of the situation, so he resolutely decided that he could no longer wait for the Senate''s order and immediately led the more than 8,000 soldiers who had all returned to the base and march north.

    In the military reform in recent years, Davos had not only equipped each legion with a reconnaissance team of 100 men but also took into consideration that fighting in Italy, with its tall mountain, would make the arms of the light infantry to be sore and numb after a series of long-ranged attacks. At the same time, they also needed to assist the hoplites in attacking the enemy''s nk and making a detour to pursuit them, which was no less physically demanding than the hoplites but less efficient inbat. Therefore, after thinking and discussing it with the strategoi, he added a brigade of light armoured soldiers to each legion, wearing leather helmets, breasttes, shields, shin armour and sandals, with theirbat weapons being a 1.2-meter-long double-edged thick iron sword. Only young and middle-aged citizens and preparatory citizens who are good at running and climbing mountains are selected into this brigade to assist the hoplites inbat.

    At the same time, Davos also reformed the light infantry brigade. Due to Theonia''s excellent slingers mainlying from Rhodes*, the scarcity of troops made it difficult for theter established legions to recruit more slingers. Thus, except for the first and second legions, which still had slingers, the light infantry brigades of the other legions consisted of half archers and half peltasts. In addition, the number of excellent Thracian light shields could no longer meet the expansion speed of the Theonian legions, so from the fourth legion onwards, there were no longer light shield infantries. And they were now mainly reced by peltasts and light-armoured soldiers, thus making the legion establishment more simplified and unified. (Balearic Ind, which was another ce abundant in slingers, is under the control of the Carthaginians.)

    Besides the Engineering Brigade, Cavalry Brigade, Medical Brigade and other auxiliary brigades in the legion, there are now nearly 8,700 men in a Theonian legion today and can be described as arge and fully functional legion.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As Alexius goes north, he had also sent someone to inform Bagul to defend the northern territory of Grumentum.

    The Lucanian region is mainly mountainous, and Potentia is the highest altitude in the region, with an average height of over 500 metres. Fortunately, most of the soldiers of the third legions are Lucanians and have lived here since childhood and have adapted to the environment.

    The third legion trekked in three columns in the londs between the mountains and the river valleys, like a long dragon winding through the mountains, stretching three kilometres or so from the head of the line to the tail¡­

    At this moment, on one of the mountains, the son of the great chieftain of Hirpini ¨C Garni, is closely watching the movement at the foot of the mountain.

    ¡°Chief, look!¡± The warrior beside him suddenly shouted.

    ¡°Idiot, keep your voice down!¡± Garni kicked him and scolded, ¡°Don''t scare the enemy away!¡±

    They could see a flickering golden light on the mountain path hidden by trees. After a while, these golden specks of light turned into a g held high. At the top of the g is the bronze statue of Hades holding a bident that dazzles under the sun. The g holder was a tall military man dressed inplete animal fur, making him looked extraordinarily sturdy. (the fur is from arge hound, symbolising loyalty and bravery. After all, Hade''s loyal dog is the three-headed dog, Cerberus. In addition, ording to the modern thinking of Davos, he forbids his men from wantonly hunting animals just for the need of decoration.)

    ¡°Hmph, it''s just nice to look at.¡± A Samnite warrior muttered in a low voice mockingly, ¡°I just don''t know if they could even fight.¡±

    Garni didn''t speak as he continued to stare at the Theonian army that was slowly approaching him. He knew very well in his heart that the reason why his father contacted the two other Samnites ns of Caudini and Pentri to attack Potentia together was not only due to Syracuse''s strong financial support and encouragement but also because of the oppression of the suddenly rising powerful neighbour to the south.

    At this moment, he wants to keep his eyes wide open and clearly see what the strange enemy he is about to face is like.

    Behind Theonia''s g bearer was the legion''s g bearer holding the fluttering ck g embroidered with a golden ¡®Theonia''s third legion¡¯. The g was initially red due to the influence of Rome from his previous life, but as he became more and more integrated into this era and Hades'' belief had prated the hearts of the Theonians, so he changed the colour of the military g into ck, representing Hades, the lord of darkness.

    Behind the legion''s g bearer is the g bearer of the first brigade of the third legion, holding the statue of Thanatos, which is one size smaller than the status of Hades. Then came the legion''s drummer¡­

    Garni rubbed his slightly tired eyes. Even though the Theonian army looked formidable, they had too many of these fancy things.

    As he sighed in his mind, his eyes widened at the sight of the following Theonian legionnaires. ck bronze helmet unlike that of the Corinthian helmet that he had seen the Greek soldiers in Campania was wearing. The helmet is like an inverted bowl with the whole face exposed except the part protecting the side of the face. Its style is very simr to that of the Samnite warriors'' helmet, with no decorative feather or colourful horsetail at the top. ck linen breastte, ck shin armour, a spear in the right hand and a shield in the left¡­

    ¡®Those shields¡­¡¯ Garni was surprised to find that the shield held by the Theonian soldiers was very simr to their shield. It is half a man high, rectangr in shape with the central front convex and both its sides concave, and the whole shield surface is curved. The only difference is that the shields of the Theonian soldiers are painted ck instead of red¡­

    ¡°Weren''t Theonia a Greek city-state? Why aren''t they using their traditional round bronze shield and Corinthian helmet? Instead, they are using something so simr to us Samnites?!¡±

    Garni was surprised. Naturally, he didn''t know that the archon of Theonia had finallypleted the upgrading of the legion''s weapon and equipment in recent years. He abandoned the heavy Corinthian helmet and round shield and changed it into a new helmet andrge shield. Of course, such arge shield can''t be ted with bronze.

    In the Theonian army, apart from the asional helmet with red, white or purple plume, which must have been worn by the officers and strategoi, the rest were almost entirely ck, making the whole legion look like a ck snake drilled out of hell, filled with the smell of death and cold.

    Garni unconsciously gulped, put on the helmet with rows of colorful plumes and whispered, ¡°Inform Abrini on the other mountain to get ready. Once the enemy''s front army passed under the mountain, we will attack and give these pretentious enemies a good show.¡±

    ¡°Yes, chief!¡± The cavalryman shook the red g painted with a wolf''s head on the top of the mountain, which could not be seen by the Theonian soldiers at the bottom, and the Samnites on the other mountain also shook their g in response.

    The Samnites warriors held their breath as they crouched on the ridge, holding their javelins and rocks, waiting for the Theonians to pass under the mountain.

    But suddenly, the Theonians stopped advancing, and a strategos on horseback seemed to say something to the soldiers before he rushed back to the army.

    After a while, the army began moving forward again. However, after advancing a few steps, they stopped again, and the strategos said something to the soldiers again.

    They stop and go three times in a row. And when they were just about to enter the ambush circle, they stopped within a short distance and lingered for too long.

    Feeling that his patience was about to run out, Garni rubbed his hands over his stiff, numb body and cursed the Theonians for their slowness.

    Just then, a suddenmotion happened on the top of the mountain.

    ¡°The enemy ising! The enemy ising!¡­¡± The warriors shouted loudly.

    ¡°What happened?!¡± Garni asked hurriedly, not caring about the ambush at the moment.

    ¡°Chief, the Theonians¡­the Theonians areing from the back of the mountain and want to surround us!¡± The warrior who ran to see the situation hurriedly ran back to report.

    In fact, he doesn''t need to report it as Garni could see dark shadows moving between the mountains and forests behind them.

    ¡®Fooled! Those cunning Theonians knew that we prepared an ambush here and had deliberately attracted my attention to the front while they wanted to surround and wipe us out!¡¯ Such thought shed through Garni''s mind. Still, he was not flustered and immediately ordered, ¡°Blow the horn! Since the Theonians dared to go up the mountain, then let them have the taste the Samnites¡¯ strength!¡±

    A low and long sound of a horn reached the foot of the mountain. And the legatus of the third legion, Alexius, who was at the front of the legion, immediately looked up.

    ¡°It seems that the Samnites have discovered our troops.¡± Litom, the leader of the first brigade, spoke in fluent Greek. Since the time he was humiliated in the Isthmian Games, he spent a lot of time practising his Greek aftering back, which improved significantly.

    ¡°Kelisinus, are you sure that there are only 1,000 Samnites on both mountains?¡± The legion''s adjutant asked Kelisinus, the reconnaissance captain beside him again.

 Chapter 395: The First Battle Between Theonia and Samnite (II)

    ¡°I''m sure!¡± Kelisinus confidently pointed to the mountains ahead and said, ¡°Those Samnites came here after the Potentian tribes. But after getting the information about us from somewhere, they actually tried to ambush us here. However, they do not know that my men had been watching their every move.¡±

    ¡°Kelisinus, I will take note of the contribution you and your men have made today.¡± Alexius said as he pats his restless horse, ¡°Although our legion hasn''t trained in Potentia, I think you haven''t forgotten the terrain here, Litom.¡±

    ¡°How would I dare forget about it when you have brought us to the southern mountains of Potentia several times in civilian clothes! And the militaryw has a strict rule that all ranks of officers must engrave the topography of their districts in their mind!¡± Litom pointed to his own head.

    ¡°Lord Davos is a great man!¡± Eximed Alexius. It was this militaryw that Davos made for the officers and soldiers to strictly implement that made the army prepared in times of war. He also remembered Davos'' advice when he appointed him as the legatus of the legion, ¡°Now is the time to test you, and also to see how powerful the Samnites are!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Garni saw a g was waving across the mountain. Apparently, the enemy also attacked Abrini''s group, but he doesn''t have the time to even worry about his friend at this moment. Together with more than one thousand warriors, he rushed down towards the mountain. Except for the colourful plume on his helmet, his equipment was no different from the other warriors, a golden bronze helmet, a loose red short-sleeved robe that reaches to his knee, a leather belt was tied to his waist, his right hand clutching a spear while his left hand carried four javelins.

    Considering that he was going to ambush the Theonian army, Garni had only brought out light infantries, who regarded the steep hillside as tnd, could shuttle between rocks and trees, and were as agile as monkeys, stepping on thorns and debris without the slightest pain. Soon, they approached the Theonian army climbing the mountain.

    Compared with the rapid descending Samnites, the speed of the Theonian troops ascending the mountain is rtively slow, as they are a mixture of light infantry, light-armoured and hoplites. And they formed up in a loose arc formation in an attempt to encircle all this side of the mountain so that the Samnites could not escape, but they did not expect the Samnites toe so quickly.

    As the temporarymander of this mixed force, Kesima, the senior centurion of the second brigade of the third legion, was not flustered. However, if he encountered this situation a few years ago, when they had not yet integrated into Theonia Union, Kesima would undoubtedly lead the warriors of his tribes to meet them in a melee. But now, he is a qualified officer in the Theonian legion.

    ¡°Archer, get ready! Hoplites, defend!¡± At the same time as Kesima gave the order, the hoplites of the legion erected theirrge shield against the trunk and rock, protecting themselves and the archers, while the light-armoured and peltasts retreated further, making it difficult for the Samnites to attack them unless they charged through the lines of hoplites.

    Under the protection of therge shield, the archers calmly pull their bows, aimed their arrows at the Samnites, who are running rapidly. The Samnites'' loose formation, coupled with the mountains and lush trees, reduced their effectiveness, so they needed an urate focus fire.

    The Samnites were up so high that even though they were a hundred metres away from each other, the javelin they threw still flew straight to the hoplites. And the only thing they could hear was the continuous ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang!¡­¡± sound, with more than half of the javelins hitting therge shields. Seeing the sharp javelin tip piercing through the shield made the hoplites rmed, ¡®It''s heavy javelins!¡¯

    The Theonian archers had also shot out their sharp arrows, while the unprotected and lightly dressed Samnite warriors quickly crawled under a rock or hid behind tree trunks to avoid the arrow.

    For a time, javelins and spears came and went in the mountains and forests.

    While the Theonian soldiers had stronger protection and the archers had a stable ce to shoot arrows, the Samnites relied on their flexibility and the powerful pration of the javelins to fight back. Although their casualties gradually increased due to theirck of protection, it still did not weaken their morale.

    Relying on the cover of trees, Garni and his men managed to approach within 40 metres away from the Theonians. After seeing that the javelin he had thrown had made therge shield of the Theonian hoplites wobble and cause the soldier to almost fall, he weighed hisst javelin in his hand and thought to himself, ¡®Closer, closer, I am sure I can kill another one!¡¯

    After he thought confidently, he suddenly drilled out of the trees, swiftly circled the route and continued to rush down.

    The whole Samnite warriors were only about 30 metres away from the enemy. Garni then leaned against a big tree to avoid the enemy''s arrows like the other warriors, and when the archers reloaded the arrows, he came out again and was ready to throw his javelin at the hoplite in front. But suddenly, he saw a shocking scene. The Theonian hoplites suddenly dropped theirrge shields and made a throwing action.

    ¡°Stop, javelin!¡± Garni''s eyes widened.

    The hoplites on the opposite side threw their javelins. The thousands of javelins mixed with arrows flew out, catching the Samnites off guard. Those Samnite warriors who did not have the time to hide were immediately shot by javelins and screamed.

    Garni didn''t have the time to judge as after the Theonian hoplites threw their javelins, the peltasts ten metres behind them also rushed up and threw the javelins in their hands again, followed by the light-armoured soldiers. As the Samnites dodged the javelin attacks, the hoplites crossed the defensive line and quickly approached the enemy.

    ¡°Retreat! Quickly retreat!¡­¡± Garni knew that he shouldn''t act strongly at this moment, as Theonia''s peculiarbination of tactics had disrupted their rhythm, and if they dyed any longer, they might not be able to leave.

    Garni gestured while quickly retreating, and the person following him had immediately blown the horn.

    However, the speed of Theonia''s light-armoured soldiers is not slow. As Lucanians, they are also good at climbing trees and mountains. Furthermore, they are also wearing light clothes. Therefore, they were about to catch up with the Samnites, not to mention those wounded warriors.

    On the rocky mountainside with intertwining trees, javelins fought against leather shields and short swords. The Samnites tried to keep pulling away in order to give full y to their weapon, but once they let the Theonian''s light-armoured soldiers get close, the Samnites became in danger.

    One flees and one chase on the mountains, and a fight between javelins and swords could be often seen.

    After crossing the mountains, escaping from the pursuit of Theonia, and regrouping with his team, Garni found that there were only more than 500 people following him. He had lost almost half of his men.

    By the time he regrouped with Abrini''s team, his good brother was already dying from a javelin wound, and he only had 300 out of the 1,000 warriors he led left.

    Initially, he wanted to ambush the Theonian army, but the Theonians instead ambushed him. Garni, who was angry, became depressed, and he could only retreat rapidly to the north with the disabled warriors and defeated army without rest.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°These are the Samnites?!¡± Alexius stared carefully at the bodies on the ground and even touched the thick calluses of their bare feet regardless of their dirtiness, ¡°It''s hard, like a pair of leather. Kesima, you had just fought a battle with the Samnites. Tell me how you felt fighting them.¡±

    Kesima thought for a moment and said, ¡°Legatus, the Samnites are very brave. As you have seen, even though they are all light infantry, they still dare to rush to a ce less than 30 metres away from our frontline and throw their javelin¡­ And their quite loose and erratic formation reduced our light infantry''s uracy. This tactic is very simr to our light infantry tactics¡­ And, you see-¡± Kesima grabbed a Samnite javelin and handed it to Alexius.

    Alexius weighted it with his hand, then put the javelin''s tip close to his eyes as he carefully looked at it. He then became startled, ¡°It''s a javelin with a heavier tip, and its weight is not much different from ours. So is this the cause for why 100 men under you were injured?¡±

    Kesima nodded and said seriously, ¡°I observed that their javelin skills are not as worse as that of lord Epiphanes and his peltasts; whenever they hit arge shield head-on, it often pierces the shield''s te, which wounded our brothers¡­¡±

    Alexius stared at the shield pierced by several javelins and said, ¡°ording to the soldiers, the Samnites ran fast in the mountains and forests, so you can¡¯t catch them no matter how hard you chase them before they escaped.¡±

    Kesima refuted unconvinced, ¡°The Samnites run very fast, but us, Lucanians, are not worse at climbing mountains and forests as them. If we were not wearing heavier equipment than them, we would have already caught up!¡±

    ¡°From what the Potentians have said, although the Samnites also have heavy infantry wearing breasttes, most of them are light infantry holding javelins¡­¡± Alexius looked at the continuous mountains ahead, feeling worried in his mind, ¡°Order the legion to speed up the march and arrive at the upper Basento valley to camp!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In a former Potentian vige less than a kilometre north of the city of Potentia, Garni bowed his head in frustration as he stood in front of the great chieftain of the Hirpini, Berani.

    Berani didn''t criticise him because of his son¡¯s attacked at the Theonians without authorisation, which resulted in the loss of warriors and officers. He also knew that Garni had already med himself for the death of Abrini, so he asked in a gentle tone, ¡°Garni, you are the first chief of the Samnites who fought with the Theonians. Although you have suffered a slight loss, you also found out the strength of our enemy in the south. Tell us, what is the difference between the Theonians and the Campanians in battle?¡±

 Chapter 396: Samnites Attack

    His question made Garni look up, while the other chieftains that were present became interested.

    ¡®Theonians!¡¯ Hearing this name, Garni felt hatred in his heart. He tried his best to recall what happened, ¡°¡­most of their soldiers are heavy infantry, but their heavy infantry is different from the other Greeks we have seen before¡­their helmets are very simr to ours, and what they held is not the round bronze shield, but arge shield simr to ours¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah?!¡± The Samnite chieftains were surprised.

    ¡°Their heavy infantry is outright the same as ours¡­they could even throw javelins!¡± Garni recalled the painful scene.

    Causingmotion among the chieftains, ¡°Since when did the Greeks start learning our tactics?¡±

    ¡°The Theonians have never been in contact with us, so how could they learn our tactics?¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the chieftains discussed it, Berani asked with concern, ¡°So do they have other equipment that is the same as our heavy infantry?¡±

    ¡°It''s not the same, but their chest armour offers much more protection, their arms, front chest, back, crotch and thighs are covered, and they also have shin armour on their legs¡­¡±

    ¡°That means we will suffer more when we fight them by throwing javelins.¡± Lusen, the chieftain of Compsa, said with concern.

    ¡°The reason why we only have arge shield is that no matter how thick an armour is, a thrown javelin is still enough to cause harm. On the contrary, the Theonian heavy infantry¡¯s equipment is heavy that it is not beneficial in moving in the mountains.¡± Said the chieftain of Maloenton, Lesguk, without care.

    ¡°Chief Lesguk is right!¡± Kinduk, who was responsible for leading the Caudini warriors to battle, said confidently. ¡°We have fought many times with the Greeks in Campania, and their heavy infantry''s heavy equipment made it difficult for them to traverse in the mountains, so they were not able to catch up to us at all. Moreover, they are not flexible enough to avoid the javelins we threw at their nks and rear. And don¡¯t forget, we will never easily fight the Greeks on the in.¡±

    ¡°What chief Kinduk said is our experience in dealing with the Greek hoplites for decades. The mountains are the world of us, Samnites, so if the Theonians dares toe in, we will not allow them to leave again!¡± Lusen eximed with encouragement.

    ¡°You are right! Wipe out the Theonians! Show them the might of us, Samnites!¡± Many chieftains followed.

    ¡°However¡­the Theonians are not all heavy infantry.¡± Garni had to remind these overconfident chieftains, ¡°They also have archers, javelin throwers without armour and shields, and a kind of light infantry with small shields and short swords that are fast even in the mountains. I reckon they might be Lucanians¡­ And what we should pay more attention to is that the Theonian army, whether it is their hoplites, archers, peltasts, and that kind of light-armoured infantry, is that they cooperate well with each other, which is obviously due to their long periods of training. While those temporarily recruited soldiers of the Greek city-states in Campania could notpare at all¡­¡±

    What Garni had said made the chieftains ponder.

    Berani then said, ¡°Those Theonians were able to arrive at Potentia so soon means that this army must not be their main force stationed in Thurii, and their number must not be toorge. Since they daree, we will have them taste the strength of our warriors!¡±

    His words made the chieftains cheer.

    ¡°Kinduk, you stay in the camp together with the seven thousand Caudini warriors, while the other chieftains will lead all warriors to attack the arriving Theonians with me.¡±

    ¡°Chief, you mean all the Hirpini warriors?¡± Lesguk asked in surprise.

    ¡°Yes, all twenty-five thousand Hirpini warriors!¡± Berani said clearly.

    ¡°Wouldn''t that be too much?¡±

    ¡°It''s still not enough. If Torik had not taken his 18,000 Pentri warriors to attack Poseidonia, I would have asked him toe with us.¡± Berani continued with pride, ¡°This time, I will eat this Theonian army that dares to enter Potentia alone in one bite!¡±

    ¡°What if the Lucanians in the city of Potentia suddenlyes out?¡± Lusen asked with a bit of worry.

    ¡°I am more worried that they wouldn''t daree out.¡± Kinduk looked at Berani andughed.

    Berani nodded and said, ¡°There are only ten thousand warriors in Potentia, so they daree out¡­hmph, Kinduk, don''t be anxious to fight them, rather entangle with them while I lead the army back as soon as possible. We would then attack them at the back and front, wiping them all out!¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Kinduk''s eyes glimmered with cold light.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Philesius, I am d to see you back.¡± Davos happily greeted him in the living room. He then grabbed Philesius'' hands and said with a smile, ¡°I heard of your great work in Consentia. The chieftains of the Bruttian tribes and herders lined up in front of your official residence every day, wanting to see you¡­ Haha, they are reluctant to see you leave even though you were only the Praetor for more than a year!¡±

    ¡°Milord, please don''t make fun of me. I don''t want to be the Praetor in the Bruttian region anymore, even if you try to persuade me.¡± Philesius smiled bitterly and shook his head, ¡°The people there don''t trust the judge at all, so no matter how small the dispute is, they woulde to me. If it weren''t for the full assistance of Hegesitus, I don''t think I would even be able to stay in Consentia for three months.¡±

    ¡°Yet you have been in Consentia for more than a year, and the several investigations that the Senate Administration Committee had made found that you have done an excellent job in Consentia. Hence I believe it will be very easy for you to serve as the Praetor of other cities.¡± Davos smiled and praised him, ¡°Come on, let''s go inside.¡±

    After both of them sat down, the ves came offering drinks.

    Philesius was not in the mood to drink, so he immediately said to Davos, ¡°Milord, you have proposed for me to be themander of the southern Theoni. I have no problemmanding the fourth and fifth legions, but it would be difficult for me to be the overallmander of the entire South Italia Allied army andmand the whole war! Would the great city-states such as Crotone and Rhegium willingly follow mymand?!¡±

    After hearing this, Davos persuaded him with seriousness, ¡°Philesius, this task is indeed troublesome. But even if it is troublesome, you should still try your best to aplish it! You should know, although the agreement with our allies said that ¡®all city-states, whether it isrge or small, are treated equally.¡¯ But all our allies understand that Theonia is the alliance leader, so if we are not the overallmander of the alliance, not the one responsible for organisation andmand, which city-states dare to be themander?! So you should boldly manage andmand the allied army without worries! Moreover, I have written letters to the Council of Crotone and Rhegium, asking them to cooperate actively. At the same time, the Senate also arranged for Lord Ansitanos to be your diplomatic liaison officer, responsible for coordinating matters with the various city-states.¡±

    ¡°Wonderful!¡± Philesius felt much more rxed after hearing it. However, he continued, ¡°Milord, you asked us to set up defences in Caulonia and Terina, but Syracuse has still not dered war. So would Caulonia and Terina allow us to arrange our camps on theirnd in advance? And once Syracuse dered war, their army would quicklynd in Locri, while we would need to wait for our allies to assemble as they hade from various city-states, not to mention needing to rush to Caulonia and Terina to build camps. Besides, what if the Syracusan army broke through Caulonia before we could even build the camps?¡±

    ¡°This is indeed a problem. Once the war starts, there will be many unexpected factors, and no one could make an urate prediction.¡± Davos tapped on his armchair with his finger. After pondering for some time, he finally said, ¡°Try your best in following the initial n, but if things go awry, try to preserve our strength and don''t fight blindly. However, there is a bottom line that you must keep in mind!¡±

    Davos pointed at the table and said firmly, ¡°Defend mpetia and Aprustum, and help the Crotonians keep their city! As long as this line of defence is not lost, we can keep the enemy out of the territory and gather our strength for a counterattack!¡±

    ¡°Milord, I will defend our territory in the south until youe back!¡± Philesius promised, but he continued to ask, ¡°What if Syracuse were to use their fleet to bypass Crotone andnd behind us?¡±

    Davos was disappointed a bit at Philesius'' foresight. So he said impatiently, ¡°It is not easy to have tens of thousands of soldiers disembark on ournd, don''t forget that we still have the two newly established legions. And this is Seclian''s concern, not yours.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Seclian, once war breaks out between Theonia and Syracusan, what preparations do you have for your navy?¡± Davos asked with a serious expression.

    Seclian said confidently, ¡°Milord, we nned to gather the warships of our allies and direct them¡­with Rhegium taking the initiative to hand over their 35 triremes to our navy, Caulonia and Terina have also merged their fleet with us. Although Scylletium had expressed its consent, they had not yet put it into action, while Crotone is hesitant, but I think they will soon agree. At that time, Theonia will have a powerful fleet of nearly 200rge and small warships, while I will install the ¡®corvus¡¯ on all the triremes¡­¡±

 Chapter 397: Alexius Evasion

    ¡°But-¡± Seclian touched his nose, ¡°Because Milord is about to take the first legion that had cooperated with us to train in the ¡®new tactics¡¯ for several months, we would need to train with this new tactic again with the newly created legions'' soldiers. However, it won''t take that much time. Soon after, I can lead this new fleet south to have a decisive battle with the Syracusan navy, and I believe they will have a huge shock!¡±

    Seclian looked eager, as he was clearly confident in the new tactics.

    Davos shook his head and reminded him seriously, ¡°Seclian, even if you defeat Syracuse''s fleet somewhere in the Ionian Sea, our warships will inevitably be damaged. We would need to rescue the soldiers that fell overboard, the damaged warships need repairing, and we need to tow back the warships we capture¡­there are so many things to do after the battle. But, you need to remember that Syracuse has more than one fleet, in case-¡± Davos then emphasised, ¡°That you are busy dealing with those, what if the enemy''s reinforcementse?!¡±

    Seeing that Seclian was eager to exin, Davos stopped him and continued, ¡°Even if the enemy''s reinforcements doesn''t appear, it would not be easy for you to deal with the aftermath. We only have one fleet, so I hope it grows stronger after every battle and not weaker. Thus, I suggest for you to arrange the first naval battle in¡­¡±

    After listening to Davos'' detailed n, Seclian confidently said, ¡°I understand, milord! I will follow your n!¡­but I currently need your help, else it will affect the navy''s war preparation.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°With the arrival of our allies'' warships, our dry dock won''t be enough.¡±

    ¡®This is indeed a problem!¡¯ Davos thought for a moment and said, ¡°I will ask Lord Kunogta to speed up the construction of more dry docks and naval bases on both sides of the Crati River from the city of Thurii to the sea to meet your needs!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The third legion of Theonia arrived at a tributary of Basento river, thergest river flowing through the city of Potentia. Although the tributary is only a small river, it is enough to meet the legion''s needs of water. Moreover, thend near the river is soft, with lush water nts and steep and unclimbable mountains on both sides; an excellent ce to camp. Thus Alexius chose to build a camp at the opening of the valley.

    As soon as the legionaries unloaded their luggage and began digging trenches, the reconnaissance captain Kelisinus hurriedly reported, ¡°Legatus, my brothers have found the Samnites, 5 kilometres to the north and areing here. They have about 20,000 men!¡±

    ¡®More than 20,000 men!¡¯ Alexius was shocked. It was beyond his expectation for so many Samnites toe and so quickly. He could feel the fierceness of the Samnites and their strong desire to get their revenge.

    Alexius looked at the trench that they had just started digging with regret. If they were to have another two or so hours, the third legion would be able to build a simple camp to fight the iing Samnites.

    ¡°Retreat!¡± He ordered decisively.

    ¡®What?!¡¯ The herald thought he had heard wrong.

    ¡°Retreat now!!¡± Alexius shouted once more.

    After the salpinx sounded for a while, Litom came.

    ¡°Legatus, why are you ordering a retreat as soon as we arrive at the camp?! Could it be that the buglers heard the wrong order?!¡± Asked Litom.

    ¡°The order is correct. There are currently more than 20,000 Samnites rushing here, but we cannot fight the Samnites that have twice our men without a camp and being exhausted. So we can only retreat first, then look for an opportunity.¡± Facing the senior centurion of the first brigade, Alexius used a few more words to exin the situation to show respect.

    ¡°Retreating before a battle would lower our morale! The soldiers and the people of Theonia would think that we are timid and afraid of death! And we won''t be able to lift our heads in front of the other legions!¡± Litom retorted unconvincedly and added, ¡°Moreover, I think that whether it is 9,000 or 20,000, our legion can resist the enemy''s attack and defeat them!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos said that the Samnites are fierce, so even if we can defeat them, they would cripple the third legion. Or do you not want to participate in the future battle?! More importantly, this will affect Lord Davos'' next n!¡± Alexius held his anger and exined with a few more words.

    ¡°I believe that Lord Davos wants to repel the enemy''s attack and build a camp here!¡± Litom retorted without showing weakness.

    ¡°Carry out the order!¡± Alexius decided to stop arguing with him. The Theonian militaryw emphasised military discipline during a war. Thus the subordinates should absolutely obey their superiors.

    Litom stared at Alexius angrily. In the end, he chose to obey, which also shows that Litom has left the level of a tribal warrior and had be a qualified Theonian strategos.

    He gave a military salute in reluctance, but when Alexius turned back, Litom shouted angrily, ¡°If Lord Hieronymus is still the head of the legion, he would never retreat!¡±

    Alexius acted as if he didn''t hear his angry words, as he now had to think about how to retreat safely.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The city of Potentia is located on the banks of the upper reaches of the Basento River, where the ground is rtively t, but its terrain is high, which could be regarded as a small teau, and the city is built on a vast and rtively gentle mountain. The Potentians spent decades building a big city with stones.

    Presently, Pamot and the tribal chieftains became worried at the movements of the Samnites outside the city wall every day.

    ¡°Chief, look, the Samnites are heading south!¡± Shasid said loudly, pointing outside the city where it is dusty and noisy.

    Pamot''s mind jolted, so he excitedly shouted, ¡°Men, the reinforcements from Theonia should have arrived!¡±

    This sentence immediately made the chieftains and warriors excited, ¡®The powerful Theonians hade to rescue us!¡¯

    Everyone was immediately relieved from their worries these days after hearing the good news.

    ¡°Shall we send troops to meet them?¡± One of the chieftains said excitedly.

    ¡°No!¡± Pamot refused without hesitation. He then said with caution, ¡°The only thing we could do now is to defend the city desperately and wait for Theonia''s reinforcements!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the Samnites arrived at the tributary of Basento, the only thing they saw was a circr earth trench that was kilometres long and unfinished.

    ¡°The Theonians were as timid as rabbits and ran away!¡± Lesguk gasped heavily and plunged his spear into the soil with regret.

    ¡°Father, most of the Theonians are heavy infantry, so they should not have gone far away. We should take this opportunity to catch up and defeat them!¡± The vengeful Garni said eagerly to the great chieftain of Hirpini.

    Naturally, Berani was not willing toe here in vain. Hence he immediately ordered his troops to continue their pursuit.

    However, the Samnites had advanced rashly and were soon ambushed by the light infantry brigade of the third legion. Even after paying hundreds of casualties, they were still unable to catch these Lucanian light infantries, who were more lightly equipped and better at climbing mountains. Thus even if he is angry, Berani still had to be cautious.

    In the end, the third legion was able to get rid of the pursuing Samnites and entered a military base at the junction between Grumentum and Potentia in the evening.

    Alexius and the soldiers of the third legion became a bit depressed. After all, they had just departed from Grumentum yesterday and had only shown themselves in the Potentian area, and yet they were forced to return to Grumentum today.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Poseidonia, a coastal city not far from the north of Elea*. It was a colonial city built by Sybaris and was once a Greek city-state in Italia famous for its roses and three goddess temples (two Temples of Hera and one Temple of Athena). But when the Lucanians migrated south a hundred years ago, it caused the Greek city-states to fall under years of sustained Lucanian attacks and eventually became a city of the Potentian tribes. (It is not the Poseidonia in the Aegean Sea)

    For decades, Poseidonia has not suffered any aggression as Elea in the south couldn''t even protect themselves, so where can she have the strength to attack others? On the other hand, the Samnites in the north prefer the mountains and invading the more powerful and well-defended city of Potentia rather than strolling by the sea. So when the Lucanians of Poseidonia learned that the Samnites were attacking Potentia, they did not show much concern about the safety of their city and only took few precautions, as they focused more on discussing the issue of ¡°how many warriors they should send to reinforce Potentia.¡±

    Today, however, the guards on the lookout tower sounded the rm.

    When the chieftains and warriors climbed the city wall one after another, they were stunned to see so many Samnites outside the city that they couldn''t even see the end at a nce, not even knowing how many people there were.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Tolek, the great chieftain of the Pentri tribe, stood in front of the formation and stared at the small city ahead. He could see and hear the panicking cry of the Lucanians on the city wall, but he didn''t care much. Instead, he turned to look at his subordinates and said, ¡°What''s the name of the thing that the Syracusans had sent?¡±

    ¡°Great chief, it''s called a ballista.¡± A chieftain beside him answered.

    ¡°I see. There is no need for you to say more.¡± Tolek stared at him and continued, ¡°Bring out the balli¡­ballista. Let''s see how powerful this thing is!¡±

    Six ballistae were then ced in front of the line. However, it was the Syracusans that were operating them.

    Afterwards, a double-fist sized ball struck the walls of Poseidonia, causing some parts of the walls to crumble, making the Lucanians panic more¡­

 Chapter 398: Davos Farewell

    Amidst the cheering of the Samnite warriors, Tolek was filled with excitement as he knew that this terrible thing had now patched the defect of Samnites¡¯ poor sieging capabilities. Now, he is fully confident in capturing Poseidonia. And by capturing the city, not only will they have a better port for the Syracusans to ship more food to them, but at the same time, his poor tribesmen could plunder wantonly and get more benefits¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Evening, the archon''s residence in Thurii held a family dinner. Besides Davos'' two wives, his adopted daughter Cynthia, his adopted son Adoris, and his son Crotokatax, Azune ¨C the head maid responsible for the courtyard, Ribaso, the one managing the ves in the front yard, and Aristias, the head of Davos'' intelligence group, also attended.

    The main meal tonight is shabushabu. Therefore, in front of each person were wooden tables, bronze pots and iron kiln. Cheiristoya was not at ease at Crotokatax eating shabushabu alone, but because she herself is pregnant and had a hard time moving around, so how could she still have the energy to take care of him. On the other hand, little Cro''s other mother, Agnes, was more than two months pregnant and had the most severe pregnancy reaction. She couldn''t even look at the shabushabu and had to switch to fruits, mushrooms, sea vegetables and other vegetarian dishes. Thus little Cro had to sit with Azune.

    At this time, Davos, who was sitting at the main seat, looked at the crowd and said seriously, ¡°Tomorrow, I will lead the legion to leave Thurii for Potentia. Thus I won''t be able to take care of the household. With both Cheiristoya and Agnes being pregnant, the family will need your attentive care; Azune, Ribaso and Aristias, you three! So I would like to thank you in advance!¡± He said and lifted the wine.

    As he spoke, Cheiristoya and Agnes looked at their husband with concern.

    While Azune and Ribaso hurriedly stood up.

    So Davos quickly waved his hand and said, ¡°Sit down! Sit down! All of you are already citizens of Theonia, and we are all a family. Don''t consider yourselves as strangers! Look at Aristias!¡±

    Aristias could only force out a smile on his cold face. The only reason he didn''t stand up was that he was once a citizen of Catania, so he wasn''t used to that kind of modesty like Azune and the others. He also raised his wine and responded seriously, ¡°Milord, there is nothing for you to worry about, as I will ask my men to monitor the whole Thurii closely. Once we find any abnormality, I will immediately go to Kapus and Kunogta to, ording to what you said, eliminate the hidden danger!¡±

    ¡°Alright! The safety of this household depends on you!¡± Davos held up his cup, drank the wine and refilled it.

    Azune then immediately said, ¡°Master, I will manage the female ves in the courtyard and take good care of the two madams! Moreover, I will regrly invite Lord Herpus for the check-up, and with the blessings of Hades and Hera¡­¡± Azune looked at Cheiristoya and Agnes and said with a smile, ¡°When you return, the two madam and children will be very healthy!¡±

    ¡°Good! Azune, if everyone is safe, I will reward you well once I return! How about I look a satisfactory husband for you?!¡± Davos joked smilingly.

    Azune immediately protested, ¡°Milord, it''s not fair that you, the dignified archon of Theonia, tease me!¡±

    ¡°Milord, you are too busy with your daily business that you didn''t know that Azune has already found someone she is interested in.¡± Cheiristoya whispered.

    ¡°Oh, is it?!¡± Davos became interested and asked, ¡°Who is it? Can you tell me?¡±

    Azune blushed, then she nced at Aristias next to her and bowed her head.

    Noticing it, Davos no longer asked, ¡°Come, Azune, let''s toast this cup to thank you for taking care of the two madam and the children!¡±

    Azune drank the wine.

    Davos looked at Aristias, who seemed to be clueless, and continued to say to her, ¡°I will give you a piece of advice. You should often ask Agnes for advice; with Hera''s blessing, you won''t need to fear that your wish won¡¯te true!¡±

    Hearing this, Azune became very excited.

    However, Agnes bluntly reminded, ¡°Aphrodite, the goddess of love, is the one responsible for the love between two people. Hera is only responsible for marriage and family.¡±

    ¡°Love without marriage is just deception.¡± Said Davos, half teasingly and half-serious, ¡°In Theonia, Hera is also responsible for pre-marital love.¡±

    ¡°Milord, I would be the one responsible for Azune, so you don''t have to worry about her.¡± Cheiristoya smiled. After freeing Azune from her embarrassment, she then said seriously to Ribaso, ¡°Ribaso, I''ll leave the affairs of the outer courtyard to you. Don''t let those trivial things bother me during this time.¡±

    ¡°Madam, don''t worry as I will take care of it! After all, this is my duty!¡± Ribaso said respectfully, then drank the wine.

    At this time, Cynthia said, ¡°Father, I will take good care of both my mothers and brothers.¡±

    After hearing this, Davos became happy, ¡°Alright! Alright! Our daughter has now grown up and can help the household! Come, I will give you a toast as well!¡±

    ¡°Dad, dad, I also want to drink this, and I want to take care of my mother as well!¡± Little Cro began to make a noise.

    ¡°Good! Good! Good!¡­¡± Davos shook his slightly drunk head in delight.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Late at night, in Cheiristoya''s bedroom, Cheiristoya''szy voice sounded, ¡°I think you should apany Agnes, as she now needs you more¡­¡±

    ¡°Don''t talk and get some rest.¡± Davos softly said as he patted her shoulder with his left hand that was wrapped around her snow-white neck.

    Cheiristoya leaned slightly, drilled her head into Davos'' arms again and sniffed his scent and murmured, ¡°If I give birth to a daughter, is it okay to name her Eunice?¡±

    ¡°Eunice¡­¡± Davos muttered the name (Eunice, which means good victory), with a gentle smile on his face, ¡°Good name. But what if it''s a boy?¡±

    ¡°It would be Apox (meaning courage).¡± Cheiristoya said softly without hesitation. She obviously had already thought about it.

    ¡°Apox Davos, Crotokatax Davos¡­Okay, that would be his name!¡± Davos readily agreed.

    But after a long time passed, Cheiristoya didn''t respond.

    Davos looked down and saw that his wife had fallen asleep. During pregnancy, women were very lethargic.

    Davos gently straightened her sleeping position, gave her an affectionate kiss on her face. He then put on his chiton, walked to the outer room where Azune was watching.

    ¡°Cheiristoya is asleep now. Where is Cro??¡±

    ¡°Little Cro is sleeping as well.¡±

    ¡°Take care of them. I will now go see Agnes.¡±

    Davos heard Agnes soft and expectant voice as soon as he entered his second wife''s bedroom, ¡°Davos, is that you?¡±

    ¡°Why aren''t you asleep yet?! That is not good for the child!¡± Davos gently rebuked her. He then lovingly picked her up, wanting to put her on the bed, but Agnes held his neck and whispered in a worried voice, ¡°I''m worried¡­¡±

    Davos hugged her delicate body andy on the bed together, ¡°What are you worrying about? There is nothing for you to worry as I have never lost on the battlefield with the blessing of Hades! And I promise you that I will be back soon!¡­¡±

    Davos confident promise dissipated Agnes'' worry. She then held her husband tightly and asked softly, ¡°Are¡­are my parents in danger?¡±

    Davos froze. As a matter of fact, when the war between Theonia and Syracuse broke out, Rhegium became the most dangerous ce as it was separated from its allies by Locri. With it being far away from the centre of South Italia, it became vulnerable to enemy attack.

    But at this moment, Davos could not tell her the truth, so he said deeply, ¡°Our South Italian coalition army will not easily let Syracuse threaten Rhegium! However, for safety''s sake, you''d better advise your family to take refuge in Thurii during this time.¡±

    Athelycus has shipyards in Thurii, so it is easier to contact them.

    ¡°Mmm!¡± Agnes responded softly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next day, all the soldiers of the first and second legions who had been mobilised early for the war swore at the Nike Square in Thurii. Afterwards, nearly 20,000 soldiers and the logistics brigade marched westward.

    The Thurians and Amendrans came to see them off. This was the first time that the first and second legions fought in a remote and unfamiliar area, as the furthest the army had ever travelled to was Caulonia, but that was a Greek city-state. There were even trade exchanges between them and could be reached in a day by boat. But now, they were battling in a strange mountain area dominated by indigenous people, so they were more worried about their families.

    So the people that came to see them off were still unwilling to leave the ce even after a long time.

    At the end of the line, Davos was saying his farewell to the statesmen, ¡°Lord Kunogta, Lord Cornelius¡­everyone, I will leave the politics of Theonia to your care!¡± Davos then solemnly gave a military salute to those statesmen that went to see them off.

    ¡°Milord, we will send someone to discuss it with you in time!¡± Kunogta gave his promise.

    ¡°Win early! Come back early!¡± Cornelius said expectantly.

    Davos nodded and turned to look at Vespa, ¡°Rest assured as the Samnites would not even be able to enter into our territory in Lucania!¡±

    ¡°Lord archon, I beg for you to pay extra attention to the Lucanians of Potentia!¡± Hemon pleaded.

    ¡°I will try my best!¡± Davos replied. He then looked at Hieronymus and Kapus, who gave a military salute; there was nothing more for him to say as he had already made an arrangement for the army.

    His gaze then finallynded on Marigi and Plesinas, who both nodded faintly.

 Chapter 399: Syracuse is about to make its move

    Davos turned around and mounted his horse. He then held down the restless horse and said confidently, ¡°Everyone, wait for the news of my victory!¡±

    After he finished speaking, he turned his horse around and mped his legs, causing the restless warhorse to galloped away. He galloped north along the long line of soldiers, apanied by spontaneous cheers and expectations of the people, ¡°Lord Davos, please bring them back safely!¡±

    ¡°May Hades bless you with easy victory!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    There are two routes from Thurii to Potentia: One is to cross the wooden bridge over the Crati River, then head west to Besidice, then to Consentia, then turn north to the city of Vergae, to Laos, then take a boat to Pyxous, and finally to Potentia, or takend from Laos, pass through Nerulum, Grumentum, and finally to Potentia. The second is to head west from Thruii, trek through the Thua Road, to Nerulum and then northward to Potentia.

    Due to thepletion of the Thua Road, it only needs three days for arge group of people and horses to arrive from Thurii to Nerulum. Davos, who is well-versed in the speed of war, has naturally chosen thetter route.

    On the second day after entering the mountains in the west, Davos received a report from Grumentum that the Samnites had taken the city of Poseidonia.

    Davos pondered it deeply. Soon after, he asked Antonios and Amintas to discuss it together. In the end, he changed his original n and asked the envoy to rush back quickly and inform Grumentum and Pyxous to get ready immediately.

    Three dayster, Davos led his troops to the Lao fortress, where he identally met Henipolis.

    ¡°Heni, why are you here?!¡± Davos asked with slight surprise.

    ¡°It''s been a long time since we have seen each other, milord! I heard that you were going to lead the army to Potentia, so I came here to greet you.¡± Henipolis smiled happily and greeted him.

    Davos was touched as he looked at Henipolis, who was not much different from his age. Still, he asked with caution, ¡°How is the situation of Laos now?¡±

    ¡°Very stable!¡± Henipolis blurted out. Seeing Davos'' sceptical expression, he added, ¡°It''s really much better! After teacher Ansitanos advice, I started discussing with my uncle and the others whenever I proposed something. And now, my uncle is even willing to implement some of the bills I proposed¡­¡±

    ¡°That''s good.¡± Davos nodded and didn''t say more. After all, Henipolis was already the lord of a city, and he didn¡¯t want to dictate the internal affairs of Laos. He then stared at Henipolis and said seriously, ¡°You came just in time, as I was about to go and find you. I have just learned that the Samnites have upied Poseidonia.¡±

    ¡°I heard that as well.¡± Henipolis then asked puzzledly, ¡°Does this have anything to do with Laos?¡±

    Davos bluntly said, ¡°I n to take the army by ship from the port of Laos to Pyxous. After a calction, we would need 400 transport ships that could load 50 men to carry this army, not counting the cavalry and logistics brigade¡­Heni, do you think Laos can provide that many ships?¡± Davos looked at Henipolis with concern.

    ¡°There is naturally no problem!¡± Henipolis readily said. Then he added, ¡°Laos can requisition the merchant ships to transport your troops¡­but I have a small request.¡± Speaking till here, Henipolis showed a smug smile.

    ¡°What do you need?¡± Davos asked directly, having no time to tease him.

    ¡°As a member of the Theonia Alliance, Laos should send troops to fight together with Theonia ording to the agreement. It''s just that I hope I could lead the troops of Laos to Potentia with you!¡± Henipolis looked at Davos expectantly. After the initial freshness of being the archon of a city-state, he became a bit bored of having to deal with so many city affairs and facing so many obstacles all day. That is why he wanted to go out and rx, and Davos¡¯ arrival provided him with a good opportunity.

    ¡°Alright.¡± Davos agreed after pausing for a bit. As an ally of Theonia, Laos has to send troops, and with Henipolis leading the troops, it could also give him, who had just assumed archonship, a bit of prestige.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just after Davos changed his marching route and turned towards Laos, the harbour of Syracuse was filled with thousands of ships, with thousands more outside the harbour. After all, almost all the transport ships and merchants ships of the Sicilian city-states controlled by Syracuse had concentrated on the sea of Syracuse,pletely turning the great harbour(a naturally formed circr bay outside the port of Syracuse) into and paved with ship nks. And in the harbour and the city, more than 100,000 men were running around preparing for the great army''s expedition across the sea¡­

    Such a magnificent sight had stunned Phidias of Sparta.

    Dionysius nced at him, then pointed to the troops gathered in the harbour and were waiting to board the ship, and sighed, ¡°A few decades ago, Athens sent more than 40,000 troops to Sicily in an attempt to conquer Syracuse. At that time, although we Syracusans did not give in, we have been panicking throughout the day and thought that the destruction of Syracuse woulde¡­ But now-¡± Dionysius vigorously waved his fist forward and ented his tone with pride and arrogance, ¡°If Athens still dares toe, I would only need to send half of my army to stop them from returning!¡±

    Phidias remained nonchnt and said, ¡°Dionysius, isn''t the reason why you are sending such a huge army is due to the existence of your enemy, Theonia?!¡±

    Dionysius'' corner of his mouth twitched a few times and thenughed, ¡°I''m afraid that the Theonians are already having a headache on how to defeat the Samnites¡­ Phidias, the reason why I will send such a powerful army of nearly 80,000 men is to deal with the South Italia Alliance. Although each of these city-states in Magna Graecia is not very strong, fighting them together is a bit troublesome. Besides, after defeating those city-states, I would need to station some of my troops in the city in order to make them obey, don''t you think so?¡±

    Phidias felt irritated from listening to Dionysius'' proudughter.

    When he came to Syracuse before, Dionysius was not so arrogant and respected him somewhat as Sparta¡¯s envoy. But now that Sparta is deep in the quagmire of war, and with Syracuse''s strength growing dramatically, Sparta''s need for Syracuse became greater than Syracuse''s need for Sparta. ¡®The times have changed¡­¡¯ Phidias thought of this, forcibly suppressing the dissatisfaction in his heart and stop talking.

    Naturally, Dionysius also knew moderation and no longer stimted the young and energetic Spartan strategos. After all, he still needs him in the battle with Theonia.

    A cold silence fell between the two men, both turning their attention to the harbour below the sentry tower.

    After a while, the navarch, Leptines, boarded the sentry tower built at the western end of the ind of Ortygia. He then respectfully said to Dionysius, who was feeling helpless, ¡°Brother, the soldiers are already on board and are waiting for you to go down and issue orders to lead them to Magna Graecia.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Dionysius nodded and said to Phidias, ¡°We should go down as well, lest we kept the army waiting.¡±

    Then he turned around and descended the tower, with Phidias following behind.

    A magnificent quadriga was waiting under the tower, and Dionysius stepped directly onto the chariot without inviting Phidias to ride with him.

    A guard then brought out warhorses for Phidias and Leptines to mount.

    ¡°Let''s go.¡± Dionysius said. As he shook the reign, the horses neighed and started pulling the chariot.

    Following behind the chariot were a hundred cavalrymen, tightly surrounding Dionysius, who was in the centre. The whole procession passed through the tall wall separating the ind of Ortygia, then through the centre of the city, where many people were already waiting on both sides of the streets.

    The crowd cheered when the cavalry passed, and Dionysius waved on the chariot in response, which confused Phidias, who was riding behind him. ¡®Didn''t the Syracusans hate Dionysius'' dictatorship? Why does it seem that Dionysius is still very popr?¡¯

    As a matter of fact, the Syracusans felt mixed feelings for Dionysius. On the one hand, they hated Dionysius'' oppressive rule and excessive extortion; On the other hand, they also enjoyed the protection, strength, glory and pride brought by Dionysius to Syracuse. And if they manage to conquer Magna Graecia, it is inevitable for lots of wealth andnd to flow back to Syracuse, which is what the crowd wanted.

    Dionysius, who was standing on the carriage at the moment, is enjoying the feeling of waving his hands to the people. Because of the fear of assassination and riots, he had not held a public assembly for more than seven years. Now, he had even begun thinking about the ¡°Triumphant Return¡± of Theonia that he heard, which bestowed great honour to the victorious strategoi. ¡®This time, I must hold a Triumphant Return of my own in Syracuse when I return after conquering Magna Graecia!¡¯

    The army entered the port, and the ministers had long been waiting in front of the dock.

    ¡°Lord Dionysius!¡±

    ¡°Lord strategos!¡±

    ¡°Suprememander¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The crowd gave their salute one after another.

    Dionysius, dressed in golden armour, got out of the carriage and bid farewell to everyone.

    In the end, he faced Philistus and firmly held his hands, ¡°Phili, I will entrust Syracuse to you while I am gone!¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, milord! I will try to do my best to ensure the safety of Syracuse until you return!¡± Said Philistus solmnly.

    ¡°After Macias led his troops to destroy the city built by the Rhegians in Sicily, I will have him return immediately to garrison Syracuse!¡±

 Chapter 400: Syracuses Invasion

    ¡°Although Carthage can¡¯t do anything now, it is best not to rx your vignce! And once you found¡­G, Leontinoi, Kamarina, Agrigento¡­these city-states that are affiliated to us having signs of riots, immediately order Macias to send his troops to eliminate them!¡± Said Dionysius.

    ¡°Understood, milord.¡±

    Dionysius stepped forward and gave him a firm hug after staring at him for a moment, ¡°I am counting on you for everything here, my friend!¡±

    Philistus was about to answer when he heard Dionysius whispered in his ear, ¡°We are in a critical time, so once you find any movement in the city, arrest and behead them immediately to deter the traitors who want to disrupt this great expedition, understand?!¡±

    Dionysius'' cold words shocked Philistus.

    At that moment, Dionysius happened to see Herolis not far behind Philistus talking to someone. Thus he added in a low voice, ¡°And ¨C don''t trust Herolis too much, and do not allow him to participate in any city matters during my absence!¡±

    ¡°Er¡­I understand, milord.¡± Replid Philistus, taken aback.

    Afterwards, Dionysius and Phidias boarded a trireme.

    Dionysius then waved to the crowds on the dock, proudly, ¡°Everyone, you will soon hear the news of my victory! Next year, I will bring Syracuse a Magna Graecia that has wealth andnd area no less than Sicily!¡±

    After saying this, he tied a purple cloak and received a golden helmet decorated with colourful and brilliant plumes from his attendant. After putting it on, he looked more heroic.

    ¡°Let''s go!¡± Dionysius gave the order amidst the cheerings of the ministers.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, almost all the merchants¡¯ ships that are sailing in the Strait of Messina witnessed this unprecedented sight: Thousands of warships, merchant ships and transport ships sailed northward, with the fleet''s length stretching from the southeast corner of Sicily to the toe of the Apennine Penins, almost cutting off the route to the east of the Strait of Messina¡­

    A striking ¡°figure of three legs¡± was painted on each ship so that no other ship dared to cross the seemingly endless fleet, as not to be mistaken as an intruder and sunk.

    Many experienced shipmasters immediately had a hunch that something big would happen, so they all turned around or took a detour and hurried to their city-state to deliver this shocking news.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Henipolis¡¯ envoy quickly returned to Laos and conveyed his order to Alobamus that ¡°Theonia''s army would go through the port of Laos to reach Pyxous.¡±

    Hearing that Davos suddenly changed his marching route, Alobamus became really nervous, so he immediately epted the order and tried his best to supervise it.

    Therefore, by the time Theonia''s army arrived in Laos, the hundreds of merchant ships that they requisitioned temporarily and the army of Laos that was to apany them in battle were almost ready.

    ¡°Lord Davos, wee to Laos!¡± Alobamus led the important officials of Laos to meet Davos at the city''s gate.

    When Davos, who was riding a horse, saw Alobamus led a group of people to greet him, he suddenly felt an illusion in his mind that Alobamus was the master of the city, while this little guy beside him¡­

    After ncing at Henipolis, Davos suppressed his strange thought and jumped off his horse, took off his helmet and handed it to the guard next to him, ¡°Lord Alobamus, I thank you for your assistance to Theonia!¡± Then he gave his respect to Alobamus.

    ¡°As an ally of Theonia, this is the responsibility of Laos!¡± The man in his forties bowed his head and replied respectfully.

    Henipolis immediately said in a loud voice, ¡°Uncle, this time I will follow Lord Davos to Potentia!¡±

    Alobamus raised his head and looked at him. He feltplex for a bit and said, ¡°I have no objection to this matter, but you have to consult your mother.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I will immediately tell her.¡± Henipolis then hurriedly drove his horse into the city.

    Davos then said, ¡°Henipolis is still a child andcks the experience in political matters, causing many changes to Laos during this time. And it''s thanks to you that Laos can remain stable!¡±

    ¡°There is not much difference between you and Heni''s age, yet look at him.¡± Hearing what Davos said, Alobamus blurted out his thought on impulse. But when Davos looked at him with a slightly surprised look, he realized that his tone was a bit intense, so he hurriedly changed his tone toining, ¡°s, Heni was a willful child since childhood! But you can''t just run a city-state with whatever you want to do! During this time, the officials became a bit angry at him!¡­¡±

    ¡°He is still young and needs time to sharpen before he became familiar with the affairs of the city-state. Thus your assistance as his uncle is vital! Of course, I will teach him more during this expedition.¡± On the surface, Davos wasforting Alobamus, but his words showed his support to Henipolis.

    Alobamus naturally heard the meaning of his words and felt a burst of loss in his heart. At the same time, the idea that he is suppressing from the bottom of his heart was slowly loosening.

    ¡°Lord Davos, I heard that there are tens of thousands of Samnites that hade to invade Potentia this time. Wouldn''t it be a little bit difficult to repel them?¡± Alobamus suddenly asked.

    Davos looked at him and said, ¡°As long as our allies are in trouble, Theonia will do her best to help them no matter how difficult it is! Besides, it''s only a matter of time for Theonia to repel the Samnites.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, indeed.¡± Said Alobamus with a smile, ¡°After all, you, Lord Davos, are the famous strategos that could win every battle.¡±

    Davos smiled, turned around, looked at his troops, and asked, ¡°Can we enter the city?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Alobamus then quickly said, ¡°600 transport ships are waiting at the port. Erm¡­Lord Davos, you had gone through a hard march this time, so I prepared a banquet at my home to celebrate your arrival. As there is still plenty of time before your departure, I would like to invite you for dinner.¡±

    ¡°Lord Alobamus, I thank you for your invitation! But since the war situation is grave, it is better to wait until I return victorious to join your banquet. However, you will have to prepare a more sumptuous food to do so, as I will not attend it alone because even the several army officers will be attending.¡± Davos politely declined in jest.

    ¡°Then I''ll wait for your quick victory!¡± Alobamus said with a smile. But the truth is, he had no intention of inviting him, as he had just casually said it because he inexplicably became flustered standing in front of Davos.

    The salpinx began to blow, the war drums sounded, and the Theonian army entered the city. A brightly armoured g bearer, holding up arge g with a bident in the centre surrounded by colourful gems, led the Theonian army. (It is the g that represents Theonia City-State Union.)

    Followed by the cavalry, whose numbers had considerably increased after integrating the Bruttian region into the Theonia Union. And the cavalry was increased to 2,000, officially promoting the cavalry brigade into a legion. Although the mountains of Potentia were not favourable to the cavalries, and although they had heard that the Samnites did not have many cavalries, Davos still brought 1,000 cavalries and were led by Ledes, the cavalry legatus.

    The leading cavalryman carried the ¡°Pegasus¡± battle g, followed by three lines of cavalrymen, all in ck leather helmets and armour, with a spear in their right hand and ck ¡°raindrop-shaped¡± leather shields in their left hand, entering the city in a neater formation.

    Then followed by the first legion¡­

    Although the Theonian troops had entered the city of Laos before(during the conquest of Bruttii), today, a few yearster, it caused quite a shock to the people of Laos when they saw the legionaries with unified equipment and clothing. The whole army was almost ck as even the shield on which the Greeks like to give full y to their free nature is uniformly painted with a ¡°Bident¡±. The uniformity, the neatness, the orderliness, the sheer numbers and the high morale of the soldiers left the nobles, officials, civilians and ves of Laos, including Alobamus, who was apanying Davos, in a state of shock and fear as they watched the Theonian army march on the main road in the city of Laos in a parade-like fashion.

    Alobamus could only quickly left on the excuse that he was going to ¡°prepare for Henepolis¡¯ expedition¡± and then hid on the roof of his residence and watched the Theonian army marching towards the port with aplex feeling. During this time, the only thing he kept thinking about was whether Syracuse could really defeat the Theonian army, which was so powerful.

    It wasn''t until all the Theonian troops were out of the city that he became a little relieved.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The report of Syracuse''s invasion first reached Rhegium, which caused panic among the people and chaos among the statesmen in the city hall.

    ¡°Lord Athelycus, what should we do? Syracuse would kill all of us!!¡±

    ¡°ording to the shipmasters, Syracuse''s fleet covered the whole sea! This is terrifying! They estimate that the fleet carried no less than 100,000 soldiers!!¡±

    ¡°Lord Athelycus, you must immediately ask Theonia and the South Italia Alliance for reinforcements!! Otherwise, it would be the end of Rhegium once Syracusend in Magna Graecia!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just then, a guard hurriedly went in and reported, ¡°Milord, the port lighthouse urgently sent a report saying that a fleet of about 80 ships hase out of Messina and are heading towards our port!¡±

    This report was like adding fuel to the fire, blowing up the whole city hall, ¡°Lord Athelycus, our fleet! Where is our fleet?! I told you before not to give our ships to Theonia, yet you didn''t listen! Look at what is happening now!!¡±

 Chapter 401: Pheidon

    ¡°It is the end! It will be the end of Rhegium once they block our port!!¡±

    ¡°Athelycus, ask Theonia to send a fleet to expel the Messinians immediately!¡±

    ¡°Immediately send an envoy to make peace with Dionysius! Dionysius'' enemy is Theonia, not us! So as long we offer him our wealth, he will ept Rhegium!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°That''s enough! Everyone shut your mouth!¡± Athelycus roared, surprising everyone.

    ¡°You are already panicking like this even though the Syracusans are still at sea! Won''t you immediately surrender once theynd?! Look at you. You are not even as good as your average soldier! Dionysius has long wanted to conquer Rhegium so that he could monopolise the Strait of Messina and gain great wealth. Thus he will not agree to our offer of peace! Therefore, I will have the guards fed those who speak such words of betrayal of the city-state''s interests again to the fishes!¡­¡± Athelycus'' angry scolding had frightened those who had just said to ¡°negotiate peace¡± to lower their heads but also made the others ashamed.

    Afterwards, he looked at the only man in the city hall, who didn''t shout nor panic, asking him seriously, ¡°Pheidon, what do you suggest in the face of this terrible situation?¡±

    Pheidon, who was known as the least liked among the Rhegians, has a serious and decisive personality. When he was first elected as one of the strategoi, he did not listen to anyone''s dissuasion and persuasion. He continued to strictly investigate the tax evasion in the port, which offended many Rhegian merchants. Since Rhegium was a city-state with developed trade andmerce, many of its statesmen were wealthy people. After that, Pheidon was no longer elected as a strategos and a statesman again. It wasn''t untilst year, when the front of Syracuse reached the other side of the Strait, that the panicking Rhegians remembered this brave citizen again. Thus he was once again elected as a strategos.

    At this moment, he solemnly said, ¡°Syracuse''s army willnd in Locri. Although Locri isn''t far from Rhegium, they would still have trouble climbing the Montalto mountain(the southernmost tip of the Apennine mountains, with a peak of nearly 2,000 metres). Therefore, if Syracuse wanted to attack us, they could only take the rugged mountain path along the coast to reach us. Therefore, as long as we send troops to defend the mountain pass, no amount of Syracusan soldiers will be able to make a difference¡­¡±

    Athelycus then excitedly said, ¡°You thought the same thing I did!¡±

    Pheidon didn''t care that the polemarchos made it look like he had the same idea to look better and continued to say, ¡°Naturally, we should still be careful that Syracuse would go west from Locri, pass through the famous ancient road connecting the east and west costs, reach Medma, and then go south to attack Taurania, opening a channel to attack Rhegium! ¡±

    ¡°This is really a worrying problem.¡± After Pheidon''s remark, Athelycus'' confused thought cleared up. His eyebrows tightly wrinkled together, and after thing for a while, he loudly said, ¡°We must remind Taurania to strengthen their defence and guard against enemies who may attack from the north! Furthermore, we must send troops to reinforce Taurania, else, with its strength alone, even with a river as its barrier, it will be difficult for them to resist the attack of the Syracusan army!¡±

    Those who had been flustered now nodded and agreed.

    Athelycus ignored them and asked Pheidon in a hasty and modest tone, ¡°Pheidon, anything else that we need to consider?¡±

    ¡°It is inevitable that our trade channel will be cut off once this war breaks out, so you all should stop worrying about your own trade.¡± Pheidon seriously added, ¡°And even if our warships had stayed here, they are still not the opponents of Syracuse''s fleet, so it''s better to give them to Theonia. At least, they can form a rtively powerful fleet and cause some trouble to Syracuse¡­¡±

    Pheidon''s words made some people ashamed.

    ¡°You are right! That''s why I have given our warships to the Theonians!¡± Athelycus immediately took credit.

    Someone objected and retorted, ¡°The Syracusans are not fools. They could use their fleet to bypass the coastal path andnd near Rhegium.¡±

    Pheidon shook his head and said. ¡°We all know that the coastline near the Strait of Messina is mostly cliffs, with dense reefs, while there are only a few good beaches and bays, and we had upied the two best(referring to Rhegium''s city and port, which are separated). Therefore, we only need to station some soldiers on the remaining beaches. I believe that no matter how strong the Syracusan army is, they would still not dare to risk a huge sacrifice to justnd in front of our well-defended battlefront.¡±

    Pheidon''s words scattered the panicking they felt. Athelycus took advantage of the situation and said, ¡°I propose for Pheidon to be themander of the Rhegian army.¡±

    Almost no one objected.

    Pheidon epted the appointment. He then seriously said to the polemarchos, ¡°Lord Athelycus, while we are strengthening our defence, we must immediately ask Theonia for help! Once Syracuse and Locri attack Taurania with full force, we would not be able to resist them even if all the soldiers of our two citiesbined!¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry.¡± Athelycus had already straightened out his thoughts, as he barely squeezed out a smile and said, ¡°The news of Syracusending in Locri, I believe that Theonia, Crotone, Scylletium¡­.these city-states will soon know about it, and would then form a huge army consisting of the South Italia Alliance, so how could Syracuse dare face us with all their might when they are about to face a huge battle?!¡±

    ¡°Right! Right!¡­¡± Said the others repeatedly.

    ¡°But of course, we also need to get in touch with Theonia quickly, tell them our current situation, and discuss with them the next step¡­considering that there is already an enemy fleet cruising in the eastern waters of Magna Graecia, we must immediately send an envoy in a fast ship to reach the port of mpetia by the west coast and go to Thurii¡­¡± Said Athelycus after making up his mind.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°The rming news of the Syracusan armynding in Locri¡± quickly spread throughout Magna Graecia. However, the Theonians remained calmpared to those of other city-states, as they had not yet suffered any defeat, causing them to firmly believe in their legion, their Senate, and especially their amazing archon.

    On their way to the Senate, Kunogta and Cornelius ran into each other.

    ¡°In the end, the worst possible thing still happened. Syracuse hade, and I heard that Dionysius led no less than 100,000 soldiers!¡± Said Cornelius as he walked with mncholy on his face.

    ¡°That''s why we must immediately have Hieronymus form two new legions!¡± Kunogta''s mood is not much better than that of Cornelius, ¡°Philesius and Ansitanos should have gotten the report. We could only hope that they can urge Crotone and Scylletium¡­these allied city-state''s armies to merge with us!¡±

    ¡°Now that the storm hade, everyone is in the same boat, and no one can escape. I am sure that Crotone and Scylletium won''t hesitate any longer.¡± Cornelius was quite convinced about this.

    ¡°Yes, and now, we can only rely on them.¡± Kunogta sighed, only at the moment of crisis did he realise that both the Theonians, the Senate, and himself were quite dependent on the young archon, ¡°Where could Lord Davos be now? Does he know about the attack of the Syracusan army?¡±

    ¡°There was an urgent message from the north yesterday. Lord Davos had led his army to the Laos Fortress and are about to go to Laos to take a ship to reach Pyxous¡­and since the messenger had taken a day to reach Thurii from Laos Fortress, I believe that Lord Davos has now reached Pyxous and are together with Androlis, and will soon learn about Syracuse''s invasion of Magna Graecia.¡± Said Cornelius.

    The statesmen of the Senate are paying close attention to Davos'' movements. However, due to Kunogta being busy assisting Seclian to prepare for the construction of the military port in the past few days, he had forgotten to inquire about Davos.

    ¡°I hope he can beat back the Samnites as soon as possible so that he cane back quickly!¡± Kunogta said eagerly.

    At this time, they are about to pass through Nike Square, where groups of children are ying. Some youths were running around the square (mainly because the arena and other fields in Thurii were upied by others for ball games, resulting in the rapidly expanding urban area of Thurii not having enough venues for people to use for fitness and sports training), some of the elderly were leaning on the steps or the memorial pirs, lying on the ground and sunbathing, while others were reading books that they had just copied from the library¡­

    In the centre of the square, a temporary wooden tform was erected. It is where the teachers of the Institute of Mathematics teach simple arithmetic knowledge to the crowd, and many hade to watch, listen and learn. (This practice was a habit developed by the two Pythagorean disciples back in Amendra and continued doing it. The head of the Institute of Mathematics, Metoticles, believed that this is the best way to expand the influence of their school and attract students.)

    And after Lysias became the head of the Institute of Literature, he didn''t allow himself to be outdone, so he also sent teachers to Nike Square every day to stand in front of the notice board under the steps of the Grand Senate Hall. They read the contents of the newly announcedws, exined the application of standard grammars, pointed out some rhetorical errors in the notice board (which made the Senate''s scribes cautious for fear of making mistakes), as well as giving lectures about Theonianws and debate skills, which naturally attracted many people to listen and learn.

    In such a busy square, there are naturally vendors. Although Thurii''s city hall has stipted that vendors are not allowed to set up shops in the square, it is still not enough to trouble the shrewd Greek merchants. They pushed wooden carts filled with snacks, fruits, and drinks, walking around the square and earning a lot of money at the end of the day¡­ Even today, when the Syracusan army attack, the excitement of the square has not been reduced.

 Chapter 402: Choice

    Kunogta stood in front of the stairs of the Grand Senate Hall as he looked at the sight before him; the harmony and peace of the square made him remember the painful memories in his heart. His expression then gradually became firm, ¡°It was not easy to get Theonia Union to where it is today, so we must not allow Syracuse to destroy it!¡±

    Cornelius, who also had painful memories, was not his usual gentle self at the moment, ¡°We must win this war, even if we donate all our money! Only then will the people of Theonia have a future!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    These days, Seclian was very busy. On the one hand, he wants to reorganise the mixed fleet from various allies that have just gathered in Thurii, establish the fleet''s squadron, arrange the amodation and food for the sailors, the warship''s maintenance, and install the ¡°Corvus¡± and so on. On the other hand, he also had to participate in and guide the construction of the dry docks, the naval ports and cing barricades to prevent anyone from approaching and watching the naval training so as not to leak the secret.

    Presently, the river from the port to the Temple of Hera has be a giant construction site where thousands of Theonians are building and expanding the naval base in full swing. But with the assistance of the Ministry of Military and the city hall of Thurii, Seclian became more rxed. Still, he is more worried that the two new military legions have not yet been established, and they couldn''t practice their new tactics at all.

    Therefore, when the news came that the Syracusan armynded in Locri and a fleet of nearly 500 warships was positioned in the sea north of Locri to escort the Syracusan transport fleet, Seclian himself did not have the slightest hint of going to war.

    At the base of the South Italia Alliance in Scylletium, the representatives of the city-states led by Ansitanos put aside their unnecessary quarrels and quickly reached an agreement that: Each city-state in the South Italia Alliance would do its best to send as many troops as possible to form an allied army, themander of which would be Philesius for now. If Davos did not lead the army, he would naturally be themander, but he was not there. And due to the representatives of the various city-states thinking that Philesius'' prestige was not enough to lead the strategoi of the other city-states, thus they made him the temporarymander. Furthermore, Philesius had to discuss with the strategoi of other city-states before deciding on any important decision. In addition, the allied troops could march, stay and camp freely in any city-state and territory of the South Italia Alliance, and each city-state would provide food in proportion to their strength. Of course, Theonia gave the most, followed by Crotone and Rhegium. Fortunately, it is only the end of October, and the autumn harvest has just ended, so the citizens of each city-state have sufficient surplus grain. The granary set up by the Theonia Union a few years ago were also filled, so there is no shortage of food for the time being.

    After reaching an agreement, the representatives of each city-state immediately returned to their cities to urge the dispatching of the troops, except for two, who remained.

    One of them is Ansitanos. After all, Davos had already made a n for Theonia before he left, and the only thing he needed to do was sit in Scylletium and wait for the arrival of the fourth and fifth legions.

    The other one was Eulipatos, the envoy of Caulonia. Since Caulonia is already at the forefront of the battlefield, the whole city of Caulonia had already begun war mobilisation to prepare for Syracuse''s attack. As an envoy, he has a great responsibility and must stay here and urge the reinforcements of other city-states to rush to Caulonia as soon as possible.

    ¡°Lord Ansitanos, are you certain that Theonia''s army had already departed?!¡± He eagerly asked again.

    ¡°Before I came here from the city of Aprustum, our fourth legion had already begun gathering its soldiers in the square. And from what I know about our army, they should already be on their way now.¡±

    ¡°That''s good! That''s good!¡± Said Eulipatos with his whole body fidgeting. He then asked, ¡°So then, has that fifth legion of yours departed as well?!¡±

    ¡°The legatus of the first legion of Theonia has no other hobbies besides fighting, so as soon as he received the order, he immediately summoned the army. I even think that the fifth legion had departed earlier than the fourth legion.¡± Ansitanos said seriously.

    Hearing this, Eulipatos calmed down a bit.

    Seeing that he kept stamping his feet and tapping the table with his right hand, Ansitanos couldn''t help but remind him, ¡°I suggest that you go to the city hall of Scylletium and urge them to mobilise the soldiers.¡±

    ¡®Scylletium?¡¯ Eulipatos had some doubts as they had just decided that Scylletium''s army would not go to Caulonia.

    Ansitanos then exined to him seriously, ¡°Although Scylletium, Terina and Crotone are responsible for defending the river''s north bank, if we allow the Syracusan to rush across the river and circle to the north of Caulonia, then the South Italia Alliance''s n to block Syracuse and its allies in Locri would fail!¡±

    After this reminder, Eulipatos immediately woke up. He then stood up and said, ¡°You are right. I will now go to Lord Phrytinas.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, Dionysius encountered difficulties in Locri.

    His original n was that the whole fleet would sail north from Syracuse early in the morning, reach Locri in one day andplete thending. So he specially chose the most experienced sailors and a day where the main force of Theonia went on an expedition to Potentia.

    The huge fleet did arrive at Locri smoothly. However, they encountered great trouble when entering the port.

    Unlike Syracuse, Locri does not have a natural harbour nor arge port that can easily amodate thousands of ships to dock temporarily. Its limit is to amodate 500~600 ships at one time. At the same time, Locri has limited manpower and has never handled a series ofnding procedures for nearly 10,000 ships at the port, such as arrival, unloading, transportation, boarding and rotation, which requires sufficientbour, orderly organisation, strong management and abundant experience, all of which Locri does not have.

    Moreover, in order to keep it a secret to achieve the purpose of a surprise attack, Dionysius had only sent a fast ship to inform Locri only the day before, so Locri was not well prepared.

    As a result, many supplies onboard were unloaded and could not be cleaned up in time, piling up at the port, blocking the soldiers'' ess to the shore, so the Syracusan soldiers had to clean it up themselves. However, the soldiers were exhausted and were eager to rest after drifting at sea for almost a day. Still, they had to hold down their anger as a single word might cause a sh with the portbourers.

    The Locrian official that was dispatch had to take care of so many ships, resulting in the collisions of ships due to their eagerness to leave the clusters of ships after unloading and the ships that were eager to get on the port to unload. There is even a tragedy where several ships were damaged and flooded after their hulls struck each other and finally capsized.

    Outside the port, thousands of ships had to stay on the sea. Both the soldiers and sailors are eager to go ashore early to rest, while the ship owners anxiously expect toplete the task quickly and leave. They are worried that although the sea conditions are now good, the Mediterranean climate is constantly changing, so in case of a sudden storm, it would strike all these ships towards the coast. And without a ce to hide, they would all crash together.

    Dionysius was the first to go ashore. After seeing that the Locrian port was in chaos, he became very anxious and even got angry at his brother-inw, Demodokas, who hade to wee him.

    Still, there is no use in getting angry, as the problem is still there and must be solved as soon as possible. Therefore, Dionysius had to strictly order his men who hadnded to act asbours and obey themand of the Locrian port personnel, help carry goods, clear the port and mediate conflicts. At the same time, he reluctantly issued an order to let all transport ships outside the port tond on the beach near Locri and let the soldiers ashore.

    After issuing these instructions, Dionysius knew that even though the bad situation in Locri would be greatly improved, a myriad of problems would still follow, and without two~three days to deal and resolve them, Syracuse''s army wouldn¡¯t be able to set out.

    In order to stop worrying, Dionysius left several strategoi and ministers to be responsible for coordinating and directing thending. On the other hand, Dionysius, Phidias and his party left the port and entered the city of Locri.

    For Phidias, this was the first time he went to Locri. As he carefully nced at the buildings in the city, Dionysius softly asked, ¡°Phidias, where do you think our first target of attack should be?¡±

    Phidias nced at him, then the others who fell far behind them and were separated by guards. He then wondered in his mind as he had already expressed his opinion to the tyrant when they were still in Syracuse, ¡®Why has he not yet made up his mind by now?¡¯

    So he once again said, ¡°I would still choose Caulonia first.¡±

    When he heard this, Dionysius fell silent as he understood the intention of Phidias of taking advantage of the fact that the various city-states in the South Italia Alliance were still not yet ready for war and were unable to achieve unity. However, the reason why he hesitated was not due to Syracusending in Magna Graecia like wolves into a flock of sheep where there are too many fat sheep, not knowing which one to eat first, making him suffer from a choice disorder. But because he already had a target in mind, and that was ¨C Rhegium.

    Rhegium opposed him and even humiliated him. For example, they refused his marriage proposal and married the woman he proposed to, to the enemy of Syracuse ¨C the archon of Theonia. However, these were only secondary reasons as the most crucial thing is Rhegium''s wealth and geographical location.

 Chapter 403: Theonia Union has arrived

    To prepare for this huge war, Dionysius had not only increased taxes to the people of Syracuse and used up all his treasury''s wealth, but he had also borrowed money from the city-states of Cyrenaica in Africa. Furthermore, he had even thought of looting the Temple of Delphi because they do not only have thousands of silver coins but hundreds of thousands of coins that were donated to the Temple of Delphi by various Greek city-states over the centuries. (In history, Dionysius had truly sent mercenaries to pose as bandits to loot Delphi during their upation of Magna Graecia, only to fail in the end).

    And if he could capture Rhegium, he would not only directly obtain arge amount of wealth and make up for the treasury''s deficit but alsopletely monopolize the Strait of Messina. And just from the taxes he gets from the passing merchant ships alone, he would be able to maintain his long-term upation of Magna Graecia. As for the purely military view of pulling out the ¡°nail¡± that is Rhegium before the army head north, he didn''t care too much.

    Phidias is not in the same position as Dionysius, so it is naturally impossible for him to consider the war from an economic level to under Dionysius'' hesitation. As an orthodox Spartan, and even though he had already stated his reasons for choosing Caulonia before setting out, he still decided to say it again to strengthen Dionysius'' resolve, ¡°Although Rhegium was isted from the South Italia Alliance due to getting cut off by Locri, it is still not easy to attack! After seeing the map you gave me, the northern side of Rhegium has a mountain where it is hard to pass, while you can only reach the east coast by passing through a narrow mountain path. On the other hand, you need to pass through the Montalto river to reach the west coast and capture Taurania before opening a path to Rhegium. That is why the Rhegians will do their best to defend the south bank of the Montalto river with Taurania, and the narrow area is not favourable to Syracuse''srge force, forcing us to take some time to attack the territory of Rhegium. While you are busy attacking Rhegium, the South Italia Alliance will use this moment to form a strong army and defend Caulonia and Terina. They might even attack Locri, leaving us vulnerable¡­and if we were to dy, the archon of Theonia might return from the Lucania region with their main force, making it difficult for us to fight this war in Magna Graecia!¡±

    Phidias''st sentence shocked Dionysius. But he still said, seemingly indifferent, ¡°It won''t be that easy for the Theonian army led by Davos to rush back from the Lucanian mountains. After all, his troubles are just beginning!¡±

    ¡°We will be able topletely defeat this alliance as long as we seize the time and continue attacking north while they are not ready for war. At that time, Rhegium is just a fish caught in a and can''t escape. And even if Theonia''s main force could return from Lucania, they would no longer be able to change the whole battlefield.¡±

    Even though Dionysius remained silent, Phidias'' persuasion had made him make up his mind.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At dusk, the gate of the South Italia Alliance''s base was suddenly pushed open, and the attendant of Eulipatos came in and shouted, ¡°Milord, Milord! The Theonian army has arrived!¡±

    Eulipatos, who was tired and sleepy, couldn''t believe what he heard, ¡®So fast?!¡¯

    In the afternoon, he urged the Scylletium city hall to send cavalry to the city and outside to inform all citizens. After all, ording to themon practice of Greek city-states, the citizens of Scylletium will not finish their family matters until they receive the notice of participating in the war, then pick up the weapons and equipment stored at their homes and rush to the square in Scylletium. It would already be rtively fast if they couldplete the gathering and roll call of the soldiers the day after tomorrow, while the formation of troops, the preparation of supplies¡­and everything else would be ready by the time when they were about to march¡­ Scylletium''s Polemarchos ¨C Phrytinas, promised him that he would lead his troops in three days as fast as possible.

    Compared with the previous preparation of his city-state, Eulipatos was already quite satisfied with the performance of Scylletium. Therefore, he has only taken Ansitanos'' words as a schr''s desire to show Theonia''s positive attitude and inwardly did not think that Theonia could really aplish it. The surprised Eulipatos then thought that Theonia had indeed dispatched their army on the day they learned of Syracuse''s invasion and arrived at Scylletium.

    ¡°Lord Ansitanos, this is wonderful! Thank you so much!¡­¡± He hurriedly thanked Ansitanos, who was also exhausted.

    Ansitanos then waved his hand and said without arrogance, ¡°This has nothing to do with me. The ones you should thank are the soldiers of Theonia who rushed all the way here. You should know that it''s more than 50 kilometres from Aprustum to Scylletium! So it is really not that easy to reach here in one day!¡±

    ¡°You are right!¡± Reminded by Ansitanos, Eulipatos hurried out of the city.

    By the time they arrived, the soldiers of the fourth legion of Theonia had begun building a simple camp beside the southern road of the city of Scylletium. When Eulipatos saw that they were all half-naked and sweating, he couldn''t help but feel sorry.

    Under the guidance of the soldiers, they found themander ¨C Philesius, who was sitting on the grass discussing matters with the legatus ¨C Epiphanes.

    ¡°Lord Ansitanos, what are you doing here?¡± Epiphanes, who had a sharp eye, shouted first.

    ¡°I naturally havee to see you after you have rushed here so hard.¡± Said Ansitanos seriously. Since the fourth legion had quickly arrived, which shocked Scylletium and other city-states in the South Italia Alliance, it means that they have done a good example and allowed Ansitanos to have more weight in the alliance.

    ¡°You havee here, yet you didn''t even have the time to bring something!¡± Said Epiphanes half-teasingly and half-seriously.

    ¡°Epiphanes!¡± Philesius winked at him and motioned him not to talk too much.

    Ansitanos didn''t care as much. After all, He often met Epiphanes in the senate and knew what kind of personality he had, so he also smiled and said, ¡°What do you want me to bring?¡±

    ¡°It''s not me, but these soldiers who had worked hard. They are now thirsty and have no time to find water as they are too busy constructing the camps¡­¡± Epiphanes pointed to the busy soldiers, then pointed to his dry lips, ¡°Look, we are dying of thirst!¡±

    ¡°Oh, indeed you are-¡± Eulipatos didn''t know what to say as he was too excited, so he turned to look at his attendant and said, ¡°Immediately go back to the alliance''s base and have everyone go to various restaurants in the city to buy drinks, and have them bring it¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey, we have nearly 10,000 men here. And I estimate that at night, another 10,000 men from the fifth legion would arrive. Currently, we don''t only have a problem with water. Due to us rushing here, the logistics brigade is stillgging, and I think they could only arrive here tomorrow. And just eating these cold and hard bread alone is not enough to supplement the energy consumed by the soldiers during the long march.¡± Epiphanes took out his ration and shook it in front of Eulipatos, rudely reminding him.

    ¡°He is just joking with you!¡± Philesius stared at Epiphanes as he continued to say, ¡°We have bread and meat, which is enough to fill our stomach, so there is no need for you to worry.¡±

    ¡°I am unable to resolve your food supply for so many soldiers in Scylletium, but as long as you arrive in Caulonia, I guarantee the Caulonians would let you eat well!¡± While Eulipatos expressed his apology, he implicitly urged the Theonians. At the same time, he gave orders to his aides, ¡°If there are not enough drinks in the restaurants in the city, send a message to the citizens of Scylletium that as long as they send they homemade drinks here, we would pay twice the price¡­¡±

    The aide epted and left.

    ¡°Much appreciated!¡± Philesius expressed his gratitude.

    ¡°This is the envoy of Caulonia, Eulipatos.¡± Ansitanos then hurriedly introduce.

    ¡°Uh.¡± Epiphanes curled his lips as he thought, ¡®So he is a Caulonian. It''s only natural for you to pay for the drinks.¡¯

    ¡°I didn''t prepare anything as I didn''t expect you toe so quickly. Otherwise, I would have hosted a banquet to express my gratitude!¡±

    ¡°Banquet is unnecessary as our militaryw does not allow the officers and soldiers to eat and drink during a war. And even though we are already carrying our own rations that wouldst for few days, I fear that the logistics brigade would take a while to arrive. So at that time, we really need to consider asking you to provide food for us first.¡± After bing amander, Philesius had to consider more.

    ¡°It''s naturally won''t be a problem. Tomorrow, I will send someone back to inform the city hall to prepare military food. And just like what I had said, the Caulonians will certainly let the citizens of Theonia eat well!¡± Eulipatos gave his promise.

    Eulipatos asked curiously after watching the countless soldiers in front of them digging trenches with pickaxes and sweating like rain, ¡°Why are you digging trenches when you can just pitch your tents and rest as you are already tired from getting here?¡±

    ¡°It''s a rule of the ¡¶Theonian Military Law¡· to provide a safer and morefortable camp for the soldiers.¡± Exined Ansitanos. Theonia has been established for a long time that ¡°elders¡± like them knew some of the army''s rules.

    ¡°Your military so strict!¡± As a citizen, Eulipatos certainly have a lot of experience in the military. So he couldn''t help but sigh afterparing himself with the Theonian soldiers in front of him.

    ¡°This is already the simplest way to build a camp. Since it''s already toote and would be dark soon, we would just dig trenches and earthen walls. Again, this is only in the territory of our allies, as there should be no danger. But if it is on the battlefield, we would need several days just to build a camp!¡± Epiphanes was both showing off andining, ¡°The thing is, besides building a camp for our fourth legion, we also needed to build a camp for the fifth legion as well.¡±

 Chapter 404: Pyxous Current Situation

    ¡°They still would take time to arrive here, as the distance is greater.¡± Philesiusforted and said, ¡°The fifth legions owes the fourth legion a favour and would pay it backter.¡±

    Epiphanes smiled bitterly, ¡°Commander, do you think Drakos is a person who knows to be grateful?¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time as Syracuse''s armynded in Locri, Davos'' army also reached Pyxous. Before his arrival, he had sent a messenger to inform the Praetor of Pyxous ¨C Androlis that he must strictly block the news of their arrival. Therefore, Androlis had sent five small warships in the port to temporarily intercept the merchant ships heading north, forcing them to temporarily stop at Pyxous'' port, causing a lot ofints. After Davos arrived and heard this, he praised Androlis for being decisive and careful and even dared to take responsibility.

    At this time, Androlis apanied archon Davos to inspect the city and port of Pyxous. Davos was quite satisfied with the order and construction of the whole city, so he asked, ¡°How many are Theonian citizens now?¡±

    ¡°There are 4523 official citizens, 3351 preparatory citizens, 5117 registered freemen, a total of 12,991, while the poption of Pyxous is about 53,000¡­¡± Androlis answered as much as he knew.

    ¡°Oh, Pyxous has arge poption!¡± Davos was a little surprised.

    ¡°Milord, Pyxous was originally a big city in Lucania, no less than Grumentum and Potentia. Furthermore, it is also a coastal city, which is much more attractive to Greek freemen than other Lucanian cities, such as Grumentum and Nerulum.¡± Said Androlis proudly.

    ¡°There are so many Greeks that have settled here?¡± Davos asked immediately.

    ¡°Yes. There are about 4,230 Greek Theonian official citizens, preparatory citizens and freemen, and this number is increasing every day, mainly because there are many Greek residents from Campania.¡±

    ¡°In just three years, the Greeks of Pyxous are now almost half of the poption*!¡± Davos was surprised again and asked anxiously, ¡°Do they often have conflicts with the Lucanians?¡± (note: citizens)

    ¡°There are some, but it is not too violent.¡± Androlis said with a rxed tone, ¡°Due to Pyxous experiencing many defeats before being integrated into Theonia, the young and middle-aged Lucanians in Pyxous suffered heavy casualties. Not only did they leave a lot ofnds, but most of those who remained lost their courage and ruthlessness. Moreover, their tribal settlements were mostly in the mountains in the east, and they were mainly grazing, while the Greeks here preferred thend near the sea. It is why both sides could live in peace. There is also..uhm, the living habits of the Greeks, mainly those from Campania, are somewhat simr to those of the Lucanian, so both sides get along well¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems that you are enjoying your life here! And you are doing a great job as a praetor, knowing about the citizens of this city!¡­¡± Davos praised him repeatedly, and at the same time, he was intrigued by what he had said before and asked, ¡°Lord Androlis, can you tell me more about the characteristics of those Campanians?¡±

    ¡°Milord, the Greeks in Campany are the most unlike Greeks I have ever seen, apart from us Theonians.¡±

    Androlis'' words caught Davos'' attention, ¡°Oh, what do you mean?¡±

    Androlis thought and said seriously, ¡°I guess it''s because foreign races have surrounded the Greeks in Campania (there are Volscian in the north of Campania, Lucanians in the south, Samnites in the east, and Phoenicians in Sardinia, a big ind close to the west.) Due to this, the Campanians are very united and like to work togetherpared to the Greeks in other ces who like freedom. On the other hand, some of their living habits were influenced by their neighbours. For example, they like eating beef and mutton and worship some gods that are not Greeks, such as some Campanians building a shrine for the Samnite¡¯s god of war, thinking that they would be safe from wild animals¡­ In Pyxous, these characteristics of theirs are also evident.¡±

    Davos smiled and said in earnest, ¡°In our union, there are Greeks, Lucanians, Bruttians, and now there are even the Greeks of Campania. In the future, more races might join the union. So when dealing with conflicts between ethnic groups, we must first embrace a set of principles: Tolerance ¨C tolerance of their religion and habits. Next is Justice ¨C Everyone, no matter what races are equal under Theonian Law and that there can be no favouritism. Then there is Guidance ¨C guide them to live like our way of life, entertainment,petition, military training¡­ And finally, the most important is Religion ¨C Hades is the protector of Theonia, so never forget about that! In time, I am sure that whatever they were before, they will eventually be Theonians!¡±

    Androlis listened carefully, then nodded his head and said, ¡°Lord Davos, you are right!¡±

    ¡°I am just speaking about it. In fact, you have already done that when managing this city!¡± Davos then made a self-deprecating smile, ¡°The best way to get these races to integrate faster is to findmon ground between them. During this time, I have been discussing it with Ansitanos and found a secret-¡±

    Davos looked at Androlis, seeing that he was listening attentively; he began saying it with emphasis, ¡°Heracles: Heracles is famous among the various Italian tribes, some had even imed to be his descendants¡­ Hence, I will propose to the Senate the ¡®construction of a Temple of Heracles in Thurii and his celebrations be open so that the people of all the various tribes of Theonia woulde to celebrate their god¡¯¡­ Unfortunately, the outbreak of war made us suspend it temporarily. However, I could see that Pyxous can try to do it first. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Milord, that''s a great idea!¡± Androlis gave his heartfelt praise, ¡°In fact, there are already several shrines of Heracles in Pyxous, on both the Lucanian and Campanian sides. Still, I will do my best to build a huge Temple of Heracles so that Pyxous will be the centre of Heracles'' worship in this region!¡±

    ¡°Are you going to steal Thurii''s limelight? Kunogta will surely fight you to the death.¡± Davos said jokingly, and the twoughed.

    As they went back to the city hall, they talked andughed. In this harmonious atmosphere, no one mentioned Eurypus and Pleitinas because there was no need to talk about them as they had be the past.

    Back at the city hall, Antonios, the legatus of the first legion, and Amintas, the legatus of the second legion, were already there waiting for them.

    ¡°Milord, the construction of the camp ispleted, and the soldiers have begun resting.¡± Antonios immediately came forward and gave his report when he saw Davosing in, ¡°Furthermore, a messenger from the third legion hade reporting that the third legion is on the way to Pyxous, and it is estimated that they will arrive at dusk.¡±

    ¡°Alexius was frightened and withdrew out of Potentia before he could even have a head-on confrontation with the Samnites. This is a disgrace to our Theonian legion!¡± Aminstas snorted in dissatisfaction.

    ¡°If the third legion had confronted the Samnites army, I am afraid that I could only take your first and second legion with less than 20,000 men to face the huge force of more than 40,000 Samnites. So how would we then fight this war?! Alexius is undoubtedly right in sacrificing his honour to win this war! That is worth learning, especially you, Amintas!¡± Said Davos sternly. Davos learned about the encounter of the third legion in Potentia a few days ago and Davos from Androlis.

    Amintas grumbled a few words unconvinced. But he didn''t dare to speak it out.

    ¡°Milord, the Samnites are fierce. After setting up ambushes, they took the initiative to send arge army to attack, which did not give the third legion a chance to breathe.¡± Antonios interjected, ¡°If they knew that we would attack Poseidonia, would the Samnites send another army to attack us?!¡±

    ¡°I feared that they won''te, so it''s good if the Samnites really dared toe.¡± Davos began carefully analysing the n he had been considering these days to the three others in the living room, ¡°From the information we gathered, the Samnites won more when fighting against the Lucanians in the past. And they even attacked the Campanians for many years, meaning that the Samnites have always been very proud of theirbat ability. Furthermore, this is the first time that the Samnites have sent out so many warriors, which may further contribute to their arrogance, and with Syracuse¡¯s aid-¡± He said as he nced at Androlis.

    Androlis nodded, ¡°Over the past few days, the warships patrolling our port have repeatedly reported that ¡®they have discovered arge number of Syracusan transport ships going north and entering the port of Poseidonia.¡¯ I think they are most likely bringing food to the Samnites.¡±

    ¡°Damn Syracuse!¡± Amintas angrily swore and shouted, ¡°Milord, we should quickly capture Poseidonia and cut off the food supply of the Samnites before the Samnites knew we had arrived!¡±

    ¡°This is indeed a way.¡± Instead of nodding, Davos continued, ¡°But Androlis told me that the Samnites had their own port town, Irna, in the south of Campania. Otherwise, they would not dare send an army of more than 40,000 men before capturing Poseidonia. And even if we take Poseidonia, it would only add trouble to Syracuse''s transportation of food, but it would prolong the time for us to repel them. Besides, Dionysius of Syracuse is already prepared to invade Magna Graecia, so we can''t have a long war of attrition with the Samnites!¡±

 Chapter 405: Theonian Warriors

    ¡°Milord, do you already have a n?¡± Antonios hurriedly asked.

    Davos looked at the two legatus with glistening eyes, ¡°Judging how the Samnites treated the third legion. We could see that theirmander is a decisive and proactive person. Moreover, the Samnites are more arrogant, so¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The army of Syracuse was exhausted throughout the night as idents frequently urred. So the next day, almost all the soldiers were resting.

    The Syracusan army camp stretches for more than 5 kilometres, covering all the open spaces in Locri from the mountain in the west to the coast, cutting off the north-south road. The soldiers hastily built the camp, which was just tents and didn¡¯t even have simple fences nor earthen walls outside, totally without protection. Naturally, their neighbouring enemy city-state, Caulonia and Taurania, have long been deterred by the huge forces of Syracuse, so how would they even dare take the initiative if they couldn''t even protect themselves.

    At noon, Dionysius woke up from his deep slumber. After eating breakfast and were about to discuss the troops¡¯ dispatching with his brotherr-inw, Demodokas, he received an urgent report from the guards that about 20,000 South Italian Alliance army appeared in Caulonia.

    Dionysius became surprised that as soon as his army arrived in Locri, the reinforcements of the South Italia Alliance had alsoe, ¡®How could they be so fast? Unless the enemy knew that I would depart on that day and made preparations in advance. Still, how is that possible?¡¯ After all, Dionysius only decided to go to war after the Samnites attacked Potentia and Davos of Theonia led his army away from Thurii. It had only taken two days between the arrangement of the expedition and the departure of the fleet (although Syracuse had already started gathering their army outside the city, and the fleet had long been on standby and did not move.) Thus, these city-states on Magna Graecia could not have made such a quick response in such a short period, so he decided to go find it out for himself.

    As the tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius was not just someone who only knew how to scheme, as he was a hero who fought against the Carthaginian invasion. Otherwise, the panic-stricken Syracusans would not elect Dionysius as the supreme militarymander during the time of Syracuse''s crisis. And even after he had secured the tyrant''s throne and no longer needed to go into battle himself, he still led the army from time to time, as an example. A few years ago, he led an attack on the Carthaginian town of Motya in Sicily, which they could not defeat. So when he heard from a surrendered soldier says that ¡°there is a secret path that can directly reach the core area of Motya¡± he immediately led 2,000 men who were not afraid to die to climb the steep mountain path and raid the Motyans. Unfortunately, the enemy found him and got besieged. But thanks to his men and the favour of the goddess of fate, he was able to escape from the disaster.

    At this moment, he and his military adviser ¨C Phidias, a strategos of Sparta, Syracuse''s important strategoi ¨C Phacipessas and Astagoras, and the leader of the Numidian mercenary ¨C Acilita, as well as 500 Numidian cavalries head north.

    There are more than 30 kilometres between Locri to Caulonia, and along the narrow and tortuous coast, the warhorses stepped on some bad and uneven muddy roads. After two hours, they finally entered the territory of Caulonia, where Dionysius saw enemy cavalry patrolling ahead.

    Seeing that they were all dressed in ck, Dionysius, who had long studied the army of the city-states on Magna Graecia, immediately made a judgment, ¡°It''s the cavalry of Theonia!¡±

    Hearing this, Phidias, who was also surprised at why the reinforcements of the South Italia Alliance hade so quickly, seemed to figure out the answer: After all, he had been paying attention to this city-state in Magna Graecia that had humiliated him. Thus he has some knowledge of the Theonian army. Since this union attaches importance to the military as Sparta, they are really different from other Greek city-states'' military that it is not impossible for them to arrive so quickly.

    Acilita, the Numidian mercenary leader, whistled a few times. Afterwards, 30 Numidian cavalries rushed over, and the ten Theonian cavalry scouts turned around and ran.

    The two sides began a chase, where the Numidian cavalry closed the distance, with their legs tightly mping the horse''s belly. In such a fast galloped, they didn''t need to pull the reins with their hands. On the contrary, with their hands being free, they grabbed several javelins on both their hands, leaned back slightly and then threw them out.

    More than a dozen javelins flew in the air, followed by several screams. Three Theonian cavalries were hit by the javelins and fell off their horses, while two warhorses were pierced by javelin and begun to jump wildly, dropping the cavalryman on their back.

    Just after one encounter, the number of Theonia''s scouting cavalry was reduced by half, making the remaining Theonian cavalry run desperately back to the camp.

    The Numidian then captured the two cavalrymen alive and brought them to Dionysius.

    Dionysius remained on his horse as he looked down at them and said coldly, ¡°Tell me, how many soldiers did Theonia sent? Who is leading the army? What are your battle ns in Caulonia? Whoever said it well and the most detail, I will let him go.¡±

    The two captives looked at each other and did not speak.

    Dionysius did not have the patience to wait for the two unknown men to speak and coldly snorted, ¡°Since you won''t speak, I will have the Numidians take you across the river Styx! Acilita!¡±

    ¡°Lord Dionysius, I''m here!¡± Acilita smiled impishly, showing his uneven yellow teeth with his long hair covered most of his face. He jumped off his horse and took out his short sword around his waist, and approached one of the captives one step after another, making the captive nervous.

    When Acilita grabbed the captive''s shoulder and pointed his sharp sword at his throat, the captive shouted in panic, ¡°I will answer! I will answer!¡±

    Acilita looked back at Dionysius, and Dionysius nodded.

    He released the captive and waited for him to begin speaking.

    Then the other captive shouted, ¡°Lasybulus, are you crazy?! Do you want your family and son to be scorned and looked down on by Thurii?! Do you want to be unable to pass the judgment of hell after your death, and your soul to be pushed into the terrible des and me of hell?!¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you waiting!¡± Seeing the hesitation on the captive''s face dissipating after hearing hispanion''s shout, Dionysius hurriedly shouted.

    Acilita immediately rushed to the other captive with a sword.

    The soldier looked at the fierce Numidian. He then shouted to hispanion with tranquillity, ¡°I''ll wait for you in Elysium!¡±

    As the sword cut his neck, he didn''t utter a cry in pain as he gritted his teeth. Then blood gushed out like a spring, and he finally fell.

    Lasybulus looked pained, but his eyes became firm. He closed his eyes, straightened his chest and shouted, ¡°Come, strike me with your sword! As my name will be etched in the Hall of Valor!¡±

    Acilita turned to look at Dionysius again.

    Dionysius became inexplicably agitated. He then waved his hand hard and spurred his horse forward.

    Phidias watched as the captive was executed before riding up to catch up to Dionysius. At the same time, he sighed and said, ¡°Such brave warriors! If the other soldiers of Theonia are like them, then this war would be difficult!¡± In the war between Greek city-states, most of their soldiers are just ordinary citizens. So once the war bes unfavourable, they are easy to flee, and it ismon for them to surrender once caught, which is why it is a rare case for all to die in battle. There are a few exceptional cases, such as Leonidas, who led 300 Spartan warriors to Thermope and eventually was wiped out. So how could Phidias not be shocked now that apart from Sparta, there is now Theonia!?

    ¡°It''s just that these stupid Greeks believed Davos¡¯ boasting that he is the ¡®Favoured of Hades¡¯!¡± Dionysius said unhappily. Afterwards, he emphasised, ¡°Besides, the oue of a war depends on the strength and not fabricating to be a descendant of a god, as it will not change the war situation!¡±

    Phidias didn''t speak, but he still felt uneasy.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Commander, our legion has been marching since yesterday, building camp at night, and rushing towards Caulonia early this morning that we haven''t rested much until now. So can we improve the camp tomorrow and just set up the trenches and earthen wall so that our brothers can have a good sleep?¡± Epiphanes asked Philesius.

    Philesius hesitated. He can, of course, see the soldier''s exhaustion, but they are now at the forefront of the battlefield that the Syracusan army maye over at any time. Still, it is necessary to construct a solid camp following the ¡¶Theonian Military Law¡·. Thus he turned his head and asked the legatus of the fifth legion, Drakos, who was sitting on the other side, ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Drakos then replied without hesitation, ¡°Even if you are tired, the soldiers should still build the camps ording to the militaryw and rest at night.¡±

    ¡°You and your legion should continue working then. Our legion had dug a camp for your legionst night, so we naturally are much more tired than you!¡± Epiphanes nced at Drakos and said discontentedly.

    ¡°Alright, alright!¡± Philesius hurriedly ease the situation, ¡°Our brothers are indeed exhausted, but¡­¡±

    Philesius was deliberating how to say his decision politely when he saw ¨C Solikos, the senior centurion of the cavalry legion, hurrying up.

    While Davos was reforming the heavy infantry legion, he also promoted the original cavalry brigade into a legion. Unlike infantry, the cavalry has smaller numbers but are more expensive, so only citizens with warhorses can join. Davos set the Cavalry Legion''s headquarters in Thurii while sending officers to each city in peacetime to organise cavalry training ording to n, then gather them during wartime and assign them to each battlefieldmander ording to the situation. Up to now, there are 2,000 cavalries in the cavalry legion, and the legatus ¨C Ledes, has four senior centurions, with each senior centurion leading 500 cavalries (for the military strength of Magna Graecia, 500 cavalry is already a considerable assault force.) When Davos set our for Potentia, he took away 1,000 cavalries from two brigades, another 500 cavalries were sent to the southern battlefield under themand of Philesius, and only 500 cavalries remained in Thurii to patrol the coastline to prevent the enemy¡¯s surprisending.

 Chapter 406: Dionysius Wrath and Phidias Resentment

    ¡°Solikos, what''s the matter?¡± Asked Philesius hurriedly after seeing Solikos'' serious expression.

    ¡°Lord Commander.¡± Solikos, who was already in his 50s, was still vigorous and had a loud voice. After doing a simple military greeting, he said, ¡°My scouts reported that about 500 cavalries came from the south and were approaching the camp.¡±

    ¡°Is it Syracuse?¡± Asked Philesius.

    ¡°I think so¡­those cavalries doesn''t have any protectives and are good a throwing javelin, which is very different from the Greek cavalry.¡± Solikos answered seriously.

    ¡°Then what are you waiting? Immediately send your cavalry and drive these Syracusans away! Don''t let them interfere with our soldiers'' construction of the camp.¡± Said Drakos immediately.

    Solikos was embarrassed and replied in a low voice, ¡°Our cavalry are not their match¡­from what the scouts had reported, their horse control technique is much better, and their javelin throwing is quite urate. Our cavalries had a distance of 50 metres between them and the enemies, yet they still managed to chase our cavalries quite close, threw a round of javelins, resulting in us losing¡­five of our brothers¡­¡±

    ¡°How powerful are the Syracusan cavalries?!¡± Epiphanes became slightly surprised. After all, he knew the strength of the Theonian cavalry legion due to their regr training, whether it¡¯s riding, fighting or tactical execution are better than the cavalry of those Greek city-states.

    ¡°They might be the cavalries hired by Syracusan. While Syracuse was fighting Carthage, they hired Celtics and Numidian cavalries, all of whom grew up on horseback. Thus it is normal for their riding skills to be better than ours¡­Lord Davos had especially reminded me before leaving.¡± Said Philesius with a serious expression.

    ¡°Then have the light infantry of our fifth legion to go out with Solikos''s cavalries to drive them away!¡± Drakos quickly made a suggestion.

    Philesius nodded in agreement.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Dionysius led his men and approached the city of Caulonia where they saw a spectacr sight hundreds of metres away: On the vast tnd, thousands of men wield pickaxes and shovels digging trenches, carrying soil, building earthen walls and sentry towers¡­everyone is busy, yet they appear in order. Such a busy construction site was not the only one in front of them as it extends to the east and west and could even block the passage of the entire mountain range.

    Dionysius, Phidias, Phacipessas and Astagoras all fell silent for a moment.

    After a while, Dionysius pointed to the Theonian camp under construction ahead and said to Phacipessas and Astagoras in a reproachful tone, ¡°Look at them, and look at the army you are leading!¡±

    Faced with shame, Phacipessas and Astagoras understood what Dionysius meant: Both have arrived in a hurry, yet the Theonians were able to build a camp despite their fatigue while the Syracusan''s camp could not even be called a camp at all. It was disorganised, and the soldiers were peacefully sleeping in their haphazardly built tents¡­

    ¡°Milord, the reason the Theonians are trying their best to build a camp was to defend against our attack, while no one dares to attack our army, so-¡± As soon as Astagoras began defending himself, Dionysius immediately interrupted him, ¡°So your troops can sleep soundly and wait for Magna Graecia to surrender?!¡±

    Dionysius was angry after learning some of the strengths of the Theonian army from the informationing from Theonia. Furthermore, some of the problems that surfaced in the battle between Syracuse and Carthage had also prompted him to reform the Syracusan army. He explicitly gave separate formations for the heavy infantry, infantry, cavalry, siege troops and the navy and worked together under unified and more effectivemand. He also followed the example of Theonia by increasing the number of military training sessions for citizens and establishing stricter rules to ensure that the army could carry out the new tactics. It was only after these reforms that Syracuse was able to secure the upper hand in the second war with Carthage. But the sight before him made him feel the difference between his army and the Theonian soldiers in terms of will andmand execution, which caused the me of jealousy and anxiety, and Astagoras was just a tool for him to vent his anger.

    This really wronged Astagoras, but when he wanted to defend himself, another strategos of Syracuse, Phacipessas, tugged at his clothes obscurely while saying with respect, ¡°Rest assured, milord. Once we return, we will gather the army and have them rebuild the camp.¡±

    It was only then that Dionysius'' expression cleared up a bit.

    Then Acilita came forward and said, ¡°Milord, it''s now a good opportunity to attack the enemy while they are building their camp. Allow me to take my men and charge at them.¡±

    Before Dionysius could answer, Phidias, who had been watching the Theonian camp closely, said, ¡°Don''t. The Theonian army ising.¡±

    Several cavalries and infantries poured out between the several passages reserved for the Theonians and quickly took up positions in front of the camp, with the cavalries on both nks and the light infantry in the centre, and marched towards Dionysius without hesitation.

    ¡°It is useless no matter how many Theonianse. Milord, allow me to lead my men to attack. First, I will have my soldiers go around their nks and attack their cavalry, disrupting their formation, and then take advantage of the chaos to storm the light infantry in their midst to give them a taste of what the Numidian cavalry can do!¡±

    ¡°We should instead go back!¡± Phidias suddenly said, with some panic in his voice.

    Dionysius stared at him, surprised as this was the first time he had seen the cold and straightforward Spartan loseposure since they departed Syracuse. However, as themander of the army, he had more important things to do than entangling with a small group of enemy troops at this time. So heplied with Phidias and ordered their return.

    Although Acilita was wild and unyielding, he was still in awe of his employer. So he could only helplessly call back the eager Numidians and followed Dionysius'' lead.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Philesius learned of the enemy''s retreat, he sternly said to the two legatus, ¡°As you can see, the army of Syracuse would soon attack, so we much build our camp as soon as possible!¡±

    This time, Epiphanes no longer has an objection.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On their way back to Locri, Dionysius asked, ¡°Phidias, now that the Theonians are building their camps in Caulonia to defend against our attack. What do you think we should do next?¡±

    ¡°We must not allow the Theonians to build a sturdy camp and use the narrow terrain to offset our number advantage, thus consuming our time! That is why we must invade Terina and Scylletium as soon as possible, where the terrain is wide and beneficial to ourrge army, just in time to force them to meet us in a head-on confrontation, defeating them and capturing their cities! In this way, Theonia will no longer have any helpers while their main force is still trapped in Potentia, giving us a good opportunity to destroy them!¡± When he said thest sentence, Phidias expression has a bit of fierceness.

    Dionysius looked at him curiously. He didn''t understand why Phidias''s resentment towards Theonia suddenly increased, but this was what he exactly wanted.

    So, after thinking for some time, he made up his mind, called the strategoi and issued an order, ¡°Astagoras, Phacipessas, immediately reorganise the army after we return. Tomorrow! I want to attack Caulonia and Terina!¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord!¡±

    Listening to their conversation, Phidias became happy at seeing Dionysius make the arrangements he had suggested. However, his mind kept reying the sight he had just seen: Whether it is the cavalries or light infantries, the Theonians were uniformly dressed in ck, and he could even vaguely see that the leather shields of their cavalry seemed to have the same design painted. Although he did not see the Theonian heavy infantry, since the light infantries and cavalries were already like this, the attire of the heavy infantries must also be quite uniformed.

    On the other hand, Dionysius was not too surprised as he had already gotten detailed information about the Theonian army beforehand. But for the Spartan Phidias, he saw something deeper through Theonia''s ck attire.

    The Spartans warriors snickered in secret at the citizens of Athens, Corinth, Thebes and other city-states, who unted their colourful artistic aesthetics by painting all kinds of exquisite designs on their round shield that had not been used for half a year and had gathered dust to show their individuality and taste. After all, since the regent of Sparta carried out a reform a hundred years ago, the Spartans have trained since childhood under the whip and stick. After a hundred years of warring, they have already concluded the essence of War: That is to not care about any means, as long as you get the ultimate victory!

    The Spartans imed to be descendants of Heracles, but in fact, they worship the wolves more. Their warriors fight like wolves, emphasising discipline and psychological deterrence as a whole, and even if they are strong, they are not allowed to fight individually.

    Therefore, when the other city-states armies fought Sparta, they could see rows of dazzling bronze walls (because the Spartan warriors polish their shield and spears) and scarlet cloaks dyed like blood, as well as the unified ¡°¦Ë¡± sign on their round shield.

 Chapter 407: Theonias March and Syracuses advance

    When the bugler blew their high-pitched salpinx, the Spartan warriors sang warlike chants to pay tribute to the ancient heroes while charging at the enemy. Often resulted in the Greek city-states soldiers'' will to copse, turn around and run before even fighting as they were unwilling to take risks fighting against Sparta. The Spartans deterred the other city-states in Greece for a century by relying on their terrifying momentum and killing intent created by the army as a whole on the battlefield.

    Phidias was not disturbed by Syracuse''srge army, but the tenacity, obedience, and unified attire of the Theonian army aroused his fear as he seemed to see another Spartan army. And even though they wore ck instead of red, their soldiers were much more numerous than Sparta¡­

    ¡®The Mediterranean only needed a Sparta!¡¯ Phidias thought strongly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As soon as the third legion led by Alexius arrived in Pyxous, Davos didn''t even have the time to greet him and immediately told him his battle n. With his consent, he immediately ordered him to lead the third legion north and attack Poseidonia.

    The coastal area from Pyxous to Poseidonia is not as t as the east coast of South Italia, from Thurii to Crotone and then to Locri. It is mostly mountainous and hilly, with rugged and uneven ground.

    The third legion pass through Elea on an arduous march.

    As a city-state that is part of Theonia Alliance, Elea''s polemarchos Kanos did not hesitate after receiving the news and personally summoned 1,500 soldiers and joined the ranks of the third legion. After all, now that the Samnites upied Poseidonia, Elea was directly facing the fierce Samnites warriors, so the Eleans hoped Theonia to repel this vicious wolf from the north and restore peace to Elea.

    Half a day after the third legion left, Davos led the first and second legions to the north.

    Androlis, the Praetor of Pyxous, was not idle either as he had to help prepare the food for 30,000 soldiers. After all, the food consumed by such a huge army must also be impressive, and Pyxous alone could not satisfy it. Fortunately, Theonia had built a reserve granary in Grumentum, which could temporarily meet the needs of so many people for a short time. But once the war extended, they would also need the granary of Consentia, which is why Davos had to speed up the pace. Androlis also had to prepare wagons and manpower to transport food supplies to the frontline camp of Davos under themand leadership of the legion''s logistics. Aplex and tedious job that needed to be manned continuously, but with the operation of the experience logistics brigade and the assistance of the capable Androlis, and the active cooperation of the Praetor of Grumentum ¨C Bagul, everything progressed smoothly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the afternoon, the third legion headed northeast after joining with the Elean army and prepared to bypass this wide mountain range on the seaside just north of Elea as Poseidonia was just on the other side of this mountain.

    Halfway through, the third legion stopped moving and began building a camp.

    As they caused a lot ofmotion, the Samnites'' scouts easily discovered them.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°What did you say?! The Theonians appeared on the south of mount Cilento and camped on the banks of the Alento river?!¡± Pisini, a chieftain of Pentri, was gorging himself on food in the residence of the archon of Poseidonia when hearing the report and became surprised.

    ¡°Yes, chieftain. And they numbered more than 10,000! Furthermore, when we quietly approached their camp, we discovered that the g erected in their camp reads ¡®Third Legion¡¯!¡± The scout said with anxiousness.

    ¡°The third legion of Theonia! Shouldn''t they be in Grumentum?! How did they get here?!¡± Pisini lost his appetite, threw the mutton he had just chewed on the table, lowered his head, and wiped all the oil stains on his mouth with his dirty leather robe.

    ¡°I think the Theonians must have heard that we captured Poseidonia, so they hurriedly want to take it back.¡± Another chieftain, Mobuk, guessed.

    ¡°Theonia has 10,000 men while we only have 3,000 warriors! Moreover, they came so fast that we had not yet repaired those destroyed by the ballistae. So how could we prevent their attack?!¡± Pisini paced back and forth impatiently.

    ¡°Then we have to send someone to Potentia immediately and ask the great chieftain for help!¡± Mobuk reminded.

    ¡°That''s natural! And¡­we should also immediately inform our men that no matter howte they work tonight, they should fill the gaps in those walls!¡± Pisini smashed his fist on the wooden table.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At dusk, Alexius sent the reconnaissance team to kill the Samnites scouts in the surrounding area.

    That night, the 20,000 troops led by Davos quietly entered the city of Elea, and the Eleans had already made room for the Theonian army as Alexius had already notified them.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the same day, on Locri, the Syracusan army finally gathered. But the return of the scouts surprised Dionysius and the others, ¡®In just a day and a half, the camp of Theonia had begun to take shape.¡¯

    This report had further strengthened his new n: He would divide the army into two, of which more than 20,000 were under themand of Phacipessas together with more than 10,000 soldiers from Locri, for a total of 40,000 men, to try to attack the Theonian camp and hold them in check. On the other hand, He himself will lead an army of more than 50,000 men to cross the old path between the mountains, reach the west coast of Magna Graecia, and then turn north¡­

    In order to prevent the dying of the march, Dionysius''s troops did not carry a lot of luggage and just let the fleet in Locri loaded with supplies depart from the port, head south around the Strait of Messina, then along the western coast of Magna Graecia, and head north to apany the army onnd.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the Rhegians saw the continuous Syracusan ships passing by the sea in the distance, the fear in the hearts of the Rhegians could be imagined, and some even shouted in panic, ¡°The Syracusans areing! They are going tond!!!¡­¡±

    But it turned out that it was just a false rm. However, it still caused great panic to the Rhegians, and many members of the councils even asked to recall the troops that went to Taurania to defend against Syracuse.

    Athelycus was at a loss for a moment, so he immediately sent a messenger to Taurania.

    Pheidon in Taurania first got the report from the scouts: They found the Syracusan army crossing the old path between the mountains, heading towards Medma while the cavalry that was the vanguard had already passed the city of Medma and continued to head north.

    Then came the urgent report from the port lighthouse: They discovered that the Syracusan fleetposed of thousands of transport ships had passed through Taurania and sailed north.

    An hourter, a Rhegian merchant ship hurried into the port of Taurania from the north and reported that Syracuse''s fleet did not enter Medma but continued to go north.

    ¡°It seems that Syracuse is ready to attack Terina on the north. For the time being, we are safe.¡± Said Chrylotas, the strategos in charge of Taurania.

    Pheidon, on the other hand, was not rxed. He then said with a gloomy expression, ¡°Once the South Italia Alliance in the north is defeated, it will only be a matter of time before they attack Rhegium and Taurania.¡±

    ¡°That depends on whether our allies can withstand Syracuse''s attack or even defeat them¡­¡± Chrylotas, whose thoughts were aroused by Pheidon''s words, said with some expectation. Then after feeling that this hope was a little slim, he sighed and said, ¡°It''s a pity that the archon of Theonia, Davos, led his main force to resist the Samnites. If he could lead his men back in time, then the odds of the allies will significantly increase!¡±

    ¡°Hence we should not let the Syracusans attack so easily!¡± Pheidon said loudly with a serious and resolute expression, which surprised Chrylotas.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the afternoon, Rhegium''s messenger rushed to Taurania and severely demanded Pheidon to lead the army back.

    While Pheidon deliberately dyed the time, he immediately sent his men back to Rhegium.

    At dusk, Pheidon was still unable to gather the soldiers. And because ¡°it was impossible to march in the dark¡±, it was postponed to the next day.

    Early the following day, Athelycus, who found that the Syracusan fleet had already left Taurania and had notunched an attack on Rhegium, cancelled the order to recall the army at the request of Pheidon''s man.

    It was only when his men returned to Taurania with Athelycus'' letter that they were able to stop the unnecessary marching back and forth of Rhegium''s army, which was to be discussedter.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, Dionysius thought of many ways to speed up the marching of Syracuse''s massive mixed army. The most effective way was to send his men to each army and say that whoever arrives at Hipponion first will be the first to be allowed to enter the enemy city after conquering it, and thest one to arrive will not have the right to share the spoils.

    Due to having too many mercenaries, Dionysius'' army was not as disciplined as Theonia''s. And in order to maintain high morale, his soldiers often burned, kill and piged the city after breaching, such as in Motya and even the Sicilian Greek city-states of Catania and Naxos. In fact, Syracuse did no less damage to the Sicilian Greek city-states than the Carthaginians, which is why the Sicilian Greeks feared and hated Dionysius.

    Dionysius'' words really had an effect. All the various troops rushed forward, and the Numidian cavalry and Celtic cavalry were at the front.

 Chapter 408: Initial Battle Against Syracuse (I)

    At dusk, Syracuse''s leading troops had arrived in Hipponion one after another. They travelled more than 50 kilometres from Locri through Medma to Hipponion. Dionysius forced the army to march andpleted this section of the journey for only more than a day, which is already a miracle.

    The movement caused by the sessive arrival of the Syracusan army startled the scouts of Terina who had been watching Hipponion''s movement. They then quickly returned to the city of Terina on the north bank of the Aro river, more than 30 kilometres away from Hipponion.

    ¡®Syracuse''s army hase!!!¡¯

    This shocking news shook the whole city of Terina. Both ordinary people and the statesmen were frightened as they never thought that Syracuse would approach Terina on the third day after theirnding.

    ording to the n made by the South Italia Alliance, Crotone''s troops is the most crucial main force for defending the Aro river, but they are still far away. On the other hand, Scylletium had only sent thousands of soldiers to defend the upper bank of the river. Thus the whole defensive line of the Aro river has not beenpleted and could be said to be full of holes. So once Syracuse attacked tomorrow, they would easily break through the Aro river and enter the Ophemia in, and Terina would be the first to suffer from the mes of war.

    With the situation being urgent, the Terinian Council had no time to argue. So under the guidance of Siprus, the polemarchos electedst year, they quickly made a decision: First, immediately send someone to Crotone and urge them to send their main force to the Aro river as soon as possible. Second, ask Scylletium to go all out in defending the Aro river. Third, send someone to mpettia and ask Theonia for help. Fourth, ask Theonia¡¯s fourth and fifth legion in Caulonia for support.

    For Siprus, who always respected Theonia, he trusted the well-trained legions of Theonia rather than the procrastinating citizens of Scylletium and Crotone. Therefore, half of the emergency measures taken by Terina were rted to Theonia.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, the soldiers outside Theonia''s camp in Caulonia continued to work hard to improve their defence. However, with the rapid return of the scouts, the warning horn of the camp sounded. And the soldiers immediately carried their pickaxes, shovers, wooden baskets and other equipment and quickly returned to the camp and closed the camp''s gate.

    ¡°The Syracusans are finally attacking!¡± Drakos was so excited that he quickly put on his armour with the help of the guards while asking his adjutant, ¡°What are the instructions of Philesius?¡±

    ¡°For us to defend ourselves.¡± The adjutant replied.

    ¡°That''s interesting!¡± Drakos muttered a few times. Afterwards, he put on his helmet with purple plumes symbolising his identity as a legatus, ¡°Let''s go and see how powerful Syracuse is!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The fourth and fifth legions of Theonia had built two camps. The fourth legion is on the west side, while the fifth legion is on the east side, and a passage connects both in the middle.

    Thus for the convenience ofmand, the Syracusan-Locri coalition army also divided their troops into two. The Syracusan army led by Phacipessas attacked the eastern camp while Locri''s strategos ¨C Theophantes, led the army to attack the western camp.

    Due to theck of time, Syracuse did not build a siege tower and could not even prepare many siegedders. However, Theophantes still had the confidence to turn the probing attack into a storm to repay the humiliation of being forced to retreat by the Theonian army without fighting in Crotone a few years ago.

    Under the guidance of the bronze salpinx, the 20,000 troops of Locri slowly moved forward until about 500 metres away from the Theonian camp. Theophantes then raised his arms, and the salpinx stopped, then the army stopped moving forward one after another, and the formation became irregr.

    ¡°Push the ballista!¡± Theophantes shouted. That''s right, Theophantes would rely on the ballista, a powerful weapon brought by Syracuse to siege cities.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Theonian legion had a busy day yesterday as they had to dig trenches and build earthen walls. However, they couldn¡¯t even have the time to dig traps outside the camp, not even an abatis, while the engineers and craftsmen of the engineering brigade were still scrambling to build sentry towers.

    After building the first sentry tower, Philesius and Epiphanes immediately climbed it and looked out just in time to see the Locrians pushing a dozen ballistae out of their ranks.

    Epiphanes was not surprised because even in the camp, there were ten ballistae just below the sentry tower but were smaller than Syracuse''s ballista. He frowned slightly, pointed to the front, turned around asked the young man together with them on the sentry tower, ¡°Kurdorus, do you think our ballistae can destroy theirs?¡±

    Kurdorus is from the Institute of Mathematics of the Akademia of Theonia. Following the newly revised Theonian Military Law in the previous two years: Each legion must be equipped with ten ballistae, and the spotter must be an excellent student of the Akademia of Theonia because they can quickly calcte the appropriatending point ording to the parabolic equation to improve the shooting uracy.

    Although Kurdorus had participated in a lot of military training, this was the first time he hade on a battlefield. Looking at the dense enemies in the distance, he became a bit nervous, ¡°Too¡­too far, I fear that it¡­would be difficult.¡±

    Philesius patted him on the shoulder andforted him, ¡°Take it easy, young man. It''s normal to feel nervous when this is your first time on the battlefield. No need to worry. No matter how many enemiese, our brave legionaries will drive them away.¡±

    Kurdorus nodded. He gulps and stares at the front again. After summoning up his courage, he said, ¡°I¡­I suggest to let the enemy get closer so that we can bring the power of our ballista into greater y.¡±

    ¡°Just as I thought!¡± While praising, Epiphanes looked at the beautiful young man carefully, with a strange glint in his eyes, ¡°Young man, you are great.¡±

    Philesius coughed a bit.

    Then, the herald of the fifth legion rushed below the sentry tower, ¡°Commander, legatus Drakos asked to fire the ballistae after the enemy entered a distance of 200 metres, so as not to scare them away.¡±

    ¡°200 metres?!¡± Epiphanes shrugged, ¡°Drakos is really greedy!¡±

    ¡°He is thinking the same thing as we thought!¡± Philesiusughed.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As a squad leader, Appian and his squadmates stood behind the earthen wall, watchingrge stone balls roaring from the enemy line, smashing in front of their camp, making a booming sound and raising ayer of dust. However, they didn''t show any uneasiness due to their regr military training, as they didn¡¯t even know how many times they had trained with the ballista brigade. Thus although the momentum caused by the enemy''s ballista outside the camp is impressive, the soldiers are still in the mood tough.

    They even asked Appian for the details about attending Hera''s Day and became envious of the special treatment the newlyweds enjoyed at the celebration, saying they would definitely go to Thurii for Hera''s Day when they married.

    As the enemy''s formation approached, the impact point of the ballista moved forward.

    When the stone balls fell from the sky, hitting in front of the camp and falling into the trench, the legion''s toon captain began sending out instructions one after another, ¡°Take cover behind the wall!¡±

    Just as Appian led his squadmates to rely on the earthen wall and lie down, Kurdorus'' voice could be heard from the sentry tower, ¡°They are already within 250 metres!¡±

    ¡°No hurry, no hurry,¡± Epiphanes put his hands to his chest and patted him on the shoulder, doing his best to suppress his excitement.

    ¡°Bang!¡± A stone ball hit the wooden battlement, and the broken wooden chips fell on the heavily armed soldiers causing heavy damage.

    Then several stone balls roared, crossed the wooden battlement, fell into the camp and smashed several tents. Fortunately, there were only a few cries of sorrow while a roar ofughter rang out.

    Kurdorus stared at the ground ahead from the sentry tower. Yesterday, while the soldiers stepped up the camp¡¯s construction, the ballistae team was not idle. They went outside the camp and began leaving some marks on the grounds, which were either a transnted weed, a strange rock, or an oblique wooden stick¡­

    ¡°200 metres!¡± Kurdorus shouted excitedly.

    ¡°Get ready to fire.¡± Epiphanes waved his hand.

    ¡°30 degrees elevation, medium stone balls, maximum pull!¡± Kurdorus quickly said the data.

    The ballista captain, who had been listening, immediately repeated Kurdorus'' words aloud. At the same time, the soldiers quickly turned the pulley, pulled the bowstring, hooked it and then ced a 6kg stone ball into the slider (after several years of further research and improvement on the ballista, Theonia''s ballista can now be divided into two types. One is the siege ballista, which isrge and weighs more than 20kg. The other is the defensive ballista, which is smaller, lighter in weight and has better uracy, and two-three people could carry it, and the weight it couldunch ranges from 3kg to 10kg, and its target were armies and siege equipment.)

    Since it was not a decisive battle, the enemy formation was loose. But even so, the 20,000 massive group is still dense. Therefore, they must seize this great opportunity for the first round of attack. For this reason, Kurdorus first set the ballistae''s impact point in the centre of the enemy formation.

    ¡°Fire!¡± The ballista captain waved his right arm.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Theophantes felt a burst of joy as he watched the stone balls roar into the Theonian camp.

    At the beginning of the army''s movement towards the enemy camp, he was worried about being hit by Theonia''s slingers when they were within 500 metres, as he heard that most of Theonia''s slingers were from Rhodes and could shoot their stones far and urately. But once the troops advanced to 300 metres from the enemy camp and the Theonians still did not react, he becamepletely relieved.

 Chapter 409: Initial Battle Against Syracuse (II)

    Regarding the rumours that ¡°Theonia also has a ballista¡±, Theophantes didn''t believe it. After all, Locri was established for hundreds of years, yet they couldn''t even make such a powerful siege weapon. So how can the Theonia Union, which had just risen for less than six years, have it?! (Even though the fourth legion of Theonia attacked mpetia with ballista, its remote location made it so that only a few people knew it. The Terinians knew it, but at the request of the Theonians, they tried their best to keep it a secret.)

    ¡°Closer! Closer!¡­¡± Theophantes excitedly urged the Syracusans to move the ballista forward so that the whole army could advance as he wanted to make the bombardment of the ballista more urate and smash the wall built by the Theonians so that they would not have any ce to hide! He would then watch them hide in panic under the impact of the stone balls or be forced to leave the camp ande out to face them.

    Dionysius had given Phacipessas the order to keep the Theonian army in Caulonia in check. But if there were a good opportunity, Theophantes would certainly not mind defeating them and break the record Theonia army of having no defeat in Magna Graecia and win greater honour for himself.

    Theophantes then looked at the Theonian camp after seeing the Syracusan spotter at the front, putting heavy stone balls into the slider. Then, he became surprised to see ten small ck dots flying out of the enemy camp and roaring into Locri''s formation¡­

    ¡°Ballista!¡± Theophantes'' soul shot out, and along with his cry of rm, countless screams rang out in their ranks.

    Due to the stone ball falling in arge arc, its lethality is not that great. But the effect is terrific. After all, just by getting grazed by it would break the hands and legs, the head would get ttened, and if they use a round shield to block it, the shield would break, and they would die. How could such a tragic situation not make the surrounding Locrian soldiers, who had never experienced a ballista''s attack before, shudder and cause their morale to suddenly drop by half?!

    As they were panicking, another wave of stone balls came again. The Locrian soldiers then fled everywhere in panic, and the whole formation became chaotic.

    ¡°Move back! Move back quickly!!¡± Stone balls kept falling, with one falling near Theophantes that he became so frightened that he ignored the Syracusan ballistae in front of him and hurriedly gave orders of retreat.

    But just as the salpinx sounded the retreat, the east, west and south gate of the Theonian camp suddenly opened at the same time, and the soldiers who had already been prepared poured out quickly and orderly. The cavalries charge ahead, followed by the light infantry, then the light-armoured soldiers and finally the heavy infantry. Although they are destined to be unable to catch up with the fleeing enemy, they could push forward to prevent the enemy from counterattacking.

    The already demoralised Locrian army had copsed due to the constant bombardment of stones. Then they retreated in disarray after seeing the entire dark Theonian army (because of the colour of the weapons and equipment)ing at them. And even though Theophantes had the will to fight back, he had already lost control of his army, and the soldiers no longer had the courage to fight as they scrambled to retreat.

    Solikos then led the cavalry to catch up with the enemy from the nk with the hope to avenge hisrades.

    The Theonian cavalry did not even use their spears and just drove their horses straight, which scattered the troops even more and were unable to reorganise. After the 1,000 cavalries ran for a while, the horse itself instinctively slowed down. Still, seeing the defeated soldiers in front gradually getting sparser, Solikos resolutely raised his spear and drew circles in the air.

    ¡°Drive them east!¡± Solikos shouted. Under hismand, the cavalry began to spread out to the left and right, drawing an arc and started driving the defeated soldiers eastward, with the light infantry and light-armoured soldiers matching their movements.

    Most of the defeated Locrian soldiers were like headless flies, being intentionally herded by the Theonian soldiers. They could not even distinguish between southeast and northwest and only ran for their lives in the direction with the slightest pressure.

    At this time, the Syracusan troops outside the eastern camp were also getting bombarded by the Theonian ballistae. However, the experienced Syracusans did not panic and soon stabilised their position. After retreating for a distance, they began fighting back with their ballistae. As the two sides were in a state of confrontation, the defeated Locrian troops poured in like a tidal wave and immediately disrupted Syracuse''s left nk.

    How could Drakos let go of this great opportunity? So he immediately ordered the whole army to attack!

    The soldiers of the fifth legion then quickly rushed out of the camp''s gate.

    Seeing the situation turning bad, Phacipessas decisively gave the order to retreat.

    Although the Syracusan troops retreated quickly, they tried to maintain a fairly intact formation while squeezing the scattered Locrian troops behind.

    The Theonian cavalry and the fourth legion''s soldiers pursued the enemy for more than 3 kilometres. It was only when arge group of enemy cavalrymen came up to meet them that Epiphanes ordered the retreat, for he was deeply impressed by the fierce cavalry of Syracuse and worried that the tired and scattered soldiers would suffer. In fact, Syracuse''s cavalry and the cavalry of the mercenaries had already gone to Hiponion with Dionysius, and the only ones that appeared were the cavalry of Locri.

    And the fifth legion, under the urging of Drakos, made the light-armoured soldiers who were best at running chase the enemies without the help of cavalry and then sounded the call to stop.

    On his way back to the city, Theophantes, who had lost his armour, met Phacipessas, who was in a bad mood after losing the first battle and received a scolding from him¡­

    As this was the first time the Theonian used their ballista in the field, it caught the Syracuse-Locri alliance by surprise. The ballistae itself only killed a few dozen men, while the panic caused by the Locrian army created an opportunity for the fourth legion of Theonia to raid. And the raid of the fourth legion and the subsequent nned dispersal of the defeated troops caused a major rout of the Syracuse-Locri alliance.

    In this battle, there were more than a thousand casualties from the Syracuse-Locri alliance, including more than 500 captured men, mainly Locrian soldiers, which was a great victory for the Theonian''s southern front.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Asistes became surprised after receiving Terina''s urgent request for reinforcementste at night.

    The reason why Asistes could be the acting Praetor of mpetia was due to Davos asking the Senate for it on the grounds that Asistes had rich administrative experience in the mountains of Lucania and military experience, and was suitable to be the Praetor of mpetia, a city with the Bruttians being the majority and the southern border city of Theonia. However, since he is not a statesman, he can only serve as the acting Praetor. Still, his experience as a Praetorid the foundation for Asistes to be elected into the Senate the following year.

    After taking office, Asistes made use of the experience he learned in Lucania to effectively ease the racial contradiction between the Bruttians and the new Greeks in mpetia. He then made use of its geographical location to vigorously develop the trade with Terina and the other cities in the South Italia Alliance, thus improving the living conditions of the impoverished mpetians. This has made the political situation of mpetia to be stable in recent years and lived up to Davos'' expectations.

    Hearing about how the Syracusans had approached Terina in such a short time had made him feel uneasy. After all, he knew that the n of the South Italia Alliance was for Terina, Crotone and Scylletium to work together in defending the western coastal passage, prevent the Syracusan troops from invading the territories of the South Italia Alliance, and buy some time for the return of Theonia''s main force.

    Asistes initially estimated that thebined soldiers of the three city-states of Crotone, Scylletium and Terina would have more than 30,000 soldiers. With the addition of the Aro river, which is wide and deep, as a natural barrier, it shouldn''t be a problem for them to defend it for more than 10-20 days. Furthermore, once the use of troops bes tense in theter stage, the reserves in the whole Bruttian region can also provide reinforcements in time.

    However, he did not expect Syracuse toe so fast, which was faster than the mobilisation, assembly and marching of most Greek city-states armies. Naturally, Syracuse has already mobilised and assembled its troops. Still, to be able to make such a huge armyplete itsnding and march close to Terina in three days is enough to show that the Sicilian tyrant ¨C Dionysius is fully prepared and determined for this war!

    ¡®Should we send troops for assistance?¡¯ The reason why Asistes was hesitating was that a few days ago, Davos personally wrote him a letter, in which he repeatedly reminded him to strengthen and enhance the city defence. Because once Syracuse breaks through the defensive line, he must do everything possible to defend mpetia and not allow Syracuse to step into the Bruttian territory!

    But Terina has a close rtionship with Theonia! Besides their firm support for Theonia in the South Italia Alliance, the two cities of mpetia and Terina also got along well due to their close proximity and frequent trade exchanges. So if they did not save them, the Terinians good impression of Theonia and the businesses that the Theonia Union had built up over the years in Magna Graecia through their efforts would be destroyed!

    After thinking about it, Asistes finally made up his mind.

    He then pledged to the messenger of Terina, ¡®With Hades as a witness, I will lead the reinforcements from mpetia to Terina early tomorrow morning!¡¯

    After sending off the grateful messenger, Asistes decided to write a letter to Hielos, who had just be the Praetor of Consentia. He told him the current situation of the Syracusan army and his worries and asked him for help as he believes that Davos¡¯ former captain will make the right choice!

    After writing, he told his men to take the letter and set out immediately to Consentia in the night. Then, he called the patrol leader, who had just fallen asleep, and told him to notify the reserve soldiers of the fifth legion to assemble at the square first thing in the morning.

    After finishing all of these, Asistes returned to his bedroom, exhausted.

    His wife Dina, who was still awake, saw that her husband was worried, so she asked him in Greek, ¡°What happened?¡±

 Chapter 410: Liberating Poseidonia

    ¡°Dina¡­Syracuse''s army is approaching Terina. Unfortunately, I think it''s difficult for the South Italian Alliance army to stop them on the north bank of the Aro river.¡± Asistes said truthfully.

    ¡°Then¡­wouldn''t mpettia is also in danger?!¡± Dina became surprised.

    Asistes did not answer. He just sat by the bed and ced his hand around his wife, ¡°Is our child asleep?¡±

    ¡°Mizha had put him to sleep.¡± Dina reached out and pointed to the bedroom next to her.

    Asistes hesitated for a moment and said seriously, ¡°Tomorrow, take our child and go to Consentia.¡±

    Dina''s eye immediately widened. She then shouted, ¡°I am not going! I am the daughter of the Senate statesman Vespa, my brother is the Praetor of Grumentum, and I am the wife of the acting Praetor of mpettia! While everyone in mpettia is defending against Syracuse''s invasion of their homes, what would the people here think if I left together with our children?! Will they still wholeheartedly obey yourmand?!¡±

    Asistes was unable to say something for a while. He then hugged his wife, gritted his teeth and said, ¡°You are right! I was so focused on your and our child¡¯s safety that I forgot about that! Our whole family¡­will stay here, all of us.¡±

    Dina thenforted her husband, ¡°With Hades'' protection, mpettia will be able to hold on! And once Lord Davoses back, Syracuse would be driven away!¡±

    Asistes stared at his Lucanian wife. Unexpectedly, she had more confidence in the war result than himself. Asistes then began wondering what was happening to Davos in Lucania now.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After a long afternoon and evening journey, the messenger sent by the Samnites army stationed in Poseidonia finally arrived at the Samnites'' camp not far from the city of Potentia.

    ¡°What did you say?! The Theonians surrounded Poseidonia?!¡± Tolek, the great chieftain of the Pentri tribe, couldn''t sit still after hearing the report. After all, there were 3,000 Pentri warriors left in Poseidonia.

    ¡°Have you found out which legion of Theonia is it?¡± Berani, the great chieftain of Hirpini, asked the messenger.

    ¡°We are sure that it''s the third legion of Theonia! As almost all the soldiers were talking in Lucani while building their camp.¡± The messenger answered confidently.

    Berani knew that the third legion of Theonia was mainly Lucanians. So after hearing the messenger, he became relieved: Thinking about it, it has only been less than ten days since he led his own army to invade the territory of Potentia, based on his years of experience in fighting the Greeks in the Campania region, the Theonians would need to first mobilise their citizens in Thurii, gather their troops, prepare their supplies, and then lead therge army through the rugged Lucanian mountains to get here, which would take more than half a month at the earliest. Just like how their huge momentum is due to them mobilising and preparing for two months after reaching an agreement with the Syracusans.

    ¡°How many are they?¡± Asked Tolek.

    ¡°Including Elea''s army, their total number exceeds 10,000.¡±

    ¡°Berani!¡± Tolek looked at the great chieftain of Hirpini.

    Berani stared back at Tolek as he already knew what the great chieftain of the Pentri tribe wanted to say.

    At this time, Garni interrupted, ¡°The third legion of Theonia run away very fast! Father, it would be hard to wait until uncle Tolek''s return with his army as we may be able to capture Grumentum tomorrow with an all-out attack by using Syracuse''s ballistae!¡­¡±

    The more Garni says, the more excited he became, ¡°The cunning Theonians dare not fight us head-on and want to disrupt our ns by attacking the city of Poseidonia, so why can''t we-¡±

    Berani interrupted him in a loud voice, ¡°Poseidonia has arge amount of food for our army, which is very important to us, so we must not allow the Theonians to take it. Thus we need to rescue Poseidonia!¡±

    Berani ¡®s words made Tolek a bit pale, ¡°Berani, I will lead my warriors to rescue them.¡± After saying that, he stood up and was about to head out.

    ¡°Tolek, rxed.¡± Berani turned and looked at the great chieftain of the Caudini army, ¡°The third legion of Theonia is a slippery fish. I fear that they will run away again this time and continue causing us trouble. Chief Kinduk, can you lead the warriors of Caudini and the warriors of Pentri to catch andpletely wipe them out together with Elea''s reinforcements?!¡± Berani''s right fist waved hard in the air, ¡°You can even continue to march towards Elea and try taking over this Greek city-state. In this way, the safety of Poseidonia will be more guaranteed.¡±

    ¡°The Caudini warriors will agree to your request.¡± Kinduk immediately agreed. After all, being able to go and plunder the Greeks made him excited, so he immediately got up and went out with Tolek.

    When the only one left in the main tent were the chieftains of the Hirpini tribe, Garniined loudly, ¡°Father, it was not easy for us to gather an army and prepare tounch a fierce attack on the city of Potentia. But now, you did not only agree about Tolek leaving, but you also asked Kinduk to help him. With so many warriors going all at once, when can we capture the city of Potentia?!¡±

    Some chieftains echoed his words.

    ¡°Garni, if the great chieftain didn''t allow Tolek to leave, so he won¡¯t leave?! Don''t forget that there are still 3,000 Pentri warriors in Poseidonia. Tolek is the great chieftain of the Pentri and not a chieftain of Hirpini, so how can the great chieftain stop him! If we forcibly stop him, it will only lead to a quarrel between our two tribes, which is unfavourable to the whole war! That is why the great chieftain has to do this.¡± Said Lesguk, chieftain of Beneventum, to defend Berani.

    Garni only snorted.

    Berani smiled and nodded his thanks to Lesguk, who many tribal chieftains favoured as the best candidate for the next great chieftain. Berani then exined, ¡°If Theonia''s third legion had note too soon that the Pentri warriors did not even have the time to repair the city''s defence, Tolek would not have been so rmed. That''s why I asked Kinduk to go with him together with the Caudini warriors so that the total number of the rescue force was 25,000, which is enough to crush the third legion of Theonia, stopping those Theonians from further troubling us.¡±

    Berani then looked at the chieftains in the tent, then continued, ¡°While they are fighting in Poseidonia, we can''t stay idle. Didn''t the Syracusan says that Potentia has high terrain and sloping mountains roads, so¡­it would be difficult to ce and aim the ballista! Hence we will take advantage of this time and follow what Syracuse advise by building a tform to ce the ballistae, continue the camp''s expansion and intensify the siege of Potentia¡­¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Garni answered weakly.

    Berani stared at him and said with a smile, ¡°It''s actually good for us not to attack Potentia now.¡±

    This sentence sessfully aroused everyone''s doubt, including his son.

    ¡°When the Syracusans brought grain a few days ago, they told us that ¡®Dionysius'' army will attack Magna Graecia in a few days.¡¯ So if that is the case, we should slow down our offensive and just let Potentia be safe for now. What do you think will the Theonians choose? Meet Syracuse''s army on the t seashore? Or risk their territory being empty and send reinforcements to Potentia to deal with us, who won''t threaten Theonia for the time being?¡±

    ¡°Naturally, they would turn their main force to meet the Syracusans because they are more threatening!¡± Lesguk said loudly.

    At this time, Garni also understood and said excitedly, ¡°So we can safely eat Potentia and even the Lucanians without worrying about the Theonian reinforcements?!¡±

    Seeing the fervent atmosphere in the main tent, Berani took advantage of the situation and said, ¡°Hence we must tighten our hold and never let anyone in Potentia slip away. After all, they are our wealth!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Since the various tribes of Potentia retreated into the city, the Samnites did not attack the city during this period. However, the people in the city did not be assured. After all, they all could see the newly-built Samnite camp at the bottom of the mountain and the endless military tent extending to the west from the top of the mountain, and the bonfire lit at night were like countless stars in the sky, turning their heart cold. Moreover, the Samnites wanted to catch everyone¡­so they began deepening and extending the trenches, with an abatis standing in front of the trench¡­

    Even though the enemy is so powerful, there is no news about reinforcements at this time moment. The city of Potentia is like an isted ind from the world as panic and anxiety gradually swallow the courage of the people who share amon hatred.

    Pamot tried to calm everyone down by giving them inspiration and confidence, but he would wake up from nightmares every night. In less than a month, he had lost more than ten kilograms.

    Last night, he could not sleep because the Samnites had gotten new siege equipment, which could shoot helmet-sized stones from a hundred metres away, cross the city wall and destroy several wooden houses.

    Pamot remembered the panic in the eyes of every soldier around him being so clear that even he himself doubted whether he could defend the city.

    At this time, he no longer had the appetite to drink the broth brought by the ve. He could only casually bit a few rough wheat cakes and braced himself and prepare to continue his daily work ¨C patrolling the city.

    Just as he put on his armour, the gatekeeper hurried into the hall and shouted excitedly, ¡°Chieftain, lord Polet is back!¡±

 Chapter 411: Crisis: Allaro Rivers Defensive Line

    ¡°My brother is back?!¡± Pamot identally knocked his helmet to the ground. However, he didn''t care and continued to ask excitedly, ¡°Where is he?!¡±

    ¡°Brother, I am back!¡± With a vigorous cry, Polet''s strong figure appeared in the hall.

    Pamot hurried forward and held him tightly with both hands, ¡°Brother, you are back! Wonderful, you are back!¡± Pamot choked from his excitement as he had never missed his ill-tempered brother so strongly as today. Pamot excels at bncing the interest of the various tribes and managing the cities and towns. However, when ites to marching, fighting, and boosting morale, it was the work of his brother, who has been a troublemaker since childhood. But more importantly¡­

    ¡°Did Thurii send reinforcements?¡± Pamot asked urgently.

    ¡°They havee! Lord Davos himself led the army, and they are the two strongest legions in Theonia, with a total of 20,000 men!¡± Polet said with excitement.

    ¡°Wonderful! They have finallye! Thank Asinu!¡± Pamot ced his hand over his chest with relief, and his pale face began to brighten, ¡°So where are they?¡±

    ¡°Instead ofing directly to Potentia, they went to Pyxous and are about to attack Poseidonia¡­¡± Seeing his brother''s excitement, Polet unconsciously lowered his voice.

    ¡°Attack Poseidonia?¡± The smile that had just appeared on Pamot''s face froze, followed by anger, ¡°The Samnites are about to attack our city of Potentia, but that Davos instead ran with the reinforcements to a small coastal town hundreds of kilometres away from here that we don''t even care about! What kind of evil intentions does he have? Will he just watch us get wiped out and thene back to get more benefit?!¡­¡±

    Polet rarely sees his big brother, who is always calm and gentle, get so angry. But at this moment, he isn''t in the mood to tease him, ¡°Brother, listen to me! Listen to me! Lord Davos attacked Poseidonia in order to end the Samnite¡¯s siege of Potentia and even defeat them!¡±

    Pamot, who was was about to throw the wooden chair in the hall, heard his brother''s shouting. He then dropped the chair with a ¡°bang¡± and asked suspiciously, ¡°Is that true?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Polet did not avoid his gaze and solemnly said, ¡°After I received your letter, I immediately wanted to return from Thurii. However, I was stopped by Lord Davos because he wanted to lead the troops himself and needed a guide who knew Potentia and the Samnites, providing him with useful suggestions. Thus I set out with the reinforcements from Theonia¡­ It was only after they finalised the Theonian army''s n of action to repel the Samnites that Lord Davos asked me to rush back to Potentia as soon as possible so that I could cooperate with him in the future military actions. He even wanted to send a team to escort me back, but I refused.

    After all, this is where I grew up ying, so I am very familiar with every hillside, every path, every cave and every boulder, and the Samnites are just tightly blockading the road, so I can easily sneak in. But if I were to take them, then we would be in danger¡­¡±

    After listening to Polet''s story, especially after learning about Davos'' n, Pamot gradually calmed down, ¡°So the Theonians have begun marching into Poseidonia, and the only thing we have to do now is to pay close attention to the Samnites'' movements at the foot of the mountain¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Polet nodded again.

    Pamot let out a long breath of relief and rxed his entire body, ¡°Brother, since you have returned, I will leave the heavy responsibility of leading the Potentian warriors to fight against the Samnites!¡±

    Polet shook his head, ¡°Big brother, it''s still not the time.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Pamot asked, puzzled.

    ¡°Because there would then be too muchmotion, and in case the Samnites found out that I, who should have been in Thurii, have returned, they might guess that the Theonian reinforcements might have arrived. Then the n of Lord Davos might fail! Therefore I suggest that you hide the news of my return for the time being!¡±

    Pamot thought for a while and said, ¡°Brother, you are right! However, I didn''t expect that after going to Thurii, you have be cautious now!¡±

    Polet became a bit embarrassed, ¡°It''s all Lord Davos'' reminder.¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos¡­¡± Pamot felt the strange way Polet spoke, ¡°I remember that you didn''t address him as such before.¡± Pamot said slowly.

    In his mind, Polet recalled the days when he moved together with the Theonian legion and conversed with Davos many times. So he answered seriously, ¡°He is indeed a remarkable man!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Siprus also hoped that the Syracusans would rest the next day after a day''s rapid march to give Terina, Crotone and Scylletium some buffer time to do their job defending the north bank of the Aro river.

    But the city-states of Magna Graecia underestimated Dionysius'' determination because once he goes all out, his actions and wisdom be frightening. Back when the Carthaginianmander Himilco led his army to defeat the Syracusan army and forced his way into the city, Dionysius would have been ousted from his throne by the angry people if not for the support of the Spartans. But it was in this time of crisis that Dionysius developed his stratagems to the utmost: When the Carthaginian suffered from the gue, Dionysius led his troops out of the city in the dark of the night, advancing both bynd and sea, hiding his main force from the west, causing the experienced Himilco to misjudge the situation, and finally suffered a disastrous defeat.

    This time, in order to conquer Magna Graecia, Dionysius prepared a vast army and a massive amount of supplies. Syracuse had even paid a great price to win over some forces and cause trouble to Theonia. Therefore, if this expedition fails, it will shake Dionysius¡¯ rule in Syracuse. So he had been mentally tense all these days since departing from Sicily. Furthermore, even though he seems to look down on Theonia, it was just to give the soldiers and officers confidence. But the truth is, he has always had a deep fear of Theonia in his heart.

    For this reason, he certainly understood the importance of time for the Syracusan army. Before they marched yesterday, Dionysius had already made the Locrians give an urgent notice to the Hipponion in advance to construct a camp. Thus, after the army¡¯s arrival, even though it was still chaotic, the order was still much better than when theynded in Locri. At least most of the soldiers manage to sleep. Early the following morning, Dionysius began assembling his troops and even though the soldiers keptining, they still had to advance north obediently under his authority. At the same time, he ordered the Syracusan fleet to sail north from the port of Hipponion into the Aro river.

    By noon, the huge army in irregr formation reached the middle part of the Aro river and its tributary.

    Terina had spies watching Hipponion day and night, while Hipponion likewise had someone watching the northern bank of the Aro river. Thus, Dionysius naturally knew that arge section of the river could be crossed without many defensive forces. Therefore, the army turns south and goes straight to the middle reaches of the river.

    The scouts on the other side of the river quickly reported back to the polemarchos of Terina, Siprus, who inwardly groaned when he learned of Syracuse''s actions. He, who had nearly 7,000 Terinian soldiers in control of the whole city, was anxious. Still, he did not dare to act rashly due to the report he received from the lighthouse that countless Syracusan warships appeared in the Gulf where Terina was located, and many soldiers could be seen onboard.

    Siprus was worried that they wouldnd on the northern coast of Terina, so he had to keep guard and did not dare to send troops to assist Scylletium.

    Scylletium hastily increased their force on the river¡¯s north bank to 12,000 men only this morning after receiving an urgent noticest night from the Terinians. But they didn''t expect that as soon as they stationed their troops, the army of Syracuse would arrive.

    Asesias, the strategos of the Scylletium army, saw the increasing number of the Syracusan soldiers on the other side bing massive, giving him chills. He could only keep cursing, ¡®Why haven''t the Crotonians arrived yet?!!¡¯ The troops in his hands were too thin if he were to spread them over this long stretch of riverbank, where the enemy could cross.

    While Crotone, who he cursed, received the plea for help from a Terinian messengerst night, realising the gravity of the situation, they dispatch the soldierste at night to notify all citizens of the right age both inside and outside the city.

    Early this morning, the citizens came to the square to report one after another.

    In the morning, 14,000 men gathered in the square, and more citizens arrived one after another.

    But Lysias and the strategoi couldn''t wait, so they asked Ascamas to lead those that were here first, and the rest of the soldiers and the supplies would arriveter.

    Just as Asesias began cursing the Crotonians, the Crotonian troops were anxiously rushing to Scylletium.

    But Dionysius was clearly prepared not to give the South Italia Alliance a breathing space. At his urging, the Syracusan army quickly arrived on the river¡¯s south bank and began lining up.

    During this period, when thend forces were lining up, some of the Syracusans warships sailed into the Aro river.

    Unlike Thurii, which sits on both sides of the river, the Aro river is split into two, with Terina is located on the river¡¯s north bank while the south bank belongs to Hipponion. Therefore, the Aro river is the boundary river between the two city-states. However, since the two cities were part of different alliances, with the Crotone Alliance and the Locri Alliance being mortal enemies, the two city-states have little to nomunication, let alone building a pontoon bridge on the river. With Terina handing over most of their warship to Theonia*, they could only watch as the enemy warships sail one by one to the upper reaches of the Aro river. Moreover, the gods were helping Syracuse as at this moment, a wind was blowing from the southwest, saving the Syracusan sailors a lot of effort from paddling against the current. (Of course, even if they are still there, they still wouldn''t be able to do anything as they are not a match against the powerful Syracusan navy.)

 Chapter 412: The choices for the legions in the south

    Warships arending in the bay and warships going upstream in the river¡­Siprus was in a dilemma. The only thing he hated was that Scylletium was a small city with too few soldiers. So if he wants to take care of the east, he wouldn''t be able to take care of the west. In the end, he decided to send 2,000 troops to quickly track the enemy ship on the north bank and prevent them fromnding.

    However, the troops he sent needed to detour north because the Aro river runs from north to south, which is just right in front of the enemy and impossible to wade across the river.

    The Syracusan warship took advantage of this opportunity as they drew near the east bank of the Corta river flowing into the Aro river from the south. In fact, the sailors were exhausted from rowing hard as the soldiers on board had to hurry to get ashore.

    At this time, Dionysius became displeased at his men as they had still not finished lining up even after almost an hour. It''s mainly because of the constant arrival of sessive troops. So he immediately ordered, ¡®There is no need to wait. All troops attack!¡¯

    The exhausted Syracusan soldiers stepped into the cold river and rushed to the defensive line arranged by the Scylletians on the other side.

    Although the Scylletians are small in number and have a weak defensive line, they are all energetic and have an absolute advantage in stamina. For a while, they stopped the Syracusan army¡¯s advancement and made them soak in the river.

    On the winding river, the Scylletians fought desperately to protect their homes against the Syracusan army, which was nearly four times their number, for more than half an hour, causing the whole river to be dyed red with blood¡­

    It wasn''t until the Syracusan soldiers thatnded from the west and attacked the nks of the Scylletian formation that the Scylletian began to waver and finally copsed¡­

    Dionysius finally became relieved after finally leading his troops to break through the defensive line of the South Italian army and enter the edge of the t and vast Ophemia in¡­

    But at this time, the Syracusan soldiers were exhausted and unable to pursue the defeated soldiers.

    After upying the temporary camp abandoned by the Scylletians, Dionysius then ordered his army to rest on the spot.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After receiving the news that the Syracusan army had crossed the Corta river, the mpettia army, who had almost arrived at Terina, was shocked. Asistes then immediately led the troops back and sent someone to exin the reason to Terina.

    In the afternoon, Crotone''s reinforcements hurried to Scylletium.

    Rather than weing the arrival of the armies of their former mother-state and ally, the polemarchos of Scylletium, Phrytinas, along with the statesmen of the Council, used them of beingte, leading to Syracuse upying the north bank of the Corta river and putting the city of Scylletium in danger.

    In the face of their usation, Ascamas and the other Crotonian strategoi did not defend themselves as the situation had indeed reached a dangerous point.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the evening, the cavalrying from the north broke the silence of the Theonian camp. Epiphanes and Drakos hurried to the main tent after receiving a notice from the heralds.

    ¡°Two legatus, I have just received a dire report from Scylletium. The Syracusans broke through the defensive line on the north bank of the Corta river and stepped into the territory of Scylletium.¡± Philesius said gravely.

    ¡°I have kept saying that the armies of the city-states of the South Italia Alliance are unreliable!¡± Epiphanes spat on the ground and said angrily, ¡°The battle that we have won here is for nothing!¡±

    ¡°How many soldiers does the Syracusan army has?¡± Asked Drakos hurriedly.

    ¡°ording to Scylletian messenger, they have more than 50,000 men.¡± Philesius picked up the letter on the table. Drakos then grabbed it and opened it. Back when he was a mercenary leader, Drakos was illiterate. It was only in recent years that he studied hard and made rapid progress in order tomand the legion and understand the militaryw and orders that he specially attended the adult sses at the school of Thurii. Thus he no longer has a problem in reading.

    ¡°More than 50,000 men?!¡± When Epiphanes eximed, he immediately thought, ¡°This shows that Syracuse''s aim is on the west coast, and the army here is just to contain us.¡±

    ¡°Most likely¡­¡± Philesius nodded calmly, but his heart was slightly depressed that he could not judge Dionysius'' intention in time.

    ¡°In the letter, the Scylletians asked us to immediately withdraw to Scylletium and join them against the Syracusan army.¡± Drakos then stared at them.

    ¡°In fact, Lord Ansitanos also suggested that we retreat back to Scylletium.¡± Philesius then took out another letter.

    ¡°Do we have other choices besides retreating to Scylletium?¡± Epiphanes shrugged and added, ¡°If we continue defending here, and let Syracuse defeat the armies of our allies on the Ophemia in and have them seize Scylletium, then our 20,000 troops here will really be fishes caught in a.¡±

    Philesius sighed, ¡°It''s just that by doing so, Caulonia would be in trouble. I am afraid that¡­¡±

    After all, in order to make the Theonians feel at ease in their defence, the Caulonians provided them with abundant food every day. And after they repelled the enemy''s attack during the day, the Caulonians, from the council to the civilians, went out to the city to express their gratitude. They even held a banquet for the strategoi and officers of the Theonian army and brought alcohol to the soldiers¡­and so on. Although Philesius declined their good intentions due to Theonia''s militaryw, every Theonian officers and soldier could feel the gratitude and kindness of the Caulonians to them.

    The three men were silent for a while. In the end, Drakos could only helplessly say, ¡°In this case, we couldn''t help it. We just hope that Hades will protect Caulonia and have them hold on to their homes. After all, if we were to concentrate our troops and repel the Syracusans, the siege of Caulonia would naturally be solved.¡±

    ¡°Repel?¡± Epiphanes urately grasped Drakos'' words and asked, ¡°Do you think we can repel Dionysius'' army in the Ophemia in?¡±

    ¡°Why couldn''t we?!¡± Drakos pointed to the letter and asked, ¡°ording to the letter, Syracuse only has more than 50,000 men there, so if webine our two legions plus Crotone, Scylletium and Terina, we will have more than 50,000 men. Don¡¯t you have confidence in our legion?! You should know that the legionaries of Theonia are the best soldiers in the Mediterranean!¡± Drakos stared at Epiphanes angrily.

    ¡°Who said that I have no confidence in our army?! Don''t nder me here!¡± Epiphanes was angry. After all, once those words get out, how would he lead his legion.

    ¡°You two should stop!¡± Philesius shouted, ¡°Both of you are still in the mood to argue even with our current situation?! If Lord Davos knew how you''re behaving, he would regret making the two of you the legion''s legatus!¡±

    Epiphanes and Drakos quieted down at the mention of Davos.

    ¡°I''ll pretend I didn''t hear what you just said, and both of you also forget about it! I don''t want to hear any more rumours about any of those words among the soldiers, got it?!¡± Philesius stared straight at the two men.

    Epiphanes sneered at Drakos, and Drakos nodded reluctantly.

    Philesius finally felt relieved, ¡°Well, let''s now discuss how to retreat tomorrow morning¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this morning, Pisini, the Samnite chieftain stationed in Poseidonia, who had been worrying all night, did not expect a miracle to happen.

    The Theonian troops still appeared outside the city, but they were divided into two: One was building their camp while the other was lining up outside the city.

    ¡°Only more than 4,000 men, yet they want to take my Poseidonia?!¡± Pisini felt humiliated.

    Just then, he saw the enemy soldiers pushing something in front of their formation. He then held on to the battlement with both hands and leaned forward to see the thing more clearly.

    Then he saw more than seven ck dots flying in front of the enemy¡¯s formation and hitting the city''s wall, ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang!¡­¡± The loud noise dispelled the hope in Pisini''s heart, ¡®The Theonians also have ballistae!¡¯

    In the following moment, the Samnites stared at the stone balls that were constantly flying in the air, fearing that it would hit them. The city wall that was already broken and had only received a simple repair became more broken after the continuous enemy attacks¡­

    Pisini could only hope that their reinforcements would quickly.

    The day passed amidst the bustling Theonian soldiers and the uneasiness of the Smanite defenders.

    In the early morning of the following day, a salpinx rang out in the Theonian camp. The soldiers who woke up in the tent turned over and sat up despite their sleepiness, urging each other to start wearing armour.

    ¡°Legatus, there are arge number of enemies in the north of the camp. We estimated that they are more than 20,000 and are moving towards the camp!¡± The scout captain, Kelisinus, reported to Alexius.

    ¡°More than 20,000 men!¡± Alexius was not surprised. Instead, he was a little bit happy. With the help of the guards, he dressed up and walked two steps in high spirits and said loudly, ¡°It seems that the Samnites have great ambitions of wanting to eat us in one bite! Hahaha, but no one knows who will be the one getting eaten in the end!¡±

    He was about to go out of the tent when someone opened the tent. The senior centurion of the first brigade, Litom, shouted excitedly as soon as he came in, ¡°Legatus, the enemy has taken the bait. More than 20,000 men havee!¡±

    ¡°That should be enough for you!¡± Said Alexius teasingly.

    Litom smiled. Some time ago, he was dissatisfied with Alexius and was sulking because they had taken the initiative to retreat in Potentia in the face of the Samnite armies'' attack. Now, his anger is gone, and the only thing remaining is his strong desire to fight.

    ¡°Rx and have our brothers eat their fill. After all, today''s battle mayst longer! Lord Davos has given us, the third legion, the order to stick to the enemy and exhaust them as much as possible and let them put all their troops into attacking and trying to take our camp!¡± Alexius reminded.

    ¡°Understood.¡± Litom answered. He turned around and was about to go out when suddenly, he stopped and solemnly saluted Alexius, a salute that included his apologies as well.

 Chapter 413: Battle of Poseidonia (I)

    At this moment, Tolek was staring at the Theonian camp in the distance.

    In fact, the Samnites had arrived and nned to attackst night. However, they found that the Theonians built their camp to be well defended. As a veteran, Tolek knew that an attack of tens of thousands of men in the dark, especially without moonlight, could easily get out of control and cause unnecessary losses. Thus he restrained his impulse and postponed the attack until the next day. As a result, the Samnites spent the night in the mountains in early November, where the weather was cold, and even if the warriors slept in their leather clothes, they still felt a bit cold.

    Tolek rubbed his frozen hands. He didn''t expect the Theonians to build a camp of such scale so quickly, but then he thought again that this was better as the Theonians wouldn''t be able to escape.

    He then looked at Kinduk, the one leading the Caudini army and consulted him, ¡°Leader Kinduk, my men would attack from the north and east, while your people attack from the west. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°I have no problem with that.¡± Kinduk nodded in agreement. Then he asked, ¡°What about the south of the enemy''s camp? We should not let them run away.¡±

    ¡°South.¡± Tolek pointed to the city of Poseidonia in the distance and said confidently, ¡°They wouldn''t be able to run!¡±

    Kinduk understood what he meant and said excitedly, ¡°It seems that the Theonians have be prey that fell into a pit, which is good as this will allow our warriors to vent their anger due to them being unable to sleep wellst night.¡± Kinduk said, rubbing his hand over his cold body.

    Tolek looked back at the warriors behind him and gave an order, ¡°Blow the horn!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Through the early morning mist, a long and powerful sound of a horn reached Poseidonia two kilometres away, which was heard by Pisini and Mobuk standing a the top of the city wall, ¡°Do you hear that! It''s our horn. Our reinforcements have arrived!¡±

    The Samnite warriors on the wall became excited and began shouting.

    ¡°Warriors! Get ready to go out of the city to meet and destroy those detestable Theonians!¡± Pisini shouted with vigour and enthusiasm after sweeping away his despair.

    ¡°Roar! Roar!!¡­¡± The warriors roared at the same time.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Alexius observed the approaching enemy outside the camp on the sentry tower and calmly said, ¡°The enemy is about to attack. Have everyone prepare!¡±

    ¡°On my way.¡± The adjutant turned around and went down

    ¡°The next part will be up to you.¡± Alexius said expectantly to the ballista spotter ¨C Stheponian, who was also on the sentry tower. Since the spotter was from the Akademia of Theonia, Alexius spoke to him in a rather polite manner.

    ¡°Legatus, there is nothing for you to worry about!¡± Stheponian answered confidently, but his heart was beating like a drum. Because of the morning fog, he could not see the markings they left outside the camp yesterday, so he could only rely on his visual judgment.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Tolek beganmanding the troops to attack the north of the camp.

    Due to their haste, the Samnites rushed without carrying Syracuse''s ballistae or otherrge siege equipment. Thus they had to make an improvise longdders during their restst night. However, Tolek thought that that was enough because the scouts reported that there were no other defences outside the Theonian camp beside the trenches. So with their huge numbers, all they had to do was break through the not-so-high earthen wall in one fell swoop, and the Theonians would only be sitting ducks.

    When those attacking the camp approached within 250 metres away from the camp, Tolek waved his spear forward and shouted, ¡°Attack!¡±

    More than a dozen horns resounded throughout the battlefield.

    Some Samnite warriors carried longdders, some held long shields, and some were only holding javelins and spears as they began to speed up their pace¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Elevation 40, full draw, small stone balls!¡± Stheponian shouted from the sentry tower.

    ¡°Ready the ballista!¡± The ballista captain ordered, ¡°Elevation 40, full draw, small stone balls!¡±

    Under the rapid operations of the soldiers, the ballista began making ¡°creaking¡± noise.

    ¡°Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!¡­¡± Then the stone balls were ejected.

    The ballista captain stared at the stone balls flying to the enemy. Even though he was excited, he also had some regrets due to several ballistae getting damaged at yesterday''s bombardment of Poseidonia. Otherwise, they would kill more enemies.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Tolek saw a dark shadow pass through his head. Then he shouted, ¡°No!¡±

    However, he was far less surprised than the strategos of Locri ¨C Theophantes. After all, in the minds of the Samnites, the Greeks all possessed excellent skills. So if the Syracusans could make ballista, the Theonians undoubtedly could as well.

    But instead of frightening Tolek, the ballista aroused his fierceness, ¡°Everyone quickly run! Kill all the Greeks!¡±

    The warriors around roared. And soon, the roar spread throughout the Samnites,pletely covering up the noise caused by the stone balls. The morale of the Samnites became high as they took big steps and began elerating towards the Theonian camp.

    ¡°One hundred metres!¡± A shout came from the sentry tower.

    ¡°Archers, ready!¡± Shouted Ibil, the light infantry''s senior centurion.

    The archers, who had long been waiting behind the earthen wall, spread out in a fan shape, drew their bows and arrows.

    Then hundreds of arrows rained on the Samnites'' formation, causing more screams than the one caused by the ballista.

    The weak protection of the Samnites brought great results to the Theonian light infantry. Still, the repeated screams did not weaken the pace of the Samnites.

    After two rounds of rain of arrows, the Samnites had rushed within 50 metres.

    The soldiers of the third legion of Theonia could now clearly hear the rumbling footsteps of the enemy and felt the slight tremor of the ground they caused, and even their shouts had covered the whole camp. Although the soldiers were nervous, they did not panic. After all, they are the third legion of Theonia and had gotten many achievements: They participated in the second war with Crotone and captured the city of Aprustum alone; Raided the city of Grumentum; Use a legion to calm the rebellion in Lucania, wiping out Cincinnag''s troops, and take the city of Pyxous¡­the dazzling stars on the g of the third legion symbolises their honour. And today''s battle will certainly add another honour for the third legion!

    The centurion, Sitina, was a Greek ve of Nerulum and got freed after Theonia conquered Nerulum. He then chose to settle in Nerulum and finally joined the third legion of Theonia, and through his own effort, he became a middle-rank officer inmand of 200 men. His past hatred of the Lucanians disappeared, and now he is fighting side by side with them, whom he once hated and is now his brother for his home, the Theonia Union.

    ¡°Javelin!¡± He shouted.

    The soldiers who were standing on the wall threw their javelins, while the Samnites who rushed to the camp''s trench also threw their javelins.

    For a time, countless javelins swish through the air. As the two sides have exchanged blows, they learned of each other''s tactics and have erected long shields for protection.

    Butpared with the Samnite warriors, who are more crowded and poorly equipped outside the camp, the Theonian soldiers are well protected by a wall and a long shield, suffering only a few casualties. But from time to time, a javelin would get stuck on their shield, making it inconvenient to use. However, they have no time to cut the javelin at the moment.

    Although the casualties of the Samnites wererge, the javelin rain continued. The Samnite warriors then rushed into the trench, jumped directly into it and set up some longdders, while several men built a human wall and began climbing their way up.

    The Theonian soldiers threw their javelins into the trenches, and at such a close distance, they became almost urate, but even so, they could not stop the influx of Samnites.

    ¡°Pour the oil! Pour the oil quickly!¡± While shouting anxiously, Sitina bent down to lift the oil jar that had been prepared in advance and ced behind the wall. Then, he suddenly heard a soldier scream behind him as he got pierced through his left shoulder by a javelin and fell to the ground in pain.

    Sitina then leaned down vigntly, peeped out behind the wall when he happened to see a Samnite holding a javelin outside the trench, less than five metres away from him. When he was about to throw the javelin, someone in the camp struck the enemy.

    Sitina quickly stood up and threw the oil jar down, hitting the head of a Samnite warrior in the trench, breaking it open and spilling the oil.

    Many soldiers on the wall did the same thing as Sitina. Afterwards, they threw down torches on the trench, causing a fire wall to arise, where countless men howled until only silence remained¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Legatus, the enemy in the north has temporarily retreated. And from our initial statistics, we suffered 240 casualties.¡± Alexius'' adjutant rushed to report.

    ¡°We lost so many brothers before we even started engaging them.¡± Said Alexius with a frown. Although there were more Samnites that had fallen to the ground and were moaning outside the camp, as well as those who were burnt to a crisp inside the trenches, Alexius was still rmed at the lethality of the Samnites'' javelins. He then pointed to the south of the camp and said, ¡°Look, the enemy in Poseidonia has alsoe. This battle has just begun.¡±

    ¡°It''s unfortunate that we have too few oil jars! Otherwise, if we were to use it in several directions, the Samnites will lose a lot more!¡± Said the adjutant with regret.

    ¡°We can''t me the logistics brigade. It''s not easy for them to load rations, camp building materials, weapons and equipment, and bring so many oil jars. It couldn''t help as our legion needed to act fast, and the enemy''s reinforcements came so quickly!¡± Alexiusforted him and continued, ¡°Don''t worry, we will defeat them slowly. Anyway, they won''t be able to escape.¡±

 Chapter 414: Battle of Poseidonia (II)

    Due to the number of Samnites attacking in the north being thergest, Alexius concentrated the ballistae and most light infantry on that side.

    When Tolek temporarily led his team to retreat, 7,000 Caudini warriors in the west, led by Kinduk, began climbing the wall.

    On this side, the first and second brigades are in charge of the defence, Seeing the surging enemy under the wall and in the trenches, even Litom, who loves fighting, froze.

    ¡°Don''t panic, just focus on a spot and stab when an enemy shows up! Even though there are more enemies, they wouldn''t all be able to climb up!¡­¡± Litom, carrying his shield and spear, walked back and forth behind the soldiers, encouraging them while observing the enemy''s situation.

    ¡°Strategos, be careful!¡± The guard behind him suddenly eximed.

    Out of the corner of his eyes, Litom caught a glimpse of a dark figure. The dark figure ignored the stabbing of the soldiers and jumped down from the top of the longdder and rushed straight to Litom.

    Due to the unexpected situation, Litom had no time to wield his spear, so he could only quickly throw away his shield and spear and tried to pull out his short sword, but the enemy pinned him on the ground.

    The enemy pressed on him, twisting both his limbs on both sides. In such a narrow distance, Litom arduously pushed his short sword forward, but he instead hit a hard object and couldn''t pierce the enemy''s chest.

    At this time, the shadow''s powerful hands pressed hard on his eyes, with Litom experiencing a stinging pain. At this critical moment of life and death, Litom didn''t panic. Instead, he twisted his right wrist, tilted his short sword against the hard object and pushed upward.

    With a muffled grunt, the short sword pierced the dark shadow''s jaw. Afterwards, the dark shadow fell.

    Litom pushed him away and immediately stood up.

    The soldiers then came and stabbed the struggling enemy with their spears.

    Litom shook his dizzy head, gently rubbed his swollen and pained eyes. He then squinted and saw the man wearing silver armour and silver greaves.

    From what Litom knew, there are about four types of Samnite warriors: Light infantry with spears and javelins, having no protection; Infantry with spears, shields, javelins and helmets but no armour; Medium infantry with long shields, spears, helmet and a golden-ish armour; There are also heavy infantry wearing colourful plumes on their helmets, with silver armour and greaves. However, this kind of heavy infantry is not a lot among the Samnites, and its position in the tribe is not low.

    Litom carefully inspected the dead man on the ground. He bent down, pulled his short sword and waved it hard, removing the bloodstains on the sword. At this time, he became rmed when he recalled the thing that happened just now. If he were still wearing their previous weapons and equipment and used their curved military sword (a curved sword that was more suitable for cutting), he would have difficulty fighting in closebat. Although he would still be able to wave his sword and cut the enemy''s neck, the enemy would have blinded him.

    Litom, with a sword in his right hand and a shield in his left hand, stood up and looked forward.

    Due to numerous enemies having climbed up the wall, most of the soldiers just stood behind the wall and no longer poked their heads down. Instead, they erected their long shields and pushed outward to deflect the thrusting spears while knocking the enemy down into the trench. Once the enemy became unstable, spears and short swords would then pierce through the gap between the shields.

    Behind the soldiers who are fighting with all their strength at the forefront, the second-line soldiers were ready to reinforce them at any time, surrounding the iing enemies at the same time¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Over the years, even though the Samnites have always looted Campania, they rarely attack sturdy cities. In fact, theyck experience in sieging, so Tolek, who had nevermanded so many warriors, wascent at wanting to destroy the camp in one fell swoop. However, he didn''t expect that this small camp has made his army stumble. The wall of fire alone killed hundreds of Pentri warriors, causing unwillingness and anger to pile up in his heart. Thus he could only retreat and reorganise his army. After the fire weakened, he once again sounded the horn that signals attack.

    The Samnites charged in front with vengeful anger while their light infantry followed behind half-naked. All of them took off their short linen and used it to wraprge handfuls of dirt, carrying the javelins in one hand and earthen sacks in the other, ready to rescue their tribesmen who were still on the fire.

    The defending Theonians no longer threw their oil jars even when the Samnites jumped into the trench. The Samnites then erected longdders and continued climbing even under the constant rain of stones, arrows, and javelins.

    Under the protection of the guards, Tolek, who was anxiously urging his men to attack, nearly tripped over the earthen sack ced by the light infantry in front of the trench, which gave him inspiration. He then shouted, ¡°Drop the sack! Drop the sack quickly!¡­¡±

    Under the leadership of their chieftain, the light infantry who were throwing their javelins into the enemy''s camp braved the arrow rain as they quickly threw down the earthen sacks at one spot into the trench. Seeing this, the Samnites became more excited and continued adding more sacks until it was the same height as the camp''s wall.

    On the other hand, the Theonian soldiers kept stabbing at the earthen sacks with their spears, trying to destroy the enemy''s attempt.

    After the Samnite warriors steadily piled up the earthen sacks and built a ramp in an attempt to upy the top of the wall. The shields of both sides collided; spears and spears fought back as a fierce melee erupted.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Legatus, strategos Lacydes (the strategos of Elea''s army) is asking for help!¡± Alexius was paying close attention to the battle when his adjutant rushed to the north of the camp and reported to Alexius.

    ¡°He couldn''t hold it anymore?!¡± Alexius frowned. He ordered the Elean army and gave them half of a heavy infantry brigade to defend the south of the camp as there shouldn''t be too many Samnitesing out of Poseidonia.

    ¡°The Eleans didn''t understand the tactics of the Samnites and were hit by javelins. Now, they seemed¡­frightened by the Samnite''s momentum!¡± The adjutant exined.

    ¡°Our allies'' army is really¡­¡± Alexius muttered half of what he wanted to say but swallowed the word ¡°unreliable¡±. After all, he couldn''t say anything that would undermine their unity.

    ¡°Take out 400 men from the light-armoured brigade to assist the south of the camp!¡± The Theonian militaryw emphasised that themander must retain a reserve brigade as much as possible in case of emergency. So Alexius made the light-armoured brigade as a reserve, and it was finally time to use them.

    As soon as his voice fell, he heard a loud crumbling noise and screams in front of him, ¡°The wall has copsed!!!¡­¡±

    Alexius became shocked when he saw that a section of the wall where the north wall came into contact with the rampart made of earthen sack copsed due to the intense fighting and trampling of the soldiers on both sides¡­

    When the dust dissipates, a gap of about four men wide appears on the wall. The Samnites then rushed in from the hole while the soldiers desperately encircled them¡­

    ¡®The war situation has finally reached the most critical moment!¡¯

    ¡°Ede, draw out a centuria to reinforce the south while the rest of the centuria of the light-armoured brigade will push the enemy back immediately!¡± Alexius pointed to the ce where the fierce battle was raging and gave orders to the senior centurion of the light-armoured brigade with a serious expression.

    ¡°Brothers, it is finally our turn!¡± Ede turned around and shouted excitedly to the light-armoured soldiers.

    ¡°Roar!!!¡± The energetic light-armoured soldiers roared in unison, dissipating some of Alexius'' nervousness.

    He then solemnly said to his adjutant, ¡°Take 200 light-armoured soldiers to reinforce the south quickly! I no longer have a reserve here, so you must defend the south wall! Lacydes will not be the onemanding, so you must take themand!¡±

    ¡°Understood, legatus!¡± The adjutant gave a solemn military salute and turned away.

    At this moment, Alexius began to anxiously look forward to the early arrival of Davos'' reinforcements¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In fact, on the hill a kilometre east of the camp of the third legion of Theonia, Davos, Tolmides, and a group of guards were watching the battlefield: Nearly 30,000 Samnite warriors were besieging the camp from the east, west, south and north, making the small camp looks like a broken boat, which is in danger of being swallowed by huge waves¡­

    Tolmides express his admiration, ¡°The third legion are really tenacious that they couldst so long!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is not easy for them!¡± Davos nodded approvingly, ¡°But they are not alone! Have all the troops reached their predetermined positions?¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord!¡± The herald ¨C Tolmides, finished his military salute and excitedly reported, ¡°The first legion has reached the northeast of the camp, about a kilometre and a half away; The second legion is now at the southeast of the camp, more than a kilometre away; Ledes'' cavalry is blocking the road to the mountain in the north while Izam''s reconnaissance brigade and the army of Laos are rushing to the city of Poseidonia, ready to stop the enemy''s attempt to flee back to the city!¡­¡±

    In fact, they could roughly see the action of each unit by standing on this mountain. The Theonians didn''t sound the salpinx nor shouted. They just quietly and quickly stretched their formation to surround the enemies outside the camp and advance without stopping¡­

    ¡°Now that everything is arranged properly, we only need to wait for the news of victory.¡± Davos says with a rxed expression. He then sat leisurely on the rock, ready to watch the battle.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    To avoid bing a burden or getting trampled by the surging attack, the injured Samnites tried their best to retreat to the rear. However, these fortunate warriors soon found that they were not so lucky as countless soldiers with ck helmets and armour suddenly appeared behind them, approaching quickly like an endless ck tide surging towards them.

 Chapter 415: First Big Victory

    The wounded Samnites said, ¡°The Theonians areing! Theonia''s reinforcements areing!!¡­¡± which is the same as what the archers on the sentry tower in the camp said but in a happier tone, ¡°Our reinforcements areing! Our reinforcements areing!!¡­¡±

    ¡®Finally!¡¯ Alexius breathed a sigh of relief when he heard those words.

    When the soldiers heard the shout, their morale shook their tired body, filling it up with strength. And they also roared in unison to drive out the enemies who had rushed into the camp.

    When Tolek heard the shout, he didn''t want to believe it. But when he turned around and saw the surging Theonian army, swallowing up any stranglers in an instant, his whole body became drained out with energy. He stumbled and fell to the ground with only one thought in his mind, ¡°It''s over! I have fallen into the Theonians trap!¡±

    The Samnites, who had been struggling and were also exhausted, saw the fierce Theonian legionariesing from behind. Although they were frightened, most of them did not turn around to escape. Instead, they picked up their spears and turned around to face the enemy''s attack, with only having one thing in their mind, ¡®Fight!¡¯

    However, the continuous arrival of new troops and the attack on their backs made the Samnite warriors'' resistance futile, which only affected their time to escape from getting surrounded.

    As the Samnites continued to fall, the remaining warriors'' morale finally faded, and they began fleeing¡­some who were already exhausted had simply abandoned their weapons and surrendered¡­the battlested for some time before it was basically over. The only thing remaining was to chase the defeated Samnites.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The third legion¡¯s soldiers in the Theonian camp are either gathering the bodies of theirrades, receiving treatment in the medical camp or lying on the ground or against the wall resting¡­

    Alexius, the legatus of the third legion, listened seriously to his adjutant''s report on the casualties of the legion, ¡°ording to the preliminary statistics of the medical camp, our legion has suffered 412 deaths, 251 were seriously wounded and 537 having minor wounds, with a total of 1,2000 casualties¡­¡±

    ¡®1,200!¡¯ Alexius clenched his fist. That is already 15% of the legion''s main force, which is really big!

    Seeing the pained expression of the legatus, the adjutantforted him and said, ¡°There is nothing we can do. We are facing the fierce Samnites, who are about three times our number¡­¡±

    Alexius sighed and said nothing.

    At this time, amotion arises in the quiet camp.

    Alexius then saw Davos entering the camp with his guards. He walks towards the centre of the camp while sincerely conversing and expressing his condolence with the soldiers he met.

    Alexius hurriedly greeted him.

    But before Alexius could approach, Davos rushed forward and gave him a powerful hug, ¡°Alexius, legatus of the third legion. You have done well!¡±

    This sentence immediately dissipated most of Alexius''ment, grievance and dissatisfaction. He stood at attention and saluted and responded, ¡°Reporting to the Grand Legatus. The third legion haspleted itsbat mission and is now taking a rest.¡±

    ¡°You have done more than what yourbat task requires!¡± Davos looked around at the soldiers that were quickly gathering, with exhaustion filling their dusty and bloodstained faces. He clenched his right fist and mmed it into his left chest, ¡°Brothers of the third legion! You have made a tremendous contribution to the entire battle by defending this isted camp, fought an enemy three times your numbers and finally wiped out the iing Samnites! You have saved Potentia! You have relieved us of the invasions on our Lucanian territories! Changed the entire northern battlefield of Theonia! Not only do I want to thank you, but every people in Theonia would want to thank you! You are the heroes of Theonia and will be remembered in the Temple of Hades in Thurii! For the third legion!¡±

    Davos'' affectionate and passionate words reached every soldier, whether they were Lucanian or Greeks. They all became so excited that they burst into tears.

    ¡°For the third legion!!!¡±

    ¡°Hail Davos!!!¡±

    ¡°Long live Theonia!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The continuous cheers rang out throughout the camp. And when the captured Samnites heard this noise, they all had unspeakable pain and frustration on their faces¡­

    In this war, Davos used the third legion as bait to attract more than 26,000 Samnites warriors. He then took advantage of their exhaustion and secretly mobilised two more legions to besiege and wipe them out¡­the Samnites suffered more than 7,000 casualties while tens of thousands of Samnite warriors were captured, and only nearly 3,000 managed to flee into the mountains. At the same time, the Theonians easily recaptured the city of Poseidonia, obtaining arge number of supplies that were left in the city and had not yet been transported to the Samnite camp in Potentia. This battle could be said to be aplete victory for the Theonians.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the same day, the Syracusan army, which had broken through the north bank of the Aro river, remained in ce. They built a rough camp between the Aro river and the Corta river, then built a pontoon bridge with dozens of ships to transport the baggage and supplies from Hipponion to the Syracusan camp, finally giving the soldiers a good meal.

    In the west of the Syracusan camp and close to the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Terinians panicked. The only thing they could do now was just to send a lot of scouts to closely watch the Syracusan camp while sending messengers to Scylletium and maintain contact with mpetia.

    In Scylletium, even if the 17,000 Crotonian troops arrived and increased the number of soldiers in Scylletium by 30,0000, the people were still distressed. After all, the Syracusan camp was no more than 15 kilometres away from the city of Scylletium, where they could march and reach the city in just a few hours. Now, all the Scylletians have abandoned their homes outside the city and fled into the city with their families.

    As for Crotone''s assistance and support, the higher ranking officials of Scylletium led by Phrytinas stopped ming them. After all, the Crotone-Scylletium army could not do anything against the pressure of the Syracusan army besides sending scouts to the south at regr intervals to find out the movements of the Theonian army.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The fourth and fifth legions of Theonia began to leave the camp in the early morning. And in order to stop the Syracusans from using this abandoned camp, they not only withdrew their tents and pulled down the wooden defences but also pushed down the earthen walls and filled up the trenches. Why did they spend more energy? It is to repay the kindness of the Caulonians and make up for their guilt.

    Last night, when Philesius informed the Caulonians that the Theonian troops were preparing to withdraw, although they knew that the matter was irreversible, Prinus and the others still tried their best to make these reinforcements that could protect the safety of Caulonia stay.

    However, Philesius could only bear to refuse their request.

    Today, almost everyone in Caulonia still came out to see the Theonian army off when they were departing. They had not only helped the soldiers pull out of the camp but also brought freshly heated bread, wheat porridge and soup, hoping that the soldiers would have a full meal before they set out.

    Caulonia''s deep friendship and heart-wrenching words had moved many Theonian soldiers. Still, they had to go north due to military orders, and they could only roughly give simr words tofort the Caulonians, ¡°Don''t worry! As long as you defend the city of Caulonia, we wille to rescue you as soon as we defeat the Syracusan army after joining up with the troops of our other allies!¡±

    Philesius said the same thing to Prinus but a bit more tactful.

    Prinus didn''t seem to notice the uncertainty in Philesius'' words as he said with a determined expression, ¡°Locri has besieged us for too many times that there are no city-states in Magna Graecia that are better in defending, than us. We will defend Caulonia until you return as I know that the Theonians keep their promise!¡±

    Prinus'' words gave Philesius a bit more pressure.

    Near dusk, the fourth and fifth legions finally arrived at Scylletium. At the same time, the Syracuse-Locri coalition led by Phacipessas heavily surrounded the city of Caulonia.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the evening, at the headquarters of the South Italia Alliance in Scylletium, Philesius ¨C themander of the southern battlefront of Theonia, Ansitanos ¨C the special envoy of the Senate, Ascamas ¨C the strategos of Crotone, Phrytinas ¨C the polemarchos of Scylletium, Asesias ¨C the strategos of the Scylletian army, and Athopias ¨C the envoy of Terina, sat around arge wooden table where the map of the Ophemian in isid.

    Asesias stood up, took a stick in his hand and exined the current situation to everyone present, ¡°Milords, ording to our scouts, the Syracusan army has camped at the junction of the two rivers.¡±

    Asesias then pointed a mark on the map with the wooden stick, ¡°This is the edge of the Ophemian in. And 7 kilometres to the west is Terina-¡±

    ¡°To be precise, it should only be 6.95 kilometres!¡± Athopias stressed loudly.

    ¡°Cough¡­Lord Athopias naturally knows much more about the west than we do.¡± Asesias corrected himself with a slight embarrassment, ¡°The Syracusan camp is only 6.95 kilometres away from Terina. Although the terrain is t, they would need to cross the Aro river, which is not a small problem for the Syracusans-¡±

    ¡°The Syracusan navy already upies the Aro river, so it is easy for them to send troops across the river!¡± Athopias stressed again.

    Asesias became a little angry, ¡°Lord Athopias if you like interrupting so much, why don''t you continue exining it to everyone!¡±

    Athopias shook his head and said, ¡°I''m just adding information to the situation you are presenting. Didn''t you also say earlier that ¡®We, Terinian, knew more about the situation in the west than you do?¡¯ So with that, all the lords here can have aprehensive and detailed understanding of the situation of the whole battlefield, which is beneficial to us to make a more reasonable counter n. After all, this war is no longer just a matter of Scylletium or Terina, but a crisis that the whole South Italia Alliance needs to face together!¡±

    ¡°Lord Athopias is right! Asesias, rx and speak slowly and in more detail.¡± Phrytinas hurriedly said to appease the two.

    ¡°Indeed, everyone is a bit anxious now that the war has reached our territory. However, the more this is the case, the calmer we should be to be able to defeat the powerful enemy.¡± Ansitanos said tofort them.

 Chapter 416: The Alliances Decision

    Asesias coughed a few times and continued, ¡°¡­about 12 kilometres to the east of the Syracusan camp is the city of Scylletium. There are many mountains in this direction, but generally speaking, the terrain is rtively t. Therefore, although the Syracusans stayed in their camp today, their mercenaries had gone to destroy our farms and pasture, burn our viges and houses, and killed dozens of our scouts¡­¡±

    ¡°How many soldiers are there in Syracuse''s camp?¡±

    ¡°ording to our observation these past two days, I fear that they have more than 50,000 men!¡± Asesias answered.

    ¡®50,000 men!¡¯ Ascamas thought for a moment and turned to ask, ¡°Lord Philesius, how many enemies did you encounter in Caulonia?¡±

    ¡°No less than 40,000.¡± Replied Philesius.

    ¡°If we were to include the troops of Medma and Hipponion, the number of troops Syracusan had sent to attack our South Italia Alliance this time should exceed-¡± Ascamas then spat our a number with a grave expression, ¡°100,000!¡±

    Hearing this figure, everyone presently became startled. After all, this is thergest army in the history of the whole Greek world, not only in Magna Graecia but also in the Mediterranean!

    ¡°Even if we add the soldiers in Terina, our South Italian Alliance''s troops is only about 60,000.¡± Phrytinas sighed, ¡°Unfortunately, Rhegium is separated in the south and could not join us while the enemy is sieging Caulonia. But most importantly-¡±

    Phrytinas nced at Philesius and Ansitanos, then he said with regret, ¡°Is that Lord Davos is leading the main force of Theonia in Lucania. If only everyone gathered in Scylletium, we wouldn''t need to fear Syracuse, even if they have 100,000 men!¡±

    ¡°We thought things too simple when making our n that we only thought about the good part. But after we implemented it, we found that there were so many problems.¡± Ansitanos said to relieve the me for Theonia and the high-ranking officials of their allies who were involved in the discussion, ¡°Unexpected things happened so suddenly that made us unprepared! I fear that Dionysius had long prepared for this invasion.¡±

    Ansitanos'' words were a bit more grave than those of the others, destroying the other''s intention. Ascamas snorted and was about to speak when Athopias asked first, ¡°When will Lord Davos lead the army back?¡±

    ¡°We haven''t received any message yet. However, Lord Davos has never lost, so I believe that he will soon be able to repel the savage and uncivilised Samnites and quicklye to join us.¡± Said Ansitanos tofort them.

    Philesius took over the conversation, ¡°Thus we should focus on reinforcing our camp outside the city of Scylletium and mutually help each other in keeping up the defence, dragging down the Syracusan army until Lord Davos return with the army back. Afterwards, we will have a decisive battle with Syracuse!¡±

    Ascamas sneered, ¡°Listening to you all saying ¡®Lord Davos, Lord Davos¡¯, couldn¡¯t the other strategoi of our South Italian Alliancemand a battle without Davos?!¡±

    Philesius'' expression changed. Ansitanos frowned while Asesias looked a bit uneasy.

    Ascamas looked at Philesius with disdain and said, ¡°I would ask you this. How many days it would take to get from Thurii to Potentia?¡±

    ¡°It''s about five to six days if we are taking the most convenient road.¡± Philesius answered truthfully despite his anger at what Ascamas had just said.

    ¡°That''s to say, in terms of days, perhaps Davos has just led his army to Potentia. So again, how many days will it take to get here from Potentia?¡±

    ¡°About nine to ten days.¡±

    ¡°So it''s ten days, without counting the days needed to defeat the Samnites. Although we Crotonians have never dealt with the Samnites, since they are barbarians living in the mountains, theirbat methods are likely to be simr to those of the Bruttians. Those mountain races rarely fight head-on. They are like wolves who like to hide and make sneak attacks, making it difficult to repel them through a decisive battle. Thus it is impossible for him to end the war fast! Commander Philesius, I know there are many Bruttians in your legion, so you should know this better than me!¡± The sarcasm in Ascamas'' tone became stronger, ¡°Even if Davos has an amazing,manding ability and coulde to Scylletium in twenty days¡­which is already the shortest time I can give! But in these twenty days, do you think the more than 40,000 enemies who you fought before may attack and upy Caulonia?! I heard that the Syracusans have a kind of siege equipment called the ballista where they have used it to capture several Carthaginian cities during their war with Carthage¡­¡±

    Philesius'' expression changed again. After defeating Syracuse''s invading troops, they managed to capture Syracusan ballista. From what the ballista captain said, their ballista was very simr to Theonia¡¯s ballista. Although it was not as good in terms of angle and uracy, it exceeded the Theonian ballista in terms of raw power. After all, the Syracusan ballista is bigger than Theonia''s siege ballista, so the stones they use will naturally be bigger. Thinking of Prinus, who was full of confidence in guarding the city when they departed, Philesius became so upset that he remained quiet.

    Ascamas stared at him and continued, ¡°If thebined army of Syracuse and Locri captured Caulonia with a ballista and rushed here to join up with Dionysius, they would only need to divide a small half of their force to besiege Terina while we wouldn''t even have a way to stop them. So how many days do you think can Terina hold on?¡±

    Athopias became ghastly pale.

    ¡°So if Lord Davos were to really lead his troops here, I fear that even the outside of Scylletium will already be ruins.¡± Ascamas'' next words made Phrytinas and Asesias unable to sit still.

    After looking at each other and reaching an agreement, Asesias pped the wooden table, stood up and loudly said, ¡°Everyone, we could no longer wait! We should take advantage of the fact that the two armies of Syracuse have not yet joined up and attacked the Syracusan army here first!¡±

    Philesius frowned and asked, ¡°Attack? How?! Do you want to attack the Syracusan camp?!!¡±

    ¡°The following afternoon! From what the soldiers who retreated from the Corta river said, ¡®They have seen arge Syracusan g standing behind the Syracusans who were crossing the river.¡¯ which means that the tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius, should be in this army. Therefore, we will give him a war letter in ordance with our ancient tradition and invite him to a battle between the two armies. And with that tyrannical dictator iming to be the ¡®Lord of Sicily¡¯¡­he should not¡­should not allow himself to show fear in front of his men and not fight. Otherwise, those Greeks under his tyrannical rule will see through his cowardice and weakness!¡± Said Asesias, feeling uncertain.

    ¡°This is a great idea! We, the people of Terina, will do our best to send more soldiers to join up with you. In this way, the number of the South Italian army will greatly exceed the number of Syracusan soldiers here!¡± At this moment, Athopias also took the initiative and gave his pledge.

    ¡°Still, Dionysius would likely refuse when there is a difference in his strength.¡± Philesius reminded.

    ¡°If the Syracusan does note out, then we will attack their camp!¡± Ascamas interjected. Then he continued, ¡°I have observed their camps. The camps they built are far less sturdy than you, Theonians, and aren''t your legion is also equipped with ballista?! Hence we would just bombard the Syracusan camp until these timid Syracusanse out to fight!¡± As Theonia''s neighbour, Crotone paid more attention to Theonia''s army.

    ¡°That''s right. We will do what Lord Ascamas said!¡± Asesias replied excitedly.

    ¡°Lord Philesius, what do you think?¡± Phrytinas'' question made everyone turn to Philesius.

    In their expectant gaze, Philesius felt like sitting on pins and needles. However, he couldn''t answer.

    Seeing that everyone bing impatient, Ansitanos stood up and said, ¡°Everyone, kindly allow me to have a few words with Lord Philesius alone.¡±

    Then they walked out of the meeting ce.

    Ansitanos brushed away the dust on the stairs, sat down and asked Philesius to also sit down.

    Philesius became a bit ttered. Even though he was standing in a high position in the Theonia Union for several years, facing a great schr like Ansitanos alone made Philesius, who was just a mercenary, feel his inferiority.

    ¡°Lord Philesius.¡± Ansitanos didn''t notice his expression as he was staring straight at the square as he calmly asked, ¡°Are you going to stick to the defence tactics that Lord Davos nned?¡±

    Philesius hesitated and replied, ¡°Yes. The battle n that Ascamas and Asesias made is too risky. Once they fail, the consequences are unimaginable! Whether it is the number and ability of the soldiers or themanding capability of the officers, the most secure tactic to beat the Syracusans is for us to stick to the camp and wait for Lord Davos to lead the army back to Magna Graecia, then fight Syracuse!¡±

    ¡°The safest tactic? I fear that no one in the room would think so.¡± Ansitanos sighed, ¡°Humans ¨C when dangeres, they will always want to remove it as soon as possible instead of calming down to think about a long-term n¡­now that the war has reached thend of our allies, and their homes are facing great danger¡­our dying tactics will only make them doubt and make them angry at us, as they will think that we Theonians are selfish that would allow their homes to be upied and their people to be killed without taking any action!¡­ If we were to dy, the image that Theonia has been trying to establish in the South Italia Alliance over the past few years would be in vain, and we will lose the trust of the people of these city-states, which is unfavourable to Theonia''s future development!¡±

    ¡°Do we put our soldiers in danger in order to win their trust?!¡± Asked Philesius.

    ¡°Is there no possibility of victory by following their n?¡± Ansitanos looked at him.

 Chapter 417: United Under A Common Goal

    Philesius, stop speaking. After all, he also thought that it was possible to force the Syracusans, who have only have their military strength, to fight here. But due to following Davos for a long time, he did not agree.

    Ansitanos thought for a moment and slowly said, ¡°From my understanding of Lord Davos, even if he thinks the possibility of defeat here is great, he will still take the initiative to fight this battle.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Philesius hurriedly asked.

    Ansitanos looked at the citizens of Scylletium gathering in the distance with weapons in their hands. He then said, ¡°Because victory can awe Magna Graecia, while defeat could also win the hearts of Magna Graecia. But in our current situation, we will only turn our backs on our allies if we do nothing while the people expect us to do something. Remember, we can reim lostnds, but lost hearts and minds are much harder to get back¡­¡±

    ¡°But¡­if we were defeated in this battle, Caulonia, Terina and even Scylletium might face danger.¡± Philesius was still hesitating.

    ¡°Haven''t Lord Davos already long arranged this?! What are you still worried about?!¡± Ansitanos looked into the distance with a smile, ¡°Perhaps Davos had expected that one day¡­since the people in the conference room dared to make such decisions, then they would have to bear the price of defeat¡­¡±

    With that, Ansitanos stood up, patted the dust on his body. After he stopped watching the Scylletians, he sighed and said something that Philesius did not understand, ¡°It''s like burning a wastnd. It is only by burning the weeds and trees that we can start sowing new seeds¡­s, this is politics.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the two returned to the meeting, Philesius agreed to their proposal to fight Syracuse. However, he requested that they appoint Theonia tomand the whole battle.

    In this regard, Phrytinas, Asesias and Athopias did not object, and only Ascamas disagreed. But since both the number of soldiers and the army¡¯s performance of the fourth and fifth legions of Theonia are far better than the Crotonians that had just joined the battle. Therefore, the final selection was that Philesius deservedly became themander of the entire South Italia Alliance''s coalition army in this battle.

    When Philesius returned to the camp, Drakos and Epiphanes were already waiting in themander''s tent.

    ¡°Philesius, what was the conclusion of the meeting?¡± Epiphanes asked impatiently.

    ¡°Our allies would force the Syracusan to a battle.¡± Philesius said truthfully.

    ¡°See, I guessed it right!¡± Epiphanes looked at Drakos excitedly.

    ¡°I didn''t agree with the bet, as I also chose that we would fight the Syracusans.¡± Drakos didn''t want to pay attention to him, so he turned his head and asked Philesius, ¡°Who willmand this battle?¡±

    ¡°There''s no need to ask! It can''t be anyone else but us!¡± Epiphanes blurted out.

    ¡°I willmand the whole coalition.¡± When Philesius said this, his tone became a bit heavy due to feeling the pressure. At the same time, he saw the excitement of the two legatus, which also made him realise that both the officers and soldiers of the fourth and fifth legions were eager to fight the Syracusans head-on. Their morale is high due to their war achievements, their victory in the previous camp defence, and the kindness of the Caulonians, while the pride and honour of the soldiers of the Theonian legion will not allow them to retreat. Naturally, if Davos is here, no one would dare to disobey, but with him being themander, he couldn''t guarantee it.

    Thinking of this, he became relieved and beckoned to the two men, ¡°Let''s work together and carefully n how we can win this battle.¡±

    As soon as Epiphanes heard this, he stopped joking and asked seriously, ¡°Which city-states would participate in this battle? How many men are there? How many Syracusans we might fight?¡±

    ¡°Besides our 17,000 Legionaries; Crotone also has 17,000 soldiers with 6,000 of them being hoplites; Scylletium has 14,000 soldiers, and 3,000 were hoplites, with a n to recruit some more citizens to join the war; Terina has 7,000 soldiers, but they needed to defend the city so they could only send around four to five thousand to participate in this battle, and only a thousand of them were hoplites¡­the total strength is about 54,000, with 22,000 being hoplites.¡±

    After Philesius finished talking, Epiphanes whistled, ¡°Wow, what a huge army!¡±

    ¡°It''s not much.¡± Drakos poured cold water on him, ¡°If you add all the legions and reserve soldiers of Theonia, it can easily exceed this number, and our heavy infantry is a lot more than thisbined army! One legion of Theonia has six heavy infantry brigades, which is 6,000 heavy infantry. If we were to add the reserve soldiers, Theonia has 30,000 heavy infantry!¡±

    Aplete set of heavy infantry equipment costs a lot, so many city-state citizens are unwilling or unable to afford it. On the other hand, many Theonians who have just be reserve citizens and official citizens are willing to spend all their money to buy the equipment because serving as heavy infantry in the Theonia Union can bring them more benefits, such as obtaining morend, holding public position, participate in local council elections, bing a tribunal officer¡­and so on. Moreover, the low-interest loans provided by the Bank of Cheiristoya, which is unique to the Theonia Union and are spread all over the union''s cities, gave the new citizens the confidence to buy aplete set of heavy infantry equipment.

    ¡°However, all our legions can''t appear here. Hence only my fourth legion and your fifth legion are here.¡± Although Epiphanes refuted Drakos, he became more excited, ¡°Thus we are the one to decide the oue of this battle!¡±

    Drakos did not speak, but his eyes were shining with the same lustre.

    ¡°Legatus, ording to the information obtained by Scylletium, we have to face at least 50,000 Syracusans. Since they can defeat Carthage, they won''t be easy to deal with!¡± Philesius seriously reminded them, ¡°This battle is of great importance! If we were defeated, the consequences would be unimaginable as Syracuse''s army may approach Theonia''s territory and conquer several city-states in the South Italia Alliance!¡±

    ¡°I am also a statesman of Theonia, so I naturally understand the importance of this battle!¡± Epiphanesined as he expressed his dissatisfaction at Philesius belittling him. Then he asked, ¡°Are you sure we only need to face more than 50,000 enemies? What about the more than 40,00 enemies that have attacked us in Caulonia?¡±

    ¡°They are besieging the city of Caulonia. The Scylletians sent their scouts to closely monitor their movement and report to the coalition troops immediately-¡± Philesius certainly knew what they were worried about, ¡°to prevent them from suddenly dividing their troops and sent them north to strengthen the Syracusans here in Scylletium.¡±

    ¡°As long as the number of both sides are close, we have a good chance of winning!¡± Epiphanes looked at Philesius, and Drakos then said, ¡°We have already fought the Syracusans. Even though their cavalry is strong, they won''t dare to rush into a dense phnx formation no matter how strong their cavalry is. So as long as we are on guard, even if they defeat our cavalry, they won''t get many advantages. And if they dare approach our formation, our light infantry will give them a heavy blow.¡±

    Both Philesius and Drakos nodded.

    Drakos interjected and said loudly, ¡°As for Syracuse''s infantry, they should not be weak as they could defeat the Carthaginians. But from the Battle of Caulonia, their morale and fighting did not seem to be strong. And if we were topare the heavy infantry that ys a decisive role in a battle, Syracuse''s army can''tpare with our legion!¡±

    The other two immediately agreed, not due to their pride but the guidance of Davos'' advancedbat philosophy: Aplexbat group with a mixture of different types of troops that are rigorously trained, bing an army that could adapt to various situations and implement moreplex tactics. That is where the confidence of these legionmanders, such as Philesius, Drakos, Epiphanes, areing from.

    ¡°But since our legion is vastly different from our allies in terms of tactical training and equipment, it is not suitable for us to fight together with them. Not only will they easily cause chaos, but they will not be beneficial to our legion''s performance.¡± Drakos reminded.

    ¡°Drakos is right! Hence I suggest that the fourth and fifth legions should be together rather than separate so as to form a formidable fighting force that could be ced on either nk and pose a great threat to the enemy. After we defeat the enemy we are facing, we will then encircle the centre and eventually win the battle!¡± Epiphanes pointed to the wooden table and expressed his opinion.

    ¡°That''s what I think as well.¡± Although the two legatus of the legion usually don''t get along, they would stille in agreement when ites to battle.

    Philesius walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, nced back at them and said in embarrassment, ¡°I agree with your suggestion. But after all, this battle is not a battle that we Theonians would face alone, as we also have our allies such as Terina, Scylletium and Crotone.¡±

    ¡°However, you are themander of the whole coalition army!¡± Epiphanes immediately express, ¡°You have the right to make the most reasonable arrangement!¡±

    ¡°It''s reasonable if they also think that it is reasonable. And we could only implement the whole battle n smoothly if everyone agrees on it.¡± Philesius said helplessly, ¡°It is not that easy to be the coalitionmander!¡±

    ¡°Could it be that they won''t approve the n we just made?!¡± Drakos raised his eyebrows.

 Chapter 418: Camp Disturbance

    ¡°All of them recognise the Theonian legion''s strength. However, they all hope that we could sit in the centre and connect the two nks so that they could safely and boldly attack.¡± Philesius looked at both of them and said frankly, ¡°Although I had the same idea as you before, but¡­I am also worried about whether the armies of the three city-states of Terina, Scylletium and Crotone, that are not united could keep the centre and the other nk from being crushed by the enemy¡­if they were to be defeated, the whole situation will be a brawl which would give the cavalries of Syracuse a chance to exert their strength¡­¡±

    ¡°This will turn into a contest of defence and consumption between the Syracusans and us, which I fear would make the battlest long!¡± Epiphanes, who is a Peltast, did not like this way of fighting.

    ¡°Isn''t fighting a long-drawn-out battle is what our army''s heavy infantry are best at?!¡± Drakos continued with confidence, ¡°Even if our legion is arranged in the centre, I believe that we could still pierce the enemy''s centre!¡±

    ¡°Since you already made a battle n in the meeting, why do you stille to ask for our opinion?! Just give us the order, and we will carry it out!¡± A hint of resentment could be heard in Epiphanes'' words.

    ¡°That was just a preliminary discussion.¡± Philesius then frankly said, ¡°I need your experience and wisdom to make this battle n better and improve our chance of victory. This is also for Theonia!¡±

    Epiphanes and Drakos looked at each other and then got closer to Philesius¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After these two days, the Samnites ¨C the Hirpini tribe expanded their camp into surrounding the city of Potentia, except to the south where there was the Basento River. Berani ¨C the great chieftain of Hirpini, only sent his people to build a few simple sentry towers on the other side of the river to observe the city''s movement. After burning the pontoon bridge, he no longer has any worry that the Potentians will cross the river and run away. Rather, he much preferred if the Potentians chose to abandon their well-defended city and wade across the river to flee.

    However, the river that Berani thought would stop the Potentians from fleeing has some people swimming in the dark¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Half an hourter, Wolle, the one in charge of defending the city, came to the great chieftain''s residence.

    Pamot could not sleep peacefully with the current situation, so as soon as he heard Wolleing to see him, he immediately thought something big had happened outside the city. Thus he immediately went to meet Wolle in the living room, where he listened to him as he reported excitedly, ¡°The messenger of Theonia asked to meet you!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°I am Phryntor, a senior centurion of Theonia''s reconnaissance brigade''s centuria. I havee to pay chieftain Pamot a visit!¡± When a drenched Phryntor saluted to Pamot, the great chieftain asked anxiously, ¡°What about Lord Davos¡­who is in¡­Poseidonia?!¡±

    ¡°This morning, Lord Davos led the first, second and third legion to wipe out the Samnite¡¯s defenders and reinforcements!¡± Phryntor replied quite simply.

    ¡°Wonderful! That''s wonderful!!¡± Pamot became so excited that he impatiently asked, ¡°Will Lord Davos lead his army to Potentia tomorrow?¡±

    Phryntor did not immediately answer as he took out a small waterproof leather tube from his neck and pulled out a paper roll from it, ¡°Lord Davos ordered me to give this letter to the great chieftain.¡±

    Pamot quickly took and read it. Then his expression became serious, ¡°Go and call Polet!¡±

    After staying in the rear yard all day and feeling flustered, Polet learned that the Theonian army managed to defeat the Samnites in Poseidonia. And after reading the confidential letter from Davos, he reacted quite differently from Pamot, ¡°Lord Davos asked us to cooperate with your reconnaissance brigade to disturb the enemies'' camp tonight and support the arrival of the army tomorrow!¡±

    Phryntor, on the other hand, looked calm as he said, ¡°Beforeing here, I went and observed the Samnite''s camp. The constantly fleeing defeated Samnites made the camp quite chaotic, which allowed half of my brothers to pose as a Samnite and mixed in with them¡­giving me a better idea!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Hirpini''s readied everything they needed to siege the city and are only waiting for the return of the troops that had gone to rescue Poseidonia.

    That night, Berani peacefully fell asleep early.

    ¡°Father! Father!!¡­¡± Garni suddenly broke into the tent and woke him up.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Berani opened his sleepy eyes and looked at his son standing in front of him, who then said in a panic, ¡°Something big has happened! The reinforcements that we sent to Poseidonia were¡­wiped out by the Theonians!!¡±

    ¡°WHAT?!!!¡± Berani''s sleepiness was immediately blown away, ¡°How is that possible?!! We sent more than 20,000 Pentri and Caudini warriors with Tolek and Kinduk, who are experience generals! Unless¡­unless¡­¡± He suddenly thought of a possibility, causing his breathing to speed up.

    ¡°Theonia''s reinforcements from Thurii had already arrived in Poseidonia, but they quietly lie in wait¡­¡± Garni told his father what he had heard from the warriors who had escaped.

    After hearing his son''s words, Berani felt coldness in his hands and feet, causing him to sit back in the bed with his mind bing a mess.

    After a while, he suddenly raised his head and asked, ¡°Did Tolek and Kinduk manage to escape?¡±

    ¡°I heard that chieftain Tolek died in the battle while there was no news regarding Kinduk¡­¡± Garni said dejectedly.

    Berani suddenly felt a sense of sadness. However, this was not the time to feel sad, so he immediately asked, ¡°How many Pentri and Caudini manage to escape?¡±

    ¡°How could we count in the dark? Anyway, they are constantly fleeing into the camp from several directions¡­¡± Garni finished saying. Then he anxiously asked, ¡°Father, what should we do now?!¡±

    The bad news came so suddenly that it made Berani confused, and he could not think for a while. Just as he bowed his head to think, a noise came from outside the tent, bing louder and clearer, especially at night.

    ¡°The reinforcements we sent to Poseidonia was defeated!¡±

    ¡°Theonia''s reinforcements are nowing! They have more than fifty thousand men! They are going to surround us!¡±

    ¡°Hirpini brothers, run away!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Terrible!¡± Berani jumped up and hurried outside his tent. Only for him to see the original quiet camp is now boiling up, the warriors were at a loss as they got out of their tent half-naked one after another and began to follow the others as they shouted in panic¡­

    Berani saw many people moving around in the camp¡­and because this was the first time the Samnites had organised such a massive army and carried out such an extended war(counting from the time of their assembly), he has not experienced such a chaotic situation. Naturally, he didn''t know what a camp disturbance was. Still, he instinctively felt the danger, so he immediately and severely criticised Garni, ¡°You should have isted those scattered warriors who fled back to avoid affecting the morale of our warriors! Immediately go back to your tribe and maintain their order, and make it so that the warriors stay in the camp and note out!¡±

    Garni hurriedly left.

    Berani urgently called his personal guards and went to inform Lesguk, Lusen and the other chieftains, ordering them to do their best to restrain their main.

    At this time, Berani found that due to having no n when building the camp, the distance between each tribe was far and built the tents too densely and disorderly, resulting in narrow and curved passages between them. During the day, it posed no problem, but at night, it was easy to cause crowding in case of panic¡­

    Thus he could only stay outside the tent, surrounded by hundreds of his personal guards, hoping that the tribal chieftains could y a role and wait for themotion in the camp to subside a little. Afterwards, he sent his personal guards back into the camp to maintain order as he suspected that there were enemies who had taken advantage of an opportunity to mix in with the scattered troops and cause trouble.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At this time, outside the noisy Samnite camp, beneath the mountain where the city of Potentia stood, Polet led a thousand warriors as they quietly sneak around¡­

    ¡°Are we going to attack now?¡± Polet eagerly asked Phryntor in a low voice as he looked at the nearby Samnite camp.

    Phryntor, who is the executor of the capturing of Aprustum, was unusually calm at the moment as he quietly said, ¡°Wait a little longer.¡±

    ¡°Wait? What are we waiting for?!¡± If it weren''t for the fact that the one he is speaking is an officer of Theonia under the order of Davos, Polet would have long acted already.

    However, Phryntor seemed to not hear the urging and irritability in Polet''s tone as he continued to stare at the camp ahead and whispered, ¡°Waiting for the fire.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Berani stood in his tent and saw that the dark camp had torches lighting up like that of a starry sky, making him think that the tribal chieftains had begun taking action.

    But after observing for a while, he found that the situation had not been suppressed.

    At night, the strong mountain wind did not cover the noisy camp. Instead, it made his body cold that he wanted to go back to the tent and put on wolf skin clothes, when suddenly, a greater noise rang out in the camp again, ¡°Fire! The camp is on fire!!¡­¡±

    ¡®Fire!¡¯ Berani''s heart suddenly trembled. He gazed forward, and even though it was still dark ahead, he still felt something wrong. Then he turned his head around, where he saw a fire in the distance directly behind his tent, which is where the Samnites stored their food and supplies.

 Chapter 419: Crushing Defeat

    ¡°Quickly! Have someone call Garni¡­and immediately bring your men to put out the fire!¡± Berani hurriedly called the guards to inform his son.

    But just after the guards left, he realised that he was so anxious that he became confused. So he ordered the captain of his personal guards to lead his men to put out the fire.

    ¡°Chieftain, what about your safety?¡± The guard captain asked worriedly: with the camp being so chaotic, who would protect their great chieftain once they leave?

    ¡°What''s the use of my safety when our whole army is in danger once our food is gone!!¡± Berani stomped his feet in anxiety.

    Thus the guards had no choice but to rush to the fire hurriedly.

    However, with an army of more than 25,000 men in a camp that was only 3 kilometres long, it made the camp and roads to be crowded.

    Unfortunately, not only did the guards advance slowly, but because of their impatience to move forward, it annoyed their already panicking warriors, which gradually expanded into a conflict¡­

    Currently, it was early winter with dry winds, so when the camp was set on fire by the Theonian scouts who had infiltrated the camp, the wind made the fire spread rapidly, burning the whole supply camp and continuing to expand in all directions, setting fire to the surrounding wooden fences and tents¡­

    Berani watches the mes on the rear, ultimately crushing his heart.

    ¡®It''s over! It''s over!!¡­¡¯ He sat on the cold ground lifelessly.

    However, this night was destined to be his nightmare.

    A powerful horn suddenly rang out around the camp, followed by the cries of countless men¡­

    But since the Potentians have hundreds of warriors, they could not enter the enemy camp silently like the Theonian legion. In the end, Polet''s boldness and persuasion still made Pamot make up his mind as he painfully sent out 5,000 warriors. They divided into five groups and quietly went down the mountain, hiding everywhere outside the Samnite''s camp.

    As soon as he saw the me, Polet couldn''t wait for the horn to sound, so when the horn finally rang out, the Potentian warriors, with vengeful fury, went around the obstacles, climbed over the trenches and scaled the earthen walls. At this time, inside the Samnite camp, the Samnites were already terrified as they watched the mes that they did not pay attention to the camp¡¯s surroundings, allowing the Potentians, who all became bloodthirsty wolves, to enter easily, shing all the figures they see and stabbing whenever they heard voices. The sound of ughter and screaming echoed all over the camp¡­

    The frightened Samnites became even more frightened. In the darkness of the night, they all held their weapons tightly for their safety as they could not even see their fingers, so if anyone were toe near, they would sh and stab indiscriminately, causing the camp to be even more chaotic.

    But in such a chaotic situation, the Theonian scouts who had long sneaked into the camp shouted everywhere using the Samnitenguage they learned, ¡°The Theonian army ising!! They are going to kill us! Run!!!¡­¡±

    And the darkness of the night only magnified their fear, finally crushing the Samnites'' morale, and just like a flood, they all desperately run towards the outside of the camp. Due to this, they lose their sense as they push down theirpanions, cut down theirrades who hinder their escape, trampling on the groaning people on the ground, and the darkness had once again be their aplice in killing¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Pamot, who was worrying about the battle, had been standing on the wall watching: He heard the mour of the Samnite camp, saw fires lighting up the sky in the distance, heard the sound of fighting and screaming¡­this sightsted untilte at night, and gradually faded into silence¡­

    The scouts who went to the foot of the mountain to inquire about the situation came back and excitedly shouted, ¡°The enemy was defeated! The enemy was defeated!¡­¡± Suddenly, the whole city became an ocean of joy.

    Pamot became relieved. However, he is still worried about the burning camp, but he still doesn¡¯t dare to send someone to put out the fire.

    But who knew that even the gods were looking after the Potentians that night as it suddenly rained,pletely relieving Pamot. Finally, he slept until dawn under the constant onught of sleepiness.

    The following day, he hurried towards the city. On the way, he saw the previously lifeless people have smiles on their faces now as they gathered in groups of twos and threes, talking excitedly about the battlest night, thanking Asinu for his blessing. And from time to time, someone woulde to ask Pamot, ¡°When can we move back to our homes?¡±

    Pamot stood at the top of the city wall and looked down: The Samnite camp, which once stretched for kilometres and had countless tents, had basically turned into scorchednd, and countless clusters of green smoke surrounded the area, making Pamot unable to see clearly.

    ¡°Did Polet and the others return?¡± Pamot asked Wolle, the tribal chieftain on duty today.

    ¡°They still haven''te back, but he sent someone back and said that they wanted to clean the battlefield, so they won''t be able to return untilter.¡±

    ¡®Polet is fine!¡¯ Pamot rejoiced.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The cleaning of the battlefield that Polet mentioned is not so simple. When taking a closer look in the Samnite camp, under the ashes of the burning mes and mud caused by the heavy rains were bodies of both the enemies and theirs lying everywhere. Some are dead and have even gotten scorched, some are seriously wounded and unconscious, and some are still struggling and groaning¡­

    Last night, due to theirck of experience in attacking at night, the Potentian warriors led by Polet had suffered heavy losses in the chaotic battle, suffering nearly 2,000 casualties. But even after the fierce battle and despite their fatigue, they still recruited more people to carry the wounded and the corpses back to the city and began cleaning the battlefield.

    They killed those struggling Samnites with their des to make sure they were dead and find their own people mixed with the enemy''s corpses¡­ During their searching, the Potentian warriors still face danger due to some less seriously wounded Samnite warriors pretending to be dead, waiting for the Potentians to approach. After several such surprise attacks, the Potentian warriors became more cautious and armed themselves with spears, stabbing the corpses a few times after making sure they were not their own.

    And cleaning such a vast area would take up time. Behind these Potentians are members of the Theonian reconnaissance brigade who were carefully counting the casualties of the Samnites.

    In the afternoon, the clean up came to an end. 5,439 Samnites died with 0 wounded because even if they managed to survive the chaotic battle, the angry Potentian warriors would make sure to kill them mercilessly when cleaning the battlefield, while those Samnites who managed to flee far away had scattered around Potentia. However, when the Samnites first invaded, they had wiped out the areas around the city of Potentia, so now the hungry Samnites will have to swallow the consequences of what they had done. At the same time, their biggest problem is how to escape the pursuit of the Potentians while enduring hunger and their wounds and return to their territory safely.

    After making great sacrifices, the Potentians finally defeated the powerful Samnites with the full help of the Theonians. As they rejoice after the disaster, they unknowingly buried a bigger surprise in that huge Samnite corpse burial pit. Berani ¨C the great chieftain of the Hirpini and the suprememander of the Samnite invasion of Potentia, had sent all his personal guards to maintain the order and put out the fire. So when Polet led the attack on the camp and caused the Samnites to panic more, the somewhat old and the lone Berani died in the chaos¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the early morning of the same day, in the Temple of Hades in Thurii, Cariades, A Scylletian, got up early as usual and walked into the temple¡¯s main hall.

    He then went to the other hall, the ¡°Prison of the Wicked¡±, where he had spent so much time here that the gruesome images of the prison of the wicked and the fearsome statue of Hades only had little impact on him. He then carried an oilmp towards the throne of Hades with respect, whose stern and solemn face was enhanced by the fluctuating light on the oil basin in front of the statue, pulsing with a greenish-red me.

    Cariades, with a calm expression on his face, turned using his feet and lit the oilmp in his hand. Then he knelt in front of Hades'' status, slightly closed his eyes and opened up his palms, spreading them on the ground as he prayed sincerely to the king of the underworld, hoping that he could protect the people of Scylletium.

    After hearing that the Syracusans hadnded in Locri, he anxiously wanted to return to Scylletium. In the end, Plesinas came and persuaded him.

    Plesinas told him that even if he returned to Scylletium, he would only be an ordinary soldier of the city-state. But if he were to stay here, he would be able to pray and get the help of the powerful and mighty king of the underworld.

    Cariades thought that the grand priest was right. Thus he chose to stay in Thurii. At this moment, he ced the oilmp representing his wish on the altar, where a singlemp was ced as it was still early and the temple had not yet opened. But in the evening, the altar and the grounds would be filled with oilmps that they had to stayte to clean.

    ¡°Cariades, with your sincerity, I am sure that Hades will respond to your wish!¡± A voice sounded behind him.

    Cariades turned around quickly and greeted, ¡°Good morning, Plesinas.¡±

    The Temple of Hades is now all over the territories of Theonia, with many priests, priestesses and believers¡­who are responsible for managing the temples, having different statuses among themselves. However, in terms of addressing each other, the Hades scripture states that they can only use their real name to address each other to highlight the concept of ¡°equality¡± in the Temple of Hades.

    ¡°ording to thetest war report obtained by the Senate, the fourth and fifth legions of Theonia repelled Syracuse''s attack in Caulonia, capturing hundreds of enemies. And these captives are now on their way to Thurii. With Hades watching and protecting Theonia, there is nothing for you to worry about!¡± Plesinas, with a gentle expression,forted him.

 Chapter 420: Dionysius Ambition

    ¡°But Scylletium is beyond Hades'' protection¡­¡± Cariades looked slightly depressed.

    ¡°Which would be your mission in the future!¡± Cariades, who came from a different city-state, was the key figure in developing Theonia¡¯s unique Temple of Hades beyond its borders. That is why Plesinas looked at him differently. ¡°But now, we should pray together so that Hades will bless Lord Davos in defeating the Samnites as soon as possible so that they could return to Thurii and then go to Caulonia to repel the Syracusans and ensure the peace of Magna Graecia!¡±

    ¡°You are right!¡± Cariades then looked at Hades'' statue with his faith bing stronger, ¡®I must let Hades¡¯ divine power and mercy shine on the city of Scylletium!¡¯

    After Cariades left the temple, Plesinas'' solemnity disappeared as he quickly turned around and closed the temple''s door.

    With him being the only one left in the temple, he then knelt in front of the statue and confessed piously, ¡°Hades, forgive me for what I will do! This is for your descendants and also to give you greater glory!¡­.¡±

    After saying this quietly, Plesinas raised his head, where he suddenly felt that the statue¡¯s face did not seem so terrifying. Then he began to do something¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although the Theonians are not as afraid of war as the other city-states of Magna Graecia, they are still worried about the safety of their family. After all, the two battlefields, one south and one north, are not only arge-scale war but also far away from them. Therefore, the number of people going to the Temple of Hades to pray every day has more than tripled than usual.

    However, from this day onward, some people imed that when they ce their oilmp on the altar, they would see the words ¡°take my blood as your king and the peace of the union will be ensured!¡± on the table, but it soon disappeared!

    Some people also imed that they saw this line of handwriting, not on the altar, but on the temple''s pirs!

    Some said that when they prayed, they would hear the statue grunting as if it were saying ¡®Davos¡¯¡­

    At first, these rumours were only asional, and the Theonians only regarded it as a joke. However, as time passed, more and more people witnessed this astonishing sight, then things developed rapidly in one direction¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the same morning, Dionysius met the envoy sent by the South Italian Alliance in his tent.

    When he saw the letter of challenge delivered by the envoy, he felt a burst of joy in his heart.

    It turns out that Dionysius did not even intend to capture Caulonia first, as spected by Phrytinas and Ascamas.

    Unlike what the Greeks of Magna Graecia thought, Dionysius was far from being arrogant whenmanding a battle. On the contrary, he was very shrewd. Although he had never fought on thend of Magna Graecia before, from what he learned from the Locrians and what he observed with his own eyes, he believed that Caulonia, a city whose walls was 10 metres high and had been besieged by Locri many times before, was not so easy to capture.

    He who has rich experience in siege knows that it would definitely take a lot of time if he were to engage in a siege battle, and time is currently very precious to himself and the Syracusan army. This is why he must break the stalemate on the battlefield as soon as possible and seize the victory.

    Thus after careful thinking and consultation with Phidias, he once more used the trick that he used to defeat Himilco near the city of Syracuse.

    He then sent a messenger back to Locri to draw out 20,000 freemen whonded with the army and were responsible for transporting the provisions, equipment and rations. Afterwards, they would disguise themselves as soldiers and quietly rush to the Syracuse-Locri camp that was besieging Caulonia and rece the more than twenty thousand Syracusan soldiers.

    Due to getting besieged, the Caulonians could only stay inside the city while the scouts of the South Italian Alliance could not do anything in the night. On the other hand, the fourth and fifth legions of Theonia, having just arrived at Scylletium, were eager to build their camp, while the strategoi were busy with their meeting. Hence they did not send a reconnaissance team to check on the surrounding situation.

    On the next day, the number of Syracuse-Locri coalition troops remained unchanged. As they began cutting down trees, making siege towers, and so on, they continued to use their ballistae to attack Caulonia in order to conceal this from the South Italian Alliance, who did not notice the anomaly.

    At this time, the Syracusan army that had just returned to Locri had crossed the old mountain path, quietly reached the west coast, and quickly marched north¡­

    Only Rhegium''s strategos ¨C Pheidon, who is stationed in Taurania noticed the enemy''s movement. However, thend and sea routes of Rhegium and Taurania were under the control of Syracuse, cutting them off from the South Italian Alliance.

    Pheidon could only risk it as he picked out a dozen or so brave men in hopes that they would be able to cross the blockade at the mountain pass and reach Caulonia to report this vital information to their allies in order to prevent Syracuse from suddenly increasing their forces to break through the Aro River defensive line, unaware that the fourth and fifth Theonian legion had already retreated. (Pheidon thought Syracuse was still blocked at the south of the Aro; hence, they increased their troops.)

    In fact, these 20,000 men that Dionysius swapped had rushed to the Ophemia ins, increasing his strength to nearly 80,000 men, giving him an absolute numerical advantage. Furthermore, these were the troops that he usually led, making it more convenient for him tomand them.

    His original priority was Terina, a modest city located on the Ophemia ins, but had unable to develop and expand due to the continuous invasion of the Bruttians in the north. But due to its distance from Locri and the great river to the south, most of the Locrian allies invaded from the Caulonian side. Unlike the Crotonians, the Terinians did not enforce their city wall and made it higher nor even widen their moat because the Bruttians rarely attacked the city of Terina. And whenever they do invade, they are mostly looting as they are terrible at sieging. Thus the city of Terina, with only a few people and low walls and are located in the in, became a lump of fat meat in the eyes of Dionysius.

    The n he initially discussed with Phidias and the others was that once Phacipessas arrived at Hipponion with his army, he would draw out another 20,000 men from his camp to attack Terina. And if the South Italian Alliance noticed that he was splitting up his troops and led an army to rescue Terina, Dionysius would instead order Phacipessas'' army to reach Terina by sea covertly. Then they would take advantage of their strength to crush the enemy''s reinforcements, and the Syracusan army would then takeplete control of the area and continue its pursuit northwards. But if the South Italian Alliance did not send reinforcements to Terina''s rescue(a less likely option as it would cause the alliance to fall apart), the Syracusan army would take this opportunity to capture the city of Terina, weaken the enemy and continue to advance towards the South Italian Alliance''s troops¡­

    But after reading the letter of challenge handed by the Scylletium envoy, Dionysiusughed happily, ¡®Now these arrogant Magna Graecians actually wanted to fight me and really thought that they could defeat me with their meagre troops, which is good as I could take them all down in one swoop!¡¯

    Dionysius was happy inward, but his face showed hesitation, and he didn''t reply for a long time.

    The allied envoy impatiently said, ¡°Tyrant of Syracuse, I heard that you are very decisive every time you execute the citizens of your city that you didn''t even shed a tear! So why are you now afraid of the army of Magna Graecia that you nned to enve?! If your courage is so meagre, you''d better roll back to the ind on the other side of the Strait as soon as possible, else face the anger of the Magna Graecians that would devour you and your army!¡±

    Faced with the envoy''s ridicule, Dionysius stared at him angrily. He then picked up his pen and wrote in the letter of challenge, ¡®Tomorrow morning!¡¯

    Then he threw it at the envoy and shouted angrily, ¡°Since you Magna Graecians wants to die early, then you''d better start praying to Hades! So that you can suffer less pain when you go to the underworld tomorrow!¡±

    ¡°We still don''t know who wins and who losses. Besides, Hades is the patron of Theonia, the most important ally of the South Italian Alliance!¡± The envoy didn''t forget to retort as he picked up the letter of challenge.

    ¡°What''s your name?¡± Dionysius stared at him.

    ¡°Saliseus, son of Skoras, a Scylletian.¡± Replied the envoy with his head raised.

    ¡°Saliseus, I will remember it!¡± Dionysius spat out his name with a threat.

    However, Saliseus was not afraid. On the contrary, he smiled with contempt as he said, ¡°It is my honour to be remembered by the Tyrant of Sicily!¡±

    After the envoy left, the anger on Dionysius'' face quickly disappeared as he walked excitedly back and forth in the tent. He then waved to the guard and said, ¡°Go and call that Spartan!¡±

    Seeing Phidias walking quickly towards his tent, Dionysius immediately said, ¡°Scylletium had just sent an envoy to give me a letter of challenge.¡±

    Seeing his happy expression, Phidias simply asked, ¡°So you agreed?¡±

    Dionysius was obviously quite satisfied with his performance just now, so hecently said, ¡°I didn''t immediately agree as I want the envoy to think that I am hesitating and afraid¡­¡±

    ¡°In fact, there is no need to fight the South Italian Alliance.¡± Phidias immediately poured cold water on him, ¡°Once we attack Terina, the South Italian Alliance''s troops would be forced to move without knowing the situation, allowing us to defeat them with our superior force. But if it is a head-on confrontation, it will just increase your soldiers'' casualties!¡±

    ¡°Phidias, you are an excellent strategos. But sometimes, you should not just think about winning.¡± Since the Spartans like to be straightforward, Dionysius was toozy to mince his words, ¡°We spent a lot of money to prepare Syracuse''s army, not just to win a few victories here and show off our forces to Locri! What I need is arge-scale battle! A magnificent victory! To frighten the Magna Graecians and let them know who is the real owner of thisnd in the future!¡± Said Dionysius with pride as he confided his ambition without concealment.

 Chapter 421: Linking up with Potentia

    As a warrior from the hegemon of the Greeks ¨C Sparta, Phidias felt ufortable at the arrogance of Dionysius. Hence he stopped talking.

    ¡°Phidias, for theing greatest battle in Greek history, I need your help, you the greatest warrior of Sparta, so that we can easily win this battle!¡±

    Phidias couldn''t refuse Dionysius'' invitation as the phrase ¡°the greatest battle in Greek history¡± alone was enough to attract him.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the same day, Davos ordered Litom, the senior centurion of the first brigade of the third legion, to lead three heavy infantry brigades, a total of 3,000 men and a thousand Eleans to garrison Poseidonia and guard the nearly 10,000 prisoners. For this reason, Davos also sent someone to Pyxous and informed Androlis to arrange personnel to escort the prisoners to Lucania.

    He then led the rest of the first, second, and third legions, totalling about 24,000 men, and moved eastward along the Srus river.

    Their march was not smooth. Besides the road difficulty to traverse, they would also asionally encounter some Samnites.

    After receiving the report from the scouts, Davos initially thought that the Samnites wanted to use theplex mountain terrain to harass the army, so he sent out the light infantry and light-armoured soldiers of the three legions to protect their two nks.

    But after the soldiers rushed up, they found that the enemy''s resistance was weak and captured them easily.

    After getting captured, the first thing the Samnites did was to open their mouth to ask for food. Unable to understand them, the soldiers called someone who could understand the Samnite''snguage. After asking them, they soon found out the Samnite¡¯s reason for being here, so they immediately reported it to Davos.

    Only then did Davos learn that the Samnite army outside Potentia was defeated in a night attack, which gave him a great surprise.

    After all, Davos only ordered Izam to send many of his men disguised as defeated Samnite warriors to sneak into the Samnite camp at night and spread rumours to shake the enemy¡¯s morale. Of course, if possible, they would also burn the Samnite''s supplies allowing their next battle against the Samnites to be easier. Therefore, he wrote a letter to Potentia in the hopes to get some help¡­naturally, he doesn''t have much hope for this to seed.

    Hence he didn''t expect that the Samnites would lose just like that! This made Davos, who had a clear understanding of the history of the Samnites being the powerful enemies of early Rome in his previous life, unable to believe it.

    But soon after, the army met the scouts who came back from the city of Potentia. After confirming the news of the Samnite''s defeat, Davos learned that Phryntor yed an important role inst night''s action by nning the night attack and taking the initiative to contact Polet in the city of Potentia¡­

    After hearing the night attack, Davos couldn''t help but admire him, making him repeatedly praise the senior centurion of the reconnaissance brigade, ¡°Izam, you have an amazing subordinate!¡±

    Izam replied with seriousness, ¡°He is better than me!¡±

    ¡°Whenever a country faces a crisis, a lot of heroes would rise up!¡± Davos sighed as he remembered the name of Phryntors in his heart.

    Looking at these hungry Samnites walking unsteadily, Davos thought that it was normal for them to not even have half of theirbat strength after a night of chaos and shock, with their camp burned and washed by heavy rain as they fled while exhausted, hungry and scared. The war in Potentia has basically ended! After making a judgment, Davos felt a lot more rxed. Then he immediately ordered the legion''s light-armoured and light infantry to meet the Samnites and attack them decisively and expand their victory!

    At the same time, he immediately sent his men to Potentia to make Pamot prepare a camp for the army in advance. The Theonian legion would usually stop moving and start building camps in the afternoon while they march towards the battlefield. But today, Davos and the others would march boldly and strive to reach the city of Potentia in one day.

    In the evening, the vanguards arrived outside the city of Potentia, where they were surprised to see that under the dark sky, two ¡°ming dragons¡± lined up from the city of Potentia to the mountain path in the west, a full 1 kilometre long. It was the people of Potenta raising their torches to greet the Theonian army and light their way¡­

    After learning about the situation, Davos immediately rushed to the front and met Pamot with a group of tribal chieftains, ¡°Esteemed lord Davos, every Potentian warmly wee you and the army you lead!¡± At the prompt of Polet, Pamot greeted Davos respectfully, and the chieftains behind also gave their greetings in a hurry.

    But instead of riding his horse and epting the respect of his allies safely, Davos quickly jumped off his horse, greeted them quickly and said with a slightly apologetic and excited tone, ¡°I apologise that I led my army sote, disturbing your rest! I didn''t expect everyone to greet us in such a warm way despite your own safety when the territory of Potentia is still not safe¡­ Thank you! On behalf of all the officers and soldiers of the legion, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the people and chieftains of Potentia!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos, you are wrong! It should be us, the Potentians, that would like to thank you and your Theonian soldiers.¡± Pamot felt that Davos could feel his pains and felt that his hard work was not in vain. Still, he didn''t show it, and instead, he said emotionally, ¡°Compared with Theonia''s great kindness in saving Potentia, this little thing that we do is nothing!¡±

    ¡°We are allies.¡± Said Davos with a gentle smile, ¡°And Allies should help each other like brothers!¡±

    ¡°You are right! You are right!¡± Pamot nodded repeatedly. He wanted to say more but was interrupted by Polet, who was beside him, ¡°Lord Davos, will our discussion affect your soldier''s marching?¡±

    After getting reminded, Davos looked back and saw that the army had stopped moving. So he hurriedly said, ¡°Chieftain, I apologise! Please follow me to the side.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it is our oversight.¡± Pamot scrambled to lead the crowd to get out of the way of the army''s march.

    ¡°Tolmides!¡± Davos turned around and shouted.

    ¡°Milord!¡±

    ¡°Have the herald pass the order to let the drummers and buglers y the victory march and celebrate this moment of victory with our allies!¡± Davos shouted.

    ¡°Understood!¡± Tolmides immediately turned around.

    The Theonian legion paid extreme attention to the smooth flow of military orders by strictly stipting that the military would use salpinxes and drums to convey orders. Thus in a legion, there are a dozen buglers and drummers. And since this army consists of two and a half legions with about 24,000 men, there are naturally hundreds of drummers and buglers. So after getting Tolmides'' order, the buglers and drummers retreated to the roadside.

    As members of the legion who do not participate in the battle, they not only convey military orders during battles, but they also y music to cheer up the soldiers and for them to forget their fatigue during the marching.

    For this reason, the buglers and drummers would gather up to practice their instruments outside their usual phnx training with the soldiers during peacetime. Naturally, they are also present at the union¡¯s major celebrations, allowing them to earn respect even though they did not directly participate in battles.

    At this time, some buglers changed their instruments to a flute at their waist, while some drummers changed into small bronze cymbals as they all performed their respective duties and began ying music.

    The ¡¶Victory March¡· is a kind of music that Davos hums out of the familiar marching melody from his previous life. He then asks the musicians of the union topose and adapt it. Although it does not have the varied melody and momentum brought by symphonic music like in his previous life, it was still a rare kind of music in this era.

    When they yed the lively and cheerful melody with vigorous rhythm in the silent night, the music soon rang out throughout Potentia¡­

    When the Potentians heard it, they felt relieved as they seemed to put aside their grief over the loss of their loved ones and the worry over the destruction of their homes for a while as they enjoyed the satisfaction and happiness of defeating a mighty enemy and achieving victory.

    And the exhausted Theonian soldiers also cheered up, straightened their chests as they weed their allies'' gaze.

    ¡°Legion, advance!¡±

    At the forefront of the marching are the 300 guards of Davos, led by Rodom (Martius was still recovering in Thurii). Rodom raised the military g that represents Davos the Grand Legatus with both hands. At the top of the g is the golden statue of Hades wearing a crown and sitting firmly on a throne while holding a bident in one hand and a ball in the other, showing the dignity of a kingpared to the gloomy and terrifying statue of Hades on the top of a legion''s g. The ck g under the statue has the name of Davos embroidered with golden silk thread.

    The g bearer of the first legion followed the 300 guards; then, following behind them were the light infantry and the light-armoured soldiers rather than the heavy infantry. This was because, on the mountain path, the fast-moving light-armoured soldiers and light infantry brigade could quickly react once they encountered an enemy. In fact, most of the Samnites captured on the road were due to them.

    The first legion was followed by the logistic camp, then the second legion, then the hundreds of Samnites captured along the way, then the third legion, and finally some light infantry, light-armoured and cavalry brigade. They arranged the cavalryst because they could not ride their horses on some sections of the mountain path and had to walk with their horses. And if the thousands of horses were to crap and urinate, it would seriously affect the marching speed of the troops behind. And the light infantry and light-armoured brigade behind is to prevent the Samnites to attack their rear.

    The Theonian army, with its clear g and neatly organised troops, was like a seemingly long dragon passing through this ¡®Fiery Road¡¯ of enthusiastic and cheering Potentians with a neater pace and high morale. Despite their ck helmets and armour, which gave the people a lot of pressure, the smiles on their faces made the Potentians feel relieved.

 Chapter 422: Pamots Decision

    Pamot gasped in admiration after seeing rows and rows of Theonian legionaries passing in front of him, ¡°What a powerful army! With Theonia having so many brave soldiers, who would dare to invade?! Lord Davos, It''s no wonder that the Samnites aren''t your opponent!¡±

    ¡°Great chieftain Pamot, the Samnite army was repulsed by the brave warriors led by the brave chieftains of Potentia.¡± Davos said humbly.

    ¡°Lord Davos, we wouldn¡¯t even be able to repel so many fierce Samnites on our own if you hadn''t had your troops wipe out the reinforcements sent by the Samnites to Poseidonia¡­ And making a thorough n by having your soldiers sneak into the enemy camp, disrupting the enemy, and sending your men to contact us and convince us to carry out a night attack!¡±

    ¡°We shouldn''t be humble to each other! After all, it is the result of our unity and mutual coboration between Theonia and Potentia that we were able to achieve such a victory and bring peace back to thisnd!¡± Davos finally concluded.

    ¡°Yes, thank Asinu! Potentia is very fortunate to have joined the Theonia Alliance, as, without the full assistance of Theonia, Potentia would not be what it is today! The Potentians will always remember this kindness!¡± Pamot eximed from the bottom of his heart.

    The other chieftains also expressed their gratitude to Davos.

    ¡°Lord Davos, we have prepared a camp for your army, just near the city of Potentia. It was previously a settlement of one of our tribes, but due tock of time, we haven''t managed topletely clean it as the Samnites destroyed some of the houses.¡± Said Polet. After following the Theonian army these days, he knew what Davos needed most at this time.

    ¡°Thank you. This will solve our big problem!¡± Davos was overjoyed when he heard Polet and then continued, ¡°It doesn''t matter if the camp is a bit shabby. However, we would like to borrow these torches.¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos, we also prepared a wee banquet for you and your soldiers in celebration of the arrival of victory. So after you set up your camp, our people would carry hundreds of cattle, sheep and wine to your camp¡­¡± Pamot loudly said as he saw that the atmosphere became good. But just halfway through his speech, Davos politely interrupted him, ¡°Chief Pamot, and other chieftains, I would like to thank you for your kind invitation and your hospitality to Theonia! But I heard that the Samnites'' invasion caused great losses to you, with your viges and farms being burned, many of your tribesmen being killed or captured, and losing a lot of livestock¡­ Do you think that we could still eat the food you take out to reward us, knowing that your food supply is a little tight?¡±

    Davos'' touching words hit the soft spot of the Potentian chieftains, making everyone silent as they look at their great chieftain.

    Pamot anxiously said, ¡°Lord Davos, although we have some difficulties, you-¡±

    Davos once again interrupted him and seriously said, ¡°Great chieftain, the Theonian Military Law stiptes that the army shall not drink, party or celebrate during a war. While I was in Elea, I got words that Syracuse''s army had just invaded Magna Graecia! Now that the war here is over and the war in the south has just begun, we have to go back to Thurii to repel the Sicilians¡­ On the day when victoryes, Theonia would hold a victory parade. At that time, Theonia will grandly invite you, the great chieftain and all the other chieftains to go to Thurii together to celebrate this hard-won victory!¡±

    At this point, the chieftains of Potentia knew that they could not persuade him, not to mention that this is also in line with their practice. And Pamot, who had never travelled before, even gave his promise, ¡°I will be there when the timees!¡±

    ¡°Moreover, after capturing Potentia, we seized arge amount of food given by Syracuse to the Samnites. Knowing the difficulties of the Potentians, I decided to transfer this batch of supplies to Potentia so that thisnd can recover its vitality as soon as possible.¡± Davos said solemnly, which made everyone present dumbfounded.

    ¡°This¡­this¡­how can that be!¡± Pamot, who had kept his calm, incoherently said as he didn''t know what to say.

    ¡°Lord Davos, that''s your spoil, and your huge army also needs food.¡± Polet quickly said.

    ¡°It''s settled!¡± Davos said confidently.

    ¡°Lord Davos the Benevolent!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos the Kind!¡±

    ¡°I thank you on behalf of my tribesmen!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Many chieftains scrambled to express their thanks, and this time, they werepletely sincere.

    Davos only smiled and said nothing. In fact, as Polet said, his 30,000 troops also have a food shortage, with the soldiers'' ration even running out. And the food transported from Grumentum bynd and sea has one-third of it consumed on their marching alone. It would already be good enough if they could sustain the army for ten days after reaching Potentia. Although the great battle here is over, there is still follow-up work to bepleted. But even so, he still did not hesitate to donate a staggering amount of supplies to Potentia, not for the present but for the future.

    At this time, the ce became more harmonious, and Davos happily chatted with the chieftains¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the mountains not far from them, a pair of eyes filled with hatred are watching the liveliness at the foot of the mountain.

    ¡°Chief, have you really decided to attack the enemy camp tonight?! I am afraid there are tens of thousands of Theonians while we only have more than a thousand. And most of our men are still hungry! It''s still not toote to attack the enemy after meeting up with the great chieftain and leader Lesguk!¡± His warriors looked hesitant.

    ¡°It would be toote by then! Only when the Theonians have just marched and are too tired will we have a great chance of sess in attacking the Camp! Potentia¡­the Potentian could¡­cough¡­we can do it!¡± Garni raised his voice to cheer up his men, but he couldn''t stop coughing. Last night''s experience was like a nightmare, so much so that if it weren¡¯t for the night attack, he wouldn''t even bother mentioning ¡°Potentia¡±.

    ¡°Besides, we had searched for a day already, and we still haven''t found¡­my father¡­and Lesguk¡­.¡± At this point, he looked a little worried and depressed. Still, he quickly gave up these thoughts that were bothering him and cheered his men again, ¡°We must act immediately! Otherwise, the Theonian army may attack Compsa in the north tomorrow! Thus we must do our best to defend ournd!¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡± The Samnite warriors answered weakly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although Pamot returned to his housete at night, he was still excited about their earlier conversation, ¡°Polet, what do you think of Davos?¡±

    ¡°A great Greek leader! A great militarymander!¡± Polet answered concisely.

    ¡°So, do you think he can lead the Theonians to repel Syracuse''s army?¡± Pamot continued to ask.

    Polet hesiated for a moment. He then said with certainty, ¡°I have never seen Syracuse''s army, but the Theonian legion is the most disciplined and mightiest Greek army I have ever seen. Hence I believe they can win!¡±

    ¡°I believe it as well.¡± After saying this, Pamot saw his brother''s surprised expression. He thenughed and said, ¡°Even though I have never fought a battle, I know that Davos is a great Greek general as he could restrain his own desires and control those of his men! Such a man, whose character is like a pine tree growing in a rock, would never give in to setbacks, allowing him to win the final victory! So-¡±

    Pamot took a few steps and arrived at the statue of Asinu. After praying, he made his decision, ¡°I have decided to present Poseidonia to Theonia.¡±

    ¡°WHAT?!¡± Polet was astounded at hearing Pamot''s words.

    ¡°In fact, the Theonians already have Poseidonia on their hands after getting it from the Samnites. And just now, Davos never mentioned how to deal with the city, so we might as well take the initiative to give it to Theonia. Anyway, the people there were either killed or captured, and we couldn''t help them. So it is better just to pass them to the Theonians.¡± Pamot sighed, and his eyes became clearer, ¡°I could see that Davos is a broad-minded man. The Bruttians have surrendered, the southern Lucanians has surrendered, many Greek city-states have also surrendered, and they have just defeated the Samnites¡­the Theonians will have the final say in thisnd. That is why we must make an early choice so that Davos will not treat us badly.¡±

    ¡°I understand. Brother, as you are the great chieftain of Potentia, you have the final say, and I would listen to you.¡± Polet said sincerely.

    ¡°No, I am already old. In the future, you will be the one in charge of Potentia, and I believe that you will handle the rtionship with Theonia well.¡± Pamot calmly said. As he has no children, Polet, who was his younger brother, was more like his son.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Late at night, a noise rang out in Theonia camp, waking Davos from his deep sleep.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Davos looked calmly at Rodom, the acting guard captain, and Tolmides, the herald.

    ¡°Milord, the Samnites attacked the camp but were found by the sentry. As they are in the area of the second legion, legatus Amintas led his men to attack, and I believe they would beat them back soon.¡± Said Tolmides.

    ¡°The Samnites are really unfortunate running into Amintas. That guy has been holding back his irritation as he hasn''t fought in a big battle sinceing to Lucania.¡± (The third legion was the main force in the Battle of Poseidonia, while the first and second legions just gave the final push, easily getting the victory. And the Samnite camp in Potentia''s odd copse made Amintas dissatisfied as he thought there would be a big battle.)

 Chapter 423: Davos plan for the north

    Hearing this, Davos calmed down and listened carefully. It seemed that the voice outside was much lower, calming him down. He then yawned, ¡°It seems that the battle is over. Both of you can go to sleep.¡±

    Tolmides and Rodom then left.

    ¡° It would be better to keep Amintas¡¯ strong desire to fight until the battle against Syracuse¡­¡± Davos murmured as he went to sleep.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Early the following morning, Pamot and Polet came to visit Davos.

    After a friendly conversation, the two left with satisfaction.

    And Davos, who is also satisfied, quickly called Alexius, the legatus of the third legion, and said to him, ¡°Just now, the great chieftain of Potentia came here and offered to hand over the city of Poseidonia to Theonia.¡±

    ¡°That''s wonderful!¡± Alexius said excitedly.

    ¡°Indeed, I didn''t expect him to make such a decisive decision. Many Lucanians look down on Pamot, saying that he was neither as brave as Akpir nor as clever as Cincinnag and a coward who only stays at home and sleep with his wife. But those two men have perished while Potentia continued to exist! Those who could understand the general situation and follow it are the one who really has great wisdom. Pamot is an amazing person to be able to make such a decision and give up when he can.¡± Davos was impressed.

    He then looked at Alexius and continued, ¡°I called you today because I have an important task for you to do.¡±

    Hearing this, Alexius immediately sat straight.

    ¡°Although the Samnites were defeated, there are still nearly 20,000 defeated Samnites who managed to flee. From the investigation of the mountain reconnaissance unit, in addition to the threerger tribes retreating to the north, the other defeated warriors were scattered in the mountains around Potentia, suffering from hunger and disease. But their presence would hamper the ns of the Potentian tribes to return to their settlements. Thus I have decided for the third legion to station here and eliminate these Samnites. And Polet will lead the Potentians to cooperate with you.¡±

    As soon as Davos finished speaking, Alexius impatiently said, ¡°Milord, now that the war with the Samnites is over, and the Syracusan army is attacking our Magna Graecia, we should instead return to Thurii immediately and concentrate our forces against Syracuse.¡±

    ¡°There is no need for you to worry about Syracuse as I have already made arrangements. To tell you the truth, I always thought that the Samnites would be a headache opponent when we expand our union northward in the future. But unexpectedly, they have gathered arge number of troops this time and took the initiative to leave their familiar mountains and attack Lucania on arge scale. Under the blessing of Hades, the Samnites suffered a disastrous defeat, while we only suffered a minimal loss. Thus in the face of a wounded beast, what we should do next is to seize this opportunity and take advantage of its weakness and kill it, rather than letting it go and make trouble for us once it recovers.

    That is why the third legion must eliminate and capture the Samnites that are stranded here as much as possible, rather than letting them escape back to the north. Whilepleting this task, you can try attacking the Samnite¡¯s mountains and see if we could get any further harvest. Still, you should be careful not to expand the scale of the war and usher in new enemies! You must understand that Theonia''s current situation cannot support two fronts!¡± Davos warned solemnly.

    ¡°Understood. I will try my best to expand our achievements!¡± Alexius was excited after understanding Davos'' intention. After all, conquering an area by independently leading an army is the greatest goal of anymander.

    ¡°I have also found a good helper for you.¡± Said Davos. Then he shouted, ¡°Martius, let him in.¡±

    Alexius looked curiously at the door and saw a thin young man.

    ¡°Grand legatus.¡± The young man then gave a standard military salute.

    ¡°Phryntor, the senior centurion of the reconnaissance unit, and the one who nned the defeat of the Samnite camp!¡± After returning the military salute, Davos looked at him and couldn''t help exim, ¡°Remarkable! Truly remarkable! The victory you created saved Theonia time and allowed us to focus on Syracuse! On behalf of the people of Theonia, I thank you. And your name shall be remembered in the Hall of Valour!¡±

    Phryntor was excited and also embarrassed by Davos'' praise. So he quickly and humbly said, ¡°Milord, I was inspired by the previous n you made to capture the city of Aprustum!¡±

    ¡®Winning without getting conceited!¡¯ Davos nodded and became more and more satisfied with the young man, ¡°I will transfer two centuria from the mountain reconnaissance unit, with a total of 400 men, to yourmand to assist the third legion and Potentia''s army in tracking down the remnant Samnite warriors and invade the nearby Samnite territory. Can you aplish this task?¡±

    ¡°I can!¡± Phryntor replied with confidence.

    Davos nodded quietly. He then turned around and said to the legatus of the third legion, ¡°Alexius, are you satisfied with the assistant I sent you?¡±

    ¡°I couldn''t be more satisfied!¡± Alexiusughed, ¡°But this increased my pressure. After all, if I still don''t get a decent result even with the help of such a hero, I would be embarrassed to go back to Thurii.¡±

    ¡°It''s good if you understand this.¡± Davos smiled and continued, ¡°If possible, I hope you can capture Compsa.¡±

    ¡®Compsa?¡¯ This is the first time Alexius heard this ce.

    ¡°That''s a Samnite town closest to Potentia, about 20 kilometres away.¡± Phryntor answered Alexius. As a scout who had stayed here for nearly a day, he would naturally first learn about his surroundings.

    ¡°This is also what the great chieftain of Potentia hopes! If we captured Compsa, Potentia will bepletely under our protection and will no longer worry about the Samnite''s invasion¡­¡± Davos further exined. When Pamot made this request to him in the morning, Davos understood that Potentia was determined to bepletely dependent on Theonia Union.

    ¡°Naturally, there is no need to force yourselves, and you can just do what you can. The next battle in the south will be very fierce, and the supplies will be tight. That is why you should pay special attention to this problem and not induce another big war in the north!¡± Davos emphasised this sentence once more.

    Alexius and Phryntor looked at each other and immediately expressed their understanding.

    ¡°One more thing¡­Pamot hopes to build a road to strengthen ties with our territories in Lucania. As this is a good thing, I have agreed and would let Bagul take over this matter while having you, Alexius, as his assistant.¡± Seeing Alexius wanted to speak, Davos waved his hand and said, ¡°After all, you have served as aedile and are very familiar with road construction. At the same time, you have a good rtionship with Bagul, so I believe that both of you can work well together. Even though we have tens of thousand Samnite prisoners as ready-madebour, you must not exhaust them to death as these prisoners will be of great use to me in the future.¡±

    ¡°I ept this task.¡± Alexius said helplessly.

    Seeing his reluctant answer, Davos reminded him, ¡°The construction of this road can strengthen not only our connection with Potentia but also smoothen the expansion of Theonia to the central part of the Apennine in the future. Thus, the construction of the road and the chasing of the remnant Samnite warrior are equally important and do not conflict.¡±

    ¡°I understand, milord. I will try my best to help Bagul and the others to construct this road!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the same morning, Sesta was rushing his way to the Senate.

    The city of Thurii suffered a considerable impact from the outbreak of this war. After all, most of the soldiers of the first and second legions were Thurian citizens. Furthermore, the soldiers of the two newly formed legions were mainly Thurian citizens, who needed to train every day in the military port on the Crati River to the east of the city of Thurii. Hence there were almost no young men in the city. On the other hand, the elderly and the women were worried about their loved ones, so they spent less time in the square and more time at home or in the temple to pray.

    Seeing the empty Nike Square, Ssta felt a little disappointed.

    ¡°Lord Sesta!¡± A cry sounded behind him. When he looked back, he saw that it was Baripiri, a statesman from Bruttii.

    ¡°With Lord Sesta as mypanion, I no longer need to feel afraid even if I arrivete.¡± Baripiri said half-jokingly. Baripiri, who was wearing ck-trimmed white chiton clothes representing his identity as a statesman, was like a wide cloth hanging on a thin bamboo pole, so he needed to use both his hands to pull the corners of his falling clothes, which is ratherical.

    However, Sesta didn¡¯tugh. As the grand inspector, he was responsible for supervising the statesmen¡¯s performance during the Senate meeting. Moreover, after the treason case of the statesmen such as Pollux and the other statesmen, Davos gave the grand inspector greater authority in supervising the vitions of the statesmen and union officials.

    Because of the heavy responsibility on his shoulder, Sesta had to set an example always. Yet, he unexpectedly arrivedte today, so he could only exin, ¡°I was busy sorting out the information about the city elections and the establishment of the local councilst night so that I could report it at the meeting today. As a result of workingte at night, I got upte today.¡±

    ¡°We will still hold the election of the local council even with the pressure of the Syracusan army? You know, I couldn''t even sleepst night after hearing that the South Italian Alliance''s army was going to fight Syracuse in Scylletium!¡± Said Baripiri with unease. After all, the fifth legion is almostposed of Bruttian citizens, and the Bruttian region is at the forefront of this war. So once they are defeated in this battle, it will have a greater impact on the Bruttians than the other city''s citizens in the union.

 Chapter 424: Kunogelatas Vigilance

    Hearing this, Sesta hurriedly advised him, ¡°Lord Baripiri, there is no need for you to worry too much. Philesius is themander of the southern front that Davos'' recognised and approved, and he is also a veteran on the battlefield. Furthermore, he is honest, so his battle report should not be exaggerated, and we have a good chance to win the battle! Besides, the report that the wise Lord Ansitanos sent along affirmed Philesius'' report, so we should not worry too much¡­and the election of the local council may be postponed for a while, and held it after we expelled the Syracusans.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, you are right.¡±

    Both of themforted each other as they climbed the stairs of the Grand Senate Hall.

    Then, Sesta saw Petaruing up from the other side, acting as if he didn''t see Sesta as he hurried inside.

    Naturally, Sesta didn''t have the habit of warmly greeting unfamiliar people. Instead, it was Baripiri who sighed, ¡°It seems that Petaru still has some opinions on yourst questioning of him. Don''t worry, just give it some time, and everything will be fine.¡±

    Sesta coldly said, ¡°I am just performing my duty. Whether they are happy or not, it has nothing to do with me.¡±

    Baripiri had stopped talking after hearing his words.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Esteemed statesmen, our maritime trade channels were cut off by the warships of Syracuse, whether it is to the eastern Mediterranean or other areas of the western Mediterranean. Furthermore, more than 20 merchant ships of our union have been captured and detained by the Syracusan navy, while the merchant ships of other city-states thate to trade with us have also been forcibly expelled. Now, almost no merchant ships entered the port of Thurii, and all the ports in our other cities have stopped their operation besides the port of Pyxous, which is in a remote area and can still normally operate.

    Now, the soldiers at the frontline needed to consume a lot of supplies every day because of the war. So if this situation continues and we can¡¯t get any material through maritime trade, the grain supply of the whole union will be stretched! Thus, I suggest that the Senate take measures now to remind the people to save food and forcibly control food consumption. For example, the restaurants are temporarily closed, and everyone should change from three meals a day to two¡­¡± After Marigi finished speaking, the statesmen caused an uproar.

    ¡°Is our situation really that bad?¡± Cornelius asked nervously.

    ¡°Yes, the grain consumption has already exceeded our previous expectations!¡± Baripiri, the Chief Agriculture Officer, added, ¡°Although we still have our grain reserves, this is the first time we have supplied ration to five legions, totalling more than 40,000 men. Moreover, we have already transported two granaries of grain, and ording to the statistics of the Ministry of Military, these rations can onlyst for ten days. As you know, we have only built six granaries in the union''s territory in recent years, so if the war continues for another two months, I am afraid that our grain reserve will be at the bottom!¡±

    All the statesmen became tense.

    Kunogta hurriedly got up and said, ¡°Although Syracuse has blocked the sea, we could still buy grains from Taranto bynd.¡±

    Mersis shook his head and said, ¡°Mersis and I have long thought of this and had even sent some officials to Taranto to discuss it, but the Tarantine Council said that they are also equally strapped for food and have no surplus to sell.¡±

    ¡°Damn Tarantines! Ungrateful bastards, they have forgotten who helped them drive out the Messapians! We should take the alliance agreement and question them!!¡± Scambras, the current Praetor of Amendra, shouted.

    ¡°Ehem¡­Now is not the time to settle our ounts with Taranto. After all, we are already having a difficult time dealing with the Syracusans and the Samnites. Besides, our rtionship with Taranto has not been very harmonious in the past two years, so if we were to force the Tarantines¡­we would be in trouble as what Davos had been worrying about!¡± Cornelius said anxiously.

    ¡°What is our fleet doing now?! The union has spent so much money on warships every year, and now is the time we need our navy!¡± Shouted Tritodemos.

    ¡°Navarch Seclian is making every effort in reorganising the warships from the various alliances and training them with the new tactics created by Lord Davos together with the newly formed legions.¡± Answered Hieronymus.

    ¡°New tactics created by Lord Davos?!¡± Tritodemos became excited, ¡°Can they defeat the Syracusan navy?!¡±

    ¡°I don''t know anything regarding their training as they have tightly closed Thurii''s military port, not allowing any outsiders to enter.¡± Hieronymus replied and kept silent.

    ¡°It seems we couldn''t count on the navy for the time being¡­ I just hope that the army of the South Italian Alliance led by Lord Philesius could defend against Syracuse''s attack.¡± Although Scambras was nearly 60 years old, his character was more radical, but he also had a cautious side towards the uing war in the south. It can be seen that the others were also worried; after all, the army of the South Italian Alliance are not all Theonian soldiers, and in the minds of the statesmen, Philesius, who was themander, couldn''t bepared with archon Davos.

    ¡°What''s thetest report? Has Lord Davos led his army to fight the Samnites?¡± Asked Sedrum.

    ¡°The only thing we received was yesterday''s report of ¡®Lord Davos leading the army to Elea¡¯, while we still haven''t received today''s report.¡±

    The answer of the rotating chairperson ¨C Kunogta, disappointed the statesmen that were present. Then someone among them sighed and said, ¡°The transmission of our battle report is still too slow.¡±

    ¡°It''s already fast! You should know that the Lucanian area is mountainous, so if it were still the previous speed, it would take more than four days for it to arrive. But now, it has shortened a lot.¡± Heracleides the Younger, who had been in the Senate for a long time and rarely spoke, retorted.

    ¡°Everyone!¡± Kunogta shouted, ¡°Although the battle report shows that our allied force has a good chance of defeating the Syracusans, we must still prepare for the worst. Therefore, we must once again strictly order Lord Agasias of Aprustum and Asistes of mpetia to fully prepare for the city''s defence as soon as possible ording to the decision we discussed yesterday. Just in case¡­we are defeated in the battle, we must do everything possible to stop the enemy from entering Theonia''s territory! At the same time, we should also be prepared to assist the Crotonians so that we can hold the defensive line of mpetia ¨C Aprustum ¨C Crotone and stall the enemy until Lord Davos returns with our army!¡±

    ¡°Lord Kunogta is right! We must be prepared for both.¡±

    ¡°The army that Lord Philesius is leading now has more troops than the enemy. Moreover, our legion is the main force, so they should be able to repel the enemy.¡±

    ¡°Have you sent out all the scouts? Ask them to send back the battle situation in Scylletium to Thurii every half an hour! ¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Everyone in the Senate expressed their opinions, but they still felt a sense of tension and worry¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the meeting, the statesmen did not disperse as they sat idle in the Senate Hall and chatted together in groups of twos and threes, waiting for the news regarding the southern battlefield so that they could make a quick decision. They even asked their ves to bring lunch to the Senate.

    Kunogta went straight to a corner, where Plesinas and Marigi were chatting something in a low voice.

    Seeing Kunogtaing, they immediately stopped talking.

    ¡°Lord Plesinas, I heard that something bizarre has happened in the Temple of Hades these days.¡± Kunogta straightforwardly said in a low voice.

    ¡°Oh? What is this bizarre thing? Why didn''t I hear anything about it?¡± Plesinas looked puzzled.

    ¡°Handwriting suddenly appearing and disappearing in the temple, and the statue of the gods are making sounds from time to time¡­¡± Kunogta said word by word, closely staring Plesinas.

    Plesinas suddenly realised, ¡°Oh, so that''s what Lord Kunogta is talking about. That is not a bizarre thing; it¡¯s a miracle of Hades! This has happened before already, but it is only recently that the frequency increased, which shows that Hades is protecting our union!¡± Plesinas said with a devout expression.

    Seeing this look on his face, Kunogta wanted to say something several times, but in the end, he only tactfully admonished him, ¡°This is a time of crisis for the union. Thus we need to ensure the stability of our internal affairs and work together to deal with a powerful enemy! As the Praetor of Thurii, I don''t want to see any major disturbance happening in the city! And I believe Lord Davos is also the same!¡±

    Seeing Kunogta''s serious expression, Plesinas was taken aback.

    Marigi, who was nearby, immediately interrupted, ¡°Lord Kunogta, I am curious about the ¡®suddenly appearing and disappearing handwriting¡¯ that you just said.¡±

    Kunogta nced at him with vignce and said, ¡°You can ask Plesinas.¡± After that, he turned around and left. The rumours about the ¡®take my blood as the king, and the peace of the union will be ensured¡¯ has gradually spread that it even reached Amendra, Besidice and Roscianum, making Kunogta uneasy. He was anxious to know whether this is Plesinas'' own volition or the order of Davos, ¡®What should I do if it is thetter?¡¯

    ¡°He''s aware of it.¡± Said Plesinas as he watched Kunogta leave.

    ¡°Anyone with a mind can figure it.¡± Marigi shrugged in disdain, ¡°But even if they know, what could they do? Just now, Kunogta didn''t even dare to say what was written, so when things really happened, I am sure he will be the first one to raise their hands in favour. Don''t worry, Kunogta is a smart man!¡± Marigi''s words relieved Plesinas.

    ¡°In fact, I hope we will lose in today''s battle¡­¡± Marigi''s voice became even smaller, but it once again surprised Plesinas.

    ¡°Lord Davos led the citizens of the union to win wars and victories; only then did we get such a big territory today! But they have forgotten the taste of defeat, so they don''t know the value of victory¡­¡± Marigi faintly said¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Unlike the cold and cheerless city of Thurii, the clouds of war filled the territory of Scylletium¡­

    Thousands of soldiers came out of the city of Scylletium, the city of Terina, the camps outside the city and the Syracusan camp as they surged like tides towards the north of the Syracusan camp.

 Chapter 425: Battle of Allaro River

    The area north of the Syracusan camp has uneven ground and small mounds where many thorns can be seen everywhere. The west is the Aro river, while the north is the middle reaches of the Corace river flowing from northwest to southeast.

    Hence Philesius chose this ce to form up as he had considered the strength of the Syracusan cavalry and wanted to use the terrain to limit their strength and nking ability to the maximum. At the same time, such terrain is undoubtedly more favourable to the more adaptable and flexible infantry of the Theonian legion.

    However, Dionysius still led his army even after knowing the disadvantage of this terrain.

    More than a hundred thousand men from both sides gathered on thisnd with a radius of more than a dozen kilometres, densely packed, stirring up the dust and sand, and the noise shook the sky¡­

    Dionysius squinted his eyes and strained to look forward. Although the dust and sand obstructed his vision, the Theonian legionaries, who were across from his, stood out with their ck attire.

    ¡°The Theonians are in the centre!¡± After seeing them, Dionysius'' decision became firmer, for he had likewise invested his most elite 115,000 soldiers in the centre. They are all mercenaries from Campania and Greece that had fought together with him in Sicily for many years, even going so far as giving citizenship andnd to most of the soldiers, bing new citizens of Syracuse. They are his most loyal and reliable army.

    ¡°From the previous battle examples of the Theonians, their focus of attack is on their left nk!¡± Phidias cautioned, ¡°So I suggest that at least 20,000 soldiers be deployed on our right nk to block the enemy''s attack!¡±

    Dionysius, however, did not immediately answer. He tilted his head and looked towards the left of the Theonian.

    What he saw was the army of the South Italian Alliance, which was still forming up in the dust¡­

    A momentter, he gave an order, ¡°Send all the Syracusan citizens to the right!¡±

    After getting the order, the herald galloped eastward.

    Dionysius turned to look at the Spartan and said, ¡°Phidias, I appoint you as the right nk¡¯smander. I hope you can lead the army to block the enemies'' attack and win time for our victory. I hope you can ept it!¡±

    ¡°It''s my honour!¡± Phidias dly epted the order, without even a trace of his ¡°I am a Spartan, you do not have the right to order me¡± arrogance. After all, leading more than 20,000 soldiers to participate in such arge-scale battle is too tempting for Phidias to refuse.

    ¡°Furthermore, if you are having difficulties, you have the right to order the Numidian and Celtic cavalries that are on the outside of the right nk.¡± Said Dionysius with emphasis.

    Feeling his trust, Phidias gave Dionysius a rare military salute.

    ¡°Astagoras.¡± Dionysius continued.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°You lead the army of the Sicilian city-states to guard the left nk together with the army of Hipponion! Remember, you just need to hold the enemy down and do not be too aggressive, understood?!¡± For this brave man, Dionysius ordered with a serious tone.

    ¡°Yes, milord!¡± Answered Astagoras, feeling awe.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Commander, the Terinian troops have reached the battlefield. Lord Siprus asked me to tell you that they have sent 8,500 soldiers!¡± The herald rode on his horse to report to Philesius.

    ¡®8,500 soldiers!!¡¯ Philesius was surprised at this figure as it would mean that there are only a few hundred soldiers left in Terina to defend the city. Yesterday, the representative of Terina said that they could only send up to 6,000 men to participate when they were discussing the battle n, but unexpectedly, they added 2,500 more men today. Philesius immediately thought of Terina''s intention, ¡®They are prepared to go all out in this battle!¡¯

    At this moment, Philesius was also encouraged. So he shouted, ¡°Go and tell Lord Asesias to move all the Scylletian troops that are on the right to go to the left so as to make the hammer¡¯s head thicker!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± A herald turned his horse around and rode eastward.

    ¡°Tell Lord Siprus to arrange the Terinian troops on the right, next to the Theonian legion. And their distance between the Aro River should not be toorge to prevent the enemy cavalries from harassing and nking us!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Another herald galloped to the west.

    Seeing the heralds disappearing in the dust, Philesius looked at the Theonian soldiers in front of him. Only by watching these well-trained Theonian legionaries could Philesius feel at ease, dispelling the tension and irritability he is feeling.

    After watching for a while, he suddenly felt something was wrong, so he hurriedly said, ¡°Immediately inform the two legatus ¨C Drakos and Epiphanes to slow down the soldiers and wait for the army of our allies on both nks. Don''t expose our ns too early!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± The two other heralds galloped forward.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Philesius is too cautious. With the strength of our army, there is no need to y such a small trick! We can just blow the horn and attack them head-on!¡± Said Drakos, who was dissatisfied with Philesius'' order.

    Still, he didn''t dare to disobey the orders of his superior, so he said to his adjutant, ¡°Go and tell the officers to slow down our brother''s marching. Don''t get excited too early and slow down. Save their strength and morale till the moment of charge!!¡±

    ¡°Understood, legatus!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Oh, if it weren''t for Lord Philesius'' reminder, I would have forgotten about it! Adjutant, have our brothers slow down and wait for the Terinians. But to be honest, it would be easier if they were to hurry up instead because if we want to slow down, it would be harder as we haven''t practised it for many years¡­ Hahaha¡­¡± Epiphanes teased as he gave the orders.

    The adjutant held back his smile and said, ¡°Understood, legatus!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Hundreds of heralds galloped back and forth between the front and rear of the long formation on both sides to convey orders. In the noisy and chaotic formation, the officers at all ranks are also shouting as two huge phnxes slowly take shape¡­

    It took quite a long time for a hundred thousand soldiers to get into formation. Naturally, the Syracusanspleted their formation faster than the army of the South Italian Alliance. After all, most of their troops came from the same city-state and often fought together, unlike the army of the South Italian Alliance, who had not onlye from different city-states, but this is also the first time they cooperated.

    The huge noise gradually quieted down at noon, and the scattered dust slowly dissipated due to the soldier''s inactivity¡­

    The soldiers at the front of the phnx formation of both sides could clearly see their enemies hundreds of metres away. In their eyes, the dense phnx formation of the other side is like a thick steel wall extending endlessly to both ends¡­

    In early winter, the midday sun was not hot, but the dazzling light shining on the soldier''s armour and weapons made the people unable to look at it directly. And when the Syracusan soldier¡¯s sight falls in front of the Theonian phnx, the unique and unified equipment and clothing of the Theonian legionaries had naturally attracted their gaze, making their hearts palpitate because the ck always means uncertainty.

    The sea breeze blowing from the gulf made the heavy-armoured soldiers, who had just moved around and were sweating, feel a bit cold¡­

    In the long formation of both sides, therge and small military banners fluttered in the wind, with the most prominent banner was erected behind Dionysius. His banner was not only painted with the traditional ¡°Three Leg¡± symbol of Syracuse, but the name of Dionysius was also embroidered. Inparison, Philesius¡¯s banner ¨C the South Italian Alliance''s armymander, was a little shabby. Due to his short time in his position as themander of the two legions, the Ministry of Military Affairs had no time to make a special military banner and statue for him, so he could only use the legion''s banner and simply made itrger.

    Philesius, however, didn''t care about it. At this time, Philesius was surprised to see the opposite army''s formation that represents Dionysius'' banner was slowly moving forward. After a while, something moved to the front of the formation, followed by a strategos wearing a golden helmet and armour.

    ¡®Having such magnificent equipment means that he should be Dionysius?¡¯ Philesius hesitated for a while and then rode forward.

    The two then met in the middle of the battlefield. Dionysius then stared at Philesius, and Philesius responded without showing weakness.

    ¡°Are you themander of the South Italian Alliance''s army?¡±

    ¡°Are you the tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius?¡±

    ¡°Precisely, I am Dionysius!¡±

    ¡°I am Philesius ¨C themander of the Theonian army and the South Italian Alliance''s army!¡± Under Dionysius'' silent gaze, Philesius subconsciously made his voice louder.

    ¡°Philesius, it seems that your men don''t agree with you being theirmander.¡± Dionysius turned to look at Philesius'' side, with a mocking smile on his face. Then he saw cavalriesing here quickly from both east and west.

    ¡°In the South Italian Alliance''s, whether they are big or small city-states, they are all equal unlike the Greek city-states in Sicily!¡± Philesius, with a reddish face, retorted in the same tone as his fellow Theonian statesmen during a debate in the Senate.

    Dionysius thenughed, ¡°Inbat, shouldn''t an army obey the orders of one person in order to ensure the unity of the whole army? I think your archon Davos knew this very well, but did he not tell you?¡±

    Noticing that he was no match for Dionysius in eloquence, Philesius simply remained silent as he looked at him coldly.

    Dionysius restrained his smile and showed a gloomy expression, ¡°However, there is one thing that you are right, I have the final say in the Greek city-states in Sicily! And after this battle, I will also have the final say in Magna Graecia!¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t know that until after we battle!¡± Philesius simply replied.

 Chapter 426: Battle of Allaro River (II)

    After nodding slightly, Dionysius made his horse return to the formation.

    ¡°Dionysius, STOP!¡± Shouted Ascamas.

    ¡°I have already met yourmander, and you are not qualified to talk to me!¡± Dionysiusughed loudly and urged his horse to return to the formation.

    ¡°What did Dionysius say?!¡± Ascamas loudly asked as he rushed over.

    ¡°What else besides dering war!¡± The good-tempered Philesius couldn''t help but get a bit angry.

    ¡°The timid Dionysius, who doesn''t even dare to stay a little longer, dered war on us?!¡± Said Ascamas as he spat towards the direction of Dionysius.

    By this time, Asesias and Siprus had also arrived.

    And Philesius, who had calmed down, took this precious opportunity of everyone gathering. He looked at the three and seriously said, ¡°Lord Siprus, you should control your army and don''t pay too much attention to attacking. You just need to keep your side stable as our Theonian army would also defend the right nk together with the Terinian soldiers.¡±

    ¡°I can set my mind at ease having the Theonian legion with us!!¡± Siprusughed.

    Philesius once again reminded the strategos of Scylletium, ¡°Lord Asesias, make sure that the right end of your phnx you lead should try to keep the same attacking speed as the Theonian army! And your left nk¡­please attack boldly together with the Crotonian army!¡±

    Asesias nodded to show his understanding.

    Finally, Philesius turned his gaze to the Crotonian strategos, who seemed to have a prejudice against Theonia. Then, he sincerely said, ¡°Lord Ascamas, the victory of the South Italian Alliance and the peace of the whole Magna Graecia depends on you and Crotone!¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry! Our Crotonian warriors are already ready and are just waiting for the salpinx to sound. Then we wouldunch an assault to defeat the Syracusans in one fell swoop!¡± Said Ascamas, full of pride.

    Philesius looked at each strategos, who had fervent and excited expressions. He then stretched out his right fist and shouted with hope, ¡°The gods will protect Magna Graecia!¡±

    ¡°The gods will protect Magna Graecia!¡± The other three responded. Their four fists collided forcefully and then pulled their horses and returned to the formation.

    Among the Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean, there were two gods that they high highly revered: One was Apollo, the sun god. Apollo was not a powerful main god, but he was in charge of the sun, literature, and archery, in addition to luck. During the colonial era, wooden ships full of colonists sailed to the unknown western Mediterranean, hoping to be lucky enough to escape the storms at sea, reachnd, find fertilend for settlement, and not encounter the violent aborigines. So after surviving and sessfully constructing a city, they considered it as the blessing of Apollo. And what is the most important thing after settling down? It was, of course, to prosper, grow themunity, be more powerful, repel the surrounding aborigines, and expand their territory. Thus the other highly revered god is the queen Hera, who is in charge of marriage, family and childbirth.

    Among the city-states participating in today''s battle, the patron of Syracuse, Crotone, Scylletium and Terina is Apollo. Although they had already performed a ritual to the sun god before rushing to the battlefield, the soldiers once more prayed to Apollo for his blessing before the battle. But with the prayersing from both sides, how would Apollo choose which one to bless?

    It is only the Theonian soldiers that sang an ode to Hades, who the Greeks feared.

    Like hisrades, Appian silently sang thest part of the ode of Hades, ¡°¡­oh, the great ruler of the underworld, the impartial arbiter!

    May my name shine on the Hall of Valour after I die fighting bravely,

    May you lead my soul to Elysium that everyone yearns!¡±

    The soldiers then felt that their fear had disappeared, and strength filled their bodies.

    ¡°Brothers, arrange your equipment and wear your helmets!¡± Said the squad leader.

    Appian immediately grabbed a spear and two javelins in his right hand and equipped the long shield on his left hand. He then wore the helmet hanging on his shoulder, pulled down the leather ear guard and tied it tightly at his jaw.

    After he finished wearing his helmet, he saw that hisrades had also quickly put on their helmets and resumed their standing posture. Appian felt that this new helmet was much more convenient; his eyes could see the surrounding situation, and his ears could also hear hisrades¡¯ words. Unlike the previous Corinthian helmet, where their eyes and ears immediately became blind and deaf once they put it on as if they could only see the enemy directly in front of them and can only hear the sharp, high-pitched salpinx. It is as if darkness surrounds them, and only the asional swaying figure of hisrades and the force of theirrades behind them surging forward could make them feel not dreaming.

    ¡®If a person with a fragile heart wears a Corinthian helmet for an extended time, he will definitely go crazy!¡¯ That is what Appian often thought during his regr training, so after tasting the benefits of the new helmet, he never wanted to wear the Corinthian helmet again.

    In the legion, there is a saying that if someone says that the new helmet can''t protect their face, they would just scoff at this. After all, people would respond the fastest to any attack that stabs the face, so if they can''t even avoid this, they won''t be a qualified Theonian legionary!

    Appian felt pity for the Syracusan soldiers after seeing them wrapped in bronze armour hundreds of metres away.

    At this time, the familiar sound of a salpinx that he heard on the training ground countless times had sounded. It was loud and majestic, but it gave him different excitement.

    ¡°Forward!¡± At the shout of the squad leader, Appian, who was holding a shield in his left hand and a spear in his right hand, advanced slowly with hisrades at the beating of the military drums.

    Between the small phnxes, countless soldiers in leather armour rushed out of the gap and ran towards the enemy.

    This magnificent sight was just like their countless training sessions. Appian knew that the first to meet the enemy would be theirrades in the light infantry brigades.

    Then he and hisrades in the heavy infantry brigades would skillfully switch their spear to a javelin and wait for the moment to throw it as they marched unhurriedly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After two days of hard thinking and careful preparation, at the sound of the salpinx, the nervous Philesius suddenly rxed and murmured, ¡°It finally started¡­¡±

    Then he cheered himself up and told the herald and the scouts to report to him the progress of the whole battlefield at any time.

    With the battle just starting, he must be 100% focused and ready to deal with all kinds of idents at any time, just like what archon Davos had done on the past battlefields until the final battle is over and attains victory.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    But at this moment, Dionysius was not paying attention to the battlefield, ¡°Have the reinforcements departed? Where are they now?¡±

    ¡°The fleet led by Lord Leptines set sail from the port of Hipponion half an hour ago with ten thousand soldiers. They might have reached the entrance of the Aro River¡­while the other army led by Lord Phacipessas set out from Hipponion early. I estimate that they are now crossing the Corta River¡­¡±

    The adjutant carefully made his own judgment ording to the information he got from the scouts.

    Just then, a herald galloped from the rear, ¡°Report! Lord Phacipessas had arrived in the camp with his army and sent me to ask the suprememander for your next order!¡±

    Dionysius then smiled with satisfaction, ¡°It seems that Phacipessas has done really well and has even exceeded your estimation, Damocles.¡±

    Then Damocles said with a ttering smile, ¡°It is because your n haspletely fooled the Magna Graecians that victory is at hand, milord! Thus Phacipessas came early to get the merits he wanted; otherwise, if he were toete, the battle would already be over, and the victory will be yours alone, milord.¡±

    Dionysius smiled again and ordered, ¡°Let Phacipessas lead the soldiers to rest in the camp temporarily and recover their strength. After all, the battle has just begun.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The two light infantry brigades of the fourth and fifth legions of Theonia moved forward quickly. Still, their attempt to attack the Syracusan phnx failed because Syracuse had also sent arge number of light infantry. Thus the skirmish began with thepetition of light infantries.

    For a while, arrows came and gone, javelins crisscrossed, and the people on both sides screamed and fell. Theonia''s light infantry is more well-trained, but the Syracusan light infantry has more experience on the battlefield. After all, the fourth and fifth legions were established thetest, especially the fifth legion who had not participated in any real battle. Thus both sides fought evenly.

    When their distance was almost a hundred metres apart, the Syracusan light infantry retreated as they had to withdraw from the battlefield early before the heavy infantries on both sides collided, else they would be crushed under their impact.

    On the other hand, the Theonian light infantry has not withdrawn yet because the moreplex and smooth formation of the Theonian legion made them confident to withdraw from the battlefield quickly before the heavy infantry of both sides collides. Therefore, they were not afraid of the approaching Syracusan formation, which was as thick as a mountain. Rather, they even shot two rounds of arrows and javelins.

    The arrows shed with cold light and flew down. Some hit the thick Corinthian helmets and bounced high, making the Syracusan soldiers slightly dizzy. Some were blocked by the round shields, causing no damage except for a small chip in the smooth bronze shield. And only a shot on their exposed arms and thighs could make them lose their ability to fight, but such casualties are too few.

    However, the javelins dealt most of the damage. Besides prating the chest armour, it could also prate the round shield, making it difficult for the soldiers to wave their shield for defence.

    But the scream sounded in the Syracusan formation was like throwing a stone into a river. It waspletely covered up by the rumbling footsteps and the sounds of weapons and armours rubbing each other.

 Chapter 427: Battle of Allaro River (III)

    The experienced Syracusan soldiers stared coldly ahead through the narrow helmet''s eyehole. Although they had not fought directly with the Theonians, they knew that a great impact wasing, so they elerated their pace.

    On the other hand, the Theonian light infantry quickly retreated from the gaps between the small phnxes, and the small phnxes of infantries in the back quickly moved forward, which soon connected the whole Theonian formation.

    At this time, the enemy has entered a distance of 50 metres, so there is no need for the officers to give orders as the heavy Infantry like Appian strode forward, raised their arms and threw¡­

    Tens of thousands of javelins flew out of the kilometre-long front in the centre of the allied army, covering the sky and the sun as it rained down on the Syracusan phnx. The well-prepared Syracusan soldiers put their round shields on their heads and ovepped them to form a long bronze wall. And the whirlwind of death caused by the rain of javelins made the screams of the Syracusan no longer be covered up, so the Syracusan soldiers began to speed up their pace as they ran fast.

    Appian and hisrades, who are at the forefront, did not hesitate in dropping their javelins as they didn¡¯t have enough time to throw their javelins. In exchange, they ce the long shield in their left hand in front of them, clench the spear with their right hand, and rush forward together as they advance as fast as possible within a short distance of 30 metres.

    One side is a huge bronze wall, and the other is a ck tide.

    ¡°Apollo!!!¡­¡±

    ¡°Hades!!!¡­¡±

    Amidst the deafening cry, the two sides crashed together, causing even the earth to shake at this moment.

    In an instant, Appian felt a huge force hitting his shield, almost breaking his hand holding the shield, making his body tilt back involuntarily. At this time, the same powerful force from the rear pushed him back, causing him to stab his long spear towards the front, but the enemy¡¯s round shield blocked it, while his long shield also blocked the other party''s spear. And due to the momentum of both sides being too great, both spears broke.

    Appian held back the pain in his right hand and drew out the short sword at his waist.

    As the soldiers of both sides crowded together, the space for each soldier to move became narrower. Thus most of the Theonian soldiers at the front threw away their spears and reced them with a short sword, regardless of whether their spear was broken or not. On the other hand, many Syracusans equipped their curved swords.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the front on the centre path, the Theonia legion dominates thepetition of light infantry. However, on the other front, it is the Syracusan light infantry that has the advantage.

    Because Crotone, Scylletium and Terina were not used to having the light infantry attacking at the front while the heavy infantry unit was advancing. Hence they suffered many losses. Thus their only solution was to increase their pace and fight the Syracusan heavy infantry as soon as possible.

    Except for Theonia, the alliance concentrates all their light infantry on the left end of the left nk of the whole army, just behind the cavalry. So while both sides were fighting together, only this ce remained calm.

    Philesius knew that the alliance''s cavalry was far inferior not only in quantity but also in quality. Thus he gathered the 500 cavalries led by Solikos and the cavalries of the other city-states into a team of 1,500 to defend and prevent the enemy from detouring around the left nk* and warned them not to go out easily. And once the enemy attacks, they should just let the nearly 4,000 light infantry behind them scatter the enemy with a long-range attack, supplemented by the cavalry impact, which should allow them to contend with the fierce Syracusan cavalry. (Because the outside of the right nk of the alliance is the Aro river, so Philesius thought that Syracuse would not arrange their cavalry on this side.)

    On the other hand, Philesius'' hidden card is on the left nk. The formation he arranged is simr to Davos¡¯s strategy when defeating the Bruttians on the Consentian teau; that is, the weaker troops are positioned on the right side, relying on the river to ensure the safety of the nk, and use the stronger left nk to win. However, the left nk of the alliance army has weak cavalry and strong infantry with 17,000 Crotonian infantry and tens of thousands of Scylletian infantry forming the left nk*, and the thickness of the formation alone has more than 40 columns. (a small part of the Scylletian infantry is near the centre.)

    Phidias arrived at the right nk of Syracuse. Although he did not know the enemies'' detailed arrangement, after standing in front of the line and seeing the numerous javelins on the other side, he immediately realised that the enemies would deal significant damage once the salpinx sounded!

    So he quickly decided to thicken his own formation as well.

    But in this way, the right nk, which has fewer troops than the enemy, is bound to have a shorter formation length and would easily be surrounded by the enemy.

    At the same time, Phidias made an astonishing decision. He ordered the right nk soldiers to immediately form an arc-shaped front that convexed outward. In this way, the Syracusan soldiers would be ced in the inner part during the fighting, which naturally makes up for theck of the formation''s length.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the salpinx sounded, nearly 30,000 infantry from the South Italian Alliance''s right nk took huge steps and marched towards the enemy.

    Among the Crotonian soldiers, many citizens like Kelebus were captured by the Theonian twice, who are bearing the responsibility of their defeat. So when they saw the decline of Crotone and the rapid rise of their former enemy ¨C Theonia, their hearts were mixed with loss and confusion.

    Therefore today, like their strategos ¨C Ascamas, they also want to prove themselves with a victory and prove the glory of Crotone! This is the pride of the Crotonians and the temperament of a citizen of a sporting nation, even though Crotone''s strength is far behind that of Theonia Union!

    That is why they will not slow down their marching speed even if the arrows in the air are sprinkled like raindrops. On the contrary, they gradually increase their pace while trying to maintain their formation¡­

    As they began to charge, the huge Crotonian army sent out a terrifying roar¡­

    All of them set their gaze on the approaching enemy, with a mixture of tension and excitement on their faces, just waiting for that terrifying and maddening moment to arrive!

    ¡°Apollo!!!¡­¡± They wildly roared as they collided with the Syracusan.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Typically, once the heavy infantry of both sides shed, the whole formation would begin to y a role from the back to the front. Thus, in order to prevent the other side from pushing their own side, the infantry on the rear of both sides would not only get close to theirrades but also reach forward with their spears as far as possible, which would help the front row soldiers to increase their threat to the enemy. At the same time, they would push forward with all their strength, making the space upied by the soldiers at the forefront narrower and narrower.

    Appian wasn''t worried as he was just doing what they usually trained. He would lunge forward by having his body crouched slightly, leaning forward with half of the long shield protecting almost his entire leg, torso and neck. From time to time, with the help of the power from the back of his body, he would suddenly push the long shield forward, concentrating the power on the semicircr bronze in the centre of the arc-shaped long shield. It is quite powerful because it would fracture the enemy¡¯s chest if they don¡¯t have sufficient protection and make dents appear on the hard bronze shield once it hits an enemy¡¯s round shield.

    On the contrary, when the round shield of the Syracusan soldiers hit the long shield: First, the rounded angle of the long shield tends to cause the round shield to slip off. Second, the powerful force transmitted by the round shield through the rounded angle would spread to the whole shield and then to Appian''s body. By then, the force would be much small, giving Appian ample time to recover.

    While Appian tried to disrupt his opponent''s defence with his long shield, he saw an opportunity to quickly stab his half-metre long double-edged thick ck short sword clenched in his right hand from the gap between himself and his opponent. Unfortunately, the two Syracusan soldiers next to him seemed to have rich experience and avoided it many times.

    The thickness of the Theonian legion and the centre of Syracuse is the same, so when their strength is almost equal, the pressure bes more and more intense.

    Appian got closer and closer to the enemy that he could even feel the heating from the small gap of the enemy¡¯s Corinthian helmet.

    And when he saw that the enemy''s cold eyes suddenly brightened, he instinctively lowered his head and raised his long shield.

    ¡°Bang!¡± When his opponent swung out his sword on the shield, Appian suddenly saw something when he lowered his head, making him excited.

    ¡®It''s the enemy''s feet!¡¯ Although the Greek round shield isrge, it is not asrge as a long shield, after all. So the enemy''s feet in leather sandals are exposed under the round shield. However, if Appian did not lift his long shield, it would be impossible for him to find this w through the gap below.

    He immediately crashed his long shield against the other party''s round shield, lowered his head and bent down again (if he were wearing a Corinthian helmet, he wouldn''t be able to bend down and lower his head greatly.) Then the short sword in his right hand stabbed forward, piercing the other party''s right foot without hindrance.

    Afterwards, he heard a shrill scream from the enemy. Appian then quickly pulled out his short sword without looking at the oue of the fighting. Then he pushed the long shield forward with his left foot taking a step forward. After the enemy screamed and fell to the ground, the enemy at the back tried to squeeze into the small gap to fill it up.

    However, it was toote. Soon, Appian''s blood-stained short sword stabbed out to the right again like lightning, and the enemy next to him collided with the shield of Appian''srade as he did not expect hispanion to fall. Then suddenly, he was stabbed through his right arm and shouted with pain that he even threw his sword to the ground.

 Chapter 428: Battle of Allaro River (IV)

    Appian quickly drew back his short sword and his body under his long shield, evading the stabs and shes of the enemies. On the other hand, hisrades on his right seize the moment when the enemy fell to the ground to squeeze forward to Appian''s side, fighting alongside him and causing the shield wall of the enemy to copse even more.

    At this chaotic moment, Appian still manages to wound two people.

    In such close-ranged fighting, the danger created by thebination of long shields and short swords of the Theonian is obviously much more than that of the round shield and sword of the Syracusan heavy infantry. After all, the Greek kopis has a certain degree of curved, which is more suitable for shing rather than stabbing, while the round shield does not provide as much protection for the whole body as the long shield. Thus the Syracusans had to pay more attention because the sharp sword tip would asionally pierce through the gaps between the shields, wounding them if they were not careful.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the alliance¡¯s left nk, the Crotonian soldiers, known for their wrestling and boxing in all of Greece, unleash their wildness.

    Although Phidias thickened the Syracusan formation on the right nk, he still could not increase the number of soldiers he led. Therefore, under the pressure of the Crotonians, the right nk of Syracuse retreated slowly as a whole, making the formation''s arc more curved.

    But it just happened that Phidias is a traditional Spartan who fought the enemy at the frontline. Therefore, even if he felt that something was amiss, he wouldn''t be able to make some arrangements to change the situation on the field. The only thing he could do was to hope that the mercenary cavalries could faithfully implement the n they made before the battle. In fact, the mercenaries were already on the move.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The more aggressive Numidian and Celtic cavalry was already itching for a battle with such an intense battle.

    With a shout from Acilita, about 2,000 Numidian cavalries rushed out with him.

    The mercenaries gradually formed a slender column as they galloped, passing quickly from the outside of the allied cavalry and letting a strange roar as they threw javelins at the enemy.

    The allied light infantry immediately fired arrows at the enemy cavalries.

    With the Numidian cavalries moving forward in a single oblique line and loose formation at such a fast speed, few of them were struck and fell. On the other hand, they managed to hit many allied cavalries with their javelins.

    The allied cavalries started to get agitated, causing Solikos to ask them to calm down repeatedly.

    But when Acilita led the Numidian cavalry in a huge detour, appearing again from the dust and were about to throw another round of javelins, many allied cavalries could no longer bear it as they rushed towards them.

    Due to them taking the lead, the other cavalries also rushed forward.

    Solikos couldn''t stop them at all. Although he was the temporarymander of the allied cavalry, the Theonian cavalry did not upy the majority of the allied cavalry as they only had 500 cavalries. Furthermore, in the minds of the Greeks, cavalry is a nobility''s privilege, a ce to demonstrate their bravery. Thus it is an organisation that has always been loose, so how could they obey the orders of Solikos?

    Soon, Solikos realised that only the Theonian cavalries and the nearly 4,000 allied light infantry remained in ce.

    Seeing the allied cavalries rushing towards them, Acilita smiled.

    Acilita nimbly manoeuvred his horse''s reins, turning the forward charge into a quick diagonal gallop before turning east and speeding up their withdrawal. As he was at the lead, the Numidian cavalry behind him could see his movements, so they immediately followed him as all of them turned around and ran east.

    The allied cavalry thought the enemy was fleeing, so they urged their horse to chase them faster.

    But now, Solikos is in a dilemma, ¡®To chase? or to stay?¡¯

    A hundred metres away, he could see enemies watching across the dusty field. However, if Solikos, as themander of the allied cavalry, does not act together with the other city-state cavalries, he would feel ashamed just sitting in the back and watching as the allied cavalry gets defeated withouting to their rescue.

    Solikos pondered repeatedly. Finally, he made a painful decision. After exining to themander of the light infantry to pay attention to the remaining enemy cavalries, he then led the 500 Theonian cavalries towards the allied cavalries.

    But shortly after the Theonian cavalry left, the allied light infantry heard the rumbling sound of horse hoofs, apanied by a loud roar, as if thousands of drumsticks were beating a huge drum, causing the whole ground to shake.

    ¡°Release the arrow! Release the arrow quickly!!¡­¡± Shouted the anxiousmander of the allied light infantry.

    The light infantry had never seen dense cavalries rushing out of the dust at such a high speed on such uneven ground. Their pursuit of extreme speed and disregard of life and death had frightened them, so much so that they hurriedly shot their arrows and turned to run away even when their hands had gotten sore and their feet had numbed.

    The Celtic cavalry active in the northern Italia cut straight into the loose allied light infantry like a sharp knife through butter.

    Many Celts fell off their horses that suddenly stopped. On the other hand, the allied light infantry was either stabbed by the spears or knocked down by the horses, while most fled in all directions.

    But how can the bloodthirsty Celts easily let them go? So they urged their horses to chase them, stabbing the fleeing enemies one after another. Afterwards, they jumped off their horses and cut off the soldiers¡¯ heads that they stabbed one by one, hanging them on the back of their horses ording to the Celt¡¯s customs¡­

    Solikos could never have imagined that the 4,000 light infantry, on which he had ced so much hope, would be defeated so quickly by the Celtic cavalries with only 800 men. But at this moment, he didn''t have the time to think about the light infantry that he left behind.

    Philesius originally chose this ce to meet the enemy is to limit the Syracusan cavalries. But now, due to the recklessness of the allied cavalries, the terrain has be their shackles. However, their biggest problem is not about them slowing down or someone falling off their horses. The most dangerous thing is the Numidian cavalries, who are much more nimble in manoeuvring their horses on this terrain. They are like children ying around, picking rough areas to gallop and asionally turning around to throw their javelins at the allied cavalries chasing them.

    From time to time, someone from the allied cavalries would be struck and fell from their horses, thinning out the pursuing line and making them quiver.

    But when the Numidian cavalries saw that the allied cavalry was not catching up, they instead took the initiative to remain close to them.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With his calm head, Solikos, who was hurrying in the rear, noticed dust rising on either side of the chaotic formation of the allied cavalries, making him nervous, ¡®The enemy is trying to outnk the allied cavalries!¡¯

    ¡°Have them retreat! Go and have them retreat!!¡± Solikos immediately urged the herald beside him.

    But before the herald could speed up, the allied cavalries began to retreat in panic.

    They finally realised that their horsemanship was far worse than those of the mercenaries. So if they continued to pursue them, they would instead be the ones to be wiped out.

    But how could the Numidian just let the prey that fell into their trap run away easily? Although they still haven¡¯t fully closed the, Acilita still blew the horn.

    With dishevelled hair and wearing only simple clothes, the Numidian cavalries immediately surrounded the allied cavalries from three directions at a faster gallop than them.

    The allied cavalries ran back in panic like birds in a; some even fell off their horses because they were too scared and were trampled into mush by the running warhorses.

    This time, the Theonian cavalries instead ran at the forefront of the entire retreating column.

    Solikos then led them back to their original position, hoping that the 4,000 allied light infantry that remained there would be able to stop the pursuing enemies. However, the Theonian cavalries were shocked by what they saw, ¡®The allied light infantry, which was in a wild geese formation, no longer exist. The only thing that remains are human and horse corpses, moaning wounded soldiers, and some naked aborigines (i.e. Celts) that are picking up something among the piles of corpses and even cutting off the heads of any living wounded allied soldiers¡­¡¯

    Seeing such tragic sights made the experienced Theonian cavalries feel their hearts tremble.

    When the Celts saw the cavalries returning, they turned their horses around and prepared to intercept.

    At such a critical moment, Solikos didn''t even have the time to think too much.

    ¡°Go north! Go north!¡­¡± Solikos waved his spear and pointed forward. The only thing on his head is to lead these cavalries of different races away so that they would not cause trouble to the whole battlefield.

    Solikos took the lead as the Theonian cavalries led the frightened allied cavalries to retreat to the Corace river.

    The upper reaches of the Corace river was neither wide nor deep, but when Solikos urged his horse to run down the inclined riverbank, the front hooves of his horse suddenly slipped. As Solikos was too tired, he could not hold on to his horse''s neck and was thrown to the ground by the frightened horse.

    ¡°Bam!¡± Solikos fell heavily to the ground and immediately felt a sharp pain in his legs, making him almost faint. And he, who was already old, shouted, ¡®Crap, my leg broke!¡¯

    He then put his hands on the ground as he tried to get himself up, but it was in vain as it just made the pain much worse.

    ¡°Strategos! Strategos!¡­¡± The Theonian cavalry rushed to Solikos anxiously after seeing him fall.

    But their change of direction immediately hindered the advance of the cavalries at the rear, causing the Theonian cavalries and the allied cavalries to entangle as they crowded the riverbank and made the cavalries¡¯ retreat to almoste to a halt. As the people shouted and the horses neighed, the enemy was rapidly approaching¡­

    Solikos endured the severe pain and shouted, ¡°Leave me! Go! Go! Don''t let the banner¡­fall into the enemy''s hand! This is an order!!¡± After shouting, he simply sat on the ground and solemnly ced his right fist on his left chest.

    Most of the Theonian cavalries, with tears in their eyes, returned the salute. They then turned their horses around and rushed into the river.

    But a small number of cavalries still insisted on rushing over. But at this moment, the javelins of the Numidian cavalries flew, and the leading cavalries immediately fell off their horses.

 Chapter 429: Battle of Allaro River (V)

    ¡°Hurry up! Go! If you don''t listen to orders, you will be punished ording to the military¡­.the militaryw!!¡± Solikos roared with beads of sweat and tears running down on his face.

    The rest of the Theonian cavalries finally turned around.

    Seemingly exhausted his strength, Solikos fell with his right fist still firmly pressed to his chest.

    The blue sky, the white clouds and the dazzling sun shining on him were so warm¡­that a smile showed on Solikos'' face¡­

    ¡°Long live Theonia¡­¡± He murmured. At this moment, the thing that he thought was not Thurii, who had given birth to him and raised him for decades, but Theonia Union, which had been established for only a few years.

    And when the enemy''s spear stabbed him in the chest, Solikos did not dodge and just closed his eyes. But when he closed his eyes, what he saw was the beautiful Elysium that revealed itself in its entirety¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In Terina, there are only about 500 soldiers left in the city and no other people, making the city almost empty.

    Why does this happen?

    It is due to Siprus proposal to send most of the soldiers to participate in the battle at the lesia, so when the citizens questioned him, ¡°If the enemy suddenly attacked Terina during the war, how would we defend the city with so few soldiers?¡±

    He answered, ¡°Let the people temporarily move to mpetia and be sheltered by the Theonia Union and return after we are victorious.¡±

    In the end, the lesia passed this seemingly absurd proposal due to the Syracusan camp was not far from the riverbank, and Syracuse''s huge fleet is lingering in the bay, like tigers lurking in the grass, ready to pounce at any time. This has frightened the citizens day and night, and the only thing they hope is that the victory of this war will eliminate this huge threat.

    With the consent of Asistes, the acting Praetor of mpetia, the more than 4,000 Terinians went north for refuge with their food and wealth.

    So after Siprus led 8,500 soldiers to leave, only less than 500 soldiers were left in the city. They then closed the city fate and monitored the movement outside the city at all times.

    ¡°Look, the Syracusan fleet!¡± A soldier shouted nervously, pointing to the sea outside the port.

    These two days, ships from Syracuse came and went at the entrance of the Aro River, causing the Terinians to get used to it. But this time, not only transport ships hade, but also warships at an astonishing number, which looks like no less than 200.

    ¡°There are soldiers on board!¡± When the Syracusan fleet sailed into the Aro River and gotten close to the city of Terina, the soldiers at the top of the city wall could clearly see that the fleets entering the river were two ships abreast, one right behind the other and that each ship was filled with soldiers.

    ¡°I¡­I am afraid that they have no less than 10,000 soldiers!¡±

    ¡°It is impossible to defend the city with our meagre number!¡±

    ¡°We should just¡­retreat now. Anyway, Siprus said that we could retreat if we were unable to hold it anymore. Just like how Athens gave up their home when faced with the invasion of the Persian army, and returnedter to rebuild their homes.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Terinian soldiers shouted in panic but soon discovered that the huge fleet did not anchor on the riverbank near Terina. Instead, they went straight upstream.

    The soldiers breathed a sigh of relief, but Phroms ¨C a Terinian strategos, who was watching the two long lines in the Aro River, looked dignified as a terrible thought came into his mind.

    ¡°Immediately send someone to tell the alliancemander that tens of thousands of Syracusan soldiers are on their way to the battlefield. Hopefully, they would-¡± Phroms said until here, then he suddenly thought of something making him unable to continue.

    ording to the scout¡¯s report, the alliance troops have already begun fighting Syracuse, so the alliance should have invested all their troops now. Then even if themander learned about this, what could he do to stop the enemy''s reinforcement?

    Looking at the equally nervous herald, Phroms tried his best to calm down and said, ¡°Go!¡±

    ¡°¡­yes!¡± Just as the herald was about to climb down the city wall, Phroms said with caution, ¡°After reporting this, you need to stay near the battlefield and immediately inform us once there is a result about the battle!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Faster! Faster!!¡± Leptines ordered the sailors oaring the ship.

    Under the fast-paced drum beatings, the dozens of sailors rowed the wooden oars desperately. At the forefront is a 50 oar-warship, moving rapidly on the water. Furthermore, with the addition of the southeast breeze, the speed of the whole fleet did not slow down even when going upstream.

    Despite the fleet''s speed, Leptines still looked serious. As the navarch, he almost lost his brother ¨C Dionysius'' trust because of the disastrous defeat in the naval battle with Carthage a few years ago. Therefore, at the start of the war, he secretly decided to prove his abilities to Dionysius and to the Syracusans, who ridiculed him for getting his position through blood rather than by ability. That is why he must arrive in time for this battle, as he could no longer disappoint his brother Dionysius and shame himself!

    ¡°At the front is where the rivers converge!¡± Shouted the sailor who was at the top of the mast.

    Leptines hurried to the bow of the ship. In front of him was a calm river, dozens of metres wide that branch to the left and the right.

    Leptines'' serious face finally showed a trace of excitement, ¡°Prepare to turn the rudder to the left!¡±

    In fact, even without his orders, the experienced helmsman was already adjusting the course of the warship.

    Seeing the warships turning smoothly into the river on the left and continuing to pierce through the waves, Leptines finally revealed a smile. After all, he knew that ording to the map Dionysius sent yesterday, they wouldnd 2 kilometres ahead on the right side of the river, where there is a t riverbank.

    In order to ensure the smoothnding, Leptines did not even include a trireme in his fleet this time because a trireme was toorge and too long, which was inconvenient in docking on the riverbank, and would easily hinder the navigation of the other ships.

    ¡°Enamenus!¡±

    ¡°Milord.¡± Replied the Campanian mercenary leader who was on board the ship.

    ¡°Get ready. The rest will be up to you!¡± Leptines encouraged him.

    Unlike the soldiers of the city-states, these experience mercenaries could fight alone without relying on formations, which was why Dionysius chose them for thending. For this war, Dionysius worked hard and considered some details into his n.

    However, Leptines disliked these mercenaries, especially the Celts and Numidians, as he believed that these aborigines were savages and bloodthirsty, ughtering indiscriminately, plundering and disobedient. So much so that if he were not thinking of this war''s victory, he wouldn''t even want to get close to them.

    ¡°Hahaha! My brothers could no longer wait to kick the Magna Graecian''s asses! This is arguably the easiest battle we''ve fought for Lord Dionysius!¡± Enamenusughed loudly. He wanted to get Dionysius'' appreciation by making a huge contribution. After all, Macias, who hade from Campania and was a mercenary and has be a courtier of Dionysius, is his role model.

    ¡°Leader, you are right. We only need to charge at the enemy one time to make them kneel and surrender!¡± The mercenaries on the ship said with confidence.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Dionysius was indeed cautious. But he didn''t expect that even after repeatedly reminding the leaders of the Numidian cavalries and the Celtic cavalries to assist the right nk before the battle, these aggressive races returned to their old habits. After defeating the alliance''s cavalries, they were so busy chasing, killing and scavenging for loot that they had long forgotten Dionysius'' orders.

    As a result, the right nk led by Phidias retreated in the absence of support, causing the whole right nk, which was still struggling, to almost squeeze out of their arc formation.

    But what Dionysius didn''t expect was: In the centre, the 15,000 Syracusans elites heavy infantry, on which he had ced his greatest hopes, were slowly falling back against a simr number of Theonian legionaries, except at the beginning when they are a stalemate for a short time. And the retreat of the centre had also affected the left nk.

    After receiving the urgent reports from the left, centre and right, Dionysius realised that the whole front was retreating. Yes, the whole battlefront! So he no longer had the leisure mood he had at the beginning of the battle. Then he ordered his adjutant ¨C Damocles, and his retainers to stand tightly behind the rear of the centre formation, shouting to the soldiers, encouraging them to fight and push back the enemy''s attack.

    However, the great noise they created by shouting was almost negligible amidst the screams and shes of spears and shields. And the centre is still slowly retreating.

    ¡°What''s happening?! Why haven''t the reinforcement of Phacipessas arrived yet?!¡± Dionysius became so anxious that he questioned loudly, and his annoyed mood affected the warhorse he was riding, which kept swinging its head and neighing.

    ¡°Milord, the herald has just returned and said that the troops led by Phacipessas are only a kilometre away from the right nk.¡± Damocles answered immediately.

    ¡°Hurry and go!¡± Dionysius pointed at him and continued, ¡°Have Phacipessas speed up their march and guided his troops towards the right and attack the enemy''s nk!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Where is Leptines'' fleet?¡±

    ¡°Leptines had acted quickly this time, and they are about tond!¡± Hearing the news that the reinforcements were about to go into battle, Dionysius rxed a bit, ¡°Beat the drum and blow the salpinx, so that the soldiers not only hold on but also start preparing for the attack!¡±

 Chapter 430: Battle of Allaro River (VI)

    Terina''s herald galloped fast, but because the Aro River is too deep to wade, he had to make a huge detour north.

    After crossing the Aro River and rushing to the battlefield, blood stained the skin on the inner side of his legs and his horse''s belly, while his whole body was shaking as he rode his horse. Seeing the Theonian scoutsing to meet him, he screamed, ¡°I am¡­am the herald of Terina! The Syracusan fleet, carrying tens of thousands of soldiers, had passed through the Aro River to reinforce¡­hurry! Go and report it to yourmanders!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although Philesius was worried about the disastrous defeat of the alliance''s cavalries for a while, his mood improved when the Syracusan mercenaries busily chased the defeated soldiers rather than helping their infantry pull back the tide on their right nk. Thus, while feeling lucky, he also scoffed in his heart that even though the Syracusan cavalry is powerful, theyck battlefield discipline and see the big picture.

    Now Theonia''s left nk, centre and even the right nk is moving forward¡­

    Philesius had just ordered the g bearer to move the banner forward, but now it seems that they have to move it forward again.

    ¡®Soon! Soon!¡­¡¯Philesius wondered how long the Syracusans could resist. At this moment, he thought victory was like an apple that is about to ripen and is already within his reach.

    But then, the scouts from the west came rushing, ¡°Reporting to themander! The reinforcements of Syracuse are disembarking on the back of the Aro River, and there may be tens of thousands!¡± After receiving the notice from the Terinian herald, they especially rushed to the bank to confirm and was shocked by what they saw.

    ¡°What did you say?! The enemy has tens of thousands of reinforcements?!¡± Philesius, who was in high spirits, felt like getting poured with cold water.

    ¡°Yes,mander! There are tens of thousands of Syracusan reinforcements! They are nownding on the riverbank a kilometre behind our right nk!¡± The scout shouted anxiously, ¡°We must stop them!¡±

    This shocking news caught Philesius off guard. He nced at the people around him with a bit of panic and saw that they also were nervously waiting for his instructions as he was the alliancemander.

    Realising this, Philesius coughed twice to ease his panic, ¡°Order! Immediately send two light-armoured brigades and two light infantry brigades to rush to the riverbank where the enemy are disembarking. Have them stop the enemy at all costs from attacking our rear!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡°Sound the salpinx again and urge the fourth and fifth legion to step up their attack! And immediately tell the two legatus and the three allied strategoi, Siprus, Asesias and Ascamas, about our current dangerous situation so that they don''t have reservations at attacking the enemy with all their strength!¡±

    They then immediately followed the order.

    After Philesius finished giving the arrangement, he finally had the time to think, ¡®Where did the enemy get tens of thousands of reinforcements? Is it the army of Medma? However, the Terinians said that Medma is only a small town, so how could they send out tens of thousands of soldiers?¡­¡¯

    Philesius did not consider the Syracusan troops besieging the city of Caulonia because the alliance''s reconnaissance was paying attention to the more than 40,000 Syracuse-Locri troops and saw that they were preparing to attack the city.

    But what he doesn''t know is that at this time, in order to help the South Italian army, strategoi Pheidon of Rhegium had even risked his army to attack Medma, hoping to force the Syracusan to return to their aid, which would disrupt Syracuse''s n.

    But from this moment on, Philesius'' uneasiness began to increase¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    From the centre of the formation to the coast where the Syracusansnded was 3 kilometres. Therefore, even though the marching of the Theonian light-armoured and light infantry were fast, it still took some time. So by the time they reached the riverbank, most of the Campanian mercenaries hadnded and formed up.

    Although the enemy was so numerous that they upied the entire riverbank, the Theonian soldiers still charged at them bravely ording to their usual training.

    The 2,000 light infantry rained arrows and javelins into the enemy. At the same time, the 2,000 light-armoured soldiers, armed with leather shields and short swords, ran as fast as they could directly into the loosely formed mercenaries.

    Leptines did not expect the Theonian''s assault as he thought that ording to the habits of the Greek city-states, both sides should have already invested all their forces in order to win during this time. Unexpectedly, the South Italian Alliance army could still draw out troops to block them.

    Of course, Leptines didn''t know that Philesius was unaware of Dionysius'' n. Instead, it was the Theonian army regtion stipting that ¡°as amander, Philesius should keep a reserve unit in battle in order to change the battle situation by sending them during a critical moment in the course of the battle.¡± Philesius just acted ording to this, and the 2,000 light-armoured soldiers were his reserve units. And afterpleting the initial attack, the 2,000 light infantry retreated to the rear of the formation and became a part of the reserve units.

    The sudden impact of the 4,000 Theonian soldiers plunged the newly disembark Campanian mercenaries into a mess for a moment.

    At this critical moment, Leptines quickly ordered the remaining ships tond. As the navarch of Syracuse, his original task was only to transport the reinforcements, while Dionysius gave the task of leading the reinforcements to attack the enemy to Enamenus, the mercenary leader. But now, Enamenus was caught in the chaos together with the soldiers, and it was unknown whether he was still alive or not, so Leptines had to take up the heavy responsibility of rescuing them.

    He jumped off the ship and ordered the remaining mercenaries tond immediately.

    Seeing the situation of theirpanions while they were still on the ship, the mercenaries became anxious that some jumped directly onto the riverbank before the ship could even stop.

    After forming a team in a hurry, Leptines led them around the forefront of the copsing mercenaries that were forced to retreat. They then braved rains of arrows of the Theonian light infantry to attack the nk of the Theonian light-armoured soldiers, which caused the fierce offensive of the light-armoured soldiers to stop. In reality, the rapid long-distance march and their rapid attack have consumed a lot of the Theonians stamina.

    The chaotic front of the mercenaries finally eased as they began using their numerical strength and heavy armour to their advantage, causing the casualties of the Theonian light-armoured soldiers to rise sharply. But if it were the light-armoured soldiers of the first and second legion of Theonia, they would havested longer. Unfortunately, most light-armoured soldiers of the fourth and fifth legions hade from Bruttii and Lucania. They were born in the mountains and grew up learning how to avoid the enemy if they are in a weaker position rather than fight them head-on¡­ Although they have received Theonia''s military training and discipline during their years in the union, the thought of saving their lives in times of crisis still prevailed¡­

    The Theonian light-armoured soldiers retreated, so the light infantry without protection also retreated¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At this time, the battle hadsted nearly an hour. Both the fighting and shouting had weakened the soldiers, but suddenly, both sides blew their salpinx and drums almost at the same time, urging them to attack.

    Thus the soldiers on both sides had to fight using theirst bit of strength to speed up their offence and defence.

    For Dionysius, the only thing in his mind was to resist the enemy''s attack before their reinforcements arrived.

    For Philesius, he only had one belief: to break through the enemy''s formation and im the victory before the enemy''s reinforcements arrived.

    Both sides have reached a critical moment in deciding the winner.

    Appian, who had several de wounds on his arms and thighs, was too tired to even lift his long shield, while his hand that was holding the short sword trembles slightly from using his full strength at prolonged duration. He huffed and panted like a seriously ill and dying patient. On the other hand, the enemy he is facing is even worse than him because the armour he is wearing is too heavy that he had even thrown away the round shield and was holding the spear with both hands with his whole body shaking.

    Appian didn''t look at them with contempt as the Theonian army couldn''t even use their unique formation*. Therefore, he thought it was because their opponent was giving them too much pressure and sticking to them tightly that the legatus was afraid to switch formation easily. (I.e. interchanging of the rear and front formations.)

    In fact, another main reason why they did not implement it was that the fourth and fifth legions had just participated in a battle for the first time and were facing a powerful foe. And it also just happened that the left and right nk are their allies¡¯ troops, and this is also the first time for them to fight together. Thus, Philesius was afraid of rashly changing the formation and causing the soldiers to make mistakes under intense pressure, and the allied troops wouldn''t understand it and cooperate. After all, changing the rear formation to the front formation requires the whole formation to retreat gradually, which may lead to the whole army bing chaotic.

    The loud salpinx was not only to urge the soldiers fighting but also to urge the other forces, such as the Syracusan mercenaries who are chasing the alliance''s cavalries and are returning leisurely. And also the two Syracusan reinforcements who are rushing to the battlefield.

    If it were his past habits, the Crotonian strategos ¨C Ascamas would have stood at the forefront and fought the enemy head-on. However, Philesius asked all the alliance''s strategoi to sit in the rear and not participate in the battle to preside over themunication before the battle started. At that time, Ascamas justughed at the Theonian''s greed for life and fear of death, but now, he should be thanking Philesius for this request because he manages to hear a different salpinx¡¯s sounding from the opposite side.

    The sound of the salpinx came from the outside of the Crotonian army, which is loud and hard and is getting closer and closer¡­then, in his field of vision, countless soldiers with bright helmets appeared.

    ¡®Syracuse''s reinforcements?!¡¯ Ascamas fell off his horse in a panic as he watched the enemy roar as they rushed towards the rear of the Crotonian soldiers like a tide.

    At that dreadful moment, the only thing in Ascamas'' numb brain, ¡®Didn''t Philesius say that the enemy''s reinforcements wereing from the riverbank on the right?!¡­¡¯

 Chapter 431: Battle of Allaro River (VII)

    ¡°Report! Commander, the enemy repelled our troops that went to block them and are now attacking our right nk!¡±

    Philesius still felt his heart pound after hearing the report even though he was already prepared for it. He looked anxiously at the dusty front and saw that the figures and noises were still the same as before. And the Theonian legion he had high hopes for still showed no sign of breaking through the enemy¡­

    ¡°Commander, what¡­what should we do?¡± The adjutant asked nervously.

    Philesius became silent. At this moment, the alliance didn''t have any extra forces to block the enemy''s reinforcements and was just holding on to some hope. However, that too was soon shattered.

    ¡°Commander, enemy reinforcements appeared on the right! There are¡­there are tens of thousands of soldiers! They are fiercely attacking the rear formation of the Crotonians¡­and the Crotonians¡­the Crotonians couldn''t stop them¡­and are now retreating¡­¡±

    ¡°WHAT?!!¡± Philesius and the others were stunned as if they got struck by lightning.

    Philesius, who had stayed on the battlefield for a long time, was the first to recover and immediately shouted, ¡°Retreat! Signal the retreat!! Retreat immediately!!!¡±

    Now that the alliance''s defeat was decided, then¡­he must bring back the fourth and fifth legions safely as far as possible! Under Philesius'' pained gaze, the salpinx signalling the retreat rang out on the rear of the alliance.

    The sound not only surprised the Theonian soldiers, but it also made the officers unable to believe it.

    ¡°Is Philesius crazy?! We are about to break through the Syracusan defence, yet he still dares to tell us to retreat at this time!!¡± Drakos red with anger. Although a herald exined why Philesius chose to retreat afterwards, he still had trouble epting it.

    ¡°Give me a bit more time! Just a bit more time! Wait until my legion breaks through the enemy before retreating! The Theonian legion has never lost. We can''t lose this honour in our hands! This is a humiliation!¡­¡±

    Listening to their legatus'' pained shout, those around him bowed their heads dejectedly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°We¡­lost¡­¡± After hearing the herald''s words, Epiphanes clenched his horse''s mane tightly that he did not notice his warhorse''s pain and neighing as it kept digging the ground with its front hooves.

    ¡°¡­move the banner.¡± He squeezed out this sentence from his mouth with difficulty, and tears stained his face.

    When the salpinx sounded, the legionaries had to look at the banner''s instruction because the battlefield sound is too noisy that it is difficult to distinguish between the enemy and their salpinx. Thus only with the supplement of the military banner''s instruction could they confirm the order.

    ¡°Look! The banner is moving!!¡± The Theonian soldiers that looked back caused amotion.

    Not only the legion banner, the brigade banner, but also the centuria banner were pointing to the rear one after another¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Milord, congrattions! The Magna Graecians are defeated. You are victorious! This is a great victory, and from now on, you would have the final say on thisnd, milord!¡± Facing the praises of Damocles, Dionysius wasn''t toocent. After all, he already expected this victory as he had more than 70,000 men against only more than 50,000 men. But he didn''t expect that the so-called ¡°legions¡± of Theoniapletely suppressed the elite heavy infantry of Syracuse on the battlefield. And the most important thing is that the fourth and fifth legions wereposed of aborigines (Dionysius had carefully collected intelligence about Theonia). But if they were to meet the first and second legions that the Theonians boasted, what could the heavy infantry of Syracuse do?

    Thus, even if he won, Dionysius remained vignt, ¡°Although we defeated the enemy, the war is still not over. Continue urging the reinforcements on both nks to pursue, kill and capture the Magna Graecians, especially the Theonians!¡±

    ¡°Send all the heralds to find Acilita and Gaba. Tell them that I am furious at how they did not obey my orders and help our right nk attack the enemy. And that they would not get paid even one silver coin unless they immediately pursuit those ck-armoured enemies, killing as many of them as they can or capture them!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although Appian had practised how to retreat in their previous military training, he didn''t expect to use it when participating in a battle for the first time. After smashing his long shield into the enemy with pain, he turned around and ran with his short sword in his hand. However, he stumbled and nearly fell down after getting hit by his opponent''s thrown kopis.

    Appian got up quickly and eagerly chased his unit that was already a dozen metres away from the enemy''s formation as he looked at the fluttering banner.

    But the danger is the greatest the moment they turn around and run away. Some soldiers were overtaken by the enemy and were stabbed while theirrades just watched them fall to the ground, crying for help. The legionaries, who have always emphasised unity, could not care less about saving theirrades at this moment as they ran desperately and frantically, hoping to distance themselves from the enemy.

    When Appian heard his squad leader shouting, ¡°Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!¡­¡± his nervousness eased slightly. And even though the officers shouted, ¡°Hurry! Hurry!¡± it doesn¡¯t mean to let the soldiers run around randomly. Following the Theonian Military Law, they should gather under the nearest military banner as much as possible and follow them during the retreat to avoid disorganisation.

    As Appian ran, he heard the sound of footsteps behind him gradually weaken. When he looked back, he saw that he had pulled away from the enemy by a lot of distance that some even stopped chasing, which calmed him down even more. Thinking about it, he immediately understood that they had exhausted their strength after an hour of continuous fighting while wearing heavy armour. Furthermore, in their usual military training of the Theonian soldiers, one of their most important training was to run around while fully armed. And the Spartans were also doing this training since childhood.

    But after running for a while, the troops gradually slowed down.

    The original position of the fourth legion was to the right, adjacent to the Terinians. In order to capture the fleeing Terinians, Enamenus led the Campanian mercenaries from the west to the east. At the same time, the fleet''s sailors moored on the riverbank felt that they hit the jackpot when they saw the fleeing enemies. Thus in order to reap the spoils of war, they also came ashore to participate in the interception, making the pursuit bigger and denser, pressuring the Terinians, arge group of panicking ¡°fish¡± to flee east, which naturally made the space of retreat of Theonia¡¯s fourth legion smaller.

    ¡°Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!¡­¡± Standing on the bank of the Corace River, Epiphanes hurried his legionaries to cross the river, no matter whether the soldiers could hear him in such chaos.

    On the other hand, Philesius, standing on the other side of the Corace River, felt more pained. He did not expect the river he had chosen as their rear barrier to limit the nking of the enemy cavalry to be a shackle preventing their retreat. Although the river was neither wide nor deep, the riverbed turned into mud immediately after the rushing and trampling of thousands of soldiers. Thus once a flustered soldier fell, it would be not only a disaster for him but also a disaster for the soldiers behind him.

    As countless soldiers tangled in the riverbed, the order disappeared as everyone pushed each other, making the sight more chaotic¡­

    Philesius suddenly seemed to see the reappearance of the tragedy in the Persian canyon. He shouted and reminded the soldiers, but this river, stretching more than 5 kilometres, made his shouts so small that it waspletely ignored.

    Philesius could only regret and dare not witness such tragedy again. But when he turned his head around, he saw rows of buglers and drummers behind, and an idea shed through his mind, ¡°Hurry! y the March to Battle! y the March to Battle!¡­¡±

    He shouted like crazy, frightening the buglers into cing the salpinx'' mouthpiece into their mouth. However, due to their nervousness, the first tone they blew out was out of tune, but they gradually yed more fluently and louder.

    The ¡¶March to Battle¡· is also adapted from Davos'' memory that he heard in his previous life. It shows the fearlessness of the soldiers going to the battlefield and killing the enemy with a majestic, strong and fast melody. When the melody echoed in the Corace River, the soldiers of the fourth legion who heard it had awakened their courage and honour, so they gradually recovered their reason, alleviating the chaos in the riverbed¡­

    At the same time, Philesius ordered the light-armoured soldiers to go down the river bed and form a dense formation to separate the Terinians and reduce the interference of the fourth legion¡¯s orderly retreat. And in case of emergency, they would even drive them towards the west by force. At this moment, Philesius was forced to be cruel to his allies.

    ¡°Commander, the fifth legion¡­many soldiers of the fifth legion had still not reached the riverbank!¡± An adjutant hurriedly reported.

    ¡°What?!¡± Philesius felt that his head was about to explode. With one thing happening after another, Philesius, even with his good temper, had gotten furious, ¡°What is Drakos doing?!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Due to Drakos unwillingness, he hesitated in retreating. So when most soldiers heard the salpinx but saw that the banner did not move, they did not dare to retreat.

    It wasn''t until Drakos noticed that the troops on the left and right nks of the fifth legion were all retreating and that the fifth legion was about to be isted that he hurriedly ordered the retreat.

    Originally, the retreat of the fifth legion should be smoother than that of the fourth legion because Crotone''s fierce attack almost turned Syracuse''s right nk and the left nk where the Crotonian army is located into a half-circle. This resulted in the Crotonian soldiers at the far left end, who were originally facing south and with their backs to the north, almost facing west and with their backs to the east. So after getting attacked by Phacipessas'' reinforcements, they mainly fled in the southeast direction. On the other hand, the Scylletian soldiers led by Asesias were closer to the centre. Thus when they ran, they instinctively headed east because their city-state was not far from the east, and most Scylletian soldiers did not know that enemy reinforcements wereing in the east. Thus, they were crowded with the Crotonians.

 Chapter 432: Battle of Allaro River (VIII)

    Hence this resulted in the space for the retreat of the fifth legions to the north spacious. However, not long after the fifth legion began their retreat, the mercenary cavalries of Syracuse spotted them.

    After the reprimand of Dionysius, the Numidians and the Celtics woke up as they rushed to chase down the soldiers wearing ck armour. And due to the fewer fleeing soldiers along the way, it made their galloping convenient, allowing them to spot the fifth legion of Theonia''s retreat.

    The fifth legion soldiers were stillpact and are retreating orderly, which was obviously not beneficial to the impact of the cavalries. And the Celtic cavalries, even though they are fierce, were not stupid enough to directly sh with a thick heavy infantry formation. However, the crafty mercenaries had their own way. They lined up in columns, drove their horses close to the Theonian soldiers and shouted loudly, and would throw javelins continuously as they quickly passed by the fifth legion''s formation¡­

    The rapid sounds of horses'' hooves and the strange screams and the shouting of theirrades¡­made the fifth legion''s soldiers, who were already demoralised to be more confused. Wanting to escape the terrible enemy behind them earlier, the soldiers sped up their pace¡­which caused the retreat of the fifth legion to be chaotic.

    When Drakos saw the mess, he immediately made a decisive decision. He turned his horse around and shouted at the first brigade behind him, ¡°Burim, take your first brigade and follow me to stop those damn cavalries! Allowing the rest of our brothers to be able to retreat safely!¡±

    Burim, who was once a chieftain of Besidice, was an unyielding man among the Bruttians. And he is now serving as the senior centurion of the first brigade of the fifth legion. He then replied without hesitation, ¡°Understood, lord legatus!¡±

    As they were afraid it would affect the retreat of the other soldiers, the first brigade didn''t sound their salpinx and only pointed their g towards the opposite direction of the retreat, followed by the centuria and toon''s g. Under the shouts of the officers, the soldiers of the first brigade turned around one after another¡­

    As the other soldiers fled in panic, the first brigade of the fifth legion rose to the challenge!

    At the forefront was the legion''s legatus, Drakos, who was fully armed and riding his horse, followed by the senior centurion of the first brigade, Burim.

    Drakos turned around and looked at the flustered first brigade soldiers, yet they still decisively followed him. And his satisfaction was reflected in his words, ¡°All of you are worthy of being a man of Besidice! My best soldiers! My best brigade!!¡± (the soldiers of the first brigade are all from the city of Besidice.)

    ¡°It''s the first brigade¡¯s honour to fight together with you, milord!¡± Burim said as he straightened his chest.

    Drakos nodded and gave the order loudly, ¡°Form two rows! Stay in formation and retreat slowly! Never let even one enemy pass!!¡±

    At this moment, Drakos didn''t even think about their survival as the only thing in his sight were the mercenaries roaring in front of him.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Dionysius, who had studied the previous battles of Theonia, learned from Theonia well this time. He made use of the high mobility of the mercenary cavalries and the two reinforcements that had just joined the battlefield to continuously pursue the scattered soldiers of the South Italian Alliance''s army. So much so that he only withdrew his troops back to the camp when it became dusk.

    The Aro river blocked the defeated Terinian soldiers¡¯ escape path towards the city. Furthermore, warships are waiting in the river, which forced most of the soldiers to retreat northward with the Theonian army under the dual pursuit of the Campanian mercenaries and the sailors of the Syracusan fleet.

    The scout sent by Terina fled back in panic and reported the battle¡¯s oue to the soldiers stationed in the city, causing everyone to panic.

    Strategos Phroms had to make a painful decision in view of the fact that their main army could not return and the isted city of Terina was unable to stop the iing Syracusan army. Thus the soldiers abandoned the city of Terina and withdrew to the city of mpetia of the Theonia Union.

    The lookout of the Syracusan warship cruising in the river noticed the abnormality of Terina. So after the Terinians were gone, they sent the sailors tond and investigated the ce. As a result, they easily upied the empty city.

    Hence at the dusk of the end of the battle on the Aro River, Syracuse upied Terina and gained an excellent foothold for their army in the central part of Magna Graecia. The materials needed by the Syracusan army can now enter the port of Terina by sea, which is much more convenient and safer.

    But Dionysius was still not satisfied. His greedy eyes were now fixed on Scylletium, which is not far from the battlefield.

    The Scylletian soldiers that participated in the battle were quite miserable. Due to fleeing eastward, they crowded together with the defeated Crotonian soldiers, consuming valuable time. And their retreat path was cut off by Phacipessas'' reinforcements, and behind them, Phidias led some Syracusan soldiers to persist in their pursuit despite their fatigue. As a result, some of the defeated Scylletian soldiers died, some surrendered, some followed the defeated Crotonian soldiers to the north, and only more than 3,000 managed to flee back to the city of Scylletium.

    Because the fourth and fifth legion of Theonia were far away from the enemies'' reinforcements on the two nks, and with the help of friendly foes(involuntary), they managed to retreat rtively smoothly. Except for some setbacks when crossing the Corace River, they did not suffer great losses.

    However, Syracuse''s mercenary cavalries caused them the greatest loss. Although the first brigade of the fifth legion led by Drakos stopped most of the cavalries, it also dyed their retreat, resulting in the heavy siege of the pursuing troops of Syracuse and were unable to escape¡­

    Still, Theonia''s greatest luck was that although the cautious Philesius agreed to the battle, he still kept an eye on the situation after discussing it with Ansitanos. As he already considered the possibility of defeat, he had made Ansitanos lead the two legion''s logistics, engineering, medical brigades¡­and the other legion''s auxiliary personnel out of the camp after they started forming up. They then marched north to retreat to a ce between Aprustum and the battlefield.

    Philesius¡¯ intention was that: If they won the battle, Syracuse would be driven out of the Ophemia in, and it would not be toote for the logistics brigade and other auxiliary forces to return. However, if they are defeated, they can no longer retreat back to the camp. Instead, they would retreat to the city of Aprustum and make new defensive arrangements as instructed by Davos before he left.

    Thus when the Syracusan army pursued the defeated soldiers, the slow-moving auxiliary forces of Theonia were already on their way back to the city of Aprustum to avoid being captured by Syracuse because there were no longer any soldiers in the camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Perhaps Apollo could no longer bear to see such a gruesome battle between the Greeks, so he let the sun fall into the mountains earlier, and darkness quickly upied the whole world.

    However, Artemis, Apollo''s sister and the goddess of hunting and the moon, waszy and did not let the moon rise in the sky, so Hades took control of the night.

    The alliance''s troops should be thankful for the protection of Hades that the Theonians worshipped. At least the arrogant mercenaries of Syracuse did not dare toe pursuing them in the dark night. Still, it also created many difficulties for the retreat of the alliance''s troops.

    In the dark, the soldiers could not see the banner and the plume of the officers, so they could not reorganise. But besides the Theonian legion, the other troops werepletely scattered. In fact, this area is the edge of the mountains; the ground is uneven and bumpy, so the exhausted, hungry, frightened, and demoralised soldiers are prone to falling. And if they couldn''t stand up in time, they would be trampled by the soldiers behind them, causing many soldiers to be injured.

    The deaths of theirrades made the thousands of defeated soldiers. At the same time, they shouted the names of their officers while worrying about their own safety¡­

    Trudging forward in the darkness, they felt for the first time that Aprustum and Crotone were surprisingly far away from Scylletium¡­

    It was onlyte at night that the Praetor of Aprustum ¨C Agassias learned of their defeat. Hence, he urgently sent cavalries and citizens holding torches to illuminate the way for the defeated soldiers. Then Crotone also made corresponding measures, which finally allowed the defeated soldiers to separate from the dark.

    For the whole night, the two cities busily amodated the defeated soldiers¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Scylletians were also sleepless that night.

    As Scylletium¡¯s distance to the battlefield was not far, they immediately received the news of the battle''s defeat, which spread all over the city and caused the people to panic.

    At dusk, the more than 3,000 soldiers fled back to the city, after which only sporadic defeated soldiers managed to return. A huge troop of 14,000 men left the city in the morning, but not even a third of them returned in the evening, causing the whole city to mourn.

    Phrytinas ¨C the Scylletian polemarchos regretted that he should not have forced the Theonians to rush into battle.

    But now, the crisis of Scylletium had just begun. In the South Italian Alliance, the city of Scylletium is also a huge city, which used to make the Scylletians proud. But it has be the cause of the Scylletians trouble as they nowck soldiers to defend the city. From what the defeated soldiers said, the sudden appearance of Syracuse¡¯s reinforcements on the battlefield were the cause of their defeat, which means that the military strength of Syracuse on the battlefield may be more than 50,000. So with the momentum of their victory, who will be the next target of Dionysius?

    Phrytinas and the statesmen of Scylletium believed that it would be Scylletium due to its close proximity. Now that Theonia and Crotone have just suffered disastrous defeats, they certainly would not be able to send troops to rescue them in such a short time. So if they wanted Scylletium to escape from Syracuse''s attack, they could only rely on themselves.

    Thus an lesia was urgently held in the city of Scylletium. The citizens who had still not yet washed the dust and fear in their faces will make an important choice for the city''s survival¡­

 Chapter 433: Victors Vigilance

    If there is a loser in a battle, there will be victorious. If there is pain, there is naturally joy. While the alliance soldiers tasted the bitter fruit of defeat, the Syracusans enjoyed the joy of victory.

    In Dionysius'' quarter, candles burned brightly as all the strategoi gathered together to have a meal and talk about today''s battle¡­

    ¡°Stop arguing! The most important hero for our victory today should be Phidias!¡± Dionysius sat at the head seat, nced at everyone, and then pointed to Phidias. Then he said loudly, ¡°I truly didn''t expect that themander of Theonia had arranged so many soldiers on their left nk. If Phidias didn''t take the right response, I fear that our right nk would have copsed before our reinforcements arrived!¡±

    ¡°You are right, milord!¡± Phacipessas immediately agreed and continued, ¡°When I led our troops to attack the enemy''s nk, we were surprised at their formation¡¯s thickness where it even reached more than 50 columns, which I have never seen before¡­and the length is long enough¡­long enough-¡± Phacipessas couldn''t think of an apt description for a moment, so he instead gestured with his hand and said, ¡°Its length is longer than this quarter! But such a powerful force couldn''t defeat our right nk. Instead, the enemy became exhausted! Thus I led the soldiers into a small charge, easily breaking the enemy apart!¡­¡±

    Everyone gasped in admiration.

    Although Phidias was somewhat proud, he didn''t boast about himself to everyone. After all, the Spartans don¡¯t like such superficialities. Besides, he is just fighting for the Syracusan, so he doesn''t care whether he gets the glory or not that much. He is just enjoying the fun of this kind of battle. And since he was at the forefront of the battlefield, he is now too exhausted even to speak.

    ¡°Leptines, your performance this time is beyond my expectation!¡± Dionysius looked at his brother and said happily, ¡°When the mercenary led by Enamenus was blocked, you did not escape and instead took responsibility to repel the enemy who came to intercept, ensuring the smooth attack on the rear of the enemy''s right nk. We won this battle, and your contribution is indispensable! Furthermore, your fleet also boldly attacked Terina and won our first city after our battle!¡±

    Dionysius did not hesitate to praise Leptines due to his performance.

    ¡°Milord, it is all thanks to the help of navarch Leptines this time!¡± Enamenus took the opportunity to praise Leptines while he tried to justify his mistakes, ¡°I didn''t expect that even though the battle was so fierce, the Greeks still retained an army and did not send them into battle. And they instead made a sudden attack on us¡­¡±

    ¡°It just shows that this battle was not easy for us to win and that themanders of Theonia are not simple!¡± Dionysius sighed a little as he witnessed how the Theonian legion forced his elite troops to retreat step by step. Moreover, from the statistics after the battle, they suffered more than a thousand casualties among the soldiers in the centre, which really surprised him and still haunted him, ¡°Unfortunately, we failed to capture more Theonian soldiers¡­¡±

    As soon as he uttered these words, the two mercenary cavalry leaders became slightly ashamed. The straightforward Celtic leader, Gaba, exined using strange Greek pronunciation, ¡°We tried our best, but the Theonian soldiers did not escape. Instead, they lined up in a formation and fought us. We lost¡­many men¡­¡±

    ¡°Those Theonians stretched out their formation, guarded the riverbank and forced us to fight them head-on. And it is challenging for cavalries to fight heavy infantries¡­¡± Acilita also added.

    Dionysius nced at the two of them. He just wanted to knock the two unruly foreign leaders and did not want to tear their faces yet, ¡°In any case, you have held back more than a thousand Theonian soldiers and eventually destroyed and captured them, including a legatus. This would be the biggest military loss of the Theonia Union since its establishment!¡±

    ¡°Milord, it is just because Theonia was not even as old as my youngest son!¡± Astagoras, another strategos of Syracuse, sneered, ¡°Next, we will give them more defeat until wepletely destroy their union!¡±

    Astagoras'' words caused everyone tough.

    Amidst theughter, a cold voice sounded on the seat to the left of Dionysius, ¡°I have inspected the weapons the Theonians left on the battlefield. To tell you the truth, I don''t think you will have much of an advantage even if you engage the infantries of the Theonian legion once more.¡±

    These words naturally aroused the dissatisfaction of everyone in the quarter.

    ¡°Spartan, you think too highly of the Theonians! Astagoras shouted with impoliteness.

    ¡°I am telling the truth.¡± Phidias said impolitely, ignoring everyone''s dissatisfaction.

    At the same time, he strode out of his seat, put on a heavy infantry attacking posture regardless of everyone''s strange gaze. He then said with seriousness, ¡°ording to the traditional battle habit of the heavy infantry, the left-hand round shield can be used for both defence and impact while raising the spears in the right hand over the round shield to stab the opponent. And once the spear is broken, we could pull out our kopis to sh¡­however, the soldiers of the Theonian legion fight differently from ours. I brought the long shield and short sword used by the soldiers of the Theonian legion. Unfortunately, it was forcibly left outside the quarter by the guards.¡±

    Speaking of this, Phidias also did not forget to satirise Dionysius covertly. After all, even though Dionysius is good at using assassination, he is also on guard against being assassinated by others. In the past, many tried to assassinate him. He became so cautious that he stipted that if anyone wanted to meet and discuss with him, he had to be searched by the guards, and they were not allowed to carry any weapons.

    Once another brother of his (whom he had sent to serve as a tyrant of a neighbouring city-state) came to the pce to see him, and while they were talking about an important matter, he asked the guard for a spear to draw a map on the ground. As a result, Dionysius became so furious that he immediately ordered the guard to be executed.

    At this time, Dionysius didn''t care about Phidias'' irony as he was more interested in what he would say next. Thus he magnanimously gave the order, ¡°Go and get Theonia''s short sword and shield.¡±

    Once the short sword and long shield were ced in front of Phidias, he picked up the long shield in his left hand and ced it on his chest and exined, ¡°Theonia''s long shield is big enough to protect the soldier''s bodies, so they don''t have to worry about defence and could instead focus on killing the enemy.¡±

    As he spoke, Phidias used the short sword to stab. After a few stabs, he thrust the short sword into the wooden table, where they heard a sound as the whole tip of the swordpletely pierced in.

    ¡°What a sharp sword!¡± Leptines, sitting next to Phidias, eximed. Curious, he pulled out the short sword and inspected it carefully: The de of the short sword has some small gaps, and the tip of the sword was slightly bent. However, it still gave everyone a chill.

    ¡°This sword is too short! We would have already stabbed the Theonians with our spears before they could even stab my soldiers with it!¡± Astagoras retorted.

    ¡°It is indeed short. But the Theonian soldiers have this long shield to protect them from the thrusting of our spears. On the contrary, once both sides shed, we could no longer use the spear to stab while this short sword can easily stab us¡­¡± Phidias wearing the long shield, felt unsettled as he stared at the short sword on Leptines'' hand. The Greek phnx with a round shield and a spear was a set of heavy infantry tactics passed down through centuries. It''s so effective that it was hard to march among other nations in the Mediterranean. Yet, a newly established city-state union managed to develop another set of heavy infantry equipment and tactics in such a short time that couldpare to the traditional tactics!

    ¡®It''s due to their weapons and equipment!!¡¯ Dionysius became a little excited after listening to the analysis of Phidias. After all, he had thought that his most elite army was inferior to the newly created legion of Theonia, which made him upset. Now he realised that he could make up for their disadvantage as long as it is not a problem of the soldier''s quality.

    ¡°Phidias, what do you think we should do if we meet the legion infantry of Theonia next time?¡± Dionysius asked the Spartan for his advice.

    ¡°Judging from the Theonians'' weapons and equipment, they would have no advantage when facing them in mid-range. But once the two sides are close to each other, the short sword and the long shield would y their greatest role. Hence we should not adopt the shing tactics when fighting in a phnx formation. Instead, we should leave a certain distance for the soldiers at the forefront to use their spear formation. It would make Theonia legion¡¯s infantry dare not get close so that the Syracusan soldiers can use their spear thrust technique to gain the upper hand¡­¡± Phidias used this battle as a reference to carefully think about how to deal with Theonia¡¯s new tactics. After all, he had not actually fought the Theonian legion head-on and was only making spections based on his years ofbat experience.

    But it was enough to let Dionysius sigh a breath of relief. He then said to the strategoi opposite of him, ¡°Did you all hear that?! The next time we fight the Theonian soldiers, we will follow Phidias'' method!!¡±

    With the Syracusan strategoi such as Phacipessas and Astagoras taking the lead to say yes, the others also followed. Naturally, they agreed with reluctance.

 Chapter 434: Wolf And Sheep

    Dionysius would naturally not demoralise his men for the sake of a Spartan. He only wanted to know how to deal with the Theonian infantry, so he smiled and said, ¡°Of course, after this disastrous defeat, it is hard to say whether the Theonians would still have the chance to fight us again.¡±

    It was now the turn of Phidias to be puzzled, so he asked directly, ¡°Why do you say that? After all, the Theonians did not suffer heavy casualties, and with its strength, they could still organise an army that is not weaker than Syracuse.¡±

    Dionysius smiled and said, ¡°Phidias, you are talented in the art of battle, but defeating and destroying a city-state is not done by battles alone.¡±

    He raised his head as if his sharp eyes could prate his quarter and saw the archon of Theonia that was trekking in Lucania¡­with a mocking sneer on his face, he proudly said, ¡°The invasion of the Samnites is enough to give the Theonians a headache, and with today''s victory, it would have a great impact on Magna Graecia! Thus the trouble of Theonia had just begun. So now that Theonia can''t get out of its trouble and concentrate all its troops to stop us, we need to quickly conquer the other city-states of the South Italia Alliance, invade Theonia, make its people panic and shake its affiliated cities due to anxiety¡­¡± Dionysius then said decisively, ¡°And finally, conquer it!¡±

    ¡°Milord is right! Conquer Magna Graecia early, and we could go home earlier!¡± Phacipessas echoed loudly.

    ¡°Let''s toast for the early conquest of Magna Graecia!¡± The usually low-key Leptines became a bit excited because of Dionysius'' encouragement.

    ¡°We should kill more Magna Graecians and take more spoils!¡± Acilita said with a big grin and a slightly frightening expression. After all, he was not even interested in conquering Magna Graecia as no amount of upiednd would be distributed to his tribe. Hence he needed more food, money, and even ves to strengthen his tribe.

    The Celtic leader Gaba shared the same thought.

    When all the others picked up their mugs, Phidias reluctantly stood up as he was not sure whether it would be good or bad for Sparta for Syracuse to easily defeat Theonia.

    The celebration in themander''s quarter didn''tst long because a Scylletian envoy came.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    During the battle, the soldiers of Scylletium suffered heavy losses and have now sent an envoyte at night. Thus anyone can easily guess their purpose.

    Dionysius deliberately did not immediately appear, seemingly neglecting the envoy and making him fidget. So as soon as Dionysius appeared, the envoy immediately requested the tyrant of Sicily to ept the Scylletian surrender.

    Dionysius had already longed nned this, so he deliberately dismissed their surrender and angrily said to the envoy, ¡°Scylletium had always been actively against Syracuse and its ally, Locri. But now that you suffered a crushing defeat and your city is about to be captured, you wanted to surrender? It just shows that you are not sincere at all! And if you want me to feel your sincerity, Scylletium had to pay the price for what you have done before!¡±

    This envoy was obviously not as young and arrogant as the previous envoy who had delivered the letter of challenge and immediately pleaded in a low voice.

    Dionysius then said with a slightly calmed expression, ¡°If you want us to ept your surrender, you must send a thousand sheep, fifty cattle, and 30,000 kilograms of grain to Syracuse''s camp tomorrow morning. Only then will we ept Scylletium''s request for a truce.¡±

    As soon as the Scylletian envoy heard this, he immediately cried out and said that Dionysius was asking was a huge amount. And Scylletium could not gather that much in just half a day, so he hoped for Dionysius to reduce the amount.

    Dionysius then coldly said, ¡°This is the time for you to show your sincerity, so if you can''t deliver my request tomorrow morning, Syracuse will attack Scylletium in the afternoon!¡±

    The Scylletian envoy could only hurry back to the city and informed the council of Dionysius'' unyielding request.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡®That is still much better than our people dying!¡¯ After a heated debate, the Scylletian statesmen, facing the Syracusan army¡¯s pressure, decided to agree to Dionysius'' condition, sending several strategoi led by Phrytinas to Syracuse''s camp for negotiation again and determine the Scylletian''s treatment after their surrender.

    After Dionysius made some concessions, the two sides signed an agreement and swore to the gods.

    Phrytinas and the others became temporarily relieved and hurried back to the city to prepare the supplies. It''s not that Scylletium could not take them out, just that after they hand over these things, the Scylletians will have a harder life in the second half of the year. However, no matter how difficult it would be, it is still much better than getting destroyed by Syracuse. Moreover, Dionysius also gave Scylletian some conditions to win them over, making the Scylletians surrender and join the Syracusan army to fight their former allies, which made Phrytinas interested. For example, he would give the eastern part of the Ophemia in to which the Terinians owned to Scylletium¡­

    In this battle, Syracuse won a massive victory with absolute advantage, making the Scylletian council feel that the South Italian Alliance¡¯s future to be bleak. And as the first city-state of the South Italia Alliance to defect to Syracuse, Scylletium would gain a lot.

    Thus the whole city of Scylletium was busy from afternoon to evening.

    Early the next morning, the Scylletians drove out of the city in an endless stream with flocks of livestock and wagons loaded with grain. Of course, several strategoi, such as Phrytinas, and their attendants apanied them in order to discuss with Dionysius where they would be dispatched in the war and other matters.

    But when the long caravan was only half out of the city, arge number of cavalries appeared in the open field and began killing the unarmed men.

    The sudden blow made the Scylletians panic as they ran for their lives, but the countless livestock and wagons caused the city gate to be blocked, resulting in their inability to close it and pull up the suspension bridge.

    ¡°Dionysius lied to us! He just wants to take our city!!¡± Phrytinas just now realised it. However, it was already toote.

    Dust filled the front, and rumbling footsteps could be heard ahead as therge forces of Syracuse rapidly approached the city wall¡­

    ¡°Dionysius, you broke your oath and deceived the gods. I curse you for your eyes to be gouged out and your heart and your bloodline to be cut off!¡­¡± Phrytinas was then stabbed in the forehead by a javelin of a Numidian cavalry and fell off his horse, turning his hatred into a vicious curse before dying.

    The Syracusan army easily broke through the defenceless city of Scylletium, and the armyposed of Sicilian Greek city-states, mercenaries and foreign races did not stop¡­

    The panicking Scylletians wanted to escape the fallen city, but they had nowhere to run as the port was filled with Syracuse''s fleet, and countless cavalries were galloping outside the city.

    As a result, the atrocities oncemitted by Syracuse in the city-states of Sicily, such as Catania and Naxos, are now happening in Magna Graecia¡¯s Scylletium ¨C a massacre of the city.

    Dionysius did not stop his soldiers. On the contrary, he even let them indulge. After all, they were all under his strict control for some time, and after continuous rapid march and battles, they needed a ce to release their desire¡­naturally, this is only a minor reason.

    The more important reason is that he is short of money! Seriously short of money! It is already difficult for him to pay three months of the mercenary sries, and looting is the quickest way to get the money.

    In addition, he needed to magnify the impact of the battle and shockingly tell the Magna Graecians that those who opposed him would have such a tragic end!

    Syracuse''s army ransacked the whole city. Of course, more than half of the looted wealth belonged to Dionysius.

    Besides the countless Scylletians killed during the looting, he also decided to turn all the nearly 70,000 captured Scylletians, including the freemen in the port, into ves and transport them to the ve market in Syracuse for money.

    Except for a few who were neither killed in the looting nor sent away as ves because Dionysius had specially asked the guards to find and protect them. They were Saliseus, the Scylletian envoy who had threatened him before and his family.

    Dionysius took them to the Scylletian square. In front of tens of thousands of Scylletian captives, he cruelly shes Saliseus and his family, covering their bodies with countless wounds.

    Amidst the dying curse of Saliseus, Dionysius proimed in a loud voice, ¡°This is the fate of any Magna Graecians who insults me and Syracuse*!¡± (T/N: Just trying to convey Dionysius¡¯ arrogance.)

    He then cut off Saliseus head with the sword in his hand.

    The tens of thousands of Scylletians were reduced to silence.

    He did not destroy the city of Scylletium as he did to Catania because the position of Scylletium was more important than Terina. Not only because of itsrge area that could amodate more than 70,000 troops(Syracuse suffered more than 3,000 casualties in the battle.), but also the east coast of Magna Graecia was the main direction of his attack. He will use Scylletium as an important forward base for Syracuse to attack Theonia and Crotone. It is where he would concentrate the Syracusan army, navy and especially the food supplies, which is the springboard for the next march northward.

    Although Dionysius had no desire to attack the west coast with its high terrain and rugged road, which is unfavourable to the march of the army and are upied by foreign races, for the time being, he also had his n for it.

    He found dozens of soldiers from different Bruttian and Lucanian tribes among the captives, met them with an amicable expression. He then told them through an interpreter that Syracuse hade to Magna Graecia not to enve them but to liberate them from the harsh rule of Theonia, giving them the freedom they once enjoyed. Moreover, as long as they are willing to rise against Theonia and fight for themselves, Syracuse will give them more fertilend, such as Ophemia in and Sybaris in, once the war is over¡­

 Chapter 435: Crotones Choice

    Dionysius not only released them but also gave them some gifts.

    These Bruttian and Lucanian warriors thought that they would have a tragic fate after getting captured. However, they didn''t expect to be treated like this, so they began thanking their god for their blessing.

    With gratitude to Dionysius, most of the warriors still embarked on the road back to the city of Aprustum, and only a few hesitated for long. In the end, they decided to head west, not through mpetia, but over the mountain path between the Ophemia in and the mountains of Bruttii, then back to their hometown¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, the defeated fourth and fifth legions of Theonia retreated to Aprustum. They suffered a total of more than 4,000 casualties, most of which were during the retreat.

    In particr, the first brigade of the fifth legion waspletely wiped out, not even having any news about Drakos, the legatus of the fifth legion. It was a great blow to the soldiers of the whole army and the high ranking officers such as Philesius and Epiphanes.

    Philesius, who was ming himself, was a veteran used to seeing life and death, victory and defeat in the Persian expedition. Thus after their defeat, he immediately realised that the situation was extremely unfavourable to Theonia. That is why he must cheer himself up and establish an effective defence as soon as possible to prevent Syracuse''s army from invading Theonia''s territory and win time for Davos to lead the main force back. So, in the city of Aprustum, he trained the fourth and fifth legions after their defeat and personally served as the legatus of the fifth legion.

    At this moment, Epiphanes also put down his pride and actively coopered with Philesius in training the soldiers and discussing with Praetor Agasias how to strengthen the city''s defence.

    At the same time, Philesius also sent ballista troops and an engineering brigade to Crotone, strengthening the Crotonians'' defence. After all, if the Crotonians doesn''t have them, it will increase the difficulty of defending the city. ording to the newlypiled Theonian Military Law, the principle of using ballista against ballista was explicitly mentioned in the chapter on city defence. As an important ally on the southern border of Theonia, Crotone must not be upied; otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable. Therefore, Philesius no longer has scruples about the requirements of the Ministry of Military that they should not leak the secrets of the ballista.

    In addition, Philesius also sent an envoy to bring back the team escorting the more than 500 Locrian captives to Bruttii, hoping to exchange these prisoners for the Theonian soldiers captured by the Syracusan army.

    Their defeat also made Philesius cautious as he had sent an urgent letter to the Senate in Thurii. He was worried that Syracuse would bypass Crotone and go straight to Krimisa, with fewer men and rtively weak defence, hoping that the Senate would send a new legion. In this way, the three cities of Aprustum, Krimisa and Crotone could support each other and make their defences more secure.

    On the other hand, the defeated Terinians led by Siprus did not follow the Theonians into Aprustum but into Crotone because the city of Aprustum was small and could not amodate so many people. Moreover, the addition of Terinian soldiers would also enhance Crotone''s defence, making the Crotonians too happy that they do not care about the little rations consumed by the Terinians.

    After all, Crotone and Terina''s troops were brothers in this battle. As they were the two nks of the alliance, they became the direct target of Syracuse''s reinforcement¡¯s attack and interceptions. After the joint pursuit of the Campanian mercenaries and Syracusan sailors, only less than 4,000 Terinian men escaped. On the other hand, the Crotonians who were attacked by the Syracusan reinforcements and the continuous pursuit of the mercenary cavalries* had only over 8,000 men to finally reach the city. (the Numidian and Celtic cavalry wanted to vent their anger and redeem themselves after being intercepted by the first brigade of the fifth legion, so a part of them stalled the Theonians and waited for the infantry to close in, while the other part head northeast to chase the defeated Scylletians and Crotonians.)

    Both sides lost nearly half of their citizens.

    Besides grieving, Siprus inwardly praised himself that he had made the right decision in advance and let the Terinians move to the Bruttian area of Theonia early. Now, he didn''t even need to worry about their safety.

    The Crotonians who had already experienced a disastrous defeat a few years ago were once again in great grief. In addition to their grief, they are more worried about whether Crotone could resist the attack of Syracuse''s huge army that is setting foot on Crotone''snd.

    After adding together the Crotonian army, the defeated Terinian soldiers and the less than 2,000 Scylletians, totalling about 14,000 men, the Crotonian strategoi had some confidence in defending the city. Furthermore, the Council of Crotone urgently gave a mobilisation order for the freemen to join the war, increasing the number of men to 20,000.

    At the urgently erged council of a thousand men, someone mentioned that with Crotone suffering heavy losses, they should consider a truce with the Syracusans, just like their previous truce with Theonia, in order to recover their strength.

    However, most opposed it, and even Lysias, who alwayspromised ording to the situation, refuted it. And shouted, ¡°Everyone, Syracuse is different from Theonia. The tyrant ¨C Dionysius, will never sign an equal term agreement with us as he wants to make our great Crotone his ve, paying high tribute, letting our citizens shed blood for him, and even destroy our democracy and change it to dictatorship like Syracuse, just as he did in the other Greek city-states in Sicily!¡­

    Furthermore, even after Crotone became the so-called ally of Syracuse, we still had to face the bullying of our sworn enemy, Locri, because Dionysius'' wife is the sister of Locri''s polemarchos ¨C Demodokas, who was an aplice to Syracuse''s invasion of Magna Graecia. And in the eyes of Dionysius, their status is naturally much higher than that of Crotone. Using Dionysius'' power, Locri would humiliate us and even take the benefits that belonged to Crotone! Citizens, are you still willing to submit to Syracuse even faced with such a very likely future?!¡±

    ¡°Fight to the death with the Syracusans! Crotone, even if she perish, should not be a ve of Dionysius!¡­¡± The citizens shouted angrily and finally reached an agreement on the issue of war and peace.

    At this time, the envoy sent by Philesius came to Crotone. He brought not only the ballista unit but also the promise made by Philesius on behalf of the Senate of Theonia: As Theonia and Crotone would fight side by side against Syracuse! Crotone could put forward any difficulties to Theonia, who will do her best to help solve them!

    Theonia''s pledge and practical action (bringing the ballista unit) moved the citizens of Crotone and greatly removed their vignce against Theonia. Thus, the Crotonians felt unprecedented security now that a powerful ally backs them for the first time.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Philesius'' envoy kept galloping along the road, changing his horse three times through the roadside post station. It only took him half a day to bring the important battle report of their defeat to the Senate in Thurii, which soon spread all over the city.

    Although the Thurians were not as bleak as the Theonians of Aprustum and Krimisa(after all, most of the soldiers of the fourth and fifth legions participating in the war came from Bruttii, Aprustum and Krimisa), their shock was much greater than these three ces. Since the construction of the new city of Thurii, the only thing they heard was the news of victory after every war. Hence they are used to victory, so hearing a defeat for the first time made the panic spread among the people¡­

    On the same day, many went to the Temple of Hades to pray, hoping that Hades would protect the union. In the afternoon, even the people of Amendra and Besidice came to the temple one after another¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the Senate was holding an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures, Cheiristoya discussed the possible impact of this defeat on her own industries with the several managements of her businesses in Davos'' residence.

    ¡°Madam, Syracuse should soon march towards Crotone, turning Aprustum into a battlefield¡­so in order to secure the bank¡­should we¡­should we temporarily transfer the money stored in Aprustum'' bank?¡± The bank manager cautiously suggested.

    ¡°We must not transfer the money of Aprustum''s bank!¡± Cheiristoya firmly said. Then she continued, ¡°You should understand that in the eyes of the people, Cheiristoya''s Bank is not my personal property. It represents my husband, archon Davos! Thus, if even the archon''s property were moved during this critical situation, would the citizens in Aprustum still have the confidence to hold on?! That is why besides not withdrawing the money from the banks, we must also open them on time every day!

    Furthermore, you must ask the bank employees in that city to face every guest with a confident smile. And if the city hall of Aprustum is financially tight and needs money, you must lend it to them even if there is no interest!¡±

    The bank manager was stunned when he heard thest sentence, but he could only reluctantly say, ¡°I understand, madam.¡±

    ¡°How''s the restaurant?¡± Cheiristoya turned to look at another manager.

    ¡°Because of this war, we have more guests in the various restaurants than before, especially the one in the port of Thurii. And after the Syracusan fleet blocked the maritime trade route, the favourite ce for the idle sailors and workers to hang was either the arena or the restaurant. Therefore, there are often some small conflicts, but I have already discussed it with the port''s patrol captain, and he will send more men to strengthen the patrol in that area.¡±

 Chapter 436: Good and Bad News

    ¡°But the restaurant is now having a problem. There is a shortage of wheat flour and fish, so we cannot provide some of the food the customers want, leading to manyining¡­¡± The restaurant manager reported the situation.

    ¡°Unfortunately, we couldn''t do anything about it! The supply of grains and sea fishes in the whole alliance is very tight, so it is not only us who are affected¡­¡± Cheiristoya sighed and said seriously, ¡°I suggest you put up a notice on the front door of every restaurant to exin why and apologise to the customers. At the same time, advise the customers to order more beef and mutton, such as shabu-shabu, fried beef and roastedmb legs¡­ Andrea sent me a letter saying that Lucania had raised too many cattle and sheep this year. If they are not consumed inrge quantities, it is already a small matter for them to get skinny. But in the event of freezing weather, they are more likely to freeze to death, so the loss of the herders will be enormous. That''s why we need to buy as much livestock from Lucania¡­

    And considering that this is a difficult time and the people of the whole union face a food shortage, we will suffer from public resentment if we profit this time! Thus I decided to lower the price of all food and earn only a small profit to pay the employees, so before the war is over, we must tide over the difficulties with our fellow Theonians!¡±

    ¡°Understood, madam! I''ll get to it immediately!¡± The restaurant manager responded.

    Cheiristoya then yawned. When Azune saw that her mistress was a little sleepy, she immediately stopped the meeting and asked the managers to go back first.

    ¡°Madam, you are about to give birth, so why are you still working hard?! You have to think about your child!¡­¡± Azuneined while supporting her.

    Cheiristoya gently held her big, round belly and said softly, ¡°When such a big thing happens in the union, there will naturally be more things to do than what they can handle. In a few days, Andrea wille and take over these things for me for the time being so that I can give birth to my child in peace¡­¡±

    ¡°It''s great that madam Andrea ising!¡± Azune happily said as she helped Cheiristoya take a slow walk in the rear yard to eliminate her leg''s swelling caused by sitting for long.

    ¡°Andrea also wants to bring her two kids back to Thurii (one of them is the son of her ex-husband) so that Bagul''s father can see his grandson after so long¡­¡± Cheiristoya sighed: Andrea was previously married and had a child, and now married to a family of a different race. And to be able to make the huge family of Bagul ept and get along with her, Andrea had paid a lot of effort¡­

    ¡°Adoris and little Cro will be very happy!¡± Smiled Azune.

    Cheiristoya suddenly remembered and asked, ¡°Is Agnes back?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. Madam, I wonder if it''s due to many more people going to pray at the Temple of Hades and the Temple of Hera due to the battle''s defeat that Lady Agnes hasn''t yet returned¡­¡± Azune guessed.

    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Cheiristoya frowned and said anxiously, ¡°She is also pregnant, so how can she ignore her body! Quickly send someone to call her back and say it''s my order!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Azune knew that her mistress wouldn¡¯t change what she said, so she hurriedly called other female ves.

    At this time, the door in the rear yard was pushed open.

    ¡°Mother, I am back.¡± Cynthia, carrying a satchel of school items, came forward to support Cheiristoya.

    ¡°Where''s Adoris?¡±

    ¡°He is ying football in the school''s square together with his ssmates.¡±

    ¡°I hope he doesn''te home after dark like yesterday.¡±

    ¡°He won''t. I already warned him.¡± Cynthiaforted Cheiristoya and then asked with concern, ¡°Mother, have you heard anything from father? This afternoon, everyone found out about our defeat in Scylletium, and they were thinking of not going to ss anymore. They also came asking me one after another when will father lead the army back.¡±

    Cheiristoya turned her head and looked at her adopted daughter, who almost reached her shoulder. Cheiristoya remembered that when Cynthia first met Davos, she was on guard against him, but now, she is proud of him. So Cheiristoya felt relieved, ¡°Don''t worry, your father will soone back!¡±

    ¡°Hmm!¡± Cynthia strongly nodded.

    ¡°Mom, I am back!¡± A clear child voice came from outside the door.

    ¡°This little rascal is finally back!¡± Cheiristoya showed a spoiled smile on her face. Since she was about to give birth, Cheiristoya could not apany the energetic little Cro, so she had to let a female ve take him to the square every day.

    ¡°Mother, I''ll apany my brother.¡± Cynthia said sensibly.

    Then the female ve who came in shouted excitedly, ¡°Madam, good news! It''s good news! A messenger from Lucania came back and said master had won a great victory in Poseidonia! It''s reported that¡­they defeated more than 20,000 enemies¡­¡±

    ¡°That''s great!¡± Cheiristoya couldn''t stop shouting. How could she not worry when Davos led the army for so long?! But as his wife, she needs to remain calm. So this time, she was really relieved¡­

    As soon as she finished shouting this sentence and rxed, she felt a heat flow through between her legs, and her stomach began swelling and aching.

    Having experienced childbirth, she immediately stood firm, braced her hands on the stone table, and said in as smooth a tone as possible, ¡°Azune, Azune, I am about to give birth. Hurry, hurry and inform Herpus¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as the residence of Davos was rushing due to Cheiristoya''s delivery, the news of ¡°The archon led his army and be victorious against the Samnites in Lucania¡± was like a warm wind, calming the panicking people in Thurii. And among the ones praying in the Temple of Hades, someone shouted ¡°Let Lord Davos be king¡± for the first time.

    However, at dusk, a messenger galloping from the south once again broke the calm, ¡°The Syracusan army conquered the city of Scylletium, not only they plundered the whole city, they also turned everyone in the city into ves.¡± This shocking news once again rmed the Thurians and the Senate, making the original hesitant statesmen make a quick decision in agreeing on Philesius'' proposal to send the new sixth legion to Krimisa and protect the safety of the territory of Theonia.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    That night, as the Thurians were tossing and turning and unable to sleep, a newborn child was born at Davos'' residence.

    ¡°Madam, she is a healthy and lovely girl!¡± Azune carefully approached the bedside and showed Cheiristoya the newborn child, who had been washed and wrapped in clean linen.

    The already exhausted and powerless Cheiristoya turned her head with difficulty, looked at her daughter, who was crying, with a kind smile on her sweaty face.

    ¡°¡­Eunice¡­her name is Eunice¡­¡± Cheiristoya remembered her agreement with Davos.

    Hearing the good news that the ¡°mother and daughter were safe¡±, those who were anxiously waiting outside the bedroom became relieved.

    In this era, having children is a significant and challenging thing. Labor Dystocia is amon urrence during childbirth. Although Davos told the physicians such as Herpus about birth precautions he had heard from his previous life, he still took the initiative to gather together experienced midwives in Theonia. He then made them undergo specialised training to make them physicians specialising in the deliveries of babies in the hospitals¡­

    ¡°Little Cro, you now have a sister!¡± Agnes softly said as she stroked little Cro''s head.

    ¡°Sister?! Can I y with her often?!¡± Little Cro asked happily.

    ¡°Not now. Wait until she grew up.¡± Agnes covered her bulging stomach while exining to him. She also sincerely hoped that she could give birth smoothly in a few months.

    ¡°Great, it''s a sister!¡± Adoris shouted happily. Due to little Cro nagging him every day, he didn''t want another brother that would annoy him.

    Cynthia was also very happy as she could finally have a little follower like her other female ssmates.

    The moment she was born, Eunice became popr with the whole family.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next day, while the Senate in Thurii was gathering the newly established Sixth Legion soldiers in the Nike Square to send them to defeat Krimisa, Damocles, the envoy of Syracuse, walked into the city of Caulonia with his head held high.

    Damocles brought Dionysius'' ultimatum to Caulonia for them to immediately surrender, else the city of Scylletium would be their example!

    Due to being at the forefront of the Crotonian alliance against Locri for a long time, the Caulonians were full of confidence in their city'' defence, mainly because of the full support of Crotone and the other allies behind them. However, now that Syracuse defeated Theonia and Crotone and conquered Scylletium and Terina, the forces supporting Caulonia became scattered.

    Now, Caulonia is under siege. Moreover, they have long heard that Syracuse had a powerful ability to siege cities that they were able to conquer Carthage''s city in Sicily ¨C Motya. Furthermore, the news of the fall of Scylettium in just half a day surprised them (The Syracusan and Locrian troops tightly sealed off the city of Caulonia, so no one knew that the fall of Scylletium was due to Dionysius'' treachery), which made the Caulonians lose confidence in defending the city. Moreover, they were frightened at the tragic faith of the Scylletians.

    And the Caulonians also believed that even if Theonia and Crotone could have the chance to counter-attack in the future, but by that time, Syracuse would have long upied Caulonia, and the Caulonians turned into ves and sold to other cities. Thus even if they recovered the city of Caulonia, it no longer has any meaning for them¡­

    Finally, they unanimously decided in the lesia to surrender to Syracuse.

 Chapter 437: Another Bad News

    Dionysius¡¯ condition was much more bearable than what he gave to Scylletium: In exchange for Syracuse not stationing their troops in Caulonia, Caulonia must provide supplies and troops to fight together with the Syracusan army.

    But what the Caulonians didn''t know was that Dionysius wrote to his brother-inw, the polemarchos of Locri ¨C Demodokas.

    While Locri fully supported Dionysius'' invasion of Magna Graecia, they once put forward a request hoping that Dionysius would hand over the city of Caulonia to them after defeating the South Italian Alliance, to which Dionysius agreed.

    Therefore, Dionysius had to reassure the Locrians that it was just a temporary measure to defeat Crotone and Theonia as soon as possible. So after conquering these city-states, they would hand Caulonia to Locri as promised.

    The Locrian epted Dionysius'' exnation.

    Of course, the Caulonians didn''t know that their fate was already doomed. Thinking that they had already escaped a great disaster, they were now eager to show Dionysius their obedience by quickly sending 5,000 soldiers and arge number of supplies to Scylletium.

    And the surrender of Caulonia had freed the Locrian troops that were besieging them, who then quickly headed south and crossed the mountain path.

    Although Pheidon was wary of the east because the people he sent to report had not returned, he still sent a small force to guard the entrance to the mountain path for insurance purposes. But after the news from the north waspletely blocked by the Syracusans, he waspletely in the dark, never expecting that the situation in southern Magna Graecia had changed drastically in just a few days.

    Then 15,000 Locrians suddenly came. They were so fast that the Rhegian troops with less than a thousand men guarding the mountain path were quickly defeated.

    Pheidon led his men to besiege Medma when he received the emergency report, surprising him. When the roaring Locrian troops rushed into their camp, he didn¡¯t even have enough time to organise the troops for the battle.

    When Pheidon and countless defeated soldiers hurriedly fled across the river and into the city of Taurania, the original 10,000 troops only had less than 7,000 left.

    Learning of the surrender of Caulonia and the defeat of Rhegium, Dionysius became overjoyed because at this time, except for Rhegium, he hadpletely conquered the southern part of Magna Graecia. Thus he could now safely attack north with all their strength, while Locri alone was enough to deal with Rhegium without him having to worry.

    So he ordered Leptines for all the ships participating in the war to go to the port of Scylletium, besides leaving few ships to station at the port of Terina to continue cutting off the maritime links between Theonia and Rhegium on the west coast.

    At the same time, he asked all the troops toplete their rest as soon as possible and prepare to advance north.

    Even though the war between the South Italian Alliance and Syracuse was only between the city-states of Magna Graecia and Sicily, it also attracted the attention of many forces in the whole Mediterranean.

    Not long after the end of the Battle of Aro River, the news of Syracuse''s victory quickly spread all over the western Mediterranean, which made all the city-states and forces think about the impact of the war on themselves and even begin making some small movements.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, the Theonian Senate held a regr meeting to discuss two topics: One is that the sixth legion, which had just arrived in Krimisa, has increased the logistical pressure on the Ministry of Military, resulting in a shortage of personnel to transport food and equipment; The other is the proposal submitted by the navarch, Seclian, to Hieronymus that with the departure of the sixth legion, it led to a shortage of soldiers on the warships, so he asked to form a new legion. At the same time, the sailors of the Theonian joint fleet were just enough, so once they incurred losses in the naval battle, it would be difficult to supplement them. Thus he hoped to call sailors from our allies as a backup.

    ¡°I think¡­it''s very simple to solve the problem of insufficient personnel for the Ministry of Military in transporting the supplies.¡± The Praetor of Thurii, Kunogta, thought and continued, ¡°Since the time Syracuse¡¯s navy attacked our maritime route, the number of merchant shipsing has decreased significantly. It has caused a lot of the port''sbour forces such as the porters, warehouse keepers, ship repairers and coachmen to have no work and do nothing all day. On the contrary, they have added a lot of trouble to public security. So I suggest that the Ministry of Military go to the port to recruit some workers. Even if you don''t pay them, but as long as you can guarantee their food, they will do their work well, and this would also reduce the pressure of the port¡¯s patrols¡­¡±

    ¡°This is indeed a great idea!¡± Marigi praised. Then he reminded, ¡°However, even if we reward them with food, we should still pay attention to controlling the supply as the grain will only be more precious than drachmae as the war progresses.¡±

    Hieronymus nodded to show his understanding.

    At this time, Kunogta asked, ¡°What I don''t understand is why Seclian still needed to call for our allies'' sailors?! We have so many spare men in the port, so why not use them?!¡±

    As he was not a statesman, Seclian was not in the meeting. And as the only one left in the Ministry of Military, Hieronymus, although he is not good at talking, answered, ¡°Well¡­time is tight now¡­uh¡­that Syracuse''s fleet could attack at any time. Seclian needs skilled sailors so that he wouldn''t spend so much time training them¡­¡±

    ¡°The fleet that Seclian is in charge of is taking up a lot of manpower in Thurii, yet he just hides in the Crati River. What is he doing?! We should lead a fleet to expel those Syracusan ships that are rampant in the Gulf of Taranto, even if we could only resume our maritime route for a day or two!¡± Marigiined.

    ¡°Although I don''t know much about the navy, I still know that it was Lord Davos who asked him to do so.¡±

    As soon as Hieronymus finished speaking, Marigiughed twice and said, ¡°Since this is Lord Davos'' arrangements, it seems that we don''t have to worry too much about the Syracusan fleet.¡±

    In the Senate, there are not a few statesmen like Marigi who blindly believes in Davos. However, after the disastrous defeat of the South Italian Alliance in Scylletium, Petaru, who has been in a daze for the past two days, felt sick seeing Marigi''s ttering appearance.

    He grunted a few times and then turned his gaze to Kaduk, who was also somewhat in a daze.

    ¡°Anyway, we will send someone to discuss with Roscianum and Heraclea about the recruitment of some sailors¡­¡± Cornelius stood up, and just as he was saying his suggestion, the door of the Senate hall was suddenly pushed open.

    The guard captain in charge of the Senate''s defence rushed in.

    Kunogta, the rotating chairperson, saw his flustered appearance, and he hurriedly asked, ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Milords, I just received an urgent report that Taranto captured Metapontum!¡±

    ¡°WHAT?!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Diaoms, the archon of Taranto, stood at the top of the city wall of Metapontum and watched with satisfaction as the Tarantine soldiers poured into the already opened gate and hanged the people of Metapontum who were still trying to resist¡­

    The Tarantine army''s attack was smooth as they quickly advanced to the square in the city¡¯s centre.

    The sound of fighting gradually became sparse in the ears of Diaoms.

    ¡°Hurry, hurry to the acropolis! Diaoms couldn''t wait to reap the fruits of victory.

    Diaoms went down the city wall, got on his horse and advanced forward with his entourage. The bodies of the people of Metapontum and the wounded struggling for help scattered everywhere in the street, but he disregarded them as if he didn''t see them, ¡®Since these descendants with Tarantine blood running in their veins have chosen to betray them, it''s just their delusion to get Taranto''s forgiveness.¡¯

    As soon as the Diaoms arrived at the square, his subordinates came to report the good news to him, ¡°We have taken the acropolis of Metapontum!¡±

    ¡°So fast?!¡± Although Diaoms was confident that the quality of Tarantine soldiers was much better than that of Metapontum, he still did not expect that the defence of Acropolis, the fortress at the core of a city-state, was so weak.

    ¡°Isalokas and the others persuaded the soldiers stationed in the city to surrender.¡± The man exined.

    ¡°So that''s what happened.¡± Diaoms'' doubts were cleared.

    After all, Metapontum was once the child of Taranto. Although the blood of both sides has weakened and their politics became independent after a hundred years of development, there are still many people of Metapontum that are close and admired the Tarantines as they were in an alliance and Taranto protecting them for many years. However, Taranto¡¯s reckless policy in the previous year had led to Metapontum¡¯s great losses and their insistence to still act recklessly made Metapontum join the Theonian Alliance, a much more powerful neighbour than Taranto, in order to avoid greater losses.

    And the more lenient policy of Theonia towards its allies reassured Metapontum, but this did not mean that they wouldpletely cut off their rtions with Taranto. On the contrary, once the crisis had passed, the people of Metapontum began to miss their mother-state again. In addition to the intentional advocacy of the pro-Tarantine faction led by Isalokas, the rtions between the two sides have recovered rapidly, and exchanges are increasing (there are still conflicts). After all, Metapontum is closer to Taranto, as evidenced by the simr number of pro-Theonian and pro-Tarantine factions elected to the archonship of Metapontum and the council each year.

    At every council meeting, the two factions often fiercely argue, where they would even sh on whether they should favour Theonia or Taranto. In fact, the strength of the pro-Theonian faction led by Taudeles has gotten weaker than that of the pro-Tarantine faction. After all, their time of being allied with Theonia is still short. Still, the rapid expansion of the Theonia Union gave them confidence so that every critical time, Isalokas and the others could only give way because they were afraid of provoking Theonia.

    The Theonian Senate was also well aware of the situation of Metapontum. But it is not easy for them to interfere in its internal affairs due to the alliance treaty they signed with Metapontum. Still, they firmly believe that as Theonia bes stronger, Metapontum will naturally get closer to them.

 Chapter 438: Heraclea in Danger

    But Davos and the Theonian Senate did not expect Dionysius had already long thought of using Taranto. With the rapid rise of Theonia in the past two years, the Tarantines became more and more frustrated, and their rejection of the Theonians increasingly got stronger. Therefore, Diaoms, a Tarantine citizen who had made a huge mistake, was still able to be re-elected as an archon.

    After receiving Dionysius'' guarantee, Diaoms and the Tarantine council secretly contacted the pro-Tarantines in their former allies while observing the war situation in Magna Graecia. After all, they had seen with their own eyes the strength of the Theonian army, and they did not dare to take any risks without certainty. It was not until the end of the Battle of Scylletium, and the news of ¡°Syracuse''s victory and the rapid capture of the cities of Scylletium and Terina¡± reached Taranto that the Tarantine council finally made up its mind.

    The process of their attack on Metapontum was actually very simple: Early in the morning, the Tarantine army stormed Metapontum, and the pro-Tarantine faction, who had bought over the city guards, had them secretly open the gates. Then they led the Tarantines to raid the pro-Theonian factions led by Taudeles. (Since Metapontum joined Theonia Alliance, Taudeles and the others were in control of the mobilisation of the army with the support of Theonia.)

    ¡°Strategos, congrattions on taking Metapontum!¡± Isalokas and his party came to congratte Diaoms.

    ¡°You are wrong. Taranto did not capture the city. It is just the people of Metapontum getting rid of Theonia''s control and returned to the embrace of their mother-state!¡± Diaoms, who had fallen in Taranto for several years, was obviously moreposed than before.

    ¡°Strategos, you are right! Metapontum is the child of Taranto. We believe in Poseidon and Phnthus and not Hades, so we should have been united!¡± Isalokas immediately interjected and expressed his thoughts.

    ¡°Lord Isalokas, the Tarantine council wants you to serve as the sole archon of Metapontum and lead your people together with Taranto to deal with the currentplex situation in Magna Graecia jointly!¡± In fact, the Tarantine council and Isalokas had already made an agreement before. And Diaoms just took this opportunity to publicly announce it as a demonstration of his support for Isalokas.

    ¡°I am grateful to the Tarantine council and strategos Diaoms for your trust! I will turn Metapontum into the most trusted ally of Taranto and restore peace to it!¡± Isalokas gave his promise.

    Diaoms nodded. He then said in amanding tone, ¡°Immediately prepare the offerings as I am going to the Acropolis to pray to Poseidon. Thank him for his help and ask for his forgiveness!¡±

    ¡°Immediately arrange it.¡± Isalokas then gave orders to the man next to him, who then rushed away.

    Isalokas turned around and said, ¡°There is one more thing that I hope you, milord, pay attention to; we didn''t catch Taudeles!¡±

    ¡°The traitor ran away?!¡± Diaoms frowned.

    ¡°He is very clever and has long been prepared. The first time you entered the city, he immediately led some people to run from the west gate. But because we only have a few people, we are unable to stop them at all. And my soldiers suffered a lot of casualties.¡± Isalokas said with sorrow.

    The others have also said that they did their best and showed Diaoms the injuries they sustained.

    ¡°Alright!¡± Diaoms interrupted them as their long-windedness would just annoy him, ¡°Taudeles couldn''t run away even if he ran west.¡±

    Diaoms sneered as the capture of Taudeles was just a trivial matter. He was more concerned about the progress of the troops led by Umakas.

    So he then said to Isalokas, ¡°I''ll leave some soldiers to help you stabilise the situation in Metapontum. Once Ie out of the Acropolis, I will immediately lead my army to Heraclea, and I will leave the task of transporting supplies and rations to you.¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, I will arrange it.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While they sneak attack into Metapontum, Taranto alsounched an attack on Heraclea.

    Since Heraclea is separated from Taranto by Metapontum onnd, the Tarantines can onlye from the sea to make a surprise attack. And once their insider inside Heraclea sees the Tarantine fleet¡¯snding, they would prepare to cooperate and open the gate for the attacking forces.

    However, since Davos sent a reminder, archon Teriphias of Heraclea has always been cautious about the east and repeatedly admonished the city and port guards to always be vignt. Therefore, when the Tarantine fleet quietly approached the coast of Heraclea under the early morning fog, the sentry on the port lighthouse of Heraclea found them in time.

    As a result, the rm of Heraclea sounded and the citizens immediately armed and strengthened the city''s defence.

    Heraclea is different from Metapontum. Because it was built decades ago and was far from Taranto, they are not as deeply influenced by Taranto as Metapontum. On the contrary, with their closer contact with their neighbour Theonia in recent years, and has been increasingly influenced by its culture and trade, the citizens preferred Theonia more and more. Therefore, the number of Tarantine insiders in the city was tiny, so how would they darepete with the soldiers? And when they saw that the city was heavily defended, they dared not move rashly. Rather, they immediately stopped and hid.

    Fortunately, they built Heraclea a bit strangely. It was located in the narrowest ce between the Agri River and the lower reaches of the Basento River. Therefore, the Tarantine army could notnd on the bank near the city as the narrow area would only make theirnding slow, and they could not fully deploy their troops. And if the Heracleans attacked decisively, the Tarantines who were still trying tond would be in big trouble. But if they were tond on the south coast of the Agri River, they would be likely attacked by not only Heraclea but even Theonia, so Umakas could only choose tond on the coast on the north side of the Basento River.

    Then the Tarantone soldiers began going ashore quickly¡­

    But as the Tarantine fleet entered the Basento River, the Heracleans did not dare send their troops across the river to attack the disembarking enemy.

    So Teriphias quickly decided to send people to burn the wooden bridge on the Basento river not far north of Heraclea. At the same time, he also sent a messenger to Thurii to ask Theonia for help. However, Heraclea could do nothing else beyond that but watch as Taranto''s troops assemble on the coast.

    By the time the Tarantine army arrived at the Basento River, the wooden bridge had already turned into charcoal.

    So Umakas could only order his troops to cooperate with the fleet and build a pontoon bridge.

    During this time, Teriphias decisively led his troops out of the city, attacked the ships with ming arrows, and interrupted the bridge construction of Taranto¡­

    Because of the attack of Heraclea, they managed to burn several transport ships of Taranto. Thus Umakas had nothing to do for a time and could only urge Diaoms'' troops toe as soon as possible¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    During this time, a minor incident urred.

    Taudeles fled westward with the remnant under the pursuit of the enemy, only to see the Tarantines disembarking from a distance.

    With an obstacle in front and pursuers in the back, the one following him were rmed and asked Taudeles what they should do.

    Taudeles had no time to think more, so he firmly said, ¡°Let''s run north!¡±

    ¡°There are the terrible Lucanians of Gguso in the north!¡± Someone eximed.

    ¡°Are they more terrifying than the Tarantines who wants our lives now?! Moreover, like us, they are allies of Theonia!¡± With that, Taudeles took the lead to run to the mountains in the north.

    At such a crisis, the others had no choice but to follow him across the mountains.

    They went all the way into Gguso''s territory, where the Lucanians surrounded them.

    After Taudeles made their purpose ining clear, the Lucanians of Gguso not only defeated the pursuers behind but also took them to their great chieftain.

    The great chieftain of Gguso is different from the great chieftains of the other Lucanian tribes, and that is, they were chosen not due to the strength of their tribes nor their political ability. Rather, they were chosen based on the ancient Lucanian tradition by winning through thepetition among the tribal chieftains. Thus the great chieftain, Kulom, is a young and strong man.

    After learning the whole story from Taudeles, he and the high priest of Gguso decided to settle these refugees of Metapontum in the valley for the time being and strictly ordered all the tribes not to hurt them.

    In the past, the people of Gguso were hostile to the people of Metapontum. However, recently, their rtionship gradually eased due to Theonia. But this time, they have a bigger change of attitude, not only because Gguso and Metapontum are allies of Theonia, but also because Gguso has just received news from Potentia that the Theonian army led by archon Davos had defeated the invading Samnites.

    For the Greeks, the Samnites were just another savage mountain race. But for the Lucanian tribes living in Gguso, they knew well this powerful neighbour in the north. After all, the Samnites were the ones to expel their ancestors who were living in Maloenton a hundred years ago.

    From generation to generation, the people of Gguso deeply feared the Samnites. So when they heard that nearly 50,000 Samnites invaded Potentia on arge scale, the first thought of the people of Gguso was to relocate again.

    Thus they kept paying attention to the movements of the Samnites. As a result, the people of Gguso were shocked after learning that the small Theonian army led by Davos had utterly defeated the Samnites.

 Chapter 439: Rescuing Heraclea

    Before, Gguso was only afraid of Theonia''s strength, but there is now a mix of respect and admiration. In their hearts, there is nothing frightening about Syracuse, and Theonia, who can defeat the powerful Samnites, is bound to win the final victory.

    Thus even without the request of the Theonians, Gguso took the initiative to attack Metapontum.

    The people of Metapontum had noticed that after joining the Theonian Alliance, the northern became peaceful. However, after they returned to Taranto, the northern region was once again ravaged by the people of Gguso. They then began regretting their choice, and theirints about the council formed by Isalokas and the Tarantines started to increase. Of course, this is something for the future.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At this time, the Heracleans urgently sent people to seek help from Thurii while they strengthened the city''s defence.

    After receiving Heraclea''s request for help, the Theonian Senate: Although they were shocked, they still made a quick decision and ordered the only legion left in the city of Thurii, which is the seventh legion, to rush to Heraclea for rescue.

    But now, with even the seventh legion being taken away, the strength of Thurii has been stretched to the extreme. Except for the naval fleet and the freemen in the port, Thurii no longer has decent defensive strength on the Sybaris in.

    Seeing the empty defence and theck of young adults and middle-aged in Thurii, it is not advisable to deploy the manpower left to form new troops as it wouldpletely paralyse the entire daily affairs of Thurii. Thus the Senate decided to form the eighth legion in the Bruttian region immediately and rushed to Thurii to defend the centre of the union.

    They soon passed the resolution.

    Petaru, Kaduk and Bodiam, who usually didn''t speak much in the Senate, took the initiative to go to the Bruttian region to conscript and form the troops.

    Kunogta, the rotating chairperson, declined politely on the grounds that ¡°Hieronymus was the best candidate as he was the one responsible for military training in various regions and knew well about the reserve soldiers in Bruttii.¡±

    And in order to not make these Bruttian statesmen dissatisfied, he specifically exined, ¡°Several lords, I think you should also know thatpared with the armies of other city-states, Theonia¡¯s way of mobilising citizens and forming legions is very different. Thus, only the Ministry of Military people can understand and implement it. Furthermore, there is also an explicit provision in the Theonian Law that only the Ministry of Military could form legions¡­¡±

    In the end, the several Bruttian statesmen could only sit down bitterly and murmured with discontent.

    With Hieronymus bing the only candidate to go to the Bruttian region and form a new legion, he temporarily transferred his work as the quartermaster to Mersis.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Even though the rivers and marshes in Heraclea dyed the marching speed of the troops led by Diaoms, he still managed to reach the northern bank of the Basento River and merge with Umakas'' troops bringing the total strength of Taranto to more than 15,000 men.

    After discussing a bit, Taranto once again divided their troops.

    Diaoms led 8,000 men to rush upstream along the Basento River in an attempt to cross the river from the shallow reach.

    Teriphias, standing at the top of the city wall, immediately understood the enemy''s n once he saw their troops.

    Even though their troops were far less than the other side, Teriphias still made a decisive decision and sent more than 3,000 mixed troops of light and heavy infantry to follow the Tarantines on the other stop and stop them from crossing the river.

    This forced Diaoms to proceed cautiously upstream where the water was shallower and the river narrower while also choosing to wade longer sections of the river to avoid getting intercepted by the Heracleans.

    The Heraclean region is, after all, a small in formed by several rivers with its t terrain. However, since it is now the dry season, Diaoms quickly found a suitable location.

    Diaoms began making his troops line up along the river in a formation about a half-kilometre long. At the sound of the salpinx, they wade across the river together.

    Faced with such an attacking formation, the Heracleans did not dare to fight them head-on as their aim was only to dy the Tarantines. Thus they only threw their javelins and fired arrows at the Tarantines, which, together with the silt at the bottom of the river trapping the Tarantines feet, causing some confusion and casualties.

    But by the time the Tarantines got to the other side, the Heracleans had long fled away.

    Diaoms then reorganised his troops and prepared to march eastward. He needed to rush to Heraclea as soon as possible and burn down the bridge on the Agri River not far from the south of the city, cutting off the quickest way for the Theonians to reinforce Heraclea. Afterwards, they would build a pontoon bridge on both sides of the Basento River to meet with Umakas'' troops crossing the river and besiege Heraclea.

    But just then, several Tarantine cavalries rushed across the Basento River and told Diaoms that Theonia''s reinforcements had arrived at the pontoon bridge on the south side of the Agri River.

    Diaoms was surprised, ¡®How could Theonia''s reinforcementse so fast?!¡¯

    Of course, he did not know that the main road connecting Heraclea and Thurii made it only take Heraclea''s messenger to reach the city of Thurii in just more than an hour. And it only took the Theonian Senate an hour to make a quick decision, assemble the seventh legion at the naval base and then set out.

    It had even included the dy due to Seclian''s obstruction, where he even went to the Senate to protest as he was already angry enough when they sent the new legion to Krimisa. Unexpectedly, just one dayter, even the only legion left participating in the training was also transferred, wasting Seclian''s more than ten days of effort in training them. Furthermore, he also wanted to lead the fleet to defeat the Syracusan navy with the new tactics, giving the people of Theonia a great surprise and proving himself. But now, even the infantries on the warship are gone, turning his great idea into nothing.

    Even though Seclian''s anger could be imagined, the decision of the Senate can not be changed by a young strategos who is not even a statesman.

    But what Kunogta and the others thought was that whether the navy would go to war or not wasn¡¯t the main issue, as they were unlikely to be a match for the mighty Syracusan fleet anyway. At most, their maritime route would just be blocked. But once Taranto captured Heraclea, it would allow their armies to set foot in Amendra''s territory, which would be a disaster for Theonia, which was now fully engaged in the war to the south!

    Thus Kunogta first criticised his shortsightedness and disregard for the overall situation. He thenforted him, ¡°Lord Davos will soon lead back the army, so your naval fleet won''tck the infantry''s support¡­¡±

    Hence Seclian could only return with resentment. He was still notpletelye out of the joy of being promoted to his position as a navarch a few months ago, but after this time, he realised that his words had no weight in the Senate¡­

    After the assembly of the seventh legion, the legatus immediately ordered the troops to march forward.

    The legatus of the army was none other than Matonis, the patrol captain of Thurii.

    Before Davos led his army to Potentia, Philesius once asked him who the legatus of the newly formed legion would be.

    After much consideration, Davos decided to let Matonis and Olivos serve as the legatus. First of all, they have served as senior centurions for many years. They not only have rich experience on the battlefield but also inmandingrge forces. Second, both of them have important positions: One is the patrol captain of Thurii, and the other is the adjutant of the quartermaster of the Ministry of Military. And due to the newly built legion was just to defend Thurii, they could still do their jobs. And even though they might cancel the two newly-built legions after the war, it would be much easier to promote them as formal legatus of the army afterwards.

    It can be said that Davos thoughtfully considered them both, but neither of them is willing to ept it, especially Matonis, who doesn''t want to have it easy in the rear while hisrades fight hard in the front line.

    However, even though Davos treated hisrades closely, this time, he didn''t even try to persuade them and just forced them to ept the mandatory order. Fortunately, they could now fight. Olivos led the sixth legion to Krimisa while Matonis led the seventh legion to rescue Heraclea.

    Matonis, who held his grievances for long as he didn''t have any ce to vent. Therefore, as soon as he received the order, he not only urged the troops to speed up but also ran at the front of the group without riding his horse. With his example, the seventh legion naturally marched much faster, only taking them nearly three hours to reach the pontoon bridge on the Agri River.

    But this new legion was notplete as they stillcked cavalries, reconnaissance and engineering brigades. Furthermore, since most of the soldiers are preparatory citizens and registered freemen, they don''t have the money to buy aplete set of new legionary equipment. For this reason, some heavy infantry brigades looked like light-armoured brigades with their iplete weapons and equipment. And since they set out in a hurry, they didn''t even bring physicians and logistics.

    The Tarantine ships in the river repeatedly tried to destroy the pontoon bridge on the Agri River but kept failing because of the Heraclean soldiers and the escort of ships'' defence. On the contrary, they manage to burn two Tarantine ships with their ming arrows, forcing the two ships to moor at the estuary of the Agri River. But this just allowed them to witness the arrival of Theonian reinforcements. Hence, they immediately sent someone to the north bank of the Basento River to report to Umakas, which led to the cavalry rushing to Diaoms to report.

    Because the Tarantine did not act decisively and marched quickly enough, coupled with the poornd conditions between Metapontum and Heracleapared with the road of Theonia), in addition to the efforts of the Heracleans, this had allowed the Theonians to take the lead in this marchingpetition.

    Diaoms had witnessed the fierce fighting ability of the Theonian army, so he became more cautious and could not advance rashly now that the Theonians hade. Thus he ordered his army to stop at the south bank of the Basento River, informed Umakas to build a pontoon bridge on the north bank, and then led the army across the river to join forces again. He would then wait, and only after he understood the situation of Heraclea would he take further action.

    Although Matonis likes to fight, he is not reckless. So when the seventh legion arrived at Heraclea, he had made the soldiers go to the city first to rest as they were already exhausted.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the other hand, Olivos led the sixth legion to Krimisa.

    The current Praetor of Krimisa is Protesus, who took his post for only less than a year. Scambras, who was at the end of his term, was the one to rmend him and was supported by Davos. At this moment, he led the officials of Krimisa to meet Olivos outside the city.

 Chapter 440: Shocking Change

    Due to Olivos'' yful personality and is good at making friends, even though he wasn''t a statesman, he still had contact with Protesus during their stay in Amendra, so the two were quite familiar with each other.

    ¡°Wee, legatus Olivos! You and your soldiers¡¯ arrival has reassured the people of Krimisa!¡± Protesus sincerely said.

    ¡°Lord Protesus, the sixth legion was ordered to defend Krimisa this time, but we still have to rely on your full support to resist those hateful Syracusans!¡± Olivos sincerely said as well.

    ¡°For me and my subordinates, it is the most important task to support you in defending Krimisa fully. Tonight, I prepared a banquet for you at my residence so that we could eat while we talked and meet the officials of Krimisa at the same time¡­¡± Protesus eased a bit after seeing Olivos'' gentle attitude. After all, this was the first time he cooperated with the army.

    ¡°The banquet is unnecessary as I cannot vite the Theonian Military Law. However, I would be happy to discuss with you in detail how we should defend Krimisa¡­¡± Olivos said while scrutinising the city of Krimisa in front of him. Since the second war with Crotone, this was the first time he came to this city on the southern border of Theonia. It seems that Scambras and Protesus were not idle during their terms in recent years, as the city wall has not only thickened but also increased by at least two metres. (mainly to defend against the Crotonians at the beginning.)

    ¡°Your camp is ready at the square. And even though the Ministry of Military of Thurii were supplying the sixth legion with your rations, the Krimisian city hall would still try its best to provide you with some fresh meat, fish and vegetables¡­to improve your diet¡­¡± Protesus led Olivos into the city while introducing some of the preparations Krimsia made.

    As he listened carefully, Olivos could see that Protesus had fully prepared for the entry of the sixth legion, which made him satisfied.

    But just after entering the gate, he heard a loud noise ahead.

    ¡°These soldiers are not allowed to enter the city! They will only bring war and death!!¡±

    ¡°Thurians, get out! Krimisa does not wee you. Get out!¡±

    ¡°You executioners, give back the lives of our loved ones!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Hearing this, Olivos'' expression suddenly changed. He turned his head and asked, ¡°Lord Protesus, what''s going on?!¡±

    Protesus'' expression also changed, and when he was about to exin¡­

    At this time, the leader of the first brigade who had entered the city hurriedly came over and said, ¡°Legatus, many Krimisians are blocking the streets in front of us, stopping us from entering the city!¡±

    ¡°It''s those guys again!¡± Protesus became angry. He sighed and exined, ¡°During the case of Pollux and the lord archon¡¯s attempted assassination, which involved many Krimisian citizens, and the union had severely punished some of them. Now with the invasion of Syracuse on Magna Gracia and the defeat of the allied troops in Scylletium, some families of those citizens began protesting in front of the city hall in the past two days, asking for their loved ones to be released¡­.but I didn''t expect¡­that they would even dare stop the army from entering the city!¡±

    Compared with the worries of Protesus, Olivos, who had fought for many years, was much more decisive and vignt. So he loudly reminded Protesus, ¡°You should immediately send troops to capture these people!¡±

    ¡°That''s not possible! They are all citizens of Krimisa!¡± Protesus shook his head.

    ¡°Now that the union is in crisis, they still dare to obstruct the army from entering the city! This is treason, and we must severely punish them! And since this is happening now, I suspect that there must be an enemy directing this! Syracuse is about to attack Krimisa, and if the city is still chaotic, it will only bring us disaster! Therefore I suggest that we put the city of Krimisa under military control!¡±

    ¡°Military control?!¡± Protesus looked at Olivos in surprise.

    Olivos looked at him with seriousness, ¡°If we don''t strictly control Krimisa, these scattered and hostile Krimisians may quietly open the city gate once the Syracusan army arrives, weing them while we don''t pay attention and turning us all into ves of Dionysius!¡±

    These words reminded Protesus of his tragic days when the Lucanians imprisoned him in Amendra. He shivered uncontrobly and said with hesitation, ¡°Alright¡­alright, but I hope that the people of Krimisa will not be hurt¡­¡±

    After obtaining Protesus'' consent, Olivos immediately issued an order. And no matter how they cried, the first brigade quickly surrounded these troublemakers and detained them.

    Afterwards, the sixth legion was able to enter the city smoothly.

    Soon after, the city hall issued a notice that the whole city would be under military control, and everyone was forbidden to enter and exit the port and gates at will. At the same time, they temporarily moved the residents outside the city inside in response to the uing war.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The situation on the northeastern border of Theonia has not only shocked the Amendrans but has also rmed the Thurians. With the war approaching the core of Theonia, it awakened the painful memories of the war that destroyed their homes a few years ago. However, they now face a more powerful enemy that Theonia could only defend but not fight back. Such a stifling situation made the Theonians start worrying as they looked forward to the early return of their archon, Davos. And the oracle of Hades began taking roots in the hearts of the people.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    That night, a sound of hasty knocking sounded at the house* of Aristias, the intelligence officer of Davos. (located near the port in the city and the Theonian arena, which is the famous entertainment district in Thurii.)

    Before his ve could open the door, the alert Aristias had already dressed and got up.

    The one who came in was Teratus, and as soon as he saw Aristias, he hurriedly said, ¡°Sir, our people saw Petaru, Kadukm Bodiam and their followers sneaking out of the city one after another!¡±

    Aristias was surprised and asked in a deep voice, ¡°Didn''t the city guard stop them?¡±

    ¡°With patrol captain Matonis going to Heraclea and the other party being a statesman, who gone out from the east, west and north gates respectively, it didn''t arouse much doubt. Thus the city guard did not dare to stop them.¡± Teratus said helplessly.

    After Davos left with his army, the current political structure of Theonia showed numerous holes as the war continued and intensified.

    Although some statesmen proposed to impose martialw on the whole city of Thurii during a war to prevent idents, it was not adopted because some believed that such an approach interferes too much with the citizens¡¯ freedom. After all, Thurii is far from the battlefield, so there is no need to make the air so tense.

    Although the case of Pollux made Davos give the inspector more power to strengthen the management of the statesmen and set up the tribunus plebis to supervise the top to bottom officials, it has just been implemented after all. So even if some statesmen have no real power, their status alone is very noble. Therefore, once Davos is away, ordinary people wouldn''t dare to supervise them.

    Aristias didn''t think much about it as he became tense: After the assassination attempt, Davos asked him to strengthen the monitoring of the various cities of Theonia that he invested more money and manpower into the intelligence department he was in charge of. So after discovering the war, he even asked his men to cooperate with the patrol captain of the cities to ensure the stability of the various cities and prevent idents.

    Some time ago, these three Bruttian statesmen, Petaru, Kaduk and Bodiam, who were involved in the case of Pollux and had even supported his proposal, had beenining about some of Theonianws. Although nothing happened in the end, Aristias still paid close attention to them.

    During the outbreak of the war, the three had several private gatherings, making Aristias even more vignt. Unfortunately, he was caught unprepared due to the sudden defeat of the alliance and the invasion of Taranto, leading to the departure of Matonis at such a critical moment. After all, the intelligence department he led was only the private organisation of Davos, without any public power. Thus it is even more impossible for them to prevent the high-ranking Theonian statesmen from leaving¡­

    Thinking of this, Aristias further asked, ¡°Are you sure they are heading to Bruttii?¡±

    But his only hope was soon broken by the words of Teratus, ¡°My men saw with their own eyes that they had crossed the wooden bridge to Besidice one after another.¡±

    Yet Teratus'' following words made him feel a bit relieved, ¡°However, I immediately sent someone to go to the city of Besidice after they left. So once he confirmed Petaru''s route, he would immediately ride to Consentia and inform Lord Hielos.¡±

    Aristias didn''t mind his subordinates having their own ideas as what he cared more about was whether they could ry this report. Although there are already roads from Thurii to Besidice and then to Consentia, it is still dangerous to ride a horse in the dark, galloping between the teau and the mountains.

    ¡°Who did you send?¡± Aristias asked with concern.

    ¡°Adepiges.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that sharp fellow.¡± Aristias rxed a bit.

    Adepiges, who was once insulted as a ¡°hybrid of Bruttian and Greeks¡±, had apanied Androlis as envoy to Consentia and followed the Theonian legion to conquer Brutii as one of their guides. Hence, his identity and his ability in these two operations made Aristias look for him. In the following years, Davos promoted him to the position of intelligence officer of the Bruttian region after making great achievements in building the Bruttian intelligencework, stopping the first signs of rebellion and stabilising the Bruttian region.

 Chapter 441: Conspiracy and Decisiveness

    This time, Adipiges came from Consentia to specially report to Aristias that the soldiers of the fifth legion freed by Dionysius after the defeat of the battle of Aro River were causing some problems in the Bruttian region, hoping he could arouse the Senate''s vignce. However, he didn¡¯t even expect to run into this matter. As a ve, he was used to grazing animals, so he had excellent riding skills and was familiar with the terrain of the Consentian teau, allowing him to ride on a long-distance even in the dark.

    After understanding the whole story, Aristias knew that the matter was crucial and did not dare to ignore it, so he immediately made a decision, ¡°Come, you and I will go to see Lord Marigi immediately!¡±

    Why would they go to Marigi, the Chief Commercial Officer, instead of Sesta, the grand inspector who had the power to punish the statesmen who left without permission, or Kunogta, who was temporarily responsible for the management of the whole Theonia?

    It''s because Marigi is the confidant of Lord Davos and is familiar with the intelligence department that Aristias was in charge of. On the other hand, Aristias could obviously feel Kunogta''s dislike of him when he met him several times. As for Sesta, he wasn''t familiar with him and was afraid to dy the time.

    After hearing the rming news, Marigi went to see Sesta without any hesitation, and Sesta immediately sent someone to check these statesmen''s residence. As they had expected, their residence waspletely empty.

    They then immediately went to Kunogta''s residence.

    Although it was still notte at night, Kunogta is after old, so he has long been asleep. After being woken up, he was still a bit sleepy, but when he heard Sesta say, ¡°Petaru, Bodiam and Kaduk left Thurii without authorisation and went quietly to Brutti, and they might cause chaos!¡± His sleepiness haspletely disappeared.

    ¡°Whether they left due to an emergency in the tribe or other reasons, but without the approval of the Senate, unauthorised departure is a vition of Theonia Union''s Law!¡± Even though Kunogta spoke gently, it still could not hide his anxiety, ¡°Immediately send cavalries to the Bruttian area to see if you can capture them! If you can''t catch up with them, immediately go to Consentia and inform Hielos to intensify their vignce and search and to ¡®look after'' them as soon as they are found.¡±

    At this time, there were only 500 cavalries left in the city, but they were all citizens and were not armed, so they had to go to their houses one after another and wake them up at thiste hour. Therefore, Kunogta reminded, ¡°Don''t make loud noises when you gather the cavalries, so as not to cause the people to panic!¡±

    ¡°What if the cavalries catch up with them, and they resist?¡± Sesta coldly asked.

    ¡°It''s better not to hurt them, but if there is no other way¡­but you must never-¡± As soon Kunogta''s words left his mouth, Sesta had already strode outside.

    ¡°One thing I forgot to say¡­ Aristias had already sent someone to rush to Consentia and inform Hielos.¡± Marigi interjected in time to show the merit of Davos'' intelligence officer.

    ¡°Oh, really?!¡± This is really an unexpected surprise for Kunogta. He then quickly looked at Aristias, who was standing in the corner of the room.

    ¡°The situation was urgent at that time, so I decided without authorisation in order to alert Praetor Hielos of Consentia. My subordinate is now on his way to Consentia, but now that it is dark and the roads are difficult to traverse, I just hope that he could get to Consentia before Petaru and the others.¡± Aristias exined.

    Because of his previous prejudice, Kunogta was unable to praise the leader of the intelligence department. So he just nodded and then said to Marigi, ¡°Although it iste now, we must inform the other statesmen and tell them what happened tonight so that they could be mentally prepared. Thus Lord Marigi, I hope you can go and have theme to me.¡± Kunogta tried to remedy the situation to avoid them saying that he was a dictator and to give Davos an exnation.

    ¡°Alright!¡± Marigi simply replied, turned around and left.

    Aristias was about to follow him out when Kunogta stopped him, ¡°You stay.¡±

    Aristias was surprised to see Kunogtae close to him and asked, ¡°What''s your name?¡±

    ¡°Aristias.¡±

    ¡°Aristias, you have done a great job!¡± Kunogta said solemnly and continued, ¡°I know that you are the eyes of Lord Davos. But now, the situation in Theonia is bad, and I hope that you can do me a favour.¡±

    ¡°As a Theonian citizen, contributing to the union is my duty.¡± Aristias immediately replied.

    ¡°Before lord Davoses back, I want you to send someone to pay attention to the movements of the other Bruttian statesmen in the Senate and immediately let me know if there are any abnormalities. And I will exin it to Davos once he returns.¡± Said Kunogta as he looked at him.

    Aristias hesitated for a moment, nodded reluctantly and said, ¡°Lord Kunogta, I''ll keep you updated every day.¡±

    Just aftering out of Kunogta''s residence, Aristias waved his fist and smiled: In the past, he could only do things covertly, and some statesmen were disgusted at him. But this time, he was recognised by Kunogta, an important figure among the statesmen, which can be said to be a big step for the Intelligence Department.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the road leading to Consentia, dozens of people, including Bodiam, Petaru and Kaduk, held up torches as they galloped.

    Beyond their torches¡¯ range was just dark wilderness where they could only hear the strong mountain wind sweeping across the unobstructed teau, emitting a harsh whistling sound as if women were crying¡­

    Petaru wrapped his leather robe tighter around him. On this terrible winter night, he felt cold not only in his body but also in his heart: Petaru had already made up his mind to break away from the Theonia Union, but when he really acted, the only thing he could think of was what would the fate of him and his tribe. However, he had no way to find out, just like the pitch dark road in front of him.

    ¡°Listen, what is that sound?!¡± Kaduk suddenly shouted.

    ¡°It''s a wolf'' bark!¡± Someone recognised it and loudly reminded, ¡°Be careful. There are wolves ahead!¡±

    The crowd gathered in a hurry and dared not disperse. It''s a headache to meet a wolf in the wilderness, especially at night.

    Everyone continued to advance carefully.

    Before long, they saw five wolves gnawing at something by the road, so they immediately used their torches, spears and short swords to disperse these green-eyed and sniggering wolves. However, they didn''t go far and lingered around.

    ¡°It''s a dead horse!¡± They immediately saw what the wolf was eating.

    ¡°It should not be long after it died.¡± After hearing his tribesmen'' words, Bodiam''s expression became grave, ¡°t seems that someone rode through here not long ago.¡±

    Petaru''s heart jolted, and hisplexion became ugly, ¡°It is likely that someone found out our action and rode through here to report to Consentia!¡±

    ¡°We moved so covertly that no one should know it in advance, and the fastest way to Consentia is through here. Thus even if they were to found out, they could not have bypassed us. This time, it is just a coincidence. Someone''s stable must have been left open, which caused the horse to sneak out but was killed by those wolves¡­¡± Kaduk retorted.

    ¡°But this is not a Bruttian horse.¡± Bodiam, who was inspecting the horse''s body, reminded everyone, ¡°The skeleton of the horse on the ground isrgepared to the short Bruttian horse.¡±

    ¡°You don''t know that there are now many tribes on the Consentian teau which are also raising horses from other ces?¡± Kaduk once again retorted.

    ¡°Stop arguing. No matter where the horse came from, we must be vignt.¡± Petaru hurriedly mediated and continued, ¡°I decided to go to my original tribe on the south of Cosentia first. (as one of the main initiators of the Bruttian war and an aplice of Pian''s tribe ¨C Petaru''s tribe was divided after the war, one was near Consentia while the others were moved to the edge of the territory near mpetia.)¡±

    ¡°I have to go back to Consentia.¡± Said Kaduk as well. Back then, as the one who opened the city gate and led the Theonian into the inner part of Consentia, Theonia rewarded him and allowed his tribe to be intact and not relocated. Therefore, his tribe was now dominant among the many small tribes in Consentia.

    ¡°Take care of yourself.¡± That was all Petaru could say because if Kaduk did not sneak back into his tribe and take enough warriors, it would not help their rebellion. Hence he put aside his old grudge and was willing to join forces with him.

    ¡°After you convince your tribes, don''t forget to lead them to Anbania as soon as possible! After all, only when we are together can we be strong that the Theonians wouldn''t dare to invade us easily and allow us to have enough time to make more choices!¡± Bodiam reminded them.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After Bruttii¡¯s integration into Theonia, significant changes have taken ce in the city of Consentia.

    The inner part of the city was the administrative area, mainly including the city hall, the council hall, the court, the temple, the square and the Military Department. On the other hand, the Praetor and the officials¡¯ residence were also located next to the square.

    The main role of the council hall was mainly for the Praetor of Consentia to consult the chieftains of the Bruttian tribes regarding some management matters in the Bruttian region. From this point of view, while the other Greek cities were still preparing for the local councils, Consentia had long been doing a simr mechanism. Of course, this has to do with the tribal-based existence of the Bruttii region, where Lucania¡¯s Grumentum practised a simr system.

    Speaking of the courts within the city of Consentia, the Theonian Law states that the tribe can punish their tribesmen for breaking thew ording to their tribal rules, but if the tribesmen disagree with the result, they can appeal to the Consentian court, where the judge will conduct another trial ording to the Theonian citizenshipw and eventually negotiate a settlement with the tribal chieftains. Since the tribes often act in the interests of the tribe as a whole or the chieftain, most offenders disagree with the sentences they handed down and turn to the Consentian court. Although this makes the judges'' work increasingly busy and the number of courts increases from the initial one to five, its impartiality has been recognised by the Bruttians more and more.

 Chapter 442: Entrapment

    That was also one of the reasons why Bodiam and Petaru are rebelling: The Theonian court is more popr in Bruttii, almost leading to the disappearance of the tribal chieftain''s authority and may lead to the disintegration of the tribe.

    On the other hand, besides the Temple of Hades and Hera, there are other temples in Consentia, such as the temples of the goddess Maara, Brutus ¨C the protector of the Bruttians, and Heracles. Thus whenever there is a celebration, the Praetor ¨C whether he believes in that god and goddesses or not, must offer a ceremony in these temples to show respect, which was a strict rule made by the Senate for the praetors. For example, there is also a Temple of Asinu, the god of Lucania, in Grumentum.

    There is also a training camp outside the city of Consentia, while the Military Department in the inner city was mainly to check and register the people of each tribe who can fight. Inspect their weapons and equipment, notify and urge the Bruttians on the roster to participate in the training, check and count their achievements, and cooperate with the city hall to give them rewards, such asnd.

    This department also has to perform some confidential tasks, such as understanding the strength and growth of the various tribes and secretly encouraging those tribesmen to stand on their own, which is another important reason for Petaru''s dissatisfaction.

    The outside of the city was originally where the great chieftain of Consentia ¨C Pian, forcibly relocated the small tribes of Bruttii. But after Theonia took over the city, the small tribes were divided into their own rule and settled outside the city. Besides acting as a barrier to protect the periphery of Consentia, they also fend off the harassment of wild animals, such as wolves, to the city at night, bringing peace to Consentia.

    And now, the outside of the city has thergest livestock trading market in the whole of Magna Graecia, where not only merchants from within the Uniones, but even the Scylletians, Terinians, and Crotonians would go out of their way just to buy here as the prices of the Bruttian horses and other livestock were a bit cheaper than the big market in Thurii.

    The arena is also located here, where rugby, football and horse races are often held, and the Bruttians are no less obsessed with these games than the Thurians as they could even vent their normally repressed wildness on and off the field.

    A theatre was also built outside the city, but the Bruttians was less interested in it than the arena. You could even describe it as bleak for a while. However, those who dared to open these theatres in Consentia were very smart and soon found that the Bruttians were not interested in irony, humour, wisdom and human destiny of the Greek drama, but in the stories of the Greek gods, especially the adventures of Heracles, a mighty god, who used his courage and wisdom to constantly defeat powerful enemies and taking countless beautiful women, which were much more attractive to the Bruttians. After all, they are descendants of Heracles in the Bruttian legends. Hence, the theatre owners began to stage many stories regarding the Greek gods, developing numerous fans of the y with their simplenguage and dramatic storylines and giving the Bruttians an understanding of the Greek culture and traditions.

    The school was also located outside the city. Initially, it was as unpopr as the theatre when it was established but has now be quite popr due to the increasing number of independent Bruttians. Consentia has allowed Bruttians who have left their tribes to live in the outer area, purchasingnd at a low cost and even allowing them to rent with the repayment period of up to ten years. Due to this, more and more Bruttians broke away from their tribes, and most chose to live in Consentia because it was the centre of the Bruttian region. And the increase of poption in Consentia''s urban area, in turn, contributed to the prosperity of the city. After the independent Bruttians opened their eyes, it was only natural for them to go to school in order to make a better development for themselves and their children.

    Now the outer area of Consentia was almost filled with Bruttians, with the inns and restaurants arepletely filled with customers every day. The Praetor of Consentia had even proposed to the Senate for the city of Consentia¡¯s continuous expansion outward.

    Different from the expansion of Thurii, the expansion of Consentia means that the more Bruttian poption under the direct management of its city hall, the more stable the Bruttian region would be. After all, half of the soldiers of the fifth legion came from the various tribe, while the other half came exclusively from the Bruttians under Consentia.

    This is also another main reason for the rebellion of Bodiam, Petaru and Kaduk. For the tribe, their tribe members are like water; with abundant water, the tribe can have a good harvest, but with Theonia secretly pumping away the water, the farm could only wither. So how could Petaru wait for their death?!

    And it is precisely because the Theonian Senate moved the various tribes out of the city that Kaduk dared to sneak back to Consentia as he didn''t have to risk being investigated by the city guards.

    Kaduk''s tribe¡¯s location was on the Crati River near the city of Consentia.

    It is and abundant in water and grasses, a reward given by Davos to Kaduk. With the Bruttian region achieving peace and unity, there is no longer a need for wooden walls, fences around the tribal settlement and someone to watch at night. Only the hounds are left outside the huts to watch out for wild animals trying to take their livestock.

    Kaduk, who returned here several times a year, was surprised and relieved to see that the usually scattered hounds were not around.

    With his men in tow, he got around one of the thatched huts and walked towards thergest courtyard in the centre.

    ¡°Knock! Knock! Knock!¡­¡±

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    ¡°Open the door. The great chieftain is back!¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°Open the door. It¡¯s me! Kaduk!¡±

    Perhaps after he heard a familiar voice, the one in the courtyard opened a crack in the door, held up an oilmp to look outside, and hurriedly opened the door.

    ¡°Great chieftain, why have you returned at this time?!¡±

    Kaduk went straight in without answering him.

    After his men came inside, they hurriedly closed the door, stood around the yard, and looked around with vignce.

    ¡°Where is Vito?¡± But no sooner had Kaduk uttered this sentence, a surprised voice sounded in front of him, ¡°Great chieftain, you are back! Why did you not inform me in advance so that I could send someone to greet you?¡±

    Vito stepped out of the living room with a surprised look on his face.

    After saying that, he lit the fire pit in the centre, brightening the whole courtyard.

    Kaduk frowned at the excited Vito, ¡°Keep your voice down! Go and call Daru, Girian and Kerak, as I have something important to say!¡± Kaduk said in a serious tone. He had appointed Vito, who was famous, gentle andck of courage among his men, as the tribe''s chieftain so that he wouldn¡¯t lose control of the tribe while he was far away from Consentia living in Thurii, serving as a statesman. At the same time, he appointed three loyal chieftains to assist Vito in managing the tribes, and if there are any important matters to be discussed, the four of them will make the decisions. But in fact, it is often difficult for the four to reach an agreement, so they have to send someone to Thurii to ask him to make the final decision. That is why even though he is far away in Thurii, he still controls the tribe.

    ¡°It''s already sote. What are you going to discuss with them anyway?¡± Vito was puzzled but also a bit reluctant.

    ¡°Go and call them! Why do you need to ask so many questions!¡± Kaduk became a bit impatient.

    ¡°Tarik, quickly call all three of them.¡± Vito could only helpless give the order to his subordinate.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Tarik immediately carried the oilmp and was about to go out ¨C

    ¡°You go with him.¡± Kaduk said, pointing to one of his followers, who was still on guard at the moment.

    The two then opened the gate and went out while Kaduk led Vito into the meeting room.

    ¡°Great chieftain, what''s the important thing that happened?¡± Vito asked suspiciously.

    Kaduk looked at him and said, ¡°We must lead our people out of here before tomorrow morning!¡±

    ¡°Why?!¡± Vito was startled.

    ¡°Because the Syracusans areing! Now the Theonia Union is almost finished! For the survival of our tribe, we must hurry to join Syracuse!¡± Kaduk tried to look grave, but his voice seemed too exaggerated.

    ¡°¡­we¡­are we going to betray Theonia?¡­¡± Vito''s expression drastically changed as he trembling said.

    ¡°WHAT BETRAYAL?!¡± Kaduk immediately became furious, ¡°This is Bruttii, the ce where our ancestors lived for generations! The Theonians forcibly upied this ce by force and took away our freedom! Now, we will just break away from Theonia''s control, but once Syracusepletely defeats Theonia, we will take thisnd back!¡± Kaduk swung his fist and said in a tone filled with hatred. Over the past few years, the repressed life in Thurii had made him angry. At this moment, the light from the brazier reflected on his angry and twisted face, which looked ferocious and terrifying.

    ¡°Defection is defection, and the severest punishment under the Theonian Law is death!¡± A voice rang out abruptly at the back of the meeting room. Then the light from the brazier cast a figure on the wall.

    Kaduk became shocked when he heard these words and subconsciously stared at Vito. But this short and fat old man actually moved away from Kaduk with unprecedented swiftness.

    In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen men poured out of the room. Then the man at the front had his face illuminated ¨C it was Hielos.

    ¡°Run, there is an ambush!¡± Kaduk was shocked. He immediately turned and ran back while he loudly reminded his men.

    However, the door was pushed open. Then heavily armed soldiers rushed in.

    ¡°Take them all!¡± Hielos coldly ordered.

    Soon, Kaduk and his men were captured.

    ¡°Hielos¡­I¡­I rushed back to deal with the tribe''s urgent matters, but you broke into my tribe''s meeting room without any reason, wounded my men, and tied me up¡­quickly¡­release me! Otherwise, I will charge¡­charge you for your crime to the Senate! Which¡­would rm my people, and once they see how you treat their chieftain, they will certainly cause a riot. And once there is a huge riot, I am afraid that the position of the Praetor of Consentia that you just got will be taken back by the Senate! Release me, and we will talk it over.¡± Although Kaduk had his hands tied behind his back and pinned to the ground, he still tried making threats stubbornly.

    ¡°If you have any grievance, wait until you are escorted back to the Senate toin.¡± Said Hielos as he didn''t want to speak with him anymore. He then turned to Vito and said, ¡°I will report your merits to the Senate, but your primary task now is to stabilise your entire tribe. There must not be any unrest, and I will also send someone to assist you to stabilise the situation. At the same time, the Senate will pay attention to your performance and decide whether to let you seed in this traitor as a statesman of the Senate. Work hard.¡±

 Chapter 443: Pacifying the Chaos

    ¡°Rest assured Lord Hielos; I will make sure the people of the tribe will be loyal to the union, satisfying you and the Senate!¡± The excited Vito immediately expressed his stance to Hielos.

    ¡°Vito, you traitor!¡± Kaduk''s eye widened with anger, wishing he could eat this old man, who he had trusted, alive.

    ¡°You are the traitor, the traitor to our Theonia! Our tribesmen are happy and enjoying their stable life under the rule of the union, yet you want to push us into war!¡± Vito pointed at him and scolded him.

    ¡°Shut his mouth!¡± At Hielos'' warning, the soldiers gagged Kaduk, who was still trying to shout. His anger and fear could only turn into a muffled sound¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Hielos returned to the inner part of the city just in time to meet the cavalries that had arrived from Thurii under the starry night. Even though they didn''t manage to catch up with Petaru, they still managed to bring the Senate''s order. With Hielos already taking action, the Senate''s order just became a confirmation for his action.

    Adepiges then greeted Hielos, who came to the city hall. He then asked, ¡°Have you caught them?¡±

    ¡°We captured Kaduk.¡± Hielos then continued with gratitude, ¡°Thank you for risking your life to bring this report!¡±

    It is, after all, a taboo to travel at night in the Bruttian region, let alone riding on a horse. Although falling is already terrifying, the wild animals roaming in the wilderness are much more frightening. Fully aware of this situation, Adepiges borrowed another horse from Besidice to prevent idents and galloped towards Consentia with the two horses, which indeed happened while he was in the middle of his journey; one of the horses sprained its front hoof, so he immediately changed horses and drove the wounded horse away from the road (whoter returned and was then eaten by the wolves, alerting Petaru and the others), and finally brought back the news to Hielos.

    After hearing Hielos'' praise, Adepiges did not show a trace of pride as he was no longer the humble ve at the start but the intelligence officer arranged by Davos in the Bruttian region. Even the several Praetors in the cities of Bruttii have to rely on his intelligence in order to be informed of the tribal movements in the region and take precautions to ensure that there is no trouble in this area. Hence they didn''t dare to underestimate him, let alone him having Davos behind him.

    ¡°Did Hegasitus came back?¡± Asked Hielos.

    ¡°I haven''t heard anything from him yet.¡± Replied Adepiges.

    Hegasitus was the chieftain of the Siro tribe''s survivors. After Theonia conquered Bruttii, Davos settled the Siro tribe near Consentia and appointed Hegasitus as its inspector. But in reality, he is more like an assistant to Consentia¡¯s Praetor with his knowledge of the Bruttian region. And many measures for the stability of the Bruttian region had evene from his advice. He is even the first one to mediate once there is a conflict.

    ¡°It seems the statement of Kaduk''s men is true. Petaru didn''te to Consentia but went directly to the south.¡± Hielos strode inside the city hall.

    In the Praetor''s office room, Hieronymus was already waiting there anxiously. He had just arrived in Consentia this afternoon and had not yet started recruiting soldiers, only to be informed by Hielos that there might be a rebellion in the evening.

    He became surprised but also excited as he felt that he could finally be of use.

    At this time, Hielos, who knew Hieronymus'' character, entered the room without politeness and bluntly said, ¡°We caught Kaduk, and he admitted that they were preparing to rebel. However, we didn''t manage to catch Bodiam and Petaru!¡± Hielos said regretfully and went straight into his desk with arge map of the Bruttian area on the wall.

    He then continued after pointing to the bottom left of the map. ¡°Bodiam must have gone to Anbania, where he ruled as the great chieftain for more than 20 years and had a high prestige. However, we have demolished the city of Anbania after we integrated Bruttii into our union(Davos thought that Anbania was too isted with barrennd and unable to amodate many people, so reconstructing the city would be too wasteful of resources and would just increase the risk of rebellion. Thus after a discussion in the Senate, they decided to demolish it.) And even though we have moved out the tribes living there, Anbania still have a poption of about¡­uh-¡±

    ¡°There are still about 5,000 Anbanians. So even if Bodiam managed to persuade them, they could only gather up more than a thousand soldiers.¡± Adepiges, who then entered the room, immediately added.

    After all, it''s only a month since Hielos came to Bruttii, so he only has a preliminary understanding of the situation here. Thus he is not as familiar as Adepiges, who lived in Bruttii for many years. Hielos then stepped aside and motioned for Adepiges to make a detailed introduction.

    ¡°Petaru, on the other hand, if he didn''te to Consentia, must have definitely gone here-¡± Without refusing it, Adepiges went straight to the map and pointed to the left of it, ¡°Here is one of the tribes that he ruled, with a poption of about 6,000. So if you want to crush the rebellion, I suggest attacking here first. Although this tribe is a bit further away from Consentia, it is still within the Consentian teau, and there are also other tribes living around it. But the main problem is that it is also close to mpetia, so they can escape from Bruttii at any time through the mountain paths to join the Syracusans, which will cause terrible results.

    On the other hand, most of the Anbanian tribes surrounded ake while the others lived in the mountains, so it would take Bodiam a lot of time to gather them while we only needed to block the road from Anbania to the Consentian teau. Thus Bodiam could only cross the mountains and risk entering the Consentian teau, or follow the rugged valley eastward to the city of Aprustum.¡± Facing the two statesmen, Adepiges confidently expressed his opinion.

    ¡°Well said!¡± Hielos praised loudly and continued, ¡°I think we could follow as Adepiges said.¡±

    Hieronymus nodded and said, ¡°How many men will you give me?¡±

    Even though he spoke briefly, Hielos still understood what he meant. After all, he was the praetor of Consentia and had to sit in the centre of this Bruttian city, so Hieronymus was the only that could direct this battle.

    ¡°I can recruit 2,000 independent Bruttian citizens from within Consentia tomorrow while gathering a thousand men from the tribes outside the city and try toplete the assembly at noon. Beyond that, I can''t give you any more troops because I still need some soldiers to station in Consentia in case other tribes are affected by this and riots ur.¡± Hielos said in a serious tone.

    ¡°3,000 is enough,¡± Hieronymus simply replied, then pointed to Adepiges, ¡°However, I want you toe with me.¡±

    ¡°I would be more than happy to, Lord Hieronymus!¡± Adepiges dly replied.

    ¡°Tomorrow morning, I will send messengers to mpetia and Vergae to inform the two lords, Asistes and Saru, to cooperate with you as much as possible while raising their vignce. Furthermore, I will also send someone to rush back to Thurii and get the Senate to inform lord Agasias in the city of Aprustum to be on the alert for these traitors who might slip away through the river valley!¡± Hielos finished stating his arrangement.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following day, Hieronymus led the assembled 3,000 reserve soldiers to the south¡­

    Petaru, on the other hand, managed to act quickly enough and convince more than half of his tribe to follow him and defect from Theonia Union. He also sent his men to the surrounding tribes to spread rumours that ¡°Syracuse''s army had invaded Theonia''s territory, and the Theonian army was defeated and was about to be destroyed!¡­¡± And so on and such rumours caused the people to panic.

    Even some tribal chieftains became so restless that they rushed to ask him for advice.

    He then took this opportunity to talk about the many discrimination and grievances he suffered in Thurii during his years as a Bruttian chieftain and a Senate''s statesman to the point that he even shed tears and his eyes turned red.

    And his words just happened to answer the chieftains concerns about Theonia''s deliberate and constant promulgation ofws that elerated the disintegration of the tribe. Making them think that even Petaru, who had be a statesman, was forced into this situation, let alone them.

    Hence some of the chieftains began considering following Petaru in rebelling against Theonia''s rule.

    Just when Petaru rejoiced in his scheme''s sess to create an anti-Theonia union of the Bruttian tribes and start a rebellion against Theonia throughout the Consentia teau, the army of Hieronymus quickly approached.

    After learning about it, Petaru, who was clueless about what happened in Kaduk''s tribest night, was shocked. In their n, they thought that the Senate wouldn''t be able to find out about their disappearance until at least today and would not send anyone to their tribe until tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. But by then, they would already be ready and could take advantage of the pressure of the Syracusan army and the empty troops of the Theonian territory to deal with the Theonians in Bruttii. However, the Theonian army attacked so quickly and unexpectedly that his fears had be a reality.

    Petaru hurriedly sent someone out to argue with the army''smander and buy time for himself.

    Yet, no one expected Hieronymus to ignore him and directly lead the army into the tribal settlement to catch Petaru.

    And the panicking Petaru could only send his men to stop Hieronymus while he rode quietly and tried to escape.

    But Petaru''s hastily formed troops was defeated by Hieronymus, then they began chasing him.

    In the end, Petaru''s mount was hit by an arrow, throwing him off his horse. Finally, Hieronymus captured him.

    Hieronymus then tied him up and the nearly a thousand rebels with ropes and strung them into several long rows. They then threatened them to walk through the various tribal settlements with their spears, causing all the tribal chieftains who saw this sight to be nervous and trembling in their legs.

 Chapter 444: The Peoples Voice and Henis Request

    While Hieronymus raided Petaru''s tribe, the Senate held a meeting early in the morning. They had a heated discussion on how they should deal with those three statesmen who defected.

    The first to object was Sedrum, as he believed that even if the three men ran back to Bruttii without reporting it to the Senate, it is still not certain whether they defected.

    He was obviously defending them, which Scambras, Tritodemus, Stromboli, and the others immediately refuted. However, they did not have evidence to prove the three''s betrayal. In the end, the discussion turned into a quarrel.

    Only when the messenger from Consentia arrived and reported the arrest of Kaduk and presented the confessions of his men and ves that Sedrum no longer have anything to say.

    But at this time, Scambras, Tritodemus and Stromboli became infuriated. They all proposed to impose the death penalty on these three people and said in a righteous manner, ¡°The Theonian Law stiptes that the severest punishment for treason is the death penalty. Now that the Theonia Union was facing danger, as a statesman of Theonia, Petaru, Kaduk, and Bodiam did not think about leading the people to defeat the enemy. Instead, they took the lead in inciting the people to betray the union, plunging our Theonia into great difficulty and bringing great danger. Not killing such traitors is not enough to calm the people''s anger and deter those who have different intentions!¡±

    Thus the Senate voted to impose the death penalty on Bodiam, Petaru and Kaduk by arge margin. The Bruttian statesmen such as Sedrum and Baripiri were saddened after learning the result, while Scambras and Tritodemus became wary of them.

    In such a critical moment when the Syracusan army was pressuring them, the Theonian statesmen should have worked together to ovee the difficulties. Instead, they became estranged and suspicious of each other, which made Kunogta and Cornelius look at each other with anxiousness in their hearts. But the two of them have no other choice but hope that Davos, who is the only one that could eliminate their differences and unify everyone, to return soon.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    An uproar happened when the news of ¡°Bruttian statesmen rebelling¡± reached the Thurians.

    The panicking Thurians still had not calmed down after hearing the ¡°Tarantine army was approaching Amendra¡± yesterday, yet they heard such bad news again today. Since the start of the war, one bad news after another came. Atst, they could no longer maintain their calmness as they quickly gathered in front of the Grand Senate Hall to protest, asking the statesmen to take immediate and effective measures to repel the enemy as soon as possible and restore peace Theonia.

    But how could they easily fulfil such demand? While the statesmen such as Kunogta had a headache thinking of a way to appease and quell the people¡¯s anger, a messenger from Lucania had arrived just in time.

    After reading the battle report the messenger brought, Kunogta felt relieved. He then stood on the steps of the Grand Senate Hall, held the battle report high and shouted excitedly to the noisy popce at the bottom of the steps, ¡°This is the battle report from Potentia. Lord Davos and our army haspletely defeated the Samnites and are on their way back to Thurii!¡±

    In an instant, the mouring voices at the bottom of the steps disappeared, and a deafening cheer erupted.

    ¡°All hail Lord Davos!!¡±

    ¡°Hurray, Theonia!!¡±

    ¡°See, it is just like what the oracle of Hades stated: Only Lord Davos can defeat the enemy and ensure the peace of Theonia!¡±

    ¡°You are right! Hades had blessed his descendant, Lord Davos!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Amidst the relieved cheers of the people, someone suddenly shouted, ¡°Let Lord Davos be the king!¡±

    When the statesmen heard this, they all became a bit confused.

    Rather than the shouting stop, it merged into a thunderous roar, echoing in the ears of the statesmen, ¡°Take my blood as the king, and the peace of the union will be ensured!!!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the Thurians shouted, ¡°Let Davos be king¡±, Davos led his army to the Lao Fortress.

    When he arrived at Nerulum yesterday''s evening, Nerulum''s Praetor, Hemon, told him that the South Italian Alliance''s army failed to prevent the Syracusan army from advancing northward and was forced to fight the Syracusans in Scylletium. In the end, Syracuse defeated them miserably¡­

    Hearing this news, Davos was very surprised. He did not expect that after leaving Thurii with his troops for less than a month, the Syracusan army, under Dionysius'' clever and flexible mobilisation, attacked with fierceness and viciousness and caused the situation in the south of Theonia''s territory to copse like this!

    ¡®I underestimated Dionysius. He is not that simple!¡¯ After Davos realised this problem, while he med himself, he also declined Hemon''s invitation for an evening banquet, locking himself in his room as he thought hard about Theonia''s following response, so much so that he did not sleep well that night.

    Early the following day, he led the army and departed. After all, the battle that Hemon told him was about two or three days ago. With Dionysius'' ability and Syracuse''s dominance, it was enough to steer the war even more against Theonia. Therefore, he had to lead the main force back to Thurii as soon as possible.

    Along the way, he kept pondering the war situation in his heart, looking for a way to win.

    Once he went inside the Lao Fortress, he stopped only to rest for a bit.

    At this time, he called Henipolis and asked with concern, ¡°Heni, are you really sure that you won''t return to Laos and instead follow me to Thurii?¡±

    ¡°I have made up my mind, milord! Theonia is now in distress, and as an ally, Laos should lend a helping hand to help Theonia defeat our powerful enemy!¡± Henipolis passionately said, ¡°I will also send someone to inform my uncle to send more soldiers to fight alongside the Theonian legion!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Davos narrowed his eyes. He knew that the reason why Henipolis was willing to go to Thurii was due to him being tired of his cage life in Laos, where he could not decide anything.

    Davos pondered for a moment and said, ¡°Hmm¡­ Alright, you coulde with me, but there is no need for you to send Laos'' troops. After all, now that Terina had fallen, Laos will also need enough soldiers to prevent Syracuse from raiding its port from the sea.¡±

    Henipolis doesn''t care much whether he sent more troops or not as long as Davos agreed. He then happily said, ¡°Lord Davos, I have another thing that I want your permission for.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Can¡­can I serve as your clerk during the war, helping you write your orders and collect information?¡­¡± Henipolis asked in a low voice.

    ¡°Eh?¡± Davos looked at him in surprise, ¡°How did youe up with such an idea?¡± An archon of a city-state actually wants to serve as the clerk of the suprememander of another city-state? This is too much a bargain¡­those who don''t know the story would see it as Davos humiliating his allies.

    ¡°Milord, you should know¡­thatst time in Poseidonia, you had asked me to lead the army to intercept the fleeing Samnites¡­but when I saw the fierce Samnites approaching towards us¡­my legs were shaking¡­if it wasn''t for Izam''s help, I''m afraid that I would have already fled¡­¡± Henipolis did not conceal his embarrassment at all, ¡°Thus, I now understand that¡­I am different from you, milord. I do not have the talent to lead a battle. Instead, I like reading and writing, but it''s too boring to search for information from countless materials and spend time pondering like teacher Ansitanos.

    But if I were to stay by your side, milord, I would not only help you, but I can learn in more detail how you defeated the Samnites and how you would defeat Syracuse¡­such a glorious process, not only I want to know, but even the people of Theonia¡­no! The entire poption of Magna Graecia wants to know! And if I were to write it, it will be popr!¡­¡± Henipolis became more and more excited.

    Davos looked at him in surprise and thought, ¡®This little guy wants to be a biographer!¡¯

    However, Henipolis'' request made him somewhat tempted. From his previous life, he knew that: Alexander the Great had schrs following him and writing anecdotes about him during his expedition to the east. Hannibal also had schrs following him when he invaded Italy, writing and advocating for him as Italy¡¯s liberator. Caesar also had schrs following him since he crossed the Rubicon, and even continued the ¡¶Civil War¡· for him¡­¡®Why can''t I have one as well?¡¯

    Thinking of this, Davos smiled and said, ¡°Heni, I agree with you being my clerk during this war-¡±

    ¡°Great, thank you, milord!¡± As soon as Davos agreed, Henipolis immediately shouted and leapt with joy.

    ¡°It is still too early for you to be happy. If you want to write a book about me in the future, I must check the content first and only after I agree can you publish it. Do you agree?!¡± Davos said with a serious expression.

    ¡°Uh, yes.¡± Henipolis nodded repeatedly.

    ¡°And also¡­if you were to serve as my clerk, who will be in charge of Laos'' troops?¡±

    ¡°Ariandos. He is usually the one in charge of the army.¡± After Henipolis said this, an image of a man immediately came to Davos'' mind. Ariandos was the right hand of Avinoges. They could see his ability was not weak while he orderly led the Laos army to march and camp, and they could even see his loyalty to Henipolis.

    Davos then expressed his approval, ¡°Alright. You go and tell him to report to me from tomorrow. And also, don''t sleepte!¡±

 Chapter 445: Suspicious About Laos

    ¡°Got it.¡± Henipolis left in high spirit.

    Davos smiled as he watched him leave. Henipolis had lived in his home for a few years, and even though he is blunt and crude, he is still very popr with Davos'' family. Davos did not want to let Henipolis knows about the following matter as he treated him as his brother.

    He then called in the officer in charge of defending the Lao fortress.

    ¡°If I remember correctly, your name should be Tagru, right?¡± Asked Davos gently.

    The nervous centurion was surprised. He did not expect Davos, the lifelong archon and the grand legatus of the army that all soldiers respect, could still remember the name he said when Davos first arrived at the Lao fortress more than ten days ago.

    ¡°Yes, Grand Legatus!¡± He replied excitedly.

    ¡°I remember that you are from Grumentum. Are you a part of a tribe or independent?¡± Continued Davos while motioning him to sit down.

    ¡°I am already independent, and I only need to work hard for my family.¡± Tagru straightened his chest and answered in fluent Greek. In the past years, a popr perception spread in Lucania that independent Lucanians are the true Theonian citizens and have real freedom! Due to thest war, many tribes in Lucania(except Potentia and Gguso) were destroyed and weakened, isting the remaining tribes and could only heavily depend on the union. Thus they have no choice but to let go of those who want to leave the tribe one after another.

    ¡°Looks like you have a family. Do you have any kids? How is your life?¡± Davos began discussing family matters with him.

    Even though this made Tagru feel surprised, it also made him feel his friendliness, ¡°Thank Asinu, I already have two children, and both are boys and are very healthy!¡­ At first, Lord Bagul gave me 3300 square metres ofnd, but it was all in the mountain and not suitable for growing wheat. Afterwards, the agricultural officer suggested that I nt apple trees, which I did. Finally, the trees have grown and might bear fruit the following year, which I can sell to the city. They also said that the price of apples in Thurii is higher, but it takes several days to get to Thurii¡­

    And the year before, I took out a loan from the bank and bought 20mbs and two cows, and now their numbers have doubled. In the summer, I sold six sheep and a cow to the restaurants in the city, allowing me to pay off the loan and get 30 extra drachmaes. And now, I have decided to buy some more livestock next year and try to herd hundreds of livestock up the mountain every day¡­ Milord, I am not afraid of youughing as this is my dream. In the past, only the tribe have that many livestock¡­¡±

    ¡°Haha, this is indeed a great dream!¡± Davos stroked his palm andughed. He then asked with concern, ¡°What about your family matters while you are on duty at Lao fortress?¡±

    ¡°My wife is a capable woman. She is the one taking care of the children and the fruit trees. In addition, I bought a Thracian ve from the money I borrowed from the bank to help herd my cattle and sheep. And now, there is a vige where I live¡­so during the busiest time, my neighbours would alsoe over to help.¡±

    After listening to him, Davos said with seriousness, ¡°Being stationed here at Lao Fortress, far away from the city and your home, not only is your daily life monotonous, but you could no go home to take care of your family for a long time¡­ Originally, this arduous task was assigned to registered and trained freemen and preparatory citizens as an important task to shorten their assessment period to be citizens. However, due to the outbreak of war, I propose to rece them with official citizen soldiers. Do you have any dissatisfaction?¡±

    ¡°Milord¡­ah¡­to tell you the truth¡­a little.¡± Tagru hesitated but still answered truthfully.

    ¡°It is because you have received a stricter training and an official citizen of Theonia that once faced with danger, you will defend this fortress with all you can to keep your homes from being trampled upon! After all, Lao Fortress is the onlynd channel connecting Lucania and Thurii. Furthermore, the space here is narrow, so it is hard to deploy troops. Once the enemy upies this ce, it will cut off the connection between Thurii and Lucania, bringing great danger!¡± Davos said gravely.

    ¡°Milord, do you mean¡­to say that someone will attack here?!¡± Tagru stared in surprise.

    After all, the Lao Fortress is now in the hearnd of the Theonia Union. Thus most of the time, they don''t have anything to do besides checking on the merchants and travellers passing by and providing them with simple amodation and food. Hence, some statesmen once proposed abolishing it and turning it into a post station. In the end, Davos rejected it.

    ¡°Danger could appear at any time during the war, and it oftenes from the shadows¡­ So from now on, you must be vignt and not allow any caravans or travellers to stay inside or outside the fortress. Nor should you allow any troops without any decree from the Ministry of Military to enter or pass through the Lao Fortress. Do you understand?¡±

    ¡°Understood, Grand Legatus!¡± Tagru got up and saluted.

    ¡°Tagru, you aren''t an official legionary?¡±

    ¡°Milord, I am just a reserve soldier. My tribe waste in joining the union. By that time, too many Lucanians had signed up for the third legion already.¡± Tagru said with slight dejection.

    ¡°I then hope that after this war, I can see your name in the third legion''s list of merit!¡± Davos encouraged him and continued, ¡°Also, once the enemy attacks the Lao Fortress, you shouldn''t fight them by yourselves. You should inform Lord Hemon of Nerulum and get his assistance. Understand?¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord!¡± Tagru saluted excitedly once again. Although he didn''t know where the enemy woulde from, he was no longer frustrated about being stationed in such a deserted ce. He then loudly gave his promise, ¡°Don''t worry, milord. I will defend the Lao fortress until the war is over!¡±

    Davos nodded. After Tagru left, he got up and walked towards the window facing south.

    As Davos couldn¡¯t see the city of Laos at the estuary of the Lao fortress, he could only guess what Alobamus, who isn''t an archon but acts as an archon, is doing at this moment.

    Davos began suspecting Alobamus as he did not take the initiative to meet the Theonian army at the Lao fortress twice, and the army he sent to Henipolis were all the loyal troops of Avinoges. In addition, Davos received a report from the intelligence department at Nerulum that they have found traces of Syracusans in the city of Laos.

    So Davos took Henipolis away and made his preparation as he waited quietly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as Davos led his troops from the Lao fortress into the mountains and set foot on their way back to Thurii, Dionysius had led his 90,000 men* to the Neto River and set up camp on each side. (this army included Dionysius'' more than 70,000 troops, as well as Locri, Hipponion and Caulonia''s troops who had just joined Syracuse''s side.)

    The camp stretched for 5 kilometres, with thousands of tents covering the southern part of the Crotonian in and the lower bank of the river. Syracuse''s engineers also directed more than 4,000 Caulonian soldiers and Scylletian ves to build a simple dock at the river''s estuary, allowing for the transportation of food and provisions to the camp by the sea, providing greater convenience for logistical supplies.

    While the army busily constructed the camp, Dionysius led the strategoi close to the city of Crotone to inspect its defences.

    At this time, in the city of Crotone, on the advice of the officers of Theonia''s ballista troops, they began setting up fortification on both sides of the moat andying traps, only for them to not finish it due to the quick arrival of Syracuse''s army. This is the second time within five years that the city of Crotone has been attacked. However, the fear in the hearts of the Crotonian is much greater thanst time. After all, if they were to stand at the top of the city wall and look westward, the only thing they could see was endless white formed by countless military tents that blends with the skyline.

    Upon hearing the report, Lysias, Siprus, Ascamas and all the members of the Crotonian council and the officers came to the top of the city wall and gazed at the vicious Sicilian tyrant who was surrounded by hundreds of cavalries, with eyes filled with hatred and a bit of fear.

    On the other hand, Dionysius regarded the people at the top of the city wall as air. He walked around as if he was taking a stroll while exchanging views with the people around him from time to time.

    ¡°Crotone''s walls are ten metres high and are made ofrge stones. It has moats and abatis outside the city, and with the city''s size, they have enough men to defend it. Thus I think it would be challenging to conquer this city!¡± Phidias, without any scruples, uttered these words that discouraged his allies. After all, even though the Spartans were terrifying in field warfare, they had little sess in sieging, so much so that in their previous wars, they had not captured anyrge cities, and even the small ones, they only captured a few of them. During the Peloponnesian War, even though the allied forces led by Sparta wrecked the Attica penins into ruins, they could only stay outside Athens for many years as they never managed to storm the walls of Athens. Thus after winning the war, the first thing they did was get the Athenians to tear down the walls.

    ¡°If we could not capture the city of Crotone while the city of Aprustum is narrow and not favourable for the deployment of troops, let alone capture it, Then why are we still leading troops here?! Is it just to surround them?!!¡± Said Astagoras sarcastically as he was unhappy with the arrogant Spartan.

 Chapter 446: Dionysius Subsequent Strategy

    ¡°That''s right. We will just encircle them! After that, we will just take the rest of the troops across the Neto River and go straight to Krimisa!¡± Phidias looked at Dionysius as he gave his advice, ¡°With the main force of Theonia currently still in the Lucanian region, and Taranto had just recaptured Metapontum, the Theonians will definitely strengthen their defence on the north. In Aprustum, they still have the remnant soldiers of the two¡­erm¡­legions of Theonia, so I believe the Theonian territory is now devoid of soldiers! And I heard that Krimisa is just a small city, so capturing it would not be difficult for Syracuse.

    After taking Krimisa, our army can head north and take another small city, Roscianum. Then we will approach the city of Thurii and encircle them together with Taranto! By then, Theonia could only surrender, which would then waste Crotone''s effort to defend their city, and Syracuse would then truly conquer Magna Graecia!¡± At this point, even Phidias was shocked by what he said. He could not help but sigh with deep concern at the thought that the entire western Mediterranean would be under the control of Syracuse.

    Their eyes lightened at Phidias'' words, and Dionysius became tempted. However, he knew two things that the other did not: One ¨C Davos'' army had won a great victory in Lucania, where it was reported that they wiped out more than 20,000 Samnites. Although he knew that the Samnites wouldn''t easily admit their defeat, the time for Theonia''s main troops to return to Thurii would be much earlier (he still hasn''t received the news of the defeat of the Samnite''s whole army); Second ¨C Theonia stationed a new legion in the city of Krimisa. With Dionysius already witnessing their might on the battlefield, and although he did not know their ability to defend the city, he thought it wouldn''t be much worse. Thus, the number of defenders will not be less than 10,000, making it harder to capture Krimisa.

    But more importantly, the city of Krimisa was the target of Syracuse''s spy, so this area was the most unstable ce in Theonia besides the Bruttian region in the past. Before the war, Syracuse''s chief intelligence officer ¨C Hipparinus, sent several of his men to the city to instigate the Krimisians to protest, demanding an lesia and subsequently trying to assassinate Davos. However, once the incident was exposed, some were arrested while the others went into hiding under the great pursuit of the Theonians. And now that the war had broken out, the spies in Krimisa became active again, especially after their victory at the Battle of Aro.

    This allowed Dionysius to keep getting thetest information from Krimisa. For example, Thurii established two new legions, and the Theonian fleet conducted secret training on the Crati River¡­ They also sent a message that as long as Syracuse''s army arrived at Krimisa, they would open the gate for the army.

    This gave Dionysius a huge surprise. However, now that the new legion of Theonia has entered Krimisa, the report from the north had stopped yesterday afternoon. Not only is Krimisa under martialw, but the port is also closed.

    Dionysius knew that Krimisa''s approach would inevitably lead to his spies'' effort to fail, making him feel some scruples. After all, he is a man who likes to n carefully and prepare with caution before taking action, whether it was his counterattack along the southern coastline until Motya or along the eastern coastline northward, then west until Soluntum. His sessive strategy is gradual, almost without taking any bold and rash action.

    And even the series of rapid manoeuvres after theynded in Magna Graecia was also due to his powerful maritime dominance and arger army than his enemy. However, he became startled when he received a report about Rhegium suddenly sending troops to siege Medma while fighting the South Italian Alliance. Fortunately, he had won the battle, and the Locrian''s ten thousand soldiers were not far from Medma.

    And now, besides a few thousand soldiers stationed in Medma, Terina and Scylletium, he gathered the vast majority of his troops here to attack Theonia. However, if they were to follow Phidias'' n of trapping the two cities of Crotone and Aprustum, which have many troops, they would need to leave more than half of their forces. And even if they were to capture Krimisa and Roscianum, it would still not be that easy to attack Thurii. From what he knew: The city of Thurii was already solid, notparable to when Crotone first attacked Thurii. Furthermore, the main force of Theonia could return at any time.

    Hence if Syracuse were to attack and was obstructed, with its troops divided everywhere, it would just result in their troops scattered everywhere and a vacancy in their rear. Over time, if any problems were to arise from Medma, Terina, Aprustum, Crotone and Thurii, it would be a disaster for him, which is why he was somewhat resistant to Phidias'' seemingly wonderful n.

    At this time, Phacipessas saw Dionysius'' silence, so he said, ¡°Milord, I disagree with strategos Phidias! We were able to take Motya ¨C Carthage''s most important military city in Sicily, even though it is across the bay, not to mention the other cities in Sicily that we captured. Although the city of Carthage isrger, it is far less difficult to attack than Motya, and its size makes it unfavourable for their defence. In addition, its location is in the in, which makes it more convenient for a siege. Milord, look-¡±

    Phacipessas made his horse approach a section of the wall. When he saw Dionysius following close, he then pointed to the city wall a hundred metres away and continued, ¡°Its walls are still the old city wall, so the gaps between the stones should berge that the mortar filling is not tight enough. Furthermore, the stones look so old that they seldom maintain them, so some ces may still be loose, which is not as good as those cities we captured in Sicily*. Thus as long as we continuously bombard them with our ballista, their wall will certainly copse! And we now have enough manpower to build earthen fortifications and close in on the walls while building siege towers and siege rams to destroy their walls and upy their city¡­so by using multiple siege methods together, we will definitely be able to break through the city of Crotone, and open the way into the Theonian territory!¡± (due to Carthage and Syracuse''s frequent wars in Sicily, in addition to their strong ability to siege, the other city-states are very careful in repairing their city walls in order to protect their lives. Unlike them, sieges rarely ur in Magna Graecia, so they still maintained their city walls in ordance with their practice decades ago.)

    Dionysius pondered after hearing this. After carefully observing the wall in the front, he became more rxed. He then turned around asked, ¡°Phidias, what do you think of this n?¡±

    Phidias'' expression remained unchanged and said stubbornly, ¡°I will still stick to my opinion as there is no need for us to waste time here in the city of Crotone. After all, once we conquer Theonia, Crotone will naturally surrender.¡±

    ¡°Milord, there is no need for you to discuss with the Spartan about sieging a city as they needed more than two years before they could even capture taea. And taea was only defended by a few hundred men! So how could he even suggest anything good?!¡± Astagoras taunted.

    Phidias'' expression changed.

    In the fifth year of the Peloponnesian War, Sparta and the alliance it led couldn''t break through the walls of Athens, so they had to turn to attack taea, Athens'' ally in the Boeotia region. When the taeans saw the situation turning bad, they decided to withdraw and left only a few hundred people to defend the city.

    But it still resulted in the Spartan alliance, who outnumbered the defenders of taeans dozens of times, needing more than two years to capture the city. So after they captured taea, they killed all the defenders and handed over the city to their then ally, Thebes. At the same time, the Battle of taea resulted in a problem: During the Greco-Persian war decades ago, taea was the most important ce where the Greek allies, with the full support of the entire poption of taea, finally defeated the invading Persian army. Thus after winning, the Spartan king ¨C Pausanias, led the Greek allies to make a vow that they would work together forever to preserve the independence and freedom of taea.

    Hence the Spartans broke their oath when they destroyed taea, which immediately caused an uproar throughout the Greek world. This forced the Spartans to discuss the matter within themselves, and the Gerousia had to send an ephor to question the Spartan king, who was away on a campaign¡­ And Phidias, who was a child at the time, had a deep impression of this, and Astagoras basically exposed Sparta''s scar.

    ¡°Stop talking nonsense!¡± Dionysius red at Astagoras, then said to the somewhat irritated Phidias, ¡°No city-state would dare fight Sparta. However, I¡­Syracuse does have more experience when ites to sieges, so I decided to capture the city of Crotone first!¡±

    Phidias grunted and stopped talking.

    After Dionysius finished speaking, he no longer bothered how the Spartan felt. He then said to everyone, ¡°Phacipessas and Astagoras, gather all the siege specialists, craftsmen, and soldiers to start making siege equipment, and earthen mound while trying your best to measure their wall¡¯s thickness¡­and start your siege preparation!¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord!¡± The two strategoi responded excitedly.

    Dionysius once again looked at the two foreign mercenary leaders with a serious gaze, ¡°Acilita and Gaba, even though you will not be of help during the siege, you must not remain idle! Therefore, you should lead your men across the Neto and storm into the Theonian territory, burn their viges, capture their people and plunder their wealth! Make those Theonians restless day and night, so they are dissatisfied at the ipetence of their Senate and archon!¡± Dionysius said with viciousness.

 Chapter 447: Dionysius Scheme

    After hearing this, Acilita and Gaba became excited as this is what they are best at and want to do the most.

    On the other hand, Phidias just remained silent as he did not fully agree with Dionysius'' n. However, he suddenly realised that Sparta should perhaps learn how to siege cities like Syracuse.

    Then, Dionysius made another devious remark, ¡°But before we siege Crotone, we''ll see Aprustum''s response to the following matter¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the city of Aprustum, Philesius wasforting the more than 500 legionaries captured by Dionysius in exchange for the more than 500 Locrian. Still, he felt great regret that he failed to exchange Drakos, the legatus of the fifth legion and a statesman of Theonia. After all, Dionysius didn¡¯t even release Burim, the senior centurion of the first brigade of the fifth legion, an important chieftain of Besidice and another statesman of the Senate. Instead, Dionysius insisted on a one-to-one exchange of prisoners.

    Philesius then noticed that all the soldiers exchanged were Bruttians of the fifth legion. Since the fifth legion was leftst during the retreat, most of those captured were from the fifth legion, so he no longer thought about it further.

    In fact, Dionysius deliberately released these Bruttians and even did it in front of the Greek and Lucanian soldiers of Theonia. And in a few days, he was also prepared to quietly release some Theonian legionaries whom his intelligence officers found to have resentment against them.

    Philesius then regrouped these 500 soldiers into the fifth legion. Although he felt regret, he was also slightly relieved because half of the soldiers returned were Besidisians. The reason being Besidice relied on the union the most among the Bruttian tribes. Since their integration into the union, they never rioted and had no objection to somews passed by the Senate against the Bruttian region that were not favourable to the tribe. Moreover, Philesius had a good rtionship with Baripiri, so it was better to have more Besidisians returning.

    Suddenly, a messenger hurriedly arrived, ¡°Lordmander, legatus Epiphanes asked you to go to the top of the city wall immediately. He cannot decide what to do with what the Syracusans are doing outside the city.¡±

    Hearing this, Philesius was astonished.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Drakos woke up from his nightmare.

    When he was leading the first brigade to intercept the enemy cavalries, the enemy surrounded them, so he had no choice but to lead his men to fight to the death. Finally, an enemy managed to pierce through his lungs with a javelin, causing him to fall to the ground and be captured. Even though the physicians of Syracuse treated him, he had been suffering from a high fever where he was sometimes unconscious and sometimes awake.

    At this moment, he tried to open his dry and heavy eyelids when he suddenly heard a shrill scream. Then he heard someone nearby shouting in grief and anger, ¡°Don''te any closer! Don''te any closer! Asinu, please protect them¡­¡±

    ¡®What was going on?¡¯ Drakos struggled to open his eyes, and the shaky image in front of him gradually became clear: He found himself lying on the ground mixed with stone and dirt, and a hundred metres in front of him towered a city. And he is very familiar with the appearance of the city ¨C Aprustum.

    ¡®How am I here?¡¯ He tried to think back, but his mind was too hazy. He then tried to stand up but found that his hands and feet were tied, and he couldn''t exert any force at all.

    He struggled hard for a few moments but to no avail. Then the sharp pain from his wound nearly made him faint again.

    Then the one next to him saw his movement and said in surprise, ¡°Legatus Drakos! Legatus Drakos, are you awake?¡±

    ¡°Who¡­are you? What is¡­happening?¡­¡± Drakos asked weakly with his dry lips open.

    ¡°Reporting to the legatus, I am Eturu, the squad leader of the 1st squad of the fourth toon of the third brigade of the fourth legion. The Syracusans took dozens of the captured fourth legion''s soldiers and you and made us march to the front of the city of Aprustum, with our hands and feet tied in our back. They then inserted wooden stakes beside each person and tied the ropes to them. Then they sent people close to the city to shout and tell them, ¡®The captured soldiers of your fourth legion are here.¡¯ Afterwards, the Syracusan army retreated a hundred metres. However, whenever ourrades in the city rushed out¡­rushed out to save us, these damn Syracusans will¡­will strike them with their javelins and arrows¡­¡± At this point, Eturu burst into tears.

    When he cried, the other captive soldiers were also saddened.

    ¡®What?!¡¯ When Drakos heard this, he was suddenly anxious. He then forced himself to endure the severe pain then relied on his shoulders to push his body to sit up. The excessive force made his sight darken and his head dizzy, but he still tried his best to control his weakened body as he gasped for breath¡­after a while, he finally managed to kneel steadily on the ground.

    When he reopened his eyes, he caught sight of dozens of bodies with arrows and javelins sticking out of them, and the nearest corpse was just a metre away from him. Looking at the dead man¡¯s face, Drakos recognised him: He is Hagal, a soldier of the fifth legion. This Bruttian young man was from a small tribe of Consentia; he has a stubborn and adamant personality. When he first entered the fifth legion, he repeatedly vited the military rules, resulting in the strict Drakos punishing him. Still, he refused to obey. One time, he even confronted Drakos on the training ground, causing Drakos to wrestle with him in a bet and beat him cleanly. After getting convinced, Hagal began to train seriously, and with his excellent performance, Drakos finally promoted him to be a toon caption. However, he did not expect for him to die here¡­and died for him!

    A wave of anger suddenly surged through him, and the cries of the soldier next to him made him even more annoyed. He then shouted, ¡°What are you crying for?! There is nothing for us to fear, even death, as we will meet again in the Hall of Valour!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Philesius looked at the rows of bound and kneeling men at the bottom of the city wall with a grave expression. He did not expect to see such a sight when he climbed the city wall, ¡°Are you¡­sure that those men are Drakos and the captured soldiers?¡±

    The usually energetic and showy Epiphanes also frowned at this moment. He then said with a heavy tone, ¡°Before I came up here, the soldiers¡­have confirmed with their lives! I had now forbidden the soldiers to leave the city without permission, but they have not only the soldiers of Drakos but also the soldiers of the fourth legion. Look at my men, they all want to go and save theirrades, neighbours, and possible loved ones¡­they all hope to dispatch the fourth and fifth legion so that even if the enemy rush in, they could still hold off and seed in rescuing Drakos and the others.¡±

    Philesius looked at the shocking nearly hundred corpses that stretched all the way to the captives and the Syracusan army phnx that seemed to be resting a hundred metres behind the captives.

    He then looked back at the soldiers of the fourth legion stationed at the top of the city wall, with mixed anger and anxiousness showing in their faces.

    Philesius'' gaze then finallynded on Epiphanes, ¡°What''s your thought?¡±

    ¡°I think we can give it a try.¡± Epiphanes hesitated. He then thought about it and said, ¡°The Syracusans are doing this because they want us to save them. So once we leave the city, the Syracusans will probably not immediatelye forward to stop us, giving us enough time to form up and slowly approach Drakos and the others, block their attack and save them¡­ Although there are more Syracusans than us, the terrain is narrow, with cliffs on the left and mountains on the right. So no matter how many troops they have, they wouldn''t be able to spread up and encircle us¡­so we should be able to return to the city safely.¡±

    Philesius stayed silent for some time. Then he slowly said, ¡°Since everyone already knows that the Syracusans just want us to rescue them, but you all still insist on bringing the troops out of the city! Do you all really think the Syracusans would allow us to return safely?!¡± Philesius showed a pained expression and said in a voice filled with anger, ¡°A few days ago, everyone thought that there is a chance for us to defeat the Syracusans, so I did not insist on objecting¡­as a result! As a result, we were defeated! The alliance''s troops were defeated, and we lost more than 3,000 soldiers, causing the whole situation in Magna Graecia to turn bad! Hasn''t such a lesson taught us that Dionysius is not that easy to deal with?! Since he nned this sight, he certainly must have a countermeasure once we go out of the city to rescue them! So for the safety of Aprustum, and more importantly¡­for the safety of the union, we¡­we must no go out of the city!¡±

    Philesius rarely shouted at someone as loudly as he did not, venting out his suppressed emotions. And this has caused Epiphanes to freeze a bit and his face to sink, ¡°Are we just going to stand by and watch Drakos and the soldiers without rescuing them?! Don''t forget, Lord Davos, in Persia, had once said that everyone in the army he leads shall be as one family and never abandon anyone easily!¡±

    Epiphanes'' wordsshed out at Philesius'' conscience. He then pressed his hand against the battlement, and the rough gravel on the cracks stung his palms¡­ Although he and Drakos had a normal rtionship, the reason why he did not want to rescue Drakos, a statesman, legatus and arade, for many years and the soldiers even when the enemy humiliates them, is that he is the highest militarymander of the southern battlefront of Theonia. He has a heavy responsibility, so in such a gave situation, his first consideration should be the union¡¯s safety. As he had already failed once before, he could not allow himself to make another mistake. Otherwise, if they were to get defeated in Aprustum, the Syracusans would be able to go straight in, and he would really be a sinner of the union!

    ¡°Strictly guard the city. No one is allowed to leave the city! This is an order!!¡± Said Philesius with a decisive tone, ¡°I will bear all the consequences!¡±

 Chapter 448: The Brave and the Vile

    Although Epiphanes and the fourth and fifth legion soldiers were reluctant, they still had to obey the military order no matter how unwilling they were. They could only watch from the top of the city wall as their officers andrades continued to be tied to the ground on their knees¡­

    As minutes and seconds passed by¡­

    Some of the captivesy on the ground due to theck of energy¡­

    Drakos even felt his body dry up badly, but he restrained himself with utmost perseverance and did not utter a word. As a legatus, he understood the Syracusans¡¯ sinister intention and knew the reason for theck of the movement in Aprustum. In such a treacherous situation, the only thing he could do was to keep quiet and not stimte his brothers¡¯ fragile nerves in the city so as not to put them in danger. He only hopes that the Syracusans, seeing their ploy not seeding, could only meekly withdraw¡­

    But Drakos thought a little too well of the Syracusans. Seeing that there had no movement at the top of the city wall, Astagoras grew a little impatient. He then nced at the Campanian mercenary leader, Enamenus, who was next to him and said, ¡°Send one of your men to cut off the head of a captive. Let see if these Theonians could still remain calm.¡±

    Even though Enamenus hesitated a bit, he still agreed in the end.

    In the historical tradition of Greek warfare, it was not allowed to abuse Greek prisoners in front of the battlefield. Astagoras was unwilling to be charged with this crime, so he let the mercenaries do it, and Enamenus could only ept it because of the desire for profit.

    The chosen target of the mercenaries was Etaru, the one next to Drakos to stimte the Theonians even more. The mercenary raised his shiny de high and shed down the neck of the defenceless Etaru with such force that blood spurted onto Drakos'' body, which caused anger to re up again in his weakened body.

    He then understood that Syracuse had never wanted to let them go.

    He finally made up his mind after hearing the uncontroble cry and noise on the city wall, and the cry of the captive soldiers beside him and the bursts of severe pain from his lungs.

    He struggled to straighten his body and shouted in a hoarse voice with all his strength, ¡°ALL HAIL, THEONIA! ALL HAIL, THE THEONIAN ARMY!¡­cough¡­DEFEND APRUSTUM AND AVENGE ME AND MY BROTHERS! AVENGE US!!¡± After saying that, he took hisst breath and smashed his head hard into a sharp stone in front of his knees.

    At that moment, he remembered the image of Davos in the square of Amendra with a smile on his face, awarding the military banner to him, who was covered with bandages, ¡°Lord Davos¡­¡± a smile appeared on his face¡­

    ¡°BANG!¡­.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, several Theonian captives followed Drakos'' example and smashed their head to the ground¡­

    Astagoras and Enamenus were shocked when they saw this tragic sight that it took them a second toe back to their senses. They did not expect that the Theonians would be so decisive! Especially Drakos, as an important figure of Theonia, did not even spare his life and was unwilling to be humiliated that he died just like that¡­

    ¡°Hurry up! Hurry up and treat them!¡­¡± Astagoras, who had always fought bravely, shouted in panic while feeling an inexplicable fear.

    ¡°Lord Commander!¡± Epiphanes, a man who rarely shed tears, had tears running down his face. He stood in front of Philesius and said in grief, ¡°Because of our weakness, Drakos¡­Drakos died heroically¡­¡±

    Philesius clenched his fists and teeth, feeling the guilt that his gums burst and started bleeding without realising it. The voice that he squeezed out of his mouth was so pained and, at the same time, contained an endless resentment, ¡°Drakos¡­Drakos feared that we would fall for the Syracusans trick, so he chooses¡­chooses to go to the Hall of Valour! Hades, I swear!! I, Philesius, swear that I will defeat Syracuse and bring the corpse of that tyrant and his men to pay homage to the spirit of Drakos!!!¡±

    Epiphanes roared as he looked at the Syracusans below the city wall with endless resentment. Then he walked towards the soldiers.

    Soon, the whole city resounded with a song to Hades, ¡°Oh Hades, The king of the underworld, the lord of justice,

    with ck hair and eyes,

    I, your brave warrior,

    Hase to your sacred temple,

    If you were to ask me what I have done throughout my life,

    My answer is: I love to wield a shield and spear, drinking the blood of my enemies!

    And if you were to ask me if I have ever trembled and afraid?

    My answer is: Never!

    And boast my battles to you!

    ¡­¡±

    The solemn and majestic singing reverberated throughout the city of Aprustum, eventually turning into a deafening chant, ¡°Long live legatus Drakos! Long live Theonian legion!! Kill all the Syracusans!!!¡­¡±

    On the other hand, the Syracusan soldiers below the city wall had their expression changed when they heard this.

    Astagoras became listless, waved his hand powerlessly and said, ¡°Let''s go back and report to the lord¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Only silence remained in the tent when Astagoras briefly described what happened to Dionysius.

    Even though Syracuse upied the absolute advantage of the whole war situation, everyone had a dignified expression on their faces, as if Syracuse had lost the war.

    Dionysius could only cough a few times and say, ¡°We need to speed up our siege preparations! I hope that we can attack Crotone the day after tomorrow! On Aprustum¡­well, just watch them for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord!¡± Phacipessas stood up and immediately left the tent to urge the engineers, craftsmen and soldiers to speed up their progress.

    At this moment, everyone felt a sense of urgency, ¡®We must destroy the Theonia Union while it is still weak. Otherwise, we would be the one eaten!¡¯

    Even the proud Phidias was moved. He then remembered the Spartan Aristodemus. This brave Spartan citizen was a member of King Leonidas'' Three Hundred, but he failed to participate in the Battle of Thermope because of eye disease. A yearter, in the Battle of taea, he took the initiative to rush ahead in the front and died heroically, redeeming his reputation and was highly praised by the people¡­

    ¡®It seemed the Theonians'' admiration of honour, courage and will to fight do not seem to be weaker than ours!¡¯ Phidias thought with mixed feelings.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    For the people of Theonia, this day is destined to be an unforgettable day!

    Although the Syracusans had not yet started their siege on Crotone, the mercenary calvaries had already crossed the Neto River, galloping across the Crotone in belonging to Theonia''s side, where they set fire on houses after houses and destroying viges after viges¡­

    In Theonia''s northeastern border, the Tarabtines, with nearly 20,000 soldiers and superior strength, were unwilling to confront the Theonia-Heraclean joint troops in front of the city of Heraclea. Instead, Diaoms sent some of his soldiers south across the Agri River into the Theonian territory of Amendra, starting a campaign of wanton destruction in an attempt to force the seventh legion of Theonia to leave the city of Heraclea.

    And they even burned the first waterwheel in the whole Greek world, which the Amendrans were proud of.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the Bruttian region of the Theonia Union: Although they have eliminated Petaru and the rebels he led, it taught Bodiam a lesson. Thus he led his more than 2,000 followers and avoided Hieronymus, who came to encircle and suppress them by using theplex terrain of Anbania and theke''s protection. And in order to stabilise the situation in Bruttii, Hielos could only postpone the n to recruit soldiers to form a new legion to support Thurii.

    While on the sea, Leptines, the navarch of the Syracusan navy, finally converged the ships scattered along the east and west coasts of Magna Graecia in Scylletium. After gathering a powerful fleet of more than 400 ships, they began heading north along the east coast of Magna Graecia, ready to force the Theonian fleet toe out for a decisive battle.

    And the Krimisians, Roscianums and Thurians who saw the huge fleet covering the whole sea began to tremble¡­

    But what the Theonians didn''t know was that in the west, in Laos, Alobamus ¨C the actual ruler of this city-state, became determined when he learned about ¡°Syracuse defeating the South Italian Allied troops and quickly upying Terina and Scylletium and conquering Caulonia.¡±

    However, the report about ¡°Davospletely defeating the Samnites¡± soon came and made him hesitate.

    But when the news of the ¡°treacherous invasion of Taranto, the betrayal of the Bruttian statesmen and the invasion of the Syracusan army into Crotone¡± came one after another, Alobamus thought that even if Davos is powerful, he would not be able to save Theonia from getting attacked on all sides.

    But even with all of that, he still did not act immediately. He waited until the army led by Davos left Lucania and returned to Thurii as he did not want to be the first to bear the wrath of the Theonians.

    And when his spy told him that ¡®Henipolis led his troops to follow Theonia''s main force and went to Thurii together.¡¯ He became much more relieved. In actual truth, he was reluctant to raise his sword and spear to his nephew and the soldiers of Laos, and their departure caused his psychological barrier to disappear.

    On that day, he imprisoned his brother¡¯s family, Avinoges, summoned the officials and chieftains of Laos and dered, ¡®Laos left Theonia Alliance!¡¯

    He also sent an army of 1,500 men to the Lao fortress, iming to respond to the archon of Theonia to reinforce Thurii.

    Fortunately, Davos had already reminded Tagru, the officer in charge of Lao fortress, before, causing him to raise his vignce. He insisted that the Laosians show the orders issued by the Theonian senate and the Ministry of Military, else they would not allow their entry!

 Chapter 449: Hades Sign

    After many fruitless requests, the soldiers of Laos tore off their disguise andunched a brazen attack on the Lao fortress.

    However, with the location of the Lao fortress is in a narrow section of the river bank and the mountain range, the Laos soldiers, could not take advantage of theirrge number. Tagru, on the other hand, led the more than 200 soldiers to defend stubbornly with the small but sturdy fortress.

    The bloody battlested until the afternoon, yet the Laos army failed to break through the fortress. And after receiving a call for help from the Lao fortress, Nerulum''s praetor, Hemon, himself arrived in time with nearly two thousand soldiers that he urgently convened.

    And when the Laos army saw the powerful enemy arriving, they could only retreat slowly¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At this moment, the mes of war burn everywhere in Theonia, and the dark clouds be thicker and thicker. This made the people of Thurii feel fear as they frequently began gathering in two ces: One is the Temple of Hades, hoping to get the blessing of this mighty king of the underworld tofort their uneasiness. The other is the Nike Square in front of the Grand Senate Hall.

    And they once again appealed to the Senate to let archon Davos be king. Because only in this way could Theonia tide over this difficulty, as Hades had already foreseen all of this!

    This time, the public''s protest became obviously much bigger than the previous two days, causing the already panicking statesmen, due to the worsening situation, to not know what to do with the people''s protest.

    ¡°Plesinas! Look at what you have done! Stop your trick and calm down the people of Thurii. Otherwise, the Senate will not function properly, and everything will be a mess!¡± Kunogta was finally unable to hold his anger at Plesinas.

    ¡°Lord Kunogta, watch what you say. This is the oracle of lord Hades and the spontaneous appeal of the people. It has nothing to do with me! Rather than quarrelling with me here, you might as well think about how to satisfy the people and calm their anger!¡± Plesinas, the priest in charge of the Temple of Hades, resolutely retorted.

    ¡°Esteemed statesmen: In truth, it is not that big of a deal to make Lord Davos be the king. In the past few years, the position and role of Davos are already that of a king! The only thing hecks is the title. Aren''t all of you expect for Lord Davos toe back sooner to help us defeat our enemies and save the union? In fact, since the establishment of the union, the people outside the hall and we depend greatly on Davos! And now that the cruel Syracusans are approaching us to turn our union just like Scylletium and make us suffer just like the Scylletians, Lord Davos, who has the blessing and protection of Hades, is the only one we can rely upon. So what are you still hesitating for?!¡± Marigi''s tempting words sent a shock through everyone''s heart.

    While some statesmen ponder and the others wanting to refute, the entrance of the senate hall was pushed open, and the guard captain ran inside with incredible excitement on his face, ¡°Milords, Thurii¡­Thurii is alive! Thurii is alive!¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about¡­Thurii is alive? Speak clearly!¡± Scambras shouted in dissatisfaction.

    Kunogta, however, took a few steps forward and asked in disbelief, ¡°You mean that the fountain of Thurii is starting to produce water again?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord! Just as the people chanted, ¡®Let Lord Davos be king¡¯, the fountain was revived. And now, the spring water is flowing into the square!¡± Said the excited guard captain. Then he added, ¡°Milords, this is a divine sign!¡±

    The statesmen looked at each other in shock, including Marigi, Plesinas and Kunogta. It is important to know that the Greeks attached the greatest importance to divine signs during this era of gods. Thus if they were doing ceremonies or praying and sudden abnormalities were to happen, such as wind, rain, thunder¡­and so on, they would regard it as a divine omen. After the Crotonians burned the old city of Thurii, the famed fountain of Thurii dried up for many years, but now, it has started producing water again! While most Greeks believed that spring water was under the jurisdiction of Poseidon, the god of the sea, some believed that it should be under the control of Hades because ites from underground.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go and have a look!¡± Unable to hide his amazement and curiosity, Kunogta took the lead out of the senate hall without hesitation, followed by the other statesmen.

    Even the crowd in front of the Grand Senate Hall ran to the outer edge of the square on the left side of the Grand Senate Hall, which is the location of the fountain of Thurii.

    The people of Thurii once attached great importance to the spring, which lent its name to the city that they built arge pool around it. And in the water, there were several beautiful statues of the goddess of the spring and the nymphs dressed in revealing clothes, sshing and ying, arousing the people''s imagination. It became a ce for the children to y, for the elderly to rest and rx, for men to talk about politics and for the female ves to draw water. However, the me not only destroyed the pool but also dried up the spring water. There were even rumours among the freemen that this was the gods¡¯ punishment for the Thurians¡¯ treachery.

    So when they rebuilt the city of Thurii, Heracleides made the craftsmen build a circle of stone walls to enclose the spring¡¯s outlet, making it look like a well and a nostalgic reminder of the past. A few years have passed since then, it has now be the most inconspicuous presence near Nike Square.

    Currently, there are hundreds of people surrounding the ce, and those who were previously worried about the union¡¯s safety were now dancing with joy. But once they saw the group of statesmen such as Kunogta arriving, they immediately began mouring, ¡°Esteemed lords,e and see! The great Hades has heard our cries and responded!¡±

    ¡°Even Hades agreed to make his descendant, our Davos, the king. So what are you still hesitating about?¡±

    ¡°Only by making Lord Davos be the king can we get Hades'' protection and drive the enemy out of our homes and restore Theonia''s peace!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Let''s all calm down for a moment and have us look at it first!¡± Kunogta said loudly and patiently.

    The crowd then quickly gave way.

    As soon as Kunogta stepped on the water, they saw that the half metre high ¡°stone well¡± was now filled to the brim, and the water continued to gush out of the well, flowing to the Nike Square.

    Kunogta stretched his hand in: The water was clear to the bone, and he could feel a strong upward force on his palm.

    ¡®It''s not fake. Thurii''s fountain is truly alive!¡¯ Kunogta withdrew his hand and wiped it on his clothes.

    ¡°The spring water is really sweet!¡± Marigi drank directly and praised loudly, attracting the other statesmen to follow suit.

    Kunogta looked at the quiet and clear spring water, which could almost reflect his face. He was confused whether this was really what the gods'' wished!

    However, the crowd will not give the statesmen much time to think. Seeing their eager gazes, the statesmen knew that they must give them a clear answer today.

    After a short and intense discussion, Kunogta, on behalf of the statesmen, announced to the crowd, ¡°People of Theonia, the Senate, after our discussion, epts your request to elect archon Davos as¡­the king of the Theonia Union. This, of course, requires the permission of Davos himself!¡­¡±

    But before Kunogta could even finish his speech, the people were already cheering, ¡°All hail, King Davos!!!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Back in the Grand Senate Hall, most of the statesmen felt lost. Although Davos was the archon for life of Theonia, he, after all, has simr status as the Senate''s statesmen. But now, he suddenly became the king, a higher status than them, and this difference made them have a strong sense of loss.

    Kunogta coughed dryly, wanting to admonish everyone to cheer up and a have serious discussion on the important issue of ¡°Davos as the king¡± and how to limit his power reasonably. But before he could even say anything, the guard captain came rushing again.

    Kunogta suddenly had a bad premonition. And sure enough, the guard captain anxiously said, ¡°Esteemed lords, some ships of Syracuse''s fleetnded on the coast north of Roscianum. It is reported that hundreds of soldiersnded and were ready to attack our coastal towns and viges!¡±

    Everyone became shocked, and the scene of Crotone''s fleet plundering the Theonian viges and towns would once again happen.

    Fortunately, Davos had already considered the absolute advantage of the Syracusan fleet before this war happened. Thus he had already thought of such a possibility happening, so before he left, he ordered the Ministry of Military to make some deployments following their previous experience. Such as establishing coastal observation posts on the east coast of Theonia, constructing simple defensive facilities in each coastal vige and town, and establishing a small garrison camp of reserve centurias between several viges¡­

    However, before Kunogta could make a decision, Kapus stood up and said with decisiveness, ¡°I request for the senate to allow me to lead the troops to immediately stop those Syracusans to avoid causing greater losses to our people!¡±

    The statesmen had no objection regarding Kapus'' request. In fact, he was the only one in the Senate at the moment that was familiar with Theonia''s legion tactics and able to lead soldiers in battle. At this moment, there were only a few statesmen left in the Senate.

    ¡°It seems that we need to recruit the freemen again.¡± Said Kunogta in a heavy mood. They nearly exhausted the Thurian citizens that could fight at this moment, so they had to go to the port area to recruit freemen. But even the number of freemen in there was not much left except for arge number of sailors of the Theonian fleet and thebourers of the military''s logistics.

 Chapter 450: Shocking Method

    At the start of the war, Roscianum took the initiative to offer their troops to participate in the battle. However, the Theonian Senate politely refused them because Theonia had enough troops, and even though Roscianum had few soldiers, it would still affect the overall unity of the army. Thus they only ept Roscianum''s ships and military rations. However, Theonia had now stretched its military to the limit, so they had to ask Roscianum for help. After all, no matter how small a mosquito''s leg is, it is still meat.

    ¡°Our troops left in Thurii is enough as long as Syracuse does not make a fullnding to attack us.¡± Said Kapus to relieve them and continued, ¡°We still have about 500 cavalries in Thurii, and even though Seclian''s naval fleet currently couldn¡¯t go out, we could transfer some sailors as light infantry. Of course, it''s better to have some heavy infantry from Roscianum to add to our army!¡­¡±

    Kunogta stepped forward and bowed to Kapus. He then said, ¡°Lord Kapus, Thurii''s safety is in your hands.¡±

    After Kunogta said this, Cornelius and the other statesmen bowed to Kapus as well. It was the first time that the traditional statesmen bowed to Kapus, a former mercenary, so sincerely. However, this immediately made him feel the pressure, but he still reciprocated by giving a powerful military salute before striding out of the Grand Senate Hall.

    Then the worried statesmen began looking at each other. In the end, their gazended at the empty seat in the centre of the meeting room. Previously, they were still at a loss by the fact that Davos had be the king, but now this emotion they felt had disappeared without a trace as only one thing left in their minds, ¡®Davos, when will youe back to save Theonia?¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Leptines, the navarch of the Syracusan navy, has no n tond on the coast of Thurii and attack the city as he knew too well that, unlike Terina, Thurii has enough men. He couldn¡¯t capture this big city with its high walls and strong fortification with just his crudely equipped sailors. He also did not n to send ships to burst into the Crati River because Syracuse did not upy one side of the river bank. Furthermore, there is an iron chain blocking the river in the city of Thurii. Once his ships were blocked and trapped in the river, they would be easy targets for the enemies'' ming arrows¡­

    So naturally, Leptines did not want to put his ships and experienced sailors in such a dangerous situation. Thus he only sent a few sailors to attack the outskirts of Thurii in order to force the Theonian fleet hiding in the Crati River toe out for a decisive battle.

    But unlike Leptines'' caution, the mercenary cavalries acted with great arrogance and without inhibitions. Because of the enemy¡¯s army, Krimisa recalled their people to hide in the city. Still, there are some who were not able to move into the city in time and were ughtered by these foreign cavalries, especially the Celts who carried the heads of those they had cut. It even included the heads of women and children strutting in front of Krimisa with great triumph, making the soldiers of the sixth legion stationed in the city furious but unable to do anything because of the military order¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Protesus, the Praetor of Krimisa, was fidgeting in the city hall. But when he saw Olivos, the legatus of the sixth legion, enter, he rushed to greet him and said, ¡°Lord Olivos, you have returned!¡±

    Olivos, who had just finished inspecting the port''s defence, saw Protesus'' anxious face and could not help but smile and pretend to be rmed, ¡°Could it be the enemy is attacking us?¡± Of course, it''s impossible for him to not know as he had just finished his inspection.

    ¡°Even with the current situation, you still in the mood to joke around?!¡± Protesus said with frustration.

    ¡°What happened?!¡± Olivos smiled and asked.

    ¡°The families of those you detained started making trouble in front of the city hall again. This time, they gathered hundreds of people and threatened that if we don''t release their rtives, they will set up tents in front of the city hall and live there!¡± Said Protesus with a worried face. After all, if these people continued making such a fuss, it would ruin his reputation as the Praetor, and he would be the biggest joke of the whole Senate in the future.

    ¡°They dare?!¡± Olivos sneered. Back when he led the sixth legion to Krimisa, a group of protesters actually blocked them outside the city gates. It was only after he detained them with the charge of attacking the army and plotting rebellion that the army could enter the city.

    And while he was busily setting up the defence of the whole city these past few days, some rumours began to circte in the city that ¡°With so many soldiers of the sixth legion stationed in the city, it will only consume our small stocks of food and water! And once the Syracusans encircle the city, we, the people of Krimisa, would be the first to die of starvation¡­¡±

    ¡°And now, the Syracusans are burning our fields and ughtering our kins outside the city. However, the soldiers of the sixth legions did not go out of the city to chase them away and protect ourpatriots and property. Instead, they just cowardly hide inside the city like rats¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Olivos just ignored these rumours and followed the established methods to improve the city''s defences. Still, he remained calm even after learning that the families of those he detained gathered in front of the city hall today. It was because after he entered the city, Aristias'' men that he ced in Krimisa went to find him covertly and told him that the Syracusan spies frequenting Krimisa had conspired with some Krimisians during this period to make the situation in the city much chaotic.

    At this moment, he said with seriousness, ¡°Lord Protesus, the woman who tried to assassinate Lord Davos before, hade from Krimisa. However, with Lord Davos kindness, he did not further expand the investigation for the sake of the union''s stability. But today, it seems that the problem of Krimisa is severe that even if we ce the city under military control, the situation in the city is still chaotic. I am afraid that some of Syracuse''s spies are inciting the people. So if we do not take strict measures, these people will cause trouble in the city while we are defending the city wall, and we would fall into danger once the enemy attacks on arge scale. ¡±

    Protesus'' expression suddenly changed. He then asked, ¡°What are you going to do then?¡±

    ¡°Of course, it is to dig them out. Then all coborators and troublemakers will be tried and executed!¡± With a murderous expression, Olivos swung his hand downward with force.

    Protesus was shocked. He hesitated again and said, ¡°That''s too extreme. After all, they are all still citizens of the union!¡±

    Olivos stared at him with contempt: This young statesman from Amendra who always supports Davos and usually speaks and takes a positive stand. But once he became the one in charge and needed to deal with political matters alone, he became hesitant and indecisive. Back when Scambras was the Praetor of Krimisa, the political situation here was rtively stable, but now that it was his turn, not only was there an assassination attempt, but the situation here was almost out of control¡­

    ¡°Lord Protesus, as you had served as a judge before, you should be fully aware that Theonia''s Military Law states, among other things, ¡®Those who desert from the battlefield and those who rebelled shall be beheaded.¡¯ It also stiptes that ¡®The highest penalty for treason is death.¡¯ We are now in the times of war; don¡¯t these people who collude with our enemies and try to undermine Krimisa''s defence or even betray the union deserve the death penalty?!!¡± Olivos shouted sternly.

    After thinking for a moment, Protesus reluctantly said, ¡°Alright, I agree with you. However, I hope that you can show the people conclusive evidence before you execute them.¡±

    ¡®This wouldn''t be so simple.¡¯ Olivos thought to himself. After he immediately agreed, he left the city hall and quickly found the people of the Intelligence Department. After their identification, he led the soldiers to search the homes of more than a dozen suspicious people (all former citizens of Krimisa) and recovered countless Syracusan tetradrachms and letters. They had even caught two Syracusan spies hiding in their homes.

    With this, Protesus could no longer say anything.

    Olivos then faced the people on the square and showed them the evidence of the collusion of the more than a dozen citizens. Then he beheaded those traitors on the spot and arrested and detained their family members that are causing trouble. At once, the chaotic situation in Krimisa greatly improved, and the people began devoting themselves to the city''s defence under Olivos''mand¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Ribaso, the chief ve supervisor of Davos'' residence, usually walks unhurriedly in the front yard to show his difference in identity and demeanour from ordinary ves. However, today, his legs were moving like wheels as he rushed through the front yard and into the rear yard''s entrance.

    ¡°Knock! Knock! Knock!¡­¡± He knocked on the door with uncontroble excitement.

    The door was then violently opened, and Azune, who was carrying an amphora filled with water in one hand as she was watering the flowers and pulling the door with the other, ¡°Uncle Ribaso, you are a supervisor! Don''t you know that madame still needs to recuperate during this time as she had just given birth? Yet you still knocked so loudly that everyone could hear you! If you wake up little Eunice and make her cry, let''s see what you would do if Madame were to me you!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, Azune. I am just too excited! Because¡­because Lord Davos¡­our master is now going to be king!¡± Ribaso said excitedly.

    ¡°Really?!¡± Azune was surprised that she covered her face with her hands without realising that the amphora fell to the ground and broke into several pieces.

    ¡°The statesmen already announced it to the more than a thousand people in the square, so how could it be false?!!¡± As soon as Ribaso finished speaking, Azune screamed and leapt with joy as she ran towards the back like a madman.

    ¡°Young people are really notposed!¡± Ribaso muttered a few words, bent down and picked up the fragments of amphora, showing a regretful expression, ¡°Too bad, a good Athenian amphora was broken.¡±

    As soon as Azune pushed open the bedroom door, she heard Agnes'' voice, ¡°Azune, you are too loud! Eunice is still sleeping.¡± Agnes, who was usually gentle, spoke in a tone showing that she was angry.

 Chapter 451: Siege of Crotone (I)

    ¡°Ah¡­I am sorry!¡± Although Azune was apologetic, she still couldn¡¯t conceal the joy on her face.

    While Cheiristoya, who was lying on the bed, was unable to stop herself from smiling when she looked at Azune, ¡°I could hear yourughter even from a distance. Come tell us what the good thing is.¡±

    ¡°Madame,dy Agnes¡­oh no, your two highnesses! Congrattions, the Senate has just announced Lord Davos to be the king of Theonia!¡± Azune spoke out with joy in one breath.

    Now even Cheiristoya''s pretty face was overflowing with joy thatpletely concealed her weakness after giving birth. At this moment, she suddenly remembered that after making love with Davos, he once said, ¡®Cyrus the younger is nothing. In the future, I will definitely make you a queen!¡¯¡­¡®Davos has really done it!¡¯

    On the other hand, Agnes was not as excited as Cheiristoya. After all, it has been hundreds of years since the era of kings in Magna Graecia, so she doesn''t feel much about it. Rather, she is just happy for her husband.

    ¡°Queens, how about we hold a banquet to celebrate this joyous asion once Cynthia and Adoris return from school?¡± Suggested Azune. But after thinking for a moment, Cheiristoya shook her head and said, ¡°Currently, the people of the union are worried about the war and their loved ones, so if we were to hold a banquet to celebrate at this time, we will offend the masses and damage Davos'' reputation!¡±

    ¡°Your highness is right.¡± Azune hurriedly agreed.

    ¡°Don''t say the word ¡®highness¡¯ either. This matter has not yet been settled, so let''s not get too carried away!¡± Cheiristoya reminded her again.

    ¡°Indeed. You should address as you used to, which also makes the people feel closer.¡± Agnes interjected. Then she continued, ¡°Tonight, why don''t we make offerings to the gods and goddesses at home? We should thank them for their blessings and hope that they will bless Davos to return without any incident!¡±

    ¡°Sister, your proposal is wonderful! We should also offer a sacrifice to Hades and thank him for protecting our husband! At the same time-¡± Cheiristoya smiled at Agnes, ¡°We should offer sacrifices to Hera as well, thanking her for blessing me with a healthy Eunice, and hope that she will also bless you with a smooth birth!¡±

    ¡°Yea!¡± Agnes gently caressed her slightly protruding stomach and smiled like a doting mother.

    ¡°Wa! Wa! Wa!¡­¡± Eunice, who was in the cradle, woke up.

    ¡°Oh, my little princess!¡± Azune hurried over and opened the linen diaper to check, ¡°She pooped, and it''s quite a lot!¡± After she said this, she then skilfully changed the diaper¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the early morning, a continuous salpinx sounded outside the city, waking up the Crotonians.

    ¡°What''s happening?¡±

    ¡°I fear that Syracuse is about to attack the city!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The people at the top of the city wall looked in fear and anxiety at the countless soldiers standing in the distance.

    Suddenly, a ck dot flew over the city walls.

    ¡°Take cover!¡± After warning each other, the crowd looked in the direction where the stone came from and scattered to run away. After all, they were already familiar with Syracuse''s terrifying weapon, which had continuously attacked the city of Crotone in the past few days.

    However, today¡¯s situation is much different from the previous two days. The stones kept bombarding the city one after another, smashing the neighbourhoods near the walls, quickly causing the houses to crumble and turn to rubble, littering the ground. On the other hand, the people scattered and fled while supporting their injured loved ones¡­

    With the continuous bombardment on the city wall,yers of stones fell down pieces by pieces¡­

    Lysias, who watched all of this from the top of the city wall, became anxious and said, ¡°Why haven''t the Theonian ballistae fought back? They are just letting the enemy fire their weapons with such recklessness!¡±

    ¡°Lord Lysias, the Theonians have no choice.¡± Ascamas, who had already discussed with the ballista team many times, exined, ¡°The towers on our city wall is too narrow to ce a ballista. Thus they could only set it up below the city wall. However, since our city wall is too high, they needed to raise the ballistae''s elevation, which shortens the range¡­¡±

    ¡°In other words, they can''t attack the enemy''s ballistae?!¡± Lysias immediately understood it after hearing Ascamas.

    ¡°Yes. Hence the Theonians suggested for us not to reveal that we have ballista so that we could deal a heavy blow to the enemy once they let their guards down.¡± Although Ascamas disliked the Theonians before, he also knew the importance of unity when faced with a great enemy. Thus he frankly said, ¡°And I think this method is feasible.¡±

    Lysias thought for a moment and could only reluctantly ept the suggestion of the Theonians, ¡°But what shall we do now? The enemy obviously has more ballistae than two days ago. I fear that our city wall will copse!¡±

    ¡°For the time being, it won''t happen. So you can rest assured.¡± Ascamasforted him and continued, ¡°We now have to wait for the enemy to attack and then beat them! I believe Syracuse will soon take action!¡±

    As he spoke, Ascamas'' gaze kept looking at therge earthen ramp built by the Syracusans for days. He thought this ramp would be the real threat to the city¡¯s defencepared to the ballista. Yesterday, he sent his soldiers out of the city to destroy it, but the well prepared Syracusans defeated them. He also thought of digging a tunnel, but a moat surrounds the city, causing water to seep when the soldiers dug below the moat and scared them. Otherwise, they might have drowned in the tunnel. In the end, the Theonians told him that there was a way to destroy that ramp, which relieved him for the time being.

    However, Ascamas knew that: Currently, there is no one above the earthen ramp, but once the siege begins, Syracusans archers would fill the ramp, raining down arrows at the soldiers at the top of the city wall.

    ¡°I''ll leave this ce to you, as I will go and see the Terinians!¡± Lysias said seriously. He wanted to quickly leave here as the continuous roaring of ballista made him very nervous, thinking that the city wall would copse at any time.

    As the Polemarchos of Crotone, he needed to offer condolences to Siprus, who was leading the Terinians. At the same time, there were also several thousand Scylletian soldiers defending the southern part of the city, which was also a force that they could rely on. After all, with Syracuse ughtering the city of Scylletium, these soldiers'' rtives and friends were either killed or sold into very and transported to foreignnds. And only the blood of the Syracusan soldiers could quell the anger of the Scylletian soldiers, so they were the ones hoping Syracuse to attack the most.

    Just as Lysias was about to leave, the guard hurriedly came with an urgent report, ¡®Countless Syracusan ships had appeared outside the port and were preparing to break in.¡¯

    Crotone was somewhat simr to Taranto, where they integrated their port into their city. However, their port is built in the gulf, so it is impossible for them to blockade it. Therefore, when the enemy fleet breaks in, they couldnd on the side and rear of Crotone. And even if they have walls, they still have to stay alert while defending it as the enemy could break into the gulf andnd at the port. Therefore, themanding strategos must have highmanding ability and judgment, especially since Crotone doesn''t have many troops.

    ¡°We need an experienced strategos tomand the few soldiers in the port area and stop the enemy from sneaking up on our rear!¡± Ascamas said with a grave expression.

    Lysias understood what he meant, so he said without hesitation, ¡°I will send Milo.¡±

    Milo was the former polemarchos of Crotone that the Crotonians expelled after Theonia defeated his army. After he got expelled, he went to the Peloponnesian Penins not far from Crotone and lived in seclusion in a coastal town in Elis.

    But when the Syracusan army invaded Magna Graecia, Crotone decided to recall their exiled countrymen in order to work together to fight Syracuse. So as soon as he received the news, Milo returned to Crotone. However, the Crotonian army had already departed to Scylletium by then, so he could only stay in the city as an ordinary citizen until today.

    Hearing Lysias'' words, Ascamas showed a hint of a smile, which soon disappeared because the enemy began their attack¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Hundreds of metres away, the huge, loose and massive battle formation of the Syracusans slowly approached the wall. At the forefront were some oddly shaped siege equipment pushed by the Syracusans, a wooden wheeled vehicle with wooden shields for the soldiers to hide, and about five metres long battering ram¡­

    However, the ones that worried Ascamas the most were the three huge, taller than the city walls, movable wooden towers. Although this was the first time Ascamas saw it, a word immediately shed through his mind ¨C siege towers. Previously, he only heard that the Syracusans used siege towers to capture numerous cities in Carthage''s Sicily, but he now saw it personally that made him rmed.

    The soldiers were equally shocked and overwhelmed when they saw the huge siege tower slowlying closer to them.

    ¡°Cheer up!¡± Shouted Ascamas to encourage the soldiers and himself, ¡°Although that thing is massive, it will not be able to cross the moat!¡±

    ¡®Right, that monster wouldn''t be able to get through the moat!¡¯ The soldiers became relieved for a while. But suddenly, they saw that the enemy had stopped advancing. Afterwards, thousands of naked men, carrying linen bags, came out and staggered towards the wall. Behind them were heavily armed Syracusan light infantry, pushing their siege wagons closely¡­

    ¡®Could it be the Syracusan ves are going to fill our moat?!¡¯ Kelebus and hisrades around him thought the same thing as they tightly gripped their javelins and bows.

    Ascamas, on the other hand, began to feel uneasy.

 Chapter 452: Siege of Crotone (II)

    But before the ves could even reach the moat, the soldiers in the city began raining arrows on them, causing screams to resound below the city walls suddenly¡­

    Just as Kelebus and his men tried to attack again, the ves below the city wall shouted, ¡°Stop shooting. I am Sephanus, son of Sthenippus!¡±

    ¡°I am Parrharius! Ascamas'' neighbour!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Crotonian soldiers became dazed after learning that the people below the city wall were not ves but their capturedrades after their defeat in the previous battle.

    ¡°Damned Syracusans! Go to hell, Dionysius!!¡± Ascamas punched the battlements in anger, and blood immediately stained his fist. He did not expect Dionysius to ignore the Greek tradition and let the Greek captives act as cannon fodder.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At this moment, Dionysius followed the archers to the earthen ramp. He then looked down at the situation with a sneer on his face. In the previous battle, Syracuse managed to capture nearly 10,000 captives. After intimidating, beating, starving¡­and torturing them, the Syracusans managed to make the 2,000 captives willingly fill up the city¡¯s moat for Syracuse in exchange for the promise to not be beaten and sold into very. Among these 2,000 captives were Crotonians and a small number of Scylletians and Terinians, but no Theonians. On the one hand, they only managed to capture a few Theonians and had exchanged more than half of them to Theonia. On the other hand, Dionysius had other uses for the remaining Bruttian captives, while the pure Greeks and Lucanians were stubborn¡­

    Dionysius didn''t think much about this annoying little problem as he was now proud of his strategy and wanted to see how the Crotonians would respond. For this reason, he orders his archers not to shoot their arrows yet, reserving their strength and arrows until the whole army began their attack so that they could clear the obstacles at the top of the city wall for the army.

    At the city wall, the adjutant could only ask with urgency, ¡°Strategos, what should we do?!¡±

    Ascamas did not reply immediately. While asking the guards to bandage his left hand, he painfully watches the Syracusans forcing the Crotonian captives to walk towards the moat, throw the linen bags they are carrying and then turn their back to destroy the abatis that the defenders carefullyid.

    Ascamas cursed at these traitors. Still, he did not dare to order an attack on them because he remembered Kunogta, the polemarchos of Thurii. Kunogta had saved the city by ordering to close the city gate, but because it caused the death of some soldiers, the people did not spare him. They not only expelled Kunogta but also attacked his family. So if he were to directly order to kill the Crotonian captives, even if they repel the enemy''s attack, the families of these captives would sure hate him in the future, and his fate will definitely be worse than Kunogta!

    Ascamas wasn''t a muscle head strategos who only knew how to fight. He was elected as a strategos numerous times in Crotone, a powerful Greek city-state with tens of thousands of citizens, which shows that he has a powerful political ability. After quickly weighing the pros and cons, he said to his adjutant, ¡°Immediately go to the city hall and tell the council what is going on here and have them decide what to do.¡±

    After the adjutant left, Ascamas saw that they had almost filled up a small section of the moat. He sighed and ordered his men, ¡°Go and find some ropes, drop them down the wall so that they can grab it and climb up.¡±

    He didn''t dare to open the city gates for fear that the Syracusans would take advantage of it to swarm in.

    The soldiers then hurriedly found ropes and dropped them. They then shouted at theirrades, ¡°Get over here! Grab the rope and climb up!!¡±

    When they heard this, some of the captives crossed the moat staggeringly. However, the Syracusan light infantry shot arrows at them, easily striking these starved and weakened captives.

    Seeing this, the soldiers at the top of the city wall fired back in anger. However, most of their attack failed to hit the Syracusans hiding behind their siege wagons. Instead, they wounded their own countrymen by ident.

    This has caused the captives to no longer act rashly.

    Seeing the result, Ascamas reluctantly gave up rescuing theirrades.

    In the council of Crotone, they were apparently unprepared for Syracuse''s use of captives to attack the city and argued fiercely. Even with that, they were still unable to make a decision, which gave the Syracusans plenty of time to let the captives fill in several long sections of the moat and clear the abatis on both of its sides.

    Ascamas could only watch with dejection. But he soon cheered himself up, ¡®In that case, let''s just fight head-on!¡¯

    As if hearing Ascamas'' inner thoughts, the captives were driven back and never appeared again.

    Seeing that everything was ready, Dionysius smugly gave the order on the earthen ramp, ¡°Attack!¡±

    But as soon as his voice fell, he suddenly felt something cold and wet hit his face. When he reached out and touched it, he immediately realised it was water.

    ¡®It''s raining?¡¯ Dionysius looked up at teh sky. Without realising it, the sunny sky had be a little gloomy. Although it was only a raindrop, Dionysius became a bit worried because the weight of the siege tower would cause thend to soften from the rain and cause the wheels to sink into the mud and get stuck.

    ¡°Hurry up the attack!¡± He once again issued an order.

    Soon, the salpinx rang out on the battlefield.

    As stones kept whizzing over the city of Crotone, the enemies under the city wall slowly poured in like tides¡­

    The mixed sound of salpinx, war drums, shouting, footsteps¡­struck the eardrums of the defenders, causing them to breathe quickly.

    ¡°Here theye.¡± Ascamas whispered. He then picked up his javelin and walked towards the battlements.

    At this time, a ck dot suddenly flew over the back of his head, followed by another¡­

    He suddenly widened his eyes, looked up and heard the soldiers nearby shouting excitedly, ¡°Our ballista! Our ballista is finally attacking!!¡­¡±

    ¡®That''s not even Crotone''s ballista¡­¡¯ Ascamas thought. However, he didn''t mind it after seeing the soldiers¡¯ morale rise. Instead, he felt fortunate that Theonia stood together with Crotone.

    While the Crotonian soldiers were excited, the Syracusans became worried, especially Dionysius. He saw it with his own eyes how almost all the stone projectiles flying out of the city hit near the siege tower not far from the earthen ramp.

    Even though he heard Phacipessas say, ¡®Theonia also has ballista.¡¯ since he hadn''t seen Crotone use it for the first two days, he thought that Theonia had not lent them thisplex, expensive and powerful weapons and had instead used it for Aprustum''s defence. He did not expect that Crotone had hidden it until now and only started to make its presence known once Syracuse began fully attacking the city.

    ¡°Cunning Crotonians!¡± Dionysius cursed. Even though he knew that the target of the enemy''s ballista was the siege towers, he could not do anything besides ordering his men, ¡°Notify our ballista team to attack the area where the enemy might ce their ballista in the city!¡±

    Although he was the one who gave the other, Dionysius also knew that their ballista''s uracy was not that great. In addition, it is challenging to hit the target without seeing its position, and they could no longer keep their bombardment as they could identally injure their men that are already close to the wall.

    Fortunately, with just a few dozen ballistae of the enemy, they could not make much of a ssh in the face of their waves of attack. So Dionysius made a quick decision. In his direction, hundreds of archers on the earthen rampart began raining arrows at the top of the city wall to suppress the enemy from attacking their soldiers.

    On the other hand, the Crotonian light infantry at the top of the walls began to rain arrows on the enemy approaching the moat.

    The Syracusans crossed the filled moat and braved the arrows and javelins thrown by the Crotonians to erect the siegedders that they were carrying to the walls. The Syracusans had made a specialdder from their siege experience, with curved iron hooks at the end to hook onto the battlements so that thedders would not easily slip or be pushed down.

    Due to the Crotonian soldiers being unable to push down thedder quickly, they had to throw javelins and stones down to attack the enemy climbing thedder. They then dump heated oil and set thedder on fire¡­

    The Syracusan light infantry then came out from the siege wagon, rushed to the bottom of the city wall and shot arrows at the top to reduce the pressure on theirrades¡­

    Thest to arrive was Syracuse''s siege engines. At the front were those wooden wheeled vehicles with a canopy, which finally made it to the moat. Under the protection of the canopy, thebourers pushing it took up their tools and concentrated on tamping the ground again, filled the gap with soil and paved it with nks to ensure that the heavy siege towers could pass through the moat.

    The Theonians ced their ballista a short distance behind the western wall, with wide spacing and had houses surrounding it for safety. However, the widely spread ballistae made it impossible for them to adjust the trajectory using the same data. Furthermore, the ballista team didn''t have that much personnel from the Institute of Mathematics. Thus, Kurdorus suggested that the ten ballistae bombard an area or a target simultaneously to increase the number of hits. After the ballista, under his personalmand, did the first firing test, the other artillerist would adjust their own firing data ording to the height and speed of the stone projectile.

    And this suggestion was then epted by the ballista team. Now, their primary target is the approaching siege tower.

    Kurdorus kept his eyes on the spotter holding the coloured g on the wall. The position he stood was to indicate the direction of the siege tower, and the number he drew in the air with the coloured g was the distance between the siege tower and the wall. The spotter then pointed the g to the left and repeated this action twice, then the number he drew after was the direction and distance from which the stone projectile fired by Kurdorus had deviated.

    Having missed his first two shots, Kurdorus began to feel the pressure. He wiped the raindrops from his face to clear his vision a little, as he knew that he had to hit the target soon. Otherwise, once the rain fell harder and wet the spring torsion of the ballista, its stic force would change, making it more difficult to judge the uracy of the trajectory.

 Chapter 453: Siege of Crotone (III)

    Thinking of this, he calmed himself down by taking a deep breath. After quickly calcting it in his mind, he said in a determined tone, ¡°The elevation angle remains unchanged, aim its body once to the left, reduce the range by a unit, and the stone projectile to use is the same weight as the previous one.¡±

    The artillerist immediately acted.

    ¡°Fire!¡±

    The stone projectile whistled away. Afterwards, one stone projectile after another flew out of the city immediately¡­

    However, a lot more stone projectiles came flying from the outside the city, ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang!¡­.¡± the banging sound then mixed with the screams and shouts. One of the stone projectiles evennded near Kurdorus'' catapult, sshing stone debris with its momentum. But due to this period of experience, Kurdorus remained unmoved. He was no longer the Schr(his nickname given by the legion soldiers) that had just left the Institute but a qualified soldier.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The siege towers that the Syracusans are now using were far from the ones the Theonians used during their conquest of mpetita. These siege towers were 20 metres long, 10 metres wide and 12 metres high with a trapezoidal shape with seven floors. The topmostyer is a circr wooden dish with five archers inside to fire arrows at the enemies at the top of the city wall from a height. The bottomyer has a battering ram, which can directly strike the wall. The second highest floor was almost as high as the city wall, allowing for a drawbridge to be lowered to let the soldiers entering the tower rush up to the city. The third highestyer was slightly below the top of the city wall, and it houses another terrible weapon invented by the Syracusans ¨C the ballista*¡­ Hence this super siege tower requires hundreds of men to push it from behind and on both sides of the tower. (T/N: The character use ¸¹¹­, which means belly bow aka gastraphetes, but its description is basically an oxybeles.)

    However, the Theonian stone projectiles kept falling around it, causing mud and stones to ssh everywhere and hit the people around. And those who got hit by the stone projectiles died horribly, scaring the surrounding soldiers to dodge. In the case of the soldiers advancing densely under the city wall, only arge area was left vacated ¨C it was near the siege towers.

    Feeling a sense of danger, themanding officer of the siege towers urged thebourers behind the tower to push it harder. After all, once they reached the wall, there would be nothing that could threaten them.

    At this moment, the outer wooden board of the third-highestyer on the siege tower opened, revealing two gastraphetes. Its construction was simr to that of aposite bow, except the device used for firing was a huge bow fixed t on a stand. The operator turned the pulley hard, pulled the thick bowstring, locked it, and put in an equally huge iron arrow.

    Thirty metres was a reasonable distance for the Gastraphetes* to aim, and the Gastraphetes on the right even aimed at the strategos at the top of the city wall whose helmet had a colourful plume. (T/N: Gastraphetes = its wielder, gastraphetes = the weapon.)

    ¡°Thwang!!¡­¡± along with the huge bowstring sound, the iron arrow whistled through the air and rushed to the top of the wall.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Ascamas saw the ¡°opening of the door¡± of the siege tower, his years of battlefield experience made him feel uneasy, so he subconsciously sat down towards the battlement. Then, he heard two piercing screams. When he looked behind him, he saw a soldier holding a round shield to shield from the attack from the earthen ramp and siege tower''s archers. However, there was an iron arrow through his chest, and the arrow''s momentum also struck the soldier behind him. It has caused the soldiers around them, including Ascamas, to be horrified looking at them.

    The giant siege tower of Syracuse, which yed a crucial role in Sicily''s attack on the Carthage''s Motya, revealed its terrifying form as it slowly approached the walls like a giant beast baring its teeth and w. As the siege tower gets closer, the soldiers defending the city be terrified, unable to do anything¡­

    In this critical situation, a ck dot flew over the wall and smashed into the topmostyer of the siege tower like a meteor. It easily broke a hole in the hard and thick wooden nks, and the wood splinter sshed like steel needles to the face and body of the Syracusan archers inside the tower, causing them to scream miserably. However, it has still not ended. The stone projectile that fell into the tower mmed down the woodendder andnded on the feet of a soldier who was pulling his gastraphetes.

    ¡°It hit! It hit! Our catapult hit!!!¡­¡± The soldiers defending the city cheered as if they had won the battle. With such a move, it dispelled the fear in their hearts.

    Ascamas then let out a sigh of relief even though the stone projectile was just a drop in the bucketpared to the enormous siege tower, not enough to cause significant damage to it.

    But just as Ascamas sighed, he saw one stone projectile after another flying and smashing into the siege tower.

    The soldiers felt regret that they missed; some even began to pray to Apollo. Then, their prayers seemed to have worked.

    A stone projectile flew from the side and hit the side of the siege tower''s centre, causing the enemy to cry out in rm.

    Then another stone projectile flew into the openedyer of the siege tower where the Gastraphetes were about tounch another attack. The gastraphetes broke with a crisp, and the various parts and wooden splinters flew around in the narrow space, causing the soldiers to scream and bleed.

    Afterwards, another stone projectile hit the lower part of the siege tower.

    Despite the cheerings of the defenders, the siege tower, riddled withrge holes, continued to approach the wall slowly. But the tower''s movement began to shake, and the loose nks kept falling, causing the strugglingbourers to scatter in panic. Then the siege tower began to copse from top to bottom¡­

    On the earthen ramp outside the city, Dionysius watched the situation with a grimace as he knew that Phacipessas had gathered nearly 10,000 people to intensify the construction of the siege towers under themand of the engineers. Even though they managed to make three siege towers in just a few days, their haste made it so they were not sturdy. Thus the violent impact of the stone projectile must have damaged the internal structure of the siege tower¡­

    ¡°Milord, look! A siege tower has crossed the moat!¡± Damocles shouted excitedly to divert Dionysius'' attention.

    ¡°And our battering rams have reached the city wall. It will surely make Crotone''s wall tremble under its impact!¡± Said another follower who was unwilling to lose.

    Currently, countless Syracusan soldiers were like ants climbing Crotone''s wall, drawing most of the defenders'' attack, which allowed the siege towers, battering rams and siege wagons¡­theserge siege engines to reach the city smoothly. Although they managed to knock one siege tower down, it did not affect the battle situation at all, so once the Syracusans used these siege engines together, it would cause great trouble to Crotone''s wall.

    However, Dionysius anxiously looked at the sky: The dark clouds in the sky became denser and denser, causing the rain to get stronger, making him almost unable to open his eyes, ¡®If the rain continues in this way, it would¡­¡¯

    As if in response to his worry, a ¡°Crack!!!¡­Boom!!!¡­¡± sounded as a dazzling bright light shed across the sky, followed by the rumbling of thunder shrouding all the noise on the battlefield. It startled the soldiers on both sides and made them look up at the sky.

    As the wind blew stronger¡­

    The rain got worse and soon turned into a downpour¡­

    Now, lightning, thunder, wind and rain have be the protagonist of this world.

    The soldiers stopped fighting and cower to hide under the city wall or in the towers because a bolt of lightning had pierced the sky and split a huge siege tower in half as it struck the ground.

    Those who saw the tragedy were stricken dumb with fear.

    ¡®This is the wrath of the king of the gods ¨C Zeus!¡¯ The soldiers on both sides trembled in their hearts as they began to pray to Zeus.

    ¡°Milord, we should go down as it is too dangerous to stay here!¡± All of the attendants of Dionysius came to persuade him.

    Dionysius stared ahead with reluctance. However, the rain became denser, and only the white mist entered his field of vision¡­

    Then, Dionysius ordered with reluctance, ¡®Retreat, immediately!¡¯

    In such extreme weather, the salpinx could not be heard. Fortunately, the Syracusan soldiers did not need the order as they had already begun to retreat consciously. The Crotonians, on the other hand, did not dare to go out of the city to pursue the enemy in such terrible weather. A grand siege battle had just started but was stopped due to the interference of nature¡­

    Just as Dionysius descended from the earthen ramp that had taken several thousand men two days to build, it had slowly copsed under the fierce rush of rain. Dionysius could only curse helplessly, ¡°Count themselves lucky!!¡±

    ¡°It seems that Zeus protected them this time.¡± one of his entourage said casually.

    Dionysius immediately red at him fiercely, ¡°Shut your mouth! This is just a coincidence and has nothing to do with Zeus.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Ascamas, on the other hand, prayed piously to Zeus.

    During winter, Crotone doesn''t have many rainy days, and such a heavy rain like today could be said to be a rare sight within the past few years. Thus the Crotonians consider this a blessing from the gods, so even though the wind and rain are battering them, it had still increased everyone''s morale.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Many forces paid attention to the war between Syracuse and the South Italian Alliance, as this was rted to the hegemony of the Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean.

    Not to mention Carthage, who hated Syracuse and fought with them for a hundred years. But the reality is, they are in a predicament that made the Carthaginian Senate refuse Theonia''s request for an alliance. Naturally, they hoped that the Syracusan army would suffer setbacks and even heavy losses in their war with Magna Graecia, but the news came that Syracuse was winning, and even Crotone and Theonia were in danger under the fierce attack led by Dionysius.

    Mago, who was in charge of Sicily''s defence, wrote several times and asked the Senate for instructions tounch small attacks on Syracuse''s allies in order to divert Syracuse''s attention and slow down Dionysius'' attacks on the north and prevent him from conquering and integrating Magna Graecia into a more powerful Syracuse.

    However, the Senate led by Hanno rejected his proposal. And in order to prevent some troubles from arising, the senate had sent someone to Lilybaeum to supervise the movement of their army in Sicily.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the Carthaginian Senate watched the war progress in Magna Graecia with fear and trepidation, the Battle of Corinth on the Peloponnesian continued.

    However, Agesus, who was physically ill, had returned to Sparta and handed over themand of the Spartan allied army at Corinth to Praxitas, the uncle of Agesipolis, the new Spartan king. On the other hand, the army brought back by Agesus from Asia Minor stayed in Corinth.

 Chapter 454: Spartas Mediation

    Agesus only invited a few close friends as his distinguished guest on his return to his mothend after a long absence, including Xenophon.

    While healing his body, Agesus paid attention to the Battle of Corinth and the reports from Magna Graecia.

    On this day, Xenophon came to visit Agesus at his house.

    Agesus enthusiastically invited him to the living room.

    As soon as he sat down, Xenophon expressed his heartfelt gratitude to him, ¡°King Agesus, the Gerousia had informed me today that they would ept me as a guest of honour in Sparta and given a piece ofnd in Scillus. I thank you for your selfless support to me so that I, an exile, can finally have a home!¡±

    ¡°Scillus is a good ce! Thend is fertile, and as it is close to the forest, you can often see herds of wild deer. Furthermore, it''s near Olympia in Elis, so it will be much easier for you to watch the Olympic Games in the future.¡± Agesus smiled and congratted him. Then, he said with seriousness, ¡°Xenophon, this is Sparta''spensation to you. If you didn''t help us, Sparta, how could Athens expel you?! Therefore, Sparta will not disappoint any friend who has sincerely helped us!¡±

    Although Agesus was sincere, Xenophon didn''t want to discuss the charge of ¡°treason¡± by Athens. Hence he changed the subject and said, ¡°I wonder how is our war progress in Corinth is going now?¡±

    ¡°From thetest report, many Corinthians had gotten tired of the war due to the numerous casualties and thend bing barren. Some had even quietly contacted Praxitas to discuss a truce¡­¡± Said Agesus.

    ¡°That''s wonderful! As long as we continue to intensify our attack, I believe those pro-peace factions in the city would definitely grow, which would cause Corinth to fall to Sparta eventually.¡± Xenophon said happily.

    ¡°But there is also an unpleasant news.¡± Agesus then said with a grim expression, ¡°The Corinthians and Argosians have quietly formed an alliance!¡±

    ¡°An alliance? What kind?!¡± Xenophon asked curiously. After all, Corinth and Argos were already members of the anti-Spartan alliance, so it seemed unnecessary to establish a separate alliance.

    ¡°Just like what your good friend did in Magna Graecia, Corinth and Argos removed the boundary marker between the two cities and merged, giving the citizens of both city-states the same rights¡­¡± Agesus said in a heavy tone.

    It must be known that Sparta and Argos have a centuries-old feud. When Sparta defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War, Sparta destroyed their hegemony but still gave them a way to live. But if Argos was the one that lost the war, Sparta would skin it alive because Argos has always been against Sparta. Even as far back as the Greco-Persian war where all the Peloponnesian city-states joined the anti-Persian coalition and made Sparta the leader to fight against the Persians. But not Argos, as it preferred to be the insider of Persia due to Sparta. Hence Sparta doesn''t want to see Argos getting even slightly stronger.

    Xenophon was well aware of theirplex rtionship. He thought about it and said with a smile, ¡°In fact, there is nothing for you to worry about. It might even be a good thing for Sparta if these two city-states united instead.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Let me hear it.¡± Agesus'' mind stirred as he leaned forward in a posture to listen attentively.

    ¡°Currently, the anti-Spartan Alliance are working together against Sparta. Thebes, Corinth, Athens, Megara and Argos had all sent troops to fight, but the merger of Corinth and Argos only made Argos more enthusiastic in aiding Corinth. However, since Argos was already a mortal enemy of Sparta, its pressure on Sparta wouldn''t increase much. On the contrary-¡± Xenophon organised his words and said, ¡°As two city-states with a long history, Corinth and Argos have deep-rooted political traditions, customs and interests, which are very different. For example, Corinth is by nobility while Argos is more like Sparta-¡±

    Agesus nodded, understanding that Xenophon was referring to the oligarchy.

    ¡°Corinth believed in Poseidon while Argos revered Zeus and Agamemnon(the ancient city of Mycenae was within the territory of Argos, and the Argosians often boasted that they had ancient Greek royal blood and were nobler than the Spartans); Corinth dominates throughmerce while Argos lived by agriculture; The Corinthians are shrewd and sleek while the Argosians are conservative and straightforward¡­which just show that these are twopletely different city-states. The two city-states rulers must have hastily decided to merge under the pressure of our attack. However, these might instead lead to conflicts and contradictions between the two city-states, which would make those resentful Corinthians lean more towards Sparta¡­¡±

    Agesus'' eyes brighten up, ¡°Xenophon, what you say makes sense! At tomorrow''s meeting, I will tell your opinion to the other elders.¡±

    He then stood up excitedly, paced back and forth, and added, ¡°Also, I will write a letter to Praxitas, telling him not to attack Corinth too quickly. Instead, to send more people to make contact and sow discord to those dissenters.¡±

    Xenophon nodded discreetly. There was no shortage of power struggles between the two kings of Sparta, none more famous than the struggle between Cleomens and Demaratos before the Greco-Persian War. And the reason why Pausaniasid his hands on Lysander, besides the fear that he threatened Sparta''s kingship, the other reason was that Lysander fully supported the other Spartan king, Agesus. And even this time, the Gerousia used the excuse to ¡°recuperate¡± to call back Agesus, who was leading the war on the front line and reced him by the confidant of the new king, Agesipolis. Perhaps the reason is worthy of further investigation, but Agesus disregarded his grievance and still gave Praxitas advice, which shows his broadmindedness. And that is the reason why Xenophon was willing to follow Agesus.

    Thus Xenophon said with sincerity, ¡°King Agesus, your advice would be of great help to Sparta''s capture of Corinth!¡±

    Agesus smiled, ¡°Xenophon, you are right. How could the integration of city-states be that easy? It even took several decades for Sparta and Messene to be one, but-¡± with a puzzled look, he continued, ¡°How did that old friend of yours manage to not only merge the different Greek city-states of Thurii, Amendra and Krimisa together, but also merge the Lucanians and Bruttians, and still remain stable over the years?¡±

    After the rise of Theonia, Xenophon, due to Davos, had naturally thought briefly about the reasons for the rapid growth of the city-state union through the information he learned. However, there were some things he could not say because the Helots were the foundation of Sparta. Thus he did not answer positively but sighed, ¡°The Theonia City-State Union¡¯s establishment was just too short. And now, this rash war with Syracuse had given them trouble!¡±

    ¡°I''m afraid that it¡¯s not just a ¡®trouble¡¯ as it is already a disaster for Theonia!¡± Agesus said seriously. He then briefly told Xenophon about the series of battles that took ce after Syracuse invaded Magna Graecia.

    After Xenophon returned to maind Greece, he was first busy leading the mercenaries to fight the anti-Spartan Alliance. Afterwards, he followed Agesus to Sparta and was busy settling down, so he neither had the energy nor channels to understand the war situation in Magna Graecia. After learning about it, he did not expect that in just a month, the situation in Magna Graecia would have undergone ups and downs with Theonia having enemies on all sides and is already in danger.

    Agesus continued, ¡°In fact, we did not expect the war in Magna Graecia to progress so quickly. We originally nned of mediating this war when both sides were caught in a stalemate so that Syracuse could dispatch reinforcements as soon as possible to join our war against Corinth, especially its fleet that could ease the blockade of Athens at sea. But judging from the current situation, Dionysius, who holds an absolute advantage, would never stop the war. Hence I am wondering whether we could get Theonia to surrender voluntarily¡­¡±

    Xenophon really thought that Agesus wanted Magna Graecia to end the war early so that Syracuse could aid Sparta. But what he did not know was that Agesus had another important reason: A stronger Syracuse was not what Sparta wanted because it was very likely that it would no longer want to cooperate with them. So preserving a Theonia that could pose a threat to Syracuse would be good for bncing the power in the western Mediterranean and preventing the situation from falling out of Sparta''s control.

    Xenophon thought about the days when he fought and fled with the young mercenary leader a few years ago in Persia. The more difficult the time was, the more Davos was encouraged and often thought of good ways to help the mercenaries get out of trouble. Xenophon, therefore, reminded Agesus, ¡°From what I know about Davos, he would rather fight to the death than ept the proposal of Theonia surrendering to Syracuse.¡±

    Agesus sighed and said, ¡°Anyway, we must still give it a try. What do you think of sending Cheirisophus to Thurii?¡±

    ¡®Cheirisophus!¡¯ Xenophon no longer had a clear image of this Spartan inspector who once fought with them together in Persia. Since Cheirisophus returned to Sparta with Thimbron, three or four years have already passed, and Xenophon had not seen him again. He then said, ¡°While in Persia, Cheirisophus was on good terms with Davos.¡±

    ¡°Yes, he had even proposed to the Gerousia that Davos be absorbed as an important guest of Sparta!¡± Agesusmented as well, ¡°Cheirisophus would indeed be a good envoy for that youngmander of Theonia.¡±

 Chapter 455: Iphicrates

    In the southwest corner of the city of Athens, on a small hillside, was the ce where the people of Athens built a magnificent council hall that could seat 500 people simultaneously to celebrate their dethronement of the tyrant ¨C Peisistratos. The Acropolis was to its east, and next to it was once the famous Areopagus (Hill of Ares), a symbol of the transformation of the Athenians into bing masters. After the Persians burned the city and the Athenian celebration of their victory in the Greco-Persian war, the people rebuilt it again, and it had be the famous Boule(council of 500)!

    Compared to this magnificent building, the Athenian city hall next to it was so inconspicuous, but it is where the ¡°10 Strategoi¡± elected yearly work.

    Today, the Athenian council held a meeting and invited Isocrates to discuss the Battle of Corinth and the war in Magna Graecia.

    The Polemarchos Thrasybulus began by speaking, ¡°Everyone, Corinth has sent an envoy today asking us for reinforcements. Currently, the situation in Corinth is not wonderful. With the Spartans fierce attack, the Corinthians were somewhat unable to resist and made the pro-Spartan nobles in the city unbridled. They even proposed to make peace with Sparta at their council meeting and won the support of some people. The morale of the Corinthians to fight is weakening¡­¡±

    ¡°We must support Corinth! Otherwise, once Corinth fell to Sparta, the Spartans could break through the defensive line on Isthmus and force their way to reach the city of Athens. Currently, we still haven''tpleted the repair on our great wall. Therefore, we must do our best not to let the dirty feet of the Spartans trample our port of Piraeus, which has just resumed trade, and the territory of Attica that has not yet recovered its vitality! And if we¡¯re to lose the war again, Sparta would do more damage to Athens than thest time, and we could no longer afford such torture any longer!¡± Said Andocides, an orator, with a furious expression.

    His words reminded everyone of the dark reign of the ¡°Thirty Tyrants¡± a decade ago. Thus they said one after another, ¡°Help Corinth now! Send more soldiers to support Corinth and block Sparta''s offensive!¡­¡±

    ¡°Blocking Sparta is still not enough. Since the war started, our allied army hasn''t even defeated the Spartans in the field even once. If this continues, it will only demoralise our army, and those city-states that hate Sparta and are still watching will also lose the courage to fight back. Therefore, we must defeat the Spartans in order to get the final victory!¡± A younger strategos said loudly.

    ¡°It is not that easy to defeat the Spartans onnd, Iphicrates!¡± Conon, the loser of the Battle of Aegospotami, the victor of the Battle of Knidos and the navarch who returned to Athens, bringing back arge fleet, eximed, ¡°If it was possible to defeat Sparta onnd, together with our invincible navy, how could Sparta be so rampant to this day?!¡±

    ¡°Hence I would like to ask the council to allow me to lead the troops I trained to support Corinth, and I will do my best to defeat the Spartans!¡± Iphicrates said with decisiveness.

    Thrasybulus stared at the hillbilly from the Attica region (the people born in Athens liked to call those who lived in the Attica region "hillbilly or bumpkins"). Thrasybulus knew that Iphicrates hated the Spartans because they had ravaged the Attica region during the Peloponnesian War and had been studying how to defeat the Spartan hoplites, ¡°The troops you trained? Do you mean the nearly a thousand troops consisting of Thracian peltasts and the Cretan archers? Can these light infantry alone defeat the Spartans?!¡±

    ¡°We must admit that our soldiers cannotpete with the Spartans, who had trained since their childhood. Still, heavy infantries also have ws; they move slowly and have trouble turning. So if we¡¯re to let the agile moving light infantry throw javelins and shoot arrows at them from a distance, the heavy infantry would not be able to catch up with the light infantry and could only be beaten passively.¡± Iphicrates said confidently, ¡°I am sure you have all heard of Davos, the archon of Theonia, and the one, the Magna Graecians, called ¡®undefeated strategos¡¯. He was a man who was good at using light infantry and had even formed the light infantry into separate brigades. In their second war with Crotone, he especially made full use of the light infantry to defeat the heavy infantry of Crotone, which ultimately led to the defeat of the Crotonians in the battle. Hence I am confident to use this light infantry team to defeat the Spartans!¡±

    After listening, Thrasybulus looked at Conon.

    Conon nodded and said loudly, ¡°I think Iphicrates could defeat the Spartans!¡±

    ¡°I agree to send Iphicrates to Corinth.¡± Andocides also agreed.

    ¡°I have no objection.¡± The other strategoi also agreed. After all, when everyone was afraid of fighting the Spartans onnd, there was a man who suddenly stood up and said with confidence, ¡®I can defeat Sparta!¡¯. And this confidence alone was enough to encourage everyone.

    ¡°I also agree.¡± Thrasybulus likewise voted in favour. He then added a reminder, ¡°However, while you are leading your trained light infantry troops to Corinth, you should take our soldiers with you and have them engage in a frontal defence against Sparta so that the Corinthians won''t think that we are sly and not doing our best.¡±

    ¡°I understand. Thrasybulus, you are still the one to consider everything.¡± Iphicrates expressed his gratitude from the bottom of his heart while requesting, ¡°Then I need an adjutant to lead our soldiers.¡±

    Thrasybulus thought for a moment, looked back at Conon and said, ¡°How about we send Timotheus?¡±

    Timotheus was the eldest son of Conon. Although he was only in his twenties, he was already a very experienced strategos, especially in naval warfare due to his long years drifting with his father in Persia, helping him with military affairs and participating in battles. Conon knew that Thrasybulus'' proposal was helpful to enhance his son''s influence in Athens. After all, as he has stayed in Persia before, the citizens of Athens were unfamiliar with him. But at the same time, there was a significant risk in his life while he fought with Sparta.

    But Conon replied without hesitation, ¡°I agree.¡±

    Most of them also agreed.

    ¡°In that case, I will propose to send reinforcements to Corinth to the council this afternoon, and it should be approved.¡± Thrasybulus made a decision, but his expression remained serious. He looked at everyone and said, ¡°Iphicrates had just mentioned Theonia. Everyone should be aware of the war in Magna Graecia. Currently, Theonia, which is friendly with us, is in a dire situation, not only had they lost the battle, enemies surrounded them, and their sea route was blocked, but also there seems to be a rebellion in their country¡­Isocrates, as you had been to Theonia, you certainly knew about Theonia better than us. Do you think that in the current situation of Theonia, can they still withstand Syracuse''s attack?¡±

    Isocrates still felt a bit embarrassed at this point as he had sworn to Thrasybulus earlier that ¡®Theonia is a greater danger to the Greek world than Syracuse.¡¯ Little did he know that Theonia was now on the verge of destruction in just a blink of an eye. As a schr and an orator, Isocrates was not just a schr who only knew how to use their brain and mouth and did not know anything about military matters. In fact, every Athenian citizen has participated in at least one or two battles in their life.

    After clearing his throat, he slowly said in a hoarse voice. ¡°Syracuse has defeated the South Italian Alliance in battle, conquered many of Magna Graecia¡¯s city-states of Magna Graecia, while Theonia is now beset by enemies on all sides and is even suffering political instability. However, we should note that the Theonian army has not yet suffered aplete defeat, and theirmander, Davos, is still in Lucania and hasn''t yet returned. So how could we presume and conclude that Theonia will bepletely defeated? It is rumoured that Davos was blessed by Hades and has created many military miracles, so what if he creates another miracle and turns the war situation around?!¡­¡±

    ¡°Naturally, we would all be d if a miracle could happen as it would be to Athens'' advantage. We also hope for Theonia can make miracles happen, or at least drag down Syracuse and let the war in Magna Graecia continue!¡± Thrasybulus then continued with a grave expression, ¡°But we must still be prepared for Syracuse to conquer Theonia. Once the war in Magna Graecia is over, Dionysius would ept Sparta''s request and send the Syracusan navy and theirnd troops to aid Sparta!¡±

    ¡°I heard that Syracuse alone has more than 400 triremes, so even if he only sent one-third of them, it will change the situation of Sparta''s navy, which is nowpletely at a disadvantage!¡± Although Conon had defeated the Spartan navy, the prudent veteran did not let his guard down.

    ¡°Furthermore, Syracuse has a huge army of 80,000 men, which is twice the number of soldiers we had in Athens when we attacked Sicily! Oh Athena, is Syracuse still just a Greek city-state?!¡± Andocides eximed.

    The other strategoi have also expressed their uneasiness.

    Thrasybulus once again looked at Iphicrates and said with expectation, ¡°Thus, in this crucial situation, I hope you can give those arrogant Spartans a taste of defeat and boost the morale of the anti-Spartan alliance!¡±

    Iphicrates felt a great responsibility at once, but he remained confident and said, ¡°Athena will bless me, and just wait for the news of my victory!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the past two days, the Syracusan fleet has frequentlynded on the shores of Roscianum''s territory, raiding the Roscianum poption and destroying the viges and farms outside the city.

    Those who had lost their homes and loved ones gathered daily in front of the council, angrily demanding that the Council act immediately to stop Syracuse''s invasion!

 Chapter 456: The Return of the King

    The Council had already taken action with strategos Gorkes stationing a thousand soldiers along the coast to keep a watchful eye on enemy ships on the sea. However, Roscianum was, after all, only a small city with too few men. Thus they couldn''t fully monitor the coast, and the sly sailors often slipped over from either the Theonian territories or Roscianum territories, leaving them defenceless.

    Today, several strategoi such as Amikles and the statesmen of the council continued their emergency meeting, discussing how to settle the Syracusan naval attack once and for all.

    ¡°Ask the Theonians for help!¡± One statesman eximed.

    ¡°Ask them for help?! Theonia is already having trouble on its own! Have you forgotten that they wanted to recruit our sailors earlier?!!¡± Another statesman said discontentedly.

    As they all argued and were at a loss, a guard opened the door in a panic, ¡°Milords, a passenger ship, has arrived from the port, saying they are Syracuse''s messenger. They have brought a letter from Dionysius, Syracuse''s suprememander, asking for a¡­friendly¡­friendly discussion with us.¡±

    As an ally of Theonia, Roscianum was not allowed to conduct diplomatic natters with other city-states, especially during a war, where they could not even meet and negotiate with the enemy on their own.

    But after the guard finished his words, only eerie silence shrouded the room. There was not even a single angry voice that shouted, ¡°Drive out those Syracusans!¡±

    Everyone began looking at each other with aplex mood.

    After a moment of silence, a statesman said with caution, ¡°I think..it''s alright to meet¡­¡±

    Even though there was a sound of coughing and gulping, no one spoke loudly.

    Even the expression of the polemarchos ¨C Amikles, who everyone was watching, was also clouded with uncertainty.

    But just then, someone once again opened the door of the meeting ce.

    A guard rushed in and shouted excitedly, ¡°The archon of Theonia ¨C Davos, has returned!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the first morning of December, the Syracusans struggled with their amodation as it continued to rain in Crotone. Thurii, on the other hand, was sunny, and the people of Thurii had their anxiety swept away as they gathered outside the north gate of the city with the line extending towards the west. It is a huge crowd that also included Kunogta, Cornelius and other statesmen.

    However, it wasn''t because of the good weather that everyone was in a good mood and went outside the city for a get-together. But it was because the archon of Theonia Union, the grand legatus who led them to victory, and the descendant of Hades, who Hades'' deeply cared for, wasing back soon. Thus everyone looks forward with excitement!

    At this moment, a reconnaissance cavalry rushed from the west and shouted, ¡°Lord Davos with the first and second legions are only more than a kilometres away. And they would be here soon!¡±

    Hearing these words, the Theonian crowd became excited that many ran westward, hoping to see their returning archon and loved ones earlier.

    As the sun in the east broke away from the sea and began to show its light, the union¡¯s bright red g was the first thing to appear to the crowd. And the only red g in the union was a g with a striking design of ck hair twisted around a bident. The next thing to appear was a military g, but at the top of it was arge golden statue of Hades, with the name of "DAVOS" in bold golden letters engraved on the ck g.

    These two gs, one red and one ck, are particrly dazzling in the sun.

    And as the majestic and fervent¡¶March of Victory¡· rang out from the oing team, the crowd became excited¡­

    Along with the g came the 300 guards of the archon, followed by Archon Davos. Usually, Davos should be in the centre of the group to be easily informed of the situation of the whole team in time. However, after discovering the Theonians movements, he chose to walk at the front to ensure that they did not hinder the army¡¯s advance.

    As the crowd poured in like a tide, the soldiers of the patrol team couldn''t stop them at all. Hence the guard immediately formed a defensive line to protect Davos, who was surrounded by the crowd trying to hold their hands high as if touching Davos would be the only way tofort their anxious hearts.

    ¡°Lord Davos, you are finally back! We have been waiting for you for so long!!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos, the union has been in a terrible situation since your absence!¡±

    ¡°Milord, did you know that we have lost to Syracuse and suffered thousands of casualties!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos, those damned Tarantines have gone back on our agreement and betrayed us! They have invaded and captured our allies and plundered ournds! They even destroyed our farms in Amendra!¡±

    ¡°Milord, we have taken care of the Bruttians so much, yet they have betrayed us at our most difficult time! Please do something about it and punish those rebellious Bruttians!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos, I am from Krimisa, and those foreign cavalries hired by Syracuse burned down our viges and ughtered our citizens who failed to hide in the city. They are a group of man-eating beasts! When will you drive them away and bring peace to Krimisa?!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos, I live on the south bank of the Crati River. And these days, the Syracusan fleet oftennd on the coast and raid the viges! And due to its close proximity to the coast, the Syracusans had sacked our vige, killing many of my neighbours¡­please, avenge us!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    These shouts containing their situation were like a crying child rejoicing at their mother¡¯s return, while their plea filled with expectation was like a child in trouble seeking help from their strict father¡­

    As Davos listened, his expression became gloomier with his eyes grew teary as he emotionally said aloud, ¡°People of Theonia, my brothers and sisters, follow me to the square! I will give you my answer there!¡±

    After hearing this, the people actually reminded each other to quiet down while shouting in unison, ¡°Go to the square!! Follow Lord Davos to the square!!!¡­¡±

    The thousands of people quieted down and no longer blocked the road as they followed the army into the city¡­

    ¡®This is our archon!¡¯ Kunogta felt emotional at this sight: Even though the statesmen work hard for the union every day, the first thing the people would think of and look for when faced with difficulties is the young archon in front of them! And Davos was the only one who could appease and calm the uneasiness and anger in the popce''s hearts,pletely overshadowing the statesmen! Thus, he thought it was only fitting that Davos should be made king¡­

    Kunogta felt a mixed emotion as he watched Davos approach them.

    ¡°Lord Kunogta, Lord Cornelius¡­you''ve all worked hard these days!¡± Davos, mounted on the horse, sincerely greeted and thanked the statesmen.

    ¡°Milord Archon, thank you for repelling the Samnites. We were all looking forward to your return!¡± Kunogta and the other statesmen returned his greeting with respect.

    As it was not convenient for either side to continue their discussion in such circumstances, thus they all entered the city.

    Even though Davos led two legions to great victories, the Senate did not hold a triumphant ceremony for them, nor did Davos apply for one as it was still a time of war and the union was still in a troubling situation. But as they passed through the first Arc de Triomphe, the soldiers raised their heads and straightened their chests to the sound of rousing music.

    And the people began to notice something unusual in this triumphant return of the army. In the centre of the marching line, dozens of cartsden with spears, javelins, shields and armour¡­of a style somewhat different from that of the Theonian army. Behind the carts were soldiers escorting thousands of naked men who looked different from the several races within the Theonian Union¡­

    This reminded the uneasy and anxious people about the current situation. They all hoped that this army that their Lord Davos led that had defeated the countless Samnites in the north, which the Lucanians feared, could protect them!

    Thus the anxiety of the people was temporarily relieved, and they began to cheer for the soldiers¡­

    As Davos rode his horse, his mind ran fast¡­ In fact, when the troops came out of the mountain passst night, he had already learned everything that had happened in Theonia from the men sent by Aristias. Before leading the troops away, he had already nned to be elected as the king because the assassination had made him realise that his own life and his family were in grave danger. Thus, to protect his family, he had to break away from the popce by sanctifying himself as a royal and bing above the others.

    Only that Davos did not expect things to go so well and so quickly, and it was all thanks to their mortal enemy ¨C Syracuse. Although Davos had paid enough attention to Dionysius, he had still underestimated the tyrant of Sicily, who had concocted a massive n to keep the borders of Theonia at war to disperse the powerful troops of Theonia Union while leading his own army throughout the war, cing Theonia on the verge of destruction.

    Whether it is to let himself sit on the throne smoothly or to save the people, Davos must quicklye up with ways to break the crisis created by Syracuse and give confidence to the people!

    At the front is Nike Square.

    Davos then look at a pir in the middle of the square, pointing straight up to the sky. At its top was the statue of the goddess of victory holding her sword, with her wings spread and a solemn expression.

    As Davos looked at it, his frown gradually smoothed out¡­

 Chapter 457: The Return of the King (II)

    Davos even had the leisure to take a few nces towards the fountain of Thurii on the southwest side of the square. The fountain, which Davos had never seen before but had yed a key role in his rise to kingship. ¡®Could there really be a god in this world?!¡¯

    His eye couldn''t help but look at the white Temple of Hades on the hill behind the northwest side of the square¡­

    As he stood on the tform of the Grand Senate Hall, he looked over the orderly first and second legions in the square and the people standing in order on both sides of the legion soldiers. Although these Theonians were all eager to know his answer, they still remained calm under the supervision of the patrol soldiers. The habit of observing social order developed in the Theonia Union over the years was quite effective.

    After sighing in his heart, Davos shouted, ¡°The brave men of the first and second legion! You have travelled thousands of kilometres to fight the invading Samnites in the rocky and difficult mountainous terrain. You have fought the Samnites who outnumber us and are far fiercer than our former enemies bravely and without fear, ensuring that the Samnites would no longer threaten the north-western border of the union bypletely crushing them! The Senate and the people of Theonia, thank you!

    And after all this fighting, you should have gone home to recuperate. However, it is not yet the time! You all should know that just as we were far away in Potentia, the massive army of Syracuse had invaded Magna Graecia. They had defeated the troops of the South Italian Alliance, capturing many of the soldiers of the fifth and fourth legion, bringing down Scylletium, conquering Terina, making Caulonia surrender and reaching near the cities of Aprustum and Crotone.

    The cavalries they hired has invaded Croton in, burned, killed and plundered ournd, and brutally cut off the heads of the women, children and the elderly¡­

    Syracuse''s huge fleet traversed the Ionian and the Tyrrhenian seas, cutting off our maritime trade routes, sinking our ships, blocking our ports andnding on our coasts to kill our people and burn our viges¡­

    Our former ally Taranto had also betrayed us when we were in trouble. They had not only captured our ally Metapontum but also attacked Heraclea and sent soldiers to burn, kill and plunder on ournds on Amendra¡­

    In addition, Petaru, Kaduk and Bodiam, these statesmen of the Senate, were secretly bribed by Syracuse* at our most difficult time. They had even persuaded some Bruttians to rebel¡­¡± (in fact, there was no such thing. But due to these three having long been opposing him, he just med it on Syracuse.)

    As Davos continued his speech, amotion finally arose among the soldiers in the square who were listening intently. Many of them had also learned something about the situation while entering the city. Still, they had not expected the whole situation of the union to be so bad that even a statesman of the Senate had betrayed them!!

    Davos became serious and said loudly once more, ¡°Brothers, after a hard battle, you should have returned home to rest and reunite with your families. However, can you still stay at your home in peace in the face of the countless Theonians who have lost their homes and loved ones?!¡±

    ¡°NO!!¡±

    ¡°We don''t want to rest! We want to keep fighting!!!¡±

    ¡°We will only recuperate once we''ve all beaten back the enemy!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The soldiers shouted in excitement.

    Davos nodded. Then with teary eyes, he choked up a bit as he continued, ¡°There is a saying that ¡®it is in the midst of danger that you would know who the heroes of the city-state are!¡¯ You may not be aware that after our defeat in the south, Drakos, the legatus of the fourth legion, had personally gone off to the rear himself to protect hisrades so that they could retreat safely. However, he was eventually captured after suffering serious wounds¡­and those evil Syracusans tried to humiliate him near the city of Aprustum to demoralise the fourth and fifth legions¡­but for the safety of the union, Drakos¡­Drakos¡­died by angrily smashing his head to the ground¡­¡±

    When the soldiers and the people in the square here that, they couldn''t believe what they heard, especially the soldiers of the second legion, where Drakos served as its legatus. And they all shouted, ¡°Lord Davos, is that true?! Legatus Drakos died?!!!¡±

    ¡°Legatus Drakos, how could such a strong man¡­die?!¡±

    The soldiers shouted with tears running down their cheeks, and their cries resounded in the square.

    After wiping the tears from his eyes, Davos continued, ¡°Before he died, legatus Drakos had shouted, ¡®Long live the Theonian legion! Avenge me!¡¯ This is what Drakos expected of us! Thus I, as the Grand Legatus of Theonia, ordered you, as warriors, not to retreat until you have killed and repelled the enemies!¡±

    ¡°Avenge legatus Drakos!!!¡±

    ¡°Fight the Syracusans to the death!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The soldiers in the square steeled themselves as they took out their short swords and pped them to their long shield, letting out a ¡°Bang! Bang!¡± sound. Then their roars became one as they shouted, ¡°REVENGE! REVENGE!! REVENGE!!!¡­¡±

    Their cry that came from the bottom of their hearts were like the rumbling of thunder. The soldiers'' anger and sorrow aggregate as it resounds on every inch of thend ravaged by the enemy¡­

    Even Kunogta, Cornelius and the other statesmen who stood silently in front of the Grand Senate Hall could not resist shouting ¡°revenge¡±. Even Davos joined the soldiers as he shouted with his right fist raised high.

    After some time, Davos finally withdrew his fist, and the soldiers gradually regained their silence.

    After shouting so much, Davos gulped to moisten his somewhat hoarse voice as he prepared to continue his speech. But at this time, he aimed it at the people on either side of the first and second legion, ¡°People of Theonia! Theonia has grown from the small Amendra to the vast territory of Theonia that it is today. Although it has only been a short five years, we have endured many dangers and faced many threats from powerful enemies. And by uniting as one, we have ovee all difficulties and broken through to make Theonia what it is today.

    And today, an even more powerful enemy stands in our way. Syracuse is jealous of our rapid rise and wanted to strangle uspletely to prevent our Theonia from growing into a nation capable of threatening its hegemony. You must understand that it is no longer a question of whether we stop fighting or surrender, but it is ¡®either they die, or we die¡¯! That is why the Syracusans have moved all the troops they could and spent a tremendous amount of money and resources to wage this massive war. They are going to wipe out our Theonia once and for all, upy ournd, turn our children and us into ves! Just as what they had done to Scylletium!!¡±

    As Davos paused for a moment, only dead silence shrouded the square. Both the soldiers and the people became pale as they shuddered at the thought of the tragic scenes that Davos had described.

    ¡°Citizens!¡± Davos'' voice softened a bit, ¡°I know that in this war that has just begun, some of you has lost your loved ones, some lost friends, some lost homes, some lostnd¡­and we may even lose more. However, we have no other choice but to fight the vicious Syracusans to the end in order to save ourselves, our children and grandchildren from that tragic fate! If all of us unite, if those who have food to eat help those who are hungry, if those who have shelter help those who don''t, if we all help each other as a family, we will get through this difficult time together! I, Davos, the archon of Theonia, assure you that you will soon hear news of victory after victory! Lightes after darkness, so after this difficult time, a brighter future awaits the Theonia Union!!¡±

    Davos'' promise made the depressed crowd excited.

    ¡°Lord Davos, we shall never be ves! We will fight together with you to the end!!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos, I believe that we will win as long as you are here!¡±

    ¡°That''s right, with Lord Davos being the god''s favoured and with the blessing of Hades, we will never lose!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Everyone, don''t forget the oracle that Hades gave to us!¡± just as the people shouted in excitement, a voice suddenly reminded the crowd, ¡°Hades said that we could only be the final victor if Lord Davos bes the king!¡±

    ¡°Yes! He even used his divine power to bring the spring back to life to urge us to fulfil his divinemand!¡± Another voice shouted.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the legionaries listened with bewilderment, the people on either side of them spoke excitedly of ¡°the oracle¡­of Lord Davos bing king¡± and so on.

    Antonios managed to guess something vaguely as he looked at Davos.

    On the other hand, Davos remained calm as he looked at the square, which had be somewhat boisterous.

    Behind him, the statesmen such as Kunogta and Cornelius became tense.

    At that moment, the sentence that shook them hade out from the mouth of countless people, ¡°Let Lord Davos¡­be king!¡±

    ¡°Let Lord Davos be king!¡±

    ¡°King Davos!¡±

    ¡°King Davos!!¡±

    ¡°King Davos!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the joining of the soldiers, the shouts became louder and louder. Although they did not yet understand the reason for this, it seemed only natural that their beloved archon and victorious grand legatus, Davos, should be made king and continue to lead them to victory.

 Chapter 458: Provisional Constitution

    Listening to the crowd shouting as one under the stage, Davos turned around and looked at Kunogta, Cornelius and the other statesmen, who were also looking at Davos, with none of them speaking.

    However, the shouting in the square became louder and louder, making Kunogta and Cornelius feel the whole tform shake.

    At this moment, Davos spoke up, ¡°This is the voice of the people of Theonia!¡±

    This statement made the statesmen understand that Davos had no n to ignore the people''s request at all, just like how he had not dyed the people''s request to be the lifelong archon in Amendra. With some disappointment and after discussing it a bit, Kunogta, Cornelius and the other statesmen walked forward together. Kunogta, who was at the lead of the group, gazed at Davos withplex expression and said with a slight bitterness, ¡°Congrattions, Lord Davos!¡±

    Davos, on the other hand, didn''t avert his gaze and smiled slightly.

    Kunogta grabbed Davos'' right hand and held it up.

    The shouting in the square came to a halt as both the civilians and the soldiers stared at the tform with rapt attention. They all anticipate the arrival of that sacred moment.

    ¡°After the strong demand and nomination of the people of Theonia¡­ And after careful consideration, the Senate has decided to respond to your voice and passed a neww. And I now proim-¡± Kunogta looked at the dense crowd in the square, suppressing the negative emotions in his heart and said loudly, ¡°Archon Davos to be the King of the Theonia City-State Union!¡±

    The cheering of the crowd was like the rumbling of thunder¡­

    Xanticles, the senior centurion of the first legion, looked at Davos on the tform with his right hand raised in the air. He couldn''t help but recall the young mercenary leader, who had made a ssh at the military assembly six years ago. In only six years, that young mercenary leader had now changed from an unknown and humble mercenary leader to the king of a powerful city-state union in the western Mediterranean. ¡®Hades had truly cared of this Greek!¡¯

    And the two military legatus, Antonios and Amintas, and the soldiers of the first and second legion who had followed Davos from Persia to the present day were wildly cheering. They had all witnessed him grow from an ordinary mercenary to a king of a powerful city-state union, aplete miracle that they were all proud of!

    At this moment, the majority of the people cheered with excitement that Theonia had a king now, making them no longer worried and confused, while a very few were feeling lost¡­

    Davos also felt overwhelmed that he even felt as if he were in a dream, ¡®A king, just like that?!¡¯

    An uncontroble smile filled his face that he didn''t even care about Kunogta pinching his hands a bit. After all, he sessfully achieved his long-awaited goal, and he won''t allow anyone to ruin it!

    However, Davos didn''t allow himself to get carried away. He took a few steps forward and came to the edge of the tform, a little closer to the people of the square. When the cheering had weakened a little, he said in a sincere but loud voice, ¡°Citizens of Theonia! The people of Theonia! Thank you for the trust you have ced in me!

    Everyone knows that the Greeks hated kingship because they held supreme power and were above thew, who oppressed and abused the city¡¯s people. However, as you were the one to elect me and bestow me with this power, I would not be a king who is above thew of Theonia, but a king of the people, a king who is subject to thews of Theonia just as you are! And I am here to give you my pledge¡­¡±

    Davos slowly raised his right hand with his pam outward as he said, ¡°As the king of Theonia, I promise to do the following. Firstly, I would guarantee the safety of Theonia''s territories and poption against the oppression and aggression of outside forces. Secondly, I would guarantee the improvement of the lives of the citizens and prevent them from living an impoverished life. Thirdly, I ensure the proper functioning of thews of Theonia and not interfere with them, and if I were to vite them, thew would punish me in the same way as themon people.

    Oh, Hades. If one day I were to cease to uphold my pledges, then please, you need not favour me any longer! And you, the people of Theonia, wouldn''t need to support me as king anymore. That is the promise I, Davos, make as your king!¡±

    At this moment, the soldiers and the people in the square were so moved by Davos'' sincere pledge that they no longer merely chose Davos as king to console their hearts and a way to gain Hades'' blessing, but truly epted the fact that Davos was their king.

    ¡°Long live King Davos!!!¡­¡± The tsunami-like cheers that expressed their emotions continued for a long time.

    With Davos making such a pledge despite gaining the greatest authority in Theonia, it surprised the statesmen such as Kunogta, Cornelius, and the others and even relieved their worries. Furthermore, it made them think that perhaps they had made the right decision and that this new king of Theonia would be the most unusual in the whole of the Mediterranean!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the afternoon, Kunogta and Cornelius arrived at the military camp in the north outside the city of Thurii.

    The once empty camp has now be overcrowded.

    After bing the King of Theonia, Davos neither celebrated nor stayed to discuss further matters with the Senate. Instead, he led the first and second legions to leave the bustling andfortable city ande to the crude and cold camp because they should focus on military matters with the current tense situation. Not only the soldiers did not go home, but also Davos did not visit his house, even though his residence was just a short distance away from the Grand Senate Hall and his beloved wife had just given to their child. The young Davos'' strong self-control and patience had even amazed Kunogta, a man of many years of experience in politics. ¡®No wonder he was able to achieve such a great position!¡¯

    After obtaining permission from the camp guards, the two went straight to the centre of the camp.

    As the soldiers of the first and second legions are citizens of Thurii and Amendra, they are naturally familiar with and respect the two statesmen who have made great contributions to the two cities.

    ¡°I can see that they are all rxed!¡± Cornelius said as he nodded back to the soldiers.

    ¡°They are, after all, the strongest troops in Theonia and have the greatestmander in all of Magna Graecia, so if they all get nervous, Theonia could be in real danger.¡± Said Kunogta calmly.

    ¡°You are right.¡± Cornelius eximed, ¡°It''s all thanks to Davos! But I also want toin to him too¡­¡±

    Kunogta became stunned.

    Corneliusughed and said, ¡°Six years ago, I prayed to the gods while I was locked up in the Temple of Zeus. However, I never imagined the day woulde when Amendra and this union would be the enemy that Syracuse, the hegemon of the western Mediterranean, would be bent on destroying.¡±

    The ever so serious Cornelius actually joked around, which shows how much Davos¡¯s return boosted everyone''s morale. And it made even Kunogta wonder what will happen to the future of Theonia if they really defeat Syracuse this time?!

    As they walk towards the centre, they encounter a dejected Mersis, who only merely nodded after seeing them, without any interest to converse.

    Kunogta could guess the reason why Mersis was rude: In order to keep his promise, repel the powerful enemy and restore Theonia''s peace, they must gather more troops, which means that the investment of the state treasury and the consumption of food must increase. So how can Mersis, who values money as his life, feel better?

    Even Kunogta and Cornelius were deeply concerned: It is understandable to recruit more troops to repel the enemy, but if the war were tost longer, what will Theonia thatcks domesticbour and exhausted resources, do?

    Then they both saw several arms merchants, led by Tios,ing up to them, also looking grave. However, they still greeted the two statesmen with respect when they saw them.

    ¡°Tios, what weapons have Lord Davos asked you to make again?¡± Kunogta recognised him as he had beenrgely responsible for the overall equipment change of the Theonian army. Although a great deal of the old equipment had been traded in for new equipment, he had still made a lot of money and will continue to make more because the new citizens will probably buy the new legionary weapons and equipment in his weapon shop. Furthermore, he was clever enough to donate some of the money he made to Theonia, which quickly made him a citizen of Theonia and won the favour of many statesmen and most of the people.

    Hence Kunogta could ask him casually, but Tios looked embarrassed, ¡°Milord, Lord Davos¡­King Davos has told us to keep it a secret, or else-¡± He made a slitting gesture, making the two stunned.

    After hesitating, Cornelius asked, ¡°Does it cost a lot of money?¡±

    Tios and the two other merchants became even more bitter, ¡°King Davos asked only to pay the advance first.¡±

    The two statesmen were relieved to hear this, ¡®Fortunately, Davos could still think clearly.¡¯

    Seeing the merchants leaving, Cornelius hesitated and reminded, ¡°Lord Davos is now the King of Theonia. Shouldn''t¡­we change how we call him?¡±

    Kunogta was stunned, ¡®Yes, even those merchants change the way they address him.¡¯ As statesmen of the Senate, if they still call him ¡®Lord Davos¡¯, would it not be a clear indication to others that they did not want to recognise the newly enactedw?

 Chapter 459: War Preparation (I)

    Thus Kunogta could only say with a bitter smile, ¡°It''s just that I am used to addressing him with that. We really need to pay attention in the future!¡±

    Cornelius nodded, feeling the same.

    At this time, the chiefmercial officer Marigi, and Plesinas, the one in charge of the Temple of Hades, came out. Butpared to those before them, the two of them were smiling.

    Kunogta always suspected that the two of them were the ones responsible for the whole ¡°Davos to be the king¡± thing.

    ¡®Was it the time for them to get their reward for their achievements?¡¯ Kunogta thought in disgust and couldn''t help poke at them, ¡°The two of you seems to be in quite a good mood while the entire people of Theonia are worried about Theonia''s safety.¡±

    Marigi remained smiling as he looked at Kunogta. He then lowered his voice in a mocking mysterious tone and said, ¡°I''m certainly in a good mood because his majesty Davos has promised me¡­¡±

    As he deliberately trailed off his words, it prompted Kunogta to ask, ¡°Promise what?¡± subconsciously.

    Marigi immediately eximed, ¡°His majesty has promised me that the blockade of the port of Thurii by the Syracusan fleet would soon be broken and restore the trade in the port of Thurii!¡­ Do you think there will be anything else, Lord Kunogta?¡±

    Kunogta coughed dryly twice and was about to change the subject to hide his embarrassment when Cornelius eximed, ¡°Lord Davos¡­ His majesty Davos is going to start the naval war against the Syracusans?!¡±

    ¡°Of course! The Temple of Hades would divine and pray for this battle early tomorrow morning!¡± Plesinas responded feeling self-satisfied.

    Kunogta and Cornelius looked at each other with amazement.

    ¡°Go, his majesty is waiting to announce this news to you!¡± Marigi said with a smile on his face.

    As they hurried forward, they didn¡¯t even have the time to say goodbye.

    ¡°See! How sad that some people already knew that the political situation in Theonia is different from what it used to be, yet they still don''t want to ept it!¡± Marigi sneered.

    As he had always felt guilty about Kunogta, Plesinas didn''t want to dwell on this topic, so he asked, ¡°Just now, his majesty spoke of some suggestions on how to expand the influence of Hades and increase the kingship''s prestige. However, there are some things that I haven''t fully figured out. Lord Marigi, since you are more familiar with Persia, can you tell me how the Persian royal family preached their supreme god Ahura Mazda in thends of the foreign people?¡±

    Marigi touched his beard, and with a look ofcency, he smugly said, ¡°I am indeed the right person to ask, as I know the Persian royal family very well. You should know that when Cyrus the Great founded his great empire, he did not interfere in any way with the faith of the foreign people, for he himself did not preach vigorously about the great Persian gods as he was always busy with his conquests. It wasn''t until Darius became the great king that, although he imed to have sacred blood and had married Cyrus'' daughter, he still felt that the throne he had inherited from the great king Cyrus stillcked the persuasive authority over those great Persian nobles. That was when he thought of Ahura Mazda, whom the Persians worship¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as Marigi chatted with Plesinas about the Persian religion, Kunogta and Cornelius bump into Antonios ¨C the legatus of the first legion, Amintas ¨C the legatus of the second legion, and Kapus, a former legatus ¨C and now a military official of the Ministry of Military*, and Seclian, the Navarch of the Theonian navy. And they all had juste out of Davos'' quarter. (Davos divided the authority of the Chief of Military into three, and they are in charge of different aspects and do not interfere with each other. In fact, the soldiers think that they have the same rank. However, for administrative purposes, Davos positioned the official in charge of personnel appointments one rank higher so that he could coordinate the matters with the Ministry of Military.

    Kunogta and Cornelius looked at each other. After all, these four now represents the whole of Theonia''s military troops in Thurii, and with them appearing here together, it seems that Davos would start to make his big move soon!

    The four men travelled in a hurry, only greeting them briefly before hurrying toplete the task Davos assigned.

    ¡°Lord Kapus, you have to return those 3,000 sailors that you transferred to me. Otherwise, we would not be able to carry out the joint training smoothly!¡± Seclian urged.

    ¡°Don''t worry. In fact, I am now going there to bring them back to the naval base in the Crati River.¡± Kapus reassured him.

    Seclian could finally rx a bit.

    ¡°Kapus, you¡­ anyway, his majesty ordered to gather another 7,000 men in the port, and they have to be young adults who have undergone our military training for at least a year. Does the port even have that many freemen who meet this condition?¡± Antonios asked with concern.

    ¡°There shouldn''t be that many¡­but we can go to Amendra and Besidice. If they¡¯re still not enough, you can also recruit in the transport brigade responsible for the logistics¡­¡± Kapus had already considered this.

    ¡°With the enemy being everywhere in Theonia''s territory and our troops are stretched to the extreme and spread everywhere, our territory is now quite barren! Thus we must break the stalemate as soon as possible, so the most important issue is to gather our troops again!¡± Antonios said anxiously.

    ¡°The main problem is that Davos¡­his majesty wants to have a decisive battle with Syracuse in the sea first! Is that not too risky?!¡± Amintas interjected, still somewhat resistant to the orders of Davos, ¡°The Syracusan navy had fought against Carthage for so many years that they are experienced in naval warfare. Moreover, they are far more numerous than we are! Besides, we had just formed our fleet and have never fought even once, so how could we beat the Syracusans with just an extra wooden thing onboard, and sending all our soldiers to the enemy ships¡­and, in case¡­they lost, they won''t even be able to escape! And they are Theonia''s most elite force!!¡±

    ¡°Lord Amintas, what do you mean by just an extra wooden thing on the ship?! You clearly have no idea how much the addition of this ¡®one more thing¡¯ has changed the navy''s tactics!¡± Seclian said with displeasure as soon as he heard Amintas, ¡°And even if you are experienced in warfare, it''s only onnd, so please stop talking nonsense if you don''t know anything about naval warfare!¡±

    Amintas became furious when he heard him, ¡°How dare you shout at me! You don''t even have any battle achievements, so what qualifications do you have to stand here and lecture me about naval warfare?!¡±

    ¡°Tomorrow! I will show it to you with a victory!¡± Seclian retorted without showing any weakness.

    ¡°Knock it off!¡± Antonios shouted and red at Seclian. Although he didn''t like the young man''s arrogant tone either, he was now the navarch of the navy that Davos relied on, ¡°We are such in a situation, and you still have the mood to bicker and make a fool of yourselves in front of the soldiers! If his majesty arrivester and sees that we haven''t yet started training, I fear that he would give all of us a lecture!¡±

    Amintas looked around and saw the soldiers were looking at them with curiosity. Thus he could only suppress his anger, ¡°Young man, stop squabbling and get some results!¡±

    ¡°You''ll see it tomorrow!¡± With that, Seclian stopped talking. Then he turned around and walked away as he suddenly realised that it would be disadvantageous for him to argue with Amintas in the military camp. Thus he felt it would be better to hurry back to the naval base, where he had the final say.

    ¡°Antonios, Amintas, there is no need for you to worry. After fighting together with his majesty¡­King Davos for so many years, do you still not know him?! Would he even dare fight a decisive naval battle with the Syracusans if he doesn¡¯t have any certainty?!¡± Kapus reminded them both.

    ¡°But that''s all onnd! Although we have been training with the navy, no one has ever experienced fighting at sea. Furthermore, the new tactics that Seclian is talking about have not been tested in actual battles after all. Besides, who knows if it will work in the vast ocean when we meet the enemy''s huge fleet of ships?! And with the soldiers of the first and second legions¡­most importantly, even his majesty himself would have to board the ships, so in case-¡± Antonios said until here as he dare not even think about the consequences if they lost.

    His worries also affected the others.

    ¡°Anyway, there is no need to worry as his majesty would be fine with Hades'' blessing! Instead, we''d better hurry up in carrying out his orders.¡± Kapus said with reluctance.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While they quarrel, Davos spoke to Baripiri and Sedrum, the statesmen from Bruttii.

    ¡°You two lords are just in time as I was about to send someone to invite you.¡± Davos smiled and asked them to sit down.

    ¡°Your majesty, Sedrum and I came here to ask forgiveness!¡± Said Baripiri, and with a troubled expression, he stood up again, ¡°Petaru and the others were acting strangely before their rebellion, but we didn''t pay attention to it, and as a result¡­they ended up escaping back to Bruttii and made the people to rebel¡­¡±

    ¡°However, your majesty, Baripiri and I can assure you that it is only a small minority of Bruttii who rebelled, while the vast majority are still loyal to Theonia! And that there will never be any major unrest or chaos in the Bruttian region!¡± Sedrum continued Baripiri''s words and promised Davos with a serious expression.

    ¡°Yes, and we can swear to Amara!¡± Baripiri firmly added.

    Davos gazed at the two slightly haggard statesmen, who were obviously under tremendous pressure from the rebellion of Petaru and the other statesmen from Bruttii. After a few moments, Davos withdrew his gaze and said sincerely, ¡°You can rest assured that even if Petaru''s rebellion has caused some suspicion among the people of the other cities towards the Bruttians, the statesmen, including me, are very clear about it!

    Lord Baripiri, the first brigade of the fifth legion,posed of citizens of Besidice, had taken the initiative to stay behind to stop the enemy to cover the retreat of our troops at the Battle of Aro River. Although they ended up either killed or captured, they had ensured the smooth withdrawal of most of the soldiers of the fourth and fifth legions. Even until now, the leader of the first brigade and a statesman of the Senate, Burim, and some Besidisian soldiers are still alive in Syracuse''s camp, so if such heroes are not the most loyal citizens of Theonia, who else can be?¡±

    After hearing Davos'' words, Baripiri burst into tears, not only because of the great sacrifices made by the Besidisians in the war and Davos understanding their grievances but also because he was worried about the safety of those who became prisoners.

 Chapter 460: War Preparation (II)

    Although Theonia was now at a disadvantage in the war, it was surprising that the statesmen felt relieved hearing Davos'' words. It¡¯s as if victory was in the young man''s hands, a confidence that was beyond words that made any wavering they might have had due to the results of the previous battle disappear.

    ¡°Lord Sedrum.¡± Davos turned to another Bruttian statesmen and eximed in praise, ¡°As far as I know, the north-western part of Bruttii, centred on the city of Vergae, has remained mostly stable and free from any unrest like Besidice during this insurgency. With you and Lord Saru ying a major role in that! It is because of you that I don''t have to worry about Petaru and his men''s rebellion at all!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, you tter me! As citizens of Theonia Union, it is our duty to maintain its unity and the region''s peace! Furthermore, as Bruttians, we don''t want another war in Bruttii!¡± Sedrum sincerely said.

    Davos looked at him, and before he went back to his seat, a decision was brewing in his mind, ¡°Petaru''s rebellion is just a small blemish on Theonia. However, as I have more important enemies to fight, I cannot personally deal with them for the time being, but we must resolve this matter as soon as possible. After all, further dy will affect the normal life of the Bruttians and take away a lot of our strength and energy from fighting a decisive battle with Syracuse. Thus, I have decided-¡±

    Just as Davos was about to say what he was thinking, Rodom ¨C the acting guard captain, went inside and said, ¡°Your majesty, Lord Kunogta and Lord Cornelius asked for an audience.¡±

    ¡°They''re just time. Have theme inside.¡± After thinking about it, Davos knew what they hade for.

    ¡°Understood!¡± Rodom immediately turned around and went out without looking at his uncle.

    Davos then praised him, ¡°Rodom is now an excellent guard captain, so I think he is fully capable of performing more important tasks!¡±

    When Baripiri heard this, he became excited but humbly said, ¡°There is no more important task than serving as your guard, your majesty!¡±

    Davosughed and said, ¡°Young people need more experience, so if they always stay by my side, they will have no future.¡±

    ¡°Majesty, surely you jest¡­¡±

    While the three chatted, Kunogta and Cornelius entered the quarter. But when they saw Baripiri and Sedrum were also inside, they became slightly stunned. However, they smiled and greeted them.

    ¡°The two lords are just in time as I have a few suggestions that I have to discuss with you.¡± Davos then asked them to sit down and immediately got to the point.

    ¡°Lo¡­your majesty, please say it.¡± Kunogta and Cornelius straightened themselves.

    ¡°We must soon resolve the rebellion caused by Petaru, Kaduk, Bodiam and the others in the Bruttian region, while also stabilising the situation in Bruttii in order for this region to be one of the key forces in our next battle with Syracuse.¡± Davos continued in a decisive tone, ¡°Hence I propose to send Sedrum as the Praetor of Consentia and also as the wartime governor of the Bruttian region, responsible for policing and maintaining the stability of the entire region. Besides Besidice, Sedrum will have administrative authority over the entire region, to which mpetia and Vergae must also follow his orders.¡±

    As soon as he said this, the other four people became dumbfounded.

    ¡°Your majesty, do you mean to¡­appoint Sedrum as governor, just like Persia''s¡­satrap?!¡±

    ¡°It is not the same as Persia''s satrap! Nor is it like the Spartans!!¡± Davos somewhat chided Cornelius for making a fuss, ¡°All of you, listen carefully! The wartime governor of Bruttii that I just said has only policing and administrative authority but do not have the authority to collect tax and military powers. And it''s only a temporary appointment that will be revoked once the war ends. And-¡±

    Davos then said with a straight face, ¡°I think it''s crucial to have it in ce during wartime! After all, with the Bruttian region being somewhat unstable right now, no one would be able to know what else would happen in the future. So in the event of a major change, the several praetors wouldn''t dare take the initiative to act without any authorisation and would need to consult the Senate back and forth, resulting in them failing to make targeted ns to deal with the situation. Furthermore, they wouldn''t be able to gather the resources and the strength of the entire region to deal with a bigger crisis, which would only lead to the danger bing bigger, and finally spiralling out of our control¡­but with a wartime governor in charge of Bruttian''s matter, we would be able to respond in time!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, there is some truth in what you say. But Sedrum is-¡± Cornelius was about to say more when Kunogta sneakily tugged at him and asked aloud, ¡°Your majesty, with Sedrum as the praetor of Consentia, would we recall Hielos?¡±

    ¡°No need. We would assign Hielos as themander of the Bruttian region tomand the troops and assist the wartime governor in stabilising Bruttii.¡± Davos had already thought of this through.

    ¡®So that was it!¡¯ Kunogta, after all, was no ordinary person as he immediately understood Davos'' intention. For Davos'' sudden proposal of ¡°establishing a new post with such great power¡±, Kunogta believed that it is indeed an appropriate measure to deal with the vtile areas during wartime. As for appointing Sedrum, putting aside his wariness of non-Greeks, he also thought it was a good proposal as it would show the absolute trust of the Theonian Senate to the Bruttians. Also, having a Bruttian governs Bruttii would be more eptable to the Bruttians at this sensitive time¡­

    And the fact that Davos gave Hielos the control of the Bruttian army had made himpletelyfortable with Davos'' seemingly risky proposal. Even though Hielos would listen to the wartime governor, who would Hielos that was loyal to Davos, listen to once the governor had a change of heart? So what more could Kunogta ask?!

    Kunogta gazed deeply at Davos, a young man who often had such bold proposals that seemed out of the blue but were effective and sensible with the implementation. And it was this kind of political manoeuvre that made Kunogta respect and fear Davos, so once Davos makes a major political decision, Kunogta does not rashly oppose it, including the ¡®bing the king'' thing.

    ¡°Your majesty, I agree with your proposal to make Sedrum the Praetor of Consentia and also the wartime governor of the Bruttii region, while Hielos to be themander of the Bruttian region.¡± Kunogta instantly agreed.

    Cornelius immediately figured out that even if he disagreed, so what? Now that the Theonian Senate had few statesmen participating in the meeting, and with Davos, two Bruttian statesmen, one Lucanian statesman, Marigi, Mersis, Plesinas, and now even Kunogta¡­ Davos has already obtained more than half of the votes. Furthermore, the mild-mannered Cornelius does not want to upset Davos, who had just be king. Thus he could only agree with reluctance.

    Sedrum, on the other hand, did not expect Davos to ce him in such an important position. He was so shocked and excited that Cornelius'' wariness had shown towards him and Davos making Hielos in charge of the army were not on his mind at all. Since the years of Bruttii''s integration into Theonia Union, the number of Bruttian statesmen of the Senate was much higher than that of Lucania, but their authority is much worse. So much so that in the earlier days, none of the Bruttian statesmen even left Thurii and became praetors of any city of Theonia untilst year when Saru was elected as the praetor of Vergae, the least important city in the Bruttian region. The Bruttian statesmen certainly haveints, which is also one of the reasons for Petaru''s rebellion. Hence how could he not be thrilled when Davos resolutely entrusted him with such an important task in such a sensitive period of unrest and racial suspicion in the Bruttian region! This is a recognition of his ability and the trust of Davos!!

    ¡°Your majesty, I will quell the rebellion and restore peace to Bruttii as soon as possible so that we could use the soldiers and resources to fight the Syracusans!¡± Sedrum immediately gave his pledge.

    ¡°Do you have a good way to resolve Bodiam, who has been wandering in the mountains?¡± Asked Davos.

    Sedrum knew that this was Davos'' test and a chance for him to show his abilities to Kunogta and Cornelius, so after thinking it seriously for a moment, he said, ¡°The mountain''s terrain isplicated which is not suitable for arge army to move and fight. Thus I suggest that Lord Hielos stationed an army near theke to force Bodiam''s rebel army not to dare go out of the mountains¡­ And at the same time, we issue a decree that any tribes that help Bodiam or even just conceal his whereabouts will be considered an aplice that, once found, their whole tribe would be reduced to very! On the other hand, we would reward those who reported the rebels¡¯ location while giving thends of Bodiam¡¯s tribe as their settlement to those who took the initiative to fight the rebels and capture Bodiam! And if the people of Bodiam repented and captured Bodiam for their surrender, Theonia would forgive them of their treachery! Also, we should gather squads of Bruttian hunters to go into the mountain and search for any signs of the rebels. Once they found them, they would constantly harass them. Furthermore, with the mountain being sparsely popted andcking food and the help of other tribes, those rebels would soon fall into chaos because of hunger and fear¡­¡±

    ¡°What do you think of Sedrum''s counter-insurgency proposal?¡± Davos smiled and looked at Kunogta.

 Chapter 461: War Preparation (III)

    ¡°The most suitable candidate is indeed Lord Sedrum!¡± Kunogta and Cornelius answered more sincerely this time than before.

    After Sedrum arrives in Thurii, the Greek statesmen barely know about him as he seldom took the initiative to speak at the Senate meeting. However, through the information collected by the intelligence department, Davos knew him well enough as he even knows that Sedrum had joined forces with the Lucanians to invade Thurii, but when Davos defeated them, he turned his back on the Lucanians and burned their camps. Furthermore, he was the one person that Pian ¨C the great chieftain of Consentia, feared the most, and he was also the first to advocate the Bruttian Tribal Alliance¡­ That is the reason why Davos didn''t give him any position at the beginning, as he wanted to wait until theypletely stabilised the Bruttian region before reappointing the capable but unpredictable Bruttian chieftain. Unexpectedly, a war broke out.

    Baripiri turned to look at Sedrum in surprise as he wanted to ask, ¡®Aren''t some of the measures you want to enact too cruel to your kin?!¡¯

    Although Sedrum noticed his expression, he did not give a damn. A few years ago, these Bruttian tribes fought with each other, but they were forced to unite because of the bad environment. In fact, apart from his own tribe, he doesn''t care much about the other tribes. That is why the only thing on his mind is how to deal with the Bruttian rebellion as soon as possible in order to show his ability to King Davos and the Senate.

    At this moment, Rodom entered again with a slight panicking on his face, ¡°Your majesty, a messenger has arrived from¡­the west, saying that-¡± Rodom looked at the others inside and subconsciously walked forward, trying to get closer to Davos to whisper.

    ¡°The west? Could it be?!¡± With a slight shock in his heart, Davos immediately said, ¡°Since the several lords happen to be here, just say it as there is no need for you to hide it to them. It seems to be some more bad news?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Facing the probing eyes of Kunogta and the others, Rodom gulp and said, ¡°The messenger reported that two days ago, the army of Laos attempted to sneak up on the Lao fortress. Fortunately, the defenders manage to repulse them. Lord Hemon managed to confirm itter that Alobamus of Laos had dered his withdrawal from the Theonia Alliance and dered war on Theonia!¡±

    ¡°What?! Laos has revolted as well?!¡± Cornelius eximed, and the other three became rmed. After all, only bad news after another hade these past few days.

    ¡°Note that it was Alobamus who betrayed us and not Henipolis!¡± Davos'' eyes gleamed as he said with certainty, ¡°One after another, these disloyal Theonians jumped on the bandwagon when Theonia is in trouble, wasting all the care we have given them over the years! Just enough! We could take advantage of this war to remove them all!¡± The murderous intent and confidence in Davos'' words encouraged the four men.

    After calming down, Kunogta suggested, ¡°Your majesty, although archon Henipolis did not betray us, the thousands of Laosian warriors he led would inevitably be affected. So should we temporarily block the news and only make it public after the situation be stable, which is also good for the people who are distressed these days?¡±

    Davos nodded as he grasped what Kunogta meant: The people had just responded to the oracle of him bing king, yet the Laosians was now rebelling. So what would the anxious people think?

    ¡°Indeed, you are right! Rodom, you take care of the messenger and ensure that he won¡¯t contact anyone. After I write the orders, have him return to Lao Fortress immediately. Also, send out 20 guards to take over the mountain pass post and take anyoneing from the west into custody first.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± Rodom turned around and left.

    ¡°Everyone, with Laos¡¯ current strength, the rebellion of Alobamus wouldn¡¯t be a big problem as they wouldn''t be able to break through the Lao fortress. And it would be even more not worth their time to attack the city of Vergae, which is on perilous grounds. Alobamus is now like a turtle, cowering within the city, trying to wait for Syracuse to defeat us and then reap the benefits, which is nothing more than a dream!¡± Davos looked at the four men, then solemnly continued, ¡°Sedrum, your appointment as the wartime governor is just in time. After taking the appointment letter of the Senate with my signature, you immediately rush to Bruttii and remind Saru to be vignt against Laos and not easily send his troops. And once you pacify those rebels, have Hielos lead his army to attack Laos¡­by then, I think Bagul and Hemon should have alreadypleted their recruitment. So once the timees, you advance to the north while they advance to the south and take Laos!¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Sedrum became a bit concerned after hearing Laos'' rebellion. Although Vergae and Laos began to trade with each other in recent years due to Theonia, their long-term rivalry made Vergae continue to be alert. Fortunately, Saru had be moreposed and shouldn''t move rashly.

    After seeing off the two Bruttian statesmen, Davos asked, ¡°Is there anything you wish to discuss?¡±

    Kunogta and Cornelius began looking at each other.

    Kunogta then said, ¡°Your majesty, you are now the king of Theonia. Therefore, do you have any demands for Theonia''s current political system?¡±

    As Kunogta finished, Cornelius gazed at Davos with slight nervousness.

    Davos lightly smiled and said, ¡°I am already thrilled that the people could embrace me as their king, so how could I have any additional demands. I only wish that it could function normally as before.¡±

    Hearing Davos'' words, the two statesmen became relieved.

    Davos looked at them both and understood what they, and the whole Senate, had in mind. In fact, his previous authority was not much different from that of a king, that is, he has the supreme military, administrative, judicial and ceremonial authority. Now that it was legalised, he didn¡¯t need to make any major changes.

    ¡°But-¡± Just as he began to speak, it made the heart of both men tighten, ¡°Now that I became the king and as the symbol of Theonia, I would inevitably also be a prime target for the enemies of Theonia. Thus I wish to improve the safety of my family!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, the Senate was already discussing the security and the rights you would get from Theonia after you be the king.¡± Kunogta immediately replied. After all, as a powerful union, his treatment and identity shouldn''t be too shabby; else, they would be aughing stock to the other powers. Hence the Senate had already considered this.

    ¡°As long as my family remain safe, there is no need to make it tooplicated and spend too much energy on it.¡± Reminded Davos. Then he added, ¡°Right now, our focus should still be on this damn war!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, I heard that you are preparing for a naval battle against the Syracusans?¡± Cornelius asked.

    ¡°I was just about to tell you about it.¡± Davos looked at them and said with seriousness, ¡°Among the enemies we are facing, the navy of Syracuse poses the greatest threat to us! Not only had they attacked our coast, destroyed our farms, killed our people and created panic, but they also forced us to station our troops along the way, scattering our forces and making us very passive. At the same time, they also threatened our food shipments to the southern defensive line, so we needed to increase our escorts due to the worry about their sneak attacks. I heard that they had attacked our logistics yesterday, and although we repulsed the enemy, most of the animals were wounded.

    Furthermore, we should be more aware of Roscianum! Although Roscianum was the closest to us among our allies, and its officials such as Amikles and Gorkes are friendly with us, Roscianum is now suffering significant loss under the raiding done by the Syracusan navy. Hence if this goes on, I fear that the people of Roscianum would have a change of thought¡­¡±

    Hearing this, Kunogta and Cornelius¡¯ expressions changed as they had neglected Roscianum, whose position was so important that if it rebelled, it would cut off Theonia¡¯s territory, causing Theonia into real danger!

    ¡°So we must repel the Syracusan navy at once as we couldn''t dy any longer!¡± Davos said in a determined tone.

    ¡°But¡­but the Syracusan navy is much more powerful than our ships¡­¡± Cornelius said with a worried and stammering tone.

    Davosughed. Then he stood suddenly and eximed, ¡°That''s why I had Seclian prepare for this battle in secret! Tomorrow will be a day when the Syracusan navy will cry out in pain!!¡±

    Davos¡¯s confidence affected the two men, and Kunogta, who was encouraged by it, replied immediately, ¡°Your majesty, is there anything for us to do? The Senate will do its utmost for this naval battle!¡±

    ¡°Good!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Madam, master has already returned to Thurii, yet he couldn''t evene back for a visit?! And he only sent Henipolis to report¡­¡± Azune said with a slight grumble as she helped Cheiristoya walk around the garden.

    Cheiristoya, on the other hand, remained calm and said softly, ¡°He is themander of the army and Theonia¡¯s protector, so now that the enemy is close and he had just be the king, he has an even greater responsibility to set a good example for the soldiers and the people! He is probably thinking hard about ways to defeat the enemy right now, so it¡¯s already good that we know he is safe. Don''t you think so, Sister Agnes?¡±

    Agnes, who was also walking around, stroked her bulging belly. Although she was a bit disappointed, she still said with consideration, ¡°You are right, sister. We shouldn''t be an obstacle to Davos!¡±

 Chapter 462: Battle of the Gulf of Taranto (I)

    ¡°Master should''ve at leaste and look at our little Eunice, right?¡± Azune bent down and whispered to the baby in the small wooden wagon.

    But when Eunice, who had remained quiet, saw someone she knew approach her, she immediately gave a cry as she waved her arms and legs around, kicking away the thick woollen nket covering her body.

    ¡°Madame, even little Eunice is protesting!¡± Azune jokingly said as she tucked her in. She only dared to speak in this way because it is in Davos'' residence, where it treats its servants with kindness, and because Azune was Cheiristoya''s trusted follower.

    Cheiristoya looked at her daughter with her gentle eyes, seemingly remembering something. Then she said with a soft sigh, ¡°Little Cro also didn''t see his father when he was born either. Who told Theonia to be always on war¡­¡±

    As the threements, a cry came from the front courtyard.

    ¡®It''s little Cro!¡¯ Agnes and Azune had their expression changed, with Azune hurriedly saying, ¡°I''ll go and take a look.¡±

    ¡°There is no need. Heni and Cynthia are here, so there is nothing to be worried about.¡± As the mother, Cheiristoya is much calmer than Agnes and Azune.

    As the war expanded, Theonia had to continuously send young and strong men to the frontline, causing a lot of institutions in the whole Thurii to stop running because of theck of manpower. It even included the schools, where the guards and instructors joined the new army''s legion, became sailors or joined the transport team. Although a specific Theonianw does not require the teachers to participate in a war in order to protect highly qualified personnel, they still went to the city hall where they were needed to contribute to the war, like doing statistics in the Ministry of Military or a clerk of the logistics¡­

    As a result, the school''s lesson came to a halt. Moreover, without the protection of the guards and instructors, they could not guarantee the student''s safety, resulting in Ansitanos dering that the school was temporarily closed.

    And for safety reasons, Cynthia, Adoris and little Cro were ordered not to go out, so when these little guys at home saw that their big brother Henipolis, who they did not see for a long time, had returned, they excitedly pestered him to y with them.

    Thus the teenage Henipolis had to take them on the sports ground in the front courtyard and y catch. (because the children were already older and energetic, Davos simply removed the pool in the front yard and turned it into a small sports ground so that the children could y happily and exercise simultaneously.)

    Naturally, little Cro, who was just over four, was excited to run around after his brother and sister, causing him to trip and fall to the ground and start to cry.

    Adoris, who was in the middle of the game, impatiently said, ¡°It didn¡¯t even bleed, so why are you crying?!¡±

    This caused Cynthia to re at him, which immediately stopped Adoris from talking as he was always afraid of his own sister, who was only two years older than him.

    Cynthia rushed over, picked up the crying little Cro, gently patted the dust off him and said softly, ¡°Little Cro, aren''t you a brave soldier? Soldiers do not cry.¡±

    Little Cro, who often learned from Adoris to be a brave soldier, heard this; he immediately wiped his face with his small hands and said, ¡°I didn''t cry!¡±

    ¡°Alright, let''s take a break,¡± Henipolis gasped as he took a seat. Unlike the citizens of Theonia, who often undertook military training, Henipolis spent most of his time in the Academia reading books and practising writing. Thus he, who alreadyck exercise, quickly run out of energy after running back and forth after these energetic kids, ¡°Instead, I''ll tell you a story.¡±

    ¡°What story?¡± Adoris asked with immediate interest. Henipolis was a good storyteller, and he often told it to the children.

    ¡°The story of Hades'' wife, the goddess Persephone and the sea monster, which I collected on myst trip to Sicily, so you certainly have not heard of it.¡±

    ¡°I want to hear it!¡± Adoris immediately shouted.

    ¡°Me too!¡± Little Cro shouted much louder.

    Cynthia didn¡¯t even say a word as she sat down next to Henipolis.

    When Aristias entered Davos'' residence, he was just in time to see three children sitting around Henipolis, listening attentively to his vivid storytelling.

    Seeing this heartwarming sight, Aristias sighed as he remembered the news of ¡°Alobamus'' Rebellion¡±¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The early morning of the 6th of December was bright and clear, with cloudless skies and a light breeze.

    After Davos assembled all the soldiers of the first and second legions at the camp, he led them to the bottom of the hill of the Temple of Hades, where a considerable number of the crowd had already gathered, and the statesmen of the Senate.

    As Davos took the lead up the hill, the Senate and the two legatus followed him.

    Plesinas, the grand priest, and a group of men had long waited in front of the temple. They then solemnly entered the ¡®underworld'' hall of the Temple of Hades at Davos¡¯ lead.

    Davos felt a sense of affinity as he looked at the statue of Hades, who was holding a bident with his ck hair and furious gaze. From his rebirth to now, he had formed an inseparable bond with Hades that they shared sorrow and joy. After all, as long as Theonia existed, the Davos royal family would be bound to him as his descendant, making offerings to get his blessings¡­

    With this in mind, Davos knelt with reverence and bowed as he loudly said, ¡°O the just and selfless Hades, your kingdom on earth ¨C Theonia, is surrounded by war and danger. And this descendant of yours would lead your army into a decisive battle against the Syracusans, hoping to repay your blessing with a great victory!¡±

    With that, Davos stood up, lit the oilmp and ced it on the altar directly under the statue.

    Then Plesinas took a small ck calf that was specially selected from the many Lucanian cattle. It seemed to know its fate as it did not even cry or jump when Davos held it down with his left hand.

    Davos drew out his dagger, and after stroking the calf''s back and neck, he ruthlessly stabbed it with the dagger, causing the calf to wail and fall to the ground.

    The priests quickly lifted it onto the altar, cut open its abdomen and removed its entrail to inspect it. As it is a young and healthy calf, how could its entrail have any diseases? Therefore, after looking at it over carefully, the priest doing the divining eximed, ¡°An auspicious omen! It is an auspicious omen!!!¡±

    Everyone looked relieved and joyful as they sang the ode of Hades and watched Plesinas solemnly offer the fresh blood in front of the statue¡­

    Besides the Prison of the Wicked, Davos and the two legatus paid homage to the Hall of Valor¡­

    ¡°ng!¡­ng!¡­¡± as nine long and grand bell sounds rang throughout the hill, the people and the soldiers under the mountain became excited.

    ¡°It''s an auspicious omen! It''s an auspicious omen!!¡­¡± By the time Davos and his party came down the hill, it had be a sea of joy as if they were victorious.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Davos led the first and second legions towards the military port, Seclian was doing pre-war mobilisation to the nearly 30,000 sailors, ¡°Brothers, you have trained so hard for so long, and today you will finally go to war with the enemy. Yesterday, Lord Da¡­His Majesty invited me to discuss the naval battle with the military officers. However, they went so far as to dissuade His Majesty from engaging the Syracusans at sea, saying that ¡®our navy has only just been formed and is inexperienced, so it is not a match for the Syracusans.¡¯ I argued, but they reprimanded me instead by saying that ¡®Our navy has no merit and has no qualification to speak to them¡­¡¯¡±

    When everyone became infuriated, Seclian took the opportunity to shout, ¡°Fortunately, the wise king Davos said, ¡®I trust the sailors of Theonia to fight as valiantly as the soldiers and bring victory to Theonia!¡¯ That''s why we should not fail his majesty. Brothers, let''s show those proud soldiers that we are equally heroes in the hearts of the people with a glorious victory! And with this victory, we will be able to obtain our citizenship faster, just like the legionaries(arge part of the sailors are freemen)! And get our allottednd sooner! Brothers, for the sake of our future, let''s do our best and defeat the Syracusan Navy!!!¡±

    ¡°Defeat the Syracusan Navy!!!¡±

    ¡°Victory to the Theonian Navy!!!¡±

    ¡°Victory for His Majesty, KING DAVOS!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The sailors, whose blood was boiling at Seclian''s speech, raised their arms and roared, causing the doors of the people who had been informed and were making their way to the shore to look at them. And even Davos, who was on his way, heard their shouts, causing him to smile, ¡°The morale of the navy is sky-high!¡±

    Although he and Seclian quarrelled yesterday, Amintas had put down those minor disputes before the battle started, so he happily said, ¡°That''s good as this would increase our chance of winning.¡±

    ¡°Now Imand you all to-¡± Seclian looked around at all the sailors, took a deep breath and shouted, ¡°Push the ships into the water!!!¡±

    The sailors immediately ran back to the dock where they stored the warships.

    They would store the warships that were not used regrly in the dry docks in order to regrly expose them to the sun, making it impossible for the maggots, which were damaging to the ships, to survive. Furthermore, they would rece the decaying nks to ensure their longevity. And unlike the merchants¡¯ ports, Thurii''s military port did not have any piers, but instead, the sailors would tow the ships along the slope of the causeway into the dry docks for storage after the ships entered the port.

    Since they hastily built the military port in Thurii without careful nning in advance, not only each dock was built simply but also upied a small area. It stretched from the Temple of Hera to some river banks outside the market, where docks of varying sizes densely lined a section of the Crati River.

 Chapter 463: Battle of the Gulf of Taranto (II)

    The sailors poured into their respective docks: With those at the front pulling the ropes while those at the back pushing hard and with a ¡®heave-ho'' shouting, they managed to slide the 50 metres-long triremes into the Crati River like dragons, sshing a lot of water.

    In the blink of an eye, warships covered the wide Crati River, almost blocking off the river''s entrance. Even though the river''s flow was already slow, it became even slower.

    Then the sailors secured the warships by tying the ropes to the stakes on the shore. Afterwards, they began climbing the woodendders one after another as they got onto the ship and started to load the Corvus. After confirming that it was properly working, the sailors went down the cabin through the deck, went to their seats and pulled out the wooden oar¡­

    The triremes'' cabin has three rows of rowers: Thmitai ¨C the 54 rowers in the lowest row; Zygitai ¨C the 54 rowers in the middle row; Thranitai ¨C the 62 rowers in the top row and had the most important position as they could see the sliding of the oars in the seawater through the oar-hole, so they are the one leading the Zygitai and the Thmitai to row simultaneously.

    After the 170 rowers went to their ce, the boatswain walked back and forth in the cabin''s aisle as he was responsible for supervising the rowers, maintaining the rowing order and encouraging their morale.

    Then the helmsman, as the seaman with the most experienced, was the core of the whole ship that controls the rudder and the ship''s direction and was located in the ship¡¯s stern.

    While the piper sat down in the middle of the aisle near the deck''s entrance, he was responsible for receiving the captain''s instructions and controlling the rowers'' rhythm.

    The captain is themander of the whole ship and is responsible for directing the battle.

    In addition, there are three lookouts. They were divided between the bow, stern and mast, keeping the captain informed of the enemy and the instructions conveyed by the fleet at any time.

    In view that they would be in an offshore battle with Syracuse, the Theonians did not hoist their sails and had even left them in the dock to reduce the load of the warship. Thus the ten sailors on deck responsible for raising and lowering the sails and controlling the ship''s movement have one less important task to perform. However, apart from taking up their bows and arrows and dealing with the approaching ships, they had a more crucial task of manning the ¡®Davos'' Corvus'' to nail the approaching enemy ships.

    At this moment, Davos led the army into the military port, so Seclian, Mithridates and the other naval officers hurriedly up to meet him.

    ¡°Your majesty, the fleet is ready to start at any time!¡± Seclian excitedly said after saluting.

    ¡°Have you found the Syracusan fleet?¡± Davos asked calmly.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Seclian replied immediately, ¡°Our scouting ships reported earlier that dozens of Syracusan warships have appeared cruising off the coast of Roscianum and appear to be preparing tond there. Therefore, we believe that their great fleet must be not far away!¡±

    As Davos looked at the naval officers led by Seclian, who had eyes burning hot, he smiled and said, ¡°It seems that you all can''t wait. So what are you still waiting for? Have the legionaries get on board!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Antonios and Amintas responded in unison. He then immediately ordered the officers behind them, ¡°Get on board!¡±

    Soon, all the first legion¡¯s and a small number of the second legion ran to the riverbank in an orderly manner under the leadership of their toon captain. Then ording to the training area yesterday, they found the triremes their unit is in charge of and climbed the deck, bringing the total number of men in a trireme to nearly 240 men.

    As Davos stood on the back, he looked over the dense legionaries on the riverbank, where they were like a thin stream of metal pouring into the warship, dyeing the yellow-brown surface of the river (the colour of the warship) ck¡­

    Davos, who had never yet experienced a naval battle, could not help but feel a sense of pride rising in his heart and the tension he felt dissipates. He then turned around to Amintas and said, ¡°Once we have departed, you will lead the rest of the legionaries of the second legion to the port. Marigi has already prepared the transport ships for you, so immediately set off once you get the news of our victory!¡±

    ¡°Understood, your majesty!¡± Amintas said with a nod. Then he looked to Seclian and saluted.

    Just as Seclian wondered why Amintas, with whom he had just had a verbal conflict yesterday, had acted in this way, he heard Amintas say in a deep voice, ¡°Seclian, the safety of his majesty is in your hands!¡±

    Seclian immediately understood what he meant, so he instantly returned the salute, ¡°I will protect his majesty''s safety with my life!¡±

    ¡°May the naval battle be a great victory!¡±

    ¡°May thend battle be won!¡±

    As the two soldiers stared at each other eyes, some of their previous contradictions disappeared, and only the fighting spirit against amon hatred was left.

    ¡°Let''s get on board as well. Don''t keep the soldiers waiting.¡± Davos waved.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Martius, the guard captain, waved the g. Martius, who had basically recovered, had found Davos yesterday afternoon and insisted on going to the battle to kill the enemy, and Davos had let him return.

    ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Kunogta led the statesmen, with serious expressions, bent in unison to salute Davos with respect. Even though they didn''t say anything, the weight of this salute was a sign of their entrustment of Theonia¡¯s safety to Davos, for this battle would determine the rise and fall of Theonia.

    Davos smiled again and said loudly, ¡°Wait for the news of our victory!¡±

    Davos then took the escort down to the riverbank, which by this time, was less crowded as the legionaries boarded the warships. And the sailors and soldiers would wave at Davos from time to time, and Davos would respond to it with a smile.

    Atst, he came to his ship. It was thergest ship of the fleet, a trireme that is sixty metres-long and five-metres wide and manned by 188 rowers. The bow tilts into the water, and a strong, sharp metal battering ram at the head and a scorpion-like tail at the stern, with numerous wooden oars sticking out from front to back on both sides of the ships, just like the feet of a millipede.

    Once Davos and his 60 guards boarded, a man in a leather helmet and short coat rushed up to Davos. After giving his salute, he said in a slightly nervous voice, ¡°Your¡­majesty, I am Miltias, the captain of this ship!¡±

    Davos smiled and returned the salute, ¡°Miltias, it is my pleasure to fight with you!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, the rowers¡­also wanted toe and greet you, but they could not because of their duties¡­¡± Miltias requested in a somewhat embarrassed.

    Without hesitation, Davos said, ¡°I was just about to go and greet them.¡± with that, he took the lead to the deck''s entrance.

    The trireme¡¯s deck was not a single piece, but two decks running from bow to stern, with a gap of more than a metre wide between them, so the cabin is not airtight, and the rowers in the cabin can see the clear blue sky above through the gap as soon as they turn to their sides. So even though there are nearly 200 rowers, the open structure does not make them feel suffocated.

    When Davos appeared in the cabin, the whole ship became lively.

    Davos did not disappoint the rowers'' enthusiasm as he took the trouble to climb up and down, bent down to ask the names of each rower and shook hands with them regardless of the narrow aisle.

    Even though he was already a little bit out of breath from going around the cabin, he still stood in the middle of the firstyer and shouted with excitement, ¡°Brothers, it is a pleasure to fight with you! Let us fight together and win this naval battle!!¡±

    ¡°All hail king Davos!!¡±

    ¡°All hail king Davos!!¡±

    The rowers cheered in unison, which attracted the sailors of the adjacent warships to look at them with envy, ¡®Those lucky guys! To have the honour to be able to fight with King Davos on the same ship!!¡¯

    At this time, the unique naval salpinx sounded from near Theonia''s gship, causing the rowers to stop cheering and began to sing the ode of the gods, not to Hades of course but Poseidon, the god of the sea, a prayer for a safe and sessful voyage,

    Davos, who had previously spent half the day learning this ancient ritual to fit in with the navy, had also sung loudly with the rowers.

    Captain Miltias then handed him a wooden cup filled with wine, which was certainly not for drinking. Davos held it solemnly, walked towards the bow, shouted Poseidon''s name, and poured the wine into the river.

    As the ode of Poseidon resounded across the banks of the Crati River, the statesmen began to cheer up. Then those standing on the bank saw that the foremost ships left the river bank and sailed out of the military port one after another¡­

    ¡°Come and let''s go to the seaside.¡± Kunogta said to the other statesmen.

    None of them objected as they could not be present in the battle, but they still had to cheer for the soldiers in the uing decisive battle.

    It wasn''t only the statesmen who thought this way, but all the people of Theonia who could make it, the elderly, women, children, citizens, preparatory citizens, freemen¡­and so on. As the thousands of people gathered at the mouth of the Crati River, the people cheered like a tsunami every time they saw a warship go out to cheer on their kin in the war.

    ¡°That ship! My child is on that ship!!¡±

    ¡°Did you see that! That man who is waving is my brother, and he is the captain of that ship!¡±

    ¡°My husband is on that ship with a ¡®3¡¯ symbol, but I couldn''t see him because he is the rower.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the people cheered and shouted the names of their loved ones, many others raised a simr question, ¡°What is that strange long nk by the front mast of the warship? Howe I have never seen it on the ships of other city-states?!¡±

 Chapter 464: Battle of the Gulf of Taranto (III)

    The severe secrecy enforced by Seclian on the navy made it so that the people knew little about it, with only a very few who vaguely heard the drunken sailors talking about it in the taverns, ¡°I think that thing is called a Corvus, and I heard that King Davos designed it to defeat his enemies¡­¡±

    ¡°So it turned out to be King Davos'' invention!¡± Those people who heard it suddenly realised that they had a little more chance of victory, and with their absolute trust in Davos, they did not even ask how that device would defeat Syracuse. Naturally, the other party wouldn¡¯t even be able to answer if they get suddenly asked.

    ¡°How does this strange thing work? Did father really design it?¡± Adoris, sitting on a ve¡¯s shoulder, asked Henipolis with curiosity.

    Faced with this decisive battle, the people on Davos'' residence could not remain as calm as before, so it was not only Cynthia, Adoris and little Cro who moured toe and see Davos off, but even the two madames were also eager. However, Cheiristoya had just given birth and was frail, and she also had to look after Eunice, who needed to be nursed at any moment. On the other hand, Agnes had difficulty moving with her growing belly, and it would be dangerous for her to go into such a noisy and crowded ce. Thus neither of them coulde and could only entrust Henipolis and five ves to look after the three children.

    Hearing this, Henipolis, who was carrying little Cro on his shoulders, had a slightly embarrassed expression as Davos had never told him anything about this thing. Thus he could only cough dryly and said perfunctorily, ¡°Yes, of course.¡±

    The clever Cynthia only looked at him with a smile and didn''t expose him.

    Suddenly, a louder cheer erupted from the crowd as arger and longer majestic warship came out of the port. Unlike the other ships, a statue of Hades could be seen on top of its mast, which was particrly dazzling. Also at the ship¡¯s bow, stood a man who, unlike the other soldiers, was dressed in bright silver armour and had a distinctive ck plume on the top of his helmet, which hung down to his back, and who, against the rising sun in the east, glowed like a divine god.

    Once the crowd recognised him, the cheering peaked as he was the one they elected to kingship. Now the king that Hades favoured and the hope of the people is going to the battlefield to fulfil his promise!

    ¡°Victory for King Davos!!!¡± The cheers became louder and louder, which was also mixed with the cries of several children, ¡°Come on, Father! Father be victorious!¡±

    Davos naturally could not have seen or heard his children amidst the deafening noise and the sea of people on both sides of the river, so he just smiled and waved without stopping.

    When the ship sailed into the sea, the sky and the sea suddenly widened, which immediately made Davos feel small. However, the sound of rowing and salpinx sounded by the other ships only tens of metres away from him had made him realise that he was part of a huge fleet.

    He then turned his head and looked at the people, who kept following the warships along the coast, supporting the elderly and the children¡­

    Davos was deeply aware of why they were persistently pursuing. He took a deep breath and calmed himself to ovee the difort of suddenly fighting on the sea after getting used to fighting onnd.

    The ship following Davos was the gship of the navarch ¨C Seclian, who felt morefortable onboard than Davos. He first walked from the stern to the bow, and after he inspected the whole ship, he came under the mainmast, looked up and shouted, ¡°Did you find anything?¡±

    The lookout immediately replied, ¡°Navarch, there is no news yet.¡±

    Seclian clenched his fist, but he became less anxious when he saw Davos'' ship ahead. After he calmed down, he ordered, ¡°Have the whole fleet move below the normal speed!¡±

    The trireme¡¯s normal speed is about eight knots (15 kilometres per hour). However, Seclian considered that the whole fleet was not yet proficient enough to cooperate with each other as this would be the first time they would fight at sea and that the triremes they gathered from various city-states had different shapes and sizes, such as Crotone''s warship that was lighter and narrower, which were good for assault while the Rhegian ships were broader and heavier, making it easier for them to defend¡­the size difference of the triremes, which is the main force of the naval warfare, would inevitably lead to the difference in speed. Thus, Seclian took a more cautious attitude to prevent the fleet from separating before engaging the enemy.

    For this reason, he followed up his order with, ¡°Raise the g of Apollo!¡±

    Apollo was the sun god that drives his chariot in the sky every day. And the g of Apollo that Seclian said was, in fact, a thin linen material dyed golden yellow, which was raised up on the mainmast by ropes and flutters against the sea breeze. It meant that the fleet would shrink inward with this ship as the centre, and the distance between the ships around it would be about 20 metres.

    Seclian''s cautious approach was also to keep the entire fleet within his reach.

    ¡°Rhaaa¡­.¡± As the extremely long salpinx sound echoed across the sea, every ship¡¯s lookout could see the golden g, and then the whole fleet began to lower their speed and approach each other.

    And as the ships reduced their speed, it allowed the people on the shore to keep up with the fleet. However, the fleet still continued to move away from the coast. And even though the fleet contracted, the Theonian fleet of 150 triremes, plus other ships totalling 200 ships, spread out over an area of five-six nautical miles, sailing south in a great hurry¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The constant raids made Leptines fed up that he became resistant to the brutal act of killing civilians from the bottom of his heart. He originally just wanted to lure the Theonian fleet out to have a decisive battle, but the Theonians just hid behind their port like a turtle, making Leptines have no ce to vent.

    On the other hand, his brother, Dionysius, became fonder of this method of harassment. It is even reported that when Dionysius received a bit of inside information of Krimisa and Aprustum were beginning to have food shortages due to the frequent raids that caused the transportation from Theonia to the southern battlefront to suffer, so he ordered Leptines to intensify and increase the number of raids on the long stretch of coast from Krimisa to Thurii, especially on Roscianum.

    Crotone became muddy due to the heavy rain, making it difficult for the Syracusan army to camp, let alone sieging the city. Since they could not attack, Dionysius thought of other ways. Yesterday, he sent messengers to Roscianum in an attempt to make them surrender to Syracuse. He even considered having Leptines'' fleet load thousands and thousands of soldiers to deal massive destruction into the hintend of Theonia, demoralising its poption and reducing the confidence of Theonia''s allies.

    At the same time, Dionysius sent an envoy to Taranto to discuss whether they should send reinforcements and join forces to take Heraclea as soon as possible and invade Theonia''s territory from the northeast.

    But as the navarch, Leptines didn''t have to think so much as he only had to lead his fleet every day to keep a close eye to the north to prevent a surprise attack by the Theonian fleet while the soldiers and sailors went ashore to plunder. Thus Leptines had his fleet cruise in the waters far away from thending site so that they would be out of sight.

    Just as he was about to doze off on a makeshift quarter on the deck, he could hear the excited shouting of the gship¡¯s captain, ¡°Navarch! Navarch! There is good news! Good news!!¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Asked Leptines as he rubbed his sleepy eyes.

    ¡°Our scouting ship had just reported that the soldiers who had gone ashore to pige had captured a prisoner. And he confessed that their archon Davos had returned, and the people elected him as their king yesterday. After bing the new king, he made a promise that he would personally lead the Theonian navy into battle today in order to repel us!¡±

    ¡°Davos would lead the navy into battle?¡± Leptines immediately became excited. Whatever king that Theonia chose was of no concern to him as the only thing he cared about was that the Theonian fleet hiding in the Crati River was finallying out. Furthermore, Archon Davos, whom his brother had somewhat feared, would be the one to lead it.

    Leptines then jumped up and asked, ¡°Where is the captive?!¡±

    ¡°We have brought him aboard and are now at the bow!¡±

    This caused Leptines to immediately run with great strides to the ship¡¯s bow and met the timidTheonian.

    The captive was trembling with fear, as he not only spilt all the information he knew but also begged Leptines to release him and not sell him into very.

    Leptines then said to him in a happy mood, ¡°If you tell the truth, not only will you not be a ve but also be rewarded by me!¡±

    The prisoner immediately swore loudly to the god that he was telling the truth.

    Leptines no longer paid attention to him as he turned to the captain and said, ¡°Signal the fleet to head north at once! Then send all our scouting ships and give me a full search! Whoever finds the Theonian fleet first will be handsomely rewarded!¡±

    ¡°Aye, Navarch!¡± The captain also became excited. After conveying Leptines'' order to the scouting ships that approached the gship, he turned to the cabin below the deck and shouted, ¡°ckers, start moving! Move! Move! Piper, speed up the rhythm!¡±

    The sound of the salpinx, the sudden turn of the gship, and the increase in speed drew the attention of the nearby ships, who immediately changed ordingly and transmitted the change.

 Chapter 465: Battle of the Gulf of Taranto (IV)

    Even though it would take a lot of time for a massive fleet of nearly 300 triremes and 350 warships toplete their tactical action, the experienced Syracusan fleet managed to shorten the time.

    Under the guidance of more than a dozen scouting ships, the whole fleet sailed towards the sea near Thurii¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Mithridates'' ship is at the forefront with the task of navigation. And this position requires a captain who is not only experienced in navigation and naval warfare but must also be familiar with the fleet''s tactics, signals, understanding of the expedition¡¯s purpose, and the strategies to be used. As the spearhead, he must also be brave in naval battles to set an example to the ships behind him.

    Apart from hisck of experience as this was his first naval battle(which most of the captains of the Theonian fleetcked), Mithridates excelled in all other aspects. After all, Davos considered Mithridates to rece Enanilus, who was sentenced to imprisonment, as the navarch.

    At this moment, Mithridates had his eyes closed while sitting under the mast, when suddenly, the lookout on the top of the mast shouted, ¡°There''s a sailboat ahead!¡±

    Mithridates immediately opened his eyes and looked at the sea ahead. However, there were only the blue water and the sky, without anything else.

    However, he knew that there was almost no merchant ship in this sea area due to the Syracusan navy''s blockade, so it is highly usible that the ship belonged to Syracuse.

    ¡°The sailboat turned around!¡± The lookout shouted again.

    ¡®It is definitely the enemy. He is likely going back to report after spotting us!¡¯ After a brief pause, Mithridates hurriedly shouted, ¡°Blow the salpinx and hoist the warning g!¡±

    As soon as they hung the long orange linen g on the mast, the lookout of the gship immediately reported, ¡°Navarch, enemy ahead!¡±

    ¡°Great!¡± Seclian excited did a fist pump without thinking. Then he gave the long-awaited order, ¡°Traverse at normal speed first! Hoist the g and prepare for battle!¡±

    As the long sound of salpinx sounded, a ck g was raised on the mast, which is extremely conspicuous against the clear sky.

    Soon after, the other ships also hoisted a ck g.

    ¡®Under the darkness of the night were countless stars.¡¯

    The starry night was a tactical formation the Theonian navy invented to take advantage of the ¡°Corvus¡±, which requires the ships to scatter like the stars in the sky. This would allow them to attack the enemy like waves, requiring each ship to fight independently while protecting the other ships by requiring them to attack continuously.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Your majesty, we have spotted the enemy ahead.¡± Miltias reported to Davos.

    Davos nodded and said while trying to look calm, ¡°Just follow the orders. There is no need for you to report to me so as not to dy the battle.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± After Miltias saluted, he shouted towards the deck, ¡°Normal speed!¡±

    As the rhythm of the piper immediately picked up, the 180 rowers on each side of the trireme speed up. Then they gradually moved away from the surrounding ships as the helmsman turned the rudder.

    ¡°Hm? Something happened!¡± An elderly among those watching the fleet''s movement from the shore eximed, ¡°Our fleet''s formation is changing!¡±

    To the casual observer, there is no change from the dense sea of ships, but to these veteran seamen and fishermen, they were acutely aware of the changes in the distance and the speed between the ships.

    ¡°Did they spot the enemy?!¡±

    ¡°Is the war going to start?!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Everyone began asking with voices full of concerns about the safety of Theonia and their rtives.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    More than ten minutester-

    ¡°The Syracusan fleet ahead! They have cou¡­countless ships!!¡± The lookout pointed to the front and shouted.

    Mithridates was not surprised as he knew in advance that this was a naval battle with the Theonian navy at a disadvantage in the number of ships.

    ¡°Raise the battle g!¡±

    Then a blood-red g fluttered from the mast.

    ¡°Navarch, there are enemies at the front, and we are about to engage them!¡±

    ¡°Prepare forbat!¡± Seclian said briefly and concisely.

    Then the rapid sound of the salpinx sounded from the gships to the adjacent warships and then to rest.

    At the reminder of their captain, the sailors of each ship began moving and eating the bread and a bit of alcohol and olive oil that they carried while taking turns to get up and move their bodies. And since it has only been an hour since they got on the ship, they are still very energetic. Thus, they only need to prepare themselves for the long and fierce battle that might follow.

    Suddenly, an outline of a ship appeared on the sea in the far distance, followed by another¡­in the blink of an eye, warships began to cover the horizon densely.

    ¡°Here theye¡­¡± Mithridates whispered.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile, on the Syracusan fleet''s gship, Leptines got the answer he had long waiting for, ¡°Navarch, there is a ship with a golden colour shining on its mast in the middle of the enemy fleet. It should be the ship with the statue of Hades that you are searching for!¡± The lookout shouted.

    Once Leptines heard this, he shouted with excitement, ¡°The captive was right about Davos! Davos, the archon of Theonia, is on that ship!¡±

    Leptines was very clear due to Dionysius having said that to conquer Theonia, eliminating Davos first would be the best. Thus his brother sent assassins, but without sess. And now, a great opportunityy before him: Whether to capture or kill Davos in this naval battle, it would not only impress his brother but would give an early end to this huge war that had almost consumed Syracuse!

    ¡°Order all the ships to do the double column formation!¡± Leptines decisively ordered.

    ¡°Navarch, aren''t we going to surround them?¡± The gship captain reminded him.

    Leptines shook his head, ¡°That would take too much time and would also scatter the fleet''s attack. At that time, It would be a problem if Davos were to be frightened and run away once the ships ahead of him were to sink one after another. Although we have more ships than them and our handling skills are better than them, Davos might be thinking that he could easily win this naval just like and battle. Hence he dares toe at us rashly. However, I will crush the Theonian fleet head-on and capture that arrogant Davos!¡± Leptines said with pride while he outstretched his right hand and clenched it hard as if he was grasping the new king of Theonia.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Mithridates stared ahead at the visible Syracusan fleet approaching them like a huge wave.

    On the contrary, Mithridates even smiled a bit as he was not intimidated by the force of the Syracusan fleet. After all, the Syracusans had not taken advantage of theirrge number of ships to send smaller fleets to surround them and attack their nks, which would make it more difficult for the Theonian fleet to win the battle and increase its losses. ¡®However, his majesty''s n to use himself as bait worked! It even made the enemy adopt a head-on attack!¡¯

    At a nce, the enemy extended to more than ten ships long and even had the tailwind advantage, but so what?! The Theonian fleet has its Corvus and more heavy infantries than their regr triremes onboard(the normal infantry configuration for a ship varied from zero to ten men, whereas the Theonian fleet had one toon of heavy infantry per ship). That is also why theyck agility and speed, which they do not rely on to win!

    Mithridates became more confident. He also knew that even though he was 5 kilometres away from the nearest enemy ship, it would only be in an instant once they raised their speed. So after giving his orders, he turned to Xanticles, who was resting on the deck and said with a straight face, ¡°Strategos, please be ready as the battle is about to begin!¡±

    As the senior centurion of the second brigade of the first legion, Xenticles, although his status as a senior officer waspletely useless in this fight as it is fought with toon units, he did not want to miss this crucial naval battle, so he had chosen to follow them.

    ¡°Aeneas, you should start giving orders.¡± Xanticles said to the toon captain, as he did not want to interfere with his men''smand.

    ¡°Brothers, gather around and sort your equipment. Afterwards, go down the cabin as the ship would soon speed up!¡± At the words of Aeneas, the heavy infantries sitting on the deck stood up in a hurry, put on their helmets, picked up their spears and hung their short swords as they quickly formed two columns and headed downward.

    On the other hand, the rowers didn''t even bother to pay attention to the soldiers pouring in as they only listened to the sound of the salpinx and the sliding of the wooden oars to the water.

    While the piper didn''t increase the rower''s rhythm all at once but gradually sped it up.

 Chapter 466: Battle of the Gulf of Taranto (V)

    The pace of the Thranitai(rowers at the upperyer of a trireme) changed ording to the sound of the pipe: They pulled their arms back, leaned their body backwards, extended their legs and raise the oars; when they thrust their arms forward, they lean their body forward, bent their legs and pushed the oar diagonally into the sea; with a roar from the rowers, the oar made a backward arc¡­

    At the lead of the Thranitai, the whole ship rowed hard with the rowers'' bodies kept leaning forward and backwards that even the leather cushions they were sitting on slid back and forth due to the grease applied underneath.

    The low salpinx sound echoed the same rhythm of the pipe.

    Seven knots! Eight knots! Nine knots! Ten knots!¡­the speed of the warship dramatically increased.

    As the oing waves became denser and denser, they hit the ship¡¯s bow and turned into a spray of water that kept pouring on the deck, causing Xanticles to feel that the whole ship was floating.

    ¡°Brothers, hold onto the mast and the corvus, and be careful when standing firm!¡± Mithridates loudly reminded the ten sailors on deck.

    Just as he had just shouted, the sea poured over him and soaked him like a drowned chicken.

    At this time, the salpinx was no longer needed as the lead ship''s sudden increase of speed became the signal, and the other ships all began to elerate one after another.

    As the rows of wooden oars batter the angry waves, the ships split the ferocious waves, and the neat salpinx sounding from the ships was like a powerful condemnation to the invaders. In the face of the fierce Syracusan navy, everyone in the Theonian fleet stared at the enemy with wide-open eyes that were full of rage!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the other hand, even though the people of Theonia on the shore couldn''t properly see the battlefield, they were extremely nervous at this moment as they watched the ships of both sides on the sea approach each other quickly.

    At this moment, those familiar and unfamiliar with each other held each other hands tightly, shouting and cheering loudly for their loved ones¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the Theonian ship got closer, the corvus that was swaying above the bow of each ship became visible, puzzling the sailors on the Syracusan ship as they had never seen such a strange thing before.

    However, most of them looked down on Theonia''s ¡°rookie¡± navy, so they thought this resulted from Theonia''s inability to build ships and random alteration. They charged even faster with such a mentality that they had difficulty maintaining their formation but didn''t care because they thought they already had the Theonians in the bag.

    In Mithridates'' field of vision, he could see a Syracusan trireme rushing aggressively towards him obliquely, trying to pierce the side of his ship with its bronze ram.

    However, his ship couldn¡¯t do any wide evasive manoeuvre as it would be extremely dangerous. After all, a few dozens of metres behind the enemy ship was another ship that would take the opportunity to collide with the hull of Mithridates'' ship, which would bepletely exposed if he were to evade. This is the famous Sailing line formation of the Greek navy.

    Yet Mithridates just sneered. He didn''t even make any instructions because their helmsman could already make the correct response after this training period.

    And sure enough, their ship turned slightly to the right in a quick burst and rushed towards the enemy ship.

    Seeing the enemy ship erging in his eyes, Mithridates shouted towards the bottom of the deck, ¡°Retract the oars!¡±

    ¡°Retract the oars!¡± The boatswain echoed.

    The rowers immediately pulled back their wooden oars from the oar-holes with panic because of the tension.

    At the same time, the ten sailors on the deck had gathered near the foremast. Some of them untied the ropes tying the corvus to the foremast and then pulled it together, while the others turned the pulley and made the base of the corvus turn.

    Seeing the Theonian shipsing towards them head-on with a small part of the oars on the right-side were still left outside the oar-holes made the captain of the Syracusan ship happy. Although he failed to hit the hull, breaking the enemy''s oars would also affect the rowing speed of the enemy ship.

    With the ship¡¯s close distance from each other, it is now the time for the archers of both sides to y their strength. So when both ships were about to pass each other, the captain tried to go down to the cabin for shelter first. But at this time, he heard a ¡°bang¡± as the strange device on the Theonian ship fell straight and hit his ship''s deck. It caused the whole warship to shake, and the tremendous force made their ship''s momentum suddenly slow down.

    Then the captain heard a shout from the other ship, ¡°Brothers, it''s finally our turn to fight!¡±

    Under the captain''s astonished gaze, dozens of Theonian heavy infantry wearing ck armour emerged from the other ship''s cabin and rushed towards their ships through that strange thing.

    ¡®That thing was a small wooden bridge!¡¯ The captain finally understood it, but it was already toote. The few Syracusan sailors on the deck who rushed forward to meet the enemies were no match for these wolf-like Theonian soldiers. Their fate was either stabbed down by the sharp short swords or knocked overboard by the long shields¡­

    Face with the heavy infantry rushing in front of them, the remaining Syracusan sailors and lookouts could only raise their hands in panic. However, the Theonians clearly had no intention of taking them prisoner as they stabbed them to death one after another.

    And the captain became so scared that his legs went limp and sat down on the deck.

    Then he heard someone say, ¡°He is the captain. We still need him to steer this ship.¡±

    ¡°The helmsman is already enough!¡± A cold short sword slid across his neck as soon as this was utter, and his blood flowed like water.

    Then two soldiers ran to the stern to capture the helmsman while the other soldiers rushed directly into the cabin.

    The rowers in the cabin were already panicking as they stood up from the leather mat one after another, trying to escape.

    But the soldiers of the first toon of the first brigade of the first legion of Theonia shouted, ¡°Get back to your seats!¡± at the same time, they wielded their long shields and short swords and began their killing.

    Although there were more than 170 strong men in the cabin, they didn''t have any protection, and they were like a sheet of loose sand as the only thing they wanted was to escape.

    Soon, corpses and the groaning and struggling of the wounded littered the cabin, with the whole space stained red with blood.

    The remaining rowers were frightened out of their wits that they squatted in the narrow cabin and raised their hands.

    ¡°Hurry up and get back to your seat!¡± At this time, the fierce roaring of the Theonian soldiers came into y.

    And the remaining rowers of the Syracusan ship shivered all over and could only sit back on the leather mat.

    Xanticles and the toon captain, Aeneas, looked at each other with a mixture of joy and disbelief in their eyes as this was the first time they had encountered such an easy battle and even captured a trireme so easily!

    Although Seclian dered many times that the corvus would change the tactics of naval warfare and bring a glorious victory to Theonia during their training, it was only after experiencing this battle first-hand that Xanticles appreciated the usefulness of this ugly-looking thing called corvus!

    ¡®It''s all thanks to the cleverness of King Davos!¡¯ Xanticles eximed in his heart. However, this was not time to sing praises, so he collected his thoughts and whispered to Aeneas, ¡°You should take 30 of our brothers and go back to the ship, while I''ll stay here to watch.¡±

    ¡°Strategos, will 20 soldiers be enough for you?¡± Aeneas asked with concern.

    Xanticles then nced at the Syracusan rowers, who were still shivering, with contempt and said, ¡°Actually, ten would be enough.¡±

    Aeneas no longer tried to be modest as they all knew the battle had just begun.

    Aeneas then led the 30 soldiers to the deck, quickly crossed the corvus and returned to their own ship. On the other hand, the remaining soldiers struggled to pull out the corvus, and the sailors tightened the rope tied to the corvus. They pulled back the small wooden bridge* gripping the foremast to free the Syracusan ship. (the bridge is 1.2 metres wide and 12 metres long with low railings on both sides)

    ¡°Turn the rudder and sail towards the coast, else you will die!¡± Threatened by the shining short sword of the Theonian soldiers, the Syracusan helmsman could only obey.

    In the cabin, Xanticles and 15 terrifying soldiers stood in the aisle filled with corpses and blood and roared viciously, ¡°All of you, listen to me! Take up your oars and row obediently! Or else-¡± As Xanticles said this, he stabbed his short-sword to the side and immediately pierce the chest of a wounded rower who was lying down.

    The shrill scream of the rower before he died echoed in the cabin, causing the scared rowers to dare not disobey.

    ¡°At¡­normal¡­speed¡­¡± the piper spoke while gritting his teeth.

    As the ship steered crookedly towards the coast, a few soldiers, wearing their striking ck armour, stood in the bow, belly and stern to alert the other Theonian ships should they be mistaken for enemies.

    While Mithridates'' ship was connected with the enemy ship through the corvus, another Syracusan ship rapidly approached. Although the enemy captain and sailors did not understand why the two ships in front did not separate and kept close to each other after their collision, their richbat experience and cooperation made them not hesitate to turn their ship around a small corner and prepare to rush towards the most vulnerable nk of Mithridates'' ship.

    But not far behind Mithridates¡¯ ship¡¯s left side, another Theonian ship rushed forward.

    ¡°Charge!¡± The captain shouted, causing the piper to y his pipe almost non-stop.

    At this moment, the rowers were excited and nervous. And as they frequently leaned forward and backwards, the water sshing on both sides of the ship had not even disappeared before anotheryer of sshes appeared, forming two while parallel lines¡­

 Chapter 467: Battle of the Gulf of Taranto (VI)

    Under the helmsman¡¯s control, and with all the rowers paddling hard, the ship rushed straight ahead towards the enemy ship at a terrifying speed of 13 knots (24 kilometres per hour).

    This forced the Syracusan ship to give up their intention of attacking Mithridates'' ship and turn to face the oing Theonian ship.

    ¡°Crash that one first! Then we''ll finish that other one after!¡± The Syracusan captain thought with confidence as he looked at Mithridates'' ship.

    ¡°Retract the oars!¡± He shouted as the powerful inertial speed of the ship was enough to collide with the oing Theonian ship. He then became satisfied when the rowers quickly pulled back the oars.

    But at this moment, the strange 12-metre long thing on the bow of the Theonian ship fell with a bang, and the spike at the top pierced their deck, sending wooden fragments everywhere.

    Amidst the shouting of the Syracusan sailors, dozens of ck helmeted and armoured Theonian soldiers crossed the corvus and rushed onto the enemy''s deck and started their killing¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Syracusan navy, who disregarded the Theonian fleet, swiftly charged forward while the Theonian fleet bravely faced them without showing weakness. On a several nautical miles battlefront, the two sides fought fiercely.

    However, the vast majority of the situation was the corvus crashing down and hooking into the Syracusan ships and turning the naval battle into and battle, making the excellent ship-handling skills of the Syracusans to bepletely useless. On the other hand, Theonia''s toon units were like tigers jumping into a flock of sheep, easily capturing the enemy''s ship.

    Just half an hour after the naval battle started, nearly 40 triremes of the Syracusan navy was captured.

    Even though the sea''s wideness made it impossible for every Syracusan captain in the middle of the battlefield to see their losses, they still sense something amiss. Once that strange thing hooked the friendly ships in front of them, numerous enemy soldiers suddenly emerged from the cabin of the Theonian navy and rushed to the deck of their ships through that thing. Soon after, they would see their friendly ship withdrawing from the battlefield, and the Theonian ships would once again rush forward¡­

    Then the captains in the rear of the formation realised that they shouldn''t go head-to-head with the Theonian ships. Instead, they should avoid that thing on the enemies'' bow with their excelling ship-handling skills and better manoeuvrability and attack the enemy ship''s side and rear¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Thisrge-scale naval battle was fought fiercely off the coast between Thurii and Roscianum, which not only worried the Theonians but also attracted the attention of the Roscianums.

    Amikles, the polemarchos of Roscianum, led the council members along the coast with the people to watch the naval battle unfold. After all, this was not only about the rise and fall of the Theonia Union but also an important decision of Roscianum.

    Although an envoy of Syracuse hade to Roscianum yesterday and the council led by Amikles did not receive him, they also did not drive him away. Instead, they allowed him to disembark and ¡°rest¡± at the guesthouse, which already indicates a change in Roscianum''s hierarchy''s attitude.

    During these years, Roscianum and Theonia were close to each other and regarded each other as their closest allies. The people of Roscianum were even proud to participate in the various celebrations of Thurii and treated them as if they were family. But an alliance was only an alliance, not a union. After the defeat of the South Italian Alliance on the southern battlefront and the war and political instability in Theonia, the Roscianums, who was in the hintend of Theonia, directly felt the initial pride of the Thurians turned to panic. Moreover, the massive number of Syracuse''snd and naval forces and the terror of the Scylletian massacre shook the trust of the Roscianums in Theonia.

    Syracuse is not Crotone, after all. When the second Crotonian war broke out, the defeated Crotone did not make the Roscianums lose confidence in Theonia. However, a more powerful Syracusan army led by Dionysius, the cruel tyrant who had defeated the mighty Carthage, hade, and their vanguard alone caused the people of Roscianum to tremble. Looking at the ruined farms, burned viges, and ughtered people outside the city had angered the people of Roscianum and made them feel their helplessness.

    But after learning the return of Davos with his army and leading the Theonian fleet into battle with the mighty navy of Syracuse, all the people of Roscianum came to the sea in excitement, praying for Theonia''s victory out of reverence for Davos and anger at Syracuse.

    While the top brass of this city-state, like Amikles, also ce their hopes on the invincible archon of Theonia, the Syracusan navy is just too powerful¡­

    ¡°Supposing that¡­no! As long as Theonia couldn¡¯t win this naval battle, the Syracusans wouldpletely own this gulf, while¡­we would need to find a way back for ourselves¡­¡± Amikles thought with a pained heart as he watched the numerous ships moving fast on the sea,¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the Syracusan gship behind the fleet, Leptines thought he misheard the lookout on the mainmast. The lookout reported that the ships on their sides frequently withdrew from the battlefield while the Theonian ships were not only rarely sunk but continued their advance.

    ¡°Navarch, the scouting ships reported that the Theonians have installed a wooden bridge at the front of their ships and ced a lot of heavy infantries in their cabin. Once the wooden bridge lodged on our ship, the heavy infantries would rush over while the sailors on our ship wouldn''t be able to resist. Currently, Cleandas and his men no longer confronted the Theonian ships head-on. Instead, they used our excellent ship-handling skills and rich experience in naval warfare to manoeuvre around the Theonians. And due to the instation of the wooden bridges and the numerous soldiers, the Theonian warship is much slower and less flexible than ours, so I believe the war situation would soon change!¡± The gship captainforted him.

    After his mood improved slightly, Leptines cursed indignantly, ¡°Damned Theonians! They only know how to y some clever tricks! What do they take the sacred naval battle for!!! Poseidon will surely punish them!¡­¡±

    Just as he vented his anger, the lookout suddenly shouted, ¡°Navarch, the ship with a statue on top of its mast hase out! It''s rushing out to the frontline! I can even see the strategos wearing a dazzling armour at the ship''s bow!¡±

    Leptines became stunned, but he soon excitedly shouted, ¡°That''s Davos, the archon of Theonia! He is really on that ship! Hurry up! Command our ships to keep on advancing! Sink his ship! Make sure to sink his ship! As long as we could kill or capture that Davos, we, Syracuse, would still win even if we lose more ships!!!¡±

    Since Syracuse has adopted a sailing line formation, one column has ten ships. As the salpinx blew, the gship took the lead and charged. Then more than 20 ships followed and advanced forward and soon overtook the gship.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Theonia''s starry formation was like waves blown by the breeze: Once a wave goes out, another wave would rise again.

    Davos'' ship just kept on rushing past their own ships that were entangled with enemy ships one after another. Finally, it came to the forefront of the battlefield.

    ¡°Charge!¡± Miltias, even though he saw enemy ships rushing towards them, ordered without hesitation.

    Then their ship suddenly picked up speed and sped forward like a sharp arrow.

    The two ships were now only 100 metres apart! 90 metres! 80 metres!¡­

    Davos subconsciously gulped as he pulled out the short sword at his waist.

    But the enemy ship suddenly veered to the right.

    ¡°Left! To the left!¡± Miltias hurriedly ordered.

    However, due to their previous speed, their turning became toorge that before they couldplete their turning, the enemy ship had already skillfully drawn a circr arc and hit the ship¡¯s centre.

    Miltias, however, remained calm as he ordered, ¡°Continue to turn left!¡±

    The captain of the enemy ship watched as the bronze ram got closer and closer to therge trireme with a smug on his face¡­

    But soon, his smile froze.

    Even though the heavy hull of the Theonian ship only deviated slightly to the left, the long wooden bridge-like thing at the bow actually rotated more than a hundred degrees and fell directly backwards. And the ten-metre long drawbridge smashed right into the bow of his ship and linked the two ships together. Although the force of his ships forward momentum pushed the other ship to sway back and the suspension bridge to creak, it did not damage the enemy''s ship in the slightest. On the contrary, the enemy soldiers rushed across the drawbridge.

    ¡®It''s over!¡¯ Seeing the situation worsen, the captain no longer cared about the ship and the sailors as he jumped directly into the sea.

    ¡°Your majesty, please stay and let me take my brothers over to fight!¡± Martius pulled Davos, who was about to cross the bridge and resolutely asked.

    Davos didn''t insist either as he knew that only by staying here could everyone be at ease.

    ¡°I''ll leave it to you!¡± Davos nodded.

    ¡°Brothers, rush with me!¡± Martius drew his short sword and led the guards to charge across the bridge. He wanted to repay the Syracusans for nearly losing his life before.

    ¡°Enemy ships rushing towards us from the right!¡± The lookout shouted from the mast.

    Miltias and Davos immediately became nervous as they couldn''t escape because they were connected with the enemy ship.

    However, behind Davos'' ship was the Theonian gship, which quickly met the enemy and locked it in ce with the corvus.

    ¡°Enemy ship on the right!¡± The lookout on the stern shouted in rm. However, his shouting ceased after a moment as another ship rushed up and locked it in ce.

 Chapter 468: Battle of the Gulf of Taranto (VII)

    Davos finally became relieved. When they were making the crazy n of using himself as bait, Seclian and he made detailed arrangements by arranging more ships around Davos'' ship to protect his safety while fighting the decisive battle.

    ¡°Ships are rushing to the left!¡±

    ¡°Ships on the starboard!¡±

    ¡°Enemy ship on the right side of the stern!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The rmed shouts of the three lookouts continued as the Syracusans made a frenzied attack on Davos'' ship, straining the nerves of everyone in the ship.

    ¡°We pulled out the drawbridge! We pulled out the drawbridge!¡± At that moment, the sailors at the bow shouted.

    After breathing a sigh of relief, Miltias shouted, ¡°Back away!¡±

    At this time, ships connected with each other littered the sea around their ship, and only in the rear where there is arge space left.

    Just as the rowers hurriedly rowed backwards and as soon as the ship sped up, they heard the lookout at the stern shouting, ¡°Enemy ships on the rear! Enemy ship on the rear!¡±

    This one Syracusan ship was quite cunning as they relied on their superb ship-handling skills, and by using the surrounding ships to block the line of sight, it nimbly shuttled through between the gaps in the ships as it quickly approached Davos'' ship. Therefore when the lookout finally found them, their distance was only around 40 metres.

    And because Davos'' ship was rowing backwards, the distance rapidly closed. So Miltias could only shout, ¡°Steer to the right of the stern! Steer to the right of the stern!¡± He wanted the ship to turn around so that they could use the corvus. However, it seemed that it was toote.

    ¡°Row forward! Row forward!¡­¡± Miltias shouted again.

    Although the rowers did not know what was happening outside, their captain''s frequent change of orders and nervous voice gave them a hunch that their situation was not good. For a while, they became a bit flustered that some even fell into the sea.

    At this moment, Davos'' heart leapt through his throat after seeing the enemy ship''s bronze ram rushing in that he could even clearly see the appearance of the enemy in the enemy ship''s bow. Fortunately, Martius rushed up with his soldiers and urgently took off Davos'' armour so that they could take him and jump into the sea in case the ship was sunk and wait until they got rescued.

    In a sh, a ship came out diagonally in the narrow gap between the ships (a trireme can not pass) and blocked the enemy ships ¨C It is Theonia''s Penteconter (A ship with 50 oars). During naval battles, the role of a penteconter was mostly for scouting, sending messages, rescuing, assisting in ship boarding operations and so on., and mostly as scouting ships. However, when the Theonian fleet implemented a new naval tactic and because of the trireme''s weaknesses(it became inflexible and slow after equipping a corvus), Seclian gave a new role to the penteconter, which was to use its small and nimble* characteristics to block the attacking route of enemy ships, so that the main ships could escape. (the fastest speed it can reach is 15-16 knots.)

    Naturally, several such ships roam around Davos'' ship to protect his safety. At this moment, the enemy ship was simply toote to turn as the bronze ram directly struck the penteconter, only to hear a loud ¡°bang¡±, followed by the sound of wood breaking and the screaming of the sailors, as arge hole appeared on the ship''s body. Then the seawater immediately gushed in and washed away the blood of the wounded¡­

    Under the impact of a trireme, the penteconter sank rapidly¡­

    However, it significantly weakened the forward momentum of the enemy ship and eventually stopped.

    ¡°Row backwards quickly!¡± At the panicking shout of the captain, Davos'' ship turned around and quickly approached the enemy ship. And the corvus came crashing down.

    Davos then shouted angrily, ¡°Avenge our brothers!¡±

    He then led the guards on the enemy ship''s deck and began their massacre¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Syracusans hope to use their skill and experience in naval warfare to fight the strange Theonian ships. However, they found that even though the Theonian ships were less flexible, their strange thing was so flexible that they could fall in all directions and turn in various ways. So if any ships came close to them, they would eventually get hooked and captured.

    The Syracusans were nowpletely frightened.

    Due to Leptines'' willful action to assault Davos'' ship, Theonia captured more than 30 Syracusan ships around Davos¡¯ ships, causing the Syracusan fleet to be unable to keep going¡­

    And for Leptines to cry out, ¡°Rush up! Rush up! Allow me to die here! Let go of me and let me drown! AHHHH¡­..¡±

    The ship''s captain naturally didn''t dare to let anything happen to Leptines. So during the previous assault, he secretly told the rowers to slow down their speed and let the gship stray outside the encirclement. Due to this disastrous defeat, he must ensure that the navarch returns to Scylletium safely. Otherwise, they wouldn''t be able to bear the wrath of the supreme militarymander.

    Although the few remaining Syracusan ships fled south, the Theonian fleet did not chase after them, for their ships could not catch up with the enemy ships who were bent on escaping. Most importantly, they had to rescue the soldiers who fell overboard and take care of the aftermath.

    ¡°Your majesty, the Syracusan navy is re¡­retreating! We¡­we are victorious!!¡± Amidst the cheers of the rowers and the guards, Miltias rushed to him and reported with an excited expression.

    As Davos gazed at the fading enemy, he suppressed the excitement he felt. He then slightly said in a trembling voice, ¡°This victory¡­is just the beginning!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Therge-scale Battle of Taranto Gulf, which influenced the direction of the war and hadsted for more than two hours, had finallye to an end.

    The Syracusan navy lost 223 ships, the vast majority of which were triremes, while the Theonian fleet lost more than 40 ships, half of which were penteconter. The Theonian fleet, which was at an absolute disadvantage, defeated the Syracusan navy and surpassed many outsiders¡¯ expectations.

    In this war, a very different result hade out from other naval battles. Even though the Syracusan navy has lost so many ships, only a few ships were rammed and sunk, andrge numbers of sailors floated on the surface and called out with their anguished cries. The Theonians, however, captured a total of 157 triremes intact, with them only needing a little repair, and together with their own sailors, they could once again go to sea and fight. Hence the Theonian fleet suddenly has its strength doubled.

    This has indeed be a strange thing and unheard of for a battle resulting in acquiring more ships, in the history of Greek naval warfare where the ships became lesser every fight.

    While the sailors and soldiers of the Theonia fleet cheered at their victory, the shore also became lively.

    The people of Roscianum also cheered as they knew that after witnessing such a thrilling naval battle, the powerful Syracusans would never ravage their homnd again.

    ¡®This is a miracle!¡¯ After seeing the Syracusan ships retreat, Amikles was so surprised that he didn''te back to his senses. Although he had been hoping beforehand, it was, after all, just a wish. However, the Theonians had really turned it into reality! Due to this, it took Amikles a long time to draw a conclusion, ¡°Hades'' oracle was fulfilled! After they elected Davos as their king, Theonia had gotten the blessing of Hades!¡±

    His words were approved by the officials of Roscianum surrounding him. Then one council member hurriedly asked, ¡°Then everyone¡­do we still need to meet the messenger of Syracuse?¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Amikles then decisively said, ¡°Immediately kill him!¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­too drastic?¡± Someone asked with concern, ¡°In case it angered the tyrant of Syracuse¡­¡±

    ¡°But you aren''t afraid of angering our neighbours, the Theonians?!¡± Amikles reminded them. Then he said, ¡°We are too close to Thurii that sooner orter, the Theonians would know about the entry of Syracuse''s envoy into our city. So what would Davos and the Theonian Senate would think by then?! Theonia, with the blessing of Hades'' oracle, had already won a naval battle with a numerical disadvantage, so they are bound to be the final winner. Just as Athens defeated the Persians decades before with the famous wooden wall that the Oracle of Delphi blessed. Therefore, we can only take such drastic measures to make up for our mistake and show our determination to stay with Theonia!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Theonians cheers for victory hade a little earlier.

    So when each of the captured triremes was forced to sail north along the coast and into the estuary of the Crati River, every Theonians watching the naval battle from the shore cheered and waved desperately to the legionaries on the deck. And this cheering continues as the captured Syracusan ships kept sailing to the coast.

    While the other Syracusan ships did not take advantage of the captured ship''s slow speed to crash them: on the one hand, the fierce attack of the Theonian fleet gave them no spare time. On the other hand, they knew that those sailing these captured ships were their fellow Syracusan sailors. Hence no one was willing to make such a crazy decision to send theirrades, who they had spent a lot of time together and trained together, to their deaths. Once they did, they would face the interrogation of the city-state people. Moreover, Leptines, their benevolent navarch, wouldn''t give such a cruel order.

    So, as the captured Syracusan ships sailed past in front of the Theonians one after another, everyone understood that victory was not far away. It might be due to the fear of scaring away this hard-earned victory, as everyone did not dare to let loose to celebrate. But once the Syracusan fleet retreated, the joy in the hearts of the Theonians broke free.

 Chapter 469: Continuous Combat (I)

    ¡°All hail Theonia!!!¡­¡±

    ¡°All hail Theonia''s navy!!!¡­¡±

    ¡°All hail King Davos!!!¡­¡±

    ¡°All hail Hades!!!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The people cheered as loudly as they could to vent the humiliation and fear that had piled up in their hearts all this time. At the same time, it made them feel that they were not only spectators but participants in this victory as it was their effort and perseverance that made Davos their king, which in turn made Hades bless Theonia, leading to this immediate victory!!!

    ¡®As long as Davos remain as the king, our Theonia would always be safe!¡¯ This belief began to sprout in the hearts of the people.

    At this moment, the boulder weighing down the hearts of the people had suddenly disappeared, and many of them acted crazily: Some cried loudly; Some knelt on the ground and devoutly sang the ode of Hades; Some rushed into the sea and shouted loudly; Others embrace those around them excitedly, regardless whether they are men or women, to share the joy they felt. Even that little fellow, Patroclus, had taken the opportunity to hug Cynthia, whom he had been secretly in love with.

    To add to the madness, some women in the crowd imed that they were free at night in celebration of Theonia''s hard-earned victory.

    Even Cheiristoya''s Restaurant in Thurii had excitedly announced to the crowd that in the evening, all Cheiristoya''s Restaurants in Thurii would provide free drinks for the guests in celebration of this victory.

    All of these has caused the cheering of the Theonians throughout the coast to reach its peak.

    Just as the people were cheering, the Theonian fleet, while rescuing the drowning sailors, divided half of their ships and immediately headed north under Davos'' leadership.

    While they were passing the estuary of the Crati River, 300 cargo ships loaded with most of the soldiers of the second legion joined them as they sailed in great numbers towards the coast of Heraclea.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Outside the city of Heraclea, Diaoms and Umakas were confused since yesterday as the Theonians had suddenly strengthened their blockade, setting up checkpoints on the bank of the Saraceno River and sending a toon to guard it, allowing no one to enter or leave.

    In fact, Thurii had taken the same measures at the wooden bridge over the Crati River and the south of Thurii. They even blocked the port so that no ships were allowed out of the Crati River into the sea.

    These severe measures made Taranto suddenly unable to receive reports from Thurii, which made the two leading archons of Taranto feel uneasy, ¡®What is happening in Thurii?¡¯

    After repeated analysis, they finally guessed that the biggest possibility is that Davos has returned. After all, he is the only one who has the right to do such a tight blockade.

    However, as it is just their spection, they couldn''t make any decision without conclusive evidence, which caused the dispute between the two archons.

    Umakas demanded that they immediately withdraw from Heraclea and retreat to Metapontum to avoid getting attacked by the returning army of Theonia.

    Diaoms, on the other hand, opposed it and argued that Taranto had already spent a great deal of wealth to arrive at Heraclea and be able to invade Theonia''s territory. If they were to take the initiative to withdraw just because of spection, they would not only beughed at by the people of Taranto but also impeached by the council!

    After some argument, they finally reached an agreement to send arge number of scouts every day to cross the Siris River and look out for the presence of arge Theonian army to the south while wreaking havoc on Amendra''snd. At the same time, they would build more pontoon bridges over the Agri River to make their retreat smoother.

    They also sent men back to Taranto in the hopes that the council would send spies to Roscianum, whom they looked down on before, in an effort to learn about the current situation in the city of Thurii.

    Then the day passed smoothly as they waited restlessly.

    The following day, the Tarantine fleet came and brought the news about how the Theonian fleet had suddenly sailed out of the Crati River and encountered the Syracusan navy at sea. Afterwards, a battle broke out between the two sides.

    Then the Tarantine fleet''s navarch also asked if they could also participate in the battle.

    After hearing this news, the two archons became greatly relieved as they no longer needed to think about it as they knew that this risky move of Theonia was obviously a death wish. Still, they were d to see this ¡°heroic action¡± of Theonia as it would ease the psychological burden of the Tarantine army. After all, with more than a hundred triremes hiding in the Crati River, who knew when they would suddenlye out. And even though Syracuse could easily win this battle, it does not mean that Taranto could do the same. For the two archons, the pressure of the sea is still too much. However, now that the Syracusan navy rules the Gulf of Taranto, they shared the pressure the Tarantines felt between them. Furthermore, if this naval battle could severely damage the Theonian fleet, it would ultimately free the Tarantines of this pressure on the sea route.

    However, the two archons refused the navarch''s request. Since the Tarantine fleet had lost badly to the Messapi-Peuceti Alliance a few years ago, the fleet only managed to get 35 triremes and 20 other ships after years of umtion. And as they knew the Syracusan would win, there was no need for them to invest in this naval battle. Besides, even if the Tarantine navy joins, the Syracusans might not even appreciate it as they would think that Taranto is trying to steal the credit. Moreover, although Taranto and Syracuse had joined hands against Theonia, Taranto, as one of the powers in Magna Graecia, has its own dignity.

    After the two archons rejected the navarch''s request, they told him to report the situation after the naval battle.

    Then they stopped caring about the matter and began thinking about how to conquer the city of Heraclea.

    During these days, the allies troops of Theonia and Heraclea were quite calm and even allowed the Tarantine soldiers to wreak havoc on thends of Amendra. It was to the point that even if the soldiers led the livestock that they plundered and yelled below the city wall, they still kept the gates closed.

    Due to that, it gave the two archons a headache as even if they used their nearly 20,000 troops, they didn''t have the ability to attack a city defended by more than 10,000 soldiers forcefully. So after hearing the Syracusans had a powerful siege weapon, their council immediately sent someone to Scylletium to borrow it. However, they didn''t know if the arrogant tyrant of Sicily would agree. If Dionysius did not agree, the Tarantine army could only besiege the city until Heraclea ran out of food. Besides this method taking a lot of time, Theonia''s main force might return at any time, and Heraclea was bound to be the first they rescue as it is the closest to Thurii.

    ¡®Do we really need to wait until the Syracusans conquered Crotone and their army approach Thurii for Taranto to have a chance?¡¯ Diaoms thought with reluctance¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the city of Heraclea, Teriphias was busy the past few days calming the people, worrying about the city''s defence and settling the reinforcements. And just as he had gotten a rare sleep and was about to get up to have breakfast, he heard his servant report that the legatus of Theonia wanted to see him.

    In reality, Teriphias was a bit ashamed to meet this legatus of Theonia ¨C Matonis. After all, while Syracuse ravages thends of Theonia, the Theonians had stille to defend Heraclea. So every time Teriphias saw Matonis, he clenched his fist and was forced to suppress his pained expression as the guilt he felt increased.

    Teriphias was still gulping his wheat porridge when Matonis strode into the living room, ¡°Legatus Matonis, have you had your breakfast? Would you like some?¡±

    Through this period of contact, Teriphias knew that the mercenary-raised Theonian legatus did not like those courtesies. On the contrary, the more casual Teriphias is, the more rxed Matonis would be.

    ¡°I have already eaten.¡± Matonis said as he reached over a wooden chair and sat straight down next to Teriphias, ¡°I havee to tell you something extremely important!¡±

    ¡°Oh, tell me!¡± Teriphias hurriedly ced down his wheat porridge and wiped his mouth with a linen towel.

    ¡°The messenger who sneaked into the city from Thuriist night had told me some very important news!¡±

    Teriphias immediately pricked up his ears. Of course, he knew about the person who sneaked inst night. However, as the man hade to find Matonis, he couldn''t forcibly ask him. But for Thurii, who was unconcerned of Heraclea a few days ago, to suddenly send a messenger and risked to infiltrate, the situation wouldn''t be that simple.

    ¡°His majesty Davos has returned to Thurii with the army!¡±

    ¡°Davos is back? That''s wonderful!¡± Teriphias eximed with excitement. Then he suddenly froze, ¡°Wait¡­what did you just say? His majesty Davos?!!¡±

    ¡°The people of Theonia received an oracle from Hades, who then elected Lord Davos as the king of Theonia!¡± Matonis said proudly.

    ¡®A king?!¡¯ Teriphias rubbed his chin. However, as this was an internal political matter in Theonia, he had no right to question them. Besides, this was not the time to consider this issue, ¡°So Lord¡­King Davos would soon lead his army north and repel Taranto?!¡±

    ¡°The messenger told me that his majesty would lead the Theonian fleet to sea this morning, looking for an opportunity to fight a decisive battle with the Syracusan navy. He also told us to prepare ourselves as once they won the naval battle, we would immediately attack the enemy camp and stall the Tarantines until his majesty''s army could arrive from the sea and surround the Tarantine army here and wipe them out!¡± Matonis said with an excited expression.

    ¡°This n is¡­indeed magnificent.¡± Teriphias said with an astonished expression. However, he hesitantly said, ¡°But can the Theonian fleet defeat the Syracusan navy?! After all, the Syracusan navy is much stronger!¡±

    ¡°I trust his majesty Davos as he always does what he says!¡± Matonis stood up with determination and said loudly, ¡°If you, Lord Teriphias, are unwilling to send troops, I would take my army out to attack the enemy when the timees!¡±

 Chapter 470: Continuous Combat (II)

    ¡°Who told you that I am unwilling to send my troops?!¡± Teriphias hastily changed his tone. He then grabbed him, ¡°The messenger said to wait for the news of the naval battle''s victory. But see¡­¡±

    Teriphias patiently told Matonis what he thought and said, ¡°Once Davos won the naval battle, sending letters bynd would be out of the question as the Tarantine cavalries roam just to the south during the day. Thus your messenger will definitely not be able toe over¡­that''s why we should only send our troops once we see the Theonian fleeting from the sea.¡± The overall situation would have been decided by then, so why would Teriphias not be happy about it.

    Unfortunately, Matonis shook his head and said, ¡°Your suggestion would take too long, so we can''t follow it! The Tarantine fleet currently blocks the port of Heraclea, so they will definitely get the news first. And if we wait until our fleet arrives, the Tarantines outside the city would have already run away! Therefore-¡±

    Matonis stared at Teriphias and said, ¡°We will closely monitor the enemy camp outside the city, so once the Tarantines tried to retreat, we would immediately attack them!¡±

    ¡°Ah?!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After convincing Teriphias, Matonis returned to the square and immediately instructed his adjutant to summon the senior centurions of the seventh legion for a meeting. (They set up the seventh legion¡¯s camp on Heraclea''s square.)

    After a while, all the seven senior centurions hade.

    But just before they could sit down, Matonis immediately said, ¡°Time is very tight, so I''ll make the long story short. His majesty Davos had led the first and second legions back to Thurii-¡±

    ¡°Ah?! Lord Davos is back!¡±

    ¡°Great, Amendra is now safe!¡±

    ¡°Not only will Amendra be safe, but the Tarantines are going to die! Lord Davos will lead us to defeat them!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The several senior centurions shouted and moved about with excitement.

    ¡°Silence!¡± Matonis roared, causing them to shudder with fright, ¡°A few of you are veterans, so you should know Theonia''s militaryw! What is the punishment given to subordinates who kept talking while their superiors were speaking?!¡±

    At Matonis'' vicious re, the senior centurions subconsciously touched their asses, ¡°I''ll write down the caning for now, and it would be up to your performance to make up for it. His majesty Davos ordered that he would lead the army today by sea andnd on the coast between Heraclea and Metapontum. So he asked us to do our best to stall the enemy outside the city so that the main force could arrive in time to join forces and surround the Tarantines! Do you all understand?!!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± They no longer dared to talk randomly, but the excitement in their expression was beyond words.

    Matonis paced back and forth in front of them. Afterwards, he stomped his foot hard, ¡°I know that due to my strict orders that forbid the soldiers to go out of the city to expel the enemy that came to Amendra these past two days, many soldiers in the legion had privately cursed me by saying that I am timid like a rabbit and weak like amb, not worthy of being a legatus! And some of them even cursed my parents!¡­¡±

    The roaring of Matonis had silenced them, ¡°I know there are some soldiers in the legion that hade from Amendra, but that should still not be a reason for them to insult their officers! ¡®The soldiers'' duty is to obey orders¡¯; this is the basic rule in Theonia''s Military Law. And I have already taken note of those soldiers who had cursed me in private, so you all should go back and tell them that in this attack, if they have not performed as bravely and charged as fast as I did, then what qualification do they have to curse me?!¡±

    Matonis widened his eyes and gasped like an angry bull, ¡°After the war ends, I will have them stand in the square and let the whole legion go up and scold their family in turn! Do you understand?!¡±

    ¡°U¡­understood.¡±

    ¡°You can now go back and prepare!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    After the senior centurions left, his adjutant cautiously said, ¡°Legatus, will you really-¡±

    ¡°Will what?!¡± Matonis red at him and grunted, ¡°This legion is just newly established. They have no good equipment and no strict discipline. If I don''t provoke them like this, how would they perform well?!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the afternoon, a fast boat sped up to the Agri River.

    ¡°What did you say?! The Syracusan navy lost?! How is that possible?!!¡± The two Tarantine archons eximed in disbelief.

    ¡°Did a fleet from another city-state join the battle and help the Theonians?!¡± Umakas hurriedly asked again.

    ¡°No, it was just the Theonian fleet fighting independently from beginning to end. They had ced a kind of wooden bridge on their ship that would hook the Syracusan ships. Afterwards, they would then send arge number of soldiers to rush onto Syracuse''s deck¡­¡± The boat captain recalled what he saw, and even now, he still felt like it was a dream. After all, the Theonian fleet''s way of fighting hadpletely overturned the traditional naval warfare taught to him since childhood.

    Diaoms was in a daze for a while when he suddenly thought of an important question, ¡°Did the Theonian fleet suffer heavy losses?¡±

    The captain shook his head and said, ¡°It seems that their fleet suffered little to no loss.¡±

    ¡°Could Hades have truly blessed these savage and crude Theonians?!¡± With an astonished and dejected look on his face, Diaoms looked at Umakas in a daze, and Umakas looked back at him.

    Both men had fear in their eyes, for they both knew that once Syracuse''s naval superiority was broken and the Theonian fleet took control of the Gulf of Taranto, the Tarantine fleet''s strength alone would not be able to match them. And the Tarantine coastline would be threatened by the Theonian fleet, while their army, which was far away from the city of Taranto, would be in danger.

    Then both of them shouted at almost the same time, ¡°We must immediately retreat!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The two of them quietly summoned the army officers in order not to attract the attention of the Heracleans. Then they gave them the order to retreat.

    Afterwards, the Tarantine soldiers began packing their belongings and their bags.

    However, the two archons had a headache about the mountains of grain piled up in the camp. At first, in order to ensure the convenience of food supply, the Tarantines transported the food through ships and piled it up in the camp for their huge army of 20,000 people to use for ten days, but it now became a problem as they had to retreat suddenly.

    Furthermore, Taranto didn''t have a special group responsible for logistics and transportation. They didn¡¯t even consider hiringbourers to transport fromnd as this battle was near the sea, so they all transported the supplies by ship. But now, it would consume too much time if they were to send the fast boat to rush back to inform Taranto''s port to send transport ship. But with this many rations and supplies, they didn''t dare to burn or discard them because arbitrary wasting of city-state belongings would undoubtedly get them impeached by the council.

    Diaoms then came up with an idea to have some of the soldiers carry the supplies on their backs and transport them to Metapontum bynd. At the same time, they would call back the Tarantine fleet that was still sailing in the sea near Heraclea, load the supplies in the ship''s cabin and transport it back to Taranto.

    ¡°What if those in the citye out and attack us?¡± Umakas was a bit worried.

    ¡°Those timid Heraclean and Theonian soldiers have been cowering inside the city these days. They definitely wouldn''t have the guts to take the initiative toe out of the city and attack us, and by the time they learn of the victory of the Theonian fleet, we would already be back in Metapontum.¡± In fact, based on the traditionalbat experience of the Greeks, Diaoms didn''t even consider the Theonian army rescuing Heraclea immediately after the end of a fierce naval battle.

    But Diaoms was impressed by the performance of the Theonian army in the battle with the Messapi-Peuceti Alliance that he had to be careful. After all, he could not afford to make any mistakes as they had almost gathered all the young and strong citizens of Taranto for this army. Hence Diaoms still arranged for 4,000 soldiers to act as a rearguard even though he didn''t think the Tarantine army would be in danger while retreating.

    And in order to not stand out, the Tarantine army did not even dismantle their tents.

    But even so, the Tarnatine army''s withdrawal was not only dyed but also slow. After all, the Tarantines with little training couldn''t be like the Theonian who made ¡°army retreat¡± a special training program. They even trained every seven days, allowing them to be fast, quick, with a clear division of order and orderly when retreating.

    The Tarantines thought they could hide from Heraclea, but they didn''t expect the seventh legion of Theonia to have long expected they would retreat and that they were monitoring them from the city. Soon, the Theonians discovered some signs, such as the cavalry that roamed and patrolled in front of the camp no longer appeared, the camp bing noisier, ships frequently entered the Agri River¡­and so on.

    ¡°Legatus Matonis!¡± Teriphias excitedly asked at this moment, ¡°It seems the enemy is really retreating, could it¡­could it be that your fleet has defeated Syracuse?!¡±

    ¡°I had said that his majesty Davos always do whatever he said!¡± Matonis nced at him and replied coldly.

    ¡°You''re right!¡± Teriphias ignored Matonis'' attitude as he continued to ask with excitement, ¡°Isn''t it the time for us to attack them now?¡±

    With his hands on the battlement, Matonis calmly said, ¡°Don''t worry and just wait a little longer.¡±

    ¡°Wait?¡±

    ¡°Yes, when the Tarantine soldiers are about to leave and begin crossing the river¡­¡± Matonis'' eyes gleamed coldly like a wolf about to pounce.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Diaoms watched the soldiers pass through the pontoon bridge, a voice in his heart kept urging, ¡®Faster! Faster!¡­¡¯

    But after he saw a group of soldiers reach the other side through these pontoon bridges and other soldiers following up quickly, Diaoms became relieved a bit.

    Yet at that moment, his heart suddenly sank as an earth-shattering cry erupted outside the camp, ¡®Crap, it must be the enemy troops that have left the city of Heraclea!¡¯

 Chapter 471: Continuous Combat (III)

    ¡°Herald! Herald!¡±

    ¡°Strategos, what''s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Quickly inform Umakas to lead those soldiers who are still carrying grain into the ship to return to the camp immediately and cooperate with the defenders in the camp to repel the enemy first!¡± After Diaoms finished speaking, he still felt uneasy, so he ordered again, ¡°And tell the troops to stop crossing the river, unload their packs and return to the camp to fight!¡±

    But as soon as the order was changed, the Tarantine soldiers who were crossing the pontoon bridge were a bit reluctant, ¡®Why should they stay leisurely on the other side while we have to go back to fight to the death again?!¡¯

    Because of this mentality, the soldiers movedzy and gathered very slowly.

    Diaoms became more anxious. Although he left 4,000 men in the camp for defence, the sound of screaming and fighting became more intense that he was worried for the troops they left behind; he also became angry after seeing the troops in front of him trying to dy. In the end, he made up his mind to issue strict orders for them to return to defend, even at the expense of offending these citizens.

    But just as he led his guards before the pontoon, a fast boat weaved through the Agri River filled with triremes, docked on the riverbank, and the captain jumped out of the boat and stumbled towards Diaoms as he shouted while running, ¡°Strategos, it''s bad! The Theonian fleet ising! They also have many transport ships behind them loaded with soldiers!¡­¡±

    Diaoms'' mind buzzed with confusion that he didn''t have the time to think, ¡®Why didn''t the Theonian fleet rest after a great battle?¡¯ As at this moment, there was only one thing in Diaoms'' mind, ¡®The Theonians are trying to surround us!¡¯

    But there was suddenly an uproar when all the soldiers currently crossing the river heard the captain, ¡°Cross the river! Quickly cross the river!¡­¡± the soldiers began pushing each other as they shouted in panic¡­

    After seeing this chaotic sight, Diaoms made up his mind to immediately cancel his decision to return to the camp for defence. Still, he hesitated, ¡®Should we abandon the 4,000 soldiers and retreat immediately?!¡¯

    But soon after, he didn''t even have the time to think about it.

    ¡°The Theonians areing!!¡±

    ¡°Quickly run!!¡±

    ¡°The camp has fallen!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The sound became louder as panicked and disorganised shouting came from the east of the camp that even Diaoms had turned around. He was surprised when he saw the fleeing soldiers, ¡®They easily breached the camp?!!¡¯

    In fact, the reason for the quick defeat of the Tarantine defenders was simple: The seventh legion of Theonia had prepared in advance, and when they attacked, Matonis, as the legatus of the legion, was at the front, and the soldiers who he had stimted were not willing to fall behind. Their swift and fierce attack made the remaining Tarantine soldiers have a hard time defending, and their morale was taken away by the retreating troop, and the first thought that came out of their hearts when they encountered such a setback was, ¡®Why do we have to fight here while they retreat?!¡¯

    So the Tarantine soldiers almost copsed as the Heraclean army that followed the defenders encircled them.

    ¡°Retreat! Quickly retreat!!¡­¡± At this moment, this was the only option left for Diaoms.

    In fact, he didn''t even need to give the order as the soldiers were already retreating after seeing the situation¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Mithridates led the 70 triremes and arrived at the sea near Heraclea, they received a report from the scouting ships that the Tarantine ships gathered at the estuary of the Agri River.

    Hearing this, Mithridates became delighted as he immediately ordered the fleet to fan out and prepare to wipe out the Tarantine ships.

    The Tarantine ships, on the other hand, tried to sail away from the riverbank in a panic that they ended up crashing and colliding with each other; even the small ships capsized in the river. Furthermore, they didn''t even think about saving theirpanions who fell into the water as the only thing they had in mind was to ¡®Escape from the Theonian fleet and return back to Taranto''s port!¡¯

    Unfortunately, most Tarantine ships had too much grain piled up in their cabin, affecting their flexibility and speed. Now, they only have a slight advantage over the Theonian fleet, which had installed a corvus and loaded with heavy infantry. As the Theonian fleet rapidly approaches, the Tarantine sailors couldn''t even spare the manpower to throw away those burdensome grain and are just waiting for their fate to be captured.

    Davos'' ship did not participate in the battle. Instead, itnded on the coast not far north of the Agri River''s estuary while leading the transport ship.

    Amintas immediately jumped off the ship as soon as they arrived and ordered the bugler to blow the salpinx. Afterwards, instead of waiting for all the soldiers toe and reorganise, he directly led a toon of 50 soldiers from his ship towards the retreating Tarantine army not far away.

    After all, the Theonian fleet under Seclian''smand had already won a massive victory with the help of the first legion. In contrast, the second legion hadn''t even done anything until now, which made the everpetitive Amintas unable to bear it.

    The ferocity of the toon that Amintas led had frightened the already panicking Tarantine soldiers on the north bank of the Agri, making them forget that they outnumbered the oing enemy. But just as they began to organise their resistance, the other soldiers of Theonia¡¯s second legion had also arrived one after another, stabbing at the weak body of the Tarantine soldiers crossing over the river and causing them to copse and flee in all directions. Some had even tried crossing the river and fled south.

    Amintas then took advantage of the situation andmanded the troops to chase the enemy southward, causing a constant stream of Tarantine soldiers to be constantly squeezed into the river¡­

    Panic only leads to more panic, so when a part of the pontoon bridge broke due to overburden, the whole bridge fell apart, resulting in hundreds of people falling into the river¡­then the Tarantine soldiers who saw this tragic image felt cold.

    On the south bank, abined 12,000 troopsposed of the seventh legion and the Heraclean army continued to pursue the fleeing Tarantine northward.

    And thepletely demoralised Tarantine soldiers scrambled for their lives, which made the entire troops a mess, so even if the two archons shouted in the crowd, it became difficult to organise them again to stop the attack of the Theonians. Thus they could only keep on retreating that they were eventually all driven to the bank of the Agri River.

    And when several pontoon bridges werepletely blocked while getting chased by the Theonians, some Tarantine soldiers even took off their armour and jumped into the river. Only floating heads filled the river for a time, just like a huge ant''s next thrown into a small puddle.

    So when the Tarantines who had not gone down the river saw their panic-strickenrades on the other side of the river, and a ck army gradually lining up behind them and surrounding them, they could only throw down their weapons in despair and turned to surrender to the equally terrifying joint Theonia-Heraclea troops that were attacking them¡­

    By dusk, the Tarantine army that was pursued by the Theonian legion led by two of the bravest legatus of the Theonian army had finally been surrounded on both sides of the pontoon bridge over the Agri River. Apart from the nearly a thousand men who had managed to escape from the initial group that had crossed the river, more than 12,000 were captured, more than 2,000 were wounded by shields or gotten trampled, and more than 2,000 drowned in the river.

    Furthermore, the Theonian fleet captured more than 50 Tarantine ships, including 35 triremes. However, since the Tarantine fleet was unmotivated to fight and their resistance was weak, its sailors did not suffer any significant casualties, and the captured sailors numbered close to 7,500.

    At the same time, the Theonian army seized many supplies, including dozens of tons of grain.

    In this battle, the Theonian army lost little, which could be said to be another fantastic victory.

    So after learning about the battle, Davos became happy that when he met the polemarchos of Heraclea, Teriphias, who had arrived, he put a sincere smile on his face and said, ¡°Lord Teriphias, on behalf of the entire Theonian poption, I thank you! If it wasn''t for Heraclea''s bravery in blocking the Tarantine''s attack, I fear that the Tarantine army would have already stormed into Thurii¡¯s territory!¡±

    Teriphias hastily said with modesty, ¡°Lord Davos, we in Heraclea are only defending ourselves. Rather, we should be the one to sincerely thank Theonia as you have sent reinforcements in time to defend us in such a difficult situation, yet it led to thends of Amendra getting ravaged, so I really don''t know how¡­we could¡­¡±

    Davos had tofort him again by saying, ¡°We are allies, so it''s natural for us to help each other. Fortunately, with Hades'' blessings, we manage to wipe out the Tarantines while suffering no major losses. This is already the most gratifying thing!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I never thought that victory woulde so quickly!¡± with a look of admiration, Teriphias eximed at Davos with marvel, ¡°Lord Davos, I did not expect for Theonia to defeat the Syracusan navy!¡±

    Davos smiled faintly and said in a rxed tone, ¡°If the Syracusan fleet dares toe again, we will defeat them again! From now on, it''s time for the Gulf of Taranto to have a change of owner!¡±

    Davos'' domineering words reassured Teriphias about the safety of the sea, ¡°Lord Davos, when are you¡­going to attack Taranto?¡± Teriphias asked with tact. In fact, he wanted to know Davos'' battle n for the future. After all, in just two days after Davos returned to Thurii, a massive change in the war situation had happened throughout Magna Graecia, restoring the confidence of Theonia''s allies.

 Chapter 472: After the Victory

    ¡°Taranto¡­¡± Davos smiled lightly as this powerhouse of eastern Magna Graecia, whose army and navy were both wiped out, is no longer in his eyes. Although he covets Taranto''snd, now was not the time, ¡°I think¡­we should stop the attack on Taranto for the time being. Currently, Syracuse is Theonia''s main enemy, so as long as we beat them, we would solve all the problems.¡±

    ¡°You''re right.¡± Teriphias nodded and asked, ¡°So about Metapontum-¡±

    ¡°I''ll have the seventh legion stay here for now and have them move north tomorrow to recapture Metapontum. If the Tarantines were smart, they should flee back to their territory tonight¡­¡±

    Davos'' confidence in recapturing Metapontum was evident, and Teriphias agreed with him, so he immediately said, ¡°We, Heracleans, will also send troops to follow the seventh legion, hoping to liberate Metapontum, which the Tarantines upied, as soon as possible!¡±

    Davos frowned slightly from hearing the hidden meaning behind Teriphias'' words. It seemed Teriphias was worried that Theonia would upy Metapontum after they recovered it. Davos then looked at him and asked with indifference, ¡°I heard Taudeles did not die in battle?¡±

    ¡°That seems to be the case. However, he did not escape to Heraclea as we were also besieged at that time. So I think he might have escaped to the north?¡±

    ¡®North? Gguso!¡¯ Davos was absorbed in his thoughts for a moment. Then he said with seriousness, ¡°In any case, we will quickly find him and have hime back to preside over the overall situation of Metapontum, allowing the war-torn city to recover its prosperity as soon as possible! And I pledge that Theonia would do its best to help Heraclea and Metapontum because during this time of crisis, you have chosen to trust the Theonian Union, and Theonia would pay back this precious trust!¡±

    Teriphias became convinced of Davos'' intention and was ashamed of his own petty thoughts, so he sincerely thanked him again.

    At this time, the two legatus came together, and Davos hurriedly greeted them with a smile and said, ¡°Heree the heroes who created this brilliant victory!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty Davos!¡±

    They immediately stood straight and saluted, and Davos returned their salute and loudly said, ¡°Amintas! Matonis! The two of you have worked together to wipe out the Tarantine army, relieving Theonia''s northern army of its problems and allowing us to focus on the powerful enemy to the south! On behalf of the Theonian Senate, I thank you both!¡±

    Amintas smiled and said, ¡°It was mainly due to your majesty''s nning that we could easily fight. To tell you the truth, these Tarantines were so weak that they surrendered before we could even exert any force¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah, these Tarantines are not as experienced at fighting as the Tarantine reinforcements led by A¡­Archytas back then. Had I known it would be like this, I wouldn''t have waited for you guys toe and should''ve attacked them alone two days ago.¡± Matonis said with a bit of remorse.

    ¡°You have be arrogant after bing a legatus. With your ill-equipped recruits, you still have the audacity to talk about forcibly attacking the Tarantine camp?!¡± Amintas picked at Matonis on the spot.

    ¡°So what if my legion is new?! They were the ones who held back the Tarantine army, which was twice our number and defeated them!¡± Matonis retorted.

    Seeing the two men argue, Davos was lost in his thoughts: As far as he knows, Taranto has suffered a great loss of strength after the war with Messapi and the withdrawal of Heraclea and Metapontum. Afterwards, they studied and copied Theonia by giving many freemen civil rights so as to supplement their soldiers(Crotone also adopted a simr policy). However, the increase of citizens did not strengthen the military quality of the soldiers but lowered it.

    Davos then stopped the two men from their argument. He then said with relief, ¡°Matonis, you didn''t let me down after I rmended you to be the legatus of the seventh legion! You were able to control the army even when the Tarantine army split up to attack Amendra, a demeanour a strategos should have and created an opportunity for us to encircle and wipe out the Tarantine army!¡­¡±

    Matonis scratched his head as he became a bit embarrassed at Davos''pliment. To relieve him of this predicament, he hurriedly said, ¡°Your majesty, I had caught two big fish in this battle!¡±

    ¡°What big fish?¡± Even though he could vaguely guess what it was, Davos still cooperated by showing a look of interest.

    ¡°Brothers, bring them both here!¡± Matonis waved his hand forward in an imposing manner.

    A momentter, the soldiers pushed up two prisoners with their hands tied behind their backs.

    ¡°The two archons of Taranto, it''s been a long time since we have seen each other.¡± Davos eximed with sarcasm.

    Diaoms bowed his head and remained silent.

    While Umakas looked at Davos, he said earnestly, ¡°Lord Davos, I beg you to be kind to these Tarantines that you have captured!¡±

    ¡°I will.¡± Davos said indifferently, ¡°As long as the Tarantine council pays the appropriate price.¡±

    Diaoms raised his head abruptly and shouted, ¡°Davos, you ungrateful wretch. Don''t forget how Taranto selflessly helped the weak and vulnerable you in the beginning!¡±

    Davos gazed at them sharply as he coldly said, ¡°Of course, I haven''t forgotten about it, and neither the Theonians! Hence when the Messapi-Peucetti Alliance attacked Taranto and was in danger, Theonia did not hesitate to ept your request for help and immediately sent troops to repel the enemies and save Taranto even though Theonia had other military ns! However, not only did you not appreciate the blood and sacrifice of the Theonian citizens, but you had also repeatedly provoked the Theonian poption on the sea, rammed and sunk our fishing boats, captured our fishermen, and even spread rumours against Theonia Union in the city of Taranto. I also heard that you sold my statue specifically for people to put in their homes to pee with¡­these dirty tricks, the Theonians could tolerate it for the sake of the fact that you had helped us before, but-¡±

    Davos'' eyes shed coldly as he shouted angrily, ¡°You should have never torn up our alliance and coborated with the enemies of Theonia. When foreign enemies invaded Theonia, and we were facing difficulties, Taranto, as our ally, had instead led your army and wielded your shields and spears to kill your allies who once fought alongside you!-¡±

    ¡°It''s because you have broken our agreement first by poaching Metapontum and Heraclea, the two city-states that were once allied with Taranto!¡± Diaoms roared defiantly.

    ¡°Whether you would believe it or not, we in Heraclea never had any secret contact with Theonia beforehand. Our joining of the Theonian Alliance was the will of all citizens of Heraclea as Taranto had been using Heraclea as your dog, and we no longer want to be your dog anymore. It was as simple as that. I think that is also why Metapontum chose to leave Taranto Alliance¡­¡± Teriphias, who was watching quietly from the sidelines, came out and exined.

    Diaoms red at Teriphias and said, ¡°Do you think I would believe a traitor?!¡±

    Davos sneered, ¡°Yes, there is no point in discussing it with you. The Theonians have always had a principle of ¡®treat your friends sincerely and your enemies viciously.¡¯ Especially traitors, as we would never easily spare them! However, with the current condition of Taranto, there is no need for me to send troops anymore. After all, who knows what would the Messapians do once they find out the great defeat of the Tarantine army? Thurii was once burned to ruin, so how would a century-old enemy destroy Taranto?! I am very interested¡­¡±

    Hearing him, Diaoms and Umakas became pale.

    Diaoms still threatened him by saying, ¡°Taranto is¡­the child-state of Sparta! And Sparta will not allow Taranto to get bullied by other city-states!¡±

    ¡°Sparta?!¡± Davos didn''t even blink as he snorted, ¡°Do you think Sparta still has the strength to help Taranto now? I heard that the war in the Peloponnese was already enough to give the Spartans a headache that they even had to ask Syracuse for assistance¡­¡±

    ¡°Davos, don''t get cocky! The Syracusans army woulde! And I am also looking forward¡­to the day when Thurii would be destroyed again!¡± Diaoms was ready to risk everything as he shouted fiercely.

    ¡°You will never see that day. As long as I am here, it will be impossible for the Syracusan army to enter Theonia''s territory again. Furthermore, Dionysius will not only have to spit out what he won before but will lose even more!¡± Davos said with confidence. Then he waved his hand, and several soldiers came forward to get them.

    Umakas pleaded with reluctance, ¡°Lord Davos, Taranto has truly made a mistake this time! But please think of Archytas! Think of Archytas!-¡±

    ¡°Shut your mouth Umakas! You are disgracing Taranto!¡±

    ¡°You are the one who should shut up, you damned oil-covered* warmonger! If it weren''t for you, how would Taranto fall into this situation today?!¡­¡± (Diaoms produces olive oil.)

    The argument between the two men grew silent as the soldiers took them away¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile, in the Syracusan camp, Dionysius discussed the siege with the strategoi.

    In the following morning, a fast ship sent back by the Syracusan navy told Dionysius a piece of astonishing news that the archon of Theonia, Davos, had returned to Thurii and was elected king by the Theonians.

    ¡®Davos had already repelled the over 40,000 fierce Samnite warriors so quickly?¡¯ Dionysius was shocked and once again felt the urgency of time, ¡®Syracuse must capture Crotone as soon as possible and take the initiative of the whole war before Davos'' main forcees to their rescue.¡¯ Hence Dionysius held this emergency meeting.

    edited already

 Chapter 473: The shock of the Syracusans

    After they arranged everything, Phacipessas was still worried, ¡°Milord, in case it still rains in the next few days¡­¡±

    ¡°You can be at ease as I had specially asked several veteran fishermen who have lived here for decades, and they all agreed that it would be sunny from tomorrow. As you can see, the rain today is much less!¡± Dionysius looked at the crowd and motivated them, ¡°Everyone, you must seize these two days to build enough siege weapons! Phacipessas, your task is a bit important as you have to build at least five solid walkways to prevent the siege towers from getting stuck due to the muddy ground on the north gate of Crotone. Can you do it?!¡±

    ¡°Commander, it wouldn''t be a problem at all as long as you assigned me enough manpower!¡± Phacipessas promised.

    ¡°Very well!¡± Dionysius looked at them confidently and said, ¡°Everyone, we will attack Crotone again in two days! After this battle, we will celebrate it at the Temple of Apollo in Crotone, so don''t let me down!¡±

    The strategoi all swore at the same time, ¡°Apollo as our witness, we will definitely break through the city of Crotone!¡±

    With the warm atmosphere in the tent, Dionysius became affected by it and smiled as he said to Phidias, who had remained silent, ¡°Does Sparta have no punishment for Davos who dared to make himself king?¡±

    It is known that before the Peloponnesian War, Sparta was once called ¡°liberators¡± for overthrowing one tyrannical government after another in Greece and even in the inds of the Aegean sea, such as the descendants of the tyrant Peisistratus in Athens, the Aleuadae family in Thessaly, and so on. Hence the Greeks used to think that Sparta was extremely hostile to dictatorship.

    Phidias nced at Dionysius and thought, ¡®You only see Davos, why don''t you look at yourself first?!¡¯

    Phidias naturally couldn''t answer him with this, but he still replied coldly, ¡°Isn''t Syracuse enough to punish them?¡± which made Dionysiusugh.

    Just then, an attendant hurriedly entered the tent and whispered something to Dionysius.

    The smile on Dionysius froze as his face immediately turned unsightly. With a roar, he kicked over the table beside him, grabbed the attendant with one hand and shouted angrily, ¡°Where is Leptines?! Where is that damned bastard?!! Tell him toe here and see me!!!¡±

    Dionysius'' anger shook the attendant as he tremblingly said, ¡°Milord¡­Lord Leptines¡­is wounded and is¡­receiving treatment in his tent¡­¡±

    ¡°Tell that coward toe over here right now! And even if he died, bring his body to me!!¡± Dionysius roared angrily.

    ¡°Ye¡­yes¡­¡± The attendant ran out of the tent in haste.

    The tent turned silent as only Dionysius'' rapid breathing and the sound of him pacing back and forth remained.

    ¡°Could it be that the fleet suffered a setback?¡± Finally, someone asked the question they all wanted to ask.

    Dionysius red at the one who spoke and saw that it was Phidias. After all, only this Spartan dared to speak when Dionysius was angry.

    Dionysius looked at him, sat back in his chair and breathed heavily, ¡°It''s not only just a setback but a massive defeat!¡±

    ¡®Massive defeat?!¡¯ Everyone in the tent was surprised.

    ¡°Milord, could it be that the¡­Carthaginians have joined the war?¡± Phacipessas asked with caution.

    Everyone''s heart tightened. After all, only the Carthaginians in the western Mediterranean could rival the strength of the Syracusan navy. So if Carthage joins the war, Syracuse in Sicily may be in some danger!

    Facing the gazes of more than a dozen pairs of slightly panicking eyes, Dionysius felt more difficult in breathing, ¡°Don''t overthink about it as Carthage did not join the war. It was the Theonian fleet¡­who defeated our navy alone, causing us to lose more than two-thirds of our more than 300 ships¡­including nearly 200 triremes¡­¡±

    ¡®WHAT?!!!¡¯ An explosion seemed to happen on the tent as everyone couldn''t believe the fact that the Syracusan navy would lose so severely against the far weaker Theonian fleet.

    After several years since thest naval battle against Carthage, Syracuse constructed and umted nearly 500 warships, including more than 300 triremes. This time, except for a few dozen ships left to guard the port of Syracuse and stationing several dozens of ships in Messina to block Rhegium and control the Strait of Messina, all of them went with the expedition and were led by Leptines himself to participate in this naval battle. In the end, they were defeated by Theonia, who did not even have a single warship a few years ago! This is simply¡­

    ¡°Stop making noises!¡± Dionysius, who was already agitated, became more upsets by the noises among the officers, ¡°We would know what happened in this naval battle once Leptineses!¡±

    As soon as he uttered this, silence returned to the tent once again. Only this time, everyone became restless and annoyed.

    At Dionysius'' order, Leptines quickly came. He stumbled into the tent, fell on his knees with a plod and said in a trembling voice, ¡°Mi¡­milord, I¡­I have sinned!¡±

    Dionysius saw Leptines looking miserable with his head and arms wrapped in linen dyed red with his blood. A trace of dissatisfaction arose in his heart, and he was immediately overwhelmed by anger, ¡°You came just in time. Everyone really wants to know how you lost even with more than 300 ships!¡±

    Dionysius'' grim voice contained endless hatred, causing Leptines to shiver several times.

    Seeing his frightened appearance, Dionysius became even angrier. He grabbed the iron thing that the guard just picked up and threw it at Leptines'' forehead. Although his head immediately bled, Leptines did not dare to scream.

    ¡°Speak!¡± Dionysius pointed at him and roared.

    ¡°Yes! Yes!¡­¡± Leptines quickly responded repeatedly.

    The officers who were originally angry at him now felt pity while Phidias remainedposed. The Spartans grew up by getting beaten up with a stick by their instructors if they were disobedient, failed to pass the training test, and got beaten up even more if they lost in a battle¡­the Spartans were hard on their own citizens and even harder on the helots and allied soldiers. This caning violence had often made other city-states reluctant toe near Sparta, and the Spartans have long been ustomed to it. Hence Phidias even felt that such a strategos who caused significant damage to the city-state should be hung and beaten to death.

    As he trembled, Leptines briefly described the entire naval battle.

    After hearing this, Dionysius became sullen as he was lost in his thought, ¡°Are you saying that¡­the Theonians have installed wooden bridges on their ships, which could hook any approaching ships, and then won by relying on their soldiers to board and fight?¡±

    ¡°Ye¡­yes. This wooden bridge of theirs is flexible enough to turn in all directions, making it impossible for our ships to attack their rear.¡± Leptines hurriedly exined.

    ¡°Since you already know that our tactics aren''t working, why haven''t you retreated in time?!!¡± Dionysius angrily cursed.

    This made Leptines unable to reply.

    ¡°He was trying to capture that new king of Theonia and end this war.¡± Phidias let out a sigh, ¡°Davos had guessed your idea in advance, so he used himself as bait to lure your ships to attack recklessly, allowing them to capture arge number of your ships and led to your crushing defeat¡­Davos is really a remarkablemander!¡±

    Dionysius stared at Phidias, who didn''t give a care.

    Phacipessas then noticed an issue in Leptines'' report and asked urgently, ¡°Navarch Leptines, after listening to what you have said, then those warships the Theonians had captured shouldn''t have that much damage. Then, wouldn''t they be able to use them against us?!¡±

    Everyone''s expression changed.

    ¡°Uh¡­this¡­¡± Leptines didn''t know how to respond.

    ¡°Hmph! Theonia will need more sailors if they want to expand their fleet!¡± Dionysius'' words reminded everyone: ¡®That''s right, the hundreds of Syracusan triremes they captured would need at least 30,000 to 40,000 sailors to restore theirbat strength.¡¯ From what they know, Theonia has already invested their young and strong adults into expanding the army and navy to cope with the many war fronts. Hence they shouldn''t be able to get that huge amount of manpower. And not everyone can immediately be a qualified sailor as it requires a long training time, especially getting together experienced helmsman!

    Everyone then breathed a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Leptines, your defeat has caused great trouble for our army!¡± Dionysius then asked him in a cold voice, ¡°I ask you now if the Theonian fleet were toe attacking, do you have the confidence to lead the remaining ship to turn defeat into victory?¡±

    Everyone immediately turned their attention to Leptines, making him more nervous and afraid. He subconsciously touched the bandage wrapped around his head, where he cut himself with a short sword to gain a bit of sympathy from his brother.

    ¡°Speak quickly!¡± Dionysius shouted in anger, which frightened Leptines to reply quickly, ¡°If¡­if I could lead the Theonian fleet to the deep sea, I have the confidence¡­to defeat them as they move around slowly. As they have erected such arge wooden bridge on their foremast, it would easily cause their ship to be heavy on the bow and light on the stern, not only¡­not only are they slow and inflexible, but they are more likely to capsize when encountering powerful winds and waves. But¡­if we fight them near the coast-¡± Leptines cautiously looked at Dionysius, then he immediately lowered his head as he lowered his tone and said, ¡°If we resist their attack head-on, I fear that our fleet¡­would lose¡­¡± At the end of his sentence, his voicepletely weakened.

    Dionysius was no longer as furious as he had at the start. After thinking about it, he had to admit that these novel naval tactics of Theonia that had caused great trouble to Syracuse would give anyone else who was inmand of a fleet and was unfamiliar with it a massive loss.

 Chapter 474: Syracuses Response

    At this moment, Dionysius gaze at everyone in the tent, with his eyes finallynded on a man in the corner, ¡°Androstini, exin yourself! The Theonian fleet used such a strange device, and you didn''t even know about it, causing our fleet to suffer such a great loss! How do you think your punishment should be?!¡±

    Androstini suddenly became pale. Hipparinus is the chief intelligence officer of Syracuse, while he was just one of the officers that followed the army. In fact, the Theonian fleet was already training their new tactics before the start of the war, and Androstini even remembered the intelligence that hade from Thurii back then, which said that the Theonian fleet was training confidentially in the Crati River. However, neither Dionysius, Hipparinus, nor he paid attention to it. At most, they only cared about the number of triremes Theonia has, who the navarch is, and so on. After all, Syracuse''s advantage in naval matters was too great for anyone to put Theonia''s insignificant fleet in their sights.

    But who would think that Dionysius wouldy all the me for this defeat on him, but Androstini dared not refute as he was neither the tyrant''s brother nor his father-inw.

    Androstini could only swear mentally while replying with fear on his face, ¡°Milord, I¡­I¡­¡±

    Dionysius waved his hand and said, ¡°Your crime would be investigated carefully after the war ends! Thus from now on, you must collect Theonia''s intelligence much more carefully without missing anything! Understood?¡±

    Dionysius hated his brother''s ipetence, but he still had to defend him as defending him is equal to defending his dignity. Thus he had to share the me for the naval defeat subtly.

    Although he wasn''t punished now, Androstini stillined to himself that it would be challenging to get information now that Thurii and Krimisa are under strict military blockade.

    ¡°Leptines, what do you think about the feasibility of installing this wooden bridge of the Theonian ships on our ships?¡± Dionysius turned his gaze to the navarch, still on his knees.

    Everyone present was surprised. After all, that was tantamount to abandoning the naval experience and traditions that Syracuse and even the Greek city-states have proven effective for centuries, just to learn from a new city-state union that had only won one naval battle.

    But Dionysius was not a traditionalist. On the contrary, he is a reformer and a realist, evident by his integration and reformation of his army and the advancement of siege technology.

    ¡°I¡­am not sure as we had never trained in this era¡­¡± Leptines, on the other hand, was clearly a conservative. He reluctantly said, ¡°And I am afraid that there are some special devices on the Theonian ship as the wooden bridge could turn so flexible. I think¡­it is impossible to do it in such a short time to use it against the Theonians, and¡­we would still need time to train with it¡­¡±

    ¡°Then work on it with the engineers and craftsmen!¡± Leptines'' dim-wittedness made Dionysius angry again, ¡°When the Theonian fleetes to attack, it still isn''t toote to equip our ships with enough soldiers! Didn''t the Theonians want to turn a naval battle into and battle? Then let''s have a good battle at sea!¡±

    ¡°But milord¡­¡± Leptines warned with caution, ¡°We don''t have enough triremes¡­¡±

    ¡°Stupid!¡± Dionysius cursed, ¡°Call back the fleet in Messina, and the ones in Syracuse''s port as well! Also, send someone to inform Philistus to speed up the construction of new ships. Do you understand?!¡±

    Leptines kept nodding his head like a chicken pecking at grains.

    ¡°Leave now and execute my order immediately!¡± As soon as Dionysius'' voice fell, Leptines exited the tent far more quickly than when he entered.

    Dionysius didn''t even pay attention to this as he knew well in his heart that the Theonian fleet had the upper hand despite these measures.

    Sea dominance was crucial for the Syracusans fighting overseas. Once they lost it, it meant that their army¡¯s connection with their mother-state would be cut off. The Syracusan army¡¯s morale fluctuating is just a small matter. But theck of ess to local resources and the inability to control Syracuse''s political issue is what scared Dionysius the most. Besides, Davos had already returned with his main force, and now without the encroachment and restraint of the Syracusan fleet, he could lead his army southward at any time, which made Dionysius waver about whether to go-all-out in attacking Crotone.

    At this moment, Dionysius forced himself to calm down and said, ¡°Now that our fleet has suffered a defeat, tell me what we should do next?¡±

    ¡°Milord, it is to take Crotone with all our might as discussed before!¡± Astagoras said without hesitation, ¡°Although we no longer have an advantage at sea, the Theonians could still not withstand our powerful army onnd! And as long as we capture Crotone, there will be no more major obstacles to the north and allow us to reach the city of Thurii. So even if the Theonians had more ships, it would still be useless. By then, it would still be up to you to decide whether to fight or make peace!¡±

    ¡°Milord, I also agree with strategos Astagoras'' opinion.¡± Phacipessas seemed to read Dionysius'' thought, so he also spoke up, ¡°While Taranto still threatened Thurii in the north, we should seize the time to take Crotone! But if we retreat at this point and allow the Theonians to join up with Crotone, I fear that the number of soldiers that would cause us trouble would be even more!¡±

    ¡°Lord Dionysius.¡± The Campanian mercenary leader, Enamenus, also stood up and said, ¡°Our soldiers'' morale is high more because they all know that Crotone is a wealthy city-state, so if we give up attacking it¡­¡±

    Everyone in the tent favoured attacking Crotone, which made the scale on Dionysius'' mind tip to the side of attack. However, instead of immediately making a decision, he turned his attention to the only person who did not speak and asked, ¡°Phidias, what''s your thought?¡±

    The always outspoken Phidias had a rare moment of hesitation. From the perspective of Sparta, a peace talk would be a better choice as it is more favourable for Sparta to maintain the bnce between Syracuse and Theonia. However, Phidias was fascinated by Davos'' excellent performance that he couldn''t stop himself from wanting to defeat this young archon who the Magna Graecians praised. Thus he said, ¡°They all made a good point about attacking Crotone as it would give us the initiative. But more importantly, it will force the Theonians toe to Crotone''s rescue before settling the other battlefronts and getting fully prepared, which would ensure our advantage in a decisive battle against Theonia. If you are still worried that the Theonian army would suddenlye while we are attacking the city, then why don''t you send a lot of cavalries further north to scout?!¡±

    Dionysius nced at Phidias, then to the others andughed, ¡°What is there to worry about?! The Theonians have only won a single naval battle. Do they think they can make us, Syracuse, back down?! No! This will only make us focus more on thend battles!¡±

    Dionysius stood up suddenly, drew his sword, and cut the table. Then he said in a stern tone, ¡°From now on, have all the troops make good use of the time to prepare for the attack. Two dayster, we would take the city of Crotone with all our strength!¡±

    ¡°Take Crotone!!!¡± Everyone shouted simultaneously.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Mother, we are back!¡±

    ¡°We are back!¡±

    With a bang, Cynthia pushed open the door in the inner courtyard.

    ¡°Mother, we won the battle! We defeated those horrible enemies! Even though they have many more ships, we still captured them all!¡± Adoris ran to Cheiristoya excitedly.

    Before Cheiristoya could reply, the woman next to her said with a smile, ¡°I am correct, right? You didn''t need to worry as Davos¡­his majesty has the blessing of Hades, so he would definitely win!¡±

    Before her voice fell, Agnes stood up with joy, ¡°I am going to thank Artemis!¡±

    With that, she walked towards Artermis¡¯ statue on the other side of the garden while supporting her stomach.

    ¡°Walk slowly and take care of the baby!¡± Cheiristoya said with concern while Agnes'' personal maid rushed up to assist her.

    ¡°I thought Agnes is the priestess of Hera?¡± The woman was slightly surprised.

    ¡°Before she came to Thurii, Agnes was the chief priestess of the Temple of Artemis in Rhegium. But during this time, when she had to stay at home because of her pregnancy, she had to pray to the goddess of hunting every day in order to wish Davos'' safety. She really had a hard time!¡± Cheiristoya said emotionally.

    ¡°Hello, aunt Andrea.¡± At this time, Cynthia greeted the woman.

    ¡°Cynthia, it''s been so long since I saw you. You have now be a big girl.¡± Andrea happily looked at Cynthia and held her hands.

    ¡°Mother, I tell you a secret. When we were celebrating our victory, there was a boy who hugged-¡±

    ¡°Shut up, Adoris! Stop talking nonsense, or else I would beat you up!¡± Cynthia blushed and threatened loudly.

    ¡°Oh, what happened?¡± Cheiristoya asked with a smile.

    But under Cynthia''s re, Adoris did not dare to speak.

 Chapter 475: Discussing About Family Matters

    ¡°Mother, I saw father. He''s so awesome!¡± After little Cro hugged his mother Agnes, he ran to Cheiristoya excitedly.

    ¡°Really?¡± Cheiristoya looked at her son and smiled tenderly as she softly said, ¡°Then do you want to be like your father?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Little Cro nodded enthusiastically.

    ¡°I will be a brave strategos like my father in the future!¡± Adoris shouted as well.

    Cheiristoya smiled, brought the two of them in her arms, and said, ¡°If you want to grow up to be a strategos, you have to study and train seriously in the school from now on. Only then can you be a strategos in the future!¡±

    ¡°I will.¡± Said Adoris immediately.

    ¡°I will too!¡± Little Cro imitated his brother.

    ¡°Did your father return to the camp after his victory?¡± Cheiristoya asked again with concern.

    ¡°No, father followed the fleet north. Brother Heni said that father led the army because he wanted to take this opportunity to repel the invading Tarantine¡­¡± Cynthia replied.

    Cheiristoya became a bit worried again after hearing that.

    ¡°Rest assured, Cheiristoya. His majesty will definitelye back victorious!¡± Andrea hurriedlyforted her.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, madam.¡± Azune also interjected, ¡°Now that Hades bless his majesty, his majesty will never lose a battle!¡±

    Cheiristoya put her arms around the two children and smiled, ¡°If they could repel the Tarantine, Thurii will then bepletely safe.¡±

    ¡°Yes. For the safety of the people of Theonia, his majesty did not even have the time to return home as he engaged in continuous bitter battles. If the gods do not bless him, who else would?!¡± Andrea kept praising Davos, then she remembered something and turned back to shout, ¡°Umateseus, stop sitting there ande here to meet your aunt Cheiristoya''s children. Didn''t you alwaysin that you have no one to y with?¡±

    After a few shouts, Andrea heard an ¡°Oh¡± sound in the garden. Then a child stood up from the flowers and nts, with a bit of shyness on his face.

    When little Cro saw him, he immediately broke away from his mother''s army and sprinted towards him, ¡°Brother, what are you looking at?¡±

    ¡°¡­ants.¡± Umateseus blurted out a word awkwardly.

    ¡°What is so interesting about watching ants? Come and let''s find Heni to y ball!¡± Adoris also rushed over and said.

    As Umateseus hesitated, little Cro came forward and took his hand and urged, ¡°Big brother, let''s go and y together.¡±

    Umateseus could only helplessly nod.

    Then the several children leap to the front yard.

    ¡°I''ll go and watch them.¡± Cynthia said as she followed them.

    ¡°Cynthia is really like a big sister now!¡± Andrea nced at Cynthia''s back as she went out.

    ¡°They are all grown up while we grew old!¡± Cheiristoya became a bit emotional. Then she asked with concern, ¡°Andrea, Umateseus is already old, so howe he still acts like a child?!¡±

    ¡°Hah.¡± Andrea sighed as sorrow crept onto her face, ¡°You know that man(referring to her ex-husband) was not good to my child and me, so he would often beat and scold us, traumatising Umateseus when he was a child and became rather timid¡­ Although Bagul is good to Umateseus¡­the Lucanians like brave children, but with Umateseus nature¡­they do not get along and in Grumentum¡­Umateseus, that boy does not like going out, so¡­he has no friends there¡­¡±

    ¡°Your younger son must be almost three years old now, so why haven''t you brought him along today?¡± Cheiristoya asked instead.

    ¡°His grandfather(referring to Vespa) hasn''t seen him for two years, so he has been with him since we came back yesterday and is reluctant to let him out.¡± Andrea said helplessly.

    ¡°It seems the care that your two children receive at home is very different¡­¡± Cheiristoya purposely said.

    ¡°Hah!¡­¡± Andrea once again let out a long sigh, with sadness filling her face. One is a stepson with an unpleasant character, while the other is a biological son, so it is obvious who Bagul''s family prefers. But in Andrea''s heart, she loves her eldest son more. After all, this child has been with her in her most difficult time and is her spiritual support. Andrea understood Umateseus''s heart and the estrangement of his new family only made him more introverted, but as a mother, she couldn''t even find a good way to solve the problem.

    ¡°Don''t worry.¡± Cheiristoya gently reassured her best friend as she looked at the open entrance of the inner courtyard and said, ¡°I see that little Cro likes Umateseus quite a lot while Umateseus is willing to y with him.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I am also surprised as this kid usually doesn''t agree to people''s requests so easily. It seems that little Cro has a charm that makes people want to get close to him despite his young age!¡± Andrea said,plimenting.

    ¡°I have a suggestion.¡± Cheiristoya then said with seriousness, ¡°Why don''t you allow Umateseus to stay right here at my house. There are many children here, and their age doesn''t differ much, so they could go to school and y together. And Umateseus might even be more active as he will not feel lonely¡­what do you think?¡±

    Hearing Cheiristoya''s words, Andrea somewhat became interested, ¡®This is the residence of Theonia''s new king; who else in Theonia could have such a privilege?!¡¯

    But as a mother, she instinctively refused, ¡°Madam, thank you for your concern of Umateseus, but that would be too-¡±

    As soon as he began speaking, a loud ¡°Waa! Waa! Waa!¡­¡± cry sounded in the baby carriage next to Cheiristoya.

    ¡°See, even little Eunice is in favour of letting Umateseus stay.¡± Cheiristoyaughed.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The several children ran around the front courtyard but couldn''t find Henipolis. In the end, it was Aristias who told them, ¡°His majesty Davos called him to the camp saying that he has something important to tell him.¡± As the children were about to be disappointed, Cynthia asked, ¡°Is father back?¡±

    ¡°Yes, his majesty led the army to wipe out the invading Tarantine army and has returned to the camp!¡± Cynthia noticed that Aristias, who usually has a serious expression, also looked a bit excited at this moment.

    Then the several children shouted excitedly, ¡°Victory! Father won again!¡­¡±

    Then they scramble back, eagerly wanting to tell Cheiristoya the news of victory.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    It was already dusk when Davos returned to the camp.

    The two sessive victories made the whole city of Thurii rejoice, especially when the people saw the naked and tied up thousands of Tarantine soldiers and Syracusan sailors escorted towards Thurii''s quarry. Afterwards, the people standing on both sides of the road began spitting and throwing stones at them, venting the haze that shrouded their hearts due to the war.

    Many even lit a bonfire in the Nike Square as they sang and danced around the Fountain of Thurii that showed a miracle, while they thank Hades for his blessing and cheered, ¡°All hail, King Davos!¡±

    Then the patrols asked Kunogta, the Praetor of Thurii, if they should disperse them so as not to disturb the city''s order and the people''s rest.

    However, Kunogta, who was always rigid, also smiled tolerantly at this moment and said, ¡°Let them dance and make noises. It has been long since Thurii was this lively. Still, you have to maintain the order.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± The patrol captain left excitedly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Compared to the people who were partying all night, most of the soldiers who had just returned to the camp were already exhausted because of the sessive battles and fell asleep as soon as they entered their tent.

    Davos was also exhausted, but there was still something important for him to deal with, so he had to rouse himself up.

    But when Martius entered his tent, Davos had already fallen asleep on the table.

    Seeing that he was sound asleep, Martius remembered today''s hard battle, so he couldn''t bear to wake up. Still, after hesitating for a while, he walked forward again because even though it was already sote, Davos still called Henipolis, so it is definitely something important! And as the captain of Davos'' guards, it''s his duty not to dy important matters!

    ¡°Your majesty¡­your majesty¡­¡±

    Davos opened his eyes dazedly.

    ¡°Your majesty, Henipolis has arrived.¡± Martius whispered.

    ¡°Heni?¡­oh, yea.¡± Davos came back to his senses as he hurriedly asked, ¡°How long has he been here?¡±

    ¡°He just arrived.¡±

    ¡°That''s good.¡± Davos rubbed his cheek, which became a bit numb, and said, ¡°Let him in.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Just as Martius was about to turn around, Davos called out again, ¡°Why are you on guard duty?!¡±

    ¡°I allowed the others to sleep first.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense! You have still not fully recovered, so why are you not taking care of your body?! Get some rest now and ask another soldier to be on duty. Otherwise, I will not allow you to follow me tomorrow! Go home and rest!!¡±

    When Davos became so angry, Martius did not dare to argue back and obediently went out of the tent.

    As soon as Henipolis entered the tent, he excitedly expressed his thoughts, ¡°Lord¡­your majesty Davos, congrattions on winning the naval battle and wiping out the Tarantine army at the same time. It is truly amazing that just within a day, you have won such a glorious victory. I really should have stayed by your side and refused your request of returning in advance to report your current situation and the reasons for your inability to return home to Lady Cheiristoya so that I could''ve witnessed the whole battle¡­¡±

    ¡°I can just recount the whole battle in detail for you.¡± Davos interjected.

 Chapter 476: Pacifying the North

    ¡°It''s not the same.¡± Said Henipolis, shaking his head stubbornly, ¡°Your narration would have some of your own views, which will only interfere with my judgment of the whole historical events and the battle process. Teacher Ansitanos once told me that ¡®the eye is history¡¯s best pen as it would record everything truthfully.¡¯ Thus I decided that I would never leave your side again!¡±

    Henipolis looked at Davos stubbornly and cunningly in his eyes.

    Davos sighed in his heart as he slowly said, ¡°You couldn''t get some of the things you want as they are often out of our control. Heni, I called you at this time because a report about Laos hade¡­¡±

    ¡°About what?!¡± Henipolis subconsciously asked as he was disturbed by Davos'' serious expression.

    Davos then said, ¡°Your uncle, Alobamus, has rebelled. He forcibly dered himself as the archon of Laos and announced that Laos had left the Theonia Alliance. Furthermore, he sent troops to attack the Lao Fortress.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Henipolis couldn''t believe what he was hearing, ¡°Uncle Alobamus rebelled?! Impossible! That''s impossible!¡­¡±

    Seeing Henipolis kept shaking his head and roaring loudly, Davos quietly took out the information he received yesterday and handed it to him.

    Henipolis grabbed it and read it several times. Afterwards, he suddenly became quiet¡­

    After a while, he sobbed and said, ¡°Why? Why would he do this?! He is my uncle, and I trusted him so much! I have trusted him since I was a child!¡­¡±

    Davos looked at the sobbing Henipolis and said softly, ¡°People change, especially your uncle, who held a lot of power and is in charge of Laos. It is inevitable for ideas to sprout if other forces are tempting him, such as Syracuse¡­¡±

    Henipolis listened to Davos with red eyes. Then he suddenly remembered something and sprang to his feet and eximed, ¡°Mother! My mother is in danger!¡­¡±

    ¡°Your mother is safe. ording to reliable information, Alobamus didn''t hurt your mother and had just ced her under house arrest. After all, your mother used to take good care of your father''s brother.¡± Seeing Henipolis look at him with suspicion, Davos said, ¡°It was Aristias who told me.¡±

    After living in Davos'' residence for so many years, Henipolis certainly knew that Aristias was gathering information for Davos. Thus he felt slightly relieved, and then said in a hateful tone, ¡°I must go back immediately and take back Laos, and severely punish that ungrateful traitor!¡± the betrayal of Alobamus obviously broke his heart, making him so disgusted that he did not even want to mention his name.

    ¡°Alright.¡± Davos expressed his approval. He then reminded him, ¡°Hemon ¨C the Praetor of Nerulum, and Saru ¨C the Praetor of Vergae, had both gathered their troops. So you should lead your troops and join up with them and fight Alobamus together, making it so that Alobamus couldn''t stop you. But-¡±

    Davos turned his head and said, ¡°The city of Laos was the result of your father''s great efforts to gain independence from the Lucanian Tribal Coalition and his years of hard work. So you definitely couldn''t bear the thought of a war that would cause heavy casualties to Laos and for the city to be badly damaged, right?¡±

    Henipolis repeatedly nodded.

    ¡°Heni.¡± Davos stared at him and said in a deep tone, ¡°Some of thews you wanted to implement in Laos were not implemented because Alobamus and the others had obstructed it. But what themoners, who made up the majority of Laos'' poption, sincerely wanted was to have more rights so that they could enjoy thend like the citizens of Theonia! Previously, the people of Laos didn''t know about it because Alobamus and the others blocked the news. Now, we just need to publicise these facts, and the Laosians would know who is really good to them! And who should they support! So you can¡­¡±

    After listening to Davos'' n, Henipolis'' eyes gradually brightened as he immediately nodded and said, ¡°Your majesty, I will do as you say! I will show that person that I was correct in the first ce!¡±

    Just as Henipolis was about to leave, Davos gave him a firm hug and shouted in encouragement, ¡°Heni, I wish you sess in retaking Laos soon, and the position of my clerk awaits for you to take!¡±

    Henipolis nodded confidently, ¡°Your majesty, wait for my sess!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Early the following day, Theonia''s seventh legion and the Heraclean army marched north and reached Metapontum, whose gate was wide open, and the remnants of Taranto and the people of Metapontum who were pro-Tarantine such as Isalokas had fled to Taranto as early asst night.

    After the allied troops easily captured the city of Metapontum, Matonis ¨C the legatus of the seventh legion, was so eager to return to Thurii that he did not covet the authority as the temporary praetor of the upied territory. After directly handing over the defence of Metapontum to Heraclea''s archon, Teriphias, he quickly led back the legion.

    Soon, the scouts sent by Taudeles noticed the changes in Metapontum. After he gained contact with Teriphias, Taudeles bid farewell to Gguso, who had taken them in, promising that Metapontum would intensify the trade with Gguso, especially in food.

    After Taudeles returned to Metapontum and regained his power with the support of Theonia and Heraclea, the first thing he did was to lead the few remaining pro-Theonian factions to avenge the murder of their loved ones and friends by purging the city of its pro-Tarantine citizens. These tumultuous events significantly decreased Metapontum¡¯s poption and strength.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as the seventh legion started their return journey, the Tarantine envoy had already set foot on Thurii''snd.

    Yesterday, the news of ¡°the Theonian fleet winning a huge victory over the Syracusan navy and almost wiping out Taranto''s army and navy¡± had reached the city of Taranto, which not only shocked the Council but also frightened the Tarantines while worrying about the safety of their loved ones. Then when the rumours spread about ¡°Theonia''s army marching towards Taranto,¡± many people rushed to their homes, packed their bags, and prepared to rush to the port and take a boat to flee the already defenceless city.

    With their grave situation, the Tarantine council had only one way left ¨C and that was to ask Theonia for peace.

    For this reason, the council did not even convene an lesia as at the same night; they urgently elected two temporary archons, Disitimas and Archytas'' father, Histiaeus. And the following day, they sent Histiaeus to Thurii in an attempt to make Davos forgive Taranto using his friendship with Archytas.

    Fully aware of Taranto''s goal, Davos did note to see Histiaeus at all and had instead sent Kunogta and Ansitanos to negotiate with him.

    Although Ansitanos had a gentle nature, he still felt pleasure in seeing the anxious Histiaeus as Taranto treated him rudely when he went there.

    Hearing Histiaeus'' suggestion of ¡°Taranto is willing to make a truce with Theonia and make certain warpensation in hopes for the release of the Tarantine prisoners of war¡±, Kunogta and Ansitanos just sneered.

    Kunogta had even scoffed by saying, ¡°Theonia and Taranto had an alliance, but you ignored the sacred oath and betrayed us instead when we needed your help the most! And now, you want us to sign an agreement with you so that you can sneak up on us again when we are busy fighting Syracuse?! Do you think we are that stupid! To tell you the truth, we don''t know if Poseidon would be angry at you for tarnishing his name, but we dare not trust you, the Tarantines, anymore!¡±

    After hearing this, Histiaeus was so ashamed that he cried out in grief and anger, ¡°Then what do you, Theonia, want us, Tarantines, to do?!¡±

    ¡°Until this war is over, Theonia would not sign any agreement, but these more than 12,000 Tarantine citizens and nearly 2,000 sailors¡­well¡­Theonia is currently at war, so we don''t have enough food to feed them. Thus it would be up to you, Tarantines, to provide enough food for them so that they can survive until the end of the war.¡± Kunogta replied coldly.

    ¡°I understand. Theonia wants our food, and only food could ensure the safety of the Tarantine prisoners, right?¡± There was a hint of sarcasm in Histiaeus'' grieving voice.

    ¡°That''s right. Mining, after all, requires plenty of physical strength. Otherwise, it would be difficult to keep them healthy.¡± Kunogta said threateningly.

    ¡°So when would they be released?¡± Histiaeus asked again.

    ¡°Theonia will not release them before the war ends. Otherwise, who knows if they would take arms again and invade our territories!¡± Kunogta then said, ¡°Until then, Theonia will not sign any agreement with Taranto, but as long as Taranto remained calm, Theonia will not invade Taranto''s territory. It is what his majesty, Davos, himself promised!¡±

    After he heard this, Histiaeus no longer had to worry about the safety of Taranto temporarily. After all, Davos is well-known for keeping his promises.

 Chapter 477: The hidden troubles of the Theonian Army

    The fact that Theonia did not sign an agreement with Taranto made Histiaeus uneasy, so he reluctantly reminded, ¡°So you are confident of defeating Syracuse?! I have heard that Dionysius'' army still has the absolute advantage onnd!¡±

    ¡°Isn''t that what you are hoping? For Syracuse to defeat us!¡± Kunogta said sarcastically, ¡°After all, you will no longer have to worry about the safety of your city-state and the survival of your citizens.¡±

    Histiaeus was unable to respond for a moment. In the end, he couldn''t help but ask, ¡°If this war continues, wouldn''t we Tarantines keep sending food to Thurii even though you know that our food reserves aren''t enough?¡±

    ¡°Since you already know it, then why did you still dare tear up our alliance and go to war with us?!¡± Kunogta sneered.

    Ansitanos then interjected, ¡°There are many wars of such magnitude that have urred throughout Greek history, and it definitely won''tst long.¡±

    Histiaeus hesitated and said in the end, ¡°Alright, I will convey Theonia''s offer to our council. However, I hope that you understand that Taranto is the child of Sparta.¡±

    Kunogta and Ansitanos nced at each other. Kunogta then lightly said, ¡°So what? Is Sparta about to join the war?¡±

    Histiaeus no longer spoke as he noticed that the Theonians did not fear any threat. Perhaps it is what the other side said that Taranto could only hope Syracuse to win¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as Kunogta, Ansitanos and the Tarantine envoy negotiated post-war matters, Davos discussed the food issue with Baripiri, Kapus, Marigi and Mersis.

    ¡°Your majesty, Thurii''s granary is almost empty now as we have transported the grains to the troops in the south for some time. Although I estimate that there is still half left in the granary in Consentia, transporting it would be difficult. In addition, we are about to attack Laos, so the granary in Consentia would need to provide the food supply. As for the current situation of the granary in Grumentum, I don''t know anything about it¡­¡± Baripiri, the chief agricultural officer, detailedly told Davos the current food situation in Theonia.

    ¡°I am quite clear about the situation of Grumentum''s granary. The war with the Samnites ended quite quickly, so we didn¡¯t consume too much, and we also managed to take the enemy¡¯s supply. However, Grumentum''s grain production is low, and they do not have good storage capacity in the first ce. Instead, they have a lot of livestock, and the price is low, so they could barely support the third legion''s counterattack on the Samnite region. Hence it is unlikely for the Lucanian region to squeeze out grain to supply Thurii. Besides, transportation would also be a big problem. Thus it is better to not think of Grumentum''s granary.¡± Davos briefed them on what he had learned after leading his army through Grumentum.

    ¡°Your majesty, it seems we urgently need to solve the food problem if we want to organise a campaign against Syracuse of more than 50,000 troops!¡±

    Kapus, who took over the position of quartermaster in ce of Hielos during this period and had a detailed understanding of the situation, said worriedly,

    ¡°Three days ago, Aprustum and Krimisa sent back a message saying they are tight in food. But due to the fear of the harassment of the Syracusan fleet in the past few days, the logistic teams kept increasing their escort to avoid getting attacked by enemy sailors, so there was norge-scale transportation of grain to these two cities where the legions were station. Currently, I don''t know about their situation.

    Furthermore, Thurii now has the first, second, and seventh, a total of three legions, as well as the logistics team and the 6,000 men that your majesty has newly assembled. Your majesty, there are now nearly 32,000 men, and the daily consumption of grain is enormous, so if we could not solve the food problem, we would need to disband these armies in a few days because we are running out of grain.¡±

    ¡°Everyone, don''t forget that there are also the prisoners from Syracuse and Taranto; I am afraid they totalled to about 25,000 men!¡± Mersis loudly reminded everyone, ¡°So even if we give them just a bit of food every day to sustain their survival, it would still not be a small consumption. Hence I think it is better to treat them all as ves and sell them for money.¡±

    Davos did not feel disgusted looking at Mersis'' impatient greed. With the war consumption and the suspension of the port market, the treasury''s money only goes out and not in. So he can fully understand Mersis'' impatientness as the treasury was already bottomed out.

    However, he only shook his head and said, ¡°We can not sell the Tarantine captives as they are the most important tool for us to control Taranto. With them, Taranto will obediently and continuously deliver us food. And if we were tobine the supplies we seized in Heraclea yesterday; I think we could at least alleviate the food shortage in Thurii. As for the Syracusan sailors¡­Marigi, now that we cleared up the blockade of our port by the Syracusans, I believe that we could slowly resume our trade, so can we sell these Syracusan sailors?¡± Davos, a man from modern times in his former life, had always abhorred the trading of ves, but for the survival of Theonia, he wouldn''t hesitate.

    After Davos said that, Mersis had also changed his previous attitude of hating Marigi as he looked at him eagerly.

    Marigi nodded and greeted Davos. Then he slowly said, ¡°Your majesty, although we defeated the Syracusans at sea, we still have not yetpletely wiped out their maritime strength, and they still controlled the Strait of Messina, our most important trading route.

    But the situation on the eastern Mediterranean is a little better, as we havepletely wiped out the Tarantine fleet, and thebined fleet of Sparta, the ally of Syracuse, is now held down by the Athenian fleet, which is friendly with us. So if we could not clear away the blockade of the Strait of Messina, we could only recover our sea trade to the eastern Mediterranean in the future. Unfortunately, the eastern Mediterranean trade does not upy a major position in our market.¡±

    Instead of talking about the ve issue, Marigi ¨C the chiefmercial officer, briefly estimated the situation of the port market.

    Davos immediately said, ¡°I understand what you mean. That''s why I would urge Seclian to lead the fleet to seize control of the Strait of Messina as soon as possible! But can you guarantee our port''s normal operation with the arrival of merchant ships?¡±

    Davos asked about this point as the arrival of merchant ships during wartime requires a lot of management staff, numerous porters and sailors, patrols to maintainw and order¡­and so on, and the more prosperous the port is, the more manpower is needed. But in order to cope with the war, Theonia recruited and transferred arge number of young and strongbourers, which included official citizens, preparatory citizens, registered freemen, and even unregistered freemen. The once-bustling port and market are now deste, with more women, elderly and even children busily attending the market stalls, which shows theck ofbour.

    Marigi was undoubtedly aware that adequatebour is also an equally important issue. But in this regard, he had no better solution than to reluctantly say, ¡°Your majesty, I would find a way to solve this problem¡­as for the Syracusan captives, it is indeed hard to find a city-state that can afford to pay for such arge number of ves in a short time and is not afraid of Syracuse and dare to take¡­well, I do have a ce in mind.¡± Marigi emphasised said, ¡°We can try Carthage, and we could even exchange these ves for Carthage''s grain.¡±

    As soon as Marigi uttered these words, Mersis began to mutter, ¡°Carthage is already scared of the Syracusans as they refused to ally with us before. Thus I don''t think they will agree to buy these prisoners.¡±

    Marigi, however, ignored him as he waited for Davos'' reply/

    ¡®Carthage!¡¯ After Marigi''s reminder, Davos eyes brighten up: Before the war, Carthage was opposed to an alliance with Theonia, But with the war continuing to this day, it is not certain whether the Carthaginians would maintain their previous attitude. After all, Syracuse and Carthage were enemies. Although they have maintained peace during this time, it does not mean that the Carthaginians would just watch Syracuse continue to expand their power in Magna Graecia and even turn Magna Graecia into their backyard. Because by then, the more powerful Syracuse would only pose a greater threat to Carthage''s sphere of influence in Sicily.

    Thinking of this, Davos made up his mind and said, ¡°It seems that we need to send another envoy to Carthage immediately and probe the Carthaginian'' attitude towards this war. If they are willing to buy these ves, we can further put forward some of our requirements to Carthage, such as grain trade. After all, this war is not only rted to the survival of Theonia but also rted to the rise and fall of Syracuse. I don''t know how long this war wouldst, but the grains of Taranto alone is not enough to ensure the sufficient food supply of the Theonian army being formed! Carthage is also known for its abundance of grain and is not far from Theonia, which can meet our needs. Otherwise, where else would we buy our needs? The ck sea? Or Egypt? These ces are too far away from us to guarantee its timely arrival, and idents are prone to ur¡­¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, we could also consider Cyrenaica.¡± Marigi added.

    ¡®Cyrenaica?¡¯ Davos was taken aback for a moment as he really hadn''t thought of this Greek city-state situated in Africa and adjacent to Carthage and Egypt as Theonia had never had any contact with them before. Although Cyrenaica has a good rtionship with Sparta(because it is the child of Sparta), they have always maintained neutrality among the Greek city-states, and it is a city-state dominated by agriculture and animal husbandry. Silphium is only one of its specialmodities, but besides that, they are also rich in horses, cattle, sheep, wheat and linseed.

 Chapter 478: Theonias Complete Mobilisation

    ¡°Marigi, thank you for reminding me. It seems that while we send envoys to Carthage, we should also send people to contact Cyrenaica. After all, having one more channel to buy food will give us more insurance!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, regarding this purchasing of grains that you are talking about, I would like to ask you where would this moneye?! As we couldn''t even take out a single drachma from the treasury!¡± Mersis asked loudly without any regard for Davos'' new identity.

    Davos naturally doesn''t care about such petty things. He had thought about this problem on the way back to Thurii, so after understanding Theonia''s current financial situation, his idea became firmer, ¡°Mersis, do you remember when our treasury was depleted during the second war with Crotone? What measures did we take to tide over our difficulties?¡±

    Mersis pped his head and eximed, ¡°Ah! How could I forget about this?! War bonds! We can issue war bonds again!¡±

    ¡°No! We are not going to issue war bonds! The consumption of this war is huge, so if we were to issue bonds, then even if we win this war, Theonia would be saddled with huge debts and seriously affects its future development!¡± Davos stood up with his eyes and tone bing firmer, ¡°This war is not only rted to my interests, nor is it just about the interests of you statesmen of the Senate, but about the survival of tens of thousands of people in Theonia, whether we are wiped out, killed or enved by Syracuse, or beat Syracuse thoroughly and pull them down from the throne of the Greek hegemon in the Western Mediterranean, and win a broader and more glorious future for the people of Theonia!!!

    This war is in the interest of our nation! It requires us to give our all and gather together for the final battle with Syracuse! Whoever can hold out to the end will win this battle for supremacy!

    Thus I propose that the Senate encourage the people of Theonia Union to raise money, and I will be the first to do so! Apart from maintaining the normal supply of three meals a day for my family and ves, I will donate all the remaining grain reserves! And besides the expenses needed to maintain them, the profits from my wife''s banks, restaurants and shops in the past few years will be donated to Theonia''s war effort!¡±

    Davos'' words shocked the four people that were present.

    Kapus shouted excitedly, ¡°Your majesty, I would like to be the second to donate!¡±

    ¡°And me as well, your majesty!¡± Marigi followed and then said, ¡°Theonia is my home, so I am willing to dedicate my loyalty to Theonia, as once it disappeared, all my wealth left will be useless!¡±

    ¡°Don''t forget us Besidisians, your majesty!¡± Baripiri then continued with sincerity, ¡°We, Besidisians, have be inseparable from Theonia, so not only will I donate myself, but I will also go back to Besidice and call on others to do the same!¡±

    Seeing the other three take their stand one after another, Mersis only hesitated for a while before gritting his teeth and said, ¡°Fine, I will donate as well.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the afternoon, the Senate passed a resolution that called upon the people of Theonia to unite and donate money and food to Theonia, which was already short of funds and supplies, to help Theonia ovee this difficult time and win this great war against Syracuse!

    This news soon spread all over Thurii, Amendra, Besidice¡­

    As the people debated fiercely, another shocking news soon came: The new king of Theonia, Davos, was the first to step forward with a generous donation to Theonia. Ribaso ¨C the head servant of Davos'' residence, led a transport team consisting of several loaded carts and brought it to the Nike Square. The carts contain 51 talents, 3,500 drachmae, and more than three tons of wheat and dozens of livestock¡­which were then received by the public officers of the State Treasury led by the chief financial officer ¨C Mersis.

    Seeing the transport team pass by, the crowd was greatly moved.

    However, such stimtion continued because immediately afterwards, Kunogta, Cornelius, Scambras, and Raphias¡­all the statesmen of the Senate announced to donate money and grains to Theonia.

    So when they saw loaded carts filled with goods entering through the city gate of Thurii and heading towards the square one after another, the people finally couldn''t stop themselves and spread the slogan that hade out at some point: ¡°Theonia is our Theonia. If Theonia prospers, our families will prosper; If Theonia perishes, our homes will disappear!¡± ¡°We don''t want to be the ves of those vicious Syracusans! If we unite and dedicate ourselves to the end of the war, the final victory would definitely belong to Theonia!¡±

    The day before yesterday, the people were somewhat confused and pessimistic about the war, but after these two big victories, they have regained their confidence. And with their new king ¨C Davos and the statesmen leading the donation, and the slogans that quickly spread had made the people aware of the difficulties Theonia was facing, waking them up of their sense of responsibility as Theonians. Thus they began to act.

    Not only them but even the soldiers in the camp were willing to return to their homes to prepare their money and food to donate to Theonia.

    Davos agreed and announced that the first, second and seventh legions were temporarily dissolved and to report back to the camp before noon tomorrow. And anyone to bete would be punished by the Military Law.

    The gloomy and deste Thurii region had finallye alive again on this day. The people together with their ves carried boxes and bags of money, while leading pack animals carrying the grains they stored in their homes from Amendra, Besidice, the outskirts of Thurii, the port of Thurii, the city of Thurii¡­and from all directions, had all flocked to the square¡­

    ¡°Periandorus, you hade so quickly!¡± Shouted Agus after seeing Periandorus and his son, Patroclus, who was in front of him in the line.

    ¡°Uncle Agus!¡± Patroclus waved his hand in excitement.

    ¡°Young Clus, I heard that you helped the vige that your father is managing in repelling the surprise attack of the Syracusan sailors. You did a good job! You have now be a soldier of Theonia!¡± Agus was pleased to see the previous mischievous youngster performing so well.

    ¡°But the legion still won''t let me join!¡± Patroclusined.

    ¡°You do not meet the rules of the Military Law as you are not yet 18 years old. Just wait two more years.¡± Agus reassured Patroclus after remembering his age.

    ¡°Wait?! Wait until this war ends?!¡± Patroclus said aggrievedly.

    ¡°Don''t worry too much. After this war ends, you will still have another war to participate in the future!¡± Agus said emotionally.

    At this moment, Periandorus had handed over the things he was carrying to the ve, turned around and made a military salute.

    Agus returned the military salute.

    Agus is a veteran legionary, Periandorus is also a legionary. Although they withdrew from active service due to injury, ame foot and a disabled hand, the imprint of the Theonia Legion has been branded in their bones.

    In such a crowded and noisy environment where two disabled people saluted each other, the people around them did not find it funny or feel amuses. On the contrary, they looked at them with respect.

    ¡°Lord Agus, it is inconvenient for you to move. You should¡¯ve just ordered the ves to send your donations to the square.¡± Periandorus said with concern.

    Why did he call him Lord Agus? That''s because Agus was promoted to a demarchos.

    With the continuous influx of immigrants and the rapid development of Theonia Union in the past few years, the outskirts of the cities, especially Thurii, are no longer the initial sparse few viges on the vast ins. Not only had they be densely popted, but the number of viges is also increasing. Due to the emerging vige''s location being far from the urban area or the market, the vigers who are busy with their work would usually just buy what they need nearby or go to some nearby ces to have fun and y sports during the ck season.

    More importantly, in order to facilitate the management of these scattered farms, the Praetors of various cities in the union sessively suggested to the Senate that some of the administrative tasks can bepleted by these viges, such as tax collection and military training, etc.

    Coincidentally, after the Senate passed Davos'' proposal of ¡°establishing local councils in each city¡±, Sesta inspected the situation in the outskirts of each city. Then he referred to the governments of other city-states, especially Athens, and finally put forward a proposal to the Senate to add ¨C Demos (i.e. Towns).

    It''s just that the demos to be implemented in Theonia is not like theposition of the demos in Athens, where a demos must include a coastal vige, a mountainous vige, and an urban area, which are not adjacent to each other and thus tooplicated to manage. The demos in Theonia has the surrounding viges under its jurisdiction, which is more convenient to manage and thus improves administrative efficiency.

    At the same time, the Praetor of the city would nominate someone among the vige chiefs of the viges under the demos with good performance and be appointed by the Civil Servant Management Committee of Theonia Union to be the demarchos*. Butpared to the vige chiefs elected by the viges, the demarchos has already entered the roster of a civil servant of the Senate, and its administrative power in the region is only lower than that of the city''s Praetor. Furthermore, a demarchos can already be considered a middle-ranking official in Theonia, so it is not too much to call him ¡°lord¡±, and the vige of Periandorus just happens to be under his jurisdiction.

    ¡°What lord?¡± the Demos System was just starting when it was soon stopped temporarily due to Syracuse''s invasion. Thus Agus has not yet adapted to this change of identity, ¡°Both you and I were soldiers of the legion and had participated in battles, so we know the importance of military rations to the army. Without food, it would cause even the most powerful army to lose, so I have toe! I have to lead a good example to the people! Except leaving enough food for my family and me tost until next year''s autumn harvest, I have donated it all in hopes that lord¡­his majesty Davos can use these donated supplies to organise a powerful army topletely defeat the Syracusans and free ournds from those cursed enemies!¡±

    ¡°You are right, lord Agus! Who would support the legion if we don''t support it first?!¡± As soon as Periandorus said it excitedly, shouting sounded around him.

 Chapter 479: Officers

    ¡°Although I did not be a soldier of the legion, I am still a citizen of Theonia. And it is our duty to donate to Theonia to defend our homnd!¡±

    ¡°Although my husband died in Brutii and several of my children are still young and can''t join the army, the soldiers''mittee had taken care of my family and me. So today is the time for me to repay them!¡±

    ¡°Even though I am just a freeman, I like Theonia Union because it''s the only ce that gives us poor people opportunities and hope. Thus even though I don''t have much savings, I am willing to donate some of it to Theonia in the hope that it can ovee its enemies and keep on existing!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, people of different statues, whether they are men, women, elderly, children, citizens, freemen, or ves, had gathered together for amon purpose and moved in several long lines from the east, west, south and north towards the centre of Theonia ¨C the Nike Square and the Grand Senate Hall¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Big brother, you are back!¡± Kunogta''s youngest son, Dicaeogta, couldn''t help but be overjoyed when he saw Sostratus enter the residence. Sostratus was drafted into the seventh legion some time ago and served as a centurion. It made him so happy that he rushed up excitedly and said, ¡°Brother, the battle where your seventh legion wipes out the Tarantines was so amazing! Tell me the details of the entire battle!¡±

    ¡°I don''t have time now, so I''ll tell you about it at another time, okay?¡± As he strode in, Sostratus asked, ¡°Where''s father?¡±

    ¡°He went to the square to donate.¡±

    ¡°I knew this would happen, and that old man didn''t even wait for me. At least we could have gone together so that we would donate less.¡± Although Sostratus'' words were full ofints, the smile on his face was more like he was joking.

    His brother''s previous words disappointed Dicaeogta a bit. However, when he heard about what his brother just said, he became curious as his brother only had money in his eyes, ¡°Brother, are you going to donate as well?!¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Sostratus replied affirmatively, ¡°It would be too noticeable if I did not donate while everyone has! Moreover, since I have to donate, then I have to donate more to attract the attention of his majesty Davos and the statesmen. Brother, you should know that if we win this war, there is arge area ofnd to the south just waiting for us to upy. Furthermore, we would take over Syracuse¡¯s thriving trade market¡­¡±

    Looking at the excited and dreaming Sostratus, Dicaeogta knew that the man in front of him was still the big brother he knew and had not changed as the donation was just to get more benefits.

    After Sostratus muttered his visions of the future, he asked, ¡°Where''s your sister-inw?¡±

    ¡°Sister-inw should be in the house¡­¡± As soon as he mentioned his sister-inw, Dicaeogta'' speech became respectful, not because Sostratus'' wife was virtuous, but because-

    ¡°Sostratus, why are you back?! You didn''t desert, did you?! I heard from my father that desertion in Theonia is punishable by death! You should go back to the camp while I''ll have your father and my father go together to plead to his majesty Davos!¡± The Lucanian woman that came out of the main residence shouted in surprise as soon as she saw Sostratus.

    ¡°I am not a deserter, I-¡± Sostratus hurriedly said.

    But his wife didn''t even listen to him as she strode forward and grabbed his ear in one hand, ¡°You are going to lie to me again, aren''t you?!¡± (T/N: RIP Sostratus)

    Sostratus immediately screamed like a pig about to get ughtered, ¡°Ouch! It hurts! It hurts! Be gentle¡­¡±

    Dicaeogta was unable to stop himself fromughing at seeing a familiar scene.

    After Kunogta returned to Thurii, he thought about finding a wife for his eldest son, Sostratus, as he was almost 30 years old and still single.

    But while looking for a daughter-inw, Sostratus took the initiative to tell him that he wanted to marry Hemon''s second daughter, Kelina, after finding out his father''s n.

    Although Kunogta was surprised, he still followed his son''s advice. After all, archon Davos advocates the intermarriage with Lucania and even enjoys a lot of benefits. Besides, Hemon is a statesman from Lucania, so the marriage between both sides is a match.

    Kunogta wasn''t a traditionalist person, so he soon went to propose the marriage while Hemon was able to climb Theonia''s top powers through Kunogta, an influential Greek statesman. Thus Sostratus smoothly married Kelina as his wife.

    Sostratus marrying Kelina wasn''t due to her beautiful appearance but because he values Hemon''s influence in the Lucanian region, which would smoothen his future business in Lucania.

    After their marriage, the newlyweds should have lived independently ording to Greek tradition. However, after suffering a disaster, Kunogta now cherishes his family and does not allow Sostratus and his daughter-inw to move out.

    Afterwards, Sostratus was surprised to find that his wife was far more assertive than other Lucanian women, having a fierce and decisive personality that made him develop ¡°wife-phobia¡±. (T/N: RIP again)

    Surprisingly, Kunogta is actually happy because his daughter-inw not only handled the affairs of the family in an orderly manner but more importantly, she was able to fix his eldest son''s somewhat deviant personality and make him obedient.

    ¡°I swear to god Asinu that I did not desert! It''s really his majesty Davos who had told us to go home¡­you can go and ask the other people!¡± Sostratus hurriedly exined but ended up blurting out the wrong words again.

    ¡°Since when did you start believing god Asinua?! You tried to deceive me again! Do you no longer want to live?!¡± Kelina''s finger pinched hard again.

    ¡°OUCH! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!¡­¡±

    Seeing the couple quarrel, Dicaeogta found it amusing and went forward to persuade her, ¡°Sister-inw, it is true that his majesty Davos asked them to return because the soldiers also wanted to donate their money to Theonia.¡±

    Kelina''s attitude was much better when faced with her brother-inw. She then let go of her hand and asked with doubt, ¡°Is it true that his majesty Davos allowed you to return because you want to donate?¡±

    ¡°That''s right!¡± Sostratus rubbed his ears that turned red andined loudly, ¡°How dare you doubt your husband''s words!¡±

    Kelina ignored him and continued to ask, ¡°How much are you going to donate?¡±

    Although Sostratus wanted to donate more, he knew that his wife was much more generous in her actions. Thus the moment he hesitated, Kelina had already made the decision for him, ¡°Then donate all the money you have in Cheiristoya''s bank.¡±

    When Sostratus heard this, he forgot his wife-phobia and immediately cursed, ¡°You prodigal woman! That money of mine is nearly six talents! Do you think is it that easy to earn money, so you can just give it all away so easily?!!¡±

    ¡°What did you say?!¡± Kelina''s eyebrows rose. When she reached out her hands, miserable screams immediately rang out again¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Melisander, the toon captain of the second legion, was on his way to his home. He no longer lived in Thurii with his mother and Philesius and had gone out on his own after he got married. But this marriage has its own twist and turn.

    When Arsinis died in the Battle of Bruttii, they removed the will he kept in the Temple of Hades. (Since the establishment of the Temple of Hades, Plesinas, at the suggestion of Davos, allowed the temple to open up this function to the people''s trust in the prestige and divine power of Hades so that they could bepletely relieved that the contents of the will would not be revealed. Furthermore, because Theonia is mainly a union formed by immigrants, they have far fewer elderly. Thus most of the wills stored in the Temple of Hades are from the soldiers before they go to war as they do not know when they will die in battle. Hence they will write their will before each expedition and store it in the temple, which was done by the legion''s logistics before the temple assumed function.)

    And since Arsinis had no rtives, he gave half of his properties to his newly married Lucanian wife. He also allowed her to remarry in his will while giving the other half of his properties to his close friend, Melisander, with the hope that he would take care of his wife until she remarried.

    So when Melisander received this will, he broke down in tears.

    But what Arsinis didn''t know before he died was that his wife became pregnant before he left for war. Out of his friends'' memories and to fulfil hisst wife, the 18-year-old Melisander decided to care for Arsinis'' wife, Hepnea, and let her give birth to Arsinis'' child smoothly. But due to their frequent contacts, Melisander and Hepnea, who was not too far apart from him in age, developed a mutual love for each other and eventually joined together. After their marriage, Melisander decided to live in the house given to him by Arsinis in Amendra.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Melisander and hisrades from the second legion, who also lived in Amendra,ughed and joked around as they walked north. But after they crossed the river, they were shocked by the sight that appeared before them: Burned viges, felled trees, destroyed farms and blocked canals¡­the devastation caused by the Tarantine soldiers could be seen everywhere, causing the soldiers to curse at Taranto and regretting their leniency in yesterday''s battle, hoping that they should have killed them to relieve their hatred.

    Fortunately, the city of Amendra was not damaged by the war. So after entering the city, Melisander bid farewell to hisrades and pushed open the door of his house.

    ¡°Master, you are back!¡± The female ve shouted excitedly.

    ¡°Where is your mistress?¡± Melisander looked eagerly through the atrium to the main building.

    ¡°Thedy is praying for you at the altar of Hades, milord! After you left for war, thedy has been praying there every day!¡±

    Hepnea was especially worried because her ex-husband, Arsinis, died in battle. So when Melisander set out on the expedition, she built a special room in the courtyard to ce the altar of Hades and prayed for her husband''s safety every day.

    ¡°Oh, the olddy is also here. She has been living here all this time.¡± The female ve added.

 Chapter 480: Sarissa

    Melisander was not surprised as he knew that his mother actually preferred living in the small city of Amendra and only chose to live in the noisy city of Thurii to take care of Philesius. So after Philesius left for war, she felt lonely and naturally decided toe to Amendra to live with her daughter-inw and grandson.

    As Melisander walked along the passage, a little girl ran towards him, ¡°Brother! Brother!¡­¡±

    ¡°Little Doris!¡± Melisander came forward and picked up Doris, his three-year-old sister born to his mother and Philesius.

    ¡°Brother! Brother!¡­¡± Then another child staggered towards him.

    ¡°Be careful, my baby.¡± Melisander scrambled to hug him with his other arm. He then corrected him, not knowing whether tough or cry, ¡°I''m not your brother, but your father. I want you to call me dad! Dad!¡±

    The boy was the son of Arsinis and Hepnea, Arsinis the Second. During Hepnea''s pregnancy, Melisander took good care of her, so he treated little Arsinis as if he were his own.

    Interestingly enough, Melisander and his sister''s age gap was huge, but she is the same age as his two-year-old stepson, little Arsinis, so they are more like sister and brother. And little Arsinis loves to y with his little aunt.

    ¡°No, just call him brother! Brother!¡± Incited by the naughty Doris.

    Little Arsinis looked at Doris and Melisander confusedly. Afterwards, he loudly said, ¡°Brother! Brother!¡±

    Melisander was both amused and angry. He then patted Doris'' butt twice and said while pretending to be angry, ¡°If you continue teaching little Ar again, this brother of yours will spank you!¡±

    Doris immediately burst into tears.

    ¡°Melisander, how old are you that you don''t even know how to yield to your sister?!¡± A female voice that was less like a rebuke and more like a sound of relief sounded from the front.

    ¡°Mother!¡± Melisander stood up and called out affectionately. He then turned to the young, slender figure beside Delia and said in a soft voice, ¡°I am back, Hepnea.¡±

    Hepnea stared at her husband, who had lost his childishness and was more robust. It was only after she looked over his body and making sure there were no scars that her worries were dispelled, and smiled at Melisander.

    ¡°Didn''t his majesty Davos give an order allowing you to go home only after we defeat the enemy?! Why are you back now?!¡± Delia asked in surprise. And the reason why she called Davos with his new title so smoothly was that they were the loyal believers of Hades who pushed Davos to the throne.

    ¡°It''s because his majesty allowed us to go home to participate in the donation and return to the camp tomorrow.¡± Melisander replied.

    ¡°Ah, you would go back tomorrow?!¡± Hepnea blurted out as she didn''t expect their time to get together to be so short.

    ¡°Once the war is over, and peace is restored, you can have Melisander stay at home as long as you want. But now, they must expel our enemies that want to destroy ournd!¡± Delia had seen how the Tarantines ravaged her homnd with her own eyes, so she educated her daughter-inw as she did not want that to happen again.

    ¡°You are right, mother.¡± Hepnea answered with respect.

    Melisander gently pushed away his son''s small hands that were scratching at his face and said, ¡°His majesty will soon lead us south to repel the Syracusans. However, the biggest problem now is that we don''t have enough food-¡±

    ¡°I heard that your father''s ce(referring to Aprustum) is not in good condition¡­¡± Delia was very worried, not only because she heard that the soldiers on the frontline had food shortages but also because of their great defeat. Even here in the centre of Theonia, she could still hear some people ming her husband, such as his poormanding ability and so on. So she could only imagine how much pressure Philesius is bearing at the frontline, ¡°You had juste back in time as Hepnea and I have already prepared the money and food to donate. Later, we can go together and bring it to the Nike Square.¡±

    ¡°That''s great!¡± Melisander said happily as this saved him a lot of effort.

    ¡°Melisander, my son. Now that you are going south this time, you must help your father more!¡± Delia reminded.

    ¡®What can I do for him? My father is themander in the south, while I am just a toon leader.¡¯ Melisander thought, but the words escaping from his mouth was full of promises.

    Hepnea took little Arsinis from his arms while Delia held Doris as they entered the main residence.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°What did you say?! Lord¡­his majesty can''t go home yet?!¡± Azune asked anxiously, ¡°But I heard that the soldiers in the camp have already been disbanded and gone home!¡±

    Aristias calmly said, ¡°His majesty has important matters to attend to and will be backter. That''s why he told me toe first and tell it to you, madam.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then we''ll wait for him toe back.¡± Cheiristoya responded with a smile.

    Aristias then said his goodbye and left.

    ¡°Sister, will Davos note back today?!¡± Disappointment and worry mixed on Agnes'' pretty face, looking a bit pitiful. Although she was already 24 years old, her father always adored her before she got married. And Davos treasured her after they got married, and she moved to Thurii that she was either at home or in the temple, not suffering any big storm or setbacks. As this was her first time being pregnant, she inevitably felt anxious and desperate for someone to apany andfort her. However, Davos went on an expedition for more than a month and was not around, so when she finally heard that he wasing back but got postponed in the blink of an eye, her mood naturally suffered from uncertainty.

    Although Cheiristoya was also saddened, as the matriarch managing Davos'' residence, she cheered herself up and tried her best tofort her by saying, ¡°Sister, rx. It''s not like you don''t know our husband. If he said he woulde back today, he woulde back today! So you shouldn''t be anxious. Instead, go to bed first and take a rest so that you won''t feel sleepy when hees home.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­sister, but don''t forget to wake me upter.¡± Agnes said softly while the female ve supported her into her room.

    Cheiristoya sighed softly and felt bitter for a while, ¡®Agnes has me tofort her, but who wouldfort me!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos was looking carefully at a weapon ced on the table: A spear. Its shape and style are simr to those used by the heavy infantry. The only difference was that the length is four metres, which is two metres longer than the spear used by the heavy infantry, and the diameter of the shaft is thicker.

    As soon as Davos picked it up, Tios ¨C the arms merchant, shouted, ¡°Your majesty, watch out!¡±

    Davos¡¯ height and the spear''s length almost pierced the ceiling, so he had to lift it obliquely. After flicking the spear and making a few more thrusts, he then asked with satisfaction, ¡°This is a well-made spear. Are the other spears like this?¡±

    Tios frankly replied, ¡°Your majesty, you asked me to make 6000 of such spears in such a short time, but I couldn''t make each spear like the one in your hand. However, I can assure you that they have no problem killing the enemy! Furthermore, in terms of quality, these spears are stronger and more durable because, with your majesty¡¯s approval, we cut down the cedar in the Amendran mountains and used the wood used to build ships to create these spears. Hence even if we attach the spearheads to such a long shaft, it wouldn''t tremble much and not be easily broken when thrusting¡­¡±

    Davos nodded, ¡°Are all of them finished?¡±

    ¡°Only 1400 shafts werepleted and sent here first because Lord Kapus was in a hurry to use them.¡±

    Davos frowned and said, ¡°You have to hurry up as we would only stay in Thurii for a few days before we have to go to battle again. Hence we need to make all these spears and distribute them to every soldier as soon as possible because we also need to leave them time for training. Time is very tight!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, we are doing our best! But just the matter of chopping down trees, transportation, cutting and ning the wood¡­¡± Tios began toin.

    Davos interrupted him and said, ¡°I''ll have Kapus sent some men from the logistics to assist you with some of the less important processes, such as cutting down trees, transporting them and so on, while your men finish the production of the spearheads and spear shaft. Will that work?!¡±

    ¡°If that''s the case¡­¡± Tios calcted it carefully and said loudly, ¡°I should¡­be able to guarantee that I can deliver all the spears to you in three¡­no, the day after tomorrow!¡±

    ¡°Work hard! As for the cost of these weapons, the State Treasury is currently short of money, so we could only pay it to you after the war is over. But don''t worry as I will ask Mersis to add 10% interest.¡±

    As soon as Davos said this, Tios hurriedly replied, ¡°Your majesty, I am willing to donate all of these spears to Theonia, and I have also already donated three talents, which I asked my family to bring to the Nike Square. Your majesty, you have taken the lead in setting an example for us. Hence as a citizen of Theonia, I am willing to dedicate myself for Theonia to gain victory in this war, even though I cannot participate in the battle!¡±

    ¡°Well said!¡± Davos then praised loudly, ¡°Your contributions will naturally be recorded, so once we won this war, the Senate will reward you for it!¡±

    At Davos¡¯ vague hint, Tios was encouraged, and he immediately pulled out a few sheets of papyrus and handed them to Davos.

    After he took and looked at it, Davos stared at Tios with some doubt.

    ¡°Your majesty, these are the foreign merchants in Amendra''s Economic Development Zone. When they heard that Theonia called on the citizens to donate, they all said, ¡®I hope to participate in the donation and help Theonia ovee this crisis.¡¯ and these are the list of things they gathered and donated.¡± Tios exined.

 Chapter 481: A new military unit

    Although these foreign merchants, who boughtnd in Amendra through auction, had produced and sold their wares and even benefited a lot from some preferential bills enacted by Theonia, except for a few such as Tios and Dicaeapolis, who joined Theonia, the rest were still hesitant and waiting. Especially after the war with Syracuse broke out, the defeat of the South Italian Alliance troops in the battle and the destruction of Amendra''s Economic Development Zone by the Tarantine cavalry had made them look down on the prospect of Theonia. If it were not for the Syracusan and Tarantine fleet blocking the Gulf of Taranto, they would have already fled by ship.

    However, the return of Davos, the total annihtion of the Tarantine navy and army in one day, and the defeat of the powerful Syracusan navy, which created a miracle in the midst of the impossible, had made these foreign merchants astounded. Then they were also affected by the fanatical of the Theonians that they began to believe that Hades indeed blessed Theonia. These foreign merchants, who made trades in the Mediterranean and dared to invest in Theonia, do notck the spirit of adventure and vision. So when they began to have hope for Theonia''s prospects in this war, they were surprised to find that if Theonia really won this war, Theonia would rapidly expand as it did after their previous war. They would expand to the southern part of Magna Graecia and the eastern part of Sicily, so what does this mean to anyone doing trade in this area? The Theonia Union would have the most important trade route in the western Mediterranean under their control!

    So at the instigation of Dicaeapolis and Tios, the merchants made a bold investment and entrusted Tios to deliver the list of supplies to Davos, the new king of Theonia, whom they believed to be Hades'' descendant.

    Davos once again carefully read the huge amount of supplies listed in the papyrus. These foreign merchants'' sincerity was evident, and Davos certainly knew what they were longing for, so he said, ¡°Tios, go back and tell them that although Theonia would never forget the traitors who stabbed us in the back when we are down! We, even more so, will never forget the friends who helped us in our most difficult times! There is an old saying in the east that says, ¡®Repay a drop of water with a fountain of water!¡¯!¡±

    After seeing Tios go, Davos came to the training ground where the freemen recruited by Kapus were training.

    Seeing the arrival of Davos, Kapus hurried towards him.

    ¡°Have all the soldiers been called?¡± Davos looked at the field. The training ground that could amodate more than 30,000 men still looked empty even though a group of freemen upied it.

    ¡°Only 2,570 men have arrived.¡± Kapus then exined, ¡°The others won''t be here until tomorrow morning as they had to go to the Nike Square to donate.¡±

    Davos expressed his understanding, then he looked at the fairly neat queue on the field and asked, ¡°Are they all freemen with more than one year of military training?¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, there are not many freemen in the port who we had trained. Thus I recruited the people from the logistics unit to gather 6,000 men.¡± Kapus said truthfully.

    ¡°Will the next supply transportations have problems?¡± Davos asked again.

    ¡°I left the logistics camps¡¯ management and officers and recruited the freemen from the port to replenish their numbers. Now that we have broken Syracuse''s maritime advantage, there should be no more enemies that wouldnd behind us and attack our supply convoys, so they shouldn''t have any problem inpleting the transportation tasks.¡± Kapus exined.

    ¡°s, we need to tear down the east wall to mend the west wall!¡± Davos sighed as this war has shown him that Theonia''s poption resources are still short, and he has no better solution in the short time, ¡°Send out the sarissa and have them practice the formation first.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Tapirus was a ve of Cheiristoya''s Restaurant, but after more than four years, he was freed of very and became a freeman, then the head of a restaurant in the city of Thurii. When Kapus arrived at the logistics camp to draw personnel, he was the one who volunteered to participate as it would take too long to be a citizen of Theonia through the normal method, and the only way to shorten the number of years was to participate in the battle. So despite the risk to his life and his limbs, Tapirus believe that this is a rare opportunity. Furthermore, the risk is worth taking because King Davos has returned, and this unit is what he ordered to form!

    And many freemen had the same idea, and so they all joined.

    Tapirus, having participated in a year and half of military training and having the ability to count and read(skills he acquired in the restaurant), was appointed as a squad leader because the veterans who should have been drawn from the legions to serve as officers at all ranks of this new unit had been disbanded and gone home, and would not return until tomorrow. Hence they were temporarily reced by the recruits.

    At this time, the city-state''s ves distributed bundles of long spears to every freeman.

    ¡®This is the weapon we are going to use?!¡¯ Tapirus looked at the spear in his hand in surprise because this spear was much longer than the one used for training.

    After getting their own weapons, the freemen became so excited that some even waved them and struck the sarissa of those around them or the butt of the sarissa hitting theirrades next to them. For a time, the formation was chaotic and noisy.

    Then a sharp salpinx immediately sounded throughout the training ground, causing the freemen to immediately stand straight. Although there were still sarissa colliding with each other, only a few made loud noises as the people, who had experienced military training, knew that if they didn''t obey the order, the officers would pull out the offenders and cane them in public with their pants down, which is too degrading to their dignity.

    ¡°All of you pay attention!¡± Several instructors shouted in front of the queue, ¡°Hold it like this when standing¡­¡±

    Tapirus followed the instructor''s posture and ced the sarissa against his left side with the sarissa''s butt touching the ground, his left hand gripping the bottom shaft and his right hand across his left hand, holding the upper shaft.

    After the freemen followed, the sarissa no longer collided with each other. Soon, they stood straight up like a neat and dense forest.

    Davos was satisfied that the freemen could quickly master the essentials of holding the sarissa. He then happily said, ¡°It seems that their more than a year of military training isn''t wasted!¡±

    Then the salpinx sounded again, and the g bearer of each toon immediately pointed the ck g in front of them.

    ¡°Forward!¡± Tapirus shouted. And as the drummer beat their drums rhythmically, the soldiers began moving forward with their sarissa.

    But as they marched, the original neat formation became more and more uneven, resulting in the formation bing somewhat scattered. And due to their body¡¯s movement, the spearhead swung left and right, hitting each other and making a ttering sound.

    Seeing the frowning Davos, Kapus exined, ¡°Your majesty, there is a lot of difference in the control of the whole team because the veterans who serve as officers have all gone home. That¡¯s why the maintenance of the formation and the execution of the orders were much worse.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Davos said as he kept staring at the freemen''s performance.

    The salpinx sound changed again.

    ¡°Defence!¡± Tapirus shouted.

    The advancing toon soldiers stopped and began to gather in the centre: After the first row of soldiers thrust their sarissa straight, the next few rows of soldiers close to the front held their sarissa obliquely forward in turn until the sarissa of the sixth row could still pass through the shoulders of the first row of soldiers and form a part of the spear wall. At this time, the originally scattered formation became a dense and thick spear formation.

    Davos kept frowning as he turned to Kapus and said, ¡°Do you know why I made the freemen use this kind of long spear?¡±

    ¡°Because of the need to deal with Syracuse''s cavalries.¡± Kapus said without hesitation. It is apparent that he had carefully thought about it,

    ¡°That''s right! Our cavalry isn''t a match against those Numidians and Celts who grew up riding horses, so I have made this sarissa to deal with the mercenary cavalries hired by Syracuse. However, what I want is not to ward off the cavalry with this rigid and stiff defensive formation but to crush the enemy cavalry with an attack!¡± Davos eyes gleamed as he gazed at Kapus.

    Kapus was somewhat surprised as he said, ¡°Have them attack Syracuse''s cavalries with a four-metre-long spear?!¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Davos nodded and said, ¡°And they are required to maintain a dense formation as much as possible while charging at the enemy. Thus they won''t be equipped with armour, allowing them to be lighter and more flexible when marching and running with their sarissa in both hands.¡±

    The long spear formation conceived by Davos wasn''t the Macedonian Phnx in his previous life as he doesn''t like such clunky formation. Furthermore, Theonia already has its own heavy infantry phnx, and itsbat effectiveness is no worse than that of the Macedonian Phnx. So what he wants to copy is the famous Reisl?ufer (Swiss mercenaries) in western Europe in the middle ages; These fierce mountain people could even hold a 4-meter-long spear and halberd whileunching a group charge against the heavy armoured medieval heavy cavalry and even defeat the French heavy cavalry many times. Thus became famous in western Europe, bing an important means for the medieval Swiss to make a living that even the French Royal Family and the Holy See hired them as pce guards.

    ¡°Your majesty, if you don''t equip them with armour-¡± As the one responsible to lead them, Kapus had to remind, ¡°I''m afraid their casualties will be great under the rain of arrows and javelins!¡±

    ¡°They are to protect the nks of the whole formation and will not be arranged in the front. Besides, it''s toote to make protective armour specifically for them.¡± Davos replied.

 Chapter 482: Training and Returning Home

    Davos considered their weak protection, but they were only a temporary unit and was not in his ns for the future of the Theonian army after all as Theonia would train a more powerful cavalry to deal with enemy cavalriester.

    ¡°Blow the salpinx, have them run and then charge for me to inspect.¡± Davos looked at the sky and urged.

    Although Davos ordered it, it was still dangerous to have freemen who had never used such long spears before making a group charge with their sarissa.

    As the salpinx rang three times in a row, the freemen raised their sarissa vertically and began to jog under the guidance of their instructors.

    But the formation that had finally restored its order became crooked again as they sped up, and the gap between the front and rear rows also widened.

    At this moment, as the salpinx sounded more sharply, the soldiers roared: Then the soldiers on the first row thrust their spear horizontally while the soldiers behind them raised their sarissa obliquely, in turn, to avoid identally wounding the soldiers at their front. When viewed from the side, the sarissa goes from low to high, but it didn''tst long before the formation of thousands of men scattered in the charge; Some advance too far, somegged behind, and a few fell while running and identally wounding several of theirrades.

    Kapus looked at Davos with uneasiness.

    Davos, on the other hand, remained calm. Although he had to change the four-metre halberd of the Swiss in his former life into a spear and reduced the weight, it is apparent that the freemen, who used it for the first time and had never yet participated in a battle, wouldn''t easily master it. Thus he thought about it and said, ¡°I suggest that you don''t make them charge in arge phnx as it is too rigid. Instead, it is better to divide them into small phnxes, just like how the heavy infantry phnx march before confronting the enemy. Attacking the enemy cavalry in this way would make it easier for the officers to control the soldiers, and it not only ensures the small phnx denseness but also makes the formation flexible and able to upy arger area. Furthermore, our spearmen must be more flexible to be able to catch up with those Syracuse''s cavalries from Numidia and the Po River¡­¡±

    After listening carefully to Davos'' advice, Kapus was greatly inspired as he immediately said, ¡°Your majesty, I''ll immediately have them train following your suggestion.¡±

    Davos once again reminded, ¡°Lord Kapus, they don''t have much time left for them to train, so you have to find a way to make these freemen familiar with the use of sarissa and the transition to offensive formation within two to three days!¡±

    Kapus nodded heavily as he strode towards the training ground.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos, who had been busy the whole day, had finally stepped out into the moonlit night and returned to his house.

    After he pushed open the gate of his residence, cheerful voices could be heard, ¡°Master¡­no, your majesty!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, you are back! Congrattions on bing King of Theonia!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, congrattions on defeating the Syracusan navy and routing the Tarantines!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With Davos bing the king of Theonia, the ves in his residence feel honoured, and their status elevated.

    Davos nodded to each of them and finally came to Ribaso, ¡°You''ve worked hard these days!¡±

    ¡°It is my duty, your majesty!¡± Ribaso then said with respect, ¡°Madam and the little masters are waiting for you in the inner courtyard.¡±

    ¡°It''s already sote, yet they still haven''t slept?!¡± Davos was a little surprised and touched. He then turned serious as he said to Ribaso, ¡°Have them all go to rest, blow out all the candles in the hallway and put them away. This is not the time to celebrate! How could you be so wasteful? Are you not afraid of the public''s opinion?!¡±

    Although Davos spoke gently, Ribaso heard the rebuke in his words, and he quickly bowed his head to ask for forgiveness.

    ¡°The higher one status is, the more discreet and low-profile one should be! This is a statement that you should always keep in mind and restrain them. Otherwise, you will be the first one I will find if anyone causes a problem!¡± Davos'' warning caused Ribaso to be alert.

    Davos pushed open the door of the inner courtyard, and Azune, who had been waiting there, happily said, ¡°Your majesty, wee home!¡±

    ¡°Azune, it is thanks to you that Cheiristoya was able to give birth to Eunice smoothly and safely. Thank you!¡± Davos sincerely expressed his gratitude.

    Although Azune was excited, she did not dare respond to his gratitude. Instead, she said, ¡°The twodies and the children are waiting for you indy Cheiristoya''s room.¡±

    ¡°Oh, it seems that it would be lively tonight!¡± Davosughed.

    ¡°Your majesty, have you had dinner?¡±

    ¡°No, I was too busy and didn¡¯t have the time. Just prepare two loaves of bread, a bowl of wheat porridge and a cup of wine.¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty. I''ll have it ready for you soon.¡±

    Just as Davos pushed open the bedroom door, a figure quickly burst into his arms and shouted eagerly, ¡°Dad, you''re finally back! I missed you so much!!¡±

    Davos smilingly picked up little Cro, ¡°Daddy misses you too! Let daddy see if you have gained weight during this time?¡±

    Little Cro immediately puffed up his cheeks.

    Feeling amused, Davos gently tugged on his chubby little face.

    ¡°Father!¡± A clear voice came from behind.

    Davos smiled and said to his adopted daughter, ¡°Cynthia, I was away for only a month, and you seem to grow taller again.¡± he then walked over with little Cro in his arm, ced his hand on Cynthia''s head in a gesture to measure her height.

    ¡°Fa¡­father.¡± Adoris, who was beside Cynthia, said nervously. It is amusing to see that the usually stubborn Adoris would be nervous and well-behaved like a girl whenever he sees Davos.

    ¡°Adoris, did you ask your teacher toin to your mother?¡± Davos teasingly said.

    ¡°N¡­no.¡± Adoris shook his head.

    ¡°Father, the akademia is temporarily closed.¡± Cynthia interjected.

    ¡°Closed?¡± Davos was slightly surprised, but he thought it was normal after a second thought. Then he said, ¡°So did you all stay at home during this time? Cynthia, you are the eldest, so you have to take good care of your brother and relieve the burden for your two mothers.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Cynthia nodded seriously.

    ¡°Cynthia is very sensible as she helped Agnes and me on many things. Unlike someone who, not to mention helping, have been away from home for so long that even when he returned, he didn¡¯te home to take a look at us!¡± Davos looked up and saw Cheiristoya sitting on the wooden bed while looking at him angrily. Agnes, on the other hand, was lying on her side with her face full of resentment.

    ¡°I-¡± Just as he was about to speak, Davos found that it was not suitable to exin himself this time. So he immediately said, ¡°Am I not back?¡±

    Cheiristoya snorted, ¡°It''s fine even if you don''te back, but as soon as you did, you gave away more than half of the money we have worked so hard to earn in the past few years!¡±

    Agnes discreetly patted Cheiristoya. She was a traditional person and was looking forward to her husband''s return, so she didn''t want to destroy this warm atmosphere or even have a quarrel.

    Davos didn''t even need to argue back as little Cro loudly said, ¡°Mom, don''t me Dad!¡±

    ¡°Oh, it''s still my baby who thinks of me!¡± Davos happily kissed and kissed little Cro''s pinkish face, ¡°Come with Daddy and let''s go see your little sister.¡±

    Eunice was lying beside Cheiristoya, and even though she was awake, she didn''t cry.

    As Davos approached his daughter, Cheiristoya quickly reminded, ¡°Careful! Don''t scare her.¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry. I am Herpus'' teacher.¡±

    ¡°Physicians also know how to raise children?¡±

    ¡°I am the gods favoured, so I know everything, including your¡­ body.¡± Davos leaned close to her and whispered thest word.

    Cheiristoya immediately blushed and reached out to gently hit him, and her resentment disappeared.

    Davos gently picked up Eunice, and the little girl looked at him curiously with her big, bright blue eyes.

    ¡°My child, I''m your dad.¡± Davos said softly to her.

    Eunice giggled and touched Davos'' face with her tiny hands.

    After letting Eunice grasp his hands, Davos turned to Cheiristoya and said with a smile, ¡°Eunice is quite strong!¡±

    At this moment, Cheiristoya looked at the father and daughter and nodded gently at his words.

    ¡°Dad, I''m stronger than my sister!¡± Little Cro said defiantly.

    ¡°You are the older brother, so of course, you are stronger.¡± Davosughed, ¡°Little Cro, isn''t your sister beautiful?¡±

    At this age, little Cro didn''t even know what beauty was, so he just nodded after what his father said, ¡°Un, beautiful.¡±

    Now, the redness on her skin has faded, and the ample milked enriched her wrinkly skin has. Eunice has beautiful bright eyes, a small nose, rosy lips and soft skin¡­a truly beautiful baby.

    Davos turned around and said to the children, ¡°Do you think little Eunice looks like dad?¡±

    Cynthia shook her head and said, ¡°No.¡±

    Hearing her sister say so, Adoris mumbled, ¡°¡­no.¡±

    ¡°My sister looks like mother.¡± Little Cro was the most direct.

    Davosughed and said, ¡°Fortunately, she didn''t look after me and instead took on Cheiristoya. In the future, little Eunice will be a great beauty!¡±

    Cheiristoya rolled her eyes and reached out, ¡°Give me Eunice. She would cryter if you held her for too long just after seeing her for the first time.¡±

    With some reluctance, Davos handed Eunice to Cheiristoya and turned to look at the children and said, ¡°Children, our family is now more lively with the addition of your sister. And here-¡± he gently ced his right hand on Agnes'' stomach, ¡°Your mother Agnes will add another brother to you next year. So as the elder brother and sister, you must be an example and take good care of them!¡±

 Chapter 483: Blissful Moment

    Cynthia and Adoris nodded their heads in quick session while little Cro asked excitedly, ¡°So can I y with them?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Davosughed.

    Little Cro immediately leapt with joy.

    ¡°I haven''t gone to the temple for divination, so I don''t even know if it would be a boy or girl¡­¡± Agnes said delicately. The Temple of Hera, where she was in charge, has priests specialising in divination whether the pregnant woman was carrying a boy or a girl. However, because she was still in early pregnancy, her stomach wasn''t yet discernible, so she hadn''t gone there. Still, Agnes continued to pray silently to Hera, who she served, to give her a healthy boy.

    ¡°I am favoured by gods, so if I say it''s a boy, then it is definitely a boy!¡± Knowing what

    Davos naturally knew what was in her mind, so he said that solemnly.

    ¡°Really?!¡± Agnes blinked suspiciously.

    ¡°Hmm¡­we now have five children in our family!¡± Davos smiled. He then loudly said to Cheiristoya and Agnes, ¡°So you have to keep working harder to make it ten and form a team!¡±

    Cheiristoya immediately scolded, ¡°Do you think that giving birth is as easy as marching to war?!¡±

    Davosughed, and the sound ofughter filled the bedroom.

    As it was alreadyte at night, the children had gone to bed, and Azune carried Eunice while the three left in the bedroom were all sleepy.

    Agnes looked at Davos and quietly said, ¡°I¡­I am going back to bed¡­¡±

    ¡°Go back to where?!¡± Davos pulled her in and blurted out without hesitation, ¡°We will all sleep here tonight so that I could apany you well!¡±

    ¡°How can that be possible?¡± Although Agnes was moved, she looked at Cheiristoya in embarrassment.

    ¡°Sister, you just stay.¡± Cheiristoya said seriously, ¡°Davos is going back to the camp tomorrow, and we don''t know when he will return. That¡¯s why we should chat with him tonight as sisters!¡±

    It''s really only a chat. Cheiristoya had just given birth and could not have s*x while Agnes was still in her early pregnancy and likewise could not make love to Davos.

    After he blew out the candles, Davosy between Cheiristoya and Agnes. With the intoxicating body fragrance lingering at the tip of his nose and holding their slender fingers in his hands, Davos felt joyous and wished to stay here for a long time rather than leave early in the morning¡­

    ¡°When will the war end?¡± Agnes asked softly as she snuggled into her husband.

    ¡°I fear that it wouldst a few more months¡­fwoosh¡­¡± Davos replied while trying to blow Agnes'' hair sticking to the side of his face, making him a little itchy because he couldn''t pull out his hands as he held the hands of his two wives.

    ¡°It would take so long?!¡± Disappointment filled Agnes'' murmur.

    ¡°You don''t have to worry. I will end the war and return to Thurii to apany you before you give birth!¡± Davosforted her.

    ¡°Really?!¡± Agnes was a bit surprised.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Davos said seriously.

    ¡°Sister, see how well he treats you! He never said anything like that to me when I was pregnant with little Cro and Eunice!¡± Along with Cheiristoya''s dissatisfied voice, Davos felt a sharp paining from his left hand, but he forced himself not to scream.

    ¡°Then I will wait for you toe back, so you should pay attention to your safety on the battlefield!¡± Agnes smiled and kissed him affectionately. After a while, Davos could hear a slight snoring sound.

    Agnes fell asleep.

    ¡°That''s the good thing about being pregnant. You could just fall asleep whenever you want, unlike me who has Eunice¡­ha¡­¡± Just as Cheiristoya sighed, Davos turned his head to kiss her rosy lips.

    The long kiss almost suffocated her.

    ¡°Agnes is still-¡± Cheiristoya quickly took a breath and said something coyly, causing Davos to kiss her again.

    Davos had to restrain himself during this period when his two wives were pregnant and the intense war that followed. Thus he could no longer hold himself back, and the repeated passionate kisses melted Cheiristoya''s reservedness. Still, she retained thest trace of hesitation, ¡°Darling, I still have a little¡­down there.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Davos softly whispered in her ear. ¡°Honey, you can use your mouth and hand¡­¡±

    Cheiristoya then nibbled his sturdy shoulder.

    Davos began untying her clothes, bowed down and gently sucked the forbidden area where their daughter would usually breastfeed¡­

    Soon, a repressed and seductive moaning rang out from the bedroom¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the support of the Persian satrap Pharnabazus, the Athenian navarch Conon took another move that shook the Spartans to their core after his victory at the Battle of Knidos. He captured the ind across the Laconian Gulf ¨C Cythera. Then Athens used it as their advanced naval base, which would control not only the passage of the Spartan fleet in and out of the eastern Mediterranean but also monitor the movements in the Laconian Gulf.

    The Spartans now worried and feared that the Athenians would incite the helots in Sparta to flee to Cythera and cause instability in their rear, just like what they did during the Peloponnesian War.

    And even the Spartan ships entering and leaving the Laconian Gulf became extremely cautious for fear of running into the Athenian fleet.

    Just as Cheirisophus'' transport ship departed from Gythium, the only good harbour in Sparta, he saw the nervous expressions of the captain and the sailors. It made him involuntarily look at the greyish outline ofnd faintly visible in the sea far to the northeast ¨C the ind of Cythera, currently upied by the Athenians.

    Worries for Sparta immediately filled the heart of Cheirisophus: At sea, the Athenians had gained the upper hand that the Spartan fleet did not even dare to leave defenders in the Laconian Gulf and had instead retreated to the west of the Peloponnese. Onnd, the Spartan army couldn''t advance an inch due to the stubborn defence of the anti-Spartan alliance on Isthmus, Corinth, forcing the Gerousia to finally change the suprememander again and send Agesus, who was recovering from illness, back into battle.

    For this personnel change, although Cheirisophus was optimistic, he was still cautious: He did not deny that he is more confident about themanding ability of the weak and sickly Spartan king, as Agesus'' achievements in Asia Minor the past year have won him great reputations.

    However, the anti-Spartan Alliance had the support of Persia, and Cheirisophus, who had been to Persia, knew that this meant that Sparta''s enemies had endless support. Thus, even if they fail, again and again, they can still recruit another massive army at any time, while the number of Sparta''s citizens is limited. Thus his mission to Thurii, to get Theonia and Syracuse to stop the war as soon as possible, and free up Syracuse, the hegemon of western Mediterranean, to assist Sparta, is important. With the support of Syracuse''s powerful navy and a huge army, Sparta will have more confidence to end this war victoriously.

    ¡®But would Theonia agree?¡¯ the youthful image of a 19-year-old young man came to Cheirisophus'' mind; that was the first time he saw Davos. Since they separated in Asia Minor, more than five years had already passed, and he had not seen the young man again and had only heard about him from rumours. And every time the news of him came, Cheirisophus became more surprised: ¡®The young man in the past is now a powerful ruler in the western Mediterranean and dared topete with Syracuse, the hegemon of the western Mediterranean! The present is not what it used to be, so how could I convince him?¡¯ Cheirisophus didn''t have any confidence and could only go all out.

    And the other object for his mission gave him more headache: Dionysius, whom all Spartans that had met the Tyrant of Syracuse said that he was greedy, overbearing and vindictive. Now that they want him to end the war where he is dominant, he definitely wouldn''t agree if he doesn¡¯t get a benefit that would satisfy him!

    Cheirisophus sighed heavily. After suppressing these questions that gave him headaches, he asked loudly, ¡°How long till we arrive in Thurii?¡±

    ¡°About two days.¡± The captain replied.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Because of Alobamus'' long-term management of the city, the chieftains and the city officials had chosen to support him and not the young Henipolis that had undermined their status and interests, allowing him to usurp Laos smoothly. Furthermore, since Henipolis took away the troops loyal to him, Alobamus could easily control the whole city. But in exchange, the price he paid was a scolding from his sister-inw.

    After the failure to seize the Lao Fortress, he did not panic. Instead, he decisively concentrated his troops and fortified the city to defend against the possible attack of the Theonia army. He thinks that: As long as Laos could hold on for ten days and a half, the Syracusan army could make more progress in their attack on Theonia, which would greatly change Theonia''s situation. At that time, maybe Laos still has a chance to expand.

    Thus Alobamus devoted himself to his defensive n. But then, some rumours in the port began to spread and expand under the control of people with intentions.

    ¡°Henipolis is a good archon! He enacted many bills that benefited usmoners and gave us more civilian rights, but the nobles led by Alobamus refused to implement them!!¡±

    ¡°Did you know that our archon made a bill to allocatend to poor people, but Alobamus threatened his nephew and forced him to withdraw it?!¡±

    ¡°Brothers, even though we have helped Avinoges in expelling the Lucanians, our lives have not changed much! We still have no money, nond, and still doing the same hard and heavybours as when we were ves, and those people of Alobamus still treat us like ves!! We can''t go on like this!!!¡±

 Chapter 484: Cheirisophus Arrival

    Only after these rumours spread all over the city did Alobamus realise something was wrong with the city¡¯s situation. The rumours say that the original archon, Henipolis, was kind, while Alobamus was the tyrant who wanted to turn themoners of Laos back into ves!

    After learning about it, Alobamus became furious that he severely made his men immediately arrest those spreading the rumours and calm the situation down as soon as possible.

    But suddenly, news of Saru, the Praetor of Vergae, leading an army to Laos hade. At the same time, Bagul, the Praetor of Grumentum, had arrived in Nerulum with the 3,000 reserve soldiers newly conscripted in the Lucanian area, causing Alobamus to be nervous.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the third day after the battle against the Tarantines, the Spartan envoy ¨C Cheirisophus, sailed into the Gulf of Taranto.

    Before his departure, Cheirisophus carefully learned about the war situation in Magna Graecia. Thus he knew that the Syracusan navy blockaded the whole Gulf of Taranto, preventing the Theonians from sailing the sea, so he was prepared to encounter Syracusan patrols. However, he didn''t expect the ones he would meet were the Theonian patrols, which gave him a deep impression due to the striking ck hair wrapping around a bident design on their sails.

    And at this time, the Theonian patrol ship was no longer the old transport ship or the penteconter, but a genuine top of the line warship in the Greek city-state ¨C a trireme.

    The patrol ship stopped Cheirisophus'' ship asked for their purpose and where they were going. Then they went on board, ignoring Cheirisophus'' attendant¡¯s protest, and searched the ship to confirm if they hid armed men or weapons.

    At this moment, Cheirisophus asked loudly, ¡°When I passed by here a few days ago, I saw many Syracusan ships cruising in the gulf. Where did they all go?¡±

    The Theonian patrol captain who boarded the ship looked at Cheirisophus coldly. If not for his status as the Spartan envoy, he would have cursed and sneered at him, ¡°Where have they gone? Where else they could go besides falling into the sea and feed the fish or got imprisoned in Thurii!¡±

    After hearing this, Cheirisophus, who always remained calm, widened his eyes in surprise, ¡°You defeated the Syracusan navy?!¡±

    ¡°It seems you don''t believe it.¡± The captain spat a mouthful of thick spit into the sea and proudly said, ¡°Two days ago, King Davos led us topletely defeat the Syracusan navy who outnumbered us. Although the defeated Syracusans manage to flee back to Scylletium, it won''t be long before we wipe them outpletely! By then, we ¨C the Theonians, will own this sea!¡±

    Cheirisophus was shocked as he didn''t expect that a naval battle enough to change the whole situation of the war in Magna Graecia would happen while he was on his way here. At the same time, he also noticed another astonishing thing, ¡°Did you just say that Davos became a king?!¡±

    The captain instantly snapped at him, ¡°Spartan, watch your mouth! The name you mention is the king of Theonia Union, the divine descendant of Hades, the great Greek strategoi of hundred victories, the protector of the Theonians! Show enough respect and reverence, or we will seize your ship, and you will not enjoy the envoy''s treatment but will enter Thurii as a criminal!¡±

    Hearing the threat of the Theonians, Phidias would have been furious, but Cheirisophus was calm enough that he stopped talking. However, a storm was brewing inside of him¡­

    On their way to Thurii, Cheirisophus and the Perioeci* crew had difficulty epting the news about the Theonian fleet defeating the Syracusan navy. But as they approached Thurii, they were shocked to see countless triremes spread thickly across the sea, seemingly practising formations with shouts and salpinx ringing out in the entire sea¡­ (The Spartan citizens only have one profession ¨C Warriors, and they will not allow helots to serve as sailors because of their unpredictable dangers.)

    Cheirisophus and everyone on the ship were taken aback by the spectacr sight before them, and simr questions filled their hearts: ¡®Are all these triremes belonged to Theonia? Haven''t their battle against the Syracusan navy just ended? Howe they have so many ships left? Did the Persians give their assistance?¡­¡¯

    The Theonian fleet originally had about 150 triremes, and with the subsequent capture of over 150 ships from Syracuse, plus Tarantines'' 35 triremes, the Theonian navy has now over 330 triremes.

    These two days, Seclian was badly worried as he had to arrange for shipwrights to repair the ships damaged in the battle. At the same time, even though the number of ships increased, Thurii did not have so many sailors to operate them. Thus he had to rack his brains to finally think of a way to recruit sailors. After all, a ship without people will not be useful, however many are them.

    By this time, they had lifted the crisis in Heraclea, recovered Metapontum, and strengthed Roscianum''s confidence in following Theonia. Thus, with Davos''s permission, Seclian sent men to recruit sailors in these three allied cities and soon put more than 60 ships into service.

    However, these newly recruited sailors had no experience navigating a trireme, so Seclian was busy training the expanded fleet for the past two days. Furthermore, he didn''t need to hide the corvus anymore as the naval battle exposed the Theonian fleet''s secret weapon, so he just let the whole fleet appear in the gulf.

    So Cheirisophus and the others were curious when they saw the long ¡°nk¡± erected on the foremasts of Theonia''s many ships.

    ¡®It seems Theonia has really defeated the Syracusan navy!¡¯ Cheirisophus looked at the Theonian ships on the sea and pondered the impact of this important news on his mission to Thurii.

    After much deliberation, he found that this victory increased the possibility of the truce between Theonia and Syracuse, which cheered him up.

    Once the Spartan ship entered the estuary of the Crati River, they were ordered to disembark at the port. That is because, since the construction of Thurii''s military port on the banks of the Crati River, the docks in the city of Thurii were closed for secrecy, allowing no ships to cross the military port and go straight to the city of Thurii.

    If Cheirisophus hade to the port of Thurii a few days ago. He would have been surprised as the port had been deste due to the Syracusan navy''s blockade, with no merchant ships arriving or leaving. And the numerous freemen who depended on the port for their survival had nothing to do, most of whom wereter recruited to serve as sailors in the fleet, to work asbourers in the logistic camp and the transportation department of the Ministry of Military, and assigned to the Ministry of Agriculture to help the citizens'' families whockedbourers in the fields because their masters had gone to battle. Hence the port not only had no merchant ships but also almost all thebourers were transferred, making the whole port looks deserted. And even after their naval victory, Davos, because of the uing military operations against Syracuse and for secrecy''s sake, insisted on continuing the blockade of the port until they battle the Syracusans again despite the opposition of Marigi.

    But today, transport ships began entering the port again. Hence the Ministry of Military urgently dispatched numerousbourers to the port to unload the bags of grains, which were all free aid from their three allies, Roscianum, Heraclea and Metapontum, after they learned that Theonia is short of food and is calling for donations.

    Cheirisophus, who had experienced the Peloponnesian War, the Asia Minor War, and now the Corinthian War, knew how much damage a war could do to trade, not to mention the fact that the port of Thurii was blockaded previously. So he did not expect such liveliness today and was so surprised that he asked the Thurian officials who hade to greet them.

    After learning the truth, Cheirisophus was a bit surprised and thought, ¡®Could it be that just because of their naval victory, the allies of Theonia spared no effort to support the disadvantaged Theonia?¡¯

    After leaving the port and passing through the somewhat empty market, the wagon Cheirisophus and several attendants were riding was about to depart.

    Here, Cheirisophus and his attendants saw a spectacr sight: The roads and the roadsides were upied by countless Theonians, whether they were old and young, men and women, each holding a wooden box, or carrying packages, or leading pack animals as they march towards the city of Thurii¡­

    Cheirisophus became curious, so he asked the coachman.

    ¡°They are the people of Amendra who hade to Nike Square to donate so that our, Theonia, could continue this war to the end and defeat those vile Syracusans! While we, Thurians, have already donated yesterday. And I heard that the Bruttians are also donating, but not in Thurii''s Nike Square, but at Consentia¡­¡±

    Looking at the proud expression of the coachman and then looking at the people on the road who were talking andughing, it seems as if they were not going to give up their properties but attend an important gathering¡­which made Cheirisophus involuntarily think of the event when the Spartan popce sent off their loved ones to war, and their farewell words began echoing in his heart: ¡®Either return victoriously or be carried back!¡¯

    ¡®That sight was so simr to this! The Theonians not only did not fear war, but they also had the determination to carry it out to the end! But unlike Sparta''s centuries of history, this city-state union was only established for less than six years!¡¯ Cheirisophus felt a chill as he didn''t know whether to be worried about his mission or worried for the Syracusans, who obviously have the superior army for no reason¡­

 Chapter 485: Enemy, Not Friend

    Since Davos was not in the Senate now, there was no longer a need for Cheirisophus and the others to go to the city. Instead, they directly headed north to the camp.

    While passing through the second Arc de Triomphe outside the north of the city, Cheirisophus stood under it and looked up for a while before leaving.

    Thurii''s military camp is on the north bank on the junction between the Coscile and Tiro rivers. At present, Thurii''s military camp was no longer the simple camp with tents and fences back when they first rebuilt the city but a fully functional fortress.

    The abatis, moats, earthen fortification, wooden walls, and sentry towers erected every 20 metres on the wooden walls formed the outer defence of the camp. While inside the camp were rows of barracks built of bricks and tiles, each capable of amodating a squad of soldiers, with beds made into bunk beds, making the room more spacious.

    There were also stables for the cavalries, an armoury, a weapon repair workshop, a kitchen, a clinic, and even a waterwheel, which brought water from the Tiro River into the camp''s bathing rooms (only cold water baths for the soldiers).

    And of course the most important and indispensable part of the camp: Themand headquarters, consisting of the amodation for the grand legatus, the senior army officials, and the conference room; The training ground, one for the light infantry, one for the heavy infantry, one for the cavalry, one for weapon testing(mainly for the assembly and testing ofrge siege equipment), and the grand training ground (where the joint training, formations, and assessment of the troops took ce). In addition, there were several special training grounds: City Defence Training Ground (To train the troops in building camps, defences and sieges; thend on this training ground would often be dug and patched. It is filled with devastation.) Training grounds on both sides of the Tiro River (training for wading across the river and shipnding. Thus, they are equipped with dozen small transport ships). And mountain training ground (for training in mountain operations, but not located in the camp. Instead, it is in the mountain range west of the camp, over the hot spring baths).

    For Theonia, a city-state founded through military, the camps built near the cities in Theonia are the most functional and advanced training camps among the countries, city-states and ethnic groups in the Mediterranean in this era, especially the ones in Thurii. As the centre of Theonia, Thurii has thergest number of soldiers; hence the camp could train 5000 people at a time and could fully amodate 50,000 people. It also has 500 soldiers stationed in rotation all year round, not including some civil servants of Theonia.

    It is because of the existence of these camps that the official citizens, preparatory citizens and freemen of Theonia, who were farmers, herdsmen, fishermen, merchants and so on, and have no battlefield experience, are quickly forged into qualified legionaries after one-two years of strict training. That is the reason why the fifth legion, which has never been on a real battlefield, did not lose in the confrontation against Syracuse''s elite soldiers who had fought all year round.

    At this moment, Cheirisophus saw that the ten-metre high wooden wall in front of him extended infinitely to both sides that he could not see the end. So he could only imagine the scale of the military camp.

    ¡®This is obviously a city!¡¯ Cheirisophus could not stop himself from asking in surprise, ¡°Is this your military camp?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, this is Thurii''s military camp. It is where the citizens of Thurii, Amendra and Besidice trained.¡± The official replied.

    Cheirisophus looked up again at the defenders patrolling back and forth on the wooden wall and the archers staring into the distance from the tower. This heavily guarded camp made him feel a little uneasy, so he said, ¡°Let''s go in.¡±

    But the official stopped, turned and said solemnly to Cheirisophus and his attendant, ¡°Because we are now in a period of war, we cannot reveal the military secrets in this camp. Thus, his majesty Davos requires you to wear a mask and be blindfolded before you can enter.¡± After saying that, he pulled out a ck mask.

    At the same time as the suspension bridge of the camp was lowered and the camp''s gate opened, a team of fully armed soldiers lined up.

    Then the attendants of Cheirisophus exploded in anger, ¡°Theonians, do you know what you just said?!¡±

    ¡°How dare you blindfold us! When we Spartans go anywhere, we are always greeted respectfully by the archons and strategoi of those city-states. This is a humiliation to us Spartans!¡±

    ¡°Theonians, are you not afraid of provoking the wrath of Sparta?!¡±

    The Theonian officials werepletely unafraid of the Spartan''s usations. Instead, he sneered, ¡°A few years ago, a Spartan envoy threatened us with the same words and got expelled out of Thurii. If you are unwilling to carry out our request, then we regretfully ask you to leave Thurii.¡±

    The attendant suddenly quieted down as the man the official was talking about was Phidias, who had be a joke among the Spartans for a long time after he returned to Sparta from Thurii. Thus, they all looked at Cheirisophus as they didn''t want Phidias¡¯ fate to fall on them.

    ¡®This is Theonia''s disy of determination!¡¯ Cheirisophus sighed inwardly.

    Unlike Phidias, Cheirisophus is one of the few Spartans with genuine diplomatic qualities. That is why the Gerousia entrusted him with the important task of being the envoy to Magna Graecia. At this moment, he took a deep breath after seeing the situation turn bad; his gazended on the Theonian official and said, ¡°I ept your request. However, I hope to see your king soon!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The young man, who was only 24 years old and now the king of Theonia, sat in the centre of the room. His appearance almost remained the same except for an additional circle of stubble on his jaw. However, the impression he gave to Cheirisophus waspletely different from when they parted.

    After Cheirisophus entered, Davos sat quietly and looked at him seriously: Cheirisophus could feel an imposing momentum emanated from the young king as it slowly pressed towards him like a steep mountain.

    He then realised that this meeting seemed formal due to other people sitting on either side of Davos. Thus Davos definitely wouldn¡¯t talk about their personal friendship.

    This forced Cheirisophus, who had just taken off his mask, to speak first, to break the silence that had overwhelmed him, ¡°By the Gerousia''s order, I, Cheirisophus, the envoy of Sparta, is on a mission to Theonia and wishes to be treated with due respect and hospitality.¡±

    Kunogta, who was sitting on the left side of Davos, said with a serious expression, ¡°Sparta, as the ally of Greeks, should have maintained the peace among the Greek city-states, yet you, by virtue of your strength, bullied the weak and provoke wars everywhere. Such a city-state is not worthy of Theonia''s respect!¡±

    Cheirisophus was already uneasy, but he still did not expect Theonia''s attitude towards Sparta would be so bad. Although he was unhappy, it was fortunate that he had been to other city-states many times and had rich experience, so he quickly replied, ¡°Who can say who is right and who is wrong in the dispute of interests between city-states. Besides, it happened in the eastern Mediterranean and has nothing to do with Magna Graecia.¡±

    Then an elderly white-haired man to the right of Davos, Scambras, stood up and usingly said, ¡°We don''t care what you did in Greece. But Sparta meddling in our war with Syracuse, assisting the abominable Syracusans to trample on ournd and ughtering our people, that is our enemy! We have no respect for our enemies, only anger!¡±

    ¡®Do they know?!¡¯ Cheirisophus looked at Davos.

    Davos looked grim as he stared at him sharply.

    Cheirisophus argued calmly, ¡°Although we have an alliance between Syracuse, Sparta has never meddled in the affairs of the western Mediterranean, nor has it ever sent troops. Furthermore, Sparta has no animosity towards Theonia!¡­¡±

    ¡°Phidias.¡± Davos opened his mouth and said the name that made Cheirisophus dread to hear. Then Davos continued in a cold and unhurried tone, ¡°A strategos of Sparta and the brother of Eudamidas. He had also oncee to Theonia on a mission and is now present in the Syracusan army,manding the right nk of the Syracusan army''s formation in the battle against the South Italian Alliance. Don''t tell me that he acted independently without authorisation or that Sparta has long exiled him. As far as I know, he led the Spartan army to battle in Corinth a few months ago. ¡±

    Davos'' words blocked all the possibilities for Cheirisophus to argue. At the same time, it made him surprised at Theonia''s detailed information about Phidias. Since he had nothing to hesitate and worry about, he simply changed the subject and bluntly said, ¡°Sparta hopes that Theonia and Syracuse will cease this war and sign a peace agreement so that the people of Magna Graecia can rebuild their homes!¡±

    ¡°Did I hear it wrong?! Sparta began to care about our Magna Graecia?!¡± The taunting of Scambras fell on deaf ears as Cheirisophus fixed his gaze straight on Davos.

    ¡°Did Dionysius agree?¡± Instead of being surprised, Davos asked rhetorically.

    ¡°I hade to Thurii first to ask your opinion before I go to Scylletium.¡± Answered Cheirisophus.

    ¡°What is the armistice condition?¡± Kunogta interjected.

    Cheirisophus carefully stated the n he had considered while on his journey, ¡°Although Theonia won a naval battle, you must still admit that Syracuse upies a great advantage in Magna Graecia. They had not only conquered the other city-states of Magna Graecia, but they now also about to enter your territory, while your Theonia is still unstable¡­so my suggestion is-¡±

    Cheirisophus looked at Davos and seriously said, ¡°Both sides will have a truce and maintain their current condition.¡±

    After Cheirisophus said this, a cold silence shrouded the ce, so he immediately added, ¡°Naturally, you can also say your conditions and let us, Sparta, be responsible for coordinating.¡±

 Chapter 486: Second Siege of Crotone

    ¡°What about Scylletium and Terina?¡± The scowling Kunogta asked loudly.

    ¡°I believe Syracuse will restore the independence of these two city-states. After all, Syracuse is in Sicily and not in Magna Graecia.¡± Cheirisophus said without thinking.

    ¡°Independence?!¡± Scambras sneered, ¡°You mean for Syracuse to support a ¡®Ten Tyrants¡¯ government as you Spartans did in the Greek city-states of Asia Minor!¡±

    Cheirisophus'' expression changed slightly.

    Then Davos said, ¡°Do you want to hear our terms?¡±

    ¡°Say it.¡± A slight nervousness arose in Cheirisophus'' heart.

    ¡°As long as Syracuse withdraws from Magna Graecia-¡± The words of Davos made Cheirisophus rejoice. However, when he was just about to answer, he heard Davos say in an increasingly louder tone, ¡°And give independence to Messina, Catania, Tauromenium, dissolve the Sicilian League, and above all must banish Dionysius! That is my condition, and it won''t be changed! If Syracuse agrees, we will agree to a truce!¡±

    Cheirisophus thought Davos was joking, but he saw his determined expression and the others bing excited after hearing this.

    Only silence remained in the conference hall for a few moments. Then disappointment showed in Cheirisophus'' expression, ¡°Syracuse can¡¯t possibly ept the terms you have proposed. It seems that you Theonians are nning to carry on this war with huge consumption and numerous casualties!¡±

    ¡°Syracuse is the one that started this war with Dionysius leading an army to invade Magna Graecia, upying thends of Theonia''s allies and killing the Magna Graecians like a vicious wolf breaking into our homes, and wants to leave safely after eating and drinking!¡± Davos stood up and said decisively, ¡°I once promised to the people to kill all the Syracusans who invaded Magna Graecia! For this reason, all of Theonia''s citizens have made up their minds to fight the Syracusans to the death!¡±

    What Davos said shocked not only Cheirisophus but also the statesmen that are present, who were also hearing Davos speak about the seeding n for the war for the first time.

    ¡°Davos.¡± Cheirisophus hurriedly reminded him by calling his name, ¡°I can understand your eagerness for revenge, but Syracuse is not a wolf, but a lion! If you miss this chance for peace, I am afraid that if you can''t beat this lion, it will instead pounce into the house and bite everyone to death!¡±

    A clear threat could be heard in Cheirisophus'' words, but Davos only replied, ¡°Only after the battle will we know who really is the fierce lion!¡±

    Cheirisophus heard Davos'' determination to fight Syracuse to the death, but he still wants to persuade him.

    However, Davos loudly said, ¡°In Persia, you and I fought on the same side. Now that you havee, I should have treated you well, but unfortunately¡­now is a time of war, and you and I are enemies, not friends! I am sorry, I can only let you leave. But once this war is over, we''ll get together again once youe back!¡±

    Knowing that his mission had failed, Cheirisophus said indifferently, ¡°I fear that we won''t see each other again¡­¡±

    Davos smiled faintly and said, ¡°On the contrary, I am certain that you wille back again!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Cheirisophus remained serious and silent after they left the camp.

    Once he got into the port, he boarded his ship and left the dock. But without his instructions, the captain didn''t know where to go, so he had to ask loudly, ¡°Cheirisophus, shall we go to Scylletium?¡±

    Cheirisophus recovered from his thoughts and decisively said, ¡°No. Let''s go straight back to Sparta.¡±

    ¡°Go back?!¡± The captain was puzzled as he vaguely remembered that their mission was to stop the war between Theonia and Syracuse, and they had just gone to Theonia.

    ¡°The Theonians are arrogant who refused to make a truce and presumed that they could defeat the Syracusans. It seems that this newly established city-state union will soon disappear!¡± The attendant mocked loudly.

    ¡°Perhaps. And it seems that we, Spartans, can only rely on ourselves in this period.¡± Said Cheirisophus, but Davos''s determined and confident expression kepting to his mind, as this simr expression had appeared before the valley annihtion in Persia, Battle of the Centrites River¡­and many times in the meetings whenever the mercenary army encountered difficulties and conducted military discussions. Davos used this expression to convince the military leaders to adopt his advice to help the mercenaries out of trouble. This time, although Syracuse has a clear advantage onnd, an uneasiness remained in his heart¡­

    Cheirisophus stood at the stern as he watched the port of Thruii gradually fade out of his sight¡­

    He knew in his heart that from now on, the young man who humbly asked him for advice and made him admire him was gone forever. Davos was now the king of Theonia and had be the sworn enemy of Syracuse, the enemy of Sparta, and naturally his enemy¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos led the senate statesmen to prepare the military rations, the army''s training, replenishing the legions (the first and second legions have some losses after these battles). And Theonia''s fleet was also busy recruiting sailors, training the newly joined ships, and formation training. The whole of Thurii is busily moving.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    To the south of Theonia, Syracuseunched the second massive siege on Crotone.

    Before they attacked the city, Dionysius left 10,000 troops in the northwest of the camp to defend against a possible raid by the Theonian army of Aprustum. At the same time, he sent all the cavalries and mercenary cavalries of Syracuse to roam in the north of the Crotonian in and even the swampy area of Krimisa. Both to observe the movement of Thurii in the north and harass the Krimisians, preventing its defenders from sending troops to assist Crotone.

    Although they had burned the pontoon bridge over the Neto River and the entire river was under the control of the Syracusan navy, making it impossible for the Theonian army to cross the river, the prudent Dionysius still had to prepare for any sudden situation. On the sea outside Crotone¡¯s port, Leptines was on standby with more than 200 ships (including the squadron that had arrived from Messina). Dionysius gave him strict orders to hold back the Theonian fleet from reinforcing the city of Crotone.

    Once everything was ready, they sounded the salpinx and beat the drums. Amidst the continuous roaring of stone projectiles hitting the city wall, the more than 70,000 Syracusan soldiers pushed dozenrge siege towers, siege wagons and all kinds ofrge siege weapons, as well as countless longdders, as they approached the city wall from the north, west and south.

    Furthermore, Dionysius also ordered the army to escort and forced more than four thousand non-Crotonian prisoners to build an inclined ramp from outside the moat* while the Crotonians were busy preparing for the siege and had no time to take care of them. (They no longer need to build a tform for the lookout and the archers to shoot their arrows.)

    Realising the urgent situation, the Crotonians made all the soldiers go to the city wall and have Theonia''s ballista team on standby, with Lysias organising all the people who could wield shields and spears to be ready for reinforcements.

    Then a massive, fierce and unusual siege battle began¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the Praetor of Aprustum''s residence, Epiphanes, the legatus of the fourth legion, asked anxiously, ¡°Philesius, are we really not going to help Crotone?! Our brothers are holding their anger and want to avenge Dracos and our dead brothers! From the scouts'' report, the Syracusans prepared fully this time and mobilised almost their whole army. If we don''t give them our help, I fear that the Crotonians will have great difficulties in dealing with them!¡±

    Philesius calmly pointed to the south and said, ¡°Although the Syracusans went to attack Crotone, Dionysius did not forget us. They built a heavily guarded camp to block the road leading to Crotone. Do you want our two legions to suffer losses there? Moreover, we receive an order!¡±

    Epiphanes, who could not respond, paced back and forth in the room. Then he irritably said, ¡°I don''t understand, why Lord Davos-¡±

    Agasias interrupted him and reminded, ¡°It''s his majesty Davos now!¡±

    ¡°Okay, his majesty Davos.¡± Epiphanes shrugged his shoulders with a look of disbelief as he thought that there was no difference between an archon for life and a king, ¡°Why his majesty Davos send the mountain reconnaissance team to order us to ¡®Hold on to the city of Aprustum and not attack rashly¡¯! We already won the naval battle, so we could have immediately sent the fleet south to repel the Syracusan fleet again and allow our army to build a pontoon bridge over the Neto River and deter the Syracusans from marching north. Furthermore, they won''t dare to attack Crotone with all their strength!¡±

    ¡°After a great battle, the army would usually have to rest for at least four days before taking further action, which should also be true for the fleet.¡± Philesius defended Davos based on his own experience, ¡°Hence our task now is to guard Aprustum,fort the soldiers and wait for his majesty to lead the army. And since even the Syracusan navy, which we thought is impossible to defeat, has been defeated by the fleet led by his majesty, it is even more impossible for Syracuse''s army to defeat the legionmanded by his majesty!¡±

 Chapter 487: Fall of Crotone

    ¡°Well, you are themander, so you have the final say.¡± Epiphanes shrugged at Philesius. He then turned to Agasias andined, ¡°Lord Praetor, can you get some wheat flour for our brothers? It''s okay to have no oats, but we should at least cook porridge. Our brothers were only eating dried beef for two days in a row that they are now having a little difficulty to poop.¡±

    ¡°As the legatus of the fourth legion, you should know that half of the soldiers of the fourth legion hade from here, so how could the people here mistreat their loved ones? However, Aprustum is, after all, a small city with a small poption and does not produce wheat. Besides, you have already eaten up all the people''s extra food that they have stock, so there is no food left!¡± Agasias said helplessly.

    ¡°Bear with it a little longer. I already asked the reconnaissance team to tell his majesty that we have food shortages because the Syracusan calvaries have cut off our grain transport route. So I believe that it won''t be long before his majesty arrives with arge army and solve the food problem.¡± Philesius reassured him.

    ¡°Wait! Wait! All we do is just wait!!¡­¡± Epiphanes became increasingly anxious after Drakos'' death. He then shouted as he no longer wanted to stay in the Praetor''s residence, ¡°I''ll go to the city and see the situation.¡±

    With that, he strode out.

    Agasias could only look at Philesius, who was sitting in a dazed. He deeply felt that Drakos'' death greatly impacted both of them, and he himself was no different. Agasias invited Timasion, Cleander, and their formerrades to Theonia years ago, but they attacked Krimisa without approval and triggered the second war with Crotone. Although Davos never med him, and they eventually defeated Crotone, resulting in Theonia''s power expanding, he still med himself very much. So from then on, Agasias devoted a lot of his energy to political matters to forget his guilt. Thus after several years of hard work, Agasias became the second person in this group of statesmen who were former mercenaries to be appointed as a Praetor because of his good administrative ability (the first one was Hielos).

    So with the political experience that he umted and his dealing with the Crotonians, he knew how unwilling the people of Crotone were about losing their hegemony in South Italia. Especially after they recovered their strength in the past few years and began singing a different tune than Theonia in the South Italian Alliance, hence he started to have another guess in his mind about Davos'' order of not attacking rashly, ¡®His majesty seemed to have the intention of letting Syracuse weaken Crotone. But could Theonia defeat Syracuse on its own?!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Siege of Crotone was going on fiercely.

    The Syracusans used the archers at the top of the siege tower and the gastraphetes to sweep away the defenders at the top of the city wall as they slowly approached the walls.

    The Crotonians, in the past two-three days, also discussed some ways to defend against the siege towers, such as concentrated long-range attacks with ballistae, throwing oil jars and burning them with fire once the siege towers came close, and making a long iron-d log to push the siege towers and keep it from getting close to the city walls¡­

    However, even with all these efforts, several siege towers came close to the walls and lowered the drawbridge, through which the Syracusan soldiers poured up to the city wall and fiercely fought the defenders.

    Lysias hurriedly sent reinforcements and drove the enemy down the city wall one after another after a fierce battle.

    But while the Crotonians did their all defending against the siege towers, the Syracusan soldiers climbed up the city wall through the siegedders and fought fiercely with the defenders.

    Crotone defended stubbornly together with Terina and Scylletium''s troops.

    By afternoon, Syracuse''s siege shattered Crotone''s gate in the north. Fortunately, the Crotonians had already blocked the entrance with stones and wood.

    Yet thebined use of several siege equipment eventually led to the copse of a section of the city wall, resulting in heavy casualties to the defenders.

    The Syracusan soldiers took this opportunity to quickly climb the copsed wall and rush into the city.

    Fortunately, the reserved organised by Lysias arrived in time. This group of freemen, elderly and teenagers, barely resisted the fierce attack of the experienced Syracusan soldiers by relying on theirrge number and morale to defend their homes.

    And when dusk arrived, and the sky started to get darker, themanders of the allied troops such as Lysias and Siprus looked ted, thinking that the battle that hadsted the whole day was over.

    Unfortunately, Dionysius did not intend to return to their camp at all. He ordered the ves to push the carts filled with wood, bitumen, resin and piles of oiled hemp into the moat and lit them with fire, which suddenly ignited piles of mes, illuminating the entire city wall.

    Dionysius immediately ordered, ¡®Blow the salpinx! Beat the drums! Continue to attack the city!!¡¯

    The defenders, who were struggling and thought that the battle had ended, saw the Syracusans retreat in one wave and attack in another without end, causing the defenders'' morale to plummet.

    Finally, the Syracusan''s relentless effort to siege the city has paid off. Under the urging of the soldiers and after sacrificing countless lives, the prisoners had finally made a ramp high enough to reach the top of the city wall.

    Then the Syracusan soldiers on standby rushed up to the top of the city wall and fought the defenders who came to intercept. Dionysius had be anxious that he even asked his personal guards to join the battle at the top of the city wall.

    The defenders could finally no longer fend off the enemy and began retreating, thus allowing the Syracusans to gain a foothold at the city wall and expand rapidly in other directions.

    ¡°Quick! Quickly find Lysias! Tell him to send reinforcements quickly. Otherwise, we won''t be able to defend the north gate!¡± Ascamas shouted angrily at the herald.

    But at this moment, the north, west and south of Crotone are under fierce attack. Yet there were no extra reinforcements to send because the port in the east had to defend itself against thending of numerous enemy ships cruising in the sea, while Crotone''s only reserve unit was struggling to fend off the enemy troops attacking through the gap in the walls.

    Just as the Crotonian strategoi were stretched out to the limit and could only watch the enemy rush to the city wall and wreak havoc, ¡°Boom!¡­Crush!¡­¡± several loud noises sounded as another section of the city wall was destroyed by the siege engines. Amidst the dust and the roaring of the Syracusans, the Crotonians fighting for their homnd finally showed fear and, under cover of the night, began to shout in panic, ¡°Run! The enemy ising in! They broke through the city!¡­¡±

    Once the reserve unit with low morale retreated, the defenders in the city began to retreat as well¡­

    After breaking through the city wall, the Syracusans rushed into the city andpletely destroyed the defence in the north of the city.

    Lysias, Siprus and the other top officials were anguished to witness: the panicked-stricken soldiers ignoring their persuasion and run past them like a tide as they fled into depths of the city; the people on both sides of the street helped the elder and the young as they also fled together; With cries, screams and shrieks resounding throughout the city¡­

    Seeing the enemy clear up the defenders on the city wall and advance towards the city''s centre, Lysias, although anxious, waspletely confused and didn''t know what to do.

    Suddenly, a long line of torches appeared from the depths of the city, ¡°Go to the Temple of Apollo!!! Go to the Temple of Apollo!!!¡­¡±

    This neat shouting reminded the panicking Crotonians to stumble towards the Temple of Apollo* with the illumination of the torches. (The Acropolis is located near the centre of the city.)

    Then Lysias and his people also rushed over.

    ¡°Who told you to do this?!¡± Lysias asked the soldier holding the torch.

    ¡°It was strategos Milo!¡± Answered the soldier.

    Although Milo was not a strategos anymore, and his task of defending the port was due to Ascamas'' request, it still did not prevent the soldiers from respecting him.

    Lysias did not care about these at this time. On the contrary, he was inwardly grateful to Milo because the consequences would be unthinkable without his timely measures to guide the people to the Acropolis.

    He then turned to look at the burning city wall when he saw some soldiers still trying their best to stop the enemy''s advance.

    So Lysias reminded the soldiers beside him, ¡°The enemy wille soon, so you must also rush back to the Acropolis as soon as possible!¡± After saying that, he and the others merged into the chaotic flow of people as they needed to rush to the Acropolis to appease the panicking people and maintain the order of the Acropolis. At the same time, they must organise the people to defend the Acropolis, thest defence of Crotone.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Milord, we won! We broke through Crotone!!¡± Damocles became excited.

    Dionysius was also unable to contain his joy. After receiving his attendants'' congrattions, he immediately piously praised Apollo to express his gratitude.

    Amidst the cheerings, Phidias expression was slightly different as he was in deep thought. Today''s siege gave him a great shock, not only those ingenious and powerful siege engines but also the order coordination of the whole huge siege units. However, what rmed him the most was Dionysius¡¯ ruthlessness.

    The act of Dionysius killing the soldiers and troops who failed to storm the city and fled the battlefield was inconceivable! In the traditions of Greek warfare, there was no practice of disposing deserters, not even in Sparta. After all, the whole Spartan society revered the honour in battles, making deserters have nowhere to stay. Yet Dionysius not only did it, but he also did it more than once, forcing the Syracusan soldiers to attack desperately regardless of their survival, which surprisingly created a miracle in a day to break through the city of Crotone, a powerhouse in Magna Graecia.

    This made Phidias admire Dionysius, who he previously thought was terrible at fieldbat. However, such a victory was based on the fact that Dionysius didn''t care about the number of casualties.

 Chapter 488: Armys Departure

    As a Spartan soldier who had long experience on the battlefield, Phidias observed the entire progress of the siege, allowing him to roughly calcte that the casualties of Syracuse were nearly 10,000! Such massive losses are far beyond what Sparta could bear. And even if Sparta gathers its allies to form a considerable force, they still won''t attack a city by such bloody means because it will inevitably make their allies'' resistance expand. This is what made Phidias helpless and frightened: Dionysius, the ruthless and cruel Sicilian tyrant, has too much control over his army!

    ¡°We no longer have any more obstacles in front of us. It''s time to attack Theonia!¡± Dionysius, who took down Crotone, had the boulder weighing in his heart fall off the ground. He then turned his head to look north in the night and said that with expectations.

    ¡®Oh right, Davos!¡¯ Dionysius¡¯ words had reminded Phidias, who was also filled with expectations, ¡®Could Theonia, who were outnumbered and without the help of Crotone, survive the war?!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Currently, it was four in the morning. Besides the patrolling soldiers, the officers and soldiers of Thurii''s military camp had fallen into a deep sleep. Suddenly, a hurried knocking on the door broke the silence of the military camp.

    ¡°Your majesty, there is an urgent military situation! Syracuse has broken through the city of Crotone!¡± Martius, the guard captain, said anxiously.

    ¡°Crotone was breached?!¡± The shocking newspletely expelled Davos'' drowsiness. He still felt some disbelief, so he asked, ¡°Who sent back the report? Is it true?!¡±

    ¡°The mountain reconnaissance team delivered it. Aristias had also brought the same report.¡±

    For Syracuse to conquer Crotone in one day, which had a ten-metre-high wall and enough soldiers, just shows their strong ability to conquer a city. It made Davos so shocked that it swept away his joy at receiving the news of Bodiam''s people killing him and his tribe surrendering. He then immediately made a decision, ¡°Martius, immediately call Antonios, Amintas, Matonis and Kapus to discuss the matter! Also, send someone to call the statesmen!!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Martius took the order and hurried away.

    Davos did indeed have the thought of having ¡°Crotone and Syracuse consume each other and buy more time for Theonia¡±, giving him more time to train the newly formed troops and prepare the logistics better. And for the situation in the Bruttian region to stabilise and the conclusion of Laos'' betrayal, allowing Theonia''s territory to be more stable and giving more soldiers to join the expedition, which would increase his confidence to defeat Syracuse.

    Unfortunately, ns couldn''t keep up with the changes. ¡®Dionysius¡­¡¯ Davos stood outside his residence and looked south into the endless darkness while clenching his fist¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The always emptyrge training field in Thurii''s military camp was filled with the first, second, seventh and the sarissa brigade and the logistics camp early the following morning. Both the soldiers and the logistics personnel stood upright and silently looked at the stage in front of them.

    Davos, dressed in his military attire, stood on the stage and looked at the tens of thousands of soldiers under the stage. Then he shouted, ¡°Warriors of Theonia, you had followed me arrowed since the outbreak of this war. You are not afraid of hard work and sacrifice. You fought bravely to defeat the fierce Samnites and eliminate the cunning Tarantines, ensuring the safety of Theonia''s northern border. You are Theonia¡¯s heroes!

    You should''ve gotten a Triumphant Return, but the war is not over yet. The culprit of this war ¨C Syracuse, had conquered the city of Crotone yesterday. They are about to set foot on ournd and have the mes of war to burn our homes and turn us into their ves! As Theonians, what should we do?!¡±

    As soon as Davos uttered his words, an earth-shaking roar came from the field, ¡°DEFEAT SYRACUSE!!!¡±

    ¡°DEFEAT THEM!!! KILL THEM ALL!!!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos waited for the excited soldiers to quiet a bit. He then took a deep breath and shouted, ¡°Warriors, we are about to head south to face the evil Syracusans. In appreciation of your great contribution and sacrifice to Theonia, the Senate and I have discussed and decided-¡±

    Davos paused for a moment. Then he took another deep breath and shouted loudly, ¡°After we win this arduous war, the freemen who participated in this war will be preparatory citizens, all preparatory citizens will be official citizens, and the citizens of Theonia will receive double rewards ording to your merits!!¡±

    The field ground became lively again, and this time with an overwhelming cheer, ¡°All hail Theonia!!! All hail King Davos!!!¡­¡±

    After all, both freemen and preparatory citizens reason to fight for the Theonia Union in the face of powerful enemies because they feel Theonia can protect their rights and bring benefits to their future. And with Davos giving them what they want in advance would definitely make them fight even more bravely to attain it as soon as possible, especially the sarissa brigade, which is mainlyposed of freemen.

    In front of the powerful invasion of Syracuse, Davos did not hesitate to use any means to bolster the soldier''s morale in order to increase Theonia''s chance of victory. As for where to get the ¡°allocatednd¡± needed for the numerous new and old citizens, Davos didn''t have to worry about it: After they defeat Syracuse, do they still fear having nond?!

    After Davos¡¯ lecture, he immediately announced their departure.

    After the military camp''s gate was opened, the soldiers of the first, second, seventh legions and the sarissa brigade lined up in a neat column as they walked out of the camp in turn and marched eastward.

    The freemen of the logistics team, on the other hand, rushed to Thurii''s granary, where there were mountains of military rations donated by the Theonian popce and their allies in the past two days, which they would carry to the port and then transport it to Krimisa''s port through numerous transport ship.

    Before the long marching column reached the city of Thurii, countless people were standing on both sides of the road and asked curiously, ¡°Where are you all going? Could it¡­could it be to attack the Syracusans?!¡­¡±

    The crowd became excited once they received the soldier''s confirmation. After the sessive victories, they no longer fear the Syracusan army in the south. On the contrary, they hoped that the Theonian army could banish them away and restore Theonia''s peace as soon as possible.

    Thus once the people heard the news, they kept arriving and increasing the crowd. However, they consciously did not obstruct the road and interfere with the march. Rather, they formed a long parallel flow of people on both sides of the road, extending to the wooden bridge on the Crati River.

    While they cheered for the soldiers, the people searched for their loved ones, praying to Hades for their safety and offering their best wishes.

    Amidst the people''s attention and wishes, the soldiers became more enliven, especially the freemen of the sarissa brigade, as this was the first time they enjoyed this honour. Thus they straightened their backs and held their heads high.

    ¡°Oh, is this the newly formed legion?! Why haven''t I seen them before?!¡±

    ¡°Why aren''t they armed?!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos was afraid that their long-distance marching would reveal the secret of the sarissa brigade, making their surprise attack ineffective. Thus the curious people didn''t know that Davos wrapped the sarissas and transported them to Krimisa by the sea with the military rations of the logistics team and then ordered Olivos to receive them.

    But the bewildered crowd''s inquiries were mixed with the greetings from their loved ones.

    ¡°Tapirus! Tapirus!¡­.¡± Tapirus, the sarissa brigade''s toon captain*, could hear a clear, excited voice over the noisy surroundings. When he turned his head, he saw the person he was looking for ¨C his wife, Maicia. (He was promoted after the training for his outstanding performance.)

    She waved her arms excitedly and shouted affectionately, ¡°Tapirus, I will go to the Temple of Hades day and night to pray for you, soe back safely as soon as possible!¡±

    Although Tapirus did not speak and just waved his arms in response, his heart was filled with affection. He and Maicia were both ves that had met at Cheiristoya Restaurant, and their simr experiences brought them close quickly and supported each other. After Tapirus got his freedom, Maicia was also freed the following year from very for her outstanding performance, which Cheiristoya appreciated. Soon after, they got married in the presence of goddess Hera.

    At this moment, Tapirus looked fondly at the figure of his wife, who was still chasing the army along the road, when a voice echoed in his heart, ¡®Wait for me, Maicia! Once I return, we will be citizens of this great union! We will have our ownnd! We will build a nice house! And have four-five children!¡­¡¯

    As the army moved quickly to the city of Thurii, the first legion broke away from the main force and went straight east. They are going to the naval base on the Crati River, board the ¡°corvus¡± ship and follow the fleet south to find the Syracusan navy and fight them again at sea, while the main force continued to head to the wooden bridge over the Crati River.

    In front of the wooden bridge, the statesmen also came to see the army off. They were not as optimistic as the people, who do not know about the fall of Crotone, which made them unable to sleepst night as the news was like a huge stone causing ripples on the hearts of each statesman. Thus they were filled with worries about this war.

    ¡°Your majesty!¡± Kunogta, Cornelius and the other statesmen once again bowed deeply to Davos as they did before the naval battle, ¡°We''ll leave the fight against Syracuse to you!!¡±

 Chapter 489: Battle of the sea near Crotone (I)

    Hearing the heavy expectations in their words, Davos smiled lightly and said, ¡°You don''t need to worry about Syracuse. Instead, you should worry about whether we have enough men to govern thosends in the south of Magna Graecia after we defeat our enemy!¡±

    As the statesmen became stunned, Davos turned his head and took a deep look at the hills facing the river in the east of the city of Thurii. He knew that his wife and children must also be gazing this way, looking forward to his early victorious return¡­

    ¡°Let''s go.¡± With a slight cough, he turned his horse''s head and set foot onto the wooden bridge with his personal guards.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Syracusan soldiers burned, killed and looted the city of Crotone overnight; their main victims were mostly the freemen and foreigners in the port area and nearly half of Crotone''s popce who failed to escape into the Acropolis in time.

    Noon the following day, most of the Syracusan soldiers were still sleeping in the military camp or the houses of the civilians in the city of Crotone in order to recover their exhausted strength.

    Dionysius, on the other hand, got up early in the morning and led his men to deal with military matters.

    The first thing they need to solve urgently is the wounded. Yesterday''s battle results were brilliant, but their losses were equally huge. From the preliminary statisticsst night, the number of casualties in the battle alone exceeded 5,000, and there were more than 4,000 soldiers with varying degrees of light wounds. It resulted in Syracuse losing about 1/8 of its strength after this battle. So they need toplete a series of tedious matters such as saving the wounded, replenishing the soldiers and reorganising the troops as soon as possible.

    Yet the most time-consuming andborious matter ¨C cleaning up the battlefield and burying the dead, had instead be the easiest to aplish as the Syracusans only needed to send the tens of thousands of Crotonians who had be prisoners to serve asbourers. Thus the countless prisoners wailed as they carefully sorted the remains of Crotonian soldiers who had died both inside and outside the city walls! While numerous prisoners quietly kicked and cursed and vented their anger as they dragged the bodies of Syracusan soldiers!

    But for Dionysius, he didn''t care too much about those, as what he cares more about is Crotone''s Acropolis. The Acropolis is located just south of Crotone''s centre and is built on a hill, and have thergest Temple of Apollo in Magna Graecia. Thus, the Acropolis of Apollo is naturally thergest among the city-state in Magna Graecia.

    Dionysius should have taken precautions when the city fell because retreating to the Acropolis was the final defensive strategy often adopted by Greek city-states. However, because of the fierce fighting in the daytime, the Syracusan soldiers attacked violently carried out crazy killing and looting in the city after they breached the wallst night. Furthermore, Dionysius was unable to effectivelymand his troops because of the darkness, which dyed their attack and resulted in more than half of the Crotonians(including many soldiers) fleeing into the Acropolis under the management of Milo and Lysias, which gave the Acropolis sufficient manpower to defend.

    Furthermore, the Acropolis is situated in high terrain and surrounded by houses, making it impossible for therge siege engines toe near the walls. So unless they razed the surrounding houses and buildings, and built a sturdy and wide causeway to allow the siege towers and siege wagons to reach the walls, an attack from below by soldiers alone would not only cause heavy casualties but would also be difficult to aplish.

    However, it would take a long time to prepare if they did such a siege, and what Dionysiuscks the most now is time. He also needs to lead his army to attack Theonia as he will never allow his biggest enemy to have more breathing opportunities to stabilise his territory and form more troops.

    Thus Dionysius sent messengers to have the Crotonians in the Acropolis surrender by threatening them with the lives of the captured Crotonians and soldiers.

    Unfortunately for Dionysius, the Crotonians hiding in the Acropolis had witnessed the atrocitiesmitted by the Syracusans in the cityst night while suffering through the night amidst the heartrending wails of theirpatriots. With their fear and hatred of the Syracusans and Syracuse''s tyranny in Scylletium, the Crotonians regarded Syracuse as a ¡°man-eating beast¡±. Thus they did not believe the messenger''s proposal that ¡°as long as they be an ally of Syracuse and send troops to Syracuse''s army, Dionysius would release all Crotonian prisoners and return the city of Crotone¡±.

    Ascamas, who had done his best to reorganise the defeated troops to stop the Syracusans from attacking and looting the city and protect the people who were fleeing to the Acropolis, fought the enemy in the city''s streets, eventually dying in battle. In their grief, the Crotonians, who had lost their supreme militarymander, had urgently elected their saviour, Milo, as their suprememander, while Lysias and the others did not object. At this moment, the Crotonian hierarchy, led by Lysias and Milo, upromisingly rejected the messenger''s request and showed their courage and determination to fight the Syracusans to death by cutting off the messenger''s ears and nose and expelling him out of the Acropolis.

    Although the messenger clutched his bloody wound and cried to Dionysius, Dionysius did not show much anger and onlyughed grimly, ¡°Foolish Crotonians thinks that I can''t do anything to them just because they are hiding on that hill! They could indeed improve their defence by hiding in tens of thousands of people in that little Acropolis, but can they defend against hunger and thirst?!!¡±

    The food consumption of tens of thousands of people is indeed massive, and the people rushing to the Acropolis couldn¡¯t carry many rations. Hence even if Milo had prepared in advance, he couldn''t guarantee it wouldst longer. Furthermore, what worried the Crotonians the most was that they didn''t have a water source, as the priests would usually get their water from the temple''s cistern. So even though the cistern was full due to the heavy rain thest few days, it is only a drop in the bucket for the needs of tens of thousands of people.

    That''s why Dionysius ordered to send a small number of troops to surround Crotone''s Acropolis, believing that the Crotonians would go down the hill and surrender within a few days due tock of water and food.

    He originally wanted to order the ballistae to fire at the Acropolis to frighten the Crotonians more and force them to surrender earlier. But after a second thought, he remembered there was a Temple of Apollo inside the Acropolis, so if he were to destroy it intentionally, it might affect the soldier''s morale. After all, the sudden rainstormst time had made him, who was always arrogant, worried and he didn''t want any more idents.

    Dionysius knew that the Crotonians hid in the Acropolis to survive and hoped the Theonians woulde to their rescue. Therefore, even though the Theonians were Syracuse¡¯s army target for their uing attack, his soldiers needed to rest as they had just experienced a fierce siege battle. Thus he could only continue to send the mercenary cavalries to the north to scout the enemy.

    Although the greedy Numidians and Celts, who did not participate inst night''s looting, vented their dissatisfaction, Dionysius did not get angry. On the contrary, he gave these foreigners a lot of spoils because Phidias had said, ¡®These foreign cavalries are their sharp weapon against the Theonians in the field.¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the port of Crotone, a scouting ship sailed into it.

    ¡°Navarch, Theonia''s fleet ising!¡± The captain hurriedly disembarked to report to Leptines, who was inspecting the military port andmanding the moored ships.

    This morning, the Syracusan navy had just moved into Crotone''s military port because Crotone''s military port is muchrger and could amodate more ships than Scylletium''s. Furthermore, it is closer to Theonia''s territory, making it more convenient for the Syracusan navy to learn about the movements of the Theonian fleet and have better coordination with theirnd forces.

    But he didn''t expect that just as their fleet entered the port and their sailors had not yetpletely disembarked, the Theonian fleet hade. Leptines'' heart is now beating like a drum, but he still maintains a calm expression, ¡°How many ships?¡±

    At sea, it is much more difficult to judge the number of ships than investigating the number of troops onnd because a fleet of hundreds of ships often upies an area of five-six nautical miles when sailing. Furthermore, with the people''s limited sight and no ce to hide in the endless sea, they have to get closer to observe it, which requires a lot of risks.

    ¡°Err¡­I think their number is simr to our previous battle.¡± Thus the captain could only give a general idea.

    Then he further emphasised, ¡°Those Theonian ships have drawbridges on their foremast!¡±

    When Leptines heard this, he became a bit flustered as their tragic defeat a few days ago reappeared in front of him.

    ¡®Fight or not?¡¯ Because he couldn''t make a decision, he had to run to the city to ask Dionysius for instructions.

    When Dionysius learned that the Theonian fleet wasing, he only pondered for a bit before he resolutely issued an order, ¡®Attack!¡¯

    In this regard, he has several considerations.

    First of all, since they learned that the number of Theonian fleet is not that different fromst time, and they were all equipped with that so-called drawbridge, it means that their analysis of the Theonians still using their own ships due to the number of sailors and the difficulty of refitting the captured ships was correct. Furthermore, the Syracusan navy still has a slight advantage in terms of the number of triremes.

    Secondly, as the suprememander, Dionysius knows how significant morale is on the soldiers''bat effectiveness. Not long ago, the Syracusan navy suffered a disastrous defeat, so if they did not make up for it this time and chose to give way, it would undoubtedly ¡°destroy their own prestige and raise the morale of the enemy¡±. So if they were to reencounter the Theonian fleet in the future, the Syracusan fleet would undoubtedly have lesser will to fight.

    Moreover, they have gathered the Syracusan army in Crotone and are currently recuperating after yesterday''s arduous battle. Thus if the Theonian fleet were allowed to cross the sea andnd on the empty rear such as Scylletium or Caulonia, which hasn''t truly surrendered, it would cause the Syracusan army to be greatly passive. Hence Dionysius would never allow that to happen.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although this is the second time Seclian led the fleet, in his heart, this would be his actual first time to lead the fleet independently without King Davos by his side, relieving him of the sense of constraint.

 Chapter 490: Battle of the sea near Crotone (II)

    Furthermore, This would be the first time the Theonian fleet would step out of the sea near Thurii and truly headed for the Mediterranean since its establishment. Thus, Seclian and even the sailors of the whole fleet were very excited, resulting in the trireme''s normal speed being faster than usual.

    The whole fleet consisted of 150 corvus ships and 30 penteconter refitted from ordinary transport ships sailed southward in the six-way column. But due to the westward breeze at their departure, the Theonian fleet didn''t put their sails.

    Today, Seclian only has one mission, ¡®Completely defeat the Syracusan navy!¡¯

    Hence when they were in the sea near Krimisa, Seclian ordered the whole fleet to slow down and set up the corvus.

    He also ordered them not to rush when they spot enemy scouting ships approaching and allowed them toe and observe.

    Once the winter sun rose to the centre of the sky, the Theonian fleet had sailed close to the sea near Crotone. At this moment, the foremost trireme hoisted a yellow g on its mast, causing Seclian, in the centre of the fleet, to be excited after learning that the Syracusan navy, which has suffered a disastrous defeat, was lured out so easily!

    Regardless of the enemy ship''s number, whether they adopt ¡°Periplous¡± or ¡°Diekplous¡± tactics, Theonia''s corvus fleet has only one tactic ¨C Starry Night.

    ¡°Raise the ck and red gs! Sound the salpinx!!¡± Seclian gave the order without hesitation.

    The sailors began wolfing down their prepared rations allowing them to be on their best in the next battle. However, they are now more excited than their anxiety and tension in their first battle. Not only because thest victory gave them confidence but also because the new bill issued by King Davos before their departure added more strength to the sailors who are mostly freemen, ¡°Win the war, and we''ll be Theonia''s preparatory citizens!¡± became theirmon goal.

    The heavy infantry, on the other hand, was much calmer when they heard the salpinx. They picked up the long shield covering their heads to block the sun, stood up from the deck, and began slowly moving their hands and feet.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In Crotone''s port''s lighthouse, Dionysius stares at the blue sea in the distance with some of his men and Phidias, watching the countless ships rapidly approaching. The naval battle that would affect Dionysius'' next n, whether they won or lost, was about to begin. Therefore, Dionysius held his hands nervously at this moment.

    The Theonian ships at the forefront did not increase their speed to the fastest because after thest naval battle, they had learned from experience that releasing the corvus wouldn¡¯t hit if the ship''s speed were too fast.

    However, the Theonian captains felt that the enemy ship rushing towards them was equally not as fast as thest time, ¡®Why?¡¯

    Unfortunately, they no longer had spare time to think about it as the ships of both sides were already close to each other.

    ¡°Bang!¡­Bang!¡­¡± Suddenly, a corvus fell down and firmly nailed itself to the deck of the Syracusan ship.

    ¡°HADES!!¡± The soldiers of the first legion of Theonia shouted the name of Hades as they rushed across the corvus.

    At the same time, the enemy ship also sounded ¡°Apollo!!¡± Then more than 40 Syracusan heavy infantry rushed from the bottom of the ship and immediately filled the deck.

    The Theonian captains were taken aback, ¡®No wonder the Syracusan ships became slower. It turns out that there was much heavy infantry hiding in the bottom of their ships!¡¯

    For Leptines topete with the enemy fleet, he epted Dionysius'' advice.

    Seclian soon received the news from the penteconter. But despite his surprise, he still believed that with the strength of Theonia''s legionaries, they would win this nd battle on the sea¡±!

    And for the legionaries, apart from their initial surprise, what followed was excitement because cutting down the sailors in thest battle was too easy, so they didn¡¯t feel any aplishment, whereas this was a real battle!

    ¡°Send a squad over there, and the rest follow me!¡± The toon captain, Melisander, quickly gave instructions while rushing to the front.

    The deck surface of the trireme was notpletely paved with wood, with the middle having a huge gap connecting to the bottom cabin. And since the ship''s wideness was only six-seven metres and one side of the deck could only amodate at most two or three people in parallel. Thus the soldiers fighting on the deck are divided into two.

    As the ship swayed up and down with the waves, the soldiers couldn¡¯t ram at each other closely. Therefore, the battle between the heavy infantry on the ship was more of a 1-on-1 and cooperation between two-three men.

    Holding a long shield in his left hand, Melisander meets the enemy''s spear. Melisander pressed his whole body to the shield as he mmed it violently at the Syracusan soldier and broke his spear. Although Melisander¡¯s whole body staggered backwards, therades behind him quickly supported him up.

    Then like a maggot in a tarsal bone, Melisander took advantage of his opponent''s unsteadiness to quickly close up and mmed his long shield again on the other party''s round shield, which revealed an opening.

    Afterwards, the short sword of Melisander quickly stabbed out like lightning, only for him to hear a scream as the other party covered his right rib and fell to the deck.

    ¡°Throw away your spear and use your kopis! Use your kopis!¡­¡± Hearing the enemy shouting anxiously at each other, Melisander thought, ¡®It''s toote for you to realise it!¡¯

    He then took advantage of the fact that the enemy in front of him had not yet protected himself as Melisander turned to sh the enemy diagonally. But the other party could not dodge on such a narrow deck unless he jumped into the cabin below, so the enemy subconsciously dodged to the left while swinging his kopis and shing Melisander''s wrist.

    But unexpectedly, Melisander''srade took the opportunity to m his long shield violently, causing the enemy to stagger and move backwards.

    Melisander then seized the opportunity, turned his wrist and shed upward. The sharp de crossed the enemy''s arm, holding the kopis, leaving a deep wound showing the bone and a long stream of blood. His opponent''s grip became powerless as the kopis fell on the deck¡­

    On every two ships connected by a corvus, the heavy infantry on both sides fought fiercely.

    Overall, the Theonians have a clear advantage. Although Syracuse sent their elite soldiers, the one they faced was the first legion of Theonia.

    The so-called ¡°invincible¡± first legion not only has the most significant number of veterans but also has the most stringent requirements in the selection of recruits. And even though their training is the most difficult, many young men are still eager to join. At the same time, the soldiers of the first legion of Theonia also have a far richer experience in fighting at sea than their opponent as they had not only trained for more than a month but also carried out actualbat three days ago.

    On the other hand, the Syracusan heavy infantry was sent into battle in haste and had not yet adapted to such a way of fighting. Furthermore, it was surprising that they still carried their spears, knowing that long weapons could not make urate hits without long training on the rough sea.

    But the most important is the difference in weapons and equipment. The Corinthian helmets, copper round shields and metal greaves are too heavy for the Syracusan soldiers to keep their bnce on a shaking ship. Thus they could not fully utilise their strength and couldn''tpare with the Theonian soldiers, who were more flexible and better at closebat.

    Another important thing that made the ship battle different from and battle was that even if they lost the battle, they could not escape. So they were either captured or jumped into the sea, which forced the Syracusan soldiers to do their best to fend off the Theonian legionaries. In the end, they fought for their lives.

    Some Syracusan soldiers used their round shields to fend off their opponent''s attack while risking injury and saw the opportunity to pull their opponent down to the sea together. And Melisander, who killed several Syracusan soldiers one after another, was identally pulled into the sea by the enemy.

    However, Melisander did not panic after falling into the sea because they had trained in this area. He quickly took off his helmet and flipped his long shield, which surprisingly floated on the sea surface. Besides the bronze ram point on the centre, the long shield was mainly made of wood, and a thinyer of cowhide wrapped the outer part.

    Melisander grabbed the long shield with one hand while waving to the legionaries watching him on the ship with ease through buoyancy, ¡°I''m fine, you guys can just keep fighting! Keep fighting!¡±

    On the other hand, the Syracusan soldier who fell into the water with him had cold seawater pouring into his tightly sealed Corinthian helmet, which immediately caused him to suffocate. He panicked and tried to take off his helmet, but he couldn¡¯t unfasten it quickly due to his panic, and the round shield wrapped in a thin sheet of bronze caused his right arm to sink straight down. In addition, the heavy helmet and his greaves made him unable to float to the water surface no matter how hard he kicked with his feet. In the end, he drowned in the sea.

    The corvus operator quickly handed out an oar to the floating Melisander and finally climbed onto the ship.

    Just as he caught his breath, Melisander heard the lookout on the mainmast shouting, ¡°Oing enemy ship! Oing enemy ship!¡± which caused everyone to be shocked.

    But even when they saw a ship rushing towards them not far away, they couldn¡¯t move at all since their ship and the enemy ship was still connected.

    ¡°Pull up the corvus now!¡± The captain shouted anxiously to the legionaries on the opposite ship, and Melisander echoed.

    Although they managed to pull up the corvus, the enemy ship was only less than 20-metres away from them, and the bronze ram on its bow shone under the reflection of the sunlight on the seawater.

    ¡°Front right!¡± With the captain''s urgent shouting, the helmsman quickly turned the rudder.

    The piper was already ying hard and fast when the captain uttered, ¡°Speed up!¡±

    The thranitai, zygitai and thmitai quickly rowed the wooden oars. However, it takes time for the ship to get moving quickly and what the ship needs now the most is time.

    The enemy ship that was rushing through the waves was already close, so when the thranitai saw through the oar-hole that the enemy ship''s ram was dramatically erging in their view, causing all of them to flee their seat in panic while shouting, ¡°Run! Run! We are about to get hit!¡­¡±

 Chapter 491: Battle of the sea near Crotone (III)

    Nearly 200 sailors panicky rushed to the deck one after another. But when they heard a loud bang, the whole ship shook and caused the sailors to scream as they fell one after another.

    A gap was opened at the bottom cabin of the Theonian ship''s middle-right side, showing the ferocious appearance of the enemy ship''s bow and followed by the surging seawater.

    However, the enemy ship''s momentum still did not stop as it continued to push forward and expand the gap again. Furthermore, the powerful forward force had caused the Theonian ship to pan several metres.

    Knowing the inevitable, the Theonian rowers jumped into the sea.

    Unfortunately for Melisander, he had just climbed into the ship and had to jump into the sea again with his long shield.

    He then heard the floating sailorsining, ¡°Why didn''t the pentecontere to block and cover us?!!¡±

    But in fact, they already lost more than half of Theonia''s penteconter.

    Leptines already knew that Syracuse wouldn¡¯t have the upper hand in the boarding battle even when he allowed the untrained heavy infantry in the ship. But with the Syracusan navy having nearly 50 more triremes, he resolutely adopted the strategy that used their numerical advantage by having the extra ship on the outside. So once both the enemy and their sides were "linked", they could take the opportunity to pierce through the battlefield and ram the enemy ship that couldn''t move.

    In the previous naval battle, the legionaries quickly settled the enemy ships, allowing their own ships to retrieve the corvus and rejoin the battle immediately. But the increased heavy infantry on the Syracusan ships caused thebat longer, thus providing an opportunity for the Syracusan ships to break in.

    After nearly ten Theonian ships sunk, the other ships began to realise that their situation was not good. Thus before the legionaries could defeat the enemy ships, the Theonian ships would retrieve the corvus and starts a real naval battle with the enemy, and they no longer dared to hook the enemy ship with the corvus because there were no more legionaries on their ships(they are still fighting on the enemy ships), so they began disassembling the corvus.

    However, even with the Syracusans'' experience in naval battles and better sailor cooperation, they were less fast and agile because they carried more soldiers. The Theonian ships, on the other hand, although they were somewhat less experience in ship-to-ship battles, had an advantage in speed as they didn''t have soldiers on board, causing the situation of both sides to be a reverse of the previous naval battle.

    Thus the ship from both sides seek opportunities on the sea, chasing, circling, rushing and ramming¡­

    From time to time, the oars broke, the ship grazed each other, and sometimes even sank¡­

    But as time passed, the Syracusans began to be at a disadvantage in the sh between ships. After all, once the Theonian fleet disconnects, they would have more ships capable of engaging inbat than the Syracusan ships, which would often leave the Syracusan ships in a one-vs-two situation. (Theonian and Syracusan soldiers are fighting on board, resulting in those ships'' inability to move.)

    Leptines, who was at the rear and not involved in the battle, was extremely anxious and flustered after learning the situation of their fleet through the lookout on his ship, ¡®Should I kneel and beg again?!¡¯

    Suddenly, the lookout shouted, ¡°A squadron approaches from the rear!¡±

    ¡®A squadroning from the south? Is it ours?!¡¯ Although Leptines knew that Dionysius had not sent an order to Syracuse''s port to call on more ships, he still eagerly awaited with expectation.

    But after a while, the lookout''s cry broke his expectation, ¡°It''s a ck g! A ck g!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡®They finally arrived!¡¯ Mithridates breathed a sigh of relief as he stared at the fierce naval battle ahead.

    Before they set out, Seclian and the other captains had already made ns for this naval battle as they feared the Syracusans would avoid them once they saw their massive and powerful fleet. Hence they decided after a discussion that they would divide the fleet into two, with the more than 60 captured Syracusan triremes forming a squadron under the leadership of Mithridates. So after departing from Thurii''s port, the squadron headed southeast to avoid Syracuse''s scouting ships and make a great semi-circle to meet up with the main fleet led by Seclian, heading south along the coast, at Scylletium.

    But what they didn''t expect was the originally stationed Syracusan fleet at Scylletium''s port had moved to Crotone this morning. So Mithridates'' fleet that had not received timely information arrived at the empty Scylletium.

    Mithridates quickly decided to turn the squadron around and found the two parties battling on the sea near Crotone.

    At themand of Mithridates, the squadron quickly entered the battle, giving thest nail in the coffin for the Syracusan fleet!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Dionysius, who watched the entire naval battle from the port''s lighthouse, has turned ashen. Afterwards, he turned around without saying a word.

    Phidias, who was thest to leave, continued to watch the naval battlefield while thinking, ¡®Theonia''s novel way of naval warfare is quite suitable for Sparta. Should I suggest it to the Gerousia after returning?¡¯

    Theonia''s sessive naval victory significantly impacted the war situation of the whole Magna Graecia and changed the strengthparison between Theonia and Syracuse. Phidias was happy to see it because the western Mediterranean still needs a city-state union that can check Syracuse. Furthermore, he had a feeling that Syracuse''snd attack on Theonia would be more violent¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The naval battle has ended. However, unlike the previous naval battle that ended with a rtively clean naval battlefield, the sea near Crotone has scattered oars, broken boards, sunken ships, floating dead bodies and countless sailors and soldiers struggling for help in the water.

    The Theonains sailed their broken ships back and forth across the sea to rescue the Theonian sailors and soldiers who had fallen overboard and ced them as close as possible to the ships that the legionaries had captured.

    The Theonian navy also lent the Syracusans a helping hand because, before their departure, Davos reminded Seclian that ¡®after winning the naval battle, try to rescue the Syracusans who fell overboard if conditions permit.¡¯ However, they would be tied up and guarded after boarding the ship.

    But some of the Syracusans were close to the shore when they fell, so they refused Theonia¡¯s assistance as they swam desperately to the shore. In this regard, the Theonians'' attitude would change and drive their ship to crush them directly.

    The entire battlefield cleanup and rescue work continued until dusk. Only after the sunset''s light dyed the ships on the sea orange did Seclian order to return.

    In the massive Theonian fleet, the captured Syracusan ships were ced in the centre while the Theonian ships surrounded them. Although the sailors were tired, the joy of victory made them row their oars powerfully as the fleet slowly headed north apanied by their salpinx that resounded across the sea and the sound of their lively pipes¡­

    Seclian turned to look back at the battlefield where they had fought fiercely. The thrilling sight of his ship almost getting hit by an enemy ship came to his mind, making him excited at the moment. His eyes then moved to the far end of the horizon, where the sky connects with the sea¡­

    In his heart, he felt a great passion and shouted to the captain, ¡°From now on, we have the final say on this sea!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In this naval battle, except for the more than 40 triremes led by Leptines to flee into the port of Crotone in time, the rest were either sank or captured.

    On Theonia''s side, 23 corvus sunk, and more than ten were damaged, But they had captured 68 Syracusan triremes and nearly 10,000 sailors.

    But what angered Dionysius the most was that the more than 9,000 Syracusan heavy infantry he sent, only more than 2,000 returned, with most of the soldiers either killed in battle or drowned at sea, and Theonia''s fleet had only captured less than a thousand. Thus it could be said that they had lost not only the naval battle but also thend battle.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Theonian army continued to march until they arrived at Roscianum, where the city''s polemarchos, Amikles, and officials stood by the wooden bridge built by Heracleides the Younger for Roscianum. They came to see off the Theonian army, who were on their way to the battlefield and sent the more than a thousand Roscianum soldiers and a hundred cavalrymen to join the army as part of their duty as allies.

    Although the Theonian army was rushing, Davos still took time to go the wooden bridge, thanked the officials of Roscianum and exchanged greetings, which dissipates some potential unpleasantness inughter.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the first legion following the Theonian fleet, the second legion was now at the forefront of the whole army. Although Amintas fought bravely on the battlefield, he is responsible for the safety of the soldiers of the whole legion as a legatus. Thus after they crossed the Trionto River, he increased the marching column to ten and ced the light infantry in the middle column. And due to Davos'' warning, Amintas did not take Syracuse''s mercenary cavalries lightly even though the second legion hadn''t fought them yet.

    In recent years, the Crucoli River''s marsh area hadrgely disappeared, transforming into a high-quality in due to the tremendous development of the Theonian people, resulting in the poption increasing dramatically. But today, the legionaries could see only the ruins of several viges along the road.

    ¡®Those Syracusan sailors manage to invade Theonia''s territory this far!¡¯ The legionaries were surprised and, at the same time, outraged by the atrocitiesmitted by the enemy. Fortunately, they had defeated the Syracusan navy in the previous naval battle, stopping them from returning to endanger Theonia''s territory. However, those damned mercenary cavalries still remained!

 Chapter 492: Theonias March and Syracuses Argument

    When the second legion was about to reach the wooden bridge of the Crucoli River, several scouts came rushing back in a slight panic, ¡°Reporting to the legatus. Enemy cavalry at the front, and they numbered-¡±

    Before the scout could finish his words, enemy cavalries appeared on the opposite bank of the Crucoli River. They are dark-skinned with scattered ck hair, wearing thin short-sleeved linen clothes, javelins in their hands, barefooted, and some horses didn''t even have cushions on their backs. Instead, those horses looked vigorous and flexible in their actions. Although they only had about a hundred horses, they stood still by the river even when faced with the huge army marching towards them while staring at the other bank¡­Amintas, on the other hand, could feel the cunningness and malice in their gazes.

    ¡®This is the Numidian cavalries?!¡¯ Amintas recalled their descriptions in the battle report. After surveying them curiously, what rose in his heart was not fear but excitement, ¡°Have the light infantry brigade send 200 archers to guard the river and expel the enemy cavalry on the other side. While the rest of the light infantry will follow the first brigade and wait for my order to cross the bridge quickly!¡±

    The second legion quickly moved, with the archers rushing to the river. But before they could release their arrows, the Numidian cavalries on the other side immediately ran away, easily allowing the second legion to cross the wooden bridge.

    But just as Amintas was considering whether to send the second legion by toon, in a two-column fish-scale formation, cooperate with the seventh legion to advance and drive away the enemy cavalries galloping around like flies, the herald arrived with the order of Davos, ¡®Ignore the enemy cavalries and continue to march. We must arrive at Krimisa before dusk!¡¯

    Thus Amintas had to abandon his n and continue marching.

    At the start, the Numidian cavalries woulde rushing over on both sides of the road from time to time, where they would scream and throw a round of javelin, but after being shot down by the archer¡¯s arrows, they became much more cautious.

    After the enemy pestered them for a while, a cavalry suddenly appeared and shouted something, causing the enemy to retreat one after another.

    Afterwards, these ¡°ugly¡± Numidians no longer appeared in front of the soldiers of the second legion.

    Although the soldiers didn''t know what had happened, Amintas could vaguely guess why, ¡®The Theonian fleet probably had won another naval victory, so the mercenary cavalries feared the Theonian fleet would take control of the sea around Crotone and break the pontoon bridge built over the Neto River with their ship and blockade the river, trapping them that had rampaged through the Theonian territory from returning to the Syracusan camp. After getting abandoned, they would surely get strangled by the soldiers'' wrath.¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    That was actually what happened. When the Numidian and Celtic cavalries on the northern in of Crotone fled to the Neto River, the Theonian ships appeared at the river''s estuary.

    After returning to the Syracusan camp, they reported their findings to Dionysius.

    ¡°Reinforcements from Theonia areing? So fast?!¡± Phacipessas was surprised as they had just breached through Crotone yesterday, yet the Theonians were already rushing today.

    ¡°How many are they?¡± Astagoras asked urgently.

    Acilita stretched out three fingers and said, ¡°About 30,000 men.¡±

    ¡°30,000¡­¡± Astagoras began estimating in earnest, ¡°There are about 10,000 Theonians in Aprustum and almost 10,000 in Krimisa¡­adding them together, Theonia would gather more than 50,000 soldiers after they reach Crotone''s territory, which isn''t a small number!¡±

    ¡°Don''t forget to include those heavy infantries on Theonia''s ships.¡± Phacipessas reminded Astagoras, ¡°Theonia would have at least 60,000 men!¡±

    Astagoras retorted, ¡°The soldiers on Theonia''s ship fought against our soldiers for half a day, so they can''t have that many left.¡±

    Phacipessas still insisted on his opinion, ¡°The Theonians definitely didn''t lose much as they were able to capture so many of our ships.¡±

    Phidias, on the other hand, just listened silently to the two arguing Syracusan strategoi as a trace of envy rose in his heart. Syracuse and Theonia, the two powerful forces in the western Mediterranean, could often send more than 50,000 soldiers in a war, which Sparta and its allies could not reach.

    At this time, another Numidian beside Acilita spoke loudly in theirnguage.

    Phacipessas immediately stopped arguing and asked curiously, ¡°What did he say?¡±

    Acilita replied, ¡°My men said that some of the enemies wore ck armour, some wore armours like yours, and some didn¡¯t even have any armour at all and are unarmed.¡±

    Among the reinforcements led by Davos: The soldiers of the second legion were all official citizens, wearing the standard ck helmets, ck armours, spears, long shields, short swords and javelins. The soldiers of the seventh legion, on the other hand, were mostly preparatory citizens and registered freemen, so they didn''t have enough money to buy Theonia''s standard equipment. Thus they carried a hodgepodge of equipment and weapon until they defeated and captured the Tarantine soldiers and took their equipment, such as Corinthian helmets, linen armour, round shields, leather greaves, spears and kopis. The logistics team in the rear also carried thousands of heavy infantry equipment seized from Taranto, which would be used to rece the equipment of the sixth legion stationed in Krimisa. In contrast, the sarissa brigade marched empty-handed in order not to reveal the secret for the Syracusan to know in advance and take precautions. After all, the four metres sarissa is really too conspicuous, so they had the sarissa transported through ships and unloaded in Krimisa''s port, which gave the Numidian such an illusion.

    ¡°See! How could Theonia have so many soldiers? But it turns out that they just recruited all the freemen and cannot equip them all with weapons. Thus, it is still useless no matter how many they are!¡± Astagoras nced at Phacipessas andughed.

    Phacipessas no longer argued with him anymore as his expression became quite rxed. As their opponent, he certainly hoped that the weaker the Theonian army was, the better.

    ¡°Praise Apollo! The Theonia''s reinforcements came in time!¡± At this moment, Dionysius, who had been pondering, spoke. He was gloomy since witnessing the disastrous defeat of the navy, so his men thought he was angry about their loss. However, he was instead worried about the fate of his massive army because he thought of a critical problem.

    Even if the Syracusan army continues to advance north to conquer Krimisa, Roscianum, and even the southern part of Thurii, with their strong offensive and pressure the Theonians to temporarily dare not divide their troops to their fleet andnd to attack Syracuse''s weak rear, but as long as the Theonians burn the wooden bridge on the wide Crati River, it will be impossible for the Syracusan army, which has lost its naval superiority, to cross the river and attack. And once their army stopped at the Crati River, the Theonian army, which had slowed down, could defend the river while sending a fleet to attack the rear of their army, which would exhaust them and lead to their defeat.

    At the thought of this possibility, Dionysius burst into cold sweats, and the only thing that came to his mind was to take a step back, ¡®Should¡­I let Phidias go to Thurii to negotiate a truce?¡¯

    Inside the tent, Dionysius stealthily nced at the silent Spartan numerous times. He knew very well that Sparta wanted Syracuse to end the war quickly and then aid them vigorously to defeat the anti-Spartan alliance, which he would never do.

    If he needed the support of Sparta when he first became a tyrant, his wing has now grown strong that he doesn''t need a powerful ally to dictate his moves. On the contrary, the Spartans, caught in a war, would lower their arrogant heads and give Syracuse more benefits.

    Thus at this moment, Dionysius would not mind making more use of Sparta''s eagerness to achieve his purpose. But what kind of truce agreement should he propose? Will the young man from Theonia ept a truce on the condition that the territory they upy would be the sphere of influence of both sides?

    Dionysius was really unwilling as he had exhausted his treasury to lead such a massive army yet failed to capture a city in Theonia. He was a ruler who was excellent at weighing gains and losses. He was even able to endure not being able to expel the Carthaginianspletely out of Sicily despite the disastrous defeat of Carthage and the absolute dominance of Syracuse in Sicily, so he naturally could swallow his resentment this time for the time being.

    Moreover, he was able to upy so many city-states of Magna Graecia in this time''s expedition, almost controlling the southern part. Besides that, they had not only prevented the expansion of Theonia to the south but significantly increased Syracuse''s strength as well. In fact, Dionysius had already half achieved this expedition''s purpose. Afterwards, he would strengthen the navy as long as they could return. And once their treasury was abundant, they would again attack Magna Graecia, believing that they could definitely destroy Theonia.

    But just as he was considering retreating and making a truce with Theonia through Sparta, he heard the news that the Theonian army wasing. And after listening to his men''s discussion, his thought has changed again. Although Theonia defeated the Syracusan navy, Syracuse¡¯snd army''s morale was high due to winning a staggering number of victories, and they were all experienced soldiers and mercenaries. Unlike Theonia, who needed freemen to make up the numbers. So if they couldpletely defeat the Theonians in a battle, he would be able to reverse the war situation and make Theonia pay a greater price!

 Chapter 493: Inside Krimisa

    Dionysius'' dejection was swept away as he loudly said, ¡°We need a victory to restore the soldiers'' morale!¡±

    ¡°Milord.¡± Phacipessas reminded with caution, ¡°The Theonians have the sea advantage, so they will not necessarily be willing to sh with us!¡±

    ¡°That''s not up to them!¡± Dionysius sneered.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At dusk, Theonia''s reinforcements arrived at the city of Krimisa.

    Protesus, the Praetor of Krimisa, and Olivos, the legatus of the sixth legion, led a group out of the city to meet them.

    ¡°Your¡­your majesty, you have finally arrived!¡± The Senate already informed Protesus a few days ago about ¡°Davos bing the king of Theonia.¡± Although he was surprised, he did not object. On the contrary, he was relieved to see Davos now.

    ¡°Lord Protesus, although you were under the greatest pressure among all the Theonian cities during this war, you have done well! Even with Syracuse''s heavy pressure, you still stabilise the city of Krimisa. On behalf of the Senate, I thank you for your effort during this period!¡± Said Davos with sincereness. Aristias'' intelligence reported that Protesus''x governance of Krimisa led to the city¡¯s political turmoil. If not for the timely arrival of Olivos, the situation in Krimisa would have been worse. But after realising his mistake, he followed the advice of Olivos and assisted the sixth legion in supervising the whole city. Afterwards, he was kept busy arranging the amodation and food of therge number of people who fled into the city and promptly handling all kinds of affairs, which significantly alleviated the conflict between the people outside the city and the city residents, ensuring the city''s stability. Therefore, Davos¡¯ remark was not perfunctory but heartfelt praise.

    ¡°It is all thanks to legatus Olivos''s full assistance!¡± Protesus discreetly nced at Olivos, who was beside him.

    ¡°Yes, your majesty, our sixth legion became a patrol for Krimisa''s safety!¡± Olivos'' said half-jokingly.

    ¡°It seems that you being a patrol captain was not in vain.¡± Davos teasingly said, ¡°How about bing a patrol captain of a city once the war is over?¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, it seems that you weren''t concerned about me these past years. You didn¡¯t even know that I was no longer a patrol captain!¡± Olivos pretended to be aggrieved and said, ¡°I am now a deputy Quartermaster in the Ministry of Military. And ording to the regtions, I should take up a higher position after the war, such as an intermediate ranking inspector.¡±

    ¡°What intermediate position? You would need the assessment and rmendation of Theonia''s Civil Servant Management Committee for it.¡± The seemingly casual words of Davos made Protesus excited, ¡®It seems that Davos would still let the Senate exercise its power as before even after bing a king.¡¯

    ¡°Personally, I don''t think that position is suitable for you. Instead, you should consider the post of intermediate judge.¡± Davos'' following remark was obviously a joke, so Olivos shook his head immediately, ¡°I would die trying to remember all the countlessws of Theonia. On the contrary, the position of patrol captain is much more suitable for me.¡±

    With that, Davosughed, and the crowd soon followed.

    Amidst theirughter, Davos turned his head and asked Protesus, ¡°What difficulties does Krimisa is facing now?¡±

    ¡°It''s mainly food and amodation.¡± Protesus blurted, ¡°The city doesn''t have much food stored left, and the people that came from outside the city only brought little food when they fled into the city, while some had even brought only rations because they were in too much of a hurry. In addition, there are so many soldiers from the sixth legion. Your majesty, if you had not arrived today with your army¡­I would have discussed with lord Olivos and asked him to send the soldiers to the Senate and ask for emergency food aid to Krimisa!¡±

    ¡°The city is indeed tight in food now!¡± Olivos interjected, ¡°Lord Protesus even tried to persuade the residents to share their grain reserves with the people who fled to the city, but¡­a few of them expressed strong dissatisfaction with this.¡±

    Davos gazed at the two of them, then looked around at the other officials of Krimsia and said with a serious expression, ¡°Our war with Syracuse determines the survival of Theonia, so all the people of Theonia should do everything to defeat Syracuse and win a better future for the union at such a critical time! Therefore, anyone who does anything to destabilise Theonia and hinder our war preparation at this time is not a Theonian but Theonia¡¯s enemy! The Senate and its subordinate city government departments have the right to impose heavier penalties, including death, in ordance with the Wartime Act! So you shouldn''t worry; rather, you should boldly manage the city!¡±

    After listening to Davos, Olivos winked at Protesus, ¡®See, I war right.¡¯

    Davos'' words revealed his murderous intent, which made Protesus shudder. So he and his men said one after another, ¡°We understand.¡±

    ¡°There''s no need for you to worry about the food.¡± Davos said to relieve them, ¡°In the next few days, there will be arge amount of graining from the port of Thurii. And with the army leaving for the Crotone in tomorrow and the enemy cavalry no longer roaming here, you can arrange for the people who have taken refuge in the city to return, rebuild their homes, take care of the destroyed farms and prepare for the next year''s spring sowing¡­Lord Protesus, you must arrange all these things.¡±

    ¡°You can rest assured, your majesty.¡± When Protesus'' heard Davos'' words, he was greatly relieved and immediately promised.

    ¡°Your majesty, will our sixth legion go to Crotone in as well?¡± Olivos hurriedly asked.

    Davosughed and said, ¡°Aren''t you going to continue to be Krimisa''s patrol captain?¡±

    ¡°Our sixth legion wishes to settle ounts with those mercenaries and avenge the dead Krimisians and our brothers who died in battle!¡± Olivos said in a serious tone. After the sixth legion entered Krimisa, he did not send his troops to try expelling the cavalries rampaging in the Crotone in. However, the inexperienced soldiers of the sixth legion were unable to stop themselves from getting provoked, resulting in a toon getting lured away from the main force and was killed by the Celtic and Numidian cavalries. So Olivos was forced to withdraw his troops to the city, not daring to leave easily.

    Feeling the fire in his eyes, Davos nodded and said, ¡°You''ll get what you want!¡±

    Apanied by military music, the long marching column has almost reached the city gates. So Davos stopped talking and entered the city with a group of people such as Protesus, followed by his personal guard.

    ¡°Although we will transport a lot of food, we will need to distribute it to many ces and arge number of people. Thus, the amount of food allocated to the city of Krimisa will not be too much, so you should still control the food quota allocated to each household and try to make itst longer while being fair until the next transportation.¡± Davos whispered to Protesus as they walked.

    Protesus tensed up as it seemed that the food situation in Theonia wasn''t as optimistic as Davos had just said in front of everyone.

    So he cautiously nodded, ¡°I understand.¡±

    ¡°Can the city of Krimisa amodate more than 30,000 people?¡± Davos asked again.

    ¡°After getting informed in advance, we had made some preparations by reserving the open space in front of the Temple of Hades and Temple of Apollo. Furthermore, we also can squeeze some on the square upied by the sixth legion. In addition, we had also negotiated with some people who haverge residential areas to amodate some of the officers and soldiers. After all, the army will only stay for a night, so the city of Krimisa could still do its best to amodate all the soldiers.¡±

    After Protesus detailed the arrangements they made, he hesitated and said with seriousness, ¡°Your majesty, there is one thing I would like to report to you.¡±

    ¡°Go on.¡±

    ¡°Recently, the marsh area near the Crucoli River had gradually transformed into a in, so Krimisa''s poption has increased rapidly. At the same time, the number of preparatory citizens reaches nearly 15,000 while there are more than 20,000 registered freemen, most of whom now live outside the city to farm, graze livestock¡­and since we had not yet allocated thend in this in, more people might pour into Krimisa in the future. With such arge poption and the fertilend of the Marsh in and Crotone in, Krimisa''s agriculture will certainly prosper, so will the port and trade. By then, the people living outside the city will want to live in the city, but the current city of Krimisa''s area is too small, so we must expand it outward¡­¡±

    ¡°You are thinking long term, which I agree. So you can write a proposal and submit it to the Senate for assessment, approval, and cost allocation. However, it would only be considered after we repulse Syracuse and the end of this war.¡± Davos said with satisfaction. With Thurii and Krimisa''s expansion¡­he was surprised by the rapid development of the Theonia Union.

    ¡°Your majesty, we will leave it to you to repel those damn invaders and restore the peace and tranquillity of Theonia!¡± Protesus said sincerely.

    Davos smiled slightly. But after passing through the gate and into the streets, his expression changed.

    In his vision: crude tents filled the streets; roads scattered with dishevelled and dirty refugees, who were either sitting or lying, including young men, elderly, women and children, squeezing the spacious streets and turning them into small paths for only one-two people to walk.

 Chapter 494: Henipolis Resolve

    With anxiety over the loss of their homes, the adults talked among themselves about their resentment of Syracuse, the progress of the war, and their expectations and dissatisfaction with their own troops. On the other hand, the children regarded the refuge as a ce to y¡­

    But once the streets became too noisy, the people inside the houses woulde out to express their displeasure. And the refugees would heed the admonishment in most cases, restoring the peace for a while.

    At this time, someone sighed and said, ¡°If we had a house in the city, we wouldn''t have to be afraid of the enemy''s invasion!¡±

    His words naturally provoked another debate.

    Although the streets were messy, it was still rtively. However, a breeze blew, and along with it came the smell of urine, causing Davos to suddenly cover his mouth and nose while he looked at Protesus.

    Protesus could only helplessly say, ¡°Your majesty, we have arranged for the people to clean the streets every day ording to the physicians'' advice and reminded them to go to the river to urinate and defecate to prevent an epidemic, but those children¡­¡± However, Davos didn¡¯t say anything more as Protesus had already taken adequate measures.

    The bored refugees soon notice the approaching and shout excitedly, ¡°It''s Lord Davos!¡±

    ¡°Herees Lord Davos!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although the Senate had already officially announced the news of ¡°Davos bing King of Theonia¡± to the other cities, the people of Krimisa didn''t pay attention to it as they were worried about their homes getting trampled by the enemy. Thus they still called him with their most familiar title.

    They stoppedining and arguing as they rushed to Davos while the guards immediately protected him.

    ¡°Lord Davos, you have finallye! Syracuse burnt our vige, and our home is now gone!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos, when will you lead the troops to drive away those vicious foreigners?! When can we return to ournd?!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos, my father died at the hands of those damn foreigners! You must kill them all and avenge us!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    They were like lost children who finally saw their parents as they confided their suffering and anger to Davos.

    Seeing the crowds increasing, the guards and Olivos wanted to drive them away for fear of danger. However, Davos stopped them and listened to the people''s suffering with a serious expression. After patientlyforting them, he made a solemn promise that he would defeat Syracuse and help them rebuild their homes¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Henipolis led more than a thousand Laosian soldiers loyal to him out of the mountain pass to the Lao Fortress. After rendezvousing with 3,000 Lucanian reserve soldiers led by Bagul, he went down the Lao River and soon arrived outside the city of Laos.

    Here, Hielos, the suprememander of the Bruttian region temporarily appointed by Davos, has reced Saru, the Praetor of Vergae, and led more than 3,000 Bruttian reserve soldiers to arrive a day ahead of schedule and set up camp.

    Once the three forcesbined, their total strength reached nearly 8,000. It caused Alobamus, who received the news, to spend the whole day in sorrow as he somewhat regretted that he did not decisively lead his troops out of the city yesterday to crush the Bruttians first. At that time, his concerns were: Although he had gathered 5,000 warriors, his long years of dealing with Theonia made him understand the strength of the Theonian soldiers. So unless he leads most of his troops to attack, he has no confidence to defeat them, but if he did lead them out, he was worried that there would be chaos in the city.

    In the past few days, rumours spread in the city of Laos that caused themoners and ves to be furious at the officials and tribal chieftains, which even resulted in some big shes. In addition, the news of Syracuse suffering a disastrous naval defeat that they originally blocked was spread, which further fueled the people¡¯s anger. So in such a situation, how could Alobamus dare to move his main force out of the city? Thus the only way for him to change the dire situation of Laos is to hold the city and hope that Syracuse can defeat Theonia onnd.

    To this day, Alobamus still can''t figure out how Syracuse''s powerful navy lost to the hodgepodge fleet of Theonia, ¡®Could it be that Theonia''s archon, Davos, was really favoured by the gods?!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Due to Bagul''s humility, they handed over themand of the three forces after they merged to Hielos, the former legatus of the fourth legion, a statesman of the Senate, the one with more military experience and the most trusted of Davos.

    At this moment, Hielos, Bagul and Henipolis, as well as Ariandos ¨C Henipolis'' most trusted strategos, were discussing in the newly established military tent.

    In addition, there is a special figure in the tent ¨C Teratus, the head of the intelligence department of Davos, appointed by director Aristias and was the one in charge of spying on Laos'' activities on the west coast.

    After Teratus reported Laos'' current situation, it significantly increased Hielos and Bagul''s confidence in capturing Laos. After all, it would simply be impossible for 8,000 men to take a city of stone with 5,000 defenders if Alobamus defended with all his strength. Moreover, they are a hastily assembled assortment of troops that didn''t even have an engineering camp, let alone ballistae.

    Just then, Henipolis said something that surprised everyone in the tent.

    ¡°Lord Henipolis.¡± Hielos paused and asked, ¡°Are you sure about this?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Henipolis raised his head, revealing the hatred in his eyes, ¡°I had wanted to do this after bing the archon of Laos, but those pack of greedy wolves would not give me a chance! But now-¡± Henipolis sneered and said, ¡°Since they have betrayed me, I will let them taste what it is like to be betrayed by the popce!¡±

    For the rest of the day, the Theonian troops began building siege equipment while Teratus contacted his men in the city through special ways.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the following day, when Davos led the army from Krimisa to the Neto River, Hielos also led his army to line up outside Laos.

    Looking at the tides of enemies and the military gs below the city wall, the Laosians on the city, whether they are soldiers or strategoi, were inevitably a little nervous. After years of under Theonia¡¯s wing, they are used to seeing and listening to the bravery and sessive victory of the Theonian soldiers.

    Seeing this, Alobamusughed and said, ¡°The Theonians do not dare to attack the city and are merely scaring us! After all, the lives of the families of those thousand warriors under Henipolis are in our hands! Thus they do not have any fighting spirit at all. So if we exclude them, the Theonians¡¯ numbers aren¡¯t more than ours, while we still have tall walls, moats, abatis, and traps. Therefore, unless the Theonians are crazy, they wouldn''t daree to just die with their little force!¡±

    ¡°Lord archon is right! We, warriors of Laos, are not afraid of any threat! On the contrary, I wish the Theonians attacked the city now so that we can defeat them!¡±

    ¡°Oh, Asinu! It''s time for the Theonians to see the strength of Laos'' warriors!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as Alobamus'' men disyed their courage, more than 20 cavalries rode out of the military formation of Theonia. Afterwards, they stood less than 100 metres away from the city and shouted, ¡°Warriors of Laos, I am Henipolis, the son of Avinoges and your archon!¡±

    As soon as he uttered this, the more than 20 followers of his echoed his words simultaneously, allowing the people in the city to hear him clearly.

    ¡°Milord, it''s the boy! Let''s shoot him!¡± One of Alobamus'' subordinate''s expressions changed, so he quickly suggested to Alobamus.

    Alobamus waved his hand. For his nephew, he had a mixed feeling of guilt for taking away his power, pain for breaking his promise to his brother, and for his hatred and fear of his recklessness.

    But Alobamus knew that he had to be brave enough to face this young man and cut through all these negative emotions in his heart to truly be apetent ruler of Laos! Thus he wanted to hear what this nephew of his had to say first and then refute him.

    ¡°Warriors of Laos, we are the descendants of the noble Sybarites. However, we became ves of foreigners for decades. But under my father''s leadership, you who did not want to be ves rose up and bravely resisted, expelling the foreigners and bing Laos'' master!¡±

    Henipolis waited for his men to finish shouting before he continued, ¡°But! Have you really be the masters of this city?! Most of you do not havend, cannot hold official positions in the city-state, cannot participate in creating various city-state ns, and have no political power! Furthermore, in order to survive, you have to be part of the various ns and tribes because of poverty and work hard grazing and farming for those officials and chieftains in exchange for a meagre amount of food to satisfy your hunger!

    While those officials and chieftains, who do not have to do any work, could enjoy the delicious food, upy various positions andnds of Laos, and create all kinds ofws that favour their rule over you. Look around you, look at those fat strategoi and chieftains! Do you really think that you are the masters of this city?!¡­¡±

    ¡°Shoot the arrows! Shoot!!¡± Alobamus ordered in anger as he did not expect this audacious nephew of his to reveal the secret of their rule over Laos in front of everyone, ¡®Damn it! Damn Henipolis! Does he no longer want our family to rule this city anymore?!¡¯

    Although they conveyed Alobamus'' order, only a few responded to his order. On the contrary, a lot more did what Henipolis said and captured the chieftains, who had rushed to chastise them, while murmuring, ¡°He is right! These people are indeed much fatter than us¡­¡±

 Chapter 495: Invitation to a decisive battle

    After Henipolis dodged the iing arrows with the protection of his men, he took a deep breath and shouted with all his strength, ¡°I, Henipolis, the true archon of Laos, solemnly swear on Hades and Asinu''s name that if you help me kill those wicked rebel, I would allocate you yournds, give you the right to participate in politics, take up public office, and have real freedom!!¡±

    The warriors at the top of the city wall heard clearly about thend, power, freedom¡­which were all the things they dreamed of. Furthermore, because of the rumours that were spread in the city a few days ago, they felt Henipolis credible. The rumours let them know that this young man, just because he wanted to improve their situation, had his position usurped by the officials and chieftains who wanted to continue oppressing and exploiting them.

    Then a greatmotion suddenly arose among the warriors on the city wall, significantly reducing the number of people shooting at Henipolis.

    Just as they were debating and their hearts were in turmoil, the spies that Teratus had ced in their ranks shouted, ¡°We wantnd! We want freedom!¡­¡±

    Their shouting resonated with everyone, which further added to the confusion at the top of the city wall.

    Seeing this, Hielos became overjoyed and immediately ordered the attack.

    With the continuous sound of the salpinx, the soldiers marched towards the city wall with siegedders.

    Furthermore, the chaos at the top of the city wall did not subside but expanded. So the chieftains and the officers rush to scold the rioting soldiers and tell them to concentrate on defence; otherwise, they would get punished. However, some people with intent instigated these warriors to beat up those powerful officials and chieftains who usually treated them like dogs and pigs.

    After all, among these 5,000 or so warriors on top of the city wall, except for one-third who were the personal guards kept by the chieftains and officials of the various tribes, the rest hade from the poor people in the tribes and the port, who were the bulk that was impressed by Henipolis'' words. Thus the chaos spiralled out of control.

    Although Alobamus was anxious at watching the Theonian soldiers quickly clearing up the traps under the moat, he couldn''t think of a good way to change their grave situation.

    Suddenly, a herald hurriedly ran up to the city wall and said, ¡°Lord Alobamus, it''s not good! It''s not good! Those beggars in the port are rioting! There are so many of them that we had to transfer most troops to defend the city. While the rest of the soldiers were either defeated or had voluntarily surrendered!¡±

    ¡°What?! What did you say?!¡± It was as if lightning struck Alobamus. His vision turned dark, resulting in his body swaying a few times and copsing.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos stepped on the solid Krimisa-Aprustum road with the army he led and soon arrived about a kilometre away from the north bank of the Neto River and began building a camp.

    At this time, Davos had more than 40,000 men from thebined second legion, sixth legion, seventh legion, sarissa legion, and the newly rejoined first legion*. (after the victory of the naval battle, the Theonian fleet entered the port of Krimisa, dropping off all the soldiers of the first legion on the ship and the captured Syracusan sailors. The prisoners will then serve as ves to providebour for the Krimisians in helping them rebuild their homes, while the damaged and captured ships will continue sailing north and return to Thurii''s military port for maintenance.)

    Furthermore, after Philesius received the news, he and Epiphanes led the fourth legion and part of the fifth legion, totalling more than 12,000 soldiers, to travel through the main road and joined Davos'' army. At the same time, Philesius left behind 3,000 soldiers to defend the city of Aprustum together with the more than 1,000 reserve soldiers organised by Agasias.

    In addition, after quelling the rebellion in the Bruttian region, Hieronymus led the 5,000 or so Bruttian reserve soldiers that he gathered earlier towards the Crotone in(which is why Hielos only brought 2,000 or so Bruttian soldiers to attack Laos.)

    The navy''s navarch, Seclian, also sailed again to the sea near Crotone with one hundred corvus and forty regr triremes.

    On this day, Theonia''s several armies rushed to the north bank of the Neto River one after another, rapidly increasing the troops that Davos led.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the Theonian camp, a spectacr and lively sight happened as thousands of bare-chested soldiers wielded shovels and pickaxes to dig trenches and build walls and tents¡­

    Davos ¨C the new king of Theonia, and several militarymanders such as Antonios, Amintas, Epiphanes, Philesius, Olivos, Matonis and Kapus were preparing to discuss their next strategy in the temporarily builtmand post when Damocles ¨C the messenger sent by Dionysius arrived.

    After meeting Davos, Damocles presented him with a letter from Dionysius.

    ¡°To the young archon of Theonia. Ever since Inded in Magna Graecia at the head of my army, I have won many battles and conquered Terina, Scylletium and even Crotone one after another. At the same time, Caulonia expressed its submission while Rhegium, who was hiding behind the mountains and trembling with fear, could be overthrown with just the wave of my hand. Now, Theonia is the only enemy left before me. Do you, who the ignorant Magna Graecians praise as the strategos who won a hundred victories, have the courage to fight a genuine decisive battle with me? After all, whoever wins or loses, this long war with countless casualties woulde to an end. Thus I look forward to your reply! Signed: Dionysius, the supreme militarymander of Syracuse, the Master of Sicily and Conqueror of Magna Graecia.¡±

    After reading the letter written by Dionysius, Davos inwardlyughed coldly, ¡®This is a decisive battle invitation from Dionysius? This tyrant really treats me as a young child, trying to use such a clumsy provocation to make me ept this battle, hmm¡­¡¯

    After seeing Davos remain calm after reading the letter, Damocles ¨C the envoy of Syracuse, immediately said, ¡°Esteemed lord Davos, our supreme militarymander also sent you a gift, but the guards took it.¡±

    Davos became a bit interested, so he nced at Martius, standing by his side.

    Martius understood and immediately came out of themand post and soon brought in a Syracusan attendant holding a beautifully decorated wooden box in his hands.

    ¡°Is this Dionysius'' gift?¡± Davos asked while ncing at the wooden box.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Davos nodded to Martius.

    Martius then took the wooden box, ced it on the table in front of Davos and opened it, revealing a human head inside.

    ¡°Take it out.¡± Davos calmly said as he had already guessed it.

    Afterwards, Martius carefully took it out and ced the head on the table.

    Although lime powder covered the head and was slightly rotten, Davos could still tell who he was.

    Amintas, on the other hand, curiously looked at it and eximed, ¡°It''s Drakos!¡±

    This immediately surprised the other legatus, causing them to rush towards the table confused.

    Damocles still manage to say, ¡°With it is the message that Lord Dionysius asked me to bring: This is only the first!¡± which caused Amintas toe forward angrily, grab Damocles and punch him hard. It resulted in Damocles falling on his back as his nose began bleeding.

    ¡°Go back and tell that shameless, savage tyrant of yours that he''ll be the second! We will cut off his head and kick it like a football, so you''d better tell him to wash his head clean so we can easily chop it!¡± Amintas pointed his finger at Damocles as he cursed.

    The Syracusan envoy had already expected the anger of the Theonian strategoi, so it did not frighten Damocles even with a broken nose. Instead, he snickered a few times, covered his nose with his hand, stood up slowly and looked at Davos, who was looking at him coldly, and said in a jarring voice, ¡°Lord Davos, when do you n to fight the decisive battle so that I can go back and tellmander Dionysius to prepare?!¡±

    Davos calmly said, ¡°Let him wait.¡±

    This vague response had taken Damocles aback.

    But he had no chance to ask again as Martius removed him and his attendants out of themand post, blindfolded them and escorted them back to the south bank of the Neto River.

    At this moment, Davos and the militarymanders bowed respectfully and deeply to Drakos'' head to express their grief and respect.

    On Drakos'' head was a smashed bloody hole in his forehead, which silently narrates the courage and unyielding of the deceased, reminding everyone present at that time that the tragic sight.

    ¡°Your majesty, when will we fight Syracuse?!¡± Philesius, who usually remained calm, couldn''t help but ask Davos.

    ¡°Your majesty, the fourth legion requests to be the main force of the battle!¡± Epiphanes asked Davos to fight with a serious expression.

    ¡°Epiphanes, don''t you dare take our moment! Drakos formed our second legion with his own hands, so it is the strong desire of our brothers to avenge Drakos'' death. Thus I hope your majesty will fulfil our request and ce the second legion in the position where the Syracusan may attack the fiercest!¡± Amintas shouted, with an expression of giving up his life.

    ¡°If it is the legion formed by Drakos, then the same is true to the fifth legion. Moreover, Drakos was wounded, captured and killed in the hands of the enemy in order to cover the retreat of the fifth legion!¡± Philesius even took the initiative to fight for the chance as well.

    Seeing the atmosphere in the tent getting more heated, Davos loudly interrupted Philesius, ¡°Who said we would fight a decisive battle with Syracuse now?!¡±

    Just as Davos uttered his words, Antonios, who remained quiet, had a ¡°just as expected¡± expression, and the silent Kapus'' eyes flickered with cold light.

    Although Matonis and Olivos, the two ¡°younger¡± legatus, didn''tpete earlier, they were now also eager to try but were immediately discouraged at this moment.

    Not to mention the three legatus who were still arguing.

 Chapter 496: Seclians Voyage (I)

    ¡°Your majesty, we won''t fight a decisive battle against Syracuse?!¡± Amintas asked in surprise.

    Davos looked at Amintas, then at everyone before calmly saying the situation he analysed, ¡°Amintas, you should understand that our fleet defeated the Syracusan navy twice, allowing us to control the coastline of Magna Graecia and giving us the initiative of war! And by making full use of our fleet tond at any point on the coast behind Syracuse''s camp, we could attack their weakly defended cities, cut off their food transportation lines, and return the tricks the Syracusans previously used on us to them. It would make Dionysius, even with hisrger army, be exhausted by our mobilisation and have nowhere to use his strength. That is what worried Dionysius and why the Syracusans are desperate to fight a decisive battle with us to turn the tide and even deliberately send an envoy to provoke us! Hence you should not easily fall for the enemy''s trick!¡±

    Although Davos was saying this to Amintas, it also told the other legatus the strategy they would take.

    Once they restored the peace in themand post, everyone began thinking about Davos'' words.

    Amintas scratched his head. Still, he reluctantly said, ¡°Will we not fight the Syracusans then?¡±

    This question caused Davos to ponder for a moment before saying, ¡°It depends on the following development, so we first need to be patient and do our own thing. Hieronymus'' troops are still on their way while Hielos'' troops are besieging Laos, and the sarissa legion still needs more training¡­ Thus, as long as all our ns are in ce, we will weave a great that would catch the Syracusans and control their fate at any time. At that time, I will use Dionysius'' head as a sacrifice for the dead Drakos and the warriors!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Dionysius was equally puzzled by Davos'' words while listening to the envoy''s report, ¡®Does that mean that Davos wanted to consult with his men first and then send an envoy to inform me of the date of the battle?¡¯

    So Dionysius subconsciously tried to think in a good direction and decided to wait and see first.

    But suddenly, a lookout from the port came to report and said, ¡°We spotted dozens of Theonian ships passing Crotone and are heading south.¡±

    After hearing that, Dionysius'' expression suddenly changed.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Under Davos'' instructions, Seclian formed a fleet of 60 triremes that he personally led to go around the southern coast of Magna Graecia. Mithridates, on the other hand, led the main fleetposed mainly of corvus and began blockading the sea between Crotone and Scylletium to monitor the military movements of Crotone.

    For the first time since the establishment of the Theonia Union, its fleet has finally going toplete the voyage around the coast of Magna Graecia. Thus both Seclian and the sailors are highly excited.

    Before their departure, the sailors brought all the sails with them. And they all raised the sails to the mainmast even if it was only a weak south wind, which caused Theonia''s emblem to flutter in the wind.

    Seclian''s fleet sailed fast that after they bypassed the Cape of Crotone, it only took them more than an hour to reach the sea near Scylletium.

    ¡°Get closer!¡± Seclianmanded the fleet to approach the port of Scylletium.

    By this time, Scylletium, which had served as the main base of the South Italian Alliance, had long lost its liveliness. In therge city, the Scylletians had disappeared, and only the Syracusan soldiers, freemen and ves were left. So when the Theonian fleet arrived, they all became nervous that they immediately armed all their men and sent cavalry to inform the camp in Crotone.

    Although there were only more than 3,000 defenders currently left in the city, they concentrated the supplies for the entire Syracusan army here. Furthermore, there are still hundreds of transport ships moored in the port after transporting the supplies from Sicily. In addition, there is also a fleet of transport ships tasked to transport the supplies from Scylletium to the Syracusan camp in Crotone. But now, they could no longer transport it by sea and could only transport it bynd. Although there are numerous ships in the port, there are no warships. So in case the Theonians force their way into the port, it is highly likely for them to cause damage.

    However, Seclian''s fleet had no n to take action in Scylletium for the time being. So after making the defenders have a cold sweat, they continued to sail south and reached Caulonia.

    This time, Seclian no longer bluff and had sent out a boat to demand ess to the port.

    The Caulonians had heard the news of the Theonian fleet defeating the Syracusan navy, giving them varying degrees of surprise and expectations. But when the Theonian fleet had really arrived, they were at a loss. Finally, the polemarchos ¨C Prinus, decided, ¡°Meet them! We must meet them!¡±

    However, there was no Theonian envoy on the boat. Instead, they handed over an open letter from Davos to the Council of Caulonia.

    In his letter, Davos did not criticise the ¡°surrender of Caulonia to Syracuse¡±. Instead, he apologised for the Theonian army''s forced retreat and expressed his deep sorrow for Scylletium''s tragedy and his anger at Syracuse''s cruelty. Moreover, he also expressed his understanding and gratitude for Caulonia¡¯s choice in that grave situation.

    Davos also confidently said that Theonia hase out of its predicament and is gathering its army for a decisive battle with the Syracusans, believing that the Magna Graecians will take the final victory! Furthermore, he reassured them that they would safely rescue the Caulonian that the Syracusans forcedly took as hostages!

    Prinus read the letter several times and then handed it to others. His heart became so agitated that he couldn''t help but ask the Theonian sailors who delivered the letter, ¡°I heard that Lord Davos became the king of Theonia Union?¡±

    ¡°Yes, all of us Theonian citizens agreed that only Lord Davos, with the blessing of Hades, could fully defend our homnd. Thus, we unanimously elected him to be our king. And on the day after he became king, we miraculously defeated the Syracusan navy, which had far more warships than ours! It just shows that Hades agreed with our choice!¡± The sailor excitedly said.

    The surrounding people were affected by his words that they couldn''t help but exim in amazement.

    ¡°Indeed, a man as great as Lord Davos should be king!¡± Prinus said this with heartfelt excitement. He then earnestly continued, ¡°Please tell Lord Davos that we Caulonians have not forgotten that we are Magna Graecians! Thus we would try our best to fulfil Lord Davos'' requests, as long as it is reasonable, and we will not give in to the Syracusans!¡±

    ¡°Lord Prinus is right; we will not submit to Syracuse! Once the Theonian army steps into the Ophemia in again, we will immediately rise and expel those bastard Sicilians out of Magna Graecia!¡± The others also gave their pledge.

    After the council discussed with each other, Prinus immediately wrote a reply to Davos.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In thergemander post temporarily built by the Theonian soldiers on the north bank of the Neto river, the rest of the military leaders have dispersed, with Philesius the only one remaining.

    ¡°Your majesty, I-¡± Philesius felt guilty and wanted to apologise to Davos.

    As Davos could already guess what he wanted to say, he preempted him by saying, ¡°Philesius, I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to you! When thinking of the n I made beforehand, it was indeed impossible to fulfil it¡­ After all, Crotone, Terina and Scylletium are not city-states that have joined our Theonia Alliance, so how could they easily follow ourmand?! Besides that, the quality of their soldiers and the level of their military training are far inferior to ours, so there is no way for them to aplish the task of blockading the Syracusans on the wide area on the south of the Caulonia-Aro River!

    What''s more, we all underestimated the Syracusan army, which was also an army with solidmand, strict training, and could act boldly and rapidly! And their tyrant, Dionysius, was also not simple! He made a brilliant tactical deception before the battle and was able to get more than 20,000 troops to move quietly from Caulonia to Hipponion without you noticing it. And¡­he decisively appointed a Spartan as themanding strategos of the mixed army before the battle, thus sessfully resisting your left-wing''s fierce attack. Finally, he seized the opportunity to call on the reinforcements¡­your defeat in this battle is not without a cause!¡±

    Some time had passed since the battle of Aro River, so Aristias had already learned the entire process.

    Although Philesius could understand it, he continued to say with guilt, ¡°Your majesty, if I¡­I could have insisted on my opinion; we could have avoided that battle! But I-¡±

    ¡°No, we couldn''t avoid it at all!¡± Davos said with certainty, ¡°Although you think we could avoid it, that is because you are thinking about this from our point of view. But for the Scylletian and Terinians¡­will they allow the Syracusans to burn and plunder their homes without attacking if they have the strength to fight them? Of course not!

    Not only them, but the Crotonians will stand firmly on their side. And as the de facto ally of the entire South Italian Alliance, can we refuse?! We can''t!¡­ The Magna Graecians are watching how we behave, and that is the responsibility Theonia must assume if we want to dominate Magna Graecia! In fact, it was you who helped me take on that responsibility!¡±

 Chapter 497: Seclians Voyage (II)

    Davos sighed, ced his hands on Philesius'' shoulder and sincerely said, ¡°When faced with Syracuse''s superior strength and the sea bing their navy''s backyard, Even I would have lost. There is also their suprememander, Dionysius, a terrifying opponent! Yet you managed to keep most of the soldiers of the two legions intact while cooperating with Crotone to hold on until the reinforcements arrived, allowing us to have the hope to turn defeat into victory. Not only should I thank you, but all the people of Theonia should thank you!¡±

    These words caused Philesius to tear up, which were tears of relief.

    ¡°And Drakos'' death is not your fault! I know him well; he is a man that never gave in to defeat, so whether it was him volunteering to remain in the back, getting captured or smashing his head to the ground and dying, he made what he thought was the right choice! Thus the only thing we all can do is capture Dionysius and use his head to pay tribute to Drakos'' soul!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡­Yes!!¡± Philesius nodded again and again.

    ¡°How are the soldiers of the fifth legion feeling?¡± Davos asked with concern again. The fifth legion, a legionposed of Bruttians, had witnessed the death of the legatus that established the fifth legion. And during this period of turmoil in the Brutian region, Davos certainly worried about their state.

    ¡°They all can''t wait to fight the Syracusans and avenge Drakos!¡± Replied Philesius at once.

    ¡°That''s good.¡± Davos then encouraged him by saying, ¡°I ran into your wife, Delia, while leading the army out of Thurii. She asked me to tell you that she and the children are doing well now, and she hopes that you will lead the soldiers to expel the enemy out of Magna Graecia quickly!¡±

    Philesius arrived here depressed with his head bowed and shrunken figure but left feeling relieved and taking big strides.

    Davos looked at Philesius'' departing back while thinking in his heart, ¡®Philesius is too gentle and not strong-willed enough, a quality that a suprememander shouldn¡¯t possess. Rather, it is better for him to do paperwork in the Ministry of Military in the future.¡¯

    Davos actually had one more reason to thank Philesius that he did not say, ¡®The defeat at the Battle of Aro River resulted in the great weakening of the Greek forces in southern Magna Graecia that they could no longer resist Syracuse. However, isn''t this also true for Theonia?¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Theonian fleet continued to sail southward and approach the sea near Locri.

    Of all the port cities on the east coast, only Locri''s port remained busy with merchant ships, even more so than before the war. Furthermore, the blockade and suppression of the ports of the South Italian Alliance by the Syracusan navy meant that the merchant ships travelling on the eastern and western Mediterranean routes had to transit or trade in the port of Locri.

    ¡°Lower the sails!¡± Seclian looked at the distant patch of sail with a cold gleam in his eyes, ¡°Attack!¡±

    As the salpinxes'' blew, the fleet''s ship gradually spread out, and the sailors excitedly sped up their rowings. And because the merchant ships did not pose any threat to them, it gave them the thrill of abusing the weak and the opportunity to hone their practical experience.

    Driven by the high-speed rowing, the ship''s speed reached 13 knots, resulting in the other merchant ships not escaping without the strong wind''s help. Andpared with the size of the trireme, the merchant ships were like children facing adults and soon capsized under their impact.

    Soon, broken ships, people shouting for help, and lots ofrge and small supplies filled the sea¡­ And once the ships in the distance saw this tragic sight, they became scared that they fled everywhere. Shortly after, there were no other ships except the Theonian fleet on the sea outside Locri''s port.

    Before leaving, Seclian led the fleet back and forth several times outside Locri¡¯s port.

    Although the Locrians were furious about this, they could do nothing about it because the Syracusans had taken away their 30 triremes two days ago on the pretext of fighting the Theonian fleet. And now that they see enemy ships strutting outside their port, a bad feeling arose in their hearts.

    ¡°It seems they have defeated the Syracusan navy again!¡± Demodokas said with gloom.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Phantepes said worriedly, ¡°From now on, the Theonian ships will control the east coast, which would cause a great blow to our maritime trade! But, I am more worried about Syracuse losing to Theonia onnd as well. After all, the young archon of Theonia has returned to Thurii.¡±

    ¡°It is impossible for Syracuse to lose onnd!¡± Demodokas retorted without hesitation, ¡°You and I have seen with our own eyes the 80,000 armies of Syracuse, which any Greek city-state including Sparta couldn¡¯t resist!¡±

    That said, Demodokas was still a bit upset as he knew that it was all thanks to Dionysius'' support that he held the supreme power in Locri and became the de facto ¡°tyrant¡±. For this reason, he fiercely suppressed his political opponents and those who opposed him, which naturally caused dissatisfaction among the people. And this discontent was further exacerbated by the fact that to secure supplies for theirbat strength and some Syracusan troops, Demodokas levied high ¡°special war taxes¡± among the city-states'' citizens to increase the city treasury¡¯s revenue to buy war supplies. So if the Syracusan army were to be defeated, he could hardly imagine what the seemingly docile and calm poption would do if provoked by his political enemies.

    ¡°With our empty city, it would be dangerous if the Theonian armynds here!¡± Demodokas suddenly said, ¡°So we must immediately call back our troops stationed in Medma.¡±

    Phantepes was taken aback and asked, ¡°Then what about Medma?¡±

    ¡°Rhegium''s army suffered heavy losses, so even if they want to attack Medma, they wouldn''t capture it fast and would allow us to send reinforcements at any time.¡± Replied Demodokas.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Theonian fleet continued to sail south and soon reached the southernmost tip of Magna Graecia.

    Seclian''s ship was at the forefront as they carefully led the fleet around the penins''s tip, turned north, and entered the Strait of Messina.

    And after sailing for a while, they approached Rhegium.

    Although it was currently dusk, Seclian was a little more curious about the city of Messina. After all, the port of Messina is at the narrowest part of the strait, just a dozen kilometres away.

    Back when the Syracusans rebuilt the city of Messina after getting destroyed by the Carthaginians, they moved the ce and abandoned the port. However, it was soon upied and vigorously developed by immigrants dominated by Syracusans, Locrians and their allies. Before the outbreak of the war with Magna Graecia, Syracuse also sent a fleet to maintain the port''s security, controlling the ships going in and out of the strait and blocking Rhegium''s port. And although all the triremes of the Messinian fleet were moved to Scylletium and Theonia won the naval battle a few days ago, leaving only about 30 small and medium-sized ships in the port, the Rhegians were still no match against them.

    Thanks to the Syracusan scouting ships spotting the Theonian fleet from a distance, they quickly withdrew the ships left to the port, resulting in Seclian''s fleet not seeing the cruising Syracusan ships when they arrived at Rhegium''s port. Otherwise, a battle would have ensued.

    But after considering theteness of the day and the orders of King Davos, Seclian had to temporarily restrain his impulse and ordered the fleet to continue head north and sail into Rhegium''s port.

    The Rhegians had not seen any ships enter their port for two months, so when they heard Theonia''s fleet wasing, they all rushed out of the city and ran to the port.

    Under the guidance of the Rhegian patrol ship, Seclian''s fleet entered the military port. But while the Theonian sailors were disembarking, the Rhegians crowded around them and asked loudly about the war situation.

    It''s not a wonder they were so anxious. After all, they knew nothing of the outside world as the Syracusan fleet tightly blockaded Rhegium¡¯s port for over a month. Normally speaking, it would be difficult topletely block a coastal city because ships couldn''t stay on the sea for a long time; they needed to be regrly maintained, towed to the shore to bask in the sun, remove the maggots, and the sailors need toe ashore to rest, eat and drink water. But with the close proximity of the city of Messina to Rhegium that they were only a dozen of kilometres apart across the strait, the Syracusans were so determined topletely blind the Rhegians and cause them to panic that they divided their fleet stationed in Messina into several groups and blockaded Rhegium in turn without interruption. Besides that, Rhegium''snd ess to the outside was blocked on the east by the city of Locri and the Large Locrian army stationed in the city of Medma on the west. Since their defeat in thest battle, the Rhegium-Taurania joint army has fully withdrawn to the south of the Marro River.

    Thus the arrival of the Theonian fleet was a great surprise for the Rhegians, especially when they learned that the Theonian fleet had utterly defeated the Syracusan navy and had be the new ruler of the coast around Magna Graecia, which resulted in great cheers erupting in the military port. Thus, the Rhegians weed the Theonians into Rhegium with a celebratory parade surrounding the Theonian sailors while they sang and danced.

    That night, the polemarchos of Rhegium ¨C Athelycus entertained Seclian.

    At the banquet, Seclian told them the story of the great naval battle on the Gulf of Taranto, which attracted bursts of cheering and admiration¡­

    At this moment, Athelycus coughed a few times and asked loudly, ¡°Navarch Seclian, Rhegium has generously lent all of our triremes out of friendship to Theonia that we were even subjected to a long blockade by the Syracusans for not having a fleet. Now that Theonia has managed to defeat the Syracusan navy with our help, isn''t it time for you to return our ships?¡±

 Chapter 498: Athelycus Ambition

    ¡®What do you mean with your help?! It''s as if you Rhegians had taken part in the naval battle!¡¯ Seclian sneered inwardly but did not show it on his face. After all, Athelycus was not only an important figure in Rhegium but also the father-inw of King Davos.

    Fortunately, Davos already knew his father-inw''s personality was. Thus before the fleet set out, he specifically told Seclian, ¡°Theonia is grateful for Rhegium''s great assistance as our ally, and we will soon return Rhegium''s ship!¡± Seclian answered without hesitation. After all, Theonia currently has hundreds of captured intact or slightly damaged triremes that were left idle because there were not enough sailors. Furthermore, they even had to transfer some of them to themercial port due to their numbers.

    ¡°Can the returned ship be equipped with that kind of ¡®wooden drawbridge¡¯ you just said?¡± Said Athelycus, which immediately caused Seclian to be taken aback as he did not expect that the polemarchos of Rhegium would make such a request.

    Although the corvus seems simple to install, he once heard his majesty Davos say that it involves the application of advanced pulley knowledge andplex mechanical production, allowing the several corvus operators to easily rotate the corvus'' base, to pull up and down the drawbridge. Seclian even remembers the schr Marticoris proudly iming that ¡®Except for Theonia, no second Greek city-state could make a corvus unless they had a deeper knowledge of pulleys!¡¯

    ¡°What? You can''t do it?!¡± Athelycus asked again without fear when he saw that Seclian had not spoken.

    Seclian just said, ¡°Only his majesty Davos can make this decision. Besides, the corvus is only one of the reasons why we can defeat the Syracusan navy. The most important reason is our legion''s powerful heavy infantry, especially when we fought with the Syracusan navy for the second time. Although Syracuse sent heavy infantry almost equal to our number on each ship, they still lost miserably¡­¡±

    With that, Seclian bluntly said, ¡°Theonia and Rhegium are allies. With us protecting the sea, the enemies will not harass Rhegium on the sea, so you don''t have to spend money to equip the navy.¡±

    After hearing that, Athelycus'' expression sank. He then looked directly at Seclian and angrily said, ¡°In his letter, Davos hopes that we Rhegians could send troops together with your fleet to attack in Hipponion and somewhere else in the south of Magna Graecia to attract and hold back the Syracusan army, creating openings for your offence. However-¡±

    Athelycus'' expression further sank as he continued, ¡°Earlier, we the people of Rhegium took the initiative to attack the city of Medma to help you. As a result, we suffered heavy losses and no longer had the strength to do such risky actions. Therefore, please tell Davos that we are really sorry! Anyway, Theonia is already so powerful, so you should be fully capable of defeating Syracuse on your own!¡±

    Afterwards, Athelycus stood up and said, ¡°I still have some things to do, so enjoy your time.¡± with that, Athelycus unexpectedly left.

    The guests looked at each other, and Seclian became even more embarrassed. Although it should have been a lively banquet, it ended in displeasure.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the evening, in the inner yard of Athelycus''s residence, Alkibidas criticised Athelycus, ¡°Father, you were too aggressive at the banquet and left the worst impression on the visiting Theonians! What if they were to return and spread the story? It would affect not only Agnes but also our family''s business in Thurii!¡±

    ¡°Do you think I was furious due to that lowly Theonian?¡± Athelycus'' angrily stared in the direction of the banquet that had long ended. He then said to his son, ¡°I did that for my son-inw.¡±

    ¡°For Davos? What do you mean?¡± Alkibidas looked puzzled.

    Athelycus felt somewhat helpless: As one of the ancient families of Rhegium, he ruled the city-state for decades, and his family has always yed an important role in Rhegium''s politics. However, he doesn''t know why his two children did not inherit the political talent of the family. Fortunately, his daughter Agnes had married the archon of Theonia¡­should be the king of Theonia now and became the queen consort and the chief priestess of the influential Temple of Hera in Thurii. However, even though she has a high status, her mind was simple since childhood, resulting in her not being a match for the other queen consort, who is shrewd and influential. And his son, Alkibidas, was smart, but he used it in business and was not interested in politics. Even his current position as strategos was forcedly given by Athelycus.

    Although Alkibidas remained indifferent to political matters, as his sessor, Athelycus often gave him an earful of lectures in hopes that he would wake up one day. This time is no exception, ¡°Now that Syracuse has lost the sea, it would be difficult for them to retake it in just a short time. Furthermore, as long as Theonia carefully deals with the war, they will not lose. So once the Syracusans retreated to Sicily, the Theonia Union, which did not suffer heavy loss in this war, will certainly be an unshakable overlord in Magna Graecia. Hence if we don''t want to be its vassal, we must make our stance known!¡±

    ¡°There is nothing wrong with bing Theonia''s vassal.¡± Alkibidas said unconcernedly, ¡°And only by bing a vassal can we get trade concessions. ording to what you said, Theonia''s territory is already so big and will certainly be even bigger in the future, which will be more helpful to our family''s trade! With my brother-inw being the ruler of this powerful country, my sister will definitely not let me suffer!¡±

    Athelycus did not expect hiszy son to hold such an idea. He became angry for a moment but soon felt helpless as he vaguely felt that Alkibidas was not the only one who held such thoughts in Rhegium. Since Rhegium allied with Theonia, the Rhegians felt safer and benefited greatly in trade andmerce. Furthermore, Rhegium had more merchants and fewer farmers due to their environment, so they were very likely to give up the city-state''s independence for their own interests, just like when they aligned with Carthage before joining the Theonian Alliance. Apart from fighting Syracuse, the Rhegians were attracted to Carthage¡¯s huge trade market that they could even ignore the ethnic conflict between the Carthaginians and the Greeks.

    ¡°Even if we be a vassal, we still have to be a powerful vassal so that Theonia value us.¡± After getting discouraged, Athelycus sighed and reminded his son, ¡°Do you know why I insist on getting those unique ships of Theonia?¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Messina!¡± Athelycus looked at his son and said in an aggrieved tone, ¡°Once Davos defeats Dionysius, there will be great chaos in Syracuse. By then, he won''t have the spare energy to protect that new city-state across the strait, allowing us to take it and make it a colony under Rhegium''s control! With the port of Messina under our hands, it would allow us to control the strait, which is great for the city-state and your business!¡±

    Alkibidas was greatly impressed that his eyes flickered at imagining the significant gains from capturing Messina. However, he soon calmed down, ¡°Father, you think my shrewd brother-inw couldn''t see Messina''s importance? There is a popr saying among us Greek merchants ¡®Great profitses with great risk.¡¯ The reason my business is going so well is that I never do anything beyond what I can. Could it be that Rhegium is ready to take risks to seize Messina?¡±

    Athelycus froze. After learning about the continuous victory of the Theonian fleet, he was ecstatic at the thought of Messina that his desire blinded his reasoning for a moment. He almost forgot that the city of Messina was the target of everyone, with Syracuse, Carthage, and now Theonia staring at the strait.

    After contemting for a while, vitality returned to Athelycus'' face as he said with relief, ¡°Alkibidas, I now realise that you are an excellent strategos!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the following day, Seclian led the sailors to the port and boarded the ship.

    Seclian thought that the event at the banquetst night would lead to the Rhegians'' attitude changing towards them. But to his surprise, not only did the people''s enthusiasm remain the same, but Athelycus also came to see them off with an even more enthusiastic attitude than when they met yesterday.

    Athelycus did not even mention a word about the discord yesterday as he positively expressed to Seclian that Rhegium is willing to perform the duties as their allies and fully cooperate with Theonia to defeat Syracuse. For the specific actions, he could discuss it with strategos Pheidon, who was in Taurania.

    At the same time, Athelycus also asked Seclian to bring a letter to Davos.

    Although Seclian couldn''t understand Athelycus'' sudden change, it''s undoubtedly wonderful. Seclian was in a great mood that his voice was particrly loud when he gave the order, ¡°Go to Messina!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In 715 B.C., the Cumae colonists from Greece''s ind of Euboea and the Chalcis of north-central Greece allied to build a city on the londs of the strait between Sicily and the Apennines, naming it ¡®Zankle¡¯ because of the shape of its harbour, which resembles a farmer''s sickle for harvesting grain.

 Chapter 499: Henipolis Guilt

    But a hundred yearster, many fleeing Messenians immigrated here, which changed the whole city that even its original name was changed to ¡°Messina¡±, and the only thing that remained was the symbol of the coins issued ¨C ¡°a sickle and a dolphin¡±.

    Then a few years ago, Dionysius rebuilt the city after Carthage destroyed Messina. However, the city''s residents became the migrants of Syracuse, Locri and their allies.

    Since Messina was only about 6 kilometres away from Rhegium, the Theonian fleet soon reached it in a few moments. Seclian was currently standing on the ship''s bow as he looked at the city of Messina with interest. Compared to Rhegium, the city of Messina itself was notrge as it was located in the londs between the mountains and the sea. Its area is narrow, and there is norge river around it. But what attracted''s Seclian was the extremely long breakwater arc built by mixing rock and limestones, and the refugees surrounding the port.

    On the breakwater, a line of Messinians was hurriedly getting summoned; some rushed to the ships on the port, others with bows and arrows climbing the sentry towers on the breakwater¡­ However, Seclian didn''t care as he had no intention of leading the fleet to burst into the port. Instead, he just did what he did outside Locri''s port ¨C ram and sink the merchant shipsing in and out of the port. And after showing off their might, they continued to sail north.

    Now that Syracuse dominates the western Mediterranean, the immigrants of Messina had never imagined that they would be attacked in such a way; one can just imagine the anger and frustration they feel.

    After more than an hour, the fleet crossed the strait and reached the city of Taurania.

    When the Tauranians and the Rhegians stationed in Taurania learned Theonia had defeated the Syracusan navy, they were equally jubnt.

    Seclian thought persuading Pheidon would take a lot of time. After all, Pheidon had already failed in their attack and was ordered to return to Rhegium to be tried. Fortunately, there were no Rhegium citizens that could rece him against the terrifying Syracuse-Locri Alliance, so he was allowed to return to Taurania with the support of Athelycus. Thus Seclian feared that Pheidon would be afraid of attacking the Syracuse-Locri alliance again.

    But after Seclian exined to this Rhegian strategos, Pheidon did not escape, and he immediately expressed his willingness to cooperate with Theonia to hold back the Syracuse-Locri joint troops. Just that, they were unable to make an effective n until Seclian got in touch with Hielos in the Bruttian area.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile in Laos, Henipolis had just woken up.

    Yesterday, the Theonian army cooperated with the rioting civilians in the city. Furthermore, nearly half of the defending warriors were almost unwilling to fight, so the city of Laos was easily breached.

    In desperation of not wanting to be tormented by his nephew, Alobamus decided to kill himself after getting captured.

    Afterwards, Henipolis did not rest as he ordered the punishment of anyone who participated and worked for Alobamus!

    After all, almost all the entire officials of the city-state had defected to Alobamus when he usurped the throne, so Henipolis originally wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to overthrow all those who opposed and hindered him. Yet he did not expect the rioting civilians, who had been oppressed and exploited for a long time, to unleash the hatred and violence that were hiding in their bones, which became a disaster for the city. Soon, the whole city fell into a frenzy of killing and looting.

    Seeing the situation turned for the worse, Henipolis ordered, ¡®Stop the looting and killing; else you will be heavily punished!¡¯

    But the civilians, who were already frenzied, no longer listened and even attacked the warriors ordering them to stop.

    Thus Henipolis could only ask Hielos for help.

    Hielos then sent all the troops to stop the riots caused by the civilians of Laos and ordered them to kill anyone who resisted.

    Once the more than 5,000 trained Theonian soldiers entered the city, they began suppressing the mobs who broke into the various houses.

    They finally put down the riot at dusk, but groans and howls covered the whole city soon after. And the city of Laos, which had grown increasingly prosperous after years of efforts of Avinoges and Alobamus, had be deste and filled with the wounded and the dead scattered everywhere.

    Henipolis, who entered the city, could not bear to witness such sights.

    What made him even more upset was those people crying with the bodies of their loved ones on the roadside looked at him with hatred¡­

    Thus Henipolis, who was deeply remorseful and frightened, did not get muchfort even after seeing his mother was safe and sound. At night, the tragic images he saw in the day appeared when hey on his bed and closed his eyes, with the cries of people ringing in his ears. He tossed and turned for the night and was only able to sleep when it was almost dawn, only because of excessive fatigue.

    At noon, he woke up to eat breakfast and lunch simultaneously.

    At his meal, his mother joined him. Although Alobamus had conspired against him, he had only put his brother''s widow under house arrest. Besides that, he treated her as usual and suffered no harm, and she was only worried about her son''s safety. Now that Henipolis had returned safely and defeated the rebels, she was in a good mood, ¡°My son, Ariandos, came looking for you several times in the morning, but I kept sending him back.¡±

    ¡°What does he need from me?¡± Henipolis listlessly asked while chewing his bread and thinking of other things.

    ¡°He asked what to do with the imprisoned civilians, so I told him to release them.¡± Henipolis'' mother was a cousin of T, a Lucanian noble and former great chieftain of Laos. T then betrothed her to Avinoges to better control and enlist Avinoges, the chieftain of the Sybarite''s descendants; that is why Avinoges and his wife did not have a good rtionship.

    Later, Avinoges united with Theonia and overthrew the Lucanian rule in the city of Laos. But even after almost wiping out T and his force, Avinoges did not divorce his Lucanian wife because she was the biological mother of Henipolis. More than that, the Lucanians had gradually integrated with the Greek descendants of Sybaris. In fact, even many small Lucanian tribes expressed support and submission when Avinoges rebelled, so having a Lucanian wife was to reassure the restless Lucanians.

    But this woman kept the hatred of her family''s destruction to heart, and now she could finally smile, ¡°Those ¡®ck pigs*¡¯, who only know to roll in the mud, should have died long ago. My son, you have done well. They were the ones who killed your uncle T and his family! You know, your uncle''s second daughter, your cousin, was so beautiful that I had agreed with T that she would be your wife, but those damned-¡± (A derogatory term used by the Lucanians to call the Sybarites ves.)

    ¡°Enough!¡± Henipolis suddenly mmed the wooden cup filled with wine on the ground, causing the wine to ssh everywhere and startling the woman.

    ¡°I''m full.¡± Henipolis stood up and left without looking at his mother.

    ¡°Honey!¡± The woman could only give a pitiful cry.

    Henipolis did not turn back as he was holding his anger, ¡®I punished those officials and tribal chieftains who helped Alobamus usurp the throne, not to take revenge, but to establish a better political system. A system in which everyone can ownnd and has the power to participate in politics like Theonia. I am different from my mother, who hates the people of Laos! But-¡¯

    Thinking of the corpses that littered everywhere and the pairs of eyes filled with hatred¡­ his enthusiasm immediately dissipates as he begins doubting himself again, ¡®Did I really do wrong? Did I, just as Alobamus said, go too far?¡­¡¯

    Alobamus¡­Henipolis remembered that he didn''t feel any pleasure of revenge when he saw the body of his only unclest night. Instead, what kepting to his mind was when he yed with his uncle when he was a child, making his heart feel empty and unsettled.

    He aimlessly wandered until he finally reached the city hall next to his house.

    In the centre of the city hall''s assembly room, there was a beautiful chair. He walked up and sat down slowly as he faced theyers of stone benches in front of him.

    Henipolis'' father built this ce three years ago, imitating the Greek city-states. But unlike Theonia and the other city-states in Magna Graecia, this one had an extra chair in the centre, a chair dedicated to the archon for life. He began wondering if his father and his uncle had felt superior and aloof when sitting on this chair as he did not have this wonderful experience at all. Rather, it made him sick like amb being gazed at by dozens of hungry wolves. After he became the archon, he was reluctant whenever he came here.

    At this moment, he just dazedly sat in his chair and faced the empty meeting ce until Ariandos hurriedly came in, ¡°Milord, I finally found you.¡±

    Henipolis looked back at the anxious face of the loyal man his father had left him, so he asked with interest, ¡°What''s the matter again?¡±

    ¡°Those freemen did not want to leave and were asking when you will honour the promise you made, milord.¡± Ariandos'' words made Henipolis inexplicably angry, ¡°Honour it?! Do they still want me to honour my promise?! Look at what they have done! I am already merciful for not executing them all!¡­¡±

    Henipolis shouted to vent his discontent. He did not think that those vagrants who used to be pitiful in his eyes would turn into vicious and greedy mobs. Still, he was only saying that to vent his hatred as he certainly would fulfil the oath he made to the gods. Furthermore, Laos¡¯ current situation does not allow him to renege on it.

 Chapter 500: Dionysius Cruelty

    ¡°And-¡± Ariandos hesitated and stopped.

    ¡°What else?!¡± Henipolis asked angrily.

    ¡°Some people outside the city hall im that their loved ones didn''t betray you. Yet they were still killed by the mob, so they hoped you could bring justice to them¡­¡± Said Ariandos.

    ¡°Wrongly used?¡± Henipolis scratched his hair in annoyance. That is what he fears hearing the most, so he pushed the responsibility and said, ¡°I will leave this matter to you to deal with. Besides that, you should start working on allocatingnds to those vagrants.¡±

    After hearing Henipolis, Ariandos froze and shouted, ¡°Milord, I don''t know how to do this!¡±

    ¡°If you don''t know, you can find someone else to do it.¡± Just as Henipolis uttered this, he suddenly froze. Find someone? Where? The mobs killed almost all the officials in the city of Laos. And to begin with, there are already very few people who have administrative experience in the city.

    Henipolis sat down in dismay, ¡®Should I do it myself?¡¯ Then again, he doesn''t know where to start as he only gives orders after bing the archon, and they are mostly not carried out. Moreover, he always hated those tedious andplicated political matters. After all, he already gets a headache just thinking about those¡­

    Then he began thinking of the time he lived in Davos'' residence and saw mountains of bills, city-state matters, letters and so on piled up in Davos'' study. Moreover, Davos still spent most of the time dealing with official business whenever he came home¡­ Henipolis suddenly felt, ¡®Maybe I am not really fit to serve as the archon!¡¯

    Just as the two of them stared at each other, not knowing how to proceed, Hielos entered inside and said, ¡°Lord Henipolis, now that the situation in the city has calmed down, I would like to ask when you can prepare the ships? By now, Lord Davos must be anxiously awaiting the news of our actions!¡±

    ¡®Oh, this matter as well!¡¯ Henipolis was in a trance the whole day that he forgot about this important matter. He then looked at Ariandos and said, ¡°Go to the port immediate and prepare the ships to transport the Theonian soldiers to mpetia.¡±

    Ariandos then said with an embarrassed expression, ¡°Milord, the port is now in chaos. All the sailors came to the city while the port''s managements were either killed or hiding. So where can I find people to prepare so many ships?¡±

    Henipolis froze again and could only look at Hielos helplessly.

    Hielos, on the other hand, didn''t expect this to happen, and he became a bit anxious.

    Henipolis was familiar with Hielos because he went in and out of Davos'' residence several times, so he could only look at him apologetically. Suddenly, a light shed through his mind, and he said, ¡°Lord Hielos, I remember that you served as a city''s praetor two times.¡±

    Hielos didn''t know what he meant, so he nodded truthfully.

    ¡°And there is also Lord Bagul, who is currently serving as Grumentum''s praetor.¡± The more he spoke, the more excited he became, ¡°As you can see, there is great chaos in the city of Laos as most of the administrative officials were killed by the mob, so the whole city could no longer function normally. Thus, I would like to ask you to help me in managing the city so that Laos can return to normal as soon as possible, which would allow you to travel to mpetia without any problems.¡±

    When Henipolis said this, the two people present thought they had misheard him.

    ¡°Lord Henipolis, are you kidding?¡± Hielos blurted out.

    ¡°Am I in the mood to joke with you in such a bad situation now?!¡± Henipolis impatiently said, ¡°Do you want to leave by ship or not? Otherwise, you will have to lead the army bynd!¡±

    If they were to go to mpetia bynd, they would have to cross the entire Consentia teau. Although there are now roads, it would still take two days. On the other hand, they still won''t set off by ship tomorrow even if they work efficiently to return Laos to normal operation. So both options would take about the same time, but Hielos was no longer a mercenary who only led people to battle. After several years of administrative management, he is sensitive to the significance of taking over Laos'' administrative authority, ¡°I will first go back to the camp and discuss with Lord Bagul.¡± after saying that, Hielos left in a hurry.

    ¡°Milord, that doesn''t seem right.¡± Ariandos vaguely felt that something was not right.

    ¡°What''s not right?¡± Henipolis immediately retorted, ¡°If you think that isn''t right, then I will leave all these things to you.¡±

    Ariandos became embarrassed and unable to say anything.

    Then, Henipolis smiled with his eyes brightening as he hade up with a brilliant idea that would allow him to get out of the city that had turned into a quagmire filled with hatred.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    It was almost noon when Dionysius stood at the top of the broken city wall of Crotone. He then withdrew his gaze that was looking to the north and coldly said, ¡°It seems that the young man of Theonia has no intention of epting the war letter and having a decisive battle with us.¡±

    ¡°What should we do then, milord? Shall we attack them instead?!¡± Astagoras eagerly asked, ¡°Cross the Neto River and attack the Theonian camp?¡±

    Dionysius red at the reckless strategos and said coldly, ¡°Idiot, that''s exactly what the Theonians want! In the first ce, it was because the Crotonians had rashly crossed the river that they lost to the weaker Theonia. Do you think I would be so stupid to do the same?!¡±

    Astagoras no longer dared to speak as he could feel Dionysius was now in a bad mood.

    ¡°Phacipessas, how long can our current grain reservesst?¡± Dionysius asked again.

    ¡°It canst for more than a month if we also include the food we took from the Crotonians.¡±

    ¡®More than a month!¡¯ With the Theonian fleet controlling the east coast, there would be no more aid from Sicily. Thus they could only get food from Locri and the conquered city-states, but¡­how much could they have? Dionysius anxiously calcted as he swept his gaze over the slightly worrying strategoi and ministers around him. Finally, his gazended on the big city behind him, which had several hundred years long history, and suddenly said, ¡°Burn this ce! Burn down the city of Crotone!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°Destroy Crotone''s wall and burn the city!¡± Dionysius coldly gave the other, ¡°Afterwards, everyone will retreat to our camp!¡±

    Although both Syracusan strategoi and the soldiers preferred living in thefortable housespared to the crude tent, Dionysius had already made his decision, and no one dared to express opposition.

    ¡°Milord, what about those Crotonians? With the Acropolis'' height, we couldn''t burn them!¡± Phacipessas reminded.

    ¡°Leave them alone and let them ask for help. Isn''t Theonia their ally?! Didn''t that young man im he would keep his word?! I''d like to see if the Theonians would really save them!¡± Dionysius'' gaze turned cold, ¡°However, drive them back as long as the Crotonians dared to escape from the Acropolis inrge numbers.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Phacipessas and the other strategoi understood that this was to force the Theonians to cross the river to rescue Crotone.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The city of Crotone burst into mes¡­

    After four years, another Greek city-state in Magna Graecia was burning, but for the Syracusans, this was something they had done more than once. Dionysius, the so-called ¡°protector of Sicily¡±, had, in fact, destroyed many historical city-states, including Greek cities, and was no less capable of such destruction than his rival ¨C Carthage. Hence the Syracusan soldiers skillfully ced firewoods everywhere in Crotone, soon setting the whole city on fire.

    As the raging fire turned the sky of Crotone red, the people in the Acropolis bitterly cried when they saw their homes burn in the fire. Before long, the grieving people panicked due to the spreading of the fire that threatened to surround the Acropolis.

    Fortunately, Lysias and Milo had prepared and sent their men out of the city to cut down the trees and weeds around the hillside. However, even though the fire did not burn the Acropolis, the scorching air and smoke caused great trouble for the tens of thousands of people inside, who felt the unbearable heat and had difficulty breathing.

    With the Acropolis'' limited water source, Milo originally wanted the people to endure again. However, many frail elderly and women fainted one after another, so he finally agreed to let everyone wet their clothes by the pool and apply them to their faces to get through the difficulties.

    After doing the protective measures, they mostly used up all the water in the cistern. Then some of the people began gathering in the temple and prayed devoutly to the statue of Apollo, hoping for his protection through this disaster; some even began repenting to the huge statue because they thought this was their retribution back when Mnseus burned the city of Thurii that was under Apollo''s protection!

    Lysias watched the burning city in a trance as fear for the safety of the people inside the Acropolis filled his heart. He knew that without water, everyone would notst a few days.

    ¡°Lysias.¡± Milo appeared from a distance. Strangely, there was a light on his face at this moment, ¡°Don''t worry. Something must have happened that caused the Syracusans to retreat and set the city on fire. I reckon that¡­the Theonian reinforcements had arrived, and the Syracusans did this to fight Theonia with all their strength!¡±

    ¡°Are you telling the truth?!¡± Lysias immediately cheered up as he asked loudly.

    ¡°It''s highly likely for the Theonian reinforcements to arrive!¡± Milo was convinced of his judgment, ¡°Didn''t we receive the news of the Theonian fleet defeating the Syracusan navy a few days ago?! Now that Syracuse didn''t have the assistance of the navy, they had lost the opportunity to threaten Theonia''s rear. Furthermore, Theonia had defeated the invading Tarantine army, so they no longer have anything worrying them in sending reinforcements.¡±

 Chapter 501: To fight or not to fight

    As someone who had fought Theonia, Milo was familiar with the tactics of sending ships to harass Theonia''s coast. So he was shocked that the Theonians defeated several strong enemies in session, got out of the predicament of getting surrounded, and had the opportunity to fight against Syracuse with their full strength, especially after the great naval victory, which waspletely unexpected!

    ¡®How did that young man do it?!¡¯ After his banishment, Milo did not stay idle. While he was in seclusion in Greece, he collected a lot of information about Theonia and studied its military and politics, so he already knew a lot about this rapidly rising union. Yet unexpectedly, Theonia''s performance had again overturned his cognition in their war with Syracuse.

    ¡°So the Theonians are really here!¡± Lysias became excited. But suddenly, he remembered something, and the delight on his face turned to anger, ¡°They should havee long ago! If only Aprustum¡¯s troop hade out to our aid when the Syracusans were attacking our city, they would not have breached Crotone so quickly!¡±

    Milo did not speak as the inaction of Aprustum''s soldiers was a thorn buried in the hearts of Lysias and these high-ranking officials.

    ¡°Milo, even if Theonia''s reinforcements arrived, can they repel Dionysius with the Syracusan army being so strong now? In case¡­then all of us are finished!¡± Lysias became worried again.

    No wonder he was worried. After all, they witnessed the terrifyingness of the Syracusan army where they breached the fortified city of Crotone in such a short time. So can the Theonians be able to withstand Syracuse''srge and fierce army? If the Theonians were also defeated, then Crotone''s only hope would be gone! Many Crotonians have such contradictory psychology.

    ¡°From what I know about Davos, he must have the confidence to win as he dared to lead his army here.¡± Although their city was breached and was trapped in the Acropolis and could not get the news from the outside for a while, Milo still had more confidence in Davos than any Crotonians. After all, there is a saying that goes, ¡®The one who knows you best is your enemy¡¯, so he loudly suggested, ¡°All we have to do now is to wait for the fire to die down and send out scouts to the city to find out the situation. And if we could find the Theonian troops, we would immediately call for their help!¡±

    ¡°You are right.¡± After listening to Milo, Lysias calmed down a bit. After thinking about it, he continued, ¡°We need to inform Siprus and ask him to send someone out to scout the city.¡±

    On the day the city was breached, the army of Terina suffered heavy losses as well. Eventually, Siprus led the remnants of his army to retreat into the Acropolis along with the Crotonians. At Lysias'' reminder, Milo realised that Lysias'' careful approach was exactly what hecked. After all, Terina''s rtionship with Theonia was far closer than Crotone''s, so if they were the ones to request help, the Theonians would definitely be more serious.

    Lysias and Milo, the two famous political figures in Crotone, fought for more than a decade. But after they were forced to cooperate due to the war, they realised that their strengthsplemented each other, which is really unfortunate¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos was watching the training of the sarissa legion on the camp''s field ground when he suddenly received a report at noon, ¡®There was a change in Crotone''s port.¡¯

    Mithridates, who received the news, immediately led more than a hundred corvus to the estuary of the Nero River, quickly picked up the soldiers of the first legion and rushed to Crotone''s port, just in time to meet the Syracusan fleet scurrying out of the port and attempting to escape.

    However, the Syracusans were cunning enough to force the captured Crotonian sailors to sail out of the port in the remaining merchant and sailing ships. On the other hand, their 40 or so ships were mixed in with these ships and fled southward immediately after leaving the port.

    These ships then block Mithridates'' fleet, stopping them from blockading the port. On the other hand, once the Syracusan ships that were not interested in fighting sped up, the corvus ship full of soldiers could not catch up with them. Thus, the Theonian fleet only catches a few ships as they watch most of them sessfully flee to the south.

    Due to the horrible result, the soldiers of the first legion were somewhat listless while they disembarked.

    ¡°Melisander!¡± Melisander was leading the soldiers ashore when he suddenly heard someone shouting, so when he turned around, he saw Philesius standing not far away and waving at him.

    Melisander hurriedly gave orders to his men and ran over, ¡°Father, do you need something?¡±

    ¡°No, I just came to see you,¡± Philesius said indifferently without showing his concern. After knowing that his adopted son fell into the sea twice in the previous naval battle, he became worried the whole day, ¡°How''s the result of today''s battle?¡±

    ¡°They escaped.¡± Melisander said reluctantly.

    Philesius was about tofort him when the herald Tolmides came rushing, ¡°Commander Philesius, his majesty wants to hold a military meeting. Please rush to themand post immediately.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Philesius then casually asked, ¡°Tolmides, why is his majesty holding a meeting at this time?¡±

    Tolmides nced at Melisander, thenughed, ¡°I guess¡­it is to discuss why Syracuse''s fleet suddenly fled Crotone''s port?¡±

    Melisander became interested.

    At this time, the soldiers on the shore suddenly became restless, and someone shouted, ¡°Look! There''s a fire over there!!¡±

    To the south of the Neto River, wisps of ck smoke rose to the sky just out of their sight¡­

    After a while, the ck smoke formed a thick pir, and the sky turned red¡­

    Philesius and Tolmides then looked in that direction.

    ¡°Is it Crotone?¡± Tolmides asked with uncertainty.

    ¡°It''s the city of Crotone!¡± Melisander loudly said that because he had fought twice in the sea near Crotone, so he knew the city''s location.

    Philesius and Tolmides looked at each other with serious expressions.

    Then the soldiers on the camp and the sailors on the estuary rushed to the north bank of the Neto River and stared at the red sky in surprise¡­

    When the news of the ¡°burning of Crotone¡± spread through the crowd, many of the old Thurian soldiers cheered loudly; some even shed tears of excitement and knelt on the beach to pray to the goddess of vengeance, thanking her for finally answering their pleas for many years.

    With the camp making so much noise, it naturally rmed Davos and the legatus in the tent. But by the time they arrived at the north bank of the Neto River, the scouting ships at sea had already sent someone back to the camp to report what they saw in Crotone''s port.

    While the soldiers were just watching the excitement, Davos and the legatus pondered Syracuse''s reason for doing so.

    ¡°Your majesty, the fact that Syracuse''s fleet escaped and that they have burned the city of Crotone, which they had so easily captured, indicated that they are unable to cross the river to fight a battle with us after losing their naval superiority. So it seems that they have decided to retreat to prevent our fleet from going to their rear and cutting off their food transportation.¡± Amintas was the first to express his thoughts.

    ¡°Your majesty, we can''t let them easily withdraw to Scylletium! Such a huge force is simply not something we can defeat if they defend Scylletium. Moreover, once they retreat to Scylletium, Terina and Caulonia will bepletely controlled by Syracuse, and together with the Locrian Alliance, it would be unfavourable to us to fight there!¡± Matonis reminded loudly and urgently.

    ¡°Then do you think we should fight Syracuse here?!¡± Antonias, as the former leader of Matonis, reminded with a tone of rebuke, ¡°Dionysius wanted us to cross the river and fight them when they are prepared! Didn''t the report say they had burnt everything in Crotone except the Acropolis? It just shows that Dionysius wanted to take advantage of our hurriedness to rescue Crotone to achieve their goal of having a decisive battle with us here!¡±

    ¡°So did we lead our army here not to fight with the Syracusans but topete who would consume their food faster?!¡± Amintas had no qualms about expressing his displeasure.

    ¡°There is nothing wrong with that.¡± Kapus said seriously, ¡°Our fleet has cut off this Syracusan army from Sicily. With Syracuse unable to assist their army in Magna Graecia, Dionysius can only rely on the Locrian alliance to give him military rations. However, Locri is not a city-state rich in grain, so how can they possibly meet the food needed of such a huge army?! Furthermore, we have the support of the people and our allies, and Ansitanos has already left for Carthage to discuss the buying of grains. So after two months, I believe Syracuse will copse on their own due to food shortage, and we would easily destroy them by then!¡±

    ¡°Lord Kapus, don''t forget that it is not only our soldiers who need the food supplies but also the people of Aprustum and Krimisa, so we consume more food than the Syracusans. And even if we still had our allies'' aid and could buy food, all of those are what the people donated! Can we just stand by doing nothing while consuming them all?!¡± Epiphanes retorted nonchntly. As the legatus who fought at the forefront, he naturally knew the situation better than others.

    ¡°Let''s not forget the people in Crotone''s Acropolis, who are still waiting for our help! Although Dionysius used these to take the initiative in the battle, this was an unprecedented massive war that concerned not only Magna Graecia and Sicily but also Greece itself, Carthage and the other Mediterranean nations. And we Theonians always kept our promises, so when faced with our allies'' people who are in dire need of rescuing, are we just going to watch them die and do nothing?!¡± Philesius was someone cautious, but his wish to avenge Drakos stirred him up.

    Davos knew that Philesius'' words were mainly directed at him.

    ¡°Your majesty, milords, is it possible¡­¡± Olivos became a bit nervous when he saw everyone''s gaze at him. ¡°For¡­the Lucanian soldiers led bymander Hielos to attack Terina and forced the Syracusans to retreat?¡±

 Chapter 502: Veiled Battle

    Davos'' thoughts changed again.

    ¡°Olivos, the situation you hope is impossible to happen if we calcte the time. Unless Hielos can breach Laos in a day and immediately arrive by ship to mpetia, and then quicklyunch an attack on Terina¡­but as veterans, do you think this is possible?!¡± Antonios expressed his doubts about Olivos'' spection.

    ¡°Even if it is impossible, we should still fight the Syracusans here as soon as possible to create an opportunity for Hielos'' attack on the enemy''s rear!¡± Amintas took the opportunity to interject.

    ¡°What''s the point of Hielos taking back Terina if we lose¡­due to fighting them rashly?!¡± Kapus reminded.

    ¡°How could our legion be defeated?!!¡± Amintas roared.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The army legati argued fiercely in themand post.

    Besides Alexius ¨C the legatus of the third legion who was away in the Lucanian region, and Hielos ¨C a former legatus and was still in Laos, all the legati of Theonia gathered in themand post: The legatus of the first legion ¨C Antonios, the legatus of the second legion ¨C Amintas, the legatus of the fourth legion ¨C Epiphanes, the acting legatus of the fifth legion ¨C Philesius, the legatus of the sixth legion ¨C Olivos, the legatus of the seventh legion ¨C Maotnis, the legatus of the sarissa legion ¨C Kapus(former legatus of the first legion), and the former legatus of the third legion ¨C Hieronymus, who arrived in a hurry at dusk yesterday with Lucania''s 5,000 reserve soldiers. Thus it could be said that themand post was filled with all of the legati.

    If it were in the past, these battle-hardened senior veterans, with the backing of their legion and strict Theonian military system, would often argue about how to attack the enemy. But today, besides the silent Hieronymus, everyone held their own opinion, with some even going to the point of swearing despite their past friendship, which just shows their scruples about the massive Syracusan army across the river. After all, they outnumbered the Theonian army by nearly 10,000 soldiers, with countless battle experience and a formidablemander. Thus they knew well in their hearts that this was not an army that they could easily defeat.

    At the same time, Davos did not express his opinion and just let the legati argue, not because he pretended to be reserved, but because he couldn''t make up his mind, so he hoped that this sh of ideas could help him clear up some of his thoughts. Although the Theonian fleet absolutely dominated the two naval battles, he would not be arrogant enough to think it would be the same in thend battle. Thus for such a war concerning the rise and fall of their respective countries and the life and death of their people, Davos still needed to remain calm and cautious even though he had already prepared a lot.

    Suddenly, Martius came in and reported, ¡°Your majesty, messengers from the Crotonians and Terinians hade.¡±

    The legati then stopped their argument and looked at Davos simultaneously.

    Davos pondered for a while and asked a key question, ¡°Although the city of Crotone was now burning, the Syracusan cavalries are still galloping on the other side. So how did they get here?¡±

    ¡°The officer that guided them said that the Syracusans did not intercept them.¡± Said Martius.

    ¡°Your majesty, the Syracusans are obviously scheming something!¡± Antonios warned loudly.

    ¡°So just because this is the enemies'' scheme, we won''t save our allies?!¡± Amintas asked loudly.

    Davos nced at them and asked Martius, ¡°Have you asked them why they havee?¡±

    ¡°Yes, they came to ask for help.¡± Martius showed a hint of disdain. Then he felt that this was disrespectful to their allies, so he hurriedly became serious, ¡°Ah, they also said that they do not have much water left and wouldn¡¯tst a few more days.¡±

    Davos nodded and began pondering.

    Everyone''s gaze then moved to Davos and remained quiet so as not to disturb him.

    After a while, Davos looked at Martius and said, ¡°Go and tell those messengers that I won''t see them, so they can go and return.¡± which caused everyone to be surprised.

    Just as Philesius shouted, ¡°Your majesty-¡±

    Davos waved his hand and said firmly, ¡°I already made a decision. So there is no need for you to say more!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Did the Crotonians we caught confess everything?¡± Dionysius asked aftering seeing Astagoras enter.

    ¡°Milord, they all said that Davos didn''t meet them and was instead driven away.¡±

    ¡°Didn''t see them?! Are you sure they are telling the truth?¡± Dionysius doubted.

    ¡°Of course. I can be sure of that because several of them were so scared by my torture tool that they didn''t dare to lie.¡±

    Dionysius thought about it and sneered, ¡°Release them all, and let the Crotonians in the Acropolis know how much the Theonians they expected fear us that they do not dare to cross the river to rescue them!¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord.¡± Astagoras turned around and left.

    ¡°It seems the Theonians will not engage in battle with us, so what should we do next, milord?¡± Phacipessas asked with concern.

    Dionysius did not immediately answer. Instead, he turned to look at the quiet man in the corner of the tent, ¡°Phidias, what do you think the new king of Theonia is up to?¡±

    ¡°How can I guess what is in the mind of cunning men like you?¡± Phidias bluntly and sarcastically said, ¡°We Spartans only either attack or retreat, without hesitation.¡±

    Dionysius didn''t show any displeasure at Phidias'' taunt. Instead, he turned to look at the intelligence officer ¨C Androstini, ¡°What''s the situation in Bruttii?¡±

    ¡°Milord, after the statesmen of Theonia ¨C Sedrum became the praetor of Consentia, he used bloody means to suppress the tribes that wanted to rebel. Furthermore, he also summoned the chieftains of each tribe and tortured Petaru and Bodiam in front of them. Hence now, there are no Bruttian tribes who dare toe out to express their discontent with Theonia. For this reason, my men still couldn''t find some¡­¡±

    In the end, Androstini''s voice became weaker as the performance of the intelligence department he led in Magna Graecia was not satisfactory. First, after the sixth legion arrived in Krimisa, their sudden military control resulted in Androstini losing capable personnel and Krimisa''s information getting cut off. Next was the total martialw in Thurii, which ultimately made him unable to know anything about the central region of Theonia. Thus when they lost the naval battle, he was rebuked by Dionysius. Now, even his men who can know the situation of Bruttii could no longer do anything¡­

    ¡°I am asking you about Theonia''s troops'' movement in the Bruttian region!¡± Dionysius red at him as he asked impatiently.

    Androstini continued to sweat coldly as he hurriedly said, ¡°After the Theonian statesman named Hieronymus drafted 5,000 Lucanian warriors and went to Thurii; another statesman, Hielos, led more than 2,000 men to Laos. After that, there has been no more movement of the troops in the Bruttian region, and it seems their supply has somewhat used up.¡±

    ¡°What about Laos?¡± That was the thing Dionysius was concerned about the most.

    ¡°Due to the tight blockade of the whole mountain path by the Vergaens, our people couldn''t find out Laos'' situation, and I haven''t heard anything from our spies in Laos¡­¡±

    As soon as Androstini finished speaking, Phacipessas said, ¡°Milord, Laos is a big city on the west coast of Magna Graecia. And with Alobamus ruling Laos for many years, it wouldn''t be easy for the Theonians to take it.¡±

    Although Dionysius did not reply, he agreed with what he said in his heart. ¡®At least we didn''t have to worry about our rear for the time being.¡¯ Thus he did not consider withdrawing his army back to Scylletium.

    Dionysius knew in his heart that if they gave up Crotone, which they captured with great sacrifice and retreated to Scylletium, it would not only significantly dampen the soldiers'' morale but would cause dissatisfaction among the strategoi. However, it also means that they gave up their offensive and took a defensive position, which would give Theonia the initiative. And as time passes, the situation of Syracuse''s army in Magna Graecia will only be even worse, so they must quickly force the Theonians to a decisive battle as soon as possible!

    ¡°Phacipessas, you immediately lead 2,000 men to fire ballistae and ming arrows at the Acropolis!¡± Dionysius then gave the order, which stunned the strategoi and ministers in the tent.

    ¡°Milord, there is a Temple of Apollo in the Acropolis!¡± Damocles loudly reminded.

    ¡°Apollo will never allow Hades to dominate Thurii for a long time, which is why he blessed us in quickly capturing Crotone, so he would definitely allow us to burn the city. Therefore, he certainly wouldn''t care too much about our little offence to his temple¡­¡± Although Dionysius sneered inwardly, he still patiently educated them, ¡°Besides, we are not going to burn down the Acropolis, but just to scare the Crotonians into consuming their water and forcing them to ask Theonia for help again.¡±

    Dionysius'' orders were then swiftly carried out as dozens of ballistae and gastraphetes were carried by thousands of Syracusan soldiers to the bottom of the hill and began firing ming projectiles into the Acropolis.

    The frightened Crotonians began putting out the fire with soil to save water, resulting in many people getting burned.

    The Crotonian once again sent messengers to the Theonians for help. Under the deliberate indulgence of the Syracusans, they crossed the Neto without incidents. However, Davos'' answer was still, ¡°No!¡±

 Chapter 503: River Crossing

    Although the legati could not endure the tragic experience of Crotone, Davos knew that they must not let the Syracusans have the initiative and rashly cross the Neto River just to fall for Dionysius'' schemes. More importantly, it would take time for Hielos to capture Laos and lead his army into the rear of Syracuse, just like what Antonios said. Thus, they need to dy until Hielos'' army sessfully attacks Terina, which would give Theonia the war initiative!

    Unfortunately, they could not easily achieve Davos'' beautiful n. The Syracusans kept firing at Crotone''s Acropolis, and the Crotonian popce tirelessly put out the fire while sending messengers to the Theonian camp again and again.

    After being repeatedly and mercilessly rejected by Davos, some messengers burst into tears in front of themander''s post, ¡°Please, save the people of Crotone! We are running out of water, and everyone began drinking urine¡­but what about the children? My child is only two years old! I''d rather give my life for him to stay alive; please save us!¡­¡±

    On the other hand, some messengers cursed, ¡°Davos, everyone says that you are a famous strategos of Magna Gracia who had won a hundred battles, but the only thing I see is a coward! O Theonians, are your hearts made of iron?! Even though you see your allies struggling in the fire, you are still unwilling to lend a helping hand!¡±

    ¡°Bah! The Theonians always preach that they always keep their promise, but all of that is just a lie! You liars, we will curse you in hell even if we, the tens of thousands of people of Crotone, are burnt to death!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Hearing the messengers'' bitter cries and angry curses, all the Theonian legati bowed their heads in shame. Even Philesius, Antonios and the other legati ask Davos several times, which shows the great pressure that Davos bears. Davos sat alone in the tent with hands clutching the armrests of his chair, and even though he hadn''t said a word, his thoughts gradually loosened. After all, how could Davos remain indifferent while watching tens of thousands of living beings being burned to death because of their rtionship with him?!!

    Fortunately, it was evening. Thus the Syracusans stopped their attack on the Acropolis because the Theonian army could not cross the river at night.

    That night, Davos did not sleep well as he knew that they were lucky today. But tomorrow, the vicious and cunning Dionysius will continue to force him to fight in the way he wants. So what should he do?¡­ What''s Hilos'' situation? It has been a long without any report, and even though they built the road, it still takes time to transmit the report across the mountains!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Lysias and Milo had it hard; not only were they rescuing the wounded people and calming the restless, but they were also thinking of the increasing shortage of water.

    Had it not for Milo''s advice, who was versed in military matters, Lysias would have cussed at the Theonians and Davos for their ¡°ruthlessness¡±, and he had even thought to, ¡®If¡­we really can''t hold on, we simply just¡­surrender¡­¡¯

    At the Syracusan camp, Dionysius was distraught and shaken by Davos'' patience, ¡®Could it be that Theonia would rather watch their allies die than lend them a helping hand?!¡­ Perhaps Davos is really afraid to fight a head-on battle with us¡­ If this continues, it will not be good for us¡­ is our choice only to retreat?¡­¡¯

    That night, Dionysius was also not able to sleep well. Suddenly, he heard a noise outside his tent.

    Just as Dionysius turned over from his bed and sat up, the intelligence officer Androstini broke inside. Then Dionysius yelled at the guard captain who had just followed inside, ¡°What''s going on?! What kind of a guard captain just let anyone enter at will?!!¡±

    However, the terrified Androstini, beside the guard captain, hurriedly knelt down to apologise and said with a trembling voice, ¡°Mi¡­lord¡­urgent report came from Terina¡­ The Theonians had captured Laos!¡±

    ¡°What?! The Theonians captured Laos so quickly! Is this real?!¡± Dionysius'' expression changed considerably as he loudly asked for confirmation.

    ¡°It came from one of our spies in Laos, who risked being chased by the Theonians as he covertly rowed a small boat to Terina. So the authenticity of it is without a doubt! He reported the Theonians had incited the vagrants of Laos to riot, so they could attack from both inside and outside, breaching the city of Laos.¡± Androstini had already calmed down at this moment and exined seriously.

    ¡°So the Theonians of Laos will soon head south?!¡± Dionysius muttered anxiously to himself.

    ¡°Milord, perhaps¡­perhaps we should retreat¡­¡± Androstini plucks up his courage to say it in a low voice.

    ¡°Retreat?!¡± Dionysius snapped at him, and the cold light in his eyes made Androstini fall to his knees again in terror.

    Dionysius stared at him. Suddenly, a strange smile appeared on his face, ¡°You''re right, we should retreat!¡±

    With that, he turned and gave an order to the guard captain, ¡°Immediately inform Phacipessas, Astagoras, Acilita, Phidias¡­and the others toe for a meeting!¡±

    Androstini breathed a sigh of relief as he slumped on the ground; only then did he realise that cold sweat soaked his back.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Light fog shrouded the Crotone in early the following morning, which added a chill to the originally warm coastal area.

    And as usual, Davos got up early for breakfast; bread, wheat porridge and beef jerky, no different from themon soldiers, except for an additional fish gotten from the sailors of the Theonian fleet stationed at the estuary of the Neto River. In their spare time yesterday, they started fishing and brought a lot to Davos, who mostly gave it to the guards to share.

    But Davos didn''t have that much appetite even though the breakfast was good.

    Suddenly, Martius apanied Izam into his tent.

    ¡°Your majesty, my men brought good news! The enemy dismantled their camp and started retreating!¡±

    Davos was a bit surprised when he heard the report brought by Izam.

    ¡°Afterwards, my men infiltrated near the enemy camp and heard those Syracusans whispering in a panic that our Theonian army attack Terina¡­¡± Izam excitedly borated further.

    ¡°Has lord Hielos captured Laos? Why haven''t we received a report yet?¡± Martius was puzzled from hearing the report, so he interjected.

    Izam exined to him, ¡°It takes a different amount of time to cross the mountains to the west and get here as it does to take a boat to mpetia and then to Terina.¡± then he excitedly said, ¡°Your majesty, we-¡±

    But before Izam could finish speaking, Martius shouted excitedly, ¡°Your majesty!¡±

    Looking at their eagerness, Davos knew what they wanted to express. After all, even the usually silent and cautious Martius is already like that, not to mention the other soldiers. So Davos sighed softly and shouted, ¡°Martius, tell Tolmides to notify all the legati, Uhm¡­and Mithridates to gather here for a meeting quickly!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡°Izam, order your men to continue monitoring the enemy''s movements and report back to me as soon as you confirm that the enemy has all retreated!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    After the two saluted, they quickly left.

    Davos, on the other hand, felt relieved after giving the orders and became much more rxed. Now, he felt a bit hungry, so he sat down, grabbed the bread and took a bite.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Mithridates.¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡±

    ¡°Gather all the engineering camps of all legions and temporarily put them under yourmand. They would then immediately set up four pontoon bridges on the Neto River, so you must provide all the ships needed and meet the requirements of the engineering camp as soon as possible without any excuses!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Furthermore, you should lead all the ships to ferry the legionaries in the lower reaches of the Neto River. After the whole army crosses the river, lead the fleet around the coast between Crotone and Scylletium to monitor the Syracusan army''s movements. If there are any specific measures, I will leave it to your judgement.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡°Ledes!¡±

    ¡°Here!¡±

    ¡°Your cavalry will be the first to cross the river. Afterwards, have them scout the south to observe the enemy''s retreat and report back at any time. However, they shall not fight the enemy, especially if they encounter enemy cavalry!¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Ledes was a bit frustrated as he knew that Davos was a little uneasy about the cavalry''s fighting capability. But he could only covertly clench his fist as he had to reluctantly admit that those foreign cavalries were indeed better than his men.

    ¡°All the legati and officials,e over here and take a look at the ce where your legions and troops will cross the river for final confirmation! I ask you to organise your soldiers and cross the Neto River as soon as possible, then quickly reorganise the formation. Can you do it?!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± The legati answered simultaneously, then huddled in front of the map to examine the marks Davos had made on the Neto River.

    ¡°Your majesty, why have you made these arrangements as if we were going to fight and not to pursue the retreating enemy?!¡± Amintas looked at them and couldn''t help but ask.

    It is not only him but also the other legati who had simr doubts. Davos¡¯ n for all the legions was to line up along the river and cross the river simultaneously. After crossing, they would quickly form up again with special considerations for the position of each legion. Moreover, he sent out the cavalry to only scout and not to pursue¡­

    Davos gazed at them and said seriously, ¡°There is no need for us to rush in pursuing the enemy. As long as the Syracusans retreat, we will follow them. After all, chaos would appear in such arge army, and I am worried about the enemy retreating and then returning. You should all know how cunning the suprememander of Syracuse ¨C Dionysius. Thus I would rather be cautious than reckless, especially now that we have the initiative!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    It was almost noon when the fog dissipated under the continuous sunlight.

    After the engineering camp coborated with the legionaries, they erected four pontoon bridges in the middle section of the Neto River. And in the downstream, hundreds ofrge and small ships were docked at intervals on the north bank.

 Chapter 504: East and West side

    The Theonian legati, senior centurions, centurions and toon leaders made borate arrangements on the Neto River, turning the ce into a bustling activity. Under the leadership of their respective officers, the 60,000 Theonians soldiers, who were in formation and awaiting, began running to their target.

    The first legion''s position when crossing the river was near the sea. As the centurion of the first centuria of the fourth brigade of the first legion, Leotychides led the 200 soldiers in a neat column ording to the arrangement of the whole army and waited on the shore. In front of them stood a 30-metre-long, six-metre-high trireme.

    ¡°Hey, Prosius(the name Leotychides used in Theonia). Let''s see who''s centuria gets to the opposite bank first and line up!¡± Shouted Hybaterus, the centurion of another centuria nearby.

    Before Leotychides could answer, his soldiers shouted, ¡°The second centuria dares topete with us even with your level of training?!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯spete! Who is afraid of who?! But if you lose, you will need to frog jump as punishment!¡±

    ¡°Hey, what''s happening?! They all started leaving before we could even get on the ship!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°All of you, be quiet and stay focused!¡± With a shout from Leotychides, the whole centuria immediately became quiet.

    Leotychides'' centuria''s training was extremely harsh as he was strict, punishing soldiers who were not serious in their training, either corporal punishment or scolding. As a result, many who joined his centuria found it unbearable and asked to be transferred to other centuria. However, in every legionpetition, Leotychides ranked first in thepetition and tactical examination of the officers, and his centuria also often ranked first in the formation, attack, defence, camp building, siege, and so on,petition. Thus, many soldiers admired him and were willing to join his centuria, so the soldiers both respected and feared him.

    ¡°You can now get on board!¡± The ship captain shouted to the centuria on the shore.

    ¡°The first and second toon go first!¡± Leotychides shouted immediately.

    The two toons in the forefront quickly ce the ten-metre-longdder on the side of the ship. After they hooked thedder, the soldiers swiftly climbed onto the deck one after another. Soon, all the 100 soldiers of the two toons got on the ship, causing the whole ship''s waterline to sink into one space. Fortunately, they were near the sea, resulting in the river being deeper, and the wharf made by each centuria was short and simple.

    After the ship lifted the anchor, turned the rudder, and extended the oars, the huge hull began gliding southward with increasing speed. The lower reaches of the Neto River were only 80 metres wide at its widest, so the ship soon reached the opposite bank. After the soldiers disembarked, the ship returned at an even faster speed.

    In less than ten minutes, a whole centuria had finished forming up on the south bank of the Neto River.

    At this time, Leotychides smiled and was obviously satisfied with his soldiers'' performance.

    ¡°Pesias~¡± Leotychides shouted.

    ¡°Yes!¡± the leader of the first toon responded loudly.

    ¡°Go and ask the second centuria if they finished lining up.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± When Pesias ran, the centuria''s soldiers beganughing.

    Soon, a cry could be heard from nearby, ¡°Didn''t your centuria not agree?! That''s why we slowed down!¡±

    ¡°You guys are cheating!¡± Then the soldiers of the first centuriaughed even louder.

    Leotychides actually enjoyed the lively atmosphere of cooperation andpetition in the Theonian legion as it allowed him to relive the time when hepeted with the other Spartan warriors and forget the painful things that suffocated him in the past.

    He looked ahead and thought to himself, ¡®It''s time for strategos Xethippus to sound the centuria''s salpinx.¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the north bank of the Neto River, Davos rode on horseback as he watched the thousands of soldiers on the bank.

    Under the guidance of the military g, the soldiers set foot on the pontoon bridge in order and advanced to the south bank.

    Some officers suddenly came up with an idea to make the centuria they led sing the ode to Hades to ovee the soldiers'' fear of crossing the swaying pontoon bridge. But soon, the song echoed throughout the river as each legion''s brigade''s centuria sang their own as if they werepeting who sang well and louder¡­

    On the four pontoon bridges, four ¡°long dragons¡± quickly advanced towards the unfamiliar south bank with fluttering gs and resounding songs¡­

    This sight made the heart of Davos pound with excitement: After years of hard work, the Theonia Union finally has such a massive army as well!

    ¡°Your majesty, shall we go?¡± Kapus reminded.

    ¡°You can''t wait either?!¡± Davosughed.

    Davos arranged for the sarissa legion that Kapus led to be thest to cross the river. Although Kapus knew that Davos must have a deeper meaning, the soldiers became impatient when they saw the other legions were already crossing the river. As they are a newly formed legion, it is normal for them to behave in this way.

    Davos'' didn''t make it hard for Kapus, so he turned around and said, ¡°Let¡¯s also cross the river.¡±

    When the guard heard that, they all cheered and surrounded Davos. Then several hundred horses galloped and stirred dust to fly in the air as they rushed down the river bank¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Milord, Theonia''s cavalry ising!¡± The scout galloped to transmit the urgent report.

    Dionysius, who was at the tail of the army and was marching slowly towards Scylletium, heard the news and became excited, ¡°How many cavalries are there?¡±

    ¡°Around 1,000.¡±

    ¡°The Theonian cavalry hade in great numbers just to die. Milord, I will lead my men to finish them all off now!¡± Acilita loudly asked for the order.

    ¡°No need to rush.¡± Dionysius, however, became relieved and smiled as he said, ¡°With so many Theonian cavalries crossing the river at once, then their infantry must also be crossing the river. If you lead the cavalry now, you will scare the enemy that we lured with great difficulty.¡±

    ¡°Then what should we, Numidians, do?¡± Acilita still didn''t understand what Dionysius meant.

    ¡°Your cavalry should continue to retreat!¡± Dionysius gazed at Acilita and Gaba, who remained silent on the side, and gave clear instructions until they nodded with reluctance. He then said to his attendant, ¡°Have the herald rush to the front of the army and inform Phacipessas to start leading the army back!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the port of Laos, more than 6,000 Theonian soldiers boarded the ship one after another.

    ¡°Lord Bagul, you have to stay here in Laos for a few more days.¡± Hielos said to Bagul, who came to see him off.

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡± Bagul responded with seriousness, ¡°Although I desire to join you on the battlefield and participate in the battle, as a member of the Senate, I understand Laos'' importance to Theonia. Thus I will handle the matters here until the Senate sends someone to take over!¡±

    Hielos likewise seriously said, ¡°Lord Bagul, you can rest assured that I would treat them all equally, whether they are a Bruttian soldier or a Lucanian soldier. And would do my best so that all of them can go home safely once the war ends!¡±

    Bagul replied with a bright smile, ¡°I am most relieved to leave my brothers under yourmand, Lord Hielos! I already warned them that they must strictly abide by your orders, so you can punish them per the militaryw if they vite yourmand!¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡± Hielos expressed his sincere gratitude to Bagul.

    Then a herald arrived and said, ¡°Milord, all the soldiers have boarded the ship. Please give yourmand!¡±

    Hearing the herald, Hielos immediately looked at the city with a slight impatience on his face. He once more said to Bagul, ¡°His majesty is anxiously waiting for our move. Yet we have already been dyed for a day, so the time is very tight! Hence please convey my apology to Lord Henipolis for me as I can''t wait for him toe.¡±

    ¡°Erm¡­er¡­you should wait a little longer; he should be here soon¡­¡± But Bagul persuaded him with a strange expression and continued, ¡°Henipolis said¡­there is something important he needs to tell you.¡±

    ¡°Something important?¡± Hielos looked at the coldly sweating Bagul with suspicion and asked, ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Well, just wait for him-¡± Bagul was thinking about how to dodge the question when a clear voice sounded from behind, ¡°Lord Hielos, I''ve kept you waiting!¡±

    Bagul breathed a sigh of relief at hearing this.

    Hielos'' eyes widened at the approaching Henipolis, who was wearing a full military attire.

    ¡®Why do you need to wear armour just to see us off?¡¯ Hielos then remembers that the young archon only wore civilian clothes when they recaptured Laos and the army entered the city.

    Just as he was in doubt, Henipolis, who had brought 50 equally heavily armed warriors, came to him and said, ¡°Lord Hielos, let''s depart!¡±

    ¡°Depart? And you?¡± Hielos thought he misheard him.

    ¡°Before leaving Thurii, his majesty Davos promised me to participate and witness the war as his clerk. And Laos, as Theonia''s ally, has the responsibility to join in the ensuing battles, so I will now perform my duty!¡± Henipolis said with a serious expression with a slight hint of joy in his sentence.

    ¡°You¡­but what about Laos?¡± The fact that its archon actually left while Laos was in a state of ruin left Hielos in disbelief.

    ¡°With you and Lord Bagul taking care of the city matters extremely well yesterday, and after speaking with Lord Bagul and with the full cooperation of Ariandos, there wouldn''t be a problem at all. Right, Lord Bagul?¡± Henipolis winked at Bagul.

    Faced with Hielos'' questioning gaze, Bagul shrugged with helplessness, ¡°I have no choice. If I didn''t agree with Lord Henipolis'' request, I wouldn''t be able to call so many ships at all.¡±

 Chapter 505: Hielos Decision

    ¡°Let''s go, Lord Hielos, else we will get dyed again!¡± Henipolis proudly urged him as he hurriedly walked with the guards.

    Hielos could only ept Henipolising with the army, so he saluted Bagul once more, ¡°I will leave Laos to you.¡±

    Bagul, somewhat feeling guilty, returned the salute and said, ¡°Leave it to me. May Hades bless you on breaching the city in the south!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As soon as Davos crossed the Neto River, Tolmides hurriedly came to report, ¡°Your majesty, there is a team of Syracusan scouting cavalries ahead; our cavalries are now chasing them.¡±

    ¡°Ledes'' cavalry legion should have long scouted ahead, right? So howe we didn''t find them and allowed them to get close to us?¡± Davos'' calm tone carried dignity.

    Tolmides hurriedly exined, ¡°It was reported that these enemy cavalries had hidden behind the broken wall of the ruined city of Crotone. Now, Ledes has reorganised his troops and is ready to examine the ruins thoroughly.¡±

    ¡°Dionysius is extremely attentive in checking our army''s movement!¡± Davos mockingly said while sitting on his horse. While watching the Theonian soldiers in small phnxes, his expression began to turn grave, ¡°I fear that my worst assumptions areing true¡­Tolmides!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Inform the soldiers of all the legions to wear their weapons and equipment and march south at normal speed! In addition, tell Ledes not to disperse his cavalry to examine the city of Crotone. Instead, I want his cavalry to keep up with the Syracusan army and report back the enemy''s movement often while trying their best to cover our army''s movements! Also, have the mountain reconnaissance brigade do the investigation of Crotone.¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty!¡± Tolmides further inquired, ¡°Do we need to inform the Crotonians in the Acropolis that we have crossed the river?¡±

    Davos pondered for a moment, nodded and said, ¡°Send someone to tell Lysias¡­erm, say that we are leading an army toe to their aid, but there is a possibility of a fierce battle with the Syracusan army, so ask them to try sending an army to join us!¡±

    ¡°Understood, your majesty!¡± Tolmides immediately turned around and gave orders to the heralds.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Milord, my men have returned.¡± Acilita rushed to Dionysius, ¡°We sent out ten men, but only two returned, and they are all wounded. Yet even with their equestrian skill¡­but to pass through so many enemy cavalries-¡±

    ¡°I know¡­ The rewards you will receive afterwards won''t be less!¡± Dionysius impatiently interrupted hisint and asked, ¡°Tell me the situation quickly!¡±

    ¡°The Theonian army has crossed the river in many¡­many numbers¡­¡± The Numidians were far less civilised than Carthage and Greece, so most of them could no longer count after the numbers reached more than ten thousand.

    Listening to Acilita''s exaggerated words, Dionysius'' initial worries dissipated, and a smile appeared on his face. He had only one goal in mind ¨C To defeat the Theonian army. Only by achieving this goal could hepletely eliminate the Syracusan army''s plight, which Dionysius knew very well since the beginning.

    His gaze swept to the nearby Phidias, who nodded at him.

    Dionysius then decisively ordered, ¡°Command the whole army to stop retreating, immediately turn around and cross the Targines river and quickly march north!¡±

    At this moment, his troops had just passed the south bank of the Targines river and were just 5 kilometres away from the Neto River, around two hours of normal march. Therefore, he must act quickly to prevent the enemy from fleeing back to the north bank of the Neto River once they find out that they were deceived. Fortunately, he has enough time because it would take more than a few hours for tens of thousands of people to cross the Neto.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Near noon, the fleet entered the port of mpetia.

    However, even after the two praetors expanded the port after their integration with Theonia, it is still not big enough as its inherent conditions are not good. Thus, its capacity to amodate ships has not significantly improved, so the transport ships can only slowly queue one by one to enter the port¡­

    ¡°Lord Hielos, wee! It''s been more than two years since Ist saw you, so when I heard you wereing this time, I especially went to the port early to wait for you!¡±

    Asistes gave Hielos, who had just disembarked, a warm hug, and then he said, ¡°His majesty is really cruel. He just either let me stay in Lucania or sent me to this remote Bruttian area and didn''t even give me any leisure time to get together with you old brothers. When you were appointed as Consentia''s praetor, I wanted to go to Consentia to congratte you, but I didn''t expect a war to break out so soon¡­¡±

    Asistes kept talking excitedly, so Hielos could only reply, ¡°His majesty did that for your own good.¡±

    ¡°Of course, his majesty treats me like a brother, so he won''t me me even if Iin a few times.¡± Asistes cheekily joked around.

    ¡°Lord Asistes, hello!¡± Henipolis came forward to greet him.

    When Henipolis went to study in Thurii, Asistes had already gone to Nerulum. Although Asistes had seen Henipolis only several times when he returned to Thurii to report to Davos, he had a deep memory of the only teenager who lived in Davos'' residence.

    ¡°Lord Henipolis, it''s nice to meet you!¡± Asistes immediately returned his greeting with enthusiasm. Then he remembered something and looked puzzled, ¡°The fact that you are here means that you have retaken Laos, but shouldn''t you be in Laos straightening out the city matters after Laos had just gone through a war?!¡±

    Asistes'' words had a bit of lecture on it, but Henipolis didn''t care as he frankly said, ¡°Lord Bagul is now in-charge of Laos and is doing a good job. So I came with Hielos here to fulfil my promise to his majesty and serve as his clerk. I heard that Lord Asistes was his majesty''s first clerk? I havee to ask you for advice and impart more experience on how to serve as his majesty''s clerk.¡±

    Asistes'' smiled while his eyes darted towards Hielos, but after seeing Hielos nod at him, he could only say, ¡°No problem, we can discuss it together. On the contrary, I think you will do a better job than me because I don''t have a good writing ability like you, so I was criticised a lot by his majesty¡­¡±

    While Asistes modestly encouraged Henipolis, a man behind Asistes came forward, ¡°Lord Hielos, we''ve been waiting for you!¡±

    ¡°You are?¡± Hielos looked at the stranger.

    ¡°Let me introduce him.¡± Asistes hurriedly said, ¡°This is Terina''s strategos ¨C Phroms. After the defeat of the South Italian Alliance, he led the Terinians to retreat to mpetia, allowing them to escape Scylletium''s tragic fate.¡±

    Phroms then seriously said, ¡°Lord Hielos, the citizens of Terina will join you in your fight in taking back our home!¡±

    ¡°Your wish wille true soon!¡± Hielos promised him with confidence.

    ¡°And this one is-¡± Asistes pointed to another man beside him and introduced him to Hielos, ¡°Flios, the captain of one of Theonian fleet''s trireme, hase to mpetia under the order of the navarch ¨C Seclian, and had been waiting for your arrival for a day now.¡±

    Flios stepped forward and saluted, ¡°Lord Hielos, our fleet is now anchored in Taurania''s port. Navarch Seclian ordered me to discuss with you your attack on Terina. Afterwards, I will immediately return and report to navarch Seclian, where he will lead the fleet,prised of 4,000 soldiers from Rhegium, tond on the coast of Hipponion, cutting off Locri''s reinforcements¡­¡±

    After hearing this, Hielos couldn''t help but sigh, ¡°Now, our navy is stronger that it became much more helpful for our army''s attack!¡±

    He turned his head and looked at the port. Although there were only a few hundred soldiers ashore, the transport ships carrying the troops lined up one after another until they reached outside the port.

    Hielos then looked at Phroms, who was looking at him with expectation.

    ¡°Strategos Phroms, how many soldiers do you have?¡± Hielos asked suddenly.

    ¡°500 men.¡± When Phroms saw Hielos frowning, he added, ¡°Counting the older citizens, I can lead 900 men to join you.¡±

    ¡°How many soldiers can mpetia draw?¡± Hielos asked Asistes this time.

    ¡°mpetia has 1,500 reserve soldiers, and I can send 1,000 to support you.¡± Asistes said without hesitation.

    ¡°How many enemies are there in Terina?¡± Hielos once again asked.

    ¡°Ah¡­ording to our scouts, they might be 4,000 of them. However, more than half are soldiers of Hipponion and Medma.¡± Phroms replied.

    Hielos lowered his head as he pondered. After a while, he made up his mind and said, ¡°I will return to the ship now and lead the fleet tond on the coast of the Ophemia in and march into Terina.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Asistes was surprised, so he hurriedly advised, ¡°The soldiers had been on the rough sea for several hours, so they must be allowed to go ashore and rest. It still won''t bete to set out tomorrow. What''s more-¡± Back then, Asistes fought alongside Hielos in Persia, so he knew that once Hielos made up his mind, it would be hard to change it. Thus he pointed at Flios and said, ¡°You still haven''t discussed this with our fleet yet. Furthermore, Seclian hopes that the Rhegian army would attack Hipponion first to lure the enemy in Terina back, allowing you to capture Terina easily once you attack it.¡±

 Chapter 506: Reinforcements

    ¡°Navarch Seclian really hopes to do that!¡± Flios immediately echoed.

    ¡°The soldiers already had a full day of rest yesterday, and they had just been staying on the ship today, so they are still physically and mentally energetic. But if you look at that-¡± Hielos pointed to the dense transport ship waiting at the port. Then he said with some anxiety, ¡°It is unknown when will it take for more than 6,000 soldiers to disembark! After being the Praetor of Consentia, I know how big the area of mpetia is. Furthermore, mpetia would be too crowded after you had resettled Terina''s refugees.¡±

    ¡°I will try to arrange for the amodation, so there is no need for you to worry about that! If it still isn''t enough, you can camp out in the city.¡± Asistes said confidently.

    ¡°Thend outside mpetia is mountainous, so we might as well camp on the ins, where the soldiers can sleep better than camp here.¡± Hielos remained unmoved and continued, ¡°And since you kept watching Terina''s movements, I fear that our enemies in Terina are also watching this ce. With our fleet staying outside the port for so long, the enemy would certainly find out about it! So even if we attack Hipponion, they will instead strengthen Terina''s defence since they know of our arrival! Rather than that, it would be better for me to lead the army to attack Terina first and attract the defenders of Hipponion to their rescue. Afterwards, Seclian would lead the Rhegians on the defenceless Hipponion, which has a greater chance of sess!¡±

    After saying this, the others'' thoughts changed. In fact, Asistes and Flios understood Seclian¡¯s selfishness as he nned to make the Theonian army obtain more achievements. However, Hielos'' didn''t care about that at the moment, as he cared more about the benefit of the whole war situation.

    ¡°Actually, attacking either Terina or Hipponion is not the most important! The most important thing is-¡± Hielos looked at Asistes and said seriously, ¡°The army led by his majesty is now confronting the Syracusan army in Crotone. Hence, the sooner we attack the enemy''s rear, the sooner we can trap the enemy into a passive position and let his majesty gain the war initiative, increasing the chance of defeating Syracuse''s main force and bing the victor of this war! I had already dyed quite a bit in Laos, so now we must act as soon as possible!¡±

    Asistes was deeply moved by Hielos'' words, so he immediately said, ¡°Understood, lord Hielos! I will no longer stop you fromnding in Ophemia in. I would instead organise my men to transport supplies for the troops and immediately gather a thousand soldiers to meet you in Ophemia bynd!¡±

    ¡°Lord Hielos, I will go and assemble the Terinian soldiers now. They long been looking forward to this day!¡± Phroms said excitedly.

    ¡°Lord Hielos, my ship will set out with you and let navarch Seclian know about the n as soon as possible!¡± Flios immediately said.

    ¡°Alright, let''s all meet at Terina!¡± Hielos saluted.

    ¡°s, I had prepared a banquet tonight to invite you to my home and meet my wife and children. Unfortunately, I won''t get the chance this time!¡± Asistes sighed and gave a few orders to the port official beside him, who ran to the port to direct the ships, allowing the transport ships to leave the port smoothly.

    ¡°Lord Hielos, may Hades bless you for everything to go well!¡± After giving his sincere blessing, Asistes asked, ¡°Lord Henipolis, would you like to be a guest at my house? We could discuss how to be a good clerk to his majesty; how about it?¡±

    Henipolis was somewhat interested, so he looked at Hielos.

    So Hielos suggested, ¡°You should stay in mpetia. It still wouldn''t be toote if you wait for his majesty to lead his army into the Ophemia ins.¡±

    Henipolis slightly hesitated and finally said, ¡°Lord Asistes, many thanks for your invitation! However, I came together with Lord Hielos, so it is better if I go with him.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Yesterday, the Syracusans attacked the Acropolis with ming projectiles for most of the day, so Lysias and the others led the citizens to work until the evening. They were so exhausted and thirsty that they directly copsed in the square outside the temple and slept until dawn.

    But suddenly, on the next day, the ming projectiles they were most worried about did note again. So when they looked down from the Acropolis, they could not even see the enemy''s shadow. After a discussion, Lysias, Milo and the others decided to send their men out to investigate.

    They learned about Syracuse¡¯s n yesterday after they kept sending messengers to Theonia''s camp for help many times, yet they were able to return safely, again and again. However, it only slightly weakened the resentment of the officials of Crotone, such as Lysias, against Theonia''s refusal to lend a helping hand.

    Soon after, the scouts returned to the Acropolis and reported that the enemy hiding inside the city and the Syracusan camp outside had disappeared.

    Lysias looked at Milo with surprise and disbelief and said, ¡°Could it be that the Syracusans have retreated?¡±

    ¡°Most likely.¡± Milo thought about it and said, ¡°Since the Syracusan wouldn''t have dismantled their own camp if they would attack the Theonians on the north bank of the Neto river.¡±

    ¡°That means we can leave the Acropolis!¡± Siprus excitedly said while licking his dry lips.

    His words received a warm response from the others as they hadn''t drunk water for most of the day, resulting in everyone''s throat burning.

    Lysias, however, couldn''t make up his mind at the moment, so he asked hesitantly, ¡°Milo, what do you think?¡±

    ¡°From my understanding of Dionysius, he is an extremely cunning man, so he might deliberately try to lure us out of the Acropolis and let his thousands of cavalries quickly kill us. Furthermore, half of us are mostly women, children and elderly, so once we go down the acropolis, it would be difficult to escape their pursuit!¡± Milo said worryingly.

    ¡°So are we just to remain in the Acropolis and die of thirst because we fear it is a scheme of Syracuse?!¡± Siprus questioned loudly.

    ¡°Of course not.¡± Milo then positively said, ¡°We can send people to continue scouting Syracuse''s movement in the south while sending messengers to ask the Theonians on the north bank of the Neto river for protection. Besides that, we can also ask them to send a fleet to transport water to the port, and then transport the water to the Acropolis while there is no enemy in the city¡­¡±

    ¡°Great, let''s go with that!¡± Lysias immediately decided while the others agreed.

    Just then, a messenger sent by Davos rushed to the Acropolis.

    The news of ¡°the Theonian army has crossed the river¡± excited the officials of Crotone but became nervous about Davos'' spection that a battle with Syracuse might ur.

    ¡°Although I am dissatisfied with Theonia''s ¡®indifference¡¯, now that they had really crossed the river, I don''t want them toe over¡­¡± Lysias said with gloom.

    ¡°Right.¡± Milo felt the same way and said in a conflicted mood, ¡°From the messenger''s description, Theonia has about 55,000 troops. But from what I learned during Syracuse''s attack, I fear that they have no less than 70,000 soldiers, a difference of more than 10,000! If Theonia and Syracuse really sh here today, we must give full assistance to Theonia! Otherwise¡­¡±

    ¡°That''s a must! If they also defeated Theonia, we will all be the ves of that Sicilian tyrant!¡± Unknowingly, Siprus arrived at the meeting ce of Crotone''s official and resolutely shouted, ¡°We, Terinians, have decided to immediately go and join Theonia''s army!¡±

    The Crotonian officials began looking at each other and argued.

    In the end, Lysias loudly said, ¡°We, Crotonians, will also send strategos Milo to lead most of Crotone''s soldiers to join Theonia''s army!¡±

    Squeezing out a smile, Milo said, ¡°I will just go take the soldiers to ask for a cup of water!¡±

    Milo wanted to make the atmosphere of the meeting ce more rxed, but everyone was so nervous that no oneughed.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as Crotone gathered the more than 4,000 soldiers and Siprus led Terina''s nearly 900 men to prepare to go down, the Theonian troops had reached the front of Syracuse''s former camp.

    Although Dionysius relied on his numerous troops to build a tight military defence on the side facing Aprustum, they only ced earthen walls and wooden fences on the side of the camp located in the core area of Crotone. They did not even dig trenches as they hoped that the Crotonians woulde out of the city to attack their camp. Hence it did not hinder the Theonian army''s march as they only needed to push the earthen wall with their hands.

    Suddenly, Davos received a report from the scouts that the retreating Syracusans stopped and quickly turned around to approach them with the enemy cavalry began their attack on the Theonian cavalries.

    ¡®Dionysius had reallye!¡¯ Davos was not too surprised due to his prior spection and preparation, so he began issuing his order, ¡°The whole army is to retreat slowly and beware of the enemy cavalries'' attack! Also, tell Ledes not to fight with the enemy cavalry and withdraw first!¡±

    Despite his doubts, Tolmides still rushed to issue the military order.

    The Theonian army did not adopt their usual marching method in columns after crossing the river. Instead, they lined up and marched southward together with arge front, with the 50,000 troops stretched over 4 kilometres from west to east. So Davos and Tolmides had to discuss with each other, finally deciding to station two heralds every kilometre in the rear of the whole army to ensure the quick and easymunication of orders between Davos and the legions.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The seventh legion was at the far right end of the army, adjacent to the Targines River.

    After hearing the herald, legatus Matonis expressed his confusion, ¡°Why should we retreat?! With the enemying after us, retreating at this time will only lead to a drop in morale and confusion in the formation! Instead, we should confront the enemy!¡­¡±

 Chapter 507: Battle of Wits

    The herald did not answer but only emphasised that this was an order from King Davos!

    Matonis was left speechless, so he angrily ordered, ¡°Tell the senior centurions to lead our brothers to retreat. Retreat very, very slowly!¡­¡±

    The experienced legati don''t need more detailed instructions from Davos as they all know how to deal with iing cavalry by sending the seventh brigade of each legion to the front of the army.

    The pursuing Numidian and Celtic cavalry came near the Theonian frontline and saw the long formation of infantry retreating: The light infantry formed a scattered line behind the heavy infantry, firing arrows at enemy cavalries, which resulted in the Numidian cavalries being unable to get close enough to the formation to throw their javelins.

    Although these foreigners were fierce, they were not foolish enough to storm such a huge army formation. Thus they stopped their pursuit and kept a safe distance away from the Theonian army¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°What did you say?! The Theonians are retreating?!¡± Dionysius had just crossed the eastern bank of the Targines and became anxious after hearing Acilita''s report. After all, what he feared the most was the Theonians retreating quickly after finding out that Dionysius deceived them and returning to the north bank of the Neto before he could even lead his army, wasting all the efforts he made these past two days.

    ¡°Order the troops to increase their pace! Don''t let the enemy escape!!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Phidias suddenly shouted.

    Although Dionysius was unhappy at Phidias'' interruption, he also knew that there must be some reason for the silent Spartan to voice his thought at this critical moment.

    ¡°You just said that the Theonians was on a ¡®formation¡¯. Why did you use the word ¡®formation¡¯?¡± Phidias hurriedly asked Acilita.

    Although Acilita hated Phidias'' impolite tone, he knew that he could not mess up the Spartan, so he impatiently said, ¡°That''s right, I said ¡®formation¡¯ because they retreated orderly and at the same time.¡±

    Dionysius'' heart leapt when he heard this.

    ¡°What kind of formation?¡± Asked Phidias.

    Acilita thought about it and simply drew a ¡®horizontal¡¯ on the ground, ¡°It''s very long like this¡­¡±

    Phidias bent over and looked at the ground. He then once again asked, ¡°Which direction are we in?¡±

    ¡°Here.¡± Acilita pointed in front of the ¡®horizontal line¡¯.

    After hearing this, Phidias confirmed his suspicion, so he raised his head, looked at Dionysius, and said, ¡°I fear that the new king of Theonia had already made preparations for our n and set up a big. By then, your soldiers would already be exhausted and without aplete formation, which would result in them being no match for the Theonians, and the only thing that awaits you can only be defeat.¡±

    Dionysius looked at the ground and was lost in thought. Although he didn''t want to believe that the painstaking and thorough n he made to lure the enemy was seen through by the young Theonian and was instead lured by the other party, Phidias'' words were like a p in his face. Fortunately, this war was a matter of survival, so he didn''t have the time to care about these minor things. After coughing a few times, he said, ¡°So what should we do now?¡±

    ¡°Immediately stop our advance, form up, and march towards them at normal speed!¡± Phidias drew another ¡®horizontal line¡¯ in front of the ¡®horizontal line¡¯.

    ¡°But if we take too much time, the Theonians might escape.¡± Dionysius said anxiously.

    As a bystander, Phidias could remain calm, ¡°It''s better to let them escape than be defeated by them!¡±

    Dionysius became silent when he heard this, and his thought became a mess as he weighed the gains and losses.

    He then turned his head to look at the dust flying in the air that was stirred up by the massive, quick marching of the army¡­

    When he looked closer at the densely packed soldiers passing in front of him: Although they wore armour and the shields and spears were still on their shoulders, he could see sweat soaking through the lining, and thebined sound of rapid breathing almost deafened him¡­

    He then looks at the vast Crotone in; everything is unusually quiet, except for the asional mercenary cavalry galloping across the in. He then thought that the Theonian army might be waiting somewhere he couldn''t see¡­which made Dionysius hesitate for a while. Finally, he made up his mind, ¡°Phidias, just do what you had said. I have decided to let you arrange the formation.¡±

    Phidias became excited as this was what he wanted, so he didn¡¯t dy the matter.

    ¡°Should I withdraw all my men?¡± Asked Acilita.

    ¡°No, you and Gaba''s cavalry continue expelling the enemy''s cavalry to prevent them from spying on our formation while watching their movements.¡± Phidias began giving orders, ¡°And¡­you muste to report the details of the formationid out by the Theonians to me¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    It was already past noon, yet there was still no sign of the Syracusan army, which confused Davos. Fortunately, even after the Theonian cavalry was suppressed and unable to observe the enemy, the Theonian fleet circled the coast of the southern Crotone in. But after seeing no sign of the retreating Syracusan army, the puzzled Mithridates decisively sent a penteconter tond quietly on a concealed beach for the sailors to disembark and investigate. Not long after, they find out Syracuse''s secret.

    ¡®Turns out that the Syracusans got into formation!¡¯ After receiving the news from the scouting ship. Davos felt both regret and expectation.

    Davos then mumbled, ¡°It seems like Dionysius is quite cautious. Since he won''te, I''lle over and have a fair and decisive battle!¡±

    ¡°Order the whole army to turn around and march south!¡± Davos'' pride burst out as he loudly gave the order.

    ¡°Why are we heading south again?!¡± Many soldiers were puzzled and dissatisfied with the repeated change of orders.

    But the legati and the officers had already sensed the impending battle, such as Amintas and Matonis, who became excited.

    ¡°Reporting to his majesty, the 5,000 reinforcements from Crotone and Terina have arrived!¡±

    Davos became excited after hearing this, ¡°Great! But who''s the leading strategoi?¡±

    ¡°Siprus is leading Terina while Milo is leading Crotone.¡±

    Hearing that, Davos became bbergasted, ¡°Milo? The Milo that Crotone expelled?¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty. It is indeed him after confirming it! After the outbreak of war, Crotone recalled him, and the people immediately elected him as the strategos after the city of Crotone fell.¡± Tolmides knew Davos would have some doubts, so he had already done his research.

    ¡®Those two strategoi are all old acquaintances!¡¯ Besides his frequent contact with Siprus, Davos learned of Milo''smanding ability after the second war with Crotone. Hence Davos even believes that Milo was a political figure with an open mind and flexible thinking that could see the big picture of the city-states in the South Italian Alliance.

    Since both of them were not ipetent, Davos felt relieved. Then he asked, ¡°Are all the reinforcements they led heavy infantry?¡±

    ¡°They have 300 light infantry while the rest are all heavy infantry.¡± Answered Tolmides.

    ¡°In that case¡­.¡± Davos thought and said, ¡°Let them go to the left end of the first legion and march with the enemy.¡±

    ¡°At the far left end of the formation?¡± Upon hearing this, Tolmides, who understood Davos'' n, asked with some unease, ¡°Your majesty, that is where the enemy would focus their attack, so would they be able to fend them off?¡±

    ¡°The Syracusans captured their city and ughtered their loved ones, which made their hatred towards Syracuse stronger than ours and made their morale higher than our soldiers! I believe that even if they fight to thest person, they will never shrink back!¡± Said Davos slowly and decisively.

    ¡°I understand.¡± Without further hesitation, Tolmides turned and prepared to rush the heralds but was stopped by Davos, ¡°You must personally go tell Milo and Siprus that I cannote to meet them because of the situation''s urgency. With the impending battle, I hope they will make full preparations and work together to get their revenge on the Syracusans who invaded our homes and harmed our people!¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Tomides excitedly gave a military salute.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Crotone and Terina''s army descended the hill and went around the northern gate to leave the city. And the only things they could see were broken walls and ruins, which further increased the anger in the soldiers'' hearts. Afterwards, Milo and Siprus managed to disperse the small number of Numidian cavalries harassing and pursuing them and finally catching up with the Theonian army marching south and receiving the order sent by Tolmides, relieving Milo and Siprus.

    Because their troops came from the east, they just happened to be located at the far left end of the Theonian army''s formation. Thus they only need to connect with the first legion of Theonia without the need to expend any more energy, as they know that the soldiers were already a bit out of breath from their journey here.

    Seeing that the two strategoi were somewhat rxed, Tolmides could not help but remind them, ¡°Two lords, from his majesty''s analysis; the left nk will be the enemy''s focus of attack, so you must stay vignt!¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Milo and Siprus asked in unison.

    Before each battle, Davos would exin his battle intentions in detail to the legati and senior officers to ensure that they could execute them smoothly. And with the great battle about to start, there was no need for Tolmides to conceal it. Thus he said without mincing his words, ¡°Since Syracuse had more soldiers than ours, his majesty led the army across the Neto river with the seventh legion marching along the east bank of the Targines River. So if Syracuse wants to take advantage of their number fully, it is their best choice to focus on attacking our left-wing.¡±

 Chapter 508: Battle of Crotone (I)

    Siprus pondered deeply.

    On the other hand, Milo, a native of Crotone, warned, ¡°Beware of the Syracusans! With the traversability of the Targines River, they wouldn''t just focus their attack on the left-wing.¡±

    Tolmides smiled and said, ¡°We have already surveyed the area thoroughly in advance. As far as we know, it is still difficult to traverse the upper-middle reaches of the Targines River, so his majesty Davos ordered that the seventh legion on the far right end of the formation shouldn''t cross the middle-end of the middle reaches of the Targines.¡±

    Tolmides''s exnation caused Milo and Siprus'' expressions to be even more grave.

    ¡°Syracuse''s heavy infantry is not weak. Besides their numbers, they will definitely ce those foreign cavalries on this side to attack us. Although we Crotonians do not fear death¡­ However-¡± Milo became embarrassed. Although he did not participate in the Battle of Aro River, he had witnessed the destruction of their city by Syracuse''s infantry in just one day. And from what the soldiers had said, he also learned the strength of those mercenary cavalries, ¡°Once we cannot resist Syracuse''s full force from the left, it would inevitably affect the sess and defeat of the whole battlefield!¡±

    At this time, Siprus interjected, ¡°Since King Davos deliberately set up such a formation in advance to guide the Syracusans to focus their attack on the left-wing, then there must be corresponding countermeasures.¡±

    ¡°That''s right.¡± Tolmides seriously said, ¡°Theonia''s most powerful first and second legion will support the whole left-wing together with you, so I believe that no matter how many enemies you face, they will not easily defeat you! And to your left, there are more than 1,500 Theonian cavalries to stop the enemy cavalries from attacking our nks. And the most important thing is-¡± An odd expression appeared on Tolmides'' face, ¡°We will arrange a sarissa brigade behind you, who will be responsible for defeating the enemy cavalries and counterattacking!¡±

    ¡®A brigade of only a thousand men would decide the victory or defeat of the left-wing?!¡¯ Both Milo and Siprus were puzzled because they knew that Theonia''s army arrangements were all rtively fixed, assembling the same number of troops in each operation since their establishment, unlike themon Greek city-states. Hence they were sure that they had not heard of the establishment of the sarissa brigade in all of Theonia Union''s legions before, ¡®Could it be a new force they created after the outbreak of the war? If so, will they have powerfulbat strength?!¡¯

    The two looked at each other with doubts in their eyes.

    Tolmides smiled, ¡°You will know before the battle begins.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the steady advance of the Theonian army, the Syracusan mercenaries could only rapidly retreat.

    The distance between the Theonian and Syracusan armies was only 5 kilometres. But after an hour or so of marching, they got closer to each other.

    As the sun in the middle of the sky began to drift to the west, Dionysius, who was at the forefront of the formation, heard a ¡°Stomp! Stomp!¡­¡± sounding from the front, which got louder and louder that even the ground shook slightly.

    It even made Dionysius'' warhorse restless as it neighed incessantly, causing Dionysius to p its neck in annoyance to quiet it down.

    Seeing what happened, the attendant nearby hurriedly came to soothe the warhorse.

    ¡°The Theonians areing¡­¡± Dionysius whispered to his attendant with a grim expression.

    After a while, they saw rising grey dust at the far end of their sight that slowly drifted towards them. With the advancement of the dust, it became bigger and bigger, extending infinitely to the east and west that they couldn''t see the end. It is like a dark cloud that gets thicker and thicker as it descends in the sky before a storm. It''s so overwhelming and suffocating that the people couldn''t stop thinking about how terrifying the umted power was once it burst out¡­

    Although Syracuse had more troops, the soldiers were hurriedly formed up and hadn¡¯t had the time to get experience and integrate into this colossal formation. Thus they felt nervous when faced with the Theonian army that pressed them like a mountain range or a tide.

    Dionysius frowned and hurriedly said, ¡°Go to the right-wing and urge Phidias toplete the n. I fear that the enemy is about to attack!¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord!¡± The herald sped away.

    Dionysius looked ahead with a serious expression.

    At a distance of six-seven hundred metres, the vast band of dust stopped its advance. Suddenly, you could hear the sound of salpinx, drum beats, shouting, and the collision of armour and shielding from the opposite side¡­

    Dionysius knew that the Theonians were reorganising, so he became very anxious. Although the herald had only left for a while, Dionysius felt that a long time had passed.

    As time passed, the sounding from the opposite side from the ear-shattering volume at the start became small until it disappeared. It finally became quiet that the sound from the beginning felt like an illusion and didn''t exist. Then the dust whirling in the air also gradually dispersed¡­

    ¡°Milord, strategos Phidias finished forming up, but he wants you to dy for a while so the soldiers can take a breather.¡± The herald hurriedly returned while gasping for air.

    Dionysius understood. He then stared ahead as the dust had cleared by now, revealing the massive Theonian army to him. Under the sunlight, the armour and shields of the closely packed soldiers reflected a dazzling cold light, like an endless wall of steel.

    Unlike the previous Battle of Aro River, Dionysius saw not only ck but also yellow, cyan and several colours intertwined in a huge phnx formation. It just shows that even though Theonia had put together a great army, they could not guarantee that every soldier would get their so-called ¡®standard equipment¡¯, giving Dionysius more confidence. Thus he said to his attendant, ¡°Go tell the Theonians that I want to talk to their new king!¡±

    The attendant nodded his head in understanding and galloped towards the enemy formation and stopped at 50 metres away from the Theonian as he shouted, ¡°King Davos of Theonia, Lord Dionysius ¨C the supreme militarymander of Syracuse, wishes to speak with you! King Davos of Theonia¡­¡±

    A herald reported the shouting of the Syracusan to Davos, who was at the rear of the army.

    But Davos only pondered and said to Tolmides, who was next to him, ¡°What do you think Dionysius wish to discuss with me for?¡±

    ¡°Your majesty.¡± Tolmides thought and said, ¡°¡­Dionysius might be curious about the opponent who had given him a headache looks like.¡±

    Davosughed loudly at Tolmides'' implicit ttery and said, ¡°I don''t have the time to y such childish game with him.¡±

    Davos paused and asked, ¡°Are the sarissa brigade in position?¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty. And just as youmanded, they did not raise their sarissa.¡± Tolmides replied.

    ¡°That''s for fear that those roaming Syracuse''s mercenary cavalries will notice something amiss. Still, don''t underestimate the tyrant of Sicily; he is very alert!¡± Although Davos didn''t dare underestimate his enemy, he was equally fully confident due to the enemy concentrating their forces on their right-wing, so he hoped that the sarissa brigade would give them a surprise.

    After gazing at the enemy formation in front of him, Davos said in an impassioned tone, ¡°Tolmides, tell the legati to order their brothers that the time hase to avenge the deceased Drakos and the warriors and Theonian people that were tortured and killed! Let them chant the ode of Hades and prepare to attack!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Tolmides responded loudly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Milo finally met the sarissa brigade that he was curious about.

    A brigade varies from about a thousand men in the average Greek city-state''s army. So even though the sarissa brigade at the rear of their formation had 6,000 men, it was still not enough to form Theonia''s unique legion.

    So when Davos said the word ¡°sarissa brigade¡±, Milo was only surprised by the name. After all, except for the light infantry, almost all Greek infantry are armed with spears (sarissa is a kind of spear), so is it really necessary to emphasise it?! But once he saw the weapons, he finally understood why it was called ¡°sarissa¡±. Although the soldiers did not lift it up and just held it tly, he could clearly see its design that even though it is simr to a spear, its length is significantly longer! Moreover, they were not wearing armours.

    ¡®Extremely long spears, unarmoured soldiers, column formation¡­¡¯ Milo''s thought was filled with curiosity and doubt that he could not help but wonder, ¡®What could Davos n with such a strange army?¡¯

    Just as he was specting, the Theonian formation resounded with the ode of Hades, ¡°I devoutly praise you, O dark-haired and dark-eyes Hades!

    The king of the underworld, the ruler of the night!

    The impartial judge, the strict overseer!

    ¡­¡±

    Each soldier sang attentively and devoutly, hoping to get the great Hades'' blessing. As countless voices merged in the sky over the Theonian army, it gradually became neat and consistent as it echoed over the battlefield for thousands of metres, which is extremely solemn and majestic!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Dionysius, who could hear it very clearly at the frontline, became pale, ¡°Damn it! The Theonians are going to attack! Quick! Go and tell all the soldiers to pray to Apollo and immediately prepare for the sh!¡±

    After giving his order, he drew back his horse, crossed the gap reserved between the phnxes, and reached the rear.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    But just as the Syracusan started praying, the chanting on Theonia¡¯s side ended.

 Chapter 509: Battle of Crotone (II)

    Obviously, Davos didn''t wait for their enemy to finish praying, so he immediately gave the order, ¡°Attack!¡±

    Then dozens of buglers evenly arranged at the rear of the massive formation sounded their salpinx one after another.

    ¡°Rhaaaa!!!¡­¡± The powerful salpinx sound shot up into the sky.

    ¡°Avenge legatus Drakos and our brothers who died in battle!¡± The fourth and fifth legion soldiers, located in the centre of the vast phnx formation, were the first to shout. Then the rest of the soldiers soon followed, and the cries of revenge reced the ode to Hades. Hence when the voice bound by amon hatredbined, the morale of the Theonian soldiers reached its peak.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Cunning Davos! Damned Davos!¡± Dionysius cursed angrily as the Theonians kept taking the initiative against the dominant Syracusan army, again and again, making him feel stifled after his smooth sailing on theirnd battle sincending on Magna Graecia. The Syracusan soldiers hadn''t yet finished their prayers when the enemy suddenly began attacking, so he could no longer wait for them toplete their prayer before advancing, which inevitably affected their morale. Hence he could onlyfort himself by saying, ¡®That young man only knows how to y tricks. However, one still needs to depend on strength to win a war!¡¯

    ¡°Attack!¡± Dionysius shouted angrily with a terrifying expression on his face.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the afternoon of thest day of 394 B.C., a massive battle to determine the hegemon of the Greek city-states in the Mediterranean began on the Crotone in.

    On the Theonia Union side: 5,000 men of the first legion, 7,000 men of the second legion, 12,000 in the fourth and fifth legion, 14,000 in the sixth and seventh legion, 6,000 in the sarissa brigade, 5,000 Bruttian warriors conscripted by Hieronymus, 5,000 reinforcements from Crotone and Terina, plus about 1,500 cavalries, 1,000 men from the mountain reconnaissance brigade, and 300 personal guards, giving Theonia a total strength of more than 58,000 men.

    Davos ced the seventh legion led by Matonis on the far right, close to the Targines River. Then from right to left: Olivos'' sixth legion, Hieronymus'' Bruttian warriors, Epiphanes'' fourth legion, Philesius'' fifth legion, Amintas'' second legion, Antonios'' first legion, the reinforcements from Crotone and Terina, with Ledes'' cavalries on the far left, and Kapus'' sarissa brigade behind the Crotone-Terina reinforcements. The left nk consisting of Crotone-Terina reinforcements and the first and second legions formed a horizontal line with a thickness of 15 columns per Davos'' special instructions, while the formation of the other troops was only 8-10 columns thick.

    On the other hand, the cavalry legion was spread to the left and rear in a loose formation, trying to upy arge area to obscure the enemy''s scouting of their own sarissa brigade while achieving another purpose before the sh.

    On the Syracusan side: At theirnding in Magna Gracia, they had 80,000 infantry, 2,000 Numidian cavalries, 800 Celtic cavalries, and a thousand cavalries from allied Sicilian city-states. Although they lost about 4,000 men in the Battle of Aro River, the subsequent surrender of Caulonia had provided them with 4,000 soldiers more, plus some troops from the city-state of Locrian Alliance joining one after another, resulting in Syracuse''snd force to instead exceed 90,000 men.

    However, they needed to leave defenders for the two newly conquered city-states of Scylletium and Terina, especially Scylletium, where they ced their logistic supplies to prevent the Theonians attack from the direction of Bruttii and their navy''s raid from the sea. They also need to leave manpower on the camp facing Aprustum to prevent the enemy from attacking their rear during the battle. Thus in this way, a total of nearly 13,000 men were separated.

    When the Syracusan army captured the city of Crotone, they suffered about 7,000 deceased and seriously wounded soldiers. In the battle against the Theonian navy on the sea near Crotone, Leptines sent 9,000 elite soldiers to fight on the warship per Dionysius'' advice, which resulted in their miserable defeat and losing about 7,000 soldiers. Thus the total number of Syracusan infantry participating in the battle was now 62,000, plus 3500 cavalries (they lost some in the Battle of Aro River and trying to plunder on Theonia''snd), a total of 65,500 men, which is only 7,500 more soldiers than Theonia, with their cavalry more than twice as many as the Theonian cavalry.

    Thus after having a preliminary understanding of Theonia''s military arrangement, Phidias went to discuss with Dionysius: They would ce the weaker allied troops of the Sicilian city-states and the army of the Locrian alliance, totalling about 18,000 men under themand of Phacipessas, on the left-wing; Dionysius, himself, would lead 10,000 Campanian mercenaries and 9,000 Syracusan soldiers in the centre; On the right-wing, Phidias would lead the 15,000 elite soldiers who had followed Dionysius in his campaigns throughout the years (mainly mercenaries who wereter given citizenships andnd in Syracuse by Dionysius and were most loyal to him) and 10,000 Syracusan soldiers; On the far right-wing would be the 3,500 cavalries, but since the mercenary cavalries did not follow the prior n in the previous battle, not only did Dionysius warn the two leaders again and again before this battle but also made the irritable and violent Astagoras act as the temporarymander of the cavalry from three different forces to oversee the implementation of the n.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the salpinx sounded, the left, centre and the right-wing of Theonia simultaneously advanced steadily. At the same time, each legion¡¯s seventh brigade hurriedly went to the forefront of the formation through the spaces between the small phnxes and rushed towards the enemy formation. Another reason they needed to advance so fast was to force the enemy cavalries galloping at the front to retreat, so they could not observe the subsequent movements of the Theonian army. And just like they wished, the mercenary cavalries retreated to the far right of the Syracusan army and took a break to prepare for the next attack.

    On the other hand, the Syracusan light infantry had long been arranged in front of the formation and met the Theonian light infantries without showing any weaknesses.

    While the heavy infantry on both sides was still 500 metres away, the more than 10,000 light infantries on both sides began their battle. For a time, from west to east, rain of arrows and javelins of hails showered on the horizontal line about 4 kilometres long, colliding with each other intermittently in mid-air and then piercing the soldiers'' bodies and taking their lives.

    The left, centre and right wings of the Theonian military formation advanced at almost the same speed. In contrast, Syracuse''s situation is different with their centre and left-wing advances slowly while their right-wing advances with great strides.

    Phidias was the front-line leader on the right-wing. This powerful right-wing, with a thickness of 25 rows, wasposed of 25,000 Syracuse''s elite soldiers but gradually broke away from the centre by advancing twice the pace of the centre''s soldiers to meet the enemy ahead, while the cavalry on the far right-wing was even faster. So when the salpinx sounded, the more than 3,500 cavalries advanced in a wide front about half kilometres long with their horses'' hooves soon increasing their speed.

    The 800 Celtic cavalries were in the forefront: This fierce race from the foot of the Alps and living on the ins of the Po River had different cavalry tactics from the swift and shy Numidian cavalries; They looked down on killing the enemy through luring, harassment and throwing javelins to kill the enemy as they are more adept at a frontal charge, especially when using chariots to attack the enemy''s tight military formation. But because Syracuse was far away, they didn''t carry the chariots as it was inconvenient to transport them. Still, the charge of the Celtic cavalry is terrifying even without a chariot, and most of them held long swords instead of spears, making it easier to cut enemy cavalrymen''s necks in a mounted battle. Thus, Astagoras ced them at the forefront, using their powerful and lethal charge to disrupt the enemy cavalries'' formation.

    The following 1,800 Numidian cavalries would be under the leadership of Astagoras: Their duty was not to pursue the enemy but to clean up the mess left and restrain these mercenary cavalries. Together, they would attack the rear of the enemy''s left-wing. As thousands of horses gallop, it once again set off the dust to rise in the air, and the repeated hundreds of war drums were like thunder roaring in the sky, and the earth shook constantly.

    On the other hand, the 1,500 or so Theonian cavalries were also advancing but not as fast as the enemy, especially since their horses were dragging branches, making it easier for them to stir up the dust on the ground.

    When they were only more than two hundred metres away from the enemy cavalries, Ledes looked back at the dust that had risen behind them and shouted with slight nervousness to the few cavalrymen who were close behind him, ¡°Retreat!¡±

    Due to the several salpinxes sounding out simultaneously and the thunderous hooves on the battlefield, there was no guarantee that the Theonian cavalry, with a loose formation and nearly 500 metres long front, could hear theirrades at all. Fortunately, after numerous training, the cavalry always paid attention to the movements of their nearbyrades.

    But just as the Theonian cavalry turned around, the Syracusan cavalry had managed to close within a hundred metres, and the roaring of hooves behind them struck Ledes'' restless heart, which resulted in him spurring his horse forward while keeping his eyes on the front. So when he suddenly saw the wall of men, his heart almost leapt as he shouted, ¡°Turn!¡± and pivoted his horse to the left.

    There was no need for him to shout as all the Theonian cavalry who saw the situation quickly separated to both sides ording to their previous training.

    The cavalry on the rear kept their eyes on the situation in the front, so they immediately followed as soon as they saw theirrades changing direction.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Theonia''s offensive salpinx sounded, the sarissa brigade did not immediately advance with the other soldiers but quickly stretched out the column. Once they reached the previous position of the cavalry, they began forming a phnx formation about 500 metres long and ten rows thick, which was left alone in the rear of the whole army.

    Even as a battle-hardened veteran, Kapus was currently nervous:

    Although the current tactics against enemy cavalries were simr to the Battle of Trionto River, the scale of the battle was several timesrger with stronger enemy cavalry. At the same time, the quality of the soldiers he led was not as good as the soldiers from the Persian mercenary army, ¡®Could we resist the frontal charge of several thousand enemy cavalries?!¡¯

 Chapter 510: Battle of Crotone (III)

    Kapus'' heart violently beat when he looked at the swirling dust and the thundering sound of approaching hooves because he knew that the key to their victory or defeat was in the hands of the sarissa brigade he led. If they win, they would remove Syracuse''s greatest advantage and open the door to victory for the whole army''s offence; But if they were defeated, it may allow the enemy''s already powerful right-wing to be even more powerful with the help of cavalry, resulting the whole army to fall into a predicament.

    Kapus felt deeply responsible, but he didn''t have the time to be nervous and uneasy as their own cavalry had already entered his field of vision¡­

    ¡°Raise the sarissa!!¡± Kapus roared to vent the nervousness he felt.

    ¡°Raise the sarissa!¡± The officers also trembled while shouting.

    ¡°Those who advance lives, those who retreat die!!! Those who advance lives, those who retreat die!!!¡± Hearing a neat shouting from the rear, Tapirus and the soldiers beside him knew that it was the 2,000 light-armoured soldiers that were transferred from each legion. Their duty was not only to prevent the enemy from rushing into the sarissa brigade and y the role of thest line of defence but also had the responsibility to kill those who tried to flee. After all, King Davos had reminded all the soldiers of the sarissa brigade of the consequences during the military training the past few days.

    But even with the threats and reminders from the light-armoured soldiers behind them, Tapirus and hisrades'' hands still shook while holding the sarissa. Although the Theonian cavalry acted as the enemy cavalry many times in advance so that these recruits could adapt, it was still, after all, just a drill. But now, it is a real battlefield where people could die, and the huge momentum created by thousands of enemy cavalry is much more terrifying than the one in their training.

    Each soldier of the sarissa brigade shook with the tremor of the earth, causing their tilted spears to shake and collide with each other, making a ¡°ttering¡± sound.

    Suddenly, a neat cry came from behind, ¡°For our citizenship!!! For thend!!! Let''s be the hero that saves Theonia!!!¡­¡±

    The shout resounded through the noisy battlefield, prating the hearts of each soldier of the sarissa brigade and arousing their greatest desire. The power generated by this longing gradually made them no longer tremble as they shouted together with the light-armoured soldiers, and each shouting increased their volume by a few point and their hands holding the sarissa became stronger and firmer. By the time their shouts turned into a roar, it almost overwhelmed the sound of horses'' hooves, with their sarissa firmly pointed in the direction of the approaching enemy.

    At this time, Kapusposed himself while secretly praising his majesty Davos'' method while paying close attention to the situation.

    For the nearly two thousand Theonian cavalries to withdraw on the 500 metres battlefield, it would take time for the sarissa brigade to make way. But Kapus knew that the enemy would likely retreat or bypass the front when they found something unusual ahead.

    ¡°Attack!¡± Kapus resolutely swung his arm downward.

    However, Kapus¡¯ greatest concern remained. He is concerned that the sarissa brigade had to sh with the galloping enemy cavalry while advancing, unlike when they only needed to stand still like in the Battle of Trionto River.

    That was also what worried Ledes: He was afraid that his cavalry would directly crash into the sarissa due to nervousness or didn''t move quickly enough, causing unnecessary losses.

    ¡°Forward!¡± Tapirus'' voice slightly trembled when reminding his soldiers like the other officers.

    While marching forward with small and firm steps, the soldiers kept shouting the slogans that excited them. In their formation, the soldiers behind the other soldiers would get closer to the other soldiers¡¯ backs, with their sarissas sticking out from the right shoulders of the soldiers in front of them. Thus when viewed from the side, the sarissa phnx formed a continuous ¡°wall of spears¡± with a bit of inclination from front to back.

    Even when they elerated forward, the cold, shiny, quivering ¡°wall of spears¡± remained taut. And this closeness calmed the soldiers in the formation because they felt the powering from their collective strength. Yet, at the same time, this closeness made them unable to escape the battlefield even when they were afraid and cowering as they couldn''t even turn around, so the only thing they could do was to move forward! Keep moving forward until they stab the enemy!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When one gallops fast on a horse, it easily excites the rider, especially these rugged Celtic cavalries, who were long ready to sh with the enemy. Yet their enemy unexpectedly turned around and fled, causing them to angrily scream and vow to catch these enemies who are afraid of death, cut them down, strip them of their good-looking armour, take away their horses, cut off their heads and hang them. But as the mercenary cavalries galloped, they crossed paths with the Crotone-Terina reinforcements on the far left path, resulting in a few over-excited mercenary cavalries attacking them, but were repulsed by the just-arrived Theonian light infantry.

    With the foremost Celtic cavalry getting closer to the enemy, many Celts had already drawn their long swords. Suddenly, they were startled by the faint and neat cry from the dusty front, ¡®There is an enemy ambush ahead?!¡¯

    Just as they became suspicious, the enemy cavalry in front suddenly moved aside, causing some of the Celtic cavalries to choose to continue their pursuit while the others began to slow their galloping horses down. However, the excited shouting of theirpanions and the ¡°thundering¡± sound of the horses'' hooves caused the cavalries in the rear to not notice the situation ahead.

    Tapirus, who was in the centre of the spear wall, could already see the enemy cavalries in front of them: Some of them had messy hair, some wore pointed leather helmets and dark striped cloth, some wielded long swords, and some were screaming, and some were driving their horses straight at them¡­

    ¡°O Hades!¡± Tapirus couldn''t help but pray to Hades, causing the soldiers around him to copy him. On the other hand, some even closed their eyes in fear, only to instinctively grasp the sarissa tighter. After all, this weapon is the only thing that can protect them, giving them psychologicalfort on this terrifying and inescapable battlefield.

    They are afraid, and so is the enemy.

    Once the Celts noticed the enemy cavalry moving to the side, some Celts managed to follow in time, but some were still trying to slow down their horses. Suddenly, a shadowy ¡°human wall¡± appeared on the dusty and empty battlefield ahead, but once their charging horses got closer, they could now clearly see that it was not a ¡°human wall¡± but a ¡°wall of spears¡±!

    Those long sharp spears were stretched outwards towards them, which not only made them feel horrified but even their horses were terrified. Still, the inertia made the Celts and their horses crash towards it¡­

    Then the people screamed, the horses neighed, the blood sshed, and the sarissa broke¡­

    Fortunately for the spearmen, the dense wall of spears formed by the four-metre-long sarissa stabbed the enemy cavalries before they could get closer. Furthermore, due to the Celtic cavalries hearing the shouts of the sarissa brigade before, they had already started slowing down, so the force transmitted to the soldiers after the cavalry crashed into them weakened. In addition, most of the soldiers at the forefront relied on the support of the soldiers behind them to offset the momentum, while only a few staggered back together with the soldiers behind them. Thus the Celtic cavalry crashed into the sarissa formation one after another, causing some confusion, but it still did not break the formation.

    Naturally, if the seeding cavalries continued their attack, Theonia''s sarissa phnx would copse, and the soldiers would be routed. But in this era, there was no specially trained heavy cavalry to charge into the dense infantry phnx. Hence even the fierce Celtic cavalry would only dare to attack the rear of the infantry phnx or rely on their horse''s power and speed to attack the loose light infantry and would not be foolish enough to use their own lives to charge in front of a phnx of heavy infantry, let alone the fearful sarissa phnx in front of them. Besides, unless they blindfolded their horses, no matter how daring the rider was, their horses would instead jump back and neighed to throw off their rider and run away.

    After the Celts noticed the situation ahead, they panicked and frantically pulled their horses'' reigns, causing extreme difort on the horse and resulting in some of them going into a frenzy, while some fell forward due to the sudden pressure on their necks andck of oxygen, resulting in the inertia to throw their riders into the approaching wall of spears and pierced their bodies¡­

    Gaba, who was in the rear, and several Celts had managed to stop their horses. However, Gaba couldn''t care about the tragic death of his men and anger at this moment as the approaching dense wall of spears caused him to panic, ¡°Retreat! Retreat!!¡­¡±

    There isn''t even a need for him to shout as every surviving Celt wishes they could grow wings on their backs and immediately fly away from the rapidly approaching dreadful spear formation. But just as they pulled their horses back, the second wave of attackers came; Although the Numidian cavalry spotted the Celtic cavalries turning around in the dust, they couldn''t quickly stop the nearly 2,000 galloping horses and make an evasive move.

    For a while, the two cavalry groups collided as the riders screamed and the horses neighed¡­

    Some of the riders fell off their horses and died before they could even get up; Some riders, together with their horse, were pushed back to the front and directly crashed into the advancing wall of spears¡­

    As the more than 2,000 Numidian and Celtic cavalries tangled up, their horses stopped as if they were stuck in a quagmire. The riders who are aware of the danger want to escape thispletely chaotic battlefield immediately, but they are so entangled and squeezed with each other that there is no spare space for the horses to move. Obviously, it is impossible to rectify the order to allow a smooth retreat in such a short time.

 Chapter 511: Battle of Crotone (IV)

    At the approaching spear phnx of Theonia, the Celts became irritated at the Numidians¡¯ charge because they now faced the threat of the terrifying wall of spears. Thus some of their ill-tempered warriors wielded their great swords and ughtered the Numidians who were on their way to escape, which naturally aroused anger and resistance from the Numidians, dying the retreat of the entire cavalry unit.

    The leader of the two ethnic groups, Acilita and Gaba, and their officers shouted loudly and kept sounding the retreat. However, their efforts were in vain on this dusty, noisy and chaotic battlefield¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When a huge Celtic cavalry crashed into Tapirus'' group, Tapirus tensed his body up and tightly closed his eyes as he subconsciously clenched his sarissa, ready to withstand the massive impact.

    After hearing the horse''s miserable neighing, a strong impact immediately transmitted to the sarissa''s shaft, making it almost impossible for him to hold the sarissa. At the same time, the soldiers in the first few rows were pushed back and bumped into him violently.

    ¡°Brothers, steady yourselves! Hold on tightly!¡­¡± The soldiers behind him tried to support him and give him strength while they loudly cheered for them.

    The thickness of the 15-row sarissa brigade plus the light-armoured soldiers at their rear, increasing it to 20 rows, had given Tapirus and his men enough strength to hold their ground.

    When Tapirus opened his eyes, he saw the horse¡¯s hind hooves down and its front hooves up, with eight-nine sarissa piercing its neck and chest at the same time and holding it in mid-air. However, it still wasn''t dead yet, as it whined constantly. On the other hand, its rider, however, had two sarissas piercing its left and right chests and was lying dead on the ground, with the horse and human blood flowing down the sarissa''s shafts¡­

    Then the soldiers pulled out their sarissas with great difficulty.

    Tapirus then became surprised to find that even when the enemy cavalry crashed with great impact, the soldiers did not suffer any big casualties. Furthermore, their formation remained rtively intact, and only a few soldiers'' sarissas broke. After this collision, the enemy cavalry no longer continues fighting. Instead, they hurriedly stopped their horses as they wanted to flee in panic, resulting in their front being chaotic¡­

    The cowardice of their enemy encouraged Tapirus and the other soldiers, relieving their nervousness.

    ¡°Brothers, keep moving!¡± Tapirus shouted, and the soldiers roared in response.

    Then they stepped over the bodies of their enemies, bypassed the dying horses, and continued advancing.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the rear of the formation, Kapus was surprised to see that they had managed to stop the advance of the massive enemy cavalries. In addition, the chaotic situation of the enemy made him realise that it was too good to miss this opportunity, so he decisively ordered, ¡°CHARGE!¡±

    Besides the sarissa brigade just advancing steadily, they could also charge like heavy infantry even without wearing any armour, which is the tactics they focused on training these days.

    And the rapid and continuous sound of the salpinx bolstered the soldiers¡¯ morale.

    ¡°Everyone! We are going to charge!!¡­¡± Tapirus roared.

    The soldiers of each centurias no longer stuck with each other so tightly but opened up some space. And even though they are still only taking small steps, their pace gradually increases¡­

    With the increasing pace of the phnx formation, the enemy cavalries began to get pierced one after another and scream to rang out.

    At the same time, the whole phnx formation was no longer continuous due to numerous gaps appearing, but the light-armoured soldiers quickly poured in. Then they pounced on the enemy, who just sat on their horses and didn¡¯t move.

    Unfortunately for the Theonian cavalry, a few had identally collided with the sarissa phnx due to their nervousness while luring the enemy, with some cavalries getting wounded or killed by the chasing Celts¡­ It was only after they suffered some casualties did the Theonian cavalries smoothly withdraw from both sides of the phnx. But once the sarissa brigade charged, the Theonian cavalry immediately returned after a quick reorganisation and bravely blocked the passages on both sides.

    ¡°Revenge for Solikos!!¡± Ledes shouted and gave the order to attack.

    While the infantry has the unyielding Drakos as their hero, the cavalry also has the deceased Solikos as their hero. At this time, the Theonian cavalry fought desperately with the enemy regardless of their casualties to wash away the humiliation of their defeat at the hands of Syracuse''s mercenary cavalries.

    On a battlefield where the horses couldn''t gallop, the difference in horsemanship could not be fully disyed and used, making the Theonian cavalries equal to the Celts and Numidians. Furthermore, thepressing of the battlefield resulted in the enemy being unable to flee for a time and creating a condition for the sarissa brigade and the light-armoured soldiers to wipe out the enemy.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Your majesty, the sarissa brigade has blocked the enemy cavalry''s charge and is now counterattacking!¡± hearing the report of the excited Tolmides, Davos was relieved. However, his expression remained serious, ¡°It''s now up to the first and second legion and Milo!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Phidias, who was in the middle of the formation, was so focused on leading Syracuse¡¯s right-wing¡¯s advance and only keeping an eye on the entire phnx that he was unaware of his cavalries'' situation. And just like what he nned, the entire formation gradually tilted to the left.

    The Spartan infantries were best at using ¡°left rotation tactics¡±: It is to take advantage of the fact that heavy infantry held shields in their left hands, so they would lean to the right and gradually deviate to the left-wing of the enemy while moving. Furthermore, they would make the soldiers on the far right speed up and reach the enemy line, allowing their right-wing to attack the enemy''s left-wing¡¯s nk. They would then attack the untrained enemy and crush them, which would result in the battle ending most of the time before the left and centre made direct contact.

    Hence Phidias naturally chose the tactics he was most familiar with at such an important moment of this massive war. Unfortunately, the Syracusan army couldn''t achieve a neat and consistent left rotation attack in the battle like the Spartan warriors, who had been trained together since childhood, could. However, the Syracusan army¡¯s advantage that the Spartan army doesn¡¯t have is having arger number of infantry and cavalries, which is much more than the Theonians. So after getting a rough idea of the Theonian formation, Phidias was delighted to find out that he could fully concentrate his troops on the right-wing and take the lead in crushing the enemy''s left-wing,ying the foundation for their victory!

    Since the left end of the right-wing had connected with the centre at the start of the march (the cavalry at the right end had already rushed ahead), they instinctively slowed down their marching speed than the soldiers on the far right without friendly troops due to their previous habits. Furthermore, the right-wing of Syracuse, whose line was more than a kilometre long, had tilted significantly after advancing for a while.

    In this regard, Phidias rejoiced as he was d to see it and reckoned that once they made contact with Theonia''s left nk, the tilted formation should be able to cut into the enemy''s nk. By then, the cavalry should have already taken care of the Theonian cavalry and started attacking the rear of Theonia''s left nk. So with them attacking the three sides of Theonia¡¯s left-wing, their heavy infantry wouldn''t be able to resist them even if they were stronger!

    If Phidias could detect the unusualness of the formation, the veteran officers of the first and second legions of Theonia could also notice it. After receiving continuous reports, the two legati immediately realised that the situation wasn¡¯t right, but the two armies were only less than 400 metres away from each other now.

    So Antonios immediately sent a herald to Amintas, Milo and Siprus to convey his suggestions of stopping their advance immediately and reorganising their formation.

    Soon after, Amintas, the legatus of the second legion, agreed.

    However, Milo and Siprus remained hesitant, but Antonios could no longer wait for their response. Hence he decisively ordered his troops to stop, and then the second legion issued the same order.

    As the first legions to be created, the first and second legions have the most veterans and the strongest among the legions, and it also means that they are the most capable of carrying out orders.

    So despite their doubts, the officers and soldiers stop advancing at the sound of the salpinx and the waving of the gs.

    With the two Theonian legions stopping their advance, it left the leftmost Crotone-Terina reinforcements at a loss and resulted in Milo and Siprus, who were still hesitating, to immediately order, ¡®Halt!¡¯

    As a city-state that doesn¡¯t have systematic military training andplicated military orders and formations like Theonia, they do not have a salpinx for halting at all. Hence they could only send a lot of heralds to loudly convey the orders before and after each phnx, resulting in a slightly disordered formation. Fortunately, they were near the first legion. So with the first legion halting, the adjacent Crotone-Terina reinforcements were naturally affected and resulted in their soldiers quickly halting.

    But as the first and second legions calmly changed direction, the Crotone-Terina troops could only follow suit with some difficulty: The Theonian army was in a checkerboard formation, with each centuria forming a small phnx formation, resulting in better flexibility. Moreover, they havepetent officers and well-trained soldiers, allowing the smooth change of direction and letting the forefront of the formation face the enemy again. On the other hand, the Crotone-Terina troops were in a dense formation, about 300 metres long and 15 rows thick, with each soldier wearing heavy helmets and armour. The thick and closed Corinthian helmets already made it much more difficult to hear themands and turn around during training; What''s more, if it is on a battlefield and facing the rapidly approaching enemies. Thus the Crotone-Terina had a more difficult timepleting such aplex tactical manoeuvre.

 Chapter 512: Battle of Crotone (V)

    As a result, the phnx formation of the clumsy Crotone-Terina reinforcements mmed into each other and made a mour.

    But at this moment, Milo and Siprus, who was on horseback, saw the approaching enemy''s direction of attack. So if the Crotone-Terina reinforcements continued their movements, they would protrude in front of the formation and bepletely exposed to the enemy''s front attack and perished. Thus they were now determined topletely change their direction.

    So with arge group of escorts, the two men quickly rode around the front of the formation to shout and force the soldiers to fall back and change direction¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While advancing, Phidias noticed that the Theonian army had stopped moving. Then he began wondering why Theonia¡¯s left-wing phnx that had been diagonal to him gradually began to face him¡­

    Phidias was surprised, ¡®The enemy is changing direction while in a formation?! How dare they make a turn in the middle of a battle!!¡¯

    There is a reason why Phidias was surprised: In this era, it would be difficult to make major tactical changes once the Greek heavy infantry battle began. Thus they would face each other ording to the previous n, and that is because: First of all ¨C the heavy infantry with heavy helmets and armour have trouble making flexible manoeuvres. Secondly, theck of training of city-state soldiers made them afraid of makingplex tactical manoeuvres when marching in a dense phnx formation to avoid confusion and be vulnerable to attack.

    That is also one of the reasons why the Spartan soldiers had an advantage in battles, as they could achieve tactical manoeuvres in battles that the other city-state armies could not. Thus they could be counted as professional soldiers. However, even the Spartans would only use the characteristics of heavy infantry in a huge battle to perform the left rotation tactics and would rarely make temporary tactical changes after the battle began, just like what the Theonians are doing now. That is because Sparta, like most Greek city-states, had their officers and strategoi thatmanded the various armies to be with the soldiers, following the Spartan tradition (The Spartan king is excluded from that as he could just sit in themand post and let the strategoi be in the middle of the formation. However, this would significantly weaken hismanding ability). Even the democratic city-states require their strategoi to be in the forefront of the army and y a leading role so as not to be criticised in the lesia. Hence once they blew the salpinx and the army marched, the strategoi would lose almost allmand of the entire force, and they could only follow the tactics they decided before the battle.

    That was why Phidias was shocked by the improvised change made by Theonia''s left-wing, which was obviously to deal with Syracuse''s right-wing. Naturally, he also saw the chaos in Theonia''s army (mainly the Crotone-Terina reinforcements), which somewhatpensated for his loss of not being able to attack the enemy''s nk.

    ¡°Quickly! Quickly!!¡­¡± Unfortunately, his shouting could only coerce a small group of soldiers around him. But for the huge phnx of 25,000 men, it was like throwing a stone into a raging river, which would not make much difference.

    Following their initial n, Syracuse''s right-wing continued to march, rapidly closing the distance between them and Theonia''s left-wing as the soldiers advanced in stride¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Syracuse''s light infantry fighting in the middle of the battlefield had already started withdrawing. In contrast, the 7th brigade of the first legion led by Cid and the seventh brigade of the second legion led by Arpenst remained in front of the phnx. Besides having enough space to retreat in Theonia''s checkerboard formation, they also wanted to stop the advance of Syracuse''s right-wing to buy time for the Crotone-Terina reinforcements toplete their formation change.

    With the Syracusan army nearing, it had not only made the Crotone-Terina reinforcements nervous but also forced them to speed up the change of direction.

    However, the light infantry''s effort could still not stop the Syracusans. In the end, they could only throw one more round of javelin and arrows before they had to gradually retreat to the rear under the pressure of the Syracusan formation.

    At this moment, the distance between the two armies was only about 60 metres. Fortunately, the Crotone-Terina reinforcements barelypleted their formation change. When Milo and Siprus rushed back to the rear of the phnx, although they were sweating hard, they became relieved.

    Milo sighed and said, ¡°Now I know the gap between Crotone''s army and Theonia''s army!¡±

    Siprus then said with lingering fear, ¡°Fortunately, Lord Davos repeatedly asked us to leave the phnx and stand behind the formation tomand. Otherwise, we wouldn''t be able to make changes even if we see the cunning action of the Syracusans and would have suffered a great loss!¡±

    ¡°Yes! Without Theonia''s obstinance, we would not dare make changes on the formation for fear of trouble!¡± Milo sighed again.

    At this time, Theonia''s left-wing and Syracuse''s right-wing almost became two parallel lines. But in contrast to the Theonian troops in the centre that was still advancing southward, they became almost vertical.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As Syracuse¡¯s right-wing got closer to the Theonians'' left-wing, the Syracusan soldiers began to clench their round shields as they remembered Theonia''s unique tactics after previously fighting them.

    So when the Theonian soldiers began raising their javelins, the Syracusans slightly squatted and protected their heads with the round shield. But even when javelins rained down on the Syracusan line, showering them with death and screams to rang out, it still didn''t affect their determination to advance. Rather they speed up their advance to force the Theonian soldiers to hastily throw the second round of javelins, making it less lethal.

    Now that the two armies were only less than twenty metres apart, Phidias became a bit out of breath, and he could even hear the rapid breathing of the soldiers around. They became exhausted due to the physical exertion caused by the change from retreat to attack, hastily forming up, rushing several hundred metres and from the extreme excitement caused by the impending battle.

    Phidias, through the narrow eyehole, saw the opposite army¡¯s glittering long shields, spears and armour. The deep ck unique to Theonia''s army made them feel like they were facing a cold night even during the day. Although he knew he was facing the main of the Theonian army, he was instead excited than afraid. Moreover, he believed that the Syracusan soldiers wouldn''t be afraid as they were not only the elite of the Syracusan army but had gotten told by Dionysius that ¡°They can only return home if they win. Otherwise, only burial in a foreignnd awaits them!¡±

    So even without the urging of the salpinx, the Syracusan soldiers shouted ¡°Apollo!!!¡±, strode forward and began to charge. Syracuse''s entire right-wing''s phnx was like a golden mountain crushing the enemy.

    At the same time, the Theonian soldiers roared ¡°Hades!!!¡± simultaneously and began charging as well. They were like a ck tide in a stormy sea, wave after wave, eventually converging into a gigantic wave that would swallow the Syracusans.

    On the other hand, the Crotone-Terina soldiers, with the hatred of their nation, roared with rage and turned it into boundless strength as they vowed to kill all their enemies.

    As tens of thousands of people stepped firmly on the ground, the earth shook and rumbled like thunder.

    And with a loud noise, the battle between heavy infantry began¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Your majesty, the left-wing is now fully engaged with the enemy!¡± Tolmides loudly told the report of the reconnaissance cavalry.

    Davos nodded, but his gaze remained on the front. Then he pointed to the enemy''s military formation in the distance, sneered and said, ¡°The Syracusans are marching slowly, so it seems that Dionysius is trying to wait for his right-wing to gain victory first!¡±

    Tolmides smiled wildly, ¡°But he would never imagine that the wonderful tactics you devised trapped the cavalry he ced his hope, your majesty!¡±

    Davos didn''t have the heart to taunt his enemy at this point, so he said seriously, ¡°We can''t let Dionysius have it easy! Order all troops to speed up and sh with the enemy as soon as possible!¡±

    Tolmides, however, didn''t immediately ept the order and reminded, ¡°Your majesty, I fear that we would reach the traversable part of Targines River if we advance too fast. If that is the case, the enemy may send troops to cross the Targines River and attack our right-wing''s nk and rear!¡±

    Davos already considered the question, so he immediately replied, ¡°Judging from the current situation, Dionysius has invested most of their strength on their right-wing, which shows that he mainly focuses on the left-wing. Besides, I don''t think Dionysius had spare troops to attack our right-wing''s rear, not to mention that we have more than enough reserves to deal with them.¡± Indeed, behind Davos were the 2,000 light-armoured drawn from the various legions and a thousand men from the mountain reconnaissance brigade led by Izam ¨C A total of 3,000 men in reserve, which they haven¡¯t used yet.

    ¡°Understood, your majesty.¡± Tolmides then left.

    ¡°Wait a minute!¡± Davos stopped him again, ¡°Go and tell the legati that the sarisa brigade, led by Kapus, has gained an advantage over the Syracusan cavalry. So the next part will be up to them!¡±

    Tomides smiled as he understood Davos'' intentions: With the newly established sarissa brigade achieving impressive results, how could the other legions fall behind them?

    Sure enough, the phnx sped up after Davos'' order was transmitted to all the troops. So whether it is the right-wingposed of the sixth and seventh legions or the centreposed of the fourth and fifth legions and Bruttian soldiers, they were all urged on by the legion''s legati and officers.

 Chapter 513: Battle of Crotone (VI)

    After the light infantry retreated, the Theonian phnx soldiers on the right centre quickly threw two rounds of javelins. Afterwards, they charged at the Syracusans with their long shields and spears and shouted the name of Hades while their enemy was in confusion¡­

    At this moment, the two armies of Theonia and Syracuse were now fully engaged.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Crotonian scouts came back to the Acropolis to report the sh of the two armies, arousing the concern of everyone in the Acropolis. After all, the battle¡¯s result not only rtes to the survival of thousands of Crotonian citizens who went to fight but also their survival. Thus many of them, including the council members, wanted to go to the battlefield to watch with anxiety.

    After a discussion, they decided to leave a few hundred soldiers in the Acropolis to protect the women, children and the elderly who had trouble walking in the city. On the other hand, Lysias and the council members led tens of thousands of Crotonians down the hill and came to the city of Crotone, which had already be a ruin.

    But before they could reach the city wall, the deafening sounds caused many of them to turn pale and their legs tremble that they needed the help of the others to move forward.

    As a result of the fire and the wanton destruction by the Syracusans, a section of the wall resembles an old man''s teeth, chipped everywhere, with only the section connecting the city gate still standing rtively intact¡­

    Lysias and the others then stepped on the stone staircase with a heavy heart, went up to the top of the city wall, held the battlements and watched anxiously: In the far distance, a dense mass of soldiers fought together, filling the vast wilderness of the Crotone in, and their tremendous and terrifying noise sounding as if the earth was roaring, stirring the dust and sand that it even changed the colour of the sky and earth¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the southern sea of Crotone, more than 80 corvus ships led by Mithridates faced off with nearly 40 remnant Syracusan ships led by Leptines.

    However, what gave Mithridates a headache was that once his fleet approached the Syracusan ships, the Syracusan fleet would retreat so quickly. Yet they were unable to catch up to them because of the corvus ship''s unique structure, but as soon as Mithridates fleet went towards the coast, the Syracusan fleet woulde near again¡­

    While Mithridates hesitated, the Syracusan forces left in the camp sent a few hundred soldiers to the beach with thousands of Sicilian freemen, who were the ones responsible for transporting supplies, now armed with weapons to prevent Mithridates from sending the sailors tond and disturb the rear of the Syracusan army.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After Syracuse captured Terina, they stationed more than 3,000 Syracusan soldiers, more than a thousand Hipponion soldiers and a thousand Caulonian soldiers in the city. But as they were far from the frontline, Terina''s defenders had it leisurely until Dionysius'' order came twice from Crotone camp these two days, ¡®For them to strengthen the city''s defence and pay close attention to the movement of the city of mpetia in the north!¡¯

    So the strategos cheered up as they strengthened their scouting to the north.

    Soon, the scouts sent rming news that afternoon, ¡®A convoy of ships has docked on the beach of the Ophemia in with about 5,000 ¨C 6,000 Theonian soldiers disembarking. Afterwards, the Theonian troops march towards the city of Terina!¡¯

    Another report came soon after, ¡®More than a thousand Theonian soldiers came out of the city of mpetia and have entered the Ophemia in!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The reports made the Syracusan strategos in Terina fidget. Although he eagerly wished to attain merit, it was obvious that he could not defeat the iing enemy with the troops in his hands. Thus he immediately ordered, ¡®Close the city gate and pull up the drawbridge! All the soldiers of all forces go to the city wall for defence as we had previously trained. At the same time, prepare a full supply of arrows, javelins, stones and tar¡­¡¯

    Furthermore, he sent two messengers to Scylletium and the camp in Crotone to urgently report the situation.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After arriving near Terina, Hielos didn''t immediately attack the city as he began to observe the city''s defence. Moreover, he did not have enough time.

    He then ordered the army to start building a camp in the northwest, 500 metres away from the city, while waiting for the reinforcements from mpetia to arrive.

    In addition, Hielos sent a few cavalry squads and mountain reconnaissance squads in his army to check the movements of the Syracusan camp in Scylletium and Crotone to guard against the main force of Syracuse in the east in case they sent an army to attack.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Attack! Attack!!¡­¡± Matonis, who was at the phnx¡¯s rear, wished he could join the battle and fight to his content. Unfortunately, he is already a legatus and was forbidden by Theonia''s militaryw. Thus he could only order the drummer to beat continuously and urge the soldiers to intensify their attack.

    Although most of the newly established seventh legion¡¯s soldiers were recruits, the victory in Heraclea gave them achievements and honour, so they confidentlyunched a fierce attack on the enemy without fear.

    Kreganis was a freeman who had just arrived in Thurii four years ago. However, he was lucky to be one of the 5,000 freemen light infantry in the Battle of Trionto River, which contributed to the defeat of Crotone''s division and allowed him to participate in the Triumphant Return.

    Earlier this year, he became an official citizen. The Theonian army had been expanding over the years. However, when the Ministry of Military''s instructors selected recruits for the legion, he was always eliminated because he was too thin and weak to be a heavy infantry, so the instructors advised him to be a light infantry. Despite remaining a reserve soldier, he was not discouraged as his dream was to be a heavy infantry, so he continued exercising and honing hisbat skill until the war broke out and Theonia established a new legion.

    Matonis had originally nned to make him serve as a Centurion base on his identity and qualification (official citizen and three legion reserves). However, he refused because he felt that he didn¡¯t have the experience as he had not been a squad officer before, so to be suddenly promoted to a middle ¨C senior ranking position¡­ Moreover, he felt that he would not be able to fight on the front line and show the results of his hard work. In the end, he became the squad leader in the seventh legion.

    He is currently at the forefront of the battlefield, firmly holding the long shield to protect his body, with the spear in his right hand hanging over his head, almost remaining motionless. But once the enemy reveals an opening, his spear would stab out like lighting, and each stab is fierce and urate, bringing a great threat to the enemy that he managed to stab several opponents in just a short time.

    Unlike some squad officers, he seldom shouted and issued orders, but his leadership inspired and boosted his men''s morale¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Olivos, who had rivalries with Matonis, wouldn''t allow the seventh legion to take the lead. Thus he strictly ordered the sixth legion to attack fiercely¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    More than half of the Sicilian soldiers fighting the two new Theonian legions were from Catania, Leontinoi, and Kamarina¡­although these city-states were called allies of Syracuse, they were actually vassals whose rulers were tyrants appointed and supported by Dionysius. However, even though it wasn''t these soldiers'' will to attack Magna Graecia, their morale was second only to the Syracusan soldiers after winning sessively and capturing a lot of spoils and the incentive of going home once they won.

    But Syracuse''s left-wing also included soldiers from allies in Magna Graecia, such as Locri, Medma, Hipponion, and Caulonia. The Caulonians, in particr, were reluctant as Syracuse forced them to surrender. Dionysius was naturally clear about it, so he left a thousand Caulonians in Terina and a thousand in Scylletium to rece his troops. At the same time, the two thousand Caulonian soldiers he took were scattered at the forefront of the left-wing, forcing them to fight so they could survive. Thus their morale could be imaginable.

    Dionysius only dared to make this arrangement after seeing Theonia''s right-wing filled with soldiers wearing Corinthian helmets and carrying round shields and spears, thinking they were not Theonia''s main force.

    However, the two new legions, totalling 14,000 men, were newborn calves that were not afraid of tigers. So even though Syracuse''s left-wing had 20,000 men, they had a hodgepodgeposition with weak morale, resulting in them retreating slowly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Currently, both Syracuse''s centre and left-wing are retreating.

    The soldiers of the fourth and fifth legion of Theonia, who had experienced the tragic defeat in Scylletium and the death of their legatus andrades, hade to fight the enemy today to wash away their shame and take revenge. Thus they are not only brave but be a bit crazy, with their faces turning ferocious as they desperately want to get closer to the enemy.

    The Bruttians fighting alongside them were also affected as they revealed the fierceness of the mountain people. After all, the unrest in Bruttii some time ago had significantly affected the perception of the other Theonians towards Bruttii. Hence today, they need to show their loyalty to Theonia with their performance.

    At the forefront of Syracuse''s centre were the Campanian mercenaries. After thest battle, these mercenaries with richbat experience learned the strength of Theonia''s heavy infantry, so they tried keeping some distance between themselves and the Theonian soldiers by using their spears to stall the enemy''s approach. At the same time, they knew that the reckless charge of the heavy infantry was physically exhausting, so they waited patiently for the moment when the Theonians were exhausted before counter-attacking. As a result, the Campanian mercenaries and the ten thousand Syracusan soldiers deliberately retreated.

 Chapter 514: Battle of Crotone (VII)

    Previously, Dionysius wouldn''t be too much concerned about such a retreat because the right-wing was the key to Syracuse''s victory in this battle. Thus as long as the centre and the left-wing can hold down the enemy they are facing and maintain the bnce of power during their enemy''s attack, the only thing they would do is wait for the news of victory on the right-wing.

    However, after Dionysius learned from the scouts that ¡°Syracuse''s greatest advantage ¨C the cavalry was currently being held down by Theonia''s ambushed¡±, his initially rxed mood soon became anxious and worried about the centre and left-wing''s continuous retreat. So he subsequently not only asked the bugler to blow the salpinx for an attack but also had the herald warn the officers and soldiers not to fall back any further and instead attack!

    After receiving the order, the Syracusan soldiers behind the centre no longer retreated and even forced the Campanian mercenaries at the forefront to fight fiercely with the enemy; As for the soldiers on the left-wing, they could only slow down their retreat as they were really at a disadvantage in the confrontation.

    Dionysius became annoyed as he had arranged the formation after the scout reported about Theonia''s right-wing, ¡®Obviously Theonia''s right-wing isn¡¯t the main force, and their number should be lesser than my left-wing, but why is the result different? Could it be that those Magna Graecians didn''t fight seriously at all? Or had they colluded with the enemy?¡­¡¯

    As Dionysius'' paranoia surfaces again, he begins suspecting his ally ¨C Locri. However, he also knew that this wasn''t time to worry about this as Davos¡¯ cunningness ced his cavalry in trouble. Now, he can only hope Phidias leads his right-wing to quickly defeat his opponent andy a foundation for the entire battlefront¡¯s victory!

    So even when the other battlefront performed poorly, Dionysius remained confident because his right-wing''s performance was in line with his expectation before the battle.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The elite Syracusan soldiers were vignt against Theonia¡¯s heavy infantry even when they had a bigger and denser phnx formed by 25,000 men that pressed Theonia¡¯s left-wing. Thus, they lined up closely to form a spear phnx to make the Theonian soldiers vignt in evading the forefront Syracusan soldiers and the thrusting of the soldiers at the rear. The Theonian soldiers struggled to resist Syracuse''s tremendous pushing force had significantly weakened Theonia''s heavy infantry¡¯s offence.

    However, the first and second legion soldiers are all battle-hardened veterans. Moreover, the officers had a general understanding of King Davos'' tactical arrangement, so they understood that in such a situation where they felt some pressure, the first thing they had to do was to ensure that the formation would not copse. Afterwards, they would stall the enemy and wait for the arrival of reinforcements.

    The Theonian soldiers would then take advantage of their formation''s flexibility to retreat orderly, alleviating the huge pressure caused by the enemy''s attack. At the same time, they would cover themselves with their long shiels and wait for an opportunity to show up, then stab the enemy with their short swords.

    As a result, Phidias was almost seriously wounded twice: The first time was just after the charge when he collided with the enemy, shields against shields. He could only see his opponent¡¯s long shieldpletely covering up his body, so he pushed his round shield with all his might, trying to break through the enemy''s defence to allow his spear to exert its strength. Unexpectedly, the enemy''s right hand, hidden behind the long shield, poked out from above and stabbed the short sword downward like lightning. However, it only struck his Corinthian helmet, causing him to feel dizzy.

    The second time was after he stabbed the enemy in front of him. Due to his priorbat habits, he instinctively squeezed into the gap of the opponent''s formation. But then, two cold and shining short swords from the left and right stabbed towards his ribs simultaneously before he could take the next step. Although he reacted quickly, the sharp short sword cut through his linen armour and right waist.

    This wound made him finally realise his opponent''s strength. So instead of easily taking risks, he went back in line with the Syracusan soldiers around him.

    Butpared to the stable defensive counterattack of the first and second legions of Theonia, the soldiers of the Crotone-Terina reinforcements at the far left end were much fiercer. Although their phnx was not as dense as the Syracusans, they withstood Syracuse''s pressure and did not easily retreat. After all, their hatred made them glimmer with courage and strength, so even when they were seriously wounded, their spears did not stop thrusting. And even if they fall, they will hold their enemies'' feet as long as they have even a bit of strength, trying to pull them down or bite them with their teeth. Such a tragic sight happened many times on the battlefront of the Crotone-Terina reinforcements, which frightened the Syracusan soldiers that they would only move forward after making sure that their opponents were dead, resulting in their advance slowing down.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Behind this battlefield is another battlefield. After the Theonian light infantry withdrew from the main battlefield, Cid and Arpenst led them to participate in the encirclement and suppression of the enemy cavalry. However, they encountered the Syracusan light infantry, who had the same purpose as them, leading to the battle between light infantry that had previously taken ce in front of the massive phnx formation to continue in the rear.

    The soldiers of each side were mainly archers and peltast, with Theonia having slingers. They began their long-range battle after taking up a loose formation with the peltast at the front and the archers in the rear. Although their fight wasn''t as loud as the sh between heavy infantries, their fierceness wasn''t less because they had far less protection than the heavy infantry. As arrows and javelins rained down on the sky above the battlefield, the wounded and dead littered the ground.

    Even though Theonia¡¯s light infantry was more well-trained and had more tacit cooperation, Syracuse had arger number of light infantry who had received Dionysius'' strict order. Hence it was difficult to distinguish the winner or loser of this battle.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Naturally, the ones who suffered the most on the easternmost battlefield were the:

    The Celts, who were caught in the middle and could not break away, could only listen to the wailing of their horses and the screams of theirrades while watching them fall. In the face of the sarissa phnx, most of them did not dare to sit passively on their horses, so they forcefully jumped down, held their long swords and fought back.

    But this is undoubtedly like a mantis in front of a carriage. First of all, they couldn''t even get close to the enemy''s sarissa phnx with their long swords, and in their haste to fight back, they often fought separately and soon died under the piercing of the sarissa, just like the strong Celtic warrior in front of Tapirus, who could only roar while swinging his long sword continuously. Although he could cut the spearhead of two sarissas one after another, the dense phnx still forced him to retreat. Then as soon as he slipped and revealed an opening, the sarissa would poke into the gap and stab his thigh. And the moment he instinctively bent over, three more spears pierced his head and chest at the same time.

    The constant killing and wounding of the enemy also made the soldiers of the sarissa brigade more confident, which naturally increased the pace of their advance.

    With Tapirus'' centuria no longer encountering any major obstacles, they advanced faster that they opened a considerable distance from the adjacent centuria.

    Suddenly on the chaotic battlefield, a Celtic warrior rushed into the nk of the phnx, which caught Tapirus¡¯ centuria off guard as he shed several soldiers in a row.

    Fortunately, the light-armoured soldiers behind came forward in time to stop him. However, the Celtic warrior still did his best to sh a light-armoured soldier''s leather shield in half. And despite being surrounded, it took five light-armoured soldiers to finish him off. Yet he still manages to seriously wound two light-armoured soldiers as well.

    An rm sounded inside Tapirus, who had to shout to his soldiers not to advance fast and wait for the adjacent centuria.

    Although the Celtic cavalries were fierce, they had no chance of winning against the dense sarissa phnx on this crowded battlefield. Moreover, many of them directly crashed into the wall of spears even though they were already small in number, so it didn''t take long for Tapirus and his men to find that they were no longer facing the tall and strong Celts wearing thick-striped clothes, spiked helmets and wieldingrge swords. Instead, they now faced the dark-skinned, long and thinned Numidians who wore simple clothes and held javelins, whose courage was much worse than the Celts. Besides a few who tried throwing javelins at the Theonians, most of them quickly jumped off their horses'' backs, turned around and fled into the chaotic battlefield¡­

    Although Kapus didn''t send scouts, he knew that his sarissa brigade was doing well because he was in the rear of the formation and followed the phnx.

    At this time, a cavalry came quickly, ¡°Strategos Kapus, the enemy cavalry nk the cavalry led by strategos Ledes! So he hopes to get reinforcements¡­¡±

    It seems that Astagoras led most of the thousand Sicilian cavalries, who were at the rear of the formation, out of the cramped and chaotic battlefield after noticing they weren''t advancing quickly.

    Logically thinking, the cavalries are no longer suited to fight on the battlefield at this moment. However, Astagoras knew the importance of these foreign mercenaries to the whole battle, so he couldn''t leave them alone. Otherwise, Dionysius won''t spare him. Thus he tried his best to reorganise the Sicilian Greek cavalries that had fled from all directions and led the more than 800 cavalries that he hurriedly gathered to the left of the battlefield.

    On the left, Ledes led half of the legion''s cavalry to block the outnking of enemy cavalry while desperately pushing them towards the middle.

    At first, the mercenary cavalries attacked fiercely, especially the Celts, who caused casualties to the Theonian cavalries. However, with the advance of the sarissa phnx, the Celts suffered heavily. Although the Numidians were skilled in horsemanship and javelin throwing, they could only ride their horses and fight their opponents at close range without any protection after losing those two advantages. They were definitely not the opponents of the Theonian cavalries at all.

    With the Numidians unable to resist, some cavalries began fleeing as they tried to squeeze into the middle of the chaos and retreat from the rear.

    Suddenly, Astagoras and his cavalries attack with their focus of attack was Ledes¡¯ direction*. After all, Ledes¡¯ towering, purple and red plume on top of his helmet was so eye-catching that if the guards hadn''t fought to the death, Ledes would have been seriously wounded.

 Chapter 515: Battle of Crotone (VIII)

    But Ledes quickly reacted. However, instead of ignoring the danger, Ledes drove his horse and spear to fight the enemy charging from the south. At the same time, he shouted, ¡°Brothers, hold your ground! Never let the enemy escape!!¡±

    Ledes took the lead so that even if the enemy attacked the Theonian cavalry on both sides, they would not get demoralised and instead rise to resist them.

    Before the battle, Kapus had already expected the Sicilian cavalries, Numidian cavalries and Theonians cavalries to be entangled in a fierce battle, so he had made arrangements for it. Thus he did not hesitate to send out the 500 light-armoured reserves beside him.

    The light-armoured soldiers, wearing leather shields and armour, quickly rushed to the left side of the sarissa phnx and immediatelyunched a fierce attack on Syracuse''s cavalries. Now, it''s their turn to be attacked on both sides.

    On the other hand, Astogaras wasn''t willing to be outdone, so he ordered the cavalry to fight boldly.

    As the four units entangled in a bloody dogfight battle, it became the most tragic area of this battlefield.

    Finally, the Numidians could no longer endure and began to flee after seeing the area behind them bing less crowded because of the withdrawal of theirpanions and the sarissa soldiers stabbing the people in front of them.

    And the situation of the Sicilian cavalry became harder after they were left alone, so Astagoras tried to retreat after seeing the situation. However, the Theonian cavalry and light-armoured soldiers didn''t let them go. In the end, only 300 Sicilian cavalries managed to escape.

    On the other hand, the Celts were almostpletely wiped out, with their leader ¨C Gaba dying, and their resistance buying more time for the Numidians.

    With only about a thousand Numidian cavalries being able to escape the collision with the sarissa phnx, it resulted in the usually arrogant race from the African Desert being frightened. Thus even if there were only 600 or so Theonian cavalry on the right side of the sarissa phnx pursuing them, they did not dare to return to fight back or even throw javelins. Instead, they fled south with their leader ¨C Acilita taking the lead.

    After the battle on the left was over, Ledes fell from his horse, startling his men toe to his aid immediately. They then saw that blood and wounds covered Ledes'' body, especially his left leg, which was stabbed by a spear and had a wound the size of a date, with his blood kept on flowing.

    Although his guards busily dressed his wounds, he still shouted pantingly, ¡°Quickly¡­quickly call Kurcius¡­call Kurcius.¡±

    Kurcius, formerly the cavalry''s squad leader, has be a senior centurion with richbat experience. When he rushed to Ledes, he heard his legatus say, ¡°I order¡­order you to lead the remaining cavalry to continue the pursuit¡­chase the enemy¡­do not give¡­them a chance to breathe.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Kurcius saluted firmly and turned around to leave. But he suddenly stopped and said with concern, ¡°Legatus, get well and wait for my good news!¡±

    Ledes waved impatiently, ¡°Go¡­go¡­¡±

    Kurcius got on his horse and shouted, ¡°Brothers! Let''s go kill the enemy!¡±

    Although the remaining more than 400 cavalries were tired, the victory gave them new strength. After shouting, they followed Kurcius to pursue the fleeing Syracusan cavalries.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Captain, we won! We beat back the enemy cavalry!¡± The soldiers'' cheering rang out beside Tapirus''s ears while he watched the enemy''s blurry figure as they fled in a mess. After he felt relieved, he noticed his arms holding the sarissa were sore and swollen, his sweat had soaked his clothes, and the dust sticking to him made him ufortable. However, he knew that it was still not the time to rx as there was still a battle to be fought ording to the pre-battle deployment.

    ¡°Regroup! Regroup!¡­¡± Just as he shouted to his soldiers, the salpinx loudly sounded again, making the excited sarissa soldiers who wanted to continue pursuing stop moving forward.

    The heralds galloped around the phnx, called out the officers and made them reorganise the formation.

    At this moment, Kapus took a look at Ledes¡¯ wounds after rushing over.

    ¡°Don''t worry¡­I still can''t die.¡± Ledes tried to squeeze out a smile, but the shock he felt when the guards lifted him onto the stretcher made him grimace and showed a pained expression.

    ¡°Be gentle! Be gentle!¡± Kapus shouted in discontent.

    ¡°Kapus.¡± The pale Ledes didn''t call his oldrade''s position as he whispered, ¡°Our cavalry¡­haspleted our task¡­you can rest assured that the Syracusan cavalries will no longere again¡­I will leave the following task to you¡­¡±

    Kapus nodded solemnly, got on his horse and saluted, ¡°Recover well. Victory belongs to Theonia!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the sarissa brigade regrouped, they no longer faced the south but directly on Syracuse''s right-wing''s rear, a hundred metres away.

    Kapus then made the soldiers with broken sarissa withdraw from the battle, leaving only about 4,000 soldiers in the phnx. At this moment, Tapirus¡¯s centuria had only 170 men left from his 200 men, with only 112 sarissa''s remaining intact.

    ¡°Traaaa!!!¡± When the salpinx sounded the attack, they waved the g and pointed it forward.

    Tapirus and the other officers then shouted, ¡°Advance!¡±

    The soldiers advanced steadily after getting enough confidence from the victory. This time, their opponent will be heavy infantries.

    On the left side of the sarissa phnx were two thousand light-armoured soldiers, whose duty was to do their best to protect the phnx''s nk, which is their biggest weakness.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the battle continued and the number of wounded increased, the Crotone-Terina reinforcements could no longer hold the enemy as they had at the start. Moreover, the dense phnx of Syracuse began showing its strength, straining the Crotone-Terina reinforcement more and more that they were forced to retreat to relieve the pressure. However, they could not control the pace of advance and retreat of the whole army as skillfully as the first and second legions of Theonia, resulting in the pressure increase.

    Under the loud shouting of Milo and Siprus, the soldiers fought with all their might with their burning emotions¡­

    Suddenly, a loud salpinx sounded behind the right end of Syracuse''s right-wing.

    Milo and Siprus, unsure of what happened, asked each other, ¡°Is it Theonia''s salpinx?¡±

    Antonios, who urately judged that it was indeed Theonia''s salpinx even though it was hundreds of metres away, was shocked because he knew that Davos'' n, the sarissa brigade, must have defeated Syracuse''s cavalry and was now preparing to nk the rear of Syracuse''s right-wing. Then the first legion also blew their salpinx to signal the attack.

    Immediately afterwards, Amintas, the legatus of the second legion, even led his horse close to the rear of his legion and shouted, ¡°Brothers, attack! Attack! It''s time for Syracuse to know our strength!¡­¡±

    Due to the sarissa brigade''s attack could not cover the entire rear of Syracuse''s right-wing, they could only help the Crotone-Terina reinforcements. Thus the first and second legion''s attack had to hold the enemy they were facing so that they would not dare to draw out too many soldiers from the rear to stop the sarissa brigade.

    ¡°Enemy! The enemy is attacking from the rear!¡­¡± The soldiers behind the rightmost end of Syracuse''s right-wing heard the sound of salpinx and the roaring behind them, leading them to turn to look back one after and panic. The officers then hurriedly organised the soldiers to turn around and fight.

    Just as the Syracusan hurriedly organised the right-end of their right-wing, Theonia''s sarissa brigade soldiers began to increase their pace and speed up. Then the sarissas they held began to lower in turn: The first row, the second row, the third row, the fourth row, the fifth row¡­formed a dense wall of spears in front of the Syracusan phnx.

    ¡°O Apollo, their spear is too big!¡± The Syracusan soldiers watched in horror as the approaching enemy stopped advancing three metres away from them, and the countless shaking sarissas began stabbing at them. Yet they couldn¡¯t even reach the enemy with their spear, which resulted in the Syracusans panicking as this was the first time they encountered this situation.

    ¡°Shield wall! Erect a shield wall!¡­¡± Some Syracusan officers panicky shouted. But the Syracusanscked a unified and effectivemand and emergency measures in such a chaotic situation.

    How could Milo and Siprus let go of this opportunity now that Crotone-Terina reinforcements'' pressure was easing? So they immediately ordered to charge. With their anger for vengeance, the soldiers rushed again to the enemies who burned their homes.

    When the Syracusan soldiers at the forefront of the phnx couldn''t feel the support of theirrades at the rear after hearing the noisy shouting and fighting, they couldn''t stop but think in their hearts, ¡®What''s happening?¡¯ ¡®Are they surrounded?¡¯ ¡®Did they flee?¡­¡¯ resulting in their morale dropping, and they couldn''t fight wholeheartedly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Your majesty, the sarissa brigade led by Kapus has repelled the Syracusan cavalry and is now attacking the enemy''s right-wing!¡± Tolmides excitedly reported to Davos.

    Davos breathed a sigh of relief, dispelling his nervousness. After calming down a bit, he immediately ordered, ¡°Tolmides, immediately inform Izam to lead the reconnaissance brigade to detour and attack the rear of Syracuse''s left-wing!¡±

    Tolmides was surprised when he heard this order as he knew that: In Davos'' n, these 3,000 soldiers were either intended to be sent to the left-wing and strengthen their defence if they couldn''t withstand the enemy''s attack. Or once the sarissa brigade attacks the enemy''s nk, they would immediately send them to the left-wing to hasten the defeat of the enemy''s right-wing. ¡®But now, they would send the reserve to attack Syracuse''s left-wing?!¡¯

 Chapter 516: Battle of Crotone (IX)

    Davos exined after seeing his confusion, ¡°With Kapuspleting our preliminary n of securing our left-wing, victory would only be a matter of time. However, I didn''t expect Matonis and Olivos'' legion to do so well that they advanced so much. So now that the enemy''s left-wing is quite weak, do you think it will copse if I add more pressure?!¡±

    ¡°I''ll immediately inform Izam now, as I fear he couldn''t wait any longer.¡± After understanding what Davos ns to do, Tolmides hurriedly rode towards the reserves at the rear.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At this moment, Dionysius became impatient when he learned Theonia repulsed his cavalry and attacked his right-wing. However, he didn''t expect that the news of the right-wing''s victory he eagerly expected would result in this.

    ¡°Immediately find Astagoras and ask him to reorganise the cavalry and attack the Theonians! Otherwise, he and his family would unite in the underworld!!¡± Dionysius roared viciously.

    Then the herald quickly rode to the rear to find Astagoras.

    ¡°Milord, a messenger from Scylletium, had hurriedlye!¡± Dionysius'' attendant rushed over and said nervously.

    ¡°I don''t have the time now; let''s talk after the battle ends!¡± Dionysius angrily red at him with irritation, frightening the attendant to shut his mouth.

    But then another scout came, ¡°Milord, thousands of Theonian soldiers have crossed the Targines River and are circling to our left-wing''s rear!¡±

    ¡®What?!¡¯ Dionysius became utterly flustered at the report.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Did you just say that you saw an empty camp?!¡± Hielos reconfirmed as he still felt unsure after hearing the scouting cavalry report.

    ¡°Yes, strategos. We had even approached near the Syracusan camp, yet we didn''t see any movement inside.¡± Hielos began pondering when he heard the scout''s squad leader''s words. ¡®It was previously reported that Syracuse has an army of 70,000 men, so where will they be if they are not in the camp? His majesty Davos must have led the reinforcements to Crotone!¡¯ So the answer is obvious: The Syracusans couldn''t have abandoned their camp and retreated back to Scylletium. Otherwise, his scout would have seen his majesty Davos'' army at this moment. Thus the greatest possibility is that the Syracusans are now facing Theonia in a battle!

    With this startling revtion, Hielos¡¯ heart beat wildly. He then took a deep breath to calm himself down, thought for a moment and firmly ordered, ¡°Tell everyone to stop building the camp immediately. Instead, put on their armour, take up their shields and spears, form up in columns and march towards Crotone!¡±

    After hearing the order, Adjutant Hegasitus uttered an ¡°Ah¡± sound and immediately said, ¡°You mean¡­for us to go to Crotone now?!¡± It was no wonder he was nervous. After all, if Hielos dared to lead his troops deeply, his force would be wiped out once the Syracusan army stationed in Crotone came and the defenders in Scylletium blocked their path.

    ¡°I am certain that his majesty is currently fighting the Syracusans, so we must immediately help him win this battle that determines the survival of Theonia!¡± Hielos said with determination.

    Although only a few months had passed since Hegasitus worked with Hielos in Consentia, they had cooperated well with the political matters. So he certainly knows that Hielos was a cautious and not a reckless person.

    After Hielos stepped down as the praetor of Consentia, Sedrum took over his position while also serving as the wartime governor of the Bruttii region. In addition, with Sedrum''s knowledge of the Bruttii region, he didn''t need Hegasitus'' assistance. On the contrary, he might even consider him a hindrance, given that the reason for Theonia''s conquest of the Bruttii region was the rioting Siro tribe. Hence who would know if hatred would suddenly sprout in Sedrum''s heart? So Hegasitus asked Hielos to be the adjutant of this temporary force as he would recruit soldiers for him and manage the Bruttian warriors.

    With Hielos making a rational judgment, all Hegasitus could do now was obey and appease the Bruttian soldiers.

    Not long after issuing the order, strategos Phroms of Terina, who had joined them, rushed to Hielos but was persuaded afterwards, ¡°If we win this battle, we could easily take back Terina in our hands without needing to attack it fiercely. But if we lost this battle, even if we take Terina back today, the Syracusan army will take it back again tomorrow and would even endanger the whole of Magna Graecia!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Two hours after the battle, except for the centre that could still maintain the stalemate, the two nks of Syracuse were in trouble: The right end of Syracuse''s right-wing suffered heavy losses under the attack of the sarissa brigade and the Crotone-Terina reinforcements. If not for theck of cooperation between the sarissa brigade and the Crotone-Terina soldiers, and the thickness of Syracuse''s right-wing with some experience soldiers taking the initiative to separate from the rear and left-end to block the advance of the sarissa brigade, they would have already defeated Syracuse''s right-wing;

    On the other hand, the soldiers on Syracuse¡¯s left-wing were not as strong as the elite soldiers on the right-wing. Yet they could still barely maintain their morale even after getting their nk attacked. But even though the light-armoured soldiers'' offence was far less powerful than the sarissa phnx, Dionysius'' military reform had just begun and hadn''t considered the drawback of arge phnx formation. So after the battle started, the middle and lower-ranking officers and even the senior officers had lost control of their troops. Furthermore, with the hodgepodgeposition of the left-wing, they were unable tomand them effectively in time after their enemy attacked their nk and rear. Hence their formation became chaotic when their soldiers at the rear turned around to intercept the enemy.

    Dionysius could have avoided this situation as he had more troops. Unfortunately, he was still bounded by the tradition of the Greek military of not leaving any reserves and had wanted to defeat Theonia in one fell swoop and win the battle, so he sent all his troops at the start of the battle. Yet it was already toote now that he wanted to dispatch his troops to resist Theonia¡¯s attack on the left-wing.

    Soon after, the confusion at the rear of the left-wing affected the soldiers at the forefront, especially the Magna Graecian soldiers who already had low morale. At first, their almost closed helmets covered their ears, so they could only vaguely hear the sound of shing in the rear. Butter, they began to panic as the sound became louder and clearer, and the support from the rear weakened and then disappeared. In addition to the enemy''s fierce attack at the front, fear instantly took over their whole body and prompted them to turn around and flee regardless of everything, even at the expense of pushing down theirrades at the rear. At first, only one soldier fled, then two, then three soldiers fled after another, rapidly spreading the panic in all directions like a gue¡­ Soon, the whole left-wing could no longer hold it and began to copse.

    Dionysius turned ashen when he heard the emergency report, but he couldn''t do anything for this battle as he had even sent his guards to aid the left-wing earlier¡­ He had lost this big gamble to the new king of Theonia, whom he both valued and despised¡­

    Although Dionysius was reluctant, he knew that he had to ept this fact and decide quickly.

    ¡°¡­retreat¡­¡± After spitting the word out of his mouth, Dionysius immediately pulled his horse''s rein and turned around.

    Fortunately, his attendant was beside him; otherwise, he wouldn''t have heard what he said.

    ¡°Milord, th¡­¡± The attendant was unwilling and still had some expectations, so he instinctively wanted to persuade him.

    Dionysius would have reprimanded or secretly kept it in mind and would settle the ountter if someone dared to question his decision. But he didn''t have this thought as the only thing in his mind now was how to minimise the Syracusan army''s loss after their defeat. After all, the copse of the left-wing may lead to the Theonians blocking the Targines river and cutting off the path of retreat for the Syracusan army. Therefore, he must withdraw back to the camp on the west bank of the Targines as soon as possible. (Dionysius had previously ordered the camp''s demolition on the east bank of the Targines river to lure the Theonian army to cross the river.)

    As dozens of buglers sounded the retreat, Dionysius once again said to his attendant, ¡°Send someone to rush back to the camp and inform Artem (the one responsible for the defenders of the camp) to separate a troop to guard us back to the east camp safely. ¡±

    ¡°Understood, milord!¡± The attendant suddenly remembered something and reminded him, ¡°Earlier, our people in Scylletium sent a messenger to report that five-six thousand Theonian soldiers hadnded on the Ophemia in and were about to attack Terina.¡±

    Dionysius became furious at hearing the report, ¡°Why didn''t you report something so important earlier?!!¡±

    His attendant felt wronged in his heart, but he didn''t dare to argue.

    Dionysius originally nned to return to the camp and defend. But now, it seems that retreating to Scylletium would be the safest¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Phidias, who was at the middle forefront of Syracuse''s right-wing, was exhausted after two hours of continuous fighting even though he had undergone strict military training since childhood. But no matter how many times he stabbed the enemies in front of him, new enemies would still rush up to bravely fight him, forcing him to do all he could and deal with them carefully.

    He then realised that his n had a problem: After looking around, not only did Theonia''s left-wing phnx facing not copse, but their attack became fiercer. In contrast, the thrusting of the soldiers behind him became weaker and weaker. Although he was extremely anxious at hearing the faint sound of shouting and fighting in the rear, he did not dare to be distracted even the slightest.

 Chapter 517: Battle of Crotone (X)

    Finally, the salpinx that sounded the retreat came.

    The Syracusan soldiers at the right end of the right-wing, struggling to resist the sarissa brigade and Crotone-Terina reinforcements, immediately turned around and fled. Instantly resulting in the copse of Syracuse¡¯s thick phnx formation, and the fleeing soldiers were like a flood that spilt out from a broken dam¡­

    Phidias did not panic even when he saw the soldiers beside him flee. After throwing his spear at the enemy and smashing his round shield at the one facing him, he forced open a small space where he immediately turned around and ran away while throwing away his helmet. Although he had suffered many defeats before, Phidias still felt frustrated by this defeat¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Your majesty, the enemy has retreated! We won! We won this battle! Theonia won!!!¡± Tolmides was very excited as he watched the Syracusan soldiers retreat like a tide.

    A smile finally appeared on Davos'' face as he listened to the guards'' cheers beside him. He then said, ¡°Tell all the troops to pursue the enemy with all their strength!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± Tolmides responded loudly.

    ¡°Your majesty-¡± A shout came from behind Davos. When he turned around, he could see the excited Rodom and immediately understood what he was thinking, so he said with a smile, ¡°The guards can also participate in the pursuit.¡±

    Immediately after, cheers rang out around him, with only Martius and a few other guards remaining indifferent and standing at Davos'' side.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Chief Acilita, Lord Dionysius'' orders were for you to lead your men back together with me to fight the enemy!¡± Astagoras finally found Acilita, who had fled to the east bank of the Targines.

    Acilita, whose dishevelled hair covered his face, evasively said, ¡°With my men now scattered everywhere, it would be difficult for me to gather them in a short time.¡±

    ¡°Acilita.¡± Astagoras sneered and said, ¡°You are a wise man. Do you think that once we, Syracusans, are defeated, the Theonians would spare you, foreigners, after what you have done on Theonia''snd?! Moreover, with the Mediterranean Sea between Magna Graecia and Numidia, do you n to return to Numidia on horseback?!¡±

    After hearing that, Acilita''s expression considerably changed as he had only cared about escaping and didn''t think about that issue for a while.

    Suddenly, Acilita''s men eximed, ¡°Leader, the enemy ising again!¡±

    After finally deciding in his heart, Acilita said, ¡°Strategos Astagoras, let''s repel those cavalries first.¡±

    Astagoras became pleased when he saw Acilita''s change of attitude, so he immediately led the more than 300 cavalries to unite with Acilita''s remaining more than 200 cavalries to return and meet the enemy.

    At this moment, Astagoras and Acilita could hear the sound of ¡°rumbling¡± footsteps from the front left, making them subconsciously look to the north as the growing noise made them feel uneasy.

    Soon after, everyone''s face turned pale when countless Syracusan soldiers appeared and rushed towards them like a tide.

    ¡°Retreat!¡± Acilita quickly turned his horse around and fled in a panic together with the Numidian cavalry, followed by numerous Sicilian cavalries.

    ¡®We lost?!¡­¡¯ Astagoras couldn''t believe this fact and was then stabbed by the pursuing Theonian cavalry as he was in a trance¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Theonia won! We won! Crotone won!!¡­¡± The scouts sent by Lysias and his men ran wildly all the way to the ruins of Crotone as they shouted excitedly and incoherently.

    The people of Crotone, who were watching the battle from the city wall, were already crying. As they were far away from the battlefield, they couldn¡¯t really see the situation but could the Syracusans still be victorious if all the soldiers were running south?! At this moment, countless people shed tears of excitement, ¡®Finally, Crotone was saved!!!¡¯

    Lysias was focused on watching the battle as he nervously stood near the battlements. After being relieved, he noticed that his legs were sore and could no longer keep him up. Thus he just sat down on the walkway, facing the rubble and ruined city, as the ecstasy of the near-death experience turned into deep sorrow: Although the people of Crotone are now safe, the city no longer exists¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Dionysius decided to retreat, he had nned to make the defenders of the camp rendezvous with them and stop the chasing army behind and allow the fleeing Syracusan soldiers to enter the camp smoothly. However, that has now proven impossible.

    The Theonian troops of Aprustum, who watched the camp''s movements closely, discovered the defender moving around. At the same time, the news of ¡®Theonia''s victory¡¯ brought by the mountain reconnaissance soldiers excited Agasias, who, although he was a Praetor, was also a mercenary and had a richbat experience. So he decisively acted and led 3,000 defenders to attack the Syracusan camp blocking Aprustum''s road in the south.

    The Syracusan defenders, on the other hand, were disturbed by the news of their defeat, and with half of their troops sent outside the camp, they no longer had the desire to resist the all-out attack of the Aprustum army. After barely resisting for a while, they easily let the excited Theonian soldiers into the camp.

    Dionysius also tried to reorganise his army while they were fleeing, but the pursuit of the Theonian army made his efforts futile. Furthermore, the attendants he sent were either swept away or knocked down by the tide of fleeing soldiers, who then snatched their horses.

    With around 60,000 men poured into the Targines, they almost cut off the river''s flow. However, the slippery riverbed and the subsequent pursuit of the Theonian soldiers made the terrified Syracusan soldiers cross the river and leave a trail of floating bodies.

    And the camp defenders, who came to meet them, were frightened by the tide of fleeing soldiers that they immediately turned around and ran.

    Then the surging tide of fleeing soldiers crushed the narrow camp gate, with some simply pushing down the wooden wall and pouring into the gap. Unfortunately, the pursuers also entered the camp.

    At the same time, they could hear the cries of Theonian soldiers in the north of the camp: It was Aprustum''s army who rushed into the camp in pursuit of the retreating defenders.

    So the fleeing Syracusans no longer dared to stay in the camp and continued fleeing south as they were afraid that the Theonians would cut off their way back¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Strategos Hielos, we defeated the Syracusans! Numerous Syracusans are now fleeing to Scylletium!¡­¡± Said the excited and nervous scout who came to report.

    By this time, Hielos had already crossed the Targines with his army, entered Scylletium''s territory, and marched northeast towards the Syracusan camp in Crotone.

    Hielos became delighted upon hearing the report from the scouts. At the same time, he immediately realised that this was an excellent opportunity to wipe out the enemy, so he hurriedly asked, ¡°How far are we from the fleeing Syracusans?¡±

    ¡°They had just entered the ¡®coastal passage¡¯ when I returned to report.¡±

    Hielos was previously the Praetor of Aprustum, so he had surveyed the nearby terrain several times and was familiar with it. Naturally, he knew that the ¡®coastal passage¡¯ referred to by the scouts was, in fact, a narrow strip of coastline between the southern in of Crotone on the west bank of the Targines and Scylletium''s territory, with mountains surrounding it to the north and the sea to the south. This coastal passage was about 18 kilometres long, with its narrowest width of 5 kilometres. With his army only 7 kilometres away, it would seem that it would not be difficult to get there and intercept the fleeing Syracusans before they could leave the coastal passage. However, he then considered that his army would march on the mountains while the Syracusans were running on the t seashore, not to mention that they were fleeing for their lives.

    Hielos thought a bit and immediately ordered, ¡°All troops are to march faster!¡±

    Considering that at least half of the joint Theonia-Terina troops were heavy infantry, this fast marching made the soldiersin. Fortunately, these Bruttian soldiers were disciplined and to strictly execute orders after several years of training, while the me of vengeance supported the Terinians. But more importantly, the news of Theonia''s victory gave them great encouragement.

    Once they arrived at the coastal passage, the length of their column stretched to more than 2 kilometres, with most of the soldiers sitting directly on the ground, panting heavily, drenched in sweat and screaming for water. In the next half hour, Hielos, who was also exhausted, struggled to reorganise his troops while also trying to let the soldiers, who had just arrived, rest and recover some strength as soon as possible.

    Although most of the soldiers have arrived, there are still some who have fallen behind and came in groups of twos and threes.

    But at this moment, a scout came to report that the fleeing Syracusan soldiers were only a kilometre away from them.

    Fortunately, Hielos was rational in not letting the exhausted soldiers block the fleeing Syracusans head-on as he knew that he wouldn''t be able to block tens of thousands of soldiers who wanted to escape back to Scylettium with only a thousand soldiers. If they did, these exhausted and inexperienced soldiers would instead be caught in the tide of fleeing soldiers.

    So he immediately had his troops line up with their backs facing the mountains and diagonally to the coast, leaving enough gap of several metres long for the fleeing soldiers to pass through. Thus even if they attacked fiercely, the Syracusans, who were bent on fleeing, wouldn''t put up much resistance.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Theonia''s pursuitsted until dusk before the bugler sounded the retreat.

    From the statistics after the battle: Syracuse suffered nearly 20,000 casualties in the battle that decided the fate of Magna Graecia, with most of the casualties happening while they were escaping. Then more than 10,000 soldiers were captured, mostly due to Hielos. First, he had his soldiers only attack those fleeing soldiers at the edge of the ¡®coastal passage¡¯. Afterwards, he decisively ordered an all-out attack, which instantly blocked the tail end of the fleeing soldiers. In the end, only more than 30,000 Syracusans manage to reach Scylletium.

    Theonia suffered nearly 7,000 casualties, especially the Crotone-Terina reinforcements, which lost almost half. Followed by the sarissa brigade and the cavalry legion, which had paid the price of more than 2,000 men as they were the key to turning the situation around.

    In the end, the result of the battle: Theonia, with 58,000 soldiers, defeated Syracuse, which had 65,500 soldiers.

 Chapter 518: After the Battle

    After giving the order to withdraw, Davos turned around and headed to Syracuse''s camp.

    On his way towards the camp, bodies of dead and wounded soldiers littered the road; their blood gathered into a thin stream as it flowed into the sea and stained the coastline. Smelling the smell of death, flocks of crows came pecking at the fresh flesh and blood and even when they saw peopleing, the crows didn''t hide but just ¡°cawed¡±. Under the setting sun, it reflected the bloody, revolting, and tragic battlefield filled with corpses, making the excited Davos sombre at their victory.

    When Davos arrived at the Syracusan camp, he could see numerous wounded Theonians lying there, all of whom received it during their pursuit. On the other hand, those wounded during the battle had been rushed to the medical brigade of the Theonian camp on the north bank of the Neto River to receive treatment. In contrast, the physicians of Aprustum were the ones treating the wounded soldiers in the Syracusan camp. However, as they were understaffed, many soldiers had to lie in wait in resentment.

    After Davos saw the situation, he immediately dismounted his horse and strode over after.

    ¡°Your Majesty?!¡±

    ¡°It''s his majesty Davos!¡±

    ¡°His majesty!!¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As soon as Davos approached, the wounded soldiers all cheered with excitement.

    ¡°Warriors, I came to treat your wound.¡± Davos said with a gentle expression, ¡°We will treat all of you and soon be well, so please be patient!¡±

    A wounded soldier then loudly said, ¡°It''s a blessing for us to receive your treatment, your majesty! Don''t worry; we won''t make a sound and interfere with your treatment!¡±

    ¡°That''s right! We will all stay quiet!¡± The other wounded soldiers echoed.

    After finding the soldier, who had just spoken, familiar. Davos asked, ¡°What''s your name?¡±

    ¡°Tapirus, your majesty. I was the supervisor of Cheiristoya''s Restaurant in the city of Thurii. This time, I was drafted into the sarissa brigade as a centurion.¡± The wounded soldier replied. After Davos issued the order to pursue the enemy, the soldiers of the sarissa brigade found it inconvenient to run with their sarissa, so they also threw away their weapons like the enemy. Furthermore, since they weren''t wearing any armour, they naturally ran faster and allowed them to catch many fleeing Syracusans. Just that Tapirus was unlucky, the wounded soldier he caught up with was fierce and refused to surrender. He drew the sword hanging from his waist and shed at Tapirus'' thigh, and if not for Tapirus'' soldiers swarming and beating the enemy down, he would have gone to the underworld by now.

    ¡°Oh, I know you.¡± Davos remembered seeing this man in his own residence before, so he began checking Tapirus'' wounds.

    Besides theoretical knowledge, Davos was also experienced in treating diseases and wounds as he often went to help the medical staff when they were short on hands during the six-month campaign in Persia. Even his guards were familiar with the medical items and procedures, so whenever Davos began his treatment, Martius would instruct his men to find y pots to boil water, clean clothes, cut down trees, make wooden boards, etc.

    Blood gashes when Davos cuts a bone-deep opening in Tapirus'' left thigh with a sharp Greek kopis.

    After telling Tapirus to bear the pain, Davos lifted and bent Taprius'' left leg, then stretched his hand to press around the wound. Afterwards, he smiled and said, ¡°Tapirus, it seems that Hades cares for you. Although your wound is big, it didn''t damage the main artery or sh the tendons and bones, so you will soon recover.¡±

    Although Tapirus didn''t understand those medical terms, he was still happy with the news and repeatedly thanked Davos.

    Afterwards, Davos stood up and told Martius, ¡°Once the water boils, clean up his wounds and then bandage them¡­¡±

    Martius nodded in understanding.

    Davos then went to a wounded soldier, who had been screaming the loudest because of the pain, and knelt. The soldier was a young Bruttian warrior whose face was pale and panting while looking at Davos. But after the wounded soldiers promised to keep quiet, the young Bruttian warrior clenched his teeth without uttering a sound. Still, beads of sweat covered his boyish face as his right shoulder drooped down abnormally while his right leg bent outward, which looked painful. Davos then touched the boy''s right shoulder with one hand and the foot with the other,

    Davos was told that the young Bruttian warrior was too excited when chasing the enemy that he didn''t slow down when crossing the Targines River. As a result, he slipped on the river bank andnded on his right shoulder first, resulting in dislocation. But due to suddenly falling, hisrades behind him had no time to avoid him and ended up stepping on his right calf, which resulted in a fracture.

    When Davos ced his hand on the young Bruttian¡¯s shoulder, it made him tremble.

    ¡°What''s your name? Where are you from? And which legion?¡± Davos asked softly.

    ¡°Mu¡­Muklo¡­I live in Consentia, and came with¡­with strategos Hieronymus¡­¡± The wounded soldier endured the pain and stammered. Although he had a stronger ent, he was fluent in Greek among the Bruttians. He then stressed, ¡°My father is a¡­.centurion of the fifth¡­fifth legion!¡± as he seemed ashamed that he was not a legionary.

    ¡°You and your father are wonderful citizens of Theonia!¡± Davos praised from the bottom of his heart, knowing that living in Consentia meant that the soldier''s family had left the tribe and became true citizens of Theonia.

    ¡°But¡­but when I came here, I found out that¡­that my father had died in the battle¡­battle in Scylletium¡­¡± Perhaps the gentle gaze of Davos affected him; Muklo said the words he had been holding in his heart for the past few days as tears finally fell in his eyes.

    Davos also became gloomy because of it, so heforted him by saying, ¡°Muklo, you haven''t lost your father. He had just be a spirit and gone to the peaceful Elysium. Every year during Hades'' Day, you can go to the Temple of Hades in Consentia to pray for him; maybe he wille to meet you in your dreams¡­¡±

    ¡°Is that true?!¡± When Muklo heard this, his eyes lit up as he seemed to forget the pain and looked at Davos with hope.

    ¡°Of course, it''s true!¡± Davos reassured him while taking advantage of Muklo''s happy and rxed state to suddenly apply force in his hands, resulting in Muko screaming, frightening everyone around.

    ¡°Hoo, you can now move your right arm. However, you shouldn''t exert strength on it for these two days!¡± Davos instructed.

    Muklo turned his right shoulder in surprise and nodded again and again.

    ¡°Lift your right foot a bit so that I can see it.¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, can my foot still be healed?!¡± Muklo immediately did as Davos'' told, while asking with expectation and anxiety.

    Davos didn''t immediately answer him as he closely inspected Muklo''s right calf. Although it was badly bent, the damage to the innermost tissue wasn''t severe, and there was no obvious hematoma, so the blood vessels shouldn''t be affected. After reaching out to Muklo''s calf again, he carefully pressed and squeezed it.

    Out of his extreme trust in Davos, Muklo held back the pain and didn''t utter a word.

    After examining it, Davos confirmed that there were norge fragments or broken tendons in Muklo''s right calf, so he breathed a sigh of relief and then said with certainty, ¡°Be at ease. After treatment, you would only need to rest for three months, and your calf will be as good as before!¡±

    Muklo finally smiled and thanked Davos sincerely, ¡°Thank you very much, your majesty!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    By the time Agasias received the report and called more physicians from Aprustum, Davos had already treated more than a dozen wounded soldiers. And with these physicians taking over, he no longer continues the treatment. Instead, he talked to Agasias about important matters, ¡°This camp can''t amodate all the soldiers here, so we need to send the more than 20,000 people to rest in Aprustum tonight, especially the wounded!¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry, your majesty. I have already asked the city hall people to arrange this matter!¡± Agasias'' answer caused Davos to look at him with surprise. After all, seeing the problems and taking the initiative to solve them is the quality of an excellent administrative staff. Hence he really didn¡¯t expect the outgoing Agasias to grasp it.

    When Davos looked at Agasias'' somewhat aged face(He had just, in fact, turned 40), it made him wonder if he had moved on from the things troubling him, so he couldn''t help but feel a bit emotional.

    As the sky was about to get dark, the pursuing soldiers, who returned to the Syracusan camp, began setting up the tents abandoned by the fleeing soldiers. After lighting all the bonfires, the whole camp became noisy¡­

    After all, the soldiers returned to the camp with the Syracusan prisoners, who were stripped of their armour and clothing, following their previous practice, leaving them naked and exposed in thete winter evening, causing them to shiver from the cold. Furthermore, the Theonian soldiers escorting them showed no mercy and would even poke at them with their spears once they slowed down or were disobedient, causing them to scream.

    And the others just watch them from the side,ughing and even swearing at the prisoners.

    Davos also did not stop the soldiers as he knew that the soldiers needed a ce to vent their anger. After all, from the time the Syracusan armynded in Magna Graecia until today, no less than 10,000 Theonian soldiers and civilians have died at their hands, especially on the outskirts of Aprustum and Krimisa, which almost became ruins. Besides, these prisoners were luckypared to the seriously wounded Syracusan soldiers who fell on their way to Scylletium and were ignored even when they continuously screamed and finally had to close their eyes and wait for their death.

    Davos thought for a moment and said, ¡°Agasias, temporarily put aside Aprustum''s matter tomorrow and take these prisoners back to Thurii.¡±

 Chapter 519: Laos Ownership

    Agasias was surprised for a moment and said in embarrassment, ¡°Your majesty, if you add the prisoners together, they numbered no less than 10,000! In contrast, there are only more than 2,000 soldiers in Aprustum. Besides that, I have to leave some soldiers to defend the city, so I fear I can''t escort that many prisoners¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will leave a thousand soldiers from the sarissa brigade under yourmand and would return to Thurii with you.¡± Davos already made a n. After all, the Syracusan army now had far fewer troops than the army he led after suffering a disastrous defeat. In addition, with the next battle being a siege battle, the sarissa brigade has no ce to y.

    ¡°Understood.¡± Agasias could only nod his head in eptance while looking at the line of captives and said with concern, ¡°But I fear that the addition of 10,000 prisoners would make Theonia¡¯s food situation even more intense.¡±

    ¡°Ansitanos already went to Carthage by boat a few days, and I believe we can sign some agreements with them this time.¡± Davos said confidently.

    ¡°Carthage?¡± Agasias frowned, ¡°Didn''t they already reject our request for an alliance before?!¡±

    ¡°The current situation is different from before the war started-¡± Davos was about to exin to him in detail when a loud cry came from a distance, ¡°Lord Davos!¡±

    After taking a closer look, Davos saw Siprus and another man surrounded by a team as they approached them.

    Davos went to meet them while his guard followed him closely.

    ¡°Thanks to you, Theonians, we finally won this important battle! We have defeated the vicious Syracusans! Magna Graecia is now saved!¡± Siprus then excitedly gave Davos a firm hug.

    Davos patted him on the shoulder and said seriously, ¡°If you hadn''t resisted Syracuse''s full attack on the left-wing, it would be difficult to say the result of this battle. Thus it is safe to say that we, the South Italian Alliance, worked together to win this battle that would decide our survival!¡±

    ¡°That''s fair enough. Our citizens didn''t die in vain!¡± A cold voice came from beside Siprus.

    Davos turned his head to look at the one who had just spoken: He was a burly middle-aged man with a bearded face. He looked at Davos with a somewhatplicated expression.

    ¡°Strategos Milo?¡± Davos had already guessed his identity.

    ¡°I am Milo, who you defeated a few years ago. Finally, Crotone forced me to leave.¡± Milo said with a somewhat unpleasant expression.

    Davos did not mind as he deeply said, ¡°There is a saying in the east, ¡®You won''t know each other if you don''t fight¡¯! We, Theonians, were really frightened when you marched towards Thurii with great speed. Since then, I have always wanted to meet you, but I didn''t expect that I would only meet you after a few years passed. Still, it''s fortunate that Theonia and Crotone are now allies who have fought for our life and death together, and I am honoured to fight side by side with you in such a battle rted to the survival of Magna Graecia and to defeat a powerful enemy! I think recalling you back is the wisest choice that the council of Crotone made in this war, which allowed Crotone to persist until today and gained time for our South Italian Alliance to gather our strength and fight back against the Syracusans, leading to today''s victory! On behalf of Theonia, I thank you and the citizens of Crotone who fought to the death!¡±

    After finishing his speech, Davos solemnly saluted Milo. But the truth is, Davos didn''t know what Milo had done after he returned to Crotone, so his praise of Milo was more topensate for Theonia''s dy in rescuing Crotone.

    So as soon as he finished speaking, The Crotonian soldiers behind Milo straightened their chests as pride filled their hearts, ¡®This is the praise of the famous and invincible strategos of Magna Graecia ¨C Davos!¡¯

    Even Milo became slightly excited as he hurriedly saluted back, ¡°It''s my honour to fight with you, Lord Davos!¡±

    ¡°It''s all the arrangement of fate! As now that we in the South Italian Alliance are like one family, we must not allow the Syracusans to just enter and leave!¡± Siprus took the chance to agree.

    ¡°Lord Davos.¡± Milo hesitated and said, ¡°I am afraid that we would not be able to send another army to fight against the Syracusans. Furthermore, now that the Syracusans have burned even our Acropolis, the citizens urgently need to rebuild their homes!¡­¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Davos said sincerely, ¡°Crotone has sacrificed a lot in this war! So if you have any difficulties, feel free to tell us, and we, Theonians, will do our best to assist! In addition, feel free to leave your wounded to us for treatment as we will do our best to save them!¡±

    These promises made by the new king of Theonia ¨C Davos, were what the Crotonians needed to hear the most at this moment! For this reason, Milo sincerely thanked Davos once again and then returned to Crotone''s Acropolis with his men.

    ¡°Lord Davos, we would like to join you in fighting the Syracusans!¡± Watching the Crotonian leave, Siprus then loudly said.

    ¡°You are very wee!¡± As he knew what Siprus wanted, Davos happily said, ¡°I think it would be easier to recapture Terina after attacking Scylletium tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°May Apollo bless you!¡± Siprus had the same idea as he didn''t think that after the defeat of the Syracusan army, the thousands of enemies in Terina would dare to stay there and wait for the tens of thousands of Theonian troops¡¯ attack.

    ¡°Your majesty! Your majesty Davos!¡­¡± Just as they began discussing, Davos could hear a familiar voice from a distance.

    Davos opened his eyes in surprise at seeing the young figure appear in front of him, ¡°Why are you here?!¡±

    Henipolis shrugged his should and said, ¡°I''m here to keep my promise ¨C to be your clerk, your majesty.¡±

    ¡°Heni, there is no need to be in a rush just to be my clerk at this time! You are the archon of Laos, and you had just taken back Laos from your rebellious uncle! Instead, you should have stayed with the people of Laos to restore the order as soon as possible!¡± Davos looked at his rxed appearance and couldn''t help but remind him.

    ¡°Your majesty, there is no need for you to worry. Ariandos is there to maintain the city''s order, and Bagul also helps manage the city matters. Besides, Praetor Hemon of Nerulum could give his assistance at any time, so my presence or absence there won''t affect Laos'' governance.¡±

    Henipolis'' words astonished Davos, ¡°You asked Bagul to handle Laos'' matters for you?!¡±

    ¡°Can''t I? Those things I am going to implement are originally from Thurii, and Bagul, the Praetor of Grumentum, should be very familiar with it and fully capable of dealing with the various difficulties brought about by reforming Laos. On the contrary, my presence there would hinder him from using his authority¡­¡± Henipolis glibly.

    Davos didn''t know how to respond for a moment, but his expression was still one of rebuke, ¡®The highest authority of a city-state hadn''t shared the difficulties with the people of the city but slipped away? What would the people of Laos think once they found out about this?!¡¯

    But Davos couldn''t say those words out loud in such a public ce. Just when he was thinking of lecturing Henipolis in private, Henipolis saw through his thoughts and stepped forward and whispered, ¡°Your majesty, I have something important to discuss with you; that¡¯s why I came here with Hielos'' army!¡±

    When Davos saw he spoke so seriously, he asked subconsciously, ¡°What''s the matter?¡±

    Henipolis nced at Siprus beside Davos, but instead of whispering what he wanted to say, he intentionally made his voice a little louder, ¡°After this incident, I realised that I am not interested in managing a city-state, and Laos couldn''t continue developing safely and prosperously without Theonia. Thus I decided to merge Laos into Theonia!¡±

    Davos was shocked at hearing those words because Henipolis was really serious; it was evident that he had long thought much about it.

    At this moment, countless thoughts shed rapidly in Davos'' mind, but he forcibly suppressed them and said only a sentence, ¡°We will discuss thister in my tent.¡±

    Then he turned around and said, ¡°This is Lord Siprus, the polemarchos of Terina!¡±

    Henipolis hurriedly greeted him, ¡°Lord Siprus, I had met you several times before at his majesty''s residence.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right.¡± Siprus smiled reluctantly. After all, even though he goes to Davos'' residence every time he goes to Thurii, how could he bother to remember a teenager he met by chance in the courtyard? Still, he was shocked about the news he had just heard and then looked at the spirited young man in front of him. He didn''t know what kind of impact Laos taking the initiative to merge into Theonia would have on the Theonia Union and the other city-states of the South Italian Alliance? And what would Terina, which had also suffered the mes of war, do?

    Siprus sighed in his heart and said, ¡°Lord Henipolis, congrattions on taking back Laos!¡±

    Henipolis smiled inwardly after noticing the anxiety on Siprus'' expression. Still, he thanked him and said, ¡°I had just separated from strategos Phroms, and he should now be with Lord Hielos in escorting the prisoners. In this battle, Terina''s soldiers yed a huge role in blocking the fleeing Syracusans!¡±

    Siprus hurriedly asked Phroms'' location and then led the soldiers away.

    ¡°It was thanks to Hielos leading the army in time. Otherwise, the result of the battle wouldn''t be so great!¡± Said Davos with a sigh as he watched the departing back of Siprus.

 Chapter 520: Carthage

    ¡°Your majesty, you might not know it, but Hielos has been pushing us to hurry up for the past two days to save more time that we didn''t even have much time to rest. Still, we didn''t expect that we would catch up.¡± Henipolis interjected.

    ¡°Opportunityes to the prepared.¡± Davos said quietly while looking at Henipolis, ¡°Come with me to my tent and have a good discussion about what you said¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Early the following morning, when Davos led the troops gathered from the former Syracusan camp and the city of Aprustum to march towards Scylletium, the transport ship of Ansitanos had already passed through the southwest corner of Sicily. Luckily, the powerful southern wind blew the sail and quickly made the transport ship sail towards the African continent.

    A few days after setting out with Seclian''s fleet, Ansitanos separated from them before crossing the Strait of Messina.

    With Syracusan ships not patrolling the southern coast of Sicily, the transport ships sailed all the way smoothly. However, due to countless merchant ships on this route, the helmsman of the transport ship has to be highly focused on controlling the rudder to avoid collisions.

    Once it was almost noon, the outline ofnd appeared in front with thousands of ships converging towards it ¨C it was Carthage, the powerful city-state established by the Phoenicians on the African continent.

    The city of Carthage was built on a penins made up of a series of sandstone hills. On the northeast and southeast borders of the city were two narrow, wing-like pieces ofnd that extended outwards. Thetternd almost bisected the sea and thus enclosing a vastke (today''s Lake Tunis). Then continuous and steep sandstone cliffs nk the northern part of the penins, while a series of fortified walls, trenches and ramparts protect the enormous coastal in to the south.

    On the seaward side of theke were two magnificent ports. Long and tall walls surround the outer sides of the port, which also acts as a breakwater, and the two ports are connected to each other with amon entrance that is 21-metres wide and can be closed with iron chains.

    The first port was for the merchant ships to dock, so the dock area was built with massive sandstone as the material, making it strong and durable. Behind the dock were rows of tall and wide warehouses, with countlessbourers transporting all kinds of goods to and from the port and warehouses¡­

    The merchant ship would then stop at the dock one after another after entering the merchant port. But they were not allowed to upy the middle passage for long because it was reserved for the Carthaginian warships to enter and exit as the military port was inside the merchant port. The military port was only separated by a very tall double wall, with only one water gate connected to it, and its width was only for two triremes to enter side by side¡­

    Ansitanos, who was on the bow, stared at the military port while they docked. Unfortunately, the tall and thick double walls blocked his sight from seeing inside the military port.

    However, Ansitanos already learned some information about the military port from the locals when he camest time. They said that a genius Carthaginian architect designed the circr military port by making the most flexible use of the avable space ording to the topography of the port. Moreover, small inds surrounded the military port with docks between the port and the ind. On the banks were numerous docks that could easily amodate more than 300 triremes.

    After Ansitanos went ashore, he led his entourage and walked with the bustling crowd towards the city.

    In the noisy flow of people in the port area, you could see all races in the Mediterranean, which also includes some races outside: Such as the extremely tall, fair-skinned Germanic people, the Briton with bodypaints on their bodies, and tribes that have skin as dark as the night that was said toe from the African desert south of Carthage, near the steep mountain the Chartaginian adventurers called the ¡°Chariots of the gods¡±(which is present-day Mount Cameroon)¡­these are the ¡°outside world¡± that the historian Ansitanos could never have imagined but was full of yearning.

    ¡®In the Mediterranean, only the Carthaginians are capable of doing this!¡¯ As he sighed, Ansitanos also ignored the strange nces from the pedestrians¡­

    Many Greeks hade to trade in Carthage, with some even settling here. However, the several wars between Carthage and Syracuse that caused heavy casualties to the Carthaginians resulted in their attitude towards the Greeks changing to the point that those Greeks who settled in Carthage were expelled, their property confiscated, and some even killed on the spot. And only recently did their situation improves.

    The centre of the city of Carthage is situated on a hill ¨C Byrsa, and at the top is Carthage''s Acropolis.

    The Acropolis has the Temple of Eshmun, famous throughout Africa. However, what is enshrined in the temple is not Melqart ¨C the chief god of Phoenician city-states in the eastern Mediterranean, but Baal Hammon ¨C another chief deity. In the minds of the Carthaginians, Baal Hammon was the king of the furnace, the lord of the new moon, and Carthage''s guardian. His colossal bronze statue, dressed in a long robe, wearing a cone-shaped headdress, with a long beard, holding a spear in one hand, and his other palm is open like giving blessings to others. The statue stood in the centre of the Acropolis, overlooking the city of Carthage. Another deity enshrined in the Temple of Eshmun was the wife of Baal Hammon and the female protector and guardian of the city ¨C Tinit, and she wasn''t below her husband in the hearts of the Carthaginians.

    With the Temple of Eshmun as the centre, the urban area of Carthage is arranged in a radial pattern down the hill.

    When Ansitanos walked toward the city''s centre, he felt like he was climbing a mountain. The steep slopes and the narrow and crowded streets forced him to be careful not to fall.

    Butpared to the bad roads, the Carthaginians'' housing was almost all six-story tall buildings, standing in rows on both sides of the streets. Most of the housings are built using huge sandstone strips with walls painted with white gypsum, which can protect them from erosion of the environment and shine like a marble in the sunlight. While a few houses were made using marble, with gorgeous colours and peculiar patterns, which clearly shows the Carthaginians'' wealth.

    After crossing the narrow street, Carthage''s square showed in front of Ansitanos. Located in the square were the Carthaginian Senate and Temple of Melqart. (The square is actually behind the military port and not far from the ce Ansitanosnded. However, it took longer to reach here because they had to take detours around the military port.

    But Ansitanos did not go straight to the Senate. Instead, he went through the square and reached another street, which was different from the others. Although it has wide roads, it has no tall houses. Instead, each of the houses hasrge courtyards.

    Ansitanos then came to a gate of a luxurious mansion, ording to his memory, where one of the two shophtim of Carthage lived, and now Carthage''s true ruler ¨C ¡°The Great¡± Hanno.

    When Ansitanos came to Carthage thest time, he also came to visit Hanno first. Unfortunately, he couldn''t meet Hanno as he was at his manor outside the city. Therefore, Ansitanos really hopes he is lucky today.

    But the truth is, Hanno had been staying in the city for some time already as the news of the Syracusan army''s victory in Magna Graecia made the members of Carthage''s Senate uneasy, so they had to keep watch on the progress of the war in Magna Graecia. When the servant came in to report, Hanno was on the balcony, lying naked on afortable Kline(sofa), basking in the warm sunshine while a young maid massaged him.

    ¡®An envoy from Theonia ask for an audience!¡¯ Hanno fell into deep thinking after he heard the servant. Currently, Theonia is the only force in Magna Graecia that is still fighting against Syracuse. Moreover, the news of Theonia''s fleet defeating Syracuse''s navy in the sea near Thurii had confirmed their strength, which resulted in the Carthaginians abandoning their contempt for this emerging Greek city-state that they did not know much about yet.

    ¡°Take him to the living and have him wait for me.¡± Hanno said.

    After putting on his gorgeous robe and entering the living room, he saw Ansitanos standing in front of Baal Hammon''s statue and staring at it.

    ¡°Do the Greeks also worship our, Carthage''s, gods?¡± Hanno spoke while walking towards his seat.

    ¡°Esteemed Lord Hanno!¡± Ansitanos hurriedly greeted him, then he retreated to his seat and said, ¡°I am just a bit curious about your god, Baal Hammon, because Sophocles mentioned that ¡®Baal Hammon is very simr to Kronos¡¯.¡± (Sophocles was a famous ywright in Athens.)

    Hanno grunted as his face was covered with ayer of anger, ¡°Stupid Greek, when we, the Phoenicians, created prosperity through trade in the Mediterranean hundreds of years ago, you Greeks were still cowering on your poor and barrennd. And when we, Carthaginians, had sent our fleet across the Pirs of Heracles and sailed the oceans, you Greeks are just establishing your city-states in the western Mediterranean. If you had even a bit of brain, you would be able to tell that it is your gods and goddesses who are simr to our gods¡­¡±

    ¡°What you said might be right, and it would be even better if there were more evidence to prove it! So can you show me some information regarding it?¡± Ansitanos did not refute but earnestly requested.

    Hanno was slightly surprised as he thought the Theonian envoy would be angry and argue with him. Hence when the other side showed such a serious attitude toward seeking the truth, it made him a little fond and curious about him.

 Chapter 521: First off, Terina

    ¡°Envoy of Theonia, I don''t think you are here to learn and research Carthage''s gods and goddesses.¡± Hanno said smilingly, ¡°Unfortunately, our answer remained the same asst time. I fear you''ll just be disappointed, as we, Carthaginians, will always abide by our agreement with Syracuse.¡±

    ¡°Lord Hanno, we Theonians do not want to embarrass Carthage and no longer have the intention of allying with you.¡± Ansitanos then said seriously, ¡°Rather, I am here on behalf of Theonia''s Senate in hopes to trade with Carthage.¡±

    ¡°What kind of trade?¡± Hanno asked with a jolt in his heart.

    ¡°Grain!¡± Ansitanos then bluntly said, ¡°We are resisting Syracuse''s invasion, but due to their massive destruction of our territory, the food supply of Theonia is now very tight. If we can''t buy arge amount of grain from the outside, our army wouldn''tst long and be able to fight! At that time, Syracuse could easily defeat our soldiers and upy Theonia, achieving their goal ofpletely controlling Magna Graecia.¡±

    Hanno jolted. He then pondered and said, ¡°We can consider it if it is only the purchasing of grains. This year, plenty of rainfall and abundant grain blessed Africa, so we have a lot of surplus grain. However, I heard that the poption of Theonia is quiterge, and I fear that the amount of grain you need is not small. Moreover, your war with Syracuse hadsted so long that can you still have the money to purchase grain?¡±

    ¡°I have heard that Carthage is also desperate for money these days, and you can''t give us favourable grain prices. Moreover, it is indeed true that our treasury is almost depleted, but our people have enthusiastically donated their treasured silver coins just to defeat Syracuse and restore peace to Magna Graecia, allowing us to afford to pay for the grain!¡± Ansitanos said passionately.

    His words shook Hanno, not only because the Theonians showed their determination to fight Syracuse but also because the sentence, ¡°Carthage is also in urgent need of money¡±, which has affected his sensitive nerves.

    ¡®Why would a wealthy city-state such as Carthage be short of money too?!¡¯ It was because of their several wars with Syracuse that had depleted their treasury. Furthermore, even though the war had ended, Carthage¡¯s consumption continued. For Carthage to defend against the powerful Syracuse, the Carthaginian Senate decided to rebuild their defence circle in western Sicily, ensuring their city''s safety. Hence they even appointed Mago as the militarymander of Sicily and gave him some autonomy.

    After Mago took his position, he began recruitingbourers and purchasing numerous materials to build the fortress. Thereafter, he recruited tens of thousands of mercenaries from Celtic, Numidia and the Iberian regions to make up for their shortage of troops due to the Carthaginian soldiers suffering heavy casualties in the war. For this reason, Carthage had to mint arge number of gold coins and silver coins with high purchasing power every month to pay the mercenaries, so they spent most of Carthage''s monthly trade ie and minerals from Iberia and Sardinia on this.

    But this wasn''t what concerned Hanno the most. Instead, it was the Magonids'' allies who had started supporting Mago after the Carthaginians became nervous at the rampaging of the Syracusan army in Magna Graecia. A few days ago, Mago even sent a letter asking the Senate to grant him the authority to mint coins in Sicily, saving them trouble and potential danger from transportingrge amounts of coins back and forth by ships, such as a storm sinking the ship¡­resulting in the Senate to debate this issue for several days.

    Hanno became uneasy due to Mago''s expanding power in Sicily, which threatened his political dominance in Carthage''s Senate. After all, Hanno would never allow Mago to take back the dominant rule of Carthage that he had taken from the Magonids!

    Ansitanos then added after he saw Hanno''s brow furrowed and was deeply pondering, ¡°Of course, with your permission, we would like to buy grains by paying part of it with Syracusan prisoners.¡±

    ¡°Syracusan prisoners?¡± Hanno was slightly puzzled as he wasn''t entirely clear about the exact battle situation even though he got the news of the Theonian navy''s victory.

    ¡°After our fleet defeated the Syracusans on the sea near Thurii, we managed to capture tens of thousands of Syracusan sailors. And these two times I came to Carthage, I could deeply feel the hatred of the Carthaginians toward the Syracusans, and the only way I could think to help them vent their hatred in their hearts is by turning these Syracusan captives into their ves¡­¡± Ansitanos said calmly.

    Hanno''s eye''s lit up at the thought of winning the goodwill of the Carthaginians just by exchanging grain for Syracusan ves.

    Of course, this was not what Hanno was most interested in. So he slightly leaned forward, looked at Ansitanos and asked seriously, ¡°It''s indeed amazing that your fleet defeated the Syracusans! However, can your army defeat their powerful army?!¡±

    The Carthaginians always considered their navy the strongest in the western Mediterranean. Even though they lost badly, they were unwilling to ept their defeat only because their loss wasn¡¯t due to a real battle at sea. Instead, it was because their sailors couldn''t board at all due to the sudden attack or the ballistae attacking them while they were stuck in the bay. Thus even though Theonia''s victory in the naval is surprising, it did not bring a considerable shock to Hanno as the massivend army of Syracuse was the one that frightened the Carthaginians.

    ¡°Lord Hanno, if you know Theonia, you should know that our King Davos has never lost a battle since the founding of Theonia Union. Moreover, he had even won againstrger enemy troops with only less on many asions. And the only reason why Theonia even suffered some setbacks earlier in the war was that his majesty King Davos led his army to fight against the Samnites in the north. But after he led back his troops to Thurii, we won the naval battle due to his nning.

    Before I left Thurii, King Davos led his army to Crotone to defend against the Syracusan army. Although the Syracusans are more than our soldiers, all our soldiers and officers have full confidence in his majesty Davos and are willing to obey his orders to fight the Syracusans to death! So as long as we have enough food, I believe we will be the one to get the final victory!¡± Ansitanos excitedly spoke, which is rare.

    Hanno stroked his beard with glistening eyes. Although he had nevermanded an army, he discussed the war situation in Magna Graecia with his subordinates familiar with the military and the statesmen who were close with him. Suppose Theonia could really defeat the Syracusan army, plus the disastrous defeat of their navy. In that case, the Syracusan soldiers who invaded Magna Graecia may not be able to return to Sicily again. So does Carthage still need to worry about Syracuse, who had suffered a significant loss in strength?! Furthermore, Carthage''s security to the north is guaranteed, so they wouldn''t need to be guarded against Syracuse in Sicily, let alone spend money to maintain numerous mercenaries. Besides, he would be able to revoke Mago''s position asmander of Sicily!¡­

    After numerous thoughts shed through Hanno''s mind, he smiled and said, ¡°You should go to the Senate first thing tomorrow morning. After I invite you inside, I want you to say to the statesmen what Theonia wants.¡±

    Ansitanos was overjoyed when he heard Hanno as the purchase of grain would definitely be approved by Carthage''s Senate.

    ¡°Thank you, Lord Hanno!¡± Ansitanos eximed gratefully.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    That same night, the news of Syracuse''s tragic defeat reached Terina, causing panic among the city defenders. Fortunately, it was toote at night, and they were afraid of encountering idents while withdrawing to Scylletium in the dark.

    Early the following morning, more than 3,000 Terina defenders began to prepare to retreat.

    But soon after they left the city, a disaster struck: More than a thousand Hipponians were reluctant to go to Scylletium. Instead, they only wanted to return to their city-state in the south.

    After some bargaining and argument, the Syracusan strategos reluctantly agreed, and by the time they resumed their retreat to the east, more than an hour had passed. But since they were carrying a lot of looted supplies, their movement slowed down. So, just after they crossed the Aro River, the Theonian scout spotted them.

    Ledes, who received the report, immediately sent someone to report to Davos in the rear while urgently leading more than a thousand cavalries to attack and harass them to dy their retreat to Scylletium.

    After receiving the report, the first and second legions at the forefront of the marching column also sent the light-armoured soldiers and light infantry brigades for interception.

    So when the two thousand or so defenders spotted the Theonian scouts, they felt dread. Thus, under their officers'' strict orders, they donned their armour, grabbed their shields and spears, and even abandoned their extra spoils to increase their marching pace.

    However, the rugged mountainous road wasn''t easy to traverse. After half an hourter, the defenders were only 5 kilometres away from Scylletium, but the Theonian cavalries had already arrived.

    But before the cavalries could even throw their javelins, the thousand Caulonian soldiers suddenly knelt and surrendered, leaving the already panicky Syracusan defenders panic even more.

    Seeing the situation, Ledes decisively ordered the cavalry to immediately attack the enemy, resulting in the Syracusan defenders copsing immediately. Under the pursuit of the cavalries, the Syracusan defenders were either killed or captured, with only a few hundred of the thousand men eventually fleeing back to Scylletium.

    But the most unlucky ones were the Hipponians, who retreated to the south as they ran into the Rhegian armynding on the northern coast of Hipponion.

    So how could Pheidon let go of this great opportunity of having the number advantage? Thus he immediately led the army to attack.

 Chapter 522: Siege of Scylletium

    The Hipponian defenders watched in horror as the Rhegian army easily defeated theirrades outside the city, scattering them in all directions. However, they did not dare go outside the city to rescue them. On the contrary, they close the city gates tightly.

    An hourter, more than 5,000 Rhegian soldiers surrounded the city of Hipponion.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    During that same time, Davos led hisrge army into Scylletium''s territory. While marching, Davos stayed quiet as he thought about what action to take next in order topletely defeat Syracuse and end the war.

    Beside Davos was the cheerful Henipolis. In Davos'' tentst night, Davos finally epted his idea and seriously conceived several proposals for him to safeguard Henipolis'' interest. Hence Henipolis felt rxed when he woke up early this morning as he no longer had to think about Laos.

    For a while, Henipolis excitedly talked with Tolmides, then chatted with Martius, wanting to know more about yesterday''s battle.

    Finally, the Theonian army arrived outside Scylletium without any hindrance.

    Davos then took the guard with him to scout the city: Scylletium''s wall is about seven metres high and has a perimeter of more than 500 metres. Although it has no moat, it instead has trenches in front of the city. It also has three gates, one to the west, one to the south and one to the north. Moreover, its port was enclosed within the walls as it was integrated with the city. Scylletium wasn''t a big citypared to Thurii and Crotone, but it was bigger than Terina and Hipponion.

    After interrogating the prisonersst night, Davos learned of Syracuse¡¯s forces in Scylletium: Besides the 4,000 troops stationed in Scylletium, they had more than 20,000 civilians and ves from Syracuse and its allies, who were mainly responsibly for transporting rations and supplies.

    Moreover, there is also a special group of people that Dionysius took from Sicily: Mathematical schrs, highly skilled construction engineers, equipment manufacturers, carpenters, shipwrights¡­and so on. They numbered nearly a thousand people and were responsible for allowing Dionysius to breach the city of Crotone as they were the ones who produced the ballistae, siege towers, gastraphetes¡­and other various siege equipment and facilities¡­ They are also the group that Davos coveted to get the most.

    Besides them were the captured Crotonian and Scylletian soldiers in the Battle of Aro River. Although Dionysius sold some of the captives to the ve merchants, they still had three or four thousand people.

    However, with the defeated Syracusan soldiers retreating to Scylletium now, the number of people in the city was probably as high as 60,000. If Dionysius hadn''t killed and sold the Scylletians, Scylletium would not have been able to amodate so many people.

    Davos watched the Syracusan soldiers on top of the city wall and imagined whether the Syracusan soldiers, who had just suffered a defeat, would maintain theirposure once he gave the order to attack the city.

    Naturally, Davos would not rush to attack a city that has more than 30,000 soldiers and possible 20,000 reserve soldiers. Besides, he has other ns.

    At the top of the city wall, Dionysius stared at the group of men and horses running around with aplicated expression. Then his gloomy voice squeezed out from his teeth, ¡°I heard that Davos of Theonia likes to observe the enemy before every big battle, so I guess he must be somewhere there!¡±

    ¡°Do you want to fire a ballista at them and hope Apollo would bless you and have a stone projectile hit him right on the head?¡± Phidias, whose hands, arms and waist were wrapped in bandages, said mockingly. He was badly wounded in yesterday''s battle but was lucky to escape. After getting treated and sleeping until noon today, he heard the arrival of the Theonian army, so he braced himself to climb the city wall.

    Dionysius did not respond as Phidias guessed his thought was.

    ¡°I truly didn''t expect that this young man was the reason for our powerful army¡¯s defeat!¡± Phidias eximed with doubt as he had still not had the time to think about the details of yesterday''s battle after fleeing back to the city. Thus even until now, he still couldn''t figure out how the Syracusan army had lost.

    ¡°We failed precisely because the Theonians hadpletely seen through your battle arrangements and made targeted changes¡­¡± Dionysius closed his eyes painfully: The quick change of direction of Theonia''s left-wing, the hidden sarissa phnx behind the cavalry, and the rear attack of Theonia''s reserve on their right-wing¡­

    He didn''t want to recall yesterday''s nightmarish battle. He even ced the main responsibility for their defeat on the Spartan with resentment as he didn''t want to admit the fact that the Theonians were far better than his Syracusan soldiers. Even though their left, centre and right-wing had more troops than the Theonians, they still failed to pressure the other side that they could even dare to deploy their troops and carry out their ns daringly.

    Now it''s Phidias'' turn to be speechless. Although he still hasn''t found the reason for their defeat, it''s a fact that his tactics didn''t work.

    ¡°Still, it''s just a defeat in a battle. A few years ago, the situation was even more critical than today when the Carthaginians had defeated us in a battle. At that time, not only there was arge army surrounding us, but even our popce rioted. However, under mymand and with the help of our allies, you Spartans, we finally defeated Carthage that I even heard the Carthaginian general Himilcomitted suicide!¡± Dionysius then looked at his demoralised men and realised they could no longer afford to lose, so he needed to cheer them up. Otherwise, the next battle will be even more challenging. At the same time, he could not be hard on Phidias because of Syracuse¡¯s extremely unfavourable situation, as they still needed to rely on the Spartan even more, ¡°Although they are proud of their victory today, we Syracusans, with the protection of Apollo, will let those Theonians, who were just freemen a few years ago, know that the final victor of this war will only belong to Syracuse!¡±

    ¡°Lord Dionysius is right. In the past few years, we first lost the battle when facing Carthage but won the war and finally became the master of Sicily! Is Theonia more powerful than Carthage?!¡± Damocles immediately followed up.

    ¡°There is no need to fear the Theonians! We just need to rally our soldiers'' morale and wait for the opportunity to fight back!¡± Phacipessas spoke loudly as well.

    After getting encouraged, the strategoi and officials'' faces became brighter, and even Phidias'' frustration disappeared. However, only the intelligence officer ¨C Androstini, wondered, ¡®If Dionysius was not afraid of Theonia, why would he secretly send an envoy?¡­¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After going around the city, Davos returned to the army and ordered them to build a camp 500 metres away from the city.

    Davos nned to take advantage of the enemy''s defeat and low morale to set up a camp near the city. Afterwards, they would quickly have their two wings advance for aplete siege.

    As soon as the heralds issued Davos'' order, half of the 50,000 troops began digging trenches and building earthen walls, while the other half were fully armed and alert of Syracuse''s sneak attack. On the other hand, Siprus led the more than 1,000 Terinian soldiers to the west as they eagerly wanted to take back their homnd ¨C Terina.

    Just as Davos urged the whole army to speed up the camp''s construction, Tolmides came to report that a Syracusan envoy asked to see him.

    ¡°Oh, it''s you again!¡± Davos smiled as he saw the envoy of Syracuse, ¡°Did Dionysius send you this time to surrender?¡±

    ¡°Lord Davos, Syracuse is the hegemon of Sicily. Besides our 70,000 soldiers and 500,000 poption, we also have more than a dozen city-states as allies that would ept our calling.¡± Damocles then proudly said, ¡°So even if we lost in the naval andnd battle, and lost a lot of ships and soldiers, this defeat means nothing. After all, we, Syracusans, could still organise another army no less than the current army that hade to Magna Graecia at any time! But can Theonia do the same?!¡±

    ¡°Since Syracuse is so powerful, why have youe here instead of weing your new army at Scylletium''s port?!¡± The clerk, Henipolis, spoke out with a sneer.

    Damocles ignored him and looked at Davos as he solemnly said, ¡°If the war between Syracuse and Theonia continues, the strength of our Greeks in the western Mediterranean would weaken no matter who wins or losses and would only benefit those people like the Carthaginians, Messapians, Samnites¡­those indigenous races who hate us Greeks. I think that neither Lord Dionysius nor Lord Davos wants to see such a situation happen. Hence Lord Dionysius sent me to ask Lord Davos a question on his behalf and proposed, ¡®Does Lord Davos agree to a truce?¡¯¡±

    ¡°What a ridiculous joke! Who was it that led their great army to invade Magna Graecia to burn, ughter and plunder, doing nothing but all kinds of evil?! Howe that tyrant of yours at that time did not consider that such fierce invasion and ughter would greatly weaken the Greeks on the Italian penins, benefiting the nearby natives?! But now that you have suffered defeats, you remembered to make peace to defend the interests of the Greeks?!!¡± Henipolis sneered, ¡°I just want to know if Dionysius knows the word ¡®shameless¡¯?!¡±

    Damocles evaded the question and instead said with a straight face, ¡°It wasn''t Syracuse who started the war first, but the South Italian Alliance! If you did not n to attack Locri, we wouldn''t ept our allies'' invitation toe to Magna Graecia-¡±

    Henipolisughed and angrily said, ¡°Now I know what-¡±

    At this time, Davos raised his hand to stop Henipolis from continuing, so Henipolis could only re at the Carthaginian envoy with hatred.

 Chapter 523: Davos Strategic Plan

    ¡°Since Dionysius wishes to have a truce, what conditions did he give?¡± Davos calmly asked as if Damocles didn''t say anything, which pressured him instead.

    Damocles leaned over and said, ¡°Lord Dionysius proposed that after the Syracusan army returns to Sicily, we would return all the upiednds and cities of Magna Graecia, as well as our captives. But the South Italian Alliance must pledge that they would not dere war on the Locrian Alliance¡­¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Henipolis couldn''t hold himself back after hearing this, so he shouted again, ¡°Do you take us for a fool?! You ughtered many Theonians, turned our territories outside Krimisa and Aprustum into ruins, provoked civil unrest in the Bruttii Region¡­ Yet you want to escape back to Sicily with just a peace negotiation now that you suffered a defeat, trapped in Scylletium, and we are about to settle this blood debt with you?!¡±

    This time, Damocles did not turn a deaf ear as he looked at Davos and said thoughtfully, ¡°You can also put forward your conditions.¡±

    Davos pondered for a moment and said, ¡°Come back tomorrow. I still need to consider this matter and have to discuss it with our allies.¡±

    After hearing this, Damocles looked at Davos''plicated expression and immediately rejoiced inwardly, ¡®It seems we have hope for a truce!¡¯

    After Damocles left, Henipolis could no longer hold himself back and asked, ¡°Your majesty, you¡­do you really want to make peace with the Syracusans?!¡±

    ¡°Do you think that''s possible?!¡± The calm Davos suddenly became serious.

    ¡°But you just¡­just-¡± Henipolis seemed to realise something.

    ¡°The Syracusan envoy just reminded me that even if we wipe out the enemy here, Syracuse could still put together anotherrge army to continue fighting us, so-¡± Davos gazed at the bustling camp before him and said in a determined tone, ¡°We can''t just focus our sight on Magna Graecia! There is a saying, ¡®If you don''t kill the wolf, the wolf would instead wound you.¡¯ Thus we must think of every possible way topletely kill this vicious wolf named Syracuse!¡±

    Henipolis became excited and said, ¡°Your majesty, will we attack Sicily?!¡±

    Davos nodded and, considering that this young man would be his confidant in the future, he revealed to him, ¡°Aristias'' men have long operated in Sicily, and with the victory of this battle, we just need to add another-¡±

    At this moment, Tolmides came and happily reported, ¡°Your majesty, Seclian sent a messenger and said that his fleet with 5,000 Rhegian soldiersnded on the coast of Hipponion and had now surrounded the city!¡±

    Davos wasn''t surprised as he had already heard Seclian''s n from Hielos. After stroking his chin and thinking, Davos ordered, ¡°Tolmides, go and call Hielos, Antonios and Hieronymus.¡±

    ¡°Roger.¡± Tolmides turned around and left.

    ¡°Heni, I''ll dictate, and you write a letter for me.¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡± Henipolis answered excitedly as this was the first time he had epted the task as a clerk. As Davos'' tent had not yet been built, Henipolis looked around and quickly found a board, cut a piece of papyrus,y on the grass and asked, ¡°To whom should I address the letter.¡±

    ¡°Lord Athelycus, Rhegium''s polemarchos.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Henipolis'' eyes twinkled as he knew that it was Davos'' father-inw.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Before long, several strategoi arrived.

    Davos didn''t exchange pleasantries with them as he bluntly said, ¡°Time is urgent! Rhegium''s army has nownded and surrounded the city of Hipponion, so Medma''s defenders would probably head north to rescue them. Thus I ask you to lead the troops under yourmand to Hipponion immediately, repel Locri''s reinforcements and capture the city of Hipponion. In addition, I will send you a siege brigade.¡±

    After saying that, Davos swept his gaze across the faces of the strategoi that he trusted one after another. In the end, itnded on Hielos: The capture of Laos, the rapid march to Terina, the decisiveness to head north and cut off the fleeing Syracusan army¡­these series of military actions taken by Hielos during this period of independent leadership has amazed Davos.

    So Davos said, ¡°Hielos will be themander of this joint army, so you must obey his orders!¡±

    When Ledes heard this, he had no objection. After all, the cavalry has always been a subsidiary of the infantry and rarely took independent military operations. Moreover, the cavalry would be useless during the siege on Scylletium, so he was already happy enough to be sent out to fight.

    Hieronymus only frowned and didn''t say anything. Back in Persia, he was a mercenary leader, while Hielos was just a small squad leader. Yet even though he has more qualifications, Hieronymus now needs to listen to Hielos''mands. Although Hieronymus had misgivings, he didn''t have a desire to fight for power and profit as long as the grand legatus still valued him. More importantly, Hielos'' performance in Magna Graecia for the past few years, both in military and political matters, is obvious to all.

    While Antonios felt ufortable, after all, Hielos used to be his subordinate, and he has now to listen to Hielos''mand. What''s more, he thought his ability was not inferior to Hielos, and he was leading the most powerful legion of Theonia ¨C the first legion. Once those proud soldiers heard it, they would certainly protest.

    Thinking of this, Antonios was about to speak when Hielos immediately said, ¡°Your majesty, I think Lord Antonios is much more suited to be themander of this military operation; not only is he experienced, but his first legion is also the main force of this operation! So if he is themander, all our brothers would willingly follow hismand!¡±

    Antonios nced at him, then turned to Davos.

    Davos smiled lightly due to Hielos'' speech bing more rhetorical just after several years of practice.

    After shaking his head lightly, Davos said, ¡°Antonios cannot be themander on this attack as the first legion has a more important mission!¡±

    Antonios could only listen with doubt in his mind, ¡®Is there anything more important than attacking Scylletium or Locri?!¡¯

    ¡°Legatus Hieronymus, Ledes, you two shall fully assist Hielos in repelling the Locrian and takedown Hipponion as soon as possible!¡± Davos clenched his fists and swung them downward, ¡°If you have a chance, push your way to Medma so that the Locrians have no ce on the west coast of Magna Graecia!¡±

    Hieronymus and Ledes immediately said they were willing to obey Hielos''mand.

    ¡°Those are just my suggestions. For the specific actions, there is no need to ask me, so you must flexibly think about it yourselves ording to the battlefield''s situation. I believe you would exceed my expectation.¡± After Davos motivated the three, he then said to Hielos, ¡°This trip to Hipponion involves the cooperation of the Rhegian army, so you must handle your rtionship with them.¡±

    ¡°I will, your majesty.¡± Hielos nodded cautiously.

    Davos then reassured him, ¡°There is no need for you to worry so much. I heard that Rhegium''smanding strategos ¨C Pheidon, who is brave and experienced, is easy to get along with and knows how to see the whole picture.¡±

    Then he looked at Antonios and said, ¡°After the first legion arrives at Hipponion, you shall assist Hielos in repelling the Locrian reinforcements. If it is easy to take the city of Hipponion, then the first legion will participate in the siege. Otherwise, the first legion should not stay in Hipponion for long. Instead, go to Hipponion''s coast, board Seclian''s fleet, and go to Rhegium.¡±

    ¡°The first legion would go to Rhegium?!¡± Antonios was surprised.

    ¡°Yes, to Rhegium.¡± Davos took a letter from Henipolis, handed it to Antonios, and earnestly instructed him, ¡°Hand this letter to Lord Athelycus of Rhegium. If he provides you with rations and other assistance as stated in the letter, then Sicily would be the first legion''s final destination. But if he refuses, then the first legion must return to Hipponion.¡±

    ¡°Sicily?!¡± the strategoi were all shocked at what Davos uttered.

    ¡°What? Scared?!¡± Davos teased Antonios.

    Antonios was dissatisfied with Davos selecting Hielos as themander of the expedition. Yet now that he learned he and his army would leave Magna Graecia for an independent expectation to Sicily, he started feeling the pressure. But Davos'' tease made him brace himself and say, ¡°The first legion¡­is willing to go to Sicily.¡±

    ¡°The first legion is the strongest among the Theonian legion. Many of its soldiers are old brothers who participated in the Persian expedition, so they have rich experience fighting in enemy territory. Hence if the first legion could not aplish this n, the other legions would certainly not be able to gain a foothold in Sicily!¡± Davos said to Antonios, full of expectation.

    Antonios responded with a smile.

    ¡°There is no need for you to be nervous. Although Syracuse controlled most of Sicily, it relied on its strong military power and tyranny to deter the otherwise independent Sicily city-states, forcing them into submission. Then Dionysius ced tyrants in those city-states to assist him in ruling and collecting high tributes to maintain his huge military expenses. Thus the Greeks in Sicily and even those in Syracuse have long been very dissatisfied with Dionysius!¡±

 Chapter 524: Caulonias Choice

    ¡°But now that we are holding Syracuse''s huge army in Magna Graecia, and once the news of their navy''s and army''s disastrous defeat reaches Sicily, it will certainly make those people have different thoughts! Theonia couldn''tpare to Syracuse, so even if wepletely wiped out their army in Scylletium, they would just need to rest for a few years to restore its strength and pose massive trouble for Theonia again. Therefore, for Theonia''s future, we should take advantage of this opportunity now that Syracuse is heavily damaged and destroy its hegemony in Sicily!¡±

    Davos'' words significantly moved the strategoi, and while they were pondering, Davos continued to say to Antonios, ¡°I have already sent my men to the eastern part of Sicily to contact those forces in the various city-states who oppose Syracuse, and I believe that the news of Syracuse''s army''s defeat in Magna Graecia will definitely make them act!

    So when you arrive in Sicily, the most important thing you do is not to wipe out how many enemies but to contact those dissatisfied with Syracuse, overthrow the tyrants of those city-states, and have them break away from the Sicilian Alliance under the leadership of Syracuse, and finally iste Syracuse!¡­¡±

    Davos'' words ted Antonios, who finally understood that Davos sent him as the expeditionmander to Sicily because he was the most friendly among the several legatus.

    When Henipolis unfolded the map of Sicily on the grass, everyone gathered around him.

    Davos then asked, ¡°Legatus Antonios, where do you think is the best ce for the first legion tond in Sicily?¡±

    Although this was a test for Antonios, the others are also staring at the map and thinking. But unlike Davos, who considered things moreprehensive and long-term, they were only familiar with Magna Graecia and were unaware of Sicily.

    Antonios squatted on the ground as he stared at the map, which was still unfamiliar to him, trying to remember every city, every river, and every mountain range marked on it. Then his gaze moved northward from Syracuse, Tauromenium, Leontinoi, Catania, Naxos, and finally stopping at the corner only one strait away from Rhegium¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At dusk, the city of Caulonia suddenly became lively with the return of the more than 2,000 soldiers who the Syracusans forced to follow them.

    The people then embraced their loved ones, looking for warmth and thanking the Theonians for their kindness; Those who had lost their loved ones wept and cursed the Syracusans for bringing them disaster; Those whose loved ones were trapped in Scylletium were worried and prayed to Apollo to keep them safe in the ensuing battle.

    At this time, in the council of Caulonia, its members argued over a letter brought back by the soldiers.

    Polemarchos Prinus finally could no longer endure and stood up as he loudly said, ¡°Citizens of Caulonia, we are now facing the survival or death of Caulonia. If you are still thinking of dying and not giving a clear answer to the South Italian Alliance, Caulonia will be in danger!¡±

    His statement reduced the quarrelling in the city hall. Then someone stood up and retorted with dissatisfaction, ¡°Lord Prinus, you are saying the opposite! With Theonia defeating Syracuse and besieging them in Scylletium, we are nowpletely safe and out of danger of being killed and plundered by the Syracusans!¡±

    ¡°Completely safe?!¡± Prinus sneered, looked at the others, and shouted, ¡°Is that what you all think?!¡±

    ¡°Of course not!¡± A man stood up, and Prinus recognised him as Eulipatos.

    ¡°I agree with you about Caulonia being in danger! Everyone, while listening to the letter from archon Davos of Theonia, did you notice what it said? ¡®¡­After repeated discussions with the strategoi of Crotone and Terina, we unanimously agreed that we would send back the more than two thousand Caulonian soldiers we captured in the battle with the Syracusans and in the battle to take Terina home¡­.¡¯

    You might have only seen Theonia''s kindness for safely returning our soldiers, but you didn''t understand the sentence ¡®repeated discussion¡¯ in the letter? What does this mean?¡± Eulipatos increased his tone and said, ¡°It shows that the Crotonians, Terinians, and even some Theonians are unhappy with us sending our troops to join the Syracusans! Participating in defending Terina, capturing Crotone, fighting the Theonians, all of these actions we took have made them upset!¡±

    ¡°But we were forced!¡± Someone in the crowd shouted, ¡°If we didn''t participate, Caulonia would suffer the same fate as Scylletium!¡±

    ¡°That''s right! As Caulonia''s ally for many years, they should have understood that we had no choice but to make this decision!¡± Then the people in the city hall shouted in agreement.

    ¡°They understand it; that''s why they released our citizens. It is also why we now have to respond to Theonia''s goodwill!¡± Eulipatos then solemnly said, ¡°Don''t forget what Davos said at the end of the letter, ¡®Having won the battle against Syracuse, the South Italian Alliance is now making every effort to fight back andpletely wipe out the Syracusans and their allies, the Locrian Alliance! Therefore, I hope that Caulonia will seriously consider returning to the South Italian Alliance, take up your shield and spears, and join us in resisting the invaders. Everyone in the South Italian Alliance is eagerly awaiting your answer!¡­¡¯

    Everyone, is this archon Davos of Theonia¡¯s request? No! That is his warning to Caulonia! It is the ultimatum given to us by the South Italian Alliance! If we don''t make a clear statement on this, the South Italian Alliance will regard Caulonia as an ally of Syracuse and Locri. Maybe in a few days, the South Italian Alliance will no longer send their messengers but their army!¡±

    The ce suddenly became quieter. However, some still objected, ¡°Eulipatos, it''s not that we don''t want to fight Syracuse. But don¡¯t forget that we still have a thousand soldiers in Scylletium! Once Dionysius learned about Caulonia''s betrayal, his cruel personality will make sure ourrades die miserably in his hands! Then who would dare bear this responsibility and face the wrath of the families of the deceased?!¡±

    ¡°That''s right! It''s not that we don''t want to go to war with the Syracusans who oppress us, but we need to be careful as it''s the lives of our citizens at stake! At leastpared to the vicious Syracusans, we have been allies with Crotone and Terina for decades while Theonia is known for their generosity and magnanimity, so they should forgive our hesitation!¡± The others in the city hall echoed.

    Prinus could no longer endure as he shouted again, ¡°Everyone, you think too well of our former allies! The people of Scylletium were ughtered! Terina was captured, and its people were disced! The city of Crotone was burnt down, and half of its people were killed and wounded! Even Theonia Union has lost no less than 10,000 people, and the ces outside Krimisa and Aprustum became ruins! Compared to them, even if we add the loss of these 1,000 soldiers, Caulonia''s loss is still rtively minor!¡±

    ¡°Lord Prinus, what do you mean by those words?! Don''t the lives of our 1,000 soldiers matter?!¡± Someone immediately asked.

    ¡°The South Italian Alliance will not think they matter! The only thing they think is that we have paid too little sacrifice. Although our soldiers were forced, don¡¯t forget that we have invaded their territories and attacked their cities. If we regard theirst kindness as their tolerance for us and don''t make a quick decision, the anger and jealousy they feel will grow like weeds and urge them to list Caulonia as an object they must destroy like Syracuse and Locri! By then, who else can Caulonia rely on?! Syracuse? We all know very well that if they won this war, Syracuse would only support Locri in annexing us! In this war that involved all the city-states of Magna Graecia, we could only either fight and survive or fight and perish! No city-state will be able to survive without fighting!! Everyone, I am willing to take on the responsibility of facing the people''s wrath and be the first to vote for Caulonia to rejoin the South Italian Alliance and dere war on Syracuse and Locri, so decide Caulonia¡¯s fate!!!¡±

    Silence shrouded the room as Prinus'' heavy speech moved everyone present and prompted them to weigh the gains and losses more deeply.

    ¡°I am willing to be the second to support Caulonia''s deration of war against Syracuse!¡± Eulipatos stood up.

    Then a third¡­

    In the end, the council passed the ¡°deration of war against Syracuse¡± by a narrow margin. Then in the emergency lesia, many citizens expressed strong opposition. Some had even rushed to the stage to beat Prinus, but the more than 2,000 citizens that Theonia returned had yed a significant role, allowing Caulonia to rejoin the South Italian Alliance.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the Locrian army repelled the Rhegian''s attack on Medma, Locri''s 15,000 soldiers stayed and guarded Medma.

    When Theophantes, the leading strategos, received the news of ¡°Syracuse''s victory in the north¡±, he eagerly wanted to lead his army into Theonia''s territory with the Syracusans and defeat the Theonian army to wash away his shame of being forced to retreat by the Theonians without fighting them in Crotone.

 Chapter 525: Great Victory in Hipponion

    Due to Dionysius'' concern about their rear, he strictly ordered the Locrians to guard against the Rhegians and made them stop another sneak attack on Medma. At the same time, the Locrian army had to help defend Terina from the Theonian army appearing on the Ophemia in through mpetia. Thus Locri''s main force was forcibly held in the city of Medma by Dionysius.

    Theophantes felt frustrated because of that, but when the news about Syracuse''s navy losing twice to Theonia, he had to be more vignt: Since Theonia, who had the advantage of the sea, could send their troops to the rear of the battlefield ¨C Scylletium, Hipponion, Terina, Caulonia, and even Locri. He knew that the city was almost devoid of soldiers as most of their soldiers were in Medma, with a small number following the Syracusan army.

    So Theophantes no longer wished to go to the frontline to fight and even began hoping that Syracuse''s strong army would defeat the Theonians and suppress them. He then also started paying attention to the nearby enemy.

    After learning that Seclian''s fleet had entered Taurania, Theophantes became even more nervous. But since the Theonian ships blocked the port of Medma, he could only send scouts to see the enemy movements on the other side of the river.

    This morning, Theophantes received a report from his scouts about a change of movements in the port of Taurania, resulting in him feeling something foreboding.

    Sure enough, a messenger from Hipponion came from the north and anxiously told him that the Rhegian army was about to attack Hipponion, so they hoped Locri''s army could rush to their rescue!

    Theophantes was already prepared, so as soon as they found out the whereabouts of the Rhegian army and the Theonian fleet, he became relieved and immediately led 10,000 soldiers to the north while leaving 5,000 soldiers to defend Medma.

    By noon, Theophantes and his army entered Hipponion''s territory.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Pheidon did not panic even after learning about the Locrian army''s arrival. Afternding on the coast of Hipponion, he sent cavalry to inform the Theonian army that hadnded on the Ophemia in yesterday afternoon due to their prior agreement. However, he didn''t expect to meet the Terinians, who were entering the empty city of Terina. He then learned from them that the Theonian army had defeated the Syracusan army in the battle and reached the city of Scylletium.

    The Rhegian scout immediately rushed to Scylletium to contact the Theonian army, which was when Davos sent Hielos, Antonios, Hieronymus, and Ledes to lead the army to support them.

    After Pheidon got the wonderful news brought back by the scout, he was overjoyed in addition to being surprised. That''s why he was not rmed by the imminent arrival of the enemy reinforcement. On the contrary, he was secretly delighted.

    While sending a scout to inform the Theonian reinforcements on the way, he took up a position just outside the city of Hipponion.

    An hourter, the Locrian army rushed outside the city of Hipponion.

    After seeing the Rhagian army¡¯s readiness to fight, Theophantes was not afraid as he had more soldiers. After arranging the formation, Theophantes immediately attacked.

    Pheidon considered baiting the enemy, but the Rhegian army would have difficulty executing such tactics with only a few military training a year. So he simply chose to fight desperately with their sword and spear.

    The Rhegians, whose number was only half of the enemy, were naturally not their opponents. After fighting for a while, they were finally defeated because the enemy attacked their two nks, which resulted in the soldiers throwing their helmets and armours and fleeing north.

    Naturally, Theophantes had no intention of letting go of these fleeing Rhegians. In fact, he was annoyed by the Rhegian army led by Pheidon during this period because the weak Rhegian soldiers were actually quite obstinate under Pheidon''s leadership. Even after suffering tragic defeat by the Locrians while they were sieging Medma and were forced the return to Taurania, the Rhegian still crossed the river from time to time to harass him.

    Now that the Rhegians were trapped in thend between Hipponion and Aro River and had no ce to escape, it was a rare opportunity for Theophantes to wipe out this annoying pest and obtain brilliant achievements and win a reputation for himself.

    Thus Theophantes led the soldiers to pursue them to stop the Rhegians from running to the ships and escaping Hipponion.

    Theophantes'' idea was beautiful. However, the information he and Pheidon knew was not equal.

    The Syracusan strategos stationed in Terina didn''t send someone to inform Hipponion about Syracuse''s disastrous defeat that night, as he intended to send one the next day. But after their troops split up, the strategos simply did not send a messenger because he thought that the soldiers returning to Hipponion would report the situation to their city-state.

    Unexpectedly, the returning Hipponian army encountered the disembarking Rhegian army in the north of Hipponion just after crossing the Aro River and was soon defeated. Afterwards, Pheidon sent a small number of soldiers to chase the fleeing Hipponians, while the majority quickly moved south and surrounded the city of Hipponion. Unfortunately for the Locrians, the Hipponians had already sent a messenger to Medma asking for help after learning of the Rhegian''snding, so Theophantes, by mistake, didn''t know about the important news of Theonia defeating the Syracusan army. Otherwise, he would have intensified his attack in order to remove the Rhegians before the Theonians could head south, or he would have never believed that the Theonians, who had only finished their battlest night, would be able to reach Hipponion in such a short time due to his battlefield experience.

    But that''s how a ¡°miracle¡± happened. After receiving Davos'' order, Theonia''s reinforcements soon set out, but halfway through their journey, they encountered the messenger sent by Pheidon. After a short discussion, Hielos, Antonios, Hieronymus, and Ledes made a n: They would first send scouts to Terina and inform Siprus while they urged their troops to speed up their march.

    After marching since morning, the Theonian soldiers were now somewhat tired. However, with the veterans of the first legion setting an example by taking the lead in seriously implementing the military orders and hearing that a victory awaited them once they reached Hipponion, the nearly 10,000 Bruttian recruits immediately took big strides forward.

    By the time the Theonian reinforcements crossed the tributary of Aro River and entered Hipponion''s territory from the east, the Locrians were already in hot pursuit of the Rhegians, forcing them into the narrow area between the coast and Aro.

    Although the Theonian fleet was anchored here, the panic-stricken Rhegians had no time to get on board. However, when Siprus saw that the Rhegians were about to be driven down to the sea by the enemy, the thousand Terinian soldiers he led hurriedlyunched an attack after crossing the Aro River.

    The arrival of the Terinians caught the Locrians off guard as they thought it was the Syracusan defenders inside the city of Terina on the other side of the river.

    Although the Terinians numbered fewer, the Locrians had long since scattered due to their pursuit: The soldiers could not find their officers while their officers could not control them. Since they were not in formation and disorganised, the Terinians'' attacked easily pierced them, but just as Theophantes hurriedly gathered the scattered soldiers to deal with this new threat, a deafening ¡°Hades¡± shout rang out from their rear.

    The Bruttian army led by Hielos, the Lucanian army led by Hieronymus, the first legion led by Antonios, and the cavalry legion led by Ledes, with a total of more than 15,000 people, marched towards the nk and rear of the Locrians with rumbling footsteps.

    After seeing such terrifying sight, the scattered Locrian''s morale dropped to extremely low that they fled before even engaging the enemy in battle, leaving Hielos with the task of chasing them. After all, the Theonian army was the most experienced in chasing fleeing soldiers.

    With the Aro River to the north, the sea to the west, Terina to the northeast, the Theonian army to the southeast, and the sailors of Seclian''s fleet also disembarking and participating in the pursuit from the southwest, and the additional 1,000 cavalries, had resulted in the Locrians to be almost surrounded¡­ In the end, they captured more than 9,000 people, with only less than a thousand managing to escape Theonia''s pursuit, which excluded Theophantes. Although he had already thrown away his helmet, the dazzling armour that he specially made to show his uniqueness to ordinary citizens made him the target of the Theonian cavalries'' pursuit.

    After the battle, Hielos and Antonios went to meet Pheidon, who was busy cleaning up the wounds of the wounded Rhegian soldiers.

    Hielos and Antonios looked at each other, then Antonios stepped forward and called out to him with respect, ¡°Strategos Pheidon!¡±

    Only then did Pheidon raise his head from his busy work and see soldiers wearing a helmet with purple and red plumes. He quickly wiped out the bloodstain on his hand with his armour, told the soldiers next to him to continue with the work, and promptly stood up and praised loudly, ¡°Strategoi of Theonia, your arrival is timely! You had evenpletely defeated the main force of the Locrians in this battle!¡±

    ¡°You are wrong, strategos Pheidon.¡± Antonios'' words surprised Pheidon, and immediately afterwards, he heard him say, ¡°This is a victory obtained by the joint efforts of Theonia, Rhegium, and Terina! It is a glorious victory that belongs to our South Italian Alliance!¡±

    Pheidon smiled and said, ¡°You are absolutely right!¡± His mood became pleasant as this victory suddenly lightened Taurania''s pressure.

 Chapter 526: Hidden Warfare

    Antonios looked at the wounded soldiers behind him and added with concern, ¡°Our medical brigade will arrive soon, so please permit them to treat your wounded soldiers.¡±

    ¡°That''s wonderful! I have long heard of Theonia''s medical skills being the best in the whole of Magna Graecia!¡± Pheidon became even happier.

    As the two sides greeted and introduced themselves, the atmosphere became harmonious.

    At this moment, the navarch ¨C Seclian, also arrived. If it were before the war when the Theonian navy was first established and did not achieve any decent results, these strategoi would not really care about him even though Davos greatly valued him. But after winning the two naval battles and making the attack on Hipponion possible, now Seclian received the respect of every strategoi and talked to him as an equal.

    While describing yesterday¡¯s thrilling battle, Pheidon and Seclian yearned and wished they were there.

    ¡°Navarch Seclian.¡± At this moment, Antonios pulled out a papyrus and said with seriousness, ¡°This is his majesty''s order to you.¡±

    Seclian immediately opened it and was surprised after reading it, ¡°His majesty wants me to follow yourmand and transport the first legion to Sicily?!¡±

    Antonios nodded solemnly.

    When Pheidon heard this, he immediately asked, ¡°Are you going to attack Sicily?!¡±

    Antonios nodded again and said, ¡°We know nothing about Sicily, so we need your help, strategos Pheidon.¡± This is the reason why he took out the papyrus on this asion.

    But instead of refusing, Pheidon enthusiastically said, ¡°Lord Davos made the right decision! We Rhegians, because of our proximity to Sicily, know very well how powerful Dionysius is in Sicily. And it is indeed true that destroying his army that invaded Magna Graecia is not enough; only by weakening his power in Sicily can we eradicate his threat to Magna Graecia! I am more than willing to share my rtively deep knowledge of the Greek city-states in eastern Sicily with you.¡±

    After thanking him, Antonios eagerly discussed the matter with Pheidon and Seclian.

    Hielos and Hieronymus, on the other hand, were not idle. As it was already gettingte, they regrouped their men and escorted the prisoners to Terina to rest at Siprus¡¯ invitation of Siprus. Then the following morning, they would attack the city of Hipponion.

    Now that the Theonians knew that they struck Locri hard, the empty Hipponion could no longer resist their attack.

    Therefore, Hielos sent messengers to report the battle situation to Davos and asked him what to do to Hipponion.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After Damocles returned, Dionysius became slightly relieved because when studying Davos, he learned that Davos wasn''t someone who spared no one and often left his opponent a chance to live. So Dionysius despised this kind of female kindness. Yet now, he hopes that Davos will continue to do so.

    ¡°Davos is still young!¡± With this satisfactory result, Dionysius could not help but sneer as this kind of verbal pleasure could temporarily relieve him of his fear of the young man that had begun growing in his heart, ¡®To be able to reverse the whole situation of being surrounded by enemies, this new king of Theonia has a terrifyingmanding ability! Still, as long as he is willing to make a truce¡­¡¯

    Dionysius has even begun imagining the Theonian''s harsh condition in the peace negotiation tomorrow. Still, Dionysius decided to ept Theonia''s conditions as long as it is not too severe. After all, Syracuse would not suffer much loss of power if he could return to Sicily with his tens of thousands of soldiers, and Theonia were to release all the captured soldiers just like what they did to Crotone. It would also secure his tyrant status from significant threat and maintain his hegemony of Sicily! As for the peace agreement that he would sign with Theonia?¡­once he restored Syracuse''s strength, it would just be a scrap of paper! Dionysius had no intention of abiding by it as he would not be like Davos, who would foolishly keep any promises to have a good reputation!

    Still¡­he needs to think of ways to deal with Davos from other aspects¡­as Dionysius pondered, his long, narrow eyes gleamed with frightening, murderous light.

    Suddenly, an attendant came in and reported, ¡°Milord, the ships and sailors are all ready and are just waiting for your order.¡±

    ¡°Let them wait until night and only depart after making sure there are no enemy ships outside the port.¡± Dionysius then seriously said, ¡°Tell them that we entrust the lives of the citizens of Syracuse to them, and I hope that they will return home sessfully under Apollo''s blessing, despite all difficulties and dangers!¡±

    The Theonian fleet blocked Scylletium''s port after the Syracusans'' retreat, but they could notpletely block the port for 24 hours a day. Especially at night as the sailors needed to go ashore to eat and rest while the ships needed to dock on Crotone''s port for maintenance, drying and removing maggots. Otherwise, they could not guarantee the hull''s toughness. And even if they sent toon ships to blockade in turn, they dare not scatter too much for fear of losses. After all, Syracuse still has more than 30 ships in Scylletium''s port.

    Thus they think that the defence outside Scylletium''s port is rtivelyxte at night, allowing the ships sent by Dionysius to depart smoothly. However, sailing in the dark is much greater; just encountering storms, reefs, deviation from the course, and even the fleet heading south might cause these ships to be swept into a watery grave.

    But Dionysius could only trust that one of these penteconters that he sent, manned by the most experienced helmsmen and sailors in his navy, would eventually return to the great port of Syracuse, allowing Philistus to know the Syracusan army¡¯s difficulties in Magna Graecia.

    Although Syracuse''s treasury was now exhausted, most of the young and middle-aged citizens were in Magna Graecia, and it was impossible to build a new ship in such a short time; Dionysius still believed in Philistus'' ability. He believes that Philistus could build an army of no less than 20,000 men, gather ships no less than one hundred triremes and prepare rations for 50,000 men that wouldst for two months¡­ Of course, this is Dionysius'' preparation in case the peace negotiation fails. As for how to implement all of these, Dionysius could only pray to Apollo¡­

    Watching his attendant leave, Dionysius also couldn''t sit still and decided to go to the cksmith shop in the city.

    Another reason for the peace negotiation was to buy time: The Syracusan army''s most pressing problem wasn''t the food(due to the massive reduction of troops in the battle, Scylletium''s food reserve was enough tost them for more than a month), but weapons and equipment¡­

    Because after their defeat, the soldiers threw away their helmets, round shields, armours, spears and swords along the way to flee faster. Naturally, the enemy also threw their equipment to catch up with them, but the Theonians could just pick those up while cleaning the battlefield as the winner. On the other hand, the Syracusan soldiers could only flee into Scylletium with empty hands. Fortunately, they had collected thousands of weapons and equipment when they looted the city of Scylletium. However, that was still not enough, so he had to let the cksmiths, who came with them and were responsible for repairing their weapons and equipment, step up their pace by using the cksmith shop in the city to start making weapons and armours again. In addition, Dionysius even ordered his men to search for iron ore and scrap iron throughout the city.

    Currently, he was about to inspect how this important work is progressing.

    But halfway through, he suddenly remembered something, so he stopped and turned to the other direction ¨C Phidias'' residence. Phidias was no longer useful as a military advisor as the war progressed, but he could still y his unique role in the peace negotiation as a Spartan.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Early the following morning, Phidias and the Syracusan envoy ¨C Damocles, came to the camp that the Theonians were building.

    But this time, Davos did note out to receive him personally. Instead, he sent his clerk, Henipolis, to be in charge of the negotiation.

    And as soon as Henipolis dismounted, he told Damocles the following, ¡°Yesterday, his majesty Davos discussed with the strategoi and concluded that because of your supreme militarymander ¨C Dionysius'' bad reputation, you need to do something to show your sincerity before we could begin our peace negotiation.¡±

    Damocles then immediately protested, ¡°Theonian, this is a humiliation to our leader, Dionysius!¡±

    ¡°So what?!¡± Henipolis raised his head and said in an unusually arrogant manner, ¡°Can Dionysius send more troops to threaten us, Theonians?! Oh, I forgot. He already tried, but he unfortunately failed! Now it is you who are asking for a truce!¡±

    Damocles couldn''t retort for a while. After a moment of silence, he said in a suppressed tone, ¡°What do you want us to do?¡±

    Henipolis sneered inwardly and said with hatred, ¡°The Numidians and Celts you hired had plundered and wantonly ughtered our people outside the cities of Aprustum and Krimisa, not even sparing the elderly and the children. So we, Theonians, hope to drink their blood and eat their flesh! And since you want a truce, please cut off the heads of these ¡®beasts¡¯ who owe countless blood debts to the Magna Graecians and send them to us before we talk! I think they shouldn''t have many people left after the battle the day before yesterday.¡±

 Chapter 527: Researching Colossal Siege Tower

    Damocles paled when he heard that and protested loudly, saying, ¡°Ares is the witness of the ongoing war between Syracuse and Theonia, and any tragedy in the war is normal. Even after the Athenian navy ravaged the coasts of Sparta''s territory, the Spartans did not ughter the Athenians after they won. Even we, Syracusans, did not wipe out all the Carthaginians in Sicily after defeating Carthage, even after their repeated ughtering of the Sicilian city-states. Thus Theonia shouldn''t make such harsh demands, which is not ording to the Greeks¡¯ tradition!! ¡±

    ¡°So is it an ancient Greek tradition to allow the Syracusans to hire foreigners to ughter defenceless Greek women, elderly, and children?!¡± Henipolis bared his fang and red at him. Then he shouted, ¡°Since you say this is a war, we Theonians are willing to continue fighting until we conquer Scylletium and cut off the heads of these foreigners whose hands are soaked with Theonian blood! Otherwise, we can only watch these murderers strut away once the peace treaty is signed, and his majesty Davos would not ept that! The brave soldiers of the legions would not ept that!! The entire Theonian poption would not ept that!!!¡±

    ¡®¡­once the peace treaty is signed, we can only watch them leave¡­¡¯ These words struck Damocles, but he could only pretend to be helpless, ¡°Your condition is too harsh! Can''t you change them slightly, like just the heads of some of them or just the lives of their leaders?¡±

    ¡°No! This is our most basic condition!!¡± Henipolis replied unyieldingly.

    Damocles had no choice but to say, ¡°Uh, I can''t decide this matter. I must go back to lord Dionysius and let him decide.¡±

    With that, he looked at Phidias next to him. Then with the permission of Henipolis, he was blindfolded and sent out of the camp.

    Phidias, however, did not leave and asked to meet Davos as Sparta''s envoy.

    Hence Henipolis could not refuse, so he could only ask him to wait here and inform King Davos himself.

    Phidias had to wait for some time, but it wasn''t because Davos was deliberately making it hard for him. Davos was really not near his tent as he went to the engineering camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Theonian army harvested a lot of supplies when they captured the Syracusan camp, which also included some siege equipment.

    It was needless to say that Theonia copied the ballista from Syracuse. However, theyter made further improvements and made Theonia''s ballista more refined and urate by applying the parabolic theory.

    The gastraphete was another Syracusan invention, and its principle was simr to that of a ballista, so the engineers could roughly replicate it after looking at its structure. After all, the most challenging part of a gastraphete was the pulley, which happened to be what the Theonian engineering brigade was best at.

    Others like the battering ram, siege wagons¡­and so on could easily be copied. However, Davos still looked at them carefully as he needed to understand the siege methods and ideas of the Syracusans from these various siege engines. After all, it really shocked Davos when Syracuse captured the enormous city of Crotone. Compared with Syracuse, who attacked numerous cities in Sicily, the Theonian army, even though they were great in the field, was still inexperienced in siege battles, including Davos himself. So the quickest way to improve was to learn from the enemy.

    Of course, the most eye-catching andplex to make among these siege engines is the siege tower. Theonia can also make siege towers, but their siege tower is simply small whenpared to the one Syracuse made. Although the siege tower in front of them had only its base and the first floor constructed, its scale alone is already quite impressive: It is 20 metres long, six-seven metres wide, and it''s more like a wall than a tower.

    Davos went around it several times and looked at one of the best engineers in the engineering camp, Oropos, and asked, ¡°Can you replicate it?¡±

    The Theonian legion''s engineering brigade¡¯s structure is unique. Its officers don''t need to understand engineering construction as long as they can manage to lead soldiers and have some battlefield experience because their duty is to serve the engineers, ensure their safety, and provide them with the various materials they need. Moreover, when the legion issued construction orders, they were responsible for coordinating with the other troops and recruiting soldiers to serve asbourers. Thus the officers of the engineering brigade would mostly be veterans who were somewhat disabled after being wounded on the battlefield.

    The engineers are the most valuable thing in the engineering camp. If the system was rtively rough when Davos just established the engineering camp, it now has formed a fixed engineer assessment system: Besides requiring the engineers to be able to read, draw and have a solid hands-on production ability, they also need to have deep knowledge of mathematical theory to be able to pass the exam to be a legion engineer. In addition to farming their ownnd, these engineers have also be a sought-aftermodity for the citizens of Theonia to hire to build houses, workshops, making furniture, equipment, and so on¡­though the pay is not cheap. Moreover, they would also be invited to participate in the construction ofrge-scale public works in various cities, but their sry is small. However, their names would be engraved on thepleted stone tablets, which is a great honour.

    Besides the engineers, there were also the skilled artisans, carpenters and cksmiths in the engineering camp, who were the engineers'' assistants in making various equipment needed for warfare. In addition, there were also some ves, mainly to serve the engineers.

    With the legion''s requirements for the engineers getting stringent, and after the standardisation of the engineering examination and because of its higher requirements for knowledge and practical skill, more than half of the engineers of each legion came from the Theonia''s Akademia. Except for Oropos, who was a former mercenary in the Persian expedition and was recruited by Davos after establishing the engineering brigade due to his knowledge of carpentry. However, even though he eventually became a skilled carpenter after studying hard, he still took the initiative to participate in the adult ss of the Theonian Akademia and soon removed the hat of illiteracy. Afterwards, because of Davos'' agreement with Metoticles, the legion''s artisans entered the Institute of Mathematics and became resident schrs, while Oropos took the opportunity to learn advanced mathematical knowledge and eventually got Marticoris'' appreciation and became his disciple, and passed the examination to be an engineer. Thus Oropos became a talent through studying hard and was deeply respected by the Theonian craftsmen and encouraged them to learn from him.

    ¡°Your majesty, it is possible to replicate it, but it will take some time.¡± Oropos said cautiously. He then squatted andboriously picked up arge wooden wheel, ¡°The greatest difficulty in making this siege tower is in these wooden wheels and axles. These wooden wheels and axles had to support such a massive and heavy siege tower, so the requirements to make them would be high. Like how big is the axle''s diameter? How thick and wide should the wooden wheels be? How many groups of axles and wheels were needed to ensure that we could push the siege tower smoothly?¡­ These are all the things needed we needed to test repeatedly.

    And as you can see, your majesty, the size and width of so many wheels are basically the same, but it is difficult to make without numerous highly skilled carpenters. Otherwise, the siege tower may tilt and copse due to imbnce if these wheels are even slightly different in size! Yet with the engineering camp''s current ability, it is still difficult to do it.¡±

    Oropos said with slight regret. He then stood up, looked at the siege tower in front of him with fascination, opened his arms, gestured with his hands and continued, ¡°Your majesty, the tower walls on both sides of the siege tower are not upright but inclined inward. Although we can''t see the overall picture, I am sure it must be a trapezoid to enhance the base''s stability. However, what''s the most appropriate inclination of the tower wall''s angle? How high is the horizontal te built to ensure that the force on the tower wall is evenly spread and stable?¡­¡±

    Davos was not too concerned with these technical details that Oropos said as he understood Oropos'' meaning, ¡°In short, you need to repeatedly calcte and experiment in order to make a functioning siege tower.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we need time, your majesty.¡± Oropos answered truthfully. He then looked at the others behind him and added, ¡°We have a bit fewer people, and it is the first time for us to make such a massive siege tower¡­¡±

    Although the legion''s engineering brigade has no less than 500 people, Davos understood the implied meaning of Oropos: There were not enough excellent engineers and artisans.

    Remembering that the Syracusans had built three massive siege towers in just a few days, Davos became jealous of the thousands of engineering teams in Scylletium, which was the wealth Davos yearned for.

    ¡°I''ll give you time to research it, so try to make this siege tower. However, you don''t need to worry too much. Study its technology thoroughly and finally master itpletely!¡± Davos encouraged them.

    ¡°Thank you, your majesty!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Sitting inside the tent was Phidias, with four guards watching over him. Although he could not walk around and could only use his eyes to survey the tent, he still managed to find something: Davos'' tent''syout was very simr to Dionysius'', except it wasn''t as spacious, and it was rather simple. Besides several armours, weapons, and a bed covered with straw mattress and fur, the most noticeable thing is undoubtedly the scrolls of papyrus, cloth, and silk piled up on the top of the table, which made him understand that this archon is still dealing with the many matters of the union even while marching to war¡­

    ¡®These two tyrants of the western Mediterranean!¡¯ An inexplicably feeling rose in Phidias'' heart.

 Chapter 528: Might

    Just when Phidias became impatient, Davos returned with Henipolis. Before Phidias could speak, Davos spoke as soon as he saw him in the tent, ¡°I remember you, Phidias of Sparta! You hade to Thurii''s Senate as Sparta''s envoy ten years ago to falsely used me of hiding the mercenary soldiers of the Persian expedition and threatened that ¡®Sparta would teach Theonia a hard lesson¡¯. I still remember what you said to this day.¡±

    Phidias was surprised as he didn''t except Davos would mention the events of that year to him as soon as he entered. If he still had his previous temperament, Phidias would angrily say, ¡®Yes, I did say those! The fact that there was a war with Crotone afterwards proves that Theonia was hiding those mercenaries!!¡¯

    But times had changed, and Sparta''s current predicament had forced him to choose his words with caution. Phidias wasn''t someone ignorant of politics, but the might of Sparta before made him not required to overthink. Now Theonia''s position in the western Mediterranean and Davos¡¯ might he showed in the war made Phidias feel a slight fear. So the always unyielding Spartan actually said, ¡°¡­that¡­that was just a misunderstanding¡­¡±

    ¡°Misunderstanding?! No! I don''t think so!!¡± Davos stared him that it seemed to pierce his heart, ¡°It''s because of your grudge against Theonia that you epted Sparta''s order to serve as a military advisor in Syracuse, followed Dionysius in his invasion of Magna Graecia,manded Syracuse''s right-wing in the Battle of Aro River, defeat the Crotonians, andmanded the right-wing again in the Battle of Crotone in order to try to defeat my Theonian army¡­ Phidias of Sparta, the blood of Magna Graecians soaked your hands!¡±

    Phidias was inwardly shocked when he heard that, as he didn''t expect that Davos would know his actions in Magna Graecia during this time. However, he responded to Davos'' usation without reluctance, ¡°I think you must have misunderstood. Dionysius was afraid of your Theonian army, so he hoped Sparta could send him an officer to help him while Sparta couldn''t refuse as their ally. Thus the Gerousia sent me to help Dionysius as I had been to Sicily several times, and I am familiar with Dionysius¡­ I am just doing my duty!¡±

    ¡°Your duty?! Is it to help Syracuse ughter the people of Magna Graecia?! Is this the attitude of Sparta towards our Magna Graecia?!!¡± Davos sneered with a bit of anger, ¡°In that case, don''t me our warriors'' shield and spear for not having eyes!¡±

    ¡°To die on the battlefield is the greatest honour of every Spartan!¡± Phidias wasn''t afraid of Davos'' threat. However, with Theonia having turned the tide of battle, he had to consider Theonia''s perception of Sparta. Thus he defended Sparta by saying, ¡°Lord Davos, you should know that when Sparta allied with Syracuse, it did not think that Syracuse would one day dere war on Magna Graecia. And because of our alliance, Sparta had to provide help even though Sparta truly wanted peace between Sicily and Magna Graecia! Thus I hade here on behalf of Sparta this time in hopes that you can seriously consider Dionysius'' proposal and end this war that had caused countless casualties!¡±

    ¡°I am touched that the Spartans, who live by fighting and killing, cared so much about the life and death of the Magna Graecians.¡± Davos sneered.

    Davos noticed the threat hidden in the Spartan''s words, so he firmly said, ¡°You Spartans had already sent an envoy a few days ago, Cheirisophus, to Thurii to get Theonia to surrender to Syracuse. But I made it clear to him that ¡®Theonia will never negotiate under the enemy''s pressure and that we Theonians will fight to the death as long as there is an enemy on ournd!¡¯ At that time, the Battle of Crotone had not yet happened. Now that we, Theonians, are dominant in this war, I can assure you that a truce is possible. However, the Syracusans must pay for the crime of invading Magna Graecia! We won¡¯t allow Dionysius to escape back to Sicily easily without paying any price!¡±

    Davos'' ring gaze made Phidias feel his upromising will, but he felt no frustration as this was just to verify his thoughts. His primary purpose ining to Theonia''s camp wasn''t to promote a truce between the two sides, but to¡­

    ¡°I think Dionysius is prepared for this,¡± Phidias replied faintly. He then changed the topic, ¡°Lord Davos¡­what do you think of the war taking ce in Corinth now?¡±

    Davos was dumfounded but immediately understood the Spartan''s intent, ¡°You mean the war between Sparta and Corinth, Thebes, Argos and Athens¡­?¡± Davos sneered and said, ¡°It''s just a meaningless war that has nothing to do with Theonia, so there is no need to know about it.¡±

    ¡°Theonia has signed a friendly agreement with Athens, and you often trade with Corinth.¡± Phidias stared at Davos as he bluntly pointed it out.

    ¡°A friendly agreement is not a military alliance agreement. As long as any city-state is willing to have friendly trade with Theonia, we are willing to sign such an agreement, even Sparta.¡± Davos then continued, ¡°Greece doesn''t have fertilend nor rich minerals, so there is nothing worth it for the Theonians to go far from their warm homnd to participate in a war that has nothing to do with us. Besides, the Theonians roots are in Magna Graecia! And we still have a lot of problems within our alliance that need time and energy to solve and deal with. Thus as long as they don''t provoke us, we Theonians have no intention of participating in your messy war!¡±

    Phidias looked at Davos'' face without blinking as he felt that Davos had said those words from the bottom of his heart, so he said, ¡°Would you like to sign a friendly agreement with Sparta?¡±

    ¡°Sparta is now Theonia''s enemy and Syracuse''s ally!¡± Davos said coldly.

    Phidias no longer spoke.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Watching the guards ¡®escorting¡¯ Phidias out of the tent, Henipolis couldn''t help but say, ¡°Your majesty, does this Spartan want Sparta to ally with us?!¡±

    Davos touched his chin and said, ¡°¡­Theonia''s strength had exceeded the Spartan''s expectations, so he is afraid that Theonia would join in the war in Corinth, which would be bad for Sparta.¡±

    ¡°So will we do that?!¡± Henipolis excitedly asked as he was happy to give the Spartan a headache.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Davos said with vagueness.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the early morning mist filled the Sybarite in, the earl spring drizzle fell.

    The victory at the Battle of the Gulf of Taranto gave the people of Theonia hope that they would win this war. Furthermore, Davos leading the army himself to battle boosted their confidence and made this fertilend finallye alive.

    After several months of blockage, the port finally reopened, and with the arrival of foreign merchant ships, the port workers had finally something to do. Most of the first transport ships to enter the docks were filled with grains and other foodstuffs. Naturally, the clever merchants knew what the Theonians needed most at this time.

    The elderly fishermen of Thurii (the young men had gone to work as sailors in the fleet) set sail early to catch fish to meet the people¡¯s immediate needs and earn a good profit for their families.

    At the urging of the vige chiefs and agricultural officials, the people in various viges began renting fast-maturing crops to avoid missing this year''s harvest.

    Although most of the young and strong citizens and freemen were conscripted due to the war, resulting in ack ofbour, the numerous prisoners filled this gap. From time to time, whether it was in the marsh in of Krimisa, the Sybarite in of Thurii or the mountains of Amendra, half-starving naked prisoners could be seen. Under the intimidation of the guards'' leather whips and spears, the naked prisoners could onlyboriously plough thend. The Theonians showed nopassion and no desire to make the prisoners rest even when they shivered due to the cold rain, which could have made them ill. ¡®Since they invaded Theonia, they have to pay a heavy price¡¯ was themon view of many Theonians.

    It wasn¡¯t only the Thurians and Amendrans that had filled the roads leading to the port of Thurii, but also Besidisians and Roscianums who hurried to the port market with their wagons and carts in order to buy food.

    At this moment, a cavalry came galloping. But before the rider in an eye-catching bright red armour could shout, ¡°Make way!¡± the pedestrians already consciously retreated to the roadside because they knew that those dressed like that would only be messengers from the battlefield, carrying important military information. Thus no one was allowed to stop them, or they would be breaking thew.

    The horse blew white air as its hooves dashed, causing the water on the road to ssh and wet the clothes of the pedestrians. Still, the pedestrians did notin. Rather, they couldn''t help but ask, ¡°Have we defeated the Syracusans?!¡±

    The worried pedestrians asked casually without expecting the messenger would tell them anything. Yet, the messenger raised his right hand and shouted excitedly, ¡°Victory! We are victorious! His majesty Davos led the army to defeat the Syracusans in Crotone!¡­¡±

 Chapter 529: News of Victory

    Soon enough, cheers erupted from the roadside, spreading across the Sybarite in.

    The people''s final worry had finally disappeared as they began singing and dancing to celebrate this hard-won victory. Some devout believers had even cancelled their n to go to the port and headed to the Temple of Hades in Thurii to thank Hades for his blessing¡­

    Once the Senate received the news, they also became jubnt.

    ¡°It seems that we made the correct decision! After Lord Davos became king, Hades answered our prayers and blessed Theonia with a quick and continuous victory!¡± Eximed Plesinas aloud while pretending to be excited.

    ¡°Yes. It is all thanks to our daringness to make such an amazing decision that we have today''s victory!¡± Marigi responded ordingly.

    At this moment, most of the statesmen no longer felt angry after getting forced to elect Davos as their king. Rather, they were now more thankful, so they agreed with Plesinas and Marigi''s words.

    Kunogta no longer felt revolted by the two''s usual acting. After taking back his gaze from them, he then shouted, ¡°ording to the messenger''s war report, his majesty Davos has led the army to trap the Syracusans in Scylletium, and the final victory is no longer far away from us! However, our biggest problem is food!¡±

    ¡°Lord Kunogta is right. Although our current reserves are enough to supply our troops for two months, the food reserves for the people of Theonia, especially the families of the freemen and preparatory citizens, had bottomed out. Now that the port is open, the merchants whoe to trade with us raise the food prices, making the people who have already selflessly donated their money and food to Theonia pay even more! I fear that before the war could end, the people of Theonia would have already exhausted all their savings, which is not beneficial to our post-war recovery!¡± Cornelius said worryingly.

    ¡°Those merchants are sickening!¡± Stromboli said angrily, ¡°They already tripled the food''s price, but it is still rising¡­Marigi, as themercial officer, you should think of a way to deal with those damnable merchants!¡±

    Marigi smiled bitterly, ¡°We have already taken some measures and even specifically negotiated with those merchants selling food in Thurii, so just keeping the price within three times is already the best we could do. But with Theonia''s food shortage and the increasing number of people buying food daily, it is inevitable for the price to increase, and we can''t force the merchants to sell them at a fixed price.¡±

    ¡°Why not?!¡± Stromboli eximed, ¡°We have to ensure our people''s interest first, so we should immediately adopt a n that makes those merchants sell grains at a low price, or they wouldn''t be allowed to sell their goods in Theonia!¡±

    ¡°That can''t happen!¡± Before Marigi could even speak, Mersis shouted first, ¡°This is a foolish act that would destroy the Greeks'' free trade tradition! In the future, no one will daree to Thurii to do business, and we will no longer receivemercial tax once the port declines!¡±

    ¡°With Theonia''srge territory and poption, I doubt that those greedy foreign merchants will no longere to do business!¡± Stromboli sneered. As an Amendran, he dislikes the merchants.

    ¡°Even if we coerced them, those merchants would just sail to Heraclea or Crotone instead of selling their grain in Thurii.¡± Marigi then reminded the statesmen, ¡°If so, our people would flock there to buy grain just the same, and they wouldin even more as we just increase their troubles! Instead of that, it would be better to keep the merchants in Thurii, which would even allow us to take some measures to control the prices a bit. After all, the war is still not yet over, and Theonia¡¯s food shortage will continue. Those merchants had risked transporting their grains toe here, so if they can''t make a good profit here, I fear that no one will be willing to transport food here anymore!¡±

    After hearing these words, the statesmen, including Stromboli, looked dejected: Indeed, who told Theonia to have a food shortage that they need to rely on those merchants?!

    ¡°I wonder what happened to Ansitanos'' mission to Africa?¡± Kunogta thought of Ansitanos, who was carrying out an important mission.

    Suddenly, the conference hall¡¯s door was pushed open, and the guards hurried inside and whispered in the rotating chairperson ¨C Kunogta''s ear.

    Immediately, Kunogta beamed with joy and loudly said to the crowd, ¡°Everyone, you can now feel at ease. Lord Ansitanos has returned with tenrge Carthaginian transport ships loaded with food!¡±

    Cheers broke out again in the sparse conference hall, ¡°We have food!¡± ¡°The people are saved!¡± ¡°Ansitanos seeded!¡­¡±

    ¡°Unexpectedly, it was the ¡®enemy of Greeks¡¯ ¨C Carthage, who the Sicilians attacked, that helped us!¡±

    ¡°I told you, Hades will not let disaster befall those who believe in him. Once again, he has fulfilled his promise!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the statesmen of the Senate rushed to the port of Thurii and weed the arrival of the Carthaginian envoys, 15,000 soldiers of the joint Theonian-Rhegian army led by Hielos, Hieronymus, Pheidon and Ledes marched from Terina to Hipponion.

    However, they found the city gates wide open when they arrived at the city, and the Hipponians had taken the initiative to surrender. Last night, the news of the Locrian army''s defeat had already scared the Hipponians and panic when the defeated Locrian soldiers refused to enter the city to participate in the defence and their straightforward flight back to Medma. So the Hipponians, who had only a thousand soldiers in the city, held an emergency lesia and finally made a painful decision¡­so when they found out that tens of thousands of Theonian were heading towards the city of Hipponion the following day, the Hipponians surrendered without hesitation.

    Before Davos divided the troops, he had already discussed with Hielos how to deal with the allies of Locri, so Hielos'' epted Hipponion''s surrender. However, he asked that every family in the city must hand over a hostage to ensure their loyalty.

    Faced with Theonia''s massive army, the Hipponians could only agree.

    Under the city wall, a heartbreaking and touching scene happened as the Hipponians cried and wept as they reluctantly bid farewell to their children.

    Hielos, however, remained unmoved as he sent a thousand troops to escort the hundreds of children to Terina. At the same time, he put forward new requirements to the Hipponians: ¡®Collect the food in the city as much as possible and provide it to the Theonian soldiers as military reserves. Otherwise, their children will have nothing to eat first if the Theonian soldiers starve.¡¯

    The Hipponians had to submit once again as they were now fishes on a chopping board.

    While the Theonian-Rhegian joint troops camped outside the city of Hipponion, they assisted the Hipponians in collecting food and fodder. In addition, they sent their scouts to check on the enemy''s situation in the south. At the same time, they let the engineering brigade lead the soldiers to construct siege equipment to prepare for their attack on the city of Medma.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time, Davos, who had learned of Caulonia''s return to the South Italian Alliance, wrote another letter and delivered it by fast horse to the city of Caulonia. The letter reads, ¡°¡­I am d that Caulonia had made the right choice, and I, together with Lysias and Siprus, are thrilled to hear this news! Now that the Syracusan army is weakened by the brave attacks of the soldiers of Theonia, Crotone and Terina, I believe that the day of their defeat is not far away.

    Therefore, we hope that you, as a member of the South Italian Alliance, will join us in mobilising all the citizens of the city who are able to fight, take up their shields and spears, andunch an attack on Locri''s territory, so that the culprit who caused this cruel war can also feel the pain of being ravaged by the mes of war, and make them afraid of sending reinforcements to help the Syracusans that we are besieging, which would ensure that we can sessfully recapture Scylletium and wipe out these vicious invaders! Theonia, Crotone, Terina and Rhegium all look forward to your action!¡­¡±

    This letter caused Caulonia''s council to convene an emergency meeting. Evidently, the primary purpose of Davos'' letter was not to praise Caulonia''s correct choice but to urge them to take immediate action and not stand idly by, and thest sentence was more like an implied threat.

    Of course, Caulonia, who was on the string, knew the serious consequences of refusing Davos'' request, so the lesia quickly passed the resolution of ¡°attacking Locri¡±.

    Although a thousand of their soldiers were trapped in Scylletium, Caulonia still suffered the least loss among the city-states in South Italia in this war. In the afternoon, Caulonia soon mobilised 4,000 soldiers.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Due to Locri dispatching their main force outside, resulting in the city being empty, the Locrian had long been uneasy about their decades-long enemy ¨C Caulonia, so they closely watched Caulonia''s movements. So as soon as Caulonia dispatched their troops towards the south, the scouts quickly rode back to report it.

    At this time, Locri was shocked and overwhelmed by the bad news that came one after another. The Syracusan army¡¯s defeat, Locri''s main force¡¯s defeat, the city of Hipponion was in danger¡­and now, the Caulonian army suddenly went south. Thus any rational Locrian could judge that it is definitely not to help Locri.

    The sharp turn of the war situation made Locri''s polemarchos ¨C Demodokas, panic that he actually abandoned his half-year dictatorship and held a meeting.

    Demodokas repeatedly said, ¡°Those damned Caulonians broke their promise and invaded our territory! Now that the situation is urgent, what should we do?!¡± However, a strange sight shrouded the meeting ce¡­

 Chapter 530: Rhegiums Cooperation

    For a while, no one responded and remained silent.

    Demodokas was rmed as he knew that those people harboured grudges against him and were ready to obstruct him once they found an opportunity. After all, due to Dionysius'' encouragement and relying on the support of the powerful Syracusan army, he excluded the dissenters, attacked his political enemies in Locri and passed and implemented manyws without the Council''s vote and the lesia, almost being considered as the sole authority of Locri.

    Just as he inwardly regretted holding such a meeting, his confidant Phantepes finally stood up and said, ¡°We could easily resolve this matter as long as we can bring back the troops stationed in Medma and repel the Caulonians!¡±

    ¡°That''s easy to say. What about Medma?!¡± Metelophes retorted.

    ¡°Medma has more than 2,000 soldiers that could defend against the enemy''s attack, so there is no need to worry about them for now.¡± Phantepes responded while pretending to be at ease.

    ¡°No need to worry?!¡± Metelophes sneered,

    ¡°The Medmaean messenger reported that the Theonians who defeated our army had more than 10,000 soldiers. If you include the Tauranians and the Rhegians, I fear that the enemy''s soldiers would number more than 20,000! Tell me, could two thousand Medmaean soldiers withstand the attack of 20,000?! Moreover, the Theonian is not yourmon Greek army as they also have the powerful ballista!¡­¡±

    Metelophes then anxiously and loudly reminded everyone, ¡°Once Medma fall, we will be in danger as Theonia and Rhegium''s massive army cane from the west and join force with Caulonia''s army!¡±

    After hearing Metelophes¡¯ words, everyone became nervous that someone shouted, ¡°I think¡­we''d better make peace with Theonia!¡±

    Many members followed this remark.

    ¡°Idiots!¡± Demodokas finally couldn''t stop himself from cursing, ¡°Crotone, Terina, and Caulonia of the South Italian Alliance have been our sworn enemies. Moreover, they all suffered heavy losses in this war¡­use your pig of a brain to think about the price we have to pay to quell their anger!!¡±

    ¡°Then our clever polemarchos must have a way to repel the joint attacks of Caulonia, Theonia and Rhegium?!¡± Someone sarcastically said, which led many people to sneer and caused Demodokas to be livid. In the past, who would dare to talk to him like this?! But Syracuse''s defeat had changed the thoughts of the Locrian council members!

    Demodokas felt a chill in his heart, so he reminded loudly, ¡°Syracuse had also suffered a much worse defeat than this in their war with Carthage. Yet they still became the victor! Currently, Syracuse still owns more than half of Sicily, abundant resources, wealth and sufficient poption even if they lost this battle, which is far beyond the reach of city-states such as Theonia, Crotone and Terina. Thus the final victor will definitely be Syracuse! Yet now we are trying to make peace with the enemy independently? Think about it, will Dionysius forgive the traitor after they won?!¡±

    Demodokas red at the crowd. It was precisely because of Locri''s close contact with Syracuse that they knew more about the horror of Dionysius, so even though what Demodokas said, ¡°Syracuse winning¡±, was just a hypothesis, they avoided Demodokas'' gaze as they didn''t dare to take risks.

    Seeing the crowd''s performance, Demodokas became temporarily relieved. He then looked at Metelophes and firmly said, ¡°The only thing we need to do now is to hold on! Hold on to the city of Locri! Until the final victoryes! At that time, we will own all of Caulonia''snd and even Scylletium!¡±

    In the end, Locri''s Council decided to recall their army in Medma to defend their territory, achieving Demodokas'' purpose of convening the Council to share responsibilities and avoiding the me of ¡°abandoning their allies¡± due to making the decision alone. However, the uncertain future made Demodokas uneasy, so he had to prepare more as Dionysius'' rtive.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Hielos led his army to Hipponion, the first legion boarded Seclian''s fleet and headed south.

    In the afternoon, the ship entered Rhegium''s port and was warmly weed by the Rhegians again.

    The legatus of the first legion, Antonios, then met with Athelycus, the ruler of Rhegium and Davos'' father-inw. The wonderful news Antonios'' brought about ¡®Locri''s main force suffered badly in Hipponion because of the joint attack by Rhegium and Theonia''s army¡¯ excites Athelycus and the council members that were present.

    Many of them even repeatedly praised, ¡°Well done, Pheidon!¡± forgetting that they were rmed after learning that Pheidon had taken most of the troops in Taurania and sailed north and angrilyined, ¡°Pheidon had ced Rhegium in danger by moving the troops without permission! We must bring him back to Rhegium and face a harsh trial!!¡±

    Then, Antonios presented a letter from Davos to Athelycus. After reading it, Athelycus was so happy that he read it publicly at the meeting hall: The letter began with Davos'' respectful greetings to his father-inw and about Agnes'' pregnancy.

    Upon hearing this, the council members congratted andplimented Athelycus, ¡°You found a good son-inw!¡± After all, as the war continued, the strength of the two powerful city-states of Magna Graecia, Crotone and Locri, had significantly weakened. Even Syracuse''s invading army and navy had suffered greatly. Thus the Rhegians suddenly realised that Theonia''s power would greatly expand after the war if no big idents urred. In addition, now that Davos has be the king of Theonia, Athelycus'' ¡®father-inw¡¯ status would be even more valuable!

    Thus the Rhegians wouldn''t miss this opportunity to tter him.

    Athelycus could not stop smiling as he was d he made the right decision of marrying his daughter to the ¡°upstart¡± Davos, who came from a lowly background.

    In the letter, Davos went on to mention that, ¡®¡­Although we had defeated Syracuse, the war was still far from over. Syracuse still had Sicily''s rich resources and could send new troops for reinforcements. Therefore, to end this war early, we must bring the war to Sicily, disrupt the order there, destroy Syracuse''s territory, capture their allies to weaken Syracuse''s power, and force them to surrender voluntarily! For this reason, Theonia hopes to get Rhegium''s full support as our ally¡­¡¯

    The council members who had just rushed to congratte the polemarchos became silent when they heard this. They admitted that Davos was right that attacking Sicily was the best way to defeat Syracuse. Unfortunately, their mercantile habits of calcting the pros and cons had made them cautiously think because Rhegium had to give their full support. Full support meant providing fleets, troops, transportation, military rations¡­ For Rhegium, who had to support their soldiers in fighting Locri, this would surely be another huge expenditure! Moreover, no one knew when the uing war in Sicily would even end!¡­

    Athelycus smiled at the crowd''s contrasting performance. He then continued, ¡°¡­once the war with Syracuse ends, Theonia will seize Messina and jointly manage it with Rhegium! Due to Theonia''s inexperience in managing an important city that monitors the strait, we need to rely on Rhegium''s full assistance¡­¡±

    ¡°Did I hear it correctly?! Theonia wants to share Messina with us!!¡±

    ¡°Don''t you understand?! It''s mainly us who would manage Messina, allowing us to finally monopolise the straitpletely!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The council members discussed excitedly.

    ¡°Everyone, on the matter of our ally, Theonia''s, needing our assistance¡­¡± The crowd no longer hesitated to voice their support when Athelycus mentioned the matter again.

    ¡°As long as Lord Davos fulfils his promise after the war ends, Rhegium should fully support Theonia''s attack on Sicily!¡±

    ¡°To get Messina, defeating Syracuse is a must! Therefore, we will support Theonia!¡±

    ¡°The port and the maritime route is now opened, so as long as Theonia doesn''t send too many troops to Sicily, I think we should be able to supply rations tost for two-three months¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Athelycus sighed at seeing the situation. When his son advised him to give up his desire to have Messina to himself and to persuade Davos to take Messina from Syracuse instead, he had not expected Davos to have a greater appetite by exchanging Messina for Rhegium''s support to allow Theonia set a foothold in Sicily!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At Scylletium the next day, Dionysius was angry at Davos'' unreasonable demands. Still, he secretly sent his men to quietly dig up the bodies of the Numidians who died from their severe wounds and set aside their heads while urging the cksmiths to speed up their forging. To continue the peace negotiation with Davos, Dionysius nned to have the envoy bring the heads to the Theonian camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In Hipponion, the Theonia-Rhegium joint army set out in full force towards Medma.

    The Medmaeans, on the other hand, became angry and upset by the Locrian army''s withdrawal. However, Locri''s warning and reminder gave them false hopes about the Syracusans, so they decided to hold on until reinforcements came.

    After failing to persuade them to surrender, Hielos decided to attack the city of Medma after consulting with Pheidon.

    The troops began building their camp while the engineering brigade continued to construct siege engines.

 Chapter 531: Target: Sicily

    Pheidon rushed to Taurania to bring the remaining Rhegian soldiers to Medma and participate in the siege. At the same time, Hielos sent a brigade to build a simple wooden outpost to block the mountain path leading to Locri and sent a scouting team to monitor the Locrians'' movements to prevent them from sneak attacking their rear once the joint army attacked Medma.

    While Hielos led his army to implement his siege n unhurriedly and methodical, the Locrian soldiers who came back did not immediately head to the northern border to repel the invading Caulonians.

    With Theophantes getting caught, the Locrian army needed a new suprememander. Thus, Demodokas appointed one of his men. However, the council members opposed him because Locri was now facing a crisis, so they urgently needed someone with military skills to lead the soldiers to defend Locri. But Demodokas'' candidate didn''t have war experience or prestige in the army, making it hard for him to order the soldiers effectively. So they must be careful because once defeated, they will lose their only remaining army!

    Demodokas felt cold as the Council refuted his proposal for the second time in just two days. Still, he held back his anger and watched them unanimously elect the elderly Megaris. He led the army to fight Crotone many times more than ten years ago and won numerous victories, but had to stand down because of Demodokas¡¯ pressure.

    But with the strong demands of everyone, Demodokas could only agree to Megaris¡¯ appointment and let his political enemy serve as themander.

    Megaris immediately reorganised his team and led more than 6,000 men to attack the enemy.

    However, after the Caulonian army burned a vige, they did not face the enemy head-on. Instead, they quickly retreated to the borders near their territory and built a camp to deter Locri.

    The cautious Megaris became worried that this was the Caulonian''s trap, so he did not attack as he was afraid of an ambush. And like the Caulonians, they just stood still at the border and formed a confrontation between the two sides.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Early in the morning, the people of Rhegium rushed to the port to see off not only the Theonian fleet and the first legion but also the nearly 1,000 soldiers and family members who had joined the expedition to Sicily.

    Most of them were fugitives from the Sicilian city-states conquered by Syracuse, such as Catania and Naxos. Back then, Rhegium built a city for them to oppose the two new city-states(Messina and Tyndaris) that the Syracusans had built across the strait. But they didn''t expect the Syracusan army to act quickly and soon destroy the new city: Some were killed, some fled into the mountains, and some were saved by the Rhegians and went to Rhegium by boat.

    The people of Rhegium now prayed that this army could smoothly go to Sicily and not repeat their mistakes.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Theonian fleet and dozens of Rhegian ships sailed out of the port together: At the forefront of the fleet was Seclian''s ship with its young navarch standing at the ship''s starboard, gazing at the other side with a trace of regret in his eyes. He then pointed forward and said to Antonios, the legatus of the first legion, who was also in his ship, ¡°Messina is not far ahead. Why don''t we capture it first?! Its closeness to Rhegium would allow us to receive the Rhegian''s support easily, and after we take it, we can block the strait and eliminate the enemy ship in their port!¡±

    Antonios squinted at Seclian, realising that this young man was radical and arrogant in his actions. If Amintas were here instead, he would have shouted at him and said, ¡°What right do you, navy, have to tell the legion what to do?!¡±

    Fortunately, Antonios would not do that. In fact, his initial thought when Davos asked for his opinion was tond between Tyndaris and Messina* because the two newly built city-states were not too strong and far from Syracuse, allowing them to take it as their forward base in Sicily easily. (The Carthaginianmander Himilco had captured and destroyed the city of Messina when they attacked Syracuse and waster rebuilt by Dionysius when he led his army to expel the Carthaginians from the north coast).

    ¡°That''s what I previously thought as well. However, his majesty opposed it.¡± Antonios tactfully said.

    ¡°Oh, why?¡± As soon as Seclian heard the word ¡°His majesty¡±, most of his dissatisfaction disappeared.

    ¡°Time.¡± Antonios spout out a word. Then continued, ¡°¡®It would take us a few days to take down Messina, which would allow Syracuse to find out about our attack on Sicily in those few days. So once we attack the south, they would certainly be ready to defend, increasing the difficulties we encounter. Moreover, due to Messina''s distance from Syracuse, its fall will not affect Syracuse''s sphere of influence too much. So instead, it would be much better to take advantage of Syracuse''sck of defence to raid the city-states near it, causing panic and chaos in the areas they control, which would give us more opportunities¡­¡¯ Those are his majesty''s exact words.¡±

    Seclian listened carefully and sighed, ¡°It''s still his majesty who thought things thoroughly. But with that, our risk would be greater!¡±

    Antonios smiled and said, ¡°Are you afraid of hardship?¡±

    Seclian arrogantly said, ¡°I just hope we could lure the Syracusan fleet out of their port so that my fleet can defeat them and let the Theonian Navypletely be the master of the sea here!¡±

    Then the twoughed with confidence.

    As the fleet headed southward along the east coast of Sicily, they met many merchant ships along the way. The merchants were shocked when they saw this massive-scale mixed fleet, especially when they noticed the symbol painted on the sails, giving them a hunch that something big would happen: Although some hurried to retreat, there were others who turned around and increased their speed southward(it was obvious that they were going back to report).

    With the fleet sailing at its top speed and their destination at hand, Seclian just sat on the gship without moving. While Antonios just kept watching the coast from the ship''s starboard: Due to nevering to Sicily before, what he saw on the map waspletely different from what he could see.

    Davos had once told him that from Messina heading south to Tauromenium, the onlynd route was a narrow road near the coast, and this road was 15-20 kilometres long.

    That seems true because they had been sailing for nearly three hours since departing Rhegium''s port, but theyers afteryers of mountains on the other sides remained continuous. Its soothing contour was pleasant to the eye, just like a painting. But Antonios knew that this was because they were 2-3 kilometres away, and from his experience, these peaks are no less than a thousand metres high, making them really difficult to climb.

    ¡°Lord Antonios, that''s Tauromenium.¡± A middle-aged man nearby pointed and said.

    This man, named Ladician, was a former noble of Naxos who fled ind to Sicily, near Aeolian Ind. It is where the other city-state¡¯s exiles gathered and gradually formed arger vige. However, the constant invasion of Syracuse''s allies and the hatred of the Sicels made their life quite difficult. But when heter heard that Rhegium was going to build a new city for them, the exiles dly went there. Yet who knew that the Syracusans would swiftly respond and destroy their newly built city, killing some of his rtives and forcing him to flee to Rhegium.

    Despite the twists and turns, his determination to rebuild his home hasn''t changed but rather strengthened. So when he heard that Theonia was going to attack Sicily, he took the initiative to find Antonios with the rest of his rtives, asking him to join.

    After hearing him, Antonios looked at it intently and saw a towering city on the high ground near the coast, but the oddest thing was that it was a twin stone fortress. And the two stone fortresses mped down this narrow and long coastal passage, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

    ¡°I heard the Carthaginians built this city for the Sicels?¡± Antonios asked with uncertainty as he recalled some of the sketchy information he had learned about the city.

    ¡°Yes, Carthage''s strategos Himilco built Tauromenium to gather the Sicels and make these natives join his side when Carthage attacked Syracuse¡­¡± Then Ladician gloatingly said, ¡°So when the tyrant of Syracuse attacked Tauromenium, he failed to capture it because of the steep terrain that made siege engines unusable. But in the end, the Sicels surrendered voluntarily. Now, the owner of this city is those abominable Campanian mercenaries!¡±

    Antonios looked at Tauromenium in a daze as he listened to his exnation: If he had chosen to attack Messina first and seeded, he would not have been able to break through Tauromenium bynd. Only through the sea could he enter the core area controlled by Syracuse¡­ Moreover, King Davos suggested that the Sicels were the force he could reach out to¡­

    ¡°¡­when attacking Sicily, you have to remember that ¡®three parts depend on the military, seven parts depend on diplomacy.¡¯¡­¡± Antonios recalled Davos'' serious reminder before his departure.

    As the fleet continued to move forward, Antonios'' field of vision opened up: Rolling hills had reced the mountains that made them sleepy and the further south they went, the lower the terrain became¡­

    Antonios¡¯ gaze was drawn to something further: It was a majestic mountain. Even though it was nearly 10 kilometres away, he could still clearly see its towering size with its trapezoid shape as it shot straight into the sky as if it was a pir standing upright. But the strangest thing was that the other peaks are emerald green, while it is grey and appear ancient and mysterious. That is the legendary furnace of Hephaestus he used to forge divine weapons ¨C Sicily''s Mount Etna.

 Chapter 532: Attack on Megalos

    ¡°A few years ago, smoke rose from the top of Mount Etna¡­¡± Once Ladician noticed Antonios'' fascination, he nned to tell the exciting story of Mount Etna''s eruption that he saw with his own eyes, but Seclian shouted, ¡°Naxosian, tell me where I shouldnd?!¡±

    ¡°Alright! Alright!¡± Ladician hurried to the bow.

    This was the first time Antonios would independently lead the army and the first time they wouldnd across the sea. So even after knowing the heavy burden on his shoulders, he feels nervous and excited, ¡°Men, don your armour, take up your shields and spears, we are about tond! Once we get ashore, don''t stop and charge immediately towards the city of Naxos! Conquer it as our loved ones await the news of our victory! The time hase to give honours to the first legion and yourselves!¡­¡±

    Antonios loudly cheered up the soldiers lying on the deck resting.

    ¡°Don''t worry, legatus. Our brothers are already tired of staying on the ship these two days and were long eager to fight, so how can a city with only a wooden wall stop our attack?!¡± Melisander responded loudly.

    It was no coincidence that Melisander was there. As Philesius'' closerade, Antonios doesn''t mind giving some care to Philesius'' adopted son, so he deliberately arranged for Melisander''s toon unit to be assigned to the gship.

    ¡°Kid, you should be careful not to fall into the sea whennding.¡± Antonios smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

    The soldiers immediately whistled and booed at their young toon leader as Melisander falling into the sea twice during the Battle of Crotone became the soldier''s discussion before and after meals. Still, that did not deter his men from respecting their toon leader. After all, Melisander always fought bravely and led his men in battle, sharing weal and woe with the soldiers.

    At this moment, Melisander red at them and said, ¡°Whoever yells and screams again won''t be able to y rugby the next time we y!¡±

    Yet Melisander''s threat made the soldiers boo even more.

    Antonios could only shake his head helplessly at the soldiers'' jokes. He then turned his attention to thend.

    At this time, the salpinx echoed in the fleet as Seclian''s gship led the way, turning to the left and approaching the bay.

    In front is an arc-shaped bay with a white sand beach. And on the azure blue water were more than a dozen fishing boats, fishing with theirs on the calm sea.

    But the tranquil picture was broken by the aggressive storming of the fleet.

    At the sight of the fast-approaching behemoth ¨C a trireme, the fishermen panicked and tried to steer their boats out of the way. However, they were simply toote as the bronze ram on the ship''s bow easily split the fishing boat in two like a hot knife through butter¡­

    It wasn''t until they were almost close to the beach did the sailors stopped paddling, leaving the ship to rush to the beach through its inertia.

    The soldiers immediately put down thedder and quickly went down to the beach, while some of the impatient soldiers simply threw their shields, spears and helmets on the beach and jumped directly from the deck to the beach.

    Soon, heavily armed Theonian soldiers filled the open beach.

    ¡°The enemy ising! The enemy ising!¡­¡± The fishermen drying their fishings and handling their goods on the beach fled to the city in panic.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Before they boarded the ship on Rhegium, Antonios gathered the first legion''s officers of all ranks for a meeting. Hence the first legion¡¯s soldiers did not form a unified group once they disembarked and directly marched towards Naxos under the leadership of their toon leader and the guidance of the guides onboard the ships.

    The current Naxos is no longer a city but arge town. Six or seven years ago, after Dionysius became the tyrant of Syracuse, he began his military campaign to conquer the south-eastern corner and the east-central part of Sicily to build up his strength and fight back the Carthaginians, of which the only in in Sicily ¨C Catania in, became the focus of his attack. Hence, after capturing the two city-states that resisted Syracuse the most ¨C Catania and Naxos, he was determined to give them the harshest punishment.

    While Sikuri, another small city-state just 12 kilometres south of Naxos, was rewarded for its early surrender to Syracuse, with Dionysius giving them thend of Naxos for governance. Thus the Sikurians were overjoyed when they received thend of Naxos, which wasrger and more fertile than their own. However, the tragic fate of the people of Naxos frightened them, so they tried to guess Dionysius'' intention in destroying the city and razing its wall. As they did not dare to ask the tyrant directly, instead of restoring the old city of Naxos, they rebuilt it south to the northern bank of the Alcantara, a kilometre away from the ruins. However, rather than building a town with a stone wall, they made it a simple wooden wall for fear of displeasing Dionysius and named the new town Megalos (which means great).

    The ce where the first legionnded was the port of the former Naxos, which has now disappeared. So once the soldiers were on the shore, they didn''t have to run more than a few steps south before they could see arge area overgrown with weeds and piles of rocks.

    Ladician stared at it nkly and shed tears: This was his former home ¨C the city of Naxos!

    ¡°Ladician, don''t stop! Run! We still need you to guide us!¡± Melisander urged him.

    Ladician followed quickly. Although he is over middle-aged, he still continued exercising and training, hoping he could be of use when he returns to his homnd one day. Thus he thought he was in good shape, but he began to be unable to keep up with the Theonians after running for a while.

    ¡®It''s no wonder the Syracusans couldn''t beat them! These soldiers could still run even when fully armed!!¡¯ The amazed Ladician didn''t know that one of the military training of the Theonian soldiers every five days was rapid marching while fully armed, which was different from the Olympic Games'' ¡°Armed long-distance race¡±. The armed long-distance running was apetition in which the naked yers only wore helmets and round shields, while Theonia''s armed march was truly fully armed. Thus if the Theonians could participate in the Olympic Games, they could certainlypete with the Spartans, who always won the championships in the event of armed long-distance running.

    ¡°¡­that''s¡­that''s Megalos¡­¡± Said the panting Ladician as he pointed to the distant, faint outline of the town.

    ¡°Hmmm, follow uster.¡± Melisander had no time to wait for him and ordered the soldiers to move quickly in that direction

    Although Antonios didn''t say it clearly, each unit naturallypeted ording to the legion''s tradition, ¡®Let''s see who gets to the enemy''s town first?!¡¯ ¡®To see who attacked the enemy town first?!¡¯

    That''s why the first legion split into toons, not as if they are in a rush but as if they are in apetitive race, spreading out in a wide front and running rapidly towards the south, from first tost, irregrly.

    Leading the way was a group of hundreds of men who maintained aplete formation while running.

    ¡°Damn, which team is that?¡± Melisander cursed as he reluctantly watched the leading group in front of him.

    ¡°Captain, it seems to be the first centuria of the fourth brigade.¡± A soldier replied.

    ¡°So it''s that ¡®madman''s¡¯ centuria.¡± Melisander sulked.

    ¡°Madman¡± was the nickname given to Leotychides, who was famous for his intense training and high requirements for his soldiers. Of course, his centuria often won the militarypetitions.

    ¡°Brothers! Speed up! We can''t fall behind!!¡± Cried Melisander, who was unwilling to be outdone.

    Wherever the first legion passed, the people of Megalos fled in panic. However, instead of thrusting their spears at them, the soldiers drove them towards Megalos.

    Although the town of Megalos only has wooden walls, they dug a moat outside the town due to its proximity to the Alcantara River, with its eastern and northern gates connected to the outside by drawbridges. The Sikurians in Megalos then received an urgent report from the merchant ships about ¡®a fleet of hundreds of shipsing from the north, and the sail pattern seemed to belong to the Theonia Union.¡¯

    After just receiving the news of Syracuse''s defeat in their battle against the Theonians, the next thing the Sikurians knew, a Theonian fleet was spotted on the east coast of Sicily. Yet before they had even time to discuss a countermeasure, someone came fleeing back from the beach and shouted in panic, ¡°The enemy ising! The enemy ising!¡­¡±

    The speed of the Theonians'' attack frightened the Sikurians, so they hurriedly summoned their citizens to fend off the enemy.

    But as more and more people fled to the town, it resulted in the drawbridge and the north gate being congested.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Seraphinus, a self-proimed freeman, was employed by a Sikurian citizen a few months ago to help develop the fields. As it is currently noon, he should have been in the fields outside the town, yet he is now inside and stopped someone who fled into the town, ¡°Uncle, what happened?¡±

    ¡°There are¡­enemies¡­there are enemiesing from the sea to kill us, get your weapons and go¡­go¡­¡± The man exined in a frightened voice.

    Seraphinus interrupted him, ¡°Enemies?! What enemies?!¡±

    A look of fear appeared showed in the man''s eye, ¡°ck! They are all ck! Like demons from hell!¡± (Theonia''s armour is all ck)

    Seraphinus blinked and looked back at the group of Sikurian citizens who didn''t even have the time to wear helmets and armour as they hurriedly picked up their shields and spears and rushed towards the congested north gate.

 Chapter 533: A successful first battle

    ¡°ck armoured soldiers?! So the Theonian legion is here! I wonder which legion it is?!¡± Seraphinus thought inwardly while his eyes shed with excitement. He then turned and ran to the south of the town, which was the gathering ce of the freemen and ves.

    As the people from Megalos rushed into the town in panic, it resulted in the blockage of the town''s narrow passage, the drawbridge unable to be pulled up, and the town gate being closed.

    While the Sikurians anxiously made the people get inside the town, the centuria led by Leotychides had arrived outside. Seeing the situation, he ordered to attack immediately without waiting for the rest of the troops.

    The soldiers rushed to the north gate and thrust their spears at the crowd outside the town.

    As screams rang, the people about to enter the town became even more frightened. While some simply jumped into the moat, the others desperately tried to squeeze into the town that the soldiers at the town gate could not stop them.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Melisander''s toon arrived, they saw Leotychides'' centuria on the drawbridge at the northern gate of the town of Megalos, which had turned the outside of the town bloody and chaotic. After thinking that if his team were to go there, Melisander could only follow the madman''s centuria into the town without even shing with the enemy.

    Melisander was naturally reluctant, but suddenly, he saw some people of Megalos running around the moat to the other side, so he immediately shouted, ¡°Follow me to attack the other gate!¡±

    The soldiers then chased the fleeing people to the east gate of Megalos. Unfortunately, they found that the enemy had pulled up the drawbridge, which caused Melisander to feel cold.

    ¡°Captain, what should we do?!¡± The soldiers anxiously asked.

    Melisander was also very worried. He turned around to see the other toon running to their ce, but he didn''t find the engineering brigade, who had thedders and boards. Obviously, they must have fallen behind.

    ¡®Should we wait?!¡¯ Melisander turned around again and saw that only twenty or thirty enemies scattered around the wooden wall: Although a few were firing arrows at them, they posed no threat to the men in armour. However, he could not anticipate if they would hurl javelins once they got closer to the wall.

    ¡°Go into testudo formation!¡± Melisander immediately decided, ¡°Approach the moat and swim across!¡±

    Seeing that there were only a few enemies on the wooden wall and estimated that the wall was only more than three metres high, he thought it was perfectly possible to climb up by using each other like adder.

    Upon receiving the orders, the fifty soldiers immediately surrounded Melisander to form a tight small phnx, covering their heads with the long shields, just like a giant box wrapped in iron and walked slowly towards the moat.

    The other toon followed the same, with some toon doing it farther from the town gate that they did not even use the testudo formation and quickly ran to the moat.

    The Sikurians who could not enter the town fled in panic. However, the soldiers did not care.

    But suddenly, a sound of fighting and screams rang behind the city gate, mixed with the frightened cry of ¡°the freemen and ves are rebelling!!¡­¡±

    Soon, the Sikurians on the wooden wall no longer stared at the Theonian soldiers in front of the moat but turned to resist the mob who rushed upon the woodendder.

    With the continuous rain of arrows on the wooden wall, the unprotected Sikurians could only fall with the arrows.

    Melisander doesn''t know the situation inside the town, but how could he not take advantage of such a good opportunity? So he immediately asked the soldiers to disperse the testudo formation, rushed to the moat, dropped the long shield and spear, only hung a short sword and then jumped into the moat one after another.

    Although the armour made their body heavy, the asional special training in this field during their military training and the moat''s wideness was only three or four metres had easily allowed them to reach the other side.

    As Melisander and the soldiers scrambled towards the shore to lean against the wooden wall, the drawbridge suddenly dropped down, and the wooden gate opened with someone shouting at the top of the wall, ¡°I am Seraphinus, a preparatory Theonian citizen! We have repelled the Sikurians, and the legionaries could now enter the city!¡±

    Melisander was astonished when he heard this. Then he suddenly heard theughter of the other soldiers, ¡°Captain Melisander dived again!¡±

    The men beside him alsoined to their captain, ¡°Did the goddess of bad luck curse you? Even us became unlucky when we were with you!¡±

    Watching the other toon walk across the drawbridge and into the town of Megalo, Melisander could only order with annoyance, ¡°Swim back with me!¡±

    ¡°Ah, we are going to dive again?!¡±

    ¡°Our long shields and spears are on the other side! Are you not going to take them?!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the afternoon, the first legion of Theoniapletely upied Megalos with only minor casualties.

    Although Megalos was only a town, its area has exceeded the size of the city of Sikuri, which is worthy of its name. However, besides its sole archon''s residence, where they decide the usual administration matter and decree making, it has no governing power such as Council, Senate or town hall.

    The city of Sikuri was originally a democratic city-state. But after their surrender to Syracuse, Dionysius supported a Sikurian noble ¨C Hibagres, who first surrendered to him as the supreme ruler of Sikuri and forced the Sikurians to submit to Dionysius'' authority, turning the city-state of Sikuri under a tyrant¡¯s rule. Then Hibagres appointed his own man to be the archon of Megalos to govern Megalos directly in his stead, thus stealing the jurisdiction of the former territory of Naxos for the tyrant of Sikuri.

    But now, the one sitting on the highest seat of the administrative room in the archon''s residence of Megalos is no longer Hibagres'' people but Antonios, the legatus of Theonia''s first legion.

    ¡°Legatus, we captured 3,653 Sikurians, of which more than half are the elderly, women and children. What should we do with them?¡± The senior centurion of the first brigade ¨C Giorgris, asked with some reluctance. The achievement of the first to break through the town should have belonged to the fourth brigade. After all, Leotychides¡¯ centuria, who had rushed ahead of the others, was part of the fourth brigade. But unexpectedly, a riot happened inside the town when the north gate was about to be breached. So instead, it was the several toons of the first brigade with Melisander at the forefront who had rushed into the town from the east gate and won the credit of being the first to enter the town, giving Giorgris the right to deal with the prisoners.

    ¡°Lord Antonios, there''s no need to pity those Sikurians! They were once allies of Naxos, but instead of fighting alongside us, they betrayed our treaty, took refuge in Syracuse and helped the wicked Dionysius in the sacking of our cities and upying ournds. Furthermore, they would send their troops to the mountains west of Etna to search for our fleeing tribesmen every year, capturing both men and women as ves¡­ Now that the goddess of vengeance finally responded to our pious prayer by sending you Theonian warriors to bring down her wrath on the Sikurians, we must make sure to turn them into ves and torture them till their death!¡­¡± Shouted Torus, the Naxosian standing beside Ladician and was one of the nners of the riot in the town in response to Theonia''s attack.

    Giorgris frowned as he looked at Antonios, wanting to say something. But Antonios stared at him and then sympathised, ¡°Naxos is our, Theonia''s, ally, and your suffering is just like that of our people¡­Thratyllus!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Thratyllus ¨C the senior centurion of the third brigade, responded loudly.

    ¡°Escort the Sikurians to the square and have the people of Naxos identify all the crimes they havemitted and punish them ording to their demand!¡± Antonios clearly copied Davos'' method when he dealt with the Crotonian captives.

    ¡°Understood!¡± Thratyllus turned around and left.

    ¡°Lord Antonios, I''ll go gather the people to the square!¡± Torus said happily.

    Antonios nodded. Although Giorgris wanted to say more, the senior centurion of the second brigade ¨C Xanticles, patted and signalled him to calm down.

    Antonios gazed at them and said seriously, ¡°Whether we have enough food is an important foundation for our legion and the people of Naxos to gain a firm foothold here! So, Giorgris, I''ll send you to check the food reserves in this town while collecting the food at the Sikurians'' houses for us to distribute it in a centralised way! Am I clear?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, legatus.¡± Giorgris understood that Antonios was somewhat displeased with his earlier performance, which was why Antonios transferred him from his task of guarding the prisoners and assigned him a new task to do, which he, who always obeyed the militaryw,plied.

    Antonios slightly became relieved after seeing Giorgris leave. If Amintas were in charge, he would have gotten scolded after repeatedly resisting the orders. However, Antonios wasn''t like that. Giorgris, as a member of the original ¡®Hielos'' Squad¡¯, wasn''t as close to Davos as Matonis, Olivos, Martius and Hielos, but it also wasn''t bad either, so there was no need for him to scold Giorgris for such a trivial matter, which would affect Davos'' opinion of him. Although Giorgris wasn''t a talkative person, there was someone dangerous here¡­

    Antonios then quickly nced at Seraphinus, who was standing quietly in an inconspicuous corner. After quickly regaining his thoughts, Antonios continued to ask, ¡°Has strategos Sarathus* taken over the port with his troops?¡± (Sarathus was the leader of the Rhegian army sent by Rhegium to cooperate with the first legion.)

    ¡°Yes, milord.¡± Ladician, the native of Naxos, replied, ¡°Strategos Sarathus has also brought over 300 fit ves to facilitate the smooth unloading of both the food and supplies once the Rhegian ships docked at the port.¡±

    ¡°I am now much more relieved that the port can still operate normally.¡± Said Antonios. Then he sighed, ¡°Unfortunately, there are no military facilities in the port for our warships to dock, and their only choice is to go back to Rhegium to rest.¡±

 Chapter 534: Antonios Arrangement

    ¡°Legatus, Rhegium is not far, and if we could get a favourable wind, the fleet would only need two hours to reach here.¡± Xanticles reassured him, ¡°Moreover, Lord Seclian left a few penteconters behind that would rush back to Rhegium to inform him if anything unusual happens.¡±

    However, Antonios remained worried even after hearing this. After all, the first legion would delve deep into enemy territory alone, with only the sea route as their insurance, ¡°Let''s hope so¡­¡± Although he did not want toment too much on Seclian''s decision, he thought that Seclian would never choose that if it was Davos who led the army. Instead, he would have made sure to make it possible for the fleet to anchor here¡­

    ¡°Milord, I wish to head to the west of Mount Etna and tell my fellow Naxosian that we have taken back ournd! I believe they would be joyful once they found out and woulde to defend this town immediately!¡± Ladician pleaded Antonios.

    Antonios shook his head and said, ¡°Ladician, you can let someone else do it, but you cannot go.¡±

    Ladician looked surprised as he did not understand why Antonios would refuse his reasonable request and wanted to argue further. But he heard Antonios say, ¡°I need you and the Naxosian who left just now called¡­called¡­¡±

    ¡°Torus, lord legatus.¡± Seraphinus reminded.

    Antonios nodded his head to thank him and continued, ¡°I need you and Torus to take charge of all the administrative matters of this town, manage all the Naxosian here, assign housing to them, maintain the order, make bread, transport the supplies from the port¡­making sure the field outside the town was not deserted, and organise the young and strong people of Naxos for the officers of the first legion to train them. After all, we only have a few people here and need more to defend Naxos!¡±

    Although Antonios had served as a public official of Theonia, such as the inspector, he still didn¡¯t be a praetor, the highest administrative position specialising in managing a whole city-state. Thus hecks specific administrative experience, so whatever he had just said is what he thinks is important.

    But Ladician was a nobleman of Naxos. Besides holding all the major and minor positions of the city-state in 20 years of his political career, he had also served as a strategos and polemarchos several times, so he knew well what he should and could do under such circumstances. Therefore, he is thrilled to get this appointment.

    Moreover, after his extended stay in Rhegium, Ladician could feel Theonia''s importance in Magna Graecia. Hence he was acutely aware that if Theonia truly defeats Syracuse, Theonia¡¯s authority would not only cover Magna Graecia but even the east of Sicily¡­ ¡®So where should Naxos lean?¡¯

    While pondering about it, Ladician looked at the leader of this so-called strongest force of Theonia: Although he was in his 40s, he looked intelligent and capable. Moreover, to be sent to Sicily to fight independently means that he won the trust of the new king of Theonia. So during the voyage, Ladician observed him, and he also heard that although he was already old, he still hadn''t married¡­

    Ladician''s thought drifted: He had a lovely daughter he was nning to marry to the son of the polemarchos of Rhegium, Athelycus. Unfortunately, Athelycus did not agree. But now, although Antonios is older, he seems to be a better marriage partner!

    Thinking of this, he immediately said, ¡°Thank you for your trust, lord Antonios. Torus and I will do our best to manage this town well and provide your army with the greatest assistance! Also, if we encounter important or difficult issues, we would first ask for your thoughts, milord!¡±

    Satisfied with Ladician''s humble attitude, Antonios then said, ¡°There is one thing that needs to be solved as soon as possible. Tell Sarathus to inform Rhegium to send some weapons and armour as soon as possible to form more armies once the Naxosians arrive in order to defeat the Syracusans who will soon attack.

    You have to also build a smithy in the town to repair our weapons. To have such a big town but no smithy! The Sikurians are really absurd! Do they think that if they don''t buy and sell weapons in the town, the freemen and ves won¡¯t rebel?!¡±

    ¡°They fully know that we, Naxosians, hated them extremely! After all, The Sikurians, who wanted to annex Naxos''nd, had fewer people, so they captured our people, demoted them as ves, and recruited many freemen to develop thisnd that did not belong to them¡­¡± Ladician said angrily.

    Antonios nodded.

    At that moment, a man beside Seraphinus eximed, ¡°The west of Mount Etna doesn''t only have the exiles of Naxos, but also the Catanians and are more numerous. Lord Antonios, please allow me to lead them here!¡±

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Antonios looked at him and asked suspiciously.

    ¡°He was one of the helpers who assisted the first legion to take Megalos and caused riots in the town ¨C Lasiperatus of Catania.¡± Seraphinus introduced.

    ¡®Catania!¡¯ Antonios'' heart jolted, and he instantly said, ¡°We, of course, wee Catania! Our king sent his army to Sicily not only to defeat Syracuse but also to regain the independence of the Sicilian city-states that the Syracusans oppressed and restore the homes of the people who lost them!¡­¡±

    ¡°Thank you, the great Theonia Union! I will do my best to gather the Catanians to contribute to this great goal of Theonia!¡± Lasiperatus eximed gratefully.

    Ladician immediately followed.

    ¡°There is Tauromenium in the north, so you should pay attention to safety when you go to the west of Mount Etna!¡± Antonios reminded the other party. Then he looked at the senior centurion of the fourth brigade, ¡°Tagetinos, draw out two hundred soldiers and build a guard post on the north side 2 kilometres away from Megalos. Keep a close eye on Tauromenium to prevent them from sneaking down the mountain to attack those Sicilians rushing to join us!¡±

    ¡°Roger, legatus!¡± Tagetinos answered loudly as if his voice was thunder.

    ¡°From now on, the other brigades will lead the soldiers to strengthen the walls of Megalos and build defensive measures!¡±

    ¡°Understood, legatus!¡±

    After arranging the tasks, the officers and the representatives of the exiles left one after another, leaving only Seraphinus.

    Antonios looked at this man with a slightlyplicated mood. After Antonios received his order, Davos saw his worries about leaving Magna Graecia, crossing the sea to a strange ce and fear of not being able toplete his task. Hence he told him, ¡°¡­afternding, Aristias'' men wille to find you and greatly assist you!¡­¡±

    Aristias'' was Davos'' intelligence officer, who Antonios had met several times when he visited Davos'' residence. He was a serious and quiet man that Antonios was reluctant to have much contact with him, but from what he learned today: He had nned the riots that happened in Megalos a few months ago. That is to say, Davos had sent Aristias to Sicily earlier! ¡®Could it be that even before the war began, his majesty had already prepared for today''s attack on Sicily?!¡¯

    Although Antonios was surprised, he quickly regained hisposure. These years that he followed Davos made him see many magical things from him that he had long epted the fact that ¡®Davos is Hades'' descendant¡¯. Besides, Aristias'' arrangements in Sicily helpedplete his task!

    With enthusiasm in his expression, Antonios said, ¡°His majesty mentioned about you when he gave me his order in Scylletium. But I didn''t expect to get your assistance as soon as I set foot on thend of Sicily and helped the first legion sessfully capture Megalos. Thank you very much!¡±

    Seraphinus humbly said, ¡°Legatus Antonios, you praise me too much! Even without my help, the first legion could still take Megalos smoothly with your swift attack.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Antonios was not modest. Then he changed his words and said, ¡°But the soldiers'' casualties will increase! The first legion has fewer people, and every soldier is very important. But more importantly, the extensive work you have done had made both the freemen and ves ept Theonia Union. It is your credit that we can stabilise the town of Megalos so quickly and make the next n quickly!¡±

    Seraphinus did not respond, but his face shone with excitement.

    Antonios then said, ¡°Can you tell me how many people we have in Sicily and in which city-states?¡±

    Seraphinus shook his head and said, ¡°I don''t know how many men lord Aristias had sent to Sicily. The only thing I know is that our leader in Sicily is Antrapolis, who from time to time sends me orders to find out Megalos'' situation.¡±

    ¡®Antrapolis?!¡¯ Antonios felt the name familiar as if he had heard of him before.

    Seraphinus saw Antonios'' doubts, so he added, ¡°He is lord Aristias'' younger brother.¡±

 Chapter 535: Seraphinus Suggestion

    ¡®With Aristias sending even his own brother to Sicily, it means that he really put a lot of effort into this ce!¡¯ Antonios became spirited that he immediately asked, ¡°Where is he now?¡±

    ¡°Either Catania or Syracuse? I don''t know.¡± Seraphinus shrugged and added, ¡°But now that you arrived in Sicily, he should learn about it soon and send someone to contact us.¡±

    Antonios nodded and seriously asked, ¡°Now that we have upied Megalos, what should we do next? What do you suggest?¡±

    ¡°Milord, I don''t know much about military matters, however, I can tell you what I know about here for your reference.¡± Seraphinus'' modesty won Antonios'' approval even more. He then quickly ced Sicily''s map that he had taken from Davos when he left the camp in Scylletium on the table and said, ¡°Go on!¡±

    Seraphinus did not refuse and stepped forward. After carefully looking at the map, he pointed and said, ¡°Milord, Megalos¡¯ position is excellent, as you can see here. It has the ocean to the east, the massive mount Etna to the west, and only about 5 kilometres to the north from us is Tauromenium. But with its small poption, I am afraid they can''t even field 500 soldiers. Sikuri, to the south, is more than 10 kilometres away, which is also a small city-state. But now that we upied Megalos and captured many Sikurian citizens, it would be difficult to say whether the tyrant of Sikuri could still gather 3,000 soldiers. More than 20 kilometres further south is Catania-¡±

    When he said until here, Seraphinus then showed a pained expression as he said,

    ¡°Catania was originally arge city with around 50,000 to 60,000 citizens. With the fertile Catania in providing the people with ample grain, they could easily organise an army of tens of thousands¡­however¡­after Dionysius destroyed Catania, he had the Campanian mercenaries upy the city, and Catania¡­would no longer be Catania!¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you from Catania?¡± Antonios suddenly asked.

    ¡°Yes, like Aristias, I was once a Catanian!¡± Seraphinus then said, ¡°But now, I am a Theonian citizen!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. His majesty will certainly let the Catanians rebuild your homnd once we defeat Syracuse!¡± Antoniosforted him and asked, ¡°How many soldiers does Catania have now?¡± When Seraphinus mentioned the Campanian mercenaries, Antonios raised his vignce. After all, he had just fought them in the Battle of Crotone and knew that these mercenaries were not easy to deal with.

    ¡°¡­they might have around five thousand men. Although I did not go to the Catanian in after returning to Sicily this time, I heard it from the people of Megalos.¡± Seraphinus hesitantly guessed but then suggested, ¡°Milord, you would need to wait for Antrapolis'' people to arrive if you want to understand the situation in more detail.¡±

    Antonios nodded. Then he pointed to Leontinoi''s symbol on the map between Catania and Syracuse and asked, ¡°Did the Campanian mercenaries also upy this city-state?¡±

    ¡°Leontinoi is not. It was once a child-state of Syracuse, but after Dionysius came into power, they allied with us, Catanians, against Syracuse. But after Catania''s defeat, they had no choice but to surrender to Syracuse. And as punishment for their betrayal, Dionysius forcibly moved most of Leontinoi''s citizens to Syracuse. So now, Leontinoi is just a small city-state in terms of poption¡­¡± Seraphinus said sadly.

    ¡°So, how many more troops does Syracuse still has?¡± Antonios asked earnestly.

    Seraphinus guessed by saying, ¡°This¡­I am not so sure. But a few months ago, when Dionysius led arge army to invade our Magna Graecia, his strategos, Macias, also led about eight thousand Syracusan soldiers to the northernmost part of Sicily to destroy the new city built by the exiles of Naxos and Catania. So I think Syracuse must still have tens of thousands of soldiers¡­¡±

    ¡®Tens of thousands!¡¯ Antonios'' face turned grim as he gazed at the icons of city-states surrounding Syracuse on the map. Taunis, Bary, Herbessus, Pachynus¡­all of them are loyal city-states of Syracuse and could easily and quickly let Syracuse organise 20,000 troops! The first legion, although powerful, only had more than 5,000 people left after the repeated battles¡­ Antonios knew that he couldn¡¯t defeat so many enemies with fewer troops like Davos.

    Seeing Antonios'' worries, Seraphinus pondered and said, ¡°Milord. Although it seems that Syracuse has so many powerful subsidiary city-states in Sicily, the people of these city-states have long been dissatisfied with Syracuse, and even the people of Syracuse are dissatisfied with Dionysius'' tyranny!¡±

    ¡°Oh?!¡± Antonios became interested and said, ¡°Exin it more in detail.¡±

    ¡°Syracuse has been fighting externally in the past few years, and the scale of the war became massive that the money and supplies consumed are enormous. So Dionysius forcibly demanded high tribute from the various subsidiary city-states and not even sparing the people of Syracuse, and even increased the special war tax levied to 25%; Moreover, he demanded not only money but also men. So before each war, each city-state must provide arge number of soldiers. Yet once the war ended, the families of the wounded or killed soldiers would receive nothing; Furthermore, he supported tyrants in the various city-states to deal with those who resisted him. Therefore, not only did the people of the city-states resent him, but even the nobles became discontent with him. Unfortunately, they feared his power and did not dare to resist¡­

    Dionysius'' men must know this, so I don''t think they would dare draw all their troops against you¡­ And the Sikurians of Megalos began cursing him privately after Dionysius led his army to attack Magna Graecia yet was defeated in this expedition. A few days ago, when the news of our fleet defeating Syracuse''s navy reached Megalos, not only the freemen and ves but also the citizens of Sikuri became a bit excited. It even made Theonia the topic of discussion among the town''s people, which made my task much smoother. Previously the two nners of the riots showed no interest, but they suddenly took the initiative to contact me¡­

    That was the case here in Megalos, and the situation of the other city-states should be simr. I feel that these city-states in Sicily are now like a pile of dry firewood that only needs a kindle to burn into roaring mes! Now that the news of his majesty defeating Dionysius'' army in battle has spread to Sicily, I believe it will significantly impact the people! And as long as you, milord, can defeat the Syracusan army once in Sicily, Sicily will definitely be chaotic!!¡± Seraphinus said ardently, with an excited glint in his eyes.

    ¡°It won''t be that easy to defeat the Syracusans in Sicily.¡± Antonios said bitterly. Still, after hearing Seraphinus report Sicily¡¯s situation, he became a bit more confident, ¡°But we only have a few soldiers now, so his majesty mentioned the Sicels to me beforeing here. Do you think they can join us to deal with the Syracusans?¡±

    Seraphinus thought about it and shook his head by saying, ¡°Although the Sicels are natives of Sicily, they are different from the Lucanians and Bruttians of Magna Graecia; they are far less savage¡­oh, no, brave and fierce.¡± Seraphinus suddenly remember that these two races were already citizens of Theonia, so he hurriedly changes his words, ¡°The Sicels live the same as us Greeks, except that they prefer living in the mountainous part of Sicily. However, they are a race that can''t be trusted: When the Carthaginians attacked, they defected to Carthage; When Syracuse had gotten the advantage, they sided with the Syracusans¡­

    In the end, the gods punished them for their treachery. Dionysius pretended to ally with them, but after Carthage¡¯s defeat, he murdered the king of Sicels, Agileus, and sent an army to sack the main town of the Sicels, Agyrium, and eradicate it.

    Yet when Dionysius came to invade our Magna Graecia, the Sicels still sent him some soldiers. So I think the cowardly Sicels will never dare join us to attack Syracuse, however, they might not attack us either and remain neutral. But supposing Syracuse loses, they will definitely join the victorious side¡­¡±

    Antonios now understood that this is a race that bullies the weak and fears the strong.

    Note: In fact, it is not only the Sicels who have such traits, but all other Sicilian city-states and races due to the unique political situation in Sicily: In the past hundred years of history in Sicily, there were only two super-powers on this ind ¨C Carthage and Syracuse, and there was no third power topete with them. So on this rtively closed and small ind, the various city-states and forces can only depend on the strong because if they resist, only destruction awaits them. Of course, they still have a few days of peace and quiet when Carthage and Syracuse remain in a deadlock. In the history Davos knew in his previous life, it wasn''t until the intrusion of a mighty foreign power, Rome, that Sicily''s closed political and military environment was wholly destroyed. In the end, Rome unified Sicily. But in this book, will the bnce of power in Sicily breaks now that the Theonians appear in Sicily for the first time?

 Chapter 536: Cheirisophus Proposal

    ¡°The area near the ruins of Agyrium has now be thergest gathering ce for the exiles from Catania, Naxos and other city-states. Agyrium was no longer a threat after the Sicels did not elect a new king since Agileus¡¯ death due to Dionysius¡¯ suppression, resulting in the various Sicel towns no longer united. Rather, the Sikurians, Tauromenians, and the mercenaries in Catania who became a threat as they asionally raid them.¡± Seraphinus continued, ¡°Milord, you can increase your soldiers by around 5,000 if we could gather all those exiles into Megalos!¡±

    ¡®A group of untrained rabbles from various city-states are worse than a group of ves in battle.¡¯ Thought Antonios but did not say it aloud. He then looked at Agyrium¡¯s position that Seraphinus pointed out: It was located on the western side of Mount Etna and could be reached from Megalos by going west through Alcantara gorges. However, Tauromenium''s location threatens this passage, ¡®Could 200 soldiers defend against Tauromenians¡¯ attack?¡¯

    So Antonios asked, ¡°Will the ves and freemen there cooperate with us once I lead my troops to attack Tauromenium?¡±

    Seraphinus shook his head and said, ¡°I am afraid that would be difficult. Dionysius had given Tauromenium for the Campanian mercenaries to upy. Although they numbered less, the city of Tauromenium was notrge. Besides, with Tauromenium having little arablend, they didn''t need many ves, so they often sold the captured exiles to Catania and Sikuri. And since there was no port, the freemen didn''t go to Tauromenium either. With neither a port nor arablend, what would they live on?¡±

    Seraphinus recalled something with fear showing on his face, ¡°I once visited the city of Tauromenium. It was located high up on the mountain with steep terrain, and the only way to reach it was a winding path. I am afraid our soldiers would pay a heavy price if they want to attack it, and also-¡± He didn''t finish his words, but he obviously did not think that the first legion could capture the mountain city.

    Antonios was slightly disappointed.

    Seraphinus continued, ¡°But if you were to attack Sikuri instead, milord. The ves and freemen in there will surely be of help! Due to Dionysius destroying several city-states, the whole of southeastern Sicily now has spaciousnd but small poptions except for Syracuse and the surrounding city-states. And as far as I know, most of the ves and freemen in many city-states are exiles. So just like the case of Megalos, they are always eager to overthrow Dionysius'' rule and rebuild their homes. However, even though they were aware of the situation, the citizens of these city-states did not take effective measures to stop it because their newly acquirednds and ports needed numerous people to take care of them¡­¡±

    The situation that Seraphinus described was tempting, but Antonios had no intention of doing it. He wanted to capture Tauromenium because he wanted to fully focus on dealing with Syracuse''s attack with his might, so he preferred securing the northern side of Megalos. Otherwise, once Syracuse attacked from the south, the mercenaries in Tauromenium woulde from the north, and the colonists of Locri and Medma in Messina were to send reinforcements andpletely surround Megalos.

    Antonios then thought silently, ¡®It seems that we can only strengthen Megalos'' defence while waiting for the arrival of those exiles and decide on the next step after seeing the situation.¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Cheirisophus, Sparta''s envoy, returned to Sparta, Agesus had received the order of the Gerousia to go to Corinth and rece Praxitas tomand the Spartan Allied Army and continue attacking the city of Corinth.

    Cheirisophus came to the Gerousia to report about his mission.

    The Spartan elders, who were over 60 years old, were surprised by Theonia''s stubborn attitude of wanting to defeat Syracuse in such a dire situation. However, what surprised them even more, was that Theonia actually defeated Syracuse''s navy.

    After a while, elder Diopetus asked, ¡°Cheirisophus, since the Theonians arrogantly refused our offer of friendship, the war in Magna Graecia will continue. Now that you have just returned from Magna Graecia and know the situation, what are your suggestions?¡±

    ¡°Esteemed elders, Dionysius is determined to conquer Magna Graecia while Davos is determined to avenge his people. The two sides are like a pair of red-eyed rams that words alone cannot make them stop fighting. So if we, Sparta, can''t find other ways to mediate the war except for words, the war in Magna Graecia will continue until one side falls¡­¡±

    The elders remained silent for a while: With most of Sparta''s energy nowmitted to the war in Corinth while a small part of their army was still in Asia Minor, they didn''t have spare energy to open up another battlefield.

    After some time passed, elder Leucippus sighed, ¡°It seems that Syracuse can''t help us soon!¡±

    Praxitas, the regent of king Agesipolis of Sparta, attended the Gerousia in his stead and said, ¡°Cheirisophus, who do you think will win this war between Syracuse and Theonia?¡±

    Once he asked this question, the other elders looked at him with a stunned gaze, and the meaning expressed in their eyes was, ¡®Does this even need to be asked?!¡¯ Although Theonia won the naval battle, they would still need to fight the final battle onnd. However, the difference in strength between both sides is obvious, so the final winner will likely be Syracuse. Since Dionysius could lead an army of 80,000 that even Sparta didn''t even have!

    But Cheirisophus appeared hesitant. He thought for a while before saying, ¡°Although Dionysius had a clear advantage in strength, Theonia has Davos. In every war that had taken ce in Theonia previously, we thought they wouldn''t win due to the situation before the war. Yet, they all won it, resulting in Theonia bing a city-state union that we have to pay attention to just after a few years. And Davos, having repelled the Samnites in central Italia and returned to Thurii, was said to lead the Theonian fleet and have miraculously defeated the far more powerful Syracusan navy. Now that he is leading the Theonian army head-on against Dionysius'' Syracusan army, it is tough to judge the victor and the loser!¡±

    ¡°You should notpare Dionysius to those foolish strategoi Theonia encountered before!¡± An elder retorted, ¡°After all, Dionysius had defeated Carthage!¡±

    ¡°Davos!¡­¡± Diopetus sighed, ¡°Cheirisophus, I remembered that you suggested for him to be a special guest of Sparta.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I proposed it previously.¡± Cheirisophus answered truthfully.

    ¡°It''s unthinkable that the young man who was insignificant a few years ago would now be a headache to Sparta!¡± Diopetus faced the other elders and said with a grave expression, ¡°We need to seriously consider Cheirisophus¡¯ assumption and our response if Theonia really defeats Syracuse!¡±

    Hearing this, the elders were surprised and fell into pondering. As a result, they were surprised to find that even though Sparta had little contact with Theonia Union, their rtionship was not good. On the contrary, they heard that Theonia had signed a friendly agreement with Athens, Sparta''s sworn enemy. Thus once Theonia won the war in Magna Graecia, the western Mediterranean that Sparta considered a safe area has now a huge hole. So while dealing with the traditionally powerful city-states such as Athens, Thebes, Corinth and others to its hegemony, Sparta would now need to guard against the hostility of this powerful city-state union in the west, which would sharply increase the pressure they face!

    Many elders became sombre when thinking of this.

    Then some elders feigned ease and said, ¡°Those are just assumptions. Theonia chance of winning is small!¡±

    ¡°We could just eliminate Theonia¡¯s chance of winning!¡± Another elder said angrily.

    ¡°And? How to do that? Send an army to support Syracuse in Magna Graecia?! We have already devoted most of our warriors in Corinth, so could we still send more troops?! Or do we gather our other allies to help? Unfortunately, we ced all our previous attention and investment on the western Mediterranean in Syracuse, so our understanding of Magna Graecia is not as good as that of Athens!¡± Infuriated that the elders had removed him as themander of the Spartan Allied Army, so Praxitas indulged in mocking them, ¡°Oh, right, there is still our colony ¨C Taranto! Unfortunately, Theonia easily defeated them just after winning the naval battle against Syracuse! As you can see, this is the western Mediterranean you have nned out for decades ¨C a pile of trash!¡±

    The elders be tongue-tied for a moment.

    At this moment, someone quietly said, ¡°Maybe¡­we can have a friendly negotiation with Theonia?¡±

    Everyone''s gaze immediately turned to Cheirisophus.

 Chapter 537: Sudden changes in the war situation

    ¡°Friendly negotiation? How?¡± Leucippus frowned and asked.

    Suddenly, the entrance to the meeting ce was pushed open, and the ephor Endius came in.

    Leucippus, the presiding elder, was very dissatisfied and shouted, ¡°This is the most sacred ce in Sparta! As an ephor, don''t you know the procedures that one must go through to enter here?!¡±

    ¡°I apologise, esteemed elder Leucippus!¡± Endius bowed to apologise. However, he still couldn''t hide the excitement on his face, ¡°Because the elders stressed the need to know the progress of the Corinthian war at all times, so I-¡±

    ¡°It seems that there is some good news.¡± Leucippus looked at him and slowly said, ¡°Speak up and share the joyous news as there is too much unpleasant news during this time.¡±

    ¡°From the war report in Corinth, King Agesus captured the Port of Lechaion.¡± Said Endius loudly.

    ¡°Port of Lechaion¡± The elders immediately became excited.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the isthmus city-state of the Peloponnese leading to central Greece, Corinth was the main battleground in this war between the Spartan Alliance and the anti-Spartan League armies.

    Half a month ago, the fierce battle thatsted more than half a year left the Corinthians with heavy casualties and massive losses, resulting in the people in the city feeling confused about the prospect of the war. Some pro-Spartan citizens began taking action and were ready tounch a riot to overthrow the ruling oligarch faction and let Corinth surrender to Sparta. But the ruling faction learned of their n and immediately took action by brutally arresting and killing the pro-Spartan faction.

    The massacre weakened Corinth''s strength and shook the people. Hence, the victims'' families quietly opened the city gate and let Praxitas lead a thousand heavy infantries into the outer perimeter of the city of Corinth.

    The Corinthians responded by quickly mobilising heavily armed troops to encircle them, while their allies Argos and Thebes also sent reinforcements. And the two sides fought numerous fierce battles: Although they could not repulse the Spartanspletely, the Spartans did not gain more ground. Thus the Spartans upied part of the outer perimeter of Corinth and were in a stalemate.

    But Sparta''s Gerousia was fed up with Praxitas'' long-term failure to make progress in Corinth, so they decided to rece him.

    When Praxitas learned about it, he was furious. In addition, he was distressed by the endless attacks of the enemy inside the city that he simply led his troops to retreat from the outer perimeter without taking any further offensive action, giving the Corinthians a chance to breathe. Then the Athenians led many carpenters and craftsmen to urgently repair the damaged walls, restoring the Corinthian soldiers'' morale.

    On the west side of the southern end of the isthmus is the city of Corinth and on the east side is the city-state of Argolis, which was mainly defended by the Argives. The two cities were connected by a long wall thatpletely blocked thend route through the isthmus. On the other hand, the reinforcements from Thebes and Athens were at the north of the city and could reinforce the east and west through the isthmus at any time.

    So when Agesus arrived outside Corinth to take over the army, he faced the enemy¡¯s rising morale and reinforced city defence. After knowing the battlefield situation, he did not continue the strategy of a frontal sh by the formermander Praxitas.

    Agesus pretended to attack the city of Corinth by force but tasked his younger brother ¨C Teleutias, to quietly lead the elite troops to ride in the ships, bypass Corinth, andnd in the port of Lechaion by surprise, which is located in the north of Corinth and close to the Corinth Canal.

    Taking the Lechaion defenders unprepared, the Spartans soon upied the whole territory.

    So when the Gerousia received the pleasant news, Agesus had repeatedly defeated the army sent by Corinth to recapture the port. Afterwards, hemanded the army to capture the port of Solygea, which was not far from Corinth and also belonged to the anti-Spartan League.

    A few dayster, Agesus continued his efforts and led his army and ships to capture the port of Pireon, a port further north in Corinth and was the only traversable route connecting Corinth to Boeotia. After Sparta captured it, the Spartans now surrounded Corinth in all directions except for the eastern side connected to Argolis. But more importantly, Agesus used this port as a base and sent his army north along the west side of the isthmus and soon entered the Boeotia region, capturing Sicion, Cleonae and other city-states one after another, shaking the city-states in Boeotia, and resulted in the rest of the city-states to send envoys to Agesus'' camp to beg for peace. In the end, even Thebes sent an envoy under the people''s petition.

    With such a trend, even the Corinthians began to falter.

    During this time, Agesus was shrouded in the aura of victory, looking as if he was the arbiter of all Greece, washing himself of the humiliation of being ¡®crippled¡¯ for the past decades.

    But suddenly, the Athenian strategos Iphicrates led 3,000 mercenaries he personally trained, entered the city of Argolis and finally Corinth through the road on the east side of the isthmus.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Rudiae, the capital of the former Messapi kingdom, is located in the centre of southern Apulia, surrounded by t fields and dense forests, where agriculture and animal husbandry are rtively well developed. And it is still the central town of the Messapians.

    In the council hall of Rudiae, the archons of the Messapian city-states, such as Alytia, Uzentum, Manduria, Mesania, and Orria, had gathered together¡­and at the centre of the room was the archon of Rudiae, Pasimeus. This tall and imposing Messapian noble was a distant rtive of the former Messapian King, Artas, and had far superior political skills. After years of hard work, he pretty much controlled the council of Rudiae so that he could easily get elected as archon every year. There is even a rumour about him spreading in the city ¡®we sent off the old king and weed a new one!¡¯

    ¡°Pasimeus. There is no need to wait as it seems that our allies won''te.¡± The archon of Uzentum ¨C Karminus uttered.

    ¡°Be patient; the Peucetians wille. As the Peucetians are the farthest from here, it is only natural that they will bete.¡± Admonished Timogeras, the archon of Alytia.

    ¡°Timogeras, I heard that Alytia has recently been in close contact with the Peucetians. It''s no wonder that you speak up for them as Alytia is now almost the territory of the Peuceti!¡± Brindisi''smanding officer ¨C Tyus'' sneered. After Brindisi''s recapture, the Messapian city-states elected the tribe of Tyus, a former great noble of Rudiae, to settle in Brindisi because the original Messapian residents in Brindisi had been killed or resold as ves by the Tarantine. ording to the prior agreement between the two sides, his n and a Peucetian n would each upy half of the urban area of Brindisi. Hence it was inevitable for the two sides to have conflicting interests, especially in the management of the port, which made Tyus resent the Peucetians more.

    ¡°Who said that we, Peucetians, won''te?!¡± A loud voice rang out from outside the council hall as Poulo, the Peucetian king''s subordinate, pushed open the room and strode in, ¡°If you hadn''t repeatedly dyed our attack on Taranto, that made us think you were going to cancel the n again, we would havee long ago!¡±

    Pasimeus smiled and said, ¡°That was for us to wait for a better opportunity, and that time has nowe! After the Tarantine suffered a heavy defeat against the Theonians, they lost most of their citizens. Furthermore, Theonia defeated Taranto''s ally ¨C Syracuse, in Crotone. And now that the two sides are facing each other in Scylletium, it is now the best time for us to attack Taranto confidently!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the backyard of the great chieftain of Potentia, Pamot was negotiating with Ulle.

    The tribal chieftain impatiently said,

    ¡°Great chieftain, with Theonia upying Compsa, I can now lead my tribe back as my tribe''s territory is no longer in danger¡­but you should know that the evil Samnites burnt down my territory, and my tribe''s warriors suffered heavy casualties¡­ Now, I don''t even have enoughbour to rebuild our settlement. So would it be possible for you to give me some Samnites prisoners and enough food?!¡±

    Pamot felt embarrassed, ¡°Unfortunately, even though Davos gave us a lot of food before he left, those tribes who returned to their territory took a lot. Hence the city''s food supply is still tight, and I can only give you a part of the amount you requested. However, if you want your tribe to survive this winter, it would be best if you could think of a solution yourself.¡±

    ¡°Why should I be the one to think of a solution and not the other tribes?!¡± U felt it was unfair.

    ¡°Because your tribe is close to Compsa.¡± Pamot uttered.

    As someone who became a chieftain, U was certainly not a fool, so he quickly understood the great chieftain''s intention, ¡°What if Compsa doesn''t have enough food as well?¡±

    ¡°If Compsa were short of food, Polet would''ve asked me for help.¡± Then Pamot calmly said, ¡°U, the Samnite prisoners are not ordinary ves. Can you tame them with your tribe having little warriors left?¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry, great chieftain. Have you forgotten which Potentian tribe has the most experience dealing with Samnite prisoners? There is no one else but our tribe!¡± U proudly said.

    Pamot stopped talking as if it was indeed a fact. In the past, U''s tribe was adjacent to the Samnites, so whenever there was a conflict between the two races, they would often hand over the Samnite prisoners to U''s tribe to deal with. Moreover, most of U''s tribesmen could speak the Samnitenguage.

    ¡°Besides, If you hadn''t asked us to free those Greek ves, I wouldn''t be here anxiously asking you for prisoners.¡± Uined again. But when he saw that Pamot was about to speak, he hastily added, ¡°I know! I know! Elea is now our ally, and we need to get on good terms with them!¡­¡±

 Chapter 538: Arriving in Campania

    U imitated Polet''s tone when he persuaded them before and helplessly said, ¡°Elea, the fragile hare that we used to bully, now relied on the Theonians to ally with us¡­¡±

    Pamot saw his uneasiness, so he wanted to persuade him. Suddenly, he saw his subordinate rush in to whisper something.

    Noticing Pamot¡¯s expression changing, U hurriedly asked, ¡°What happened?¡±

    Pamot turned to him and said seriously, ¡°Theonia defeated Syracuse''s army.¡±

    ¡°The Theonians really won?!¡± U''s eyes widened in surprise and murmured, ¡°Lord Davos is amazing! Does this mean that Theonia now owns Magna Graecia?!¡­¡±

    ¡°It''s not only Magna Graecia¡­¡± Pamot vaguely said. When he heard the report, he could only sigh as his only hope turned into nothing. He said, ¡°While going back to your territory, bring 20 sheep and give them to Lord Alexius as a congrattory gift¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Because of his impression of the Samnites from his previous life''s history, Davos asked Alexius to lead the army to attack Compsa cautiously.

    After Davos lured and defeated the Pentri and Caudini''s tribe in Poseidonia, the Samnites'' camp in Potentia encountered a camp disturbance that caused heavy casualties on the Hirpini tribe. The Samnite warriors were like lost dogs that were in constant panic in the cold, windy and rainy winter, suffering from hunger, losing their direction while fleeing the mountains, encountering wild animals, catching a cold and encountering the Lucanian search teams.

    The tribal chieftains such as Lesguk gathered some Samnite warriors and fled to Compsa. However, none thought that a small city with demoralised and exhausted warriors could block the joint army of the third legion and Potentia, who had high morale, so the Samnites hurriedly fled north.

    The Caudini chieftains anxiously led the defeated soldiers back because they were worried that there would be changes in the Campanians near their territory after the Samnites'' tragic defeat that would shock central Italia.

    Lesguk was also anxious to return to Maloenton. Although the four Samnite tribes used to get along harmoniously, now that the Hirpini tribe suffered such a disastrous defeat and with Pentri and Caudini''s proximity, Maloenton would be in some danger once the other tribes have bad intentions. Thus he must return to his territory as soon as possible.

    Another important town of the Hirpini tribe, Abellinum, had its great chieftain, Berani, killed and his son, Garni, captured. So the other chieftains who escaped from death were eager to go back and elect a new great chieftain.

    However, Abellinum''s chaos can''tpare to Pentri¡¯s, whose whole tribe¡¯s leaders, from the great chieftain Tolek to the various chieftains, had mostly died or were captured. It would take a long time for the entire tribe and territory to stabilise again.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the joint army of Theonia and Potentia easily captured Compsa, they began discussing whether to continue head north.

    Polet strongly demanded to continue the attack, arguing that the Samnites suffered greatly and were demoralised. Furthermore, their abandonment of Compsa was evidence that they should take this opportunity to eradicate the Samnite''s threat in the north.

    On the other hand, Phryntor objected because the mountainous area''s terrain to the north of Compsa was getting higher and higher and moreplex. In apletely unfamiliar area, the Lucanian soldiers and Potentian warriors would get easily ambushed if they rushed deeply, and it would be difficult to transport the supplies. Most importantly, Theonia''s military focus was Syracuse, so it was not advisable to expand the war as Theonia could not afford to maintain two battlefronts.

    Although Alexius supported Phryntor''s opinion, he also had his idea: That is to try attacking Irna.

    Irna is the only seaport city of the Samnites in the west, but the Samnites didn''t build it. It was a city-state established by the Campanian Greeks that encountered the same fate as Poseidonia and was upied by the Samnites a hundred years ago.

    More than 20 metres north of Poseidonia is Irna. The terrain between the two cities is t without any mountains and only lush forest, while soft sandy beaches fill the coast without cliffs and reefs. If the Greeks were to own thisnd, they would''ve cut down the trees to make ships, levelled the ground for farming and filled the shoal to build towns and ports, but the Samnites didn''t build a town on thisnd that their tribe had acquired. The scouts had reported that the nearestrge Samnite settlement was more than 10 metres away from the coast, near the mountain''s edge.

    With Irna having no fleet, the Theonia-Potentia joint army could transport the supplies they needed by sea, which was the greatest advantage for the army''s preparation to go north. So how could Alexius give up this wonderful opportunity? Thus he quickly decided to attack Irna with the agreement of Polet.

    Initially, Alexius wanted to keep Potentia''s troops in Compsa, but Polet insisted on participating in attacking the Samnites.

    Hence Alexius could only leave Kesima with a brigade and some Potentian warriors to defend Compsa. At the same time, he would lead the Theonia-Potentia joint army of about 5,000 men and march northward along the coast while the fleet loaded with supplies set out from Poseidonia.

    The area they were passing through was Hirpini''s territory. However, the Samnites of the Hirpini tribe no longer had a leader, and their great chieftain Berani had almost taken out all the young and middle-aged men of each tribe when they invaded Potentia. But now, the Samnites who are lucky to escape death and capture were either fleeing or had returned to their home devastated. Thus no one dared to stop when they heard the Theonian army''s attack! Instead, they took their families and fled to the mountains, allowing the joint troops to arrive at the city of Irna without encountering any attack.

    Irna was originally a medium-sized city-state, but

    Because most Samnite tribes did not want to live by the sea, the medium-sized city-state, Irna, became a small city after the Samnites upied it. Afterwards, the warriors were conscripted to fight in the south, but only about one-third of the tribal warriors escaped. So when they heard that the Theonian army wasing, the whole city trembled in fear.

    In the early days of the Samnites'' upation of Irna, they suffered numerous attacks by the Campanian League, who wanted to recapture the city. But when the Hirpini''s chieftain asked for help to defend the city, he gathered arge Samnite army to repel the Campanians, which resulted in the Campanians'' failures. As time passed, the Samnites grew stronger and threatened the core area of the Campanian League. Yet the Campanian League, headed by Neapolis, were too busy taking care of themselves that they had no intention to retake the long lost Irna. Thus Irna''s territory had not been in war for decades and would only go north to harass the Campanians.

    But now that the Theonian army was about to attack, the people in Irna became distressed: They found that the city wall of Irna had been in disrepair for many years, and the city''s defence was almost in ruins. At the same time, the Samnite army has suffered a disastrous defeat, so even if they send someone to the chaotic mountain, who else could they look for?!

    Even though the people of Irna panicked, they were unwilling to abandon their hometown, where they had lived for a hundred years! So just as they hesitated, Alexius arrived with the army.

    But instead of immediately attacking the city, Alexius calmly asked the soldiers to build the camp and unload the supplies delivered by the fleet anchored on a nearby beach.

    Two dayster, he nted all the Samnite tribe''s gs that they captured under the city wall of Irna. Afterwards, he gathered ten ballistae and fired stone projectiles, knocking down a wooden sentry tower behind the city wall, resulting in bursts of shrieks in the city. He then sent people to order the people in Irna to surrender.

    As the terrified Samnites urgently discussed, an elder said thought-provokingly, ¡°Everyone, the situation has changed dramatically. Abellinum and Maloenton had suffered hard and wouldn''t be able to protect Irna. Besides, with Irna¡¯s distance from the mountains, it is vulnerable to enemy attacks. So even if the Theonians did not attack, the Campanians in the north and the Potentians in the south would take advantage of our losses and take their revenge, resulting in Irna never having peace! We might as well take advantage of this war that resulted in a massive reduction of tribes in the mountains and move out as there are some good settlements for us to choose from¡­¡±

    After a fierce debate, mostly everyone epted his proposal. Thus the people of Irna quickly sent messengers out of the city to meet Alexius to say, ¡®We, the people of Irna, are willing to give up the city as long as you can let everyone in the city leave safely.¡¯

    Polet objected, but Alexius epted their proposal without hesitation. Allowing a few thousand Samnites to leave with their belongings in exchange for obtaining this strategically important ce without bloodshed was not a big deal at all.

    As the people of Irna nervously passed through the heavily guarded army camp, the third legion strictly abided by their agreement and did not vite it anyway, which further confirmed Theonia''s reputation for ¡°keeping their promises¡±.

    After the third legion sessfully entered Irna, Alexius stopped the military operations and had the scouts monitor the Samnties'' movements in the mountain while ordering the soldiers to fortify the city.

    As there was a convenient sea route, Alexius received the war report of Davos'' army defeating the Syracusan army in battle even earlier than Pamot.

 Chapter 539: Port of Syracuse

    This fantastic news relieved Alexius from his worries.

    But then, the Campanian League in the north sent an envoy.

    While the Samnites engaged in a massive war with Potentia and Theonia, the Campanian city-states, the Samnites'' enemy, just watched in silence. It was only after the victor was decided and Theonia''s battlefront had closed in on Campania that they sent an envoy.

    The envoy hade from Pompeii, a city-state only separated from Irna by a small Sorrento Penins, just over 20 metres apart and next to it is Mount Vesuvius.

    His reason foring was to investigate whether the Theonians would threaten Campania.

    Alexius then said unhesitantly that they only came to fight back against the Samnites'' aggression. Rather, they wish to get along well with the Greek city-state of Campania without any malice or aggression.

    Afterwards, the envoy happily went back to Pompeii along with Alexius'' small request to exchange their spoils from the Samnites for food.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Mikalis, a Syracusan citizen and his ancestors were native inhabitants that lived here for generations. Besides owning two acres ofnd and a fishing boat, he even has a store in the city to sell his fishing goods, so if it wasn¡¯t for the high war taxes levied by Dionysius every year, his family''s life should be prosperous.

    When the repeated news of the victory of Syracuse''s army in Magna Graecia was announced in Apollo Square, the people cheered with mixed emotions. In his opinion, any hostile force would be vulnerable under the attack of such arge force as Syracuse, so Mikalis felt regret because the goddess of luck failed to bless him to be chosen when the citizens were assembled in the square for the campaign. Thus he lost an excellent opportunity to plunder Magna Graecia and improve his current situation.

    But things have changed in the past few days. The unpleasant news of the two disastrous defeats of the Syracusan navy that they almost lost all their ships had doused the excited Syracusans with a bucket of cold water.

    A never before heard Theonian fleet had defeated the Syracusan navy that roamed the Ionian Sea?! The Syracusans couldn''t believe what they heard, so they cursed the navarch Leptines and thought angrily that his foolishmand led to the disastrous defeat! And that he should''ve been reced after losing the sea battle against the Carthaginians!

    Some people even shifted the responsibility of this defeat to Dionysius as they believed that Dionysius didn''t rece him because of his nepotism!

    Compared to the displeasure of the people in the city, a different scene happened in the port. With the ship numbering more than 400, it needed around 90,000 sailors. So even though more than half of these sailors were from Syracuse''s allies, a small half hade from the poor and freemen of Syracuse. And those sailors'' situation wouldn''t be good whether the ships sunk or captured.

    As the depressing news spread to almost every household in the port and the bay, these poor people became angrier at the oppressive Dionysius as they worried about the safety of their loved ones. For months, words of discontent against Dionysius spread in the port and the city, such as, ¡°We are so poor because those foreigners(Dionysius'' mercenaries) have taken away thend that should be ours and upied the various position of the city-states that should be ours!¡±

    ¡°Even if we earn more drachmaes, it is still not enough to catch up with the pace of Dionysius'' taxation!¡±

    ¡°Dionysius likes the mercenaries more than the citizens of Syracuse! Instead of being the suprememander of Syracuse, he is more suitable to be the leader of mercenaries!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    But in the past few days, a new rumour quickly spread through the port, ¡°I heard that the Theonians hated only the tyrant Dionysius. So if we could overthrow his dictatorship, Syracuse and Theonia could reach a peace agreement, and the 14,000 Syracusan sailors imprisoned in Theonia could safely return home!¡­¡±

    The rumours were so vivid that many people in the port believed them, so they soon spread throughout the bay and to the neighbouring city-states.

    When Mikalis heard the rumour, he was startled as it was an open demand to overthrow Dionysius. And he believed that it was the Theonians'' scheme!

    If even he could see that, the intelligence department of Hipparinus would not remain indifferent. So not only did they increase the patrols in the port, but they also dispatched many undercover people to roam throughout the bay area to interrogate the people¡­however, it has instead intensified the resentment and anger of the port people towards the upper echelons of the city-state. With the people''s undisguised angry stare, the patrolling soldiers were frightened that they would patrol in groups of more than 20 people and dare not wander alone, lest they get killed.

    Thus a silent confrontation between the port people and the city-state gradually appeared. And the most obvious example is the work efficiency of portbourers is decreasing, the speed of the merchant ships unloading slowed down, and the goods piled up in the dock take too long to move to the warehouses resulting in the umtion of more and more goods, almost leading to the dock getting blocked. The merchants, however, did not dare to get angry as it would likely anger these people working with grievances, which would lead to a conflict that would still end up with them the ones suffering.

    Mikalis didn¡¯t need to worry as he travelled between the port and the market for many years. Moreover, he is modest and has a good rtionship with the fishermen in the port.

    He even hired fishermen to fish by using his fishing boat and would fish early in the morning. So by the time he arrived at the port inte morning, the fishing boat had already returned to the fishing dock.

    For the port''s cleanliness and hygiene, Syracuse built the fisher dock in the outermost and remote location of the port. After all, the dock''s fishy smell was too heavy that flies, mosquitoes, and insects would often swarm those dead fish and shrimp.

    Naturally, Mikalis did not feel disgusted. On the contrary, he felt satisfaction at walking on the dock and looking at the baskets of fresh fish unloaded on both sides of the road.

    ¡°Tethytes, how''s your harvest today?!¡± Mikalis waved to his fishing boat, which was moored from a distance.

    Tethytes was a very experienced fisherman. Apart from his first-ss boating and fishing skills, he is also good at judging the fish''s presence, so Mikalis paid double the sry to hire him.

    At this time, Tethytes was sitting on the bow and enjoying the gentle sunshine as he calmly said, ¡°Spring just came, so the fish won''te out as much because the sea is still cold. And with Poseidon sheltering them, how can we have a good haul?!¡±

    Mikalis looked at the two baskets of fish on the shore: mackerel and cod filled one basket, and prawns and squid in the other. He was already more than satisfied with this harvest. But he naturally knew that Tethytes had higher requirements on himself, so Mikalis jokingly said, ¡°While there is time and the weather warmed, can you set out to sea and cast a few mores?¡±

    Tethytes yed with the mud stain on his finger and reminded him, ¡°I can sail out to sea again, but can you sell it in time? You should know that Poseidon punished wastefulness!¡±

    Because there were no refrigerators in this era, they had to sell the freshly caught fish on the same day. Otherwise, it would rot the next day and get thrown away. Even though the Greeks liked to live on the seashore, their staple food was still grain, while fish was only a supplementary food. In addition, the increase of the Syracusans'' tax burden had decreased the purchasing power of ordinary citizens, which naturally affected the sales of fish. So not to mention spreading a fews, selling the two baskets of fish before the market closed was already problematic. By then, he could only take the remaining fish home, cook them for the ves or feed them to the pigs and dogs.

    Mikalis sighed and did not reply. He thenmanded the ves to carry the wooden basket into the wagon.

    But suddenly, another fisherman on the boat shouted, ¡°Hey Mikalis, did you hear that the Theonians defeated Dionysius'' army?!¡±

    ¡°How is that possible?! Where did you hear the news?!¡± Mikalis was shocked and couldn''t believe it.

    ¡°How could that be not possible? If our navy could lose to the Theonians, then our army could also lose to them too!¡± Instead of grieving over their defeat, the fisherman had an odd gloating expression on his face, ¡°This news had now spread on the port, and some merchants from Magna Graecia confirmed it. They said Syracuse lost miserably in this battle, so it''s now the turn of those city people to grieve!¡±

    ¡°Whether the city people cry or the port people cry, Syracuse''s defeat is not good for us.¡± Tethytes said faintly.

    ¡°Not true. With this loss, it''s time for Dionysius to stop the war and make peace with the Magna Graecians.¡± The fisherman said eagerly, ¡°If there is no war, there will be no war tax!¡±

    ¡°I''m afraid that Dionysius would continue this war! Not only will he increase the tax, but¡­like you and me might get drafted as sailors.¡± A trace of worry finally appeared on Tethytes'' face.

    ¡°I will never die for Dionysius! He should end this war!¡± The fisherman shouted.

    Mikalis didn''t have the time to listen to what they said as he walked back with heavy steps. He couldn¡¯t feel happy that he escaped a disaster by not participating in the expedition. Rather, the news of ¡°The Syracusan army''s defeat in Magna Graecia¡± weighed heavily on his mind as it reminded him of the great storm in Syracuse when the Carthaginian army reached the city a few years ago¡­

    ¡®Fortunately, the war happened in Magna Graecia!¡­¡¯ Then he began thinking about those tens of thousands of soldiers trapped in Magna. If they could not return, it would be difficult for the appointed officials of Dionysius to calm the popce!

 Chapter 540: Dionysius Officials

    The ve drove the wagon slowly away from the fishers'' dock.

    Mikalis then noticed the fishermen andbourers on both sides of the road watching him leave indifferently. Only now did he realise why he felt the strangeness when arriving at the dock: Usually, the fishermen would more or less greet him when he came, but except for the few fishermen he hired, everyone else was silent, and a strange silence enveloped the whole dock today¡­

    It had made him feel uneasy.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In fact, the news of Syracuse''s army''s tragic defeat in Magna Graecia began to spread in the city just as Mikalis rushed to the port.

    When the Syracusans learned of this shocking news, they all rushed to the city hall near the square with suspicion and panic, wanting to question the acting ruler Philistus at this time to confirm the authenticity of the news.

    But unlike the loud noise outside of the city hall due to the increasing number of people gathering, the inside was unusually quiet. Although there were only a few people inside, everyone had graved expression on their face as the news they received wasn''t only the tragic defeat of Syracuse''s army but also the order of the all-powerful suprememander Dionysius to send reinforcements.

    ¡°It''s hard to believe that 80,000 troops and more than 400 ships¡­such a powerful force was defeated by Theonia, who wasn''t as powerful as us!¡± Herolis broke the silence with a long sigh.

    ¡°No one remains invincible, especially in such a difficult expedition that crosses the sea. Anyway, with the wealth and poption of Magna Graecia, all the sacrifices are worth it as long as Syracuse bes the final victor. Isn''t that right, Lord Herolis?¡± Hipparinus, the chief intelligence officer, looked at him and said coldly.

    ¡°Yes, if it leads to victory!¡± Herolis said seriously without avoiding Hipparinus'' threatening tone, ¡°But that is only IF! The current situation is that our Lord Dionysius and our citizens are besieged in Scylletium, which is two to three days¡¯ travel by ship from us, and our waiting for our reinforcements!¡±

    ¡°Everyone, I have never doubted the final victor of this war is us!¡± Philistus spoke loudly to diffuse the possible conflict between the two, ¡°Although Theonia''s performance is indeed surprising, I am afraid that they have already done all they could to win the battle. While we in Syracuse still have enough men and money to put together another army and devote to the war in Magna Graecia, which is something that the Theonians can''t resist!¡±

    ¡°Philistus, you are right.¡± Herolis softened his tone, ¡°Still, it is not easy to gather an army of 20,000 men and hundred ships in a very short time.¡±

    ¡°Although it is not easy,¡± Philistus said with determination, ¡°We must still do it. It''s for Syracuse''s survival!¡±

    Philistus then looked at Macias, the former Campanian mercenary leader and the remaining strategos that Dionysius appointed, ¡°Strategos, how many soldiers do you think we can draft in Syracuse?¡±

    After thinking for a bit, Macias replied, ¡°At least tens of thousands. We could mobilise more than 5,000 people outside the city alone, but inside-¡± Macias unconsciously looked out of the hall and showed concern, ¡°I am afraid it won''t be easy to mobilise them for war again at the current situation.¡±

    By ¡°outside the city¡±, Macias did not mean the ports and bays but the mercenaries ced by Dionysius on the city''s outskirts, who had gotten citizenship andnd, making them more loyal to Dionysius. At the same time as Dionysius relocated the poption of the conquered city-state, he also ced the mercenaries dominated by the Campanians to upy thend that the neighbouring city-states were forced to abandon. In these years, dozens of new viges were created outside the city, which rapidly expanded the territory controlled by Syracuse and made Syracuse the most powerful city-state in Sicily and even the western Mediterranean. But it had led to the growing tensions between those inside the city, those on the outside, and those in the port.

    Philistus rubbed his temple, obviously feeling a headache from the growing public resentment. He then said, ¡°Herolis, you are responsible for conscripting soldiers in the city.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Herolis looked at Philistus in surprise.

    ¡°It can''t be helped. It might work if only you go as the people prefer you.¡± Philistus said half-jokingly but with a serious expression.

    Herolis hesitated and tried to argue several times and wanted to say something. But in the end, he said helplessly, ¡°Alright, I''ll take care of this.¡±

    Philistus became half-relieved at his promise, so he continued, ¡°We did not recruit troops from G, Kamarina and Agrigento¡­and those city-states in the south coastst time, so the remaining shortage of soldiers shoulde from them. Lord Kalidmus, we will leave you the task of going out to those city-states and having them send troops.¡±

    Kalidmus, who had remained silent, nced at Hipparinus and saw him nod slightly. Then he said, ¡°I will immediately go to these city-states and ask them to send troops!¡±

    As a rtive of Hipparinus and a member of Dionysius'' inner circle, Kalidmus served as second in power only to Philistus. And whenever Dionysius was away from the city, his secret mission was to keep Philistus in check. Thus he would not leave Syracuse easily without Hipparinus'' consent.

    Philistus continued acting as if he had not seen the silent exchange between the two men, ¡°Although the army is easy to solve, the ships are much more troublesome. Besides not having enough time to build new ships, we also don''t have a strong fleet, so we can''t send them to Magna Graecia even if we have more troops. Therefore, you should also ask those city-states in the south for ships while you conscript the soldiers. If we were to add them together with our more than 50 triremes moored in the port, we could barely form a fleet of 100 ships. However, that is still not quite enough. We need more triremes to be able to defeat the Theonian fleet, so I will send an envoy to Cyrenaica to buy or lease their existing triremes¡­¡±

    Herolis couldn''t help but say, ¡°We already borrowed arge amount of money from Cyrenaica and haven''t paid it back, so how could Cyrenaica lend us their ships?!¡±

    ¡°It is because we haven''t paid them back that we would be able to get their ships.¡± Philistusughed.

    Herolis immediately understood what he meant: It would be the best way for Cyrenaica to help Syracuse win the war if they wanted to get back the money they lent and its interest immediately. Otherwise, they would lose everything once Syracuse was destroyed.

    ¡°Well then, please go andplete your task immediately. I hope that we can form the reinforcements and fleets that Lord Dionysius needs in five days!¡± Philistus spoke in a gentle but firm tone.

    As everyone left after another, Philistus stopped Herolis, ¡°You need to persuade those people making trouble at the entrance.¡±

    Herolis smiled helplessly, ¡°Hmm, I''ll try. But even if I can persuade them back now, they wille again next time.¡±

    ¡°The situation will change by then!¡± Philistus said confidently.

    ¡°I hope so.¡± Herolis replied expressionlessly.

    When everyone left, Hipparinus said with discontent, ¡°Lord Philistus, back when Lord Dionysius was leading his army out of Sicily, I had reminded you that Herolis was in close contact with Philoxenus and his people! And he had even dered at the banquet, ¡®the power of kings is nothing but a fancy veil!¡¯ which is an open expression of displeasure to Lord Dionysius. I had hoped you would temporarily imprison him until Lord Dionysius returned. Yet not only did you oppose it, but gave him power, in case-¡±

    ¡°What Herolis said at the banquet was drunken nonsense; there is no need to take it seriously. Besides, I know Philoxenus and his people well. Apart from drinking, chatting and letting out their dissatisfaction, they couldn''t do anything else¡­¡± Philistus, as a schr, knew that group better. However, considering Hipparinus'' status, he patiently persuaded him, ¡°Despite Herolis'' minor faults, he has outstanding abilities like calming the grievances of the people outside and, more importantly, recruiting the citizens to be soldiers¡­who else could do these things besides him?! He is undoubtedly my best helper in a situation as bad as now!¡±

    Hipparinus, however, coldly said, ¡°With his great influence among the civilians, he would do the greatest harm once he wants to make chaos!¡±

    ¡°Have you discovered something?¡± Philistus asked.

    ¡°Not yet. But his ves went in and out of the port a little more than usual during this period. And with the current chaos and countless rumours in the port, I am afraid that there are Theonian spies causing trouble!¡±

    Hipparinus'' words made Philistus'' countenance grim, ¡°It is your duty to monitor anomalies and keep the city-state, and I have no right to stand in the way. So if you found Herolis to be acting in an unusual way that would harm Syracuse, I will disregard my friendship with him and will certainly imprison him! After all, a riot in Syracuse will jeopardise our safety!¡± Philistus looked cold and stern while implicitly reminded that: As Dionysius'' most loyal follower and rtive, the popce''s perception of Hipparinus was no better than Dionysius¡¯ and that they are all in the same boat.

    ¡°Lord Hipparinus, I have decided to send 200 mercenaries to the port. So I also hope that you can find the Theonian spies hiding there as soon as possible and restore the port''s order!¡±

    ¡°I''ll try my best!¡±

 Chapter 541: Herolis

    Philistus sat on the wooden chair for a while after seeing off Hipparinus¡­

    Although Dionysius and Philistus paid more attention to Theonia when the Theonian envoy came to Syracuse to protest, they didn¡¯t regard them as equal. Yet now, 80,000 soldiers and more than 400 ships ¨C such a powerful force sufficient to sweep through Sicily were unexpectedly defeated by Theonia, who independently supported Magna Graecia?! If Dionysius and he had known that it would result in such a situation at the start, I am afraid that they would rather postpone the attack for a few more months to make some preparations, but it''s already toote for them to regret it. The only thing they could do now was to win this war with everything they could; otherwise, Syracuse''s fate-

    Philistus could not stop shivering when the ruins of Catania, Naxos and Carthage, who were forced to seek peace, appeared in his mind. Although Sicily''s situation is currently calm, who knows whether this calm will breed a greater storm?

    After clearing up his worries and was about to summon the finance minister to discuss the cash and food needed for the second expedition, Philistus saw Hipparinus, who had already left, burst in again in a hurry with an unconcealed panic on his face.

    Philistus'' heart jolted when he heard Hipparinus say in a hurry, ¡°I just received an urgent report from my men that the Theonians hadnded in Sicily and captured Megalos!¡±

    The bad news came one after another, like a hammer striking Philistus and making him dizzy. After grabbing the table as support, he sharply asked, ¡°Is this report true?!¡±

    ¡°I think the Sikurian''s messenger woulde soon asking for help.¡± Hipparinus said anxiously.

    Philistus was shocked that he suddenly shouted to his subordinates, ¡°Quick! Quickly call Herolis, Macias, Kalidmus, and the other officials!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although the meeting ce remained the same, the atmosphere became tenser. Although everyone was already shocked at the news of the Syracusan army''s defeat in battle, that had happened in Magna Graecia after all. But now that the war had reached Sicily, their sense of urgency became even stronger. However, what worried them more was Theonia''s daringness to send troops to Sicily, which showed that they were confident ofpletely defeating their army in Magna Graecia and that Dionysius'' situation in Magna Graecia was terrible.

    ¡°How many Theoniansnded on Naxos?¡± Macias asked the most crucial question.

    ¡°My men reported that they have about seven thousand, and most soldiers wore all-ck armour. From our intelligence about the Theonian army, that was something only soldiers of their so-called ¡®official legion'' could wear. Furthermore, they could attack quickly as the enemy had only taken just more than an hour to upy Megalos since their discovery. Although there were riots among the Naxosian ves, we could still see that they are not Theonia¡¯s regr army!¡± Hipparinus reminded with extreme seriousness.

    The others frowned even more.

    ¡°Regardless of their strength, we must eliminate them as soon as possible!¡± Philistus nced at everyone with a serious expression, tapped his left hand hard on the table and loudly reminded, ¡°I am afraid that our army''s defeat at the Battle of Magna Graecia had given some city-states in Sicily other ideas. Still, the news of Theonia''snding in Sicily will only unsettle the seemingly calm situation in Sicily, as evidenced by the riots of the Naxosian ves! Therefore, we must wipe out this army as quickly as possible and use this victory to tell the other city-state in Sicily that, ¡®We Syracusans are still powerful!¡¯ only then could we maintain the current situation; otherwise, it will bring us endless trouble once this panic spread!¡±

    ¡°I will immediately go out to summon the soldiers for war, and I could at least get 6,000 soldiers. In addition to the thousand mercenaries on the ind of Ortygia-¡±

    Hipparinus immediately interrupted Macias before he could finish his words, ¡°We can not summon the mercenaries on the ind of Ortygia! Their duty was to ensure the safety of Lord Dionysius, his family and all the officials!¡±

    Herolis rolled his eyes slightly.

    ¡°Can we call up our citizens in the city tomorrow?¡± Philistus asked.

    Herolis shook his head and said, ¡°That would be difficult. The people causing trouble outside the city hall have not yet stopped, and I estimated that it would take at least three days to have them gather in the square¡­¡±

    ¡°You still have to do your best!¡± Philistus didn''t have much hope at Herolis, so he said to Macias, ¡°I will now send someone to inform our allied states in the north, Taunis, Leontinoi, Catania and Sikuri, to gather their armies and for you to lead them north tomorrow. With Theonia invading Sicily and taking Megalos, these city-states will be the first to suffer, so they should do their best. At the same time, we will recruit more troops to reinforce you¡­¡±

    ¡°With our allies'' troops, especially Catania, I think they would be enough to deal with the Theonians!¡± Macias said confidently, ¡°I''ll head out and gather the soldiers now.¡± With that, Macias simply stood up and left.

    ¡°Lord Kalidmus, send envoys to our allies in the south to urge them to provide troops as soon as possible and immediately lead them to Megalos after gathering them!¡± Philistus continued.

    Knowing that the situation was urgent, Kalidmus did not argue with Philistus and immediately agreed.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Herolis finally persuaded the people outside the city hall to leave, it was already dusk. He then returned to his residence, exhausted.

    But after closing the door, his seemingly exhausted energy immediately recovered as he hurried to his study, followed by his most trusted ve ¨C Thesta.

    And as soon as he sat down, Herolis hurriedly asked, ¡°Is there any news over there?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, master.¡± Thesta quickly and carefully handed over a piece of parchment folded into small squares.

    After quickly opening it, Herolis saw a dense and strange symbol for the outsider. However, he knew that these strange symbols were the mysterious ¡®Davos'' numerics¡¯ popr in Theonia.

    Herolis suppressed his excitement and said to Thesta, ¡°Go outside and wait.¡±

    After Thesta left the study and closed the door, Herolis pulled out the book¡¶The Histories¡· from the bookcase. Afterwards, he searched the page number, number of lines and the first few words corresponding to the numbers on the letter. However, that was not the end, as a few small ink dots at the front of the letter indicate that he needs to count back a few from the words he found are the real target. Only after he connected these words could he read the message that the Theonian head of intelligence in Sicily wanted to convey. And the reason for suchplexity is that even if they captured Herolis'' trusted ve and took the letter away, Hipparinus wouldn''t understand its secret. What''s more, Hipparinus'' men might even throw it away if they were careless and thought that it was something the ves scribbled.

    In fact, it had taken Herolis several days of painstaking study before mastering it, making him sigh at the thoroughness, carefulness and orderliness of the Theonians in this regard that they were far better than Syracuse, which already had decades of intelligence experience, and gave him confidence in Theonia.

    And Theonia''s performance on the battlefield had made him even more confident of them.

    After reading the ssified letter, he wrote back a reply in the same way. He then called Thesta and said, ¡°Tomorrow early morning, bring two containers of wine to Philoxenus and personally tell him that the weather is warm, so he should go out more.¡±

    Thesta immediately repeated what Herolis had said. After nodding with satisfaction, Herolis carefully handed him the folded parchment, ¡°After delivering the wine, go to the wine shop and wait there. Only when someone matches the code will you hand this to him.¡±

    ¡°Understood, master.¡± Thesta was already familiar with this matter. However, he did not leave immediately after receiving the order but hesitantly asked, ¡°Master, I heard Dionysius lost in Magna Graecia. Will Dionysius'' rule be overthrown?!¡±

    Herolis knew after seeing the longing in Thesta''s eyes: Thesta was originally a citizen of Catania, but Dionysius'' massive invasion had destroyed his home, killed his family, and he himself became a ve, so his hatred for Dionysius was extremely deep. But because of this, Herolis trusted him to do these things.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Herolis said without hesitation. He then saw off Thesta happily.

    At this time, a memory emerged in Herolis'' mind from a few months ago: At that time, a merchant said to be from Cyrenaica wanted to buy wine, but due to therge quantity, Herolis decided to negotiate with the merchant in person.

    Who knew that on the day of the meeting, the young merchant turned his back and solemnly said, ¡°Esteemed Lord Herolis, I am a Theonian citizen named Antrapolis. I have bought you the sincere greetings of Lord Davos, the archon of Theonia, to you¡­¡±

    And it was Antrapolis'' idea to use Herolis'' wine merchants outside the city to deliver messages and then have ves frequently hang out on the port to distract the intelligence officer¡­

    ¡®The winner and loser will be divided within a few days!¡¯ Herolis clenched both his fist as he was both nervous and excited¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Knowing about Hielos'' attack on Medma, Davos sent Orophes, who had already gained some insight into Syracuse''s siege towers, to lead more engineers and experiment on Medma.

 Chapter 542: Syracuses Allied Armys Attack

    While Hielos slowed down the siege, he wantonly cut down trees to make siege engines.

    As the Theonians were about to attack Medma, the Locrians confronting the Caulonian army wanted to rescue them but could not do so.

    But what worried them more was that once Theonia captured Medma and the Theonia-Rhegium joint troops rushed out of the old path from the west to east, Locri''s situation would be even more dangerous!

    Thus Locri sent five penteconter and paid a heavy price of two ships sinking and two ships getting captured to take a huge risk to break through the blockade of the Theonian fleet and enter the port of Scylletium. It allowed Dionysius to realise that they weren''t the only ones using the peace talks to dy the time, as Davos also did not stay idle. Davos had not only forced Caulonia to surrender but also dared to divide his troops to besiege him while defeating the Locrian army, capturing Terina and Hipponion. Now, even Medma was in danger! They hadpletely isted Scylletium and Locri. From this, he could infer that Davos had no desire to make peace at all!

    This discovery rmed Dionysius, ¡®Apparently, that young archon was not as politically naive as his age, but as insidious as his militarymand. While cing me in the dark, he rapidly devoured our allied forces in Magna Graecia with the expectation to eventually wipe out my army here once and for all!¡¯

    Now aware of Davos'' real intention, Dionysius could no longer sit still and wait for his death. Thus he had to prepare first, regardless of when his reinforcements could arrive.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following day, Antonios met the man that Antrapolis'', the head of Davos'' intelligence department in Sicily, sent. He brought with him Antrapolis'' proposal to use Megalos as bait to lure Syracuse and its allies to attack in order to create a void in the internal defences of the city-states of Catania, Leontinoi and Syracuse to give a chance for Dionysius'' opponents to riot.

    After a rough understanding of Antrapolis'' arrangement in several major city-states in the eastern and central Sicily, and to reduce the obstacles in their future attack, Antonios agreed.

    So while waiting for the enemy¡¯s attack, Antonios released the elderly, women and children of the Sikurians who they had previously imprisoned to partly reduce food consumption and partly to have these people carry words to the Sikurian poptions: The Theonians hade to Sicily only to take revenge on the Syracusans who had invaded Magna Graecia. They had no intention of encroaching on the territory of any city-states or making enemies. On the contrary, they were willing to join the Sicilian city-states in overthrowing the tyrannical rule of Dionysius.

    Antonios had also sent a brave Naxosian to Tauromenium in the north to convey the same message to them. But the messenger he sent did not return, which shows the hostility of these Campanian mercenaries towards Theonia. Fortunately, they did not rush out of the city and down the mountain to attack the crowds of exiles moving eastward along the Alcantara gorge.

    As these exiles steadily entered Megalos, the first legion soldiers warmly weed them, and Antonios'' avable soldiers gradually became sufficient. After asking Ladician and Lasiperatus to settle the new arrivals, he issued leather shields and spears to the young and the physically fit men. Thus, Antonios had nearly 2,000 more soldiers avable in reserve in just two days.

    That afternoon when Antonios was delighted with the strength of his army, he received the report from the scouts saying that an army with a g with a three-legged symbol and numerous soldiers had entered Sikuri.

    Antonios now knew that Syracuse''s army wasing.

    Soon after, his few cavalry scouts were driven away by Syracuse''s cavalry and had to return to the north bank of the Alcantara River. Then several strategoi wearing helmets with coloured plumes appeared on the south bank; under the protection of the guards, they gestured something in the direction of Megalos and stayed there for some time before leaving.

    As it was alreadyte today, Antonios knew that there would surely be a fierce battle in the town of Megalos tomorrow!

    After suppressing the tension in his heart, Antonios carefully recalled in his mind the arrangement he had made in the past two days to find out if he had any oversights and negligence¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next, the weather was clear and windless, a suitable day forbat. But for Antonios, this is not good news as he hopes it will rain heavily and increase the difficulty of Syracuse''s attack on Megalos. Especially if the Alcantara river rise, which would give Syracuse a headache at thinking of how to even cross the river.

    By morning, the lookout on the sentry tower could see the surging dust in the south.

    However, the port was the first to discover the enemy as the Syracusan fleet appeared near the port.

    But Antonios'' expression did not change even after receiving the report. He knew inwardly that the Syracusans were advancing bynd and sea to cut off the first legion''s retreat, block their reinforcements and encircle them.

    So he hurriedly asked, ¡°How many triremes they have?!¡±

    ¡°Although we aren''t clear about the specific quantity, it seems they have no less than our fleet!¡± The lookout on the port''s lighthouse answered. Unlike the troops onnd, the fleet on the sea can upy more than 6 kilometres when sailing, which can not be scouted just by relying on the fixed sentry towers on the shore.

    Antonios certainly knows about it and that he could only rely on Seclian.

    ¡°Tell the people and patrols in the port to immediately withdraw to the town!¡± Antonios immediately gave the order. The port was not within the town of Megalos, so the walls did not protect it. And with arge army pressing in, there was no need for him to waste limited manpower to protect a port that was impossible to defend, so he had to concentrate his force on theingnd enemy. At this moment, Antonios couldn''t care even if the Syracusan fleetnd on the coast nearby and burned the port where the supplies of the first legion were being transferred¡­

    Despite that, the Syracusan fleet did notnd at the port nor burn it as the Sicilian merchant ships that travelled this route in the past two days had informed them of their discovery: The Theonian fleet would depart from Rhegium every morning, arrive at the port of Megalos, patrol until the afternoon, and then return to Rhegium. Thus unless the Syracusan fleetmander were a fool, anchoring in the port at this time would only make their ships a target for the arriving Theonian fleet to practice their ramming.

    The Syracusan fleet navarch was Paronisus, a Syracusan noble by birth and was one of the friends who supported Dionysius to the throne together with Herolis and had some talent inmanding ships. Hence after Carthage defeated the navy led by Leptines, the Syracusans called for him to be the new navarch.

    However, Dionysius still appointed his brother as the navarch when they invaded Magna Graecia. It naturally displeased Paronisus, who thought it was Dionysius'' way of helping his brother recover his reputation as everyone knew that the Theonian fleet was weak and that it would be an easy victory.

    Unexpectedly, the news of the disastrous defeat of the Syracusan navy woulde again and again, shocking Paronisus and making him angry. So this time, in order to eliminate the Theonians thatnded, and in consideration of themoners'' and freemen''s resentment against the city-state, Philistus deliberately chose Paronisus to be the fleetmander and use his prestige among the sailors to make their attack smoother. At the same time, Paronisus wanted to prove to Dionysius that he had made a wrong choice with a big victory.

    Currently, the Syracusan ships were anchored outside the port, with the bow facing north as they waited for the arrival of the Theonian fleet.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Theonian fleet headed south along the east coast of Sicily.

    Day after day, the repeated task of escorting the Rhegian fleet and patrolling the sea near Megalos and other tasks had bored Seclian. Furthermore, Seclian felt helpless as he watched the Theonian army attack the enemy of Magna Graecia on a massive scale and achieve brilliant results. On the other hand, the navy that firstid the foundation for the Theonia Union''s victory could only assist the army in escorting, patrolling and other irrelevant tasks. If not for the importance of this expedition to Sicily, he would rather stay in Rhegium and let his men do this boring task for him.

    Just as he sat on the deck wondering if he should take the fleet south to explore the great port of Syracuse, the lookout on the mast suddenly shouted, ¡°Fleet ahead! They have numerous warships!¡±

    As soon as Seclian heard this, he immediately stood up, ¡®the fleet that could appear in this sea can only be Syracuse!¡¯

    Seclian finally got excited, ¡°Syracuse''s fleet ising! Blow the salpinx, and let''s wee them!!¡±

    At this time, the ship captain said worriedly, ¡°Navarch, the Syracusans are prepared. I am afraid they have more warships than us, and we don''t even have the corvus on our ships. Do we¡­do we temporarily-¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Seclian shouted, ring at him angrily and reprimanded him, ¡°I didn''t realise you were a coward! Just because we don¡¯t have the corvus, you are now afraid to fight a naval battle?! Do you still deserve to be a brave sailor?! If so, you can just go ahead and be a heavy infantry!

    Decades ago, the weak Athenian navy could defeat the Persians. Then the inexperienced Spartan navy defeated the Athenians. Today, I, Seclian, can defeat the Syracusans with the most orthodox way of naval battle without relying on the infantry!¡±

    Seclian looked proudly ahead while the captain bowed his head in shame.

 Chapter 543: Ballistae Bombardment

    ¡°Sound the attack; raise the starry g!¡± Seclian ordered again.

    Seclian was determined to forge ahead, but he was not reckless and knew that the cooperation between their ships was undoubtedly not as good as that of their opponents as they had just established the Theonian fleet. Therefore, he needed to take advantage of their sailors'' high morale and good condition due to their sessive victories in great battles so that they could advance bravely and fight a one-on-one battle and use their high morale to defeat the enemy and win. But if he had followed the ship captain by temporarily evading, it would dampen the sailors¡¯ morale. Furthermore, he was sure the Syracusan troops were attacking Megalos, so if the Theonian fleet retreated in front of the enemy and ignored their friendly forces, the only thing waiting for Seclian after the battle would no longer be the smiling face of Davos but the ruthless ¡®Theonian Military Law¡¯!

    Thinking of this, he red at the captain and said, ¡°You are not suitable to be the captain; go to the stern and be a lookout!¡±

    Seclian then ignored the captain''s excuses, went to the ship''s side, waved to the penteconters apanying the ship to signal them toe closer, and then shouted, ¡°Tell the sailors of every warship that this is thest battle of our Theonian Navy in this war. It is theirst chance to earn merit and win the honour and rewards, so don''t miss thisst opportunity!¡±

    As each captain ryed Seclian''s word in the bottom cabin, the excited sailors shouted, ¡°For victory, wipe out the Syracusans!!!¡­¡±

    During the previous two hours of sailing, the sailors rowed slowly. But at this time, it seems that their body had warmed up. Under the repeated urging of the captain and after finishing their rations, the wooden oars in their hands seemed to have be weightless, and the sailors began to gradually speed up their rowing speed at the scorching excitement of battle¡­

    Suddenly, someone sang the ode of Hades, and soon all the sailors sang in unison: As they sang the sacred and solemn lyrics passionately, it broke through the cabin and rang out in the blue sea¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the Theonian fleet found the trace of enemy ships, the Syracusan fleet naturally saw the other party. And Paronisus, who had long been waiting, had arranged formation and immediately ordered to attack.

    It is reasonable to say that the Syracusan ships were the first to attack; whether it is the increase in the rowing speed or the ship''s momentum, they should have had the advantage when both sides collided. But in fact, the Theonian ship''s impact is slightly stronger than Syracuse, which just shows the difference in the morale of both sides'' sailors¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The vast sea surface and the endless tide had covered up the collision between warships, making the battle at sea tend to be noiseless.

    Onnd, Macias led the Syracusan allied army of about 12,000 men and arrived on the south bank of the Alcantara River. But instead of immediately attacking the town of Megalos as Antonios had expected, he ordered his army to halt their advance and began forming up. At the same time, they drove hundreds of wagons to the forefront.

    After seeing so many loaded wagons, the soldiers on Megalos'' sentry tower realised why the Syracusan army was making such loud rumbling sounds as they advanced. Then amidst the loud neighing of the animals, the lookout''s eyes widened as they saw the Syracusan soldiers struggling to unload a ballista off the wagon.

    ¡°Did you just say that the Syracusan army deployed nearly 100 ballistae on the south bank of the Alcantara river?!¡± Antonios had wanted to remain calm after hearing the report, but the slight trembling of his tone could not hide the shock in his heart.

    ¡°Yes, legatus. They had arranged not only nearly a hundred ballista but also a few gastraphetes!¡± The lookout answered.

    Before Antonios spoke, several captains looked at each other and said, ¡°How can they have so many ballistae?¡±

    ¡°I think the Syracusans have brought all the ballista in their city. Besides, I heard from his majesty that Syracuse was the first to invent it¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems the Syracusans are determined to wipe us out here in Megalos!¡±

    ¡°Then we''ll have them know the might of our first legion!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Where are the Syracusan ballistae? Can our ballista hit them?¡± Asked Xanticles, the senior centurion of the second brigade.

    ¡°¡­about 500 metres from the southern wooden wall.¡± The lookout answered after thinking for a while.

    ¡°In other words, if their ballista uses 5 kilograms of stone projectiles, it could hit Megalos'' southern wall.¡± Giorgris immediately said with concern, ¡°But for our ballista to hit them, we would need to move them forward and close to the southern wooden wall, which is not favourable to our ballista''s firing and make them vulnerable to attack. Moreover, we only have six ballistae!¡±

    Initially, it was standard for each Theonian legion to have ten ballistae, but during the Battle of Crotone, they left the ballistae and other equipment on the north bank of the Neto River. Afterwards, the army rapidly marched to surround Scylletium, so the first legion did not have time to retrieve the ballistae belonging to them. In the end, it was Davos who, considering that the first legion would attack Sicily, had urgently collected six rtiveplete ballistae from the Syracusan camp they upied and handed them to the first legion after the engineers made an emergency repair. The Syracusan ballistae were not onlyrge and bulky but didn''t have distance measuring devices, so their uracy was poor. However, they could fire a maximum of about 30 kilograms of stone projectiles.

    ¡°It seems that officers of the Syracusan army are cautious and have a detailed understanding of our way of fighting.¡± Antonios, who was also worried, said, ¡°Have the soldiers take cover and survive the early ballistae bombardments until the enemy soldiers start attacking the town¡­¡±

    But before Antonios finished speaking, he heard a continuous thunderous sound, which made the senior officers in the tent pale.

    At this moment, the soldiers on the southern wall of Megalos saw the frightening sight of hundreds of stone projectiles and short spears raining down all over the sky like a meteor shower that even the battle-hardened veterans trembled.

    ¡°Retreat! Quickly retreat from the wall and avoid it!¡± The officers shouted anxiously.

    Fortunately, when the Syracusan put so many ballistae in the forefront, the officers of the first legion had already begun withdrawing the soldiers they sent to the wall. But a few soldiers were still left on the wall due to thedder''s narrowness and the enemy arranging the ballistae so fast.

    So at this point, the soldiers simply jumped down from the walkway. Fortunately, it was only three metres high, and it wouldn''t cause them significant injuries. Afternding, these experienced soldiers immediately picked up the long shield they had thrown down, covered their heads and crawled. Although their posture was ugly and embarrassing, their action in such a critical situation was correct.

    That was because just a moment after they jumped off the wooden wall, they heard a loud boom that shook the whole wall. Some stone projectiles hit the wall and broke the pirs; Some stone projectiles passed through the wall, smashed the muddy ground and sted off the dust. But on the dusty battlefield, the most terrible was the wooden chips that broke and flew out of the wooden wall. These hundreds of tiny, irregr wood chips scattered in all directions due to the powerful force from the stone projectiles, easily piercing the legs, feet, arms, and even the thick chest armour of the few soldiers who did not have the time to retreat further away¡­

    After a round of bombardment, the southern wooden wall was now in tatters. Part of it broke, leaving a surprisinglyrge hole; part of the wall copsed inwardly, revealing openings for the enemy to break in; and several sentry towers behind the wall had also crumbled¡­

    Taking advantage of the enemy''s reloading of the stone projectiles, the soldiers rushed forward and helped their fallen and groaningrades to the rear.

    At this time, Leotychides heard a cry not far away. As a Spartan, he hated crying the most in wartime, as it meant weakness and would affect morale.

    ¡°What''s happening over there?!¡± He roared, and immediately a soldier ran over in a panic and said while sobbing, ¡°Centurion, toon leader Pamanius, he¡­he¡­¡±

    Leotychides'' heart sunk as he hurried over.

    Seeing himing, the soldiers hurriedly went out of the way.

    A short spear fired from a gastraphetes directly pierced Pamanius'' left chest and nailed him to the wall of a wooden house and was no longer breathing.

    ¡°It''s all my fault! It''s all my fault! If I hadn''t been slow and fell, the toon leader wouldn''t have¡­run over to pull me¡­¡± A soldier pounded his chest and burst into tears.

    Leotychides nced at the soldier, who had a wood chip lodged in his thigh and blood oozing outward that stained his entire calf, ¡°Help him to the back and find the medical camp to treat him.¡±

    Then several soldiers came forward to help the wounded soldier, who still cried bitterly and didn''t want to go.

    ¡°Hurry up and heal your leg, thene back to kill the enemy and avenge toon leader Pamanius!¡± Leotychides roared, making the soldier stop crying. He immediately wiped away his tears and said to Pamanius'' body with a determined look, ¡°toon leader, wait for me in the Hall of Valour!¡±

    Then the soldiers supported the wounded soldier.

    Leotychides nced at Pamanius with aplicated expression: As his former toon leader, Pamanius had given him a lot of care and attention when he first joined the legion. But because of Leotychides¡¯ outstanding performance, he was quickly promoted to bing a centurion, while Pamanius became his subordinate instead. However, Pamanius never unted his seniority and always carried out Leotychides¡¯ orders strictly and earnestly. He was a respectable and excellent officer of the Theonian legion!

 Chapter 544: Battle of the Sea Near Naxos

    Hence only respect showed on Leotychides'' cold and arrogant face when facing Pamanius.

    ¡°Help him.¡± Leotychides said as he reached out his hand, gripped the end of the short spear and pulled it out.

    But the force of the gastraphete was too strong that Leotychides couldn''t pull out the short spear.

    ¡°I need someone with greater strength to help!¡± Leotychides said while going on a horse stance, ready to use his whole body¡¯s strength.

    At this time, another toon leader shouted, ¡°Centurion! The enemy''s attack ising again; you must wait until we have dodged this round and return to retrieve toon leader Pamanius'' remain!¡±

    Leotychides, however, ignored him.

    So the toon leader could only shout helplessly, ¡°Shield formation!¡±

    The soldiers quickly and skillfully stacked their long shields together to form a shield formation, protecting Leotychides in the centre.

    ¡°Centurion Hybaterus!¡± With this cry, Hybaterus, a centurion who had also been a soldier under Pamanius, squeezed in, stood next to Leotychides and gripped the short spear with both hands.

    The two menboriously pulled out the short spear under the booming sound of stone projectiles hitting the wooden wall. Fortunately, the gastraphete did not fire in this direction again; otherwise, the long shield would not be able to block it.

    Leotychides thenid Pamanius'' body, took off his helmet, reached out his hand to close Pamanius'' pained eyes and whispered, ¡°May the gates of Elysium open to you.¡±

    Then he stood up and said, ¡°Sitalses, you will rece Pamanius as the toon leader and send two men to carry Pamanius'' body to the rear.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Sitalses, who was once the superior of Leotychides, saluted and replied.

    ¡°Prosous*, we will use the blood of countless Syracusans as tributes to Pamanius!¡± Said Hybaterus with hatred. (Note: Leotychides'' alias in Theonia.)

    Although Leotychides did not reply, his face was equally sombre and dreadful.

    After this round of bombardment, the lookout ran forward to observe the enemy. The wooden wall had now basically copsed, widening his line of sight, ¡°Reporting, the enemy moved their ballista forward!¡±

    As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a creaking and cracking loud noise as the crumbling sentry tower finally copsed.

    Leotychides nced at the Syracusan army on the south bank of the Alcantara River and ordered, ¡°All soldiers immediately withdraw!¡±

    Not only his centuria but even the other centuria retreated.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Macias, who was on the south bank, ordered the ballista troops, ¡°Push the ballista forward by another ten metres!¡­¡±

    As the strategos Dionysius appointed to defend Syracuse and a former mercenary leader, Macias was experienced inbat and took great care in using his troops. From the detailed report of the messenger who had returned to ask for reinforcement, he learned about the battle situation of the Syracusan army in Magna Graecia, which allowed him to understand thebat characteristics of the Theonian army. Thus even though Philistus urged him to wipe out the invaders as soon as possible to ease the uneasiness of their allies in Sicily, he still decided to follow his n and proceed step by step.

    And from the information he got, Macias estimated the enemy had about 6,000 soldiers. If he added the exiles, their total strength might be more than 7,000. Yet he still did not intend to rashly attack even though he led more troops than the enemy by a lot. Rather, he followed Syracuse''s methodpiled from their numerous siege battle by concentrating first on bombarding the enemy with ballista to weaken their defence and destroy the defenders'' morale before finally sending his troops to attack.

    Megalos'' poor city defence had further demonstrated the might of Syracuse''s ballista by sting away the southern wooden walls and towers. Yet Macias still did not send his troops to attack as he nned to continue the bombardment for a day and turn Megalos intoplete ruin, consuming the Theonians and the Sicilian exiles'' energy in uneasiness and panic. Finally, wipe them out in one fell swoop once their reinforcements from allied city-states such as G and Kamarina from the south coast of Sicily arrived tomorrow. Thus the only words Macias said on this day were, ¡°Move forward! Keep moving forward! st Megalos to pieces!¡­¡±

    The Syracusans'' n was beyond Antonios'' expectations. So instead of the Syracusan soldiers attacking, what awaited Antonios was the frequentints from the leaders of the exiles as it was not only the Theonian soldiers who kept retreating but also the exiles and their families. In addition, children''s cries and women''s screams filled the whole town amidst the rumbling tremors. Torus even hoped that Antonios could lead the army to take the initiative to attack the Syracusans.

    But after being tly rejected by Antonios, Torus became so angry that he cursed the Theonians for their cowardice.

    Still, Antonios didn''t care even when Syracuse¡¯s ballistae gave him a headache. After all, with the enemy soldiers noting, it brought time for the first legion. Furthermore, Antrapolis'' suggestion made him understand the other''s n and gave him hope. Still, he wouldn''t pin all his hopes on these intelligence officers hiding and snooping around in the shadows like rats.

    However, Antonios was surprised at these Sicilian exiles: Besides the children and women, these young and middle-aged exiles could remain calm, maintain order, and not panic even in the face of the powerful ballista bombardment. Moreover, they even actively asked to go to battle and weremendable that they still carried out his orders despite rejecting them.

    After Ladician''s exnation, Antonios learned that these exiles fled to the ind mountain and gradually built a settlement after the destruction of their homes. However, these surviving exiles faced the plunder of Syracuse''s allies and the asional piging by the Sicels that they became daring, improved their fighting skills and developed the habit of obeying the majority as the years passed. After all, their fate would only be extermination if they did not unite when enemies surrounded them.

    Fortunately, the exiles'' performance made Antonios more confident that only two things worried him now:

    The first was food. Antonios stored the food they collected after capturing Megalos and the food transported by the Rhegian fleet in the storeroom near the centre of the town. But now that the stone projectiles''nding point moved forward, the storeroom would soon enter its attack range. For this reason, he could only order Ladician and Lasiperatus to have the exiles urgently move the food to the north of Megalos.

    The second is the Theonian fleet¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Unlike the start of thend battle, the naval battle had gotten intense.

    Syracuse had 50 triremes at the start, but it increased to 65 triremes after gathering the ships of Taunis, Catania and other city-states on their way north, which was only a bit more than Theonia''s 60 triremes. In addition, the Syracusan navy also had 16 other small and medium-sized ships. Yet even after having 21 more ships than the Theonian fleet and should have given them the advantage, the two sides appeared to be evenly matched.

    Although the Theonian fleet had fewer ships, their ships carried out frenzied attacks under the leadership of Seclian, making their speed and reaction much faster than that of the Syracusan fleet. In particr, the Syracusans'' ships seemed to be sluggish as they relied on their rich sailing experience in manoeuvring to deal with the enemy passively.

    Seeing the situation, Paronisus became anxious but couldn¡¯t do anything. Furthermore, the thing he worried about the most finally happened: The sailors¡¯ morale was seriously affected by the resentment of the port¡¯s people towards the city''s people!

    But suddenly, the lookout on the mast shouted excitedly, ¡°Milord, we hit the enemy gship and would soon sink!¡±

    ¡°Excellent!¡± Paronisus shouted excitedly.

    Due to the vast battlefield, the naval battle is different fromnd battles as it is more about fighting closely and sinking the enemy ship. So unlike and battle where killing themander would bring significant impact, sinking the enemy gship only has some effect! Yet it might still be enough to turn the naval battle situation around! Thus Paronisus excitedly ordered, ¡°Sound the salpinx and urge all warships to intensify their attack!¡±

    The sound of salpinx pierced through the battlefield on the sea. Yet instead of it motivating the Syracusan warships and its allies, the Theonian sailors were stirred up as they saw the red battle g flying high in front of them slowly fall¡­

    ¡®Lord Seclian is in danger!¡¯ Such thoughts resounded in the hearts of both captains and sailors.

    As the hero of the Bruttian War and the first sailor to hold the g in the triumphant return, Seclian could be said to be the pride of the navy and made all sailors proud! Andter, Seclian became the navarch. Even though he was young and energetic and would often scold his men due to their bad performance, he was cheerful, straightforward and could get along with the sailors. Moreover, he would even dare talk back to Davos for the navy¡¯s interest, winning the support of the sailors and officers.

    Thus, each Theonian ship attacked more frantically as every sailor knew very well that it was impossible to immediately reach the gship''s wreckage. And the only way to force the enemy to retreat and win this naval battle was to ram and sink the enemy ships in front of them as fast as possible, which would give them the chance to rescue Seclian, who fell into the sea!

    With such stimtion, the sailors seemed to forget about their exhaustion that their rowing speed returned to its peak at the start of the battle and before dashing short distances, stopping sharply and circumnavigating¡­ The Theonian sailors worked together and controlled the ship as if it were their own body.

    Due to the Theonians'' sudden increase in speed and agility, the Syracusan ship''s reaction was dyed, ¡°Bang!¡­Bang! Bang!¡­¡± And it resulted in either the Syracusan ship getting hit or their oars breaking one after another. So instead of the Syracusan fleet''s situation improving after sinking Theonia''s gship, it became worse.

    Paronisus became anxious. Suddenly, the lookout eximed, ¡°Milord, a ship¡­there is a ship escaping!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Tethytes, turn the rudder around immediately! Otherwise, I will tell fleetmander Paronisus about you escaping the battlefield and be punished!¡± The captain roared loudly at Tethytes, the ship''s helmsman.

 Chapter 545: Attack and Defense of the Camp in Scylletium (I)

    Tethytes looked at him innocently and said solemnly, ¡°It''s not that I want to run away; it''s just that the sailors don''t wanna fight. So even if I turn the rudder around, the sailors wouldn''t paddle, and this ship will just be a spoil for the Theonians instead!¡±

    ¡°Don''t be short-sighted! Turn the helm and go back and defeat Theonia with all our might! Else, Syracuse will be doomed!¡± The captain shouted with hatred.

    ¡°That would be better! If Syracuse lost, we don''t need to be sent to Magna Graecia to fight, let alone pay the war tax!¡± A voice sounded from behind.

    The captain turned around and saw that it was the sailors'' leader. He instantly pointed at him and angrily threatened, ¡°How dare you¡­do this! Are you not afraid of Lord Dionysius'' punishment?!¡±

    The sailor smiled, ¡°We are, of course, afraid. But with the navy''s defeat, can Dionysiuse back?!¡±

    The captain was tonguetied for a moment.

    Tethytes, on the other hand, sighed.

    The ship''s deserting triggered a chain reaction. Under the fierce attacks of the Theonians, the Syracusan warships followed suit one after another, which eventually led to the withdrawal of Syracuse¡¯s joint fleet¡­

    ¡°Lord Seclian!!¡±

    ¡°Navarch Seclian!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Several Theonian ships rushed to the area where the gship sank and where many fallen sailors floated on the sea.

    ¡°Lord Seclian is here!¡± Someone waved and shouted from the sea.

    Seclian was lying on a broken nk without moving, bleeding from an arrow in his shoulder that an archer fired on the enemy ship''s deck.

    Soon, the sailors carefully carried him onto a ship.

    After simply treating the wound, Seclian woke up from the pain. But the first sentence he said was, ¡°¡­are we winning or losing?¡±

    ¡°We are victorious, milord!¡±

    ¡°¡­wonderful.¡± Seclian was relieved of his worry. He then weakly said, ¡°¡­I''ll temporarily leave¡­themand of the fleet to Phrangos¡­after you clean up the battlefield¡­and rescue our men¡­immediately return to Rhegium¡­¡± and with that, he fell into a deep sleep.

    The Battle of the sea near Naxos(the curved gulf was still known locally as the Gulf of Naxos, despite Naxos'' destruction) resulted in the sinking of 15 triremes on the Theonian side while 18 triremes and four other ships on the Syracusan side. Although the difference in losses was not too great, the Syracusan navy still failed in its strategic attempt to defeat the Theonian fleet and dominate the waters of Sicily to encircle the Theonian army in the town of Megalospletely.

    The worse part is that the Theonian fleet defeated the Syracusan navy, which had numerical superiority even without the corvus, greatly encouraging the Theonian sailors and seriously damaging the Syracusan Navy''s morale.

    Macias, who was on thend, hadn''t even expected to witness the defeat of the superior Syracusan navy for the second time in five years. He was speechless at the Syracusan navy''s ipetence that he became warier of the Theonian army and determined to continue his bombardment on Megalos. And once the reinforcements arrived tomorrow, he would go all on their attack.

    As the Syracusan ballista kept advancing, the first legion had counterattacked with their six ballistae, but it was only a small episode. Without the protection of a tall stone wall and facing 100 Syracusan ballistae bombardment, they were like stones thrown into a torrent that had only made a ssh and disappeared in a sh.

    The Syracusan army pushed their ballistae all the way to the Alcantara river. Although it has only been a few years since the town of Megalos was made, it wasn''t a small town. Rather, it was evenrger than the city of Sikuri. And with the Alcantara river and its bank on both sides, even if the Syracusan ballistae uses 5 kilogram stone projectiles to shoot at its maximum range, it would still only cover 1/2 area of Megalos. Therefore, Antonios ordered the first legion and the exiles to retreat to the northern part of Megalos to avoid the ballistae¡¯s range and preserve their strength. At the same time, he also ordered the engineering camp to lead everyone to urgently build an earthen wall to defend the south of the town with bricks and soil from the destroyed houses.

    Macias saw the range of the ballista¡®s limit and that they couldn¡¯tpletely destroy Megalos, so he became determined to rece the stone projectiles with ming jars and shoot them into the town, set fire to it and sap the enemy''s strength while demoralising them to the point of driving them out of Megalos altogether, making it easier for the Syracusan army''s attack.

    Fortunately, the first legion¡¯s soldiers and the exiles dug a trench from east to west to make collecting soil easier while building the earthen wall, which prevented the fire from spreading and preserving the residential area in the north of the town.

    For a day, Syracuse''s ballista units continuously bombarded Megalos with stone projectiles, short spears and ming jars. As nearly half of the ballistae were damaged, half of the Megalos became ruins. But because the fire continued to burn untilte at night, it had helped the lookouts of the first legion to observe the enemy''s movements and prevent sneak attacks.

    However, the 10,000 or so exiles and their families were physically and mentally exhausted by the booming sound and the mes that had been going on the whole day. The soldiers of the first legion were simrly exhausted, so even though they had fewer losses, the long-range attacks made the brave soldiers of the first legion feel powerless, which increased their worries about tomorrow''s battle.

    In today''s bombardment, the most tragic were the hundreds of young and middle-aged citizens of Sikuri who had been captured but hadn''t been released. Because everyone was busy dealing with Syracuse¡¯s ballista bombardment, no one took care of the prisoners, resulting in them being burned alive.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At dawn the next day, a squad of the fourth legion was patrolling the wooden walls of the Theonian camp outside Scylletium.

    In early spring, there is often heavy fog in the southern Italian region as it is still warm and cold with rain beginning to fall, which usually does not dissipate untilte morning.

    In such a weather, the soldiers did not ck off. On the contrary, they became more vignt.

    Their squad leader, Appian, even repeatedly reminded his men to focus and listen to movements outside the camp. Before Syracuse invaded Magna Graecia, Appian was only a legion soldier, but after the Battle of Crotone, his squadmates elected him to take over the position after their squad leader was wounded. Examples like this aremon in the Theonian army, where wars im countless lives and make true warriors stand out in the face of danger.

    Suddenly, a soldier said, ¡°Captain, there seems to be a sound outside!¡±

    Appian was surprised, so he hurriedly motioned the soldiers to keep quiet. He then grabbed the battlement and leaned out to listen carefully.

    The other soldiers followed suit.

    Although there seemed to be a muffled noise ahead, the dense fog made it hard to hear it, so they were unsure.

    ¡®Sound the rm or not?¡¯ As the soldiers gazed at him, Appian became slightly nervous. After all, the whole Theonian camp and its tens of thousands of soldiers would have to crawl out of their warm nkets in the early cold hours of the morning, put on their armour, take out their shields and spears, and quickly gather towards their legions, brigades, centuria and toons and into their designated defensive positions once he gave the warning. That was the case during normal times, but such a massive emergency preparation would inevitably cause some confusion on a foggy day such as today. And if theyter determined that there was no enemy attack, Appian could only imagine the responsibility his squad would face.

    Appian swallowed his saliva and said to his men, ¡°Immediately inform the archers in the sentry towers and ask them to shoot an arrow at the front. While the rest would listen carefully to the movement outside the camp!¡±

    His orders were then quickly carried out.

    Appian turned around and looked at the archers in the sentry towers behind him. Soon after the archers fired the arrows, the thick fog quickly swallowed them.

    As Appian listened attentively, there were still no abnormal movements outside the camp. Although he was relieved, he felt a slight loss in his heart.

    But suddenly, a sharp scream cut through the thick fog, followed by another.

    ¡°Captain, there''s an enemy!¡± The soldiers not far away shouted.

    Appian immediately became nervous and excited at the same time, ¡°Immediately inform the camp!¡±

    As the high-pitched salpinx rang throughout the Theonian camp, the silent camp suddenly became lively¡­

    The noise had also awakened Davos. And as soon as he got up, Henipolis hurried in and said, ¡°Your majesty, the Syracusans are attacking the camp!¡±

    When Davos heard the news, he unhurriedly lifted the leather robe covering his body, and the servant brought him his clothes and armour. While changing, Davos said, ¡°Dionysius finally got out! How many enemies havee?¡±

    ¡°There is a heavy fog outside, so we don''t know how many enemies left the city.¡±

    ¡°Oh, fog! Dionysius chose a good time.¡± With the help of his servant, Davos put on his thick armour and patted it with his hand. Feeling the tightness was just right, he said, ¡°How are the left and right camp?¡±

    ¡°There has been no news so far, could it be-¡± Henipolis tried to guess and said, ¡°Dionysius concentrated his forces to attack the central camp where you are, your majesty?¡±

    Davos smiled, ¡°That''s a good guess. However, don''t jump to conclusions yet. We just need to follow our prior arrangements, defend the camp and take our time to observe the enemy''s movements.¡±

    ¡°Should I call the various officers such as Amintas and Matonis? So you can give their mission and your orders, your majesty?!¡± Henipolis asked again.

 Chapter 546: Attack and Defence of the Camp in Scylletium (II)

    ¡°Heni, don''t be in a rush. It¡¯s Tolmides¡¯ job to call the officers, so he''ll be upset if you beat him to it.¡± Davos smiled, patted Henipolis'' shoulder, and said softly, ¡°As you just started serving as my clerk, you need to adapt slowly. Now, I will give you your first task-¡±

    Henipolis quickly straightened his posture as he waited for Davos'' order.

    ¡°Have breakfast with me.¡± Davos said mischievously.

    ¡°Ah?! Your majesty, the enemy is about to attack, yet you still want breakfast?!!¡± Henipolis cried in rm with rebuke in his tone that made the servant stare at him.

    Davos, however, didn''t mind it. After signalling the servant to bring the breakfast, Davos walked towards the tent''s entrance, looked at the weather outside and said, ¡°If you don''t eat your breakfast, you won''t have the strength to fight the enemy. Currently, the soldiers outside might be chewing their bread and drinking hot soup to warm their bodies up¡­ Remember, a battle has its own rule and rhythm; we can neither be slow nor in a rush. Only by mastering the battle''s rhythm can we better maintain the soldiers'' strength and morale!¡±

    Henipolis nodded without fully understanding it.

    Unlike the calm atmosphere in the tent, the camp was tense. Because of the thick fog, it was impossible to see where the g of toons and centuria belonged, so the squad leader''s position was crucial. Besides gathering the nine soldiers under them and checking their weapons and equipment for any problems, they would also have to distinguish their superiors¡¯ shouting in the noisy camp and lead their men to rendezvous with the toon. At the same time, they would need to avoid getting squeezed out of the crowded passage.

    As the campfires lit one after another, it not only brought light to the foggy and grey weather but also the chefs of the logistics camp began cooking bread, soups and hot porridges for the soldiers of each toon.

    The Theonian soldiers didn''t rush their mobilisation near the eastern wall of the camp to defend against the enemy''s attack as the Syracusans did not yet appear in front of the trenches. In the past few days, the Theonian soldiers worked tirelessly toy various traps and fences more than 60 metres long in front of the camp to hinder the rapid advance of the enemy.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the Syracusans took advantage of the dense fog to speed up the removal of these sinister and vicious traps, Theonia gathered their nearly 40 ballistae in the central camp. (The Theonians moved these ballistae from the camp on the north bank of the Neto river on the second day after the Theonian army surrounded Scylletium.)

    Kurdorus, the ballista spotter of the siege brigade of the fourth legion, was the most experienced in the use of ballista and had an excellent performance in Crotone''s defensive war, so Davos appointed him as themander of the whole ballista unit.

    Currently, the only thing in front of Kurdorus was endless whiteness. Although he could not see any suspicious target and could not judge the distance, Kurdorus had a n. That is, to use the information in his mind: How far was the ballista''s position from the eastern wooden wall? How high are the wooden walls? How long is the area of traps outside the camp?¡­

    After a bit ofputation, he began giving orders, ¡°Elevation of 50 degrees; load 5 kilogram stone projectile; pull by three units; ready!¡±

    The herald quickly passed the order on to all the artillerists in the area.

    Immediately after, they began setting the ballista''s supporting rod, lowering the chute, increasing the elevation, and drawing the pulley. Then a creaking noise sounded with the drawstring pulling and setting it in ce. Afterwards, they ce a five-kilogram stone projectile into the chute. But because of the limitations of the craftsmanship and materials, 50 degrees of elevation was already the maximum elevation angle the Theonian ballista could achieve. The pulling by three units means that the spring torsion made of several twisted tendons was only pulled halfway. At the same time, the five-kilogram stone projectile was the smallest weight the Theonian ballista could fire for this type of projection. (The maximum weight was 15 kg, which was different from the Syracusan ballista. The Syracusan ballista required a high degree of destructive power due to their frequent attacks on other city-states in Sicily, resulting in arge and heavier ballista, capable of firing 26 kilogram stone projectile to nearly 300 metres.)

    Kurdorus nned to first warm up the ballista with a small weighted stone projectile while testing the enemy''s main force. Because the foggy, moist and cold morning of Scylletium would significantly impact the ballista''s structure, especially the spring torsion made of cattle tendon. Kurdorus then predicted thending point of the stone projectile would be about 80-120 metres outside the trench, so if the enemy attacked in force, then this area should be where most of the enemy was. However, firing a five-kilogram stone projectile would often reach more than 500 metres, so he needed to adjust the elevation angle, reduce the spring torsion''s tension, and hope to achieve the range he wanted.

    On the other hand, the legionary soldiers just sat on the ground, chewed their bread, and watched as one stone projectile after another flew into the air and disappeared into the thick fog¡­

    But in just a few moments, screams and shouts sounded in the thick fog outside the camp. Thus they had confirmed once and for all that arge Syracusan army was approaching.

    ¡°Elevation of 50 degrees; ten kilogram stone projectile; pull by one unit; ready!¡± Kurdorus, the once gentle and elegant student of the Theonian Akademia, had now a murderous aura after the nurturing of battle. However, the report from the first hit of the ballista force did not make him rejoice like his subordinates. Instead, he continued giving orders calmly.

    Retribution hade too soon! Just after the Syracusans bombarded the first legion of Theonia with nearly 100 ballistae and gastraphetes in the town of Megalos yesterday. The Theonian paid it back in the same way today.

    It''s not that Dionysius didn''t want to fight back with their ballista; it''s just that when he attacked Crotone, he brought all the ballistae to the camp on the Targines river. So when they lost the battle, they abandoned all the siege equipment in the camp as they fled for their lives. In the end, it fell into the Theonians'' hands. But with the help of nearly 1,000 engineers, craftsmen and apprentices under hismand, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem for them to make dozens of ballistae in a short time. However, there is one keyponent they couldn¡¯t immediately make: the ballista''s spring made of cattle tendon. Besides the Theonians surrounding the city, they didn¡¯t even have enough cattle as most of their pack animals were lost in the camp in the Targines river, and only a few people kept cattle and sheep in the city. Moreover, it would take nearly half a year to make a good quality set of springs, even if they have cattle. Hence Dionysius gave up making ballistae and concentrated his workforce on making other siege equipment.

    As thousands of Syracusan ves and freemen seized the time to destroy the traps and fences and then tamp thend toy nks, stone projectiles suddenly fell into the dense crowds, breaking their skulls, bones and blood sshing.

    In fact, the high parab of the stone projectile made it rarely bounce again afternding, and the total casualties would be just over 20. However, such bloody and tragic sight frightened the people around thending area that the Syracusan officers could barely calm them.

    Since the Theonians had already noticed them, the Syracusans stopped hiding and started pushing the siege engines they made out of the city. In order to make these siege engines, the Syracusans stripped almost all the residences in Scylletium, collected the door panels and wood and even cut down all the trees in the port¡­

    Thergest of whom was undoubtedly the nearly six-metre-high movable tower. Dionysius even decisively ordered his men to organise manpower to covertly pull out a small section of the city wall untilst night topletely turn it into a passageway from the inside to the outside of the city in order to transport these towers out.

    Dionysius dared to do so because Locri¡¯s warning made him realise that the cunning Theonia had built the camp and besieged Scylletium was not to attack the city but to blockade the Syracusan army while attacking Syracuse''s weaker allies. The young Davos even used peace negotiation to keep him in the dark to achieve this sinister goal! (Naturally, he ignored the fact that Syracuse was also using the peace negotiation to buy time.)

    Syracuse naturally could not allow Theonia to achieve its n sessfully. Since the Theonian army attacked the Locrian alliance, the number of troops stationed in the camp outside Scylletium would naturally decrease. Furthermore, the Theonians had also built a vast camp stretching for five kilometres to surround Scylletium, which further thinned their strength¡­

    Davos'' arrogance had given Dionysius an excellent opportunity to defeat the Theonian army. So in thest few days, the Syracusan soldiers gradually recovered from their defeat, and Dionysius even spent a lot of effort convincing the tens of thousands of freemen and ves to join the soldiers with high expectations of getting their freedom, citizenship and evennd¡­ These methods were not only done by Theonia but also by Syracuse. However, he mainly offered them to the mercenaries. This time, Dionysius expanded it to the freemen and ves in order to defeat Theonia and escape the danger they were facing. Of course, the most important reason for them to take up arms is that everyone wants to return to Sicily alive without encountering any problems.

    The nearly two thousand Theonian light infantry arrived at the wall and shot countless arrows at full force outside the camp filled with fog, which caused Syracuse to suffer countless casualties. However, the enemies still did not panic and continued with their task of removing the obstacles. But since the trap-filled area was less than 100 metres in length, they quickly filled it in under the intensified efforts of tens of thousands of people.

    Then someone shouted the order, causing these freemen and ves to dodge the iing rains of arrows and stone projectiles. After hastily retreating to the rear, they arrived hundreds of metres away from the Theonian camps where thousands of Syracusan soldiers stood in a row around a kilometres long, with piles of crudely made spears and shields on the ground.

 Chapter 547: Rebellion (I)

    Then the soldiers began handing out shields and spears to the freemen and ves who returned. Afterwards, a soldier would form a small group of ten people and return to the Theonian camp. But if anyone refused to fight or run away, these soldiers would catch and execute them to deter others.

    In the front of these makeshift teams were nearly 20,000 Syracusan soldiers and siege engines. The soldiers were arranged in a highly loose formation, carryingdders of up to ten metres long and walked on the muddy ground that the freemen and ves levelled along with the various bulky siege engines. Because many of them lost their armours and shields in the previous battle, everyone''s current equipment is rtively simple, almost like the freemen in the rear. Thus the arrows they didn''t worry about before have be the most troublesome long-range weapon they faced. Fortunately, the movable towers, arrow-blocking carts and siege wagons blocked most arrows.

    Even though they could see the terrifying stone projectiles sting into the soil from time to time, the Syracusan soldiers were not as frightened as the freemen. After all, they had already witnessed such sights many times. However, everyone still prayed, ¡°O Apollo, please bless me not to be unlucky to get hit by a stone projectile.¡±

    ¡°Bang!¡± A loud sound rang as a stone projectile hit an arrow-blocking wagon, immediately breaking it. The broken pieces of wood then injured several ves pushing the wagon, frightening the other soldiers hiding behind the siege engines since these big things were the main target of the ballista''s attack!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the other hand, the Theonian light infantry heard a rumbling sound from the front of the wooden wall that got louder and louder as if the rumbling thunder was about to release the lightning. Feeling nervous, they began increasing the speed of their shooting of arrows, bing relieved every time they heard a scream.

    But soon after, they could faintly see numerous vague figures in the white fog. Then when more than a dozen siege towers taller than the camp''s wall emerged from the thick fog and in front of the trench, the Theonian soldiers became nervous about these giants.

    ¡°Defense!¡± The heavy infantry quickly ced their long shield on top of their heads to form a shield formation.

    Then a nging sound rang out as the javelins thrown from the towers shed with the metal piece on the centre of the long shields, with a very few piercing through and causing damage to the legion soldiers. The Syracusans obviously knew that the archers wouldn''t threaten the Theonian heavy infantry, so all the light infantry on top of the towers were peltast.

    The light infantry hiding behind the Theonian heavy infantry immediately fired arrows and javelins back at the tower eight-nine metres away from the wooden wall.

    On the other hand, the Syracusans relied on the protection of the tower¡¯s wooden barrier. And if someone falls from getting hit, a new light infantry would immediately enter from the entrance behind the tower, climb to the top through thedders and rece them.

    By relying on the suppression of the tower¡¯s long-range attacks, the Syracusan soldiers below braved the rains of arrows and javelins, rushed to the trench and put a ten-metre-long siegedder on the wooden wall.

    When the Theonian soldiers rigorously constructed the camp, they dug four metres wide and three metres deep trenches with sharp wooden stakes inside. On the Theonian camp''s side, they built an earthen mound and a wooden wall on top of it after tamping the earthen mound. When adding them together, the height of the earthen mound and wooden wall would nearly be five metres high. So the Syracusan soldiers couldn''t stand under the wooden wall and could only stand on the other side of the trench and attack the city through the lengtheneddder.

    But besides decreasing the inclination of the lengtheneddder when it hit the wooden wall, it had also exposed the bodies of the attacking soldiers more to the enemies'' attack. Moreover, thedders became much more prone to swaying, increasing the chance the soldiers fell into the trenches and getting pierced by the sharp wooden stakes if they were not careful. Still, the Syracusans fearlessly ced thedders and climbed forward towards the wall one after another.

    While the towers anddders attracted the attention of the Theonian defenders, hundreds of freemen, carrying sacks full of soil, quickly ran towards the trench in front of the camp''s gate. Even though some fell from the arrows, more people seeded in throwing the sacks into the trench.

    The soldiers remaining in the Theonian camp are from the fourth and seventh legion of Theonia, with a total of 11,000 men, and all rushed towards the eastern wall for defence. But since the wall''s walkway wasn''t wide, the archers could only retreat behind the wall or to the sentry towers to continue firing their arrows at the towers outside the camp and the Syracusan soldiers rushing in their direction.

    On top of the wooden wall were mixed troops of heavy infantry and peltast: They threw javelins at the enemy in front of the trench or on thedder; Use the shields and spears to knock down the enemy climbing up the wall while using the shield to protect against the enemies¡¯ javelin attacks.

    Once the thick fog gradually dispersed and the sun shone into the sky, the offensive and defensive war of the central Theonian camp intensified¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time as the war on Theonia''s camp, the gates of the Sicilian ind of Ortygia leading to the main city of Syracuse opened and the carriage in which Hipparinus rode and his entourage came out in columns.

    The ind of Ortygia was the original settlement of the Syracusans until Gelon became the tyrant. Afterwards, the people of the surrounding city-states were massively relocated to Syracuse, reimed the ind area connected to Ortygia and vigorously developed maritime trade. From then on, Syracuse gradually became the most powerful of the Greek city-states in Sicily. But after Dionysius became the tyrant, he not only moved more Greeks to Syracuse but also, because of the two riots that nearly overthrew his rule and endangered his life, made him forcibly removed the original inhabitants of Ortygia to protect his life, turning the ind into his residence and fortress for his family, supporters and his loyal mercenaries. Then the Syracusans jokingly referred to the ind of Ortygia as ¡®Dionysius'' Acropolis¡¯.

    Naturally, Philistus and Hipparinus also lived on the ind of Ortygia as loyal subordinates of Dionysius. However, Syracuse''s city hall was outside the ind and next to the square south of the Temple of Apollo. So if there were no special circumstances, Philistus would usually rush to the city hall early to deal with the government affairs and then return to the pce in Ortygia in the afternoon to report the situation to Dionysius.

    Hipparinus, as the chief of the intelligence department, also has a position in the city hall. But because his work needed secrecy, he usually worked in his residence on the ind of Ortygia. Only when Dionysius left Syracuse would he go to the city hall to work every day to understand the city''s situation more conveniently and quickly while monitoring the officers nearby.

    Between the ind of Ortygia and the city of Syracuse was a 500 metres long and 300 metres wide isthmus that Hipparinus and his entourage had to pass. In the middle of the isthmus is a small fortress with hundreds of mercenaries stationed and a wall separating the ind of Ortygia. Although Dionysius had done everything possible for his family''s safety, this fortress further narrowed the already narrow passage.

    Suddenly, the carriage Hipparinus was riding stopped at the exit of the isthmus. Then a noise outside reached his ears, so he hurriedly poked his head out. Only to see dozens of men fighting and brawling at the isthmus'' exit. At the same time, numerous cheering people watched the event and blocked the road.

    ¡°Go and see the situation!¡± Hipparinus said hurriedly.

    Soon after returning, his men reported, ¡°Milord, the citizens heard that they were being gathered in the square today to form an army to go to Magna Graecia as reinforcements. Some citizens responded and were about to go to the square, while others thought this would only¡­result in the war continuing without end, so they blocked those responding citizens from going to the square. As a result, both sides¡­¡±

    Hipparinus looked at the cloud of dust ahead with agitation. He then cursed, ¡°What the hell is Philistus doing?! Why isn''t he sending the patrols to drive these people away?!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Philistus usually goes to the city hall early to work, but he is even earlier today. The gathering of citizens and forming an army is a major event in any city-states, especially in Syracuse''s situation. So it is necessary to maintain order in the city and ensure they can smoothlyplete this matter. Thus he wants to arrive before the citizens gather in the square and check the preparations in detail to avoid mistakes.

    To Philistus'' delight, he saw many citizens marching toward the square on his way to the city hall, ¡®It seems Herolis'' work these past days is fruitful, so we should be able toplete Lord Dionysius'' request!¡¯

    But just as he arrived at the city hall feeling grateful to Herolis, he received unpleasant news, ¡°What do you mean?! Herolis was beaten while he was on his way to the city hall?!!¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord. It was reported that several citizens were afraid to go to war and resented Lord Herolis for persuading the citizens to participate in the war mobilisation, so they assaulted him.¡±

    ¡°Where is he now? How''s his injury?!¡± Asked Philistus.

    ¡°I heard that he was struck on the head and fainted. His rtives then carried him back to his house while the patrol rushed to arrest the perpetrators.¡±

    When Philistus heard this, he could no longer sit still as he thought he was the one responsible for Herolis'' wound. After all, if he had not assigned Herolis this difficult task and told him to do his best, those disgruntled citizens wouldn''t resent him. Furthermore, the task of forming an army for the expedition in the square today was very important and risky, but things would go much better if Herolis could assist besides him.

    So, he must pay him a visit for public and private matters.

    While it was still early, Philistus quickly arranged some simple matters for his men toplete. He then took 20 guards and hurried to Herolis'' residence.

 Chapter 548: Rebellion (II)

    As one of Dionysius'' earlier supporters, he had also invited Herolis to move to the ind of Ortygia after it became the ¡°Acropolis¡± of Dionysius. However, Herolis politely declined it several times. His reason was that after his ancestor joined Syracuse''s colonisation, they had lived here for generations without moving and had been ustomed to living here. Furthermore, he is a light sleeper and would easily wake up when hearing loud noises, and the sound of the waves in Ortygia at night was too loud for him to adapt.

    Although Dionysius no longer insisted, this might be why he became dissatisfied with Herolis.

    Herolis'' residence wasn''t far. From the city hall, they walk on the west side of the square, cross the theatre''s street, then walk two hundred metres west, pass through the wealthy district, and they would arrive at his home near the intersection between the civilian and wealthy district.

    As Philistus strode forward, the guards meticulously protected him in the middle. These guards are mercenaries who were rejected and even hated by the Syracusan poption, so they are very loyal to Dionysius.

    After the ve opened the gate and saw it was Philistus knocking, he hurriedly weed him in and said, ¡°Master is lying in his bed.¡±

    ¡°Is Herolis'' wound serious?¡± Philistus asked with concern.

    ¡°Master was struck hard in the head and bled a lot! The physician just came and said that master needed to rest¡­oh, that sight was terrible! Those bastards should go to hell! Milord, please catch them!¡­¡±

    Philistus didn''t want to answer the request of a lowly ve, so he just frowned. But the fact that Herolis couldn''t do anything due to his serious wound wasn''t good news for him.

    After entering the main hall of the residence, Philistus was about to go upstairs, but the ve looked at him awkwardly. Then he nced behind him and said, ¡°Milord, look¡­¡±

    Philistus wasn''t paying any attention as he was lost in his thoughts. Only now did he realise that: Whether it was a Greekmoner or a noble, the upper floor of the main residence was the bedroom of the head of the family and his wives. Hence, outsiders are generally not allowed to set foot, so even though he considered himself a good friend of Herolis and often came here as a guest, he had never been upstairs. However, today is a special case.

    Thinking of this, he turned to face the guards following him and said, ¡°Wait here while I go up.¡±

    The guards hesitated, but they still agreed. As they were all Greeks, they naturally knew about the Greek tradition. Moreover, they hade here with Philistus many times before, and there had never been any troubles.

    Philistus continued heading upstairs alone, but the ve did not dare stop him. Instead, he quickly called another ve to entertain the 20 guards in the hall while he guided Philistus upstairs.

    Of course, Philistus could not go straight into Herolis'' bedroom in the event that women were serving Herolis inside, which would make it awkward. As a person of his status, he naturally could not act so recklessly. Thus he just let the ve go inside to inform Herolis first.

    Aftering out of the bedroom, the ve said respectfully, ¡°Milord, please go inside.¡±

    But just as Philistus passed through the door, he caught a glimpse of two dark shadows on either side of the door from the corner of his eyes, startling him. And before he could react, two arms mped down on him hard.

    He was startled and was about to shout, but a ball of linen immediately slipped into his mouth. Then he was pinned to the ground, his hands tied to his back with a rope, and the only thing he could do was stare at the big bed in front of him.

    Then Herolis, who was lying on the bed, sat up. The fact that he could move with such speed means that he wasn''t wounded at all. And in fact, there was neither bandage nor a trace of blood on his head.

    Philistus now knew that he had been fooled.

    Looking at Philistus with aplicated expression, Herolis said deeply, ¡°Philistus, I''m sorry. I can only imprison you temporarily for Syracuse!¡±

    Philistus re at him angrily. But with his mouth blocked, he could only make a muffled noise.

    ¡°Help him sit up.¡± Herolis gestured.

    Then the two men immediately pulled up Philistus and sat him on the wooden chair.

    Suddenly, they could hear the sounds of fighting. And Philistus, who was still struggling, immediately calmed down, leaned his head towards the door and listened.

    Seeing through his thoughts, Herolis sneered and said, ¡°Don''t expect anything from those mercenaries. Since I have decided to detain you, how could I forget Dionysius'' dogs? No matter how powerful they are, I have hundreds of warriors waiting for them here! When they entered my house, there were like a mouse trapped in an iron cage!!¡±

    As soon as Herolis said these words, Philistus only snorted.

    ¡°It seems you don''t believe me. After all, how can there be so many warriors in my residence when Hipparinus tightly monitors me?!¡± Herolis then smugly said, ¡°Have you forgotten that in order to persuade those nobles in the city to take the lead in sending their families to participate in the second expedition oversea. I specifically asked for your permission yesterday morning, and I remember you happily agreed. But do you know that when I went to their ce or invited them to my residence, they all came and go in a carriage, and the carriage could transport not only one person¡­¡±

    When Philistus heard this, the hope in his eyes dimmed a lot. Then his eyes widened again as he red at this good friend of his sitting by the bed that he once trusted.

    Sensing the emotion in his eyes, Herolis said deeply, ¡°Philistus. I still remember what you triumphantly said to me in the banquet you held, ¡®Under Dionysius'' rule, Syracuse will be stronger than ever. Not only will no city-state or power dare invade our city-state ever again, but Syracuse will also be the most powerful city-state, earning more honour and wealth for its citizens! And the only thing we need to do is assist Dionysius in reaching and maintaining this great goal!¡­¡¯ I agreed with your words at that time. Now, I will tell you what I really think-¡±

    Herolis faced him and calmly but solemnly said, ¡°Just like you, I had supported Dionysius when Syracuse faced the Carthaginians'' invasion, and the political situation became chaotic. After all, only Dionysius could boost the morale, unite the citizens, repel the Carthaginians, and stabilise Syracuse''s vtile political situation. Thus we had fully supported him as the suprememander of Syracuse! In recent years, he had expanded Syracuse''s territory, forced the Carthaginians to a truce, freed the Greek city-states of Sicily from Carthage''s threat, and made Syracuse the hegemon of Sicily. And the Greeks trembled when hearing his name, and even Sparta had to change their arrogant attitude and negotiate with us in a friendly manner¡­ I know this is the glory of Syracuse that you have always wished to see, so for this reason, you assisted Dionysius with all your strength!¡±

    Herolis sighed and emphasised, ¡°But what I expect is different from what you expected, and what I saw was very different from what you see!

    In my eyes, Dionysius destroyed Naxos and Catania, Syracuse''s friendly allies, just because we needed morend, poption and ves!

    In my eyes, Dionysius had the strength to expel the Carthaginians out of Sicily at one fell stoke andpletely free the ind from the Carthaginians'' threat. Yet, he negotiated a truce with the Carthaginians just for his throne even though he upied an absolute advantage!

    In my eyes, Dionysius charged many democratic Syracusans with the crime of ¡°traitor¡±, torturing and killing them because they had opposed Dionysius before. He didn''t even spare their families and threw Philoxenus into a stone prison because he told a joke!

    In my eyes, the people of Syracuse struggled because of the increasing war tax year after year. And they also need to watch their words and actions with extreme care because of the rampant mercenaries and Hipparinus'' surveince! Besides that, Dionysius expelled the people living on the ind of Ortygia for decades, even centuries, and turned the whole ind into his pce!¡±

    The more Herolis spoke, the more agitated he became. As grief and anger filled his face, he said, ¡°Dionysius is no longer the hero who wants to save Syracuse, but a demon whose hands are stained with the blood of the Syracusans and Greeks of Sicily to maintain his power! Under his dictatorial rule, Syracuse is no longer the great mother who enriched us and allowed us to exercise our rights freely, but Dionysius¡¯ tool to fulfil his desire! In order to achieve his personal greed, he drove more than 70,000 Syracusans to risk great danger just to invade Magna Graecia, which had never had any ill will towards Syracuse, leaving the bones of tens of thousands of our people in a foreignnd! If we do not act, Syracuse, our great city-state, will eventually copse at the hands of Dionysius! It was I who supported him to the seat of a tyrant, so today, I will do my best to make up for the biggest mistake I made!¡±

    After uttering the words he bottled up in his heart for several years, Herolis finally felt relieved. And with a determined look, he stood up.

    Philistus made muffled noise as he stared at him nervously while shaking his head vigorously.

    Herolis ignored him and turned his gaze to the man behind him, ¡°Go down and see if those mercenaries are dead!¡±

    But as soon as he uttered those words, his trusted ve hurriedly went up the stairs and said, ¡°Master, most of the guards are dead. Only a few managed to rush out of the encirclement and tried running out of the house!¡±

    Philistus'' eyes brightene5d up with hope when he heard this.

    Yet he then heard Herolis say, ¡°Good, everything is going ording to n.¡±

 Chapter 549: Rebellion (III)

    Philistus was startled as he watched Herolis pick up a sharp sword, lift his robe without hesitation, and make several cuts on his arms and chest.

    While groaning, Herolis smeared his blood on his body and face. After looking at Philistus, his eyes became more determined.

    Philistus, on the other hand, unconsciously shivered.

    ¡°Watch him, and don''t let him run away!¡±

    ¡°Yes, master.¡±

    After giving his order, Herolis immediately went downstairs.

    By this time, Herolis¡¯ ves followed their prior n and incited the neighbours around Herolis and the citizens, who passed through the street, to go to the square.

    Upon hearing the news that ¡°the mercenaries are attacking Lord Herolis¡±, the kind image that Herolis had painstakingly built up over the past few years and their hatred of mercenaries caused almost everyone to rush toward Herolis'' residence and block the escaping mercenaries.

    When everyone saw the mercenaries, they no longer doubted what the ves had said earlier, so the people rushed up and started beating up the mercenaries to death.

    Afterwards, Herolis, covered in blood, rushed to them and said with gratitude, ¡°My good neighbours! And the brave citizens of Syracuse! I am thankful for your timely arrival. Otherwise, I would have died at the hands of Dionysius'' cherished mercenaries! Thank you for saving me.¡± He bowed and sincerely thanked everyone.

    But everyone''s expression changed when reminded of ¡®Dionysius'' cherished mercenaries¡¯ by Herolis. Dionysius had hired the mercenaries to keep his power, but constant conflict in the city kept happening. In response, Dionysius decreed, ¡°Any Syracusans who actively provoke the mercenaries, who are maintaining the city''s order, would face severe punishment ording to thew!¡± Yet now, they had not just provoked the mercenaries but had even killed them¡­

    Seeing the fear on their faces, Herolis immediately shouted, ¡°Why did Philistus send mercenaries to kill me?! Because the city hall had received a message from Magna Graecia yesterday that, ¡®Theonia wanted to negotiate peace with us¡¯, but Dionysius and Philistus wanted to refuse. Instead, they wanted to gather more troops and send them to Magna Graecia to continue fighting against their fellow Greeks. I opposed it strongly and decided that I would tell the truth to all of you, citizens, who they summoned to the square today. Knowing what I was nning, Philistus sent mercenaries to capture me and even wanted to kill me!!¡±

    After saying that, Herolis increased his tone and shouted, ¡°Citizens of Syracuse, do you wish to stay in a foreignnd like ourpatriots who were sent to Magna Graecia before you and had a home but couldn''t return?! Do you want the city-state to continue imposing war taxes on us and force us into exile with our wives and daughters if we couldn¡¯t pay the heavy taxes?! Do you want to continue living in your own city-state, living cautiously like a foreigner while watching the smug faces of those foreign mercenaries?!¡­

    Citizens, is this the Syracuse we worked so hard to build and sacrificed countless lives in order to defeat the powerful Athenian army and repel the mighty Carthaginians?¡±

    Herolis'' deep and passionate words touched everyone present. His words revealed the citizens'' difficult living conditions in Syracuse, where a dagger hung above their hearts, which immediately provoked a violent reaction, ¡°No! That is not our Syracuse!!¡±

    ¡°We don''t want heavy war taxes!¡±

    ¡°We don''t want war!¡±

    ¡°EXPEL THE MERCENARIES!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the crowd''s excitement, someone shouted, ¡°OVERTHROW DIONYSIUS!¡±

    Suddenly, the noise quieted down. The Syracusan citizens haveunched two failed rebellions against Dionysius during the past few years. After the rebellion, Dionysius would carry out bloody killings, causing the Syracusans to fear Dionysius deeply.

    Herolis then took the chance and shouted, ¡°Citizens, what do you fear?! Dionysius is indeed terrifying, but he is now far away in Magna Graecia. With him are the mercenaries he relies on and is getting besieged by the Theonians in Scylletium. Furthermore, our fleet has suffered many losses, so it is impossible for them to safely rescue Dionysius under the Theonian fleet''s threat! Besides that, Macias took the mercenaries he left behind and even the armies of the neighbouring city-states around Syracuse! Now, there are no more troops in the city other than the two thousand mercenaries guarding the ind of Ortygia, the thousand mercenaries stationed near the southern gate of the main city and those vile informers of Hipparinus! While we-¡±

    Herolis pointed to the people surrounding the gate of his house, ¡°We have tens of thousands of brave citizens gathered in the square, along with the countless port people who are also dissatisfied with Dionysius'' tyranny! The mercenaries won''t be able to stop us! Dionysius'' underlings like Philistus and Hipparinus could not stop us! This time, we will restore Syracuse''s freedom!!!¡±

    The people around Herolis¡¯ residence were encouraged and inspired as they shouted, ¡°OVERTHROW DIONYSIUS AND SET SYRACUSE FREE!¡­¡±

    On their way to the square, citizens wearing armour and carrying shields and spears on their shoulders joined them, and even famed people and nobles such as Philoxenus had reinforced their ranks with their heavily armed n members¡­ Once they arrived at the square, the people Herolis led had increased to nearly a thousand men.

    Humans are social animals that follow the majority, not to mention the citizens had suffered from heavy taxes and war. Thus when Herolis stood on the high tform to give a speech, the thousand people below the stage cheered. Furthermore, the citizens who came to participate in the war mobilisation joined the rebels, while most of the patrols responsible for maintaining the order had also defected.

    Seeing the situation turning sour, the dozens of mercenaries supervising the abnormal situation in the square left quickly.

    Herolis and his colleagues carefully analysed the reason for their two rebellion''s failure. Besides the Spartans'' obstruction, theyck a clear n, the citizens act aimlessly and their conflicting opinions during the riots. Thus Herolis and his colleagues had learned their lesson this time, so they made a detailed n in advance.

    With the support of nearly 10,000 soldiers in the square, Herolis immediately sent 2,000 men to take over the city hall.

    There were originally 200 mercenaries outside the city hall, but a small number died at Herolis'' residence, and those sent to the square couldn¡¯t return. As a result, only a hundred guards remained in the city hall, who were soon overwhelmed by the surging two thousand soldiers.

    The soldiers easily crushed them, ughtered them one after another, stormed the city hall and captured all the officials that were still there. The citizens hated the officials for helping Dionysius, so most of them were either killed or beaten to near death.

    At the same time as Herolis led more than 8,000 soldiers toward to west in an attempt to attack the mercenaries stationed at the city gates, the 1,000 mercenaries heard about the city¡¯s unrest from the spies and guards who escaped to the city gate. These thousand mercenaries'' duties were not to defend against enemies from the outside but to suppress the riots in the city and maintain Dionysius'' rule. Therefore, even when Macias took most of the mercenaries to attack the invading Theonians in Megalos, the remaining mercenaries still quickly formed up and marched towards the square without hesitation, trying to nip the turmoil in its cradle before it got too big.

    Unfortunately for them, Herolis had taken advantage of the great opportunity created by the war mobilisation. After quickly gaining the support of tens of thousands of citizens, he led eight times as many troops as their enemy.

    But as the two sides confronted in a narrow street, the soldiers couldn''t take advantage of their overwhelming numbers. In contrast, the mercenaries fully used their tight formation and richbat experience.

    In such a dangerous situation where they were forced to attack fiercely as soon as they encountered the enemies, the hastily assembled soldiers, who didn''t even have appointed officers, couldn''t advance or even gain the upper hand for a time.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Currently, Hipparinus and his team were still at the exit of the isthmus. Instead of the people dispersing, the congestion showed signs of increasing. Besides blocking Hipparinus, they also blocked those trying to enter the ind of Ortygia, making Hipparinus feel uneasy.

    Moreover, Hipparinus did not dare to leave his carriage nor lead his entourage into the crowd and rushed to the city hall. From his instincts honed working in the intelligence department, he knew that the Syracusans hated him and would most likely attack him if he rushed into the rioting crowd in front of him.

    Thus he immediately returned to the ind of Ortygia and headed to the mercenary camp to ask them to send troops to disperse the rioters.

    However, the mercenary leader disagreed as they only obeyed Dionysius'' orders. Apart from defending the ind of Ortygia, their main task was to protect Dionysius and his family. Others, even Dionysius'' brother or father-inw, did not have the authority to order them.

    Hence Hipparinus had to persuade his daughter Aristomache, who was holding Dionysius'' son in her arms, toe with him and ask the mercenary leader.

    The mercenary leader then agreed and sent 200 mercenaries to disperse the rioters, finally allowing the intelligence officers to enter the isthmus and meet Hipparinus.

    It was then that Hipparinus learned about Herolis leading the citizens tounch a rebellion.

    He could only swear at Philistus, who should have listened to his advice and arrested Herolis. While reminding the mercenary leader to heavily defend the ind of Ortygia and protect the core area of Dionysius, Hipparinus sent messengers to Megalos to ask Macias for assistance.

 Chapter 550: Battle of Megalos (I)

    Believing the rebels'' strength would now be greater, and with the disappearance of the officials loyal to Dionysius, such as Philistus, Hipparinus decided to choose conservative measures.

    But on the contrary, the Syracusan rebels could only retreat slowly under the fierce offensive of the mercenaries.

    Even though Herolis excelled at organising and instigating, he wasn''t a good strategos. Instead of decisively taking measures to reorganise themand and organisation of this new army and divide his troops around the streets to encircle the enemy, he went to the frontline, which resulted in the soldiers bing disorganised. Seeing theirrades getting killed and wounded, the vicious image left by Dionysius'' mercenaries bes vivid once again in the soldiers'' hearts.

    Unfortunately, Hipparinus was too cautious, wanting to protect his daughter and grandson first. Thus he missed the opportunity to send the mercenaries to defeat the civilians.

    Initially, Dionysius still had few supporters among the nobles and citizens in the city, but after Philistus'' imprisonment, no one came out to gather them and help the mercenaries. As a result, although the 1,000 mercenaries had the upper hand in the scuffles, theck of support made them unable to defeat the opponent.

    As Herolis led and supported the civilians, the Theonian informers paying close attention to the city''s movement hurriedly informed the poor and freemen in the port area. After quickly organising, they entered through the unguarded gate in front of Epipe, quickly passed through the Epipe, rushed to the main city andunched an attack around the rear of the mercenaries.

    As the mercenaries suffered a pincer attack, their formation became disordered. After a struggling battle, they wiped out most of the mercenaries, with only a few escaping to the ind of Ortygia.

    Herolis, however, did not chase them as he realised the problem of the army he was leading, which would end the rebellion he led. Thus he ordered his troops to halt and, with the help of the other rebel leaders, appointed officers for the massive army of more than 14,000 citizens, consisting of citizens, poor people and freemen. At the same time, he let his close friend and experienced democrat, Kias, assist in reorganising the army and discussing their n of attack.

    Kias advised him that taking the ind of Ortygia, whose walls and fortress are high and sturdy, would not be easy. And with Macias possibly returning at any time, they should not attack the ind with all their strength. Instead, they should send troops to take control of Syracuse''s gates and walls. At the same time, they should purge the forces supporting Dionysius and unite the city''s people to fight against Dionysius'' mercenaries¡­

    Herolis and the others agreed with Kias'' proposal. So they sent him to lead a team to the isthmus of the ind of Ortygia, to hurriedly build a wall andpletely blockade the ind. Afterwards, Herolis began to clear the city.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    During the same time as the rebellion, Theonia''s intelligence officer hiding in the port sent people to sail north from the port and arrived at Catania more than two hourster.

    In the port of Catania, the head of Theonia''s intelligence department in charge of Sicily, Antrapolis, was here. Apart from not participating in the rebellion in Syracuse, he also ordered his men not to enter the city of Syracuse during the uprising so as not to associate it with them.

    But in Catania, Antrapolis did not have such misgivings. With Macias conscripting most of the mercenaries and rulers of the city and leaving it defenceless, Antrapolis could tantly gather the freemen and ves in the port to overthrow the mercenaries.

    After Dionysius destroyed Catania, he bestowed thends to some mercenaries who fought with him. But they only knew how to fight and didn''t know how to tend the fields. Moreover, Catania was too vast to handle with their number, so they had to rely on the ves and freemen. The ves were mainly from the city-states captured by Dionysius after conquering the east coast of Sicily. But besides them, the mercenaries would often go to the western mountains to grab exiles and the Sicels, turning them into ves; The freemen, on the other hand, were also citizens of the east coast and had now lost their homes. Thus the ves and freemen of Catania far outnumbered the mercenaries who ruled over them. However, Syracuse''s might and the viciousness of the mercenaries forced them to obey by crushing the ves'' resistance many times.

    Several yearster, Antrapolis, a Catanian exile, returned to his home and was like a fish in water. He was familiar with countless ves and freemen that he could even name them and soon gathered up a group in the port. With the help of his formerpatriots, he sent more men to Syracuse, Leontinoi, Sikuri, Taunis and other neighbouring city-states to spread rumours, find allies and wait for an opportunity.

    Now, the opportunity came. The Syracusan army suffered a heavy defeat in Magna Graecia, and the Syracusans even drafted most of its troops and its southern allies to besiege the Theonian army in Megalos. Yet Antrapolis did not immediately start a rebellion even after the Catanians had urged him many times as he was afraid of rming Dionysius'' supporters in Syracuse.

    But now that the Syracusan rebellion came, Antrapolis immediately announced, ¡®Operation begins!¡¯

    After bursting into cheers, the Catanians gathered their troops andunched an attack on the city of Catania.

    At the same time, the Catanian ves in the cityunched a fierce attack on the mercenaries on the city wall to avenge their deceased loved ones.

    With only a few mercenaries remaining, the mercenaries were soon defeated by the sudden pincer attack on the front and back.

    But after leading the uprising to capture the city of Catania, Antrapolis did not participate in the victory celebrations as he immediately sent his men to the three city-states of Leontinoi, Taunis and Sikuri. He told his subordinates lurking in those cities that their uprising in Syracuse and Catania seeded, boosting their confidence and urging them to act immediately.

    Antrapolis believed that these three city-states had only sumbed to Syracuse''s powerful army. But with Dionysius setting up a puppet tyrant government that pressured the people with heavy tribute and military taxes, he could imagine their resentment toward Syracuse that would only need a kindle to ignite a raging me. The news about the rebellion in Catania and Syracuse would undoubtedly increase their morale and make them confident. And as long as the rebellion in the three city-states was also sessful, it would be difficult for Macias and the army he led to return to Syracuse.

    With that in mind, Antrapolis sent his men to take a penteconter to hurriedly head north to the port of Megalos to inform the legatus of the first legion, Antonios, about the sess of the rebellion in Syracuse and Catania so that he could mentally prepare himself.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the early morning of the same day, there was a heavy fog in Scylletium but only a mist in Megalos.

    Macias received a report from his scouts that more than 5,000 reinforcements from the city-states in the south, G and Kamarina, wereing.

    For that reason, the cautious Macias stopped the ballista bombardment on the south bank of the Alcantara river, but he did not lead a direct attack to cross the river. Instead, Macias led his 12,000 soldiers and more than 50 ballistae to the west along the river bank to cross the Alcantara river from a t area far away from Megalos and close to Mount Etna, which turned the traps in the river near Megalos useless.

    Antonios, on the other hand, did not send troops to intercept them because the mercenaries of Tauromenium had also arrived at the same time. To avoid getting pincered, Antonios chose to continue hiding in the ruined town of Megalos. He even called back the 200 soldiers from the new temporary outpost in the north built the day before while sending men to the western mountains to inform the exiles not to head east for the time being.

    Macias¡¯ army then easily joined up with the mercenaries in Tauromenium, increasing their soldiers to 13,000.

    Still, Macias chose a safe tactic by cing the remaining ballistae in front of the formation and continued firing stone projectiles at the western part of Megalos while waiting for the arrival of their reinforcements.

    For some time, stone projectiles roared in the air and town continuously.

    Yet the Theonain soldiers and the exiles could only repeatedly retreat to the east to avoid being identally injured by the rubble and wooden chips.

    In contrast, Macias leisurely asked his men to clear the traps and obstacles that the Theonians had ced outside the town.

    The soldiers of the first legion felt suffocated. Since the first legion''s establishment, they had been victorious and invincible; they were the hero praised and yearned for by the Theonians. But they had never experienced such a battle where they could only constantly retreat while avoiding the ballista.

    The soldiers protested to their officers, demanding they be allowed to engage the enemy in a sh outside the town.

    Apart from the soldiers¡¯ protest, the exiles were dissatisfied as they were trapped in the town with their wives and children. But without any river in the west, the enemy could push the ballistaepletely, cing the whole of Megalos in their range.

    With everyone conveying their protest and dissatisfaction to Antonios through the officers and the exile leaders, the pressure he was in could be imagined.

    ¡°Legatus, we can no longer stay passive anymore! We must go out and destroy their ballistae!¡± Tagetinos suggested loudly.

    ¡°Go out?! That''s what the enemy wanted!¡± Thratyllus immediately objected, ¡°We only have abined troop of 5,000 legionaries and over 3,00 exiles, not 8,00 legionaries! So if we were to fight on the ins, we would be vulnerable to the enemies'' encirclement as they outnumbered us! Furthermore, these exiles were not like us, who could still fight bravely even when surrounded!!¡±

 Chapter 551: Battle of Megalos (II)

    ¡°That¡¯s why we should take advantage of our army''s expertise in closebat and let the enemy into the town. Besides, the narrow streets and ruins would turn the enemy''s superior number useless. That was our pre-determined n, so we should stick to it!¡± Giorgris emphasised.

    ¡°But we might not fool the enemy! If we just wait, the Syracusans could keep firing the stone projectiles over our heads and not enter the town!¡± Shouted Tagetinos

    ¡°The truth is, the Syracusans method is beneficial to us. Didn''t the intelligence officer who arrived at the portst night say they would start an uprising in Syracuse, Catania, and other city-states? So before we even fight the Syracusans, they would be forced to retreat.¡± Xanticles said with some anticipation.

    ¡°Do you believe what those guys, who have no guts and can only sneak around, say?!¡± Tagetinos blurted.

    The other officers'' expressions changed when they heard that. After all, they learned that those intelligence officers were the subordinates that king Davos trained.

    Antonios nced at the embarrassed Seraphinus and softly scolded Tagetinos, ¡°Fool! Without Seraphinus'' help, we wouldn''t have captured Megalos so easily! Nor could we get the Sicilians'' help so quickly!¡±

    Although Antonios was doubtful about the letter delivered by the intelligence officer, the reality of the situation left him with no other options. In the end, there are no other ces for the first army to retreat in this strangend filled with hostile forces besides staying in Megalos! So if Antrapolis'' n seeds, everyone will naturally be happy.

    Suddenly, the soldiers watching the port reported hurriedly, ¡°Legatus, our fleet¡­our fleet ising!¡±

    ¡®Damn Seclian, you finally arrived!¡¯ Antonios cheered up. Then he said, ¡°Order the troops to lead the exiles'' families to orderly retreat to the port!¡±

    ¡°Roger, lord legatus.¡± The senior centurions and the exile leaders responded at the same time.

    Seclian did note as he is still recovering from his wounds in Rhegium. Although Seclian was usually arrogant and did not like beingmanded by the legion, he will never remain indifferent during critical moments. In addition, Antonios has sent a ship to rush and risk their life to Rhegium to ask him for the Theonian fleet toe to Megalos as soon as possible tomorrow to deal with the Syracusans'' full-scale attack!

    Seclian dared not ignore it, and he even specially warned Flios, who took over the fleet''smand, that he should set out the following day and get to Megalos as soon as possible.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Macias received the report from the scouts about the Theonian fleet''s arrival and the influx of soldiers and people rushing to the port.

    After swearing at Paronisus'' ipetence, Macias asked, ¡°Where are our reinforcements?!¡±

    ¡°They had already passed Sikuri, so they should reach the south bank of the Alcantara river soon.¡±

    ¡°Send someone to urge them faster!¡± Macias then gave the order to attack, ¡°Sound the attack, don''t let the Theonians run away!¡±

    Macias had prepared for so long and used so many ballistae not just to expel the invading Theonian army but topletely and utterly destroy them to boost the Syracusans'' morale and gain fame for himself.

    As they were pressed for time, Macias must not allow the Theonians to escape from the port andnd in other parts of Sicily. But he could also not rush the troops to the north of Megalos as it was filled with traps and obstacles, nor could he detour to the east to attack the port as that would take too much time. Thus the Syracusan joint army could only storm from the west side of the town that they cleaned up and crossed the wooden wall that was almost gone due to the ballistae''s bombardment.

    The mighty Syracusan army was then divided into small streams as they passed through the intertwining streets and furiously surged towards the Theonians. But soon, they ran into trouble.

    ¡°Ouch! My foot! Something pierced my foot!¡±

    ¡°Stop! Stop pushing forward! There''s a massive pit ahead! The captain and the others had already fallen into the pit!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Syracusans hadn''t expected the Theonians to also ce traps and obstacles inside the town.

    The truth is, even if the Catanian intelligence officer hadn''t arrived with the emergency message, Antonios had no intention of leading his troops to escape by the sea. Hence he had the Theonians lead the exiled poption to set the traps overnight. For him, Davos'' order before the first legion''s departure did not include ¡®retreat once the battle bes unfavourable¡¯, so if he retreated before the battle, he might no longer have a future in Theonia even if Davos forgave him due to their past rtionship.

    As for the soldiers of the first legion, their thoughts were simple: How could they allow themselves, who were called the bravest legionaries by the Theonians, to be timid deserters?!

    Antonios had faked the retreat to lure the enemy into attacking. After all, once the enemy entered the town and began fighting the legionaries, their ballistae would naturally not dare to fire their stone projectiles again. In addition, Antonios arranged for the exiles¡¯ families to board the ship to allow the troops to fight with all their strength without distractions.

    When the 300 cavalries of Syracuse''s allies rushed near the port, 3,000 exile warriors in phnx formation who were guarding the port faced them. Behind them were thousands of elderly, women and children, who the sailors guided in an orderly fashion as they rushed to the port and board the ships.

    Naturally, the cavalries could not attack the heavily defended Greek phnx, so they could only watch them from afar and wait for the infantry to arrive.

    The Syracusan soldiers, on the other hand, were scared by the numerous traps, so they could only move forward carefully and began spreading on both sides.

    But suddenly, the light infantry led by the senior centurion of the seventh brigade, Cid, appeared. However, they did not rain arrows and javelins on the clustered enemies as they would have usually done. Instead, they hid in the ruined buildings between the streets,y on their backs on the rubble, or stood directly across the massive area filled with traps and attacked the enemy with precise shooting.

    The Syracusans busily searched for the traps when arrows suddenly flew out of the windows, hitting the soldier''s exposed thigh. Then a javelin fell from the roof above, piercing a soldier''s shoulder, which they could not protect with their round shield¡­with the close distance and unpredictability of the Theonian light infantry''s sneak attack, their kill count was extremely high.

    Due to the Syracusans considering that they would fight the Theonians head-on, they naturally could not have their light infantry rush to the front. Thus the heavy infantry at the forefront was now caught by the Theonians'' traps and long-range sneak attacks, scaring them that they slowed down their pace even more¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the city of Medma, the Medmaean defenders could not rx their vignce even though the Theonians did not attack these days. It was because the day before yesterday, they could only watch as the despicable Theonians forced the captured Medmaeans and Locrians to fill the trench in front of the city wall with soil.

    Once it got dark, the Medmaeans took advantage of the night to go down the city wall by sliding through a rope to dig the filled trench again. However, the Theonians were on guard, as the light infantry hiding not far away attacked them, making Medma lose many soldiers.

    After suffering such setbacks, the Medmaeans no longer dared to leave the city. While knowing they were in danger and had to defend the city with all their strength, they could only hope that the Syracusans who had lost the battle would be able to reverse the situation and find a way to save Medma.

    Today, the Medmaean soldiers stood at the city wall and surveyed the front warily. And just like a few days ago, the Theonians began forming up in front of the city a hundred metres away. However, the difference this time was that they had two more siege engines in front of their line, which the Medmaen soldiers could feel its huge size even at a distance of 100 metres.

    ¡°Hurry up! Come and look, what is that?!¡± A panicking soldier shouted to hispanion.

    ¡°That¡­that should be a siege tower. I heard from the Locrian that Syracuse conquered many city-states by using that thing.¡±

    ¡°That seemed to be taller than our walls?! We¡­how should we deal with that thing?!!¡±

    As the defenders became nervous, a salpinx sounded the attack that rang throughout the Theonian formation: The Siege of Medma begins.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Legatus, watch out!¡± An adjutant pressed down Matonis, who had gotten too close to the wall. Then they heard a strong whizzing sound as a stone projectile passed through their heads.

    Matonis rubbed his neck as his heart jolted. He then cursed, ¡°Those damn ballista teams! Are they trying to kill-¡±

    But before he could finish what he wanted to say, a loud boom sounded as the stone projectile hit the tower eight-nine metres away from him.

    The Syracusans had hastily made the tower,promising the tower¡¯s sturdiness. Thus the 15-kilogram stone projectile that hit the top of the tower caused it to shake and tilt backwards, wooden fragments to fly and the boards to fall. Along with the screams of the archers at the top, the six-metre-high tower fell straight to the ground¡­

    ¡°Nice! The ballista team did a great job! Keep on attacking!¡­¡± Matonis shouted excitedly.

    While his adjutant rolled his eyes, ¡®You were just swearing at the ballista team, yet your tone changed in the blink of an eye!¡¯

    Although the soldiers were excited at the towers getting struck, it had only happened once. After all, firing a stone projectile now that the towers were too close to the wall was too risky. Thus the Theonian defenders relied more on the light infantry to fire ming arrows, throw oil jars, or directly attack the archers at the top of the towers¡­and through these methods, they managed to burn down two more towers.

 Chapter 552: Attack and Defence of the Camp in Scylletium (III)

    But with the Theonian light infantry focused on attacking the tower, the Syracusan light infantry could throw javelins from the tower and, with the protection of the siege wagons, rush to the trench and hit the enemy on the wooden walls. Furthermore, they could even shoot ming arrows at the walls as well.

    The Theonian legionaries needed to guard against the javelins from the tower and below the wall. Besides that, they needed to protect the wall from the fire and prevent the enemy from climbing up using thedder. Thus they were a bit overwhelmed.

    ¡°Siege wagon! The enemy''s siege wagon reached near the wall!!¡± A soldier eximed.

    After Matonis cut down an enemy climbing the wall, he hurriedly looked below and saw an intact siege wagon passed through several zing, piled-up siege engines. The enemy had almost pushed it near the wall through the filled-up trench.

    ¡°POUR THE BITUMEN!¡± Shouted Matonis hurriedly.

    ¡®ng!¡¯ A javelin heading to Matonis was blocked by a soldier using a long shield.

    ¡°Legatus, we ran out of mmable oil!¡± A soldier cried in distress.

    ¡°Go to the camp and look for more! Is there any more bitumen left?!¡± While giving his order to the guards, Matonismanded the soldiers, ¡°Destroy that!¡±

    Although wood and stones struck the siege wagon, they only seemed to have little impact on it. On the contrary, under the siege wagon''s protection, the Syracusans hit the wooden wall hard with the battering ram, resulting in the wooden wall making a creaking sound as it shook. Even the climbing Syracusan soldiers nearby end up falling down the trench.

    Matonis helped the wall''s battlement with both hands as he thought anxiously about how to deal with the situation. He then heard someone shout in the rear, ¡°It''s burning! The wooden wall is burning!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Your majesty, a fire broke out on the section where the fourth legion is responsible for defending after the Syracusans struck it with their oil jars and ming arrows. Although we had extinguished the mes, the fire burned up to ten metres of the wooden wall. Fortunately, the enemy hadn''t filled the trench in that part, so the enemy couldn''t immediately breach the wall. In addition, Epiphanes had sent a brigade of light-armoured soldiers from the fourth legion to set up a defensive formation behind the wall¡­¡± Tolmides reported the critical situation to Davos, who had alreadye out of the tent and watched the fourth and seventh legions.

    While Davos slightly frowned, he looked at the light-armoured brigade in front of him. After pondering for a while, he said, ¡°It seems Dionysius is determined to attack my central camp. Although the Syracusans would still take some time to breach the camp, it would be difficult for just the fourth and seventh legions to stop the attack of so many people¡­ Tolmides!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Go inform the left and right camp''s second, fifth and sixth legions to immediately rush to the central camp!¡± Davos ordered decisively, startling Tolmides, ¡°Your majesty. If we withdraw all the troops¡­what about those two camps?!¡±

    ¡°Just give it to Dionysius if he wants it.¡± Davos said lightly, resulting in the soldiers'' days of hard work turning to nothing.

    ¡°Wait, don''t let them all withdraw. Instead, have the light infantry temporarily stay for defence as they could still kill some enemies once they attack.¡± Davos emphasised.

    ¡°Yes, your majesty!¡± Tolmides turned around to leave. But he suddenly heard an exmation from the front, followed by a loud crackling sound as a big breach appeared on the wooden wall.

    ¡°Your majesty, the enemy broke down a section of our wooden wall with a siege engine!¡± Shouted the herald, who hade back.

    Davos, however, remained calm as he turned around and shouted, ¡°Izam!¡±

    ¡°Brothers! Follow me!!¡± After waiting a long time, Izam led his mountain reconnaissance brigade to rush toward the opening.

    Seeing this, Tolmides speed up his pace.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Your majesty, the soldiers on the left and right camp of Theonia had begun to rush towards the central camp!¡±

    Hearing the cavalry scout, Dionysius stood up excitedly, ¡°Davos finally got fooled! Immediately assemble our troops to attack Theonia''s left camp!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Theonia''s central camp faced the western wall of Scylletium, while the left and right camps were like outstretched hands encircling the north and south sides of the city. In the left camp of Theonia, the ones stationed there were the fifth legion and most of the soldiers of the sixth legion: Although the fifth legion waster replenished with some troops after suffering the heaviest damage in the war, their strength was no longer as good as before. In contrast, the sixth legion was newly formed just after the war, so they had only participated in the Battle of Crotone so far. Thus whether it¡¯s the soldiers'' quality or the degree of teamwork, the sixth and fifth legion couldn¡¯tpare to the cooperation between the second legion and a small number of sixth legion soldiers stationed in the right camp. Such difference in strength is evident from the traps ced in front of the two camps.

    After trying to understand the situation for the past few days, Dionysius naturally wanted to start with the weakest link of the Theonian army.

    Scylletium''s north gate opened wide and nearly 20,000 men departed under the personal leadership of Dionysius: There were more than 10,000 elite Syracusans, who were reorganised and equipped with a rtivelyplete armour, plus several thousands of freemen wielding simple wooden shields and spears.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The news soon reached Theonia''s central camp, causing Henipolis to shout, ¡°Your majesty, our left camp might not be able to hold on!¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I just say it? If Dionysius wants it, then let him have it.¡± Davos remained calm and said, ¡°He thinks that by breaching our camp, he would be able to crush us. Yet he didn''t know that he had fallen right into our trap. Now that Dionysius only focuses on the battle''s oue, he would no longer be able to consider the overall war situation¡­¡±

    Henipolis nodded absent-mindedly while writing down what Davos had said on a papyrus.

    ¡°Tolmides!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Inform Philesius and Olivos to lead the troops to form a phnx 20 metres away from the eastern wooden wall. In addition, have the second legion that Amintas led be on standby on the northern wall of the central camp to defend against the enemy that continued heading here after upying the left camp.¡± Davos continued giving orders, ¡°And¡­once they are all ready, tell Matonis and Epiphanes to stop sending more troops to block those breaches and let the enemye in.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    After finishing the deployment in one breath, Davos rxed a bit. He then turned his head to look at Henipolis, who was somewhat bewildered. Thus he could only exin it to him, ¡°It doesn''t matter to us whether we lost the right camp and left camp. Our original aim was to increase the Syracusans'' casualties as much as possible so that Dionysius would lose a lot of elite soldiers, thus taking away their initiative. But now that Dionysius left the city''s protection and attacked us by leading the army, he is practically doomed to fail¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Dionysius led his army to attack the empty left camp and paid some casualties, but he found it easy how the attack had gone. He then thought that it was mainly due to his fierce attack on the Theonian central camp that confused Davos in transferring the main force of the left camp. Unfortunately, he did not have the time to slowly savour the joy of victory at this moment as he had to lead his massive army to attack Theonia''s central camp, and the price he would pay would be greater. Thus he must seize the time to nk the camp and crush the Theonians quickly!

    After quickly rushing to the south passage between the tents, Dionysius could hear the sound of battle and scream bing louder and clearer¡­

    ¡®We are almost there!¡¯ Said Dionysius as he became more excited.

    But after bypassing the tent area, he stopped in astonishment: A tall, long wooden wall more than 20 metres in front had blocked their path forward. Furthermore, there is a trench in front of the wooden wall!

    ¡°How could this be?! Why did the Theonians build such a thick wooden wall and dig a wide trench inside their entire camp instead of just dividing it with a fence?!¡± Dionysius'' expectation of winning was shattered at this moment. And the strong sense of loss and fear of failure had made Dionysius, a decisive person, roar with grief and anger.

    ¡°Milord, watch out!¡± As the light infantry of the second legion, who were on the wooden wall, rained arrows and javelins on them, the Syracusan soldiers hurriedly raised their round shields for defence. At the same time, the guards quickly went to protect Dionysius.

    The nging sound caused by the collision of arrows and shields had only made Dionysius even more anxious. With the Theonians building a wooden wall and trenches to protect the central camp, it seemed they intended to abandon the left and right camps. Unfortunately for the Syracusans, the wooden wall and traps outside blocked the entire camp, resulting in them not knowing the situation inside. Furthermore, their envoys were blindfolded whenever they went to the Theonian camp to negotiate, so they knew nothing about the camp¡­ ¡®Did Davos fool me again?!¡¯

    After breaching the left camp and continuing south, Dionysius thought entering Theonia¡¯s central camp would be easy. Hence the soldiers only carrieddders and didn''t have any siege engines. Moreover, they could not push such massive siege engines like siege towers and siege wagons inside the camp. Thus the Syracusans felt helpless when faced with the heavily guarded central camp.

    Dionysius felt a deep sense of frustration after spending so much time and energy nning this attack, only for it to fail. It had made Dionysius muddled that he could only murmur Davos'' name as he couldn''t think of a good way to deal with their current difficulties¡­

 Chapter 553: Battle of Megalos (III)

    Macias'' troops faced great trouble with the unexpected traps of the Theonians inside Megalos. Yet he could only order the light infantry to go to the forefront and assist the heavy infantry in chasing out those rats and urging their reinforcements to join the battle as soon as possible.

    Naturally, the soldiers of the first legion couldn''t set traps in the whole town, mainly where they and the exiles stayed, which the Syracusan soldiers reached after some time.

    Then the first legion¡¯s soldiers immediately came forward and stopped the Syracusans in the narrow streets for a frontal fight.

    While the Theonians were like stones that blocked every street the enemy advanced, the Syracusan soldiers were like water that would flow to other streets once their path was blocked and move forward again.

    But as the battle progressed, the Syracusan troops finally reached the rear of the first legion from both the left and right sides.

    Among the more than 5,000 soldiers of the first legion, a thousand were light infantry and light-armoured soldiers. With their troops already stretched, the enemy would have pincered the first legion if not for the more than 3,000 exile warriors returning immediately after escorting their families and blocking the attack of the Syracusan soldiers from the rear.

    With the first legion, the exiles and the Syracusan joint army fought fiercely in various streets, which gradually formed a defensive circle with the small base of Antonios at the centre.

    Besides Antonios¡¯ adjutant, 20 guards and the heralds, he sent all the troops out. However, the seemingly calm Antonios was, in fact, nervous as he sat on the top of a three-story building that used to be owned by the archon of Megalos. Now that the enemy surrounded the first legion, they had no way out besides fighting to their death! But with Antonios no longer having reserves, the time the enemy breached a street would be the end of the first legion!

    Thus not only did Antonios keep his long shield and spear near him, but he had also fully armed his adjutant, guards and some heralds so that once a dangerous situation happened, he could lead the troops to battle himself.

    ¡°Tap! Tap! Tap!¡­¡± A herald rushed up to the top of the building and pantingly said, ¡°Reporting to the legatus, the east¡­our allies in the east are stable, showing no sign that the enemy would force them to retreat.¡±

    ¡°It seems what these exiles said about them fighting the Sicels, mercenaries, and sometimes even wild animals in the western mountains all year round is true. Their courage, fighting spirit and skills are not weak, which is reassuring.¡±

    Antonios also became relieved as he was most worried about these exiles'' performance. That is why he specifically sent heralds to keep a close eye on them and report the situation at any time. Then he said, ¡°With our brothers taking care of three directions, it is only natural for them to withstand the enemy attack in just one direction, and they also have more than 3,000 men.¡±

    ¡°Lord legatus, do you think we should transfer some of their soldiers to form a new reserve unit?¡± Antonios'' adjutant suggested.

    Antonios became slightly intrigued. He then looked at the sky and saw that the sun had already started heading west. Then he surveyed every street again and saw that the first legion soldiers, who were far fewer than the other side, fought bravely to kill the enemy. Not only had they resisted the enemy''s attack, but they also seemed to cause some confusion to the enemy.

    ¡°The battle had just begun. Don''t worry too much and just wait¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Due to the ballistae''s nonstop bombardment for more than a day, the streets in Megalos were covered with debris, rubble and asionallyrge stones across the middle of the road, leading to the Syracusan joint army being unable to spread out. What''s more, due to the above reasons, the dense infantry formation was divided and could not effectively form abined force to push the Theonian soldiers. In contrast, the Theonian soldiers used the gaps between the wreckage to go into formation and fight the enemy at close range. Thus in such a battle, the long shield and short sword of the Theonian soldiers yed their full strength.

    Meanwhile, the soldiers of the first legion did not shoot their two javelins in their hands before the battle as they usually did. Instead, they handed them over to theirrades in the rear, who would stand on rubbles, throw the javelins through the gaps between theirrades and hit an unguarded enemy. Hence the Theonian soldiers, despite their lesser number, could match the enemy and even gain the upper hand.

    After learning about the battle situation, Macias was surprised at the fighting prowess of the Theonians. However, what worried him most was that he could not fully use his numerical advantage. Thus, after thinking about it, he ordered the soldiers in the rear to carrydders, climb up the civilian houses in the streets, and support the trapped soldiers to force the Theonians to split their troops.

    Originally, preparingdders became a habit of Macias before every siege, but with so many ballistae, he never thought of using them this time. Now, they have be handy.

    The soldiers then carried thedders away from the battleground and began climbing.

    Theyout of Greek houses of both wealthy andmoners is basically four walls with a roof and an open courtyard in the middle, making it hard and dangerous for the Syracusans to climb in and out of one destroyed house after another. Sometimes, they even need to fight the hidden Theonian light infantry.

    More than half an hourter, Antonios received an emergency report from numerous heralds, ¡°Milord, the senior centurion of the first brigade, Giorgris, said that the enemy had infiltrated from the residential houses and threatened the nks of his troops. But he no longer has any more soldiers to use to intercept them, so he asked if they could withdraw first!¡±

    ¡°Reporting to the legatus, the senior centurion of the second brigade, Xanticles¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Retreat, let all the brigades and exiles retreat to the specified area we discussed before the battle and form a defensive phnx formation! Also, inform Cid to lead all the light infantry here!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    Before the battle, Antonios had already considered the worst situation when discussing with the senior centurions and came out with a countermeasure. Yet he didn''t expect they would be forced to this final step so soon, ¡°This Syracusan strategos is not ordinary!¡±

    Antonios sighed as he looked at the sky again. He then turned around and asked Seraphinus, ¡°Have your n to stage an uprising started?¡±

    Knowing the situation of the first legion wasn''t wonderful, Seraphinus answered without hesitation, ¡°From my understanding of Antrapolis, he must have prepared everything since he dared to ask you for a favour. And judging from the current time, they should have ended it.¡±

    Seraphinus'' words relieved Antonios a bit. He then said deeply, ¡°In that case, let the first legion and the Syracusans fight this final battle here!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The soldiers of the first legion retreated slowly and orderly.

    But due to the terrain and the fear of the enemy throwing javelins, the Syracusan soldiers did not attack fiercely. Instead, they advanced cautiously, allowing the centuria and toons of the first legion to withdraw smoothly from the streets.

    Unfortunately for the exiles, their retreat wasn''t smooth. Due to theirck of training and experience in retreating, they panicked slightly, allowing the Syracusans to take advantage of the situation to intensify their attack and lead to increased confusion. But fortunately, they had enough soldiers and faced the least number of Syracusans soldiers. Furthermore, their deep hatred of the Syracusans made them not back down and run even when the confusion led to increased casualties, eventually allowing them to withdraw from the streets.

    As the administrative centre of Megalos, no residential houses are adjacent to the archon''s residence where Antonios stayed. And thanks to their prior arrangement, the first legion and the exile warriors formed a thick and dense to surround the archon''s residence.

    But the Syracusan joint army soldiers, who followed the retreating enemy, had no preparation. Hence gaps and confusion appeared between the teams that came out of the streets.

    With the first legion not fully intent on defending, they seized this opportunity to counterattack andunched a quick charge towards the enemy, one centuria at a time.

    While the centurias charged, the soldiers of the seventh brigade on the roof of the archon''s residence immediately threw javelins and arrows into the iing enemy, without any regard for their numb arms.

    These tactics of the first legion threw the Syracusan joint army into confusion¡­

    Seeing this, Macias hurriedly asked the buglers to sound the attack and ordered his hundreds of mercenaries to form a long line to force the retreating soldiers to advance. Otherwise, they would get executed on the spot. He also asked the tyrants of the city-states, such as Sikuri, Catania and Leontinoi, who were following him, to go and calm down their troops who were causing amotion.

    Fortunately for the Syracusan joint army, the cautious Antonios did not choose to make a fullscale charge as he was worried that the exiles wouldn''t be able to cooperate well. Besides the first legion having too few soldiers that the enemy might surround them after leaving the formation, he trusted what Seraphinus had said. Thus the Syracusan joint army finally had a chance to breathe. As the chaos subsided, the Syracusan strategoi took advantage tomand their soldiers to regroup¡­

    Suddenly, Macias ordered, ¡°Go and bring in some ballistae.¡±

    Surprised, the adjutant said, ¡°Strategos, with our soldiers shing with the enemy, I am afraid it would be easy to cause casualties to our side¡­¡±

 Chapter 554: Battle of Megalos (IV)

    Macias then pointed to the archon¡¯s three-storey residence dozens of metres away and coldly said, ¡°The target is that, so we don¡¯t need to worry about hurting our soldiers.¡±

    Besides hitting the tall building easily, the ballistae would also crush those Theonian light infantry in the building, who were nning to make long-range attacks, and remove their threat to the Syracusan formation. Furthermore, Macias sensed that the Theonianmander was on it and would destroy the Theonians'' morale if they bombarded it, killing three birds with one stone! Macias'' adjutant quickly understood it and immediately sighed, ¡°Strategos, you are right! Herald! Herald! Inform the ballista teams outside to bring the ballistae here immediately!¡­¡±

    Macias stared at the building in front as he seemingly felt that the enemymander was also looking at him. Macias admitted that he underestimated the Theonian army, resulting in his army suffering considerable casualties, but that was the end of the trouble they could do! Now that the Syracusan allied army surrounded them with twice the number of troops on this open t ground, the victory would eventuallye as long as they continued to attack!

    And Macias is very confident about this¡­

    But as the two armies fought fiercely, a loud cry came from behind, ¡°Lord Hibagris! Lord Hibagris!¡­¡±

    In the corner of Macias'' disgruntled eyes, the guards of the tyrant of Sikuri hurriedly brought the man over.

    ¡°Bad news, milord! An uprising happened in the city of Sikuri and the port!¡± As soon as the man saw Hibagris, he shouted with panic on his face.

    This news shocked everyone around.

    While clutching his chest tightly, Hibagris asked impatiently, ¡°What are you saying?! Everything was calm in Sikuri when I left, without any uprising!¡±

    ¡°It''s true, milord!¡± The man cried out and reported in panic, ¡°The freemen and ves in the port rebelled and attacked the city this morning. But when lord Celtas was about to lead the soldiers to defend, some citizens suddenly attacked them from behind and opened the city''s gate. And Lord Celtas could only lead his troops to retreat to the Acropolis. Fortunately, your family members managed to hide in the Acropolis¡­ Milord, you are the only now that could save Sikuri by leading your troops to rush back and crush those bastards!¡±

    When Hibagris heard this, He shouted anxiously, ¡°Callitratus, gather our troops. We will return to Sikuri immediately!¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord!¡± A Sikurian strategos rushed forward.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Macias hurriedly shouted, ¡°Lord Hibagris, we are not sure whether Sikuri was attacked or not, so it''s better to send a scout to check on the situation first. Only after we get a confirmation should we send the soldiers.¡± It was already difficult to get their allies to send troops and slightly gain the upper hand, so Macias did not want their momentum interrupted. Hence he wanted to stall them for a while.

    Yet Macias didn''t expect Hibagris to see through his intentions. Hibagris pointed to the messenger and said seriously, ¡°Duras is my ve attendant and had followed me for decades, so there is no doubt about his words! Lord Macias, I apologise, but I must immediately go back and wipe out those bastards. Besides saving my family, I also need to save the tons of food stored in the city to supply the army!¡±

    After Hibagris'' reminder, Macias'' expression greatly changed. So instead of stopping Hibagris from leaving, he said, ¡°After we eliminate the enemy here, I will immediately lead my troops to Sikuri and assist you!¡±

    With only a thousand or so Sikurian soldiers participating in the battle, Macias couldn¡¯t ce them in the forefront after considering their weak impact on the battle. Thus it was easy to withdraw them. While watching Hibagris lead his soldiers away in a hurry, a trace of uneasiness rose in his heart, so he ordered, ¡°Sound the salpinx again and urge the soldiers to step up their attack!¡±

    ¡°I have long said that Hibagris is ipetent. If only Lord Dionysius destroyed Sikuri and let our mercenaries manage this small town, we wouldn¡¯t have this trouble now¡­¡± Pavlos, who was a former mercenary leader and now the tyrant of Catania, mocked without any scruples. Naturally, it led to the nearby city-states ruler¡¯s expressions changing.

    The restless Macias admonished him in a low voice, ¡°Shut your mouth!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Suddenly, the officer in charge of the ballistae came and said, ¡°Milord, we have brought the ballistae!¡±

    With the report of the ballista officer cheering him up, Macias pointed to the archon''s residence and said with excitement, ¡°Find a ce to set your ballistae and bombard that building!¡±

    But as soon as Macias uttered those words, someone in the rear shouted, ¡°Lord Pavlos, it''s not good! The rebels upied Catania!¡±

    When these words were uttered, not only had it shook Macias, but it had also made the tyrant of Catania, who had spoken sarcastically before, run to the rear anxiously. At the same time, the other city-state rulers whispered to each other.

    Pavlos quickly came to Macias and said anxiously, ¡°Macias, I must lead my brothers immediately!¡±

    For arade, Macias wouldn¡¯t y any tricks. After forcing Pavlos to calm down, he seriously analysed the situation and said, ¡°Pavlos, we already lost Catania. Even if you rush back now and take Catania back, it would already have suffered great damage. But if you leave now, you will ruin the efforts we made to win this battle! You have also seen the might of these Theonian soldiers. Once they escape, they will cause greater problems for us!¡±

    Macias could let the Sikurians leave, but he could not let the Catanian troops leave as their 3,000 mercenaries were one of the main forces in this battle.

    Listening to Macias'' persuasion, Pavlos became hesitant and was no longer as stubborn as before, ¡°I am afraid this battle willst until dusk before we could decide a winner¡­ By then, we would only be able to attack Catania tomorrow¡­ And with such a long time, those rebels will be able to strengthen their defences and cause us greater difficulty in attacking the city! And¡­and once our brothers learned that I did not lead them back to their homes in time, I am afraid that I will not be able to keep this position¡­¡±

    ¡°With Lord Dionysius'' support, do you still have something to fear?!¡± Macias encouraged him. Then he added, ¡°As for our brothers'' losses, Syracuse will make it up for them!¡±

    Just as Pavlos hesitated, a messenger from the rear arrived on horseback and shouted anxiously, ¡°Lord Phraotes, it''s terrible! Leontinoi¡­¡±

    The tyrants and strategoi of the allies city-states besides Macias became agitated. As someone who can sit in this position, they are naturally not fools: A revolt in Sikuri! A revolt in Catania! A revolt in Leontinoi!¡­ It was no longer an isted case but most likely a storm of rebellion against Syracuse in the southeast of Sicily!

    ¡®The popce had long been dissatisfied with Syracuse!¡¯ Those present here knew it by heart as they had all benefited from Dionysius'' rule in Sicily, but they could no longer care about respecting the alliance leader. Thus they all said to Macias that they would take their troops back to stabilise the situation of their city-state!

    They didn''t even wait for Macias to reply before directly withdrawing their troops. After all, the only reason Macias could make the noble of these allies of theirs obey his orders was because of Syracuse''s might. But now that a great disaster fell, they no longer wanted to obey the orders of a mere mercenary.

    Even though Macias still tried to persuade them, he couldn''t stop them from acting. While he was at a loss, Pavos coldly said, ¡°Macias, I will also go back with my troops. My only advice is for you to withdraw immediately as well. After all, if there is an uprising in our city-states, Syracuse won''t be spared! Don''t forget that you and Lord Dionysius had taken the soldiers, leaving Syracuse quite empty!¡±

    Macias was shocked when he heard those words as he had only thought about wiping the enemy in front of him but forgot about his most important duty! While watching Pavlos lead his men to rush to the phnx formation formed by the Catanian army in dismay, Macias'' heart sank as he knew that the battle was over¡­

    He looked at the archon''s residence in front of him and felt as if he saw the enemymander sneering at them, ¡®With a massive uprising happening in Sicily at this time, the Theonians were definitely the one behind it!¡¯

    After thinking of that, Macias became angry and shouted, ¡°Ballista team, bombard that building immediately!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Legatus, it seems the enemy is retreating!¡± Antonios'' adjutant shouted excitedly.

    Even without his reminder, Antonios was already watching them: A group of strategoi wearing helmets with gorgeous plumes rode to various positions on the enemy formation one after another, shouting something. Afterwards,motions arose in the enemy formation, and then groups of enemy soldiers withdrew from the formation as they followed their strategoi to the west. With numerous gaps appearing in the thick formation surrounding the first legion and the exiles, the withdrawal affected the morale of the Syracusan soldiers. They then stopped fighting and instead looked around, shouted at each other and conveyed their uneasiness to the other soldiers. Soon, the whole circr formation fell into chaos¡­

    ¡®Could it be that the enemy learned about the uprising on the various city-states that Antrapolis led?!¡¯ Antonios subconsciously looked at Seraphinus.

    ¡°Legatus, I think we should take this opportunity to attack the enemy!¡± The words of Antonios'' adjutant pulled him back from his thoughts, only for him to see several stone projectiles flying rapidly towards them from afar.

    ¡°Watch out! Ballistae!!!¡± A guard shouted in rm as he covered Antonios with his long shield.

 Chapter 555: Winning Series of Battles

    Antonios could only hear a few booms before pieces of debris pierced his legs. He then shouted with concern, ¡°Is everyone okay?!¡±

    But just as the guards reported their safety, they could hear the light infantries responsible for the long-range attack on the enemy on the roof shouting, ¡°Strategos! Strategos! Wake up!¡­¡±

    ¡°Strategos?!¡± Antonios was shocked.

    A stone projectile struck the building, resulting in arge stone sting away and hitting Cid, who was ordering the light infantry, on the head and immediately falling to the ground.

    As hisrade in the Persian expedition and a colleague of the Senate, Antonios had a good rtionship with Cid. Seeing that he was unconscious, he became worried and angry. After sending the guards to call the medical camp, he decisively ordered, ¡°Sound the attack, don''t let the enemy flee!!!¡±

    Yet when the Theonian salpinx sounded, the Syracusan allied troops also sounded their retreat.

    Even though Macias wanted to lead the troops to retreat safely and smoothly, the situation became out of control when the Syracusan allied army¡¯s soldiers saw the situation turn bad and followed their allies to escape. Now that the entire formation was already in pieces, it would likely be that the enemy would surround the soldiers that remained if they did not take decisive actions. Thus, Macias ordered the retreat, preferring to let the soldiers escape like scattered sand than be captured by the enemy in groups.

    The sound of retreat awoke Antonios from his grief, so he loudly said to the light infantry in anger, ¡°Brothers, it¡¯s not the time for grieving but the time to avenge Lord Cid! Let''s chase those fleeing enemies and ughter them!¡±

    As the light infantry roared, they immediately ran downstairs to join theirrades in chasing the enemy. Antonios was convinced that: Besides being one of the physically fit among the first legion, the light infantry didn''t wear heavy helmets and armour, so their pursuit would cause great trouble to the retreating enemy.

    Since the Syracusan allied army surrounded the first legion in a circr formation, and the first legion, who were in the inner circle, attacked them on all sides, the allied army could not retreat in the same direction.

    Still, many Syracusan soldiers chose to flee south in order to quickly escape from Megalos and avoid encountering the traps set up by the Theonians in the town. Everything was smooth when passing the area bombarded by the ballistae for the whole day yesterday until they crossed the almost nonexistent wooden wall and jumped into the river. The useless wooden stakes and iron spikes that the first legion had previously buried in the silt at the bottom of the river had pierced into their feet, resulting in the enemy soldiers falling into the river one after another and drowning amidst their miserable screams. Although that had deterred those behind them, it had resulted in them either dying or surrendering under the spear and short swords wielded by the chasing Theonian soldiers.

    On the other hand, the small number of soldiers who chose to flee to the north, mainly the mercenaries from Tauromenium, kept rushing north due to the pursuit of the Theonians. But just as they were about to reach the mountains that were not far from the city of Tauromenium, they found that nearly a thousand sailors holding wooden oars and bows blocked their way ahead.

    The Theonian fleet apparently did not leave the port after loading the families of the exiles and had instead watched the war. After seeing the enemy start to retreat, the eager Theonian fleet took advantage of the sandy beach of the Naxos bay and quickly rowed their ship to the mountain path andnded in front of the enemy.

    So after seeing enemies in the front and pursuers in the rear, the already exhausted mercenaries chose to surrender.

    While most of the Syracusan soldiers who fled west from the town of Megalos with their allies, Turned south and waded through the river.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    nning to gather the defeated soldiers before leading the army to make further ns, Macias rode to the south bank of the Alcantara River early. But to his surprise, the Theonians did not stop after their victory and continued chasing the Syracusan allied army.

    Thus the fleeing soldiers continued to rush across the Alcantara river like a tide without listening to Macias¡¯ cries. Instead, the fleeing tide scattered Macias and the several hundred cavalries as they carried them southward.

    Due to the Theonians expertise in chasing defeated enemies and having trained in running while armed, the Syracusan soldiers suffered a lot. Although the enemy soldiers were exhausted after a fierce battle, the screamsing from theirrades who fell behind and got caught by the Theonians were like whips that pushed the Syracusan allied soldiers to continue running¡­

    After three or so kilometres of running, only the light infantry still chased the enemy angrily. In contrast, most Theonian soldiers stopped their chase and turned around to catch the enemies crouching by the roadside who had raised their hands in surrender.

    Even though most of the soldiers under Hibagris scattered during the retreat, he still tried to lead his troops back to Sikuri. But he no longer dared to stay after rushing to the city and seeing that the four gates were closed and the rebels would fire arrows from the city. Instead, he followed the Syracusan soldiers bypassing Sikuri and continued to flee south.

    The Theonian light infantry, on the other hand, stopped their pursuit once they arrived near the city of Sikuri. After they identified themselves, the rebels in Sikuri weed them into the city with joy.

    When fleeing toward Catania, Macias gathered the defeated soldiers along the way. But when he was painfully deciding what to do next, the tyrants of Catania and Sikuri came looking for him to ask for his help to recapture their city.

    However, a messenger from Syracuse came to find him: He told him about the revolt and that they were urgently waiting for Macias to lead his army back to rescue Syracuse.

    After being shocked, Macias could no longer care about other things. He then led his men to gather the defeated soldiers and return to rescue Syracuse.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Dionysius led his army to attack the Theonian camp, a small ship came to the port of Scylletium. But even when faced with the Theonian fleet''s blockade, it did not back down and had instead yed a game of hide and seek with the Theonian warships. In the end, the flexible and small ship easily broke into the port after shuttling between the gaps of numerous ships.

    At this time, Dionysius, who had invaded the empty left camp but was blocked by the wooden walls and trenches outside the Theonian central camp, had finally decided to retreat.

    Unfortunately, his order camete.

    Inside the central camp, Davos arranged the soldiers of the first, fifth and sixth legions in a ring formation behind the wooden wall. Afterwards, he deliberately let the Syracusan soldiers break through the wall and poured into the central camp to fight a frontal battle.

    But the Syracusan soldiers and freemen, who were exhausted andcked armour after fighting for so long, were no match for the heavily armed Theonian legion, who were lying in wait. But for safety, Davos hadn''t let his men chase the enemy down to the city of Scylletium due to the threat of the troops led by Dionysius,

    When Dionysius learned the troops attacking the central camp had lost, he did not dare to stay any longer as he hurriedly led his troops back. But wanting to vent his anger, Dionysius burnt down Theonia''s left camp on their way back.

    After returning to Scylletium, a flustered Leptines came looking for Dionysius before he could even catch his breath.

    Hearing his brother''s report, Dionysius was shocked as he never thought Davos would dare send troops to Sicily while encircling Scylletium and attacking the Locrian Alliance!

    Despite Leptines reporting that only a few thousand soldiersnded in Sicily, Dionysius couldn''t remain calm as Philistus. After suffering another defeat, Dionysius was now fully vignt toward the young archon of Theonia. And he even highly suspected that Davos'' willingness to negotiate peace with him wasn''t just to cover up his attack on Hipponion and Medma but to hold him here while sending his soldiers tond in Sicily. That is probably Davos'' real finishing move!

    As the tyrant of Syracuse and the hegemon of the Greek city-state of Sicily, Dionysius certainly knew how the people of each city-state felt about him. Just the thought of that had made him anxious and restless. Still, he tried to pretend to beposed as he bid farewell to everyone and returned to his temporary residence.

    After Phacipessas reorganised his defeated troops and came to report their losses to Dionysius, what he saw inside was a haggard-looking suprememander.

    Dionysius absentmindedly listened to Phacipessas'' report, remaining indifferent about suffering more than 2,000 deaths and nearly 6,000 wounded. Instead, he said, ¡°Syracuse had sent a messenger to report that more than 3,000 Theonian soldiers havended in Naxos¡­¡±

    Wanting to lessen the impact and avoid causing too much panic, Dionysius only said a lesser number of Theonian soldiers. Yet it still surprised Phacipessas that he forgot to address Dionysius respectfully, ¡°What?! The Theonians actually dared to attack Sicily?! When did this happen?!!¡±

    Dionysius feigned his smile as he looked at him, ¡°It was two days ago. The Theonians tried to cause some trouble, but their numbers were just too small. Don''t worry; Macias had already led a force of 10,000 men northward. Furthermore, he had gotten the support from the city-states of Taunis, Leontinoi, and Catania, so I believe that they should have now wiped out all the Theonians!¡±

 Chapter 556: Dionysius Agonising Choice

    Phacipessas was inwardly relieved. And even though he still felt some uneasiness, he did not show it. On the contrary, he remembered his blunder just now, so he hurriedly said, ¡°The Theonians thought a campaign across the sea would be simple. Only if they send tens of thousands of soldiers and supply sufficient military food could they possibly cause some trouble to our homnd. Unfortunately, the Theonians obviously could not do so with their current strength.¡±

    ¡°You are right!¡± Dionysius loudly expressed his approval. Still, a hint of worry appeared, ¡°However¡­Philistus mentioned that G, Kamarina, and Agrigento¡­the city-states on the south coast of Sicily, were ignoring his request and were unwilling to provide soldiers and warships. What''s more, heined that Herolis repeatedly opposed him that it even began affecting his management of the city-states and resulted in his inability to provide us with reinforcements and fleets in time. Thus-¡±

    Dionysius said deeply, ¡°After repeated pondering, I decided to return to Syracuse by a boat and bring the reinforcements to Magna Graecia as soon as possible!¡±

    ¡°Milord, you are leaving?!¡± Phacipessas'' countenance changed again, ¡°What about the soldiers here?!¡±

    ¡°If Apollo blesses me, I would be able to bring reinforcements back to save you in ten days!¡± Said Dionysius solemnly. Then he continued, ¡°And within these ten days, I will leave the army''s control to you! Fortunately, Theonia''s attention is currently on Medma and Locri, so they do not have enough troops and will not take the initiative to attack Scylletium, which tens of thousands of soldiers defended and risk suffering heavy casualties. Furthermore, our army has enough supplies tost us for an extended time¡­Phacipessas, you are my most trusted officer! And the soldiers'' most trusted strategos! Only you can carry this burden! Wait for me to return with the reinforcements, and we will go home to Syracuse without any incident!¡±

    ¡°Milord¡­¡± Phacipessas, who was used to obeying Dionysius'' orders, was under tremendous pressure. Although he has other thoughts, he simply couldn''t say ¡®I refuse¡¯.

    ¡°I will have the other strategoi obey your orders, including my brother. If anyone doesn''t follow yourmand during my absence, you can deal with them ording to the militaryw!¡± Dionysius didn''t give him time to say anything else as he forcibly gave him the right tomand the army.

    In the end, Phacipessas could only ept the appointment with reluctance and wished Dionysius a safe journey back to Syracuse.

    Afterwards, Dionysius talked to the other strategoi and asked them to actively cooperate with Phacipessas in controlling the troops and defending Scylletium.

    In a covert meeting with Androstini, the head of the intelligence, Dionysius had given him a letter and a mission to keep an eye on Phacipessas and the other strategoi. If he noticed that Phacipessas was behaving abnormally, he would immediately contact Leptines at the port, read the letter in front of the strategoi and take down Phacipessas.

    Lastly, he called Phidias.

    ¡°I heard that Syracuse suffered heavy casualties this time around. It seems that even without my intervention, you still failed to defeat the Theonians!¡± Phidias mocked him as soon as he entered the room. Phidias had truly be an idle man: Not only does he no longer lead the troops, but Dionysius hadn¡¯t even discussed the attack on the Theonian camp with him. Now that Phidias has be a bystander, he no longer has scruples in expressing his dissatisfaction.

    Dionysius naturally understood the Spartan''s character, so even though he was somewhat displeased, he still bluntly said, ¡°Davos sent thousands of soldiers tond in Sicily and captured a town, so I must immediately return to Syracuse by boat. However, I hope you cane with me!¡±

    ¡°Davos actually dared to divide his troops to attack Syracuse at this time?!¡± Phidias was just as shocked as Dionysius, but he quickly expressed his admiration, ¡°He is too daring!¡­¡±

    After letting out a sigh, Phidias nced at Dionysius and said, ¡°Is this your way of leaving these soldiers of yours behind while fleeing Magna Graecia alone?¡±

    Dionysius, however, did not directly answer him. Instead, he said with slight concern, ¡°I am afraid that Davos hadn''t just sent a few thousand men to attack Sicily as that would only send them to their deaths. Rather, I could sense that Syracuse and our allies would be unstable. Thus I need your support!¡± As a tyrant who could regard power as the sword of Damocles*, he naturally had political instincts to prepare for any incidents. (Note: An impending disaster.)

    Phidias turned serious as he understood that ¡®your support¡¯ was actually Sparta''s support. Back when the Carthaginians were sieging Syracuse, the people of Syracuse tried to force Dionysius to step down. But Phidias, as Sparta''s envoy, asked the people of Syracuse to make concessions, allowing Dionysius to take back his power.

    ¡®Could there be another revolt in Syracuse?¡¯ Phidias looked at Dionysius and thought for a moment: With the defeat of the Syracusan navy, defeat in the Battle of Crotone, and the failure in attacking the Theonian camp, Dionysius'' defeat was much worse than before, it was likely that the people of Syracuse vented their anger towards Dionysius¡­

    Phidias thought gloatingly. However, he knew that once Dionysius was overthrown, not only would it waste Sparta''s effort in supporting Syracuse over the years, the revolt would inevitably lead to Syracuse''s strength greatly weakening and cause a vacuum in Sicily''s hegemony. What''s more, Sparta didn''t want to see either Theonia or Carthage expanding, so they could only continue supporting Dionysius.

    After looking at Dionysius with dissatisfaction, Phidias thought that ¡®This cunning bastard certainly knew about that, and it is why he could demand something outrageous!¡¯

    Thinking of this, Phidias stopped his babbling and asked him directly, ¡°Is it safe to go back by boat? The Theonians are blocking the port.¡±

    ¡°Philistus sent me the best helmsman and sailors of my fleet. Furthermore, they had even sailed into the port with ease.¡± Replied Dionysius.

    ¡°When are you leaving?¡±

    ¡°Tonight.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Theonians then sounded their retreat after thest siege tower was destroyed in front of the city walls of Medma.

    Watching the retreating enemies, the Medmaeans, who fought for the whole day, cheered at their survival.

    Hielos, whomanded the battle from a distance, wasn''t too dejected. Instead, he ordered, ¡°Return and tell the engineering camp that the siege tower''s wheels are too inflexible, which took a lot of effort to push. Apart from that, the tower wasn''t sturdy enough¡­so I hope they can improve it as soon as possible!¡±

    ¡°Yes,mander.¡±

    ¡°And¡­our soldiers are too unfamiliar with these new siege engines that they couldn''t coordinate well. Thus I hope that our training could strengthen this aspect!¡± Henipolis also put forward his own opinions.

    ¡°You''re right. Let''s do that!¡± Hielos listened carefully to their opinions seriously and then said with expectation, ¡°I hope that after the improvement, the Medmaeans would no longerugh at us when we attack the city again.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the offensive and defensive battle on the Theonian camp in Scylletium: The Theonian won a great victory but suffered more than 500 deaths and 2,700 wounded. After assigning a task to each legatus, Davos and the soldiers cremated the dead and then went tofort the wounded. Davos was so busy that it was already evening when he returned to his tent. However, Tolmides was standing outside his tent, waiting for him.

    Davos then asked him, ¡°Is there anything urgent?¡±

    But just as Tolmides was about to speak, a strong southern wind suddenly blew, bringing ashes that poured into the people''s mouths and noses, resulting in everyone rushing into the tent awkwardly.

    ¡°Ptooey! Ptooey!¡­¡±Henipolis spat ck ashes from his mouth while cursing, ¡°Damned Syracusans! They burned our camp to vent their anger just because they couldn''t beat us!!¡±

    Due to the trench separating the central camp, only the left camp was burnt, with some ces still having smoke rising. However, the strong wind gathered up the ashes and brought disaster to the soldiers in the central camp, which is also why Henipolisined.

    ¡°It was profitable to exchange an empty camp for the Syracusan soldiers to suffer tens of thousands of casualties.¡± Tolmidesughed.

    ¡°It''s just unfortunate that our soldiers had to share a bed tonight.¡± Henipolisughed as well.

    ¡°The right camp still has enough open spaces. However, we arecking tents.¡±

    ¡°We don''t have a shortage of tents. After we captured Syracuse''s great camp in Crotone, we had seized enough tents and only needed to bring them here tomorrow.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While they were discussing, Davos finished dusting off the ashes on his body and asked, ¡°Tolmides. what''s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Mithridates reported that a fast-sailing boat from the south broke into the port of Scylletium this afternoon.¡±

    ¡°We had so many ships, yet they couldn''t even stop a single boat?!¡± Henipolis said with discontent.

    But neither Davos nor Tolmides answered.

    Davos was clear that such boats were small and flexible. And if there is wind and an experienced helmsman and sailors, they could y with a trireme. It is also why they are usually responsible for surveince and information transmission in the fleet.

    Henipolis didn''t know anything about the navy, but Davos also didn¡¯t rify it. Rather, he hoped that Henipolis'' words would p the sailors who somewhat becamecent after their recent victories.

    After a moment of silence, Davos asked, ¡°Why do you think this fast-sailing boat broke into the port of Scylletium?¡±

    ¡°They must havee to report to Dionysius that our first legion hasnded in Sicily.¡± Henipolis answered first.

    The news about the first legion''s upation of Megalos had spread to the camp as early as a day ago. After Davos specially conveyed the report to the legatus and high-ranking officers, their confidence increased significantly, and they no longerined about the continued siege in Scylletium. Therefore, Davos was not surprised that Henipolis could answer so quickly, and after looking at Tolmides'' expression, it was evident that he had the same opinion.

 Chapter 557: Deciding the response to Taranto

    ¡°What do you think Dionysius would do once he learned about it?¡± Davos asked again.

    Hearing this, the two men in the tent fell into thinking.

    After a while, Henipolis disclosed his uncertain guess, ¡°The Syracusans¡¯ attack on our camp was to break our encirclement but failed. So now that Dionysius knows we are attacking their allies in Sicily¡­ If I were him, I would definitely choose to negotiate a truce! A genuine truce! I think he would even be willing to pay the price to make peace just to save Syracuse¡­¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, Dionysius might instead escape.¡± But as soon Tolmides said this, Henipolis immediately refuted, ¡°Escape?! How could they escape?!! With our encirclement of Scylletium and our fleet''s blockade, it would be difficult for the Syracusans to leave bynd or sea!¡±

    ¡°Those tens of thousands of people could certainly not escape. However, Dionysius could flee by boat alone.¡±

    ¡°Do you mean that Dionysius would leave his tens of thousands of Syracusan soldiers who followed him into battle and quietly ran away alone just to survive?!¡± Due to his youth, Henipolis was hot-blooded and had a sense of justice that he couldn''t imagine such cowardly behaviour. But working as a mercenary, Tolmides saw many ugly things.

    ¡°Whatever Dionysius nned to do, we will know tomorrow.¡± Davos said indifferently. Then he gave his order, ¡°Tolmides, immediately tell Mithridates to send 30 triremes to Rhegium as soon as possible within two days and hand them over to Seclian.¡±

    Seclian wanted to attack Sicily but worried that his fleet''s strength wasn''t enough topletely suppress the Syracusan fleet and its allies guarding the maind. Thus he requested 30 triremes when he sent a messenger to report the battle situation in Sicily. In fact, Theonia had captured several ships, most were triremes, from both Syracuse and Taranto, after several battles. However, they were anchored in the military port in the Crati river as they did not have enough sailors. But with the addition of Rhegium, whose territory was not harmed during the war, they now had enough sailors to use these 30 ships.

    ¡°Understood, milord.¡±

    ¡°Also, tell Mithridates to tighten the blockade on the port tonight!¡± Evidently, Davos took note of what Tolmides had said.

    After seeing off Tolmides, Henipolis asked confusedly, ¡°Your majesty, will Dionysius really leave his troops here and escape to Syracuse alone?¡±

    Davos thought for a while and slowly exined, ¡°It''s possible. Some people lived for everyone, while some lived for themselves. And judging from Dionysius'' past behaviour, it is clear that he cares more about his interest.¡±

    ¡°Would the first legion be in danger if Dionysius managed to escape?¡± Henipolis asked worriedly.

    Davos lightly said, ¡°Aristias, a Catanian, had sent his younger brother to the southeast of Sicily six months ago. And with Catania, Leontinoi, Sikuri, Taunis, and even Syracuse taking so many freemen and ves asbourers, and with Dionysius taking his army to attack Magna Graecia, an opportunity opened up for them. In addition, the first legion was there to assist, so mayhem would surely happen in Sicily. Hence even if Dionysius escapes, he will no longer be able to coerce their allied city-states as easily as before the war¡­¡±

    Although Davos was well aware of Antrapolis'' arrangement in Sicily, the distance between the two ces was a bit far away that reports would often be dyed for two days, making it difficult for him to control the developments. So before he sent the first legion, he had already thought about the worst: The first legion would create some trouble in Sicily but get wiped out.

    But as long as they could shock the Sicilian city-state and make the Greeks of Sicily revolt against Syracuse and ruin Syracuse¡¯s war potential, this sacrifice is definitely worth it! However, Davos could only bury such a mentality of regarding the first legion as an abandoned child at the bottom of his heart as it is impossible for him to say it out.

    Seeing Henipolis lost in his thought, Davos walked to his desk filled with letters and papers. Apart frommanding the war and handling military matters, he also handled Theonia''s government affairs. Every day, Kunogta and Cornelius would write the issues and important government affairs that the Senate could not resolve. Then a messenger will ride to the camp, wait for Davos to make a decision and reply, and then return to Thurii. Thus, people could see messengers in special attire galloping back and forth daily on the road.

    Suddenly, Davos saw a roll of unopened letters in the middle of his desk, so he asked with suspicion, ¡°When did this letter arrive?¡±

    ¡°Oh?!¡± Henipolis then remembered, ¡°It was delivered at noon and was said to be very important. However, you weremanding the battle then, so I waited for a while¡­then I forgot about it¡­¡±

    Davos stared at Henipolis, who bowed his head and admitted his mistake. He then said sternly, ¡°You are still not a qualified clerk! Next time, you can''t make such a mistake again!!!¡±

    Henipolis repeatedly bowed and said, ¡°Your majesty, I will not let it happen again!¡±

    After Davos unrolled the papyrus, his expression turned serious under the flickering oilmp.

    ¡°Your majesty, what happened?¡± Asked Henipolis hastily.

    Davos tapped his finger on the desk and said, ¡°The Messapians and Peucetians led a massive invasion on Taranto.¡±

    ¡°Ah..they tore up the armistice agreement!¡± Henipolis cried out in rm.

    ¡°If an agreement is not backed by strength, it would just be a piece of scrap paper.¡± Davos said coldly, ¡°Due to the invasion of the Syracusan army, the Tarantines tore up our agreement. So the goddess Nemesis sent her retribution: Now that we captured Taranto''s main force, the Messapians and Peucetians will naturally be greedy.¡±

    ¡°But Taranto couldn''tpare to our Theonia! Would they be able to hold back the Messapi-Peuceti alliance?¡± Asked Henipolis. Although he had not yet submitted his request to integrate Laos into Theonia to the Senate, he had already considered himself a Theonian. So rather than worrying about Taranto, he was more worried about the impact of Taranto''s capture on the Theonia Union.

    ¡°They naturally couldn''t. This time, the Messapi-Peuceti army gathered 30,000 warriors while Taranto doesn''t even have 3,000 citizens who are old enough to be a soldier.¡± Davos tapped his finger on the letter, with his eyes glistening, ¡°That''s why the Tarantine Senate urgently sent an envoy to Thurii, hoping that we can release the 10,000 or so Tarantine captives we held. For that, they are even willing to join our Theonian Alliance.¡±

    After hearing Davos, Henipolis'' eyes widened in shock. This is Taranto! Unlike Heraclea and Metapontum, Taranto is a traditionally powerful city-state in Magna Graecia, not weaker than Crotone! Although some of their allies in the Theonia Alliance have long histories, none were prominent city-states like Locri and Crotone. So once Taranto joins, it would undoubtedly improve Theonia Alliance''s status among the Greek city-states significantly. (Although Rhegium joined the Theonia Alliance, their rtionship was more like equal than a subordinate because Theonia wasn''t too powerful back then.)

    ¡°Heni, how should we respond to the Tarantine''s request?¡± Davos'' question brought Henipolis back to his senses, who eximed with excitement, ¡°Agree to it! We should agree to Taranto!¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± Davos sat back in his chair, looked at the excited Henipolis and yfully said, ¡°We should forgive Taranto easily? Forgive them for their collusion with Syracuse, betraying our sacred pledge, wantonly attacking our allies, trampling our territory and ughtering our citizens?! I am afraid our people would rather see the Messapi-Peuceti capture Taranto to vent their hatred!¡±

    ¡°But¡­but our strength would greatly improve if we grant Taranto''s request!¡± Henipolis refuted.

    ¡°They would just be a subordinate city. They would neither increase our tax revenue nor will they do their best to send their main force in a war. What''s more, they would unlikely provide help when we encounter difficulties. Rather, they might even withdraw from the alliance at any time. On the contrary, we must adhere to our oath and save them when a disaster happens. Heraclea and Metapontum in this war is a good example.¡± Davos said disapprovingly, unfazed by this seemingly favourable proposal of the Tarantines.

    After Davos said that, the excited Henipolis gradually calmed down. After thinking for a moment, he asked, ¡°Your majesty, do you want to refuse this request? And just let those aborigines capture Taranto?¡±

    ¡°No! Once the Messapi-Peuceti alliance captures Taranto, Metapontum and Heraclea will be in danger. Furthermore, Thurii''s defence is now empty, and I don''t want to see enemies invading thend of Amendra again!¡± Davos sighed helplessly and said, ¡°It''s just that the conditions proposed by the Tarantines aren''t enough.¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, could it be that you want to integrate Taranto into the Theonia Union?!¡± Henipolis asked in surprise. Then he said, ¡°I don''t think those arrogant Tarantines would agree.¡± As a student of Theonia''s Akademia, Henipolis saw the behaviours of the Tarantine schrs from the Pythagorean school when they had an exchange.

 Chapter 558: Carthages Decision

    ¡°The arrogant Tarantines!¡± Davos remembered the sense of superiority held by both the officials andmon citizens of Taranto, whom he met when he led his army to aid Taranto. He also thought about how thister weakened Taranto had taken the lead in resisting Rome''s invasion and even invited Pyrrhus to lead his army into Italy, thus triggering the Pyrrhic War in his previous life''s history. And a hundred years after Taranto''s submission to Rome, they revolted again by joining Hannibal and bing the logistic base of the Carthaginians in South Italia. It was also Taranto''s credit that Hannibal could fight Rome in Italy for 13 years. Thus it can be seen that the Tarantines had rebellious blood flowing in their vein¡­

    ¡®Or we should simply stand by and let the Messapi-Peuceti allied army wipe Taranto out and take it backter, giving us justification¡­¡¯ Davos became uncertain.

    Seeing the new king of Theonia frown as he paced back and forth in the tent while bowing his head and lost in his thoughts, Henipolis did not dare to make a sound as he was afraid to interrupt Davos and just stood aside and waited quietly.

    After a while, he heard Davos say, ¡°Heni, it would indeed be difficult to integrate Taranto into Theonia fully. However, what about partially integrating them?¡±

    ¡°Partial? Your majesty, do you want the Tarantines to cede part of their territory to Theonia?¡± Henipolis wasn''t surprised by Davos'' decision as that was also a method to annex a major nation.

    ¡°Not like that.¡± Davos shook his head and said, ¡°I want to turn Taranto into a ¡®free city¡¯ in the Theonia Union.¡±

    ¡°Free city?!¡± Henipolis was puzzled.

    ¡°Taranto would be a part of Theonia, but they do not need to pay taxes to the national treasury, and the Senate won''t interfere with its management. However, they do not have the right to independent diplomacy or form an army¡­ Still, once Theonia encounters difficulties and needs their help, they must also contribute!¡± As he was also straightening out his ideas, Davos spoke slowly and clearly when exining.

    Henipolis'' eyes lit up as he apuded Davos'' novel political idea. Still, he reminded, ¡°Your majesty, although the Free City is only a few small steps from bing a dependent city-state, I am afraid the Taratines won''t agree.¡±

    ¡°The Messapians and the Peucetians will force them to agree. Of course, I would prefer the Tarantines would be daring enough to refuse so that we can build a new city on the ruins of Taranto!¡± There was a hint of coldness in Davos'' mocking words.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Lilybaeum was a newly built city by the Carthaginianmander, Himilco, near the ruins of Motya, an important Carthaginian city at the southwest end of Sicily that was destroyed five years ago.

    After a few years of development, this new city has gradually prospered. And since Mago became the governor of Sicily and made Lilybaeum the centre of Sicily, it has grown by leaps and bounds: Coins, weapons and armour, grain, warhorses, ves¡­every day, countless merchant ships with all kinds of military supplies came to the port of Lilybaeum and then distributed to the various military camps.

    And with the port''s development, it had created a demand forbour, which resulted in many Phoenicians, Numidians and Mauritanians to flocked to the city and the need to continue expanding the residential area outward. Thus in less than a year, Lilybaeum became thergest city controlled by Carthage in Sicily.

    In the morning, Mago received Adrusbal, a messenger from Carthage''s Senate, at his residence.

    Mago was quite friendly towards this elder. Although Adrusbal does not belong to either the Magonid or the Hanno faction, he is an important figure among the neutral elder in the Senate. He even dared to propose bills that were detrimental to the interest of the two factions but beneficial to the people. So even though his bill was often not passed, his poprity among the people was high that theyter elected him as an important member of the Council of Hundred and Four. Hence Mago doesn''t dare to underestimate him.

    After the two exchanged friendly discussions, Adrusbal changed to the main topic, ¡°Lord Mago, you had applied to the Senate for the right to mint coins in Lilybaeum a month ago. After a long debate, the Senate finally decided-¡± Seeing the slight nervous expression on Mago''s face, Adrusbal shook his head and slowly said, ¡°The Senate vetoed your proposal.¡±

    Because the Senate sent Adrusbal as a messenger to Lilybaeum immediately after making a decision, Mago had not yet received the message from his men in Carthage. Hence to his surprise, he immediately questioned in a loud voice that ruined the friendly atmosphere just now, ¡°Why?!¡±

    ¡°The right to minting coin is exclusive to Carthage to ensure the city''s leadership among the other Phoenician allies and benefit our trade. But I didn''t think that you, the current patriarch of one of the Magonids who was part of the founding families of Carthage, would fail to understand this!¡± A hint of rebuke mixed in Adrusbal''s calm tone.

    ¡°What I had proposed was to temporarily mint coins.¡± Mago argued, ¡°Since the Senate has appointed me to be in charge of Sicily''s military defence and the security of Carthage to the north, I thus took my responsibility seriously! But what happened is that every delivery of military funds from Carthage would either get dyed or insufficient. Sometimes, there are even nasty incidents where the ships carrying the coins got sunk by the storms¡­ Do you know how much trouble these problems are causing for my defence ns?! The soldiers'' resentment even rose! Just the other day, the mercenaries stationed at Segesta caused amotion because we werete in paying them several times and had taken me a lot of effort just to appease them!¡±

    But the more Mago spoke, the angrier he became, ¡°I now suspect that the elders, led by Hanno, are making things difficult for me. If they were to continue making troubles without regarding Carthage''s interests, our mercenaries here in Sicily would cause a mutiny! Then our defence in Sicily that I have worked so hard to build will be ruined, and the revolting mercenaries may be a danger to the city of Carthage! Lord Adrusbal, you had always acted fairly. So this time, I hope you will reconsider my proposal in the genuine interests of Carthage!¡±

    Mago was too straightforward in his usation and veiled threats to Hanno, making Adrusbal frown and think, ¡®It was no wonder he can''tpete with the shrewd Hanno.¡¯ Unlike Himilco, the former head of the Magonids, Mago might have some talents in military affairs but was still immature in politics.

    Although Adrusbal was part of the neutral faction in the Senate and would criticise both factions in the meeting from time to time, he naturally had political flexibility that allowed him to do well in the Senate. After making up his mind, he gently persuaded him, ¡°Lord Mago, you don''t need to be so anxious. Although the Senate hadn''t approved your proposals, the elders have already taken note of the problems you mentioned. For this reason, the Senate had already sent a special person responsible for the casting and transportation of Sicily''s military funds. Furthermore, they have also sent another person to supervise it. Thus I believe that all of these problems would no longer show up.

    Naturally, all these problems you had said were not caused by someone deliberately targeting you. It''s just that all the elders in the Senate are fully alert and worried about recruiting mercenaries, so they strictly reviewed the amount of military funds and sry. They had also cut down some unnecessary funds, resulting in the amount getting reduced and a dy in the delivery. I think you should understand that all of it is to safeguard Carthage''s interests¡­¡±

    Mago could only snort and was no longer entangled on this issue. Although he showed he was furious, he inwardly felt guilty as he had misappropriated a small part of the military funds for his family''s development expenses in Iberia. So he thought Adrusbal was warning him that the Senate had already noticed this. Fortunately, he had achieved his goal as he didn''t hope to get the right to temporarily mint coins and was only using the proposal to threaten Hanno not to withhold the military funds.

    ¡°Apart from that, the Senate also vetoed your proposal the other day about ¡®While Syracuse and Theonia are at war, we should send troops to attack eastern Sicily and restore Carthage''s former sphere of influence.¡¯¡± Adrusbal continued.

    Mago was aware of the nature of those in the Senate, so he wasn''t surprised. Instead, he nced at Adrusbal and asked coldly, ¡°All had disagreed? They have no otherments?¡±

    ¡°Most elders agreed that Carthage shouldn''t be involved in this war and remain neutral, lest the Greeks unite against us again.¡±

    ¡°What kind of reasoning is that? Are the people of the Senate full of idiots?!¡± Hearing that, Mago couldn''t stop himself from shouting angrily again, ¡°Such a rare opportunity has fallen to us! Theonia hadn''t just beaten the Syracusans in a naval battle; they had also caused Syracuse to suffer a crushing defeat in the ensuingnd battle. And yesterday, I received reports from eastern Sicily that the Theonians havended in Sicily and captured Megalos! With Syracuse losing the war in Magna Graecia, it was already a big question whether their troops could return safely to Sicily!! Because of that, Syracuse''s strength would greatly weaken, and they could no longer control the situation in eastern Sicily. Hence we should take advantage of the fact that the Greek city-states in Sicily are in chaos and quickly send our troops and re-establish our hegemony in Sicily!!!¡­¡±

 Chapter 559: Departure

    Adrusbal looked at the excited Mago, but his heart remained unmoved, ¡®Carthage''s hegemony in Sicily? It should be your Magonids'' hegemony of Sicily!¡¯

    The Carthaginians are true to their racial identity as Phoenicians, preferring business and trade over military aggression. For hundreds of years, the Carthaginians were mostly peaceful with their colonisation and trade in Sicily with the Greeks, apart from a few conflicts. But 80 years ago, Gelon, the tyrant of Syracuse, attacked Himera and forced Terillus, the tyrant of Himera, to ask the head of the Magonids of Carthage and his close friend, Hamilcar, for aid.

    At that time, Hamilcar was also furious because his mother''s n* had been mistreated in Syracuse, so without the unanimous consent of the Senate, Hamilcar organised an expedition to Sicily with his own pocket. As a result, Gelon defeated them in Himera, and Hamilcar died. Thus the Magonids made it their mission to defeat Syracuse and dragged the Carthaginians down with them. From then on, the Carthaginians and Syracusans have been at war for decades¡­ (Hamilcar''s mother was from Syracuse.)

    Although the Magonids had already lost their absolute rule in Carthage, they still wanted to encourage the people to participate in the endless war in Sicily¡­Adrusbal, who knew some inside information, sneered. After coughing a few times, he coldly said, ¡°We needed people to fight a war, but the previous two wars against Syracuse that you and your brotherunched have made Carthage lose too many citizens. I am afraid our citizens are unwilling and unable to join a new war!¡±

    Adrusbal''s words poke at Mago''s sore spot, making him embarrassed that he could only angrily say, ¡°I don''t need the citizens to join the war! As long as there are enough mercenaries, I can lead them and my army to attack Syracuse!!!¡±

    Adrusbalughed and said, ¡°Lord Mago, it''s easy for you to say ¡®As long as there are enough mercenaries¡¯! Don''t you know that we also need a lot of money to pay their sries?! Your current mercenaries already strained Carthage''s treasure, yet you want to recruit more soldiers? Not only the Senate would disagree, but the people would also oppose it as that would mean more taxation. Moreover, having too many mercenaries would be a cause for concern, just like what you had said earlier, Lord Mago, ¡®Once we can''t pay them in time, those mercenaries would revolt.¡¯¡±

    Mago couldn''t respond for a moment. After a while, he reluctantly said, ¡°Even if we don''t increase our soldiers, I can certainly recapture the city-states andnd we lost with our current army in Sicily! So I wish you, Lord Adrusbal, tell the Senate to reconsider this matter!¡±

    Adrusbal, however, tly refused, ¡°Lord Mago, shouldn''t you know the current situation of Carthage?! Carthage needed to recover its prosperity, and the people hoped to live a peaceful life; thus, no one was willing to sacrifice their lives for thosends and inexplicable reasons that had nothing to do with them! We have already made peace with Syracuse, yet you now want us to break the peace with them and restart the war? Not only will that anger the Syracusans, but also the Theonians, with whom we have just established some ties. And Carthage will not make such a reckless decision!¡±

    Mago was incensed by his words, ¡°Adrusbal, I used to think that you were strong-willed and have your own independent opinions and views in the Senate. But it seems that you are no different from those guys who cling to Hanno. Do you know what the people call them?!¡±

    Faced with Mago''s offence, Adrusbal held his anger back and said, ¡°My opinions have always been in the interest of Carthage, and I will not think who would favour and who would be against. Rather, Lord Mago, have you really made this decision for Carthage?! I would like to remind you that, due to the sensitive period, the Senate will send an elder to serve as a judge in Sicily so that those mercenaries will not cause some idents by disobeying our order!¡­¡±

    The two then parted unhappily after the meeting.

    When Adrusbal left the governor''s residence, he could still hear the shouting of Mago inside. After finally making up his mind, he agreed to Hanno''s private proposal to send envoys to reach an agreement with Theonia as soon as possible.

    On the way to the port, he frowned after encountering mercenaries with different ents and clothes, ¡®There is absolutely no need for the Sicilian military defence zone to exist! Why go through wars when we can obtain peace and benefits through negotiations¡­¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At night, the port of Scylletium was silent, and only the sound of the tide¡¯s gentle caress of the port could be heard.

    In the sky was a full moon that dispels the darkness between heaven and earth with its soft silvery light, which also brought some safety to navigating at night.

    Dionysius and Phidias came to the port quietly, and Leptines had already prepared a boat for them.

    After patting Phacipessas on the shoulder, Dionysius solemnly said, ¡°Phacipessas, there''s no need to apany us further, lest the soldiers notice something unusual. During this time, I will hand all the troops here over to you while I bring reinforcements as soon as possible!¡±

    The heavy task Dionysius had given him made Phacipessas feel great pressure that only after half a day, his forehead already had a few more wrinkles. But at this time, he could no longer say his distress and only send his blessings, ¡°Milord, may Apollo bless you with a sessful return to Syracuse!¡±

    ¡°Don''t forget to hide my departure from the soldiers for now. Otherwise, the soldiers would cause amotion!¡± Dionysius reminded him again.

    Phacipessas then nodded in understanding.

    After watching Phacipessas turn around and leave, Dionysius quickly withdrew his gaze and said to Leptines, ¡°What about the Theonians'' blockade of the port?¡±

    ¡°From the report of the sentry on the lighthouse, there are only three or four Theonian ships outside the port. And with such a wide sea area, they couldn¡¯t block it, especially at night! And with Lakteros'' ship handling skill, he can easily break through their blockade!¡±

    After listening to Leptines'' confident words, Dionysius rxed a bit. He then looks at his brother, whose mediocrity and ipetence often make him angry and helpless, but his loyalty and meticulous implementation of orders have often put him at ease. Although he had sent his several other brothers to serve as a tyrant of the other city-states, only Leptines was the only one left by his side¡­Looking at this simple and honest brother of his, he no longerined inwardly and had instead whispered, ¡°Pay attention to the city''s movement. Once you find something wrong, immediately rush out of the port with the fleet and return to Syracuse!¡±

    ¡°Ah?!¡± Leptines almost shouted in his astonishment.

    Dionysius red at him fiercely, squeezed his hand hard and said, ¡°Remember!¡±

    Leptines nodded alertly, ¡°Yes! Yes!¡±

    Dionysius passed by him and, with the help of his guards, jumped onto the swaying boat.

    ¡°Are you done?¡± Phidias, who was already on the ship, asked.

    Dionysius nodded.

    ¡°Will you return?¡± Phidias bluntly asked.

    Dionysius'' expression changed slightly. But instead of paying attention to Phidias, he said to Lakteros, ¡°Depart!¡±

    Lakteros immediately asked the sailors to untie the ropes and raise the sails. Although the east wind was blowing on the sea now and not the south wind, the experienced Lakteros didn''t find it a problem as he skillfully steered the rudder and the boat to sail out of the port like an arrow.

    After turning around, Dionysius saw Leptines still standing on the port waving.

    Dionysius looked gloomy: He wanted to return to Scylletium with the reinforcements, defeat Theonia and regain his and Syracuse''s reputation. Yet judging from the current signs, the difficulties he would encounter after this trip back to Syracuse wouldn''t just be Theonia''s thousand soldiers. But among all the possible troubles, the most important was ensuring his power''s stability in Syracuse! Without power, he and his family would be dead!!!

    Dionysius was very clear about this because, in order to achieve his goal, he could abandon all others!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Syracuse''s allied armies had surrounded the first legion of Theonia and the exiles. But just as they were about to crush them in one fell swoop, the sessive news of revolts in their allied cities caused the Syracusan allied army to be in disarray and eventually had to choose to retreat. The first legion of Theonia then took advantage of this opportunity to counterattack and turned the Syracusan allied army¡¯s retreat into a massive defeat.

    Macias then stopped their retreat after leading the cavalries to the south for more than 10 kilometres and entered the vast Catanian in. Afterwards, he began sending the cavalry to gather the defeated soldiers in all directions. Once dusk came, he managed to gather more than 4,000 men.

    Suddenly, the scouts reported that the city of Catania had sent troops to attack and capture the defeated soldiers.

    So for safety, Macias could only lead the defeated soldiers to the west.

    They then passed through several viges that the Catanian mercenaries owned. But after the ves attacked their former owners, they followed those who seeded in their revolts into the city of Catania while taking away the food stored in the vige.

    So apart from seeing corpses, the defeated soldiers couldn¡¯t find much food. Even though the Catanian mercenaries in the group were angry, they could not even protect themselves at this moment, so they could only shed tears inwardly.

    As the demoralised soldiers endured hunger and fatigue, they staggered forward in the dark until they found a vige on the southwest edge of Catania''s territory that wasn''t impacted by the revolt.

    On the other hand, the vigers panicked as they faced so many soldiers.

 Chapter 560: With strength and to spare, one must pursue the quivering foe

    Macias led the soldiers to forcibly enter the vige and ordered the vigers to prepare food.

    After barely filling up their stomachs, the exhausted soldiers went to sleep, except for Macias, who couldn''t sleep as he tossed and turned around in his bed. The report about the revolt in Syracuse made him worried about the situation of the mercenary''s viges outside the city of Syracuse, and the tragic situation of the viges under the mercenary in Catania rmed him more. Yet he could only hope that the hundreds of mercenaries he left behind in the vige could defend their homes! After all, he could only lead his troops back to Syracuse tomorrow. By then, more than a day had already passed since the revolt, and many things could happen at that time. Once the rebels upy the whole city, they would expel the mercenaries, who have a close rtionship with Dionysius, making themndless. Thus he prayed for Philistus to quell the revolt. But if he couldn¡¯t, he must at least control and hold on to a part of the city and wait for their arrival!

    Apart from worrying about Syracuse, he was also worried about how to lead the army back safely. On his way to Megalos, he led the army northward along the t coast, passed through Taunis, then passed through Leontinoi to recruit soldiers and then passed through Catania to finally reach Sikuri. Thus it is reasonable to say that he was the one who took away the defenders of these city-states and allowed the rebels to lead arge-scale revolt.

    But now wasn¡¯t the time for him to regret that. From what happened today, the rebels should havepletely upied Catania. Otherwise, how could they have spare strength to send troops out of the city to attack them? While Sikuri, even though it wasn''t fully upied, was so close to the Theonians that it was only a matter of time before it fell. Leontinoi, on the other hand, had half of their poption forcefully transferred by Dionysius, and those who were left behind had long held a grudge against Syracuse. So even if there were no freemen and ves to rebel, the citizens would automatically revolt to overthrow the tyrants supported by Dionysius. Thus, Macias didn''t think Leontinoi, that was near Syracuse, could resist therge-scale revolt.

    On the contrary, Macias had some confidence in Taunis as they had always been a subordinate ally of Syracuse and had never betrayed them. Although they were dissatisfied with the tyrant that Syracuse supported, they wouldn''t rashly attack the Syracusan army. Moreover, the Syracusan fleet had anchored in Taunis¡¯ port after their defeat in the Gulf of Naxos, so the revolt''s chance to seed wouldn¡¯t be too great, even if there was one.

    Thus Macias finally decided that starting tomorrow, his team would bypass Catania, avoid Leontinoi''s possible attack, walk along the coast, pass Taunis and finally arrive at Syracuse¡­ Although it would be a long journey filled with unknown risks, he still had to take the risk to get back to Syracuse as soon as possible. On the other hand, the safer path would be to bypass the coast and detour the almost uninhabited mountainous area on the west side of Leontinoi. Although the mountain isn''t too high, the roads are rugged andplex, which will undoubtedly slow their travel and food would also be a big problem¡­

    Macias continued to ponder, but he still couldn''t resist his drowsiness and finally fell asleep¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Late morning of the next day, the guards woke up the still sleeping Macias to report that something had happened during his sleep: When the soldiers woke up in the morning, they noticed that dozens of their horses were gone, and more than half of the vigers had disappeared. Naturally, the soldiers became angry and suspected it was the vigers, so they immediately arrested and interrogated the remaining vigers. In the process, the former mercenaries, who had recovered their energy, began looting, raping, killing¡­and othermon evil things they did during their conquest of Sicily with Dionysius had now recurred in the vige.

    That naturally provoked the resentment of a small number of the mercenaries from Catania as this vige belonged to them. So when the two sides broke out in conflict, the angry Catanian mercenaries left the group, which sharply reduced the number of the whole army to 3,000.

    Macias didn¡¯t do anything when faced with such a difficult situation. On the contrary, he even thought that without the Catanians dragging their feet, their marching speed would be faster, and their food consumption would be less, not to mention the other annoying problems. Although they were oncerades and fought side by side until today and had a deep friendship, they could only look after themselves when faced with great difficulties.

    Macias then ordered the soldiers to take all the food in the vige and depart at once.

    Under Macias'' urging, this team of more than 3,000 men, almost all former mercenaries, hastily departed with the expectation of returning to Syracuse and defending theirnd as soon as possible.

    On their travel southeast, they met with scattered groups of soldiers from time to time, so Macias took this opportunity to include them in his team.

    At the same time, enemy scouts were watching them. Yet Macias could only send the cavalries to drive them away while urging the soldiers to speed up their march.

    Then his premonition came true. Soon, a team of more than seven hundred armourless men, armed with bows and javelins, came from the northeast andunched range attacks on Macias'' army.

    Macias was almost sure that the enemy was from Catania, so he hurriedly ordered the soldiers to strike back.

    But just as the Syracusan soldiers started to form up and attack, these light infantry from Catania retreated. But as they resumed their column formation and continued their march, the enemy appeared again.

    After this incident happened several times, Macias understood that the Catanian rebels only wanted to assault them but didn''t want to fight a head-on battle.

    With the javelins and arrows continuing to take his soldiers'' lives and destroying their already low morale, Macias could no longer ignore them. Hence he arranged the remaining 50 cavalries and nearly 500 light infantries in the rear to resist the enemy''s attack. However, he did not allow the soldiers to pursue the enemy as that would only consume their stamina, separate them from the main group and make them vulnerable to ambushes. Besides, their only goal was to return home.

    In the afternoon, the Syracusan army stopped after exiting the Catanian in. A t and narrow coastal path appeared in front of them, with the sea to the east and mountains to the west.

    Macias was worried about the Leontinoi rebels appearing, but thankfully they did not. And probably because the narrowness of the terrain limited the mobility of the Catanian rebels, they stopped attacking the group''s rear, which relieved the Syracusan soldiers.

    Then the Syracusan army stepped up their march as the city of Taunis was only 5 kilometres away.

    But once the city of Taunis came into the defeated Syracusan''s sight, who had thought they had escaped a great disaster, they were surprised to see that not far north of Taunis, a force of more than 4,000 men arranged in a neat phnx formation, blocked the coastal path. Furthermore, the full ck armour of most of the soldiers made their excitement plummet down to the bottom, ¡®It''s the Theonians! It''s the Theonian legions! Howe they are in front of us?!!¡­¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Yesterday''s bitter battle had ended with the defeat of the Syracusan army.

    While Theonia''s first legion pursued the enemy, Antonios went to meet Antrapolis'' messenger and learned that they had captured Catania and the revolt in Syracuse was sessful. Thus Antonios became relieved after knowing that the first legion had finally gained a firm foothold in Sicily after paying the price.

    But while rejoicing, he still could not rx as Antrapolis hoped that the first legion would be able to intercept the Syracusan army from returning to Syracuse and bringing significant variables to their operations.

    However, Antonios really didn''t want to listen to his advice. Although the first legion won in the end, they suffered nearly a thousand casualties, with several senior officers dying and even his closerade Cid had remained unconscious. Out of the 8,000 men before the outbreak of the war(which excluded the auxiliary troops), only around 4,000 men remained. So with the number of people dropping by more than half by paying a huge sacrifice, it is indeed the time for them to take a rest and replenish. Unfortunately, their current environment doesn''t allow it, and the danger hasn''t passed with them only missing onest step.

    Antonios, of course, did not want the first legion''s expedition to fail just because those defeated soldiers fled back to Syracuse. And the habit of the legion, ¡°The Theonian legion always took advantage of the victory to pursuit until it ends¡±, made him reluctantly agree to Antrapolis'' proposal to join forces with the Catanians and wipe out the Syracusan army, who were on the way back to Syracuse.

    After seeing off the messenger, Antonios was lost in his thoughts until he arrived at the port, where the Theonian fleet¡¯s sailors guided the exiles¡¯ families off the ship.

    Antonios soon met and discussed with Flios, who took over Seclian''s ce inmanding the fleet. After Flios agreed, the fleet no longer returned to Rhegium. Instead, they would spend the night in Megalos to participate in the military operations the next day.

    However, the port of Megalos had no military port or a dry dock for berthing. Thus they could only take a risk* by pushing the ships of the Theonian fleet onto the beach. (One of the main reasons Lysander couldpletely wipe out the Athenian fleet in the Battle of the Aegospotami was that the Athenians moored their ships on the beach. Hence when the Athenians encountered a surprise attack, they didn''t have the time to sail to sea to escape¡­)

    For this reason, Flios led the sailors and, with the help of the exiles, towed the ships to the beach one by one, then set up a strict sentry post and asked the lookout of the lighthouse to monitor the sea closely, and arranged all the boats to patrol the bay in turn throughout the night.

 Chapter 561: Face Up

    In the town of Megalos, the soldiers of the first legion returned one after another with the captives. The families of the exiles also rushed back from the port to reunite with their loved ones, many of whom cried after learning their loved ones perished in the battle¡­

    Although the sound of fighting had subsided, tragic sights were constantly staged on the battlefield filled with rubbles and corpses¡­ Tonight, even though Megalos was bound to be restless, it was fortunate that there were no idents that happened.

    Early the following day, one of the Naxosian exiles, Ladician, led 500 soldiers to escort some of the Tauromenian captives to the city north of the mountain, urging them to surrender or they would kill the mercenaries.

    The leader of the Catanian exiles, Lasiperatus, led another thousand soldiers to Sikuri to help the rebels capture the Acropolis.

    Antonios, on the other hand, led 3,500 soldiers of the first legion and a thousand exiles to board the Theonian fleet while the remaining soldiers and people took care of the wounded and the town.

    As the Theonian fleet sailed southward, they didn¡¯t encounter the Syracusan fleet, allowing them to arrive at Taunis much earlier than the Syracusan troops led by Macias.

    Taunis was currently in aplex situation: Some wanted to overthrow the tyrants, while others supported those close to Syracuse. Thus the situation of both sides was equal, with each upying half of the city.

    After the Syracusan fleet''s defeat in the naval battle, Paronisus did not immediately return to Syracuse. Instead, he led the fleet back to the port of Taunis, which wasn''t far from Syracuse. Paronisus didn''t want to go back as a defeated navarch, get criticised by Philistus and the people to me him. Thus he waited for Masias to wipe out the Theonians and return to Syracuse with him so that he could get a share of the glory of victory to avoid getting used.

    However, just one dayter, the news about the revolt in Syracuse came and was followed by the revolt in Taunis.

    The bad news Paronisus received overwhelmed him and caused him to panic. Although he led a fleet with more than 6,000 sailors, he had lost control of the whole fleet when he was about to go to Taunis'' port to punish the first ship that deserted but was instead faced with the boycott of the sailors. So when the officials of Taunis rushed to the port to ask him for help in hopes that he could lead the army to suppress those violent rebels, he could only express his helplessness.

    Then after the sailors learned about the people of Syracuse''s port participating in the revolt, they no longer wanted to stay in Taunis, and all shouted their wish to return to Syracuse. And with Paronisus unable nor dared stop them, the whole fleet left Taunis at dusk yesterday.

    That''s the reason the Theonian fleet reached the sea near Taunis unhindered. But despite the port of Taunis was a mess and unguarded, the Theonian fleet did not force their way in. Instead, theynded near the beach and sent the troops ashore. Afterwards, Flios changed course and headed for Catania to inform Antrapolis about thending of the first legion.

    After disembarking, Antonios adjusted his troops and immediately asked Seraphinus to rush to Leontinoi with the few cavalries he had left.

    However, Antonios apparently overestimated the defeated Syracusan army as the first legion, and the exiles waited from morning until afternoon, a full six hours. During that time, they also ate lunch and took a nap to re-energise and be filled with strength.

    Antonios also got in touch with Catania and Leontinoi through the scouts, which allowed him to understand Syracuse''s situation.

    After Antonios arranged everything, only then did the Syracusans arrive.

    But before the Syracusan army could wake up from their shock, Antonios gave the order to advance.

    Then the first legion and the exiles, wearing armour and armed with shields and spears, marched forward in neat formation. Their eyes filled with hatred as they wanted to avenge theirrades who died in the bitter battle yesterday and the city-states that Syracuse had destroyed!

    Faced with the approaching enemy, Macias became timid. Although he had more than 4,000 men, his army wasn''t in good shape. In addition, they allcked helmets and armour. (Many threw away their weapons and equipment yesterday to make it easier to escape.)

    Moreover, they were exhausted after travelling so long and getting entangled with the Catanian rebels. Thus they had no morale to fight the enemy waiting for them, so the uneasy soldiers immediately turned around and fled before Macias could even order the retreat.

    But just before the Syracusan soldiers could run a few steps, they had to stop again as a team of about 1,000 men appeared in their rear.

    At this moment, the Syracusans knew they had fallen into an ambush, making them flustered even more.

    ¡°Run to the mountain!¡­¡± The soldiers shouted in panic as they scrambled towards the mountains, which seemed to be their only way out.

    But just as they arrived at the foot of the mountain, countless javelins and arrows came out from the dense forest.

    Amidst their screams, the Syracusans also panicked after finding enemies lying in wait on the mountain. Indeed, the light infantry brigade of the first legion and the Leontinoi had stayed in the mountain.

    In the end, the remaining fighting spirit of the defeated Syracusan soldiers died; they then scattered and fled in disorder¡­

    The Theonian soldiers, on the other hand, began capturing prisoners.

    By now, Antonios was finally relieved. He no longer cared about his dignity as the legatus and sat down on the ground while watching the soldiers pursue the fleeing enemies like eagles chasing chickens.

    ¡°Legatus, someone ising!¡± A guard suddenly whispered to him.

    After looking at the group of peopleing toward him, Antonios stood up and adjusted his helmet and armour.

    ¡°Lord Antonios, congrattions in defeated the Syracusan allied army!¡± The familiar-looking man at the front raised his arms and congratted Antonios excitedly.

    ¡°Antrapolis?!¡± Antonios looked at him and asked loudly.

    ¡°That''s right, Lord Antonios. In fact, we used to see each other in Lord Davos'' residence-¡± But before Antrapolis could finish speaking, he heard the people around him exim. Then he immediately felt a heavy blow on his face that caused him to stumble and nearly fall to the ground.

    With a salty taste in his mouth, Antrapolis stretched out his hand and noticed the corner of his mouth was bleeding, which caused him to be infuriated.

    ¡°That is for the soldiers of the first legion who died in Megalos yesterday! And also for the people you were ordering around these past few days!!¡±

    Antonios'' cold tone reached Antrapolis, causing his anger to dissipate and be uneasy. As an ordinary citizen of Theonia, he used the word ¡®hope¡¯ in his letter to a powerful statesman and legatus of the first legion. He naturally knew that under the banner of Davos, Antonios couldn''t reject him. But with his special status that couldn''t be used on formal asions, a strange situation where a mon citizen of Theoniamanded a legatus¡¯ happened, which would make the other legatusugh out loud once they learned about it. Thus it was no wonder Antonios punched him.

    ¡°From when Dionysius invaded Magna Graecia, countless Theonians have died in this war¡­Sicily was Syracuse''s backyard that they had operated for many years; with their numerous allied city-state, arge poption and rich resources, the independent first legion naturally faced a dangerous situation¡­ Thus I had to do those things to carry out his majesty''s order and end this war as soon as possible! In fact, haven''t we won?! Lord Antonios, you are now the conqueror of southeast Sicily!!¡± Antrapolis'' words implied that if not for his help, Antonios wouldn''t have gotten such glory. Instead, he would have perished long ago!

    Antonios certainly understood what he meant because he had higher emotional intelligence among the senior officers of Theonia. Hence Davos sent him to Sicily and not Amintas. Antonios knew that Antrapolis had given him great help and was just venting his frustration of following hismand for the past two days. In fact, he stopped just after punching him once. Otherwise, he would beat Antrapolis to the ground until he couldn''t get up.

    ¡°Indeed, this victory wasn''t easy!¡± He sighed and expressed his gratitude to Antrapolis.

    Then the two men fell into silence, leaving the Catanians who were rushing to defend Antrapolis and the guards trying to stop them at a loss.

    After a while, Antrapolis, who had a lower status, spoke first, ¡°Lord Antonios, what is your next n?¡±

    Antrapolis acting reserved made Antonios ufortable. Then he asked, ¡°What is Syracuse''s current situation?¡±

    ¡°From what I received, the rebels have upied the whole city and the port, forcing Dionysius'' men and mercenaries to retreat to the ind of Ortygia. As far as I know, Ortygia is Dionysius''ir, with its three sides facing the sea and one side connected to the city of Syracuse. The ind has a fortress and thick walls and was filled with his supporters, so it is impossible for the rebels to capture.¡± Antrapolis said thoughtfully.

    ¡°It seems the first legion''s next mission is to march into Syracuse and assist the people in capturing the ind of Ortygia.¡± Said Antonios in a seemingly calm tone but failed to cover his excitement.

 Chapter 562: Iphicrates Victory

    There were no strategoi who didn''t want to win. If Antonios couldpletely capture Syracuse, the greatest Greek city-state in the western Mediterranean, not only would he garner the attention of the Theonian popce but also the whole Greek world. By then, who else would make fun of him for being ordered by a spy?

    But after seeing through his thoughts, Antrapolis hesitated and said, ¡°Lord Antonios, I hope¡­oh no, I suggest that the first legion don''t head south and enter Syracuse''s territory for now.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Antonios stared at him. Although he was unhappy, he knew that Antrapolis, who stayed long in Sicily and could start this massive revolt, must know more about the situation here than he did. Thus he asked modestly, ¡°Why?!¡±

    ¡°The Syracusans have one peculiar characteristic. During peacetime, they would reject any ambitious and powerful politician and choose democracy; However, once they encountered danger and faced their end, they would voluntarily choose a tyrant and ept dictatorship¡­¡± Antrapolis continued with a severe expression, ¡°Moreover, its citizens are prideful as Syracuse has been thergest Greek city-states in Sicily and even the whole western Mediterranean for many years. And they would be sensitive to any foreign army entering their territory! What¡¯s more, those Syracusan officials, who had prepared the revolt, refused my request to enter the city and assist them. They feared the people resenting them once discovered, while the people became wary of us.

    Lord Antonios, if the first legion were to appear near Syracuse, the rebelling Syracusans won''t see us as reinforcements but most likely as enemies! And if Dionysius'' men take advantage of this opportunity to provoke them, Dionysius'' forces will likely regain their authority and work together against us!¡­¡±

    Antonios was lost in his thoughts for a while: Beforeing here, he had a basic understanding of Syracuse''s situation. Unlike the small town of Sikuri, Syracuse is a huge city with a poption of around 400,000. So if it''s really like what Antrapolis said, it would be impossible for him to capture the city of Syracuse andpletely end the war even if he led his thousands of men over there and took advantage of the chaos. On the contrary, they could even wipe out his entire army!

    He then gazed at the soldiers chasing the defeated enemy on the battlefield: Fromnding in Sicily until now, they had been fighting with their life for three days in a row. Earning today''s victorious result was already hard, and as their legatus, he wanted to take them to enjoy the glory of a victor instead of plunging them into unknown danger¡­

    Thinking of this, Antonios slowly said, ¡°What do you suggest?¡±

    Antrapolis was waiting for those words and hurriedly said, ¡°It would be the best for Theonia and the other city-state in Sicily for the revolt in Syracuse to not cease and just let them kill each other and consume Syracuse''s strength.¡± Antrapolis, who was a former Catanian, revealed his deep hatred for Syracuse and said, ¡°So while Syracuse deals with their internal problem, we should seize this time to make Sikuri, Catania, Leontinoi and-¡±

    He then pointed to Taunis, not far away and continued, ¡°Let all these city-states regain order and identify themselves with our Theonia Union. His majesty mentioned it in hisst letter to me that the Catanian in is wider and fertile than the Sybaris in, so he hopes for Theonia to manage this area directly¡­¡±

    After hearing this, Antonios gulped, ¡®I am still thinking about how to defeat the powerful enemy, but Lord Davos was already considering how to gobble thisnd?! Is this the gap between Lord Davos and me?!¡¯

    Looking at the astounded Antonios, Antrapolis'' was equally unsettled when he first caught onto Davos'' thoughts in the letter. After all, he was a Catanian, and he had always hoped that the exiled Catanian could return to their homnd after overthrowing the puppet ruler of Syracuse. So it had nevere to his mind that Catania would have to ept the rule of another powerful force, even though this force was now the country he was part of.

    But along with Davos'' letter was the letter of Aristias. In the letter, his brother said, ¡°Even if Catania and Leontinoi regain their independence in this war, they would be too weak to face either Syracuse or Carthage and would inevitably suffer the same disaster again in the future. But if they were toe under Theonia''s rule, Catania''s protection would be guaranteed. Moreover, with Theonia''s current system of government, the Catanians wouldn''t need to worry about getting oppressed, and they will have more political rights¡­

    Brother, the most important thing is that the defeat of Syracuse is inevitable after judging the current progress of the war. Although Theonia paid great sacrifices, we will gain a lot ofnd! Thus his majesty''s biggest headache afterwards wouldn''t be how to get more towns but how to obtain more people to fill the vacantnd in Magna Graecia. Hence there wouldn''t be too many Theonians immigrating to the Catanian in. Instead, the Catanians would still be the actual owners and upy certain positions in Theonia''s political arena.

    And as a former Catanian citizen, now a Theonian citizen, and after gaining the approval and respect of many exiles during your more than half a year of infiltration in Sicily, you would certainly y a considerable role in Catania''s integration into Theonia if you want to enter politics after the war! What''s more, you will also have a brighter future!¡­¡±

    After reading the letter, Antrapolis became tempted. And after getting stimted by Antonios, he felt for the first time that he wanted to get the title of ¡®Theonia''s statesman¡¯. So rather than refusing Catania to join Theonia, he was now determined to make every effort to promote it!

    ¡°What about the cities in the south?¡± Antonios asked with reluctance.

    ¡°Those city-states southeast of Sicily have close ties with Syracuse. So even if they overthrew the tyrant supported by Dionysius, their friendly rtionship with Syracuse wouldn''t change that much.¡± Antrapolis recounted his conclusions after six months of careful analysis to Antonios. Then he continued, ¡°As for the city-states on the south like G and Agrigento, his majesty wishes to maintain friendly rtions with them and has no desire to have them join Theonia Union so as not to rm and displease Carthage¡­¡±

    Antonios nodded thoughtfully, ¡°It seems that we can finally have our brothers take a good rest.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In Corinth''s port of Lechaion, some of the upiersmanded by Sparta, the Amyians of the Peloponnesian coalition army, were returning to their home to celebrate Hyacinthia* ording to their tradition. (The death of Hyacinthus)

    But considering these soldiers needed to pass through the city of Corinth on their return journey, the cheerful Agesus sent 300 Spartan heavy infantry to escort them to show Sparta''s care to their allies.

    After escorting these soldiers to the port of Sicyon, they became careless on their journey back. So when passing near Corinth''s wall, the Athenian strategos, Iphicrates, led his light infantry out of the city andunched an attack on them.

    Although the Spartan heavy infantry had fewer numbers, they were not afraid to fight and charged at the enemy as they thought it was a great opportunity to wipe out the city''s defenders.

    However, the Athenian light infantry did not engage them in a close-range battle. Instead, they took advantage of their lightness to maintain their distance from the Spartans and carried out long-range attacks by throwing javelins.

    So even though the Spartan soldiers tried charging at the enemies many times, they still couldn''t close the distance. On the contrary, their stamina kept getting consumed, and the javelins raining on them resulted in theirrades falling to the ground¡­

    But such a way of battle resulted in the Spartan soldiers being unable to take advantage of their bravery. Instead, the groaning of theirrades tortured them, resulting in the Spartan¡¯s morale plummeting to the bottom after an hour of fighting. And the Spartan warriors turned around and fled even though they regarded dying in battle as honour and fleeing as shameful.

    However, how could they outrun a light infantry while wearing heavy armour? Thus they were almost wiped out by the Athenians.

    After the battle ended, even the Athenians couldn''t believe what happened, while Iphicrates and his men became more confident.

    As words of this victory spread in the anti-Spartan Alliance, the people shrouded with fear of losing erupted into enthusiastic cheers. Although it was only a small battle, the nearly 300 heavy infantry they wiped out were genuine Spartan citizens*. (Without counting the Perioeci and Helots, Sparta only has about 3,000 to 4,000 trained citizens.)

    When the news reached the Spartan allied troops, Agesus was currently receiving Theban envoy with the arrogance of a victor and was making harsh demands. But after learning about the situation, Agesus'' arrogance instantly turned into anger, and the entire army fell into grief.

    Upon hearing the news, the Theban envoy quickly left Sparta''s camp and no longer proposed a truce.

    While Agesus was thinking about how to avenge his fallen warriors and restore the prestige of the Spartan army, Iphicrates was still not satisfied with his victory. So after two days of preparation, he led his light infantry troops, boarded the Athenian ships, detoured the northern end of the isthmus, and made a surprise attack on Koroneia, which the Spartans upied. He still used the same tactics to defeat the defenders and recapture Koroneia.

 Chapter 563: Psychological Attack

    The news that spread thrilled the anti-Spartan League while it rmed Agesus. Sensing the situation turning bad, Agesus immediately ordered the troops to abandon the previously upied ports and cities in the Gulf of Corinth to avoid getting surrounded from all sides.

    Unfortunately, his order came toote. Under the leadership of Iphicrates, the motivated allied troops separated to attack and try recapturing the port of Lechaion and the port of Sicyon¡­as a result, they almost reached deep into Boeotia and cut off the way back of the stationed Spartan allied troops in the many port towns in the Gulf of Corinth.

    Agesus hurriedly ordered his younger half-brother Teleutias to lead the fleet to bring back their scattered troops and ce them in Lechaion and Sicyon. They would focus their defence on these two important town ports in Corinth, which resulted in the Spartan allied troops'' offensive momentum being severely hindered and had to change into defence.

    Consequently, the anti-Spartan League had to stop their offence after their attack on Lechaion was repelled.

    Thus the two sides were locked in a stalemate again.

    But the daring Iphicrates wasn''t content with the status quo. He then led his light infantry troops while carrying their rations to boldly invade the central area of the Peloponnese, the most loyal subordinate of Sparta ¨C Arcadia. They then began raiding the viges, plundering food, destroying the farms and repeatedly ambushing the Arcadian troops that came to attack them, resulting in the Arcadians not daring to fight them. But because they couldn''t ignore their frenzied destructions, the Arcadians could only ask Agesus for help.

    After receiving the Arcadians'' request for help, Agesus was in a dilemma. Currently, the Spartan allied army was facing the offensive pressure and high morale of the enemy while having a shortage of troops. Moreover, Iphicrates'' troops were the most troublesome, and Agesus regarded him as a formidable enemy. If he were to send fewer soldiers, Agesus feared the cunning Athenian strategos would defeat him. But if he sent more men, he feared the enemy in Corinth would take advantage to counterattack.

    But Sparta still had to save Arcadia. As the leader of the Peloponnesian League, they were vastly different from Athens, the former leader of the Delian League.

    Athens'' attitude towards its allies could be said to be domineering: Their allies had to pay tribute, dispatch troops, and support the democrats close to Athens. Moreover, the Athenian merchants have privileges in their allies¡¯ territories, and in case of local disputes, they must settle them in the Athenian court. What¡¯s more, after joining the Delian League andter wanting to withdraw, the Athenian army will go and attack them¡­

    The Spartans, on the other hand, treated their allies much better. As long as they did not betray Sparta, the Spartans tended to negotiate with their allies in deciding matters. That is because they do not have Athens'' huge poption, nor Athens'' abundant financial resources, nor Athens¡¯ powerful navy. And even among the soldiers of the Spartan alliance, the genuine Spartan soldiers upy the minority. Sparta relied on the prestige established by the Spartan warriors over the past centuries, but they couldn''t do anything without their allies. So even though Sparta defeated Athens, and they had be domineering and had changed their attitude towards their allies, the essential thing remained the same ¨C Sparta still needed their allies.

    As a king, Agesus knew about this matter extremely well. Thus he finally decided to return to Sparta and exin to the Gerousia the reason for their setback while asking them to send more reinforcements to Arcadia.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following day, Martius, the captain of the guard, entered the tent as soon as Davos finished his breakfast, ¡°Your majesty, Mithridates wants to see you.¡±

    Davos'' heart thumped, ¡°Let him in.¡±

    Mithridates anxiously entered the tent and immediately knelt on one knee, ¡°Your majesty, I havee to ask for forgiveness! After receiving your order yesterday, I sent more warships to patrol outside the port of Scylletium. And just as you expected, an enemy ship did rush out of the portte at night. But even though our warships tried their best to block it, the enemy still escaped our encirclement with their skilled ship handling and fled to the south. Our two fast-sailing ships had gone in pursuit, but I still haven''t received any news¡­¡±

    ¡°Why did the Syracusans willingly take a great risk of sailingte at night to escape the Theonian fleet''s blockade?¡± Henipolis, who remembered his conversation with Davos yesterday, suddenly eximed, ¡°Dionysius! It must be Dionysius who had escaped!¡±

    Mithridates shuddered at hearing Henipolis¡¯ words, so he hurriedly looked at Davos only to see the wise young king frowning. Then Davos rxed his frown and smilingly said, ¡°Don''t rashly jump to the conclusion that Dionysius ran away just from this piece of information. Mithridates, the sea outside the port of Scylletium is so wide that even if we gather all our warships, we may still be unable to fill it. Moreover, we can only send four to five fast-sailing ships to patrol at night. So if the enemy wants to escape, our fleet won''t be able to stop them.¡±

    ¡°Your majesty!¡± Mithridates was deeply grateful for Davos'' understanding.

    ¡°But for an enemy ship breaking in and out as if our fleet doesn''t exist is a humiliation to the Theonian fleet! It is a humiliation to every Theonian sailor and captain!!!¡± Davos turned serious, ¡°Our fleet must no longer becent just because they have defeated Syracuse many times! We had forgotten that we are not as good as Syracuse in terms of ship handling, nor the tacit understanding of formation changing and coordination of the entire fleet! It was the corvus and the strength of our legion the reason our fleet had won many times!¡­¡±

    Mithridates face flushed with shame at Davos'' words, so he hurriedly said, ¡°Your majesty, please rest assured that I will definitely work with Lord Seclian to intensify our fleet¡¯s training after we return! And in one year¡­no, half a yearter, you will see significant improvement of the Theonian fleet!¡±

    Davos nodded happily and said, ¡°Very well, I''ll look forward to seeing a more powerful Theonian fleet in half a year!¡±

    Then he said, ¡°Mithridates, get up. If I punish a valuable strategos just because one or two enemy ships escape, I''m afraid it won''t be long before Theonia run out of good navalmander.¡±

    Davos'' teasing words slightly rxed the nervous Mithridates. After standing up, Mithridates asked hesitantly, ¡°But Dionysius-¡±

    But Davos interrupted him, ¡°That is not your concern. What you need to do now is to strengthen the port''s surveince to prevent the Syracusan fleet from escaping. Also, dispatch 30 triremes to Rhegium as soon as possible to reinforce Seclian''s fleet, allowing them to gain maritime superiority in Sicily! Can that be done in two days?¡±

    ¡°It won''t even take two days, your majesty. I can dispatch the needed warships to Rhegium today.¡± Mithridates immediately gave his assurance.

    After seeing him off, Henipolis immediately asked, ¡°Your majesty, what if Dionysius really escaped?!¡±

    At this moment, Davos had already made up his mind and said, ¡°What''s there to panic?! The escape of Dionysius means that the Battle in Magna Graecia has ended, which is good for us!¡±

    ¡°But it might affect your majesty''s n about the revolt in Sicily and the first legion!¡± When Davos sent the first legion to Sicily, Henipolis heard Davos talk about his ns. Hence he expressed his concern.

    Davos looked at him and softly said, ¡°Heni, you overestimate Dionysius! Even if he is capable, you must not forget that he left the entire army he brought behind in Magna Graecia and fled back to Syracusan by himself. He is simply just a deserter! What would the Syracusans who lost their loved ones think?! What would their allies in Sicily think?! Although I don''t know the situation in Sicily in the past two days, Dionysius won''t have an easy time calming the people''s anger! He had ruled Syracuse and Sicily with military might, but now that most of his troops are left here-¡±

    He then pointed to the city of Scylletium and said with a sneer, ¡°Without enough troops, how can he suppress the Syracusans who want to overthrow him?!!¡±

    Henipolis'' eyes brighten up, ¡°So it''s a good thing that Dionysius escaped!¡±

    Davos was silent for a moment. In fact, his words were tofort himself, ¡®If Dionysius dared to flee alone, he must have a way to deal with Syracuse''s predicament. After all, he had managed Sicily for many years, so once he sessfully escaped back, my n to disrupt Sicily might fail and may even allow this tyrant to wipe out the first legion before leading reinforcements to attack Magna Graecia¡­¡¯

    Thus Davos felt a sense of urgency, so he said, ¡°First of all, we must make sure whether Dionysius escaped or not!¡±

    Hence he called over Izam of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade and ordered him to send his men from all directions of the city to monitor the enemy''s movements closely and report back at once.

    Throughout the morning, the city of Scylletium remained calm; they neither sent an envoy to Theonia''s camp to seek a truce nor their cavalry that used to patrol in front of the city every day showed up. Even though the number of soldiers on the city wall remained unchanged, Dionysius, who usually appeared every morning to observe their situation, hadn''t appeared today¡­

    After learning all of these things, Davos concluded that¡­

    In the afternoon, he again sent the soldiers of the mountain reconnaissance brigade to take turns in front of the city to shout, ¡°Syracusans, you are here guarding the city so seriously, but your tyrant Dionysius had already escaped!¡±

    ¡°Syracusans, surrender! Dionysius abandoned all of you, so why are you still here fighting?!¡±

    ¡°Why did Dionysius escape?! Our first legion has captured Sikuri and Catania and is now attacking Syracuse! If Dionysius didn''t escape, he would no longer have a home to return to!¡±

    ¡°We aren''t deceiving you. When you attacked our camp yesterday, have you seen our first legion?! No, right?! It is because they have alreadynded in the Gulf of Naxos! But Dionysius blocked the news so that his escape would be easier!¡±

    ¡°Dionysius didn''t appear in the city wall today, did he?! It is because he has already run away! If you don''t believe it, check his tent and see if he is still there!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Theonian soldiers¡¯ shouting at the bottom of the city wall was like boulders thrown into a calm pond, producing countless waves.

 Chapter 564: Carthages Envoy

    The officers informed the Syracusan soldiers that Dionysius had caught a fever and was resting in his residence, so he couldn''t go out to inspect for the time being.

    But the Theonians¡¯ statement was so detailed that the Syracusans were already disturbed about ¡°Dionysius fleeing alone¡±. Yet, "Theonia''s attack on Syracuse¡± shocked them even more. It had not only frightened the soldiers, but even the officials could no longer sit stills. As a result, many Syracusan soldiers and freemen gathered in Scylletium''s square while nervously discussing these rumours¡­

    Ultimately, they all decided to meet Dionysius to confirm the truth. Thus thousands of people tightly blocked Dionysius'' temporary residence,

    In Dionysius'' temporary residence, Phacipessas, Leptines, Androstini, and several other strategos were anxious like ants on a hot pan.

    After hearing those rumours, Phacipessas was confused as only those present knew about Dionysius'' departure, so how could the Theonians know about it?! ¡®Could the Theonians have an insider?! Secondly, Dionysius only said that the Theonians hadnded in Megalos, so he had to rush back to Syracuse. Yet now, the Theonians were saying they had captured many city-states in Sicily and were now attacking Syracuse. Although I can''t trust the enemies¡¯ words¡­now that I think about it, even if the Theoniansnded in Sicily, Macias could manage it alone¡­yet Dionysius still left in such a hurry, is it really possible¡­that the Theonians are telling the truth about Dionysius'' departure?¡¯

    As thousands of thoughts sh through Phacipessas'' minds, the rest of the people also had their own thoughts. Although the atmosphere inside the room was silent, the outside was in an uproar.

    ¡°Everyone, the Theonians'' rumours had incited the soldiers, so they all wanted to see Lord Dionysius¡­ What should we do to calm this chaos down?!¡± Phacipessas broke the silence and asked anxiously.

    ¡°We certainly can''t let them in! Once they know that Lord Dionysius left, huge chaos will surely arise!¡± A strategos said firmly.

    ¡°But how could we stop them froming in?!¡± Phacipessas worriedly said, ¡°The guards couldn''t stop the thousands of soldiers outside once they lose their patience!¡±

    ¡°Why don''t we send someone out to pledge an oath in the name of the gods that Lord Dionysius hadn''t left but was only seriously ill? And instead of them going inside and interfering with his treatment, Lord Dionysius will naturally meet them once cured?!¡± Androstini suggested.

    ¡°That''s a wonderful idea!¡± Phacipessas'' eyes brightened, then he looked at the others and asked, ¡°Who is willing to persuade the soldiers?¡±

    Everyone stopped talking as their eyes began wandering, with no one daring to make eye contact with Phacipessas.

    ¡°Lord Androstini.¡± Asked Phacipessas in a desperate tone.

    ¡°I am just an insignificant person in charge of gathering information for Lord Dionysius. So how could the soldiers believe what I say?!¡± Androstini shrugged and politely refused.

    Phacipessas rethought it and turned his gaze to Dionysius'' brother beside him, ¡°Lord Leptines.¡±

    The upright Leptines shook his head and immediately said, ¡°I will never make such false oath in the name of a god!¡±

    Phacipessas became so angry, ¡®As Dionysius'' brother if you are not willing to do it, is it possible for the others to do it willingly?! No, because that is ¡®sphemy¡¯!¡¯

    When Phacipessas turned his gaze to the other strategoi, one of them impatiently said, ¡°Strategos Phacipessas, Lord Dionysius had given you full authority to take charge of this army before leaving. Could it be that you want us to persuade the soldiers because you don''t want to do it?!!¡±

    ¡°Right! Right! Currently, you have the most authority in Scylletium and have the highest prestige among the soldiers, so there is no better person but you!¡±

    As the several strategoi spoke, Phacipessas'' heart cracked as he felt hisrades'' deep jealousy in their words.

    After Androstini and Leptines expressed their approval, everyone quickly agreed because they knew this was a dangerous task! Once the tens of thousands of Syracusan citizens and freemen learned about this lie, the person who performed this task would arouse the wrath of the Syracusans! Not only will he be ostracised in Syracuse, but the people might demand him to receive a heavy punishment with the charge of ¡®sphemy¡¯¡­

    Phacipessas was naturally clear about the advantages and disadvantages of this matter. Hence after seeing how these people quickly united in front of him and isted him, he felt a sense of sadness in his heart¡­ He was once an ordinary citizen of Syracuse but became Dionysius¡¯ trusted strategos due to his vision, skills, and ability to adapt to changes and could always make a choice beneficial to them whenever an important moment arrived.

    Under the expectant gaze of the crowd, Phacipessas pondered in silence for a while and finally made up his mind. With aposed expression, he stood up and said, ¡°Very well, I''ll go out and convince the soldiers.¡±

    Everyone beamed with delight as they watched Phacipessas walk out with heavy steps.

    ¡°Wouldn''t this be a bad idea?¡± Leptines said with some reluctance, but the others ignored him.

    Suddenly, a louder roar erupted from outside the residence. It was so loud that those inside the room could hear it.

    ¡°WE''RE GOING HOME!! WE''RE GOING BACK TO SYRACUSE!!!¡­¡±

    ¡®What happened outside?!¡¯ Androstini felt uneasy.

    Then a guard broke in and panickily said, ¡°Milords, strategos Phacipessas¡­Phacipessas announced to the soldiers that Lord Dionysius left Scylletium and would return soon with reinforcements from Sicily!¡±

    ¡°WHAT?!¡±

    ¡°Damn that Phacipessas! How could he tell the truth!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Lord Eshmounadon, after passing the cape ahead, we would soon arrive in Crotone!¡± Shouted the captain.

    Eshmounadon nodded in understanding. Eshmounadon, an elder of the Carthaginian senate and Hanno''s trusted man, hade to negotiate with Theonia on Hanno''s order.

    Theonia, a Greek city-state Union that the Carthaginians didn''t think much of, had surprised the Carthaginians in this war in South Italia. They had not only defeated the unbeatable Dionysius on sea andnd but also sent troops tond in Sicily¡­As the news continued to spread to Carthage, the people were thrown into an uproar, especially when they saw Carthaginian merchant ships carrying hundreds of tons of food and returned with thousands of Syracusan captives.

    In contrast to the sharp rise in the people of Carthage''s favourable impression of the Theonia Union, the elders endlessly debated the sudden change in the situation between Magna Graecia and Sicily. Thus Hanno sent Eshmounadon on a mission to Theonia in hopes that they could explore the intention of the city-state union that had just entered a friendly agreement with them. And to see if they could reach an agreement that would protect Carthage''s interests in Sicily and give Hanno a reason to propose the removal of Sicily''s governorship in the Senate.

    Eshmounadon heard from the Carthaginian envoy who had apanied the cargo ship to Thurii that the Theonian troops were besieging Scylletium, and their new king, who could make the decision, was also in the army. Thus Eshmounadon cancelled his n to go to Thurii and prepared to go straight to Theonia''s camp in Scylletium. But since the port of Scylletium was in the hands of the Syracusans, and if Eshmounadonnds on a nearby beach and seawater soaked his precious chiton, he thought it would damage his image as an envoy of a great city-state. Thus he decided to have his ship stop at the port of Crotone, which was also convenient for him to see how Crotone, a famous Greek city-state, is now after Syracuse''s carnage.

    As they sailed around Capo Colonna, Eshmounadon saw triremes in double columns. Sometimes they would charge, sometimes they would sail back and sometimes they would circle around¡­evidently, this is the Theonian fleet''s training.

    But without finding the corvus warship that had defeated the Syracusan fleet, Eshmounadon became disinterested after watching for a while.

    Just as they were about to head to the port, a fast-sailing ship came and stopped them.

    Noticing that the other party''s sail had the symbol of the Theonia Union painted, Eshmounadon became slightly surprised, ¡®The Crotonians are so dependent on Theonia that the Theonian fleet was the one in charge of their port''s patrol?!¡¯

    After inquiring about Eshmounadon''s intention, the patrol ship took the initiative to lead them.

    Once they entered the port, Eshmounadon realised why it was the Theonian fleet patrolling the sea of Crotone. Eshmounadon saw most of the columns at the port were burnt down, the wreckage of ships scattered everywhere on the beach, numerous charred nks floated on the sea, and rubbles filled the pitch-darknd¡­

    Seeing all this, Eshmounadon couldn''t help but curse after recalling the tragedy caused by the Syracusans after capturing Motya, ¡°Damn Dionysius! The gods will surely punish him after such tyranny!!!¡±

    In the port were a few ships, mostly merchant ships from Theonia, carrying some of the necessities that the Crotonians desperately needed: Olive oil, bitumen, y pots, furniture, ironware¡­

    After finding a rtively intact wharf for Eshmounadon''s ship to dock at, the Carthaginian envoy disembarked and followed the captain of the patrol ship.

    Although the houses are in ruins, there is hardly any rubble in the streets. And from time to time, they could see elderly and women cleaning up the garbage in the city and picking up some useful items from the ruins of houses¡­

 Chapter 565: The Carthaginians Avarice

    ¡®Crotone was once a powerhouse of Magna Graecia, yet now its people had to pick up trash for a living!¡¯ As a Carthaginian who had traded with Crotone, Eshmounadon could only sigh in regret after recalling the lively sight he had seen here before.

    Although the city of Crotone wasrge, Eshmounadon couldn''t help but wonder why he hadn''t seen many young and physically fit men while walking, ¡°Did Dionysius kill all of Crotone''s citizens?¡±

    ¡°The Crotonian citizens are currently farming. When the Syracusan troops besieged Crotone, they had destroyed all the fields outside, so they must take advantage of the fact that it was still early spring to rent the grains. Otherwise, they won''t have anything to eat in autumn¡­¡± The captain of the patrol boat exined.

    While walking towards the city''s centre, what appeared in front of Eshmounadon was no longer ruins but a bustling construction site filled with numerous people.

    ¡°Our people are now helping the Crotonians to rebuild their houses.¡± The captain of the patrol boat actively exined.

    While watching the busy construction site ahead, Eshoumodon, out of his nature as a merchant, asked, ¡°How much are you charging the Crotonians for building their house?¡±

    The captainughed and said, ¡°The Crotonians don''t have anything now, so how could they pay us? Everyone here came to rebuild the houses for them voluntarily.¡±

    But the patrol captain didn''t tell the truth that ¡°helping the Crotonians rebuild their homes¡± was Davos¡¯ suggestion, and the Praetor of Aprustum, Agasias, was the one responsible for organising and implementing it. Although they wouldn''t get paid, the Theonian Senate would record their merits and honour them after the war, which meant they would be givennd and Theonian citizenship. Thus those who came to Crotone were mostly freemen and preparatory citizens.

    Although Eshoumodon was surprised, he realised that a huge business opportunity hade. He heard that Theonia''s territory, as well as Scylletium and Terina, was also ravaged by Syracuse, so if those city-states needed the Theonians help to rebuild, the amount of construction materials they needed would be massive, and Theonia alone couldn¡¯t supply them! So if his family could get involved¡­

    The more Eshoumodon thought, the more excited he became. Now he was d that it was him that Hanno selected to go to Theonia, so if he couldn''t even seize this opportunity, Baal Hammon would punish him!

    Eshoumodon was so lost in his thoughts that he did not see the captain walk straight to the construction site. Then he brought back a man with him.

    Afterwards, the man greeted Eshoumodon, ¡°Wee, O distinguished envoy of Carthage! I am Agasias, a statesman of Theonia and the Praetor of Aprustum.¡±

    Eshoumodon immediately responded to his greetings and said in pure Greek, ¡°I am Eshoumodon, an elder of Carthage and was appointed by the Senate to meet your king.¡±

    Agasias had heard about ¡°Ansitanos'' mission to Carthage behind closed doors¡±, so he initially thought it would be hard to get along with the Carthaginian envoy. Thus he didn''t expect Eshoumodon to be talkative as they chatted while walking.

    However, Eshoumodon deliberately guided their conversation to make Agasias tell more about the Syracusan armies'' destruction of Theonia''s territories and the difficulties they faced in rebuilding Krimisa, Crotone, and so on.

    Afterwards, the group walked out of Crotone''s west gate. (although it¡¯s called the west gate, it was just a massive gap in the tattered city wall.)

    Just after they left the city, Eshoumodon saw countless tents set up near the moat and many people going in and out of the tent area¡­then someone saw Agasias and took the initiative to greet him. Evidently, this Theonian statesman was very popr in Crotone.

    ¡°Is this where the Crotonians live?¡± Eshoumodon asked casually.

    ¡°Yes. As you have just seen, those damned Syracusans burned the whole city and made it uninhabitable. Fortunately, our Theonian army seized these tents from the Syracusans and gave part of them to the Crotonians¡­¡± Agasias said without feeling much anger. But it wasn''t because he had psychological problems. It''s just that when the news of the city of Crotone burning spread to Thurii, the original Thuriians apuded and cheered, saying that it was the punishment of the goddess of vengeance to the Crotonians.

    Agasias then remembered something and hurriedly said, ¡°Lord Eshoumodon, let me lead you to meet Lysias, the polemarchos of Crotone.¡±

    ¡°You don''t need to. Crotone isn''t part of my mission.¡± Eshoumodon immediately refused.

    If Crotone was still a powerhouse as before, Eshoumodon might have other ideas. But after seeing its miserable state now and having to depend on Theonia, Eshoumodon was no longer interested. Not to mention that he had a selfish desire not to make the Theonians angry. As a result, the envoy led by Eshoumodon just left without meeting the masters of Crotone afternding at their port and crossing the whole city.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At noon, Eshoumodon and his group arrived at Theonia''s camp in Scylletium. Although two days had passed since the Syracusan attack on the camp, burnt walls and tents could still be seen even though the Theonian soldiers were rebuilding the left camp¡­allowing Eshoumodon to imagine the fierce battles that had taken ce here.

    After receiving the notice sent by Agasias, Davos stepped out of the camp to greet the envoys and ordered the guards to line up neatly on both sides of the road while the salpinx, flutes and drums yed a beautiful melody¡­

    Such a wee ceremony took Eshoumodon by surprise and made him happy to follow Davos into the central camp.

    In Davos'' previous life''s history, Carthage, as the strongest rival of Rome, was too famous. And now, Davos was meeting a Carthaginian for the first time, so he could not help but curiously nce at the envoy in front of him: He was slightly fat with an average height, having ck hair and dark brown eyes with thick ck eyebrows and slightly dark skin, and if not for their straight and slightly wide nose, they would look somewhat simr to his countrymen in his previous life, which gave Davos an amicable feeling.

    Eshoumodon equally judged the new king of Theonia. ¡®Although I had specially looked into Theonia''s situation and learned that its establishment and rapid rise had a lot to do with this man in front of me, still¡­ O, Baal Hammon, he is really too young! He is so young yet possesses so much power! He really is too enviable.¡¯

    ¡°O esteemed envoy of the great city-state of Carthage, thank you for your massive help in Theonia''s most difficult times! With your valuable food supplies, we were able to carry on fighting this terrible war¡­¡±

    Davos'' sincere words made Eshoumodon happy. After pondering for a bit, he replied, ¡°Dear king of Theonia, Carthage is not only rich in food, but we are also famous for other goods in the western Mediterranean. It is truly sad about the damage the Syracusans'' invasion had done to Magna Graecia! Hence we in Carthage would like to offer our help in rebuilding Theonia and the other city-states, so I wonder if your majesty could¡­¡±

    Davos was taken aback as he somewhat saw the shadow of Mersis on the Carthaginian envoy. He thenughed and said, ¡°The friendly agreement signed between Theonia and Carthage already included free trade, so we certainly wee Carthage providing us with rich goods that would speed up our reconstruction of Magna Graecia. Lord Eshoumodon, if you have your own merchant fleet, I can give you a special service in doing business in Magna Graecia.¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡± As soon as Eshoumodon spoke, he realised his mistake. So he coughed and sat on the wooden chair again.

    However, Davos looked at Henipolis, standing beside him, and said solemnly, ¡°Heni, write down this matter as well as Lord Eshoumodon''s name and inform our Chief Commercial Officer, Marigi,ter.¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Henipolis nced at the Carthaginian envoy with disdain, then sat at the wooden table next to him and began writing.

    Eshoumodon was trying to resist the urge to thank him, so he praised him loudly instead, ¡°The Carthaginian Senate admires Theonia Union''s performance in this war. After all, even though Theonia is weaker than Syracuse, it was still able to defeat the Syracusans both on the sea andnd, crushing Dionysius'' ambition to conquer Magna Graecia! You should know about Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse''s extreme greed that resulted in the destruction of many famous city-states in Sicily, causing Carthage and other Greek city-states to suffer greatly. Unfortunately, Dionysius'' powerful army made us unable to take him down. Hence Theonia''s victory over Syracuse had truly made the people of Sicily and Carthage rejoice!¡±

    ¡°We were also forced with the situation!¡± Davos sighed and replied, ¡°If we could not defeat Syracuse, they would have destroyed Theonia! Thus everyone in Theonia had united to fight back. However, even though we repelled the enemy, we also paid a great price!¡±

    ¡°When arriving here, I had seen the massive damage caused by Syracuse to Magna Graecia and deeply sympathised with your great sacrifice in this war. However, it was all worth it!¡± Eshoumodon politely expressed his concern and turned to point outside the tent, ¡°Your majesty''s army is now besieging the Syracusan army in Scylletium, and it looks like there is nothing more the Syracusans could do to break through your blockade. However, I am afraid it would still not be easy to capture a town defended by tens of thousands of people. Your majesty, what do you n to do next? Will you continue surrounding the enemy until they run out of food and surrender? But with so many Theonian soldiers out there, Theonia''s food supply would be under greater pressure! Naturally, Carthage is willing to continue providing Theonia with low-priced food support¡­¡±

    There''s naturally a hidden meaning in Eshoumodon''s words. But after pondering about his intentions, Davos said, ¡°Thank you, Lord Eshoumodon, for your concern for Theonia! Before you had arrived, I had just sent away the Syracusan envoy from Scylletium, who wished to make peace with us.¡±

 Chapter 566: Probe

    ¡°Armistice?!¡± Eshmounadon was shocked.

    ¡°Yes, Syracuse wished to have a truce with Theonia. In exchange for allowing their troops in the city of Scylletium to return to Sicily safely, they would give up thend they upied in Magna Graecia and the Locrian Alliance who supported them¡­¡± Said Davos seriously.

    ¡°King Davos, will you ept their conditions?¡± Eshmounadon asked immediately.

    ¡°I am still considering¡­ just as you said, Theonia had suffered a lot of difficulties since the beginning of the war. Not only do we have food shortages, but we left all the union matterspletely unattended because the citizens have alle out to fight, and the public''s war-weariness is also rising¡­s!¡±

    ¡°King Davos, I don''t think making a truce with Syracuse is wise. Unlike Theonia, Syracuse, even though you defeated them in Magna Graecia, only needed a year or two of rest before they could reassemble another massive army and invade Magna Graecia again! In fact, we in Carthage learned such a painful lesson in our war with them! What¡¯s more, could a year or two be enough time for Magna Graecia, which has suffered great devastation, to recover its strength?!¡± Eshmounadon warned, looking extremely concerned.

    ¡°Then¡­¡± Davos hesitated and asked, ¡°Your suggestion is¡­¡±

    ¡°Wipe out the Syracusan army in the city of Scylletium!¡± Eshmounadon seriously continued, ¡°It would even be best if we could capture Dionysius, the main culprit of all the wars in Sicily and Magna Graecia!¡±

    Davos could already vaguely feel Carthage''s attitude towards Syracuse in this war. Yet he still wanted to probe Carthage''s bottom line, so he continued to ask with a hesitant tone, ¡°As you had just said, Syracuse is far more powerful than my Theonia. Hence even if we eliminate this army, they could continue threatening Magna Graecia''s security. With Theonia facing the danger of war at any time, what¡­what should we do to remove this dangerpletely?¡±

    ¡°Completely remove? Then simply destroy Syracuse! However, this is something that even Carthage couldn''t do, and Theonia naturally couldn''t do it as well!¡± Eshmounadon''s prideful tone drew a sneer from Henipolis. But under the reproachful gaze of Davos, Henipolis could only bow his head to finish his work.

    Fortunately, Eshmounadon felt magnanimous, so he just ignored the young man''s rudeness and continued pointing out the next move Theonia should take, ¡°Although Theonia couldn''t destroy Syracuse, you can weaken it. Syracuse''srge poption and numerous allies were the foundation of Dionysius'' courage to attack Magna Graecia, but they were also the target of Dionysius'' exploitation. As far as we know in Carthage, these Greeks resented Dionysius, and the news of Theonia''s victory over Dionysius'' army gave them the courage to rebel.

    Moreover, your army hasnded in Sicily, right?! As long as the Theonian troops continue fighting in eastern Sicily, the Greek city-states and their people will definitely rise to support you against the dictatorship of Dionysius, breaking the Sicilian League established by Syracuse and Syracuse to no longer be the hegemon of Sicily!¡± The more Eshmounadon, the more excited he became that he even clenched his fist.

    Davos, however, remained calm as he quietly exchanged nces with Henipolis, who had quietly walked out of the tent and then returned quickly. Afterwards, Davos slowly said, ¡°What Lord Eshmounadon said is indeed reasonable and makes me tempted! However, we only sent about 4,000 men to Sicily, intending just to harass and cause destruction in eastern Sicily to force Dionysius to return with part of his army, reducing our pressure in Magna Graecia¡­ But the day before yesterday, an urgent report from Sicily came that 20,000 soldiers led by the Syracusan strategos Macias attacked our troops and are now facing a difficult situation. It seems that attacking Sicily won¡¯t be easy¡­

    However, If¡­you Carthaginians took advantage of this great opportunity to attack from the west while the Syracusan army was outside and left the defence of their territory empty¡­ Not only will the Syracusan alliance copse, but even the city of Syracuse, which hadn''t been conquered for a hundred years, would likely be breached!¡­¡±

    Listening to Davos'' indirect request, Eshmounadon''s initial bold demeanour became somewhat embarrassed as he evaded Davos'' seemingly eager gaze. He then hesitantly said, ¡°¡­ Only a few years had passed since Carthage and Syracuse signed a peace agreement¡­and we Carthaginians abide by the agreement and won''t break it during its duration¡­And we always kept our promises, which is also why Carthage could be the richest city-state in the western Mediterranean¡­¡±

    Henipolis sneered as he watched the Carthaginian''s pretentiousness.

    With a disappointed expression, Davos sat down and quietly said, ¡°s!¡­that''s truly a pity¡­¡±

    ¡°Although we couldn''t participate in the war, we could still assist Theonia vigorously!¡± Said Eshmounadon hurriedly and loudly. Hanno wanted to improve their rtionship with Theonia further and form an agreement in favour of Carthage. But if he returned with Theonia and Syracuse having a truce, he wouldn''t be able to face Hanno. Thus he was a bit worried, ¡°Besides supplying you with your urgently needed food, we could also provide you with well-made weapons¡­ We are also willing to provide Theonia with a huge loan for you to recruit mercenaries to cover your shortage of soldiers¡­¡±

    Davos'' eyes brightened up as he immediately said, ¡°Wonderful! With Carthage''s selfless aid, we are confident of finally defeating the Syracusans! Heni, get a quill and some paper. I''ll write down a list of supplies we urgently needed.¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Henipolis got up and handed the quill and paper.

    Seeing how quickly Davos became lively, Eshmounadon became dumbfounded and hurriedly said, ¡°King Davos, before you make a list, it''s better to sign a new agreement first.¡±

    ¡°A new agreement?¡± Although Davos appeared puzzled, he was actually worried, ¡®He is finally revealing his real purpose of visiting here!¡¯

    ¡°Yes, a new agreement. Because of the Theonian army''s outstanding performance on the battlefield under your leadership, King Davos, the opinion of our Senate about this war has once again changed! Thus Carthage hopes that after our massive aid in assisting Theonia to win this war, Theonia must not-¡±

    But before Eshmounadon could finish his sentence, the voice of Martius, the captain of the guard, interrupted him. Martius then opened the tent''s entrance and walked inside, ¡°Your majesty, the first legion''s battle report has arrived!¡±

    ¡°Show it to me!¡± Davos couldn''t wait to take the papyrus tied with a red string from Martius'' hands.

    Eshmounadon, who was interrupted, became curious.

    ¡°EXCELLENT!¡± Shouted Davos with excitement. He then loudly said, ¡°Antonios said in his letter that the first legion haspletely defeated the Syracusan joint army led by Macias and upied Tauromenium. Then arge-scale uprising in the central part of eastern Sicily urred. The Sikurians, Catanians, Leontinoi and Taunis overthrew the tyrants supported by Dionysius, and the people of Syracuse also rebelled and drove Dionysius'' supporters to Ortygia.¡±

    After saying those, Davos paused for a moment and said in an emphatic tone, ¡°Antonios also said that these newly independent city-states are afraid of Syracuse''s fierce retaliation, so they came and asked to join the Theonian Alliance.¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡± Henipolis and Martius showed surprised expressions.

    ¡°Come and see it!¡± With delight, Davos handed out the papyrus scroll in his hand.

    ¡°Can I take a look at it first!¡± Disregarding his manners as a guest, Eshmounadon grabbed the papyrus with unprecedented agility as he could no longer wait to see it.

    Davos and Henipolis just smiled at each other: The war report was genuine, but it was delivered in the morning instead of it just arriving. Davos wanted to destroy Carthage¡¯s attempts while getting the benefits, so he made Henipolis and Martius perform a y.

    Eshmounadon, with a look of disbelief, read it again and again. He didn''t expect that in just two days after leaving Carthage, the war situation in South Italia could change so suddenly, so how could he continue to say, ¡®Theonia must not set foot in Sicily after the war.¡¯?

    ¡°This¡­this¡­is this really¡­¡± Eshmounadon was tongue-tied that it took him a while before he could say, ¡°Have all the situations described here¡­been confirmed?¡±

    ¡°Lord Eshmounadon, Theonia''s militaryw, stiptes that ¡®no one shall make a false report or falsify military information. Once verified that the war report is inconsistent with the actual situation, the offender shall receive punishment depending on the seriousness of the situation, which ranges from demotion to death.¡¯ Although Antonios is the armymander, he wouldn''t dare make such a mistake.¡± Davos replied with seriousness.

    ¡°I am certainly not doubting strategos Antonios'' war report, but with Carthage''s dealing with Sikuri, Leontinoi, Catania¡­we knew very well that these city-states were capricious. Due to the current situation, they most likely wanted to please the Theonian army, so their request to join the Theonia Alliance is not necessarily sincere¡­¡± After his initial shock, Eshmounadon calmed down and began expressing his dissent.

 Chapter 567: Division of Power (I)

    But before Eshmounadon could finish speaking, Martius interjected again, ¡°Your majesty, I have a few more letters here that came with the battle report.¡±

    ¡°Why didn''t you say that earlier? Give it to me quickly!¡± Davos feigned anger as he criticised him. After pretending to read the letters, he told Eshmounadon, who was watching him, ¡°These letters are from Taunis, Leontinoi, Sikuri¡­and other city-states asking for an alliance.¡±

    Eshmounadon took the letters, but he was no longer in the mood to read further after reading the first and second letters. He could see that these letters were genuine from the signature and numerous names written at the end; there were even handprints and scribbles.

    He could even deduce from the letters that among the leaders of the revolts: There were both upper-ss citizens whose handwritings were elegant; there were also ordinary citizens who couldn''t read much, so their writing was crooked; there were also freemen and ves, who were illiterate and could only scribble. And these mobs, after just expelling Dionysius'' force, had to write in such a hurry to get the protection of the Theonian army. Apart from that, they also wanted to get Theonia''s support in the next election to gain additional benefits for the groups they represented.

    Fortunately, the anxious Eshmounadon didn¡¯t take the time to read the letters. Otherwise, he would''ve noticed that there were no letters from Catania.

    In truth, there was one, but Davos had to remove it. Antrapolis wrote the letter of Catania and emphasised that under his repeated persuasion, the citizens, freemen, and even a small number of ves agreed to integrate Catania into the Theonia Union¡­

    And that was the reason why Davos didn''t include that letter. In addition to that, there was another letter from a city-state asking to join Theonia, and that was Naxos. After taking back their homes, the former exiles decided to rebuild the city of Naxos and present it to Theonia.

    It was because after Dionysius destroyed the cities of Catania and Naxos, the people here knew more than other city-states in Sicily that peace and tranquillity were far more important than the seemingly freer but actually dangerous independence. Thus under the guidance of Antrapolis and his men, the two city-states willingly chose to integrate with Theonia, the Greek city-state union that could defeat the terrifying and powerful Syracuse, so that they would no longer be homeless.

    In a daze, Eshmounadon handed the letter back to Davos, no longer confident of persuading him, ¡°King Davos, after defeating Syracuse, you should first prioritise¡­the restoration of Magna Graecia to its former prosperity. With theplex rtions between the various city-states in Sicily areplex, as well as the contradictions between the Sicels and the Greeks, Theonia shouldn''t involve yourself on this ind rashly. Moreover, due to your unfamiliarity, it would be easy for you to fall into the mire of conflicts between the various city-states, which would hinder Theonia''s development¡­¡±

    ¡°Lord Eshmounadon, thank you for your concern and reminder.¡± Davos smiled faintly and asked rhetorically, ¡°Among the soldiers of Syracuse that came to invade Magna Graecia were citizens from the city-states of Leontinoi, Taunis, Catania, Sikuri, and so on¡­ What do you think they would do if the Theonian Alliance refused these city-states?¡±

    Eshmounadon was stunned and before he could answer, Henipolis, who was next to him, interjected, ¡°They would suspect that Theonia still hates those who help Syracuse invade Magna Graecia. Hence in fear of retaliation, they would likely join forces with Syracuse again to resist possible threats.¡±

    ¡°That''s right. They would ally with a new Syracuse that doesn¡¯t have the tyrant Dionysius, just like pouring a jar of wine into another empty jar and its taste remaining the same. And the result is that Syracuse would still be the leader of the Greek city-states of Sicily! Is that what Carthage wishes to see?!¡± Davos asked again.

    Eshmounadon had to admit that this situation would likely happen, so he stammeringly said, ¡°You¡­ You can tell these city-states that you have no intention of attacking them, and you can sign¡­a friendly treaty with them¡­¡±

    With a smile, Davos leaned back on the chair and said, ¡°Lord Eshmounadon, did Carthage take the initiative to sign a friendly treaty with their neighbouring Phoenician city-states?¡±

    That startled Eshmounadon, but he then understood Davos'' intention: A lion would never care about the feelings of livestock! Powerful city-states have their own dignity, so the weaker city-states would always take the initiative to curry favour to ensure their safety. With Theonia having defeated Syracuse, they have now gained the prestige of a powerful city-state, so they will naturally not do this self-deprecating foolishness.

    Feeling his skin heating up, Eshmounadon suddenly heard Davos continue, ¡°In addition, Syracuse is far more powerful than other city-states in Sicily, including the city-states under Carthage. Hence no matter what government Syracuse would be and who would be in power, they would still attract the surrounding city-states to join them as time passed. By then, Syracuse will still be a threat to Magna Graecia and Carthage! Therefore Catania, Leontinoi¡­these city-states in the central area of eastern Sicily closest to Magna Graecia, wanted to break away from Syracuse¡¯s sphere of influence, so they asked for an alliance with Theonia. They would then be Magna Graecia¡¯s southern barrier so that once Syracuse wanted to invade Magna Graecia, they must first conquer the area north of them. So even if the war started, Magna Graecia wouldn''t suffer any damage! Thus we in Theonia will agree to their demands and ally with them!¡±

    Listening to Davos'' decisive words, Eshmounadon suddenly realised something, ¡°Could it be that Theonia doesn''t intend to destroy Syracuse?¡±

    ¡°Destroy Syracuse?¡± Davos then said as if he had just heard a joke, ¡°If Carthage couldn''t do it, how can the wounded Theonia do it?! The only thing we can do is to weaken Syracuse to ensure Magna Graecia''s safety.¡±

    After hearing Davos'' answer, Eshmounadon felt agitated, regretful and even uneasy about Theonia''s insistence on epting the city-states of Sicily. After all, this would be the first time in centuries that a foreign power set foot in Sicily! (The Athenian invasion during the Peloponnesian War doesn''t count as they were too far apart, unlike Magna Graecia, which was separated by a strait that was only a few kilometres away¡­)

    ¡°Lord Eshmounadon, do you know which kind of geometry is the most stable?¡± Davos suddenly asked.

    Geometry, which was developed to calctend area, has been highly praised among Greek schrs who like to study natural science. Some Athenian schrs even imed that geometry is the foundation of all knowledge!

    ¡°What?¡± Eshmounadon, who hade to his senses, was stunned again as he didn''t expect Davos to ask an irrelevant question.

    ¡°It''s a triangle.¡± Davos then bluntly said, ¡°Why are Carthage and Syracuse constantly at war in Sicily? Because they were the two most powerful forces in Sicily.¡±

    Davos held out his two fingers and said, ¡°As long as they meet, war will inevitably happen because of conflict of interests, and there is no room for manoeuvre. But if Theonia joins-¡± Davos put up another finger and formed a triangle, ¡°The three parties would hold each other in check, allowing for long-term peace to be reached! Because if one side wants to wage war against the other, they would need to consider the threat from a third party.¡±

    Eshmounadon stared at Davos¡¯ fingers and hesitantly said, ¡°It is also possible for the two forces to unite.¡±

    Davos smiled and said, ¡°This war has made Theonia and Syracuse mortal enemies, so it is impossible for us to unite and attack Carthage. Don''t you think so as well?¡±

    Eshmounadon didn''t speak as he thought, ¡®Syracuse burnt Crotone, ughtered the Scylletians, and ravaged the Theonian territory, so the Magna Graecians truly hated them! And that''s why the Theonians sold some of the captured Syracusan citizens to Carthage, and if the Syracusans find out about that, they definitely wouldn¡¯t forgive the Theonians¡­¡¯

    ¡°So would Carthage and Syracuse join force and attack Theonia?¡±

    Eshmounadon shook his head. After all, decades of war have deepened the hatred between the two city-states.

    ¡°Although we would like to join forces with you, Carthaginians, to destroy Syracuse, our current situation once again made it impossible to achieve it. In a few decades, two powers might be able to unite. However, the distribution of interests would always be uneven, and the third party will always find a w to break the union. Thus the peace in Sicily could be guaranteed for a long time, which would also be in Carthage''s interests! Am I right, Lord Eshmounadon?¡± Davos said gently.

    Eshmounadon could already feel that there was some truth in what Davos said. However, he remained silent as such an important matter was beyond the scope of his mission.

    Unfortunately, Davos didn''t n to just end it, ¡°Heni, go get the map.¡±

    Henipolis thenid the map of Sicily on the table. Afterwards, Davos took up his quill and said, ¡°If I am not wrong, the west of Ziz(Palermo) and Selinus is Carthage''s sphere of influence.¡±

    With that, he ¡®separated¡¯ arge western corner of Sicily with a stroke of his quill, and then he continued, ¡°Syracuse to the south to the north of Kamarina belongs to Syracuse''s sphere of influence.¡±

    He stretched out his quill and made another stroke that ¡®separated¡¯ a small corner on the southeast. He then finally said, ¡°Tauromenium, Naxos, Sikuri, Catania, Leontinoi, and Taunis woulde under Theonia.¡± After saying that, he carefully drew a narrow line along the east coast of Sicily.

 Chapter 568: Division of Power (II)

    When looking at the map, Theonia upied the smallest territory among the three powers. However, Davos yed a small trick as he did not circle the entire Catanian in even though Antrapolis controlled its east.

    ¡°The other city-states, such as Agrigento, G, Tyndaris¡­would be neutral city-states, serving as buffer zones for Carthage, Syracuse and Theonia.¡± Said Davos seriously as he pointed at the icons on the map with his quill.

    After checking the map carefully, Eshmounadon suddenly said, ¡°Do these neutral city-states include Messina?¡±

    Although Messina isn''trge, it is also part of Sicily''s important city-state as its location is crucial.

    ¡°Of course not!¡± Said Davos without hesitation, ¡°The citizens of new Messina were from Locri and Medma, who were aplices of Dionysius in this war by blockading the Strait of Messina and attacking the port of Rhegium several times. Thus for their safety, Rhegium proposed to us to attack Messina, and the Theonian Senate has agreed to their request for a joint attack¡­¡± And once again, Davos concealed the fact that ¡®Theonia and Rhegium have decided to share control of Messina¡¯.

    But as they aren¡¯t Greek and their two most important waterways don¡¯t pass through the straight, the Carthaginians don¡¯t care much about Messina. After looking at the map again, Eshmounadon thought about Davos'' suggestion for some time. Then he looked up and said, ¡°Dear king Davos, the Carthaginian Senate sent me here to revise the friendly treaty between Theonia and Carthage and find out how Theonia would proceed on your war with Syracuse. But I never could expect¡­that you would give me such a¡­err¡­surprise! However, I could only take your proposal back to the Senate as it is beyond the scope of my authority.¡±

    Davos expressed his understanding. Then he unhurriedly said, ¡°I hope Carthage''s reply could arrive quicker because I am afraid that the Syracusans in the city of Scylletium wouldn''tst for a few days before they surrender.¡± Davos could confidently say those words as the news of Dionysius'' escape leaked, and the defending soldiers were already panicking. Moreover, the Syracusans had sent a messenger to negotiate peace again, so Davos took the opportunity to tell him about thetest situation in Sicily. Thus whether they believed it or not, a bigger disturbance in the city of Scylletium was bound to happen.

    Hearing that considerably shook Eshmounadon as he understood what Davos meant: The surrender of the Syracusans in the city of Scylletium meant the end of the war in south Italia. By then, Carthage would have to negotiate with Theonia on different terms.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After seeing off the Carthaginian envoy who had left in a hurry, Henipolis asked, ¡°Your majesty, would Carthage agree with your proposal?¡±

    ¡°Judging from the envoy''s behaviour just now and what we investigated on Carthage''s situation over the past few days, we can see that they are seriously against war. So even though Sicily''s situation is very favourable for Carthage, many elders in the Carthaginian Senate may not agree to start another war¡­.¡± Davos recalled much of the information about Carthage that he had read before and continued, ¡°So as long as they could negotiate, the Carthaginians, who value efficiency, wouldn''t be foolish enough to use force. What''s more, Carthage should understand that upying the whole of Sicily would be harmful to them.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Henipolis asked curiously.

    ¡°You can understand the reason after thinking about it.¡±

    ¡°¡­umm¡­is it because they would arouse the wrath of the entire Greek world against them?¡±

    ¡°Correct. If Carthage were to upy the entire Sicily, a foreign force would threaten not only our Magna Graecia but also Greece. So how could the Greeks ept such a situation! Carthage should''ve realised it during their past wars with Syracuse as they hadn¡¯t only fought the Syracusans but also with the Greeks in Italia and Greece¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, Carthage, which is just a city-state, naturally couldn''t ovee the strength of the whole of Greece. Either way, they would fail. ¡±

    ¡°Heni, your teacher was interested in Carthage recently and had collected a lot of information. Have you seen them?¡± Davos asked to change the subject.

    ¡°Your majesty, it''s not like you didn''t know I was in Laos. So how could I have the time to visit my teacher?¡± Henipolis felt slightly ufortable mentioning Laos.

    ¡°Anyway, after reading those materials and discussing it with Ansitanos, I realised that the Phoenicians had quite a few colonies in the western Mediterranean and colonised much earlier than we Greeks, but why do we only know about Carthage?¡±

    ¡°Yes, why?¡± Henipolis asked with interest.

    Davos exined in detail, ¡°It is because the Phoenicians had a different way of colonising than us Greeks. We Greeks colonised because we had too many people but too littlend to support arger poption, so we were forced to colonise to survive and gain newnd¡­while the Phoenicians colonised¡­no, it shouldn''t be called colonisation butmercial activity. The Phoenicians ventured into the western Mediterranean hundreds of years ago to make huge profits. But as a result, they discovered silver mines on the Iberian Penins and precious metal mines in Sardinia¡­thus in order to collect these precious metals and transport them back to Phoenician¡¯snd, they built many trading posts on the coast of Africa and in the west of Sicily.

    Take note that it is a trading post, not a town! And most of the Phoenicians in the trading posts mainly were engaged in metalworking and transport trade, so to meet their daily needs, they had to trade with their neighbours, the aborigines and our Greek city-states. And as they could integrate into the local environments of the western Mediterranean, the Phoenicians became an alien race that could live in harmony with its neighbours. So even though there was strife in the royal family in the Phoeniciannd that led some members of the city of Tyre''s royal family to flee to Carthage, they still managed to lead Carthage to rise and rece Tyre, the mother city-state of the Phoenicians, into bing the new trade centre for the Phoenicians in the western Mediterranean. At the same time, the Carthaginians and the Greeks lived in harmony-¡±

    ¡°Wait a moment, your majesty. But the Carthaginians had evil intentions toward the Greeks in Sicily as they repeatedly invaded the Greeks'' territory! Moreover, they sacrificed the children and had repulsive behaviour!!¡± Henipolis rashly interrupted Davos with a look of displeasure.

    Davos didn''t mind his interruption and just gently smiled, ¡°I won''tment about that as sacrificing children is their tradition. But from what your teacher had gathered, he concluded that it was precisely our Greek''s several attacks on Carthage''s allies that led to their counterattack.

    A hundred years ago, the Spartan prince Dorieus imed that thend around Eryx in western Sicily was the resting ce of his ancestor, Heracles. Thus he wanted to build a city there. But Eryx, the religious centre of the Carthaginians in Sicily, would not allow the arrogant Spartans to build a city, so Carthage went to war and drove out the allied Greek forces led by Sparta.

    Then decades ago, the army of the tyrant Gelon of Syracuseunched an attack on Himera, a friendly ally of Carthage, which led to the Carthaginian reinforcements arriving. But after Gelon defeated Carthage, he portrayed the war as a great victoryparable to the Greek allied force''s victory over Persia.

    Thus I think it was Syracuse who deliberately spread most of the terrible images of the Carthaginians over the years in order to force the other city-states in Sicily to unite against them¡­¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, do you mean that all of those are the plots of Syracuse?!¡± Henipolis asked with astonishment.

    ¡°The Carthaginians had to make a show of might from time to time to deter these people''s greed. After all, the Carthaginian''s mother states, Tyre and Sidon, could not provide a constant flow of new settlers like the Greeks, so the Carthaginians, whose poption was smaller, were probably constantly on guard against the avarice of the Greeks, who came from the eastern Mediterranean to the west of Sicily¡­¡±

    After Davos finished speaking, Henipolis chuckled and said, ¡°Your majesty, you don''t seem to be a Greek when exining.¡±

    Davos then sternly said, ¡°Only from a neutral standpoint can one understand the true feelings of the Carthaginians. Hence I think Carthage would be happy to ept the friendship of a powerful Greek neighbour at this time!¡± Said Davos, but he had other thoughts: At this time, Theonia could not afford to provoke Carthage, so it''s better just to let it sleep and have them continue to do their business, trade and tend their farm.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Dionysius'' ship took advantage of its familiarity with the east coast of Sicily to bring the pursuing fast-sailing ship of Theonia into reefy areas, thus escaping their pursuit. And when passing through Taunis, they bypassed the Theonian fleet''s blockade and finally reached the ind of Ortygia.

    The ind of Ortygia had a tight defence as it was surrounded by the sea on three sides, with cliffs everywhere and a walled city on top. The ind also had a small port, but neither could a ship stop nearby nor get onto the ind unless allowed. But it wasn''t a problem for Dionysius.

    As soon as Dionysiusnded on the ind, Hipparinus, Kdmus, and the mercenary leader Megakorlis rushed to wee him.

    ¡°Thank Apollo! You are finally back, Lord Dionysius! Milord, Herolisunched a rebellion after you left, and he instigated¡­¡±

    Dionysius'' heart sank when he heard Kdmus'' long-winded narration. Moreover, Dionysius could already feel something amiss when he saw the Theonian fleet in the sea near Taunis, and now that feeling hade true as he couldn''t even believe that Syracuse''s situation would be much worse: The Theonian army had defeated the allied forces led by Macias and almost all the city-states north of Syracuse rebelled and broke away from their control. Even the whole city of Syracuse, except for the ind of Ortygia, had be the territory of the rebels¡­

    So the more he listened, the more annoyed Dionysius became that he couldn''t stop himself from shouting, ¡°Cut the crap!!!¡± resulting in Kdmus bing as quiet as cicadas inte autumn.

    Dionysius just stood there panting heavily. After straightening out his disordered thoughts, he looked up at his father-inw and asked, ¡°Where is Philistus?¡±

 Chapter 569: Predicament

    ¡°No one saw him since the uprising began. And from what my men reported, Herolis probably imprisoned him.¡± Said Hipparinus.

    ¡°Damn Herolis! I should have removed his head and hung his body on the top of the city wall to warn those with evil intentions! This time, I will definitely kill his whole family and get the temple''s priests to ce a curse on his soul for him to sink in the River Styx forever!¡­¡± Dionysius cursed loudly and furiously to vent his anger and frustration. Without Philistus, it would be like cutting off one of his arms, as he could no longer implement many of his ns. And due to him quietly returning to Syracuse, Dionysius did not intend to make a public appearance to avoid the people''s criticism and nned to leave many things for Philistus to carry out. But without Philistus, who could he rely on now?

    ¡°Herolis is out there with an army of tens of thousands of men! Go out and defeat him! If possible, kill him!!! What''s the use of you just yelling here?!¡± Said Hipparinus coldly. Among these people, he was the only one who dared to rebuke Dionysius in person. Although Philistus sometimes criticises Dionysius, he would never be as harsh as Hipparinus. Hipparinus could do it simply because he was not only Dionysius'' father-inw but also his staunch supporter. And in Dionysius'' most difficult times, it was Hipparinus who paid out using all his family''s money to support Dionysius to run the election. Moreover, he gathered numerous citizens for him to be elected as the suprememander of Syracuse and led the citizens against the Carthaginian army, thus allowing him to embark on the path of a dictator.

    Dionysius red at Hipparinus while his chest heaved sharply. But just as he was about to vent his anger, Kdmus retreated a few steps back in fright. In the end, Dionysius held his anger back and, with a heavy grunt, turned his gate at Megakorlis. He then asked him in a grave tone, ¡°How is the ind of Ortygia''s defence?¡±

    ¡°The rebels tried to attack the walls of the isthmus. However, after suffering heavy casualties but failing to reach the top of the city wall, they no longer attack here again. Instead, they built a new wall at the exit of the isthmus, trying to block us out of the city.¡±

    ¡°Have you tried leading your soldiers to the isthmus?¡±

    Megakorlis didn''t reply. Instead, he turned his gaze to Hipparinus.

    ¡°I told Megakorlis'' mercenaries not to attack!¡± Hipparinus said without shirking responsibility, ¡°With the dangerous and chaotic situation, the first thing I had to ensure was the safety of Ortygia!¡±

    This time, Dionysius didn''t get angry. After staying silent for a while, he loudly said, ¡°Hmm¡­Lord Hipparinus, you did the right thing! Megakorlis, thanks to you and your mercenaries¡¯ effort in holding the ind of Ortygia, we still have a ce to take shelter!¡±

    ¡°Milord, it''s the duty of our mercenaries to guard the ind of Ortygia!¡±

    ¡°What''s Macias'' situation now?¡± Dionysius asked about the whereabouts of his other right-hand man.

    ¡°From the scout''s report, he led the defeated soldiers and fled to those viges and towns owned by the citizens who were former mercenaries. But Herolis didn''t allow him to rest as he immediately sent tens of thousands of soldiers to attack the former mercenaries and their families. And as Macias could not defeat them, he could only lead his men to retreat to the western mountains.¡± Hipparinus said expressionlessly.

    ¡°As long as he isn''t dead¡­¡± Dionysius didn¡¯t consider contacting Macias for a while as he paid attention to another question, ¡°Where is our fleet?¡±

    ¡°The port''s sailors were involved in the rebellion. After imprisoning Paronisus, they took the ship and joined forces with those rebels to defeat the mercenaries guarding the city gates. They were also the ones clearing the mercenaries outside the city¡­but these sailors began arguing with the rebels in the city.¡±

    ¡°About what?!¡± Dionysius became interested.

    ¡°From what the spies had seen, it seemed the port sailors hoped to obtain all thends of the former mercenaries and wish to obtain more political right, which Herolis and the others opposed¡­¡±

    Dionysius took note of this matter and asked the question he was most concerned about, ¡°Where is the Theonian army now?¡±

    ¡°They headed to Taunis to assist the rebels but went north after taking control of the whole city. Now that all the passage between Syracuse and the north are blocked, we could no longer find out the situation in detail.¡± Said Hipparinus.

    ¡®The Theonians were cautious!¡¯ Dionysius became slightly anxious when he thought of this. After all, he left tens of thousands of Syracusans in Scylletium to block Theonia''s main force for him. Hence if he could not retake Syracuse before the Theonians conquered Scylletium, he would be in grave danger once Theonia''s main force made an expedition across the sea!

    ¡°What about the cities on the south coast? Did you go there to ask their aid?!¡± Dionysius asked anxiously, as that was where he would most likely get reinforcements.

    ¡°When therge-scale uprising broke out in the cities of Syracuse, Catania, Leontinoi, Taunis and other cities, there was also unrest in the cities of the south coast. Lord Kdmus even risked his life to go to G, Agrigento¡­to ask for their help, but was refused.¡± Said Hipparinus.

    ¡°Milord, those city-states even said, ¡®In order to help lord Dionysius to attack Magna Graecia, we had sent out many of our soldiers. And in order to repel the Theonians whonded in Sicily, we had sent even more young and physically fit citizens. Yet most of them did not return! And now that our city-state is in turmoil and the political situation is unstable, we won''t be able to send reinforcements again.¡¯¡± Kdmus exined helplessly.

    ¡°Even Kamarina refused to send troops?!¡±

    Faced with Dionysius'' fierce gaze, Kdmus trembled and nodded, ¡°Ye¡­yes¡­¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Dionysius cursed. He would understand it if it were other city-states, but the tyrant of Kamarina was his own brother, Leptinus, whom he personally supported. ¡®Yet he remained indifferent in Syracuse''s predicament? Does that fool think that if I fall, he will remain fine?!¡¯

    Although he was angry at his brother''s short-sightedness, Dionysius could only feel a sense of powerlessness. The whole of Syracuse rebelled, he lost many soldiers, also lost the support of the sailors, and even his allies ignored him¡­ but could two thousand mercenaries enough to regain his throne of power?

    Dionysius was in a daze as he felt like a big fish stranded on the beach. Although he had enough energy, he couldn''t use it and was in danger of drying up and dying at any time.

    At this moment, Kdmus asked, ¡°Milord, what happened to the army that went to Magna Graecia?¡±

    Dionysius'' eyes widened as he stared straight at him.

    Everyone knew that Dionysius had be a deserter, so no one sane enough mentioned it. Yet Kdmus said the most taboo thing about Dionysius.

    ¡°I¡­I¡­I mean¡­if the troops in Magna Graecia can return, they can recapture¡­recapture¡­¡± Under Dionysius'' cold gaze, Kdmus gritted his teeth.

    ¡°You have a point.¡± Dionysius remained expressionless and calmly said, ¡°In that case, I am sending you to Scylletium to negotiate with the new king of Theonia. And I authorise you the ability to grant whatever he asks so long as you quickly and safely bring back the soldiers! Thus, you better depart now!!!¡±

    ¡°Ah?! Me??? Now?!-¡± Kdmus incoherently said in a panic. To evade the patrol ships of the Syracusan rebels, then break through the Theonian fleet''s block and reach Scylletium¡­that is simply risking his life!

    But Dionysius no longer allowed him to speak and just let Megakorlis and the guards take him to Lakteros, the ship''s captain.

    Although Dionysius doesn''t believe that the cunning king of Theonia would make such a mistake, he still has a tiny hope in his heart. After all, thousands of elite soldiers and mercenaries were left in Scylletium! So as long as they return, he could easily seize back Syracuse!!!

    ¡°I¡¯m a bit tired as I''ve stayed on the ship for two days now, so I''ll take a rest first. But make sure to keep my return a secret-¡± Dionysius, who was somewhat weary, admonished those around him, ¡°Keep it a secret not only from the rebels in the city but also from the people on the ind. After all, the rebels captured most of the officials of the city hall, so their families would certainly worry about them!¡±

    ¡°Have a good rest. You should gofort Aristomache and the children as they''ve been terrified these days!¡± Hipparinus sighed.

    Dionysius turned to Phidias, who had remained silent all this time, ¡°I still have something to discuss with you, soe with me.¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡± Phidias replied simply.

    On the way to his pce, Dionysius frankly said, ¡°You are now aware of Syracuse¡¯s situation and, naturally, Sicily as a whole. I''ll be honest with you, the situation now is much more dangerous than before, and those rebels in the city might still be colluding with the Theonians. Otherwise, there wouldn¡¯t be simultaneous uprisings on all the city-states on the east coast of Sicily on the same day and at the most crucial moment at that! Don''t you think so as well?¡±

    ¡°That''s very likely.¡± Phidias squeezed out a sentence with indifference.

    Note: In history, the possible reasons why Dionysius eventually chose his son, Dionysius the Younger, born to the beautiful Lady Doris of Locri, as heir to the tyrant of Syracuse, rather than two sons born to Aristomache, daughter of Hipparinus, were: On the one hand, these two sons of his were of mediocre talents and had terrible personalities. On the other hand, it was also out of fear of Hipparinus'' kinsman monopolising the government and also as a form of revenge for Hipparinus'' years of insults. However, Hipparinus was already dead by the time he appointed his heir.

 Chapter 570: Syracuses New High-Ranking Officials

    ¡°If that is the case, I don''t stand a good chance in Syracuse and would likely be ousted by these rebels led by Herolis! For me, that would be terrible! And it wouldn''t be good for Sparta either! Phidias, I need your help now.¡± Dionysius said with a begging expression.

    ¡°Tell me, what do you need me to do?¡± Phidias'' expression remained unchanged.

    Dionysius, who was already ustomed to his personality, earnestly implored, ¡°I hope you can meet the rebels'' leaders, such as Herolis, as you have done before. Persuade them not to have a conflict with me while Syracuse is in danger, as this would only give the Theonians an advantage and threaten the Syracusans'' survival! Instead, we should unite and get through this together! To that end, I am also willing to share my power with them and meet their demands as long as they can ept me again as their suprememander¡­¡±

    ¡°Alright, I''ll give it a try.¡± Phidias simply agreed. Then he said, ¡°Should I tell them that you are back?¡±

    ¡°No! I''ll show up in due course.¡± Dionysius immediately refused.

    Seeing that Phidias left, Dionysius felt suspicious, ¡®Why did Phidias agree so quickly this time?¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In Syracuse''s city hall, Herolis, who was chosen as the interim suprememander, was meeting with the officials of the Wartime Council from the several strategoi elected by the people during the uprising.

    As a poet, Philoxenus was well-known because he contradicted Dionysius many times and was imprisoned. Hence, the people trusted him and elected him to be a strategos. At this moment, he impolitely questioned the representative of the port sailors and the poor, Tethytes, ¡°Tethytes, why didn''t you blockade the ind of Ortygia with your warships?! We already discussed that yesterday!¡±

    ¡°Ye¡­yesterday, we were tasked with clearing out Macias'' defeated troops. Currently, there are thousands of sailors searching for them in the mountains, so where could we spare the men to blockade the ind of Ortygia?!¡± Tethytesined about his suffering.

    ¡°Tethytes, stop quibbling. You have enough people in the port area to block the ind of Ortygia while wiping out those mercenaries. After joint deliberation by the Wartime Council, you epted the order issued. Yet you still haven''t implemented it? Do you think the people just want you toe here for fun when they elected you to be a strategos?!!¡± Kias, another nobleman from the city, a close friend of Herolis and was also newly elected strategos, loudly criticised.

    Although Tethytes was a neer in the political arena, he had wandered on the sea for decades and had abundant life experience. So instead of getting angry when faced with criticism, he helplessly said, ¡°Besides not working together to do things, you city people couldn''t even gather enough people to build the wall, so you needed us to provide manpower. Moreover, our port area has arge poption from different origins, so how do you expect them to obey my orderspletely?! If you have a problem with me, then take my position away. For the sake of my position as a strategos, I have to talk to many people every day and be misunderstood! I had long wanted to quit as my work isn''t asfortable as when I was just a sailor!¡±

    Tethytes'' threat to resign resulted in several strategoi immediately stopping their criticism as they understood that Tethytes was good at persuading the people at the port. If he were to be reced by other people, it would be harder for them to cooperate. Moreover, they urgently needed the strength of the port people as the War of Magna Graecia took away many citizens from the city.

    ¡°Lord Tethytes!¡± Herolis broke the silence in the room. At this moment, he was much more haggard than before the uprising. Although his voice became hoarse, his eyes were sharper, ¡°If you encountered any difficulties, we should discuss them now and solve them together.¡±

    Tethytes still respected Herolis, so he promptly said, ¡°The port''s people wanted to participate in the lesia to discuss the variousws decided by the council and for the allocation of thend that you promised to the port people as they began suspecting that the Wartime Council is swindling them. In addition, they had taken on a lot of taskspared to the city people, so they felt it was unfair and were no longer willing to obey my orders¡­¡±

    ¡°How is it unfair?! The port people were originally-¡± Another strategos, Steisikus couldn''t resist arguing again but was interrupted by Herolis. After he thought about it, Herolis said earnestly, ¡°Lord Tethytes, we overthrew the tyrant rule of Dionysius and will implement a democratic system. However, Syracuse is not Athens, so not all citizens can participate in the lesia, but¡­to put it simply, citizens who can afford at least one set of heavy infantry equipment and can serve inbat at any time are eligible to participate in the lesia. That was the political tradition of Syracuse, and we will not change it easily! That''s why besides the poor people in your port area, the city also has many citizens who cannot participate in the lesia.¡±

    ¡°Butst time-¡± Tethytes still wanted to argue.

    However, Herolis waved his hand to stop him and said seriously, ¡°Hear me out first! Why didn''t we immediately allocate thend that we promised? It''s because we do not know how many of the Syracusans who fought in Magna Graecia will return alive, so we are not sure how muchnd will be vacated. Moreover, we also need personnel to re-measure thend before distributing it fairly and justly to thendless citizens of the port and the city.

    But since the nd¡¯ became the port¡¯s people''s biggest concern, which even affected our unity. However, you should remember that we still haven''t taken Ortygia. Dionysius and his mercenaries maye back at any time and put the chains back on the freedom we gained with blood!¡±

    At the end of his speech, Herolis'' tone became intense to remind Tethytes and the several other strategoi, including Philoxenus. He then continued, ¡°I, therefore, propose that we distribute first thend owned by the 5,000 mercenaries led by Macias and the thousand mercenaries stationed in the city to the port people.¡± (These mercenaries were already citizens of Syracuse. However, the victorious rebels and Herolis refused to recognise their citizenship as they were the loyal dogs of Dionysius.)

    ¡°Those mercenaries upied arge area ofnd!¡± Philoxenus warned loudly.

    ¡°For Herolis'' proposal, I think it is eptable.¡± Steisikus, on the contrary, expressed his approval. Unlike the straightforward Philoxenus, who knew nothing about politics, Steisikus realised Herolis'' intention as soon as he announced his proposal. The viges established by these 6,000 mercenaries weren''t within the traditional territory of Syracuse but rather the territories that Dionysius got from expanding outwards following his conquest of south-eastern Sicily, which naturally included thends of their neighbouring city-states that he forcibly upied. The viges of the 6,000 mercenaries were just southwest of Syracuse and adjacent to the small subordinate city-state of Syracuse, Akrai, which was a necessary route for the city-state''s troops from the south coast to reach Syracuse. With Herolis arranging the port people there, they would not only make these greedy and timid people continue fighting the mercenaries who fled into the mountains for the sake of theirnd but also guard against possible hostility of the city-states on the south coast to the new Syracuse government. Moreover, thend was far enough from Syracuse that its distribution would not cause the city''s people to protest but also diffuse the discontent of the port peoples and make them feel the sincerity of the Wartime Committee.

    Thus it wasn''t only Steisikus who realised the benefits of Herolis'' proposal, but also the several other strategoi agreed.

    Herolis continued while remaining indifferent, ¡°However, Dionysius gave the mercenaries too favourable conditions to win them over, with each mercenary having 6,666 square metres ofnd, which is a bit too much. So I would like to instead temporarily allocate 3,333 square metres to each of the port people, and only those who have taken an active part in the rebellion against the tyrant are eligible. Lord Tethytes, what do you think? You should provide the list so we can begin the distribution as soon as the city hall''s staff verifies it.¡±

    Tethytes didn''t think about it that much. He was already overjoyed at the fact the council agreed to distribute thend immediately so that the public would no longer question and criticised him after he returned to the port every time. Thus he said with great relief, ¡°I agree!¡±

    Herolis then said, ¡°The port people who ownednd could then umte wealth to buy weapons and equipment and serve as heavy infantry. Afterwards, it would only be a matter of time before they could participate in the lesia. So, Lord Tethytes, what you said about ¡®the port people''s request to participate in the lesia¡¯ would no longer be a problem as long as thend is allocated, right?¡±

    ¡°Right! Right! You are right!¡± Tethytes answered.

    ¡°Now that we solve the problems.¡± Herolis turned serious, ¡°I want you to immediately have the ships moored in the great port, all of which are on the verge of decaying, sail back and seal off the entire ind of Ortygiapletely, without allowing a single ship to enter or leave the ind! Although we cannot invade Ortygia for now, as far as I know, the food stored on the ind is only enough to use by two thousand mercenaries and the residents for three to four months at most. At that time, they will have to open the gate and surrender.¡±

    ¡°Lord Herolis, you can rest assured of that! With the promised distribution ofnd, the port people will participate in droves!¡± Tethytes readily agreed while receiving the contemptuous gaze of several strategoi, ¡®The port people are indeed a crowd of bootlicker!¡¯

 Chapter 571: Each with their own interests

    ¡°Heloris, did the Theonians lie about preventing Dionysius'' army from returning to Sicily?¡± Asked Philoxenus worriedly.

    ¡°Dionysius lost his fleet and won''t be able to bring his army back to Sicily. Instead of worrying about him, we should worry about the army that Theonia is about to capture, which includes not only mercenaries but also tens of thousands of our citizens and sailors. Would Theonia actually return them to Syracuse safely?!¡± The point Steisikos'' raised was an important question that everyone was concerned about. Yet they did not dare face it, which was the same for Heloris.

    Although their rebellion''s sess was due to the help of the Theonians, as Syracuse''s master, they had to be wary of Theonia once they thought about its future. After all, Syracuse and Theonia have natural conflicts in interests. Hence even though Heloris and the others rose against Dionysius because of his dictatorship, they naturally wanted Syracuse''s glory to continue.

    Heloris discreetly console, ¡°We still haven''t removed Dionysius yet, so we will discuss these matterster as we could not rx our vignce. Moreover, the Theonian army showed goodwill by staying away from Taunis and had so far fulfilled the promise they made earlier about not a single Theonian soldier would set foot on Syracuse''s soil¡­Of course, we can''t let our guard down either! Steisikos, urge the soldiers on the northern wall to step up their patrols! Lord Tethytes-¡±

    Heloris looked at the old sailor again. Unlike the other strategoi who were his like-minded friends, he had to remind this old strategos who came from the port and was born a pauper, ¡°I heard some Theonians in the port area spreading rumours everywhere that made people feel uneasy and undermined Syracuse''s security and stability. So I want you to return and find those Theonian spies and expel them out of Syracuse!¡±

    ¡°That''s what we should do! Syracuse''s matter should be solved only by Syracusans themselves! There is no need for the enemy to intervene because they all have other intentions that are detrimental to Syracuse!¡± Philoxenus immediately approved.

    Those words took Tethytes aback. As far as he knew, the Theonians had close contact with Heloris and got along well with the port people. Besides organising them to unite with the city people to resist Dionysius'' men, they also taught them how to fight for their own interests. Like how the just sessfulnd allocation had alsoe from their advice¡­ Yet the strategoi who benefitted were going to turn their backs on them now!

    Seeing his dazed expression, Heloris loudly reminded, ¡°Now that we overthrew Dionysius'' rule, we, the strategoi formally elected by Syracusan citizens, represent the wishes of the people! Thus we shouldmunicate with Theonia through formal diplomacy and no longer as privately and quietly as before as that would only confuse the people and harm Syracuse''s interests!¡±

    Heloris said so straightforwardly that Tethytes could no longer object.

    ¡°Philoxenus, are you willing to go to Theonia and discuss with the Senate of Theonia how to end this war? And the return of the Syracusan citizens who the Theonians captured?¡± Asked Heloris.

    ¡°I am willing!¡± Philoxenus agreed with enthusiasm.

    ¡°What if the Theonians put forward many harsh requirements?!¡± Phalekus, another strategos of Syracuse, expressed his concern.

    ¡°I fear the Theonians would demand more in terms of reparations for the war by¡­having their rights over the city-states of¡­Catania, Leontinoi and others in the north of Syracuse guaranteed.¡± In recent days, apart from Heloris leading the crowd to purge the inside and outside of the city of Dionysius'' remnants and stabilise Syracuse, he was also contemting how the new Syracusan government would gain security and growth in the situation that would follow. And since Theonia was a boulder in front of Syracuse that they could not bypass, Heloris naturally thought a lot about it.

    ¡°Theonia might even demand us disband the Sicilian League and return thend of other city-states we have upied!¡± Warned Steisikos loudly.

    As a result, everyone''s expression changed, especially Tethytes. After all, thend promised by the council was the one Syracuse seized from several subordinate city-states in the south.

    Heloris, on the other hand, seemed calm, ¡°The other side will, naturally, make many excessive demands in the negotiations, but¡­Philoxenus, you must remember that without our cooperation, Theonia would have a harder time. For example, we could go to Scylletium to persuade those tens of thousands of soldiers to surrender and help Theonia end the Magna Graecian war. But another is that if we don''t approve of Theonia¡¯s support on the Sicilian city-states such as Catania, Leontinoi and others, it will be impossible for Theonia to gain a firm foothold on the east coast of Sicily¡­¡± The more Heloris spoke, the more confident he became. After having known Theonia, especially Davos, quite well over the years, he was sure that the young and wise new king of Theonia won''t be blinded by hatred and make excessive demands.

    After hearing that, Philoxenus felt assured. Thus he promised, ¡°Don''t worry, I won''t let Syracuse''s interests be harmed!¡±

    ¡°But if it''s appropriate topromise, we should make concessions. After all, we are the one who asks for Theonia''s help.¡± Heloris feared that Philoxenus would be too rigid and anger Davos.

    ¡°I know. I am going there to negotiate and not recite poetry.¡± After Philoxenus said that, all the othersughed apart from Tethytes. In the past, Dionysius held poetry in his banquets many times, and Philoxenus would always embarrass Dionysius, arousing the tyrant''s resentment.

    ¡°Phalekus, how much money do we have in our treasury?¡± Asked Heloris.

    ¡°Erm¡­¡± As Phalekus was about to answer, a guard ran in and said, ¡°Strategoi, a Spartan came from the ind of Ortygia, saying that he was Sparta''s envoy and asked to meet with you.¡±

    ¡°Sparta''s envoy?!¡± Everyone looked surprised.

    ¡®They finally came!¡¯ Heloris clenched his fists.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As Phidias stepped into the city hall, he saw ten people in the room, none of whom he knew. After all, every time he came to Syracuse, Dionysius would treat him warmly in the pce on the ind of Ortygia, apanied by officials and servants all the time, treating him like the prince from the east. Hence he seldom went deep into Syracuse alone to experience the life there, except thest time when the Carthaginian army came close to the city wall.

    But just because he didn''t know anyone else didn''t mean they didn''t know him. His long-scarlet cloak, thick beard, aquiline nose, cunning and sharp eyes, and a cold and arrogant expression on his face¡­a Spartan Heloris was too familiar with, so he subconsciously eximed, ¡°Dionysius returned?!¡±

    As soon as Heloris'' eximed those words, it surprised not only Phidias but also the others.

    Although Phidias was taken aback, it didn''t show on his face. He then looked at the man standing in the middle of the crowd and asked, ¡°You are?¡±

    ¡°Heloris, the suprememander of Syracuse elected by the lesia!¡± Heloris said loudly and solemnly, ¡°O honourable envoy of Sparta, Phidias, did Dionysius send you?¡±

    ¡®He is Heloris?!¡¯ Phidias suppressed his curiosity and didn''t size him up. Instead, he snorted and said, ¡°What right does Dionysius have to instruct a Spartan? I was about to return to Sparta to report the war situation in Magna Graecia to the Gerousia. It was just convenient toe here while helping him call for reinforcements. However, I didn''t expect to see a group of criminals stirring up a mess in Syracuse!¡±

    ¡°We are not criminals; Dionysius is! We just took back the rights and freedoms that should belong to the people of Syracuse!¡± Philoxenus retorted loudly.

    ¡°Oh, freedom!¡± Phidias sneered with disdain, ¡°Dionysius led the army to finally stop the declining war situation. But instead of sending another 10,000 ¨C 20,000 reinforcements to reverse the war situation, youunched a rebellion that would cause tens of thousands of Syracusan citizens to lose aid and eventually perish in Magna Graecia!¡±

    Some of the strategoi turned slightly ashamed while others retorted loudly.

    ¡°Dionysius was the one who risked the lives of the Syracusan citizens by starting this war. If this war continues, all the Greeks of Sicily will be sacrificed for Dionysius'' ambition! With Apollo''s blessing, we have stopped the citizens from making unnecessary sacrifices for this war that doesn¡¯t concern us. In addition, we will negotiate with Theonia to save the trapped citizens in Magna Graecia!¡± Steisikos eximed.

    ¡°A war that doesn''t concern you?!¡± Phidias sneered, ¡°Theonia''s troops captured Taunis, which is closest to Syracuse and resulted in Syracuse already under the reach of Theonia''s spear. So does this still not concern you?!¡±

    ¡°That is the harmful result of Dionysius'' continuous aggression against others!¡± Philoxenus swung his right hand and said angrily.

    But Heloris interrupted his best friend and said, ¡°Envoy Phidias, these are all the internal affairs of Syracuse, which we will deal with. So just state your purpose ining here.¡±

    Phidias'' piercing gaze was like a knife stabbing him, ¡°Syracuse is Sparta''s ally! Thus it is naturally necessary for Sparta to care about Syracuse''s internal affairs to ensure its political stability and not harm Sparta''s interests. If necessary, we Spartans could also send troops to help restore the order of the chaotic Syracuse! That''s what I did four years ago, but today, I hope you can consider my proposal calmly! Sparta''s proposal!¡±

 Chapter 572: Heloris Proposal

    Phidias'' words, filled with threats, immediately making everyone tense.

    Steisikus asked cautiously, ¡°What is your proposal?¡±

    ¡°Stop your confrontation with Dionysius and sit down together and negotiate! Of course, Dionysius was too dictatorial, which made everyone in Syracuse dissatisfied, so I suggest that Dionysius should remove the position of suprememander and re-implement the ¡®Twenty Strategoi System*¡¯. For the time being during the war, he will be the polemarchos to avoid greater war losses due to the changing ofmander in the middle of the war.¡± (Syracuse has too many people and thus needs more strategoi to run the city-state''s matter. When Syracuse was running a democracy, they practised this system half the time.)

    Phidias'' proposal silenced the strategoi.

    But Heloris asked loudly, ¡°Is this your proposal or Dionysius?!¡±

    ¡°It''s the result of my negotiation with him.¡± Phidias lied without blinking an eye.

    Heloris then cautioned the others, ¡°As his friend for more than ten years¡­ Knowing him as I do, even if he agreed to these proposals of the Spartan envoy because of the current situation, who knows whether he will return to his authoritarian rule after the crisis is over and execute us who resist him today! We must not forget the painful lesson we learned five years ago!¡±

    At that reminder, everyone''s expression suddenly changed: Four years ago, after Dionysius defeated the Carthaginian army, he immediately arrested all the rebels¡¯ leaders on the charge of ¡®treason¡¯ and executed them without trial. He also confiscated their properties and captured the family members, turning them into ves¡­these atrocities frightened the Syracusans that they no longer dared to object to Dionysius'' actions. Thus for the next few years, everyone was obedient. So if Dionysius hadn''t led his army to a crushing defeat and left the city defenceless, and with Heloris and the others leading the way, how would the people dare rise again against Dionysius?!

    At the uncovering of this painful memory, the expressions of all the strategoi showed fear and anger.

    Phidias naturally doesn''t know this, but he pretends to solemnly say, ¡°I can pledge an oath in the name of Heracles and promise you-¡±

    ¡°Damn your Heracles! Screw your pledge!¡± Someone in the crowd cursed angrily. He rushed up near Phidias, pointed his finger at him and shouted angrily through his gritted teeth, ¡°So it''s you! It''s you! If it weren''t for your promises, my brother and the others wouldn''t have spared Dionysius, which resulted in their beheading, my sister-inw bing a ve and sent to who knows where, while his two children were stabbed to death by those wicked mercenaries and my parents-¡±

    Kias became angrier and angrier as he spoke. He stretched out his hands, wanting to grab Phidias'' clothes but was pushed by Phidias instead, causing Kias to fall to the ground.

    He tried to lunge at him again but was stopped by Steisikus, Tethytes and the others. So he could only curse angrily, ¡°Damned Spartan! You have killed my family, one day¡­one day, the goddess of vengeance will punish Sparta! And I hope I live to see the day when Sparta falls, and all the Spartans be ves!¡±

    Originally, Phidias didn''t care about Kias as he killed too many people in his life and would have long copsed if he cared about all these things. However, Kias'' final curse was too vicious that it angered him, ¡°Is this your attitude towards Sparta?!¡±

    ¡°Envoy Phidias.¡± Heloris looked at him gently as he tried to persuade him, ¡°Kias'' family was originally the earliest settlers of Syracuse and enjoyed a high reputation among the people. However, Dionysius killed his entire family and detained him in a stone prison where he might have died quietly if not for the sess of this revolt¡­so I hope you can understand his anger! And you can also see how Dionysius could easily tear up the oath he made in front of everyone four years ago and torment the people. Even though his words were sweet as honey to the people, the blood of their dead rtives sharpened them, and they will no longer believe in any of his promises! Thus Dionysius¡¯ fate would either be imprisoned and tried by us or flee Syracuse and never return! He has no other choice!!!¡±

    ¡°As long as we catch him, we will try him on the crime of treason, including his family, just as he did to us!¡± Kias said, gnashing his teeth.

    ¡°That''s right; we don''t ept peace. Dionysius and his men must be tried!¡± Philoxenus also spoke out his views, and the other strategoi agreed.

    Phidias looked at the excited strategoi in front of him with a gloomy expression as he coldly said, ¡°In that case, you will face Sparta-¡±

    ¡°Envoy Phidias!¡± Heloris interrupted him in time just as he was about to utter his threat, ¡°You had followed Dionysius in his battles in Magna Graecia; hence you are not yet aware of the recent war situation of Sparta in the Peloponnese. The Athenians and the Corinthians have joined forces and caused heavy losses to your Spartan League. In addition, the Athenians had even invaded Arcadia, and your king Agesus was reported to return to Sparta to raise a new army to defend against the anti-Spartan League¡­¡±

    Besides Sparta and Syracuse having close military contacts, Sparta also had to rely on Syracuse for trade, such as food. Moreover, Sparta often relied on Syracuse''s merchant ships throughout the Mediterranean to collect information for them, such as when the merchants trading in Asia Minor told Sparta in advance about the Persians handing over their fleet to the Athenian navarch Colon and attacking the Spartan fleet. Likewise, what happened in Sparta was often reported back to Syracuse in time by these merchants, which is why Heloris was better informed about the Peloponnesian war.

    Phidias was shocked that he could hardly keep his calm and arrogant face, ¡°What you said is true?!¡±

    ¡°The distance between Syracuse to Sparta isn¡¯t that far, and it would only take two days to go there by a fast-sailing boat. And once you are there, you will know whether it is true or not! We could also provide you with a ship.¡± Philoxenus'' words sounded gloatingly.

    Heloris hurriedly added, ¡°Envoy Phidias, Syracuse and Sparta have always been allies and should have helped each other. But ever since Dionysius became a tyrant, Sparta often provided more help due to his selfish desires, while Syracuse provided less help to you¡­ Now that we have the advantage over Dionysius, if Sparta continues to support Dionysius, I am afraid Syracuse¡¯s situation would take a long time to stabilise. But if Sparta chose to support us, we would be able to quickly restore Syracuse''s stability and prosperity, allowing us to continue maintaining the agreement and always provide assistance to Sparta!¡±

    Phidias became tempted at Heloris''st sentence, which was sincere and eloquent. He then looked at Heloris for a while and asked in a hesitant tone, ¡°What you said¡­the truth?¡±

    After Heloris and the other strategoi around him looked at each other, they faced him and solemnly said, ¡°This is what we decided after our deliberation. We can even renew our treaty with Sparta!¡±

    Phidias looked at the crowd, and the coldness in his eyes quickly disappeared.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Dionysius was looking forward to the return of Phidias on the ind of Ortygia, but what he received was bad news, ¡°The rebels refused to negotiate and must expel him out of Syracuse¡±. Although that was one of the worsts results Dionysius'' had thought of, he still couldn''t help but get angry.

    He wanted to continue learning about Syracuse''s situation and the rebel leaders from Phidias. However, Phidias wasn¡¯t in the mood as he immediately asked Dionysius to send him back to Sparta on a fast-sailing boat.

    Dionysius, who now needed to rely more on Sparta as an ally, could not refuse. However, he could feel a crisis from Phidias'' sudden change of attitude. And as someone who knows how to manipte people for his needs, he certainly knows that Syracuse''s situation at this time is very unfavourable to his side, so he can''t help but doubt, ¡®Would this arrogant Spartan abandon me and choose the rebels?¡¯

    When he thought of this, he could no longer sit still. Sparta was now deep in the war, so they could not necessarily be able to send an army to support him. However, Sparta''s prestige could still help him deter those bastards, stabilise the city''s situation faster and dispel the thoughts of the other city-states, but if Sparta abandoned him, he, who was already isted and helpless, would be pushed into the abyss¡­

    Thus as someone cornered in a desperate situation, Dionysius did not talk with his two wives and children about their partings in detail but shut himself in the pce alone as he thought hard about ways to get rid of his predicament. Soon, he called the mercenary leader Megakorlis and the chief of intelligence Hipparinus to discuss in secret.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Late at night, while the people in the main city of Syracuse fell asleep and the watchers on the newly-built city wall on the isthmus rxed their vignce because the ind of Ortygia remained calm for many days as they couldn''t resist sleepiness and fell asleep.

    Dionysius himself quietly led all the mercenaries out of Ortygia.

    After Heloris gathered the people to build a wall, they had no time to dig trenches and set obstacles and traps on the road, so the mercenaries managed to reach the bottom of the wall quietly. Thus by the time the watchers noticed the enemy invasion, the mercenaries had already climbed up the wall with their siegedders, quickly killed a few watchers and upied the wall.

 Chapter 573: Rescue

    Dionysius left two hundred men behind and immediately led an assault on the camp below the walls with over 1,800 mercenaries. But since most of the soldiers'' homes were not far from the main city area, they didn''t spend the night in the camp. On the other hand, the few remaining soldiers wore their armour in a hurry to meet the enemy after hearing the news of the attack. Because of that, the mercenaries easily breached the camp when they rushed fiercely, which resulted in the soldiers dispersing.

    Without even stopping, Dionysius quickly led the army to advance to the city''s centre.

    Then Hipparinus'' men took advantage of the night to shout in the city, ¡°Lord Dionysius has returned with his army! Lord Dionysius has returned with his army!! Those who surrender are innocent!! Those who capture the rebel leaders will get rewarded!¡­¡±

    In the central city area of Syracuse, which was shrouded in the dark sky: Residents were awakened by the shrill screams, harsh fighting on the streets, and the loud shouting of Hipparinus'' men, which shocked them all. And the ¡°Dionysius'' is back!¡± sentence made them feel afraid.

    While the residents were in amotion, Herolis, who was busy with city-state matters that he didn''t go homest and went to sleep in the city hall, was awakened by his trusted ves. After learning about the enemy''s attack, he was shocked.

    But after calming down, he wanted to go out immediately to organise the citizens to resist the enemy''s attack.

    Suddenly, several strategoi, such as Steisikus, Kias and Phalekus, rushed in, ¡°Herolis, go! Go! The enemy will soone! Our troops couldn¡¯t stop the enemy and fled!¡­¡±

    For a moment, Herolis'' mind nked as he muttered helplessly, ¡°Go¡­where else can we go?¡­¡±

    ¡°Go to Epipe! We still have more than 2,000 soldiers stationed in the north of the city and Tethytes'' men in the port area outside the city¡­after dawn, we will take back this ce!¡±

    At Kias'' reminder, Herolis and the others rushed to the Epipe northwest of the city without any time to pack up and inform their families.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After a night of ughter and chaos, they finally restore order in the central city of Syracuse.

    Even though Dionysius'' military campaign was sessful, he remained anxious as he couldn''t catch Herolis and the other rebels. Moreover, the soldiers defending the north of the city led by Kias repulsed the troops he sent to capture them.

    Afterwards, Herolis and the others learned that even though Dionysius had indeed returned, the people recognised the army he led to attack the city was the two thousand mercenaries on the ind of Ortygia. Hence it was evident that he failed to bring back his army from Magna Graecia, so they immediately asked for help from the port area.

    When Dionysius learned of the conflict between the rebels in the city and the port people from Hipparinus, he sent a messenger to the port early in the morning to tell Tethytes and the other port leaders that as long as the port people were on his side, he would forgive them. In addition, he would allocate 6,666 square metres ofnd on the outskirt to each port people after the rebellion calmed down¡­

    At the same time, he also asked Hipparinus to send his men around the port area to spread the word that they had reached an agreement with the port people.

    So even though the discussion with the port people did not make immediate progress, it still created a split in the port area.

    The people led by Tethytes believed that Dionysius wasn''t credible and that they should stand with Herolis and vanquish Dionysius to ensure their safety and benefits!

    On the other hand, the others believed that Dionysius had better conditions because thend he promised was twice that of Herolis and was also on the outskirts. Thus Dionysius valued them more!

    Both sides argued and couldn''t reach an agreement, so it was naturally impossible for them to provide reinforcements to Herolis and the others.

    Dionysius also banned residents from going out and walking both day and night in the city and must stay at home. If they need to buy food, they can only send ves and must get the approval of the patrol or get killed.

    Hence Dionysius'' ban resulted in the reduction of chaos.

    He also asked the mercenaries to take all the ves who dug stones in the quarry to the city''s square. Afterwards, he told them that as long as they were willing to fight for him, he would free them once he settled the revolt. And those who perform well can be citizens of Syracuse!¡­

    Dionysius'' bold promises gave hope to the ves of the quarries. And despite the tyrant''s dictatorial, these ves at the bottom couldn''t feel it. On the contrary, they knew Dionysius acted decisively and boldly that he gavends to many mercenaries and refugees that came to Syracuse over the years. Thus they chose to believe Dionysius'' words and took up arms as they scavenged the people''s homes, resulting in Dionysius'' army increasing from 1,800 mercenaries to over 7,000.

    Dionysius also sent someone to Herolis'' army to spread his new order as the suprememander that ¡®he would forgive any citizens deceived by Herolis and the others once they leave the traitors and return to their homes! But any citizens who remain in the rebel camps before noon will be regarded as traitors, and their families are to be executed immediately!¡¯

    Thus many soldiers were frightened after learning about it and fled the rebel camp and returned to their homes.

    With his measures being effective, the proud Dionysius sent a messenger to Herolis carrying the heads of Herolis¡¯ wife and son, whom he captured.

    Afterwards, he left Megakorlis to lead the 500 mercenaries and another 500 ve soldiers to guard the city while leading 1,300 mercenaries and more than 4,500 ve soldiers to advance to the rebel camp as he wanted to eliminate thempletely.

    Knowing that the situation was terrible, the grieving Herolis, Steisikus and Kias decided to fight Dionysius to the death. They then led one thousand soldiers to retreat to the gate on the north wall of Syracuse, with the coast to their back.

    In the first revolt ten years ago(405 BC), Dionysius quelled the revolt when he led the mercenaries to upy the central city. Ten yearster, the urban area of Syracuse expanded several times under his rule, resulting in Syracuse''s urban area assimting the entire Epipe teau. However, it now caused Dionysius'' army to take over an hour of precious time to reach the northern gate, so it was already noon by the time they arrived.

    Herolis tried to ask to speak to Dionysius, but Dionysius instead ordered his troops to immediately start the attack as he simply didn''t want to waste time talking to him.

    With Herolis'' soldiers lesser than the enemy and their morale unstable, the soldiers on the other side could still overwhelm the rebel soldiers even though most of them were ves.

    But suddenly, a loud salpinx outside the northern gate rang out, followed by a deafening roar, ¡°Hades!!!¡± which significantly caused Dionysius'' expression to change.

    ¡®The Theonian-Catanian joint forces had arrived!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Herolis and the others fled to Epipe and learned that Dionysius led the attack, Herolis felt there was little hope of regaining the city and eliminating the mercenaries. And knowing the tyrant of Syracuse too well: Dionysius wouldn''t take a risk without thorough preparation!

    So after a discussion, Herolis and Steisikus finally decided to drop their pride and ask the Theonians for help.

    With their current position closest to Taunis, the envoy they sent out arrived at the city that now belongs to the Theonian Alliance in the early morning. After hearing the news, Flios, the acting navarch of Seclian''s fleet stationed in the port, immediately sent a fast-sailing boat to Catania first, then led the fleet to arriveter.

    At the same time as Antrapolis, the temporary Praetor of Catania, received a message from Herolis asking for help, he also received a letter from Davos, who was in Scylletium, ¡®Dionysius had fled back to Syracuse, so keep a close eye on the movements within Syracuse and make sure that Dionysius won''t regain control of Syracuse!¡¯

    So after a short discussion with Antonios, the legatus of the first legion, Antrapolis immediately decided to send troops to rescue Herolis.

    The first legion sent 2,500 heavy infantry and 500 light infantry, while Catania sent 3,000 heavy infantry. In fact, as soon as they heard that they were going to attack Dionysius, the people of New Catania volunteered in great numbers wanting to participate. But as the time was short, Antrapolis could only enlist citizens from within the city of Catania.

    Thus a total of 6,000 soldiers, led by Antonios, boarded Seclian''s fleet and arrived at the port of Taunis by noon.

    Although lunchtime was a customary part of Theonian''s lifestyle, Antonios didn''t let the soldiers stop to have a rest. Instead, he urged the army to speed up after gathering 500 soldiers provided by Taunis and arrived at the northern gate just after Herolis'' army copsed.

    These past few days, the soldiers of the first legion''s life were fairly easy while stationed in Catania. Besides resting, they also help Antrapolis stabilise the Catanian in, training the citizens of Catania, clearing out the defeated soldiers roaming around, assisting the Sicilian city-states of Catania, Leontinoi and Sikuri, which have newly joined the Theonia Alliance, attacking the remnants of Dionysius¡­and so on. And finally, they could now vent the energy they had umted by striking hard at Dionysius¡¯ army, which had just won and was pursuing the defeated soldiers. On the other hand, the ve soldiers, who had no special military training, quickly scattered under the fierce group attack of the soldiers of the first legion.

 Chapter 574: Agesilaus Hopeful Wish

    Dionysius'' heart turned cold when he saw the enemy in ck helmets and armours rushing up. Seeing that the situation turned worse, he immediately sounded the retreat.

    But instead of ordering the soldiers to pursue, Antonios told them to rest on the spot as he considered the soldiers hadn''t recovered their strength from marching here.

    After escaping a catastrophe, Herolis had mixed feelings as he watched the Theonian soldiers take off their armour, eat their rations and rest on Syracuse''snd.

    Yet no matter what he thought, he could only show a smiling face as he gratefully said to Antonios, ¡°Thank Apollo! Thank you, Theonians, for your timely assistance! Without you, it would be a small matter for us to sacrifice our lives. But the vicious Dionysius would reupy Syracuse and be a disaster for the people of Syracuse and Theonia, which are fighting against Dionysius!¡±

    Instead of fussing about the implication of Herolis'' words, Antonios seriously replied, ¡°Dionysius is the cause of war, and the peace-loving people of Theonia and Syracuse naturally don''t want him to hold power and continue waging wars. Thus, I have brought my troops here for one purpose: to expel him from Syracuse. For that, we will follow your opinions on what to do next.¡±

    Antonios'' restraint relieved Herolis and the others, so Herolis'' response became more straightforward, ¡°Strategos, I hope you can lead your troops and help us recapture the city''s centre upied by Dionysius.¡±

    After agreeing to Herolis'' request and letting the soldiers rest for a while, Antonios immediately set out to the southeast.

    But by this time, Dionysius had already led the mercenaries back to the ind of Ortygia. In fact, after seeing the legion soldiers appearing in Syracuse, he knew that his army couldn''t resist them.

    With the unexpected reinforcements of the Theonians, Dionysius began to regret wasting valuable time by organising the ve soldiers and dividing Herolis'' forces out of caution after learning that Herolis and the others defeated his pursuit troops in the Epipe. Instead, he should have immediately led all the mercenaries to Epipe andpletely wiped out Herolis and the others, upied the northern wall of Syracuse and blocked the path of the Theonians to the south!

    But now, it was toote for Dionysius to regret as his cautious character had led to his ultimate failure, with remorse filling his heart as his imminent victory turned to nothing in a blink of an eye.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Antonios quickly led his troops forward, he soon realised the vastness of the city of Syracuse. Naturally, Dionysius'' dispatch of a massive number of citizens, sailors and auxiliary personnel to his expedition to Magna Graecia resulted in theck of poption.

    It took the Theonians nearly an hour to arrive in the city''s central area. However, once the mercenaries who wereshing and plundering the people saw their arrival, they hurriedly fled to the ind of Ortygia.

    Afterwards, Herolis and the others, who arrivedter, howled as the entire square was covered with corpses and wounded people, mostly families of the rebels and the people who supported them the most.

    On the other hand, Antonios continued to lead his army towards the isthmus of the ind of Ortygia, where he saw the towering fortress and the tall and solid wall behind it. But to prevent too many casualties, Antonios decided to give up the attack and retreated behind the new wall.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The same mncholy also covered Sparta.

    Sparta has been fighting on two fronts. While Achilleidas led the allied armies and mercenaries in Asia Minor fighting the Persians, the battle in the isthmus of Corinth in the Peloponnese continued. Even though the main force of the war was either their allies'' army or mercenaries, Sparta itself suffered many casualties among its citizens.

    The Gerousia even needed to order the citizens over the age of fifty to put on armour, take up shields and spears and serve as patrols in Sparta to stop the Helots'' unusual actions. They even decided to hold an early ¡®hunting game¡¯ (a nned killing of Helots to reduce their poption, ensuring the safety of Sparta''s territory.)

    With the shadow of war shrouding Sparta, the people were in high tension.

    At this moment, Phidias went to meet Agesus at the king''s residence after returning to Sparta.

    Now, the Spartan king had made a great name for himself in Asia Minor, Central Greece and the Isthmus of Corinth, earning the respect of the Spartan citizens. Some even began calling him ¡®Sparta''s hero after Lysander¡¯.

    However, the wooden chairs they sat in were close to each other, which just showed that Agesus attached importance to Phidias. Although there was no banquet of fruits and drinks (in Syracuse, Phidias often enjoyed such treatment), Phidias felt morefortable in such a simple environment.

    After Phidias finished narrating the entire War of Magna Graecia from a neutral perspective, he picked up the crude y jar beside him, which contained cool river water. He then took arge sip, which immediately moistened his dry throat.

    As he recalled Phidias'' story, Agesus imagined the battle after battle waged by thousands of soldiers on both sides of thend of Magna Graecia. He then sighed and said, ¡°I didn''t expect that the massive war in Magna Graecia would soone to an end in less than half a year. Yet the result waspletely beyond our expectations!¡±

    ¡°Yes, no one thought that the weak Theonia would be the ultimate victor!¡± Phidias alsomented. After all, the Syracusan army was unstoppable since the time theynded in Magna Graecia. At that time, the Gerousia were even worried that Syracuse would win too easily, including himself. But who knew the result would be the opposite, resulting in many Spartans'' jaws to drop.

    ¡°In your judgment, do you think it is still possible for Syracuse to reverse the situation?¡± Agesus asked again with hope in his heart. After all, Syracuse was Sparta''s ally for many years, and its defeat would mean wasting Sparta''s western Mediterranean strategy, which might lead to aplete change in Sparta''s foreign strategy. Thus, for this reason, Agesus had to be cautious.

    ¡°It''s basically impossible.¡± Phidias answered immediately. After hesitating, he said, ¡°Unless¡­the gods bless them and cause a gue to spread on the Theonian army¡­¡±

    In the years after Dionysius became a tyrant, Carthage invaded close to Syracuse twice*(the first time wasn''t long after Dionysius became the suprememander, about 406 BC). But both times, the Carthaginians caught a gue that resulted in their defeat. Hence from an outsider¡¯s perspective, it seemed Dionysius had divine protection, but in fact, Syracuse''s port area was near arge number of swamps near the Anapo river. So every time the Carthaginians camped there, countless mosquitoes would find many hosts to spread the bacteria.

    But for the Theonian army, the likelihood of gue happening is extremely low because the Theonian Military Law requires the army to not camp near mosquitoes'' breeding grounds. And after a battle, they would cremate and bury the bodies of both enemies and allies. Moreover, the soldiers would boil the water they would drink, and the logistics camp would carry lime (from Thurii''s quarry) which they would sprinkle on unclean areas in and around the camp¡­

    Davos, who came from the future, certainly knew the cause of the gue, so he took many measures to minimise the possibility of it happening.

    Although Agesus naturally doesn¡¯t know it, he would never ce his hopes on the ¡®unpredictability of the gods¡¯ as a qualifiedmander. Thus Phidias'' words basically concluded the oue of the war on Magna Graecia.

    With a serious expression, Agesus tapped his left leg a few times with his left hand and asked, ¡°Do you think Dionysius can defeat those rebels and take back Syracuse?¡±

    ¡°It would be hard!¡± Despite spending months with Dionysius and meeting the rebels only once, Phidias said, ¡°Dionysius has lost his powerful and loyal mercenary force, hisrge navy, and has deserted his army. And apart from the people of Syracuse turning their backs on him, most of Syracuse''s allies also abandoned him. Moreover, the Theonians stationed their armies in the city-states around Syracuse. So now, Dionysius was isted and surrounded by enemies unless we send reinforcements to support him!¡±

    ¡°Sparta has no reinforcements to send.¡± Agesus said without mincing his words. While Phidias already expected that.

    ¡°Unfortunately, we have supported Dionysius for many years, yet the result¡­¡± Agesus sighed as his face showed a trace of regret.

    ¡°We can instead support the Syracusan rebels. Their leaders even promised me that they were willing to continue allying with Sparta and send reinforcements to us once the war in Magna Graecia ends and help us defeat those who resist Sparta.¡±

    Unfortunately, Phidias'' words didn''t make Agesus happy. Instead, he said, ¡°For us, that would be thest resort. However¡­ I am afraid this new Syracusan government would implement a democratic system.¡±

    Phidias then thought about the almost ¡®ten strategoi¡¯ he had seen in Syracuse''s city hall. He nodded and said, ¡°That should be.¡±

    ¡°Democratic government has great uncertainty. Those with schemes could easily incite the ignorants to suddenly force the leadership of Syracuse to tear up the agreement with us¡­hence why the Gerousia was willing to cooperate with Dionysius, who is a tyrant.¡± Agesus expressed his concern.

 Chapter 575: Marching into Scylletium

    ¡°Why don''t we support another one¡­¡± Suggested Phidias.

    Agesus'' eyes brightened. However, he thought of something, raised his head and smiled at Phidias self-deprecatingly, ¡°It''s no longer up to us, Sparta, to decide whether to support Dionysius or the Syracusan rebels.¡±

    It took Phidias aback, and he subconsciously asked, ¡°So who would decide?¡± Then he understood.

    Agesus looked at him seriously and said, ¡°With Theonia defeating Syracuse and Syracuse suffering a disastrous defeat, Theonia has now be the dominant force of Magna Graecia and eastern Sicily¡­

    And just as you said, Theonia has a massive army of at least 50,000, and its military organisation that forms this army, which they call the ¡®Legion¡¯, has a strong fighting capability. Moreover, they also had a huge fleet that could defeat Syracuse''s navy, so how could I not worry about the rise of such a powerful force behind Sparta?!

    Apart from that, when Cheirisophus visited Thurii earlier, the new king of Theonia was quite dissatisfied with our assistance to Syracuse''s invasion of Magna Graecia! What if after finishing their war with Syracuse, Theonia, which is hostile to Sparta¡­joins in the war in Corinth, for us Sparta¡­¡±

    Even though Agesus didn''t finish his words, Phidias could sense the Spartan king''s hidden fear of Theonia from his eyes that had lost their sharpness. After all, Sparta, hampered by the war in Asia Minor and Corinth, could not stop tens of thousands of troops fromnding on the coast of Sparta under the leadership of a powerful fleet.

    But Phidias'' mind jolted as he hurriedly said,

    ¡°When the Theonians besieged Syracuse''s army in Scylletium, I went to meet the Theonian King Davos. And he implicitly said that as long as Sparta isn''t an enemy of Theonia, Theonia has no intention of being Sparta''s enemy.¡±

    ¡°Really?! Tell me about your meeting in detail!¡± Agesus became excited.

    After listening to Phidias'' narration, Agesus pondered for a long time and sighed, ¡°I am afraid that Theonia wants to be the second Syracuse, but a Syracuse that is not bound by Sparta, which makes it difficult for us¡­Phidias, did you know that Taranto sent a messenger to Sparta yesterday, hoping to get our help because Theonia was nning to integrate Taranto.¡±

    ¡°What?! Theonia wants to annex Taranto? We must not allow it! Taranto is our colony!!!¡± Phidias was startled that he objected without hesitation.

    ¡°The young new king of Theonia has great ambition. Unfortunately, there is no Greek city-state that could stop him!¡± Agesus helplessly said as he pondered again.

    Agesus then made up his mind; with one hand on his left leg and another hand on the wooden table, he said to Phidias, ¡°Now, we must first stop Theonia from further suppressing and even upying Syracuse and its allies! Tomorrow, I will propose at the Gerousia¡­that due to Dionysius losing control of Syracuse, we can only temporarily support the rebels first and quickly restore Syracuse''s strength to counter Theonia in the western Mediterranean. Thus once the timees, you will go to Syracuse as Sparta''s envoy to solve its civil unrest as soon as possible!¡±

    ¡°I understand!¡± Phidias nodded immediately.

    ¡°What''s more, since the new king of Theonia expresses no hostility to us, we will send Cheirisophus to Magna Graecia again to discuss with him, hoping to make an agreement that would bind Theonia and reassure us!¡±

    After hearing Agesus, Phidias felt a slight unease and wanted to remind him. However, he didn''t even know where to start.

    But Agesus didn''t notice Phidias'' expression as he was still immersed in his thoughts, ¡°¡­s, our war with Persia¡­Corinth, Thebes, Athens, and Argos had gone too long! If this continues, Sparta would only weaken and reduce our prestige in the Greek world. Instead, it would only benefit forces like Theonia! We must do something to end this pointlessly long war!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the siege failed, Hielos learned from his experience, rebuilt the siege weapons and drafted a siege n.

    Two dayster, Hielos attacked Medma again and fought a fierce battle until they breached the city by the afternoon, allowing the Theonian-Rhegium allied troops to capture Medma.

    Following Davos'' order, Hielos decisively turned all the captured Medmaeans into ves and sent them back to Thurii with the soldiers.

    Hielos¡¯ act of killing the chicken to scare the monkey* shocked Locri and Taranto, especially Locri. After all, the fall of Medma means that there is nothing blocking the Theonian army from entering Locri''s territory through the mountain path, making Locri face both Theonia and Caulonia. (Note: É±¼¦ÙÓºï is an old Chinese idiom that refers to punishing one person to warn others.)

    But what worried Locri even more was that after understanding the battle situation in the north, they sadly found that the Syracusan army had a hard time protecting themselves, let alone saving Locri!

    So under the coercion of most council members, the polemarchos Demodokas had decided to betray his brother-inw and send envoys to Scylletium to seek peace with Theonia.

    Yet now that Davos had the absolute advantage, how could he easily spare Locri? Thus he put forward two conditions: First, they must expel Demodokas and his subordinates; Second, Locri must be integrated into the Theonia Union.

    When the Locrians received the reply, the people went into an uproar.

    But Davos didn''t even care about Locri, who had been stirred up by his words, as he was about to ept the Syracusan army¡¯s surrender in the city of Scylletium.

    At first, Phacipessas sent an envoy to Theonia''s camp to seek a truce.

    However, Davos tly refused. Instead, he decisively proposed to the envoy: Only by unconditionally surrendering will Theonia guarantee the lives of the Syracusan army in the city of Scylletium!

    He also promised they would send them safely back to their hometown in no more than three months. However, it does not include the mercenaries who killed countless Theonians!

    At the same time, Davos also took the initiative to tell the envoy about the current situation in eastern Sicily. Moreover, he even showed him letters from Catania, Sikuri, Leontinoi, and other city-states asking toe under Theonia.

    The envoy was so shocked that he returned to Scylletium in despair.

    But as soon as he entered the city, the impatient soldiers stopped him to ask about the negotiation.

    In the face of the soldiers surrounding him, the envoy could only tell the truth of the negotiation.

    The soldiers had never imagined a revolt happening in their hometown while they had gone thousands of kilometres away to fight. It was no wonder Dionysius decided to leave them and flee back to Sicily alone!

    Unlike the Syracusan strategoi who stayed behind, such as Phacipessas, who were sceptical about the news brought back by the envoy, the soldiers werepletely panicking. Then they gathered again in front of themander''s residence and began shouting, ¡°Agree to the Theonians'' demand so that we can go home¡± slogan, and even wounding several guards as they forcibly tried to enter the residence, which frightened Phacipessas and the others.

    On the other hand, the Numidian cavalries, who learned the Theonians wouldn''t let them go, tried to escape Scylletium to survive by suddenlyunching an attack on the defenceless Syracusan soldiers.

    At the same time, Leptines, who was aware of the situation, led more than 20 ships willing to follow him and left the port but was intercepted by the Theonians, who were prepared in advance.

    After a chase at sea, only seven ships escaped while the rest were either captured or sunk, including Leptines'' ship. The Theonian sailors then rescued Leptines from the sea and turned him into a prisoner.

    On this day, a scene of chaos andmotion happened in the city of Scylletium.

    Outside the city, Theonia''s cavalry was 100 metres away from the city when they heard sounds of fighting and screaming in the city.

    So they immediately reported back to Davos.

    However, Davos didn''t do anything, and the unrest in the citysted for a day.

    On the following day, the gates of Scylletium opened wide. Phacipessas and the other strategoi led the soldiers, who took off their armour and threw away their arms, as well as more than 30,000 freemen and ves, to surrender to Theonia. In addition, they also presented the heads of several hundred Numidians who had created chaos in the city yesterday but were eventually surrounded and killed.

    As a result, the whole Theonian camp thundered with joy. After several months of bloody and brutal battle, they finally defeated the invading Syracusan army!

    Davos then ordered the imprisonment of these tens of thousands of prisoners while leading the army into the city. Afterwards, he arranged for the people to start cleaning and repairing this city that the Syracusan army ruined.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Philoxenus, the Syracusan rebel''s envoy, originally nned tond in Crotone and then rush to the Theonian camp. Unexpectedly, a Theonian fleet intercepted him on the sea near Scylletium.

    He was shocked when he heard the entire Syracusan army had surrendered to Theonia. What''s more, he originally nned to negotiate with Theonia about persuading the Syracusan army as a bargaining chip, but it was now useless.

    Feeling a sense of uneasiness, hended at the port and soon met Davos.

    Davos once heard of Sicily''s famous poet from Ansitanos. However, as Davos doesn''t have the talent for poetry, he bluntly said to Philoxenus, who wanted him to give back the Syracusan captives, ¡°Theonia and Syracuse are currently at war, so it is impossible for Theonia to release them at this time as they could take up shield and spears to fight Theonia again after they are returned!¡±

 Chapter 576: End of the War in Magna Graecia

    Philoxenus then said that Syracuse was willing to sign a peace agreement with Theonia.

    While the prepared Davos simply said, ¡°For Syracuse to sign a peace agreement with Theonia, you must agree to the following conditions.

    First, Syracuse was the one who started this war, which caused severe damage to Theonia and Magna Graecia. Hence Syracuse mustpensate Theonia two thousand talents for the reconstruction of Theonia and the other city-states of Magna Graecia.

    Second, as the invaders of this war, every Syracusans captured by the Theonian army had their hands soaked with the blood of the Magna Graecians. Thus Theonia could not easily release them, so they must pay a ransom, and the identity of the prisoners would determine the ransom.

    Third, Syracuse must abolish the Sicilian League.

    Fourth, Syracuse must recognise that Taunis, Leontinoi, Catania, Sikuri, Naxos and Tauromenium joined the Theonia Alliance and must not infringe the interests of these city-states.

    Fifth, Messina¡­¡±

    Even though these harsh conditions had angered the eloquent and outspoken Philoxenus, Davos'' following words made him suppress the impulse to leave immediately, ¡°If you don''t want to ept these conditions, Dionysius can talk to Theonia.¡±

    That was what Herolis and the others feared the most. Hence to prevent Dionysius, who was already down at the bottom, from recovering, Philoxenus had to negotiate with the Theonian officials led by Ansitanos, who were under Davos.

    The following day, the news of ¡®Dionysius almost seeding in his raid on Syracuse if not for the help of the Theonian army¡¯ was transmitted back to Scylletium. Once Philoxenus learned about it, he realised the danger Herolis and others faced, so he sped up the negotiation process.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time, when the Locrians learned about the Syracusan army surrendering to Theonia, they immediately panicked.

    On the other hand, Hielos led 10,000 soldiers to covertly marched from the west to the east, quickly passing through the mountain path to approach Locri. He then used a dozen ballistae to smash Locri''s temporary defensive camp at the exit of the mountain pass, defeat part of the Locrian army with a swift attack and invade Locri''s territory.

    After getting the terrible news, the Locrians panicked even more.

    At this time, numerous rumours spread in Locri, such as ¡°Davos'' main force has gone sought and will reach Locri in a day!¡±¡­ and so on, which resulted in themoners, nobles and politicians in Locri being unable to keep their calm.

    Seeing the situation worsen, Demodokas and his close friends ran to the port with their families, trying to escape from Magna Graecia by ship.

    However, their political opponents, whom Demodokas suppressed, took the opportunity to incite the public, iming that only by capturing Demodokas and his men and presenting them to Theonia could they alleviate Theonia''s anger toward Locri¡­

    Thus the docile Locrians who strictly abide by the city-state''swsunched an attack on Demodokas and the others.

    Soon, blood stained the seawater of Locri''s port. Demodokas and some strategoi, council members and their families, including more than 200 elderly, women and children, fall into a pool of blood, with none managing to survive.

    The brutality of the meek Locrians in their anger rmed Demodokas'' political enemies, and they began worrying for themselves. Thus, to not follow Demodokas and the other''s footsteps, the Council of Locri finally agreed to Theonia''s harsh terms and sent an envoy out of the city to approach Hielos.

    Henceforth, the war in Magna Graecia had ended, and Theonia had conquered all the hostile Greek city-states except Taranto.

    When the Tarantine learned about the Syracusan army''s surrender to Theonia, they were already cowering in the city as the Messapi-Peuceti army surrounded them. And the only reason they can still know about what''s happening outside is that the sea route wasn¡¯t blocked, which was due to Theonia.

    Due to the Theonian fleet firmly preventing the Messapi-Peucetibined fleet from entering the Gulf of Taranto, the Messapians Peucetians didn''t dare to provoke Theonia at this moment. Therefore, they ordered the fleet to retreat, preserving the sea route to the outside and ess to supplies for Taranto.

    With Theonia imprisoning numerous Tarantine citizens, Taranto could only rely on the old and sick to resist the invasion of the Messapi-Peuceti army. Even though Taranto was in such a dangerous situation, the Tarantines were still struggling and unwilling to agree to Theonia¡¯s demand for them to be a ¡®free city¡¯ of Theonia Union. Because apart from their pride as a former powerhouse, the Tarantines were still expecting Sparta to make the greedy Theonians give up their attempt to annex Taranto and have them release their loved ones to save the vulnerable Taranto.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the start of March, the Spartan envoy Cheirisophus'' ship sailed straight across the edge of the Gulf of Taranto, bypassed the Cape of Crotone and entered the port of Scylletium.

    Davos stayed in Scylletium for more than ten days because he had too many matters to attend to from morning to night every day.

    The first is the negotiation with the Syracusan rebels. Although the negotiation didn''t specifically involve Davos, he still needed to pay attention to the process and control the general direction.

    In the end, they reached a peace agreement. Besides the changes in the amount of war reparations, the price of ransom for the captives, and some minor addition and discarding, the agreement basically fulfilled Davos'' attempts to weaken Syracuse, reduce its influence in Sicily and safeguard Theonia''s interests in the eastern Sicily.

    Philoxenus wanted to be able to send back the Syracusan soldiers immediately to defend the empty city of Syracuse. At the same time, Davos also wanted to send away the newly surrendered prisoners as soon as possible. Otherwise, with so many people remaining in Magna Graecia, it would only make them consume more food and the need to send arge number of troops to watch them.

    However, both sides still have disagreements on two issues:

    The first was the thousands of mercenaries among the captives that surrendered in Scylletium.

    Philoxenus believed that they were all the loyal dogs of Dionysius, so they were the targets of Herolis and the others to remove. So to prevent idents, he didn''t want them to return.

    Davos, however, said that he had made a promise before the Syracusan army surrendered and was unwilling to break his words. Furthermore, Davos didn''t want them to leave these mercenaries who had followed Dionysius for a long time and were used to burning, killing and looting like bandits. So even though Theonia, whose territory was rapidly expanding and was in urgent need of poption to fill, he was afraid to leave these mercenaries, which would corrupt Theonia''s pleasant atmosphere. Moreover, with the fierce war raging in Asia Minor and Peloponnese, Greek exiles woulde from everywhere, so Theonia wouldn''tck Greek refugees who wanted to obtainnd and live in peace.

    Therefore, he threatened Philoxenus that he would take responsibility for returning these mercenaries even if they didn''t agree.

    Philoxenus was worried that the Theonians'' insistence would increase the variables to Herolis and the others, who had already taken control of Syracuse. Thus he could only agree to pay ransom for these former mercenary citizens and mercenaries but demanded Theonia that they must follow his orders in transporting them.

    Davos only cared about if they could fulfil their promises, so he wasn¡¯t concerned about whether these prisoners returned to Syracuse to be ves or get executed.

    The second disagreement is that Philoxenus wants Theonia to also release the Syracusans captured in the previous battle.

    But Davos rejected it and bluntly said, ¡°The war has seriously damaged the Theonians'' home and sharply reduced its poption¡­thus Theonia needs these captives asbourers to help the people rebuild their home. It will only be a yearter can we consider the possibility of releasing them.¡±

    In fact, even though that was one of the reasons, Davos didn''t say the most important reason. Davos was afraid that Syracuse''s strength would quickly recover if they released all the captives at once, which might give the newly appointed Syracusan officials other thoughts. But with these hostages in hand, Theonia could more confidently and gradually stabilise its rule in Magna Graecia and eastern Sicily within a year.

    After several unsessful disputes, Philoxenus finally managed to add a use to the agreement that during this year, they must guarantee the health and safety of the prisoners.

    Of course, the content of the dispute between the two sides doesn''t include the thousands of Syracusan captives Theonia sold to Carthage, most of whom were Syracusan citizens, not the port people who served as sailors.

    During the negotiation with the Syracusan envoy, Davos also continued to meet with the people from Locri and Hipponion, telling them about the benefits of joining the Theonia Union and resolving their anxiety. At the same time, he was also observing the visitors and gathering information for the future statesman to elect to the Senate from these two ces.

    Besides those, Davos was discussing with the Senate through letters about the management of the newly upied territories and the Praetor candidates of Medma and Scylletium.

    At the same time, he also discussed with Rhegium''s polemarchos and his father-inw, Athelycus, the joint dispatch of troops to Messina through letters.

    Even though Davos¡¯ clerk Henipolis assists him in writing letters and copying documents daily, Davos still doesn¡¯t have free time to rest.

    At this time, Cheirisophus'' ship arrived at the port of Scylletium.

    Cherisophus was surprised by the bustling port, especially when he saw every pier filled with Theonian soldiers escorting Syracusans in thin clothing and empty hands to board a passenger ship. After the passenger ship was loaded, they carefully sailed away from the port and headed south while getting escorted by Theonian warships¡­

    After seeing this sight, Cherisophus realised that the war in Magna Graecia had ended!

 Chapter 577: Confrontation with Spartas Envoy (I)

    He remembered that Theonia was still in danger under the threat of Dionysius'' army on hisst mission to Thurii. Yet just after a few months, he didn¡¯t expect the Syracusan soldiers would need Theonia''s approval for them to return home alive¡­everything happened so fast that it was like a dream.

    After bracing himself, Cheirisophus walked into the city.

    In this war, only a few Scylletians remained as they either got killed or sold as ves. But now, the city was quite popted, not only by the soldiers of the second, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh legions but also by the troops led by Hielos and Hieronymus that had just returned after their conquest of Locri and its allies.

    Now that they sent back the captive Syracusans, Theonia''s legion should also have disbanded and returned home in batches to alleviate the pressure of the logistics supply and the union''sbour shortages. However, since the war in Magna Graecia had just ended and the hearts of the people from the city-states that had just surrendered were not yet obedient, Davos was afraid of problems arising. Thus he concentrated his troops in Scylletium to deter those with evil intentions and to smoothly implement a series of governing ns for Magna Graecia that Theonia would subsequently implement.

    Besides them was a special group of nearly a thousand engineers and craftsmen in the Syracusan army, who Davos had been yearning for a long time. Thus as soon as the Syracusan army surrendered, he ordered their protection and didn''t even hesitate to break his promise to Philoxenus by not counting these people as part of the captives he would release. In addition, he also forced Philoxenus to agree to his demands for the Theonian fleet to bring back the families of the engineers and craftsmen.

    Davos also made various promises to these people, such as citizenship,nd, a good research environment, etc. Only after promising all of those did he finally manage to ¡®retain¡¯ these people.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Theonian soldiers wandered and chatted in the streets in groups of twos and threes with a rtively rxed expression. Hence even when they saw Cheirisophus, they just looked at him curiously for a moment, neither going up to the patrol captain, who was leading them, to ask questions nor showing the slightest respect. It''s as if they were just seeing an ordinary person despite his distinctive appearance that is unique to Sparta in all of Greece: Scarlet cloak, long hair, thick beard.

    Compared to when Cheirisophus went to Thurii a few months ago, the Theonians were much more rxed now.

    It made Cheirisophus think that it might be because they had defeated the powerful Syracuse, turning Theonia into the Greek hegemon of the western Mediterranean, so there were no more Greek city-states to make them afraid¡­

    Thinking of this, Cheirisophus felt that this was the point why Sparta''s Gerousia was so eager to send him to Theonia again, which made him feel he had a great responsibility.

    The Theonian soldiers began gathering in the arena to participate in or watch the rugby match organised by the senior officers, resulting in the venue''s noise spreading several blocks away. However, even though Cheirisophus was curious, he didn''t have the time to watch.

    Soon, he was taken to the city hall but was informed that King Davos was meeting with a visitor, so they asked him to wait in the waiting room.

    Cheirisophus had to wait for more than ten minutes, and if it were other Spartan envoys, they would have gotten angry and would think it was an insult to Sparta. And the reason Cheirisophus could restrain himself was that he saw those visitors, which showed that the Theonians were not lying and were not deliberately making trouble. However, they also did not regard the Spartan envoy as the most important like other Greek city-states. In that regard, Cheirisophus can only endure, after all, this is not Greece, not Ionia, not Asia Minor, but Magna Graecia, where Sparta had weak influence, and Theonia, who was never afraid of Sparta!

    ¡°Cheirisophus, it''s nice to see you again!¡± Upon meeting him, Davos showed his enthusiasm and then made a point by saying, ¡°I apologise for keeping you waiting just now. Several strategoi from Caulonia came earlier, which had taken me some time.¡±

    ¡®Caulonia?!¡¯ Cheirisophus'' heart jolted: Caulonia was a city-state of the South Italian Alliance, which first betrayed Theonia and joined Syracuse and then returned to Theonia again after Syracuse was defeated¡­

    After Theonia almost conquered Magna Graecia, Cheirisophus could imagine why this shameless city-state sent envoys here for. So after calming down, he said, ¡°Davos, congrattions on defeating Dionysius and winning this war!¡±

    ¡°Did Sparta send you to congratte me?¡± Davos, with a smile on his face, went straight to the subject.

    ¡°King Davos, You have defeated Syracuse, an ally of Sparta. But you had sent troops to Sicily to upy some Greek city-states¡­so the Gerousia was concerned about the aggression shown by Theonia, so they sent me to¡­understand if Theonia would be hostile to Sparta?!¡± Cheirisophus gazed at Davos and spoke hisst words in a deep tone.

    Cheirisophus'' words made Davos serious as he said, ¡°I had already told Phidias, who assisted Dionysius in his invasion of my Magna Graecia, that as long as Sparta has no ill will toward Theonia, Theonia wouldn''t be hostile toward Sparta. Besides, I have no interest in thends across the Adriatic Sea.¡±

    ¡°Sparta certainly has no hostility towards Theonia!¡± Cheirisophus immediately dered with seriousness, ¡°Sparta only helped Syracuse because we had an alliance with Dionysius, an alliance made back when there was no Theonia Union in Magna Graecia. Thus we had to act in ordance with the oath we made under Heracles, but this will not happen again from now on!¡±

    After noticing something from Cheirisophus¡¯ words, Davos raised his eyebrows as he asked, ¡°Sparta gave up Dionysius?¡±

    Cheirisophus, however, didn''t directly reply to it. Instead, he suggested, ¡°Davos, since neither of us is hostile, do you think that both city-states could sign an agreement to prevent Sparta and Theonia, the two powerful city-states and the city-state union, from going into war because of some meaningless frictions and conflicts?!¡±

    Henipolis, who would rarely interrupt Davos when receiving a guest, looked at Cheirisophus and then at Davos while showing an excited expression, ¡®Could it be that Sparta recognised Theonia as an equal, so they took the initiative to seek a peace agreement from Theonia?!!¡¯

    Davos, on the other hand, remained calm as he didn''t consider this so-called honour at all. Instead, he asked, ¡°What kind of agreement?¡±

    As it was always the other Greek city-states that would beg Sparta for agreements and treaties, the Spartan Gerousia would put forward harsh conditions ording to the situation to obtain benefits for Sparta. Thus Cheirisophus felt unfamiliar with taking the initiative to seek a treaty and having to show their cards first. But Sparta''s terrible situation now forced them to bow their heads, so even though he felt stifled in his heart, he still had to show a friendly expression on his face, ¡°Sparta hopes to sign a long-term peace agreement with Theonia to maintain peace on both sides, such as not invading each other and not participating in other city-states'' hostile actions against each other!¡± Then Cheirisophus paused for a moment.

    Davos understood why Sparta proposed this; it probably was because they were worried about Theonia joining the anti-Spartan League, and it seemed that Sparta''s situation wasn''t wonderful.

    Seeing Davos'' expression remained unchanged and couldn''t guess what he was thinking, Cheirisophus took a deep breath and continued to say the terms set by the Gerousia, ¡°Sparta will force Syracuse to ept the truce and pay warpensation to Theonia. However, we hope Theonia wouldn''t force Syracuse and its allies too much and stop encroaching on Syracuse''s interest further. After all, Sparta is also Syracuse''s ally and has been friendly ties for decades¡­¡± Cheirisophus then stopped and looked at Davos again.

    Davos'' face still showed no joy nor anger, but the clerk Henipolis next to him couldn''t s endure as he said, ¡°Syracuse already signed a peace agreement with us, so what right does Sparta¡­Sparta have to interfere with our, Theronia''s, handling of the aftermath of the war!¡±

    Cheirisophus, however, ignored Henipolis. But after seeing Davos remain silent, he continued, ¡°Furthermore, Syracuse had instigated Taranto tounch a war against Theonia and are now getting punished by the gods. Currently, foreign races are besieging this great city-state and upying thend of the Greeks! Taranto was now acknowledging its earlier mistakes and was willing to pay substantial war reparations to Theonia to receive your forgiveness. And as Taranto''s mother state, Sparta must protect this city, which is connected to our blood. Hence I hope Theonia could release the Tarantine captives so that Taranto could defend itself against the invasion of foreign races and be Magna Graecia''s barrier to the east again!¡±

    ¡°So the Spartans are now concerned about the safety of Magna Graecia!¡± Henipolis sneered and retorted, ¡°But when Dionysius led his army to invade Magna Graecia to burn, kill, plunder and even massacred the people of Scylletium, why didn''t you Spartanse to dissuade him?! Where were you when Taranto broke our treaty and suddenly attacked Theonia''snd?!¡­¡±

    Cheirisophus acted oblivious to those words and continued to say to Davos, ¡°These are the conditions of the peace agreement drafted by the Gerousia after many discussions. For the specific details would need to be further negotiated with you, King Davos.¡±

    ¡°If this is Sparta¡¯s sincerity, then there is no need to discuss anymore.¡± Davos'' tone was like the calm before the storm. He gazed at Cheirisophus with eyes that were like sharp des shining with cold glint, ¡°Cheirisophus, you and I wererades in Persia that braved countless dangers together. If you came to visit me personally today, I would treat you warmly. But as Sparta''s envoy, I can only apologise!¡±

 Chapter 578: Confrontation with Spartas Envoy (II)

    Davos'' words deeply worried Cheirisophus, making him hurriedly say, ¡°These are only the conditions Sparta drafted before the negotiation. You can also give your conditions first, and we will negotiate together.¡±

    ¡°Cheirisophus.¡± Davos coldly said, ¡°The war in Magna Graecia ended, and Sicily''s situation is rather stable for Theonia, so I can now draw out more than 200 triremes and more than 50,000 soldiers at any time! If I lead this massive fleet to the east, it will only take us less than three days to reach Peloponnes, so will Sparta be able to stop us?!¡±

    Without waiting for Cheirisophus'' answer, Davos decisively said, ¡°You can''t! Your fleet has already lost to Conon''s navy at Knidos. Now, you only have less than a hundred ships cowering in the Gulf of Corinth and not daring toe out! They aren''t a match for the Theonian fleet at all! If a fleet with 50,000 soldiers subsequentlynded on the coasts of Messenia, would your army be able to stop it?!¡±

    The corner of Davos'' mouth curled slightly, ¡°They won''t! You sent most of Sparta''s warriors to Corinth, a few to Persia, and the rest had to suppress the Helots at Sparta. And even if Sparta can gather all your warriors, we, Theonia, wouldn''t be afraid as I believe that Theonia''s huge and elite legionaries canpletely defeat your proud Spartan warriors!¡±

    Davos then pounded the wooden table, making Cheirisophus, who had experienced countless life-and-death struggles, subconsciously shudder as he felt his heart hit by the fist.

    ¡°Naturally, I don''t even need to make such an effort.¡± Davos'' expression rxed again as he slowly sat down and said, ¡°I would only need to let the army disperse the Spartan troops left in Messenia, blockade the Tagetus Pass, and then support the Helots ¨C or. Just let Messenians be independent and arm them. Afterwards, we could just withdraw so that we wouldn''t even need to consume too much food and participate in countless fighting. But can you Spartans deal with armed Messenians easily? No, you can''t! The Messinians'' revolt decades ago already made you suffer!¡±

    It was more than suffering as the Spartans couldn''t do anything against the Messenian''s revolt and had even begged Athens and other allies to send troops to help them suppress these rioting Helots. As a result, the polemarchos of Athens at that time, Cimon, with several thousand Athenian soldiers, came to help Sparta. But because they did not expect the difference in political system and traditions, they received a lot of suspicion and aggression, which made the soldiers return home in anger. After returning, they spread about their experience in Sparta to the public, which triggered the public''s outrage against Sparta and led to the downfall of the pro-Spartan leader Cimon. Afterwards, Pericles became the new leader of Athens for decades and created Athens'' golden age.

    Yet even with their allies'' help, Sparta still failed to exterminate the rioting Messenians, leading to the hardship of the Spartans'' livelihood as the Helots were encouraged to resist constantly. In the end, Sparta had topromise with the rebels and allow them to leave Sparta''s territory freely¡­

    That was a pained memory for the Spartans. Yet Davos easily said that he would repeat the incident, making Cheirisophus hostile, ¡°Could it be that Theonia wants to dere war on Sparta?!¡±

    ¡°Theonia naturally doesn''t want to do this, but Sparta is forcing Theonia to prepare for war!¡± Davos said deeply.

    ¡°Forcing Theonia?!¡± Cheirisophus thought he heard a joke as he seriously reminded, ¡°Sparta came to negotiate a friendly agreement with Theonia in good faith!¡±

    ¡°When Syracuse destroyed many Greek city-states in Sicily and forcibly ordered them to obey them, Sparta had note out to stop Syracuse! When Dionysius invaded Magna Graecia with his armies, ughtered the people and plundered, you Spartans still didn''t stop them! But now that Theonia has defeated Syracuse to restore the order in Magna Graecia and Sicily and the peace to this ce, you came out to stop us?! Is this Sparta''s so-called sincerity?!!¡± Davos said coldly, his tone gradually increasing.

    ¡°Davos, listen-¡± Cheirisophus wanted to exin.

    ¡°By what right does Sparta have to dictate Theonia, Magna Graecia and Sicily?!¡± Davos interrupted Cheirisophus as he angrily questioned him, ¡°By your few thousand warriors?! By your tens of thousands of allies in Peloponnese?! By those hodgepodge mercenaries?! With just mymand, I can gather more than 200 triremes and 50,000 elite soldiers to attack Peloponnese and tear the Spartan territories and its allies to pieces, so you arrogant Spartans can understand how to show respect to a powerful nation! So that you greedy and selfish Sparta can understand that the western Mediterranean is not the Peloponnese, which does not allow any foreign power to stir up the waters!¡­¡±

    Listening to Davos'' emotional and furious usation and seeing the new king''s arms mming powerfully, Cheirisophus remembered what Phidias had said long ago afterpleting his mission to Theonia and demanded at the Gerousia to punish Theonia, ¡®Theonia is a city-state union that advocates might and aggression; we must find a way to restrain them, or they would bring us trouble in the future!¡¯ But now, they were not more than just trouble as they were the greatest threat of all! It was as if the Davos in front of him became a grown lion who no longer needed to hide his ws and fangs and was now roaring at the former Greek hegemon.

    At this moment, Cheirisophus calmed down as he realised something from Davos'' rebuke, ¡°King Davos since you are dissatisfied with our conditions for the peace negations, what are your conditions?¡±

    Davos'' anger he disyed wasn''t directed at Cheirisophus but at Sparta¡¯s Gerousia behind him, so when he heard Cheirisophus, he thought that he had achieved his goal. Even though he still didn''t restrain his anger, he no longer shouted as he snorted and said, ¡°We Greeks in the western Mediterranean can manage our own matters without Sparta intervening. If Sparta can recognise this, Theonia will not be interested in the Greek matters in the eastern Mediterranean, which is the basic condition for Theonia and Sparta to reach a peace agreement!¡±

    Cheirisophus was shocked at Davos'' ambition of wanting to share the Greek world in the Mediterranean with Sparta. Despite Sparta not paying much attention to the Mediterranean, they still supported Syracuse to help them guard Sparta''s rear. Hence the opinions among the Spartan warriors were that Syracuse was the weaker party in the alliance dominated by Sparta even though Dionysius began to be disobedient due to Syracuse bing stronger. But now, Theonia was officially offering to be on an equal footing with Sparta¡­causing Cheirisophus to stare at Davos in disbelief.

    On the other hand, Davos just firmly stare at Cheirisophus.

    After a moment, Cheirisophus said, ¡°I understand what you mean, and I will ry your words to the Gerousia. I believe they could give their reply quickly.¡±

    ¡°Alright. However, the war in the western Mediterranean is rapidly developing, so I am afraid the situation will bepletely different in a few days. Thus you need to hurry up,¡± Davos'' seemingly inadvertent reminder made Cheirisophus anxious again.

    After seeing off Cheirisophus, who had left in a hurry, Henipolis asked with concern, ¡°Milord, will Sparta agree to your conditions? And negotiate with those terms?¡±

    Even though Davos wasn''t so sure about it, he still smiled and said, ¡°The current Theonia doesn''t fear Sparta, nor is there anything we need of Sparta. Unlike us, the Spartans wouldn''t be able to sleep after Cheirisophus ryed my threatening words.¡±

    ¡°Still, the Spartans would definitely hate Theonia in their hearts even if they signed the friendly agreement with us with those conditions!¡± Said Henipolis worriedly. He then continued, ¡°Your majesty, wouldn¡¯t it be better for us to take advantage of the fact that Sparta is now stuck in the quagmire of war to crush them once and for all ording to what your majesty said earlier?!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha¡­ Heni, it seems you hate Sparta more than I do!¡± Davosughed.

    ¡°Your majesty, I''m just¡­just worried about what Sparta would doter¡­¡± Henipolis argued.

    Davos patted him on the shoulder and confidently said, ¡°Be at ease. A city-state like Sparta has no future without our, Theonia''s, help!¡±

    Even though Davos couldn''t remember this period of history clearly, with his in-depth understanding of Greece over the years, he knew that: Sparta would have irreconcble contradictions with Corinth and Argos in the Peloponnesian Penins, Athens and Thebes in central Greece, and their wars were bound to continue. Now that Theonia had ended their war with Syracuse, they urgently needed time to digest and absorb the newnd. Thus there was no need for them to poke the ho''s nest that was Sparta. After all, even if Sparta were weakened, Theonia wouldn¡¯t get any benefits. On the contrary, it would just give other city-states in Greece, such as Athens and Thebes, better opportunities to expand¡­ Hence it was better to just let them fight each other, giving Theonia more time to develop.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    It was just as Davos had expected: Despite appearing furious after receiving Cheirisophus'' report, the Gerousia inwardly felt afraid: The Theonian army of Magna Graecia was ready to attack, yet Sparta was unable to fight on a new battlefield.

    The Greeks ridiculed the Spartans by calling them ¡®Vipers hiding behind Mount Parnon¡¯, which shows that even though these over 60-years old Spartan elders appeared to be arrogant and conservative, they knew how to adapt to the times.

 Chapter 579: Departure

    After half a day of discussions, they were able to quickly re-thought the terms of negotiations, allowing Cheirisophus to return to Magna Graecia.

    Finally, Theonia and Sparta signed the famous ¡®Dual King Peace Treaty¡¯ (The King of Theonia and the King of Sparta finally signed a peace agreement). And the contents of the peace treaty are as follows: First, Sparta and Theonia must maintain peace with each other, not invade each other and have friendly exchanges;

    Second, with the Adriatic Sea as the middle line and the north-south as the boundary, Sparta regards the western Mediterranean Sea as the sphere of influence of Theonia. Thus they shall not send any army or warships into it nor send envoys to make alliances with any city-state in the western Mediterranean Sea or incite and support other city-states to carry out hostilities against Theonia. Likewise, Theonia recognises the area east of the Adriatic Sea as the sphere of influence of Sparta. Hence they shall not send any army or warships into it, nor conclude an alliance with any other city-state in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, or incite and support other city-states to carry out hostilities against Sparta.

    Third, as Syracuse was still an ally of Sparta, Theonia promised not to infringe on Syracuse''s territorial interests and not force it to join the Theonia Alliance. However, since Taranto of Magna Graecia had no alliance rtionship with Sparta, and the conflict with Theonia belongs to the internal matters of Magna Graecia, Sparta must not intervene following the second provision of the contract.

    Fourth¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The treaty wouldst for ten years. But after its expiration, both parties could renew the treaty if they have no objection.

    After signing this agreement, Theonia and Sparta didn''t publicly announce it. After all, the fact that both sides disregarded other city-states as nothing and privately divided the Mediterranean Sea was too detestable, and it wasn''t in the interest of either side to have it spread.

    However, after signing the agreement, Cheirisophus made a special trip to Taranto and announced Sparta''s decision not to interfere in Taranto''s affairs to its council.

    After the strategoi and the council members heard this, the sound of mourning rang out in the council.

    Two dayster, Taranto sent envoys to Theonia to express their willingness to ept Theonia''s condition and be its ¡®free city¡¯.

    After signing the agreement of ¡®Taranto''s integration into Theonia Union¡¯, the Thurian Senate followed Davos¡¯ instructions to release the Tarantine captives in batches, but it would take a long time. Why not release them all at one? It was because Davos mainly considered the Tarantines'' precedent of breaking the alliance agreement, so he was afraid they would suddenly renege on their words after getting their benefits. Moreover, Theonia''s main force must stay in Scylletium to deal with some of the post-war matters of Magna Graecia with Davos and couldn''t return in time to deal with them. At the same time, Davos also want to let the Tarantines suffer a little bit more to fix their arrogance, which would also be convenient for their future management.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After failing in his assault on the city, Dionysius returned to Ortygia. Herolis, on the other hand, begged Theonia''s first legion to stay for the time being and be stationed in the northern gate. At the same time, Herolis reorganised the city, formed a new defensive force and asked the first legion to send officers to instruct the citizens of Syracuse on how to defend the wall in the isthmus.

    Dionysius'' failure also made the people in the port area no longer neutral as they sent troops to the city to ept Herolis¡¯ orders.

    Ten dayster, Herolis led the new leadership of Syracuse, who signed the peace treaty with Theonia, to wee the first batch of Syracusan soldiers who returned to Sicily from Magna Graecia, resulting in the popce bursting into tears of joy and Herolis bing more confident.

    Dionysius'' harassment by sending ships filled with a small group of mercenaries tond along the coast of Sicily had also stopped.

    Seven or so dayster, the Spartan envoy Phidias arrived in Syracuse. He officially recognised Syracuse''s new government and reaffirmed the alliance with Syracuse.

    With the support of Theonia and Sparta, the new Syracusan government made the hesitant Greek city-states on the south coast of Sicily cut off their ties with Dionysius. Afterwards, they send envoys to Herolis and the others to convey their goodwill.

    Although Dionysius was nowpletely isted and helpless, the ¡®rebels¡¯ could still not breach the solid walls of the ind of Ortygia. Unfortunately, his hope of regaining Syracuse has now turned into nothing, but what worried him more was that the food on the ind was rapidly depleting and was only enough for a month or so.

    Suddenly, Phidias made a bold move. Without any regard for danger, he entered the ind of Ortygia alone and discussed with Dionysius.

    In the end, Dionysius agreed to lead his family and supporters, as well as the thousand mercenaries, to leave the ind of Ortygia and head for Sparta with Phidias'' assurance. At the same time, the Syracusan Council also agreed to provide ten triremes free of charge so that Dionysius could leave Sicily as soon as possible.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Philistus watched as Dionysius stood on the port while gazing longingly at the ind of Ortygia behind him. But once the whole fleet was ready and was only waiting for him, Philistus got down the ship again to persuade him, ¡°Dionysius'' let''s go.¡±

    ¡°Philistus, my dear friend.¡± Dionysius'' voice seemed distant even though he was standing beside him, ¡°I can sort of see¡­Syracuse, whether in times of peace or war, is always in constant¡­constant infighting, consuming its own strength, unable to use its power topletely expand its territory and seek more benefits for Syracuse itself!¡±

    ¡°That''s why I had fully supported you, Dionysius.¡± Philistus said with emotion and casually expressed his reason for following him.

    ¡°I don''t think Herolis would be able to rectify Syracuse''s w¡­¡± Dionysius said quietly.

    ¡°Herolis is too idealistic; he is often assertive to the point he would go to the extremes butcked courage and ruthlessness. He won¡¯t be able to control Syracuse!¡± Philistus spoke of his close friend that had deceived and imprisoned him with the same calm tone as if he was talking about a stranger.

    ¡°In this troubled time, we must use blood to intimidate the people and use strength to conquer the enemy! Herolis can''t understand that, and fortunately, he doesn''t!¡± Dionysius smiled as he pointed his finger to the north of Ortygia, ¡°Without me as theirmon enemy, I dare swear to Apollo that there would be civil strife within six months. At that time, it would be the time for our return!¡±

    ¡°The people are very forgetful. Once Syracuse loses its status as Sicily''s hegemon and the Syracusans are looked down upon by foreign people, they would soon feel the cruel reality. By then, they would yearn for you again! I even believe that they would no longer resist you. Rather, they would warmly wee your return to Syracuse!¡± Said Philistus seriously, agreeing with Dionysius'' words. It is also one of the reasons why they were willing to follow Dionysius.

    ¡°Hahaha, Apollo would bless us, just as he has blessed us many times before!¡± Dionysiusughed and turned around. Suddenly, he remembered something, and his face turned gloomy again, ¡°But Theonia would be a big problem. Thus we need to discuss a countermeasure to deal with them specifically¡­¡±

    While discussing in a low voice, the two men boarded the ship.

    Once the salpinx sounded, the wooden oars beat the water, and the ship left the ind of Ortygia and headed east.

    When the news about Dionysius¡¯ departure quickly spread throughout Syracuse, the whole city was filled with joy.

    Herolis felt a sense of relief as the massive stone weighing on his heart was lifted. Henceforth, he would be the one leading the people to restore Syracuse''s prosperity, and he was fully confident of it himself.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the middle of the fleet bound for Sparta was therge passenger ship carrying Dionysius, his followers and his families.

    Currently, Dionysius, Philistus, Hipparinus and Phidias were chatting in the cabin.

    ¡°When thinking about it, it seems that Theonia''s threat to attack Locri was to lure us into sending an army tond in Magna Graecia as soon as possible.¡± Dionysius said with a sigh.

    ¡°From what you said, you didn''t lead your army to invade Magna Graecia but was tempted by the Theonians?!¡± Phidias showed a hint of disdain.

    ¡°One of my goals was truly to conquer Magna Graecia!¡± Dionysius seemed to be frank after bing an exile, ¡°But I had overestimated Syracuse''s strength and underestimated Theonia, especially Davos! I thought I had already taken the young man seriously, but hismanding ability was still beyond my expectation. Not only did he unexpectedly repel the Samnite army I incited quickly, but he also quickly returned to Thurii and defeated my army at sea and onnd using unique tactics!¡­ Philistus, I really should''ve listened to you. Instead of attacking Magna Graecia anxiously, I should''ve spent a few years consolidating Syracuse''s hegemony in Sicily so that the people who were already somewhat tired of wars could get rested! Then even if I lost the war in Magna Graecia, we would still be able to hold onto Sicily!¡­¡±

    ¡°What''s the use of saying that now after getting kicked out of the western Mediterranean!¡± Said Hipparinus unhappily.

    ¡°It would naturally be useful!¡± Dionysius was disheartened when they departed but has now regained his confidence, ¡°It is to learn from the experience and avoid making the same mistake again. Isn''t that what we did in those years? After every setback, we became stronger, stood higher and finally made Syracuse the hegemon of Sicily!¡±

    Phidias watched Dionysius with an undisguised cold gaze as he didn''t intend to speak. Unexpectedly, Dionysius asked, ¡°Phidias, when we attacked Magna Graecia, what do you think we should''ve done to defeat Theonia and avoid today''s oue?¡±

 Chapter 580: Deceit

    That question has truly scratched the itch of Phidias, who had been thinking about this question. So after pondering about it, he said, ¡°After winning the battle of Scylletium, you shouldn''t have attacked Crotone. Instead, you should have sent your army to bypass Crotone and Thurii by boat andnd directly near Heraclea. After joining forces with the Tarantines, we should''ve attacked Heraclea and led the army to invade Theonia''s territory from the north while Theonia''s main force wasn''t in Thurii. Afterwards, we should''ve ignored the empty Amendra and headed straight to the city of Thurii.

    If the Theonian army fought back, we should take the opportunity to wipe them out. If they stayed on defence, we would forcefully storm the city of Thurii. And with the addition of the Tarantine army, you could¡¯ve captured Thurii with less problem as you had even managed to capture Crotone. At the same time, you could''ve also sent a small number of troops to block the exit of the western mountain path so that the main force led by Davos couldn''t return in time¡­¡±

    ¡°For the army to go to Heraclea by ship?! Strategos Phidias, have you forgotten that the Theonian fleet was hiding in the Crati River? They would surely rush out to sea to attack our fleet!¡± Philistus objected.

    ¡°The Theonian fleet''s corvus just frightened you.¡± Phidias'' expression showed contempt, ¡°I admit that the Theonian navy''s tactics are quite unique. However, you had underestimated the Theonians that you didn''t send all your ships to fight at the beginning. If you had adopted my n and had merged the Syracusan navy with the Tarantines'' ships, you would''ve three times more ships than the Theonian fleet, and the final victor of this naval battle would definitely be you!¡­ By then, Syracuse would already have control of the coast and taken over the city of Thurii, so even if Davos manage to return to Theonia with his army, the only thing that awaits him is a fractured alliance!¡±

    ¡°Even though strategos Phidias'' n was wonderful, it is based on the fact that we already know about the Theonian fleet''s characteristics and that Davos would lead back the army with a total of 50,000 soldiers so soon after defeating the Samnites and that Davos''manding ability in the field is too strong for our army to fight head-on with them¡­ Yet the circumstance at that time made us all confident that Theonia, which was significantly weaker than Syracuse, wouldn''t be able to stop our attack on both sea andnd, which is why our Syracusan army attacked by advancing north!¡± Philistus retorted, causing Dionysius to nod slightly.

    ¡°My initial advice to Dionysius at that time was for Syracuse to not send arge army to risknding in Magna Graecia just to save Locri. Instead, he should have let the South Italian Allied troops besiege Locri. After all, with our maritime support, they wouldn''t be able to breach through Locri. And while Locri held down the South Italian Alliance, Syracuse''s fleet would cut off the maritime trade of the city-states such as Theonia and Crotone on the western Mediterranean. By then, the Theonians wouldn''t be able to hold on for half a year and must withdraw their troops from Locri.

    After that, we can concentrate on attacking Rhegium first as it is the closest to Sicily but the furthest from Theonia. Just having to transport the food would already pose significant difficulties for the enemies. Yet, they would also have to bypass Locrian and its allies'' territories, which is another major difficulty. Although it is difficult to say whether Theonia can withstand such massive consumption, we can always leave by ship once Davos doese with arge army¡­ Then, we can just go back and forth several times like this until Theonia no longer dares to reinforce Rhegium again. And as long as we capture Rhegium, we will not only wholly own the Strait of Messia and collect more war funds but also make Sicily and Locri merge without worrying about our rear. Afterwards, we would just need to carry out Dionysius'' original n and drag down Theonia with Syracuse''s strength¡­¡± Philistus finished saying the regret in his heart.

    Phidias didn''t get angry. Rather, he reminded after carefully thinking about it, ¡°Syracuse''s fleet!¡±

    ¡°In my opinion, Theonia feared our mighty Syracusan navy staying firmly on the coast of Thurii. Because even if they finally head south, they do not have actualbat experience. In addition, their unfamiliarity with the sea would allow us to discover the weaknesses of the corvus much earlier and not be caught off guard by them¡­¡± Philistus exined.

    ¡°Excellent! Excellent! Phidias, Philistus, your ns are all excellent! If I had followed it, how could they kick me out of Sparta today? s!¡± Said Dionysius with a looked of regret. He then said, ¡°Unfortunately, these methods will no longer work against the future Theonia! I heard about Theonia not only annexing Locri and its allies but also Taranto, Messina and even upying the Catanian in of Sicily; To their north, the mighty Samnites had yielded to him. Now, Theonia owns many regions such as Lucania, Magna Graecia, Bruttii, the eastern coast of Sicily and so on. Apart from owning and area farrger than Syracuse, its strength has increased even more. Given a few more years of stable development, Theonia will certainly be the most powerful Greek force! By that time, not only will Syracuse have to submit to them, but even your Sparta, Athens, Thebes and other Greek city-states will have to seek their opinion before doing anything!¡± Said Dionysius appearing indifferent, but his eyes were ncing at Phidias.

    Even though Phidias remained expressionless, Dionysius knew he must have heard it. Thus he was prepared to say a few more words just to make Sparta fear Theonia more so that they would definitely do their best to hinder Theonia''s development, which would increase the chance of him returning to Syracuse again.

    At this time, his men entered the cabin, ¡°Master, the fleet has passed the Adriatic Sea and is approaching the ind of Corfu.¡±

    When Phidias heard this, his expression became quiteplicated, ¡®We would reach Sparta soon!¡¯

    ¡°Order the fleet to sail all the way southeast to Crete.¡± Dionysius'' words surprised Phidias as he turned his head and said, ¡°Dionysius, you aren''t going to Sparta?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I have changed my mind. Now, I am heading to Kyrenaika.¡± Dionysius smiled.

    Phidias could no longer sit still and snapped at him, ¡°But you promised you woulde with me to Sparta?! I have already sent someone to inform the Gerousia!¡±

    Dionysius pointed at Phidias and angrily questioned, ¡°You Spartans once promised to support me, and now?! Now you actually supported those rebels! So how can I trust you?!¡±

    ¡°That¡­¡± Phidias couldn''t respond for a while as it seemed Dionysius had been holding himself back this entire time.

    After the two men red at each other angrily like a bull, Phidias asked, ¡°Dionysius, are you determined not to go to Sparta?!¡±

    ¡°Phidias, I had never decided things lightly in all my years in Syracuse because every decision I make can affect the life and death of arge group of people. And going to Kyrenaika is an important decision I had made!¡± Replied Dionysius with pride as he showed the majesty of a tyrant at this moment.

    Phidias grimaced as he threatened, ¡°Dionysius, you will regret your decision!¡± With that, he turned around and left the cabin.

    ¡°Sparta will be the one regretting the decision of abandoning me and choosing Herolis!¡± Dionysius shouted angrily.

    ¡°Dionysius, there is no need to provoke the Spartans at this moment.¡± Said Hipparinus worriedly.

    ¡°I already discussed it with Dionysius. Since Sparta is in the midst of war, they would likely forcibly recruit the two thousand mercenaries we lead and levy the wealth we brought for their military expenses once we arrive in Sparta. Moreover, they would definitely constrain our actions in Sparta, making it impossible for us to do active preparations for our return to Syracuse¡­

    Instead, if we take our 2,000 mercenaries to Kyrenaika, whose nobles were in power after overthrowing the king a few years ago but had contradictions between the several ruling families that caused the political situation to be unstable and often had conflicts with the Libyans(the indigenous people), not only would we not get restricted, but they would alsopete in roping us in, which is suitable for our development¡­ ¡±

    ¡°Besides, I only promised Phidias on Ortygia to go to Sparta just to confuse the Spartans. Now that the whole fleet, including the helmsmen, is controlled by my beloved ves, and our mercenaries are now the sailors, Phidias and his dozen Spartan warriors wouldn''t be able to stop us! And after we arrive in Kyrenaika, we could just send someone to bring him safely to Sparta.¡± Dionysius'' hatred on his face didn''t disappear. But after patting the chair hard, he could only sigh helplessly, ¡°If it were my old self, I would''ve offered Phidias'' head to Apollo for Sparta¡¯s betrayal! Unfortunately, we still need Sparta''s help in the future!¡±

    As the three sighed, a crisp cry of ¡°Father! Father!¡­¡± sounded as a four-year-old child stumbled into the cabin.

    ¡°Little Dio, stop running around!¡± A teenage boy followed him closely and entered the cabin.

    Dionysius then picked up his son and asked him with a smile, ¡°Little Dio, do you miss your father?¡±

    ¡°I¡­I was ying hide¡­hide and seek with brother Dion¡­¡± Little Dio turned around to point at the boy.

    ¡°Brother-inw.¡± Dion hurriedly said with respect.

    Dionysius smiled and looked at Dion, the son of his father-inw Hipparinus and the younger brother of Aristomache. Dionysius liked his brother-inw a lot as he was smart, studious, diligent and serious since childhood, without theziness of noble children at all. Interestingly enough, he couldn''t y with his sister''s two children but got along well with little Dionysius, the child of his Locrian wife, Doris.

 Chapter 581: The Curtain Falls

    ¡°Dion, I heard you gathered the children to y games on the ship these days, greatly reducing the trouble for us. Well done!¡± Said Dionysius with praise.

    Dion responded without arrogance, ¡°That''s the only thing I can do to help you as I can''t help you with your work.¡±

    ¡°¡®Doing what you can only do¡¯, that''s wonderful!¡± Dionysius praised loudly. He then turned his head to look at his father-inw, ¡°I think Dion can be an important minister of Syracuse in 20 years!¡±

    And the usually stern Hipparinus smiled.

    ¡®Important minister?¡¯ Philistus smiled without anyone noticing.

    ¡°Halt! You are not allowed to enter!¡± The guard from the outside suddenly shouted, making Dionysius'' heart tighten. But just as he was about to ask who it was, they could hear the sound of fighting outside the door.

    Then the people in the cabin heard angry roars and distressed screams, turning everyone''s expression changed drastically.

    Hipparinus then hurriedly protected the two children behind him.

    ¡°I''ll go out and see the situation.¡± Said Philistus nervously.

    ¡°Don''t go! Megakorlis should arrive at any moment with his mercenaries. Hmph, it is not easy to intimidate me, Dionysius!¡± Dionysius, who remained calm, had his face be frightening. However, his heart was like a stormy sea as he could roughly guess who the attacker was.

    Then with a loud bang, the cabin''s door was kicked open violently, scaring little Dionysius so much that he cried loudly.

    On the other hand, Dionysius, Philistus and Hipparinus turned pale as they were too surprised to see Spartan warriors with scarlet cloaks, long hair, thick bears and soaked with blood breaking into the cabin with their shields and spears.

    Dionysius and Philistus looked at each other as shock filled their faces.

    Seeing the man behind the situation entering the cabin, Dionysius shouted angrily, ¡°Phidias, what do you mean by this?!¡±

    ¡°It is what as you see.¡± Phidias'' eyes turned cold, and the Spartan warriors in front of him readied for battle as cold gleams shed through the tips of their spears.

    The young but mature Dion, who had never seen such a frightening sight, shakingly held his father''s hand tightly.

    ¡°I¡­I already said I wouldn''t go to Sparta. Are you really¡­going to force me?!¡± Dionysius shouted, trying to suppress his fear.

    ¡°I didn''t say I would take you to Sparta.¡± Phidias'' sentence made the three people turn cold.

    ¡°Phidias, you pledge to Heracles that you would safely take us out of Sicily to our destination!¡± Philistus hurriedly reminded Phidias, ¡°Sparta is the hegemon of the Greek city-states! And the blood of Heracles flowing through you! Sparta has always been the example for all Greeks! Yet you are now breaking your pledge!¡±

    ¡°I didn''t break it.¡± Phidias smiled proudly at the sess of his scheme, which made his whole face look a little eerie, ¡°I said I would guarantee to send you safely to Sparta. However, you yourselves refused to go to Sparta, so it is only natural for that pledge to cease to exist.¡±

    ¡°You¡­you have already had this n beforehand.¡± Realisation suddenly struck Dionysius.

    Phidias sneered, ¡°Didn''t you already n to deceive me from the beginning?!¡±

    After his initial shock and fear, Dionysius regained some of hisposure and asked, ¡°Even if I don''t want to go to Sparta and go against the wishes of your Gerousia, it''s still not enough for you to use your swords and spears¡­to deal with me! Why?!¡±

    Phidias looked at him but didn''t answer him immediately. Instead, after showing a look of understanding, heughed, ¡°I know you are stalling for time, expecting the mercenaries to save you.¡±

    Phidias'' calmness rmed Dionysius.

    ¡°Megakorlis!¡± Phidias shouted. Soon, the figure of the mercenary leader appeared at the cabin''s door, causing Dionysius and the others to turn ashen.

    ¡°They are more willing to follow Sparta to win honour andnd than to go with you to a remote ce to suffer and not enjoy a good life.¡± Said Phidias proudly.

    ¡°Me¡­Megakorlis, are you a fool? Sparta is poor and can''t afford to pay you! In addition, if you are not satisfied with your payment, we can increase it!¡­¡± Hipparinus furiously shouted in an attempt to get Megakorlis to change his mind.

    Phidiasughed and said, ¡°Yeah, Sparta have no money. However, you have. Those transport ships are filled with silver coins that the mercenaries have long coveted!¡±

    The situation was so critical that Dionysius finally lowered his prideful head and pleaded in a low voice, ¡°Phidias, can you let us go for the sake of our past friendship!¡­ah!¡­the silver coins, gold coins you can take it, even those warships and transport ships, just let us go¡­let us go! Phidias, believe me, I can still recapture Syracuse and provide greater help to Sparta''s hegemony!¡­¡±

    But Phidias just stared at him.

    After a while, he said in a low voice, ¡°Dionysius, I apologise. I am just doing what the Gerousia had ordered¡­¡±

    ¡°Why?! Why?! You should know that Heloris and his men can''t control Syracuse! Much less deal with the more powerful Theonia! Only I! Only I could stop Theonia''s expansion! I can even help you stabilise the western Mediterranean!¡­¡± Dionysius shouted, and his terrifying expression made little Dionysius cry even louder.

    ¡°¡­Sparta signed a long-term treaty with Theonia¡­¡± Although this matter wasn''t allowed to be made public, Phidias felt it didn''t matter if they heard it, ¡°One of them is to have us take your life, Dionysius¡­.¡±

    ¡°¡­so it is¡­Davos¡­that damned Davos who deserves to go to hell!¡­¡± Dionysius felt so disheartened that his legs suddenly went weak, and his body swayed a few times until he fell to the ground.

    ¡°Wah wah! Wah wah!¡­father!¡­¡±

    ¡°Brother-inw!¡±

    ¡°Dionysius!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Dionysius felt warmth at hearing these concerned voices. He was obsessed with his hegemony in the past, so how could he even pay attention to these? Seeing his son, whose tears filled up his face, Dion, who was shivering, Philistus, who was forcing himself to be calm, and Hipparinus, who became pale, Dionysius suddenly turned to look at Phidias and said, ¡°Phidias, you can kill me and give my¡­head to Davos! But the treaty you signed must not have included my family and friends, so¡­so please let them go!¡­even if you take them to Sparta!¡­¡±

    ¡°Dionysius, my dear friend!¡± Philistus shouted in agitation.

    But Dionysius stretched out his hand to stop him and said sincerely, ¡°Philistus, you must take care of my family!¡±

    Philistus nodded hesitantly with tears in his eyes.

    ¡°It is true that the treaty only requires your life.¡± said Phidias and then continued, ¡°However, I had agreed to Megakorlis'' conditions in order to convince the mercenaries.¡±

    ¡°What conditions?!¡± Dionysius was startled and turned his gaze to Megakorlis, who had his head kept looking down.

    At this moment, Megakorlis raised his head, and his usually submissive and ttering expression was reced with cruelty, ¡°Lord Dionysius, you always reminded us every time you made us massacre a city that we must not spare a single enemy so as not to create trouble for Syracuse in the future! And I am just following your instructions today as well.¡±

    Dionysius could never imagine that what he had done over the years woulde back to bite his family. At this moment, he had no time to repent at the goddess of vengeance as he took several steps on his knees and begged, ¡°Megakorlis, you know how I have treated you mercenaries over the years! Not only did I pay you well, but I have also given yound and treatment far better than my own brothers! That is how much I trusted you, yet is this how you would repay me?!¡­ Remember how you didn¡¯t even have enough food to eat your fill when you first came to Sicily¡­¡±

    Phidias was already somewhat impatient with Dionysius'' emotional remarks, so he nced at Megakorlis and asked, ¡°What you want to do? You should decide as soon as possible!¡±

    Megakorlis looked at the kneeling Dionysius, who was helpless and mourning. However, what came to his mind was the tyrant, who, after repelling the Carthaginian army, immediately broke his promise and ordered Megakorlis to lead the mercenaries to arrest the families, friends and rtives of the 127 democrats who wanted to oust him. Back then, Dionysius didn''t even hesitate to order the execution of all men, women and children, and it was even Megakorlis who carried out the order. At that time, only the cold gaze of Dionysius was imprinted in his mind.

    ¡®We aren''t the Syracusan democrats who lost their lives because of some stupid concessions!¡¯ Megakorlis then ruthlessly ordered, ¡°Brothers, do it!¡±

    Then dozens of heavily armed mercenaries rushed into the cabin.

    Seeing this, Phidias said, ¡°Let''s go.¡±

    Then the Spartan warriors surrounded him and retreated outside the cabin. Phidias neither wanted to see Dionysius getting killed with his own eyes nor the Spartan warriors stained with the blood of Dionysius and his family.

    But the already desperate Dionysius had unexpectedly jumped up, which caught a mercenary who had just rushed in off guard, and took the spear from the mercenary¡¯s hand.

    With a spear in his hand, Dionysius quickly backed away and protected little Dionysius behind him. At the same time, like a night owl, he burst into unpleasantughter, ¡°HAHAHA¡­Phidias, you Spartans might have signed a peace treaty with Theonia and thought everything would be okay. Ptooey! But I bet that in less than 30 years, the ever-growing Theonia would destroy Sparta! By then, this world will no longer have any Spartans, and I will be waiting for you in hell! Megakorlis, you have betrayed me today, and the Spartans will abandon you tomorrow! If the Spartans would deceive even me, let alone treat you lowly mercenaries!!!¡­¡±

    Phidias'' expression slightly changed as he did not expect Dionysius would still stir up troubles. Seeing Megakorlis looking at him subconsciously, Phidias immediately shouted, ¡°What are you still waiting for?!¡±

    ¡°Yes! Yes!¡± Megakorlis then immediately gave the order.

    But how could Dionysius resist the charging of dozen mercenaries?

    After getting pierced three times, Dionysius fell to the ground.

    In his dying moment, his son''s and friends'' screams could no longer stir up Dionysius'' heart. Instead, he saw his respected teacher, the suprememander of Syracuse ¨C Hermocrates, who had defeated the Athenian army and Carthaginians, and Hermocrates'' daughter, his most beloved wife, smiling at him¡­

    He then happily reached out his hand¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time, the new king of Theonia, Davos, led the first batch of soldiers to return to Thurii through the Arc de Triomphe in the city and headed to Nike Square.

    Crowds of people filled both sides of the road, throwing petals and waving ribbons as they cheered non-stop at the warriors who saved Theonia and defended their homes with excitement.

    After the chariots pulled by four white horses stopped at the west of the square, close to the steps of the Grand Senate Hall, Davos stepped steadily onto the stage.

    ¡°Your majesty!¡± Kunogta and Cornelius led the statesmen to greet him.

    ¡°You''ve worked hard!¡± After Davos returned the greetings, he turned around and faced the square.

    But before he could speak, the audience excitedly cheered,

    ¡°All hail King Davos!!!¡­¡±

    ¡°All hail the Theonia Union!!!¡­¡±

    Author''s Note:

    I ¨C Dionysius.

    In our history, Dionysius died in 367 B.C. After winning the first prize in a Greek poetrypetition, Dionysius, who rarely drank liquor, drank excessively to celebrate his victory, which resulted in a fever. Hence, his physician prescribed him a dose of sedative and drugs, but he immediately fell asleep after taking it and never woke up again. Thus there were also rumours saying that the physician had poisoned him.

    After conquering Sicily, Dionysius waged several wars against Magna Graecia. He sessively conquered Rhegium and Crotone while destroying the cities of Caulonia and Hipponion. He also instigated the Lucanians to attack Thurii''s territory, which the Thurians repelled. However, when the Thurains led arge army to counter-attack, their whole army was decimated*. As a result, Thurii, whose strength was greatly damaged, yielded to Syracuse. (This is the event that happened in the second volume of the story. But the only thing is, I made it happen ten years earlier.)

    Dionysius then focused his attention on the Adriatic Sea after conquering Magna Graecia, where he had established several colonial cities on the eastern and western shores of the Adriatic in an attempt to make the Adriatic Sea the innerke of Syracuse. Among these colonial cities were Ancona, as we know it today and the city of Hadria (the city before Venice).

    At Syracuse''s strongest, its territory included most of Sicily and the southern part of the Italian Penins, with a poption of about 2.2 million. In Greece, many knowledgeable people evenpared Syracuse with Persia and considered them a threat. So at several Olympic Games, there was always a situation where the Greeks would besiege the Syracusan athlete''s camp, protesting to them and even shing with them. That, of course, was also rted to Dionysius partnering with the mercenaries in plundering the Temple of Delphi, although they ultimately failed.

    In thetter half of Dionysius'' life, he fought and lost more than he won against Carthage, who had recovered its strength. In consequence, it limited Syracuse''s further expansion. Thus, for this reason, Dionysius had even transferred his hatred to Rome, Carthage''s ally.

    In 390 B.C., the Gauls in northern Italy marched southward to attack the Etruscans. But at Dionysius'' instigation, they continued their march towards the south after defeating the Roman reinforcements, crossed the Tiber River and captured the city of Rome, which became one of the most painful memories in Roman history. Thus it showed Dionysius'' ability to deal with foreigners, so it was not surprising for him to incite the Samnites to fight against the Theonians in this story.

    Dionysius'' had a groundbreaking political wit as he divided his territory into different ways of ruling ording to the conditions of each region, a system thatter resembled that of Rome. He then subdivided his army and specialised its training, from which Macedoniater benefited greatly.

    Not only was Dionysius modest in his habits and restricted his children''s misbehaviour, but he also ruled the Syracusans strictly. It might be because his mentor and father-inw Hermocrates was deceived and killed by the Syracusan democrats, his wife was raped by mobs andmitted suicide, while he himself was seriously wounded and escaped only by hiding in a pile of corpses¡­these tragic encounters in his early years prompted him to change his personality.

    Dionysius is aplex historical figure, so it would already be satisfying to write a portrayal that could at least resemble a tenth of him.

    II ¨C Dion.

    ording to the famous ancient Roman historian, Plutarch, in his ¡¶Biographies of illustrious Greeks and Romans¡·, the age of this well-known historical figure should be less than ten years old at this time, while the young Dionysius hadn''t been born yet. However, I forcefully included both of them at thest moment because there would no longer be a chanceter.

    As the ¡®prime minister¡¯ of the next generation of tyrants in Syracuse, Dionysius trained Dion. He also sent him to Athens to study under to, which developed into a deep friendship. Perhaps due to the influence of the democratic culture of Athens, Dion devoted himself to supporting Dionysius II while also wanting the young tyrant to be more democratic and wise, so he invited to.

    When educating the young Dionysius, to used ¡®virtues¡¯ in the hope of training him into a ¡®philosophical king¡¯. But before long, Dionysius II became tired of them, and due to the persuasion of others, he invited back Philistus, who had been relegated to Hadria for many years.

    And as soon as the shrewd Philistus returned, he made it clear that the pair of to and Dion doesn''t go well with Syracuse. And after some maniption, Dionysius II suspected the two men had ulterior motives.

    While to returned to Athens unhappy, Dion was expelled from Syracuse. A few yearster, Dion returned to Syracuse with his army and overthrew the tyrant''s rule. But when the newly formed council wanted to elect a leader democratically, Dion argued that they must centralise the authority to make it efficient, and any decision of the city-state must first have his approval!

    As a result, his stubbornness prevented the chaos of Syracuse from quelling. In the end, he died while Syracuse''s strength was significantly harmed and went into decline.

    I feel that he is like Yeltsin, so I don''t understand why Plutarch chose him over other more famous figures who had a more significant impact on ancient Greek history, such as Epaminondas. Is it because Dion respected democracy and staged a coup?!

    III ¨C Heloris.

    There is little information about this historical figure in the data I collected. I only knew that he was a supporter of Dionysius in the early part andter opposed Dionysius'' dictatorship, which can be seen from his sentence thatter became a famous saying, ¡®Tyranny is a beautiful shroud¡¯.

    Before Dionysius invaded Magna Graecia, he fled Sicily and united the city-states in Magna Graecia to form a coalition army to defend against Dionysius. Although he was a Syracusan, he managed to be the suprememander of the coalition army. But I don''t understand why an outsider could be the suprememander of Magna Graecia: Was it because he was famous? Or was it because choosing generals from other city-states would cause conflict, so picking him was eptable to everyone?

    When Heloris led the coalition army to march toward the invading Syracusan army, he was at the forefront of the vanguard. But instead of sending scouts or spies to inspect the battlefield beforehand, he marched straight without knowing the enemy''s exact location. As a result, he encountered the Syracusan army waiting for him near Scylletium.

    Heloris remained undaunted. But while resisting the enemy tenaciously, he sent heralds to inform the troops behind him to arrive as soon as possible.

    It resulted in the coalition army fighting back using the ¡®replenishing tactics¡¯, which Dionysius defeated. With the death of Heloris and the forced surrender of Magna Graecia''s most powerful army, there was no longer anyone that could stop Dionysius'' ambition to conquer Magna Graecia.

    Sometimes, I doubt Heloris is a rebel as hismanding ability is genuinely atrocious! Thus everyone should understand why the archon of Taranto, Diaoms, was easily ambushed by the Messapi-Peuceti alliance earlier in the story. It is because themanding ability of many Greek city-state generals in this era is truly horrible, and their tactics are too behind. Thus to increase the excitement of the war, I deliberately elevated their level. Otherwise, Davos'' Theonian army, which was formed by the advanced military regtions of his previous life, would¡­

    IV ¨C Pheidon.

    When mentioning this name, I guess many readers do not remember who he is. Pheidon was a general of Rhegium, so why did I mention him specifically? It is because he is only one of the only historically documented named figures from this period in Magna Graecia(the other one is Archytas). You might ask, what about Kunogta and Cornelius? Well, they are all fictional characters I created because there are too few historical records of Magna Graecians in this period.

    There weren''t many records about Pheidon, only that after the defeat of the allied army, he still led the Rhegian army to fight Dionysius. Although he suffered repeated loss, his tenacity had caused great trouble to Dionysius. So after breaching the city of Rhegium, Dionysius killed his whole family, including rtives and friends.

    With so much stuff written, the readers might think I am cheating by increasing the word count. But since I had collected and summarised so much information about Sicily and Magna Graecia, it should be worth some money, hahaha!

    Now that Theonia City-State Union led by Davos had interrupted the glory of Syracuse created by Dionysius in this world, can Theonia create a far greater glory than Syracuse? Please continue reading the next volume, ¡¶The Kingdom''s Ten years¡·!

 Chapter 582: Galademus, The Taxation Official

    On June 1, 393 B.C., after the war in Magna Graecia ended, countless Theonians flocked to Thurii, the centre of Theonia, to witness the official enthronement of Davos as king in front of the Temple of Hades.

    On that asion, the whole city fell into celebration.

    And at this moment, the Theonia City-State Union was renamed the Kingdom of Theonia, and King Davos dered that he would change the disordered Greek calendar and take the year of his ession as the first year of Theonia.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Time flew by, and it was now the tenth year of Theonia. (that is, 383 B.C.)

    It was currently August with its hot weather. However, Gdemus, the taxation official of Purosdemos in Naxos, was still out in the fields, checking thend owned by each family and the growth of their crops to estimate the amount ofnd tax each family would pay in his district after the autumn harvest.

    The Theonian citizens can pay their taxes either in kinds, such as wheat, olive oil, grapes¡­.or silver coins, which requires the taxation officials not only to have excellentputation but also to be familiar with the prices of themodities in the market. In addition, they must have adequate manpower when collecting taxes to avoid mistakes. Thus during those days, the Demarchos of each demo would gather the civil servants to assist the taxation officials. They would also call additional registered ountants and scribes under their jurisdiction to bemanded by the taxation official.

    Due topleting his studies at the junior, middle and senior level in the most famous school in Thurii and graduating with excellence in Mathematics, Gdemus became a taxation official. And the schr, who is the school''s teacher, even hoped that Gdemus could enter the Institute of Mathematics and continue his studies. However, he insisted on living independently as an adult as soon as possible. Thus he took one of the most challenging civil servant exams in the Kingdom of Theonia, the Taxation Officer Examination. (The other exam is the Judge Selection exam, which is known for requiring a massive amount of memorisation of countlessws and critical thinking.)

    After two years of working hard as an apprentice tax officer and assistant, he officially became a junior taxation official in Theonia with excellent performance. He was then assigned to Naxos in Sicily by the Ministry of Finance of the Kingdom and was already working here for two years. Furthermore, since he is only 24 years old now, it is safe to say that he has a great future.

    The demo in this region has five viges under its jurisdiction and was located in the middle reaches of the Alcantara, near the foot of Mount Etna. However, even though it doesn¡¯t have t terrain, itsnd is more fertile*. (Because of the volcanic ash. Moreover, it doesn''t have much poption and currently has 452 households and 1,822 people, and itsnd area is 1,786,666 square meters in total.)

    After bing a taxation official, Gdemus took half a year to thoroughly understand the situation of the fields in his jurisdiction by going to each vige and household. Naturally, the agricultural officer of the demo had a detailed record, and the taxation official only had to refer to the records to collectnd taxes sessfully. But Gdemus was a serious man who always wanted to confirm the situation with his own eyes. Thus he doesn''t get along well with the agricultural officer.

    ¡°Sir, you should drink some water as it''s too hot.¡± A tax collector who followed him picked up a leather bag containing water and said that while wiping his sweat.

    Over the years, the Theonian kingdom established schools in most cities, so many of its citizens who yearned to be civil servants took the civil servant examination in various departments after greatly improving their literacy, writing and arithmetic skills by studying in the school. In contrast, the citizens who couldn¡¯t pass the official examinations can also take the secondary examinations as minor civil servants. However, they still have the opportunity to be promoted depending on how long they served the kingdom and their performance.

    The two tax collectors following Gdemus were local citizens who received sries by working as tax collectors during the rest season and would go home during the nting and harvest season. In fact, the kingdom of Theonia relied on these part-time officials to support the most basic management work of the whole kingdom. During their apprenticeship, their superiors would warn every official taking up a post in the kingdom that they must respect those under them. Otherwise, they wouldn''t get supported and would make it challenging toplete the tasks assigned by their superiors!

    ¡°Thanks, Gabrinus!¡± Gdemus thanked him while taking the leather bag and drinking a lot of water, which immediately moistened his dry throat.

    ¡°What''s there for you to thank for? Instead, I should be the one thanking you for helping me solve some math problems!¡± Gabrinus was determined to take the Taxation Officer Examination next year, so he was studying hard during this time.

    Gdemus just smiled and handed back the bag to him.

    ¡°Finally, we only need to check onest household before we can return to Megalos.¡± Another tax collector, Kabanus, urged politely. Kabanus was ten years older than Gabrinus, so when he was young, he had lived through the turbulent time when Naxos was destroyed. But because of his age, he was not as motivated as his colleagues and just wanted to live a full and peaceful life by farming and collecting taxes. And getting a ¡®credit¡¯ in the year-end-assessment would already be good for him as it would mean honour and more rewards. Although such a situation happened oncest year, he understood that it was all thanks to Gdemus. However, looking at this year, there was a good chance that the ce they were in charge of would again receive amendation, so he was happy toply despite the exhaustion of following the young taxation official.

    ¡®Last one!¡¯ Gdemus looked ahead while having aplicated feeling.

    That is because the identity of the owner of thest household isn''t simple. The owner is Ladician, a statesman of the kingdom''s senate.

    Ladician was from a prominent household in Naxos butter went into exile in Rhegium when Dionysius was the tyrant of Syracuse. Afterwards, he arrived in Sicily with the first legion of Theonia and served as one of the exiles'' leaders and contributed to Theonia''s ultimate victory over Syracuse and the acquisition of the Catanian in. Later, when Naxos was integrated into Theonia, Ladician became a statesman of Theonia for his service and influence in Naxos. He then married his daughter to Antonios, then head of the first legion, an influential member of the Theonian senate and a trusted subordinate of King Davos.

    After bing a statesman, Ladician moved to Thurii. However, he did not sell his home in Naxos and had even gotten 3,333 square metres ofnd from Theonia¡¯s allocation. In addition, through his rtionship with Antonios, he boughtnd in Naxos from the legion soldiers, who got it for their military achievements.

    Although it was forbidden to buy and sell the allocatednd, it waster made possible because of the distance that made it impossible for the owner to take care of thend. For example, the legion soldiers living in Thurii or Amendra would have to take three days to travel by boat to get to theirnd in Sicily. In addition, they would have to assign a trusted ve to look after thend and work on it all year round, which would have been bothborious and challenging. Thus they could only sell it to a fellow citizen of Theonia.

    Of course, the war in Magna Graecia ten years earlier had given Theonia enough sparend in Magna Graecia. Hence the legion soldiers were primarily rewarded withnd in Magna Graecia, with extra square metres ofnd in Sicily for some of the legion soldiers who had done exceptionally well. Although thend wasn''t cheap, Ladician had the money. And if not for the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture responsible for the sale and supervision ofnd transfer, whoter found and advised that he had raised thend price too high and bought too manynds, Ladician''snd in Naxos wouldn''t have been limited to the current 52,000 square metres.

    When Gdemus took his post in Naxosst year, he had some conflicts with Ladician''s household because he found that in the past, the taxation official had levied lessnd tax on Ladician''s family. In the beginning, most of Ladician''snds were halfway up a mountain, so it wasn''t easy to water the fields. Thus when the taxation official initially calcted the tax, thend tax was low as most of his household''s fields were ssified as medium and low-grade farms.

    However, upon Gdemus'' investigation, he discovered that eight years earlier, Naxos had built arge waterwheel by the Alcantara river. Since then, the river could efficiently irrigate all the fields of Ladician''s family, solving the water problem. On the contrary, the harvest of the mountainside farms was even better than that of the tnd. Yet the tax on his family''snd was still levied year after year at the same rate as before. However, the main issue is that Ladician didn¡¯t build the waterwheel himself but built it with the public''s money at the suggestion of the council of Naxos to the city''s Praetor.

    Thus Gdemus believes that not only should they recalcte the tax for Ladician''snd, but Ladician should also pay the tax he owed in the past few years.

    But when Gdemus informed Ladician¡¯s household of this decision, they raised an uproar. Besides refusing to pay more taxes, the housekeeper who stayed behind had acted by asking the council to put pressure on the city''s Praetor and criticise the taxation official for charging indiscriminately. The housekeeper even incited the vige people to protest against the new taxation official for being too harsh and oppressing them Sicilians, making it difficult for Gdemus to continue his tax collections. (It was because Gdemus weighted the crops such as wheat seriously that he didn''t even allow a gram less.)

    Furthermore, Gdemus'' immediate superior, the middle-ranking taxation official of Naxos, feared that the discovery of this long-term mistake would make him look ipetent and jeopardise his future because Gdemus had lifted the ¡®lid¡¯. Moreover, the friends Gdemus made in Naxos had spoken in favour of Ladician''s family. Thus besides severely criticising Gdemus on several asions, the taxation officials also rejected his proposal to ¡®revise the amount of taxes Ladician¡¯s household had to pay and have them make up for the deficits¡¯.

    But the incumbent Praetor of Naxos was Stromboli, an inflexible but conservative statesman of Amendra, who would not sumb to pressure from the local councils. Not to mention that Gdemus is also an Amendran.

 Chapter 583: Suspicion

    Back when Davos led the mercenaries to recapture the city of Amendra, Gdemus'' had already lost the support of his family as his parents had already died at the age of 15. And since he didn''t choose to be adopted by others, he lost the opportunity to have a supporter. But due to fewer Amendran men surviving the invasion of the Lucanians and even fewer of the next generation Amendran citizens managing to serve as civil servants and out of fear that Amendra would lose its influence in the kingdom, the Amendran statesmen such as Stromboli, Scambras and Cornelius had deliberately care and focus their attention on the next generation, such as Arsinis(who unfortunately died young), Melisander, Gdemus and so on.

    However, even though the kingdom''s city''s praetor has much more authority than when they first established Theonia, there are still two and a half departments they couldn''t manage: First is the Taxation Officials ¨C Both junior and mid-level taxation officials are under the Kingdom''s Ministry of Finance and are only answered directly to the Chief Financial Official and the king. The other is the Judges appointed to each city by the Supreme Court of the Kingdom ¨C They are free from the interference of other people and departments, both in the hearing of cases and in their judgments. The other half is the military training officers assigned by the training camp of each legion and under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Military Affairs. The praetor wasn''t allowed to interfere in military matters, but organising a massive-scale military training would involve numerous citizens putting down their farm work and leaving behindplicated official duties that would inevitably create disruptions in local matters. Thus the two sides must coordinate and solve the problem, which is why the training official and the praetor could be regarded only as half each.

    Although Stromboli couldn''t interfere in the taxation, he sent his men to arrest the troublesome people and warned the demarchos to end the disturbances in the demos immediately. Otherwise, he would get forcibly removed from his post on the charge of ¡®ipetence¡¯.

    At the same time, he also reported directly to the royal pce of Thurii about the details of the incident to King Davos.

    After reading it, Davos didn''t react much but simply called for the Chief Financial Officer Mersis and gave the letter to him to read.

    Mersis, who had guarded the treasury for Davos for more than a decade, wasn''t someone anyone could easily provoke. Thus he immediately sent his trusted subordinates to Naxos to thoroughly investigate the truth, collect evidence, and prepare it to charge Ladician at the Senate meeting.

    But before Mersis'' men could board the ship, Ladician already learned about the problem and immediately rushed to the pce to beg to see Davos and sincerely stated that because he himself had stayed in Thurii for a long time, he didn''t know about the situation in his residence in Naxos and wasn''t too clear about the details of the taxations. But since the taxation official pointed out the problems, he was willing toply with the Taxation Law and double thepensation.

    Thanks to Ladician''s timely concession, the storm was quickly put to rest. On the other hand, after asking Davos for his instructions, Mersis removed Naxos'' mid-ranking taxation official on the charge of dereliction of duty and strongly praised Gdemus as a model for adhering to principles and being loyal to his duties, and gave him generous rewards.

    Once the matter spread to Naxos, many people began thinking that King Davos favoured Gdemus. Hence there was no longer anyone making trouble for him since then.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Currently, Gdemus had taken the two tax collectors onto the gentle slope and entered Ladician''s field.

    It is now the end of August, and the matured wheat dyed half of the mountainside a golden yellow shade. The stalks didn¡¯t bend even with the hot sun and heavy wheat ears. On the contrary, the gurgling water between the fields gave them the strength to stand firm.

    Seeing this, Gdemus couldn''t help but feel happy, ¡°It seems we will have another bumper harvest this year!¡±

    ¡°Since the reconstruction of Naxos, we have mostly gotten good harvest these ten years, which just shows that Demeter and Persephone had blessed us!¡± Kabanus sighed with relief.

    ¡°It is all due to his majesty Davos! As he was a descendant of Hades, it is only natural for these two goddesses to bless our kingdom!¡± Emphasised Gabrinus, a young man of Naxos but has a stronger sense of identity with the kingdom of Theonia.

    The Hades faith had also spread with the integration of the kingdom of Theonia with eastern Sicily. Furthermore, due to the Greeks of Sicily revering Demeter and Persephone, the priest of Hades incorporated these two goddesses* into Hades'' pantheon by making a Temple of Demeter beside the Temple of Hades in the Theonian territory in Sicily while cing Persephone''s statue inside the Temple of Hades. (Persephone was the Queen of the Underworld, while Demeter was both Hades'' sister and mother-inw).

    The Harvest Festival would follow after Hades¡¯ Day in September, where the people would offer sacrifices to the two goddesses to thank for their blessings. Later, this festival would spread to Magna Graecia.

    While the two people were chattering, Gdemus carefully checked the boundary marker beside the field and estimated the area with his naked eye.

    ¡°Ladician''s 52,000 square metres ofnd had a good harvest¡­¡± After Gdemus confirmed it, Gabrinus busily wrote it on a booklet made with papyrus.

    Gdemus looked at Ladician¡¯s field again and became slightly surprised that most of thebourers in the fields were Sicels!

    As the wheat harvest approaches, they would need to guard the ce: First, to drive away the birds that came to steal; Second, to prevent wild animals and man-made damage; Third, to rush to harvest in case of continuous cold wind or other natural disasters.

    Even though Ladician''s massive farm had a lot ofbour to guard the area, Gdemus could distinguish the difference in the clothes of the Sicels and the Greeks at a nce.

    ¡°Sir, many families of Naxosian citizens will more likely hire Sicels asbourers during the harvest season. Even the craftsmen in the city like to hire them and the port¡­because they are cheaper and are not bound by the kingdom''sw.¡± Seeing Gdemus'' doubt, Kabanus hurriedly exined as his family lived in another demos located in the northwestern part of the Naxos, bordering the Sicels. Thus he knows more about the situation, ¡°Unlike us, the Sicels''nd is in the hands of the nobles and their leaders while themon people could only bebourers on their farm. Moreover, the rations they earn in a year aren''t enough to feed a family, so they might as welle to Naxos as hired workers. I heard that some Sicels even wanted to register at the city hall to be a citizen of our kingdom. Unfortunately, the friendship agreement signed between the Sicels and the kingdom stiptes that ¡®Theonia shall not ept the Sicels as citizens¡¯¡­¡±

    ¡°That isn''t the case in all Sicel towns. I heard that the town of Kephaloidion in central Sicily had also allocatednd to all its people as we do in Theonia, resulting in many Sicels from other towns rushing to join Kephaloidion.¡± Said Gabrinus.

    Kabanus retorted, ¡°Kephaloidion is just a small town, so how muchnd could it have?! Besides, it would already be nice if they could settle their own people''s share ofnd. That¡¯s why more Sicels still serve asbourers and helpers in Naxos, Sikuri, Catania and Leontinoi. But due to that, several tribunal officers in the city protested to Lord Stromboli many times as they believed that these Sicels were robbing the livelihood of the registered freemen of Naxos. Hence they demanded the deportation of the Sicels¡­¡±

    ¡°Those tribunal officers always protest every year about the Sicel problems. I even heard that they proposed to his majesty Davos at the Senate meeting in Thurii but didn''t see much change-¡± Gdemus then interrupted Gabrinus and said, ¡°Let''s only do what is within our duty and not discuss these irrelevant matters!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The two men came to their senses not because they were talking about the mighty King Davos but because they fear of getting heard by the tribunal officers of Naxos. In order to show their worth, the tribunal officers would often try their best to defend the rights of themoners, preparatory citizens and even the free men that they would even quarrel with the local council and the city hall from time to time. And the two of them didn''t want to mess with those ¡®crazy dogs¡¯.

    ¡°Let''s go back.¡± Gdemus turned around and was about to go down the mountain.

    But suddenly, Gabrinus pointed to the front and said, ¡°Sir, two ves areing out from behind the mountain.¡±

    Gdemus turned to look at it and saw two almost naked dark skin men rushing down from the top of the mountain. But when they reach the middle point of the mountain and see Gdemus and his men standing in the field wearing chiton*, they immediately stop as panic showed on their faces. Afterwards, they turned around and ran back to the top of the mountain. (The kingdom official''s chiton has unique colours and stripes, which could be easily distinguished at a nce).

    ¡°Stop!¡± Gdemus immediately shouted.

    Unexpectedly, the two ran even faster. But with the three wearing a chiton, how could they catch up? Thus in a sh, the two ves reached the top of the mountain and disappeared without a trace.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Gabrinus looked at the lush, rolling mountains. After cursing, he pulled up the corner of his chiton, wiped away therge drops of sweat on his face and handed Gdemus the leather bag around his waist.

    Gdemus removed the stopper. But instead of immediately drinking it, he asked, ¡°Whose ves are those?¡±

    ¡°It must be Ladician!¡± Kabanus exined, ¡°Sir, the mountainside to the foot is Ladician''s field. So with Ladician''s fieldpletely blocking the way up, the ves of other households wouldn''t be able toe here at all. Yet before they saw us, these two ves were heading straight towards the fields without fear of being stopped by Ladician''s ves!¡±

    Gdemus nodded and pondered, ¡°Why did they run after seeing us?¡±

 Chapter 584: The Twin City of Naxos

    ¡°It is possible that they¡­they are secretly cutting down the trees¡­or secretly reimingnds to farm, or vited the rules by hunting¡­¡± Gabrinus guessed.

    The Theonian Law forbids citizens from cutting down trees unless they obtain permission from the local agricultural office. In addition, secretly reimingnd in the kingdom''s territory without approval from the Ministry of Agriculture isn''t allowed. They are also not allowed to overhunt, especially young animals. Otherwise, they would get fined highly by the Ministry of Agriculture. Naturally, the Ministry of Agriculture doesn''t have so many people to supervise these illegal things, so they had to rely more on the people''s report, especially the tribunal officers who are the most eager to punish those who vite thew.

    Kabanus didn''t speak as he thought it was excessive for his colleague to make wild assumptions just to please their superior while offending Ladician''s household in Naxos.

    While Gdemus pondered, he swept his gaze over the mountainside, just in time to see Ladician''s servants standing at the edge of the field, supervising the work of the hiredbourers. When the housekeeper, who was quietly looking this way, met Gdemus'' gaze, he hurriedly looked away.

    Feeling something amiss, Gdemus came over.

    After bowing to Gdemus, the man took the initiative to promise that he would pay the taxes at the tax office in time after the harvest.

    It seems that Ladician had warned them after the disturbancest year that they must be very respectful every time they see Gdemus.

    Gdemus didn''te to make a fuss but to ask politely, ¡°Are the two ves who just came down from the top of the mountain yours?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. On the contrary, I was just about to call thebourers to catch those two ves who came out of nowhere and tried to break into the field. But I didn''t expect you would chase them away, Milord. Thank you for your help!¡± The housekeeper said gratefully. He then continued, ¡°Milord, you must be tired and hungry after working throughout the day in this hot weather. Thus on behalf of our young master, Phragres, I invite you and your men to join us for dinner at our home to show our gratitude. Young master Phragres would also be delighted once he knows you areing!¡±

    After hurriedly expressing his thanks, Gdemus politely declined. He then looked at the Sicels working in the field and the few Greeks he didn''t know about and then thought these hiredbourers wouldn''t know anything about the two ves. But despite his suspicions, he was, after all, only a taxation official and not a constable, and it wasn''t his responsibility to track downw vitors.

    Gdemus then went down the mountain. But after arriving at the foot of the mountain, he looked back at the golden wheat field as he vaguely felt that the housekeeper was still looking at him.

    ¡°That man should be Anteros.¡± Said Gabrinus with uncertainty.

    ¡°Yea, Anteros is the most trusted servant of Ladician, and even Phragres would listen to him.¡± Kabanus said affirmatively.

    ¡°I heard Phragres is a wicked person, so it''s no wonder Ladician ced Anteros in charge of his home in Naxos. Milord, is it true that Phragres even dared molest a statesman''s daughter when he was in Thurii, resulting in him getting driven back to Naxos?¡± Gabrinus asked curiously.

    ¡°It''s naturally just a rumour!¡± Gdemus immediately denied it as he has no interest in spreading rumours about others. Still, the conversation between his men made him secretly pay attention to the matter. Moreover, he didn''t expect the smiling ve just now to be the same Anteros that Stromboli mentioned, who had secretly exerted his connection duringst year''s trouble and made him struggle for some time.

    ¡®You really can''t judge someone by his appearance!¡¯ Gdemus became alert and decided to remind the agricultural officer to look into the matter once he returned to the office in the demos.

    It was already 6 in the afternoon when they began their journey back. But since it was currently summer, the sun was still hanging in the sky as Gdemus'' group headed east along the north bank of the Alcantara.

    On their right side are the surging river and the swaying turquoise grasses. On the left side is a never-ending wheat field with the golden sunset shining on the golden wheat, the farmers returning from the fields, and the bustling town ahead¡­enveloping the people and all with the joy of harvest.

    Speaking of it, the town of Megalos is evenrger than the city of Sikuri and has arger poption. Ten years ago, the Naxosian exiles rebuilt the old city near the bay in Naxos, but some people who lived in Megalos didn''t want to move because their fields were on the banks of the Alcantara. And if they were to move to the new city of Naxos, it would take them a lot of time on the road just going to and fro from their work in the fields. As a result, the city of Naxos and the town of Megalos had split the poption by half.

    A yearter, the Sikurians sent an envoy to Thurii requesting their integration into the kingdom of Theonia.

    Why was Sikuri, who had just joined the Theonia Alliance, so eager to be a part of Theonia''s territory? It is rtively simple: In Sikuri¡¯s north, there is Naxos, and in the south, there is Catania, both Dionysian cities. With Sikuri sandwiched between the two cities on the coastal passage (there is Mount Etna in the west), Sikuri¡¯s territory is rather small. Furthermore, the Naxosian had also taken back the town of Megalos they upied, which resulted in more than half of the Sikurian citizens bingndless. So how could they not be envious watching the people of the two cities in the north and south each have a share ofnd and live a prosperous life?! As a consequence, the Sikurians held an lesia and unanimously demanded to be citizens of Theonia.

    Afterwards, many Sikurians who became citizens of Theonia went to Catania and received a portion of thend. On the other hand, some Sikurians came to the familiar Megalos and made the town even more populous than not only Sikuri but also the new city of Naxos.

    Following that, a statesman proposed to simply upgrade Megalos into a city and dispatch a praetor to manage it.

    However, the statesmen from Naxos strongly opposed it for a simple reason, ¡®Megalos was in Naxos'' territory.¡¯

    And Antonios, who was the praetor of Naxos at the time, also objected. After all, if they separate Megalos, the annual tax ie Naxos could receive would be drastically reduced. (The kingdom of Theonia had a tax-sharing system where the central government and the cities shared the tax 50-50.)

    These disputes only became fewer when the continuous influx of new citizens from Theonia had managed to make the new city of Naxos catch up with the poption. However, the people of Theonia still dubbed them ¡°The Twin Cities of Naxos¡±.

    So to better manage Megalos, every praetor of Naxos would send their vice praetor to take charge of Megalos and manage this town that isn''t a city but is better than a town.

    The city''s vice praetor is a new official position in the kingdom of Theonia. Depending on the size of the city, a city''s praetor would have 1-3 vice praetors who would assist the praetor in managing the city''s government affairs. And once the praetor was away on an important business or too sick to manage the city, the vice praetor would then assume the heavy responsibility. What¡¯s more, Megalos also became a ce for the Theonian senate to train the administrative ability of statesmen with insufficient administrative experience by making them serve as the vice praetor of Naxos and the head of Megalos. There was also another ¡°Twin Cities¡± in the kingdom of Theonia; it was Krimisa and a town smaller than Megalos that was built on the marshy area in Krimisa.

    Although the new city of Naxos'' poption grew, Sikuri didn''t increase. Thus some statesmen suggested that since Sikuri was a small city with few people, it is better to downgrade it to a town from a city, just like Tauromenium, which would also save a lot of administrative costs. (Davos ssified Tauromenium as a military fortress in Sicily and a military camp to train the eight legions because of its dangerous and barrennd.)

    Naturally, such a proposal was vehemently opposed by the statesmen from Sikuri as no one wanted to see their mothend downgraded. Hence this matter was left alone.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Gdemus walked into the town while thinking about these happenings in Megalos. His office is in the government hall in the centre of the town. Rather than working in their own demos, the civil servants of the five demoi that covered the entire middle and lower reaches of the Alcantara river are working here, which was considered another administrative feature of Naxos within the kingdom of Theonia.

    Ten years ago, the first legion stood its ground on the square around Megalos'' city hall. After a hard struggle, they finally defeated the Syracusan allied troops andid the foundation for Theonia to own the Catanian in finally. Thus tomemorate this outstanding achievement, Theonia erected a memorial obelisk in the centre of the square next to the city''s hall. On the obelisk¡¯s top was a statue of a legionary soldier holding the first legion''s g and marching forward.

    Not far from the government office are two small temples, one is the Temple of Hades, and the other is the Temple of Demeter. Although there are already temples of these two gods in the city of Naxos, the people living in Megalos proposed to build two more in Megalos due to the temple being too far away and not convenient to go there to pray. However, the praetor and the local council rejected the proposal. As a result, the people of Megalos collectively raised money to build two small temples, which became another characteristic of Naxos.

    Although it is now dusk, many people are still going in and out of the two temples, most of whom are farmers who had just returned from the fields and are praying for the uing harvest.

    When Gdemus entered the government hall, most of the civil servants had already finished their day''s work and were leaving the building. After looking around, Gdemus couldn''t find the agricultural officer, so he instead said goodbye to his two men and prepared to return to his house.

 Chapter 585: A private banquet with the praetor

    Gdemus'' ve then reminded him about the Praetor of Naxos, Stromboli''s, invitation to a dinner tonight.

    After remembering it, he hurriedly called a wagon and rushed to Naxos as fast as possible.

    Using the road between Megalos and Naxos, Gdemus took only 20 minutes to arrive at the praetor''s residence.

    Gdemus then followed the ve and entered the living room, where a kline, wooden chairs and dining tables were set, and candles illuminated the living room very brightly.

    ¡°Milord, I apologise for myteness!¡± Gdemus bowed and apologised at the approaching Stromboli.

    ¡°You''re rather early; Theokases wouldeter.¡± Stromboli weed him. He then said to relieve him, ¡°I didn''t call outsiders tonight, so there is no need to restrain yourself. Just treat this ce as your home as it''s just a gathering of us three Amendrans.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Answered Gdemus.

    ¡°You can choose if you prefer sitting on the kline or the chair.¡± Said Stromboli as he sat down in the middle of the kline.

    Seeing Gdemus choose a chair to sit down on, Stromboli patted the cushion beside him and said, ¡°It has been more than ten years since his majesty and Herpus promoted that eating while sitting on a chair is beneficial to one''s health. However, I still preferying on a kline.¡±

    Gdemus hurriedly said, ¡°Our people in Amendra often say that it is only you, milord, that still upholds Amendra''s tradition.¡±

    ¡°Don''t they often talk behind my back for being too conservative?¡± Stromboli responded.

    Gdemus scrambled to exin, but Stromboli waved his hand and smiled, ¡°Unlike what they say about my head as rigid as a stone, I would ept it as long as it is something good. Otherwise, I wouldn''t be able to manage a city that is hundreds of kilometres away from Amendra today. With tremendous changes in Magna Graecia over the past ten years, it would be impossible if people couldn¡¯t adapt¡­¡± Said Stromboli while reflecting on the past.

    Seeing Gdemus just listening attentively, Stromboli was satisfied with his behaviour. Then he gestured to the ve standing by the door and said, ¡°Start serving.¡±

    Gdemus became surprised, ¡°Milord, aren''t we going to wait for Theokases?¡±

    ¡°Unlike you, he oftenes here and treats this ce like his own, so there is no need for you to worry about him.¡±

    Theokases hade to Naxos with Stromboli a year before Gdemus. And as a constable*, Theokases was under Stromboli''s directmand as an important arm of the praetor in governing the city. Thus it is only natural for their rtionship to be much closer than Gdemus. (Constable is a new position after the establishment of the kingdom of Theonia, and its predecessor is the patrol captain. Davos had raised the level of this originally low-level position so that it could y a greater role in maintaining order in the city.)

    Then the ves began bringing the prepared dishes: There were dried fruits, such as almonds, figs, pistachios, dates¡­fresh fruits, such as pomegranates, peaches, plums¡­meat, such as steamed pork soup, roastedmb, chicken tender¡­there was also seafood, such as baked cod, steamed oysters¡­and of course wine, beer, and squeezed watermelon juice. After a while, food had filled the table.

    Gdemus could only stare in a daze and couldn''t help but say, ¡°Isn''t this too extravagant?!¡±

    ¡°Tonight, we will eat and drink to our heart''s content. I even invited a chef from Cheiristoya''s Restaurant to cook for us, so I am sure you will be satisfied!¡± Stromboliid on his side on the kline with a pleased expression, ¡°I believe some of the food on this table would rarely even appear in his majesty''s pce. And since Naxos is closer to Africa¡­¡± Stromboliughed and made another gesture to the ve standing at the door.

    Then a slender female ve with a pretty face and slightly dark skin tone came in and sat next to Gdemus under the order of Stromboli.

    Gdemus became nervous that he subconsciously moved to the side.

    Seeing this, Stromboliughed and said, ¡°Gdemus, I remember that you haven''t gotten married, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord.¡±

    ¡°It''s time for you to find a wife! Expand your family''s lineage as soon as possible so that your parents could set their minds at ease in Elysium!¡± Stromboli''s words moved Gdemus.

    ¡°But don''t search here in Naxos because your root is in Amendra. It would be more helpful to your future to try finding an Amendran or a daughter of an official in Thurii! When I get back to Thurii, I''ll find someone for you¡­¡± Stromboli advised earnestly.

    ¡°Thank you for your advice and help! I¡­¡± Gdemus was a bit moved and honestly thought that Stromboli was really thinking of him.

    ¡°s, there aren''t many of us true Amendrans in the first ce! And there are only the two of you serving in Naxos¡­I still remember when the Lucanians imprisoned us in the Temple of Zeus; at that time, I was beside your father Aesacus when he eventually copsed from hunger and disease¡­¡± Murmured Stromboli while recalling the past.

    Gdemus'' eyes, on the other hand, became slightly red.

    ¡°How could I not care about you guys?!¡± Said Stromboli emotionally, but the atmosphere was unfortunately spoiled by a sudden loud voice from the outside, ¡°You already started eating and drinking without waiting for me!¡±

    With this shout, a burly young man walked into the living room.

    ¡°Theokases, quickly sit down. We''ve been waiting for you.¡± Stromboli didn''t care about the young man''s tone of voice and just waved to the ves to serve him quickly.

    ¡°Hey, G.¡± Theokases waved to Gdemus and sat down opposite him.

    Gdemus nodded at him. The two were only rtively familiar with each other even though they were not too far apart in age and were ssmates at the school in Thurii. Gdemus was an excellent student, while Theokases was unruly, so the twomunicated very little; it was only after they became adults that they interacted more, especially aftering to serve in Naxos.

    But unlike Gdemus, Theokases still had a mother when Davos upied Amendra. In the end, his mother remarried like the other widowed Amendrans. Theokases'' adoptive father is Drakos, but they don''t have a good rtionship as Theokases doesn''t recognise his adoptive father. Drakos, on the other hand, was always busy training the soldiers and going to battle, so he hardly cared about him.

    At the end of the War in South Italia, Drakos died bravely and became a hero of Theonia. Besides having a statue of him built in the Hall of Valor, King Davos and the statesmen that were former mercenaries began taking care of Drakos'' family members, which was hard for Theokases to ept. In the end, Theokases looked for an opportunity to serve in Naxos just to stay away from Drakos''rades. (The Syracusans called the war ten years ago the ¡®War in Magna Graecia¡¯, but the Theonians called it the ¡®War in South Italia¡¯ as they fought not only Syracuse but also against Samnites and Taranto.)

    As soon as Theokases sat down, he loudly said to Stromboli, ¡°Milord, you must not be partial; I remember someone giving you two Numidian ves!¡±

    Stromboliughed and said, ¡°Boy, I knew you would say that. Rest assured, I didn''t forget about you.¡±

    Then another female ve entered the room and sat next to Theokases.

    Theokases immediately ced his arm around the female ve''s wait and asked her name.

    Stromboli coughed lightly and asked, ¡°What happened in the city that you came sote?¡±

    ¡°The constable of Purosdemos came in the afternoon asking for instructions. He reported that a registered freeman hade saying his 13-year-old daughter went missing, so he hoped that I could aid him. After learning about the situation, I hurriedly came back to send someone to start the investigation tomorrow.¡±

    Stromboli just nodded as he didn''t care about it too much because there were often fights, homicides, disappearances and other cases happening when the new city of Naxos was just established as the ce was filled with exiles, freemen, alien races and even the remnants of the Campanian mercenaries. It was only recently that they managed to settle down the situation. Moreover, Stromboli believed Theokases could handle the case with his ability.

    Theokases nced at Gdemus and said, ¡°Milord, this matter isn''t simple as it has something to do with Ladician''s household.¡±

    It startled Stromboli that he put down the wine mug he was about to raise. After making the two female ves withdraw, Stromboli asked with seriousness, ¡°What evidence did you find?!¡±

    Gdemus'' mind jolted as he pricked his ears up.

    ¡°Ladician had recently hired the freeman to guard the wheat field. And ording to the freeman''s wife, her daughter went to deliver his food yesterday, but she never returned. While the freeman said that he didn''t even see his daughter at all¡­¡± Theokases grabbed a plum and continued after taking a bite, ¡°Milord, you should know that Phragres was sent back to Naxos by his father because of his unruly behaviour in Thurii. Moreover, there are numerous rumours about him ¡®mistreating the female ves¡¯ in Naxos, so I suspect this matter has something to do with him!¡±

    As Stromboli ponders, Gdemus couldn''t help but associate the girl''s disappearance with the suspicious thing he encountered in the afternoon, so he immediately interjected, ¡°Milord, I went to Ladician''s field to check¡­¡±

    Theokases immediately shouted after listening to Gdemus'' recount, ¡°See, even G found it suspicious! Milord, give me your order, and I will immediately take someone to search Phragres'' house tomorrow!¡±

    Stromboli then said with utmost seriousness while staring at him, ¡°Theokases, you need to correct your impatience. Without conclusive evidence, I won''t let you search Ladician''s residence just based on mere spections!¡±

 Chapter 586: The Constable and the Tribunal Officer

    ¡°Why?!¡± Theokases hurriedly said, ¡°Milord, if we don''t make a surprise inspection, we would just give Phragres enough time to prepare and make it difficult to catch him!¡±

    ¡°Why?! It is because he is Ladician''s son, and his brother-inw is Antonios! It''s not like you don''t know Ladician''s influence here in Naxos during his stay, and you only have mere spection without any evidence. Once your searches empty, do you know how much damage it would cause to Ladician and his son''s reputation?! At that time, you and I will face Ladician''s wrath and revenge!¡± Said Stromboli with seriousness.

    ¡°As a veteran statesman and since I am about to leave Naxos, Ladician wouldn''t dare to do anything to me. However, you and Gdemus will stay here for two-three more years. Last year, you should know how they suppressed and excluded Gdemus because of the taxation. So if you were to anger Ladician this time, you would suffer hardship in your future life here! But as your elder, I''d rather you stay out of this case than suffer any harm!¡± (Due to the rapid expansion of the kingdom of Theonia, the frequent change of officials in the city is not beneficial to the region''s stability. Thus the senate passed a revisedw where the city''s Praetor would serve for three years while the civil servants of middle and lower ranks would generally be five years.)

    Although Stromboli said those words with sincerity, Theokases didn''t appreciate them. Instead, he shouted defiantly, ¡°Naxos is a part of the kingdom of Theonia, and it is his majesty that has the final say, so how could Ladician be allowed to act recklessly! I don''t believe he would dare to do anything to me!¡±

    ¡°Do you really want to investigate?¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord. Whether this matter has anything to do with Ladician''s family or not, I must get to the bottom of this!¡± Said Theokases with a determined expression.

    The hesitant Stromboli then looked to the other side, ¡°Gdemus, what''s your opinion?¡±

    ¡°Milord, I support Theokases!¡± Gdemus paused for a moment and said, ¡°I will also do my best in assisting him. After all, I am very familiar with that vige.¡±

    ¡°Youth is nice!¡± Stromboli looked at them and sighed.

    ¡°Milord, you were famous for being strict and benevolent back when you were a justice. But I didn''t expect that now¡­¡± Theokases guilt tripped him with words.

    ¡°Speaking about strictness, I can notpare with Scambras. Unfortunately, he has already gone to Elysium¡­¡± Said Stromboli withment, ¡°Unlike Magna Graecia, Sicily doesn''t have many Theonian citizens of freemen origin here; most of them were Exiles from the old city-states of Sicily, so it is easy for them to group together. After the South Italian War, his majesty ced most of his energy on the governance and unification of thend of South Italia. Hence the senate could only absorb a lot of Sicily''s Exile leaders to ensure Sicily''s stability¡­¡±

    Stromboli swirled the wine mug as his eyes glowed with a faint light, ¡°¡­unless his majesty makes up his mind in rectifying the territory of Sicily. Although I would no longer stop you from investigating this matter, I hope you will act covertly, collect conclusive evidence and don''t be caught by Ladician''s men so that I can report this matter directly to his majesty.¡±

    Theokases'' eyes brightened up and said, ¡°Understood, milord!¡±

    ¡°It doesn''t matter even if you fail.¡± Stromboli then encouraged them, ¡°You are citizens from Amendra, you have the ¡®Amendra Founder Silver Badge¡¯, and you have the support of many statesmen from Amendra and the military*, so no one would dare to mess with you.¡± (Since most of the mercenaries under Davos had married women from Amendra, the statesmen in the Ministry of Military had deep rtionships with the original citizens of Amendra.)

    ¡°Milord, I will find out the truth, so set your mind at ease!¡± Said Theokases confidently.

    ¡°Milord, are you going to step down?!¡± Gdemus took the opportunity to ask.

    ¡°Yes, my three-year term will end in September. And at my age, I am afraid I won''t have the chance to serve again!¡± Stromboli stroked his white beard and eximed, ¡°From the information I got, it would either be Lord Asistes or Lord Lasiperatus* that would seed me.¡±

    ¡°ording to thew issued a few years ago, isn''t it stipted that a statesman can''t be the praetor of the city where he was born?¡± Asked Gdemus with suspicion.

    ¡°Yes, but Lord Lasiperatus is from Catania, and the Sicilians love to gather up in a group¡­ In addition, Asistes'' uncle is Antonios. Hence whoever takes the post of the Praetor of Naxos would definitely take care of Ladician''s family. Thus I didn''t want you to make this matter bigger as it would be detrimental to your future development!¡± Warned Stromboli.

    Gdemus and Theokases then looked at each other.

    ¡°Anyway, enough about that. Tonight was supposed to be the farewell banquet I held in advance for us, but you almost ruined it, Theokases.¡± after saying that, Stromboli raised the mug in his hand and said loudly, ¡°Come children, let''s toast to tonight''s banquet!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    That night, Theokases and Gdemus thanked Stromboli for his care over the past few years by raising their mug to toast and finally returned home drunk.

    Near noon the next day, Theokases arrived at the city hall with a hangover, only to receive the news that the freeman had cancelled the report. The freeman exined that he and his wife were so busy working that they forgot their daughter had been taken to Catania by their rtives to y yesterday afternoon.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At dusk, the number of customers in Cheiristoya Restaurant in Naxos gradually increased.

    Then a middle-aged man with a scar on his face came in and went straight to the waiter at the counter, ¡°Excuse me, I have an appointment with Theokases-¡±

    ¡°Please follow me.¡± The waiter then took him up to the second floor and pushed open a room in which Theokases sat alone.

    As soon as Theokases saw who it was, he said with discontent, ¡°Strategos Ceryces, how can you control your men if you yourself arete.¡±

    Without even bothering to respond, Ceryces sat across from him and said, ¡°What did you invite me to dinner for?¡±

    Theokases didn''t immediately answer. Instead, he turned to the waiter and said, ¡°Hurry up and serve all the dishes I ordered; I am already starving. Ceryces, what do you wanna drink?¡±

    ¡°Beer, of course.¡±

    ¡°Give two more jars of beers and close the door when you leave.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Sir, we will deliver your beer and dishes right away.¡± The waiter then left and closed the door.

    Ceryces nced at Theokases and asked again, ¡°Why did you call me in such a hurry?¡±

    Theokases ced his right elbow on the table and asked, ¡°Lord tribunal, do you know what happened to Purosdemos two days ago?¡±

    Ceryces was a tribunal officer elected by the citizens of Purosdemos. Per the Law of Theonia, each demos would elect a tribunal officer every two years so that a city would have a maximum of ten tribunals. But inrge cities such as Thurii and Crotone, where the number of demos is far more than ten and could even go as high as twenty or thirty, they would elect ten tribunal officers from the twenty randomly selected citizens from each demos. Naxos, on the other hand, only has seven demos since it isn''t arge city and was only established less than ten years.

    Ten years ago, Ceryces was part of the Exiles that fought alongside the first legion and was instrumental in the battle against the Syracusan allied troops. Later, after theplete integration of the Catanian in to the kingdom of Theonia, Davos ordered the Ministry of Military to establish the eighth legion in Sicily. And Ceryces, who hadbat experience and meritorious achievements, smoothly became a low-lever officer of the eighth legion.

    Ten yearster, he finally became a senior centurion. However, he never wanted to develop in local government affairs, so he directly signed up to be a tribunal officer,pletely cutting off his future in politics. Due to his prestige in Purosdemos and achievements*, he was elected twice in a row as tribunal officer of Purosdemos. (A hero of Naxos, as evidenced by the scars on his face, a senior centurion of the eighth legion, a tax-paying man, and a clean record.)

    Currently, he was thinking about what Theokases said: Theokases was the city''s constable, and his job was to maintain the public order, arrest the murderers and Apprehend the thieves. With Theokases anxiouslying to find him, it is most likely for those matters; after all, they have cooperated many times before. And what happened in the past two days in Purosdemos¡­

    He then said with uncertainty, ¡°Do you mean about the freeman whose daughter went missing?¡±

    ¡°It seems you are still apetent tribunal officer.¡± Theokases jokingly said.

    ¡°I heard the freeman found his daughter.¡± Ceryces added.

    Theokases mmed his fist on the table and said, ¡°Bullshit! He said that his daughter went to Catania with her uncle, but when I asked their neighbours, they told me that no one saw any guests at his house, let alone his daughter going to the port. On the contrary, I went to the Bank of Cheiristoya and found that he deposited a thousand drachmae this morning¡­¡±

    The Bank of Cheiristoya has a ¡®no disclosure of customer information to anyone¡¯ regtion, and since it has a powerful background, no one can make the employees of this bank bow their heads. But at Davos'' suggestion, Cheiristoyater added a provision that ¡®if it is rted to the safety of the kingdom and the people, they may cooperate as long as there is a warrant from the local praetor¡¯. Thus Theokases invited Stromboli to check it.

 Chapter 587: Investigation

    ¡°You are saying that he is lying?¡± Ceryces blinked.

    ¡°No doubt about it! However, I didn''t send someone to check the address in Catania that the freeman said to continue the investigation. ording to thew, there was no need to pursue the matter further since he had already cancelled his report, and I didn''t want to rm a certain someone¡­¡± said Theokases in a low voice, ¡°Someone who could spend so much money to make a father forget his daughter''s disappearance¡­Ceryces, don''t tell me that you can''t even tell who is the one behind this?¡±

    ¡°Phragres!¡± Ceryces blurted.

    Theokases excitedly said as he pointed to Ceryces, ¡°I also think it''s this guy, who abused his ve girls, that you have told us about many times!¡±

    Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and the waiter came in with a dish, so the two immediately stopped talking.

    ¡°Ceryces, try this before you drink.¡± The impatient Theokases grabbed a palm-sized oyster in one hand. Without minding that it was hot, he carefully plunged the fork into the white thing in the shell, popped it into his mouth, chewed it, then drank the remaining broth and picked up another.

    ¡°I am not used to this soft thing.¡± Said Ceryces, who then grabbed a roastedmb leg and bit off a piece.

    ¡°Do you know who created this ¡®steamed oyster¡¯ dish?¡±

    ¡°I have no interest in finding out.¡±

    ¡°Hehe¡­¡± Theokases ate several oysters in quick session before showing a satisfied look and feigned mysteriousness, ¡°It''s his majesty!¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡± Ceryces was surprised.

    ¡°Why would I lie to you?! Seven years ago, his majesty saw these things everywhere on the reef when he went to inspect the military port being built in the port of Taranto. But thebourers were just smashing it up and mixing it with sand and volcanic ash to be poured into boulders to make it easier to build a pier. Hence his majesty immediately stopped them and said they were wasting good stuff, so he had the guards collect the oysters. That night, he invited the navarchs who were inspecting the port with him to eat oysters for dinner, and he also said that eating this food could improve the men''s prowess¡­ Since then, Cheiristoya Restaurant has included one more dish-the steamed oyster, coated in various sauces and boiled in boiling water, and the taste is really delicious!¡±

    Theokases'' intoxicated expression startled Ceryces, ¡°It turned out that his majesty was the one who said, ¡®eating oysters can improve men''s prowess¡¯. I thought it was made up by the restaurant to sell these things.¡±

    ¡°Or else, how can his majesty easily deal with two beautiful queen consorts and fathered so many children? Besides, without this thing, I don''t dare to go to brothels so frequently.¡± Joked Theokases.

    Ceryces didn''t dare answer back. Instead, he turned his head to look at the closed door and said with a straight face, ¡°Stop messing around and get down to business. So you want me to look into Phragres for you?¡±

    ¡°Not for me, but yourself!¡± Theokases pointed at him and smiled. ¡°Don''t you want to go to Thurii at the end of the year?¡±

    When Ceryces heard this, his eyes widened.

    What Theokases meant by going to Thurii wasn¡¯t to visit but participate in the conference of the tribunal officers of the kingdom of Theonia at the end of each year. However, not every city''s tribunal officers could participate as cities like Naxos only have three slots. Only those who performed well on their responsibilities, such as contemting the people''s plight, safeguarding the civilian¡¯s interests, and exposing the vitors ofws and order, corruption and fraud, can be selected. But due to Ladician''s households¡¯ constraints in the demos where Ceryces was in charge, most of the problems that he bought to the people''s attention were not solved well, which affected the public''s perception of him and naturally excluded him from the three tribunal officers elected by the people of Naxos each year.

    ording to thew: Although the tribunal officers are mainly responsible for their demos, they could still participate in the affairs of other areas when the demos'' tribunal officers don''t do anything or need assistance. But this time, if Ceryces can capture Phragres in a web due to this matter, deter Ladician''s household and avenge the freemen, it will undoubtedly attract the attention of the Naxosians.

    After thinking about it, Ceryces'' eyes had a bit more spirit. He then leaned forward and said, ¡°You, the constable, have given up on this care, while I, a tribunal officer, can do nothing besides cry out injustice and incite the people as I do not have the right to search people''s homes by force!¡±

    ¡°Ceryces, as a tribunal officer in Purosdemos, you are close with the people there and can get some information I can''t get. And since you are familiar with the environment, you can avoid their attention and achieve your purpose¡­¡± Theokases spoke eloquently. Then he lowered his voice and seriously said, ¡°I have important news to tell you. A good friend of mine saw two ves of the Ladician appearing behind the mountain of their field yesterday afternoon. Once they saw my friend, they immediately turned around and ran away¡­ Since this situation is very suspicious, I am afraid they have something to do with the missing girl, so either they imprison the girl somewhere on the mountain or-¡±

    ¡°Killed her!¡± Ceryces clenched themb leg''s bone in his hand and said, ¡°Do you remember my report about Phragres abusing his female ves and might''ve even killed them?¡±

    Theokases nodded, ¡°Now you have the chance to confirm this rumour.¡±

    ¡°Is your good friend Gdemos?¡± Ceryces asked cautiously. Seeing Theokases being slightly startled, he added, ¡°Because I know that only he went to the vige where Ladician''s residence is located yesterday afternoon to check the fields. And since he is the one who said it, I am relieved.¡±

    Ceryces then firmly said, ¡°I''ll take care of this matter!¡±

    ¡°Wonderful, let''s have a toast! I wish you great sess!¡± Theokases then raised the liquor.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    For seven days in a row, Purosdemos was as calm as usual, with the farmers carefully tending the wheat fields that were about to mature and were just waiting for the harvest to arrive.

    On the other hand, the city of Naxos was much more lively as Stromboli attended the farewell banquet held by his colleagues and merchants every day. At the same time, the people in the city cheered for Naxos'' rugby team and sincerely wished their team to achieve excellent results in their uing journey to Thurii for the rugby finals of the Kingdom of Theonia following Hades'' Day on September 9.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At dusk on the eighth day, three men trekked through the mountains west of the town of Megalos. The man in the middle was none other than Ceryces, who was carrying a pick-axe on his shoulder. The tall, thin man in front of him kept looking around while using the long stick in his hand to remove the weeds and branches that almost covered their path.

    ¡°Aphethys, we''ve been walking for so long, yet we still haven''t found it! Could it be that you have forgotten the ce?!¡± The man behind could no longer endure andined.

    ¡°Pherovares, I am telling you I have a good memory. In fact, I still remember what happened ten years ago, let alone what happened only a year ago. Besides, how could I forget that day when it was so unusual!¡± Aphethys retorted.

    ¡°But what if you''re looking at the wrong ce? I am already getting dizzy just seeing these dense trees.¡± Said the unconvinced Pherovares.

    ¡°I am the best archer in the light infantry brigade of the eighth legion. With my eyes, I can see your face even a mile away!¡± Aphethys said confidently.

    Pherovares snorted, but just as he wanted to say more, Ceryces asked, ¡°Aphethys, how far are we from the ce you said?¡±

    ¡°Soon, strategos.¡± Aphethys then pointed at the front with the stick, ¡°Once we bypass this mountain, we will arrive at the ce behind Ladician''s field.¡±

    Ceryces then looked ahead, but dense trees blocked his sight that he couldn''t see far ahead. In addition, the sunset light could only prate the gap between the leaves, making the surrounding seem a little dark.

    So he then asked with a bit of worry, ¡°Would the sun goes down once we get there?¡±

    ¡°No, it still won''t be toote. In this season, it won''t be dark until seven o''clock!¡± Aphethys said confidently.

    As soon as they climbed the mountain, Aphethys motioned for them to lie low.

    By standing on the top of the mountain, the view immediately became iparably wide that they could see the scenery of the mountain and forests ahead.

    Aphethys then pointed to the front and said in a low voice, ¡°I came here to hunt a year ago, and it was here that I saw Phragres and his ves burying something in there¡­¡±

    ¡°Why didn''t you dig it up and take a look?¡± Pherovares couldn''t help but ask.

    ¡°He is Phragres! His father is a statesman of the kingdom, and his brother-inw is not only a statesman but is also the conqueror of Catania. I''m not someone who would involve myself in trouble! And if it weren''t for your repeated requests, I wouldn''t even be here today!¡± Aphethys showed some fear in his eyes.

    Ceryces calmed him by patting him on the shoulder.

    Aphethys observed for a while and said, ¡°There is no one on the mountain ahead. Let''s go down.¡±

    ¡°We''ve been watching them for days just to ensure that there are no ves of Ladician appearing on the opposite mountain!¡± Replied Pherovares.

    ¡°Try talking less after we go down!¡± Warned Ceryces.

    After the three went down the narrow mountain path, they finally reached the other side.

    ¡°It''s right ahead,¡± Aphethys said with excitement. But due to the nearly a person tall weed, he could only walk forward with a bit of difficulty.

    With the trees in this area leafier, the ce was a bit darker, and they could hear the faint sound of running water. After careful observation, they saw a small stream flowing in the soil covered with rocks, dead leaves and withered grass. In addition, the stream has dense red insects that constantly move, making people feel creepy and also making them understand that thend is too fertile, which causes the vegetation to grow too much.

    The three continued to step on the soil, one foot deep and one foot shallow, and walked forward with great difficulty.

    ¡°AH!¡± Pherovares shouted in fear.

    ¡°What''s the matter?¡± Ceryces quickly turned around and asked.

    ¡°Something¡­something climbed on my feet!¡± Pherovares'' body trembled.

    Ceryces then carefully picked up the grass and saw arge toad lying on his feet.

 Chapter 588: Heinous Case

    Ceryces kicked it away and warned, ¡°Pherovares, shut your mouth! Do you want to summon all the ves of Ladicians behind the mountain?!¡± For Ceryces to avoid the other side''s attention, they had to take a massive detour and climb several mountains to get here from the rear.

    But after uttering those words, ¡°Caw! Caw! Caw!¡­¡± a shrill cawing resounded through the mountain range, which startled Ceryces.

    A flock of crows then perched on the branches.

    Pherovares couldn''t stopughing when he looked at the embarrassed Ceryces, so he hurriedly covered his mouth with his hand.

    ¡°Damn crows!¡± Ceryces couldn''t help but swear.

    ¡°That''s Hades'' messenger who came to help us!¡± Aphethys, who was at the front, turned around and bowed at the crow devoutly. He then said to Ceryces, ¡°If Phragres had buried something recently, it''s probably here.¡±

    ¡°There?!¡± Pherovares looked at where Aphethys was standing, but the trees and grasses seemed no different from the other areas.

    Ceryces was tall and could see that the weeds in the area where Aphethys stood were significantly shorter than the surrounding area as if this small area was sunken as a whole.

    ¡°Let''s dig!¡± Ceryces'' eyes brimmed with eagerness. During this period, he had gone through various channels to inquire about some information, but none saw the missing girl in Phragres'' residence. On the contrary, a few confirmed that Phragres'' ves had wandered in the forest many times, with the most urate informationing from the famous hunter Aphethys of Purosdemos, who he had to go many times just to ask for his help. And now, his final hope is thend in front of him!

    He raised his pickaxe high and smashed it hard.

    After taking a deep breath, Pherovares followed and began digging. This mountain forest belonged to the kingdom of Theonia and wasn¡¯t allocated to individuals, but since Ladician¡¯s field is in the front part of the mountain, there had been conflicts with the people of Purosdemos, who wanted to go to the mountain range to hunt and gather wood. Over time, they just detour the ce. So if not for Ceryces being kind to him, Aphethys wouldn''t have ventured here.

    It was quiet in the mountain that even the crows stopped cawing; the only thing they could hear was the sound of panting and pickaxes hitting the ground¡­

    Soon, they managed to dig a small hole due to the wet and soft soil¡­

    ¡°Wait!¡± Aphethys, who was standing on the side watching, immediately shouted and stopped the two from swinging their pickaxes. He then got down to the ground and stretched out his hand to pull a small ¡®branch¡¯ protruding from the water at the bottom of the pit. However, he failed to pull it, so he instead wiped the mud from the ¡®branch¡¯¡­

    Then the two men beside widened their eyes as they saw that it was a swollen and rotting finger!

    ¡°Aphethys, do you know where constable Theokases and his men are hiding now?¡±

    ¡°I know, just when we came¡­¡±

    ¡°Go and bring them here now!¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    By the time Theokases arrived, it was already getting dark. Yet he was still in an excited mood that as soon as he saw Ceryces, he excitedly said, ¡°Ceryces, you finally brought me good news!¡±

    The sweating Ceryces stood by the pit with his pickaxes and looked tired. He then said in a heavy tone, ¡°We found a dposing female body, presumably the missing girl. We also found two other skeletons¡­ I just wonder if there are more in thisnd?¡±

    Theokases was startled. He then looked at the dark pit in front of him and said angrily, ¡°Damn Phragres, he should go to hell and be tortured forever!¡±

    He then turned around and shouted, ¡°Brothers, light the torch and continue digging thisnd!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Many guard members responded.

    ¡°You would rm Phragres!¡± Ceryces hurriedly said.

    ¡°Now that we got conclusive evidence, Phragres should be more afraid that I would add a few more charges against him if he dares to stop me!¡± Theokases then waved his hand confidently, ¡°Start digging!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following day, a piece of explosive news quickly spread throughout the city: Six skeletons were dug up in the mountains west of Naxos, and from the investigation, all six were female and had died of strangling¡­

    This horrific news shocked the people of Naxos as there had never been such a vicious case happening since the foundation of Theonia. But who was the murderer?

    Just as the people panicked, Theokases led the guard to surround Ladician''s residence.

    Anteros, the housekeeper, tried to argue that the skeletons behind the mountain had nothing to do with them and even loudly protested against the illegal act of the guard team breaking into private properties. But it wasn''t long before a ve, under pressure, admitted that Phragres had five young female ves serving him during these years that had unknowingly disappeared.

    Then they also found a ve identification on a skeleton with a missing finger in the left hand that might be one of the female ves.

    Afterwards, they brought the wife of the freeman, who then recognised the clothes worn by the dposing corpse were those worn by her daughter when she disappeared.

    Just as Theokases tried to arrest Phragres forcefully, a male ve took the initiative to admit that he was the one who killed these people and was willing to be judged by thew!

    Although it took Theokases by surprise, he still took him back to the station next to the city hall, along with the ¡®murderer¡¯ on the grounds that ¡®Phragres was still a major suspect¡¯.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Stromboli immediately summoned the young constable to the city hall and asked, ¡°Theokases, is there any progress in the case now?¡±

    ¡°Phragres doesn''t admit that he killed them. Instead, he said he was willing to be punished for his negligence in disciplining his ves. The other ves had identified the ve who confessed to the murder as one of the two direct subordinates of Phragres, but the other hadmitted suicide the night we found the bodies. I reckon it was them who had buried the bodies all along; otherwise, they wouldn''t have been so clear about the bodies¡¯ locations¡­ Unfortunately, no matter how hard we torture him, he always says that he was the one that killed them¡­¡± Said Theokases with some frustration.

    ¡°Those council members kepting to mediate for Phragres, which is giving me a hard time. If you still can''t find conclusive evidence of his murder, I am afraid¡­¡± Stromboli stroked his beard and said, ¡°What is the punishment for murdering ves?¡±

    ¡°ording to the court, ten years in prison andrge sums of money for the most serious cases. However, all the dead were ves, and only one was a daughter of a registered freeman who wasn''t a citizen. Therefore, even if he really murdered them, he would likely not be sentenced to death! Judge Ardalus even urged me today to hand over the ve and Phragres to the court as soon as possible to conclude the trial and avoid the matter getting bigger and causing panic in the city¡­I think he got some benefit from Ladician!¡± Said Theokases angrily.

    ¡°Don''t spout rubbishes! The courts are independent; neither could I affect them nor interfere! Maybe judge Ardalus thought it was nothing as it was just a few ves that died.¡± Stromboli calmed him down. However, concern still showed on his face, ¡°But in that case, Phragres would be fine, and the Senate won¡¯t be able to punish Ladician because he wouldn¡¯t be involved in the case. Instead, you willpletely offend him¡­¡±

    ¡°I am not afraid of them!¡± Said Theokases firmly.

    Stromboli sighed and said, ¡°With our support, you naturally don''t need to be afraid. But it is still trouble after all¡­it seems that I need to write to his majesty again¡­¡±

    ¡°Why write to his majesty?¡± Theokases asked suspiciously.

    ¡°Because his majesty hates citizens who abused their ves the most. A few years ago, a member of the local council of Crotone had severely injured his ve for no reason, but the local judge just gave him a fine. After his majesty Davos learned about it, he asked the court to impose additional punishment. Thus he wasn''t only fined arge amount but also sentenced to one-year imprisonment¡­ This time, if he knew that so many female ves had died, you can only imagine how angry he would be. By then, could Phragres still keep his life?!¡± A cold smile appeared on Stromboli''s face.

    Theokases nodded.

    At this time, Stromboli patted his forehead as he suddenly remembered something, ¡°By the way, immediately invite the priest of the Temple of Hades and see if they can make the ve confess¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    For the Greek city-states in this era, there were three mostmon punishments for criminals: Imposing fines for the less severe cases; Physical punishment, such as getting ountable, flogging, and torture for the more severe cases; But in strict city-states such as Locri, a much more cruel means would be imposed such as having their hands cut off and their eyes gouged, and execution for extreme cases; And of course, there is the standard punishment where they would get deprived of their citizenship and get deported.

    However, Greek city-states had no imprisonment because the criminal wouldn¡¯t be able to work. Yet, they would still have to provide food for him, which was uneptable for a city-state government with fewer people and less money. Thus these Greek city-states had no fixed jails.

    But the kingdom of Theonia differed from other Greek city-states. The Theonia Law has no dismemberment as punishment, but it has provisions ording to the severity of the crime and the length of imprisonment. Therefore, every city in the kingdom has jails, most of which are in the guard stations.

    At this moment, Theokases weed Corinthus, a priest of the Temple of Hades in Naxos, with respect and entered the jail in the guard house.

    Corinthus was originally a priest at the Temple of Athena in Thurii. However, after the establishment of the Temple of Hades and Hades¡¯ faith quickly spread throughout the union and won widespread support, fewer and fewer people came to the Temple of Athena to pray. At the same time, Corinthus himself became attracted by the teachings of Hades and finally began serving the king of the underworld. After a few years, Corinthus won the trust of the chief priest Plesinas with his ability and was appointed to be the priest in charge of the newlypleted Temple of Hades in Naxos.

 Chapter 589: The Priest of Hades and the Slave

    Back then, the people of Naxos were still unfamiliar with the Temple of Hades, so Corinthus was responsible for spreading Hades'' teachings. After seven years, the people here have entirely epted Hades, the benevolent king of the underworld, and the number of people worshipping him every day became much greater than that of Demeter, which shows Corinthus'' ability and the hard work he had put in over the years.

    Although Corinthus had been to the jail many times, he still couldn''t get used to its dark, damp and smelliness. Corinthus continued to walk through the passage while ignoring the cries of other prisoners in the prison cells on both sides. Finally, he stopped at a cell.

    The jailer then removed the lock and pushed open the iron gate.

    Corinthus walked inside, but a smell of blood struck his nose and made him frown. He then continued to walk a few more steps and saw a naked man lying down in the corner through a faint lighting from a narrow window. The many there motionless as the blood oozing from the numerous scars outside his body dried up, and the only thing they could hear was the faint sound of breathing¡­

    Corinthus then turned to look at Theokases, who was following him and rebuked him, ¡°Why did you strike him so hard?!¡±

    Facing the priest''s reproachful gaze, Theokases became a bit ashamed as he replied hesitantly, ¡°He¡­he doesn¡¯t want to tell the truth¡­¡±

    ¡°All of you go out; leave us here.¡± Corinthus said deeply.

    ¡°Esteemed priest, it''s too dangerous here!¡± Warned the jailer.

    ¡°Don''t worry; With Hades'' blessing, he won''t hurt me!¡± Said Corinthus firmly.

    Then Theokases and his men began leaving.

    ¡°Also, bring me a few pots of boiling water.¡± Corinthus made another request.

    After they left, Corinthus and the two priests who came with him carefully carried the ve to the simple bed next to him.

    Corinthus had gained a great deal of experience from visiting the jail many times, so he had made his subordinates carry tworge medicine boxes, one containing medicine for external wounds and one with clean linen whening here. Once the guards delivered the boiling water, he and his subordinates first dipped the linen in the water and began wiping away the blood from the ve''s body. Then they would gently peel off the hardened blood mixed with dirt and grass on the wound. Afterwards, they would remove the pus from the wounds bit by bit¡­

    Back then, Davos instructed Herpus to send physicians to train the priests of the Temple of Hades in basic first aid skills. And Corinthus was considered one of the priests that studied hard, and coupled with years of practice, his level of treatment could beparable to a Theonian physician.

    But no matter how gentle they were, cleaning up the wounded part was still painful that it woke up the ve. When the ve saw a man squatting in front of him in a white robe with a simple ck letter ¡®A¡¯ drawn on his chest, he subconsciously struggled to sit up.

    ¡°Stop moving; wait until I finish treating and bandaging your wounds.¡± The kind voice made the ve shiver slightly. He then felt that the voice was familiar as if it was the voice he heard during the ve liberation ceremony of Naxos during Hades'' Day on September 9 every year.

    ¡°¡­benevolent priest Corinthus?!¡± He hoarsely shouted in uncertainty.

    ¡°It''s me.¡± His answer was like a warm ray of sunshine shining into the ve''s cold-dying heart, making his eyes moist with tears in an instant. He struggled to prop up his head and stare in awe at the old man who was rubbing a cold andfortable medicine on his wound and then covered the wound with a clean linen strip¡­ The old man didn''t even care that his face, covered with beads of sweat, had stained the white robe with his blood and dirt.

    After Corinthus finished his treatment, he reached out to wipe the ve''s sweat and asked, ¡°What''s your name?¡±

    But the ve didn''t respond, so Corinthus looked at the ve and saw tears fill his eyes. The ve was looking at him straight while biting his lips hard, trying not to make any sound, which relieved Corinthus as it seemed he would be able to talk to him.

    Corinthus looked at the ve seriously and said, ¡°You know how to cry at this time, yet you murdered so many people cruelly!¡±

    ¡°I didn''t-¡± seeing the man he respected the most misunderstood him, the ve almost blurted out the truth; He then hurriedly shut his mouth and said reluctantly, ¡°Once I die, I would face the three judges, and they would give me a fair trial.¡±

    ¡°A fair trial?¡± Corinthus briefly pondered and said, ¡°Even if you didn''t kill anyone, you are lying. Aren''t you afraid to have your tongue pulled in hell and face endless sufferings?! If you hide the truth and let the real criminal escape punishment, you would be an aplice, and the three judges will have you bear half of the responsibility for his crimes. By then, it wouldn''t be just having your tongue pulled. Are you prepared?¡±

    After hearing those words, the ve''s expression changed considerably, and he quickly lowered his head. Then he saw his hands clenching, which caused his blood to ooze on the newly bound linen.

    ¡°Don''t clench your hands too much; else your wound would open again!¡± Corinthus immediately patted his arm with concern. Seeing that he was still clenching his fist, he asked softly, ¡°What''s your name?¡±

    ¡°¡­Lakse.¡± The ve squeezed out his name.

    ¡°Are you a Numidian?¡± Corinthus looked at the ve''s dark skin and said, ¡°I heard from the constable that four of the girls killed were Numidians, which are all your countrymen!¡±

    Lakse''s body shivered.

    ¡°From what the constable said, the six skeletons were buried neatly, and each one had an obol on its mouth. The murderer wouldn''t have been so kind as to do that¡­Lakse, it was the kindness in your heart that prompted you to do that, was it not?¡­¡± Corinthus sighed and said with certainty, ¡°I believe you aren''t the murderer. Rather, the real murderer had simply forced you to obey hismand!¡±

    Lakse''s shoulders shook more. Then they heard a low sobbing sound.

    ¡°It must be painful for you to live like this, my son¡­¡± Corinthus sighed again, but his tone became stern, ¡°But¡­now that there is a chance to catch the murderer and have him severely punished by thew, you had instead taken the me for him and gave him a chance to hurt more Numidian girls in the future. Could you really put up with that?! And are you really willing to do that?!¡±

    ¡°I am not!¡± Lakse raised his head. He then roared with emotion as tears filled his eyes, ¡°What can I do? I am just a ve while he is a powerful man! And my wife and two daughters are in his hands! What can I do?!!!¡±

    ¡°Hades was the most just among the gods. Whether ves or statesmen, he would treat them all equally. Following his will, his majesty Davos created the Law of Theonia to protect the good and punish all the evil people in the kingdom of Theonia. There is nothing for you to worry about, and tell the truth! O Hades, I, Corinthus, your pious devotee, swears that I would protect Lakse''s wife and daughter and never let any harme to them!¡±

    Lakse was surprised to watch Corinthus ce his left hand on his chest while raising his right hand and piously pledging an oath. Feeling endless gratitude, the wall in Lakse¡¯s heart melted. He then knelt down in front of Corinthus with a ¡®plop¡¯.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Theokases walked into the waiting room of Naxos'' city hall and said excitedly as soon as he saw Stromboli, ¡°Milord, your suggestion truly worked. The ve finally confessed!¡±

    Stromboli then said withcency and emotionally, ¡°All I know is that the ves of the kingdom are the ones who believed in the Temple of Hades the most. After all, ves from everywhere would run to the Temple of Hades from time to time to cry out their grievances. Speaking of which, it had something to do with that case rted to Pollux that rocked Magna Graecia more than a decade ago¡­¡±

    ¡°Milord.¡± Theokases stepped forward and whispered with a slight tensed expression, ¡°That ve also revealed another thing about Ladician¡­¡±

    Stromboli looked at Theokases'' expression and said, ¡°What is it?¡±

    Theokases didn''t speak. Instead, he handed him the note in his hand.

    After carefully reading the note, Stromboli was startled that his two white eyebrows tensed up. He then mmed the note on the table and asked in a hurry, ¡°Is what he told the truth?!¡±

    ¡°He said he didn''t do it. It was the ve, who had killed himself, that had been doing it secretly and confided it to him when he got drunk¡­I can''t confirm the truth of this matter now.¡± In a rare disy of hesitation, Theokases said, ¡°This matter directly involves elder Ladician¡­so I came here to ask for your instructions.¡±

    ¡°You''ve done well on not acting without authorisation.¡± Stromboli nodded in approval of Theokases'' approach. But his mind recalled some of the rumours he had heard vaguely during his years in Naxos.

    With his hands on his hunched back, he walked slowly around the living room with a solemn expression. On the other hand, Theokases just waited for him quietly.

    A momentter, Stromboli pondered and asked, ¡°Who else knows about this?¡±

    ¡°Me and my two most trusted men¡­and priest Corinthus¡­¡±

    ¡°Tell your men never say anything! Otherwise-¡± Stromboli''s eyes shed with fierceness.

    ¡°Understood, milord.¡±

    ¡°The priest is a smart man; I will speak with him about this. Not to mention that there is aw forbidding the priests from interfering in political matters.¡± Stromboli stroked his beard. He then looked at Theokases and ordered, ¡°Drag this case for the moment and keep Phragres in custody. However, do not interrogate him. Moreover, keep that ve in prison for the time being¡­I will go and speak to judge Ardalus and ask him to give you some more time; I believe he would still give favour to this old man¡­ Now, I am going to write a letter to his majesty, so you should hurry back and take care of your guard house.¡±

    After seeing Theokases leave, Stromboli gazed down at the note on his desk with a sneer appearing on his wrinkled face, ¡°Ladician, will you be the second Pollux?¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile, Antonios, the chief of the military of the kingdom of Theonia, sat in the courtyard with his nephew in his residence, talking with each other while enjoying delicious food.

    By now, it was already evening, the night had just fallen, and the moon had risen. But in the courtyard were a dozen candles as thick as a toddler''s army illuminating Antonios'' residence. The crisp sound ofughter could be heard as three children chased each other and frolicked in the surrounding passages by the bright candlelight as the crisp sound ofughter continued.

 Chapter 590: Contradictions

    ¡°Time flew by so quickly, yet I could still remember when you first took over Irna. Back then, Isaphina was still just a few months old and couldn''t even speak; the only thing she knew was how to cry. At that time, I advised you to leave Isaphina behind since your aunt Doreen had just given birth to Antidorus and had enough milk to feed the two children. However, you rejected it¡­ Next thing I know, six years had passed; Isaphina had be a big girl, and Alex had be a little man!¡± Antonios listened to the children''sughter and eximed, ¡°If your mother could see this, she would be thrilled!¡±

    Asistes was silent for a moment and said, ¡°Yes, uncle. Back when you took me to be a mercenary, I would have never expected to have such a life today. It''s all thanks to his majesty!¡±

    Antonios was startled and then raised his liquor and said, ¡°Come, let us toast to his majesty Davos!¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    After drinking, a female Sicel ve beside him hurriedly filled Asistes'' mug and then leaned over to Asistes.

    Asistes nced at her, which made her sit back immediately.

    After seeing that, Antonios smiled and said, ¡°Asi, Doreen is apanying your wife in choosing Carthaginian jewellery in the main building, so you don''t have to worry that she wille here.¡±

    ¡°It has nothing to do with Dina. Rather, I dislike it myself.¡± Asistes said expressionlessly.

    Antonios was stunned again. After looking at the expression of Asistes, he suddenly pushed away the beautiful Sicel ve in his arms and said, ¡°Leave.¡±

    ¡°Master!¡± The female ve said in a charming voice as she tried to lean on him again.

    ¡°Go!¡± Antonios put on a firm expression, and the female ve no longer dared to act like a spoiled girl and left obediently.

    ¡°You too!¡± Antonios then pointed to the female ve beside Asistes.

    After both ves left, Antonios said deeply, ¡°Asi, you''ve been in a bad mood sinceing here today. Are you angry with me?¡±

    ¡°Uncle, before I resigned from my post in Irna, I heard that you and a group of statesmen from Sicily proposed in the Senate for me to be the next praetor of Naxos?¡± since Antonios opened up the topic, Asistes just asked directly without mincing his words.

    ¡°There is indeed such a case.¡± Antonios nodded in admission, ¡°Don''t me your uncle for not discussing this with you beforehand. It''s just that those Crotonians also want to get their hands on Naxos, but who are they to do so?! Without us rescuing them, they would have long perished during the South Italian War!¡±

    ¡°Crotone is now a part of the kingdom.¡± Warned Asistes.

    ¡°The soldiers of the first legion shed their blood and life to retake Naxos; I will never allow a group of cowards to infect it!¡± said Antonios rather angrily. He then looked at Asistes, ¡°And Asi, your resignation coincides with that of Stromboli, which would allow you to take over without any dy directly. Otherwise, you would have to wait for a vacancy in the Senate and wouldn¡¯t have anything to do for some time. What''s more, with your excellent performance of getting elected as the praetor of Irna by the Senate twice in a row, and his majesty''s trust in you, it would be very easy for you to be the praetor of Naxos!¡±

    Asistes shook his head and said softly, ¡°I''ve been working for six years now and am a little tired. I just don''t want to go somewhere far away like Sicily and just want to stay in Thurii.¡±

    ¡°Asi, you are still young. You should take advantage of your youth to serve as the praetor in the kingdom''s eastern, western, southern and northern cities to increase your administrative experience so that¡­you can serve as a provincial governor in the future!¡± Urged Antonios.

    ¡°Provincial governor?!¡± Asistes looked at him in surprise.

    ¡°This is what I learned from others: Thinking that the kingdom now had too many cities and matters to attend to, his majesty Davos decided to set up provinces and have governors govern the cities under their jurisdiction, making it more convenient¡­ Moreover, he also consulted with that old man Kunogta secretly.¡± said Antonios simply, but it was clear that he put a lot of effort into getting this news.

    After hearing this, Asistes lost interest, ¡°This position is still out of my reach. Rather, I just want to spend some time in Thurii. After not seeing Thurii for a few years, it¡¯s changed had been too great!!¡±

    ¡°Asi, with his majesty''s trust, and as long as you continue enriching your governing experience, you would be able to bridge the gap between your age. The position of governor of this province must belong to you! The provincial governor would manage a region with three to fourrge cities, hundreds to two hundred thousands of people, which is far more glorious than being the king of Sparta!¡± Antonios continued to persuade him, ¡°That''s why you should go and take over the position of the praetor of Naxos!¡±

    ¡°Uncle, is it really for my sake that you are so eager to have me take over Naxos?!¡± Asistes could no longer endure.

    ¡°How can you say such a thing?! I am your uncle, so it is only natural for me to think of your sake!¡± Antonios'' suppressed his anger when hearing that, but it turned his expression ugly.

    But Asistes bluntly said, ¡°No, you are not thinking about me. Instead, you are doing me a disservice! Uncle, his majesty had praised you as the conqueror of Catania at the Triumphant Return that year. But you and I all know that neither Alexius unt his title as the ¡®Vanquisher of the Samnites¡¯, nor did Hielos call himself the ¡®Conqueror of Locri¡¯, and even his majesty, whomanded the Theonian army from beginning to end of that magnificent war, didn''t call himself the ¡®Conqueror of Syracuse¡¯! Only you, uncle, had truly thought of yourself as the ¡®Conqueror of Catania¡¯ under the ttering of those Sicilian statesmen. Not only had you made others call you that every day, but you had also taken Catakatax* into your name¡­you obviously forgot that without his majesty''s prior nning and arrangement, and without the help of Lord Antrapolis, there is no way the first legion would have been able to defeat the Syracusan allied army, which was many times your number-¡± (It means Conqueror of Catania.)

    ¡°ENOUGH! Don''t associate me with that sneaky little rat! What''s wrong if I named myself Antonios Catakatax*? Didn''t his majesty name his eldest son Crotokatax as well?! This is my honour, which is also the honour of our first legion!¡­¡± Antonios angrily shouted at Asistes.

    Asistes continued calmly, ¡°Uncle, haven''t you realised that you have changed in recent years? After bing the praetor of Naxos for six years, you have forgotten your former identity due to the amazement and ttery the people there had shown! Look at the candles in your courtyard, these dishes, and the female ves just now¡­¡±

    Asistes pointed to the table filled with dishes, many of which he had never eaten or seen, ¡°Uncle, I heard that guests would oftene here to visit and give gifts to you in the past few years after you came back, and most of them are Sicilians. The tribunal officers of Thurii also protested about you not restraining yourself¡­in the Senate, you had led those Sicilian statesmen and would even speak for them to protect their interests. Didn''t you know that the other statesmen have a lot of opinions about it, including our former mercenaryrades?! Do you really think you are the king of Sicily?! Uncle, it''s time you woke up! There is only one king in Theonia, and that can only be his majesty Davos!-¡±

    ¡°Shut up!!¡± Antonios angrily grabbed the liquor on the table and threw it to the ground. With a bang, the content sshed everywhere.

    Asistes felt pain as a broken shard scratched his cheek. He then heard Antonios shout incoherently and angrily, ¡°Shut up! Shut up! What do you know?! What do you know?!!¡­¡±

    ¡°I have been with his majesty for so long that I know a lot more than you!¡± Asistes without faltering, ¡°Why I don¡¯t want to go to Naxos? It''s because I don''t want his majesty to think that I''ve be a part of your Sicilian faction or even for him to suspect that you had intentions to form a good rtionship with Bagul and Hemon and to work together in the Senate! Wake up, uncle! The others had ced you so high that you couldn''t even see the danger of where you stand. Don''t be foolish by allowing others to use you as their knife!¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, this is¡­what happened?! Why are you making such a huge ruckus?!¡± The voice of Antonios'' wife, Doreen, sounded in the courtyard.

    ¡°Asistes, why is your face bleeding?!¡± Dina ran to Asistes in surprise, wanting to touch his wound. Asistes, however, grabbed her hand and said, ¡°I am fine; it''s just a scratch.¡±

    ¡°Oh, why did the liquor jar break?!¡± Doreen was surprised when she saw the debris on the ground. She then said to the ve standing by, ¡°What are you still waiting for? Clean this up quickly! And, go bring another jar of liquor!¡±

    Once the woman was present, Antonios could no longer stay angry. Instead, he waved his hand and said, ¡°No more! No more!¡±

    ¡°Dina, call the children; we should go back,¡± Asistes grabbed his wife''s hand and squeezed it twice.

    Dina immediatelyplied and went to call the children.

    Although Doreen felt something strange, she still kindly said, ¡°It''s still rather early; why don''t you and your uncle talk a little more as you haven''t seen each other for so many years? Moreover, Dina and I are having a good chat.¡±

    ¡°What''s there for us to talk about? If he wants to go, just let him leave!¡± Antonios said angrily.

    ¡°Antonios, look at you. It seems you''ve drunk a bit too much.¡± Doreen hastily gave him a light p. She then looked at Asistes apologetically, ¡°Your uncle was too busytely and isn''t in the best of tempers; He even got angry at me the other day, so don''t take it to heart if he said anything inappropriate!¡±

 Chapter 591: Ladician

    Asistes looked at his aunt, who was a dozen years younger than himself and spoke with an apologetic expression. Despite his animosity with Ladician, he still felt that Antonios chose a good wife. Thus he said politely to her, ¡°How could I be angry with my uncle? It''s just that it''s already a littlete, and we need to go home; we''lle back another day.¡±

    After that, he discreetly said to Antonios, ¡°Uncle, think about what I said just now.¡±

    Antonios snorted, which caused Doreen to pinch him again and caused Antonios to swallow all the words he wanted to say.

    After sending off Asistes, Doreen said angrily to Antonios, ¡°What happened that made you throw such a big tantrum?¡±

    ¡°This is an official matter, so don''t ask anymore.¡± Said Antonios unhappily.

    ¡°Alright, I won''t ask anymore! But don''t talk to me in the future!¡± Doreen pouted angrily.

    ¡°Okay, okay, I am the one in the wrong¡­¡± Antonios, who was the chief of the military of the kingdom and in his 50s, hurriedly hugged Doreen in his arms and repeatedly apologised, ¡°It''s just that Asistes didn''t agree with me in electing him as the praetor of Naxos, and as a result¡­we had a quarrel.¡±

    ¡°Why? Isn''t being the praetor of Naxos good?¡± Doreen wondered.

    ¡°Who knows what he is thinking? Asi¡®s wing has hardened that he wouldn''t even listen to his uncle anymore!¡± Antonios still said angrily.

    ¡°Anyway, he is your only nephew.¡± Doreen stroked Antonios'' beaded face and kissed him gently. Then with her charming eyes, she said, ¡°Antidorus had yed so hard tonight that Una could easily put him to sleep in a moment. I''ll first take a bath and wait for you in the room¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay¡­¡± With his wife''s seduction, the fire in Antonios'' heart became more intense.

    Doreen married Antonios at 17, more than 20 years younger than him. Not only was she beautiful and virtuous, but she bore him a son so that Antonios, who always felt that he was too old, could be extremely fond of her and therefore care for her father, Ladician, and his family much more.

    As he watched his wife''s slim figure walk toward the main building, he could no longer endure it.

    ¡°Antonios! Antonios! Something big has happened! Something big has happened!¡­¡± Suddenly, Ladician shouted anxiously at the hallway.

    Ladician could always go in and out of Antonios'' residence as freely as his own home. Although he interrupted Antonios'' mood, Antonios couldn''t easily get angry at Doreen''s father. Thus he said to Ladician, who had rushed in, ¡°What is it again?!¡±

    But Ladician''s anxiety made him unable to notice that something was wrong with Antonios, and he shouted, ¡°Phragres is locked up in Naxos! And Stromboli won''t release him!¡±

    ¡°What has Phragres gotten himself into again?!¡± Antonios immediately frowned as he asked impatiently. Amongst Doreen''s family, he had the least affection for Phragres, especially after this rogue tried to harass Alexius'' daughter, Gedia, which caused a bigmotion when he was in Thurii. Antonios even need to use their many years of camaraderie and beg Alexius for his understanding so he won¡¯t pursue this matter. Apart from that, he also asked Kapus and their otherrades to plead for him. It was only after all of that did Phragres narrowly escaped with a light sentence of four months of imprisonment and a fine.

    ¡®What did this bastard do this time that made Stromboli hold on to him?!¡¯ Antonios began to feel uneasy.

    ¡°What happened to Phragres?¡± Doreen''s voice sounded from behind Antonios.

    When Ladician saw his daughter, he immediately changed his target to plead, ¡°Doreen, they wrongly used your brother and locked him in jail. His life is in danger!¡­¡±

    Ladician began telling his daughter what had happened, but he naturally made it so that it was the ve who killed the ve girls and the freeman''s daughter, not Phragres.

    ¡°A ve would dare kill its master''s ve girl so often?! Do you really think everyone is a fool?!!¡± Antonios shouted at Ladician, ¡°You should''ve listened to what I said before! If you had locked him up for two to three years to make him learn his lesson, he wouldn''t be in this situation today!¡±

    Ladician had never seen Antonios so angry that it made him subconsciously avert his gaze and say to Doreen, ¡°I wasn''t in Naxos, so I don''t know the specific situation, and I only found out from the letters of Anteros. However, even if Phragres was the one who killed them, but with the ve voluntarily confessing and the ones dying are only females, there is no need for Stromboli to take it so seriously! Is it really enough to sentence Phragres to death because of this?!¡±

    After speaking those words but seeing Antonios was still cold and serious, Ladician began to cry, ¡°I know Phragres isn''t a good man, but he is the only son I have. In addition, he hasn''t gotten married, let alone had children¡­ If they sentence him to death, our family¡¯s bloodline will end! Doreen, can you bear to see me die unable to face your grandfather in the underworld?!¡­¡±

    Doreen was horrified that her brother had killed so many people viciously. Still, her father''s bitter pleading made her ufortable that she didn''t know what to do besides look at Antonios.

    After seeing his beloved wife''s eyes, Antonios'' heart couldn''t help but soften. He then kicked a fragment of the y jar from the ground into the pool in the middle of the courtyard, crossed his arms and said to Ladician, ¡°I don''t understand the details of thew, so tell me how you want to save that bastard?!¡±

    When Ladician saw the softened expression of Antonios, he hurriedly said, ¡°There is no provision in the Theonian Code that says that a citizen who kills his ve would be punishable by death. Besides, with the freeman withdrawing his report and a ve confessing to the crime, the case could reasonably be closed. However, the constable of Naxos kept dying transferring the case to the court and holding Phragres in custody for longer than the time limit, which is against thew! Antonios, you only need to speak to the supreme judge Tritodemos and ask him to put in a word for Stromboli and transfer this case to the court sooner¡­as it is illegal for the praetor to interfere in court matters!¡±

    Why haven''t Ladician gone straight to Tritodemos? Although he was making friends in Thurii with his financial strength, several circles didn''t pay much attention to him.

    The statesmen from Amendra were famous for their conservatism and arrogance as they would often take pride as the earlier statesmen of the union and disdain theter, Ladician''s, shrewdness.

    On the other hand, most of the Lucanian statesmen only concerned themselves with Lucanian matters. However, they had close rtionships with the statesmen who were former mercenaries and disliked interacting with the statesmen from other regions, especially the statesmen from Sicily, because they could get no interest as one belonging to the south while the other to the north of the kingdom. The only exception was Hemon, but this statesman who was famous for marrying out his daughter had fallen out with Ladician over the fact that Phragres tried to pursue his youngest daughter.

    There were also the statesmen from Thurii, born in the kingdom''s centre and known for their nobility. But the case of Pollux had resulted in most of the statesmen from Thurii going into prison. In addition, the remaining andter statesmen acted more cautiously, not only toward the statesmen from Sicily but also towards the statesmen from other regions.

    While the statesmen who were former mercenaries, as the saviour of Amendra, had spent the longest time with the statesmen from Amendra. In addition, therge-scale marriage back then had made both sides have a tighter rtionship. Hence Ladician hoped that Antonios woulde forward and persuade Tritodemos to contact Stromboli. With bothing from Amendra, Stromboli would definitely give him this favour¡­that was Ladician''s beautiful idea.

    ¡°Tritodemos¡­¡± muttered Antonios while deep in his thoughts. Indeed,pared with the more conservative and stubborn Stromboli, it would be much easier to speak with Tritodemos, who was the first to take the initiative to get close with the mercenaries along with Protesus.

    The reason Tritodemos could hold on to the supreme judge position for over ten years wasn¡¯t because of his trial of Pollux but because of an act proposed by King Davos and passed by the Senate nine years ago: Positions such as Judges and Taxation Officials that required a high degree of professional knowledge, couldn¡¯t be appointed to this position but must be held by specially trained citizens and have been promoted over time.

    Thus it was then decided that Tritodemos would remain in this position until his retirement because the Laws of Theonia state: Citizens would not be allowed to hold any specific public office in the kingdom after the age of 65 because of old age and frailty. However, a statesman would still remain as a statesman. And after Davos first proposed this bill, it was passed without much opposition as there were not many people who could have lived to the age of 60 in this era.

    Since the only other position besides the ¡®Supreme Judge¡¯ is the ¡®Justice¡¯, which the king of Theomia holds, there was a proposal in the Senate some time ago as to whether to add several more posts of ¡®Supreme Judge¡¯. After all, the expansion of the kingdom''s territory and the sharp increase of the poption naturally led to a rise in the number of crimes and offences that required immediate judgment by Tritodemos, which overwhelmed him. Hence even Tritodemos himself agreed to it, but the matter is still in nning.

 Chapter 592: The King and the Court Herald

    ¡°Are you sure what the guards had done is illegal?¡± Antonios asked again.

    ¡°That''s for certain! Although Theonia has a lot ofws, I have read all of them these past few years, and I can even recite many of them by heart. To tell you the truth, I might even be qualified for the supreme judge position.¡± Said Ladician boastfully.

    ¡°Alright, I''ll discuss it with Tritodemos.¡± Antonios nodded and agreed in the end. And with that reason, he would speak to the one serving as a supreme judge for over a decade.

    ¡°Antonios, there''s one more thing.¡± Ladician added, ¡°It''s already September, so Stromboli''s term should end soon, and we should now elect a sessor of the praetor of Naxos! I heard that Asistes and his family had just left here; how was your negotiation with him?!¡±

    Hearing this, Doreen looked at her husband worriedly.

    When Antonios looked at the impatient Ladician, he felt inexplicable anger when he remembered what Asistes had previously said. Thus he said unhappily, ¡°Phragres has caused such a huge problem that it is still a question where we can solve it or not. Yet, father-inw, you are still worried about the selection of the praetor of Naxos?! Is the choice of the Praetor of Naxos something that we can just say and decide?!¡±

    ¡°If the praetor of Naxos is someone we are familiar with, the other statesmen and I can feel at ease. Look at what Stromboli has done in Naxos during his years; it ispletely iparable to when you were in charge. What''s more, we are more worried about Naxos getting messed up, so we only want to choose a statesman we are familiar with that won''t make a mess in Naxos¡­ Although the praetor¡¯s election has always been the most important matter for us statesmen, the other statesmen understood that we know the most about Sicily, so they shouldn¡¯tpete with us!¡± Ladician retorted with confidence.

    ¡°You are a fool!¡± Although he had quarrelled with Asistes earlier, Antonios wasn''t unaware of those things. Thus when he saw thecent expression of Ladician, Antonios could no longer hold himself, ¡°Who do you think you are? The king of Theonia?! All the candidates for the city¡¯s praetor can only be appointed with his majesty Davos'' permission. Even though he didn''t say anything during the elections back then, I fear it was because he felt it was unnecessary. But this time¡­you must know that he hates citizens who mistreat the ves the most! What do you think his majesty Davos would do if you still jump out this time to get benefits?!¡±

    These words caused Ladician to freeze on the spot.

    ¡°What¡­what should we do then?!¡± Doreen asked worriedly.

    ¡°We could only pray that his majesty hasn''t noticed about Phragres'' matter¡­¡± Sighed Antonios.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°¡­the whole family of Asistes went to Antonios'' house for a dinner¡­¡± Davos read the new information that Aristias reported and smiled slightly, ¡°Aristias, isn''t your subordinates have too much time on their hand? They even paid attention to such trivial matter like a family gathering?¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, I decided to show you this report because I thought it deserved attention.¡± Said Aristias calmly.

    ¡°Why do you think so¡­¡± Davos looked at him with a rtively calm expression, but the majesty he emanated forced Aristias to bow his head slightly, ¡°Then tell me what they talked about at the banquet that made you think something was wrong!¡±

    ¡°This¡­I do not know.¡± Aristias replied bluntly, ¡°However, I know that when Asistes hasn''t yet returned to Thurii, Antonios, Ladician¡­and the other statesmen of Sicily have been trying to elect Asistes as the praetor of Naxos. In addition, I have just received a confidential report from Naxos about a shucking murder case, and that Ladician''s son, Phragres, is a prime suspect and has been taken into custody by the guards of Naxos.¡±

    ¡°Phragres? Isn''t he the same young man who made a scandal at the graduation banquet at Adoris'' school¡­¡± This familiar name reminded Davos of a farce in Thurii two years ago. Although everyone was shocked at what happened, Davos remained unperturbed as it was amon urrence in his previous life when energetic young people drank too much and started to grope around. In the end, no substantial harm happened.

    ¡°It''s indeed him, your majesty.¡±

    ¡°How was he involved with the murder?¡± asked Davos.

    Davos then listened as Aristias hurriedly recounted the whole case in detail. But his expression gradually turned grim, and he said, ¡°It seems that Ladician''s son is too daring that he is bent on leaving his name in the legal history of the kingdom by unprecedently killing six people in a row! What''s the point of Theonia having a court if he could get away with this?!¡±

    ¡°Bang!¡± Davos mmed his right hand on the desk, causing Aristias'' heart to tighten. Then Aristias head Davos say, ¡°What do you mean when you said that the guard station of Naxos is now detaining the ve that already confessed and the criminal, instead of resolving the case as soon as possible?!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, I also do not know. It''s just that Lord Stromboli made several appointments with judge Ardalus of Naxos and repeatedly refused to meet the housekeeper of Ladician. In addition, the priest of the Temple of Hades in Naxos had even gone to the jail in Naxos once¡­¡± said Aristias with caution.

    ¡°It seems Stromboli''s letter would arrive soon¡­ I want to see what they''re up to!¡± Davos tapped his fingers and fell into deep thought.

    In fact, a statesman''s son murdering someone wasn''t a big deal as they just needed to issue a warrant for a thorough investigation, which simply wouldn''t cause a significant disturbance. But what Davos saw through this murder case was a deeper problem: Why did the officials of the Census Registry office of Naxos didn''t discover the ves'' problems of Ladician in time, which led to the killing of one ve girl after another*? (The Law of Theonia stiptes that citizens must register the ves they purchase in the city''s registry. And every year, they must check the number of ves and their health simultaneously as they check the city''s poption.) Why did the people of Naxos not dare go to the mountain where Ladician''s field is located, which wasmon to the kingdom? Otherwise, someone would have already found the burial ce! Why did the members of the local council of Naxos mediate for Ladician''s son once something happened to him that even Stromboli had to decline seeing visitors?! And why can''t the judge of Naxos work together with the constable to sentence the actual murderer as soon as possible, instead of stalling it like this?¡­

    ¡®It seems there is a huge problem in Naxos! And I fear that it isn''t only in Naxos¡­¡¯ Davos tapped the back of the chair''s armrest: After the Magna Graecian War, Theonia upied almost all thends in Magna Graecia. However, the poption sharply decreased due to the war, and vacantnds littered the kingdom. Apart from that, they needed to readjust many systems due to the kingdom''s establishment¡­ Thus with work overwhelming Davos and the Senate, it was only natural for them to focus their efforts on thend of Magna Graecia, which was the foundation of the kingdom of Theonia. Hence they governed the Sicilian territory rtively loose without any stringent requirements as long as it remained stable and didn''t cause significant trouble. Thus the so-called ¡®Conqueror of Catania¡¯, Antonios, could continue to be the praetor of Naxos for six years, and Antrapolis, a new statesman who never had administrative experience, could be the praetor of Catania because of the trust of the exiles of Catania¡­

    Now that the overall situation of Magna Graecia was right on track, Davos, who originally wanted to wait for the end of the Daunian War before focusing his attention on purging Sicily, had to bring his n forward earlier.

    ¡°Ladician¡­Antonios¡­¡± Davos muttered their names in his mind. Then he suddenly remembered something and looked at Aristias, ¡°Isn''t Antrapolis still working as the vice praetor of Scylletium, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    It could be said that Antrapolis'' administrative path was high then became low: First, he served as the praetor of Catania. However, since Catania was a big city with a vast territory and arge andplex poption, he soon felt powerless due to hisck of administrative experience which nearly triggered an uprising. In the end, he volunteered to step down in his second year of working.

    Davos then sent Androlis to rece him, while the reluctant Antrapolis took the initiative to ask Davos for a local position to increase his administrative experience. Davos couldn''t refuse him after seeing the young statesman''s motivation, so he assigned him to Scylletium, which was currently under reconstruction. There, he works as the city''s constable for two years, the city''smercial officer for a year and now the vice praetor of Scylletium, mainly responsible for trade¡­ It took Antrapolis eight years to finally hold a major mid-level position in a city in Theonia.

    Currently, the ravaged city of Scylletium, which has experienced a decline after the war, has gradually be a new pearl in the south of Theonia. And Antrapolis, who had made significant contributions, had benefited from it a lot, and now no one in the Senate would make fun of him as a statesman who didn''t have administrative experience. On the contrary, he held much more administrative positions than some older statesmen.

 Chapter 593: The Queen and the Princess

    ¡°Antrapolis has done well! Even after his promotion as a statesman, he still had time to exercise, unlike some people who think that being a statesman is wonderful!¡­¡± Davos'' voice was soft, but Aristias'' eyes blinked involuntarily.

    ¡°Aris, your brother, has be a statesman, yet you are still a court herald. Do you regret it?¡± Davos looked at him and asked half-jokingly.

    After bing a king, Theonia''s governing system didn''t change besides asking the Senate to add several positions that were directly under the king''smand: One was the captain of the pce guard, held by Martius and was responsible for guarding the king and his family, as well as maintaining the pce''s order; The other was the secretary, held by Henipolis, who was responsible for writing letters for the king, and so on.; Lastly was the court''s herald, held by Aristias, who was responsible for conveying the king''s order, summoning the officials, and so on. Even though most statesmen knew that Davos had a group of subordinates responsible for collecting intelligence reports for him, Davos still felt that it would leave a harmful impact if he set up a position like the intelligence officer and brought this matter to the surface. Hence he used the herald position as a cover-up, but it was just like hanging a sheep''s head but selling dog meat. And these three positions are all mid-level positions, a much lower status than that of a statesman of the Senate.

    ¡°Your majesty, I have never regretted it. On the contrary, I like my current position as it enables me to use my abilities fully. Moreover, I think it is more glorious working as an ordinary civil servant beside your majesty than bing a statesman.¡± Said Aristias earnestly.

    ¡°You''ve learned to speak eloquently now!¡± Davos pointed to him andughed.

    ¡°It''s already gettingte; hurry back and take a rest.¡± Davos stood up and casually added, ¡°Keep an eye on Naxos.¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Aristias answered and left. Although he no longer lives in Davos'' residence, his house was near the pce, just at the foot of the hill.

    Davos then went out of his study and headed to the rear yard.

    When he was about to enter the main residence, Davos saw a slim figure standing beside the statue of Artemis in the garden.

    ¡°Cynthia.¡± Davos called softly.

    ¡°Fa¡­father!¡± Cynthia looked a bit flustered.

    ¡°It''s alreadyte; why are you still not sleeping?¡± Davos asked with concern.

    ¡°Erm¡­I am praying to Artemis, wishing my brother a safe return in his first expedition!¡± said Cynthia hurriedly.

    ¡°We had sent three legions to deal with the Daunians this time, plus a cavalry legion, totalling about 30,000 men. With our side having more soldiers than the other, we would easily get the victory. Thus there is no need for you to worry about Adoris at all, as even though he is new to the battle, he has always had talent inbat, especially in a one-on-one battle where many veterans are not his opponent. Besides, Olivos is there to take care of him, so what is there to worry about?!¡± Davos reassured her and then asked with a smile, ¡°Or you aren¡¯t just praying solely for Adoris?¡±

    ¡°Father!¡± Cynthia''s face began to blush.

    ¡°Once this war ends, your mother and I will officiate your wedding with Patroclus. You are already twenty years old, yet you are still unmarried. If you still don''t get married, the people will think that no one wants the princess of the kingdom of Theonia.¡± Davos teasingly said.

    Cynthia became shy and happy when talking about marriage, ¡°Thank you, father!¡±

    ¡°Hurry up and go to sleep.¡± Davos waved his hand. He then smiled and said, ¡°Patroclus, as a legion''s senior centurion, wouldn''t face any danger at all as he personally won''t fight the enemy. On the contrary, if you worry about him every day that you can''t get a night of sleep, it would result in your skin bing terrible. And once Patrocluses back, he might not want you anymore!¡±

    ¡°He dares!¡± Said Cynthia as she crossed her arms.

    Davos smiled. But as he was about to turn around and go upstairs, Cynthia''s grateful voice sounded, ¡°Father, thank you!¡±

    Davos immediately understood what she meant by thanking him: Cynthia was a charming girl at the age of 16, and with her status as the princess of the kingdom of Theonia, it was only natural that an endless stream of people woulde to propose, including the children (mainly adopted sons) of his former mercenaryrades. However, Davos rejected them one by one because Cynthia already had someone she liked, and Davos broke the Greek tradition by respecting her choice. After all, the daughters of citizens in Greek city-states belonged to their fathers until they married, and even though the Theonia kingdom was much more open, it was still a bit of a shock to allow a daughter to choose her own husband if she so wished.

    Davos paused but didn''t look back and just continued to head to the second floor.

    Sleeping at night wasn''t too much of a problem for Davos, who had two wives. He would even sleep with his wife by turn, and sometimes they would even offer to let him go to the other wife''s room when one got a period, which is quite harmonious. Sometimes he would even think that if he has three or even four wives, just choosing where to sleep every night would be a huge trouble. Although he had a huge goal, he never had such an idea. Rather, his only desire was to be healthy and live a longer life. Thus he did not indulge in his innermost desires too much.

    He then pushed open the door and went inside Cheiristoya''s bedroom.

    With the candlelight flickering in the bedroom, Cheiristoya had her back facing him as shey on her side on the bed, with a light nket dyed with red and blue stripes covering her body, only revealing her snow-white shoulders and slender legs.

    ¡°Cheiristoya.¡± Davos called her softly, but she didn''t respond, ¡®It seemed that I came back toote, and she was already deeply asleep.¡¯

    After walking gently to the bed, Davos removed the chiton he was wearing and prepared to lie down next to Cheiristoya. But when he pulled the nket, he was surprised to find that Cheiristoya wasn''t wearing any clothes. Even though Cheiristoya was already a mother of three, she still had delicate skin and maintained her figure. Her slim, fat-free waist extends down to her round and plump hips, making it look like a perfect undting and smooth body curve from a distance.

    Davos couldn''t resist snuggling to her smooth back, cing his right hand around her waist and his palm pressing on her soft chest. But just as he was about to do something, Cheiristoya suddenly turned around and kissed his face.

    ¡°You''re still not asleep?¡± Davos was slightly surprised.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Cheiristoya winked with her eyes as beautiful as silk, and her gorgeous red lips bit Davos'' mouth¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After making some love, the twoy side by side on the bed, panting softly.

    ¡°Who were you talking to downstairs just now?¡± Asked Cheiristoya softly.

    ¡°Cynthia, she is praying for Adoris and her future husband.¡±

    ¡°This little girl has been in a trance all this time, and it seems only that young man named Patroclus is in her mind. s, we can''t keep our daughter!¡±

    ¡°When our war against Dauni ends, let''s hold her marriage.¡±

    ¡°Out of all the fathers, you are too irresponsible. Others would choose a good husband for their daughter, but you didn''t choose from the children of numerous statesmen, important ministers and rich merchants who came to propose and just let her choose it herself!¡± Cheiristoyained.

    But Davos said seriously, ¡°In my current position, do I still need to use my daughter''s marriage to consolidate my power?! So just let Cynthia pick a satisfactory husband for herself, and at least she won''tin to me in the future. Besides, Patroclus'' family isn''t bad as well. Even though his father has a disability, he was someone capable and a respected demarchos. In addition, his excellent work made Lysias, the praetor of Thurii, consider promoting him as the vice praetor or agricultural officer of Thurii. And if he continues to develop like this, he will likely be a statesman at the age of fifty. In addition, Patroclus is also a hard worker, so even though he had only been in the legion for ten years, he was already the youngest senior centurion¡­ So it is safe to say that Cynthia had a good eye for picking a husband. And by marrying her splendidly, her dead parents could consider us worthy!¡±

    Cheiristoya was justining because she still couldn''t adapt to the sudden departure of her daughter. After listening to Davos, she could only exim, ¡°It would''ve been better if she was married earlier, removing Cro''s thoughts that he shouldn''t have¡­¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?! Cro-¡± Davos was surprised.

    ¡°Cro likes his sister who isn''t rted by blood.¡± Cheiristoya sighed again.

    ¡°Howe I am not aware of this?!¡± Davos was stunned.

    ¡°You are too busy with politics every day. Besides, I only noticed it after we agreed to Patroclus'' proposal, and Agnes alerted me about Cro having been in a bad mood for days on end¡­sigh¡­ Cheiristoya felt a bit of a headache when thinking about it.

    ¡°It''s not bad to have a daughter and a daughter-inw.¡± Said Davos jokingly.

    But when he saw Cheiristoya staring at him, he quickly changed his tone and said, ¡°Cro is still young and doesn''t understand the rtionship between men and women. I think he only admires Cynthia a little and would be fine once he gets older. Now that he is almost sixteen years old, it seems I should increase his military training to prepare for future military service while studying at Theonia''s Akademia so that he won''t even have the time to think about these things by then¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you really going to let Cro fight enemies in the future?!¡± Cheiristoya asked anxiously.

    ¡°How would he convince the kingdom''s citizens in the future and order those seasoned strategoi if he doesn''t fight and make contributions?! Without military knowledge and experience, he wouldn''t be able to govern this kingdom well and would be easily fooled by his ministers, much less bear this kingdom I have created!¡­¡± Although Davos said it like that, he obviously had great expectations for his eldest son.

 Chapter 594: The Royal Family of Theonia (I)

    Cheiristoya became happy after hearing that. She then ced her head on Davos'' robust chest and said softly, ¡°I''ll leave it up to you¡­¡±

    ¡°It''s alreadyte; we should go sleep¡­¡± Davos patted her, and the two soon fell asleep¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following morning, Davos got up and went to the courtyard for his morning exercise. By the time he returned to the main building, the ce was already bustling.

    Morina, the head maid of the rear yard, wasmanding the female ves to wake up the children and have them wash up and dress¡­suddenly, she heard a lot ofints and crying in the main building, but Morina remained unperturbed. After seeing the child who doesn''t want to get up, the ve girl has no choice but to go straight into the room and pull her by force. Even though she was facing Theonia''s princes and princesses, Morina dared to do so because Cheiristoya gave her the authority.

    Eight years ago, Azune married Aristias with the help of Davos and Cheiristoya and had to leave Davos'' residence naturally. And Cheiristoya noticed that Morina, a female ve from Thessaly who was the baby''s wet nurse then, was more decisive and even more daring than Azune, so she had her take Azune''s ce. And with the increase of children over the years, Morina¡¯s orderly management of the rear year proved Cheiristoya''s vision, saving her a lot of trouble.

    After Davos finished rinsing, he walked into the dining room and saw that everyone was already sitting at the dining table.

    ¡°Where''s Aviya?¡± Davos asked after ncing around. Aviya is his third daughter, born to Agnes, and was only four years old this year.

    ¡°The crybaby still wouldn''t get up, so aunt Morina went to wake her up, but Aviya shouted at her, causing mother Agnes to go upstairs.¡± Brintes answered loudly. Brintes is Davos'' fourth son, born to Cheiristoya and was only six years old.

    But he was immediately criticised by Cynthia, ¡°Brintes, Aviya is your sister. But you are justining instead of helping her when she encounters trouble. That''s wrong, you know!¡±

    ¡°Sister is right. Brintes is just annoying.¡± Eunice, born during the War in Magna Graecia and was already ten years old, alsoined.

    After getting criticised by his two sisters, Brintes felt wrong, so he turned his attention to his second brother, Crotokatax, for help.

    Crotokatax then looked at Cynthia and said, ¡°Little Bri didn''t mean to speak ill of Aviya, and he should now realise his mistake.¡±

    ¡°Alright, your sister would forgive you, but it would depend on your future actions!¡± Said Cynthia using a child''s tone.

    Brintes nodded hurriedly.

    Apox, his third brother opposite him, made a funny face which caused Brintes to smile. Apox was born to Agnes at the end of the war in Magna Graecia and was over nine years old this year.

    Davos and Cheiristoya, on the other hand, just sat quietly without bothering to interfere with the children''s little conflict. In fact, they had always done so because Cynthia and Crotokatax would eventually resolve it satisfactorily. And Davos also wanted the children to learn unity, friendship, tolerance andpromise while resolving the conflicts on their own.

    At this time, Agnes entered the dining room with Aviya.

    Aviya, who had big red eyes and tears on her face, was holding a small puppet in one hand while getting led forward by Agnes in the other.

    ¡°Little Aviya, take your seat so we can take our breakfast.¡± Cheiristoya said softly.

    Cheiristoya''s words worked well as Aviya gently gave a soft ¡°un¡±, released her mother''s hand, sat in her seat and ced the puppet behind her. Then Agnes sat down beside her.

    Due tomon Greek families usually eating simple food, it would already be enough for them to eat without a table, just sitting on the floor or standing outdoors with food in their hands. On the other hand, Greek nobles and wealthy people would have a much more formal meal; they had a dining room equipped with dining tables depending on the number of people and had ves waiting on the side to clean their masters'' hands at any time. (They usually eat with bare hands.

    While the dining situation in the kingdom of Theonia is very different because Davos invented the dinner knife, fork and spoon, so the people no longer need to eat with their hands*. And even though they still have a divided dining system, it has already be popr for many families to eat at one table. Still, only a few families do not even separate men and women, which was said to be influenced by Davos. (T/N: Phew, I thought he would invent chopsticks instead.)

    With the increase in family members, Davos asked a skilled carpenter to make arge round table, which they then ced in the centre of the dining room, and everyone would sit around to eat without a difference in the distance between each other and making the atmosphere lively. Moreover, it is also beneficial to developing the children''s friendships and the importance of family.

    Davos sat facing the entrance of the dining room, with Agnes on his right and Cheiristoya on his left. Next to Cheiristoya was his eldest daughter, Cynthia, followed by his second son Crotokatax, then his second daughter Eunice, his third son Apox, his fourth son Brintes, his third daughter Aviya, and if you include his eldest son Adoris, who was away on a campaign, Davos'' family has ten members.

    While the head maid Morina just stood by without any other ves in the dining room, after all, even the youngest, Aviya, was already four years old and could take care of herself. In addition, Davos always wanted the children to do things on their own without relying on the ves'' service so as for them not to be wastrels.

    ¡°Let''s start eating.¡± After Davos finished speaking, Crotokatax brought in the food and the tes with Morina''s help. First, he set the tableware for each family member and then distributed the food, a task Davos arranged for the older children at home to train their awareness of serving others. And today was Crotokatax''s turn.

    Crotokatax first gave their three parents¡¯ portion of food and then to Cynthia. At the same time, Davos watched as his eldest son quickly gave Cynthia her share.

    Cynthia then smilingly said, ¡°Thank you, Cro!¡±

    But seeing how Crotokatax walked calmly to Eunice as if everything was normal, Davos gazed at Cheiristoya with doubt.

    Cheiristoya certainly knows what her husband¡¯s gaze meant, but she didn''t expect Davos to want to confirm it on such a public asion even though she just told him about it yesterday¡­

    Cheiristoya winked at him immediately and gestured not to make it too obvious.

    Davos, however, pretended not to understand and tried to open his mouth.

    But Cheiristoya clenched her fist and struck Davos'' thigh, which resulted in Davos exaggeratedly gritting his teeth.

    Seeing that, Cheiristoya almost sprayed her porridge on the table.

    Agnes noticed something odd between them, so she turned her head and cast an inquiring look.

    But Davos stretched his right hand to the root of her smooth and plump thigh, resulting in Agnes blushing slightly and immediately pinched him.

    Thus Davos, once again, showed a fleeting pained expression.

    Fortunately, the children didn''t notice the farce between their parents as their attention was focused on the food.

    ¡°Should I add a spoonful of honey-like before?¡± Crotokatax asked his sister with a smile.

    But before Eunice could answer, Brintes shouted, ¡°Do you still have to ask? She is the only one who doesn''t like milk.¡±

    In this era, many citizens of Greek city-states raised goats, so goat milk became a staple. Apart from using milk to make cheese, they would process it for direct consumption. Conversely, cows were used primarily for field work and transportation but not for milk production. But after Davos asked Bagul to start promoting the production, selling and drinking of milk from cows in the Lucanian area. However, since it had just begun to take shape, and only a few people consume milk, the production is still not big. Still, there is enough to supply the royal pce.

    Today''s milk for breakfast is goat''s milk, which has a strong smell. Fortunately, Davos made the children drink a cup of milk every morning since they were young to make them grow tall and strong. Thus, the children, except for Eunice, have already adapted, including the youngest Aviya.

    ¡°What''s wrong if I don''t like drinking it?!¡± Eunice immediately stared at Brintes.

    Brintes was unwilling to admit defeat at his sister''s threat, but he couldn''t think of anything to say, so he just stiffly said, ¡°It''s bad anyway!¡±

    Eunice no longer paid attention to him. Instead, she turned her head to Crotokatax and said with a smile, ¡°Brother, give me two spoons of honey, please!¡±

    After Crotokatax gave Eunice''s share, he then gave Apox''s share.

    Apox immediately cheered and said, ¡°Nice, there are meat buns today!¡±

    The Greeks baked bread with fermented flour, and Davos asked the chef to wrap chopped beef and mutton with the fermented dough and steam it in an iron pot. And since the steamed meat buns smelled so good, the children, especially the boys, liked to eat them.

    Apox immediately held the hot bun with both hands and took a huge bite without regard to how hot it was. And after seeing Brintes next to him had also gotten his share of food, Apox immediately said to his brother, ¡°Bri, shall we y a game? Whoever wins gets a bite of the loser''s meat buns!¡±

    ¡°Not joining!¡± Brintes vigntly took the wooden te with meat buns to his chest. After all, he lost every time he yed with Apox, resulting in psychological trauma.

    Just as Apox began thinking about how to convince Brintes, he suddenly heard Eunice disdainfully say, ¡°Bri, look how cowardly you are! Apox, here take this!¡± Eunice was satisfied at Apox making a fool of Brintes, so she immediately broke half of her meat bun and gave it to him.

    ¡°Thank you, sister!¡± Apox immediately took it while Brintes nced at it greedily. He then remembered something, so he looked at Aviya and said, ¡°Sister, this meat bun is too big for you to eat alone; why don''t you let your brother help you eat some of it, okay?¡±

 Chapter 595: The Royal Family of Theonia (II)

    As soon as the dazed Aviya heard that, she immediately took several bites of the meat buns, which made Agnes say, ¡°No need to rush; eat slowly!¡±

    Cynthiaughed and criticised, ¡°Little Bri, how could you try to swindle your sister''s breakfast?!¡±

    Brintes didn''t refute Cynthia. Instead, he bowed his head and didn''t speak.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos, on the other hand, just watch everything with a smile. After all, breakfast and dinner was his most rxed time.

    ¡°Cynthia, follow me to the bank in the port after breakfast and listen to the financial report for the first half of the year.¡± Cheiristoya interrupted. Although Azune left, Cynthia has grown up, and as her daughter became Cheiristoya''s assistant, and with Cheiristoya¡¯s training in recent years, she became more knowledgeable.

    ¡°Understood, mother.¡± Cynthia replied.

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± As soon as Aviya heard this, she hurriedly said, ¡°I want to go with sister Cynthia.¡± Among the children, Aviya wasn''t old enough to go to school, so she usually stayed home. But since Cheiristoya and Agnes have things to do, Cynthia would take care of her more, so she is very close to Cynthia. In addition, Morina was too aggressive in waking her up today, so she didn''t want to stay at home alone.

    Cynthia understood a bit about her mentality, so she said to Cheiristoya, ¡°Mother, can I take Aviya with me?¡±

    Cheiristoya then looked at Aviya while Aviya blinked her big eyes as she looked back at her other mother pitifully.

    ¡°You have to behave when you get there, and you are not allowed to talk loudly.¡± Cheiristoya was quite relieved of Aviya because the child would stay still wherever she went.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Aviya nodded hard while Agnes thanked Cheiristoya.

    Eunice then said, ¡°Aviya, you stick too much to elder sister; what will you do once elder sister gets married?¡±

    Upon hearing this, Aviya''s eyes suddenly turned red.

    ¡°At that time, Aviya could just go see her sister, and her sister could also oftene back here¡­¡± Said Agnes as she hurriedlyforted her daughter.

    At the same time, Crotokatax repeatedly coughed and spurted the milk he was drinking.

    ¡°The milk just got down on the wrong pipe.¡± Crotokatax hurriedly exined.

    While Cheiristoya immediately nced at Davos.

    Davos, on the other hand, felt relieved. After observing the boy since he entered the dining room, Davos had basically not noticed the boy acting any differently apart from his earlier coughing, which made Davos proud as it shows that his son has a lot of self-control.

    ¡°Cro, you''ll be sixteen soon. Since you will go through formal military training, I will have a customised set of heavy infantry equipment made for you. Do you have any requirements?¡± Asked Davos.

    ¡°Doesn''t Theonia''s militaryw state that the legion''s weapon and equipment owned by citizens must conform to requirements and must not be altered in size, colour or pattern at their own discretion?¡± Asked Crotokatax in confusion.

    ¡°It is only the appearance, size and colour of the weapons and equipment as it must be consistent with that of other legion soldiers. However, you can add or modify some things that couldn''t be seen, like enhancing their performance and increasing thefort of use, such as adding a pad in the helmet that could quickly absorb sweat and dampen the impact of external forces on the head. Another would be to reduce the amount of linen glued to the linen armour while sewing Hippopotamus skin to the lining, which ensures a consistent thickness while greatly increasing its protection¡­¡± Davos detailedly exined some tricks in customising weapons and equipment to his son.

    After carefully listening for a moment, Crotokatax said without hesitation, ¡°Father, there is no need for such trouble and just make it as usual so that my armour, shield and weapons are the same as those of other citizens.¡±

    ¡°Kro, you should-¡± Cheiristoya, who was listening on the side, hurriedly tried to persuade.

    But Davos said in relief, ¡°Son, you''ve made the correct choice! Only when you don''t make any special arrangements can you mingle with yourrades and for your squad to form quickly as a whole. And once ites to battle, yourrades wouldn''t hesitate to fend off the enemy''s weapon for you in times of danger¡­¡±

    Crotokatax continued to listen to his father''s teachings attentively.

    Seeing this, Cheiristoya could no longer persuade him any more.

    ¡°Dad, I want a set of personalised shields and spear just like brother!¡± Cried Brintes.

    ¡°Dad already made a set for you.¡±

    ¡°But it''s wood-¡±

    ¡°Because you are still young and can''t hold a real iron shield and spear. Can you lift the pair of big hammers dad ced in the courtyard?¡±

    Brintes shook his head.

    ¡°Once you reach your brother Cro''s age, you would then have enough strength to lift it. Dad will then customise a shield and spear for you, okay?¡± Davos patiently persuade the boy.

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ¡°Bri, do you want to be a soldier or a strategos in charge of soldiers in the future?¡± Davos continued to ask.

    ¡°It is, of course, to be a strategos. How amazing that would be!¡±

    ¡°Then you must first study well at school: Learn to read and write so that you can read and understand the orders given to you by yourmander; Learn to count well so that you can know how to arrange your troops; Learn how to debate well so that you can persuade your soldiers to follow your orders. That''s why you must study hard and not y around when you go to school. Only then could you be a strategos in the future, understood?¡± Davos took this opportunity to patiently persuade Brintes as he was too energetic and daring even though he was still young. After going to school for half a year, he had disturbed his ss so often that they had to call Cheiristoya several times.

    Brintes nodded his head even though he didn''t fully understand it.

    ¡°Apox, don''t just smirk there; you must help your brother more. If he doesn''t do well in his test, I will settle this matter with you!¡± Davos said seriously.

    ¡°Ah?!¡± Apox showed a dumbfounded expression on his oil-stained face that made him look somewhatical, causing his brothers and sisters tough.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After breakfast, Cheiristoya boarded a carriage to the port with Cynthia and Aviya. Agnes, on the other hand, rode in another carriage heading to the Temple of Hera in the east of Thurii.

    At the same time, the guards and ves escorted Crotokatax, along with Apox, Eunice and Brintes, towards the river''s delta of Thurii. After they arrived, the younger siblings headed to Thurii''s school while Crotokatax was to take a separate route to Theonia''s Akademia.

    After sending off his wife and children, Davos headed to the Grand Senate Hall under the protection of the pce guards.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Grand Senate Hall was the highest authority of Theonia when it was built more than a decade ago. Now, it has be the ce representing the authority of the most powerful kingdom among the Greek force in the entire western Mediterranean, which the people looked up to. But when Theonia''s pce was constructed afterwards, it had naturally taken away some of its glory.

    After the construction of the Grand Senate Hall, the outsidersughed at its magnificent appearance, ¡®A newly established union of less than two to three cities has built a massive assembly hall that is not appropriate with its strength!¡¯

    But now, no one would dare to say such words anymore. Rather, they whined at king Davos'' foresight.

    Still, even with the territory¡¯s expansion, the number of Theonian statesmen didn''t always increase as the Pollux case and the losses of the South Italian War resulted in the number of statesmen had dropped sharply. And Since everyone was either on the battlefield or busy with important tasks to stabilise the kingdom, there were only a few people in such arge hall when they held meetings¡­ Although it was a difficult time for Theonia, it was also when the statesmen yed an important role. And when Theonia survived, they saw the kingdom grow once again:

    At Laos¡¯ lead, Theonia''s allied city-states such as Terina, Roscianum, Crotone, Caulonia, Heraclea and Metapontum sessively took the initiative to merge into the kingdom. On the other hand, the kingdom forcefully annexed Locri, Medma, and Hipponion. Finally, Naxos, Catania, Sikuri and Tauromenium became part of the kingdom.

    In the following ten years, while the kingdom was restoring the poption, agriculture and trade of the newly acquirednds, they also dered war on two regions on the grounds that the Messapi and Peuceti had torn up their agreement by attacking Taranto, a free-city of Theonia. At the Battle of Brindisi, Davos led five legions and two cavalry brigades to defeat the Messapi-Peuceti alliance. Then the kingdom of Theonia took advantage of the heavy losses these two fierce races suffered and began carrying out a nned and systematic encroachment every year.

    Until the beginning of the previous year, there were no longer any independent towns that existed within the two regions of Messapi and Peuceti. And that also made the Grand Senate Hall of Theonia less empty as the number of statesmen had exceeded two hundred, upying 1/5th of all the seats in the hall. Hence, maintaining order in the Senate during meetings became an important task for the Grand Inspector and his men.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°The king has arrived!¡± Shouted the Order Officer, causing the originally noisy hall to immediately turned quiet.

    After Theonia became a kingdom from a union, the biggest difference between the current Grand Senate Hall and the past is the cowhide armchair in the centre of the Senate Hall. It was the seat of the king of Theonia and was surrounded by the semicircr seats of the senate. At the back of the chair is arge door, which is reserved for the king''s entrance and exit.

    Four fully armed pce guards entered the venue with neat steps and stood on both sides of the leather chair.

    Then Davos, dressed in a white, ck-embroidered chiton, wearing a crown made of gold in the shape of a por branch and leaves (the por tree is Hades¡¯ symbol) and holding a sceptre as tall as half a man, walked calmly into the venue.

 Chapter 596: Asistes Evaluation (I)

    As a sign of respect, all the statesmen stood up at this moment. However, that wasn''t unnned but a bill passed by the Senate of the kingdom of Theonia, stating the need to observe courtesy when the king attends a Senate meeting. And the Grand Inspector may exercise his authority to expel the statesman who doesn''tply.

    And the pce guards'' entry into the venue was due to the sharp increase in the number of statesmen after the South Italian War. Even though the guards at the Grand Senate Hall¡¯s entrance would search the statesmen to prevent anyone from carrying weapons, some statesmen who had just joined Theonia had deep conflicts with each other, such as Crotone and Locri, the statesmen of Terina and Hipponion, and so on. Especially in a debate where a disagreement would often turn into a conflict that even threatened the safety of Davos. Thus, Marigi and Plesinas proposed, with the consent of more than half of the statesmen present, to allow the pce guards under Davos to enter the venue to protect the king and help supervise the order in the venue. Of course, after ten years of operation and some improvements, the Senate meeting has be much more orderly.

    Davos then stared at the nearly 200 statesmen, most of whom were concentrated in the front row so that they could hear the rotating speaker clearly.

    In the front row were the senior statesmen, with Kunogta''s seat in the centre, which shows Davos¡¯ appreciation for what he has done over the years and all statesmen¡¯s recognition for his ability and prestige. But he was currently in bed, and Davos became worried after hearing Herpus say that Kunogta''s condition was worsening.

    The seat beside Kunogta should be Cornelius, who was also a hard-working statesman. But he was today''s rotating speaker, so he had to stand in front of the table in the centre of the venue and in front of Davos. After ten years, his hair and beard turned white, and his back became a hunch.

    Seeing him, Davos could only sigh: If it were not for Kunogta''s long absence and the Senate needing a prestigious statesman to hold his ground against him, Davos might have considered letting Cornelius, who was almost 60, not take the heavy task as the rotating speaker as he was afraid that Cornelius wouldn''t be able to hold on.

    Besides them were the three permanent rotating speakers of the Senate, namely Vespa, Sedrum, and Lysias, who were also seated at the forefront¡­ Although Lysias of Crotone joined the Senatete, Davos proposed to make Lysias, who was once the polemarchos of Crotone, be a rotating speaker out of respect for Crotone, which was once a mighty city of Magna Graecia and even though it was in the past, they still have influences as it was once the leader of Scylletium, Terina and Caulonia.

    Also seated on the first row were the statesmen who had made significant contributions to the kingdom before the South Italian War, such as Tritodemos, Protesus, Raphias, Androlis, Philesius, Mersis, Marigi, Plesinas, Burkes¡­

    Additionally, the statesmen that were former mercenaries and had always sat together now have changes in their seating situation. For example, Antonios separated and was now surrounded mostly by statesmen from Sicily; Hielos didn''t want to split up, but some statesmen from Locri and its allies that he conquered and subdued preferred getting close to him. As a result, some former mercenary statesmen started having different opinions. Ultimately, he had to stay away from hisrades a bit. Later, Davos sent two or three legions each time they attacked specific Messapi and Peuceti towns after the Battle of Brindisi to avoid such a situation as Antonios from happening again, which not only allowed every soldier to obtain military achievements and experience but also dispersed the influence of the legatus on the conquered areas.

    But even with that, some statesmen from Messapi and Peuceti shamelessly gathered among the former mercenaries statesmen, gradually leading to the fragmentation of thergest group in the Senate. Instead of getting worried, Davos was happy to see this situation from happening as he no longer needed to rely on this group of mercenaries to stand firm in the kingdom.

    At this moment, Davos ced his hands on the chair''s armrest, leaned back to a morefortable position and then said to Cornelius, ¡°Let''s begin.¡±

    The first item they discussed at this meeting was the evaluation of the praetor of Irna, Asistes, whose term had ended.

    The evaluation is a necessary procedure for every Theonian statesman whose term ended.

    On the one hand, it would let the other statesmen understand and evaluate their actions during their tenure. If they perform well, it would be easier for them to take a new position in the next election. If they perform poorly, they would have a reason to be idle next time. In addition, the evaluation also forced the statesmen not to ck off when they took office as they would be regarded as ipetent by their colleagues, which anyone couldn''t bear.

    On the other, it would be convenient for other statesmen to understand the current situation and the difficulties of this position or the region through the departing statesman so that they could carefully consider the relevant bills to make or whether to take over this post.

    As Asistes had already gone through the evaluation three years ago, he was now more familiar with the process and could speak more briefly.

    After his speech, apuse rang around him, which was, of course, just out of courtesy.

    Then, the rotating speaker, Cornelius, shouted, ¡°Esteemed lords, it''s now time to ask Lord Asistes questions.¡±

    Asistes suddenly felt nervous as the most challenging part of the evaluation hase!

    As soon as Cornelius said those, Philesius immediately stood up, ¡°Esteemed lords, I remember Lord Asistes saying three years ago that Irna will be a bridge between the Campanian League and the kingdom of Theonia. Thus I would like to ask Lord Asistes what achievements has Irna made in this regard after three years?¡±

    Asistes sighed slightly in relief and gratefully nced at Philesius, who deserved to be called a veteran officer in the mercenary army as that question was basically to help him.

    As he had already mentioned this aspect back then, he only now needed to exin it in more detail, ¡°It is thanks to his majesty and you, esteemed lords, for your wise decision in allying the kingdom of Theonia and the Campanian League, which was the basis for Irna''s rapid development with the city-states of Campania!

    Back when the Samnites invaded the Campanian League, some city-states of Campania had fallen into the hands of the Samnites, including the ancient city-state of Compsa. Although the Samnites and the Campanian league made a truce through our mediation, the Samnites won¡¯t return thends they upied. Hence there are numerous Campanians in the Campania region who have lost their homes and are nowndless.

    And in the past, most of them had to work as mercenaries to survive. After Irna became a part of the kingdom, its poption growth was very slow even when the Samnites left because Greek immigrants from the eastern Mediterranean preferred settling in Magna Graecia of the kingdom, which is closer to Greece and has the same and more familiar customs. Thus, only a few are willing toe to Irna in the middle of the western coast of Italy. A few years ago, Irna''s residents were mainly some soldiers of the third legion and their families who had settled down there-¡±

    After saying that, Asistes nodded slightly to the Lucanian statesmen such as Vespa and Hemon because the soldiers of the third legion were mainly Lucanians, ¡°With Irna having a lot of unusednds butckingbour, Lord Alexius, who was the one in charge back then, had taken some measures to attract Campanians to Irna asbourers. And I, who was continuing Lord Alexius'' measures, proposed some new measures to improve further the diplomatic environment, such as allowing Campanians to rent 3,000 square metres ofnd even if they didn''t want to be Theonian citizens. And if they were to reim wastnd, they could rent up to 7,000 square metres ofnd¡­ As a result, numerous wastnds in Irna developed into mature fields after six years. Consequently, the tax revenue significantly increased.

    At the same time, I provided the Campanians with cheap amodation in the city of Irna. Moreover, the port, the market, and all other ces that neededbour were open to them, basically treating them the same as a Theonian freeman and preparatory citizen. As a result, countless Campanians flocked to Irna, significantly contributing to Irna''s port''s rapid development. And Irna''s port, which had only a simple pier a decades ago, has now be one of the important ports of the kingdom on the western coast of Italia!¡±

    The more Asistes spoke, the more excited he became, ¡°And the influx of Campanians to Irna had also provided the basis for us to spread the kingdom''s culture, such as the love to eat our delicious food, falling in love with bathing, and preferring to watch the fierce rugby and football games that they even organise their own teams. After knowing this, I specially hired experienced yers to teach them. And recently, I also allowed the Campanians working in Irna to form teams to participate in the city''s rugby and football matches so that when they return to Campania, they will spread these hobbies to their mother state. Last year, I held a special rugby tournament in Irna and invited the neighbouring Campanian city-states such as Pompeii, Naples, Sorrentum, Capreae¡­to form teams to participate. With the tournament''s sess, Pompeii, an allied city-state, had actively requested to participate in this year''s Kingdom''s Rugby Championship and was approved by his majesty¡­

 Chapter 597: Asistes Evaluation (II)

    Esteemed lords, as far as I know, the Campanians were afraid of the kingdom when the third legion first upied Irna as they didn''t want to face the threat of a more powerful nation while fighting against the Samnites. And with such a mentality, they shakingly signed an alliance treaty with us. Although they were psychologically resistant to us then, after our years of¡­efforts, especially by Irna, the Campanian''s fear of us is dissipating. On the contrary, their favourability for the kingdom is increasing! Many Campanians even think that our Theonia is a wealthy, culturally rich and friendly Greek kingdom where they can find work and earn money for their families without getting exploited too much. To date, about 8000 Campanians have officially be Theonian citizens in Irna, about 1,400 Campanians have be preparatory citizens, and the number of registered Campanians who wants to be Theonian citizens is about 3000, and this number is still increasing!¡­¡±

    After Asistes finished his report, the statesmen apuded. This time, it was clearly not out of courtesy but in recognition of his achievements in Irna over the past few years and the pride of their kingdom getting recognised by the people of a powerful city-state league in Italia.

    Once the apuse stopped, Hemon stood up and said, ¡°Lord Asistes, the town of Irna is special. However, it is special not only because it borders the Campanians but is also close to the Samnites. Have you also taken the same measures to make Irna a bridge between the kingdom and the wild neighbour of the Theonian Alliance, the Samnites?¡±

    Compared to the previous questions, this question was to give him additional points. Thus Asistes nodded tacitly to Hemon, ¡°Thank you, Lord Hemon, for your question! Irna is indeed adjacent to the Samnites, mainly the Caudini, one of the four major tribes of the Samnites. However, unlike the Campanian League, Irna was not the only territory of our kingdom bordering the Samnites, but also Compsa and the free city of Potentia. And all three of us were making efforts to improve our rtions with the Samnites.

    But the Samnites are different from the Campanians as they are not Greek, so their customs and habits are entirely different from ours. In addition, since they had been enemies of the Campanians in the past and were obviously wary of our kingdom, only a few Samnites entered the city of Irna for several years despite all my attempts to make it easier for the Samnites to enter the city of Irna to buy, sell or work,¡­ However, after deciding to establish the town of Baparia in the valley close to the Caudini town of Nuceria three years ago, this town has developed rapidly-¡±

    Just as Asistes said that, Davos suddenly asked, ¡°Nuceria¡­is the leader of this Caudini town Kinduk?¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, it is indeed the same Kinduk, the Caudini chieftain you captured and turned out to be the chieftain of thergest Caudini tribe in Nuceria.¡± replied Asistes and added, ¡°He treated us Theonia quite kindly.¡±

    Davos nodded: After defeating the Samnites army who invaded Potentia, they managed to capture several distinguished Samnites chieftains, such as Kinduk, Garni and the great chieftain Tolek were all taken as prisoners. But for some reason, Davos allowed them to stay in Thurii for a while and treated them like honoured guests. Afterwards, he even released them back to Samnites along with the other captives, ¡®It seems that not only Garni but also Kinduk has his attitude towards Theonia changed¡­¡¯

    After seeing Davos no longer speak, Asistes continued, ¡°We all know that the Samnites live in the mountains and were mainly grazing for a living, so they have ack of food, which is not enough to support theirrge poption. Thus for decades, it has been mainly the Caudini who have constantly attacked the Campanian League to obtain morend. And ten years ago, the Samnites made arge-scale attack on Potentia but were defeated by his majesty¡¯s army and forced to be our ally.

    So in the town of Baparia, we build a market to sell grain and other food to the Samnites. While the Samnite, who doesn''t have coins, could also use any goods with us for barter, such as ore, prey and livestock¡­ However, we would first appraise them and try to be fair. And as time went on, the Samnites who traded with us gradually abandoned their wariness. On the contrary, many of their people began entering the town and epting employment from the town''s citizens to get more grains to bring back to their tribe, such as cutting down trees, clearing the wastnds, and ploughing the farms¡­in exchange for payment. And to this day, nearly 300 Samnites work in the town on a single day during the busiest time in Baparia.

    At the same time, they also began to slowly ept some of our customs, such as rugby games. After all, many Samnites like this kind of sport with fierce physical collision, which is very suitable for the Samnite warriors to y. And I believe that in another year or two, a team formed by Samnites will participate in the kingdom''s rugby championships¡­¡±

    Davos suddenly interjected, ¡°Thurii invited a teamposed of Samnites to participate this year. They hade from Abellinum, which is near Compsa.¡±

    Asistes was startled but soonughed, ¡°It seems Lord Kesima has done a better job than me in this regard.¡±

    Among the statesmen, another man stood up, ¡°Lord Asistes, I want to know how the spreading of the belief of Hades in Campania?¡±

    Asistes looked and saw the one who asked the question was Plesinas. As the grand priest of the Temple of Hades, Plesinas would naturally know about the development of the temples of the various cities, so asking this question at this time was actually just to give some points away. After nodding to Plesinas, Asistes nced at Marigi, who was at the corner of the hall.

    Knowing that although Marigi was the only Persian-born statesman in the kingdom and usually seemed to be isted during the Senate meeting, he was, in fact, a liaison between the statesmen who were former mercenaries and other statesmen. Naturally, the one standing behind him is King Davos. Thus in today''s evaluation, the three consecutive questions that focused on his most outstanding achievements during his six years in Irna mostly came from Davos'' instructions.

    While suppressing his gratitude to King Davos, Henipolis said as calmly as possible, ¡°Although the Temple of Hades in Irna isn''t under the jurisdiction of the city hall, we supported the temple''s development by selling grains and medicinal materials to the temple at a very low price, and we even providedbourers and physicians when the temple is understaffed. And to the Campanians and Samnites who entered Irna, we offered a lot of guidance so that they could go to the temple for help if they encountered any difficulties¡­

    Over the years, the Temple of Hades has helped countless hungry, homeless, sick¡­outsiders suffering various difficulties, so after they returned to their homnd, they built many small Altars of Hades in Pompeii, Naples, Soluntum¡­and even some Samnite tribes had done that. Furthermore, Pompeii even began celebrating Hades'' Day with Irna on September 9.

    The Samnites, however, were slightly different: Besides believing in Hades, they respected Heracles more. Thus apart from building the Temple of Hades in the town of Baparia, we also built the Temple of Heracles and would celebrate Heracles'' Day on May 20 every year, which resulted in many Samnites running to Baparia and actively participating in the Heracles Event and otherpetitions¡­¡±

    After Asistes finished speaking, Plesinas immediately said, ¡°Thank you, Lord Asistes, for your support in spreading Hades¡¯ faith rapidly in Central Italia!¡±

    Once Plesinas sat down, another statesman, Kreru, a Bruttian statesman, stood up. As a young statesman, he crudely asked, ¡°Lord Asistes, as far as I know, the territory of Irna was littered with forests and huge trees before you took over your position. But during your six years term, almost all the trees in the territory were cut down. Don''t you think that is a little too much?!¡±

    Asistes smiled and replied, ¡°Thank you, Lord Kreru, for your concern for Irna''s environment! For this issue, I would like to exin it a bit: First, the Ministry of Agriculture approved cutting trees in Irna, so we didn¡¯t break anyw and acted carelessly.¡±

    With that, he looked at the Minister of Agriculture, Burkes, who had resigned from his position as the Minister of Agriculture because of the Pollux case a decade ago. But after, his sessor, Baripiri, died of illness a few yearste during the busiest time of the Ministry of Agriculture due to Magna Graecia epting too many new citizens whose fields needed guidance and supervision. Furthermore, the newly acquirednd in Messapi and Peuceti urgently needed nning and rational distribution, so Davos elected Burkes again because the Ministry of Agriculture urgently needed apetent leader. Thus with Davos'' persuasion, Burkes returned to this familiar but unfamiliar position and has remained in his seat ever since.

    Burkes then thought back about it and said, ¡°The Ministry of Agriculture has indeed approved it. Six years ago, Lord Asistes had made a request to his majesty. After we discussed it, his majesty decided to allocate most of the allowed number of trees to be felled in various parts of the kingdom to Irna, which may give Lord Kreru the impression of cutting down many trees.¡±

 Chapter 598: Asistes Evaluation (III)

    ¡°Lord Burkes, thank you for your exnation!¡± Asistes then continued, ¡°In fact, if lord Kreru goes to investigate Irna carefully, you would find that we only cut down trees that grow on the in and not the trees in the mountain area.

    Why did we only cut down the trees on the in? While the Samnites upied Irnsa, they did not reim thend, which resulted in the forest extending to the sea. So if we don''t cut down the trees and clear the wastnd, there will be no arablend in Ina, resulting in us being unable to feed the growing poption just by relying on animal husbandry alone. And if we were to buy grain somewhere else, the price would be high, significantly affecting people''s lives. And if there is a lot of spare arablend in other parts of the kingdom, would they still be willing to live in Irna?! Thus to maintain Irna''s presence, the kingdom must pay a high price, which is not worth it!

    Apart from those, the city of Irna is directly adjacent to the Sorrentum penins, with its towns mostly in the south, which was only a few dozen kilometres from Poseidonia. So if no road connects it through thend, transportation from the port would be inconvenient. Besides, we would also need to cut down those trees to construct the roads. But more importantly-¡±

    Asistes looked around and said deeply, ¡°Although the Samnites had be our allies because of their disastrous defeat to us in that war ten years ago, we still can''t let down our guards. Recently, I heard the Caudini''s in the north have started attacking the Campanian League again. And since Irna is in a farawaynd from the kingdom''s centre, it is necessary to ensure convenient transportation that would allow our legion to arrive in time in case of idents. Moreover, our legion soldiers are better at exerting their strength on tnd, while the Samnites are good at fighting in the mountains and forest. Thus cutting down the trees on the in is also to protect Irna¡­¡±

    After Asistes finished, the statesmen began discussing it with each other as a messenger from Naples had informed Thurii of the Caudini''s attack on the Campanian League a few days ago. Even though the statesmen didn''t think the Samnites would dare to break their agreement and dere war on the kingdom, they were still satisfied with Asistes'' proactive approach, which made Kreru unable to say anything.

    Davos, on the other hand, nodded slightly at the sight of Asistes growth after so many years of training.

    But then, Marigi stood up and asked politely, ¡°Lord Asistes, I have a question, but this naturally is not within the scope of your work. Still, I wanted to consult you about it. With your six-year experience in Irna, I hope you can give me some suggestions on how to break Carthage''s trade monopoly over Sardinia and Corsica?¡±

    Amotion suddenly arose in the Senate hall as this question was truly beyond his scope.

    But seeing Marigi''s eager gaze, Asistes looked at Davos, who was nodding at him.

    Seeing that, Asistes knew he couldn''t refuse this question. So after pondering for a while, Asistes said, ¡°I remember a provision in the agreement we signed with Carthage that ¡®Theonian merchant ships are not allowed to go to the southern Iberian Penins, Sardinia and Corsica for trade¡­¡¯ So the best and only way to change Carthage''s monopoly on trade with these tworge inds and obtainrge quantities of precious metals is to rework our agreement with Carthage.

    However, I think that would be basically impossible as the trade between the southern Iberian Penins and the two inds is the most important trade market that supported Carthage''s prosperity, so the Carthaginians will definitely not give it up. A hundred years ago, Carthage had even initiated two naval battles and won them because the Magna Graecians coveted Sardinia. Thus if we have no intention of tearing up our agreement with Carthage and going to war with them, it is best not to provoke them.¡±

    After Asistes'' warning, the people shook their heads in disappointment as this answer was no different from the answers of other statesmen.

    But suddenly, Asistes change the subject, ¡°However¡­ Although Carthage had an agreement with us and had simr requirements for the Phoenicians in Sardinia and Corsica, they couldn''t produce everything the Phoenicians in these two inds needed, no matter how good Carthage''s products were. For example, I heard the Sardinians preferred the pottery of Athens to those of Carthage, so the Carthaginians would buy Athenian pottery and resell them to the Sardinians at a higher price. Moreover, since they would need to transport the products from Carthage to Sardinia and Cornia, the distance would be rtively long and would naturally lead to an increase in transportation costs, which would then lead to the products'' price increase. But if we were to send the same kind of products they needed at a better price in Irna, Poseidonia and Pyxous, I believe we could attract the Phoenician merchants from both inds to buy them.

    Currently, we could even asionally see them in Irna''s market. But after we do that, I believe we can attract more people toe. Still, even if we seed, we would not be able to make a massive-scale trade, especially in precious metals. After all, the Phoenicians on these inds heavily depend on Carthage, so they are unlikely to do anything that would damage Carthage''s interests too much¡­¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your answer.¡± Marigi then sat down with a smile on his face as Asistes'' suggestion had confirmed his thoughts.

    After that, several statesmen asked questions that Asistes smoothly answered. With his mercenary background, his marriage to the Lucanians and his uncle Antonios was one of the leaders of the statesmen from Sicily, Asistes¡¯ connections with severalrge groups of statesmen made the other statesmen not get on his wrong side and put obstacles during his evaluation.

    Seeing the questioning portion about to end, Asistes wanted to rx. But suddenly, he heard a familiar voice, ¡°I have a question to ask you.¡±

    Asistes became so nervous that he quickly turned around and said respectfully, ¡°Your majesty, may I ask what it is?!¡±

    The statesmen also pricked up their ears.

    Davos then asked, ¡°What do the Campanians think about the Romans?¡±

    ¡®Romans?¡¯ A few statesmen felt this name unfamiliar.

    After hearing that, Antonios became relieved at confirming Davos wasn''t deliberately targeting Asistes.

    Although he had argued with his nephewst night, Asistes'' words woke him up. Thus in today''s meeting, he began paying attention to Davos'' every move while also trying to avoid suspicion by not questioning Asistes.

    ¡°Your majesty, the Campanians would rarely talk about the Latin city-states in the north during my contacts with them. After all, there is also Volsci and other Latin city-states between Rome and Campania. In addition, Rome didn¡¯t develop their maritime trade, so it only had a few trade exchanges with Campania. From that, we could infer that they don''t know much about this city-state and do not attach much importance to them. However¡­whenever they asionally mentioned Rome, they always added the words ¡®barbaric¡¯ and ¡®aggressive¡¯, so I feel that the Campanians looked down and feared Rome. But that may be because the Romans had defeated the Celts who invaded and captured many Etruscan and Latin city-states during the third year of the kingdom (390 B.C.)¡­.¡± Asistes who ruled Irnsa for six years had never interacted with the Romans. But three years ago, Davos invited Asistes to a banquet after getting elected as the praetor of Irna for the second time and mentioned Rome while sending him off, which aroused Asistes¡¯ interest. Thus he was fully prepared to answer this question.

    And the reason Davos asked this question was that he was curious about the Campanians'' attitude towards the Romans. In his previous life''s history, the Campanians decided to seek help from Rome after suffering the Samnites'' invasion because there were no other forces around them other than Rome that could help them. In fact, they might have thought the same thing in their mind as the present Campanians, but the only difference is that they had a bigger backer now. And with Theonia''s help, the Samnites didn''t dare invade them again, so they should not submit to the Romans¡­ Davos was currently lost in his thoughts, but his face remained calm while nodding at Asistes.

    After Davos asked his question, no one followed with another question.

    The rotating speaker, Cornelius, then asked Asistes to return to his seat.

    The next step was for the five statesmen of the Kingdom''s Civil Servant Management Committee to rate Asistes'' performance based on his three years of rule in Irna. And Asistes'' performance was rated as ¡®good¡¯, but this score wasn''t made public. And after King Davos'' evaluation, the Committee would file it as an important credential for Asistes'' new appointment in the future.

    ¡°The next article on the agenda¡­¡± Cornelius loudly said, ¡°Electing Irna''s new praetor.¡±

    He then turned around and asked, ¡°Your majesty, do you have someone in mind?¡±

    That wasn''t Cornelius'' ttery to Davos. Rather, it was the practice of the Senate to confirm whether the king already had someone in mind when selecting a senior officer. If there were, they would discuss it and appoint him if they think he is suitable. But if the majority believe that the king''s candidate isn''t qualified, the king could also change his candidate.

    Even though that was the privilege as the king of Theonia, Davos rarely uses it because he knows that people will hate him if he benefits alone. Besides, he can privately notify Marigi and others to achieve the same result, so why should he do it in the open?

    ¡°I don''t have a candidate.¡± Davos tapped his fingers on the armrest. He then said thoughtfully, ¡°However, the requirements to be the praetor of Irna are different from those of other cities. As the northernmost city of the kingdom, the sessor would need to continue dealing with our rtions with Campania and Samnites and increase their favourability to the kingdom. At the same time, they also need to continue developing Irna into a hub of maritime trade between the kingdom and north-central Italia.

    What''s more, with theplex origin of the people of Irna, conflicts and disputes are not rare due to different customs and habits, which tests the sessors'' governing ability. Thus I hoped that the statesman who applies to be the candidate and the statesman who you elect should carefully consider those before making a decision!¡±

    Davos'' words made the statesmen ponder deeply.

 Chapter 599: Praetors Election (I)

    ¡°Now, I invite the statesmen who wish to assume the position of Irna''s Praetor.¡±

    Just as Cornelius finished speaking, a man quickly stood up and said loudly, ¡°I want to run for office!¡± which caused Davos'' eyes to narrow slightly.

    The man was Milo, the former polemarchos of Crotone and had fought Davos once.

    After Crotone''s integration into Theonia, Milo first assisted the then praetor of Crotone, Cornelius, in rebuilding the city of Crotone while sessively holding several middle-ranking positions in Crotone, such as the Aedile, Agricultural Officer and Vice Praetor¡­

    Then with Milo''s outstanding performance in Crotone, Davos personally named him the praetor of Rudiae, the central town of Messapi, after Theonia''s conquest of Messapi, which shows Davos''plete trust in him. Milo also lived up to his expectation by acting vigorously and calming down several riots and uncovered the several tribes who were unwilling to surrender, including Pasimeus''* family, after taking the position. (Pasimeus died shortly after their defeat in the Battle of Brindisi, but the reason for his death varies: Some believe that he felt Messapi''s future was hopeless andmitted suicide, some say that his family assassinated him to seize power, while others think that the other tribes of Rudiae had long been dissatisfied with his dictatorship and took the opportunity to kill him.) Milo treated them mercilessly by executing some, imprisoning some, and even expelling some of them. He turned the whole Rudiae region into a clean te, and it even resulted in the people of the nearby town of Messapi bing much more obedient.

    But after his term ended half a year ago, Milo returned to Thurii but didn''t ask to be re-elected.

    However, even if Milo applied to go to Irna now, Davos wasn''t too optimistic about him. After all, Irna needs a good rtionship with Campania and Samnites, so he needs someone with flexible political means but without softening. But Milo''s ruling style was too radical and made the people of Rudiae call him Executioner.

    Suddenly, another statesman stood up in the crowd.

    ¡®Adrian¡¯ Davos'' eyes widened.

    After the war in South Italia, the kingdom of Theonia integrated with many city-states. Even though the Senate added many new statesmen from those city-states, they could not be appointed immediately to manage a city independently as their loyalty still needed to be verified. In addition, they did not know Theonia''s political system andws, so they needed some time to familiarise it.

    Since there aren''t many statesmen in the Senate, these new statesmen soon be the majority. Therefore, the Senate urgently promoted many middle-ranking civil servants with outstanding performance to be statesmen, such as Asistes, Olivos, Matonis, Giorgris, Aristocrates, Praxileos, and even Martikoris, Metoticles, and Stesichodas of Theonia''s Akademia¡­have all joined the Senate during that period.

    But at that time, only a few statesmen had experience as a city''s praetor. Yet, many vacant city praetor positions in the kingdom urgently needed statesmen to take up positions. Hence Davos and Kunogta had to mobilise the statesmen that were former mercenaries to take up the important role and volunteer to be the praetor of these new territories while being assisted by the newly promoted local statesmen as that would make the older statesmen learn how to govern. At the same time, the new statesmen would learn about the kingdom''s operation through their assistance, and Davos saw this as a win-win situation. So during that time, it wasmon to see Antonios bing the praetor of Naxos, Alexius ruling Irna and Hielos taking over Locri. Although there were some problems, they could guarantee the order, stability and functioning of the kingdom''s political system on the whole.

    Adrian was also one of the statesmen who were forced to do something beyond his capabilities. But after getting called theughing stock at the Isthmus, it stimted him to learn from his mistakes and intensified his knowledge and culture. He even attended Theonia''s Akademia to listen to Lysias*'' lectures on eloquence. Thus when he first became a praetor, he did not ask the Senate to send the new local officials to assist him. Also, he could easily manage this town as it was Roscianum, a small town right next to Thurii and was influenced by Theonia that its poption''s admiration for Theonia made Roscianum, which had not yet been integrated into Theonia, look like a colony of the city of Thurii. (Lysias, the orator and a lecturer in the Akademia.)

    Consequently, Adrian was sessful in his three years of rule in Roscianum, and his most outstanding achievement was toy the foundation for Roscianum to be another town under Thurii (the other one is Besidice). Adrian then made a lot of efforts, from making the transportation convenient to the port¡¯s expansion, as well as the participation of the people of Roscianum in the rugby and football games in Thurii. He also wrote to the Senate several times to transform the beach in the north of Roscianum into a military port and invited the first fleet of Theonia to settle there.

    At that time, it coincided with the expansion of Thurii, so the military port temporarily built on the lower reaches of the Crati River for the war in South Italia was no longer suitable for the fleet to stop. And with Adrian providing a ce for the fleet first, it was equivalent to asking the Senate for funds to renovate this troublesome beach for free and promote the development of Roscianum''s port and some small businesses. Although the continuous expansion of Theonia and its strategic needs of the kingdom made them relocate the main force of the first fleet to the great port of Taranto, Roscianum''s military port is still one of the important military ports in the Gulf of Taranto, and the Roscianum still talks about his works to this days.

    Later, Adrian was transferred to be Heraclea''s praetor, which is another city-state in Magna Graecia. Although governing it wasn''t difficult, Adrian didn''t remain idle as, during the three years of his term, he led the people to vigorously clean the rivers, build bridges and fill up the marshes¡­that by the time he left, the annual floods the Heracleans suffered had also been significantly reduced.

    Then he became the praetor of Uzentum. As a coastal port town in the Messapi region just across the sea from Krimisa, and due to its small poption and the frequent maritime trade with the Greeks in Magna Graecia, the people of Uzentum were not as wary of the Greeks as the people of Rudiae. As a result, Adrian has not encountered any major trouble in his administration. Still, he took advantage of Uzentum''s geographical location of being close to the Gulf of Taranto and Rudiae and expanded the port and constructed a road leading to Rudiae, making Uzentum a transit point between Thurii and Rudiae, which brought great benefits to the people of Uzentum.

    With Adrian''s three times dazzling achievements as a praetor, the Kingdom''s Civil Servant Management Committee gave him ¡®excellent¡¯ marks for his governing during his terms. They even evaluated him for being good at urban construction and improving people''s lives.

    However, Irna''s situation is moreplicated than that of Roscianum, Heraclea and Uzentum, so Davos was still uncertain if Adrian could handle it well.

    Then another statesman raised his hand, but most of the statesmen around showed aplicated expression as he was Nachus, a statesman from Locri.

    In the war in Magna Graecia, Locri became an aplice of Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, even though it was a city-state of Magna Graecia. They were even suspected of trying to assassinate Davos, which made the people of Locri like rats in the streets and were looked down upon by Magna Graecia. But after Locri surrendered to Theonia and to stabilise the once Magna Graecia''s power and its allies, they elected several members of Locri''s council with high prestige as statesmen of Theonia, and Nachus, who was the first to propose surrender and the first to drive out Demodokas, was naturally one of them.

    Like Milo, Nachus stayed in Locri to assist Hielos in governing Locri. And thanks to Nachus, the people of Locri soon epted Theonia''s rule. Of course, another reason was that Locri''s culture waspatible with that of Theonia, as they had taken Persephone, the wife of Hades, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love, as the patron deities of the city-state, so they had a natural affinity to the Theonians. Apart from those, Locri''s harshws made it easier for the Locrians to obey authority.

    And in the sixth year of Theonia, Davos made Nachus the praetor of Otranto.

    Otranto was also a coastal town in the Messapi region, but unlike Uzentum, Otranto was located at the southeastern end of the Italian penins. Due to its fertilends, the town has arge poption, and since it is located at the exit of the Adriatic Sea, it is the closest to Greece as a hundred kilometres from the other side of the Adriatic Sea is the famous Ind of Kerkyra(Corfu). Hence Otranto was also the town that was influenced by native Greek culture the most in Messapi. In its port, you could even sometime see Athenian merchants and merchants representing Sparta.

    After the conquest of the Messapians, Otranto was the second most chaotic city after Rudiae, which shows the difficulty in governing it. However, within three years after Nachus took over, Otranto''s political situation became stable, and the people gradually submitted.

    In fact, Davos thought that Nachus was the best candidate for the position of Irna''s praetor. However, he had already stated earlier that he would not appoint a candidate, so the possibility of Nachus seeding was slim because the Locrians were not popr with the statesmen of Magna Graecia.

    Then another statesman participated in the election. He was a statesman from Sicily, but he was different from the other statesmen of Sicily in that he came from Syracuse.

    After the war in Magna Graecia and after Syracuse and Theonia reached an agreement, a group of Syracusans and ves strongly demanded to leave Syracuse. It turned out that when Dionysius conquered eastern Sicily, he forcibly relocated the people of other city-states to enrich thend of Syracuse; among them were the people of Leontinoi.

 Chapter 600: Praetors Election (II)

    After Davos found out about it, he sent messengers for negotiation.

    And since Syracuse couldn''t do anything about it and had to bow its head, how would they dare disagree?

    As a result, Tethytes led nearly 3,000 people to leave Syracuse immediately. However, these thousands of people didn''t return to Leontinoi but mostly came to Catania under Tethytes'' persuasion. At that time, Catania upied almost half of the Catanian in and was short ofbour, so they naturally didn''t hesitate to ept them. And as their leader, Tethytes eventually became a statesman of Theonia.

    However, Tethytes doesn''t like mingling with the other statesmen from Sicily but chooses to get closer with the former mercenaries. Although he served as Thurii''s constable and in the Ministry of Military, he was able to put aside his status as a statesman and actively participate in military training. Eventually, he became a senior centurion of Thurii''s reserve legion.

    In the fifth year of Theonia, Tethytes served as the praetor of Nerulum andpleted it smoothly without any outstanding performance in governance. After all, Nerulum, as Lucania''s territory that was the first to be merged into Theonia, had all its sessive praetors devoted their efforts and made its system, agriculture, trade, and public construction fully developed, and he just needed to follow it. Thus at the end of his term, the Kingdom''s Civil Servant Management Committee just gave him a ¡®good¡¯ rating.

    However, Davos found it somewhat astonishing that the people of Nerulum are reluctant to part with him. After all, Tethytes treated the Greeks and Lucanians of Nerulum equally from the bottom of his heart even though he had only been in Sicily and had no chance toe in contact with the Lucanians.

    Afterwards, Davos appointed him as the praetor of Vergae. And during his term, he once again disyed his characteristic in the people of Bruttii. Hence even though he had just left his position for less than two months, Davos still thinks he is a suitable candidate for Irna''s praetor after Nachus.

    ¡®What''s happening?! Just a position of Irna''s praetor had actually led four statesmen with excellent abilities topete with each other!¡¯ This situation interests Davos as well.

    After saying the names of the four candidates to the statesmen again, Cornelius announced the start of the voting.

    The statesmen then cut a small piece of papyrus they carried, wrote the name of the statesmen they wanted to elect with a quill, and then walked to the wooden table in front of Cornelius, where arge ballot box was ced.

    Then the Grand Inspector Sesta and the Supreme Judge Tritodemos stood at the side to supervise it, mainly to prevent the statesmen from cheating and cing more votes.

    If some statesmen are illiterate, they could raise their hands and an attendant and an inspector wille to their side. The attendant will then write the name the statesman whispered while the inspector will supervise whether he wrote it correctly.

    In reality, it is very embarrassing for the illiterate statesmen to ask someone to write for them in full view of everyone. So after experiencing it one or two times, they would often take the initiative to find someone to teach them to read and write so as to get out of this predicament as soon as possible. For example, most of the former mercenaries already got rid of their title as illiterate for this reason. In contrast, the statesmen who could not read Greek were mainly from Peuceti, who joined the Senatest.

    After counting the votes, Adrian won the most votes, followed by Tethytes, Milo, and Nachus, which was the same as Davos'' estimate. In the absence of Davos'' covert involvement, the former mercenaries, thergest group among the statesmen, had mostly voted for theirrade, Adrian, who had gotten along well with everyone. As for Nachus, even after ten years had passed, the resentment of the other city-states'' statesmen of Magna Graecia against the Locrian has still not disappeared. Otherwise, the number of votes he received would not have been so different from the other three, which is utterly inconsistent with his ability.

    After sighing, Davos looked at Nachus, who didn''t look depressed. Obviously, he already expected this result.

    When Davos announced that Adrian was the new praetor of Irna, he stood up to express his gratitude to Davos and the other statesmen.

    Following the Senate''s requirements and the distance between Thurii to Irna, Adrian must arrive in Irna to take up his post within eight days. Although the time frame is not tight, it is not much either.

    But before leaving, he must go to the royal pce and listen to some of king Davos'' suggestions when taking his position and giving him tasks and requirements. At the same time, he must also ask the Chief of Finance, Chief of Military, Chief Commercial Officer, and other important kingdom officials to understand the details of Irna in all aspects. Of course, he can also put forward some of his requirements to Davos and the ministers, such as applying for some funds or transferring several middle and lower-ranking officers from various departments that he believes are trustworthy¡­ However, whether it was allowed still depends on Davos and the ministers.

    Finally, he had to get the inauguration letter with the king''s deal and signature before he could leave. Otherwise, the local officials would not follow his instructions when he arrived in Irna if he didn''t have the official document.

    Although Adrian is not the most suitable candidate for Irna''s praetor in Davos¡¯ mind, Adrian''s performance in the past ten years has exceeded his expectations and given him a lot of surprises. Therefore, Davos still has great expectations for Adrian''s future performance.

    ¡°Esteemed lords, do any of you have important proposals to say?!¡± Shouted Cornelius.

    However, no one responded and making the venue a little bit quiet.

    After waiting for a while, Davos was about to stand up and return to the royal pce. Over the years, he gradually began to separate the kingdom''s internal affairs from the Senate''s evaluation, approval and creation of variousws of Theonia and transferred them to the royal pce. So he would only attend the Grand Senate Hall when electing new statesmen and important officials, discussing importantws, as well as establishing newws, war, diplomacy and other important matters that needed his final decisions. But most of the time, he would stay in his office in the royal pce to deal withplicated Kingdom matters.

    When Davos stood up, the statesmen with crucial official positions in the kingdom, such as Marigi, Mersis and Philesius, also began to stand up and leave to work in the pce because Davos might send someone to call them about a particr matter under their jurisdiction at any time.

    Seeing that, Ladician hurriedly poked at Antonios beside him and motioned him to stand up and speak.

    Yet Antonios continued to sit still.

    Seeing Davos was about to leave, Ladician immediately stood up and said, ¡°Your majesty, please wait a moment; I have a proposal I wish to say!¡±

    Antonios hurriedly turned his head and warned, ¡°Ladician, I already told you not to mention this today! Sit down!!¡±

    But Ladician ignored him and remained standing.

    Showing a thoughtful expression, Davos sat down and slowly said, ¡°What important proposal does Lord Ladician wish to discuss?¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, since we have just elected a new praetor for Irna.¡± Ladician continued sharply, ¡°Why don''t we take this opportunity to elect a new praetor of Naxos? After all, Lord Stromboli''s term would end in four days!¡±

    ¡°Ladician, what do you mean by that?! Before Lord Stromboli could even return, you already want to start electing a new praetor of Naxos?!!¡± Tritodemos eximed with discontent. After all, He and Stromboli had a good rtionship as they were both Amendrans and had worked together for many years.

    With Ladician needing something from Tritodemos, he immediately exined with a smile as soon as he saw he wasn''t happy, ¡°Lord Tritodemos, didn''t Lord Stromboli already write to the Senate earlier that he would not run as Naxos'' Praetor again?! So isn''t it okay to choose a sessor now and have him take over as soon as possible so that Lord Stromboli could leave Naxos at ease after working hard for three years? Moreover, there have been many such examples before.¡±

    ¡°It seems Lord Ladician is quite concerned and considerate about his hometown.¡± Davos interjected with a sneer before Tritodemos could speak, ¡°But even if Stromboli leave Naxos for more than ten days without a praetor, there are still several vice praetors there! Thus there is no need for you to be too anxious as Naxos won''t encounter any trouble.¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, you¡­you are right.¡± but Ladician still gritted his teeth and daringly said, ¡°It''s just¡­wouldn''t it be safer if we can shorten the time?!¡±

    ¡°Hmm, you are right.¡± Davos nodded and then suddenlyughed, ¡°Safe¡­but in what matter?!¡±

    Antonios, who had been watching Davos, felt a little uneasy.

    On the other hand, Ladician was puzzled by Davos'' odd questions and didn''t know how to answer them.

    ¡°Lord Ladician, as a statesman, your vision should be on the whole kingdom and not just your hometown!¡± The statesmen in the venue felt it strange as even though Davos'' tone was soft, he would often call the statesmen by their first name and rarely use the honorific title of ¡®lord¡¯ just like now.

    Davos then added in a more serious tone, ¡°We will only conduct the election of the new praetor of Naxos after Stromboli returns. If Stromboli still has anything important to deal with, we could even approve extending his term of office! That''s all.¡±

    After that, Davos ignored Ladician. But before leaving his seat, he cast a meaningful nce at Antonios, startling him, ¡®His majesty knows about it!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    For thousands of years, thend of Apulia had the Ofanto river flowered from west to east through it. And year after year, the silt brought from the Apennines turned both banks into fertilend, but it also became the boundary between the Dauni and the Peuceti. For centuries, the two tribes fought each other over the ownership of thisnd, and the bones of countless warriors that were buried in it had made up for thend¡¯s fertility that the crops consumed.

 Chapter 601: Recalling the Messapi-Peuceti Event (I)

    Even though the two race has the same ancestry, they have irresolvable hatred because of this river. But after the strength of the Peucetians grew rapidly due to Peuceti and Messapi casting aside their previous prejudices and forming an alliance, King Telemani quickly recaptured the town of Canusia that they lost and crossed the Ofanto river several times to invade thend on the north bank.

    While the Daunians worried about their increasingly powerful rival to the south, shocking news came from the south six years ago: Their century-old enemy, the Peucetians, was defeated by a kingdom called Theonia and killed King Telemani in battle! After a few more years passed, the territory of the Peucetians changed ownership.

    Although the Daunians knew about this powerful kingdom called Theonia, whose territory was the whole of southern Italia, they always treated them calmy. Some Daunians even thought the Theonians were their friends because they had fought the Peucetians many times and even defeated the Messapi-Peuceti alliance seven years ago.

    And when the Daunian envoy walked into the Grand Senate Hall of Thurii, the king of Theonia received him warmly and dly agreed to sign a two-year peace agreement with Dauni.

    With that, the Daunians put aside their worries and passed the two years safely. But when they offered to renew the treaty again, the Theonian Senate requested the Daunians to transfer thends along the north bank of the Ofanto river to Theonia. Their reason is that the Peucetians insisted that they owned thesends, but the Daunians seized them. And now that the Peucetians had be a member of Theonia, they had to seek justice for its citizens.

    The Daunians naturally couldn''t agree to this request, which resulted in the agreement''s renewal failing. After the negotiation broke down, the war started.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As a Peucetian, the turbulent changes that Alemus witnessed in the past few years were far beyond the peaceful first half of his life.

    More than ten years ago, King Telemaniunched the greatest attack against the Daunians but ended up suffering a crushing defeat and even lost the important town on the south bank of the Ofanto river, Canusia. Fortunately, Telemani recognised the reality of the situation and took the initiative to surrender and signed a truce with the Daunians. Afterwards, they allied with Messapi, allowing them to gain half of Brindisi and defeat the Tarantine army one after another.

    But just as they began thinking their good day wasing, the Theonian army appeared. In the Battle of Anlen Hills, the Theonians defeated Alemus and hisrades despite their advantageous position. Although their loss wasn''t significant, they began fearing the Theonians, who forced the Messapi-Peuceti alliance to sign an armistice agreement with Taranto. Only when the Theonians left the Apulia region did the Peucetians and Messapians be relieved.

    In the following years, the Peucetians regained their strength with the help of Messapi and the nourishment of Brindisi''s maritime trade. Then King Telemani immediately waged war against the Daunians again, so Alemus took up arms and went to war¡­this time, they were victorious and retook the city of Canusia and drove the Daunians back to the northern bank of the Ofanto river.

    And just as Telemani was about to lead his army to continue attacking the north bank of the Ofanto, a Messapian messenger came and invited their king to send troops to attack Taranto. From them, he learned that Taranto foolishly broke their agreement with Theonia and sent troops to attack, which resulted in a terrible defeat that almost all their soldiers who went to war didn''t escape. Furthermore, another more powerful force attacked Theonia, and it was difficult to say whether they could win. If even themon people thought this was a great opportunity, it was only natural for king Telemani to readily agree to the Messapians'' proposal. After finding out about it, Alemus and hisrades cheered as the Tarantines are much easier to deal with than the Daunians and are much wealthier.

    Thus Alemus marched with the army again; the Messapi-Peuceti alliance managed to capture arge part of Taranto with ease and push their way towards the city. Although a siege battle was a headache for them, the Tarantine soldiers in the city were only a few while they had arge army of 40,000. In addition, Alemus saw with his own eyes that even elderly and young people had to serve as soldiers in the city''s defence, so Alemus and hisrades became confident in capturing the city of Taranto. But ten days after their attack, Taranto remained standing still, which was a strange phenomenon. Especiallyter, whenever they attack at dusk, they could sense the Tarantines could no longer hold on and would be about to be overwhelmed by the Messapi-Peuceti warriors. But on the next day, the defenders seemed to have changed as they were filled with fighting spirit and strength.

    Then rumours began to spread in the camp that ¡°the Theonians hadpletely defeated their enemies¡± and that they saw a Theonian envoy entering the camp of the Messapi-Peuceti alliance. Onlyter did Alemus learn that the envoy hade to give them an ultimatum for their troops to immediately withdraw because Taranto had be Theonia''s free city.

    Even now, Alemus still didn''t understand what a free city was, but he knew that King Telemani and the archons of Messapi must have be upset as they hadunched a massive attack on Taranto the next day. Yet Taranto''s defenders seemed to double, resulting in their defeat. And the act of the Messapi-Peuceti allied troops had obviously angered the Theonia as they soon received the bad news the following day, ¡°The Theonian navy attacked theirbined fleet in the Gulf of Taranto, and only five ships managed to flee the battlefield.¡±

    In the end, King Telemani and the Messapians decided to retreat before the Theonian army returned to Thurii. And once they learned about it, Alemus and hisrades became relieved as they were already tired of the constant climbing of the walls yet unable to fight the enemy head-on. And deep down, they did not want to fight those terrifying Theonians.

    In the following years, apart from the asional trip across the river with the chieftains to invade the Daunians, Alemus lived a peaceful life. But he knew that King Telemani and the chieftains were tense. Even though Theonia didn''t act on Peuceti, they repeatedly refused Peuceti and the Messapi''s messenger''s request to form an alliance or sign a friendly agreement with Theonia.

    Four years after the Battle of Taranto, Theonia dered war on Peuceti and Messapi. The reason for the deration was to seek justice for breaking the armistice agreement and jointly attacking Taranto.

    And every time Alemus recalled it, he found it amusing because didn''t Taranto also break their agreement and attack Theonia back then? Yet Theonia now wants to get justice for them?! But considering Taranto has be a city of the kingdom of Theonia, it is only natural for the Theonians to aim their revenge on the independent Peuceti and Messapi.

    With the phrase ¡®defend the homnd¡¯, Alemus, who was almost forty years old, became motivated and took up his shield and spear again to go to the front line.

    After a period of preparation, meeting, marching, scouting, and small-scale battles, the Messapi-Peuceti alliance finally decided to fight the Theonians in Brindisi.

    Alemus could never forget that day. The Messapi-Peuceti allied army had made borate preparations for the past few years, and their warriors numbered more than 60,000, a massive army that Alemus had never seen in his life. Even though the warriors that lined up from north to south seemed endless¡­the Theonian soldiers on the opposite side were much more, with everyone wearing uniformed armour and weapons, standing there quietly like a solid ck reef on the sea, which was quite daunting¡­

    With the atrocious defensive ability of the Peuceti and Messapi warriors, they could only roar and charge forward as soon as the horn sounded¡­

    Then endless rains of arrows that covered the sky were shot from the opposite side¡­

    Followed by the more powerful rain of javelins¡­

    Alemus could only watch helplessly as hisrades fell to the ground with the arrow, resulting in arge gap appearing on the dense formation, like the bark of a tree that the insects gnawed.

    Then he heard the enemy roar in unison and began to charge, just like the dark clouds before theing of the storm. Alemus became so nervous that he almost stopped breathing, and sweats soaked his palm.

    As the two armies collided and fought a bloody battle, the young and vigorous Peucetian warriors constantly attacked with their blood and courage the steel military formation formed by the Theonian soldiers. However, it was all in vain, just like a raging tide striking the reefs.

    After more than an hour of fighting, the Theonian army remained standing while the Peucetians and Messapi slowly retreated. Alemus, who was in the rear, could hear that most of the screams came from the Peucetian warriors, which terrified him.

    Then when they heard the warriors panickily shout, ¡°The enemy ising from the nk!¡± Alemus did not hesitate to turn around and run away at that time, with hisrades making the same choice.

 Chapter 602: Recalling the Messapi-Peuceti Event (II)

    After learning Brindisi fell within a few days, Alemus felt fortunate that he did not blindly follow those who fled into Brindisi but fled back north to his hometown.

    Later, he learned that during the battle, more Theonian legions appeared from the two nks and detoured went around both sides of the Messapi and Peuceti armies. With the cavalry of the Messapi-Peuceti alliance defeated, the Messapi-Peuceti army had no chance at all to win and was almost wiped out after getting surrounded.

    He even heard that at the end of the battle, King Telemani shouted, ¡®Davos of Theonia, do you dare fight with me?!¡¯ and led his elite guards towards the royal g of the Theonia army. Unfortunately, the swarming soldiers of the Theonian army surrounded them, and they finally died in battle.

    Upon hearing the king''s death, Alemus could only sigh. After all, he believed that all Peucetian warriors who had experienced the great war would no longer be courageous to fight the Theonians.

    In the following two years, the Peucetians could only live in fear and unease because the several towns and tribes in Peuceti were at odds with each other regarding who would take over as the new king, resulting in numerous battles taking ce¡­

    During that time, shocking news woulde from the south from time to time.

    ¡°The Theonians captured Manduria¡­¡±

    ¡°Uzentum surrendered to Theonia.¡±

    ¡°Otranto was captured¡­¡±

    ¡°Rudiae has fallen¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Alemus, who was already in his forties, knew that the Theonians would soon set foot on Peuceti''s territory. But with the current chaos in Peuceti, they couldn''t stop the advance of the Theonian army even for a moment.

    Sure enough, once the Theonian legion entered the Peuceti territory, the Peucetians, who imed to be fiercer than the Messapians, fared much worse. Blera surrendered, Silvium surrendered, Barium surrendered, Venusia surrendered, and finally, Canosa, where Alemus lived, also surrendered¡­

    In less than four months, the Theonianspletely conquered the whole Peucetian territory. But that was already okay as too many Peucetians had died.

    Alemus and the other tribes could only watch with mixed feelings as the heavily armed Theonian army soldiers escorted the new ruler of their city. Afterwards, the Theonians gathered the people of Canosa in the square.

    After introducing himself as the praetor of Canosa, Agasias firstforted the Canosians not to be afraid because no one would dare to harm them as they were already Theonian citizens, and the Theonianw would protect them.

    Then he began reading the decree issued by the kingdom of Theonia, the content of which Alemus still remembers, ¡°¡­All Peucetian tribes within Canosa will be dissolved, and every Canosians will have independent freedom. Besides being under the jurisdiction of Theonia''s administration and having to abide by the kingdom''sws, you will no longer be governed by other organisations and groups. Furthermore, you will receive your ownnd and only need to pay 1% tax every year, and besides joining the military service, no one will force you to do additionalbour¡­

    At that time, Alemus, like everyone else, thought they had misheard it.

    But the following actions of the Theonians proved their words were not empty and issued official documents to all tribes in Canosa: First, all tribes must hand over thends they upied to the city hall for redistribution; Second, all ethnic minorities will be registered at the Census Registry Office in the city hall.

    Alemus knew how much the document shooked the tribes of Canosa: In just three days, six revolts andmotion happened in Canosa, but the powerful Theonian army quickly pacified all of them. And the chieftains and nobles who led the riots were escorted to the square to have their heads beheaded, which happened several days in a row and resulted in the heads to keep on rolling and blood spilling everywhere.

    Such matters also happened in other Peucetian towns, and these bloody executions extinguished the courage of the Peucetians. (While conquering Messapi, the constant revolts and chaos of the Messapian tribes made Davos and the Senate realise the difference between the Messapi, the Lucanians and the Bruttians. In addition, Theonia''s current power gave Davos enough confidence to make him disregard the soft method and slow disintegration of the indigenous tribes. Instead, he would quickly cut down any problem as soon as it appeared and thoroughly solve the Peucetians, who were far away from the influence of Greek culture and may resist the Theonian rule much more fiercely than the Messapians.)

    And it seems that Davos overestimated the ferocity of the Peucetians because soon after quelling the revolts, the chieftains of the Peucetian tribes all rushed to the city hall to show their loyalty, including the chieftains of the tribe where Alemus belonged.

    A few dayster, Alemus'' family, who had finished registering as citizens of Theonia, was given newnd. Since Alemus was living the first half of his life in the tribe, he felt both bewildered and a little excited: Bewildered because the sudden loss of the tribe he relied on made him feel some fear and helplessness; Excited because there was no longer any tribe that would constrain him, making Alemus feel freedom.

    Even though he hadnd in the past because he was a tribal warrior, he would only need to pay a small tax every year on thend he gained now, and the next three years were tax-free.

    And the Three-year tax exemptionw had significantly reduced the discontent of the Peucetians in the newly conquerednd.

    After two years, the city of Canosa significantly changed under the rule of Theonia, with only the Temple of Lycaon still standing in the city. Every year, a lot still goes to worship him, but it is slowly decreasing as more and more begin to believe in the king of the underworld from Greece. Moreover, his temple wasn''t far from the Temple of Lycaon. And since the Temple of Hades healed the people for free and helped the faithful in need, they are much more approachable than the high priest of Lycaon.

    The young Canosians, on the other hand, fell in love with the football and rugby games invented by the Theonians. During the farming season, they would often y from morning to night in the open spaces both inside and outside the city. Moreover, they would actively learn Greek to y these games better because their coaches are Theonians from across the Gulf of Taranto.

    These Theonians were legion recruits that took part in the conquest of Messapi and Peuceti, who had gotten a piece ofnd in Canosa from the Senate and settled there. At first, the Peucetians rejected, resisted and even had disputes and conflicts with them, but due to the popr ball games in South Italia, followed by the military training, they gradually began opening up and epted the Theonians.

    Under thepulsory decree of the city hall, the young men of Peuceti had to take part in military training, and the ones to train them to climb, roll and fight were these newly arrived Theonian soldiers. And it was the training on every seventh day that helped foster their friendship.

    For Alemus, what attracted him the most was the Theonian food. In the past two years, Alemus reaped a good harvest on his farm along the Ofanto river, and since he doesn''t pay taxes, he would take the rest of the grain to the market in the city for sale after reserving enough for their use. At the same time, he would also take some livestock he raises each year and sells them to the Cheiristoya Restaurant in the city, where the prices are not bad.

    With his abundant money, his formerrades often pull Alemus to the Cheiristoya Restaurant for a small gathering. There, they would drink cold beer, eat delicious food, recall the joy of battles of the past andin about the changes that have made them happy today. In fact, they admit deep down that today''s cosy life is much better than it was two years ago.

    While they were drinking,ining at Theonia and looking forward to their future life, a piece of news shocked the quiet city of Canosa, ¡®Theonia dered war on the Daunians!¡¯

    Although the Peucetians were happy to fight the Daunians as they had been enemies for decades, Alemus, who had just experienced two years of peace and quiet, was worried, as were some of the older Peucetians, that the war would again spill the blood of the Peucetians that had gone through many battles that had reduced their poption.

    But in reality, they just overthought it.

    Once the mighty Theonian army marched in from the South and built a colossal stronghold not far from the city of Canosa, Alemus knew that the Peucetians would have nothing to do with the next war.

    However, some Peucetians became unhappy with some young men going to the city hall and the training camp to protest and demanded to be allowed to participate in the war against the Daunians. While the others, such as Alemus, set up a temporary market near the stronghold to sell the daily needs of the soldiers, who would go out to battle under the organisation of the city hall. The Canosians, who had previously been brave and ruthless, were beginning to develop a sense of business, which was perhaps the biggest change for Alemus and the others in thest two years.

    By getting up early this morning, Alemus managed to get a good ce for his stall near the entrance of the temporary market. But just as he was lost in his thoughts, a loud cheer broke out from the nearby stronghold that made Alemus high-spirited. And based on his experience yesterday, this should be the end of the soldiers'' training.

    Immediately after, the vendors in the whole market stopped chatting and walking around as they began to get busy stacking up the goods they would sell on the stalls, such as grapes, olives, boiled beef and mutton, fruit juice, bread, salted fish, clothes, ironware¡­

    As soon as Alemus and his wife started setting things up, they saw a group of soldiers pouring into the market.

    ¡°Adoris, this is the stall with the delicious juice I told you about.¡± Several soldiers stood in front of Alemus'' shop while surrounding a young man about eighteen years old.

    Hearing that, the young man looked at the stall and immediately said, ¡°Give me a bowl.¡±

 Chapter 603: Prince Adoris

    ¡°One¡­obol.¡± Alemus said in stiff Greek.

    The young man then pulled out a drachma from his money pouch and threw it to Alemus, then squatted down and held up the wooden cylinder, which was made by simply hollowing out the centre of a fist-thick tree trunk, polishing it and painting it. Then a milky white juice filled the wooden cylinder, which was quite heavy in his hand. Without minding its crudeness, the young man first took a small sip, tasted it, and amazement showed on his face, ¡°It tastes terrific; It seems you had mixed goat''s milk and grape juice. In addition, you should have also added honey, but the most surprising is that this goat''s milk is not musty. So how did you do it?¡±

    The young man who spoke was Adoris, the adopted son of King Davos of Theonia. Since he had already turned eighteen, he would now participate for the first time as a legion soldier in the war against Dauni. Although he doesn''t have much interest in cooking, he has more or less experience in this area after tasting the food in his home daily.

    But Alemus pretended he couldn''t understand by looking down for a change.

    Seeing that, Adoris no longer questioned him. Instead, he threw another drachma and said, ¡°Don''t bother looking for a change; just give me ten more.¡± He then looked around and said, ¡°Since my brothers have worked hard in their training, this would be my treat and have them drink some juice to quench their thirsts.¡±

    Hisrades immediately cheered, ¡°Thank you, Adoris! O generous Adoris!¡­¡±

    Alemus and his wife quickly filled each wooden cylinder with the juice and handed it to the thirsty soldiers.

    ¡°Prince, don''t just invite your squadmates to drink juices! We are also thirsty!¡± A soldier not far from the market entrance shouted.

    ¡®Prince?!¡¯ In his memory, the one with the title of ¡®prince¡¯ was Vadalka, the son of the former king of Peuceti, Telemani. But after Telemani died in the battle of Brindisi, the royal family¡¯s power was significantly reduced after the tribal warriors directly under Telemani were almost wiped out. With Peuceti bing chaotic, Vadalka, even though he was the prince, couldn''t be the new king because he didn''t have the support of anyrge tribes. And once the Theonians invaded, Vadalka took his family and fled by ship to Epirus on the other side of the Adriatic.

    Although the young man in front of him is tall and sturdy, with big eyes and thick eyebrows, the remaining boyishness on his face conceals his nobleness, so Alemus doesn''t know if his title of a prince is true or not.

    Adoris turned around and cursed, ¡°Amphias, if you keep on shouting, I will make sure you won''t be able to drink any today!¡±

    The soldier, however, remained fearless as he replied with a smile, ¡°I will stop shouting as long as you treat me.¡±

    Although Adoris red at him, he couldn''t do anything to him. After the South Italian war, with Theonia almost upying Magna Graecia, Crotone was forced by the situation as they had to rely on Theonia to rebuild a new city and restore their past prosperity. Hence the Crotonians finally chose to merge into the kingdom of Theonia, with Lysias, Milo and other high-ranking members of Crotone''s council bing a statesman of Theonia. And Amphias, being the son of Lysias, followed his father to Thurii and became Adoris'' ssmate in the school in Thurii. Wanting not to be taken care of too much, Adoris specifically asked Davos to allow him to serve as a legion soldier in the fourth legion that was based in Crotone as he thought that no one would know him aftering out of age. Who knew that he would meet Amphias in the fourth legion, who had not set his registered residence in Thurii after bing an adult and instead chosen his birthce Crotone, which thus revealed Adoris'' identity.

    Knowing Amphias'' brazen personality, Adoris looked around the market, turned and pointed to the pottery jar beside the stall and asked, ¡°How much is this jar of juice?¡±

    Alemus'' heart jolted, and he quickly replied, ¡°Two drachmae.¡±

    ¡°You still have 15 more jars here, and I''ll buy them all. However, can you give any soldiers whoe here a cup of juice to drink?!¡± Adoris said directly and counted out 30 drachmae from his pouch.

    ¡°Yes! Yes!¡­¡± Alemus nodded again and again.

    Then a bigger cheer erupted in the market, mixed with an abrupt shout, ¡°All hail prince Adoris!¡±

    ¡®Damn Amphias!¡¯ Adoris became so angry that he immediately shouted, ¡°Brothers, Amphias just told me that since I would invite you all to drink juice today, he would invite you to drink beer once we won the war and return to Thurii!¡±

    ¡°I didn''t-¡± Amphias was about to argue, but the soldiers already shouted excitedly, ¡°Amphias, I didn''t expect that you would be more generous than Adoris!¡±

    ¡°Amphias, we can''t wait to go to battle and win, then go home and drink your beer!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Asughter rang in the market, Alemus, who was busy distributing the juice,mented at how fearless these young soldiers who didn''t know the cruelty of war, which reminded him of his youth.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the central camp of the Theonian stronghold, Alexius, themander in charge of this attack on Dauni, was pondering about a letter from King Davos. And the reason was that at the end of the letter, Davos wrote, ¡°¡­a glorious battle happened on the north bank of the Ofanto river in the past, so I hope you will also win a magnificent victory that is not inferior to our !¡­¡±

    Alexius thought carefully but still couldn''t recall any major battles taking ce in this vicinity. Thus he asked his adjutant, who had just graduated from the school of Thurii with honours, ¡°Umateseus, do you know of any fierce battles that have taken ce near the Ofanto river back then?¡±

    Umateseus, the eldest son of Bagul, thought for a moment and immediately replied, ¡°I don''t know.¡±

    ¡®Could it be that battle had urred here so long ago that it wasn¡¯t recorded? But since his majesty was the god''s favoured, he would certainly know it through Hades'' enlightenment¡­¡¯ Alexius could only think like that. Still, the encouragement in Davos'' letter made him ambitious.

    It is only natural for him not to know about the ¡®glorious battle¡¯ mentioned in Davos'' letter as it still hadn''t yet happened but had happened in the history of his previous life. Back then, the greatmander Hannibal led 50,000 troops across the river and met with the 80,000 Roman soldiers in a battle. But through clever formation, he eventually defeated the Roman army using smaller numbers and created one of the most glorious examples in the history of ancient western warfare. This also made Davos have the impulse to rush over to personallymand this war andpete with Hannibal. However, he had to give up now, after all, the difference between Dauni and his previous life''s Rome was too great that it wasn''t worth him to do it himself.

    Moreover, Davos, who wasn''t too knowledgeable about his history, was not aware of another battle that took ce in the following decades of his in the south of the city of Asculum on the northwest bank of the Ofanto river, which was also quite famous ¨C the Battle of Asculum. King Pyrrhus of Epirus led the army to fight the Romans for the second time, but even though he won the battle, he suffered heavy losses. As a consequence, Pyrrhus lost his desire to fight the Romans anymore, so he led his army to leave Italia and go to Sicily.

    ¡°Legatus Amintas has arrived!¡­ Legatus Olivos has arrived!¡­ Legatus Giorgris has arrived!¡­ Legatus Ledes has arrived!¡­¡± The guards outside the main quarter kept announcing.

    After entering the quarter, the legatus of the several legions saluted at Alexius and sat down.

    ¡°O Legati.¡± Alexius sat on the main seat and solemnly said to them, ¡°We had stayed here for seven days now, and all the legions, auxiliary troops, and military supplies had arrived. With the Daunians already gathered on the other side, I decided we would cross the river tomorrow andunch an attack on the enemy.¡±

    ¡°We are finally going to attack! We have stayed here for so long that our soldiers felt suffocated!¡± Amintas immediately raised his hands in favour.

    ¡°Lord Amintas, I think it''s only you who felt suffocated.¡± Olivos smiled.

    ¡°You Olivos dares to make fun of me?! Since there will be a rugby match in the afternoon between the first and fourth legions, you and I would y as the quarterbacks, and whoever loses would have to jump around the training ground! Do you dare?!¡± Amintas shouted.

    ¡°I don''t fear you!¡± said Olivos. But he politely refused, ¡°I need to go out tomorrow, so I don¡¯t have the time to fight with you as I need to assign tasks to the legion and prepare the soldiers in the afternoon!¡±

    ¡°Excuses!¡± Amintas spat. But since he knew Olivos was right, he no longer bothered him.

    ¡°Lordmander, will the Daunianse out to intercept us while we cross the river tomorrow?¡± Giorgris asked cautiously.

    ¡°That''s very likely!¡± Alexius continued, ¡°From our information from the north, the king of Daunians was unwilling to face us outside his city. However, the great chieftains of Asculum, Sipontum, Herdoniae¡­and several other towns insisted on blocking us out of Dauni territory, so that''s why they encouraged their king to finally gather his army on the opposite side of the Ofanto.¡±

    ¡°In that case, we should set out early tomorrow morning and cross the river at the fastest speed. And since the Daunian army wouldn''t be as fast as our Theonian army, we would''ve already crossed the river by the time they arrived at the opposite bank.¡± Olivos put forward his own proposal.

    ¡°If that''s the case, it is very likely that the Daunians wouldn''te out to fight us if they hid in the city of Herdoniae on the opposite bank. That is not favourable to our mission to eliminate the main force of the Daunians immediately, and will also dy our conquest of the entire Daunian region and would just increase the casualties of our soldiers.¡± Alexius shook his head.

 Chapter 604: Battle Strategy

    Alexius gazed at them and seriously said, ¡°We will slow down our formation in the early morning of tomorrow and wait for the Daunians to arrive on the other side of the river. Then we will fight the enemy across the river and defeat them in one fell swoop.¡±

    ¡°I agree with Ale¡­Lordmander''s n, after wading through this river these past two days, I found that it has a wide surface, but it isn''t deep, at most only above the knee. Moreover, the current isn''t too fast, and the riverbed is rather firm, so even if the Daunians stop us in the river, our heavy infantry could still exert their strength.¡± Amintas expressed his approval, and the other legati also agreed one after another.

    Alexius then said, ¡°Everyone,e and see where we will cross the river tomorrow.¡±

    After the several legati huddled and looked at the map on the table, Alexius pointed to somewhere less than a kilometre from the camp. When surveying the terrain, they learned that two or so kilometres east of the river, the two banks of the river, are primarily mudts. And since it was currently summer, the silt on the river bank had dried and clumped, which was beneficial to the army''s marching.

    ¡°Legatus Amintas, you and the first legion will form up in this ce.¡± Alexius'' finger moved a bit to the east and continued, ¡°Since your first legion was the strongest and had thergest number of veterans, you will stay here in the centre. However, I hope the first legion won''t advance too fast and keep in contact with the army on the left and right nks¡­¡±

    Amintas'' troops were known for their fierce attacks, but as a Theonian veteran who had fought for more than ten years, he knew what was important, so he nodded his head immediately to disy his understanding.

    ¡°Legatus Olivos, your fourth legion would be on the left nk of the first legion. Legatus Giorgris, your fifth legion would be on the right nk of the first legion. However, because your legions have too many recruits, I hope that during the river crossing, your officers would stabilise the emotions of the soldiers under them and not cause big confusion¡­¡± Alexius reminded them while pointing his finger at the map.

    ¡°You can rest assured, lordmander. Although the legions have many reserve soldiers, they have already trained in river crossing operations many times in the camp. Moreover, we would pair a veteran who has participated in more than four battles with the lowest level officer (the squad leader), so there shouldn''t be any problem.¡± Olivos immediately assured.

    Giorgris also echoed. His fifth legion was mainlyposed of Bruttians, but the civil strife in Bruttii during the war in South Italia and the post-war clean-up had wiped out all the rebellious Bruttians. Now that ten years had passed, the Bruttians have basically integrated into the kingdom. Moreover, the legion¡¯s recruit had spent their childhood and grew up after Bruttii merged into Theonia. And since most of them studied in the schools built by the Theonians in the various towns of Bruttii, the Theonian culture deeply influenced them. Hence apart from their appearance, there are not much different from the Greeks, the dominant ethnic group of Theonia.

    As for why many recruits transferred to the legion? Well, this question started after the South Italian War.

    Theonia''s most remarkable achievement after its victory at that time was to upy all thends in Magna Graecia and the eastern coast of Sicily. Yet after settling the people of the city-states that integrated into the kingdom, there was still numerous vacantnd left. At that time, the Senate even passed several temporary bills in sessions that allowed preparatory citizens and registered freemen to first get an allocatednd (only the tax paid is different) and then be official citizens after some years passed.

    With the Corinthian war in Greece at that time and the joint forces led by Sparta still fighting the Persians in Asia Minor, the prolonged war led to an increased number of refugees throughout the Greek world. So under Theonia''s intentional guidance, most refugees flock to Magna Graecia, which gave them enough manpower. But since most Theonianws were for official citizens, the sharp increase of registered freemen during that time had caused significant problems for the kingdom¡¯s governance as they needed six to seven years to be official citizens.

    For practical reasons and strategic nning, the kingdomunched a war against the Messapi and Peuceti in the autumn of the fourth year of Theonia. Then after the battle of Brindisi, he transferred many reserve citizens and recruits, mainly from the freemen, into the legions so that they could shorten their years of bing official citizens through meritorious deeds. At the same time, it would prevent the older generation of citizens from getting much morend due to earning more military exploits that would only widen the gap between the rich and the poor in the newly established kingdom.

    But the Daunian war this time was different. It was because many of the recruits had grown up in Theonia since the establishment of the Theonia Union and had received military training from Theonia''s schools since childhood. So even though they were recruits, their quality wasn''t low, which also gave confidence to the several legati.

    Alexius continued to n his attack, ¡°Ledes, your cavalry legion should split into two forces and would be responsible for driving away and defeating the Daunian cavalry on both sides of the formation.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Ledes nodded in response.

    In the kingdom of Theonia, there are now four cavalry legions. The First Cavalry Legion with its base in Thurii. The Second Cavalry Legion in Grumentum. The Third Cavalry Legion in Catania. And the Fourth Cavalry Legion in Brindisi. Although the fourth cavalry legion should be the strongest in terms of quality, as most of them consisted of Peucetians and Messapians, these two regions were only incorporated into the kingdom of Theonia for about six years. With these two races¡¯ wild and free-spirited nature, they would either get beheaded or caned if they were to disobey orders during battle, which might cause a lot of trouble to the whole war situation and even to the two regions that had just stabilised. Thus after considering it again and again, Davos still decided to transfer the first cavalry legion to participate in the war. And since the first cavalry legion had the least recruit among the legions participating in the war, Alexius didn''t bother giving further instructions.

    ¡°Once we begin crossing the river, I want you to gather all the ballistae and gastraphetes behind you to bombard the Daunian army on the opposite bank to disrupt their formation with your attack¡­¡± Alexius'' wordspletely relieved the legati.

    Giorgris asked, ¡°What if the Daunians don''te to attack and stop us from crossing the river?¡±

    ¡°Then we will easily cross the river and capture their cities one after another!¡± Amintas answered instead of Alexius.

    Back then, Davos forcibly detained Dionysius¡¯ nearly 2,000 engineers and craftsmen. Afterwards, he forcibly made Syracuse send their families to Theonia and eventually left them in Thurii, thus significantly improving Theonia''s metal forging, engineering constructions, woodworking¡­and other processes. During the conquest war against Messapi and Peuceti, it was thanks to their help that the legions sessfully captured the towns, which made the legions of Theonia fully confident in terms of siege battles.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The newly built Theonian military stronghold near Canosaprises camps from several legions, with the main road running through the whole stronghold from west to east.

    So after returning to their respective camps, the legatus of the various legions immediately gathered their respective strategoi for discussion.

    While the senior centurion of the first legion rush through the main road towards the quarter of the legatus of the first legion, they bump into a group of soldiers returning to the camp. Then the soldiers immediately stopped to salute when they saw the senior officers. Besides, one soldier, though also saluting, was trying to avoid the officers'' gazes and didn''t make any sound and tried to walk away after giving a hasty salute.

    The senior centurion of the first legion also acted as if they didn''t notice it. It was only after the group of soldiers had gone far away that the senior centurion Xethippus turned around and smiled mischievously, ¡°Patroclus, you are so mighty that even our prince is afraid of you! Just look at his face; he didn''t even dare look at you!¡±

    ¡°Hey Xethippus, our prince is the descendant of Hades, so how could he fear Patroclus? He is just being respectful to his future brother-inw!¡± Another senior centurion teased.

    ¡°You are wrong. Prince Adoris is only an adopted son of his majesty, and so is his sister. It''s just that his majesty treats them so well as if they were his own children.¡± Xethippus hurriedly corrected.

    ¡°Really?!¡±

    ¡°The older Theonian citizens know this. Why don''t you ask this guy if you still don''t believe it? After all, he is the one that knows it best.¡± Xethippus pointed at Patroclus.

    ¡°Brothers, legatus Amintas urgently called us to discuss important matters. If we just stay here chatting, we would bete and get scolded!¡± Patroclus immediately tried to change the subject.

    ¡°It''s okay; we are not afraid of Lord Amintas'' scolding.¡± Xethippus looked indifferent.

    ¡°Xethippus, you are not afraid, but we are!¡± A senior centurion next to himined.

    Xethippus smiled and said to the youngest of the eight, ¡°Patroclus, you will be a different person once you marry his majesty''s daughter. Still, don''t forget to help your old brothers.¡±

    His remark then attracted the approval of others.

    ¡°Brothers, his majesty even allowed Adoris to fight in this war as amon citizen. Furthermore, instead of having him join the first legion, his majesty was afraid that there would be too many acquaintances who knew him and helped him, so he specifically asked the Ministry of Military to have him join the fourth legion! So if his majesty is already so strict with his children, I am afraid his requirements for me as his son-inw wouldn''t be lower. Thus it is impossible to get his special care!¡± Patroclus said with seriousness.

 Chapter 605: Battle of Ofanto

    ¡°He is right. Although his majesty bears the title of a king, he always shares his weal and woes with us. That is also why he won our respect!¡± A senior centurion said sincerely.

    ¡°Anyway, Xethippus, do you still need Patroclus'' help? You could have be the legatus in Sicily, Messapi and even Peuceti a few years ago. Yet you just had to hog the position of the senior centurion of the first brigade of the first legion as you didn''t want us to experience what it was like to be the senior centurion of the first legion!¡± Another senior centurion said jokingly and dissatisfiedly, and the other few also felt the same.

    ¡°Isn''t that better since I gave way for someone else to be a legatus? How ungrateful!¡± said Xethippus while pretending to be angry. He then looked at Patroclus again and said, ¡°Don¡¯t forget to invite me once you held your wedding!¡±

    ¡°I will invite all our brothers to the wedding and bring Cynthia to have toast with you!¡± Patroclus said curtly, only to receive the unanimous appreciation from several other senior centurions.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the quarter of the fourth legion, Olivos made the senior centurion of the fourth brigade, Alciendas, stay behind after their briefing.

    Alciendas was from Crotone, and since Crotone voluntarily merged into the kingdom of Theonia, the fourth legion now held jurisdiction over Crotone. In addition, the headquarters of the fourth legion was moved from Aprustum to Crotone. And since the Crotonians receivedpetitive training since childhood, they also began to stand out once they became familiar with Theonia''s tactics. Thus significantly improving thebat strength of the fourth legion that wasn''t very outstanding before, which resulted in many Crotonians filling the various officer position in the fourth legion.

    ¡°How is Adoris'' performance in your brigade?¡± Olivos asked with a smile.

    Alciendas already expected to discuss ¡®him¡¯ after Olivos made him stay, ¡°He is unexpected! To be honest, I thought he would be trouble, so I didn''t expect that besides having outstanding military skills and performance, he didn¡¯t act as if he was special. Hence he could get close to his squadmates, and the other soldiers also liked staying with him. Also, he sent a message to me through his centurion, hoping to have his squad be in the first line of battle¡­¡±

    Olivos listened to him carefully and smiled as if Alciendas praised his son, ¡°Adoris receive excellent results in the Military Athletic Examination in Thurii''s school every year. Although he is a bit impatient, he has a good personality that could easily make friends. Moreover, since his majesty was strict with his demands, Adoris and his siblings were no different from the other children in the school. Their teacher could even punish them for beingte, being noisy and getting involved in school fighting, and Adoris would often get punished in those regards.¡±

    Olivos smiled while remembering the past, ¡°His majesty had specially assigned Adoris to the fourth legion so that he won''t receive special care, however-¡± Olivos then turned serious, ¡°His majesty might not care, but the swords and spears on the battlefield don''t have eyes. So even if his majesty won''t me us in case Adoris got wounded or even die, the people of the whole kingdom will use us, the Fourth Legion, of ipetence for not being able to protect his majesty''s child! In this way, even if our Fourth Legion made more achievements, it is still notparable to the safety of Adoris! Do you understand?¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Replied Alciendas with slight frustration in his tone.

    ¡°I understand that it is not only Adoris, but you also hope your brigade can fight in the forefront. That¡¯s why you are dissatisfied with my deployment just now, right?¡± the shrewd Olivos saw through his subordinate''s mind and reminded, ¡°Fool! Expand your view as you can also make contributions in the rear! Do you see where I arranged your fourth brigade?!¡±

    ¡°At the left rear of the formation, next to the cavalry.¡± Alciendas blurted.

    ¡°Yes, right beside the cavalry! Once our cavalry legion defeats the enemy''s cavalry and the third brigade in front of you resists the enemy, your fourth brigade could then-¡± Olivos ttened his palm and made a circr gesture.

    ¡°Go around the enemy¡­¡± Alciendas'' eyes brightened.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°¡­O great ruler of the underworld; the fair and strict judge!

    O Hades, the king of the gods, the guardian deity of the kingdom of Theonia!

    Under your shining light, we, the people of your kingdom, would don our armour, pick up our shields and spears, and rush to the battlefield¡­¡±

    Every time Adoris sang the hymn of Hades made by the Temple of Hades for the soldiers of the legion who were going to battle, he could feel a sense of sacred pride in his heart. After all, his father, Davos, was recognised as Hades¡¯ descendant. But the situation today is different from before, as he is now standing in the middle of a military formation of tens of thousands of people, singing this magnificent song that united him and all the other soldiers.

    Although hisrades blocked his sight, he knew that on the other side of the river were tens of thousands of enemies on standby. However, even if this was the first time he went to war, there was no fear in his heart. On the contrary, his body was trembling due to excitement.

    Once the sound of salpinx rang from the rear and he saw the military gs pointing forward, his blood boiled even more.

    ¡°Forward!¡± Once the voice of the officers sounded in their ears, the massive military formation began moving forward slowly.

    Then the drums in the rear sounded at the right time with the drum beats were neither fast nor slow as if imitating each soldier¡¯s steps.

    As soon as Adoris stepped into the Ofanto river after following the soldiers in front of him, the Daunian archers on the other side began shooting their arrows.

    ¡°Raise your shield!¡± The officer shouted.

    Then the soldiers began raising their long shields. If it were the old-fashioned Greek equipment more than ten years ago, the legion soldiers wouldn''t even need to raise their shields to defend themselves as they were not afraid of arrows. But now that they are wearing open-faced helmets, there is nothing that protects their face.

    Amidst the Daunian¡¯s rain of arrows, the light infantry brigade of the various legions on the river bank began to respond. What''s more, the ballista units ced in the rear also began showing their might as theyunched one stone projectile after another. Apanied by the whistling wind, the stone projectile crossed the Ofanto river and fell into the Daunian army, which resulted in the enemy falling over and screaming for a time.

    While watching the stone projectile pass over his head, Adoris became even more enthusiastic when he vaguely heard the scream from the other side of the river.

    On their left side, the thousands of Theonian cavalry, led by Ledes, rode across the river and rushed to the opposite bank first and fought the Daunian cavalry.

    Although the Daunian infantry was afraid of getting struck by the ballista, their generals forced them to quickly rush to the riverbank to narrow the distance with the Theonians so that the ballista won''t dare attack them wantonly.

    ¡°Javelin!¡± Then the officers'' shouts rang out in the military formation.

    Adoris and his squadmates quickly stopped, reached for a javelin in their backs, raised it over their head and threw it. Without even checking the result, they immediately threw another javelin.

    At this time, Adoris heard the officer shout, ¡°Attack!¡±

    Suddenly, the legion burst out with a trembling roar, ¡°HADES!!!¡­¡±

    Although the formation in the front began elerating forward, they didn''t rush as usual during their training because the riverbed was somewhat slippery.

    After following for a while, the formation in front of Adoris and the others suddenly stopped as the sound of fighting spread throughout the river.

    Adoris knew that the two armies had started fighting each other head-on, so he subconsciously tightened his grip on the spear. But unfortunately, they were in the rear of the formation, so they couldn''t do anything besides supporting the body of theirrades. They couldn''t even do the conventional phnx tactical action of pushing forward as they were in the river. And since they couldn''t fully control their body, they would definitely fall once they slipped. Thus the only thing they could do was to stand firm in ce so that they could stabilise the formation in case the enemy pushed back the frontline.

    But as the battle continued, anxiety began showing on Adoris and his squadmates'' expressions. And their current situation of being unable to participate in the battle and could only stay in the rear made Adorisin about his uncle Olivos in his heart many times.

    The Daunians firmly defended the riverbank by taking advantage of the fact that the Theonian army was in the river and couldn''t fully exert their power to suppress the Theonian army.

    Suddenly, Adoris heard the sound of salpinx behind him. He then turned around in shock and saw his centuria''s g pointing to the left.

    ¡°All soldiers, turn left!¡± The squad captain''s voice made him doubt more. However, they couldn''t disobey the military orders. Moreover, the nearby squads have already begun turning left and advanced.

    As the voices of the squad captains sounded one after another in the phnx of the fourth brigade, the entire columns began moving towards the left. At the same time, the phnx in the rear of the right nk made simr manoeuvres. As a result, it seemed someone had simultaneously cut off the lower left corner and the lower right corner of the entire Theonian army.

    Although they nned it in advance, to be able to carry out such fine mobilisation fully shows the advantages of the organisational system of the Theonian legion and the capability of the middle and low-ranking officers.

    Once Adoris and his squadmates turned right once more, his line of sight became wide open except for a fewrades across the field.

    With his love of military matters, Adoris received many years of military training and would courageously consult his adoptive father, who had a distinguished record, on military matters from time to time at home. Thus he managed to understand the purpose of the current mobilisation, which made him eager to carry it out.

    ¡°Speed up!¡± The officer''smand made the young soldiers excited and rush forward as they''d been feeling stifled for some time.

    Alexius, who was in the middle of the formation, finally showed his fangs at this moment. He took advantage of the flexibility and numerous troops of the Theonian army and divided his troops into two wings during the middle of the battle and made them go around the nk of the Daunians.

 Chapter 606: The King and the Chief of Military

    Unfortunately for the Daunians, they couldn''t respond to it even if they found the enemy''s change because they had no habit of keeping reserves and couldn''t take out their troops who were in a fierce battle in time to rest. Thus defeat was only a matter of time.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Pant! Pant!¡­¡± Adoris gasped as he stared at the routed soldiers in front of him.

    The enemy unexpectedly panicked and fled just as they detoured and were about to pounce on them. So to catch up with the enemy, Adoris threw away his long shield andter his spear and drew his short sword, hoping to kill an enemy and not participate in this battle in vain.

    But those Daunians run too fast.

    The squad Adoris belonged to had received strict instruction from the senior centurion in advance, so how dare they let him take the risk alone? Thus they all followed him and therefore were all out of breath.

    Then the salpinx that signals to stop the pursuit rang through the battlefield, which relieved the whole squad.

    But Adoris acted as if he didn''t hear it and tried to continue the pursuit.

    Seeing that, the squad captain became worried, so he rushed up to him and shouted angrily, ¡°Adoris, are you going to vite the military order?!¡±

    At this time, Adoris could only stop reluctantly. Seeing the distant enemy, Adoris angrily threw his short sword to the ground.

    ¡°Don''t worry too much, the enemy won''t be able to escape, and our cavalry legion will make sure they won''t have a good time.¡± Adoris'' squad captainforted him.

    Adoris only bowed his head and didn''t respond as he was too angry that the battle ended without him even grazing the enemy''s hair.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Commander, congrattions on winning this battle and defeating the Daunians'' main force!¡± The nearby officers congratted Alexius.

    Alexius modestly said, ¡°We have more troops, our training is much stricter, and our equipment is also much better than the Daunians, so it is only natural for us to win. However,pletely defeating the main force of the Daunains isn''t enough¡­have the herald immediately inform all the legions to gather the troops quickly, reorganise the formation and then march towards the city of Herdoniae.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± The herald galloped away.

    ¡°Lordmander, should we write a war report to Thurii?¡± His adjutant Umateseus said excitedly.

    Alexius nodded, ¡°Tell his majesty now that we defeated the army of about 20,000 Daunians on the Ofanto river; we would then head to take the city of Herdoniae so that he doesn''t have anything to worry about.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Reporting to the legatus, Prince Adoris hasn''t suffered any harm and has gone to the fourth brigade with his squadmates.¡±

    Olivos'' expression suddenly rxed. Then he said with a smile, ¡°It''s good as long as he is okay!¡±

    Then when he remembered something, he turned his head and said to his adjutant, ¡°Write a private letter to his majesty in my style of writing that during the fourth brigade''s nking of the enemy, Adoris was brave and charged at the front. And even after defeating the enemy, he still followed them closely¡­ In short, write that Adoris performed excellently in the battle but do not exaggerate it too much. Do you understand?¡±

    ¡°Understood, legatus.¡± The adjutant replied and immediately went to get a quill and papyrus.

    ¡°After you finish it, give it to me to read. Then stamp it with my seal and send it to Thurii.¡± Urged Olivos.

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Everyone! Our next target is Herdoniae!¡± Olivos pointed to the front and had his horse galloped forward. Then the officers and guards around him followed him.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°That Olivos!¡± After reading the letter sent by Olivos, Davos couldn''t stop smiling. Even though Davos knew there were exaggerations in the letter, he was relieved that Adoris was safe.

    ¡°Have this letter delivered to my home and give it to Cheiristoya.¡± At least the letter would relieve his family''s worries about Adoris.

    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Henipolis took the letter and left the king''s office.

    Suddenly, a man came to approach him, ¡°Lord Henipolis.¡±

    Henipolis then quickly replied, ¡°Lord Antonios.¡±

    Although Henipolis'' position as the king''s clerk was only a middle rank, he was also a statesman, which was one of the rewards given to him by the Senate after he took the initiative to merge Laos into the kingdom of Theonia. Thus he could be considered the youngest statesman in the Senate. But the main reason why Antonios was so polite to him was that Henipolis was the herald of Davos, so besides his majesty''s family, Henipolis could be said to be one of the closest to the king.

    Antonios then asked, ¡°Is his majesty there?¡±

    ¡°He is waiting for you.¡±

    Just as Antonios took a small step forward, he bowed his head and asked in a low voice, ¡°Lord Henipolis, can you tell me¡­why had his majesty called me here today?¡±

    Henipolis nce at Antonios'' gloomy face. After hesitating for a moment, he uttered a sentence, ¡°The list of middle and lower ranking officers to be promoted.¡±

    Hearing that, Antonios became startled.

    Every year, the Ministry of Military will decide who they would promote ording to the soldiers'' performance and record of each legion. But if there was no war, they could only promote an officer who had served a certain number of years. ording to Theonia''s Military Law, the Ministry of Military could decide the promotion of middle and lower-ranking officers. Afterwards, they would only need to submit a list to the king for approval. But since establishing the Ministry of Military, Davos rarely made any remarks on it, so Davos would often return the documents and rarely call them besides having to add a few names asionally.

    But they had already handed this year''s list five days ago. It¡¯s just that Antonios had forgotten that Davos hadn''t sent someone to return it to the Ministry of Military because he was worried about his brother-inw, Phragres¡­ When he thought of that, Antonios'' heart began to sound an rm. So as he slowly headed towards the king''s office, he began recalling what was wrong with the list.

    After the guard announced his name, Antonios heard a familiar voice inside, ¡°Antonios,e in.¡±

    Antonios took a deep breath, stepped on the smooth marble floor and entered the king''s office hall, which Davos named.

    It is indeed a hall, not a room, as even though it isn''t asrge as the pce hall on the first floor, it is three to four timesrger than the room where Antonios works in the Ministry of Military. On both sides of the hall were neatly ced red wooden chairs, which is where the ministers and officers would sit when the king called them to discuss official matters. And on top of the wall close to the chair were rows of small windows to ensure the hall had sufficient light. The centre aisle is very spacious that you can even ce severalrge tables to ce maps and documents on them and discuss important military and political affairs. In fact, this is where King Davos would discuss and handle the kingdom''s affairs with his ministers, while the pce hall downstairs was more often used forrge court meetings with foreign guests and major events.

    At the end of the aisle is a massive desk, and the wall behind the desk has arge map of Italia, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica painted in various colours. And in front of the desk were two small wooden tables, where the clerk and scribe worked, thus showing that Davos was busy with government matters. After all, many documents from various departments would arrive every day, and his clerk and scribe woulde to help him sort them out, ssify, file, read and respond to them ording to Davos'' instructions. After handing them over to him for signature, they would finally send the documents back¡­

    But the always busy office hall was now empty, except for Davos, who was sitting behind his desk and the piles of documents on the desk hid his face, which made Antonios feel nervous. Although he hade here countless times before, he had never felt such things. But the crimes of Phragres, the persuasion of Asistes, and the attitude of Davos towards Ladician in the Senate the day before yesterday made him uneasy.

    ¡°Your majesty!¡± Antonios walked towards the desk and gave his respectful greetings.

    ¡°Sit!¡± Davos stood up and pointed to the chair. After seeing Antonios sit down slowly, Davos picked up a document on the table and asked calmly, ¡°Have you read all the details in the list of officers to be promoted?¡±

    ¡®It is really about the list! Is his majesty dissatisfied with some of the candidates?!¡¯ Antonios suddenly had his thoughts change, so he replied with caution, ¡°With countless people to be promoted this time, I only focused on the names and performances of the senior centurion and the centurion¡­¡±

    Then Davos asked with vagueness, ¡°Who was the one who made the initial draft?¡±

    ¡°¡­mainly the officials under me who made the initial draft by following the list rmended by the legatus of each legion¡­¡±

    ¡°The current inspector of the Ministry of Military should be Xanticles, right?¡± Davos asked again.

    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡±

    Xanticles was one of the several mercenary leaders of the Persian expedition. Unfortunately, he was too old andcked stamina, so it was difficult for him to continue leading the troops to train and fight, and in the end, he failed to be a legion''s legatus. But remembering their past camaraderie, Xanticles'' decades ofbat experience and his familiarity with military matters, Davos transferred him to the Ministry of Military as the inspector. He would be responsible for supervising and reviewing the promotion of officers, military expenditures¡­and so on.

    ¡°Take a look.¡± When Davos handed over the list, he noticed that Antonios became puzzled.

    Antonios stood up and received the list in a hurry. However, he remained standing as he read through it. Unlike ten years ago, the current kingdom of Theonia has ten infantry legions, not to mention four naval fleets and four cavalry legions. Thus there are hundreds of personnel to be promoted, so the list consists of more than ten pages of papyrus that were densely covered with the names of people, making it harder for Antonios to find the problem in a short time.

    ¡°On the page of the Eighth Legion.¡± Davos'' indifferent tone surprised Antonios because the Eighth Legion was also known as the Sicilian Legion and its headquarters was in Catania.

 Chapter 607: Resignation

    Antonios quickly turned the page and was surprised as he was familiar with the three names Davos specially circled. The first was his brother-inw, Phragres, and the other two were also a son and a rtive of the statesmen from Naxos and Catania, to who he was extremely close. Although it was the lowest rank of a toon leader, Antonios knew that these three people might not meet the requirements for promotion. (The position of a squad leader is not included in the ranks of officers as the legatus could directly appoint them).

    Even though he wasn''t clear about the performance of the other two in the training camp, he knew well about his brother-inw. While he was in Thurii, the centurion would often punish Phragres for arrivingte in military training several times, and the centurion would even report it to Antonios. It was only after Antonios'' severe criticism did Phragres barely perform better. In fact, Antonios felt relieved when Ladician sent Phragres back to Naxos. However, he didn''t expect that this idiot would cause more trouble after returning to his home!

    ¡°Your¡­your majesty, I really¡­didn''t know that Phragres was on this list. From what I know of him, he is¡­ipetent and unqualified as a toon leader.¡± Antonios stammered as he regretted making such a big mistake of not carefully checking the list at the beginning.

    ¡°What you said is reasonable. But as the kingdom¡¯s Chief of Military, it makes you unqualified by saying such things.¡± Davos stared at him. Although his voice was soft, his tone was severe, ¡°See this.¡±

    Davos then handed Antonios another letter from the current legatus of the Eighth Legion, Leotychides. In the letter, he described the military training of the Eighth Legion. He then especially gave a summary of Phragres and the other two''s performance during military training, such as beingte, not taking the training seriously, talking back to their instructions¡­ and so on., which made Antonios¡¯ heart jump.

    ¡®Leotychides!¡¯ Antonios remembered this man well: After performing excellently in the battles of the First Legion, he became a senior centurion in just a few years. Then in the Battle of Brindisi, while the Peucetian king led thest remaining elite troops to make a desperate counterattack, most of the brigades of the Theonian legion scattered as they chased the routed soldiers. And it was only Leotychides who could control his brigade to block the attack of the Peucetians on Davos and buy precious time for the other troops to arrive and surround them. As a result, it left a deep impression on Davos.

    So after the legatus of the Eighth Legion stepped down and the senior centurion of the first brigade of the first legion, Xethippus, refused to take up the post, Davos himself appointed Leotychides, the then senior centurion of the third brigade of the first legion, to take over, thus making him the only legatus in the kingdom of Theonia who was not a former mercenary and also the youngest.

    Although Leotychides was usually serious and didn''t like interacting with others, he would treat military training strictly and seriously. And once he gets angry, he would even beat and scold the soldiers. Thus some people in the army nicknamed him ¡®madman¡¯.

    As for the situation described in the letter, Antonios believed it. However, what shocked him the most was that Davos wrote a letter to ask Leotychides, who was far away in Sicily, about the performance of these unknown soldiers in the military training.

    ¡°Your majesty, I¡­I failed to manage the Ministry of Military well and made such a big mistake. I request¡­request your majesty to punish me!¡± Antonios bowed his head and admitted in fear.

    ¡°You are indeed deserved to be punished.¡± Davos gazed at him with slight coldness, ¡°Your brother-inw killed so many female ves in a row with cruel methods, yet such a person can still be promoted to be a toon leader?! I think that once that matter spreads, the statesmen will rise to impeach you, and the tribunal officers will also protest! You¡­¡± Davos sighed, seemingly worried for him.

    Antonios was in a cold sweat. With his body bowed so low, he mumbled, ¡°Your majesty, I¡­I request to resign from the post of Chief of Military¡­¡±

    After some time passed, Antonios heard Davos'' concerned voice, ¡°Hmmm¡­that is good, you can resign from your post by saying you are ill. Also, avoid this period first, so don''t go to the Senate for the time being¡­ Furthermore, you must stop meddling with your brother-inw''s matters; the court will give him a fair verdict.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Antonios responded in a low voice while feeling a little bit relieved. However, what he felt afterwards was still more of a loss.

    After cing down the roster and the letter, Davos asked softly, ¡°Antonios, you had stayed in Sicily for many years, and your wife is Sicilian, so you should know more about the Sicilians. Can you tell me why even though they are all statesmen, most of the statesmen in other ces make their homes in Thurii and even if they ownnd in other ces, they would only use it as a venue to increase their ie and would only asionally bring their families to live there? On the other hand, the Sicilian statesmen would buy as muchnd in Sicily as they could and use it as another home for some of their families to live there permanently, and even make extensive contacts with the local civil servants to increase their family''s prestige in that area?¡±

    Despite Davos'' calm tone, Antonios could feel his suppressed anger which made him even more rmed. As he racked his brain to the fullest, he began to sweat again, ¡°Your majesty, I think the difference between the behaviour of the statesmen from Sicily and Magna Graecia was mainly because¡­their environment is different, so their behaviour is different¡­¡±

    Davos pricked his eyebrows and said, ¡°Oh, tell me.¡±

    Antonios thought for a while before cautiously saying, ¡°Your majesty, with Syracuse destroying Naxos and Catania, the people there lost their homes and were forced into exile. But for survival, they had to build their settlements in the mountains, elect leaders, and lead them to defend against the attacking Sikeloi, the mercenaries Syracuse gathered to clear them and the wild animals in the mountains. With many people dying and living a difficult life, it only made them miss their upied hometown more. Thus after regaining their lostnd, they cherish their hometown even more.¡±

    Although most of the exiles'' leaders eventually became statesmen of Theonia, since they were the backbone of the Sicilian exiles in those years, the people will still look for them to solve any difficulties. And after joining Theonia, these statesmen still maintain these habits¡­

    Moreover, most of these statesmen were noble and served as strategos and council members before the destruction of Naxos and Catania. And unlike the statesmen from the major powers of Magna Graecia, such as the Tarantine league, the Thurian League, the Crotonian League, the Locrian League, and the Rhegium League were stable and formed a kind of bnce before the rise of our kingdom of Theonia. In Sicily, except for Syracuse and Carthage, the strategoi and council members of other city-states needed to constantly make choices depending on the ind''s situation, whether to unite with other city-states against these two major powers. Or to rely on one of them¡­ Hence they often maintained friendly rtions with the surrounding neighbouring city-states as well as the Syracusans and the Carthaginians, which is why they liked to hold frequent banquets, send gifts around and form a group.¡±

    ¡°It seems there are still advantages to marrying a Sicilian woman.¡± said Davos meaningfully. But he became even more serious as he said, ¡°Some of our statesmen began copying these bad habits of the Sicilians, and have a terrible impact! The Catanian in was integrated into the Kingdom of Theonia, not Theonia bing a part of their Sicily, so everyone must strictly abide by the Theonian Law! It seems they still haven''t realised this even after ten years!¡±

    Hearing Davos''st sentence, Antonios became even more frightened that he didn''t dare to answer.

    ¡°Antonios, my old friend, although you will im to be sick and resting at home, you must not overeat and damage your health! Now that we defeated the Daunians at the Ofanto river, it won''t be long before we conquered their territory, which would give us many difficult matters that needed capable statesmen like you to handle!¡± Davos'' encouraging words cheered the dejected Antonios, who hurriedly responded with excitement, ¡°Your majesty, I am always ready for your call!¡±

    While watching Antonios leave, Davos'' expression slowly turned cold. He was clear that the Sicilian statesmen led by Ladician only wanted to make their sons have better development in the future, so they interfered with the army¡­ Although bing a legion officer gave them no rights in their daily social life, it has a massive advantage by getting priority when taking public office or running for local council members and tribunal officers. Moreover, their identities would make the public give them respect in their daily lives.

    But Davos was furious at them for disrupting the order of the army. Since the establishment of Theonia, he had firmly controlled the military thatid the foundation of his power and other statesmen simply couldn''t intervene. Besides appointing and dismissing the officers with just his words, he was the only one who could decide the militaryw. Although he might discuss it with the senior officers, the Senate can never make the decision, making the army an entirely closed system. But he didn''t expect ominous signs to appear just after a decade. The Sicilian statesmen might have bribed the personnel of the Ministry of Military, perhaps they just wanted to please Antonios, but they had vited thews by including the unqualified Phragres and the others in the promotion list.

    Because of the Naxos case, Davos wanted to check the roster of the Eighth Legion, which was incidentally still on his desk. ¡®So are there army officers who were not qualified? Or were promoted?¡¯ Davos was afraid to think about it.

 Chapter 608: The New Praetor of Naxos

    And Xanticles, as the military inspector, must have overlooked it because of their friendship, which gave Davos another headache! Since most of the senior officers of the Theonian army were former mercenaries, the camaraderie of fighting together for many years has allowed them to maintain their close rtionship, thus forming an extensivework ofplicated rtions that controls the army¡¯s direction. Although it makes it easier for the former mercenary leader, Davos, to control the military, it is also easy to breed corruption.

    ¡®It seems I should now consider breaking the military''s istion and improve its system¡­¡¯ Davos pondered deeply.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos once again attended the Senate meeting the following day. But he suddenly proposed: The election of the new praetor of Naxos because Stromboli had sent a message that he could not return to Thurii on time because of an important case. Hence he asked the Senate to immediately elect his sessor to go to Naxos and hand it over to him there.

    The statesmen began to go into an uproar as they talked with each other while Ladician started panicking.

    In the ensuing election, the statesmen, who had received instructions from Davos, finally elected Milo as the new praetor of Naxos. After congratting Milo, Davos announced Antonios¡¯ resignation from his post as Chief of Military yesterday because of his poor health. And after repeated consideration, Hielos would be the one to take over the post of Chief of Military (Although Davos decides most of the matters of the army, he still has to inform the Senate about the appointment and dismissal of the Chief of Military as it is, after all, an important official of the kingdom.)

    As Davos had already informed Hielos yesterday evening, he wasn''t surprised. But the other statesmen made anothermotion. On the other hand, many politically-minded statesmen began wondering what happened to Antonios, who had defeated Syracuse''s final counterattack, conquered the Catanian in, and had a distinguished war record, to suddenly resign from the highest military position in the kingdom just because of an illness?

    After they thought about Davos'' eagerness to elect the new praetor of Naxos, some people had a keen hunch that it might have something to do with Naxos. But just as the statesmen whispered with each other, Davos again announced that the Ministry of Military would set up a Military Court, with the Supreme Court of the Kingdom assigning personnel to serve as judges who would be rotated regrly. At the same time, officers could no longer serve as the military inspector but will instead be assigned by the Grand Inspector of the kingdom and would rotate regrly.

    At this moment, the whole Senate erupted.

    Kapus led the statesmen, that were former mercenaries, to object. They believed that there is no need for military judges to punish officers and soldiers who vite the militaryw as Theonia''s Military Code is already enough to regte the officers'' and soldiers'' behaviours! And since the Theonian army is operating normally, there is no need to add a military court and bring outsiders that may disturb the peace and order of the army or even reveal military secrets.

    But the statesmen engaged in local administration led by Cornelius believed that it was wise for his majesty to ce the army under the supervision of Theonia''s Law as it would make it fairer and just for the whole kingdom.

    Even though the statesmen continued arguing about it, they still passed Davos'' proposal due to his insistence.

    Atst, the whole Senate meeting ended in a mour.

    After the meeting, Ladician went straight to Antonios'' residence, but the gate that didn''t obstruct him was now closed to anyone because ¡®Antonios won''t see anyone for now as he wasn''t feeling well¡¯.

    Then Ladician hurriedly changed his words and said he wanted to see his daughter, but the guards refused.

    In the end, considering that Ladician was still his father-inw, Antonios sent someone out to warn him not to run around looking for someone to mediate for Phragres, nor to hold banquets and attract attention.

    But Antonios'' words just furthered Ladician''s confusion¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At this moment, the new Praetor of Naxos Milo and the Supreme Judge Tritodemos is in Davos'' offices in the pce.

    ¡°I asked the two of you toe here even though the meeting has just ended because I have something important to tell you.¡± Davos became serious and took out a letter, ¡°I received this confidential letter from Stromboli yesterday. You can read it, but you must first swear to Hades that you will not divulge the letter''s content to others!¡±

    After they looked at each other, Milo and Tritodemos immediately pledged.

    Tritodemos then took the letter and began reading it while Milo leaned over.

    The letter detailedly told about how Naxos'' guards discovered the murders that Phragresmitted and the fact that Phragres made a ve take the me. And at the end of the letter, he told about the incident confided by the imprisoned ve of how Archonis, the chieftain of a Sikeloi tribe, had close dealings with Ladician''s household and had repeatedly gifted a considerable amount of wealth¡­

    ¡°Archonis¡­¡± Milo muttered the name as he felt it was familiar, but he couldn''t remember where he had heard it before.

    ¡°Archonis, son of Agileus, the former king of Sikeloi. He is also the chieftain of the Tanikaan tribe in Centurippe in central Sicily.¡± Davos briefly reminded.

    Milo suddenly remembered it, ¡°Oh, this is that Tanikaan tribe!¡¯ A few years ago, it annexed another Sikeloi tribe, and its leader fled to Naxos, asking Theonia for help. But as we were attacking Messapi then, we could only send an envoy to order the Tanikaan chieftain Archonis to return thends and people they took, which he eventually did. Afterwards, he sent a letter ofint to the Senate¡­I remember this incident very well.¡±

    ¡°So did they?! At first, I thought they didply, but it seems that isn¡¯t the case now. Do you still remember who the Senate sent as the envoy in the first ce?!!¡± Davos'' face showed a bit of displeasure, which was the rage of a man who got deceived.

    ¡°Ladician!¡± Milo and Tritodemos simultaneously eximed.

    ¡°These past few years, we had set our energy mainly on dealing with the affairs of Magna Graecia and South Italia, so we only made sure to maintain Sicily¡¯s stability. But since we aren''t too familiar with the matters in Sicily, we relied more on the judgement of the Sicilian statesmen to deal with them¡­¡± Davos tapped on the table and said deeply, ¡°Yesterday, I purposely checked the minutes of the previous Senate meetings, and among the topics involving Sicily, more than half of them are about the Tanikaan tribes or those tribes with close rtions with the Tanikaan, and the final results were mostly in their favour.¡±

    ¡°This is treason!¡± Milo heavily pounded the chair and said, ¡°Your majesty, we should arrest Ladician and interrogate him!¡±

    ¡°That is only a ve''s testimony and hadn''t been confirmed.¡± Tritodemos calmly said.

    ¡°Tritodemos is right. We are only allies with the Sikeloi and are not bound byw, so we need proof! Furthermore, I suspect that Ladician isn''t the only one who has close dealings with the Tanikaan tribe; otherwise, the minutes of the meeting wouldn''t show so many Sicilian statesmen favouring the Tanikaan, so-¡± Davos turned serious and said, ¡°Milo, head to Naxos as soon as possible and take over the position from Stromboli. Afterwards, dispatch the constables, blockade Ladician''s residence, and search for relevant evidence. Once you find evidence of the involvement of other statesmen in this matter, I permit you to expand the search!¡±

    ¡°What if there are statesmen from Sikuri and Catania among the suspected statesmen?!¡± Milo''s eyes shone as he asked with slight excitement.

    Davos naturally knew Milo¡¯s aggressive method, so he turned his head to look at the other person, ¡°Tritodemos, you would also rush to Naxos as soon as possible to help Milo search the evidence and investigate the case under the pretext of judging the murder case in Naxos. At the same time, ensure that all actions you take are all within the legal scope so as not to get used by the other statesmen!¡±

    Davos mainly said that to remind Milo. After seeing him frown, Davos knew he was listening, so he continued, ¡°If you find that the statesmen in Catania and Sikuri are involved in this matter, Tritodemos would be responsible for contacting the praetors of these two cities. I would also write a letter to ask for their cooperation, so you must strive to collect all the evidence so as not to let a single person slip through the!¡±

    ¡°You can rest assured, your majesty!¡± Tritodemos immediately gave his pledge.

    Davos softened his tone as he jokingly said to Milo, ¡°Lord Milo, you have encountered a problem just after taking over. Do you feel any pressure?¡±

    ¡°Isn''t that why your majesty made me the Praetor of Naxos?¡± Said Milo bluntly.

    Davos was startled for a moment and thenughed: This old politician who was previously the polemarchos of Crotone wasn''t as arrogant as he appeared.

    ¡°Naxos is Naxos of Theonia; It''s time to straighten it out!¡± Davos'' words gave Milo an obvious hint, so he nodded immediately, ¡°Understood, your majesty.¡±

    ¡°What''s about Ladician''s son, Phragres?¡± knowing about Davos, Tritodemos could only ask cautiously, ¡°If it is ording to Theonia''s Law, he won''t receive a heavy sentence!¡±

    Davos sneered, ¡°Make the registered freeman report the case again. Thenbine it with the punishment of the crimes of disregarding thew, lying after swearing to Hades, and making a ve take the punishment. Also, he should definitely be involved with the collusion with the Sikeloi!¡±

    Tritodemos'' eyes brighten up.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After seeing them off, Davos weed the new Chief of Military, Hielos.

    ¡°Your majesty!¡± Hielos stood up and saluted with respect.

    ¡°Sit down, sit down.¡± Davos'' expression was now much more cordial than when he met Milo and Tritodemos.

 Chapter 609: Davos True Purpose

    Davos immediately asked once Hielos sat down, ¡°What¡¯s your thought on today''s Senate meeting?¡±

    After hesitating for a moment, Hielos didn''t immediately answer. Instead, he sincerely said, ¡°Your majesty, Lord Antonios had done an excellent job managing the Ministry of Military as its chief. I could instead rece him temporarily and have hime back to serve after he recovers. After all, we are currently in wartime, so to ensure that no problem would arise in the Ministry of Military, I suggest¡­to not rece the Chief of Military.¡±

    Davos only stared at the frank Hielos.

    But a momentter, Davos waved his left hand lightly and said, ¡°Antonios voluntarily resigned. Hence even if I wanted him to stay, he definitely wouldn''t return. Look at this-¡±

    Davos flipped through the list of officers for promotion on the table to the page of the Eighth Legion and gave it to him.

    Hielos took the list with suspicion, but his expression changed slightly after taking a closer look at it. Hielos had heard about the arrest of Phragres, the son of Ladician, for murder as it was gradually spread in the port of Thurii (mainly due to the Naxos merchants). ¡®With Antonios still promoting this troublemaker at this time, it would just give others a reason to criticise him!¡¯

    After considering his words, Hielos softly said, ¡°Your majesty, I don''t think Lord Antonios would make such a mistake of promoting such unqualified soldiers¡­¡±

    ¡°It is still a dereliction of duty. Moreover, that just shows that there are many problems in the Ministry of Military, which is why I want to establish a military court and, at the same time, have the inspectors join the army as we need to rectify the whole military! Hence you, the Chief of Military, would have a great responsibility once you take over. Besides helping the military courts and inspectors with your best, you should also maintain the stability of the Ministry of Military so that the officers and soldiers could feel at ease¡­¡± Davos added in a serious tone, ¡°I believe you can grasp the bnce between the two!¡±

    Davos'' high expectations just made Hielos feel a great responsibility. But before he could respond, Davos continued, ¡°Take this list back and check how many unqualified officers and soldiers have been promoted and find out all those officers in the Ministry of Military who have vited thew and neglected their duty. Afterwards, hand them over to the inspectors and the Military court to deal with because we will not allow ipetent people in the kingdom''s army! Hence we must deal with this problem seriously to sound a warning!¡±

    Davos'' deafening voice shocked Hielos, who then vigorously replied, ¡°Your majesty, I will do my best!¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± Davos nodded with satisfaction. Afterwards, he drew out a letter and handed it to Hielos. He said, ¡°There is another thing you must know as the Chief of Military.¡±

    Hielos turned grave after he read the letter, ¡°Your majesty, are all these things written in the letter true?!¡±

    ¡°I had sent someone to investigate it. But from the current situation, I am afraid it is more than that¡­¡± said Davos while he walked towards therge map on the wall. He then pointed at the western part of Mount Etna and said with seriousness, ¡°After the South Italian War, we had taken the Catanian in, Naxos, Sikuri, Tauromenium, and Messina, and we also have the assistance of our allied city-states such as Leontinoi and Taunis. With Syracuse isted in the southeast corner of Sicily, our kingdom''s strength now upies an absolute advantage in eastern Sicily. That is also why the Sikeloi were afraid of us and took the initiative to form an alliance with us and be a part of the Theonian Alliance. And the reason we treat every Sikeloi town and tribe equally and always adopt the policy of supporting the weak and weakening the strong when they ask for help was to stop a force from dominating other forces. In addition, it is to prevent the reformation of the Sikeloi kingdom so that we could assimte them in the future¡­

    But from the current situation, we couldn¡¯t execute this political strategy as the Tanikaan tribe had quietly annexed and expanded over the years with the help of those statesmen from Sicily! Unfortunately, I don''t have much detailed information about this tribe¡¯s current situation yet as they were far away in Centurippe. Although it is the closest Sikeloi town and far away from Catania and Naxos, our hounds* in Sicily won¡¯t neglect it to this extent. That just shows that they have consciously blocked the news, which arouses our vignce!¡± (referring to the intelligence department of Aristias)

    When he felt something from Davos'' tone, Hielos straightened up and asked with doubt, ¡°Your majesty, do you mean war?!¡±

    Davos swept a nce at the map again, then mmed his fist into Sicily and decisively said,

    ¡°As soon as we confirm Ladician and the other Sicilian statesmen¡¯s collusion, we will have a reason tounch a war against the Tanikaans and destroy their chance of trying to rise to power. At the same time, it would deter other Sikeloi and strengthen our Grip on them! Hence you should have the Ministry of Military prepare in advance, especially the Eighth Legion, which will be the main force against the Tanikaans.¡±

    Hielos didn¡¯t immediately oppose his decision because of his understanding of Davos. Instead, he put forward his proposal, ¡°Your majesty, the Ministry of Military should covertly make preparations before dering war on the Sikeloi to avoid them finding out about it and prepare for our attack. Moreover, now that we are still in the middle of the war against the Daunians, the pressure on the army''s logistics will be greater if we also start a war in Sicily at the same time. Hence it is better to start it after we end the war with the Daunians, which will also benefit the smooth passage of the war resolution in the Senate.

    Furthermore, since we willunch another war, it is better to maintain the army''s stability, so regarding the investigation and dealing with those officers who made illegal matters¡­I hope we don''t expand it too much, and¡­it is best not to punish them too heavily. After all, they are all first-time offenders, so I hope your majesty can give them a chance to reform while not damaging the soldiers'' respect for you!¡±

    Davos pondered as he listened attentively.

    On the other hand, Hielos just quietly sat while waiting.

    In the end, Davos slowly said, ¡°I will leave the handling of the Ministry of Military to you. Also, you and the military judge and inspectors can decide the specific investigation and punishment measures and then hand it over for me to review and sign. As for when tounch the war against the Tanikaans, it will depend on the situation.¡±

    Although Davos didn''t explicitly agree, Hielos knew the king had made a concession, so he immediately said gratefully, ¡°Thank you, your majesty!¡±

    Davos look at Hielos. Over the years, as his authority increases, his rtionship with his former mercenaryrades has unknowingly be more and more distant¡­but fortunately, there are still people like Hielos, Kapus and Alexius who can constantly raise questions and give suggestions to his decision, which is actually a good thing.

    Thinking of that, he eased his tone and said, ¡°Do you have any other suggestions?¡±

    Seeing Davos'' calm expression, Hielos added, ¡°The legatus of the Eighth Legion is Prosous*, who has nevermanded a legion before. But you, your majesty, just said earlier that the Eighth Legion will be the main force in the attack on the Tanikaans, so for safety''s sake, should we transfer a legatus with more experience inmanding legions to take over as the head of the Eighth Legion?¡± (Author uses Leotychides'' real name, but it should be Prosous)

    With his mouth curled slightly, Davos said, ¡°Who else among the legatus knows the terrain of Sicily better than Prosous? Who else knows more about the local customs there? Who else can make the Sicilian citizens obey themander?¡±

    Davos'' words caused Hielos'' to be unable to say more since Leotychides had stayed in Sicily for six years, so it is only natural that the other legatus who were unfamiliar with Sicily could notpare to him. Per Theonia''s Military Law, one of the several required conditions that a senior officer must have inmanding a battle is to be familiar with the battlefield environment and understand its people and customs. Of course, this does not mean that other legatus couldn''t go to Sicily tomand, but this will only lengthen the time to end the war and increase the war consumption¡­

    Hielos then thought of Antonios, but once it was proven that Ladician and the others vited thew, Antonios, who was his rtive and was deeply involved with the Sicilian statesmen, was bound to be condemned by the other statesmen. Although the Senate couldn''t interfere with the choice ofmander responsible for attacking the Sicilians, their usations would inevitably cause the kingdom''s people to criticise Antonios, which is the same as roasting Antonios on fire! Then Hielos realised why Davos had let Antonios resign and made him stay at home, which was actually to protect him.

    Seeing Hielos didn''t speak, Davos continued,

    ¡°Many people say Prosous is antisocial, strict and serious, so they don''t like associating with him. But I think he just spent most of his time thinking about military matters and training the soldiers instead of socialising, a natural-born warrior. So I believe he couldmand this war well!¡±

    Davos'' affirmation stopped Hielos from objecting because he believed in Davos'' understanding of people, which was proven many times before.

    Just as Hielos was about to leave after their discussion, Davos called out to him, ¡°It''s now past noon; you haven''t had lunch yet while I happen to be hungry. It''s been a long time since we''ve sat down and had a rxing drink and chat. So why don''t you stay for now and have a few drinks while I''ll ask the chef to cook some good dishes for us?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The western mountain road in Thurii is an important channel connecting Thurii with Lucania and the northern region,pleted ten years ago. Now, it was no longer the deserted ce it was a dozen years ago and had instead be one of the busiest roads in the kingdom of Theonia, with hundreds of people passing through it every day.

 Chapter 610: Abellinum

    Among today''s travellers was a group of men wearing a red short-sleeved tunic, a golden-yellow strophion(belts) around their waists, short ck hair and beards, barefooted with a rough face, which is quite eye-catching. But with Theonia''s rapid development, even the poor Bruttians and Lucanians were freed from their terrible situation of freezing and starvation. Hence when the travellers saw such a group in the kingdom¡¯s hintend, they began talking with each other as they had never seen such a shabby group with a strange appearance.

    Finally, a man on horseback came out among the herdsmen leading numerous livestock. He then went closer to the red-clothed men and carefully asked in Greek, ¡°Are you Samnites?¡±

    The few men in red understood what he said but didn''t immediately answer. Instead, they turned their gaze to the only man in the centre wearing a short-sleeved white tunic.

    The man in white came forward and said in Greek, ¡°We are Samnites from Abellinum. Is there anything I can do for you, Potentian?¡±

    Although the Potentians and the Lucanians look simr, the Lucanians have already be increasingly receptive to Theonia''s culture, religion and customs since their integration with Theonia for more than a decade. Hence not only have they started changing their daily life and clothes but also the names of their newborn children have begun to have Greek taste. And only Potentia, who had just joined the kingdom of Theonia as a free city, still maintained the Lucanians'' traditions.

    Even though the Theonians can easily tell the difference, why can the Samnites, who rarely appear in Theonia, also easily tell the difference? Although the man on horseback had doubts, he didn''t rashly ask. After all, he knew about the Samnites¡¯ temper and even though the peace between Samnites and Potentia continued for ten years since the South Italian War and would still continue as one joined the kingdom of Theonia and the other became its ally, the man on horseback didn''t say more but just simply smiled and said, ¡°I just came over to get acquainted and hope we can take care of each other on our way to Thurii.¡± After saying that, he performed the Samnite gesture and rode away.

    While the other travellers didn''t feel too frightened after knowing that the group of red-clothed men were Samnites and just acted usually even though the Samnites were notorious for their fierceness. After all, they are now in Theonia''s territory, the powerful kingdom that let its people, including its affiliated allies, enjoy a decade of peace. Thus no forces would dare to challenge its authority, and even the mountain bandits became almost extinct in Theonia.

    So even if a traveller took a boat from Catania to Rhegium and headed north through Magna Graecia, the Bruttian mountains, the Lucanian mountains, and then to Campania, he could just sleep in the open for more than ten days and still wouldn''t suffer any dangers or even encounter difficulties besides from wild animals. Moreover, he could also ask for help from the Temple of Hades in any city of Theonia.

    Safety is the greatest benefit to the people living in thisnd after Theonia''s unification of South Italia. That is also what made these people who often travel and do business feel the most deeply. Therefore, when they trek in this mountain area, the only thing they would need to worry about is the wild animals. But since the people would crowd the road for many years, the wild animals would now mostly avoid the road. And in recent years, there has been no news of wild animals attacking people and livestock.

    In the following rest time, the man on horseback at the front would oftene to talk and even warmly invite these Samnites to dine together. How could the cold and hard coarse bread the Samnites carrypare to the dried bacon and hot mutton soup? Thus the man on horseback¡¯s enthusiasm finally dispelled the vignce of the Samnites, and after two days of friendliness, the group of travellers finally got out of the mountains.

    ¡°Chieftain Garni, we will soon be in the mountain pass'' fortress after crossing the foot of this mountain!¡± The man on horseback said excitedly.

    Garni, the son of Berani, the great chieftain of the Hirpini and the former head of the four major tribes of the Samnites, had suffered a crushing defeat in the Samnties'' invasion of Potentia ten years ago. During that time, his father died in the chaos while the Theonians captured him and spent almost two years in the Potentian and Lucanian regions.

    When he looked ahead, Garni became slightly dazed as he was familiar with the mountain pass in front of him. Before he was released back to Samnite, Garni was taken to Thurii and stayed in the central city of the kingdom of Theonia for several months. During that period, king Davos, the one who defeated them, warmly received them numerous times.

    At this moment, aplex emotion rose in Garni''s heart as he loudly said, ¡°Increase our pace; we are about to exit the mountains!¡±

    His subordinates shouted excitedly while helping the herdsmen of Potentia lead their livestock, carry their goods and advance together.

    After these two days of getting along, the travellers found that the Samnites are easy to get along with because as long as you are good to them, they would certainly do their best to help you.

    After crossing the foot of the mountain, they began slowing down because of the long line in front of the fortress.

    Originally, there was only an outpost here as the western exit of the mountainous area was already guarded by the Lao Fortress, so the Theonian Senate didn''t n to build another fortress on this side. However, since the construction of the Thurii-Nerulum road, the extension towards Lucania, the annexation of the Potentia region and the Samnites and the Campanian''s initiative to ally¡­the influence of the kingdom of Theonia in the north has increased. As a result, the trade and cultural exchange between the centre of Theonia, Thurii, and the central west coast of Italia became more frequent.

    Thus every day, besides countless people crowding this road, there are also a lot of wagons and livestock. In addition, due to the strong wind and heavy rain in the mountain area, many fallen trees and rocks would block the road. Hence the need to maintain the road frequently. Moreover, the Theonian Law states that all cities must do their best to ensure the people''s safety during their travels. But with the winding roads in the mountains that would need three days to traverse and its remote location and many travellers, robberies and injuries would ur from time to time, as well as the wild animals¡¯ attacks¡­ So when the Senate assigned the safety of this mountain area to Thurii, the Thurian city hall assigned the kingdom''s Department of Road Management and the guard station to send personnel to patrol, repair, and protect the travellers on the road. And to make them feel at ease when working, Theonia expanded the outposts and converted them into fortresses.

    And with the increasing number of travellers, the Thurian merchants found business opportunities. After all, the travellers would still need half a day of walking to reach Thurii as soon as possible after trekking the mountain roads for three days. And since the people couldn''t eat and sleep well in the mountain areas, and most travellers couldn''t continue their travel without having a good rest, the merchants built inns, restaurants and shops here¡­and after several years, the fortress'' area now turned into a lively town in the mountain.

    Finally, it was the turn of the herdsman from Potentia. The guards in front of the gate frowned as they looked at the herds of livestock and asked, ¡°Is there anyone in charge among you?¡±

    ¡°Me!¡± The man on horseback squeezed in front of the soldiers.

    ¡°Where are you from? What are you going to do in Thurii?¡±

    ¡°From the area near Compsa in Potentia; It is to sell my livestock in Thurii.¡±

    ¡°How many cattle? How many sheep?¡±

    ¡°12 Cattle and 108 sheep.¡±

    The clerk beside the guard made a mental calction and said, ¡°You need to pay 12 obols.¡±

    The man on horseback was shocked, so he asked, ¡°Why do I need to pay?¡±

    ¡°This should be the first time you have taken this route to Thurii to sell your livestock, right? Maintaining this mountain road is difficult, and with you bringing so much livestock, they would naturally eat the grass and leaves on the side of the road, so when it rains, the mud would easily block the roads. Moreover, the livestock''s excrement would scatter over the road, which is troublesome to clean, and its smell would also attract wolves. Therefore, the Department of Road Management states that you need to pay one obol for every ten cattle and sheep passing through this mountain road as payment for the road''s maintenance and an additional sry for those maintaining it. If you don''t believe me, you can go there on the wall and read the announcement with the Senate''s seal.¡± The soldier justifiedly said.

    In fact, twelve obols aren''t that much, and the man on horseback was also straightforward, ¡°No need, I believe you.¡±

    After paying the fee, the herdsmen drove their livestock past through the gate slowly.

    Garni and the others then stood in front of the guard. But before he could ask, Garni immediately said, ¡°We are the Samnites from Abellinum and were invited to participate in this year''s Rugby Tournament.¡± After saying that, he also pulled out a letter, ¡°This is a letter of attestation issued by the praetor of Compsa, Kesima.¡±

    As a matter of fact, Garni had already experienced this when they passed through the Lao fortress. After looking at Garni and the other Samnites, the guard politely said, ¡°Wait here for a moment. Someone from the athletes'' camp will soon arrive to receive you.¡±

    After a while, they saw a young maning toward them. He had short blond hair, thick eyebrows, big eyes and a slender body. Even though he looked somewhat childish, he stared at them delightedly. As he walked toward Garni and the others, excitement and curiosity showed on his face. Once arriving next to them, he began observing them, which slightly displeased Garni.

    At this time, the young man smiled and said, ¡°Thurii wees you, o brave warriors of Abellinum! The Senate had tasked me to lead you to the camp.¡±

    His bright smile had immediately dissipated the unhappiness in the hearts of the Samnites.

    Currently, the Rugby Finals of the Kingdom of Theonia were no different from when Theonia was established, with more than 50 teams participating in the games. In addition, there are also Hades'' Day and the subsequent Harvest Goddess Festival. With having too many events, the city hall of Thurii didn''t have enough manpower to deal with such a massive event, so Davoster suggested to the praetor of Thurii to recruit volunteers among the Thurians to make up for the shortage of manpower, and this proposal was adopted and implemented.

 Chapter 611: The Mountain Pass Town

    And half of the volunteers for the Theonian Rugby Championships came from the students of the senior ss of the School of Thurii and the Akademia of Theonia. Davos'' primary intention was for these young talents of the kingdom, who were not yet 18 years old and had no experience in public office, to hone some practical skills in addition to their studies, which would be more beneficial for their future development.

    And the young man before Garni was from the Akademia of Theonia, who whispered something to the ve behind him, and the ve immediately turned around and ran into the town''s gate. Afterwards, the young man told Garni, ¡°You must be exhausted from your journey over the mountains from Abellinum to Thurii. Usually, you could have a night''s rest in the town, but the festivities would begin the day after tomorrow. What¡¯s more, you need more time to prepare for the tournament, so we''d better hurry to the campsite now-¡±

    ¡°Why are you talking too much rubbish? We''re not exhausted, so let''s go!¡± a Samnite shouted.

    ¡°Tatoni!¡± Garni red at his subordinate. Although the young man wasn''t old, he could see from his temperament and the four muscr ves following him that this young man was definitely the son of a statesman or an important official of the kingdom of Theonia. Thus he didn''t want to offend him for no reason.

    On the other hand, the young man didn''t think it much. Instead, after realising they had been standing in front of the gates and dyed the travellers, he hurriedly led the Samnites into the mountain pass town.

    The town''s topography resembles a horn, surrounded by treacherous mountains stretching eastward. In the middle is a t lond with slight undtions. And in front of them was a winding road with both sides having shops and stalls of all kinds, making it so crowded that the travellers had no ce to settle. Lastly, the rear has countless houses built along the mountain¡­

    The various shoutings of the merchants were like the cries of cicadas in the trees in summer as they endlessly rang into the ears of the people and irritated them. At the same time, some merchants would stop the travellers outright trying to sell their goods or invite them to stay in their lodgings. It was only after the Samnites rudely refused them a few times that no one no longer bothered the stout, fierce-looking travellers anymore.

    After walking for a long time, the terrain became much broader, and the surrounding area was no longer so crowded.

    Suddenly, the young man said, ¡°Chieftain Garni, you have walked so far in this hot weather, so you must be thirsty. Here, drink some honey water first and then continue our travel.¡±

    Following where the young man pointed, Garni saw a stall selling drinks on the road ahead, and the ve who had left earlier was standing next to it, waving.

    At the young man''s remark, Garni subconsciously licked his dry lips. However, he hesitated a bit as he knew that buying a drink here should be expensive, and he was reluctant to spend it here. He then thought, ¡®It would be better to wait until we reached the Tiro river and drink from there.¡¯

    Seemingly seeing through his mind, the young man said loudly, ¡°We have already paid for the drinks. We can only pour it out if you don''t drink it.¡±

    As soon as he spoke, the other already impatient Samnites rushed up to it, held up the drinks and poured them into their mouth. The cool and sweet honey water not only quenched their thirst but also alleviated their hunger. But after drinking one cup, they still felt dissatisfied, so they picked up another.

    ¡°This¡­this will cost you a lot¡­¡± The usually outspoken Garni was also somewhat embarrassed at this moment.

    ¡°You epted our invitation and climbed the mountains toe to Thurii. With you working so hard just to attend our Theonia''s festivities, it is only natural for us to take good care of you, our honoured guests, as its host. And this is just a small expense!¡± The young man thought it was only natural and spoke words, unlike his age.

    Garni was touched. After putting down the cup, he asked, ¡°What''s your name? Howe you know that I am Garni? I don''t remember telling you my name?!¡±

    The young man said calmly, ¡°I am Crotokatax. The official who sent me to meet you had told me that the one leading the Samnite team was a chieftain named Garni, and I know that only nobles among the Samnites would wear a white tunic, and you are the only one in your group who wore a white tunic, so¡­¡±

    ¡°You seemed to know a lot about us Samnites!¡± Garni looked at him in surprise.

    ¡°My father told me all about this.¡± The young man said modestly, ¡°My father said that the Samnites are brave warriors that deserve our respects!¡±

    ¡®A brave warrior?!¡¯ Garni would have thought the young man was mocking him if he had not seen the genuine sincerity on his face. Were the Samnites brave? How could they kill each other in one night out of fear if they were? And that massive army was defeated by the Theonians without even having a chance to fight them head-on! While he himself had ended up as a prisoner and had to rely on the strength of his former enemies, the Theonians, to regain his footing in Abellinum and reim his father''s position as chieftain back then!¡­

    Garni suddenly felt the honey water in his mouth be tasteless. After spitting out on the ground, he shouted, ¡°It''s time for us to hurry!¡± And with that, he advanced forward.

    The other Samnites quickly drank the water, stroked their round bellies, and followed Garni.

    After walking along a ridge, they finally came out of the mountain pass town.

    Suddenly, they heard someone shout, ¡°Chieftain Garni! Chieftain Garni!¡±

    It was the Potentian Genta who shouted as he rushed to Garni''s side.

    While the Samnites not only gave way but also helped his herdsmen lead the cattle and sheep.

    ¡°Genta, you aren''t going to stay in the small town?¡± Garni asked casually.

    ¡°If I get amodation, where would my cattle and sheep stay?! Besides, I need to hurry to the livestock market in Thurii while saving money as long as I can and hurry to sell this batch of livestock!¡± Genta said.

    ¡°You are a Potentian, so why don''t you sell them to Poseidonia or Irna instead of going all the way to Thurii?¡± Someone nearby asked.

    Genta looked and saw a strange young man, so he asked doubtfully, ¡°You are?¡±

    ¡°Crotokatax, the city hall of Thurii sent me to wee chieftain Garni.¡± replied the young man.

    Hearing that, Genta no longer underestimated the boyish-looking young man and said, ¡°Poseidonia and Irna aren''t big enough and too close to us, so the price of livestock there is too low. Furthermore, I might be unable to sell them because there aren''t enough customers. Last year, I heard that Thurii in September of every year, because of Hades'' Day and the Rugby Championship, would have too many peopleing to Thurii to watch the game, so all the food in the market would be sold at a high price. And one sheep could even go for more than 30 drachmaes, so I decided to try it this year¡­¡±

    ¡°It''s more than a hundred kilometres from Potentia and Thurii. In addition, most of the paths are mountainous with countless wild animals that make it difficult for people to traverse, let alone livestock. Are you not afraid of any idents happening to them?¡± asked the young man curiously.

    ¡°That''s right, s¡­¡± When Genta heard this, it was as if he had met a friend and immediately poured out his grievances, ¡°I set out with 120 sheep and 15 cattle. Yet now, only 108 sheep and 12 cattle were left. The others had either run away during the journey, were carried away by wolves, had their legs broken, or got sick from eating something bad and fell ill. In the end, I had to kill them¡­¡±

    Genta pointed to the fresh cattle and sheep skins carried by some of the herdsmen, and his face showed pain, ¡°I just hope that this time, I would be able to sell my remaining cattle and sheep for a good price in Thurii''s market. Otherwise, my people and I will lose too much! sigh¡­¡±

    As the young man listened carefully, one of the ves whispered a few words in his ears. Then the young man''s handsome face showed a bit of sympathy, ¡°You are right about the price of the sheep in Thurii''s market now sells for more than 30 drachmaes, and a cattle could even fetch for 80 drachmaes. Unfortunately, other merchants also had the same idea as you and would oftene to Thurii at this time. Hence the shops and stalls in the port and city market simply can not amodate so many merchants, and in previous years there were even many riots because of this. Thus this year, the city hall of Thurii hase up with a new rule that only merchants who are citizens of the kingdom are allowed to enter the two markets during the festivities. Following these rules, you can''t sell your livestock at the port and city market.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Genta couldn''t believe it as he loudly argued, ¡°We Potentians are also part of the kingdom of Theonia, and we in Potentia are also Theonians! So we should also get the kingdom''s preferential treatment!¡±

    The young man shook his head and said, ¡°Potentia is only a free city of the kingdom.¡±

    With the young man talking confidently, Garni was surprised to see that this boyish-looking young man showed a bit of dignity that ordinary young people didn''t possess.

    But Genta didn''t notice it as he was dumbfounded and angry after hearing the young man''s words, ¡°Since we are not allowed to sell in the market, we will just sell it outside! With how big Thurii is, there must be a ce for us to sell our livestock!¡±

    After hearing that, the young man reminded him seriously, ¡°Besides the two markets, Thurii had indeed set up several temporary markets located around the campsites and arenas for the several participants, but Theonian merchants have the priority. Unfortunately, it isn''t allowed to sell livestock outside the livestock market, mainly because it pollutes the surrounding environment and they make too much noise. Once found by the patrol team, they might severely punish you and even seize your livestock!¡±

 Chapter 612: Experience in Thurii (I)

    At this moment, Genta became discouraged, his face turning pale while trembling. At a loss, he said, ¡°This¡­what should I do? Should we return¡­with our livestock?! These are all good cattle and sheep who drank mountain springs and ate fresh and tender grasses. But after walking for ten days, their fat had almost disappeared, and their meat became firmer; the only ones that survived until now are all very healthy cattle and sheep!¡±

    Garni could no longer stop himself from asking the young man to help Genta. After all, he got along well with these Potentian herdsmen these past two days, ¡°Is there any way for them to sell their livestock? Is there only choice to bring these animals back to Potentia again?¡±

    In fact, the young man had already thought about it, so he ordered a ve to inspect the cattle and sheep by touching and pinching them, causing them to cry.

    After a while, the dusty ve came and nodded toward the young man, causing the young man''s expression to rx. Afterwards, he said to the uneasy Genta, ¡°These cattle and sheep are of good quality! Do you know Cheiristoya''s Restaurant?¡±

    Genta''s eyes brighten up. How could he not know about the Cheiristoya Restaurant, famous in the western Mediterranean, located in all cities of Theonia, and had caused the value of cattle and sheep to double? If he could sell his livestock in Cheiristoya Restaurant, it would definitely be an honour for any herdsman, so he asked anxiously, ¡°Can you contact Cheiristoya Restaurant?¡±

    The young man didn¡¯t answer and instead said, ¡°Lead your livestock to the Tiro River while I send my ve to inform the head of Cheiristoya Restaurant to inspect them. I believe he will buy them because they are of good quality.¡±

    ¡°O Asinu! Thank you! Thank you so much!¡± Genta became overjoyed that he repeatedly thanked him. He didn''t expect much from this young man, yet he unexpectedly gave him a surprise.

    ¡°Hey Genta, do you just believe this boy''s words? What if he is just tricking you so he could buy our livestock cheaply!¡± A Potentian herdsman warned loudly.

    ¡°Shut up! He is sincerely helping us, yet you say such hurtful words! Apologise to him quickly, or I will kick you out of our team!¡± Genta said furiously.

    But before the herdsman could do anything, the young man already said loudly, ¡°You can go to the market first to ask, and then go with my ve to Cheiristoya Restaurant. From Cheiristoya Restaurant''s usual operation, they will never buy your livestock at below the market price!¡±

    After saying these words, the young man''s face was still flushed, so Genta hurriedly said, ¡°Don''t take that idiot''s nonsense seriously; we absolutely believe you! Since Cheiristoya Restaurant would be our future patron, I''d better go with your ve to show them our respect.¡±

    The young man began somewhat regretting saying those words as he recalled what his father had told him, ¡®In whatever situation, you must learn to remain calm as much as possible so that you can make the correct response.¡¯ After slowly calming down, he heard Genta''s words as it became somewhat clear to him that Genta was, in fact, suspicious of him. Although he was a bit annoyed, he still controlled his emotion and nodded in agreement.

    Then the group continued to head eastward along the main road and soon came near the big river.

    ¡°Woa, this stone pir is so high! There is even a statue on it!¡± amazement filled the Samnites'' faces as they looked at the towering memorial pir in front of them.

    ¡°That is the Pir of Victory. More than ten years ago, Davos, the current king of Theonia, was only a leader of a Greek mercenary. At that time, the coalitions of Lucanian tribes invaded Thurii in hordes and defeated Thurii''s army. But when they were about to take over this fertilend, King Davos led a far smaller number of mercenaries than the Lucanian coalition-¡± Genta pointed at the vast river bank to his left and said with a somewhat mixed expression, ¡°¡­and wiped out nearly 10,000 Lucanian warriors. It was said that Lucanians¡¯ blood stained the river red, and corpses of Lucanian warriors floated on the surface¡­after losing this battle so badly, the coalition of Lucanian tribes copsed¡­and King Davos rose to fame and eventually established the mighty kingdom of Theonia of today! And at the top of the Pir of Victory is the statue of King Davos¡­¡±

    Genta''s tone still contained regrets about the rapid decline of the former coalition of Lucanian tribes. Although the young man beside him was long familiar with the history, hearing it from others still filled his face with pride.

    After listening, the Samnitesughed and said, ¡°Even though the other side has more people, they still got ughtered by enemies with fewer numbers. That just shows that you Lucanians aren''t strong, while if it were us, the Samnites, we would never-¡±

    ¡°Tatoni!¡± Garni red at him fiercely to stop him from making a fool of themselves, ¡®Although the Lucanians lost badly, the Samnites aren''t much better! Over 20,000 men, yet they didn''t even fight a single battle and lost in just one night, which isughable!¡¯

    ¡°Peace is better, and avoid war as long as we can. Is your life better or worse now that Lucania hadn''t had a war for ten years?¡± The young man chimed in at the right moment.

    ¡°It is naturally much better!¡± Genta became a bit emotional and not out of any desire to please the young man, ¡°If it were ten years ago, I would never have thought that I would travel with the Samnites, drink water and chat like today!¡±

    Garni was also touched.

    Suddenly, a Samnite loudly said, ¡°Chieftain, what are they doing?¡±

    Following the ce he pointed, they could see a long line of people queuing up in front of the river bank that stretches to a massive white building on the other side of the river. A lot of people would flock to Thurii from all directions on the eve of Hades¡¯ Day, and only a few would leave, but the long line ahead was heading in the exact opposite direction of those bustling roads towards the city of Thurii, which is why the Samnites were curious.

    ¡°That''s the famous hot spring bath of Thurii.¡± At his men''s reminder, Garni seemed to have gone back a few years ago when they took him to Thurii. Back then, he hadn''t expected to be treated with hospitality, soaking in hot springs, tasting delicious food, watching the games and listening to the ys¡­for several months, during which he was also treated to the hospitality of King Davos at his pce on several asions, ¡°¡­it is a hot spring for you to take a bath on and a specially trained ve could massage you to remove your fatigue. I also heard bathing in hot springs is good for your health, so the Theonians like toe here often¡­¡±

    The Samnites became interested when they heard their chieftain''s description, especially as the sweat and dush umted on their bodies over the past ten days, making them feel itchy, ¡°Chieftain, why don''t we also go inside and take a bath?!¡±

    ¡°You have to pay to take a bath inside, and each person has to pay an obol.¡± Genta reminded as he had a general understanding of the economic situation of these Samnites, so he didn''t think they would be willing to pay for a bath.

    Garni didn''t know there was a need to pay money here because a special Theonian civil servant apanied him at that time. Although it is only an obol, he had around 60 men, so he had to pay ten drachmaes for this bath, which was too much for him.

    Just as he was about to refuse, the young man interjected, ¡°Once you have arrived at your amodation and settled in, I will bring you here at dusk today for a nice hot bath to wash away the dust and fatigue so that you could be energetic for the Hades'' Day and the Rugby championship.¡±

    As soon as the young man said those words, the Samnites cheered. When the young man came to wee them, these brave Samnites didn''t pay attention to him, who was like a child. But with his gentleness, he managed to win them over by offering them a drink of water, and he was now taking them to a hot spring bath, which made them feel even better, so they all came over to hug him and thank him.

    Seeing that, the young man''s ve became slightly nervous but soon rxed as they saw the young man talking andughing with the Samnites.

    Further east, after passing the confluence of the Tiro and Cosceli rivers, they saw a ¡®city¡¯ surrounded by a five-metre-high stone wall with towers in the stone wall, a sentry tower behind the wall, a wide moat and a drawbridge in front of the wall. And at the top of the wall were teams of fully armed soldiers patrolling.

    ¡°Is this Thurii?¡± The Samnites and some of the Potentian herdsmen curiously asked because they couldn''t see any people going to the city.

    ¡°This is the military camp of Thurii. It is where the First, Second, and reserve legions of Theonia train during peacetime.¡± The young man exined.

    ¡°Is this just a military camp?!!¡± The Samnites and the Potentian herdsmen stared with suspicion. After all, this ce looks much bigger and sturdier than the cities of Abellinum and Potentia. Yet it is actually just a ce used by the Theonians to train their soldiers?!

    ¡°This is indeed Thurii''s camp!¡± Garni understood their confusion. After all, he was also shocked when he first saw that a few years ago. So during the months, he spent in Thurii, he asked the staff to show him around. There, he saw the training of the Theonian legion soldiers with his own eyes, which truly shocked him: Actual fighting in formation, siege drills, guerri attacks and defence in the mountains, offensive and seizing locations in the rivers, camp constructions¡­the whole camp and its surroundings were like a real battlefield!

 Chapter 613: Experience in Thurii (II)

    In the following days, Garni often couldn''t sleep at night as he often thought about how his tribe would be busy herding their livestock and hunting wild animals just to survive. On the other hand, the Theonians had the time and energy to conduct nned and orderly military training regrly. Hence even if the Samnite army he belonged to could really face the Theonian army head-on, they would still not be their opponent!

    Later, he learned that there were as many as seven camps like this in Theonia''s territory, giving him a huge blow and bing one of the reasons for his change of attitude towards Theonia.

    The Samnites suddenly became rtively silent and, at the same time, had more expectations for the city of Thurii that they would see soon.

    As they continued, the terrain became more t and open as houses and viges gradually increased.

    Not far ahead, a t road that connects to a stone bridge across the Cosceli river appeared with streams of peopleing from the opposite bank of the Cosceli river and finally converging on this main road, making the already dense road even crowded.

    In fact, wagons carrying stone, copper ore and ves of the kingdom traversed this road, which they temporarily stopped for safety during the lively September. In exchange, the Theonian popce from the Bruttian region who came to Thurii for the festivities had increased.

    With the rumbling of the wagon wheels, the crying of livestock, the discussion of the travellers and the crying of the children¡­this flow of people had be the primary source of noise, garbage polluters as the people and livestock''s excrement and leftover food scraps littered the ground. Once someone identally stepped on them, an unpleasant smell would fill the air.

    And the Samnites and the Potentians had suffered due to it, resulting in theirints.

    In response, the young man exined, ¡°All of the demos in Thurii are the ones responsible for cleaning the roads of Thurii and would usually keep it clean. Except now when too many peoplee and go as the people of the demos alsoe to watch the festivities and the games. Hence they can only do a simple cleaning at dusk and early morning¡­but once the festivities end, the road will be clean again.¡±

    ¡°What is a demos?¡± Someone asked curiously.

    ¡°To exin it simply, a demos is a small town formed by merging several viges in Thurii. Currently, there are sixty-eight demos in Thurii, and they are still increasing.¡±

    The young man''s casual exnation caused the Samnites to be speechless. In the Samnite mountains, it would already be hard to see a vige (i.e., a tribal settlement) even after walking a half-day through the mountains. Yet the central city of Theonia has hundreds of viges, which really shocked them, ¡®How big is their poption?!¡¯

    The Samnites began to try using their not-too-bright brains to think. Back when they passed through Nerulum, these Samnites, who are used to seeing only a few people grazing and hunting in the mountains and forests, began to feel a bit ufortable because they saw too many people travelling along the way, which might''ve exceeded the poption of Abellinum.

    ¡°Follow me!¡± The young man said loudly at this time as he led the Samnites to turn right to a branch road.

    ¡°Chieftain Garni, may Savoni* bless you and win thepetition!¡± Genta saw that the ves guiding them didn''t follow, so he had to wave goodbye to them. (Savoni was the god of war worshipped by the Samnites)

    ¡°Genta, thank you for your care, and we would like to invite you, Abellinum!¡± Garni also replied in a friendly manner, which was what Genta wanted to hear. After all, he had long wanted to do some business with his neighbours. Unfortunately, the Samnites and the Potentians had a strange rtionship even though they were no longer at war and he dared not enter the Samnite mountains to trade. But he now became confident after getting Garni''s friendship.

    ¡°Crotokatax, thank you very much for your selfless help! Once I sell my livestock, I will definitely invite you to a drink at Cheiristoya Restaurant!¡± Genta then expressed his gratitude to the young man.

    The young man smiled while politely declining, ¡°Thank you for inviting me. However, I am too busy dealing with the festivities and thepetition, so I really don''t have the time.¡±

    After seeing off Genta, the young man led the Samnites eastward along the north bank of the Cosceli River, where the houses on both sides of the road gradually increased and mainly were two- and three-storey buildings. But unlike the typical Greek houses, their entrance doesn¡¯t face the road, and the tall buildings stand directly beside each other and close to the sidewalk. So even though the branch road was equally wide, with drains and sidewalks on both sides and wasn''t narrow, it still gives a sense of depression with their views obstructed.

    ¡°Why haven''t we arrived in Thurii yet?!¡± Tatoniined in annoyance.

    The young man smiled and said, ¡°We are already in the city of Thurii.¡±

    ¡°We already entered the city of Thurii?!¡± Tatoni thought the young man was joking, ¡°We didn''t even see the wall at all.¡±

    ¡°Only the inner part of Thurii has walls, while the other areas don''t have any walls.¡± The young man exined.

    After the South Italian War, many freemen and foreign races poured into Thurii every year, trying to be citizens of the kingdom, which resulted in the poption exploding and led to the continuous expansion of Thurii.

    ¡°¡­we are now at the edge of Thurii, at least four kilometres from the inner area.¡±

    ¡®Four kilometres?¡¯ All Samnites gasped, ¡®what a massive city this must be!¡¯

    Garni was also shocked as even though he spent half a year in Thurii eight years ago, the city of Thurii at that time wasn''t as big as it is now. Thus it could only be exined that Thurii''s development was too rapid!

    ¡°The city of Thurii has no walls? Aren''t you afraid of enemy invasions?!¡± Moni, the Samnite''s quarterback, participating in the rugbypetition, asked with a slight provocation. As the second warrior of this group of Samnites that had participated in thest war, he was both in awe and resentful of Theonia.

    The young man looked at him and said aloud, ¡°The Theonian Senate once posed a simr question to the king about building an outer wall. However, King Davos said-¡± The young man then straightened his chest as he said, ¡°Thurii was the centre of the kingdom of Theonia, with the mountains and the sea as barriers, and the defence of the powerful army and the naval fleet. If even all of that, the enemy still manages to invade and reach Thurii, then there is no need for the kingdom of Theonia to exist!¡±

    Besides those, there is another reason why the city of Thurii didn''t build the outer wall; that is, the city of Thurii is vast, and it is still expanding. Hence even if they constructed the outer wall, it might be another wall after a few years¡­ With such a massive project, they would need countless people and cost the treasury too much, but it would ultimately be unable to y any significant effect. Thus it is better not to build one.

    The Samnites naturally don''t know that, so they be silent after listening to the young man.

    Then the number of travellers on the branch road was decreasing. After all, most people who havee to Thurii know that Thurii''s food and amodation became tight during this season, and the nearer they came to the inner area, the higher the price would be. Hence they will go to these houses to negotiate with the owners about renting, which is also why the owners built their houses so tall.

    As for why they ced the house''s rear facing the road? It is because even though it is only a branch road, the road will still be crowded and noisy every day. Thus, they made the houses'' rears face the roar, using small windows and thick walls to reduce the noise and for the residents not to see the disturbing scene in the street and have a barely passable living environment.

    As they continued to head further, such houses standing on both sides of the road like walls disappeared. After passing the two smiling statues of Hermes, wearing his winged sandals, their line of sight widens again as the familiar traditional Greek housese into sight.

    Without waiting for the crowd to ask, the young man took the initiative to exin, ¡°When the Theonians rebuilt the city of Thurii, his majesty Davos and the statesmen envisioned the future prosperity of Thurii. Thus they reserved a lot of publd around the city, which wasn''t allocated to the citizens as they would use it to expand the urban area in the future. From here onwards, this is the area of the city of Thurii they envisioned. s, no one could expect that the city''s expansion would be so rapid that it would extend to the nd¡¯ of Thurii''s citizens.

    Fortunately, the Ministry of Agriculture has a regtion that strictly forbids the conversion of farnd for other uses. And the inspectors will also regrly check the quality of new houses and limit their height. Otherwise, those people back there would not only have two or three-storey houses built on the roadside on theirnd but five or even six-storey tall buildings spreading all over theirnd, which they would rent to preparatory citizens freemen to earn high profit and no longer farm!¡± Exined the young man with a hint of disgust on his face.

    On the other hand, the Samnites could no longer feel anything else apart from marvelling at Thurii''srge poption. At the same time, they would see from time to time a temple or altar between these neatly arranged houses and crisscrossing streets.

    From what the young man said, they learned that these temples weren''t only dedicated to the Greek gods and goddesses as there were also temples dedicated to the Lucanian god ¨C Asinu, The Bruttian''s goddess ¨C Amara and Brutus, the Messapians and Peucetians'' guardian deity ¨C Lycaon¡­ But what surprised the Samnites the most was that: although the foreign races'' gods and goddesses were also enshrined in a city with the Greeks as the predominant race, the believers wouldn¡¯t have any conflict as they would just do their own things.

    Then, the young man pointed ahead and said, ¡°See that, that''s the arena where you willpete.¡±

    A huge building stood beside the road a few hundred metres away, which was the Asinu-Amara arena.

    After the South Italian War, with Theonia owning all thends of South Italia, there were now more cities in the kingdom. Naturally, the number of teams participating in the Rugby and Football Championships increased several times, making Thurii''s two arenas no longer enough. Thus they built three more arenas one after another, with half of the cost taken from the national treasury and half donated by wealthy people in the kingdom.

 Chapter 614: Experience in Thurii (III)

    One is located near the southern part of Thurii and was named the Apollo Arena, a name decided upon by the merchants of Thurii''s southern area who donated money. For the grand tournament, the teams from the city-states of Thurii, including Sicily, would y their group matches in this arena.

    On the other hand, they built the Lycaon Arena to the north of the port of Thurii, where they would hold the group matches between the Messapi and Peuceti regions.

    Then the Thurii Arena between the city of Thurii and the Temple of Hera was renamed the Persephone Arena. And the Persephone Arena is where they would hold the group matches between the predominant Greek city-states such as Thurii, Amendra, Heraclea, Elea and so on.

    Finally, the Asinu-Amara Arena. At the start, as it was where the teams from the various ces of Lucania and Bruttii yed the group matches, the two ethnic groups had a dispute over the issue of which of the two gods'' names woulde first when naming it. In the end, King Davos proposed that whichever ethnic group donated the most money would have their god''s namee first when naming this arena. And as soon they counted the donations, the result was the Lucanians won and thus decided the arena''s name.

    Seeing this building, the Samnite''s members became excited.

    After all, it was only after the South Italian War did the more than 10,000 captive Samnites take up Rugby and Football. And the one to teach them was the Theonian soldiers supervising them while they worked on road construction, building houses and otherbours. Afterwards, the soldiers grouped them and organised apetition for them to y against each other, both to make them interested in Theonia¡¯s culture and drain their excess energy to reduce their resistance and hostility.

    And after getting released, these Samnites began spreading these two sports in the Samnite mountains. However, up to now, the Samnite area had no formal arena, so they could onlypete on the somewhat t grasnd.

    That is why the Samnite yers were excited after seeing the arena where they wouldpete for the first time was so magnificent. Unfortunately, the young man didn''t give them more time to ogle at it as he led them into a branch road leading towards a wide field enclosed by poles and ropes, with numerous tents and several shops and stalls. Inside, you could see muscr men moving around, buying things, practising passing and catching, with some simply using the open space for a small practice match. And amid the bustling scenery, you could feel a bit of tension before a battle: This ce is the camp where the Samnites would stay.

    With countless touristsing to Thurii in September, together with dozens of teams having as few as 50 people and as many as hundreds participating that could add up to thousands of people, the city of Thurii simply can''t provide so many amodations. Thus after referencing the practice of the Olympic Games andbining the characteristics of the kingdom of Theonia, the city hall of Thurii ced campsites near the four arenas. Then they grouped those in the same group stage and gave them tents for amodation, which is convenient for management as it would prevent the participating teams from scattering. After all, just having to organise them to y in the court would consume a lot of energy and easily disrupt the city¡¯s order.

    The young man walked towards the camp¡¯s entrance and exined the situation to the guards. And after Garni showed Kesima''s letter, the guard finally allowed the Samnites to enter.

    Seeing the Samnites in all short-sleeved red tunicsing, the other people in the camp knew that another team had moved in and had just arrived before the celebration*. Thus they curiously came forward to ask. (Since the distance between Abellinum and Thurii was far and Garni had walked throughout the way, they actually became thest team to arrive in Thurii.)

    After learning they were from the Samnite region, the other people were all surprised, with some even muttering in an odd tone, ¡°Can the Samnites even y rugby?¡±

    Which angered Tatoni, Moni and the others that they would have cursed if they hadn''t considered that they had just arrived. Ultimately, they made up their minds that they would make the other teams taste their strength on the field!

    The young man, on the other hand, ran around arranging tents for the Samnites to live in and borrowed dozens of Rugby uniforms, protective gear and shoes for them. Afterwards, he took them to dinner in advance and then had them take a hot spring bath at dusk¡­

    The young man¡¯s conscientiousness had made these Samnites regard him as their own in just a day¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Because the assassins sent by Syracuse almost assassinated the king of Theonia ten years ago, the people participating in the festivities panicked, resulting in countless people getting injured and killed from getting trampled. Since then, Theonia gradually improved the festivities¡¯ guidelines to ensure the safety of the city and its people.

    On September 9, during Hades'' Day, the inner city will be heavily guarded. Besides the important ministers, statesmen, and invited dignitaries from allied city-states, the kingdom of Theonia will invite civil servants that performed excellently, army soldiers and officers who showed bravery and made contributions to the war, as well as schrs and craftsmen who made innovations in the Akademia and equipment¡­and allow them to bring their families, totalling to about 10,000 people, into the Nike Square within the inner city to watch the festivities taking ce and the worship at the Temple of Hades. And since they were all citizens, the vast majority had military training, so just blowing the salpinx once an ident urred would immediately turn them into legionaries that would prevent the situation from expanding.

    What''s more, the city hall of Thurii had recently built Temples and Altars of Hades outside the southern area of Thurii, in the delta, near the people, in the east, northwest, and the three outer part of the cities just outside the inner city of Thurii, where there would also be grand performances, hymns of the saints, and experienced priests presiding over the nearby arena and theatre¡­so the people who live nearby don''t have to travel far just to participate and enjoy.

    On this day, the majestic and heavy bells of the Temple of Hades rang out from all corners of Thurii, and the light and distant hymn resonated throughout the Sybarite ins as the people of the kingdom of Theonia celebrated Hades'' Day.

    Then the joy brought by the festivities became even higher on the second day as the Rugby Grand Tournament of the kingdom of Theonia began.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Early the following morning, an official of Thurii invited Garni. After getting through the crowded west gate of Thurii, Garni passed through one district after another and finally arrived in a district in the western part of the inner city with mostlyrge and gorgeous houses, most of which were the residences of statesmen and important officials.

    As he walked through the main road between the two hills, the noisy crowd gradually became quieter as the left hill was the kingdom''s holy Temple of Hades, and on the right hill was the residence of the great king Davos.

    Garni nced towards the hill on the right and then moved his gaze down the hill. He knew that the whole hill was guarded by the king''s personal guards, making it impossible for anyone to enter the hill without invitation. And at the foot of the hill was a magnificent building, square in shape, supported by dozens of massive pirs, which made it look solemn, like a temple, but it was the royal pce of Theonia. Garni''s reason foring to Thurii this time was that he was invited to the pce again by king Davos.

    After further following the flow of people, one can see the Grand Senate Hall.

    And after entering the wide Nike Square, the people space themselves apart, which made Garni feel much more rxed. As he hade here a few years ago, Garni knew that the most important building here, apart from the towering stone pirs in the centre of the square and the goddess of victory, Nike, at the top, was the Royale Fountain of Thurii on the west side of the square and in front of the Grand Senate Hall.

    Back then, the officer apanying Garni excitedly told him about Hades ¡®resurrecting¡¯ the fountain, which resulted in the statesmen and the people responding to Hades'' prophecy and electing Davos as the king of Theonia. In the end, King Davos lived up to their expectations, defeated the powerful Syracuse, and created Theonia''s current glory¡­

    This widely spread miracle made Garni pay close attention to the fountain of Thurii. Back then, even though an ordinary stone wall enclosed the fountain and there was nothing special about it, Garni still felt awe seeing it.

    But the young man who weed them this time had said, ¡®A few years ago, the Senate specially invited a famous Greek sculptor to redesign and build the fountain of Thurii, which couldn''t bepared to the previous one. And now, it has be one of the holy ces for many young men who were determined to learn sculpting in the kingdom of Theonia toe to observe and learn.¡¯

    Unfortunately, even though Garni wanted to go and see it again, he couldn''t find time these two days.

    And around Nike square were massive buildings: The library, city hall, court, ministry of Military¡­

    After passing through Nike square, Garni stepped onto the inner city''s main road, which was so wide that it could amodate the wagons passing side by side. Moreover, the road''s surface was exceptionally smooth as this was where the victorious soldiers would march during the Triumphant Return.

    After walking several districts and passing through the first Arc de Triomphe, Garni reached the eastern part of the inner city.

    Although there are also houses in the east, the houses here are more humblepared to the luxurious houses in the west and the high-end houses in the centre. Since there weren''t enough citizens back when they first built the new city of Thurii, the city has numerous vacant spaces. At first, they used the western district for the residence of some newly registered freemen and civil servants to provide the new city with sufficientbour.

    But now, the eastern part has be the most vibrant area of the inner city, with river and port docks, markets, theatres, gyms, baths*, inns and restaurants. (With the poprity of the Hot Spring Baths, bathing habits have taken root in the hearts of the people that the Theonians are no longer content with just bathing in the hot spring bath where they couldn''t wash every day. Thus they began to build baths in various cities.)

    And with thepletion of the Great Stone Bridge of Thurii* that spans the Crati River and connects the central area of Thurii with the southern part, the trade between the two sides became more frequent. And since the bridge''s north end was located on the eastern bank of the inner city, the eastern district became more prosperous. (Its official name was the Heracleides'' Bridge, in recognition of the achievements of the statesman and the Minister of Constructions, Heracleides the younger.)

 Chapter 615: The Opening Ceremony of Theonias Rugby Champions League (I)

    But the liveliest ce was naturally near the centre of the eastern district as countless people from all parts of the inner city flock towards the former Grand Arena of Theonia, now the Hades Arena, which was the venue for the annual opening ceremony of the Kingdom of Theonia''s Rugby Champions League.

    The official leading Garni sped up his pace, trying to squeeze his way to the south entrance of the arena, which was already bustling with people. Apart from the entrance having a long line, even the famous food street across the street was crowded with people. Besides buying food and snacks at the various stalls to satisfy their hunger when watching the game, they also went into the shops to purchase drums and whistles that could make loud sounds and statues of their favourite yers.

    Due to their nonstop bargaining with customers, every stall owner and merchant had hoarse voices. Yet they were still happy and even wished that thispetition would continue every day so that they could earn a lot of money.

    Between the arena''s entrance and the food street was arge statue of Hades, the god of the underworld, the protector of Theonia. The statue had his left-hand stretched forward and his right hand at the back while holding a hand egg in a throwing posture. At the same time, the statue''s left foot was ced forward with its right foot slightly lifted. The statue has ck hair, a serious demeanour, a long tunic tied around the waist, and the clothing''s texture was so clear that it didn''t hide its bulging muscle¡­

    Although the statue of Hades in the temple is solemn, while this one outside the arena was equally imposing with its more than three metres height plus the five-metre bade, it still shows its friendly attitude that made the people yearn for it. Thus not only had the statue increased the people''s love for the sport but also made it one of the ces where the believers woulde to worship.

    On the side of the entrance were rows of wooden houses, with each wooden house''s roof painted with the image of Tyche, the goddess of luck. There are also many people gathering here that made the ce noisy.

    ¡°I bet ten drachmaes for Thurii to beat Compsa!¡±

    ¡°Hey man, you saw the strength of Thurii''s team. Since it is only natural for them to beat Compsa by a huge margin, the odds ced on them were too low. Hence your ten drachmaes would only allow you to earn two Obol, which is a waste. Instead, it is better to bet on the second opening game, Rudiae vs Uzentum, with both sides having higher odds, you would earn more if you bet correctly.¡±

    ¡°I don''t care whether I earn or not. Since I am from Thurii, it is only natural for me to support Thurii''s team to win no matter whether they won or lost!¡±

    ¡°Excuse me! I don''t know much about the strength of the Messapian cities regarding Rugby, so can you tell me which team between Uzentum and Rudiae is stronger?¡±

    ¡°You''ve asked the right person, as I know quite a lot about Messapi! Rudiae was the centre of the Messapi before, so it is also thergest city and has arge poption in that area. Besides, you should know about Milo, the former polemarchos of Crotone and now a statesman of the Senate. In his younger years, Milo won many Greek sports championships. So when he served in Rudiae for four years, except for suppressing the revolts in Rudiae, he vigorously promoted Rugby and football. Hence Rudiae was quite early in spreading about rugby in the entire Messapi region.

    On the other hand, Uzentum was just a small coastal town. But since it is closer to Thurii, they had yed rugby earlier. And as far as I know, they had yed each other four times, with Rudiae winning all of them¡­¡±

    ¡°Then I''ll throw five drachmaes for Rudiae to beat Uzentum!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    These noisy voices rang out in Garni''s ear, making him feel his eardrums swell. But he knew that the Theonians were buying a kind of paper ticket called ¡°Tyche''s blessing¡± issued by the kingdom. Once the buyer urately guesses the game''s winner, he would get some prize money, but if he guesses wrong, he will lose the money he bet. And this form of entertainment is actually simr to the dice game yed by the Samnites after a banquet (in fact, it is also popr in all Greek city-states.)

    What made Garni sigh even more was that when he first came to Thurii¡¯s arena to watch the game, they had just begun implementing this kind of ¡®entertainment¡¯. At that time, there was only one wooden house and few buyers, but just after a few years, this kind of entertainment became popr in all cities of Theonia just watching the sea of people.

    Despite the long line at the arena''s entrance, Garni didn''t have to wait as the official leading him had led him to another entrance, passed through the guards and entered directly into the special guests. The arena''s seat was divided into blocks, and the one after entering through the special guests¡¯ entrance on the south side led not far from the arena''s stage.

    And the seat arranged for him was not far from the tform, where some people were already seated.

    With his seat close to the tform, Garni could see therge area covered with white clothes that blocked the sun. And Garni, who had been here before, knew that is the ce where the king and queen of Theonia and the statesmen would sit when watching the game, but it was still currently empty like the field in front of him.

    While Garni looked around, someone asked curiously, ¡°Where are you from?¡±

    Then an old-looking, dark-skinned Greek man with several scars on his face and a simple and honest appearance with a bit of ferociousness. Although he looks more like a farmer, the purple chiton he is wearing is quite expensive.

    Garni didn''t answer immediately and instead asked with a bit of precaution, ¡°You are?¡±

    ¡°I am Cecrops, from Tyndaris.¡± The man answered honestly.

    Garni knew those who could sit in this area were of extraordinary status even though the man he was facing looked ordinary. Unfortunately, Garni knew little about the other regions of Theonia besides those around Samnites. And since he doesn''t care if the other person bes embarrassed, Garni asks directly without hiding it, ¡°That¡­where is Tyndaris?¡±

    Cecrops was taken aback but then understood after listening to Garni''s rough Greek and seeing his unusual appearance, unlike a Greek. Thus he said with seriousness, ¡°We, Tyndarians, are from a Greek city-state on the ind of Sicily, next to Messina and close to the territory of the kingdom of Theonia. And since we have a friendly rtionship with Theonia, Theonia invited us yearly to participate in these magnificent and lively festivities!¡± Cecrops proudly said.

    Back when Syracuse''s defeat, Dionysius'' death, Messina''s capture, and the city-states on the eastern coast of Sicily changed their government¡­these series of great changes terrified Tyndaris, this small city-state which Dionysius raised. Thus their archon hastily formed arge delegation with countless riches to quickly rushed to Thurii to express their submission and allegiance to king Davos in a panic. But they didn''t expect King Davos to instead express his extreme sympathy for the miserable situation of the Messenians due to Sparta and publicly promised that Theonia would not invade Tyndaris.

    The Tyndarians were immediately overjoyed, for all Magna Graecians knew that Theonia''s king was a man of his word. So even though Tyndaris failed to ally with Theonia, the two sides still signed a friendship agreement. And even after learning about the agreement between Theonia and Carthage regarding the division of power in Sicily, the Tyndarians still felt deep gratitude and respect toward Theonia. Moreover, Theonia sent friendly invitations to Tyndaris for the important celebrations in Theonia every year. Hence, how could the Tyndarians, a small and insignificant city-state in Sicily founded not long ago, not have a great affection for Theonia, the hegemon of Southern Italia?

    ¡°Besides inviting our Tyndaris, they also invited other Greek city-states in Sicily such as Syracuse, G, Kamarina, Agrigento, Enna, and even the Sikeloi towns, with most of them sending envoys to participate in this grand event-¡± Cecrops slightly paused after saying that because he remembered that Syracuse, thergest city-state in Sicily that supported Tyndaris'' foundation, had not sent anyone to this year''s Hades'' Day. (nor had they in previous years) and neither did their several subordinate city-states. But that regrettable thought only shed through his mind as he soon put it behind his mind; After all, Theonia was now the greatest supporter of Tyndaris while Syracuse became a thing of the past.

    Cecrops stretched out his right hand and pointed around, ¡°All those sitting here are guests from Sicily, and only you seemed a bit¡­uhm¡­different, that''s why I was curious.¡±

    Cecrops was still polite when he said that. Because anyone who sees Garni, who has an unkempt air and is barefooted, would know that he is a ¡°barbarian¡±. After all, even the natives of Sicily, the Sikeloi, were simr to the Greeks in their clothes. Hence the people around Garni were curious but didn''t dare toe to inquire. And only the small and weak Tyndarians, who the Spartans oppressed in the past, would try to make friends with any forces.

    ¡®Sicily!¡¯ Garni had an impression listening to this ce. After all, the Samnite''s current situation was all due to Syracuse, the previous hegemon of Sicily. So after hearing that, Garni understood that the hundreds of people around him were from various city-states in Sicily, which made him realise that Theonia upied not only the vastnd in Southern Italia but also the rich Sicily. Thuspared with Theonia with their formidable might, Abellinum''s strength was truly insignificant!

    Note: Tyche was the ancient Greek goddess of luck.

 Chapter 616: The Opening Ceremony of Theonias Rugby Champions League (II)

    Garni said while feeling shocked, ¡°I am a Samnite from Abellinum, just north of Potentia.¡±

    The Sicilian guests who were secretly listening to their conversation noted down the Samnite and Abellinum in their minds. Then they quietly pondered the significance of this Italian native¡¯s appearance on Hades'' Day, which had hardly appeared in Thurii before.

    As the two continued to converse, people began entering the arena one after another, soon filling up the arena and making the ce noisy and lively.

    At the back of the tform, the statesmen began entering.

    ¡°That''s Lysias, the praetor of Thurii! I heard that he also served as the praetor of Crotone many times before¡­¡±

    ¡°That is Lord Cornelius. Although he is the most senior statesman in the Senate, he is quite friendly to the people! See, he is even greeting the audience around him!¡±

    ¡°Listening to the warm cheers of the audience, you don''t even need to see to know that the one entering was the grand priest, Lord Plesinas!¡±

    ¡°Look at the man with a cold face; that is the grand inspector, Sesta. Although the statesmen and officials were afraid of him, the people of Theonia respect him!¡±

    ¡°Who is that? He is as fat as a pig!¡±

    ¡°Shush, don''t talk nonsense! Don''t underestimate him as even King Davos trusted him; He is Mersis, the Chief of Finance of Theonia and holds the kingdom''s treasury.¡±

    ¡°What about that man? He doesn''t look like a Greek.¡±

    ¡°He is indeed not a Greek as he is a Persian. He is Marigi, the Chief Commercial Officer of Theonia. You could hear the audience cheering him because he had greatly contributed to Thurii''s prosperity, and the Thurians are grateful to him.¡±

    ¡°Who is that?¡±

    The statesman who just came out neither waved to the audience nor talked with the other statesman and just sat down. However, the people still cheered a lot. Furthermore, Garni could feel from his every move and temperament that this man must have led the army.

    And sure enough, Cecrops said, ¡°That is the hero of the South Italian War, statesman Hielos. He once led the army to conquer Locri and its allies, and he had now just be the Chief of Ministry of Military¡­and the statesman walking behind him, even though he looks ordinary, each of us has benefited from him!¡±

    ¡°Oh? Who is he?¡±

    ¡°He is the Aedile, Heracleides the Younger. He was responsible for the constructions of the roads and stone bridges we use in Theonia''s territory.¡±

    ¡°What about those two? They don''t look like Greeks either.¡±

    ¡°They are Vespa and Hemon and are naturally not Greeks but Lucanians. However, they are also prominent statesmen in the Senate. If you think about the size of the Lucanian region in Theonia''s territory, you will understand it¡­ That one, even though he is also not a Greek, he is also a prominent statesman; he is statesman Sedrum from Bruttii and the only one to serve as a provincial governor of Theonia. Then those following him were Saru and Kreru¡­all statesmen from Bruttii¡­¡±

    Hearing Cecrops'' introduction, Ganni suddenly became interested when he looked at the faces that differed from the Greeks.

    But Cecrops, who was introducing the Theonians attending the opening ceremony, gradually became puzzled as even though many Theonian statesmen had appeared, apart from King Davos, the most familiar Sicilian statesmen hadn''t yet appeared.

    Antonios ¨C the hero that conquered the eastern coast of Sicily and was the praetor of Naxos for many years; And those people Cecrops dealt with the most, Ladician and Lasiperatus¡­these statesmen from Sicily would usually treat the envoys from Sicily with great hospitality every year. But for some reason, this year, they neither hosted a banquet nor showed up so far.

    From Cecrops'' understanding, Ladician was the one who liked festive asions and liked to show off the most, so what happened? Thus Cecrops began to ponder deeply.

    Suddenly, a huge cheer sounded, like a gale blowing across the arena.

    ¡°His majesty KING DAVOS!!! ¡±

    ¡°His majesty the king is here!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The cheering in the arena continued for some time.

    Then the king of Theonia, Davos, wearing a ck golden chiton and a crown made of gold, smiled and waved to everyone around. Beside him were the two beautiful queens, Cheiristoya and Agnes.

    Garni''s eyes suddenly widened as he pointed to a young man beside Davos. He then hurriedly asked, ¡°Who is he?!¡±

    ¡°Hey, put down your hands! That''s disrespectful to King Davos and would just anger the audiences!¡± Cecrops hastily pulled down Garni''s hand and then added, ¡°You are asking about King Davos'' eldest son, Crotokatax, right? Don''t judge him at how tall he is; he''s actually not even eighteen years old and is still just a teenager.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure he''s King Davos'' eldest son?!¡± Garni asked again in disbelief.

    ¡°I attend Hades'' Day every year and saw Prince Crotokatax appearing many times, so how can I be wrong?!¡± Cecrops became slightly angry hearing his questioning. But he still exined to show off his knowledge of Theonia''s royal family, ¡°King Davos also had an adopted son named Adoris, who I heard joined the army to fight the Daunians, but Crotokatax was indeed Davos'' biological son. While the beautiful young girl beside him is the king''s adopted daughter, Cynthia. I heard that she hasn''t yet married even though she is already twenty years old because she has too many suitors, so much so that King Davos doesn''t know how to choose. Hence he is dying it until now¡­¡±

    Cecrops quietly told Garni about this gossip to show off that he was well-informed, ¡°The little girl holding Cynthia''s hand is King Davos'' biological eldest daughter Eunice, the little boy talking to her is the king''s second son, Apox, and the little boy looking around is the king''s third son, Brintes. Oh! It seems that his youngest daughter is here too, the little girl Aviya, who Queen Agnes is holding, and this would be her first appearance at the champions league opening ceremony! You are quite lucky as this would be the first time King Davos'' family has all appeared at a rugby match. It¡¯s no wonder the Theonians were so excited!¡±

    Garni became dumbfounded listening to the Tyndarian. He then stared at the tform with his shocked eyes as he still couldn''t believe that the gentle, handsome and helpful young man from Thurii that made them grateful two days ago was a noble prince of Theonia. ¡®Could it be that King Davos ced great importance on Abellinum?!¡¯ Thinking of that, Garni became excited as he thought he couldplete his purpose ining to Thurii this time.

    In fact, he was just overthinking. Crotokatax just happened to be tasked to meet the guests from the north on that day.

    And when he returned home, Cheiristoya was shocked after learning that her son had gone alone to have long-term contact with those ferocious Samnites.

    But when Davos learned about it, he praised his son for what he had done and said, ¡®As a descendant of Hades and a prince of Theonia, it is only natural for him to have such courage and magnanimity!¡¯ He then encouraged his son to continue treating the Samnites well.

    And for that reason, Davos and his wife had a rare quarrel.

    Currently, Davos'' family is enjoying themselves. And after they all sat down, Davos nodded to Lysias, who was at the forefront on the tform.

    Then the praetor of Thurii, Lysias, said, ¡°Begin!¡±

    The trumpeters on both sides of the tform immediately raised their long brass horns obliquely, and the high-pitched trumpet sound spread throughout the arena.

    Afterwards, the teams from various towns and cities of Theonia began entering.

    From the east'' gate, eight priests in white robes, carrying a wooden statue of Hades holding a hand egg, came in first. The statue''s image was simr to that of the statue outside the arena but was smaller in size and had a golden coating covering the surface, making it glitter under the sunlight.

    Immediately following the eight priests were Thurii''s team, led by a guide holding a wooden sign inscribed with the word ¡®Thurii¡¯, which caused the crowd to cheer loudly as soon as they stepped onto the track outside of the field. Since Thurii is the centre of the kingdom of Theonia and the venue of the champions league, it is only natural for thergest audience watching the opening ceremony to be from Thurii. Hence Thurii''s team was at the forefront every year.

    Thurii''s rugby yer waved to the audience, causing the audience to cheer louder. With the interaction inside and outside the field, the atmosphere inside the arena reached its climax.

    But the following teaming out was unfamiliar, which made the audience dumbfounded.

    ¡°Abellinum?!¡± The audience sitting closest to the field had their eyes widen as they read the city''s name on the guide''s wooden te. Yet they were still at a loss, ¡®Where is this?¡¯

    There is a rule on the entry order of the teams at the opening ceremony of the Rugby Champions League. Apart from the first andst teams being Thurii and another specific ce, all other teams participating in thepetition, including the invited non-Theonian teams, enter in alphabetical order of their city''s names. Thus it would show the principle of fairness and justice of Theonia without distinguishing between rtives and friends, which also reduces contradictions and arguments.

    Hence the team starting with the letter ¡®A¡¯ would naturally be at the forefront. However, except for a few audiences from northern Lucania who knew something about them, the others knew nothing about Abellinum. Still, those who had watched the Champions League every year gave this unfamiliar team courtesy apuse and cheers.

    Once this team reached the distinguished guest area, Garni suddenly stood up, pointed at the team walking down the track and excitedly shouted, ¡°ABELLINUM! This is Abellinum''s team from Samnite! They are all warriors of the mountains!¡± He also shouted out the names of the Samnite yers.

 Chapter 617: The Opening Ceremony of Theonias Rugby Champions League (III)

    Ever since they entered the city of Thurii, these Samnite yers, who boast themselves to be brave and fierce, have begun restraining themselves because they were astounded by this massive and prosperous city. And after they entered the arena, the cheerings of tens of thousands of audiences caused them to feel an invisible pressure that overwhelmed them, and even their walking posture became restrained.

    ¡°Hey, that''s chieftain Garni!¡± Moni noticed the chieftain of Abellinum standing in the audience, waving his arms and shouting, which surprised him.

    Then the yers immediately responded enthusiastically, making them rx a lot.

    And while they passed by the tform, another surprise greeted them.

    ¡°Father, look! That''s the Samnite team that I received!¡± Crotokatax pointed to the team marching on the track and shouted excitedly.

    Before Davos could speak, Cheiristoya, next to him, widened her eyes and interjected, ¡°Your father always said that the Samnites weren''t to be messed with, but I don''t see anything special about them.¡±

    Indeed, the Samnite yers who entered the arena for the first time became timid in the face of thousands of audiences.

    ¡°Abellinum!¡­¡± Davos knew about the origin of this time, so he slowly said, ¡°Isn''t that a good thing?!¡±

    As Cheiristoya wasn''t an ordinary woman, she soon understood what her husband meant and said, ¡°Too bad that there is only one Abellinum.¡±

    ¡°That''s already a good start!¡± Davos smiled slightly.

    On the other hand, Agnes didn''t care what her husband and Cheiristoya were saying because she was the only one in the family who wasn''t too interested in the rugby match. And the only reason she attended the opening ceremony was the need of the people of Theonia and the children''s request. After all, the people hoped to see the king''s family at the most important celebration of the kingdom, which almost became a custom. Furthermore, the harmony of the king''s family became an example to the citizens. At the same time, the children loved the lively atmosphere of watching the game together as a family, including her introverted and shy daughter ¨C Aviya.

    ¡°Mom was right. The Samnites were like the kingdom''s clumsy ves; there was nothing scary about them. Instead, it will still be our Zerias who would shine the brightest by scoring many touchdowns!¡± Brilliantes said loudly. Zerias was Thurii''s main wide receiver, known for his excellent catching skills and wind-like speed in the champions league.

    ¡°I still believe Sardokasius, the quarterback, is better. It is because of his cool-headedness, cleveryout and urate passing that allowed Zerias to get that many touchdowns.¡±

    Apox''s words caused his brother to be dissatisfied, and the two began arguing.

    Cynthia tapped her two brothers on the head and reminded them, ¡°Stop causing trouble; you''re affecting the others watching the opening ceremony!¡±

    Their elder sister''s words really worked as the two could only stare at each other and quietly sat down in their seats.

    ¡°If brother Adoris is still here, he would definitely be there as a substitute for the team.¡± Eunice pointed at Thurii''s team, already standing on the field.

    Little Aviya repeatedly nodded while Cynthia froze. Then a trace of worry appeared on her pretty face.

    Davos justughed and said, ¡°You still don''t know your brother Adoris that well. He would rather appear in the Triumphant Return than here in Hades Arena.¡±

    ¡°I also hope to be a hero in the Triumphant Return when I grow up!¡± Shouted Brilliantes.

    ¡°Father.¡± Crotokatax nced at Cynthia and asked, ¡°How is the war between us and Dauni?¡±

    ¡°After defeating Dauni''s main force in the Battle of Ofanto, our troops have never encountered strong resistance from the enemy. So you can rx, and you will soon see your brother again in two months!¡± Davos said rxedly, and his words finally made Cynthia smile again.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Behind Davos'' family, the several Lucanian statesmen, including Vespa, who was old already in his old age, couldn''t help but exim, ¡°It''s hard to believe that our kingdom could even tame the Samnites who were fierce likes wolves!¡±

    Polet, the great chieftain of Potentia next to him,ughed and said smilingly, ¡°It isn''t easy to tame such fierce wolves! It''s just that Abellinum was about to be abandoned by the Samnites!¡±

    ¡°The Samnites would abandon Abellinum? Why?!¡± Hemon asked curiously.

    Polet subconsciously touched his cheek filled with curly beards, where there was a long scar that brought his thoughts back to the past, ¡°When the Samnites invaded Potentia on arge scale ten years ago, Potentia might have ceased to exist if his majesty hadn''t led the army to rescue us in time¡­¡±

    In the course of fighting alongside the Theonian legionaries against the Samnites, Polet grew fond of the Theonians. So after the South Italian War, he made several visits to Thurii and persuaded Pamot to merge Potentia into Theonia as a free city of the kingdom. Then three years ago, Pamot gave up his position as the great chieftain to Polet, who had a close rtionship with Theonia, using his poor health. After taking over the territory, Polet became more familiar with the situation of this fierce neighbour to the north.

    ¡°It''s because the Samnites suffered a crushing defeat, with nearly 10,000 warriors captured and only a few thousand of their 40,000-strong force manage to escape eventually. Thus as the initiator of the war, Berani, the great chieftain of Hirpini and the ruler of Abellinum, was, of course, responsible for their defeat. However, the Samnites who had fled back didn''t know that Berani had died in the war, so the Hirpinians, who had lost their loved ones and hated Berani, soon held a tribal assembly to dismiss Berani as the great chieftain and elect Lesguk of Maloenton(Beneventum) as the new great chieftain of the Hirpini¡­¡±

    After saying those, Polet sighed with regret, ¡°At that time, there was a report that the four Samnites'' main tribes could only gather less than 10,000 warriors, which were simply unable to put up a fight. Moreover, the Samnites learned that Theonia had captured many Samnite warriors, so they asked for a truce and peace. s¡­we could¡¯ve acted tougher at that time and continued attacking the mountains to the north, and we would have surely exterminated the Hirpini, and the Pentri and Caudini wouldn''t have it better!¡­¡±

    ¡°There was nothing we could do about it as we were resisting Syracuse''s invasion at that time. And after we defeated Dionysius, our treasury was almost depleted of gold, silver and grains, so it was impossible to organise anotherrge army tounch an attack on the Samnite mountains.¡± Vespa exined, but there was another reason he didn''t say: After gaining victory in the South Italian War, they had gotten enoughnd and wealth in Magna Graecia and Sicily for the Theonian citizens to divide. And they even thought they had too small of a poption to upy more vacantnd, so how could they covet the barren mountainous region of the Samnites? Not to mention that once they attacked the Samnite''s nest, even though they had significantly weakened, the resistance and casualties Theonia would encounter would definitely rise, which isn''t what the Senate and the people wished.

    Polet probably also realised that, so he justined and continued to say, ¡°After signing the alliance agreement with Hirpini, Pentri and Caudini, Theonia began releasing the Samnites one after another, and you should know that Garni, the son of Berani, the great chieftain of Hirpini, was also captured by us. In addition, his tribe was one of thergest Hirpini tribes, and the captured tribal warriors were quite numerous. So when his majesty released themst, could you guess what happened?¡±

    ¡°I remember that there seemed to be a violent conflict in Abellinum that Garni had to ask us our Theonia''s help, and his majesty gave his support¡­¡± Hemon recalled.

    ¡°Fierce conflict?!¡± Polet smiled and said, ¡°As the initiator of that war, Berani sent almost all the men who could fight in Abellinum to the battlefield to set an example. Thus it is only natural for his warriors to suffer the most casualties. And after Lesguk became the great chieftain of Hirpini, he noticed that most of Abellinum''s poptions were elderly, children and women, thusckingbour. Moreover, Abellinum was close to Potentia, so he chose one of the tribes of Beneventum to move to Abellinum, and the chieftain of that tribe became the chieftain of Abellinum. And for their survival, the people of Abellinum at that time didn''t oppose it.

    But after two years, when Garni returned to his hometown with the captured Abellinum warriors, he saw that another tribe upied hisnd, his wife remarried, and his children recognised another person as fathers, which naturally caused a conflict to break out. And to safeguard his authority and his tribe''s interests, the new chieftain of Abellinum made a wrong decision to expel Garni and his families from Abellinum on the grounds that Berani and his sonunched a war indiscriminately and brought disaster to the tribe. However, that aroused the anger of the released Abellinum warriors because they hadpletely regarded Garni as their leader during their two years of serving in the kingdom.

    Seeing that Abellinum was in danger of infighting, the new chieftain had to ask for support from Lesguk, the great chieftain of Hirpini. And Lesguk immediately led thousands of warriors, while Garni, who had stayed in Theonia for two years and had a good rtionship with us, immediately felt that the situation wasn''t good and turned to us for help. Then his majesty resolutely sent an envoy to intervene in the dispute in Abellinum, which caused Leguk''s attempt to hold an assembly to decide whether to expel Garni to be ruined. Instead, our envoy proposed to re-elect the chieftain of Abellinum was to be implemented, and thus Garni became the chieftain of Abellinum¡­¡±

 Chapter 618: The Opening Ceremony of Theonias Rugby Champions League (IV)

    What Polet said made Vespa sigh and Hemon admire Sedrum as they didn''t expect howplicated the situation Sedrum faced when he went to Samnite, ¡®Davos made a wise decision making the Senate release the Abellinum captives!¡¯

    ¡°Even though Garni became the chieftain of Abellinum, this matter is still not finished.¡± Polet sneered and said, ¡°The Hirpini had to sign an agreement in the face of our might, but Garni vited a taboo by inviting outsiders to interfere in Hirpini''s internal affairs. Yet since he is under our wings, Lesguk didn''t dare to do anything to Garni. However, he still could make the other tribes reduce their trade contacts, exchanges and gatherings with Abellinum. Moreover, they even ordered those tribes that immigrated to Abellinum to withdraw, trying to force Abellinum, who became less popted and weaker after the war, to take the initiative to banish Garni to have a better survival chance in the mountains.¡±

    ¡°Foolish Hirpinians!¡± Hemon interjected.

    ¡°Yes, the Hirpinians still punish tribal chieftains who vite their rules ording to the old method. But what they don''t know is that they are just pushing Abellinum to our Theonia.¡± With Polet saying our Theonia¡¯, he already sees himself as part of the kingdom of Theonia, even though Potentia is only a free city under Theonia, ¡°Thus Abellinum had to strengthen their dealings with Compsa, Potentia and Irna. In the past two years, where we have had frigid winters, most of Hirpini''s livestock froze to death, and it was only due to our assistance that Abellinum survived. Hence they became more dependent on us that they even allowed the construction of the Temple of Hades on Abellinum''s border.

    But the people of Beventum and several other Samnite tribes have a problem with Abellinum''s approach. Hence even though the Samnite region is now calm, the two sides are, in fact, in constant conflict. Especially this year, I heard rumours that the high priests of the four major Samnite tribes held an all-Samnite assembly after the Savoni celebration to discuss the heresy of Abellinum''s chieftain, Garni¡­¡±

    ¡°Heresy?¡± Vespa was surprised.

    ¡°It is because Garni allowed the people to ept the faith of Hades and the priests of Hades to operate within Samnites'' territory¡­¡± Polet said in a slightly mixed mood. In today''s Potentia, the belief of Hades began to be equally popr with Asinu.

    ¡°Is this what you discuss when you meet with his majesty?¡± Hemon asked.

    ¡°Do I still need to say it?¡± Polet pointed to Abellinum''s team in the field, ¡°I heard that Garni is here in Thurii too, and I don''t think he just came here to watch the game!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Stromboli, who has returned to Thurii, sat at the tform, drinking wine mixed with water from time to time while watching the various teams enter the arena.

    And once he saw Naxos¡¯ team getting close to the tform, he began apuding and cheering vigorously. Although he had resigned as the praetor of Naxos, his several years of stay there made him affectionate of Naxos. But while watching the Naxos yers waving around happily on the court, he suddenly remembered something and fell into thinking.

    Suddenly, he saw Raphias changing seats with another person out of the corner of his years. Then a voice sounded in his ear, ¡°Lord Stromboli.¡±

    Stromboli turned his head and nodded, ¡°Lord Torus.¡±

    ¡°Er¡­thank you, milord, for taking care of the people of Naxos throughout the past years!¡± Torusplimented somewhat unnaturally as he wasn''t good at talking with people. Moreover, Stromboli and the Sicilian statesmen rarely converse, so even though the two are part of the Senate, the two sides are unfamiliar. But if he doesn''t do this, he can''t shorten the distance between them to advance the following discussions.

    ¡°That''s my duty.¡± Stromboli, however, didn''t smile at hisplimentary words, ¡°To tell you the truth, it wasn''t easy managing Naxos.¡±

    Torus was startled but smiled ambiguously, ¡°Sicily is, after all, not the same as Magna Graecia¡­¡±

    ¡°What''s different about them?!¡± Stromboli interrupted him and asked nonchntly, ¡°Doesn''t Naxos belong to the kingdom of Theonia?! Don''t the people living in Naxos, citizens of Theonia?!¡±

    Torus was startled again. Previously, he had heard from the other Sicilian statesmen that Stromboli of Amendra was a stone in a horse''s dung that smelled hard and difficult to get along with, and today''s contact just confirmed that. But Torus'' nature simply doesn''t beat around the bush as he straightforwardly asked, ¡°Lord Stromboli, there are rumours in these past two days that after Lord Milo arrived in Naxos, he sent the guards to search Lord Ladician''s residence, took away some servants, and then searched the residence of several lords such as Ikadas¡­I also heard that Lord Siprus, the praetor of Catania, also searched Lord Lasiperatus'' residence in Catania right after that, and¡­what the hell is going on there?! Without the approval of the Senate, how can someone just barged into a statesman''s residence, search and arrest people at will?!!¡±

    Stromboli looked at him with an odd expression, ¡°There is no such as you cannot search a statesman''s residence or arrest a ve in Theonia''s Law; It is only when arresting a statesman that you must first get the approval of the Senate. So as a statesman of the kingdom, have you not carefully studied the kingdom''sw all these years?!¡±

    Torus became embarrassed. With Theonia having so many legal terms, he couldn''t remember all of them. Thus he just coughed and said, ¡°Lord Stromboli, I want to ask what crime Ladician and the others hadmitted?¡±

    Stromboli shrugged and said, ¡°Milo didn''t send a letter to the Senate exining the situation. So just like you, I don''t know anything about it. However, you can ask Lord Tritodemos as he might know something.¡±

    Torus then said, ¡°Lord Tritodemos is in Sicily!¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­right! Right! I forgot about that. It seems my memory is bad; I now remember that I invited them to have dinner at Naxos'' city hall.¡± Stromboli smiled and patted his head. Then he said, ¡°Since Tritodemos went to Sicily personally, what Ladician and the others havemitted would never be insignificant!¡±

    Torus couldn''t say anything as that was what he was worried about the most.

    ¡°Lord Torus, has your residence in Naxos been searched?¡± Stromboli suddenly asked.

    Torus shook his head.

    ¡°Then what is there for you to worry about?¡± Stromboli continued vaguely, ¡°I heard that you and Ladician were at odds, that you even scolded him several times in public about him eating and drinking merrily every day and that he has no ability. Moreover, the statesmen of Naxos that Ladician led do not like associating with you, but now it seems that you have made the right choice¡­¡±

    Stromboli''s words lit up Torus'' eyes.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Thest team to enter is Amendra''s team. Thurii is the centre of the kingdom of Theonia, while Amendra is the beginning of the kingdom. That was Davos'' intention when having these two teams enter first andst.

    The Amendrans were also present in the arena. And since most of the former mercenaries settled in Amendra, Amendra was the primary source of troops for the first legion. Yearster, the citizens of Amendra upied nearly half of the senior officers in Theonia¡¯s legions, making the small city of Amendra a unique city in the kingdom andmonly known as the ¡®City of Officers¡¯. And since the citizens of other parts of the kingdom experience serving under the Amendran officers, the audience apuded and cheered for Amendra''s team sincerely. Its poprity was even higher than that of Thurii''s team.

    Once the more than fifty teams stood in the centre of the field, the eight priests carrying the statues at the forefront sang the hymn of Hades simultaneously, and then the yers and audiences piously joined the singing. And even the yers from foreign cities like Abellinum and Pompeii, who didn''t believe in Hades, were moved and followed the singing.

    After the solemn and majestic singing ended, Davos stepped to the front of the tform and loudly said in a passionate tone, ¡°yers from every part of the kingdom and those from friendly neighbouring cities who have epted our invitation, we wee you to Thurii for the kingdom of Theonia''s Seventh Rugby Champions League!¡±

    After the more than a dozen heralds echoed king Davos'' words to the whole audience, loud cheering broke out on the field and in the stands.

    ¡°The fact that you passed the test of numerous matches and are still standing in Hades Arena today means that you are all the best rugby yers in your city this year! And from today onwards, in Thurii, under the watchful eyes of Hades, you will continue using your great skills, bravery and intelligence to work together with your teammates through every fierce match topete for the title of the best rugby team and the best rugby yer in the Kingdom of Theonia this year! I wish you all excellent results!¡­¡±

    After hearing that, the yers became so excited that they wished they could immediately y.

    Then the drums and salpinx sounded, announcing the official start of the Champions League.

    Followed by the audience''s thunderous cheering as they could no longer wait to watch the match.

    After that, all the teams began to withdraw, with only two remaining on the field as the match between Thurii and Compsa officially began.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the rugby champions league in full swing, unexpected results and outstanding performances showed up in the following days, making the fans enjoy watching them. In contrast, the people who bought ¡®Tyche''s Blessing¡¯ cried bitterly.

 Chapter 619: Trial of Ladician

    Thurii''s narrow victory over Compsa could be attributed to the Daunian War taking away a lot of excellent yers in the first legion. On the other hand, Uzentum''s victory over Rudiae waspletely unexpected. And the invited Abellinum shocked many people by defeating Pyxous while Rhegium, who everyone regarded as a pushover, actually took out Naxos¡­this year''s game situation is really confusing, and even the veteran fans couldn''t understand it.

    While the wonderful matches drew the public¡¯s attention, the Senate held several emergency meetings in the past two days.

    The first was about Ladician and Lasiperatus leading several Sicilian statesmen to protest against the Praetor of Naxos, Milo and the Praetor of Catania, Siprus¡¯ uwful behaviour of disregarding the Theonian Law by sending people to enter their houses and searched their belongings forcibly. Thus they demanded that the Senate immediately send someone to stop their madness and remove them from their positions.

    Their proposal was, however, opposed by the statesmen Stromboli led and some of the statesmen from the former South Italian City-State Alliance led by Lysias(statesman).

    Since Milo had already started his search operation and after getting the hint from Davos, Stromboli no longer needed to keep it secret. Thus he faced the statesmen in the meeting hall and loudly narrated hisst tenure in Naxos, where his men investigated a murder case. Then the ve who voluntarily surrendered confessed another secret after getting interrogated.

    The statesmen, who initially thought the matter about Sicily was strange and were asking around, had suddenly caused amotion.

    On the other hand, Ladician and the others denied it and used Stromboli of framing them.

    While the two sides argued endlessly, the other side felt that these Sicilian statesmen were somewhat panicking.

    In the end, the meeting ended without any results.

    After the meeting, Ladician, Lasiperatus and the others tried to exin to Davos in person. However, Davos refused to meet them, saying he was already exhausted and needed a rest.

    Ladician then went to ask his son-inw for help.

    But Antonios, who was ¡®sick¡¯ and was idling at his home, heard about what had happened in Sicily and remembered King Davos'' reminder back then. Thus despite his wife''s pleas, he finally hardened his heart and didn''t open the door.

    Without any other choice, Ladician and the others went to ask for help from the other statesmen with who they had good rtionships.

    Yet these statesmen aren''t fooled. Back then, they made friends with the Sicilian statesmen such as Ladician for their interests or to request something for Antonios through Ladician. But now that they could see that Milo and Siprus are having a massive search that even the Supreme Judge Tritodemos had rushed over, who would believe they would do that without the instructions of King Davos? Thus these people had naturally shunned Ladician and the others.

    The previously proud Ladician lost his desire to scold these people''s ruthlessness as he felt a strong sense of unease. He then sent his trusted subordinate to invite awyer who was well versed in thew. But after learning that his past actions would make him the second Pollux, Ladician could no longer sleep all night.

    On the following day, the Senate meeting continued, and the Sicilian statesmen were no longer in good spirits, and the subsequent two reports from Sicily made them feel even colder.

    In their respective reports, Milo and Siprus state about finding a lot of evidence in the residence of Ladician, Lasiperatus¡­and other statesmen in Sicily that Archonis, the chieftain of the Tanikian tribe of the Sikelo, had bribed them to speak for the Tanikian tribe in the Senate. At the same time, many ves testified that these statesmen had a lot ofnd in the Tanikian territory, which was farmed and harvested by their Sikeloi ves and then transported one after another through the Sikeloi mountains¡­

    The statesmen were shaken after they read the report.

    Then some statesmen suddenly said, ¡®We thought Ladician and Lasiperatus were quite rich as we often see them held banquets, so that''s where their moneyes from!¡¯

    Ladician and the others immediately shouted that they were wronged and that Milo and Siprus were framing them.

    Yet even after saying all of that, the Senate still passed the proposal of ¡°temporary barring the several statesmen, such as Ladician, Lasiperatus and Ikadas, and would hold a trial after Tritodemos escorted the evidence back to Thurii.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Your majesty, Lord Antonios couldn''t endure his wife''s pleading as he sent someone to mediate for Ladician. However, he didn''te to you and instead sent someone to Lord Cornelius. But Lord Cornelius didn''t ept his request. On the contrary, he rmended Lord Kunegta.¡± the court herald Aristias reported to King Davos, ¡°The report states that Kunegta didn''t refuse and allowed Antonios'' trusted ve to enter his house. And not long after, the ve received a letter, left the house, and went directly to the Akademia of Theonia¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems that Antonios is really muddled! I already told him to stay still at his home, but he didn''t listen and instead went to disturb Kunegta, who was recuperating at his home!¡± Said Davos looking angry. Then he asked with slight curiosity, ¡°Why did Kunegta have him go to the Akademia? Could it be that¡­to look for Lysias(Orator)?¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, it is precisely to ask Lysias to act as Ladician''s defencewyer.¡± Said Aristias.

    Davos'' eyebrows rose slightly, ¡°Did Lysias agree?¡±

    ¡°He should have. The report states that Antonios'' ve was excited aftering out of the Akademia.¡±

    Davos tapped his chair''s armrest with his finger and said, ¡°¡­it''s good that Lysias would defend him in court. This should be Lysias'' first time as a courtwyer, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty. I heard that he had passed the court''s examination and was qualified as awyer for several years but has never appeared in court.¡± Said Aristias.

    ¡°Great, we can take this time to watch the wonderful performance of Lysias, who was called the best rhetorician and orator in the kingdom. Anyway, the more they debate the truth, the clearer it bes. And Theonia will not arbitrarily punish and suppress statesmen and officials; we will do everything ording to thew. However¡­Lysias will find it quite difficult if he wants to absolve Ladician and the otherspletely.¡±

    After hearing this, Aristias quickly observed Davos'' expression and saw that he looked rxed as if he didn''t care much about it.

    It is natural for Davos not to care too much about it as he had already achieved his purpose. After all, it is impossible for Ladician and the other Sicilian statesmen, who had epted bribes and sold the kingdom''s interest, to absolve them of their crime. And whether they stayed in prison for more years or fewer doesn''t mean much to Davos. Instead, this event allowed Davos to purge the Sicilian group in the Senate and rectify the officials of the various ces in Sicily. Furthermore, they also got the opportunity to step into the territory of the Sikeloi.

    Davos then looked at Aristias, which made Aristias quickly lower his head.

    ¡°Has Garni, the chieftain of Abellinum, arrived?¡± Davos asked, changing the subject.

    ¡°He is on the way.¡±

    ¡°I wonder what bad news this Samnite brought me again?¡± Davos said that, but his expression remained rxed.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After getting led by the ve, Lysias entered Kunegta''s bedroom.

    Kunegta, a man of great influence in Magna Graecia in the past and the most important statesman of the kingdom of Theonia, was lying on the bed with a flushed face and barely breathing as if he was on death''s door.

    Lysias sat gently on the chair beside him as if a loud sound would aggravate Kunegta''s illness.

    Kunegta looked at him with a pair of cloudy eyes as he weakly said, ¡°I was just thinking¡­cough¡­whether you woulde here.¡±

    ¡°How is your health?¡± Lysias asked with concern.

    ¡°I won''t die for a while¡­¡± Kunogta, with a rather calm expression, slowly ced his left hand on his chest and said in a dull tone, ¡°Herpus¡­came to see me many times¡­and said that I was suffering from the¡­trauma caused by the incident that happened more than ten years ago(referring to his expulsion by the former Thurii)¡­cough¡­to the point where my body won''t function properly¡­cough.¡±

    ¡°Then rest well and don''t talk too much.¡± Lysias felt ufortable hearing his constant coughing, so he stood up and said, ¡°I''ll head back first ande see youter.¡±

    ¡°I am afraid¡­you might no longer see me next time.¡± Kunegta barely smiled and asked, ¡°You¡­.cough¡­came to ask me¡­why you should¡­defend them?¡±

    Lysias looked at hiscklustre face and nodded sadly.

    ¡°Lysias¡­I know very well about your capability¡­unfortunately, as soon as you came back¡­cough¡­you entered the Akademia¡­so except for the students¡­who knew about your talent¡­many of the people of the kingdom¡­don''t even know¡­that the hymn for every celebration¡­cough¡­were written by you¡­so it''s now the time to show your talent to the citizens¡­to the statesmen¡­to his majesty¡­¡±

    Kunogta''s words caused Lysias'' heart to pound. After calming down, he couldn''t help but ask, ¡°Just for me?¡±

    ¡°It''s more than that¡­cough cough¡­¡± Kunegta coughed violently, making the ve girl at his bedside hurriedly help him sit up, pat him on the back and then ce a clean cloth towards his mouth.

    Lysias was inwardly shocked when he saw blood covering Kunegta''s thick phlegm on the cloth towel.

    Kunegta''s pained face seemed to ease considerably after spitting out the phlegm. He then leaned back against the bed and said weakly, ¡°Although Ladician and the others have made mistakes¡­I hope they won''t get punished too severely¡­because the kingdom''s rule in Sicily isn''t yet firm¡­I hope it won''t cause the Sicilians to revolt¡­and cause unrest¡­and¡­¡±

 Chapter 620: Meeting with Garni

    Kunogta waved his hand to let the female ve out. Afterwards, he looked at Lysias and said seriously, ¡°The Senate is the most important organisation of the kingdom that checks the king''s power, so if the statesmen of the Senate kept¡­cough¡­who would dare oppose his majesty''s proposal¡­cough¡­¡±

    ¡°I understand, and I will do my best, so stop talking and take a good rest!¡± Lysias promised.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Theonia''s royal pce is below the hill, located at the intersection of the Crati river and Cosceli river, while above was the residence of King Davos.

    Less than 300 metres to the east of the royal pce was the Grand Senate Hall. And even though the royal pce isn''t as grand as the Grand Senate Hall, it has its unique charm.

    The two-storey, square-shaped royal pce faces the east with the hill on its rear and the river on its side. Although they usedrge, regr square-shaped stones to make the walls, their surface was rtively t without huge gaps because they poured ¡®Davos'' cement¡¯ on them. At the same time, they reinforced the inside of the square stones with ¡®H¡¯-shape fixtures to make them firmer.

    Under the outer eaves around the wall were dozens of simple and practical Dorian stone pirs that a person could barely hold. In contrast, the section of eaves that extends outward from the centre of the wall facing east was supported by eight Ionian stone pirs. Then they added a triangr roof to its eaves, and in the centre was a sculpted golden disc with the symbol of the Theonian kingdom ¨C a crown made of a pomegranate branch on a bident.

    With the entire pce''s foundation being more than one metre high, there were twenty sets of steps in front of the Ionian stone pirs. Then in front of the stone stairs was a small altar-like circr tform made of white marble. And in its centre stood a towering gpole with the g of Theonia fluttering at the top.

    Standing straight under the gpole were two heavily armed pce guards. And every morning, fifty pce guards in a neat phnx formation would march from the pce to the gpole to raise the g with exquisite posture and then lower the g at dusk with the same formation and posture. This unique and solemn ceremony had surprisingly attracted many people of Theonia and even foreigners to stop and watch every day.

    When Garni came to Thurii, they still hadn¡¯t built the pce yet. This time, Garni was standing in front of the pce as the king summoned him, which best reflects the architectural skills of the kingdom of Theonia. Garni marvelled at the ingenious workmanship of the Theonians as he stared at the towering and thick walls. In addition, its solemn appearance, simr to the temple, made him restrain his thoughts and breath. And once he stepped onto the white stairs, he could see the coat of arms of the kingdom of Theonia hanging high above the lintel, emitting a dazzling golden light and an invisible pressure making him feel his insignificance and awe.

    After walking up the stairs, he saw a group of pce guards guarding the pce''s entrance just behind the eight Ionian pirs. Only after they carefully checked the order carried by the guide who brought him here was he allowed inside.

    Closely arranged smooth polished pebbles adorned the pce¡¯s floor; its base colour was ck, with white as the design¡¯s primary colour, while other colours supplemented it. And the floor¡¯s designs were mostly exquisite geometric patterns, such as flowers and nts, waves, squid¡­this made Garni feel novel that if it weren''t for the need to meet Davos hurriedly, he would like to linger here for a while longer.

    ¡°His majesty also nned to have murals painted on the walls and ce sculptures on both sides of the walkway. However, we couldn''t find good painters and sculptors, so that wasn''t implemented for now.¡± Said the guide proudly after guessing what Garni was thinking.

    Garni quickly took back his gaze and nodded as if he didn''t care.

    After arriving outside the king''s office on the pce''s second floor, the guide went in to inform the king. Then after entering inside, Garni saw the one who controlled the kingdom of Theonia striding out to greet him and saying loudly with a smile, ¡°Garni, the warrior of Samnite and the chieftain of Abellinum, I wee you to Thurii again!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, King Davos!¡± Garni hurriedly bowed his head respectfully.

    ¡°Come in! Come in!¡± Davos warmly beckoned him into the office and told the guide, ¡°Go to the kitchen and prepare some drinks to be immediately delivered!¡±

    Davos then asked Garni to sit down on the chair near therge desk. But instead of sitting behind the desk, Davos sat down on another chair, just opposite of Garni, to show his respect for the weak Abellinum.

    That small detail touched Garni so much that he turned his head unnaturally and looked behind the desk. On both sides of the desk, he could see two scribes busily copying documents. Then he was attracted to the ck and white mosaic murals on the wall, which seemed to be the map of Italia.

    ¡°It''s been seven years since Ist saw you.¡± Said Davos.

    Garni looked at Davos and hurriedly replied, ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡±

    ¡°That time, the pce wasn''t yet built!¡± Davos smiled and sighed as if he was talking to a friend, ¡°How time flies, and just like that, seven years passed in a sh! Still, I didn''t expect you to send a team this year, so I was delighted to receive Kesima¡¯s letter! I was even happier that your team did well at the tournament, to my surprise and the public. I guess many fans would remember Abellinum from now on¡­¡±

    Garni modestly said, ¡°Your majesty, that was just luck. After all, we just lost the second match against Vergae.¡±

    Seeing the regret in Garni''s heart, Davos smiled and said, ¡°Yeah, your performance made many fans misjudge and protest to the city hall that you and Pyxous were ying a fixed match.¡±

    Garni smiled bitterly and tried to exin.

    But Davos continued, ¡°I watched both of your matches, in fact¡­Pyxous lost to you because they underestimated you and were unfamiliar with your y style. More than ten years had passed since Hades¡­enlightened me about rugby and taught it to the people, but due to the frequent matches and training, the sports of rugby developed rapidly. And as far as I know, many strong teams now have dozens of offensive tactics alone, giving the position of the yers on the field bing more and more divided so much so that the game is no longer just a contest of strength and speed, but relies more on intelligence and tactical execution. So when you yed against Vergae, theirplex tactics clearly inhibited your y, which is why you lose quickly¡­¡±

    Davos seriously analysed their cause of defeat and finally said, ¡°It''s no longer enough just to practice hard on your own. Instead, you should y more matches,pete with others and learn from each other, so I suggest¡­Abellinum team should participate in Lucania''s regional tournament every year, but Thurii will naturally continue inviting you to the Champions League!¡±

    ¡°Erm¡­¡± Garni hesitated.

    ¡°What is it? Do you have any difficulties?¡± Davos asked.

    Garni said, ¡°Thank you for your concern, your majesty! After I return, I will discuss this proposal with the others.¡±

    ¡°If you have any difficulties in participating in thepetition, just tell Kesima, and he will try his best to help you solve it.¡± Davos said seriously.

    Garni repeatedly nodded.

    The two talked for a while about rugby, football and even the Heracles-inspired game, which was created to pay homage to Heracles.

    Garni became excited, so he said, ¡°Your majesty, I''vee to Thurii this time: Besides watching my team''s performance, I have another thing I wish to tell you-¡±

    ¡°Oh, what''s the matter?¡± Davos still had a smile on his face.

    ¡°Back when the kingdom of Theonia signed an agreement with our Hirpini tribe and formed an alliance, besides the ¡®mutual non-aggression, one side must assist when encountering an enemy¡­¡¯, the alliance also required that ¡®we must not restrict the flow of people on both sides, we should strengthen trade, the exchange of beliefs and we must not restrict the employment of people¡­¡¯

    But in fact, only Abellinum obeyed while the towns and tribes headed by Beneventum, such as Aequum, Tuticum, Akranam, Aquilonia¡­and so on, only obeyed on the surface but were secretly forbidding the people to contact your Theonia. Otherwise, the priests in the tribe would severely punish them. Now that nine years had passed since the signing of the agreement, your majesty, you must admit that besides the territory of Abellinum, the Theonians had difficulty setting foot in the other Samnite areas.

    On the contrary, our, Abellinum''s, goodwill towards Theonia has caused the great chieftain Lesguk and the other chieftain dissatisfaction, and I believe that your majesty knows this too. And as the end of our agreement approaches*, Lesguk, together with other tribes, suppressed Abellinum even more. And regardless of the Samnites'' tradition, they forcibly divided our grazing areas, and once our people and livestock crossed the line, they would detain them!¡­¡± (Although Theonia won the war, the three major Samnite tribes weren''t willing to be a vassal of Theonia and were rtively resistant. But in the end, they reached apromise and set the duration of the alliance agreement to ten years which they could renew once it expired.)

    Garni clenched his fists and said in a tone filled with hatred, ¡°Lesguk also contacted the other tribe''s chieftain as well as the high priests to obtain the authority to hold a ritual celebrating Savoni in Beneventum early next spring, and ording to tradition, all Samnite''s chieftain must go to Beneventum to participate in the ceremony. However, someone secretly told me that Lesguk wanted to use this ceremony for the entire Samnite tribe to have the Samnites'' high priests condemn me for the great sin of ¡®sphemy¡¯ for allowing the priests of Hades to preach in my territory. Then he would impose a divine punishment on me (that is, having his limbs cut off, leaving his body on the top of the mountain where the sacrifice was held and letting the wild wolves bite him to death)¡­ But if I didn''t attend, he would condemn me with two major crimes of ¡®contempt of tradition and sphemy¡¯. So not only will I be executed, but the people of Abellinum who supported me will also receive severe punishment!

    Your majesty, I, Garni, have only acted following the agreement and remained friendly with your Theonia. But I didn''t expect that my kinsmen would hate and frame me, so your majesty, I hope for your support, for me! For Abellinum! For our fair treatment!¡±

 Chapter 621: Advice for Abellinum

    Davos didn''t hesitate to nod when faced with Garni''s expectant gaze. He then said in a firm tone, ¡°For allies who are truly friendly with our Theonia, Theonia will never let them suffer grievance! Garni, you can rest assured as I will send an envoy to Beneventum to show my support for you and dere that any tribes that want to act against you will be the enemy of Theonia! We will also condemn Hirpini, Caudini, and Pentri for their veiled resistance to our agreement over the past few years!¡± Said Davos, then he signalled the scribe to record the matter.

    Garni was so thrilled that he thanked him repeatedly. Atst, he could put down the stone in his heart.

    But Davos then said, ¡°What I am worried about now is that the Hirpini tribal coalition knew that your Abellinum has a good rtionship with Theonia, yet they would still hold the ceremony against you. So if he wasn''t worried about making Theonia dissatisfied, does it mean that Lesguk doesn''t have any intention to renew the agreement?¡±

    Garni''s mind shook as what Davos said was the thing he was most worried about. However, he convinced himself that this was Lesguk''s strategy to test Theonia through Abellinum''s affair to gain the initiative and make some modifications to the agreement. After all, Theonia''s strength is known to all, and any power would have to measure their own weight if they could withstand Theonia''s wrath before trying to offend them.

    Davos smiled and said, after seeing Garni''s nervous look, ¡°In fact, whether Hirpini was willing to renew the agreement or not has no impact or loss to us in Theonia, but for the Samnites-¡± Davos revealed apassionate appearance and sighed, ¡°You have a long tradition of loving to live in the mountains, but living in the mountains have difficulties, like having not enough arablend to grow food. And even though animal husbandry is feasible, you must watch out for the wild animals and pray that the winter isn''t too cold. Otherwise, your livestock will have a hard time surviving, just like the previous two years when the winter in the mountain is much colder than that in coastal areas. As for hunting, it isn''t enough to feed many people. That''s also why your father joined the other Samnite tribes tounch an attack on Potentia ten years ago, not only because of the incitement of the Syracusans but also your need to obtain morend to feed your growing poption to survive¡­¡±

    Davos'' words caused Garni''s heart to ache as ten years ago, he was still just a brave warrior, fighting under his father, Berani''s protection¡­

    ¡°But war isn''t the only way for the Samnite tribes to survive, as you could also strengthen friendly trade rtions with other forces, which not only can let you gain more food but also do not have to worry about losing the war and sacrificing your people. You, Abellinum, are the best example; as far as I know, your life now is much better than other Hirpini tribes. Even the children born and survived in these years are also more than other tribes, so at this rate, after another ten years, Abellinum will once again be thergest town among the Hirpini tribes!¡­¡±

    Garni''s heart surged as what Davos said was exactly what he thought. After all, regaining the position as the great chieftain of Hirpini, who once belonged to Abellinum, was his important goal.

    ¡°And the most important conditions for a tribe''s survival and growth are adequate food and good medical skills!¡± Davos said in a serious tone, ¡°Back then, those forces around the Samnites like Campania and Lucania were afraid and unwilling to have contact with you, so you had to rely on plundering to solve your problem of survival. Yet now, even though we are the only force willing to make friendly exchanges with the Samnites, the Samnites reject our good intentions and even say something like sphemy against the gods? ! The priests of Hades stayed in Abellinum for many years. Yet despite the hardship of life in the mountains, they still helped so many sick Samnites withoutpensation! How many Samnites in need were helped?! To you, Hades is a foreign god, but so what?! All major Greek deities were once foreign deities, but through long-term contact with Egypt, Persia and other nearby forces, they finally became our Greek deities. Now, some Campanians are even worshipping your god, Savoni, to protect their livestock. Furthermore, the things Hades is in charge of don''t conflict with those of your Samnite gods, as you don''t have a god presiding over death and the underworld! So why can''t you try epting Hades?!¡­¡±

    Davos'' sincere words caused Garni''s restless heart to ease. After all, he was conflicted in taking the initiative to contact Theonia, even though the situation forced him. But after listening to Davos'' words at this moment, he benefitted a lot, so he felt guilty and wanted to exin.

    But Davos waved his hand and said, ¡°We won''t force the other Samnite tribes to ept Theonia''s kindness if they aren''t willing, but I am worried about Abellinum!¡±

    Garni was startled, and soon, his eyes widened, ¡°Your majesty, do you mean that Lesguk would wage war against Abellinum?!¡±

    ¡°Once Hirpini doesn''t renew its agreement with Theonia, they would likely retaliate against Abellinum, who disobeyed the overall decision of the tribe. And I don''t need to say more about your conflict with Lesguk.¡± Davos looked at him and continued, ¡°Once that timees, and we show our support, it may cause a second war between the kingdom and the Samnite! But a war with Samnite isn''t what we want, so the Senate might find it difficult deciding whether to support you!¡±

    Garni was anxious hearing that, ¡°Would Theonia just let Lesguk lead an army to attack my Abellinum? Don''t forget that our friendliness with Theonia caused the other Hirpini tribe to abandon Abellinum!¡±

    Davos remained calm while ignoring the agitated Garni. Then he slowly said, ¡°This is just a guess on our part. Hirpini¡¯s tribal coalition led by Beneventum might also be unwilling to risk losing Theonia as an ally and choose to renew the agreement. But in any case, for your Abellinum, the danger will still be there. However, there is a way¡­to make Abellinumpletely safe-¡± Davos said until there and stopped talking.

    Garni immediately asked, ¡°What can we do?¡±

    Davos didn''t answer directly but calmly asked, ¡°You people of Abellinum should have a lot of contact with Potentia. What do you think is the difference between the current Potentia and the Potentia ten years ago?¡±

    ¡®What''s the difference?¡­¡¯ Garni''s past impression of Potentia shed through his mind: One of the biggest differences would be their attitude towards the Samnites. In the past, the Potentians feared the Samnites, but now they not only did not fear them but also took the initiative to contact the Samnites, just like the Potentian Genta they met whening here who wanted to trade with Abellinum. In the past, Potentia was as poor and backward as Samnite, and the tribes would rarely interact with each other if there were no significant events. But they saw a vibrant town with temporary fairs and permanent small markets between the many tribal settlements after passing through Potentia some time ago. The reason for that was Theonia''s help in building some roads, which made the interaction between the Potentian tribes quick and easy¡­

    Garni was silent for some time. Then with a hint of vignce on his face, he said in a hesitant tone, ¡°Your majesty, you want Abellinum¡­to be a free city of Theonia¡­¡±

    ¡°Once Abellinum bes a free city, there won''t be any change besides belonging to Theonia in name while getting many benefits, just like Potentia.¡±

    While Davos easily said those tempting words, Garni remained silent.

    ¡°Of course, that is just one of my suggestions.¡± Davos smiled and didn''t continue to urge him, ¡°You can go back and think about it. In fact, it isn''t only Abellinum who has encountered such problems, but also Laconia. And we gave them the same suggestions.¡±

    ¡®Laconia¡¯ Garni felt the name was quite familiar. After thinking about it, it seemed that it was a town in Caudini, which was located in the mountain area north of Irna¡­

    Garni was surprised, but his mood rxed a little, ¡®It seemed Abellinum wasn''t the only one facing the dilemma of fighting against the Samnite''s tradition¡­¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In Theonia''s territory in Sicily, although the Ministry of Military only had one legion here (the Eighth Legion), there were two military camps: One in Tauromenium, which generally served more as a fortress, as it could not amodate too many soldiers. The other was on the northern edge of the Catanian in between the cities of Catania and Sikuri, and it was the main camp of the Eighth Legion.

    Currently, the Eighth Legion''s camp was so crowded, unlike the deserted ce it was in the past.

    Gdemus led a convoy into the military camp. And even though the soldiersing and going out of the soldier''s barracks of simr size and style on both sides of the road, it still didn''t affect Gdemus'' travel to where he wanted to go. After all, the Ministry of Military transferred his affiliation to the Eighth Legion before getting transferred to Naxos. Thus he came to this military camp many times to train and could be said to be familiar with the ce even though he was only a reserve.

    While walking on the slightly busy road, Gdemus seemed to hear someone calling his name. After looking around, he saw a familiar figure.

    Theokases rushed to him smilingly, ¡°Thank the goddess of luck for letting me meet you here.¡±

    ¡°If it weren''t for you, I wouldn''t have brought the newly harvested grains here,¡± Gdemusined.

    ¡°What does it have to do with me?¡± Theokases looked at the long convoy.

 Chapter 622: Leotychides and Siprus

    ¡°The Ministry of Finance sent a letter ordering us to transport the grain paid by the Naxosian asnd tax to Catania. Although they said it is to rece the old grains in the granaries, why do we have to give even the newly harvested grain to the military camp?! Besides, Catania also has a granary and is only five kilometres away. Furthermore, you obtained the evidence of Ladician''s collusion with the Sikeloi, so we would surely use force against the Sikeloi!¡±

    Gdemus'' words surprised Theokases, so he asked with a slightly unpleasant expression, ¡°How did you know about that? The Eighth Legion called the citizens into the camp by announcing that they would just carry out military training ahead of schedule!¡±

    ¡°I was the first to learn about this incident, and your search in Ladician''s residence in Naxos caused so manymotions that some rumours spread out early. Besides, the number of people here-¡± Gdemus pointed to the surrounding people, ¡°Are far more than the number of men during a single military training and more like an assembly of soldiers for an entire legion. And since I studied mathematics, I am quite sensitive to this.¡±

    Theokases warned him. ¡°Thurii''s trial of these Sicilian statesmen hasn''t yet started, but the Senate should be furious at those Sikeloi who bribed and exploited the statesmen. But since the Senate hadn¡¯t yet officially dered war, you better keep it a secret!¡±

    Gdemus nodded understandingly, then asked curiously, ¡°Which brigade would you serve in?¡±

    Theokases suddenly became a bit embarrassed. But under the questioning of Gdemus, he hesitantly put down his hand covering his left chest. Then Gdemus saw a scale symbol on the left chest of his linen armour.

    ¡°You are the military judge!¡± Gdemus said in surprise.

    Suddenly, the soldiers around them stopped and looked at them.

    ¡°Damn you, Gdemus!¡± Theokases cursed in a low voice, ¡°Do you want the soldiers to hate me?!¡±

    ¡°Since a military judge is to frighten the soldiers, this position does suit you well.¡± Gdemus shrugged his shoulder and added, ¡°The constable of Naxos is really suited to be the military judge of the Eighth Legion!¡±

    ¡°No, it doesn''t fit at all! I used to be the centurion of the first centuria of the first legion!¡± Theokases said in exasperation.

    ¡°How did you be a military judge in Sicily?¡± Gdemus also had some doubts.

    ¡°It must be those old men from the Ministry of Military!¡± Theokases gnashed his teeth and said, ¡°So I''ll go find the legatus in his tent and ask him to give me back my former position!¡±

    ¡°Look for¡­legatus Prosous?! He isn''t easy to talk with!¡± Gdemus reminded.

    Thinking of the strictness of legatus Prosous, Theokases also felt a headache. Still, he firmly said, ¡°I must still try no matter what!¡±

    ¡°Don''t be too disappointed if legatus Prosous doesn''t agree.¡± Gdemus held back hisughter and tried to reassure him in a serious tone, ¡°Your position as the military judge is quite suitable for you.¡±

    ¡°You''d better pray that I could convince legatus Prosous. Otherwise-¡± Theokases straightened his chest and, with a smirk on his face, threatened in a low voice, ¡°I will stop the convoy and search these grains to see if there are any illegal things hidden!¡±

    ¡°You truly fit to be a military judge!¡± Gdemus smiled without showing weakness.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The ¡®main tent¡¯ that Theokases said isn''t a tent but a masonry structure ¨C The legion''s headquarters.

    Leotychides, the legatus of the Eighth Legion, was staring fixedly at the Sicilian map hanging on the wall.

    Suddenly, the legion''s adjutant hurried to the quarter but didn''t go inside. Instead, he asked the guard next to him, ¡°How is the situation inside?¡±

    The guard immediatelyined, ¡°He is just sitting there motionless for most of the day. He didn''t even eat the morning breakfast I have heated twice.¡±

    The adjutant patted him on the shoulder and then entered quietly.

    After coughing twice, Leotychides still didn''t respond.

    He then called out softly, but Leotychides still didn''t respond.

    Thus he had to shout, ¡°Legatus!¡±

    Only then did Leotychides turn around, look at him and say coldly, ¡°Sthephilos*, what''s the matter?¡± (Note: Adopted son of Amintas.)

    Sthephilos felt Leotychides slight anger, so he hurriedly said, ¡°I have invited Lord Siprus as you requested, milord.¡±

    Leotychides'' expression eased a bit, ¡°Let him in.¡±

    ¡°Lord legatus!¡± Sthephilos politely reminded, ¡°Lord Siprus is his majesty''s trusted Theonian statesman and the praetor of Catania; we can''t be too discourteous!¡± Sthephilos added, ¡®You are just a new legatus who isn''t even a statesman, so you should at least go out and greet him to show your respect when hees to your camp to meet you.¡¯

    But Leotychides unexpectedly just looked at him with a cold gaze, ¡°I want to discuss important kingdom matters with Lord Siprus. Greeting him would just make too much noise that will only attract the attention of the Sikeloi.¡±

    ¡°Legatus Prosous is right!¡± Laughter rang out at the entrance, ¡°So I came here quietly.¡±

    ¡°Lord Siprus!¡± Sthephilos hurried forward.

    Siprus smiled and nodded at him. He then entered the room as if he didn''t care about Leotychides'' discourtesy to him.

    Leotychides also stood up and nodded to Siprus.

    ¡°Kindly tell us whatever outstanding decision you havee to, Lord Prosous.¡± After spending a few years with Leotychides in Catania, Siprus learned about the character of this top official of Sicily''s military even though they didn''t have much contact. After speaking those words, he pulled a chair to sit down.

    Leotychides wasn''t polite either. He walked to the map on the wall and said, ¡°I decided to lead the Eighth Legion to the west tomorrow, bypass Mount Etna and upy Agyrium.¡±

    Hearing that, Sthephilos became surprised.

    But Siprus remained calm as he asked softly, ¡°Why so urgent? You should know the Senate hasn''t yet passed the resolution to dere war on the Tanikian. Moreover, Agyrium is a town friendly to our Theonia and allies!¡±

    ¡°I believe Lord Siprus already read the information collected by Seraphinus'' men who went to infiltrate the Sikeloi.¡± Leotychides tapped his hand against the wooden panel on the wall, ¡°Afterpletely taking control of Cozzo Matrice, the westernmost town of the Sikeloi, the Tanikian tribe acquired thend of Enna a few yearster and controlled the two major Sikeloi towns of Henna and Hebita while most of the Sikeloi tribes in Agyrium, Morganitina, and Centuripa are all under the rule of the Tanikian chieftain, Archonis-¡±

    Leotychides stretched his left hand, covered the centre of the Sikeloi and said with a stern expression, ¡°I believe that once his majesty Davos and the Senate saw this information, they would never allow a unified and hostile Sikeloi force to emerge in the west of the Catanian in, the most important territory of Theonia in Sicily. Thus I am certain that the order to have our Eighth Legion wage war against them will be delivered tomorrow or the day after.

    But by then, the Tanikian tribe will be ready to defend. Moreover, it is unfavourable for us to fight in the mountainous part of Sicily against the Sikeloi, who are good at guerri warfare. In the past, they used this tactic to assist Dionysius in giving significant problems to Cartage''smander, Mago. And once the war starts, I am afraid that the Sikeloi would attack our troops even when marching and camping in the mountains, which will make the warst longer and be unfavourable to us, Theonia, because we are also fighting another battle against the Daunians in South Italia!

    From the intelligence of Seraphinus, even the city of Agyrium has some tribes supporting Tanikian, and the situation has be pressing. Thus I deliberately dered that I would conduct military training. However, it was to gather all the soldiers of the Eighth Legion to quickly march to Agyrium while the Tanikian tribe hadn''t yet reacted so as topletely stabilise this important Sikeloi town and, at the same time, deter other Sikeloi tribes from joining forces with the Tanikian. Then-¡±

    Leotychides reached and pointed to a town symbol slightly southwest of Agyrium and said in an aggravated tone, ¡°We would take the weakest defended town of Henna first in order to boost the confidence of those Sikeloi tribes to dare rise against the Tanikian which is bent on unifying Sikeloi¡­¡±

    After hearing this, Sthephilos felt excited. He then looked at Siprus worriedly, ¡®Would the praetor of Catania agree to such a daring n?¡¯ Even though he knew that Leotychides would still carry it out even if Siprus disagreed, the Eighth Legion would undoubtedly encounter great trouble and difficulties!

    Siprusughed, saying, ¡°Everyone said that Prosous isn''t good with words, so it was unexpected that you can impress others once you open your mouth!¡±

    Leotychides didn''t seem to find Siprus'' words funny as he remained expressionless. However, he still understood Siprus'' meaning, ¡°Do you agree?!¡±

    With Leotychides mainly focusing on military affairs, he doesn''t usually get to know these high-level officials in the kingdom of Theonia, nor does he often go around. Otherwise, he would have known that Siprus is a statesman who is flexible, adaptable and daring to break the rules. Apart from being responsible for pushing Terina to fully support Theonia in the South Italian Alliance, he also convinced the people of Terina to make Terina the first Greek city-state(not counting Laos) to voluntarily integrate into the kingdom of Theonia after the South Italian War. Furthermore, he vited the previous agreement between Theonia and Carthage during his term as the praetor of Catania by strengthening ties with these Greek city-states on the south coast of Sicily, such as G, Kamarina, Pauchino and Agrigento, under the banner of friendship with them¡­ He then influenced them, although not allies with Theonia on the surface, to fall to Theonia''s side, which is why these city-states had repeatedly sent delegations to Thurii during Hades'' Day in the past few years.

    ¡°Why should I object to such a good n? Tell me anything else I need to do!¡± Siprus asked earnestly.

 Chapter 623: Legatus and the Young Officers

    ¡°Milord, once you receive the Senate''s order to dere war, I need you to send people to notify the surrounding friendly city-states and Sikeloi tribes.¡± Leotychides wasn''t polite as he bluntly continued, ¡°To urge our allies such as Taunis and Leontinoi to send their armies to join the Eighth Legion in Agyrium. Also, I hope you can help the Eighth Legion logistics officers raise and transport military rations¡­and send yourpetent men to take over the Sikeloi towns we would upy.¡±

    Siprus pondered a bit and said, ¡°I can agree to all of your requests. I would also write a letter to his majesty exining why we are heading out first, and I believe he will understand. In addition, I will also inform Sikuri, Naxos, and especially Lord Milo, who I believe will agree with you to give their strong support from the north side of Mount Etna.¡±

    Beyond Leotychides¡¯ expectations, Siprus didn¡¯t just agree to cooperate but also thought about it more carefully and took the initiative to assume some responsibilities. Leotychides wasn''t good at expressing gratitude, so he said quietly, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, I won''t disturb your preparation for the campaign. May Hades bless the Eighth Legion!¡± Siprus then stood up while Sthephilos sent him out.

    Siprus turned around and said to him in an elderly tone, ¡°This is a great opportunity for you to make merits; just follow legatus Prosous to fight so that you won''t lose to your good friend Patroclus.¡± After saying that, Siprus winked at him.

    From the start, Siprus had a good impression of the Theonian army and even fought alongside the Theonians officers in the South Italian War. And after entering the Senate, Siprus became close with the former mercenaries, such as Kapus, Hielos, Amintas, and Alexius, which is why he was familiar with the adopted son of Amintas.

    Seeing guards escorting Siprus, Sthephilos was startled. After all, Siprus'' words reminded him of his schoolmate and friend, who had served as a senior centurion and led the army to kill the Daunians.

    ¡°Sthephilos!¡± A voice interrupted his thoughts.

    ¡°Theokases!¡± Sthephilos was surprised as he looked at the maning forward with great strides. What''s happening today that he kept meeting acquaintances?

    Sthephilos and Theokases were all orphans of the Amendras back then. Later one became Amintas'' adopted son and the other Drakos'' adopted son, and since the two''s age difference isn''t much, they yed together since childhood and had a good rtionship.

    Sthephilos immediately gave Theokases a firm hug, ¡°Brother, I haven''t seen you for a while. Are you here to see legatus Prosous?¡±

    ¡°Yes, is he inside?¡± Theokases asked in a slightly nervous tone.

    ¡°Aye! His mood should have improved by now.¡± Sthephilos reminded.

    ¡°Thank you, brother!¡± Theokases gratefully patted him on the shoulder. After taking a deep breath, he shouted, ¡°Report, judge Theokases wishes for an audience!¡±

    ¡°e in.¡± Then Leotychides'' majestic voice sounded.

    When Theokases entered the room, Leotychides was still staring at the map.

    ¡°Lord legatus!¡± Theokases gave a military salute.

    ¡°What''s the matter?¡± Leotychides, however, didn''t return the salute.

    ¡°Lord legatus, I was the centurion of the first brigade, but I am now suddenly appointed as a military judge. Why?¡± Theokases asked daringly.

    ¡°¡­that isn''t my order,¡± Leotychides replied.

    ¡°I know. But I hope that lord legatus could restore my position as the centurion of the first centuria since I am not qualified as a military judge. Rather, I am better at leading troops to fight the enemies.¡± Theokases went out of his way to say that with a straight face.

    Hearing this, Leotychides immediately turned around, looked at him and said, ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes, lord legatus!¡± Shouted Theokases.

    Leotychides nodded, ¡°I agree. You can resign as the military judge and go to the first centuria.¡±

    ¡°Huh?!¡± Theokases was about to argue, but Leotychides unexpectedly agreed so readily. Thus he thought he misheard him, so he subconsciously said, ¡°About the military judge¡­¡±

    ¡°That isn''t your concern.¡± Leotychides cut him off, ¡°But if you don''t do well as a centurion, you will be the military judge in the Eighth Legion.¡±

    ¡°You can rest assured, milord!¡± Theokases excitedly saluted, turned around and left. At the same time, he also high-fived Sthephilos at the entrance to celebrate.

    ¡°Sthephilos,¡± Leotychides shouted.

    ¡°Sir!¡±

    Leotychides looked at his young adjutant and said, ¡°I remember you were a centurion of the Second Legion before getting transferred to be the adjutant of the Eighth Legion. How did you do in battle?¡±

    Sthephilos immediately answered confidently, ¡°I have naturally done well. I also led my team to attack the city of Manduria first.¡± If he didn''t beat Ladician''s son so severely to vent his anger at what happened to Giada, his adoptive father, Amintas, wouldn¡¯t have sent him to the Eighth Legion in Sicily to serve as an adjutant to avoid attention while having Leotychides, who is famous for his strictness, discipline him well.

    ¡°Would you like to go down and lead a team to battle?¡± Leotychides spat out a sentence.

    ¡°I¡­can I?!¡± Sthephilos became excited.

    ¡°I only need a herald here, but the fourth centuria of the second brigade urgently needed a centurion. Go and get acquainted with your soldiers.¡± Leotychides waved his hand.

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Sthephilos excitedly saluted and was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something. He hurriedly strode forward and hugged Leotychides, then ran away quickly.

    A smile then appeared on Leotychides'' expressionless face.

    Due to Ladician and other Sicilian statesmen''s ¡°coboration with the enemy¡±, some Sicilian citizens who have close rtions with them are also under investigation, resulting in the vacancy in the Eighth Legion. Although they could supplement the soldiers with reserves, they had trouble with theck of officers. But if there are no appropriate officers to fill the vacancy, it would affect thebat effectiveness of the legion. Yet even with that, Philesius'' private letter stated that Drakos¡¯ only ¡®child¡¯ wouldn''t be sent to fight the enemy. Leotychides, however, felt resistant to it, so when Theokases strongly demanded to return to his former post, he naturally went with the flow.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As Thurii''s Rugby Champions League were in full swing, the Senate, through Davos'' proposal, dered war on the Tanikians for deliberately bribing the Theonian statesmen into breaking Theonia''s Law and viting the agreement by invading the territories of their fellow tribesmen, thus destroying the peace and tranquillity of Sicily. At the same time, the trial of Ladician, Lasiperatus, and other statesmen began.

    Unlike when they held the trial in public to reveal the Syracusans'' ambition and to stabilise the people ten years ago, Davos felt that there was no need to do so this time. Hence they held the trial in the highest court ording to the usual procedure. Still, there was an influx of people who wanted to see the statesmen, such as Ladician, who was called ¡®the second Pollux¡¯, severely punished by thew.

    Just when the attention of the Thurians was on the rugby match and court trial, King Davos, who had the final decision power, quietly came to Kunogta''s residence under the escort of the pce guard.

    ¡°How is his condition?!¡± Davos asked Herpus, who hurried downstairs.

    Herpus sighed dejectedly, ¡°Lord Kunogta caught a cold yesterday even though his lungs were already failing, causing him to cough all night long without stopping, and blood covered his phlegm. And this morning, he passed out and hasn''t yet woken up. He is already¡­¡±

    Davos remained silent for a while. Then, he raised his eyes and looked around. After seeing Sostratus apanying him in the living room, he suddenly realised something was missing, so he asked, ¡°Sostratus, where is your brother?¡±

    ¡°Still in the First Legion,¡± Sostratus replied.

    Davos was stunned. Then he asked doubtingly, ¡°Didn''t the Ministry of Military approve his stay at home to take care of his sick father?¡±

    ¡°That''s because my father thinks he is in good health and doesn''t want others to think my brother is avoiding military service by taking care of him¡­¡± Sostratus said softly.

    Sostratus'' wife, Kelina, who was busy directing the female ves to prepare lunch for the king''s arrival, entered the living room. Upon hearing this, she hurriedlyined, ¡°I think father is muddled, if by any chance¡­he is really dying, the people would criticise Dicaeogta more if he isn''t at home.¡±

    ¡°Don''t speak carelessly!¡± Sostratus hurriedly shouted.

    ¡°Am I wrong?!¡± Kelina''s eyes widened, making Sostratus, who had be a great merchant of Theonia, dare not speak again.

    Davos, however, wasn''t in the mood to watch them, ¡°Kelina is right, Kunogta¡­sigh¡­¡± Davos sighed softly as his mood became heavier. He then walked quickly towards the entrance and whispered something to the captain of the royal guard, Martius, ¡°Immediately rush to the Ministry of Military and tell Hielos that his father-inw is dying, so have him hurry up toe here!¡­ In addition, have him find a way to get Dicaeogta to return from Dauni quickly so that he won''t miss¡­¡±

    As soon as he said those, they heard a rush of footsteps in the courtyard. Then they saw Hielos, his wife and his son hurrying to the main building.

    ¡°Your majesty, do I still need to go to the Ministry of Military?¡± Martius asked.

 Chapter 624: Kunogelatas Last Advice

    ¡°Now that Hielos is here, I am afraid he won''t be able to leave. So you should still go to the Ministry of Military to find Philesius and ask him to have Dicaeogtae back fast.¡± Davos kindly asked Martius to go there instead of Hielos.

    Hielos rushed to the living room, and after saluting Davos, he asked anxiously, ¡°Your majesty, how is my father-inw?!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not so good. He still hasn''t woken up.¡±

    As soon as Davos said those words, Hielos'' wife, which was also Kunogta''s eldest daughter, shed tears. Then her son sensiblyforted her.

    ¡°Touros, be a good boy and help your mother sit down in the living room.¡± Davos kindly said to Hielos'' son, Hielotouros, who he was more familiar with because his age and Eunice''s aren''t much different, so they are ssmates in Thurii''s school. And since they got along well, he woulde to Davos'' residence many times, and even though he was young, his mind was already mature and understanding, which is quite simr to Hielos'' characters. Hence Davos likes this child.

    At this time, Sostratus also rushed out to wee Hielos'' family into the living room.

    Just as he described his father''s illness to his sister and brother-inw, the female ve taking care of Kunogta ran downstairs and cried excitedly, ¡°Woke up! Master¡­master, woke up!¡±

    Everyone stood up and was about to rush up.

    Davos, however, stopped them from acting rashly, ¡°Let Herpus go see your father first!¡±

    After going upstairs for a while, Herpus came down with dejection still lingering on his face. He shook his head at Davos and said to the crowd, ¡°Hades is about to call Lord Kunogta¡­please go up to see him for onest time.¡±

    Sostratus and Kelina''s eyes immediately turned red, and Hielos'' face became downcast while his wife cried loudly and immediately ran upstairs, pulling Hielos with her, who then looked back at Davos, ¡°Your majesty¡­¡±

    ¡°You are Kunogta''s rtive, so you should go up first!¡± Davos said softly, without any ill feeling.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Once Davos entered Kunogta''s bedroom, he still could smell a strong smell of blood even though they had cleaned the room well. And even though the heavy breathing like a blower sound had disappeared, Davos knew this wasn''t a good sign.

    He then saw Kunogta, who was lying quietly on the bed. Butpared to his healthy body half a year ago, Kunogta seemed to shrink and was now just skin and bones.

    Davos gently held Kunogta''s wrinkly hand.

    But suddenly, Kunogta opened his turbid eyes and stared at Davos. Then with radiance in his eyes, his dry and pale lips twitched as he said, ¡°¡­your majesty¡­I''m leaving¡­¡±

    Davos squeezed his hand and said sincerely, ¡°You won''t leave as you will always protect the kingdom in the Temple of Hades!¡±

    With aplicated look in Kunogta''s eyes, he said, ¡°¡­I am a mediocre strategos¡­Thurii''s burning¡­was, in fact, had a lot to do with me¡­I used to think that if you hadn''t appeared¡­there would be no Theonia¡­but without Theonia¡­not to mention Thurii, even the whole of Magna Graecia¡­would be and ravaged by Dionysois¡­and I am afraid that we Thurians will no longer exist¡­hence, I should really thank Hades for sending you to us, Thurians!¡­¡±

    Davos remained silent.

    Kunogta''s breathing began to intensify, ¡°Theonia¡­Theonia has created a¡­a better home for the Thurians¡­a¡­a better home for the Magna Graecians!¡­before it, I never imagined for the Thurians and Crotonians¡­could live in one ce¡­nor that the Greeks could be citizens of the same country as the natives¡­much less imagine for the city-states to strengthen each other by relying on a union¡­that allows it to focus on human and material resources more effectively through centralised management from top to bottom¡­O Hades, why have you called me so early!¡­cough¡­I still want to see Theonia continue to grow¡­more powerful¡­until one day it could eliminate all the wars among Greek city-states in the Mediterranean!¡±

    Kunogta stared nky straight up, with his paleplexion having some rosy colour at this moment that soon dulled. After a few moments, he turned his head and looked at Davos with difficulty, ¡°Your majesty, I''m leaving¡­although Cornelius is diligent, he is too cautious¡­although Lysias thinks carefully and acts calmly, hecks courage¡­although Sedrum is daring, flexible and wise, he isn''t strong-willed enough, and he is also a Bruttian¡­Sesta is too aggressive¡­Hielos, although capable, he values your opinion too much¡­only¡­only Androlis could stabilise the Senate after me¡­and provide greater help to you, your majesty¡­Adrian¡­Nachus¡­Thelis¡­had great capabilities, but they need time¡­still need time¡­cough cough¡­¡±

    Kunogta coughed violently, so Davos tried to have him rest for a while and was about to go out to call Herpus, but Kunogta''s dry right hand pulled him, ¡°Your majesty¡­before I cross the River Styx, let me finish my words¡­¡±

    Davos had no other choice but to sit back.

    ¡°Your majesty, after Syracuse experienced several turmoils¡­their strength greatly weakened, so even though our rtionship isn''t good¡­there is no need to worry about them¡­rather, we should keep our vignce to our ally, Carthage¡­yesterday, I saw the copy of the intelligence report about Sicily from the Senate¡­the Sikeloi tribe called Tanikian¡­cough¡­could develop into such arge force within a few years¡­while hiding it from us¡­is simply impossible to do by a small tribe¡­so I am afraid that the one behind them¡­cough¡­¡±

    Davos was startled as he also had doubts about it.

    ¡°¡­while our kingdom is developing¡­Carthage isn''t remaining idle either¡­they conquered Numidia¡­and upied somends in the Iberian Penins¡­so I am afraid that they have restored their strength¡­a wolf can only have one wolf king¡­so it is impossible for two great powers in the western Mediterranean to be at peace for a long time¡­hence you must always remain alert!¡± Speaking till here, Kunogta tapped Davos'' hand with his right hand. Then, as if he used all his strength, his right hand fell like a fallen leaf on Davos'' hand.

    Davos nodded seriously.

    ¡°¡­across the Adriatic Sea, Greece had never stop their hundreds of years of wars¡­the rtionship between city-states is intricate¡­so your majesty, it is best not to let the kingdom get involved¡­as in the eyes of the Greeks there, we are just a city-state that came from their colonies¡­so not only will we not get their gratitude¡­we will also attract their hatred¡­although Sparta is now running rampant in Greece¡­they are just relying on the support of the Persians¡­and instead of Athens¡­Corinth¡­Thebes¡­Argus¡­hatred of Sparta weakening, it just strengthened¡­so the hegemony of Sparta won''tst long¡­so your majesty doesn''t need to worry about them at all¡­cough¡­and you just need to be careful from attracting trouble¡­¡±

    Davos just listened quietly, and when Kunogta''s voice gradually weakened, he bent down so that he could clearly understand what he was saying.

    ¡°¡­Theonia''s expansion is to the north¡­but you must be patient, your majesty, and don''t be in a hurry!¡­the Campanians are opening up to us¡­although the Samnites are stubborn, didn''t they send a team and envoys to the celebration?¡­as for Rome, which you, your majesty, have mentioned many times¡­the Celts defeated the Etruscans¡­but on the contrary, Rome sessfully upied a lot of Etruscans''nds¡­and although they are the leader of the Latin people¡­their power isn''t stable¡­there is also other force such as Volsci and Hernici¡­who are against them¡­and we just have to watch¡­until¡­the Romans defeats the Celts¡­once Chieftain Brennos lose his prestige¡­the Celtic tribes would once again scatter¡­and they would no longer be a massive threat to ournd¡­although this is just my opinion¡­in this regard, your majesty¡­have always made urate judgments¡­I just hope¡­I hope you won¡¯t me me for talking too much¡­¡±

    ¡°I listened to all of it.¡± Davos looked at him and said seriously.

    But Kunogta didn''t seem to hear what he said as his eyes just stared at the ceiling, and his voice grew weaker as he spoke.

    In the end, Davos had to ce his ear close to Kunogta''s mouth to hear him clearly so that he could even smell the rancid smelling out of Kunogta''s mouth, which he knew was the breath of death.

    ¡°Your majesty, please be patient¡­besides needing to take down Dauni¡­it also takes time to govern¡­Peuceti and Messapi¡­slowly integrate them into Theonia¡­I believe that in the future, Apulia will be the most fertilend in the kingdom.

    There is nothing for me to worry about regarding the internal matters, except the Senate¡­the Senate!¡­your majesty, I asked Lysias to defend Ladician and the others¡­because the Senate is the most crucial body to assist you in governing this kingdom, your majesty¡­it is¡­it is the ce that unites the cities¡­unites the various races¡­the eyes of the people are watching it¡­so if Ladician and the other statesmen''s punishment is too harsh¡­what would the people of Sicily think¡­Messapi¡­cough¡­what would the statesmen of Messapi and Peuceti think¡­ten years ago¡­ten years ago¡­we must not allow for the rebellion of Petaru and the others to repeat¡­

    Your majesty, you are¡­you are loved by the people¡­you are a wise king¡­don''t be¡­Dionysius¡­dictatorship¡­and lose¡­the trust of the people¡­The Senate¡­Senate¡­Se¡­na..te¡­¡±

 Chapter 625: The Trial

    Davos continued to wait, but there was only silence.

    He raised his head and looked at Kunogta, whose eyes were closed and still, with a pang of mncholy.

    He knew that the old man who had worked hard for Theonia''s founding and growth had left¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°¡­teacher Lysias defended by saying, ¡®The Sikeloi are Theonia''s ally, and there is now that prohibits the private dealings of the kingdom''s statesmen with our allies'' envoys. On the contrary, it had be a tradition for our allies and foreign envoys whoe to Thurii every to contact the statesmen to learn about the kingdom and ask them to speak for their own city-state before formally meeting King Davos and the Senate. So why is it that if it was other statesmen, these are just normal interactions, but in Ladician''s case, he became a sinner who betrays the kingdom''s interests?!¡¯

    The public prosecutor Praxileos immediately retorted, ¡®It was Ladician¡¯s privately dealing foreign envoys and epted a huge sum of wealth to speak for the Tanikian tribes'' interests instead of the kingdom every time. They also allowed the Tanikian tribe''s repeated annexation of neighbouring tribes to go unnoticed by the Senate to the point its strength has grown where they could threaten the safety of our fertile Catanian in! If this isn''t treason, then what is it?!¡¯ After saying that, he also brought out quite a lot of evidence of Ladician''s eptance of bribes, as well excerpt of its record of speaking for the Tanikian tribe in the Senate¡­¡±

    ¡°With such conclusive evidence, how did your teacher defend it?¡± Cynthia asked curiously.

    ¡°Teacher calmly said, ¡®There is no suchw of the kingdom that prohibits statesmen from epting gifts from visitors. Although such a situation was no longer as obvious after the Pollux Case, it is by no means umon. Especially in the case of statesmen who serves as praetors, which among the statesmen went empty-handed when assuming their post but came back with two to three fully loaded wagons?! It is also umon for statesmen to develop good opinions, so it is only natural for them to speak up for them in the Senate. And if the Senate checks the minutes of its meetings, I believe you will find many such cases, so Ladician''s behaviour isn''t against thew. As for allowing the Tanikian tribe to threaten our territory''s safety, this isn''t something that we should me Ladician. After all, it is one thing to make a proposal, but the proposal''s final approval still needs the joint decision of the Senate. So why were all the statesmen unaware of the Tanikian''s scheme?¡­¡¯¡±

    ¡°Outstanding defence!¡± Cheiristoya eximed. Then she asked with curiosity, ¡°How did Lysias exin thends Ladician owns in Sikeloi?¡±

    ¡°He said that there was no conclusive evidence for this matter, and it was also possible for the ves to exaggerate the facts to earn credits after seeing their masters'' downfall, which they shouldn¡¯t use as evidence for the judgment,¡± Crotokatax replied.

    ¡°That''s just sophistry.¡± Cheiristoya frowned slightly and said, ¡°The fields are all in Sikeloi, so it''s impossible to go get evidence.¡±

    ¡°Teacher also has no other way. In the face of so much evidence and the court''s audience denouncing Ladician for being a traitor, the teacher can only do whatever he can to turn the situation around.¡±

    Just as Crotokatax defended Lysias, the rear courtyard''s gate was pushed open, and Davos, who was at the gate quietly listening for a while, entered the garden.

    ¡°Father!¡± Crotokatax and Cynthia shouted at the same time.

    ¡°How is Lord Kunogta?¡± Cheiristoya asked with concern as she remembered that Davos had rushed out in the morning after hearing Kunogta''s condition had worsened, and he had fallen into aa.

    ¡°He went to Elysium¡­¡± Davos said sadly.

    The three people who were talking just now fell into silence for a while.

    Cheiristoya then asked, ¡°When is the funeral?¡±

    ¡°In a few days, his family still needed to prepare as it would be a grand funeral. When the timees, we will be there, and so will all the statesmen. And since Kunogta has made massive contributions to Theonia, he would beid down in the Hall of Sages!¡± Davos said deeply, and his words could be regarded as Kunogta''s conclusion.

    Cheiristoya immediately understood her husband''s intention, ¡°Sister Agnes and I would take the children to prepare properly.¡±

    Davos nodded. He then looked at his son and asked, ¡°Did you go to the court today?¡±

    ¡°Yes, father.¡±

    ¡°What was the result?¡±

    ¡°The jury concluded that Ladician, Lasiperatus and other statesmen were not guilty of treason but guilty of malfeasance. Supreme Judge Tritodemos sentenced Ladician and Lasiperatus to three years in prison while the others served a year or two sentences, confiscated the proceeds of their bribes and imposed a substantial fine. However, in the end, you, father, will have to make the final decision*.¡± (A power and responsibility given to the king after Theonia Union''s transformation into a kingdom.)

    ¡°Should I call this verdict back and ask for a retrial? Or agree with the verdict?¡± Davos asked while looking at his son.

    Crotokatax knew that his father was testing him, so he immediately calmed down and began thinking. After a while, he replied earnestly, ¡°I think we should agree with this judgment!¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    ¡°Since no one falsely testified or yed favouritism, the trial was conducted fairly and justly. Although the audience was mouring for severe punishment of the traitors before the trial started, they eventually stopped and agreed with the verdict made by the court. Father, I don''t know if this verdict is what you expected, but it is the jury''s final verdict in ordance with Theonia''s legal procedure specified in the Law of Theonia. And to ept this judgment is to respect the sacred Law of Theonia that was drafted under your leadership for more than ten years-¡±

    ¡°Croto, how can you speak to your father in such a tone?¡± Cheiristoya, who was beside him, immediately scolded him in a low voice.

    Davos smiled, ¡°I''m d you have such insight! As a king, you must not do anything as you please since you should also abide by and respect thew. Only when the king sets a good example can citizens not do anything at will, which would guarantee the order of the nation!¡±

    ¡°Understood, father,¡± Crotokatax replied respectfully.

    Cheiristoya looked at her husband and son with a smile. How could she not know that her husband was educating their son to be the future king?

    Cynthia was also happy for her younger brother. Although her own brother is the oldest son of Davos, she never thinks Davos will pass the throne to Adoris. After all, he is only an adopted son, while Croto has the blood of Hades running through his vein.

    ¡°Do you know why I have the final decision?¡± Davos asked again.

    This question made Crotokatax thought for a while but then didn''t speak.

    Davos saw through his thoughts, so he asked, ¡°Son, do you think I covet this right of judgment?¡±

    Crotokatax''splexion changed, and he shook his head.

    Davos smiled and said, ¡°The rules are dead, and people are alive. With people judging criminals, how can it bepletely fair and just?! What''s more, although thew is sacred, it does not fully conform to the morality recognised by the people.¡±

    ¡°Completely conform to the morality recognised by the people?¡±

    Seeing his son seemingly not fully understanding it, Davos exined, ¡°For example, the sentence of the Sicilian statesmen is in ordance with the Laws of Theonia, but the harm and damage they caused to the kingdom far exceeds their years of imprisonment. And since war would soon erupt in Sicily, there would be a lot of fighting and chaos if the measures taken weren''t appropriate. Another example would be the trial of Phragres tomorrow, the son of Ladician, the beast who killed six young girls!¡±

    Once Davos said that, Cheiristoya and Cynthia became angry.

    ¡°If Lysias were to defend him, with his ability, it is likely that this murderer will be exempted from the death penalty because Theonia''sws don''t stipte that the killing of ves and freemen is punishable by death, but is this in line with our conscience? Does it conform to Hades'' will?!¡±

    ¡°Father, this man hasmitted a heinous crime that everyone wants him to go to hell for the three judges to judge him!¡± The always gentle Cynthia interjected at this time.

    Crotokatax hurriedly said, ¡°That''s why teacher Lysias didn''t ept the request to defend that man.¡±

    ¡°If that is the case, Lysias is still wise and calm. Otherwise, his reputation will be terrible even if he seeds in defending him.¡± Davos then said to his son with a serious expression, ¡°See, the Law of Theonia still has defects. On the one hand, we need to improve thew. On the other hand, we need to hold the final decision so that once we find obvious errors in the judgment, we need to request a retrial to get the final result in line with the morality agreed by the majority¡­¡±

    Crotokatax listened and thought for a while. After hesitating, he asked, ¡°Father¡­you just said that ¡®people are alive¡¯, but you have the final decision power¡­so how can you ensure that you have no selfishness?¡±

    That question took Davos aback while Cheiristoya shouted, ¡°Croto!¡±

    Davos waved his hand to stop his wife''s scolding. He then patiently and proudly said, ¡°My son, you are daring to think and brave to question without blindly going along, which made me happy as it means that your study in the Akademia wasn''t in vain! Let me tell you this,pared to the people of the kingdom, I am the least selfish because I am the king, and the whole kingdom is my home, so how can I allow thosewbreakers to destroy my home and steal my wealth?! If I have selfishness, that selfishness is to protect the kingdom''s prosperity and stability, and-¡±

    He looked at his young son and said solemnly, ¡°To preserve the rule of the House of Davos in the kingdom! That''s why we could stand above themon people''s interests in trials and are better able to be fair and just in all kinds of judgments. And the more we remain fair and impartial, the more we will get the support of the kingdom''s people.¡±

 Chapter 626: Macedonias Plea

    After thinking for a while, Crotokatax unconsciously straightened his chest as if he was proud of his mission. But he then asked, ¡°But many of the cases areplex, so how can I ensure I am as fair and just as possible?¡±

    Satisfied with his son''s diligence in asking questions, Davos quickly replied, ¡°Thus, for you to be a wise and firm judge, you need to learn more, think more, experience more and listen more at all times.¡±

    Crotokatax was stimted that he pondered deeply.

    Davos continued to talk and then asked, ¡°I can see that you admire Lysias quite a bit.¡±

    ¡°Yes, father.¡± Crotokatax said happily, ¡°Teacher Lysias has a wealth of knowledge and a wise mind. Besides having deep attainments in rhetoric and debating, his teaching is fun and interesting, which is appealing.¡±

    ¡°Lysias is a famous schr in the whole of Greece and the pride of the Kingdom of Theonia,¡± Davos spoke calmly. He then asked, ¡°What do you think of Kunogta?¡±

    ¡°Lord Kunogta is father''s greatest helper, and everyone said, ¡®The Senate cannot do without him.¡¯ so his departure is a great loss to our kingdom!¡± Crotokatax with a heavy heart.

    ¡°So, when standing in the perspective of governing the kingdom, do you prefer Kunogta or Lysias?¡±

    Davos'' question had once again baffled Crotokatax, who pondered for a moment but didn''t reply.

    ¡°My son, just the fact that you didn''t answer this question ording to your preference shows that you have begun to realise it!¡± Davos nodded in relief and said, ¡°Although Kunogta doesn''t have Lysias'' profound knowledge, nor his fame throughout Greece, he has diligently governed Theonia for more than ten years and has greatly contributed to the kingdom''s prosperity! In Theonia, there were a lot of ordinary civil servants like Kunogta, who quietly contributed to the kingdom''s strength. It is also because of them that the kingdom of Theonia today can create a stage for famous Greek schrs like Lysias to disy their talents so that they can create a more splendid culture for the kingdom, attracting the primitive natives to join us and improving the people''s lives!¡­¡±

    After pondering for a moment, Crotokatax looked at his father and thoughtfully said, ¡°I understand. Lord Kunogta is just as important as teacher Lysias, but citizens like Lord Kunogta are the cornerstone of the kingdom; without them, there would be no kingdom of Theonia!¡±

    ¡°Cornerstone!¡± Davos praised him, ¡°That''s quite a vivid analogy, and it seems you''ve got it. So you should attend the funeral with that in mind!¡±

    ¡°Speaking of which, a debate is indeed a good thing.¡± Davos exhorted, ¡°Not only can it exercise the mind, but it could also make you understand the reason and convince the other side. However, don''t dwell on it so much that you end up as someone who debates for the sake of debating and only argues. You should remember that doing something is better than saying a thousand words!¡±

    ¡°Yes, father,¡± Crotokatax replied with respect.

    ¡°You, father and son, should be both famish after chatting so much.¡± Cheiristoya and Cynthia went to wash a basket of grapes and apples at some point and ce them on the stone table, ¡°Come and eat some fruit!¡±

    ¡°Come, don''t keep your mother waiting, or she will scold us,¡± Davos said jokingly.

    Crotokatax smiled.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the end of the Corinthian War, Sparta made great efforts to submit to Persia. And with Persia''s support, the war ended with the signing of ¡®The King''s Peace¡¯ with the Anti-Spartan League, forcing its two most important enemies, Argos and Thebes, to break up their union while allowing Athens to retain its rule of the northern Aegean inds. With the three major Greek city-states either unable or unwilling to oppose Sparta, Sparta once again became the hegemon of Greece.

    But their approach of regaining their throne by hugging Persia''s thigh naturally did not convince the other city-states. Thus a rumour circted among the popce of many city-states that ¡®Persia is turning Sparta into a Persian Sparta.¡¯

    The Spartans had, of course, heard these rumours. Although Agesus forcefully argued that it was Sparta who was trying to turn Persia into a Spartan Persia, Sparta''s prestige among the Greek city-states had declined significantly, even among their allies.

    Thus to revive their image as the hegemon, Sparta had to act. Hence they targeted the city-state of Mantineia in the Arcadia region of the central Peloponnese, using this formerly dependent ally of disobedience. But if they wished to prove their loyalty, Sparta ordered them to demolish their wall.

    But the Mantineians rejected it; thus, the Spartan king Agesipolis led an army to invade Mantineia. However, they failed to storm the city, so he ordered his warriors to block the river flowing through the city of Mantineia, which eventually flooded Mantineia and destroyed the city.

    Many city-states in Greece were shocked after hearing about such heinous atrocities, which made them remember the horrible bloodshed caused by the Spartans, especially in Peloponnese. Thus there were no longer any city-states that took the initiative to provoke Sparta''s authority.

    Unfortunately, Sparta''s desire wasn''t satisfied by just bing the hegemon of the Peloponnese, as there was always a huge shadow in the hearts of the Spartan kings and elders, and that was the kingdom of Theonia. Although Theonia and Sparta are now allies, both sides knew it wasn''t out of long-term friendship but just for short-term interests. With the kingdom of Theonia''s continued growth, Sparta felt the urgency to unite more native Greek forces just to counteract the rise of this mighty kingdom in the western Mediterranean. Thus they set their eyes on the north of the Peloponnese.

    And it just so happened that a delegate came from the northwest corner of the Aegean sea, among the barbaric mountains, within Sparta''s territory.

    Macedonia was a weak and undevelopednd, far from the core of Greek culture and located in the north of Greece. Bothmon Greeks and renowned schrs looked down on them as they considered Macedonia a country of barbarians. But the Macedonians admired Greeks that their kings not only imed they were descendants of the royal family of Argos*, the Macedonians even regarded the Greeks who settled in Macedonia as honoured guests.¡±(In the Archaic era, numerous Greek city-states united and chose Argos as their allies because of their glorious past. After all, almost all important Greek kings came from Argos, such as King Agamemnon of Mycenae, which is why Argos often imed that they were nobler than Sparta.)

    Unfortunately, the Greek city-states didn¡¯t value the Macedonians'' admiration for Greece, for although its territory was vast and its poption wasrge, it was mostly Illyrians, Dardarians and Thracians that inhabited theirnds, and in the far north, there lived the wandering Celts, and these races were not only fierce but also numerous. And these long years of invasions and raids had not only exhausted the Macedonians but also made their country unable to develop properly.

    In the ninth year of Theonia ¡°384 B.C.¡±, someone from the Macedonian royal family colluded with the Illyrians andunched an even more massive invasion that drove the Macedonian king Amyntas III out of Macedonia. But before fleeing Macedonia, Amyntas had signed an agreement with Macedonia''s southeastern neighbours, the Chalkidian League, entrusting the low-lyingnds and coastal towns of Macedonia to the Chalkidian League, saving these Macedonian towns and cities from getting plundered and gaining the support of the Greeks.

    The Chalkidian League was an alliance of many Greek city-states on the Chalkidian Penins. And their alliance stiptes that: Members arepletely equal, trade with each other and help defend themselves against foreign enemies. But with the joining of some Macedonian cities and towns, the power of the Chalkidian League further strengthened, and Olynthus, a powerful city-state in the centre of the Chalkidian Penins, greatly benefited.

    Then the Olynthians began to yearn to establish arger alliance that included the entire Chalkidian Penins and its surrounding areas. Of course, the Olynthians must dominate this alliance.

    A yearter (that is, the tenth year of the kingdom of Theonia), King Amyntas of Macedonia regained the throne with the help of Thessaly and the Chalkidians. And after stabilising his throne, Amyntas wanted to take back thend he had given, which was rejected by the city-states of the Chalkidian League led by Olynthus.

    Then the Thessalians came to help Amyntas appeal to the Chalkidian. After all, even if Thessaly and Macedonia had border conflicts from time to time, the Thessalians knew quite well that if the strength of their neighbour, which is Macedonia, was too weak to resist the fierce Illyrians, it would also be terrible for Thessaly and the Chalkidian League.

    With the Thessalians'' persuasion, some of the city-states in the Chalkidian League began to waver. Especially the two city-states of Akanthos and Apollonia, as they feared the rapid growth of Olynthus and would thus dominate the entire Chalkidian League in the long run. Therefore they secretly sent someone to Amyntas suggesting that he should ask Sparta to intervene.

    Hence Macedonia''s delegate came to Sparta.

    And in this regard, Sparta''s Gerousia held a meeting to discuss it.

    Because of the painful lessons of the Corinthian War, the Macedonian delegate persuaded the Spartans with little to no effort due to Sparta''s resistance to any form of Greek city-state alliance and union. Sparta even included in ¡®The King''s Peace¡¯ for Argos and Thebes to break up. But now, there is another Chalkidian League.

 Chapter 627: Spartas Debate Over the Treatys Renewal

    The Spartans knew the strategic importance of the Chalkidiki Penins in Northern Greece, nicknamed ¡®Poseidon''s trident¡¯ from its trident-like shape. It¡¯s stuck in the middle of an important route from Greece to the ck Sea. So when the Gerousia heard the messenger say, ¡®Olynthus is actively sending people to contact Thebes and Athens.¡¯, the Gerousia had almost unanimously passed the resolution of ¡®rescuing Macedonia.¡¯

    But they also had another important point, which the kings and the elders of Sparta tacitly understood and didn''t say: That is, they needed Macedonia, an ally in the north, to cooperate with Sparta to squeeze out the space of Thebes and Athens, the two powerful city-states in central Greece. At the same time, Macedonia''s massive source of troops and powerful cavalry was exactly what Sparta needed.

    After deciding to send troops, Agesus stood up and said solemnly, ¡°I think we''d better confirm another crucial matter before sending troops to Chalkidiki.¡±

    When he said that, the elders in the meeting hall¡¯s expressions changed as they all knew what Agesus meant by a crucial matter: The ten-year treaty with Theonia would end in a few months. Hence the Gerousia had been discussing the issue of whether to continue or conclude their treaty with Theonia, which resulted in an intense debate in the past few days.

    On the one hand, the radical elders, led by the young Spartan king, Agesipolis, believed that after the end of the Corinthian War, Sparta no longer needed to worry about Theonia bing a problem after re-emerging as the hegemon of Greece. On the contrary, they should restrain Theonia''s expansion and not let it conquer Apulia, which was only separated from the Peloponnese by the Adriatic Sea. Since they would threaten the security of Sparta''s territory, as they are, after all, a ¡®Greek¡¯ kingdom that disregards Sparta''s authority and even dared threaten Sparta.

    On the other hand, the conservative elders led by Agesus(who are more cautious on issues involving Theonia) believed that: Although Sparta became the hegemon of Greece again, they had relied on ¡®The King''s Peace¡¯ and unlike before the Corinthian War, Sparta had not only weakened, but their prestige had also declined. Hence Thebes, Athens and other city-states may rise to fight Sparta at any time. So beforepletely suppressing and integrating the cities in Greece, they should not provoke this powerful kingdom but also prevent Theonia from interfering with Sparta from exercising the authority they got in ¡®The King''s Peace¡¯ in Greece. Hence they must renew the treaty!

    ¡°King Agesus, our treaty with Theonia won''t end until January next year, so there is no need to hastily decide as we still have a full four months to think this important issue through.¡± Agesipolis'' uncle, Praxitas, calmly said, ¡°After all, this matter is too crucial that concerns Sparta''s development in the following ten years. Thus we must be careful!¡±

    ¡°It is precisely because of its importance that rtes to Sparta''s development in the next ten years and the war we are about tounch that I want us to make a decision as soon as possible!¡± Agesus frankly said.

    ¡°What we are about to wage against the Chalkidian League isn''t a war but just a battle. Once our army sets foot on Chalkidiki Penins, only a crushing defeat awaits the Olynthians.¡± The already 30 years old, Agesipolis said confidently. He had grown up from a young and new king to a king that the Spartan warriors recognised. After experiencing a lot of battles and having even led an army to destroy Mantineia, it allowed him to win a lot of praise. And his youthfulness was particrly conspicuous while standing in the middle of a group of elders in their sixties and seventies.

    Unlike the highly spirited Agesipolis, the already more than fifty years old Agesus, who wasme, with grey hair and a bent back, said calmly, ¡°War is unpredictable. Otherwise, the battle to help our ally, Phocis, ten years ago wouldn''t have unexpectedly turned into a war thatsted for ten years that made us rely on our former enemy, Persia, to end the war that consumed too much of our strength¡­¡±

    Agesus'' words caused the elders to look back on the past and then sigh from time to time.

    ¡°Now, our warriors will leave the Peloponnese to the Chalkidiki Penins, a region north of Greece where we have never fought before. I also heard the situation there is quiteplicated, not only with internal rivalries between city-states, but it also involved the two populous regions, Macedonia and Thessaly. Even Thebes and Athens have rtions with them, so will our intervention trigger a new war? Thus we must stay alert!¡± Agesus'' words made the elders think.

    ¡°Since going to Chalkidiki might produce such terrible results, why did you support it just now, King Agesus?¡± Praxitas sneered at Agesus.

    Unfortunately, Agesus remained unperturbed as he retorted, ¡°I supported the expedition out of Sparta''s interest. If the Chalkidian League continued to grow unchecked, then other Greek city-states would follow its example and ally with each other, which would not only turn our ¡®The King''s Peace¡¯ ineffective but also shake Sparta''s prestige in Greece. Moreover, by enlisting Macedonia and conquering the Greek city-states on Chalkidiki, we would be able to upy the maritime route towards the ck Sea, which would allow us to frighten Athens from opposing Sparta in the future. So to be on the safe side, we must continue our treaty with Theonia before setting out to ensure that Theonia won''t intervene when the war in northern Greece expands.

    And even after conquering Chalkidiki, there are still Argos, Athens, Thebes¡­these city-states that harbour resentment against us. It would also take time for us to return Sparta''s prosperity it had after the Peloponnesian War. Thus, I don''t want¡­ another ¡®Persia situation¡¯ simr to that in the Corinthian War to appear in the western Mediterranean while we strive for great developments in Sparta during this time! And once we renewed our treaty with Theonia, judging from the previous ten years, the Theonians would continue keeping their promises¡­¡±

    ¡°Although we want to renew our treaty, Theonia might not agree to its renewal.¡± Praxitas said coldly.

    ¡°That would be enough to detect if Theonia harbours malice against Sparta, and we can also take precautions in advance.¡± Agesus calmly replied.

    ¡°It''s detrimental to Sparta''s prestige if we take the initiative to go to the colonies to renew the treaty with Theonia! So why don''t we ask Theonia to send someone to Sparta for the treaties'' renewal?!¡± Agesipolis said with reluctance.

    After watching the Spartan king, who was side by side with him, a faint smile appeared on Agesus as he persuaded him in an elderly tone, ¡°We have an old saying that ¡®A splendid garment isn''t as durable as a sturdy, coarse cloth.¡¯ Since we have already taken the initiative to make peace with Persia, the sworn enemy of Greece for decades that caused us to garner criticism, then why should we care about such things when making a trip to Magna Graecia?! Wasn''t we the one who took the initiative to ask for a treaty with Theonia during the Corinthian War?!¡±

    Agesus'' words caused the elders to nod, while Agesipolis could not refute them. Although Agesus had narrowly taken the throne back then and his biggest supporter, Lysander, died in battle just after a few years, the Gerousia hadn''t abandoned him. On the contrary, his influence in Sparta continued growing after more than a decade of management, especially in the Gerousia. And even though these Spartan elders were brave soldiers when they were young, they are now elderly in their sixties and seventies, so most prefer stability than taking risks.

    And since Agesus is a king who prefers tactics over fists and is the first to propose peace with Persia, the Gerousia had mostly agreed on ¡®going to Theonia to immediately discuss the renewal of the treaty¡¯ when voting on this matter.

    Then they quickly selected the delegate responsible for signing the treaty with Theonia, which was Cheirisophus.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the Sikeloi town in central Sicily, many Sikeloi tribal chieftains gathered again.

    And the one sitting at the top was Archonis, the chieftain of the Tanikian tribe. After ncing at the crowd, he loudly said, ¡°Chieftains, news hade from Thurii that Theonia caught Ladician, Lasiperatus and the others and would soon be tried. Hence those things we did before must also be known by the Theonians, so they might start preparing their army and dere war on us!¡±

    As soon as he said that, a hugemotion arose in the crowd.

    The chieftains were shocked, causing one of them to stand and ask uneasily, ¡°Chieftain Archonis, is this news urate, or it''s just a rumour?¡±

    ¡°If I said it is urate, what would you do? Chieftain Zemathis!¡± Archonis fiercely stared at him as if he was about to eat him.

    ¡°It is, of course¡­of course, send someone to exin to Theonia''s Senate¡­¡± Zemathis said hesitantly.

    ¡°Exin what?!¡± Apides, another chieftain closely rted to Archonis, said with scornful sarcasm, ¡°Exin why you want to annex the other tribes and take their wives to be your concubines?!¡±

    Then scornfulughter came from the chieftains next to him.

    ¡°It''s no use to beg the Theonians for mercy!¡± Archonis mmed his fist on the armrest, stood up and looked at the chieftains. He then loudly said, ¡°Look at how Theonia treated alien races! They annexed Lucania! Annexed Bruttii! Forcefully annexed Messapi! Annex Peuceti! Now they are even annexing Dauni! Theonia will not allow alien races to exist independently! Maybe we, Sikelois, are the next target for annexation in the eyes of the greedy king of Theonia! And since we had vited the treaty and attacked and annexed the other tribes, he already had an excuse to wage war. Maybe, Theonia''s troops are already on their way to Sicily!¡­¡±

    The chieftains were in an uproar again as everyone discussed anxiously.

    Then a chieftain immediately asked, ¡°Archonis, what should we do then?!¡±

 Chapter 628: The Situation in Eastern Theonia (I)

    He was a chieftain with a close rtionship with Archonis, and his question caused the panicking chieftains to focus their expectant eyes on Archonis.

    Archonis then took over the subject, ¡°What should we do?! We should gather the warriors, form a powerful army, dere war on Theonia and take back everything we, Sikeloi, lost!¡±

    The chieftains were surprised again.

    But an elderly chieftain reminded, ¡°Chief Archonis, don''t forget how Theonia was able to defeat the mighty Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, ten years ago. And now, the kingdom of Theonia is much stronger! So how can we, just a tribe, stand against the mighty kingdom of Theonia?!¡±

    As some of the chieftains were about to nod, Archonis immediately said, ¡°Who says we would fight Theonia on our own?! We have Carthage behind us, who is equally powerful!¡±

    As soon as they heard those words, all the chieftains were surprised.

    Archonis then held his head high as he took out a letter. After handing it to a nearby chieftain, the other chieftains, regardless of their status, came closer one after another.

    Archonis then loudly said, ¡°The Carthaginians told us that they would intervene in this war and fight for our, Sikeloi''s, independence as long as we rise against Theonia.¡±

    But another chieftain said, ¡°The Carthaginians are just using us!¡±

    Archonis sneered, ¡°Carthage is using us, but we are also using them. Otherwise, how could we capture Kephaloidion and Enna so easily¡­¡±

    Some chieftains suddenly realised that the Carthaginians had long been helping the Tanikian tribe. Otherwise, how could this tribe that the Sikeloi was about to abandon able to expand into a powerful tribe in just a few years? Thus they became afraid.

    ¡°Chieftains, you should already understand the situation. And now it is the time for us to take action!¡± Archonis looked at the crown and said emphatically, ¡°Go and gather the warriors of your tribes here. Afterwards, we will attack Agyrium!¡±

    ¡®Attack Agyrium?!¡¯ The chieftains were all somewhat shocked as Agyrium was thergest town of Sikeloi, which is difficult to attack because of itsrge poption and high walls.

    Then Archonis said to a middle-aged chieftain on his left side with respect, ¡°Uncle Scykepus, are you fine with this?¡±

    ¡°There is no problem. As soon as your army attacks Agyrium, my tribe could immediately cooperate with you.¡±

    Someone recognised him, resulting in his expression changing slightly. He is Scykepus, the chieftain of the great Tke tribe of Agyrium! Then he remembered that Archonis was the son of Agileus, the former king of Sikeloi, and Agyrium was the royal capital of the Sikeloi back then. Although Dionysius poisoned Agileus and destroyed the kingdom of Sikeloi, how could Archonis have no supporters left in the city of Agyrium?!

    ¡°We will return to our tribe immediately and gather the people.¡± The chieftains, who each had their concerns, expressed in sessions.

    But Archonis said, ¡°You don''t need to go back. Instead, send your subordinates to do those tasks because I will hold a banquet in the city and would like to invite all of you to join me.¡±

    The various chieftains'' expressions changed as they knew Archonis was forcing them to stand with him.

    But after seeing the heavily armed warriors pouring into the hall, most of the chieftains chose to obey obediently. After all, Archonis led his army to break through several towns and upied many tribal settlements in recent years. At the same time, those chieftains who dared to resist died by his sword, while those who survived were cowards that helped him to deceive Theonia, so how dare they resist him now?

    At this moment, a guard hurriedly came in and whispered a few words to Archonis. Earlier, he was still proudly looking at the embarrassed expression of the chieftains. But now, his face was filled with shock after his subordinate told him that the Eighth Legion of Theonia had suddenly marched into Agyrium.

    This unexpected news messed up his original n, so he immediately discussed it with Scykepus nervously.

    But even the domineering Scykepus looked flustered after receiving the report from his confidant that the enemy blockaded the city of Agyrium and they could not get in touch with the tribes inside.

    After some tense discussions, Archonis immediately announced to the chieftains that they should send their men back to gather their troops and must bring them to Kephaloidion tomorrow.

    Still, he continued to hold the banquet to assuage the bewildered chieftains.

    Near the end of the banquet thatsted for several hours, the guards brought another bad news, making the slightly drunk Archonis go out of control and throw his mug.

    The upation of Enna by the Eighth Legion of Theonia had made him lose himself and caused the chieftains to panic. At the same time, several chieftains cried out bitterly, which caused the joyous atmosphere of the banquet to disappear.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After receiving the Gerousia''s decision and discussing it with Agesus, the already fifty-year-old Cheirisophus hurried to the port and took a transport ship to Theonia.

    With the transport ship sailing along the west coast of the Peloponnese Penins for the whole night, it managed to cross the Adriatic Sea and docked at the ¡®heel¡¯ of the Italian penins the following morning: This is Otranto, a town belonging to the kingdom of Theonia.

    After a night''s rest, Cheirisophus regained his energy. He then disembarked and strolled around the port leisurely.

    Otranto was formerly a Messapian city-state that was rarely known by the Greeks even though it was close to the Adriatic Sea. With Brindisi and Mesagne as the famous maritime trading city-states of the Messapians, Otranto, on the other hand, had few Greek merchants willing to stop here because of its uneven terrain that made transport difficult. But after Theonia conquered the Messapian region, this ce gradually became famous.

    In the port, Cheirisophus saw numerous docked ships to the point it was so crowded. Then on the quay werebourers running back and forth while carrying goods. asionally, they would make mistakes that would cause the ship owner to shout at them, even causing some conflicts. Hence the guards had to stay in the port to maintain order. That just shows that the people of Otranto had not yet adapted to such a busy port.

    Cheirisophus also noticed many Illyrians in the port, so he became curious at how these unwee and barbaric races called ¡®bandits¡¯ and ¡®pirates¡¯ by the Greeks were present in such arge number.

    The town of Otranto was also quite lively as the streets were filled with alien races, Cretans, Corinthians, Epirote, Kerkyrians¡­there are also quite a few merchants from the Peloponnese here. But Cheirisophus wasn''t surprised; after all, the vast, populous and resource-rich kingdom of Theonia offered great opportunities to Greek merchants, which caused these greedy merchants to flock to it. And Otranto was the closest Theonian town to Greece.

    In Otranto, most of the shops are wagon shops. And soon, Cheirisophus understood it after he thought about how Otranto had formed a vague concept in the impression of the Greeks in the eastern Mediterranean as the first town they would travel ovend to Thurii, the centre of Theonia, and other ces. It is also cheap to take a carriage here as Messapi was abundant with horses.

    Cheirisophus then hired a carriage and headed to Taranto.

    Although the coachman was a Messapian who stammered when speaking Greek and wasn''t very talkative, he still gave out a lot of information under the deliberate inquiry of Cheirisophus.

    When Theonia first annexed Otranto, the Messapians rebelled against Theonia''s rule, which caused a rtive of the coachman to die in the revolt. After suffering from the Theonian soldiers'' swords and spears, the people of Otranto gradually changed their method and chose silent confrontation. And even though the Theonian-appointed praetor of Otranto, Nachus, dered that ¡®By the decree of Theonia, all the tribes are to be abolished and the people of Otranto shall be given their independence¡­¡¯ The people of Otranto were suspicious as they waited to see the joke of the Theonians because although the people of Otranto were few, ording to the ¡®Theonian Law¡¯ that Nachus stated, each citizen of Otranto would have 3,333 square metres ofnd allocated to them. However, the narrow and barrennd of Otranto wasn''t enough.

    But the short-sighted people of Otranto didn''t expect the praetor to give them their share ofnd. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t the barrennds in the mountains but thends on the in that weren''t far from Otranto. Thosends used to belong to other city-states, but now they belonged to Otranto under the governance of the kingdom of Theonia. Thus for the first time, the people of Otranto felt the benefits of joining Theonia.

    Then the next benefit followed, ¡®All Messapians who would be citizens of Theonia will be exempted from tax for two consecutive years!¡¯ Furthermore, praetor Nachus told them that ¡®all those who do not know how to farm shouldn''t worry as the Ministry of Agriculture will send someone to teach them, and if they are short ofbour, they can also go to the just established Bank of Cheiristoya in the city to take out a loan and then go to Taranto to purchase ves with experience in farming.¡¯

    Taranto, the sworn enemy of Messapi, who would kill each other if they met, was now under Theonia''s rule! (the Messapians don''t understand what a ¡®Free City¡¯ is and thought that Theonia had fully integrated Taranto.)

    Then some bold people of Otranto went to the Bank of Cheiristoya for a loan and headed to Taranto. Although the Tarantine looked at them angrily and cursed, they didn''t go too far as the guards were protecting their safety. In the end, these people sessfully bought ves and returned to Otranto without any problems. Once the news spread, amotion arose in the whole ce: ¡®That''s Taranto! The city we Messapians had been trying to capture for a hundred years! Yet they could easily go inside and take a stroll?!!¡¯

 Chapter 629: The Situation in Eastern Theonia (II)

    After the others tried going to Taranto, the people of Otranto felt the third advantage of joining Theonia.

    Yet the benefits they received from Theonia continued as Nachus announced the construction of a road connecting Otranto to Rudiae.

    Having a road was the dream of the people of Otranto, but they were not sure if it was possible.

    When the people of Otranto became doubtful, the Department of Road Management officials, together with the kingdom''s ves and war prisoners, started working around the hills outside Otranto.

    After being pleasantly surprised to see the smooth road stretching along the rugged terrain, Nachus once again announced the port''s expansion to take advantage of Otranto''s unique geographic advantage to make Otranto''s maritime trade prosper.

    This time, instead of just standing around and watching, the people of Otranto actively and enthusiastically joined in the port''s construction.

    The town of Otranto, which had stayed silent for a hundred years, has undergone tremendous changes in just a few years. The people of Otranto are no longer what the other Messapian city-states used to call ¡®fishermen from that remote fishing vige¡¯, as Otranto has now be a famous port town in eastern Theonia.

    Thus by the time praetor Nachus'' term ended, and he was about to leave, the people of Otranto hadpletely forgotten about their anger and swearing when Nachus first came. Instead, they formed a long line to see him off. Then the town council unanimously approved the erection of a statue of Nachus in the town square so that the people of Otranto would never forget him and all the things he had done for Otranto!¡­

    Cheirisophus'' expression turned serious as he listened. From the way the coachman spoke, Cheirisophus could sense that the people of Otranto identified themselves with the kingdom of Theonia. And if that was the case in Otranto, it should also be the same in the other towns of Messapi and Peuceti.

    The might of the kingdom of Theonia had already put pressure on Sparta, but Theonia''s ability to assimte the natives terrified Cheirisophus even more. He then became doubtful and uneasy about whether Sparta¡¯s act of taking in the Messapians and Peucetians nobles who escaped from this ce was helpful or not.

    Then the coachman talked about his love of rugby and said that Cheirisophus was quite lucky because if Thurii hadn''t suspended the rugby champions league these two days, Cheirisophus wouldn''t have gotten into his carriage.

    Except for the first section of the road that wasn''t easy to walk to, the other sections were t and wide, so the carriage drove fast and arrived outside the city of Rudiae before noon.

    Then the coachman stops for a while to feed the horses and have their strength recover.

    Cheirisophus also took this time to eat something to fill his stomach.

    When he entered the city of Rudiae, he found guards and sentry at every few steps, with heavily armed soldiers patrolling everywhere.

    Cheirisophus cheered as he thought that the people of Rudiae were revolting because he had heard that Rudiae had revolted many times in previous years. But after hearing the coachman''s exnation, he realised that wasn''t the case.

    It turned out that Rudiae''s team was unexpectedly eliminated in the first round of Theonia''s rugby champions league and the one to defeat them was the weak Uzentum.

    When they learned about it, the people of Rudiae regarded it as a great shame. Thus besides insulting and swearing at the yers angrily, they also went to the tavern in groups to drown their sorrows. After getting drunk, they used their drunkenness as an excuse to cause trouble in the city, resulting in several injuries. Thus the Rudiae guards had to monitor the whole city closely to prevent further troubles.

    But the coachman didn¡¯t know how to exin to Cheirisophus why the people of Rudiae cared so much about winning or losing a game. Hence he just said that besides ying rough and often causing fouls in Messapi¡¯s tournament, Rudiae''s team would even defy the referee''s decision, so the other Messapian teams don''t like to y with Rudiae much now.

    In fact, the reason why the people of Rudiae hold the rugby game in such high regard is that as the centre of the former Messapian kingdom and thergest city-state of the Messapian League, it was the one that resisted the Theonians the most after their upation. Thus the praetor of Rudiae, Milo, severely suppressed them, and at the most severe time, Milo would ask the legion to enter the city, and anyone must stay at home during the day and not be allowed to go on the street. After that, the state of resistance thatsted for a year began to ept Theonia''s rule.

    Then once the people of Rudiae got in touch with the outside, they found that the surrounding Messapian towns had obeyed the rule of Theonia early and thus gained the benefits earlier. With the vigorous development of maritime trade, they began to get rid of poverty and gradually became wealthy. But Rudiae, which was ind and once had fertile and vastnd, arge poption and dominated the city-state of Messapi, became less important.

    In the following year''s rugby champions league, the Rudiae yers yed for the first time in the tournament. With their strong spirit stimted by their loss and unwillingness, they won victory after victory and finally encountered Thurii''s team in the quarterfinals and fought a gruelling match.

    In the match, Rudiae had three injured yers, with one was sent off, while Thurii had one yer seriously injured. In the end, Thurii''s team narrowly won. After that match, Theonia''s Rugby Union changed some of its rules for the game, such as imposing stricter penalties for game fouls.

    And once the Rudiae yers reached their homes, they could only ce their heads down but what greeted them was the public''s warm wee, praising them for letting the people of Theonia know the strength of Rudiae¡¯s warriors. From then on, the people of Rudiae became obsessed with rugby that they devoted themselves to it and used it as a tool to show the unyielding spirit of the Rudiae to the Theonian Senate. So when the Rudiae team was eliminated in the first round of the champions league, the people of Rudiae were greatly stimted.

    Cheirisophus naturally doesn''t understand these deep-seated reasons. Still, he could feel the people of Rudiae attached so much importance to the rugby invented by the Theonians, which indicated that they had recognised Theonia''s rule, which made him somewhat depressed.

    After all, he had received orders from Agesus to learn how the Peucetians and Messapians were doing under Theonia''s rule, which is why he chose to take this route instead of taking the ship directly to Thurii. But from his observation, Theonia''s rule in Messapi would only be increasingly secure as time passed.

    After leaving Rudiae, the carriage continued to head northwest.

    A few hourster, they passed through Manduria, a former Messapian fortress that had been the front line of the Tarantine''s invasion. But now, the Ninth Legion of Theonia used it as a military post. After all, thend in this ce is neither beneficial to farming nor grazing. At the same time, they built the main camp of the Ninth Legion on the in not far from the north of Rudiae, right in the centre of the Messapian region, which was convenient for when they gathered the citizens of the Messapian towns for training and mobilisation, and also act as surveince and deterrent for the most restless Messapian city, Rudiae. But since it wasn''t next to the road, Cheirisophus naturally didn''t see it.

    Finally, Cheirisophus arrived at Taranto at dusk.

    Cheirisophus hade to Taranto several times, and his impression of Taranto: Although it was once Sparta''s colony, it did not inherit the Spartan''s bravery, it only conducted a few military training for its citizens annually, and its people didn''t have the mentality for battle readiness. But what surprised him when he came into the city this time was that he could see no soldiers patrolling and guarding the city. What¡¯s more, the guards at the gates weren''t well armed, and their inspection wasn''t strict that all those entering the city could just lift their hands and be let in.

    Then Cheirisophus thought about it and soon understood that since Taranto had now be a free city of the kingdom of Theonia and Theonia also conquered Taranto''s mortal enemy, the Messapian, they were no longer in danger. And since Theonia had even taken over the task of defending Taranto''s territory, it is only natural for their military equipment to bex.

    However, the city of Taranto remained busy even if it was already dusk, with its street crowded, and the stores, bars and brothels¡­that lined up from the city to the ports had travellers lining up here and there. After all, Taranto became more prosperous after bing the transportation and trade hub in eastern Theonia.

    Cheirisophus then saw some young citizens of Taranto entering and leaving the bars and brothers in droves. Afterwards, they would walk drunkenly in the street and sometimes talk about Taranto''s past ¡®glory¡¯, venting their dissatisfaction at Theonia and even speaking ill of Sparta''s ¡®cowardice¡¯¡­

    Cheirisophus could only show a helpless and wry smile on his face as he understood that the ¡®cowardice¡¯ meant by the Tarantines was their grudge against Sparta for abandoning them and signing a treaty with Theonia. However, Cheirisophus didn''t mind it too much. On the contrary, he felt a slight regret when he saw the current state of the Tarantines, who could only move their lips but didn''t even know how to use the shields and spears, making it truly difficult for them to resist Theonia''s rule.

    Atst, Cheirisophus reach the port.

    When he was in Sparta, Cheirisophus knew there were special ferry terminals in Taranto''s port, where they would load the transport ships with goods and guests. Then the ship would set out from these docks uninterruptedly and arrive at other coastal cities in the Gulf of Taranto; of course, the main destination was Thurii.

    Cheirisophus soon boarded the transport ship that led directly to Thurii.

    After the transport ship sailed out of the port and into the Gulf of Taranto, numerous ships that covered the always calm gulf filled Cheirisophus¡¯ sight. And even though the sun had fallen behind the mountains and only a few remaining lights shone on the horizon, the sea was still quite lively.

 Chapter 630: Tarantos Military Port

    Cheirisophus couldn''t help but sigh, ¡®The Theonians hadpletely turned the Gulf of Taranto into their innerke.¡¯ And the Theonian towns in this gulf are more closely connected through the sea.

    But what Cheirisophus didn''t know was that there was another reason why the Gulf of Taranto was so prosperous and bustling: The pirates that the maritime traders worried about the most in other Mediterranean city-states didn''t exist here at all. After all, the warships belonging to the first fleet patrol in Roscianum''s military port and Taranto''s military port patrolled the gulf every day to maintain order and ensure the safety of the ships.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Cheirisophuspares the lively sight in this gulf with the Athenian Port Piraeus, Kunogta''s second son, Dicaeogta, received an urgent notice from the Ministry of Military. After receiving permission from legatus Alexius, he rode furiously from Dauni on horseback while hanging his horses several times in the inn by the road. Finally, he arrived at Taranto''s Military Port at dusk.

    Taranto''s military port served as the base of Theonia''s First Fleet''s main body. After being forced to be Theonia¡¯s Free City, navarch Seclian asked for a new port due to the Theonian fleet growing too much (they acquired numerous ships in the South Italian War) that the port of Thurii could not amodate them. Thus he suggested that it would be better to relocate the port to therge port of Taranto.

    Davos readily agreed, but he thought about more than just military convenience. With the navy''s presence in Taranto, they would be able to watch over and deter the erratic city-state. Furthermore, Taranto, as an old maritime trading powerhouse, had arge number of highly skilled and experienced sailors and fishermen who would be a good source of soldiers for the navy. And if they were to train them, they would begin epting Theonia''s culture and political philosophy, and thus they could, in turn, influence the Tarantines.

    Faced with Theonia''s request, Taranto could only agree reluctantly to hand over the western part of the port to the management of Theonia''s navy. After all, they left that ce deserted for a long time.

    As the navy moved in, thend west of the great port until the east of Metapontum gradually came under the ownership of the First Fleet. And since the Tarantine had suffered heavy casualties in the South Italian War and didn''t have enough men to take care of thend near their border, and with the skilful pressure of Davos, this part of thend was then allocated to the sailors of the First Fleet stationed here, including arge number of civilian Tarantine sailors who joined the First Fleet.

    Currently, this military port has about 150 triremes and otherrge and small warships. And if you are to add the 50 triremes and other warships in Roscianum''s military port, the First Fleet, with more than 350 warships, has be the strongest fleet in Theonia''s Navy.

    But even with such a number of ships, there is still enough open space to build dry docks to amodate more ships in Taranto''s military port, which shows howrge it is. And the sea in the port is also vast enough that they could even hold some small-scale training, which has be one of the port''s sightings that would often make the people on the shore stop and watch.

    It was only after Dicaeogta handed Alexius'' letter of proof to the guard of the military port that he was allowed entry. Still, he had to wait for the ship at the military port for a long time.

    ¡°There are empty fast-sailing boats on the dock next to me, yet they made me wait here?!¡± Dicaeogta became a bit annoyed.

    It wasn¡¯t until he got on board that a man came out of the cabin and exined to him, ¡°I''m really sorry! Just now, a batch of supplies was urgently needed to be transferred from Roscianum''s military port to Dauni, so the personnel in the military port were busy doing that.¡±

    ¡°Delivering supplies to the front line is a huge matter for the kingdom.¡± As soon as Dicaeogta saw the person, he immediately understood why the ship had arrivedte. Then he said in a panic and respectful tone, ¡°And you hade to see me off, Lord Seclian. I really don''t know how to express my gratitude!¡±

    Seclian, the former fleetmander of Theonia''s navy, led his fleet to defeat Syracuse''s navy, which was dominant in the western Mediterranean, three times during the South Italian War, thus controlling the sea between Magna Graecia and Sicily, and yed a pivotal role in defeating Syracuse and became the hero idolised by the Theonians.

    But after the war and the expansion of Theonia''s territory, Davos had to divide the massive fleet into four: The First Fleet settled in Taranto to defend the maritime security of the Gulf of Taranto. The Second Fleet had settled in the Catanian in, guarding the maritime security of the Theonian city-states in Sicily. The Third Fleet was stationed in Terina to safeguard the maritime rights of the Kingdom of Theonia in the Tyrrhenian Sea. And the Fourth Fleet was in Brindisi, defending the territorial security of the Kingdom of Theonia in the Adriatic Sea.

    However, Davos didn''t let Seclian be the fleetmander of Theonia''s navy again. Instead, he let him take the position of navarch of the First Fleet. Although the First Fleet''s strength had long surpassed Theonia''s Navy back then, it was still a demotion from the navy¡¯s fleetmander to a navarch of the First Fleet. But at the same time, Davos proposed to the Senate and elected Seclian as a Theonian statesman, significantly promoting Seclian''s personal status. And he also became the second youngest statesman under 30 years old after Henipolis. Moreover, after dismantling the navy, Davos also abolished the post of a fleetmander, and Seclian didn''t have too manyints.

    Seclian then went to Taranto to take up his post and stayed there for ten years. Except for major matters, he seldom returned to Thurii to participate in the usual Senate meetings. And the young hero back then has now be middle-aged and became less arrogant. At this moment, he is looking at Dicaeogta with a gentle expression, ¡°I am also going to attend your father''s funeral.¡±

    When ites to his deceased father, Dicaeogta felt great pain as it was his lifelong regret that he could not apany his father before he died.

    Seclian then asked casually, ¡°How is the against Dauni?¡±

    ¡°It''s going rtively well. We have already captured the cities of Herdonia and Ausculum. Currently, our army has closed in on the central town of the Dauni, Lucera, and is preparing to besiege it. Judging from the current situation, we estimate the war will end before the year ends as the other Dauni tribes and towns show no signs of wanting to reinforce the city of Lucera.¡± When talking about the war he was involved in, Dicaeogta was a bit excited and pleased.

    Hearing the good news, Seclian could only sigh, ¡°It''s better tomand an army to fight onnd!¡± After the South Italian War, the kingdom of Theonia hasn''t always been peaceful. The three wars theyunched to conquer Messapi, Peuceti and Dauni weren''t small in scale, only that these wars were near Theonia, and the opponent''s fleet was too weak to require the First Fleet, which was defending the core waters of Theonia, to go into battle. Thus, Seclian couldn''t go into battle again in the past ten years, so how could he not have regrets in his heart?

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    By the time Dicaeogta reached Thurii, his brother Sostratus and his family had already prepared the funeral.

    Since Kunogta''s wife died early, his eldest daughter and two daughters-inw were the ones to wash his body, perfumed it and dress it in gorgeous costumes ording to Greek traditions that had developed over the centuries. In addition, Sostratus erected arge wooden memorial hall in front of his home. He thenid Kunogta''s body on a bed covered with herbs in the memorial hall and ced a silver coin in his mouth so his soul could pay Charon to ferry him.

    And once they had arranged the memorial hall and coffin, it was the turn of Theonia''s unique funeral custom: The Grand Priest of the Temple of Hades, Plesinas, led a group of priests and priestesses to the front of the memorial hall and began to sing a hymn for him, praying for his early and smooth entry into Elysium. The usual funeral usually only needed a priest of Hades to attend the funeral, but Kunogta, after all, has a special identity and status. Thus even without Davos'' instructions, Plesinas personally brought the main staff of the main Temple of Hades.

    Kunogta''s immediate family, including his son-inw Hielos, were dressed in ck the following day. They all had solemn expressions as they stood in front of the coffin, and even his daughter and daughter-inw had their hair cut short, as was customary, to express their grief.

    Early in the morning, Davos, together with his two wives, Cheiristoya and Agnes, and his six children, including Cynthia and Crotokatax, arrived at the memorial hall. Davos then presented a wreath made of pomegranate leaves to Kunogta''s body. Afterwards, he led his family in a solemn salute and sang Hades'' hymn. After a few words of constion to some of Kunogta''s rtives, the Davos family walked out, washed their hands and faces with the vats of water ced outside the hearth and left.

    After King Davos left, more people came to pay tribute to Kunogta.

    The first toe were Kunogta''s old Thurian friends, such as Ansitanos and Burkes¡­who have a deep friendship with him; Then came Cornelius, Tritodemos, Raphias, Protesus, Stromboli¡­these statesmen who had worked hard together with him inying Theonia''s foundations; Next were Kapus, Philesius, Amintas¡­and the other statesmen who were former mercenaries who, while dissatisfied at Kunogta for always advocating peace and opposing war, admired him for his talent and character; Followed by Sedrum, Vespa, Hemon¡­and other foreign statesmen who had been with him for more than ten years and had received a lot of his care; There were also the statesmen such as Androlis, Siprus, and Lysias¡­who he appreciated and supported; Then came the numerous statesmen who joined the Senate after the South Italian War.

 Chapter 631: Funeral

    Apart from those who couldn''te due to important matters, such as Alexius, whomanded the army in the battle against the Dauni, most of the statesmen, even those who served as praetors in other ces, and many middle and lower-ranking kingdom officials came to pay homage to Kunogta.

    Then most of the people of Thurii came. After all, Kunogta worked hard to provide tremendous help to the Thurians after the city of Thurii was burnt, so how could the people of Thurii not remember Kunogta, the praetor of this city, who had contributed a lot to Thurii¡¯s current prosperity for the following five years?! Therefore, the people of Thurii didn''t talk about the rugby match with great enthusiasm, nor did they go to the restaurants and bars to drink. Instead, a constant stream of people came to the memorial hall to pay homage to Kunogta.

    However, although everyone looked sad and mncholy, there was almost no scene of wailing and crying. On the contrary, the ce was quite silent. Unlike other Greek city-state, where the deceased''s family would hire professional mourners to add to the sombre atmosphere, the Theonians believed Hades'' edict that the souls of the dead in Theonia could enter Elysium depending on the things they did in their life. And since Elysium is a beautiful paradise, entering there is a blessing rather than suffering, so the rtives and those who came to mourn do not have to be too sad. Otherwise, they are just cursing for the dead to enter purgatory.

    The memorial ceremonysted for a day, followed by Kunogta''s funeral the following morning.

    Then Kunogta''s rtives ced his body in a wooden coffin with some offerings for his final journey to the underworld and Elysium. They then ced the coffin on a carriage, which four ck horses pulled. At the same time, Kunogta¡¯s rtives, dressed in all ck, walked slowly to the left and right of the carriage.

    Behind the carriage were the royal family led by Davos, followed by the high officials of the kingdom, the statesmen and their families, who were all dressed in ck and looked sombre. Afterwards, those who heard about the funeral consciously lined up behind them and gradually merged into a long line with no end, forcing Thurii''s guards to send more people to maintain order.

    In the funeral procession were dozens of trumpeters and bugles tasked with ying a solemn and slightly sombre piece to give the whole procession a mncholic atmosphere.

    At the front of the carriage, Plesinas took a dozen ck-robed priests to sing Hades'' hymn, sprinkled water on the street, and led the funeral procession to the foot of Hades'' hill.

    After arriving, the eight pce guards in uniform lifted the coffin and walked steadily to a small temple beside the Temple of Hades: This temple was built after the South Italian War, and it was the Temple of Thanatos, the personification of death.

    In front of the temple was an incineration basin, where the guards slowly ced the coffin. Afterwards, the priests began pouring olive oil into it through the pipes around the incineration basin.

    Then Sostratus, Dicaeogta, Kunogta¡¯s grief-stricken family, and the others bowed their heads in silent prayer. Only Davos, d in white robes, walked close to the incineration basin, opened his arms wide and shouted to the sky, ¡°O Great Hades, Kunogta, a citizen of Theonia, would now return to the underworld today. He is your devout citizen, so I implore you to grant him the benefits he deserves after death ording to the things he did during his life!¡±

    Davos then took the torch from Plesinas and threw it into the basin.

    At the same time as the fire rages, the dozen priestesses sang in unison, resulting in their ethereal singing spreading throughout the hills, washing the sadness in the people¡¯s hearts.

    Although the wooden coffin had turned into ashes, the funeral wasn''t yet over. Kunogta''s rtive then took the remaining bones from the burnt ashes, wrapped them in newly made linen and ced them into a jar.

    Davos then spoke loudly to the people who came to attend the funeral about Kunogta''s outstanding contribution he made to the kingdom of Theonia during his life and announced that ¡°Kunogta''s bronze bust will be ced in the Hall of Sages in the Temple of Hades while his urn will be ced in the Temple of Death and receive the blessing of the underworld!¡±

    With thepletion of these two things, the funeral ended.

    Then the statesmen and officials no longerforted Kunogta''s rtives. Instead, they congratted them as they bid their farewell.

    Previously, the statesmen had also attended Scambras and Baripriri''s funerals, but Kunogta''s funeral attracted the most people and enjoyed the highest honour after his death.

    Only those citizens who are loyal to the kingdom, worked their hardest during their lifetime and have made enough contributions could enjoy having their ashes in the temple. But what is even more difficult is to enter the Hall of Sages, as they must make great contributions to Theonia that could influence the development of the entire kingdom. After being admitted to the Hall of Sages, a monument would be erected where they would write the deceased'' biography, which theter generations could see and thus could be said to be the supreme glory. Since the establishment of Theonia more than ten years ago, only Heracleides has been inducted into the Hall of Sages. Now, there is Kunogta. Thus for many statesmen and officials, the funeral of Kunogta became their envy and goal, which is what Davos likes to see.

    For the ordinary people, they do not have such a huge goal; rather, their only hope is to have their body cremated in the main Temple of Hades because only the ordinary Temple of Hades would carry out the usual cremation of the body and only the citizens who made meritorious achievements may apply for the qualification to be cremated in the main Temple of Hades.

    And the one to approve the application wasn''t the Senate but the priesthood of the Temple of Hades. But the final decision was still in the hands of Davos, as he wasn''t only the king but also the head priest of the kingdom, who, in the people''s minds, was the descendant of Hades. However, in general, he would just let the priests led by Plesinas decide and would just verify it afterwards. Only when an important person in the kingdom died would he need to determine if that person was qualified to enter the Hall of Valour, the Hall of Sages, the Temple of Death, or the Prison of the Wicked.

    After Kunogta''s funeral, the rugby champions league continued as if everything had returned to normal.

    Only the statesmen could feel the slight change as Androlis was added to the rotating speaker, and his seat moved forward to the central front area of the hall.

    When Theonia was first established, the speaker was rotated among the statesmen, and its only duty was to maintain order in the Grand Senate Hall and had no real power. After the South-Italian War and when Davos became the king, he stopped letting all the statesmen serve as speakers due to having too many new statesmen who were unfamiliar with the workings of the Theonian government. So instead, he appointed several statesmen to serve in this position on a rotating basis, usually once every ten days.

    At the same time, he asked the Senate to give the rotating speaker more responsibilities, such as organising each Senate meeting, the one on duty would provide counsel to the king when deciding the main topic of each meeting, and when Davos attended the meeting, he has to ensure to convey the king¡¯s wishes. And in Davos'' absence, he had to ensure the meeting ran smoothly, and he could evenmand the guards to expel the statesmen who interfered with the meeting and report the meeting''s result to Davos afterwards.

    Because of the rotating speaker¡¯s increased power, this position has be an important symbol to measure the status of a statesman in the Senate.

    Previously, only Kunogta, Cornelius, Sedrum, Vespa and Lysias served as the rotating speaker of the Senate. But now that Kunogta has died, Androlis filled the vacancy.

    Besides that, there is another change. Due to Ladician and other Sicilian statesmenmitting dereliction of duty, some officials of Naxos, Sikuli and Catania were investigated and were found to be involved in this matter. And since they were all rmended to their position by the statesmen whomitted this crime, Davos took this opportunity tosh at the Senate. Davos argued that the Kingdom''s Civil Servant Management Committee failed to properly select low and middle-ranking officials because they could not select impartially due to the influence of the statesmen¡­

    Back when they established the union, the Civil Servant Management Committee''s duty was to draw up the candidates for the various positions in the cities of the union. Only after Davos approved and sighed the list of candidates would it be read out once in the Senate to inform the statesmen. Sometimes, the statesmen would object to some of the candidates, prompting themittee to make adjustments ording to their opinions. And since Davos was already in control of the Senate, he wouldn¡¯t obstruct them too much. But these years, with the expansion of the territory and the increase of officials, Davos needed to spend half of his time in the pce handling political matters, so he could not be as strict with themittee as before.

    Hence Davos demanded to relocate the offices of the Kingdom''s Civil Servant Management Committee to the royal pce, and they would no longer discuss the appointments of officials in the Senate. Naturally, some statesmen objected. However, Davos threatened that he would consider having Sesta investigate the officials in other cities of the kingdom to avoid more cases of dereliction of duties like those in Sicily from happening.

    Eventually, Davos'' proposal was approved, and themittee moved to the pce''s second floor.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the day after Kunogta''s funeral, Davos received Cheirisophus.

    As for Sparta''s request to renew the expiring treaty for another ten years, Davos and the Senate agreed to the request without much argument.

    After all, the kingdom of Theonia''s centre of attention is in Italy, followed by Sicily. For the strife-ridden Greece, neither Davos nor the statesmen were too interested in getting involved. With the previous decade of peace, Theonia had plenty of time to absorb refugees, expand its poption, develop agriculture, trade and expand itsnd¡­so they certainly wanted to continue having such a peaceful environment.

 Chapter 632: Argument in Carthage

    After signing the ten-year treaty, Cheirisophus mentioned to Davos that the Gerousia was worried and dissatisfied with the frequent warunched by Theonia in Apulia.

    But Davos responded, ¡°The matters concerning Apulia belonged to the western Mediterranean¡¯s affairs, which, ording to our agreement, does not require Sparta to worry about. Just like how Theonia strictly abided by our treaty by refusing the envoys of Thebes and Corinth who came to Thurii in theter part of the Corinthian War in hopes that Theonia could intervene in the war to stop the Persians from controlling Greece using Sparta. Furthermore, our kingdom¡¯s Greek citizens were dissatisfied with Sparta, our allied city-state, kneeling to Greek''s former sworn enemy, Persia, and you obeying that goddamn contract you made. Moreover, they became even more outraged after Sparta destroyed Mantineia with brutal means by flooding the city andmitting atrocities simr to those done by the Sicilian tyrant Dionysius.

    Yet even with that, we in Theonia still abided by the treaty and respected Sparta, our allied city-state. Thus after the signing of this treaty, you can be assured that we will abide by following the treaty''s content. And in exchange, we hope the Gerousia will also handle the rtionship between the two countries in strict ordance with the treaty, especially on reconsidering and dealing with the issue of ¡®epting the natives who escaped from Apulia¡¯. Theonia keeps her promises faithfully, so we would treat any city-state that vites their promises as enemies¡­¡±

    Davos'' words caused Cheirisophus to be both ashamed and rmed, so he seriously stated, ¡°Your majesty King Davos, Sparta cherishes the friendship between our countries, which is why they took the initiative to send me to renew the treaty. You can be reassured that Sparta will continue abiding by the treaty''s requirements so that the peace between the east and the west Mediterranean continues!¡­¡±

    One dayter, after seeing off Cheirisophus, Thurii weed the Carthaginian envoy, Eshoumodon.

    But he didn''te to renew the treaty. Instead, he came to protest.

    The Carthaginians protested against Theonia viting the treaty by waging war against Sicily''s neutral force ¨C the Sikeloi without authorisation. Thus they came demanding that Theonia immediately stop this foolish act of ¡°destroying the peace in Sicily¡±.

    The Theonian Senate, however, refuted Carthage''s ims by citing facts, evidence and reasoning and told the Carthaginian envoy that Theonia didn''t want to invade the Sikeloi. On the contrary, the Tanikian tribe of the Sikeloi was the one who conspired to disrupt and wanted to harm Theonia, for which Theonia had ced several Sicilian statesmen, such as Ladician, on trial and had also arrested many officials of the kingdom. Thus it is only natural for them to take revenge on the culprits of this incident, which was the Tanikian tribe who took the initiative to provoke Theonia!

    Theonia''s firm rejection of Carthage''s protests made Eshoumodon¡¯s journey futile.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    A few dayster, a fierce debate regarding that matter happened in the Senate of Carthage.

    ¡°Lord Hanno, with Theonia¡¯s refusal to stop their war against the Sikeloi¡­ I wonder if you have any measures to deal with this matter?! Otherwise, the weak Sikeloi won''t be able to withstand the Theonian army if you don''t take any action!¡± Asked Pretasdrubal, an elder.

    Hanno nced coldly at the elder who questioned him. After Mago''s removal from his position as governor of Sicily, he didn''t return to Carthage. Instead, he indignantly took part of the mercenaries to Iberia. Thus the leading figure of the Magonids in the Senate and even Carthage became Pretasdrubal, a distant rtive of Mago, but was much more cunning and created some problems for Hanno''s control over the Senate.

    Hanno didn''t need to reply as the other elected Shophet, Palteshmoun, had already taken over the matter and said, ¡°It is understandable for the Theonia to punish them because the Tanikian tribe provoked the Theonian first. So what we should do now is to constantly monitor this war and prevent Theonia from using this opportunity to expand, thus damaging our Carthage''s interest.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you would give up the Sikeloi with just a simple sentence?! I still remember how you were the one to propose to Lord Hanno about supporting the Tanikian in unifying the Sikeloi!¡± Sikaradon, another Magonids elder, spoke out sarcastically while Hanno looked at him unhappily.

    Eshoumodon promptly and loudly refuted, ¡°You are truly forgetful! The Tanikians came to Carthage in the name of former allies who fought alongside Himilco, and it was you who they first approached, and you the first to suggest in the Senate to help the Tanikians. Lord Hanno had just respected your wishes and hoped that what the Tanikians did could help Carthage better control Sicily. It just didn''t ur to us that they would dare provoke Theonia, not to mention that you, who had received Lord Hanno''s support, would now falsely use him!¡± (When the Carthaginianmander Himilco attacked Syracuse, he built the fortress of Tauromenium and gave it to the Sikeloi so that they could unite to fight against the Syracusans. Thus he allied with the Sikeloi king Agileus, who was the father of the current chieftain of the Tanikian, Archonis. But after Himilco''s defeat and suicide, Agileus joined Syracuse¡¯s side when Dionysius began fighting back against the Carthaginian forces in Sicily, but Dionysius eventually murdered him.)

    Pretasdrubal immediately changed the subject while putting on a worried expression, ¡°Lord Hanno, with Syracuse''s strength greatly decreasing in the past few years and most of the Greek city-states in Sicily are friendly with Theonia that besides often sending envoys to attend the various festivities in Theonia, they would also send teams to participate in Theonia''s rugby matches. Now, if we let Theonia take control of the Sikeloi, our situation in Sicily would be the same during Dionysius'' time, which is terrible for Carthage!¡±

    Hanno looked at him coldly and spoke, ¡°Lord Pretasdrubal, what is your suggestion given Sicily''s current situation? Should we continue supporting the soon-to-be-destroyed Sikeloi tribes with money and supplies? Or to send an army?!¡±

    Elder Sikaradon sternly said, ¡°Since Theonia refused to stop the war, we can only send our army to make them realise that we are serious with our protest!¡±

    The elders caused amotion.

    ¡°That means war!¡± Palteshmoun warned loudly.

    ¡°Since Theonia recklessly expanded their ws in Sicily and refused to heed our warnings, we will show them war!¡± Sikaradon swung his hand.

    Many elders cried out in rm, causing disputes to arise.

    Hanno became alert as he immediately realised that the head of the Magonids, who was thousands of kilometres away, wanted to provoke a war between Theonia and Carthage, which would allow him to return to Carthage and control the political situation!

    Thinking of this, Hanno immediately stood up and shouted, ¡°Does Carthage want to tear up the treaty and intervene in Theonia''s war to punish the Sikeloi and engage Theonia in a protracted and costly war? Now we should have the Senate vote: Raise your hands if you agree with Pretasdrubal and Sikaradon in sending our army to fight in Sicily!¡±

    Except for a few Magonids elders, the other elders didn''t even raise their hands.

    In the past ten years, the Carthaginians followed Hanno''s proposal of changing their target to Numidia, an ind region south of Carthage''s territory. Although it had a vastnd and many indigenous tribes living there, it didn''t have a unified state or union. Thus Carthage, through direct military conquest, bribery, alienation and other measures, allowed them to control most of Numidia''snd. While the Carthaginian citizens got a lot of share ofnd and employed many Numidians to farm, the elders of Carthage were even wealthier. Thus Hanno''s prestige in Carthage significantly increased. Now, Carthage''s only concern was the asional rebellion of the Numidians, and for this reason, several Carthaginian troops were stationed alternatively in several vital positions in Numidia.

    So having Carthage go to war with the mighty Theonia made not only most of the elders unwilling but also the Carthaginian citizens. After all,pared with the Theonians and Sikeloi, who were far away in the east of Sicily, the Carthaginians were more concerned about the increasednd in Numidia and keeping control of the numerous Numidian ves and Numidianbourers.

    Hanno looked around at most elders who stayed silent and then nced at the handful of elders who supported the war. And just like what he had expected, if there were no sudden idents, Carthage would never fight the Theonians, and Mago''s scheme could nevere true. Of course, Hanno felt a headache as Mago, who upied a part of Iberia, pretended toply with the Senate but defied them inwardly.

    Then, Hanno took out a scroll, held it high and said loudly, ¡°This is a letter written to me by the king of Theonia himself! In the letter, he promised, ¡®We, Theonians, always kept our treaty with Carthage in mind. So we reassure you that we will only punish the Tanikian tribe and will never expand our attack on the other Sikeloi territory.¡¯ In addition, he asked me to consider the renewal of the treaty.¡± After saying that, Hanno handed the letter to the elder next to him to pass it around.

    The elders present obviously became rxed.

 Chapter 633: Theonias Military Council (I)

    ¡°Renewing the treaty for another ten years?! With the news that Theonia is already on the verge of upying the Apulian region of Italia, I''m afraid they would soon own the entire Italian Penins if we give them another ten years!¡± Pretasdrubal then stood up and warned everyone loudly, ¡°Elders, you should understand that there are only two powerful forces in the western Mediterranean ¨C Carthage and Theonia; thus, letting Theonia be more powerful wouldn''t be good for Carthage!¡±

    ¡°Does Apulia''snd area is asrge as Numidia?! Could they upy the whole Italian Penins?¡± Eshmounadon sneered, ¡°Without even mentioning our ally in central Italia, Rome, and the fierce Celts in the north, even if Theonia upied the entire Italian Penins in the future, we would have long sincepletely captured Numidia and taken full control of Mauritania and Nubia. So could the small Italian Penins be as big as Numidia and Mauritania?!¡±

    Just as the two sides began arguing, Hasdrubal stood up.

    With his high prestige as the leader of the neutral faction, the noise in the hall immediately quietened as he said in a serious tone, ¡°Everyone, don''t forget why we built our city of Carthage. Several hundred years ago, our ancestors came to the western Mediterranean not to upy morend nor to fight for hegemony in the Mediterranean but to trade and obtain gold, silver and other metal mineral resources in Iberia and Sardinia so that we could meet our mother state''s needs. Although Carthage and other Phoenician city-states in the western Mediterranean do much more than trade minerals today, maritime trade remained engraved in the nature of every Carthaginian. It is also why the city of Carthage continues to grow and why our mother-state of Tyre and Sidon was able to continue existing under Persian rule.

    On the other hand, war is the natural enemy of trade as it will consume our resources, take away our customers and make the market deste¡­What benefits had Carthage gotten from the series of wars in Sicily over the past decades? There is none, only death and decline! If everyone here has forgotten our tragic past decades ago, then walk around the cemetery outside the city, and you will know how much the people hate war! Peace, Carthage needs peace, and only peace can make Carthage prosper! Thus I suggest we continue our alliance with Theonia so that Carthage could continue having the western Mediterranean as its trade market to allow Carthage to grow even faster!¡­¡±

    Hasdrubal''s emotional lecture echoed in the hearts of many elders.

    Although Hanno apuded, he didn''t take it seriously. Unlike Hasdrubal''s idea of developing maritime trade while living in peace with Theonia, Hanno was quite wary of Theonia, whose expansion northward in the Italian Penins and forming allies in Sicily showed this Greek kingdom''s ambition. In fact, Hanno was the one privately promoting for the Senate to support the Tanikian tribe and increasing support for Rome to slow down Theonia''s expansion.

    But since Carthage''s rule in Numidia wasn''t stable and the Senate had the idea of conquering Mauritania during this time, both of which was a proposal that he had asked his subordinates to put forward. He hoped that with that, he could gain morend and manpower at the same time so that the influence of the Carthaginian Senate could extend to thend controlled by the Magonids in the Iberian Penins, whether by sea or bynd. Once he cleared the internal problems and strengthened the army, Hanno would be happy topete with Theonia to wash away his nickname of a ¡®coward¡¯ that Mago had ndered him with and to push the prestige of Hanno''s family in Carthage and even the western Mediterranean to a new level.

    At this moment, he took the opportunity to immediately expressed his support for Hasdrubal''s lecture.

    With the support of the elders under Hanno and the neutral faction, Carthage would abandon the Tanikian tribe. At the same time, they would renew their alliance with Theonia.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the pce of Thurii a few dayster, Davos and several officials of the Ministry of Military were discussing the recent battle situation in the war room next to the king''s office.

    These military officials were:

    Hielos, the chief military officer. He was responsible for managing and coordinating the various departments under the Ministry of Military. Apart from that, he also held the right to evaluate and rmend soldiers and officers for promotion.

    Hieronymus, the military training and education instructor under the Ministry of Military (a few years ago, Davos proposed to him to transfer as an administrative official of a city, but he refused.) This unsociable former mercenary leader had remained in this position diligently for more than a decade, making great contributions to raising the army of the kingdom of Theonia.

    Kapus, the quartermaster of the Ministry of Military¡¯s logistics, had assumed this position four years ago. The smooth progress of the two wars Theonia is currently waging is inseparable from his full support.

    Philesius, the chief of staff of the Ministry of Military¡¯s Army Staff.

    The Army Staff was a newly established department under Davos'' order six years ago. Its role is to collect intelligence from neighbouring powers, make strategic ns for Theonia''s expansion, estimate specific wars and provide practical advice to the king. In addition, it is also a school for training young officers in strategic thinking. The current adjutants in the ten legions have all been trained in the Army Staff.

    Since the South-Italian War, Philesius received criticism from the Senate and the War Council. They believed that he had made some errors in hismands in the Battle of the Aro River, which made the losses of the Fourth and Fith legions so heavy that even Drakos died tragically.

    Hence Davos had to transfer him to this new department not only to protect him and make use of his expertise but also to avoid the shorings of hisck of drive and inability to be a goodmander.

    Apart from him was Tolmides, another member of the Army Staff serving as the second-inmand and assisting Philesius. However, he was more active as he often came and went to the various other military departments to understand the specific conditions of the military, such as training, supplies and the various legions, so that he could provide detailed data for the Army Staff to formtebat ns.

    At the same time, Tolmides, as the herald of King Davos when he goes to the battlefield, would oftene to the pce to report to Davos. So even though he isn''t a statesman, no one dares to look down on him in the Ministry of Military.

    In the centre of the war room was a sand table that showed the miniature-sized mountains, rivers, ins and hills of Sicily and southern Italia. A few years ago, Davos gathered the most outstanding craftsmen of Theonia, where they spent more than half a year creating an urate three-dimensional sand table following the detailed map provided by the Ministry of Military.

    The Ministry of Military regarded this military sand table as the kingdom''s treasure, so non-kingdom officials could not see it.

    ¡°Your majesty, we just received the battle report from Sicily this morning. After Prosous captured Henna, he took advantage of the time before the Sikeloi rebels arrived to quickly repair the town''s defences. So when Archonis arrived, leading about 15,000 Sikeloi rebels to attack Henna, Prosous boldly left only three infantry brigades to defend the town as it seemed the enemy didn''t have good siege equipment. At the same time, he led the main force to leave quietly, bypass Agirium and stormed the empty Hebita in the north¡­¡±

    Philesius then pointed the long wooden stick to the model of the town representing Hebita and continued, ¡°After quickly capturing another rebel town, the tens of thousands of warriors gathered by the Tanikian chieftain, Archonis, must have panicked as they stopped their siege after only after a day of attacking Enna, only to stay in their camp for two days. And within this time, the troops of our allies, Leontinoi and Taunis, and the reserves assembled by Catania, Sikuli, and Naxos gathered sessively in Agyrium, which, together with the Eighth Legion, totalled more than 20,000 troops.

    As the Sikeloi rebels began to retreat towards Enna, some tribes broke away from Archonis and ran to Agyrium to surrender¡­ In his battle report, Prosous said that he took advantage of the Sikeloi rebels¡¯ unstableness and immediately led his army to attack Enna. Perhaps the Eighth Legion has already begun their attack on the city of Enna as I speak.¡±

    Davos stared at the city of Enna in the centre of Sicily, pondered for a moment, looked up and asked, ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°I was worried whether Prosous, themander of this attack against the Sikeloi, would be able to take up this important task. But I didn''t expect him to perform so excellently! Your majesty, you have a good vision!¡± Hielo first eximed.

    Kapus also praised, ¡°That''s right, this Prosous is indeed formidable! Before the Senate''s order to dere war reached Catania, he had already led his army to march and act quickly to capture Henna decisively, whichpletely took the enemy by surprise. He then used the city of Henna to attract the enemy while leading the main force to storm Hebita. His sessive victories made the enemy panic and also deterred the other wavering Sikeloi tribes, causing Archonis'' force to constantly dwindle while the allied troops joining the Eighth Legion increased. With Archonis no longer having the number and terrain advantage, this war no longer has surprise and would soon end.¡±

    ¡°Daring to be decisive, act quickly, led the enemy around, attack the enemy''s weakness¡­Prosouspletely utilised the principles of the Theonian Military Law in the use of troops, which is indeed a trait of an excellent armymand! It seems we are already old!¡± Philesius let out a sigh as his heart couldn''t help but remember the war ten years ago that made him not want to recall.

    When Hieronymus heard this, his eyes suddenly brightened. Yet he didn''t speak out.

    ¡°It is all the full support and careful preparation of the several officials of the Ministry of Military that Prosous'' Eighth Legion could win today!¡± Tolmides said with apliment.

 Chapter 634: Theonias Military Council (II)

    The department of military training¡¯s strictness made the soldiers of the Eighth Legion ensure that the soldiers could march and attack the city quickly. The logistics department''s preparation of rations and supplies before the war freed the Eighth Legion of worries. The Army Staff''s collection of information on the various tribes and towns in Sikeloi allowed Prosous to know himself and his enemy with a clear mind.

    With Tolmides as the lubricant, Davos didn''t have to worry about the Ministry of Military. Afterwards, he turned his gaze back to the city of Enna on the sand table and asked, ¡°How many days do you think it will take for the Eighth Legion to capture Enna?¡±

    Philesius thought a bit and said, ¡°Although Enna is located in the Sikeloi mountains and is considered arge city among the Sikeloi towns, they built it on t terrain. Moreover, its wall is not made of stone but wood, so the engineering brigade of the Eighth Legion only needed to make a dozen ballistae and siege towers, and they should be able to breach this city. Thus my estimate¡­would be no more than six days.¡±

    ¡°Six days!¡± Davos turned to Kapus and said, ¡°If so, the war in Sicily will end in about a month, and the logistics department will no longer need to organise people to transport supplies. ¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, this is just the estimated time for the battle to end. The Eighth Legion still had to say in these upied towns for some time to stabilise the situation and wait for the Senate to elect the praetor and for themittee to assign officials to take over. With the Eighth Legion having to stay in Sicily''s Sikeloi region for some time, I am afraid their rations would be insufficient.¡± Kapus tactfully reminded.

    ¡°Kapus, you are mistaken. Once the Eighth Legion and its allied troops wiped out the Tanikian tribe and other hostile tribes, they would give up the cities and towns they upied, such as Kephalo¨ªdion and Enna. Instead, they would support friendly Sikeloi tribes to take over.¡± Davos slowly stated his n, ¡°And we will only upy two towns, Henna and Hebita, so that we can more directly influence and strengthen ourmunication with the Sikeloi.¡±

    Since the two towns of Henna and Hebita are close to Catania and Naxos, the Eighth Legion wouldn¡¯t need to station too many troops and won''t consume as much food.

    Kapus then breathed a sigh of relief after hearing it.

    But Hielos asked, ¡°Your majesty, is it because you are worried about Carthage that you asked the Eighth Legion to abandon Kephalo¨ªdion and Enna?¡±

    Davos praised Hielos'' keen political sense inwardly. After all, an excellent Chief Military Officer should be proficient in military matters and have a good political outline to control the development of the war. Thus Davos seriously exined to him, ¡°That''s right, it is because I am worried about Carthage. Although the Carthaginian envoys came to Thurii yesterday and said they are willing to renew the treaty with us, we shouldn''t be too careless. Although Carthage''s focus remained on Numidia and Iberia, our rapid expansion in Sicily would arouse their disgust and vignce, which would affect the rtionship between our two countries! At this stage, maintaining our friendship with Carthage would be more favourable to the stability of the southern part of the kingdom and would greatly benefit our maritime trade. But once our rtionship with Carthage falls apart, the first ones toe and protest would be Mersis and Marigi.¡±

    Hearing that, several people smiled to varying degrees.

    ¡°Apart from that, unlike the fierce Samnites, the Sikeloi was deeply influenced by Greek culture and were happy to interact with the Greeks. Hence as long as we continue strengthening our influence on them, the Sikeloi will eventually be a part of the kingdom, so there is no need for us to rush.¡±

    ¡°Your majesty is right! A terrible rtionship with Carthage would only affect our strategy of expanding northward.¡± Tolmides immediately responded.

    ¡°Yes, the northern part of our kingdom is our focus.¡± Davos took over the discussion and changed the subject, ¡°How is our war with Dauni? Do you think we can end the war before this year ends?¡±

    ¡°Your majesty.¡± The Chief Military Officer, Hielos, replied after thinking about it, ¡°Commander Alexius has led the Fourth and Fifth legions to surround the central city of the Daunis, Lucera. Originally, he nned to defeat these remaining Daunian forces in the field by attracting the surrounding towns to send troops to rescue the city they were besieging. However, the Daunians didn''te to their rescue, so Alexius decided to concentrate on breaking through the city of Lucera, thinking that the morale of the Daunians would fall once they breached the city that they might even surrender in droves¡­¡± Hielos then hesitated for a moment, ¡°Just that-¡±

    ¡°It''s just that the walls of Lucera are so high and thick that Alexius would have to throw everything he has to achieve his goal. But supposing the Daunian reinforcements arrives at the critical moment of the siege, not only will the siege fails, but it would likely lead to the defeat of the entire army.¡± Davos then said calmly and slowly, ¡°So Alexius needs reinforcements?¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty. You have everything under your grasp.¡± Hielos replied sincerely.

    Davos smiled. He then looked at everyone and said, ¡°We can''t let the war with Dauni drag on! Which legion do you think is more suitable to send?¡±

    ¡°The Second Legion, because most of its soldiers are in Thurii, so it is easier to assemble them, and it is close to the battlefield.¡± Kapus suggested.

    But Hielos showed his concern, ¡°With some soldiers and officers of the Second Legion are yers, I am afraid it would cause unnecessary panic among citizens if we transfer them to the battlefield now that we are holding the champions league¡­¡±

    ¡°If you want to send a legion nearest to the battlefield to support the battle against Dauni''s, then it should be the Tenth Legion.¡± Hieronymus interjected.

    ¡°But the Tenth Legion is thetest to be established, and its soldiers are almostposed of Peucetians. I am afraid¡­¡± Tolmides raised his objection.

    ¡°The Daunians are now citizens of Theonia.¡± Davos reminded and then turned to ask Hieronymus, ¡°How is the training of the Tenth Legion? Can they be sent out to fight the enemy?¡±

    ¡°There is no problem!¡± The military instructor, Hieronymus, said concisely.

    ¡°In that case¡­¡± Davos touched his chin. After pondering for a while, Davos said decisively, ¡°Sending both the Ninth and Tenth Legions into the war would be the easiest way to make them have a sense of belonging. If Bagul and the others could do it back then, the Ninth and Tenth Legions should be able to do it too! With these two legions, Alexius would have enough troops to implement his ns. However, the need for food would increase greatly.¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, you can feel at ease as our logistics department will handle this problem well.¡± Kapus immediately responded.

    ¡°Excellent!¡± Davos nodded. He then said to Philesius, ¡°I remember the legatus of the Tenth Legion should be Melisander, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Philesius answered lightly.

    ¡°Your son is talented in military matters. I look forward to his performance on the Daunian battlefield.¡± Davos siad with a smile.

    Philesius had remained silent about this matter to avoid suspicion, but he had no choice now but to say yes.

    ¡°At Melisander''s age, we were still working as mercenaries in Asia Minor while Melisander was already the head of a legion. Back then, we had to ept our employer''s demands to participate in some dangerous battles just to have enough food to eat¡­ If it weren''t for you, your majesty, how could we have our current life?!¡± Tolmides'' words resonated with several officials of the military.

    Davos smiled but didn''t participate in the conversion and just looked at the wooden model of Lucera in the centre of Dauni''s territory on the sand table. He then reached out to press it and said, ¡°That''s all for today''s military council. Since it''s still early, I won''t keep you here for lunch.¡±

    After Davos spoke those words, he found that the war room suddenly became quiet as several people looked at each other with odd expressions.

    ¡°Is there anything else?¡± Davos immediately asked.

    Finally, Hielos said, ¡°Your majesty, about Lord Antonios¡­we want to appeal for him!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, Ladician is an audacious fellow who would often go to Antonios for help. You also know that Antonios is a man who values rtionships. Besides helping him with all his strength in the South-Italian War, Ladician was also his father-inw, so he couldn''t refuse him. But since he has already been punished¡­I hope you can give him a chance to reform!¡± With Hielos opening the subject, Philesius took the opportunity to speak earnestly.

    Davos realise what they want. He then looked at their expectant expression and asked, ¡°Did Antonios ask you to say that?¡±

    ¡°How could that be possible!¡± Tolmides hastily said loudly, ¡°With Antonios'' self-righteous nature, how could hee to beg us?! It is because we believed he is a good guy as hisrade who fought side by side in Persia-¡±

    ¡°I know that.¡± Davos said lightly.

    After more than ten years in a high position, a special aura began building around Davos'' body that even if he looked calm, Philesius and the others could feel a pressure that made them unable to speak more.

    Suddenly, someone knocks on the door.

    ¡°Come in.¡± After Davos said that, the pressure Hielos and the others felt disappeared.

    Aristias, the court herald, entered the room and handed a papyrus to Davos.

    After Davos read it, he saw that the several people around him deliberately turned their eyes to other ces to avoid suspicion. He then smiled lightly and said, ¡°Sparta has sent Eudamidas to lead an advance to the Chalkidiki.¡±

    ¡°Who is Eudamidas?¡± Philesius asked curiously.

    ¡°He is Phoebidas*'' brother.¡± Aristias replied.

 Chapter 635: The Fall of Thebes

    ¡°Oh, that shrewd Phoebidas!¡±

    Apart from Cheirisophus, who came to Thurii many times to negotiate, the Spartan that the officials of the Ministry of Military were most familiar with was Phoebidas. But in the hearts of the Theonians, his image can be said to be infamous as apart from participating and leading the army of Syracuse to invade Theonia in the battle of South Italia, he also nned the massacre of Dionysius'' family. So even though the Theonians hated Dionysius, Phoebidas'' betrayal and deceit made them more disgusted.

    ¡°Your majesty, what is Phoebidas doing?¡± Tolmides asked curiously.

    ¡°The Gerousia appointed him as the suprememander against the Chalkidiki League,¡± Davos said.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Currently, Phoebidas, who several military officials of Theonia were talking about, is leading arge group through the Isthmus of Corinth. His mission was to lead Sparta''s main force to the Chalkidiki Penins to help Macedonia take back their lostnd, defeat Olynthus and break up the Chalkidiki League.

    Initially, Phoebidas wasn''t the one tasked to carry out this extremely important mission because even though the Gerousia was the one who ordered the ambush of Dionysius, some Spartan elders were disgusted with Phoebidas'' implementation. Thus they opposed letting him lead the army. It was only through Agesus¡¯ insistence that he finally got this appointment.

    As their army was about to enter the Boeotia region, Phoebidas repeatedly reminded the various officers to be vignt and cautious. That was because, after the end of the Corinthian War, Thebes was thest city-state to ept the King''s Peace treaty. Naturally, the Theban was thoroughly dissatisfied with Sparta after getting forced to break the Boeotian League that they had worked hard for. And even though Thebes didn''t provoke any actions against Sparta recently, Phoebidas didn''t dare to rx his vignce so as not to betray Agesus'' trust.

    After passing through the ruins of taea, the Spartan troops were almost near Thebes'' territory.

    As it was already gettingte, Phoebidas ordered the troops to camp on the spot.

    Just as they were busy setting up camp, a mysterious man came from Thebes and insisted on meeting Phoebidas.

    After getting led into the main tent, the man greeted Phoebidas respectfully and said, ¡°Esteemed strategos Phoebidas, I am a servant of Leontiades.¡±

    Phoebidas naturally knew who Leontiades was.

    Although Thebes hated Sparta, not everyone did. Just like how the citizens of Athens and Corinth had pro-Spartans, so did Thebes. Because of their internal propaganda, Thebes finally epted the King''s Peace treaty. And because of Sparta''s increasing might, Thebes has to re-instate the pro-Spartans they had suppressed to not provoke the Spartans and show them that Thebes is friendly to Sparta. And Leontiades was the head of the pro-Spartan faction, and he was also one of the archons of Thebes this year(Thebes also uses dual archonship.)

    After Phoebidas confirmed the Persian silver mask that Agesus gifted to Leontiades six months ago, Phoebidas'' stern expression softened as he asked, ¡°Why did Leontiades send you?¡±

    The ve, however, didn''t speak. Instead, he nced at the guards on both sides.

    Phoebidas immediately understood it but said loudly, ¡°They are the brave warriors of Sparta and are myrades; there is nothing I keep secret from them!¡±

    After hearing that, the servant said, ¡°Strategos, my master wants to invite you to lead your troops to attack Thebes'' citadel.¡±

    Even though Leontiades was elected as archon, the anti-Spartan faction ounted for the vast majority of the Council and the lesia, resulting in his authority being significantly constrained. After feeling humiliated, the proud man was determined to change this embarrassing political situation.

    So when he saw that a Spartan army was close by, and it just so happened that the Day of the Mother Earth of Thebes (Celebration of Demeter) where the citadel would be left unguarded and given to the women to celebrate the festival, Leontiades took a risk by deciding to unite with the Spartans, capture Thebes'' citadel, capture the anti-Spartans, and ultimately take control of Thebes. (On the day of Thebes'' Mother Earth''s Day, the women of the city who had been working hard at home can celebrate in the citadel. But because they are forced to stay home all year round, they would be unrestrained on this day of freedom, so the city''s men would avoid them. This celebration is simr to that of Dionysia.)

    Phoebidas was shocked after listening to the servant''s detailed narration.

    As he pondered, the Spartan adjutant interjected, ¡°Phoebidas, the task given to us by the Gerousia is to head to Chalkidiki and attack Olynthus, not to go and rashly attack Thebes and start a new war without the Gerousia''s permission.¡±

    Hearing this, the servant looked anxiously at themander of the Spartan army.

    If Phoebidas was just an ordinary Spartan strategos, he might strictly follow the Gerousia''s order without cutting corners. But Phoebidas is different. He was already daring enough before, but in the days he spent with Dionysius in the South-Italian War, he learned more about the cunning and viciousness of achieving his goals at any cost. Hence he said in a low tone, ¡°Tharex, after the Peloponnesian War, the Spartan army could freely enter and leave central Greece. But after thest war, we needed to obtain consent from several important city-states in central Greece before we could lead our armies to pass through them. Otherwise, we had to take a boat to northern Greece. Do you know why that was the case?¡±

    The adjutant named Tharex said without thinking, ¡°It is because Athens, Thebes¡­these Greek city-states who opposed us.¡±

    ¡°So you can see that it was the blockade of Athens and Thebes on us that had restricted Sparta¡¯s action on the Peloponnesian Penins. Thus we need to make Thebes an ally of Sparta again, which is far more important than attacking Chalkidiki, which was a thousand kilometres away! Now that we are close to Thebes'' territory, yet the Thebans are still going to hold the celebration, it is clear they think we will lead an army to northern Greece hence why there arepletelyx. So if we miss this great opportunity, it will be our regret!¡± When Phoebidas spoke this, he clenched his fist, and a greedy glint appeared in his eyes.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Thebes is on the in south ofke Yliki, and its city is stuck on the main road to western central Greece and Northern Greece, with mountains stretching 300 to 400 metres above sea level on both the east and west. Thebes also relied on the fertility of the ins south of theke and the trade that resulted from its convenient transportation, making it one of the major city-state of Greece itself.

    Thebes'' citadel, called Cadmea, was built atop a goose-egg-shaped teau and was one of thergest citadels among the city-states in central Greece. Due to its topography, Thebes was rectangr in shape, long from north to south and narrow from east to west, with the citadel almost immediately adjacent to the city''s eastern wall near the mountain range.

    On Mother Earth''s Day.

    Phoebidas led some troops to hide covertly in the mountains on the east side of Thebes. After Leontiades used his authority to remove the guards at the eastern gates, Phoebidas led his troops into the city and quickly captured the citadel, which was in a precarious but undefended position.

    On the other hand, the Theban council,posed of nobles, was threatened and held by the vagabonds and scoundrels employed by Leontiades, so they couldn''t summon the citizens to resist in time.

    Afterwards, the pro-Spartans formed an armed force to attack the southern city gate of Thebes, opened the gate, let the rest of the Spartan troops in, and led them to hunt and kill all the anti-Spartans wantonly into the city, plunging the city with cries and chaos.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    During the Spartans'' attack on Thebes, Pelopidas was attending a banquet hosted by Charon at his home.

    Charon is a famous, wealthy merchant in Thebes that has many friends due to his straightforward personality. For the reason that ¡®If women can revel in the citadel on Mother Earth''s Day, then we men must not treat ourselves unfairly.¡¯ he invited them to his home.

    Epaminondas, however, wasn''t included in the list as even though he was already thirty-seven years old, he remained obsessed with learning and would rarely take the initiative to participate in political matters and didn''t like making friends. Hence, he wasn''t famous in Thebes. However, since he was Pelopidas'' close friend, Pelopidas forced him toe to the banquet.

    At the banquet, Epaminondas had sat explicitly in the corner, quietly tasting the food and listening to the other guest''s discussion.

    Pelopidas, on the other hand, was energetic, articte well, quick-thinker and knowledgeable, so he was the most eye-catching among the rest. In addition, since he actively participated in politics when he became an adult, he was still young yet already held an important position in the city-state and was the most active person among the anti-Spartans. Thus many people gathered around him.

    Halfway through the banquet, a friend of theirs burst inside. He then told them that Spartans had entered the city and begun their massacre together with the members of the pro-Spartan faction.

    This rming news naturally caused great confusion at the banquet.

    Pelopidas was the first to respond and cried out, ¡°We must quickly gather the citizens to expel the Spartans! Who wille with me?!¡±

    But no one responded.

    Disappointed at their inaction, Pelopidas turned around and walked out, only to be stopped by Epaminondas, ¡°My friend, calm yourself! Just now, Phileadas clearly stated that Leontiades had conspired with the Spartans, making it easier for the Spartan army to enter the city. This was a carefully conspired n, and with the Spartans already upying the citadel and with the assistance of the traitors, it was impossible for the frightened citizens to fight against those vicious Spartan warriors without preparation. So if you go out now, you will just be food for the hungry wolves!¡±

 Chapter 636: Progress of the Daunian War

    ¡°I will never yield to the Spartans, even if it leads to my death!¡± Grief and resentment filled Pelopidas.

    Epaminondas kept calm as he gently persuaded him, ¡°Calm down, my dear friend. You sacrificing yourself isn¡¯t good for Thebes. Instead, you should quickly gather the anti-Spartan citizens who haven¡¯t yet been captured and lead them to escape from Thebes.¡±

    ¡°You would have me run away as a coward?!¡± Pelopidas looked at Epaminondas in disbelief, as if he did not know him anymore.

    Epaminondas became serious as he said, ¡°When the Thirty Tyrants reigned over Athens, Thrasybulus chose to escape. Afterwards, he led the rebels tounch attacks many times and finally liberated Athens¡­I hope you can be like him!¡±

    Thrasybulus¡¯ deeds were widely known in Thebes as Thrasybulus led the exiles to take refuge in Thebes, and the Thebans took them in and provided them with support.

    As Pelopidas began considering it, Charon and his other friends came to persuade him.

    Finally, Pelopidas made up his mind, ¡°Alright, I will go to Athens!¡±

    While his friends all said goodbye to Pelopidas, Charon gave him a box containing gold and silver.

    Pelopidas then hurried on the road to escape, but he swore to the gods that he would return to Thebes!

    Everyone looked at Epaminondas after Pelopidas left. Even though everyone panicked when faced with this terrible news, Epaminondas kept calm as he persuaded the stubborn Pelopidas to go, which made Charon and the others look at this ordinary-looking man with awe. They then insisted that he should stay in this ce.

    Once the chaos in the city subsided, Epaminondas left immediately.

    As he walked into the previously lively city because of the festival, the only thing he could see now was just a few people and puddles of blood in the streets. And from time to time, he would be questioned by the rude and arrogant Spartan patrols. Thus the always kind Epaminondas had his heart burning with anger¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, Sparta had carried out its attack perfectly, with Phoebidas takingplete control of the city of Thebes,

    This incident also quickly shook the other city-states in central Greece, as Sparta had taken a city-state that wasn¡¯t hostile without dering war. With Sparta clearly viting Greek traditions and breaching the King¡¯s Peace treaty, the other city-state began to feel uneasy. Athens, Corinth, Megara, Argos and other city-states sent delegates to Sparta to question them and demand they withdraw their troops stationed in Thebes.

    For some time, the Gerousia fell into a passive state, with some elders berating Phoebidas for his recklessness. However, many more were pleased with the sess of Phoebidas¡¯ attack on Thebes, especially Agesus, who stated that: ¡®Phoebidas sessfully establishing a pro-Spartan government at Thebes is a great victory! Because even Lysander failed to bring Thebes fully to Sparta during and after the Peloponnesian War, while Phoebidas did it!¡¯

    But they must still do some superficial work to appease the anger of the other city-state. So the Gerousia decided to fine Phoebidas 100,000 drachmaes for misconduct (which he never really paid) and to return to Sparta and reflect on his actions. But they also announced that Phoebidas attacked the city of Thebes because they learned that the other polemarchos of Thebes, Ismenias, was secretly coborating with Persia.

    As one of the heads of the anti-Spartan faction of Thebes, the Spartans captured Ismenias once they breached the city so they couldy the charge on him. Then they dered that they would organise juries with the other city-states to judge the matter.

    ¡®How dare Sparta try the ruler of Thebes for the crime of secretly coborating with Persia?! That is ridiculous! Isn¡¯t Sparta the biggest dog of Persia?!!¡¯

    The local Greeks inwardly swore at ¡®Sparta¡¯s audacity¡¯ once again as they looked at the jury¡¯sposition: Apart from the Spartans, the others are citizens of Sparta¡¯s allies in the Peloponnese, so there is no justice to speak of as they all followed what Sparta dictates!

    In the end, Sparta executed Ismenias for the crime of colluding with the enemy. And after summoning back Phoebidas, they sent another strategos to take over the defence of Thebes¡¯ citadel with 1,500 Spartan warriors remaining stationed.

    The Spartans remained thick skin in the ace of the other city-state usations as they firmly grasped the results of Phoebidas without making any changes. And even though Athens, Corinth, Argos and the other city-state protested against this result, they did not take any more drastic action as the King¡¯s Peace treaty weakened their strength. Moreover, Sparta¡¯s strength forced them to hold on to their dissatisfaction. Still, Athens began providing support for the Theban, who continued to flee and seek refuge.

    Although the Gerousia recalled Phoebidas, the task of suppressing the Chalkidiki League in northern Greece had to continue. Thus the Gerousia appointed Agesus¡¯ brother, Teleutias, who had performed excellently in the Corinthian War.

    At the same time, the Gerousia also decided to restore the city of taea, which Sparta destroyed 50 years ago. This town is just south of Thebes, guarding a passage from Corinth¡¯s Isthmus to the Boeotia region. Finally, Sparta will now start expanding in central Greece.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Brothers, get up! We have a task!¡± The squad leader got into the tent and shouted.

    The soldiers lying in bed and resting sat up immediately.

    ¡°Captain, what¡¯s the mission?!¡± Adoris asked first.

    ¡°Commander Alexius ordered our Fourth Legion to attack Sipontum.¡± The squad leader replied.

    ¡°Just one legion?¡±

    ¡°Of course, the other legions also have their task. For example, the First Legion is going to attack Vieste¡­¡±

    ¡°Vieste, that ce is really troublesome.¡± Adoris¡¯ casual remark aroused the curiosity of hisrades, ¡°Adoris, is it difficult to attack Vieste?¡±

    ¡°That isn¡¯t the case.¡± Compared to these warriors who knew nothing about the Dauni region, Adoris had learned about it in detail from his father before the war against Dauni started. ¡°Vieste is a small town that has less than 10,000 poption. However, it is located at the top of the Gargano penins and is at least 75 kilometres from Lucera to Vieste. And since half of it is mountainous, the First Legion would have to take a long detour and march along the coast for safety¡­¡±

    ¡°How far are we from Sipontum?¡± Asked another soldier

    Adoris thought for a moment and said, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be more than 25 kilometres.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± the soldiers sighed in relief.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be happy too early. We might encounter Daunian warriors at any time on our way, so legatus Olivos asked us to march fully armed!¡±

    The squad leader¡¯s warning didn¡¯t make the soldiers dissatisfied. From the beginning of the war until now, the casualties of the Theonian army were small. However, the recruits who had experienced many battles had shed their initial enthusiasm and longing as they felt the cruelty and viciousness of war, which included Adoris.

    ¡°Put on your armour, pick up your weapons and gather outside. If you arete, you will experience the discipline of legatus Olivos!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although the Theonian army captured Lucera, Alexius only allowed the First Legion to enter the city to maintain order, while the other legions continued to stay in their camps outside the city. After all, the Daunians would soon be the people of Theonia, so too many soldiers entering the city would be unmanageable and inevitably lead to conflicts and disputes. And Alexius was afraid that the Daunians¡¯ extreme antipathy towards the Theonians would lead to revolts, making it difficult to govern the ce in the future.

    After the Fourth Legion assembled, they left the camp and marched eastward.

    After a short walk, they saw the broken city wall of Lucera standing not far from the north, which told the tragedy of the siege the day before yesterday.

    Adoris still clearly remembers it:

    ¡°That morning, the army surrounded the city of Lucera, with thousands of cavalry galloping around and the Tenth Legion acting as a reserve to detect and defend the arrival of Daunian reinforcements.

    The Fourth Legion he belonged to was responsible for attacking the west. On their side alone, they were equipped with 20 ballistae and four colossal siege towers.

    At themand of legatus Olivos, the soldiers started firing the ballistae, pushed the siege towers forward, and the soldiers carried siegedders as they rushed towards the city walls while shouting the name of Hades. Such a sight was even more exhrating for Adoris than the previous Battle of Ofanto, as his brigade acted as the second wave of the siege this time. So even though he didn¡¯t immediately engage in the battle, he could watch the whole battlefield more clearly.

    Although he didn¡¯t know if it was because of him that Olivos had put his brigade in reserve, he didn¡¯t stop worrying over the siege battle that was being stalled and ached every time he saw soldiers falling from the city wall from time to time.

    But it was only when a centuria attacked the top of the city wall did legatus Olivos ordered the reserve troops to attack, so Adoris and hisrades rushed up thedder of the siege tower with high morale and swiftness to attack the frightened defenders¡­

    The Daunians¡¯ resistance didn¡¯tst long before it ended. While they were excited about the victory, the legatus sent people to clean up the battlefield; there, they saw their wounded and groaningrades, as well as many brothers who died in battle. Adoris, who was in high spirits, felt like a jar of cold water was poured on him as he experienced at that moment the cruelty of war¡­

    ¡°Do you think we can still watch the champions league when we return to Thurii after the war ends?¡± arade beside him interrupted Adoris¡¯ thoughts.

 Chapter 637: End of the Daunian War

    Adoris thought for a moment and said regretfully, ¡°If we base it on the usual process, they should either be already holding the quarter-finals or semi-finals. So we should not be able to watch it.¡±

    The soldier in front of Adoris turned around and interjected, ¡°Don''t think about it. Even if this war end soon, we can''t immediately return as we will need to be stationed in the various Daunian towns to ensure the safety of the officials that would govern this area. Isn''t that what we did in Messapi and Peuceti before?!¡±

    ¡°I heard the Dauanians aren''t as fierce as the Messapians and the Peucetians, so they might not cause constant revolts. Maybe we don''t even have to stay here for so long.¡± Another soldier guessed.

    ¡°That''s just your childish idea. His majesty King Davos and the Senate don''t think so, right Adoris?¡± The soldier in front looked at Adoris.

    On the contrary, Adoris just shrugged, ¡°I don''t know, but I hope everyone can go home safely and enjoy the rewards the kingdom will give us.¡±

    ¡°Do you think we can get an allocatednd or two here based on our contributions in this war? After all, thend here is as fertile as the Sybarite in.¡±

    ¡°How do I know? You should ask the statistician of the logistics brigade.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While talking andughing, the soldiers forgot their exhaustion from marching and arrived at the lower reaches of the Cervaro river more than three hourster.

    Sipontum is just on the north bank of the Cervaro estuary, where several rivers meet and form argeke.

    In Alexius'' sight, Sipontum has quite a good port. Thus by taking it, they would make transportation of supplies for the whole army far easier.

    At this time, the herald rushed from the front, shouting, ¡°Enemy spotted on the opposite bank, prepare for battle!¡±

    The soldiers immediately became excited. After all, it was easier to fight the enemy outside the city than to siege a city, making this an easy battle.

    Soon, the centurion ordered to change the column into a row.

    Under themand of the various officers, Adoris and his colleagues faced the Cervaro river and formed a small phnx formation.

    Suddenly, they could hear a huge sigh from the front.

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°s¡­I heard Sipontum wanted to surrender!¡±

    ¡°Ah?!¡­¡± The soldiers sighed.

    But the officers still warned them not to loosen their vignce and guard against the enemy''s deception.

    However, the people of Sipontum really just surrendered.

    Their defeat in the Battle of Ofanto and the capture of the city of Lucera in just a day made the Duanian tribes terrified at the powerful military strength shown by the kingdom of Theonia. Thus besides Sipontum, Ausculum and other towns also surrendered one after another, resulting in the Daunian War ending.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In early November, the weather in Thurii began to cool, and the nearly month-long fanatical atmosphere caused by the Rugby Champions League in early October had just subsided. However, they would soon hold the Triumphant Return, bringing the whole city into a festive atmosphere again.

    While some soldiers of the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth Legions were excited about the early arrival of the Triumphant Return in the camp just west of the city of Thurii, Alexius was meeting with the people from the Ministry of Military in themander''s quarter.

    ¡°What do you mean¡­by us having to wait here for another two days?! Our brothers have been out for more than two months and are eager to return to their home, yet you are making us wait here for five days!¡± Alexiusined unhappily.

    ¡°This is his majesty and the Senate''s words, not mine. I am just responsible for conveying it.¡± Tolmides frankly said.

    Upon hearing that it was Davos'' will, Alexius stopped talking, but his face still showed unhappiness.

    Tolmides then patiently exined, ¡°The Eighth Legion is on its way and will arrive by tomorrow. So his majesty hopes tobine these two victories and have a massive Triumphant Return so we can avoid holding one now and another in two days. Not only will the people be tired of it, but it is also unfair to the soldiers who fought bloody battles. And his majesty was afraid that you would have differing ideas, so he specially asked me to inform you, hoping you can understand!¡±

    Realising he had gone too far, Alexius said, ¡°I have no objection; we can wait. On the contrary, we are delighted to participate in the Triumphant Return with the Eighth Legion led by Prosous.¡±

    ¡°These young officers are really amazing!¡± Tolmides sighed, ¡°Like Prosous, who is less than 40 years old, yet he could take charge of a battlefield and lead the war!¡±

    ¡°Where is Prosous from?¡± Alexius asked curiously.

    ¡°He is from Argos and had arrived in Thurii just after the establishment of the Theonia Union. But because of his excellent performance at the training camp, Matonis directly drafted him into his brigade¡­¡± Tolmides had more information about the various officers as he served under the Army Staff

    ¡°It seems that Prosous kept performing excellently. No wonder his majesty boldly allowed him to take charge of the war against the Sikeloi. And I thought he was a mercenary from our Persian expedition before¡­¡± Alexiusined.

    Tolmides didn''t continue the topic and instead changed the subject, ¡°These legions under yourmand also have many excellent young officers. Especially Patroclus, who, during the siege on the city of Lucera, had his brigade the first to enter the city. His majesty was delighted reading those battle reports. Unfortunately, he crossed out his name from the list of candidates you submitted to the Ministry of Military to be the g bearer of this Triumphant Return.¡±

    Although Alexius had some guesses after hearing that, he still asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°His majesty doesn''t want him to be too shy as it might lead the people to think that his majesty favoured him¡­¡± Tolmides replied vaguely.

    Alexius'' adopted daughter Giada and Cynthia are close friends, so Alexius knew something about that. Hearing that, he smiled with understanding, ¡°It seems I have to congratte his majesty!¡±

    ¡°Alexius, I also want to congratte you.¡± Tolmides smiled.

    ¡°About what?¡± Alexius was dumbfounded.

    ¡°Amintas'' adopted son, Sthephilos, has done well in this war with the Sikeloi. Thus Prosous included him in the list of candidates for the g bearer of the Eighth Legion in the Triumphant Return.¡± Tolmides said with a smile.

    Ever since Sthephilos beat up Phragres, the story of ¡°Sthephilos and Giada being lovers¡± had been widely spread to everyone in the military''s hierarchy. And if it wasn''t for Amintas transferring his adopted son to Sicily to avoid trouble, the two might have married already.

    ¡°Didn''t Sthephilos serve as an adjutant of Prosous? How was he able to gain merits?¡± Alexius asked in surprise.

    ¡°You might not know it yet, but Prosous allowed him to lead a centuria,¡± Tolmides replied.

    Alexius didn''t expect such a move from the young and unsociable legatus. Still, whether it was intentional or not, Alexius had to ept it.

    ¡°And allow me to tell you a secret.¡± Tolmides approached him with an odd expression, ¡°His majesty has informed the Ministry of Military that he would transfer Sthephilos back to Thurii.¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡± Alexius asked in surprise.

    ¡°Of course! After all, his majesty is more concerned about Giada''s marriage than her father. Say, when will you invite us to the wedding?¡± Tolmides said half-jokingly.

    Alexius then said thoughtfully, ¡°I still have to discuss it with Amintas, but it must be after Cynthia''s wedding.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, November 5, the main road from the northern part of Thurii to the Nike Square was sprinkled with fresh water, flowers and gs as the Theonians poured in from all directions, crowding both sides of the road. The biggest difference between this time and the previous Triumphant Return is that many Messapians and Peucetians hade.

    As the high-pitched sound of the salpinx rang throughout the city, the Triumphant Return began.

    After the army set out from the camp and arrived on the city''s outskirts, they began to march forward in four columns.

    At the forefront was the g bearer holding the g of the kingdom of Theonia. Since the South-Italian War, the newly changed militaryw stiptes that the g bearer in the Triumphant Return must be the bravest and most outstanding soldier in the war, for he would be the model for all the soldiers in the army. In addition, this honour isn''t shared by officers. (Squad leader isn''t an officer.)

    Behind the kingdom¡¯s g bearer is the g bearer of the legion, who performed outstandingly in the battle. This time, it isn''t limited to soldiers: The First Cavalry Legion, the First, the Fourth, the Ninth, and the Tenth Legion all have six legion gs lined up, which is really imposing.

    Following them were dozens of drummers ying the ¡¶Victory March¡·, adding liveliness to the asion.

    Then the soldiers of the First Legion marched forward with their heads held high¡­

    But just as they were about to enter the outer area of the city, the people of Theonia weed them with cheers and screams, bombarding the soldier¡¯s eardrums: Some frolicking children imitated their marching, some of the enthusiastic girls chased them to throw petals, and some excited rtives and friends shouted the soldiers'' names¡­

    In such a lively atmosphere, these legion soldiers no longer knew what was happening as only a silly smile appeared on their faces. Even Adoris, who had seen the Triumphant Return many times, was now too excited. After all, this is his first participating in a way and enjoying the glory.

    Among the enthusiastic audience, some began asking, ¡°Hey, why are there two g bearers walking at the forefront this time?¡±

    ¡°Haven''t you read the announcement posted by the Senate? This time''s Triumphant Return was to celebrate winning two wars. One is the war against the Dauni, and the other is the war against the Sikeloi. So to show fairness, they selected g bearers from the two armies participating in these two wars.¡±

 Chapter 638: Meeting his future father-in-law

    ¡°The soldier holding the kingdom''s g should be a Messapian, right?¡±

    ¡°The announcement mentioned that his name was Lakares, a soldier of the Ninth Legion(the Ninth Legion was mainlyposed of Messapians). When capturing the city of Lucera, he rushed to the top of the city wall and killed four enemies while getting stabbed several times. However, he kept fighting until hisrades managed to rush to the top of the city wall¡­¡±

    ¡°It''s no wonder bandages are still wrapped around his body. Such a brave soldier is naturally worthy of the honour of being the g bearer of this Triumphant Return!¡±

    ¡°Lakares is a famous warrior in our city of Rudiae!¡± Someone interjected with broken Greek.

    In such a festivity, everyone became open-minded as they all put aside the conflicts and disputes of the past. Then the man said happily, ¡°Both Greeks and Messapians are Theonians. And with you Messapians joining Theonia, our army became stronger!¡±

    ¡°Victory to the Theonian Legion!¡±

    ¡°Victory to the Ninth Legion!¡±

    ¡°Bravo, Lakares!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The marching column then reaches the first Arc de Triomphe, the starting point of the northern outer area of the city of Thurii.

    This Arc de Triomphe was built after the South-Italian War. The four carvings on the arch showed the four soul-stirring battles that determined the fate of Theonia in the South-Italian War. They are the Battle of Poseidonia, the Battle of Thurii, the Battle of Crotone, and the Battle of Megalos.

    The soldiers passing through the Arc de Triomphe became more eager to make more achievements and be remembered by the history of the Kingdom of Theonia¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Audiences filled up the seats around Nike Square. Unlike those on the road, the audiences here have different statuses, such as foreign delegates, invited dignitaries, kingdom officials and officers, and their family members¡­

    Of course, this also includes Davos'' family, who sat on the viewing tform beside the Grand Senate Hall with the statesmen''s families and the soldiers surrounding them.

    ¡°Giada, you shouldn''t stretch your neck too much. The parade would still take some time to get here. Unlike before when it only takes three kilometres to reach the inner part of the city from the outer ¨C ouch!¡± A young girl knocked the head of the quirky girl while rebuking her in a soft voice, ¡°Eunice, don''t be so rude! Giada is older than you; you should call her sister!¡±

    ¡°Fine, sister Giada!¡± afterwards, Eunice''s big eye glimmered with guile, ¡°You don''t have to find him hard. After all, Sthephilos is the g bearer of the Eighth Legion and should be walking at the front of the column, so you don''t even need to stretch your neck to find him.¡±

    When the petite and beautiful Giada heard this, a blush appeared on her face as she hurriedly withdrew her body from the railings. Seeing the two sisters sniggering, Giada hurriedly exined, ¡°I am not searching Sthephilos. I was just helping¡­Cynthia find Patroclus.¡±

    ¡°My sister would soon be engaged to Patroclus, so she isn''t as anxious as you!¡± Eunice blurted. Although her voice wasn''t loud, it still caused the people around them to exim.

    Cynthia became shy and immediately knocked Eunice, ¡°Stop talking nonsense!¡±

    Eunice didn''t care and said with a smile, ¡°Sister Giada, as you can see, my sister is getting married. So when will you and Sthephilos get married?¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡­¡±

    ¡°Eunice!¡±

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Alexius was riding in an elegant chariot drawn by four ck horses. Today, the kingdom of Theonia is no longer as poor as it was at the beginning, so it is now easier for them to find four tall and beautiful pure ck horses.

    Behind him was Leotychides, also riding a chariot drawn by four horses.

    Next were the several legatus, such as Amintas and Olivos, who was somewhat ufortable as they each rode chariots drawn by two horses.

    Leotychides stood on the carriage with his chest straight as he weed the cheers and praises of thousands of people. Although he had participated in numerous Triumphant Returns, this would be the first time he would participate as an armymander. Thus the attention he received in a leading role was naturally different from that of the past, making him quite excited that he would asionally wave to the audience.

    When their carriage entered the Nike Square, thunderous cheers rang out even more overwhelmingly.

    After circling the square, the carriage stopped in front of the Senate Hall.

    Alexius, Leotychides and several legatus got out of the carriage and walked up the stairs solemnly.

    On the viewing tform at the end of the steps stood the esteemed statesmen of the kingdom, and in the middle was King Davos.

    ¡°Your majesty!¡± Alexius, the first to reach the top of the tform, saluted with respect.

    Davos returned his salute and said, ¡°Alexius, thank you for working hard! Thank you for adding new territory and people to the kingdom!¡±

    ¡°That is my duty as the militarymander!¡± Alexius replied.

    With a smile, Davos took the golden sceptre of victory from Henipolis and handed it over to Alexius. The sceptre was one-foot-long, made of gold, and topped by a beautifully carved statue of the goddess of Victory, which is a reward formanders returning from victory. Nowadays, the kingdom no longer gives verbal recognition to the victors but more substantial prizes.

    And this prize is the highest reward for the strategos of the kingdom whomands the war. Therefore, Alexius, who usually doesn''t pay much attention to wealth, receives the sceptre with emotion as he presses it tightly on his chest.

    ¡°Your majesty!¡± Leotychides also gave a neat military salute.

    ¡°Prosous, you''ve done a good job!¡± Davos smiled more, ¡°You''ve lived up to my expectations and even exceeded the expectations of many people!¡±

    Davos said, handing over the sceptre of victory. After Leotychides received it, Davos gave him a powerful pat on the shoulder as he said, ¡°I look forward to your next victory!¡±

    Leotychides became excited as he understood that King Davos valued him very much. Thus for a moment, he didn''t even know what to say and just repeatedly said, ¡°Yes! Yes!¡­¡±

    Davos then handed silver sceptres to Amintas, Olivos and the other legatus.

    When he was about to put on the Cerberus medals made of gold to the several g bearers, Davos saw Lakares from Messapi wrapped in bandages. Soon, emotion overwhelmed his heart as he remembered the sight where he gave the g to Drakos, who was also covered with wounds more than ten years ago in Amendra. Thus he gave the brave soldier a strong embrace, grabbed his hand and raised it high.

    Seeing that, the soldiers in the square cheered loudly, especially those from Messapi and Peuceti.

    After putting on the medals for the g bearers one by one, Davos strode to the tform and shouted to the thousands of soldiers under, ¡°O brave soldiers of Theonia; O loyal citizens of the kingdom!¡­¡±

    ¡°All hail, Theonia!!!¡­¡±

    ¡°All hail, king Davos!!!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With that, the Triumphant Return ended with the cheers of the soldiers.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The day after the end of the Triumphant Return, Patroclus received a notice from the Ministry of Military asking him to go to the pce immediately.

    Although he had learned about it from Cynthiast night, Patroclus was still worried while on his way. After all, this would be the first time he would meet King Davos alone.

    When he reached the door of the king''s office on the second floor of the pce, Henipolis came out without the guards having had the time to go in and report. Seeing Patroclus, the court clerk who was once the ¡®youngest statesman¡¯ looked at him with interest. He then smiled and said, ¡°Congrattions, young man!¡± Afterwards, he turned around and went back inside.

    After a while, he came out again, bringing the two scribes out. But when passing Patroclus, heforted him by saying, ¡°Go in, don''t be nervous.¡±

    Patroclus then said gratefully, ¡°Thank you, Lord Henipolis!¡±

    Patroclus then went in quietly. Inside, only one person remained.

    The founder of the kingdom of Theonia, the suprememander of the Theonian army, the descendant of Hades and also the father of Cynthia ¨C King Davos. He was sitting behind his desk, more than twenty metres away, as he gazed at Patroclus calmly.

    The usually daring Patroclus couldn''t help but feel his heart beat rapidly.

    ¡°Your majesty¡­I have arrived.¡± Patroclus tried to control his body and saluted Davos.

    Davos just looked at him with scrutiny and kindness. Seeing Patroclus'' nervousness, Davos said gently, ¡°Patroclus, take a seat.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Patroclus sat on the chair beside him. It was only when his mind calmed down a little that he felt his mouth dry, causing him to swallow his saliva unconsciously.

    Davos smiled and said, ¡°If you are thirsty, I''ll get you some water.¡±

    ¡°No, thank you, your majesty!¡± Patroclus hurriedly waved his hands.

    ¡°Before the Triumphant Return, I reviewed the list of candidates sent by Alexius to serve as the g bearer of the legion. But I deliberately removed your name from it.¡± said Davos slowly, ¡°You must haveints, right?¡±

    ¡°No, your majesty,¡± Patroclus said without thinking.

    ¡°Do you know why I did that?¡± Davos asked further.

    ¡°It''s¡­to avoid suspicion,¡± Patroclus answered in an uncertain tone.

    ¡°Yes, to avoid suspicion,¡± after affirming it, Davos said, ¡°You have quite a great talent in the military. But once you marry Cynthia, you will be shrouded with the background of the royal family, and others will think that everything you achieved is a result of me taking care of you. Hence there will be many more things like this to avoid suspicion in the future, and you probably will not be the ¡®youngest legatus¡¯, nor ¡®the youngest armymander¡¯ like Prosous¡­¡±

 Chapter 639: The Akademia

    Davos'' words caused Patroclus to bite his lips.

    Davos looked at him and said, ¡°If you be my son-inw, your future will be more difficult. So are you still willing to marry Cynthia?¡±

    As Davos'' voice fell, Patroclus eximed, ¡°I am! I am willing to take Cynthia as my wife! And I will make more contributions to prove my ability and change people''s prejudice!¡±

    Davos looked at the confident and spirited young man in front of him. With admiration in his eyes, Davos said, ¡°Tomorrow evening, I will hold a private banquet at my home. So I wish to invite you and your parents to discuss your engagement with Cynthia.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After conquering Dauni, the next step was to govern this newly conquerednd.

    In Theonia''s Senate, Davos approved the praetors of the Daunian towns that the Senate elected. However, Davos vetoed the candidates of one of the most problematic towns ¨C Lucera, until Androlis proposed a name that everyone had almost forgotten ¨C Antonios. Only when most statesmen who were former mercenaries, Lucanian statesmen, Bruttian statesmen, and so on gave their support did those wise statesmen realise this was Davos¡¯ will.

    Antonios, who kept iming that he was ill at home and didn''t see anyone else, received the letter of appointment signed by Davos and sent by the court''s herald, Aristias.

    During this period, Antonios had gotten used to seeing the once bustling mansion turned deserted, his wife crying every day due to her father''s imprisonment and her brother''s execution,ining that he had not helped. Antonios had experienced so much in the past few months that when he looked at the appointment letter in his hand, his eyes became moist as he knew that King Davos hadn''t forgotten him. From this appointment, he could see that only a statesman who made outstanding achievements and was highly valued by Davos could serve as the praetor of Dauni''s central town, Lucera.

    ¡°His majesty asked me to convey his words to you.¡± said Aristias bluntly, ¡°I hope you can learn from the past, govern Lucera well and make the Daunians integrate into Theonia as soon as possible.¡±

    Antonios replied excitedly, ¡°I will not let his majesty down!¡±

    After that, he declined the invitation of those statesmen who were former mercenaries, such as Kapus, Philesius and Amintas, to hold a celebration party for his return. Then the early morning of the following day, he took only two attendants with him and quietly went to Lucera to take his post.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Teleutias, the brother of the Spartan king Agesus, led the Spartan army to march northward at a leisurely pace until the spring of the following year (that is, the eleventh year of the kingdom of Theonia, 382 B.C.). Once he arrived at the Chalkidiki Penins, he was warmly weed and strongly assisted by the Macedonian king, Amyntas, who provided him with many cavalries. And after winning two battles, they manage to approach the city of Olynthus. But during the siege, the Chalkidiki League''s reinforcements, who came to support Olynthus, defeated the Spartan army and killed itsmander, Teleutias.

    Once this news reached Sparta, it resulted in unrest.

    And Agesus became so disheartened that he had caught an illness that left him bedridden.

    After a discussion, the Gerousia decided they would neverpromise with the Chalkidiki League led by Olynthus and would instead continue their attack until they destroyed them. Otherwise, they will not be able to restore Sparta''s prestige in Greece.

    Thus, Sparta started a war mobilisation order to its allies in Peloponnese, preparing to gather arge coalition to fight in northern Greece and handing the army''smand to another Spartan king, Agesipolis.

    With the fall of Thebes, the Athenians became more uneasy, so they gave their full assistance to the exiled Thebans by establishing multiple shelters in the mountains between Attica and Boeotia. But while Athens remained wary of Sparta, they were reluctant to openly turn them into enemies, especially now that Sparta was so strong. Instead, they just paid close attention to Sparta''s movements.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the northwest outskirts of Athens, there is a school called the Akademia near the grove of olive trees by the Cephissus river.

    On the bank of a river with flowing water, green grasses and flowers in full blossom stand in this courtyard, whose door is a rustic arch with the words ¡°Let no one ignorant of geometry enter¡±.

    In a small pavilion in the courtyard were dozen young people sitting around as they listened attentively to a middle-aged man giving a lecture.

    This middle-aged man has a broad forehead, deep eyes, and broad shoulders. Although he isn¡¯t too tall, he is rtively burly. In addition, he emanates a kind of elegant and quiet temperament. He was to, the famous schr in all of Greece.

    to was well educated from an early age as he was from a distinguished household. During his youth, he was pretty fond of poetry and drama until he met Socrates at a poetry contest and had a discussion. After that, he threw his poems into the fire, burning them on the spot and took Socrates as his teacher.

    That year, to was just twenty years old.

    After Socrates was tried and executed, to, who was extremely disappointed with Athens'' government, began his travel life. He went to Ma, Asia Minor, Persia, Egypt, Cyrenaica, and Sicily one after another and finally returned to Athens because of an ident.

    Although to was still interested in politics due to his family, he became disappointed again at Athens'' political conservatism after the loss of Thrasybulus and the strife between the various factions. After a long-term journey to other Greek city-states and other ces outside of Greece, his experience and knowledge significantly increased. However, he also felt that it wasn''t easy to manage a city-state without specialised expertise in governance and a group of like-minded friends, as it would not be fruitless and might cost him his life. Hence, with his friends'' support, to founded the Akademia to train a group of talents who understood philosophy and natural science and could govern the state after returning to Athens. And through them, he would change the status quo of Athens and other Greek city-states, indirectly making his political idealse true.

    Now, its been five years since the Akademia''s establishment. Besides having many Athenian youths be his students, he also got some foreign youths to visit him and worship him under his tutge, making his Akademia gradually be famous.

    At this time, to said in a calm but hoarse tone, ¡°¡­Yesterday, I discussed why I believe aristocracy, like in ancient times, is the best government. Today, I want to discuss why such a government had declined.¡±

    The youths immediately became interested as they listened to him attentively.

    ¡°Although the rulers would always try their best to make their children receive the best education so that they could be wise and use their knowledge to discern things and act correctly. But as time affects the growth and development of animals and nts, so do human marriage and childbearing. The rulers could not always correctly choose the time for them to have children by using observation and rational thought, as they would sometimes get it wrong and conceive children too early¡­

    Thus the rulers selected from these degenerated descendants cannot be the best. And after they take over their parents'' position, they would look down on those wise people in the city, and despise music, education and physical training, so the young people in the city-state would increasingly be uneducated¡­ Thus, they and their descendants would gradually lose the qualities a true ruler should have and lose the ability to distinguish between gold, silver, and bronze-souled people from iron-souled. And once iron and bronze-souled people were mixed with gold and silver-souled, it would produce imbnce, inconsistency and disharmony. And once disagreement and inconsistency appear, it would cause war and hatred¡­¡±

    The student pondered deeply.

    After a while, one of the students asked, ¡°Teacher to, do you mean that¡­marriage at an inappropriate time, the mixture of lineages, and the loss of purity are the main reasons for the decline of aristocracy?¡±

    ¡°Aurelius, you understand it correctly.¡± after praising his student, to continued, ¡°Once a conflict arises, these groups under the ruler would develop in two different directions. The bronze and the iron-souled group tended to private ventures, annexingnd and houses and collecting money. On the other hand, the gold and silver-souled group tended towards virtue and tradition because of the genuine wealth they possessed in their hearts. And after these two groups fought with each other, they would reach apromise¡­they would privately take thend and houses of the city-state as their own while turning their former friends and supporters into wanderers and ves¡­this led to the emergence of a new regime, which I call timocracy.¡±

    The students became lost in their thoughts.

    A student asked in doubt, ¡°Teacher to, how can we know when it is time to get married?¡±

    ¡°Speusippus, that is a good question, as it has stumped even me,¡± to said with a smile on his face. He then continued, ¡°The truth is that even the gods couldn''t marry at the right time. Otherwise, there wouldn''t have been so many powerful monsters in ancient times. But after a long time of pondering, I came to some understanding of the subject and have borated it in my book the¡¶Republic¡·. That is to make an outstanding person marry another outstanding person at the right time and give birth to the best.¡±

    What is an outstanding person? Besides the men of the city-state, the women also needed to be treated equally as the men, allowing them to get a good education. Let them train in sports, study literature, music, mathematics¡­and during the process, they would be able to find out whether she is a golden-souled or silver-souled, or of the bronze or iron-souled, and choose the best of them to be married with the best. However, they still shouldn''t have children too early.

 Chapter 640: Plato

    Because even if a person is outstanding, they are prone to impulsiveness, recklessness and temptation when young due to theirck of knowledge and experience. And the children conceived during that time would inherit those shorings, while children born once those outstanding persons are mature would be prudent and thoughtful¡­¡±

    Hearing this, some students looked happy as they had gained something while some were still pondering.

    Speusippus continued asking, ¡°Teacher, you once said that of the current Greek city-state, Sparta has the best aristocracy you have ever seen. Creating such positions as dual kings, the Gerousia and the Ephors¡­made Sparta a mixed aristocracy, where no party held absolute arbitrary power, which resulted in restraining those who greed for power¡­

    Yet Sparta vited the Greek tradition and forcibly upied Thebes. What''s your opinion of that?¡±

    ¡°Speusippus.¡± to faced Speusippus with affection in his eyes. After all, Speusippus was the son of his sister Potone. ¡°When I said that Sparta has the best aristocracy, it does not mean that they should follow the rules and be a city-state that adheres to Greek traditionspletely. On the contrary, it is precisely this system of governance that allowed Sparta to dominate the Peloponnese for a long time without major internal problems. Is it not because of Sparta''s regimes that they could still hold onto their dominance over the Greek city-states in today''s chaotic situation?

    However, Thebes isn''t just some weak city-state, so Sparta couldn''t easily enve thempletely. On the contrary, their prolonged upation of Thebes'' citadel would only increase the antipathy of the Thebans toward Sparta. And one day, this antipathy will spark a fire that would burn down the Spartan army, just like when Thrasybulos led the Athenian poption to overthrow the tyrant''s rule¡­¡±

    ¡°Teacher to, since Sparta is the best aristocracy among the Greek city-state, what do you think of Theonia''s aristocracy?¡± asked Ariphron of Corinth.

    ¡®Theonia!¡¯ Hearing that city''s name, to''s heart rippled. He once yearned to visit this city-state union in the western Mediterranean, but he failed to do so for various reasons, which became one of his regrets.

    While to was distracted, Aurelius retorted, ¡°Theonia isn''t a Greek city-state.¡±

    Ariphron retorted, ¡°You watch the y ¡¶the Theonians¡· too much! The main race in the kingdom of Theonia is Greek, and the centre of the kingdom is the city of Thurii, a city built by Pericles by calling all the Greeks. There are also Crotone, Taranto, and Locri as part of the kingdom¡­and those are all famous Greek cities in the western Mediterranean. So howe Theonia is not Greek?!¡±

    ¡°The Delphic hasn''t recognised Theonia! They can''t even participate in the four major games, so how can Theonia be recognised as Greek?¡± Aurelius retorted again.

    ¡°I heard Elis, at the behest of Sparta, invited Theonia several times, but Theonia said that they would only send a representative team if they agreed to allow their citizens of different races to participate. But since Elis didn''t agree, so Theonia never participated in the Olympics.¡± Speusippus reminded.

    ¡°Doesn''t this just mean the Greek city-states doubt Theonia''s identity?¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Instead of stopping his students from debating, to just listened to their opinions as he was also thinking about how to better answer Ariphron''s question.

    At this time, the guard of the Akademia came over and said to to, ¡°Someone outside asked to meet you, and he said he was from Theonia.¡±

    As soon as the guard said that, everyone stopped talking.

    ¡®We are just talking about Theonia, yet a Theonian unexpectedly came here?! This is too coincidental!¡¯

    ¡°Let him enter.¡± to was also curious as he had no friends in Theonia, and the only one he knew was Lysias, who he heard was enjoying a good life in Thurii.

    After a while, the guard led a young man to them.

    The curious eyes of everyone focused on the young man. However, the young man felt no pressure at all as he greeted to graciously and said respectfully, ¡°I am Phaestokiadas, from Theonia''s Akademia. I was ordered by teacher Gorgias to deliver a letter from him to you and to await your reply.¡±

    ¡®Gorgias!¡¯ to was so surprised that he asked, ¡°I remember that Gorgias should be in Leontinoi. I visited him when I was in Sicily a few years ago, so when did he go to Theonia?¡±

    Phaestokiadas replied after thinking for a while, ¡°Around the sixth year of Theonia. King Davos personally invited him to work as a teacher in Theonia''s Akademia, and he epted the invitation.¡±

    to had studied Theonia, so he was still quite familiar with the unique calendar of Theonia. So he said with slight surprise, ¡°That should have happened soon after I met Gorgias. But at that time, Gorgias told me that he was too old and ill to visit Athens, yet he unexpectedly went to Thurii in Theonia¡­¡±

    Phaestokiadas proudly said, ¡°That''s because the physicians of Theonia have excellent medical skills and could treat teacher Gorgias'' illness. Afterwards, he became impressed at the excellent environment of Theonia''s Akademia, which was helpful to his research and teaching students.¡±

    to nodded and asked, ¡°Are you a student of Gorgias?¡±

    Phaestokiadas hesitated for a moment and said, ¡°Gorgias is my teacher, who I learned philosophy. However, I also learned history from Ansitanos, mathematics and geometry from teacher Marticoris, and rhetoric and debate from teacher Lysias¡­¡±

    Hearing that, to sighed: The Akademia was the educational ce for him to cultivate excellent students and realise his political ideal, so he did not want every student to receive a diverse education. But unlike Theonia''s Akademia, which a whole kingdom funded and has extremely abundant teaching resources, the Akademia was his and his friends'' private property. Up to now, besides himself and asional friends, he hasn''t invited famous schrs to teach students advanced mathematics and geometry. And even though he has also dabbled in this field, he cannot fully satisfy the desire of some of his students who want further study, so he just lets them read the books themselves. For this reason, to spent a lot of effort collecting books of various knowledge through different means.

    Without any further questions, to opened Gorgias'' letter.

    While to read the letter, the curious student began talking with Phaestokiadas.

    ¡°We had long heard that Theonia''s Akademia is thergest ce of education and knowledge in the western Mediterranean, but is it better than our Akademia?¡± As the most economically and culturally prosperous city among the Greek city-states, Pericles once called Athens, the best school in all of Greece. Therefore, the youths of Athens were confident about it and always arrogant toward those from the colonies, which even included these youths who were currently receiving higher education.

    Phaestokiadas nced at their expression. But he didn''t answer directly; instead, he asked, ¡°How big is your Akademia?¡±

    ¡°About 1.6 acres.¡±

    ¡°How many teachers do you have here?¡± Phaestokiadas asked again.

    ¡°Besides teacher to, we also have¡­.teacher Theaetetus, who often teaches us mathematics.¡± For fear of being looked down, Aurelius specially said the Athenian mathematician Theaetetus, who only came here asionally.

    ¡°How many students are there?¡±

    ¡°There are twenty-three, and several of them are reading in the library of the Akademia¡­¡±

    After hearing that, Phaestokiadas raised his head and said loudly, ¡°Theonia''s Akademia covers 16.5 acres ofnd, so its area is like a small town. Moreover, we have more than 20rge and small buildings in the Akademia, more than 300 students, and 15 well-known schrs, which include, among others, teacher Lysias who wrote ¡¶Rhetorical Debate¡·, teacher Ansitanos who wrote the ¡¶History of Magna Graecia¡·, teacher Martikoris who invented the principle of pulley mechanics, lever mechanics, pitch fluctuation, and buoyancy, teacher Herpus who wrote the ¡¶Human Anatomy¡· and the ¡¶First Exploration of Diseases¡·, teacher Gorgias who wrote ¡¶On Nature or the Non-Existent¡·, teacher Philoxenus, who invented the new music poet¡­ In addition to these famous schrs, we have more than 20 teachers and more than a hundred people serving students and teachers¡­

    Our students have a wide range of courses, including philosophy, rhetoric,w, mathematics, astronomy, history, poetry, biology, and music¡­ What''s more, we have sports and evenpetitions to ensure our physical and mental bnce, as well as to exercise our will to victory.

    And for us to focus on learning, we all have our own amodations in the Akademia¡­ Oh yes! There is also a massive library in Theonia''s Akademia, which currently has more than 5,000 books, including not only Greek works but also Persian, Egyptian, Carthaginian¡­ For example, the Carthaginian agricultural books and Persianws where we even have specialised personnel to trante these books¡­¡±

    Phaestokiadas'' narrative left the youths dumbfounded, with envy and jealousy on their faces. After a while, someone couldn''t resist saying, ¡°What you said sounds good. However, who knows if it''s true?¡±

    Phaestokiadas sneered, ¡°Theonia''s Akademia is just more than 500 kilometres to the west of Athens. Feel free to send someone to confirm it, and you will find that what I said is not enough to describe the real worth of Theonia''s Akademia.¡±

    ¡°It doesn''t matter how many or fewer things we have; just having teacher to who can teach us real knowledge is enough for us.¡± Speusippus reminded everyone aloud.

 Chapter 641: Theonian Akademias Academic Invitation

    ¡°I have read to''s ¡¶Republic¡·, and he is truly a great schr. When reading the ¡¶Republic¡·, I was shocked at the description of various city-states'' regimes and the idea of an ideal city-state!¡± Phaestokiadas'' heartfelt praise made the youths look at him kindly. However, he continued, ¡°But Theonia''s Akademia would soon invite him.¡±

    ¡®What?!¡¯ The students were shocked. Some looked at to hurriedly, while others shouted in disbelief, ¡°You are lying!¡±

    ¡°Calm down, my students! What''s the use of learning so much knowledge when jealousy and uneasiness blinded you and prevented you from thinking rationally!¡± to''s reprimand made the youth feel ashamed.

    He turned to Phaestokiadas and said, ¡°Knowledge is for you to improve yourself and observe the world, not to show off!¡±

    Phaestokiadas shuddered at to''s words that he quickly and frankly admitted his mistake, ¡°You are right; it''s my fault!¡±

    to''s expression softened as he raised the letter and asked, ¡°I would like to know who proposed this ¡®All-Greek Academic Symposium¡¯ mentioned in the letter. How would it be conducted? Who have you invited?¡±

    After getting scolded by to, Phaestokiadas didn''t dare to not answer. After thinking carefully, he replied. ¡°Due to the kingdom of Theonia holding the ¡¶Magna Graecia Medical Symposium¡· every year, Metotikles, the head of the Institue of Mathematics, founded the ¡¶Magna Graecia Mathematical Assembly¡·, followed by the ¡¶History Convention¡· held by teacher Ansitanos¡­after the arrival of teacher Gorgias, he also proposed to hold the ¡¶Philosophy Seminar¡·. After learning this, King Davos thought about how many schrs were proficient in many disciplines of knowledge. Besides being repetitive and time-consuming, it is inefficient to have academic gatherings for the various subjects in the kingdom. Moreover, the scope of invited schrs was too narrow as they were mainly inviting those in Italia and Sicily. Thus, King Davos proposes to create an ¡¶All-Greek Academic Symposium¡·, inviting famous schrs from all over Greece to participate in it, exchange knowledge, and discuss the mysteries of nature and mankind together.

    I remember his majesty once said something that would circte widely in our Akademia. He said, ¡®Sparks of wisdom arise in collisions, and the truth bes clearer as the more you argue.¡¯¡±

    After Phaestokiadas said that, to''s eyes brightened as he became interested.

    Phaestokiadas continued, ¡°As far as I know, there will be two parts to the Symposium. One part is the schrs giving lectures on one or more subjects ording to their field of knowledge, which many students, visitors and even schrs would attend. The other part will be a debate among schrs, also allowing a few students to observe and ask questions¡­

    This time, we sent messengers to invite all famous Greek schrs. I don''t exactly know which schrs those are, but at least I know we would invite Antisthenes, Isocrates, and Theaetetus, as I would be delivering the invitations to them.¡±

    to frowned a bit at the mention of Antisthenes.

    Speusippus, who was beside him, asked sharply, ¡°Can we also attend this All-Greek Academic Symposium¡­in Theonia?!¡±

    Phaestokiadas smiled and said, ¡°Of course. Theonia wees all youths throughout Greece who loves, respect and desire knowledge to go to Thurii to participate in this academic event!¡±

    Speaking until here, he respectfully asked to, ¡°Have you decided?¡±

    to nodded and said, while stroking his beard, ¡°I have long wanted to visit the kingdom of Theonia with its unique political system. Since this is a good opportunity, I will be there on time!¡±

    After getting a definite answer and the reply written by to, Phaestokiadas immediately took off the baggage on his shoulder and ced it on the stone bench. As he opened it, they could hear a ttering sound as countless silver coins showed up.

    Seeing to''s surprised gaze, Phaestokiadas said thoughtfully, ¡°His majesty Davos always said that knowledge is priceless, and the time and energy of schrs are precious. Thus we would like to give you these 500 drachmae of the kingdom of Theonia as payment for your attendance at this symposium, which also includes your expenses for your return trip to Athens; please do ept them!

    Once you arrive in Thurii, the Theonian Akademia will arrange your amodation and food so that you don''t have to worry about it. Also¡­please make sure you take this letter of invitation with you when you go to Thurii so that in case Sparta or another city-state''s ship intercept you, you would only need to show them this letter, and they would let you go since we alreadymunicated with these city-states beforehand¡­¡±

    ¡°You are so thorough!¡± to sighed when he heard his words. It seems that Theonia was aware of his previous encounters for them to give such a special service.

    Spartan ships intercepted him when to was travelling through Syracuse six years ago, and the Spartan strategos, who hated Athenians, captured the famous Athenian schr and sold him as a ve. If not for his friends immediately rescuing him, he would still be digging in some mine¡­and this terrible experience made him wary of going to the western Mediterranean. Furthermore, most Athenians had publicly cursed Theonia as traitors* when the news of the ¡®Theonia-Sparta treaty¡¯ reached Athens. And that also affected to''s thoughts and made him not travel to this most powerful kingdom in the western Mediterranean until now. (Since it was the Athenians'' initiative that the old Thurii was built, the Athenians thought that Theonia should be supportive of Athens.)

    But this time, he can finally make up for this regret¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The five rotating speakers of the Senate, the minister of finance, Mersis, and the grand inspector, Sesta, gathered in the king''s office in the pce of Theonia.

    Davos looked at them and said solemnly, ¡°I had invited you over as there are a few important things I want to discuss with you in advance. At the start of this year, some of you attended the kingdom''s Senate Assembly and the Tribunal Conference, and those who didn''t should have heard about¡­many local council members and tribunal officersining about the statesmen receiving gifts from citizens and foreigners, especially the statesmen who served as praetor. They also repeatedly mentioned Pollux''s treason case and the current Ladician case and hoped that we would do something about it, and I promised them that I would make changes in this matter, and it is now the time to keep my promise! What do you think of this?¡±

    Everyone looked at each other with serious expressions, as most did not expect Davos to gather them today to discuss this thorny issue.

    After a moment of silence, Cornelius, as the foremost figure in the Senate after Kunogta''s death, stood up first and spoke, ¡°Your majesty, it was the right and an obligation of citizens of the kingdom to hold a public position since Theonia''s foundation, so they initially didn''t have any sry. But currently, the middle and lower-ranking officials, thebourers who transported provisions, the jailers who watched the criminals, and even the sentries who guarded the fortress are all getting paid. However, the statesmen are still the only ones who don¡¯t receive a sry in the kingdom. And because this is a noble position, the statesmen should serve the whole kingdom and citizens and shouldn''t be fussy about not receiving sries like those low-ranking officials.

    However¡­I still remember when we first established the union: The Senate would only hold a meeting every fifth day if there were no major events, so they still had days to take care of their fields with their ves. But now that the kingdom has be so big and has so many affairs, we are almost gathering in the Grand Senate Hall daily to hold meetings, discuss the kingdom''s affairs, and pass bills. Thus we no longer have the time and energy to increase the ie of our households. Although the Theonian Law states that statesmen would receivend every time we acquirend during a war, the ie from them is, after all, limited and often affected by the climate and soil. Moreover, many statesmen who didn''t know how to manage their household had to live a life worse than the bottom officials¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you mean it is reasonable for statesmen to receive gifts?¡± Asked Davos in a calm tone.

    Cornelius became so nervous that he couldn''t reply for a moment.

    ¡°Your majesty, Lord Cornelius is telling the truth,¡± Lysias interjected and defended Cornelius. He then continued, ¡°Although the position of a statesman is noble, they are also human and have desires. They also want to be able to eat good food, drink fine wine and wear magnificent clothes. Wealth certainly doesn''t reflect a person''s nobility, but imagine when statesmen living in distress meet a wealthy merchant dressed in magnificent chiton, wearing fine jewellery and followed by more than five ves; who would the people think is more like a statesman in their eyes?

    Ladician was so popr among the statesmen because he was generous with his money and often invited other statesmen to a banquet¡­and that''s also why a lot vied for the position of praetor whenever there was a vacancy. After all, they would have more opportunities to receive gifts from the locals to increase their ie when they serve as praetors, allowing them to live like wealthy citizens of Theonia.¡±

    ¡°Does wanting to live a luxurious life justify epting gifts from foreign envoys and outsiders so that we would speak up for them at the Senate meeting?! Your majesty, Ladician is just unlucky; however, it is not umon to see some people in the Senate who disregard the kingdom''s interest, giving out proposals that are entirely unfavourable to the kingdom, and seeking benefits for foreigners! I have long felt that we should have solved these problems. Since the public outcry is so great this time, we can take this opportunity to put an end to bribery and punish those statesmen who vited it!¡± Sesta, the grand inspector, suggested with a serious expression.

 Chapter 642: Treasury and Salary

    ¡°Lord Sesta, unlike you, not all statesmen can be as ustomed to an uneventful life. The point is that they will definitely develop other thoughts if they just work without getting anything, making it difficult for them to resist temptation,¡± said Sedrum, who was beside Sesta.

    ¡°Then don''t be a statesman and just go into business!¡± Sesta replied.

    ¡°I called you here to discuss a solution, not for you to argue,¡± Davos said gently, making the room quiet again.

    His eyes swept over the faces of everyone, but when he saw Mersis'' worried expression, he knew what he was concerned about. Davos smiled and stopped his gaze on Androlis. Since entering the king''s office, Androlis has remained quiet.

    Of course, there was another one who remained quiet ¨C Vespa. As a Lucanian and one of the rotating speakers, he would remain silent most of the time but naturally strive to safeguard the interests of the Lucanians. Privately, other people criticised him as a puppet, believing that his ability was far less than that of Hemon and that the only reason he could sit in this position was entirely due to his son, Bagul. But even after learning this, Vespa remained the same without any change.

    On the other hand, Androlis, who had just be a rotating speaker, has kept a low profile for several months. However, Davos didn''t want him to remain silent, so he directly asked him, ¡°Androlis, what do you think about this?¡±

    After getting startled, Androlis straightened his body. Then his reserve temperament immediately changed as he said loudly with a severe expression, ¡°Your majesty, the statesmen are the best among the citizens and upy an honoured position, which should be the pride of the statesmen. However, the people are looking at our statesmen as if they were criminals, full of suspicion of who would be the second Pollux; who would be the second Ladician? We are now losing the trust of the people, which is a terrible thing as it is the foundation that bestows the highest authority on the Senate! Thus to regain the people''s trust in us and to make us worthy of that honour again, we must forbid the statesmen from epting any more gifts!-¡±

    ¡°But, Lord Androlis.¡± Cornelius interrupted.

    But before he could go on, Androlis sharply said, ¡°Esteemed Lord Cornelius, please continue listening first!¡±

    Cornelius became a bit embarrassed.

    ¡°However, being an honourable statesman doesn''t mean one must be poor. After all, a poor person loses courage when speaking in front of a rich person, which is true for statesmen living in poverty when facing wealthy citizens. And that would only reduce the statesmen¡¯s prestige and make the citizens look down on us, giving them other thoughts which aren''t favourable to the governance of the people and the kingdom.

    Thus the kingdom should give the statesmen corresponding wealth and honour because it is through their efforts that we have today¡¯s prosperity, and the statesmen should enjoy the wealth they deserve! Therefore, I suggest we pay the statesmen, and it should be a high enough sry!¡±

    Androlis'' fervent words touched the crowd.

    Davos, however, remained calm. But before he could say anything, Mersis shouted, ¡°No! No! We don''t have much money left in the treasury to pay other officials! There is no more money to pay the statesmen!¡­¡±

    ¡°Calm down, Mersis!¡± Davos said to him and then to the crowd without dy, ¡°Androlis said it well, and I had the same idea. We shall create aw prohibiting the statesmen from epting gifts and that they should ept the supervision of the tribunal officers, council members, and constables. Also, we would start paying the statesmen enough sry to allow them to live a life that is worth it as a statesman¡­ What do you think?¡±

    ¡°If your majesty wants to pay us, how could we possibly disagree?¡± Sedrum said jokingly. In fact, whether to pay or receive gifts doesn''t have much influence on him or Vespa. After all, their other identity as the chieftain of a tribe made them not short of money as they still had arge area of tribalnd, many ves, and countless livestock, even though the youth in their tribes had be independent. Therefore, Davos was mainly asking the other people.

    But Cornelius remained hesitant towards Davos'' proposal, ¡°Your majesty, I agree with your proposal, but what would be the appropriate amount for the sry? Where will the moneye from?¡±

    ¡°It seems that we have reached a consensus on the proposal of prohibiting the statesmen from epting gifts and the implementation of sry,¡± said Davos as he nced at Lysias and Marigi, who were both nodding.

    ¡°Next, let''s talk about the specific sry!¡± Davos'' eyes fell on the nervous Mersis again, ¡°Mersis, tell me, what is the sry of the officials ranking below the city praetor?¡±

    ¡°The officials ranking below the city praetor?¡± Mersis regained hisposure once they started talking about business. After thinking carefully, Mersis said, ¡°The vice praetors, intermediate-level aedile, agricultural officers, judge¡­and so on, have more or less different sries. For example, we would pay the agricultural officer and construction officer more as they need to travel outside for long-term, judges and constable''s work is rtively easy, so the pay is a little less¡­the average calction is about¡­about forty Hades'' drachmae or so.¡± Mersis calcted it for a moment and finally blurted out a number.

    Mersis called it Hades'' drachmae because, after the kingdom''s establishment, they changed the design of the drachmae with the head of Hades on one side and the head of King Davos on the other side. Moreover, the kingdom also started minting copper coins with two types of designs: Persephone and the Grand Senate Hall, and Heracles and the Grand Senate Hall. And the exchange rate of copper to silver coins was 6:1, which was almost the same as that of an Obol to a Drachma. Hence Theonia reced the Obol with the copper coin. These two coins, with their high purity and exquisite pattern, became the only currency circted in the kingdom of Theonia and became one of the main currencies used by other countries in the western Mediterranean.

    ¡°Forty drachmae¡­about the price of one and a half cows.¡± Davos didn''t feel any surprise at this figure as he already had a detailed understanding in advance, and he had only asked Mersis so that the people present were clear about it. This sry is not low because a citizen with an acre ofnd would only earn three times that amount when having a good harvest, yet this is only a month''s sry of a middle-ranking official in the kingdom of Theonia. Moreover, the price of cattle and horses in the kingdom is low, usually fluctuating between twenty-five and thirty drachmae. On the other hand, a cow would cost at least fifty drachmae in Greece.

    Davos tapped his fingers on the table and said slowly, ¡°I propose we should set the statesmen¡¯s sry to be a hundred Hades'' drachmae. In addition, statesmen who have positions will have an increase in sry ording to their position. For example, suppose a statesman was a praetor; his total sry should be adding the sry of a statesman and the sry of a praetor¡­ Hmm, since a vice praetor''s sry is about forty drachmae, we should pay the praetor fifty drachmae so that his monthly sry should amount to one hundred fifty drachmae.

    Another example: Sesta, since you are a statesman and the grand inspector, whose position belongs to the same rank as a praetor, so your sry should also be about one hundred fifty drachmae. There are also those like Cornelius, who is a rotating speaker. And since a rotating speaker is different from an ordinary statesman as you also needed to undertake some extra work, you should also receive an additional sry¡­¡±

    Everyone gradually rxed as they carefully digested Davos'' proposal. After all, no one dislikes having too much money, not to mention that their sry would reflect their seniority in the kingdom. And with that, the statesmen wouldn''t have manyints even if they passed the no-gift bill.

    Only Mersis was discontent as he shouted, ¡°That''s too much! Too much! If we calcte the sry of the more than a hundred statesmen in the Senate ording to a hundred drachmae, we would need to take out more than two talents from the treasury each month! We don''t have that much money there!¡±

    Before Davos could say anything, Cornelius asked suspiciously, ¡°I remember the Department of Finance earns hundreds of talents yearly just from the lottery ticket of the various ball games. Moreover, since the country''smerce is booming and merchant ships are gathering in the ports in the various cities, the monthly merchant tax is almost a hundred talents, right? Besides those, we should earn morend tax as the kingdom''s poption is up to 1.8 million, as well as the annual ve redemption fee, the postal fee of the post office, the escort fee of the fleet¡­all of those shouldn''t be a small amount of money, so how can the treasury run out of money?!¡±

    ¡°Lord Cornelius.¡± Mersis sneered, ¡°You only see the money entering the treasury, but you don''t see how much we are spending. Currently, we have more than a thousand middle-ranking officials in the kingdom, and the sry we are paying them amounts to more than a dozen talents every month. Besides them, we also have the jailers, patrolmen, sentries¡­and other bottom-level officials who we also have to pay. If we all count them, there are about tens of thousands of people. So the amount we have to pay is more than fifty talents!

    Don''t forget the cost of building new roads, bridges, ports, temples, libraries and other public buildings. Moreover, we also have to pay for the maintenance of the old roads, walls, temples, and other such public buildings, the cost of military services every time we call the soldiers and warships for military training, the cost of creating and maintaining military equipment, warships¡­all of these requires a lot of money.¡±

 Chapter 643: Regarding the Tax Collection

    ¡°Regarding the ¡®kingdom should receive quite argend tax because it has arge poption andnd.¡¯ you are wrong about that! Do you remember how the Senate issued a ¡®three years tax exemption¡¯ after we conquered Messapi and Peuceti?¡± When speaking of this, Mersis looked at Davos with dissatisfaction because he was the one to propose it, ¡°We still didn''t collect thend tax in the Peuceti areast year. And even though we conquered the Daunians, we didn''t get any benefits. On the contrary, we have to spend a lot of money building roads, bridges, temples, and military camps¡­we are spending the treasury''s money every day like flowing water. Yet, you are saying we have a lot of money to pay the statesmen?!¡±

    ¡°Mersis, stopining. I believe you can still squeeze some money out of the treasury with your ability.¡± Davos looked at him with a smile.

    Mersis muttered a few words, but he eventually stopped talking.

    ¡°It seems all of you have no major issue with my proposal. Overall, this is still a rough proposal, so you need to discuss it carefully,e up with a detailed and enforceable proposal, and send it to me for review. However-¡± Davos raised his finger and reminded, ¡°There is one principle you should remember, which is just like how we pay themon officials; the more you work, the more you get paid!¡±

    ¡°By working more, you would get paid more; there will be fewer statesmen who have nothing to do as they wouldpete to hold a post.¡± Sesta apuded. After all, there were indeed some statesmen who would just raise their hands when voting but would otherwise be unable to feel their presence.

    ¡°The few of you will discuss and draft this proposal, and you will submit it to me for review tomorrow morning. Then I will take it to the Senate in the afternoon,¡± said Davos seriously.

    Seeing the positive response from everyone, Cornelius replied. ¡°No problem, your majesty.¡±

    ¡°Next, I''ll discuss another idea I have.¡± Davos said slowly with a slightly heavy expression, ¡°Mersis had just mentioned how the kingdom''s territory is expanding, and the poption is increasing, but at the same time, the consumption of our treasury is also increasing. At the end of these two years, our treasury had almost no surplus money left, which is dangerous for a kingdom. In case of a massive disaster or war, we can''t cope with it without enough reserves money¡­

    Although thanks to the territory¡¯s expansion and Marigi¡¯s effort that our kingdom¡¯smercial tax ie increases-¡±

    In the face of Davos'' praise, Marigi epted it calmly.

    ¡°Themercial tax''s growth is a slow process; it is impossible for today''s ten talents to increase into a hundred talents the next day. The revenue from thend tax, on the other hand, is fixed. At the same time, the tax exemption for the Daunians is for the long-term consideration of the kingdom. You don''t have to worry about it too much, Mersis, as even though thend tax will increase in a few years, it still isn''t much, so you shouldn''t expect it to solve our financial dilemma.

    If it wasn''t for the Tyche''s blessing we made a few years ago that allowed us to earn additional ie for the kingdom''s treasury, today''s financial difficulty would be even more.¡±

    At this moment, Cornelius and Lysias became ashamed as they strongly opposed the implementation of the Tyche''s blessing as they considered it a gamble that would corrupt the people. But the truth was that the situation they feared didn''t ur. Instead, it allowed the kingdom''s treasury to have more ie.

    ¡°But the ie from Tyche''s Blessing is only about a hundred talents a year, and there will be no further change¡­ So we should start considering adding more ways to get more money!¡± Davos'' aggravated tone jolted everyone''s heart.

    Cornelius asked cautiously, ¡°Your majesty, do you want to increase the taxes?¡±

    Davos nced at him and said, ¡°What''s wrong with raising taxes? You previously said there was no tradition of direct taxation in Greek cities, and now which other Greek powers in the Mediterranean don''t charge higher taxes than Theonia?

    In the past, Syracuse collects as much as 30% of the tax in the period of Dionysius. Now they are charging a special 5% war tax yearly by dering it was to guard against Carthage. But who knows who they are truly guarding against?!

    Sparta, on the other hand, had itsndpletely centralised in the hands of the state. Moreover, they would barely allocate enough food to their citizens while they use the rest of the money they earn for weaponry.

    And Athens, I believe you should already know that they implemented a special tax system at the end ofst year: Property tax ¨C where they would register one-fifth of the actual property of each Athenian citizen. Afterwards, they would charge one to two per cent of that amount as yearly tax, which is much higher than thend tax we charge!

    There was also a tax increase in Corinth, Argos, and Megara. Apart from them, Thebes, which the Spartanspletely controlled, had to pay far more in tribute than its citizens paid in taxes. Thus the direct taxes collected by these city-states were far higher than thend taxes of Theonia, and the Theonian citizens should be thankful for it!

    As the king of Theonia, I am not only thinking about the kingdom¡¯s governance but also the life of our people. Therefore, we should not increase taxes casually. Instead, we should be cautious about it. However, there is a kind of tax that I find will not affect the people''s lives and should be collected.¡±

    When Davos paused, the crowd fell into deep pondering.

    ¡°Your majesty, what kind of tax is it?¡± Mersis asked eagerly.

    ¡°Inheritance Tax,¡± Davos muttered a word.

    ¡®Inheritance tax?¡¯ The five rotating speakers and Sesta had doubts, while Mersis and Marigi were lost in their thoughts.

    ¡°If Ansitanos was here, he would understand it.¡± Davos teased them as he looked at their expression. Afterwards, he exined, ¡°Egypt has been implementing this kind of tax for centuries. When a property owner wants to transfer his property to a rtive or someone else, he would need to pay 1/10th of his property¡¯s worth as tax to the state so that the court would recognise the transfer as valid.

    Hence we can also implement the inheritance tax in the kingdom because it has many advantages. First, it can increase our revenue. Second, it would adjust the gap between the wealthy and poor among the citizens.

    This is particrly important: If the initial citizens of the kingdom continue umting merits, I fear they would have dozens of acres ofnd when they reach the age of fifty. And if he is a sessful merchant of the kingdom, he would be even more sessful as he could save at least dozens, if not hundreds, of talents in his life. So while those new citizens who have just joined the kingdom work hard for their survival, the children of these old citizens can live afortable life without making any efforts to contribute to the kingdom and even can easily be wealthyndowners. In the long run, it will cause jealousy amongmon citizens, which is not suitable for the stability of the kingdom. Thus we need to regte it with inheritance tax.¡±

    ¡°Aren''t the citizens doing their best to earn merit and wealth so they can live well and pass it on to their children and grandchildren?! I fear that introducing the inheritance tax would just discourage them!¡± Lysias asked doubtfully.

    Davos patiently exined, ¡°The kingdom fully supports putting efforts to obtain merits so one can live well. Haven''t we given them all kinds of things and honourable rewards?! Allocatednds, medals¡­and even excellent ces for studying and training for the children of the citizens. But if the next generation inherits too much wealth, it would only foster pride and indulgence that they wouldck the motivation to strive to better themselves. Instead, they would be greedy for pleasure and unwilling to devote themselves to the kingdom. Therefore, we can set some conditions for collecting inheritance tax to guide wealthy citizens to use their wealth wisely. For example, donating public buildings will reduce the percentage when collecting the inheritance tax¡­this will also make themon citizens look at these wealthy people in a friendly way, which is the third benefit of the inheritance tax.¡±

    ¡°But your majesty, wouldn''t it be too harsh if we charge the inheritance tax to those citizens who don¡¯t have too much wealth?¡± Cornelius said cautiously.

    ¡°You raise a good question.¡± Davos praised him and exined earnestly, ¡°In my opinion, not all citizens are subjected to the inheritance tax. How many properties do they own that would be subjected to inheritance tax? How many of those would be subjected to a five per cent inheritance tax? Ten per cent inheritance tax? Twenty or even thirty per cent inheritance tax?¡­ After this meeting, you all should discuss it with Mersis and Marigi,e up with a rough draft, and we''ll bring it up in the Senate. I believe this would be a long and heated discussion, but I am confident we would pass it. After all, every citizen of the kingdom hopes his child will be a hero who will create greater feats than himself rather than a loser who only knows how to eat, drink and y! And we statesmen prefer the future of our kingdom to be a stable and harmonious society instead of a bad situation where the rich and powerful are rampant while themoners have no ce to stand and may cause revolts!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, I think all statesmen will appreciate your painstaking efforts and will pass the inheritance taxw!¡± Androlis immediately expressed his side.

    The others also expressed their support, of which Mersis was the most supportive.

    ¡°Next, let''s discuss the All-Greek Academic Symposium.¡± Davos showed a serious and excited expression as he spoke, ¡°With the current strength of the kingdom of Theonia, we are already the most powerful among the Greek forces in the entire Mediterranean. But even with that, many ces, especially Greece, do not consider Theonia a Greek city-state. On the contrary, they look down on us and think we are just a massive tribal union of a group of brutish, undeveloped and ignorant barbarians. Thus we need to let other Greeks know about us, about the fact that our kingdom of Theonia isn''t only powerful but also has an advanced civilisation and splendid culture! If the example to be followed by the Greek world a few decades ago was Athens, today, Thurii of Theonia is the centre of Greek culture! Thus we shall make the people in Greece understand and get close to us, which is the real purpose of our holding the annual All-Greek Academic Symposium!¡±

    Hearing Davos'' passionate words, everyone became excited.

    Lysias immediately said, ¡°Your majesty, although it would be the Theonian Akademia that would hold the annual All-Greek Academic Symposium, it would also be the glory of Thurii. Thus our Thurii city hall will do our best in assisting the Theonian Akademia in organising this symposium where the schrs would gather.¡±

 Chapter 644: The Princess Wedding (I)

    Davos nodded and said, ¡°I will send Ansitanos to assist you since all thoseing to Thurii to participate are all famous schrs in Greece and have great influences among the Greek city-states. Since Ansitanos is a schr, he will know them better and have somemon topics so they won''t feel neglected.

    Besides those, these schrs may make some requests that we must try our best to satisfy as long as they are not excessive. At the same time, you should consider that many people maye to listen to their lectures once the symposium starts. Hence you should send people to maintain order, stop rioting, and protect the safety of these schrs.¡±

    ¡°You can rest assured that we will carefully arrange it, your majesty,¡± Lysias said cautiously.

    ¡°We''ve been discussing for so long that it is already lunchtime.¡± Davos stretched and said with a rxed smile, ¡°I have onest thing to announce, and it''s a personal matter for me. Tomorrow after Hera''s Wedding Celebration would be my daughter Cynthia''s wedding, and I will hold a banquet at the pce tomorrow night to celebrate it, to which you are invited!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    This year''s Hera''s Wedding Celebration was livelier than the previous year''s as many people came to watch it. After all, there is a special young couple among the newlyweds participating in the festivity.

    They are Cynthia, the daughter of King Davos, loved by the people of Theonia, and Patroclus, the hero of Theonia and the youngest senior centurion of the army.

    Apart from their background, they themselves are quite popr with the people.

    After bing an adult, Cynthia became well-known to the people of Thurii as her mother Cheiristoya''s right hand in helping with her business. In addition, she is gentle, generous, virtuous and hardworking, which is the image of an excellent woman in Theonian culture.

    Patroclus, on the other hand, was born into a family of freemen. His father was actively engaged in public affairs instead of wasting himself after getting wounded on the battlefield. And through his efforts, he became an outstanding official of the kingdom and contributed greatly to the prosperity of Thurii. At the same time, Patroclus became an excellent warrior and officer through his studies in the school of Theonia and his experience on the battlefield. And due to his outstanding performance in battle, he even became a g bearer at the Triumphant Return. The sess of Patroclus'' family, as an immigrant, was an example to countless freemen families in the kingdom.

    Thus despite the festivity ending, the people were still excited because they knew that there would be a traditional wedding ceremony for the young couple in the evening, and they might even see the King and his wife.

    Currently, Cynthia had separated from Patroclus as she followed her mother, Agnes, and brought the female ves to the Fountain of Hades (formerly known as the Fountain of Thurii) beside the Nike square. After bowing to Hades and Persephone''s statue and the statue of Davos in the middle of the fountain, she filled several buckets of clear fountain water and then returned home.

    At the same time, Davos'' residence was covered in red, with everyone already dressed, including the servants, as they prepared for the uing wedding.

    Cynthia quickly returned to the bathroom of the main building, took off her clothes that were almost wet (from the sprinkling of water on Hera''s Wedding Celebration), and carefully scrubbed her whole body with the fountain water. Besides washing away the dirt on her body, this also symbolically washes away the relics of her maidenhood in ordance with tradition.

    After changing into a clean robe, she went to the rear courtyard garden to meet Agnes, who was waiting for her beside the statue of Artemis, the goddess of chastity and childbirth. And in front of the statue were offerings and lit oilmps.

    ¡°Mother Agnes!¡± Cynthia hurried over.

    ¡°Don''t be anxious, child.¡± Agnes smiled, took her hand, and let her stand in front of the statue while Agnes stood beside her.

    At this moment, Agnes wore a white priestly robe, making her extremely beautiful and slim. And since it was hard to notice that she had given birth to two children and was already thirty-six years old, she and Cynthia looked like a pair of sisters when standing together. Only when someone carefully observes her can they find one or two lines of crow''s feet in the corner of her eyes.

    Agnes began to feel sad as she looked at the statue of Artemis. Twenty years ago, she had be a priestess of this goddess and thought she would serve her and remain single until she became old. But she didn''t expect to marry a considerate husband, have two lovely children and have a big, lively family¡­

    ¡°Come, pray quietly with me,¡± Agnes said softly to Cynthia after returning to her senses. She then took the lead in chanting in a low voice, ¡°When the nightes, the moon appears.

    O Artemis, who patrols the world while holding a bow and arrow.

    O Artemis, who shelters women and children.

    ¡­¡±

    Cynthia followed her prayer devoutly.

    After praying, Cynthia''s personal ve brought some clothes and toys she had worn when she was young and lit them in front of the statue.

    As she watched the rising white smoke and a pungent smell, Cynthia couldn''t help but feel downcast because, from this moment on, she was saying goodbye to her childhood. Moreover, she would also break away from Artemis'' blessing and transfer to Aphrodite, the goddess of sex, and Hera, the goddess of marriage.

    Afterwards, she returned to her bedroom, where her other mother, Cheiristoya, was waiting.

    ¡°Mother, thank you for your hard work,¡± Cynthia said firmly. At this time, her bedroom was decorated beautifully with the golden statue of Aphrodite standing above her bed, which Cheiristoya did alone, as the tradition doesn''t allow others to interfere.

    ¡°Silly girl, this is what a mother should do!¡± said Cheiristoya smilingly. She then took out a gilded apple, handed it to her, and said, ¡°Pray to the goddess of love.¡±

    In the legends of the Iliad, Prince Paris of Troy gave Aphrodite a golden apple as he considered her the most beautiful goddess. Thus the delighted Aphrodite immediately gave Paris her blessing and made the most beautiful Greek woman, Helen, fall in love with him, thus triggering the Trojan War. After that, a marriage custom appeared in some Greek city-states of offering golden apples to Aphrodite, the goddess of love would then bless the bride.

    Cynthia held the golden apple in her hand as she prayed piously to Aphrodite.

    After a moment of silence, she ced the apple in the statue''s outstretched hand in exchange for a new, ornate girdle in its hand. This is also a custom that hade from the legend of the Iliad. In the legend, the goddess Hera pleaded with Aphrodite to lend herself the girdle that she tied around her chest before her union with the king of the gods, Zeus. Hera borrowed the girdle because it has a magical power to inspire the passion of desire, which allowed her to charm Zeus and achieve her goal sessfully.

    As a bride, she wants her groom to spoil her with love and pleasure!

    Cynthia then shyly picked up the girdle and tried it on her chest.

    Cheiristoya then led Cynthia to sit by the bed, pointed to several items and said, ¡°This crown, ne and earrings were given to you by your mother, Agnes. These are the jewellery she wore when she married in Thurii.¡±

    Cynthia looked at the pieces of jewellery: The crown was made of gold and silver, iid with blue and green ga and had a fine and detailed design; The ne''s chain was made of silver, and the tassel was made of gold, with a sizeable orange-red amber at the front, which was dazzling; The earrings are two small delicate silver studs each strung with milky white pearls.

    Cynthia took it in her hand. While looking at it, she wanted to wear it right away. In the end, she muttered, ¡°It''s beautiful!¡±

    Cheiristoya sighed and said, ¡°Your mother Agnes'' family is a great noble of Rhegium. Back then, her father, Athelycus, wanted your father to hold a grand wedding, so he sent her to Thurii in a magnificent fleet. However, your father refused as he was considering my feelings¡­at that time, your mother Agnes was wearing expensive jewellery, surrounded by a huge procession as she headed towards our home from the port. Along the way, she attracted the attention of thousands of people, which became a topic of many Thurians to this day¡­¡±

    Cynthia then remembered that Cheiristoya and Davos got married after recapturing Amendra from the Lucanians, so they were mostly thinking about how to stand firm in Amendra, recover from the scars of war, and other urgent matters. Thus the wedding ceremony between them was carried out quite simply as they had just participated in the first Hera''s Wedding Celebration, which had neither a grand wedding nor a banquet. On the contrary, they even got two children (that is, she and her brother Adoris)¡­

    Cynthia thought of this and immediately put down her jewellery, hugged Cheiristoya with both hands and asked, ¡°Mother, what heirloom would you give me?¡±

    ¡°My wedding was simple back then, and I didn''t have many things besides this one-¡± Cheiristoya sighed again and picked up a girdle from the bed.

    Cynthia immediately noticed the special features of this girdle. Although it looks slightly old, it has a good texture, is light as a feather, and has an exquisite embroidered pattern. Moreover, the thread used wasn''t an ordinary silk thread but instead something she had never seen before¡­ And even though it was too shy, it didn''t feel vulgar. Instead, it is rather luxurious.

    Seeing Cynthia stare at the girdle, Cheiristoya became emotional as she stroked the girdle with her hand and said quietly, ¡°This is a Persian royal girdle. It protected me from being captured by Persian soldiers, allowed me to meet your father, blessed me from escaping Persia, and allowed me to follow your father to Magna Graecia and finally marry him¡­Now I give it to you¡­¡±

    Cheiristoya softly said while recalling the countless events of the past. Davos had fulfilled the promise he made to her in the past, while she couldn''t even remember what the man she served when she was young looked like¡­

 Chapter 645: The Princess Wedding (II)

    ¡°Mother, this girdle is too important; I can''t ept it!¡± Cynthia hurried handed the girdle back to Cheiristoya as she realised its importance.

    ¡°Take it; I don''t need it anymore. Instead, this would bless you, my daughter!¡± Cheiristoya smiled. Now she was the queen of Theonia, with countless riches at her disposal, a husband loved by all, and wise and understanding children. Moreover, this will allow her to cut ties with that pastpletely.

    Cheiristoya handed the girdle to Cynthia, then pointed to the long wedding dress and beautiful gown on the bed and said, ¡°These gifts are from your father. He had bought the best fabrics from Persia and had the best weavers in the kingdom sew it for you¡­¡±

    Cynthia''s eyes turned red as she looked at them. She hugged Cheiristoya tightly and said, ¡°Mother, I¡­I¡­¡± she wanted to speak thousands of words, but all of them could not leave her throat.

    Cheiristoya stroked her face and said softly, ¡°Silly child, your father and I have always treated you as our own. These things can only express our feelings slightly. Your father couldn''te to see you off¡­because the wedding tradition dictates that adult men are not allowed to enter your bedroom. Hence your father entrusted me to say that he hopes you wouldn''t rely on your status to treat the people arrogantly after you marry into Patroclus'' family. Rather, you must do your best as thedy of the house, take care of the housework, and be filial to your inws¡­¡±

    Cynthia nodded her head every time Cheiristoya said something to her. Then the two talked for a while before Cheiristoya left the room.

    Cynthia wiped away her tears and looked at the wedding dress that was lying on the bed.

    Then, the door opened, and a small head peeks out from the small crack, ¡°Sister.¡±

    ¡°Come in!¡± Cynthia waved to her.

    Then Eunice rushed in Aviya.

    ¡°Sister, you¡¯d be bored staying in your room alone. Let us apany you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Eunice. You are so thoughtful!¡±

    ¡°Sister Cynthia. Now that you will marry, will you still see us often?¡±

    ¡°Of course. As long as you don''t sleepte, I wille back to see you often, Aviya.¡±

    ¡°Un¡­I won''t sleepte anymore.¡±

    ¡°Sister, you must alsoe to see me often too!¡±

    ¡°As soon as you stop bullying your ssmates, I''lle back to see you.¡±

    ¡°How could I bully my ssmates?!¡±

    ¡°Sister Cynthia, what''s this?¡± Aviya, with her sharp eyes, curiously asked when she saw the girdle that Cynthia ced beside her.

    ¡°That''s¡­¡± Cynthia couldn''t think how to answer.

    Eunice suddenly shouted, ¡°I know! I know! That''s the girdle of the beautiful Aphrodite! Every time mom and dad slept together, she would quietly put it on. I asked mother about it, but she said I was too young and could only wear it once I grew up.¡±

    ¡°Where do you put it on?¡± Aviya became more curious.

    ¡°Stupid!¡± Eunice, acting as if she knows-it-all, patter her breasts and says to Aviya, ¡°It''s naturally worn inside the dress to protect this part. Do you see the bulge on sister''s chest? I also have a little here, but you don''t have it yet. But once you grow up, you will have it too, and then you can use this girdle¡­¡±

    Hearing her two sisters talking about topics unsuitable for children, Cynthia blushed slightly and found it amusing. She then said, ¡°Eunice, Aviya, I will now wear my wedding dress. Would you two help me dress up?¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡± The two shouted excitedly.

    Suddenly, someone knocked on the door gently.

    ¡°Who is it?!¡± Eunice shouted first.

    The man outside the door didn''t think anyone else would be in the room. After a while, he said carefully, ¡°It''s me, Croto.¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡± Eunice cried suddenly.

    ¡°Ah!¡± Aviya copied her sister.

    ¡°Brother, you can''te in! Mom said men can''t enter the room!¡±

    ¡°That''s for grown men.¡± Cynthia lightly knocked Eunice on the head, punishing her for deliberately making a fuss. She had nothing to hide about her younger brother Croto, who she had grown up taking care of. After tucking the girdle under the quilt, she said, ¡°Come in, Croto.¡±

    Crotokatax then walked into the room, looking rushed. When he saw Cynthia sitting by the red bed and looking at him with a smile, Croto felt like he had chugged five liquor bottles, as he couldn''t tell what he was feeling. After coughing twice to clear his throat, he said with a dry voice, ¡°Elder sister¡­tonight would be your¡­wedding, but because I have to apany father in the pce to entertain the statesmen who woulde to the banquet¡­I cannot participate in your wedding''s procession¡­so this is the¡­wedding gift I prepared¡­¡±

    After Crotokatax said those, he took out the gift sped under his armpit. Suddenly, Eunice snatched it, held it with both hands and said, ¡°Wow, what a beautiful helmet!¡±

    Indeed, this silver and white legion-style helmet was crafted finely and added a lot of ornaments, making it look beautiful and practical. And only the plume at the top of the helmet wasn''t inserted, which is obviously for the owner to do himself.

    ¡°So this helmet is for sister''s husband. From what father told me, he is an outstanding soldier,¡± said Eunice as she handed the helmet to Cynthia.

    ¡°Croto, thank you!¡± Cynthia happily epted the gift and told him, ¡°I''m leaving. You have to take good care of our parents! And¡­look after these little guys!¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry.¡± Crotokatax forced a smile. As soon as he answered that, Euniceined, ¡°I''m almost grown up; you don''t need anyone to look after me!¡±

    Cynthia''s smile didn''t change as she knocked on Eunice''s head again.

    Seeing Eunice deliberately covering her head and making exaggerated cries of pain, Crotokatax smiled, ¡°I hope Clus could protect you like this helmet and¡­loves you forever!¡±

    Those words, however, brought tears to Cyntia''s eyes. A bride would always be uneasy, excited and sensitive before her wedding. Cynthia suddenly stood up, walked towards Croto, and hugged him tightly.

    Crotokatax hesitated for a moment, then hugged her gently. After listening to her cry, he sincerely said in the end, ¡°I wish you happiness, Cynthia!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The ve girl then came to Cheiristoya and whispered a few words, relieving Cheiristoya.

    After the ve left, Cheiristoya said to Agnes, sitting opposite her, ¡°Croto took a helmet and went to Cynthia''s room and left soon. The ve said Croto was calm and nothing special happened¡­¡±

    ¡°Sister, didn''t I say nothing would happen? Little Cro is so sensible and has self-control. You don''t have to worry too much; he willpletely ovee this matter after a while!¡± Agnesforted her. Although Crotokatax''s biological mother was Cheiristoya, Crotokatax was closer to Agnes when he was young. Hence he was more willing to confide some things to Agnes, including his likes of Cynthia, which Agnes first noticed.

    Cheiristoya sighed, ¡°I hope so. What do you think about finding a marriage partner when Crotoes of age?¡±

    ¡°Sister, for little Cro, I am afraid you aren''t the one to decide this,¡± Agnes warned. She had a deep understanding of it as she was sent to Thurii by her father without her knowledge back then. Fortunately, Artemis protected her.

    ¡°You''re right. I am just worrying too much.¡± Cheiristoya patted her forehead. After all, Croto''s marriage involves the stability and interests of the kingdom, so even the Senate would intervene in the matter.

    ¡°Sister, there is one thing I need your help¡­¡± Agnes said thoughtfully.

    ¡°Tell me.¡± Cheiristoya was curious. Besides caring for the children and Davos, Agnes has no desire for anything else, so it is rare to see her acting like that.

    ¡°For the past two years, I''ve been in charge of the main Temple of Hera. And I started to feel that my energy wasn''t as good as before. Now that Cynthia would get married, I want her toe to the Temple of Hera to help me and take over as the chief priestess in the future¡­¡±

    ¡°Sister, you can''t just decide who would take over as the chief priestess of the Temple of Hera without discussing it with our husband first!¡± Cheiristoya reminded her.

    That startled Agnes for a moment that she stopped talking.

    Then Cheiristoya covered her face with her left hand and sighed, ¡°We are indeed getting old¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With thepany of her two sisters, time had passed quickly, and it was already dark. Cynthia then ate two bowls of seafood oatmeal porridge to fill her stomach.

    Suddenly, Cheiristoya came in and took the two little kids.

    And with the help of the female ves, Cynthia put on her wedding makeup and became nervous again as she knew that the wedding was sooning.

    Fortunately, many Theonian citizen families had abandoned the marriage tradition of the Greek city-states and allowed the girls to meet their future husbands in advance before marriage. And since Cynthia had been in love with Patroclus for many years, she didn''t have to worry about whether her husband was ugly.

    At this time, she could vaguely hear the noise outside the building. Then a female ve that was close to her ran inside and excitedly said, ¡°The young master is here! He is here!¡±

    Thus Cynthia hurriedly put on her wedding dress. But while waiting, she felt that the time was passing too slow.

    Soon, she heard the door push. Then she could hear a familiar voice, ¡°Cynthia, I''ming!¡±

    Cynthia immediately stood up and stretched out her hand.

    Then a smell of myrrh lingered in her nose as a well-dressed Patroclus approached her, took her by the hand, and led her downstairs.

 Chapter 646: The Princess Wedding (III)

    Following Greek tradition, the man''s rtives and friends must wait in the living room and prepare to wee the bride. But for the king''s family''s safety, they must prevent them from having too many people. Thus they agreed beforehand that the weing group would wait outside the king''s residence.

    Hence Patroclus led Cynthia from the living room to the gate. Then the servants and hired workers of Patroclus¡¯ family weed her as they stood by the roadside with torches to light the way for the couple and offered their sincere blessings.

    After getting out of the house, loud cheers filled Cynthia''s ears.

    Through the opaque wedding veil, Cynthia saw the people move around joyfully, saying nice things like ¡®both the bride and the groom is beautiful and handsome¡¯. Then the candles brightly lit the open space in front of the mansion.

    While receiving their praises, Patroclus led Cynthia to board the quadriga.

    Once inside, Cynthia lifted her veil.

    Patroclus stared at her beautiful face that was so beautiful that he eximed, ¡°Cynthia, you are so beautiful! Much more beautiful than Aphrodite!-¡±

    ¡°Shh, don''t say such things!¡± Cynthia quickly warned him, as the goddess wasn''t open-minded about such things.

    But it still delighted Cynthia, making her hold Patroclus'' hand tightly¡­

    The weing group began following the quadriga closely, which immediately formed a long line with people shouting, ¡®Let''s depart!¡¯, ¡®Move!¡¯ and ¡®Take the torch!¡¯ as the quadriga and the group behind it began slowly moving forward.

    Then the musicians in the group began ying the flute and the lyre while singing the wedding hymn simultaneously.

    Among those who were singing were two special characters: They are Cheiristoya and Agnes; as Cynthia''s two mothers, they naturally want to apany their daughter through thest part of the road before the wedding. But as the two queens of the kingdom, they were at the forefront of the group and surrounded by royal guards to guarantee their safety.

    The two were also holding torches. However, the source of these two torches isn''t simple as they came from the hearth of their home, symbolising their protection of their daughter''s safe transfer from one family and identity to another. Although Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, isn''t one of the twelve main gods, she ys a major role in a family''s life.

    Since Patroclus'' home is on the outskirt of Thurii, the weing group must first travel eastward from the king''s residence in the western part of the inner area of the city, cross the Nike Square to the east, turn south, cross the Crati River''s Stone Bridge, go out of the southern area of the city, and walk a long way along the river to reach it. Even though this wasn''t a short distance and Cheiristoya and Agnes had never travelled this far recently, they still went on with it to fulfil their responsibilities as a mother.

    And since it is a long line of light passing through the city, it was naturally eye-catching. After learning about it, the people of Thurii all came to see them, gave their blessings to the new couple, bowed to the two queens, and began following the procession. By the time they got to the stone bridge, the procession had almost be a night parade of the whole city, showing how much the people deeply love the royal family.

    On this evening, the king''s family and the people of Theonia were closely united regardless of their status.

    Once the guards informed them that they were near Patroclus'' house, Cheiristoya and Agnes looked at each other, feeling relieved as they massaged their aching legs with their free left hands.

    Although the quadriga stopped, the couple didn''t get off yet.

    Then the two queens began walking forward.

    Patroclus'' house had long been decorated with gands made of pomegranate, olive and cinnamon trees, as well as colourful flowers. And in front of the house were bunches of lit bonfires, brightly lighting the ce.

    Patroclus'' mother and other family rtives and friends were waiting at the gate, feeling shocked when they saw the huge sending-off group (Patroclus'' father was invited to the pce for the banquet). Then they hurried to greet the two queens.

    Cheiristoya and Agnes then bowed to Patroclus'' mother and smiled tofort the nervous family members because of Patroclus'' humble background, ¡°We will be family from now on!¡±

    On the other hand, Patroclus'' mother could only say yes as she trembled to raise the torch.

    Then Cheiristoya and Agnes lit it with the torch in their hands with serious expressions, whichpleted the final handover.

    The whole process of transmitting the torch is essential in a traditional Greek wedding. Hence there is an old saying in Greece that an illegal marriage is a wedding without a torch. However, newlyweds in Theonia are legal couples after receiving Hera''s blessing and registering at the city hall, and this process is only to respect the tradition.

    Patroclus then led Cynthia out of the quadriga.

    Despite her veil, Cynthia could still see her two mothers standing by the roadside from the gaps in the fabric.

    Then her eyes started to turn red again.

    Cheiristoya came to hug her and whispered in her ear, ¡°Remember what I said.¡±

    Cynthia nodded hard as she dared not open her mouth, fearing that she would cry if she spoke.

    Agnes also came and hugged her and said, ¡°My child, live a good life with Patroclus! Hera will bless you!.¡±

    Cynthia continues nodding her head.

    Patroclus also came forward and bowed to them.

    The two queens epted his bow calmly.

    Then Cheiristoya said seriously, ¡°We will hand Cynthia to you; treat her well!¡±

    Patroclus repeatedly said yes and took Cynthia inside the house, surrounded by rtives and friends. They then walked into the kitchen, a symbolic centre of the family.

    The guests then threw the nuts they had prepared for the couple.

    At the same time, Patroclus'' mother handed Cynthia a date and a cake made of sesame and honey, following the traditions, both of which symbolise having more children.

    Cynthia slightly lifted her veil and ate them, which means that she has now be a member of the family.

    Amidst the guests'' blessings, Patroclus took Cynthia into the bedroom as he couldn''t wait to pull her to the bed and help her take off her wedding dress.

    ¡°Outside¡­there are still people¡­outside¡­¡± Cynthia said shyly.

    ¡°Don''t worry, Sthephilos is outside guarding; no one would dare toe in.¡±

    ¡°Sthephilos? Isn''t he and Giada going to get married soon?¡± Cynthia asked curiously.

    ¡°It''s our wedding day, so why do you care about them?¡± Along with Cynthia''s cry, Patroclus carried her to the bed¡­

    Outside, their rtives and friends sang the wedding hymn loudly with the loudest tone, working together to scare away the evil spirits.

    Soon, the sending-off group outside the house also joined in.

    This magnificent singing sounded throughout the night in Thurii¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While almost the entire city attended the wedding procession of Princess Cynthia of Theonia, the statesmen of the Senate gathered at the pce for a banquet held by King Davos. All of them were present except for the few statesmen who were far away working as praetors and couldn''t get away because of important matters.

    Davos had spent his own money and set out nearly a hundred tables, filling the entire pce hall. He then made his son, Crotokatax, the head of the banquet, directing his men and ves to serve the statesmen well.

    As this was the first time Davos hosted a banquet for all statesmen in more than a decade, he took the opportunity to express his gratitude for their efforts over the years on behalf of the kingdom. It was also the first time he allowed his eldest son, Crotokatax, to appear alone in front of the highest officials of the kingdom on such an informal asion.

    Due to Davos'' deliberate arrangement and the statesmen''s ttery, the banquet''s atmosphere was warm andsted untilte at night.

    At the banquet, many statesmen were drunk, especially Patroclus'' father, Periandorus. As one of the main characters of the banquet and the only non-statesmen among them, he faced every statesman who came to toast and congratte him, and he, of course, could not refuse, so he drank alcohol non-stop, and soon he was so drunk that he was vomiting all over the floor.

    While with his status, no statesmen dared to force Davos to drink, so he was still sober by the end of the banquet. As for the still underaged Crotokatax, the statesmen were embarrassed to make him drink, so he didn''t touch even a drop of liquor.

    After seeing off the guests, Davos walked home with Crotokatax while getting escorted by the royal guards.

    The pce and the king''s residence, one at the foot of the hill and the other at the top, are only 80 metres apart, connected by a spacious and smooth road.

    This night, the climate was cool as the moon shone brightly with few stars. The slightly drunk Davos walked on the gentle slope of the road and feltfortable with the river breeze and quiet surroundings.

    He turned his head to the side and looked at his son, ¡°Why are you still angry?¡±

    ¡°Father, those drunken Daunians statesmen swore at you crazily! Why aren''t you punishing them harshly?¡± Crotokatax said angrily.

    ¡°Then what do you say I should do? Should I cane them or put them in prison?¡± Davos smiled and said, ¡°They are drunk; I can forgive the words of the drunk.¡±

    Crotokatax said anxiously, ¡°But I can see their dissatisfaction with you. I am worried that they will treat you¡­¡±

    ¡°I have the royal guards'' protection and Aristias'' monitoring, and with the whole city of Thurii under my control, what can a few newly subordinated Daunian chieftains do?¡± Davos smiled as his son''s concern somewhat touched him. He then affectionately patted Crotokatax¡¯s still-tender shoulders and said in a serious tone, ¡°Besides, we have just upied theirnds and taken away their people. Should we not allow them to vent their anger? My son, learn to control yourself, don''t get angry easily as anger will make you lose your mind, and allow others to catch your weakness¡­¡±

 Chapter 647: Hippocrates Arrival

    Crotokatax immediately realised something after hearing that, so he hurriedly asked for advice in an open-minded manner, ¡°Father, what should I do to control my temper?¡±

    ¡°The crucial thing is that you must be confident! Confidence in your ability and strength. You can acquire ability through continuous learning and practice; I believe you can deal with any problems that arise by then. Strength, on the other hand-¡± Davos turned around, pointed to the royal pce and said, ¡°Behind me stands the mighty Theonian legion and a vast poption of millions who love me. Thus those insults of those few statesmen are like dogs facing a lion; they wouldn''t be able to hurt me in the slightest. So why should I bother about them? Instead, we should take the opportunity to show my kindness and generosity¡­¡±

    Davos taught his children without reservation. Crotokatax began pondering deeply.

    After walking for a while, Davos suddenly sighed, ¡°Time flew fast; now you are all grown up, and Cynthia is married in a blink of an eye!¡­ When I was your age, I was still herding livestock in Thessaly. At that time, there was a girl several years older than me who took care of me very much. I¡­I like her a lot¡­¡±

    ¡°What happened afterwards?¡± Crotokatax asked hurriedly.

    ¡°About what?¡± Davos purposely yed the fool.

    ¡°That girl!¡±

    ¡°Afterwards¡­¡± Davos pretended to remember as he said, ¡°She married my employer''s son while I married your two mothers¡­ Now that I think about it, I was still too young when I came into contact with that young girl, so liking her was nothing more than a youthful impulse and gratitude. In fact, she never liked me. And the true destiny given to me by Eros didn''te until I met your mother¡­¡±

    After Davos finished narrating the story he made up with feigned emotion, Crotokatax fell silent.

    Then the father and son continued walking up the hill quietly. But instead of entering his residence, Davos turned around and watched the city of Thurii below the hill. Crotokatax also stop.

    As it is alreadyte at night, it isn''t easy to see the lights in the city. The moon emitting silvery light in the night sky appears more brightly without the clouds covering it. Under the shroud of the moonlight, the high and low,rge and small houses extend into the distance. asionally, you can hear several barks echoing in the quiet and serene night sky.

    ¡°What a magnificent city!¡± Davos said emotionally. He then asked, ¡°Croto, do you know where your name came from?¡±

    ¡°I know! While I was about to be born, the Crotonian army came, but father led the army to defeat them and forced them to sign a treaty. That''s where I got that name!¡± Crotokatax replied with words full of pride.

    ¡°The people elected me, the king, wanting me to lead them in defending our wonderful home! One day, this position will be yours to inherit when I am old! Protecting the kingdom''s safety, safeguarding the people''s interests and making all cities in the kingdom as peaceful as Thurii tonight¡­those will all be your responsibilities!¡± Davos left hand pointed to the city below the hill, while his right hand pressed on Crotokatax''s shoulder as he said in a severe tone, ¡°This responsibility will be heavy! It would concern the lives and happiness of the millions of people in the kingdom of Theonia! My son, you won''t have much free time, so you must always be ready for this!¡­¡±

    Davos'' words made Crotokatax feel the heavy burden as he looked at the quiet city below the hill¡­

    After some time, his somewhat confused eyes gradually became more resolute¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the April of Thurii, after the lively Hera Marriage Celebration and Princess Cynthia''s marriage, the people became more excited as the All-Greek Academic Symposium would soon begin.

    Although most of the hardworking and busy ordinary people of Theonia didn''t care much about this, it was undoubtedly an unprecedented academic event for schrs, teachers, students, and even the knowledge-long Greek people throughout the kingdom and Greece. They began pouring into Thurii from all parts of the kingdom, even from all parts of the Mediterranean, making the whole Thurii region lively again. Not only were the various inns in the city and port full, but many of the people of Thurii also began epting lodging for outsiders in their homes, thus making a small fortune.

    With the growth of consumption and booming of business taxes, Thurii enjoys the benefits of being the central city of the kingdom.

    Oropes, a merchant from Agrigento, oftenes to Thurii to buyrge quantities of wine and then sell it to the southern coast of Sicily. Thus, he was pretty familiar with the port of Thurii. But when he got to the port today, he found that the situation was different from the usual.

    On the road going out of the port to the west, there were many youths in white chiton looking towards the port, holding up a wooden sign which reads ¡®Theonian Akademia¡¯, and they were all surrounded by numerous people, almost blocking the west side of the entrance and exit of the port. Furthermore, the guards next to them did not stop them. Instead, they directed thebourers transporting goods to go around the east side road of the port.

    Oropes, who had been doing business in Thurii for many years, naturally knew that there are only two kinds of people who often wear clear white chiton in Thurii: One is the temple priests, and the other is the teachers and students of the school (the best young students of the Theonian Akademia will be asked to teach at the schools). And these people in the port wearing white chiton obviously don''t have the solemn and calm temperament of the priests of Hades, so the most likely possibility is that they are teachers.

    ¡°Excuse me, is there something important happening in Thurii recently? How could there be so many teachersing to the port?¡± Oropes asked a citizen by the roadside who was also watching the port. As a merchant, curiosity is essential for them to discover business opportunities from it.

    ¡°You are not a Theonian, are you? Who in the kingdom doesn''t know that the Theonian Akademia in Thurii is about to hold the All-Greek Academic Symposium, which is a big event that will shock the whole of Greece!¡± said the Thurian man with pride, ¡°In the past few days, many famous schrs from various city-states have been arriving in Thurii. And those people are here to wee them. Yesterday, I saw Lord Ansitanos personallye to wee Cebes of Thebes and Antisthenes of Athens. I wonder which famous schr would arrive today?¡­¡±

    As he said that, he suddenly became surprised, ¡°Why were his esteemed Lord Herpus and Lord Steichicodas here?!¡±

    At this moment, these two Theonian statesmen* who have saved countless lives and are highly respected and are both over 50 years old, are hurrying towards the port with a group of physicians. Not only were the bystanders be curious, but even the young teachers who were tasked with weing the schrs were amazed, ¡®Who would be the schrs they would wee that would make these two lords spend valuable time for medical treatment and research toe here?!¡¯ (Steichicodas was also elected to the Senate some years ago at the suggestion of Davos)

    Hundreds of pairs of eyes looked at the ce that Herpus and the others had rushed to.

    There, they saw a white-haired old maning down from the newly docked passenger ship as he slowly moved towards the shore with the help of others.

    Herpus was filled with emotion looking at the visitor: It was because of this old man that he was inspired to engage in medicine that he even nned to go to the Ind of Kos to learn from him. But beyond his expectation, he met Davos, which made him who he is today.

    But even after achieving great sess, he is still full of respect for the old man.

    Herpus quickly weed him and shouted excitedly, ¡°Teacher Hippocrates!¡±

    The old man opened his turbid eyes and looked at the group of peopleing to him in a hurry, ¡°You are?¡±

    ¡°I am Herpus, and this is Steichicodas; we are physicians of Theonia!¡± Herpus introduce themselves loudly.

    Hippocrates put his right hand around his ear. After recognising that name, he smiled and said, ¡°Oh, you are the author of the ¡¶Human Anatomy¡·. You are amazing! Please don''t call me a teacher. On the contrary, you are my teachers!¡±

    ¡°Teacher Hippocrates, don''t say such things. In the tradition of Theonian Akademia''s Medical School, any physician with extensive medical experience and a unique vision of medicine must be called a teacher. Moreover, you are the leader and pioneer who made us eliminate our ignorance and use careful thinking to explore the source of diseases. Furthermore, all our physicians remember the ¡¶Medical Oath¡· you wrote, so you are well-deserved to be a teacher!¡±

    After the excited Herpus said that, the physicians behind him began reciting in unison, ¡°¡­I will keep this vow and this contract!

    To hold him who taught me this art equally dear to me as my parents.

    For my students, I will impart my medical knowledge with great care.

    I will use those dietary regimens which will benefit my patients ording to my greatest ability and judgement, and I will do no harm or injustice to them.

    I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a n.

    I will carry out my life and my art in purity and ording to divinew. Into whatever homes I go, I will enter them for the benefit of the sick, not to do whatever I want, not to ept bribes, not to seduce the opposite sex, nor will I ever disclose the things I see or hear in their private life¡­¡±

    The physicians'' loud voices resounded at the port, reaching the ears of the bystander and making some of the teachers shout in excitement, ¡°I know who he is! Hippocrates! He is Hippocrates!¡±

    Among the students in Theonian Akademia currently doing the weing task today are mainly students from the School of Philosophy and the Institute of Mathematics. However, the Akademia does not restrict them from listening to the courses of other subjects and even allows them to change their learning direction even after studying for a while once they find the knowledge they are really interested in.

 Chapter 648: Platos Arrival

    Furthermore, since the Theonian Akademia is also open*, many people heard the lectures of the medical school, especially the ss ¡®A Brief History of Medical Development¡¯, which is remembered by many people because of its lively and exciting content and doesn''t involve specialised medical terminology and primarily focus on Hippocrates. (The Theonian Akademia allowed a fixed number of knowledge-loving Theonians to enter the Akademia to observe.)

    ¡°Oh, he is the Hippocrates who is known as part of the ¡®the Theonian Medical School in the west and Hippocrates in the east¡¯!¡±

    ¡°I heard that he went to and from ces where gues urred, seeking cures and saving the sick Greeks, even at the risk of his life¡­he is truly a good man with high morals.¡±

    ¡°I also heard he set up a clinic on Kos Ind, and he didn''t even charge the poor and saved many people¡­¡±

    ¡°The Greek city-states in the eastern Mediterranean don''t have such hospitals and many physicians with professional training throughout the cities as Theonia. Without Hippocrates, they would live in fear of diseases.¡±

    ¡°No! I think it''s mainly because the Greeks in the eastern Mediterranean do not believe in Hades that they couldn''t get his blessing!¡±

    ¡°You are right.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The bystander apuded while talking excitedly.

    ¡°Teacher Hippocrates.¡± Herpes excitedly said while pointing at the numerous apuding audience on the port, ¡°The people of Theonia are warmly weing you and are ready to listen to your lecture!¡±

    Hippocrates hurriedly waved his hand and modestly said, ¡°I don''t dare to lecture; I am here for the exchange and to learn. I have long heard that the art of medicine is flourishing in the kingdom of Theonia and that its king is well-versed in medicine and strongly supports medical research! I have carefully read the book ¡¶Human Anatomy¡· you brought to me when you came to invite me and learned that you had studied the bones, muscles, organs and blood vessels of the human body¡­to such an unfathomable level, remarkable, truly remarkable!

    There is also the one about ¡¶The Theory of Blood Cirction¡· that has only over a hundred words, which solves the things puzzling me for many years. But it''s a pity that you just started studying it, right?!¡­ Sigh, I should havee here a long time ago! I should''vee long ago!¡± Hippocrates did not stop eximing. Although he was old, his thinking and diction were still clear.

    Steichicodas and Herpus looked at each other and said smilingly, ¡° ¡¶The Theory of Blood Cirction¡· is nearing itspletion; we are just waiting for your criticism and correction. We also have our newly made mannequins, various new surgical equipment, and tens of thousands of cases of various diseases¡­which are being ced in Theonia''s Medical School. We are just waiting for you to see, read and discuss it¡­ Moreover, we heard that you have deeply researched cranial surgery, treatment of epilepsy and gue prevention, so we would like to work with you¡­¡±

    Hippocrates'' eyes brighten at Steichicodas'' words. Thus before they could finish speaking, the old man grabbed Herpus'' hand with agility not less than that of young people and said excitedly, ¡°Where is Theonia''s Medical School? Take me there! Take me!¡­¡±

    After saying that, he impatiently moved forward, even forgetting to introduce his two apprentices, whom he was proud of.

    Then therge group of physicians walked through the port area, drawing curious looks from countless people and brushing shoulders with Marticoris and Metitokles, who were also in a hurry to get to the port.

    The two statesmen who hurriedly arrived* were curious as to why the medical school was out in force, but they currently had no time to ask them in detail as they hurriedly rushed to the gate of the port and asked the students who were waiting, ¡°Did he arrived?¡± (The dean and vice-dean of the Institute of Mathematics also joined the Senate some years ago at Davos'' suggestion)

    The students shook their heads.

    ¡°We were informed by a fast-sailing ship that his passenger ship had entered the Gulf of Taranto!¡± Marticoris scratched his head irritably.

    ¡°Calm down and just wait!¡± Metitokles reassured him.

    As they talked, the people around them were surprised to see them. Although they are not as prestigious as Herpus and Steichicodas among the people, they are highly respected among the port workers. Marticoris had designed and perfected the pulley many times, significantly reducing their workload of loading and unloading cargo and the possibility of getting injured as much as possible. In addition, many sailors at the port know that Metitokles was also using his theory of buoyancy by experimenting with thin iron sheets to cover the wooden hulls of the ships and allowing them to float on water¡­

    So who are these two knowledgeable schrsing to wee?! The people are filled with expectations.

    Suddenly, an ordinary-looking middle-aged man came to the front of the weing team and asked, ¡°Are you the person responsible for convening the All-Greek Academic Symposium?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you are?¡± A student asked.

    The middle-aged man smiled and said, ¡°I am Xanthilian, a schr from Abdera.¡±

    Abdera?! Marticoris impatiently asked loudly after hearing the ce name, ¡°What''s your rtionship with Democritus?¡±

    ¡°Democritus is my respected teacher!¡± Xanthilian then said apologetically, ¡°I want to apologise as my teacher promised to attend this Academic Symposium, but he contracted a chill a few days before his departure, and his body wasn''t able to recover well. Since he is already 78 years old, he really couldn''t travel on such a long boat trip; Not only did his family dissuade him, but also the statesmen of the city-state rushed to dissuade him. In the end, he could only give up his intention toe to the symposium and instead sent me to Thurii to carry out the academic exchanges on his behalf, so I hope I can get your understanding!¡±

    ¡°That''s unfortunate. I also want to have a good exchange with him about the calction methods and knowledge of the geometry of cones and spheres.¡± Marticoris grabbed his hair in regret.

    Metitokles hurriedly said, ¡°We didn''t think it carefully, and the age of teacher Democritus is unsuited for such long journeys. Since he sent you here, I am sure you must be his best student, so we will listen to your wonderful speech instead.¡±

    ¡°That''s right! That''s right!¡± After many years of being the vice-dean of the Institute of Mathematics, Marticoris wasn''t without any emotional intelligence. Thus he sincerely said to Xanthilian, ¡°I look forward to exchanging knowledge with you in mathematics, physics, astronomy, and so on. As for philosophy, Gorgias and the others will certainlye to invite you with enthusiasm. However, that will have to wait until after your lectures and exchanges at the Institute of Mathematics.¡±

    Xanthilian quickly said a few modest words, and everyone soon got to know each other as they walked out of the portughing and talking.

    Hearing Democritus'' name from Marticoris'' loud voice, a merchant from the Ionian region among the bystander eximed, ¡°Democritus! Theonia has invited Democritus!¡±

    Someone beside him asked, ¡°Who is Democritus?¡±

    ¡°You people in the western Mediterranean might not know much about him, but all Greeks in the eastern Mediterranean, especially in the ck Sea, Asia Minor and Ionia, who can read and write, know him. He is a knowledgeable schr and lived in the Greek colonial city of Abdera in Thrace. I heard that he knew everything about nature, philosophy, astronomy, geography, mathematics, physics, animals, medicine,w, politics¡­so much so that countless young Greeks went to Abdera to learn and returned satisfied. When the king of Persia heard of his fame, he especially wrote an invitation to him toe to Babylon to give a lecture, only to have him refuse. Besides that, I heard that though Democritus was a great schr, he was humorous and kind to others, able to makeplicated questions vivid and interesting and that many Greeks who came from studying under him were full of praise for him and even called him an all-knowing man beside the gods¡­¡± The merchant recounted pridefully the things he heard about Democritus.

    Hearing this, the people around him became fascinated and couldn''t help but sigh, ¡°It''s unfortunate that this great schr couldn''te!¡±

    ¡°Look, Lord Ansitanos hase! And also the eloquent Lysias!¡± The people of Thurii eximed again.

    Ansitanos, as the first statesman of the kingdom and the writer of the History of Magna Graecia, was deeply respected by the people. Lysias, on the other hand, was also famous in Theonia, not to mention that he was the one to write the hymns at the various festivities every year. Furthermore, he became famous as a defencewyer at the trial of Ladician, making many young people want to learn rhetorics under him, and numerous people whomitted crimes wanted to hire him to defend themselves. And because of that, his house was crowded with people daily.

    Thus wherever they passed, the people would greet them.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After getting off the passenger ship, to didn''t immediately leave the dock. Instead, he carefully observed the port''s situation.

    He noticed that although the port of Thurii wasn''t as big as the port of Piraeus in Athens and its location wasn''t good, its liveliness was almost the same as that of Piraeus. On the other hand, the port''s sanitary cleanliness and the equipment of the various facilities were much better than that of Piraeus. In particr, the pulley erected on the trestle attracted his attention.

    ¡®How can various merchant ships and passenger ships enter and leave the port, dock, load and unload goods? How can thebourers, sailors and passengers not interfere with each other? How can the whole dock operate effectively and maintain order?¡­¡¯ By observing these, he could see the level of a city-state''s management of affairs. And the busy but orderly scene of the port of Thurii made to nod quietly.

    Speusippus came to him and said, ¡°Teacher, those heading to us seem to be the people from Theonia''s Akademia to meet us.¡±

    When to heard him, he quickly turned around and saw a man striding towards him and shouting, ¡°to, wee! Wee to Thurii!¡±

 Chapter 649: Meeting with Plato

    That startled to, who then immediately smiled and said, ¡°Lysias! It''s great to see you again! You''ve gained weight that I almost didn''t recognise you.¡±

    Indeed, Lysias lived a privileged life after having a sessful career at this time and no longer had the appearance of making money by writing defence speeches for others in Athens. He patted his protruding belly under his magnificent chiton and sighed in a seemingly helpless manner. However, he was inwardly pleased with it, ¡°As I get older and older, I gain more and more. I tried to lose it, but there is no other effect.¡±

    to replied smilingly, ¡°Because what you gain when getting older are experience and knowledge!¡±

    Lysias smiled when to held him. He then pointed to the people beside him and said enthusiastically, ¡°Let me introduce you to a statesman of Theonia and the main organiser of the All-Greek Academic Symposium ¨C Ansitanos.¡±

    ¡°Are you the Ansitanos who wrote the History of Magna Graecia?¡± to asked, feeling surprised.

    ¡°I am indeed the one who wrote the History of Magna Graecia; however, it is barely passable.¡± Ansitanos then modestly continued, ¡°It couldn''tpare to your Republic that shocked the schrs all over Greece, and even our King Davos praised your book by saying it was a political marvel and praised you as the great to!¡±

    Hearing Ansitanos'' praise, to became slightly embarrassed that he frankly said, ¡°It took me twelve years of travelling the Mediterranean sea to write that book. I use the knowledge I gain from observing and contemting, but there are still quite a few ws and drawbacks that I am constantly improving¡­¡±

    When he wrote this book, to received a lot of controversy and criticism in Athens because he was criticising the shorings of democracy.

    to praised him and said, ¡°On the other hand, you, Lord Ansitanos, had written the History of Magna Graecia clearly and rigorously researched. With time as the horizontal line and the events of the city-state of Magna Graecia as the vertical line, you had clearly and lucidly described the hundreds of years of history of Magna Graecia, which I think is no less than Thucydides'' History of the Peloponnesian War. Moreover, it gives us native Greeks a good understanding of the hundreds of years of history of the Greek colonies in southern Italy. I had even kept three copies in my Akademia''s library¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop praising each other; we must leave here quickly. Ansitanos, don''t forget that King Davos is still waiting to meet to!¡± Lysias urged.

    ¡°Your king wants to meet me?¡± to was surprised.

    ¡°Didn''t I just say King Davos highly respect you? He wants to see you now because the symposium hasn''t yet started, so it won''t be too eye-catching,¡± exined Ansitanos.

    to immediately understood once he thought about it. He then smiled and said, ¡°Wonderful, I also want to see the marvellous king who created Theonia''s miracle!¡±

    Unlike the two schrs who arrived earlier, the bystanders recognised to more, not because he was more famous at this time, but because it had only been a few years since his travel around the major Mediterranean countries and city-state. Hippocrates and Democritus, on the other hand, had entered theirter years, so they rarely travelled far.

    For example, Oropes, a merchant from Agrigento, had once met to while doing his business in Syracuse and Leontinoi. At this moment, he looked at to''s distant figure and thought: Hippocrates, a famous physician in Greece, a knowledgeable schr who was the student of Democritus, and to, a renowned schr in Athens. In just half a day, Theonia invited three famous schrs from the Greek world. And since the All-Greek Academic Symposium that Theonia held must be a gathering of schrs, it would definitely be quite attractive. Would Thurii rece Athens and be the academic centre of the Greek world?!

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos had long been eager to meet this great sage and thinker called the father of philosophy by the west in his previous life. The westerners even had the consensus that to is philosophy and philosophy is to when ites to politics and philosophical studies.

    to also hopes to meet this young king who made a small city-state rapidly rise into one of the most powerful Greek forces in the western Mediterranean. He wanted to ask him about the political mystery of how to make a city-state powerful, which he believed would help perfect his political philosophy.

    Thus they quickly meet in the king''s office in the pce of Theonia.

    Although to wasn''t tall, his physique was good, which is quite different from the traditional image of a Chinese schr who is handsome and elegant. And as the young king who created the powerful kingdom of Theonia, Davos was also synonymous with the word handsome and mighty.

    Since neither of them was an ordinary man, they didn''t look at each other with such a mundane attitude as judging each other by appearances. ¡°Your majesty, while on my way here from the port, I found a massive difference between the citizens of Theonia and those of other Greek city-states -¡± he paused for a moment and continued after seeing the curious look on Davos'' face, ¡°None of you has beards, is this deliberate?¡±

    It caught Davos off-guard when to asked such a question as soon as he opened his mouth, Davos was caught off-guard. He then subconsciously rubbed his bare chin and said with a smile, ¡°That is because we, the Theonians, realise over the years that growing a long beard isn''t good. For example: While our citizen-soldiers fight the enemy, the enemy could easily pull our beard when they notice it is too long, which might lead to injury or even the loss of life. In addition, the physicians of Theonia''s Medical School found after research that a too-thick and too-long bear, if not cleaned frequently, will breed some small things inside that we can''t see and cause us to suffer from a disease. But if we clean it frequently, it will just waste our time and energy. Thus it is better to shave it offpletely.¡±

    After listening to Davos, to also unconsciously stroked his thick beard and said, ¡°So, the Theonians advocate practicality? And for this reason, they are not even willing to follow our ancient tradition?¡±

    With a smile, Davos said thoughtfully, ¡°Our understanding of the environment and nature would gradually get clearer and richer with the passage of time; the schrs of ancient times wouldn''t beparable to us now, so many of their views and understanding are simple, or might even be wrong¡­ Still, we would certainly want to inherit the good Greek traditions. But for the bad ones, why should we keep them?! For example, the other city-state would keep their women locked up in their homes, while we in Theonia gave the women of our kingdom more freedom and equal education! Didn''t you also call for equality between men and women in your Republic?!¡­¡±

    Davos'' words caused to to ponder. But instead of responding directly, he asked, ¡°Since you say that you want to inherit the good traditions of the Greeks and discard the bad ones, then you think that aristocracy is superior to other regimes because you became a king and turned Theonia Union into a kingdom, right?¡±

    Davos likewise didn''t answer his question directly. Instead, he looked at him and said thoughtfully, ¡°I have read your Ideal State, and I disagree with your opinion that only philosophers are the best rulers of a city-state. On the contrary, having a philosopher in power will only worsen the city-state!¡±

    When he heard this, to widened his eyes. But he quickly recovered his calm and asked in a more serious tone, ¡°Why does your majesty think that?¡±

    Davos unhurriedly said, ¡°We Greeks called it philosophy since it is the love of wisdom, a study that inquires into the evolution of heavy, earth, society, the world¡­ and the profound knowledge of the evolution of everything. And the person who can be called a philosopher must devote all his energy to it to gain insight into the world, which isn''t an easy task. So where does he have the extra time to govern the country?! Look at me here- ¡±

    He then pointed to the mountains of letters, proposals and information on his desk¡­he sighed and said, ¡°These are the kingdom matters that I have to deal with in a day. Besides that, I will also invite officials to discuss and participate in the deliberation of various proposals of the Senate¡­thus I barely have free time. Even for this meeting with you, I need to n it before I can spare half an hour, and this will also result in me having to go home a littleter tonight. Otherwise, we couldn''t approve some of the resolutions in time and have to push them to tomorrow, which not only means a reduction in administrative efficiency but also may mean that the lives of the people in a city or a region of the kingdom are greatly affected¡­

    You see, he would have to devote most of his energy to the tedious affairs of the city-state if he wanted to be a good king. The same is true of the praetors of the cities of my kingdom, whose authority is equal to that of a ruler of other city-states, as they must be diligent and on the ground to solve the practical problems of the cities under their jurisdiction. But if they were to spend their energy on studying and learning instead of doing their job, the local council members and tribunal officers would protest against him if I didn''t rece him¡­¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, I am amazed at your diligence!¡± toplimented first and then said calmly, ¡°You said that philosophy is the love of wisdom, but we couldn''t obtain wisdom just by sitting there and thinking in vain. Instead, we had to refine it through practice. When encountering a difficult problem while dealing with governmental matters, one must think seriously, find thew, and eventually find a solution; Since you could even refine this method into a system and promote it, is this not the result of the use of philosophy?!¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems that the various praetors within the kingdom and I are sages, so does this means that it is easy to be a philosopher?¡± retorted Davos.

 Chapter 650: The Start of the All-Greek Academic Symposium

    ¡°If the rulers of the city-states were to keep on learning instead of indulging in carnal pleasures, then they would treat their people with kindness, see through things with keen vision, formtews beneficial to the beauty, justice and goodness of the city-state, and to lead the people to obey it and defend it¡­then there is no doubt that they are sages!¡± to said firmly.

    Davos knew that to expanded the concept of a sage, but he felt there was no need to rebuke it. Instead, he changes to another topic, ¡°In your book, you believe that a true sage should love the truth without falsehood, moderation without greed for pleasure, open-mindedness, generosity, courage without fearing death, fairness and virtue, wisdom and goodness, innate harmony, in and out¡­that is to say, a sage should be a perfectly good person for him to be a true ruler, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± to frankly said and added, ¡°But it''s hard to achieve it now.¡±

    ¡°Why is it now hard?¡± Davos asked.

    ¡°Because there is no stage for the sages to use their talents in ruling a country!¡± replied to in a slightly agitated tone, ¡°Some of the so-called ¡®wise men¡¯ in a city-state''s lesia only know how to please and pander to the people while attacking the sages who genuinely seek the truth of things. And since the people ept falsehood more than truth, the sages aren''t popr with the people of the city-state. Moreover, the harsh environment of the city-state would lure talented young people into bing ambitious, so they would rather learn rhetoric and cater to the people to earn power and wealth than go through strenuous training of ves to gain reason.

    Hence why there are fewer true sages, as if they had fallen into a herd of wild beasts, neither willing to participate in doing evil nor fight the beasts alone and therefore have to remain silent and focus only on their own matters¡­¡±

    ¡°So the ideal state you wrote does not exist in reality.¡± Davos was enlightened.

    ¡°No, it will exist one day!¡± With firm determination, to said, ¡°I have created the Akademia for that reason!¡­¡±

    Davos was shaken by to''s words. While looking at this sage who was called great in his previous life, Davos felt his determination to fight for his ideas for his whole life, which made him think of another sage in his previous life who was almost the same age as to and influenced China for more than 2,000 years, both of them were the same kind of people, allowing them to achieve such greatness.

    After having thought of that, Davos stopped making things difficult about what he considered the shoring of to''s book. Instead, he calmly asked for advice, ¡°In the Republic, you mention that a strict division ofbour in society is the primary principle for creating the ideal city-state; rulers, guardians, farmers and craftsmen must each do their own duties to ensure that the state is orderly and everyone is happy and at peace¡­ However, ves and freemen made up most of the poption in a city-state, yet you didn''t seem to consider them, which might be a major hidden problem.

    The ves and the freemen also had their demands, but once the city-state couldn''t grant them, they were bound to bring great damage to the city-state''s order. For example, Athens, which should have united against foreign enemies in the Peloponnesian War, had received a significant blow to its poption by the defection of more than 20,000 miner ves. When Syracuse under Dionysius fought against us, the freemen of the port of Syracuse, who had received discrimination, became the leading force in carrying out the revolts that overthrew Dionysius'' rule¡­

    Apart from that, you have also divided the people of the city-state into several sses: Farmers will only be engaged in agriculture, craftsmen will only be engaged in handicrafts, and the soldiers will only be involved in war¡­.although such division isn''t too idealistic, it is too rigid. After all, most people have the desire to get a better position in the city-state, such as the farmers and craftsmen might also want to be a soldier, and a soldier might also want to be a ruler; so whether they can do it or not, you should give them a way that may allow them to advance so that the people of the city-state will have a vibrant life. Don''t you want to know why Theonia managed to be strong quickly? That is one of the reasons!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As Davos and to exchanged their views on the city-state''s government, they would sometimes argue fiercely and sometimes discuss calmly.

    Unknowingly, half an hour passed in a sh. It wasn''t until the clerk Henipolis reminded him that Davos had to stop their discussion. He then apologises to to, telling him he has something important to do next and can only end their discussion.

    to, on the other hand, looked regretful. From his indifference when the discussion started to his full attention now, he benefited greatly from this conversation.

    He then sincerely asked, ¡°Your majesty, can you grant me a request?¡±

    ¡°I''m all ears.¡±

    ¡°Can I get your permission to visit and see the actual operations of the various institutions under the kingdom of Theonia, such as the Akademia, the department of inspection, the department of construction, and the civil servant managementmittee that assess and recruit civil servants¡­¡±

    ¡°There is naturally no problem.¡± Davos readily agreed. He added, ¡°This is my clerk, Henipolis, and he is also a statesman of the Senate. Once you finish your speech at the Akademia, he will lead you to tour around Thurii.¡±

    to immediately expressed his thanks.

    After he left, Henipolis asked doubtfully, ¡°Your majesty, do you really want to allow to to visit our administrative facilities?¡±

    ¡°Of course. to is a renowned schr in all of Greece and even had his own Akademia. Thus I hope he promotes the superiority of the kingdom of Theonia''s regime and makes it famous throughout Greece.¡± Davos said without hesitation.

    ¡°But this may cause other city-states to steal our system,¡± Henipolis said worriedly.

    Davosughed, ¡°Heni, you can secretly learn the production of weapons, equipment and handicrafts, but learning a political system is difficult to learn secretly. Especially for those city-states that have been founded for a long time because the traditional conservative forces are numerous and powerful. If they wanted to change their political system, they would inevitably damage their interest, resulting in a bloody uprising. Herolis in Syracuse is an example! Hence it isn¡¯t good if people try to wear other kinds of shoes as it would be chaotic¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the All-Greek Academic Symposium started, there was no formal opening ceremony because schrs advocated freedom and preferred to listen to more than just trivial words. However, they still need to solve how to coordinate the lectures and discussions of the invited schrs.

    Although they held the exchanges in four ces in the Theonian Akademia, namely the Institute of Mathematics, the College of Liberal Arts, the Medical School and the Lyceum of Philosophy, many of the invited schrs have made achievements in various fields, such as Democritus'' disciple who studied philosophy, mathematics and medicine. Lysis, one of the important figures in the Pythagorean school, wasn''t only well-learned in mathematics and physics but also had his own unique philosophical ideas¡­ And these various institutions wanted the schrs toe to their side first to lecture, so the debate was endless.

    Fortunately, Davos served as the symposium organiser. After gathering the deans of the institutions and having repeated discussions, he soon made the schedule.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Once to''s students arrived at the Akademia, they found that, as Phaestokiadas said, the Theonian Akademia was indeed muchrger, with more buildings and a much more beautiful environment than their Akademia, making them feel a little lost. But they soon became addicted to the profound knowledge that they frequently shuttle between the institutions to listen to the lectures of the schrs.

    In the college of liberal arts, they listen to Lysias'' application of Logic in Court Debates and Isocrates'' How to polish your speech;

    In the Institute of Mathematics, they specte Marticoris'' Exploration of the Regrity of Material Vibration Curve and Metitokles'' Preliminary Theory of Probability*. (This is a knowledge that Davosmissioned the Institute of Mathematics to calcte the odds for the ball games for the past six-seven years, which the Institute of Mathematics discovered and summarised.)

    In the Lyceum of Philosophy, they had to carefully distinguish the simrities and differences between the philosophy of ¡¶All Things Are Number¡· by Lysis, the ¡¶Philosophy of Existence¡· by Androsthenes (a student of Parmenides of Elea, and the vice-dean of the Theonian Akademia) and the philosophy taught by to.

    In Medical School, they watched wide-eyed as Herpus described and demonstrated the functions of the heart, Steichicodas'' ¡¶Common Diseases in Humans ¨C A Preliminary Look at the Pathogenesis of Colds¡· and Hippocrates'' ¡¶Obedience to Nature¡· medical point of view*. (The body itself is the best medicine against disease, and the physician''s primary responsibility is to stand on the side of nature and promote the physical and spiritual recovery of the patient)¡­

    While learning and absorbing knowledge, Speusippus and his colleagues also got to know quite a few young outstanding talents. Most of them were Theoniaan Akademia¡¯s students, who were confident, generous, diligent and eager to learn. When listening to the schrs'' lectures, they not only used papyrus to record the key points but also actively asked questions that would even puzzle the lecturers because of their questions.

    Aftering down, these students of the Theonian Akademia also engaged in a heated discussion, in which Speusippus joined in. However, they often couldn¡¯t keep up with the quickness of their thinking because of theirck of wealth of knowledge. In fact, that was understandable as they only had one primary teacher. Thus even though to was knowledgeable, he could not have studied all fields in depth, whereas the Theonian Akademia had many teachers, most of whom were renowned schrs and allowed students of various fields to sit in and learn.

 Chapter 651: A Heated Debate on a Mathematical Incident

    That event made Speusippus depressed, but it also stimted his determination to study harder.

    Besides those, what made Speusippus even more curious was the endless stream of people from Theoniaing to the Akademia to listen to the lectures since the start of the Academic Symposium. The whole Akademia was filled with people that Thurii had to send soldiers to maintain order. In the end, the Akademia even imposed a rule that only a fixed number of people would be allowed to enter. Yet even with that, many people could still be seen wandering outside the Akademia every day.

    Augeas tried talking with them. From what he gathered, he learned that among these people were civil servants, farmers, merchants, craftsmen¡­and so on. Not only were they from Thurii, but there were also people from Campania, Magna Graecia, Apulia, Sicily¡­and so on. And apart from the Greeks, there are also Lucanians, Bruttians, Messapians¡­most of them have studied in the schools in the various cities of Theonia and are still eager for knowledge even with their busy life.

    And from the questions they raised in the various conference halls, it was clear their knowledge wasn''t low, which surprised Speusippus and Augeas. After all, speeches and exchanges at this level were often a minority affair, as learning wasn''t widespread in the many Greek city-states, even in prosperous cities such as Athens. Like when the Athenians elected strategoi or expelled politicians during the annual lesia, it wasmon for the illiterate citizens to ask someone to help them write on the y tablets¡­ Thus the Theonians'' pursuit of knowledge was so much that they put them to shame.

    In the afternoon of that day, Augeas and his colleagues hurried from the Lyceum of Philosophy to the Institute of Mathematics because Phaestokiadas would give his lecture.

    The academic symposium held in Theonia also provides a stage for young schrs. Thus as long as their applications are approved, they can also give their lecture on stage and exchange with renowned schrs.

    Of course, the majority of young schrs who gave their speeches on the stage were students from the Theonian Akademia since they passed the evaluation as they were more prepared.

    Phaestokiadas, the first student of the Theonian Akademia whom Speusippus and Augeas knew the earliest and had the best rtionship, had invited them to dine at Cheiristoya''s Restaurantst night. Hence it is only natural for Speusippus and the others toe and show up to his lecture. Moreover, they were also curious about what Phaestokiadas would lecture as he had kept his mouth shut duringst night''s discussion.

    When they entered the hall in the Institute of Mathematics, Phaestokiadas was already giving his speech.

    But what they saw was a bizarre sight: Some audience were shouting angrily, trying to rush to the stage but were stopped by the soldiers while some threw stones on the stage. Yet even with that, Phaestokiadas, surrounded by his ssmate, spoke his views in a louder voice and wrote his argumentation on the ck wallboard with white chalk made of limestone.

    ¡°What is the title of Phaestokiadas'' speech?¡± Augeas asked an audience next to him.

    The audience said impatiently, ¡°On the existence of numbers other than the ratio of integers.¡± Then he continues listening attentively.

    Augeas then felt the subject was somewhat familiar.

    ¡°Hippasus!¡± Speusippus quickly reminded him.

    Augeas suddenly realised why he felt it familiar. It was because the topic involved an academic tragedy in Magna Graecia decades ago.

    The Hippasus of Metapontum was a disciple of the Pythagorean School. While studying the pentagon, he found that he could not express the diagonal and side length by the ratio of integer. Then he discovered that a square''s side length and diagonal are the same.

    Thus with the spirit of exploration, he confirmed one thing after repeated verification: In addition to the ratio of integers, there exists a kind of number which cannot be divided evenly, cannot get the exact number and cannot be cycled.

    Then, he put forward his views in an exchange with the other Pythagoreans.

    But it caused the members of the Pythagorean School to panic as once Hippasus'' discovery is confirmed and spread, it would overturn the philosophy of Pythagoras, who said that everything is a number, one is the generator of all other numbers, and everything in the universees down the ratio of integers. As a result, the other members of the Pythagorean School imprisoned Hippasus and finally threw him into the sea, drowning him alive.

    Unfortunately, this incident eventually spread through theints of Hippasus'' family.

    Although Augeas knew of such an event, he did not know the detailed process. But when he saw the angry audience, he knew they must be Pythagoreans.

    Yet even with that, Phaestokiadas didn''t pay attention to their shouting as he calmly continued to solve it.

    Speusippus then looked at the wall panel and saw that the numbers and symbols used by Phaestokiadas were Davos'' number, which was told to have been invented by King Davos under the enlightenment of Hades. Although this Davos'' number was only popr in the country of the king of Theonia back then, itter spread to other city-states through the merchants. Afterwards, it gradually got epted by the people of other city-states and even schrs as it was too convenient and fast when counting andputing. In particr, it has eliminated the worries of the Greeks about countingrge numbers. Hence today''s schrs and the public can understand those.

    Phaestokiadas drew a square on the wall panel. He then set the length of each side as one, and then he solved the length of the diagonal. Ironically, Phaestokiadas used the Pythagorean Theorem invented by Pythagoras to find that the length of the diagonal would be the square root of two.

    Phaestokiadas then used the methodmonly used by the Pythagorean School to disproof, proving that the ratio of two integers could not represent the number. After his sessful argument, he continued to try to square two.

    At this time, he used an algorithm called dichotomy. Seeing that he had almost filled the whole wall panel, he threw away the white chalk, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and turned to face the audience. He then loudly shouted, ¡°After my calction, the length of the diagonal of a square should be 1.4142¡­this number has no end. It would be endless that we can¡¯t write it as the ratio of two integers, nor is it a rational number¡­And thus, I call it an irrational number¡­¡±

    ¡°Booo!¡±

    ¡°Rubbish!¡±

    ¡°You are wrong; there is no such thing! What right you, a mere student, to nder the great Pythagoras?! To insult our school! Get your ass down here; we will teach you a good lesson!¡­¡± The members of the Pythagorean School shouted and swore.

    Marticoris, the vice-dean of the Institute of Mathematics, stood up angrily and shouted, ¡°Why are you making trouble?! This is the Theonian Akademia, not Taranto! Soldiers, get these fools out of here for making trouble instead of paying attention to the lecture!¡±

    With Marticoris having the identity of a statesman of the kingdom, the soldiers rushed to catch those troublemakers as soon as he gave his order.

    Then some members of the Pythagorean School cursed loudly and angrily, ¡°Marticoris, you traitor! I knew you would use Theonia to suppress us Pythagorean because you are all academically inferior to us! We came to Thurii this time to see what new ideas you had, but I didn''t expect¡­bah! What an All-Greek Academic Symposium! This is just a piece of sh*t!¡±

    ¡°What about the All-Greek Academic Symposium? It''s still not your turn toment about it!¡± A loud voice rang from the entrance of the hall.

    ¡°His majesty Davos!!¡±

    ¡°His majesty!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the audience eximed, Davos strode towards the stage.

    Even the Pythagoreans stopped shouting in the presence of Davos, which soon caused an odd silence to descend in the hall.

    Phaestokiadas then bowed at Davos with respect as soon as he stepped onto the stage.

    Davos patted him on the shoulder, then faced the audience and said, ¡°This is a sacred ce to impart and exchange knowledge. Verbal and Physical fighting is forbidden, and those who vite them will be punished per the Laws of Theonia. Thus I hope you will not vite it, or thew will punish you, no matter who you are!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, we have no intention to vite the Laws of Theonia. However, in such an influential symposium, the Theonian Akademia''s Institute of Mathematics deliberately chose such a thesis to smear and nder our school''s revered founder ¨C Pythagoras. They wantonly attack the reputation of our school and destroy the unity between Theonia and Taranto. I believe that isn''t what you would like to see either¡­so I hope that your majesty will deal with the perpetrators of this matter seriously!¡± As an important member of the Pythagorean School, Lysis didn''t make trouble like the others. Instead, he protested righteously with his eloquence.

    ¡°Your majesty, listen to me¡­¡± Marticoris was eager to argue, but Davos'' sharp stare stopped him.

    Davos has coordinated the conference schedule, so he generally knows the topic of the famous schr''s lectures. However, he didn''t know the content of the young schr''s lectures since they are evaluated and arranged by each institution. But how could Marticoris, a former disciple of the Pythagorean School, not know the possible impact of this matter? Yet he still quietly arranged for the students to speak on such a topic without informing him! Thus it is only natural for Davos to be dissatisfied with him because it could ruin such a hard-to-organise symposium.

    If not for Henipolis anxiously wanting to go to the College of Liberal Arts this morning to listen to the lectures, then Davos wouldn¡¯t ask what the content of today¡¯s lectures was. Then Aristias wouldn¡¯t send someone to the Akademia to inquire about it. Then Davos wouldn¡¯t have known about this conflict until it had be a huge deal.

 Chapter 652: A Lecture on Truth

    Davos quickly nced at everyone: Those who were angry were probably Pythagoreans; Those looking at them with dissatisfaction might be students and teachers of the Akademia and some people of Theonia; those who were bewildered as they didn''t understand what was going on. And in the front row where the invited renowned schrs seated, some with cold-eyed, some intently gazing at the wall panel, some gesturing with their hands as if they were performing calctions¡­

    And why Metitokles, the dean of the Institute of Mathematics, didn¡¯t appear was because he caught a cold. Thus his students even had to do his lecture in his stead. And if a levelheaded person had been present instead, that situation wouldn''t happen.

    With that in mind, Davos red at Marticoris again and then said loudly, ¡°Esteemed guests, this is the hall of academics. In this sacred ce full of knowledge, there is no difference between being born with high or low status, nor do wepare the size of our fists nor the loudness of our voices; everything here is about knowledge! Now I stand here, not as a king but as a seeker of knowledge, to seriously ask all the schrs here whether the lecture and the theory made by the young schr just now are wrong?¡±

    ¡°Well said, your majesty!¡± Someone in the audience shouted, and then came a round of apuse.

    As the apuse grew louder, Davos had to signal them to quiet down. He then asked loudly again, ¡°Is there a mistake in this theory?¡±

    Silence descended in the room.

    Then a Pythagorean stood up and said, ¡°There is naturally a mistake!¡±

    Another loudmotion rose in the hall.

    Davos calmly invited him and said, ¡°Very well. You cane up here to verify its error.¡±

    The member shook his head and said, ¡°I don''t need to go up as the topic itself is wrong. There is no such thing as a number independent of integers and ratio of integers!¡±

    Davos'' face darkens, ¡°We prove the authenticity of knowledge through knowledge, not by acting shamelessly! If you Pythagoreans continue disrupting the conference in this way, I will not only question your academic level but also ssify you as unwee at this symposium and expel you from Thurii!¡±

    Davos continued coldly, ¡°Now let me ask again, is this argument wrong?¡±

    The members of the Pythagorean school, including Lysis, look at each other nervously and uneasily, but none stand up to speak. Why was Hippasus killed back then? It''s because although the Pythagoreans were conservative and stubborn, the level of their mathematics was the top in the Mediterranean. So they knew in their hearts that Hippasus was correct. Hence because of this reason, the members of the school did not dare to touch this field for decades. Thus they certainly do not dare to stand up alone now and turn ck into white while being ridiculed by other schrs for their academic standards.

    Davos coldly said, ¡°Now I''ll ask you again, is there any error on this?¡±

    Theaetetus, an Athenian mathematician, stood up with a serious expression as he slowly said, ¡°I see no error in Phaestokiadas'' and that the square root of two is indeed¡­a new figure.¡±

    But as soon as he said that, someone shouted, ¡°You are spouting nonsense!¡±

    Davos'' eyebrows raised as he pointed at the man and shouted, ¡°Drag him out of here!¡±

    The guards immediately rushed over, pulled up the man''s arm and dragged him out of the conference hall.

    Davos smacked the table and said sternly, ¡°I already said that anyone who disagrees shoulde up here to prove it. If anyone still causes trouble, don''t me me for being impolite!¡±

    After Davos said that, themotion in the hall went down.

    Then several other mathematicians stood up one after another to validate that Phaestokiadas'' theory was correct.

    ¡°Bravo, Phaestokiadas!¡± Some of the audience shouted, some apuded, and some congratted Phaestokiadas, which resulted in the hall bing lively.

    On the other hand, the Pythagoreans stood up angrily and were about to leave.

    Seeing that, Davos said aloud, ¡°Schrs of the Pythagorean School, listen to me before deciding whether to leave.¡±

    Davos'' words caused Lysis and the others to stop temporarily.

    Davos solemnly said, ¡°Us humans have developed from the ignorance of ancient times to today''s understanding of the mysteries of nature, which is the result of the efforts of one sage after another in exploring the truth.

    Thus, you who are here today undoubtedly have more knowledge and a deeper understanding of the world than the great schrs like Thales of Miletus, Anaximander and Pythagoras a hundred years ago. It isn''t because you are better than them but because you are standing on the shoulders of these giants, inheriting their knowledge and using it to discover more knowledge. That is why we, Greeks and the whole of humanity, are growing stronger, more prosperous, and wealthier. Otherwise, humanity will only stagnate and even eventually wipe out.

    Pythagoras was a great schr who expanded the field of mathematics and enriched its application in society. However, there isn''t an omniscient person in the world, as even Zeus, a powerful god, needs to consult others to know who will rece him.

    Many of the insights of the Pythagorean School were discovered byter members, and I am sure you all know it in your hearts. Thus it is only natural for Pythagoras to make some mistakes because he did not know enough about the world back then.

    But as long as you can find them and have the courage to correct them, it doesn''t matter if there are mistakes! Thus it allowed Hippasus, an outstanding member of your school, to discover this irrational number!¡±

    Davos patted the wall panel and said excitedly, ¡°He bravely said the truth based on his true love of mathematics. But the truth is often in the hands of a few, and to defend it, they had to pay the price in blood! Hippasus died! He died due to the fear, conservatism and ignorance of the other member of the Pythagorean school!

    The shackles of the Pythagorean misconceptions narrowed your mind and intellect. You are like ostriches burying their heads in the sand, thinking that this figure independent of integers and ratio of integers doesn''t exist as long as you don''t see it!¡±

    After saying that, Davos looked at Phaestokiadas and asked, ¡°Tell me, how many different figures are like this?¡±

    Phaestokiadas immediately eximed, ¡°There are many more that I haven''t yet calcted, such as the square root of three and the square root of five¡­these things are mainly in geometric operations!¡±

    ¡°Excellent!¡± after Davos nodded, he said loudly with more conviction, ¡°I am sure you Pythagoreans rarely bother to study geometry! After all, as soon as you learn geometry, you will encounter this problem! And I am sure it''s not that there aren''t people who harbour doubts about this problem, but because they would choose to back off once they think of Hippasus'' tragedy!

    But geometry is supposed to be one of the most important areas of mathematics as it is closely rted to our life. But sadly! Because of a misconception, it has be your hidden disease in your mathematical studies for centuries! It has be your stumbling block in perfecting and expanding the field of mathematics!

    Today, I would like to tell everyone present a quote, ¡®Although I love my teacher, I love the truth more!¡¯ for only truth is the source that keeps this world alive and well! It is there, but only the brave who keep learning, keep trying, defying authority and are not afraid to sacrifice themselves can keep discovering it! Thus I hope that the Theonian Akademia, Pythagorean School and other schrs present today will study the world with this spirit so that you will find more and make our civilisation more prosperous! That''s all I want to say.¡±

    After saying that, the audience stood up and cheered warmly, and even renowned schrs such as Theaetetus apuded.

    Marticoris apuded and said excitedly, ¡°That was great! It resonated through my heart! What your majesty said is why I agreed to let Phaestokiadas go up to give the lecture!¡±

    The student behind him apuded desperately as they naturally didn''t have the heart to belittle their teacher, who was only good at research and bad with words.

    Some Pythagorean schrs left the hall in anger, while some members, headed by Lysis, chose to stay.

    Davos looked at Phaestokiadas and praised him, ¡°You have made such a bold lecture with fearless academic spirit. But I think the schrs of the Mediterranean will appreciate you more because you have removed a major obstacle to their study of mathematics! Thus I hope you can keep this spirit and make greater achievements in your academic research! And make more discoveries!¡±

    Phaestokiadas replied excitedly, ¡°I will, your majesty!¡±

    Davos patted him on the shoulder with relief. Then he faced the audience, bowed his head, and left the conference hall.

    Then Lysis and the others looked at his back withplicated expressions.

    Theaetetus and the others watched him with respect.

    Then more bystanders send him off with more apuse.

    The incident at the Institute of Mathematics soon spread throughout Theonia''s Akademia, surprising countless schrs and students with the new mathematical discovery, saddened by Hippasus'' death and shaken by the thought-provoking speech of the Theonian king.

    Davos'' phrase particrly shook them, ¡®I love my teacher, but I love the truth more.¡¯ making countless people discuss it over and over again, which motivated the young students more.

    When to heard of it, he said to his students, ¡°The words of King Davos prove that he is a sage!¡±

 Chapter 653: Platos Observation (I)

    With Davos advocating academic debate over unreasonable arguments, it also serves as a wake-up call for the schrs. Thus in the subsequent lectures, although there were still fierce debates, everyone managed to control their emotions well.

    And the most striking among those debates was the one between to and Demacritus'' disciple, Xanthithelian.

    Xanthithelian inherited Demacritus'' idea that democracy is the ideal form of government while the other forms are wed. Moreover, living in a democracy, even in poverty, is better than being wealthy in an autocracy.

    But he also states that they must emphasise the rule ofw for a democratic state to function well. After all, a well-governed city-state cannot be without a well-developedw. And since it is human nature to always seek advantages and avoid disadvantages while trying to profit outside of thew, making the people obey thew would protect the safety and lives of the citizens themselves. Thus it is the never-ending mission of a city-state to persuade the people to obey thew¡­

    However, Demacritus'' ideals are the exact opposite of to''s political philosophy.

    to advocates the wise to govern the world and for the rule of the king. Moreover, he hopes to guide the people with the idea of goodness and develop virtues as the foundation of governing a country.

    The reason he was opposed to democracy was that he believed that democracy would make the people indulge in their desire, depraving the youth of the city-state and developing many ambitious and ignorant arrogant people.

    And the result of this debate was that to won. After all, the knowledgeable and quick thinker to lived in Athens for decades, where everyone was known for their excellent rhetoric. Thus he had already developed his rhetorics to a high level. Moreover, to used his home city-state, Athens, the best democratic city in the Mediterranean, as an example and enumerated Athens'' faults and foolishness, making the audience empathise. Hence it is only natural for Xanthithelian to lose.

    But since the Law of Theonia ensured the stability and unity of the kingdom and the concept of abiding by thew was already embedded in their bones, the Theonian audience also agreed with Xanthithelian''s emphasis on thew to guarantee the function of the city-state.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Then the All-Greek Academic Symposium, whichsted for nearly a month, finally ended.

    Besides the academic exchanges during their time in Thurii, the renowned schrs from all over the Mediterranean, under the attentive care of the Akademia and with the full assistance of the city hall of Thurii, tasted the cuisine of Thurii, enjoyed a dip in the hot springs, watched the fierce ball games, went to the hospital to check their health and enjoyed the culture of the different races¡­which could be said that their harvest is abundant.

    In addition, the Theonian Akademia also collected the lectures of the schrs andpiled them into a book titled Selected Works in the All-Greek Academic Symposium and copied into several hundred and distributed throughout Greece.

    And the schrs, who received fame and fortune, returned home with satisfaction. In the following period, they would always praise the academic atmosphere of the Kingdom of Theonia and the enthusiasm and wealth of their people whenever they talked about this event with others. And that led to more schrs from various city-state inquiring whether Theonia would hold the academic symposium again. And when will it be held?

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the Pythagorean schrs returned to Taranto, an argument over Phaestokiadas'' theory happened, which led to their conflict and division.

    Some left Taranto for the eastern Mediterranean.

    Another group led by Lysis stayed in Taranto, thinking about improving the Pythagorean School''s philosophy and integrating these irrational numbers into it.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    But among the renowned schrs, two did not leave Thurii.

    One was Hippocrates. Although he was already old, the rich innovation and advanced theory of medical science of the Theonian Medical School surprised him. But a month''s stay in Theonia wasn¡¯t enough for him to understand, let alone learn. Thus he willingly stayed to guard this mountain of treasure until he thoroughly learned and understood it and ultimately solved the many questions he had about medicine all his life.

    Davos supported him by approving his stay in the Akademia and giving him the title of a teacher. Davos even made him an honorary citizen of Theonia in recognition of his life''s outstanding contribution to the cause of medicine.

    The other schr was to. He asked Davos to fulfil his promise and sent people to guide him in understanding the political system of the kingdom of Theonia.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, the court clerk Henipolis led to and his two students, Speusippus and Augeas, to the examination centre for the reserve officials of the kingdom in the southern area of Thurii.

    This centre was formerly located near Nike Square, but with the kingdom¡¯s expansion and the increasing number of people to be assessed, the assessment venue could no longer amodate them. And since they could not expand further as thend in the inner part of Thurii was limited, they decided to move it to the outer part of the city.

    Henipolis exined it to them as they walked.

    to listened attentively while looking at the building that couldn''t be found in other Greek cities: The building covered arge area, surrounded by thick stone walls more than three metres high, which made it so that one couldn¡¯t see the inside from the outside.

    They walked around the periphery of the building for a long time before they saw the main gate in the distance.

    to then noticed that he almost couldn''t see the bustling crowdsmon in the other areas of Thurii here. And even when several people pass by, they would try to keep their voice down, which may be rted not only to the guards dedicated to this area but also to the quality of the Thurian poption, who try not to disturb the citizens participating in the examination inside the centre.

    ¡°There is a temple there!¡± Augeas pointed ahead and said in surprise.

    ¡°That''s the Temple of Hades.¡± Henipolis exined with a smile, ¡°Having the examination centre next to it is advantageous because of Hades¡¯ character of being discerning and abhorring evil. Thus any citizen who wants to cheat in the examination should think carefully about it because they won''t be able to escape Hades'' just punishment.¡±

    to pondered. During his visit to the various departments of Thurii, he could see the direct and indirect presence of Hades, the god of the underworld, which seemed to be instilled in the people''s hearts so that they would always restrain their behaviour.

    Once they reached the entrance of the examination centre, a tall statue stood five metres away in front of the entrance. This statue was a tall and muscr man with a determined expression, holding a me in his hand and in a sprinting position with his feet standing on clouds.

    ¡°Why is Promotheus'' statue here?¡± Augeas asked curiously.

    Henipolis pointed at the side of the gate, motioning them to read the two lines carved, ¡®Enter this gate if you are willing to be a servant and devote yourselves to the people; Those who want to use authority to earn wealth and oppress the people, go elsewhere. ¨C Signed by Davos.¡¯

    Then when they thought of Prometheus¡¯ story about risking being punished by Zeus so that he could steal the mes of the gods for the benefit of mankind, the master and his disciples immediately understood the king''s intention.

    to sighed as he said, ¡°This is a moral education! We shouldn''t just see how Theonia emphasises thew to restrain the people. But, in fact, this city is teaching the people to actwful at all times subconsciously!¡±

    As soon as he said that, the guard came near them and warned, ¡°Don¡¯t make noises; this is an important ce in the kingdom!¡±

    to hurriedly apologised.

    After Henipolis showed his token and the letter written by Davos to the guard, he led to and the others into the courtyard.

    Inside, there are no pools, fountains, gardens, pavillions, corridors, and so on., In the vast examination centre, only a dozen buildings simr to the storage warehouses in the ports, as well as lots of tamped and levelled open spaces, some of which are ced with equipment.

    A hundred metres ahead stands a building like a temple, which adds a little colour to the examination centre.

    ¡°Every year, we in Theonia would hold an examination to select civil servants. We hold the examination in October because this is the ck season, so the citizens have enough time to prepare. At the beginning of the year, the head of each department in each city will report the number of civil servants they need and the number of vacancies to the kingdom''s Civil Servant Management Committee. Afterwards, his majesty, together with several lords of themittee, will determine the number of civil servants to be selected for the years and the specific examination time. They would then send it to each department and each city hall to make a public announcement to notify the kingdom''s citizens.

    Anyone willing to participate would pay attention to the news and prepare in advance. But beforeing to Thurii to take the exam, they must also get a certificate from the city hall of their city of residence that would prove their citizenship and that they arew-abiding citizens with good behaviour¡­¡± Henipolis gave an introduction as they walked.

    ¡°What if someone at the city hall took a bribe to hide their record of vitions?¡± Augeas asked since even Athens has wealthy citizens in the suburbs who would bribe the officials of the Demos to undercount the property they own to pay fewer taxes. Hence, they were interested in how a country as vast as the kingdom of Theonia strengthened the supervision of officials in remote areas.

    ¡°Even if he could deceive the examiners this time and seed in bing an official, we still have the inspectors who are monitoring the officials'' behaviours, the tribunal officers who wouldin whenever they see injustice, and the people, who are familiar with thews of Theonia, could report to the city hall and the Senate at any time. At that time, besides severely punishing that person, we would also hold the officials, who concealed the truth for him, ountable based on the certificate he issued, which we keep on the offender''s file.¡±

 Chapter 654: Platos Observation (II)

    ¡°His majesty once said that even if you can conceal something for some time, you can''t conceal it for a lifetime. Apart from thew severely punishing such persons, they would also be tortured in the underworld after their death! Therefore, since the establishment of our kingdom''s examination system, there hasn''t been such a single case until now.¡±

    After saying that, Henipolis saw the three people lost in their thoughts. Then his mischievous mind caused him to ask, ¡°We would usually carry the kingdom''s examination in October and would rarely hold it at other times. Can you guess why we are currently holding the examination?¡±

    Henipolis'' question made the three ponder. Then the youngest of them, Augeas, asked hesitantly, ¡°Is it because of us?¡±

    Henipolis looked at him as if he were an idiot, while to rebuked him, saying, ¡°Augeas, don''t talk nonsense! The examination and the selection of officials is a major event of Theonia, so how can it be as casual as ying a game?! I believe Theonia is carrying the examination because there is a shortage of officials, right?¡±

    ¡°That''s right.¡± Henipolis nodded and continued, ¡°After conquering Daunist year, we needed to draw many officials from the other regions to go there to govern the ce. Thus it resulted in a shortage of civil servants in other departments and cities. Hence we''ve been carrying out the examination since the beginning of the year until now.¡±

    ¡°But what you asked was only now!¡± Augeas said, unconvinced.

    Henipolis winked, ¡°It is naturally included during this period.¡±

    As they joked andughed around, they managed to reach the examination building.

    Krentus, the official managing the examination centre, hurriedly rushed out to wee them after getting notified by the gatekeeper, ¡°Lord Henipolis, I wee you for your visit!!¡± Krentus bowed.

    Although Henipolis holds a low position as a statesman in the Senate, no one dares to look down on him, as the one behind him is King Davos.

    ¡°What departments are carrying the examination?¡± Henipolis asked directly without bothering to exchange pleasantries.

    ¡°The court and the construction.¡±

    ¡°Shall we go in first and rest for a while? Or should we check the examination now?¡± Henipolis turned to ask to.

    ¡°Since we aren¡¯t that tired, there is no need to rest,¡± said to.

    ¡°Then¡­let''s go see the examination for the court,¡± said Henipolis after thinking for a moment.

    Krentus immediately led them to a ¡®warehouse¡¯ with a wooden sign hung at the door, which reads ¡®Court Examination.¡¯

    Krentus motioned them not to make loud noises as they entered inside.

    The room was quite spacious as it could hold 100 tables. Although the room was almost filled with examinees, the room remained extremely quiet.

    Only the examiner, sitting on the tform and acting as the defendant, was intentionally telling his experience intermittently and confusingly.

    Then the examinees would write a smooth court record base on his statement. Thus no one looked at to as they were all listening carefully and noting it down on the wax te with their iron stylus.

    Besides them, three examiners are patrolling the examination room to prevent cheating.

    to stood by the door as he watched for a while before they left the examination room.

    ¡°So who will be epted and eliminated would only depend on the level of writing the court record?¡± to asked as he thought the examination was a little too simple.

    ¡°There is naturally more to it than that. After that, we would assess them individually for their familiarity with legal terms, and the sum of these two scores will be their final result. They are actually quite lucky this time. With all the court of the kingdom of Theonia in urgent need of people, we would ept more than 1/5th of them.¡±

    Krentus seemed to see through to''s thoughts, so he said, ¡°Don''t think they could be judges just because they pass this examination.¡±

    ¡°Isn''t that the case?¡± Augeas asked curiously.

    ¡°Of course not.¡± Henipolis took over and exined, ¡°After they pass, they would need to start from the low-ranking position such as court recorder and attendant¡­and after two to three years, they could take another examination depending on their performance. At that time, we would not only test their knowledge of legal terms, but we would also stimte a real court debate to assess their thinking and debate skills, as well as the use of legal provisions and the ability to manage the court¡­it is only after they pass all of those that they may serve as trainee judges or trainee public prosecutors. After that, they would be a judge of a demos, a judge of a city, and finally, a senior judge¡­that process would take about twenty years if they don''t make any major errors in their work. Otherwise, the court would kick them out¡­¡±

    Augeas eximed, ¡°It seems bing a judge in Theonia is difficult!¡±

    ¡°It is.¡± Henipolis said, ¡°The judge examination is the most difficult among all the civil service examinations because we emphasise the rule ofw. And since a judge is the representative of thew, his ipetence will affect the implementation of ourws!¡±

    The three were touched listening to that. In Athens, there are no judges in all the courts. Instead, the citizens would be the jury to decide the case. And for the jury to determine the victor and loser of a case, they would need to depend on the debating skills of the intiff and the defendant and guide the jury''s emotions.

    ¡°I saw many different races in the room just now?¡± Speusippus asked suddenly.

    ¡°You mean the Lucanian, Bruttian and Messapian?¡± Henipolis replied with disapproval, ¡°That''s not surprising as they are all citizens of Theonia. Hence they have the right to participate in the examination to be judges.¡±

    ¡°Actually, besides the foreign races, there is also a liberated ve participating in the examination,¡± Krentus interjected.

    Liberated salve?! to and the other two were shocked.

    As the head of the examination centre, Krentus knew the identity of each candidate as well as their origins, so he exined, ¡°His name is Perika, from Libya under the rule of Cyrenaica. He was a ve in the Syracusan army who came to invade Magna Graecia. After the Syracusan army¡¯s surrender, he became a ve of our kingdom. But heter got his freedom after performing excellently and making outstanding achievements during the war to conquer Messapi as a member of the logistics brigade.

    He then obtained his citizenshipst year, And from the letter of attestation issued by the city hall of Thurii, which says that over the years, Perika worked as a worker in Thurii''s court, a cleaner in the library¡­and so on. Besides behaving well, the money he earned has either gone for his study in adult sses or to read books in the library¡­¡±

    Henipolis was moved after hearing that. He then sighed and said, ¡°Those citizens who were former ves are diligent and hardworking. Now, this guy even dares toe to take the examination for the judges. With the exception of the court, there are now citizens who were formerly ves joining the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, the city hall and other departments in the kingdom. So if he could sessfully be a judge, he could set an example for others, showing that any official position in the kingdom is open to citizens of any birth as long as they work hard enough!¡±

    ¡°You said it well, Lord Henipolis!¡± Krentus praised.

    Augeas and Speusippus, on the other hand, were a bit at a loss at how non-Greeks and ves could hold any important position here, which was utterly beyond their understanding.

    to then remembered Davos'' indirect criticism when they met as he believed to¡¯s thinking was too narrow due to him excluding the ves and non-Greeks in the ¡¶Republic¡·. Davos believed that they should give equal opportunities to all people so that the whole society could advance upward¡­

    to thought and sighed while looking back at the examination room, ¡®Is this the bearing of a powerful kingdom?!¡¯

    Then they went to watch the examination held by the department of construction.

    The written examination of the candidates here is lower, only requiring the candidates to be able to read and do simple writing. And the most important test would be held in the open space, requiring the candidates to bring two-three ves from the kingdom. Then they would use the materials provided to build a wall, a road, or make a piece of siege equipment within the specified time¡­this is to test the candidates'' hands-on ability and ability to supervise and lead their men.

    This unique examination opened their eyes and inspired to, who realised that the Theonian examination of the kingdom''s civil servant was the practical realisation of his idea in the ¡¶Republic¡·: The first principle of establishing an ideal city-state is the strict social division ofbour.

    Just after he left reluctantly, Henipolis regrettably told him, ¡°Tomorrow is the celebration of Heracles in the kingdom of Theonia, so please forgive me for not being able to continue guiding you temporarily! But I suggest you join this celebration tomorrow and rx; you might even find this celebration very interesting!¡±

    After being reminded, to, who had been busy with his tour, realised that the celebration had something to do with the increase in pedestrians and overflowing inns in Thurii in the past few days.

    Although there are many Greek gods and goddesses, most Greek city-state worship different patron deities, which led to many celebrations in each city-state all year round. For example, the Panathenaia in the Greek world is unique to only Athens. But even though Sparta also celebrates Heracles, the Spartans'' frugality and prohibition of hedonism made them hold only simple celebrations. Hence to didn''t care much about it.

    But the following day, they found that the celebration of Heracles in Theonia was quite unusual.

    Early in the morning, the parade to participate in the celebration departed the Temple of Heracles in the outer area of Thurii. At the forefront was the winner of the Heraclespetition held atst year''s celebration, who wore a lion skin, holding arge club, was topless and posing in various poses that showed his muscles as he yed the role of Heracles.

 Chapter 655: Farewell

    Behind ¡®Heracles¡¯ were herders herding 20 cattle, followed by a massive procession of men, elderly, women, children, pipers, drummers and trumpeters ying cheerful melodies. During the whole parade, the groupugh and joke around, making a lot of noise as they walk around Thurii, just like when Heracles drove his herd of cattle all over the western Mediterranean, filling the whole city with a festive mood.

    The parade''s end is just the start of the festival, as variouspetitions follow it.

    And the most importantpetition was the strongmanpetition, where the contestants had to carry a five-metre-long, thigh-thick cedar log and walk out a distance of 40 metres to pass the preliminaries. In the subsequent elimination round, the contestants had to hold stone pirs that got increasingly heavier, lift a five-kilogram shot put and see how far it could go¡­which would then be followed by the most important hurdle, that is, to pull the carriage while countless audience cheer the yers as they watch them pull the massive carriage with a certain weight, tensing their whole muscle to use all their strength, and like a strong horse, pull the carriage forward.

    Thepetition winner will receive the title of the ¡®Strongest Man of the Kingdom¡¯ and a blessing from the priests of the Temple of Hades. Afterwards, he will wear a crown and tour the city surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd. In addition, he will also receive the honour of dining together with King Davos. Finally, he would receive a lot of mary rewards.

    Wrestling was another importantpetition during the festival, as everyone knew that Heracles was a great wrestler, especially in his battle with the giant Antaeus. After nine years of development, the wrestling tournament held at the Heracles festival in the kingdom of Theonia has be as popr as the traditional four major Greek Games. But unlike when winning the four major sports games, where you could only win honour, winning the wrestlingpetition of Thurii also gives you a substantial mary reward. Thus there were many participants, and each match was quite intense.

    The wrestlingpetitionsted nearly a month, just at the end of the festival. And the champion also enjoyed the same treatment as the champion of the strongmanpetition.

    Moreover, the audience of these twopetitions mainly were members of the Ministry of Military and the various legati. The reason for that was these twopetitions allowed not only citizens and preparatory citizens topete but also freemen and even ves. Then the Ministry of Military would talk to those who got good results to join the Kingdom of Theonia or get liberated because such excellent yers would generally be outstanding soldiers.

    Besides these twopetitions, the festival has other excitingpetitions, such as bull riding, sheep racing, pig matching and so on¡­this is also to show their respect to Heracles, the protector of livestock. And the fun mountain-climbing race is to show Heracles'' adventurous spirit, while the hrious wife-carrying race was to pay homage to the valiant and romantic god¡­

    Thus, unlike other festivals, the Heracles festival was filled withughter. While enjoying their time, to also noticed that at least half of the contestants and audience in allpetitions were non-Greeks. But to could fully feel their reverence for the Greek god from the bottom of their hearts as they enjoyed thepetition and interacted harmoniously with the Greek citizens.

    to, however, didn''t stay until the end of the festival. At the start of June, he bid farewell to King Davos and the Theonian Akademia as he was ready to return to Athens. After all, he still has a lot of things to deal with in his Akademia.

    Davos held a farewell banquet for him.

    At the banquet, to said gratefully, ¡°Thank you very much for your great assistance to me during this period, your majesty Davos! It has given me ample time to observe the political system of the kingdom of Theonia, and I have found that Theonia has quite a few advantagespared to other Greek city-states.

    First was Theonia attaching great importance to education. With the government funding for the construction of schools in the various cities and the low cost of admission, it allowed the kingdom to implement almost universal basic education for children from the age of six. Moreover, this education is all-rounded, not only teaching the children mathematics, literature, rhetoric, logic, philosophy¡­but also sculpture, music, and dance to nurture their minds and physical exercise to strengthen their bodies. Thus by the time theye of age, they would be the golden and silver seeds of Theonia, easily allowing them to be excellent citizens of the kingdom.

    The second was even though Theonia emphasises thew; they ce more emphasis on moral education. Otherwise, you wouldn''t make Hades the patron god of your kingdom. You preach Hades'' justness and strictness so that you could guide the people to do more good deeds in their life¡­ the same is true for your reverence for Hera because it ys an important role in the kingdom''s stability by guiding the people to love their marriage and family. Theonia''s use of gods and goddesses to guide its citizens is quite novel, yet it is a very effective method worth learning.

    Moreover, your majesty told me I shouldn''t make a strict division ofbour for the kingdom''s citizens. Yet Theonia has strictly divided the civil servants through an examination method. Having those who know thew to serve as judges, having those who are good at production to serve as supervisors, those who are good at making money to manage trade, and those who are good at statistics are in charge of money¡­you even promoted your military officers through the ranks of soldiers and squad leaders, and most of your praetors have extensive experience in managing a city. This is totally different from most Greek city-states, including Athens, as most of the senior officials of the city-states that the people elected through the lesia are hypocrites who only know how to say pleasant words and pander to the people but don''t know how to manage a city-state well, let alone lead their troops to victory. The ignorance of the people had allowed these people to hold the authority of the city-state, so how could they make the city-state strong?!

    Also, your majesty allowed the girls to receive the same education and sports training as the boys from an early age. Besides that, you even gave them property and freedom of life once they reached adulthood. Although you haven''t yet managed to let women also hold some positions in the kingdom, you still have done an excellent job on the issue of gender equalitypared to the other Greek city-states.

    Theonia had also done a fair job in distributing properties. The kingdom had given every citizen an acre ofnd, and depending on their contribution to the kingdom, the kingdom could also reward them with additionalnd and other properties instead of letting most of the kingdom''s public property be taken by nobles and the wealthy¡­¡±

    Hearing these words, Davos was happy. Davos then half-jokingly said to the statesmen who came to the banquet, ¡°Did you hear that? It seems we have a lot of good things, so you should have more confidence and work harder for the kingdom!¡±

    The others responded withughter.

    to didn''tugh. Instead, he looked at Davos and said thoughtfully, ¡°I found that Theonia has one of the greatest advantages! And that is you, your majesty Davos!!¡±

    ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± to became emotional as he said loudly, ¡°As the king, you didn''t override thew. Instead, you acted by following it. Furthermore, you didn''t spendvishly or pursue a luxurious life. On the contrary, you acted restrained. As far as I know, the system of government of the kingdom of Theonia and these bills that amazed me mostly came from your advice, which is difficult to do without profound knowledge, deep observation and good judgment. And the only person who can do all of that is a Sage! Sages don''t necessarily have to write books and be widely known, just like how my teacher Socrates who always speaks but doesn''t write. But you, on the other hand, your majesty Davos, are all action and no words, which shows that you are a genuine sage king!¡±

    to became excited at this moment, ¡°My previous judgment was wrong. Although my ideal state doesn''t exist in reality, it is currently being realised here in Theonia!¡±

    In Davos'' previous life, to travelled to Taranto during its peak strength. There, to took an interest in the long-term archon, Archytas, who, as an important figure of the Pythagorean School, was the image of a sage king that to desired. In his writings, to held Archytas in high esteem. But since Archytas had died early in this life and Taranto was reduced to a free city in the kingdom of Theonia, Davos, who had created a more splendid glory than Archytas, had gotten to¡¯s attention.

    The proud to naturally wouldn''t admit that there was an obvious w in his the Republic during the farewell banquet. Unlike the current situation of Theonia, to was a bit narrow-minded as he focused only on one city and even thought that the appropriate number of people in a city-state was 5040. Yet Theonia, with its massive poption and vastnd, could be equally governed well, which struck a chord in his heart.

    With reluctance and longing for the future, to left Thurii and returned to Athens. While focusing on teaching, to also devoted most of his energy to pondering the political system of the city-state. A few yearster, he wrote ¡®Davos¡¯, iming that it was far more valuable than his previous articles, such as ¡®Lysis¡¯, ¡®Gorgias¡¯, ¡®Hippasus¡¯¡­and so on, which is no less valuable than his book the Republic.

    Notes: I finally finished writing this volume! I was afraid to write about to, philosophy and academic debate because I wasn''t good at those, and I was advised to avoid it. But Iter thought that since I am writing about ancient Greece, how could there not be a scene of the various schools contending in the ssical era? Thus I forced myself to write it. For that reason, I had read several books, so even though my writing was somewhat casual, it was at least a victory over myself.

    The next volume would be even more exciting because these are the things you want to see: Rome, Carthage, Etruria, Egypt, Celts, Iberia¡­

    Hence the name of the next volume is¡­..¡¶The Stormy Situation in the Western Mediterranean¡·!

 Chapter 656: Delphi

    Agesus became devastated at his brother, Teleutias'' death in the Battle of the Chalkidiki Penins, resulting in him falling ill again.

    As a result, Agesipolis, another Spartan King, gathered a massive army again from their allies in the Peloponnesian Penins and headed to northern Greece to attack the Chalkidian League.

    When Agesipolis reached northern Greece, it was already midsummer. Unfortunately, he contracted a fever from the heat and died before even fighting the enemy.

    After hurriedly carrying out the king''s funeral, the Spartan Gerousia sent a subsequent expedition against the Chalkidian League. In the spring of the third year(the 13th year of Theonia, or 380 B.C.) and after many strenuous battles, Sparta manages to force Olynthus to surrender and dissolve the league. Afterwards, they forced the other city-states of the Chalkidiki Penins to join the Spartan League, while the coastal cities of Macedonia were returned to the Macedonian king, Amyntas. Sparta, on the other hand, gained its supremacy in northern Greece.

    While Sparta was waging a fierce war in northern Greece, they adopted an oppressive policy in the Peloponnese by forcing Phocis to call back the previously banished nobles, which resulted in a war between the nobles andmoners, with Sparta supporting the nobles. After a six-month siege, Sparta forced Phocis to surrender and implement a new government following their wish.

    In the central part of Greece, Sparta gained the support of other city-states in Boeotia after they managed to control Thebes and supported taea, allowing Sparta''s power to expand to Attica in the east and Phocis in the west of Boeotia.

    After the rain on a hot summer, Polybiades, the strategos of the Spartan expedition to the north, led his army back from northern Greece with victory. But before they could enter the t and fertile Boeotia region, they would have to pass through Thessaly, Malis, Doris, and Phocis because it is worth making these ces witness the Spartan strategos who had returned victorious.

    The first is Mount Oeta, where the ancestor of Sparta''s royalty, Heracles, is said to have sacrificed himself on a pyre and ascended to join the gods on Mount Olympus.

    The second was crossing the narrowest passage where it could only amodate two four-wheeled wagon side by side, and this passage is called Thermope. And its name resonates strongly among Spartan soldiers because a hundred years ago, the Spartan King Leonidas led his 300 men to defend this ce and fight against the Persian army. Although they all died in battle, they won longsting glory for the Spartan warriors.

    After trekking through the rugged passage, they would enter a small in area known for its abundance, called the in of Doris, from which the Greek caste of Dorians got their names (The Spartans were also Dorians). Hundreds of years ago, Greeks migrating from the inhospitable north had temporarily rested in the in of Doris first and eventually invaded the londs surrounding the mountains and scattered all along the coastline. As centuries passed, they forgot their barbarian status as the Spartans kept iming they were descendants of Heracles and Menus, the former king of Sparta.

    Then just south of the in of Doris near the Gulf of Corinth, is a mountain known throughout Greece, Parnassus. Legend has it that this steep mountain is the home to a giant serpent called Python, known for its cannibalism. And while Leto was pregnant with Apollo and Artemis, Python once tried to hunt them at the behest of Hera. But after Apollo had grown up, he came to this mountain and found this colossal monster devouring the eagles in a deste and gloomy ravine. Afterwards, Apollo shot Python with his deadly archery and thus became the master of this area.

    Later, Apollo nted aurel tree to purify this sacrednd. Time passed, and the people cut down the branches of theurel tree and built one Temple of Apollo after another. Then this ce became the holynd for all Greeks ¨C Delphi.

    Due to the steep mountain, dense forest and barrennd, the locals struggle to make a living.

    So Apollo said to them, ¡°Guard my temple and warmly wee visitors.¡±

    And thus, the people of Delphi became priests of Apollo, built a massive Temple of Apollo, and justly charged the same amount of money to everyone who came to worship and get an oracle. Because of the Delphic priests¡¯ impartiality, more and more Greeks trusted the Delphic oracles. The people became even more convinced that Apollo, the sun god, resides on mount Parnassus, where the air is pure, for the ninth month of the year.

    And it was once said that when Zeus ascended the throne to rule the world, he wanted to measure thend he inherited. Hence, Zeus released two eagles to the east and the west, flying in opposite directions so that he could observe the flight of the two eagles to determine the centre of the world. As a result, the two eagles met at Delphi, where Zeus left a huge stone egg ¨C Omphalos as a marker (this stone egg survives to this day). Thus Delphi became even more famous, making it known throughout the Mediterranean. For this reason, the Delphic priests also wee foreign races to ask for oracles.

    Consequently, when warring city-statese to seek the Delphic oracle, they wouldpletely believe it. But the Delphic must guarantee their neutrality. Otherwise, no one could bear the aftermath.

    Two hundred years ago, their powerful neighbouring city-state, Krissa, tried to annex Delphi. However, that truly shook the whole of Greece, causing them to form a coalition to defend this sacred area and fight back with fury. They even vited Greek traditions by poisoning the rivers the Krissaeans drank. Then once they breached the city of Krissa, they razed this impious city to the ground. Then the gulf separating Greece from the Peloponnesian Penins was initially owned by the great city-state of Phocis and was called Crissaean Gulf. After the war, they named it after Corinth, an important city-state on the Isthmus. Yet two hundred yearster, the wilderness where Krissa was located remained barren, and no one dares to live there because it is a ce the gods cursed.

    After having this bitter lesson, the city-state around Delphi established a closed alliance, Amphictyonic League, which included Thessaly, Phthia, Boeotia, Athens¡­ and so on. Later, the city-states in the Peloponnesian League joined one after another under Sparta''s leadership.

    This alliance''s primary purpose was to protect Delphi''s neutrality and not to allow any power to harm and annex them, hence the name Sacred League. Each city-state that is part of the alliance needs to send two representatives as members of the alliance conference, which they held once a year in spring to discuss the governance of the Delphic region, the maintenance of the temples, the holding of the Pythian Games and the management of the holy territory of Apollo. Through that, the Delphic oracles, priests and nobles gained independent status and made Delphi more prosperous.

    On this day, the noble Delphic Delphic priests stepped on the winding staircase and came to a steep hillside where the main Temple of Apollo, made of massive stones, was located. At its back were the cliffs of Mount Parnassus overlooking a deep valley in front of it, giving a cold and solemn feeling.

    The nine high-ranking priests of Apollo are the representatives of the nine Greek tribes that had lived in Delphi hundreds of years ago. Apart from them was a woman who sat with the nine priests in the temple.

    She is an elderly woman with a dried body, loose skin and wrinkles crisscrossing her face. Although her appearance isn''t impressive, she has excellent prestige among all Greeks because she was the one bringing out Apollo¡¯s oracle from the fumigation of sulfur. And since she didn''t have a name, the people called her Pythia because the person presenting the oracle on behalf of Apollo was called Pythia.

    While the ten people sat around the temple, seriousness filled their faces.

    The chief priest of the main Temple of Apollo, Sitalces, spoke up and said, ¡°I just sent away Polybiades, the Spartan strategos who conquered Chalkidiki an hour ago. He came here to thank Apollo for his guidance because the Spartan king Agesus sent his men for an oracle for this expedition before the northern conquest of Sparta! The enthusiasm of the Spartans for Apollo was marvellous! But-¡±

    Sitalces said seriously, ¡°He brought four heavily armed soldiers and had them set foot on the sacred Mount Parnassus. Only when I protested did he make those soldiers go down!¡±

    ¡°That''s sphemy! It is well known that we do not allow people carrying weapons to enter this sacred area! We should severely punish those Spartans!¡± A nearby priest shouted angrily.

    ¡°Punish them severely? The Spartans are famous for their barbarism and audacity, so we will be the ones to suffer if we make any fuss. We all know that they stationed their troops in the in of Doris not far to the north, " another priest helplessly said.

    ¡°Would the Spartans dare to lead their army into Delphi?! If they do, all of Greece will organise another anti-Spartan League to destroy Sparta as thoroughly as they destroyed Krissa!¡± said another priest angrily.

    ¡°They won''t do such foolishness as they respect Delphi as they respect their ancestor Heracles.¡± The chief priest Sitalces interrupted their arguments and said concernedly, ¡°But with the destruction of Greece''s bnce of power, more and more city-states in central Greece bing dependent on Sparta, Sparta''s sole words would be the final say in the Sacred League. As a result, maintaining our neutrality bes difficult and has be a great threat to our survival!¡±

 Chapter 657: Amphictyonic League

    Sitalces sighed, ¡°When the envoy of Agesus came here to ask for an oracle previously, he also requested that when a rival city-state of Spartae here to ask for an oracle, we should tell Sparta what they came here to ask¡­¡±

    ¡°And that''s not all.¡± Patmos, the one in charge of the sacred treasury, said indignantly, ¡°Polybiades came to my ce after leaving the temple and said, intentionally or unintentionally, that they consumed plenty of supplies in their expedition to northern Greece, and they still owe payment to more than a thousand mercenaries¡­¡±

    ¡°The Spartans are too arrogant!¡± Cabatas, the priest in charge of the Pythian game, shouted angrily, ¡°We must dispel their ambitions for Delphi by teaching them a lesson!¡±

    ¡°Teach Sparta a lesson? They are now the hegemon of Greece and have the support of the Persians behind them. So if we anger them, it would be even worse for us¡­¡± Patmos said with some concern.

    Then the chief priest, Sitalces, voiced an idea that had been on his mind for a long time, ¡°Who says we need to go head to head against Sparta?! We can instead invite a powerful force to join the Amphictyonic league to bnce the absolute dominance of Sparta in the alliance.¡±

    All the priests'' eyes brightened up.

    Patmos thought for a moment and said, ¡°Who should we invite then? Macedonia?¡±

    ¡°Macedonia?!¡± Cabatas grunted, ¡°With Sparta marching to northern Greece to help Macedonia, the Macedonians are now more grateful to Sparta, so how could they fight against them?! What''s more, although Macedonia''s territory is vast, they are not powerful enough to defeat even the barbarians, let alone possibly stand up to the mighty Sparta!¡±

    Then another priest, Crataemenes, said hesitantly, ¡°I fear the only Greek power than can stand up to Sparta right now is Theonia¡­should we invite them?¡±

    As soon as Crataemenes said that, Cabatas loudly objected, ¡°No! No! Theonia is a kingdom of barbarians; they are not a Greek power at all!¡±

    ¡°How can the kingdom of Theonia be a kingdom of barbarians? At the All-Greek Academic Symposium they heldst year and this year, many schrs travelled to Thurii, and all praised the academic situation there. Furthermore, the cities like Thurii, Taranto, Locri, Krimisa, Rhegium and Catania¡­ which are all under the kingdom of Theonia, were famous Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean a decade ago and they had even contributed a lot of riches to the Delphic treasury every year¡­¡± argued Crataemenes.

    ¡°The Amphictyonic league has never invited any Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean to join as they are all colonies.¡± Cabatas continued to oppose.

    Crataemenes sighed, ¡°Everyone, the situation now is no longer like decades ago. Traditions have been broken, and everything depends on the strength of the city-states. Our Amphictyonic league also states that no city-state in the league shall allow destruction. Yet looked at how Sparta destroyed Mantineia and taea! Currently, Theonia is the most powerful Greek force in the western Mediterranean and probably even in the whole of Greece, as even the Spartans had to take the initiative to negotiate their alliance in Thurii many times. Thus, only by inviting Theonia to join the league can we make the domineering Sparta afraid and restrain their behaviour.¡±

    Crataemenes'' words made everyone ponder.

    Patmos said awkwardly, ¡°Even if we want to invite Theonia to join, would they even agree? You should remember that over the years, we, like Olympia, have been adamantly opposing Theonia''s participation in the Games. Furthermore, we have also covertly propagated the barbarism of Theonia because they never offered anything to the sacred treasury of Delphi and in the hope that the Greek freemen would not emigrate to Theonia¡­¡±

    All the priests'' expressions became unnatural as they indeed did all those things.

    Cabatasined, ¡°Theonia''s high regards to Hades made fewer and fewer Theonianse to Delphi to ask for an oracle¡­if this continues, I fear that all the Greeks in the western Mediterranean will regard Delphi as worthless.¡±

    His words resonate with the other priests, causing them to beginining.

    The chief priest Sitalces then spoke up and said, ¡°It seems you all have decided Theonia be the Greek power to be invited. As for the Temple of Hades, there is no need for you to worry. I have learned about the weight of the Temple of Hades in the hearts of the Theonians. Moreover, it seems they do not ce importance on divination and issuing oracles, which is precisely the only area in which we specialise!¡± Sitalces added emphasis to his tone.

    Sitalces knew in his heart that Hades'' fast growth in Theonia was due to the mighty king who imed to be his descendant. Thus Delphi should not be foolish enough to touch the tiger''s whiskers, ¡°We, Delphi, and the Temple of Hades have no conflict with each other, and I think our centuries-old tradition would make the people of Theonia who are in trouble want to be guided by Apollo. And we can also guide the Greek freemen who are suffering difficult life situations to the Italian penins to find a new life¡­¡±

    ¡°But even if Theonia is willing to join the Amphictyonic league, I fear the Spartans will not agree. After all, we only have the right to suggest, not decide!¡± Patmos warned.

    Sitalces sighed, ¡°That is what worries me most. I have heard that in the agreement between Theonia and Sparta, there is a use that Theonia must not involve themselves in the affairs of the eastern Mediterranean. This shows Sparta''s fear of Theonia and proves their wariness, so they would firmly oppose Theonia''s joining the Amphictyonic league.¡±

    ¡°But the Amphictyonic league doesn''t have the right to interfere in the affairs of other city-states; it is just an alliance to protect Delphi. Thus I don''t think Sparta will react so strongly.¡± Crataemenes said to relieve them.

    Sitalces, at this point, came up with the idea that he had already thought of, ¡°I suggest¡­we can send someone to covertly go to Thurii to discuss with the king of Theonia and ask them to take the initiative to make a request to the Amphictyonic league. At the same time, we should privately contact Athens, Corinth, Argos, Megara and other city-states at odds with Sparta. With that, the pressure would be applied on both sides, forcing Sparta to consider it carefully¡­¡±

    When the priests heard this, they all thought it was a good idea, and not one of them raised an objection regarding ¡®What if Theonia doesn''t want to join the Amphictyonic league?¡¯ After all, they all think Theonia would be overjoyed to receive Delphi''s, the holy ce of the Greeks, invitation.

    Patmos looked at Pythia, the elderly woman who had kept her eyes closed, and asked with respect, ¡°What does the oracle of Apollo say about this?¡±

    For such an important matter, they needed to consult the oracle of Apollo. If there is no hope of sess, they couldn¡¯t put that matter forward at the priests'' conference.

    The eyes of everyone focused on Pythia. Then the elderly woman, wearing the attire of a maiden(clothing required by the Temple of Apollo, which was a symbol of chastity), opened her cloudy eyes and said in her hoarse, low voice, ¡°O scorching sun,

    exhausted of its glory,

    as it falls under the mountains,

    the dark night descends,

    and its clusters of raging bonfires,

    illuminates thend like the day,

    ¡­¡±

    Sitalces interjected while the priests pondered the meaning of the oracles, ¡°Since Theonia worships Hades, a god who is the lord of darkness, as the patron deity of the kingdom, I think the oracle of Apollo meant was that the sun representing Sparta is on the verge of dying out and Theonia will take over. As for those bonfires, I still haven''t figured out if it refers to yet another emerging force¡­¡±

    Since an oracle was always obscure, just like how the gods are mysterious themselves, the priests did not feel deterred from carrying out the matter even if they had difficulty understanding it for a while, as it seemed that the general direction was at least right¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Last year''s hot summer killed a Spartan king, Agesipolis, while this summer is a great test for Theonia.

    In the pce of Theonia, King Davos, the Chief Commercial Officer Marigi, the Chief of Finance Mersis and the five rotating speakers listened attentively to the report of the Minister of Agriculture Burkes.

    ¡°Last year, we had less rain than usual in the spring and summer. And this year, from February to now July, the south Italian region has gone from more than five months without a single rainfall, with areas like Lucania, Apulia (a region that includes Messapi, Peuceti and Dauni), Magna Graecia and Bruttii are all facing severe water shortages, with small rivers like the Sisno and Saracenorgely having bare beds and turning into small streams. While rivers like the Crati, Aro and Neto are also narrowing and dropping in water level¡­

    Had it not been for the widespread use of waterwheels, the Sybarite in, the Crotone in, the Ophemian in and the Cosenxa teau might have a massive withering of wheat seedlings. However, suppose this drought continues for another month. In that case, I fear the entire southern Italian region will have a severe crop failure by the autumn harvest in September. And from the looks of things, the chances of such a terrible situation happening are very high!¡­¡±

    ¡°It''s not just the problem of the grain failing. If the dry weather continued, the pasture in the mountains would wither, resulting in many livestock dying!¡± Vespa sighed.

    ¡°I still remember thest drought in south Italia twenty-five years ago. The kingdom and the people have benefited greatly from the good weather these years, and I fear many haven''t taken any precautions against it!¡± Lysias said solemnly.

 Chapter 658: The drought and the news about Rome

    ¡°Oh, also.¡± Burkes warned, After specifically investigating the food storage in people''s homes in the cities of Thurii, Crotone, Grumentum, Consentia and Locri, we found that their food wouldst only until November at best!¡±

    ¡°What about Sicily?¡± asked Androlis.

    Burkes responded, ¡°Sicily received plenty of rain this year that they wouldn''t have a problem with the grain harvest in such cities as Catania and Naxos.¡±

    ¡°What about Campania?¡±

    ¡°The farms in that region are in good shape.¡± Upon Androlis'' reminder, Burkes continued, ¡°Carthage in Africa also didn''t suffer any drought as only central Greece, and the Peloponnese experienced the same situation as we did. However, theirs was slightly less severe.¡±

    Davos tapped on the table with an unpleasant expression as he listened to his subordinate''s report. But soon, his knitted brows rxed as he slowly said, ¡°Man''s fate is as uncertain as the weather; they would suddenly have misfortunes and blessings. The gods cannot always take care of Theonia, and this impending drought is a test of our kingdom. But we have nothing to fear! We are prepared for it! At the previous Senate meetings, hasn''t it been mentioned many times that except for asionally supplying the legions for their battle, we just leave the grains sitting in the granaries, which is aplete waste? But this time, those seemingly wasted grains would save the lives of millions of our people!¡±

    Davos'' words made Lysias, Mersis, and the others feel ashamed.

    After a slight tap, Davos continued asking, ¡°Burkes, have you made the statistics on how long the grain in the kingdom''s granaries can keep feeding the people in south Italia?¡±

    Burkes, who had long prepared for that question, said in a low tone, ¡°Your majesty, the kingdom has a total of nine granaries, which are located in Grumentum, Thurii, Consentia, Crotone, Terina, Locri, Catania, Rudiae and Sigeon(they correspond to the stronghold of the ten legions). The granaries have a total of about a hundred thousand tons of grains, while the poption of south Italia is about 1.5 million. So if we only allow two meals daily for each person, we can guarantee the food supply for about six months.¡±

    ¡°It''s only six months! That''s insufficient to feed the people until next year''s autumn harvest!¡± Vespa sighed.

    The other rotating speakers looked at him.

    Marigi hurriedly exined to clear his confusion, ¡°With the citizens making a lot of money from the sale of grain in previous years because of the sessive good harvests, there are now only very few poor citizens. So instead of supplying them with grain in our granaries for free, we would sell it in the market at a lower price so that they can all afford it to tide them over this difficult time. It is also a way to stop the grain merchants from taking this opportunity to wildly raise the price of grain, thus causing panic among the people¡­¡±

    Davos mused, ¡°Hundred tons of grain is still not enough! We must have sufficient grain reserves to cope with theing drought. Moreover, we also need to save enough wheat seed for next year''s sowing, so you must use the treasury to buyrge quantities of grain in Carthage, Cyrenaica and even Egypt before the news spreads.¡±

    ¡°Alright, your majesty; I''ll get to it immediately!¡± Mersis answered without hesitation or quibbling because he knew that this was the kingdom''s top priority.

    ¡°Marigi, your Ministry of Commerce must strictly control the markets in the cities so that the grain merchants would sell the grains at the right price and must not disrupt the market recklessly by blindly raising the prices¡­ And for the grain merchants who ignore our warnings and persist in their recklessness, allow the Ministry of Commerce, in conjunction with the courts, to impose severe penalties on them!

    At the same time, you must work with the city praetors to verify the identity of the buyer when selling the grain from the granaries and only allow each person to buy a certain amount of grain per day, not more, to prevent them from selling the granaries'' grain inrge quantities and taking advantage of this drought to get rich. If found that they are behaving in such a despicable manner, you shall punish them heavily!¡±

    ¡°Understood, your majesty!¡± Marigi answered seriously.

    ¡°Burkes!¡± Davos faced the Minister of Agriculture again, ¡°Now that the drought is upon us and the rivers have be shallow, the waterwheel''s usefulness is greatly diminished. Instead, you must dig wells as it is a good solution to the problem of feeding the poption. Thus you and the Department of Construction must work together on digging deep wells in the cities to solve the water shortage.¡±

    ¡°Understood, your majesty. I will go to the Department of Construction at once!¡± Burkes answered with an exhausted expression.

    Davos'' gaze finally fell on the five rotating speakers, ¡°Esteemed lords, we need to convene the Senate urgently to discuss a proposal to deal with the drought as soon as possible and to remind the people to save food and water in theing time, and also to stock up on more water at their home¡­At the same time, we need to assure them that they don''t need to panic and instead remain calm because, with Hades'' blessing and the full support of the kingdom, we will definitely ovee this difficulty!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, we will hold a meeting in the afternoon.¡± Cornelius immediately replied.

    Davos nodded and then swept his gaze at everyone present, making their expression tense again. Davos asked loudly, ¡°Lysias, how did you deal with the drought in Magna Graecia twenty-five years ago?¡±

    ¡°Your majesty.¡± Lysias recalled the situation with a pained expression, "Back then, the Crotonians raised money to buy grain in Carthage. But the cunning Carthaginians knew that we were in the middle of a drought, so they immediately increased the price of grain by several times. Since we failed to buy more grain, the council had no choice but to send some of our people to colonise Iberia by lottery. But all those who went out died by the attacks of the natives of Iberia¡­¡±

    ¡°The city-state is small and weak. Hence when encountering such a natural disaster, one can only endure the pain of rtives and friends separating and families being torn apart. But the kingdom of Theonia can spare every family in the kingdom from having to endure such suffering. Although drought is a terrible thing, it is also good! Because it will make those few people who are still drunk on the long history of city-states and those delusional about independence see clearly and understand that only by staying in such a powerful kingdom can they ensure their safety through every natural and man-made disaster and that their homes will havesting peace!¡±

    Davos'' words invigorated the statesmen present and even aroused theirpassion. After working hard for more than ten years in this kingdom with its unique government, even Lysias, who was thetest to join, increasingly identified himself with this powerful kingdom.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After sending Cornelius away, Aristias came in before Davos could catch his breath, ¡°Your majesty, the intelligence department has sent news about Rome from the north.¡±

    Upon hearing Rome, Davos immediately got interested and asked, ¡°What''s the situation?¡±

    ¡°Rome''s rebellious ally, Praeneste, invited the Volsci to the south of Rome, together with Aequi to the east of Rome, and the Hernic to the south-east of Rome to invade the Roman territory and are known to have had a force of about twenty thousand men.¡±

    Praeneste? Davos thought for a moment but didn''t have any impression about them. So he immediately turned to his clerk, Henipolis, and said, ¡°Heni, go get the map of central Italia.¡±

    Afterying out the map on the desk, Davos look at it closely and finally found the location of that Latin city-state. Praeneste was a prominent Latin city-state located over 30 kilometres southeast of Rome, near the mountains. It just so happens that they are at the entrance to the londs between the mountains, guarding the mountain path towards the Aequians and Hernicans. On the flip side, Praeneste''s defection has allowed the Aequians and the Hernicans to easily invade Rome''s Latin allies and threaten the city of Rome itself¡­

    ¡°Have all the Roman troops that went north to attack Etruria returned?¡± Davos asked again.

    ¡°I still haven''t received any message about that yet,¡± replied Aristias.

    Davos stroked his chin as he was long in his thoughts.

    In the third year of Theonia (390 B.C.) The Celtic King Brennus, who upied the upper reaches of the Po River, united most Celtic tribes and invaded the Etruscans in the south.

    After defeating many Etruscan forces and capturing many towns, they began sieging the city of Clusium. Then Rome, Clusium''s ally, sent an army to rescue them, which resulted in a battle between the Celts and Roman armies near the Allia river, which ended in a crushing defeat for Rome.

    But what Davos didn''t know was that, without the temptation of the envoys sent by Dionysius(Dionysius died at the hands of Phoebidas two years earlier) in this life, the Celts didn''t just leave the Etruscan towns along the way unattacked and advanced quickly towards Rome. Instead, they continued their ughter and plunder all the way until they crossed the Tiber more than two monthster.

    At this time, the deteriorating walls of Rome couldn''t even wholly encircle the city. In addition, half of the young people in the city were either killed or injured in battle, and most of the plebeians left the city of Rome in anger due to the conflicts between the nobles and the plebeians in previous years and settled in the city of Veii. As a result, this was a time when there were no longer enough troops to defend Rome. Apart from a few elderly who are weak and unwilling to leave their hometown, there are only a few people who are willing to stick to the city''s Capitoline while the majority of the poption evacuated the city.

    Some went to Veii, while a few went to Ardea, a Latin city south of Rome. And it was here that the famous Roman general Camillus, who had once conquered Veii but had been expelled on false charges, lived in hiding.

    Although the Celts upied Rome easily and ughtered the elderly, they still couldn''t attack the dangerous Capitoline Hill. Instead, they encircle it and send other troops to the surrounding areas to collect provisions, thus ravaging the towns and viges in Latium.

 Chapter 659: The Current Rome

    Camillus was saddened once he learned about the fall of Rome, so he gathered up the Romans who had fled to Ardea to form an army while persuading the Ardeans to join him. He then found the right moment to attack the Celtic tribes, who came to gather provisions at night carelessly, winning a great victory.

    Soon after, the news of their victory spread throughout Latium and made Camillus famous. Now, all Latins who hated the Celts for their invasion came to join him, and the Romans in the city of Veii asked to be under hismand.

    After the Roman Senate, who was still holding the Capitoline Hill, took a risk by appointing Camillus as the military dictator, Camillus assembled a much more massive army while attacking the Celts who were looking for provision in the various Latin towns.

    Because of theck of provisions and the fear of Camillus'' army, the Celts no longer dared to plunder around, which caused their situation to be direr as time passed. Furthermore, an epidemic happened since there was no one to clean and bury the mass of corpses piled up in Rome, coupled with the need for them to adapt to the new ce had caused the Celts to fall ill and die in battle. Thus their morale was extremely low.

    After staying in Rome for half a year, the Celtic King Brennus could no longer resist the persuasion of many tribal chieftains and decided to make peace with the Romans. Unfortunately, the Romans defending the Capitoline Hill had learned that Camillus wasing to Rome with a massive army and had refused to make peace.

    Although Brennus was angry, he was helpless. Still, he was unwilling to leave the ce empty-handed. But while he was hesitating, Brennus heard of Camillus and his massive army¡¯s arrival to rescue Rome. Seeing the low morale of the Celts, Brennus dared not lead the army to fight Camillus and instead ordered a retreat.

    But after leaving Rome for about five kilometres, the Latium coalition led by Camillus caught up, and the two sides started a fierce battle.

    In the end, the Celts suffered a disastrous defeat, with pursuers surrounding most of them and only a small number managing to flee to various ces. As a result, all the people in the neighbouring viges and towns went out to search and capture them, almost killing them all. The only ones to escape were dozens of people, including Brennus and his close aides.

    That battle had caused the Celts in the upper reaches of the Po River to suffer heavy losses and significantly reduce their strength.

    Although the Romans also suffered in the war with the Celts, the contradiction between the nobles and plebeians eased. Afterwards, the people who had moved to Veii returned to Rome and worked together to rebuild the city. The Senate also enacted somews in favour of the reconciliation between the nobles and the plebeians. At the same time, they took the initiative to incorporate many exiles who had lost their homes in this war with the Celts as Roman citizens.

    After gaining the support of the Senate, Camillus learned from Rome''s defeat at the Battle of the Allia,bined with his own battle experience, introduced reforms to the Roman army. In the meantime, Rome unexpectedly gained the strong support of a powerful state in the western Mediterranean. Thus in the second year after the war with the Celts, Rome began to recover its strength and started attacking the surrounding Latium city-states that had left the Latin league and turned their backs on Rome because of the war. After several years of arduous battles, Rome brought most Latin cities back under its control and rebuilt the Latin league.

    Meanwhile, the Etruscans in the north took advantage of the favourable opportunity of the Roman army being stuck in the Latin area to send arge army to encircle the important city-state of the Etruscans that Rome spent many years to capture more than a decade ago and had nowpletely be a colonial city of Rome, and attempt to force its surrender.

    However, the Romans defending the fortified city refused to surrender. After repelling the enemy''s attacks, they would send people to ask for help.

    Thus as soon as the Latin War ended, Camillus led the Roman army tounch an attack on the Etruscan army that surrounded Veii on the north bank of the Tiber river.

    While the Roman army had justpleted Camillus¡¯ military reform and was full of morale, the Etruscans had just been ravaged by the Celts and hadn¡¯t yet recovered their strength, allowing Rome to win several battles between them.

    After repelling the Etruscan army, the Romans didn''t rest. After learning how the Etruscans had weakened through the war, they seized the chance tounch a prolonged attack on the Etruscan territories that had been threatening Rome for a century.

    In just a few years, Rome captured Tarchna, Velch, Novi, Volsinii and other important city-sate of the Etruscans, bringing most of the southern territory of the Etruscans under Rome''s control.

    During this period, the Volscians and Hernicans in the south of Rome feared the rise of a powerful Rome that would threaten their territories. Thus they joined up with the other forces around Rome to invade Rome''s territory and its allies.

    Davos gazed at Rome and its colonial cities on the map and their subordinate allies that covered arge area.

    Although he didn''t know how much trouble Rome''s growth would cause to Theonia, Theonia didn''t have extra strength to interfere with Rome in central Italia as they had been devoting much of their manpower and material to integrate and unify south Italia and eastern Sicily. Moreover, central Italia was unfamiliar to the Theonians, so sendingrge-scale troops would be too costly for the kingdom. At the same time, they could easily wipe out a small unit.

    Hence Davos hoped to see if the Volscians'' attack could threaten Rome. Unfortunately, in his previous life, he only knew more about the history of Rome from the Punic Wars and knew very little about the early rise of Rome besides Camillus. After reading the information collected by the intelligence department andbining the little knowledge he had gathered in his previous life, he realised that Camillus, who was quite famous in the Latium region, was the same Camillus known as the ¡®Father of Rome¡¯ in his previous life.

    ¡°Where is Camillus now?¡± He asked immediately.

    That startled Aristias, who then immediately understood that Davos was talking about the very person he had asked them to keep focused on, ¡°Camillus cited his old age and frailty, so he did not serve as themander of the expedition to Etruria and had been staying in the city of Rome. Currently, there is no new news about him yet.¡±

    ¡°It seems the Romans will also make him themander of the resistance against the Volscians.¡± Davos sighed lightly, ¡°Watch this battle closely and keep me updated.¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Replied Aristias.

    After pondering for a while, Davos remembered another thing. Thus he hurriedly said to his clerk, Henipolis, ¡°Heni, quickly write the praetors of the Sicilian cities of Catania, Naxos, Sikuri, Herbita, and Henna¡­tell them that they should try persuading the people to sell their surplus grain to the city hall at an appropriate price after the autumn harvest to help the people in the south Italian region¡­¡±

    ¡°Understood, your majesty. I will finish the letter and submit it to you for approval.¡±

    Davos stared at the symbol of Rome on the map again and sighed, ¡®This drought came at the wrong time¡­¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Two dayster, Davos met the Delphic priest Crataemenes, who hurriedly came to the pce.

    But in response to the invitation offered by Delphi, Davos didn''t show delight. On the contrary, he only politely expressed his gratitude but proposed that Theonia would only act if Delphi openly invited the kingdom of Theonia to join the Amphictyonic league. Otherwise, Theonia would never take the initiative to join!

    Crataemenes was startled as he had thought that Theonia would be grateful for Delphi''s favour, so he didn''t expect Davos to be so cold and arrogant.

    In fact, if Crataemenes had a deep understanding of Theonia''s condition, he would certainly understand why Davos did that.

    Besides being the king of the kingdom of Theonia, Davos is also the chief priest of the Temple of Hades and the descendant of the king of the underworld. So how could he take the initiative to worship another god and goddess even if the two gods control different aspects? And how would he exin it to the priests of Hades as well as the vast number of believers? But if the other party took the initiative to invite them, Davos would feel it easier to ept. On the surface, this is just a matter of attitude, but the reality is that it is an important issue to decide which of the two deities should be at the top.

    Thus no one gave in, and both sides were stuck at this critical junction.

    Crataemenes then changed the topic by inviting Theonia to participate in the next Pythian Games, which they would hold in two years (the summer of 379 B.C.)

    Davos thanked him again for the invitation but reminded him, ¡°Theonia is a multi-racial mixed kingdom, so as long as the Pythian Games allow Theonian citizens of foreign races to participate, Theonia would certainly form a team.¡±

    But that condition is exactly what Delphi couldn''t ept independently, as such actions that vite tradition must receive the approvals of the members of the Amphictyonic league. Simrly, Delphi could not risk angering Sparta by publicly inviting Theonia to join the Amphictyonic league.

    Crataemenes, who thought he came with sincerity but got nothing besides Davos'' arrogance, left angrily. Thus they put the matter regarding Theonia''s joining the Amphictyonic league on hold.

    However, after Crataemenes returned to Delphi, he spread rumours of the king of Theonia''s insolence to Delphi.

    For the Delphic priest''s angry departure, Davos remained unconcerned as he didn''t think it was the right time to intervene in the affairs of Greece. As for the Delphic''s willingness to support Theonia in Greece, Davos could onlyugh at it. For more than ten years, Theonia continuously attracted Greek freemen from the Greek city-state in the eastern Mediterranean and has long formed several stable channels even without the help of Delphi.

 Chapter 660: Romes Expansion

    In the Latium region of central Italy, Camillus, whom Davos was concerned about, received the Roman Senate''s order to lead the remaining army in Rome to repel the Volscians and its allies.

    However, Camillus tried making excuses for himself repeatedly, saying he was too old and frail to lead the army and wanted to give this task to a more suitable person. Unfortunately for him, the Roman citizens strongly requested him to take up the task, not because they expected him to be the first to fight and kill the enemy, but because they believed that he would bring Rome a glorious victory with his experience and military ability.

    Thus Camillus had to ept the task.

    Considering he could not fight the enemy personally, the Senate allowed him to take a young military general named Lucius Furius* as his partner. (Note: Lucius Furius should be his son)

    The two led the only two legions left in the city, a total of 12,000 Roman and a thousand allied soldiers, towards the southeast and quickly arrived in Praeneste.

    Before encountering the Volscians and its allies, Camillus ordered his army to stop and encamp as he wanted to dy the confrontation with the enemy. On the one hand, he did not want to engage the enemy, who were in high morale at this moment and wanted to wait for them to loosen up or force them toe and attack their camp. On the other hand, he had wanted to postpone the Senate''s appointment because he had caught a cold and was still feverish and weak, so he wanted to wait until his health improved before fighting the enemy.

    However, the young military officer, Lucius Furius, was eager to make contributions and confront the enemy. And since Camillus could not fight due to his sickness, he could lead the battle to himself.

    Hence he privately encouraged the officers in the army to unanimously appeal to Camillus to fight. And Camillus, seeing that he couldn''t disregard the will of the people and not wanting the others to think that he did not wish for the young man to earn merit and honour out of jealousy, had reluctantly agreed to let Lucius Furius lead the army to the battle while he himself stayed in the camp with a small number of soldiers.

    Out of concern, Camillus sent his men to check the battle''s progress and keep him updated. Meanwhile, he himselfy on his sickbed but couldn''t sleep.

    He then learned from his men that before evenpleting their formation, Lucius Furius rushed to attack the enemy but was immediately defeated. Seeing the routed soldiers fleeing to the camp, Camillus ignored his illness, leapt out of bed and organised the remaining soldiers to prepare for defence.

    Camillus personally rushed to the camp''s front gate. He then kept shouting at the soldiers who had retreated from the battlefield to take up arms again and repel the enemies who followed them.

    The routed soldiers felt ashamed once they saw this famous, grey-haired old general nailed like a rock in front of the gate without retreating a single step. Thus they turned around to fight and cooperated with the camp defenders to finally repel the enemy.

    Camillus broke out in cold sweat and had his cold mostly cured after passing this ordeal. Thus he couldn''t help but thank Minerva for her blessing.

    Disheartened and guilty, Lucius Furius came to Camillus to confess his mistake.

    However, Camillus didn''t severely criticise the reckless young general. On the contrary, he patiently asked him about the whole battle''s progress.

    After contemting, Camillus said to Lucius Furius, ¡°We will lead our troops out and fight the enemy tomorrow!¡±

    Lucius thought he heard it wrong, ¡°We have just experienced a defeat¡­¡±

    ¡°It is because of this defeat that we urgently need a victory to wash away this humiliation!¡± Camillus said decisively.

    After getting motivated, Lucius Furius nodded and agreed.

    Soon, the news about them going to battle tomorrow morning spread throughout the army.

    And once the soldiers heard that the prestigious general Camillus would lead them to clear their shameful defeat, they all stopped hanging their heads in despair. Instead, they raised their fists and vowed to the gods to avenge their humiliation.

    The next day, Camillus stopped their advance and quickly began forming up just after leading his troops a kilometre away out of the camp.

    On the other hand, the Volscians and their allies were surprised to hear that the Romans, who had lost yesterday, had actuallye out of their camp and headed towards them in a hurry.

    But before they could even fully form up, Camillus ordered, ¡®All troops attack!¡¯

    The Roman soldiers, eager for revenge,unched a fierce attack on the Volscians and their allies, with Camillus focusing most of their attack on the weak Hernicans.

    After a fierce battle, the disordered Volscians and its allies were utterly at a disadvantage. And once the Romans defeated the Hernicans, it led to the copse of the whole Volscians and its allies.

    Camillus then ordered the whole army to continue their pursuit and not to rx.

    Then the Roman army took the opportunity to upy the enemy camp while killing and capturing most of the soldiers of Volsci and its allies. Afterwards, the Roman soldiers celebrated their victory.

    But after a day of rest, news came that the Hernicans captured another Latin ally of Rome.

    Camillus immediately decided to send the heavy infantry back to Rome while leading the light infantry and marched all the way tounch a surprise attack on the Hernicans.

    And the Hernicans, who had just upied the town and were unprepared, were soon defeated, with most of its soldiers killed.

    Camillus then returned to Rome with countless spoils and captives, causing the Romans to cheer his return.

    And the Roman Senate, at his suggestion, ordered the Roman army, which had just returned from attacking the Etruscan from the north, to attack the Aequians, Hernicans and other forces in the east.

    Two monthster, the Aequians, Hernicans and Marsians, who had suffered heavy losses in the previous battles, could no longer resist the Romans and chose to surrender after suffering repeated attacks.

    After dealing with the enemies in the east and southeast, the Romans began focusing on the Volsci in the south.

    The Volscians were an old race residing in Italy. Centuries ago, they lived in the valley of the upper Liris river in northeastern Italia. But as the Celts continued to invade southward, the Volscians, who couldn''tpete with them, were forced to keep moving to the southwest of Italia and eventually settled in the fertilend south of Latium, where they flourished peacefully for hundreds of years. However, with the rise and expansion of Rome, the Volscians started to have constant armed conflicts with the power that had be their neighbour in the north.

    And the two sides have been at war for nearly a century. In the beginning, the Volscians had the upper hand. Yet with Rome continued conquering the neighbouring Latin city-state and founding the Latin league, its strength increased significantly, and the Volscians gradually found it difficult to attack Rome.

    And in the 358th year since Rome''s founding (396 B.C.), the Roman general Camillus led an army to conquer the Etruscan city-state located in the northern part of the Tiber region ¨C Veii. That conquest not only allowed Rome to upy the surroundingnds of the Tiber riverpletely, but it also deterred the surrounding races and forces.

    And the Volscians could only sign a peace treaty with Rome.

    But four yearster, the Celts captured the city of Rome, which led to Rome¡¯s decline and then the dissolution of the Latin league. The Volscians then took this opportunity to tear up the treaty and unite with the forces around Rome. Then they began invading Rome and its allies'' territories until Camillus led the Roman army to defeat thempletely.

    And before the Volscians could even recover from their defeat, the Roman army invaded the Volscian territory on arge scale and surrounded the powerful Volscian city in the north ¨C Velitrae.

    Thus the Volscians, while gathering their army to go to the rescue, considered asking for reinforcements from other forces as the Romans had be increasingly more powerful after their military reform. (With several battles between the Volscians and the Romans ending in defeat, they began to fear the Romans.)

    In fact, there is a closer and more powerful force to Volsci, the Samnites. Unfortunately, this powerful mountain race remained aggressive towards its neighbours. In the past, Volsci and the Samnites also had many wars, with the Samnites upying several Volscian towns near the Samnites mountains, such as Sora and Cepeatae. So how would the Volscians dare ask that violent and hostile force for help?

    Thus after a discussion, the Volsci and its allies agreed that only the powerful kingdom in the south, Theonia, was the most suitable target to ask for assistance. But since the Volscians had no formal diplomatic contact with Theonia before, they feared they would reject them. Hence the Volscians thought of a way.

    Volsci and its allies sent an envoy to the south by boat and arrived at Campania. In Campania, there was the Campanian league that the Volscians thought was powerful, had a good rtionship with them, and had often traded with each other.

    Initially, the Campanian league was formed by Greek city-states in this region. Its purpose was to protect the safety of the city-state and jointly defend against foreign enemies. And its main enemy was the Samnites in the mountains to the east. Later, some Etruscan city-states in the eastern part of the Campanian in, which had also suffered from the Samnites, joined.

    The Etruscan had once been the most powerful force in Italia, upying the entire northern and most of central Italia. But because of the Celtic invasion, its power was significantly weakened. Moreover, many of its territories were continuously upied by other races, so they had to begin retreating to the north. However, in the eastern part of the Campanian in remained several Etruscan city-states led by Capua and Suess.

    After joining the Campanian league, Capua fought with Naples for the alliane''s dominance. But after the Samnite captured Capua twenty years ago, Naples dominated the alliance.

    Hence the Volscian envoy directly headed to the city of Naples to put forward Volsci''s request for help to its council and tactfully reminded the Napoli of the Romans'' aggressiveness. And that once they conquered Volsci, the Romans might target the fertile Campanian region, which is not far from Volsci, next.

 Chapter 661: Volscis request for help

    The Neapolitans had some knowledge of the Romans that the Volscian envoy had mentioned: In just ten years, this battle-hardened nation just north of Campania had won many victories and expanded rapidly, making the surrounding forces uneasy. But since there were still quite a few forces between Neapolis and Rome, such as Volsci, Osci, Sidicini and even the Caudini tribe of the Samnites, the Neapolitans didn''t feel uneasy about Rome.

    After the council members discussed it with each other, polemarchos Orosius said with an apologetic expression to the Volscian envoy Matepol, ¡°We are eager to be of help to you, Volsci. However, we have more important matters in the Campanian region for us to worry about currently and couldn¡¯t divert our forces, so we can only apologise to you!¡±

    Orosius wasn''t indifferent when he said that. In the past ten years, the Campanian league and the Samnites had indeed been at peace, but two years ago, the Samnites started having frequent conflicts with the neighbouring Campanian league city-states. Although it still hasn''t led to a major conflict, it has made the Campanian league tense. Thus they must remain alert and ready to respond to a war that may break out at any time.

    The Volscian envoy became disappointed and dejected. But just as he was about to continue pleading, Orosius changed the topic, ¡°Although we can''t help you, there is a powerful kingdom in Italia that could guarantee Volsci''s safety as long as they are willing to lend a helping hand!¡±

    The Volscian envoy''s heart jumped with joy as that kingdom''s name quickly popped into his head.

    Then Orosius entuated his tone as he said, ¡°Theonia! Only Theonia can stop Rome from invading Volsci!¡±

    ¡®Sure enough!¡¯ Matep inwardly felt relieved since this was exactly what the Volscians wanted. They naturally knew that the kingdom of Theonia, which owned the whole of south Italia, was probably the most powerful force in Italia besides the Celts in the north, so they certainly could frighten Rome. Still, he feigned embarrassment as he said, ¡°But we Volscians have never had any contact with Theonia¡­¡±

    Orosius sincerely said, ¡°Neapolis and Theonia are allies, and we are willing to introduce you, Volsci, to the king of Theonia!¡±

    Overjoyed, the Volscian envoy immediately expressed his gratitude.

    After a day''s rest in the city, Matep followed the envoy sent by Neapolis to the south.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the end of September, a drought raged in south Italia, resulting in the southern Italian territory of the kingdom of Theonia having a massive poor harvest. So the kingdom had to mobilise most of its manpower and resources for disaster relief.

    In the pce of Theonia, Davos had just approved the order to punish more Carthaginian merchants.

    Even after the Senate had decreed that ¡®no merchant shall raise the grain price in the kingdom and disturb the market''s order, or face severe punishment¡¯, these Carthaginian merchants joined with some grain merchants in the city to spread rumours in the market of Locri and crowded the grain stores opened temporarily by the city hall, causing panic among the popce. In the end, they were arrested by the inspection team, with some severely getting punished. However, because these Carthaginian merchants'' backgrounds were extraordinary, with even one of them being part of the Hanno family, the inspection department worried that their punishment would cause serious discontent among the Carthaginians. Hence they came to ask Davos for instructions.

    In reality, Davos also has this concern. But since he knows that if he doesn''t implement the order and prohibition in such a critical situation, the foreigners will be more unscrupulous, and the local merchants will also participate. Thus he had to punish them severely and make them an example for others.

    So, Davos signed the order and ordered Aristias to deliver it immediately.

    After that, Davos leaned back on his chair and stretched.

    With requests and letters from various cities piling up due to the drought the kingdom is facing, Davos barely have enough time to rest. So even he, who imed to be energetic, also began feeling exhausted.

    Davos then closed his eyes, not to rest but to decide whether to recruit the Senate''s five rotating speakers and establish amittee to handle the drought. He would then hand over the handling of specific affairs to them while he himself only responsible for supervising and controlling the direction. In this way, not only will he save his energy, it might significantly improve his efficiency¡­

    And the more he thought about it, the more he thought this idea was feasible. Just as he was about to ask Aristias to go to the Senate and call the five statesmen, the guard informed him that the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ansitanos asked for a meeting.

    After passing the bill of giving sries to the statesmen and prohibiting them from epting gives that Davos proposed, Davos also proposed establishing the Foreign Ministry of the kingdom. Their job would be to receive the foreign envoys, which would reduce having them contact the other statesmen blindly, ensure their safety and prevent the statesmen from making further mistakes. At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would train personnel to be more professional and diplomatic to create a more favourable external environment for Theonia. As for the first Minister of Foreign Affairs, Davos appointed Ansitanos.

    Since Ansitanos took office more than a year ago, he has sessfullypleted the administrative structure and personnel arrangement.

    ¡®Why did hee to the pce today?¡¯ Davos tried to guess it, but he didn''t expect that Ansitanos would surprise him.

    ¡°You are saying that the Volscians came to ask for help?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡± Ansitanos exined with seriousness, ¡°With the Romans'' invasion of Volsci''s territory, the Volscians were unable to resist them and had to ask for our help under the rmendation of the Neapolitans.¡±

    ¡°Then arrange a meeting for them.¡± Davos didn''t hesitate to respond. When he first received the news about the Roman army led by Camillus defeating the allied army organised by the Volscians, he had already realised that the Volscians would be in big trouble.

    ¡°Your majesty, there is another delightful matter.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    Although Ansitanos said it was a delightful matter, he didn''t have a smile on his face. He then straightforwardly said, ¡°The Neapolitan envoy who apanied the Volscians said that after they found out that we Theonians are suffering from a drought, the Campanian league, as an ally, is willing to donate arge amount of grain free of charge to help us through this difficult times¡­ However, he hoped we would restrain the Samnites from harassing their people.¡±

    ¡°Restrain the Samnites?!¡± Davos revealed a bit of anger, ¡°The Neapolitans could say that so easily, but it isn''t easy to restrain the Samnites! Ever since we firmly supported Abellinum, those several Samnite races have be more unruly.¡±

    ¡°Fortunately, they fear our strength and don''t dare to go too far¡­¡± Ansitanos looked at Davos and asked, ¡°Then¡­should we reject the Neapolitans'' request?¡±

    ¡°No! The Samnites now think they have recovered their strength¡­¡± Davos shook his head. He then sneered and said, ¡°It is merely because we had been busy stabilising the Dauni area for the past two years that we couldn''t do anything about them for the time being. With the Dauni situation now stable¡­ Ansitanos, you agree to the Neapolitan envoy''s request and send someone to question the Samnites about why they are repeatedly viting the treaty and harassing the allies of Theonia! If they still continue, I don''t mind making them taste the Theonian legion again.

    Also¡­didn''t Kinduk, the chieftain of the Nuceria in Caudini, hint that he was willing to send a team to this year''s rugby tournament? Have Irna intensify their enlisting of the tribes in the southwestern region of Caudini so that they will have no choice but to side with us!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, that may lead to a war between the Samnites and us!¡± Ansitanos said anxiously.

    Davos said decisively, ¡°Even though the Samnites are our ally, they vited our treaty by harassing the people andnd of another ally many times, and they even ignored our warnings repeatedly, which just shows that they have long had rebellious intentions! If we still don''t put a stop to their terrible behaviours, it will not only damage our prestige but also lower the trust of our allies. Thus we must strike them back!¡±

    ¡°But, your majesty, we are now facing famine. I fear we don''t have extra provisions to support the army''s expedition!¡± Ansitanos warned.

    Davos smiled faintly, ¡°We don''t have it, but the Campanian league does. Since we are helping them to solve the Samnites, they should not be stingy with their food. Moreover, this would help us reduce the pressure on our food. Furthermore, I heard that the central and southern part of the Hirpini is also badly affected, so we can take this opportunity to weaken thempletely!¡±

    ¡°Understood, your majesty. I will go and discuss this with the Neapolitan envoy.¡± Ansitanos replied helplessly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Volscian envoy Matep followed the Neapolitans ashore at the port of Laos and trekked for three days all the way to Thurii, where the prosperity and immensity of the city struck him in awe. He then became convinced that only such a powerful kingdom could help them repel those vicious Romans.

    When the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed Matep that King Davos was ready to meet him, he had been racking his head about how he would persuade the king of this mighty kingdom to lend a helping hand to Volsci.

    The following day, Matep entered the pce of Theonia.

    On both sides of the spacious hall of the royal pce stood the kingdom''s important officials, and King Davos, wearing a ga crown made of pure gold and a luxurious chiton with red stripes on a ck background, sat firmly in a leather chair two steps above, allowing him to stand a great deal higher than the people around him, showing the king''s majesty.

    Since this was the first time Matep faced such a solemn and serious situation, it was inevitable that he was nervous and stepped towards Davos with some hesitation. After giving his respect, he said in a slightly trembling voice, ¡°Esteemed¡­king of Theonia, I am Matep, an envoy from Volsci. I bring¡­the most sincere greetings from the people of Volsci to you and your kingdom! I heard your country is suffering from drought, so we in Volsci are willing to donate a batch of grain for free to show our friendly will!¡±

 Chapter 662: Rome and Carthage

    His words seeded in attracting everyone''s attention, and even the ministers of the kingdom, who didn''t know much about Volsci and didn''t care much about him, focused their eyes on him. The envoy from the north wore a short white chiton that showed his arms and calves, and his dress was somewhat simr to that of the Samnites, with the only difference being that they wore sandals.

    ¡°I thank you, Volscians, for your generous donation!¡± Davos said calmly, ¡°I have long heard of the Volscians in central Italia with your bravery and excellence in fighting. Unfortunately, Theonia and Volsci are so far apart that there is nomunication between us. But I believe your visit will open a new chapter of friendly rtions between us!¡­¡±

    With Davos saying a lot about enhancing the friendship between the two sides, he made it look as if the Volscian envoy hade just to strengthen their rtionship with Theonia.

    Hearing his words, Matep became anxious as he loudly said, ¡°Your majesty, I havee here to request Theonia''s help!¡±

    ¡°Request for help?¡± Davos put on a puzzled expression.

    ¡°The Romans in central Italia relied on their strength to stir up war everywhere. This time, the Romans even invaded Volsci''s territory, and we Volscians couldn''t resist them. Thus I came here to request the help of the most powerful kingdom in Italia, Theonia! And I hope that you, milord, will send reinforcements to help Volsci to repel the Romans!¡± Matep said earnestly.

    ¡°But I heard that it was because you Volsci had attacked the allies of Rome first and angered the Romans that they attacked Volsci.¡± The Minister of MIlitary, Hielos, chimed in.

    Matep looked at Hielos and replied straightforwardly, ¡°Hundreds of years ago, we, the people of Volsci, have been living in the southern part of Latium and got along fairly well with our neighbours. But a hundred years ago, Rome, a small city on the Tiber river, became a powerful force in central Italia through constant war and ughter! So to defend ourselves against the Romans, we fought a war with them for decades and have be mortal enemies.

    But in just the past years, Rome had conquered most of the city-state south of Etruria, bing more powerful. And we Volscians naturally couldn''t just sit back and wait for our end! Unfortunately¡­we failed¡­¡± Matep sighed with bitterness. He then loudly said with resentment, ¡°The Romans worship the wolf as their ancestor, which is a greedy and aggressive animal. Once they conquered Volsci, the Romans would certainly point their sword to the Campanian league, where thend was more fertile, and the people were wealthy. But even after conquering them, they would continue to head south¡­so I implore Theonia to extend a helping hand to us!¡±

    Most officials didn''t take his words seriously as they thought that the Volscians were just making the Romans appear terrifying and seemed to pose a threat to Theonia so they could encourage Theonia to send reinforcements.

    Only Davos, sitting high on his throne, knew that what the envoy said was probably the truth. Still, he remained calm.

    ¡°We sympathise with you, Volscians. However, I believe you have seen how we are suffering from drought when you enter Theonia''s territory. So at least for now, Theonia cannot afford to send troops to central Italia to fight the Romans.¡± The Chief Commercial Officier, Marigi, said regretfully.

    ¡°We have food in Volsci! With the autumn harvest just ending, we have saved enough food! Thus as long as Theonia sends reinforcements, we are willing to guarantee the food supply for your troops!¡± Matep immediately answered.

    And after he said that, the Minister of Finance Mersis, Chief Commercial Officer Marigi and the Minister of Agriculture Burkes looked at each other as they became somewhat interested.

    Then Androlis, one of the rotating speakers of the Senate, said, ¡°Your majesty, there is no need for us to rush in sending an army to reinforce Volsci. Instead, we should send an envoy to Rome to convince them to retreat. And with our prestige in Italia, it is possible to achieve that.

    But¡­whether sending an envoy to negotiate with Rome or sending an army to reinforce Volsci, both need a legitimate reason! And with Volsci having no diplomatic rtion with us, we will only receive criticism if we interfere in the affairs between the powers in central Italia.¡±

    At Androlis'' reminder, everyone''s eyes brighten up.

    Davos looked at him with admiration and asked, ¡°So, how do we handle this matter?¡±

    But before Androlis could speak, Matep immediately interrupted, ¡°The Volscian alliance is willing to ally with the kingdom of Theonia!¡±

    ¡°Forming an alliance is a major event; I fear you would need to discuss it within your alliance before making a decision.¡± Although Ansitanos, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that politely, he was actually questioning Matep''s authority as an envoy and reminded him not to blindly utter big words.

    ¡°You can rest assured! Beforeing here, the Volscian alliance had granted me full authority in making any decision! And-¡± Matep straightened his chest and confidently said, ¡°My Puerro family is one of the important political forces in the city of Circeii in Volscii, so the Volscian alliance will definitely recognise any decision I made here!¡±

    Davos nodded slightly and said, ¡°I understand Volsci''s request, and we will discuss this matter, so kindly leave first and have a rest. Soon, you will receive Theonia''s decision.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After Matep left the main hall, Davos looked around his officials and asked, ¡°What do you think about Volsci''s request?¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, we have just conquered and are now facing a drought. And hearing that Rome is a powerful force, I fear we won''t be able to subdue them once there is a war. Furthermore, we won''t be able to support a prolonged war in our present condition.¡± Cornelius said worriedly.

    ¡°Your majesty, there is one more point to which I would like you to pay attention.¡± Lysias interjected and said, ¡°Rome and Carthage are allies. If we rashly agree to Volsci''s request and interfere in Rome''s military operation that would end up us resorting to force, then we will force Carthage to make a stand! Given our strained rtionship with Carthage in the past two years, they may well choose to support Rome and thus turn this into a bigger conflict!¡­¡±

    Lysias'' appalling words startled everyone in the main hall.

    ¡°Carthage and Rome are allies?¡± Marigi asked the question that everyone wanted to ask.

    ¡°A hundred years ago, Carthage and Rome concluded a friendly treaty.¡± the schr Ansitanos interjected, ¡°Rome signed a treaty with Carthage about a hundred years ago just after they conquered the Latium region and began to establish the Latin league. I still remember the initial use in their treaty.

    ¡­The Romans and their allies'' based their treaty with the Carthaginians on the following conditions: Rome and its allies were not to sail past Cape Bello¡­they could not engage in any trade in Libya, Iberia, Sardinia and Corsica¡­

    ¡­while the Carthaginians must not attack Latin settlements that were subject to Rome. In addition, the Carthaginians must ensure they do not upy any of this city¡­¡±

    ¡°This is just a friendly treaty, not an alliance.¡± Supreme judge Tritodemos questioned.

    ¡°Just as I said from the start, this is only the original treaty. And they renewed their treaty several times, which continues to this day. In the renewal two years, they added the following terms¡­¡± Ansitanos said unhurriedly, ¡°Once Rome or Carthage is at war against a third party, they could seek support from the other side, and the side being asked can help as much as it can ording to its situation. Once they won the war, they could then negotiate the ownership of the spoils of war¡­¡±

    ¡°Two years ago?!¡± Sedrum''s expression suddenly changed. He then muttered, ¡°I am afraid that Carthage added this use as a precaution against us!¡±

    Two years ago, Theonia discovered the conspiracy of the Tanikian tribe to unify the tribes of the Sikeloi, which Carthage privately supported. Although the Eight Legion defeated them, their leader had led the remnants to flee towards western Sicily, controlled by Carthage. The Carthaginians then sheltered him. Although Carthage and Theonia renewed their friendship treaty afterwards, the rtionship between the two forces became fragile, especially in terms of tradepetition.

    ¡®Did they support a Rome in the north of Theonia when the Tanikian fell?!¡¯ The expressions of everyone became somewhatplicated.

    Hielos then said with a grave expression, ¡°Your majesty, Carthage has kept peace with us for over a decade because they need to recover the wounds caused by their previous war with Syracuse. Even so, the Carthaginians are still making trouble for us silently. After all, the western Mediterranean can only amodate a hegemon, as Carthage and Syracuse did before, and so will we and Carthage now.

    So we shouldn''t fear aiding Volsci just because of Carthage''s treaty with Rome. On the contrary, we should put more effort into forming a solid alliance with Volsci. Otherwise, we would just allow Rome to conquer Volsci and be even stronger. Once Rome and Carthage, one to the north and one to the south, sandwich our kingdom in the middle¡­our situation will be direr! Thus it is better to take advantage of the fact that the Carthaginians were still reluctant to have a war and the Romans were still not strong enough to unite with other forces in central Italia, besiege Rome, break them downpletely and make them weaker so that they would no longer pose a threat to our Theonia and our allies!¡±

    As the Miniter of the Military, Hielos said those words with a hint of viciousness, and his words represented that of the military.

    Then silence suddenly descends in the main hall.

    Davos didn''t immediately give his opinion. Instead, he looked at Cornelius and Lysias and asked, ¡°What do you think of Hielos'' opinion?¡±

 Chapter 663: Davos Ambition

    Cornelius hesitantly said, ¡°Your majesty, I am not opposed to allying with the Volscians nor letting the Romans conquer them. But given Theonia''s current situation this year, I feel it isn''t a good time. In addition, we are unfamiliar with the situation in central Italia, so we should prepare more and be cautious to ensure that we are fully certain of our victory in the event of a war breaking out for real!¡±

    Cornelius'' sophisticated speech made the officials headed by Lysias nod.

    ¡°I, too, prefer to wait until our kingdom is well armed and fed and surrounded by no foreign enemies before intervening in Rome. But good opportunities nevere to those that just wait, and the enemy won''t be foolish enough to stand still and let us interfere.¡± With his emotion stirring up, Davos spoke and said, ¡°You all should remember our war with Syracuse. Our original n was to attack Locri to lure the Syracusan army to Magna Graecia. But Dionysius had instead lured the Samnites into making a surprise invasion. We then stationed troops on the Caulonia-Terina frontline, hoping we could hold off the Syracusan army while we first dealt with the Samnites, and once the main force returned, we would have a decisive battle. Yet Dionysius led an army that easily broke through our southern defences¡­

    These lessons taught me that nothing goodes just by waiting. Instead, it is only by acting boldly that we can seed. And the Carthaginians are as wise as Dionysius. They have long known that we, Theonia, will be their future enemy, so besides supporting the Tanikian tribe, they also started supporting the Romans more than seven years ago.¡±

    Davos'' words shocked Cornelius and the others, with Lysias hurriedly asking, ¡°Your majesty, is that true?!¡±

    ¡°It''s indeed true. Due to the Tanikian tribe incident, I started paying more attention to the forces surrounding the kingdom because of my wariness with Carthage. As a result, the men I sent out soon gathered some information about the dealings between Carthage and Rome. They even manage to get evidence that shows Carthage had continuously supported Rome over the years with food, weapons¡­¡± Davos said that while nodding towards his clerk, Henipolis, who was taking notes beside him.

    Henipolis immediately left the main hall to take some documents from the forbidden area of the pce, the reference hall. He then brought them to Davos, who then passed the documents to Cornelius.

    Officials such as Cornelius, Lysias, Sedrum and so on passed the documents after reading them, with their expressions bing more grave.

    ¡°Previously, I didn''t discuss Carthage and Rome because we were too busy governing the newly integrated Dauni region, and I didn''t want to distract you about them. However-¡± Davos stood up and eximed, ¡°Now we have a great opportunity with the Volsciansing to us requesting help! If we help the Volscians fight the Romans, we will surely win the support of the other forces in central Italia. And destroying the Carthaginians'' scheme will also be good for us so that we won''t be passive in the event of a possible war with Carthage. Also, defeating the Romans will benefit our entry into the fertilend the Romans are upying in central Italia!¡±

    After Davos said that, everyone in the main hall was surprised.

    Davos then gazed at them and said sincerely, ¡°Esteemed lords, this one drought had shrouded the vast majority of Theonia''snd, making it difficult for us and would stay fresh in everyone''s memory! Why did this happen? It is because our kingdom isn''t big enough; our kingdom isn''t strong enough! Thus we need to acquire morend to deal with every drought, every earthquake, and every giant wave that wille with ease! But with Carthage blocking our way to the south, our ess tond can only be in the north! Hence the arrival of the Volsci''s envoy is a great opportunity given to us!¡±

    Davos saw the officials fall silent when he said those words. After smiling faintly, Davos said in a softer tone, ¡°This is, of course, a long-term strategy I set for the kingdom. And war with Rome might not even break out immediately. And if we help Volsci, the Romans might even give way. So we must take our bite one at a time; we should not rush things. First, the Senate must pass the ¡®allying with the Volsci¡¯ proposal, then discuss the treaty carefully. Only after we finished everything would we send an envoy to test the Romans'' reaction to it¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Theonia soon sent Ansitanos to discuss the alliance between the two forces with Volsci''s envoy, Matep.

    The negotiation went smoothly, and it only took over half a day to draw up the draft of the treaty, the main point of which was: A military alliance of friendship and equality between Theonia and Volsci. Strengthening the friendly exchanges and allowing the people to stay in thend of the allies freely, but they must respect the localws. Giving each other preferential treatment and convenience in trade, do not increase taxes, do not detain and arrest allied merchants without authorisation, and both parties must jointly arbitrate disputes. Once an enemy invades one of the parties or is at war with a third party, their ally shall endeavour to provide military assistance and even send troops to fight at the other party''s request¡­

    After taking the draft, Matep immediately returned to Volsci.

    Ten dayster, Matep hurriedly arrived with other Volsci envoys, which included the leaders of several city-states in the Volscian alliance.

    Then Davos and the Volscians signed the treaty.

    But as soon as they signed the treaty, the Volscians eagerly asked Theonia to send troops to aid them because the Romans had already taken Velitrae, repelled Volsci''s reinforcements, and started attacking Satricum. After repeated defeats, the Volsci alliance no longer had enough soldiers to organise another reinforcement to stop the Roman army''s attack. So they are now faced with an unprecedented crisis.

    Due to that, Davos decided to follow Androlis'' proposal and send an envoy to Rome to mediate. At the same time, he informed the Ministry of Military to make war preparations.

    After careful consideration and selection, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent Tapirus as its envoy.

    More than a decade ago, Cheiristoya bought Tapirus as a ve due to his quick thinking and diligence. A few yearster, his master, Davos, promoted him to the head of a restaurant and gave him his freedom back. Then he fought in the south-Italian war as a reserve soldier in the most crucial Battle of Crotone, where, as a spearman, he and hispanions held off the onught of Syracuse''s mercenary cavalry and routed them. At the same time, they assisted other troops in defeating Syracuse''s solid right nk, ying a significant role in Theonia''s eventual victory of the entire battle.

    Once the war ended, their group of surviving spearmen became official citizens of Theonia. Then in the following years, Tapirus also fought in the wars to conquer Messapi and Peuceti. It might be due to the frequent battle that tempered his courage and broadened his vision, making him no longer satisfied with only serving as the regional head of Cheiristoya''s Restaurant. Thus with his ability to read and count, Tapirus passed the examination of the Department of Finance and became a tax official.

    Only after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs establishment and Ansitanos started recruiting public officials did Tapirus, who had worked hard but was exhausted from his daily counting and bookkeeping, apply to join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    Knowing that a mission to Rome wouldn''t be an easy task, the envoy Ansitanos had to choose, besides being literate and eloquent, must also be daring. So Tapirus, who had served as a waiter and fought in many battles, was, therefore, the perfect choice.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the 13th year of Theonia (1st day of the 11th month of 380 B.C.), Tapirus, the envoy of Theonia, took a passenger ship to Rome at the port of Laos.

    On that day, it was a sunny day with a cloudless blue sky.

    Tapirus, sitting in the cabin, recalls king Davos'' audience with him before he left Thurii.

    Although it was stated as an audience, it was, in reality, an invitation to a dinner at Davos'' residence. There is currently a famous saying in Theonia that since he was a personal ve of Davos and was liberated, Davos was his benefactor(the peculiar custom in Theonia is that a ve freed by his master had a special kinship-like rtionship with his master. And under the condition of not viting thew, the liberated ve could plead with his former master to ask him to find work or provide financial support if he found himself troubled. And once their former owner was in trouble, these liberated ves, who had be official citizens, would also lend their support. And if their former owner ran for a local position or to be a tribunal officer, they would join forces to cast their previous vote for their former owner, which the society recognised. And it was for these reasons that the wealthy citizens of Theonia were keen to treat their ves well and grant them their freedom.) Because of that, the formal audience had changed into a private dinner.

    At the dinner, Tapirus was surprised that the great king would pay so much attention to a native city-state in central Italia. But what surprised him even more was Davos'' request¡­

    Suddenly, the ship captain pushed the door and went inside, ¡°Milord, we will soon arrive at the port of Ostia.¡±

    Hearing that, Tapirus cleared his mind and left the cabin.

    In the sky were numerous seagulls flying ahead, and the ships and boats in the sea converged in one direction, which should be the entrance of the Tiber river and the Roman colonial city of Ostia.

    When he received his appointment, Tapirus learned about Rome and knew that Ostia was only a small Latin town that the Romans had captured decades ago. Afterwards, they migrated their citizens to settle and turn Ostia into a Roman colonial city andter the only Roman port city for maritime trade. Because of these benefits, Ostia remained loyal to Rome, even when the Gauls captured Rome.

    Tapirus then disembarked with his entourage.

 Chapter 664: Rome: The City of Seven Hills (I)

    Tapirus, together with his entourage, disembarked at Ostia.

    He then became surprised after noticing that most people in the port weren¡¯t the ck-haired, ck-eyes Latins but the familiar Carthaginian merchants from the south of Theonia. On the port were shiploads of goods that the port staff unloaded and then loaded onto a wagon that would transport it to Rome. And whenparing them with the merchants from other city-states in this port, they are surprisingly much faster and well-organised, which shows they''ve been doing this for a long time.

    Besides them, Tapirus also saw merchants from Theonia. In the past decade or so, the kingdom of Theonia''s rapid expansion in its territories, the increase of various resources, the construction and improvement of roads and bridges, and the implementation of multiple measures in favour of the development ofmerce and trade that the Ministry of Commerce supported, had led to the kingdom''s prosperity. Because of that, many merchants sprung up in various cities, and even foreign merchants have also actively applied to join Theonia, which resulted in the Theonian merchants spreading throughout the western Mediterranean. Except, of course, Sardinia, Corsica, southern Iberia, and so on, which were under the strict control of Carthage.

    Some Theonian merchants beganing to Rome to trade and became an important source of information for Theonia''s Intelligence Agency to learn about Rome. But they still couldn''tpare to the Carthaginian merchants who had established close rtions with Rome and could get more preferential treatment.

    Rome and Theonia are somewhat simr, with both not being port cities and located on the middle reach of arge river; the only difference is that Rome is farther away from the coast, more than 20 kilometres. Since it was difficult for ships to go upstream and enter the city of Rome, they needed the port of Ostia to transit goods.

    After leaving Ostia, Tapirus and his entourage went north along the south bank of the Tiber river.

    By three in the afternoon, they saw the city of Rome standing in front of them.

    ¡°¡­The Latins and Sabini formed the city of Rome together three years ago. At that time, mudts and marshes filled the area, and the many nearby powerful forces looked down on this city with contempt. But that doesn''t mean the Romans manage to develop quietly and peacefully. On the contrary, foreign forces would invade them from time to time.

    The Etruscans once ruled them; then the Gauls destroyed their city; then the Volscians, Aequians, and even the Sabines, a member of the Latin league and a fellow Romans¡­defeated Rome one after another. Yet despite the constant setbacks and wars, Rome gradually developed and expanded until it became the most powerful city-state in central Italia today¡­¡±

    When Tapirus heard this from king Davos, he could deeply feel the ruler of Theonia¡¯s respect for Rome. At the same time, he could also feel the resilience and bravery of the Romans as they could still grow to this point, even with so many hostile forces around them!

    Tapirus observed the city of Rome, which became increasingly clearer, with interest. At the same time, he searches the information about it in his memory.

    They called Rome the city of seven hills because of the seven hills in the city, all of which are concentrated at the bend of the Tiber river. But with the river bending to the west, east and then west, it easily formed sinkholes, resulting in the area being easily flooded when it rains during spring. Thus the initial Romans had to live on these hills¡­

    But the Roman city Tapirus see now is a new city, built by the Romans upon the ruins after they drove away the Gauls ten years ago. ¡®I heard the Romans only took a year to build it; how can they build such a big city in such a short time?!¡¯

    However, Tapirus was even more surprised at the wall of Rome in front of him surprised, which wasn''t as straight and smooth as the one in Thurii. Rome¡¯s wall was curved and bent, and the bricks and rocks were put together in an irregr and somewhat distorted manner, resulting in the wall being rough, withrge gaps that caused the wall to even spread outwardly. It was a good thing that their wall was high and thick enough. Otherwise, they wouldn''t be able to defend themselves with such poor walls¡­

    Of course, this was only Tapirus'' personal opinion, while the more professional personnel hiding among his entourage would quietly and carefully observe the city, take detailed notes on Rome''s situation and the surrounding area from military, political,mercial and social¡­aspects, and summarising the information to report back to king Davos.

    What Tapirus didn''t know what that: Seven years earlier, when the city of Rome was in ruins and Camillus had just driven out the Celts, the Roman popce wondered whether to relocate the city that had already suffered misfortune because of the gods'' curse. Or should they rebuild the new city on Rome''s ruins? They debated the question so much that they decided to vote.

    Just as they were about to start voting, a centurion that had be a hero in the previous battle, together with a g bearer, stepped on the stage and shouted, ¡°Halt; look, the g stood erect! Which shows this is the best ce to build the city!¡±

    Many of his formerrades immediately supported his words, with Camillus and several other respected senators dering piously that this was god¡¯s will!

    And since the citizens were exhausted from this long debate and anxious, they were quickly led by their trusted senators into a quick turn of mood. Soon, everyone cheered and demanded they reconstruct Rome here.

    Thus to not waste the people''s enthusiasm that would result in another ident, they quickly carried out the city''s construction. But since they didn¡¯t have a n nor divided the work, the construction process waspletely up to the people or what they found convenient. Thus they built both the walls and the buildings rather badly. However, the speed guaranteed they could rebuild the city within a year. Hence you can imagine how it worked out.

    But if it had not been for the painful memories of the Celts upying Rome and the years of war, the Romans would have only repaired the city''s defences afterpleting their harvest yearly. So if Tapirus hade to Rome five years ago, he would have seen the walls in an even worse state.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    A long queue formed at the west gate of Rome, resulting in Tapirus and his entourage only standing in front of the guards near dusk.

    The Roman guard looked at Tapirus and his entourage standing behind him and asked in surprise, ¡°Are you the envoys from Theonia?¡±

    After listening to his attendant''s trantion, Tapirus calmly said, ¡°Yes, I came to Rome to discuss important matters on the order of king Davos!¡±

    The guard didn''t hesitate anymore and quickly said to another guard next to him, ¡°Go and get Minucius!¡±

    After a while, a young man in full military clothing, with a red plume on top of his helmet, came out of the city. He was also surprised after hearing the guard''s report, ¡®Theonia, a kingdom as powerful as Carthage! What did theye to Rome for?!¡¯

    With this doubt in mind, Minucius stepped forward and said in fluent Greek, ¡°I am the praetorian prefect, Minucius. Are you the envoy from the kingdom of Theonia?¡±

    ¡°I am Tapirus, envoy of Theonia. I hade here to discuss an important mission from the kingdom with the Roman Senate.¡± Tapirus greeted back.

    ¡°Rome wees you, o noble envoy of the kingdom of Theonia!¡± Minucius smiled and said apologetically, ¡°I apologise for keeping you here. Our citizens are currently fighting the invading Volscians, and another force has gone to quell the rebellion in Tusculum. Thus, the Senate only allowed Romans to enter and exit the city''s gate to prevent the enemy from sneaking in.¡±

    After Tapirus expressed his understanding, Minucius led them into the gate.

    Once inside the city, Tapirus realised he didn''t misjudge. Not only were the walls crooked, but even the various houses were the lousy result of hastily building a big city within a year. These houses, built without overall nning, were like weeds growing on the ground, making the streets narrow and curved with garbage littering the streets, overflowing sewage on the ground, and an odd smell filling the air. And if they weren''t careful, they may even step on a poop¡­

    When Minucius saw Tapirus and the others frown, and some even cover their noses, he immediately understood the problem.

    Thus he had to exin with a flushed expression, ¡°After we drove off the invading Celts a decade ago, we found that they destroyed arge part of our city. And while we were rebuilding our city, our allies betrayed us, and enemies began their invasion. Thus our main focus was on how to repel our enemies, so we didn''t have enough time and wealth to rebuild the various areas of the city and just let the people work it out themselves. As a result, it became what it is now¡­

    A few years ago, the Senate even passed an order to widen the roads in each block. Yet because of the constant war every year, we couldn''t spare time¡­ Even now, we can''t spare enough people to transport the garbage in the city¡­¡±

    Although Tapirus expressed his understanding, he didn''t think so inwardly as he believed that such a terrible city environment reflected the Romans'' ipetence at city nning and didn''t care about their people''s lives. If these had happened in Thurii, the officials of the Department of Construction would have sent people to forcibly demolish them because it would lead to vulnerability in the city, caused houses to copse, fire¡­and so on. And the houses that excessively upy the streets, besides having them demolished by the Department of Road Management under the Department of Construction, would also severely punish their owners because they are encroaching on public interests¡­

 Chapter 665: Rome: The City of Seven Hills (II)

    But it appears the Roman popce had already be used to living in such conditions. And the busy pedestrians crowding such a narrow street had a somewhat calm expression on their faces, neither disgusted by the city''s poor condition nor worried by the two wars Rome was fighting, a state of mind somewhat simr to that of the Thurians in the kingdom of Theonia.

    Minucius then led them to a street, widening their sight, allowing them to see a modest hill, densely dotted with houses, lying in front of them. There are also many Romans wearingmon clothesing and going the hill with solemn expressions on their faces.

    ¡°That''s Collis Aventinus, one of the seven hills within the city of Rome.¡± seeing Tapirus'' intense gaze, Minucius hurriedly gave a run down, ¡°It''s been passed that Remus, Romulus'' brother, one of the two founders of our Rome, used to live on this hill with his tribe. And now there is a Temple of Diana, the goddess of the hunt and protector of the herdsmen among us Latins, in the middle of the hill that one of our previous kings, King Servius, built. King Servius also ruled that as long as you worshipped the goddess, you coulde here to pay your respect whether you were a Roman or not. So if it weren''t for the ongoing war, you would have seen Latin tribesmen around Romeing here every day to pay their respect, turning Collis Aventinus lively and noisy¡­¡±

    When Minucius said that, his expression showed pride in having Rome as the centre of Latin people.

    Tapirus nodded politely but said nothing.

    The group then continued along the road and turned north.

    Ahead was a fairly spacious street, but on the side of the road were filled with Romans and stalls. Although the various hawking and bargaining annoyed Tapirus and the others, it still surprised them to see the strong sense of vitality that pervaded the city, even during a war.

    ¡°Is that the arena?¡± A member of the envoy suddenly asked while pointing to the front left.

    Through the gap between the crowd, they could see a huge circr building standing in front of the envoys. But the building''s shape was familiar to the envoy.

    ¡°That is indeed our, Rome''s great colosseum!¡± Minucius eximed, ¡°Besides holding sportingpetitions, we also have the most popr diator tournament that the people receive warmly!¡­¡±

    Hearing that, a hint of disgust showed on Tapirus'' face. Tapirus learned in advance from the library of Thurii about the diator tournament that Minucius said. The diator tournament was to let Rome''s prisoners of war or ves hold weapons and fight a bloody battle in the colosseum, exchanging their blood and screams for the amusement of the Romans watching the game¡­

    And Tapirus, who was born as a ve, believed that this wasn''t a tournament but a bloody game filled with barbarism and primitiveness!

    While they passed by the colosseum, the envoys could hear the shouting from the inside.

    One of the envoys feigned curiosity and asked, ¡°Is there a diator match taking ce?¡±

    Minucius shook his head and deliberately said, ¡°A military training for underage Roman citizens is taking ce inside. While most of the young and strong Roman citizens are now away on a campaign, we can still call on the Roman citizens from the many surrounding colonies toe to the rescue in the event of an enemy attack, so we aren¡¯t worried about the city''s safety. Still, having the children get used to holding shields and weapons from a young age would enable them to face the enemy bravely once they grow up. Moreover, they would also need to be familiar with Roman formations and tactics from a young age so that when the city-state needed them in battle, they could quickly integrate into the army¡­ Hence we Romans don''t fear any powerful enemy!¡±

    Hearing that, Tapirus became shocked as their belief was simr to Theonia''s approach in having the children undergo military training from an early age.

    He then met eyes with one of his attendants, an official sent by the Ministry of Military, who should have felt a greater surprise.

    But what the Theonian envoys didn''t know: Although it was Rome''s tradition to have children receive military training, it had only been a decade since they let them practice Roman fighting methods and tactics.

    After suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of the Gauls on the banks of the Allia river, the Romans realise the ineffectiveness of their battle tactics. Thus after some research and pondering, the dictator Camillus carried out military reforms.

    He copied the Celts'' tactics by first changing the previouslyrge Greek-like phnx formation of the Roman army into multiple small phnxes (toons). With 50 toons in a legion, it would allow them to carry out separate assaults and give the previously bloated and crude Roman legions more flexibility and manoeuvrability.

    Second, he changes the soldiers'' arrangement in the legion. Previously, the military ced the wealthy and well-equipped citizens in the front and the poorer ones in the rear columns. But now, they are arranged ording to age and level of training. The first row was for young men, the second for soldiers in their prime, and the third was reserved for battle-hardened veterans.

    Third, they improve the gears used by the soldiers for attack and defence. They rece leather helmets with iron helmets, wooden shields with long leather shields, bronze spearheads with iron spearheads, and leather armour with chainmail¡­ Of course, Carthaginian support yed arge part in this, allowing many poor soldiers to use the standard equipment by the Senate and thus expanding the pool of soldiers. Naturally, they had to return those after the war.

    Fourth, they began emphasising building solid andfortable camps when they were out fighting¡­

    Although they had been practising traditional Roman tactics for hundred years, the Romans, who had grown up while fighting, soon began implementing this military reform once they found its benefits. From adult citizens to children, almost all of them were grasping all their spare time to train and get familiar with the new equipment and tactics as soon as possible. And it had already begun producing noticeable results as Rome almost maintained aplete victory in their fight against surrounding forces over the years.

    Due to how much Davos paid attention to them, the Ministry of Military of Theonia also knew about Rome''s current military system, which surprised them as Roman''s military reforms were quite simr to the military tactics of Theonia''s heavy infantry. Thus they all believe that the Romans must have secretly copied Theonia''s tactics. And therefore, one of the purposes of the envoys this time was to check on the Roman army.

    After passing through the arena and heading further north, the neighbourhood changes again, with wider roads, less garbage and even the houses have be more luxurious. Although there are still crude houses mixed in and their arrangement is still somewhat disorganised, there is a noticeable increase in the number ofrge, red-brick and white-walled houses, especially on the two modest but seeminglyrge hills not far north.

    So a member of the envoy from the Theonia''s Census Department asked while feigning curiosity, ¡°Is this area for the wealthy?¡±

    Minucius understood the meaning of his words: The previous ce was filled with garbage and a terrible environment, but now it was an area with a good environment and houses. ¡®Is the gap between the poor and rich so obvious?¡¯

    Minucius replied wittily, ¡°Every city-state has poor and rich citizens, and there will always be a conflict between them. That is also the same in Rome. But the difference is that even though the Romans would quarrel, they would work together when the citizen assembly passed a resolution andplete it.¡±

    After speaking that, he looked to the hills on either side of the road and said thoughtfully, ¡°Not all those who live on these two hills are wealthy. In fact, most of them are descendants of those who founded the city of Rome and the initial ns, who had contributed a lot to the city-sate and are also willing to sacrifice more for the city-sate!¡±

    Minucius pointed to the hill on the left and said, ¡°This is Mons Ptinus. It is where Romulus, the founder of the city of Rome and our first king, lived together with his tribe.¡±

    He then pointed to the hill on the right and said, ¡°This is Collis Caelius. After we defeated the centre of our Latin people ¨C Alba Longa two hundred years ago, we invited its citizens to move to this hill and be Roman citizens instead of turning them into prisoners!¡±

    Tapirus keenly felt the pride in Minucius when he spoke those, which made him subconsciously ask, ¡°Where do you live?¡±

    Minucius then casually pointed to Mons Ptinus on the left. In fact, he didn''t tell his full name to the Theonians, which is Minucius Cornelius Scipio. Cornelius is the name of the Roman family, the noble among the Roman nobles and the wealthy among the wealthy.

    Still, Tapirus could sense something because this smiling young man spoke fluent Greek, and his elegant words inadvertently exuded a noble atmosphere.

    There were, of course, some nobles within the kingdom of Theonia. They were from the neighbouring city-states that Theonia conquered, with some retaining some of theirnds and wealth, and they even managed to join the Senate. However, under the strict control of king Davos and thews of Theonia, they had little authority. Moreover, with the kingdom treating nobles andmoners, old and new citizens alike, people like Tapirus, who were once ves, could gain wealth and power through their efforts.

    It was also because of the short time since the founding of the kingdom of Theonia and the fairness Davos vigorously promoted that Tapirus could hardly feel the ss difference. But now, he could feel it when entering a foreign city-state, making him feel ufortable that he no longer wished to talk to this young man.

 Chapter 666: Rome: The City of Seven Hills (III)

    Tapirus cleared his throat and said, ¡°I''ve long heard how powerful Rome is and its long history and unique culture. Today, I saw with my own eyes that the city of seven hills is as unique and amazing as the rumours!¡±

    Hearing Tapirus'' praise, Minuciusughed heartily and said, ¡°Our Rome is no more amazing than Theonia. I heard that it had only been more than ten years since your kingdom''s foundation. Yet, you managed to repeatedly defeat your surrounding enemies and be the most powerful kingdom in southern Italia. Mars had truly blessed you!¡±

    ¡°Mars?¡±

    ¡°Oh, Mars is our Roman god of war!¡±

    ¡°You are mistaken. Hades, the great Greek god, was the one who blessed Theonia because our king is his descendant!¡± Tapirus said with a pious expression. His devotion came from the heart because King Davos gave him his freedom in front of the Temple of Hades while the ode of Hades was sung. And since it is known that Hades protects the ves within the kingdom of Theonia, the Theonians, who were former ves, respected Hades with all their hearts.

    Minucius smiled and pointed his finger ahead to hide his embarrassment, ¡°That hill in front is Collis Esquilinus, where the Sabines who first became Roman citizens lived¡­¡±

    He gave an introduction while leading them to the front of Collis Esquilinus. There, they saw an arch spanning across the road.

    ¡°This is-?!¡± An official from the Ministry of Military pointed with excitement.

    ¡°That is the Arcus Triumphalis!¡± Minucius informed them with excitement as well. He then continued, ¡°Rome will hold a triumphal ceremony for any general who won a significant war for Rome. He will ride a quadriga while leading the army to enter Rome through the Arcus Triumphalis and receive the Romans'' cheers and the Senate''smendation. And that is the greatest glory that every Roman citizen wants to obtain!¡± Minucius gaze at the Arcus Triumphalis with yearning on his face.

    While the officer of Theonia''s Ministry of MIlitary and the other members of the envoy looked at each other with indescribable surprise in their eyes, ¡®Theonia and Rome have quite a few simrities in their military. But when they saw the worn-out arch made of marble that shows it was at least a few decades old, they questioned who copied from whom this time.¡¯

    Minucius then led the Theonian envoys, who hadplicated expressions, to turn left, pass through the Arcus Triumphalis and arrive at a square.

    Tapirus frowned again: Although the square wasrge, many houses crowded around it; some even breaching into the square, causing it to lose its grandeur.

    Ever since Tapirus stepped into the city of Rome, he felt that the Romans had mixed public facilities and private houses everywhere that they didn¡¯t even spare the square that represents the heart of the city, making him feel a bit of pity.

    Seeing the displeasure on Tapirus¡¯ face, Minucius, out of the desire to not be looked down upon by the Theonians, said aloud, ¡°This square is an old one, about a hundred fifty years old. We are now mostly using it for leisure and gathering. We have a muchrger square to the west of this square; it could amodate a hundred thousand people, which we use when gathering troops and sometimes used for citizen assembly. We call it Mars Square!¡±

    ¡®Mars Square?!¡¯ Hearing its name, Tapirus remembered that Mars was the Romans¡¯ god of war, which the young man had exined earlier. And since their naming is simr to the Nike Square in Thurii, it showed the Romans'' high regard for the military.

    Minucius then took the lead and walked through the square. The people along the way would greet Minucius from time to time while casting their curious gaze at Tapirus and his party.

    The Roman Senate building is just to the west of the square, a building simr to a temple.

    After telling them to wait under the stairs of the Senate, Minucius quickly went inside.

    Besides needing to attend some other meetings or festivals celebrating the gods, the Roman Senate usually held a meeting at sunrise every morning and ended depending on the matters they were discussing, which generally did not exceed past sunset. And since it is now dusk, the senators must have dispersed already. But since they were at a time of war, the Senate made a rule that there must be a military tribune on duty into the night so that they could prepare in advance in case there were urgent matters.

    Once Minucius entered the guard room next to the meeting hall, he found the military tribune left behind was someone he knew. Thus he shouted, ¡°Paulus!¡±

    Paulus Valerius Potitus had just ordered the ve to light themp when he suddenly heard Minucius. Surprised, he turned around and asked, ¡°Minucius, what brings you here? What happened?¡±

    Since, Minucius, the praetorian prefect, came to the Senate at this time means that he had note to chat with him.

    ¡°I came with an important matter.¡± Minucius directly said, ¡°A delegate from the kingdom of Theonia came to Rome and said they hade to discuss something important with the Senate.¡±

    ¡°Theonia?!¡± Paulus certainly knew a lot about Theonia, so he immediately said with a grave expression, ¡°What is the purpose of this Greek kingdom in southern Italia to send a delegate to Rome at this time?¡±

    Minucius, without a smile on his face, said with an equally serious expression, ¡°I tried asking them along the way, but they would evade my question with another topic. So they certainly didn''te here to establish friendly rtions with us!¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Paulus said with uncertainty, ¡°The other day, the Carthaginians reminded us that they suspected that Volscian delegates had gone to Thurii. Could it be that they¡­came for them?¡±

    That surprised Minucius, ¡°Does Theonia wish to protect them?!¡±

    ¡°We can''t hastily make a decision. Minucius, prepare an amodation for them while I inform Pantheus and the other senators to discuss a countermeasure. We must be careful since Theonia isn''t inferior to Carthage!¡± Paulus muttered.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Tapirus and his attendants stayed in a public inn under the management of the Senate, which was near the old square and not far from the Senate.

    The delegation members thought of taking a closer look around Rome after dinner, but Minucius warned them not to go out at night because they had imposed a curfew to prevent chaos during wartime, and it would be terrible if the patrols caught them and caused misunderstandings.

    Tapirus could sense the sudden vignce of the young man against them.

    After dinner, Tapirus and some of his attendants went to the inn''s roof.

    Although night has descended, the city''s noise has yet to disappear. On the contrary, they could hear theughter of the Romans, the crying of the children, the fighting among the men, the whistling of the patrol team and the barking of the dogs¡­ All these noises hade from various directions and converged in the centre of Rome¡­

    ¡®This city is truly disorder yet vibrant.¡¯ Tapirus thought silently.

    ¡°It seems that''s Mons Capitolinus.¡± The officer from the Ministry of Military looked in the west direction of the Senate and said quietly.

    They could only vaguely see the outline of the hill in the distance under the cover of the night.

    Although Minucius didn''t talk about this hill, Tapirus knew its importance to Rome. The Romans regarded it as the ce of the gods since the Temple of Jupiter and other gods and goddesses the Romans revered were mostly on that hill. In addition, it is where the Roman citadel was located, and that''s why the Romans held onto Mons Capitolinus even after the Celts upied the Roman cities. And they actually managed to hold on for months until the arrival of victory. And when they saw its steepness, it became the most concerned ce of the Ministry of Military officials, ¡®Will we really go to war with Rome?¡¯

    After looking at the attendant, Tapirus turned his gaze to the Senate since, no matter what happened, he would have to finish his mission first.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the following day, the Roman Senate invited Tapirus.

    The dark red wooden chairs in the circr meeting hall, like the seats in the colosseum, has nearly three hundred senators wearing white chitons, including two military tribunes* from front to back, row by row, seating closely together. (As the conflict between the Roman nobility and the plebeians became more intense over the years, the plebeians refused to elect consuls in the citizens'' assembly as protests against the nobility''s monopoly of power. But since the situation around Rome turned worse, the nobility and plebeians negotiated to guarantee the safety of Rome and the smooth implementation of internal affairs by agreeing to elect six military consuls every year, referred to as military tribune, three from the nobility and three from the plebeians.) The other four military tribunes were away leading the army.

    Half of these Roman senators were grey-haired old men, most of whom were patriarchs of major Roman ns. The other part, of course, were also senators of noble origin, who had previously held high-ranking Roman positions and, because of merits or political achievements, were rmended and selected to eventually join the Senate, which in turn made it easier for them to hold high-ranking positions in Rome.

    However, among all the Roman senators, there was not a single one under the age of thirty, and none of them came from amoner''s background since they had either outstanding ability, were highly respected, extremely wealthy or extremely powerful. Now, all of them were cautiously gazing at the man in the centre of the meeting hall: Tapirus, the envoy of the kingdom of Theonia.

 Chapter 667: The Roman Senate

    On the other hand, Tapirus faced the most powerful group in Rome calmly and collected as he loudly said, ¡°Esteemed Roman senators, king Davos of the kingdom of Theonia had asked me to bring you his sincere greetings. Before I depart, he repeatedly instructed me that even though he has never gone to Rome, he knows that Rome is a great city-state and has a deep respect for it!¡­¡±

    Hearing Tapirus'' words containing no hypocrisy, everyone in the hall was surprised and touched. After all, they also heard some rumours about king Davos of Theonia, so they all felt proud hearing his praise.

    ¡°His majesty Davos also hopes that this mission of mine will not affect his good opinion of Rome and this precious peace between Rome and Theonia!¡± After saying that, Tapirus'' following words suddenly changed that made the hearts of the Roman senators tighten, ¡°The Volsci has allied with us in Theonia, so Theonia hopes for Rome to stop its aggression against Volsci, return the captured territories, and a truce between the two sides!¡±

    After Tapirus finished his words, an uproar arose in the meeting hall.

    Then someone in the crowd stood up and asked angrily, ¡°What if Rome doesn''t stop?!¡±

    Tapirus responded confidently, ¡°Then Theonia have to fulfil its agreement with Volsci by sending troops to stop the war!¡±

    The whole meeting hall exploded with dissent sounding from everywhere.

    The man who asked earlier became even angrier as he asked again, ¡°You, Theonians, are far away from south Italia! What right do you have to interfere in our affairs?!¡±

    Tapirus calmly replied, ¡°Theonia has no intention of interfering with Rome. We are just fulfilling our obligation to our allies.¡±

    ¡°Do you now know that the Volscians were the first to invade our allies, and we just fought back?! It is only natural for us to punish the Volscians!¡± Another person shouted.

    ¡°You Romans are just acting by following your agreement, and so do we,¡± Tapirus answered calmly.

    ¡°Theonian, don''t think that just because you upy south Italia and think you are powerful that you cane to Rome and show off! As long as you dare send your army to set foot on thisnd, our Roman soldiers will make you taste the real pain of war!¡± Another man shouted angrily, causing some senators to echo.

    Tapirus responded calmly, ¡°Although we don''t have any intention to show off our might, we aren''t afraid to face any powerful enemy, as evidenced by the fact that we have defeated one powerful force after another.¡±

    Themotion in the Senate intensified. At this time, Paulus stood up in the front row and shouted, ¡°Envoy of Theonia, please return to your amodation first. We will then inform you of our decision after our discussion.¡±

    Tapirus nodded in agreement. Then he reminded, ¡°I hope you can make a decision as soon as possible as any dy will cause more casualties to the Volscians and your Roman soldiers, which neither you nor his majesty wishes to see!¡±

    Tapirus'' kind words seemed like a threat to Rome, which caused a lot of swearing from the senators. However, Tapirus remained holding his head high as he walked out of the meeting hall.

    Paulus then walked to the centre of the meeting hall and said loudly, ¡°All senators and neers, please be silent! Please be silent!¡­ What do you think about the Theonians'' request on us to stop our attack on the Volsci?¡±

    The person who shouted angrily at Tapirus many times interjected, ¡°What''s the point of asking it? We shall naturally ignore it! After going through many bloody battles, we could finally defeat the Volscians! So how could we easily let them go just because of that Theonian''s words?!¡±

    ¡°Pantheus, you can say that fearlessly because Theonia didn''t have diplomatic contact with us, so you don''t know much about them! The mighty Samnites lost against them and had to be their allies, and even the Carthaginians feared them enough that they renewed their treaty with them.

    And even though we had already recovered from our defeat by the Celts and be even stronger, the difference in our strength remained too great! It is as if we are like a goat facing a bull whenparing ourselves to Theonia! However, if we allow them to interfere in Rome''s affair, it will lead to a more significant problem for us!¡± A man at the back of the hall stood up and said seriously. He is Fabius Ambustus, a venerable senator and famous for his strong sense of patriotism.

    ¡°Certainly, I don''t know much about Theonia as you nobles do. However, I will never back down out of fear of Theonia''s might! Don''t forget that we need morend to lift the Roman plebeians out of poverty to ease their conflict with us. So if we stop the war against the Volsci and return the upiednd, we won''t be able to fulfil our promise to the plebeians of distributingnd to them from the newly upied Volscian towns! Unless all of you nobles agree to take the city-state¡¯s vastnd and distribute it to them. Otherwise, you will see-¡± Pantheus Comilius looked at them coldly and loudly said, ¡°The wrath of the plebeians will break out again!¡±

    His words caused the noise in the meeting hall to decrease and made Fabius Ambustus''s expression unpleasant.

    Then Paulus said, ¡°Hey, Pantheus, don''t get too agitated. Everyone present here, whether they were born nobles or plebeians, have no less love for Rome than you do. Especially his esteemed Ambustus, who had almost all three hundred and six members of his household die in the Battle of the Cremera almost a century ago to resist the attack of thousands of Veientes! And a decade ago, while the whole city was in a panic after our defeat in the Battle of Allia and the Celts army marched into Rome, Ambustus decided to go to the Celts'' camp on the north bank of the Tiber river to persuade king Brennus of the Celts. Although he failed in the end, his courage remains admirable! And his actions show that he is no less courageous than your bravery in venturing into the Mons Capitolinus that the Celts surrounded to retrieve the appointment of Camillus as a dictator¡­¡±

    When Paulus said that, Ambustus'' expression brightened up. At the same time, the other senators began to respond and criticise Pantheus for his unreasonable words.

    Although Pantheus no longer responds, he is still not convinced.

    Paulus, however, didn''t care about his fellow military tribune as he cast his gaze to the front row of the meeting hall, where an old man with white hair, dry skin, and a bent figure was sitting.

    Although he looks like that, the senators don''t look down on him. On the contrary, just like Paulus, they looked at him with respect. He was Lucius Valerius Potitus, who had served as consr tribune of Rome many times.

    ¡°Uncle, what do you think of the Theonian''s unreasonable demands?¡± Paulus asked with respect. Although Paulus wasn''t a direct rtive of the old man, they both belonged to the Valerius n and were of the same Potitus family, so it was only right he called him uncle.

    Lucius opened his turbid eyes and said slowly, ¡°We don''t have to reject the Theonians demand immediately as it is such an important matter that we can''t decide in a short time. Instead, we can slowly negotiate with Theonia¡­¡±

    Paulus'' eyes brightened as he immediately understood his uncle''s meaning, that is, to drag the negotiation!

    ¡°No! We must never give the Theonians hope! Instead, we should directly refuse them to avoid future troubles!¡± An old man beside Lucius loudly objected.

    The old man is Publius Cornelius Maluginensis, a Roman senator of no less prestige than Potitus and has been fighting against Potitus in the Senate. But this time, the senators didn''t adopt his opinion as they were frightened by Theonia''s might.

    In the end, Ambustus adopted Potitus'' suggestion and added his own, ¡°We should send messengers to inform Camillus and Lucius so they could finish dealing with Tusculum as soon as possible and then lead their troops without returning to the city to Saturnicum, assist Licinius and Quintus to attack Volsci and try to take as muchnd as possible in a short time!¡­¡±

    After saying that, Pantheus looked at him while Paulus nodded.

    ¡°In addition, we must contact Carthage quickly to see their opinion on Theonia''s sudden involvement in Latium!¡± Potitus reminded.

    ¡°We should also remind our colonies and allies to prepare in advance¡­¡± added Pantheus.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After finallying up with a decision, the Roman Senate sent a messenger to inform Tapirus, who pretended to sincerely say, ¡°The Senate is already considering a truce. However, since the four military tribunes are away on an expedition, we can''t make a final resolution without their vote per Rome¡¯s legal procedures. Thus you would have to wait a little longer¡­¡±

    And since Tapirus didn''t have any knowledge of Rome''s political system, he judged the situation ording to the kingdom of Theonia and the surrounding Greek city-states system: The absence of so many generals in the city would cause a significant impact on the reaching of the Senate resolution. And since they were the parties involved, he made it difficult for them by saying, ¡°My king awaits my return and hopes that the Roman Senate will give me your answer as soon as possible! Although I can wait, the king of Theonia doesn''t have the patience to wait!¡±

    Tapirus thought he responded well as he didn''t know the authority of the Roman Senate. However, besides being the highest administrative body of Rome, the Roman Senate also exercised supreme management over the entire city-state. The consuls, on the other hand, were mere executors of any resolution of the Senate, all the more so now that they had no consuls and only had military tribunes who focused mainly on the military aspect and had less authority.

 Chapter 668: Camillus Decision

    The following day, the noise outside the hill woke Tapirus up.

    After putting on his clothes, Tapirus stood in front of the window. When he looked down, he saw hundreds of Romans gathered in front of the inn, waving their fist and shouting angrily. They even began trying to break through the barrier of guards to rush towards the inn.

    ¡°What are they shouting about?¡± Tapirus asked his interpreter.

    ¡°Those Romans are swearing at us!¡± The interpreter stammered as he angrily said, ¡°They told us to leave Rome¡­saying we Theonians have no right to interfere in their matters¡­and also say that they do not fear us and would beat us if we dare to send our army!¡­¡±

    Tapirus knew the trantor didn''t trante it precisely as these angry Romans couldn''t speak so eloquently. Still, he didn''t care much about it, as there was a famous saying in Theonia, ¡°Dogs that bark fiercely doesn¡¯t bite.¡±

    Even though the number of people is increasing, Tapirus remain undaunted. On the contrary, he hoped they would rush in and injure one or two of the envoys, worsening this diplomatic situation and giving Tapirus more edge in negotiating with Rome.

    Unfortunately, Tapirus'' wish was doomed to fail.

    The heavily armed Roman guards arrived soon to disperse these people, with a few physical altercations between both sides.

    Then the guard captain Titus Cassius¡¯ expression turned unpleasant when he saw Tapirus and threateningly said, ¡°Theonians, this is what you get for demanding a truce! Since the Roman citizens wouldn''t get theirnd because of the truce, they would take out their anger on you. This is just the beginning, and I can''t guarantee that the guards will arrive on time every time.¡±

    Hearing the interpreter''s trantion, Tapirus pointed at the Romans shouting angrily and unwilling to leave, and said with a sneer, ¡°Is that so? So why are they cursing, ¡®Damn nobles, we will never allow you to take advantage of this matter to cancel thend you promised to distribute to us and turn it into public property!¡­¡¯¡±

    Cassius became speechless that he even ignored the Theonian envoy in front of him as he angrily shouted, ¡°Damn plebeians!¡±

    Then, with an ashen expression, he warned the delegates, ¡°Seeing the anger of the Romans against you, I hope you would stay in the inn and don''t go out. If something were to happen, it would not be our responsibility!¡±

    After saying that, Cassius sent more guards in front of the inn to protect the delegates'' safety before leaving.

    ¡®Nobles and Plebeians?¡¯¡­ Tapirus stared at Cassius'' figure and pondered deeply¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Rome could easily inform Carthage about the Theonian delegates through the special Carthaginian envoy stationed in the city after the two sides established a closer military alliance two years ago. Besides being the contact person of the Roman Senate and dispatching the support Carthage gave to Rome, he was here to strengthen the trade between Carthage and Rome and to monopolise the sale of certain goods. And it was also because of Carthage''s full support that Rome could maintain its absolute advantage in the battles against neighbouring powers, allowing them to recover their strength quickly and far exceeding the expansion of Rome in Davos'' previous life.

    Archiega, the Carthaginian envoy, was shocked after learning about the arrival of the Theonian delegates from Paulus. And his first thought was about how the Theonians wiped out the Sikeloi tribe of the Tanikians in Sicily two years ago, which Carthage covertly supported. And now they are aiming at Rome, which Carthage supported in the north of Italia!

    Seeing Archiega pondering deeply, Paulus asked cautiously, ¡°The Theonians are urging us to give our answer, so we want to know what Carthage''s opinion is.¡±

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t respond to them for now. We should first send someone to inform the Carthaginian Senate first!¡± Archiega said cautiously.

    ¡°Esteemed Archiega!¡± Paulus stepped forward, lowered his head and asked respectfully, ¡°If¡­I mean, if Rome and Theonia''s negotiation turned worse and led to a conflict¡­will Carthage support Rome?!¡±

    Archiega immediately looked at Paulus for a moment. As a member of Hanno''s faction, he knew well of Hanno''s conservativeness, so he cautiously said, ¡°This is a very important question that only the Senate could decide! Carthage and Theonia remained friendly for more than a decade. Moreover, we had just renewed our friendship treaty, so making this decision is more difficult! However¡­¡± Archiega showed a trace of fierceness, ¡°Personally, I would like to support Rome and teach the arrogant Theonians a lesson!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    By the time the Roman messenger managed to inform Camillus, Camillus was already on his way back to Rome with his army.

    After learning that Rome was leading an army to attack, the people of Tusculum didn''t resist. On the contrary, they opened their gate to wee the Romans, saying they had no intention to rebel.

    Seeing the people of Tusculum''s loyalty, the magnanimous Camillus didn''t let the army enter the city. Instead, he led the army back after the Tusculum leaders swore to the gods.

    Thus Camillus was surprised to hear the news from the messenger while on their way back. Although he is already a famous victorious general of Rome in central Italia, he doesn''t know much about Theonia, only knowing that Theonia upied the whole of south Italia and was powerful.

    Because the rise of Theonia was too short and Rome was in turmoil during that time, and with Camillus spending most of his time on the battlefield, how can he spare time to learn about the kingdom of Theonia far to the south?

    Another plebeian-born military tribune, Lucius, knew even less about Theonia. But due to his youth and recklessness, he discontentedly said, ¡°The Senate is too cautious. They should''ve refused the Theonian envoy''s unreasonable request! If Theonia truly dares to send an army to Latium, we will crush thempletely and let them know the might of our Rome!¡±

    ¡°Don''t trouble yourself about it too much; just let the Senate decide on this matter,¡± warned Camillus. He continued, ¡°What we need to worry about now is how to attack Volsci.¡±

    After hearing him say that, Lucius no longer made any furtherments. With his failure in the previous battle, he wouldn''t have escaped the Senate''s criticism if Camillus hadn''t saved him. Yet even with his failure, Camillus still chose him as his assistant for this expedition regardless of past grievances, making himpletely loyal to Camillus.

    After a while, Lucius said, ¡°Hmm, we will follow the order and lead the army directly to Satricum. However, we must inform the soldiers to avoid further protests before changing our route.¡±

    After saying that, Lucius didn''t see Camillus say anything. Instead, he was rubbing his chin as he pondered something deeply.

    ¡°Camillus! Camillus!¡­¡± Lucius shouted several times.

    Only after that did Camilluse back to his senses and say deeply, ¡°No! We shouldn''t go to Satricum. Instead, we should head to Antium!¡±

    That took Lucius aback, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°With Quintus and Licinius leading the army to besiege Satricum, the Volscians had sent their army in a vain attempt to defend it. So even if we rush there, it would still be difficult to breach Satricum quickly. On the contrary, what the Senate hoped was for us to upy more Volsciannds as soon as possible¡­and since Antium is far away from Satricum, I am sure they neglected its defence, so our surprise attack on it would likely be sessful.¡±

    Lucius'' eyes brightened, ¡°Just like what we did with Praeneste?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Camillus nodded confidently.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just four days before Camillus led his army to invade the Volscian territory, the Theonian envoy, Carias, took a boat from Poseidonia. After entering the city of Neapolitan, he headed east into the Samnite mountains to Caudium, the central town of Caudini, one of the four major tribes of Samnites. There, he met with its great chieftain, Segobani and expressed to him the concern of the king of Theonia about the frequent incursions of Caudim warriors into their allies, the Campanians¡¯ territories. And he hoped that Caudium wouldn''t vite the treaty again, restrain its people and ensure that simr things won''t happen again.

    Segobani lightly said, ¡°Understood.¡±

    Then he, with a scowl, said that he would agree to Theonia''s term if Theonia cut off their contact with Kinduk, the chieftain of Nuceria, a town south of Caudium, in the future, much less send priests of Hades into its territory¡­

    But since it''s Theonia''s strategy to attract and assimte Nuceria, Carias naturally couldn''t agree to Segobani''s request.

    Thus Carias suffered the cold shoulder of the Caudiums and was even loudly insulted and humiliated by some of them. At the same time, Segobani didn''t even stop them as he gloated at Carias'' misfortune.

    Upon Carias'' return to Poseidonia, he wrote a letter to the Senate in Thurii with resentment. In the letter, he described what he experienced and saw when he went to Caudium. Then he judged that the Caudiums would likelyunch another attack on the Campanian league soon.

    So Davos had to discuss with the Ministry of Military in advance as Carias'' judgment was indeed in line with the habits of the Caudium for the past two years: Each time Theonia send an envoy to denounce the Caudium''s aggression, the Caudium would thenunch an invasion of the Campanian league shortly afterwards.

    And this just proves that this great chieftain of the Caudium had a rebellious mentality towards Theonia and would like to fight back against it.

    Thus, after an urgent meeting with the Ministry of Military, Davos immediately dispatched the Third Legion to assist the Campanian league in their fight against the oing invasion of the Samnite''s tribe of Caudium.

    After receiving the emergency dispatch order from the Ministry of Military, the legatus of the Third Legion, Litom, immediately sent the cavalry to inform the towns in Lucania and issued a mobilisation order for the soldiers of the Third Legion.

 Chapter 669: Rescuing the Campanian League

    On the third day, the Third Legion, with its full strength, left Grumentum, took a boat to Poseidonia and entered the port of Neapolis.

    Neapolis, one of the jewels of the Greek colonial cities in central Italia, is the second colonial city the Greeks built in Italia after Cumae and has a long history. But it started as a small port called Parthenope (meaning pure eyes, the name of a siren in ancient Greece), which expanded over time and eventually became thergest city-state in the Campanian region before getting renamed Neapolis (meaning new city).

    While Neapolis developed, Syracuse provided it with great help, with the tyrant Gelon even sending arge army to help the Cumaeans and Neapolitans to repel the Etruscans. Later, the Syracusans sent another army to help Neapolis defend itself against the Samnites, making Neapolis and Syracuse close allies.

    But ever since the rise of Theonia and the end of Syracuse''s hegemony in the South-Italian War, the Neapolitans, which had strongly supported Dionysius in the South-Italian War, had changed sides to Theonia.

    Besides Syracuse, the Samnites inadvertently helped the city of Neapolis greatly in its expansion as well. With the Samnites'' constant invasion for hundred years, they captured many of the towns established by the Etruscans and Greeks in Campania, destroying even the old city of Cumae and capturing the great city of Capua, resulting in the influx of refugees to flee into Neapolis, which they considered the most peaceful city and resulted in the city''s poption to explode. And the Samnites¡¯ invasion was also why there were many Campanian mercenaries in the western Mediterranean.

    But now, the Campanian league formed to defend the various city-states from the fierce Samnite invasion was reduced to a handful of towns lined up along the coast. And if it weren''t for their timely alliance with the Theonians, the Samnites would have owned most of theirnds within twenty to thirty years.

    On that day, the city of Neapolis, after getting informed in advance, set aside half of the port to let nearly a thousand transport ships carrying the Theonian soldiersnd.

    Due to curiosity, many Neapolitans came to the port with their families to watch.

    ¡°I heard that Theonia''s Third Legion came to Neapolis this time¡­¡±

    ¡°What is a legion?¡±

    ¡°That''s the unique army of Theonia, different from other cities. I heard their army has many advantages, resulting in their superiority in battles¡­¡±

    ¡°Since the Third Legion ising, they must have the First and Second Legions. Then why didn''t the First and Second Legionse to Neapolis? Don''t they know that Neapolis is the leader of the Campanian League?!¡±

    ¡°Fool! The Theonians aren''t looking down on us, but it''s because the Third Legion is the closest to us. Since they are stationed in the Lucanian regions, they are the most convenient toe to Campania. And don''t underestimate this Third Legion; they had defeated the Samnites who came to invade Potentia during the South-Italian War over a decade ago. They even captured Compsa and Irna on their own, so they are quite experienced in dealing with the Samnites!¡±

    ¡°Since the Third Legion is already so powerful, then does that mean Theonia''s First and Second Legion are even more formidable?!¡±

    ¡°I heard there are ten legions in the kingdom of Theonia, each of which was victorious in many past wars. So I think any legion can fight the fierce Samnite.¡±

    ¡°Ten legions?! O Apollo, how many soldiers Theonia must have!¡±

    ¡°So it is only deserving for the Campanian league to ally with the kingdom of Theonia! And with the help of Theonia, we will no longer need to fear the Samnites who were like wolves.¡±

    ¡°Look! Look! The Theonian soldiers started disembarking. Eh? Why are they carrying ck armour on their shoulders?¡±

    ¡°I know the reason. With Theonia taking Hades as their kingdom''s guardian deity, they began using ck colour. Moreover, I heard their king is a descendant of Hades.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of Hades, there''s a Temple of Hades built in our cityst year and its priests are said to havee from Thurii. And the priests are quite enthusiastic towards the people whoe there to pray as they not only actively answer all kinds of questions but also give free medical treatment to the believers and provide some helpful aid¡­

    I just went there a few days ago, and a priest of considerable stature spent much of his time listening to my sufferings and enlightening me¡­ This proves that the other temples couldn''tpare with the Temple of Hades at all, and it is no wonder this god is so popr in south Italia. In addition, I heard that even the Samnites in the city of Nuceria began believing in him.¡±

    ¡°Is it really so wonderful?! Then I will go to the Temple of Hades tomorrow!¡±

    ¡°Stop talking. Look, the Theonian soldiers began forming as a whole. Wow! They move quite fast, and you can see that almost no soldiers are talking. Our soldiers'' assembly couldn''tpare at all, as you could even hear their noises five kilometres outside the city. Only this kind of army can fight against strong foes!¡±

    ¡°Oh, look! There are so many gs, all glittering with gold. It''s so beautiful!¡±

    ¡°Idiot, those gs are used tomand the battles, not to look good.¡±

    ¡°Look! The Theonians even sent so many cavalries, which probably exceeds the cavalry in our Campanian league.¡±

    ¡°What''s so strange about that? I heard Theonia has four cavalry legions, each of which has two thousand cavalries.¡±

    ¡°O Apollo, Theonia is truly a powerful kingdom!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the Neapolitansmented and murmured about Theonia''s Third Legion, who are disembarking in the port, only a few went so far as to criticise the Third Legion for having so many alien races (mainly Lucanians). That is because since Neapolis was founded, they had been surrounded by many alien races, with the Oscans and Etruscans to the north, the Samnites to the east, the Lucanians to the south, and the Phoenicians in the Sardinia ind to the west. And after centuries of living next to these alien races, they had be ustomed to them, and their culture had deeply prated and influenced each other. Thus the Neapolitans are far less xenophobic and more tolerant than the Greeks in other city-states, with many of their people having mixed blood.

    As the kingdom of Theonia''s army stepped on the Campanian league for the first time, the Third Legion immediately won the apuse of the Neapolitans around them with their strict discipline and mighty appearance, which could be said to have sessfully cemented the image of the Theonian army.

    While the brigades of the Third Legion and some cavalries drawn from the Second Cavalry Legion formed up, Litom, the legatus of the Third Legion and Carias, a Theonian Foreign Affair officer, were discussing with the leaders of Neapolis who came to greet them.

    ¡°Wee, our esteemed ally! Thank you for your timely arrival, which relieved us! For the past two days, the Caudium warriors cross over the eastern mountains towards Suess, causing the people of the entire Campanian league to be anxious!¡± Orosius, the polemarchos of Neapolis, said excitedly.

    ¡°Has the Caudium started their attack?¡± Litom asked.

    ¡°Not yet. However, judging by their past actions, they could storm ournds within two days, and I fear this Samnite invasion will be far greater than ever!¡± Mitades, a highly respected member of the Neapolis'' council, replied with a sombre expression.

    Carias, the Theonian envoy¡¯s expression turned unsightly as well. Carias was a Thurian and a student of Ansitanos when he had been studying history at the Theonian Akademia some years before. After Ansitanos became the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he recruited several of his students from the Akademia to serve as officials in Foreign Affairs because hecked staff. After that, Carias had also gone on missions to foreign countries several times andpleted the tasks the kingdom assigned to him. Unexpectedly, he suffered humiliation in Caudium. Moreover, now that Caudiumunched such an attack, it is obviously their warning and retaliation against him.

    Litom smiled, ¡°The Caudium came just in time; our soldiers have been longing for a great battle!¡±

    ¡°You must be legatus Litom. I''ve long heard of your name!¡± Orosius said pleasantly.

    ¡°You''ve heard of me?! Am I that famous even though I haven''t fought any great battles?!¡± Litom''s expression sank as he subconsciously thought of his dark history at the Corinth Games, which has be his inner demon.

    Orosius was shocked as he didn''t know why his enthusiasm had brought the other side''s unfriendliness.

    ¡°Legatus Litom, who doesn''t know you? You yed an important role as the first senior centurion of the Third Legion when you defeated the Samnites! This time, we look forward to Theonia''s Third Legion making a name for itself in Campania under your leadership!¡± Mitades said heartily, obviously knowing beforehand about the army the Theonia dispatched.

    At this time, Litom also became embarrassed.

    Fortunately, another Neapolitan strategos, Aeolus, promptly asked, ¡°Legatus Litom, how many reinforcements have you brought?¡±

    ¡°Ten thousand,¡± Litom answered simply.

    ¡®Ten thousand?!¡¯ the several Neapolitan strategoi were surprised.

 Chapter 670: Battle against the Caudini (I)

    Since the Neapolitan strategoi didn''t know much about the Theonian military system, they thought Theonia would only send a few thousand soldiers because Carias, the Theonian envoy, said that Theonia would send the Third Legion to join the war. But to their surprise, the other side easily dispatched ten thousand men, which was already half the number of the Campanian league''s army.

    Carias hurriedly exined, thinking the Neapolitans thought Theonia had sent too many soldiers, ¡°His majesty Davos was furious with the Caudini''s refusal to change their ways. Thus he sent the entire Third Legion to utterly decimate the Caudini''s invasion and teach them a heavy lesson so that they will never dare to invade the Campanian league''s territory again!¡±

    ¡°That''s great! We look forward when that day arrives!¡± said Orosius and the others as their feelings overcame them.

    Suddenly, Litom impatiently asked, ¡°Where should we camp?¡±

    ¡°The camp is just outside the city to the east. However¡­we don''t have enough tents.¡± Aeolus said with embarrassment since they didn''t expect Theonia to send so many soldiers.

    ¡°We have enough tents; you just need to ensure we have enough food supply.¡± Although Litom said that calmly, he worried about their provision the most.

    ¡°You can feel relieved; we don¡¯t have a problem with the food supply!¡± Orosius continued, ¡°Since we have just finished the autumn harvest, the citizens have enough grains in their homes. And after they heard the Theonian warriors woulde to help defend against the Samnites, each of them donated their grains to supply your Theonian army that our city hall didn''t even need to buy them. In addition, we also prepared dozens of jars of wine and many livestock to celebrate the Third Legion''s arrival.¡±

    But Litom waved his hand and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for those; the Third Legion doesn''t have that time since I need to lead the soldiers to construct the camp now. Instead, call the leading strategoi of the Campanian league over to discuss how to deal with the uing Samnite invasion.¡±

    Although Litom said those words too frankly, which could easily hurt their feeling, his vigorous and decisive actions shows that the kingdom of Theonia was taking this battle seriously. So instead of causing dissatisfaction, Neapolis¡¯ high-ranking officials were beaming with happiness.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Since the Samnites are mountain people, they like living in the mountains and would find living in the ins ufortable and vulnerable.

    But everything isn''t absolute. Caudini, one of the four major Samnite tribes, has many viges and towns on the eastern ins of Campania. That''s mainly because the increase in their poption had forced the Caudini located west of the Samnite mountain to migrate to the western ins to obtain morend to feed their people. And after decades of efforts, the Caudini had wholly upied the eastern part of Campania, capturing foreign city-states, such as Capua and Suess, and founding new towns, such as N.

    Hence some of the Caudini tribes began growing nts instead of grazing livestock for a living, which made the overall strength of Caudini to catch up with the Hirpini tribe, which had remained the leaders among the four major Samnite tribes.

    Unfortunately, the war more than a decade ago hit the ambitious Caudini hard, with many of their tribal warriors dying or being captured. In addition, the approach of the Theonian army forced the Caudini to lower their arrogant heads, sign a humiliating alliance treaty and stop their westward march.

    But once they restored their strength, its new chieftain, Segobani, no longer wished to be bound by this treaty, not because they liked to plunder but because the spread of Theonian religion and economic culture undermined the Samnite''s tradition and shook the solidarity of the tribes. At the same time, the Caudini had tasted the benefits of the ins'' arablend after upying the eastern Campanian ins, so they wanted to take the whole of Campania for themselves.

    Naturally, Segobani also had personal reasons. He wanted to use this war to increase his prestige and deal with Nuceria''s chieftain Kinduk, who kept defying him and relied on Theonia¡¯s support.

    Thus the frequent invasion of the Caudini tribe wasn''t just to plunder goods and people but to attack the enemy''s morale, increasing the Campanians'' fear so that they would never dare to nt and graze. At the same time, as they strengthen their army by plundering people and spoils, they are also constantly weakening the other side''s strength and finally achieving their goal of upying the entire Campania through war. That''s how they obtained the major cities of Capua and Suess! So how could the Caudini be willing to have their ambitions tied up by their treaty with Theonia?!

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the early morning of that day, the chieftains of the Caudini tribes gathered in the three towns of Capua, N and Suess. They then led their young and middle-aged men armed with weapons and began rushing westward into the Campanian league''s territory.

    The straight-line distance between these three cities and the west coast is about 20 kilometres, especially N, which is directly east of Neapolis. Thus these tribal warriors could reach Neapolis in just more than two hours as long as they ran fiercely. That is also one of the main reasons these city-states of the Campanian league feared the Samnites, as they were too close to Caudini, making them too defenceless.

    ¡°Faster! Faster!¡­¡± Taruk, a chieftain of the Caudini, urged his warriors loudly.

    His tribe came from Ave, a small town less than 10 kilometres east of N, which is located in a mountain pass. And since they were guarding the pass into the mountain area, they had a smallnd that wasn''t good for farming and with the mountains on both sides being too steep, they also couldn''t graze. Thus they mainly live through plundering.

    Although the great chieftain of Caudini, Segobani, proposed to use this invasion to teach the arrogant kingdom of Theonia and the Campanian league, Taruk was more interested in the grains that the Greeks piled up in their homes. And now that the autumn harvest had just ended, the Greeks who had gotten a good harvest couldn''t take that many grains with them in their escape even if they heard about their invasion in advance. Thus Taruk wanted to get ahead of the other tribe and plunder enough grain to get through the winter.

    Due to chieftain Taruk and two hundred warriors running on a in, they soon reach Neapolis'' territory. Once he could see the farnd not far ahead of him and smell the scorching smell of burning grain stacks in the air, he became even more excited.

    Since Taruk often brought his people to plunder, he was quite familiar with the situation in this area and knew that there was a Greek vige a few kilometres ahead. As he became more excited, he quickened his pace while urging his men, ¡°Faster!¡±

    ¡°Chieftain, enemy cavalry ahead!¡± A tribal warrior shouted.

    Taruk naturally could see these Greek cavalry and how they immediately turned around and ran back after seeing them.

    ¡°Leave them be! We need to hurry up!!¡± Taruk shouted without feeling any worry. From his experience, he knew that these cavalries would run back to Neapolis to rally their soldiers. But by the time those iron shells (Greek heavy infantry) arrived, they would have already returned to Ave with a full harvest. And if they dared to chase them, the Caudini warriorsing from all directions would give them a taste of a rain of javelins. And since those timid Greeks would always gather in a tight phnx formation that would slow their movement, they would be an even easier target for their javelins.

    And just as Taruk expected, the vige was already empty when Taruk led his warriors inside.

    Thus he immediately sent a small group of warriors to the south of the vige to serve as sentries to check the Greeks'' movement while leading most of the soldiers to break open the locked doors of each house, rush inside and begin their plunder.

    But then, a warrior hurriedly reported to him, ¡°Some Greeks are fleeing with pack wagons not far from the vige.¡±

    Hearing the news, Taruk became overjoyed, ¡®They must be the residents of this vige. Then that must they are loaded with goods!¡¯

    But what worried him the most was that he had too few pack animals to use to transport them.

    Still, he immediately gathered some of his warriors and rushed out of the vige as they headed south.

    Seeing them, the Greeks immediately increased their speed. However, with their group carrying too many things, the distance between them gets closer and closer.

    Then Taruk was soon surprised to see dozens of Greek heavy infantries appearing in front of the fleeing Greeks. But unlike the Greek heavy infantries he had seen before, these heavy infantries wore uniformed ck armour as they rushed towards them.

    ¡®Retreat?¡¯ that thought only shed in Taruk''s mind, but he immediately put it out. Apart from having experience dealing with Greek heavy infantry, he also has more than a hundred warriors following him, which is twice their number! So how could he retreat?!

    ¡°Quick, spread out!¡± Tarukmanded his warriors to form a more spread-out formation, like the wings of a wild goose spreading out, while they continued advancing towards the enemy.

    The heavy infantry on the other side continued their advance, passing through the fleeing Greeks and gradually forming apact phnx formation while advancing.

    Seeing that, Tarukughed inwardly, ¡®These stubborn Greeks already suffered losses so many times, yet they still kept using their old formation. I''ll just have them continue experiencing the power of the javelin, then!¡¯

    Once the enemy phnx formation was within 30 metres, Taruk raised his javelin. However, he saw the Greeks suddenly slow down and lift their long shields one after another¡­in the blink of an eye, their shields protected their front, back, left, right and even the top of the small phnx formation. But even with that, they still advance towards Taruk''s group.

    Even after getting surprised, Taruk still managed to throw the javelin in his hand. Then his warriors followed it by throwing their javelins towards the enemy in the centre.

 Chapter 671: Battle against the Caudini (II)

    The javelins flew and surrounded the entire phnx, and then only the sound of banging could be heard. Some javelins slip through the shields, some even piercing into the shields turning the entire phnx into a hedgehog¡­yet the soldiers in this phnx neither fall nor scream.

    While the Samnites were stunned, the Greeks suddenly withdrew their long shields and threw their javelins out of the phnx, heading straight towards Taruk.

    And this time, the distance between the two sides was only twenty metres.

    That fatal move took Tarukpletely by surprise. As a tribal chieftain, Taruk had his own armour and shield, but he left them in the vige to pursue those fleeing Greeks better. Seeing the javelining straight at him, he tried to rely on his instinct to judge, but he then let out a scream as a javelin pierced his right leg, causing him to fall to the ground.

    At the same time, around seven warriors nearby also fell one after another while screaming.

    ¡°Chieftain!!!¡± after hearing the shouts of the panicking warriors, the pain made Taruk suddenly remember what the previous chieftain had said a decade ago, ¡®These ck-helmeted and ck-armoured enemies are Theonians!¡¯

    ¡°They are Theonians!¡± Taruk warned loudly.

    But it was toote as the Theonian soldiers were already rushing towards them.

    But to protect their chieftain, the Samnite warriors didn''t retreat. Instead, they rush forward to fight the Theonian soldiers.

    Unfortunately, they made a wrong move. Even though the Samnite warriors are more, fighting against the tightly protected Theonian legionaries while unprotected is like throwing an egg into a rock.

    After suffering a lot of casualties, the Samnite warriors could only retreat.

    At this time, they heard the sound of horse hoofs from behind them.

    ¡°It''s the Greek cavalry!!¡± A Samnite warrior eximed.

    Then the dozens of galloping Theonian cavalry threw their javelins at the retreating Samnite warriors, slowing them. Then the Theonian soldiers began to approach them rapidly.

    After getting pincered in the rear and front, the Samnite warriors werepletely routed and could only flee in all directions. But they became the targets of the Theonian cavalry''s pursuit.

    At the same time, the toon leader of the Theonian legion stood in front of the dazed Taruk. He then looked at the approaching Campanian army and asked the mounted scouts, ¡°Where is the nearest enemy to us?¡±

    The mounted scouts pointed to his right and said, ¡°About four hundred metres further west from here; they have nearly three Caudini, but yourrades from the Third toon and a centuria of light-armoured soldiers are preparing to attack them.¡±

    Hearing that, the toon leader immediately shouted, ¡°All men of the second toon, gather up! Except for the few wounded that need to stay behind to receive treatment, the rest of you will immediately march west with me and cooperate with the third toon to pincer the Samnites!¡±

    ¡°Captain, it''s just a minor wound. It won''t be a problem for us to continue fighting.¡± A wounded soldier said reluctantly.

    ¡°This is an order; Immediately follow it!¡± After the toon leader said that, the wounded soldier no longer uttered a word.

    ¡°Captain, what about those Samnites hiding in the vige?¡± A soldier asked.

    ¡°Leave them to the Neapolitans; they should be able to handle those mere remnant tribal warriors.¡± After saying that, the toon leader led the soldiers towards the west.

    Such situations took ce in many parts of the Campanian in.

    Only in Ate is the situation different.

    The Etruscans founded the small town of Ate, whoter joined the Campanian league. Its location is fifteen kilometres northeast of Neapolis, in the middle of the Campanian in.

    After the Caudini captured it twenty years ago, Ate has be the forward base for their further invasion of the coast city-states of Campania and a transit ce for the spoils they plundered.

    After suffering a lot, the Campanian league, after allying with Theonia, took the opportunity to ask Davos for the Caudini to return Ate to the Campanian league while Theonia had just defeated the Samnites and was still negotiating.

    And Davos agreed while the Samnites needed to make concessions because of their situation at that time.

    With this humiliation weighing on the chieftain of the Caudini Segobani''s mind, he wanted to take this opportunity to gather his troops and win back Ate in one fell swoop while the Campanian league were busy dealing with the invasions of the various tribes to establish his reputation firmly. As for when the Theonia would send their envoy to rebuke him, Segobani already thought of saying Ate belongs to the Caudini as an excuse. Anyway, the Theonians only knew to threaten him with words and wouldn''t attack him at all. And by that time, what was done was done, and the Theonians could no longer take it back.

    After spending two days gathering about five thousand warriors from the surrounding tribes in Caudium, Segobani covertly led them to enter the city of Suess.

    He then set out with his army half an hour after the other tribes began their invasion. And because he expressly ordered that all tribes are to refrain from plundering on the route from Suess to Ate, the journey was smooth and didn''t encounter any enemies.

    With Ate only ten kilometres from Suess, the army Segobani led only took an hour to approach Ate.

    The Atens obviously didn''t expect the Caudini, who only plunder, to suddenly lead a great army to attack the city, causing their few sentries on the city wall to panic.

    Segobani, on the other hand, had made full preparation. Besides having his warriors carry enoughdders, he also gathered all of Caudinis'' heavy infantry(equivalent to the armoured infantry of the Greeks), totalling about three thousand men.

    ¡°Attack!¡± Segobani immediately gave his orders without hesitation, as he didn''t want to leave any time for the enemy to react.

    The warriors roared towards Ate.

    Suddenly, a scout came hurriedly, ¡°Chieftain, we found the enemy¡¯s mounted scouts!¡±

    Segobani first became worried and then relieved, ¡®What if the Greeks found out? Now I have the chance to win.¡¯

    So he just waved and said, ¡°Continue observing the enemy''s movements to the south and report it to me.¡±

    ¡°Yes, chieftain.¡± The scout ran away.

    ¡®Cavalry!¡¯ That was a pain in Segobani''s heart: Since the Samnites were a mountainous race, they never had cavalry. However, after the Caudini upied the ins of eastern Campania, he began nning a cavalry to enhance his troops'' scouting ability and aid inbat. But none of the Caudini warriors was willing to try their hand at horse riding as they were much happier fighting the enemy on foot than riding and hiding around like cowards. Naturally, sitting on a horse made these Caudini warriors have too much anxiety as they prefer having their feet on solid ground. In the end, his dream of building a cavalry had to go down the drain¡­

    After sighing, Segobani threw his annoying thoughts as he refocused on the battlefield. Then he was pleased to see that the warriors had used thedders, crossed the trenches and forced their way below the walls, and only then did several panicking Greek defenders appear at the top of the city¡­

    ¡®I should be able to conquer this town by the time the reinforcements from Neapolis arrive!¡¯ Segobani clenched his right fist confidently.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°What did you say?! More than five thousand Samnites are attacking Ate?!!¡± Aeolus, a Neapolitan strategos, was shocked hearing the news from the scouts.

    Aeolus immediately responded and shouted with darkened expression, ¡°Those Samnites deceived us! They didn''te just to plunder this time but are instead trying to seize ournd!¡±

    At the same time, Litom also looked ufortable as he sat in the tent. Litom had to remain in the camp after sending out the various toons of the Third Legion to fight back the Samnites, who hade to plunder the Campanian league from multiple ces. Because of that, he had to scatter the brigades, centurias, and toons of the Third Legion in this vast area. Hence he can only roughly manage a rough idea by relying on the numerous scouts, heralds and staff officers. And the only soldiers he kept in reserve were the five hundred light infantry remaining in the camp.

    Litom carefully looked at Campania''s map on his desk and asked loudly, ¡°How many soldiers does Ate have?¡±

    Aeolus thought it for a while, then said, ¡°Ate is a small town with only a few thousand people, so they can only gather up nearly four hundred soldiers.¡±

    At this moment, Aeolus felt regret in his heart. After the Campanian league got back Ate, they nned to expand, fortify and station the city with younger and vigorous citizens, given its strategic location. However, the city-states in the Campanian league began arguing over how much to divide the cost of construction and how muchnd to allocate to it. Thus they never managed to implement this critical measure. And as time passed, the Caudinis became peaceful under the powerful restraint of Theonia, so they no longer bothered making any further changes to Ate. But the Samnites began attacking the Campanian league again two years ago. However, since they only plundered goods and asionally some people and didn''t attack towns, it didn''t arouse vignce.

    Litom frowned and asked, ¡°How many soldiers you have left that didn''t go out to fight?¡±

    Aeolus hurriedly discussed with the several strategoi and then said helplessly, ¡°ording to your suggestion, we have kept a reserve team that has a total of about two thousand soldiers.¡±

    ¡°Two thousand men is enough!¡± Litom''s expression eased a bit, ¡°With my remaining troops, we will have about 2,500 men. We can immediately lead them to Ate and nail down the Samnites, so they won''t be able to attack the city with all their strength. At the same time, we will send scouts to inform other troops to get to Ate as soon as possible, allowing us to fight back the enemy''s army!¡±

 Chapter 672: Battle Against Caudini (III)

    ¡°There''s no need for us to rush to Ate. Let the Caudini take Ate if they wanted it.¡± A voice suddenly sounded in the main tent.

    When the Campanian league strategoi heard that, they immediately became angry. But after turning to look at the one who said that and saw the strategos sitting beside Litom, wearing ck armour and holding a helmet with a purple plume, they immediately realise that this man isn''t lower than Litom in the Theonian army, making them swallow back their swearing.

    ¡°It seems that this man''s name is Phryn¡­tor.¡± Aeolus vaguely remembered the man Litom had introduced to them before. But since this man had been sitting quietly, remaining unnoticeable, Aeolus couldn''t remember his name for a moment.

    Although he had opposed Litom''s n, Litom didn''t get angry. Instead, he earnestly asked the man, ¡°Phryntor, what''s your opinion?¡±

    Phryntor, from the mountain reconnaissance brigade led by Izam, had contributed a lot to the Third Legion''s capture of Aprustum more than a decade ago. He again yed another scheme of his in Davos'' war against the Samnites'' invasion in Potentia, triggering a camp''s uproar in the Samnites'' camp that led to their disastrous defeat. After that, Davos asked him to help the Third Legion to attack the Samnites'' territory to the north, allowing the Third Legion to capture many Hirpini territories, such as Compsa and Irna. And it was during that time that the senior centurion of the first brigade of the Third Legion, Litom, had met Phryntor.

    After the war in Magna Graecia, Theonia established the Army Staff of the Ministry of Military under Davos'' suggestion. Davos then assigned Phryntor as a staff officer of the Army Staff. Soon after, he became one of the big three in the Army Staff. There was also a running joke that described the big three of the Army Staff and their role, ¡®Philesius had a sore hip from always sitting down, Tolmides had injured legs from always running around, and Phryntor had an exhausted brain due to having to think too much.¡¯

    Phryntor then looked at everyone and said slowly, ¡°Our greatest trouble against the Caudini''s invasion is that they move quickly, making it difficult for us to catch them. But now that they are attacking Ate, it is equivalent to them voluntarily giving up their advantage and allowing us to surround and wipe them out. Moreover, since they have such arge army, it must mean their great chieftain is leading them. Thus, wiping and capturing this army wouldpletely solve our problem regarding the Caudini''s frequent invasion of Campania.¡±

    Almost everyone in the tent became excited hearing Phryntor''s words. However, a strategos from Pozzuoli hesitantly said, ¡°But if we let the Caudini, who are somewhat experienced in defending a city, upy Ate¡­and if we fail to capture back Ate immediately, the other Caudini tribes, or even the Hirpini and Pentri mighte to their rescue, which will be even worse!¡­¡±

    The reason the Caudini dared to take this small town deep into the Campanian league territory twenty years ago was that they were confident of defending it. That became evident after the subsequent attacks of the Campanian league ended up in failure. Hence the strategos worried that they would end up failing again.

    Aeolus rified, even without Phryntor''s exnation, ¡°There''s no need to worry about that. Our ally, Theonia, is so strong in siege battles that they could easily take Ate even if the Caudini defend it!¡±

    ¡®That''s right! The Campanian league now has the support of Theonia!!¡¯ Everyone suddenly became even more confident as they thought back to what they had heard about the towns Theonia had forcibly captured in their conquest of Apulia.

    However, Litom whispered to Phryntor in a slightly worried tone, ¡°His majesty just wants us to repel the Caudini''s invasion; wouldn''t that result in a bigger war?! At that time, his majesty-¡±

    Phryntor hesitated for a moment before saying with determination, ¡°Don''t worry. Once we wiped out Caudini''s main force, they wouldn''t have the strength to continue the war even if they wanted to. At that time, they could only listen to us!¡±

    After hearing that, Litom''s worries immediately disappeared. He then said to everyone in high spirits, ¡°We must immediately make a n to eliminate the enemy!¡±

    After saying that, he leaned over the table, pointed to the map that the army staff had marked in detail and said, ¡°Currently, the Third Legion¡¯s First, Second and Third brigades, as well as the light-armoured soldiers, light infantry and some of your troops are blocking the Caudini from Capua and Suess in the northeast of Neapolis. While the Third Legion¡¯s Fifth, Sixth and Fourth brigades and another part of your army are on the southeast of Neapolis, stopping the Samnites froming out of R. So now, we must immediately dispatch our mounted scouts to inform them that after suppressing the enemy, they should immediately head to the east, north and south of Ate to cut off the enemy''s retreat! At the same time, we will gather all the remaining soldiers in the camp, head towards the southern side of Ate and finally close in on the enemy!¡±

    ¡°There''s another thing we need to pay attention to!¡± Phryntor warned, ¡°The enemy will probably abandon Ate and flee back to the mountains once they find out that our Third Legion is involved in this battle.¡±

    Litom thought about it and immediately said, ¡°Then we shall inform the Second Cavalry Legion and the cavalry of your Campanian league to rush to the east of Ate as fast as possible. Once they find the enemy escaping, they must do their best to slow their retreat until our other troops arrive and destroy them!¡±

    Although they all began giving suggestions to improve the n, none paid too much attention to the lives of the thousands of people in Ate. After all, the strategoi of the Campanian league just wanted to deal with the Caudinis thoroughly through this war.

    Soon, many mounted scouts rode out of the camp and galloped in all directions.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After half an hour of fighting, Segobani''s troops attacked the top of the wall and then rushed into the town to wipe out the enemies.

    Just as Segobani started getting pleased with his n''s sess, a scout hurriedly returned to him and reported that the Greeks defeated the several Caudini tribes plundering near Ate. Moreover, among the soldiers pursuing them were several heavy infantry in ck helmets and ck armour capable of throwing javelins, so they all began suspecting the enemies to be the Theonian army.

    The scout also brought back a tribal chieftain who had managed to flee. The chieftain then cried to Segobani, ¡°The Greeks attacked so fiercely that they defeated my 150 warriors so quickly! Furthermore, the enemy still has a lot of cavalries that my warriors couldn''t escape; they were either killed, wounded or captured¡­great chieftain, you must send your troops to save them!¡±

    When Segobani heard that, he became so frightened that he asked loudly, ¡°Are you sure it was the Theonians who attacked you?!¡±

    ¡°It''s definitely them! The Campanians don''t have those kinds of soldiers dressed in odd equipment, much lesspletely suppress us!¡­¡± The chieftain was trying to justify his defeat when he noticed Segobani gritting his teeth and cursing, ¡°Damned Theonians! How dare they break the treaty?! Are they prepared for a war with the whole of Samnite?!!¡±

    Confusion filled Segobani''s mind with confusion. Although he repeatedly ignored Theonia''s warnings, he deeply knew that Caudini''s strength wasn''t enough topete with the mighty kingdom of Theonia. And since Theonia had truly sent their army, it means that his situation became worse.

    ¡®Retreat!¡¯ Even though that word immediately popped up in Segobani''s mind, he hesitated because he had just captured Ate by paying some casualties. If he gave up the fat meat called Ate and left with empty hands, not only would he feel reluctant, but also the warriors of the tribes following him wouldn''t agree. And since the enemy troops are scattered everywhere and can''t gather up quickly, they should instead seize the time to search for some spoils to bring back. Then after he returned to Caudium, he would wait for the great chieftains of Hirpini, Pentri and Caraceni to discuss how to cope with Theonia''s breach of the treaty.

    After Segobani made up his mind, he immediately ordered his warriors to seize the time to loot the spoils and prepare to leave. At the same time, he sent out numerous scouts, ordering them to carefully observe the situation around Ate and report back as soon as they found any movement.

    But not long after that, he began receiving reports about enemy sightings in the south, north and west of Ate. At this moment, he still didn''t understand how the enemy found him and tried to surround him.

    Segobani no longer hesitated and immediately led his men to retreat eastward.

    But just as they escaped Ate, they heard horses'' hoovesing from the north.

    ¡°Greek cavalry!¡± After reminding each other, the Samnite warriors stopped and drew out their javelins as they eagerly faced the hundreds of cavalries rushing towards them.

    The ones who managed to arrive quickly were the cavalry belonging to the second cavalry legion. In this war, the Ministry of Military drew out a thousand cavalries from the Second Cavalry Legion under Litom''smand to cooperate with the Third Legion in Campania. Although the Second Cavalry Legion''s base was in Nerulum, arge part of their soldiers was from the Consentia teau and was more adept at riding horses on gentler slopes.

    As they neared the range of the enemy''s javelin, the Theonian cavalry would suddenly turn around and once again gallop towards the enemy. Thus whenever they approached the enemy, the Samnite warriors would unconsciously slow down.

    Then a warrior on the right nk of the Samnites also shouted, ¡°Cavalry! There''s another cavalry!!¡±

    Soon, dozens more Theonian cavalry appeared from the south, adopting the same tactics to force the entire Caudini to retreat at a slower pace.

    The worried Segobani then shouted, ¡°Retreat! Retreat!! Don''t bother with them!!!¡±

 Chapter 673: Battle Against Caudini (IV)

    The several men around Segobani kept on blowing their horns to signal retreat.

    And Segobani, who is at the forefront of the army, led the tribal warriors beside him to speed up.

    But once the Theonian cavalry saw the Samnites no longer fighting back, their hesitation disappeared as they galloped close to the enemy¡¯s side and threw their javelins.

    When the javelin flew straight into the dense group, the Samnites immediately started falling to the ground.

    Yet that resulted in the Samnites fighting back by throwing their javelins at the Theonian cavalry.

    As the screams of people and neighing of the horses rang out on both sides, the Caudini warriors began eximing, ¡°Cavalry! Enemy cavalry!!¡­¡±

    Then groups of Theonian and Campanian cavalry kepting from the rear, trying to encircle this huge group of Caudini while stirring up dust all over the battlefield. Once the cavalry managed to rush near the enemy, they would throw their javelins to kill them and slow down their retreat. Once they saw the Samnites'' formation thinning at the rear, the cavalry directly charged towards them to break them apart, like cunning wolves attacking a giant beast, pressuring and wounding the Samnites to make them panic¡­

    After the Theonian cavalry lost to the Numidians and Celts in the South-Italian War a decade ago, they learned from that bitter experience to develop a more severe and detailed training program while selecting the best riders to join their ranks.

    Although Segobani could only feel grief watching the enemy cavalry, he still tried to fight back by throwing javelins and defending with his shield as he kept shouting at his men, ¡°¡­Don''t stop! Keep moving! Keep moving!¡­¡±

    Yet inwardly, he really wanted to order his men to stop, form up and teach these annoying enemies a lesson, as he believed that the Caudini''s warriors'' bravery and numbers couldpletely defeat the enemy. But the continuous increase of enemy cavalries means that they have be the enemy''s target, so once the enemy infantry arrives¡­

    While Segobani was worrying about that, he saw a group of heavy infantry in ck armour and helmet appearing on the dusty battlefield, shocking him, ¡®How did the Theonian infantry appear in front?¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Tagru, who was just a reserve soldier of the Third Legion more than a decade ago, had acted as a temporary officer of the Lao fortress, leading his soldiers to sessfully block the attack of the Laosians'' rebels. After the battle, the Ministry of Military gave him amendation for his merit and transferred him to the Third Legion. After a decade had passed, he was now a senior centurion of the Fourth Brigade of the Third Legion.

    In this campaign against the Caudini, the Fourth Brigade Tagru led was responsible for the southern area between Suess and R.

    In this campaign, he first led two toons, with the assistance of the cavalry, to rout one of the enemy tribes. Afterwards, he led them, in conjunction with another two toons, to pincer another group with arger number, which they also seeded. But while interrogating the prisoners, Tagru learned that this tribe from Suess had previously sacked a vige and captured some Greek people while they were on their way to Suess.

    Hence Tagru immediately led his men in hot pursuit and cut the other side off before they could even reach Suess. But on their way back, they bumped into a mounted scout looking for them, so Tagru then led his troops unhurriedly towards Ate, as they were already north of Ate.

    At the same time as Segobani saw the Theonian heavy infantry ahead, Tagru likewise saw the oing, hastily rushing, scattered Caudini army and the Theonian cavalry galloping around them.

    This vast number of enemies reminded Tagru of the Laos army that attacked the Lao fortress more than a decade ago. Back then, he only had so many men with him but had the sturdy defences of the fortress, whereas today, he had no walls for protection. Still, he was confident that as long as he could stop the enemy for a moment, hisrades would arrive in droves and wipe out this enemy that vastly outnumbered him.

    After thinking that, he took a deep breath and felt himself bing more courageous. And since they marched slowly towards here, they recovered from their fatigue.

    When he looked around, he saw the soldiers around him looking at him with a mixture of tension and excitement in their eyes as they for their officer to give their orders, which they would carry out with determination.

    So without any hesitation, Tagru shouted, ¡°Brothers, the enemy our legion needs to destroy is just ahead! We must stop them here! Otherwise, our legion''s n to encircle them would fail once they fled into the mountains. Hades gave us this great opportunity to make our mark! Brothers, show your courage and win this honour!¡±

    Then the soldiers showed their determination by roaring loudly.

    Tagru then gave the order, ¡°All toons line up; Form a shield phnx and stop the enemy!¡±

    Since Tagru only had four toons, less than two hundred men, he had to lengthen his defensive line to ensure the phnx could stop enough enemies. But that resulted in the phnx only having five columns, which is too thin and easy to breach.

    Yet without hesitation, his men quickly split into four smaller phnxes and formed a single line. After throwing the javelins in their backs and the spears in their hands, they held the long shield and drew their short sword as they marched slowly forward to meet the enemy.

    After seeing the few enemies in front who dared to show their intention to stop them, Segobani and the other Caudini warriors were surprised at first and then became furious.

    ¡°Hurry up and crush them!¡± shouted Segobani as he pointed his spear towards them.

    Then the Caudini warriors roared as they began increasing their running speed.

    Instead of getting surprised, Tagru was delighted seeing countless enemies rushing towards them. After all, what he feared the most was that the enemy would try to bypass them, resulting in his attempt to fail.

    Seeing that, the Theonian soldiers immediately stopped.

    ¡°Shield up!¡­¡± each toon leader shouted in session.

    The first row of soldiers erected their long shields with the bottom of the shields slightly nted so that they could firmly ce it into the ground to increase the shield formations'' defence. At the same time, the soldiers in the back row would then put their long shields over their heads and rest them on the shields of the soldiers in the first row.

    And just like they expected: Afterpleting their shield formation, the Samnites'' javelins came like raindrops. Yet even with that, some javelins still manage to pierce the shields and into soldiers¡¯ arms, causing them to scream.

    Tagru had to raise his shield while shouting, ¡°Hold it! Hold it!¡­¡±

    After the rain of javelin, the Samnite warriors roared and rushed out of the dispersing dust storm and fiercely crashed into the Theonian army, instantly bending the shield formation.

    The Theonian soldiers, on the other hand, tried to advance forward using all their strength to resist the impact of hundreds of people.

    The first row of soldiers crouched, cing their heads behind their long shield and their shoulder against them. After they felt the enemy¡¯s spear stabbing into the shield, the Theonian soldiers would stab back their short sword out from the gap between the shields without even checking whether they hurt the enemy because the sound of fighting hadpletely covered their eardrums and couldn''t hear any screams.

    Noticing that they couldn¡¯t break the turtle-like defence for a moment, some of the Caudini warriors became impatient, threw away their weapons, and grabbed the shields with both hands to pry them open in desperation.

    Suddenly, a sharp dagger cut off their fingers, causing their blood to ssh on the soldiers.

    The Caudinis in the rear rounded the front of the shield phnx while attacking their nk and rear. Soon, they surrounded the Theonian soldiers in an instant.

    On the other hand, the soldiers persisted in holding their shields to protect the whole phnxpletely, but they were like a boat in stormy water, which was in danger of capsizing at any moment.

    The nearby Theonian cavalry also realised this, so they risked getting stabbed by javelins and tried to attack the Samnites more in an attempt to reduce theirrade''s pressure.

    However, that only irritated the Samnites further. Thus under their fierce collision, the shield phnx could no longerst and broke apart.

    And Tagru, who saw the soldier beside him being pushed down and stabbed, became worried that he quickly stabbed out his short sword towards the enemy to protect his soldier''s safety.

    Unexpectedly, the Caudini warrior he stabbed in the chest didn''t fall. On the contrary, the Caudini warrior used all his effort to lunge forward and knock down Tagru, who couldn''t escape in time, to the ground.

    Then more enemies rushed into the formation.

    Tagru, who got pinned on the ground, could only watch in despair as the enemy breached the soldiers'' line of protection. With more and more enemies surrounding them, the soldiers fell one after another¡­

    At this critical moment, a high-pitched salpinx sound broke through the bustling battlefield¡­

    Litom led the 2,500 reinforcements from the west and rushed to the battlefield first to attack the enemy''s rear.

    Before long, the First Brigade of the Third Legion arrived from the northwest¡­

    Then the other centurias of the Fourth Brigade¡­

    Then the Second Brigade¡­

    While the salpinx kept sounding around the Samnites, the Theonians began attacking the enemy from all directions.

    Soon, the Theonian soldiers manage to beat the disordered Samnites. And once the Samnites noticed the enemies around them, they became so frightened that they no longer cared about the Theonian centuria they had beaten as they all fled in disorder.

    But how could they outrun the cavalry?

    And the battle soon ended. Except for a few Caudini who fled to Suess, the Theonians managed to kill or capture most Caudini warriors.

 Chapter 674: Declaring war on Theonia? (I)

    After arriving near the centre of the battlefield, wounded soldiers and corpses filled Litom¡¯s sight and the closer he got to the centre, the more corpses they were, which showed how terrible the battle was. In the very centre stood more than twenty Theonian legionaries, all covered with wounds and blood, looking gruesome. They even had some difficulty standing and had to help each other.

    But when Litom came near them, they still tried to give their salute, ¡°Reporting to the legatus: The first Centuria of the Fourth Brigade of the Third Legion haspleted our mission of blocking the enemy!¡±

    After returning their salute, Litom solemnly said in a somewhat choked voice, ¡°You have done well! Without your effort, this victory would not have been possible!¡±

    When he said that, he stepped forward and supported the faltering Tagru, grabbed his right hand and raised it high, ¡°You, Tagru, held off Laos'' attack with a small number of troops in the Lao Fortress more than a decade ago! Today, you had once again blocked the attack of several thousand Samnite warriors with just a centuria. You are really deserving to be called the iron wall!¡±

    ¡°Wonderful! Excellent!! Amazing!!!¡­¡± the soldiers around cheered in unison.

    Amidst the cheering, Tagru and his soldiers still tried to straighten their chests. And since then, Tagru began to be known as the ¡®Iron Wall¡¯.

    The Campanian league strategoi, such as Aeolus, who hade together with Litom, had never seen such a fierce battlefield, let alone such a terrifying army that wouldn''t retreat even in the face of an enemy far outnumbering them. And this battle was simply a replica of the rumoured Battle of the Great Riverbank!

    These strategoi could only feel shocked in their hearts, ¡®That exins why the Theonian could defeat Syracuse and be the hegemon of the western Mediterranean!¡¯

    Then the medical camp rushed over to search for surviving soldiers among the corpses.

    After a while, the senior centurion of the Theonian cavalry came to report, ¡°Legatus Litom, we managed to capture Segobani, the great chieftain of the Caudini!¡±

    That didn''t surprise Litom. On the contrary, he felt that it was a miracle for him to be able to escape the Third Legion and its allies'' tight encirclement.

    Rather, it was the Theonian envoy following Litom, Carias, that asked impatiently, ¡°Where is he?!¡±

    ¡°Bring him here!¡± The cavalry''s senior centurion turned around and shouted at his men with some pride. With that, the soldiers pushed the dust-covered, limping Segobani.

    While escaping, a Theonian cavalry knocked Segobani down, injuring his right foot. On the other hand, Segobani¡¯s escort scattered in various directions. Seeing that he couldn''t escape, he surrendered and became a prisoner.

    ¡°Chieftain Segobani, I didn''t expect we would meet under such circumstances.¡±

    Hearing a familiar voice, Segobani turned his head and saw Carias with ridicule on his expression.

    ¡°Theonians! You have breached our treaty and silently attacked your allies, us, the Caudini! Do you truly wish to wage war with our Samnite union?!¡± Segobani roared.

    ¡°Who the hell broke the treaty first?! It was you, Caudini, who first broke the treaty, and the bodies of hundreds of Campanian citizens in Ate are evidence of your crime! We, Theonians, are just following our sacred oath by sending troops to protect the lives and property of the Campanians in the Campanian league as a response to our loyal ally''s request! If you, Caudini, didn''t vite the treaty by invading the Campanian league''s territory, how could we fought?!!¡­¡± Carias shouted repeatedly.

    That made Segobani tongue-tied, yet he continued to shout, ¡°Release my warriors and me now, and I will persuade my fellow Samnites to settle this conflict peacefully! Otherwise, the entire Samnite union will gather all its warriors and form arge army to invade your territory!¡­¡±

    After hearing that, Carias wanted to say more, but Litom shouted, ¡°Let theme! Our Third Legion is more worried that we won''t have someone to fight!¡±

    After he looked at the downcast Segobani, Carias soon lost his fury from the humiliation he received in Caudium. After thinking for a while, he said, ¡°I wonder how his majesty will respond to this war?¡±

    ¡°It would be best if his majesty ordered us to capture R, Suess and Capua!¡± Litom said with confidence.

    Then they both looked at each other andughed.

    In this battle, Segobani led more than five thousand Caudini warriors plus other tribal warriors to invade the Campanian league''s territory, totalling more than twelve thousand men. While Theonia''s Third Legion, together with half of Theonia''s Second Cavalry Legion and the Campanian league army, totalled to about twenty thousand men, defeated most of the invading Caudini, especially since they almost surrounded and wiped out the main force led by Segobani.

    However, this battle dealt a heavy blow to the Caudini, shocking the Samnite region. After cleaning up the battlefield, the Caudini suffered more than three thousand casualties, with more than two thousand captured, while the number of Caudini warriors that managed to flee back to the mountains remained unknown. In contrast, the allied army of Theonia and Campania paid the price for this victory, with a total of more than 1,500 casualties, including almost all of the First Centuria of the Fourth Brigade of Theonia''s Third Legion. In addition, the Second Cavalry Legion also paid a considerable amount of casualties while they were stalling the enemies'' retreat.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the Carthaginian Senate, the elders began heatedly debating the news Rome had sent.

    ¡°Esteemed elders, we can no longer back down! A year ago, our concessions caused the Tanikian tribe, who are close to us, their end and allowed the Theonians to takeplete control of the Sikeloi region. Moreover, the wealth we had given as support went to waste! And now, the greedy Theonians began targeting Rome, our ally in central Italia. But we can no longer just stand and watch the Theonians conquer Rome and then sessfully upy the whole of Italia! By then, which country would be able to stop Theonia with its vast territory?! And would such a powerful Theonian kingdom still be willing to live peacefully with us, Carthage?!¡­¡± Pretasdrubal, the head of the Magonid faction in the Senate, waved his arms in incitement and shouted.

    His passionate words soon touch some elders.

    Eshoumodon then stood up and said calmly, ¡°Calm down, Pretasdrubal! You are too agitated. I remember the report only mentioning that the Theonian envoy hoped Rome would stop their attack on Volsci and had no intention of going to war with them. Since Rome had annexed too muchnd over the years, this would be the best time for them to take their time and properly straighten out their internal affairs, such as the fierce conflict between the nobles and the plebeians that made the people refuse to elect a consul for many years in a row. If this continues, Rome''s problem would only worsen.¡±

    ¡°Eshoumodon, it seems you are really confused!¡± Sikaradon, another Magonid elder, stood up and used, ¡°Is the reason for us spending so much money and supplies on Rome every year so Rome can be a prosperous city-state?! No! We did that to make Rome be a powerful force in central Italia so that they could stop the Theonians'' expansion to the north! With the Volscians suffering a crushing defeat, this would be an excellent time for Rome to conquer them and grow in strength. But if Rome stopped their attack and consolidated its power, it would give the Volscians time to breathe.

    And now that Theonia had be aware of the danger of Rome, they would do their best to help Volsci and might even unite the other forces that opposed Rome to grow their influence in central Italia. And with Theonia''s support, these races would constantly work together against Rome, eventually leading to Theonia conquering Rome, just like what they did to the Tanikian tribe!

    That''s not what any of the wise elders here would want to see! Nor is it at all in Carthage''s interest! Thus we must give the Romans our full support and make them reject Theonia''s proposal!¡±

    ¡°Sikaradon, if we kept on fully supporting Rome, it would mean they would continue attacking Volsci. And that would ultimately lead to an early war between Rome and Theonia!¡± the shophet Palteshmoun stood up and asked loudly, resulting in amotion in the meeting hall.

    ¡°Yes, that would likely happen.¡± Sikaradon calmly answered.

    Then anothermotion arose in the meeting room.

    ¡°Rome alone won''t be able topete with Theonia. At that time, as Rome''s ally, should Carthage join the war?!¡± Palteshmoun questioned.

    Pretasdrubal said firmly, ¡°Whether it is to keep our oath by fulfilling the military alliance agreement or protecting Carthage''s interests, we must dere war on Theonia!¡±

    The elders were in an uproar as arguments rang out in the meeting hall.

    ¡°Didn''t we already consider Theonia as enemies in our hearts after agreeing to support the Tanikian tribe and Rome in hopes they could restrain Theonia''s expansion?! Do you still have the illusion that Theonia, which had wiped out one race and force after another and became immensely powerful, continues to live peacefully with us?!¡± Pretasdrubal''s loud question made the somewhat noisy meeting room turn much quieter.

    ¡°Dere war on Theonia?! Have you forgotten that we had just sent troops to Cirta a few months ago to calm the rebellion in Numidia and still haven''t settled itpletely?!¡± Palteshmoun shouted.

    ¡°Theonia is also suffering from rebellions, such as the Messapians, Peucetians and the Daunians¡­which are a lot more than us, but that didn''t stop them from continuing to wage war and conquer other forces!¡± Then, with a look of anger, Pretasdrubal eximed, ¡°What the Theonians can do; we Carthaginians, who had ruled thisnd for so long, should be able to do it even more!¡±

 Chapter 675: Declaring war on Theona? (II)

    Eshmounadon immediately stood up to try to remove the impact of the other part''s words on the elders, ¡°Pretasdrubal, do you not know that the current Theonia is much more powerful than the previous Syracuse?! They have at least ten legions and four fleets. Moreover, there''s a report their poption reached almost two million, and their territory is far beyond the scope of thend and city-states that Syracuse controlled previously. Hence they can easily form an army of a hundred thousand men. Can we do that as well?! Thus we shouldn''t fight the Theonians now. Instead, we should speed up our expansion in inner Africa and strengthen our forces, allowing us to fight Theonia in the future!¡±

    Pretasdrubal sneered, ¡°In the future? When will that be?! When Theonia finished taking over all of Italia?! Rather, it is now the best time for us to go to war with Theonia as they are experiencing drought andcking food, so I doubt Theonia could even organise fifty thousand soldiers, let alone a hundred thousand!

    In addition, we have the western part of Sicily, Numidia, southern Iberia and also Rome, a powerful city-state in central Italia, and Mauretania in west Africa as allies. There''s also a report that the Samnites are dissatisfied with Theonia as they forced them to join their alliance after defeating them. So we might be able to recruit them, as well as the Spartans who fear Theonia¡¯s might¡­as you can see, even though Theonia is powerful, they, in fact, have many enemies. Thus our chances of winning are quite high!¡±

    Pretasdrubal''s words made the elders discuss among themselves.

    Hanno, who had remained silent, frowned when he heard southern Iberia.

    Then he saw the head of the neutral faction, Adrusbal, standing up with a severe expression, ¡°Everyone, you all know that I do not like war since I lost my son in the war with Syracuse. However, I want to remind everyone that our trade with Sardinia has sharply declined over the years! What''s the reason?! I think everyone here knows how we sent people to the various city-states in Sardinia. After their investigation, they discovered that these city-states'' citizens secretly sailed their boats to the Theonian cities of Irna and Poseidonia just across the sea from Sardinia to buy pots, olive oil, wine, livestock¡­and so on.

    Although the people we sent urged the Sardinian city-states to tighten their control, they still went there because the price of goods sold by the Theonians was much lower than ours. But unlike the Campanian league, Theonia simply ignores our protests. On the contrary, they even impose restrictions on our merchants within Theonia, such as the recent situation where Theonia''smerce officials punished several of our merchants in Locri simply because they sold grains at higher prices than Theonia had imposed. It is uneptable for Theonia to punish our merchants just because they are following the trade principle of ¡®The price of goods is determined by demand¡¯ that the merchants of the Mediterranean followed!¡±

    Elders, our ancestors, came here from Tyre to make a living through trading, gradually prospered and finally became powerful. So without a prosperous trade, our mighty Carthage wouldn''t exist; Trade is our root! I don''t care if Theonia upies morend, but since they are intentionally restricting our trade and trying to dig out our roots, we must be more vignt! We must also fight back! We must make the Theonians give concessions on trade!¡±

    Adrusbal''s resounding speech aroused the elders.

    ¡°Lord Adrusbal is right! I had to stop my caravan from selling wine to Sardinia because only a few of them still buys it, all because of the Theonians!¡±

    ¡°Making the Theonians give trade concessions is still not enough! As long as they continue their expansion, the city-state and routes avable for us to trade with will only lessen, resulting in us having to yield to Theonia in the future because of our trade copsing! So if we want Carthage''s trade continues to prosper, we must eliminate the kingdom of Theonia!¡±

    ¡°Indeed, we must join forces with Rome tounch a war against Theonia! And win back our hegemony of the western Mediterranean!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Listening to their discussions made Hanno''s expression turn more gloomy. Although he knew that Theonia''s continuous expansion in recent years was the greatest threat to Carthage''s security, he still didn''t want to start a war at this time for two reasons: First, their upation of the Numidian region remained unstable. Second, even though he managed to send Mago away to the Iberian Penins, he managed to upy arge area ofnd there, built several towns and appointed his own men as officials. In addition, he kept disobeying the Senate''s order, which made Hanno want to repeatedly strengthen Carthage''s management of those newly upied areas. And even after taking some measures, they ultimately failed and just gave him headaches. But if they were tounch a war against Theonia now, it would allow those warmongering families to return to the Carthaginian Senate!

    With Hanno managing the Senate for over a decade, he haspletely controlled it. Hence he wasn¡¯t worried even if Pretasdrubal and Adrusbal''s words managed to temp the elders in the meeting hall as those elders who depended on him wouldn''t easily vote in favour of their proposal as long as he didn''t give his approval. And because their proposal doesn¡¯t have enough supporters, it wouldn''t be a resolution.

    Seven days passed, and Hanno still didn''t make a statement even though he was under pressure.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Gadir was a colony founded by the Phoenician powerhouse Tyre in the southern Iberian Penins. It was said that a high-ranking official of Tyre discovered this ce after encountering a storm while he was heading to the Balearic Inds. After the storm blew his ship off course, they stopped on a beach after sailing past the Pirs of Heracles. After giving their thanks to Melqart, these people who managed to survive found the ce they were at was located at the end of a narrow isthmus, with three of its side surrounded by water that made it difficult to conquer bynd while easily essible from the sea. Since it is such an excellent natural port, they established a colony here and named it Gadir.

    And after discovering numerous silver veins, iron and other metals in the southern part of the Iberian Penins, the Phoenicians started strengthening their trade with the Tartessos kingdom. Once they effectively controlled the mining and metal ore processing industry throughout southern Iberia, Gadir soon became prosperous and became the main transportation hub for the Phoenicians'' trade andmerce activities in Iberia and perhaps even the entire Phoenician colony in the western Mediterranean. With arge amount of silver mined, melted and processed from the Iberian Penins and sent to Tyre to meet its suzerain city-state''s need, Assyria, they managed to give more freedom to the people of Tyre.

    But in the following centuries, the war waged in the eastern Mediterranean caused the hegemony to keep changing. With the decline of Tyre, Carthage soon rose to take Tyre''s ce. And throughout hundreds of years, Carthage soon took all Phoenician colonies in the western Mediterranean under their wing, including Gadir.

    As a result, they first needed to ship the silver and other metal ingots that they processed in Gadir to Carthage, as the Carthaginians were the ones who controlled all trade matters with their mothend in the eastern Mediterranean.

    And when the Carthaginian Senate sent the Magonids to the Iberian Penins, they didn''t allow them to interfere in the matters of Gadir. However, after more than ten years since the Magonids set foot on the Iberian Penins, the Magonids manage to bring Gadir under their control secretly.

    On this day, a battered merchant ship came to the port of Gadir. But to the surprise of the people in the port, these people were a group of Greeks.

    Once the city hall of Gadir learned about that, they immediately sent out their guards to detain the people on board. But they find out afterwards that this merchant ship hade from the kingdom of Theonia and was nning to go to the Greek colonial city-state of Saguntum in the northern part of the Iberian Penins for trade. Unexpectedly, they encountered a storm that resulted in their ship being blown near the coast of Gadir.

    In the friendly treaty between Carthage and Theonia, there is a use that forbids Theonians from trading directly with other colonial or affiliated city-states of Carthage, except when dealing with Carthage; otherwise, they will receive punishment, with both sides handling the case. But if they were to enter Carthage''s territory by mistake for some reason, they would be allowed to leave after exining their situation as they aren''t allowed to stay there.

    So after understanding their situation, the people of Gadir urged the merchant ship to leave. But a problem urred: With the merchant¡¯s ship too severely damaged, they couldn''t go out to sea until they finished its repair, so the people of Gadir sent the ship to the shipyard for repair while cing the Theonians under house arrest in the inn. Naturally, the Theonians had to pay for the ship¡¯s repair and food.

    But during this period, someone quietly slipped into the room of the owner of the merchant ship, Aeonis. That person imed to be a Phoenician from Huelva and said that his master was a prominent merchant with thousands of mining ves and controlled the mining rights of several silver mines. So every month, his mine could produce several tons of silver order, allowing him to earn more wealth. However, Carthage forced them not to sell anything to the public except the metal ore extracted from the processing, while they had to sell the silver to Carthage for less profit. Because of that, his master was quite dissatisfied with the situation and hoped to find a secret channel to sell his pile of silver at a higher price¡­

    Hearing that, Aeonis became somewhat tempted.

    Aeonis was a liberated ve of Kunogta''s family andter obtained citizenship. Since Sostratus¡¯ had supported him in bing a merchant, he knew the concerns of the Ministry of Commerce of the kingdom of Theonia.

 Chapter 676: The Magonids Scheme

    Due to Theonia''s strength and trade prosperity, the Hades silver coin became popr locally, with their allies, and throughout the western Mediterranean. And because of its beautiful appearance and high purity, it became a poprmodity that people from other city-states liked to get as a collection and wouldn''t use unless necessary.

    As a consequence, Theonia couldn''t fully recover the Hades silver coins they circted in the market. At the same time, they suffered some losses by remelting the silver coins of other city-states into new Hades¡¯ silver coins. Thus, to maintain the coins¡¯ purity, they must have their own source of silver mines, which is why the Ministry of Commerce has been supporting Irna and Poseidonia¡¯s private trade with the people of Sardinia.

    Now that Aeonis had found a new channel to obtain silver ore, what would happen if he could seize it? Wealth! Power! Aeonis even fantasised about a personal audience and receiving praise from the king of Theonia.

    Thus he became tempted. However, he remained cautious, ¡°With Theonia and Carthage''s agreement, we can''t trade here-¡±

    ¡°With the Carthaginians¡¯ strictness, we certainly can''t trade here in Gadir! But we can do it in Huelva as my master has quite an influence there, allowing us to evade their investigation while conducting our trade on a deserted beach near Huelva¡­¡±

    Although that man hade prepared with a pretty thorough n, Aeonis was still determining if he were worth trusting, as this would be the first time he would deal with him¡­Aeonis hesitated for a while but couldn''t stand the temptation and decided to take the risk.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After his ship received temporary repair, Aeonis led his crew to sail away from Gadir under the watch of the Gadir officials and headed eastward first. But after the Carthaginian patrol ship returned, he ordered his men to turn the ship around and detours close to the shore of maind Africa, bypassing Gadir and reaching further west near Huelva.

    Huelva''s location was near the estuary of the Odiel river. Before Gadir''s rise, Huelva was the Phoenician centre of metal processing in the entire western Mediterranean. They would use the Odiel river to transport the countless ores from the mines to Huelva. With the town of Huelva having hundreds of smelting furnaces, they would even ship the ore from Sardinia here to smelt. And even after Gadir took some share of the ore smelting tasks, Huelva''s smelting output is still rtively high.

    On the ship, Aeonis watched the countless clouds of smoke on the coast as they rose into the sky from afar with excitement.

    Under the guidance of the Phoenician from Huelva, hiding among his crew, the merchant ship sailed to a remote beach to anchor.

    But while the Huelvan man went to inform his master, Aeonis felt anxious and uneasy. He then inwardly thought that if they try to deceive him, he would immediately sail away, even though this would result in wasted time.

    But things went quite smoothly. After waiting a long time, the mine owner finally appeared, bringing with him many ves and wagons filled with silver ore.

    After their negotiation, the two soon reached an agreement with Aeonis exchanging a shipload of Thurian wine he was nning to sell in Sagunto for nearly 250 kilograms of silver ore.

    Although Aeonis made profits, it was clear that the mine owner gave more for the sake of continued trading.

    After suppressing his ecstasy, Aeonis made an appointment with the mine owner on the time, ce and goods for the next trade. Then Aeonis boarded the ship satisfied and was ready to leave the wastnd with his excited crew.

    Suddenly, several Carthaginian patrol ships appeared,pletely encircled them and once more captured Aeonis and his crew.

    Once they took the desponded Aeonis to the patrol ship, he saw the man who had persuaded him toe to Huelva. But the man ttering him before now had a sneer on his face.

    And that had caused Aeonis'' heart to sink, ¡®I''ve fallen into a trap¡­¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Sexi, a Phoenician colony in southern Iberia, is located east of the Pir of Heracles and near Mga. In this ce is where the residence of the Governor of Iberia, whom Carthage had appointed and was also the patriarch of the Magonids, Mago. A few years ago, he moved most of his family (including his daughter Dido) and their wealth to this ce. He then turned Sexi, with its sea abundant with mackerel, making it one of the main producing locations of the Phoenicians¡¯ fish sauce, into the Magonids¡¯ private property.

    In the study of the governor''s residence, the main members of the Magonids are holding an important gathering.

    In the centre seat was the patriarch of the Magonids and the governor of Iberia, Mago, an almost fifty-five-year-old man whose hair had already turned white and whose face was wrinkled. After their failed attack on Syracuse, in addition to his brothermitting suicide, then suffering defeat one after another under Dionysius'' attack, then the Magonids losing its dominance in the Senate¡­and a series of setbacks had caused him to age. But aftering to Iberia, with power in his hands and no one to restrain him, he regained his ambition, and his authority increased.

    On his right side was his brother Himilco''s eldest son Hasdrubal, the young general who only knew how to charge and fight before but had now be somewhat stable and restrained. Still, his gaze remained slightly fierce.

    On his left was Himilco''s second son, Haka. The almost thirty years old Haka was just a thin, boyish young man beforeing to the Iberian Penins. Although he is slim with a pale face and looks exhausted, he has be Magos'' most indispensable subordinate. Currently, his primary responsibility is managing the internal affairs of the Iberian territory, and it is because of him the Magonids could maintain their stable rule.

    Sitting below Mago was Kisego, a member of a distant branch of the Magonids who had stood out while they were expanding their territory and fighting the natives, resulting in Mago valuing him highly. Although the aborigines attacked the rear of their territory several times, he was able to notice the enemy and repel them, allowing the Magonids to secure their territory in Iberia.

    ¡°Uncle, a report came from Huelva on our n''s sess. Now that we captured all those greedy Theonian merchants and their merchant ship filled with silver ore, shall we send them to Carthage next?¡± Haka, who was sitting on a specially made chair that allowed the chair to tilt back so that he could talk while lying down, became energetic after saying that.

    Finally, a smile appeared on Mago''s always serious face. With his eyes shining with excitement, he said in a deep voice, ¡°We will follow the n you arranged. At the same time, inform Pretasdrubal to spread the word about it so that everyone in Carthage will know that the Theonians aren''t only coveting our silver mines but have already begun taking action!¡±

    ¡°Will that old man really give in and start supporting Rome against Theonia?¡± Hasdrubal didn''t have much confidence in the Carthaginian Senate and thus asked doubtfully.

    ¡°Brother, Carthage is already dissatisfied with Theonia, with its people and most elders wishing to teach the Theonians a lesson. Unfortunately, Hanno is taking his time to make up his mind-¡± Haka then sneered, ¡°But that''s just because of his pathetic pride in his im of being the highest authority in Carthage. However, this matter will be like pouring oil into a burning heath! If he still dares to dy it, his authority wille to an end!¡±

    ¡°I hope that old man will continue blocking our proposal in the Senate so that he would experience the pain of having the people oust him!¡± Hasdrubal said gloatingly.

    ¡°Don''t underestimate Hanno. He won''t give up his dominance in the Carthaginian Senate! Thus, we must stay vignt and watch Carthage''s situation!¡± Mago reminded them as he had a deep understanding of Hanno. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have reluctantly chosen to leave Carthage and go far away to Iberia.

    ¡°Uncle, shall we send our troops once the war between Theonia and Carthage starts?¡± Hasdrubal looked at Mago eagerly.

    ¡°I think it would be better to wait for Carthage''s army to be defeated, to make the people remember us and call us the Magonids and for the Senate to beg us to send our troops!¡± Haka suggested.

    The other three became excited at Haka''s words as they had prepared for so long in order to restore their family''s glory and regain their dominance of the Senate.

    ¡°What if Theonia backs down because Carthage supported Rome?¡± Kisego asked with caution.

    His words took Mago and Hasdrubal aback, but Haka said with certainty, ¡°Theonia will never back down! Because the king of Theonia imed to keep his promise and has done so since Theonia''s foundation, which is why the people of Theonia and their allies trusted him. If he were to back down this time and let Rome absorb their ally Volsci, the hearts of their allies would cool down, and the people of Theonia would lose their trust in him. But since the king of Theonia is wise, he would never make such a mistake!¡±

    After hearing that, Mago nodded and sighed, ¡°I admire the king of Theonia as even though he is young, he would dare fight stronger enemies several times just to fulfil his promises over the years and still win in the end!¡±

 Chapter 677: Sacrificial Offering

    ¡°But he would have a hard time winning again because we are joining this war!¡± Hasdrubal said, unconvinced.

    ¡°Once Theonia wage war with Carthage, what should we do if¡­the Carthaginian army wins one battle after another?¡± Kisego asked with caution.

    ¡°Just the Carthaginian army Hanno raised?!¡± said Hasdrubal with contempt, ¡°The only thing they know is bully the weak Numidians. So even if the Theonians encountered a drought and got attacked on all sides, a lion remains a lion, which is not something a wild dog can deal with. Thus they would still have to rely on us!¡±

    Hasdrubal held his head high confidently.

    If Mago were still the Mago before, he would have been the first to actively request to lead the army when encountering enemies encroaching on Carthage''s interest. But after spending years staying on the Iberian Penins, his disposition changed considerably. Thus he said without hesitation, ¡°Let''s do that then!¡±

    Then, he looked at the three men and said with seriousness, ¡°Haka, you should start storing more grain, craft more weapons and equipment and carefully prepare for the expedition.¡±

    ¡°Yes, uncle.¡±

    ¡°Hasdrubal, step up the soldiers¡¯ recruitment and the army''s training!¡±

    ¡°Uncle, you can rest assured and leave all these to me.¡±

    ¡°Kisego, increase your efforts in contacting the Celts in northern Iberia, sign a peace agreement with them, and hire their warriors to fight for us¡­also, send an envoy to our ally in the south, Mauretania, and try to get them to send reinforcements as well to join us in our war.¡±

    ¡°Understood, lord governor!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After their discussion, Mago returned to his courtyard with excitement. Then he said to his ve, ¡°Pour me some wine.¡±

    But a few momentster, his daughter Dido was the one to bring the wine. The twenty-one years old and gorgeous Dido was like a fruit that was about to ripen. However, she remains unmarried. After giving the wine, she asked softly, ¡°Father, have you made your decision?¡±

    Mago knew what she meant. Because of her intelligence, Mago didn''t hide important political matters from her. On the contrary, he sometimes even asked her for advice, ¡°Yes, we have decided! In less than six months, we will return to Carthage amidst the people''s cheering. And by then, we would settle your marriage!¡±

    With Dido being his only child and since she was pretty perceptive, Mago gave her some autonomy in her marriage. Moreover, with the Iberian region''s primitiveness, there were no outstanding characters around. Hence his daughter''s marriage has be one of his problems.

    But instead of answering him, Dido frowned and sighed, ¡°We are living well in Iberia, so why must we go back to Carthage?!¡±

    ¡°Carthage is our roots!¡± Mago said straightforwardly, ¡°With how much trouble our ancestors went through to build that city, how can we easily throw it away?! Besides, once Carthage declines, our days in Iberia will also get harder. Thus no matter what happens, we must maintain Carthage''s prosperity!¡±

    ¡°But¡­defeating the kingdom of Theonia wouldn''t be easy! Furthermore, they are much more powerful than Syracuse. And I fear that provoking them is equal to us bringing a¡­disaster!¡± Dido said worriedly.

    ¡°Theonia is indeed strong. However, Carthage is equally strong! Besides, you can rest assured as this is the best time to attack Theonia! Anyway, fighting a war is a man''s business, so you shouldn''t worry about it. Instead, you should help Haka more if you have free time, as he will be busier and need someone to help him share some of his work. Otherwise, I fear his body would copse.¡± After saying that, Mago raised his mug and tasted the wine, obviously not wanting to listen to Dido anymore.

    ¡°Understood¡­¡± Dido sighed.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Two dayster, Aeonis and his crew were escorted into Carthage.

    The Carthaginians, who had received the news in advance, have alle out. The Carthaginians became even more furious after seeing the cartloads of stolen goods(silver ores) following behind the criminals.

    Since half of the Carthaginian citizens were merchants or engaged in rted upations, they were already dissatisfied with Theonia''s scheme of breaking Carthage''s monopoly on Sardinia in the past two years and the expulsion of Carthaginian merchants in Theonia some time ago. Thus one could already imagine their anger once they saw those things in front of them.

    ¡°Damn you, thieves!! Despicable and shameless Theonians!! How dare you steal our wealth!! We will never forgive you!!!¡­¡±

    ¡°Kill them!! Kill these thieves who want to rob our wealth!! Let the Theonians know the might of Carthage!!!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the voices filled with hatred shrouded the whole city, Aeonis and his crew trembled as if they were a small tree battered by a strong gale.

    Amidst the wave of protest and curses against the Theonians throughout the city, several elders, including Pretasdrubal, propose to try these Theonian criminals publicly. And since Hanno didn''t go against them this time, the proposal was quickly passed.

    Soon, a hundred people''s court opened up on the square.

    Aeonis bravely applied for the court to arrange a Theonian official to hear this case about them together per the agreement signed between Theonia and Carthage. However, the Carthaginians refused them.

    Next, the owner, who sold his silver, became theinant and used Aeonis of secretly colluding with his miners and ves to sell silver without permission.

    Then another wretched Carthaginian ve that Aeonis never saw before became a witness. He confesses how he regrets epting the Theonians money and betraying his master and tells how such transactions had happened many times.

    Then the captain and sailors of the Huelva patrol ship unanimously pointed out that they found these silver coins from Aeonis'' merchant ship and witnessed their transactions.

    With clear evidence, the matter became apparent: The Theonian merchants had deliberately vited the agreement between the two sides and repeatedly stole and sold silvers, an important product of Carthage.

    While the Carthaginians shouted for the Theonians¡¯ death, Aeonis and his crew didn¡¯t even have the opportunity to defend themselves during the interrogation process and got sentenced to death.

    Aeonis and his crew turned pale. Afterwards, the Carthaginian soldiers pushed them to the execution ground.

    Although they called it an execution ground, it is actually the Temple of Baal Hammon. Baal Hammon was the main god worshipped by the Phoenicians, and he was known to control mes and thus was called the master of the furnace. Thus Carthage, which has metal processing and smelting as the pir of their industry, worships him and would even sacrifice a living person(mainly children) to him at some ceremony or a special asion to obtain his blessings.

    This time, the elders, such as Pretasdrubal, propose to use the Theonians as sacrificial offerings on the hill of Byrsa. They thought that once they passed the proposal to support Rome, a war with Theonia could erupt. Thus by offering the Theonians, Baal Hammon would give them the greatest blessing while cursing the enemy.

    Once Aeonis and the others arrived in front of a huge bronze statue of Baal Hammon, they saw arge pit zing with mes under the bronze statue. And as they stood at the pit''s edge, the hot wind blew into their face and scorched their hair¡­

    ¡°Push them down!! Push them down!!¡­¡± The Carthaginians who followed them shouted crazily.

    ¡°They want to burn us!!¡­.¡± Amidst the crew''s mournful cries, Aeonis recovered from his stupor. He then began regretting his greed and hated the shamelessness and cruelty of the Carthaginians. But since they couldn''t avoid death, he could only re at the Carthaginians around him and say, ¡°You despicable and shameless Carthaginians! With Hades as my witness, I, Aeonis, curse all of you here for your homes and city to be burned to ashes by these very same mes!!!¡±

    Then after finishing his curse, Aeonis began singing the ode of Hades loudly.

    Once the frightened crew heard his voice, they gradually calmed down and sang aloud, ¡°O the just Hades; I would ept our death without fear ande to your temple with longing¡­¡±

    Hearing that, the Carthaginians became even more furious. Thus once the priests finished their praying, they could no longer wait to push the Theonians into the fire pit and watch the ¡®criminals¡¯ turn into zing humanoids as they danced and screamed in the fire pit. But as the Carthaginians cheered, the ode of Hades, though faint, continued to be sang, ¡®Under your bident, all evils will have nowhere to hide¡­¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The news about the Third Legion''s victory over Caudini arrived at Thurii, which surprised Davos. Davos initially hoped for the Third Legion to teach the Caudini a lesson that would frighten those disobedient Samnites tribe. Unexpectedly, he received such excellent results that he began reconsidering whether to change his strategy against the Samnites.

    A dayter, he once again held a meeting with the head of each department (including the five rotating speakers of the Senates) in the pce.

    ¡°We must severely punish the Caudini for viting our treaty by invading our allied Campanians'' territories without permission! And we would only ept the Caudini''s negotiations and the release of the captured warriors on the conditions that ¡®to prevent the Caudini from invading the Campanians'' territories, an ally of Theonia, again in the future, the Caudini must transfer the management of the towns of Capua, N and Suess to Theonia; And Segobani must receive the trial of the Campanians and for the Caudini to re-elect their great chieftain with the approval of Theonia¡­¡¯¡±

 Chapter 678: Discussion on the handling of the Caudini

    Davos'' words surprised everyone present as they didn''t expect their king''s appetite to be so big. Unlike the lenient demand Theonia adopted on the Samnites after defeating them more than a decade ago, Davos'' demand now is much harsher.

    ¡°Your majesty, I don''t think the Caudinis will agree to your demand,¡± Cornelius warned.

    ¡°Negotiation is all about reaching an agreement. After putting forward some difficult conditions, we would gradually ease them ording to Caudini''s response until both parties are satisfied. But the bottom line is that we must take N under our control, and they must re-elect their great chieftain since we will never allow someone who has repeatedly broken the treaty and hated Theonia to remain in that position!¡± Davos said decisively.

    ¡°Your majesty, it is possible to make the Caudini ept our condition with their current strength,¡± the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ansitanos, said confidently.

    ¡°But the defeat of the Caudini and our subsequent demand might arouse the vignce of the other Samnite tribes. And since they are already dissatisfied with us, they might even cause new troubles.¡± Lysias warned with some concern.

    ¡°I agree with his majesty! Even without this incident, the Samnites'' resentment towards our Theonia remains. And as far as I know, these vicious Samnites regard their defeat and submission to us as a disgrace and would always hold a grudge against us. Thus it is better to seize every opportunity to weaken them so that even if they kept their hatred against us, the Samnites wouldn''t even have the strength to exact their revenge on us!¡± Androlis said loudly.

    Lysias then looked at Androlis with dissatisfaction. With how active the newly elected rotating speaker is, he would likely manage to catch up to him.

    Davos, on the other hand, nodded in approval and felt that he had made the right decision in choosing Androlis as a rotating speaker. Even though Androlis and Kunogta can handle internal affairs, Androlis is more active in handling matters. Still, the most important thing is that he actively cooperates with Davos, allowing some of Davos'' decisions and proposals to be implemented smoothly through the Senate, which is much better than the deceased Kunogta.

    ¡°Your majesty, the demands you have proposed are wonderful!¡± The Minister of Military, Hielos, didn''t praise him blindly as he saw things strategically. He then said from the bottom of his heart, ¡°By obtaining N and Suess, we would be able to connect the Caudini town of Nuceria in the south of Campania, which is friendly with us, and Abellinum of the Hirpini tribe, which leans towards us, with our territories of Irna, Poseidonia and Compsa. And with the support of our allies in the Campanian league, we will be able topletely blockade the Samnites in the mountains and limit their encroachment and expansion.¡±

    Davos became pleased with Hielos seeing his intentions. He then coughed and further reminded, ¡°Besides restraining the Samnites, we would be able to elerate our conquest and assimtion further. Once we trap the Samnites in the mountains, they wouldck food because of their barrennd and would be forced to eithere out to plunder or trade with us, giving us more opportunities. In addition, we would need to strengthen our military forces in the Dauni region to prevent the enraged Samnites from moving east and raiding our newly conquered territories¡­ by the way, how are the preparations for the Eleventh Legion going?¡±

    ¡°With Lord Antonios'' full support, we manage to build our military camp near Luceria. Furthermore, we had carried out several rounds of military training¡­¡±

    Hearing Hielos'' report, Davos tapped his armchair, ¡®It seems Antonios managed to clear himself from the impact of the Ladician case. Apart from stabilising the situation in Luceria these two years, he had also actively cooperated with the Ministry of Military¡­¡¯

    Davos pondered for a while and said, ¡°Since we still haven''t chosen the legatus of the Eleventh Legion, the Ministry of Military should warn the officers of Dauni''s military camp to strengthen their vignce in the western mountains to prevent the Samnite''s invasion. Once they see the enemy, Antonios can temporarilymand the Eleventh Legion.

    At the same time, you should also tell Melisander, the legatus of the Tenth Legion in the Peucetian area, to immediately rush to Dauni once the battle starts.¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty.¡±

    After receiving Hielos'' reply, Davos turned his eyes to Ansitanos again, ¡°How are our advances to the Frentani people going?¡±

    The Frentani people live in the low mountains area north of Dauni, close to the Adriatic coast. The Frentani imed to be a branch of the Samnites, but they weren''t aggressive and had a smaller poption. Still, the Samnites didn''t recognise them. And even though the Samnites didn¡¯t recognise them, they would rarely invade them. Then again, it might also be because theirnd is too barren.

    ¡°Ever since their signing of a friendly treaty with us, the Frentani people are no longer as anxious as they were at the start and even understand our, Theonia''s style, of keeping our promises¡­¡± But while Ansitanos was talking, the Chief Commercial Officer, Marigi, interjected, ¡°Your majesty, the market we establish on the banks of the Tifernus river, is now very lively. And bothrge and small Frentani tribes would even bring their goods, ores and wood¡­every day in exchange for grain, olive oil, y pots and other goods,pletely different with how cautious and barbaric the Samnites were when trading with us¡­¡±

    Davos nodded. Then he suddenly remembered something and asked Hielos, ¡°I remember the Frentani people asking us to send a fleet to patrol their coast to drive away the vicious pirates a few months ago. How is it going?¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, the Fourth Fleet sent several warships to patrol the coast for them and had even fought several battles with the pirates who attempted toe ashore to plunder them. For this reason, Miltiades(the navarch of the Fourth Fleet) wrote to the Ministry of Military, asking us to give him more warships¡­¡± replied Hielos.

    ¡°I remember that. On the second month, I approved the document about adding five triremes to the Fourth Fleet that the Ministry of Military submitted.¡± Davos tapped his finger on the desk and mused, ¡°With how much the Frentani people depend on us more than the Samnites, I believe they woulde to our side once we wage war against the Samnites in the future!¡±

    After saying that, he changed the subject, ¡°Alright, everyone. Although we still haven''t started our negotiation with the Samnites, we still need to prepare the people to move there as soon as possible to quickly upy and stabilise the eastern part of the Campanian in once we obtain the three cities of N, Suess and Capua.¡±

    Raphias, the Chief Census Officer, immediately reminded, ¡°Your majesty, even though we have already assigned the registered preparatory citizens and freemen to the Apulia region(Apulia region included Messapi, Peucetti and Dauni) in the past few years, there are still quite a lot of vacantnds in the Dauni region without enough new poption to fill them. Thus we even set aside some of them as publds of the kingdom. So we can only send the freemen, who had just moved to Theonia, to Campania¡­¡±

    Davos frowned. Although Davos had adopted such an extreme method in the early days of Theonia''s development because of the urgent situation, he no longer wanted to use such methods of reducing the quality of the entire poption and making governance much more difficult.

    Vespa suddenly interrupted, ¡°Your majesty, the kingdom still has enough new people to send to Campania.¡±

    Raphias then looked at him in surprise, ¡°Where are these people you mentioned?¡±

    Davos reacted, ¡°Are you talking about¡­those tribe''s children?¡±

    ¡°Besides the elderly and children, and the sick and disabled in the various tribes, the young and strong have already gone out independently one after another over the years. If not for the ves, those tribes would have difficulty grazing their livestock¡­¡± Vespamented the decline of the Lucanian tribes. However, he also knew this was inevitable, ¡°Now that more than a decade had passed, most of the children back then are now adults. But more importantly, their desire to go independent, start a family and ownnd is even stronger than the tribal warriors before. And since most of them are reserve soldiers of the Third Legion, they can immediately be the main force in stabilising Campania and defend against the Samnites after they settled.¡±

    Davos became overjoyed hearing that. Besides solving the problem that woulde from moving the poption to Campania, it would also solve the remaining tribal problem. But as the king, he had to consider more things. He then looked at Sedrum and asked, ¡°The Bruttian tribe should also experience the same situation, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, your majesty. However, there shouldn''t be as much as the Lucanians.¡± Sedrum thought for a bit and exined, ¡°Since there was a rebellion in Bruttii during the South-Italian War, there were many tribes that werepletely dismantled and destroyed¡­¡±

    ¡°Then I would trouble you two lords to go to Lucania and Bruttii respectively and count the young adults from the various tribes willing to settle in Campania and finally report it to Raphias. Then once we finish our negotiations with the Caudini, you shall immediately dispatch them.¡± After saying that, Davos finally felt relieved. Back then, Theonia had topromise with the Lucanians and Bruttian tribes because of their weakness. But now, they could deal with things much rougher, like how theypletely dismantled the tribes in Messapi and Peuceti. And even if that resulted in more unrest, these two regions were now free of any tribes.

    And now, Davos finally saw the hope ofpletely removing the Lucanian and Bruttian tribes that had remained.

    ¡°Your majesty, shall we have the Third Legion wait there until the negotiations with the Samnites?¡± Hielos asked.

 Chapter 679: Discussion on saving Volsci

    Davos said, ¡°The Campanians aren''t urging the Third Legion to leave. On the contrary, they even wish for the Third Legion to stay longer so they could stop the Samnites'' retaliation, so there''s nothing for us to worry about. And since they are providing the army''s rations, we could just have them wait until the negotiation is over and our citizens settled in our new territories before leaving.¡±

    ¡°But that would result in our defence in Lucania left empty. In case the Samnites risk an invasion, I fear for the safety of Compsa and Potentia, even if Abellinum stands in their way! Your majesty, since it is impossible to dispatch other legions from another region due to the food shortage, could we instead send a high-ranking official to the Lucanian region to organise and lead the reserve soldiers in the region and the coastal towns as precautions?¡± Hielos suggested.

    With the legions as the main body of Theonia''s military system, the area under the jurisdiction of the Third Legion is thergest, as it includes not only the Lucanian region but also a part of the southern part of Campania and some towns along the coast. Thus the citizens of Elea, Poseidonia and Irna are subject to the Third Legion''s training and conscripting during wartime.

    Davos agreed with Hielos'' precaution and said, ¡°I''ll leave it to your Ministry of Military to decide who to send to Lucania.¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, I rmend Xanticles to carry out the task of forming a new legion.¡± Hielos already had a candidate on his mind.

    ¡°Xanticles?¡± Davos looked at Hielos.

    Hielos said straightforwardly, ¡°Xanticles had stayed in the legion and Ministry of Military for many years, so not only is he experienced in battle, but he is also familiar with military matters. And since he is just staying at his home now, he is the best person to prepare andmand a legion,¡±

    ¡®It seems Hielos didn''t rmend Xanticles out of their past friendship!¡¯ Davos also felt that Xanticles was a suitable candidate after listening to Hielos'' exnation. Feeling relieved, Davos asked, ¡°How is his health?¡±

    ¡°He continued exercising daily, so he is still in good shape,¡± replied Hielos.

    In fact, Davos knew something about Xanticles'' condition from the daily report of the intelligence department. He only asked that, so the others in the room knew about it and wouldn¡¯t develop any opinions.

    ¡°Then let''s go with him.¡± Davos immediately decided. Moreover, this would also serve as a kind ofpensation for the removal of Xanticles as the military inspector of the Ministry of Military.

    ¡°Understood, your majesty.¡±

    ¡°Next, let''s discuss Rome.¡± Davos looked at everyone and said in an aggravated tone, ¡°Those cunning Romans said that they need to wait for their two military tribunes to return before they could decide. But in fact, the Romans are stepping up their attacks on the Volscian town of Satricum while also sending additional troops to sneak into Volsci''s centre by attacking the Volscian coastal town of Antium. Our envoys tried to protest, but the Roman Senate only responded superficially. The kingdom of Theonia does not allow such mockery of our dignity! At the same time, the Volscians, who were in danger, continued to ask for our aid! Esteemed lords, what should our, Theonia do in such a situation?!¡±

    ¡°Of course, it is to fulfil our agreement with the Volsci, send reinforcements to repel the Romans and recapture the Volscian territories they lost!¡± Androlis said aloud.

    Cornelius and Lysias looked at each other. And for once, Cornelius didn''t hesitate, ¡°Your majesty, we cannot allow the Romans to conquer Volsc as it will seriously damage Theonia''s prestige among the forces in central Italia! Thus we must send troops immediately! However, can the Volsci guarantee the food supply for our troops?¡±

    ¡°I asked the Volscian envoy, and he assured me they could supply one legion with enough food tost for at least two months. In addition, they can also seek assistance from their neighbour and an enemy of Rome, the Hernici. So there is no need for us to worry about our army''s food in a short time.¡±

    Cornelius no longer asked anything after hearing Davos'' answer.

    ¡°Your majesty, can we only send one legion?¡± Mersis asked. Since a foreign city-state is providing food for free, Mersis wished they could send all the legions to relieve their food shortage.

    ¡°Volsci is only a small force in central Italia. They have already done their best to ensure the food supply of the legion¡¯s more than 9,000 men for several months.¡±

    Davos'' reply disappointed Mersis a bit.

    ¡°Your majesty. As far as I know, Rome''s strength is far more than the Caudini, so it might be difficult for a single legion to defeat the Roman army.¡± Hielos said worriedly. Because of Davos, he still knew about Rome a bit more.

    Davos smiled and said, ¡°Although our legion isn¡¯t enough, we still have our ally, the Volsci. Furthermore, the Volscians are preparing to join forces with the Hernicians, Marsians, and Aequians¡­and fight against Rome together. Hence even though we only sent one legion, we aren''t fighting alone. Moreover, we only need to repel the Romans, not wipe them out. Thus I think one legion will be enough for now.¡±

    After saying that, Davos asked again, ¡°Hielos, which legion do you think is the best candidate to send?¡±

    Hielos thought about it seriously and said, ¡°Your majesty, since we sent the Second, Fourth and Fifth Legions to participate in the Dauni war, the Eighth Legion alsounched a war against the Sikeloi in Sicily, and the Third Legion had just finished their battle against the Caudini¡­then it should be the turn of the First, Sixth and Seventh Legions. On the other hand, since the Ninth and Tenth Legions were just newly established, they hadn''t participated in any major battles. Because of that, theyckedbat experience and couldn¡¯t go on an expedition independently. Still, I think it is best to send the First Legion due to legatus Amintas'' experience and the First Legion being the strongest. And sending them to the Latium region would show how much importance we attach to the Volscians.¡±

    But even after listening to Hielos'' words, Davos remained hesitant. More than ten years had passed, and the old group of high-ranking officials either got promoted to the Ministry of Military, such as Hielos, Kapus, Philesius, Hieronymus, and so on, or a suprememander, such as Alexius and the former Antonios; or transferred to politics, such as Epiphanes, Agasias, Adrian, and so on; while others had remained idle at their home because they were too old or tired of fighting, such as Xanticles, Arpenst, and so on. Only Amintas had remained as a legatus of a legion and didn''t want to leave, just as Drakos did.

    Davos'' belief was: The experienced and brave Drakos and the legion he led were incredibly powerful inbat, like a sharp sword. Amintas, however, has an irritable personality and is rtively careless in his actions, so Davos was worried about having him independently lead a legion, especially away from Theonia, to fight against Rome, which had good generals such as Camillus.

    Still, Davos couldn''t say the reason. After all, Amintas is famous as a high-ranking army official and an elder of the Senate. Thus he said, ¡°I remember the legatus of the Sixth Legion is Thratyllus. He impressed me with the Sixth Legion''s outstanding performance during the battle against the Messapi-Peuceti Alliance back then. Since this would be the first time we would help the Volscians, there is no need for us to send our strongest legion as it isn''t good to be too enthusiastic¡­¡±

    Hielos understood Davos'' meaning. Still, he hesitated a bit and said, ¡°Your majesty, Lord Amintas might cause a ruckus if he finds out that we sent the Sixth Legion instead.¡±

    Davosforted him and said, ¡°If Amintas cause any problem, have hime to me.¡±

    Since Hielos couldn''t say anything more, he designated the Sixth Legion as the legion to help the Volsci¡­

    Suddenly, a worried Lysias reminded, ¡°Your majesty, I fear Carthage would retaliate if we wage war against Rome!¡±

    That is indeed a matter they need to consider. But even after knowing about how the Carthaginian Senate had been discussing this matter for days through his intelligence department, Davos didn''t hesitate to say, ¡°We are just defending our allies by helping them against a powerful enemy, which is a legitimate act! If we kept on considering what the Carthaginians would think, it would only tie our hands and make the people think we were too weak, tarnishing our prestige as the hegemon of South Italia!¡±

    ¡°His majesty is right! Our rtionship with Carthage for the past two years isn''t good, so we can test Carthage''s attitude towards us by doing this.¡± Sedrum echoed.

    Davos nodded and then said to Hielos, ¡°Inform the legatus of the Eighth Legion, Prosous, to be more vignt, strengthen our defence and keep an eye on the Carthaginians in western Sicily.¡±

    Suddenly, Aristias, the court herald, came hurriedly and knocked on the meeting room.

    After getting Davos'' permission, Aristias went inside and handed a papyrus to Davos.

    After reading it, Davos'' expression turned unsightly. He then faced the curious gazes and said in a deep voice, ¡°The Carthaginians gave their response. They killed our merchants and sailors without our permission!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the afternoon, the day Davos got the news, a Carthaginian envoy arrived in Thurii.

    This time, the person who came wasn''t Eshmounadon, an old acquaintance of the Theonians, but Pretasdrubal. At his request, Theonia held a Senate meeting. Then while facing the gaze of hundreds of Theonian elders, the head of the Magonids faction of the Carthaginian Senate said angrily, ¡°Theonians! Ever since the signing of our friendship treaty more than ten years ago, we have remained friendly with you! When you were struggling to defend against the Syracusan army, Carthage had selflessly provided you with many supplies! When you upied the disordered Syracusan territory in Sicily, Carthage took the initiative to divide their respective jurisdictions with you, helping you stabilise the situation in Sicily! And when your trade prospered over the years, most of that because of our Carthaginian merchants! However you-¡±

 Chapter 680: Tearing up the treaty

    Pretasdrubal entuated his tone and shouted sternly, ¡°However you, you used various means to attack the Carthaginian merchants, restricting them from trading within Theonia, and vited our agreement by using deception to trade with Sardinia privately! But what anger us even more is that you even covet our silver mines and have repeatedly sent men to the Iberian Penins to steal the silver ores we were going to sell to Tyre!

    These despicable acts you Theoniansmitted outrage the people of Carthage, and they strongly demand that our Senate take revenge for them. But because of the friendship between our two nations, the Senate sent me here to protest and demand that you promise to do the following if you still want our nation¡¯s friendship to continue!¡±

    Pretasdrubal''s words made the whole Senate Hall boil. And the statesmen, who had gotten used to the respectful attitude shown by foreign envoys for more than ten years, were shocked at the aggressiveness of the Carthaginians, making them even more irritated.

    Soon, the angry shouting of the Theonian statesmen quickly shrouded the meeting hall.

    Pretasdrubal, however, remained unafraid as he turned around and faced the man behind the centre of this ce. Although this was his first timeing to Thurii, he still knew who had the real voice in the kingdom.

    Although Davos was already mentally prepared after receiving the information from Aristias in the morning, he still didn''t expect the Carthaginian envoy toe so soon.

    At this moment, the calm Davos slowly said, ¡°Tell me, what does Carthage want?¡±

    As soon as he uttered his words, silence descended in the meeting hall.

    Pretasdrubal became surprised at Davos'' control of the Senate. At the same time, he could feel a sense of profoundness seeing Davos'' expression, neither angry nor unhappy. Then after calming down, he loudly said again, ¡°Carthage requests that-

    First: Compensate the several Carthaginian merchants you had punished here in Theonia and allow them to sell their grains without any restrictions on the price.

    Second: Immediately stop your western coastal towns from trading with Sardinia, and never sell any goods to them.

    Third: Theonia must fully open its domestic market to Carthage, allowing the Carthaginian merchants to trade freely without interference.

    Fourth: Any ship in Theonia shall not cross the sea area south of Malta, Sorus, Sardinia, and the Balearic Inds.

    Fifth: Do not interfere in any action of Rome, the ally of Carthage, and cease hostility with them¡­

    After Pretasdrubal finished saying those, the whole meeting hall turned silent instead.

    Davos then loosened his grip on the armrest, looked at the statesman, whose eyes were burning brightly, took a deep breath and shouted, ¡°statesmen of Theonia! You are the elites of the kingdom! Should we ept such insolent demands of the Carthaginians?!¡±

    ¡°NO!!!¡± Angry shouting erupted in the all, almost toppling the entire roof.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The guards outside the hall began looking at each other as they were startled at the movement inside, wondering what had happened inside.

    Suddenly, a soldier pointed to the square in front and said excitedly, ¡°Quick! Look! Look! Rain¡­rain!¡±

    After eight months of drought, the ground on the Nike square became somewhat dry and cracked. But now, it has be dotted with ck spots, and these ck spots are increasing rapidly.

    The people of Thurii, who were queueing in front of Thurii''s fountain to draw water, put down their jars and stretched their hands t to the sky. Then, their faces changed from disbelief to ecstasy, ¡°It''s raining!! It''s finally raining!! O Hades, thank you for bringing us rain!!!¡­¡±

    Just as they began to be ecstatic, thunder burst into the sky, causing the sunny sky to suddenly darken and the wind to blow.

    Soon, the sparse raindrops also became dense and became pouring rain in less than a moment¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the guard captain rushed into the meeting hall, he saw Davos standing up from his chair while looking down at the Carthaginian envoy in front and said word for word, ¡°THIS IS THE ANSWER OF OUR SENATE!¡±

    Pretasdrubal, who already expected this response from Theonia, raised his head high and said deeply, ¡°In that case, Carthage will have to cancel our friendly treaty with Theonia. Still, I would like to remind you that Rome is Carthage''s ally, so if you go to war with Rome, Carthage will certainlye to aid following our treaty!¡±

    Davos'' eyebrows raised, but just as he was about to retort, the excited voice of the guard captain suddenly sounded in the hall, ¡°Your majesty! Your majesty! It''s raining! It''s raining in Thurii!¡±

    Upon hearing that, the alwaysposed statesmen could no longer hide their excitement and immediately ran out of the meeting hall regardless of the important meeting being held.

    Although it is still afternoon, the sky in Thurii has already turned dark. Outside the Senate Hall''s main entrance, a strong wind sent arge amount of rain inside, thoroughly wetting the entire staircase and stage, even with the eaves blocking it.

    Soon, the rain wetted the thin chiton of the statesmen, and the strong wind chilled their bodies. However, the statesmen ignored it as they cheered like everyone else, while the statesmen, such as Amintas and Matonis, directly rushed into the rain to enjoy bathing in the heavy rain.

    While the statesmen were ecstatic, a passionate voice rang out, ¡°This is a divine omen! A divine omen from Hades! When Syracuse invaded Theonia, Hades revived the Fountain of Thurii, and then we defeated the mighty Syracuse! Today, when we face Carthage''s threat, Hades has once again blessed us by sending the rain we desperately need! With his blessing, there is nothing for us to fear!¡± Plesinas shouted with his arms raised.

    His words enlightened the statesmen that even Cornelius, Lysias, and the others worrying about the war with Carthage also gained much confidence.

    On the other hand, Pretasdrubal disapproved of it.

    Suddenly, he heard Davos say, ¡°In fact, I am d that Carthage has cancelled our friendly treaty. Moreover, I wee you to start a war against Theonia, allowing us to finally avenge the Theonian sailors and merchants that you have cruelly burnt to death!¡±

    Pretasdrubal turned his head and looked at the serious Davos. Then he proudly and confidently said, ¡°Carthage is no longer something Theonia can defeat!¡±

    Davos sneered, ¡°So will Carthage rely on your soldiers who the Numidian rebels tortured? Or will you rely on the mercenaries owned by the nearly independent Iberian kingdom that your master Mago had upied?¡±

    Pretasdrubal''s expression darkened, ¡®How could Theonia know so much about Carthage?!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the excitement of the rain, the statesmen began returning to the meeting hall.

    Even though there was a threat of a possible war with Carthage, none of the statesmen regretted firmly rejecting the Carthaginian envoy''s proposal.

    Since the people who could sit in these positions were not fools, they could deeply feel the hostility of Carthage to Theonia from those harsh conditions the Carthaginian envoy had proposed. And since they are one of the most powerful nations in the western Mediterranean, Theonia wouldn''t ept such humiliating peace terms that would even fetter its development, let alone stop their rescue of Volsci for fear of the Carthaginians'' deration of war. And since arge-scale war maye, such an approach would only drive away the many indigenous Italian races that could help them from Theonia. And since aiding Volsci was imminent, war with Carthage would soone if what the Carthaginian envoy said was the Carthaginian Senate''s intention and not just intimidation.

    Thus the statesmen began discussing with King Davos a countermeasure.

    The first agenda was the food shortage. As long as they had a sufficient food supply, the kingdom of Theonia could assemble an adequate number of soldiers to deal with any enemy invasion. Hence they asked the Minister of Agriculture, Burkes, to continue observing the weather in the next few days. Supposing the rain continues to fall all over southern Italia. In that case, the Ministry of Agriculture should act and let the Theonians rent some fast-maturing crops to reduce the food shortage and, at the same time, make careful preparations for next year''s spring nting.

    At the same time, the statesmen also requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send envoys to Egypt and try their best to establish friendly ties with the Egyptian pharaoh in hopes of getting food aid from the country with the reputation as thergest granary in the Mediterranean.

    In addition, they suggested that King Davos postpone their negotiation with the Caudini while trying not to be too overbearing so that they won''t force the Samnites to change sides and go with the Carthaginians in theing war.

    They also suggested that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs send envoys to the various forces in the western Mediterranean as far as possible to try to make them stand on Theonia''s side in the uing war.

    The Theonian envoys'' first target was the Greek city-states to the south of Sicily that were friendly with Theonia, such as G, Agrigento, Tyndaris¡­and so on. Theonia must ensure they stand firmly on their side before the Carthaginian army''s arrival and provide a certain amount of food supply to the Theonian army to ease their logistical pressure.

    And since a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse, Syracuse, even though it has lost most of its strength due to the continuous civil strife over the past ten years, is still thergest Greek city-state in Sicily (not including Theonia''s cities in Sicily, of course). Hence even though they have had some disagreements and had little contact with Theonia recently, the statesmen still hope the Ministry of Foreign affairs will send envoys to make Syracuse stand on their side as much as possible or at least maintain its neutrality.

 Chapter 681: War Preparation

    Further south, Theonia''s target for diplomacy was Cyrenaica in the Libyannds. If Theonia could ally with them, they could draw Carthage''s energy to the east of Africa.

    In the north, Theonia also wanted to ease the tension with the Samnites, strengthen their military defence with the Campanian league, friendly ties with the Frentani and exchanges with Abellinum and Nuceria to protect Theonia''s northern border.

    While in central Italia, besides the Volscians, Theonia had also sent envoys to Aequi, Marsi, Sabines¡­and many other races and forces in conflict with Rome to unite them against Rome and make up for Theonia''s current inability to send more troops due to the drought. And that would also serve as preparation for Theonia''s future entry into central Italia.

    The statesmen, likewise, remembered Rome''s two sworn enemies in the northern part of Italia, who Rome conquered, the Etruscans, and defeated, the Celts. Thus they asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send envoys to these ces, especially the Etruscans, hoping they could unite with them and have them attack Rome from the north.

    While in the western part of Theonia, Davos proposed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send envoys to contact several Greek colonies in the Iberian Penins, such as Sagunto(Zakynthos) and Hemeroskopeion. Although the statesmen only thought a little about the Iberian Penins as they were too far from Theonia, Davos believed that they had to make preparations as the Magonids of Carthage established a massive force in the southern part of Iberia.

    As for the east, Sparta, which was at peace with Theonia, maintained its strong presence in Greece. But once Sparta knew Theonia was facing the threat of war, they feared that Sparta might not lend their hand. Instead, they might start entertaining other thoughts. Still, Davos wasn''t worried too much about them. Although he only knew a little about Greek history in his previous life, he still knew that it was unlikely for Sparta''s hegemony in Greece tost long. And even though he travelled to this era that resulted in a butterfly effect and changed some of the histories that should happen, Thebes and Athens remained Sparta''s main enemies. After all, Sparta''s strength and measures determined they couldn''t absorb Thebes, which wasn''t much weaker than them, as there was bound to be a bacsh if they did. Thus Theonia''s only target is befriending Egypt.

    Of course, no matter how much they prepared, they will ultimately still have to rely on their military''s victory. As for the military¡¯s deployment, the statesmen have long developed a habit of absolutely relying on Davos, so they would generally not actively ask about the military''s n and troops'' movements.

    But to reassure the statesmen, Davos took the initiative to ask Hielos about the detailed deployment of Theonia''s troops to deal with theing war at the Senate''s meeting:

    On the northern front, the Ministry of Military prepared to send a legion to Volsci first, join up with the other forces and repel the Romans'' attack. The Third Legion would remain in the Campanian league while sending a high-ranking official to organise the reserve soldiers in Lucania, restoring the region''s defence. On the newly created Eleventh Legion, they would intensify their training to improve theirbat capability as soon as possible so they could prevent any possible Samnite invasion from the east. At the same time, Peuceti''s Tenth Legion would remain on standby, ready to head north as reinforcements.

    In the south, the Eight Legion began mobilising to defend against the Carthaginian army that mighte. And once the war started, legatus Prosous would be granted the authority to recruit more troops. At the same time, the Seventh Legion in the Locri region would be on standby for transportation to Sicily and join up with the Eighth Legion once the pressure on the Sicilian battlefield increased.

    Regarding the navy, once Carthage went to war, Seclian would quickly lead the First Fleet to the south to join up with the Second Fleet stationed in Catania. Then they would look for an opportunity to conduct a decisive battle with the Carthaginian navy while ensuring the safety of Theonia''s southern waters.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    But the truth is, besides the Third Legion and the Sixth Legion that was about to go to Volsci, the other legions were only making preparations without even assembling as this was the only way to reduce unnecessary food consumption.

    And since this was just a preliminary n for the war, they still had to adjust everything ording to the war situation.

    Faced with the imminent great war, the statesmen of Theonia no longer quarrelled as they began scrambling to offer suggestions and improvements to the n to deal with the crisis, resulting in the meetingsting until dusk.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    It was already evening by the time Davos returned to his residence, and the downpour before had now turned into a continuous drizzle.

    It might be due to not seeing the rain for some time, but Cheiristoya and Agnes asked the ves to move their klinai to the porch outside the living room. After lying down, they began chatting and enjoying the thin curtain of rain.

    On the other hand, the children, Eunice, Apox, Brilliantes and Aviya, excitedly rushed into the curtain of rain, stepped on the puddles and started a water fight.

    After dinner, Davos also moved his kline andid between his two wives.

    ¡°What are you discussing that made you so happy?¡± Davos asked casually.

    Cheiristoya sidled up to him and said, ¡°Sister Agnes said that she could finally go home without seeing the sad and dejected expression of the people whoe to pray to Hera. Instead, they joyfully shout and dance inside the temple so much that sister Agnes didn''t even bother to throw them out¡­¡±

    ¡°Did the people also pray to Hera for the rain toe?¡±

    ¡°Not at first.¡± Agnes, lying on her side, tilted her head, revealing her smooth neck and slightly knitted thin eyebrows, ¡°But they might''ve started praying to Hera after their prayers to Hades didn''t alleviate the drought. They might''ve also prayed to Heracles, Apollo and the other gods¡­¡±

    ¡°I can understand how they felt as this droughtsted more than eight months! If you hadn''t opened the kingdom''s granaries in time, used the kingdom''s treasury, and forced the city halls to sell food at affordable prices to help the people, there''s no telling how many of them would have starved to death!¡± Cheiristoya sighed while looking at her husband with admiration.

    The same goes for Agnes.

    Cheiristoya then silently ced her slender white foot on Davos'' left leg and gently rubbed it.

    Davos, however, wasn''t in the mood to enjoy thisfortable moment as he said with seriousness, ¡°Cheiristoya, although the drought has ended, there is not a single grain to be harvested in southern Italia this year. Therefore, your bank still needs to continue lending money to the people, allowing them to buy grain and seedlings so they can survive until next year''s autumn harvest.¡±

    Since he didn''t reciprocate her intimate gesture, Cheiristoya took this opportunity to express her dissatisfaction by saying, ¡°Give them a loan?! I run a bank, not a charity! Do you know that many already came to borrow money from us since they couldn''t afford food?! The banks in the various cities are now short of funds, yet you still want us to expand the scope of loans?!! I fear our banks will already run out of money in just a few more months! While those who borrowed money from us might not be able to pay it back even at the end of next year!¡±

    ¡°Cheiristoya.¡± Davos then said deeply, ¡°Do you know who often benefits the most from drought?¡±

    ¡°Will there still be anyone to benefit after such a terrible drought?¡± Agnes wondered.

    Cheiristoya is different from Agnes, who only knows a little about the world. After thinking for a moment, she replied, ¡°It''s the merchant.¡±

    ¡°To be exact, it is the wealthy merchants and nobles.¡± Davos sighed lightly, ¡°Whether it''s a drought, flood, locus, earthquake¡­the first to suffer are themon people who depended on the weather. Besides losing their ie, a disaster would also make them quickly use up the little money they have left. So to survive, they can only anxiously go to these wealthy nobles and merchants to borrow money at a higher cost. But if they couldn''t pay back the money, they would have to mortgage theirnd and even sell their children. Ultimately, they even had to sell themselves and be ves¡­¡±

    ¡°That''s terrible!¡± Agnes expressed her sympathy.

    ¡°That''s in other city-states. While in the kingdom of Theonia, we have our banks. So even if the wealthy dare to lend money, no one wille to borrow from them.¡± Cheiristoya said proudly.

    ¡°Yes, in other city-states-¡± said Davos while sighing a bit. Thend and debt problem was a severe problem in many Mediterranean city-states, so much so that it eventually triggered a riot in Athens that forced Cleisthenes to start the initial reform of Athen''s democracy. And Davos had learned a few days ago from Aristias'' intelligence that the conflict between the plebeians and nobles in Rome had intensified, and it was also because ofnd and debt.

    Thus with a serious expression, Davos said, ¡°Cheiristoya, since the bank has helped them, we should help them till the end. As Theonia''s royal family, the whole kingdom belongs to us. Thus we can''t just helplessly watch the kingdom''s people borrow from the merchants and have theirnd taken from them and be their ves just because they couldn''t afford to buy food and seeds¡­ If that happens, it would not only destabilise the kingdom but would also reduce our military resources and tax revenue. It would also make the wealthy people who have taken a lot ofnd a hidden danger that is difficult to control! As you can see, your bank isn''t only used to earn money, but it is an important tool for our family to stabilise the kingdom, allowing us to pass the throne for a long time¡­¡±

 Chapter 682: Amintas request for mobilisation

    Davos¡¯st sentence brightened Cheiristoya''s eyes, who then said with a smile, ¡°Your majesty, why are you taking it so seriously? I am just kidding. Didn''t I do all the things you asked me seriously?!¡±

    After saying that, she used her hands to support her upper body, then leaned towards Davos'' kline, almost snuggling into his chest. Then she said softly, ¡°You''ve been busy with the drought these past months. Now that it finally rained, you should also rx and have my sister and I apany you tonight¡­¡±

    ¡°Sister!¡­¡± Although Cheiristoya''s voice was low, Agnes, who was nearby, still heard her and caused her face to turn red.

    Davos became excited hearing that. He really needed to rx as the drought and the possibility of war put him under a lot of pressure.

    But just as he was about to tease the shy Agnes, a female ve hurried through the curtain of rain and said, ¡°Master, a guard came to report that statesman Amintas insisted oning to see you!¡±

    ¡®It''s already sote, yet Amintas still wants to see me?!¡¯ Davos became curious, so he gently rubbed Cheiristoya''s fragrant shoulders and smilingly said, ¡°I''ll first meet Amintas while you two wait for me in the bedroom.¡±

    Then, he got up and went out of the room.

    After seeing Davos leave, seriousness reces the delicate smile on Cheiristoya''s face. Then she said, ¡°Agnes, don''t you find it strange?! Although the rain hade for the first time in eight months, his majesty didn''t even feel happy about it. And even though it''s alreadyte, Amintas still came to ask for an audience! Something important must be going on! And I fear that it''s war, I think!!!¡±

    ¡°War?!¡± Agnes became started and began showing some worries.

    Cheiristoya stood up and said loudly, ¡°Morina! Bring the children inside quickly; they''ve been exposed to the rain for so long now that they would easily catch a cold.¡±

    After saying that, Cheiristoya looked at Agnes again and said decisively, ¡°Sister,e to my bedroomter as we sisters will apany his majesty well.¡±

    ¡°¡­alright¡­alright.¡± In the end, Agnes hesitantly nodded as her concern for Davos outweighed her shyness.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Your majesty, I havee to request you to send the First Legion to help the Volsci defeat the Romans instead!¡± In Davos'' residence, Amintas straightforwardly told his intention.

    ¡°Amintas, my old friend, Rome is but a minor enemy to Theonia. While you, who are the most experiencedmander of the army, and your First Legion being the most powerful legion, must be sent to face our real enemies in the south, in Sicily and Africa. Once Carthage deres war on us, the first to be sent to Sicily would be your first legion to fight Theonia''s most powerful enemy since its founding, Carthage! I hope you understand that we must use the First Legion wisely!¡±

    Amintas became hesitant after hearing those words. But a whileter, he decisively said, ¡°Your majesty, the Second, Fourth, Fifth and even the Sixth legions are no longer weaker than the First, and they canpletely repel the Carthaginians. But independently leading an army to the north to fight against the Romans is a rare opportunity, so I hope your majesty will bestow me this opportunity!¡± Although Amintas said that in a rather dull tone, that was his style of speaking.

    When Davos saw Amintas'' determination, it suddenly dawned on him that thisrade of his that had followed him from Persia to Magna Graecia and had given his full support had never asked for anything in return over the years. Not only had he stayed stuck in the army, but he had also carried out his orders resolutely and became a sharp sword for him to swing at the enemies. But that does not mean Amintas didn''t have any misgivings.

    Antonios had independently led an army to conquer Syracuse in Sicily; Alexius led an army that conquered Compsa, Irna andter Dauni; Hielos, who was somewhat younger than him, had led an army to conquer the Locri region; Even Prosous (Leotychides), who became a citizen of THeonia only after Theonia Union''s establishment, had independently led an army and conquered Sikeloi. But more recently, Litom, a Lucanian by birth, led the Third Legion and the Campanian league''s force to crush the Caudini utterly.

    But Amintas, who is older and have more battle experience than them, must have held a grudge. As a general, there isn''t anyone who doesn''t want to independently lead an army, defeat the enemy and win honour for himself.

    ¡®I guess I neglected him too much!¡¯ Davos tapped his finger as he thought, ¡®Should I refuse Amintas'' request? But that would undoubtedly hurt my old friends and might make them feel I have alienated their concern after bing the king. Grant Amintas'' request? But I am worried that Amintas would endanger the First Legion because of his eagerness to make contributions!¡­ What to do?¡¯

    Davos pondered. Then his eyes gradually brightened as he said, ¡°Amintas, I can inform the Ministry of Military to send the First Legion to Volsci instead. However, you must promise me something!¡±

    Amintas, who thought Davos wouldn''t agree after seeing him bing silent for a long time, immediately became overjoyed hearing that and said, ¡°Don''t mention one request; I would even agree to ten requests as long as you let me go!¡±

    Davosughed and said, ¡°My request isn''t difficult. On the contrary, it might even be helpful to you. You should know Phryntor, right? The one who has assisted Alexius in capturing Compsa and Irna and had just recently helped Litom defeat the Caudini. As someone who knew the north quite well, I believe he would be helpful to you! So I will send him to assist you in defeating the Romans.¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, I would dly work with Phryntor and certainly get along well with him!¡± Amintas immediately promised.

    Davos nodded and said, ¡°Go back and have a good rest. Tomorrow, you will be busy preparing for the expedition since it would be best to depart the day after.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± Amintas immediately stood up and gave a solemn military salute. But feeling that he hadn''t expressed his excitement and gratitude enough, Amintas went forward and gave Davos a firm hug.

    As Davos watched him leave excitedly, he began feeling that he had somewhat ignored the feelings of his oldrades recently and thought to consider them more.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After seeing off Amintas, Davos began to think of going to Cheiristoya''s bedroom immediately to see if his two wives were really waiting for him there. After all, Cheiristoya''s teasing proposal made him quite tempted.

    Just then, a ve came to report that Sostratus hade to ask for an audience.

    Davos was taken aback and began thinking, ¡®Why has this guye sote?¡¯

    Kunogta spoke of his eldest son to Davos several times before his death. Kunogta described him as someone with a yful andzy personality who likes to daydream.

    But in reality, Aristias'' investigation showed that Sostratus had a surprising talent inmerce. Especially after the South-Italian War, where Sostratus used the money he had earned to build arge fleet to continuously transport Greek immigrants from the eastern Mediterranean and seize business opportunities from Theonia acquiring a lot ofnds butcking people and supplies. He then opened maritime trade routes to Carthage and Egypt, rich in grain, and bought arge amount of low-cost food. Thus, while contributing to Theonia¡¯s stability in its new territories, Sostratus earned a lot of money for himself.

    Since then, Sostratus continued opening up new trade channels, such as the Celtic region north of the Iberian Penins and the Illyrian region on the north side of the Adriatic¡­ He would then exchange Theonia''smonmodities and wines for the unique goods in those regions, such as gold, silver, iron, zinc¡­and rare goods such as amber, onyx and furs¡­which once again made his fortune soar.

    At the same time, he loves helping other Theonian merchants, often subsidising them and cooperating with them by carrying out maritime trade¡­ And now, he has be a renowned merchant in the kingdom and is particrly influential among the merchants of the Thurii region.

    Thus Davos wouldn''t look down on him, even if it wasn''t for his father''s sake.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°¡­Your majesty, I know Aeonis. He always did things cautiously, so how would he dare have the audacity to run to thend forbidden by the Carthaginians and privately acquire silver ore? That is clearly a false usation made by the Carthaginians! For the Carthaginians to suddenly try them without our officials and execute them must mean they have something to hide! Aeonis and the fifty sailors hope they can return home with money to support their parents, wives and children, but they have been wronged and died in vain, and their families were left crying in tears¡­ Your majesty, please do what is right for them, clear their names and make the Carthaginians pay!¡± As soon as Sostratus entered, heined to Davos about how the Carthaginians wronged Aeonis and the others.

    ¡°Aeonis was a ve of your household, wasn''t he?¡± Davos asked without giving his reply.

    ¡°Yes, your majesty. Aeonis was formerly a farmer from Samos. But since he couldn''t repay his huge debt, he sold himself into very and waster sold to my family, where my father granted him freedom because of his diligence. Two years ago, he became a citizen of the kingdom and was in charge of selling our Thurian wines to¡­to the Celtic regions to the west and the Greek city-states on the Iberian Penins. But I didn''t expect that this time¡­they¡­those damn Carthaginians!¡± Sostratus let out a long sigh and wiped the tear from his eyes, which were filled with regret and resentment.

 Chapter 683: Northward March

    Davos looked at him: Through his intelligence, Davos knew that Sostratus was supporting Aeonis by making him a distributor for the Chamber of Commerce he had founded. Hence, his appearance and performance weren''t fake.

    So Davos could only say, ¡°I can no longer protest, for the Carthaginians have already torn up our treaty.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Sostratus opened his eyes wide and asked, ¡°Your majesty, why did the Carthaginians do that?!¡±

    ¡°On the surface, they were protesting that our merchants were encroaching on their trade monopoly and that they had to help Rome in order to honour their treaty and wanted to prohibit us from interfering in central Italia.¡± Davos said calmly, ¡°But the truth is that Carthage wanted to use this opportunity to deal a blow to Theonia and prevent our kingdom''s power from growing too quickly for Carthage¡¯s survival.¡±

    Sostratus was startled hearing that. He then asked in a trembling voice, ¡°That means¡­that means there could be a war between our Theonia and Carthage¡­?!¡±

    Davos nodded, ¡°Most likely.¡±

    Sostratus suddenly stood up and then rubbed his hands vigorously. After mumbling something, his expression showed excitement.

    ¡°Do you feel it''s a pity since your trade fleet may no longer deal with Carthage?¡± Davos curiously asked after seeing Sostratus'' strange behaviour.

    ¡°No, your majesty!¡± Sostratus eximed as he clenched his right fist excitedly, ¡°This is excellent! I have long awaited this day! The Carthaginians have been monopolising the metal smelting and trade with the other Phoenician city-state by controlling Africa, Sardinia, Corsica and southern Iberia to keep us out of it! So we should have used force to break this monopoly long ago and seized all of it!¡±

    Davos had originally thought Sostratus was afraid of the impending war, so he didn''t expect him to be ted that a war mighte instead.

    ¡®Or I had underestimated a merchant''s greed!¡¯ Davos rubbed his chin and asked, ¡°Sostratus, do you not fear that we, Theonia, would be defeated in case a war with a powerful Carthage and a mighty Rome broke out?¡±

    ¡°Your majesty!¡± Sostratus sat down again and said confidently, ¡°Over the years, I have travelled to many ces for trade, but I have not seen a single nation, a single city-state, more powerful than our Theonia! Not to mention you, your majesty! With you, Theonia will not fall!¡±

    ¡°You seem to have a lot of confidence in me!¡± Davos smiled. But then, he said with a grave expression, ¡°The reason Carthage dared to tear up the agreement and support Rome now is that the drought made us not have enough grain! Without grain, we cannot send troops to fight and just wait for us to be beaten! In such a situation, even the best suprememander cannot win a war!¡±

    After hearing that, Sostratus pondered for a while. Then, he made up his mind and said sincerely, ¡°Your majesty, I am willing to send a fleet of ships to Egypt in the eastern Mediterranean and to the ck Sea to buy arge amount of grain and donate it to the kingdom free of charge to support the army in the war! I am also willing to call on the other merchants of the kingdom to take the same action as me! I just hope¡­¡± Sostratus didn''t even finish his sentence as he looked at Davos expectantly.

    Davos became delighted as he understood his meaning. Instead of seeing it as their greed, Davos admired the merchants like Sostratus, who dared to make a move before the situation was clear. Thus he immediately promised, ¡°Theonia will never forget these merchants who dared to donate their wealth and lend a helping hand in the kingdom''s time of crisis. After our victory, they will all receive the rewards they deserve!¡±

    Sostratus smiled with satisfaction.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Two dayster.

    Seeing Amintas wanting to go out eagerly, her wife, Lida, said hurriedly, ¡°Amintas, you haven''t eaten your porridge yet!¡±

    ¡°I''m alreadyte!¡± Amintas stood on the porch as he watched the sky that was starting to lighten. He then took a big bite of the bread he had grabbed, turned back to the house and shouted, ¡°Sthephilos.¡±

    ¡°Father, there''s no need to be in such a hurry. It¡¯s useless to go so early since his majesty and the statesmen and the First Legion soldiers haven''t yet arrived.¡± Sthephilos, sitting at the dinner table, advised.

    ¡°I am themander of this expedition, so I must set an example for the whole army. Hurry up, or I will beat you!¡± Amintas said irritably.

    Thus Sthephilos could only stand up helplessly as he was already used to his adoptive father''s way of doing.

    ¡°Dad, don''t forget to bring me spoils when you return!¡± A young man sitting at the table reminded loudly.

    Then another younger child chimed in, ¡°Dad, brother, I''ll fight together with you and kill bad people when I grow up!¡±

    Amintas, who had a better attitude towards them, grinned and said, ¡°Krokus, how could I forget what I said! When I return, I''ll bring you a cartload of spoils!¡±

    ¡°Philkas, listen to your mother. Once you get older, I will take you to fight the enemy!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In a house on the outskirts of Thurii, Patroclus had just finished his breakfast and was spending time with Cynthia. But once the sun rose, he reluctantly stood up and said, ¡°Cynthia, I have to go!¡±

    Although Cynthia felt reluctant, she wasn''t just an ordinary woman after all. After affectionately hugging Patroclus, she said with concern, ¡°Be careful ande home as soon as possible!¡±

    Patroclus smiled confidently, ¡°You can feel relieved since our First Legion would destroy the enemy quickly ande home as soon as possible, as I, too, want to see the birth of our child!¡±

    Patroclus stroked his wife''s bulging belly and said softly, ¡°Rather, you should take care of yourself during my absence!¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Cynthia nodded gently.

    ¡°I''m leaving!¡± Patroclus said loudly but more so to remind himself.

    ¡°Oh! Don''t forget to wear the helmet my brother gave you so Hades can protect you!¡± Cynthia eximed. The ¡®Davos is a descendant of Hades¡¯ was no longer a rumour as it became an absolute fact in the kingdom that seeps into the hearts of every citizen. Thus even the members of the royal family, such as Cynthia, believed in this. Hence she is convinced that Davos'' biological son also has Hades'' lineage, so the helmet that Crotocatax gifted must carry Hades'' protection.

    ¡°How could I forget that! That is a helmet gifted by a descendant of Hades and the future king!¡± Patroclusughed. The helmet was of good quality, but its silvery colour was so conspicuous that he painted it ck.

    Cynthia leaned against the courtyard''s gate as she felt nostalgic and concerned at her husband''s departure with the ves carrying his armour and weapons. At this moment, she deeply realised what Cheiristoya and Agnes felt when they watched their father head to war every time.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Assembling the army for war in rainy weather wasn''t good as it would affect their marching. Yet the several days of rain made the people and soldiers of Theonia happy as it meant their suffering from the drought was finally over. Therefore, the First Legion and the people who came to see them off outside the city of Thurii felt more relief as the rain wet their cheeks.

    Davos encouraged Amintas with his usual words without saying too much, ¡°Amintas, I await your victory!¡±

    ¡°Your majesty, you can leave it to me!¡± After saluting Davos confidently, Amintas turned to face the more than nine thousand soldiers(including the First Cavalry Legion) and waved his right arm vigorously, ¡°Brothers of the First Legion and the First Cavalry Legion!¡±

    ¡°For Theonia!!!¡±

    ¡°For Theonia!!!¡±

    ¡°For Theonia!!!¡±

    The soldiers'' roaring resounded across the Sybarite in.

    Davos stood up straight and listened to the loud cry. Although he remained stoic, his heart was beating excitedly, ¡®With the First Legion''s high morale¡­may this first battle against the Romans be victorious!¡¯

    ¡°Move out!¡± Amintas ordered.

    Then the salpinx sounded.

    The soldiers, d in coats made of straw, carried their weapons and armour on their shoulders and marched in a long line towards the port.

    Why are they heading to the port when Volsci is in the north? It is because the soldiers at the mountain pass fortress west of Thurii reported that the continuous rain the past few days had made the mountain roads slipper with silt and trees falling from time to time and blocking the roads.

    Thus the Ministry of Military decided for the troops not to take the mountains in the west. Instead, they would head to Scylletium, then to Terina, and take a ship to Volsci, which might even result in the journey taking less time.

    Davos watched the soldiers march towards the port. Then his expression gradually turned serious as he knew that this might be the start of a massive war¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Tapirus began feeling stifled after being trapped in the inn for nine days. With the people of Rome blocking the door every day to protest and swear, the Roman soldiers had stayed guarding the entrance saying they were protecting their safety. But, in reality, they were restricting them from leaving. And in all this time, not a single Roman official hade to tell them the progress of the discussion on whether the Roman Senate would stop the war with the Volsci.

    At this moment, Tapirus finally understood that the Romans were just dying the time and had no intention of stopping the war.

    But what angered him the most was the Romans'' detestable tactics of mocking and disdaining Theonia¡¯s dignity.

 Chapter 684: Samnites Tribal Meeting

    A Roman official finally appeared just as Tapirus wanted to leave. Tapirus could vaguely remember that person was a Roman elder named Paulus.

    ¡°It is harder to meet you, the Roman elders, than it is to meet our king. Not only have you not shown up for over ten days, but you also won''t even let us go out. Thinking that you Romans would imprison us here, I almost sent people to Thurii to ask for help.¡± Tapirus said that in a mocking and threatening way as soon as he saw him, not caring that his words would hurt the man.

    Paulus, however, remained indifferent, ¡°O noble envoy of Theonia, you can see the chaotic situation outside the inn, and we are just doing that to protect your lives. And I didn''te for the past ten days because the Senate has been repeatedly and fiercely debating Theonia''s proposal, but there wasn''t any clear result.¡±

    ¡°So, there is a result now?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Paulus then said with a grave expression, ¡°Volsci and Rome are bitter enemies. During Rome''s weakest time, the Volscians relied on their strength to continuously invade ournds and ughter our people¡­ Now, the Roman citizens had finally made up their minds to eradicate the Volscians, our mortal enemy, in this war. Thus during our emergency citizen assembly, a proposal to continue the war was passed with overwhelming support, so I can only apologise¡­¡±

    But Tapirus was neither shocked nor disappointed since king Davos had already expressed his hope for Rome to reject this proposal before Tapirus left Thurii.

    Moreover, Tapirus'' main task was to go deep into the city of Rome and learn about its political, military, social and other matters. And even though they couldn''t leave the inn, they bought the inn''s servants and bottom service personnel and learned a lot from them.

    Tapirus then smirked as he asked, ¡°It seems like¡­you had to hold a citizen assembly?¡±

    ¡°Since the Senate could only debate and couldn''t decide, we had to resort to the citizen assembly to resolve it,¡± Paulus said solemnly.

    ¡°Hmm, well then. I can only bring your decision back and tell our king.¡± Tapirus was somewhat looking regretful, but he was, in fact, eager to leave this ce.

    ¡°I have really wronged you for keeping you in the inn all this time! As an apology, I present you, the envoy, and your entourage a gift from our Senate and on behalf of the citizens of Rome.¡± With a wave of Paulus'' hand, the soldiers apanying him carried two chests.

    When he opened it, silver coins that should amount to at least two talents filled the chest.

    Rome¡¯s dying tactic allowed them to upy more Volsciannd as much as possible to increase their weight in their negotiations with Theonia. Then the money was to bribe Theonia''s delegate, hoping he would say something good for them when he goes back. After all, even after receiving explicit support from Carthage that made the Romans much more courageous, they still didn''t want to go to war with Theonia after rejecting their proposal. In the end, even with Carthage''s help, a war with Theonia would just cause some losses to Rome. Thus if they could avoid it, they would avoid war as much as possible.

    Tapirus blinked and said, ¡°Thank you¡±, and epted the money without hesitation.

    Naturally, he doesn''t want this money for himself because, per thew enacted in the previous year, epting gifts from foreign countries was an act of bribery. Thus if he were to covet the money, his entourage would file reports to the Ministry of Inspection and be held ountable once he returned. And why he epted it so he could bring back the money and hand it over to the Ministry of Finance as his small contribution as the envoy to Rome.

    As for speaking good words for Rome, that is impossible! Tapirus would only tell king Davos about what he had seen and heard in Rome.

    The Roman Senate then arranged for guards to escort the Theonian delegates to the Port of Ostia for their safety.

    Once Tapirus and his entourage left the inn, numerous Romans shouted at them, ¡°Theonians, you are not wee here in Rome! Get out of Rome like the dog you are!¡±

    ¡°Damned Theonians! How dare you threaten us with war and try to steal ournd?! We will tell you these, we Romans do not fear war, and we will kill as many of you as youe!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Besides cursing, the Romans also threw garbage at the Theonians, but the guards managed to block most of them with their long shields.

    Cassius, the praetorian prefect, could only apologise, ¡°I am truly sorry! These guys are rude and ignorant but are courageous warriors when ites to fighting. I hope you don''t mind!¡±

    ¡®Is that even an apology?!¡¯ Tapirus'' eyes narrowed to slits. Then vaguely said, ¡°I heard Rome has many rude and ignorantmoners like them, so I fear you won''t be well off either once they turn their aggressiveness when facing the enemy towards the Roman nobility.¡±

    Cassius'' expression turned unsightly after hearing that.

    In the afternoon, the Theonian delegates finally left the Port of Ostia by boat.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Samnites were greatly shocked once the catastrophic defeat of the Caudini tribe spread throughout the Samnite region.

    At the request of the Caudini, the four major tribes of the Samnites immediately held an emergency meeting in Caudium to discuss how to deal with this matter.

    ¡°Esteemed great chieftains, the Theonians breach our treaty by sending an army to ambush our Caudini people who went out to plunder on the Campanian ins. Without any precaution, our Caudini chieftain, Segobani, and more than two thousand warriors were captured! And we also suffered a casualty of three thousand warriors, with all tribes suffering severe losses¡­ After the battle, our Caudini tribe immediately sent people to negotiate with the Theonians in Campania, but they refused to release our captive tribesmen and great chieftain. Instead, they arrogantly warned us that we must stop all hostile activities.

    Now, the Theonians stationed their troops in Ate, threatening our territory in the west like hungry wolves. Thus the tribes living around N, Suess, and Capua are moving to the mountains for fear of getting wiped out. And now, the whole Caudini region is in chaos¡­

    Hence, as a descendant of Savoni, I implore you, the great chieftains, to join forces and stop the Theonian invasion and avenge the dead Caudini people!¡± Usibek, another great chieftain living within Caudium, tearfully pleaded.

    ¡°When we entered Caudium, you must have seen its tragic situation! If we continue letting the Theonians run wild like this, the current Caudium will be us tomorrow!¡± Konteruk, the great chieftain of the Caraceni, stood up angrily.

    The Caraceni tribe inhabited the central part of the mountainous region, with the Pentri, Hirpini, and the so-called Samnite branch, the Frentani, whose numbers and territory are the smallest, surrounding them. Moreover, the Caraceni tribe are the most courageous among the tribes and adhered to the ancient traditions of the Samnites the most.

    ¡°Ten years ago, I told everyone not to fear the Theonians because even if they kill many of our warriors, we, as the descendants of the wolf god Savoni, will fight them to the end!¡± Then Konteruk, whose voice was as loud as a bell despite being over a hundred years old, pointed at Badani, the great chieftain of the Pentri, ¡°You had bent your knee to the enemy for your captured father and people, but your father, who felt ashamed,mitted suicide after he returned. Don''t you want to avenge him?!¡±

    ¡°And you-¡± Konteruk pointed his finger at the grand chieftain of the Hirpini, Lesguk, and rebuked, ¡°In the war ten years ago, your tribe suffered the most casualties and also lost a lot ofnds, such as Compsa and Irna. But as the great chieftain, instead of taking revenge and getting back your territory, you had ttered the enemy like a dog! So what''s the result?! Instead of giving you any benefits, the Theonians insidiously alienated the rtions between your tribes, causing Abellinum to ignore your order and instead befriend the Theonia! That''s simply a shame!¡±

    ¡°And you, Caudini!¡± Konteruk then pointed his finger at Usibek, ¡°If your grand chieftain hadn''t supported those two idiots in signing the treaty with Theonia in the first ce, he wouldn''t be the enemy''s prisoner today! Look at your territory, such as Nuceria, where the people have abandoned their faith in the great wolf god and started worshipping those foreign gods! That''s a betrayal of our ancestors! That''s simply sphemous! Your today''s defeat is the punishment of Savoni!¡±

    Lesguk, Badani and Usibek became ashamed at Konteruk''s scolding. Since Konteruk was the oldest Samnite chieftain who had stayed in his position for nearly thirty years and had the most seniority and prestige in the tribal alliance, they couldn''t refute him even though they disagreed.

    At this time, the Samnite''s high priest, Rhogni, said sternly, ¡°Those insidious and cunning Theonians have sinister intentions against our Samnite. Not only do they want to divide our people, but they also want to rece our great gods with their evil gods, destroy our traditions and turn us Samnites into their ves! We can no longer hold back any more! We must take up arms and fight them to the end! Drive them out of the mountains, take back ournd, and restore our faith!¡±

    ¡°It''s not enough to just drive them out of the mountain! We must give them a heavy blow so they no longer dare to go against us Samnites again!¡± Konteruk emphasised.

    ¡°Giving them a heavy blow?! That''s easy for you to say!¡± The young Badani could no longer stop himself from retorting, ¡°Do you know how big the kingdom of Theonia is? How many people do they have? While we can only gather together forty thousand warriors, Theonia can easily organise an army of a hundred thousand people!¡±

 Chapter 685: Arriving in Volsci

    ¡°Boy, do you still consider yourself a brave Samnite?! Show some bravery! Even though the Greeks wear thick iron armour, a single Samnite warrior can defeat three or four Greek soldiers!¡± Konteruk shouted.

    ¡°Old man!¡± Badani, who got scolded by Konteruk, angrily taunted, ¡°You''ve been in the mountains for a long time, so you have no idea of the situation outside. Unlike themon Greek soldiers, the Theonian soldiers didn''t rely on their numbers to be the strongest force in Italia in just ten years!¡±

    Konteruk became so angry hearing that, ¡°You are just a coward! You are not worthy of being Pentri¡¯s great chieftain!¡±

    ¡°Whether I am worthy as Pentri''s great chieftain is for the Pentri to decide! We don''t need outsiders who don''t know anything talking nonsense!¡±

    ¡°Everyone, calm down! Did we gather here today just to argue?!¡± Lesguk immediately stopped Konteruk, who was about to stand up and curse back. He then said sincerely to him, ¡°Chieftain, what Badani said is the truth. I had witnessed the Theonian army''s strength more than ten years ago, and I fear they only became much stronger after so many years of development. But we really can no longer retreat! We must rise and resist!¡±

    Satisfied at Lesguk''s words, Konteruk snorted and stopped making a scene.

    ¡°However, we still need to think about how to face the powerful Theonia.¡± Lesguk continued, ¡°Firstly, it would be best to deceive the Theonians into releasing the thousands of captured Caudini, which not only bolster our strength but also relieve us from any worry during the war. Thus we should pretend to agree to some of Theonia''s conditions to make them rx their vignce.¡±

    Usibek nodded his head repeatedly when he heard that.

    Although Konteruk snorted, he didn''t say anything.

    ¡°Secondly, we shouldn''t fight the Theonians on the ins since it would make it difficult for us to defeat them due to their number, heavily armoured and having cavalries. Instead, we should use our warriors'' expertise by luring them into the mountains that would cause the Theonians a lot of trouble.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we should fight the Theonians in the mountains that we are familiar with!¡± Badani agreed loudly.

    ¡°But how do we lure the Theonians? The Greeks aren''t fools and hate fighting in the mountains.¡± Konteruk finally asks a question.

    ¡°We can discuss this problem slowly, allowing us toe up with a good solution.¡± Although Lesguk said that, he had a confident expression, as he had already considered the matter. Then, he said cautiously, ¡°Rather, there is a much more important problem we need to solve! Although we can gather tens of thousands of warriors to fight Theonia, we don''t have enough food for a long campaign. And with Theonia''s vast territory, we will obviously be unable to defeat them quickly.¡±

    After saying that, everyone began to think about Samnite''s barrennd, so they definitely didn''t have enough food for a long war!

    Badani then looked at Konteruk and the high priest and then at Lesguk before interjecting, ¡°We had managed to gather more than forty thousand warriors to attack Potentia, but that was due to Dionysius'', the tyrant of Syracuse, aid.¡±

    ¡°That''s why we need allies that could provide us the food we badly need and help us share the pressure.¡± Lesguk took the opportunity to say those words aloud.

    ¡°Allies? Who wants to ally with us Samnites?!¡± Konteruk subconsciously muttered. The Samnites would bully others for decades when they were strong in south-central Italia and didn''t need allies, let alone have the habit of forming alliances. Thus the disastrous defeat that forced them to be Theonia''s ally for more than a decade haunted Konteruk to this day.

    Lesguk smiled and said, ¡°Yesterday, a delegation from Carthage came to Meloentum¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Circeii is a Volscian town, surrounded by the Tyrrhenian Sea to the south, a mountain to its west and a in to the east. The Volscians had developed the ce into arge area of farnds. And since the coastal area to the north is a series of marshes formed by the convergence of several rivers that made Circeii''s topography peculiar, it became easy to defend and difficult to attack, making it an important town for the Volscians.

    With the mountain race''s development, they often sharedmon characteristics. Once their poption increased, they had to expand into the londs to acquire morend to support their people. As a result, the Volscians own morend in the londs than in the mountains, and they began regarding Circeii and Terracina, another coastal town not far away, as the centre of Volsci.

    At the beginning of the tenth month, a massive fleet sailed in the sea south of Circeii. At the forefront of the fleet were thirty triremes, followed by more than two hundred transport ships, followed by more triremes. In addition, dozens of small and medium-sized warships surrounded the fleet on the outside.

    Pointing to the vague outline of the town on the distant coast, Matep, the Volscian envoy, said loudly to Amintas, ¡°Strategos, look! That''s Circeii!¡±

    Amintas looked tired after being tossed around on the sea for nearly two days. But upon hearing that, he suddenly felt refreshed as he turned around and said, ¡°Blow the salpinx quickly to remind our brothers of the First Legion and navarch Mithridates of the Third Fleet that we are about to enter the port!¡±

    After giving his order, Amintas said to Matep, ¡°It''s unfortunate that you Volscians do not have a military port. Otherwise, we could have directly stationed our fleet in the port of Circeii. With the warships'' cooperation, attacking the Romans would be much more convenient.¡±

    Matep said, ¡°General Amintas, we can immediately start building a military port under your guidance.¡±

    Although the Volscians owned the coastal towns for decades, they were, after all, still a mountainous race. Thus not only are they not good at navigation, but they are also not interested in it. As a result, theycked shipbuilding skills, and the number of warships they possessed was rtively small. Since Rome was also like that, there was no naval power among these forces in central Italia.

    ¡°We would''ve already defeated the Romans by the time you built your military port!¡± Amintasughed confidently.

    Matep could only smile apologetically.

    ¡°Legatus, the ships are turning around.¡± Amintas'' adjutant, Hippocles, pointed ahead and reminded.

    ¡°Although the Third Fleet had already worked hard escorting us for the past two days, I won¡¯t thank Mithridates for now since I believe we will have another opportunity to work together again.¡± Then after watching the departing ships, Amintas ordered, ¡°Prepare to enter the port.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Naturally, the port of Circeii couldn''tpare with the port of Neapolis as, apart from its small size, it has lessbour and low efficiency. Thus the soldiers could only leave the ship slowly once the Theonian fleet entered the port and docked.

    Suddenly, quite a few high-ranking members of the Volscians came to wee the First Legion, with almost all Volscian towns sending important personnel to arrive.

    Besides them, there were also representatives from Aurunci and Sidixi, the two small races living between the Volsci and Campanian league, to join the war under the persuasion of the Volsci.

    For now, Matep was the one who did the introduction, resulting in Amintas'' interpreter being useless.

    In fact, ever since the Volscians forged a good rtionship with the Campanians and traded from time to time, most of these high-ranking Volscians could speak Greek. Albeit with odd pronunciations that made it difficult for Amintas to understand.

    ¡°Esteemed lord Amintas, this is the consul of Circeii ¨C Toulus!¡±

    ¡°This is Fundi''s consul ¨C Brelius!¡±

    ¡°And this is the consul of Privernu, ¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Most Volscian towns adopted a sole consulship, with the consul getting elected once a year. In truth, the Volsci alliance is much looser than the Campania league as each Volsci town is equal in the alliance, without any rule on who should be the leader. But the rapid attack of the Romans forced them to unite more closely and ced Circeii and Terracina as their centre to jointly fight against the Romans. Hence the gratitude they showed in weing Amintas was sincere.

    And to Amintas'' surprise, he saw two Theonians.

    The first was Phryntor, the staff officer of the Army Staff of the Ministry of Military. As soon as he received the orders from the Ministry of Military, Phryntor immediately headed to Circeii from Neapolis and waited for the First Legion.

    ¡°Legatus Amintas, I have received an order to join the First Legion and listen to yourmand!¡± The uniformed Phryntor came forward and gave a solemn salute.

    After saluting back, Amintasughed and said, ¡°What do you mean bymanding you? I only know that his majesty sent you to help me win the war, so you should give me much greater advice, just like how you help Alexius and Litom!¡±

    Phryntor quickly replied, ¡°That''s not a problem, as long as you, legatus, are willing to listen!¡±

    ¡°Great! We''ll have a nice chatter!¡± Amintas grinned and pped him hard on the shoulder before looking at the other Theonian.

    ¡°Lord Amintas, I am Tapirus of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I receive an order toe and provide you with some information about Rome.¡± Davos had ordered Tapirus to head directly to Circeii alone after leaving the Port of Ostia.

    ¡°His majesty is really considerate of our First Legion!¡± Amintas immediately weed Tapirus.

 Chapter 686: Amintas Preliminary Plan

    Unlike the Campanians, who wanted to hold a great banquet to wee the Theonian army''s arrival, the Volscian quickly and carefully asked Amintas if they could exin the whole war''s situation to him now and start discussing how the two sides should cooperate against the Romans.

    Amintas didn''t even need to think about it and immediately agreed.

    And this also made the Volscians'' perception of the Theonian increase.

    Thus the two sides held a military meeting in the consul of Circeii''s residence.

    Amintas and Phryntor''s eyes opened wide once the map of Volscians and the surrounding area drawn in a cowhide unfolded. Although the map was drawn crudely and perhaps even less urately, it was at least more detailed than the map of central Italia made by Theonia''s Ministry of Military. After all, with many races and forces in this area, some of which simply didn''t wee outsiders to enter, and Theonia had few roots here, so Aristias'' intelligence had no way to send its men to probe deep into the interior of the area.

    As the two men looked at the map closer, Toulus, the consul of Circeii, pointed at the map and said in Greek with a heavy ent, ¡°Strategoi Amintas and Phryntor, more than thirty thousand Romans invaded our territory and surrounded the city of Velitrae more than a month ago. But since we had just suffered a defeat in the battle against the Romans, we could only gather twenty thousand men to rescue them and fought them outside Velitrae, only to suffer another defeat¡­¡±

    When saying that, anger and shame filled Toulus'' expression. He then coughed lightly and continued, ¡°After defeating us, the Romans began to siege the city of Velitrae by using terrifying siege equipment that could shoot stones at a distance and bombard the wall constantly. As a result, they opened a hole in the wall and caused the city of Velitrae to fall¡­¡±

    Phryntor eximed in surprise, ¡°Could it be the Romans can also make ballistae?!¡±

    As a statesman of Theonia, Amintas had attended the emergency meeting of the Senate on Carthage''s affairs during this period. In addition, he went to the Ministry of Military to read some secret information about Rome after he got his appointment from Davos. Thus he knows a lot about them. So when he saw Phryntor''s surprise, he whispered to him, ¡°Those ballistae should havee from Carthage, which had formed a military alliance with the Romans. I heard they sent fleets of ships to Rome in the past to finance their armaments. And before I led my army to leave Thurii, a Carthaginian envoy had gone to our Senate to express their support for the Romans and tore up our treaty¡­¡±

    The Ministry of Military did have information about the Carthaginians'' secret attempt to develop ballistae and siege towers¡­but Phryntor was more shocked about a possible war between Theonia and Carthage!

    Although Toulus noticed the two Theonian generals'' expressions changing, he didn''t stop his report, ¡°After capturing Velitrae, the Romans went to attack Satricum, but we had learnt our lesson this time. Thus instead of fighting against the Romans, we defended the city with our strength, which allowed us to repel the Romans'' attack many times. However-¡±

    He then angrily said, ¡°Ten days ago, another Roman army sneak attacked Antium. And since most of Antium''s citizens had gone to aid Satricum, they were caught unprepared! After capturing Antium, that Roman army marched rapidly south along the coast. But to avoid getting cut off by them, most of our reinforcements had to leave Satricum¡­¡±

    Then with a pained look, Toulus sighed, ¡°What''s Satricum''s situation now? We aren''t sure, but it won''tst long as there aren''t many soldiers in the city. And we couldn''t help them because this Roman army attacked so fast, and this area-¡±

    Toulus drew a small circle on the map with his finger, ¡°Has norge towns, only several viges and few small towns, with t terrain. Although there are several rivers, they can easily be traversed. Thus our hastily organised army to stop them was defeated by the Romans¡­now, they have reached the city of Setia.¡±

    Amintas found the ce where Toulus'' finger was on the map, and it seemed it wasn''t too far away from Circeii, so he immediately interjected, ¡°How far is this ce from us?¡±

    ¡°It''s about twenty kilometres.¡± Toulus'' answer made Amintas and Phryntor look at each other, thinking the same thing, ¡®It''s no wonder the Volscians anxiously wanted to hold a military conference! The Romans were already on the verge of killing them on their doorstep!!!¡¯

    Toulus'' finger then moved slightly southward on the map, pointing to another city close to Setia, ¡°We were currently concentrating our reinforcements in the city of Privernum when those cunning Romans stopped attacking Setia. Instead, they built a camp not far away, resulting in a stalemate for several days. But I fear that once the other Roman army captured Satricum, they would join up andunch their attack!¡±

    Once the worried-looking Toulus said that, the other people in the room also became saddened.

    After thinking for a moment, Amintas pointed at Privernum''s icon on the map and asked, ¡°How many people are there here?¡±

    ¡°About twelve thousand men,¡± Toulus replied without bothering to hide their weakness. He then emphasises, ¡°That is thergest force that our Volsci alliance can muster now, including the three thousand reinforcements sent by Aurunci and Sidixi.¡±

    The Volscians present felt a mix of embarrassment and sadness. Previously, the Volscians once dominated Latium but were now in such a state of decline that they could not even muster ten thousand soldiers.

    Tapirus, who was just listening, suddenly became enlightened, ¡®It''s no wonder there weren''t many Volscian citizens in the port and the city!¡¯

    Without even caring about that, Amintas pointed at Setia and asked, ¡°How many Roman troops are here?¡±

    ¡°Since that Roman army has two military tribunals, I fear it won''t be below twelve thousand. And per the Roman regtions, a military tribune would lead a legion in battle, with a legion having about five thousand men, plus some troops from Rome''s allies¡­¡±

    Before Toulus could even finish speaking, Tapirus couldn''t help but exim, ¡°Rome also has legions?!¡±

    Amintas nced at him and calmly said, ¡°Yes, Rome also has a legion, and its organisation is slightly simr to Theonia.¡±

    Beforeing here, Amintas, who had gone to the Ministry of Military to learn about Rome, was astonished when he saw the description of the Roman military system. At that time, he thought, ¡®The Romans stole our Theonia''s legionary tactics!¡¯ However, that also made him underestimate the Roman army less.

    ¡°More than twelve thousand¡­ If they were to merge with another Roman army with more than thirty thousand men, then there would be nearly fifty thousand Roman soldiers near Setia.¡± Amintas said slowly.

    The Volscians in the room all turned grave. After the initial alliance with Theonia, they expected their powerful ally in the south to send more troops here. Unexpectedly, they only send ten thousand men. But they immediately understood the reason after listening to Matep''s exnation regarding ¡°Theonia couldn''t send more soldiers because of the drought and food shortage.¡± In fact, Volsci also had some difficulty supplying the ten thousand men of the Theonian army and their army with food.

    Amintas also turned serious as he naturally knew the First Legion couldn''t repel fifty thousand Roman soldiers no matter how brave they were. From the information about Rome, the Romans constantly fought for years, making them more difficult to deal with than the weak Tarantines.

    He pondered for some time while staring at the map. Amintas then pointed to the west of Privernum and decisively said, ¡°I will lead my troops to camp here tomorrow. After that, I would try to lure this Roman army to fight with us, depending on the situation!¡±

    After Amintas said that, he looked at the people in the room. But when his gazended on Phryntor, he paused and asked, ¡°Phryntor, do you have any suggestions?¡±

    If it were Alexius, he would first ask Phryntor for his opinion before making his decision. Obviously, Amintas still needs to adapt to Phryntor''s presence, so his question is more like a formality.

    Phryntorpared the characteristics of these two important legati of Theonia inwardly and shook his head, ¡°I have no other opinion. Legatus'' decision is correct!¡±

    Phryntor analysed the pros and cons of Amintas'' decision in his mind. With Privernum being an important town in Volsci and the First Legion building a camp west of Privernum, the two would be horns that would undoubtedly add great difficulties for the Roman army to attack. Since the west of the to-be-built camp is a swamp area, it would create a simple defensive line to protect the two most important towns in Volsci, Terracina and Circeii, as well as the surrounding fields and viges. Thus that would also ensure these two towns and viges would constantly give logistical support to the camp. But if the Romans gave up attacking Sethia and the Theonian camp and instead forced their way through the gap between the camp and the swamp area to attack the empty Circeii in the rear, the Romans would risk being wiped out!

    After Phryntor expressed his approval, Amintas pped the table and said before the Volscians could decide, ¡°Then it''s settled! I will depart with the army tomorrow morning!¡±

 Chapter 687: Theonia v Rome (I)

    In the early morning of the second day in the Roman military camp outside the city of Setia, Camillus got up early, took the wet linen cloth handed to him by the ve, washed his face and then ate something.

    Then his son, Lucius*, entered the tent as he always did and greeted his father. (He is an Equites, the leader of the Roman cavalry. Per the Roman military system, an Equites is the second inmand of a legion.)

    ¡°Is there anything unusual?¡± Camillus immediately asked.

    ¡°Nothing has changed. It is still the same as before.¡± Lucius casually answered.

    At the sight of his son''s rxed expression, Camillus immediately reminded him, ¡°Don''t let your guard down! The Senate has informed us that they rejected the Theonian¡¯s demand a few days ago and have decided to continue the war against Volsci. So the Theonians would definitely join this war, so we should stay alert and ready, as Theonian reinforcements could appear anytime!¡±

    ¡°The Senate was right to reject the unreasonable demands of the Theonians! How could we give up the victory and the upiednds we have won with our blood and our lives just because of their threat?!¡± Lucius said angrily. Lucius hadn''t inherited his father''s gentle andposed character and had retained his hotheadedness even though he was over forty years old.

    ¡°Nevertheless, they would certainly add many potential difficulties to this war!¡± Camillus said with slight concern.

    Lucius confidently said, ¡°Father, not only has ournd in Rome greatly increased in size over thest ten years, but the number of our citizens has also grown rapidly. Without counting our allies in Latium, the Senate counted four hundred centuriae of soldiers in the Roman cities and colonies at the beginning of this year. Besides, we had the help of the Carthaginians, so it would be best if the Theonians didn''te. But if they daree, they will taste the might of our Roman army!¡±

    Without wanting to argue with his son, Camillus waved his hand and urged him, ¡°You should send a mounted scout on a reconnaissance mission.¡±

    After Lucius left, Camillus donned his armour with the help of his ves and began his daily routine of patrolling the military camp. And wherever they went, the soldiers would call him by his name with respect.

    However, ¡®Camillus¡¯ wasn''t his real name. It was his childhood nickname, whiches from the name of a Roman deity. But after winning many battles, his nickname became so popr that many believed he was as brave as a god of war. Thus he took ¡®Camillus¡¯ as his family name and regarded it as an honour (he was the first Roman to use his nickname as a family name).

    Camillus would often talk to the soldiers in the camp in a friendly way, like an older person caring for the young and understanding their mental state. And not only did he encourage them, he sometimes helped them solve minor problems, which is why the soldiers loved him. And to tell the truth, he enjoyed the atmosphere of the military camp much more than the somewhat exhausting,plex political environment of the Senate and the fierce conflict between the plebeians and the nobles. So the only ce he could rx was in the military camp.

    Shortly after his patrol, amander of another legion, the military tribune Furius*, entered themander¡¯s tent. (As Camillus'' son is introduced, we will change this character''s name to Furius to avoid confusion.)

    ording to the Roman Senate''s rules, when two or more military tribunes lead an army, they take turnsmanding it.

    Since it was Camillus'' turn today, all Furius had to do was stay in his tent and do nothing. But out of respect for Camillus and his responsibility to the army, he came to themander¡¯s tent to support Camillus and listen to his new military task.

    Seeing Camillus enter the tent calmly, Furius knew immediately that Camillus'' orders were to remain in camp today. Still, he continued to ask, ¡°Camillus, are we not going to attack Setia today?¡±

    Camillus reassured him, saying, ¡°From the herald''s report, Quintus and his army willunch a siege on Satricum today. If they can capture it sessfully, they can join us in two or three days and attack the Volscians together. So there is no need for us to rush now.¡±

    How could Furius not be anxious? Roman citizens were always eager for military glory and honour, especially Furius, who desperately needed it to wash away the shame of his previous defeat. Then again, hisst failure and Camillus'' patience had made him a little more cautious and respectful of Camillus.

    ¡°If only the Volscians woulde out of the city to fight us! After all, even if they get reinforcements from Aurunci and Sidixi, bringing their numbers up to ours, they still won''t be able to defeat us with the strategy you''ve devised, Camillus. In addition, with the help of the Carthaginians, our soldiers are far superior in weapons and armour. So if we defeat thest of the Volscians in one fell swoop, we can drive them back into the mountains and upy this fertilend!¡±

    Camillus said thoughtfully, ¡°Unfortunately, the Volscians became cautious now that everyone was hiding in the city to defend it, so we could not take even the small town of Setia in a short time. And if weunched a full-scale siege of Setia, we would have to worry about being nked by the army in Privernum¡­¡±

    ¡°If only we had the ballistae the Carthaginians gave us!!¡± Furius sighed with regret. Then he suddenly remembered something and suggested, ¡°Camillus, why don''t we do what you did before? Leave Setia and storm the city of Circeii instead!¡±

    That made Camillus think about it, but he soon shook his head and said, ¡°The Volscians had definitely prepared for this after our previous attack. If we fail to take Circeii quickly, the enemy will immediately surround us. By then, we''ll be so exhausted that we won''t have enough strength and time to set up a camp¡­¡±

    Camillus looked at Furius again and earnestly persuaded him, ¡°Now that we have the absolute advantage, there is no need for us to take risks. So we should just wait patiently for two to three more days. At that time, I will let you personally lead the army to capture Circeii!¡±

    Furius pped his thigh hard with his right hand and smiled helplessly, ¡°Alright, Camillus. I''ll do as you say and wait for Quintus and the others. Hopefully, they arrive quickly!¡±

    After hearing what Camillus wanted to say, Furius no longer wished to stay in the tent. But a man suddenly entered unsteadily and almost fell just as he was about to leave.

    ¡°Lucius!¡± Furius saw the person half-kneeling on the ground, covered in dust.

    ¡°What happened?¡± The calm and collected Camillus was surprised at his son''s miserable appearance.

    Lucius propped himself up as he stood unsteadily.

    Furius then hastily brought a chair for him to sit on.

    Lucius expressed his gratitude, then pantingly said, ¡°Father, I led two hundred cavalries¡­bypassed Privernum and prepared to continue south¡­to scout the Volscians in the area around Circeii¡­but suddenly, a group of cavalry dressed in ck appeared¡­and they immediately attacked us-¡±

    When Lucius said that, a hint of fear shed in his eyes, ¡°They have excellent riding skills and outnumber us. Apart from that, they are also good at throwing javelins while galloping, resulting in our cavalry quickly scattering¡­if the cavalry around me hadn''t¡­protected me¡­I fear that I won''t be able to see you anymore¡­¡±

    Once Lucius finished his report, he remembered that scene of him closely being chased by the enemy, the javelins whistling past him from time to time, and the screams of his men still echoing in his ears¡­resulting in his face turning even paler.

    ¡®ck armoured cavalry?!¡¯ Furius felt slightly nervous as he looked at Camillus.

    Camillus, also looking grave, said uncertainly, ¡°It seems the Theonians havee?!¡±

    Lucius had no time for such thoughts, for the only thing on his mind at that moment was escaping. Thus, he was surprised to hear what his father said, ¡°Theonians?!¡±

    ¡°I don''t know of any cavalry in ck armour among the forces around, and in the numbers you im. And from what the Carthaginians had said, Theonia''s army, whether infantry or cavalry, wore ck armour.¡± Camillus looked at his son and said gravely, ¡°So they could only be the Theonians you previously threatened to defeat.¡±

    Lucius could only lower his head in shame.

    ¡°What''s our cavalry lose?¡± Camillus asked again.

    ¡°Since¡­since we scattered during the retreat, some of them hadn''t returned yet. So¡­so we couldn''t count our losses for a while¡­.¡± Lucius muttered.

    Seeing Camillus'' expression, Furius anxiously said, ¡°I fear the Theonian cavalries had also attacked the cavalry team I led!¡±

    At the reminder of Furius, Camillus was no longer in the mood to criticise Lucius.

    The Roman army Camillus led had about ten turmae of cavalry. Every morning, the two military tribunes would send out most of their cavalry, some to scout the enemy and some to collect grain in the vicinity with the infantry. And since the Volscian cavalries weren''t strong and they had already defeated them before, Camillus didn''t worry about their cavalries'' safety. But now, he felt anxious and gave orders immediately, ¡°Lucius, immediately send scouts to the north and inform those infantry and cavalry centuriae requisitioning food in the Volscian viges to return to the camp immediately! In addition, remind them to be careful of the Theonian cavalries'' attack on their way back!¡±

 Chapter 688: Theonia v Rome (II)

    What he called "requisitioning" was, in fact, using force to plunder. Although Rome and its allies received food supplies from the Senate and its allies when fighting together, the Roman army would still plunder upied enemy territory from time to time, as this could weaken the enemy while strengthening itself.

    But now, Camillus realised that their scattered centuriae would be the most likely target of the Theonian cavalries'' attack, ¡°Furius, we''d better get the light infantry ready. Once we find the Theonian cavalry heading north to attack our returning soldiers, we will immediately send our light infantry brigade to drive the enemy off and pick up our returning boys.¡±

    Furius rejected, ¡°The Theonian cavalries had probablye from Circeii. With Circeii twenty kilometres from us, it is unlikely that the Theonians will have the energy to travel further north to harass our soldiers, no matter how powerful they are.¡±

    ¡°We don''t know much about the Theonians, so don''t underestimate them! It''s always better to be more prepared in advance.¡± Camillus patiently lectured.

    ¡°Alright, I''ll arrange for it,¡± Furius said while shrugging his shoulder.

    Just as he was about to leave, guards rushed in, ¡°My lords, many cavalries in ck armour have appeared to the south of the camp!¡±

    Camillus and Furius left themander¡¯s tent worriedly.

    Since the news about unknown cavalry attacking their cavalries had spread in the camp and caused a stir among the soldiers, many discussed this matter in whispers. So as soon as they saw Camillus and Furius passing by, they asked them about it.

    But how could they answer that? So Camillus and Furius hurried to the south wall, where soldiers gazing out at the camp filled the passageway, curiously discussing something in low voices.

    After climbing a watchtower, the two looked out and saw hundreds of cavalry in ck armour standing in neat order hundreds of yards away; several huge gs held high with the top of the g shining with golden light. Though only a hundred cavalrymen stood quietly, Camillus and Furius felt they shouldn''t underestimate them.

    ¡°I heard Theonia''s army had a statue of their gods adorned on the top of their g. It seems they are indeed Theonia''s cavalry!¡± Said Furius with a grave expression.

    Camillus, on the other hand, didn''t speak as his eyes were fixed on the general with a bright plume on his helmet among the Theonian cavalry, trying to guess the purpose of the Theonian presence in front of their camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the moment, Amintas, with the cavalry, was carefully studying theyout of the Roman camp.

    ¡°let''s get closer.¡± Said Amintas as he urged his horse forward.

    Then amotion broke out in the Roman camp.

    ¡°Legatus, it''s too dangerous to go any further!¡± Amintas'' adjutant reminded loudly.

    ¡°Aristonos, you are Scambras''* son and have inherited his bravery.¡± (Scambras had gotten the nickname ¡®the Growler¡¯ as even though he was the oldest in the Senate, he would oftensh out fiercely at those he opposed on the hall.) Amintas then jokingly said, ¡°But did you lose your courage after staying a short time in the Army Staff?!¡±

    Even after Amintas said this, Phryntor, who was standing next to him, didn''t react.

    Aristonos, who wasn''t in the mood to joke around, said hurriedly, ¡°Legatus, I''m just worried about your safety!¡±

    ¡°We are still far from the enemy''s camp, not to mention we are all on horseback.¡± Amintas smiled and turned his head to the side, ¡°And even if the enemy cavalry rushes out, Ledes, your cavalry will protect me, right?¡±

    Ledes, the leader of the First Cavalry Legion, said thoughtfully, ¡°From our previous battles with the Roman cavalry, their cavalry is no match for ours. So you can rest assured that I will return you safely to your camp, no matter how many cavalriese out of their camp.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I''ll hold you to your word! And it''s wonderful to know that our cavalry has the advantage!¡± Amintasughed while observing the Roman camp.

    But his smile didn''tst long. Even though the Romans had a significant advantage in their war against the Volsci, it was clear that they had kept their vignce high with how thoroughly they built their camp. The Romans had densely arranged abatis below the wall, dug trenches surrounding the entire camp, built sentry towers just behind the walls every twenty to thirty metres, and earthen barricades coupled with towering wooden walls, making Amintas unable to see the inside of the camp.

    Apart from not knowing whether the enemyid traps outside the camp, Amintas could tell that they couldn''t underestimate the Roman camp''s defence even from the outside. He could only frown and mutter softly, ¡°Attacking this encampment won''t be easy.¡±

    It was at this moment that Phryntor said in a serious tone, ¡°Legatus, there''s something else we should be aware of! Soon after we arrived, soldiers soon filled that ce.¡± Phryntor pointed at the dense but uncluttered Roman soldiers on the wooden wall in front of him and reminded, ¡°It just goes to show how well-trained this Roman army was! Capturing their camp and destroying this Roman army would be a challenge, resulting in the First Legion''s casualties never being low!¡±

    Amintas turned silent for a moment before saying, ¡°Then let''s draw them out for a field battle!¡±

    ¡°Amintas, now that they know our army hase, do you think they would dare to go out of their camp to fight the Volsci and us?!¡± Ledes reminded tactfully.

    ¡°We still have to try!¡± Although Amintas did say that, he didn''t think it was too likely either. After all, they had already walked around this Roman camp. But they couldn''t find any apparent gaps. And by observing the camp, he had gained a preliminary understanding of the Roman army and its generals: they were cautious, serious and rational!

    ¡®Could we really only stay in the camp and wait for the Roman army to converge and attack us?!¡¯ Amintas felt reluctant.

    Just as he was about to turn his horse to the ce where they would build the camp, a mounted scout arrived from the northwest, ¡°Reporting to legatus Ledes! We found several Roman troops plundering the Volscian vige in front of us, so senior centurion Agonis asked if they should wipe them out.¡± (ording to the establishment of the Theonian cavalry, a cavalry legion has two thousand men spread in four brigades of five hundred men each. A brigade has five centuriae of one hundred men each, and a centuria has ten squads of ten men each.)

    ¡°How many enemies are there?¡± Ledes asked.

    ¡°About two hundred enemies.¡± The scout replied.

    ¡°Has Agonis be so stupid that he even had to ask us if he could eat such a fat piece of meat that was already so close to his mouth?!¡± Ledes then said impatiently, ¡°Tell your senior centurion to kill as many enemies as possible!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± Then the mounted scout urged his horse to leave.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Amintas called out to him, ¡°Have you really only spotted those two hundred or so enemies? Or are those two hundred or so men the only ones outside the enemy camp?¡±

    Although Amintas'' question was a bit roundabout, the mounted scout still understood it. Thus he pointed to the northwest and said, ¡°Legatus Amintas, our brigade had only searched that direction and not anywhere else.¡±

    Amintas immediately looked at Ledes and said, ¡°Old friend, I need your help! Send out these men of yours and find out how many Roman soldiers are plundering in this area, and report back to me quickly!¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Ledes immediately turned to his men and assigned them their tasks.

    ¡°Legatus Amintas, do you want to lure the Roman soldiers out of their camp?¡± Phryntor''s mind worked quickly as he roughly guessed Amintas'' intention.

    Amintas looked at him and said with a hint of excitement, ¡°We can''t just do nothing and watch the Romans rendezvous. Once the fifty thousand-strong armiese, our First Legion, no matter how powerful we are, won''t be able to stop them!¡±

    Phryntor nodded in agreement.

    ¡°Aristonos!¡± Amintas looked at his adjutant and said, ¡°Send out our heralds to quickly inform our brothers to stop building the camp. Instead, have them put on their armour, take their weapons, march here in formation, and wait for my orders.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± Aristonos replied excitedly.

    Ledes, who had just sent out some of his cavalries, immediately warned after hearing Amintas'' order, ¡°Since we aren''t clear about the situation yet, you shouldn''t make such a big move. If those two hundred men are the only enemies out there, the Roman army definitely won''t leave the camp. So apart from wasting our efforts in vain, you will also receive the soldiers¡¯ criticism!¡±

    ¡°They would dare?!¡± Amintas'' stared at him and said in a decisive tone, ¡°I fear it will all be toote by the time we find out! And I think this would be our only chance to get the Romans to engage us in a field battle!¡±

    ¡°I agree with legatus Amintas about giving this a try. If the situation isn''t what we think it will be, we could just have the soldiers stay in Privernum tonight and start building the camp tomorrow.¡± Phryntor said that after noticing Amintas'' personality, ¡®This legatus had a strong desire to fight and wouldn''t miss even a small opportunity for a battle.¡¯

    He then added, ¡°But beyond that, we must remind Privernum and the Volscian army in Setia in advance to join hands with us to defeat the Romans if they do indeed leave camp.¡±

    ¡°I''m only responsible for fighting the Romans; I''ll leave the other tedious things to you. Does that suit you?¡± Amintas asked directly.

 Chapter 689: Theonia v Rome (III)

    Amintas'' words surprised Phryntor, but he didn''t refuse and said, ¡°Alright!¡±

    Aristonos then looked at Amintas after hearing him say, ¡°I need your help!¡±

    Amintas waved his hand and said, ¡°Aristonos, you will be under hismand.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Aristonos agreed and immediately brought the heralds to Phryntor.

    ¡°Go and inform the Volscians in Setia and Privernum immediately of how we will intercept the Roman soldiers plundering the food supplies and how this is likely to result in the Roman army leaving their camp to fight us. So have them prepare by gathering their soldiers so they cane to our aid as soon as we engage in a major battle with the Romans!¡±

    After receiving Phryntor¡¯s order, the two heralds immediately rode away.

    Phryntor then asked Aristonos, ¡°Did you bring a te?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Aristonos took from his horse''s mat a small ckened square te and a white stylus, a standard item for a legion''s adjutant, to avoid mistakes in conveying the legatus'' orders in the event of a fierce battle. In addition, it also served as a tactical illustration board. And since Aristonos hade from the Army Staff, he certainly knew how to use it.

    ¡°Mark the Roman camp as the centre, Setia about a kilometre to its south, Privernum about eight kilometres to its south and the camp we were going to build about four kilometres to the southwest¡­¡± True to his reputation as a wise member of the Army Staff, Phryntor, even though he had just arrived in Volsci yesterday, already knew about those things.

    Aristonos listened to Phryntor as he marked the Roman camp as the centre, then drew each position on the board and wrote their distance.

    With his temperament, Amintas didn''t have the patience to analyse and calcte this data, so he just listened a few words. And since the only thing he wants is the result, he quickly left the ce and looked north, anxiously awaiting the news the mounted scouts would bring.

    On the other hand, Ledes'' men kept a vignt eye on the Roman camp not far to the east to prevent the Roman cavalries from suddenly going out and threatening their officers'' safety.

    In fact, Amintas didn''t have to wait long.

    Not long after Ledes sent out his cavalry, the cavalry brigades and centuriae that had scattered before sent someone back to report the enemy''s situation, ¡°Reporting to the legatus! The third centuria of the second cavalry brigade found more than a hundred Roman soldiers in the south.¡±

    ¡°How far are they?¡±

    ¡°About five kilometres!¡±

    ¡°Reporting to the legatus! The first centuria of the fourth cavalry brigade found about a hundred Roman soldiers six kilometres to the north.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With one cavalry returning to report one after another, Amintas'' expression increasingly became excited. Then he shouted, ¡°Phryntor, the Romans must have more than a thousand soldiers out there, right?!¡±

    ¡°Per our current statistics, there are more than ten centuriae of Roman soldiers outside,¡± Phryntor answered hurriedly.

    Adjutant Aristonos also presented the te, where he drew the icons representing the towns, camps, units and distance¡­

    Amintas felt dizzy when he looked at it, so instead of looking at it, he said excitedly, ¡°There''s no need for us to wait for the other scouts to return. With more than ten centuriae of Roman soldiers already outside, their general could not simply abandon them. So we should attack them to draw out the Roman army and fight them here!¡±

    Ledes and Phryntor saw Amintas'' determined gaze.

    Phryntor responded without hesitation, ¡°We should inform the First Legion to speed up their marching speed so they can intercept these Roman soldiers before they can return to their camp!¡±

    ¡°Tell the First Legion that if a brigade, centuria or even a toon arriveste, they will receive a severe punishment following the Military Law!¡± said Amintas, with a hint of viciousness in his stern tone.

    ¡°Understood!¡± Under Amintas'' influence, the adjutant Aristonos seemed fiercer when giving orders to the heralds.

    ¡°Amintas.¡± Ledes rode on his horse with a serious expression and said, ¡°I am now going to rush to the north to organise my cavalry and try to dy the Romans who are out gathering provisions from returning to their camp!¡±

    ¡°Thank you!¡± said Amintas, who seldom express his gratitude. Although the Ministry of Military gave Amintas the overallmand in aiding the Volscians beforeing, Ledes and he is, after all, both legatus equal in rank in their positions. (In fact, with Ledes being the one to establish Theonia''s cavalry, he was potentially inmand of the entire Theonian cavalry.)

    ¡°There''s no need to thank me since I also want to get more achievements for my First Cavalry Legion,¡± said Ledes frankly. Then he added, ¡°After I leave, you should take care of your safety!¡±

    At Ledes'' reminder, Amintas and Phryntor left the Roman camp with several cavalries.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The First Cavalry Legion''s attack on the Roman cavalry roaming the area from Circeii was to clear the surrounding, cover the Romans'' eyes and ears, and protect the First Legion''s march and camp. In the end, they even went around Roman¡¯s camp and headed north.

    On the other hand, the marching speed of the First Legion was much slower. After all, the First Legion had just arrived at where they would build the camp when Amintas made a n to lure the snake out of its hole. After putting down their armour and weapons, the army officersmanded the soldiers to pick up pickaxes, wooden frames and other tools and started digging trenches ording to the camp design made by the engineers after surveying the terrain.

    But suddenly, a herald sent by Amintas arrived.

    After receiving Amintas'' order, all the senior centurions sounded the salpinx to gather without hesitation, despite their doubts.

    ¡°Captain, are we going to attack the enemy camp? Is that why you ordered us to put on our armour and weapons?¡± A centurion asked.

    Senior centurion, Patroclus, shook his head to indicate that he didn''t know what was happening. And since the order Amintas gave was somewhat vague, he could only say, ¡°Quickly have our brothers speed up forming; our sixth brigade can''tg behind the other brigades!¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry, captain. Our brothers won''t embarrass you!¡± a centurion immediately responded.

    Despite his youth, Patroclus has a high prestige among the soldiers. After all, apart from winning numerous battles that made him the kingdom¡¯s hero, he also had an additional identity that amazed the soldiers: He is the son-inw of the great king Davos.

    Apart from the six heavy infantry brigades, one light infantry brigade, and one light armoured brigade, there is also the engineering camp(because of the possibility of needing to attack the enemy''s camp) and the reconnaissance camp, totalling more than eight thousand men. After arranging into several columns, led by cavalry, began marching at normal speed to the north.

    But instead of feeling dissatisfied for having to march again, the soldiers of the First Legion were very rxed because of the t terrain and the cold weather inte autumn. At the same time, the still energetic soldiers excitedly talk about, ¡®Will we participate in a battle?¡¯

    After more than twenty minutes of marching, Amintas'' herald arrived again with a much clearer order: The whole army was to march to his position to intercept the Roman soldiers who had left the camp to plunder!

    Xethippus, Patroclus¡­.and the other senior centurion became excited and immediately issued orders. Then the salpinx sounded rapidly, and their heralds galloped between the marching columns.

    Soon after, the officers'' shouts rang out one after another, and the marching noise became a rumble¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After Camillus took Antium and Astura, he wanted to take Setia quickly, so he didn''t order the cleaning up of the many Volscian viges behind them.

    But with the Volscians responding quickly by moving their armies into Setia and Privernum, the Roman army had to set up camp and confront the enemy.

    At the same time, Camillus sent various Roman centuriae to the rear to collect provisions to reduce the pressure on their food supply. At the same time, he took the opportunity to clean up these Volscian viges that might be a potential threat while collecting provisions, such as capturing the abled men in the viges and crushing the resistance of the Volscians¡­

    . . . . . . . . .

    Early in the morning, Cadmus, a Roman centurion, received an order to take his men to the north to collect provisions.

    But the previous provision gathering had already emptied the Volscian viges near the Roman camp. Thus, like the other officers, Cadmus'' centuria had to march nearly five kilometres to the north before finding a vige with oil and a river where they could fish.

    So he rushed in with his soldiers, like a wolf into a flock of sheep. After killing dozens of Volscians, Cadmus'' provision gathering became smooth.

    But just as they were forcing the Volscians to fill their wagons and stolen wagons with the provisions, a Roman cavalry arrived and said, ¡°The enemy is attacking us, so the military tribune, Camillus, orders you to return to camp immediately!¡±

    Although Cadmus felt pity about the many goods they still hadn''t loaded, he didn''t hesitate to call up the scattered soldiers.

    Just then, he saw many ck armoured cavalries appear outside the vige.

    ¡®They don''t look like Volscian cavalry!¡¯ Cadmus felt puzzled, but the person who could solve his doubts was already gone.

    But instead of feeling nervous, Cadmus was already used to the ipetence of the Roman cavalry. So he calmly left the one hundred and twenty Roman soldiers to guard the wagons full of spoils while he grabbed a few Volscians to pull the pack animals and quietly depart from the vige.

    Suddenly, the ck armoured cavalry quickly approached them.

    But even after that, Cadmus continued telling his soldiers not to worry too much and to remain vignt. As a veteran, Cadmus had seen many times how the Roman cavalry and the surrounding forces¡¯ cavalries attacked, so he knew that in front of the Roman soldier''s long shields, the cavalry''s stabs were ineffective and would instead make them fall off their horses easily.

 Chapter 690: Theonia v Rome (IV)

    Having fought against the Celts under Camillus ten years earlier, Cadmus knew the fierce impact of Celtic cavalry, armed with great swords and chariots. But these ck-armoured cavalry, armed with spears, are clearly not the Celts.

    Suddenly, he heard several screams as the soldiers shouted in panic, ¡°Watch out for the javelins!¡±

    After unconsciously raising his shield to protect himself, Cadmus saw a short javelin hit a nearby soldier on his right, causing him to fall and scream on the ground. Then he noticed the enemy cavalry, only a dozen metres away, each with a spear and javelin in each hand, slowing their horses as they slowly circled around them, looking for the next opportunity to attack.

    ¡°Damn it! They can throw javelins!¡± Cadmus became flustered, for this was the first time he had been in contact with this kind of cavalry.

    ¡®What to do?¡¯ Cadmus pondered anxiously, ¡®Should we continue? The camp is only five kilometres away. But our speed would be slower as we would have to guard the wagons against enemy cavalry attacks. Or should we return to the vige and wait for help? Although the vige isn''t far away, it''s uncertain when reinforcements will arrive¡­and apart from the cavalry, the enemy may also have infantry here¡­¡¯

    While Cadmus hesitated, the captured Volscians took advantage of the soldiers'' vignce against the ck-armoured cavalry to unhitch the horses pulling the wagons quietly, mount them and break through the protective ring of unprepared Roman soldiers, escaping in the chaos. As a result, several angry Roman soldiers gave chase.

    ¡°Idiots! Come back!¡± Cadmus shouted anxiously.

    But it was toote, as Cadmus saw the enemy cavalry give chase.

    Although the Roman soldiers realised their situation had worsened, they didn''t panic. Instead, they raised their shields against the enemy cavalry as they retreated with great strides.

    But to their surprise, several enemy cavalries rushed up behind them and knocked them down directly, as they could not evade in time.

    At the same time, the enemy cavalry in the front also rushed forward. But having just been knocked down, the Roman soldiers had no time to raise their shields and could only watch as the enemy on horseback bent down and quickly plunged their spears into them. Then they would quickly let go of the spears to avoid being thrown from the horse by the strong momentum.

    Cadmus felt angry and uneasy at the tragic situation of his men and the skilful cooperation of the enemy cavalry. So, even though it would have been challenging to transport the spoils back without the pack animals and the wagons, Cadmus finally decided to give them up. He then gathered the soldiers into a tight column and moved slowly towards the camp, taking care not to be harassed by the enemy cavalry from time to time.

    Such encounters happened to every Roman centuria that went out to plunder provisions, with only some managing to take the same measures as Cadmus, while the others simply returned to the vige to wait for rescue¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Soon after, Camillus and Furius received word of the Theonian cavalry''s attack on their troops outside the camp. As a result, Camillus hesitated no longer and immediately sent all his light infantry and cavalry to meet his soldiers outside and repel the Theonian cavalry.

    As soon as the north gate of the Roman camp was wide open, nearly two thousand light infantry and over eight hundred cavalries set out.

    Initially, the light infantry of the Roman army were all the fourth and fifth-ss Roman plebeians who were poor and couldn''t afford to buy heavy infantry equipment. But after Camillus¡¯ military reform and with the help of the Carthaginians, the Roman plebeians could now serve as heavy infantry as well. After the war, however, they had to return the equipment provided by the Senate. Consequently, Rome¡¯s ally now serves as Rome¡¯s light infantry.

    After spending some time since leaving the camp, these light infantry and Roman cavalry split up into dozens or so groups led by mounted scouts and ran to their respective targets.

    But then Camillus, who had remained in the tent, received more shocking news: some eight thousand Theonian soldiers were marching towards the Roman camp!

    The shocked Furius looked at Camillus and said, ¡°The Theonians had just arrived, yet they want to attack our camp?!¡±

    Camillus pondered for a moment and ordered, ¡°Send scouts to check the movement of Setia and Privernum in the south. Once you see their armying out, report it back immediately!¡±

    Although Camillus believed that the Theonians would not dare to attack his camp with only eight thousand men, he did not dare to take them lightly. So he sent his men to watch the Volscians closely while at the same time mobilising his soldiers to prepare the camp''s defence.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile, in the city of Privernum, its consul Katamentalus received the news from the herald of Theonia¡¯s First Legion, causing him to utter in surprise, ¡°Theonia''s First Legion is asking for our help. They are preparing to attack those wretched Roman soldiers who are plundering our territory to lure the main Roman force out of their camp and engage them in a field battle!¡±

    ¡°These Theonians are really impatient. They wanted to fight the Romans, even though they had just arrived without knowing the situation.¡± said the general of the Aurunci reinforcements.

    ¡°This is proof that the Theonians are genuinely helping us!¡± Toulus, the consul of Circeii, had embarrassed the generals of Aurunci and Sidixi since they had led their troops to Volsci for nearly half a month and still hadn''t fought the Romans.

    ¡°But¡­but the Roman army is too strong! If our army leaves the wall¡¯s protection and fights the Romans in the field, should they fail¡­ our people will be in danger!¡± the consul of Terracina said worriedly. He had previously led the reinforcements to save Velitrae, but this led to their defeat at the hands of the Romans, which ultimately led to the fall of Velitrae.

    ¡°Now that the most powerful kingdom in Italia dares to propose to battle the Romans, they must be confident enough to defeat them!¡± Keronus, the former consul of Antium and the most anxious to recapture the upied towns, eximed, ¡°Besides, what kind of a host would just sit back and do nothing while our distinguished guests are desperately trying to help us out?¡±

    And as the suprememander of the Volscian army, Katamentalus finally made up his mind and called the Theonian''s herald and said, ¡°Please go back and tellmander Amintas that all the Volscian soldiers are standing by, waiting for his order to attack!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the Theonian cavalry mainly to the west and north of the Roman camp, the Roman mounted scouts could observe the Theonian army''s movements to the south in rtive safety.

    An hourter, Camillus received word that the Theonian army had approached their camp.

    When he returned to the watchtower at the south gate of the camp, he could already see the dust rising.

    Yet even with that, Camillus remained unperturbed. On the contrary, he just looked at the soldiers who had already taken up defensive positions on the wooden wall and hoped that the light infantry and the Roman soldiers who had gathered food would arrive soon so that he would have nothing to worry about. Fortunately for him, he didn''t have to wait too long as three Roman centuriae managed to return to the camp.

    But even after standing on the tower for a while, the rising sand and dust storm didn''t get any closer to him. Instead, it seemed to be moving away.

    Just as he was wondering about it, a Roman scout rushed into the camp and reported, ¡°Military tribune, Camillus! The Theonian army is heading west of our camp.¡±

    ¡®West?¡¯ Camillus was surprised. But after pondering for a while, his expression changed, ¡®Have the Theonians circumvented the camp to attack our soldiers outside?!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Legatus Amintas! Legatus Ledes has sent me to tell you that the cavalry is running out of javelins, but the Roman light infantry keeps attacking so fiercely that some cavalrymen are wounded. He could no longer prevent the Romans from returning to their camp.¡±

    After hearing the report, Amintas'' expression darkened. With the addition of Roman light infantry and cavalry, the First Cavalry Legion had found it much harder to slow the Roman retreat. Moreover, thebination of light infantry and cavalry had posed a significant threat to the scattered Theonian cavalry. Thus Amintas could only ask Ledes to abandon the other Roman centuria and concentrate on obstructing the three Roman centuriae closer to them and to the southwest that Phryntor suggested. But unexpectedly, the Roman light infantry had also arrived in those ces as well.

    ¡®Could it be that our n will fail?¡¯ Amintas became upset. Then he said to Ledes'' herald, ¡°Go back and tell legatus Ledes to hold out a little longer; the First Legion will soon arrive! He can''t just give up after working so hard and paying such a high price.!¡±

    Amintas'' words touched the herald of the First Cavalry Legion, who hesitantly said, ¡°¡­I will ry your words to legatus Ledes, word for word.¡±

    After the herald had galloped off, Amintas'' expression turned sombre as he shouted, ¡°Urge the First Legion to move faster! If they can''t get here soon and allow the Romans to escape, all of them will receive punishment in ordance with the militaryw!¡­¡±

    As Amintas continued to curse, Adjutant Aristonus suddenly became excited. He then pointed to the south and shouted, ¡°Legatus, our soldiers have arrived!¡±

    Amintas turned quickly and looked around, only to see rising dust and sand and rumbling footsteps in the distance.

    Seeing that, Amintas immediately grinned and said, ¡°It seems these guys needed a good scolding for them toplete their task!¡±

 Chapter 691: Theonia v Rome (V)

    ¡°Re¡­reporting to the legatus! All members of¡­the seventh brigade have arrived and are awaiting your order!¡± Satirus, the senior centurion of the seventh brigade, saluted at Amintas while panting.

    Amintas already expected the light infantry brigade of the First Legion to be the first to arrive. After all, their armour and weapons are light, allowing them to move quickly. In fact, they were only about seven kilometres from Amintas when they received the order to march, so arriving here after more than an hour meant their speed wasn''t fast. But they did so to maintain the integrity of their formations and preserve their stamina so they could join the battle as soon as they arrived.

    Amintas swept a nce at the sweat-drenched soldiers. Seeing they were still in high spirits, he nodded in satisfaction and shouted, ¡°Brothers, you''vee just in time! The enemy is just ahead, waiting for us to eat them up and make a name for our Theonia''s First Legion here! Do you have that confidence?!¡±

    ¡°Yes!!!¡± The soldiers shouted simultaneously.

    ¡°Staff Officer, start making the arrangement,¡± said Amintas.

    Phryntor didn''t refuse and began to look at the te full of details. Then, pointing to the southwest, he said to Satirus, the senior centurion of the seventh brigade, ¡°Two kilometres from here, there are more than three hundred Roman heavy infantry, seven hundred cavalries and nearly two thousand Roman light infantry. At the moment, the First Cavalry Legion is under tremendous pressure just to stop them retreating, so take the seventh brigade there immediately and help the First Cavalry Legion to hold off the enemy until the follow-up troops arrive and then wipe them out!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± Satirus turned around and shouted, ¡°Brothers, keep running with me!¡±

    The seventh brigade¡¯s soldiers rushed to the southwest with the scout''s guidance.

    ¡°Phryntor, your previous suggestion is correct. As long as we capture these enemies, I don''t think the Romans will just abandon them!¡± The seventh brigade¡¯s arrival eased Amintas a bit, so he began praising Phryntor, who had advised him to ¡°stop intercepting all the Roman plundering provisions and concentrate their cavalry on the Roman centuriae closest to them!¡± Though this caused Amintas to hesitate for a while, he now not only held off the Romans'' more than three hundred heavy infantry but also attracted their light infantry and cavalry. So once they sessfully pinned down these three thousand Romans, he would no longer be worried about whether the main Roman army would leave their camp.

    Phryntor just smiled without saying anything more.

    At this time, Aristonos shouted again, ¡°Legatus, another unit has arrived!¡±

    After the rising dust from the south cleared, what he saw this time was the eighth brigade(namely the light-armoured Brigade)¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Initially, the various centuriae of the Cavalry Legion managed to stop the Romans and also gave them some casualties, which can be said to be great results. But the arrival of Rome''s light infantry and cavalry turned the situation of the Roman soldiers.

    The Roman light infantry were mainly archers and javelin throwers, which had a longer range and were more urate than the javelins of the Theonian cavalry. At the same time, the Roman cavalry had restricted the speed of the Theonian cavalry. So although the Theonian cavalry wanted to charge into the enemy, it would only result in failure, as the Romans had mixed their infantry into their ranks, making it easy for them to fall into the enemy''s encirclement.

    Using abination of heavy infantry, cavalry and light infantry, the Romans inflicted more casualties on the Theonian cavalry, who were far better in terms of equestrian. Although cavalry is no longer as valuable as it once was in the Kingdom of Theonia*, how can Ledes, as legatus, not feel the loss of his hard-trained cavalry! And since they are in a foreignnd, it would take more work to make up for their losses. (The cavalry of the First Legiones mainly from Bruttii, where the people are excellent at rearing and riding horses, so much so that the reserve cavalry of the First Cavalry Legion alone would be enough to form another legion.)

    Faced with such a terrible situation, Ledes began to hesitate about whether to stop his order to intercept the Roman soldiers from returning to their camp.

    Fortunately, Amintas'' orders had arrived in time. So Ledes gathered all his cavalry and concentrated on the three Roman centuriae in the southwest.

    In addition, Ledes had the cavalry gather the three Roman centuriae in one ce, making them easier to intercept.

    With nearly two thousand Theonian cavalries galloping about, the Roman soldiers dared not act rashly.

    But the Roman soldiers didn''t have to wait long, asrge numbers of Roman light infantry and cavalry had arrived to change the situation.

    The Romans began to form up, cing the heavy infantry in the centre, the light infantry on the outskirts and the cavalry to the side, ready to intercept the approaching Theonian cavalry. With this formation, the Romans began to advance slowly towards the camp.

    Under the javelins and arrows of the Roman light infantry, the Theonian cavalry in front couldn''t throw their javelins because they had toe into range of the Roman light infantry. But while the flying arrows were firing at the Theonian cavalry, the Roman cavalry would also take advantage of the situation to charge over, hold off the enemy for a while, and then quickly return to avoid being heavily besieged by the Theonian cavalry.

    The Romans'' repeated use of this tactic had caused considerable losses to Theonia''s First Cavalry Legion. So Ledes no longer dared to have the cavalry stop them at the front. Instead, he had them harass the enemy''s rear. But with the tight formation of the Romans, the Theonian cavalry didn''t dare to get too close.

    At the sight of the dusty battlefield and the neighing of the horses, Ledes once again became indecisive. Suddenly, Ledes saw a wounded rider moving towards his rear with the help of another cavalry.

    Feeling that the wounded man''s face was familiar, Ledes urged his horse forward to take a closer look, and he recognised the person as one of the centurions of the First Cavalry Legion, Pebareus. His full name was Pebareus Solikos, the eldest son of Solikos*, a former subordinate of Ledes and a hero of the kingdom. (Since Davos named his son Crotokatax Davos, this practice gradually became so popr in the kingdom that most citizens abandoned the Greek tradition of having only a first name and no surname. And so they began to use their name as the surname of their descendants.) (Note: Solikos is a former coachman who joined Theonia''s first cavalry and died in the battle against the Syracusans.)

    At that moment, the young man was unconscious with his eyes closed.

    ¡°Legatus, an arrow struck the captain¡¯s horse, causing him to fall over and fall into aa,¡± said the cavalryman who brought Pebareus back.

    ¡°Take care of him!¡± Ledes finally made up his mind after saying that. With a determined look, Ledes took a deep breath and said, ¡°We will stop intercepting the Romans-¡±

    But suddenly, a loud salpinx rang out.

    ¡°Legatus, it''s the First Legion! The First Legion has arrived!!¡± The cavalryman beside him shouted excitedly.

    Hearing the familiar sound, Ledes looked to the front and vaguely saw golden light shing on the top of Theonia''s g through the scattering dust.

    Then the herald of Amintas arrived, ¡°Reporting to legatus Ledes! The seventh brigade of the First Legion has arrived and is now approaching the enemy.¡±

    ¡°Only the seventh brigade?!¡± Ledes felt disappointed.

    The herald said emphatically, ¡°The other brigades would soone!¡±

    Ledes thought for a moment and then ordered, ¡°Have each of our brigades stop harassing the enemy and open up a gap. Then have them slow down their horses to observe the enemy''s action, and at the same time, keep them away from the east so as not to be identally wounded by the First Legion''s long-range attack..¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the soldiers of the seventh brigade saw the dusty battlefield and the cavalries, they forgot their exhaustion as they became even more excited and picked up the pace.

    Once they got close to the battlefield, senior centurion Satirus ordered them to stop the advance and ordered, ¡°Wild goose formation!¡±

    At the sight of the waving g and the sound of the salpinx, the soldiers immediately distanced themselves from each other, and the whole brigade spread out to either side. Soon the entire military formation became a concave arch.

    Then a cavalry of the First Cavalry Legion came and said, ¡°Brothers of the First Legion, we have moved out of the way.¡±

    The senior centurion of the light infantry immediately ordered, ¡°The first centuria, get ready!¡±

    The light infantry of each legion had a somewhat unique structure. All have only four centurias: The first and second centurias are all archers, and the third and fourth centurias are all peltasts, with each centuria having two hundred and fifty men under them consisting of five toons. However, the light infantry brigade of the First Legion was much more special, as it only had three centurias: the second centuria were archers, the third centuria were peltasts, and the first centuria were slingers, which was the only unique type of soldier left in Theonia, with three hundred fifty men and all of them were born from Rhodes and were good at slinging stones.

    After untying the slings at their waist, the first centuria advanced to the forefront in a loose formation.

    Satirus, on the other hand, kept his eyes to the front as he judged the distance between his brigade and the enemy, an essential skill for Theonia''s light infantry''s senior centurion.

    Satirus was part of the expedition to Persia. He was a Thracian peltast with great experience and outstanding in battle, which allowed him to take the position of the senior centurion of the light infantry brigade of the First Legion.

    Although the Romans saw the Theonian cavalry move out of the way, they still didn''t speed up because the Theonian cavalry was still around, forcing them to maintain a tight formation.

    Seeing the Romans were only three hundred metres away from them, Satirus raised his right hand and shouted, ¡°The first centuria, attack!¡±

    The slingers then took out an egg-sized lead ball from their leather bags. Unlike ten years ago when they were still using rocks, the slingers now reced their projectiles with a lead ball that allowed it to fly farther while also being more lethal.

 Chapter 692: Theonia v Rome (VI)

    The slingers ced the lead ball in the centre of the sling and began to turn their arms. As they spun the sling faster and faster, a whistling sound of the wind could be heard.

    The Romans grew nervous as they saw new enemies appearing through the dust cloud hundreds of metres away. Still, they had no choice but to advance.

    Suddenly, hundreds of lead balls fell from the sky like hail and spread out precisely in the dense Roman formation, followed by loud screams.

    Except for the heavy infantry in the centre, which was slightly wounded, the lead ball smashed the heads of the Roman light infantry, who had less protection, and even affected the cavalry on both nks. The struck horses neighed and jumped wildly, throwing their riders and almost causing the Roman formation to copse.

    The Romans were petrified as this was the first time they had faced slingers, catching them off guard.

    The Theonian cavalry, however, were prepared for the momentary chaos in the Roman formation, so they immediately rode their horses towards the enemy and threw their remaining javelins, which caused another scream. And the fallen soldiers were far from being lightly wounded.

    As the Roman light infantry took their bows and javelins and prepared to attack the Theonian cavalry at a distance, another rain of lead balls came.

    The constant onught caused the Roman light infantry to cry grievance as these soldiers, mainly from the Latin league, were thrown into chaos, and their morale plummeted.

    However, the Roman heavy infantry in the centre kept calm as they shouted simultaneously, ¡°Attack! Kill them all!!¡±

    The first to act was the Roman cavalry, who hastily gathered hundreds of horsemen and charged forward in desperation. As the horses'' hooves pounded the ground, there was a rumbling sound as if the earth were shaking.

    The still coolheaded Satirus raised his right hand and said, ¡°The second centuria, prepare!¡±

    Then the archers on either nk of the wild goose formation drew their bows and nocked their arrows. At the same time, the Theonian cavalry followed the desperate Roman cavalry in parallel.

    Once the Roman cavalry was less than a hundred metres away from the seventh brigade, the three hundred and fifty Theonian archers simultaneously fired their arrows.

    The arrows fired from both nks towards the centre formed a crossfire, making it difficult for the fast-moving Roman cavalry to defend, even after holding their shields high. At the screaming of the riders and the neighing of the horses, both rider and horse rolled across the ground, hindering the cavalry behind them.

    At this time, the second round of arrow rain struck again, causing more significant damage to the Roman cavalry.

    The few Roman cavalries who had managed to charge ahead and dodge the archer''s attack found themselves almost within range of the Theonian slingers. But they were suddenly struck by the javelins of the Third Century, leaving few survivors.

    Then the Theonian cavalry took the opportunity to charge at the Roman cavalry, which had been thrown into chaos by the archers.

    And this skillfully coordinated series of attacks had nearly wiped out the charging Roman cavalry.

    Meanwhile, the Roman heavy infantry who was still escorting the light infantry lost their hope once they saw the tragedy in front of them. But suddenly, they heard an unfamiliar salpinx sound in the distance.

    The enemy reinforcements areing again! And so the morale of the Romans plummeted.

    Suddenly, a much louder horn sound came from afar.

    ¡°Our reinforcements have arrived! Our reinforcements have arrived!!¡­¡± The Romans finally became excited once they heard the familiar horn.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Report to the legatus! The Roman army has left its camp with more than eight thousand soldiers!¡± The mounted cavalry rushed to report to Amintas.

    ¡°So fast?!¡± The quick reaction of the Romans surprised Amintas, as he had initially thought to let the seventh and eighth brigades and the cavalry continue their attack without destroying this enemy centuriae to lure the Romans out of their camp. At the same time, it would allow the six heavy infantry brigades that had just arrived to rest for a while and regain some strength. Unexpectedly, however, the Roman army came out with arge force that the Theonian light infantry, light-armoured and cavalry couldn''t stop.

    Amintas nced at the sweaty Theonian soldiers in front of him, but despite their exhaustion, only a few sat andy down while the rest put down their weapons as they gathered in groups of twos and threes, walking slowly and chatting. Knowing they were about to go into battle, lying down would only increase their muscle aches and make their bodies sluggish.

    Amintas immediately called the senior centurions of the six heavy infantries. He then gravely said, ¡°With the enemy''s main troops leaving their camp, our n in luring the enemy seeded! So I hope you can ovee your fatigue so that we can capture and defeat the enemy!¡±

    ¡°Feel at ease, legatus! Now that the Romans hade out, they shouldn''t think of running back again!¡± The other senior centurions echoed the words of Xethippus, the senior centurion of the first brigade.

    ¡°Then get ready to depart!¡± Amintas immediately ordered.

    Shortly after the senior centurions had gathered their soldiers, Amintas ordered the herald, ¡°Inform the Volscians in Setia and Privernum that Rome''s main force has left their camp! Invite them to join the battle.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Having guessed the Theonians'' intentions, Camillus summoned his nine thousand infantry without hesitation, leaving just over three thousand men to defend the camp.

    Initially, Furius wanted to lead the troops while Camillus guarded the camp.

    But Camillus refused him this time, as they would only rescue the soldiers outside the camp, not fight the Theonians. But if the young and energetic Furius were to lead the troops, they would probably end up fighting the Theonians.

    Camillus led the Roman heavy infantry towards the west, where the scouts had checked. Knowing that the Theonian troops would also being in that direction, he needed to pick up the trapped soldiers as quickly as possible and then quickly return to camp.

    Camillus only knew a little about the Theonian army. In his mind, the nearby forces and even the Greeks in Campania fight in a bloated phnx, which they couldn¡¯tpare to the reformed Roman army he led, where he made the maniple the main force, making them more flexible both in formation andbat. Thus he thought that even if Theonia''s main force arrived, they would need to rearrange their formation, giving him plenty of time to organise a retreat.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    By the time Camillus arrived on the battlefield, the Theonian seventh and eighth brigades and cavalry had retreated. Still, the sight before him astonished him, as dead bodies, dead horses and wounded soldiers, groaning and struggling, littered the ground. And the nearly three thousand men (cavalry and light infantry) he had ordered as a rescue force had lost almost a third of their numbers, while those who remained were dishevelled and dispirited, some with bruised noses, swollen faces and bloodied heads¡­

    After listening to Cadmus'' brief report, Camillus learned of the entire battle situation. But what amazed him was the lethality and close coordination of the Theonian light infantry and cavalry.

    ¡®The Theonians are a well-trained army!¡¯ Camillusbelled the Theonian in his heart. He then urged the soldiers to take the wounded and withdraw immediately.

    ¡°What about our deceased men?¡± The light infantry general of the allied army asked, wanting to retrieve their dead.

    Camillus, who loved his soldiers like his son, said with a hardened heart, ¡°We will leave them for now and get them backter. What we have to do now is make use of the time and return to camp immediately!¡±

    But just as the dissatisfied allied general wanted to say more, a scout suddenly came in a hurry, ¡°Military tribune, Camillus! About seven thousand ck armoured soldiers areing from the south!¡±

    Camillus'' heart tightened, causing him to ride his horse* out of the army and look at the south, where he saw dust billowing in the distance. (ording to Roman military tradition, a leading Roman general must march like the soldiers to show that there is no difference between them and that they share the good and the bad. But as Camillus is too old and has limited strength, the Roman Senate gave him special permission to ride a horse.)

    Based on his experience, the enemy should be a kilometre away.

    Camillus immediately returned to the army and ordered, ¡°Form up ording to the pre-enemy engagement, and start retreating!¡±

    The pre-enemy engagement formation, as he called it, was arge formation of one hundred twenty men in small toons of Roman soldiers in a fish-scale formation, allowing for flexible movement and quicker retreat because of therge gap between their ranks. In addition, this would allow him to switch to an attacking formation once retreat was impossible. Camillus had taken this prudent approach because of the slight uneasiness he felt.

    But how could the nearby Theonian light infantry allow the Romans to retreat so easily? So the slingers had once again begun to turn their arms and hurl lead balls at the Romans, while the archers were even bold enough to approach the Roman army and then take up a shooting position¡­

    As a result, Camillus was forced to move the Roman light infantry to defend.

    But then, the Theonian cavalry started galloping near the Roman army and, from time to time, would rush less than twenty metres away from the Roman soldiers and go into a charging posture.

    Camillus then sent several heralds to repeatedly warn the Roman soldiers to ignore the Theonians'' harassment, but it still resulted in the entire Roman formation slowing down.

    Meanwhile, the Theonian army was marching fast, approaching within three hundred metres of the Roman army. Now the Roman soldiers could see the Theonian g in the grey dust and even hear the sound of military drums and the rows of ck soldiers that seemed to cover the sky and ground, moving towards them at a rtively orderly pace¡­

    While the Roman soldiers were intimidated by the Theonian army''s momentum, Camillus was even more surprised to see that the formation the Theonians were using was simr to the reformed tactical formation of the Roman army. And that made him realise with a jolt that the Theonians wouldn''t need to spend much time changing formation, allowing them to attack immediately. So if he forced a retreat here, they would likely only be pursued by the enemy and cause confusion in the ranks, resulting in a disastrous defeat.

 Chapter 693: Theonia v Rome (VII)

    After long deliberation, Camillus decided to defeat the enemy before them and retreat afterwards.

    Having finally made up his mind, Camillus acted immediately by sending out his heralds to convey his orders: The Roman army was to form three lines to face the approaching enemy forces. A total of ten Roman centuriae, about 1,200 men, made up of young soldiers, formed the front line. Behind them were six Roman centuriae of experienced soldiers, a total of 660 men. And thest line was made up of six centuriae of veteran soldiers, also 660 men. So the centre of the Roman army alone had more than 2,500 infantry. Camillus had also arranged the left and right nks in the same way.

    After fighting with the new tactics for over a decade, the Romans were already quite familiar with it. Moreover, they had arranged their formation to meet the enemy based on the centuriae. This meant that the small phnxes formed by each centuria could be interspersed, approached, and quickly merged into a massive line formation stretching half a kilometre long.

    Camillus had brought nine thousand men, all heavy infantry, totalling seventy-five centuriae. Then there were also the three trapped centuriae, for a total of seventy-eight centuriae,prised of forty centuriae of young soldiers, twenty-five centuriae of experienced soldiers and thirteen centuriae of veterans. Since they didn¡¯t have enough veteran centuriae, Camillus reced them with the experienced centuriae. After finallypleting the formation, Camillus invested 7,600 Roman heavy infantry in this formation alone.

    Camillus then ced the remaining twelve centuriae under hismand, most of them young soldiers, in the rear as a reserve. Their task was to protect the wounded while taking care of the Theonian cavalry and light infantry moving nearby.

    Something like this

    He had also positioned the remaining five hundred Roman cavalries on both nks in the rear. At the same time, he scatted the more than 1,500 light infantry among the reserves, mainly as a countermeasure against the other side''s cavalry and light infantry.

    While the Romans arranged themselves, the marching speed of Theonia''s First Legion slowed down. Once they were only two hundred metres from the enemy, the whole legion stopped and quickly adjusted ording to the enemy''s formation.

    Amintas ced the first, second and third brigades in the front and the fourth, fifth and sixth brigades in the rear, so the length of the whole formation was almost the same as that of the Romans.

    The two sides finished their formation almost at the same time.

    At a distance of only two hundred metres, the soldiers of both sides stared at each other.

    The average Theonian soldier wore ck armour, a bowl-shaped helmet with a face guard, some with a plume on their helmet, some without, and some with more or less ck plumes. (This is based on how long the legionary served. The longer they serve, the denser the plume is.) They also wore a singleyer ck linen armour with ayer of chain armour over it*. (This is a gradual change after the kingdom''s establishment. Compared with the old multiyer glued linen armour, the weight is almost the same but with increased defence. In addition, it is easy to remove when marching.) On their legs were ck leather shin armour, leather sandals on their foot, their left hand holding a half-tall convex long shield, their right hand held a two-metre long spear, with a sharp short sword hanging on their waist and two javelins on their back,

    The Roman soldiers, on the other hand, also wore a helmet with a face guard, but at the top of their helmet were two coloured feathers, and the middle was a horse mane-like red plume for the centurions. The soldiers wore red short-sleeved linen and scale armour while the centurions wore a bronze breastte, bronze shin armour on their lower legs, leather sandals on their feet, a half-man tall convex shield on their left hand, a two-metre spear on their right hand and a dius on their waist.

    In the Roman formation, there were no other gs except for the g standard bearers on the left, centre and right wings, each holding a red army g with a winged eagle embroidered on it. While in the Theonian formation, the toon, centuria and brigade gs were orderly distributed in the various small phnxes, while the fluttering legion g stood in the centre with the statue of the deities shining brightly on top of the gs, just like the stars in the night sky, appearing beautiful.

    After both sides had taken their positions, ck and red filled the whole battlefield with the soldiers of both sides standing as imposing statues with the spears in their hands arranged like a dense forest, and their erected shields formed a long majestic wall¡­

    Although both sides remained silent, a thick, murderous atmosphere pervaded the battlefield, scattering the dust cloud¡­

    Amintas, who usually bravely attack, didn''t immediately give the order to attack. On the one hand, he wanted his soldiers to catch their breath and regain their strength. On the other hand, he wanted to wait for the arrival of the Volscians. After all, the First Legion had several thousand less heavy infantry than the other side. And since the other side could quickly set up a formation simr to Theonia''s, he could sense that his opponent was much different from the previous enemies they had fought. So he acted more cautiously.

    Though he could wait, Camillus could not, for he could guess why the Theonian army had halted its advance. So, after waiting for the Roman soldiers to regroup and stabilise, Camillus immediately ordered, ¡°All troops, attack!¡±

    Then the horn sounded.

    The Roman soldiers carried their shields and spears as they advanced slowly, maintaining a neat formation as they pressed towards the Theonian army.

    Camillus rode behind the centre of the formation, asionally ncing back at the Theonian cavalry moving around the rear nk of the Roman army.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time, Ledes rode his horse and reached Amintas.

    ¡°You''ve worked hard, my old friend!¡± Amintas gave his thanks.

    ¡°My army suffered over 300 casualties just to stop the Romans!¡± Ledes said with a sombre expression.

    Amintas remained silent for a while and asked, ¡°Can your cavalry still fight?¡±

    Ledes shook his head, ¡°Apart from running out of javelins, our horses are exhausted from running back and forth and would need to recover their strength. You will have to wait until we have routed the Romans before you can use them again. However¡­this enemy we are facing won''t be easy!¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry, it''s a joke for the Romans to try to defeat us, the teacher, with the tactics they stole from us!¡± Amintas said confidently, concentrating on the battle ahead. But Davos would have been embarrassed if he had heard what he said.

    Ledes nced at the other reserve unit behind them,posed of the light-armoured brigade. Although he felt slightly uneasy, he didn''t speak about it again.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Sthephilos(Amintas'' adopted son), the centurion leading a centuria at the front, stopped after seeing the Roman soldiers in front of them reach a distance of fifty metres from them. After squinting his eyes slightly, he shouted, ¡°Brothers, javelins ready!¡±

    ¡°Javelin ready!¡­¡± Then the other centurions shouted as well.

    After the Theonian soldiers prepared the javelins in their hands, the Roman army suddenly shouted an earth-shaking roar, ¡°MARS!!!¡­¡± Then the young Roman soldiers in their twenties, who still had plenty of stamina even after running, took big strides and charged forward.

    After looking at them carefully, Satirus sneered at the Romans for not tilting their long shields upwards, apparently not knowing the Theonian heavy infantry''s style of fighting.

    As the Roman soldiers bravely advanced, the pace of their charge increased rapidly, creating a strong momentum.

    On the other hand, the Theonian soldiers of the First Legion stood firmly, like an unmovable mountain.

    But once the Romans were only thirty metres away, the centurions shouted, ¡°Javelins!¡­¡± Then Theonia''s three frontmost lines threw their javelins simultaneously, like a hurricane storming down the battlefield and stopping the forward momentum of the charging Roman soldiers. Then the dense, heavy javelins leapt more than twenty metres into the ranks of the Roman soldiers, easily prating their scaled armour and shields, pinning them to the ground.

    At this moment, most of the young inexperienced Roman soldiers didn''t continue charging. Instead, they subconsciously pulled up their strugglingrades or tried to pull the javelins off their long shields, which provided sufficient time for the Theonian soldiers to prepare the second round of javelin throw. Thus after the Theonians threw their second round of javelins, more Roman soldiers fell.

    The wise Camillus, who usually remained calm in battle, cried out several times in pain as he saw the tragic sight. For he had never thought the Theonian heavy infantry could also throw javelins that would cause a considerable blow to the defenceless Roman soldiers. Naturally, he would never know that the ¡°heavy infantry throwing javelins before engaging the enemy¡± was originally the Roman legions¡¯ tactics used in their war against the Samnites. After suffering a lot from the Samnites'' javelins, the Romans learned from their opponents and improved it, giving the Roman heavy infantry a way to attack from a medium distance.

    After suddenly attacking the Romans and causing them to plunge into chaos, the Theonians pointed all their gs forward, and the soldiers charged fiercely towards the enemy while shouting ¡®Hades¡¯.

    ¡°Attack! Attack!¡­¡± The uninjured Roman centurions and toon leaders shouted as they led the charge to the forefront to fill the gaps in the copsed lines, and the young soldiers in the back row didn''t hesitate to rush to the front as they sought revenge for their woundedrades.

    Yet before the Romans could fill them up, the charging Theonian soldiers had already arrived.

    Then the front-row soldiers of both sides'' left, centre and right nks collided. Although the frontmost line forces of both sides were ten ranks(rows) thick, the Roman''s younger soldiers had just suffered from the javelin attack, damaging their formation. Hence they couldn''t resist the assault of the fully equipped first, second, and third brigades of Theonia''s First Legion.

 Chapter 694: Theonia v Rome (VIII)

    Especially in the first line, after the Theonian soldier has used the force of his charge to break through the enemy''s shield, the spear in his right hand stabs like lightning. But even after the Roman soldier dodged the enemy''s stab, another stab came to him¡­and because of the disparity in numbers, the young Roman soldiers would often find themselves in dangerous situations of fighting two enemies. Thus, despite their bravery in battle, their losses gradually increased, forcing them to retreat again and again. At the same time, miserable screams echoed through the formation. Most of theme from the wounded soldiers struck by the javelins and are lying on the ground. But after being trampled several times by their retreatingrades, the wailing sound gradually disappears, adding to the panic in the hearts of the young soldiers¡­

    Camillus watched as the enemy kept forcing his front line to retreat. After frowning for a moment, he quickly realised that it wasn''t just the centre suffering but the left and right nks as well. The Theonians'' initial javelin attack and rapid charge had confused the brave young soldiers, making it impossible for them to remain calm.

    ¡°Blow the horn immediately and have them switch the line!¡± Camillus ordered decisively.

    With their trust in their suprememander, the soldiers blew the curved brass horn without hesitation.

    Lucius then asked his father beside him, ¡°Although the soldiers at the front are unstable, they are still fighting tenaciously. But if we ordered them to retreat this time, it would only increase the casualties, so I think it is better to wait for the situation to stabilise before ordering a retreat.¡±

    ¡°Our loss will be greater if we dy giving the order!¡± Camillus said with slight remorse, ¡°I should have done more study about their battle characteristics if I had known I would encounter the Theonian army here in Volsci!¡±

    Lucius tried tofort him by saying, ¡°You want to learn, but no Roman knows about them,¡± but he didn''t say it out loud after seeing Camillus'' grave expression.

    At the sound of the horn, the veteran centuriae of the Romans in the third line began to move forward, but they didn''t immediately squeeze in when they reached the area between the centuriae of the second line. Instead, they formed a new front and paused there, leaving enough space for a phnx of centuriae to pass through.

    Hearing the repeated horns, the young Roman soldiers struggling to hold off the Theonians'' attack breathed a sigh of relief. But at the reminder of the centurions and officers, they could only slowly retreat while maintaining the line.

    Eventually, the pressure exerted by the Theonian soldiers caused some parts of the Roman formation to copse. Fortunately, the centuriae of the second line were close behind and would soon join them. And with the centuriae of experienced soldiers, the centuriae of young soldiers had gained some confidence. Soon, the young soldiers sped up and retreated before slipping through the gaps on either side of the centuriae of experienced and veteran soldiers.

    The Theonian soldiers tried to squeeze into the gap but ended up in a situation where enemies surrounded them on three sides. Of course, the opposing Roman centuriae who hadn''t retreated faced the same situation, just like an interlocking dog''s teeth. But as each of the centuriae of experienced soldiers continued to give way, the centuriae of young soldiers would eventually manage to retreat to the rear. Finally, the centuriae of experienced and veteran soldiers would form a new line.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Behind the centre of Theonia, Amintas learned from the patrolling cavalry that the Romans were about to change formation. But even though Amintas had led the Theonian army for more than ten years, he still couldn''t understand what the Romans, using simr tactics, would do next.

    ¡°Legatus, we should sound the salpinx and have the fourth, fifth and sixth brigades advance,¡± Phryntor suggested while Amintas was deeply pondering.

    Although he hesitated for a moment, Amintas understood why Phryntor suggested this. After considering the Theonian soldiers'' advantage, all they had to do was increase their offensive to disrupt the Roman''s formation chance, causing the enemy to suffer more casualties in the chaos. But since the frontline soldiers couldn''t do that, it means that they have exhausted their strength from the rapid offensive they justunched. Otherwise, they would have taken advantage of the enemy''s confusion to attack even harder, turning the enemy''s retreat into a rout. Instead, the soldiers'' attacking speed is slowing down¡­

    Amintas stared at the battle ahead as he knew that the tired first, second and third brigades would likely suffer once the Romanspleted their formation change and fought the new phnx of fully prepared and energetic Roman soldiers.

    Although he wanted his soldiers to fight bravely against the enemy, Amintas didn''t want them to encounter difficulties that would affect the battle''s oue. So, in the end, he followed Phryntor''s advice.

    When Theonia''s salpinx sounded, the officers and men of the fourth, fifth and sixth brigades were already expecting the order, having seen the performance of theirrades.

    On the other hand, the fighting officers and soldiers were relieved to hear the salpinx, as most were already so exhausted that they had difficulty breathing. Fortunately, the enemy was retreating. Otherwise, they would have rushed over, causing some of the soldiers to fall from their tired legs.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the Roman side, the panicked young Roman soldiers saw a strange sight: the enemy who had been chasing them suddenly began to retreat¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Instead of being pleased to hear that the enemy was also retreating and changing formation, Camillus frowned even more at the Theonian general''s calmness and the determination of his soldiers to follow his orders.

    By this time, a line of almost twenty metres separated the two sides, and the battlefield, which had been filled with the roar of battle, had fallen silent. All that remained in the open space were the dead bodies and a few crawling and groaning wounded; most of them were Roman soldiers.

    But even though the armed Roman soldiers weren''t far away, they only stared at the enemy in front of them, with no one going to rescue their wounded

    Suddenly, knowing that the Theonians could afford to waste time while they could not, Camillus ordered his men to attack.

    Amidst the shouting of the centurions, the Roman soldiers became more cautious as they used their long shields to cover their bodies and marched slowly. Evidently, they became frightened by the previous javelin attack.

    On the other side, the Theonian soldiers of the fourth, fifth and sixth brigades felt it funny seeing their opponent''s cautiousness, knowing they had already thrown all their javelins.

    But when the two armies began to fight again, the Theonian soldiers could no longerugh.

    The Roman soldiers used thebination of shield and spear skilfully: They thrust their spears with precision and ferocity and had tacit cooperation with the shield formation so that their overall fighting power was no less than that of the Theonian legions, which really took the Theonian officers by surprise.

    The Theonian soldiers would not have been surprised if they had known Rome. These new Roman soldiers had served for more than eight years, fought in many wars and won the Civic Crown*. (The Civic Crown is the Roman Senate''s recognition of its citizens who have shown bravery in many battles. Thus all Roman citizens, including the senators, showed respect to the citizens wearing the civic crown in public ces, and even their fathers were treated with courtesy. So even though it was only an honour and not a material reward, the Roman citizens highly desired to have it, which proves the Romans were also a race with a strong warrior spirit.)

    So for a while, the soldiers on both sides were at a stalemate.

    Naturally, Camillus wanted more than just maintaining the stalemate with the Theonians since he needed to crush the enemy fast.

    So he ordered the twelve Roman reserve centuriae (the ten centuriae of young soldiers and the two centuriae of experienced soldiers) to split in two, bypass their fighting troops and attack the enemy''s nk.

    After giving the order, Camillus turned around and asked, ¡°Have we counted our casualties?¡±

    ¡°We suffered about¡­four hundred casualties¡­¡± Lucius shuddered when giving his report. Although the initial battle didn''tst long, this battle of nearly twenty minutes long had cost them four centuriae, which they had never encountered in thest ten years of fighting.

    Despite feeling pained, Camillus firmly ordered, ¡°Let the retreating centuriae quickly reorganise, wait for my order, and then attack the enemy! They must wash away their humiliation with victory!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time, Amintas asked his adjutant, ¡°How is the situation on the Volscian''s side?¡±

    Aristonos looked at the te and said, ¡°The messenger reported they have set out! Setia sent out a thousand men while Privernum sent seven thousand men, and they are alling this way!¡±

    Amintas became more determined and thus continued to pay attention to the battle ahead.

    Suddenly, a mounted scout came galloping, ¡°Reporting to the legatus! The enemy sent out more than seven hundred infantry and are going around towards the rear of our left nk!¡±

    As soon as he said that, another scout came galloping, ¡°Reporting to the legatus! Around seven hundred enemy heavy infantries are circling towards our right nk!¡±

    Amintas'' expression changed slightly as he loudly said, ¡°Have the first brigade rush to protect our left nk! The second brigade to protect our right nk! The third brigade¡­¡±

 Chapter 695: Theonia v Rome (IX)

    Amintas paused, prompting Phryntor to remind him, ¡°Don''t forget the enemy soldiers who have just retreated!¡±

    His words resulted in adjutant Aristonos saying with contempt, ¡°Do they still have the courage to fight?¡±

    ¡°Don''t look down on the enemy.¡± Despite what Amintas said, he didn''t think the defeated Roman soldiers could recover so quickly. Nevertheless, he remained cautious, ¡°Have the third brigade support the centre!¡±

    After giving his orders, Amintas looked back at the soldiers of the eighth brigade resting not far behind.

    ¡®If only they were heavy infantry!¡¯ Such an idea came to Amintas at this time, which shows how much psychological pressure the Roman''s initiative to attack had put on him.

    ¡°Immediately send someone to urge the Volscians to speed up their pace!¡± said Amintas, who no longer felt rxed.

    After Sthephilos and his centuria retreated, most soldiers sat on the ground, gasping for breath. Still, they manage to keep their formation intact.

    Senior centurion Xethippus then gave the order as soon as the soldiers regained some energy, ¡°Brothers of the first brigade, we will immediately move to the left nk to meet the iing enemy!¡±

    Although the soldiersined, they propped up their sore legs with their spears, picked up their long, now heavy shields and, under themand of Sthephilos and the toon leaders, followed the other centuriae to change direction to the left and then marched forward.

    By the time the first brigade had reached the edge of the left nk, they could already see the Romans not far away.

    When the Roman soldiers saw the enemy reinforcements arriving, they didn''t stop their march to form arge phnx to fight. Instead, they charged straight at the enemy formation in small phnxes formed by each centuria.

    This style of attack, only seen in the training of the Theonian Legion, had appeared unexpectedly on the enemy side, leaving Sthephilos stunned and nervous.

    ¡°Shield defence formation!¡± Sthephilos could only order that as the soldiers were already exhausted and unable tounch a charge to offset the enemy''s charge.

    While the foremost Theonian soldiers used their entire left arms to hold the long shields, the squad leaders kept reminding them, ¡°Switch to short swords! Switch into short swords!¡­¡±

    With the soldiers already exhausted and their muscles sore, using a spear will only reduce their uracy and make the spear slip backwards once the enemy collides violently, causing blisters to form on their palms, making it difficult to use the weapon. On the other hand, the short sword is much more manageable and bes more advantageous as the enemy approaches. It is a lesson learned from countless battles that the Theonian Ministry of Military Affairs haspiled in the Military Code of Conduct so the squad leaders could promptly apply it in battle.

    The six rushing Roman centuriae were all made up of young soldiers, which allowed them to run vigorously and roar like the sound of thunder.

    Although most of the First Legion¡¯s soldiers were twenty-five and in their prime, they had already expended too much energy since leaving Cerceii in the morning and hadn''t had time to rest. As a result, they were no match for the enemy.

    The Roman centuriae collided with the Theonian shield formation one after another, like massive rocks bombarding a city''s wall, resulting in a series of dents in their shield.

    And with their powerful charge, the Roman soldiers broke through the enemy''s shield defences and thrust their spears at the unsteady enemy.

    While the Theonian soldiers used all their strength first to resist the enemy''s charge and then slowly retreated with the soldiers in the rear to weaken the enemy''s attack. At the same time as they protected their entire bodies with the long shield, they would sometimes thrust the short sword in their right from the gap to wound or kill the enemy who dared to approach closely.

    Although the Theonians stabbed the Roman soldiers repeatedly, they continued attacking, with the Roman soldiers at the rear stepping over their wounded.

    The Theonians, on the other hand, continued to defend tenaciously, constantly moving forward to fill any gaps while maintaining their defence.

    Thus the battle has been heated since the start.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    But immediately after, a scout reported another unpleasant news to Amintas, ¡°Reporting to the legatus! More than two thousand Roman heavy infantry are rushing towards our right nk!¡±

    Amintas'' face turned unpleasant as he heard the report, ¡®The Romans still have that many troops?! Did they reorganise their defeated soldiers so quickly?!¡¯

    Unfortunately, he didn''t have any time to think. He looked at the still-resting light-armoured soldiers and ordered, ¡°Have the third brigade rush to the right nk to organise the defence. As soon as theye into contact with the enemy, the eighth brigade would quickly move around the back of the enemy nk for a pincer attack!¡±

    ¡°Legatus.¡± Phryntor cautioned, ¡°Since the Romans'' tactics are simr to ours, they won''t be afraid of having their nks attacked. On the contrary, with the enemy''s morale at its highest, our light-armoured soldiers will be no match for their heavy infantry¡­.erm¡­besides, our goal isn¡¯t to defeat the enemy but to defend and stall for time¡­

    Phryntor''s reminder made Amintas ponder for a moment. Since the Romans fought on a centuriae of more than a hundred men, the enemy''s rear centuriae could easily turn around to face the light-armoured soldiers they sent¡­

    Soon after, Amintas changed his order, ¡°Let the third brigade reduce the thickness of its phnx to increase its length, allowing it to block the enemy''s attack! While the eighth brigade would instead rush to the third brigade''s rear to increase the entire formation''s thickness and resist the enemy''s impact!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± The herald rushed away.

    Amintas could no longer remain calm, and neither could Phryntor. So the atmosphere became a little tense.

    Ledes hesitated for a while before saying, ¡°Do you want my cavalry to attack the enemy reinforcements in the nk to relieve the pressure on the First Legion?¡±

    Amintas'' eyes brightened, but then he shook his head, ¡°Ledes, thank you! However, my First Legion could still withstand the enemy''s attack. Instead, let your cavalry continue to rest, as I don''t want them to be unable to pursue the retreating enemy due to exhaustion.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Although Ledes looked regretful, Amintas'' words still relieved him.

    ¡°Send messengers to urge the Volscians!!¡± Amintas'' impatient words made it clear that their legatus was not as confident as he appeared.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Camillus only sent some heavy infantry out, leaving three newly formed centuriae in the rear to protect the light infantry and cavalry from the enemy cavalry.

    Although the Roman allies had more light infantry than the Theonians, they feared the Theonian slingers.

    Little did they know that the Theonian slingers hadn''t brought too many lead balls and were already running low. Nevertheless, they adopted an offensive stance, resulting in a stalemate between the two sides.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Camillus paid close attention to the battle''s progress.

    The new line, formed by veteran and experienced soldiers, held off the enemy''s attack and began to push them forward, but they could only advance slowly. As a result, Camillus became dissatisfied, knowing that the Theonians had fewer heavy infantry than they did, who was also tired after their long march. Thus he was also surprised that the Theonians could still roughly maintain the stalemate with their second-line soldiers, who were much stronger even after having just defeated the first line of Roman soldiers.

    So Camillus sent all his reserves to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible, sending most of them to attack the enemy''s nk. Having exhausted all avable means and forces, he could only wait and pray to the gods.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Patroclus, the senior centurion of the sixth brigade, was surprised to encounter such a formidable enemy for the first time in his service.

    These Roman soldiers tried to drain the Theonian soldiers¡¯ strength by using their shields and spears to strike and stab them constantly. However, they rarely used brute force to collide with the shield formation and avoid getting deep into the enemy line, so they could rtively maintain a continuous attack line.

    But such a situation made it difficult for the Theonian soldiers to fully use their short swords since they would undoubtedly drain more of their already exhausted strength if they actively closed in on the enemy.

    Thus the Theonian front was forced to retreat under the Roman soldier''s constant and unrelenting attack.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile, on the nk of the Roman army, the young Roman soldiers attacked more furiously, especially thest two thousand young Roman soldiers sent on the field. Since they wanted to wash away their humiliating defeat, the young Roman soldiers didn''t preserve any strength, with some red-eyed soldiers giving all they could. As a result, the third brigade of Theonia''s First Legion was under tremendous pressure to resist their attack.

    Cadmus was one of these two thousand men. After having his centuria attacked by the Theonian cavalry and then routed by the Theonian heavy infantry''s javelin attack, the soldiers could only hold on to their anger. Thus after regrouping and being sent to attack the enemy''s nk, they all charge towards the enemy''s front.

    Cadmus watched from the rear at how the enemy''s short sword stabbed the chest of several soldiers. But instead of copsing, the Roman soldiers grabbed the enemy''s short sword, allowing theirrades to kill the enemy.

    Such heroic performance of the soldiers had made the blood of Cadmus, a veteran of many years, boil. Thus when he saw an enemy wearing a helmet with a white plume at the back of the enemy''s formation shouting, he threw the spear in his hand without thinking. But instead of the enemy formation bing a mess after the enemy officer fell, it is as if nothing had happened as the Theonians continued defending tenaciously against the Romans.

 Chapter 696: Theonia v Rome (X)

    Not long after, most of the soldiers under him died or were wounded, resulting in the rear where Cadmus was at bing the front. But when Cadmus looked back at the enemy, he was astonished to see the officer with the white plume, who he threw his spear at, still standing.

    At this moment, the enemy had a massive hole in the right shoulder of his armour, which continued to bleed. With his right arm hanging down and left hand holding a shield, the enemy red at Cadmus.

    Since Cadmus no longer has a spear, he drew out his dius and attacked the enemy. Although the more than a metre-long sword is good for shing, the narrow space and the enemy''s well-defended long shield made him unable to exert the sword''s strength fully. But with his experience, Cadmus used the gap in strength to strike the enemy''s long shield continuously.

    The seriously injured enemy obviously couldn''t bear the blow of such force. Thus with a pained expression, the enemy finally fell to his knees because he could no longer support himself.

    Cadmus moved towards the enemy, raised his sword, and swung down to cut the enemy. However, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left leg. When he looked down to check it, he could see a short sword stabbed into his calf.

    It turned out that although the enemy''s right shoulder was seriously wounded, it still allowed him to hold a short sword. He hid it behind the shield, pretending to be unable to hold a weapon and took advantage of Cadmus'' carelessness to deliver a blow. When the enemy soldier yanked the short sword out, the sharp de immediately severed Cadmus'' tendon, causing Cadmus to scream. Unable to stand firmly, Cadmus fell forward, crushing the enemy with his shield.

    The enemy also gritted his teeth in pain, yet the short sword in his right hand continued to swing, cutting the ankle of Cadmus''rades beside him. He continued doing so until the soldier behind Cadmus pierced the enemy''s chest with his spear, causing him to spout blood as he shouted ¡®Hades¡¯ and died with a relieved expression¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although the third brigade fought bravely, the number of young Roman soldiers in front of them was still more than twice of them. Under the enemy''s fierce attack, numerous gaps opened in the third brigade''s formation. Fortunately, the light-armoured soldiers in the rear didn''t hesitate to fill them in time to resist the heavily armoured Roman heavy infantry bravely¡­

    While the battle proceeded fiercely, the mounted scouts constantly brought messages back and forth.

    ¡°Reporting to the legatus! The centurion of the second centuria of the fourth brigade was wounded!¡±

    ¡°Reporting to the legatus! The centurion of the first brigade¡¯s third centuria died!¡±

    ¡°The centurion of the third brigade¡¯s first centuria was wounded!¡­the centurion of the third centuria died!¡­the fifth centuria died!¡­¡±

    Per the practice of the Theonian army, a centurion would seldom go to battle in person. But once they do, it only means their soldiers have suffered heavy casualties.

    As Amintas listened to the scouts'' reports, his face turned gloomy, like the dark clouds in the sky.

    At this time, another mounted scout came galloping and said, ¡°Reporting to the legatus! Hybaterus, the senior centurion of the third brigade, asked for reinforcements! The third brigade had suffered heavy casualties that even the senior centurion had joined the battle in person!¡±

    ¡°Go back and tell Hybaterus that I have no reinforcements to send. I no longer want to hear about the number of casualties! I want him to stand there and hold off the Roman soldier''s attack! If he dies in battle, I will take over!¡± Amintas shouted with a grave expression.

    The scout galloped away.

    Amintas nced at the guard behind him and shouted, ¡°Let''s head to the eighth brigade''s rear!¡±

    Amintas spoke in a threatening tone that made Phryntor, who was about to open his mouth to persuade him, give up.

    At this time, Ledes said, ¡°I will send the cavalry to attack the enemy and reduce the third brigade''s pressure.¡±

    Amintas looked at him. But instead of refusing him again, he nodded.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Theonian cavalry''s movement naturally couldn''t be hidden from the Roman scouts. And they naturally understand where they would head since Theonia''s right nk is where the Roman attack the fiercest.

    Thus Camillus immediately said to Lucius, ¡°Immediately lead all the cavalry and the three heavy infantry centuriae to the enemy''s right nk. Once you repulse the enemy''s cavalry, lead them to continue intensifying the attack on the enemy''s nk! You mustpletely crush the enemy!¡±

    Lucius hesitantly said, ¡°But father, your safety-¡±

    ¡°The fiercer you attack, the safer I will be! Go! Go!¡± At Camillus'' urging, Lucius could only lead the troops to leave.

    With just over 1,400 light infantry left at his side, the old military tribune beckoned their several allied generals over and said sincerely, ¡°The life of this old man will be in your hands.¡±

    Camillus wasn''t only famous in Rome but also throughout the Latin league. The people respected him even more after he led the army to repel the Celts who ravaged the Latin region.

    Then several allied generals immediately pledge, ¡°Be at ease, Lord Camillus. The enemy must first step over our corpses if they want to hurt you!¡±

    But as soon as they returned to their troops, the Theonian slingers struck them before they could even set up their defence.

    After seeing the cavalry and heavy infantry leaving the enemy''s rear, the seventh brigade of the First Legion also began attacking the area around the Roman g in an attempt to capture and kill the enemy''smander and turn the situation around in one fell swoop.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Rome had fully engaged Theonia in battle, with heavy infantry and light-armoured soldiers fighting on both army''s front and nks. While on the periphery, the cavalry and light infantry fought¡­

    After nearly two hours of fighting, they finally entered the end of the battle.

    At this moment, the Romans had the clear advantage as they had shrunk the entire Theonian line into a semicircle, with the Theonian''s rightmost nk faltering. If it wasn''t for legatus Amintas holding up his shield and spear to personally go into battle to fight the enemy and the legion''s g erected behind them, then the third brigade and the light-armoured brigade would have already been defeated. Still, they continued struggling to hold on using theirst strength.

    Ledes'' First Cavalry Legion also struggled to block the enemy cavalry and heavy infantry.

    Although the Roman cavalry was courageous, they couldn''t pose a significant threat since they were fewer in number. Still, the Roman heavy infantry managed to deal heavy casualties on the Theonian cavalry.

    Although Ledes felt pained, he knew they couldn''t just stop. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable if they allowed the enemy reinforcements to join, even though they weren''t many.

    Just as Ledes worried about the difficulty of stopping the Roman heavy infantries'' advance, one of his men shouted, ¡°Legatus, look!¡±

    Ledes turned his head to the south in the scattering dust cloud and saw a rapidly approachingrge shadow in the distance.

    ¡®Volsci!¡¯ Ledes became excited as he shouted, ¡°Brothers, hold on a little longer! Our reinforcements areing! Our reinforcements areing!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The first to arrive was the more than a thousand Volscians led by Keronus, the former consul of Antium, followed closely by the thousand Volscians from Setia. Since the Antium soldiers, who departed from Privernum, arrived earlier than the Volscian from Setia, it just shows their strong desire to seek revenge on the Romans.

    They rushed to the battlefield without pausing and fiercely attacked the Roman soldiers in red.

    The first they defeated was the Roman cavalry.

    Then they attacked the three Roman heavy infantry centuriae that the Theonian cavalry blocked. But just as the Romans turned around to resist, the soldiers from Setia also arrived and surrounded them.

    Unlike the equipment of the Roman heavy infantry, the Volscian soldiers only carried spears, shields and helmets without any armour. But since the Romans were few in numbers and had been fighting the Theonians for so long, the Volscian tide quickly overwhelmed them.

    While the Antium and Setian soldiers continued charging at the young Roman soldiers engaged in the fierce battle against Theonia''s third and light-armoured brigade, the Volscian troops arrived one after another. But then, a sharp horn signalling a retreat sounded from the rear of the Roman army line¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time as the Antium soldiers attacked the three Roman centuriae, Camillus received an emergency report from his scout. The report told about numerous Volscian soldiers appearing on the battlefield, making Camillus feel as if someone had struck him hard that it took him a moment to recover.

    At this moment, only a mix of regret and self-reproach filled his heart. Camillus thought it would be safer to defeat the Theonians by relying on their strength and number of troops and then retreat afterwards. But what he didn''t expect was the difficulty of defeating the Theonians, which resulted in the battle tost long. As a consequence, not only did they not repel the Theonains, but the Volscians had also arrived¡­

    ¡°Sound the retreat!¡± Camillus suppressed his regret and decisively ordered.

    ¡°Military tribune Camillus; We should wait a little longer! We will soon crush the Theonians!¡± His adjutant urgently advised, ¡°The Volscians had just arrived and might not havee in great numbers, so our soldiers might perfectly be capable of holding them off-¡±

    ¡°Sound the retreat!¡± Camillus still said firmly, ¡°Quickly sound the retreat!¡±

    Camillus was never the one to take chances in wars. And even if he is defeated, he will try to save the soldiers'' lives as much as possible.

    The first reaction of all the Roman centurions from hearing the retreating was disbelief as they could see that their army held the upper hand. Some of them even felt the enemy could no longer hold on. But out of their absolute trust in theirmander, Camillus, they still ordered their soldiers to retreat.

    The veteran and experienced soldiers located in the front line formation on the left, centre and right nks soon began pulling back. After distancing themselves from the enemy, they all turned around in a quick and orderly retreat.

    Patroclus had taken up his shield and spear to fight side by side with the soldiers as he knew the ultimate objective of legatus Amintas from having theme here quickly. Still, the enemy''s sudden withdrawal had lessened the pressure on his brigade, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief. But he then immediately realise, ¡®The enemy is fleeing! So does it mean the Volscians hade?!¡¯

 Chapter 697: Theonia v Rome (XI)

    In addition to Patroclus, the senior centurions of the fourth and fifth brigades and the various centurions immediately decided to have the soldiers sprint to quickly entangle the enemy and prevent them from escaping.

    But the exhausted Theonian soldiers stumbled as they tried to catch up with the enemy, increasing the distance between them and the Romans.

    As for the young Roman centuriae on both nks, they had difficulty retreating because they had attacked so hard that the formation of the two sides became too tightly intertwined. Especially in the Theonian army''s rear right nk, where nearly half of the two thousand young Roman soldiers who came to attack had their eyes filled with murderous intent. So the only thing on their minds was to attack, ignoring the sound of the horn and shouting.

    Suddenly, more than two thousand Volscians from Antium and Setia joined the First Legion''s third and light-armoured brigades, quickly attacking the young Roman soldiers and surrounding most of them.

    Without panicking, the Roman centuriae in the rear turned to fend off the Volscians'' attack while the soldiers in the front attacked the Theonians more desperately. By doing so, they almost broke the formation of the third and the light-armoured brigade. Fortunately, they already knew that reinforcements had arrived, which gave them the confidence to hold out.

    At the same time, Amintas urgently ordered the second brigade''s soldiers next to the third brigade to strengthen the line of defence.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Once the other Volscians arrived at the battlefield and saw the Roman army retreating, they immediately began their pursuit.

    With the Theonian heavy infantries¡¯ exhaustion, they already have difficulty continuing the chase after only a short run. Thus only the light infantry and the cavalry continued to pursue the enemy.

    The seventh brigade, made up of light infantry, still had the most energy in the First Legion, so they tried to rush to intercept the six centuriae of young Roman soldiers who had attacked their left nk.

    But it turned out that these Roman centuriae, who were on the left nk, hadn''t known about the arrival of the Volscian reinforcements and had only withdrawn on military order. Since they didn''t retreat because of a rout, their morale was still good. Moreover, their withdrawal is simr to the Theonian army and had withdrawn fully intact rather than running scattered. Hence they could immediately organise a counterattack.

    After suffering casualties, the seventh brigade no longer dared to stand in front of the enemy but followed behind them, attacking with spears and arrows, and achieved some sess.

    The Theonian cavalry pursued in a more direct manner, riding their horses from the rear of the enemy, breaking up the enemy''s centuriae and stabbing any enemy who fell to death. But this method was more exhausting to the already tired horses. Thus they only used it a few times at the start of the pursuit. Afterwards, they would only attack the few enemies that fell behind.

    With the battlefield only five kilometres from the Roman''s camp, Camillus managed to retreat to the camp''s northern gate unhindered with the vast majority of experienced and veteran centuriae and light infantry.

    Upon receiving the report, Furius opened the gate and waited for Camillus.

    But instead of entering the camp immediately, he reminded Furius to guard the camp to stop the enemy¡¯s attack. At the same time, he asked the light infantry to quickly go up the walls and climb the sentry towers to attack any enemy who dared to approach the camp. Meanwhile, he himself would lead three thousand experienced and veteran soldiers to form a phnx a hundred metres away from the camp, swiftly attacking the Volscians who would soon arrive.

    And since the Volscians had long scattered and disorganised when chasing the defeated troops, Camillus and his troops easily defeated them.

    After defeating the pursuing forces and ensuring the retreating Roman''s safety, Camillus didn''t order a counter-pursuit. Instead, he instructed the troops to retreat steadily towards the camp''s northern gate fifty metres away. And with the light infantries'' arrows and javelins, Camillus defended the retreating force''s escape route.

    But when the Volscians finally gathered all the pursuing soldiers and formed a new army to approach the Roman camp, Camillus had already led his troops to withdraw.

    With the Roman soldiers on the wall, the Volscians finally gave up on the idea of an attack on the Roman camp.

    Atst, this arduous battle hade to an end.

    Even after winning this battle, Amintas remained dejected as he looked at the wounded soldiers lying on the ground. When the rough statistics of their casualties came out, it showed the First Legion had suffered more than 2,400 casualties, which is already a fourth of the legion''s entire men. The ones to suffer the most were the third brigade and the light infantry brigade, who had lost more than half of their number. Although some of the wounded only suffered flesh wounds, which allowed them to recover quickly after bandaging, treatment and rest, it still weakened the First Legion.

    Beside him was Ledes, who likewise sighed. The First Cavalry Legion paid a great price by blocking the retreat of the Romans tasked to plunder provisions at the start and the Roman heavy infantry and cavalry reinforcements. Their final casualties were as high as 700 men, nearly half their legion. But the most serious was their loss of horses, and recing them may take a while before they can return to the battlefield.

    ¡°We had suffered a great loss in this battle!¡± Ledesmented loud enough for Amintas to hear. Although he tried to help Amintas in the battle, this didn''t stop him from venting his anger.

    Amintas didn''t reply, as he didn''t have the heart to contradict him. While ordering the medical camp to treat the wounded, he asked the soldiers of the escort team to help bandage the wounded and carry out first aid treatment(the soldiers would also receive such education during their military training).

    By this time, the First Legion¡¯s soldiers were already too exhausted even to remove their helmets and armour. Instead, theyy on the floor and slept so soundly that they didn¡¯t even respond after getting stepped on, leading the guards to mistake them for corpses numerous times.

    Amintas walked carefully between the sleeping soldiers, afraid to wake them. He had been the legatus of the First Legion for nine years and hade to know all the soldiers and officers closely. So it pained him to see the soldiers and officers with whom he was on friendly terms fall one by one into a pool of blood because he had ordered them to fight the enemy!

    At the same time, he started ming himself. King Davos had repeatedly warned him to watch out for the Roman army before their departure. But he still underestimated the Romans and ordered the legionaries to attack the enemy that outnumbered them after a long march. He had treated the Romans as if they were the Messapians, Peuceti and Dauni, with whom the Theonian legions had fought in the past. And the fact proved that King Davos'' fears were correct. With organised formations and tactics simr to Theonia''s, this army was far superior to Theonia''s former enemies!¡­ ¡®If only the First Legion weren''t exhausted and had more men, we would have never fallen into such a passive situation! Rome¡­Rome¡­¡¯

    Amintas was lost in his thoughts while walking. Suddenly, Hybaterus stood in front of him unsteadily, with his bandaged right arm and bloodstain running down his forehead. As a result, he could barely salute with his left hand, ¡°Le¡­Legatus¡­¡±

    ¡°Lie down, Hybaterus!¡± Amintas said in a hurry, showing a rare gentle smile of concern to the senior centurion of the third brigade.

    ¡°Legatus, my brothers of the third brigade¡­¡± Hybaterus'' expression became down as tears welled up in his eyes before he could even finish speaking.

    The smile on Amintas'' face froze. He could only say, ¡°We won this victory thanks to the tenacity of your third and eighth Brigades in holding off the enemy''s attack! Our medical camp will do its best to save the soldiers under yourmand, so ensure you get proper treatment and recover as quickly as possible! The First Legion cannot do without you!¡±

    Amintas left in a hurry after saying that.

    Then his adjutant Aristonus came over and whispered, ¡°Legatus, Sthephilos had suffered some minor injuries.¡± Since they are all children of the Theonian statesmen, they are all familiar with each other.

    ¡°He easily got wounded!¡± Amintas'' words dumbfounded Aristonus.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the military tent of the Roman camp, Camillus briefly told Furius the course of the battle.

    After hearing that, Furius couldn''t help but suck in cold air, ¡°Camillus, you mean to say that¡­the Theonian soldiers marched from Circeii to the south of our camp without stopping in between, then attacked our troops gathering provision, and then¡­also held off our nine thousand heavy infantry until the arrival of the Volscian reinforcements?!¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Camillus sighed and said gloomily, ¡°The most important thing is that we have many more soldiers than them. We have more than nine thousand heavy infantry, two thousand light infantry and seven hundred cavalries. I had led nearly twelve thousand soldiers while the Theonians¡­after the numerous reports from our scouts, the Theonians have about ten thousand men but only have about seven thousand heavy infantries¡­ Yet even with such an army that was far inferior and less to ours, we still failed to defeat them even after our soldiers fought them furiously for more than two hours!¡±

    Over the years, the Roman army remained invincible in the Latium and Etruscan regions. So Furius, who was already ustomed to victory, had a hard time epting the fact that the Roman army was inferior to the Theonians. And since he knew Camillus well, he didn''t think the respected veteran would distort the facts to clear himself from the crime of losing. Thus he couldn''t help but ask again, ¡°Is the Theonian army really that strong?!¡±

    ¡°Let''s leave the Theonian cavalry aside since you already know about them. As for the light infantry: Since we didn¡¯t put any care about them, our allies had to provide the light infantries, resulting in them being undisciplined andcking in training and cooperation, while the Theonian light infantry had well-trained and well-cooperated archers and javelinmen, and slingers who could attack a far longer range with their lead projectiles. Thus before my arrival, a light infantry of only about a thousand men had suppressed our two thousand light infantry and seven hundred cavalries¡­¡±

 Chapter 698: Both Parties Pre-War Preparation

    Camillus gave a serious analysis, ¡°More importantly, there''s not much difference in the equipment of our heavy infantry, and even the formation and tactics they use are simr to ours, except that their heavy infantry can attack with javelins. The enemy¡¯s javelin attack had routed our young soldier centuriae at the start of the battle! Another thing I noticed was the Theonian army''s many gs, which they used inbination with the salpinx and drums tomunicate orders. As a result, the Theonian centuriae were much more interconnected and could execute orders faster than we could¡­¡±

    Furius remained dejected and slightly sceptical even after hearing that. Thus he said, ¡°So it seems our army is inferior to the Theonians in every way?! Or¡­this army is probably Theonia''s strongest while their other army may¡­not be as powerful and courageous!¡±

    Camillus was under no such illusions, so he frankly said, ¡°I fear that the other Theonian armies are not too weak, judging by the organisation and level of fighting disyed by this army. Otherwise, Theonia wouldn''t have be a powerful kingdom in just a few years. And since they own the entirend of southern Italia, they have more soldiers than us¡­ Provoking such a powerful opponent would be a massive trouble for Rome!¡± After saying that, worry shrouded Camillus'' face.

    Furius suddenly thought of something and said it to encourage himself and Camillus, ¡°Don''t forget about our powerful ally, Carthage! They promised they would dere war on Theonia if they dared to dere war on us! So with Carthage attacking in the south, Theonia wouldn''t be able to send more troops here. And we Romans have the advantage of fighting in our ownnd!¡±

    Camillus wanted to say something when the adjutant entered themander''s tent with a grave expression, ¡°Esteemed military tribunals, the army''s casualty statistics are out. There are about 4,460 heavy infantry, four of our cavalry centuriae and 740 of our light infantry, who didn¡¯t return to the camp for a total of 56 centuriae of men¡­¡±

    ¡°56 centuriae! That''s already half the number of people who left the camp!¡± Furius said with a slightly exaggerated look of surprise. Then realising Camillus was next to him, he hurriedly added, ¡°In fact, there shouldn''t be that many casualties and captured soldiers. Some soldiers might have run further and would return once the enemy retreated, so we should have our sentries pay attention and arrange the troops to be ready to help them return to the camp¡­¡±

    Even if he had expected such a result, the sheer size of the figure still made Camillus cough uncontrobly, prompting the adjutant to rush forward and pat him on the back.

    It took some time for Camillus to recover. Then he said with a gloomy expression, ¡°It was all because of the mistakes of mymand that this battle caused so many casualties among the soldiers! I want to write to the Senate and ask for punishment!¡­and I will also remind them to be more vignt and cautious against the Theonian army!¡±

    Furius felt relieved hearing Camillus'' words. Although he respects Camillus, he doesn''t want to bear this defeat with him since he doesn''t want this fiasco to affect his future career. Still, he pretended to say righteously, ¡°Camillus, how can this be your responsibility alone? You and I are both this army''smanders, and we jointly decided the decision to leave the camp to rescue the soldiers-¡±

    Camillus waved his hand, ¡°Don''t say that; all of it is my fault! I had underestimated the Theonians. If I hadn''t, I would have led the troops back¡­immediately after securing the soldiers gathering provisions¡­¡±

    ¡°War isn''t something you can afford to take risks!¡± Camillus sighed in remorse. He then reminded, ¡°Besides losing so many soldiers, some soldiers have been wounded to the point that they could no longer go into battle in a short time, thus greatly reducing the number of soldiers who can fight. Furius, I suggest you reinforce the camp''s defence tomorrow. And no matter how much the enemy provokes you, you absolutely must not leave the camp!¡±

    The Theonian army''s performance truly shocked Furius. So even though he was young and vigorous, he wouldn''t dare risk his career and soldiers'' lives. Thus he nodded and said, ¡°Camillus, you are right! We should defend the camp until Quintus and his men arrive with their troops!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although the Volscians weren''t the mainbatants, this was still a rare victory over Rome in a decade. When the Romans finally surrendered to the Volscians after losing hope to break through, or when the Volscians captured the wounded and Romans that fell behind, the faces of the Volscians who escorted the Romans back were filled with the pride of victory.

    But the Volscian''s higher-ups knew who brought this victory. Following consul Toulus of Circeii and consul Katamentalus of Privernumernum, they went to find Amintas, who was treating the wounded soldiers.

    ¡°General Amintas, I really didn''t expect you to give us a rare victory the day after you led your army into Volsci. It is evident how much effort Theonia has put into helping us! Thank you so much! Thank you so much!¡± Toulus repeatedly thanked him with a sincere expression.

    Katamentalus immediately interjected and excitedly apologised, ¡°I apologise for my previous prejudice. Iined when Toulus told me how Theonia had sent an army of ten thousand men and said, ¡®What can reinforcements of only ten thousand me do when Rome invades with tens of thousands of soldiers!¡¯ Yet you and your soldiers proved the might of the Theonian army with your valiant performance! Please ept my respect for you!¡±

    Then each consul of the important Volscian towns immediately and respectfully offered Amintas the most honourable courtesy of Volsci.

    Amintas hastily stopped them and said modestly, ¡°I am only a warrior following the kingdom''s order to fight the enemy! If you want to thank us, you should thank his majesty Davos who sent us here!¡±

    ¡°Allying ourselves with the great Theonia was the best thing we Volscians have done in years, and fighting alongside the brave men of Theonia is a great honour to us! And together, we will defeat the Romans.¡± Keronus, the former consul of Antium, eximed.

    ¡°That''s right! That''s right!¡­¡± The other Volscian higher-ups agreed loudly.

    Hearing their sincere words and seeing the excitement on their faces, Amintas realised that the First Legion''s victory at such a cost was of great significance.

    Katamentalus then sincerely requested Theonia''s First Legion, ¡°General Amintas, since the Romans have suffered this defeat and their forces in the camp are low, we have decided to attack the Roman camp and wipe them out once and for all. Thus we hope to count on your assistance!¡±

    His words caught Amintas by surprise, who then shook his head and frankly said, ¡°It is not a wise idea to attack the Roman camp now!¡±

    Without caring about the Volscians'' expression, Amintas continued by seriously analysing, ¡°After a careful examination, I found the Roman camp to be well defended. And after today''s battle, I learned how powerful the Romans were. Thus even if we rely on our numbers and eventually capture this camp, our losses are bound to be great! But can you afford such losses now?! There''s a report that the Romans have another army of even greater numbers that will be arriving soon, so what army will we use to defend ourselves if the constant fighting diminishes our numbers?!¡­¡±

    Amintas'' words poured cold water on the Volscian higher-ups, calming them from the temporary excitement of winning a battle.

    Toulouse disagreed with attacking the Roman camp, so he asked, ¡°General Amintas, what do you suggest we should do for the next battle?¡±

    Amintas thought for a while and said, ¡°We should take a defensive strategy and rely on defending the towns to kill many Roman soldiers.¡±

    ¡°Defence?! That would only result in the Romans taking our towns one after another. The loss of Velitrae proves that the Romans had a strong offensive capability!¡± Katamentalus expressed his doubt and concern.

    The easily irritated Amintas remained calm as he patiently exined, ¡°As I marched through Setia, I saw that the city''s defences were indeed too simple that it would be easy to breach. So we should take advantage of this victory and the spare time we got before another Roman army arrives to quickly improve and fortify the town''s defences, which will cause great problems to the Roman army''s attack!¡±

    ¡°General Amintas, how should we improve the town''s defence?¡± Toulus asked again modestly.

    ¡°First of all, we need to dig a deep and wide trench and bury pointed stakes in the bottom of the trenches, making it difficult for the Roman soldiers to pass through. Then we need to ce abatis between the trench and the wall so that even if the Romans get through the trench, it will take them quite a while to reach the city with their siege equipment. Meanwhile, our arrows, javelins and stones¡­would cause them the maximum casualties possible. We also have to set traps outside the trenches¡­¡± Amintas exined in detail as he carved it into the ground with his short sword while surrounded by a circle of Volscian higher-ups who listened intently.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the First Legion was on their way to Latium by ship, Carthage, which had received the news, was, of course, going to send an army as promised and dere war on Theonia. But there was a heated debate regarding this issue in the Carthaginian Senate.

 Chapter 699: Syracuses Past Ten Years (I)

    Hanno superficially agreed to send troops to Sicily, but he believed that with Theonia''s current military strength, Carthage''s strength alone wasn''t enough to guarantee a victory. Therefore, it was necessary to gather the army in the hands of the Iberian governor Mago, who had arge army. And since they often fought with the natives of Iberia, they had rich battle experience.

    Since Hanno''s request is reasonable, many elders agreed with it. However, the Magonids elders, such as Pretasdrubal, adamantly opposed it and argued that: Although Mago had an army in Iberia, he used them to defend against the invasion of the Iberian natives. So if they were to transfer them, Carthage''s newly upiednds in Iberia might again fall into the hands of the natives.

    Hearing their reason, Hanno scoffed and mocked them loudly, saying, ¡°Does Mago still need to defend himself against the Iberian natives?! I''ve long heard that the Iberian chieftains would often visit him in Sexi and even scold them as if they were his ves. And I know that instead ofing to Carthage more often, the officials of Mga and Gadir would go to Sexi to see Mago more! And even though our colony in Iberia was now stable, the military expenses Mago applied to the Senate increased yearly, and his army grew more and more. That made me wonder who he is defending against?! Shouldn''t he use this army, supported by Carthage''s money, to serve Carthage?! If he doesn''t agree, does he have something else in mind?!!¡±

    Hanno''s words made it difficult for Pretasdrubal to refute them, while the many elders who epted Mago''s bribe couldn''t speak for him now. On the other hand, Hanno''s proposal received the support of the neutral elders.

    In the end, Hanno harshly said, ¡°If Mago doesn''t send his troops, Carthage won''t send troops to Sicily!¡±

    Thus the meeting concluded in disagreement.

    Soon after, rumours began to spread in Carthage that Hanno was so afraid of Theonia that he dared not send an army to war. And he was even determined to break their agreement with Rome, Carthage''s close ally!

    However, another rumour was more widespread: Mago refused to send the troops he had recruited with the Carthaginian Citizens'' tax to fight against Theonia because he wanted to be King of Iberia!

    This rumour caused a great uproar in the city of Carthage, and many people gathered outside the Senate to protest, denouncing Mago as a traitor. Then they urged the senate to revoke his position as Iberia''s governor and transfer him back to Carthage for a trial.

    Mago and the others became somewhat depressed once the news spread to the south of Iberia.

    They were well aware that this was the downside of not being in the centre of power, Carthage, which made it difficult for them to control the situation. And although the Magonids had be powerful in Iberia, they would be a tree without roots as soon as they separated from Carthage.

    Naturally, they didn''t want the Carthaginians to abandon them, so Hanno''s action could be said to have struck at their weakness.

    So after a discussion with Haka, Mago finally made a decision.

    A few dayster, Pretasdrubal said this at the meeting, ¡°Esteemed Elders, as a citizen of Carthage, the Iberian governor, Mago, would certainly like to send his troops to fight. However, he hopes to serve as themander of the attack on Sicily!¡±

    And with Mago''s identity and military credentials, no one among the Carthaginian citizens daredpete with him for the position of suprememander of the expedition. But Hanno wouldn''t let him, so he has Palteshmoun object, ¡°The many fierce races in Iberia have made the situation thereplex. So I fear that once Lord Mago leaves, it will lead to instability in our newly upiednds in Iberia, especially as the new governor will be unfamiliar with the situation, resulting in wasted years of work. For this reason, it will be better for Lord Mago to stay in Iberia and send in the army.¡±

    Pretasdrubal immediately retorted, ¡°Fellow elders, you should all be aware of theplexity of the Iberian army, as most of them are foreign mercenaries. So if an outsider were to takemand, I fear they wouldn''t follow him and would just cause confusion instead of achievingbat effectiveness. If the Senate is really worried about the security of our new territories in Iberia, I would rmend Hasdrubal, son of Himilco, to be the expeditionmander!¡±

    ¡®Hasdrubal recing Mago would still achieve the same result! Mago, you have truly thought of a wonderful n!¡¯ Hanno sneered inwardly.

    Then the Hanno faction elders all expressed their opposition, with Eshmounadon eximing, ¡°It''s dangerous for an army supported by Carthage''s taxes to disregard Carthage''s orders and follow the orders of a single person! Do we dare hand over themand of the army to such a person and put Carthage in possible danger?!¡­¡±

    Eshmounadon''s words were harsh, but they expressed the fear of many of the elders. The elders were already worried because, in addition to returning to Carthage a few times a year since the Magonids had gone to Iberia, they also had arge number of troops made up almost entirely of non-Carthaginian citizens. So it was clear that handing over the army''smand to the Magonids was not what the elders wanted to see.

    And on this issue, Hanno and the leader of the neutral faction, Adrusbal, are in agreement.

    In the end, they adopted a resolution supported by the majority of the Elders as follows: The militarymander in Numidia, Milkpilles, will lead the expedition to Sicily. On the other hand, Mago wouldn''t go to war, but Iberia still had to send at least twenty thousand men.

    This decision contradicted the oue Mago and the others wanted and severely damaged their interests. When Mago received the news, he dyed the implementation of the resolution and sent envoys to Carthage with arge sum of money to lobby the elders.

    As a result, the dispute between the two sides dyed the deployment of troops to Sicily.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the Carthaginian Senate argued over the expedition, the Council of Syracuse was also embroiled in a fierce debate.

    More than a decade ago, Syracuse was thergest Greek city-state in Sicily. In fact, it was the most powerful city-state in the entire Greek world. Under the rule of the tyrant Dionysius, the Syracusans defeated the mighty Carthage, conquered most of Sicily and became the overlord of the ind. In an attempt to expand his territory, Dionysius even led nearly a hundred thousand troops north to attack Magna Graecia across the sea.

    But after six months of warring with the then-rising Theonia Union, the obviously superior Syracuse eventually suffered a crushing defeat in both naval andnd battles. Consequently, the Theonian troops even attacked Sicily, leading to a rebellion in Syracuse that overthrew the rule of Dionysius and the eventual murder of Dionysius and his family by Sparta''s treachery.

    The Syracusans, liberated from Dionysius'' dictatorship, decided not to repeat the same mistakes. So they entrusted Herolis, who yed a leading role in overthrowing Dionysius, in forming a new democratic government.

    Unfortunately, Herolis had other ideas. Having held important positions in the city-state during Dionysius'' reign and having studied Theonia''s political system carefully, he opposed Dionysius'' excessive cruelty and oppression of the people. However, that doesn''t mean he fully approved of the democratic system. On the contrary, he believed democracy was too free andx, inefficient and prone to chaos. Especially as Syracuse had just suffered a disastrous defeat and urgently needed to regain its strength, making it more important to centralise the authority to quickly decide various decisions that would benefit the development of the city-state.

    Hence he dyed the formation of a new government and instead used his position as the wartime leader to frequently issue resolutions, which he often decided alone without consulting others. Naturally, it received people''s criticism.

    During this period, two events caused his poprity to plummet.

    The first was when Theagenes returned to Syracuse with a few ships and soldiers after Dionysius'' rule was overthrown. Theagenes, an important democrat in Syracuse, was arrested and threatened with execution for his opposition to the rule of Dionysius but escaped with the help of his friends and fled to Sicily.

    The popce gave him a warm wee for his previous heroic deeds of defying Dionysius. They then elected him as a strategos in the lesia, hoping he would join Syracuse''s Wartime Council and check the growing power of Herolis.

    But Herolis vetoed the election results of the lesia, insisting that any decision required his approval. Naturally, the people were furious with him about this.

    But since Herolis passed a resolution to distribute the fertilend that Dionysius had given to the mercenaries to the freemen of the port and to grant them citizenship, he had the full support of the people and freemen of the port.

    In addition, the members of the War Council, such as Phalekus, Steisikus¡­and others, were friends and supporters of Herolis, so it seemed as if his authority was unshakable.

    But the second event was that although Theonia agreed to release the captured soldiers and sailors of Syracuse, Davos attached conditions, demanding that Syracuse pay war reparations to make up for the damage the Syracusan army had done to Magna Graecia, as well as a ransom for those captives.

 Chapter 700: Syracuses Past Ten Years (II)

    Although this was no small sum, Herolis could only agree to pay war reparations after much negotiation with Theonia. For this reason, Herolis wanted to concentrate his authority so he could develop Syracuse quickly to escape the quagmire of defeat.

    But soon after, the Syracusans found that some of the Syracusan citizens and sailors Theonia released were fewer.

    So Herolis immediately sent someone to discuss with Theonia, but the Theonian official''s response made them feel helpless. The initial attack by Syracuse had almost brought Theonia to the brink of extinction, so in order to receive food aid from Carthage, they had to agree to the other side''s request and provide Carthage with some of the Syracusan prisoners.

    Herolis was left with no other choice and had begun to make a fuss about the war reparations, urging Theonia to reduce part of thepensation.

    Yet the Syracusans thought that Herolis didn''t do his best and allowed the Syracusans to be ves of Carthage.

    And so the people, including the many freemen in the port area, were disappointed with him because many prisoners who didn''t return were Syracusan sailors.

    It was at this time that Davos ordered the spies lurking in Syracuse to spread damaging rumours against Herolis, for Davos knew that many of Herolis'' decisions were his, and he didn''t want to see Syracuse rise again.

    As a result, the people''s discontent and suspicion of Herolis grew, with many saying that Herolis wanted to be the second Dionysius.

    And in this period of unrest, per thew promulgated by Herolis, Phacipessas, Kuchis, Damocles¡­and others, they should have severely punished the former strategoi and ministers under Dionysius. But suddenly, they broke away from imprisonment and escaped from Syracuse with some of the people discontent with Herolis. They then captured the small town of Akrai after joining forces with the mercenaries of Macias, roaming the mountain ranges to the west.

    Herolis certainly couldn''t allow Dionysius'' remnants to rebel in Syracuse''s sphere of influence, so he led the expedition himself before instructing Phalekus, Steisikus and others to guard Syracuse, as the recent political situation was somewhat unstable.

    But shortly after Herolis led his troops to Akrai and attacked the city, he received the bad news that a revolt had broken out in Syracuse. They then held an lesia to not only re-elect the strategoi but also to unanimously pass a motion to put the dictator Herolis on trial.

    Why could they easily remove Herolis from power in Syracuse? That is thanks to the support of Phacipessas, Kuchis, Steisikus and others.

    It turned out that these close friends of Herolis felt that Herolis had be too dictatorial after taking over the leadership and no longer listened to them. And although they were also members of the Wartime Council, they had little real power, so there was undoubtedly discontent in their hearts. In addition, the rumours in the city began to affect them, and they feared that Herolis would be a dictator. So after Herolis led the army out of the city, Theagenes persuaded them to work with the democrats and abandon Herolis.

    Upon hearing of the unrest in the city, Herolis immediately led the army back to quickly calm the situation. But before he could reach Syracuse, most of the soldiers under hismand ran away.

    Realising that he could do nothing, Herolis took a boat to escape Syracuse with his trusted subordinates.

    But instead of fleeing to the kingdom of Theonia, which had helped him overthrow Dionysius, or to Sparta, Syracuse''s former ally, he fled to Corinth, Syracuse''s mother state. The Corinthian War ended in the third year of the kingdom of Theonia (391 BC).

    To prevent a repeat of Herolis, the democrats who had taken over Syracuse used the lesia to elect 25 strategoi, led by Steisikus and Phalekus, to manage the city''s affairs. They then began to abolish some of thews passed by Herolis, including the war reparations to Theonia and even took back thend allotted to the freemen in the power area¡­

    However, that not only worsened Syracuse''s diplomatic situation but also infuriated the poption of the port area.

    Furthermore, Theagenes proposed to increase the punishment of citizens who had served under Dionysius, causing even more panic in the city.

    As a result of not paying the war reparation, King Davos of Theonia ordered the Eighth Legion in Catania to set up a force on the northern border of Syracuse, making it look as if they were going to attack Syracuse.

    Eventually, the new strategoi of Syracuse had to give in and increase the amount of the war indemnity. As for the civilians who rioted in the harbour, Theagenes and the others relentlessly sent troops to suppress them.

    But then, Phacipessas and Macias led the rebel army in Akrai to march on Syracuse, dering that they would seek revenge for the citizens who had served Dionysius and suffered injustice, which many people in Syracuse shared.

    Theagenes then led the low-morale soldiers out of the city to fight but was defeated by the outnumbered rebel army of Phacipessas and had to retreat into the city to defend it.

    But with Phacipessas and Macias¡¯ familiarity with Syracuse, they had Phacipessas pretend to storm the southern area of Syracuse while Macias quickly moved north around the mountains with a few elite troops. Then they stormed the northern walls of Syracuse, took the northern gate and entered the city and the Epipe.

    As a result, the people in the city were frightened.

    But at this critical moment, the members of the Council, made up of 25 strategoi, are still discussing who should be med for their defeat while debating how to defend themselves against the enemy, unable toe up with a concrete measure. Only after Macias'' army approached the inner city area did the strategoi scramble to gather troops to meet the enemy, which naturally resulted in another failure.

    The panicked democrats could only retreat to the ind of Ortygia, while Phacipessas took the opportunity to enter the city and join Macias. The former mercenaries then took the opportunity to retaliate by making the people suffer greatly.

    Meanwhile, Herolis followed Syracuse''s development from far away from Corinth. But as a patriot, how can he stand by and watch the present tragedy of the people? And so he asked the Corinthian government for some reinforcements and led them back to the ind of Ortygia by ship.

    It was the spring of the sixth year of the kingdom of Theonia (388 BC) when the people of Syracuse warmly weed the return of Herolis and begged him to forgive their treachery.

    Afterwards, Herolis made a speech from the heart on the ind of Ortygia, ¡°¡­no matter how you treat me, I will stille to protect this city-state and the people without hesitation. If I cannot save my hometown, I would rather burn myself on the ruins of my homnd!¡­¡±

    His words deeply moved Syracuse''s people, including his former friends and his political enemies, making them chant in unison, ¡°Save Syracuse!!! Save Syracuse!!!¡­¡±

    Seeing the high morale and the popce''s support, Herolis immediately formed an army, opened the gate of the long-closed ind of Ortygia, rushed out of the isthmus andunched a fierce attack on the rebels.

    As a response, Phacipessas and Macias hurriedly led their troops into battle.

    At the news that Herolis was the leader, the people of the city responded.

    They defeated the rebels in a series of battles until they killed Macias and captured Phacipessas, effectively wiping out the insurgents.

    After all these victories, Herolis'' prestige grew so much that he tantly abolished the Council without holding an lesia, stripping the 25 strategoi, such as Theagenes, Phalekus¡­and the others, of their authority that the people didn''t even object.

    Having regained his authority, Herolis rified that he wanted to set up a government simr to Theonia but mixed with the Corinthian political system.

    This is a system of government where a few elites rule the majority, so he had to rely more on the Corinthians to help himplete the task of transforming Syracuse''s system.

    Having suffered greatly from the unrest of the past few years, coupled with the fact that Herolis has restored thews he had previously passed that benefited many of the people of Syracuse, the people havee to ept these changes in government. Thus even though it seemed to be a dictatorship, the people didn''t express strong opposition. Meanwhile, Herolis'' political enemies, such as Theagenes and Phalekus, couldn''t stir up much of a storm without the support of the people, and so the political situation in Syracuse began to stabilise.

    Herolis'' rule gradually moved towards stability. However, there was danger in this stability.

    Among the Corinthians who followed Herolis to Syracuse was a young nobleman named Andromachus, who was rewarded for his bravery by Herolis by being made head of the city guard, protecting Syracuse''s security while also serving as head of Herolis'' court guard. But he was jealous of Herolis'' achievement and tried to take his ce.

    Thus, in the eighth year of the Theonian kingdom (386 BC), while Herolis was on his way to the Temple of Apollo to make an offering, assassins paid by Andromachus stabbed the suprememander of Syracuse to death. Andromachus then took advantage of the situation to seize control of Syracuse.

    And to consolidate his power, Andromachus wantonly promoted the Corinthians, much to the displeasure of the Syracusans.

    A few monthster, the widow of Herolis publicly revealed the truth of her husband''s assassination at Demeter''s harvest festival.

    The people were furious, and they gathered to overthrow Andromachus'' rule.

    Andromachus rallied his troops to try and crush them, but he suffered a tragic defeat and died in the ensuing chaos.

 Chapter 701: Syracuses Choice

    But after the Syracusan democrats regained power, Theagenes, Phalekus and Steisikus had learned their lesson and no longer set up a strange system of government with 25 strategoi as they had done before. Instead, they returned to the traditional democratic government of Syracuse, with ten strategoi, a council of one hundred and an lesia. They also continued some of the policies andws implemented by Herolis while continuing to pay war reparations to Theonia.

    Since Syracuse''s defeat by Theonia, its political situation had been in turmoil, draining both the energy and enthusiasm of the poption and leaving some elites disillusioned with Syracuse''s prospects. Philoxenus, for example, had epted an invitation from the Theonian Academy to teach at Thurii. Still, he had written several letters to King Davos asking him to reduce the war reparations Syracuse had to pay.

    But Davos had only generously written off the war reparations in the eleventh year of the kingdom of Theonia.

    Since then, Syracuse''s political situation has gradually regained its stability and vitality. However, due to the previous turmoil, which severely damaged Syracuse''s agriculture and trade, many freemen and merchants fled here, preferring the booming Catania.

    So when the people of Syracuse opened their eyes and looked out, they realised with a start that Syracuse, once the dominant city in Sicily and the most powerful city in the western Mediterranean, could not evenpare with Catania, a city in the kingdom of Theonia, their former enemy. Meanwhile, Syracuse''s allied city-state, such as Kamarina, G, Agrigento and many other city-states, had already broken off their ties with Syracuse and instead went to please Theonia¡­

    As the Syracusans reminisced about their former glory, they began to hate Theonia, the culprit, as most of the taxes Syracuse collected were used to pay for war reparations. Thus a strange development urred in Sicily: While all the Greek city-states of Sicily tried to befriend the kingdom of Theonia, the people of Syracuse, from top to bottom, alienated themselves from their powerful neighbour. Besides refusing every invitation to Theonia''s celebration, they would argue and shes with Theonia''s allies, Leontinoi and Taunis, overnd issues on the border.

    Carthage, of course, saw all this. And so they sent an envoy to Syracuse to persuade Syracuse to join the alliance against the Kingdom of Theonia.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In Syracuse''s city hall, the ten Syracusan strategoi looked somewhat tense after the Carthaginian envoy left the meeting hall.

    ¡°I don''t understand why there is suddenly a war even though Theonia and Carthage had maintained friendly rtions for more than a decade?!¡± Siktas, a strategos from the port district, asked in confusion. In contrast to the people of Syracuse in other areas, the civilians of the port district still had a good impression of Theonia. After all, it was with Theonia''s help that the civilians of the port district finally organised against Dionysius'' tyranny and became a force to be reckoned with in Syracuse''s political arena.

    ¡°It''s clear, though! Carthage and Theonia only maintained friendly rtions for over a decade because both needed time to regain their strength. Unfortunately, not only Sicily but also the entire western Mediterranean cannot amodate two powerful forces. It used to be Carthage and us, Syracuse, and now we are reced by Theonia¡­¡± Paronisus said in a low voice as if remembering Syracuse''s older days. Although he had once served Dionysius as an official, he didn''t join the war to crush the rebels after the riots because of the opposition of the sailors under him, allowing him to escape punishment. And in the battle to overthrow the murderer Andromachus, he fought bravely and made remarkable achievements, resulting in people recognising him and electing him as strategos for several times.

    ¡°Let''s say Theonia and Carthage go to war. If that happens, it would be a great opportunity for us! Over the years, Theonia''s influence on us in Syracuse had be too much, especially after they had upied the city of Catania, Naxos and Sikuri. The freemen were much more willing to live in Catania and Naxos, the merchant ships preferred to trade in Catania, and the other city-states in Sicily liked interacting with them more. If things continue like this, when will we regain Syracuse''s former glory?!¡± Suprememander Theagenes clearly favour cooperating with Carthage against Theonia.

    ¡°But can Carthage defeat Theonia?¡± Kuchis expressed his concern. After all, he had experienced the war that decided the Greek hegemon in the western Mediterranean more than a decade ago. He had also heard and seen the Theonian legion thatnded in Sicily and defeated Macias'' army of tens of thousands of soldiers.

    ¡°The Theonian army is indeed too powerful! Two years ago, they even easily defeated the Sikeloi, capturing a number of their towns! And now, the Sikeloi are like dogs around the Theonians.¡± Phalekus took over the conversation. As someone who had fought alongside the Theonian army to overthrow Dionysius'' rule, he knew quite well about Theonia''s strength. Likewise, he didn''t support going against them, ¡°Syracuse''s strength is no longer the same as the past. Moreover, the Theonian cities and their friendly allies now surround us. As soon as we dere war on Theonia, they can attack us immediately. I am also sure that the Theonians are looking forward to us breaking the agreement so they can finally storm Syracuse and achieve their goal of unifying eastern Sicily!¡±

    Silence descended in the hall. As the years passed, the strategoi learned that Syracuse could still exist independently because of the agreement between Carthage, Sparta and Theonia.

    At this moment, Steisikus said deeply, ¡°Everyone, If we don''t provoke Theonia, will Theonia leave Syracuse alone? Once they defeated Carthage, could we maintain our independence?! No! We would be forced to join the Kingdom of Theonia, like Catania, Crotone and Locri, bing amon city, losing the long history and splendour that made us proud! So I think that by helping Carthage, we are helping ourselves!¡±

    Steisikus'' words moved the other strategoi.

    ¡°Everyone, you may have only seen Theonia''s might, but Carthage is just as powerful. Over the years, the Carthaginians conquered Numidia in Africa and also the southern part of the Iberian Penins, holding even morend than the kingdom of Theonia. More than a decade ago, Carthage could muster an army of a hundred thousand men while at war with us! And today, they can do it even more easily!¡±

    Theagenes continued convincing the other strategoi, ¡°Don''t forget that Rome, Carthage''s ally, is also mighty and is on the verge of war with Theonia. Thebination of Carthage and Rome is already too much for Theonia to handle, not to mention the Carthaginian envoy''s words mentioning their other helpers¡­Now Theonia has fallen to Carthage''s siege! So when are we going to act, if not now?!¡±

    For decades the Syracusans had maintained close military and trade rtions with the west coast of Italy, particrly with the Campanian League. Although the Campanian League has recently allied itself with Theonia, the reluctant Syracusans have kept their attention there. As a result, they have a better understanding of Rome''s situation.

    ¡°More than a decade ago, Dionysius had also ced Theonia under heavy encirclement. But what was the result? We all know about it.¡± Siktas said lightly.

    ¡°It is different this time!¡± Theagenes red at him and tried to continue his persuasion.

    Siktas coldly said, ¡°It is indeed different. After all, Theonia''s territory is several timesrger than it was over a decade ago, so its strength has increased many times.¡±

    Hearing those words, Theagenes didn''t know what to say for a moment.

    Suddenly, Phalekus interjected after some thought, ¡°I think it would be better if we do it this way: We shouldn''t agree with the Carthaginians yet, lest we blindly put Syracuse in danger. But if Carthage does indeed dere war on Theonia and has a great advantage over them¡­then it would still not be toote for us to join them.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡± Kuchis immediately agreed, ¡°This is the most sensible approach we can take!¡±

    Soon, several other strategoi agreed, including Steisikus.

    Theagenes could only nod helplessly, but inwardly he felt indignant since he was arguably the least powerfulmander Syracuse had had in all its years. The other strategoi, some of whom had participated in the uprising against Dionysius, had deep camaraderie and many supporters. While the others represent particr groups. In contrast, he had since long lost his roots in the city after fleeing Syracuse. And having first provoked a rebellion against Herolis, which was crushed after Herolis'' triumphant return, the people he had gathered to support him had left him.

    The only reason Theagenes could still serve as the suprememander for thest two years in a row, even without a strong backing, was that the citizens of Syracuse needed someone like him, with little power but a strong reputation, to bnce the formerrades of the powerful Herolis, preventing dictatorship.

    But the stubborn Theagenes believe he is the only one who can restore Syracuse to its former glory.

 Chapter 702: Rhegiums Changes

    It was still drizzling when Alkibidas left the port area with his convoy and headed straight to the city of Thurii after getting on the main road.

    Due to his many industries in Thurii, he often came here almost every two months. But each time he visited, he found the city changed in ways that often made him sigh, ¡®The Kingdom of Theonia is growing so fast!¡¯

    But at this moment, the new changes in the city are much more: In the past, dozens ofrge water wheels ran along the banks of the Crati River to the city of Thurii, bringing clean water to the city day and night through the aqueduct, then to the water towers, then to therge fountains scattered throughout the city in an orderly manner. But this drought taught the Theonians to treasure water more than ever. So they have taken the initiative to store more water during rainy days, such as building cisterns in the courtyards of every household in the outer area of the city and covering it with wooden boards to prevent evaporation. At the same time, many citizens even raised money to build small altars of Poseidon in their residences.

    Despite the end of the drought, the temporary grain stalls set up by Thurii''s city hall in the various markets were still packed with people, more than ever. After all, they had all used up their grain reserves.

    Alkibidas nces at the long, well-ordered line in front of him as he recalls the series of events that have taken ce in the kingdom recently.

    His homnd, Rhegium, not only didn''t have much fertilend, it didn''t produce much either. But since Rhegium had be a free city of the kingdom, its trade had flourished with Theonia at its back, making the territory safer and the citizens wealthier, with luxury bingmon and the people not needing to save surplus food. So when the drought hit Rhegium and the rivers in the area stopped flowing, the city soon ran out of food.

    The Council of Rhegium panicked and rushed to ask the Kingdom of Theonia for help. So Davos ordered a shipment of grain to be sent to Rhegium while sending people to keep telling them to control everyone''s purchases.

    But the officials of Rhegium ignored this. As a result, the wealthy Rhegians bought it all up as soon as they put it on the market, leaving them no choice but seek Theonia''s help again.

    Although Davos became furious, he could only approve the allocation of another batch of food reserves to Rhegium. And he once again warned them that Theonia¡¯s reserve would need to supply the entire kingdom with its nearly two million poption, leaving no surplus food reserve for Rhegium. If they still suffer a shortage after that, they will have to find a solution on their own.

    The Rhegians should have already learned their lesson by now, but they didn''t.

    The strategoi and council members of Rhegium split the grain among themselves, and some of them even sold it at higher prices in their shops after receiving it. While the Rhegian merchants who had gone to the Mediterranean to buy grain had returned to sell it at even higher prices on the Rhegian market and even tried to do the same in Theonia. Unfortunately, Theonia¡¯s Ministry of Commerce severely punished them for that.

    But Rhegium isn''t just home to wealthy merchants but also ordinary civilians and numerous freemen in the port. Of course, they didn''t have enough money to keep buying food from the market. So once the food prices in the various shops kept increasing, and the council hadn''t imposed strict restrictions, everyone beganining.

    Suddenly, someone revealed how the Council of Rhegium had twice embezzled the free food reserves from Theonia, arousing the public''s anger. As a consequence, they gathered to loot the shops, beat the merchants and even shouted, ¡®We no longer want to be a free city; we want Rhegium to be fully integrated into Theonia!¡¯

    By the time Alkibidas left Rhegium for Thurii, the revolt was still ongoing¡­

    Alkibidas sighed as he suppressed his annoyance. After getting checked by the city guard, he entered the inner area of Thurii with his convoy.

    Although it''s almost dusk, the Nike Square is still bustling with activity: Vendors hawked loudly; Bards sang at the top of their voices; Several students from the Theonia Akademia each gave a lecture, both to improve their courage and learning and to promote their profession to the public; There are also those providing brief performances of their newlyposed poems, music and even performing drama here and there to refine their work through the audience''s reactions and feedback.

    Around the Nike Square, people discussed the content of the Senate''s announcement, which was posted on the stone wall that very day; Beneath the stairs of the library, young people read stories from books while the children around them listened intently; And at the Thurii Fountain, women drew water and chatted, while childrenughed as they y¡­ It''s a warm and tranquil sight!

    When he saw all that, it was hard to believe that Theonia was at war and that it was about to get even bigger! Overwhelmed with emotion, Alkibidas walked through Nike Square, bypassed the Grand Senate Hall and entered the forbidden area known to the people as the ¡®King''s Hill'', where the pce guards immediately stopped and questioned him.

    Alkibidas revealed his identity and origin, prompting the guard to rush to the king''s residence on the hill to make a report.

    While Alkibidas waited, the guards checked the items he was about to bring up the hill, but he was already used to that.

    Just then, a white carriage drawn by two white horses and escorted by guards arrived from the east. Although the carriage wasn''tvishly decorated with gold and silver, its borate design, the splendid patterns painted on the roof, and the beautiful carpets of the white horses showed the grace and splendour of the carriage''s owner.

    ¡°Brother!¡± The curtain of the carriage''s window suddenly opened to reveal a beautiful face.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Agnes allowed Alkibidas to ride in the carriage, and the convoy followed closely after getting inspected as they made their way to the top of the hill.

    ¡°Is father feeling better?¡± Agnes asked with concern.

    ¡°He is still the same as before, paralysed in bed and unable to walk. The physicians sent by His Majesty have treated him on several asions without making much progress¡­Now he is not as fussy as he used to be, and the other day he told me he wanted toe to Thurii to see you. But you know¡­¡± Alkibidas shrugged helplessly.

    When Agnes heard this, she became mncholy. Of course, she knew what Alkibidas meant.

    Over the years, the polemarchos of Rhegium, Athelycus, have tried various ways to persuade Davos to choose Agnes'' son, Apox, as heir to the throne.

    But on a particr asion, a somewhat drunken Athelycus went so far as to dere at a family banquet two years ago, ¡°¡­Cheiristoya is not a pure Greek (there was a lot of intermarriage between Greeks and other races in Asia Minor) and was once a princess consort of Persia. If her child were to seed to the throne, I fear the people would be disgruntled. Besides, Crotokatax is too mild-mannered to be a king''s heir, whereas the intelligent and pure-blooded Apox should be a worthy sessor to you, Davos¡­¡±

    When he uttered these words at the banquet, Davos became furious, for he was very wary of anyone trying to interfere in the critical matter of the kingdom''s session by deliberately stirring up quarrels to destroy his family. In his anger, he smashed the wine mug in his hand and had his guards eject Athelycus from the pce, ordering him to return immediately to Rhegium and never to return to Thurii.

    Since then, Athelycus'' standing in the Council of Rhegium has plummeted, and the Council members who would typically curry favour have begun to turn their backs on him. This affected Athelycus so much that he became depressed and drunk all day until he suddenly copsed and fell into aa one day. After he got resuscitated and returned to his senses, he noticed his lower body had be paralysed, and he could no longer walk¡­

    Agnes looked dejected when she thought about the past events, especially since she was the one caught in the middle of this issue. On the one hand, she felt guilty since Cheiristoya was generous enough that she didn''t mind Athelycus'' drunken words and got on well with Agnes as usual. On the other hand, she felt she had to take some responsibility because her father had be ill from drinking too much. So this incident has always been a source of guilt for her.

    She hesitated momentarily and said, ¡°¡­I will ask His Majesty to lift Father¡¯s ban and allow him toe to Thurii!¡±

    Alkibidas shook his head and said, ¡°Agnes, don''t beg His Majesty! You should know Father''s temper well. Besides, it would be better for you and the children if he did note to Thurii!¡±

    Agnes wanted to say something when she heard that. But in the end, she remained silent.

    Seeing her expression, Alkibidasforted her and said, ¡°Although Father can''te, you can go to Rhegium to see him.¡±

    Agnes'' eyes brightened, ¡®His Majesty shouldn''t stop me from going to Rhegium!¡¯

    As the two chat about the recent interesting events in Rhegium, the carriage finally arrives at the King''s residence.

    As soon as they got off the carriage, they saw several figures rushing over, ¡°Uncle! Uncle!¡­¡±

    But the children running in front weren''t Apox and Aviya, but Brintes and Eunice.

    Only Agnes'' two children were eligible to call Alkibidas uncle by blood. However, Davos had discussed this with Alkibidas so that this difference in family affection would not divide the children, so he allowed the children to call him uncle from the start.

    ¡°Uncle, what wonderful presents you have brought us this time!¡± Brintes nces straight at the convoy behind the carriage.

 Chapter 703: Uncles Gift

    Although Eunice didn''t say anything, she looked at him with the same eagerness.

    Alkibiades is popr with children because he brings them all sorts of presents whenever he visits.

    ¡°Uncle has brought you presents this time, so there is no need to worry. So line up and receive them one by one.¡± Alkibiades smiled and patted Brintes'' head.

    ¡°Line up! Everyone line up!¡± Eunice immediately acted like an older sister, instructing her siblings to line up ording to age.

    ¡°Bravo, Eunice!¡± Alkibiades praised. Afterwards, he waved to his servants.

    Then the servant immediately brought out a pure white pony.

    ¡°Oh, she is so beautiful!¡± Eunice caught sight of the little white horse and could not look away.

    ¡°I bought this pony from a Bedouin, a nomadic race in the east of Canaan. They said that it is particrly good at running. Eunice, she is yours now.¡± Alkibiades said smilingly.

    ¡°Really?! That''s great!¡± Eunice became so excited that she hugged Alkibiades and kissed him on the cheeks, ¡°Uncle, thank you so much!¡± And with that, she ran over to take the pony.

    The ve hastily handed the reins to Eunice. Then the pony neighed and licked Eunice''s hand meekly, causing Eunice to yell again in excitement.

    Alkibiades touched his cheek and smiled. He then looked at his nephew and said, ¡°Apox, do you also want a horse?¡±

    Apox tilted his head and smiled mischievously, ¡°Uncle, can you take out a white pony if I say I also want one too?¡±

    ¡®What an observant little fellow!¡¯ Alkibiades patted him affectionately on the shoulder and said, ¡°I don''t have a second pony, but I have this-¡±

    With a wave of his hand, the servant brought seven bundled rolls of papyrus.

    Alkibiades pointed to them and said, ¡°These are poems written by the Egyptians, stories about the Egyptian deities, part of Egypt''s history¡­all of which I spent a lot of time trying to buy from Greek schrs in the Egyptian city of Naucratis. I would be sad if you didn''t like them!¡±

    Apox immediately excitedly hugged Alkibiades, ¡°Thank you, uncle; I like it very much!¡±

    ¡°Uncle, where''s mine?!¡± Brintes asked impatiently.

    ¡°Don''t worry, I haven''t forgotten you,¡± said Alkibiades, and the servant returned.

    ¡°Ah, a puppy!¡± Brintes shouted excitedly. A milky white puppy was barking in the servant''s arm.

    ¡°This is a Saluki, known in Egypt as the Pharaoh''s Hound; they are good runners and loyal to their masters. They could catch geese and hares and even dare fight with crocodiles and hippos when it grows up-¡± But before Alkibiades could finish his sentence, Brintes had already excitedly picked up the puppy and ran off in a huff.

    ¡°This child!¡± Alkibiades smiled and looked at his niece Aviya standing before him.

    The ever-quiet Aviya stared widely at the small ck cat held by another servant.

    Alkibiades didn''t say anything more as he immediately ced the kitten in her arms.

    Aviya hurriedly held the kitten.

    The kitten meowed and rubbed its face in her hands.

    Aviya thought it was adorable, so she looked up and asked Alkibiades, ¡°Uncle, what''s its name?¡±

    ¡°It doesn''t have a name yet. From now on, you will be its owner, so of course, you will give it a name.¡± Alkibiades smiled.

    Aviya then lowered her head to think as she petted the kitten.

    ¡°Brother, I heard a ck cat is the incarnation of the Egyptian gods¡­.¡± Agnes said with some concern.

    ¡°In the hearts of the Egyptians, not only ck cats, but also cows, crocodiles, eagles, leopards¡­many animals are the object of their worship, but this does not prevent them from keeping cats, dogs, hunting crocodiles and hippos. Besides, this is Theonia, thend under the protection of Hades, and the children are his descendants. So what''s there to worry about?!¡± Alkibiades said half-jokingly.

    Agnes was relieved of her worry. Then she asked, ¡°Did you go to Egypt this time?¡±

    Alkibiades nodded, ¡°Yes, I also brought you a special set of high-quality cosmetics used by Egyptian Queens and princesses. I also have one for Queen Cheiristoya.¡±

    Following the direction of Alkibiades'' fingers, Agnes saw manyrge, exquisite wooden crates being carefully unloaded from the wagon by ves.

    Agnes didn''t refuse and said with slight happiness, ¡°Brother, you went to a lot of effort!¡±

    At nearly forty, she felt her skin starting to loosen and her hair gradually losing its lustre. So she really needs better cosmetics and care, and as far as she knows, Egypt is the best kingdom at it.

    With Egypt¡¯s thousands of years of history, an affluent lifestyle, and the unique environment in which they live (desert area, sandy winds and sunny conditions), the Egyptian women, regardless of wealth, be attached to and create a wide range of cosmetics and skincare products over a long period.

    Just like the Egyptian cosmetics bought by Alkibiades: Tworge crates filled with a variety of recipes consisting of various ointments and protective oils, mixtures of nt juices, flowers, fruits and grasses, and different fragrances and balms for moisturising and odour control, carefully arranged in jars of various sizes.

    And that doesn¡¯t even include facial cosmetics because a finely ground mineral powder, together with raw materials such as hippos or crocodile fat, used for eyeshadow, eyemasks, eyebrow contouring, powder, blusher, lipsticks¡­is enough to fill anotherrge crate.

    There were even more essories of all kinds, with wigs being one of the most important. The Egyptians generally considered grey hair and natural baldness extremely unsightly, so they invented wigs and even experimented with various recipes to help restore grey hair to its original colour. They use human hair with nt fibre pads to make long, short, thick¡­all kinds of wigs, filling up anotherrge crate.

    As for those exquisite earrings, nes, anklets, hairpins¡­ there is a great variety of them. Alkibiades also bought many tools used by Egyptians for cosmetics, such as small tweezers, clips, small razors, eyebrow brushes made of ivory and so on¡­

    So Agnes was right when she said he went into a lot of trouble.

    ¡°Hasn''t Croto returned yet? I did bring him a present too.¡± Alkibiades asked casually.

    ¡°Both he and Adoris have been summoned to participate in a two-day military training. They''ll have to spend the night in the camp and won''t be back until the day after tomorrow. s, the war goes on and on! I hope Croto won''t be sent to the battlefield.¡± Agnes said with some concern.

    Crotokatax is almost neen years old and now an adult citizen of Theonia. He has been in military training for over a year and is now a reserve soldier in the First Legion. While outside military training, Davos would arrange for him to do odd jobs and run errands at the Ministry of the Military to familiarise himself with all aspects.

    As for why Adoris was also in Thurii for military training? After learning about Adoris¡¯ transfers to the Fourth Legion in Crotone to hide his identity wasn¡¯t effective and had instead made Adoris¡¯ life and training inconvenient, Davos simply transferred him back to Thurii, where he is now a soldier in the Second Legion.

    Alkibiades was disappointed not to have met Crotokatax, as he had hoped to get closer to Davos'' eldest son since the various signs Agnes had told him in the past hinted that Davos may have already chosen Crotokatax as his heir. Unlike his father, Athelycus, Alkibiades wasn''t worried because he knew Crotokatax had a deeper mother-son bond with Agnes than his biological mother, Cheiristoya.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As soon as she heard that Alkibiades wasing, Cheiristoya immediately asked the cook to prepare dinner.

    Cheiristoya dislikes Athelycus because she was furious about the embarrassing incident two years ago. Fortunately, it was just a family gathering, so Davos managed to keep it under control, and it didn''t spread.

    But with the noble image of Cheiristoya as a living saint among the people of Theonia, she doesn''t think Athelycus'' words could tarnish her image at all. Furthermore, Davos has repeatedly stated that Crotokatax will be his heir privately and made his point by training him hard. That, coupled with the fact that Agnes had always felt guilty about it and treated her with a little more respect, allowed Chreiristoya to get along with Agnes as she always had.

    And Agnes'' brother, Alkibiades, was quite different from their father. From Cheiristoya''s long-term observation, he treats her with respect whenever he visits them, continuously showering them with gifts and loving each child without favouritism.

    So naturally, Cheiristoya wants to repay his kindness and warmly wee him.

    ¡°His Majesty has just sent someone to say that he has some important matters to attend to today, so he will bete, and has entrusted Agnes and me to treat you as hostesses!¡±

    With a smile on her face, Cheiristoya and Agnes exchanged a nce before raising the wine in her hands and said to Alkibiades, ¡°Thank you so much for the many gifts you brought us; it was just what we needed! So Agnes and I would like to propose a toast to you as a token of our appreciation! And a warm wee to you as well!!¡±

    Alkibiades instantly expressed his gratitude. But just as he took a sip of his wine, he heard Cheiristoya add, ¡°The drought has not only killed the seedlings but has also seriously affected all kinds of fruit trees, even causing the wine production to plummet. So I hope you don''t mind that tonight''s food is a little in.¡±

 Chapter 704: Family Gathering and Rhegiums Situation

    Alkibiades had long noticed the food on his table, broth, baked fish, bread, and a small half jar of wine¡­even though the food was still quite rich, it was certainly less than what he had received on his previous visits. He couldn''t help but sigh as he remembered how the great merchants of Rhegium, including himself, still held banquets from time to time, even during the drought, and the food was much richer than this, ¡°This is good enough! I suppose you''ve been eating much simpler food than this since the drought!¡±

    ¡°We''re already eating better than most of the people of Dionysia! Since I know many citizens who only get two meals a day, and their main dish is still wheat porridge¡­¡± Agnes sighed. As the Temple of Hera¡¯s chief priestess, she learned about the situation from those who hade to pray.

    Alkibiades became silent as he knew it already: With Davos'' lofty position in Theonia and his wealth, he could easily allow his whole family to live a life of luxury. However, his brother-inw had to be stricter than ever as he needed to set an example for the people of Theonia, which deeply influenced his family, ¡®Perhaps only people like him can be kings!¡¯

    Alkibiades took a mouthful of broth, pretending not to care and praisingly said, ¡°Your cook is amazing! The food is less but still delicious!¡±

    ¡°You must have been exhausted on the way from Rhegium! Since it''s delicious, eat more and regain your strength.¡± Cheiristoya said with concern, then added, ¡°Thanks to Hades'' blessing, this terrible drought has finally ended!¡±

    She then looked at Alkibiades and asked with concern, ¡°I heard that the Rhegians ran amok because they could not afford to buy food, with many nobles and merchants injured. Was your shop damaged?¡±

    ¡°Thanks to His Majesty''s prestige, the angry popce haspletely ignored my shops and workshops!¡± Alkibiades said gratefully. They definitely won''t attack Alkibiades, who is rted to King Davos, since they want to join the kingdom of Theonia.

    ¡°You deserve to be attacked by the people because your Rhegian Council went too far and disregarded the people''s lives!¡± Agnes said angrily. After all, it was her hometown, so how could she not be concerned when she heard that the people of her hometown were starving and suffering, ¡°If you had allowed sister''s bank into Rhegium, then the people there could have taken out a loan from the bank and used it to buy food!¡±

    Agnes was evidently too naive. The rampages in Rhegium aren''t about whether the people have money or not but about the unchecked madness of the merchant ss wanting to make a fortune. Before Rhegium was made a free city of the Kingdom of Theonia, one of the conditions imposed by the Rhegians was that the Bank of Cheiristoya was not allowed to open a branch in Rhegium. With Rhegium''s developed trade andmerce, moneylending was an important way for Rhegian merchants to make money. So if they open a Bank of Cheiristoya in the city, with its much lower lending rates, the entire moneylending industry in Rhegium would soon copse.

    Alkibiades wiped his face with embarrassment and said, ¡°Maybe it won''t be long before the Bank of Cheiristoya is allowed to enter Rhegium.¡±

    Cheiristoya opened her eyes slightly and asked, surprised, ¡°Why?¡±

    Realising he''d slipped, Alkibiades coughed dryly and said, slightly apologetically. ¡°This matter will have to wait until I meet His Majesty Davos and receive his approval.¡±

    Cheiristoya took a sip of wine as she pondered. Just as she was about to speak, Brintes, dining at her side, uttered a cry of displeasure, ¡°It''s no fun if you adults only talk about something we don''t understand! Uncle, when you were in Egypt, did you ever see a fish in the Nile that could not only swim in the river but also crawl on thend and was so ferocious that it not only ate people but even lions couldn''t defeat it?¡±

    ¡°Brother, what you are talking about is a crocodile.¡± Apox immediately corrected him.

    Alkibiadesughed and said, ¡°I don''t know if it could defeat a lion, but the crocodile eats people. ording to Egyptian legend, the crocodile also ate one of their great pharaohs.¡±

    Apox immediately said with interest, ¡°Uncle, tell us this story.¡±

    Alkibiades didn''t refuse at the children''s urging and to avoid Cheiristoya¡¯s inquiry. After thinking about it carefully, he said, ¡°You should all know that the capital of Egypt is in Memphis.¡±

    Several children nodded together. They have been taught the basics in this area by their teachers at school.

    ¡°But did you know that the Egyptian pharaohs were also revered as the kings of Upper and Lower Egypt?¡±

    Only Apox nodded while the other children shook their heads.

    Alkibiades patiently narrates, ¡°A long, long time ago, Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Because Lower Egypt was on the lower reaches of the Nile, it was always flooded, resulting in swamps and wild animals everywhere and a smaller poption. Suddenly, the king of Upper Egypt started a war and eventually united Egypt.

    After many, many more years, the Egyptians gradually turned the vast swamps and wends of the lower Nile into a fertile in ofnd through generations of efforts, in which a Pharaoh named Menes yed a significant role. Afterwards, he established the city of Memphis on this fertile in and made it his capital¡­¡±

    Apart from Aviya, the other three children gradually became interested in Alkibiades'' story and listened attentively.

    ¡°¡­.Due to his aplishments as a Pharaoh, Menes made Egypt stronger and more prosperous under his rule. But one hot day, he took his retinue on a hunting expedition. Once they started getting thirsty, they came to the Nile, and Pharaoh Menes sent his men to fetch water while he sat down to rest by the river. He then saw what appeared to be a piece of a ragged tree trunk floating not far from him. But the trunk turned out to be a crocodile, which suddenly lunged at Menes, who wasn''t far away and bit him, dragging him into the river before his entourage had time to react¡­

    The Egyptians then organised a huge army to search the Nile, but in the end, they couldn''t find his body. But not long after, an oracle came from the Temple of Amun, telling that the Lord of the Crocodile had taken Pharaoh Menes because of his outstanding achievements¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos returned to his home in the evening and met Alkibiades in his study.

    ¡°You hade this time and brought many presents for Cheiristoya, Agnes and the children. They were so pleased that the children even preferred seeing you rather than their father!¡± Davos said jokingly.

    ¡°Your Majesty, it''s been so long since myst visit here, and purchasing these gifts hasn''t taken up too much time or cost too much money. Besides, I like to make them happy.¡± Alkibiades said hurriedly.

    ¡°To the children, you are a good uncle! To Cheiristoya and Agnes, you are a good rtive! To me¡­¡± Davos smiled faintly and said, ¡°You have done a great job! Agnes told me about her desire to visit your father in Rhegium, and I agree. But not now. With the chaotic situation in Rhegium, it''s not safe for her to travel. On this subject, I would like to know what measures your Council has prepared to stabilise the situation?!¡±

    It was at this point that Davos finally got down to business.

    Alkibiades felt ashamed and said in an awkward murmur, ¡°The Council hasn''t yete up with a specific n to suppress the riots¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you intend to request in the Theonian Senate to send troops to suppress the Rhegians?¡± Although Davos¡¯ smile disappeared, he knew Rhegium''s situation like the back of his hand. After all, it was thanks to his intelligence department that the uprising was made possible in the first ce.

    ording to Theonia''s Law: Rhegium, as a free city, wasn''t allowed to have its army(and, of course, most of themon citizens who made the bulk of a city-state''s army had already joined in the revolt.) And under normal circumstances, the kingdom could not interfere in Rhegium''s internal affairs, so Rhegium could only petition the Kingdom of Theonia to send its army to quell the unrest quickly.

    Alkibiades smiled bitterly and shook his head, ¡°It would be cruel for us to thrust our weapon at fellow countrymen. Not only I, but some sober people in the city of Rhegium disapprove of such practices.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Davos asked with a hint of surprise, ¡°Then what do you n to do?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, I believe you are already well aware that the management of the city-state by the Council of Rhegium for the past two years was chaotic. Many of them weren''t motivated to manage the city-state well. Instead, they wanted to use their authority to satisfy their selfish desires. Thus, after being elected by fraudulent means, they often make proposals that are favourable to their interests and don''t contribute to the city-state''s development. In addition, they allowed their rtives or people of little ability but have paid bribes to take most public positions¡­ Though Rhegium appears prosperous, the people''s discontent has long been simmering. This time, the drought was just a fuse for the people''s anger to explode¡­¡±

    Alkibiades bitterly said while Davos listened calmly. He was naturally aware of Rhegium''s situation. But if Athelycus hadn¡¯t fallen ill, Rhegium¡¯s political situation would have been better. After all, he had the ability and prestige to control the Council, whereas the current strategoi and elected council members failed to handle the general situation, resulting in a riot thatsted for days, with the council still unable toe up with a reasonable solution.

 Chapter 705: Delegation to Egypt (I)

    ¡°We could no longer allow Rhegium''s situation to continue!¡± Alkibiades suddenly raised his voice and said, ¡°So, after discussing it with some others, we decided to unite the people of Rhegium and hold an emergency lesia to vote together for the full integration of Rhegium into the Kingdom of Theonia!¡±

    Davos could no longer hide his surprise after hearing that. He learned towards Alkibiades and asked, ¡°Did your father support this?¡±

    He knew that Alkibiades, his brother-inw, was gifted in trade but had no interest in politics. So it would be difficult to carry out a momentous event that would determine the future of Rhegium without the strong support of a respected and capable political figure.

    ¡°My father is no longer too interested in Rhegium''s politics¡­ And he doesn''t even have the energy to do that anymore¡­¡± Alkibiades nced at Davos, then said, ¡°It was strategos Pheidon who proposed the idea and pushed it forward!¡±

    ¡°Pheidon¡­¡± Davos rubbed his chin as he thought of the man he had paid some attention to.

    This strategos, who had led Rhegium''s army, had significantly contributed to the defeat of the Syracusan army in the Southern Italian War. After the war, he earned the respect of the Rhegians, who elected him one of the strategoi of Rhegium for several years in a row, even serving as polemarchos at one point. Although he was decisive and resolute on the battlefield, he suffered frequent political setbacks, with his proposals often failing to pass the councils and many criticising his ability to govern. There were also scandals about his rtives using his power to take bribes and gain favours, which caused Pheidon to take the me and resign. Then, in a fit of anger, he announced that he would no longer hold any public office in Rhegium. But ording to information from Aristias'' intelligence, Athelycus was behind the Council of Rhegium''s attack on Pheidon.

    Given Davos'' father-inw''s strong desire for power, he doesn¡¯t want to see Pheidon, who has dramatically increased his prestige, take control of Rhegium''s politics.

    Seeing that Davos didn''t speak, Alkibiades thought the king was wondering if Pheidon could make this matter work.

    So he stressed, ¡°Apart from Pheidon, there are also some merchants that had clearly expressed their support¡­¡± Then Alkibiades said several names.

    And that surprised Davos as these merchants, like Alkibiades, were famous in Rhegium, ¡®Aren''t they worried that they might lose some of the rights they enjoyed by fully merging Rhegium with the Kingdom of Theonia?¡¯

    Seeing Davos'' confusion, Alkibiades exined, ¡°Your Majesty, Rhegium is too small, so we hope to be a true Theonian merchant and enjoy greater trade convenience throughout the western Mediterranean! We firmly believe that after the war between Theonia and Carthage, Theonian merchants will have unprecedented and valuable opportunities to venture into areas of trade they have never ventured into before!¡­¡± Alkibiades said, looking a little excited.

    ¡®So that''s how it is!¡¯ It wasn''t because they cared about themoners but because they were driven by profit, and being a merchant of a free city couldn''t give them the same rights as a merchant of the Kingdom of Theonia¡­ Davos smiled and eximed, ¡°You seem more confident than I about theing war between the kingdom and Carthage, which proves that merchants are the most adventurous of all! Have you been in contact with Sostratus?¡±

    Alkibiades nodded, feeling a tug of tension in his heart as he knew the critical moment had arrived.

    Davos said quietly, ¡°Then you must clearly understand the dilemma the kingdom would face once this war is underway and the efforts that Sostratus and the others will make to ensure that Theonia wins this war.¡±

    Alkibiades didn''t hesitate to say, ¡°Our Rhegian merchants have more financial resources than the Thurii merchants. Thus not only can we do what the Thurii merchants can do, but we can also do what the Thurii merchants cannot do!¡±

    Davos didn''t express his opinion and just said in a low voice, ¡°Very well, I hope the Rhegian merchants can prove it to me!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, you will see it soon!¡± Alkibiades replied confidently.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Alkibiades was telling the children the stories of ancient Egypt, the foreign minister of Theonia, Ansitanos, had arrived in Egypt, the oldest kingdom in the eastern Mediterranean.

    Egypt created a unified kingdom over two thousand years ago, had a prosperous economy and a strong kingdom, created a brilliant culture and was once the most powerful country in the Mediterranean. But as time passed, it began to decline, and other Mediterranean forces began to rise, so the misfortune of the Egyptians came.

    Hyksos, Libyans, Assyrians, Persians¡­sessively invaded and eventually ruled most of the valuablend in Africa.

    The Persian king then appointed loyal men as satraps of Egypt to squeeze and plunder its wealth to satisfy the luxurious lifestyles of the Persian nobility and provide a base for Persia''s further expansion. Unwilling to be ruled and oppressed by a foreign race, the Egyptians revolted by staging several revolutions over a century.

    In 460 BC, when Athens was at its strongest. The Athenian navy pushed the Persians eastward, forcing them to shrink their defences. Then the army of the Peloponnesian League confronted them in the south, winning two sessive battles at Aegina and Megali. The Athenians even called this their glorious year.

    At the same time, the Libyans in Lower Egyptunched an uprising in an attempt to overthrow Persian rule and requested the powerful Athenians'' assistance.

    So Athens agreed and sent a navy of two hundred warships to Egypt. At first, they won some victories, even capturing Memphis. But then they suffered a disastrous defeat, with many Athenian citizens and allies dying on Egyptian soil.

    The Egyptians finally got another chance when Darius II, the ruler of Persia, died, and his son, Cyrus the Younger, fought his brother Artaxerxes for the throne and the ensuing civil war in Persia. This time it was still the Libyan who led the revolution in the Nile, whose leader was called Amyrtaeus, who eventually seeded in driving out the Persians and then became Pharaoh of Egypt.

    But after only four years on the throne, Nefaarud, one of his ministers, usurped his throne andter passed it on to Hakor.

    During Hakor''s reign, Sparta fought Persia and then Greece in the Corinthian War. After the King¡¯s Peace treaty, Artaxerxes, king of Persia, finally had his hands free, so he sent an army under themand of Pharnabazus in the eighth year of the kingdom of Theonia (386 BC) to try to retake Egypt.

    Pharnabazus had even recruited Greeks to participate in the war, led by the Athenian strategos Iphicrates. But they failed to cooperate because of the conflict between the Persians and the Greeks. Thus, after three years of fighting, Hakor drove the Persian army out of Egypt.

    Egypt remained safe for the time being until Hakor fell seriously illst year and could not lead the kingdom, leading to political instability. Earlier that year, his son Nepherites hastily ascended to the throne, but the kingdom was soon thrown into turmoil. Eventually, Nectanebo, a general from Bubastis on the northwest bank of the Nile, seized the throne and became the new Pharaoh of Egypt.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Ansitanos recalled the major events that have taken ce in Egypt over the years, especially as this has been a turbulent year for Egyptians. It has only been four months since Nectanebo became Pharaoh of Egypt, so it is fair to say that his political situation is still unstable. And thus, it wasn''t exactly the best time for Ansitanos toe to Egypt as a Theonian envoy, hoping to establish friendly contacts, but circumstances forced him to do so¡­

    At that moment, the Theonian passenger ship on which he was travelling was making its way smoothly up the Kanobikos River, a tributary of the Lower Nile on the west side, after passing the Kanobikos checkpoint.

    It is now the end of the tenth month, so the Egyptian flood season has just ended. Thus Ships sailing against the current no longer need a towpath puller to pull them along the banks, as the river is so calm you can barely see its current.

    Egypt''s fertility benefited from the Nile, which regrly rises and falls yearly. Every summer, during the rainy season, the Blue Nile, which flows through the Ethiopian hignds south of Egypt, rises and carries a great deal of sediment down into the valley. Once it reaches the Nile Valley, the floodwaters overflow the riverbed, submerging thend on both sides. Then the sediment and organic matter contained in the river water seep into the soil, keeping thend on both sides of the Nile dark and fertile. This is particrly true in the lower Nile delta, where a major flood could turn the vast londs bordering the sea into an ocean.

    Now that the Nile has begun to recede and the banks of the river are still full of puddles and muddy fields covered with water and grass, Egyptian farmers have begun tending their fields naked, barefoot and with only a piece of linen wrapped around their waist. Some of the farmers built mud dams around the banks to keep as much of the remaining water on their fields as possible; others cleared the fields of weeds and other debris, picking up a few fish in the puddles as an extra harvest; others pulled their oxen and started ploughing their fields¡­ Then there are the many papyrus boats thate and go along the river, bringing ploughing tools, food and seeds to the women farmers working along the banks.

    Ansitanos also often noticed some neatly dressed people with papyrus and quills at the edge of the farms, who must have been Pharaoh''s scribes. They would not only be estimating how much could be harvested from this year''s flood, but they would also supervise the farmers'' work.

    With agriculture as the backbone of Egypt, the importance the Pharaoh ced on it far outweighed the other Mediterranean powers. In addition, he could also see that the new pharaoh had already begun exercising his authority, which eased some of Ansitano''s worries.

 Chapter 706: Delegation to Egypt (II)

    ¡°My lord, look over there!¡± The captain shouted in surprise.

    It turns out that an Egyptian shepherd was leading his herd of cattle to graze on the bank when a lurking crocodile almost bit his calf. Panicked, the herdsman stepped forward to scare the crocodile away. But as the crocodile wasn''t a big one, he tried to hunt it down by having his dogs chase the crocodile to prevent it from escaping back into the river, while he, armed with a wooden stick, cautiously attacked the crocodile¡­

    The thrilling sight soon attracted the passing papyrus boat and the nearby farmers, who gathered around with pickaxes to watch the excitement while the others shouted, ¡°Hey, do you need my help?! But share some for me once you kill the crocodile!¡±

    Amid their busy and tedious work, farmers would rarely have this moment of leisure¡­

    By midday, they were passing through a town called Naucratis.

    This is an Egyptian city with close ties to the Greeks.

    Over two hundred years ago, the Egyptians won their independence by overthrowing Assyrian rule with the help of Greek mercenaries from Ionia and Caria. So Pharaoh Psammetichus epted these brave Greeks, built the fortress of Daphnae in the eastern part of the Nile Delta to house the Greek soldiers, and decreed that he would open Egypt''s trade to the outside world and that Greeks would be allowed to live in Egypt permanently.

    Once the Milesians built a processing workshop on the banks of the Kanobikos river, the Greeks continuously arrived, resulting in a Greek town called Naucratis gradually emerging around this area.

    So for a long time, this colonial city became amon port for all Greek merchants, even under the current Persian rule. Alkibiades had also traded here before.

    Seeing people dressed in familiar Greek garb in the port area made Ansitanos feel close to home, but his ship didn''t stop there as it sailed onward.

    Finally, at dusk, the ship passed through the Nile Delta and entered the wider Nile. By this time, the sky was already dark, and the captain, unfamiliar with the river and afraid to move forward, had anchored on the bank and hired a towpath puller.

    Ansitanos and his men spent the night on the ship, listening to the Nile and the unusual sounds made by animals on the bank or in the river ¨C a strange experience for a young man, but for Ansitanos, who was already in his fifties, it was torture. The mosquito bites, in particr, caused him so much suffering that he could only fall asleepte at night from exhaustion.

    The next day, he reluctantly pulled himself together and moved on.

    A few hourster, the ship passed through the ancient town of Giza.

    As Ansitanos looked to the west bank, he could vaguely make out the outline of the great pyramids on the Giza teau, which finally lifted his spirits.

    At noon, the passenger ship finally entered Memphis, the capital of Egypt.

    On the Nile near Memphis were many boats, but there were lesser delicate papyrus boats and more narrow wooden boats with pointed ends, canopies in the middle, and numerous oars ranging from a few metres to tens of metres. And, of course, he could asionally seerge and spacious passenger ships.

    On the ship, Ansitanos marvelled at the nearly fifteen metres high outer wall of Memphis, which meant that there were no visible buildings from outside the city other than the towering obelisk and the pce in the centre of the city.

    Since the Kanobikos'' checkpoint reported their arrival in advance to the pharaoh, the Theonian passenger ship was allowed to enter the dock inside the city.

    ¡®This is a good omen!¡¯ Ansitanos thought.

    As soon as Ansitanosnded at the dock, a carriage was already waiting for them on the shore.

    Once inside, the carriage immediately galloped off in the direction of the pce.

    The inner city was the gathering ce for prominent Egyptian officials, high priests of the various temples, wealthy nobles and royal family members. Along the way, he could see magnificent temples, luxurious official residences and mansions, all of which illustrate the grandeur and luxury of the ancient capital.

    The carriage drove along the broad, straight road, which, ording to Ansitanos'' vision, was wide enough for more than ten chariots to pass side by side. Then at the end of the roady a taller wall, the Pce of Egypt.

    As he passed through the majestic pce gate, Ansitanos roughly estimated the walls to be more than ten metres thick, showing the Pharaoh''s concern for his safety.

    Further along the road, Ansitanos saw dozens of towering golden statues on either side of the road, each about twenty metres high. Although they had human bodies, they had animal heads. Ansitanos knew these statues were supposed to be the deities worshipped by the Egyptians.

    At the end of these statues stood a magnificent pce, which made Ansitanos feel small as soon as he got out of the carriage and stood in front of the stairs.

    At the top of the hundred steps, and on either side of the main entrance to the pce, is a massive statue of a white sheep, lying down with its eyes open, looking down at the visitors, making the centre of Egypt less solemn and mysterious, but also more elegant and peaceful.

    Then an official, with a group of muscr guards, stepped down the stairs and said, ¡°O envoy of the kingdom of Theonia, the great Pharaoh is waiting for you in the hall. Please follow me to meet him!¡±

    Ansitanos returned the greeting and showed his hand to the guards, who checked if he was carrying any weapons.

    Ansitanos then stepped onto the stairs, walked through the massive rows of columns that required four people to hug them, and entered the great hall.

    The four extremely t walls are finished with smooth ster and painted with colourful floral motifs. The smooth marble floor is decorated with vibrant lotus flowers, aquatic nts, birds and animals as if they were in the middle of nature. And the hall is beautifully decorated with various exquisite gold and silver objects.

    And the Pharaoh Nectanebo sat on the throne.

    The Pharaoh, a former general, was tall, muscr and dark-skinned and usually preferred to wear the simple yet elegant red-striped nemes headdress, a symbol of his status as Pharaoh. However, given the importance he attached to the meeting, Nectanebo wore the most orthodox red and white nemes, symbolising the unity of two powers, and the Uraeus (an Egyptian cobra) made of gold, which adorned his nemes. He also wears a false beard and holds the symbol of power in his right hand.

    To his left sat the queen, wearing the Nekhbet headdress, the wings pressing down on her straight ck hair, causing her long hair to hang in front of her chest. She also wore an expensive corset and a beautiful ksiris that made her look elegant.

    Although Ansitanos had heard from his sources that Egyptian women of high social status, especially the queen, were also involved in state affairs, he was still surprised to see a woman appearing at a major state asion for the first time today. But what he didn''t know was that the only reason Pharaoh Nectanebo allowed the queen to make frequent appearances at state matters was to elevate her status, as she was not of royal blood, and thus secure his and his family''s rule.

    On either side of the hall stood many ministers and generals looking curiously at Ansitanos as he entered.

    Ansitanos stood calmly before the throne and gave his greetings. As a Greek schr who studied historical sources from all over the world, Ansinatos, in his youth, had bought Egyptian ves specifically to learn the Egyptian script andnguage. Thus he said aloud in fluent Egyptian, ¡°O Venerable King of Upper and Lower Egypt, I bring you the friendly greetings of King Davos of the Kingdom of Theonia, along with a generous gift to express his sincere congrattions! Congrattions on being chosen by the god Amun to be the ruler of Egypt!¡±

    As soon as Ansitanos said this, the minister closest to the Pharaoh approached the Pharaoh to whisper a few words.

    Pharaoh Nectanebo felt great satisfaction when he heard that Theonia''s gifts included a considerable quantity of spears, matching swords, shields, armour, and even a few triremes docked at the mouth of the river¡­after all, Egypt has plenty of food, gold, silver and jewellery butcks quality weapons and elite soldiers.

    So he said, with a smile on his face, ¡°Many thanks to King Davos of the West for his heartfelt blessing and generous gift! Though Egypt and Theonia are far apart, I have often heard of the glory of the kingdom of Theonia and the bravery of King Davos, so I am pleased to ept the greeting of the king, who also has the noble blood of the gods in him*! So it is with great pleasure that I wee you, the envoy of Theonia!¡± (The Egyptians consider the Pharaoh to be the embodiment of the gods, with the Pharaoh often publicly proiming himself to be the son of Ra.)

    Pharaoh Nectanebo then stood up and extended his left hand in a wee gesture.

    What he said wasn''t just to act polite since he actually knew something about the kingdom of Theonia. Although Egypt was the most closed and old-fashioned of these city-states and kingdoms on the Mediterranean coast, preferring to tend thend rather than sail their ships for trade, resulting in many Egyptian officials being unaware of the addition of a Theonian kingdom in the Mediterranean to this day, Pharaoh Nectanebo was different from them. Before he became Pharaoh, he had spent many years in the city of Sais. And since the city of Sais was not far from the city of Naucratis, he''d heard many of the mysterious rumours about the kingdom of Theonia spread by the Greek merchants who came to trade in Naucratis.

    ¡°Venerable Pharaoh!¡± Ansitanos continued Nectanebo''s words, ¡°Theonia and Egypt may be far apart, but that is precisely why there has never been a conflict of interest between our two kingdoms. On the contrary, this would allow us topensate for our shorings, so King Davos wishes Theonia to establish a more friendly rtionship with the kingdom you rule, Pharaoh!¡±

 Chapter 707: Delegation to Egypt (III)

    ¡°Just a friendly exchange?¡± Pharaoh Nectanebo¡¯s eyes gleamed as he sat down again.

    Ansitanos was stunned by Nectanebo''s rhetorical question. Then he heard the Pharaoh continue, ¡°Why don¡¯t we form an alliance?¡±

    That had really surprised Ansitanos, as he hadn''t expected Pharaoh Nectanebo to say it so directly.

    Pharaoh Nectanebo, however, didn''t care about his astonishment as he said earnestly, ¡°As far as I know, the citizens of Theonia were mostly Greek. At the same time, Egypt and Greece were friends, with the city of Naucratis being proof of this! In the past decades, the Greeks helped Egypt fight against the oppressive Persians many times, resulting in many Athenian graves outside the city of Memphis; this is the sacrifice the Greeks and our Egyptians made to fight against Persia seventy years ago, so we must continue this friendship!¡± Pharaoh Nectanebo spoke in a slightly emotional voice, entirely omitting that the Persians had hired the Athenians to attack Egypt some years before.

    ¡®It seemed the Egyptians were hoping for an alliance with Theonia to help them defend themselves against the Persian''s attack!¡¯ Ansitanos was no longer surprised about Pharaoh Nectanebo''s eagerness to ally with them, especially since he and Davos had already included this diplomatic option in their ns.

    But it would never ur to Ansitanos that the Persian threat to Egypt was, in the opinion of the Pharaoh Nectanebo, not just a possibility but a real one.

    During the first half of this turmoil, some Egyptian officials in the cities and towns along the Nile, including some people in Memphis, secretly sent letters to the Persian-rulednd of Canaan, adjacent to Egypt''s eastern border, in an attempt to surrender to the Persians and let them reupy Egypt. Although they had defeated the Persians more than twenty years ago, the Persians never stopped isting and enticing the Egyptians. At the same time, Pharnabazus, the Persian satrap of Asia Minor, began to rebuild the warships and gather the soldiers for several years.

    The scout had reported that the Persian king had summoned Satrap Pharnabazus, so he had led his troops back to Babylon. But Nectanebo remembered that although they had finally defeated that Persian satrap who had led an army to burn and plunder Egyptian territory, they had suffered only insignificant losses and could return at any moment.

    Furthermore, Nectanebo had only stabilised Lower Egypt for a few months after gaining the priests¡¯* support by giving them preferential treatment and forcing the troops stationed at Memphis to surrender with his mighty troops. On the other hand, Upper Egypt remained under the priests'' control, with Waset(Thebes) as its capital. (Pharaoh Hakor had restricted the priest from owning too muchnd and hiring farmers during his ten-year reign.)

    Realising the Pharaoh¡¯s worries, Ansitanos said solemnly, ¡°Though Persia is a long way from us, it also had its servant in the western Mediterranean ¨C Carthage. Carthage is a Phoenician city-state that, for decades, had sent a steady stream of gold and silver dredged from the Iberian Penins to Tyre, thus funding the Persian king''s expansion and invasion.

    As a new kingdom, we adhered to the principle of living in harmony with our neighbours, which is why we signed a treaty of friendship with Carthage over a decade ago. But we didn''t expect that they would privately support our neighbours to oppose us constantly. And after we thwarted their plots one by one, the Carthaginians tore up our treaty of friendship and threatened to go to war against us. Therefore, Theonia is ready to ally with Egypt to help and defend each other against the aggression of Persia and her vassal!¡±

    Pharaoh Nectanebo was surprised because this had just happened, and he hadn''t received any news. He knew of Carthage, a powerful city-state in the western Mediterranean founded by the Phoenicians, whose merchant ships often sailed the Egyptian seas and even traded with the Egyptian coastal cities from time to time. Of course, the Egyptians had long known that some Carthaginian ships carried gold and silver. But they had no intention of intercepting them since they weren¡¯t strong enough, and their navy was even weaker. Since they were not seafarers, the Egyptians could only build small papyrus ships and often had to buyrge wooden warships from other countries if they wanted them.

    So Pharaoh Nectanebo asked anxiously, ¡°I have heard of the mighty Carthage and its powerful navy. If war breaks out between Theonia and Carthage, can you win?¡±

    ¡°Venerable Pharaoh!¡± Ansitanos smiled as he said, ¡°Syracuse, the Greek hegemon of the western Mediterranean, defeated Carthage several times and forced it to sign a humiliating peace treaty more than a decade ago. But this Syracuse that defeated Carthage suffered a crushing defeat when it attacked us! We defeated Syracuse''s powerful navy and theirnd army in a sh, reducing Syracuse to an ordinary city-state in Sicily.

    Currently, ournd and poption have increased many times over from a decade ago, so how can Carthage be our match?! Those cunning Carthaginians had only dared to dere war on us after seeing us suffer from drought this year and not having enough provisions for our army!¡±

    Ansitanos said these words with emotion, which also implied Theonia''s plight.

    Pharaoh Nectanebo was still unable to make up his mind when a minister suddenly interrupted, ¡°If Egypt and Theonia be allies, will Theonia send troops to Egypt to fight the Persians if they invade Egypt one day?¡±

    Ansitanos proudly replied, ¡°Just after founding Theonia, we risked our demise and dered war on powerful enemies because they dared to invade our allies. In Theonia''s short history since its founding nearly twenty years ago, more than half of the wars we are part of were due to enemy aggression against our allies. And to fulfil our alliance agreement, we fought against powerful enemies repeatedly. Fortunately, we won them all.

    If you were to ask someone from the western Mediterranean what is the greatest advantage of allying with the Kingdom of Theonia. They will tell you, ¡®Theonia keeps its promises and never betrays its allies!¡¯¡±

    ¡°I have heard about it from the Greek merchants in Naucratis¡­¡± said Pharaoh Nectanebo. He had heard this rumour when he was only a general, which tempted him to make an alliance when he heard of the Theonian envoy''s arrival. Since Egypt didn''t have a strong army*, he thought Theonia was the best choice to ally with, as it was militarily stronger, faithful to its oath, and far from Egypt. (It was only with the help of over two thousand Greek mercenaries that they were able to hold their line of defence a few years ago.)

    The things King Davos often insisted on and preached had blossomed in faraway Egypt in a way Ansitanos hadn''t expected. Still, he was pleased about it.

    The veteran general Nectanebo put his symbol of power on the ground and said aloud, ¡°To repay King Davos for his generous gift, I will reward him with a hundred ships worth of wheat! And after Egypt and Theonia have allied, Egypt will continue to provide Theonia with free grain to help alleviate her food shortage!¡±

    Ansitanos, who had always been able to control himself, could no longer contain the joy that shed across his face.

    And for the Pharaoh and his ministers present, it wasn''t much of a loss. After all, Egypt had plenty of food. With the blessing of the Nile, Egypt had sessive bountiful harvests. In addition, the vast majority of Egyptian farmers had to give up most of their crops, resulting in the granaries of the cities and various temples being piled high with the collected grain that even mould began to form due to storing it for too long.

    After finalising the alliance, Pharaoh Nectanebo invited Ansitanos to lunch in the pce gardens.

    When he reached the garden, Ansitanos'' eyes widened: In front of him was a huge artificialke, its vast surface covered with lotus leaves and its flowers in full bloom. Furthermore, thekeside also had a lush garden with all sorts of exotic flowers and nts, rare birds and animals from foreignnds¡­

    Pharaoh Nectanebo then took Ansitanos to dinner on a huge wooden boat in theke, where they ate delicious food and drank wine, talking about the past and the present while watching beautiful servants dance¡­

    For a while, the guests and the host enjoyed each other''spany.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    An important meeting was taking ce in the town hall of Catania at the same time Theonia¡¯s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ansitanos, arrived in Egypt.

    Among the participants were Prosous(Leotychides) ¨C the legatus of the Eighth Legion, Flios ¨C the navarch of Theonia''s Third Fleet, Siprus ¨C the praetor of Catania, Milo ¨C the praetor of Naxos, Amikles ¨C the praetor of Messena, Apirosia ¨C the praetor of Sikuli, Kreru ¨C the praetor of Henna, and¡­praetor of Herbita. There are also the polimarchos of Theonia''s two allied city-states, Leontinoi and Taunis.

    It is fair to say that the leaders of all the cities are present, and there is no significant difference in their positions*. But the presence of Siprus in the northern part of the table, with Prosous to his immediate left, had caused the praetors, who knew his character well, to mutter their displeasure inwardly without disying it in their faces. (Referring to the clever way Davos used to handle government affairs by introducing round tables so that there is no difference in their status.)

    Siprus looked at everyone and said straight out, ¡°Esteemed lords, you are all aware that we assembled our First Legion a few days ago to travel north to aid the Volscians and defend them against the Romans. If the Carthaginians do what they said they would when they tore up our treaty, they will soon dere war on us and send an army to Sicily. And indeed, all the signsing back from Carthage suggest that the Carthaginians are preparing their armies for war! So to gain a clear understanding of our war preparations in Sicily and enable His Majesty and the Senate to control the overall war situation and formte a better strategy, His Majesty has sent Lord Philesius of the Army Staff to visit Sicily. So let us all wee Lord Philesius!¡±

    All the praetors were stunned because Philesius hade to Sicily without no one telling them beforehand!

 Chapter 708: Strategic Deployment in Sicily (I)

    Philesius then strode into the meeting hall, nodding and smiling at everyone. After declining the main seat offered by Siprus, Philesius stood beside him.

    Seeing the situation, Milo had a slight frown on his.

    Philesius nced at everyone and said humbly, ¡°Beforeing here, His Majesty solemnly told me to take only my eyes and ears with me to Sicily! So I have note here to supervise you all, let alone interfere with any of your deployments. On the contrary, you are wee to pass on any of your needs or suggestions to me, and I will ry them to His Majesty and the Senate.

    But before you begin your meeting, I want to announce the two important appointments made by His Majesty and the Senate!¡± Philesius turned serious as he said this. He then raised a papyrus scroll bound with a ck ribbon.

    The scroll immediately attracted everyone''s attention, with only Siprus and Leotychides remaining calm, as they already knew its contents.

    Philesius unrolled the scroll and read aloud, ¡°With the possibility of Carthageunching arge-scale attack on our territory in Sicily, and to concentrate all our cities and allies in Sicily, to provide logistical support and assistance to the soldiers more effectively and quickly, and to better coordinate the defence of the cities¡­ After consulting with the Senate, we have decided to appoint Siprus as wartime governor of the Sicilian region of the Kingdom of Theonia! I hope that the praetors of the Sicilian city-states will follow the administrative orders of the governor, who will remain the praetor of Catania but will be responsible for all administrative matters in Sicily and actively cooperate with the soldiers in their fight against the Carthaginians. Signed ¨C King Davos!¡±

    As soon as Philesius finished reading, he could hear slight exmation and breathing sounds in the hall, ¡®A wartime governor!¡¯ The Wartime Governor is the highest official position with far more power than a Praetor. But the most important thing is it is only the second time since Theonia''s founding that it has appeared, demonstrating its value. And the previous Wartime Governor was now one of the five rotating speakers of the Senate and was often involved in the important proceedings of the pce, a position of great power.

    Everyone looked at Siprus with envy while Philesius handed the letter of appointment to Milo, who was on Siprus¡¯ right side, asking him to verify its authenticity.

    With aplicated mood, Milo nced at the papyrus scroll and saw the seals of King Davos and the Senate. And even though he was jealous, he had to admit that Siprus had a greater advantage over him in bing a Wartime Governor. After all, he was in charge of Catania, which already had far more people andnd than any other city in Sicily, to the point that Catania had overtaken Syracuse as thergest city in Sicily. Furthermore, Siprus had been in Sicily for almost seven years and knew the area better than he did.

    Besides, he had a good rtionship with Siprus as the two had fought side by side. And after taking office at Naxos, Milo had also received a lot of help from Siprus, so he could only sigh and say softly, ¡°I have no objection.¡±

    When Milo, the praetor of Theonia¡¯s secondrgest city in Sicily, with the same outstanding qualifications and achievements, said this, the others no longer objected.

    Philesius then took out another papyrus scroll again.

    The scroll again drew everyone''s gaze, ¡®Who will it be this time?! What position will it be?!¡¯

    ¡°Prosous, legatus of the Eighth Legion, is appointed as themander of Sicily, responsible formanding all thend forces of Theonia and her allies in Sicily to fight against the Carthaginians. Signed ¨C King Davos.¡±

    The announcement was brief because it was a military appointment, and Davos could decide without going through the Senate. Moreover, Davos didn''t need to go into detail, as there was only one legatus in Sicily, and the other praetors wouldn¡¯tpete with him.

    So after listening to it, the audience didn''t feel envious and was only slightly disappointed, ¡®Is that all?¡¯

    Having finished his announcement, Philesius turned his gaze to Leotychides. Although he was the first to be appointed Commander, his failure in the Battle of the Aro River cast a shadow over his military career. But when he looked at theter, there was only hope and encouragement in his eyes, ¡°Congrattions, Legatus Prosous! With Hades'' blessing, may you be victorious in the war in Sicily!¡±

    Prosous nods gratefully as he epts the appointment. Though his face remained expressionless, his heart was beating wildly. After more than ten years in Theonia, he had finally reached the position of Commander ¨C the highest position in the Theonian army (the Grand Legatus and Supreme Commander could only be King Davos.) Now, he couldmand tens of thousands of soldiers in battle, which was no less than the kings of Sparta!

    ¡°I thank His Majesty and the Senate for their trust in me! Now that Carthage has broken our treaty, Sicily is in great danger, not only for us Theonians but also for the other Greek city-states! So I hope I can count on the support of your Lordships and our allied city-states to help Commander Prosous thwart the Carthaginians'' ambitions to im Sicily!¡± Siprus, the recently appointed wartime governor, delivered his inaugural statement with great emotion, ¡°Next, I would like to call Commander Prosous for a pre-war analysis of the military situation!¡±

    Leotychides got up immediately, walked over to therge map of Sicily that had been hanging on the wall for a long time, picked up the thin wooden stick on the wall and said, ¡°Esteemed lords, from the analysis of the Ministry of Military, Carthage could send at least a hundred thousand troops, and if we include the army in the hands of governor Mago in the Iberian Penins, they could at least send 150,000 soldiers to Sicily-¡±

    ¡®150,000 soldiers?!¡¯ Everyone present, including Milo, is struck dumb with astonishment.

    ¡°Of course, despite Carthage''srge numbers, their soldiers are far less capable than our legions. Besides, more than half of their soldiers are Numidians, Mauritanians, Iberians and mercenaries from elsewhere¡­¡± Leotychides continued, ¡°I also don''t think Carthage can send such arge army at once. They could probably send no more than a hundred thousand at the most!¡±

    Leotychides arrived at this figure after referring to the two previous wars between Cartage and Dionysius of Syracuse. He then pointed his stick at the western end of Sicily on the map, ¡°The Carthaginian army will probablynd at Lilybaeum or Eryx, giving them two routes of attack. One of them is along the northern coastline of Sicily, towards Messina. Although it had fewer Greek city-states, with none of them strong, the high mountains and narrow coastline in the north made it impossible to spread their forces, resulting in Carthage being unable to fully take advantage of their superiority in numbers.

    The other route they might take is along the coast of southern Sicily, where the terrain is rtively t and can amodate the deployment of their army. It has also been the main route for Carthage and Syracuse in the past, and I think it will be no exception this time.¡±

    Leotychides then pointed at the map, ¡°Heraclea Minoa, Agrigento, G, and Kamarina¡­ Although there were numerous and rtively strong Greek city-states on the southern coasts, I don''t think they could resist the Carthaginians for a long time. Besides, I don''t n to send troops to reinforce those city-states.¡±

    As soon as he said that, some started muttering something.

    Then the praetor of Messina, Amikles, objected, ¡°Although these Greek city-states are not outwardly allied with us, they have maintained friendly exchanges and trade with our kingdom. They have also actively cooperated with our actions in Sicily, such as the attack on Sikeloi and isting Syracuse¡­ so we could already count them as allies. And If a war were to break out, they would surely turn to our Theonia for help, and in keeping with the tradition of our kingdom, how can we leave them alone?!¡±

    Amicles'' words express the thoughts of the praetors. After all, they got on well with the high-ranking officials of these Greek city-states during their tenure.

    Leotychides remained unmoved as he said coldly, ¡°We aren¡¯t breaching any contract since we don¡¯t have an alliance agreement with them. Don¡¯t forget, we don''t have arge army in Sicily, with the Eighth Legion and the reserve only having over twenty thousand men. And even if we were to carry out an emergency mobilisation, we would only be able to increase our numbers to around fifty thousand. But if that happens, we will almost empty our young and able men, which will seriously affect the winter sowing that is about to begin and the daily order of the entire region. I don''t think that is what you all want to see, and even less what His Majesty would like to see!

    Moreover, even if we could raise such arge army and send it to reinforce G or Agrigento, we would just end up in a stalemate with the Carthaginian army. But could our cities in Sicily withstand the pressure on food supplies caused by a prolonged stalemate? Even more disastrous would be a surprise attack by foreign enemies on our stretched transport routes and the cities from which we had taken the soldiers!

    Leotychides¡¯ heavy tone had stirred the crowd. But what caught their attention more was that the stick in Leotizides'' hand pointed to a city icon on the map ¨C Syracuse.

    ¡°Syracuse, the only Greek city-state in Sicily not in contact with us, is not weak and upies an important strategic position in the east. But a few days ago, they didn''t respond to our envoy''s request for an alliance, which shows that they hold a grudge against us. In addition, we have received information that Carthaginians have been sighted in the port area of Syracuse in thest two days; thus, we must be vignt! We must be careful not to let Syracuse be the Taranto of the South-Italian War!¡±

 Chapter 709: Strategic Deployment in Sicily (II)

    Everyone trembled.

    ¡°Syracuse is indeed worthy of our vignce!¡± said Siprus with a grave expression, with the other''s face changing as well. Carthage was already enough of a problem for them, but with the addition of a not-so-weak Syracuse¡­ Syracuse had only remained intact after losing the South-Italian War because of Theonia''s agreement with Sparta and Carthage but had now be a fishbone stuck in the throat of the Sicilian territory of the Kingdom of Theonia.

    ¡°We will destroy Syracuse as long as they dare to dere war on us!¡± Kreru said furiously.

    ¡°That will have to wait until we have defeated the Carthaginian army.¡± Leotychides said in a low tone, ¡°With our current strength in Sicily, we cannot fight two enemies simultaneously!¡±

    Milo stared at the map and asked, ¡°Commander Prosous¡­it seems you have regarded Syracuse as an enemy. So what is your n in case we have to face the joint army of Carthage and Syracuse?¡±

    ¡®Carthage and Syracuse were mortal enemies; is it even possible for them to ally?¡¯ Some of them looked puzzled.

    Without bothering to look at the crowd''s expression, Leotychides looked at the map. Then he said the n he conceived, ¡°My n¡­is to gather most of the soldiers in a camp near Lake Pergusa* and turn Pgonia-¡± (it is to the north of Leontinoi, on the southern edge of the Catanian in.)

    Leotychides pointed his stick at a small vige on the south-western edge of the Catanian in, ¡°With the area to the south of the Catanian in mostly mountainous with an altitude of four hundred to five hundred metres above sea level, and with abundant trees, it won''t be easy for arge force to pass through it, except for marching diagonally from Pgonia to G, which is easily travelled.

    So I decided to turn Pgonia into a well-defended fortress and station enough soldiers here to prevent the Carthaginian army from entering the Catanian in.¡±

    ¡°Commander Prosous,¡± Trius, the polemarchos of Taunis, interjected anxiously, ¡°If Syracuse is allied with Carthage, the Carthaginian army will probably attack Catania by passing through Syracuse and marching from the coast to Taunis!¡±

    ¡°That''s a possibility.¡± Leotychides nodded, ¡°That''s why I''m setting up my camp north of Leontinoi, less than twenty kilometres from either Taunis or Pgonia. That way, once we find the enemy, our reinforcements could arrive within a few hours. And at the same time, if the Carthaginians try to sneak over the mountains and attack Leontinoi, I will be nearby to provide reinforcements.¡±

    Leotychides'' words reassured the polemarchos of Leontinoi and Taunis.

    Milo, however, was not satisfied and warned loudly, ¡°We won''t be able to repel the Carthaginian army just by defending, and there''s a chance that something could go terribly wrong!¡± Milo had learnt his lesson from trying to stop the Theonian army using Krimisa during the Second Croto-Theonian War, only for Davos to bypass Krimisa, seize Apustrum and attack Crotone.

    ¡°Lord Milo, don''t forget about the Sikeloi.¡± Leotychides drew a circle in the middle of the map of Sicily and said calmly, ¡°The Sikeloi lived in this mountainous region and were good at harassment and sneak attacks. When Dionysius led his army to attack the northern coast of Sicily more than a decade ago, the Sikeloi were responsible for harassing the Carthaginians'' rear and causing them great trouble. And with Sikeloi now under our control, we can organise thousands, even tens of thousands, of Sikeloi soldiers, divide them into several teams, and have them lurking in the mountains near the coast to harass the Carthaginians and attack their logistical supplies.

    And the further east the Carthaginians attacked, the longer they would stretch their line, allowing the Sikeloi to attack their entire rear. So as long as we can defend Pgonia, Leontinoi and Taunir, the battle will be in our favour. Once the Carthaginians can''t attack any more because their rear is constantly getting attacked, that would be the best time for my troops to fight back!¡±

    Leotychides'' confidence lessened the praetors'' concerns.

    But Milo still insists on asking, ¡°What if the Carthaginians didn''t go bynd but by sea andnded directly in Syracuse''s port?¡±

    Leotychides had already considered that, so he said meaningfully, ¡°The navy should answer this question.¡±

    So Flios, the navarch of Theonia''s Third Fleet, immediately stated, ¡°My lords, you can rest assured. Once the Carthaginians dare tond in the great port of Syracuse or on any other coast east of Sicily, our fleet will send all their soldiers into the sea to be fish food! And by His Majesty''s order, after the First Fleet transports the First Legion to Volsci, Lord Seklian will lead them to meet up with our Third Fleet in Catania in a few days. By then, we will have over 500 ships of all sizes, so much so that the Carthaginian fleet will be afraid to sail off the southern coast of Sicily!¡±

    ¡°Since our navy is so strong, why don''t we prevent the Carthaginian army fromnding in Sicily?¡± Apirosia, the praetor of Sikuly, asked expectantly.

    Apirosia was once the chief of arge tribe in Rudiae, Messapi, and was the first to lead a surrender when the Theonian army was about to attack Rudiae after defeating the Messapi-Peuceti coalition, which brought him to the attention of Davos and eventually to the Senate. Since Rudiae was not a coastal city, he was unfamiliar with naval warfare.

    ¡°Firstly, we don''t know what day and time the Carthaginian force wouldnd in Sicily. Moreover, sailing from Catania to the western end of Sicily would take at least six to seven hours, so by the time our fleet arrived, the Carthaginians might already havepleted theirndings.¡± Flios patiently exined, ¡°Besides, the Carthaginian navy is also strong; they have at least four hundred triremes and are rumoured to have made a quinquereme¡­ Also, by rushing to the western end of Sicily to stop the Carthaginiannding, our fleet would end up being besieged, as the city of Carthage is too close, allowing the warships in their port to arrive in time for reinforcements¡­¡±

    Flios'' words made Apirosia feel a little embarrassed and caused several other praetors to drop the same idea.

    Siprus interjected at this moment, ¡°I think¡­we shouldn''t make our rtionship with these friendly city-states on the south coast rigid. If theye to ask for help, tell them honestly of our difficulties, apologise sincerely, and perhaps even allow their people to take refuge in our territories if the Carthaginian army advances. And if the Carthaginians surround their cities and are unable to resist, we can also send a fleet to rescue their people¡­¡±

    Philesius'' eyes brightened, ¡°That''s a good idea; we can do that! With a way out, I believe these Greek cities will not easily surrender to the Carthaginians and would also buy us more time!¡±

    Leotychides said nothing, obviously agreeing.

    Amikles, however, protested, ¡°You all could only see the south coast! The Carthaginians are likely to attack from the north coast, too; Don''t forget about the old city of Messina''s destruction! Now that Messia is just a small town with few men, they won''t be able to hold off the Carthaginians!¡±

    ¡°I certainly haven''t forgotten the north coast.¡± Leotychides looked at him proudly as he pointed to the map with his stick, ¡°Do you remember the small city that the Rhegians built to help the exiles from Catania and Naxos, but which was destroyed by the Syracusans? I decided to use the rubble to rebuild a small fortress and garrison it with a few thousand soldiers. If the Carthaginians send an army to attack the north coast, this fortress will use the narrow terrain to hold them off for at least a week, by which time reinforcements will be able to arrive.¡±

    After saying that, he looked at Philesius and said, ¡°If Sicily''s military is under great pressure, I hope the Ministry of Military can send the Seventh Legion to Messina.¡± (The Seventh Legion is stationed near Locri.)

    ¡°I don''t think that would be a problem.¡± Philesius immediately promised, ¡°His Majesty has already discussed this with the Ministry of War, so he may send not only the Seventh but also the Sixth and Fifth Legions to Sicily as long as the war situation requires.¡±

    ¡°What about the unifiedmand of these legions?¡± Leotychides immediately asked.

    ¡°Once they''d arrived in Sicily, you would naturallymand them,¡± Philesius replied without hesitation, apparently having received Davos''s consent in advance.

    Leotychides was satisfied, so he looked at Flios again, ¡°I don''t think the navy will allow Carthage''s fleet tond near Messina.¡±

    ¡°Of course! Our warships will protect Sicily''s southern and northern coastline near the east! They would be absolutely safe!¡± Said Flios decisively.

    ¡°I am relieved!¡± As someone who liked peace, Amikles led the people of Roscianum to follow the powerful Theonia. So when Theonia defeated Syracuse and upied most of thend in south Italia, and Laos and Terina took the initiative to merge with Theonia, he went to persuade the members of the Council to hold an lesia on Roscianum¡¯s merging with the Kingdom of Theonia. And the reason he remained in thefortable position of Praetor of Messina for four years was a reward from Davos and the Senate for his previous contributions.

    Peace was finally restored in the meeting hall.

 Chapter 710: Phryntors Suggestion

    Siprus then looked at everyone and asked, ¡°Commander Prosous has already exined his battle n. Do any of you have any questions? If not, we will follow this n and discuss increasing military rations, recruiting citizens to help build defensive camps and fortresses, and solving the problem of spring nting in theck ofbour.¡±

    ¡°Lord Siprus, I have a question!¡± Said Trius, the polemarchos of Taunis.

    Although he was interrupted, Siprus didn''t express dissatisfaction and calmly asked, ¡°Please speak, Lord Trius.¡±

    ¡°Commander Prosous only spoke of defending against the Carthaginian attack, but when will Theonia send arge army to drive them out? Especially once the Carthaginians send an army of over seventy thousand, which we obviously cannot repel with the number of troops we have now?!¡± Trius asked with concern.

    Leotychides nced at him and said, ¡°As long as we could hold on long enough, we would be able to defeat the enemy even without sending more troops.¡±

    ¡°Hold on long enough? But how long?!¡± Trius eximed with dissatisfaction, ¡°From what you have said, Commander, it is clear that Taunis will be the centre of defence against the Carthaginian attack. But I don''t want to see the Carthaginians repulsed just to leave Taunis in ruins!¡±

    Leotychides'' expression turned ugly.

    ¡°Lord Trius.¡± Philesius quickly said, ¡°You can feel at ease. His Majesty Davs had already sent several caravans to Egypt and the ck Sea to buy food. And as long as we had enough food, the several legions in south Italia wille to reinforce Sicily as soon as the Carthaginian army started their attack¡­ His Majesty will never sit back and watch the Carthaginians ravage Theonia''s territory and its allies in Sicily!¡±

    Trius and the polemarchos of Leontinoi, Hippogreias, expressed their satisfaction.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After dealing a heavy blow to the Roman army, Theonia''s First Legion spent the next few days resting in Privernum, having suffered considerable losses. On the fifth day, they began preparing to build their camp, only to be informed by the scouts that ¡°The Roman army has captured Satricum and are now already marching south towards the Volscian territories!¡±

    At average marching speed, the Roman army would take at most two days to arrive at Setia from Satricum, which is not enough time for the First Legion to build a well-defended camp. Furthermore, since the First Legion dealt such a blow to the Romans, they would indeed focus their attack on the First Legion''s camp. But could the battered First Legion stand up to a vengeful Roman attack?

    So after a deliberation, Amintas and Phryntor decided to ask the Volscians to have the First Legion stay in the city of Privernum, which the Volscians weed.

    On the sixth day after the battle, Amintas received Davos'' letter.

    In his letter, Davos praised Amintas for actively seeking opportunities to fight once he arrived in the Volscian region and for winning a brilliant victory despite being outnumbered, thus making a name for the Theonian army in the Latium region that would facilitate further operations of the Theonian army in central Italia in the future¡­

    But at the end of his letter, Davos politely warned, ¡°¡­I have heard that the First Legion has suffered many casualties in the battle, so I hope you will treat the wounded soldiers well and let them recover. Seeing the damage to the First Legion''s strength, I suggest you don''t undertake any new military operations for some time to allow the soldiers to recover properly. And even though we are fulfilling the covenant by helping the Volscians defend themselves against the Romans, you must remember that we are not defending our home, so there is no need for you to fight the Romans to the death¡­¡±

    Davos finally said with concern, ¡°¡­From this battle, we can see how strong the Romans are. So I sent someone to inform Litom, the legatus of the Third Legion stationed in the Campanian League, to strengthen your ties so that you could call on the Third Legion for help once you encounter difficulties in future battles! But remember, the Third Legion can only fight for a short period and cannot stay in Volsci with the First Legion for long, as they are still needed to defend Campania!¡­¡±

    Amintas became silent after reading the letter. In his opinion, He felt that Davos''st sentence was criticising him. In particr, Davos'' suggestion that the First Legion passively avoid fighting in the subsequent battles was hard for him to ept.

    So when Phryntor came in, he almost didn''t want to show this letter to him. However, the beginning of the letter clearly stated that it should be handed over to legatus Amintas to read with Phryntor.

    Hence all he could do was hand the letter to Phryntor in silence.

    After reading the letter, Phryntor understood the unhappiness on Amintas'' face. In thest few days, he had seen the Volscians tter Amintas, with Amintas agreeing to their request by saying, ¡°Once Setia is in danger, I will lead the First Legion and the rest of the Volscian troops out of the city to save them.¡±

    To that, Phryntor opposed firmly: Once the Roman army had assembled, they would have over forty thousand troops, so even if they attacked the city with all their might, they would still have enough troops to intercept them. At the same time, the fleeing people of Setia are likely to disrupt the rescuing troops'' formation while they are getting pursued by the Romans.

    But Amintas didn''t listen to his advice.

    At the same time as he read the letters several times, Phryntor inwardly apuded at His Majesty''s wise decision. Then an idea came to his mind, and he tentatively asked, ¡°Legatus, His Majesty is afraid that our First Legion will suffer heavy losses, so he doesn''t want us to fight the Romans head-on?¡±

    ¡°His Majesty is far away in Thurii and doesn''t quite understand the situation here.¡± Amintas then sternly continued, ¡°If we let the Romans attack Setia with all their might, without rescuing them, Privernum would be their next target once Setia falls. After that, the Romans could simply surround Privernum without a fight while splitting their forces to attack the undefended cities of Cerseii and Terracina¡­ By then, we would truly be trapped in thisnd!¡±

    Phryntorughed and said, ¡°Legatus, you didn''t understand what His Majesty meant. He didn''t want us to recklessly fight the enemies because he had already told us how to repel the Romans.¡±

    Amintas was stunned, took the letter and reread it carefully. However, he still couldn''t understand it and said impatiently, ¡°Stop beating around the bush! How do we repel the Romans?¡±

    After taking back his smile, Phryntor said straightforwardly, ¡°You see, Rome''s army now numbers over forty thousand men, all of them outside the city of Setia¡­which means they probably don''t have enough troops to defeat the Volscian territories they''ve just taken. His Majesty had also asked the Third Legion to cooperate with us, as they are stationed in the Campanian region, not far from here. Moreover, we have the Third Fleet, under themand of Mithridates, which controls this part of the sea, so we are perfectly capable of¡­¡±

    ¡°We couldunch a surprise attack on the Romans'' rear! Just like when His Majesty besieged Dionysius but sent Antonios with the First Legion to attack Sicily!¡± Amintas sprang to his feet, interrupting Phryntor.

    ¡°That''s right, legatus.¡± ncing at the excited Amintas, Phryntor knew he had already epted his suggestion. So he instead cautioned him, ¡°Legatus, you should lead our troops and our allies out of the city from time to time, pretending to send reinforcements so that the Romans are forced to deal with them with all their might and dare not divide their forces, stopping them from turning around.¡±

    Amintas thought for a moment and said, ¡°Your suggestion is right. So we must immediately send a messenger to inform that boy, Litom in Campania, to be ready at all times!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Another Roman army under themand of two military tribunes, Quintus and Licinius, arrived at the Roman camp and joined forces with Camillus and Furius, bringing their number to nearly forty-five thousand.

    Hearing that Camillus'' army had suffered defeat due to the Theonians'' involvement in the war, the two new military tribunes were shocked. But far from being discouraged, the pair''s sessive victories, coupled with news from the Senate that their ally, Carthage, would be increasing its support and would soon beunching an attack on Theonia in Sicily, had boosted their morale.

    Quintus was a nobleman whose full name was Quintus udius Crassus Sabinus, from the patrician n of the udii, one of the noblest ns in Rome. Under the patriarch Appius udius, their entire n moved to Rome after its founding. However, the men of this n have always been unfriendly to the plebeians, most of them being arrogant, stubborn, upromising, determined, with a strong sense of responsibility and also physically strong, and Quintus was no exception.

    The other military tribune, Licinius, was no less important. His full name was Publius Licinius Calvus, and although he was the son of a wealthy plebeian, he was the first to be a military tribune in the struggle between Rome''s plebeian ss and the aristocracy over the past few decades. And as this is his third year as a military tribune, he would never allow his reputation to get damaged by backing down in the face of a powerful enemy.

    Then the two military tribunes propose to rebuild the camp between the two towns of Volsci, cutting off the connection between Setia and Privernum, which Camillus had agreed to.

 Chapter 711: Siege and Rescue

    Due to the sheer number of the Romans, the Volscian soldiers and Theonian reinforcements could not leave the city and sent only a small number of light infantry to harass the enemy, which obviously had little effect on the Roman army.

    Camillus used half his troops for defence and the other half, plus ves and civilians carrying provisions, to build the camp. He then rotated them regrly so that it took them only three days to construct an initial Roman camp between Setia and Privernum.

    Quintus and Licinius, however, couldn''t wait any longer. Thus they propose tounch an attack on Setia.

    Camillus had objected first, reminding the two military tribunes that the Volscians had set traps and trenches outside Setia in recent days, making the city''s defences much stronger than before. In addition, there were tens of thousands of Volscian reinforcements in Privernum, not far from Setia, as well as several thousand battle-hardened Theonians who coulde to the city''s aid at any moment, adding to the difficulty of the siege.

    He, therefore, suggested that theyy siege to Setia without actually attacking it and restrain Privernum. They would then split off twenty thousand men to bypass the two cities and head straight towards Circell while destroying the Volscian fields along the way. If the Volscian reinforcements and the Theonians came to their rescue, they would then take the opportunity to engage the enemy in a field battle. But if the enemy didn''te, they would attack Circeii and eventually capture it, thus changing this stalemate.

    Quintus, however, declined. With the enemy already in front of them, he could simply take Setia and fight a field battle against the enemy in Privernum with the strength of his army rather than going to the trouble of marching more than fifteen kilometres or so to attack Circeii, which the Volscians called dangerous terrain and the risk of being attacked by the enemy, which is both dangerous and troublesome.

    And Licinius naturally supported capturing Setia first.

    Furius, as the newest of the military tribunes, remained silent. But inwardly, he supported Quintus'' proposal. Their attitude stems from Rome''s military tradition of heavy infantry as the city-state''s main force. Hence, most Roman citizens are more ustomed to a frontal assault and have no concept of a roundabout attack, even after Furius'' worked together with Camillus for so long.

    Camillus no longer insisted on his opinion. Instead, he asked to be allowed to stay while fortifying the new camp simultaneously.

    In this way, the Romansunched an attack on the city of Setia.

    But soon after, they tasted the strength of the fortified defence with the help and guidance of Theonia''s First Legion.

    Firstly, the wide trap zone in front of the trench made the Romans suffer, with many soldiers getting their feet caught in a lilia* and stabbed by spikes. (Lilia are pit traps arranged in a quincunx pattern dug by the Roman armies in front of their defences. Frequently they had sharpened stakes set inside them as an extra obstacle to attackers.)

    Just as they patiently cleared the traps, the defenders sent out several hundred light infantries who were familiar with the location of the traps. They then divided themselves around the safe area of the trap zone and attacked the Romans, who were busy clearing the traps on the ground with javelins and arrows, causing casualties among the Roman soldiers and slowing the siege''s progress.

    The ballistae, three hundred metres from the city, constantly bombard the wall with stone projectiles, even damaging some of them through excessive use; So how could the old city wall of Setia, which had only recently undergone some repairs, withstand the constant bombardment? As a result, several parts of the wall had already crumbled.

    But although it was an excellent opportunity to attack the city, the traps outside hampered the Romans, making them unable to approach the city smoothly. Instead, they could only watch as the Volscians filled the gaps with stones and mud. Still, it gave Quintus, Licinius and Furius more confidence to take Setia.

    So they sent thousands of light infantry, who risked getting stabbed in the feet, to attack the Volscian light infantry sneaking out of the city, eventually forcing the enemy light infantry, who had suffered many casualties, not to dare leave the city.

    A few dayster, the Roman soldiers cleared the traps before the trench by paying some casualties.

    After leaving nearly fifteen thousand men in camp with Camillus and Furius to guard against the rescue force from Privernum, Quintus and Licinius led about thirty thousand soldiers to attack the city of Setia.

    The greatest obstacle to the Romans'' attack was Setia''s wide and deep trenches of Setia and the dense abatis below the wall. However, they were the Volscians'' greatest aid in killing the Romans, as they desperately threw javelins, arrows, stones and boiling oil¡­

    After a long, arduous battle and many casualties, the Romans finally broke through the repaired gap in the wall with their siege equipment. The soldiers then began to pour through the wall openings into the city, but to their surprise, they found another, a slightly shorter earthen wall in front of them, with numerous Volscian soldiers at the top.

    Though the Romans at the front knew they were deceived, theirrades behind them remained unaware as they continued to pour in, soon crowding the narrow path.

    Then the Volscians, standing on top of the wall,unched long-range attacks from all directions, with every stone and javelin killing Roman soldiers, and the burning mes caused by setting fire to the thrown oil jars made the Romans feel as if they fell into the underworld¡­

    Even after suffering more than two thousand casualties, the Roman army still failed to take the city.

    Quintus and Licinius could only return to the camp in mncholy, while Camillus, without saying a word, simply summoned the physicians and soldiers in the camp to treat the wounded.

    Meanwhile, the people of Setia were thrilled by the victory, which strengthened their determination to defend the city.

    After two days of rest, Quintus and Licinius refused to listen to Camillus'' advice and insisted on attacking the city again. And with Furius at their side, Camillus could only agree.

    This time Camillus alone remained in the camp with nearly ten thousand soldiers, including some of the wounded.

    On the other hand, the three military tribunes, Quintus, Licinius and Furius, led over thirty thousand Roman soldiers from the east, west and south andunched a fierce attack on Setia.

    The battle intensified.

    By mid-afternoon, the Romans hadunched one attack after another, forcing the Volscians to retreatpletely behind their newly-built second wall. And with a shortage of men, the Volscians even had to arm their women and elderly to defend themselves against the fierce Roman onught.

    At this critical moment, the reinforcements from Privernum arrived and tried to bypass the Roman camp to rescue Setia.

    Camillus, who had long been on guard, led seven thousand soldiers out of the camp to intercept them after receiving the scout''s report, leaving more than two thousand men to guard the camp.

    The reinforcements from Privernum numbered eight thousand soldiers, with Theonia''s First Legion making up the bulk of them. But even though their numbers weren''t much different from thest time, they were far less fierce than before, as they were a mixed force.

    Upon realising this, Camillus became uneasy.

    And indeed, the scout returned to confirm his fears: A few thousand Volscian soldiers were approaching the city of Setia from the north.

    ¡®Is there still a Volscian force in the north?!¡¯ Camillus was greatly disturbed and confused when he heard the report.

    The truth is that when Privernum received news that the Roman army would storm Setia again, Phryntor concluded that the Setians would find it difficult to resist a fully prepared Roman army. So he gave his proposal, and the Volscian reinforcements followed his bold suggestion.

    So they sent five thousand Volscian soldiers to march southwest first. Once they reached the marshes near the coast, they would turn north, stick to the edge of the marshes, and use their familiarity with the terrain to evade Roman scouts. Finally, they would make a wide circle north of Setia.

    By the time they arrived, the siege was already at its most intense.

    Although the newly built earthen walls withstood the fierce fighting between the two sides, several ces still crumbled. As a result, they sent almost all the Setians, whether they were women, elderly, or young boys, as long as they could hold a spear to fill these gaps.

    So the arrival of Volscian reinforcements with five thousand of their strongest soldiers while both sides fought fiercely showed that Privernum did their best to save Setia.

    When Quintus, Licinius and Furius received the shocking report, it was as if they had been struck hard and could only shout, ¡°Damned scouts! Why hadn''t they spotted the Volscian reinforcements until they were so close?!!¡­¡±

    Naturally, Quintus also criticised, ¡°Why didn''t Camillus stop them?¡­¡±

    His usation was absurd, and the other military tribunes thought Quintus just said those words because of his anxiety. After all, they had already received reports about Camillus leading the army to resist reinforcements from Privernum in the south.

    With Volscian reinforcements fast approaching from the north, the Roman army found it difficult to spare troops to intercept them, as they were already fully engaged in the siege. As for the two thousand soldiers left in the camp, they didn''t dare to take them out. If they did, the Volscians could attack their camp and take their supplies and weapons, making it difficult for them to maintain an army of over forty thousand men.

    ¡°Why don''t we have our soldiers use Setia''s outer walls to hold back the Volscian reinforcements while we concentrate on capturing Setia?¡± Furius suggested.

    ¡°With the Volscians'' stubborn resistance, our exhausted soldiers would have no strength left to fight the five thousand enemies who newly joined the fray after doing our best to take Setia!¡± Licinius nced at Quintus and voiced his opinion with concern.

    ¡°Retreat.¡± Quintus bluntly said. He then continued, ¡°Since we had destroyed most of Setia''s defences, they would be no match for us in the short term. And with few Volscian soldiers left within their walls, those few thousand Volscian reinforcements had arrived in time to be our prisoners tomorrow! Furius, you made a good suggestion. So let¡¯s have the soldiers near the outer walls hold off the enemy reinforcements and buy time for the whole army to retreat.¡±

 Chapter 712: Theonias Retaliation

    As the Romans gave the order to retreat, the horn of the Volscian reinforcements sounded.

    When the people of Setia heard the horn, their morale immediately soared.

    Because the Roman army used centuriae as tactical units, their troops were well-organised during a siege. However, since most of their soldiers were heavy infantry, they didn''t have javelins, arrows and stones¡­ not to mention the fact that there were several gaps in the wall. So all they could do was stand on top of the wall, unable to block the enemy effectively. With no other choice, the Romans hurriedly organised a team and rushed to the gaps. But before they could form a defensive line, the Volscian reinforcements poured in from the breach in the western wall¡­

    The exhausted and disorganised Roman army could not hold off the enemy for long. After a while, the energetic Voscian soldiers broke the enemy ranks, swarmed into the city and began fiercely attacking the retreating Roman soldiers.

    In the end, the defeated Romans scrambled to flee the city of Setia.

    The Volscian reinforcements tried to chase them until all the Roman soldiers had fled to their camp.

    Fortunately, Camillus foresaw the situation and ordered the troops in the south to withdraw in an orderly fashion towards the camp. Then as soon as the soldiers in the north retreated, he sent his troops to intercept the pursuers. Otherwise, it was likely that the Volscians would rush their camp.

    In today''s battle, the Roman army failed to attack the city while suffering more than four thousand casualties. On the other hand, the Setian defenders also suffered heavy losses, with nearly 10,000 Setians either killed or wounded.

    And even though Theonia''s First Legion, tasked with holding back the Roman camp garrison, suffered few casualties, the Volscian officials in the city of Privernum still expressed their gratitude to Amintas and Phryntor. After all, it was only by following the strategy proposed by the Theonians that they could defeat the mighty Romans. So while they celebrated their victory in today''s battle, they also became more confident in the next battle n proposed by Amintas.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although the siege''s failure cast a shadow over the entire Roman camp, Quintus'' determination to capture Setia remained unchanged, as he insisted onunching another attack the following day.

    Camillus didn''t object this time, knowing that although the Volscians had won again, the gap in power between the two sides hadn''t changed much. On the contrary, Setia had suffered heavy losses and was on itsst legs after today''s fierce battle. Thus even after receiving a few thousand more reinforcements, without the advantage of the city''s defences, they would be no more than a fat piece of meat to be eaten in the face of a siege by tens of thousands of Roman soldiers. Besides, they could also take this opportunity to reduce the number of Volscian reinforcements. So the right strategy was to be on the attack and not give the enemy a chance to catch their breath.

    So while supporting Quintus'' siege n, Camillus also reminded the three military tribunes to strengthen their surveince of the surrounding areas and widen the scope of their patrols, to avoid the dangerous situation of today, where they only found the enemy reinforcements when it was already near them.

    All agreed with this proposal. But to Camillus'' second proposal, "I hope the military tribunes will visit every centuriae to encourage the soldiers and raise their morale", Furius and Licinius agreed, but Quintus disagreed.

    The following day, the well-equipped Roman soldiers emerged from their military tent after the horns sounded in the Roman camp. But instead of having frustrated expressions from yesterday''s defeat, the soldiers showed the excitement of going into battle, reflecting the Roman citizen''s attitude to battle.

    As the soldiers lined up, the military tribunes received unpleasant news just as they were leaving their tent.

    ¡°Astura is under attack?!¡± Furius'' eyes widened in surprise at the news, causing him to interrupt the messenger angrily, ¡°What are our scouts doing?! The Volscians had bypassed us again and attacked our rear, and we didn''t even know about it?!!-¡±

    ¡°Military tribune Furius.¡± the messenger loudly said, ¡°They''re not the Volscians; they might be the Theonians! The enemy wore ck armour, had more than five thousand men and rode a massive fleet tond on the coast near Astura.¡±

    ¡°The enemy had begun attacking Astura by the time I left to deliver the report! Four military tribunes, please send reinforcements quickly! There''s only one centuria in Astura, and they can''t stand up to so many enemies!¡± The messenger asked anxiously.

    Camillus, Quintus, Licinius and Furius looked at each other in shock.

    These Roman generals may have heard of tactics such as assault from the sea,nd operations¡­ and so on, but they had never experienced them for themselves. And although Rome had the port of Ostia, they had few warships and had never used them in battle. And because Rome had always been andlocked city-state, it had always fought onnd and had never usednding operations against its enemies, nor had its enemies used them against it. After all, the Romans'' past enemies were like them and had no navy at all, so even Camillus had no concept of such things.

    With their army having driven the Volscians to the south of Latium and their Latin allies surrounding the upied Volscian towns, the military tribunes felt that the rear was safe, so they didn''t leave too many soldiers to defend.

    Only now did the Romans realise that the enemy they had provoked didn''t only have a mighty army but also a powerful navy! And now, the Theonian fleet controls the entire coastline of Latium.

    The messenger''s request immediately changed Camillus and Licinius'' expressions as they shouted, ¡°Antium! We must rescue Antium!!!¡±

    With only one centuria defending the small town of Astura, it couldn''t withstand the attack of several thousand Theonian soldiers. But even if they lost Astura, it would only affect the Roman army slightly. On the other hand, Antium, less than five kilometres north of Astura and a former Volscian coastal town, was different. The Roman army had ced considerable importance on Antium, as they had turned this town to the north of Volsci, which had arge port, into a transit station for transporting military supplies after conquering the ce. After collecting provisions for the military, the Romans would transport them via the Tiber to the port of Ostia at the mouth of the river and then by boat to Antium, from where they were transported ovend to the Roman camp, thus saving a great deal of time andbour and providing a convenient means of transport.

    Because of Antium''s importance, Camillus left behind four Roman centuriae and a transport team. But he hadn''t considered an attack from the sea, so this force was too smallpared to the iing enemy. And once the Theonians captured Antium, the Roman camp would have difficulty receiving provisions.

    There was a moment of silence in the tent until Quintus said dryly, ¡°We should temporarily suspend our siege and send the army to rescue Antium!¡± Quintus was in a rather ufortable mood when he finally made this decision. After all, the inevitable siege was about to begin, only to be abruptly interrupted.

    But Camillus'' words surprised everyone, ¡°We should instead stop our attack on Volsci and withdraw the army to Rome!¡±

    The three military tribunes looked at him in surprise. Then Camillus said with a grave expression, ¡°With Theonia''s powerful fleet, they cannd their armies anywhere along the Latium coast; today, they attacked Antium; tomorrow, they could attack our Latium ally, Ardea; and the day after that, they could attack our important port of Ostia! But the Theonians may not be satisfied with just attacking our coastal cities, so they might move ind, attack our allies and colonial cities, and destroy our viges and fields! So while our main army is here, we left Rome and the surrounding area without troops against Theonia¡¯s powerful army!¡±

    ¡°But¡­but Theonia is suffering from drought, so they shouldn¡¯t be able to send any more troops!¡± said Furius.

    ¡°We had fought a Theonian army yesterday afternoon, but a Theonian army has appeared on the coast dozens of kilometres from our rear today! So they can''t be the same army! With a second Theonian army, there could be a third Theonian army! And we¡­¡± Camillus gazed at the three men and said deeply, ¡°Dare to risk the safety of our territories and people?!¡±

    Their hearts sank as they fell silent for a moment.

    The four military tribunes, Quintus, from a great noble family, Camillus and Furius, from a lesser noble family; and Licinius, a plebeian. So even though they had different habits and political philosophies, they had one thing inmon: they all loved Rome and didn''t want to endanger their home, which had already suffered one disaster!

    Thus they reached an agreement as soon as they put aside their respective interests: While Quintus and Furius lead twelve thousand soldiers to rescue Antium, Camillus and Licinius would lead nearly thirty thousand soldiers to pack up the camp, escort the supply unit and wounded soldiers, and safely withdraw back to Rome.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After receiving the letter from Davos, Litom began to pay attention to the Volscian region, which isn''t far from Campania.

    Soon he received a letter from Amintas asking for his help.

    The news about Campanian merchants operating on the west coast of Italia and seeing cargo ships frequently carrying grain between the port of Ostia and Antium naturally reached Litom''s ears.

    And at Litom''s request, the intelligence department sent him information on the general distribution of the enemy and their forces in the Volscian region.

 Chapter 713: Disagreement in the Roman Senate (I)

    Thus Antium became an important target for the Third Legion''s raid. They wanted to attack the city of Astura first because they needed a port to unload the siege equipment on board safely.

    Before dawn, Litom left only two thousand soldiers in the city of Ate while leading six thousand to the port of Neapolis, took the prepared ship andnded on the coast near Astura in the early morning under the escort of the Third Fleet,manded by Mithridates.

    With more than six thousand soldiers attacking the small town of Astura, they quickly captured the town since it only had one hundred twenty defenders.

    The Third Legion then marched north almost continuously, reaching the city of Antium in just over half an hour.

    In Antium, the four Roman centuriae plus the supply unit, totalling about seven hundred men, wasn''t enough to defend the small city.

    Litom began deploying aplete siege outside the city with his five thousand and five hundred soldiers. After the siege equipment arrived, the soldiers immediately carried thedder, pushed the siege wagons, the arrow-blocking wagons¡­ andunched a full-scale attack from the south, north and east of Antium.

    As the Roman defenders struggled to hold their ground, the Third Fleet, led by Mithridates, burst into the port from the south. Then the five hundred soldiers of the Third Legion aboard the warshipnded at the dock.

    Since the Romans had never seen such abination ofnd and sea tactics before, they didn''t set up any defences in the port. Of course, they didn''t even have the manpower to do so. But this was a military training the legions of the kingdom of Theonia trained in their camp from time to time, so they were highly skilled in its use.

    Afternding, the Theonian soldiers rushed south and soon upied the almost defenceless southern wall connected to the port.

    Now, the Roman defenders are in great danger¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    By the time Quintus and Furius arrived at dusk, only an empty city remained because the Third Legion and the Third Fleet had loaded all the food and supplies in the city onto the transport ships they had already prepared.

    Meanwhile, Camillus and Licinius led the remaining troops to dismantle the camp and start retreating north¡­

    That evening, the poptions of Privernum and Setia cheered for victory after learning about the Roman army''s retreat. Then the high-ranking officials of the Volscian Alliance hosted a banquet in Privernum for Theonia''s officers, including Amintas and Phryntor, thanking them for their contribution to the rescue of Volsci. At the same time, they hoped the Theonian army would continue helping them reim the territories the Romans upied.

    After being criticised by Davos in his letter, Amintas learned his lesson and replied cautiously this time, ¡°Theonia is more than willing to assist the Volscians in regaining your lost territories. But if the Romans have heavily garrisoned the cities they have upied, we will need more soldiers if we are to take them back. And you should all be aware of the situation in the Kingdom of Theonia. Due to the drought and food shortage, we cannot send more troops, so we can only do our best now!¡±

    The Volscians could only express their understanding.

    Despite this slight interruption, the banquet was lively, and everyone went home happy.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The next day, the troops led by Camillus and Licinius arrived at Antium.

    Here the four military tribunes had another minor disagreement.

    For yesterday and today, Quintus and Furius have received constant reports about the Theonian fleet patrolling the sea outside the port, preventing their transport ship from entering.

    This made the two military tribunes, who had never experienced this aspect, feel helpless and nervous. Since the only thing they could do was stand on the southern wall and watch as the massive fleet of hundreds of Theonian warships covered the sea, putting unprecedented pressure on them. Then they began thinking that Antium, far from Rome and at the same time under constant threat from the Theonian fleet and thending of Theonian soldiers, was unneeded and would only tie up too many of Rome''s soldiers! Instead, it would be better to abandon Antium and concentrate on defending the cities of Velitrae and Satricum to its east, thus freeing them from Theonia''s naval threat and allowing the city of Rome to provide support at any time¡­

    On the other hand, Licinius disagreed, arguing that the Senate had decided Antium, Velitrae and Satricum be considered colonies of Rome. And since they announced that thendless plebeians were to move to these three cities and that all thend was to be given to these citizens, except a part to be used as publd of Rome, the Roman citizens would use and denounce them if they left Antium without permission.

    Camillus also said that the Senate must approve the matter first, and as a military tribune, they shouldn''t make any decisions without authorisation.

    In the end, they put the matter on hold, and the four agreed that Licinius would defend Antium with ten thousand men while the other three military tribunes would lead the rest of the soldiers back to Satricum.

    However, due to the Volscians''ck of strength, they could not attack the former Volscian cities, which were heavily guarded by the Romans, resulting in the war between Rome and Volsci to regain its calm temporarily.

    But in Rome, things began to heat up.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The deaths of tens of thousands of Roman citizens and allied soldiers shocked the city''s poption, as thest time there had been such arge number of casualties was ten years earlier at the Battle of Allia with the Celts. A decadeter, the Romans, ustomed to victory, were almost in mourning as they saw the cremated remains of their dead citizens brought back to Rome.

    Some rtives of the deceased citizens condemn the military tribunes for ipetence inmanding the army and causing Rome to suffer such a disastrous defeat when they had the absolute advantage.

    Some, who knew something about the situation, loudlyined that they shouldn''t have provoked the mighty kingdom of Theonia. If not, they wouldn''t have paid such a great sacrifice!

    Of course, there were also the arrogant ones who cried that they shouldn''t have let go of the Theonian envoys in the first ce so that they could use their heads as a tribute to the now-deceased soldiers. Then they began demanding Rome to raise a mighty army to attack Volsci again and wipe out the Volscians and Theonians to avenge the deaths of their citizens!

    Butpared to the angry and grieving citizens in the urban areas, thendless citizens are relieved to learn that they have managed to retake Antium and that the Volscians have stopped attacking. After all, they have been eagerly awaiting the implementation of the proposal announced by the Senate to distribute the conquered Volsciannds among them.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Roman Senate was in session, and all the senators were present except Licinus, who remained at Antium, listening attentively to the three military tribunes, Camillus, Quintus and Furius, who had returned to Rome to report on the whole war situation.

    The first to speak was Camillus, who begins by recounting how the Senate ordered him to lead an army to put down the rebellion in Tusculum. But the people of Tusculum had no intention of rebelling and had instead taken the initiative to offer hundreds of hostages and re-sign the alliance treaty with Rome. And on his way back, he received another order from the Senate to head south to help Quintus speed up the conquest of the Volscian territory. So he and Furius led the army to speed up the march, sessfully capture the city of Antium, and quickly attack the south until they reached Setia. However, the arrival of Volscian reinforcements forced them to halt and camp, waiting to join up with Quintus and his troops. But, unaware of the arrival of the Theonian army, he failed to withdraw his troops that went out to gather provisions in time. What''s more, he didn''t expect the Theonians to attack the troops outside the camp dozens of kilometres away, forcing him to lead his army out of the camp to meet them and ultimately suffering a tragic defeat under thebined attack of the Volscians and Theonians¡­

    On the other hand, Quintus recounted how he and Licinius led the army to capture Velitrae, defeat the Volscian reinforcements, capture the city of Satricum and then head south to join up with Camillus''army. They then stormed Setia several times, only to fail when the Volscians crossed the marshes, avoided the scouts and suddenly appeared on the battlefield. Then, just as they were about tounch another attack on Setia, the Theonians took a ship, sneaked around their rear, and captured the defenceless Antium. Without any other choice, the Roman army was forced to retreat because of the threat to their transport route and the fear that the Theonians would attack Rome and the surrounding allied territories.

    Furius'' story is more of a confirmation and addition to the facts given by the two military tribunes. For example, he recounted how Camillus had opposed the siege of Setia and proposed an alternative n. He also mentioned that it was Camillus who first suggested the withdrawal of the army¡­

    As the three of them recount the progress of the war, the Senators were first excited by the sessive victories, then shocked and depressed when the war situation suddenly reversed, with most of them unable to keep theirposure and begin discussing with each other.

    Suddenly, a senator named Apuleius stood up and shouted usingly, ¡°Camillus is the first and foremost cause of our defeat in this war! He had rashly led his army out of camp and failed to defeat the Theonians in time, despite having superior strength, leading to our crushing defeat! We had lost so many brave citizens, which affected our remaining soldiers'' morale. Meanwhile, the morale of the Volscians soared, giving them the courage to resist our army''s attacks in the ensuing battle, which resulted in yet another defeat for us¡­ Therefore, given Camillus'' error inmand and the great damage he has done to Rome in this war, I believe the Senate should severely punish Camillus. At the same time, we should consider whether he is still fit to serve as military tribune.¡±

 Chapter 714: Disagreement in the Roman Senate (II)

    Apuleius'' harsh criticism of Camillus, who had achieved great military sess, had caused an uproar among the senators.

    The gentle and good-natured Camillus would calmly ept criticism and me from time to time. But at this moment, he gazed at Apuleius with a sh of anger, for this man had falsely used him of taking the spoils of war for himself a dozen years earlier, which eventually forced him to leave Rome after getting tried.

    Apuleius met Camillus'' fierce gaze without avoiding it. Over the years, with one victory after another, Camillus'' prestige grew so much that it made things difficult for him. Whenever he walked around the city, he often saw people pointing at him and asionally heard them curse, ¡°That is the man who falsely used Camillus; may Jupiter condemn him!¡± And the only reason he could remain firmly in the Senate even under these circumstances was that some of the big shots didn''t want to see Camillus'' prestige rise, and some of the senators were jealous of his merits, so they needed someone to oppose him.

    But knowing his value, Apuleius didn¡¯t conceal his hostility toward Camillus.

    ¡°I have never heard anything so absurd!¡± The military tribune Pantheus stood up and loudly defended his former superior, saying, ¡°How can you me Camillus for that defeat?! If you want to me someone, me us for not informing Camillus of the Theonian army''s arrival in time! me it on the fact that no one expected the Theonian army, which had just arrived in Volsci, to take military action!

    Anyone with experience inmanding a battle should know full well that Camillus made no mistakes in hismand in that battle and that any Roman general in that situation would have chosen to save the Roman citizens and allied soldiers who were in danger! Camillus'' only shoring was that he didn¡¯t anticipate the Theonian army to be powerful! But how could we know about that if we had never dealt with the Theonians before?!¡±

    ¡°Hmph, so we could only me Theonia for being too powerful?!¡± Apuleius sneered.

    ¡°The rumours that the Kingdom of Theonia has the most powerful army onnd do not seem to be a mere boast. With the mere arrival of their army, they had already inflicted a series of defeats on us, and this must be a cause for concern! This is not the time to discuss who''s right and who''s wrong in this battle, but rather to discuss how to deal with the threat of Theonia, which we need to address urgently!¡± Ambustus said with a grave expression on his face.

    ¡°You are right! And don''t forget Theonia still has a powerful fleet constantly threatening our allies and colonial cities by the sea.¡± Then the veteran senator Lucretius supported Camillus, saying, ¡°Camillus has made a calm judgement and was absolutely right to choose a timely retreat! The safety of Rome and her allies is far more important than acquiring a few more Volsciannds!¡±

    With the sessive support of two important senators, it wouldn''t be easy for others to me Camillus again. Thus they no longer mention the failure of this battle and the failure of Quintus'' siege again.

    ¡°Fellow senators and neers.¡± Paulus, the military tribune and rotating speaker of this meeting, finally began to speak, bringing the issue to the forefront of this meeting, ¡°The Kingdom of Theonia in southern Italia has gone to war with us, Rome, and from the looks of it, Theonia has a powerful army and fleet that poses a great threat to us! The previous battle urred only in the Volscian region, but the ensuing battles will probably extend to our allies and even to Rome. Do any of you have good suggestions to avoid such a terrible situation?¡±

    ¡°As I said before, we shouldn''t have let ourselves be fooled by the Carthaginians into provoking the Theonians, which was detrimental to Rome''s development, and now the facts speak for themselves!¡± The high priest gius stood up and then suggested worriedly, ¡°To prevent Theonia''s further encroachment, we should immediately end our war with the Volsci, sign a truce with them, return the Volscian territories we have upied, and at the same time send someone to make peace with Theonia. Rome has no past enmity with Theonia, and with the current drought in their kingdom, they will be happy to end this war, which is meaningless to them once they have lost the reason for it!¡±

    ¡°The high priest is right!¡± Some senators agreed with gius'' proposal, which is rare as Roman senators have always been aggressive and unwilling topromise. And that had also proven how much pressure Theonia had put on Rome.

    Had anyone else said that Quintus, who hated surrender andpromise, would have cursed, but gius'' full name was gius Iulus (Julus)*. Their direct ancestor was Iulus(Ascanius), the first king of Alba Longa (once the centre of the Latin region and the mothend of Romulus, the founder of Rome). The Iulus n would then move to Rome after the fall of Alba Longa. And because of their noble lineage and descent from the gods, their n members often served as high priests and advocates for the gods and goddesses. (The gens Julia(Julians), one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome, to which Julius Caesar belonged, imed to have been descended from Iulus.)

    Although the high priest had no real power, it was an honourable position. As such, the people respected gius quite well, and it was in recognition of his influence that Quintus'' tone softened, ¡°High Priest, I trust you have not forgotten the resolution passed by the Senate only a few days ago that Velitrae, Antium and Satricum would be colonial cities, with a portion of theirnds allocated to thendless citizens. Now that you want us to return the upiednd to the Volscians, do you think the plebeians, who are already ready to move to those colonial cities, would agree?! Surely you don''t want to see those plebeians start another riot!

    Besides, these Volscians have always been the mortal enemies of our Rome. Now that we have almost destroyed them this time, and with them finally receiving help from the Theonians, would they be content with a truce with our Rome?! I fear they must be hoping that, with the help of the Theonian armies, they will take the opportunity to destroy our Rome so that we will no longer threaten Volsci!¡±

    ¡°I agree with Quintus!¡± Pantheus loudly expressed his support, ¡°Since the founding of Rome, there has never been a precedent for Rome choosing topromise and surrender when we are only faced with the enemy''s threat, and we must make no exception in our case! We have faced much stronger forces in the past, but we have fought ande out stronger! And today, as long as we Romans remain united and continue to fight against Theonia, I believe the final victory will still belong to Rome!¡±

    ¡°Pantheus is right! Rome will neverpromise and surrender!¡­¡± The younger senators responded loudly to Pantheus'' words. Some senators didn''t speak, but their eyes shed with the intent to fight.

    gius'' expression changed to one of displeasure as he grunted, ¡°The Carthaginians tricked us into going to war with Theonia with the promise that they would wage war against Theonia in Sicily, but did they?! With its equally powerful navy, Carthage is hiding in its ports and hasn''tunched an attack against the Theonian fleet! Everyone, we must be careful not to let Rome be the sword in the Carthaginians'' hands, to be cut full of scratch and even broken, only to end up with nothing!¡±

    ¡°gius'' is right!¡± Another senator, Publius Cornelius Scipio* loudly reminded, ¡°Though we Romans do not refuse to fight, we must not be fools to be used by others. The Carthaginians want to use us against the Theonians, but we must not be so stupid as to let themmand uspletely without any contribution on their part! So we must urge them to send troops immediately and tell them clearly that they must not only attack the Theonian territories in Sicily but also defeat their fleet and protect our coasts in Latium. Otherwise, we, Romans, will be forced to call a truce with the Theonians!¡±

    The senators all understood what Scipio was saying, which they all agreed with, and soon came to a consensus: As soon as the meeting was over, Paulus would go to the Carthaginian envoy in the city and, in a threatening tone, urge Carthage to send troops as soon as possible!

    Suddenly Potitus, sitting on an ivory chair, said unhurriedly, ¡°Camillus, as the greatest general in Rome, and having fought the Theonians many times¡­ From your past habits, I believe you have seriously thought about how you will fight the Theonians next. Can you tell us a little bit about that?¡±

    As soon as Potitus said this, all the senators simultaneously looked at Camillus and pricked up their ears. Although some were jealous of Camillus'' reputation, no one could deny his military talent. Not only had he won many wars and saved Rome on several asions, but the military reforms he had introduced had made it easier for other Roman generals tomand their armies, leading to more victories. It is why Camillus was Rome''s greatest asset, and everyone could not help but think of him in times of crisis.

    Camillus didn''t refuse, as he had long wanted to discuss how to deal with the next crisis with the Senators out of concern for Rome. So, at this moment, he pondered for a while and then faced the senators. He first thanked them for forgiving his failure in the previous battle and then solemnly said, ¡°First of all, we must be deeply aware that Theonia is the strongest and most dangerous enemy we have ever faced.

 Chapter 715: Electing a Dictator

    Camillus seriously said, ¡°First, we must be deeply aware that Theonia is the strongest and most dangerous enemy we have ever faced. The Theonians have a formidable army with strict military training and discipline. Otherwise, we couldn''t exin how, after marching dozens of kilometres and facing a vastly numerous army, their soldiers still dared to form up and fight our soldiers for so long without panicking. Compared to them, the Etruscans'' and the Volscians¡¯¡­ soldiers, though brave,cked strict discipline and sophisticated tactics and were utterly disorganised in battle.

    Secondly, the morale of the Theonian soldiers is high. In this battle, even though the soldiers I led outnumbered them and they had used up more energy than mine, they could still fight for so long. And even though my soldiers almost broke through their formation several times, they didn''t panic and remained calm.

    Perhaps you would say that the Theonians had sent their best soldiers this time¡­ But even if the rest of the Theonian army were half as good as this one, they would still be formidable. Upon my return, I asked the Carthaginian envoy about the kingdom of Theonia, and he told me that Theonia had a vast territory and arge poption. He also said that the number of troops they have now exceeds one hundred thousand and that they also have a powerful fleet, all of which is far beyond our ability to fight on our own.

    Therefore, we should focus on defence first and ask all coastal allies and colonial cities to increase their defences, patrols and surveince to prevent the Theonians from attacking from the sea. In the meantime, we will have our Roman citizens ready for conscription and ready to reinforce as soon as we find the enemy.

    Furthermore, I propose we immediately implement the previous decision to allocate the Volsciannds to thendless citizens so that they can quickly move to Velitrae, Antium and Satricum and be our new source of troops, recing the troops currently stationed there. Of course, given their financial resources, we must also provide them with weapons and equipment. So we must ask the Carthaginians to continue to support us financially in this regard.

    And about thew passed by the Senate a few years ago for the admission of Latin refugees as Roman citizens. I hope we can widen the scope and elerate the progress of the absorption of refugees such as the Etruscans, Sabines¡­ and so on, so we could have more troops to fight against Theonia¡­¡±

    Camillus wanted to propose something but didn¡¯t say it in the end. Camillus wanted to suggest ¡®to allow the plebeians to rent Roman publds, and even to allocate some of them to thendless plebeians and new citizens to increase their loyalty¡­'' But, remembering that the Roman nobles still held thesends, his proposal would undoubtedly infringe on their interests. As a result, not only would he provoke intense opposition from them but also expose him to suspicion and ostracism and even to the same miserable situation he had suffered then¡­ so Camillus, who was already old, chose to drop this proposal.

    Instead, he suggested, ¡°We also need to increase the military training of our citizens to improve their ability to fight the Theonian soldiers and to be aware of some of the Theonian army''s unique tactics, allowing them to respond in time. From what I''ve seen, the Theonians haven''t sent as many troops into Latium, as they''re still suffering from the drought, so taking defensive measures to deal with their attack should be enough for now.

    But now that we are at war with Theonia, and it is an ally of the Volscians, Theonia would likely increase their attack on us as time goes on, especially once they have enough supplies to feed their army. Thus we could no longer sit back and watch the war between Carthage and Theonia, hoping that Carthage would defeat Theonia and that their fleet would protect our shores! What if Carthage falls?! Then we will be left alone to face the wrath of the Theonians!¡±

    Camillus'' words shocked the senators.

    Camillus looked at them and said seriously, ¡°So besides defending, we must also attack! We must keep the Theonians under pressure to make it hard for them to concentrate their main forces on fighting the Carthaginians! We must contribute to the victory of our allies, the Carthaginians, over the Theonians!¡±

    Camillus'' words made the senators ponder deeply.

    Paulus said, ¡°Camillus, you just said you would attack, but your previous battle has shown how dangerous it is for us to attack Volsci since Theonia''s fleet could attack our rear at any time and cut off our supply line¡­¡±

    ¡°Attacking Volsci would indeed be risky, but what if we attack Hernici?¡± Camillus'' remark made Paulus stare wide and, at the same time, opened his mind. When the Volscian Alliance attacked the allies of Rome, they weren''t the only ones to be defeated by the army led by Camillus ¨C the Aequi and the Hernici were also defeated. Rome finally decided to retaliate against the Volscians because they had caused Rome the most trouble in the past and had the most fertilend. While Hernici, although weaker and inhabiting more mountainous areas, were also a race that often caused problems for Rome¡­

    Paulus was deeply pondering when Camillus continued, ¡°While we defend against possible Volscian and Theonian attacks in the south-west, we should send troops to attack Hernici in the north-east while we wait for the war between Theonia and Carthage.

    We had seriously weakened the strength of the Hernicans in the previous war. By eliminating them now, we will reduce not only Rome''s enemies but also havend to distribute to thendless Roman citizens.

    Moreover, several towns in Hernici border Volsci, which will also be the focus of our attack. If the Theonianse to their aid, we could confidently fight them, as they are far from the coast.¡±

    ¡°But it''s a hilly ce, which doesn''t suit the fighting style of our heavy infantry!¡± Furius reminded.

    Camillus immediately replied, ¡°However, it is not suitable for Theonian soldiers as well, let alone their powerful cavalry. There, we''re more familiar with the terrain and have the support of our Latin allies, so we have nothing to worry about. We just want to contain the Theonians and even force them to send more reinforcements¡­ But as soon as Carthage wins the naval battle, we will send more troops from the southwestern in to invade Volscian territory again and finally surround the Theonians!¡­¡±

    The senators nodded repeatedly, but some expressed concern, ¡°The Volscian town on the edge of the Hernici region is close to the Samnites¡­ and I have heard that the Samnites and Theonians are allies. In case¡­¡±

    ¡°You don''t have to worry!¡± Paulus loudly said, ¡°The Carthaginian envoy once mentioned that the Samnites had long been dissatisfied with Theonia and might act against Theonia again in the war between Carthage and Theonia¡­¡±

    ¡°The Carthaginians also said they would immediately attack Theonia! We shouldn''t trust them too much!!!¡± Another senatorined.

    But Camillus'' analysis had stirred the senators into another heated debate and, at the same time, made them determined to fight the Kingdom of Theonia.

    Suddenly, Potitus rose with his crutch. As a senator who had been in Rome for decades and had served as consul and military tribune more than a dozen times, his prestige alone was enough to bring the people to a halt, or at least to lower their voices, before he could even begin to speak.

    ¡°Everyone, this war with Theonia is like our war with the Celts that year. It means the life and death of our Rome! So all our citizens must work together to face another severe test from Jupiter! And any disputes, doubts and infighting will only waste our energy and time, destroy our unity and make us unable to take the correct action in time. So I propose that at this critical moment, the Senate elect a dictator to lead the Roman citizens and win the war against Theonia!¡±

    When Potitus'' voice faded, the meeting ce fell silent for a while.

    Then, Paulus was the first to say, ¡°I agree with Potitus! We should elect a dictator who would deal with our war with Theonia with all our strength!!!¡±

    It was followed by Furius¡¯ loud support, ¡°As a military tribune who fought against the Theonians. I know what the Theonians are capable of! We need a dictator to resolve the contradictions between the people, unify them andmit us fully to this brutal war so that we can attain the final victory!¡±

    Most of the senators present supported the selfless speeches of the two military tribunes. It should be noted that the position of the military tribune would automatically be removed once the dictator is elected.

    Just as the senators spoke out and agreed, Camillus expressed his support. But he said, ¡°I hope you won''t elect me dictator this time because this war with the Kingdom of Theonia could be hard and long. I''m old andck the energy to take on this responsibility. However, I will still give the new dictator my suggestions and help him defeat the Theonians.¡±

    ¡°Are you as old as I am?! If the Theonians reached Rome, I would also take up arms and go to battle! Do not run away from your duty!!!¡± Potitus pointed at him with his cane and sternly rebuked him. When Potitus first served as consul and led the army into war, Camillus was just an ordinary officer. But because of his bravery in battle, Potitus began appreciating him and allowed him to gradually rise to Rome''s centre of power.

    ¡°To serve as Dictator at this time is not an honour, but a responsibility! A heavy responsibility! For the life and death of Rome lies in the hands of the Dictator!¡± Said Potitus in all seriousness, not only to Camillus but also to the other senators who have different ideas, ¡°As the hero who has faced strong enemies and saved Rome countless times, you should not shirk this responsibility, for only you can lead the citizens of Rome to victory!¡±

    Marcus Furius Camillus

 Chapter 716: Change in the Situation

    Potitus'' words made Camillus ashamed.

    At this moment, another respected senator, Ambustus, raised his right fist and shouted, ¡°I support Camillus as the dictator!¡±

    Pantheus immediately said, ¡°I also support Camillus as the dictator!¡±

    Paulus followed it up, ¡°I choose Camillus!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the voice calling for Camillus rang through the hall, Maluginensis, who had always disagreed with Potitus, remained silent.

    Under the envious gaze of Quintus, Camillus clenched his fists¡­

    In the twelfth month of the thirteenth year of the Kingdom of Theonia (i.e. 380 BC), the Senators agreed to elect a dictator to lead the war between Rome and the Kingdom of Theonia.

    And at the next Centuriate Assembly, held in the Square of Mars, Camillus, the favourite of the Senators, was once again elected dictator by the assembly to deal with the war with Theonia.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    For a time, the northern battlefield fell silent.

    After scouting the cities of Antium and Satricum, the Volscians found the ces heavily guarded and, considering theirck of troops and the advice of Amintas, temporarily halted their ns to retake the cities captured by the Romans. Meanwhile, they allowed their soldiers to train with Theonia''s First Legion so they could work more closely together in future battles and began contacting the forces dissatisfied with the Romans, such as the Hernicans, Marsians, Aquiians and even the Sabines¡­to fight against Rome.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Soon news about ¡°With the help of the Theonians, the weak Volscians defeated the Roman army of over fifty thousand men!¡± spread to central Italia, making some forces sway their thoughts.

    As a result, Tapirus began to get busy in the city of Circeii.

    And the same news reached the neighbouring Samnite mountains so that the officials of Caudini, who were dissatisfied with thete return of the prisoners by the Theonia-Campania and were about to send envoys to Thurii to protest, immediately halted and quietly observed the situation.

    And this news, apanied by the Romans'' warning to the Carthaginian envoy, ¡°If Carthage still does not send troops to attack Theonia, Rome will have to sign an armistice with Theonia!¡±, had also reached Carthage and Mago on the Iberian Penins, who immediately realised that he had to change his tactics and could no longer continue his stalemate with Hanno over whether or not to send troops. Otherwise, they would be in big trouble once the Romans made a truce with Theonia, and Carthage had to attack Theonia on its own, especially since he knew that the conservative Elders in the Senate would probably abandon the deration of war against Theonia and re-sign the peace treaty with them.

    So he immediately held a meeting with his nsmen. Once they had reached an agreement, he quickly sent a messenger to the Carthaginian Senate, asking Pretasdrubal to tell them that the Iberian colony would send twenty thousand troops to obey themander appointed by the Senate.

    Having regained his dominant position, Hanno was satisfied with Mago''s submission. But he knew he couldn''t dy any longer, so the Senate quickly decided to send a massive army to Sicily and attack the Theonian territories.

    The Senate appointed Muntebaal as suprememander of the Carthaginian army. Muntebaal was a member of Hanno''s faction who had been carrying out Hanno''s political philosophy of developing ind for many years and had led his troops to defeat the Numidian tribes on many asions, contributing significantly to Carthage''s conquest of the Numidian region. It is also why Hanno was more thanfortable appointing this highly decorated elder as suprememander of the Sicilian expedition.

    Afterwards, the entire city of Carthage, its allies and the Numidian area under its control began to act, recruiting soldiers, gathering warships and preparing supplies¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile, the unrest in Rhegium, the free city of the Kingdom of Theonia, which hadsted for several dozen days, has subsided as the citizens held an important lesia, with only one subject to be voted on, ¡®whether to integrate Rhegium into the Kingdom of Theonia fully¡¯.

    The result was obvious: the starving poption, the merchants who wanted to see their families prosper, and the citizens with greater political ambitions voted in favour¡­ Although some strongly opposed it, the majority voted in favour of this important proposal for the future development of Rhegium.

    When the messenger from Rhegium brought this important news to Thurii, Davos, already prepared for this, had immediately written an impassioned letter praising the people of Rhegium for making the right decision. He then solemnly promised that once Rhegium was truly part of the kingdom, it would be more prosperous in trade, and its people would get more rights, better care¡­ and so on.

    At his suggestion, the Senate quickly appointed Protesus as the Praetor of Rhegium. He then boarded a convoy of ships carrying a considerable amount of grain from the granaries to the south, along with Rhegium''s appointed judges, tax officials, census officers and other key officials¡­

    As the fleet passed through the port of Locri, the already informed Seventh Legion sent arge group of soldiers and boarded the fleet.

    Alkibiades and Pheidon led many people to meet the fleet when it finally arrived at the port of Rhegium.

    Protesus read out his appointment from King Davos, and none of the people present objected. On the contrary, they were pleased to see the soldiers escorting ample supplies ashore.

    He also announced another appointment, signed jointly by King Davos and the Senate, appointing Alkibiades and Pheidon as Statesmen of the Kingdom of Theonia.

    Thus the people of Rhegium cheered.

    But the two new statesmen couldn''t go to Thurii immediately, as they had to stay behind temporarily to help Protesus take over the city.

    With their full support, a thousand soldiers of the Seventh Legion to maintain order, and the political skills Protesus had honed in his ten years of administrative experience, the takeover process went rtively smoothly.

    A dozen dayster, Alkibiades and Pheidon received an invitation from the Senate to go to Thurii to participate in this year''s Theonia National Assembly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Currently, the wounded and the remains of the deceased soldiers of the First Legion arrived in Thurii.

    At the same time, the National Assembly and the Assembly of Tribunes of the Kingdom of Theonia will take ce, as well as the annual Football Champions League of the Kingdom. On the first day of the fourteenth year of the kingdom (379 BC), as has been the tradition since the foundation of the kingdom, the king, the statesmen and the representatives of the members of the local councils of the cities of the kingdom, as well as the tribunal officers, gathered in front of the Temple of Hades on the Sacred Hill.

    As the head priest, King Davos read aloud the inscription in memory of the heroes.

    To the sound of solemn and sacred music, the pce guards marched as they carried the steles inscribed with the names of the soldiers who had died in Volsci and Campania into the Hall of Valour, where they would receive the blessing of Hades and the prayers of the people, and their spirits would guard thend they had defended with their lives.

    Although the rtives of the deceased, who had alsoe to pay their respects, looked sad, with some breaking down in tears, their eyes sparkled with pride and hope.

    The following day, the representatives of the local council and the tribunus plebis sat in the private seat in Theonia''s main arena. They watched the opening ceremony of the Kingdom''s Football Champions League and the first match that followed.

    The local council members from Dauni, who were visiting Thurii for the first time, were shocked by the sight of more than fifty thousand spectators cheering in unison, and the fantastic match also caught their attention¡­

    On the third day, the National Assembly started.

    The venue was the Grand Senate Hall, a ce capable of holding thousands of people, and it was finally able to be filled to capacity. To ensure that those present could hear clearly, more than a dozen people were ced around the podium in the centre of the hall to repeat the words loudly.

    Of course, as was the custom in the past, shortly after the start of the National Assembly, everyone would apud and wee Rhegium, who had just joined the Kingdom.

    Next, the participants focused on two issues ¨C drought and war. So when Agriculture Minister Burkes talked aboutst year''s disaster relief efforts in the Kingdom and some of the new measures they would take this year, the Council members responded enthusiastically.

    Among them were the words of a statesman from Rudiae, representing the voice of many people. The Old Man also experienced the drought in southern Italia more than twenty years ago. Since the Messapians weren''t like the Greeks, who were rich in sea trade and could buy food anywhere and go to colonise, he saw many Messapians starve to death before his eyes. But in this drought, which was no less terrible than twenty years before, he had not yet heard the news of starving Messapians, so he excitedly and loudly praised the kingdom''s achievements in disaster relief, which resonated with many people.

    Naturally, some expressed concern, ¡°The drought may be over, but food supplies are getting tighter. And with war about to break out again, will our food supplyst until this autumn''s harvest?¡±

    Note: The Centuriate was one of the three main Roman civic assemblies and, at this stage, was the highest level of civic assembly. The Centuriate was divided into groups of one hundred, based on the wealth and ss of the citizens, with each group of Centuriates having one vote, regardless of how many electors each Centuriate had. They would then vote from highest to lowest ording to the ss of the centuriate group. But as soon as a proposal receives more than half of the votes, the voting will stop immediately. This often results in the next group of Centuriates not having a chance to vote, most of whom are Plebeians.

    The other two assemblies were the Curiate and the Plebeian: The curiate assembly was only for the Roman aristocratic ns,pletely excluding the plebeians from it. The Curiate had the greatest authority during the Roman Kingdom, but this was now much reduced, although they still dealt with matters rting to the aristocracy. On the other hand, the Plebeian Assembly was, at this stage, only an assembly of the Roman plebeians ording to the tribunes to which they belonged, and the proposals they passed would only apply to the plebeians. It was not until a hundred yearster that it became the main legitive body of Rome.

 Chapter 717: The kingdoms year-end assembly

    Davos announced loudly from his throne, ¡°You need not worry about food supplies, for Theonia has allied with Egypt. Moreover, the Egyptian Pharaoh Nectanebo promised to continue supporting Theonia withrge quantities of wheat, free of charge, until the autumn harvest, with the first shipment of nearly 100,000 tonnes of grain already leaving Egypt.¡±

    The statesmen cheered and beamed with joy at the news. Some even shouted excitedly, ¡°All hail, the kingdom! All hail King Davos!¡±, knowing that this natural disaster no longer threatened the people in the towns of the Kingdom of Theonia.

    In this festive atmosphere, the Minister of Military, Hielos, began talking about the kingdom''s military situationst year and the daily army work. He mainly focused on the report about the formation and training of the Eleventh Legion and the camp''s construction, for which he expressed his gratitude to the towns of the Dauni region for their active cooperation.

    Next, he recounts the causes of the two wars that took cest year: From Caudini¡¯s repeated vition of the treaty and their invasion of the Campanian League, an ally of Theonia, to the Campanian envoying to Thurii asking for help, then to the Theonian envoy going to Caudium to stop the war but turned down, and finally to the Kingdom sending the Third Legion to crush the Caudini''s attempted invasion of the Campanian League¡­

    He then goes on to discuss the Carthaginians'' long-standing support and assistance to Rome, the sinister purpose behind this move and Rome''s attack on Volsci, why Theonia allied with Volsci and sent troops to support them at their request for help, and a summary of the whole battle at Volsci¡­

    At the end of Hielos'' recount, he loudly reminded everyone, ¡°Carthage has taken the initiative to tear up our treaty and announced that they would dere war on Theonia as long as there is a war between Rome and us. ording to our intelligence, Carthage is preparing for war, so this year''s war with Carthage is inevitable!¡±

    After Hielos said that, the meeting hall was rtively calm since most of the local council members were well-informed and had paid attention to the major events in Thurii. Furthermore, they would usually visit the statesmen from their hometowns to get information about the assembly beforehand. Thus they didn''t condemn Theonia for the two wars and the possible war with Carthage. On the contrary, they were more concerned about thising war''s impact on their towns.

    For example, the council members of Irna and Compsa feared theing war would break the peace between Theonia and its neighbours, the Samnites. Would the Samnites, already at odds with Theonia, seize the opportunity to attack the whole of western Campania? Although the Third Legion has gone to garrison the Campanian League, they still hope the Ministry of Military can continue strengthening the region''s defences.

    The council members from the Dauni region had the same idea. Especially since the recently incorporated Dauni region has a weak military, unlike the heavily fortified north-western border of Theonia, fearing they will be the focus of the Samnites'' attack and must be taken seriously by the Ministry of Military.

    The council members from Sicily are more direct, as the Theonians in Sicily have already begun mobilising for war. They thought the Theonian army in Sicily would not be enough to resist once the Carthaginian army attacked, so they hoped they could receive more troops.

    The council members of Henna and Herbita have received some proposals from the Sikeloi tribe, who hope to join the kingdom of Theonia, win the battle and gain fertilend in theing war.

    There were, of course, many more local council members who called for the mobilisation of the legionaries to be postponed for a while to ensure a smooth spring sowing season.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Of course, Davos and his ministers in the centre of the meeting hall hadn¡¯t responded immediately to the active questions and suggestions of the assembly members. Because once the scribes had taken down their proposals, they would discuss them with the statesmen and local council members over the next few days to find solutions and formte the final proposals. Only after the majority approved would King Davos sign it, which would be a neww implemented in the kingdom.

    The newly promoted statesmen, Alkibiades and Pheidon, attended the Kingdom''s National Assembly for the first time. Since the Kingdom of Theonia had recently incorporated Rhegium, they still had yet to elect council members and tribunal officers, let alone representatives, to attend this assembly. As such, the two were unfamiliar with the proceedings and didn¡¯t do many preparations.

    The two of them witnessed the opening of the Assembly, the kingdom''s officials talking about their department''s work for the year, the questions raised by the Assembly members and the heated debates andpromises of the following days, and the proposals they agreed upon in the end¡­ It was an eye-opening experience for both of them, especially for Pheidon, who couldn''t help but sigh, ¡°The Theonians have created a great political system that allows for the centralised administration of a vast territory while satisfying the demands of the various cities through democracy. How can such a kingdom not be prosperous and powerful?¡±

    Alkibiades couldn''t stop himself from saying, ¡°I have heard that this system was initiated and formted by my brother-inw!¡±

    ¡°The kingdom of Theonia is lucky to have such a wise and wondrous king!¡± Pheidon''s repeated praise made Alkibiades, a rtive, feel proud. So he said excitedly, ¡°Fortunately, we are also Theonians now!¡±

    Pheidon said, ¡°This is the best decision we have made in the past ten years!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the National Assembly was having a heated discussion on the second day, Davos came to the city hall of Thurii. Since Thurii has thergest poption and the most memberspared to other cities, they naturally have thergest city hall, amodating about five hundred members. And this is where they held the annual assembly of the kingdom''s tribunal officers.

    After delivering his opening speech, Davos sincerely thanked the tribunal officers for safeguarding the entire kingdom''s security, stability and fairnessst year.

    The Supreme Censor Sesta then briefly summarised how the tribunal officers had uncovered irregrities in the cities and defended the people''s interestst year. He then highlighted some of the cases of bribery that they had worked with the inspectors to solve. Finally, Sesta named ten outstanding tribunal officers and their outstanding deedsst year.

    The already informed ten tribunal officers from the various cities of the kingdom walked to the centre, and Davos personally pinned the medal on their chiton.

    This medal is a small silver button carved into a delicate snake shaped like a whip. The idea came from the popce¡¯s nickname of the Tribunal Officers, the Whip of the Kingdom, as they oversaw and whipped the ouws. This medal is the highest honour a Tribunal Officer can receive, so they were excited when they came on stage to ept King Davos'' congrattions.

    Unlike the National Assembly, the tribunal officers were the main character of this assembly. They would take the lead and spend the rest of the time on stage talking about their towns'' situation, problems and proposals. Since most of them came from the towns and viges, they were more ustomed to finding and looking at issues from the perspective of ordinary people, which was of great benefit to Davos and the Minister, as well as the Senate, in understanding the situation at the local level of the kingdom moreprehensively. Therefore, the scribes would carefully record each tribunal officer''s reports and summarise some of their useful suggestions to discuss in the Senate.

    At the end of that day''s meeting, Davos would once again thank the tribunal officers for their service to the Kingdom and remind them that a massive war was likely to break out in the Kingdom! During the war, it is crucial to ensure the kingdom''s stability!

    He then told them that he hoped the tribunal officers would assist the local council members in their administration, be more alert to theing and going of suspicious strangers, and prevent unrest. They should also help the families of the citizens serving in the army defend their interests¡­ So whether the kingdom of Theonia can work together to defeat the enemy depends on their efforts!

    Davos'' words made the tribunal officers excited. Then, one by one, they made their promise to the king and took his words back to their colleagues in their city.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Davos unified the kingdom''s cities through the two assemblies held in the New Year in preparation for theing war, Cynthia received Adoris, who hade to visit her, at Patroclus'' residence on the southern bank of the Crati. Cynthia then asked the cook to prepare good food and wine to entertain her brother.

    ¡°Sister, don''t you want to eat a little? The fish tastes good!¡± Adoris casually asked as he ate.

    Cynthia touched her belly and shook her head, ¡°I would vomit just at the sight of fish and meat, so Mother Cheiristoya had sent a cook to make me dishes suitable for pregnant women.¡±

    ¡°Mother treats you so well!¡± Adoris eximed.

    ¡°Were father and mother not good to you?!¡± Cynthia asked back.

    Adoris couldn''t speak for a while, so he quickly buried himself in eating.

    Cynthia looked at him and suddenly asked, ¡°You''re usually busy training at the military camp and rarely go home. So why did youe to see me today when you are free? Is something wrong?!¡±

    Cynthia''s sudden question stunned Adoris. He stammered, obviously unprepared, ¡°No¡­there''s nothing. I just heard¡­heard that you are pregnant, so I came to see you.¡±

    Cynthia became serious as she disyed her authority as the older sister, ¡°I''m your sister. Do you think I don''t know you?! Stop dawdling and tell me what you want!¡±

 Chapter 718: Carthages Deployment

    Adoris had grown up fearing Davos and Cynthia the most, so when he saw Cynthia''s serious expression, he dared not say any more nonsense. After taking a chug of wine, he said, ¡°Sister¡­ I want you to go and ask Mother a favour. I want her to help me talk to Father and change my military affiliation to the First Legion!¡±

    ¡°You want to go to Volsci?!¡± Upon hearing Adoris'' words, Cynthia immediately understood his intentions. These days, while treating the wounder of the First Legion, handling the remains of the dead andforting their families, the Ministry of Military is also selecting reserve soldiers and preparing to send them to Volsci to fill the vacancy of the First Legion. Cynthia naturally knew something about this because Patroclus serves in the First Legion.

    ¡°Isn''t the First Legion the only legion in the kingdom fighting at the moment and were short of men? Since I don¡¯t have anything to do in Thurii now, I can simply go and help your husband, Patroclus.¡± Adoris said in a seemingly rxed tone.

    ¡°Your brother-inw doesn''t need your help!¡± Cynthia said bluntly. How could she not know that Adoris had an average rtionship with her husband and that he was just using that as an excuse?

    With the First Legion suffering so many casualties during the war in the north that even some high and mid-ranking officers died in battle, Cynthia became frightened to hear this. So she began to pray for Patroclus¡¯ safety every day, even hating herself for not having the bloodline of Hades to bring more blessings to her husband. Still, Cynthia did not go to her father to ask for Patroclus to be called back to Thurii because she knew that as the king''s son-inw, the people would pay more attention to Patroclus, and her father would not grant her request.

    So how could she not be angry when her brother wanted to go to such a dangerous ce while she was already worried about Patroclus?! Thus she warned him, ¡°Adoris, you should study like Croto, stay in Thurii peacefully and don''t let our parents worry!¡±

    ¡°I can''tpare with little Cro, who is busy at the Ministry of Military while I am already twenty-one years old and yet still hanging out in Thuri every day,¡± Adorisined.

    ¡°That''s because our father tried to give you several positions in the Ministry of Military, but you didn''t want to go!¡± Cynthia rebuked him angrily.

    ¡°It''s not like you don''t know that I get a headache whenever I see words and numbers, making me struggle to finish school! And the only thing I was good at was fighting, and that¡¯s all I can do to win honour for myself and show those who looked down on me that I, Adoris, am not just a mediocre man living off my father''s prestige!¡± Adoris eximed.

    Cynthia could hear his frustration, and she hadn''t expected her usually impulsive and reckless brother to have such thoughts, so she was silent for a while.

    ¡°Is that why you went to the Census Department and changed your name to Marcellus Adoris?¡±

    ¡°Someone had to inherit our biological father''s name(referring to their biological father, Marcellus, the former archon of Amendra). Father knew about it, and from what Mother said, he didn''t object.¡± Adoris exined, ¡°I use that name, at least in the army, to reduce some unwanted attention.¡±

    ¡°I hope you won''t regret it.¡± Cynthia sighed. Indeed, any officer would be shocked to see the name Davos Adoris on the list of soldiers since there is only one family with that surname in the kingdom. Thus it was only natural for them to pay more attention to Adoris.

    Cynthia stared at Adoris'' still somewhat immature face, ¡®He had taken a lot of courage to abandon this great family name, which shows Adoris'' great determination!¡¯

    With this thought, Cynthia said softly, ¡°I will go to Mother to persuade her. But I suggest you talk well with Father to make him understand your thoughts. After all, Father has always loved us and worried about our safety. Only when he understands your thoughts would he think of a better arrangement for you.¡±

    Adoris was silent as he had feared meeting Davos since he was a kid. Perhaps it was because he had always had his biological father in his heart and didn''t really think of Davos as his father, so every time he saw Davos, he felt guilty.

    Seeing him hesitating, Cynthia reminded him, ¡°In fact, you don''t need to change your legion. I''ve heard there will be a war with Carthage soon, and I believe they would send the Second Legion, your part of, to the frontline.¡±

    Adoris was interested but still said, ¡°Who knows how long it would take those timid Carthaginians to act?!¡±

    The two continued to talk until Cynthia''s ve rushed into the living room. Seeing her nervous, Cynthia asked, ¡°What''s the matter?¡±

    The female ve hurriedly whispered a few words to Cynthia.

    After hearing this, Cynthia sighed, ¡°Adoris, there''s news from Thurii; The Carthaginians have deployed arge army tond in Sicily.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the first month of the fourteenth year of the Kingdom of Theonia (379 BC), the sea from the western tip of Sicily to Carthage was abuzz with activity.

    More than three hundred warships were divided into two teams and lined up in the coastal waters on either side of the western tip of Sicily to prevent a sudden attack from the Theonian fleet. The sea between the two fleets is filled with thousands of ships, shuttling from dawn between Carthage and Lilybaeum, constantly transporting soldiers, horses, food, supplies and so on to Sicily¡­

    Since its founding, Lilybaeum has never been as busy as it is today, with many ships filling its ports, soldiers and unloaded goods filling its docks, and noisy people clogging the streets. But unlike the old Motya, the Carthaginians built Lilybaeum as a militarised city in Sicily. Hence they constructed the port and roads to military standards, and even the serving city lord was a general rather than an administrative official.

    In the semi-militarised city of Lilybaeum, under themand of the City Lord, almost everyone in the city began to act as they hastily and orderly prepared for thending of the Carthaginian army. With their efforts, they solved every problem, and the wholending process gradually became smooth¡­

    Soon afternding, the troops made their way to the fortress outside the city of Lilybaeum that Mago had built when he was the governor of Sicily.

    Meanwhile, at the residence of Sakarzidon, the Lord of Lilybaeum, the suprememander of the Carthaginian army, Muntebaal, and Hanno''s son-inw, Milkpilles, listened to the progress report on the army''snding over wine and good food.

    ¡°Lord Sakarzidon.¡± Milkpilles suddenly interrupted and asked, ¡°Haven''t ¡®they¡¯ arrived yet?¡±

    After Mago''s removal from Sicily, Hanno quickly reced several important officials in the Carthaginian colonies in Sicily with his own men, one of whom was Sakarzidon, who naturally knew who Milkpilles was referring to when he said ¡®they¡¯. So he immediately replied, ¡°I have not yet received any news of their arrival.¡±

    ¡°Commander, they won''t break their promise, right?!¡± Milkpilles asked.

    ¡°Have no fear; Mago is still a man of his word. Since he said he would send an army, he won''t go back on his word. But if they don''te, Lord Hanno will take care of it, so we needn''t worry about it.¡± Muntebaal said with little concern, concentrating instead on the wine he was drinking, ¡°Where does this winee from? It is smooth and mellow.¡±

    ¡°¡­This wine came from Thurii,¡± Sakarzidon replied, slightly embarrassed as he expected Muntebaal to be displeased. Instead, the suprememander, who was in his fifties, looked surprised, ¡°I''ve tasted Thurii wines before, but they weren''t as good as this one. Have they improved their winemaking again?!¡±

    He then lifted his cup again and took a sip. After tasting it, he sighed, ¡°It has such a massive difference from the one before! What a pity! Now that we are fighting with Theonia, I guess this will no longer be avable!

    Sakarzidon immediately said, ¡°General, I still have many bottles here. Since you like drinking this wine so much, I''ll ask my servants to send it to your fortresster.¡±

    Muntebaal didn''t refuse and repeatedly expressed his thanks.

    Milkpilles then said half-jokingly, ¡°General, wouldn''t it be more convenient to order the Theonians to send you these wines once we''ve defeated them?¡±

    Muntebaal stroked his beard andughed loudly, ¡°That''s a good idea! However, I have heard that King Davos has a strong temper. If we want him to deliver the wine obediently, we will have to beat Theonia thoroughly! But since Theonia is a powerful kingdom, we needn''t worry too much, as this war will be long!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Muntebaal drank the wine, the ¡®they¡¯ Milkpilles mentioned were riding on a warship, leading a massive fleet of ships and sailing towards Sicily.

    ¡°Hasdrubal, I hear themander of the Carthaginian army this time is Muntebaal. Are you familiar with him?¡± Khilletztartus asked.

    ¡°He''s just Hanno''s dog.¡± Hasdrubal''s mouth curled in contempt, ¡°In the Senate, he only knows how to criticise our family and please Hanno; that''s why he managed to be the suprememander.¡±

 Chapter 719: Seclians Appointment

    ¡°But I''ve heard that he had led the army to conquer Numidia in thest ten years, so he shouldn''t be that ipetent,¡± asked Khilletztartus, slightly puzzled.

    ¡°Hmph, Numidia has long been under the Carthaginian influence, with many tribes willingly joining Carthage, not to mention that the Numidians have always remained divided. So how can they unite to resist Carthage''s army? Therefore, even if the Senate sent a woman as the suprememander, she could still conquer Numidia.¡± Hasdrubal contemptuously said, ¡°Uncle said that Muntebaal was a man greedy for wine, lustful and incapable of enduring hardship! I heard that he justmanded from far away, never going to the battle himself, and just hid in his tent because he was afraid of the heat¡­ That Hanno would send him as the suprememander of a massive army is a joke! Hmph, Hanno is just a fool who knows nothing about military matters! He thought he could bring Theonia to its knees and gain some advantage just by sending forty thousand men to fight them, capture a few cities and gain some victories¡­ He thinks war is like trade and bargaining!¡±

    ¡°But since the war with Theonia has begun, we should try our best to defeat them while they are still weak from the drought!¡± Khilletztartus then worriedly added, ¡°If we don''t change our mindset soon, I''m afraid this expedition will¡­¡±

    ¡°Wouldn''t that be better? Hanno''s failure would benefit our return to the centre of Carthage!¡± Hasdrubal said rxedly.

    ¡°But¡­what if Muntebaal gives reckless orders to our troops?¡­¡± Khilletztartus said worriedly.

    Hasdrubal looked at him and said, ¡°Have you forgotten what Uncle Mago told you? We don''t have to obey Muntebaal''s orders and justmand our army!¡±

    After briefly pondering, Khilletztartus suggested, ¡°In that case¡­we''d better lead the army alone.¡±

    ¡°I will request this to Muntebaal since I believe he also does not want to stay with us, who would always argue with him and disobey his orders,¡± Hasdrubal smirked.

    Suddenly, the lookout shouted from the mast, ¡°We are almost in Sicily!¡±

    Hasdrubal and Khilletztartus cheered and rushed to the ship''s bow, staring at the faint outline in the distance.

    Hasdrubal looked excited and said, ¡°Khilletztartus, let''s give it our all!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Carthage has unexpectedly sent such amander who can win without going to the battlefield, which is also a kind of ability!¡± Davos was in a good mood after reading the information about the Carthaginian army.

    ¡°Make a copy of the information on the Carthaginian army and send it to Prosous immediately. I believe he will make good use of it.¡± Davos separated some of the information on the desk and handed it to Aristias.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    ¡°Aris, do you think this Hanno sent forty thousand¡­ oh, plus the Iberian army, a total of sixty thousand soldiers to Sicily only? Did he really think he could defeat Theonia andpletely upy Sicily with just sixty thousand soldiers?¡± Davos asked suddenly.

    Whenever Davos pondered an important issue, he would suddenly ask his closest ministers a question to confirm his ideas or broaden his thoughts, ¡°Perhaps Shophet Hanno of Carthage doesn''t want to upy Sicily or rout us. Instead, he just wants to gain some victories and force us to sign agreements in his interest¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­Makes sense.¡± Davos nodded thoughtfully. After a moment, he rubbed his chin as he said deeply, ¡°It''s also possible that¡­the Carthaginians don''t want to send so many troops at once since that would increase the logistical pressure, and will just send themter, depending on how the battle develops¡­ In any case, the Carthaginian ruler, Lord Hanno, although a good politician, is obviously not as bold as the Magonids. Perhaps in his mind, he doesn''t see this war as a showdown between Theonia and Carthage at all, which should be good for us¡­¡± said Davos, his voice trailing off as he fell back into his thought.

    Aristias stood quietly aside, silent.

    Davos then looked at him and said, ¡°At the tribunal''s assembly yesterday, the tribunal officers from Uzentum, Mesania, and Rudiae all mentioned unfamiliar Messapians going in and out of some of the former Messapian tribal chieftain''s residences in the towns and viges, so send someone to check them out properly.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    ¡°It would be best to find out who their backers are! It seems they wanted to use our war with Carthage to create more problems for us!¡± Davos'' eyes narrowed as he already had a suspect in mind.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty! I will look into it immediately!¡± Aristias said seriously.

    Suddenly, a pce guard came in and reported, ¡°Your Majesty, Lord Seclian has arrived.¡±

    ¡°Let him in quickly!¡± Davos said pleasantly, while Aristias withdrew immediately.

    Seclian was still lean and vigorous even though he was already in his forties, showing no signs of fattening like most middle-aged men. He strode into the office and came to Davos. Then he quickly and simply made a standard military salute ¡°Your Majesty, I havee!¡±

    ¡°It seems you couldn''t wait any longer,¡± Davos said jokingly.

    ¡°Does it seem so, Your Majesty?! Since I have only been in this little bay of Taranto for almost ten years, I have almost forgotten how to steer a warship!¡± Seclian replied jokingly.

    ¡°It seems I need to reconsider changing to a new navarch,¡± Davos said seriously.

    ¡°Is there a better Navarch in the kingdom than I?¡± Seclian responded immediately.

    Then both of themughed.

    ¡°This time, I will send you to Sicily tomand the First and Third Fleet against the Carthaginian Navy. Since Flios is your former subordinate, you will have an easier time givingmands. Do you have any other requirements?¡± Davos asked seriously.

    ¡°Can you also ce the Second Fleet under mymand?¡± Seclian asked without hesitation.

    Davos shook his head, ¡°Mithridates'' fleet needs to hold the Romans at bay on the west coast. Besides, the Kingdom would be the one to supply provisions for the nearly sixty thousand soldiers of the First Fleet after they left for Sicily. But as the kingdom has just suffered a drought, the cities of southern Italia are also short of food. And I am already prioritising the delivery of food supplies from Egypt to your fleet, so if you add another thirty to forty thousand soldiers, I fear that most of the navy youmand will go hungry.¡±

    The Kingdom of Theonia now has four fleets. The First Fleet is based mainly in Taranto, the Second Fleet in Terina, the Third Fleet in Catania, and the Fourth Fleet in Brindisi. Since the number of men needed to form a fleet isrge, they would, in principle, be assigned nearby, so the main force of the First Fleet was stationed in the northwest corner of the great port of Taranto, and thend from there to Metapontum was basically assigned to the sailors and rowers of the First Fleet, with some sailors from Taranto, Metapontum and Heraclea¡­ so that each time the First Fleet trained, they could carry enough rations and arrive at the base in time.

    Furthermore, the main force of the Theonian fleet was the Corvus Warship, and its primary mode ofbat was boarding, which requiredrge numbers of infantry on board to fight. During the South-Italian War, the Legion provided the infantry, but after the establishment of the Kingdom, Seclian made a proposal to the Ministry of Military. He argued that it would be difficult to coordinate the legions for each naval training during peacetime since the fleet and the legion''s base aren''t together, and it''s impossible to train with every legion. On the other hand, in wartime, the legions couldn¡¯t fully use their full strength since they might be called up from time to time to fight on the fleet. Thus it would be better to equip the fleets with infantry exclusively for the navy so that they could devote themselves entirely to navalbat and harassment of the enemy''s coastline¡­

    The Ministry of Military continued to argue about his proposal until they finally handed over the report to Davos. Davos immediately approved it, knowing they would always use the Navy for offensive operations, so it needed its own infantry.

    For this reason, the naval base had to have enoughnd to amodate the fleet''s sailors and infantry. So they built the Second Fleet¡¯s base in Terina, where the Ophemian iny; the Third Fleet in Catania, where the fertile Catanian in is; the Fourth Fleet in Brindisi, the city itself being a naval base; and the First Fleet, in addition to its base in Taranto, had a sub-fleet stationed in the military ports in the southern part of the Sybaris in. Thus the size of each fleet was quiterge, especially the First Fleet, which could even outnumber abined five legions. Naturally, they had to consume enormous amounts of food once they left the base.

    Seclian, of course, knew the pros and cons, so he stopped insisting. Instead, he asked a delicate question, ¡°If I go to Sicily, who will be in charge of the war? Will it be me or the newly appointed Sicilianmander, Prosous?¡±

    Davos looked at him and said solemnly, ¡°In principle, you are in charge of the navy, while Prosous is in charge of the army, with the navy and army working together to defend our territory in Sicily and to eliminate the invading Carthaginian army. But when you and Prosous discuss the military n, the wartime governor of Sicily, Siprus, will also take part and make the final decision if the two of you can''te to an agreement. And once you decide on a n, you must carry it out without making any excuses or dy.¡±

 Chapter 720: The Iberian armys military offensive on the north coast

    Seclian smiled, ¡°Your Majesty, you can rest assured. I am also a statesman, so how can I act recklessly?!¡±

    Davos alsoughed, ¡°I amfortable with you sitting in the southern sea area. But after you havepletely controlled the sea in Sicily, don''tpletely block the sea passage between Carthage and Sicily.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Seclian blurted out, confused.

    ¡°We must give Carthage hope so they can continue consuming their resources and send Carthaginian citizens to Sicily¡­¡± Davos'' eyes gleamed coldly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Commander, how can you allow Hasdrubal to independently lead his army to attack the northern coast of Sicily?!¡± Milkpilles burst into themander''s quarters and loudly questioned Muntebaal.

    Muntebaal did not reprimand Milkpilles for his audacity. Instead, he shrugged and asked helplessly, ¡°If we don''t let him go, what can we do? Should I punish him with militaryw just because he refused to send his troops as a vanguard? He had quarrelled with me for three days, which seriously interfered with mymand of the rest of the troops!¡±

    Milkpilles was momentarily speechless as he realised that since Hasdrubal was the most crucial member of the Magonids, punishing him for a dispute over military opinion wasn''t something Muntebaal, with his average background and strength, would dare to do. If Muntebaal were to carry it out, there was a risk that it would instead give Mago an excuse to withdraw the troops he had sent, so he could only relent.

    So Milkpilles reluctantly say, ¡°We can report Hasdrubal''s insolence in refusing military orders to the Senate and let them punish him!¡±

    Muntebaal shook his head inwardly, thinking that Milkpilles was still too young. Asking the Senate for help before the war started would make the Elders believe he was ipetent, so how could Hanno feel assured to hand overmand of the army to him?!

    Then after thinking of something, a sneer appeared on his face, ¡°It''s actually a good thing for Hasdrubal to take his army to attack the north coast. If he attacks with all his might, he will draw and distract the Theonian army''s attention, which would only help us. But if he doesn''t act, the Senate and the people will see their inaction, and when theypare it to our achievements, it will only humiliate the Magonids. And once Mago learnt of it, I am sure he would force Hasdrubal to attack desperately, for he highly values the family''s reputation more.¡±

    Milkpilles thought for a moment and then smiled.

    ¡°How are your soldiers now?¡± Muntebaal asked again worriedly.

    ¡°They are all eager to fight!¡± Milkpilles replied.

    ¡°That''s good.¡± Muntebaal nodded in satisfaction, knowing that the Sacred Band* led by Milkpilles would be the main force of this Carthaginian army, ¡°Go back and get ready; we will soon attack east along the southern coast.¡± (T/N: The Sacred Band is the elite infantry units made up of Carthaginian citizens)

    ¡°Yes,mander!¡± Milkpilles left excitedly.

    Having said goodbye to Hanno''s son-inw, Muntebaal felt relieved and was about to call the servant to bring a bottle of wine when suddenly a guard entered and reported, ¡°Commander, the chief of the Sikeloi, named Archonis, hase to see you again.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Muntebaal waved his hand impatiently, ¡®A Sikeloi chieftain who has lost his people and is like an abandoned dog in the city of Lilybaeum is also worthy of visiting me?!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Hasdrubal led his mixed force of twenty thousand and quickly left Lilybaeum by boat, heading north andnding at Panormus, a coastal city-state in northwestern Sicily.

    Panormus was a city-state founded by the Phoenicians and had always remained under Carthaginian rule. And because of the reputation of the Magonids, the people of Panormus gave Hasdrubal a warm wee. But when they saw fewer Phoenicians or Carthaginians in this massive force and were basically all foreigners in various dresses, they were so surprised that they refused to let them enter the city.

    Fortunately, thend around Panormus was the widest of the cities on the northern coast, so Hasdrubal and Khilletztartus led the army to set up a temporary camp outside the city.

    At the suggestion of Khilletztartus, Hasdrubal decided to use the city as a rear base because of its good geographical position and surroundings. So they spent a few more days setting up the camp, stocking up on food and leaving some soldiers behind, and began to lead the army eastwards.

    This time they travelled ovend, and after just over two hours'' march, they arrived at another Phoenician city, Saluntum. It was here that Dionysius'' army and the Carthaginian army led by Mago fought fiercely for months, not because it was arge city but because this modest citypletely blocked thend route from the mountains to the coast, making it much more difficult to attack.

    After a short stop here, Hasdrubal''s army continued to march. The following path was much more arduous, with the sea to the left and towering mountains to the right, averaging about a thousand metres above sea level, and this passable coastal path was also undting and less than a kilometre at its narrowest point, slowing the march of the entire army.

    It was already three in the afternoon when they left the narrow coastline and stepped onto the softnd with low hills.

    Hasdrubal was thrilled when the guide told him that Himera was ahead. So Hasdrubal immediately ordered the army to rush to the banks of the Himera River, set up a makeshift camp and prepare to spend the night.

    Meanwhile, Hasdrubal, Khilletztartus and their guards rode on horseback to the ce of significant importance to the Magonids.

    Decades earlier, his predecessor Hamilcar had led the Carthaginian army to besiege thergest Greek city-state on the northern coast of Sicily, only for Gelon, the then tyrant of Syracuse, to arrive with reinforcements and eventually defeat Hamilcar''s army.

    Then, more than ten years ago, Hasdrubal''s father, Himilco, led the Carthaginian army tond on Sicily again and take the city that had brought shame to the Magonids. Himilco then built an altar to Baal Hamon tofort the spirits of his predecessor and wash away the previous humiliation by sacrificing thousands of prisoners.

    When Hasdrubal and the others arrived, the city of Himera no longer existed. Instead, there was only a patch of ruins overgrown with weeds and only the river called Himera running through the ruins.

    On the east bank of the Himera River were Greek viges with their inhabitants who were now fleeing east with their families.

    The guards were about to move forward and intercept them, but Hasdrubal stopped them, ¡°Don''t worry, they still won''t be able to escape!¡±

    Hasdrubal dismounted and walked slowly around the ruins for a while. Then, as the troops arrived one by one at the river''s edge, Hasdrubal said to Khilletztartus with a serious expression, ¡°When we win, I will build an altar here. And this time, it will be our turn to wash away the family''s shame!¡±

    Khilletztartus nodded solemnly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The morning of the following day, Hasdrubal gathered his troops and continued marching while he rode his horse at the head of the column.

    Aheady the river Himera, and further east was Greek territory. So once the Carthaginian army crossed that river, it would mean dering war on the Greek forces in Sicily.

    Without hesitation, Hasdrubal urges his horse across the Himera River, opening the war between the two greatest powers in the western Mediterranean: the Kingdom of Theonia and Carthage.

    At midday, the Carthaginian army marching along the coast suddenly halted when the Greek town of Cephaloedium blocked their way.

    Compared to the city of Saluntum, Cephaloedium has a more precarious terrain, with its peaks of three hundred metres above sea level on the coast and mountain ranges averaging five hundred metres above sea level on the ind side. And the in between the mountains, where Cephaloedium is located, is only four hundred metres wide.

    As soon as Hasdrubal saw the precarious terrain, he immediately ordered the troops to form a dense column, as the narrow terrain didn''t allow them to spread horizontally. After stretching for several kilometres, they blew the horns, beat the drums, and the soldiers roared.

    He then sent his men into the city to persuade them to surrender, threatening to ughter everyone, but they severely refused him.

    So Hasdrubal ordered the troops to retreat a kilometre away and began preparing the siege equipment while building a makeshift camp.

    Having suffered enough from ballistae, gastraphetes and siege towers when Dionysius attacked the many Carthaginian cities in Sicily in the past, the Carthaginians concentrated their efforts on developing siege equipment over the years.

    While assembling the ballistae and gastraphetes, the soldiers began cutting down trees to makedders and siege engines.

    On the other hand, the people of Cephaloedium sent messengers from the port to Me to ask the Theonians for help.

    The next day, Hasdrubal led his army to attack the city of Cephaloedium.

    Since the people of the city had received the reminders of the Theonians half a month ago, they had begun reinforcing the city''s defences under the Theonians'' guidance. Furthermore, the narrow terrain prevented the Iberian soldiers from fully using theirrge numbers. And since the city''s western wall was the only ce to attack, it became advantageous for the people of Cephaloedium as it allowed them to concentrate their defences.

    After a day of fierce fighting, they couldn''t even reach the top of the city walls, and the Iberian troops could only withdraw and return to their camp.

    The following day, Hasdrubal led the army back into battle, but again the siege failed, which went on for several days.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Two days after the departure of the Iberian army, Muntebaal led the Carthaginian army as they set out from Lilybaeum and marched east along the south coast. The army then reached Mazara in the afternoon.

 Chapter 721: The Carthaginian armys military offensive on the south coast

    Although Mazara, a Phoenician city long under Carthaginian rule, was only about fifteen kilometres from Lilybaeum, the Carthaginian army moved slowly. Not only because of the massive supplies but also because Muntebaal had taken some Carthaginian merchants and even prostitutes with him, leaving the ranks bloated and somewhat loose, which slowed the march.

    The following day, the whole army continued to advance, this time reaching the town of Selinus, about twenty kilometres from Mazara, by dusk.

    Founded by Greek colonists, Selinus was once known for its prosperous agricultural and fishing industries in Sicily. But during the Peloponnesian War, it shed with Segesta, not far away to the northwest, which triggered the Athenian army''s expedition into Sicily. Then, in the long battle between Carthage and Syracuse, Selinus and Segesta, two Greek colonial city-states in western Sicily, were surrounded and conquered by Phoenician city-states. As a result, most of their Greek inhabitants fled to eastern Sicily and were then reced by mostly Phoenicians, which is why, at the time of the agreement between Theonia and Carthage, Davos agreed to ce Selinus under the Carthaginian rule.

    On the third day, the Carthaginian army arrived at another town, Thermae. Although the Carthaginian soldiers were exhausted, excitement filled their faces.

    The town''s name indicates that it has hot springs, and it was because of the hot springs on Mount San Calogero that the Selinuntines built a vige here. Then, after the Carthaginians upied the ce and strengthened their friendship with Theonia, the Carthaginians, who were merchants by blood, were inspired by the great bath of Thurii, so they developed the area and built several baths simr to those of Thurii. Soon the vige grew into a town.

    After setting up a simple camp, the soldiers bathed in batches, with Muntebaal even calling for several women to wash with him.

    The next day, the Carthaginian army, both generals and soldiers, continued to march eastwards with high spirits and brisk strides after bathing in the hot springs.

    In the afternoon, the army reached the city of Heraclea-Minoa. Heraclea-Minoa is a Greek city-state situated on the promontory on the east bank of the mouth of the Halycus River, overlooking the fertile ins of the west bank and the port to the east. For more than a decade, this city-state hade and gone in close contact with Theonia and even, because of its name, had established close ties with the city of Heraclea, which was under the kingdom of Theonia''s rule. So the people of Minoa didn''t hesitate to reject the Carthaginians'' offer of surrender.

    Muntebaal had already anticipated this, so he ordered the army to camp on the west bank of the Halycus.

    Over the next three days, the Carthaginians prepared to attack the city, even sending boats to the east coast to see if the Theonians had sent reinforcements to Heraclea-Minoa.

    Having made up his mind, Muntebaal immediatelyunched a full-scale attack on Minoa the following day.

    Unfortunately, he didn''t know that the Sikeloi tribes of Enna, a city northwest of Minoa and in the centre of Sicily, had sent a thousand warriors to cross the mountains and wade down the river towards Minoa.

    The next day, the Carthaginian army crossed the Halycus and arrived near Minoa, where they went into formation and surrounded the city. Then Muntebaal gave the signal to attack.

    The city of Minoa was small, so it didn''t have much of a poption, and it only had less than four thousand young citizens who could fight in the city. Moreover, the city had no moat, and the promontory on which it stood was less than one hundred and fifty metres high and gently sloping. The Minoans, however, followed the instructions of the officer sent by Theonia and not only set up numerous traps but also cut down all the trees on the hill and even dug up the rocks that could be used for cover, using them to attack the enemy instead.

    But because of the presence of the promontory, the Carthaginians''rge-scale siege engines not only needed more manpower to advance towards the city but also slowed down considerably. And because the siege engines were too far away, it significantly reduced their uracy and power. So the main attackers, the Numidian soldiers, could only carry siegedders and rushed forward only to be caught by the traps.

    The Minoans also pushed the round rocks down towards the dense Carthaginian army. As the rocks rolled down the promontory, they crushed many Numidian soldiers and even the siege engines, eventually leading to the copse of the sieging troops¡­

    After learning the battle situation from themand tent, Muntebaal calmly ordered the troops to reorganise and continue the attack.

    Seeing the demoralised Numidians advance towards Minoa slowly, the anxious Milkpilles broke into themand tent to ask Muntebaal to send the Sacred Band he led to serve as the main force but was refused. Instead, Muntebaal earnestly persuaded him, ¡°It is impossible to take such a fortified city in just a day or two, so we must be patient! Be patient! Remember, the lives of our Sacred Band, the Carthaginian soldiers and even the Phoenician soldiers of our allies are too precious to be consumed in a long and arduous siege. The Numidians, on the other hand, are numerous and cheap. If one group dies, we can get another, which will also contribute to the stability of the Numidian region¡­¡±

    Milkpilles could only remain silent.

    In the afternoon, the Carthaginian army attacked the city again, marking the beginning of a tragic siege.

    As the battle intensified, a horn sounded at the rear of the battlefield to the north of Minoa. Suddenly, thousands of Sicilian warriors rushed down from the mountains to the north and attacked the Carthaginian army, which was engaged in a fierce battle.

    Influenced by the information reported by the scout ship, the negligent Muntebaal neither sent scouts and mountain scouts to scout the enemy situation around the battlefield nor did he ce a reserve force to guard the siege unit¡¯s rear, especially to the north of Minoa.

    Wearing only poor equipment and armed with spears and javelins, the Sikeloi warriors were swift, so they climbed down the mountains and ran towards the city in the blink of an eye. They then attacked the Numidian soldiers besieging the city, and with the Numidians¡¯ already low morale, the Sikeloi warriors quickly routed them.

    The rout of the Numidians in the north began affecting the troops in the other directions, causing the soldiers to shout in panic, ¡°Enemy reinforcements have arrived! The enemy reinforcements have arrived!¡­¡± Then the soldiers rushed down to the foot of the promontory, even faster than the Sikeloi warriors who were chasing them. Then at the dumbfounded expression of the mountain people, they watch as thousands of Numidian soldiers flee like a flood across the Halycus, even pushing the Carthaginian soldiers, who hade to stop them, into the camp with them.

    Milkpilles led his cavalry and infantry around the fleeing soldiers to stop the enemy reinforcements. As a result, he found the few poorly equipped enemies did not enter Minoa but had instead fled into the mountains quickly.

    ¡®Carthage''s army of tens of thousands of soldiers was beaten back by a race of Sikeloi who numbered only a thousand!¡¯ Milkpilles felt extremely ashamed and angry.

    Muntebaal, however, remained calm. To him, although the Sikeloi''s attack had resulted in a rout, they only suffered meagre casualties(less than a thousand) in a siege of this magnitude. On the contrary, the Sikeloi''s attack had revealed the Theonians'' n, so as long as they increased their vignce, the Sikeloi would not be able to inflict further losses on them.

    After hearing Muntebaal''s reassurances, Milkpilles returned to his camp. But with a sense of grievance and because he vaguely felt that Muntebaal was incapable ofmanding such arge army, he immediately wrote to his father-inw Hanno to express his concern.

    Two dayster, a fast ship from Carthage brought Hanno''s personal letter, in which Hanno warned Muntebaal to do his utmost with the war and produce a result as soon as possible, so they could let the Senate know that he had made the right decision in appointing him as themander of the army!

    At the same time, he warned Muntebaal not to be careless and must ensure the army doesn¡¯t suffer more losses! Otherwise, even if the Senate doesn''t impeach him, he''ll have to face the people''s wrath!

    After reading the letter, Muntebaal began to feel the pressure. So he finally stopped lying drunk in themand tent, reorganised the army in person, and led the soldiers in attacking Minoa.

    The Minoans had used the two-day break to rebuild the defences that the Carthaginians had damaged. As a result, it caused the Carthaginian army another set of troubles.

    During the Carthaginian siege, the Sikeloi wandered around the edge of the battlefield, harassing the Carthaginians from time to time and, on one asion, almost setting fire to the Carthaginian camp. Though Muntebaal''s preparations were in ce and the casualties weren''t great, they were still a considerable hindrance to the Carthaginians. Since the cavalry and infantry of the Carthaginian army came from the ins and deserts of Africa, they had never encountered troops like the Sikeloi, who could walk on mountains as if they were t ground.

    After much thought, Muntebaal remembered the Sicani living in the western Sicily mountains allied to the Carthaginians. Thus he sent someone to order Sakarzidon of Lilybaeum to quickly organise a Sicani army and send them to Minoa to fight.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    And the news that a thousand Sikeloi warriors had defeated forty thousand Carthaginian troops had also reached and surprised Leotychides, Theonia''smander in Sicily, who was closely following the war situation in Catania.

    After inquiring about the battle detailedly, he looked at the map and began to think.

    After a long time, he took out the information on the Carthaginian army given to him by the Intelligence Department and read it repeatedly until he finally decided.

    Soon after, the wartime governor of Sicily, Siprus, rushed in, ¡°Lord Prosous, is there a change in the war situation that made you seek me out in such a hurry?!¡±

 Chapter 722: Leotychides Change of Plan

    ¡°Yes, there have been some changes.¡± Leotychides'' tone remained t andcking in passion as he said, ¡°The Sikeloi''s gueri troops defeated the forty thousand Carthaginian soldiers.¡±

    Siprus thought he had misheard and asked in surprise, ¡°Is that true?! You are talking about the one thousand poorly equipped Sikeloi light infantry, right?!¡±

    ¡°I never lie in times of war.¡± Leotychides red at Siprus, but his tone remained t as he said, ¡°So I decided to change my earlier n and instead lead the Eighth Legion to Minoa to face the Carthaginian.¡±

    ¡°Excellent! You are indeed brave and worthy to be themander His Majesty likes! Your new n is much better than your rubbish n.¡± A voice of appreciation rang outside the door as Navarch Seclian strode into the meeting room.

    Leotychides'' eyebrows knitted together.

    Siprus, on the other hand, asked in surprise, ¡°You would lead the army straight into battle with the Carthaginians? It''s too risky! The Carthaginian army is over forty thousand strong! Are you going to gather all the Theonian citizens in Sicily?! But if you lose, all the kingdom''s territories in Sicily will be in danger! I think it would be safer to proceed with your previous n!¡±

    Since the rule dictated that governor Siprus had the right to attend military meetings and raise objections, Leotychides had to exin to him in detail, ¡°The previous n was based on the Carthaginians sending arge army of eighty to one hundred thousand men. But to my surprise, they sent only sixty thousand men, with twenty thousand soldiers headed to the northern coast instead. And ording to the information I received, the Numidiansprised half of the Carthaginian army of forty thousand. And since the Carthaginians had oppressed them, their morale was low, and the fact that a thousand Sikeloi warriors had forced them to retreat showed the ipetence of their officers.

    And ording to our intelligence, Carthage''smander, Muntebaal, enjoyed pleasures and disliked being on the battlefield and close to his soldiers. Hence he failed to make full use of his massive force. Thus, even with fewer troops, the Eighth Legion and our reserve would defeat them with our far superior fighting ability and morale.

    Besides, we can''t just watch this Carthaginian army rely on theirrge numbers to slowly conquer our allies one by one, as that would only sharpen their entire army through battles and victories, improving their morale and strength¡­ Once the Carthaginian army has conquered the southern coast, it will be difficult for us to fight them.¡±

    ¡°This n of yours is correct, while the previous n waspletely passive. When I arrived yesterday and heard about your previous n, I wanted to discuss it with you.¡± Seclian spoke loudly, in the tone of a superior speaking to a subordinate.

    Although it was true that Seclian, as a statesman of the Senate, had higher seniority and position in the kingdom than Leotychides, it still made Leotychides feel ufortable. But when he thought he would have to rely on the Navy for his military operationster, he could only suppress his emotions and say lightly, ¡°I am also basing this on what is stated in Theonia''s Military Code of Conduct, ¡®All military ns are to be made ording to the actual situation.¡¯ Since the situation has changed, I must naturally change the ns I made with it.¡±

    Unlike Cornelius, who would keep worrying about gains and losses, Siprus immediately asked after getting convinced, ¡°How many men will you take to battle?¡±

    ¡°The whole of the Eighth Legion and the Fourth Cavalry Legion, plus some reserve soldiers, which I estimate to be around fifteen thousand. The rest of the reserves would remain in camp, while we wouldn¡¯t deploy the troops of our allies, as they''d also have to guard against Syracuse.¡±

    Siprus was surprised at Leotychides'' words, ¡°Lord Prosous, isn''t fifteen thousand men too few?!¡±

    ¡°Not at all.¡± Then Leotychides said with a clear head, ¡°I will also ask Lord Kreru of Henna to organise all the Sikeloi warriors and take the mountain route to Minoa. Meanwhile, I will lead these fifteen thousand soldiers, disembark by the sea at the port of Kamarina, and march west along the south coast, incorporating the armies of all the friendly city-states we pass. So by the time we reach Minoa, I estimate the army will number at least thirty thousand¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh! In my haste, I forgot about the city-states friendly to us, such as Kamarina, G, Agrigento¡­ and so on.¡± Siprus revealed his shoring, but his face showed a reassuring smile, ¡°Lord Prosous, the decision you have made is the right one! Directly shing with Carthage will show how our kingdom protects the cities close to us, which would deepen our friendship with them!¡­¡±

    But Leotychides didn''t think that far since he only wanted to win. Then he turned his to Seclian and said, ¡°I hope the navy you lead will protect the transport of troops and the delivery of supplies, Lord Seclian!¡±

    ¡°That is the duty of our navy!¡± Seclian replied at once. But his following words revealed his true purpose, ¡°By protecting you, I can lure the Carthaginian fleet to fight us!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the news reached Rome about the Carthaginian army hadnded in Sicily and was marching towards the Theonian territory, the senators were all excited. On the other hand, the dictator Camillus thought the time hade and immediately ordered the army to march towards Hernici.

    Soon after assembling the forty thousand soldiers of Rome and the Latin league in Mars Square, Camillus led the army out of Rome and marched straight southeast.

    The Hernicans are ancient indigenous people of central Italia, living mainly in the londs between the Hernici and Lepini mountains. The londs are about seventy-five kilometres long and only about ten kilometres wide, with the river Trerus running through the middle. To the west and south were the Volscians, who lived near the Lepini Mountains; to the east were the Marsians and the Aequians, who lived deep in the mountains; and to the north were some Latin city-states, mainly Praeneste.

    After passing through the town of Gabii, a part of the Latin League, the Roman army camped outside Praeneste at dusk.

    When the Hernicans heard of the approaching Roman army, they were so frightened that they rushed to send men to ask the Volscians for help.

    The following day, the Roman army continued south, passing through their Latin ally Toleriun, and soon reached Signia, a town bordering the Hernicans and Latins.

    Signia is a small town at the foot of the Lepini Mountains, with a small poption but rtively treacherous terrain, and is an important route for the Hernican tribes living in the Lepini Mountains to leave.

    Camillus immediately sent five thousand soldiers to surround the small town and to assemble the siege equipment. And as soon as everything was ready, they would attack the city.

    Meanwhile, he led the thirty-five thousand soldiers across the Trerus without stopping and reached Anagnia, another important Hernican town near Latium and on the eastern bank of the Trerus. In the afternoon, he split off another ten thousand soldiers and had them surround the city.

    He then led the remaining twenty-five thousand soldiers around Anagnia. Then they began setting up camp a few kilometres to the south, aiming for the central town of the Hernicans ¨C Ferentinum.

    It hadn''t been long since the Hernicans had suffered a devastating defeat when they joined forces with the Volsci to attack Rome''s Latin allies, so where would they get enough soldiers to rescue the besieged towns? So all they could do was hide in their towns, strengthen their defences and wait for the Volscians to save them.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As news of the Roman army''s attack on Hernici''s territory reached Privernum, the officials of the Volscian Alliance gathered nervously. They had just repelled the Romans and were still discussing how to retake the Roman-upied cities of Antium, Velitrae¡­ and so on, so they didn''t expect the Romans to start another war in eastern Volsci so soon.

    Amintas, whom they had invited to attend the meeting, was puzzled and asked in surprise, ¡°The news that came in earlier said that the Romans had stationed ten thousand men each in Antium, Velitrae and Satricum?! So where did the Romans get so many soldiers to attack the Hernicans?!!!¡±

    The Consul of Privernum, Katamentalus, said helplessly, ¡°The Romans didn''t have so many able citizens, but they also had many allies in the Latin League and the many Etruscan city-states they had conquered. So they are perfectly capable of starting another war while fighting us! That is what makes the Romans so terrifying!¡±

    ¡®The Romans are concentrating all their efforts on a great battle! While we in Theonia¡­¡¯ Amintas inwardly sighed as he thought of his First Legion, which had just finished replenishing its troops. With the strength of the Roman army, the First Legion, with less than ten thousand soldiers, won''t be enough to help the Hernicans repel the Romans'' attack!

    Seeing Amintas'' tangled expression, Phryntor hurriedly asked, ¡°Why don''t you contact the Aequians and the Marsians to join forces against the Romans?! I''ve heard that these two races are right next to the Hernicans, and once the Romans have wiped out the Hernicans, these two races, who are also at odds with Rome, will also face the Roman threat head-on!¡±

    Toulus, the consul of Circeii, replied, ¡°The Hernicans must have already contacted the Aequians and the Marsians, but the question now is, should we rescue the Hernicans?¡±

    ¡°Of course, we must!¡± Katamentalus replied without hesitation, ¡°Our cities of Fabrateria, Frusinum¡­ and the likes are just south of the Hernican territory. Once the Romans destroyed the Hernicans, they would attack them afterwards! Thus it would be better to save the Hernicans now thanter!!!¡±

 Chapter 723: The Samnites Plan

    Everyone agreed with Katamentalus, so they sent ten thousand soldiers to help the Hernicans defend Ferentinum after their discussion.

    Ten thousand men were the most the Volscians could send, even leaving Volsci defenceless once they left. Thus, they had entrusted their defence to Amintas, showing that the First Legion had won theplete trust of the Volscians with their fierce battle earlier.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Hernican envoy of whom the Volscians speak has gone to Amintas in private, hoping to ally with Theonia and gain the support of this southern power.

    Tapirus took over the negotiations, having received authorisation from King Davos.

    Forced by the situation, the Hernicans soon drew up a draft treaty of alliance with Theonia. However, Tapirus reminded the other side that Theonia would need more time to send an army to support the Hernicans due to food shortages.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the news that the Carthaginian army hadnded in Sicily and was attacking Theonian territory spread to the Samnite mountains, the morale of the Samnite tribes increased.

    Lesguk thinks they should wait, as the war in Sicily has just begun, and the situation is still unclear¡­

    But the other tribal chieftains could not wait any longer and finally decided to send troops to fight Theonia. However, they began to disagree about where they should attack.

    Chieftain Usibek, representing the Caudini, insisted on attacking the Campanian region. Not only was the Campanian league weaker, but they could also rescue the more than two thousand captured Caudini warriors, which would strengthen their army.

    Lesguk disagreed, arguing that since the Samnite Coalition had dered war on the Theonians, their greatest enemy was, therefore, the Kingdom of Theonia. As Great Chieftains, they should consider how best to fight Theonia and weaken them so that they can defeat the Theonians in this great war and eliminate their ability to retaliate against them.

    Then, under Usibek''s angry gaze, Lesguk said aloud, ¡°I propose we attack the Dauni territory!¡±

    He then calmly analysed, ¡°Firstly, the Dauni territory is adjacent to the Caudini and Pentri tribes, making it easy for us to send our troops. As we will lead many warriors this time, we will have a big problem with the food supply, so a short journey means we will use less food along the way. Furthermore, the vast territory of the Dauni means that we have even more ces to attack and put the Theonians on the defensive¡­¡±

    Then Badani, the great chieftain of the Pentri, and Konteruk, the great chieftain of the Caraceni, nodded thoughtfully.

    ¡°Secondly, the Theonians had only upied Dauni territory for two years. As far as I know, the Dauni have not yet wholly joined Theonia, and as they had just formed their army in the Dauni region, our attack will be easier and may even cause chaos there.

    Moreover, the Theonians are now at war with the Romans because of the Volscians, so they will likely not send further reinforcements once the war between them intensifies. But if we attacked Campania, the Theonians would find it easier to move their troops due to its proximity. In contrast, if we attacked Dauni, Theonia would have to choose between saving the Volscians or saving Dauni!¡±

    ¡°The Theonians will surely send arge army to rescue Dauni, which would help Rome! While we have attracted arge army for ourselves!¡± Usibek replied angrily.

    ¡°That wouldn''t be a problem since we could just retreat to the mountains again, which is convenient for us anyway.¡± Lesguk smiled. Then he said, ¡°But moving their army back and forth wouldn¡¯t be convenient for the Theonians since it would give the Romans more time to wipe out the Volscians. And once the Romans conquered the Latium regionpletely, we can even make way for them to attack Campania¡­¡±

    ¡°Would the Romans listen to you just like that?¡± Usibek sneered.

    ¡°Unless the Romans want to face Theonian retaliation in the future, they must intensify their attacks while they still can! And I hear that Rome''s newly elected dictator, Camillus, is wise.¡± Lesguk patiently said, ¡°And once Theonia sent their army to deal with the Romans and Carthaginians, we can attack Dauni again and even attack Peuceti in the south, and besides-¡±

    Lesguk looked at Usibek and continued, ¡°We could capture as many prisoners in Dauni as we want and then ask the Theonians to exchange them for the captured Caudini warriors!¡±

    Usibek''s eyes brightened as he asked impatiently, ¡°Will the Theonians agree?!¡±

    ¡°From how the Theonians have treated their people in the past, they would probably agree! And if they want the full loyalty of the Daunians, they will have to agree!¡± said Lesguk noddingly.

    Konteruk suddenly asked, ¡°Why don''t we attack Potentia first to recapture thend that you Hirpini have lost*?¡± (Referring to Compsa)

    Lesguk prepared for this question as he responded, ¡°The mountain paths in the Potentia region are rugged, which would waste our time trying to conquer thempletely. And that would be enough for the Theonians to mobilise arge army to counterattack! The defeat of Berani, our former chieftain, has taught us that lesson. Moreover, the city of Abellinumy in the way of the Pontentia region so that if our army were to pass through it, it would inevitably provoke a strong reaction from Garni and probably lead to war, which would be against our ancient traditions!¡±

    Lesguk spoke with such conviction that the old-fashioned Konteruk repeatedly nodded until he said, ¡°This was originally an internal matter between your Hirpini tribe. But since Garni has be a critical issue that seriously affects the survival of our people, I propose that when the war is over, the entire Coalition will do its best to force the tribes of Abellinum to expel Garni. Then you would send a new chieftain. But if the tribes of Abellinum refuse to do so, we would ask the priests to pray to god Savoni and announce that we no longer recognise Abellinum as Samnites and will wage war against them!¡±

    ¡°I agree with this proposal!¡± Usibek immediately agreed, followed by Badani.

    So Lesguk hastily expressed his gratitude, relieved that he could finally remove the thorn in his throat.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the military conference room of Theonia''s royal pce, Davos and several officials from the Ministry of Military spent several days studying the ongoing war.

    The Chief of the Army Staff, Philesius, stood in the centre of the room, leaning against the massive, carefully sculpted topographical map of the Italian penins and Sicily made of y and cement. He exined to everyone while pointing to Minoa¡¯s location with a stick, ¡°Your Majesty. Commander Prosous has written that he will take fifteen thousand men, then join with citizens from friendly city-states and go to Minoa to take the initiative and meet the main force of Carthage. And ording to our analysis, he has a high chance of winning.¡±

    ¡°Prosous is bold and determined, so let him do it.¡± Davos nodded approvingly, already understanding the situation. Then he said jokingly, ¡°I''m afraid the Eighth Legion''s actions would embolden Seclian.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. The First and Second Fleets sent ships to scout Sicily''s southern and northern coasts. Still, they''ve found no sign of the enemy fleet, so Lord Seclian''s wish to fight the Carthaginian fleet remains unfulfilled,¡± replied Philesius.

    Davos frowned, leaned down, looked at the map, and muttered, ¡°Carthage''s naval strength isn''t that much less than ours, and they''ve never fought against us. So logically, they shouldn''t avoid a fight¡­ Be careful; the Carthaginian navy could bypass Sicily and attack our coast in Italia!¡±

    ¡°We have already considered this and informed the Third and Fourth Fleets to increase their vignce. In addition, the merchant ships sailing in and out of the various ports haven''t reported any sightings of the Carthaginian fleet,¡± said Tolmides.

    ¡°Tell them to keep exploring and not let their guard down. Also, remind Seclian not to be too aggressive and ensure the Eighth Legion''s victory over the Carthaginian army!¡± Davos warned.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. I will send someone to inform Seclian immediately,¡± replied Philesius.

    Davos turned to Deputy Quartermaster-General Arpenst and said, ¡°Can we still manage the food supply for the entire fleet in Sicily?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, with Catania bearing part of it and the food shipped from Egypt¡­ the supply could barelyst the fleet for twenty days,¡± Arpenst answered seriously, word by word.

    The Quartermaster-General was Kapus, but with the Eleventh Legion newly formed in the Dauni region and the bad rtions between Theonia and the Samnites this year, the Dauni region desperately needs someone with high prestige, extensive battlefield experience and strong administrative skills to lead them. After much deliberation, Davos has finally decided to send Kapus to serve temporarily as Legatus of the Eleventh Legion. But since this was somewhat of a demotion from his position as the Quartermaster-General, Davos didn''t force him to resign from his current post. But now is the time of war, and the post of Quartermaster-General is crucial, so whoever holds it must not only do the job but do it well. So Kapus rmended his assistant, Arpenst, to act in his stead.

    Arpenst was a senior officer who had followed Davos since their days in Persia. But he was inconspicuous and averagepared to his colleagues in the Senate and the Legion. However, after the South-Italian War, he was transferred from his position as the senior centurion of a light infantry brigade to the Ministry of Military, where his diligence and earnest work ethic quickly gained him a foothold and the attention of several of hismanding officers.

 Chapter 724: The Romans and the Samnites acted

    After much negotiating, Kapus transferred Arpenst to the Military Supply Department as Deputy Quartermaster-General. And since Arpenst had taken on a great deal of work in recent years and performed his duties as Deputy Quartermaster-General smoothly and without error, Kapus was relieved most of his burden and alleviated Davos¡¯ worries.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos consoled him, saying, ¡°Our food problem will soon greatly improve, so you need not worry. Sostratus had organised the merchants of Thurii, and Statesman Alkibiades had organised the merchants of Rhegium to buy arge quantity of grain in the ck Sea and Egypt, which would soon be shipped. Also, a second shipment of grain from the Egyptian pharaoh will arrive shortly, and we will use all of it for military supplies.¡±

    ¡°That''s great!¡± Arpenst finally smiled.

    ¡°What do you think of Rome''s attack on the Hernicans?¡± Davos turned his head to look at the Chief of the Military, Hielos.

    Hielos exchanged nces with Hieronymus, Philesius and Arpenst. Then he said with a grave expression, ¡°Your Majesty, after our discussion¡­ We believe the Romans have changed their target, shrinking their defensive line at the coastal side and attacking the Hernicans with all their might so that our Third Fleet can''t y its role, which is an excellent strategy. With the Romans cing many soldiers in the various towns near the coast, our First Legion and the Volscians dared not attack them for fear of increasing the casualties of our already small forces. Consequently, it allowed the Romans to concentrate on attacking the weak Hernicans with all their might, so they couldn¡¯t withstand the Roman soldiers¡¯ attack even with the Volscians¡¯ help unless the Aequians and Marsians came to their aid. Otherwise, it would result in the Hernicans¡¯ end. That is also why Amintas wrote a letter asking for additional reinforcements.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, we have just signed an alliance agreement with the Hernicans.¡± Philesius interrupted.

    Davos nodded and didn''t speak for a moment as he stared at the area where the Hernicans lived on the map.

    The others also remained silent, waiting for Davos to make a decision.

    Suddenly, the court herald Aristias hurriedly pushed the conference room door and said, ¡°Your Majesty, a war report from Latium has arrived.¡±

    Davos read it, which caused his eyes to open wide. Then he handed the papyrus scroll to Hielos.

    Hielos hurriedly took it and became surprised after reading it, ¡°The more than ten thousand joint armies organised by the Aequians and the Marsians had attacked the Latium city-state of Be to attract the Roman army attacking Hernici. However, over twenty thousand Roman soldiers quickly departed from Rome and attacked them. As a result, the Aequians and the Marsians suffered a disastrous defeat!¡±

    ¡°How are the Romans still have over twenty thousand soldiers?!¡± Everyone in the room who heard it was equally surprised.

    Aristias calmly replied, ¡°They might be the troops from Rome''s colonies and their Etruscan allies north of the Tiber.¡±

    ¡°It seems the Romans have already nned this!¡± Davos eximed, ¡°And they brilliantly executed Camillus'' n to lure the enemy with bait..¡±

    Everyone in the room was a war veteran, so they understood what Davos meant. Camillus had ced the Roman army on the front line and left their rear defences empty while hiding an army within Rome. Then the Aequians and Marsians, afraid to confront the Roman army head-on with their meagre strength, sent their joint army to sneak into the Roman army''s rear to force them to retreat. But unfortunately for them, they were attacked by the prepared Romans since Rome was only twenty-five kilometres from Be.

    Philesius leaned over to carefully observe the map again. Then, his eyebrows knitted together, ¡°Your Majesty, the Aequians and the Marsians could no longer rescue the Hernicans after this disastrous defeat, and the Romans can now attack them boldly and confidently. Then here-¡±

    Philesius pointed to the Roman army camp and said in a low voice, ¡°The Romans already have over forty thousand soldiers, and with the addition of over twenty thousand men, it is far from what the reinforcements from the Hernicans and Volscians could deal. Thus I believe the Romans would soon destroy the Hernican forces and then attack the Volscian towns in the east, or-¡± Philesius pointed towards the ins between the Lepini and Ausoni mountains and said with a worried look, ¡°Lead the army back to the west and attack the Volscians in the coastal side from the east. At that time, even the First Legion couldn''t stop that many Roman soldiers. And once the stationed soldiers in the Roman colonies in the southwest took advantage of the situation, I am sure they would quickly wipe out the Volscians, and the Romans wouldpletely conquer Latium!¡±

    Hielos also interjected, ¡°Your Majesty, you asked us to keep an eye on Rome before. But honestly, we didn''t give it much thought, and now it seems they really do have a high war potential! Since the Romans could attack Hernici with more than four thousand men, defeat thebined army of the Aequians and Marsians with twenty thousand men and defend the three cities of Antium, Velitrae and Satricum by stationing nearly ten thousand soldiers in each city, it just proves that the Romans could organise a massive army of at least a hundred thousand. And even if we assume they don''t all have the same strength as the Roman army that fought against the First Legion, they would still trouble us!¡±

    Several other officials also agreed with Hielos.

    ¡°Rome''s vast army is indeed a great trouble.¡± Davos nced at them and said deeply, ¡°But the greatest threat is their dictator, Camillus! Although Carthage is a powerful force, Hanno, their ruler, obviously has no experience of war and no understanding of the meaning of war, for the generals and the troops they send out are like games. But Camillus knows that a war with us means the survival of Rome, so he has done his best since the start.

    I had even received information about how he proposed and passed a proposal in the Roman Senate about distributing the newly conquerednds to thendless plebeians and the active integration of the exiles from the Latium and Etruscan regions as Roman citizens¡­ As a result, the bitter conflicts between the nobility and the plebeians in the Roman city-states would ease and significantly increase the number of Roman soldiers they could muster. Everyone, you must be aware that Rome isn¡¯t just a great trouble for us but a real threat to our kingdom of Theonia!¡±

    Davos'' words made everyone look grave. Even the silent Hieronymus couldn''t help but curse, ¡°This Rome! Not only had they stolen our military system, but they had also copied our political system!¡±

    Whether the Romans had created their military system or copied it from Theonia was a topic that the officials of the Ministry of Military asionally discussed in their spare time. But it was clear that those present had no desire to discuss the matter further as they all stood around the three-dimensional map, gazing intently at the familiar and unfamiliar city-state on the middle reaches of the Tiber.

    Tolmides suddenly said, "Your Majesty, if the Romans destroy the Hernicans and then take the cities in the mountains east of Volsci, they will then border the Samnites. But will the Samnites, with their customs, live in peace with such a powerful new neighbour? My idea is to think of something that could bring these two forces into fierce conflict, and by then -¡±

    ¡°The Samnites aren''t so stupid.¡± Philesius asked, ¡°They just ended a war with us, and now we are fighting the Romans. They for sure know that the enemy of the enemy is a friend!¡±

    ¡°The Samnite chieftains knew this, of course. But these tribal warriors and people living on the borders of Rome might not necessarily listen to them for their interests. So once the conflict became fierce, it would be beyond the control of their chieftains¡­¡± Tolmides exined.

    While they were arguing, Aristias, who had long since left the room, reentered and hurriedly said to Davos, ¡°Your majesty, Dauni sent an emergency military situation!¡±

    Davos opened it and then raised his head with a solemn expression. Faced with curious gazes, he slowly said, ¡°We don''t need to discuss the possible conflict between the Samnites and Rome. This morning, the Samnites invaded our Dauni region!¡±

    ¡°What?!!¡± The expression on everyone''s face changed dramatically.

    Hielos hurriedly took the war report from Davos, and several people rushed to read it.

    ¡°The Samnites attacked Ausculum, Vibinum and Gerunum in the Dauni region. Although the Samnites managed to take Gerunum, which had bex in its vignce due to its proximity to our friendly Frentani allies, the citizens of the other two cities managed to repel the enemy''s attack. Still, they are now under siege. Your Majesty, the Samnites have dered war on us!¡± Philesius said, out of breath, as he read the war report.

    ¡°Isn''t that good? We no longer need to worry about when the Samnites will betray us daily. And since they were foolish enough to leave the mountains, which are a headache for us, to fight in the ins, it allows us topletely relieve ourselves of this big Samnite problem!¡± Davos did not pretend to be calm. The Samnite''s attack would have made him nervous ten years ago, but the strength of the Kingdom of Theonia now has given him the confidence topletely defeat this fierce wolf blocking Theonia''s path of expansion to the north. Moreover, the Samnite''s betrayal could even be attributed to his deliberate maniption.

    Davos'' rxed demeanour and confident words were like a cup of cool, sugary water for the many people in the room, calming their nerves.

 Chapter 725: Theonias Response

    Arpenst was the first to agree, ¡°His Majesty is right. In addition, our military''s food consumption is smaller since we are fighting against the Samnites in the Dauni region!¡±

    ¡°But Your Majesty¡­the war report says the Samnties attacked all three of our cities with no less than ten thousand men each. Judging by this, the Samnites have likely concentrated most of the four major tribes'' troops, which Kapus and the Eleventh Legion cannot defend against alone, so we must send them additional reinforcements.¡± Hielos offered his advice and concern.

    ¡°Although the Samnites are a lot, most of them are light infantry and wouldn''t pose a real threat to the Eleventh Legion in a frontal sh!¡± said Hieronymus to relieve them.

    ¡°Don''t underestimate the Samnites!¡± Philesius reminded, ¡°The Ministry of Military has received reports that the Hirpini¡¯s attempted to purchase armour from our weapons merchants. Though they were unsessful, this shows that Hirpini''s great chieftain Lesguk, who had fought against us, is well aware of the Samnite warriors'' shorings and is looking for a change. So once they are allowed to get in touch with the Carthaginians¡­¡±

    When they heard this, everyone felt nervous again.

    After some thought, Davos said, ¡°The Eleventh Legion alone isn''t enough¡­ So we will appoint Alexius as themander of eastern Theonia. He willmand the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Legions, as well as the Second Cavalry Legion and the reserve soldiers of these legions, in the war against the Samnites. However, warn him not to take all the troops to the Dauni region since we need to leave enough to guard against some enemies that may exist in the east and those nning to destabilise Peuceti, Messapi and Dauni¡­¡±

    Although Alexius and Prosous were regionalmanders, Alexius couldmand much more troops than Prosous without the officials of the Ministry of Military objecting. Besides Alexius being their oldrade, Prosous'' qualifications and achievements couldn''tpare to Alexius. In addition, the Dauni region was closer to the core area of the kingdom, so an enemy invasion here had a more significant psychological impact on the people. Finally, it is indeed more convenient for the logistics supply.

    But Davos''st sentence surprised them again, causing Philesius to ask, ¡°Your Majesty, do we have any new enemy in the kingdom?!¡±

    The more politically sensitive Hielos asked more directly, ¡°Your Majesty, is the enemy you refer to Sparta?¡±

    As soon as Hielos uttered ¡®Sparta¡¯, the faces of Philesius, Hieronymus and Tolmides turned pale.

    Davos, however, remained calm as he looked at them. Then he half-jokingly said, with a hint of dissatisfaction, ¡°You are all veterans who have defeated countless powerful enemies me. So how could you be scared just by hearing the enemy is Sparta?!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, we¡­are not afraid, just a little surprised.¡± Philesius quickly exined.

    ¡°What''s there to be surprised about?¡± Davos then slightly reprimanded them, ¡°In the first ce, we all know that circumstances only forced Sparta to sign a friendship agreement with us. With Sparta''s domineering attitude, how could they allow other powers to share the hegemony of Greece with them? I am afraid they secretly regarded Theonia as their enemy long ago. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have taken in some Messapians and Peucetians refugees. Now that we are at war with several powers, I fear the Spartans have begun to think their time hase¡­

    Remember, the Ministry of Military isn''t just an ordinary department of the kingdom, as itmands our entire army to deal with the threats the kingdom faces now and in the future. Therefore, as senior officials of this department, you should analyse the kingdoms and forces in the Mediterranean from a higher perspective, not only to deal with the present but also to predict and prepare for the future!¡­¡±

    Although Davos'' words were a little tactful, they still embarrassed some of the people here. As a result, there was a moment of silence in the conference room.

    Davos then raised a question, ¡°If Sparta wanted to intervene in this war, what would they do? And how should we deal with it? I want you all to go back and think and discuss this carefully and then write a n for me.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡± The five then left.

    Davos walked over to the map, pointed at the symbol of Rome with his finger, nced at the Hernici territory, where arge army might now be stationed, then at the towns that had just be Roman colonies in the southwest of Latium, and finally back to Rome¡­

    After pondering for a long time, a bold n was brewing in his mind¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    News of the Samnite invasion of the Dauni soon spread through Thurii, but no one was particrly rmed. After all, the Theonian army had defeated the Samnites in the thrilling South-Italian War more than ten years ago. So they were confident that their brave and numerous legions would be enough to repel them and that their lives would continue as usual.

    On the contrary, the merchants could smell business opportunities in this, whether it was the Ministry of Commerce''s purchasing war materials, transportation, weapon maintenance, or even selling spoils and prisoners¡­all of which were highly profitable.

    But in an emergency Senate meeting, the statesmen from the Dauni region urgently pleaded to King Davos to take immediate military action to save the Daunians suffering from war. Not only do they want the Samnites, who have broken their treaty and invaded so brazenly, repelled, but also to teach them a harsh lesson!

    The statesmen of both Peuceti and Garaguso supported the proposal of the statesmen of Dauni. After all, Garaguso bordered the Samnites in the mountains to the north, as was Peuceti, whose city of Venusia to the north had been invaded and even conquered by the Samnites several times in the past.

    Davos was happy to see such a situation happen since the strong foreign enemy had forced these newly joined regions to share amon hatred, bridging some contradictions between them more quickly and elerating their integration.

    Then the statesmen''s worries dissipated with Davos announcing the Ministry of Military had appointed Alexius as themander of the east, responsible formanding the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Legions and the Second Cavalry Legion to encircle and suppress the Samnites. Since, in the minds of many statesmen, Alexius was a famous Theonian general second only to Davos. In addition, he was the one to conquer the Dauni region in the past, so he should be more familiar with the situation there.

    After calming the feelings of the statesmen, Davos proposed that Antonios, the praetor of Lucera, be appointed war governor of the Dauni region. He would control all the towns and cities in the Dauni region and assist Alexius in dealing with the Samnites'' invasion.

    The statesmen had no objections either. After Antonios fell from grace by the Ladician case a few years earlier, he had done an excellent job as praetor of Lucera, the former capital of the Dauni, keeping the ce organised and harmonious. Since he was also the hero of the conquest of eastern Sicily in the South Italian War, his coboration with Alexius would make a powerfulbination, giving the statesmen more confidence in defeating the Samnites.

    In addition, Ansitanos suggested sending envoys to Frentani, asking them how they felt about the Samnite invasion of Theonia to assess their position and decide whether or not the kingdom should consider them an enemy.

    Given the current state of the war, the Samnites shouldn¡¯t be able to attack and conquer Gerunum without the cooperation of the Frentani.

    Even Androlis suggests sending the Fourth Fleet to increase patrols along the Frentani coast. And as soon as they find any suspicious ships docked in the ports of the various Frentanian cities and towns, they should sink them immediately. (They feared the Carthaginians would transport war supplies such as armour and food to the Samnites, who had no ports).

    And all their proposals were epted.

    In contrast to thending of the Carthaginian army in Sicily, the reaction of the statesmen to the Samnite invasion was more intense, unanimous and cautious, perhaps because the Dauni region was so close to Thurii that it could easily spill over into the rest of the surrounding area. But with Sicily far to the south and separated by a strait, the statesmen''s worries had long since dissipated due to their long preparations and slow marches since the deration, even though Carthage was stronger. Of course, this also had something to do with the fact that the Ladician case had led to the fall of many Sicilian statesmen, leaving only a few in the Senate.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At night, the moonlight was like water flooding Cheiristoya''s bedroom through the window.

    Davos only got homete in the night after a busy day. After a quick supper and a wash, he entered Cheiristoya''s room and fell onto the soft bed.

    Having lived with Davos for nearly twenty years, Cheiristoya knew the Samnites'' invasion of the Dauni region had exhausted her husband today. Usually, she would have let him sleep so that he would be refreshed and ready to face the heavy workload of the kingdom. But today, she had to shake the drowsy Davos awake, ¡°Your Majesty, don''t go to sleep yet. I still have something for you to decide.¡±

    ¡°What is it that has you up sote?!¡± Davos opened his tired eyes, his face somewhat unhappy.

    In the eyes of outsiders, the serious King Davos rarely gets angry. But at home, emotions such as these were already the worst possible expression he could make.

 Chapter 726: Family Matters

    Of course, Cheiristoya was well aware of this, so she pretended to feel aggrieved and said, ¡°I know you are tired after a busy day of the important affairs of the kingdom. But I don¡¯t have any other choice because you still need to decide an important matter in the household as the head of the family.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡­¡± Davos was at a loss. Usually, Cheiristoya took care of the family¡¯s affairs and rarely asked him anything.

    ¡°Our son Adoris is already twenty-one years old, and someone hase to propose a marriage,¡± Cheiristoya said seriously.

    ¡°Propose?! Adoris is still young!¡± Davos disagreed. But when he saw the serious look on Cheiristoya¡¯s face, he suddenly realised something and asked, ¡°Who hade to propose?¡±

    ¡°Alkibiades came to propose marriage for his daughter. He had originally asked Agnes about it, but she came to ask for my opinion¡­¡± Cheiristoya said straightforwardly.

    Davos had now lost his drowsiness, so he began to think seriously and said, ¡°Agnes still respects you very much as her sister.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I know since I also regarded Agnes as my sister! We sisters get along fine, but we are afraid that some outsiders would overthink¡­¡± Cheiristoya reminded.

    Davos breathed lightly and felt a headacheing, as he would rather face thousands of enemies than deal with these trivial parental matters. But he knew the harmony of his household would be affected if he didn¡¯t deal with it properly, ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to reject Alkibiades outright. After all, Alkibiades yed an important role in bringing Rhegium into the kingdom and organising the Rhegian merchants to buy food for the kingdom on the ck Sea. He is also a rtive of our family¡­ Let¡¯s do it this way, ask Adoris if he¡¯s willing. I can¡¯t just force him to agree, as he¡¯s only my adopted son, and he¡¯s even changed hisst name now! At least let them meet, which is also a kind of answer to Alkibiades¡¯ request. But I just don¡¯t know if Alkibiades could adapt to the marriage customs of our kingdom¡­*¡± (Traditional Greek marriage customs do not allow the man to see the bride before the wedding. On the other hand, Theonia is much more open; not only do they ept blind dates, but most of the children of the citizens of the same ce attend the same school. So even though the school separated men and women, they could still see each other daily, and many couples get married as a result when they grow up.)

    Davos then asked, ¡°Have you met Alkibiades¡¯ daughter?¡±

    ¡°Agnes took me to see her. She is a beautiful girl and seems to have had a traditional aristocratic upbringing and is very polite!¡± Cheiristoya pointed out.

    ¡°¡­with Adoris¡¯ temperament, he might not like such traditional Greek girls,¡± Davos said.

    ¡°But what if he likes her?¡± Cheiristoya was still worried. After all, Agnes was considered a pearl, and the girl wasn¡¯t bad-looking either.

    That took Davos back as he said hesitantly, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, there¡¯s nothing we can do since we can¡¯t just ignore him.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we arrange a few more blind dates for Adoris? In fact, Alkibiades wasn¡¯t the only one to propose during this time, as even Milo¡¯s wife, Stromboli¡¯s wife, Burkes¡¯ wife¡­and some others all mentioned it at the banquet. But if Adoris still chooses Alkibiades¡¯ daughter, it means that this is indeed a marriage granted by Hera, and we should give our blessing,¡± Cheiristoya suggested.

    Davos knew that the banquet Cheiristoya was talking about was a small gathering of friends she had organised at her residence some years ago. At first, it was just Andrea, Azune and Agnes who asionally joined, butter it had grown to nearly fifty people, mostly the wives of the statesmen. After that, the people of Thurii called it the Ladies¡¯ Senate. Since it didn¡¯t interfere with Davos¡¯ administration, on the contrary, it provided him with another channel to understand the thoughts and movements of the statesmen, and Cheiristoya sometimes even helped to resolve some family disputes. So Davos didn¡¯t stop this banquet and instead built a banquet hall next to his residence for their gathering to avoid other people¡¯s suspicion, and even sent guards to protect the ce and prevent men from entering.

    Davos then proudly said, ¡°Even if Adoris is an adopted son, he is still the adopted son of Davos, so it is impossible for him not to be popr. And with so many good girls for him to choose from, I am sure he¡¯ll find a good wife! I believe once it¡¯s Croto¡¯s turn, matchmakers will probably crowd the gate of our house!¡±

    ¡°You would allow Cro to go on a blind date?¡± Cheiristoya looked at him with a smile.

    ¡°That¡¯s just a joke.¡± Davos said hastily, ¡°Unlike Adoris¡¯, Cro could not decide who to marry, as it must be beneficial to our family¡¯s rule and the stability of the kingdom!¡±

    Cheiristoya didn¡¯t get angry at Davos¡¯ refusal to grant Crotokatax the freedom to marry. Instead, she smiled, knowing that Davos¡¯ words confirmed that his eldest son would be the heir to the throne.

    Cheiristoya stretched out her white and slender hands and actively massaged Davos.

    Having woken up, Davos couldn¡¯t go back to sleep right away. He closed his eyes, enjoyed his wife¡¯s gentle service, and muttered, ¡°It¡¯s time to find a wife for Adoris, so he can settle down sooner, lest he keeps mouring about going to fight in Latium daily¡­¡±

    ¡°You intend to send him to the battlefield again?¡± Cheiristoya asked casually.

    ¡°I can¡¯t help it! He will have to follow if the Second Legion is to go into battle. Otherwise, what would the other soldiers think?¡± Davos said without hesitation.

    ¡°What about Croto? He¡¯s not even neen and still a reserve.¡± Cheiristoya asked casually.

    ¡°Of course, he has to go-¡± just after saying that, the hands massaging him stopped moving.

    He turned his head to Cheiristoya, who had a worried look on her face and was about to speak. So he said frankly, ¡°But he would be with me. Since he hase of age, it is time for him to learn what a real war is like! In this day and age, it¡¯s hard to be¡­ a good king without knowing about the military and war!¡­ Eh, don¡¯t stop. The left side of my back is sore; press on it harder.¡±

    Cheiristoya was relieved of her worries, smiled and continued to massage her husband, asking, ¡°Are you going to join the battlefield again this time?¡±

    ¡°¡­it hasn¡¯t been decided yet, because it would depend on the development of the war situation¡­¡± Davos closed his eyes slightly and softly muttered as he pondered deeply again.

    Over the years, Cheiristoya has grown ustomed to her husband¡¯s victories, and she no longer worries so much about his safety.

    ¡°Your Grace, are you still awake?¡± Cheiristoya asked quietly after a while.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Davos answered.

    ¡°I want to start a new industry, but can you advise me on what to do?¡±

    Davos was taken aback, turned his head to look at Cheiristoya, who was leaning over his back massaging him, and asked doubtfully, ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡±

    ¡°As trade in the kingdom continues to flourish, there are more and more merchants, whether it be restaurants, school supplies for students, or ball games, there are also many new shops and even restaurantspeting with us. Just like you said about our business¡­ the brands we have established are already well-known and loved by the people of the Kingdom. However, our ie has declined slowly for the past two years¡­ so a new industry is needed to increase our profits quickly!¡± Cheiristoyained to Davos.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there the bank where you already monopolise the deposits and loans of the whole kingdom?¡± said Davos disapprovingly.

    ¡°Just the bank isn¡¯t enough! We have many children, so we need to prepare more for them for their future,¡± said Cheiristoya in a determined tone. In fact, this spontaneous idea was inspired by what Davos had said earlier about Agnes¡¯ brother Alkibiades organising the Rhegian merchants to buy food. In this way, she hoped to be wealthier so she could have more influence over the kingdom¡¯s trade.

    As Davos searched his mind for ideas from his former life that would be useful to the kingdom¡¯s trade, his eyes were involuntarily drawn to the two white clouds in Cheiristoya¡¯s loose nightgown that swayed like water droplets as her body moved. Then a light shed through his mind, and he blurted out, ¡°Cheiristoya, you could make women¡¯s undergarments!¡±

    ¡°Undergarment?¡­¡± Cheiristoya muttered the new word, then said with a slight disappointment, ¡°You mean the clothing we wear underneath? Those are what we make and wear ourselves at home, and no one would go to the market to buy them.¡±

    ¡°No. I am not referring to those.¡± Davos shook his head and said, ¡°Do you remember the Aphrodite¡¯s girdle you all wore when getting married?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t wear it when I married you.¡± Cheiristoya didn¡¯t forget to pout andin.

    Davos did not know whether to cry orugh and simply said, ¡°This undergarment is simr to the girdle. However, it is made more intricately than a girdle, morefortable to wear, and more likely to entuate the beauty of a woman¡¯s figure and increase its allure to men¡­¡±

    Cheiristoya immediately asked as she became interested, ¡°What does this undergarment look like?¡±

    ¡°It is-¡± Davos wanted to describe but didn¡¯t know how to say it. Instead, he simply let Cheiristoya lie down and take off her nightgown.

 Chapter 727: Alexius Urgent Appointment

    Now almost forty and a mother of three, Cheiristoya''s skin is not as firm and stic as it was in her youth. Still, her skin remained white and smooth, and she maintained her figure well.

    Davos could even smell the faint scent of roses emanating from her body, which was enchanting. He knew Cheiristoya had taken lessons from the Egyptians recently, mixing a little milk and sprinkling rose petals into the hot water before each bath, and now produced a noticeable effect.

    ¡°Uh¡­first, I''ll talk about the undergarment on the chest¡­¡± Davos gulped and stretched out his hands, forming a bowl shape and gently cupping Cheiristoya''s plump and soft chest and said, ¡°¡­first, we would make a cloth cover in the shape of my hand from fabric depending on the size of each woman''s chest¡­which would extend under the armpits and behind the shoulders, then tie it around the back with a thin sp¡­¡± Davos said as he ran his fingers gently over Cheiristoya''s skin.

    Although the tingling itch made Cheiristoya smile, she tried to concentrate on listening.

    Davos also controlled the slowly rising desire in his heart as he gulped again and put his hand between Cheiristoya''s legs.

    Cheiristoya couldn''t help but shiver slightly, but then she heard Davos say quietly, ¡°¡­and the undergarment of the lower body¡­¡± Davos'' fingers circle from the front to the hip, drawing the shape of a panty in that mysterious forbidden area¡­

    Cheiristoya''s eyes glittered with wisdom, forgetting for the moment the searing heat of lust within her as she said excitedly, ¡°This is truly a divine gift from Aphrodite to us women! I can''t wait to make them all and show them off to my friends at my banquet, and I''m sure they''ll soon be all the rage in the kingdom!¡­¡±

    Davos praised Cheiristoya''s keen business sense that she honed for years, and these nobledies can easily be the kingdom''s benchmark of fashion.

    He added, ¡°You can try modifying the shape, colour and fabric of these undergarments to meet the needs of different people¡­¡±

    ¡°I will have someone make a sample.¡± Cheiristoya''s eyes wandered, and her cheeks flushed as she said delicately, ¡°But Your Majesty, I will be the first to wear it and show it to you once the prototype is ready¡­¡±

    Davos stared at her slender body, imagining the beautiful image of her in her undergarment and his heart filled with desire.

    Just as he was about to lower himself onto his wife, Cheiristoya unexpectedly stretched out her slender white arms and pulled him towards the bed. She then murmured in his ear, ¡°Your Majesty, I will serve you well tonight for giving me such a wonderful idea¡­.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After receiving the appointment and Davos'' instructions and warning, Alexius rushed to the Ministry of Military and reappointed Umaseus as his adjutant.

    And due to the situation''s urgency, he didn''t even return home to say goodbye, nor did his colleaguese to see him off. Only his son-inw, Sthephilos, rushed to the port of Thurii to see him off on hearing the news, but Alexius was already on board the ship bound for the great port of Taranto.

    An hour or soter, the fast sailing ship docked at the military port of Taranto. This military port served as the base for the main body of Theonia''s First Fleet and was usually a bustling and perfectly prosperous little town. However, the start of the war in Sicily caused the fleet to set out, leaving the ce a little deserted.

    But Alexius didn¡¯t have any intention of caring about them, so after taking two war horses at the military port with the authorisation of the Ministry of the Military, he and Umaseus galloped east towards Brindisi, their destination being the base of the Fourth Cavalry Legion.

    Since the Fourth Cavalry Legion soldiers were from the Peuceti and the Messapi, they had to build the base in the city of Brindisi, which was between these two regions, as it was convenient for the soldiers toe here to train in peacetime. At the same time, the presence of the Cavalry Legion was beneficial for the defence of the military city of Brindisi.

    Alexius finally reached Brindisi that afternoon.

    Brindisi is the only city in the Kingdom of Theonia designated as a military port, which means that the whole city serves around the military port. Its poption consists mainly of sailors of the Fourth Fleet and their families and, to a lesser extent, the soldiers of the Fourth Cavalry Legion and their families. Brindisi also has a Praetor, but he''s not a statesman. Instead, he is a mid-ranking praetor appointed by the Senate who must first consult with the Navarch of the Fourth Fleet and the Legatus of the Fourth Cavalry on important or difficult matters regarding Brindisi.

    The port is an excellent deep-water port with a vast area that can amodate thousands of ships simultaneously. Although Davos ssified it as a military port for his strategic considerations, the port of Brindisi only received small support from the kingdom since the strategic centre of the kingdom now lies to the north and south. The Fourth Fleet is, therefore, the weakest of the four fleets of Theonia, with a total of one hundred ships, of which only sixty are triremes, and its main task was the daily patrolling of the Adriatic Sea and the fight against pirates. But even with Brindisi''s small military port, it has everything it needs.

    Alexius then headed straight to the base of the Fourth Cavalry Legion.

    At the legatus'' residence, Alexius met Phregulus, the legatus of the Fourth Legion, and Miltiades, the navarch of the Fourth Fleet, who had arrived long after receiving the report. Before Alexius arrived, the Ministry of Military had sent messengers to hastily inform the legatus and navarch in the east of the kingdom about Alexius'' appointment, so both were respectful when they saw Alexius.

    ¡°Commander Alexius!¡± Both Miltiades and Phregulus stood up and saluted.

    After Alexius saluted back, he said without hesitation, ¡°Legatus Phregulus, we have an urgent military situation. Have you assembled your Cavalry Legion?!¡±

    Phregulus, formerly known as Phregu, was a Messapian. During the great battle against the Messapi-Peuceti alliance led by Davos ten years ago, Phregulus was a Messapian cavalryman who caused considerable trouble for the Theonian army. But after Theonia conquered the Messapi region, he was the first to lead his tribe in answering the call to form the Fourth Cavalry Legion. And because of his prestige, the Peucetians and Messapians enthusiastically signed up and soon filled the cavalry legion to such an extent that there was even a surplus of soldiers, attracting the attention of the Ministry of Military and Davos. As a result, Phregu ¨C a foreigner who had just joined the Theonian army and had just donned the Theonian army''s uniform ¨C was appointed senior centurion of the Fourth Cavalry Legion. A few yearster, he tookmand of the Fourth Cavalry with an unprecedented speed of promotion in the Theonian army.

    On the one hand, having a Messapian inmand was better since the Fourth Cavalry wasposed entirely of Messapians and Peucetians. On the other hand, he was the ideal figure to demonstrate to the Messapians and Peucetians the equality of all races in the Kingdom of Theonia.

    Davos even personally announced Phregu''s appointment and weed him to the pce with great expectations.

    And Phregu did not betray Davos'' trust. Soon after returning to Brindisi, he changed his name to Phregulus, a name simr to the Greeks, to show his loyalty to the kingdom.

    ¡°They have already assembled and waiting for your order!¡± Phregulus replied confidently. As soon as he received reports of the Samnite invasion, he immediately began to gather his cavalry, as the previous ns of the Ministry of Military had the Tenth Legion and the Fourth Cavalry Legion stationed in Peuceti to help defend the Dauni region.

    ¡°Excellent!¡± Alexius praised and then ordered, ¡°Legatus Phregulus, gather your cavalry immediately and prepare to move north. Also, send your men to the Rudiae base to deliver my orders to Legatus Tagetinos.¡±

    With that, Alexius handed Phregu the letter of order he had written before his departure, instructing Tagetinos to gather the Ninth Legion and move north while gathering the reserves to station the base and secure the Messapi region.

    But before Phregulus could leave, Miltiades immediately asked, ¡°Commander, what would be the mission of our Fourth Fleet?¡±

    Two years ago, Alexius formed a close rtionship with Miltiades, as he had to work closely with the Fourth Fleet when he led his army to attack Dauni. So heughed and said, ¡°There''s no need for you to worry so much; the war has only just begun.¡±

    ¡°How can I not worry?! The First and Second Fleets are already fighting the Carthaginians in the south, while the Third Fleet is assisting the First Legion in the north. So our Fourth Fleet can''t just do nothing!¡± said Miltiades anxiously.

    ¡°Your Fourth Fleet won''t remain a spectator,¡± Alexius said with a smile and handed him the Ministry of Military''s order.

    Miltiades read it and looked surprised, ¡°The Ministry of Military wants our Fourth Fleet to patrol the entire coast from Messapi to Frentani, intercept any suspicious ships and sink them if necessary!¡­ Originally, I thought we would only be responsible for transporting supplies and troops and protecting the coast in the Dauni area¡­ so I never thought that the Ministry of Military would give the Fourth Fleet control over such a long stretch of coastline!¡±

    ¡°Isn''t that what you want? Our Theonia does not only have the Samnites as an enemy, so if I take the Ninth and Tenth Legions with me and leave the Messapi and Peuceti regions empty, I will have to rely on your Fourth Fleet for maritime security!¡± Alexius said seriously.

 Chapter 728: Rescuing Ausculum (I)

    Miltiades was lost in thought as he listened.

    ¡°One more thing, you''d better have some fast sailing ship in the port of Sipontum so I can inform you quickly if I need the support of the Fourth Fleet.¡±

    Miltiades shouted in dissatisfaction from hearing that, ¡°Our Fourth Fleet has only a hundred warships in all! My warships and sailors are insufficient to patrol such a long coast, intercept enemy forcesing from the sea¡­ and help you fight!¡±

    ¡°If you do well in this war, I believe the Ministry of Military will consider increasing the size of the Fourth Fleet.¡± Alexius could only encourage him in this way.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After Phregulus gathered the Fourth Cavalry Legion, Alexius immediately led the two thousand cavalries out of Brindisi and charged north into the Peuceti region.

    In the evening, they finally reach the military base near Silvium.

    Melisander, the Fourth Legion, personally weed Alexius into the base. And Alexius, who had been on the move all day and barely rested, was so tired that he was walking shakily. After all, he is already over fifty years old and no longer has the energy of a young man. But he still asked with concern, ¡°Has the Tenth Legion assembled?¡±

    ¡°All our brothers are in the base.¡± said the youngest legatus loudly, ¡°We are only waiting for your order, Commander, and we will go to the battlefield at once.¡±

    ¡°Arrange amodation for the Cavalry Legion and one for me so I can finally get some rest.¡± Feeling sleepy, Alexius couldn''t help but yawn, ¡°Tomorrow¡­we leave early in the morning!¡±

    The soldiers who heard it were thrilled.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Early the following day, the salpinx rang out from the base.

    The soldiers of the Tenth and Fourth Cavalry Legions were told not to pack their armour and weapons and carry them on their shoulders. So after hastily wearing them, they walked out of their camp and hurried to the training ground.

    In the conference at the base, Alexius, Melisander, and Phregulus held a brief military meeting.

    ¡°What is the enemy situation in the Dauni region now?¡± Alexius asked.

    Since the tenth legion is adjacent to the Dauni region, Melisander was naturally the most informed and up-to-date, so he replied. ¡°From the scouts'' report yesterday, the massive Samnite force is still encircling the cities of Ausculum and Vibinum. On the other hand, the enemy upying Gerunum hadn''t yet left either, while a few Samnites stormed into the centre of Dauni to loot¡­¡±

    In reality, only two days have passed since the Samnite invasion. Thus they couldn¡¯t attack new targets so quickly.

    Alexius then asked, ¡°Where is the Eleventh Legion?¡±

    ¡°They are still in the base, defending,¡± Melisander replied.

    After invading the region two years ago, Alexius was already familiar with Dauni¡¯s terrain.

    Lucera, the capital city of Dauni, isn''t in the centre of the Dauni region but is closer to the northwest, near the Samnite Mountains, which have no major city as a barrier on their western side. So the Samnitesing down from the mountains could reach Lucera in just over half a day if they were fast enough. But after the conquest of Dauni and the appointment of Antonios as Praetor of Lucera, Antonios wrote to Davos. He suggested building the base in the Dauni region on the western side of Lucera as a fortress to guard it.

    And Davos approved that proposal.

    With Ausculum, Vibinum and Gerunum all under attack and the city of Lucera potentially under attack on three fronts, it was prudent for the newly formed Eleventh Legion to remain at the base and wait for reinforcements.

    Alexius thought for a while and then decided, ¡°The Tenth and Fourth Cavalry Legions will cross the river from the upper reaches of the Ofanto and rescue Ausculum!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Both Phregulus and Melisander replied excitedly.

    Adjutant Umaeseus reminded him, ¡°Commander, we still don''t know how many enemies are in Ausculum and if they have set up ambushes?!¡­ Isn''t it too risky to rely on just one legion and one cavalry legion to attack? Shouldn''t we learn from the First Legion?!!¡±

    ¡°I believe in the strength of the Tenth and Fourth Cavalry Legions! I also believe the Samnites would not expect our reinforcements to attack them so soon, leaving them defenceless!¡± Alexius raised his head slightly and said confidently, ¡°And even if there is arge Samnite force in Ausculum that could surround us, I believe Kapus, Antonios and Tagetinos wille to our rescue with all their might as long as we can hold our ground, allowing us to defeat the main force of the Samnite''s in one fell swoop!¡±

    Alexius has read the war report of the First Legion, so he was clear that his soldiers and equipment were simr to those of Amintas, who went to rescue Volsci. But unlike Amintas, who went to fight alone, he is fighting within the kingdom!

    So he firmly believed that Kapus and Antonios¡­ these oldrades of his, would rescue them in case of any unexpected situations, even though he and Antonios still had some minor enmity.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Those who besieged Ausculum were mainly the Pentri tribes. When they set out to storm Ausculum, they attacked so suddenly that the people of Ausculum were still grazing their livestock and nting on their farms, leaving thempletely defenceless.

    Upon hearing of the Samnite invasion, many ran to the city in a panic, leaving the Samnite warriors to follow closely, trying to seize the opportunity to storm the city.

    But the Praetor of Ausculum was Hegesitus, the former chieftain of the Siro tribe, who had bravely resisted the oppression of the Bruttian Alliance and started Theonia''s war to conquer Bruttii. He had also assisted Heilos in the South Italian War, served as Praetor of Brutii, Messapi and Peuceti for over a decade, and was transferred to the Dauni region the year before.

    A few months ago, he received a warning from the Ministry of Military, who had asked all the towns and cities in Dauni to strengthen their vignce and watch out for the Samnites'' attack.

    So he took it seriously, mobilising the people to fortify the city and increase the number of patrols and gathering citizens who had participated in military training in the square every few days for an hour or two of formation andbat training. He also organised the citizens with horses into a small team that would take turns patrolling the foot of the mountain to the west every day.

    But after a few dozen days in which the Samnite mountains remained as usual without any sign of war and after his subordinates had persuaded him to do so, Hegesitus began to rx his guard a little and reduce the training* (after all, frequent military training wasn''t helpful for the uing spring sowing). Then to his surprise, the Samnites suddenly attacked.

    The Ausculum scout who went out on patrol soon spotted the enemy and shouted, ¡°The Samnites areing!¡± to alert the people of the viges he passed to evacuate as he hurried towards the city.

    Rather than panic at the news, Hegesitus calmly ordered the city gate closed, the drawbridge pulled up, and the rm sounded so that the young citizens still in the city could take up their shields and spears and go to the wall to defend it.

    At the same time, he asked the soldiers at the top of the wall to shout to the fleeing people outside, advising them to flee further east to Herdonia, as the gates of Ausculum would remain closed during the enemy attack!

    Because of these measures, the city of Ausculum was already on the defensive when the Samnite army,posed mainly of Pentri warriors, arrived near the city.

    Although only a few citizens can fight at this time due to the sudden Samnite attack, Ausculum is also arge city in the Dauni region, with an eight-metre-high wall.

    With the Samnites rushing in without siege equipment, Badani could only make the tens of thousands of warriors form a formation below the city wall and roar simultaneously, trying to intimidate the people of Ausculum into surrendering.

    But how could Hegesitus be frightened by such things? Thus Badani could only camp outside the city.

    Over the next few days, Badani ordered his warriors to cut down trees and make manydders and logs. He thenunches an offensive against the city of Ausculum in an attempt to take this important city in the southwestern part of the Dauni region by force of numbers, thus restoring the prestige of the Pentri tribe and himself as its great chieftain.

    Then Badani ordered his men tounch a fierce offensive.

    The Samnite warriors carried thedder and logs while risking being shot by javelin and arrows and rushed towards the city from the north, west and south.

    As its city¡¯s praetor, Hegesitus came to the top of the wall and bravely led the soldiers to resist the enemy.

    The Samnites attacked like a tide, wave after wave, until the outnumbered Ausculum soldiers could no longer withstand the constant attack.

    In the afternoon, the Samnites kept reaching the top of the wall several times, causing Hegesitus to hastily gather the few remaining reserves and manage to drive the enemy down. Suddenly, a soldier hurried towards him from the southern wall, ¡°Lord Hegesitus, the enemy managed to climb the southern city wall, so Lord Karykes asked for reinforcements!¡±

    ¡°What reinforcements do I have left?!¡± Hegesitus bitterly smiled as he reached up to wipe the blood from his face, which obscured his vision. Then he looked around at the exhausted soldiers and the deafening war cries of the Samnite warriors below the wall, ¡°Go to the city at once, gather the old men and have them rush to reinforce the southern wall! Hold fast! Tell Karykes to hold out! As long as we can hold out today, our reinforcements wille tomorrow!¡±

 Chapter 729: Rescuing Ausculum (II)

    Suddenly, Hegesitus heard a horn from outside the city, and his heart tightened. ¡®Will the Samnites intensify their attack?!¡¯

    But as he warned the soldiers to take precautions and prepare for the enemy''s next attack, he saw the Samnites at the foot of the wall slowly retreat to the sound of their cries of discontent.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After suffering a tragic defeat at the hands of the Theonians, the great Samnite chieftain was wary of fighting them again. So Badani had sent out scouts to the southeast and northeast while theyid siege to the city. As a result, he received an urgent report from the scouts that they had spotted many Theonian cavalries not far from here in the southeast heading towards Ausculum.

    ¡°The Theonian reinforcements came so quickly?!¡± It was only over three days since the Samnites had dered war and invaded the Greeks, and from Badani''s experience of fighting the Greeks in the past, he thought the news would only just reach Theonia''s capital, Thurii. Then the Senate would need several days to debate and mobilise its citizens for battle, giving them plenty of time to take Ausculum. But unexpectedly, the situation suddenly reversed, leaving him nervous as all his men, except for the hundred warriors guarding him, were engaged in the siege, trying to take the city.

    ¡°Fortunately, only their cavalry came. Great Chieftain, quickly recall some of the warriors attacking the city and organise the defence!¡± a tribal chieftain next to him reminded.

    ¡°Recall? How do I recall them?!¡± Badani looked at the warriors huddled in confusion beneath the city walls, fighting bravely. Then, in his anxiety, he remembered his father''s warning before he died, making him hesitate momentarily. Finally, he said, ¡°I fear the Theonians have sent more than just cavalry¡­we must retreat! Retreat now!!!¡±

    Seeing Badani''s determination, the reluctant chieftains knew they could not continue attacking the city even though victory was in sight. Otherwise, the Theonian reinforcements would wipe out their army once they arrived.

    So they sounded the retreat, and the army besieging the city began to retreat¡­

    Then the chieftains sighed with pain as they watched several Samnite warriors jump directly from the top of the city wall.

    Suddenly, a high-pitched salpinx sounded from the south, causing Badani to shudder.

    Soon the ground began to shake, like a giant drum being beaten by countless drumsticks, producing a rumbling sound apanied by a cloud of dust and dirt.

    ¡°Herees the Theonian cavalry!¡± eximed a Pentri chieftain beside Badani.

    Then, out of the dust, they saw countless cavalry in ck helmets and armour galloping. Then a huge g was raised, and as it fluttered in the wind, the design of a pegasus appeared, with therge Greek number four embroidered underneath.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°My lord, the reinforcements are here! Our reinforcements havee!!¡­¡± The citizens on top of the city walls cheered.

    Finally, Hegesitus was relieved¡­

    But instead of directly attacking the centre of the retreating Samnite army, the Fourth Cavalry Legion circled below the southern wall. They then dispersed and began to attack the rear of the retreating Samnite army, taking advantage of the fact that the Samnites were too busy retreating to organise effectively and too frightened by the surprise attack of the Theonian cavalry to counterattack en masse for a while. The Theonian cavalry then ignored the enemy''s javelin attack riding boldly to within ten metres, and showered the enemy with their short javelins, hitting an enemy almost on every shot, inflicting massive casualties and causing chaos on the enemy rank.

    The cavalry took advantage of the enemy''s disorder to once again drive their horses towards the enemy, eventually leading to the Samnites'' rout.

    The experienced cavalry then led the routed warriors towards the Samnites further ahead.

    As panic quickly spread through their ranks, the bravest Samnite warriors couldn''t help but follow their nearbyrades and flee.

    The retreating Samnites were like snow falling from the top of a mountain that had grown sorge that even the troops Badani had sent to stop the Theonian cavalry were swept away by the fleeing crowd.

    Eventually, Badani gave up giving orders and simply led the rest of his guards to take the lead in escaping, guiding the beaten warriors in the direction to flee.

    The Theonian cavalry didn''t pursue the Samnites for too long, not because the cavalry didn''t want to get better results, but because Ausculum was on the south bank of the upper Carapelle River and near the foot of the mountains, with uneven terrain along the way. So once the routed Samnite army fled into the mountains, the Theonian cavalry, no matter how brave they were, could not ride their horses through the mountains in pursuit of the enemy and had to return dejectedly.

    Finally, this brief battle to save Ausculum was over. The Samnites suffered over two thousand casualties in the previous siege and the subsequent attack by Theonia''s Fourth Cavalry Legion. In contrast, the Fourth Cavalry Legion suffered only around one hundred, allowing the Eastern Theatre of Theonia to score its first victory in saving the Dauni region.

    Alexius did not arrive at Ausculum with the Tenth Legion untilte evening. After all, leading infantry is not the same as riding on horseback, so it took almost a day for the army to reach Ausculum, having set out from the base at Peuceti, crossed the Ofanto to the Carapelle River and followed the t road along its banks. Were it not for the speed at which the cavalry legion galloped, the city would have changed hands by the time the Tenth Legion arrived.

    Hegesitus opened the city gates to wee their reinforcements and thanked Alexius. But that was all, as the siege by the Samnites had caused many casualties among the people of Ausculum. Furthermore, Hegesitus had to attend to the aftermath of the battle that evening, so he had no thoughts of holding a banquet to entertain their saviours.

    Alexius naturally didn''t mind that. On the contrary, he ordered the soldiers of the Tenth Legion to help clean the battlefield, burn the bodies and even send medical care to help the wounded.

    The following day, Alexius was about to lead his army on a march to the north. But fearing that the Samnites who had fled into the mountains might return after his departure, he left a brigade of the Tenth Legion behind to defend Ausculum.

    On the other hand, Hegesitus sent cavalries to the east to quickly recall the many people of Ausculum who had failed to enter the city to bolster Ausculum''s defences.

    In the afternoon, Alexius led the army to the besieged city of Vibinum. But by the time he arrived, the Samnites seemed to know of the arrival of Theonian reinforcements and had withdrawn early, retreating into the mountains.

    Two dayster, the reinforcements arrived in the capital of the Dauni region ¨C Lucera. There, Antonios ¨C the wartime governor of the Dauni region and praetor of Lucera, Kapus ¨C the acting legatus of the Eleventh Legion, the middle and high officials of Lucera and arge crowd went out to greet them with great enthusiasm.

    ¡°Thanks to Commander Alexius, who led the army in time, that the Dauni region is saved!¡± Antonios said smilingly. His appointment as wartime governor and the trust of Davos have swept away the darkness in his heart and have made him cheerful these days so that even as the Samnite army approaches them, he remains optimistic.

    ¡°We are currently at war, yet you brought so many people outside the city. In case of a surprise attack by the Samnites, it doesn''t matter if you are captured or taken prisoner, but it would throw the order in the Dauni region into chaos.¡± Alexius said half-jokingly and half-seriously

    Antoniosughed and said, ¡°With you here, the famousmander, the Samnites would only hide far away. Besides, you brought us a victory before you even got here!¡±

    Alexius said, ¡°His Majesty is the only famousmander in thisnd! You and I are just trying to fulfil our responsibilities.¡±

    ¡°You''re right!¡± Antonios nodded immediately. He then came forward and hugged Alexius, ¡°Brother, thank you for your timely arrival!¡±

    Alexius paused but immediately returned the warm embrace. Finally, the enmities of the past few years between the two had disappeared entirely in this embrace.

    Suddenly, Kapus gave a military salute and said jokingly, ¡°Commander Alexius, I, Kapus, Legatus of the Eleventh Legion, havee to report to you!¡±

    ¡°Lord Kapus, don''t frighten me like that! Your position as the Legatus is only temporary, as you are still the Quartermaster-General of the Logistics Department of the Ministry of Military. We all have to obey yourmander, as we would starve otherwise!¡± Alexius said as he tapped Kapus'' chest with his fist, dispelling the embarrassment ofmanding and beingmanded between them.

    Phregulus watches as the three powerful lords of the kingdom of Theonia talk andugh intimately, making him both happy and jealous.

    On seeing this, Melisander exined, ¡°Antonios, Alexius and Kapus had fought side by side with each other in their younger days and helped His Majesty make a smooth withdrawal from Persia, so they had been friends for decades!¡±

    Phregulus looked at him and asked in broken Greek, ¡°I heard your father is also theirrade?¡±

    ¡°Adoptive Father!¡± Melisander corrected him earnestly, as he didn''t want the others to think he got his position because of his father.

    Suddenly, Alexius pointed at him, ¡°This is Phregulus, Legatus of the Fourth Cavalry Legion.¡±

    ¡°You don''t need to introduce him since I already know him. After all, I was the one who drafted his appointment as Legatus of the Cavalry Legion!¡± Antoniosughed and exined. After all, he once served as the Chief of the Military. Then, he said loudly, ¡°Even though Ledes always praised you, Phregulus, and always talked about a skilled man in the cavalry, I still didn''t believe it. But now it seems he''s not lying, for you had led the Fourth Cavalry Legion and won the Battle of Ausculum alone, defeating tens of thousands of Samnite warriors! Excellent! Excellent!¡±

 Chapter 730: After the initial battle

    After hearing Antonios'' words, Phregulus stepped forward, gave a military salute, and responded loudly, ¡°By the time we reached the city of Ausculum, the Samnites hadunched a full-scale attack on the city, making it rtively easy for us to defeat them. But all of this is thanks to Commander Alexius, who gave us the decisive order to march on Ausculum and made this victory possible!¡±

    ¡°Look, your subordinate is good to you.¡± Antonios smiled at Alexius.

    Kapus also saluted Phregulus. As an important official in the Ministry of Military, he surely knew Phregulus.

    Phregulus hastened to return the salute respectfully.

    ¡°There is no need for me to introduce this one,¡± Alexius said as he pointed to Melisander.

    ¡°Melisander, I didn''t want to see you here,¡± Antonios said unexpectedly, with a pained expression. He then changed his tone and said, ¡°Because seeing you has made me realise that the Kingdom is now the world of the young, and we are all old!¡±

    ¡°Uncle Antonios, you''re not old. Antidorus still needs you to raise him!¡±

    Antonios red at him, ¡°I''m just old, not dead!¡±

    The crowdughed, and the shadow of war cast by the Samnites seemed to dissipate in theirughter.

    While the soldiers of the Tenth and Fourth Cavalry Legions went directly to Dauni''s base, Alexius, Antonios, Kapus, Phregulus and Melisander went directly to the town hall of Lucera to hold a military meeting.

    ¡°How is the situation of the Eleventh Legion?¡± just after everyone sat down, Alexius immediately asked.

    Kapus did not pay any attention to that and answered directly, ¡°Due to the sudden invasion of the Samnites, there were only about two thousand soldiers in the base, as they were on rotation¡­ But the Legion''s soldiers have arrived steadily in the past few days. Currently, there are over six thousand soldiers in the base, but with the enemies besieging Ausculum and Vibinum and upying Gerunum, some soldiers have been unable to make it in time, and I have had to rece them with the reserves from Lucera.

    The Eleventh Legion currently has six heavy infantry brigades, one light infantry brigade and one light armoured brigade, totalling eight thousand men, with the mainbat units filled. Whether we should gather the reserves at Dauni again is a decision for you to make.¡±

    Alexius nodded in understanding. Then he asked, ¡°How many warriors do the Samnites have?¡±

    ¡°ording to our mounted scouts, the three Samnite armies besieging Ausculum, Vibinum and Gerunum each numbered over ten thousand men, plus some scattered tribal warriors, so I fear they numbered over thirty thousand. So far, though, we still haven''t found any Caudini warriors¡­¡± said Antonios.

    ¡°It seems that the victory of the Third Legion in Campania has caused massive losses to the Caudini tribe¡­¡± Alexius showed a pleased expression and then asked worriedly, ¡°How is the situation in Gerunum?¡±

    ¡°From our scouts'' reports, the Samnites retreated into the mountains yesterday, but¡­ they took the Daunians prisoners!¡± Antonios said with some anger and some pain. After all, his duty was to protect the Daunians¡¯ lives since he now governs these towns and cities.

    ¡°Retreat?¡± Alexius was slightly surprised as he fell into thought¡­

    Then Antonios said solemnly, ¡°Yesterday, the Samnites sent an envoy when they were evacuating. The envoy asked to exchange the thousands of Daunians they had captured for all the Caudini we had captured!¡±

    ¡°The Samnites are just thinking in pipe dreams! We must not ede to their arrogant demands and let these Caudini return, for they would only strengthen the Samnite army and continue to plunder and kill our people!¡± Melisander interrupted furiously.

    Antonios frowned.

    ¡°Melisander, it''s not up to you to decide whether or not to ept the request of the Samnite envoy.¡± Alexius looked at him and seriously said, ¡°Only His Majesty can make the final decision, for the lives and freedom of thousands of Daunians are at stake!¡±

    ¡°Understood! I am sorry!¡± Melisander bowed his head, admitting his mistake. He had spoken too quickly, but after Alexius reminded him, he realised he had only thought about how it would affect the war situation and not the lives of the captured people, especially with the governor of the Dauni region standing in front of him.

    Antonios nodded at him, forgiving him for his momentary indiscretion. Then he said, ¡°I have sent a messenger to Thurii to report this matter to His Majesty, and I believe we will receive the answer within two days.¡±

    Alexius just nodded, as he didn¡¯t need to worry about this matter. Instead, he looked at the map of the Dauni region thaty on the wooden table in the middle of the conference room and said slowly, ¡°The Samnites began to retreat as soon as our reinforcements arrived, so they must be afraid of us. However, I doubt they would stop attacking Theonia¡­¡±

    ¡°I agree with you, especially since the Samnites should know, after many years of interaction, that His Majesty will never spare them even if they want to make a truce at this moment after they had broken the treaty and started a war against us without authorisation! Yet the current situation made it seems the Samnites do not want to engage in a frontal sh with us.¡± Kapus expressed his opinion.

    ¡°Currently, the Tenth, Eleventh and Fourth Cavalry Legions are here in the Dauni territory, and the Ninth Legion will arrive in a day or two. By then, we will have over thirty thousand men, while the Samnites, including the Caudini tribe, would only have over forty thousand. But even with that, we canpletely defeat them if they fight us in a frontal battle, so there is no need to recruit the reserves for now. But since most of the Samnites are light infantry who can move quickly, they would probably avoid a confrontation with us and instead attack the eastern part of the Dauni region. So Antonios-¡± Alexius pondered for a moment and said, ¡°I will gather the reserves of each city and town in the Dauni region and ce them under the temporarymand of their praetor to strengthen their defences. With that, they might be able to hold out the Samnite''s attack until our help arrives, but that would affect the spring nting in the Dauni region!¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry about the spring sowing since I''ll make the necessary arrangements.¡± Antonios waved his hand and promised confidently.

    ¡°Phregulus, send out your cavalry and have them watch the Dauni border closely. If they detect any enemy movement, they must report it immediately.¡±

    ¡°Roger,mander.¡±

    ¡°Now all we could do was wait for the Ninth Legion to arrive while we watched the Samnites'' movements and judged what they would do next¡­¡±

    Melisander interjected just after Alexius and said, ¡°Lord Commander, we should gather the reserves in the Peuceti region to strengthen the defences of the various towns and cities¡­ Because there is a chance the Samnites would attack Peuceti for fear of being encircled by our massive army in the Dauni region¡­¡± Melisander had his reasons for suggesting this. After all, his Tenth Legion''s base was in Peuceti, and most of his soldiers came from there, so he certainly didn''t want the enemy to attack Peuceti and affect the morale of his soldiers.

    Melisander''s words rmed Alexius, but just as he was about to reply¡­ the young legatus, who had been stationed in the Peuceti for many years and knew the terrain there extremely well, continued, ¡°¡­we must defend Aphrodisia(Venusia/Venosa) in particr since it borders the Samnite mountains and has a history of being taken by the Samnites¡­¡±

    Alexius quickly approached the map and fixed his gaze on the northwest corner of Peuceti, then the mountainous area.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Two dayster, the Ninth Legion led by Tagetinos arrived at Lucera and joined the others.

    At the same time, Ansitanos, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, brought the will of King Davos and held talks with the Samnite envoy who had stayed in Lucera.

    Ansitanos told the Samnite envoy with a solemn expression, ¡°His Majesty Davos is concerned about the captured Daunians, and he told me that the life of every Theonians was extremely precious, notparable to that of the people of other Mediterranean cities and kingdoms. Thus without hesitation, His Majesty Davos agreed to exchange all the Caudini prisoners for all the Daunians you Samnites had taken by force. So if you Samnites believe the promise of His Majesty Davos, please release all the Daunians you have taken, and we will release all the Caudini prisoners in Campania afterwards!¡±

    Davos of Theonia¡¯s reputation for keeping his word was well known throughout southern Italia, so how could the Samnite envoy disagree?

    Then after receiving a clear answer from the envoy, Ansitanos looked at him again and said with a serious expression, ¡°Since we have reached an agreement, Theonia will guarantee that all released Caudini prisoners will be in good health. Hence we hoped that the Samnties would make the samemitment to ensuring that none of the captured Daunians suffered any great harm!¡±

    The Samnite envoy hesitated, knowing in his heart that their warriors were like wolves and would be unable to restrain themselves from beating their captives, let alone from touching the women¡­

    Therefore, he reluctantly said, ¡°We will do our best to ensure the captives'' safety¡­¡±

    Ansitanos looked at him with a zing gaze as he said fiercely, ¡°Before I came, His Majesty Davos said that Theonian lives were far more valuable than the Samnites¡¯ lives! So if one Daunian is wounded, a Samnite¡¯s life will be exchanged for it when we capture your people in the future! If one Daunian dies, three lives will be exchanged!¡±

 Chapter 731: Theonia v Carthage (I)

    Ansitanos continued, ¡°Also, His Majesty Davos has asked me to remind you that the war between Theonia and Samnite is between warriors, so we will not take it out on you if we suffer more casualties. But if! If you Samnites ever dare to turn your weapons on the unarmed people of Theonia and hurt them wantonly. In that case, we will not hesitate to rain down our fury of vengeance on the Samnite region and make your people taste an even crueller fate! Remember the tragic end of Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse in Sicily, and his hired cavalry!¡±

    Though the Samnite envoy seemed unfazed by Ansitanos'' warnings and threats, a shadow began to form over his heart.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time, Ansitanos delivered Davos'' apology to Alexius since Davos'' agreement would add thousands of troops to the Samnite army, which would inevitably cause more trouble for the Theonian army in the Dauni region.

    Alexius, however, asked Ansitanos to bring his message to reassure King Davos that this deal would not affect the army. On the contrary, they will now have more Samnites to capture.

    Soon after, Davos'' words spread throughout the Dauni region, fuelled by Ansitanos. Some time passed, and the captured Daunians were released one by one, making the Daunians more grateful to King Davos, more proud to be Theonians, and naturally more loyal to the kingdom of Theonia and more united against the Samnites.

    Moreover, this incident affected not only the Daunians but also the neighbouring Peucetians and the Messapians.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Alexius and his army were on their way to Dauni, Leotychides in Sicily also led the army towards Minoa.

    Along the way, the many Greek city-states such as Kamarina, G, Pachynus and Agrigento warmly weed the Theonian army¡­ They were delighted by Theonia''s change of n by bravely taking the initiative and came out to meet the Carthaginian army already closing in on them. Thus not only did they provide them with ample food supplies, but they also sent their citizen soldiers, causing the army to swell rapidly from fifteen thousand men when they left to over thirty-two thousand men by the time they reached Minoa.

    As the Theonian army advanced along the coast with great fanfare, they attracted the attention of the Carthaginian scouts. As a result, the Carthaginian army stopped their attack on Minoa and instead concentrated on fortifying their camp.

    With the Theonian army approaching, Muntebaal began to feel uneasy, so he sent messengers back to Lilybaeum several times and asked the lord of Lilybaeum to immediately organise the physically fit citizens of the Carthaginian colonies in Sicily and the Phoenician city-states. He then asked Sakarzidon to send them to the Carthaginian camp in Minoa immediately in addition to the Sicanian army.

    When the Theonian army finally arrived at Minoa, Muntebaal had withdrawn the Carthaginian army to the camp on the west bank of the tani river.

    But instead of attacking immediately or epting the Minoan¡¯s invitation, Leotychides ordered a survey of the area and began building a camp on a hill not far north of Minoa.

    The two sides'' camps were separated by the tani River, about two kilometres away. For a few days, there was peace.

    Because of that, Leotychides'' men and the allied strategoi were puzzled about why he was still not allowing them to attack. So he exined, ¡°Not only do we have fewer troops than the Carthaginians, but their camp is quite well defended. If we attack them, we have little chance of victory and will just suffer massive casualties. We should instead wait for the Carthaginians to attack and take advantage of our defences to kill many enemies and ultimately defeat them.¡±

    ¡°But the Carthaginians still haven''t attacked us!¡± said Miciades, the strategos of Agrigento in doubt.

    Leotychides smiled as he said confidently, ¡°Our king, His Majesty Davos, has said that this war with Carthage will be long. But the longer we dy the war, the longer Theonia will be able to shake off the effects of the drought and restore our food supply. By then, we can send more troops to Sicily and fight a decisive battle with Carthage¡­ So there is no need for us to be in a hurry. Instead, we will just let the ignorant Carthaginians continue to waste the time that would otherwise be in their favour.¡±

    But there''s another point that Leotychides didn''t mention: Most of the food supply for his tens of thousands of troops came from the Greek city-states on the south coast, which significantly reduced the pressure on the food supply of Theonia''s territory in Sicily.

    ¡°But¡­the Carthaginians may continue to increase their forces andunch a fierce attack on us!¡± said Boriades, the strategos of Minoa, who hade to the military conference and was still worried.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I ask you to carefully n your defences ording to the standards of Theonia when building your camp so you could withstand the attack of the Carthaginian army!¡± Leotychides said sternly, ¡°Moreover, with the Carthaginians concentrating their troops in Minoa, they would leave their rear defence rtively empty and allow the fleet to attack their rear. In addition, the more enemies gathered here, the greater their need for food and the more frequent their grain shipments, making it easier for the Sikeloi to target their grain caravans and cut off their transport routes. And once such a massive army runs out of food, only defeat awaits them even without us attacking!¡±

    Leotychides'' exnation temporarily relieved the concern of their allied strategoi.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In themand tent of the Carthaginian camp, Muntebaal, who had never set foot on the battlefield, exined to Milkpilles, ¡°The reason we''re not attacking is the information we''ve received from the scouts that the Theonian army numbers over thirty thousand, with most of them heavy infantry. On the other hand, even though we have ten thousand more troops than them, half of them are lowly Numidians! You already saw how the Numidians fought when they attacked Minoa, so I don''t think they stand a chance against the Greek heavy infantry, even though we outnumber them! So we need more soldiers, a real, brave, noble Carthaginian soldier or a Phoenician soldier-¡±

    ¡°But you still have the ten thousand infantry of the Sacred Band under yourmand. We''re enough to defeat much more Greek heavy infantries, so you have nothing to fear!¡± Milkpilles said proudly.

    ¡°You are right!¡± said Muntebaal, ¡°There is no doubt about the skill and courage of the Sacred Band''s infantry, and I have every confidence that you will be able to defeat the Theonians. However, cing the burden on all your shoulders will result in your troops suffering more casualties! But you must remember that the Sacred Band were the best of our Carthaginian citizens, and our goal is not just this battle but the conquest of all of Sicily and even an expedition to Magna Graecia. That''s why I must preserve you, the best army of Carthage, and make good use of your powerful army! Therefore, I urge Sakarzidon to organise more Carthaginian or Phoenician soldiers to strengthen our forces so that we can crush the Theonians more easily!¡±

    Muntebaal''s speech immediately convinced Milkpilles. Still, he hesitated momentarily and said, ¡°¡­maybe we can recall Hasdrubal''s army.¡±

    But when Muntebaal heard that, he shook his head like a rattle, ¡°No! No! No! Milkpilles, you still don''t understand! In the first ce, Hasdrubal refused to obey orders and wanted to act independently. If we ask him to return now, it will give him the false impression that we can''t do anything without the Iberian army, making him even more arrogant. Then it won''t be usmanding him, but himmanding us!

    Before leaving, Lord Hanno warned me repeatedly that themand of the Carthaginian army could only belong to his faction, not to the Magonids, and that the glory of winning this war could only be shared between us, not by the Iberians!¡±

    In fact, Milkpilles regretted his words as soon as he uttered them. How could he not know what Muntebaal had said? So he could only remain silent.

    Muntebaal continued, ¡°And what we desperately need now is not Hasdrubal''s army; it''s our navy! I don''t know what''s happened to our fleet since only the Theonian warships are sailing the seas these days! Where did our navy go? Milkpilles, I suggest you write immediately and urge Lord Hanno that we need the powerful Carthaginian navy to guard our empty rear or even to defeat the enemy fleet and attack their rear, leaving the Theonians vulnerable on both sides!..¡±

    Milkpilles immediately realised the importance of this issue and agreed without hesitation.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Thus, the Theonian and Carthaginian forces dyed the battle as long as possible to prepare better.

    The two massive camps stretched more than four kilometres from north to south and two kilometres from east to west, and from the highest hill on which the Theonian camp stood, you could even see the central tent of the Carthaginian camp to the west. With so many soldiers in such proximity and given the nature of the city-state army, the generals failed to control the citizen soldiers fully. Thus, a minor sh or friction would often happen, resulting in the war taking an unexpected direction.

    It was the second month of the fourteenth year of the Kingdom of Theonia (379 BC). Although it was still spring, the weather had already gotten hotter in some Mediterranean coastal cities and towns, especially on this day when the temperature in Minoa suddenly rose several degrees. And by the afternoon, the ground was scorching hot, causing many soldiers of both the Theonian allies and the Carthaginians to be unable to bear the difort and thirst caused by the heat. Thus they ran out of their respective camps to fetch water and even bathe in the river tani near their respective camps.

    The tani is a small river, with an average width of fewer than twenty metres, and in some sections as little as ten metres, except the one near the sea, where it is more than thirty metres wide. Moreover, it gently flows down on tnd, where the water is only knee-deep.

    This meant that the soldiers on each side were only about ten metres apart, so they could see what the other side looked like and hear what they were saying.

 Chapter 732: Theonia v Carthage (II)

    At the start, both sides remained at peace as they enjoyed the cool and refreshing river water.

    But in the upper part of the lower tani, where the river is just over ten metres wide at its widest, the soldiers of Agrigento drew water on the eastern bank (their camp was nearby). On the other hand, the soldiers of the Carthaginian Sacred Band on the opposite bank (originally the Numidian troops were stationed to the north. But because the upper end of the tani was close to the mountains, the Numidians would often get flustered when the Sikeloi harassed them. So Muntebaal was forced to move his most trusted Sacred Band to this area).

    Known as the Sacred Band of Carthage and the Hammer of Baal to the Carthaginians, the Sacred Band was made up of soldiers selected from the oldest and most prestigious Carthaginian ns who had received exceptional equipment and training. Currently, these proud, wealthy sons of noble birth were wiping their muscr bodies with clean white cloths while ordering their Numidian ves to go further upstream to draw clean water for them to drink. While passing the time, they watched the Greek soldiers on the other side of the river, some soaking in the water and others lying down to drink, making the Carthaginians look at them with contempt andugh, ¡®Those Greeks are so poor they don''t even care about hygiene!¡­¡¯

    Unaware that the Greek soldiers on the other side were citizens of Agrigento.

    Agrigento was once the second most powerful Greek city-state in Sicily after Syracuse, with a history far older than Syracuse''s. Even Gelon, who contributed significantly to Syracuse''s prosperity, was from Agrigento, and it was with Agrigento''s help that he could sit on Syracuse''s throne as its tyrant.

    Almost twenty years earlier, when the Athenian expedition to Sicily had weakened the power of the Greek city-states on the ind, the Carthaginians took the opportunity to put Hannibal, the then-head of the Magonids, in charge of the army andunch an attack on eastern Sicily. And to avenge his ancestors, Hannibal massacred Himera. Then, Hermocrates, Dionysius'' father-inw and a strategos of Syracuse, led a coalition of Sicilian Greek city-states and repelled the Carthaginian army. But not long after, the Syracusan democrats killed Hermocrates by inciting the people to kill him, telling them that Hermocrates wanted to be a dictator.

    Soon after Hermocrates¡¯ death, the Carthaginians attacked again. But this time, the newly appointed head of the Magonids and Hannibal''s cousin, Himilco, served as themander of the Carthaginian army. But this time, he targeted Sicily''s secondrgest Greek city-state, Agrigento.

    Agrigento faced Himilco''s army; although the enemy outnumbered them, they weren''t afraid. After all, the people of Agrigento had much more rigorous military training than the ordinary citizens of the Greek city-states because they admired the Spartans and had a Spartan army stationed in the city.

    The Carthaginian siegested more than eight months, during which Agrigento scored some small victories, but the Carthaginians'' advantage was too great. Himilco also threatened and bribed the Greeks, which caused Agrigento''s reinforcements and mercenaries to abandon their defence and defect, including Syracuse and Sparta.

    In the end, the Agrigentines despaired, and most fled to G in the dark of the night. When the Carthaginians finally entered the city, they ughtered all who remained, plundered the entire city and burned the temple, even deciding to destroy the citypletely and rebuild a Carthaginian city, but their defeat in the battles that followed prevented Himilco from doing so.

    When Dionysius led his army to attack western Sicily, the exiles of Agrigento were finally able to return to their hometown. But those twenty years had allowed the previous generation of exiled children to grow into pirs of the city-state, and their hatred grew stronger with time rather than diminishing. And these Agrigentines, even though they didn''t understand thenguage the Carthaginians spoke, could tell by their recklessughter and contemptuous looks that the other side wasughing at them, resulting in the anger in their hearts bursting.

    So when an Agrigentine soldier picked up a stone from the river and threw it at the Carthaginian''s Sacred Band, hisrades nearby followed suit.

    After being attacked, the Carthaginians immediately responded by throwing stones.

    Although the stones haven''t caused any fatal injuries, they still hurt when they hit the body, especially as most of them only wear loincloths or are naked. And the intense pain was enough to fuel the anger of these young and energetic soldiers, so instead of throwing stones, some simply rushed across the river, clenched their fists and punched each other¡­ Then the sh between the two sides quickly turned from stone-throwing to a physical conflict which escted quickly that the soldiers near the river joined in the fight.

    On the other hand, the clever Numidian ves ran back to the camp to call for help from the rest of the Sacred Band''s soldiers while carrying the weapons and equipment their master had left in the tent to the river.

    Thus the conflict escted to a new level with the addition of the fully armed soldiers of the Carthaginian Sacred Band.

    But the few Agrigentine soldiers watching by the river didn¡¯t join the battle after seeing the arrival of the fully armed enemy as they weren¡¯t foolish enough to resist the fully armed Carthaginians while unarmed, even though the mes of anger burned in their hearts. Instead, they shouted for theirrades to retreat quickly, but none of them listened due to the chaotic situation.

    And it was difficult for the Agrigentines to end the conflict since they were the ones to provoke it. On the other hand, the proud Carthaginian Sacred Band refused to let the enemy go, especially since they had weapons in their hands and the enemy was likembs to be ughtered just a short distance away! So, with shields and spears in hand, they entered the river tani.

    Then theirrades, who were fighting furiously, voluntarily stepped back to make way for them while the armed soldiers pressed forward and thrust their spears at the Agrigentine soldiers who were trying to flee¡­

    At this point, on the upper part of the lower tani, nearly a thousand soldiers from both sides were crowding the river, trying to fight each other. So when the first Agrigentine soldier saw that the situation was deteriorating and tried to escape, the people behind him didn''t realise what was happening and couldn''t move away in time, allowing the Carthaginian soldiers'' spears to pierce the almost naked Agrigentine soldier''s body easily.

    But as the screams continued and the blood stained the river tani, panic overwhelmed the anger in the hearts of the Agrigentine soldiers as they began to flee in terror. And as they pushed each other, some lost their footing and fell, and they were then either stabbed or drowned.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile, Milkpilles had just finished reporting to Muntebaal in themand tent about why the Carthaginian fleet had failed to appear. But on his way to his camp, he heard from his adjutant about the situation on the tani.

    So he immediately rode towards the tani, just in time to see the fully armed Sacred Band soldiers rush to the opposite bank and begin killing the fleeing Greeks.

    But the young and hot-blooded Milkpilles didn¡¯t sound the retreat nor ordered the soldiers under hismand who had disobeyed the order and provoked the battle to retreat immediately to the west bank. Instead, he sent heralds to inform the remaining soldiers and cavalry of the Sacred Band in camp to rush to the tani at once. At the same time, he ordered the naked soldiers on the riverbank to don their armour, take up their weapons and line up.

    After giving his order, Milkpilles ordered the herald beside him, ¡°Go to the central camp and report to Lord Muntebaal that the Greeks have taken the initiative to challenge our Sacred Band, resulting in a battle. Now the entire Sacred Band infantry and cavalry have fully engaged the Greeks!¡±

    The herald was about to leave when Milkpilles stopped him and said, ¡°Slow down, don''t rush!¡±

    The herald immediately understood what he meant and moved slowly towards the central camp.

    The young and impulsive Milkpilles lied about the military situation because he was unsatisfied with Muntebaal''s conservatism and cowardice. Especially since he needed to prove himself with brilliant achievements, he didn''t want others to think that his father-inw Hanno was responsible for his bing the leader of Carthage''s most elite Sacred Band at such a young age. And now he finally saw an excellent opportunity.

    After crossing the river, the Sacred Band soldiers pursued and killed the Agrigentine soldiers who had fled along the riverbank.

    The Agrigentines, who returned to the camp earlier after noticing the situation worsening, had called for reinforcements. Soon, the fully armed Agrigentine soldiers and some soldiers from other city-states arrived.

    Seeing their arrival, the Carthaginian Sacred Band stopped their killing. But even though more Greek soldiers arrived, the Carthaginian soldiers fighting on the eastern shore didn''t flee even when outnumbered. Instead, they switched from attack to defence and began to retreat to the west bank and slowly go into formation.

    Although the Carthaginian Sacred Band soldiers were proud of their status, they were indeed a well-trained army. So not long after Milkpilles issued the order, they had already arranged into a phnx formation of more than a half-kilometre long and seven columns thick on the west bank.

    They wore open helmets simr to those of Theonia''s heavy infantry, with no visor and only a cheek guard, with long red and white plumes on top of the helmet. They wore thick linen armour that they could have covered with fine mail armour, but these soldiers preferred ayer of leather armour with bright colours and beautiful patterns rather than wearing dark mail armour that spoiled their appearance. They also wore shiny bronze greaves on their legs and high-quality leather sandals on their feet. Then their weapon is a sharp spear more than two metres long in their right hand and arge copper shield more than a metre in diameter in their left, painted with exquisite patterns that the soldiers often use to boast orpare with each other. In addition, since these soldiers had wealthy families to provide them with plenty of nourishment, it allowed them all to grow tall and robust, so the phnx they formed was both majestic and colourful.

    On the right nk of the infantry were a thousand cavalry of the Sacred Band, known as the Noble Cavalry of Carthage. They are alsoposed of sons of the Carthaginian nobility, wearing the best armour and carrying extra-long spears over three metres long and short swords of the highest quality. They selected their mounts from the most tenacious Iberian warhorses.

    ¡°Attack!¡± Milkpilles eagerly ordered.

 Chapter 733: Theonia v Carthage (III)

    The bugle sounded.

    ¡°Blessed us, O Baal Hamon!!¡­¡± The soldiers shouted the protector god of Carthage.

    The elite Carthaginian army known as the Hammer of Baal stepped into the tani River in a dense formation and began to attack the Greeks on the opposite bank aggressively¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°What did you say?! The Sacred Band is fighting the Greeks?!¡± Muntebaal was so surprised that he instantly stood up and said angrily, ¡°This Milkpilles dares to disobey my orders?! I have already told him not to engage in battle with the Greeks at this time!¡­¡±

    ¡°My lord, it was the Greek who initiated the battle. During that time, General Milkpilles was still discussing with you in themand tent, and when he finally arrived at the tani, the battle had already escted¡­¡± the herald exined.

    ¡°I don''t care about the situation. Go and tell Milkpilles to withdraw his troops immediately!¡± Muntebaal said severely.

    ¡°I can''t persuade him!¡± The herald dared to speak to the Carthaginianmander in this way because he was Milkpilles'' cousin and also came from a prestigious Carthaginian n.

    In a fit of anger, Muntebaal decided to call Milkpilles back in person. But before he left, he cautiously sent someone to tell the other general to call all the soldiers back to camp to assemble and wait for further orders.

    On his way to the upper part of the lower reaches of the tani, Muntebaal heard the loud battle.

    Once he reached his destination, stood on the west bank, and looked east, Muntebaal could see that the Sacred Band''s troops had all crossed the east bank and gradually sped up. Meanwhile, the Greeks had managed to gather their soldiers quickly and organise a group to block the Carthaginians'' attack as soon as they spotted them. Unfortunately, they had no unifiedmand, and the soldiers came from different cities, so they had no tacit cooperation. And since the enemy also outnumbered them, they found themselves increasingly unable to resist the enemy under the fierce attack of the Sacred Band''s soldiers.

    Just as Muntebaal hesitated whether to recall the Sacred Band in such a favourable situation, a louder sound suddenly erupted from the battlefield.

    The Greeks lost!

    As the Greeks hurriedly fled to the east, a louder shout could be heard behind them, ¡°Follow them!! Follow them!!¡­¡±

    The Sacred Band began to march forward in pursuit. Then the cavalry troops on the right nk, hidden behind the phnx, rushed out and pierced the fleeing soldiers with their extra-long cavalry spears while the tall Iberian horses trampled the fallen Greeks with their powerful hooves.

    Seeing the Sacred Band''s troops take advantage of their victory, Muntebaal no longer hesitated. He sent his herald to inform the Phoenician and Numidian soldiers and the Numidian cavalry waiting in camp to rush here immediately and join forces with the Sacred Band to utterly defeat the Theonian Alliance on the other side of the river.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Where are the Theonian soldiers at this critical moment? It all began when the Theonian Alliance started building a camp near Minoa.

    Unlike the western bank, the eastern bank of the lower tani was hilly. The Theonian allied army chose to build the camp to the north of Minoa, where there are threerge hills over a hundred metres high, each about half a kilometre away, facing the river bank in an ¡®inverted Æ·''. After some discussion, Leotychides and the allied strategoi decided to build their camp on these three hills after considering the Carthaginian army outnumbering them and defending themselves better against the enemy''s attack.

    Since Theonia had the most soldiers and was the strongest, their military camp upied thergest hill in the middle. On the other hand, the Agrigentine and Eknomos soldiers upied the hill to the north, and the soldiers of G, Kamarina and Pachynus upied the one to the south.

    And on the foot of the hill that the Theonian army upied is a rtivelyrge, almost rectangrke. While Theonia''s allied soldiers ran to tani to cool themselves, the Theonian soldiers certainly had the same need. However, Leotychides told the soldiers to cool off at theke closer to their camp for safety reasons.

    But unlike Muntebaal, Leotychides, although he also stayed in the camp, had his mountain reconnaissance brigade and scouts keep an eye on the area and report anything unusual to him.

    So when the Agrigentine soldiers shed with the Carthaginians on the tani, he immediately learned about it. But keenly feeling something was wrong, he immediately sent heralds to the foot of the hill ordering the Theonian soldiers to return to the camp quickly.

    At the same time, he also sent a herald to the other camps asking the allied strategoi to immediately recall their soldiers on the river bank, especially the Agrigentines.

    Unfortunately, the situation developed quickly, and the Allied soldiers, whocked discipline, became furious after getting beaten up. So how could an Allied strategoi with little authority over them restrain them?

    With the spreading of the conflict and the presence of fully armed Carthaginian soldiers, the conflict turned into a battle.

    And when Leotychides learned from the scout that the fully armed Sacred Band of Carthage was rushing to the riverbank, he was immediately anxious.

    So he immediately ordered the troops to stand by while he stared at the map of the surrounding camp that had just been drawn and drew up a rescue n.

    Suddenly, the adjutant beside him said, ¡°Commander, there''s no need to save them. If they are defeated, they can simply flee to their camp. Anyway, the camp is only a kilometre away from them.¡±

    Leotychides, however, shook his head and said, ¡°The Carthaginians will continue to pursue them to the point that our allies may even lose their own camp!¡±

    The adjutant thought momentarily and said, ¡°Then don''t let them escape into their camp and lead them here instead.¡± Then he pointed to a spot on the map.

    Leotychides looked to where his adjutant was pointing, a in between the southern and northern camps.

    The three camps of the Theonia Alliance are in the shape of an inverted Æ·. The southern and northern camps are closer to the riverbank, the central camp is further east, and between the three camps is a in. Since the in is only a kilometre from the riverbank and is opposite where the conflict urred, the allied soldiers could turn around and flee straight back. Then once they crossed the in and ran towards the hill where the Theonian camp was located, the Carthaginians would not dare to chase them. Although the distance was only a kilometre or two, most routed soldiers would instinctively flee to their camp first, so the adjutant suggested they should guide them.

    But the adjutant''s words shed like a light in Leotychides'' mind, causing him to suddenly leaned forward and stared at the arrangement of the three camps on the map and the river section in front of him. At the same time, he asked, ¡°How many men does the Carthaginian Sacred Band have?¡±

    ¡°ording to what we know, they have about ten thousand.¡±

    ¡°Have they all set out?¡±

    ¡°That''s what the scout reported.¡±

    ¡°How many of our allies'' soldiers are fighting the Carthaginians on the river?¡±

    ¡°The situation is too chaotic for our scouts to give detailed figures, but their rough estimate is that there are no less than two thousand soldiers, and the number is still growing¡­¡±

    After reflecting for a moment, Leotychides thumped his hand hard on the map and said loudly, ¡°Pass my order! The six heavy infantry brigades of the Eighth Legion and the first, second, third and fourth reserve heavy infantry brigades go to the foot of the hill in front of the camp and form up facing the riverbank! Then have the eighth brigade (the light armoured brigade) rush to the riverbank and spread out around the rear of our allied soldiers so that if they copse, the eighth brigade can lead them to flee towards our main force!

    Then tell the fifth reserve heavy infantry brigade to go immediately to the northern camp and help them defend against the enemy''s attack. (This was because the Agrigentine and Eknomos soldiers manned the northern camp, but now more than half of their soldiers were fighting on the riverbank, so Leotychides was worried that the northern camp had a shortage of soldiers for defence). Have the seventh brigade (the light infantry brigade) also go to the northern camp, and all the reserve light infantry go to the southern camp and stand by on the high ground. But when they find the enemy, they must wait for them to pass and then attack their nks and rear once they start engaging the heavy infantry.

    Also, send someone to inform the allied strategoi in both camps that our Theonian army is about to fight the Carthaginians, but they should continue guarding their camps!¡±

    The adjutant, who had undergone rigorous training on the army staff, picked up the te he had just written on and quickly and urately repeated Leotychides'' orders. Then he asked curiously, ¡°My lord, are you going to lure the Carthaginian Sacred Band into our camp and wait until they arepletely exhausted before defeating them?¡±

    Leotychides nodded slightly and said, ¡°Go and pass on my orders immediately.¡±

    But before the excited adjutant could leave, Leotychides suddenly remembered something and called to him, ¡°Wait! One more thing, send someone to inform the Sikeloi in the mountains to harass the rear of the Carthaginian army as soon as the battle begins to reduce the pressure on our defences!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    ¡°By the way, what is your name?¡± Leotychides asked suddenly. Ever since his former adjutant, Sthephilos, had left, the Eighth Legion had changed to more than ten adjutants in the past two years because they found Leotychides'' unusual temperament strange and difficult to get along with, so they took the initiative to transfer out. On the other hand, Leotychides was very demanding and felt that these young men weren''t capable enough, so he kept changing adjutants like a revolvingmp. However, during the preparations for the war, Leotychides specifically asked the Ministry of Military to send him a capable adjutant, given the scale and difficulty of the war.

 Chapter 734: Theonia v Carthage (IV)

    Even though his adjutant had been working with him for almost two months, and they were usually together, Leotychides couldn''t even remember his adjutant''s name. Fortunately, his adjutant had already understood Leotychides'' character, so he didn''t care and just answered him seriously, ¡°My lord, my name is Muklo!¡±

    ¡°Are you a Bruttian?¡± Leotychides asked while looking at his appearance, which differed from Greek.

    ¡°Yes. I am from Consentia, Bruttii.¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± after nodding, Leotychides waved his hand and said, ¡°Go and pass my orders quickly.¡±

    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± The adjutant quickly turned around and went out with a smile on his face since he knew he got the legatus¡¯ recognition, which his colleagues in the Army Staff jokingly called the most strict legatus.

    In fact, adjutant Muklo has a remarkable identity. At the age of eighteen, he followed Hieronymus to the Battle of Crotone, where he received the praise of King Davos after getting wounded. Later he officially joined the Fifth Legion and, for more than ten years, took part in all the kingdom wars, achieving many sesses. But after bing a senior centurion, he voluntarily requested to go to the Army Staff of the Ministry of Military Affairs for further study. Since it was rare for someone to request to study further after bing a senior officer in Theonia, even though he was over thirty years old, Philesius made an exception and transferred him to the Army Staff.

    After getting transferred to the Army Staff, Muklo won the praises of his colleagues for his diligence and hard work. This time, given the importance of this war, Philesius reluctantly sent this capable aide, and now it seems that the hard-to-please Leotychides'' demand has finally been met.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The fifteen thousand men led by Leotychides on this expedition included the eight thousand soldiers of the Eighth Legion, five thousand reserve heavy infantries, almost a thousand reserve light infantry and a thousand cavalry of the Fourth Cavalry Legion*. (These are only a few because of theck of poption and war horses in Theonia''s territory in Sicily.)

    The soldiers of the Eighth Legion became excited after hearing they were about to fight since the battle to pacify the Sikeloi two years ago had brought them great rewards, so they were more eager to contribute now that the opportunity hade!

    On the other hand, the soldiers of the reserve unit were eager to perform well in theing battle so that they could add more to their military r¨¦sum¨¦ and be regr soldiers without a hitch.

    Led by their officers, the soldiers ran to the foot of the hill in an orderly and swift manner and began to line up in a checkerboard formation.

    Then the soldiers heard a huge noiseing from the front just after going into formation.

    Soon after, they could hear a disorder and thunderous footsteps, which grew louder¡­ Then they saw the shadow of the routed soldiers rushing towards them like a flood in a rainstorm, causing some of the Theonian recruits to swallow their saliva in nervousness.

    ¡°Command all units to go in shield formation quickly!¡± Theokases calmly ordered. Theokases was Naxos'' constable two years ago and had now be a centurion of the first centuria of the first brigade of the Eighth Legion.

    And the other officers issued simr orders.

    Unlike before, the Theonian shield formation is no longer the same. Now, the soldiers of each centuria raise their shields at the front, back, left and right periphery of the small phnx formation, but the spear also points outwards in the same direction, like a hedgehog filled with quills.

    The soldiers also shouted, ¡°Run towards the gap!!! Run towards the gap!!!¡­¡±

    The Eighth Legion made a much wider gap between the small phnxes than the one in their training to help the routed soldiers.

    But unless they were fools, no one would take the initiative to collide with them even after seeing the dense spears sticking out. Moreover, with people shouting to remind the routed soldiers and the light-armoured soldiers guiding them in front, the routed soldiers naturally split into several groups in front of the Theonian formation and ran to the rear through the gap between the small phnxes.

    Unfortunately, some got pushed or panicked and crashed into the shield wall, with the spear piercing them as they screamed in agony. But even with that, the Theonian soldiers didn''t withdraw their spears nor rescue the wounded soldiers. Instead, they held onto their position without moving. Meanwhile, the screams of theirpanions warned the others to stop and not crash into the shield formation.

    ¡°Go faster! Don''t let them get away!¡­¡± Milkpilles, on horseback, followed the Sacred Band as he charged forward and shouted excitedly, regardless of whether the soldiers running around could hear him.

    Sitting high on his horse, Milkpilles could see how well-trained the Sacred Band''s soldiers were; even after a victory, they could keep their formation rtively intact and push forward like a tide. Of course, this is also because most of their enemies fled in the same direction.

    Unfortunately for the Carthaginians, whether it is Muntebaal or Milkpilles, they only know that the Theonian allied army built a camp on the hill on the east bank of the tani without knowing the specificyout. They didn''t even know what terrain was there because they didn''t care about getting information about the surroundings of the battlefield and the enemy. On the other hand, Leotychides, under the long-term influence of Theonia''s Military Code, had taken the initiative to protect the military secrets of his army from being disclosed. Thus, while building the camp, he sent all the scouts, mountain reconnaissance brigade, and even some light-armoured soldiers to patrol around the camp, drive out the Carthaginian scouts, and shield the area around them.

    As they pursued the enemy, Milkpilles was unaware that there was a hill a kilometre to their left and right and that the enemy army¡¯s camp was on it. But what he was even less aware of was that there was arger hill a kilometre and a half ahead of them, blocking their path and that it was on this hill that Carthage''s real enemy, the Theonian army, was stationed.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Theokases divided his centuria into four small phnxes, two at the front and two at the rear, with Theokases standing in the middle of the rear phnx. And through the gap between the phnxes, he could see the situation of the advancing soldiers.

    Suddenly, his eyes squinted, and through the gap between the allied soldiers who had lost their armour, he saw the Carthaginians wearing gorgeous armour.

    If they were to follow the usual tactics of the Theonian army, the small phnxes in the rear line should move forward quickly, filling the gaps in the front line and forming aplete, dense,rge phnx. But if they did so, their allied soldiers in the rear would be intercepted by the Theonian phnxes and caught between the Theonian army and the Carthaginian army, bing victims of the confrontation between the two armies.

    So the small phnxes of each centuria of the Eighth Legion didn''t move. Instead, the soldiers just pulled their long shields and spears closer. They did that not because they felt sorry for their allies but because it was the tactic ordered by theirmander, Leotychides.

    Some Sacred Band soldiers chasing the retreating enemy saw the dense spear phnx formation in front of them and stopped advancing in surprise, only to be pushed by theirrades behind them. They could only protect themselves with their round shields and thrust their spears at the newly appearing enemy. Then some Sacred Band soldiers followed the retreating enemy into the gap between the small phnxes, but another small phnx blocked their paths. Lastly, some Sacred Band soldiers managed to follow the routed soldiers blindly through the gaps¡­

    ¡°There are enemies ahead!!¡±

    ¡°It''s the Theonians!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The slightly panicked shouts of the soldiers reached Milkpilles'' ears. And since he was on horseback, he could see more clearly: The ck-armoured Theonian soldiers had gathered in numerous small phnxes amidst the torrent of defeated soldiers and soldiers of the Sacred Band, like an ind getting swallowed by a tide¡­

    Despite knowing he had lost control of the Sacred Band, Milkpilles waved his spear and shouted, ¡°Warriors of Carthage, attack and crush the Theonians!¡±

    But in the eyes of Leotychides, who was halfway up the hill and overlooking the entire battlefield, the checkerboard formation of the Eighth Legion had split the Carthaginian army, which was moving like a tide in pursuit, into countless small streams. Thus the disorganised Carthaginians could not focus their attack on shaking the small phnxes of Theonia, which remained as solid as a rock amidst the tide!

    ¡°Order the reserve to advance!¡± Leotychides ordered.

    Adjutant Muklo hesitated a bit as he said, ¡°Shouldn''t we wait a little longer until our allies escaped-¡±

    Leotychides remained indifferent, saying, ¡°If we wait until all of our allied soldiers escaped, it will also allow some of the Carthaginians to run to the rear of our formation, causing unnecessary trouble for our soldiers! I have already given them the opportunity to escape, so they can only me themselves for not running fast enough!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Muklo said nothing more and epted the order immediately.

    ¡°Also, inform our allied strategoi to take this opportunity to gather the routed soldiers and quickly lead them back to their camps to resist the enemy''s next attack.¡±

    Then a high-pitched salpinx sound rang out from the hillside.

    Then the reserve officers, having received their instructions in advance, began to order the small phnxes in the rearmost line to advance slowly.

    The flood of routed soldiers, and the Carthaginians who were pursuing them, passed through several gaps and flowed to the rear, reducing the impact on the small phnx formation at the rear. Then, with spears to clear the way and long shields for defence, apanied by the screams of the enemy and allied soldiers, the soldiers of the reserve at the rear of the formation had relied on their phnx of fifty men each to advance smoothly into the gap with little hindrance and, together with the small phnx formation in front, formed a dam of only four columns thick, but about a kilometre long, whichpletely cut off the tide.

 Chapter 735: Theonia v Carthage (V)

    But this was a rtively easy task for the reserves blocking the flow in the rear. Although they identally injured a few allied soldiers and were cursed by the other side, they only received a few casualties.

    But the situation was rtively difficult for the various toons of the Eighth Legion at the front. After all, once they had cut off the tide, the Carthaginians, caught between the phnx formation and realising their situation had deteriorated, wouldunch an attack on the nearby Theonian soldiers, resulting in all the phnxes of the Eighth Legion getting attacked from all sides.

    Thus the legionaries had to hide behind their long shields and stay close together, making the alreadypact formation even morepact due to the pressure around them. Unfortunately, the confined space made it difficult for them to wield their spears, so the soldiers in the two outermost columns of the small phnx threw down their long weapons. Then they drew their short swords since they gave them an advantage over the enemy in such a tight and crowded space.

    Then the officers of the small phnxes kept shouting, ¡°Brothers, hold on! Hold on! We are about to counterattack!¡­¡± Indeed, although the Sacred Band soldiers attacked the Theonia''s small phnxes from all sides, Theonia¡¯s small phnxes could also attack the Sacred Band soldiers trapped in the gap from all sides.

    Theonia had its unique units and military system that gave them full control of every soldier under them, while the Carthaginian¡¯s Sacred Band still practised the traditional Greek phnx formation. So unlike the prepared Eighth Legion, the Sacred Band soldiers werepletely disorganised since the pursuit until now and were like scattered sand. And even though they sensed something was wrong and deliberatelyunched a fierce attack on the Eighth Legion, their attacks were disorderly and could not effectively damage Theonia''s orderly defence. On the contrary, their casualties were far greater than those of the Eighth Legion since they could not cooperate effectively, resulting in the enemy blocking their attack while failing to defend against the short swords and spearsing from the nk and rear.

    To make matters worse for them, Leotychides began implementing his second n. The salpinx rang out again.

    Then the entire Eighth Legion of Theonia began to close forward and inwards. At the same time, the reserve at the rear started to press forward, turning the whole of Theonian formation like a wet cloth getting wrung to squeeze out the liquid in the fabric. But it was difficult to squeeze out the Sacred Band soldiers crowded into the gap between the Theonian phnxes, as more Sacred Band soldiers crowded outside, fighting the Theonian soldiers while also blocking the retreat of theirrades unless they retreated as a whole. But the current situation made it almost impossible since the Theonian army had yet to attack them*. Secondly, they didn¡¯t have someone tomand them to make a full-out retreat. (The Theonian toon phnxes at the forefront were still in a defensive position and hadn''t yet engaged the enemy.)

    On the other hand, if the Eighth Legion wants to change from a checkerboard formation to aplete phnx, they must first eliminate the Carthaginian soldiers inside the formation.

    So the sound of the salpinx was like the sound of death, as the battle on the in suddenly became either you die, or I die¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Muntebaal, who liked tomand from the rear, rode over the tani and slowly followed the pursuing Sacred Band. After all, he needed to pay more attention to the Sacred Band, as their status among the Carthaginians was different from that of the ordinary Carthaginian army and much more than a mere Phoenician army, mercenaries and Numidian army.

    Not long after sending out the cavalry scout to check on the war situation, the scout returned and reported, ¡°Milord, the Theonian army has intercepted the Sacred Band!¡±

    ¡°The Theonian army?!¡± Muntebaal was surprised to hear this, as he had previously thought that the routed enemy included several Theonian soldiers, ¡°How could the Theonians organise reinforcements so quickly?! And aren''t they afraid that the routed soldiers will break their formation?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Milord! They are indeed the Theonian army, all wearing full ck armour and arranged in many small phnx formations¡­¡±

    Muntebaal hadn''t studied the Theonian army in detail, so he was even more puzzled when he heard the scout''s report, ¡®Did the speed of the situation prevent them from forming up? Or did they do it deliberately to make it easier for the soldiers to escape?¡¯

    But the doubt in his mind began to turn to unease as the scouts reported back one after another. For the Theonians to set up simr formations over an area more than a kilometre wide,pletely blocking the whole in, means they didn''t do it in a hurry. ¡®But, aren''t the Theonians afraid of the Sacred Band destroying their loose and strange formation?¡¯

    Then he understood the terrain here from the scouts'' information, and after some more thought, he began to understand their n a little: With the Sacred Band going deep into the ins and the Theonian Alliance army on top of the hills on either side, the Greeks coulde down from the hill and attack the rear of the Sacred Band!

    Muntebaal immediately became nervous once he thought of this, so he immediately turned and looked at his rear. But seeing only the three thousand Numidian cavalries had arrived, Muntebaal immediately asked his adjutant, ¡°Where are the rest?¡±

    ¡°Milord, they are on their way.¡±

    ¡°Tell them to hurry!¡± Muntebaal shouted angrily.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Wait! Immediately go, but also inform the Numidian troops that they don''t need toe here. Instead, have them cross the river andunch an all-out attack on the Theonian camp!¡± Muntebaal determinedly said while pointing to the hill on his far right. Then he pointed to the slightly smaller hill on the far left, ¡°Have Resheph led the citizen soldiers to attack that enemy camp!¡±

    Muntebaal chose this approach because the enemy''s camp in the south was close to Minoa, making it challenging to attack since they would also have to prepare for a sudden attack by the soldiers inside Minoa. Thus he left this difficult task to the Numidians. And from the information he had just received, not only was the northern hill much smaller, but even the camp on it was small, so there must be fewer Greek soldiers stationed inside. Hence Muntebaal gave the easier task to his men.

    After the adjutant left with the herald, Muntebaal split the Numidian cavalry in two and sent them to the entrance of the in. He then had them spread out in formation so that as soon as they spotted the enemying down the hill, they would charge up and attack them with spears and trample them with their horses, slowing the enemy''s attack on the Sacred Band and buying time for their reinforcements to arrive.

    After all these deployments, Muntebaal still felt uneasy.

    After a while, the adjutant rushed back to report, ¡°The Numidians have begun to attack the enemy camp!¡±

    A momentter, the twelve thousand Carthaginian citizen soldiers arrived. However, the enemy camp still showed no apparent signs of attack, except for their light infantry, who began firing arrows and throwing javelins down the hill. Having regained hisposure, Muntebaal sternly ordered all his troops to quickly attack the enemy camp and prevent enemy attempts toy siege to the Sacred Band.

    With all their deployments intensifying, Muntebaal can only wait for the Sacred Band to crush the Theonian army before them.

    But even after a long time had passed, the Sacred Band in front of them hadn''t made any progress¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On a battlefield about a kilometre long and tens of metres thick, neither the soldiers of the Carthaginian Sacred Band nor the Theonian army had ever seen such a battle, like a kind of sandwich in Cheiristoya''s restaurant, where the top and bottom ends were distinguishable, while the middle was intertwined andpletely chaotic. But unlike the Theonian soldiers, who did this on purpose, the soldiers of the Sacred Band were forced into it.

    Apanied by the sound of the salpinx, the Theonian formation continued to shrink,pressing the space between the soldiers on either side to the point where it was difficult even to turn and swing their arms, rendering their spears useless. So the Sacred Band soldiers drew their swords, but some thought their swords were still too long, so they just swung their fists. Then, when only their shields separated their distance, the Sacred Band soldiers even began to headbutt their enemy, with some using their hands to tear at the enemy, ring, baring their teeth and hissing, making their arrogance and elegance as sons of nobility long to disappear. But the reason they showed such an unsightly battle was just to fight for their survival in such a desperate situation.

    At the same time, Theonia''s small phnx struggled to maintain their formation as the Sacred Band soldiers'' reckless desperation caused several breaches in their formation. But with the structure of the small phnx still in ce and the core officers continuing to organise them orderly, the legionaries continued to unite and cooperate and continue carrying out their strategy.

    The soldiers of the Eighth Legion hid their bodies behind their long shields and simply thrust their short swords blindly, but almost all of their attacks never missed. If their short sword struck a hard object and struggled to push forward, then they must have hit a round shield. But if the short sword hit an obstacle and the enemy grunted, and if they pushed hard and continued to prate, then they must have hit the armour. And if the short sword was slightly hindered but could still prate easily, and the enemy let out a scream, then they must have hit an unprotected part, such as an arm, thigh, and so on.

    Then once the enemy screams and falls, the legionaries would carefully push forward, taking care not to be tripped by the enemy on the ground. Otherwise, they would be repeatedly trampled by the crowd, resulting in them being seriously injured or even dead, which is the most terrible thing in this melee.

    Although it was difficult for the toons of the Eighth Legion to converge, they are still slowly pushing forward¡­

 Chapter 736: Theonia v Carthage (VI)

    When Theonia''s allies built their camp, Leotychides asked them to make it ording to Theonia¡¯s military camp''s requirements, resulting in the Carthaginian army having difficulty attacking them. Especially the Numidian army, who had suffered many losses in their previous attack on the city of Minoa, which demoralised them and made them act cautiously despite theirrge numbers, so the southern military camp didn''t have much pressure.

    But the situation of the northern camp was much worse because their hill was smaller and shorter; naturally, their camp was smaller and easier to attack. The twelve thousand Carthaginian soldiers responsible for attacking the northern camp were mainly Carthaginian citizens, with some from their Phoenician allies who bordered Carthage, such as Utica. Andpared to the low-morale Numidians, this army was much more enthusiastic and well-equipped, most of them heavy infantry.

    And with most of the defenders of the northern camp, the Agrigentines, out of camp, they didn''t have enough troops to send out to attack the Carthaginians, who were doing their best to dismantle the traps. Hence they had to ask the Theonian light infantry, who had gone up the hill to prepare to attack the Sacred Band, to withdraw and join them. Unfortunately, they didn''t have enough javelins and arrows to attack the Carthaginian army surrounding the camp.

    Seeing the Carthaginian army approaching the trench, the thousands of Sikeloi warriors burst out of the mountains in the north and rained javelins down on Carthage''s rear force. Although the Carthaginians had expected the Sikeloi to appear and had made some preparations, they hadn''t expected the number of Sikeloiing to attack them, which caught them off guard¡­

    ¡°What did you say?! About five thousand Sikeloi have appeared from the north?!¡± Muntebaal was startled.

    ¡°Yes, my lord. These Sikeloi''s attack inflicted massive casualties on Lord Resheph''s army, making it impossible for them to attack the Theonian camps fully,¡± the scout reported.

    ¡°Bloody savages!¡± Muntebaal cursed angrily. After thinking momentarily, he looked at his adjutant and said, ¡°Tell those idle Numidian cavalry to head north at once and drive those Sikeloi back into the mountains so that Resheph can focus on attacking the enemy camp! And¡­ you personally go to the south and call back the six thousand Numidians!¡±

    Then the adjutant was ordered to leave.

    Soon, three thousand of the Numidian cavalry kicked up a cloud of dust as they made their way north.

    But Muntebaal didn¡¯t pay attention to them as he turned his gaze to the front. Though his scouts hadn''t been able to prate deep into the battlefield to ascertain and understand the actual situation, he guessed that it must have been quite fierce, judging by the sounds of shing weapons and the never-ending screams. But what worried Muntebaal even more was although the battle had been going on for more than half an hour, the Sacred Band was still unable to make an inch of progress.

    He wished he could swap the Numidians with the Sacred Band, but that was impossible, so he could only send the Numidians to thicken the formation of the Sacred Band, giving it more strength and support.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the small phnxes of Theonia''s Eighth Legion drew closer together, the Sacred Band''s stranglehold on the formation tightened, and the Sacred Band soldiers found themselves facing enemies from all sides¡­

    But once the formation of the Eighth Legion finally closed, the sounds of battle within the formation gradually faded. And even the Sacred Band soldiers¡¯ screams became silent as countless feet trampled on those who had fallen to the ground¡­

    Although Theokases'' four phnxes had finally merged, he still felt uneasy since each of his phnxes had lost some soldiers, especially the two phnxes at the front, which had suffered the heaviest losses. And those who fell in such a gruesome melee would either be seriously wounded or dead by the time they cleared the battlefield, and they could save only a few, so how could he feel happy? But it was not the time for them to be sad since they still had an enemy to fight.

    At the start of the battle, theck of effectivemand made the Carthaginian attack to be disorganised. But things got even more chaotic as many soldiers who had escaped the enemy formation lost the will to fight and simply wanted to run. Although they bravely fought inside the formation earlier, it was all for survival. As the sons of the Carthaginian nobles who grew up with luxury, although they had usually gone through strict training, they still never experienced such a gruesome battle and the sight of theirrades around them falling to the ground wounded one after another and then getting trampled into mush¡­frightened them and made them want to escape from this hellish ce. Thus they pushed, shoved and even shed with the other Sacred Band soldiers who blocked their way¡­

    ¡°Brothers, attack! Attack! Completely defeat the Carthaginians!¡± Theokases shouted, encouraging the soldiers to continue fighting.

    As the shouts of the officers echoed through the formation, Leotychides, watching the battle from the hill, did not want to miss this great opportunity, so the high-pitched salpinx sounded again across the battlefield.

    At the sound of the salpinx, the reserves immediately advance so that the entire rear formation merges with the phnx of the Eighth Legion in front. As a result, the forward momentum created by tens of thousands of people was beyond the ability of the Sacred Band, who had lost nearly half their numbers and broken formation, to fight. Thus they eventually retreated and scattered in disarray¡­

    Milkpilles, who was originally in the rear of the Sacred Band, could only run back and forth in the rear, trying to find the officers he knew among the confused soldiers and encouraging them to reorganise. After doing his best, some order finally returned to the fighting Sacred Band soldiers, but it suddenly became even more disorganised and quickly turned into a rout.

    Baffled by the rout while fleeing back, Milkpilles'' mind went nk as he could notprehend how the elite Sacred Band could be so inexplicably defeated.

    On the other hand, the soldiers of the Theonian legion, who had been fighting for nearly an hour, continued pursuing the enemy regardless of their fatigue, without giving the defeated Carthaginian army any chance to breathe and reorganise.

    Leotychides also dispatched the Fourth Cavalry Legion and the Light Armoured Brigade, both of which quickly and forcefully shot out from the path reserved on either side of the Theonian formation, soon reaching the front of the heavy infantry and leading a fierce and continuous pursuit of the Sacred Band.

    The newly transferred six thousand Numidians had just entered the in when they were surprised to see that the Carthaginians, who usually strutted about in their authority and fancy armour, had now discarded their pretty shields, good-looking helmets, and their hair dishevelled. Then they heard them shout in panic, ¡°Help! Help! The Theonians areing! Hurry! Hurry! Hold them off! Hurry up!¡­¡±

    With thousands of people rushing towards them like homeless dogs, the Numidians, whose morale was already low, acted the same way ¨C they turned and ran¡­

    As a result, tens of thousands of defeated soldiers rushed out from the in with terrifying momentum, leaving Muntebaal stunned by such a sight.

    Then the adjutant advised him, ¡°Milord, we are¡­defeated; we should return to the camp first-¡±

    Before the adjutant could finish, Muntebaal had already turned the horse around and mped his legs onto its belly, causing the warhorse to neigh as it carried him swiftly across the tani¡­

    The Numidians were running too, but they weren''t panicking because they still had the Sacred Band behind them. But when some of the cavalries of the Fourth Cavalry Legion charged into their rear from an oblique angle, panic quickly spread throughout the unit, forcing the Numidians to run faster in fear.

    But the biggest obstacle to their escape was the shallow and narrow tani: Some of them slipped on the silt at the bottom of the river, and in their panic, they grabbed and dragged anyone close to them, which in turn blocked the escape of the soldiers of the Sacred Band behind them, who could only push and shove them in anger¡­.

    And once the pursuing Theonian cavalry and infantry caught up with them, they began to stab them with their spears and javelins, causing them to scream repeatedly and the river to be covered with floating corpses and blood, which stained the tani River.

    Meanwhile, the defeated soldiers, who managed to flee across the river, ran straight to their camp, but the Theonian soldiers followed close behind. And since Muntebaal had called almost all the soldiers because of the battle, only a few were left there. Thus how would these defeated soldiers dare to stay in the camp? So they continued to flee to the west.

    The sudden rout of the Sacred Band surprised two Carthaginian armies attacking Theonia''s allied camp. And upon hearing about it, the Numidian army to the south immediately turned, ran wildly down the hill, and began to flee. While the Numidian cavalry to the north, hearing of the rout in the centre, immediately stopped fighting the Sikeloi, turned and ran to the west, where they took up the forefront.

    On the other hand, when Resheph, the general in charge of the Carthaginian citizen-soldiers, heard of the retreat in the centre, he was shocked. But after immediately withdrawing the troops attacking the camps, he reorganised their formation, intending to lead them in an attack on the Theonian army pursuing their rear in an attempt to reverse the war situation and rescue the soldiers who had been driven back.

    But many of the Carthaginian soldiers, seeing the furious momentum of the Theonian army following them on the right, became frightened and urged Resheph, ¡°General, we''d better retreat! The Sacred Band has been defeated, the Numidian cavalry has fled, and these Numidians are even less likely to stay and fight! If we don''t run, the Greeks will probably surround us!¡±

    Yet Resheph still hesitated.

    Suddenly, a salpinx sounded from the camps on the hill. Then Theonia''s reserve heavy infantry brigade, which Leotychides had sent to the allied camps, and the Agrigentine soldiers who had returned to their camp after regrouping, over three thousand men in all, rushed out of the camp together and charged towards the Carthaginian army at the foot of the hill. At the same time, the thousands of Sikeloi warriors also rushed towards the Carthaginian army from the north.

 Chapter 737: Incident in Thebes (I)

    Despite being attacked from both sides, the Carthaginians could have held their ground with their numbers or even counter-attacked. Unfortunately, some of them could barely contain the fear in their hearts as they turned and fled, draining the courage from the entire army and causing the soldiers to break up and escape in swarms to the west.

    But after escaping the tani and reaching their camp, they became frightened when they saw the enemy upying their camp. At that moment, they no longer dared to recapture the camp, and since the camp blocked their shortcut to escape to the west of Sicily via the coastal road, they had to flee straight into the mountains not far away instead. However, they forgot the Sikelois were not far behind them and that the Sikeloi could move freely since the mountains were their territory.

    After upying the Carthaginian camp, the Theonian allied army didn''t stop there. On the contrary, the energetic cavalry, light-armoured, and light infantry continued to pursue the routed enemy westwards along the coastal road, and it was only after the Theonians captured the town of Thermae at dusk did they call off the pursuit.

    Then the messenger sent by Leotychides arrived with orders for the troops to temporarily remain in the city of Thermae to monitor the enemy''s movements in the west.

    The Theonian cavalry, light-armoured and light infantry, then took turns bathing in the hot springs in the evening.

    The war, which began when soldiers from both sides took a bath in the river and eventually developed into a decisive battle between the two armies, resulted in the defeat of the Carthaginians, who lost more than half their original force of forty-six thousand men. The Sacred Band suffered the most, with only over two thousand of their ten thousand men managing to escape back to Selinus, most of them seriously wounded or killed in the battle. On the other hand, even though the Carthaginian citizen soldiers who attacked the enemy camp didn''t suffer too many casualties, the Sikeloi''s constant attacks as they fled into the mountains left many of them wounded, disoriented and surrendering until less than half of the soldiers managed to make it back to Selinus. Then for the six thousand Numidian cavalries who hade to reinforce the Sacred Band, the chaos of the tani River had once again be a painful memory. Finally, the ones to suffer the fewest casualties were the Numidian cavalry and soldiers attacking the southern camp, who only suffered minor losses on their escape, with most of them managing to flee back to Selinus.

    On the other side, the Theonian Allied Army had suffered less than three thousand casualties, with the Eighth Legion and Reserves losing more than a thousand men. However, Leotychides still felt pained despite the low number of casualties.

    Either way, it was a brilliant victory! This victory had exceeded not only Leotychides'' expectations but also those of their allies in Sicily. As the news spread, the people of Theonia''s territory in Sicily, as well as their allies and friendly city-states, became much more confident in the prospect of war. Conversely, this victory shook the Carthaginians'' confidence in the war while deterring the surrounding hostile forces.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile, the Spartans were the happiest when news of the war between Carthage and Theonia reached Greece.

    At present, Sparta has managed to take firm control of the Peloponnesian Penins, while in northern Greece, Macedonia and the city-states of the Chalkidiki League, having been taught a lesson by Sparta, have be obedient to Sparta. Then Sparta gradually began to increase their control over central Greece, and even Sparta''s former arch-enemies, such as Athens, Argos, Corinth¡­and so on., remained still.

    Thus the Spartans thought they had regained control of Greece. Unfortunately, there was a bone stuck in their throat, and that was the secret visit of the Delphic priest to the kingdom of Theonia, which the Delphic priests close to Sparta secretly revealed.

    Although the Delphic priests didn''t make any waves and Theonia rejected their proposals, the Spartans were still wary of Theonia''s involvement in Greece. Moreover, they remembered that Theonia''s threat had forced them to sign a treaty of friendship with Theonia and then had to renew it again, which was a great disgrace to the arrogant Spartans. So when they heard that the kingdom of Theonia was at war and that the enemy was Carthage, which was no less powerful than they were, it was natural for the Spartans to be overjoyed. Thus the Gerousia, including King Agesus, thought the time hade for their revenge.

    For several days, the Gerousia considered whether to break their agreement with Theonia, as Carthage had done, on the pretext of supporting the restoration of the Messapi and Peuceti nobles (Sparta had taken in some refugees from these two races), and to send troops tond in the Messapi region, not far from the Peloponnese, to intervene in the independence of the Messapi, Peuceti and Dauni, and to provoke civil strife in the kingdom of Theonia¡­

    Eventually, everyone reached an agreement. But the next question was when they should send the troops.

    Some of the elders, led by King Agesipolis, felt that they should send their warriors at once so as not to give the Theonians a chance to breathe.

    On the other hand, the elders, led by Agesus, felt that with the war just beginning, they should calmly and carefully observe the situation before deciding. Otherwise, prematurely intervening would just make them the focus of the Theonian army''s attack.

    But suddenly, a major event in the north had shaken Sparta, forcing its elders to stop bickering and focus on Thebes.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At night, in the city of Thebes, Phyllidas, a scribe of a military archon, prepared a grand banquet. He invited the two military archons elected this year, Archias and Philip, telling them he would present some beautiful women of noble birth.

    And since they were still single and eager for love, they happily agreed to participate.

    Phyllidas also invited some of his friends, so the banquet was quite lively as everyone drank happily.

    But in the middle of the banquet, a messenger burst in with a letter for Archias from one of the city officials. The messenger told Archias that the letter was of great importance and that he must open it and read it immediately.

    When Phyllidas heard that, he begone to feel uneasy, so he winked at his friend beside Archias, who immediately understood him. He then said discontentedly, ¡°Archias, aren''t you tired of discussing official matters, even though we finally have a rare moment to indulge ourselves and have fun?!¡± And the others echoed.

    Since Archias couldn''t open the letter right away and was still looking forward to meeting the beautiful woman, he waved at the messenger and said, ¡°Let''s discuss official matters tomorrow.¡± After tucking the letter under the cushions, Archias asked, slightly drunk, ¡°Phyllidas, where are the beautiful women you spoke about?¡±

    Phyllidas looked around and then said, while feigning embarrassment, ¡°They are staying in the next room, but as there are so many people here, they dare not show themselves until all the guests have left.¡±

    Philip then gave an ambiguous smile, saying, ¡°They still know how to act shy!¡±

    Phyllidasdeliberately scowled as he said, ¡°Of course they are. After all, they are genuine refined city girls! Not some random woman from a brothel!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Archias grew restless as he felt the urge to bring the banquet to an end. In contrast, the other guests booed in discontent.

    After another drink, the guests began to leave one by one, leaving only two drunken military archons.

    Finally, the girls entered, dressed in white chiton, draped in himation and still wearing their veils, and approached the two Archons in a reserved manner.

    But when the two archons hurriedly removed their veils, the ¡®girls¡¯ drew the daggers hidden in their waists and stabbed them in the chest, killing Archias and Philip instantly.

    Then one of the ¡®girls¡¯ took off her veil, which turned out to be Pelopidas.

    After the exiles from Thebes fled to Athens, the Athenians supported them in good faith, stationing them on the border and providing them with food and weapons.

    The Theban exiles were determined to follow in the footsteps of the famous Athenian democrat Thrasybulus, who had overthrown the Thirty Tyrants. So, after quickly organising an army in Athens, they marched into Boeotia to overthrow the oppressive pro-Spartan rule and regain the independence of their city-state.

    But they forgot that Thebes was not the same as Athens and that they were facing not only the army organised by their enemy but also the Spartan army upying Cadmeia. Moreover, several city-states in the Boeotian region, such as taea, Thespiae, etc., were puppets of Sparta, so their army was routed even before they could reach Thebes.

    After that, the Theban exiles organised two more military operations, which all ended up disastrous.

    Having suffered considerable casualties and, more frighteningly, lost their confidence, the Exiles discussed and agreed that the Spartans were now too strong and had even taken control of Boeotia. Since they were not strong enough to retake Thebes, they decided to hide, build their strength and wait for a good opportunity.

    Most of them agreed, with only young Pelopidas disagreeing. He firmly believed they shouldn''t expect favourable changes in the external situation because the future was unpredictable. Therefore, they had to take the initiative and take their fate into their own hands.

    So he suggested that instead of taking military action, they should plot to retake Thebes, such as sending someone to assassinate the head of the pro-Spartan faction in the city. And once the enemy lost control of the situation, chaos would ensue, giving the exiles the opportunity they sought.

    But many opposed his proposal because they thought it was too risky.

 Chapter 738: Incident in Thebes (II)

    Though their numbers continued to grow more than a year after the Exiles ceased fighting, they stopped putting much effort as time wore down their morale. With the number of demoralise increased, fewer and fewer were determined to take revenge.

    Pelopidas, on the other hand, kept a close eye on the situation in the west. Hence he knew the rulers of Thebes, with the support of the Spartans, were exercising oppressive rule over the city-state, causing the people toin about their suffering. On the other hand, the other city-states in the Boeotian region had begun to submit to the Spartans¡­

    With a strong sense of responsibility, Pelopidas could no longer wait, so he decided to act immediately. Fearing the enemy would discover his n, Pelopidas didn''t consult with the other Exile leaders. Instead, he privately sought out six like-minded friends to help him carry out his n ¨C ¡®Recapture of Thebes¡¯.

    After disguising themselves as hunters, they set out early in the morning from the Athenian border and made their way over the mountains without stopping. By the time they reached the outskirts of Thebes, the night was fast approaching, so they mingled with the groups of farmers returning to the city from their farms, passed through the gates without incident, and then took refuge in the residence of their good friend Charon. Charon then sent a ve to call their other good friend, Phyllidas, the scribe of a military archon.

    After some discussion, they decided to hold a banquet the following evening.

    And now they had sessfully killed two pro-Spartan military archons. But just as Pelopidas breathed a sigh of relief, Phyllidas picked up the letter and said worriedly, ¡°Pelopidas, our situation isn''t good! Someone has discovered our n and even wrote a letter to inform the enemy!¡±

    Pelopidas hastily read the letter, which warned Archias that Theban exiles were sneaking into the city and attempting to assassinate the leaders of the pro-Spartan factions.

    Pelopidas'' expression changed, prompting him to ask, ¡°Who wrote it?!¡± But Phyllidas shook his head, ¡°They didn''t sign the letter, and the messenger left immediately after delivering it. But this shows that the perpetrator is not a close friend of Archias, so perhaps he''s just an ordinary city official who happened to see you in the city¡­¡± After all, despite his youth, Pelopidas was still somewhat famous among the Thebans.

    ¡°What are we going to do now?!¡± The others looked nervously at Pelopidas.

    Pelopidas calmed himself, firmly saying, ¡°Before we set off, we prayed to Zeus and even prepared to sacrifice ourselves! Now that we havee this far, should we just pull out in the middle?! We should instead speed up our pace and quicklyplete our n while the enemy hasn''t figured out the situation yet!¡±

    Pelopidas'' words stirred the others, and the crowd quickly came to a consensus. They then left the ce in the night for the residence of the true leaders of the pro-Spartan faction, Leontiades and Sypethos.

    The lecherous Sypethos spent the night in a high-end brothel in the city. After Charon bribed the brothel''s staff, the Exiles easily entered his bedroom and killed him.

    Leontiades, on the other hand, was more cautious than his colleagues. Apart from not going out at night, he had his men heavily guard his residence. But Pelopidas had been nning this assassination for a long time, so instead of standing idle on the Athenian border for more than a year, Pelopidas ordered Charon at Thebes to find a way to persuade Leontiades'' guards, which he seeded by convincing those who hated Sparta. Thus, on that day''s evening, those Spartan-hating guards got their colleagues drunk and quietly opened the courtyard to Pelopidas.

    After entering the main bedroom, Pelopidas saw Leontiades was still asleep, so he covered Leontiades'' mouth and plunged the dagger into his chest. Atst, Leontiades, the cunning leader of the pro-Spartan faction that had caused the fall of Thebes and the loss of countless people, died in this way.

    Immediately afterwards, Pelopidas and some guards rushed into the prison, pretending to be sent by Leonidas. After tricking the guards with Leontiades'' token, they killed them and freed all the people imprisoned for going against Sparta.

    The prisoners began to thank Pelopidas, but Pelopidas told them to go to the city immediately and contact all those dissatisfied with Sparta. And everyone dly epted the orders.

    The pro-Spartan faction noticed the anomaly but couldn''t contact their leaders, resulting in their failure to react in time. Meanwhile, the Spartans in Cadmeia remained unaware of the city¡¯s situation because no one had told them. Moreover, they didn''t dare act rashly in the dark, so all they could do was stay and defend Cadmeia.

    Then, as dawn broke, the city of Thebes began to heat up.

    Many rushed towards the square, and Epaminondas was among them. Although Pelopidas had written a letter telling Epaminondas of his n, Epaminondas remained against a risky n like some of Pelopidas¡¯ friends. But now that he saw Pelopidas standing on the central tform in the square, showing off the bodies of Leonidas and others to the crowd, Epaminondas couldn''t help but marvel at Pelopidas'' determination and boldness, which had allowed him to do what seemed so impossible!

    Pelopidas began to recount the evil deeds of the Spartans and the pro-Spartan faction in Thebes, which the people in the square could rte to. He then made an impassioned plea to the people of Thebes to take up arms and unite against the traitors and invaders, to avenge the deaths of their fellow citizens and to restore the freedom and independence of Thebes!¡­

    And the people became so excited that they began shouting Pelopidas'' name and the initiators who participated in the assassination that Pelopidas'' led. They then unanimously elected Pelopidas and Phyllidas as Boeotarch.

    Having epted the appointment without hesitation, the two then announced the creation of a Council of One Hundred, whose members would be elected monthly by the citizens of Thebes. Finally, they established the highest authority of a city-state, the lesia.

    Atst, Thebes became a democratic city-state, making the people apud and celebrate.

    Pelopidas then immediately issued an order to the people: take up arms, form an army, capture all the pro-Spartans and retake Cadmeia, which the Spartan army had upied. At the same time, they were to defend themselves against the Spartan army that would probablye to intervene.

    The people of Thebes acted immediately, and once they found the pro-Spartans, they would instantly kill or imprison them, with only a few managing to escape Thebes.

    When the fully armed citizen soldiers reassembled in the square, Pelopidas didn''t immediately lead them. Instead, he asked them to appoint Epaminondas as themander of the unified army, allowing him to fight side by side with him.

    Although many didn''t even know who Epaminondas was, Pelopidas'' prestige made most citizens vote in favour out of their trust in him.

    But when they saw a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance and a schrly air walk onto the tform, most of them couldn''t help but regret their choice.

    In contrast, Pelopidas was beaming with joy, knowing Epaminondas'' military prowess. So he excitedly said to him as he slowly stepped onto the stage, ¡°Epa, we can finally fight side by side again!¡±

    Although Epaminondas was outwardly calm, he was inwardly excited. Epaminondas was a modest and unassuming man who hated factional struggle, so he didn''t even participate in the political adventures Pelopidas undertook. Instead, he spent most of his time reading books, listening to music and exercising. But when he heard the people shout victory, he was ovee by the enthusiasm of the revolution, not to mention the trust his dear friend had ced in him. Thus he didn''t hesitate to say yes, even though he knew how precarious the new Theban government would be, ¡°I will do my best to defend Thebes together with the citizens!¡±

    And the position the now forty-one years old Epaminondas took was crucial since it was linked to the rise and fall of the city-state.

    Suddenly, a citizen soldier guarding the south gate rushed to report, ¡°A small group of Spartans came out of Cadmeia, broke through our blockage and escaped the city.¡±

    Apparently, a pro-Spartan officer managed to enter Cadmeia and reported to the Spartan strategos that there was an uprising in the city. He then told them the rebels had overthrown the pro-Spartan government and killed their leaders. Unfortunately, the Spartans were no match for the thousands of angry Theban mobs, even with their brave warriors. Therefore, the Spartan strategos quickly took advantage of Thebes'' chaos and the fact that the rebels had yet topletely upy the city to send their people to force their way out of the city. Then they would ask the Spartan army stationed in the neighbouring city-states of taea and Thespiae for reinforcements.

    The news brought by the soldier made the instigators of the revolt nervous.

    But the just recently appointedmander of the army, Epaminondas, volunteered, ¡°Pelo, allow me to lead an army to the southern gate to block the Spartan reinforcements while you go and retake Cadmeia!¡±

    Seeing Epaminondas'' determination, Pelopidas replied without hesitation, ¡°Alright!¡±

    After giving Epaminondas three thousand five hundred citizen soldiers, Pelopidas was left with only two thousand. He then assigned officers to Epaminondas, all of whom were his close friends and who were also familiar with Epaminondas, making it easier for him tomand them.

    Epaminondas didn''t even have the time to thank him as he led his army to rush towards the southern gate.

    Suddenly another Boeotarch, Phyllidas, asked worriedly, ¡°Can Epaminondas block the Spartan reinforcements?! Or should we make more preparations?!¡±

 Chapter 739: Epaminondas First Battle

    Pelopidas answered instantly, ¡°If even Epaminondas can''t stop the enemy, then no one can defeat the Spartans!¡±

    But those around them still could not understand why Pelopidas was so confident in Epaminondas, who, as far as they knew, had fought in many battles but only as a soldier and an officer and had nevermanded an army. However, Pelopidas''s confidence and theck of a better solution led them to ignore their concerns and lead the remaining citizen soldiers to Cadmeia with Pelopidas.

    Meanwhile, Epaminondas had already devised a strategy against the enemy as he made his way to the southern gate. Having lived in Thebes for decades, he was familiar with the surrounding terrain. Hence he knew that the central city area of Thebesy in the ins between the mountains, especially the southern part of the city, which was nked by protruding mountains forming a trumpet-like terrain.

    Arriving at the southern gate, Epaminondas began to brief the others on his n: He would send eight hundred men each to lurk on the mountains on either side of the southern gate. Once the enemy reinforcements arrived, Epaminondas would lead the remaining citizen soldiers out of the city to meet them. Then after both sides were fully engaged, the ambushers would immediately attack the enemy''s nk and rear¡­

    Some objected, saying it was too risky to fight outside the city, especially when facing the Spartan army, and that relying on the city walls for defence would be better.

    Epaminondas immediately rebuked their conservative idea, calmly saying, ¡°The new government of Thebes we just established is still unstable. In addition, the enemy is still upying Cadmeia. Suppose we allow the Spartans stationed in the surrounding city-states to assemble outside the city and besiege Thebes. In that case, the battle willst longer and be even more difficult when the Spartan army from Sparta arrives¡­ And if the battle goes on, the psychology of the people could change! So we must take advantage of the enemy''s gradual arrival in Thebes and take the initiative to defeat them individually to buy time for Thebes'' revival!¡­¡±

    He finally convinced everyone. Still, they didn''t expect this usually quiet man to say such heart-wrenching words.

    Of course, some still ask, ¡°What if we failed to fool the Spartans, or they don''t attack us?¡±

    Epaminondas replied calmly, ¡°Then we''ll just retreat to the city; it''s not as if we suffered any casualties. And even if they found our troops lurking in the mountains, they wouldn''t dare pursue them because we know the terrain better. Still, I think the arrogant Spartans would definitely attack us, hoping to reupy Thebes as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Damn Spartans, we will never let their scheme seed!¡­¡± The crowd loudly expressed their anger and resolved to fight the Spartans.

    Epaminondas finally said, ¡°Everyone, let''s work together to make this battle a nightmare for the Spartans!¡±

    Then the stimted people began to deploy following Epaminondas'' strategy.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The messenger requesting reinforcements arrived first at taea, the city-state closest to Thebes. When the Spartan strategos stationed there learned of the uprising in Thebes and the overthrow of the pro-Spartan government, he was so shocked since he knew the loss of Thebes would spell great trouble for Sparta''s control of Boeotia. So, without hesitation, he led the two thousand soldiers garrisoned there on a swift march to Thebes, reaching the city by dusk. But to his surprise, he saw the Thebans marching out of the city in formation, provoking the advancing Spartan army by smashing their round shields with their spears.

    How could the Spartan strategos allow someone they had already defeated to run rampant only because they slightly outnumbered his army?! So, despite his soldiers¡¯ exhaustion, he immediately had his troops form up to the same length as their opponents and then signalled for the attack.

    On the other side, Epaminondas also gave the order to attack, while he himself moved to the front of the formation, holding up his shield and spear, and took the lead in charging the enemy.

    The Spartans were at a slight disadvantage at the start of the battle since, apart from the Spartan army was a little exhausted after a long journey, the Thebans¡¯ morale was also high. However, after slowing down and regaining their strength, the Spartan army gradually regained the advantage, relying on their rich battle experience and greater skill. Suddenly, the lurking Thebans came out from both sides and attacked the Spartan nk and rear.

    Unable to defend themselves, the Spartan army was quickly routed and began fleeing in all directions.

    Barely half an hour into the battle, the Thebans had won a great victory. As they cheered, they began to think highly of the strategist of this battle, Epaminondas, who had been unknown. And now, this middle-aged man of ordinary appearance had won their trust in just a single battle.

    Then, when another Spartan army stationed at Thespiae heard of the tragic defeat of the Spartan army at taea while on its way to Thebes, itsmander, Sphedelias, thought he didn''t have enough troops and instead retreated westwards to a small town halfway between Thespiae and Thebes.

    Upon hearing of the enemy''s retreat, Epaminondas immediately led the army back into the city, stationed some at the top of the wall and sent men to report the victory to the two Boeotarchs.

    Conversely, Pelopidas and Phyllidas led a day-long assault on Cadmeia, which they still couldn''t take since it had a solid wall even though Cadmeia was small. Moreover, Cadmeia was situated on a hill with only one road leading up to it, making it impossible for the Theban army to use its vastly superior numbers fully. But even after surrounding the Spartan army, giving them no way to retreat, the Spartans still fought the enemy to the death, leading to the failure of the Theban''s several attempts. As a result, both the strategoi and soldiers felt discouraged.

    Then when the fantastic news came that the army at the southern gate had defeated the Spartan reinforcements, everyone''s spirits and morale soared.

    The strategoi began to talk about Epaminondas with smiles, and Phyllidas kept praising him, ¡°Pelopidas, you weren''t mistaken! Epaminondas is truly an excellentmander!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As news of the sessful uprising in Thebes spread throughout central Greece the next day, the countless Theban exiles began to return to their mother state from all directions to defend the new Theban government, with most of the exilesing from Athens. For the citizens of Athens, this was a wee sight. Although the council was openly silent on the matter, many Athenian volunteered to travel with the exiles to Thebes to fight alongside them, including two of this year''s newly elected strategoi, who joined the volunteers in their personal capacity.

    As the Exiles marched westwards excitedly, they fought with the Spartan allied forces marching towards Thebes, stationed in several cities in the Boeotian region, and won all the battles.

    Thebes'' strength grew with the continuous support to the point that they forced the Spartan reinforcements in Thespiae to retreat.

    The next day the Thebans attacked Cadmeia again, and although they failed again, the Spartan strategos felt no joy, for when he stood at the top of Cadmeia and looked down, he could see the growing number of enemies down the hill, making him understood the situation clearly. Thebes had obviously received outside help, which also meant that the Spartan reinforcements failed in their attack on Thebes or did note at all. As a result, not only did he feel a little desperate, but so did the Spartan soldiers in Cadmeia.

    Then Pelopidas sent an envoy to negotiate with the Spartan strategoi in Cadmeia, offering them safe passage if they returned Cadmeia. Eventually, they reached an agreement.

    With the return of Cadmeia, the new government of Pelopidas and Phyllidas has finallypleted the liberation of Thebes. But while the people cheered, the leaders, led by Pelopidas, remained sombre, knowing their trial had just begun and the Spartans would never give in.

    On the third day, the news finally reached Sparta, to the shock of the Gerousia. Now they had no intention of making trouble for Theonia, as they had to quickly focus on putting out the fire the Thebans had started.

    So after much discussion, the Gerousia decided to send Agesipolis, who had been king for less than two years, to lead the expedition.

    Then Sparta began to recruit soldiers from its Peloponnesian allies.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Leotychides led the Theonian allied army to defeat the Carthaginian army and intercept many supplies, the Iberian army managed to breach the outer area of Cephaloedium.

    Why was Cephaloedium, which had held out against the enemy for almost ten days and caused Hasdrubal''s troops to attack the city several times, suddenly got breached?

    After several failed attacks, Hasdrubal realised that a frontal assault would be too costly and difficult to break through, so he deployed the Iberian army.

    Hasdrubal''s Iberian infantry were all from the southern part of the Iberian penins, recruited from the native tribes conquered by the Magonids. There were a total of four thousand men, almost all of them wearing their ethnic dress of white linen with purple trim, no armour and only a leather headdress on their heads. They were also armed with arge oval shield, a spear and a falcata hung from their waist. The falcata is a sword simr in style and length to the Theonian short sword and is also extremely sharp, with the slight difference that its front part is slightly curved.

    Not only are these Iberians brave and tough, but they can also fight well in the mountains, unlike the Carthaginians, who have always lived on the t coast of northern Africa.

 Chapter 740: The Naval Battle of Cephaloedium (I)

    The Iberian infantry, on Hasdrubal''s orders, began to cross the mountains to the south, carrying rations and weapons. Meanwhile, Hasdrubal continued attacking the city of Cephaloedium to draw the defenders'' attention.

    After crossing the mountains, the Iberian infantry made a huge circle and appeared at the pass behind the city of Cephaloedium early on the third day. And because the Cephaloedian¡¯s defensive camp in the mountain pass wasn¡¯t prepared, they quickly fell to the swift attack of the Iberian infantry, who then promptly approached the city''s eastern side.

    The Cephaloedians began to panic when they heard the enemy approaching from behind since, even after being reminded by the Theonians, they still concentrated only on reinforcing the defences of the western wall because of the limited time avable. While on the eastern wall, they only had time to make a simple repair. Worst of all, the wall is small and hardly has any defensive capability. Nevertheless, the Cephaloedians gambled, thinking that the Carthaginians wouldn''t attack in that direction since the area was already under the influence of the friendly city-states of Theonia, and it was possible to get reinforcements from the Theonians at any time. Also, the Carthaginians would be taking a considerable risk by trying tond here since they would have to climb high mountains that were hard to climb. In addition, the Carthaginians were not good at mountain climbing, so it didn''t ur to Cephaloedians that it was precisely what they dreaded the most to happen woulde true.

    Meanwhile, Hasdrubal''s armyunched a fierce attack on the western wall of Cephaloedium, quickly outnumbering the Cephaloedian defenders. Sensing the situation''s urgency, they hastily organised all the citizens who could fight to defend the city while sending men to the port to take a fast sailing ship to Messina to ask for help. Finally, they also began to organise the people in the city to retreat to the port.

    In fact, the Theonians'' fast sailing ships were already patrolling the sea near Cephaloedium daily to monitor the war situation. Once they saw the Carthaginian army appearing to the east of the city of Cephaloedium, they immediately realised the problem and returned to Messina. So when the messenger from Cephaloedium came to ask for help, Amikles, the Praetor of Messina, had already organised a fleet of ships ready to leave for the rescue.

    With them was the Third Fleet. After the Carthaginians split their army in two, one attacking from the north and the other from the south, Seclian also split their fleet into two: The First Fleet in Catania and the Third Fleet in Messina. But as the war progressed, most of the First Fleet''s ships wereter stationed in G so they could prevent the Carthaginian fleet from supporting their army on either coast or going around the friendly city-states of Theonia andnd in the rear. Finally, they could protect the caravans carrying supplies and refugees in time. And the Third Fleet''s deployment this time is for thetter purpose.

    By the time Theonia''s fleet reached the sea near Cephaloedium, the Iberian infantry had already broken through the defences of the eastern wall, and the citizens had abandoned it, some retreating to the Acropolis, others to the port.

    Fortunately, they integrated the port within the city when they first built Cephaloedium, and a wall only separated it. The wall¡¯s original purpose was to prevent the ves and freemen of the port from wandering in and out of the city at will, disrupting the city''s order, and now it ys a key role.

    The Cephaloedian soldiers then positioned themselves on the port walls while destroying the stonedder to the wall, blocking the entrance to and from the port. Although this wall is mainly there to prevent the enemy from entering the city, they still hope it could buy enough time for the people to escape from the port.

    As soon as the ship stationed in the port loaded the Cephaloedians and began to leave one after another, the Theonian fleet sailed into the port and picked up the frightened people stranded on the docks. Apart from them, some ships from Tyndaris, Caleacte and Haluntium also came to help. Although there was chaos and confusion, with some ships colliding and capsizing, all the sailors of the Greek city-states on the northern coast worked together to rescue them with one thing in mind: To get the people of Cephaloedium out as quickly as possible before the Carthaginians ughter them.

    Fortunately, Cephaloedium isn''t a big city and only has a small poption, so they soon loaded all the elderly, the young, the women and the children on the ship. Afterwards, they began loading the citizen soldiers who had arrived at the docks¡­

    On the other hand, the Third Fleet¡¯s ships were ced in the sea to the west of the port to guard against a sudden attack by the Carthaginian fleet. The fast ship then came in and reported to the Navarch of the Third Fleet, Flios, ¡°All the Cephaloedians in the port have boarded.¡±

    Flios just nodded in agreement, for such a risk-free escort mission didn''t exactly excite him. It wasn''t that he hadn''t considered sending the fleet''s infantry to disembark; it was just that he had given up on that idea after learning of the actual battle situation. He thinks the fleet¡¯s four thousand infantry couldn''t withstand the attack of twenty thousand enemies who were about to breach the city''s weakened walls. Besides, losing the fleet infantry that they had trained so hard in this unimportant ce wasn''t worth losing.

    ¡°We will return as soon as the fleet has left.¡±

    Suddenly, the lookout on the mast shouted, ¡°Navarch, there is an enemy situation ahead!¡±

    Flios'' heart tightened as he looked into the distance. Through the gap between the many warships, he saw two yellow gs flying from the mast of their westernmost warship.

    ¡®A Carthaginian fleet, with about the same number of ships as ours¡­¡¯ Flios immediately judged based on the gs. (A raised yellow g signalled there was an enemy. One yellow g implies the enemy fleet is smaller than theirs, two yellow gs indicate both sides are about equal in numbers, three yellow gs signify the enemy ships are more than theirs, and four yellow gs mean the enemy ships are far more numerous).

    Flios became excited that he immediately changed his orders, ¡°Sound the salpinx and raise our ck g!¡±

    Then the five buglers on the gship simultaneously sounded their curved brass salpinxes, which echoed across the sea. Then ck gs flew high from their mast.

    ¡°There must be stars beneath the night!¡± The Starry Night was the most typical tactic of the Theonian Navy, as it maximised the strength of the Corvus warships, which was why the newly built Theonian Navy managed to defeat the mighty Syracusan Navy. But after a decade of development, the Starry Night tactic had undergone new changes due to the newposition of the fleet and warships, and a battle was needed to prove its effectiveness.

    The captains and crews of all the warships immediately became excited when they received the instructions. The deck workers started to lift the corvus that was lying on the deck and put it in front of the mast; the helmsman adjusted the direction of the warship and began to arrange the formation; the sailors started to swallow their rations and put oil on their seats; then the infantry sitting in the corridor at the bottom of the deck began to put on their armour¡­ all of them rubbing their hands as they anxiously waited for the sea battle to begin.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The fleeting from the west is from Iberia, under the control of Mago, the Iberian governor.

    Since the African coast was t and devoid of tall, sturdy trees, a famous maritime race like Carthage had long regarded the Iberian Penins as an important resource base, not only for its rich gold and silver mines but also for its abundant timber resources. And so, most of Carthage''s ship timber came from Iberia.

    When Mago became Iberia¡¯s governor, he couldn¡¯t use the fleet most of the time when conquering southern Iberia since he didn''t have the right to control the fleet. But after considering that he would have great difficulty transporting troops by sea without the protection of a fleet when his army went to fight elsewhere and that if he wanted to mobilise the Carthaginian fleet to Iberia, the elders led by Hanno would inevitably obstruct him, he decided to build his own fleet with the money he earned in Iberia and the Iberian timber.

    A few yearster, he formed an Iberian fleet consisting of one hundred and twenty triremes, plus some small and medium-sized ships, for a total of one hundred and eighty warships. Itsmander was Adhimilk of the Magonids, and half of the fleet''s sailors came from the Phoenician city-states, the rest from Numidians and Mauritanians, none of whom were Carthaginians. This fleet soon crossed the Iberian coast and around the Pir of Hercules.

    When Hanno learned of this, he became so frightened that when the fleet was escorting Hasdrubal''s army to Lilybaeum, Hanno ordered themander of the Carthaginian fleet, Anibal, to integrate the Iberian fleet.

    Adhimilk strongly disagreed, saying, ¡°Lord Mago only agreed for the army to ept Muntebaal''smand and didn''t talk about the fleet also epting themand of the Carthaginian navy.¡±

    But Anibal retorted, ¡°Since they are all Carthaginian troops, they should naturally be under a unifiedmand, which would be to Carthage''s advantage in this war!¡±

    Adhimilk continued to refuse, resulting in the two sides almosting to blows.

    Eventually, the case reached the Senate, prompting the Elders to send someone to talk to Mago again, setting off another round ofplicated negotiations. Meanwhile, the two fleets, one stationed in Carthage and the other in Lilybaeum, were at a standstill, which is why Muntebaal hadn''t seen any Carthaginian fleet appear in the sea off the southern coast of Sicily to escort his troops.

    When Hasdrubal learned of this, he requested the fleet¡¯s help by iming that he was about to capture Cephaloedium and needed them to prevent the enemy from escaping by sea, which is why the Iberian fleet happened to be here.

 Chapter 741: The Naval Battle of Cephaloedium (II)

    Then the Iberian fleet also found the enemy in front, prompting Adhimilk to order the fleet to prepare for battle. Adhimilk opted for a single-column formation, focusing on one-on-one collision since the Iberian fleet highly believes in itself, as each ship''s sailors are highly skilled.

    In fact, the Phoenicians invented the triremes, including the naval ramming tactics. But their centuries-old seafaring tradition was both the Carthaginians'' glory and their constraints. So even though the upstart Theonian Navy defeated the mighty Syracusan Navy over a decade ago, it didn''t have much effect on the Carthaginian fleet. On the contrary, most Carthaginian admirals and sailors believed the Syracusans'' poor ship handling caused their defeat, believing they would never have made Syracuse''s stupid mistakes.

    But for the Theonian Navy, their tactics continued to improve. Now, the current formation of the Third Fleet consisted of the first half of a hundred triremes with corvus, the second half of fifty traditional triremes without corvus, and fifty small and medium-sized warships, loosely arranged in a Starry Night formation filled their nks.

    The improved tactic is the continuous improvement made by Theonia''s Ministry of Military and several navarchs ording to the Corvus warships'' ws exposed during the several naval battles with Syracuse and the problems found in training.

    The Navy also modified the structure of the two types of triremes. The Corvus warship, which relied mainly on its drawbridges to trap enemy ships and its infantry to win battles, had its hull lengthened and widened to allow for more space on the storage underneath so the infantry could stay inside without feeling cramped. After all, the expansion of the kingdom''s territory made it impossible for the fleet to fight the enemy as soon as the ships left port, and it would take more than a day of patrolling even to find the enemy''s trail. Therefore, the sailors and infantry on the ship should have afortable ce to stay, which is beneficial for maintaining their strength. Finally, they added some weight to the stern of the Corvus warship to bnce the front and rear of the ship once they installed the corvus, making their navigation more stable.

    If the Corvus ships sacrificed speed forfort and safety, the orthodox triremes of Theonia had to make up for theck of speed of the Corvus. So they made the hull narrower and shorter, making it a willow leaf-like shape. They even lowered the mast and reduced the number of sailors to one hundred and fifty. The Ministry of Military even gathered many renowned Theonian shipbuilders to revise and test the new trireme and finallypleted it. In the end, its maximum speed could reach fifteen knots, and it was even more flexible, which made the Theonian sailors call it a fast trireme.

    Usually, they would ce these fast triremes at the rear of the ship formation. Once the naval battle began, they would shuttle between the gaps in the ships to protect the Corvus ships, which were locking and boarding the enemy ships. In addition, they would ram the enemy ships that tried to get behind their nks. And once the enemy fleet has retreated, they would use their fastest speed to pursue the enemy and expand the result.

    Neither side shied away from the battle. On the contrary, the sailors were so eager to fight that they quickly adjusted their warships and arranged their formations within a five-kilometre radius of the sea, as ordered by the Navarch. When they heard the Auletes'' signal, the sailors shouted in unison as they rowed their oars vigorously, and with the increasing speed of the Auletes'' rhythm, the warships became faster and faster, riding the wind and waves so that their speed made them feel as if they were flying.

    Then both sides'' leading warships were about to collide¡­

    Adhimilk, the Admiral of the Iberian Navy who was in the stern, listened to the lookout''s cries while clenching his fist in excitement. As the first naval battle between Carthage and Theonia was about to begin, he believed that Carthage, with its long maritime history, woulde out on top!

    ¡°Bang!¡­ Bang!¡­¡± Then the corvus spun down and smashed through the enemy ship''s deck, connecting the two warships.

    ¡°Hades!!!¡­¡± The fleet''s forty Theonian infantry, who had emerged from the warship¡¯s storage, rushed over the drawbridge excitedly and attacked the enemy. These infantries, who belonged exclusively to the fleet, were very different from the legionaries who had participated before. Not only had their number been reduced to ten, but they also wore leather helmets and armour, with a wooden shield on their left hand. In addition, their leather sandals even had crisscrossing grooves on their soles¡­ These changes in weapons and equipment, as well as the reduction in their weight, significantly improved their flexibility in fighting on the warship since they wouldn¡¯t easily slip on the slippery deck.

    As the infantry of the Theonian fleet board their ships, Adhimilk''s excitement vanished, reced by coldness. In the end, he could only give the order to retreat with a bitter taste in his mouth.

    Thus, the first battle between Theonia and the Carthaginian navysted only half an hour, with Theonia''s Third Fleet capturing eighteen Carthaginian triremes and sinking four at the cost of five ships sunk and six damaged, resulting in a resounding victory.

    Hasdrubal, who had just broken into the port, watched the entire naval battle from the lighthouse at Cephaloedium and witnessed the tragic defeat of the Iberian fleet by the unique tactics of the Theonian fleet, which shook him to his core and at the same time spoiled his joy at upying Cephaloedium.

    For the Cephaloedians fleeing the sea, the Theonians'' victory in the naval battle boosted their confidence in returning home.

    The next day, Hasdrubal received news of the defeat of Carthage''s main force on the southern coast. Though he rejoiced, he also felt that his situation was a little dangerous since without Muntebaal threatening the Theonians from the south, the Theonians would probably turn their troops against him, a lone army prating deep into enemy territory. Still, it would take the Theonians some time to get from the south coast to the north.

    In the afternoon, Hasdrubal made up his mind after receiving Palermo''s messenger, who hade rushing. Apparently, Theonia''s Third Fleet sailed westward early in the morning, anchored on the coast near Palermo, and attacked the Iberian army¡¯s reserve camp as soon as thousands of infantry on the warshipnded. And although the reserves'' vignce and tenacity allowed them to withstand the enemy, the enemy still inflicted some damage on their supplies.

    So Hasdrubal decided to retreat to Palermo and stay there for a while, awaiting the new decision of the Carthaginian Senate, realising the rout of the main force led by Muntebaal would probably lead to a new political storm.

    On their retreat, Hasdrubal ordered the soldiers to wreck Cephaloedium so they wouldn''t have any trouble when they attacked again.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Aphrodisia was a town in the northwest corner of the Peuceti region. It is where the Homeric hero Diomedes is said to have moved to after the Trojan War and lived in seclusion, seeking a peaceful life. He had built the town and Temple of Aphrodite to appease the goddess of love¡¯s wrath for the destruction of her beloved city of Troy. Hence the name Aphrodisia, the city of Aphrodite. It is also the cultural link between the Peuceti and the Greeks.

    But this time, the town favoured by the goddess of love was once again ravaged by war, as the Samnites besieged the city while a small number of citizen soldiers held out against the enemy''s attack.

    ¡°Tell the tribal chieftains to step up their attacks so we can take this town before nightfall!¡± Lesguk watched the battle unfolding at the top of the city wall, giving a worried and loud order.

    ¡°Understood, Great Chieftain!¡± The guard left with the order.

    Konteruk, the great chieftain of Caraceni, looked at him and said reassuringly, ¡°Don''t worry too much since urging them is useless. Besides, the enemy seems unable to hold out any longer, so we can definitely take this city before nightfall.¡±

    ¡°I''m just¡­I''m just worried about the Theonians. We need to use the time to plunder more people and goods so we have more chips to threaten the Theonians with!" Lesguk exined hastily.

    ¡°There is no need to fear the Theonians!¡± Seeing through Lesguk''s timidity, Konteruk said aloud with disdain, ¡°The defeats you have suffered against them in the past were due to their trickery! You should know that we have never lost a frontal battle, nor have we ever lost a battle against the Greeks in the past! You can be cautious as a great chieftain of the Hirpini, but you must not lose the courage and fierceness that a son of Savoni should have!¡±

    As a veteran great chieftain, Konteruk, with his status as an elder and years of experience in battle, continued to advise, ¡°Furthermore, you used a trick to mobilise the main force of Theonia to the north of Daunia with your n, and it would take them two to three days to get here. And even if enemy reinforcements were to arrive in the next two days, they would be the hastily formed troops of the Theonians in the Peuceti and Messapi regions. Since they wouldn''t be too numerous or strong, we could just defeat them easily, boosting the courage and morale of our warriors¡­especially the Hirpini, Caudini and Pentri warriors!¡± But this old Samnite chieftain felt deeply that the warriors of the three tribes that suffered repeated defeats were not qualified Samnite warriors and that only the Caraceni warriors could qualify.

    Lesguk didn¡¯t say anything. Suddenly, a scout came in a hurry, ¡°Chieftain, we found the Theonian reinforcements in the south!¡±

 Chapter 742: Victory in Aphrodisia

    It had been a day since the Samnites entered Aphrodisia, so it was normal for Theonia''s reinforcements to appear. Then Lesguk asked anxiously, ¡°How many people are there?¡±

    The scout said with shame and anger, ¡°The Theonians are advancing fast with their cavalry in front. They are searching and pursuing us, and several of myrades¡­ have died under their spears, so¡­ we¡­ don''t even know how many more enemies are behind us. However, these cavalrymen are wearing different civilian clothes.¡±

    Lesguk knew that the Peuceti and Messapi regions had plenty of cavalries, and he had once envied them. But apparently, the enemy seemed to be a temporary unit enlisted in Peuceti since they were not wearing the standard ck equipment of Theonia. It is also impossible to gather such arge number of troops in such a short time.

    He then looked at Konteruk after making this judgement.

    Konteruk tugged at his beard and said without hesitation, ¡°The four thousand warriors who have been resting can finally go into battle, and these brave young men will easily kill them!¡±

    Upon receiving the order, the guards immediately rushed to inform the troops not involved in the siege and were specially prepared to intercept enemy reinforcements.

    Then Lesguk''s shout rang again, ¡°Urge the chieftains of every tribe to intensify their efforts in attacking the city! We must take Aphrodisia before more Theonian reinforcements arrive!¡±

    More than ten minutester, Lesguk was overjoyed to see the ancient Samnite g at the top of the city wall.

    But suddenly, a scout ran up to him in a panic, ¡°Great Chieftain! Great Chieftain! Many Theonian soldiers in ck armour have appeared to the south! The number of warriors sent to intercept them was too small to resist the enemy!¡±

    ¡°That''s impossible! There shouldn''t be regr Theonian troops stationed here!!¡± Lesguk shouted in disbelief.

    But the answer to Lesguk''s disbelief was the increasingly loud cries from the south, ¡°The Theonian army ising!! Run away!!¡­¡±

    Behind the fleeing Samnites was a raging ck tide, rushing towards Aphrodisia with rumbling stamps and loud cries.

    ¡°Quick!¡­ Retreat quickly!!¡­ Retreat¡­¡± Konteruk''s voice had lost the toughness he shouted earlier and suddenly became hoarse, his face equally pale.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After throwing his long shield and spear, Adoris sprinted to the front of the army, holding only a short sword. Having fought in thest Dauni War, he was a veteran of sorts and no longer felt the difort of seeing corpses and blood, only the exhration of crushing the enemy. His only regret was that the Samnites blocking them were so weak that after just one round of javelin rain, they chose to retreat before they could sh.

    In fact, this had something to do with how imposing the Theonian army''s charge was since they were a massive force of more than sixteen thousand men, made up of the Second and Fourth Legions, plus about a thousand reserve calvaries from the Second and Fourth Cavalry Legions, which a mere four thousand Samnite warriors, whose only job was to block enemy reinforcements, couldn¡¯t stop.

    Cynthia had been right about Adoris having the chance to fight even if he remained in the Second Legion. And now Adoris began to hate himself for running too slow in pursuit of these enemies who were running ahead of him like rabbits. He evenpletely forgot that he was the squad leader and that his priority should be to gather his men and keep the squad in formation so they didn''t scatter.

    As he tried to catch up with the enemy in front of him, he couldn''t see how worried the toon leader behind him was, afraid that Adoris might have an ident in battle. So he urged the other squads to catch up with Adoris so he wouldn''t face the enemy alone.

    After a while, the reserve cavalry galloped to the nk and front of the fleeing enemy, immediately disrupting the Samnites'' orderly retreat. Then with the cavalry charge and spear attack, they forced the fleeing enemy to scatter in all directions; some were like headless flies that turned and ran back into the pursuing Theonian troops.

    With great joy, Adoris strode forward and thrust his short sword. Then, with a scream, an enemy fell first, followed by Adoris'' left fist striking the face of another routed Samnite warrior, knocking him instantly to the ground.

    Adoris continued to face the third enemy with his short sword, but the knocked-down Samnite warrior suddenly grabbed his left foot, which stopped him from moving.

    Just as he was about to bend down to cut the enemy on the ground with his short sword, the enemy in front thrust his spear at him.

    At that moment, his mind went nk as he felt the breath of the underworld.

    But the enemy''s roar stopped abruptly as a flying javelin plunged deep into his unprotected chest.

    The toon leader rushed to Adoris'' side and angrily rebuked him, ¡°Until the enemy is truly defeated, no soldier or officer is allowed to break away from the army''s main body without permission¡­ that is a rule in the military code! Adoris, you have disobeyed my orders, abandoned your men and left alone! In vition of the military code, you must return and ept the judgement and punishment of the military judge once this battle is over!¡±

    Although he said all those in one breath, the toon leader was still slightly worried. Unexpectedly, Adoris, drenched in sweat, had calmed down after his lucky escape, so he replied straightforwardly, ¡°Roger!¡±

    Feeling relieved, the toon leader patted Adoris on the shoulder, saying, ¡°Lead your soldiers to continue fighting and pursue the enemy!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± Adoris and hisrades rushed at the panicked enemy like wolves at a flock of sheep. And that was just one corner of the battlefield.

    Across the battlefield, some Theonian soldiers pursued the Samnite warriors who had retreated. Then another group of Theonian soldiers charged at the Samnites fleeing from Aphrodisia, and some soldiers followed the reserve cavalry to pursue the Samnites who had withdrawn earlier.

    Among these Samnites, of course, were the two great chieftains who led their troops in retreat towards the mountain to the northwest. After all, they know they will be safe once they reach the mountains, just as they did at the Battle of Ausculum.

    But soon, they stopped involuntarily as a formation of thousands of cavalry, light-armoured soldiers, and light infantryy ahead.

    ¡°The Theonians tricked us! They had already set up an encirclement here!¡± At that moment, Lesguk''s confidence was shattered as his entire body felt weak, and their defeat more than a decade ago shed in his mind.

    Faced with this predicament, the old yet still strong Konteruk unexpectedly burst out with a will to fight, ¡°Descendants of Savoni, we will fight the Theonians!¡±

    The Samnite warriors, who were in a tight spot, roared and rushed forward.

    On the other hand, the Theonian soldiers ahead shouted the name of Hades as they rushed to kill the enemy with equal courage.

    Then just as the two sides got entangled, the pursuing Theonian army arrived and joined the battle. As a result, the Samnites suffered a crushing defeat from getting attacked from the front and rear¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°¡­Your Majesty, a report hase from Aphrodisia-¡± The court herald Aristias rushed into the pce''s military meeting room.

    ¡°How is the situation?¡± As Davos asked the question, the various officials from the Ministry of Military, such as Hielos, Philesius and Hieronymus, all focused their eyes on Aristias.

    ¡°A few days ago, the Samnites gathered nearly twenty thousand warriors andid siege to Aphrodisia. But while they were attacking Aphrodisia yesterday, the Second and Fourth Legions arrived in time tounch a surprise attack from the south of Aphrodisia. At the same time, the Second Cavalry Legion and the Light-Armoured and Light Infantry Brigades of the Ninth and Tenth Legions crossed the Ofanto River. They then went around the mountains behind the Samnite side,pletely cutting off the enemy escape routes and finally defeating the Samnite army. ording to the battle report, we managed to kill about two thousand five hundred Samnites and capture more than six thousand, while we suffered only nearly a thousand casualties¡­¡± The normally calm Aristias had his voice tremble as he recounted the battle report.

    Aristias then handed the battle report to Davos after giving his report.

    ¡°This is another brilliant victory!¡± Philesius said excitedly, ¡°Your Majesty, it is because of your wisdom and determination to firmly support Alexius'' bold assumption that such a victory hase about!¡±

    ¡°This victory is mainly due to Alexius'' good judgement!¡± Davos said modestly.

    After his victory at the Battle of Ausculum, Alexius, while writing the battle report to Davos, had mentioned that since they had defended the Dauni region, the Samnites would probably shift the target of their attack to Aphrodisia, northwest of Peuceti. So he reported that he would organise the reserve troops in the Peuceti region to enter Aphrodisia and defend the ce. At the same time, he would prepare the reinforcements in case of an abnormal situation so that he could send them immediately and carry out a pincer attack to gain another victory like the one at Ausculum.

    Davos carefully read Alexius'' n and suggested they should not send troops to Aphrodisia beforehand to avoid alerting the enemy. Instead, he would have the Second and Fourth Legions gather quickly and secretly in the central city of Silvium in Peuceti. But, the troops in the Dauni region would not move towards Aphrodisia so that they could confuse the enemy.

    Then once the Ministry of Military ironed out the detail, Alexius finally implemented the n.

    In fact, the cunning Samnite had sent nearly ten thousand warriors to the northwestern border of the Dauni region the day before to draw the Theonian army north and away from the Peuceti region. Alexius followed their wish by leading arge army to the north, prompting the Samnites to finally send an army into Aphrodisia the day before, only to be met by the prepared Theonian army.

 Chapter 743: Davos Decision

    ¡°Your Majesty, the battle report states that the Samnite warriors who appeared in this battle belonged to two tribes, the Hirpini and the Caraceni. And once we include the Pentri tribe we recently defeated at Ausculum and the Caudini who have just reimed our prisoners, the four major Samnite tribes shouldn¡¯t be able tounch anotherrge-scale invasion!¡± Hielos, the chief military officer, said after reading the battle report.

    ¡°Since we no longer need to keep so many troops in the Dauni region, we can withdraw the Second and Fourth Legions. And by withdrawing the various legions, our logistical pressure should also ease.¡± The Deputy Quartermaster-General Arpenst suggested.

    ¡°The Samnites could still sneak into other ces, plunder our people and threaten to exchange our Samnite prisoners for theirs, so we shouldn¡¯t rx our guard!¡± Philesius, the chief of staff, reminded them.

    ¡°That is indeed a possibility. However, the Samnites would have difficulty seeding since the regions and cities close to them have be vignt.¡± Then the deputy chief of staff, Tolmides, raised another issue, ¡°Now that the soldiers of each legion are eager to fight and take credit for the battle to gain honour and reward, which legion should remain? Which legion should leave? These are all troublesome issues.¡±

    ¡°We can just throw the headache of withdrawing the Second and Fourth legions and reducing the troops in the Dauni to Alexius. And I believe he won''t let his guard down against the Samnites just because of one or two victories,¡± Davos said, unconcerned.

    ¡°Your Majesty, the Samnites maye to negotiate another truce because of this defeat,¡± Philesius reminded.

    ¡°We will never make peace with a race that has repeatedly vited and maliciously broken the treaty! But if the Samnites really want to make peace, I have already made arrangements for that,¡± said Davos seriously. Then he changed the subject, ¡°But¡­ if it was Carthage that came to negotiate for peace, then that is something we can consider.¡±

    Philesius asked immediately, ¡°Your Majesty, will the Carthaginians even ask for a truce?¡±

    Davos mused, ¡°Unlike the Samnites, the Carthaginians are so powerful that a defeat in one or two battles won''t affect them much. But the conflict between the Magonids and the Hanno in Carthage¡­ We can increase the pressure on the Carthaginian Senate by ordering Prosous to lead the Eighth Legion and other forces to take advantage of the enemy''s great defeat and advance cautiously to the west. Then they would attack the city-states of Carthage and Phoenicia, inflicting greater losses.

    Meanwhile¡­ we would order Seclian to concentrate all the warships under hismand to advance to the western end of Sicily, find the main force of the Carthaginian navy and wipe it outpletely, thus cutting off the sea route between Carthage and Sicily! If we seed in our n, I would like to see if the Carthaginians still have the confidence to fight us.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, we will convey your order since I believe Seclian can hardly wait to receive it,¡± Tolmides replied jokingly.

    Davosughed and said, ¡°Even if the Carthaginians don''t want to negotiate a truce, we needn''t worry too much about the war in Sicily because we have Prosous on thend and Seclian on the sea.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Hielos thenplimented from his heart, ¡°Seclian''s ability tomand the fleet in battle is already unquestioned, but Prosous'' talent inmanding the Battle of Minoa was truly astonishing! Despite the sudden conflict on the river, he could still use his wits to lure the Carthaginian''s Sacred Band troops using the routed allied soldiers. Then with the special terrain, he prevented the Carthaginians from making full use of their numerical advantage and, at the same time, making full use of the checkerboard formation to severely limit the Sacred Band troops, ultimately winning a great victory with fewer soldiers¡­ Your Majesty, your decision to appoint Prosous asmander of Sicily at the outset was indeed wise!¡±

    ¡°The foolishness of the Carthaginianmander is also one of the main reasons Prosous was able to achieve such a victory.¡± Hieronymus, the chief military instructor, said suddenly.

    Davos nced at Hieronymus and was slightly intrigued to see how the ever-diligent and pragmatic Hieronymus felt jealousy over Prosous'' talent.

    Of course, this also had to do with the fact that Prosous was neither a mercenary from the Persian expedition nor a native of Thurii-Amendra. As a former freeman, Prosous bing a militarymander at such a young age and achieving such a glorious victory on his own had rmed those veterans who had followed Davos to Magna Graecia.

    However, Davos would never stop promoting and using Prosous just because of their difort and jealousy. On the contrary, he would have to use him even more. After all, Davos knew very well that he couldn''t defeat the many powerful forces in the Mediterranean on his own. So he needed to find worthy subordinates and ce them in suitable positions to build a great kingdom. At the same time, he also needed more excellent generals from different backgrounds to change the current situation of the Theonian army, being mainly managed by the former mercenaries.

    Davos kept these thoughts in his heart and said slowly, ¡°Since Prosous and Seclian are in Sicily and Alexius in Dauni, we no longer have to worry about these ces. On the contrary, the situation in Latium isn''t promising!¡±

    At the mention of Latium, Hielos and Philesius'' expressions turned grave.

    Currently, the Roman army has already taken Signia and Anagnia while intensifying its attack on Ferentinum. Although the Hernicans and their Volscian reinforcements are holding out, it is only a matter of time before Ferentinum falls. Moreover, the Volscian reinforcements trapped in the city of Ferentinum would be doomed, and that would inflict a severe blow to their strength that they could no longer resist the two-pronged attack of the Romans. In the end, the Romans would be in total control of the entire Latium region¡­ so, during this period, the envoys of the Hernicans and Volscians came to the pce to meet King Davos, asking him to send troops to support them.

    ¡°Your Majesty, Amintas has only one legion and is now guarding the Volsci region. So he dares not leave without permission to help the Hernicans.¡± Philesius exined on behalf of his old friend.

    ¡°Amintas doesn''t need to worry about that, as he''s already doing his best.¡± Davos waved his hand, walked to the map in the centre of the meeting room, stared at the t area in the middle of the Italian penins and said deeply, ¡°I believe you all understand that the greatest threat to the kingdom now is not Carthage, which is slow to act and in constant internal conflict, nor the weak Samnties, who can only cause minor problems, nor Sparta, which is across the Adriatic Sea and has its own problems, but Rome! Rome understands internal unity, has strong citizens, and can concentrate all its forces to achieve its goals! If we don''t destroy them now, they will be a huge problem for the kingdom in the future!¡±

    Davos tapped the icon of Rome on the map with his finger, then said in a decisive tone, ¡°I have therefore decided to personally lead the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Legions, as well as the Second Cavalry Legion, to Latium. We would then join up with the First Legion and the First Cavalry Legion to wipe out Rome ¨C a powerful enemy in the north of the kingdom!¡±

    Hielos, Philesius, Hieronymus¡­and several other officials of the Ministry of Military looked at each other with grave expressions. They knew what Davos said was very important, so none dared open their mouths to express their approval or rejection for a while. Suddenly, the acting Quartermaster-General, Arpenst, cautiously asked, ¡°Your Majesty, for such a huge army to fight in Latium, we may not be able to provide so many supplies¡­¡±

    Davos unhurriedly exined, ¡°The second batch of grain aid from the Egyptian Pharaoh arrived at the port two days ago and is sitting untouched in the port''s warehouses. The vast amount of grain donated by the Thurii merchants has already filled the granary, while the grain donated by the Rhegium merchants, which they bought from the ck Sea, is already on its way back, and we know that it is no less than that donated by the Thurii merchants. I also asked Burkes about the harvested peas, lentils and other legumes that the kingdom''s people have rented, as well as carrots, radishes, pumpkins, lettuce and other vegetables, which is a lot and can fill part of the gap in food¡­¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, the army in Sicily and Dauni would take some of them, and the rest will onlyst Your Majesty''s army a month or two,¡± Arpenst warned earnestly.

    Davos had long thought about it, so he said calmly, ¡°A month is enough since the Latins would provide the next supplies.¡±

    Several people looked at each other again. Of course, they understood what Davos meant since the Greek mercenaries often did this while they fled Persia.

    ¡°Your Majesty.¡± Philesius then asked, ¡°After you take so many legions, what if the Carthaginians reorganise their army and choose a wisemander to attack Sicily again?¡±

    ¡°From Carthage''s current situation, their Senate will not be able to solve their problem in a month or two if they want to unite and send anotherrge army to Sicily. Besides, Theonia''s intelligence department had started inciting the atmosphere in Carthage to conduct peace talks to disrupt the Carthaginians'' order¡­¡± After Davos finished, everyone looked at Aristias standing by the door.

 Chapter 744: Brothers

    ¡°Suppose it''s not the situation I expected, and the Carthaginians reinforce Sicily decisively again, outnumbering Prosous¡¯ army. Then just send the Seventh Legion and even the Tenth Legion under Alexius to Sicily since we no longer need to fear the Samnites, as they are no longer powerful, and Alexius doesn''t need to keep too many troops there.¡± Davos looked at everyone and said, ¡°We are now at war with three forces. Although we can deal with them, we shouldn''t spread our troops evenly since that would only prolong the war, increasing the consumption of our strength. Instead, we should concentrate our forces on solving one enemy before the others can do something to alleviate their current situation so that we can free our hands to deal with the other enemies.¡±

    Davos paused and nced at the crowd, who was lost in thought, before continuing, ¡°But which one should we focus on attacking? Certainly not Carthage since they are a powerful city-state with a vast territory, and a war with them won''t end quickly.

    Although the Samnites are now the weakest of the three, their home is in the mountains, and until now, we have lured them into fighting on the ins, often avoiding fighting them in the mountains, where they were good. Besides, only by destroying their nest can we defeat thempletely, but our current situation needs us to be cautious, so we can¡¯t attack the unfamiliar Samnite mountains for the time being.

    Lastly, there is Rome-¡± Davos pointed at the map again, ¡°Although Rome is not weak, they had concentrated most of their forces in a rtively t in and river in the northern region of Latium, a good ce for us to fight. What''s more, Latium''s coastline is mostly t beaches, and the Roman navy is not strong, giving us the advantage in terms ofnding our troops and transporting supplies. Finally, the Romans'' wanton expansion has created a lot of resentment among the surrounding forces, which will help us to unite them and crush Rome together¡­¡±

    Davos finally persuaded the officials of the Ministry of Military. Then Hielos immediately said, ¡°Your Majesty, we will begin preparations for the expedition to Rome as soon as we return.¡±

    ¡°Move quickly!¡± Davos emphasised as he reminded them, ¡°We must take advantage of the fact that Rome has not yet destroyed the Hernicans and their main forces are still in the east to gather arge army, swiftly attack and destroy their scattered forces in the west, capture their Latin allies, weaken them and finally attack Rome directly! We would strive to wipe out their forces within six months and bring Rome and the surrounding Latin city-states under the rule of our kingdom¡­ And I''d like to remind you that after such a huge war, more than a hundred thousand soldiers would need military awards, especially those new soldiers who still haven''t receivednd after a long time. But currently, the kingdom has nond except the ones in the Dauni region. So Latium¡­¡±

    Hielos and hisrades immediately understood what Davos meant, strengthening their resolve to support Davos in leading the army north publicly and privately.

    ¡°Your Majesty, the matter of your expedition to the Latium region is of great importance, and I fear the Senate may not approve this resolution,¡± reminded Philesius. Thest time Davos led his arm was during the battle with the Messapi-Peuceti Alliance a decade ago,ying the groundwork for the Kingdom of Theonia''s victory in conquering all of Apulia. A decadeter, most statesmen have grown ustomed to Davos sitting in the pce and senate. And since he is now king, which is a noble status, going on adventures in person would only worry the statesmen. Then there is the huge food consumption¡­

    Davos smiled and said, ¡°That''s why I came to convince you first to get many votes in favour.¡±

    Hielos and Philesius also smiled since many statesmen in the Theonian Senate came from the military.

    ¡°Next, I will discuss the matter with the five rotating speakers on duty. As for the other statesmen¡­ I think they won''t refuse because once we conquer Rome, many positions will open up for those who aren''t busy¡± Davos is confident that he can convince the Senate.

    Then Tolmides asked, ¡°Your Majesty, the Third Legion is currently defending against the Caudini in Campania. But what if the Caudini were to invade the Campanian league again after you have transferred them?¡±

    ¡°Wouldn''t that be good?¡± Davos replied calmly, ¡°We would feel assured once we lured out the Caudinis, who still haven''t made any movements even after getting back their warriors. Besides, we can''t protect the Campanian League alone in the current situation, and we should let the Campanians share the difficulties for us.¡±

    After discussing the northern expedition, Hielos and his colleagues left. Next, the Ministry of Military would be busy doing a series ofplicated matters such as mobilising the soldiers, assembling the various legions, mobilising the fleets, collecting military rations¡­and so on., all of which would need to bepleted as soon as possible¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Ever since Adoris moved out of King Davos'' residence, iming he was old enough to support himself, his room there has been empty. But recently, he had moved back, not because he missed his foster parents, but because he was wounded.

    After viting the military code at the battle of Aphrodisia, Adoris¡¯ toon leader reported his actions to the legion after the battle. But when Matonis, the Legatus of the Second Legion, read the report, he wanted to suppress the matter at first because he didn''t want to make things difficult for him. But he knew he couldn''t hide it from Davos, so he simply asked to see the king and exined the situation.

    On hearing this, Davos became so angry that he didn''t hesitate to say, ¡°Just because he''s my son, he can disregard the military code?! If you spare him, what will the other soldiers think?! Would they still obey your orders?¡±

    In fact, Davos is trying to use this severe punishment to remind Adoris to follow orders in battle and work closely with hisrades rather than focusing on killing the enemy and taking risky actions, which is also for his own safety.

    So Matonis announced that Adoris would be caned twenty times following the military code.

    After getting caned twenty times, Adoris¡¯ bottom became battered, and even walking was difficult for him.

    Cheiristoya was distraught when she heard that, so regardless of whether Adoris agreed to it, she forced him to move back so that he could be cared for and treated.

    Adoris obediently returned to the Davos residence, unable to go against his adoptive mother.

    Knock! Knock! Knock!

    ¡°Come in.¡± Adoris breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the one to enter the room was Crotokatax. Then he said weakly as he unhurriedly covered his swollen and red bottom with his quilt, ¡°Oh Croto, it''s you.¡±

    ¡°Brother, who do you think it was? Aedi?¡± Croto said with a sly smile.

    ¡°Nonsense! What do you even know?!¡± Adoris red at him.

    ¡°I know a lot.¡± Crotokatax winked at him, ¡°You and Aedi, the daughter of Statesman Toriks, have fallen in love. Mother had evene to discuss with Toriks and arranged your marriage to Aedi in April. But now it may be postponed until the end of the year. Yesterday, she came to see you because she was worried that it might¡¯ve resulted in a problem that you could no longer have a child with her¡­¡±

    When Agnes¡¯ brother wished to be rtives with Davos through marriage, Cheiristoya used herwork to keep arranging blind dates for Adoris, resulting in Adoris taking a fancy to Toriks'' gentle and beautiful daughter. Toriks, besides being the chieftain of arge tribe in Peuceti, his family were also influential in the Peuceti region. But he had remained rtively inconspicuous after bing a statesman of Theonia. So whether for political reasons, to win over the Peucetians, or in the hope of having a virtuous daughter-inw, Davos and his wife were quite pleased with her. Hence they quickly nned the wedding.

    ¡°Damn you, Croto!¡± Adoris supported his body with his hand as he tried to stood up to teach his brother a lesson. But then, he immediately covered his bottom and yelled in pain.

    ¡°Brother, are you all right?¡± Crotokatax hurriedly leaned over and asked worriedly.

    Adoris then grabbed him and tapped his head twice to teach him a lesson ¡°Croto, you''ve learnt some bad things now. Be careful, or I will go and tell Mother about this.¡±

    ¡°Brother, I''ll go now since you don''t seem to want to hear the good news,¡± after saying that, Crotokatax headed out.

    ¡°Wait, Croto! What''s the good news?! My dear brother, for the sake of my injury, please tell me the good news!¡­¡±

    Seeing Adoris'' pleading eyes, Crotokatax returned and sat down again. Then, he said with a slightly smug look, ¡°Brother, Father is preparing to personally lead a huge army consisting of the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Legions, as well as the First and Second Cavalry Legions, to head north into the Latium region to fight Rome!¡±

    ¡°Is this true?!¡± Adoris immediately became excited hearing that.

    ¡°Of course! Father''s decision was approved by the Senate this morning, and I believe the army will be leaving soon!¡± Crotokatax said excitedly.

    ¡°Excellent! There''s finally another battle!¡± Adoris clenched his fist in excitement.

    Crotokatax looked at Adoris, who was carefully sitting on the bed, ¡°Brother, I''m afraid you would still not be fine when the army departed.¡±

 Chapter 745: Thuriis Chamber of Commerce (I)

    ¡°My wound is almost fine now and will be healed by the time the army departs. Take a look if you don''t believe me!¡± Adoris stood up and tried to take a few steps to prove his words.

    Crotokatax smiled and said, ¡°Brother, there''s no point in telling me since the one you need to convince is father and mother.¡±

    Adoris felt vexed since he knew he had worried Davos and Cheiristoya with his conduct in the previous battle. Hence he asked his younger brother for help, ¡°Croto, mother and father love you the most, so you must help me and persuade them to let me join this expedition¡­¡±

    Although Crotokatax was four years younger than Adoris and had juste of age, his political sense was much stronger than Adoris'' since he was apanied and taught by Davos for the past two years. So he knew that unless Adoris was seriously injured, his father would unlikely leave him behind. Otherwise, some will get the wrong impression that Adoris is relying on his rtionship with Davos to deliberately not participate in such an important war, which will significantly impact Adoris'' future career just because of an injury.

    Crotokatax, however, continued feigning ignorance and said, ¡°Brother, you also know father''s temper¡­¡±

    ¡°Croto, you must help me! As long as you can persuade Father to allow me to follow the army to Latium, I will do my best to help you with whatever you ask!¡± Adoris begged.

    ¡°Er¡­I''ll give it a try.¡± Crotokatax was pleased to see Adoris, who liked to lecture him like a big brother, pleading with him like this.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the inner city of Thurii, Sostratus had gathered over twenty people in the hall of the residence he had inherited from his father, Kunogta; all of them were prominent merchants in Thurii.

    There was excitement on everyone''s faces at the moment as they looked eagerly at Sostratus sitting in the middle.

    Finally, someone could not wait any longer and shouted impatiently, ¡°Sostratus, everyone is almost here; what are we waiting for? Quickly tell us what good stuff you want to announce!¡±

    ¡°Yes, hurry up! Will His Majesty reward us for donating food without asking forpensation?¡± Another person shouted.

    All the merchants shouted one after another.

    Hearing them, Sostratus nced at Tios to his left.

    Tios was one of the most important merchants in the kingdom of Theonia. He owned three ironworks in Lucania, one copperworks in Thurii, two weapon shops in Thurii and Amendra, and many more weapon shops and ironworks in all the cities of the kingdom. The Ministry of Military and the soldiers had even contracted him to manufacture most of the excellent weapons and armour they use. Apart from those, he was also the special supplier of surgical tools to hospitals in the kingdom, and the daily ironworks he produced were widely popr with the public. His family''s workshops were indispensable in the iron casting of mostrge-scale public projects. Therefore, besides being received and praised by King Davos, he also had close contact with officials from the Ministry of Military and the Department of Construction. Finally, he also frequently donated to the construction of public buildings in the kingdom.

    As a result, Tios was highly regarded by the kingdom''s merchants and people, which led to his election as the head of Thurii''s local council on several asions. However, he was not particrly interested in politics. Instead, he was more focused on hispany, constantly striving to improve the iron-making process, increase the temperature of the furnaces, enhance the quality of the iron, and design sharper and more precise weapons, as well as better armour. Since he understood that in the kingdom of Theonia, where military and technology were highly valued, remaining technologically advanced would ensure appreciation from the king and officials of Theonia. And for this reason, besides hiring good smelters and casters at high sries and making numerous donations to the Theonian Akademia, he also cooperated with the schools by funding experiments and sharing patents on technologies.

    But Tios just shook his head as he met Sostratus'' pleading gaze. Then he held out his hand in a gesture for him to do so.

    Sostratus could only turn his head to look at Dicaeapolis to his right.

    Dicaeapolis was the first foreign merchant toe to Theonia to trade, and he was also the first merchant to decide to stay and be a citizen. With his warm and friendly personality, Dicaeapolis persuaded many foreign merchants toe to Thurii and eventually be citizens of Theonia, including Tios.

    But the truth is that Dicaeapolis wasn''t a sessful merchant initially. On the contrary, he was just an average merchant who made and sold pottery.

    Pottery is an everyday item used by the people of the Mediterranean and is the mostmon craft in the Greek city-states. Most Greek city-states did not have fertilend to produce abundant grain, so wine and olive oil became their specialities, which they sold in exchange for grain. Naturally, the containers for these two liquidmodities became another development focus for the city-states; thus, many Greek city-states had pottery merchants. But the most famous pottery came from Athens, where the Athenians, using the excellent y of Attica and after much time and experimentation, produced ck earthenware vases with red decorations that were not only of the highest quality but were also beautifully and creatively painted, making them the best in the trade.

    The second is the ck earthenware of Corinth, which pioneered the creation of exquisite paintings on pottery and made the whole pottery industry highly organised. At one time, they produced almost half the pottery sold in the Mediterranean, only to be beaten a centuryter by the new Athenian potteries.

    Born on the ind of Crete, Dicaeapolis had no skill advantage in making pottery. Yet, with his vision and determination, he moved all his belongings to the economic development zone in Amendra shortly after the founding of the Theonia Union. He then sold his cheap pottery to themon people of Theonia, who were rebuilding their homes, and gradually made a name for himself.

    Then, with the establishment of the kingdom, the expansion of the territory, the increase in the poption and the growth of the market, the sales of his potteries went through the roof, and the low-interest loans from the Bank of Cheiristoya gave him the means to expand and upgrade his pottery workshops. Besides building pottery workshops in various parts of the kingdom where good quality y was avable, he had also hired excellent potters at high wages from Greece, where the turmoil and frequent wars of the time provided good opportunities for his poaching. And since then, the pottery he sold has taken a step into a high-end product.

    More importantly, Dicaeapolis was able to improve his management and organisational model for the pottery industry, as well as the whole division ofbour. Of course, he didn''t invent it.

    Firstly, how the craft industry was managed and organised. Before the founding of Theonia, all Greek city-states were cities, so the merchant''s workshops were usually in one city or the like. And because of the city-state''s small size and limited resources, the merchant¡¯s workshops could not berger even if they had more financial resources. Of course, it was easier to manage, but norge workshops existed, even in Athens, where the economy was booming.

    But the establishment ofrge workshops was possible in Theonia, a kingdom as vast and populous as Greece, with countless freemen willing to settle there. In addition, the Bank of Cheiristoya and Cheiristoya''s Restaurant¡¯s management chain in all the kingdom''s towns and cities inspired the kingdom''s merchants to break away from their conservative mentality of having their workshops in one ce. They then boldly spread their workshops over a wide area and managed them effectively through a pyramidal system of hierarchical responsibility.

    Next is the fine division ofbour. Although pottery was one of the earliest Greek crafts to have a highly organised workflow, it was still not free from the home-based tradition. The potter was still involved in digging, transporting, shaping, lighting fires, baking the potteries, painting, carving¡­and so on., which undoubtedly made production inefficient. After Davos taught the kingdom''s weapons merchants, such as Tios, the division ofbour method to meet the Theonian army''s weapons and armour needs as quickly as possible, the kingdom''s other merchants promptly adopted the technique.

    Of course, Dicaeapolis also implemented a fine division ofbour in his pottery workshop, with specialised personnel responsible for each process, leading to a significant increase in the quality and production of pottery. This naturally led to a corresponding reduction in price, making Dicaeapolis'' pottery even more popr with the people of the kingdom, ounting for more than half of the kingdom''s pottery sales. So except for a few high-quality Athenian potteries, the potteries of the other city-states could no longerpete with Dicaeapolis in the kingdom, allowing him to be the undisputed great pottery merchant of Theonia.

    But like the other merchants in Thurii, Dicaeapolis is busy upgrading his workshop while also upying the market of the expanding kingdom. This meant he had to rely more on the pers Sostratus led for his foreign sales, which was one of the reasons why the wealthy and well-connected Dicaeapolis was willing to make Sostratus head of Thurii''s Chamber of Commerce, while he took a back seat. But the more important reason, of course, was Sostratus'' father, Kunogta, who was a loyal and important official of King Davos. And even though he had passed away, Sostratus could still rely on his father''s shadow to visit the pce and the Ministry of Commerce asionally, getting some business information earlier and winning some concessions for the Chamber of Commerce, such as this one.

    So, with a smile, Dicaeapolis said, ¡°Sostratus, there''s no need to be polite. You are the head, and this good news is the result of you and everyone working together, so you, of course, have to be the one to announce it!¡±

 Chapter 746: Thuriis Chamber of Commerce (II)

    With the two most influential of Thurii''s great merchants choosing to be courteous, Sostratus made no further refusals. As soon as he stood up, the other merchants stopped their discussions and listened to him intently to show their respect. Although he was the youngest of these merchants, they respected him not only for his background but also for his abilities.

    ¡°Everyone, I''m going to make a long story short so as not to dy everyone''s time to make money.¡± As soon as he said this,ughter erupted around him.

    ¡°After we brought down the grains purchased at great expense to the port, His Majesty summoned me and expressed his gratitude for our generous donation. At the same time, he said that it was because of this grain that allowed him to get the opportunity to lead arge army himself to conquer Rome in central Italia, so he hoped that we, the merchants of Thurii, who had donated the grain, would follow his army on the expedition-¡±

    ¡°What?! After donating so much grain, we still need to go out and continue providing military supplies for the army?!!¡± The wine merchant Kalmandes interjected in dissatisfaction.

    ¡°Silence, Kalmandes!¡± Sostratus red at him and warned, ¡°Whether you have uttered such nonsense out of stupidity or for some other reason, do not insult the great King Davos again or simply get out of here!¡±

    ¡°Indeed, no one shall insult the great King Davos!¡± Tios emphasised loudly, making everyone agree.

    Most merchants in the kingdom of Theonia held King Davos in high esteem, not only because the bank founded by his wife had considerably boosted the kingdom''smerce but also because he invented a new business management model and fine division ofbour in the workshops. He had made such an unprecedented innovation to Theonia''smerce that some merchants even believed that Davos wasn''t just a descendant of Hades but had also received the favour of Hermes.

    ¡°Kalmandes didn''t disrespect His Majesty Davos. He was just worried that we would make endless donations for the expedition,¡± said the shipbuilder Miciales, defending his friend.

    Miciales was the cousin of Enanilus, while Kalmandes was the son of Ariphes, bothing from a prominent family of the former Thurii, and they were closely rted through marriage. Although Enanilus and Ariphes were imprisoned after being implicated in the Pollux case, their family and industry were not significantly affected, except for their political position. In fact, Enanilus and Ariphes were released a few years ago after serving their sentences but could no longer show their faces in public for the sake of their household because of the scandal.

    ¡°It seems that you two are really stupid!¡± The ve merchant Sepernus, who had urged Sostratus to speak up earlier, stood up.

    Although the ve trader was a huge and talkative man, there were still those who wanted to get close to him because he could always provide satisfactory ves. And since the kingdom of Theonia had a great need for ves, Sepernus could make a lot of money from his rich source of ves.

    Heughed and scoffed, ¡°Do you still not understand that this is what His Majesty Davos gave us in return for the grain we donated?! Since the founding of Theonia, when has the army needed merchants to apany them on a campaign? They never have, but now they did! This means we can get the prisoners captured by the king''s mighty legions in time and at the best price! We could also purchase the army''s spoils of war at the best price! We can also upy the shops in the towns captured by the army at the best price and take the market first!¡­¡±

    Sepernus''s rousing words lit up everyone''s eyes, and some even eximed excitedly, ¡°All hail His Majesty Davos!¡±

    Still, Kalmandes unconsciously murmured in a low voice, ¡°Don''t be too happy too soon; the army won''t necessarily win this expedition.¡±

    But the nearby woollen-textile merchant Phrasias happened to hear it.

    Phrasias, formerly a textile merchant from Euboea, hade to Thurii to trade. But after discovering that Theonian wool was not only of excellent quality but also cheap and plentiful (thanks to the two excellent ranches in the regions of Lucania and Bruttii), he decided to settle down as a citizen of Theonia and started making woollen textiles instead. He then took loans from the Bank of Cheiristoya, abandoned the traditional family workshop and adopted the fine division ofbour to manage the workers in arge workshop. Soon after, he expanded his clothing workshops dramatically, producing woollen carpets, magnificent woollen chitons, woollen himation, etc., which became popr among the Theonian poption and were then exported to other city-states ind, making him one of the most major merchants.

    Upon hearing Kalmandes'' words, he immediately rebuked loudly, ¡°When has our army ever lost under the leadership of His Majesty Davos? To look forward in the defeat of the king''s army is not the attitude a Theonian citizen should have!¡±

    Seeing the angry looks on everyone''s faces, Kalmandes quickly exined, ¡°I¡­I just hope that the army will not be too careless¡­because I have heard¡­that Rome is a mighty city-state¡­¡±

    ¡°I heard that the army going to Rome consisted of the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Legions, and the First and Second Cavalry Legions!¡± Sostratus interrupted him and eximed, ¡°That''s an army of nearly sixty thousand men! Everyone, I remember that there had never seen such arge number of soldiers even at the Battle of Crotone and the subsequent Battle of Brindisi*! So even if Rome is powerful, they could never withstand such a powerful army!¡± (the battle against the Messapi-Peuceti Alliance in the conquest of Apulia by Davos)

    ¡°Sostratus is right; we are bound to win another great victory! It''s no wonder you''re so excited, Sepernus; you must have already known about it and know you''ll get many cheap Latin ves and make a fortune! So what are the rest of you still hesitating about?!¡­¡± With Dicaeapolis adding fuel to the mes, the atmosphere in the hall immediately became lively.

    The merchants announced their intention to personally follow King Davos'' army into Latium, opening a new trading base in central Italy.

    Amidst the crowd''s noise, Phrasias'' question made everyone look at Sostratus, ¡°Head, are we, the merchants of Thurii, the only ones to follow the army into Latium?¡±

    ¡°Of course not.¡± Sostratus then said helplessly, ¡°The merchants of Rhegium¡­ they too had donated arge amount of grain to the kingdom.¡±

    ¡°s¡­¡± The crowd sighed with regret

    Tios suddenly spoke up, ¡°You don''t need to worry about that. Latium has a vastnd with many city-states, so even if there are more Rhegian merchants toe, there will still be enough profit for us. Additionally, their merchants were mostly involved in shipment trade, warehouse and lodging services(this is due to Rhegium''s special geographical position, which is poor and narrow but is the most important trade route in the Mediterranean), while we earn our profits through tangible goods. On the contrary, we can strengthen our cooperation¡­¡±

    ¡°Tios is right. I have heard that the coastal city-states in the Latium region have small and poor ports due to ack of economic development and stagnant trade. Thus it would be better to give them to the Rhegians for expansion and management since they are the best at running them. My men and ves could also stay in their inns and have them take care of the shipment, saving me a lot of work¡­¡± Sepernus'' words lifted the gloom on the merchants'' faces.

    The inclusion of the Rhegian merchants indeed had little effect on most Thurian merchants. Still, it did affect a few of them, such as the transport and shipping trade, whichpetes directly with the main business of Sostratus.

    But Sostratus is ambitious and confident. He had long had his eye on the shipping business of the Rhegian merchants, wanting to expand and upgrade his own fleet and expand his foreign channels through poaching and acquisition. Unfortunately, Rhegium had previously been a free city, and the Rhegian merchants were inseparable and difficult to approach. But now that the kingdom had thoroughly assimted Rhegium, and the expedition had made it easier for him to approach the Rhegian merchants, he was confident that he could make significant gains.

    But for the shipbuilder Miciales, the Rhegian merchants would put him under tremendous pressure, as he facedpetition from King Davos''s inws, Alkibiades.

    During Miciales'' cousin Enanilus served as Navarch of the Theonian Navy, Davos invited Alkibiades to build a shipyard in Thurii. Then, Enanilus'' poor management, which led to a decline in the quality of the warships and the ordinary ships they produced, allowed Alkibiades'' shipyard to take arge share of the market. Furthermore, Enanilus'' downfall further unnerved their shipbuilders and workers, allowing theirpetitors to poach them.

    By the time Miciales took over, the shipyard¡¯s efficiency couldn¡¯tpare to the past. However, with his determination to run the yard strictly and improve its technology, the quality of the ships improved dramatically, allowing them to regain some market share. Still, they were far from being able topete with Alkibiades'' shipyard. But by this time, the Ministry of Military had begun cing orders from Miciales while bluntly telling him it was the King''s will. As a result, the others believed that King Davos had forgiven Enanilus'' family, so they also began to approach Miciales, leading to a considerable increase in customers and bringing their family, with decades of shipbuilding history in Thurii, back to life.

 Chapter 747: Thuriis Chamber of Commerce (III)

    Although they are grateful to Davos, Miciales and his people analysed why he has reached out to them. Besides showing that the king treats all the people of Theonia equally and has no intention of deliberately excluding the original Thurians, it may also have something to do with the fact that Rhegium is only a free city of Theonia. And although Agnes, Alkibiades'' sister, is Queen Consort of Theonia, Rhegium was still not fully integrated into the kingdom. And with how shrewd King Davos is, he wouldn''t make the mistake of letting the Rhegians take over most of the shipbuilding industry in the Kingdom of Theonia, let alone monopolise the production of the warships needed to secure the kingdom''s coasts. After all, even the Ministry of the Military had handed the orders for weapons and armour not only to Tios but also to several weapon shops.

    Having understood this, Miciales actively cooperated with the Ministry of Military to improve the warships they built, resulting in their shipyard producing the first fast trireme warships currently used by the Navy.

    ¡®But now that Rhegium hadpletely merged with Theonia¡­¡¯ Miciales began to get a headache whenever he thought about it. However, he quickly recovered because, from what he had observed over the years, King Davos was fairly impartial in his dealings and didn''t be too biased just because Alkibiades was his brother-inw. Moreover, he had worked well with the Ministry of Ministry over the years and believed King Davos would treat him fairly in the Latium region.

    ¡®It is a fairpetition!¡¯ And Miciales wasn''t afraid because apart from the advantage of being a Theonian citizen and a native of Thurii, he had also worked a lot with the Theonian Akademia, often providing inspiring schrs with necessities and a ce to experiment. And some of the things they invented also helped him to improve the technology and efficiency of his shipbuilding, and they also produced some special new ships, like the fast trireme warship and the irond warship currently being tested¡­

    Suddenly, a servant entered and reported to Sostratus, ¡°Master, Agemus has arrived.¡±

    ¡°Hurry and invite him in!¡± said Sostratus hurriedly.

    The crowd also looked outside the hall.

    ¡°Everyone, I apologise for beingte!¡± With this rough and slightly blunt Greek ent, a tall, muscr middle-aged man strode into the hall.

    Agemus, formerly known as Agum, was a native of Bruttii. He began trading in medicinal herbs after Bruttii was absorbed into the Theonia Union, and his tribe, in order to survive, had entrusted him with the task of selling the herbs they gathered on the Consentia teau to the Thurii market in exchange for food and other necessities the tribe desperately needed. But through his honesty and ingenuity, as well as his cooperation with Theonia''s medical school and his tireless efforts to expand his channels, he became the most prominent herb merchant in the kingdom of Theonia and settled in Thurii. He even changed his name to Agemus to show that he has fully integrated into the main culture of the kingdom.

    ¡°There''s no need to apologise, Agemus. We just thought that you were dealing with something important.¡±

    ¡°That''s right.¡± The others also took the initiative to spare him. After all, Agemus had always arrived early in the previous gatherings.

    ¡°Regardless, I am stillte. I would like to host a banquet tonight to apologise to everyone!¡± Agemus said straightforwardly.

    ¡°Agemus, no one would argue with you paying for tonight''s banquet!¡± Sepernus eximed, making everyoneugh.

    Agemus'' openness and willingness to help others made it possible for Agemus, a foreigner, to join the Thurii Chamber of Commerce. Because as long as Agemus knew that the merchants here or their rtives were ill, he would send good, fresh herbs ording to the physicians'' prescriptions as soon as he heard of it.

    ¡°I''ve long wanted to host another banquet for everyone,¡± Agemus smiled. Then he said, ¡°I waste because Lord Arpenst of the Ministry of Military has approached me and asked me to ensure an adequate supply of herbs for the army''s expedition to the north. And I think today''s meeting should be about His Majesty Davos allowing us Thurian merchants to apany the army.¡±

    ¡°Looks like you already know, which saves me the trouble of repeating it,¡±ughed Sostratus.

    ¡°Agemus, with your excellent medicinal herbs, no other herb merchants canpete with you once your herbs arrive in Rhegium!¡± Sepernus eximed with envy.

    ¡°Although no onepetes with me, there is also no one to buy.¡± Agemus shrugged his shoulders and said with seriousness, ¡°After all, it would take time for the Theonian physicians to treat them and prescribe the medicine¡­¡±

    While everyone was discussing, the servant returned and whispered a few words into Sostratus'' ear, causing him to frown. Then he said, ¡°Everyone, Aenepias has arrived!¡±

    ¡°Aenepias always arrivedte that I don''t even know how he became a famous stone merchant in Thurii!¡± Sepernus snarled.

    ¡°Wasn''t that because his family had long been involved in stone quarrying and carving, so they had many experienced stonemasons and skilled sculptors? Then, they umted much wealth easily by taking advantage of the kingdom''s rapid expansion and the vigorous construction of public works in various cities. Otherwise, if it''s just him¡­¡± someone scorned.

    As head of the Chamber of Commerce, it wouldn''t be good for Sostratus to judge the other members, so he just digressed and said, ¡°Apanying Aenepias is Leocrates!¡±

    ¡°Why did hee?!¡± Dicaeapolis was surprised.

    ¡°My guess is it was about us following His Majesty on the expedition,¡± Tios replied uncertainly.

    ¡°This is the reward His Majesty Davos has given us, the merchants of Thurii! They are simply delusional if they want to gain benefits when the Crotonian merchants haven''t contributed anything to the kingdom!¡± Phrasias retorted.

    His words aroused the anger of the other merchants.

    Miciales then asked suspiciously, ¡°This is supposed to be confidential, so how did he find out?¡±

    ¡°Aenepias must have told him!¡± Sepernus used.

    ¡°Aenepias shouldn''t know about what we are discussing today,¡± Kalmandes defended the stone merchant since they were original citizens of Thurii.

    ¡°Confidential?! So how did Agemus know about it?!¡± Sepernus retorted.

    ¡°Anyway, today''s important meeting is for our Chamber of Commerce, which is inappropriate for outsiders to attend,¡± Dicaeapolis looked at Sostratus and suggested.

    Sostratus nodded.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°My apologies! My master says he is currently discussing important matters with his guests and has no spare time to meet with you today.¡± Outside Sostratus'' residence, Sostratus'' servant spoke politely with a look of refusal.

    On hearing this, Aenepias immediately shrugged and said helplessly, ¡°There''s nothing I can do about it since they don''t want to see you at the moment.¡±

    Without a trace of resentment, Leocrates calmly said, ¡°My promise remains valid regarding your wish to supply stone and statues for the great arena in Crotone, which is to be built with donations from our Chamber of Commerce.¡±

    Aenepias'' face lit up with joy upon hearing that.

    Leocrates suppressed his reluctance and left.

    As head of Crotone''s Chamber of Commerce, Leocrates knew that King Davos had allowed merchants to follow his army into Latium, thus providing them with considerable business opportunities. ¡®Obviously, the Thurian merchants were unwilling to share this opportunity with others, but¡­ since the Thurian merchants could get such an opportunity by donating grain, Crotone''s Chamber of Commerce could do the same¡­¡¯

    With that in mind, Leocrates paused, nced back at Sostratus'' residence, and thought of another critical issue. Unlike Thurii''s Chamber of Commerce in the centre of the kingdom, the Crotonian merchants couldn''tpare with them in terms of overall financial resources since they had experienced the destruction of their city, resulting in their inability to donate such arge amount of grain to the kingdom¡­ ¡®Perhaps we should contact Scylletium and Terina''s Chamber of Commerce¡­raise funds to donate a muchrger amount of grain than Thurii''s Chamber of Commerce, which would allow us to get permission to travel to Latium! But we must do this immediately since the army''s departure shouldn''t be that far off!¡­¡¯

    When Leocrates thought of this, he became so anxious that he began to run.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As Davos'' court herald and chief intelligence officer, Aristias was a member of Davos'' inner circle, a man many influential statesmen wouldn''t dare underestimate. However, he usually kept a low profile, living in a small residence no different from themoners. Aristias'' courtyard is a square with a pool and garden in the middle; the main building faces south, with the ves'' quarters on one side, Aristias'' study and living room on the other, and the courtyard entrance to the south¡­ it is pretty simple.

    The only redeeming feature was that the courtyard was situated at the southern foot of the King''s Hill, allowing him to reach the pce or the King''s residence quickly to pass on important information to Davos on time. At the same time, it also provided him with a great deal of security as the pce guards patrolled continuously throughout the day.

    But Aristias'' brother, Antrapolis, thought differently, ¡°Brother, your residence is too ordinary! If others saw it, they wouldn''t believe that one of the most important officials in the kingdom lived here. There is absolutely no need for you to suffer like this!¡±

    ¡°I''m just a court herald, not an official, so what''s the point of all this luxury? And I could just live in the vi for a while when I get tired of living here.¡± Aristias said dismissively.

 Chapter 748: The Aristias Brother

    Living in a vi is a recent trend in the Kingdom of Theonia. It began when Davos built a vi on a hill near the Thurii hot springs. Davos would then take his family there to escape, rx and soak in the hot springs during the hottest part of the summer, much to the children''s delight.

    After experiencing the asional banquet, the statesmen and officials discovered the benefits of living in a vi. As a result, the sparsely popted, barren and inessible northern mountain region soon became sought after, with the wealthy and renowned citizens of Thurii lining up at the Ministry of Agriculture to purchasend. It reached the point where Thurii''s local council had to pass aw restricting the excessive sale of mountains in the territory of Thurii. And besides limiting the size of the vi on the mountains avable for sale, they also did not allow the trees in other areas to be cut down at will.

    For that reason, the citizens of Thurii began to eye Amendra, Besidiae and Roscianum, near the core of Thurii, which soon forced the local councils of the three cities to restrict the sale ofnd in the mountain ranges¡­ Eventually, the trend swept the kingdom, prompting the Senate to create a provision in thews of the Kingdom of Theonia for the sale of mountain ranges and the construction of vis.

    Antrapolis only showed his concern in this way because he knew that his brother was someone who couldn''t be persuaded easily. He had even tried to convince Aristias to suggest to His Majesty Davos that he be transferred from the post of Chief of Intelligence to that of an administrative officer, believing that his brother could have a brighter future with his talent. But he sternly refused and warned him not to mention it again.

    When Antrapolis stopped talking, Aristias asked, ¡°Why did youe here today?¡±

    ¡°Brother, can''t I juste to see you?!¡± Antrapolis dissatisfiedly.

    ¡°O, Antra hade.¡± With a friendly cry, a woman came out of the main building.

    ¡°Sister-inw!¡± Antrapolis responded with respect.

    The person who came out was Azune, Aristias'' wife.

    ¡°You haven''t visited us for so long,¡± Azune said, pretending to criticise him.

    ¡°Sister-inw, it''s not that I didn''t want toe, but I got assigned to different ces these past few years. And after I returned from Hiponionst month, I was busy with various handover procedures¡­ and I just finished them today, which is why I am here.¡± Antrapolis hurriedly exined.

    ¡°Since you rarelye, let''s have dinner together tonight! I''ve already asked my servants to prepare it, and you should also take sister-inw Cerias with you. After all, Lileiya (Azune''s daughter) misses her brother Antichus, and we''ll finally have a wonderful family gathering tonight!¡±

    After Azune had said this enthusiastically, Antrapolis looked at his brother since he rarely threw a party in their home.

    But Aristias quickly said, ¡°Since your sister-inw has already said that, send your servants to bring your wife and son.¡±

    Azune smiled charmingly at her husband. Then she said, ¡°Queen Cheiristoya had some urgent things for me to do, and I''ll be back in the afternoon. So you two should talk slowly first.¡±

    ¡°Okay, sister-inw. You can go about your work,¡± Antrapolis smiled as he watched Azune leave with two female ves.

    Although he was a statesman of the Senate, he treated Azune with such deference not only because she was his sister-inw but also because she was once Cheiristoya''s personal ve and now her right hand, attending to the queen''s businesses, allowing her to earn the trust of Davos'' household. What''s more, Aristias was the trusted retainer of King Davos, so Antrapolis was right to say that his brother was an important official in the kingdom. But Aristias and his wife usually keep a low profile and rarely interact with others. So even though many statesmen and city praetors held prominent positions, they couldn''t match the couple''s words in the hearts of the increasingly powerful King Davos.

    The usually cold Aristias appears gentle to his wife, leaving Azune to make decisions about family matters. There were even rumours telling how Azune was the one to take the initiative to pursue him, with Queen Cheiristoya acting as matchmaker to bring them together. And Antrapolis believed this rumour because it was likely that his brother would still be single due to his indifferent personality.

    Antrapolis pretended not to see the smile at the corner of Aristias'' lips as he looked at the departing Azune. Afterwards, Antrapolis said, ¡°Brother, I havee because of an important matter and wanted to ask your opinion.¡±

    Aristias immediately turned serious and said, ¡°Come, let''s discuss it in my study.¡±

    ¡°Brother, I n to respond to His Majesty Davos'' call to follow the army to the Latium region,¡± Antrapolis said as soon as they arrived in the study.

    Davos had offered these opportunities not only to the merchants who had donated grain to the kingdom but also to the kingdom''s statesmen and officials who were temporarily without relevant posts and could only fill idle positions. He hoped they would volunteer to apany the army on the Latium expedition and hold the various positions in the conquered territories to stabilise those areas quickly¡­

    Aristias didn''t seem surprised, nor did he show any sign of shock, and only asked softly, ¡°Why did you decide to go to Latium?¡±

    ¡°Brother, you should know that when I returned to Thurii after my term as Praetor of Hiponion ended, the Kingdom''s Civil Service Management Committee gave me a good rating for my performance in Hiponion. However, I lost out to Bagul in the race for the Praetorship of Consentia. And at the moment, the praetorship and other high positions in the various cities of the kingdom have been filled, and I don''t know when I''ll be able to get a position again. So I thought¡­ I might as well follow His Majesty Davos to Latium¡­¡± Antrapolis told his honest thoughts.

    ¡°Isn''t there still a vacancy for the Praetor of Roscianum?¡± Aristias asked.

    ¡°Could you still call the Praetor of Roscianum a city praetor?! I don''t want Lysias to keep dictating what to do!¡± Antrapolis shook his head and said.

    Some years ago, Davos created the Thurii region to consolidate resources and emphasise Thurii''s position as the kingdom''s centre, incorporating Besidiae, Roscianum and Amendra into the region. Furthermore, their praetors became under the jurisdiction of Thurii''s praetor, Lysias, who had been a praetor of Thurii for many years. Lysias'' reputation was so high that most of these praetors dared not disobey his orders.

    ¡°Actually, I was going to suggest that you go to Latium after His Majesty announced that option in the Senate, but I didn''t expect you to make a decision so quickly,¡± Aristias said with a look of relief. Though Aristias rarely kept in touch with Antrapolis, he had always paid attention to his brother''s performance in politics.

    ¡°You supported my decision?!¡± Antrapolis became firmer in his decision but still said with concern, ¡°What worries me now is that Latium is too far from the centre of the kingdom. It''s in such a remote location that I wouldn''t receive any attention if I served there. And if I stayed there too long, I would miss other good opportunities. Also, it is difficult to govern that ce since it is filled with foreign races and not adjacent to the kingdom, so in case of uprising¡­¡±

    After listening carefully to his brothers'' words, Aristias said slowly, ¡°You needn''t worry about being forgotten, for as far as I know, His Majesty attaches far more importance to Rome than you can imagine. He had asked me to set up channels to get information against Rome even before the South-Italian War. Then, after the South-Italian War, he increased his investment in gathering Roman intelligence and asked me to report to him every two months on Latium''s situation. And in the second half ofst year, His Majesty even asked me to report to him as soon as there was any new situation in Rome¡­ Did you know that in the military conference room of the pce, there is a map of Italia and Sicily made of y?¡±

    ¡°I know since I heard it was made beautifully!¡± Antrapolis nodded and replied.

    ¡°Of all the models of the other city-states, the model of Rome is thergest and the only one made of red y, which makes it quite eye-catching. This shows how much more importance His Majesty attaches to Rome than even Carthage. I''m afraid he''s taking the administrative officials on this expedition, something he had never done before, because he wants to make both Rome and her Latin allies territories of the Kingdom of Theonia. Hence you shouldn¡¯t worry about being forgotten by the Kingdom when you get there¡­¡±

    Once Aristias had said this, Antrapolis'' worries disappeared as he understood that with King Davos'' attention, the kingdom''s resources would be heavily tilted towards Latium, which would naturally guarantee security.

    ¡°Antra!¡± Aristias then said with a serious expression, ¡°Since you have chosen to take a risk rather than settle for mediocrity, you must not fear hardship once you arrive in Latium! You must learn more about the customs of the various tribes in the region, work hard to find out how to govern the ce well, and build up your reputation there¡­ so that by the time the kingdom has fully integrated Latium, you will be the most knowledgeable statesman there is! That way, when an important position in Latium bes vacant or an important crisis arises, His Majesty will think of you first, just like Bagul of Lucania or Sedrum of Bruttiii! Remember, you missed a great opportunity in Catania over a decade ago, so you must not miss it again!¡±

    Antrapolis understood what his brother meant about missed opportunities. After Theonia had upied the southeast of Sicily, he became a statesman and Praetor of Catania since he was born and bred there and led the great uprising against Syracuse. On this basis, he should have gradually be the voice of Sicily in the kingdom and a major figure in the Senate, but hisck of administrative experience led to him wasting it.

    Now, with Aristias'' expectations, he felt the pressure, but at the same time, he cheered up, saying sincerely, ¡°You don''t need to worry, big brother! I will no longer miss it this time!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The second month of the year is already the rainy season in Thurii. The drizzle that falls for most of the day nourishes the city and keeps the people cheerful as they prepare to go home at dusk after a busy day since the drought that swept across Magna Graeciast year has increased the people''s appreciation and love of rain.

 Chapter 749: The Trainee Judge Pleka

    Pleka was a little preupied while returning from the port''s court. His usual habit would have him stop at the port market, which always had a carnivalesque atmosphere at dusk with acrobats, dancers, jugglers andedians¡­ performing to attract visitors to the market while stallholders set up a variety of small, exotic handicrafts or aromatic foods while shouting to attract customers¡­ the port market had be the ce for street performers and stallholders from dusk untilte afternoon, as well as a ce for the people of Thurii to wander around after dinner.

    Pleka used to stop here to listen to the bards, taste the sea fish fried in olive oil and buy some herbal porridge that smelled of mint or thyme¡­ but today, he just kept walking until he finally left the market.

    In front of him were rows of magnificent temples, from the initial temple of Hera to the temple of Heracles, the temple of Apollo, and even Amara, the goddess of snow and the mountains of the Bruttians, and Asinu, the patron god of the Lucanians¡­ The people of Thurii called this area ¡®thend of the gods'', where the temple mes always burned, and many worshippers came even during the day (they couldn''tpare with the temple of Hades, of course). When most worshippers had left, the temples would regain their majesty and emptiness at dusk.

    The prayers of the priests to the gods in the various temples echoed in Pleka''s ears as they passed through the thick stone walls and towering corridors, soothing him slightly but not slowing him down. But he stopped once he passed through the temple of Hera, for he saw the in white carriage and heavily armed pce guards parked outside the temple. He knew that it was the Queen Consort of Theonia and High Priestess of Hera, Agnes, who was about to return home.

    To show his respect, Pleka decided to stand still, and many people, like him, watched as the beautiful and kind-hearted queen consort waved to them with a smile before boarding the carriage and leaving.

    Continue north, and you will enter the outer city of Thurii. A foreign merchant who came to do business in Thurii once remarked, ¡°The inner and outer districts of Thurii are like the nobility and themoners, one embodying elegance and order, the other liveliness and vitality, yet both so harmonious that there is no conflict or contradiction¡­¡±

    But what the foreign merchant failed to understand was that: The formation of Thurii''s inner and outer districts of the cities was not caused by differences in identity and status but by differences in the time the people joined the kingdom.

    The inhabitants of the Inner District joined the Theonia Union before the kingdom¡¯s foundation. On the other hand, the inhabitants of the Outer District joined the Union mainly after the kingdom''s foundation. Since the inhabitants of the Inner District joined the Union during its founding, they had more opportunities to participate in the Union''s governance and wars, allowing them to earn more rewards. As a result, most of the citizens of the Inner District were either statesmen, officials or army officers. Naturally, they have made great sacrifices for Theonia''s survival and development, with 1/5th of the citizens of the Inner District either dead or disabled in battle.

    The outer district also had many statesmen among its citizens, most of whom joined the kingdom after its foundation, and most came from southern Greece, eastern Sicily and the Apulia region. Many citizens also became officials and military officers of the kingdom through their own efforts, including Pleka. As a result, many of the citizens, preparatory citizens and freemen who had just settled in the Outer Districts weren''t jealous of these important figures, as they all hoped to be like them through their own efforts.

    And with thews of Theonia and the strict control of the Ministry of Inspection, the Outer District was orderly since those who wanted to make a living in the kingdom usually didn''t break thews that would hinder their future. As a result, the Outer District is much more orderly than many Greek city-states. Nevertheless, the Outer District has too many residents of different origins, such as citizens of the Kingdom, freemen and Greeks from other city-states. There are also other ethnic groups from different ces, making it difficult to manage and prevent contradictions and conflicts. Furthermore, the matters would be either tooplex or too trivial, which is also a headache for the judge of Thurii.

    In times of peace, Pleka would walk the streets of the Outer District, as he liked to observe the people chatting on both sides of the road, trying to determine which were Theonian citizens, which were foreigners, what their upations were, where they came from, and what their personality traits were¡­ perhaps it was due to his upational disease as a judge.

    He had umted a certain amount of experience in understanding people through his long observations. Now, he could even tell the Theonians and the freemen apart at a nce without even thinking about it.

    Theonians were physically strong and walked with great vigour, thanks to their meat diet and long years of military training; they also followed the advice of their physicians to avoid unnecessary injuries and colds. In addition, they were always well dressed, wearing leather sandals when they went out (many people in the Greek city-states went barefoot), and they liked to decorate their chitons with various medals, which was an important source of respect and boasting to others. They also spoke loudly,ughed merrily and were naturally optimistic, as if no difficulties could defeat them, which is perhaps the temperament of citizens of a great kingdom. Of course, their Greeknguage was difficult for visitors from other Greek city-states to understand since the kingdom¡¯s several mixed ethnic cultures influenced them¡­

    Pleka''s residence was next to the Persephone Arena. The properties near the arena were cheaper since it wasn¡¯t popr due to the noise during the day, inevitably affecting the people living there. In particr, since it''s almost March, the rugby matches have started in various cities of the kingdom, and the festival for the fans to revel in has arrived. And since Pleka has just be a citizen of Theonia, he has no choice.

    When he reached the neighbourhood of his home, he had to keep on stopping to return the neighbour¡¯s greeting. Only during this time would he leave his troubles behind as he enjoyed the respect of his neighbours. After all, he had worked his way up from the bottom to be a trainee judge in the kingdom despite his humble beginnings as a ve. And since Theonia is a kingdom where the rule ofw prevails, a judge is undoubtedly one of the public positions that themon people respect.

    As he walked through the alley, he heard several neighbours who were part of the reserve legion talking gleefully about the army''s imminent attack on Latium, so he walked even faster to get home.

    ¡°You''re back!¡± His wife greeted him and took Pleka''s rucksack.

    Pleka nodded and entered the courtyard.

    ¡°Master!¡± Then two ves, a man and a woman, greeted him respectfully.

    Pleka nodded at them with a serious expression and entered his house. Because Pleka didn¡¯t have enough money when he got married, his house wasn¡¯t a two-storey, and after saving enough money to renovate his home, he had to buy a ve to take care of his pregnant wife. Then, earlyst year, he saved again to buy a male ve to look after hisnd, but the ve was almost useless because the droughtsted for more than half a year.

    ¡°Where''re the kids?¡± Pleka asked with concern.

    ¡°Emira took them out to y for an afternoon, and they immediately fell asleep after eating some porridge,¡± said his wife. Then she asked, ¡°Oh, dinner''s ready. Shall we eat while it''s still hot?¡±

    After Pleka nodded, his wife Kusniya quickly ordered the ve to go and bring the food to the table.

    Pleka looked down and saw that the food was arge pot of oatmeal porridge with gourd and peas, causing his eyebrows to furrow. It wasn''t that he was picky, but he''d been eating this stuff for a month now, so he was getting a bit tired of it.

    Kusniya, seeing her husband''s dissatisfaction, quickly said, ¡°There''s some sheep''s milk and cheese left; how about I take it out?¡±

    Pleka knew they were reserving the goat''s milk and cheese for the children, so he just waved his hand.

    ¡°Shall I go to the market tomorrow and buy some wheat, grind it into flour and make some bread?¡± Kusniya asked again.

    ¡°There''s going to be another war soon, so the price of wheat on the market is high now, and there''s no point in spending that kind of money. Since we still have a lot of beans and gourds in the cer, we must hurry and eat them before they go bad,¡± Pleka said, sighing inwardly. He had almost wiped out his savings because of the more than half a year of drought, and if it hadn''t been for these vegetables he had harvested after renting his fields, he would have had to go to the bank and take out a loan to buy food. It''s already good that they still have some food.

    Having thought about it, he scooped up a spoonful of the sticky porridge and put it in his mouth.

    ¡°I have good news for you. We have nted all the wheat in the field today!¡± Kusniya said cheerfully to make her husband happy.

    As a Theonian citizen, Pleka owned one acre ofnd, a small amountpared to many older citizens. However, it is still not easy to take care of thisnd, so it was clear that the male ve he had purchased had finally been of great use, but that only reinforced his decision.

    ¡°Kusniya, I have something to tell you.¡± Pleka looked at his wife as he solemnly said, ¡°I have decided to follow the army His Majesty led to Latium!¡±

    ¡°You''re just a reserve soldier, and you haven''t even joined the Reserve Legion, so will they let you in?!¡± Although Kusniya thought her husband wanted to join the battle, she wasn''t panicked, just slightly confused.

    ¡°I will not fight against these foreign races. Rather, His Majesty has called upon us idle civil servants to volunteer to follow the army to Latium and help govern the conquered territories, so I have decided to enlist.¡±

 Chapter 750: Bidding Goodbye

    ¡°Could it be to be a judge in Latium?!¡± Kusniya was surprised and panicked, ¡°Latium is so far away, and there is a war going on; it''s too unsafe for you to be a judge there! And¡­ and our children are still so young, and I am all alone to look after them¡­¡±

    ¡°Niya, I know you will have a hard time on your own once I leave for Latium.¡± Pleka continued solemnly, ¡°But this is a good opportunity for me! It''s been almost half a year since I became a trainee judge and worked as an assistant in the courtroom, but I''m afraid it would take another two or three years before I could be an official judge. Besides, I would need to wait again for a vacancy before I can be the presiding judge of a town to hear and handle cases on my own¡­ I was born a ve in a conquered city-state, and I don''t have a wealthy family I can rely on, nor does my former master have a high position to help me, so I''m on my own! And I can only do what others won''t! Although going to Latium is dangerous, it might allow me to take charge of a city''s court. And if I do well, I might even attract the attention of His Majesty Davos, who is fighting in Latium¡­ and perhaps one day I can be like Lord Tritodemus and wear the white and ck trimmed chiton (i.e. be a statesman)!¡±

    Kusniya could only stare nkly at her husband. Although she knew that her husband worked very hard, she had never thought that her scrawny Libyan husband had such big ambitions¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the chieftain''s residence in Abellinum, Garni had just sent off the Theonian envoy, Carias, when his trusted follower, Maigum, entered the living room. Seeing Garni leaning heavily on his chair, he wondered what he was thinking, so he quickly asked, ¡°Chieftain, did the Theonian envoye to ask us to attack Lesguk?¡±

    Since the Samnites dered war on the kingdom of Theonia, the people of Abellinum had the hardest time since they were caught in the middle.

    The high priest of the Samnites hade to Abellinum to reaffirm to Garni the ancient and sacred tradition of the Samnites, and he was even relieved to see Garni swear a solemn oath in the name of Savoni before he left. So the people of Abellinum began to fear that the Theonians would ask them tounch an attack on their own people, forcing them to break the ancient traditions and would surely get the condemnation of all Samnites.

    Garni shook his head and said, ¡°The Theonians did not ask me to attack Lesguk, nor did they ask for passage through our territory.¡±

    Maigum, relieved, then asked confusedly, ¡°If the Theonians are so understanding, what are you still worried about, Chieftain?¡±

    Garni sighed, ¡°The Theonians believe since Lesguk remained unfriendly to Theonia and started this war, he had not only harmed Theonia but us, Hirpini as well. So they hope¡­I would rece Lesguk from power and be the Great Chieftain of the Hirpini, thus restoring peace between Hirpini and Theonia¡­¡±

    Maigum''s eyes lit up as he eximed, ¡°Chieftain, that''s a good thing! With Theonia''s support, you can easily regain the position of great chieftain of Hirpini that is rightfully yours!¡±

    Garni smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Maigum, that would go against tradition! Moreover, Lesguk has the full support of several other tribal chieftains and high priests, so his position as the great chieftain is secure!¡±

    ¡°Tradition?!¡± Maigum grunted in exasperation, ¡°Wasn''t it against tradition when Lesguk moved some tribes into our territory and tried to make them the chieftain?! If he could do it, why not us? He has repeatedly tried to oust you as a chieftain because he has the support of several other great chieftains and high priests. Without the help of the Theonian, Beneventum would have already absorbed Abellinum! This time he has taken advantage of the war between Theonia and Carthage to incite the various tribes to war against Theonia, and once the Theonians are defeated¡­Chief, I am afraid we must flee to Theonia with our people!¡±

    On hearing this, a hint of ruthlessness appeared on Garni''s face. But he still hesitated, ¡°I, too, want to oust Lesguk from his position as Hirpini''s Great Chieftain! But how? Do we really have to take advantage of Beneventum''s empty defences and lead a surprise attack on them?!¡±

    ¡°Chief, that would only make the other tribes hate and reject us even more.¡± Maigum stepped forward and suggested, ¡°Lesguk has incited the tribes to war against Theonia, but he hasn''t reaped any benefits yet. Instead, many of our warriors had died or were wounded¡­ so could it be that these tribes have noints against him? Especially our Hirpini tribe, I have heard that several thousand have been captured¡­ now that the Theonians are supporting you, Chief, I think they would dly hand over those several thousand warriors to you.¡±

    It was as if Garni had been struck by lightning when he heard this. After pondering for a moment, he said cautiously, ¡°We must discuss this matter¡­ Also, tell the Theonian envoy to stay in Abellinum for two more days since I have something important to discuss with him.¡±

    While Carias went to Abellinum, Tapirus arrived in Nuceria in Campania. He went there also to express Theonia''s willingness to support Kinduk, a Caudini chieftain friendly to Theonia, to be the great chieftain of the Caudini.

    Though Kinduk was at odds with Segobani and had repeatedly imed that Segobani had used deception to take away the position of Great Chief of the Caudini that should have been his, he made his refusal clear when Tapirus met him and imed that Nuceria would not dere war on its friendly ally Theonia, nor would it vite tradition by turning its sword against its own kind and that Nuceria would remain neutral in this war.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As soon as the sun rose, Davos got up, which also woke up Agnes immediately.

    ¡°It''s still early; you can sleep a little longer.¡± Davos concernedly covered her with the raised nket.

    ¡°How can I still sleep when you are about to leave?!¡± Agnes grumbled, then called out towards the outside.

    Then the ve who had been waiting outside had immediately brought water and a washcloth. And the two of them began to wash and dress.

    Then, Agnes sat down at the dressing table,bed her hair, and put it in a bun. Davos then stepped forward and helped her tie up her hair.

    ¡°Your Majesty, this would be the first time little Cro would go into battle, so you must take care of him!¡± Agnes reminded, concerned.

    ¡°You can rest assured since he''d be with me, he won¡¯t fall in any danger.¡± Davos smiled andforted her.

    ¡°Your Majesty, you need to take care of yourself too!¡± Agnes lifted her head and looked at Davos with concern.

    Davos nodded and leaned down to give her a passionate kiss on her beautiful smooth cheek.

    The couple then went downstairs and into the dining room, where they saw Cheiristoya and Crotokatax waiting.

    ¡°Croto, did you sleep wellst night?¡± Davos asked with a smile.

    ¡°Father, I couldn''t sleep at first, but then I unconsciously fell asleep. Mother even hade to wake me up in the morning¡­¡± Crotokatax said truthfully, feeling embarrassed.

    ¡°You''ve done much better than me since I couldn''t even sleep at all back then¡­¡± Davos encouraged Crotokatax by making fun of his past self.

    ¡°Croto, you will follow your father on this expedition, so why are you nervous?¡± Cheiristoya interjected.

    ¡°Mother, I am not nervous; I am just excited because I am finally going to a real battlefield!¡­¡± Crotokatax argued.

    ¡°What''s the difference between nervousness and excitement¡­¡± Cheiristoya replied unconsciously.

    ¡°Let''s eat our breakfast first. Otherwise, the food will get cold!¡± Agnes interjected.

    ¡°Hurry up and eat your breakfast. Martius and Henipolis are still waiting for us at the foot of the hill.¡± After Davos said this, the dining room fell silent again.

    Crotokatax quickly ate his meal, drank the bowl of goat''s milk, chewed arge piece of honey bread and ate a piece of fried fish¡­prompting Agnes to say, ¡°Cro, eat slowly!¡­¡±

    But Cro still ate his breakfast in one go, walked out of the dining room, took his armour from Ribaso and began to put it on.

    Davos, on the other hand, was still in the dining room,forting his two wives and assuring them that he would take good care of their son.

    Soon after, Davos also donned his armour, handed his son the helmet with a long ck plume, and then hugged and kissed his two wives goodbye.

    ¡°When Eunice, Apox, Brintes and Aviya wake up, tell them I will bring them many gifts when I return from Latium¡­¡± Davosughed and mounted the horse.

    ¡°Mother! Mother Agnes! I am leaving, but rest assured that I will return safely!¡± Crotokatax also embraced them while saying goodbye before following everyone on his horse.

    Under the protection of ten pce guards, their party galloped down the hill.

    Cheiristoya and Agnes watch the father and son''s backs as they leave, unwilling to return inside¡­

    At that moment, the sky was still grey, and the moon was hanging in the sky, with a few faint stars still visible.

    The cold of the early morning drove away their drowsiness and made Crotokatax full of energy, and he couldn''t help but ask, ¡°Father, when we reach Latium, will I have a chance to fight the enemy?¡±

    Davos had already considered this question, so he replied without hesitation, ¡°Yes!¡±

    Seeing that Davos wasn''t being perfunctory, Crotokatax''s spirits rose as he hurried ahead, quickly reaching the foot of the hill.

 Chapter 751: Expedition to Rome

    ¡°Your Majesty!¡± The three closest followers of King Davos: The Captain of the Pce Guards ¨C Martius, the Court Clerk ¨C Henipolis, and the Court Herald ¨C Aristias, stood respectfully outside the gate and waited.

    ¡°I''ve kept you all waiting.¡± Davos jumped off his horse. Then he looked at Martius and asked, ¡°Have you arranged the guards that would stay to defend the pce and my residence in my absence?¡±

    ¡°ording to my previous report, I would leave behind half of the guards (i.e. 250 men) under themand of Seraphinus. They would be the ones to ensure the safety of the pce and the royal hill, as well as the royal family,¡± Martius replied.

    Davos nodded and walked over to Seraphinus, standing behind the three of them, and said sincerely, ¡°The safety of my family would depend on you!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, you can rest assured that I will sessfully fulfil the task you have given me!¡± Seraphinus confidently said while making a military salute.

    Davos involuntarily nced at Seraphinus¡¯ left hand, which he used to make a military salute.

    Seraphinus, a member of the mercenary expedition to Persia, was a senior officer in the First Legion and a close friend of the current Legatus of the Ninth Legion, Tagetinus. After having his right hand wounded severely during the battle against the Syracusan allies when the First Legionnded in Sicily over a decade ago, he tried to have it get treated. But the treatment was ineffective and left him disabled. That should have him discharged from the army, but he expressed a strong desire to remain, and after much difficulty, Davos chose to make him an officer of the pce guard. After all, the chances of the pce guard fighting an enemy in battle were slim, and he didn¡¯t need to fight the enemy at all. Still, he had to bring his extensive battle experience and strict military discipline to the pce guard. And so far, he has performed excellently, so Davos agrees to Martius giving him authority over the remaining guards.

    Davos firmly patted him on the shoulder to express his confidence in him, then turned towards Aristias.

    Although Davos just looked at him and said nothing, Aristias understood what the king expected of him. Davos wants him to keep a close eye on the whole kingdom while he is away, to work closely with the pce guard and the constables to ensure that the king''s power remains secure and his family safe, and to report any irregrities to him immediately, even if he is as far away as Latium.

    Aristias once again bowed to Davos without saying anything.

    Finally, Davos looked at Henipolis and asked, ¡°Heni, are you ready to write a phenomenon Battle of Latium?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, I have prepared enough papyrus and ink,¡± Henipolis replied cleverly, making Davosugh.

    ¡°Then let''s go,¡± said Davos.

    Martius led two hundred and fifty pce guards to surround Davos. Then Davos, apanied by Crotokatax and Henipolis, sped towards the northern gate while Aristias, Seraphinus and the rest of the pce guards watched them.

    ¡°Salute!¡± shouted the guards at the north gate in excitement.

    The guards scrambled to turn the wheel to open the gate, then stood straight on either side.

    ¡°You''ve worked hard, Timias!¡± Davos called the garrison officer''s name urately and responded to their military salute while mounted, which thrilled both the garrison officer and the guards.

    Davos had to leave so early because some of Thurii''s residents were just waking up, so the streets in the outer district are sparsely popted and almost free of traffic.

    The rumbling hooves of the horses shattered the tranquillity of the outer district, but the cavalry was gone by the time the curious residents came out to investigate.

    ¡°It''s the pce guards!¡± The people looked at the soldiers'' uniforms and urately assessed, ¡°His Majesty Davos must be among them!¡±

    ¡°Since His Majesty Davos has left for the military base so early, we shouldn¡¯t dawdle any longer and finish our breakfast quickly, so we can hurry to the military base and see the army off!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Since there were so many soldiers on the expedition this time that they exceeded the capacity of Nike Square in Thurii, they decided that the military base in Thurii would be the army''s final assembly and departure point.

    Davos arrived at Thurii''s military base by dawn. At the Grand Legatus'' quarters, he summoned the various officials of the Ministry of Military, as well as Matonis ¨C the Legatus of the Second Legion, Olivos ¨C the Legatus of the Fourth Legion, Giorgris ¨C the Legatus of the Fifth Legion, Thratyllus ¨C the Legatus of the Sixth Legion, and Izam ¨C the head of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade. He then ordered them to check the enlistment status of each legion, the morale of the soldiers, the weapons and equipment they were carrying, whether they had five days'' rations, whether the auxiliary units of the legions were fully manned, the maintenance of the siege and defence equipment, and whether the logistics camp was adequately equipped¡­

    While Davos was discussing the expedition with the senior army officials, Crotokatax, led by Tolmides, was meeting with the staff officers assigned to Davos by the army staff. They were basically officers from various legions who had excelled and then got assigned to the army staff for a year or two, so they were basically in their mid-twenties. And since Crotokatax had been on the army staff for over a year, he knew most of them well.

    Everyone chatted excitedly about their expectations of the war. But in such a lively atmosphere, Crotokatax forgot that he had nned to visit his big brother Adoris at the Second Legion camp before they left.

    Then again, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to speak to Adoris even if he had gone since the sound of the salpinx had already woken up the soldiers in the base. After a quick breakfast, the soldiers skilfully packed their armour and rations, tied it to a special wooden staff and carried it over their shoulders, wearing only a short-sleeved chiton and short swords at the waist. Meanwhile, they had left their long shields, spears and javelins at the legion''s logistics camp to be transported, making it easier for them to cross the mountainous areas with less effort and faster during the march.

    As dawn broke, most of the kingdom''s statesmen arrived at the camp, some led by the five rotating speakers of the Senate, Cornelius, Sedrum, Vespa, Lysias and Androlis. They hade both to see King Davos and the army off and dere they would do their utmost to ensure the kingdom''s government ran smoothly while he was away on his campaign.

    While another small group of statesmen, such as Asistes, Antrapolis, Nachus and Teriphias, were prepared to lead many willing kingdom officials to follow the marching army into Latium. In fact, they could have taken therge convoy of the provision-carrying fleet that left the port yesterday and headed south, bypassing the Strait of Messina and eventually to Volsci. But since even the most distinguished king, Davos, had chosen to march with the army, they certainly couldn''t show their timidity over hardship and difficulty, which would leave a bad impression on the kingdom''s ruler. So they decided to follow the logistics camp north.

    When dawn finally broke, Davos delivered the pre-march oath in front of nearly forty thousand soldiers on the great drill ground of Thurii''s military base. Crotokatax listened to his father''s speech for the first time on such a grand and solemn asion and was overwhelmed with excitement as he joined the soldiers in raising their arms and shouting, ¡°All hail King Davos!!! Victory to the Kingdom of Theonia!!!¡­¡±

    As the army began to leave the base, the people of the kingdom, especially those of Thurii, waited on both sides of the road to send their loved ones off to battle, as they always do. They shouted affectionately and reverent wishes for a glorious victory for the kingdom, and for their glory and great rewards. The line to see the army off stretched all the way to the mountain pass town, cheering them and even scattering flower petals on the ground as if they had already returned triumphant.

    ¡°That''s why the kingdom is strong!¡± In the middle of the procession, Davos whispered to his son, who followed him.

    Crotokatax nced at the cheering people on both sides of the road and nodded.

    At the beginning of the third month of the fourteenth year of the Kingdom of Theonia (379 B.C.), King Davos personally led the Second, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Legions, part of the First Cavalry and the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade, a total of forty thousand men, on a westward march through the mountains to Laos and then, in a group of ships, to the region of Latium. In fact, this procession also included some statesmen and about two hundred low-ranking officials of the kingdom, a team of about six hundred engineers, craftsmen, cksmiths, etc. from Thurii, as well as the logistics camp and a unitposed mainly of countless reserve citizens asbourers. As a result, the entire army seemedrge and bloated.

    On the other hand, the merchants of Thurii and Rhegium,den with military supplies, sailed through the Straits of Messina, detouring around the west coast of Italia to meet King Davos'' army in Latium.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As Davos'' army marched towards Latium, the Spartans in Greece gathered an army and nned to regain control of Thebes. At the same time, the Gerousians were shocked and worried to learn that the Athenians had been directly involved in the Theban uprising. If the two powerful city-states of central Greece were to reunite, they would severely hamper the Spartans'' n to regain control of Greece.

    So the two Spartan Ephors immediately rushed to Athens and angrily confronted the Athenians, asking if they were prepared to tear up the King''s Peace treaty and go to war with Sparta.

    Although the Athenians were unhappy with Sparta and secretly supported the Theban rebels, they couldn¡¯t do anything against them since Sparta had not only regained its strength with Persia¡¯s help but had also ceased fighting in Asia Minor, allowing them to devote all its energies to the fight for hegemony over Greece. As a result, all the Greek city-states felt the pressure: Spartapletely took control of the Peloponnesian Penins, even Corinth and Argos became obedient and didn''t dare make any unusual moves, the northern Greek city-states became its allies, while the Spartans had utterly messed up central Greece.

 Chapter 752: Carthages Reaction

    In such a situation, the Athenians did not believe that they and Thebes could stand up to the mighty Spartans alone. So, after urgent consultations between the Boule and the Council, Athens decided topromise in the face of the aggressive Spartan Ephors.

    The Athenian government, having immediately recalled the two Athenian strategoi who were in Thebes, held an lesia to try them on the charge that they, to whom the people of Athens had entrusted a position of authority, had entered Thebes without the permission of the Athenian government and fought against the Spartans, thereby endangering Athens¡­ which is a dereliction of duty and treason.

    Although most Athenians privately supported the actions of the two strategoi, they didn''t want to go to war with the mighty Spartans at this time. So, against their will, they voted to give the two men the harshest of punishments ¨C execution, to quell the Spartans'' wrath.

    The Gerousia were relieved to hear of Athens'' actions once the satisfied Spartan Ephors returned. Now, they had only one enemy to focus on, Thebes.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When news of the crushing defeat of the Carthaginian army and the Iberian navy reached Carthage, it sent shock waves through the poption. While the Carthaginian high officials mourned the heavy losses of the Sacred Band, the elite families wept bitterly over the deaths and injuries of their children. They became furious at the ipetence of the army''s suprememander, Muntebaal, that they demanded Muntebaal¡¯s removal and brought back to Carthage, where he would be tried by Carthage''s Hundred and Four and sentenced to the cruel ¡®crucifixion''. (The criminal''s hands and feet were nailed to a wooden cross and left to bleed to death in the sun.)

    Faced with the people''s wrath, Hanno didn''t defend Muntebaal and allowed the Senate to pass the resolution.

    Having dealt with this issue, the Carthaginian Senate began a heated debate on the advancing Theonian army.

    Then the newly-appointed Shophet, Eshmounadon, boldly proposed, ¡°My lords, it seems that the Theonian army and navy are too strong, and it was our mistake to venture into war with Theonia without adequate preparation. Therefore, we should consider making temporary peace with Theonia to rescue the captured Carthaginian citizens and prevent our defencelessnds in western Sicily from beingpletely upied by the Theonians¡­¡±

    The Senate went into an uproar upon hearing Eshmounadon''s words. Even Pretasdrubal had to stand up immediately and rebuked loudly, ¡°It''s only been a month since the war began, and yet we Carthaginians want to surrender?! I cannot believe our elected and honourable Shophet would make such an absurd suggestion! Our Carthage is no small city-state; we''re the leader of all the allied Phoenician city-states in the western Mediterranean! Not only do we control many vast territories, such as Sardinia, Corsica, Numidia and southern Iberia, but we also monopolise the trade in precious metals throughout the western Mediterranean, making us the most powerful and wealthiest city-state in the west Mediterranean!

    What will the people of the regions we control, and the city-states and allies that depend on us, think when you ask us to surrender to Theonia, a city-state founded less than twenty years ago?! They will believe that Carthage is no longer powerful! And they would turn their backs on us and even sound the trumpet of revolt, like the Numidians! So we must fight the Theonians until we are victorious, now that the war with them has begun!¡±

    Pretasdrubal''s thought-provoking words riled up many elders.

    Suddenly, Palteshmoun stood up and said seriously, ¡°Lord Eshmounadon and all the elders here want us to win against Theonia. However, the current situation shows that the Theonian army is so strong that they only need to send fewer troops than us but could still inflict heavy losses on our army! They also have the advantage in the navy!¡­ So we must admit that Theonia is far superior to us militarily, and we are unprepared to face Theonia. But Carthage is now in this difficult situation because some have incited the popce for their own personal gain! So I suggest we first investigate those who advocated the war and put them on trial so the Senate won¡¯t fall into chaos when making new decisions!¡­¡±

    After Palteshmoun said that, Pretasdrubal immediately retorted, ¡°My lords, could it be that our soldiers and navy are not brave and powerful enough?! No! It is because ourmander is ipetent! So how could the Iberian army led by Hasdrubal manage to conquer Cephaloedium while the army Muntebaal led was defeated badly at Minoa when they were both fighting in Sicily?! I heard that instead of going around the camp to know his troops and soldiers, Muntebaal enjoyed liquor and scoured for beautiful women every day after arriving in Lilybaeum. Moreover, instead of going to the battlefield to oversee the attack on Minoa, Muntebaal simply stayed in his tent to drink and enjoy himself! So how could he possibly devise an effective battle n to defeat the Theonians?!¡­¡±

    ¡°So sentencing Muntebaal to death by crucifixion is justified! Muntebaal deserves to die!¡± an elder shouted angrily.

    As a result, many of the elders expressed their resentment towards him. Even Hanno became extremely unhappy with Muntebaal that he intensely hated how he had misjudged him, resulting in the whole political situation turning against him.

    During themotion, someone shouted, ¡°Pretasdrubal, since you say that Carthage''s defeat by Theonia was due to themander''s ipetence¡­ Who do you think can lead the Carthaginian army and defeat the Theonians?!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Hanno immediately turned to look at the person speaking, and it turned out to be a high-ranking member of the Magonids faction, causing him to curse softly, ¡°Shameless!¡±

    Hanno then heard Pretasdrubal exim, ¡°Elders, I assume you have all heard of the Lusitanians in the western part of the Iberian Penins and the Celts in the mountains to the north-¡±

    Although most of the Carthaginian elders had yet to go to Iberia, they had learned much about the situation there through Mago''s conquest of southern Iberia over the past few decades. It was reported that these two races were closely rted to the southern Iberians but were more savage and ferocious and lived and died in battle.

    Seeing that he had attracted the attention of many elders, Pretasdrubal said solemnly, ¡°These two natives of Iberia have made several incursions into our territories in southern Iberia, but the army led by Lord Mago has repulsed them. You should know that the Carthaginian army in Iberia consisted of mercenaries and a fair number of Carthaginian citizens and allied Phoenicians. Yet such a mixed army can still defeat such a fierce enemy and conquer a vastnd for Carthage. So how could the Carthaginian army, with a more elite Sacred Band and more soldiers, lose to a much smaller Theonian army?!¡±

    Pretasdrubal looked around at the crowd and raised his voice, ¡°This is because only a lion-likemander can lead an army to be as brave as a lion! While amander who is as weak as amb will not be able to bring out the best in his soldiers, even if he leads the best army! Esteemed lords, it is clear that the only one who can lead the army to be as fierce as a lion and win the war against Theonia in Carthage is the Iberian governor, Lord Mago!¡±

    Although many knew that Pretasdrubal would eventually name Mago, no one disagreed with him once he had said it. Even his opponents had to admit that no one couldpare to Mago in terms of military talent and achievement.

    Over the past decade, Carthage has not been in a state of peace and tranquillity. Instead, they have been actively conquering Numidia to the south of Carthage, and after their conquest, they have asionally had to suppress Numidian rebels. However, since the various tribes of Numidia had been subjected to economic control, cultural infiltration, alienation and bribery by the Carthaginians for over a century, there was simply no way for them to form a united alliance to repel the Carthaginian attack. As a result, the intensity of the war remained somewhat controlled and far fromparable to the difficulties Mago faced in conquering the unfamiliar southern Iberian region. As a result, Muntebaal, who had performed well on the Numidian battlefield, was utterly defeated by the Theonians once he arrived in Sicily.

    ¡°Unfortunately, most of the troops Mago led weren''t Carthaginians or Phoenicians¡­¡± Eshmounadon said sombrely, saying out loud what the elders were worried about.

    Hearing that caused Pretasdrubal to sneer, ¡°Do you think Lord Mago doesn¡¯t want more Carthaginian citizens in his army?! No! It''s simply because we couldn''t provide enough citizens to conquer the natives of Iberia! What''s more, we are facing the Kingdom of Theonia that can muster more than a hundred thousand soldiers at once, but can we with our situation?! We can''t! We are already mourning the loss of thousands of Sacred Band soldiers, so what can we use topete against Theonia? We can only rely on mercenaries and foreign armies!

    Everyone should know how Sparta only had a few citizens, and for hundreds of years, they relied on soldiers of their allies and different races to fight and be the hegemon of Greece. But they never feared that the foreign troops under their control would rebel! And Persia, in what battle did they not lead more foreign soldiers than their own? But this has allowed Persia to build a powerful and prosperous empire! Not to mention how Lord Himilco included many Numidians and Celts in his army against Syracuse a dozen years ago! So why are we now worried about these foreign soldiers fighting for us and maintaining Carthage''s prestige in the western Mediterranean? Is it because Carthage has be internally fragile and unable to adapt?!!¡±

    Hanno took Pretasdrubal''s final rhetorical question with a grain of salt since he was not afraid that the Iberian armies were mostly mercenaries and foreign troops. On the contrary, what worried him was that the Carthaginian Senate wasn¡¯t paying them and were instead paid directly by the Magonids with the wealth they earned on the Iberian penins. So in that sense, the Iberian armies could be considered the private armies of the Magonids, which worried Hanno the most!

 Chapter 753: Carthages New Supreme Commander

    For that reason, Hanno believed many neutral elders would oppose the appointment of Mago as the Carthaginian army''s suprememander, but he couldn''t make this reason public.

    Over the years, Mago repeatedlyined to the Senate about the army''s struggles against the numerous and fierce Iberian natives. So he hoped to expand the military and also requested Carthage to increase the soldiers'' sries to ensure their morale.

    So, Hanno urged the Senate to agree to Mago''s military expansion but continued to dy the payment of sries. He cited that the continuous war in Numidia had strained the national treasury and asked Mago to find ways to manage the situation on his own.

    At the time, Hanno gloated at the thought that even if the Iberian natives failed to defeat Mago, the mercenaries under him would revolt forck of money and food.

    But to his surprise, Mago managed to survive. He not only conquered the vastnds of southern Iberia but also allowed his n to live a prosperous life, something Hanno deeply regretted.

    Though many elders didn''t know the inside story, some elders who weren''t part of either faction were stirred by Pretasdrubal''s words.

    Palteshmoun could only remind them, ¡°The Theonians have captured many of our citizens, and our army in Sicily is in a critical situation¡­ If we continue to fight them, it will only worsen our army''s situation, which is a total indifference and irresponsible attitude towards our citizens!¡±

    ¡°I believe it would be more irresponsible for us to propose a truce and negotiate peace at this time, as it would allow Theonia to concentrate on wiping out their powerful enemies to the north, Rome and the Samnites. They would then expand their territory, increase their poption and make their kingdom more powerful! Compromising would not only betray our allies but also miss a great opportunity to unite andunch a joint attack against Theonia. This would only make Theonia''s already threatening presence even more difficult to deal with! Eshmounadon, do you think the Theonians would forgive us for breaking our previous treaty and stop the war just because we stopped fighting them?! Think of Taranto! Think of Syracuse! Once the Theonians have secured the north, they will be able to raise an army of over a hundred thousand to attack western Sicily! Once they have taken ournds there, they could take a naval transport tond in Africa and attack here in full force! Attack Carthage!¡±

    Pretasdrubal then looked at the crowd and said, ¡°Esteemed lords, you can send someone to negotiate a truce if you want Carthage to be a free city of Theonia!¡±

    Pretasdrubal''s words went so far as to plunge the somewhat noisy hall into silence.

    After a while, Eshmounadon said, ¡°I object! Pretasdrubal, you are¡­you are maliciously ndering! All I ask for is a temporary truce¡­to¡­save our captured citizens!¡­¡±

    Hanno frowned at how Eshmounadon stuttered since he knew he could no longer remain silent, as it would only ce his side, which was already in a difficult position, get used by others again. Thus he stood up.

    Suddenly, all eyes focused on him.

    ¡°Whether it is Eshmounadon who demands a temporary peace with Theonia or Pretasdrubal who insists on continuing the war, it is all in the interest of our Carthage, but each has a slightly different perspective.¡± Hanno became serious and said deeply, ¡°Now Carthage is in a difficult position, our army suffered a terrible defeat and our citizens captured, and the Theonians are invading our territories in Sicily¡­ So let us work together to defeat our enemies instead of squabbling over personal grievances and ignoring Carthage''s interests! So I propose sending an envoy to Sicily to ask the Theonians to ransom our captured citizens, even if we have to pay with arge amount of grain.

    At the same time, although I have had conflicts with Lord Mago, personal gains and losses count for nothing in the face of Carthage¡¯s interest. So with Lord Pretasdrubal''s strong rmendation and most elders concurring that Mago is the most suitable candidate, I propose appointing him as the new suprememander of the Carthaginian army to lead the fight against the Theonians and bring victory to Carthage¡­.¡±

    Hanno''s words shocked Eshmounadon, made Pretasdrubal suspicious and surprised the elders of both sides, suddenly shrouding the meeting ce in a strange silence.

    ¡°p! p! p!¡­¡± Adrusbal broke the silence with his apuse, prompting some elders to follow suit. The elders, who were worried about the safety of Carthage, were relieved to see the two political parties in Carthage set aside their differences to confront a great enemy together. So they apuded Hanno without hesitation, forgetting that he had refused to let Mago join the war and had personally appointed Muntebaal as suprememander, leading to their disastrous defeat.

    Hanno breathed a sigh of relief at their apuse. Though he had made concessions to the Magonid, he had also temporarily dodged the usations of some of the elders and regained the initiative.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After their victory at the Battle of Minoa, Leotychides easily captured the Carthaginian camp. They had also seized arge number of supplies, including, of course, mountains of grain, which considerably eased the food shortages of the Theoniannd and naval armies in Sicily. The Theonian troops, in pursuit of the routed enemy, took Thermae and, after bathing in the hot springs, all returned to Minoa to prevent the scattered army from going deep into enemy territory and being attacked.

    The next day, Leotychides began reorganising his troops, treating the wounded, transporting supplies¡­ all the while keeping a close eye on the enemy''s movements.

    And so the scouts returned with the news that the routed Carthaginian forces had not all retreated to Selinus. Instead, most had withdrawn as far as Lilybaeum, with only a small number remaining at Selinus, including the remaining Sacred Band of Carthage.

    Leotychides immediately realised that this was another favourable opportunity for battle. Fearing he would scare off the enemy, Leotychides sent four thousand heavy infantry of the Eighth Legion on a transport ship, protected by the navy, tond on the beach west of Selinus to cut off the retreat of the routed troops. Meanwhile, he himself would lead a force of twenty thousand men and push west along the coastal path.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Sacred Band, led by Milkpilles, and some Carthaginian citizens opposed Muntebaal¡¯s order and remained in the city of Selinus.

    After their tragic defeat at the Battle of Minoa, most of the Carthaginian troops fled to Selinus, physically and mentally exhausted. After a night of panic and uncertainty, the despairing Muntebaal tried to lead the army westwards, but Milkpilles objected.

    As Hanno''s son-inw, Milkpilles felt that this defeat had greatly affected Hanno''s faction, so if he abandoned his allies and allowed the Theonians to invade Carthage''s jurisdiction, he would meet a terrible end when he returned to Carthage. In addition, they had to wait for some time for the return of the soldiers lost in the mountains. And finally, Milkpilles had his own pride and persistence as a son of a renowned family in Carthage.

    With Muntebaal''s prestige diminished by this defeat, some defeated soldiers willingly followed Milkpilles'' decision to stay. Muntebaal, on the other hand, angrily abandoned them after many failed attempts to persuade them and hastily retreated to Lilybaeum with an armyposed mainly of Numidians.

    Then upon learning that the Theonians had retreated from Thermae, the extremely worried Milkpress became relieved. His confidence grew even more with the continuous arrival of routed troops, which increased the strength of the city of Selinus to three thousand.

    But then, Milkpilles received news that a thousand-strong Theonian army hadnded west of Selinus.

    As he began to panic, he received another emergency report stating that tens of thousands of Theonian troops were moving rapidly westward along the coastal path from Minoa.

    Milkpilles immediately realised their goal: Selinus, where he is now, became Theonia''s first target.

    ¡®What shall I do?¡¯ After a disastrous defeat, Milkpilles found himself in a difficult position whether to lead the army to withdraw immediately before the enemy arrived or stay and defend. But since he had just sworn to Muntebaal that he would hold onto Selinus, there was no telling how Muntebaal would mock him if he were to run away before the battle even began. On the other hand, if he stayed and defended, with three thousand men in the city and the citizens of Selinus, it might be possible to hold out for a few months.

    However, some officers under Milkpilles disagreed, arguing that the soldiers'' morale was low after a defeat. Additionally,manding the defeated soldiers were challenging because they belonged to different units andcked the necessary cohesion to work effectively as a team.

    Another officer pointed out another critical issue. They must have sufficient provisions to hold Selinus, but they don¡¯t have enough reserves in the city and couldn''t support the army''s long-term defensive n.

    During the Carthaginian army''s eastward march, they had also taken Selinus'' stocks of provisions when they passed through. As a result of the Battle of Minoa, they had left all the provisions stored in the Carthaginian camp, which the enemy then seized.

    After hearing this, the inexperienced and anxious Milkpilles suddenly realises they had made a huge mistake. But it also gave him a reason to return to Lilybaeum without being criticised.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Upon hearing that Milkpilles was gathering his troops and preparing to withdraw, the officials of Selinus came to dissuade him.

    Milkpilles had to spend some time trying to persuade them. However, the barrage of words and tears from the people of Selinus made him eventually give up, so he sent his soldiers to disperse the crowd and began preparing to leave the city forcibly.

 Chapter 754: Unifying the Carthaginian Navy

    The enraged people of Selinus shouted angrily, ¡°If you Carthaginians dare to leave, we people of Selinus will surrender to Theonia!¡± And their threat had once again made Milkpilles hesitate.

    Just as the two sides began to argue again, thending soldiers of the Eighth Legion had arrived near Selinus.

    Upon hearing the news, Milkpilles immediately went to the top of the city wall and saw the enemies outside wearing ck armour. They all appeared well-organised and had high morale, reminding him of how the Theonian army had defeated and pursued the Sacred Band. As a result, he felt a chill as his confidence wavered about whether he could lead the remaining army out of the city to repel the enemy or evade the enemy''s attack and return to Lilybaeum.

    After an emergency discussion with his equally frightened officers, Milkpilles decided to stay in the city and hurriedly sent a messenger to Lilybaeum.

    The messenger arrived in Lilybaeum and reported to Muntebaal that the Theonian army had advanced on Selinus, cutting off the retreat of Milkpilles and the routed troops. He also informed that Selinus was short of food and hoped that Muntebaal could send the army to rescue them.

    After recovering from yesterday''s disastrous defeat, Muntebaal didn''t mock them as Milkpilles had imagined. On the contrary, he considered the possible punishment he would receive from the Senate and had to repair his rtionship with Milkpilles to save his meagre life. So he immediately issued a rescue order, asking the generals to mobilise the soldiers quickly, but this time he would personally lead the troops forward to rescue Selinus.

    But the time they took to prepare gave Theonia''s main force enough time to rush to Selinus. So by the time Muntebaal arrived, he witnessed the Theonian army already lined up outside the city and could only prepare to face them.

    After the sound of the salpinx, the two sides immediately engaged in battle. However, the demoralised Numidian soldiers quickly retreated. And even though the wide field allowed the Numidian cavalry to use their strength, it didn''t affect the overall situation.

    In the end, Muntebaal''s reinforcements got routed quickly, forcing them to flee hastily back to Lilybaeum. And since the Theonian army only suffered a slight loss, Milkpilles, standing atop the city wall watching the battle, stopped his n to leave the city andunch an attack.

    On the other hand, Leotychides didn''t allow the soldiers to pursue the routed enemy. Instead, he had them build camps outside Selinus to besiege the culprit that had led to more than a decade of war between Carthage and Syracuse.

    Meanwhile, Muntebaal, who had fled back to Lilybaeum, had not given up and had sent a messenger to Palermos to order Hasdrubal to lead the Iberian troops and rescue Selinus.

    Hasdrubal, who had already been ignoring Muntebaal''s orders, became even more indifferent upon hearing of the Carthaginian army''s crushing defeat by the Theonians, despite having more troops.

    Unfortunately for Milkpilles, he could only watch as the Theonian camp outside the city grewrger and stronger every day. He even heard reports from his scouts that the Theonians were building tall siege towers inside the camp, which naturally increased his anxiety.

    The only positive aspect was that the Theonian naval blockade hadn¡¯t yet tightened. Therefore, the boat they dispatched managed to avoid enemy interception and arrived safely in Carthage to request assistance.

    After a few days, the Carthaginian Senate finally stopped arguing and reached a consensus: Remove Muntebaal from his position as suprememander of the Carthaginian army and deport him back to Carthage for trial. They then appointed the Iberian governor, Mago, as the new suprememander of the army. But while he was still away, the elder Bomilcar would temporarily takemand of the military in Sicily.

    Bomilcar belonged to neither the Magonids nor the Hanno faction and was a neutral member of the Senate. However, unlike Adrusbal, Bomilcar had good rtions with the other two factions, so he won the approval of the majority of the Elders as Acting Supreme Commander.

    After his appointment, Bomilcar sailed to Lilybaeum immediately and announced the Senate''s decree to Muntebaal, who had already anticipated this oue and was then taken without resistance by the guards. After all, as the head of a prestigious family in Carthage, he would have seriously affected the future of his kin and the family''s reputation if he resisted or escaped.

    Bomilcar personally escorted Muntebaal to the port. However, before boarding the ship, Muntebaal, a grizzled veteran, warned him, ¡°¡­You must never treat the Theonians like the enemies we have faced before. Not only were their soldiers fight bravely, but their generals were also cunning. Moreover, the fighting capability of the Numidian forces is worrying, so we must remain vignt when fighting them, even if we have more troops than they do!¡­¡± Bomilcar thanked him for his reminder.

    After receiving Bomilcar''s thanks, Muntebaal let out a long sigh and said, ¡°Even after all the Senate''s worries, they still made the leader of the alien race, Mago, the suprememander of the Carthaginian army! That''s not good for Carthage!¡±

    Bomilcar watched in silence as Muntebaal boarded the transport ship. After returning to Lilybaeum, his next task was to resolve the conflict between the Carthaginian and Iberian fleets.

    Mago didn''t want the Senate to control the Iberian fleet since he had built it with the money raised by the Magonids. And thus, Adhimilk, the Magonid fleetmander, opposed having the fleet under the Carthaginian fleet, which Anibalmanded.

    Bomilcar, as acting suprememander, invited Anibal and Adhimilk to a meeting at themander''s residence in Lilybaeum. He then solemnly announced the senate''s decision: The Iberian fleet must ept themand of Anibal,mander of the Carthaginian fleet, which was the Senate''s condition for agreeing to Mago''s appointment as suprememander of the Carthaginian army.

    Adhimilk looked at Anibal, who gave him a friendly smile. But he wasn''t fooled by the smile, for he had heard Mago say that Anibal was hostile to the Magonids.

    Previously, Anibal was once close to the Magonids in the Senate, which led to his appointment as themander of the Carthaginian fleet when Himilco led the army against Syracuse twenty years ago. In that battle, he defeated Syracuse''s main fleet led by Leptines in a naval battle. But after the Carthaginian army suffered a crushing defeat under Syracuse, the troubled Himilco made a private agreement with Dionysius to survive. However, he did not inform Anibal for the sake of secrecy. As a result, Himilco and his close followers managed to escape sessfully in a dozen boats, while Anibal''s fleet was besieged in Syracuse''s great harbour, almost losing everything. He only narrowly escaped when his subordinates risked their lives to rescue him. From that moment on, he harboured a deep hatred towards the Magonids and joined the neutral faction.

    And the only reason the Senate continued to entrust him with the heavy responsibility ofmanding the Carthaginian fleet was to check and bnce Mago, who already took a tight hold on the military.

    Although Adhimilk knew of Mago''s desire to be the suprememander of the Carthaginian army, he was uneasy about bringing the Iberian fleet under Anibal. But his loss in the naval battle not long ago had worn away his stubbornness, so he didn''t dare to object outright and said, ¡°Lord Mago was the one who built this fleet with his own hands, so I cannot make the decision and must seek Lord Mago''s consent.¡±

    Bomilcar did not persist and promptly dispatched a messenger to Iberia to seek Mago''s opinion. He also sent a messenger to Hasdrubal, who was currently in Palermos, hoping the talented and promising general would lead his troops south to rescue the Carthaginian army under siege.

    Hasdrubal was so pleased by Bomilcar''s humble tone that he almost immediately decided to lead the army. But Khilletztartus, fortunately, reminded him, ¡°Who will take the credit for defeating the enemy and saving the Carthaginian army? Perhaps the Senate will think that since Bomilcar canmand us, there would be no need for Lord Mago to be the suprememander¡­¡±

    Thus, he followed the advice and did not respond to Bomilcar''s request. Instead, he continued to stay in Palermo, watching the battle unfold. And Bomilcar could do nothing about it.

    A few dayster, Bomilcar received Mago''s reply. He agreed to Bomilcar¡¯s proposal of allowing the Iberian fleet to follow Anibal''smand but requested that Anibal not interfere in the fleet''s management.

    As a result, the Carthaginian and Iberian fleets were ced under Anibal''smand, bringing the total strength of the Carthaginian navy to around five hundred and forty warships, including four hundred and thirty-two triremes, which were the main force in the battle and could be described as powerful.

    Given the critical situation in Selinus, Bomilcar promptly tasked Anibal with leading the Carthaginian fleet to escort transport ships, which would deliver provisions and soldiers from Lilybaeum to Selinus.

    By this time, the Theonian army had alreadyunched several attacks on Selinus. As a result, Milkpilles was forced to keep sending boats to Lilybaeum, seeking help. Although the Carthaginian Senate had already sent the first group of four thousand soldiers to Lilybaeum, Bomilcar did not dare lead them bynd to rescue Selinus due to the current state of the Carthaginian army. Instead, he set his sights on the sea, where Theonia''s military presence was rtively weak, to transport reinforcements to bolster Selinus'' defences and use them to wear down the enemy, draining their morale and giving Mago and his army time to arrive.

    But Anibal repeatedly refused Bomilcar''s request because they still needed to settle themand of the Iberian fleet, and it would be impossible for them to cooperate immediately on the battlefield, which could easily lead to defeat. On the other hand, the strength of the Carthaginian fleet alone is no match for Theonia''s.

    Despite the Carthaginian fleet docking at various city-state military ports at the western end of Sicily, Anibal could still track the movements of the Theonian fleet in Sicily, gaining some understanding of its strength. At the same time, he urged Bomilcar to resolve the issue with the Iberian fleet as soon as possible.

 Chapter 755: The Great Naval Battle of Selinus (I)

    Despite resolving the issue, Anibal remained motionless, prompting Bomilcar to send someone to inquire about his condition.

    But Anibal only replied that he needed some time to improve their cooperation since they had just integrated with the Iberian fleet.

    A few dayster, Anibal finally arrived in Lilybaeum and told Bomilcar that he had assembled the warships and was ready to protect his transport fleet and reinforce Selinus tomorrow.

    ¡°Tomorrow?¡± Bomilcar looked through the window at the thick cloud-covered sky, which made him uneasy. So he said hesitantly, ¡°The seasoned sailors at the port told my subordinates that after assessing the weather patterns for the past few days, they had predicted that Sicily''s southwestern waters would experience continuous rain for the next two days and strong winds and waves. These conditions pose a certain risk to the ships navigating the area.¡±

    But Anibal just replied calmly, ¡°It is precisely because of this risk that the Theonian fleet would likely hide in their port and dare not go to sea, allowing our fleet to enter the port of Selinus smoothly.¡±

    ¡°What if the Theonian fleet heads out?¡± Bomilcar asked cautiously.

    ¡°Then I would defeat the Theonian fleet!¡± Anibal said confidently, ¡°Whoever can adapt better to the sea, whoever can handle the ship better, whoever knows the sea better, will win this naval battle! And our Carthaginian sailors have the advantage!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Early the following day, the Carthaginian squadrons received orders to depart from their respective ports and hastily gather in the sea near the port of Lilybaeum. In the port, hundreds ofbourers and ves carried grain to the docked cargo ships while groups of soldiers boarded the transport ships in an orderly fashion¡­

    Countless ships crowded the port, and numerousbourers and workers were busy in it¡­such a bustling sight caught Bomilcar''s attention, but his face inevitably looked a bit nervous. He then said expectantly to the fleetmander beside him, ¡°Anibal, I will leave this caravan''s safety to you!¡±

    Anibal replied calmly, ¡°Rest assured! With us working together, we can send the Theonian fleet to the sea to feed the fish even if they appear! Don''t you think so, Adhimilk?¡±

    ¡°That''s right, General Anibal. The Iberian fleet would dly defeat the Theonian fleet under yourmand and make Lord Mago''s expedition smoother.¡± Adhimilk replied, seemingly being respectful.

    Bomilcar looked at the two significant figures in the Carthaginian fleet, causing him to frown and hesitate to speak.

    Suddenly, Anibal said, ¡°It''s getting windy.¡±

    ¡°It''s the northwest wind,¡± Adhimilk chimed in.

    Bomilcar saw the rising wave on the sea and then felt something wet on his face as he quickly reached out to feel the rain.

    In the blink of an eye, raindrops fell on the sand beneath his feet, making small holes. At the same time, he was proud of himself for having prepared the cargo fleet in case of rain.

    And because of the rain, they had to speed up the preparation. Afterwards, Sakarzidon, Lord of Lilybaeum, arrived to tell Bomilcar that the fleet was ready.

    ¡°We should also board now and get ready to depart!¡± Anibal spoke, then headed towards the nearby military port. Adhimilk followed him as the Iberian fleet was also docked there. Within the port, a unique warship was moored, Anibal''s gship, known as the twin-headed serpent.

    Even before Syracuse rose to power, Carthage had already established itself as a dominant maritime power in the western Mediterranean. All city-states in the region recognised Carthage as the leading naval force. Although Carthage had experienced both victories and defeats in the wars it participated in over the past few decades, it had never lost in an actual maritime battle. (both of Carthage''s naval losses were due to getting trapped in the ports, unable to exert its advantages.) The Carthaginian navy relied not only on itsrge seafaring poption but also on the technological advantages it had umted over the centuries. The Carthaginians have always been at the forefront of technological innovation in Mediterranean navigation.

    Especially in this particr decade, Carthage began to feel increasingly threatened by Theonia, which had reced Syracuse as the dominant Greek city-state in the western Mediterranean, particrly in terms of naval strength. Despite Carthage''s shift in development focus towards ind Africa, maritime trade remained the foundation of their prosperity and power, so it was inconceivable to relinquish their naval dominance. Therefore, Carthaginian shipwrights began developing the Quadrireme.

    The quadrireme is a taller, longer and wider version of the primary warship of the Mediterranean forces, the trireme. It has up to two hundred fifty sailors, with fouryers of rowers seated on each side. While its fastest speed is slightly slower than that of a trireme, its wide deck isrge enough to amodate many soldiers inbat, even though its heavy hull made it less agile. The Carthaginians had also reinforced its huge hull, providing additional protection in the face of collision tactics, although it rarely used such tactics inbat. Instead, it relies more on hooking itself with enemy ships and engaging in boardingbat, making the quadrireme a warship clearly designed to counter the Theonian navy.

    However, since traditional naval tactics and warships had been popr for hundreds of years, the Carthaginians adopted a cautious attitude towards this new type of warship. As a result, they had only built twenty of them so far, scattering them among various squadrons and using them as gships for various naval generals.

    But Anibal''s gship differed from other ships in the fleet, as it was a huge warship made by merging two quadriremes. Carthaginian shipwrights spent three years solving many technical problems before developing it: They had to lower the ship''s height and tightly meld the two ships from bow to stern using the strongest nks and then ce a tall structure on the wide deck to turn it into a true fortress at sea. This structure was manned by many sailors, soldiers, and archers, making it a daunting prospect for any enemy ship seeking to engage in battle. However, these modifications also affected the ship''s speed, making it sail slowly.

    The twin-headed serpent is a legendary sea monster in Carthage that is known for causing huge waves, sinking ships, and devouring crew members. The Carthaginians even used these monsters to frighten their children. And by naming their gship after this creature, the Carthaginians clearly demonstrated their high expectations for the ship and its crew.

    By the time the twin-headed serpent sailed from the military port, warships had already covered the entire sea outside. These ships go up and down under the surging tide, making it look like a floating forest. And the addition of the Iberian fleet further expanded this forest of ships, creating an even more impressive spectacle.

    Anibal then divided the huge fleet into three: The front, the middle and the rear, with his gship in the middle and the Iberian fleet in the rear, as if to show that he was impartial.

    Upon witnessing the strong winds and waves at sea, Anibal ordered the entire fleet to stay away from the coast and increase the distance between each ship. Additionally, he instructed them to lower their sails while maintaining a high degree of concentration to avoid any ships from splitting off from the fleet.

    Once the more than a dozen horns sounded on the twin-headed serpent, the huge fleet began advancing along the coast towards Selinus, with a frontal width and column length of five kilometres. And their duty is to open up a safe naval passage for the transport fleet behind them.

    But the strangest thing was that as the fleet began to sail, the winds and waves gradually subsided, and the rain stopped, which excited the crew as they believed the sea god was protecting them.

    From Lilybaeum to Selinus, thend distance was over fifty kilometres, but the sea route was even farther. Moreover, due to the wind and waves influence, the Carthaginian fleet only reached the sea near Selinus by noon.

    Anibal then ordered the fleet to stand by on the sea east of Selinus while maintaining vignce.

    Then after he gave his order, he sat in the spacious andfortable deck structure and ate a steaming hot lunch while talking to his subordinates. Despite the chilly sea breeze outside, he acted as if there was no tension of a possible war at any moment.

    In fact, Anibal still felt conflicted. He had just integrated the Iberian fleet and needed time to adjust. Moreover, they needed time to restore their morale after a recent defeat. But, as a proud Carthaginian navalmander, he was also eager to personally test the strength of the Theonian navy, which had maintained its power in the western Mediterranean for years. He hoped to demoralise them by having them taste the strength of the Carthaginian navy.

    After taking a sip of honey water, Anibal took the towel handed to him by his ve and wiped his mouth before standing up. Since he was already in his fifties, he didn¡¯t usually eat much since his digestion had begun deteriorating. However, he had unknowingly overeaten and felt slightly ufortable, so he paced back and forth to aid digestion.

    Suddenly, the captain of the twin-headed serpent came in and reported, ¡°Commander, the transport fleet has begun entering the port!¡±

    ¡°Did you find any signs of the enemy in the east?¡± asked Anibal.

    ¡°There haven''t any report.¡±

    ¡°I hope the fleet can unload the supplies quickly so we can return earlier. The weather is a bit worrying!¡± the adjutant said anxiously, ¡°And even if the Theonian fleet finds us, I am afraid they won''t dare fight us.¡±

    Anibal didn''t say anything and only watched the clouds as they almostpletely blocked the sun. Although it was still daytime, it seemed to be dusk as the drifting dark clouds turned the sky and sea dark. Even the sea and sky in the distance were the same, making it impossible to see far away. Although the rain and wind had stopped, thick water vapour filled the air.

    ¡°Urge the convoy to hurry up!¡± Anibal finally spoke.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The lookout on Carthage''s foremost quadrireme grasped the wooden mast with both hands as he strained his eyes to peer into the distance. The ominous clouds overhead made him nervous, and he silently grumbled about the captain. ¡®Why would the Theonian fleet venture out in such terrible weather? There''s no need for me to stay up here. It will be noughing matter if there''s a heavy rain or lightning strike!¡¯

 Chapter 756: The Great Naval Battle of Selinus (II)

    Suddenly, the lookout leaned his whole body forward, with his right hand and foot hooked onto the mast and his left hand on his forehead as his eyes strained to look ahead. In the distance, under the dim sky, he spotted a few ck dots on the sea¡­ After a moment, the ck dots doubled and then doubled again¡­

    The lookout''s whole body trembled, making him shout immediately, ¡°Enemy ship spotted! Theonia''s fleet is approaching!!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The news about the Theonian second fleet defeating the Iberian fleet on the north coast made Seclian feel itchy. Although he had a contribution to this naval battle victory as the fleetmander of Sicily, he disdained to snatch Flios'' credit. Unfortunately, the Carthaginian fleet never appeared on the south coast, which made it impossible for him to engage in a decisive battle.

    As thend forces prepared to attack Selinus, Seclian saw an opportunity and discussed it with Leotychides. Together, they formted a n to besiege Selinus to lure the Carthaginian fleet into rescuing them by sea, providing them with an opportunity for a decisive battle against the Carthaginians.

    And to ensure victory in the decisive battle, Seclian transferred the Second Fleet stationed at Messina to join them, bringing the total number of ships to six hundred, including four hundred and eighty-five triremes. With such a massive fleet, Seclian was convinced that the Carthaginians could not match their strength.

    Seclian also dispatched scores of scouting boats daily to the southern coast of Sicily, some even venturing as far as the western coast to assess the enemy situation.

    As the Carthaginian fleet remained idle for several consecutive days, Leotychides grew increasingly restless. Despite being a feigned attack, the Theonian army suffered casualties daily. Moreover, they had to spend long hours beneath the city wall, while the nearby Iberian army, although not strong, still caused him to worry as they were not far away. Leotychides also knew that once the several Carthaginian armies attacked simultaneously, the Theonian army, whichcked a significant advantage, would be in trouble. Therefore, he realised they could not wait any longer and had to take Selinus immediately to gain a foothold for the Theonian army to attack the Carthaginian-controlled western Sicily.

    However, Seclian objected, reasoning that if they could defeat the Carthaginian fleet, the Theonian navy could gain an absolute advantage at sea. And by taking control of the coast of western Sicily, the Theonian fleet could provide even greater assistance to thend forces.

    So he advised Leotychides to remain patient and wait longer.

    The two sides couldn''t resolve their argument until a letter from Davos and the Ministry of Military arrived.

    In the letter, Davos told Leotychides to strengthen his attack on western Sicily. Meanwhile, Davos had higher demand for Seclian, hoping he could utterly defeat the Carthaginian navy, cut off the maritime connection between Carthage and Sicily, and even threaten the city of Carthage.

    So Leotychides was forced to agree to continue the n of luring the Carthaginian fleet.

    Then early this morning, the Theonian scouts detected therge-scale gathering of Carthaginian warships in the waters of Lilybaeum.

    Upon hearing the news, Seclian felt overjoyed and ordered all warships to assemble and prepare for battle.

    But Flios worriedly reminded him, ¡°Commander, the weather at sea today is terrible!¡±

    Seclian¡¯s daringness and courageousness didn¡¯t decrease even after bing middle-aged. And after waiting for so long for this opportunity, he spoke determinedly and dered that he would not let this chance pass by and said, ¡°If the Carthaginians dare to go to sea, why not us?!¡±

    On the third day of Davos¡¯ departure from Thurii towards the north to Latium, Theonia''s fleet in Sicily encountered the Carthaginian navy on the sea near Selinus in the third month of the fourteenth year of Theonia (379 B.C.).

    Thergest naval battle in Greek history urred amidst unusual weather conditions with no winds or waves and dense dark clouds covering the sky.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Upon learning of the Theonian fleet''s presence, Anibal felt surprised yet relieved. After briefly contemting, he quickly ordered, ¡°The ships at the front will continue their current course and advance to meet the enemy. Meanwhile, the Iberian fleet in the rear will follow the frontal ships to prevent the Theonian ships from breaking through the interception and attacking the rear ships.¡±

    Anibal''s knowledge of this sea made him choose this deployment. Despite the current calmness of the sea, the weather indicated that it would soon turn rainy and windy with a high probability of a south-westerly breeze. Thus, Anibal wanted the Carthaginian ships to have an advantageous upwind position for theter stages of the battle.

    Seclian, on the other hand, didn''t consider that far ahead. So he just ced the First Fleet on the side near the coast while deploying the Third Fleet led by Flios to confront the constantly expanding nk of the Carthaginians.

    Seclian nned to use all his strength to break through the enemy in front while feigning an attack on the cargo fleet that came to reinforce Selinus. His goal was to force Carthage to retract their formation to rescue the cargo fleet, thus consuming their energy and creating chaos within Carthage''s fleet.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the sailors rowed faster and faster to the sound of the auletes'' pipe, the corvus warship at the forefront of the Theonian formation surged forward with great speed. The ship''s bow sliced through the water, causing the water to repeatedly ssh the drawbridge erected in front of the main mast, turning the twelve-meter-long wooden drawbridge into a breakwater for the warships.

    Straphacus was a Theonian navy sailor who had the proud experience of participating in the battle where the new Theonian fleet defeated the mighty Syracusan navy during the South Italian War. Currently, he was inmand of the second division of Theonia''s First Fleet, leading his gship to charge towards the fleet of the most powerful naval power in the western Mediterranean ¨C Carthage.

    However, Straphacus was far less excited than the sailors as he calmly focused on the oing Carthaginian warship. Sensing that his opponent was not approaching at full speed, the experienced officer immediately realised they were not preparing to engage in a head-on collision. Rather, they controlled their ships to manoeuvre around the front and avoid getting hooked by the drawbridge. The Theonian navy''s unique tactic was no longer a secret, especially after the Carthaginians had just suffered a naval defeat and were likely already on their guard.

    ¡°Prepare to intercept!¡± Straphacus ordered decisively.

    The drawbridge operator at the bow, the boatswain in the cabin, and the helmsman at the stern immediately repeated hismand while the rest of the crew maintained their high level of tension and focus.

    As the two warships rapidly approached each other, Straphacus looked forward as he judged the best time to take action. Then he suddenly shouted, ¡°Intercept to the left!¡±

    The helmsman swung the rudder, and the rowers on the left side slowed down while the rowers on the right side rowed faster, causing the warship to tilt to the left quickly.

    This was a dangerous tactical manoeuvre as it actively exposed the side of the ship to the enemy''s ram, which is undoubtedly forbidden in today''s naval warfare, especially for Theonian warships with drawbridges on their decks. Since the enemy ship was advancing at high speed and the distance was too close, the crew needed to maintain focus and cooperation to avoid a collision before dropping the drawbridge.

    However, Straphacus hadplete confidence in the skill and cooperation of his crew, which was the result of their rigorous training day after day, year after year.

    But despite Straphacus'' confidence in his crew, the drawbridge operators still needed to maintain a high focus as they had to turn the drawbridge quickly in response to the oing ships. The other crew members had to hastily loosen the rope tying the drawbridge to the mast, pulling on it while watching the approaching enemy ship. Everyone was panting heavily, sweat covering their faces, and the muscles in their arms bulging with tension.

    The prepared captain of the Carthaginian ships tried to evade the drawbridge, but the corvus warship ahead suddenly turned sideways, surprising him.

    At this moment, the warship had already closed in a few metres.

    So he immediately issued an order to turn the warship to the right. And the Carthaginian sailor quickly responded, causing their ship to turn to the right.

    However, they were still toote as the Theonian warship rushed in the same direction as theirs, with their speed increasing instead of decreasing.

    Then the drawbridge immediately fell, and the forty fleet infantry on board immediately rushed out of the deck, crossed the drawbridge and boarded the enemy ship.

    Anibal wasn¡¯t caught unprepared, as he had studied thebat characteristics of the Theonian fleet. During this period, he had Carthage and their allies produce many short swords for the sailors since only this lightweight andpact weapon would not affect their rowing speed. It would also give them the ability to defend themselves and counterattack.

    However, they couldn''t utilise theirrge number of sailors effectively on the narrow ships. What¡¯s worse, most Carthaginian sailorscked formal infantry training, making them unable topete with the fierce infantry of the Theonian fleet.

    On the other hand, apart from not wearing the standard equipment of the Theonian legion heavy infantry, the Theonian fleet infantry typically trains with no less intensity than them. Their training requires proficiency in thrusting short swords, shield and swordbinations, checkerboard formations, javelin and charge, and toon group. There were also two additional training exercises: fastnding operations and long-distance swimming.

    As a result, the swift attack of the well-trained Theonian fleet infantries allowed them to quickly defeat the Carthaginian sailors even though they were equipped with short swords and caused them some trouble.

 Chapter 757: The Great Naval Battle of Selinus (III)

    After dozens of their sailors got killed, the Carthaginians on this warship chose to surrender.

    However, Seclian''s determination to fight the Carthaginian fleet to the death made him order his men not to expend their energies or divide their forces in capturing enemy forces. Instead, they must ensure sufficient men to continue fighting until the battle ends.

    Therefore, the fleet infantry proceeded to sever the arms of the captured Carthaginian sailors one by one, rendering them unable to row and then withdrew from the enemy ship.

    Although many Theonian warships adopted the same tactic, only a few Carthaginian ships were captured by the corvus drawbridge since most of them managed to avoid it in time, showcasing the experience and skill of the Carthaginian navy. They were agile enough to bypass the front of Theonian ships and attack their stern instead.

    But the Theonian warship''s response was to follow the enemy in a circle while keeping its bow pointed at the enemy ship.

    As a result, a peculiar spectacle appeared on the battlefield: The ships on both sides circled patiently, with the Carthaginian ships in the outer circle and the Theonian ships in the inner circle. Logically, the Theonian sailors would use less energy and be more efficient, but the difference wouldn''t appear in the short term.

    Naturally, the Theonian warships had little room to manoeuvre since they were in the centre, giving them a difficult time to escape once another enemy ship joined the fray and rammed them. But in this naval battle, the Theonian warships outnumbered the enemy, allowing them to intercept the iing enemies and intensify their attack. This was particrly important since Seclian wanted to avoid engaging the Carthaginians in a prolonged battle due to the unpleasant weather and his unfamiliarity with the sea in the region.

    Then the second wave of attack from Theonia arrived as the fast trireme rushed into the battlefield like sharp arrows.

    Ilias, a captain of a fast trireme, had been amoner in the Corinthian port of Lechaion, with his family barely making ends meet for three generations through fishing. However, during the Corinthian War over a decade ago, Spartan King Agesus led troops to raid many ports and towns in the Gulf of Corinth. As a result, the Spartans and their allies took his family''s most valuable possessions, two fishing boats, just like they did with many other fishermen. After the war, the destitute Ilias heard about the Kingdom of Theonia''s call for Greeks to settle and obtainnd across the Adriatic¡­

    Ilias and his family were already desperate that they were about to sell themselves into very. So together with many other fishermen in the Gulf of Corinth in a simr situation, they took a risk and boarded the Theonian transport ships that stopped at the port of Lechaion to pick up refugees¡­ In the end, it turned out well for them, with Ilias even joining the Theonian navy andter bing a captain of the First Fleet because of his excellent ship-handling skills.

    The Theonian fleet had also made room for their ship due to the weather, giving the fast triremes more space to manoeuvre.

    Ilias had long eyed an enemy ship before him, engaging in battle with a corvus warship. So he gave the order to quickly rush and sneak into the enemy''s stern.

    Unexpectedly, the other side had already noticed Ilias'' ship and avoided it in time, then flexibly avoided the approaching corvus warship. After considering it would be disadvantageous to fight two enemy ships, the Carthaginian warship began to pull back to increase its distance from the slower corvus warship and then deal with the trireme without a drawbridge first. The captain of the Carthaginian warship clearly thought that as long as they weren''t facing the corvus warship, they would have assured victory in naval battles.

    After turning around, Ilias¡¯ warship began to chase after the enemy ship, with both sides quickly leaving the corvus warship behind as they sped up their rowing.

    When the captain of the Carthaginian ship noticed the enemy ship following closely behind, he shouted immediately, ¡°Turn right!¡± As soon as he ordered, the sailors immediately reacted.

    The Carthaginian captain hoped that his sudden turn would catch the fast-moving enemy ship off guard, causing the Theonian ship¡¯s momentum to move them in front and thus lead to a change in attack and defence.

    But his eyes suddenly widened as the enemy ship''s speed continued to increase as it headed straight towards him, almost as if it was flying.

    His decades of sailing experience had taught him that a trireme''s maximum speed was thirteen knots, so he based his tactics on that. But the ship behind him was clearly exceeding that speed (which was actually fifteen knots). As the Carthaginian ship had to slow down to turn, he could only watch in disbelief as the enemy''s ckened bronze ram mmed into the stern of his ship at breakneck speed.

    The Carthaginian ship, which was several tens of meters long, turned half a circle on the spot and almost capsized with a loud bang due to the enormous impact.

    The captain fell heavily to the deck. Then, ignoring the pain, he rushed to cling to the mast beside him.

    On the other hand, the sailors in the cabin fell down and shouted in terror, followed by the helmsman''s shrill scream. He didn''t have enough time to escape, resulting in a shattered nk piercing his chest and blood sttering everywhere. He did not survive.

    With the warship¡¯s stern shattered, the seawater began to pour in through the breach.

    The Carthaginian sailors no longer wanted to row, and the experienced ones immediately grabbed their oars, rushed onto the deck and jumped into the sea.

    After colliding with the enemy ship, the fast trireme made a half circle to confirm the result. Then Ilias loudly announced, ¡°Brothers, we sank one!¡± resulting in cheering that immediately filled the cabin.

    ¡°Captain, a big ship ahead!¡± Eximed the lookout on the mast.

    ¡®A big one?!¡¯ Ilias was taken aback. Then he immediately realised that the shiprger than a trireme could only be the rumoured quadrireme.

    Although he had never seen it, the Theonian Ministry of Military spared no effort in collecting and studying Carthage''s military intelligence, as they considered them their strongest enemy. Hence, they were naturally aware of the new achievements of the Carthaginian navy in recent years and had conducted a specialised analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of this new ship, which wasrger and taller than the triremes. Then they gathered the captains of the various warships so they could study and understand the new warship.

    So Ilias immediately thought of a countermeasure, ¡°Avoid it and find another target since this bulky quadrireme cannot catch up with us!¡±

    But the lookout on the mast continued to report, ¡°The quadrireme had turned. It is heading for the corvus warship diagonally ahead of us, which is currently engaged with an enemy ship!¡±

    Ilias became tense since he knew the Carthaginian quadrireme had fifty to sixty infantry who could engage in boarding battles. Now that the corvus warship in front was entangled with an enemy ship, they would fall into a dangerous situation once they got attacked again.

    So Ilias decisively ordered, ¡°Head straight in full speed, catch up with that big ship!¡±

    The sailors, still ted from their victory, immediately began rowing with great vigour, causing the warship to leave an arc of water in its wake as it elerated forward.

    It didn''t take long for Ilias to see the full extent of the Carthaginian warship: its broad hull was two metres taller than his own, withyers of oars protruding from the middle of the ship''s side, resembling a skirt for the warship. He could also faintly see a dense concentration of oarsmen inside¡­

    Ilias carefully counted and found that there were indeed fouryers of oars.

    The Carthaginian quadrireme did not evade the approaching Theonian warship, even though it could clearly see it. Instead, it continued fearlessly towards the corvus warship in front of it.

    ¡°Rush forward! Break its oars!¡± Ilias ordered calmly. He didn''t order the ship to ram the quadrireme because he remembered Seclian emphasising that this warship had a reinforced hull that could withstand few impacts.

    So Ilias thought he wouldn''t be able to sink it and would instead be attacked by the enemy boarding unit because he was so close to the enemy ship.

    The warship''s speed reached thirteen knots and was still increasing as it quickly caught up with the enemy ship.

    The helmsman nervously controlled the ship''s rudder, making sure that the warship faced the right side of the enemy ship''s hull without deviation.

    ¡°Retract the oars!¡± At Ilias''mand, the oarsmen quickly retracted the oars as the warship lurched forward with momentum, ready to glide past the enemy ship.

    Unexpectedly, the Carthaginian sailors also retracted their oars quickly and skilfully, even though they had more oars. In addition, the archers on the enemy''s deck shot arrows at Ilias'' warship while throwing over a dozen hooks with ropes.

    Unfortunately for the Carthaginians, the Theonians did not install ship railings on either side of the fast trireme''s deck in order to increase its speed. Therefore, besides the mast, there were no other locations for the hook to attach to.

    On the other hand, the arrow they shot hit the lookout at the top of the mast, causing him to fall straight to the deck. Then several arrows went through the gap in the middle of the deck and fell into the cabin, causing several screams.

    As a result, the Theonian sailors became flustered.

    Luckily, the fast trireme was so quick that it was past the enemy ship before the enemy archers could fire the second round of arrows.

    After leaving the cabin, Ilias immediately ordered the ship to turn around and get ready to attack again.

    But the Carthaginian quadrireme ignored them and remained on course, continuing to head towards the corvus warship ahead.

    The infantry of the corvus warship had already rushed out of the enemy ship''s cabin and was returning to their ship. However, they did not have enough time to dodge, as the quadrireme ship was only about ten meters away.

    Suddenly, another lookout from Ilias'' ship excitedly shouted after climbing onto the main mast, ¡°Captain, another fast trireme! The other fast trireme is about to collide-¡±

    Before he could finish, Ilias heard a bang, and the massive hull of the quadrireme in front of him shook as if it had sneezed, halting its movement and bringing the sailors aboard to a screeching halt.

    Although the massive hull of the quadrireme blocked their view and made it impossible to see the situation on the other side of the enemy ship, Ilias knew through his lookout that theirrade had bravely rammed the enemy warship.

 Chapter 758: The Great Naval Battle of Selinus (IV)

    Unfortunately, their risky approach had also put them in a dangerous situation, as the enemy ship didn''t capsize, and they quickly restored order.

    Then Ilias saw numerous spear-wielding infantry surge from the enemy ship''s deck.

    ¡®The enemy will jump on their ship!¡¯ Ilias'' heart tightened as he remembered Navarch Seclian''s words from their training, ¡°The army often says that we in the navy only know how to fight individually and don''t know what it means to work together¡­ but they don''t know anything at all! Skilfully handling the ship to defeat the enemy requires close cooperation between the captain, helmsman, sailors and lookout!

    In our fleet, the corvus warships were the bears, bravely and straightforwardly clearing all obstacles. The fast triremes were the wolves, with their quick and agile movements, seizing the opportunity to ram enemy ships fiercely. And the fast sailing ships were our horses, delivering orders and messages in time. So all ships had to work closely together to fight the enemy and ensure victory in naval battles.

    But I have even higher requirements in my fleet: In battle, all ships must support each other and fill any gaps. If anyone sees theirrades in trouble and doesn''te to their rescue, I, Seclian, will make sure that the captain of that ship will never be a Theonian citizen once I find out about it!¡­¡±

    ¡°Full speed ahead! The target is the hull of the enemy quadrireme! Prepare to collide!¡± Roared Ilias as he gritted his teeth.

    ¡°Double speed!¡± Shouted the boatswain.

    The Auletes took a deep breath and puffed out his cheeks as he yed the pipe non-stop.

    Despite their exhaustion, the sailors'' expressions showed excitement, ¡®We are going to sink that huge warship!¡¯

    Thus, they rowed again with numb hands, and the warship''s speed soared rapidly.

    Ilias watched as the enemy ship before him grewrger in his eyes. After shouting, ¡°Brace for impact!!¡± Ilias quickly and tightly grabbed the mast.

    When the sailors in the cabin heard the warning, they immediately let go of their oars, bent down and grabbed the bronze rings on either side of the ship''s seat.

    Amidst the enemy''s screams on the quadrireme, the ship rammed hard into the hull.

    With a loud bang, the ship''s hull shook violently, resulting in the Carthaginian infantry, who were standing on the deck ready to jump down towards the Theonian warship, to be propelled by a huge force, causing many of them to fall directly into the sea.

    The bronze ram of the fast trireme shattered the enemy ship''s reinforced hull but could not widen the gap any further because of the additionalyer of nks inside. Although it was cracked, it didn''t break open and only allowed seawater to seep in slowly.

    Upon seeing the situation, Ilias immediately ordered, ¡°Reverse! Reverse!¡­¡±

    They must detach from the enemy ship while the enemy on board is still panicking and then collide again. Otherwise, he would fall into the same predicament as theirrade.

    But even the Carthaginians quickly reacted by shooting arrows just as the Theonian sailors began to row backwards.

    Due to the close distance, Ilias couldn''t dodge in time and got hit by three arrows. Then with a muffled grunt, he fell into the cabin, where the boatswain promptly supported him.

    The arrows also hit the sailors in the cabin, causing them to scream and confuse the other sailors.

    ¡°Don''t panic! Let''s row back first! Auletes!¡­¡± Shouted the boatswain loudly.

    Then the high-pitched sound of the pipe muffled the groans, calming the sailors a little.

    Just as they began to row, they heard another loud scream from the enemy ship, followed by a loud bang and another tremendous shaking of the enemy ship, the force of which was transmitted to the Theonian ships still attached, sending the sailors tumbling about in disarray.

    The shock brought Ilias back to consciousness. As the captain of the warship, he wore a leather helmet and armour as per regtions, and the leather armour had blocked the two arrows that hit his chest, though he had sustained some minor wounds. However, the arrow that had pierced his arm made him faint due to the pain.

    ¡°What¡­what happened?¡± He asked in pain.

    ¡°It''s the corvus warship! It struck the deck of this enemy ship!¡± The lookout slid down from the mast and reported.

    ¡°Captain! The enemy ship is damaged, and the water is flooding in!¡± The lookout on the front mast also ran in and reported excitedly.

    It turned out that they and the other fast trireme on the other side rendered the Carthaginian quadrireme immobile. Then the corvus warship saw a chance to strike and rammed into the enemy''s bow. The impact was so strong that it pushed the damaged hull towards Ilias'' warship again, resulting in a muffled rattling sound as the bronze ram pierced the bilge¡­

    As a result, the Carthaginian sailors fled in panic.

    ¡°Quick! Quick! Row back!¡­¡± Ilias eximed urgently.

    Just as the sailors began to row backwards, several Carthaginian soldiers jumped onto the deck in panic.

    After putting some distance between his ship and the enemy''s, Ilias ordered his sailors to grab their wooden oars and, using their superior numbers, drove the Carthaginians into the sea.

    Finally, Ilias could breathe a sigh of relief and then felt a sharp pain in his arm.

    The boatswain quickly came over and cut off the arrow shaft with his short sword. As for the arrowhead, they could only wait until the battle ended and have the medical camp on the shore to remove it.

    Suddenly, the enemy ship in front began to tilt to the left, and its crew jumped into the sea one after another¡­

    Ilias sighed, seeing the situation, ¡°That is indeed a good ship! But it is unsuitable forbat¡­¡±

    ¡°Captain, look!¡± The boatswain reminded.

    Ilias turned his head to see a fast triremeing out from behind the enemy ship, heading straight for them. After quickly identifying the number drawn on the other ship''s side and the people on the deck bowing to him, Ilias immediatelyughed and said, ¡°And here I am wondering who is so bold. Turn''s out it''s him!¡±

    Ilias bore the pain, raised his right hand and returned the military salute.

    Then the corvus warship also turned around, its captain standing on the deck and saluting as well¡­

    Behind the three trireme warships, many of the struggling crew of the Carthaginian quadrireme floated in the sea as half of the ship sunk.

    Although the three captains didn''t shout, excitement lingered in their hearts. After all, even though they hadn''t discussed it beforehand, they still managed to work together to sink this huge ship, which was a great honour!

    After facing each other, the three ships each quickly searched for their next targets to attack¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The warship of Theonia''s First Fleet advanced fiercely to attack the Carthaginian fleet. Soon, the two sides became entangled, with the First Fleet holding the advantage. Then in just ten minutes, the Theonians managed to break through the column of the Carthaginian advance fleet, forcing the Iberian fleet to join the battle. However, this just-defeated fleet fared even worse against the Theonian ships.

    Half an hourter, the foremost warship of Theonia''s First Fleet broke free of the Carthaginian fleet and charged directly at the cargo fleet not far behind.

    Since the cargo fleet was loaded with food and soldiers and consisted of three hundred ships, the port of Selinus could only amodate some of them at a time. As a result, the ships had to line up outside the port.

    Thebourers in the port sped up their work due to the weather conditions. However, they didn''t expect the Theonian warship to rush over so quickly, which immediately frightened the various shipowners in the fleet. In their panic, they instructed the sailors to quickly sail their ships into the port to avoid the enemy''s attack.

    The sudden rush of ships caused the entire cargo fleet to be disorderly, resulting in congestion outside the port and causing some ships to capsize due to collisions¡­

    Upon receiving the scout''s emergency report, Anibal, who was on the fleet''s nk, was taken aback. He thought he had enough time to deal with the Theonian fleet by deploying enough warships to the front, but in less than an hour, he found himself in a disadvantageous position.

    But he couldn''t scold the front and Iberian fleet for their ipetence since even the fleets in the nks and centre also experienced pressure from the Theonian warship''s attack, despite his location having a slight numerical advantage.

    Flios decided Theonia''s Second Fleet to adopt an offensive tactic despite receiving the order to defend the nk.

    Although the massive hull of the twin-headed serpent gship caused Theonian warships to retreat, its slow speed and rough manoeuvring made it unable to catch up with enemy ships, so it stayed out ofbat and gradually became a safe zone in the fleet.

    Anibal stood atop the deck structure, observing the battles around him. He was surprised to see the effective cooperation between the smaller, faster Theonian trireme and the corvus warship, which significantly damaged the Carthaginian fleet.

    Therefore, he didn''t dare to send any warships to rescue the cargo fleet at the port now. Instead, after making a difficult decision, he believed that allowing the Theonian fleet to pass through his fleet would relieve the pressure on the battlefield and benefit the Carthaginian fleet''s counterattack. As for concerns about theints from the Carthaginian shipowners against him afterwards, he knew he needed to ensure a victory in the naval battle first. Otherwise, he would face even more severe punishment from the Senate for his defeat.

    So he simply ignored the cargo fleet''s request for help.

    ¡°Commander, a warship sunk over there!¡± The lookout on the top of the mast suddenly shouted.

    Anibal, however, just frowned and didn''t respond. He had no intention of letting the gship sail there again since the twin-headed serpent had already rescued many sailors, resulting in his ship being full of people and bing a refuge.

    ¡®The war is worrying!¡¯ He sighed as he felt slightly cold.

    ¡®Cold?¡¯ He was momentarily taken aback and then looked towards the sea, where a slight ripple formed.

    ¡®The wind is getting stronger! And it''s still a western wind.¡¯

    ¡®The wind should get stronger! It would be even better if it''s a big one!¡¯ Anibal prayed inwardly with anticipation.

    As if answering his prayers, the slight ripples on the sea quickly turned into massive waves, with each wave growingrger than thest. Soon the gigantic twin-headed serpent gship began to go up and down with the sea¡­

 Chapter 759: The Storm

    ¡°O Melqart, thank you for your help!¡± Anibal repeatedly thanked the chief god of the Phoenicians. He didn''t thank the chief god of Carthage, Baal Hammon, because he was the Lord of the Braziers. Since fire and water are ipatible, naval warfare doesn''t fall under Baal Hammon''s jurisdiction.

    Anibal then gleefully thought at how the Theonian corvus warship would be prone to capsizing in the stormy sea, being light on one side and heavy on the other. In addition, the fast trireme, being smaller and lighter, would also have difficulty navigating. On the other hand, the Carthaginian ships on the nk have a favourable upwind position, giving them an excellent opportunity to counterattack.

    Then the horn sounded again on the twin-headed serpent, signalling the attack. However, its high-pitched tone now sounded low and dull beneath the clouds and dark sea.

    Anibal supported himself by gripping the railing with both hands as he stood on the deck structure of the ship, letting the strong sea breeze hit his body. He kept looking at the sea, watching the warships on either side bobbing in the wind and waves¡­

    Although he was unsure if his subordinates could hear the horn, he firmly believed that the experienced Carthaginians would seize this favourable opportunity to turn the tide back.

    ¡°Commander, the wind and waves are getting stronger. Shall we retreat first?!¡± His deputy held his helmet with one hand, afraid it would be blown into the sea, as he walked up to Anibal and asked anxiously.

    ¡°Retreat?!¡± Anibalughed as if he had heard a joke. He then pointed ahead and shouted into the wind, ¡°Look!¡±

    Not far ahead, a corvus warship with a drawbridge on its front mast struggled to get through the wave when another wave came over¡­ By the time the wave had passed, the corvus warship had already capsized into the sea.

    ¡°HAHAHA¡­¡± Anibalughed heartily while saying, ¡°Do you see that? We have gotten such a great opportunity! So even if you want to retreat, it would be after we defeat the Theonians!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The same conversation urred on Theonia''s gship, except that Seclian was no longer as energetic as before. Although he had expected the weather to turn sour, he didn''t expect the wind and waves to be so strong, causing great difficulty for the fleet''s ships to navigate. He didn¡¯t even have the energy toin to Poseidon about how he helped those foreigners when they were on the verge of victory, even after epting their pious prayers and abundant offerings before the battle.

    His biggest headache now is that even if he orders a retreat, the fleet is too widely scattered, with some ships outside the port of Selinus. Moreover, in such harsh weather conditions, they couldn''t withdraw just because he gave the order.

    Just as he frowned and pondered, the sky roared continuously, as if thousands of drums were beating on the clouds, startling everyone.

    Immediately after, silver-white lightning shed one after another across the sea and streaked through the sky. The dark clouds grew darker as they descended towards the sea, and the waves grew increasingly agitated, rising higher and higher as if a huge animal was about to devour the lightning.

    Then apanied by strong winds, the pouring rain plunged down, making the sky even darker.

    And now, both the Carthaginians and Theonians had lost the will to row and fight. They couldn''t even bring themselves to look at the sea, which had be an endless abyss, and the darkness seemed to consume their souls. The crew, including the generals, had no choice but to huddle in their cabins and pray to the sea gods with trembling voices.

    Sitting atop the deck structure, Anibal heard a loud bang as lightning struck the sea in front of the twin-headed serpent. When he looked outside, his already pale face turned even paler: Illuminated by the silver light of the lightning, he saw a massive wall rising from the sea not far away, over ten metres high and rushing towards them as if to crush them¡­

    Anibal was so shocked that his image as a confident Carthaginianmander vanished without a trace. He then muttered with a dumbfounded expression, ¡°How can this be?! How can this be?! How could a storm appear in the southwestern waters of Sicily when it''s not even winter yet!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Nature''s unpredictability is beyond human expectations.

    Even thergest warship seemed small in the face of the greatest force in the heavens. And when faced with the fierce wind and massive waves, these ships either got scattered, sank to the bottom of the sea or were thrown into the air and smashed to pieces¡­

    The storm continued until dusk, when it finally calmed down. The heavy rain disappeared without a trace, the violent wind turned into a gentle breeze, the sky cleared without any clouds, and the setting sun turned the sky golden red¡­ the sea finally showed its gentle and beautiful side.

    But when one looks towards the shore, a horrific sightes into view: Human bodies bleached by seawater covered the beach, along with the remains of countless warships. Even the receding waters had numerous bodies and broken nks floating¡­

    Such a terrible sight was not only visible on the coast of Selinus but also on the coast of Mazara, Thermae and even further away¡­

    Leotychides, in the military camp north of Selinus, was concerned about the fleet¡¯s safety. So as soon as the storm subsided, he dispatched troops and the medical camp to blockade the coast near Selinus and begin an emergency rescue.

    And as long as the Carthaginians were still breathing, the physicians and nurses would treat them if they had the energy to spare.

    The Carthaginian colonial cities and allies on the southern coast, as well as the Greek city-states, also sent personnel to the coast for search and rescue¡­

    Both the Carthaginian and Theonian sailors, who had sailed the seas for many years and experienced many violent winds and waves, might have escaped with their lives in a stormsting several hours, but the ships they sailed might not. In this great naval battle in Sicily, the Theonian fleet invested around six hundred ships and the Carthaginian fleet more than five hundred, with no winner on either side and all ships possibly destroyed by the storm.

    But Carthage fared even worse as almost half of their cargo ships responsible for transporting soldiers and supplies failed to reach the port in time. They were either attacked by the Theonians or ravaged by the storms, eventually meeting their watery grave.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    News of the utter destruction of the Theonian fleet in Sicily hadn''t yet reached Magna Graecia, and Davos and the army he led remained unaware of it, having just arrived in Laos.

    The Laos of today is very different from a dozen years ago. Counting the allied Campanian League on the west coast of Italia, with Magna Graecia to the south and Lucania and Campania to the north, Laos is the centre of this long coastline. And onnd, it was the transport hub for Lucania and Brutii, making it a prime location. And with the hard work of several officials and the support of the Senate, Laos became a bustling port city in the kingdom.

    So despite its small arablend and a poption of just over fifty thousand men, not counting the freemen and ves in the port, it was its well-developed ports and numerous merchant ships that made it possible to send this massive army to Latium by sea with as few round trips as possible.

    As the army entered the city, Crotokatax looked around curiously. At the same time, he was puzzled at Henipolis'' strange outfit, ¡°Uncle Heni, don''t you feel stuffy wearing your helmet and even a visor even though we aren''t in a battle now?¡±

    Henipolis muttered quietly, ¡°Don''t talk to me!¡±

    Standing in front of them, Davos turned around and teased, ¡°Your Uncle Henni doesn''t want the people here to know that he''s back.¡±

    ¡°Why? Wasn''t Uncle Henni once the archon of Laos?!¡± Crotokatax became even more curious.

    Davos just shrugged his shoulder and didn''t answer.

    The fact that Henipolis didn''t return to Laos ever since bing Davos'' clerk in thete stages of the South Italian war became his inner demon.

    In fact, the rebellion of Henipolis'' uncle and the subsequent civil uprising decimated the poption of Laos. Now, more than half of Laos¡¯ inhabitants arrivedter, including descendants of Sybarites, Greeks, Lucanians, Bruttians, Campanians¡­ and so on, making it a genuinely multi-ethnic city.

    But things have changed for the natives of Laos. More than a decade ago, they were at the bottom of the city, with no money or power. But now, they are citizens of the kingdom, owningnd, running maritime trade, holding public posts, participating in electing local councils, and putting forward their own proposals. They are grateful to the kingdom of Theonia and the king who brought about a radical change in their status. So, when they heard King Davos wasing to Laos with his army, the city''s people took their families along and stood on the roadside early, hoping to be closer to the king when he arrived. They wanted to see him more clearly and let him hear their cheers.

    Amid a sea of ¡°All hail King Davos!!! All hail the kingdom!!!¡± the crowd excitedly chattered as they cheered, ¡°Look! The one with the helmet with the long plume and wearing golden armour in the middle is His Majesty Davos! Look how majestic he is! I saw him more than ten years ago when His Majesty led his army through Laos and north to fight the Samnites.¡±

    ¡°Who is the young officer next to His Majesty? It seems that he has a very close rtionship with His Majesty!¡±

    ¡°I heard from the merchants of Thurii at the port that Prince Crotokatax would also join the army this time, so this young man should be him.¡±

 Chapter 760: The New Laos

    ¡°Oh, it''s no wonder he''s so handsome! If I had a daughter, I would have her marry him!¡±

    ¡°Stop daydreaming! He is the eldest son of His Majesty Davos and the future king, yet you want to be the prince''s father-inw?! Prince Crotokatax''s future wife must be one of the most treasureddies in our kingdom or a foreign princess!¡±

    Theonian women, unlike the women of other Greek city-states, were known throughout the Greek world for their passion, openness and boldness. However, Laos'' racially mixed environment made the girls even more uninhibited and passionate. They took the initiative to throw flowers at the young prince and even call his name affectionately.

    As this was Crotokatax''s first time in such a situation, he became embarrassed and shy, which made the girls cheer even more.

    ¡°Your Majesty, it seems Prince Croto is more popr than you.¡± Tolmides teased.

    Davos justughed and didn''t respond, making Crotokatax even more embarrassed.

    Suddenly, some people besides the road asked in confusion, ¡°Who is that fierce-looking Old Man next to His Majesty Davos?!¡±

    ¡®A fierce-looking Old Man?!¡¯ Tolmides'' expression became unpleasant. He was only in his fifties and still felt young, not to mention that he only had two scars on his face, so how could they call him fierce looking?!

    Henipolisugh.

    Then a perceptive man among them said, ¡°He is Tolmides, a staff officer of the kingdom''s Army Staff. He is also a hero who once followed His Majesty to Persia!¡±

    Tolmides was confident that whoever had said that must have been an officer from the early days of the Theonian Legion, perhaps even a former mercenaryrade of theirs. How else could amoner have known about him, someone who wasn''t prominent in the kingdom and rarely appeared in public? At least he knew from the records that some officers had chosen to settle in Laos.

    He nced at the crowd by the side of the road but didn''t see anyone he recognised. Suddenly he heard someone shout, ¡°Who is that guy hiding his face with a visor next to His Majesty?! He looks so strange.¡±

    Tolmidesugh twice as it''s now his turn to watch the excitement.

    Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted loudly, ¡°People of Laos, do you still remember the person who gave up his privilege as the lifetime archon and willingly requested the kingdom to incorporate Laos so that we could finally be liberated from oppression and live the life we have today?¡±

    ¡°It''s the kind Lord Henipolis! Everyone, don''t forget that he was the one to donate money to build most of the arenas, baths, libraries¡­and so on in the city of Laos!¡± Another voice shouted.

    During the Senate''s discussions about the integration of Laos into the kingdom, they considered that Laos was previously private property under the independent rule of the House of Henipolis. And since it was also the first city to voluntarily request integration into Theonia, setting an excellent example for other allied cities. As a result, the Senate passed an act rewarding Henipolis by granting him two per cent of Laos'' annual tax revenue (with Davos ying a role). However, Henipolis donated all of this money to Laos to repair and build public works topensate for his previous mistakes.

    ¡°Yes, I remember Lord Henipolis was determined to give us more rights and freedom when he was the archon of Laos, but his uncle and a group of Laosian nobles opposed him and almost killed him¡­¡±

    ¡°We should have long expressed our gratitude to Lord Henipolis. We owe him too much!¡±

    ¡°I heard that Lord Henipolis is now the clerk of His Majesty Davos, so he should also be in this group, right?!¡±

    ¡°Lord Henipolis!¡±

    ¡°Lord Henipolis!!¡±

    ¡°Lord Henipolis!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The cheers from the sidewalk gradually merged, and Henipolis'' mood fluctuated. He then looked at Davos gratefully, ¡°Your Majesty, thank you!¡±

    Having followed Davos for so long, he could certainly guess that the reason the people of Laos had done such a thing must have been due to the Intelligence Department.

    ¡°You deserve it!¡± Davos then said earnestly, ¡°Even if I hadn''t done so, the people of Laos had never forgotten what you have given to them. It''s time for you to forget your previous mistakes and meet the people of your hometown so we can better ourmunication and help them in the future!¡±

    Davos'' words encourage Henipolis. After nodding, he took a deep breath and took off his visor and helmet determinedly.

    ¡°It''s Lord Henipolis!!¡±

    ¡°All hail Lord Henipolis!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Then more cheers erupted around.

    Amidst the cheering, Davos whispered to his son, ¡°As you can see, it is easy to satisfy themon people. And as long as you do good things for them, they will always remember and overlook your mistakes¡­¡±

    Crotokatax listened to his father''s teachings while watching the crowd flowing along the road with a glint of envy in his eyes¡­

    ¡°Your Majesty, Ariandos hase!¡± Martius, the captain of the royal guards, rushed over and reported.

    Davos looked ahead and saw the city praetor, Ariandos, with a group of officials walking towards the marching army.

    ¡°It seems we took so long that Ariandos couldn''t wait anymore at the gate.¡± Davos looked at Henipolis and smiled, ¡°Or maybe he wants to see you earlier, Heni.¡±

    Ariandos was the trusted follower of Avinoges in the tribe back then and also the most loyal minister of Henipolis. After Theonia annexed Laos, the Senate elected him to be a statesman to stabilise Laos'' political situation. However, following a specialw of the Senate, ¡®The statesmen of a newly joined city to the kingdom shall not immediately be a praetor of their mother city¡¯. Thus it wasn''t until a decade after the Senate had confirmed that Theonia had fully absorbed the people of Laos and that the city near the centre of the kingdom no longer posed a danger that they lifted the ban and allowed Ariandos to take up the position as the praetor of Laos, with the help of Henipolis, of course.

    Henipolis also snapped out of his excitement and said smilingly, ¡°Before our departure, Ariandos wrote to me and told me that he became excited and nervous when he heard that Your Majesty wasing. He wanted to lead the officials of Laos to hold a grand wee banquet for you but was afraid you would reject and criticise him¡­¡±

    ¡°Since Ariandos had done well in continuing the policies of his predecessor and made some improvements, and the officials have developed Laos well over the past two years, I will definitely attend tonight''s banquet. But they shouldn¡¯t be too extravagant and wasteful.¡± Davos smiled and replied positively.

    Theonia''s military code states that they shouldn¡¯t hold or attend banquets while the army is on a campaign, but Davos was not only the armymander but also the king of Theonia. So apart from leading the army into battle, he also had some political duties. Whether it was honouring the achievements of the officials of Theonia or showing the royal family''s affection and winning the people''s hearts, he had to attend. Moreover, since bing King of Theonia, Davos had never officially inspected another city in the kingdom. And since Laos was the only city in the kingdom that he would be visiting on his expedition to Latium, attending the banquet, enjoying thepany of the officials and citizens, and sharing some of his own hopes for the kingdom with the officials and citizens was of great interest to many of them who had never met the King.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Davos led his army to Laos, some soldiers of the Third Legion and the Second Cavalry Legion had already left on a transport ship in Neapolis and sailed into the port of Circeii in Volsci after receiving their orders.

    The high officials of the Volscians who came to greet them saw ships full of soldiers docking at the port. It''s as if they have taken a strong medicine that relieved them from their worries about Rome''s attack. Then they begin to discuss, ¡°It seems that Strategos Amintas'' words about Theoniaunching a massive attack on Rome and rescuing our Volsci are true!¡±

    So they became even more enthusiastic towards the Theonian legionaries whonded.

    Amintas, the Legatus of the First Legion, also rushed from the Legion''s base to greet hisrades as soon as he heard the news. So as soon as Litom, the Legatus of the Third Legion,nded, he greeted him eagerly.

    ¡°Legatus Amintas!¡± Litom hurriedly saluted as soon as he saw him. Although they held the same rank now, Amintas had already been a high-ranking officer in the army when Litom first joined. Not only was Amintas a veteran and had outstanding military achievements, his prestige in the Theonian army far surpassed Litom''s. So even the most unruly of men showed him the respect he deserved.

    ¡°You are finally here! I''ve been troubled for the past few days!¡± Amintas bumped Litom in the chest excitedly and grinned, ¡°It''s time to start the battle! Litom, gather your legions ande with me to the camp to discuss the strategy for the next battle.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Litom, who dislikes socialising, answered simply. After reluctantly dealing with the Volscian high officials who hade to greet him, he led the Third Legion and some soldiers of the Second Cavalry Legion to follow Amintas to his camp.

    During this period, the Roman army in Volscian territory began to retreat quickly, focusing their attacks on the Hernicans, causing the fighting between the Volsci and Rome to ease temporarily. Afterwards, the entire territory was left empty, with the Volsci sending troops to rescue the Hernicans. Hence, the Volscian high officials consulted with Theonia''s First Legion legatus, Amintas, who agreed to move the camp northward to protect more Volscian viges. The Theonian camp was now located northwest of Setia, only ten kilometres from the heavily fortified Roman garrison at Satricum.

    Amintas demanded that Litom lead the Third and Second Cavalry Legions to march as quickly and covertly as possible so as not to be discovered by the Romans on the other side. He also sent someone ahead to notify the First Cavalry Legion to leave the camp and drive out the Roman scouts to prevent information leakage.

 Chapter 761: After the Storm

    In themand tent, Litom greeted Phryntor as soon as he saw him. After all, he had helped him win the war in Campania.

    ¡°Okay, okay, we will catch upter. For now, we should discuss how toplete the task His Majesty has given us.¡± Amintas urged.

    ¡°What''s the current situation in Latium?¡± Litom was the first to ask since this was the basic trait expected of a Theonian legatus since there is no way to win a battle without understanding the surroundings and enemy situation.

    Amintas pointed to the map and exined, ¡°Since the Romans began attacking the Hernicansst month, they have conquered several towns in session. They are currently besieging the central town of Ferentinum and have increased their troops from forty thousand to seventy thousand. ording to the Volscians'' report, Ferentinum''s situation is now critical, and they can only hold on for a few more days. If this town falls, not only will the Hernicans be defeated, but the Volscians will also suffer huge losses as they had sent a number of their warriors to reinforce the Hernicans and are now trapped in Ferentinum, leaving the Volscian territory with no troops to defend it. They are all relying on our First Legion to help them defend it.¡±

    Litom stared at the map for a while before pointing to the north of Volscian territory and asked, ¡°Since the Roman army is all focused on attacking the Hernicans, they shouldn''t have enough defence.¡±

    ¡°You''re right. Rome had drawn their Latin allies to attack the Hernicans, leaving almost no army stationed there. However, look here, here, and here. Each has ten thousand Roman troops stationed,¡± Amintas pointed at the map three times.

    Litom examined it closely and saw that the names of these ces were Velitrae, Satricum and Antium, which happened to block the Volscians'' northwestern path into Latium.

    After a quickputation, he asked in surprise, ¡°How could the Romans form such a huge army?!¡±

    ¡°From what the Volscians said, Rome hasn''t only enlisted all of its young and abled citizens this time but also got all of its Latin and Etruscan allies to provide a lot of reinforcements. They have done all they could to fight this war, which is why His Majesty would lead a massive army and deal with the Romans first!¡± Phryntor said.

    ¡°But with these three cities blocking the way, a day or two wouldn''t be enough to take one of them. I fear His Majesty''s offensive n would be dyed.¡± Litom said anxiously, pointing at the map.

    ¡°You are so stupid!¡± Amintas bluntly reproaches, ¡°There is no need for us to go and attack them. We only need to bypass them and reach the coastal area of Latium to protect His Majesty''s armynding on the coast.¡±

    Litom, distracted by a trivial problem, pped his head and smiled awkwardly. After pondering for a moment, he said, ¡°If we follow this n, we can only let the soldiers carry rations and leave the auxiliary troops in the camp so that we can march quickly. And if the enemyes to intercept us, we can also fight back quickly. But if we do this¡­ our camp and even the whole Volscian territory will be left open to the Romans!¡±

    Phryntorughed and said, ¡°Don''t worry about that! Once our army hasnded, the whole of Latium will nervously be on guard against our attack! So where would they get the idea to invade Volsci? Besides, we can arrange for those left behind to go to Circeii and take a transport fleet to the newnds upied by the army.¡±

    Without any more worries, Litom asked loudly, ¡°So when will we act?!¡±

    ¡°All we have to do is wait for His Majesty''s army to arrive by ship in Latium. But before that, we need to speak with Volsci''s high officials and get them to help us with our attack.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Bomilcar, the acting suprememander of Carthage, was shocked when the news of how the storm disrupted the Naval Battle of Selinus and annihted the warships from both sides spread all over western Sicily the following day. He then quickly sent messengers to bring back the news to Carthage and instructed the coastal city-states to search the coasts carefully, rescue the survivors, and send them to Lilybaeum.

    Meanwhile, outside Selinus on the overcrowded Theonian camp, not only were the tents packed with survivors but also struggling and moaning sailors lying in the passages and open spaces outside the tents. The outside of the camp was also densely packed with discoloured bodies and those not yet confirmed dead or unconscious. The physicians and nurses had been treating them for more than ten hours already and were still busy, with even the more than twenty thousand Theonian legionaries and their allied soldiers also doing their best to assist the medical camp in saving their fellow Theonian and navalrades.

    In themand tent, Leotychides, who had been busy until now and hadn''t slept all night, sat on his chair as he listened to his adjutant''s report.

    ¡°My Lord, fromst night until now, our soldiers have found a total of about one hundred and fifty bodies on the coast, with about one hundred thousand rescued. It includes more than sixty-one thousand five hundred Theonians and twenty-nine thousand three hundred and seventy-nine confirmed deceased Theonian sailors¡­¡± Muklu, holding the record te, read each set of figures with his heart beating wildly, for behind these huge numbersy the disappearance of countless once-living citizens and the painful cry of a family¡­

    After listening to his adjutant''s report, Leotychides remained expressionless and didn''t seem to react too much. He quickly asked, ¡°What is the total number of our people in the fleet in Sicily?¡±

    Muklu thought briefly and said without certainty, ¡°Based on thest time they came to Minoa to collect rations, they might have around 110,000 to 120,000¡­¡±

    After a few calctions, Leotychides said, ¡°So we have at most thirty thousand sailors we haven''t found yet.¡±

    ¡°They may have drifted to the Carthaginian-controlled coast or the shore of our allies, requiring us to contact Minoa, Agrigento and other southern coastal city-states in the next few days to understand the detailed situation,¡± Muklu said.

    Leotychides simply nodded and sighed, ¡°The navy has taken in too many young and able citizens of the kingdom, and this storm has cost us tens of thousands of lives. It''s enough to build five or six legions!¡±

    Muklu added, ¡°My lord, we have also captured nearly forty thousand Carthaginians and Phoenicians. If it were a normal battle, we would have to fight many battles to take so many prisoners.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Leotychides frowned slightly and gazed sharply at Muklu without blinking until Muklu bowed his head. Then he asked slowly, ¡°Have you found Seclian and Flios?¡±

    ¡°¡­I haven''t received any news yet¡­¡± Muklu said gloomily.

    ¡°Keep sending people to search, and don''t give up. We''ll leave it to Seraphinus to send spies to the Carthaginian city-states in the west to gather information,¡± Leotychides said. He then paused for a moment, his expression changing slightly, and continued, ¡°I''ve heard that Seclian was a skilled swimmer and even swam across the raging Crati River in his youth, so he shouldn''t have drowned so easily in the sea.¡±

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Is there anything else for you to report?¡±

    ¡°Er¡­ the medical camp wanted to remind us that there are now too many corpses inside and outside the camp. If we left alone for too long, these corpses would rot, easily leading to an epidemic.¡±

    ¡°Then, once you are sure they are dead, take them all to be cremated and have the sailors take the deceased''s ashes back to the fleet base at Catania or Taranto. As for the Carthaginians, bury them on the spot,¡± Leotychides said. Then after remembering something else, he stressed, ¡°This matter must be settled immediately so that these living sailors can return to their bases as soon as possible and stop wasting our food. But the marines must stay and fight with us.¡±

    Leotychides had long coveted the infantry of the Theonian fleet, especially since he had seen their military training in Catania, which could be considered as good as the regr soldiers of the Eighth Legion. So he took advantage of the fleet''s destruction and the absence of Seclian and Flios to recruit them into his own ranks to strengthen the Eighth Legion.

    Before Muklu could respond, Leotychides emphasised, ¡°And¡­draw ten thousand young and strong sailors from the navy and equip them with spears to temporarily serve as our light infantry.¡±

    Muklu was surprised but politely reminded, ¡°Commander, without the Ministry of Military''s permission, it is already illegal for you to transfer the marines. If we were also to reorganise the sailors, I am afraid the navy would be dissatisfied with this.¡±

    Leotychides disagreed, saying, ¡°We are deep in Carthage''s sphere of influence. Not only have we stretched the supply line, but the enemy is ready to counterattack at any time. Unfortunately, all of the fleet''s warships were gone and could no longer protect our coast. Now that we are fighting alone, we could be in trouble if we don''t reinforce our ranks. Besides, the navy can''t function without ships, so it''s better to temporarily put the idle sailors and marine under mymand. As this is a special time, I believe His Majesty and the Ministry of War will understand my approach.¡±

    As adjutant, Muklu could only remind him. But since Leotychides insisted on it, he could only carry it out. Then he immediately changed the subject, ¡°My lord, what shall we do with the forty thousand Carthaginian prisoners?¡±

    ¡°Keep the captives here for now. We would deal with them as we have done in the past.¡± Leotychides pondered and said, ¡°The Carthaginians must have our sailors there as well, so we can exchange it with them when the timees.¡±

 Chapter 762: Capturing Selinus and Marching to Latium

    ¡®Will the Carthaginians even agree after you have firmly refused their request to redeem the captured soldiers of the Carthaginian Sacred Band?!¡¯ Muklu only thought of that and didn''t speak it out.

    ¡°We still need to capture Selinus as soon as possible!¡± Leotychides muttered. Whether from a strategic position to attack western Sicily or to ease the transport of supplies¡­even from having a safer ce to hold so many prisoners, the capture of Selinus is urgent.

    Muklu hurriedly reminded, ¡°Legatus, the soldiers were still exhausted after working overnight and no longer have the strength to attack the city today. Moreover, the Carthaginians transported several thousand soldiers into Selinus yesterday, strengthening their defence. And-¡±

    ¡°With the loss of our fleet, we can no longer blockade the port, allowing the Carthaginians to constantly reinforce them from the sea!¡± Leotychides continued Muklu''s words, and his expression turned gloomy with the realisation that his greatest fear hade true. The Theonian army''s naval advantage in Sicily had disappeared. Theirnd offensive''s difficulty would increase as they advanced towards the west since the enemy reinforcements from the sea would be more frequent as they got closer to Carthage. Meanwhile, without their fleet, the Theonian army could not stop them. Their only hope was that after news of the fleet''s destruction in Sicily reached Thurii, His Majesty would send the Third or Fourth Fleet to help them regain their naval advantage in Sicily.

    Just as Leotychides pondered, a guard entered and reported, ¡°Centurion Theokases, who had been patrolling by the sea, has asked to report an urgent matter.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°You are saying there are still forty-two of our triremes in the port of Selinus?!¡± The usually indifferent Leotychides'' expression changed when he heard the report.

    ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡± Theokases continued excitedly, saying, ¡°The Second Division of the First Fleet was attacking the Carthaginian cargo fleet outside the port of Selinus when the storm came. Themander of the division, Straphacus, then hurriedly led the surrounding warships into Selinus'' port and sessfullynded, upying the southwest corner. They had nned to send someone to contact us after the storm had subsidedst night, but the debris caused by the storm blocked the port and made it dangerous to travel at night. So it wasn''t until this morning that they ventured to open a passage from the port and send a boat to report.¡±

    Like the ports of other Greek city-states, the one in Selinus had a breakwater and an entrance they could block with chains. In addition, they had built towers on top of the breakwater to attack enemy ships. But yesterday, the Carthaginian cargo fleet panicked and entered the port, blocking the entrance and making it impossible for the people of Selinus to close the port. In addition, the approaching storm had caused the port workers to rush home to seek shelter, leaving the port''s defencesx and allowing the Theonian warships to enter and disembark easily.

    Leotychides quickly calmed his fluctuating emotions as he asked, ¡°How many of them are there now? Can they resist the enemy''s attack?¡±

    ¡°From what the messenger said, Straphacus was confident in holding on since thirty of the forty-two warships that entered the port were corvus warships, meaning they had around one thousand two hundred fully armed marines and nearly seven thousand sailors. They had also sunk many Carthaginian transport ships and even robbed the transport ships carrying grain afternding. Furthermore, they managed to remove the armour and weapons of many drowned Carthaginian soldiers, thus obtaining over four hundred sets of heavy infantry equipment and more than thirty bows. Finally, they had some sailors sharpen one end of oars to use as spears, and their warships had taken control of the water in the port¡­ The messenger also said that when he left the port, the Carthaginians still hadn''t attacked them¡­¡±

    ¡°After several attacks on Selinus, they should have fewer than two thousand defenders left. Even with the addition of reinforcements, their numbers shouldn''t exceed five thousand defenders. Therefore, if the Carthaginians attacked with full force, the navy in the port would have great trouble. However, it seems that themander of the Carthaginian defenderscked the courage and was worried we would take advantage of the situation to attack the city. Therefore, they didn''t act immediately¡­¡± Leotychides said, after listening to Theokases'' report and analysing the situation. Then he realised this was an excellent opportunity and asked Muklu with a slightly excited tone, ¡°What time is it?¡±

    ¡°About eight in the morning.¡±

    ¡°Muklu, immediately notify the soldiers of the Eighth Legion and the reserves to take a rest. They have four hours of sleep to recover and must wake up at noon. After lunch, we will immediately start the siege!¡± Leotychides decisively issued the order.

    ¡°Understood. I will immediately convey it, My Lord.¡±

    ¡°Theokases, call in the messenger. I still need to ask for more details,¡± Leotychides said. Out of caution, he first had to confirm the report''s authenticity personally and then wanted to understand better the situation of the enemy and their troops in the city.

    At noon, Leotychides led his army tounch a full-out attack on the city.

    After making contact, the fleet remnants responded byunching an attack from the port into the city.

    The Carthaginian defenders were in a difficult position, with attacksing from two sides.

    The battlested until the afternoon, with Milkpilles escaping through the south gate with a handful of cavalry while Selinus'' defenders opened the gate and surrendered.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The third month in the southwestern part of Latium is the rainy season. It is the most annoying weather for the sentries at the top of the city wall, as the early morning mists and drizzles made them unable to sleep against the wall. In addition, the slightly damp and cold temperature made the sentries hungry again soon after breakfast. Unfortunately, the strict militaryw of the Romans prevents them from leaving their positions easily, so they are left to slowly patrol the top of the city wall in Antium, praying that time passes quickly and theirradese to rotate soon.

    ¡°Listen, what''s that sound?¡± A sentry suddenly asked, feeling nervous.

    The other sentry immediately tried to listen carefully.

    It was a faint but constant ttering sound, different from the sound of the waves on the beach.

    The sentry''s expression changes: ¡®There¡¯s an army outside the city, and they numbered a lot.¡¯

    ¡®Are they enemies?!¡¯ The sentry looked out but couldn''t see anything because of the drizzling rain outside the city.

    The man in charge of Antium is Paulus Valerius Potitus. Not long ago, he was the military tribune in charge of Rome, but after Camillus became dictator, the six military tribunes in Rome had to resign. But because of Paulus'' calm and collected nature, the Senate appointed him garrisonmander of the newly upied Antium, hoping that he would secure the southwestern border and coast between Rome and the Latin allies to ensure Rome''splete conquest of the Hernicans.

    Upon hearing the sentry''s report, he immediately dispatched a team of mounted scouts to investigate.

    However, this team of mounted scouts quickly retreated in embarrassment, as they were attacked by many ck armoured cavalries shortly after leaving the city, nearly destroying them all.

    ¡®It''s the Theonian!¡¯ Paulus became nervous, ¡®Are they going to attack Antium?!¡¯

    He immediately summoned the city''s troops and began deploying them for defences, preparing to resist the Theonian attack.

    The Roman soldiers stood atop the city wall, nervously gazing outside.

    But after the fog lifted and the rain stopped with the dawn, they found no sign of the Theonian army outside the city, not even the ¡®ttering¡¯ sound they had heard earlier.

    The puzzled Paulus then sent out his mounted scouts again to search for the enemy''s movements.

    Once again, the Theonian cavalry intercepted the mounted scouts. However, the scouts who had fled managed to bring back the report that the Theonian cavalries were moving in all directions within five hundred metres of Antium. But they remain unsessful despite their attempts to break through the interception and investigate the Theonian army''s movements.

    Paulus felt confused and nervous, but he didn¡¯t dare to send the troops out of the city until he could understand the movement of the Theonian army. After all, the Roman army was still in the east attacking the Hernicans, leaving Latium empty. And his task was to defend Antium and block the enemy''s attack to the south with the defenders of Velitrae and Satricum.

    While Paulus held his ground, the garrison of Satricum, to the north, faced the same situation and reacted simrly. The Roman Senate, in order to safeguard Rome''s territories and their Latin allies, sent cautious and prudent generals to the two newly upied towns. As a result, they are hesitant to send their troops tounch a probing attack, which might have allowed them to detect the Theonian army''s movements.

    In fact, nearly twenty thousand men from Theonia''s First and Third Legion, the First and a part of the Second Cavalry Legion, had lined up into eight columns, with the cavalry legion guarding the nks of the marching column and no supply unit following them. They had set out from the camp at Setia in the early morning and marched northwards, reaching the border between Latium and Volsci byte morning.

    Amintas then ordered the two cavalry legions to block the area near the gates of Antium and Satricum, robbing and killing the mounted scouts to ensure that his main force could quickly and secretly pass through the centre of Antium and Satricum and then continue towards the northwest.

    Ardea, just north of Antium, is an ancient Latin city-state and one of the few coastal city-states in Latium. It had close links with Rome, and it was the ce where Camillus lived in seclusion after being dissatisfied with the Roman Senate''s verdict against him twenty years ago. And it was with the support of the citizens of Ardea that Camillus was able to raise the banner of resistance when the Celts captured Rome and plundered Latium over a decade ago, eventually restoring Rome to its former glory and forging a stronger alliance between Rome and Ardea.

 Chapter 763: The Arrival of Theonias Main Army

    Although the sentries in the city of Ardea heard the ttering footsteps, it did not arouse their vignce. After all, Ardea was far in the centre of the Latin city-states, which were distant from the eastern Hernicans, Aequii, and Marsians. And apart from some territorial conflicts with the Volsci in the past, they had rarely experienced major wars. Moreover, now that Rome had taken over Antium and Satricum, the war in the south had subsided. And thus, the Ardeans believed they were safe and never thought they were the enemy, only assuming that the Roman army was mobilising, and therefore, they didn''t send scouts to investigate.

    After passing through the city of Ardea, Theonia''s First and Third Legions began approaching the coast, causing Latium''s passing merchant ships and caravans to discover this ck armoured army. Surprised, they hurried to report the news to neighbour towns and cities while some merchant ships turned south to inform the heavily garrisoned Antium.

    In fact, there was no need for them to report, for after more than two hours of fidgeting, Paulus, themander in charge of the defenders of Antium, finally decided to send his few scouts out again to check on the Theonian army''s movements.

    Suddenly, his subordinates reported, ¡°General, the signal fire has lit up on the port''s watchtower!¡±

    Paulus was startled after hearing that, making him turn his head quickly to see ck smoke rising in the port¡¯s direction.

    ¡®Is there an enemy attacking from the sea?!¡¯ Just as Paulus became anxious again, he saw the cavalry rushing towards the city, shouting, ¡°General Paulus, countless warships and transport ships have appeared on the sea outside the port!!¡±

    Paulus was shocked, ¡®Do the Theonians want to repeat their strategy of capturing Antium?!¡¯

    ¡°Immediately send five hundred light infantry and two thousand heavy infantry to the port for defence!¡± Paulus immediately ordered his adjutant without hesitation.

    ¡°Yes, General!¡±

    Having said this, Paulus quickly descended from the city wall, mounted his horse and rushed to the port with his team of guards.

    Panic was already spreading through the city, especially at the entrance to the inner area leading to the port. It was jammed with people from the port trying to get into the city, some even shouting in panic, ¡°Enemy army ising! Run!¡­¡±

    After struggling to squeeze through the crowd, Paulus and his guards rushed non-stop to the high watchtower above the breakwater.

    But waiting for him at the top of the watchtower was a sight that made him gasp: On the distant sparkling sea surface outside the port, endless sails appeared that extended far beyond the horizon where the sea and sky met. These sailing ships shared the same characteristic of having sides that shone with golden light, creating a very dazzling sight.

    Although the Romans did not have a strong navy and rarely fought major naval battles, Paulus, having served as a military tribune on several asions and even having repeatedly sought the advice of Camillus with an open mind, could judge that most of the ships in such arge fleet were transport ships, based on their unique feature, such as the soldiers'' shields hanging from both sides of the ship after boarding. They had done that to make room in the ship and make it more essible, and it would also help defend against enemy ships'' long-range attacks, killing two birds with one stone. Therefore, it had be amon tradition for ships transporting troops in the city-states of the Mediterranean.

    ¡®How many soldiers have the Theonians sent?!¡¯ Then the shocked Paulus asked with a slightly trembling voice, ¡°Did¡­did you pull up the port''s chain?¡±

    ¡°We have already pulled it up.¡±

    ¡°What about the watchtowers on the breakwater? Are the soldiers in position?¡±

    ¡°You can rest assured, General. The archers had already manned the watchtowers, and we had also prepared the tar, arrows and rags.¡±

    ¡°Wonderful!¡± Paulus slightly breathed a sigh of relief and then said, ¡°The army in the city will soon arrive, so you don''t need to panic.¡±

    ¡°General.¡± The port chief suddenly said, ¡°From the report of the sentries in the watchtowers, I am afraid this massive fleet isn''t heading towards us. They had observed that they continued heading north!¡±

    Paulus was taken aback and looked carefully at the distant sea. Although the Theonian fleet was too far away and hardly visible, the sliver of visible white sails indicated that the distance between the fleet and the coast had not changed much while they were talking, unlike some ships fleeing towards the port of Antium. Obviously, the Theonian fleet was continuing to sail north!

    ¡°Could it be that the Theonians are going tond on the coast north of Antium?¡± Paulus muttered with uncertainty.

    The port chief reminded him, ¡°General, it would be better for the Theonians tond in the north than in the south because thest time theynded on the south coast, they managed to take Antium.¡±

    Paulus then recalled the low hilly terrain between Antium and Ardea. Although it was mostly t, it couldn¡¯tpare to the South. So¡­ Paulus'' expression suddenly changed, ¡®The Theonians willnd on the northernmost coast, attack our Latin allies, and perhaps even target the weakly defended Latium before directly attacking Rome¡­¡¯

    Then Paulus broke into a cold sweat. He remembered the Theonian army that had appeared from the south in the early hours of the morning, ¡®I fear they must have passed through the blockade we had set up here on the frontier against the Volscians and entered the heart of Latium to rendezvous with this massive fleet!!¡¯

    Paulus didn''t think about this initially because he believed the original report stating that the Theonian army in Volsci was only about ten thousand strong, as he hadn''t received any news of Theonia increasing their troops in Volsci (the Third Fleet hadpletely blocked the naval path south of Latium). Therefore, he subconsciously believed that even if this smaller army managed to pass through the blockade and prate deep into their rear, they would have a difficult chance of escaping their fate of getting surrounded and eliminated after taking a temporary advantage. After all, such an invasive tactic is only suitable for fast and light mountain races but not for the regr Theonian troops, mainlyposed of heavy infantry.

    Though the Theonian Navy had already taught them a lesson, it was impossible for Paulus, a former military tribune ustomed to traditionalnd battles, to free his caged thinking so quickly.

    ¡°Immediately send the mounted scouts along the coast to determine where this fleet willnd and report back immediately!¡± Paulus hurriedly ordered, ¡°Send messengers again to inform the defenders of Satricum and Velitrae that the Theonian army has entered Latium and that their navy is about tond along the coast and that they should prepare to attack! Also¡­ send messengers to Rome quickly to inform the Senate that they should prepare!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The joint army of the First and Third Legion passed through the small coastal town of Lavinium.

    Although Lavinium is small, it has a very important ce in the minds of the Latins. In Latin legends, the Latins were the descendants of Aeneas, a hero second only after Hector in the mighty city-state of Troy in Asia Minor, far back in the olden days of the Mediterranean.

    After the Greeks captured Troy, Aeneas and some Trojans fled by ship to Italia andnded in Latium. There, they were weed by King Latinus, who betrothed Aeneas to his daughter Lavinia. Aeneas then built a new city on the coast of Latium, which he named after his wife, thus founding Lavinium. The coupleter had a son who built a new city near Lake Alba, a volcanic craterke north of Lavinium, and named it Alba Longa. This city became the centre of the Latins until the twins born to Princess Rhea Silvia of Alba Longa were abandoned in the wild and raised by a she-wolf. These twins then went on to found Rome and eventually destroyed Alba Longa.

    Although Lavinium was the birthce of the Romans, it was a small city-state with few inhabitants and low walls. So when the Theonian army passed through the city, the guards at the top of the walls could only tremble in fear, while the people inside were even more anxious.

    However, the Theonian army didn''t stop marching and continued heading north along the coast.

    ¡°My lords, the first and second cavalry legions had returned-¡± Before the mounted scout could finish his report, they heard the rumble of hooves behind him.

    ¡°Amintas, Litom, it seems we came back on time!¡± Ledes shouted from his horse.

    ¡°How''s the situation?¡± Amintas asked.

    ¡°We at least didn''t see any troops leave Antium or Satricum before we left.¡± Ledes patted his horse''s neck. Then he proudly said, ¡°They did send out several mounted scouts, but none managed to escape our interception. What about your side? Have we reached our destination?¡±

    ¡°We''ve already passed Lavinium, so we should be almost there.¡± Amintas wiped the sweat from his face and shook his hand away. Then, with a slight groan, he said, ¡°We gathered and left before dawn and have been walking non-stop until now. I am afraid we have already covered about forty kilometres, and the brothers are all tired. If it weren''t for the t road, we might not even be able toplete His Majesty''s task.¡±

    ¡°I don''t think our brothers areining, ¡± Ledes said with relief as he looked at the weary soldiers passing by, ¡°On the contrary, they seemed excited about the uing battle.¡±

    ¡°They''re not the only ones who''re excited; we''re excited too!¡± Litom interrupted.

    The several legates looked at each other andughed.

    Once the Theonian army had stopped advancing, the twenty thousand legionaries, under themand and direction of the various legates, began to form a military formation two kilometres long and eight columns thick, with their backs to the white beach.

 Chapter 764: Landfall in Latium

    Afterwards, the legates ordered the soldiers to remove their armour temporarily,y down their weapons, sit on the ground to rest, eat some rations, and regain strength.

    As soon as they gave the order, the entire two-kilometre-long military formation looked like dominoes as all the soldiers sat down in the blink of an eye, creating a spectacr sight. Still, Amintas and Litom didn''t dare be careless, so they had Ledes send all his cavalries to patrol the area to ensure the safety of the army.

    The Theonian army on the coast didn''t have to wait long. As soon as the sun moved west, the soldiers furthest south in the military formation cheered, ¡°Our fleet! Our fleet ising!! His Majesty''s army ising!!!¡­¡±

    In order to carry out this challenging mission of having the soldiers march long and deep behind the enemy lines, the legates had already informed the officers yesterday of the detailed n and purpose of this operation. The legion officers then told all the soldiers, resulting in their enthusiasm to endure the fatigue and the long march. So when they saw a ck warship appear on the distant sea, they immediately thought there must be a vast fleet carrying soldiers behind the Theonian fleet.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The soldiers'' guesses were correct: Theonia''s Third Fleet turned their bows and sailed towards the beach, followed by a fleet of ships that covered the sea.

    Adoris watch the distant beach while sitting on the ship. Although he couldn''t see the fully armed legionaries on the shore clearly, he could see a long ck line on the coast that extended to both sides indefinitely, with a slight twinkle of gold in the ck line¡­ And Adoris knew that the thing shining was the military g.

    On the transport ship, the captain ordered the helmsman to adjust the course while fifty soldiers sat on either side, helping the sailors row together. In the middle of the ship, toon leader Timanthes loudly emphasised the various things the soldiers had to do afternding.

    After speaking, he stressed with a serious expression, ¡°Do you remember what I said?!¡±

    ¡°We remember!!¡± The soldiers responded simultaneously.

    Timanthes immediately looked at Adoris, who said loudly, ¡°Don''t worry, toon leader, I remember everything!¡± Adoris'' buttocks still ached as he remembered the punishment he had received, which had almost caused him to miss the battle in the north. Thus how would he dare to disobey orders and vite the military code again?

    With the help of the tide, the ship moved swiftly, so it didn''t take long for Adoris to get a clear view of the soldiers on the shore. Most soldiers were sitting or lying on the ground, with their armour off and wearing only chitons. They were drinking water and eating rations while looking out to sea, with a few others waving their arms and shouting excitedly towards the water.

    Adoris watched in a daze when he suddenly heard Timanthes shout, ¡°Prepare to go ashore!¡±

    Hearing that, Adoris and hisrades suddenly became excited. They quickly picked up their belongings from the ground, donned their armour, fastened their swords, grabbed their rations, and took their long shields, javelins, and spears while the ship as it approached the white beach. Then once the ship shook as its smooth hull brushed the shore, the helmsman quickly locked the rudder and pulled out a long pole, plunging it into the sand to prevent the ship from moving backwards.

    Without even needing to give orders, the soldiers jumped off the ship, stepped into the cool seawater, and soon walked ashore. Then toon leader Timanthes quickly gathered the soldiers together before leading them to the other toons¡­

    Transport ships began to fill the beach with Theonian legion soldiers in ck helmets and armour. They also started to erect gs, and officers led their soldiers to search for their own centuriae and brigade. Even though excited soldiers filled the beach, it didn''t appear chaotic because the soldiers transported by this wave of docked ships belonged to the Second Legion. After all, apart from the First Legion, the Second Legion was better trained and disciplined than all other legions of Theonia, and it¡¯s why Davos allowed the ships carrying the Second Legion to go ahead andplete thending first. They would assemble as soon as possible and clear obstacles for the subsequent troops.

    Afterwards, the docked ships would leave the beach to make room for the subsequent fleet to dock.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Less than four hundred metres from the beach, the various legates, such as Amintas, Litom, Ledes and Kurcius, watched the army''snding. At first, they were scattered and disorganised, then gathered into a small column, then into ninerge columns, and finally, at the sound of the salpinx, these columns from different parts of the beach quickly gathered into arge phnx formation.

    Finally, Amintas and the others breathed a sigh of relief because even with their experience and troops lined up to protect thending, it was the first time they would conduct such a massivending operation. Moreover, King Davos had personally led this army, so in case of any idents¡­everyone felt under pressure, and now everything seemed to be going well.

    ¡°Matonis has done a wonderful job!¡± Amintas praised, and only senior legates like him, who had participated in expeditions to Persia, dared publicly evaluate someone of the same rank.

    Suddenly, mounted scouts came over, ¡°Reporting to the legates, we have sighted a Roman army of about seven thousand men marching in this direction, three kilometres to the south!¡±

    ¡°Reporting to the legates, nearly eight thousand Roman troops are approaching from four kilometres southeast!¡±

    ¡°The Romans had finallye!¡± Litom said, his tone full of excitement.

    ¡°They came just in time!¡± Amintas nced at the second wave of ships approaching the coast and said, ¡°Notify our brothers immediately and prepare to fight!¡±

    With the sound of the salpinx, the resting soldiers, under the officers¡¯ supervision, quickly began to don their armour. On the other hand, the Second Legion, lining up on the beach, quickened their pace after hearing the salpinx¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After receiving the report from his mounted scouts, Paulus felt extremely uneasy. His sense of responsibility immediately led him to lead seven thousand five hundred soldiers northward. After more than two hours of rapid marching, he slowed the army''s pace once they arrived at Lavinium because the enemy cavalry drove away his mounted scout earlier near this area, meaning that Theonia''s army was just a short distance away. At the same time, he was also waiting for the troops from Satricum and Velitrae to arrive.

    This time, the Theonian cavalry were no longer in their way, allowing the Roman army to march smoothly. Riding at the head of the column, Paulus could already see hundreds of ships floating on the sea, some moving with the tide towards the shore, others leaving the shore and rowing towards the open sea. Because of that, densely packed shipspletely cover the blue sea¡­

    Paulus became even more anxious again when the mounted scouts quickly returned, ¡°Reporting to the general, the enemy has formed up two kilometres away, with no less than twenty thousand men!¡±

    Hearing the report, Paulus was taken aback because there weren''t so many people in the Theonian army in Volsci before, ¡®Have some of their soldiers already disembarked and joined their formation?!¡¯

    When Paulus thought of this, he became even more anxious and regretted his dy. However, he did not dare to lead his army of less than ten thousand into an immediate attack. Instead, he ordered the troops to halt their advance and fall into formation.

    Soon after, the army of Satricum arrived, led by Maegius Sempronius Asellio, an experienced veteran general over fifty years of age. He was born into the patrician family of gens Sempronia and had stayed behind to defend Mons Capitolinus when the Celts upied Rome. Due to his abundant war experience and persistent personality, the Senate appointed him as the garrison general of Satricum.

    At this moment, he, who had always remained calm, struggled to control the galloping horse in front of Paulus and asked urgently, ¡°Where is the Theonian army?! How many men have they sent?!¡±

    Paulus pointed ahead and said, ¡°The Theonians are making a massivending on the coast ahead while their troops in Volsci have arranged themselves in a formation to protect theirnding. ording to the scouts'' report, they have about twenty thousand men, and as we all know, their reinforcements in Volsci didn''t even exceed ten thousand. So¡­¡±

    Maegius stared at the Theonian fleet in the distance. His face became gloomy as he said, ¡°Even if webine our forces, we still have less than twenty thousand. And the more time passes, the more Theonian soldiers wille ashore. But if we risk engaging them in battle, if we fail¡­ the army that could contain the Theonians on the west side of Rome will be greatly weakened, making the situation even worse¡­¡±

    ¡°That''s what I think as well.¡± Paulus also looked worried. Then, he hesitantly reminded, ¡°But¡­ if we let the Theonians seed innding, they would then be able to invade our territories and those of our Latin allies here, tormenting our people and even threatening Rome¡­ and the Senate and our people might not forgive us!¡±

    Maegius was momentarily taken aback, then sighed, ¡°Let''s wait for Pantheus to arrive and discuss this together¡­ When I led my army from Satricum earlier, I received word from his messenger that he would be arrivingter with ten thousand soldiers.¡±

    ¡°Ten thousand soldiers?! He is too daring! What if the Volscians attack Velitrae?!¡± This rmed Paulus, but after a moment''s thought: Velitrae was deep ind, northeast of Satricum. Not everyone has the courage of Camillus, who dared to bypass Antium and Satricum to attack Velitrae. Besides, the Theonian army is here, while most of the Volscians have gone to help the Hernicans, so they don''t have any spare troops to attack the Roman cities.

 Chapter 765: Latium Landing (I)

    ¡°If the Theonians'' strength doesn''t change much once Pantheus arrives, we might be able to engage them in battle¡­¡± Paulus said with uncertainty.

    Not long after, Velitrae''s army also arrived.

    After listening to Paulus'' brief report, Pantheus, a former military tribune, said impatiently, ¡°What are you still waiting for? Wait for the entire Theonian army tond on shore, destroy the surrounding towns and cities and attack Rome?! This is our only chance to defeat the Theonians, and we must not miss it! Attack! We must attack immediately!!¡±

    Paulus and Maegius didn''t object because this was their only opportunity to avoid taking on such a huge responsibility.

    Although the Theonians had over twenty-five thousand troops lined up on the distant shore, the Roman army also had over twenty-five thousand. Seven thousand five hundred from Antium, eight thousand from Satricum and ten thousand from Velitrae, making them fully capable of fighting the Theonians.

    ¡®We can''t let the Theonians get more troops, so we must hurry up and engage them in battle!¡¯ Once the three hade to an agreement, they set out immediately: Antium and Satricum''s troops had long since gone into formation, and Velitrae''s troops quickly formed up to Satricum''s right¡­ Soon, the massive Roman army formation began to advance.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡®The Romans have finallye!¡¯ Amintas, standing in front of the formation, smiled as he saw dust and dirt rising in the distance. Then he said jokingly, ¡°If I had known the Romans woulde sote, I wouldn''t have let the Second Legion appear in the formation.¡±

    Matonis retorted immediately, ¡°Do you think the Romans were foolish? Everyone would know there must be ambushes here if less than twenty thousand troops were in formation, even though it had been a while since we disembarked!¡±

    Litom, on the other hand, eximed with excitement, ¡°We can finally engage the Romans in a proper battle!¡± He had always heard that the Ministry of Military attached great importance to this Latin city-state in Italia but felt nothing special about them when he led his army tounch a surprise attack from the coast. It was only in his conversations with Amintas over the past two days that he learned of the Romans'' formidable military strength and tactics, which were quite simr to those of the Theonian legion and thus made him eagerly look forward to fighting the Romans.

    ¡°We should also go back and prepare for battle!¡± Ledes reminded them while gazing at the long red line emerging from the dust and dirt in the distance.

    Amintas then saluted at the others and solemnly said, ¡°With Hades'' blessing, victory will be ours!¡±

    ¡°Victory belongs to Theonia!¡±

    ¡°We will win!¡±

    The Legatus of the Second Legion ¨C Matonis, the Legatus of the Third Legion ¨C Litom, the Legatus of the First Cavalry Legion ¨C Ledes, and the Legatus of the Second Cavalry Legion ¨C Kurcius, returned the salute and responded. They then mounted their horses and returned to their respective formations, instructing their officers to regroup and prepare for battle.

    Theonia''s First Legion was in the centre, with the Second and Third Legions to the left and right. Meanwhile, the First and Second Cavalry Legions would be on the nks and rear, respectively, with a total strength of around twenty-seven thousand men, and the whole formation was two kilometres long. They had chosen the mostmon formation to demonstrate the participating Legates¡¯ confidence in their soldiers. They believed their side would overwhelm the enemy in numbers, morale and military strength and that no other action was needed to close the gap.

    Amintas, in the rear of his legion, watched the soldiers prepare for the battle when a herald hurriedly arrived and said, ¡°Legatus, His Majesty hase!¡±

    Amintas turned around only to see over two hundred cavalries galloping towards him from behind. At the head was Davos, wearing golden armour and a ck cloak with ck plumes on his golden helmet.

    Behind Davos, on either side, are two extremely strong cavalry riders, each holding a pole.

    One of the poles is a silver-white bident wrapped with a ck ribbon. At the top, between the two prongs of the bident, is a crown of white por branches cast in gold, symbolising King Davos'' sceptre.

    The other rider is holding a muchrger pole. At the top of the pole is the golden statue of Hades; below it is a horizontal bar iid with small golden statues of the god of death ¨C Thanatos, the three judges of the underworld, the goddess of vengeance, Cerberus, and Charon. They are all subordinates of Hades, and each symbolises the army. For example, the statue at the top of the military banner held by the legion brigade is the god of death, while the statue at the top of the centuriae g is the goddess of vengeance. Further down the pole is another longer horizontal bar, but it no longer has any embedded statues. Instead, several small golden head-shaped pendants hang from it; all of them are the heroes of the Kingdom of Theonia who died in battle and were interred in the Hall of Valour of the Main Temple of Hades in Thurii, such as Drakos, Cid, Solikos, and so on. This military banner represents the army of the Kingdom of Theonia. It is like a small tree cast in gold, and the golden head-shaped pendants make a pleasant sound when they collide; it¡¯s as if the heroes are saying something.

    Amintas immediately drove his horse forward and saluted, ¡°Your Majesty!¡±

    Davos saluted back and said calmly, ¡°We''re just here to watch; we won''t interfere with yourmand.¡±

    Amintas thought he had heard wrong. But seeing Davos'' serious expression, he immediately rejoiced and said, ¡°Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty!¡± Before the battle, the several legates unanimously elected Amintas, the most experienced among them, to lead the army. And since this was the first time in over thirty years that Amintas hadmanded a battle of several legions on his own, he was both excited and nervous, fearing that Davos wouldn''t let himmand.

    Davos smiled as he had already heard Phryntor''s report whileing here. After all, even with the influence of his past life''s history, Davos didn''t believe the Romans could win when they had more soldiers and cavalry than the opposing party.

    Meanwhile, Matonis, Litom, Ledes and Kurcius all rushed to pay their respects when they heard that Davos and his team were at the back of the formation. Davos then encouraged them one by one.

    The soldiers around them also became excited upon hearing the arrival of King Davos. However, they couldn¡¯t leave their positions per the military protocol, so they instead turned around to salute and cheer loudly.

    Soon, the cheers spread through the entire army, ¡°All hail King Davos!!!¡±

    ¡°His Majesty will be victorious!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Amidst the crowd''s cheering, the senior centurion of the First Legion, Patroclus, kept turning around. Even though he had been in many battles, he still had an impulse to start fighting immediately so that his esteemed father-inw in the rear could see his skills with his own eyes.

    But for Adoris, who was in the Second Legion and always eager to leap into battle, the arrival of his foster father made him nervous.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    A kilometre away, Paulus, Maegius and Pantheus were leading the Roman soldiers when they suddenly heard thunderous cheers break out in the enemy formation, making them concerned about the rising morale of the enemy.

    As the distance drew nearer, Paulus, Maegius and Pantheus, who had learned Greek from childhood as Roman nobles, could vaguely understand the cheers of ¡°All Hail King Davos¡­¡±

    Everyone suddenly turned pale, ¡®Has the king of Theonia here?!! The invincible king of Theonia?!!¡¯

    During the war between Rome and Theonia, the Romans began gaining a deep understanding of the Kingdom of Theonia, including their king. The mercenary king had arrived in Magna Graecia more than a decade ago with only a thousand mercenaries, but he had repeatedly defeated weaker enemies and won numerous battles. In just a decade, he had created the now-powerful Kingdom of Theonia, which was simply miraculous!

    In particr, Maegius, who was in the centre of the military formation, could see the two towering golden poles behind the enemy line shining brightly in the sunlight, which made his legs feel weak.

    But how could they retreat at this critical junction when the army was already advancing? Moreover, Theonia''s previous victories were not against Rome, and these three Roman generals, who had yet to face Theonia''s army, believed that the brave Roman soldiers were different from the warriors of the city-states and races who had previously lost to the Theonians.

    So they sounded the horn again.

    The high-pitched horn sound excited the soldiers and drove away the fear in the generals'' hearts.

    Although Davos stood quietly at the rear, he felt a slight ripple rising within him as he looked at the Roman army before him. Though they were different from the Roman army he had seen on television and in films in his previous life, this was the first time he had seen a genuine Roman army. Now, these Roman soldiers, who had conquered the entire Mediterranean in his previous life, held long shields and spears as the whole army charged rapidly towards the Theonian army like a burning me. In contrast, the Theonian army remained motionless, like a lofty mountain with armour and shields as chilling as the bleak darkness of night. And soon, the distinct red and ck colours would bloody and magnificently sh on the battlefield.

    Davos instinctively rubbed his chin.

    As the Romans approached, thunderous shouts rang out, and the ground trembled. Even Davos and his entourage''s horses began to feel uneasy as they moved about and neighed incessantly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Crotokatax clenched his fist as he was about to witness the first massive battle of his life. Although he looked nervous, he tried to keep his eyes open and face the Roman army that was putting him under tremendous psychological pressure.

 Chapter 766: Latium Landing (II)

    Finally, the motionless Theonian formation began to move, with the light infantry of each legion quickly advancing to rain javelins and arrows down upon the advancing Roman soldiers. By then, the cavalry legions on both nks had also galloped forward and soon shed with the Roman cavalry¡­

    In just a moment, the cavalry legion overpowered the small number of Roman cavalry and began to pursue them. At the same time, the light infantry retreated smoothly to the rear of the formation.

    ¡°Javelin ready!¡± The officers ordered one after another.

    The Roman soldiers, already aware of Theonia''s tactics, raised their long shields in the face of the flying javelins¡­

    After two rounds of javelins, the Theonian soldiers charged forward and collided with the rapidly approaching Roman soldiers¡­

    The sound of battle has be the only sound on this battlefield.

    Crotokatax felt as if his breathing had stopped. He tried to open his eyes wide to look through the scattering dust: What he saw was the sight of fierce fighting, with a nervous yet excited expression appearing on his face.

    Beside him stood the kingdom''s Army Staff Officer ¨C Tolmides, the Court Clerk ¨C Henipolis, the legatus of the Fourth Legion ¨C Olivos, the legatus of the Fifth Legion ¨C Giorgris, and so on. All of them who took part in this expedition were closely following the battle, as they knew the importance that Davos attached to Rome. Therefore, they hade to witness the battle beforehand and learn how well the Romans fought so that they could make the right judgments in future battles.

    The heavy infantry in the forefront of the formation was still in a fierce stalemate when the mounted scouts rushed to report, ¡°Report! After the First Cavalry Legionpleted their pursuit, they returned to attack the enemy''s right nk!¡±

    ¡°Reporting! The Second Cavalry Legion is attacking the rear of the enemy''s left nk!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After listening to the report, Davos gently patted the neck of his warhorse and said, ¡°Amintas, you must boldly pursue the Romans once they are routed. Split them up and drive them south so they cannot impede our movements tomorrow. It would be better if you could take Lavinium so that your soldiers won''t need to build a camp and just spend the night there so they can rest.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± Amintas responded and saluted.

    Davos saluted back, turned his horse around and headed straight to the beach.

    The pce guard followed closely behind.

    Crotokatax looked reluctantly at the battlefield before also leaving.

    Olivos, Giorgris, and the others also hurriedly left after congratting Amintas. To them, the soldiers of the Theonian legion holding off the enemy''s attack from the front and having a slight advantage while the cavalry had detoured to the enemy''s nk meant that victory was not far off in such a favourable situation, even though the battle was still ongoing.

    And just as they expected, the Roman soldiers began to retreat after another ten minutes of battle, quickly turning into a major rout.

    The reason they trounced the Roman army had to do with the origins of the Roman soldiers. Most were born into Rome''s plebeian ss and had only recently receivednds in Velitrae, Satricum and Antium. In addition, they had only fought as light infantry previously and had just received heavy infantry equipment and heavy infantry training recently from the Roman Senate due to the Roman military system''s reform and the generous aid of Carthage. As a result, theycked skill and experience and, unfortunately, faced a powerful enemy in their first major battle.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Amintas led the First, Second and Third Legions, as well as the two cavalry legions, to pursue the defeated enemy soldiers, King Davos led the already assembled Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Legions to advance north along the coast, with the port of Ostia as their goal. As Rome''s only port for maritime trade and vital supplies, they would cut off Carthage''s aid to Rome and provide a foothold for the Theonian army''s expedition into Latium by capturing Ostia. It would also be very convenient for military logistics and transportation of material, killing several birds with one stone. Hence Davos made it their first target before the army even set out.

    Ostia had served as Rome''s colonial city-state for decades. However, only after establishing closer ties with Carthage in thest decade did it receive the attention of the Roman Senate because the Carthaginians suggested to the Roman Senate to strengthen the city''s defence and port to protect the supplies they provided to Rome. And when the war with the Theonians began, the Senate sent additional troops to Ostia as they were frightened at the Theonian fleet¡¯s strength. Still, they never expected Theonia to lead arge army to attack at this moment by bypassing Rome''snd defence using the sea to attack Ostia directly.

    So, Ostia only had three thousand defenders when Davos'' army arrived outside the city. But they had already learned of the enemy attack and sent a messenger to Rome asking for help while the soldiers prepared for defence. However, they were frightened upon seeing many Theonian troops outside the city.

    The defending general loudly encourages them, ¡°Citizens, it¡¯s already gettingte, and the enemy''s attack won''tst long. So you should show your courage and repel the enemy''s attack because our reinforcements from Rome will arrive tomorrow!¡­¡±

    His words encouraged the Roman soldiers, for it is true that the Theonians didn''t have enough time to attack the city.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Once the three Theonian legions had taken up their positions, Davos ordered the attack immediately.

    Davos had brought a team of over five hundred engineers on this expedition. However, they didn''t have enough time to make siege equipment, and the prefabricated siege equipment they brought aboard the ship was only a few dozen ballistae and several siegedders. After the engineers assembled them quickly, these ballistae were pushed to the front of the battlefield and began bombarding the city walls.

    So for a while, stone projectiles howl nonstop in the air as they constantly smash into the city wall, and stone debris flies randomly.

    The Roman soldiers had never experienced such bombardments, so they hid behind the battlements in fear, with almost no one daring to move. As a result, their morale plummeted.

    After more than ten minutes of continuous bombardment, a high-pitched salpinx rang out, and the ballistae''s attack ceased.

    Just as the Roman soldiers breathed a sigh of relief and poked their heads out of the walls, they saw the ck-armoured Theonians, a hundred metres away from the walls, roar like a raging tide as they rushed towards the city of Ostia from the east and south.

    ¡°Citizens, the Theonians have stopped firing stone projectiles now that their army has attacked. So take courage, grab your weapons and teach them a good lesson! Let them taste the strength of us Romans!¡­¡± The defending general continued shouting to encourage the soldiers, and the fact that the Theonian ballistae had stopped firing stone projectiles had eased their minds somewhat.

    ¡°Archers! Archers, prepare to shoot!¡­¡± The Roman officers also issued their orders.

    Davos didn¡¯t allow the ballistae team to raise the angle of elevation, which would have allowed the stone projectiles to be hurled above the city wall and bombard the city. He was worried they would damage the many port warehouses inside the city and affect their future uses.

    While Davos sat in the rear and calmly watched the battle unfold, Crotokatax couldn''t sit still. So with his father''s permission, he rode closer to the battlefield to watch it more clearly. Of course, Martius followed him closely with some pce guards to ensure his safety.

    A defensive position in a siege battle is different: Although the scale and sound of fighting are bigger and louder, it is difficult to see the casualties during a fierce battle because their vision is obstructed. On the other hand, the attacking side allowed you to see your own soldiers falling from the top of the city wall, javelins or stones hitting the climbing soldiers, or the defending side pushing down the entire siegedder¡­ These images were clearly reflected in Crotokatax''s eyes, making him feel a pang of sorrow as he clenched his fist tightly and muttered softly, ¡°Go up! Attack! O Hades, bless them that they may quickly take the city!¡­¡±

    But Hades didn''t seem to hear his descendant''s prayers. Crotokatax was so frightened that he dared not look at the battle. Instead, he turned to look at Davos, who was still sitting under the military g in the distance. Then he nced at the Fourth Legion, still standing in formation, and asked doubtfully, ¡°Why hasn''t the Fourth Legion gone up to reinforce the offensive?¡±

    Martius, beside him, exined, ¡°Ostia is a small city and couldn''t amodate too many attacking soldiers. If we send them all, it will just increase casualties due to congestion.¡±

    Not only was Crotokatax a soldier in the reserve legion, but he had also spent a year on the army staff. So he naturally knew that the Fourth Legion was known as the army best at attacking a city. But he couldn¡¯t do anything besides stomping his feet in annoyance, ¡°We should''ve sent the Fourth Legion to attack the city first!¡±

    Crotokatax continued questioning his father''s military arrangements, but the devoted Martius couldn''t allow him to go on. So he can only reassure him by saying, ¡°Siege battles are time-consuming. We cannot be too hasty since the battle has just begun, and the Romans are still defending tenaciously. I believe His Majesty has a clear tactical arrangement for the Fourth Legion¡­¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡± Crotokatax''s eyes brightened.

    ¡°Of course! His Majesty never fights uncertain battles!¡± Martius was clearly full of confidence in King Davos, even if he didn''t know the exact battle arrangements.

 Chapter 767: Capturing Ostia

    While the siege intensified, the Third Fleet under Miltiades sailed to the mouth of the Tiber River and approached the port of Ostia.

    But the Romans had already blockaded the port with iron chains and ced archers in the watch towers to shoot ming arrows at approaching warships as a deterrent.

    Unexpectedly, the Third Fleet just bypassed the port and instead docked on the south bank of the Tiber River one after another.

    The walled city of Ostia is rectangr, with its long west side facing the coast. If Theonia wanted to attack from this direction, they could only cross the sea, which was too difficult. So the Theonian army attacked the east and south sides, while the shorter north side was the port.

    Why didn¡¯t they build Ostia along the banks of the Tiber River? Although it would be convenient for the lives of the city¡¯s residents, thergeke to the east of the port provided even greater convenience for working in the fields or fetching water. This ellipticalke, formed when the Tiber River overflowed, is around three hundred metres long from north to south and a length of more than two hundred metres from east to west and has be an integral part of the city of Ostia. In addition, the Ostians had wisely left enough space between thekeside and the city area to prevent the nearby houses from flooding when the Tiber''s surges towards theke.

    So the Senate wasn''t too concerned about Ostia''s security even after the war with Theonia. Nevertheless, they followed the advice of the Carthaginians by building a rtively long breakwater in theke near the banks of the Tiber, mainly to prevent the Theonians from pushing their ships a few metres over the banks to enter the city through theke.

    But the Theonian fleet had trulye. After their warships sailed eastward along the riverbank, they bypassed the newly built breakwater, docked on the south side of the Tiber River, and dropped the fleet infantry, each carrying arge wooden nk. Then, under the officers'' orders, the two thousand eight hundred fleet infantry assembled (the Third Fleet had a total of seventy corvus warships).

    They reached theke after advancing a few hundred metres. Then they ced wooden nks in the water, and their helmets, wooden shields, leather scale armour, and short swords on top of the nks. Then, wearing only a leather vest and sandals, they held the sides of the nks with both hands and floated on the water, relying on their legs as oars by kicking the water to move forward. And for the fleet infantry, swimming across ake less than a kilometre long was an easy task as they were proficient in moving through the water due to rigorous training.

    Some people in the city of Ostia shouted in fear when they realised that enemies were swimming towards the city from theke where they drank and swam, hoping the defending soldiers could prevent the enemy froming ashore.

    But it was already toote, as the vanguard of the fleet infantry had alreadynded ashore, who then put on their helmets and picked up their wooden shields and short swords. Although the wet and muddy soil made it difficult to walk on, the fleet infantry had an easier time since they were mostly fishermen by birth and had yed on the shores near the sea since childhood. Not only did they march freely, but they also gradually formed up in formation as they advanced.

    And by the time the defending general received the news, most of the fleet infantry had already gone ashore, and the city was in chaos.

    Though the city''s defences were already tight due to the Theonian army''s fierce assault, the Roman general still had to squeeze a few troops and send them into the city to block the fleet infantry''s advance to avoid getting attacked on two sides. But this is just drinking poison to quench their thirst.

    The mounted cavalry, observing the defenders'' movements, quickly reported the changes in the enemy to King Davos. So without hesitation, King Davos sent the well-trained Fourth Legion to join the siege immediately, which was thest straw that broke the camel''s back.

    The Theonian army finally took Ostia at dusk.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile, hooves rushing through the city of Rome, which had just quietened at dusk, broke the silence. And the messenger kept on shouting, ¡°Emergency military report! Emergency military report!¡­¡± to make the people in the streets dodge in advance to avoid any idents.

    But that had naturally aroused many Romans'' doubts and panic, ¡°What happened?! Could Camillus be defeated?!¡±

    ¡°Don''t say such things! How could Camillus lose?! It should be that our army must have captured the city of Ferentinum!¡±

    ¡°The messenger who has just arrived should have already said it if it were a victory, there was no need for him to rush to the Senate first.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the Romans kept discussing, the messenger rode through the square and pushed open the Senate Hall''s entrance.

    The Roman senators were preparing to leave the hall and go home to rest, so they were greatly shocked once they learned about the Theonian army''s arrival from the sea and was about tond on the coast of Latium.

    Over the past few days, the Senate''s main task has been to listen to the progress of the Roman army''s war against the Hernicans. But just as they eagerly awaited news of their ultimate victory, the Theonians had unexpectedly attacked them first.

    ¡®Aren''t the Theonians fighting against Carthage in Sicily at the moment? Are they not defending themselves against the invasion of the Samintes?!!¡­¡¯ The reaction of most of the Roman senators to this news was one of disbelief.

    But unlike most senators'' horrified expressions, Potitus still appeared somewhat calm as he loudly asked, ¡°Have you determined where the Theonian army wouldnd?¡±

    The messenger replied, ¡°General Paulus had sent mounted scouts to track along the coast, and I believe we will receive the news soon.¡±

    Potitus pondered and muttered, ¡°Ardea? It shouldn''t be! It''s too close to Antium, and our army could easily disrupt the Theonians''nding¡­ There¡¯s a possibility it would be on the coast of Lavinium since this small city doesn''t have many soldiers at all¡­¡±

    Before he could finish speaking, Apuleius shouted, ¡°Ostia isn''t far from Lavinium!¡±

    ¡°Ostia! The Theonian''s most likely target is Ostia!!¡­¡± A burst of exmation rang out in the hall. Most of them had participated in various affairs of city-states and foreign wars before bing senators, so they were acutely aware of the cost of losing Ostia and the benefits the Theonians would gain by obtaining it.

    ¡°Ostia has three thousand defenders, and Paulus, Maegius and Pantheus would definitely gather their troops and rush to stop them once they found any anomalies. So the situation shouldn''t be too bad,¡± Lucretiusforted the crowd.

    ¡°The previous battles have already taught us how strong the Theonian soldiers are. And ording to the messenger''s report just now, the number of Theonian troops about tond is probably more than the number of soldiers we sent to guard the border of Volsci. In addition, the ten thousand Theonian reinforcements within Volsci have also rushed to assist them in theirnding, so we must prepare for the worst. Paulus and the others may fail to stop the enemy fromnding, and the enemy will likely attack Ostia!¡± the cautious Potitus warned.

    ¡°They shouldn''t be able to attack Ostia in such a short time even if they manage tond smoothly. We still have a chance!¡± Apuleius eximed.

    Many senators immediately supported his words. Not only had they misjudged the situation, but the Theonians had also boldlyunched another attack from the sea, bypassing the heavily defended Roman towns and cities and attacking Latium, rendering their southwestern defence strategy useless.

    ¡°I am afraid Paulus and the others are already fighting the Theonians, and we could only receive the battle situation in the evening,¡± Ambustus warned them not to expend any more energy on blind spection. Then he said seriously, ¡°What we must do now is send someone to inform Camillus!¡±

    ¡°I disagree with your suggestion. It is already dark outside, and riding in the dark is dangerous, especially since the terrain in the Tiber Valley is uneven. What''s more, there are remnants of the Hernicans roaming in the wilderness there, and the person we send to inform Camillus of this would most likely have to lose his life before he could reach Camillus. It is a small matter for him to lose his life, but once they fall into the Hernicans and their allies'' hands and learn of the great invasion of the Theonians, it would greatly boost their morale and cause problems for Camillus to lead his army to retreat.¡± Publius Cornelius Scipio immediately objected.

    Many senators believed that what he said was reasonable.

    But someone''s voice rang out loudly, ¡°No matter how difficult it is, we must still send someone to inform Camillus this evening so he can lead his troops back as soon as possible!¡± Potitus spoke decisively. After looking at everyone with a grave expression, he said, ¡°Fellow senators, a serious problem hase to mind. Throughout my decades of life, war had remained as unpredictable as the temperaments of the gods. So even if you think the situation is already bad, it will be even worse! Thus we must consider the possibility that the Theonian army will attack our city of Rome!¡±

    His words caused another uproar in the Senate Hall.

    ¡®Even if the Theonians took a risk to bypass Rome¡¯snd defences and attack Ostia, would they have the audacity to go deep and invade the interior of the Latium region alone?! To brazenly attack a Roman city with enemies all around them?!!¡¯ Although many senators were shocked at Potitus'' spection, they remainedpletely sceptical, ¡®Ostia alone would already cost them quite a lot of time!¡¯

 Chapter 768: Dispute in the Roman Senate

    ¡°It''s always correct to be cautious for Rome''s safety! Now, most of our Roman citizens were drawn out to attack the Hernicans with only three thousand young soldiers left to defend Rome, which is not enough!¡± Ambustus interjected, raised his concerns and took the initiative to offer a proposal, ¡°Thus, I propose to mobilise all citizens over fifty years of age immediately. We should also arm those plebeians and freemen in Mons Aventinus(referring to the famous slums of Rome at this time) to jointly defend Rome until Camillus return with hisrge army! And once the meeting ends, I will immediately go to Cassius, the Praetorian Prefect, andplete this task together.¡±

    Although many senators expressed doubts about Theonia attacking the city of Rome immediately, they agreed to the proposal for safety''s sake. Some even suggested they directly send messengers to contact the surrounding Latin allies and ask them to send citizens to help defend Rome.

    However, there were still those who expressed their opposition, ¡®With most of the citizens of the Latin allies having joined in attacking the Hernicans with Camillus, where would they get extra soldiers to help them defend Rome? On the contrary, they might ask for our aid once they learned of the Theonians'' invasion of Latium!¡¯

    Thus they ultimately didn''t implement that proposal.

    Apuleius eximed, ¡°ording to thest war report, some time had passed since Camillus led his army to attack Ferentinum, and he should already be at the critical moment. If he were to withdraw now, all his previous efforts would have been in vain.¡±

    Many sighed with reluctance when they heard this. After all, just as they were about to defeat the Hernicans and thisnd would belong to Rome, they would have to give it up.

    Apuleius, someone against Camillus, seized the opportunity to speak up andined, ¡°Fellow senators, Camillus led an unprecedented army of seventy thousand soldiers as the dictator of Rome. Although he consumed vast amounts of food daily, he still failed to capture the city of Ferentinum or even eliminate the strength of the Hernicans, which put Rome in a dangerous situation. Therefore, we must hold him ountable! Rather than withdrawing the army, we should urge him to capture Ferentinum within two days and quickly return to Rome so as not to waste the supplies we provided to the army. If Camillus fails to do so, we must consider whether to punish him once we repel the Theonians.¡±

    Some senators have a change of mind after hearing Apuleius'' words.

    But his words made Potitus furious. Because once Apuleius'' proposal was approved, it meant that the Senate wouldy aside his own proposal of having Camillus return with his army as soon as possible. Thus he angrily used Apuleius, ¡°You are putting Rome in danger!¡±

    Despite Potitus'' high prestige, Apuleius, who finally managed to seize an opportunity to use Camillus, was reluctant to give up. Thus he retorted loudly, ¡°ording to Ambustus'' proposal, we would be able to organise nearly ten thousand defenders tomorrow. And I have never heard of any force that can forcibly capture a city in one day with such a sufficient number of defenders, let alone the city of Rome, which can amodate more than a hundred thousand people. So we must be confident that we can hold on until Camillus returns with his army!

    Besides, that''s just your hunch, My Lord. On the contrary, there is a greater chance that the Theonians won''te to attack Rome immediately because they would have to take significant risks. But for such a slight chance, you want us to throw away our hard-won opportunity to eliminate the Hernicans and gain new colonies? This is not a wise course of action, nor would it be good for Rome.

    With the Theonian army¡¯s invasion of Latium, the other races that hate Rome will inevitably jump against us again. And only by destroying the Hernicans and severely weakening the Volscians first could we concentrate on dealing with our greatest enemy ¨C Theonia!¡±

    Apuleius'' reasonable words made Potitus unable to retort.

    Maluginensis, also sitting in an ivory chair, finally spoke up, ¡°Apuleius is right. Urging Camillus to destroy the Hernicans as soon as possible would benefit us in our war against the Theonians!¡±

    Apuleius'' proposal already convinced many senators, and the support of Maluginensis further hardened their resolve. After all, Maluginensis was also a senator with great prestige and age simr to that of Potitus and had served as consul several times(still less than Potitus). The only stain in his political career was when he didn''t defend Mons Capitolinus when the Celts sacked the city of Rome and had to retreat earlier. Thus, he kept a low profile in the Senate after they had rebuilt Rome. However, this didn''t mean that he was less influential. After all, his full name was Publius Cornelius Maluginensis, and he was the highest representative of the mighty Roman n of Cornelius in the Senate.

    But despite Potitus, Ambustus and some senators'' opposition, the Senate chose to pass Apuleius'' proposal. Thus they urged Camillus to capture Ferentinum within three days and then return to rescue Rome.

    Potitus red at Apuleius, who was showing a proud smile, knowing that his concern for Rome was merely a pretence for personal vendetta. Because whether Camillus captured the city of Ferentinum within the time limit or not, his situation wouldn''t be good. If he aplished his task, but the enemy attacked Rome, the people would resent his inability as the dictator to protect Rome and use him in the citizen assembly after the war ended. But if he defied the Senate''s order and returned in time to rescue Rome, he would instead offend the senators who were eager to expand Rome and obtain more benefits.

    ¡®Damn Apuleius!¡¯ Potitus could only say aloud, ¡°Now that we have made up our minds, let us immediately send a messenger to inform Camillus of the approaching Theonian army so that he may step up his attack and take the city of Ferentinum as soon as possible.¡±

    Although that''s what he said, Potitus understood that Camillus would likely refuse to attack Ferentinum and return to Rome with his army if he knew the city was under attack. Especially since Camillus had the authority to overrule Senate resolutions as the dictator and act ording to his own judgment, he could have even designated a senator to represent him in Rome during his campaign, giving himplete control over all matters in the city. However, the modest, cautious and power-loathing Camillus gave up this right, leading to the current situation.

    Apuleius, however, could tell Potitus'' intentions. Thus, he responded, ¡°Let us not forget that Camillus is the dictator. During his reign, the proposals we make are only suggestions to him. So if he is unwilling to listen, there is nothing we can do¡­ I, therefore, propose that the Senate appoint a special envoy to rush to the camp at Ferentinum, first to tell Camillus of the proposal we have adopted and then, once the siege is over, to tell him of the Theonian invasion. To this end, we should block the gates of Rome and forbid anyone to leave¡­¡±

    ¡°YOU ARE CRAZY! YOU ARE VIOLATING THE LAWS OF ROME! YOU ARE DEFYING THE DICTATOR OF ROME! Cough¡­cough¡­¡± Potitus coughed incessantly in his anger, his body unstable even with the cane and prompted the senator next to him to help him.

    Maluginensis advised as if he was concerned, ¡°Don''t get agitated too much, old friend. Apuleius only does this so Camillus can concentrate on his task without distraction. He is also doing it for the greater good of Rome, even at the risk of Camillus punishing him.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that''s right! I think Apuleius'' proposal has some merits!¡­¡± With Maluginensis'' support, several senators expressed their backing for Apuleius one after the other. The reason for their boldness was self-evident: Although Camillus used his wit and bravery when dealing with enemies, he was gentle and friendly towards the Romans and even the senators. During his three years as dictator, he spent most of his time fighting foreign wars, so he entrusted the senators the right to stabilise the city-state. Not only did he refrain from overstretching his authority, but he also did not punish the senators, including Apuleius, who had defamed his reputation. Even today, the person responsible for his expulsion from Rome remains unharmed and still holds a position in the Senate. That is why these senators had no reason to be afraid.

    Seeing that even senior senators such as Lucretius expressed support for Apuleius'' new proposal, Potitus could only slump back in his seat, closing his eyes and simply didn''t bother anymore.

    Sure enough, the messenger chosen by the senators was the City Guard''s Prefect ¨C Milesius, whose full name was Milesius Cornelius Scipio, and who belonged to the same n as Maluginensis, indicating to whom he would be listening.

    Potitus only snorted after hearing this result.

    The ce fell into a brief silence after they finished their election. Ambustus then requested the war mobilisation of the city of Rome and received approval. At the same time, Apuleius also left the Senate Hall to inform Milesius to carry out the Senate''s decision.

    The other senators remained in the Senate Hall and even began ordering their household ves to bring them dinner, apparently prepared to continue the discussion into the night. They would need to discuss: Had the Theoniansnded? Had Paulus and the army he led fought the enemy? Do the Theonians intend to take Ostia?¡­ All of these need confirmation, so they have to wait for more news to arrive from the west coast.

 Chapter 769: Defending Rome

    Potitus had also called his trusted servant during this short break and said, ¡°Go home and bring me some food.¡± As he spoke loudly, he kept waving his staff around.

    ¡°Respectable master, what would you like to eat?¡± The clever servant immediately asked aloud.

    ¡°Fool! Have you forgotten all the food I eat? Do I need to tell it to you again?!¡± Potitusined discontentedly while his servant nodded and bent over.

    ¡°I don''t want any bread since I can¡¯t bite it with my broken teeth. So Bring me a big bowl of hot porridge, and¡­¡± Potitus¡¯ voice became lower because of fatigue.

    The servant could only get closer when he heard his master whisper, ¡°Immediately send someone overnight to inform Camillus about the Theonian army''s invasion of Latium!¡±

    Potitus watch the servant leave the Senate Hall in a daze, ¡®Even if there is only a slight possibility of Rome being endangered, I can only wrong you, Camillus. But as long as I am here, I will not let anyone punish you in the Senate!¡¯

    Potitus nced at the others and noticed that no one seemed to pay attention to him, so he leaned back in his ivory chair and closed his eyes to rest.

    The senators then began discussing the reports from Sicily about Carthage engaging the Theonians in battle. Then they questioned why the Theonians had not focused on Carthage and instead dared to send arge army to Rome.

    ¡°Could the Theonians have already defeated Carthage, freeing their hands to send troops to attack us?¡±

    ¡°That''s just a minor defeat. Carthage is a powerful city-state in the western Mediterranean, so how could their battle against Theonia already have a result?! It must be because the war had just begun, and the Carthaginians hadn''t yet exerted all their strength, allowing the Theonians an easier time to cope against them, which led to the Theonians sending troops to attack us.¡±

    ¡°We should send envoys to inform the Carthaginians to increase their attack on Theonia to fulfil their obligations as our allies!¡±

    ¡°You talk as if it''s easy! But how can you notify them? Latium''s coast is now underplete control of the Theonians.¡±

    ¡°Apuleius, there''s a way if there''s a will. Although the Theonian fleet has blockaded Latium''s coast, Etruria''s remains open. So we can just send our messengers to our allied city-states in the southern part of Etruria, take their ships to head north along the coast, and eventually reach the coast of Iberia, the territory of the famous Magonid family of Carthage. Moreover, the head of their family has recently been appointed suprememander of the Carthaginian army, in charge of the fight against Theonia¡­¡±

    ¡°That''s a wonderful idea! Once the Carthaginians knew that Theonia had sent arge army to Rome, they would surely intensify their attacks on Sicily. And Theonia would find it hard to fight the war to the north and south, forcing them to retreat from Rome to avoid being defeated by the Carthaginians.¡±

    ¡°We can''t rely too much on the Carthaginians. In fact, with our hundred thousand soldiers and Camillus'' leadership, we can defeat the iing Theonian army!¡­¡±

    ¡°Scipio* is right! We don''t need to fear the Theonians while fighting on ournd. Instead, we should take this opportunity to defeat them, establish Rome''s reputation and fully control Latium!¡­¡± (Publius Cornelius Scipio. There are three Publius Cornelius: Publius Cornelius Maluginensis, Publius Cornelius Cossus, and Publius Cornelius Scipio.)

    In a heated debate, the senators approved the proposal to send envoys to Etruria the next day to take a ship to sea to ask Carthage for help. At the same time, they also had the idea of looking for opportunities to fight the Theonian army once Camillus had led his army back.

    But in the evening, news arrived that therge army led by Paulus, Maegius and Pantheus, totalling over twenty-five thousand men, had suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of almost as many Theonian troops.

    And this terrible news sunk the Senate into a long silence.

    After a long time, some elders began shouting with a guilty conscience, ¡®We should have allowed Camillus to lead the army back to defend Rome with how powerful the Theonian army is!¡¯

    Some senators even proposed negotiating with Theonia and returning the upied Volscian territory¡­

    The vast majority of senators had naturally criticised them. Meanwhile, Apuleius and his supporter Maluginensis are hard at work trying to calm the panicked senators, saying that there''s still no news from Ostia, which means it has yet to fall to the Theonians¡­

    Potitus watched their endless bickering coldly and said nothing, feeling fortunate for his earlier decision¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    That night, not only did the candles burn brightly in the Senate Hall, but the Roman Square was abuzz withmotions.

    After receiving the emergency notice from the Roman guards, countless people emerged from their homes and gathered in the square.

    And they were divided into two categories: Teenagers between the ages of fifteen and seventeen and older men over fifty. Because apart from the three thousand young and able defenders in Rome, the other Roman citizens fit for military service had already followed Camillus to Hernici. Besides them, a few women wandered about the square, asking the Roman soldiers who were keeping order about the Theonian attack.

    In contrast to the panicked women, most of the older men in the square looked calm as they had already experienced many wars and were undisturbed by the change. Meanwhile, the teenagers looked excited as they longed to grow up and serve in the army like their fathers and brothers, to fight on the battlefield and win honour for themselves. So although they crowded the square, there was order and no confusion.

    As the crowd queued up to the conscription officer, they would give their name, n, tribe and previous military record. The conscription officer would then ce the applicants in a particr toon and assign them a military position. In addition, since most of the veterans had armour and weapons, while only a few youngsters had them, they had to equip the rest.

    Ambustus stood on the stage in the square and watched the crowd below, feeling some peace of mind and many of his worries disappearing.

    ¡°Father!¡± A crisp voice sounded, causing him to turn his head around. He then said with a kind smile on his face, ¡°Konya, why are you here?¡±

    Ambustus'' youngest daughter looked worried as she said, ¡°Stolos heard the guard''s notice and wants to know if Rome is really in danger?¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry; this is just for precaution. Have Stolos recuperate well at home,¡± Ambustus waved his hand and said rxedly.

    After seeing off his little daughter, Ambustus'' expression became even more serious as the people in the square gradually dispersed. He couldn''t help but ask the praetorian prefect, Cassius, ¡°Have you really notified those people in Mons Aventinus?¡±

    ¡°I swear to Jupiter that I have sent someone to Mons Aventinus to notify the people!¡± Cassius hurriedly swore.

    ¡°So why haven''t theye yet?!¡± Ambustus became a bit anxious. In his opinion, the plebeians and freemen in Mons Aventinus should be the main force in defending Rome instead of the elderly and children.

    Cassius smiled bitterly and said, ¡°My Lord, it seems you do not know. The people there either have been fighting against our nobles and opposing the Senate, or they are refugees who had only joined recently and weren''t loyal enough to Rome.¡±

    ¡°Don''t say anymore,¡± Ambustus interrupted. Then he softly reminded, ¡°Now that the enemy is close by, all Romans should unite¡­¡±

    Ambustus suddenly stopped speaking after hearing the loud noise from a distance. He then finally smiled and said, ¡°Look, they''re finally here!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Why hasn''t the news of Ostia reached Rome that night? That was because Davos ordered them to blockade Ostia bynd tightly and said so that not even a single man or ship from Ostia could leave after the breach. Furthermore, Davos had ordered Miltiades to send all his fast trireme to blockade the coastal waters of Ostia during the siege and not allow any ships to approach. Onnd, Davos had also sent out his mountain reconnaissance brigade to blockade the area around Ostia so that the Roman and their Latin allies'' scouts couldn''t find out about the battle of Ostia until the evening when he told Izam to withdraw the scouts. But it was already the next day when the Roman scouts noticed the change, prompting them to rush to Rome.

    Davos was apanying Miltiades to the port When Amintas'' messenger arrived at Ostia.

    ¡°Your Majesty, you don''t need toe to the port. After making several promises to thebourers in the port, most of them already expressed their willingness to assist us¡­¡± Miltiades told Davos as they walked.

    ¡°Miltiades, I trust your ability to handle things.¡± Davos then said seriously, ¡°But since this would be the first time we have upied territory in Latium, they are unfamiliar with us and even more frightened by our strength. Thus it would be more likely to convince them of our promises and be more helpful to us if I, the king, appeared in person. And with them as the model, it will be much easier to govern the Latium cities we have upied.¡±

    Miltiades just nodded without fully understanding it. Knowing Davos had already made up his mind, he didn''t dare to persuade the king again.

    Davos naturally doesn''t expect a navarch to understand his approach from an overall perspective. Therefore, he changed the topic and asked, ¡°Where do thebourers and sailors in the porte from?¡±

 Chapter 770: Catastrophe of the Latium Populace

    ¡°Mostbourers are ves and Latins, some sailors are Etruscans, and some are Campanians¡­¡±

    Davos asked while feeling surprised, ¡°No Romans?¡±

    ¡°There are some Roman merchants and residents, but we haven''t found them among thebourers and sailors in the port due to the short time¡­¡± Miltiades exined.

    Upon hearing this, a glimmer of hope rose in Davos'' heart. ording to the information he had previously gathered, many in Rome lived in poverty, some even selling themselves into very, thus increasing the conflict with the nobility.

    But after Davos thought about it again, Ostia was a small city with few Roman citizens to begin with. And perhaps because Rome had gained a lot ofnd in the year since the invasion of Volsci and the attack on Hernici, the Roman plebeians had new ces to go¡­

    Thinking of that, Davos asked again, ¡°What about those ves? Who are they?¡±

    ¡°There were our allies, the Volscians and the Hernicans, the Aequians, the Etruscans¡­and basically all alien races which the Romans captured after their defeat. Thus they weed our arrival and were willing to pull our warships because we promised them freedom.¡± Miltiades said with some excitement.

    Davos nodded, but the noise ahead suddenly drew his attention: Thousands of people were gathered in the clearing, lit by torches and guarded by soldiers. Although the weather was still cold in early spring, half of these people wore only thin, simple linen clothes, and some were even half-naked. Even though they had separated the clothed and the half-naked gathered into two, they all nced uneasily at the heavily armed soldiers around them asionally.

    Martius first led the guard into the open space, but their splendid attire and neat, firm steps drew the crowd''s attention.

    ¡°King Davos of Theonia is here!¡± Martius shouted, which was then repeated loudly in Latin. As a result, a considerablemotion among the crowd in a daze.

    The guards quickly lined up, followed by two tall and muscr soldiers carrying the banner of the kingdom and a shining golden sceptre. Then came a middle-aged man in a golden helmet and armour, with coloured plumes of his helmet fluttering in the wind. He had an imposing demeanour as he walked leisurely towards them, surrounded by a group of Theonian officials dressed in magnificent chitons.

    Suddenly, the noise in the open space disappeared. The people curled uneasily as they unconsciously retreated while casting curious nces. However, when their eyes met Davos'', they hastily lowered their heads like frightened rabbits.

    ¡°I am Davos, the king of Theonia!¡± After introducing himself in a simple sentence, Davos said loudly, ¡°Over the past decade, the Romans continuously attacked the surrounding races and forces, plundering thend, killing the people, and forcibly turning captives into ves, with extreme greed and bloodshed! Worried about getting exterminated by Rome, the Volscians and Hernicans allied with us, Theonia.(Davos had already formed an alliance with the Hernicans before leading his army north)

    We had first sent envoys to negotiate with Rome, hoping they would halt their invasion of the Volsci and Hernici and return thend they upied. Unexpectedly, the Romans ignored our advice and instead elerated their invasion of these two races. Now the Romans have surrounded the Hernicans'' city of Ferentinum and could be wiped out at any moment. Meanwhile, the Volscian soldiers are powerless to stop the subsequent Roman invasion, having suffered a defeat in the previous invasion.

    Fearing us stopping their invasion, Rome had even encouraged its ally Carthage to break the peace agreement it had kept with Theonia for years and dere war on us! So ¨C I havee here to lead the Theonian army to fulfil the covenant, to protect Theonia''s allies, the Volsci and Hernici, and to punish Rome and its allies who have dared to defy Theonia''s dignity and provoke war by defeating them once and for all!¡±

    Davos patiently told this to a group of lowly civilians and ves so as to exin to all forces and races in the Latium region and even the surrounding areas why the Theonian army hade and their purpose.

    After a few men repeated Davos'' words in Latin, some people in the crowd shouted, ¡°Kill the Romans! Save Hernici(Volsci)! We want freedom!¡­¡±

    Davos looked up and saw a group of half-naked people with agitated expressions, some even shedding tears, causing a greatermotion throughout the clearing.

    Martius immediately ced his hands on his short sword, stepped forward, and shouted, ¡°Silence!¡± The guards immediately roared in unison, silencing the crowd again.

    Davos looked at them and said sincerely, ¡°Theonia''s only enemies are the Romans and the city-states that assist the Romans in their fight against us. So any city-state or people who remain neutral in this war, or even offer their help to Theonia, will be considered our friends and will gain the friendship of the Theonians! You-¡± Davos pointed his finger at the ves, ¡°will be released in a few days. And we will even provide you with some rations to ensure you can safely return to your families. But if you can assist the military during your stay in Ostia, you will also receive some payment as a reward.¡±

    Davos'' words brought smiles to the ves, some even bowing to Davos, using their etiquette to express their gratitude. However, Davos returned their bowing, despite their lowly status.

    As a result, his friendly demeanour not only won him the favour of the ves but also made thebourers less nervous.

    At this point, Davos eximed with a serious look, ¡°Before I came to Latium, I thought that only the Romans were destroying the peace of this region. But after I arrived, I realised that an equally terrible evil was making the people of thisnd suffer as if they were living in hell, and that was¡­¡±

    Seeing that he had drawn thebourers'' attention, Davos loudly said, ¡°Nobles! The nobles of Rome! The nobles of the Latin city-states! They were like vicious wolves who ignored their fellow people, using their power and money to take over thend of their people shamelessly and then forcing thendless to be their ves to produce wealth for them like livestock and leaving them dying in the fields without even burying their bones! And those who didn''t want to be ves and serve the nobles were forced to flee the city, wandering around, living a difficult life and unable to support their wives and children¡­¡±

    Davos said this in a heavy tone, and after listening to the interpreters'' emotional trantion, thebourers recalled their tragic experiences, some even sobbing softly.

    Upon seeing this sight, Davos took advantage of the situation and asked one of the interpreters, ¡°What''s your name? Where did youe from? What do you do for a living?¡±

    The young interpreter replied, ¡°I am Adrius, a citizen of Gabii in Latium. A dozen years ago, when the Gauls invaded Latium, they took not only Rome but also Gabii, which isn''t far from Rome. After the Gauls were repulsed and we returned to our home, we found that a nobleman seized ournds on the banks of the Anio, a tributary of the Tiber. But because the Gauls had destroyed the vige and ravaged the city hall, we could not prove thend belonged to us, and the nobleman had paid off the judge¡­ Not only did we lose the case, but they also falsely used my father and sentenced him to get flogged¡­ Dragging his wounded body, my father left Gabii in anger with my mother, brother, and I¡­¡± By the time he said this, his eyes had reddened a little.

    ¡°My god, you''re just like me. Mynd was also forcibly upied after the war!¡±

    ¡°Although my case isn''t like yours, my wife was sick, so I had to borrow money from a wealthy man to treat her illness. I thought I could pay off my debt by selling the grain for the autumn harvest, but I didn''t expect him to say that the money could only pay off the interest. As a result, that wealthy man forcibly took over mynd!¡±

    ¡°What you have borrowed is at high interest! Damn the nobility! Damn the rich! The Senate only helps these rich people, leaving no way for us to survive!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The experience recounted by this ck-haired, ck-eyed Latin quickly resonated with the previously silent Latinbourers.

    After carefully reading the intelligence collected from Latium, Davos realises that the fierce conflict between the nobility and the plebeians was present not only in Rome but also in other Latin city-states and was even more severe. The insatiable greed of the nobility left the plebeians with heavy debts, making it even harder for them to survive. After all, they aren¡¯t like Rome, which could expand its territory and acquire more ves using force, providing their plebeians with some respite. Other city-states did not have this luxury. Moreover, they had also rebelled against Rome and lost, so the Romans took some of theirnds, resulting in a shortage of arablend and increased conflicts overnd and annexations. And that was exactly what Davos wanted.

    ¡°How did you survive afterwards?¡± Abourer asked aloud, curiosity filling his face.

    So Adrius pointed to his feet and continued, ¡°My father used to work here, but the port of Ostia wasn''t as busy as now, so he didn''t earn enough money for our family to live on. So he took a risk by taking us to Neapolis in the south-¡±

    ¡°Oh, that''s the Campanian region the Greeks upied. However, their maritime trade is indeed much more prosperous than here!¡± Someone eximed.

    ¡°But soon after, my father''s old injury resurfaced, and he was almost unable to walk. Through the help of a kind-hearted man, we brought my father to Pompeii, which was not far from Neapolis, where we sought help from the priest at the Temple of Hades. But apart from curing my father for free, the benevolent priest also provided our family with a ce to live in the temple and free food for some time. He had also informed us of the city of Irna, located in the kingdom of Theonia, not far south of Pompeii. Not only does the city provide many job opportunities there, but you can also apply to the city hall to be a Theonian citizen if you are willing and easily obtain approval. And after following thews and working diligently in Irna for a few years, one could obtain Theonian citizenship and even acquirend¡­¡±

 Chapter 771: The Saviour of Latiums Populace

    ¡°Impossible!¡± Severalbourers showed surprised expressions and shouted simultaneously. They had caused such amotion that they seemingly forgot the soldiers standing around, prompting Martius to strike his long shield with his sword again, quickly calming the crowd.

    Adrius continued, ¡°Because this priest of Hades was a Theonian, my father decided to trust his life saviour and took us to Irna¡­ Eight years have passed, and my father is already a Theonian citizen, and apart from owningnd in Irna, he became an official in the kingdom. Meanwhile, I learned to write Greek after studying at the school in Irna for four years at a meagre cost. And after reaching adulthood, I became an official in Irna with a generous monthly sry while my younger brother was still studying¡­ Now our family lives well and is respected, and we have never again experienced the situation of being oppressed and starving since then¡­¡±

    After finishing his story, the ce became quiet as thebourers looked at the young interpreter. Although he is also a Latin with ck hair and ck eyes, he is well-built, has fair skin and has a gentle temperament. He is obviously unlike those who work daily in the dock, suffering injuries and falling ill.

    Crotokatax listened to Adrius'' story while looking at him carefully. He didn¡¯t expect that this low-ranking and inconspicuous official who had just followed them would have such an extraordinary experience, making him curious about him.

    Seeing the people fall silent, Davos struck while the iron was hot and pointed to several other interpreters, shouting, ¡°Besides Adrius, all of them are Latin but also Theonian citizens. Over the years, many Latins decided to be Theonian citizens. Do you know why?

    Because those Latin city-states controlled by nobles oppressed the civilians and made their lives harder, in contrast, we treated all citizens equally in the Kingdom of Theonia, giving themnd and thew to protect theirnd! And anyone, rich or noble, who dares to steal the wealth of themoners will be severely punished by the court! As a result, the people of Theonia have been able to live in peace, with plenty of food and a carefree life that is unachievable in any city-states!¡±

    Then the several interpreters nodded repeatedly, with sincere expressions.

    In reality, Davos had exaggerated the number of Latin citizens in the Kingdom of Theonia, with the total number reaching at most ten. Davos had known this because he had explicitly asked the Chief Census Officer Raphias to carefully search for them in the kingdom before they went on the expedition. Because Latium wasn¡¯t adjacent to the Kingdom of Theonia, most Latins stayed in Irna. In addition, the maritime trade and ports of the city-states in Latium were underdeveloped, resulting in little information exchange with the outside world. Furthermore, as the vast majority of the Latins were farmers, they usually settled in one ce. Coupled with the Theonian and Latinnguages and cultural differences, only a few were willing to go south.

    But Davos knew thebourers became interested after seeing them listen attentively, each having various thoughts with their eyes glistening.

    Suddenly, someone in the ve group shouted, ¡°Can we also be citizens of Theonia?!¡±

    After Adrius tranted the other party''s words, Davos didn''t expect the ves to be the first to act. But he said immediately, ¡°No matter what your origin or race, as long as you have the will to be a citizen and are willing to abide by Theonia¡¯sw and fulfil the obligations that the kingdom requires of its citizens, we in Theonia are more than wee to ept you and grant you the rights that a Theonian citizen should enjoy!¡±

    Then with a wave of Davos¡¯ hand, Martius immediately ordered the pce guards around him to remove their helmets, revealing their distinct hair colours and facial features. As a unit that had served King Davos for a long time and had a special status, the pce guards were known for their diverse racialposition in the Kingdom of Theonia, proving to everyone the king¡¯s attitude towards treating all races equally. And this approach has proven effective in foreignnds. Furthermore, with vespeting with them, thebourers became less reserved.

    ¡°How can one be a citizen of Theonia?¡± Severalbourers asked almost at the same time.

    ¡°This is my clerk, Henipolis. Next, he will provide a detailed exnation of the procedures required to be a citizen of Theonia. You can ask him your questions, and he will answer in detail.¡± Davos pointed to Henipolis, holding a te and taking notes beside him.

    Henipolis quickly put away the te and said earnestly, ¡°I will answer their inquiries satisfyingly, Your Majesty.¡±

    Finally, Davos turned to the crowd and asked aloud, ¡°Is there anyone among you who has spent time in the city of Rome and who knows every quarter and every corner of the city and who also knows something of the various nobles of Rome? I would like to invite him to be my advisor. I will pay him, of course, and it would also help to reduce the number of years required to be a citizen of Theonia if he is willing to do so.¡±

    Once the interpreters finished tranting Davos'' words, many in the crowd immediately raised their hands.

    After some questioning, Davos chose a ve named Valerius because he was once a Roman citizen.

    When Davos first appeared, fear filled the eyes of the ves andbourers. But when he left, their gazes were filled with awe.

    Davos nced back at the crowd gathering around Henipolis in the torch-lit clearing. He felt this was a good start, for he nned to turn these people into Theonian citizens and make them the sparks that would ignite a raging fire in thisnd.

    But this is a long process, and time is short. He also has a lot to do tonight.

    On his way back to the city, Davos bumped into Tolmides, who hurried over and said, ¡°Your Majesty, Amintas'' battle report has arrived.¡±

    ¡°How''s the situation?¡±

    ¡°After defeating the Roman army, Amintas led his entire army in pursuit, especially the two cavalry legions that desperately chased the Romans towards the south of Lavinium while also seizing this small city. In addition, Amintas captured many Roman soldiers that he couldn''t even have the time to count. Worried that these captives would drag down their military operation tomorrow, he adopted our method in Persia.¡± Tolmides lowered his voice when he uttered thest sentence.

    Davos nced at Crotokatax beside him and said, ¡°Have the herald return immediately and tell Amintas that he has won magnificently! But have him order the soldiers to rest tonight to regain their strength and find a way to solve the soldiers'' rations. He must ensure the soldiers are in good shape when he leads them tomorrow and meets us in Rome, preferably not toote.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    Crotokatax asked curiously, ¡°Father, what''s the old method?¡±

    Tolmides looked at the now grown but still childish-looking Prince of Theonia but remained silent.

    Davos hesitated but eventually decided to tell him, ¡°It is to sever the captives'' hands and feet to immobilise them and then leave them on the battlefield¡­ We used this method to deal with captured soldiers to avoid killing them while fleeing Persia since some of Persia''s subordinate city-states constantly attacked us, which would have provoked the enemy even more. In addition, it was also to divert the enemy''s attention towards caring for the wounded soldiers¡­¡±

    ¡°But¡­isn''t that too cruel¡­¡± Crotokatax couldn''t ept it. Then faced with Davos'' serious gaze, Crotokatax gathered up his courage and said, ¡°They have all surrendered, so we should ensure their safety. Father, that should also be beneficial for us to win the goodwill of these Romans, allowing us to conquer thisnd faster!¡±

    Instead of getting angry at his son''s lecture, Davos smiled and said, ¡°Croto, I''m d you have your own opinion! But you need to understand that the Romans are our enemies now, and even after we won two victories, our army far away from the kingdom is still in danger. We might lose against the Romans and its allies that far outnumbered us at any time, die on this unfamiliarnd or be ves of the enemy. Hence our primary goal is to do everything possible to ensure we can continue winning while reducing our soldiers¡¯ casualties, even if cruel. Only when we have the absolute advance can we consider the issue you had raised¡­¡±

    Davos patiently taught his son. Once he saw him ponder, he encouraged him by patting his shoulder. Then he turned around and asked Tolmides, ¡°Has the soldiers'' amodation been arranged yet?¡±

    ¡°We''ve arranged everything. There are quite a few warehouses in the city that we simply modified, which is much better than sleeping in tents. In addition, we have locked up all the Ostians in one ce and provided the emptied houses for the officers'' and soldiers¡¯ amodation. However, there are still some extra empty houses-¡±

    ¡°Then arrange for the ves andbourers to stay there. After all, some of them wille with us tomorrow and need a good rest. Additionally, they can enjoy the benefits of joining our kingdom of Theonia in advance.¡±

    ¡°Understood. I will arrange it quickly.¡±

    ¡°How is our food situation?¡±

 Chapter 772: The March to Rome

    ¡°We haven''t collected that much. The Ostians didn''t have that much food reserve, and we didn''t find any stored grains in the port warehouses. Fortunately, the rations carried by the soldiers wouldst two more days, which should be enough until the arrival of the transport fleet.¡±

    ¡°It seems they concentrated all their reserves in Rome, especially since they have to supply the Roman army attacking Hernici,¡± said Davos in a deep voice.

    ¡°But on the other hand, we managed to collect nearly two hundred wagons, pack animals in the city, and some fodders. The warehouses also have a lot of wood stored, and the engineers began using them to make siege equipment¡­¡± continued Tolmides.

    ¡°That''s good news.¡± Although he said it was good news, Davos'' face had no trace of joy. On the contrary, his expression was particrly gloomy when he began talking about tomorrow''s battle, ¡°We need to urge the engineering brigades to speed up their production since the more they build, the greater our chance of victory!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, the over five hundred highly skilled engineers and craftsmen you brought from Thurii,bined with the engineering brigades from various legions, add up to over a thousand men. With the soldiers'' assistance, they can undoubtedly produce enough siege equipment to meet our needs.¡± Tolmides said to appease Davos.

    ¡°I hope so,¡± Davos chuckled. He then quickened his pace and entered Ostia''s city hall.

    ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Olivos, Giorgris, Trotidis, the three legates, Miltiades, and Izam, were waiting for him inside the city hall.

    ¡°Have you settled your legions?¡± Davos asked casually.

    ¡°Your Majesty, we''ve arranged everything and eagerly await the battle to start!¡± Olivos said first.

    ¡°I think you are the one who can''t wait to fight, right?¡± After entering the city hall, Davos'' expression rxed, and his teasing made everyoneugh.

    Amid theughter, Davos walked towards the seat of honour, with Crotokatax standing quietly behind him. His mood inexplicably calmed down as he swept his gaze over the generals who had followed him since Persia and had made countless contributions, such as Olivos, Giorgris, Trotidis, and Izam.

    He nced at the crude map of Rome, which was ced on the table in the centre of the room and drawn by the Ministry of Military based on their intelligence. Then, he said aloud, ¡°Before we discuss tomorrow''s strategy, let¡¯s invite one of the former Roman citizens to give a detailed introduction about the city of Rome. And if you have any questions, you can ask him directly.¡±

    ¡°That would be great!¡± Olivos said happily.

    Valerius entered the city hall with a bewildered expression as he felt nervous seeing the Theonian generals, who wore bright armour and gorgeous helmets, as well as King Davos.

    But as their questions about the city of Rome be increasingly detailed, his nervousness gradually turns into shock, ¡®Are the Theonians going to attack the city of Rome?!!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Late at night, Crotokatax awoke with the urge to urinate. But just as he was about to return to bed after peeing in a daze, the candlelight from the next room drew his attention.

    He pushed open the adjoining door gently and saw Davos sitting at the table, his eyes fixed on the map of Rome, pondering about something. A corner of the map hung down from the table, and he could vaguely make out some dense notes that were added as a result of Valerius'' report.

    As far as he could remember, Crotokatax often saw his father in the studyte at night, diligently dealing with political matters. Even now, while following the army, his father still maintained this habit when dealing with military affairs. Everyone had said that his father was a wise king and greatmander, believing it to be a gift from Hades. But what they didn''t know were the hardships and efforts his father had put in over the years!¡­ After admiring his father''s unusually broad back for a moment, Crotokatax quietly closed the door.

    Davos remained unaware that his son had peeped outside the door, as his mind was immersed in the map, with the strings of numbers turning into countless vivid soldiers in his eyes. Although the battle would only begin tomorrow, thousands of troops had already started to fight in his mind at that moment¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Caerulus, Potitus'' trusted servant, immediately took two ves and left the city after receiving an order.

    Fortunately for Caerulus and his party, Apuleius had just conveyed the Senate''s order to the city guard prefect, Milesius, so Milesius had not yet had time to ry the order to the guards at the various gates, allowing Caerulus and his party to leave the city unimpeded.

    Then the three galloped southeast that it was well into the evening by the time they passed Praeneste. The constant galloping had left the horses gasping for breath, and their behinds were aching with blood oozing from their inner thighs.

    ¡°Caerulus, we cannot continue. It is already dark, and there is no moon tonight. The terrain in the valley ahead of us will be increasingly uneven, and we can hardly see the road. If we are not careful, we could fall from our horses. It is too dangerous!¡± advised a ve to Caerulus, suggesting not to proceed.

    But the younger ve eximed, ¡°We can light torches-¡±

    ¡°Idiot!¡± Before he could finish, the other ve interrupted, ¡°Apart from the beasts that roam here at night, there are also the natives. And we who light the torches would be easily spotted by them in the dark and be their targets!¡±

    Caerulus hesitated after his words. After all, this ve was a Fidenates located east of the Aequians, so he was familiar with the terrain here, and that''s why Caerulus brought him along. After looking at the darkness ahead, he pondered momentarily and reluctantly said, ¡°There should be a Roman military camp not far ahead. We''ll rest when we get there.¡±

    The three then tightly grasped the horse''s rein as they continued moving slowly. Suddenly, they heard a harsh wolf cry, and pairs of green eyes appeared around them.

    ¡°Quick! Run back!¡­¡± The ve immediately shouted nervously.

    Caerulus reacted quickly, turning his horse around. The young ve was about to say something when his horse suddenly neighed in panic and lifted its front hooves, throwing him from the horse as he was caught off guard¡­

    While the wild wolves devoured the ve and horse, Caerulus and the other ve continued to ride their horses, galloping all the way to hide in the city of Praeneste.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As soon he woke up, Miltiades asked the guard, ¡°What is today''s weather?¡±

    ¡°Navarch, we have fine weather with no rain and a light southeasterly breeze!¡±

    Miltiades was thrilled that he almost jumped up, ¡°Those old sailors at the port were right! There was indeed an east wind today! Tell the adjutant to order the crew to be ready in half an hour and then assemble in the port and take the warship to Rome!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Navarch!¡± The guard immediately turned around to inform the adjutant.

    ¡°Wait! Err¡­don''t forget to inform thebourers and ves at the port to get ready to be relocated!¡±

    Since establishing Theonia¡¯s fleet, they had never experienced towing a ship upstream, which made them uneasy. After all, Thurii was rtively close to the sea, and the downstream river of Crati was straight, wide, and had a slow water flow. Hence, rowing upstream was rtively easy, as was navigating the lower reaches of the Neto River. However, from the intelligence they received, Rome was more than twenty-five kilometres away from the estuary of the Tiber, and its water flow was tortuous, sometimes going fast and slow. Thus, they needed to pull the ship upstream to travel from Ostia''s port to Rome. And because of that, the merchant ships usually unloaded their goods at the port of Ostia and transported them to Rome bynd.

    For this reason, the Romans constructed a t and broad road between Rome and Ostia. However, the Theonian army is now making its way along this road and has departed from Ostia much earlier than the fleet.

    After leaving three brigades of Thurii''s reserve soldiers to guard the city of Ostia*, Davos led the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Legions, the mountain reconnaissance brigade, the engineering brigade, the medical camp, and the logistics camp carrying the siege equipment. Davos had arranged the entire army in a dozen columns as the area was rtively in and marched eastward along the south bank of the Tiber. (This reserve unit would be used to replenish the First and Second Legion if they suffer any losses.)

    Davos was in the middle of the formation, surrounded by two hundred and fifty cavalries and pce guards, over twenty officers of the army staff, as well as heralds, buglers and even a marching band.

    While marching, Staff Officer Tolmides came over to report, ¡°Your Majesty, Amintas sent some scouts to report that he would lead his army to Rome first and wait for us there.¡±

    ¡°It seems Amintas'' will to fight was so strong that he wants to arrive in Rome before us!¡± Davos smiled and looked around, ¡°But are we going to lose to him?¡±

    ¡°We will definitely arrive in Rome first!¡± Crotokatax and the young officers of the army staff shouted simultaneously. Although the pce guards didn''t speak, their eyes shone brightly.

    ¡°Great!¡± Davos then said loudly, ¡°Have the band y the ¡¶March of the Battlefield¡· and order the soldiers to speed up their pace!¡±

    As the stirring melody rang out through the ranks, the soldiers'' morale surged and shook off their still somewhat drowsy state. No one knew who began singing the Ode of Hades, but soon the song echoed throughout the ranks while the soldiers marched in great stride against the morning sun, their feet treading on the dew-drenched soft ground.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Of course, there was no hiding the greatmotion caused by the Theonian army from the Roman scouts. So, before dawn, the Roman scouts brought the news of Theonia''s upation of Ostia back to Rome.

 Chapter 773: Rome in Crisis

    The Senators hurried to the Senate Hall upon waking up to hold a meeting to discuss countermeasures when the mounted scouts suddenly rode back to Rome early in the morning, bringing terrible news one after another, ¡°We discovered Theonian troops marching eastward along the Tiber River from the city of Ostia!¡±

    ¡°We found the Theonian army marching rapidly east from Lavinium!¡±

    ¡®There is no longer any doubt that the Theonian army is advancing towards the city of Rome!¡¯ The senators began to feel nervous as their hopeful wishes shattered.

    ¡°How many troops are there in the Theonian army?¡± asked Publius Cornelius Scipio, father of Milesius and known to the people as the older Scipio.

    Since Milesius had already set out for Hernici to deliver the Senate''s orders to Camillus, the Senate decided to appoint his father to take over the post of the city guard prefect, not because the position was hereditary but because the older Scipio was a veteran with exceptional military achievements and served as an Equites under Camillus approximately twenty years ago when they captured Veii. Therefore, in such a critical moment when a powerful enemy was at hand, it was natural for an experienced veteran to take charge.

    ¡°Because the Theonians sent cavalry to roam around the army, our mounted scouts couldn''t approach and observe them. However, based on their experience, they estimated that the two armiesbined may have forty to fifty thousand men.¡±

    This number made many senators gasp, ¡°So many enemies! But Rome only has three thousand soldiers! Rome¡­Rome-¡±

    ¡°There are currently over three thousand soldiers in Rome, and with the addition of the citizens we mobilisedst night, we should have over ten thousand soldiers!¡± Ambustus eximed, trying to dispel his colleagues'' fears.

    ¡°But they are all elderly and children!¡±

    ¡°Silence!¡± Potitus shouted angrily, ¡°There is no distinction between the elderly and children at this moment, only Roman citizens who have died in battle and those still fighting!¡±

    He then ripped open his clothes, raised his skinny right hand, clenched his fist and dered, ¡°I propose recruiting citizens over the age of sixty-five and teenagers over thirteen as auxiliary soldiers to assist in defending the city. And I will be the first to enlist!¡±

    ¡°How can that be?! A sixty years old man can''t even lift a shield-¡± Apuleius was about to voice his disagreement when Potitus suddenly red at him angrily, causing him to shut his mouth.

    Potitus nced at Maluginensis beside him, suppressed his anger by exhaling lightly, and spoke deeply, ¡°The distance between here to the city of Ferentinum is over fifty kilometres. Considering the rugged road, a messenger riding at full speed would require at least half a day to reach the Roman camp, and even if they were faster, the army would need two days to return to Rome. And on top of that, you''ve ordered Camillus to spend a day attacking the city of Ferentinum. So tell me, how many days do you expect Camillus would take to lead the army back?!¡±

    ¡°Four days! Four days at the earliest!¡± Ambustus answered loudly, ¡°From the current situation, it shows how much effort the Theonians had made to attack Rome. Since you have seen the situation inside the city, can Rome withstand the Theonians'' attack and hold on until Camillus return with his army?! Even if we could hold them back, how many casualties do we have to pay for with a defending forceposed of elderly and children?! The messenger should still be able to catch up to Milesius since he had just left not long ago. So I propose we cancel the order given to Camillus and allow him to return to Rome with his army immediately!¡±

    There was a moment of silence in the Senate Hall, for the senators here knew that once Camillus led the army back to fight the Theonian army, they would not be able to attack Hernici again so soon. And at that time, the desperate Hernicans would revive, and over a month of efforts that they had paid woulde to nought.

    Then Senator Lucretius stood up and said passionately, ¡°We can still get back thend that''s gone, but when Rome is gone, it''s all over! I don''t want to see foreign enemies ravage the city of Rome again!¡±

    His words made the senators recall their painful memories. Many of them got agitated and shouted, ¡°Agree! We agree to let Camillus return immediately to defend Rome and defeat the enemy!¡±

    Amidst the shouting, Maluginensis looked silently at the older Scipio, who shook his head slightly at him. So Maluginensis just remained silent without agreeing or opposing.

    Suddenly, Apuleius stood up and said, ¡°Ambustus, didn''t you notify our allies to send reinforcementsst night? Why is there no movement?¡±

    ¡°We sent messengers to Gabii, Tusculum, Labicum, Pedum¡­ and so on, but their only reply was that their young citizens had already answered the call of Rome a month ago and followed Camillus to Hernici, so they have no reinforcements to send.¡±

    ¡°But¡­have you asked Praeneste, Be, Tibur¡­and other city-states?¡± Apuleius asked again.

    Ambustus became angry, feeling humiliated at being questioned in such a tone as a respected senator. So he responded angrily, ¡°Unless you are not a Roman, you should not be ignorant of how far these city-states are from Rome! It would already bete at night by the time our messengers arrive there, and there will be no city-state officials avable to handle political matters at that time, not even here in Rome!¡±

    Apuleius grumbled ashamedly, ¡°Look, this is all Camillus'' fault¡­¡± But he didn''t dare continue anymore.

    ¡°Shouldn''t we notify the viges outside the city to withdraw inside before the Theonians arrive? Not only would it ensure their safety, but it would also bolster our defence,¡± Abinius suggested.

    Maluginensis finally spoke up, ¡°We better not do that! The entire region''s young and abled citizens have gone either to Hernici or Antium, Velitrae and Satricum in the west, so only the elderly, women or children, as well as some ves, were left in the viges outside the city. Not only wouldn''t they provide any help for the city''s defence, but they would also increase the chaos¡­uh¡­and¡­uh¡­¡±

    The older Scipio hurriedly continued, ¡°There are many residents outside the city and would panic once they learned of the news and rush towards the city. Worse, letting them all enter would take much time, leaving the city gate open for hours. And you all should know that the Theonian army is now elerating their pace, so they would likely arrive here in two hours¡­and they would be a disaster for both the city of Rome and the people gathered at the gate! Instead, I suggest we immediately send out the cavalries to inform the people of the viges outside the city to evacuate with their supplies towards the city of Gabii or Praeneste ande back once Camillus returns with his army.¡±

    Potitus looked at Maluginensis but didn''t express any opposition, which was a rare agreement between the two.

    It wasn''t just him, but most senators agreed as well. Although they all lived in the city, they still had a lot ofnd outside, such as manors and even vis. Naturally, they also had their own n members and people living there. And allowing them to evacuate Rome would be a safe way to disperse risk and preserve the n, and the senators tacitly understood this.

    ¡°Apart from informing Camillus to return to Rome with his army, we should also send messengers to inform Paulus, Maegius and Pantheus to reorganise their troops and lead them back to Rome as soon as possible! In addition, we should still send messengers to our Latin allies, such as Tusculum, Tibur, and Praeneste, asking them again to send reinforcements. Even if they only send a few soldiers, they would still greatly help defend our Rome.¡± The older Scipio said these while his eyes stared fixedly at Ambustus.

    And Ambustus didn''t object to it this time.

    ¡°Don''t forget to also ask our colonial city of Veii and the Etruscan allies on the north bank of the Tiber for help! Although they had also sent reinforcements to the war against the Hernicans, they should still have room to send more reinforcements than our Latin allies.¡± Potitus reminded.

    ¡°Esteemed Potitus, you are right!¡± The older Scipio responded politely, which was much more tactful than that of Apuleius, ¡°But we would then need to retain Pons Aemilius(a bridge) on the Tiber River and send troops to defend it.¡±

    ¡°In the past, my n defended that bridge with just a few hundred people. But now that we have tens of thousands of soldiers, we don''t even dare defend it and can only destroy it?!¡± Ambustus, noticing the older Scipio''s intentions, immediately asked loudly.

    A hundred years ago, the entire n of Fabius went to guard Pons Aemilius against the attack of the Veientes and was almostpletely wiped out and became a painful memory that the Fabius n couldn''t forget. However, that had also be their capital to boast to the people of Rome. So as the current head of the Fabius n, Ambustus wouldn''t allow anyone to destroy the bridge.

    ¡°We naturally need to keep the bridge! but we must destroy the two bridges on I Tiberina and withdraw the people here!¡± Maluginensis saw the older Scipio''s hesitation. So to prevent a divide between the Cornelius and Fabius ns, he immediately expressed his opinion that they could still bear guarding one bridge with Rome¡¯s current strength, but defending two more bridges would require them to invest more troops.

    Ambustus agreed.

    The discussion afterwards went much smoother, with the Senate quickly reaching some resolutions and promptly taking action. They then began mobilising the whole city, encouraging the people to resist the Theonians'' attack and hold on until the return of Camillus and his army so that Rome would no longer experience getting ravaged.

    Note: The Fabius n is sometimes referred to as the Fabian n. And the consul who saved Rome from the war against Hannibal by using dying tactics also came from this n.

 Chapter 774: Skirmish

    Faced with amon enemy, the Romans quickly overcame their panic and enthusiastically enlisted again to defend the city. At the same time, the Roman cavalry raced through the fields outside the city, urgently informing the vigers to evacuate immediately. A dozen messengers also sped out of the city in all directions to call for help from their colonial cities and allies¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Ostia was located over twenty-five kilometres from Rome, with no other city-states in between. Rome''s nearest ally was situated fifteen kilometres away. This resulted from the Romans'' strong expansion over the past century, wherein they would continuously conquer nearby city-states and then move their poption to Rome. As a result, even though Rome had kept growing and thend they owned had increased, there was a vast unupied area around them for dozens of kilometres, allowing the two armies of Theonia to march smoothly without any obstacles as if they had entered an uninhabited territory. It is unknown whether the Romans regretted their previous shortsighted and arbitrary actions in the past.

    It was especially favourable to Theonia''s two cavalry legions as they could speed along and charge ahead of the whole army.

    Suddenly, they saw thick smoke rising in the distance.

    ¡°Damn it! The Romans must be burning their granaries!¡± Ledes eximed, recalling King Davos'' order brought by the messenger the previous night, ¡®In the early hours of tomorrow morning, you must lead the First and Second Cavalry Legions after the entire army sets off and rush as fast as possible towards the river port on the banks of the Tiber outside the western side of the city of Rome and seize the granary at all costs!¡¯

    Ledes began to feel anxious as he shouted, ¡°Go faster! Prepare to put out the fire!¡±

    In a hurry, Ledes ordered the buglers to sound the signal to charge while leading the cavalries to gallop faster.

    The Romans built the river port after capturing Ostia, which became another outside channel. But due to the continuous influx of people and theck of prior nning for the river port, they had to build it outside the city because there was no spare space to amodate the port inside.

    In the first few decades, the facilities at the river port were extremely crude. Only in thest decade did the Romans begin extensively developing the port, primarily due to aid from the Carthaginians and their trade with Rome. The expansion and improvement of the river port led to an increased number of merchant ships transporting goods through the river, which also led to the establishment of granaries adjacent to the port. Due to Rome''s frequent wars for more than a decade, they had consumed a lot of grain and sometimes couldn''t adequately supply themselves. As a result, Carthage had to aid them by transporting grain mainly by the river and unloading it at the port. After experiencing a fire, the Romans learned their lesson and stopped bringing grain into the city, where the houses were crammed, disorderly, and prone to fires. Instead, they ced the granary directly near the port, which was convenient and safe. Later, they began storing grain collected from other allies at the port and then transported it from there to the camp when the army went on an expedition.

    When Ledes arrived with Theonia''s First Cavalry Legion, he saw arge rectangr camp with a three-metre-high stone wall surrounding it and several towers inside. Smoke billowed from inside, but not a soul was to be seen or heard. In contrast, the walls of the city of Rome, less than two hundred metres away, were filled with soldiers, and their gates were closed.

    Ledes immediately jumped off his horse, drew his short sword, and was about to run towards the camp''s gate.

    ¡°Legatus, be careful!¡± Several guards beside him immediately pulled him back while covering their front with the cavalry shield, only to hear two bangs as two sharp arrows struck the shield.

    Ledes broke into a cold sweat. After calming down, he fixed his eyes on several figures swaying above the camp wall. Then, after a moment''s thought, he shouted, ¡°First brigade, use your javelins to attack the enemy inside! Second brigade, dismount and see if you can ram the gate! The other brigades go around this camp and climb the wall!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Lord Legatus!!¡±

    After a burst of shouting, the cavalry of the third, fourth and fifth brigades began to go around the camp. On the other hand, the cavalrymen of the second brigade ran directly towards the camp''s gate, forcing the Roman soldiers on the wall to show their figures and attack the approaching Theonian soldiers with javelins and arrows. But the already prepared second group immediately attacked the enemy on the wall with javelins.

    The Theonian cavalry can approach and attack the wall because it''s not high, there are no trenches or even an abatis, and they outnumber the enemy. So even though the Roman soldiers have the higher ground, they are still at a disadvantage.

    By this time, the other cavalry brigade had already gone around to different sections of the wall. They dismounted their horses, ced their shields on their backs, and left their spears with their mounts while their short swords hung from their waists. They then stood against the wall, with one crouching and the other stepping on theirrade''s shoulder. Then slowly and carefully, they stood upright. Since the stone wall was only three metres high, the soldier above the other soldiers¡¯ shoulders could easily reach the wall''s edge. Then the soldier below would push his shoulder upwards, allowing the soldier above to climb the wall smoothly¡­ In no time, hundreds of Theonian soldiers stood on the wall.

    They saw dozens ofrge circr granaries side by side inside the camp, many of them already on fire, and a dozen Roman soldiers carrying tar and torches running between the granaries. So the Theonian soldiers immediately split up, with more than half of the soldiers quickly running down the wall to put out the fire, while the rest went down the walled walkway and killed the Roman soldiers who came attacking furiously.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The soldiers on the western wall of Rome, relying on the height of the city wall, had a clear view of the situation in the granary camp and were concerned about seeing their fellow citizens in danger.

    ¡°General Scipio, Gaius and hispanions wanted to burn down the granariespletely, so they refused to retreat to the city. They are heroes of Rome! We should go out of the city to save them!¡±

    ¡°The Theonian cavalry only had less than two thousand men, with most already dismounted their horses to fight and wearing only light armour. We can deal a heavy blow to this Theonian cavalry by sending our troops out of the city to attack them now!¡±

    The older Scipio felt more interested in the senators'' suggestion than the soldiers'' pleading.

    There were not only Roman soldiers atop the city wall but also some senators who were a little curious about the might of the Theonians. After all, this would be the first time they would see the Theonian army in person, but their arrival had naturally caused some problems for the older Scipio.

    Initially, older Scipio nned to bring all the grain from the granaries into the city and then burn the granaries since he thought he had enough time toplete the task as the scout reported that the Theonians were still far away. He had even organised nearly ten thousand men and many wagons to carry the grain out of the city, hoping toplete the task before the Theonian army arrived.

    But just as they were leaving the city, he received another report from the mounted scout that the Theonian cavalries were rushing towards Rome and were only less than fifteen kilometres away.

    The speed of the Theonian cavalry had exceeded the expectations of the older Scipio, who not only failed to carry out his earlier n but also had to retreat immediately back into the city. Worst of all, he couldn''t immediately burn the granary to keep order and prevent chaos so that the people and pack animals wouldn¡¯t block the city gate. But as a result, evacuating the grain transport had taken so long that by the time they had entered the city and tried to relight the granary, the Theonian cavalry was already very close to the city of Rome. And ording to the report of the returning scout, the Theonian cavalries were heading straight for the granary.

    Suddenly, the centurion Gaius, tasked with defending the granary, and a hundred and twenty soldiers under hismand voluntarily chose to stay toplete this task.

    But the heroism and tragedy of the Roman centuria had made the mistake of the older Scipio even more apparent to the senators. Although the impact of this blunder on his future political career in Rome was significant, he did not have the luxury of reflecting on it since he had to act quickly. Because if his fellow senator''s proposal seeded, it would not only deal a severe blow to the Theonians but also help to restore his image.

    Just as he pondered how to send troops out of the city for a surprise attack, ¡°Theonian cavalry! More Theonian cavalry areing!!¡­¡± the soldiers'' shout made him look up, only to see dirt and dust in the distance as countless Theonian cavalry in ck helmets and armour approaches. And judging by the visible area, they are definitely not less.

    And the older Scipio began to hesitate once he saw the newly arrived Theonian cavalry approaching the city, numbered around two thousand cavalries: The total number of the two Theonian cavalry units made himck confidence in resolving the battle in a short time. After all, he had only three thousand elite soldiers in hand, and it was impossible for them to all leave the city for a surprise attack. While if he sent the recruits formed by the elderly and children, he worried their physical strength wouldn''t be enough to support them.

    Soon, he didn''t need to hesitate anymore as the shouting of the soldiers drew back his attention in the rising dust in the distance: Hundreds of Theonian cavalry in bright armour and red cloaks rushed near the city and joined the team attacking the granary.

    The rapid arrival of the Theonian army gave older Scipio the impression that they were advancing as quickly as possible, making it impossible for him to dispatch his troops. Doing so would endanger not only his own soldiers but also Rome itself.

    He wasn''t the only one thinking that, as even the senators and soldiers atop the city wall had simr thoughts. Therefore, the previously loud calls for battle and pleading disappeared, and the surrounding area became quiet, and only the asional screams from the granary near the city could be heard.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The second person to arrive at the river port granary was Theonia''s Second Cavalry Legion. Legatus Kurcius quickly found Ledes, who was supervising the battle, saluted to his former captain and said, ¡°Lord Ledes, what should we do?¡±

 Chapter 775: Seeing the city in person

    Ledes directly said without acting politely, ¡°We will soon eliminate the enemies in the granary, so divide your men. Half of them will monitor the enemies in the city and stop them from sneaking out and the others to put out the fire.¡±

    Kurcius immediately returned to his men, and soon nearly a thousand cavalrymen dismounted their horses, took out their linen bags and began filling them with soil. The two legates prepared it in advance after receiving Davos'' orderst night as they considered the possibility of the enemy burning the granaries.

    Soon after, more than two hundred pce guards arrived on horseback, surprising the two legates, ¡°Could it be His Majesty will arrive soon?!¡±

    ¡°His Majesty sent us as reinforcements as he was worried that the Romans would defend the granary and send troops from the city to fight you. The light infantries are also rushing this way,¡± replied Martius.

    Ledes then pointed towards the top of the city wall and contemptuously said, ¡°His Majesty is worrying too much. In fact, those timid Romans didn''t even dare to leave the city!¡±

    Soon afterwards, the sound of fighting and shouting inside the camp disappeared. Then once the gate opened, the cavalry immediately rushed in carrying sacks filled with soil.

    When Ledes saw the senior centurion of the third brigade rushing over, he quickly asked, ¡°How are our casualties?¡±

    ¡°¡­thirty-two brothers died and sixty-seven wounded, of which fifteen suffered serious wounds¡­¡± said the senior centurion of the third brigade, feeling upset.

    ¡°So many casualties?!¡± Ledes didn''t expect his side to pay nearly a hundred casualties even after they vastly outnumbered the enemy, which distressed him. He knew that even though Thurii had dispatched soldiers to supplement their numbers after the First Cavalry Legion had sustained significant losses during the Battle of Setia in Volsci, they were still not at full strength.

    ¡°Where are the enemies inside?¡± He asked angrily.

    ¡°All dead; no one surrendered.¡±

    Ledes no longer spoke and instead strode towards the camp.

    Inside the gate, he saw a Roman soldier leaning against the wall, with sword wounds all over his chest and blood pouring out of him, staining his whole body blood red. He was like a sculpture as he remained motionless with his eyes closed tightly and his hand gripping his spear, with the top of his helmet adorned with a bright red plume, clearly indicating that he was an officer.

    Ledes stopped in his track and looked at him.

    Unexpectedly, the seemingly dead Roman soldier suddenly opened his eyes and red at Ledes angrily while thrusting his spear with difficulty.

    ¡°Legatus, be careful!¡± The cavalryman behind him rushed over immediately.

    ¡°Stop!¡± Ledes waved his hand to stop them while standing still as he and the enemy soldier stared at each other with their sharp gaze.

    Gaius, the Roman centurion, wanted to lift his spear, but the spear, which was usually as light as a feather, was now as heavy as a mountain. In the end, the little energy he had saved dissipated with the gush of his blood, and all he could do was re furiously at the enemy leader, but his eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Though he was unwilling and tried to roar, only blood came out of his mouth¡­

    Ledes silently watched the despairing enemy fall towards the ground before leaving.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos couldn''t help but stop his horse at the sight of the great city standing in the distance: Rome, the centre of the first and only great empire in Western history that turned the Mediterranean into its innerke, has had many thrilling stories circte among the people for thousands of years, and many poems and articles praising and describing it written by men of literature! It was the dream in the hearts of countless ambitious Westerners of his previous life and present, a dream of unity¡­

    In his previous life, Davos had yet to have the opportunity to visit the great city that could be called the starting point of Western European civilisation. Now that he hade, the thing he saw wasn''t the bustling and historic Rome but a crude city-state in the early stage of the Republic and in the midst of its rise. Although he learned more about this city in detail from intelligence reports, it was still difficult for him to hide the excitement he felt.

    ¡°Forward!¡± Davos mped his legs between the horse''s belly, causing the horse to neigh and gallop forward.

    ¡°Your Majesty!!!¡± His action startled the people around him and prompted them to chase after him. However, they were soon relieved when a cavalry team ran into them. They were the pce guards that had gone out earlier and now surrounded Davos.

    When he saw Martius, Davos asked, ¡°Have they taken the river port and granary?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Martius replied, ¡°The First and Second Cavalry Legions captured the river port and granary without much resistance from the Romans and extinguished the fire in time. Currently, the two legates, Ledes and Kurcius, are over there counting the supplies and wille report afterwards.¡±

    ¡°It''s good that all went well!¡± Davos felt relieved as the sessfulpletion of the first step gave him more confidence in capturing this city.

    ¡°Let''s go and look at the city of Rome!¡± Davos said while pointing forward confidently.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Romans stationed on the western wall of Rome began to feel nervous upon seeing the rising dust that extended far beyond their sight. It is because they knew that the Theonian army had arrived.

    Then, they saw hundreds of cavalry galloping towards them, standing a hundred metres away from the city wall. This unit held tworge banners that shone with golden splendour, which was distinct from the Theonian cavalry''s banners they had seen before. In the centre of the cavalry was a general with a golden helmet and armour, and atop his helmet were long plumes of feathers, which were particrly dazzling under the sun''s rays.

    ¡°Perhaps the king of Thoenia is there.¡± One of the senators whispered uncertainly, to which no one objected as they gazed silently at the person they presumed as the king of Theonia below the city wall. This person began pointing in their direction while talking andughing with the people around him.

    The older Scipio spat and suddenly took the long shield of the soldier next to him, drew out his sword, struck the shield''s surface and shouted, ¡°Rome! Rome! Rome!¡­¡±

    The soldiers also copied the city guard prefect as they rhythmically struck the long shield and shouted¡­

    Soon, the senators also joined in¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When Crotokatax saw how the city wall curved inwards and outwards and how the whole wall was crooked and uneven, he couldn''t help but say, ¡°What a terrible wall!¡±

    Davos replied with a smile, ¡°The reason they built the city wall so poorly was that after they had driven out the Celts to the north, they were so eager to rebuild the city to meet the needs of the Roman citizens at that time that they didn''t even make any n at all. For example-¡±

    Pointing to the wall curving outwards on the left near the Tiber, ¡°If I remember correctly, behind that would be Collis Aventinus, one of the Seven Hills of Rome. And this side-¡±

    Davos pointed to arge section of the city wall that protruded outwards on the right, ¡°Behind this section of the city wall should be thergest slum in Rome.¡±

    ¡°Did the Romans build the city without even thinking about how they would defend it in the future?!¡± Martius, who didn''t know much of Rome, was surprised at their short-sightedness.

    ¡°But they built it so tall and dug the trench so wide¡­¡± Crotokatax looked at the towering city wall in front and judged its height might not be less than fifteen metres.

    Tolmides suddenly interjected, ¡°Your Highness, having a high city wall alone is useless as its curved shape would allow our soldiers to avoid the Romans'' concentrated long-range attacks. Additionally, it was not favourable for the Romans'' reinforcements since they could not reach their destination quickly. Although there is a trench in front of the city, they did not ce an abatis and stockade, so once the trench is filled, we can easily push our siege equipment below the city wall¡­¡±

    Although Tolmides didn''t participate in battles over the years, he still had enough experience due to his decades of mercenary career andter serving in the Ministry of Military. Therefore, Crotokatax would listen to him attentively and ask for advice from time to time.

    Davos didn''t disturb them as he was carefully observing Rome''s defence.

    ¡°Rome!!! Rome!!! Rome!!!¡­¡±

    Suddenly, a thunderous shout rang out from the top of the city wall, giving Davos the feeling that countless Roman soldiers atop the city wall had been integrated into the wall.

    He turned around and solemnly said, ¡°Although the walls the Romans built weren''t good, we might not have an easy siege battle judging from the situation.¡±

    Tolmides, Martius and the others agreed.

    At this moment, mounted scouts came rushing over, ¡°Your Majesty, the three legates, Amintas, Matonis, and Litom, have arrived with their troops.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Davos smiled and said, ¡°Since we won, we should make Amintas pay up!¡±

    Everyoneughed.

    Davos looked at the approaching army in the dust behind him. Then he said, ¡°Tolmides, immediately notify the legates of all the legions¡­ err, and also Izam, the senior centurion of the mountain reconnaissance brigade, to gather here immediately!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Despite the recent expansion of Rome''s river port, it still only had five piers and wasn''t veryrge, much smaller than the granary camp next to it. The only thing that interested Davos was the discovery of many wooden materials in the port''s warehouses, ¡°Once the legions are settled, take all the engineering brigade and have them set up camp or make more siege equipment.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡± Tolmides quickly asked his men to record the matter.

    Davos gazed at the glistening surface of the Tiber as it flowed gently and deeply before him.

    His gaze then shifted further into the distance, where the wide river surface made the opposite bank appear faint and hard to see. Then he turned his head and looked upstream. But to his disappointment, only the river was in sight, and he couldn¡¯t see any bridge connecting the south and north banks.

 Chapter 776: Siege Arrangement (I)

    He looked back at the legates around him who were also observing the Tiber and said, ¡°ording to hearsay, the Tiber used to flood regrly over a hundred years ago, resulting in the river banks along the middle and lower reaches being filled with marshes and wends, especially in this area. As a result, no other race or power wished to build here. However, the Romans, who faced ostracism from the Latins, chose to establish their settlement here, and eventually, they became the overlords of central Italia.¡±

    ¡°But now that we''re here, it''s time for the hegemon to yield!¡± Amintas immediately said, feeling lively from receiving King Davos and his colleagues¡¯ congrattions on his victory over yesterday''s battle.

    ¡°That''s our goal, but we must fight them to bring it to fruition.¡± Davos smiled slightly, and his eyesnded on the legatus of the Third Legion, ¡°Litom, did you read the battle n the messenger handed you in Laviniumst night?¡±

    Litom immediately replied, ¡°Your Majesty had ordered our Third Legion to cross the Tiber and camp on the north bank to block the reinforcementsing from the Etruscan city-state and the Roman colonies while also attacking the city of Rome from the north¡­¡±

    ¡°That is your Third Legion''s objective.¡± Davos nodded and pointed to the upper reaches of the river. He then said, ¡°There is a bridge two or so kilometres from here that is an important road formunication between Rome and the Etruscan region. Since the Romans will probably not destroy it, you canunch an attack on the city of Rome through this bridge. But it doesn¡¯t matter if the Romans had already destroyed that bridge since the Third Fleet would use their ships to build a pathway that would allow them to attack Rome. You have a heavy task since you need to hold off the Roman reinforcements and attack the city of Rome simultaneously!¡±

    Davos paused momentarily and asked, ¡°I recall thest battle report you submitted had a centuria blocking the attack of over five thousand Caudini warriors, which ultimately ensured we surrounded them and wiped them out. The name of the centurion who aplished this feat was Tagru, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°I hope your Third Legion would have a few more officers like Tagru, so your camp would be an iron wall andpletely cut off Rome''s reinforcements from the north! At the same time, it would act like a sharp sword that wouldunch a fierce attack on the city of Rome from the north, striving to break through the enemy''s defence and open a gap for the whole army to attack!¡± Davos encouraged him loudly.

    Litom, the youngest among the legates, was both excited and nervous about the earnest expectation of King Davos, ¡°Your Majesty, the Third Legion will do its best toplete its mission! But¡­because I would need to fight on two fronts, my troops¡­are a bit insufficient.¡±

    But before Davos could respond, Amintas eximed, ¡°Your Majesty, a mission of such importance should be given to our First Legion! You don''t even need to send us additional reinforcements toplete the mission sessfully!¡±

    ¡°No, this task should be given to our Second Legion! The First Legion is already short of soldiers from the sessive battles, while our Second Legion remainsplete!¡± Matonis shouted afterwards.

    Litom immediately eximed after getting stimted by the two legates, ¡°Your Majesty, you can rest assured that our Third Legion can definitelyplete this task!¡±

    ¡°The First and Second Legions both have important tasks, so you don''t need topete with each other.¡± Davos waved his hand to stop Amintas and Matonis and then reassured Litom, ¡°You don''t have to worry since the Third Fleet will work together with you. The marine under them isn''t weak.¡±

    The overjoyed Litom quickly asked, ¡°Your Majesty, when will the Third Fleet arrive?¡±

    ¡°The Tiber River is winding with many twists and turns, and since the Third Fleet also has to go upstream, they will take some time to arrive. However, with Hades'' blessing us with a tailwind and the help of ves andbourers pulling the ship, they should arrive soon. At that time, you need to seize the opportunity to cross the river by ship, quickly build a camp on the north bank of the bridge, and assist the Third Fleet in levelling the riverbank so that they can push the warships onto it. Then, a quarter of the Third Fleet''s crew will merge with yours.¡± Davos reminded patiently.

    ¡°I understand, Your Majesty!¡± Litom suddenly remembered something and asked, ¡°Your Majesty, if after we cross the river and find that the Romans have no defence on the bridge at all, can I just lead my troops to attack them?¡±

    ¡°We naturally can''t let go of such a great opportunity, and all our legions will cooperate with you to storm the city. However, I don''t think the Romans would make such a foolish mistake,¡± smiled Davos.

    The groupughed as they went to the granary camp behind the port.

    ¡°Your Majesty, this camp has nyrge barns and ten straw shacks. The barns are filled with milled wheat; each barn holds approximately¡­ thousand eight hundred kilograms. On the other hand, the straw shack also has lentils in addition to some fodders. We managed to save forty-five intact barns, four straw shacks and eight partially burnt barns¡­¡±

    After listening to Ledes'' report, Davos praised, ¡°It seems that all this milled wheat and fodders were intended to be transported to the Roman army in Hernici. Ledes, Kurcius, your two cavalry legions had arrived just in time to seize this grain, not only dealing damage to the enemy but also relieving our army''s food supply, which is a great feat!¡±

    Kurcius interjected, ¡°Your Majesty, we seeded because we arrived much faster than the Romans expected, catching them off guard and unprepared. In addition, the Romans made their barns too sturdy and resistant to fire and moisture, which made it harder for them to set fire. Although the Romans had constructed their city wall carelessly, they took the construction of their barns seriously, which actually worked in our favour!¡±

    The crowd burst outughing again.

    Davos said seriously, ¡°It''s because of our sufficient preparations and the Romans not anticipating we would suddenly lead arge army to attack Rome directly that led to them making many mistakes. However, we must still be cautious and not give the Romans breathing time.¡±

    The smiles on the legates'' faces disappeared as they nodded cautiously.

    ¡°Olivos!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    ¡°You will stay here with the Fourth Legion to protect the granaries and river port while also attacking Rome''s western wall tomorrow.¡± Davos pointed at the towering walls and asked, ¡°Where do you think will be the best ce to focus your attack?¡±

    Without hesitation, Olivos pointed to the protruding wall on the right where thergest slum area in Rome that Davos had earlier pointed out, ¡°There! It''s, of course, there! Its ugliness won''t allow me to sleep soundly unless I destroy it.¡±

    Olivos'' sarcastic remarks made everyone burst intoughter again.

    Davos nodded and reminded, ¡°Just follow the n we discussedst night. With the deep conflict between the nobles and plebeians in Rome, we must find ways to divide them so that they won''t work together to fight against us.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± Olivos replied seriously.

    After briefing the legates on the arrangements of the matters outside the western walls of Rome, Davos led them around the walls and rode east. The pce guards escorted them while the cavalry of the First and Second Cavalry Legions followed closely behind. Consequently, when the Roman soldiers on each section of the city wall saw the group of Theonian generals wearing magnificent armour and colourful plumes on their helmets appear a hundred metres below the city, looking and pointing at the city wall with a dozen military banners fluttering behind them, they did not dare to rush out to attack.

    As the group surveyed the ce while walking, they eventually arrived at the easternmost point of the Roman walls. At that point, Davos instructed, ¡°Amintas, you and the First Legion will encamp here.¡±

    ¡°Finally, it''s our First Legion''s turn. I thought you had forgotten about us, Your Majesty,¡± Amintas eximed, pretending toin.

    ¡°I naturally won¡¯t forget the First Legion.¡± Davos said seriously, ¡°The First Legion, as the most powerful fighting force of Theonia, naturally has the most difficult task. From here, all the way to the walls by the Tiber is your area of attack, so you must exert enough offensive pressure on the Romans!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, rest assured that I will let the Romans know the strength of our First Legion. I will also attack the city of Rome from here!¡± Amintas said confidently.

    ¡°Furthermore, the Romans will likely flee from here once we breach the city since this wall section is the longest and has the least attacking force. Therefore, you must do all you can to intercept them!¡± said Davos seriously.

    Amintas was taken aback and immediately replied, ¡°There¡­definitely won''t be a problem!¡±

    ¡°Also, you should note that the camping location of the First Legion is the farthest from the other legions. And not far east from here are several Roman colonial city-states, so the Roman reinforcements would likely attack the First Legion,¡± Davos reminded seriously.

    Amintas'' expression also became serious as he nodded.

    ¡°You will be stationed with the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade, but they have important tasks to carry out and will not attack the city with you.¡±

    After listening to Davos'' words, Amintas looked at Izam, who smiled back at him.

    ¡°Izam!¡±

    ¡°Here!¡± Said the middle-aged Carduchian with respect; he no longer seemed as high-spirited as when he was young.

    ¡°To avoid being seen by the Roman soldiers, you shouldn''t go near the Tiber when surveying the terrain during the day. Rome''s rainy season is from the twelfth month to the second month, which has already ended. Although Rome didn''t suffer from droughtst year, our intelligence reports show that the number of times it rained here has decreased slightlypared to previous years. And as we have just seen downstream, the current is gentle, and there is a drop in the river''s water level, so your chances of sess are good.¡±

 Chapter 777

    ¡°Your Majesty, we in the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade had undergone the toughest training in the past decade just for this day! You can rest assured that we will seed even if it rains heavily and the river swells!¡± Izam said proudly as he finally showed his true colour.

    ¡°Excellent, that''s the Izam I know!¡± Davosughed and said, ¡°Don''t forget to send someone to notify me after your mission is sessful.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    Davos then looked at the legates and asked, ¡°What''s your impression after seeing Rome?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, although Rome''s walls are ugly, walking around them shows how long they are and means that the city should berge as well¡­¡± Davos added to Olivos'' words, ¡°ording to the information we now have, Rome has a seven-kilometre long wall. And Rome was known as the City of Seven Hills because there are seven hills within the city, so its actual size is much bigger than we thought.¡±

    ¡°However, with the Romans taking all their soldiers on the campaign to conquer Hernici and leaving few soldiers in the city who could fight, they will expose their weakness of having insufficient troops by defending such a long wall¡­¡±

    Matonis also chimed in, ¡°I''ve just noticed that the quality of their soldiers is horrible. Ledes, would it be possible to send a cavalry squad towards the wall to test them?¡±

    With Davos''s acquiescence, Ledes promptly sent a cavalry squad to approach the city wall. However, as they rode diagonally towards the wall, the Roman soldiers became agitated and began to rain down javelins and arrows. But despite the enemies¡¯ sudden attack, the swift cavalry squad was able to retreat quickly from the area.

    Seeing the result, the veteran generals watch with rxed smiles on their faces. After all, it was impossible for cavalry to attack a walled city, not to mention the fact that a small number of men would pose no threat to the wall, so the Roman soldiers could have handled the situation calmly without wasting their javelins and arrows on such a hasty attack.

    ¡°Your Majesty, you ordered our various legions to attack different sections of Rome''s walls at the same time instead of concentrating our forces in one or two ces in order to force the Romans to spread out their temporarily recruited and poorly trained soldiers, weakening their defences and allowing us to break through the city faster and easier!¡± Matonis said, ncing triumphantly at Olivos.

    Olivos cursed inwardly since Matonis'' words were what he wanted to say but couldn''t finish his words.

    ¡°But while we are attacking the city of Rome in full force, Rome''s colonial city-states and allies would surely send reinforcements after getting notified!¡± Giorgris reminded with concern, ¡°Especially the Romans that are attacking the Hernicans and the Roman army that we had just defeated to the west. If they arrive while we are attacking the city-¡±

    ¡°The Roman army in the west suffered heavy losses yesterday, and the pursuit of the First and Second Cavalry Legions captured many of their routed troops. Our legion soldiers alone had removed the hands and feet of over three thousand captured Romans. And this doesn''t include the Romans'' casualties in the battle and those who fled, so they are unlikely to pose any further threat to us for a while.¡± Litom affirmed, ¡°As for the Roman army in the northeast-¡±

    ¡°They do have arge army, but from our information, their camp is more than fifty kilometres from here, with an uneven road in between, so a normal march would take them at least three or four days. By then, we would have upied Rome already!¡± Trotidis said loudly.

    ¡°Do not take the enemy lightly!¡± Davos warned them sternly, ¡°The Roman dictator Camillus isn''t a simple person. He had fought in countless battles, had a great deal of experience in warfare and had alsomanded many battles and had never suffered defeat-¡± As he said that, Davos saw Amintas smirking but soon frowned as he remembered how hisst battle with Camillus had resulted in the First Legion suffering heavy losses.

    ¡°So we cannot judge the army led by Camillus ording to the usual situation¡­ Two days!¡± Davos pondered for a moment, held out his two fingers and said thoughtfully, ¡°We need to halve the time required for the Roman army to return. Thus, we can only judge that Camillus and his army will return in two days, so we need to attack Rome tomorrow since we only have one day!¡± Davos said hisst words with emphasis.

    The legates felt the pressure upon hearing this.

    ¡°The squads of mounted scouts and mountain reconnaissance of each legion are temporarily under my directmand. I will have them scout the enemy movements around Rome throughout the day and report immediately if there is anything unusual. The cavalries of the First and Second Cavalry Legion will remain in camp, recovering their strength, and will be ready to attack at any time. And you-¡± Davos gazed at the six legates before him, Amintas, Matonis, Litom, Olivos, Giorgris and Trotidis, and said deeply, ¡°Go back to your legion quickly andmand them to construct your camp as soon as possible ording to the locations I designated. It must be a camp that will allow the soldiers to rest peacefully and ensure a certain level of defence. At the same time, prepare for tomorrow¡¯s siege. Each of you will be responsible for attacking a section of the city wall, and I want to see who will be the first to break through Rome''s defences and enter the city!¡±

    Upon hearing this, the legates exchanged nces and began to feelpetitive.

    ¡°But you must be careful when attacking and not let the soldiers suffer too many casualties, for capturing the city of Rome is only the beginning, and the real battle is still toe!¡±

    Davos'' words rmed the legates as they hurried back to their respective legions. After leading the pce guards and the two cavalry legions back, Davos looked at the sky and asked, ¡°Has Epiphanes already departed with his men?¡±

    ¡°If we are following the n, he should have departed this morning and be on his way now,¡± replied Tolmides.

    Davos thought of another matter and said with a hint of anticipation, ¡°I hope the Volscians and Hernicans can follow the n and help us buy more time.¡±

    At this moment, Tolmides could feel a sense of tension in the heart of the always invinciblemander of Theonia. Since he didn''t know what to say, he decided to remain silent.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Milesius set out this morning feeling somewhat depressed. Although he could not attend yesterday''s Senate meeting as he was not a senator, his father had filled him in on what had happened, leading to a quarrel between them. Milesius admired Camillus and resented that his uncle, Maluginensis, had taken advantage of the dictator''s expedition to direct the other senators to make small moves behind his back. Nevertheless, he decided to ept the task assigned by the Senate, as he felt that he would be much more lenient in making Camillus execute the order than others.

    But not long after his departure, he received a new order from the Senate. However, even after they cancelled the order that displeased him, he was still not happy since shock filled his heart, ¡®The Theonian army was on its way to the city of Rome!¡¯ Last night, he only heard the Theonian army hadnded on the coast. But today, they were already marching to Rome?!

    The Theonian army''s speed hadpletely exceeded Milesius'' expectations, and the sense of crisis had forced him to go even faster.

    After passing through Praeneste and Sagnia, the road ahead became increasingly uneven. However, Milesius tried not to slow down.

    Suddenly, a horse came rushing, with its rider hugging the horse''s neck tightly. But even after seeing Milesius and his team, the horse ran into them instead of avoiding them.

    The soldiers apanying Milesius rushed forward to intercept, prompting the frightened horse to drop its rider. Since the person was wearing Roman clothing, had a javelin stuck in his back, and was seriously wounded, Milesius had decided toe forward to check on him.

    The man woke up with a groan. Seeing Milesius, he immediately said, ¡°I am¡­I am Caerulus, a servant of Lord Potitus¡­ahead¡­the Hernicans had set an ambush¡­and attacked us¡­be careful¡­¡±

    Milesius already knew why Potitus'' ve had appeared here even without thinking about it. So he quickly asked, ¡°How many enemies are there?¡±

    ¡°More than seventy men¡­¡±

    ¡°So much?!¡± Milesius was startled, turned to look at the ten soldiers following him, and felt uneasy, ¡®Should we push forward? Or turn around and bring more soldiers?¡¯

    After a moment''s thought, he decided to turn around and head for Sagnia.

    It wasn''t because he feared for his life. On the contrary, he believed his mission was linked to Rome''s survival, so he must not be careless. Besides, Sagnia is close and will only take a little time.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In fact, when the various legions of Theonia arrived outside the city of Rome, they were already en route to their assigned areas as per the ns agreed uponst night. The engineers of each legion had even drawn up a preliminary construction n for the entire camp, ording to the n decided upon by Davos and the drawings of the city of Rome. Now all that remains is for them to visit the site in person to revise and confirm the n.

    Soon, they drew up a new camp construction n.

    They then took the legions'' engineering brigade to measure and mark thend outside Rome ording to their n: Where to start digging the trenches? How deep should they dig? Where should they build the earthen wall? How high should they make it? Where would they ce the camp gates? The location of the sentry towers?¡­ There are naturally special regtions for constructing Theonia''s field camp, which has undergone multiple battles and revisions. In fact, there isn''t that much to change, and the soldiers were already familiar with it after undergoing countless military training. Therefore, when the legates assigned specific tasks upon their return, the low-ranking officers and soldiers worked feverishly toplete them."

 Chapter 778: Measures Before The Siege

    Meanwhile, the Theonians moved their ballistae two hundred metres from the wall, targeting the southwest corner before firing stone projectiles at the protruding walls. As dozens of stone projectiles simultaneously bombarded the city wall, the terrifying sound made the defenders scream.

    As round after round of stone projectiles bombarded the wall, the city defenders became uneasy as shattered wall fragments and stone debris fell constantly.

    Apart from the ballistae, the Theonians also fired gastraphete at the city of Rome. They didn¡¯t aim the huge iron stakes from these bows at the city wall but into the slum behind it, causing panic among the Roman popce.

    But the people in the slum soon discovered that the iron stakes stuck to the ground and the houses had several papyrus scrolls tied to them. One brave man approached them curiously and untied the scrolls.

    A soldier had also delivered one of the scrolls to the city guard prefect, the older Scipio. After carefully opening it, the older Scipio saw the scroll was filled with words written in Latin: ¡®Fellow citizens of Rome, I am Valerius, a former Roman citizen who grew up on Collis Aventinus. Eight years ago, a scoundrel drove a flock of sheep to gnaw on the wheat seedlings of my rented field and kept provoking me with his words, which made me so angry that I beat him. However, the court ordered me to pay a hefty fine, which I couldn''t afford, and I was forced to sell myself into very to pay off this massive debt. Later, I learned that this person was someone under Caius Clodius Sabinus, so I lost the case I shouldn''t have and became a ve!

    My fellow citizens of Rome, who like me have nond, and those who have only a tiny plot ofnd ande frommon families, do you also live in constant anxiousness about whether the nobles, who already possess vastnds and numerous ves, will seize your insignificant plots ofnd and enve you just because they wanted more even though they are already rich enough?! We have fought against the nobles'' greed time and time again, seeking protection for ourselves. We had even left the city numerous times to make the greedy nobles realise our worth. Yet, to this day, these same Roman nobles continue to hold all the power in the city-state while we remain their captive livestock, ready to be ughtered at any moment. My fellow citizens, are you willing to continue living under these conditions?!

    Fortunately, Diana had blessed us and sent the Theonians here! Although Theonia has a king, its citizens hold many rights and have their ownnd and thew to protect it. They can also hold important positions as long as they have the ability, regardless of birth or race, and even eventually be senators. Even ordinary citizens can report officials who vite thew and have them punished by thew¡­

    The king of Theonia even promised me that he would make Rome as wonderful a ce as Theonia! My fellow citizen, if you do not want to be ves, join the Theonian army and overthrow the rule of these greedy and atrocious Roman nobles!¡¯

    After reading the letter, a chill rose in the older Scipio''s heart, prompting him to order, ¡°Quick! Send someone to take all these scrolls. No one is allowed to keep them!¡±

    When the city guard sent by the older Scipio arrived at the slum, they saw some plebeians gathered in groups along the street, surrounding a few educated plebeians, listening to them read the scroll taken from the iron stake and murmuring in low voices.

    ¡°I know Valerius. He used to live right in front of my house and was a very nice guy. After he became a ve, he even shared some of his belongings with everyone¡­s¡­¡±

    ¡°The members of the Clodius family are really terrible! They always treat us, plebeians, harshly! Justst month, the youngest son of Caius Clodius Sabinus, who had just be a centurion, had injured my neighbour severely due to a trivial matter!¡±

    ¡°It isn''t just the Clodius family! Which of these great families in Rome isn''t terrible?! So I suggest that once the Theonianse, it would be better to kill all those nobles!¡±

    ¡°Could the words written in this letter be true? Could being a citizen of Theonia really be that good?¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as the plebeians began discussing the things written in the scroll, the city guards, ordered by the prefect, rushed in and forcibly confiscated the scrolls, which naturally sparked a conflict.

    Fortunately, the senators led by Ambustus arrived in time to appease the enraged plebeians and criticise the city guards who almost caused a fight.

    Ambustus then held the scroll and shouted, ¡°Citizens, all of these are conspiracies of the Theonians to divide us so that we could not defend the city together! More than a decade ago, we had a conflict due to internal quarrels and discord, resulting in a portion of the people abandoning Rome and fleeing to Veii, bringing Jupiter''s wrath by ordering the Gauls to give us the most painful punishment!

    After rebuilding Rome, we vowed on Mons Capitolinus to avoid repeating the same mistakes! So, don''t be fooled by the rhetorics of the enemy and let the tragedy of Rome''s destruction get repeated!¡­¡±

    Ambustus'' words quickly dissipated the anger of the Romans who came over.

    But someone suddenly shouted, ¡°Yes, the plebeians who had fled to Veii eventually moved back to Rome, but have the Senate kept their promises?! We are still heavily in debt, we cannot rentnd, we cannot hold public positions in the city-state, and the Senate simply ignored our demand that one of the two consuls elected each year must be a plebeian!¡±

    Ambustus turned to look at the person who spoke and saw that it was the tribunus, Gaius Julus Brutus. But before he could exin the matter, the crowd shouted again, ¡°The Senate is always trying to get us to do what it wants but doesn''t want to give us any rights!¡±

    ¡°This Rome is the Rome of the nobles and the wealthy, not ours! What does it have to do with us if such a Rome is destroyed?!¡±

    ¡°Only when they promise to give us the same rights as the nobles will we take up arms to fight against the Theonians!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The people''s protests surged towards the senators like a tide, causing them to panic. During normal times, they had many ways to deal with such protests, but now the city was under siege by arge army and one wrong move, and they would be fighting within themselves before the enemy could even start attacking. So Ambustus and the others hurriedly said, ¡°The Senate will immediately discuss the people''s demands, so settle down and wait for the decision.¡±

    With the people''s consent, the senators could finally return to the Senate and urgently hold a meeting.

    However, the Senate was unable to reach a conclusion despite debating intensely since the cancetion of debts and the allocation of publds to the plebeians would significantly implicate the interests of the senators and the nobles, not to mention the idea of plebeians holding influential positions within the city-state, including the consulship.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the older Scipio was busy defending the city of Rome, he received another emergency report saying the ships of the Theonians appeared on the Tiber River.

    Although he had already considered the possibility of the enemy ship entering the Tiber after learning of the fall of Ostia, he was still nervous when he received the report.

    After quickly rushing to the southwestern section of the city wall, he looked to the south and saw a long line of triremes being pulled by ves andbourers while the rowers exerted all their strength to move along the Tiber. The frontmost warship had already docked at the river port¡­

    Since the Tiber River was only about a hundred metres wide, these small warships on the vast sea appeared exceptionally massive crossing the river with its over fifty metres hull that could reach half the river''s width, causing anxiety among many Roman soldiers atop the city wall who had never seen a trireme before.

    But what made the older Scipio even more nervous was that he saw many Theonian soldiers boarding the warships from the river port, and then the warships sailing to the other bank to dock, and the Theonians disembarking¡­

    ¡®The Theonians wanted to attack Rome from the north via the bridge!¡¯ With a jolt, the older Scipio immediately ordered, ¡°Hurry and inform Cassius to reinforce the bridge defences and be wary of the Theonians'' attack!¡±

    After the messenger left, the older Scipio still felt uneasy. So after thinking about it, he sent an additional seven hundred Roman soldiers to the bridge, most of whom were citizens over fifty.

    While the older Scipio worried about the north side of Rome, a soldier reported that a group of Roman ves and Latinbourers appeared outside the western wall of Rome. And with the protection of the Theonians soldiers, they began shouting at the soldiers atop the city wall.

    The content of their shouts was simr to what was written on the scroll before, except they spoke from their experiences, which became much more persuasive. They didn¡¯t limit their audiences to the Roman plebeians but also to ves serving as soldiers due to a shortage of troops in the city. The Senate had promised them freedom after the war. However, the unrest not only distracted the plebeian and ve soldiers on the western wall but also the city''s inhabitants. The Senate''s dy in making a decision added to their frustration, and they rallied together, heading towards the Senate Hall''s gates to protest. Some even threatened to open the gates and surrender to the Theonians if the Senate failed to provide a clear answer.

    The emergency notice sent by the city guard prefect, the older Scipio, and the disturbance by the people outside the gate made the senators panic and uneasy like ants on a hot pan.

 Chapter 779: Working together like brothers

    Seeing the situation, Potitus reminded them, ¡°Camillus is now the dictator of Rome!¡±

    Yes, now that Rome had a dictator, all resolutions andws during this period had to be approved by Camillus before they could implement, but the dictator happened to be away on a campaign. But once he returns with the Roman army, Rome''s crisis will naturally be lifted¡­ As a result, new ideas began to sprout in the senators'' minds.

    Among the many fierce conflicts of the Roman nobles with the plebeians in the past, they had gotten through most of the crisis by dying, after which everything went as usual without much change¡­ So this time, they still decided to go with this method since all kinds of coincidences had led them to believe that the gods had blessed Rome.

    So they quickly adopted the following proposal: Removing the debt''s interests owed by the Roman popce, allowing all citizens to apply for leasingnds but limiting the area ofnd leased per person, allowing plebeians to hold important positions in the city-state, even considering to giving one of the two consuls appointed every year to be a person of plebeian origin, and the ves who take part in defending the city will be immediately given their freedom¡­

    The senators passed the proposal but didn''t immediately announce it to the people. Instead, they ordered their trusted ves to return to their homes, gather their people, and quietly blend with the protesters.

    After arranging everything properly, they opened the gates of the Senate Hall and announced the proposal they had passed to the crowds.

    The crowd was overjoyed, with some eximing excitedly, ¡°All hail the Senate! All hail Rome!¡±

    But during their excitement, the senators took the opportunity to announce, ¡°Since Camillus is now the dictator, he must sign the proposal we passed before we could implement it under the Romanw, so you still have to wait two to three days.¡±

    It¡¯s as if the people were doused with cold water from hearing that, resulting in their enthusiasm dropping. Suddenly, the nobles'' underlings mixed in with the crowd shouted, ¡°Don''t worry, Camillus has always acted for us plebeians and has often spoken in our favour in the Senate!¡±

    ¡°Right, look at how many plebeian officers he promoted in the army. He will definitely sign this proposal!¡±

    ¡°As long as we manage to hold on for another three days, we can enjoy equal rights like the nobles once Camillus return!¡±

    ¡°That''s right! We must defend Rome!¡­¡±

    Although a few wise men in the crowd felt something amiss, the nobles'' underlings had already stirred up the crowd''s emotions. Thus many chose to believe the senators'' words, with some even volunteering to be soldiers to defend Rome.

    Seeing the situation, the senators breathed a sigh of relief at having defused the crisis about to erupt. As for whether Camillus would sign the bill on his return, they weren''t worried that Camillus would dare to sign it under the pressure of all the senators. As for whether the plebeians would protest or even revolt, they would worry about thatter, as they had to deal with the greatest crisis first.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Currently, the Theonian army had upied five hundred metres to the east, west, south and north of Rome. After eating their simple lunch and taking a break, the Theonian legionaries, under the leadership of their officers, started building their camp.

    Apart from the two cavalry legions, tasked with observing the enemy while recovering their strength, and the pce guards, who have to protect the king, the other six legions, with their auxiliary units and thebourers responsible for transporting provisions, and even the crew of the Third Fleet totalling to about seventy thousand men were busy turning the area around Rome into a massive construction site. As a result, even the city of Rome was shrouded in dust.

    In the area under the Second Legion, Adoris and hisrades chatted while wielding pickaxes and shovels as they dug a trench.

    Suddenly, someone shouted, ¡°Is Adoris here? Someone is looking for him!¡±

    ¡°Who is it?¡± When Adoris raised his head from the trench, he heard a joyful shout, ¡°Brother!¡±

    ¡°Croto?!¡± Adoris had just seen his visitor when Crotokatax ran to his side.

    ¡°Why are you here?!¡±

    ¡°Father asked me toe and see you.¡±

    ¡°I am fine. On the contrary, my team dealt with many enemies in yesterday''s battle without any of us getting hurt,¡± Adoris said while patting his bare chest, ¡°Tell Father he doesn''t need to worry. You can go back now since I am busy and don''t have the time to talk to you!¡±

    ¡°Father is also busy discussing tomorrow''s battle ns with Tolmides, Phryntor and the rest of the Army Staff, so I have nothing to do back there. Why don''t I help with your work?¡± Crotokatax begged.

    ¡°Alright.¡± Adoris agreed straightforwardly.

    Crotokatax then removed his upper clothes and jumped into the dirty, ck pit.

    ¡°Let me introduce you all to my brother Crotokatax,¡± said Adoris to hisrades who were busy in the pit.

    As most of the soldiers from the Second Legion were citizens of Thurii, and some came from Amendra, Besidice, and Roscianum, all located in the Thurian region, the young citizens of this area were undoubtedly familiar with Theonia''s royal family, and some may have even met Crotokatax during their time at Thurii''s school. Therefore, they enthusiastically greeted Crotokatax, as they naturally knew who he was.

    Crotokatax greeted the soldiers with an attitude of meeting his seniors, which won the soldiers'' favour. Some even said jokingly, ¡°With the two princes here, even the First Legion isn''t as magnificent as our team!¡±

    ¡°Captain, give me another shovel!¡± shouted Adoris.

    But toon leader Timanthes didn''t immediately hand the shovel. Instead, he whispered cautiously, ¡°Can your brother handle it?¡±

    ¡°Captain, you are unfair. Why didn''t you ask me if I could handle it when you hit me with a stick?¡± said Adoris half-jokingly.

    ¡°Your brother isn''t a soldier under mymand,¡± replied Timanthes frankly.

    ¡°Don''t worry, my brother had also received military training since he was a child like me, so he isn''t that delicate,¡± said Adoris, taking the shovel and handing it to Crotokatax.

    Croto immediately grabbed the shovel and started to work.

    Timanthes observed for a while and saw the young prince aplishing the task well. After feeling relieved, he shouted, ¡°Brothers, with the help of Crotokatax, we need to work harder and try to finish the task earlier to leave the other toons behind and get the centurion''s reward of having our toon responsible for storming the city tomorrow!¡±

    The toon leader''s words boosted the soldiers'' enthusiasm, with some even singing the battle song of the Theonian legion. Soon, everyone sang while working, making the construction site bustle with excitement.

    Seeing such a sight, Crotokatax became a bit envious.

    While lost in his thoughts, Adoris'' voice sounded in his ear, ¡°Is it that interesting to be a legion soldier?¡±

    Crotokatax nodded slightly.

    ¡°In fact, it''s even more interesting during battle. Even if you argue with arade, they will still try their best to protect you on the battlefield, and you will also try your best to protect them. At that time, everyone be even closer than real brothers, which is quite¡­a special feeling!¡± Adoris said emotionally while patting his brother, ¡°You don¡¯t need to rush since you only just turned eighteen. When we were your age, we were still part of the reserve legion, while you are now already on the battlefield, participating in such an exciting battle. When you''re older, our father will certainly arrange for you to serve in the legion.¡±

    Crotokatax nodded. But remembering what his father usually said to him, he wasn''t sure whether he could even be a soldier in the army.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Yesterday''s battle resulted in the Roman army¡¯s defeat, and under the Theonian cavalry''s pursuit, Paulus, Maegius and Pantheus fled into Antium with the remnants of their army.

    During their escape, Pantheus identally fell and broke his right leg after being trampled by panicked soldiers. If not for his guards desperately rescuing him, he might have already be a captive of the Theonians.

    Only after they entered the city did Paulus and Maegius calm down. But when the result of their casualties came out, another blow struck them: From the twenty-five thousand soldiers who went on the expedition, only over a thousand soldiers managed to return.

    Fortunately, the scattered soldiers began to return one after another. Then they heard from the mouths of the scattered soldiers that on the way from Lavinium to Antium, they saw many soldiers had their feet and hands severed and could only wail as they couldn¡¯t walk.

    The two became anxious, and after discussion, they decided to send troops to rescue the wounded soldiers while the Theonians returned to their camp to rest as darkness fell.

    Since this was a considerable risk, some soldiers refused to leave the city. Fortunately, the Theonian pursuers had already returned to Lavinium to rest, allowing Paulus and Maegius to lead the army repeatedly and gradually rescue the wounded soldiers.

    After being busy until the early morning of the next day, the number of soldiers in the city soon reached over twelve thousand. However, as many as five thousand soldiers lost their ability to fight due to their wounds. And even after they gathered the physicians of Antium to treat them, it was still a drop in the bucket as the soldiers continued to die in agony andmentation¡­

    Paulus and Maegius couldn''t do anything about it, not to mention that they and the soldiers were exhausted to the extreme and almost fell asleep.

    It was almost noon when Paulus woke up and soon received the first terrible news: Nearly four hundred wounded soldiers died in the second half of the night.

    Paulus'' already terrible mood worsened, and he felt the bread he was chewing was tasteless. Suddenly, Maegius came over and said, ¡°The scouts we sent out discovered that the Theonians upying Lavinium had disappeared.¡±

 Chapter 780: Romes Reinforcements

    ¡°No longer there?! Did they go to attack Ostia?!¡± Paulus asked in shock.

    ¡°The detailed situation isn''t clear, so I sent scouts to check Ostia,¡± said Maegius with a worried expression.

    ¡°Let''s hope Ostia can withstand the enemy''s attack and for dictator Camillus to lead the army back as soon as possible!¡± Paulus began regretting engaging the Theonians in a battle yesterday, resulting in his army being severely devastated and soldiers so demoralised that he could no longer lead them into battle. He then sighed and turned to ask, ¡°What''s the situation in Lavinium?¡±

    ¡°The Theonians just gathered the people of Lavinium in one ce and took all their food but didn''t harm them. After our cavalry released them, they told us they didn''t know where the Theonian army had gone.¡±

    While Maegius was speaking, he saw guards hastily enter and said, ¡°Two generals, a messenger has arrived from the city of Rome, saying there is an emergency matter and wishes to see you!¡±

    ¡°Invite him quickly!¡± The two looked at each other, feeling uneasy.

    ¡°Generals Paulus, Maegius, and Pantheus, the Roman Senate have issued an order for you to lead your troops and immediately rush back to rescue Rome since the Theonians have captured Ostia and are advancing towards the city of Rome, putting the city in danger!¡±

    ¡®Ostia fell?! The Theonians are now marching to Rome?!!¡¯ The messenger''s words were like a bolt of lightning thatpletely shocked the two, as they had never expected the Theonian army to act so fast and boldly. At this moment, they even began regretting engaging the Theonians recklessly. But no matter how devastated their army is, they must still immediately return. Otherwise, everything will be over once Rome falls.

    The two quickly agreed and then exined the situation to Pantheus, who was bedridden and recovering from his injuries, asking him to guard Antium for the time being. The two men then recruited soldiers but soon encountered a problem. After the Senate converted the newly upied Antium into Rome¡¯s colonial city-state, the Senate relocated tens of thousands ofndless plebeians from Rome and its surrounding areas to Antium, giving them a piece ofnd, with most of them bing a part of Antium''s ten thousand defenders. However, the city-state had not yet formed its council since only a short time had passed, so Paulus decided most of the governing matters as the military consul of Antium appointed by the Senate. But even with his position, he still failed to bring the vast majority of the citizens of Antium, as the Roman plebeians, who had just received their piece ofnd, prioritised defending their property in Antium first in the face of an overwhelming enemy.

    With one ying the good guy and the other the bad guy, Maegius persuaded the citizens with words while Paulus threatened them with Romanw and power. As a result, they managed to recruit more than five thousand Roman soldiers among those afraid of the Theonian army with great difficulty.

    Although it was already the afternoon when they left the city, Paulus and the others didn''t lead the army to Rome. Instead, they passed through Satricum and Velitrae first because, after yesterday''s defeat, many scattered soldiers fled to these two new colonial cities. Finally, with the addition of the soldiers left in the two cities, Paulus and Maegius managed to recruit many soldiers to bolster their rescue force.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Because Paulus hastily led his army away from Antium, he didn¡¯t know that arge fleet of ships had once again appeared on the sea near the port of Antium, with their destination being the port of Ostia.

    Since the corvus warships of the Third Fleet sailed along the Tiber to Rome, only the more than eighty fast triremes and other small and medium-sized warships were left to escort the arrival of the transport fleet to Ostia.

    ¡°Is this the port of Ostia? It''s too small,¡± As the merchant ship approached the port, Tios, a great merchant of the Kingdom of Theonia, stood on the ship''s bow and looked at the dock with disappointment.

    ¡°The Romans had already expanded the port you see today many times over and was even smaller a decade ago,¡± said Sostratus, the president of Thurii''s Chamber of Commerce. As the kingdom¡¯s major dealer, he had a vast distribution channel and had even visited Ostia multiple times.

    ¡°It doesn''t matter what size of the port, but why are there so fewbourers in the port?¡± Dicaeapolis, a pottery merchant who had just stepped out of the cabin, looked surprised and asked anxiously, ¡°All the ships in the fleet are full of all kinds of goods; when will we finish unloading them all with so few people to unload the goods?!¡±

    After saying that, they saw a thousand brawny men queued up in the distance and came to the dock.

    ¡°See, His Majesty had already thought of this issue and sent troops to unload our cargo,¡±ughed Sostratus.

    But the first to dock at the port wasn''t a merchant ship but severalrge passenger ships, with the statesmen of the Senate leading the way to disembark.

    The court clerk, Henipolis, stood at the dock and greeted them with a smile, ¡°Lord Asistes! Lord Antrapolis! Lord Theris! Lord Nachus!¡­wee to Ostia!¡±

    The statesmen also greeted him back one after another.

    ¡°Is His Majesty in the city?¡± Asked Asistes.

    ¡°His Majesty has led the army to attack the city of Rome, so he couldn''te to wee you,¡± Henipolis exined.

    ¡°He is attacking the city of Rome now?!¡± The statesmen were surprised. Although they weren''t high-ranking officers in the Theonian army and couldn''t have known the battle n Davos drew up, they still learned some knowledge of the situation here after deciding toe to Latium and naturally knew the position of Rome in the Latium region. So would it be easy to take arge city with over a hundred thousand poption?! Moreover, Rome was far ind and far from the coast; wouldn''t it be too dangerous for His Majesty Davos to lead his troops into the heart of Latium after simply capturing Ostia?!

    Even after seeing the surprised face and concern in their hearts, Henipolis didn''t borate further and just raised a papyrus scroll tied with a ck strip and said, ¡°Lord Theris. His Majesty has appointed you as the temporary praetor of Ostia, responsible for governing the most important port city in the Latium region! You must ensure the prosperous and smooth flow of foreign trade, material transportation, and Ostia''s sea and river channels to the city of Rome¡­¡±

    After saying that, he handed the appointment letter to Theris, and Theris quickly unscrolled it to read it closer.

    Henipolis then said to the others, ¡°My Lords, you must assist Lord Theris in governing this city during your stay in Ostia, which will also help you gain an understanding of the situation in the Latium region in advance. Only after His Majesty captures Rome can you then go to Rome.¡±

    From Henipolis'' tone, they knew that His Majesty Davos had great confidence in capturing the city of Rome. Asistes and the other statesmen nced at each other and expressed their understanding.

    After reading Davos'' appointment letter, Theris asked in confusion, ¡°His Majesty asked me to manage Ostia, but there seems to be no one here except for our army!¡±

    ¡°There were about three thousandbourers and ves here, but most of them went to pull the ships of the Third Fleet and have gone to Rome. But they would soon return. And His Majesty promised to grant the ves their freedom and allow both thebourers and ves to join Theonia and be our citizens. Furthermore, we are currently holding several thousand Ostians in the city¡­¡±

    After saying that, Henipolis suddenly remembered something and said hastily, ¡°By the way, Lord Theris. His Majesty has asked me to remind you that although the city of Ostia is sparsely popted, its location is vital to our army! After the Romans recovered their strength, they would definitelye and take it back with all their might! So even though there are currently three thousand defenders in the city, it is still insufficient. Unfortunately, the army needed to attack the city of Rome with all its strength, so His Majesty could temporarily not increase the troops here. So, Lord Theris, your priority must ensure the safety of the city of Ostia, which is the key to our conquest of Latium!¡±

    After hearing that, Theris'' expression became slightly more serious and thought deeply.

    Davos appointed Theris as the praetor of Ostia because of his unique qualities, which set him apart from the other statesmen without a military background. After undergoing long-term military training in Thurii, he eventually became a senior centurion in Theonia''s reserve army. As a result, he had a thorough understanding of Theonia''s military system and considerable experience in leading soldiers. These attributes made him an ideal choice for the position of praetor of Ostia, allowing him to use his strengths fully.

    Asistes was also a statesman with both civil and military skills, but Davos had another important position for him.

    ¡°My Lords, I''vepleted my task,¡± Henipolis'' tone became lighter as he pointed to the attendant at his side and said, ¡°He will be the one to lead you to the city hall, where several of Lord Theris'' subordinates is awaiting orders. The amodation for the lords and officials, the entry of the merchants, the transportation of goods¡­and so on, will all have to be handled by you, Lord Theris. I have already stayed here longer waiting for you, and now I have to go to Rome since if I cannot witness such an important battle as the attack on the city of Rome, how can I write His Majesty''s biography?!¡­¡± After saying these words, Henipolis saluted at the crowd, mounted the warhorse his attendant brought and took off with a group of cavalry.

    The remaining group stood still at the dock, looking at each other for a while.

    Theris regained hisposure and bowed to the others, saying, ¡°My Lords, I must ask for your help in taking over this new city of Theonia together.¡±

 Chapter 781: Camillus return to rescue Rome

    ¡°It would be our pleasure, Lord Theris. It is only natural for us to unite and help each other in this unfamiliarnd!¡± Asistes replied at once.

    ¡°That''s right! That''s right!¡± The others agreed.

    ¡°We are much more interested and motivated precisely because we would govern a new region,¡± Antrapolis added.

    ¡°It''s a great joy for Lord Theris to be appointed first aftering to Latium together! Since the circumstances aren''t suitable, Theris can owe us a banquet first!¡± Nachus said jokingly.

    ¡°That is naturally not a problem. Just consider it my reward for hiring you to help me with the work,¡± Theris interjected.

    ¡°Then this banquet must not be cheap since hiring us is expensive,¡± Asistes also joked around, making everyoneugh.

    Amid theirughter, Theris nodded slightly to Nachus, thanking him for using this method to dispel possible jealousy in everyone''s hearts. After all, they hade to Latium together, but he was the first to be appointed and ced in such an important position.

    Nachus smiled back at him.

    Theris then turned around to look at the disembarking officials and the transport ships approaching the dock¡­

    After feeling the weight of the responsibility ced on his shoulder, he eagerly eximed, ¡°My lords, we must hurry to the city hall!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The sun stained the horizon with blood red as it set in the west.

    After a day of fierce fighting, the sound of battle had disappeared in the city of Ferentinum. Instead, cheering filled the city as the bright red military banner of Rome fluttered at the top of Ferentinum''s wall.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Dictator Camillus!¡±

    ¡°Great Camillus!¡±

    ¡°Lord Camillus!!!¡±

    As the Roman dictator, Camillus, stepped into the city of Ferentinum in full armour, every soldier who met or saw him stood straight and saluted to pay their respect to him because this veteran with outstanding military achievements had once again won a brilliant victory for Rome.

    Camillus smiled and praised the bravery of every soldier he passed by. However, he wasn''t happy as he appeared because although they had taken over the city, he still had yet to wipe out Ferentinum''s defenderpletely.

    Duringst night, some of the Ferentinum defenders took advantage of the night to break through Rome''s encirclement. Since the city of Ferentinum was located at the foot of the Hernici Mountains and was a rtivelyrge mountain city, the Roman army, even with its nearly seventy thousand soldiers, couldn''t surround the city tightly. In addition, the Hernicans had focused on defending for more than ten days without giving up their capital, so the Roman soldiers rxed their vignce, which allowed the enemy to break through and escape into the mountains sessfully. However, that had also forced Camillus tounch a full siege on the city of Ferentinum today.

    At this time, Furius rushed over.

    ¡°How''s the interrogation of the prisoners?¡± asked Camillus.

    ¡°A captive confessed that the ones who chose to break outst night were the reinforcements from Volsci and some of the Hernicans tribal warriors, around three thousand men¡­¡±

    ¡®Three thousand men!¡¯ Camillus frowned since even though three thousand men are insignificant in the face of nearly seventy thousand soldiers, the Roman army was unlikely to stay here much longer. On the contrary, these Hernican and Volscian remnants would cause considerable trouble for the Romans colonising this area.

    While Camillus had a headache over this issue, Furius added with a grave expression, ¡°Dictator, I learned another critical matter from the captives. Before they broke out, the Volscians told them that the Theonian reinforcements wereing and would probably fight the Romans fiercely, so they advised them not to defend the city of Ferentinum to death. Instead, they should preserve their strength and recapture the city once the Romans went to engage the Theonians in battle. It was only because the Hernicans couldn''t abandon Ferentinum that they decided to stay instead of breaking out¡­¡±

    Camillus'' expression immediately changed as he asked, ¡°The Theonians'' reinforcements areing again?! How many areing?!¡±

    Furius shook his head and said, ¡°The captives don''t know about it, and it could even be a lie made by the Volscians to make them break through.¡±

    Camillus pondered for a moment. Then with a look of dejection, he quickly decided, ¡°We have been away from Rome for too long! Now the city of Rome and the western part are somewhatcking with troops, so we have to gradually return to Rome starting tomorrow onwards-¡±

    While Camillus was speaking, they heard Lucius shouting, ¡°Father! Father!¡­¡±

    He looked at his son, who hurriedly came from the city gate, followed by a few familiar-looking people behind him.

    Camillus squinted his turbid eyes and asked with uncertainty, ¡°That seems to be Milesius?¡±

    Furius affirmed his guess, ¡°That''s indeed Milesius.¡±

    Camillus and Furius looked at each other and felt uneasy seeing the city guard prefect of Rome daringlye to the city of Ferentinum.

    Milesius hurried south after asking for a hundred cavalrymen to escort him from the city of Sagnia and fought the Hernicans, who hade to intercept him twice. And at dusk, they finally arrived at the city of Ferentinum. He was thrilled for Camillus when he learned that the Roman army had taken the central city of the Hernicans, a feat which more than offset the usations made against him by the senators.

    He staggered as he rushed towards Camillus. After giving his military salute, he said pantingly, ¡°Lord Dictator¡­the Theonian armynded on the coast yesterday¡­captured Ostia¡­and are now marching towards the city of Rome with their massive army¡­so the Senate ask you¡­to return immediately with your army and rescue Rome!¡±

    Furius was greatly shocked when hearing this, ¡°WHAT?! Rome-¡±

    ¡°Shh!¡± Camillus stare at him strictly.

    Furius immediately understood what he meant and immediately stopped speaking. Then he looked at the soldiers around them, but they seemingly had not noticed anything unusual.

    ¡°How many troops are there in the Theonian army?¡± Unlike Furius, Camillus retained his calm and asked in a deep voice.

    ¡°From¡­what the mounted scouts reported, they must have over fifty thousand men,¡± replied Milesius.

    ¡®More than fifty thousand? This isn''t a small number!¡¯ Camillus was surprised, especially since he had received the news some time ago that Carthage had already engaged the Theonians in a battle.

    ¡®Shouldn''t the Theonians fight the Carthaginians with all their might now that the Carthaginian army is advancing in Sicily? And with us having a truce with the Volsci and now attacking the Hernicans, who are far ind, it shouldn''t have any impact on Theonia that would make them go to war with us. It''s unreasonable for the Theonians to disregard Carthage, which poses a greater threat to them, and insteadunch arge-scale attack on us, who currently poses no threat to them!¡­¡¯ Camillus was confused and vexed since his poor decision had ced Rome in a dangerous situation.

    But this isn''t the time for him to regret it, as he needs to decide quickly. After stabilising his thoughts, he immediately ordered, ¡°Furius, immediately notify Quintus, Licinius and others toe for an emergency military meeting in themand tent!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Milesius,¡± Camillus looked at the exhausted young man and said apologetically, ¡°I know you are tired, but the situation is urgent, and I need your help. Sit down first, recover some strength and drink some water.¡±

    ¡°I can still endure it, Dictator!¡± Milesius immediately stood straight and said.

    Half an hourter, the generals of the Roman army gathered in themand tent. Then amotion happened after listening to Milesius and the Senate¡¯s order.

    Camillus coughed, prompting his son Lucius to shout, ¡°Be quiet! Please be quiet!¡±

    ¡°Generals,¡± Camillus said with a grave expression, ¡°Rome is under attack, and we must return to its rescue immediately! But the soldiers had just captured the city of Ferentinum and needed some time to rest. Moreover, it''s already night, and it''s dangerous for the army to march in the dark, so I have decided to lead the army back tomorrow-¡±

    Quintus immediately stood up and objected, ¡°Dictator, Rome only has a few thousand defenders, while the enemy has tens of thousands of soldiers. Even if the Senate conscripted both the elderly and children as soldiers, it would take us two to three days to return to Rome from here. If we dy anymore, many people will die in the city! So we better make haste and return at once!¡±

    ¡°It''s already a huge problem controlling the army when returning at this time where we need to march in the dark, and the soldiers are exhausted. Should we encounter the Hernicans or other enemies'' attacks, they would only need a few people to cause chaos in our rank or even the rout of our tens of thousands of men! Who would then be responsible for this defeat?!¡± Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus voiced his opposition.

    ¡°Alright, stop arguing. I still haven''t finished speaking.¡± Camillus raised his hand and swung them downward, signalling everyone to calm down. He then said, ¡°Although our massive army can''t march at night, a small force could still do so with careful arrangements. Quintus! Licinius! You two will each lead twenty elite centuriae and set out immediately to return along the Trerus River and try to reach the vicinity of Rome by tomorrow night!¡±

    During their attack on Hernici, they had to lengthen the transportation line as the battlefront moved forward. So to prevent the Hernicans and their allies from harassing Rome''s supply transportation, Camillus built small defensive camps every three kilometres on the east bank of the Trerus. And those camps were usually defended by two to three centuriae so that they could escort the supply transportation along the route. But now, they have be the Roman army''s greatest aid for marching in the dark.

 Chapter 782: Sneaking in the night

    ¡°Yes, Lord Dictator! We will definitely reach Rome tomorrow night!¡± Quintus and Licinius immediately stood up and pledged.

    ¡°After reaching the outskirt of Rome, you need to understand the situation first and not attack recklessly. Then put pressure on the Theonian army so they won''t dare attack the city with all their strength¡­¡± Camillus patiently warned his men and then said deeply, ¡°I will do my best to lead the army to arrive the night after tomorrow to join you and then fight the Theonians to the death!¡±

    The unease when the generals in themand tent heard the news turned into excitement after hearing Camillus'' words¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Everything was silent in the dark night, with most Romans inside the city and the Theonian soldiers outside falling asleep. But outside the northeast city wall of Rome, hundreds of soldiers quietly emerged from the camp of Theonia''s First Legion.

    All of them were dressed in ck chiton, with ck fabrics wrapped around their heads, leather shields and short swords tightly fastened to their backs, and a small bag of beef jerky tied around their waist. They marched silently to the southwest on this night, where one couldn''t even see their fingers, and crossed the open Campus Martius.

    Campus Martius* was formerly a vast wend caused by the long-term flooding of the Tiber. After Servius, the sixth king of Rome, drained and filled this wend, they finally obtained this enormous tnd and named it the Campus Martius. For them to use the name of Rome''s god of war, it tells how they used this tnd to gather troops. Later, they also began using Campus Martius as a voting ce for the citizen assembly since the city of Rome didn¡¯t have otherrge open spaces to amodate all the citizens. But after the Theonian army''s arrival and the Romans'' retreat into the city, the Campus Martius was left vacant as ity beyond the northern city wall. (note: Field of Mars)

    Once the group arrived at the edge of Campus Martius, they saw the towering city wall ahead, as well as the dark hill behind the wall ¨C the hill that held an important position in the hearts of the Romans ¨C Mons Capitolinus.

    After determining their position, these people quietly followed the direction of the city wall and headed westward.

    Then after a short walk, they heard the sound of rushing water and knew the Tiber was ahead.

    These people immediately dispersed and searched the riverbank. Soon after, someone said quietly, ¡°Leader, here!¡±

    The one he called leader was none other than Izam, the senior centurion of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade. Izam hurriedly came over.

    The spot where the soldier stood had two thick wooden pirs driven deep into the ground, protruding only halfway up a man''s height. Then nks of wood were ced between the pirs, which led down to the river before breaking off midway ¨C it was the remains of a wooden bridge.

    Izam looked ahead and saw a slightly blurred outline ofnd less than twenty metres from the riverbank. He knew it was the ind in the middle of the river, known to the Romans as Is Tiberina. Before the arrival of the Theonian army in Rome, the Romans had evacuated the ind''s inhabitants and destroyed the wooden bridge on the other side of the river.

    ¡®If the Romans hadn''t evacuated the people on the ind, they might have noticed our actions¡­¡¯ A fleeting thought passed through Izam''s mind before whispering, ¡°Hurry up and bring the rope and tie it to this wooden pir!¡±

    A dozen people carried arge bundle of rope with a thickness of a spear shaft, firmly tying one end of the rope to the wooden pir.

    ¡°Is Terentus ready?¡± Izam asked.

    ¡°Leader, I can''t wait anymore!¡± A strong soldier responded with a slightly rough voice.

    ¡°Alright, I leave this to you!¡± Izam patted his burly chest with his fist, turned to the other soldiers, and said, ¡°Tie him up.¡±

    The team wrapped the other end of the rope around his waist, and instead of carrying a leather shield and short sword, he brought a grappling hook, pickaxe, iron saw andrge iron pliers.

    After tying the rope around his waist, the team pulled hard and felt it tighten.

    Izam looked at the Messapian warrior eagerly and said, ¡°Go! With Hades¡¯ blessing, you will be a hero of the kingdom like Seclian!!¡±

    Terentus then saluted solemnly.

    Izam and the other members saluted back at him.

    Terentus tucked a sack of intablemb tripe under his arm, grasped the rope with both hands and moved slowly with his back towards the river.

    The river''s coldness made Terentus'' skin taut, and the slippery riverbed made it difficult for him to stand upright. As he stepped into the river, he felt the strong force of the Tiber, which had seemed gentle during the day, pulling Terentus downstream. Fortunately, the rope tied around his waist secured his body. His teammates loosen their grasp of the rope little by little, allowing him to move slowly downstream¡­

    Soon he saw that the riverbank in front of him was no longer t but had turned into an embankment seven to eight metres high.

    Terentus, who had previously observed the terrain, knew that this meant he was beside the walls of Rome.

    Although he was still at the river''s edge, the water had be so deep that his feet couldn''t even touch the bottom. Luckily, the buoyancy of themb''s tripe kept him afloat on the river''s surface as he slowly drifted downstream. All the while, Terentus kept his eyes wide open, gazing ahead.

    Not long after, he rejoiced as he saw the bridge before him, which Izam had repeatedly pointed out.

    Pons Aemilius and Cloaca Maxima

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The rope held by the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade was stretched, but suddenly it went ck.

    The members became delighted, thinking Terentus should¡¯ve reached his goal.

    Izam''s expression, however, remained serious as he asked deeply, ¡°How long did the rope stretch?¡±

    The member responsible for measuring next to him replied, ¡°Almost two hundred fifty metres.¡±

    ¡°Then he should have reached his target.¡± Izam was so sure because he had thoroughly questioned several former citizens of Rome, including Valerius.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Currently, Terentus was holding onto the bridge column closest to the embankment. Then he turned and vaguely saw arge ck hole in the embankment near the bridge under the faint moonlight, about four metres above the river''s surface.

    Terentus became excited again, knowing he had found the famous Roman drainage system, the Cloaca Maxima, which Izam had mentioned.

    Then, with one hand, he untied the pickaxe from his waist and the cloth wrapped around it while his other hand kept tugging on the rope at intervals.

    Soon, the teammates who received the signal grabbed the rope firmly again.

    Terentus then took the opportunity to swim vigorously to get closer to the embankment.

    After a while, his teammates loosened the rope slowly, allowing the current to sweep him under the sewer outlet, which was easy to spot because it had an unpleasant smell, and the embankment had wet marks and was covered in moss.

    Terentus then raised his pickaxe and struck hard, the pickaxe¡¯s tip piercing into the crevices between the stone.

    He grabbed the pickaxe with one hand and tugged on the rope with the other, signalling his teammates to tighten their hold and prevent him from getting swept.

    Then he slowly untied the grappling hook from his body, grabbed its end, and threw it hard above his head.

    After hearing a crisp nging sound from above, he screamed inwardly, ¡®Not good,¡¯ then dodged as the hook fell close to him and into the river.

    ¡®That was close!¡¯ Terentus did not immediately pull up the grappling hook that had fallen into the riverbed. Instead, he stayed close to the stone embankment, carefully watching the movements on the bridge, fearful that the Roman patrol might have heard the noise.

    But he had underestimated the Tiber''s strength. Even though the water flow appeared calm and far from the rough and roaring flow that Seclian had crossed on the Crati River, the heavy sound of the river hitting the bridge pirs and embankment over the years had been enough to drown out any faint sound that came from him.

    Hearing no movement on the bridge or the shore after a while, Terentus threw out the grappling hook again. First, he heard a smaller ng, followed by a low and muffled thud.

    ¡®Great, the grappling hook didn''t fall!¡¯ Terentus eximed with excitement as he reached out and tugged on the rope. Seeing that it was taut, he knew he had firmly secured the hook.

    He pulled the pickaxe and hung it back on his waist, then grabbed the grappling hook with both hands and slowly climbed upwards. Since this section of the embankment is where the sewage discharged from the sewer, it was so slippery that Terentus slipped and mmed his body against it several times, but he held back from making a sound.

    Finally, he crawled to the sewer outlet and grabbed the iron railings with both hands.

    The Cloaca Maxima was originally an open-air canal dug by the Romans to drain the marshes on the londs between the hills. Thest Roman king, Tarquinius, was the one to order the project to be built, with its initial starting position in the Roman square next to the Senate.

    But as the city of Rome improved and the poption grew, it was no longer necessary to drain the marshes. However, the disposal of human waste has be a public concern. So each household began to dig a gutter in front of their house and connect it to the main canal, which carried the various types of waste each household produced into the Tiber daily. Over time, the number and length of the channels spread throughout the city of Rome increased and became extremelyplex.

    Since the constant discharge of dirty water, waste, faeces, urine and even rubbish of all kinds into the canals by the Romans often led to blockages, stench and asional outbreaks of epidemics, a senator named Maximus proposed to create a new department specialised in sending officials from the city-state to manage the channels in the city of Rome.

    The proposal was unanimously approved. So the Senate decided to dig the canals deeper and wider,ying stone bs and scraping them regrly¡­ From then on, the canals have since be sewers, with the Romans also creating a god for thisplex sewage system ¨C the goddess Cloacina.

    The sewer''s outlet was nearly circr and as big as a person, with iron railings firmly secured into the embankment, with each bar as thick as an adult''s finger. The railings were obviously old and rusty, particrly on the other side, where the daily sewage discharge corroded it and now had uneven thickness.

 Chapter 783: The Siege of Rome (I)

    With his confidence bolstered after touching the railings, Terentus untied the rope from his waist and securely fastened it to the railings. He then tugged on the rope and received a response from his teammates. Next, he grabbed an iron bar with one hand, squatted down to retrieve his tools, and took out the saw to begin sawing.

    While Terentus was busy with his work, Izam suppressed his excitement and immediately dispatched another one of his men to cross the already connected rope, reached the bottom of the sewer outlet from the Ponte Aemilius without a problem, climbed easily to the outlet, gestured to Terentus and, without speaking, simply unhooked his tools and did the same as his teammate ¨C sawing the railing and then breaking it off withrge pliers.

    After over twenty minutes, they finally opened a gap in the railing to allow people in and out.

    Terentus removed his tools and threw them through the gap in the railing. Then he leaned down and struggled through the gap while clinging to the slippery moss and stinking sewage. After feeling relieved, he leaned his aching body against the embankment as he was too exhausted to care about the dirty rubbish in the sewer.

    His teammate also quickly crawled in and tugged hard at the rope tied to the railings.

    Although Izam had already anticipated the result earlier, he still couldn''t help but feel excited, ¡°Sess! Sess! Brothers, follow me and enter Rome together!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the morning, Crotokax woke up the still-asleep Davos.

    Last night, Davos was busy contemting today''s siege untilte at night. But once he received Izam''s message, his mind finally became at ease, and he could no longer resist the urge to sleep.

    When he woke, the still-dazed Davos immediately asked, ¡°Did something happen?!¡±

    ¡°No, Father. The legates are all waiting for you to give the order to attack!¡± Crotokax replied hurriedly.

    Davos realised he had just lost hisposure, so he hit his face with his palm to clear his mind. Then he stood up and said, ¡°Bring me my armour!¡±

    The servant immediately brought the armour and, along with Crotokatax, helped Davos to put it on,

    ¡°There''s no need to be in a hurry.¡± Davos reassured his son and asked, ¡°What''s the weather condition?¡±

    ¡°Father, the weather is clear today!¡± Crotokax replied instantly.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good omen!¡± Davos smiled and took the helmet from his servant. After Davos put on the helmet and straightened it, he calmly said, ¡°Come, let''s go and meet the protagonists of today''s siege!¡±

    After saying that, he strode towards themand tent next to him.

    ¡°Your Majesty!!¡± The legates in the tent immediately stood up to salute and watch as Davos walked onto the main seat.

    Amintas ¨C the legatus of the First Legion, Matonis ¨C the legatus of the Second Legion, Litom ¨C the legatus of the Third Legion, Olivos ¨C the legatus of the Fourth Legion, Giorgris ¨C the legatus of the Fifth Legion, Trotidis ¨C the legatus of the Sixth Legion, Ledes ¨C the Legatus of the First Cavalry Legion, Kurcius ¨C the Legatus of the Second Cavalry Legion, and Miltiades ¨C the navarch of the Third Fleet¡­ Davos nced slowly over them, each face, scarred and roughened by years of battle, now filled with excitement and anticipation.

    At this moment, the excitement in their eyes gave Davos more confidence as he smiled broadly and said, ¡°It seems everyone''s confidence is high, so what are we still waiting for? Let''s prepare to attack!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡± The legates responded with a smile.

    ¡°Litom and Miltiades, the Third Fleet and Third Legion under yourmand will start attacking half an hour after the other legions attack!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    That was all Davos said, ending with, ¡°Everyone, take Rome before nightfall! I await the news of your victory here!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the magnificent temple of the Roman god Jupiter on Mons Capitolinus in Rome, a group of priests led by gius Iulus prayed devoutly to the gods. Behind them were several Roman senators and officers led by the city guard prefect ¨C the older Scipio.

    The offering ceremony of Rome was rtively simple: After the prayer ended, a group of priests responsible for divining would appear holding a rooster with a redb and its feathers mostly red. Then a priest would scatter a handful of lentils on the ground and release the rooster.

    The hungry rooster(which hadn''t eaten anything since yesterday afternoon until this morning) had its eyes immediately widened upon seeing the lentils on the ground, kicked its leg, and pped its wings as it pounced towards the lentils like a bolt of lightning. Its head kept pecking at the lentils, making the people around dizzy.

    In the blink of an eye, the rooster ate the handful of lentils until nothing was left. But the rooster still wandered around the temple unsatisfied, looking for more food.

    Upon seeing the sacred rooster''s behaviour, the onlookers all showed happy expressions since they already knew it was an auspicious sign, even without needing the priest to dere the result!

    At the same time, the priests conducting bird divination outside the temple had alsopleted their task(One of the most important forms of divination for Roman priests. The priests would divide the sky into four parts and look for anomalies in any part of the sky, such as dark clouds, flocks of birds, and rain¡­.and then decide whether it is a good or bad omen). After the priests entered the temple, they proimed loudly, ¡°It''s an auspicious omen! It''s a great fortune!¡±

    The people inside and outside the temple cheered.

    And the people and soldiers at the foot felt a surge of confidence when they heard the cheeringing from the hill.

    But then, a resounding salpinx sounded from outside the city, causing the expression of the people on Mons Capitolinus to suddenly changed, ¡®Has the Theonian begun their attack?!¡¯

    The older Scipio hurried to the edge of the hill and looked northwest: In the distance, many figures appeared in front of the enemy''s camp(This was the camp of the First Legion of Theonia) and began forming up.

    The older Scipio tried to maintain hisposure as he turned to the generals and said, ¡°The Theonians have begun to attack. Each of you should return to your area,mand the citizens and defend Rome!¡±

    ¡°Yes!!¡± The generals replied vigorously.

    The older Scipio then led them down, and the crowd at the foot of the hill, mostly women and children, took the initiative to make way for the generals while wishing for their victory and repelling the enemy.

    After an emergency mobilisation the night before and yesterday, the city of Rome managed to enlist about twenty-five thousand soldiers, which the older Scipio had divided into four, based on the Theonian camp outside the city: Five thousand soldiers to defend the north-eastern section of the wall, five thousand to defend the western wall, ten thousand to defend the southern wall, which corresponds precisely to the huge Theonian camp outside the city, and the remaining less than five thousand to protect the Roman bridge to the north.

    Magnus Atilius, a cavalry officer among the three thousand elite soldiers left behind in Rome, was the one tomand the defence of the city wall in the northeast. Since he hade from a prestigious family in Rome and was a seasoned officer who had fought on many battlefields, the older Scipio entrusted him with the heavy responsibility of defending the northeastern section of the wall, which was the longest and furthest from the centre of Rome. So after going down the hill, he didn''t need to go far and immediately went up to the city wall next to Mons Capitolinus.

    Some Roman soldiers immediately gathered around him and said, ¡°General, the enemy is starting to attack!!¡±

    Magnus was surrounded by young men under eighteen, their childish faces filled with excitement and tension. They held spears and leather shields as they looked at Magnus like a child looking at their parents.

    ¡°Don''t panic! With our high walls and deep trenches, the enemy cannot reach us! The sacred rooster has also eaten all the feed, proving that the great god Jupiter has given us good fortune, and we will repulse the Theonians. Jupiter has blessed Rome!¡±

    After listening to Magnus'' encouraging words, all the soldiers cheered.

    Magnus squeezed out of the crowd and found his adjutant. Then he told him in a serious tone, ¡°Notify the centurions of each centuriae to keep their men in line and stay in their positions. Otherwise, they will face the militaryw!¡±

    The adjutant immediately executed the military order.

    Magnus saw rows of soldiers sitting against the outer wall, their weapons and even helmets on the ground, revealing their hair that had almost turned white. They were talking to each other in such a rxed manner, seemingly unaware that the battle was about to begin¡­

    These were Roman citizens all over the age of fifty, and while their strength had weakened and they were no longer muscr due to their old age, it did not change the fact that they had all fought in many battles. And Magnus trusted these old soldiers more than the young soldiers who had not yet experienced war. That was also out of helplessness because his teamprised only the elderly, the young, and a few plebeians and ves, who he could not trust as they had almost caused a huge mess yesterday.

    Magnus held onto the battlement and gazed into the distance.

    Theonia''s army had advanced to a distance he could see them clearly: Theonia''s army was divided into groups of more than a dozen heavy infantry brigades, with long and wide nks covering their head, forming loose columns and spaced farther apart as they slowly approached the city wall.

    ¡°Blow the horn and prepare the soldiers for battle!¡± Magnus ordered.

    The horn soon sounded, and the Roman soldiers, under themand of their centurion, quickly donned their armour, grabbed their weapons and took up a defensive position while watching the approaching enemy, ready to attack at any moment. The older citizens acted as auxiliaries, carrying bundles of javelins, arrows, jars of tar, and even stones and wood, cing them in designated positions¡­

    Although the leading Theonian soldiers were less than one hundred and fifty metres away from the city, which was within the range of archers, Magnus still didn''t give the order to attack. But suddenly, a few sparse arrows were fired from the top of the city wall.

 Chapter 784: The Siege of Rome (II)

    Upon seeing his men shooting, Magnus shouted, ¡°Wait for the orders and don''t attack indiscriminately!¡±

    ¡°Stop shooting!! Stop shooting¡­¡± The herald ran along the pathway, conveying Magnus''mand.

    Magnus believed they should refrain from wasting their arrows and soldiers'' strength on attacking the Theonian heavy infantry, as their arrows posed little threat to them.

    Once the Theonian soldiers reached the trench just over twenty metres away from the city wall, they removed the nks on top of their heads and ced them on the ground in front of the trench.

    At this moment, Magnus finally issued themand to attack and the first to throw a javelin, promptly followed by the Roman soldiers already prepared to shoot their javelins and arrows at the enemy.

    But beyond their expectation, the Theonian soldiers immediately retreated as soon as they put down the nks, resulting in the vast majority of their attacks missing.

    As the heavy infantry retreated, a strange formation appeared in the distance and approached the wall.

    ¡°Testudo formation?!¡± Amotion arose among the Roman soldiers at the top of the city wall. After all, Rome''s most practical tactics for attacking a city in the decade or so since the reform of the Roman army had appeared in the enemy''s formation. So despite hearing from the citizens who had fought with the Theonians earlier about the Theonian tactics being very simr to Rome, Magnus and the Roman soldiers still trembled seeing it.

    Once the Theonian heavy infantry reached the long nks, they swiftly dispersed the testudo formation and formed a row of nted shield walls. Their movements were so rapid that it appeared as if they had undergone numerous training sessions, effortlessly transitioning between formations before the Roman soldiers could react.

    Then, under the protection of the shield wall, some unarmoured Theonian soldiers crouched on the ground, simultaneously chanted and pushed the nks hard enough to push it across the five-metre wide trench. As a result, the nks formed simple bridges once the other end of the nks reached the other side of the trench.

    How could the Romans let them seed so easily? So they began to rain arrows and javelins on the enemy, hitting the shield formation without stopping. asionally a javelin would pierce a shield and then to the soldier''s arm, or an arrow would go through the gaps in the shields and wound a soldier''s unprotected thigh, but they endured the pain and kept the shield formation intact.

    After erecting over twenty bridges on the trench, the Theonian soldiers supported their injuredrades and began to retreat. During their retreat, they swiftly changed from shield wall formation to testudo.

    The enemy''s skilled formation change, their ability to maintain a soldier shield formation at all times in the face of powerful long-range attacks, their swift retreat and their ability to care for the wounded¡­shows how they are an extremely well-trained and experienced army. Magnus knew he had encountered a formidable enemy but had no time to panic, ¡°Shoot ming arrows! Burn down those bridges!!!¡± He pointed to the nks on the trench below the city wall and hurriedly ordered.

    The supporting citizens immediately wrapped the arrows with cloth strips dipped in tar and handed them to the archers.

    But as the Theonian soldiers retreated, more soldiers began forming arger testudo formation and advanced towards the city wall. And behind the testudo formation were nearly a thousand soldiers without armour, some carrying bows over their shoulders and in an even looser formation as they entered the range to attack the enemy.

    ¡°They are Theonia''s light infantry!¡± The Roman centurions on the top of the city wall quickly judged and decided to give them a massive blow to stop them from reaching below the city and posing a threat to the defenders.

    But the Theonian light infantry stopped one hundred fifty metres away when the Roman soldiers aimed.

    Suddenly, Magnus became confused seeing some Theonian light infantry constantly swinging their arms. Soon, he saw countless ck dots wheeze towards them, with the vast majority hitting the city wall just below the Roman soldiers.

    Then a soldier not far from Magnus suddenly screamed and fell to the ground, with blood streaming down from his eyebrows.

    A soldier picked up the object in question and handed it to Magnus.

    It''s a ck lead ball, smaller than an egg. Magnus weighed it in his hand and found it a bit heavy.

    ¡®Slingers! They are the soldiers who attack with stones that Camillus reported!¡¯ Magnus suddenly recalled Camillus'' battle report in the Senate.

    That is indeed the characteristic weapon of the First Legion''s Rhodian slingers and the only remaining one in the entire Theonian army. They immediately corrected their aim after the first attack, so when they waved the sling again and shot the lead balls out, the throw was obviously more urate this time, with most lead balls falling on the top of the city wall.

    The Roman soldiers scrambled to raise their long shields above their heads, while the archers, without protective measures, could only take cover beside the heavy infantry, causing panic on the part of the wall where Magnusmanded.

    Meanwhile, Theonia''s testudo formation quickly spread out once they reached the wooden bridge, revealing twodders hidden in the formation. The twodders were twenty metres long, with six soldiers carrying them each, quickly charging over the wooden bridge and towards the city wall. They were followed closely behind by the heavy infantries holding their shield and swords and crossed the trench.

    The Roman soldiers were forced to disregard the iing lead balls and began throwing javelins and shooting arrows one after another.

    Amidst the fierce attack, Theonia¡¯s heavy infantry began to suffer casualties and could no longer protect theirrades. However, whenever a soldier carrying adder fell, the closest soldier would immediately drop their sword and shield and step forward to carry thedder. In this way, the soldiers managed to arrive below the city wall, lifted thedder and mmed it down with great force. The pointed foot of thedder plunged deep into the ground while the curved iron hooks at the top hooked onto the battlements. They firmly erected thedder, with soldiers supporting thedders.

    The Theonian heavy infantry began climbing thedder with their left hand holding a long shield to cover their head.

    Finally, the young Roman soldiers began to act, some throwing stones and wood downward, some pouring oil and torches, some carrying boiling water to pour down, and some using swords to sh the ce connecting thedder and the hook¡­

    Theonia''s light infantry also rushed towards the city wall and began shooting arrows and javelins, with their primary targets being the Roman soldiers who ended up exposing their bodies when attacking the climbing soldiers¡­

    ¡°Brothers, you''ve done an excellent job of closing in the city without much loss!¡± Amintas approached the slingers in the rear, less than two hundred metres from the wall, so he could easily observe andmand the battle. He was satisfied with the siege''s progress so far, so he said to Phryntor beside him, ¡°All of this is thanks to you!¡±

    Davos was concerned that Amintas might take too many risks and inflict heavy casualties on the First Legion if he led the attack alone. So he sent Phryntor to help, as they had already worked well together.

    Phryntor modestly said, ¡°It''s mainly due to the First Legion youmand being well-trained!¡±

    ¡°Yes, that''s right! The First Legion is the strongest of all the legions. Moreover, the newly added reserve soldiers have proven their worth as citizens of Thurii and are no inferior to the veterans. It''s a pity His Majesty has not allowed us to use siege towers, siege wagons and ballistae¡­with such powerful siege weapons, we could have inflicted even more damage on the enemy!¡± Amintasined.

    Phryntor did notment, as Davos had already reminded him: The First Legion would act as support after suffering heavy losses in the previous battle. Therefore, they must not give their all in this siege so they could be of much use in the battles toe.

    As the staff officer, Phryntor actually understood Davos'' underlying consideration: He couldn''t allow the First Legion to always serve as the main force and perform meritorious deeds in battle since he had to give the other legions a chance to win honours in battle, which was not only a kind of bnce but also helped the other legions to improve the overall strength of the Theonian army.

    ¡°But even without those siege equipment, our First Legion can still break through the city of Rome first!¡± The prideful Amintas confidently said, ¡°Phryntor, I will send up all three of my remaining brigades in another half hour to put even more pressure on the Romans!¡±

    Phryntor was startled hearing that, prompting him to persuade, ¡°Legatus, should we not observe the enemy''s defences before deciding since the siege has only just begun? Moreover, we still don''t know whether Rome''s allies woulde to rescue them! So we must keep these three brigades as a reserve and not move them for now while paying attention to the scouts¡¯ report!¡±

    Amintas red at him and was about to snap, but he quickly held himself back. After being in the Theonian army for so many years, his mind became much more perceptive than his apparent brashness, ¡®Why had His Majesty Davos sent Phryntor to the First Legion before the war? Does it mean that Phryntor''s suggestion was His Majesty''s order?¡¯

    Suddenly, Amintas just shut his mouth and didn''t look at Phryntor. Instead, he just folded his arms and watched the battle before him.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The older Scipio stood in the middle section of the southern wall, which was the closest to the centre of Rome, and would be the focus of the Theonians¡¯ attack. On the other hand, immediately behind the left and right sections of the southern wall are Collis Quirinalis and Collis Caelius. So even if the Theonians had broken through these two sections of the wall, they wouldn''t be able to advance quickly into the city because of the hills obstructing them.

    Upon hearing the bugle sound from the enemy camp and witnessing many enemy soldiers pouring out, the older Scipio believed he had assessed the situation correctly. However, the Theonian soldiers didn''t approach the wall. Instead, he saw a long line of rectangr wooden wagons that moved towards the city wall without any pack animals pulling them.

 Chapter 785: The Siege of Rome (III)

    The older Scipio and the soldiers were startled and thought it was a miracle.

    However, the older Scipio soon understood its mechanism. Thus he ordered his guards to shout, ¡°There''s someone in the wagon!! There''s someone inside the wagon!!!¡­¡± which managed to dispel the panic of the soldiers. Still, the older Scipio and his soldiers could only watch as the hundred siege wagons came within range of the arrows without being able to do anything about it.

    After a while, the foremost wagons stopped in front of the trench and were followed by the rest and linked to each other. Before long, they had formed a five-column wagon stretching a hundred metres just before the trench and extending beyond the defenders'' range.

    Something like this

    Numerous carts loaded with sacks filled with soil were at the rear of the column, made by Theonian soldiers the previous day. Behind them, countless Theonian soldiers without armour formed a line and passed the sacks to the soldiers inside the wagons. Then the soldiers in the wagons quickly began throwing the sacks one after another into the trench.

    This unique way of filling the trenches surprised the Roman soldiers and made them even more nervous.

    Although the older Scipio initially did not know what these wagons were for, he still ordered his men to shoot ming arrows out of instinct. However, the Theonians had covered the foremost wagons with a thinyer of soil and wrapped them in soaked linen, so igniting them would take a lot of work.

    At the same time, a line of arrow-blocking carts with wide boards advanced towards the city wall, and the ones to push them were the light infantry of Theonia''s Second Legion. With the wooden board shielding the light infantry, the enemy arrows became ineffective against them.

    like this

    Once they pushed the arrow-blocking carts before the trench and formed a disjointed wall, the Theonian light infantry began shooting arrows at the Roman soldiers at the top of the city wall through the gaps between the boards.

    Adoris is in one of the wagons, and just like hisrades, he doesn¡¯t wear any armour to save his energy and perform his tasks faster.

    Although Adoris had lost count of how many sacks he had passed, he still felt energetic. Suddenly, the toon leader at the front shouted, ¡°Brothers, push the wagon forward while paying attention to your steps!¡±

    Because the officers already told them the strategy before the siege, Adoris knew they had already filled the trench in front. Then the next step would be to push the wagon over the trench, tamped on the ground and then ce a nk so the siege engines could pass through the trench.

    Although the wagon isrge, it isn''t heavy because the interior is hollow. In addition, the wheel was attached to the side of the wagon, rather than connecting the wheels through a long axle, ensuring unimpeded movement of people and goods inside.

    After Adoris and hisrades pushed the wagon forward and linked with the wagon in the front, long nks were quickly passed from the rear through Adoris and hispanions'' hands and finally ced across the filled trench. Then the officers began organising the soldiers in the wagon to retreat quickly and orderly.

    Hearing that Adoris was safe and had retreated with the other soldiers from his subordinates, Matonis, who was at the front of the army, felt relieved and ordered his adjutant, ¡°You can now order the heavy infantry to attack!¡±

    ¡°You''ve worked hard, brothers! It''s now our turn to go!¡± The legionaries who passed by Adoris and hisrades said cheerfully.

    ¡°May Hades bless you all!¡± After offering their blessings, Adoris and hisrades began to don their armour while casting envious nces at the heavily armed legionaries. With some carryingdders while others wielded shields and spears, the legionaries formed two lines and swiftly entered the passage in the wagons, emerging at the base of the city wall where the siege battlemenced.

    When Matonis saw thedders erected all along the city wall and the soldiers of the Second Legion gathered below, he immediately gave the order, ¡°Let the siege tower forward!¡±

    Upon the heralds'' shouts, more soldiers rushed forward to push the wagons further, allowing the seeding troops to cross the trench and clearing the path for therge siege engines to move towards the base of the city wall.

    As some of the wagons were set on fire by the ming arrows, the soldiers had to exert more effort in pushing them away. And after the wagons got pushed away, a smooth road that led all the way to the base of the city wall opened up.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The older Scipio was busymanding his soldiers to attack the Theonian heavy infantry, who were climbing up the walls like ants, and the Theonian light infantry, who were hiding behind the arrow-blocking carts at the front of the trench and had no force left to stop the Theonians from pushing the wagons away. As a result, he was somewhat puzzled by the Theonians'' seemingly unnecessary actions.

    Soon after, the older Scipio and the soldiers around him were shocked by seeing five towering siege towers in the distance, which seemed even taller than the city wall and were slowly heading towards them.

    In his long military career, he had participated in many sieges, and the most difficult one was undoubtedly the attack on Veii, whichsted for almost ten years. Although it was a difficult battle, it enriched his experience of attacking and defending cities. But today, he felt unsettled about the Theonians'' novel way of attacking the city and became utterly shocked by the appearance of the siege towers. After all, the neighbouring forces they had fought against in the past had eithergged behind Rome in military strength or were on par with them.

    In contrast, the kingdom of Theonia had clearly crushed Rome in this aspect, which reflected the gap in their civilisation that created a sense of powerlessness in the older Scipio''s mind. However, he still pulled himself together and shouted, ¡°Prepare the ming arrows! Burn those things with fire!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Theonia''s engineering team was able to create five siege towers in one day, not only because they had many men but also because Davos had taken into ount the needs of the siege before their departure, so he asked them to prefabricate some crucial parts of the siege equipment in advance and carried them with the army, such as the wheels, axles, pulleys, and the L-shaped angles¡­ As a result, the engineers and carpenters saved time andpleted their tasks in just a day and a half.

    Furthermore,pared to Syracuse''s siege tower, Theonia¡¯s siege tower¡¯s width was less than three metres wide, just equal to the width of the wagons, allowing it to pass smoothly through the levelled passage in the trench. Its rear runs diagonally downwards, with woodendders built on the outside so that the soldiers could have smooth and quick ess to the various floors of the tower.

    As the Theonian soldiers pushed the siege tower, the door to the second to thest floor opened, revealing a gastraphete with its bowstring fully drawn and loaded with iron stakes. The soldiers then fired the gastraphete, causing the iron stake to whizz through the air. In a sh, the iron stakes flew atop the city wall and pierced several Roman soldiers'' chests; its force was strong enough to push several Roman soldiers to fall behind the wall.

    The power of the gastraphete frightened the Roman soldiers that faced the siege tower. They became so distracted from guarding against this terrible killing weapon that they failed to attack the Theonian soldiers climbing the wall. Fortunately, the older Scipio managed to send troops in time, or else the Theonian soldiers would have already reached the top of the city wall.

    Before the Roman soldiers could catch their breath, the Theonian light infantry at the top of the siege tower began shooting arrows at the defenders once they were in range.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same time as the Second Legion''s siege, the soldiers of the Sixth Legion on the east side of the Second Legion, led by legatus Trotidis, had adopted the same strategy as the First Legion to force the defenders at the east section of the southern wall of Rome to cope with the situation with all their strength, so that they wouldn''t dare divide their forces to assist the older Scipio.

    In the western section of the southern wall, the Fifth Legion, led by Giorgris, and the Fourth Legion, led by Olivos, focused on attacking the wall¡¯s protruding southwestern corner.

    Dozens of ballistae had been bombarding this section of the city wall since yesterday afternoon. And as of today, a fifth of the ballista has been destroyed, but the two legates still didn''t hesitate to continue the bombardment since early morning, concentrating most of the attack on the lower part of the city wall.

    After getting hit by stone projectiles continuously, the stones on the outer part of the city wall shattered, revealing a thickyer ofpacted soil inside asrge areas of the wall fell.

    Then the ballistae began focusing their bombardment on top of the city wall. Although some of the stone projectiles whizzed past the wall, those that managed to hit the wall would cause shards of stones to stter everywhere, posing a danger to the defenders at the top of the city wall and forcing them to retreat.

    Meanwhile, Theonia''s heavy infantry took the opportunity that the defenders couldn¡¯t do anything to carry thickened long and wide nks andy them on the trench. Then the subsequent heavy infantry carryingdders would step on the nks and cross the trench. Once they began attacking the city, the ballistae also stopped the attack.

    In the midst of the offensive wave, the soldiers also carefully pushed other siege engines over the nks and towards the rammed soil exposed in the walls¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    High walls surrounded the city of Rome, except Rome''s bridge to the north, the Pons Aemilius. However, the wide Tiber served as the protection, with steep embankments seven to eight metres high as barriers. As a result, the Romans considered this ce as the safest.

    In both wars against the Veientes, Rome''s greatest enemy in the Tiber decades earlier, the Romans managed to repulse the enemy just by defending Pons Aemilius.

    So when the Theonians upied the other side of the bridge this time, the former praetorian prefect, Titus Cassius, who was responsible for defending the north of Rome, still adopted the same tactics.

 Chapter 786: The Siege of Rome (IV)

    But starting from early morning, the battle Cassius had imagined was quite different.

    The Theonians kept firing their ten ballistae on the opposite bank, resulting in Roman casualties when the stone projectiles flew over the Tiber and fell into the Roman formation. Because of that, Cassius had to order the soldiers to disperse and retreat to the residential areas fifty metres away from the embankment, thinking they still had enough time to move out and intercept the enemy if the Theonians advanced through the bridge.

    The Theonian ballistae finally stopped attacking the Roman soldiers hiding in residential houses. But they suddenly began bombarding the four towers on both sides of the bridge on the opposite bank.

    Every time the stone projectiles wheezed through the air, two or three stone projectiles would hit the tower. As a result, Cassius became worried and had to order the archers stationed on the towers to retreat.

    And his concerns were correct: After more than ten minutes of bombardment, the two towers closest to the bridge finally copsed with a bang¡­then Theonia''s ballistae began targeting the two outermost towers.

    The powerlessness that Cassius and the soldiers felt as they watched the stone projectiles raining down on the towers, eventually causing all four structures to copse with a tragic crash and rising dust, made them wish the Theonians would immediately attack and engage them in closebat, so that they no longer had to hear and see this terrible bombardment. It was only after the Theonians had destroyed the towers that they stopped.

    The Romans felt puzzled by the sudden silence on the battlefield.

    Meanwhile, Litom, the legatus of the Third Legion standing on the opposite bank, said to Miltiades, the navarch of the Third Fleet, ¡°The other legions have already started their attacks, so we should start preparing as well.¡±

    ¡°There''s no need to be in a hurry. I will soon build twenty pontoon bridges for your legion!¡± After that, Miltiades immediately rushed to the riverbank to the west of the bridge.

    They have built a camp on the riverbank by digging trenches, making earthen walls and stockades, with rows of tents inside. And by the river were forty corvus warships neatly docked, with their bows facing the river.

    After Miltiades gave the order, the crew of each warship quickly boarded the ship and took their positions.

    Then, the soldiers of the Third Legion also rushed over and worked together to push the ships into the river.

    But instead of rowing simultaneously, only the first ship, immediately south of Pons Aemilius, rowed with all its might towards the opposite bank.

    On the other hand, the sailors of the second ship brought the warship to a horizontal position, exerting their utmost effort to anchor the stern to the shore firmly. And to achieve this, the engineering brigade had prepared numerous long wooden poles for the sailors on both sides of the ship. The sailors would use the poles to stick into the riverbed, stabilising the ship against the water''s impact, ensuring that the bow faced the opposite bank while the stern faced the shore.

    The trireme was so small in the sea but so big in the Tiber, with an average length of over fifty metres. So after the sailors paddled, the corvus warship soon reached the opposite bank.

    The deck operator immediately lowered the anchor while the sailors on the ship''s right side quickly pulled out the oars and took the long wooden poles at the bottom of the cabin. Then they inserted it out the oar ports and thrust it towards the riverbed.

    Since this section of the Tiber was a hundred metres wide, there was naturally a gap between the two ships. With one of the ships having its stern on the north bank and one with its bow on the south bank, the sailors of the second ship did their best to bring the ship''s bow as close to the stern of the first ship, and then the deck operator would lower the drawbridge.

    The spikes at the head of the drawbridge pierced the stern of the first ship. Although that was painful for the captain and sailors, it still needed to be done to link the two ships together. Likewise, the third and fourth warships also did the same. The fifth and sixth warships¡­and before long, nearly twenty pontoon bridge was made on the Tiber to the west side of Rome''s bridge. Now, they only need to lower the drawbridge of the warship on the opposite bank and connect it to the embankment, linking the north and south banks.

    Litom, who observed the entire process from the north, expressed his loud and resounding approval of the Third Fleet for executing the n smoothly. Especially since he knew that Miltiades had led a dozen warships through rigorous testing and training in the river section near the river port yesterday afternoon, contributing to today''s sess.

    While observing a portion of the Third Legion''s soldiers rapidly splitting into twenty teams and beginning to board the warship, Litom felt a sense of regret since the corvus warships couldn¡¯t go under the bridge due to their tall masts. Otherwise, they could have constructed a pontoon bridge to the east of the bridge and forced the Roman army on the opposite side to spread their defence further, which would have eased Theonia¡¯s Third Legion¡¯s attack.

    After sighing a bit, Litom immediately turned his attention to the battle that was about to start.

    ¡°sa!¡± Litom looked at the senior centurion of the first brigade of the Third Legion and said sincerely, ¡°My only demand is for you to lead the first brigade to cross Pons Aemilius and enter the city of Rome!¡±

    sa, the former chieftain of a small tribe of Lucania and a childhood friend of Bagul had managed to be a statesman a few years earlier, just like Kesima and Litom. However, he chose to stay in the army instead of serving in a local position. But unlike Bagul, who served multiple times as the praetor of main cities in Theonia, and Kesima, who had won praises from Davos and statesmen for his outstanding performance as the praetor of Compsa, and Litom, who had already served as amander of the army and repeatedly won military achievements, sa, who was only a senior centurion, was too inconspicuous. Despite that, he still chose to stay in this position because he liked to fight, which was the only thing he was good at.

    After hearing Litom''s order, sa replied excitedly, ¡°Legatus, just sit still and watch as the first brigade will open the gate of victory for the army!¡±

    He then shouted to the soldiers of the first brigade who were already in formation, ¡°Warriors of Lucania, it is time to show our courage and strength to all the legions here and His Majesty! Let''s cross the bridge and wipe out the enemy!¡±

    Most of the Third Legion soldiers hade from the Lucanian region, with Grumentum as the centre. However, the soldiers of the first brigade mainly hade from Nerulum, the first Lucanian town toe under Theonia and fought under Davos early on. Hence when Theonia established the Third Legion, most of its officers were Nerns, which prompted more Nerns to serve in the army actively. As a result, many veterans were Nerns and had the richestbat experience. So the first brigade, as the strongest force of the Third Legion, naturally had gathered the best and strongest soldiers.

    Under themand of the chieftain of Nerulum, these Nern soldiers radiated a strong desire to fight as they shouted the name of Hades and formed a dense five-column (The width of Pons Aemilius can only amodate five people standing side by side), stepped onto the bridge and quickly charge towards the opposite bank.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Cassius received an emergency report from the scouts as soon as Theonia made a pontoon bridge using their corvus warships. Theonia''s unusual offensive methods were far beyond his expectations, which meant that the Theonian army now had more ways to cross the river to attack Rome from the north. Because of that, he urgently summoned the retreating Roman centuriae and ordered them to rush to the embankment immediately.

    But when the Roman centuriae left the cover of the residential area and headed to the Tiber, the ballistae team immediately began firing stone projectiles again once they stepped into the open space.

    Although Cassius had anticipated this and had the army advance quickly in a loose checkerboard formation, there were still stones falling into the centre of the formation and causing considerable panic due to the terrifying death of the soldiers.

    But at this moment, Cassius couldn''t care about the casualties caused by the ballistae as he could already see the Theonian soldiers on the other side rushing towards them along the bridge like a ck tide, prompting him to shout anxiously, ¡°Faster! Run faster!!¡­¡±

    In fact, he didn''t need to warn the Roman soldiers because not only could they see the Theonian soldiers running on the bridge, but they also saw one enemy after another starting to appear on the embankment¡­¡®our homnd is about to be invaded!¡¯ Every Roman citizen, young and old, could now feel the crisis. So they quicked their pace, brace the whizzing stone projectiles and rushed forward to meet the soldiers of Theonia''s first brigade who had just reached the bridge, as well as the other soldiers of Theonia''s Third Legion who had just stepped onto the embankment and had barely formed a single row to intercept them on the bank of the Tiber.

    At this moment, the ballistae team had to stop firing and just watch the soldiers of the two armies engage in a life-and-death struggle on the opposite bank¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The scouts and heralds of Theonia kept rushing in and out of the main camp, summarising the battle and enemy situation from all directions and conveying new orders¡­

    ¡°Report! The First Legion¡¯s siege force has reached the base of the city wall and started the offensive!¡±

    ¡°Report! The five siege towers of the Second Legion have gotten over the trenches and are now carrying out long-range attacks to suppress the enemy at the top of the city wall. However, a ming arrow ignited one of the siege towers, and the nearby soldiers are busy extinguishing the fire!¡±

    ¡°Report! The siege engines of the Fourth and Fifth Legion have reached the base of the city wall and have begun destroying the wall. At the same time, the soldiers of the Fourth and Fifth legions had managed to hold the enemy, so they so far have not done any effective damage to our siege engines!¡±

    ¡°Report! The soldiers of the Sixth Legion have crossed the trench and begun to climb the city wall!¡±

    ¡°Report! The Third Legion and Third Fleet have already¡­.¡±

 Chapter 787: The Siege of Rome (V)

    In the centre of themand tent, Davos sat facing arge wooden table with a detailed map of Rome where Tolmides was busy leading the young officers of the army staff to record the battle situation reported by the mounted scout and mark it on the map with icons and numbers.

    ¡°Your Majesty, the mounted scouts discovered four to five hundred Roman soldiers about five kilometres east of the city of Rome. They are probably from Fidenae¡­¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, the Latin city-states'' army is gathering eight kilometres southeast of Rome, and they reached about a thousand soldiers¡­¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, there is a Roman army in the southwest direction of our camp with approximately five thousand soldiers¡­¡±

    ¡°From the report delivered by the herald of the Third Legion, their scouts discovered Rome''s colonial city of Veii had sent nearly two thousand Roman soldiers. While the several Etruscan city-states such as Caisra and Tarchuna had also sent two to three hundred reinforcements each and are now rushing to Veii¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While listening to their reports, Davos gazed a the map filled with red and ck dots. The red dots represent the Roman army and Roman reinforcements, while the ck dots represent the Theonian army, with each dot marking a thousand soldiers. The red dots are mostly concentrated in the city of Rome, encircled by the ck dots. But after some time, several more red dots got added a distance away from the ck dots, gradually converging into arge circle and surrounding the ck dots¡­this is a battle of encirclement and counter-encirclement, which concerns the survival of both sides.

    Although Davos'' expression remained calm, the young officers of the army staff, including, Crotokatax, looked a bit nervous as the report continued to arrive. Even Tolmides could hardly keep hisposure, making him step forward and say, ¡°Your Majesty, the current battle situation shows that our Second, Fourth and Fifth Legions would likely be the first to breach the city, but¡­the Roman reinforcements are nowing, especially this Roman army and-¡±

    Tolmides first pointed at the flower-like pattern made up of five red dots gathered in the southwest of Theonia''s main army camp on the map and then moved his finger towards four red dots north of the Third Legion''s camp on the north bank of the Tiber and said, ¡°Here, which would pose a great problem for our attacking army! So shouldn''t we eliminate this Roman army first to relieve our scattered defence?¡± Tolmides'' finger paused on the flower-like pattern once again.

    Davos nodded but calmly said, ¡°Tolmides, your thinking is correct. However, we must first find out the movement of this Roman army before making the correct response. Remember, the enemy should be the one panicking, not us because we have the initiative in this war.¡±

    Davos spoke with a hint of lecturing in his words. Tolmides immediately rxed after getting reminded, and the somewhat heavy atmosphere in themand tent dissolved. While Tolmides discussed ns for the subsequent battle with Davos, the officers recorded the data and discussed something in a low voice, and Henipolis observed the crowd and wrote down the scene. Crotokatax, on the other hand, was on stand-by while waiting for the arrival of the mounted scouts.

    Suddenly, the mounted scouts brought an intelligence report that shocked him, ¡°Report! The number of the Roman army in our southwest has increased to¡­eight thousand!¡±

    After Crotokatax ryed the report, Davos said deeply, ¡°Don''t panic.¡±

    Davos'' encouraging smile calmed Crotokatax, who was about to panic and immediately replied, ¡°Yes!¡±

    And upon hearing that, the officers also eximed, ¡°Eight thousand soldiers?!¡±

    Tolmides carefully examined the map and said nervously, ¡°Your Majesty, it seems highly likely that they are the reinforcements sent by the Latin city-states such as Tusculum, Aricia and Be and had merged with the Roman army!¡±

    Davos remained calm, saying, ¡°This Roman army is close to Lake Alba, and that area has already been the centre of the Latins. Although the Romans had long destroyed the city of Alba Longa, I heard that the Latins worshipping Jupiter would always hold the annual celebration on Albanus Mons, so there are quite a few Latin tribes living near Lake Alba, and it seems they still have room to send reinforcements¡­ On the contrary, this is better for us since we can catch all the fish in one go now that they are all gathered!¡±

    Tolmides remembered something when he heard Davos'' confident tone, which calmed him down. After sitting back and thinking for some time, Tolmides said with slight concern, ¡°Now I am just worried that this Roman army will continue to move eastward and merge with the Latin reinforcements in the southeast. If that happens¡­¡±

    ¡°If that happens, we only need to mobilise our troops to the southeast to intercept the enemy. But for the Romans, it would mean they would have to spend more time organising and waiting even though they were near the city of Rome. But can those Roman soldiers, worried about their homes, have patience for that?¡± Davos said unhurriedly.

    ¡°Your Majesty, you mean to say¡­this Roman army would likely attack us immediately?!¡± Asked Tolmides hurriedly.

    Davos was about to reply when Crotokatax came to report, ¡°A report came saying that the eight thousand-strong Roman armies in the southwest of our camp are bypassing us and heading north!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Tolmides stood up immediately and said nervously and excitedly, ¡°Your Majesty is right! This Roman army is about to attack us, and their target is probably here!¡±

    Tolmides'' finger pointed to the southwest corner of the Roman wall on the map, where the soldiers of the Fourth and Fifth Brigades are. Behind them was a vast gap between Theonia''s main camp and the western camp(the camp of the Fourth Legion), through which the Romans could quickly pass and directly attack the Theonian army attacking the city.

    Davos also arrived at the same conclusion. Thus instead of sitting firmly in themand tent, he immediately gave an order, ¡°Tolmides, I appoint you as the temporarymander to immediately lead a brigade of the Fifth and Second Legion, two brigades of the Sixth Legion, as well as the First and Second Cavalry Legion, left behind in the main camp, to intercept the approaching enemy! At the same time, I will send a messenger to notify the two defending brigades of the Fourth Legion to meet up with you!¡±

    Although the six infantry brigades plus the two cavalry legions reached close to ten thousand, which surpassed the iing enemy in terms of number, Tolmides didn''t rejoice and instead expressed his opposition due to his concern, ¡°Your Majesty, it''s too dangerous only having two brigades of the Second and Fifth Legions protecting your side! Moreover, two thousand soldiers aren''t enough to defend such arge camp-¡±

    ¡°You don''t need to worry about my and the camp''s safety since the more soldiers you bring, the faster you can end the battle, return faster, and reduce the pressure on the entire battlefield!¡± Davos said confidently. He then smiled and said, ¡°Or are you worried that you couldn''t control so many soldiers, so you are looking for a reason for me to reduce your troops?¡±

    Tolmides knew Davos was just provoking, but he also understood that this meant Davos wouldn''t change his mind. So he finally stopped persuading him and gave a military salute, ¡°Understood, Your Majesty! Please take care of your safety!¡±

    Davos nodded.

    Tolmides was about to leave when Crotokatax said loudly, ¡°Father¡­Your Majesty, I request to participate in this battle!¡±

    Silence suddenly shrouded themand tent as all eyes focused on the young prince. Even Davos was surprised, but before he could speak, Tolmides objected immediately, ¡°This isn''t possible! Your Highness, it''s too dangerous! The Roman army must be desperate, seeing how much they are hurrying to rescue Rome! Although our troops seem to outnumber the other side, we remain at a disadvantage because half of them are cavalry! Your Highness, please stay here and assist His Majesty inmanding the battle and ultimately bing the victor by capturing the city of Rome!¡±

    ¡°If it''s dangerous for me, it¡¯s also dangerous for the other soldiers!¡± Crotokatax''s face flushed red with agitation, and he eximed, ¡°I am a citizen of Theonia! And a soldier of this great army! I must contribute my own strength to the entire battle instead of sitting here and watching the others fight, bleed, and even sacrifice themselves!¡±

    Crotokatax said those from the bottom of his heart. At this moment, he thought of his elder brother Adoris and hisrades, who used to train in Thurii and are now fighting in the frontline or about to join the battle, so he could not allow himself to stay as an audience like a coward. In fact, he was already thinking of this ever since he set foot on thisnd.

    Davos looked at his son and saw the stubbornness in his eyes. After hesitating for a moment, Davos simply said, ¡°Go.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty-¡± Tolmides wanted to keep persuading, but Davos just waved his hand and said, ¡°Croto is right. Although he is my son, he is also a citizen of Theonia. If the other children are fighting on the battlefield, he should also!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Father!¡± Crotokatax became thrilled. Then afraid that Tolmides would continue to persuade him, he shouted. ¡°Commander, if we don''t go now, the enemy''s reinforcements will reach the city soon!¡±

    After seeing Davos'' serious expression and having no intention of changing his mind, Tolmides could only salute again and said, ¡°Your Majesty, please rest assured!¡±

    Davos naturally understood what Tolmides meant. At the same time, Crotokatax also saluted to him quickly and hurriedly followed Tolmides.

 Chapter 788: The Siege of Rome (VI)

    With worries in his eyes, Davos watched his son''s back as he walked out of the tent. After standing for a moment, he turned around and saw some young officers showing envious expressions, making him smile and say, ¡°Who else wants to participate in the battle?¡±

    ¡°Me!¡±

    ¡°Me!¡±

    ¡°And me!¡±

    Several young officers hurriedly said.

    Davos waved his hand and said, ¡°Then hurry up and fight to your content!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty!¡± These young officers of the army staff enthusiastically rushed out of the tent.

    Davos smiled and said encouragingly to those that remained, ¡°Those brats are too young to understand that themand tent is the brain of the entire army, and our work determines the sess or failure of the entire campaign! Sods, let''s continue with our job to win this battle!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡± Davos managed to soothe the restlessness in the officers'' hearts temporarily.

    ¡°You are Kleonikis, an Amedran and serve the First Legion, right?¡± Davos pointed to one of the young men and asked.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡± The young man was pleasantly surprised.

    ¡°You will be in charge of receiving the battle reports and enemy information. Then report it to me promptly and urately!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    ¡°You are Eleutherios from Roscianum and serve the Second Legion, right?¡±

    ¡°Y-yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    ¡°You will be the one marking the map.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°You are Asinaros, a Crotonian from the Fourth Legion?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    ¡°You are responsible for recording and conveying mymands.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°And you¡­you¡­you¡­¡± Davos urately called out the names of the other staff officers. Seeing their ttered expression, Davos smiled and said, ¡°All of you would be responsible for recording and analysing the war situation. If you notice any anomalies or have any suggestions, feel free to bring them to my attention!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    The officers who stopped their work due to the uproar caused by Tolmides and Crotokatax''s departure started the intense and meticulous military work again, even working harder than before.

    Davos'' mood fluctuated as he watched them busy at work.

    Suddenly, Henipolis, who had gone unnoticed, walked into the tent again and whispered to Davos, ¡°Martius sent thirty pce guards to protect Croto''s safety.¡±

    Davos nced at him while feeling at ease. He lightly tapped on the map and then eximed, ¡°Asinaros, immediately send a herald to notify the engineering brigade, logistics camp¡­and all other supporting personnel in the camp to immediately go to the rear of the Second Legion and standby!¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Asinaros quickly left.

    Although Davos had daringly taken out four brigades staying at the camp and sent them into battle, it was still risky since only two brigades remained there. And even though the two brigades were powerful, they couldn''t fully defend such arge camp. Therefore, Davos issued this transfer order for safety reasons, especially for the engineers and skilled craftsmen he treasured.

    Then Davos ordered again, ¡°Eleutherios, check thetest information of Epiphanes, confirm his position again, and then calcte his current approximate position based on his speed.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Tolmides felt a massive headache after leaving themand tent, which naturally wasn''t because he was about tomand a force of nearly ten thousand soldiers. After all, even though he had nevermanded a force of more than a thousand men in battle, he still had decades of abundant experience serving in the military. He had even worked hard to improve himself ever since he had joined Theonia and entered the Army Staff of the Ministry of Military by gaining a deeper understanding through Theonia''s past battles, thoroughly familiarising himself with Theonia''s military systems and tactics, and further efforts to envision military reform and development¡­ Tolmides admitted that he wasn''t as talented in military matters as Phrynthor, but he believed he was also worthy of his position in the army staff.

    Instead, he was worried about Crotokatax, who was beside him. Even though Davos didn''t say anything about taking care of his son, Tolmides knew that once the prince, who Davos recognised as his sessor to the throne, was exposed to danger, injured, or¡­, he would no longer have a future in Theonia.

    When the thirty pce guards arrived at Crotokatax''s side, Tolmides immediately thought of something. Then with a serious expression, he said, ¡°Your Highness, our mission to intercept the enemy is crucial to the sess or failure of our entire campaign and the life and death of the entire army! Since you are not a member of other brigades, haven''t trained with them and have no experience in battle, I will ce you in the rear and not at the forefront of the military formation! But once the front cannot resist the enemy''s attack or the enemy surround us from the nk, I will ask you to lead the pce guard to block their attacks and win time for our other troops!¡±

    Although Crotokatax was quite young, he wasn''t arrogant as he had long received Davos'' teachings. Since he also knows that his sudden participation had caused worries to Tolmides, and what Tolmides said is also reasonable, he immediately nods and responds, ¡°Yes, Commander!¡±

    In the past, Tolmides had little contact with Crotokatax, so he didn''t know much about him. Now that he saw how reasonable the young man was, he felt relieved and, at the same time, became much more fond of the prince.

    The group moved straight out of the northwest gate of the camp and soon could hear the rumbling hooves of the horse behind them¡­ The two Cavalry Legions quickly arrived as soon as they received their orders.

    ¡°Tol¡­Commander, the First(Second) Cavalry Legion hade after receiving the order!¡±

    Tolmides looked at Ledes, who he usually joked around with, and swept a nce at Kurcius beside him. But at this moment, he had no desire to joke around. Instead, he said with a grave expression, ¡°Two legates, a Roman reinforcement of about eight thousand soldiers, are heading towards us from the west. So His Majesty has asked us to intercept them so the enemy won''t disrupt our siege! You should reorganise your troops first while we wait for the arrival of the other troops and then set off together.¡±

    The two legates responded simultaneously. Although they both saw Crotokatax beside Tolmides and felt surprised, they didn''t bother to enquire about him. Instead, they turned around to order the officers to gather and assemble the cavalry.

    After a while, four heavy infantry brigades arrived one after another.

    Crotokatax immediately became thrilled once he saw that among the senior centurion who came to report was the officer in charge of Adoris. Although he often heard his father say the phrase about brothers fighting together on the battlefield, he didn''t expect to be able to fight together with his elder brother this time.

    But on this asion, Crotokatax naturally couldn''t go and find Adoris again.

    After gathering the troops, Tolmides immediately departed with the army. Not long after, they reached the southwest corner of Rome¡¯s western wall and the two brigades of the Fourth Legion, which got informed by the heralds, also arrived shortly afterwards. There were now six infantry brigades in the army Tolmides'' led, four of which were heavy infantry, and the other two were light-armoured brigades. Since the light-armoured soldiers had weaker defences and had a disadvantage in a frontal sh, several legates had left the light-armoured brigades in the camp.

    Tolmides finally managed to breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing from the scout that the enemy was still half a kilometre away. Fortunately, Theonia''s main camp upied arge area, forcing the Romans to detour around while he led his troops straight to the inner passage, so even though they set outter, they still managed to catch up to the enemy.

    Tolmides began setting up the formation: First, he ced one heavy infantry brigade from the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Legions in the left, middle and right of the formation, another brigade from the Fourth and Sixth Legions just behind them, the Second Legion in the rear behind the middle phnx, and the First and Second Cavalry Legions in both nks while the whole length of the centre phnx would lengthen or shorten ording to the enemy''s formation.

    He decided to arrange such a simple formation because such a hastily assembled ten thousand soldiers, the simpler the formation, the more advantageous it was for them to fight.

    While the infantry and cavalry quickly began forming under themand of the officers, Crotokatax and the pce guards were positioned in the second legion''sst row. So in the process of forming up, Crotokatax saw Adoris, who was also surprised to see his brother here, but the brothers only met eyes for a moment and quickly followed the instructions given to them and went to the ce where they should stand.

    As soon as the Theonian armypleted their formation, they saw the Roman army finally appearing in the distance. And without waiting for the Roman army toe, Tolmides directly ordered the entire army to advance.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Yesterday, Paulus and Maegius led the army towards the east while passing through Satricum and Velitrae. Once they finally reached Lake Alba at dusk, they stopped their advance and began setting up the ce while sending scouts to check the situation of Theonia. At the same time, Maegius led his men to visit all viges and towns in the area overnight, hoping that their Latinpatriots could support them in resisting the invaders and rescuing Rome.

    The next day, many Latin warriors came to Alba one after another, and from Paulus and his men counting, there were a total of three thousand men. After all, this ce was the first Latin area conquered by Rome and had the closest rtionship with them, but this was already the best the Latins in Alba could do.

    But the increase in their number to over eight thousand had led to a disagreement between the two generals.

    ording to many sources, the Theonians had already started their siege, and Rome was in danger, so Paulus thought to take advantage of the fact that the Theonians had sent most of their soldiers into battle but hadn''t yet breached the city tounch an attack on the Theonians from behind!

 Chapter 789: The Siege of Rome (VII)

    Maegius, on the other hand, was cautious, reminding Paulus that it was their disastrous defeat against the Theonians due to their sudden attack that had led to Rome''s crisis today. Thus he suggested that although the army they led was the best hope to rescue the city of Rome, eight thousand soldiers were still not enough. Therefore, they should gather more soldiers to defeat the Theonians in one fell swoop, which would not only save Rome but might also drive the Theonians from theirnds. So they should continue marching east to merge with the reinforcements from the city-states of Praeneste, Gabii and Be.

    Despite having different opinions, the two are reluctant to split the army in two, as that would only weaken them and lead to their respective n failing. Thinking they shouldn''t waste precious time, they left it to the soldiers to make their choice.

    The nearly three thousand Latin reinforcements were indifferent. However, even after being relocated to the three cities west of Latium, the five thousand Roman soldiers still had rtives and friends in Rome that they cared about. Knowing there weren''t many soldiers in Rome and the consequence of dying and allowing the city of Rome to fall meant they would eventually lose thend they had just acquired, so there were more soldiers who became anxious to stop the Theonian''s attack and decided to support Paulus'' opinion.

    Although Maegius felt regretful, he still sincerely wished Paulus victory while he led one centuria of guards to the east.

    Paulus quickly assembled the army. Despite feeling anxious, he remained clear-headed and knew that although the Theonian camp was simple, they would need to pay a considerable price to break through it. But since time and soldiers were the most precious, he decided to bypass the camp and go straight to the city.

    While the army advanced, the mounted scouts, who had ventured past enemy cavalries and returned wounded, brought back terrible news: Five to six thousand Theonian infantry were in front, along with many cavalries.

    Paulus found himself taken aback, as he had not expected the Theonians to reserve such a significant number of soldiers for defence while besieging the city.

    But he immediately calmed down since the situation had already developed to this point, and they had no possibility of retreating. For the city of Rome to have hope, he could only lead his troops and attack without hesitation, repelling the enemy in their way!

    He then ordered the army to stop advancing and immediately go into formation.

    Paulus considered that the enemy had a good number of cavalry. Since their previous defeat was due to Theonia''s powerful cavalry attacking their nks, Paulus cautiously decided to shorten the length of the formation, increase its thickness and ce the thousand or so light infantry of the Latin reinforcements in the centre of the army formation, which was protected by the heavy infantry¡­so by the time theypleted their adjustment, the whole formation resembled an oval.

    Once the Roman soldiers caught sight of the Theonian army, the sound of salpinx came from the opposite side.

    The Theonians had unexpectedlyunched an attack on the Roman army first.

    At the forefront, where the cavalry legions on both nks: The ten thousand horses galloped while stirring up dirt and dust into the sky, instantly covering a distance of several hundred metres.

    As they watched the colossal beast charging towards them with immense momentum, fear began to engulf the hearts of the Roman soldiers on both nks.

    But this was just an illusion since the Theonian cavalry did not have the capability to attack a formationposed of heavy infantry forcefully. Instead, the Theonian cavalries threw their short javelins while passing by the nks of the Roman formation.

    Since these Roman soldiers had already fought against the Theonian cavalry, they quickly raised their shields to defend themselves at the reminder of the centurions.

    At the same time, the light infantry in the formation also shot their arrows at the galloping Theonian cavalry.

    asionally, Roman soldiers would copse to the ground after being struck by javelins, while Theonian cavalrymen would fall from their horses by arrows.

    Just as the Theonian cavalry brushed past the nk of the Roman army and charged towards the rear, Theonia''s infantry formation soon approached, prompting the Roman centurions to shout, ¡°Watch out for the javelins; raise your shield to defend!¡±

    Crotokatax threw his javelin while following hisrades, then threw the second javelin almost without time to gasp for breath.

    At this moment, hearing the screamsing from the other side for his battle gave him a thrill, but he had no time to savour this so-called sense of achievement before the soldiers in front of him began to charge at the enemy while he followed suit with the pce guards.

    Even though the rain of javelins caused some confusion in the Roman army, they still managed to raise their shields and spears and marched forward with great strides when the Theonian soldiers began to charge.

    One side fought with the conviction to defend their homnd and expel the invaders. In contrast, the other side was responsible for the safety of the entire army and must fight to stop the iing enemy. Soon, the two armies collided fiercely, each thrusting their spears towards the enemy.

    Meanwhile, the Theonian cavalry, who had just turned around, rushed towards the rear of the Roman army.

    ¡°Turn around! Turn around!¡± At themand of the Roman centurions, the heavy infantry centuriae at the rear of the Roman formation turned around and raised their long shields to face the iing cavalry. At the same time, the Roman light infantry in the centre also turned and aimed their arrows, resulting in javelins and arrows intersecting again in the air¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the Roman soldiers bathed in blood at the top of the city wall to resist the enemy, the people inside the city didn''t remain idle. At the arrangement of the senators, they continuously transported various consumable items for defences to various sections of the city wall while constantly carrying wounded soldiers into the city.

    Seeing their loved ones getting injured and dying, the Romans, although grieving inwardly, had no time to cry as they had to seize every moment and do their best to assist the army in defending their homes. But their situation became somewhat grave less than an hour after the enemy began their attack.

    ¡°General Magnus reported that the enemy attacked fiercely. He hoped to receive reinforcements after the soldiers paid considerable casualties to prevent the enemy from reaching the top of the city wall!¡±

    ¡°General Sevius reported his army is doing its best to defend the city against the enemy''s attack but cannot stop the enemy from continuously destroying the walls with their siege equipment. So he requested more soldiers to form a defensive formation behind the city wall to stop the enemy''s attack after the wall copsed!¡±

    ¡°General Pulius reported that the enemy used warships to build numerous pontoon bridges on the Tiber, giving them more ess to cross the river. The soldiers are now defending the entire embankment with all their might, but the enemy attack so fiercely that the soldiers cannotst long if the battle continues, and so he hopes to receive more support!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Roman Senate had initially left the defence of the entire city to the older Scipio, but he found it difficult to control the city''s defence once the siege had begun. After all, the city of Rome was too big, the walls were too long, and the winding and uneven roads made it time-consuming to convey orders and send reinforcements. Thus he decisively handed overmand to the Senate while concentrating on the Theonians attacking from the south.

    The Senate quicklypleted the transfer ofmand, and they even decided to go to the Roman Forum to do their work to facilitate the coordination better and organise the city''s defence. They also entrusted the militarymand to several senators, such as Potitus, Maluginensis and others who had served as consuls multiple times. It wasn''t only because of their seniority but also because they had often led troops into battle when they served as consuls and therefore had more battle experience.

    But even Potitus, who had served as consul five times and had given a field promotion to Camillus, had never experienced and seen such siege warfare: Countless powerful ballistae, massive siege towers, hollow wagons that could hide soldiers while filling trenches in a strange way, frightening gastraphete, using warship to create pontoon bridges¡­what was even more terrifying was that the Theonian soldiers attacking the city were not only well-trained but also brave and strong.

    Based on their past siege experience, Potitus and the others thought capturing arge city such as Rome with tens of thousands of defenders would only be possible with a hundred thousand soldiers and sieging the city for three months to half a year.

    But less than two hours after the start of the siege, the defending army seems to no longer be able to hold on.

    The senators also began panicking, and at this moment, they could no longer care about their household''s rights and personal interests. So they began organising the ves in their respective families and notified their family members to act. As a result, they managed to gather all the men and ves who could wield a shield and spear into the Roman Forum, about ten thousand men. After having them form up and giving them weapons, they sent them wave after wave to the battlefield that urgently needed reinforcements¡­

    Currently, the usually spacious old Roman Forum is crowded and noisy: On one side are the senators urgently training the newly formed army, and on the other are the people treating the wounded lying on the ground.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Not long ago, nearly ten thousand soldiers were densely packed in the Roman Forum, but soon only over a thousand were left. And those ve soldiers still weren''t used to wearing helmets as they shook their heads from to time and held their weapons with daze expressions¡­ When looking at the situation, a sudden unpleasant feeling welled inside Potitus as he grabbed his chair''s armrest and strained to say, ¡°Send thisst thousand or so men to the older Scipio. Although he hasn''t asked for help, the other battlefield is already experiencing difficulties defending, so the South shouldn''t be different. I understand the older Scipio well, and I know he is definitely doing his best to try and avoid making things difficult for us¡­¡±

    ¡°s, Rome hasn''t experienced enemy sieging the city in decades, so the poptioncks experience defending a city! Not to mention that our enemy is Theonia!¡­¡± Ambustus sighed with remorse, ¡°It''s our fault that we''ve been so preupied with expansion all these years that we haven''t properly nned and repaired the city defences!¡±

    These sentences echoed in the hearts of the senators: If they had only demolished the crooked city wall and reconstructed it into a straight and firm wall: If only they had put the bricks, tiles and stones of the city wall more tightly and filled them with mortar; If only they had built a wall on the embankment north of the city of Rome; If only they had ced abatis and stockade on both sides of the trenches; If only they had nned the streets in the city early enough to ease passage¡­then they wouldn''t have a difficult time defending the city like today!

 Chapter 790: The Siege of Rome (VIII)

    ¡°If only our tens of thousands of young and middle-aged citizens hadn''t left, the Theonians wouldn¡¯t be able to attack the city. Instead, we would have fought them in the open field-¡± Apuleius just said that when Maluginensis interrupted him, ¡°What''s done is done; There''s no need to mention it again as we need to focus all our energy on how to defend the city of Rome!¡±

    Potitus nodded at him approvingly. Although they usually argued and disagreed with each other over power and interests, the interests of the major ns would align when Rome faced danger.

    ¡°So much time has passed; I wonder if our reinforcements have already arrived?¡± After Maluginensis'' criticism, Apuleius embarrassedly changed the subject.

    ¡°Paulus, Maegius and Pantheus wouldn¡¯t sit idly by and watch Rome fall into danger, and the same goes for Veii. Perhaps they might have already engaged the Theonians into battle, but we just have no way of knowing.¡± Ambustus spoke loudly with confidence, which reassured many senators. After all, everyone understood that, given the current offensive of the Theonians, the reinforcements were their only hope of defending the city of Rome!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the senators on the Roman Forum were worried about the safety of the city of Rome, the Roman popce was busy treating the wounded soldiers, with the blood of the wounded trickling into a small stream and into the gutter and then converging into the wide sewer¡­

    If the officials in charge of the sewers had lifted the bs and entered, walking along the narrow pathways on either side, following the sewage flow, they would be surprised to find crouching figures filling the sewers beneath the residential houses behind the embankment to the north of Rome.

    Two hundred soldiers from the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade worked hard all night to finally enter the Cloaca Maxima.

    After battling the waters of the Tiber and manoeuvring through the sewage, even the most skilled and rigorously trained scouts were left exhausted. Some of the first to arrive had sat in the dark and damp sewers amidst the debris, falling asleep while awaiting theirpanions, enduring the unpleasant stench.

    But Izam, the leader of this covert operation, could not allow them to rest right now. So he immediately had them woken up, ordered them to take off their soaked linen, wring it out and then wipe their bodies to avoid catching a cold.

    And for those members who got wounded on the way in, he and thest few soldiers who came in had carried a parcel wrapped in severalyers of fur, containing clean linen and some herbs prepared to wipe and dress the wounds to prevent infection.

    At the same time, he had also sent someone to cover the sawn railings to prevent the Roman soldiers from identally noticing it the next day.

    In addition, he also arranged for his men to take turns on duty. Their main task was not to detect the enemies but to chase off mice and possibly even snakes in the sewers, to stop them from biting their sleepingrades. At the same time, they would immediately wake up some of theirrades who had fallen asleep and began snoring loudly. After all, the sewers, although covered with stone bs, are not sealed tightly, and there are still several gaps,rge and small. So it is necessary to be always cautious to prevent the enemy from detecting them.

    Under the tremendous pressure of bearing the weight of two hundred lives on his shoulders and a daunting mission ahead of him, Izam found it difficult to sleep. Throughout the night, his mind raced with various thoughts, unable to rest until exhaustion finally overcame him, and he sumbed to sleep at dawn.

    Izam didn''t know how long he slept until he was pushed awake. After opening his eyes in a daze, he was immediately dazzled by a beam of sunlight that shone on his face through the cracks in the bs. He then ced his hand over his head, turned his head to look around and saw pairs of worried eyes focusing on him: They were all the soldiers he had personally trained! He then felt a slight warmth rising in his heart.

    ¡®I am getting older, and my health is no longer as good as before!¡¯ He inwardly sighed while struggling to sit up. Then he had his men do a roll call in low voices one by one, with the sound of countinging from one side of the sewer and back from the other, and the number was no more, no less than two hundred.

    ¡°Has anyone begun to feel unwell?¡± Izam asked worriedly in a low voice.

    Everyone then expressed they were all well.

    Izam naturally knew some had lied, but it at least meant that his men didn''t suffer from significant wounds.

    Finally, a smile appeared on his face as he continued to ask, ¡°What''s the situation outside?¡±

    The one to answer him was Kadouleos, a squad leader from Campania who knew Latin. After struggling to squeeze over to Izam, he pointed his finger up and whispered, ¡°Leader, the Third Legion has begun attacking. First, they used the ballistae to bombard the enemy above us, resulting in the Romans retreating. After listening to their panicking chatters, we learned that our fleet had built a pontoon bridge with the corvus warship on the Tiber. Then the soldiers of the Third Legionunched an attack on the embankment, prompting the Roman soldiers to hastily rushed to defend the ce. And by now, approximately¡­¡±

    Kadouleos'' eyes wandered around with uncertainty, then some of hisrades wrote a number in the air, and some wrote another.

    ¡°¡­approximately an hour or so had passed,¡± he eventually concluded.

    Izam didn''t expect the siege to start while he was sleeping, frightening him when he thought about it. Fortunately, it still wasn''t the best time for them to act.

    Just as Izam was about to say something, they suddenly could hear disordered footsteps and the voices of the Romans on top of them. The sewers had amplified and echoed their voices, making them tense. So while the dust and dirt continued to fall from the ceiling, the crew immediately stopped making any noises and acted as if they were wooden statues and just stared at each other.

    After a while, the sound above thempletely disappeared, and the sewers became quiet again. As a result, they finally took a deep breath, even though the foul smell was much more terrible than the excruciating sound.

    ¡°What did they say?¡± Izam immediately asked Kadouleos.

    Although dirt and dust covered his face, Kadouleosughed silently, which lookedical, as he said in a low voice, ¡°Leader, I heard the Roman say that he had grown up with his master, taking care of him and serving as his scribe¡­and he had never even killed a sheep nor even a chicken, and now they told him to kill the enemy.

    While another person mocked him and said, ¡®Continue crying, kid, but don''t piss yourself in fearter when you face the enemy.¡¯

    Afterwards, another one, probably their officer, scolded them to stop talking, urging them to go to Pons Aemilius. Else they would be like livestock that would be killed at will if they let the Theonians break through the blockade in the embankment¡­¡±

    The people around him understood what he meant, causing excitement to appear in each of their eyes, ¡°Leader, it seems the Third Legion attack was so fierce that the enemy could no longer persist. So shouldn''t we act as well?!¡±

    Before Izam could speak, someone at the front eximed, ¡°Look at the sewage!¡±

    Through the rays of sunlight passing through the cracks of the stone b, they managed to see that the dirty water, which was initially coloured ck and yellow, with various kinds of filth, had gradually been dyed red¡­

    ¡°Has our army already breached the city from other ces?!¡± eximed an officer.

    ¡°Silence!¡± Izam made a hush gesture. Then facing the eager gaze of his men, he finally had to make a decision.

    He looked at the red blood in the sewers and listened to the sound of the streets above him. After thinking for a moment, he finally said in a low voice, ¡°Whatever the situation in the other ces, the task His Majesty has given us is to assist the Third Legion and the Third Fleet to breach through the defences of the embankment and storm the city of Rome. Now that the enemy reinforcements have just passed and the street above is still quiet, it is clear that the Third Legion is still fighting them fiercely, so we need to wait a little longer!¡±

    Seeing they were reluctant to speak, Izam immediately continued, ¡°However, since the Romans had even sent out ves who couldn''t fight, it shows that they no longer have reserve troops. Thus we only had to wait a little longer until these Roman reinforcements were all gone into battle and could no longer stop us that we would go out and attack their rear! But now, we need first to find a way out!¡±

    ¡°Leader, we already found our way out in the early morning.¡± Terentus raised his sheathed short sword and pointed at the tip, ¡°As long as we use our short sword to remove the mortar between the stone bs, we can forcefully push them apart and climb out.¡±

    ¡°Excellent!¡± Izam trusted his men''s judgment and said in a low voice, ¡°We need to fill our stomachs first, then start moving when I give the order!¡± With that, he opened the pouch at his waist and took out a strip of dried beef.

    Then his men also began taking out their dried rations. Although the beef jerky had a strange taste from getting soaked in river water, everyone still chewed it hard and ate it.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the middle section of the southern wall, not far from the old Roman Forum, the sound of battle was still deafening as the soldiers from both sides were engaged in a fierce battle.

    A defender at the top of the city wall pushed down adder, causing the Theonian soldiers climbing thedder to fall to the base of the wall. But not long after, another soldier from afar had carried a newdder, crossed the trench, rushed to the bottom of the city wall, and ced it on the vacant section.

    And from time to time, the Romans set the arrow-blocking cart in front of the trenches on fire using their ming arrows. However, that didn''t stop the Theonian light infantry from hiding behind the burning carts and continue shooting their arrows at the top of the city wall. Furthermore, their urate shooting posed a greater threat to the defenders at the top that the defenders would have been powerless to stop the Theonian soldiers from climbing the top of the city wall if it weren''t because most of those fighting in the battlement were heavy infantry. After all, if the light infantry couldn''t hit unprotected areas, their arrows wouldn''t even cause significant damage. Otherwise, the defenders couldn''t stop the Theonian soldiers from reaching the top.

 Chapter 791: The Siege of Rome (IX)

    Especially since the siege tower threatened the defenders at the top of the city wall more than Theonia''s light infantry.

    Furthermore, the Theonians'' use of the gastraphete was devastating; each shot resulted in a fatality, causing defenders facing the siege tower to retreat in fear and thus leave several open spaces in the Roman defensive line.

    However, as the siege tower advanced, the angle between the gastraphete and the top of the city wall increased. Unfortunately, they could not adjust the angle, preventing them from urately targeting the top of the city and thus significantly reducing the gastraphete¡¯s threat. However, the units of peltasts on top of the tower had started to disy their strength by throwing heavy darts at the enemy while protected by a stockade. This kind of weapon is no worse than the enemy, as it could wound the Roman heavy infantry when they get hit, forcing them to raise their shields and be careful. On the other hand, the Roman archers also fired back at the enemy at the top of the siege towers, attacking the unarmoured Theonian peltasts.

    The siege tower''s suppression of the defenders on this section of the city wall had weakened their attacks on the Theonian soldiers climbing the siegedders like ants. Now that the enemy began to reach the top of the wall, the Roman soldiers had to pay two to three times the casualties every time they killed or pushed the enemy out of the wall.

    With the siege tower slowly approaching the walls, the greatest danger for the Romans hade. Even though the Roman defenders kept throwing jars of tars at it and lighting the siege tower on fire, which even turned its path into a sea of fire, the nearly a hundred men of Theonia''s logistics camp were at the rear of the siege tower and using the scaffoldings sticking out of it as covers to push the siege towers with all their might while covering the burning tar on the ground with dirt, without even wavering on their determination.

    Ultimately, the colossal structure eventually reached the city wall.

    ¡°Quickly retreat! Get back!¡± Due to the critical situation, the older Scipio had toe forward andmand when he saw the soldiers still crowding the battlements, making him shout anxiously.

    Just as the Roman soldiers began to retreat, the iron-coated wooden drawbridge attached to the top of the siege tower came crashing down onto the battlements, knocking the Roman soldiers on their way to the ground.

    The older Scipio didn''t even have the time to feel sad at the soldiers crushed under the drawbridge as he kept shouting, ¡°Oil! Throw the oil!!¡­¡±

    Since the Romans didn''t anticipate getting attacked by a massive army, the city of Rome didn''t prepare much oil on reserve. And in the past two days, even the oil they used to light their homes had been used up in the battle, and the Romans even had to urgently transport the olive oil for cooking.

    ¡°Crack! Crack!¡­¡± The Romans threw dozens of jars onto the siege tower.

    But at the same time, the prepared soldiers of the Second Legion waiting in the tower had shouted the name of Hades and quickly rushed to the drawbridge from the siege tower. And as they ran forward, they shot down all the thrown jars with their long shields.

    Naturally, some soldiers got sttered with olive oil and then, unfortunately, got hit by thrown torches and instantly turned into human torches, screaming miserably. Unfortunately, theirrades didn''t stop to save him. Instead, they transformed their raging fury into their strength as they braved the spears on their way by cing their long shields in front of their chest and leapt off the bridge towards the ranks of Roman soldiers ignoring the spear wounded their received and wielding their short swords, they sh at the enemy around them as fast as lightning.

    Although the temporarily recruited Roman soldiers had begun to adapt to the battlefield and were encouraged by the belief of defending their homnd and the fear of death they felt had diluted, they were still too young,ckingbat experience, or too old andcking physical strength. While the enemy they faced were the soldiers of Theonia''s Second Legion, and they were all elite, each like a fierce tiger as they stirred up the Roman defenders¡¯ rank, with most of the screamsing from the defenders.

    Fortunately, the older Scipio had already anticipated this and had ced most of the three thousand elite Roman soldiers, who were left to defend the city, to the southern wall while leaving a thousand of them as a reserve to deal with unexpected situations. And now, he summoned four hundred of them to form a dense spear phnx at both ends of the walkway, pushing the recruit Roman soldiers away as they advanced to wipe out the Theonians who had breached the city in one fell swoop.

    Unexpectedly, the Theonian soldiers had disregarded their casualties and, relying on their richbat experience, continued to expand their space at the top of the city wall, allowing the seeding Theonian soldiers to continue rushing up to the top of the wall while braving the gradually intensifying mes¡­while rushing, they also quickly formed a formation.

    While the old and weak Roman soldiers began getting wounded, dying and retreating, the elite Roman soldiers faced the enemy directly. However, the sixty Theonian soldiers that had managed to climb the city wall and formed a shield formation to defend against attack from the front and back are rooted like a rock stuck at the top of the city wall.

    The older Scipio was anxious about the situation but knew he couldn''t resolve the battle quickly. The only fortunate thing for the Romans was that the siege tower was already on fire, which even forced the peltasts, who had been such a threat to the defenders, to withdraw. Now that the enemy couldn''t use the siege tower to rush to the top again, the pressure he felt was reduced.

    But soon, his excitement fell to the bottom again, ¡°General Scipio! Over there¡­the siege tower over there is about to approach the city wall!¡±

    As a result, the older Scipio led another four hundred elite soldiers to rush over.

    He had already learned his lesson this time, so he just let these soldiers stay near the section where the siege tower was heading to stop the rushing enemies and never give them a chance to gain a foothold. But after going back and forth to fill in the gaps, he found that he had already stretched the defenders hemanded.

    Suddenly, a messenger arrived and finally brought him a piece of good news: The Senate sent over a thousand four hundred reinforcements.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Matonis sighed as he watched the battle situation from a distance, especially seeing the burning siege tower. But soon became excited when he saw another siege tower approaching the wall.

    ¡°Quickly send another centuria up! We must charge up the city wall, break through the enemy''s interception, and clear the obstacles to allow the other soldiers to climb to the top!¡±

    ¡°Legatus, we¡­don''t have any centuria to send,¡± The adjutant reminded, feeling embarrassed.

    ¡°What?! Didn''t you just-¡± Matonis turned around in astonishment.

    Although many men were not far behind him, more than half were engineers and craftsmen still working intensely to make siege equipment. The others were men from the logistics camp who would push the finished siege equipment while also carrying back some wounded soldiers on their way back. There were also physicians and nurses from the medical camp who were treating the wounded soldiers that were carried back that needed intensive medical treatment¡­

    Matonis once again looked at the fierce battles taking ce.

    Many of the dozens of arrow-blocking carts in front of the trench were burnt, with the rising smoke blocking most of his sight. Still, he could see the light infantry shooting at the enemy at the top of the city much slower than before, which showed they were fatigued.

    At the base of the city wall, the heavy infantry of the Second Legion squatted on the ground, covering their bodies under the long shield. At a nce, it seems as if thend beneath the wall had turned ck, with only onedder erected and ced against the wall like arge tree. While the Theonian soldiers climbing thedder were like a stain in the grey wall, with soldiers falling from above and the soldiers below recing them. Now and then, a me would rise beneath the city and mix with mournful screams, making Matonis tense.

    Currently, the Romans managed to burn three of the five massive siege towers, with one of the siege towers unable to advance and only serving as a tform for the gastraphete and archers to attack because some sandbags were not tamped properly. As a result, the nks shattered as the siege tower passed through them, causing the axle to break¡­

    Under Matonis'' sharp eyes, he managed to see some wounded soldiers struggling under the shield formation on the base of the city wall and were too injured to move to the rear. Fortunately, the logistics camp personally manage to take them away sessfully.

    Matonis started feeling anxious at the dozens of surrounded soldiers at the top of the city wall. If they fail to capture the city today, the fate of those soldiers who cannot retreat smoothly will be tragic!

    With these worries, he put aside Davos¡¯ reminders before the battle about preserving strength and reducing casualties to prepare for sessive battles. And so, he loudly said, ¡°Tell the buglers to signal the attack and urge the men to step up the offensive! And¡­hurry back to the camp and tell His Majesty that I request another brigade of heavy infantry!¡±

    ¡°Legatus,¡± The adjutant could only remind, ¡°We were informed earlier that four brigades were sent from the base camp to intercept the Roman reinforcements, leaving only two brigades. So I am afraid-¡±

    ¡°Stop rambling and just go!¡± Matonis shouted irritably, with his eyes turning red.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile, within themand tent, Davos received a report from the mounted scouts reporting nearly two thousand enemy troops marching rapidly northward about five kilometres southeast of Rome.

    Davos immediately looked at the map. While Kleonikis, the officer responsible for analysing the enemy situation, quickly judged based on previous intelligence, ¡°Your Majesty, this should be the reinforcements from the Latin city-states such as Praeneste, Be and Gabii.¡±

    He then pointed to a red dot on the map and said, ¡°Their target is most likely the Sixth Legion!¡±

    ¡°Most of the soldiers of the Sixth Legions are currently besieging the city¡­¡± Davos ponded momentarily before decisively saying, ¡°Immediately send the heavy infantry brigade of the Fifth Legion who is staying at the camp to intercept the enemy!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Kleonikis reminded, ¡°If we send out this heavy infantry, we would only have the light-armoured brigade of the Second Legion left!¡±

 Chapter 792: The Siege of Rome (X)

    ¡°Don''t fret!¡± Davos smiled and said, ¡°The reinforcements of these Latin city-states in the south of the camp would either fight the army led by Tolmides or advance towards the Sixth Legion. It is unlikely for them to have more soldiers to attack our base camp, so the light-armoured brigade of the Second Legion is perfectly capable of defending the camp on their own.¡±

    Although Davos said that rxedly, the officers still felt uneasy. Just as one of them rushed out to pass on the order, the adjutant of the Second Legion arrived.

    ¡°Matonis is requesting more soldiers¡­¡± Davos became startled at hearing this. After asking the adjutant of the Second Legion for details on the battlefield, he sighed and said, ¡°This guy had also be anxious!¡±

    Davos had daringly led his army to attack the city of Rome because the intelligence he received mentioned how Rome sent all the young and middle-aged citizens to attack Hernici, leaving only three thousand soldiers. He believes that even if the Romans sent all the elderly and women to defend the city, it was impossible for them topete with the more than fifty-thousand strong and experienced soldiers of the Theonian legion who had advanced siege equipment. Unexpectedly, the battle hadsted so long, yet the various legions didn''t progress significantly.

    ¡®Are the Romans that tenacious?!¡¯ Davos covertly clenched his fists.

    ¡°Your Majesty¡­Your Majesty¡­¡± Henipolis saw that Davos was lost in his thoughts, so he quickly called out softly, which immediately made Davos regain hisposure. He told the adjutant, ¡°The heavy infantry is no longer avable in the camp. Instead, take the three hundred light-armoured soldiers for support.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± The adjutant saluted and left themand tent.

    Davos nced at the slightly worried staff officers and said with confidence, ¡°I still have over two hundred pce guards who are not inferior to the legion''s heavy infantry. And with the remaining light-armoured soldiers, we still have a thousand soldiers here, so there''s no need to worry about the camp''s safety.¡±

    After saying that, he pointed his finger towards Rome and said confidently, ¡°What''s more, it''s not a big deal even if the enemy destroys the camp since the ce where we''ll be staying tonight is the city of Rome!¡± In fact, there''s something else that he didn''t say: if they failed their siege today, he already nned to lead his army back to Ostia immediately, so this camp would naturally be of little use.

    ¡®My army can definitely capture Rome today!¡­¡¯ Davos inwardly encouraged himself.

    At this moment, another battle report came: About four thousand enemy troops were rapidly advancing towards the Third Legion''s camp, three kilometres north of Pons Aemilius.

    ¡°What?!¡± One of the staff officers eximed.

    Davos'' eyes suddenly contract, and his right hand abruptly grasped his chair''s armrest.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the bank of Pons Aemilius, the battle between Roman and Theonian soldiers resembled a brawl rather than a battle.

    The soldiers of the Theonian Legion held their long shields with both hands, covering their heads as they shed against their opponents'' shields and dodged the enemy''s spear. Then they would push forward with all their strength, gaining arger foothold for theirrades who were climbing after them. With a shout, their faces turned red, and their necks bulged, with all of them had such grim and painful expressions because they were exerting all their strength against Rome''s thick formation with their thin phnx, so one soldier would have to face five to six enemies. But the reason they could barely endure it is that therades behind them would squat down and constantly thrust their short swords between theirrades'' legs, trying to stab and sh the enemy''s legs and feet, weakening them and making them unable to push them into the river with all their strength due to their fear.

    Yet even after the Theonian soldiers fought so hard and inflicted much damage on the enemy, the ce where the two sides fought remained close to the embankment: The Roman soldiers rushing towards the shore would push the Theonian soldiers down the embankment, tumbling into the river. However, they also had to exert caution to prevent themselves from sharing the same fate. On the other hand, the Theonian soldiers lying on the warship''s drawbridge shielded their heads with their long shields as they skillfully targeted the enemy''s legs with their short swords, forcing the Romans to keep retreating onto the embankment.

    As a result, this t embankment was both an advantage and disadvantage for the soldiers on both sides, with the Theonian soldiers unable to take a firm foothold to fight a solid defensive line while the Roman soldiers were also unable to destroy the drawbridge to cut off the enemy''s route.

    Since the Roman defenders hadn''t anticipated the Theonians to use the warships to make pontoon bridges, they didn''t prepare any oil for it. But once the fierce battle on both sides started, they could no longer get the oil to pass through the thick formation to reach the embankment.

    Naturally, some Roman archers shot ming arrows into the river, but there were also Theonian sailors putting out these ming arrows in time.

    Furthermore, more sailors patrolling the deck would immediately jump into the river to rescue the soldiers who fell into the water. And even though the twenty pontoon bridges also serve as twenty life rafts, a dozen boats are still patrolling the river downstream of these pontoons that would rescue those unlucky enough to miss the twenty pontoons. As a result, even with many Theonian soldiers falling into the water, most were in good health and could return to battle after resting on the warship.

    On the other hand, even though the Roman soldiers seemed to have the advantage, the number of their soldiers that could still fight gradually decreased as they withdrew from the battle due to the wounds on their legs and feet.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile, the situation in Pons Aemilius waspletely different.

    At the start of the battle, the Roman soldiers managed to block the enemy at the bridge. Unfortunately, they couldn''t use theirrge number to push the enemy down the river like theirrades on the embankment.

    The entire Pons Aemilius was filled with the first brigade of Theonia''s Third Legion, with the soldiers at the forefront colliding with the enemy with their long shields and thrusting with their short swords, while those behind use their bodies to push the soldiers at the front while stabbing with their spears, and those further back would throw javelins while pushing forward with all their might¡­

    After half an hour, the Roman soldiers, mainly the old and weak and were only supported by their strong belief in defending their homnd, could no longer withstand the onught of the Theonian legionaries, who far surpassed them in strength, skill and morale. As a result, they began to retreat gradually, forcing the anxious Cassius toe tomand the battle himself, but he still couldn''t reverse the situation.

    As more and more Theonian soldiers rushed across the bridge, the first brigade expanded their offensive front, which increased the difficulty for the Roman soldiers'' defence. Luckily, the timely arrival of over three thousand reinforcements allowed the Roman soldiers defending the bridge to hold on.

    But despite receiving numerous reinforcements, Cassius continued to frown. He knew that while Roman citizens, both young and old, had received military training from an early age and could rely on their unity to counter the attacks of Theonian soldiers even though they were weak and inexperienced, the freemen and ves, though equipped with Roman armour, long shields, and spears, were utterly ignorant of Roman tactics. This was especially true for some ves who didn''t even know how to use a shield and spear.

    Because of that, the most arduous responsibility falls on the officers temporarily in charge ofmanding them as they had to keep on shouting to remind the new soldiers what to do on the battlefield where the sound of fighting was deafening. Yet even after everyone''s voices became hoarse, the formation of the new reinforcements still didn''t improve and was still loose and disordered.

    Cassius began to get worried and startedining, ¡®Why didn''t the Senate make the people build walls on this embankment when we rebuilt Rome?! If they had done that, these new soldiers could y a greater role under the protection of the city wall even if they are inexperienced.¡¯

    Suddenly, he could faintly hear the familiar sound of a horn from the other bank, lifting his morale, ¡®Have our reinforcementse?!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    A few minutes earlier, Litom, the legatus of the Third Legion standing on the other side of the bridge and closely monitoring the battle situation, had received the news of the arrival of Roman reinforcements.

    However, he remained calm as he had already prepared for that, as the previous reports from the mounted scouts had already informed him about the Roman reinforcements gathering north of their camp.

    ¡°There are only over four thousand enemies, so our troops stationed in the camp should be enough to repel them in the field!¡± Litom said confidently.

    But the navarch of the Third Fleet, Miltiades, still said with concern, ¡°If the soldiers stationed in the camp would all go to fight, then what would happen in case there are more enemies toe-¡±

    ¡°Miltiades, you must trust the skills of the Third Legion''s mounted scouts and mountain reconnaissance unit. Except for these approaching Roman reinforcements, they haven''t found any trace of other enemies within five kilometres, and our soldiers will have plenty of time to return to defend the camp after these Roman reinforcements!¡± Litom seriously exined to him to dispel his concerns, ¡°The reason I ask the troops left behind to take the initiative wasn''t that I like fighting but because the camp we built is toorge that the soldiers would be at a disadvantage if they were simply defending!¡±

    Miltiades understood his point. Yesterday, the camp the Third Legion and Third Fleet had built was equivalent to two camps on the northern bank of the Tiber: They had made it west near the bridge by the river, which was long and wide to amodate the forty or so huge triremes, while also leaving enough spacing between the warships, allowing them to drag the warship into the water and prevent fires. Thus the campsite by the river was long and wide, resulting in the area for the soldiers to defend increased. But the strength of the soldiers was slightly inadequate for them to protect the ce fully¡­

    But the thing worrying Miltiades was that: Although his soldiers could escape, regroup and fight again even if they were defeated, once the enemy was to rush into the camp by the riverside, they could easily burn his warships that were linked together, leading to the destruction of the Third Fleet.

    Still, he had fought on the battlefield for so long and knew he shouldn''t hesitate at this critical moment. Thus he decisively said, ¡°I agree with you, so I would temporarily transfer themand of the marines to you!¡±

 Chapter 793: The Siege of Rome (XI)

    ¡°Excellent!¡± Litom patted Miltiades on the chest and said sincerely, ¡°Thank you for trusting me, Miltiades!¡±

    ¡°This is all for Theonia!¡± Miltiades responded with seriousness.

    ¡°Rest assured that I won''t let your marine suffer losses!¡± Litom also gave his promise and then said to his adjutant, ¡°Immediately rush and call sa!¡±

    He would leave themand of the entire Third Legion''s offensive to sa, while he himself would lead two infantry brigades and two thousand marines of the Third Fleet stationed at the camp to meet the Roman reinforcements. After all, the Marines would have an easier time epting hismand as the legatus.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Veii is a city built by the Etruscan and was one of the twelve city-states allied with Etruria; located on the north bank of the middle reaches of the Tiber, just northeast of the city of Rome and was only about twenty kilometres apart. They have been a great enemy of the Romans since the founding of Rome, with both sides fighting multiple wars over the control of thend on both sides of the middle reaches of the Tiber for centuries.

    Initially, the Romans could only be beaten passively, but they began winning and finally gained the upper hand. After that, Camillus, after a decade-long siege, triumphantly led his army to conquer the city of Veii over twenty years ago. Motivated by abination of hatred and self-interest, the Romans mercilessly ughtered all resisting Veientes, enving women and children, and fully annexed thend of Veii, transforming it into a Roman colonial city-state.

    Shortly thereafter, the intense conflict between the nobles and plebeians forced most of the plebeians to leave the city in anger and settle in Veii. Following that, the Gaul invasion and their upation of Rome came. But after Camillus gathered the Romans and Latins to expel the Gaul, the Roman nobles and plebeians had once again bridged their contradiction and rebuilt the city of Rome, with many Roman plebeians that had settled in Veii also returning.

    Afterwards, the Senate passed aw that designated the fertilend near the Tiber in the south of Veii as the publd of Rome to prevent Veii from bing the ce of refuge for the Roman plebeians when the conflict between the nobles and plebeians erupted again, which would weaken the city of Rome. As a result, the great Etruscan city-state, with a poption simr to and even more prosperous than Rome, turned into a medium-sized colonial city-state of Rome.

    Since the residents in Veii were all Roman citizens, they were the first to respond to the call of Rome(it was to follow Camillus to attack Hernici). Then after hearing the city of Rome was getting besieged, they had once again squeezed out more than five hundred soldiers to rescue Rome.

    Apart from Veii, Caisra had also sent soldiers to rescue Rome, another allied city-state of Etruria, which was situated on a hill some eight kilometres from the sea and nearly thirty kilometres away from the northern shore of the Tiber estuary. Moreover, its iron ore and the production of high-quality y pots made it famous in north-central Italia, which made the city prosperous and wealthy.

    Caisra was a city-state adept at getting along with other forces, so while the rtionship between most Etruscan city-states and Rome was tense, Caisra maintained a good rtionship with Rome. Even during the Gaul''s invasion and the destruction of Rome, the Caisrians had also sheltered many Romans who fled due to Rome''s fall into various mountain viges. So when Rome recovered its strength, the Romans didn''t invade Caisra when they started attacking the Etruscan territories in the north. Instead, they had invited the Caisrians to join the Roman alliance.

    At the same time, the Caisrians maintained a good rtionship with the Greeks. But what is surprising the most is that they are one of the few non-Greek city-states that had erected their own treasury at Delphi, which usually wasn''t allowed to non-Greek city-states.

    This time, Caisra had also sent over five hundred soldiers to rescue the alliance leader, Rome.

    Besides them, there are other reinforcements from two city-states of the Etruscan League, Volch and Tarchna. Although Volch and Tarchna are two city-states close to the coast, they had instead built their cities on the hills rich in mineral resources and hadrge ports and a thriving maritime trade.

    Especially Volch, which had be the maritime trade centre on the west coast of the Apennine penins as early as a hundred years ago, with its pottery, bronzes and wine exported to the eastern Mediterranean. But apart from being the maritime power, it had also controlled numerous neighbouring Etruscan tribes and small towns.

    On the other hand, Tarchna, like Veii, were bitter enemies with Rome, and they had even supported the overthrown Roman king Tarquin to confront Rome. However, these two powerful city-states have declined over the past few decades due to the continuous invasion of the Gauls and the harassment of the Romans. Then during the massive Gaul invasion a dozen years ago, both cities were left devastated with their people plundered¡­

    But before they could recover from the invasion, Rome, which had chased away the Gauls and received strong support from Carthage, had invaded their territory with arge army. So after suffering sessive defeats, the people of these two cities chose to surrender.

    Rome then decided to split thend of these two cities and established two colonial cities ¨C Sutrium and Cosa ¨C as Rome''s base to control the southern Etruscan while monitoring the movements of these two cities. Thus when Rome sent messengers asking for help, these two cities sent reinforcements.

    Naturally, Sutrium and Cosa had sent reinforcements, increasing the number of soldiers to more than two thousand. And with the addition of the soldiers sent by other Etruscan tribes and towns that had surrendered to Rome, the total number would reach more than four thousand.

    While the reinforcements from city-states such as Veii, Caisra and Volch gather one after another, with scattered soldiers arrivingter, they suddenly receive a report from the scouts about the Theonian besieging Rome and the situation no longer allowing them to wait here¡ªespecially the Romans in the city of Veii, who kept mouring about rushing to rescue Rome. So after the generals from the Roman colonial city-states and the Etruscan city-states reached an agreement, they quickly led their respective soldiers and hurried towards Pons Aemilius.

    When they were only two kilometres from the Theonian camp, they once again received a report from the scout: About four thousand Theonian soldiers were marching rapidly towards them!

    That had surprised several generals, ¡®Aren''t the Theonians besieging Rome with all their strength?! Howe they still have enough soldiers left to fight with us in the field?!¡¯

    But they didn''t have much time to think as they hastily began to move into formation.

    Since these over four thousand Roman reinforcements hade from multiple Etruscan city-states, tribes and Roman colonial city-states, it took them some effort to determine the affiliation of each unit and properly arrange them. Thus before they could go into formation, the Theonian army had already appeared in their sight.

    Since the army Litom led had two thousand marines and a light-armoured brigade, they managed to move rapidly, with only one heavy infantry brigade slightly trailing behind.

    Upon reaching the battlefield, Litom discovered the Roman reinforcements. As he had anticipated, they were caught off guard by their unexpected attack and failed to prepare adequately. With the enemy forces still tightly packed together, it was an opportunity he couldn''t afford to miss. So without waiting for the arrival of the heavy infantry brigade, Litom promptly issued the order to attack: the marines would assault the enemy''s left nk, while the light-armoured brigade would engage the right nk, reserving the centre for thegging heavy infantry brigade.

    Although neither of his soldiers on hand is heavy infantry, the mounted scouts reported that the number of heavy infantry in the Roman reinforcements was far less than half (they had all conscripted the elite citizen soldiers earlier to attack Hernici). Hence Litom believed that these two well-trained units couldpletely suppress the enemy with their attacks and hold out until the arrival of the heavy infantry brigade.

    Upon the sound of the attack, the two units, initially advancing in a column formation, swiftly adjusted their formation, transitioning into a row. With no further repositioning, they elerated forward.

    The marines'' weapons and equipment are the same as the light-armoured soldiers, which are leather helmets, leather armour, leather shields, and short swords, with the biggest difference being the size of the shield and carrying javelins. Since the light-armoured soldiers fight onnd, their leather shields arerger and carry two javelins, just like the heavy infantry. On the other hand, the marines had smaller leather shields and didn''t carry javelins to maintain their bnce better since they were fighting at sea.

    Since the heavy infantry of the Third Legion was unable to hurl javelins while ascending the embankment through the corvus warships to engage the enemy, they had to leave their javelins in the camp. Remembering this, Litom had instructed the Marines to carry the javelins when he called upon them to confront the enemy. Although they typically do not use javelins in naval battles, the marines had to familiarise themselves with it during regr training, as proficient javelin throwing was one of the four essential skills expected of Theonian infantry (the other three being unarmedbat, sword and shield fighting and spear thrusting with a shield).

    The rapid approaching Theonian army forced the Roman reinforcements to no longer smoothly go into formation. Of course, they could not shrink into a group and get attacked passively. As a result, they forcefully blow the sound of attack with the generals of each reinforcement leading their own city-state armies to attack the rapidly approaching Theonian army.

    The distance between the two sides, which was several hundred metres apart at the start, was quickly shortened amid the noise of the battlefield.

    ¡°Javelins! Javelins! Javelins!¡­.¡± Responding to themand of the squad leaders, the Theonian Marines and light-armoured brigade quickly halted their advance. Followed byunching two rounds of javelin attacks, effectively disrupting the enemy charge and throwing their formation into disarray. Then after shouting the name of Hades, they quickly charged forward¡­

 Chapter 794: The Siege of Rome (XII)

    ¡°The wall has crumbled!! The walls of Rome have finally crumbled!!!¡­¡± Amidst the cheers of the Theonian legionaries standing in front of the trench, a cloud of dust and dirt engulfed a small section of the southwest corner of Rome''s walls as it crumbled, bringing about a deafening roar and the trembling of the ground, apanied by the screams of the Roman soldiers.

    Once the dust and dirt dispersed, arge breach appeared in the city wall before everyone. The breach resembled an inverted trapezoid, wider at the top and narrowed towards the bottom. It measured approximately four meters in width at the base and stretched over three meters in height. In addition, the copsed stones and debris had naturally formed a slope on either side of the aperture.

    ¡°Rush forwards! Storm the city of Rome!¡± The soldiers of Theonia''s Fourth Legion near the hole became so excited that they quickly stepped on the stones and dirt and poured towards the breach without caring whether they slipped.

    The shocked defenders, who had finally regained their senses, rushed over the hole and started throwing javelins, stones and wood downward, trying to inflict significant damage on the enemy and prevent them from entering the city.

    But this did not stop the excited soldiers of the Fourth Legion. However, when the foremost soldiers rushed through the breach, they involuntarily stopped in their tracks because a thick wall of spears appeared not far ahead, with countless Romans dressed in rags arranged in a dense phnx with their spears glinted coldly towards them.

    ¡°Stop! Quickly stop! Immediately form a phnx formation!¡­¡± Although the officers among the foremost soldiers kept shouting, the extremely excited soldiers, unfortunately, couldn¡¯t hear it as they rushed in wildly. Now that the formation has be disordered, the soldiers no longer obey the officer''smand. Instead, they pushed and shoved theirrades in front to meet the wall of spears.

    As a result, the front-most soldiers could only raise their long shields hastily to protect themselves as they collided with the enemy, with the continuous influx of Theonian soldiers soon filling the space between the spear wall.

    Servius Mucius, a Roman plebeian, was the onemanding the tightly-packed spear formation of Roman plebeians on the western city wall. Despite his humble origins, his exceptional bravery in previous battles had earned him several promotions from Camillus, elevating him from a lowly soldier to the esteemed rank of a centurion in the Roman centuria. This time, he happened to be among the three thousand soldiers left behind.

    Unlike Camillus, who could recognise talent regardless of origin and ability, the older Scipio''s reason for choosing Mucius among the dozens of centurions to be in charge of the defensive line in the west of Rome was because the critical situation of military pressure and the conflict between the Roman nobles and plebeians left him helpless and could only hope to use Mucius'' prestige among the civilians to effectively integrate therge number of plebeians and ves living in the western part of Rome to block the attacking Theonians.

    In fact, Mucius had far exceeded the expectations of the older Scipio. Not only had he dispelled the discontent of the plebeians and ves and encouraged them to join the war, but he had also effectively organised them to defend against the enemy''s attack with all their might, both above and below the city wall, which halted thebined onught of more than ten thousand elite soldiers from Theonia''s Fourth and Fifth Legion from making any significant progress.

    Although Mucius'' makeshift spear formation didn''t harm the Theonian soldiers significantly, they weren''t frightened by the enemy''s fierce attack and stubbornly held on.

    On the contrary, the defenders at the top of the city wall were the ones dealing considerable casualties on the Theonian soldiers rushing into the breach. With the Theonian soldiers densely crowding the bottom of the city wall, the defenders would only need to throw javelins and stones down to deal significant damage, not to mention the burning oil that posed a significant threat by setting theirrades around them alight.

    Fortunately for the Theonians, the Romans¡¯ extensive use of tar and olive oil to burn down numerous siege equipment had left them with little remaining. Otherwise, it would have be a massive disaster for the Theonian soldiers rushing into the breach.

    Olivos, the legatus of the Fourth Legion, who became excited by the wall''s copse, had turned anxious as he stomped his feet after learning the battle situation, ¡°Order the light infantry to immediately attack the enemy at the top of the wall to relieve the pressure for the soldiers inside!¡±

    ¡°Have our brothers at the breach retreat quickly and make room for the soldiers inside to form a phnx formation against the enemy!¡±

    ¡°Gather the mountain reconnaissance unit and have them climb the city wall from the beach and attack the enemy!¡±

    The heralds rode off one after another after receiving the order.

    ¡°And¡­immediately notify the legatus of the Fifth Legion, Giorgris, of our predicament!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After being informed of the dire circumstances surrounding the Fourth Legion, Giorgris'' face turned solemn. His gaze was fixed forward as he watched the soldiers working tirelessly like ants as they scaled the walls to capture the city. Below, the burning siege wagons and arrow-blocking carts emitted clouds of thick ck smoke. In the midst of this chaotic scene, three partially intact battering rams stood in unison beneath the city wall, pounding incessantly against the wall that Giorgris could even hear the resounding vibrations echoing through the air from a distance.

    When he saw the cracks on the walls increase and the dirt and stones that kept falling, almost burying the siege engines, Giorgris immediately said, ¡°Notify the first brigade to withdraw from the trench and stand in front of the city wall that is about to copse! After the city wall copses, they must not rush inside. Instead, enter the breach in full formation and be cautious of the enemy''s spear formation behind the wall!¡±

    ¡°At the same time, issue a stern warning to the remaining soldiers of the brigade, emphasising that they must not enter the breach without explicit orders, and firmly punish anyone who dares to disregard this order!¡±

    ¡°Understood, legatus!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the Fourth and Fifth Legions fought fiercely under the city wall, the army led by Tolmides also engaged the enemy in a fierce battle not far west of them.

    Although Paulus led an army less than that of the other side, most of his soldiers were heavy infantry, which was twice as many as those Tolmides led, gradually allowing them to gain the upper hand.

    And if it weren''t for the First and Second Cavalry Legions of Theonia continuously attacking from the rear nks of the Roman army and restraining the enemy''s strength, then the Roman army would probably charge at the Theonians and forced the Theonian formation to retreat.

    But as time passed, Paulus became increasingly anxious as he carried the burden of rescuing the city of Rome yet was stopped here for so long and unable to advance. If he continued to drag on like this, the enemy would already breakthrough Rome, and he would be a sinner even if he managed to repel the enemy in front of him.

    Thus he ruthlessly ordered the Roman centuriae at the rear of the formation to ignore the enemy cavalry and immediately spread out to attack the enemy''s nk, leaving only a portion of the centuria to guard the Theonian cavalry galloping around.

    Under his urging, the Roman formation began spreading out from its original oval shape into a long horizontal line.

    Seeing the situation, the two cavalry legates, Ledes and Kurcius, in the rear of the Roman formation, felt something wrong. However, at this point, the two cavalry legions had already depleted their supply of javelins, forcing them to divide into smaller groups and engage in tactical manoeuvring behind enemy lines. Their purpose was to create an illusion that they could still attack to deter the Romans fromunching a full-force charge. But now that the Romans had be reckless, the cavalry legion could no longer achieve their goal.

    ¡°It seems our only choice is to charge¡­¡± Ledes sighed as he knew that a cavalry charging at a dense heavy infantry, even if the opponent were moving, would not deal much damage. Instead, it would just lead to significant losses to the cavalry.

    On the other hand, the younger Kurcius excitedly said, ¡°Then let the Romans see the might of our charge! Legatus Ledes, you lead your army to attack the enemy''s left nk, and I will attack the right nk!¡±

    After saying that, he immediately headed south.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Ledes called out to him. He then pointed at the Roman formation behind the stretched Roman army and muttered, ¡°¡­even if we manage to stop the enemy from stretching their formation from both nks, I am afraid these Roman soldiers would rush to intercept us.¡±

    ¡°That''s certain. However, they aren''t enough to block our charge!¡± Kurcius said confidently.

    ¡°But-their departure will expose that ce!¡± Following the direction Ledes pointed, Kurcius'' two eyes brightened up: For that was the centre of the Roman army formation, where the light infantry, which posed a significant threat to the Theonian cavalry, was crowding under the protection of this Roman heavy infantry.

    Ledes continued, ¡°So we should instead gather the cavalry on both nks to attract the enemy''s attention while silently sending some cavalries to retreat out of sight. Then once our cavalry legionunched an attack on the enemy''s nk and inevitably drew out this heavy infantry to intercept us, our hidden cavalry would take advantage of this opportunity to charge at the enemy''s light infantry. Since they certainly couldn''t resist us and be disorder, we will force them to flee towards the enemy''s front to cause disruption and create a chance for our infantry in the centre to win.¡±

    ¡°That''s a great idea! Then let''s follow your suggestion, legatus Ledes!¡± Kurcius responded eagerly, ¡°Once we gather the cavalry to form a formation, we will spread out the cavalry to obscure the enemy''s line of sight and then send out four toons each(each toon have fifty cavalries) to run to the rear and wait for the opportunity to act.¡±

    Ledes nodded. After saluting, Ledes said deeply, ¡°Time is tight, so let''s move. May Hades bless us so that we can seed!¡±

    Kurcius immediately returned the salute and said, ¡°With Hades'' blessing, we will definitely seed!¡±

 Chapter 795: The Siege of Rome (XIII)

    While the two cavalry legates busily gathered their cavalry,mander Tolmides at the rear had learned about the changes in the enemy formation with the help of the mounted scouts, so he naturally made some arrangements ordingly.

    After pondering for a moment, he began issuing orders: The Fourth and Fifth Legions¡¯ light-armoured brigades behind the left and right nk would move forward quickly and spread towards both wings to block the enemy''s attempt to encircle them. Meanwhile, the light-armoured brigade of the Second Legion, located in the centre, would split into two to be ready to support both nks at any time.

    Tolmides felt helpless since it was challenging to have the light-armoured soldiers confront the enemy''s heavy infantry head-on, so his only choice was to dy the enemy.

    As the Theonian soldiers stirred up dust and dirt, obeying the orders, the tenseTolmides suddenly widened his eyes and looked ahead, eximing, "What''s that kid doing?!"

    Through the swirling clouds of dust and dirt, Tolmides caught sight of Crotokatax and the forty pce guards stationed in front, abruptly heading to the right.

    ¡°We don¡¯t know, my lord! No one issued additional orders to His Highness the Prince!¡±

    ¡°Quickly!¡­ Send someone to tell His Highness to obey orders and stay where he is!¡± said Tolmides anxiously.

    When Crotokatax saw the heralds shouting at the rear of the formation, he immediately realised that the situation had changed. Thus he took the liberty to order the pce guard to follow the Fifth Legion''s light-armoured brigade to move to the right nk. Initially, the concerned pce guards tried to prevent him from going. However, as the temporary leader of the pce guard and as they are too a Theonian citizen, they also desired to contribute to the battle. Having guarded King Davos in the city of Thurii for a long time, they couldn''t resist the temptation to join the fight against the enemy, easily allowing Crotokatax to persuade them to join him.

    Then once the herald arrived and ryed the order for Crotokatax to obey the order and stay still, Crotokatax replied angrily, ¡°Please tell Lord Tolmides that now that the army is in danger and all the other soldiers are fighting with all their might, does he want us to be a joke to the entire kingdom by sheltering us like cowards?!¡±

    Crotokatax''s words immediately made the wavering pce guards be firm and no longer listened to the herald''s dissuasion and followed Crotokatax.

    After receiving the herald''s response, Tolmides, known for his skill in coordinating and managingplex rtionships, found himself at a loss. On the one hand, he acknowledged the truth in the young prince''s words about the prince receiving ridicule by the people if he didn¡¯t do anything in the battle upon his return to Thurii after the war, which would lead to Crotokatax resenting him and King Davos and Queen Cheiristoya¡¯s displeasure. However, allowing the prince to join the fight against the formidable enemy posed its own risks. If he were to get injured, Tolmides would bear the me. And if he were to perish in battle, then¡­

    Just as he was hesitating, the mounted scouts came over and said, ¡°Report! Lord Epiphanes has arrived with his army!¡±

    ¡°Atst!¡± Tolmides heaved a long sigh, easing his tense mood. He then turned around and said, ¡°Immediately draw a centuria from the Second Legion''s light-armoured brigade to apany His Highness to the right nk!¡±

    With Epiphanes'' reinforcements, he no longer had to worry about the safety of Crotokatax since it''s only a matter of time till they defeat the Roman reinforcements.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos deemed ¡®Leading an army tond in Latium and attack Rome¡¯ as one of his most important strategic ns to this day. Since he knew how mighty Rome was in his previous life, he had gone all out by sending not only the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Legions, as well as the First and Second Cavalry Legions, but also sent Epiphanes, who had just resigned from his position as praetor and remained idle at his home, to Lucania.

    At the request of the Campanians, the Third Legion had stayed in Ate. Later, the Ministry of Military ordered Xanticles to form a new reserve legion in Lucania to rece the Third Legion in defending the whole of Lucania. Since the soldiers of the Third Legion not only came from Lucania but also from Compsa and the coastal city-states such as Irna, Poseidonia, Elea and also Laos, so there was an abundant supply of soldiers that allowed Xanticles to form an entirely new legion.

    Afterwards, Davos ordered Epiphanes to lead half of the newly formed legion to sail to Ostia on the second day after the armynded in Latium and upied Ostia.

    Davos had made them as backup reserves to be used depending on the development of the war situation.

    Since the Latin coastal city-states were paying attention to the Theonian army''s siege of Rome, they did not notice another rtively small group of Theonian troops entering the port of Ostia mixed with the convoy of ships transporting supplies.

    Then once Davos learned about the previously defeated Roman army regrouping and marching eastward to rescue the city of Rome yesterday evening, he immediately dispatched a messenger to rush to Ostia and inform Epiphanes to lead his army eastward today to assist the main force in defeating the Roman reinforcements, ensuring the sessful siege on the city.

    Even after leaving the army for several years, Epiphanes, known for his flexible use of troops, hadn''t blindly urged the soldiers to rush when leading the army this morning. Instead, he has them march slowly while sending many scouts and cavalries to the main camp to understand the siege deployment, the enemy situation outside the city of Rome and keeping track of the war''s progress to find opportunities from it.

    So when he learned that his friend''s army had intercepted arge Roman reinforcement to the west of Rome, he immediately decided they would be their first target.

    Then he ordered the entire army to increase their pace towards the direction he pointed.

    Just as they were about to reach the battlefield, Epiphanes ran into the four hundred cavalries hidden in the rear by the two cavalry legates. Once he learned Ledes and Kurcius'' n, he immediately said with confidence, ¡°Tell your legates to stop wasting your warhorses and leave the rest of the battle to me!¡±

    After saying that, he ordered the troops to halt and start forming while making his soldiers adjust their equipment.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Learning of the arrival of reinforcements, Ledes could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Still, he didn¡¯t want to abandon his previous npletely. So after reaching an agreement with Kurcius, they would still carry out the n as usual, only changing the initial charge on both enemy nks to a feint attack while the surprise attack on the centre of the Roman army remained unchanged.

    Once the salpinx sounded, Ledes mped his legs on the horse''s belly and ordered it to move forward, followed by the more than a thousand cavalry soldiers from behind.

    On the other side, Kurcius, with over a thousand cavalry, followed suit.

    Because of their movements, the alert Roman army reacted to the Theonian cavalry¡¯s movement. Paulus, who was in the rear of the army formation, naturally wouldn''t allow the Theonian cavalry to disrupt the charge of the heavy infantry on the two nks. Thus, he immediately ordered the twelve Roman centuriae remaining in the rear to immediately rush to both nks and intercept the enemy cavalry''s attack.

    Paulus felt relieved seeing the Theonian cavalry was still a hundred metres away when the Roman soldiers arrived on both nks.

    Meanwhile, the Theonian cavalry, changing from a brisk pace to a gallop, raised clouds of dirt and dust into the air as the earth trembled under the thunderous gallop of thousands of hooves on both nks¡­

    From a distance, two massive arrow-shaped formations emerged through the grey dust created by the two ck cavalry legions. Within the advancing ck tide, asional shes of bright red colours could be seen, representing the banners of the cavalry legions. Thergest banner, held high next to the legatus positioned at the forefront of the formation, fluttered against the wind, signalling the direction in which the entire army would advance.

    At this moment, the cavalry at the forefront was less than seventy metres away from the Roman army when Ledes suddenly shouted, ¡°Turn left! Turn left!!¡­¡±

    The pegasus banner held high immediately pointed to the left, and the gmen of each brigade and centuriae who had been paying attention to the legion banner also changed direction. Led by the leading cavalry, the rest of the cavalry began to turn¡­until the entire cavalry legion passed by the Roman army.

    When the Roman soldiers saw the dust raised by the enemy cavalry was only twenty to thirty metres away, rushing parallel to their own formation, they breathed a sigh of relief even though they were still nervous. After all, the momentum caused by countless enemy cavalry rushing towards them was truly terrifying!

    Although the Roman soldiers on the nk rxed, the Roman light infantry behind the centre formation became nervous as they began pointing to the rear and eximing in fear, ¡°Cavalry! The Theonian cavalry!! They are charging towards us!!!¡­¡±

    A cloud of dust and dirt is rising a few hundred metres behind them and rushing towards them.

    Paulus, who was behind the light infantry, turned around and saw the terrifying sight and felt panicked, ¡®Damn it! The Theonians deceived me!¡¯

    ¡°Hurry! Hurry up! Notify the centuriae that had gone to both nks to return quickly! Hurry up!!¡­.¡±

    Unlike the Theonian cavalry, who were attacking both nks, these four hundred cavalry units charging at the centre were already galloping at an elerated pace, covering several hundred meters in mere moments.

    Since most of the light infantry were not Roman citizens and were instead Latin allies, they didn''t have the same determination as the Roman citizens to defend their homnd and fight to the death. So when they saw the rapidly approaching enemy cavalry, the light infantry scattered and fled in disorder while shouting, ¡°Run away!¡±

 Chapter 796: The Siege of Rome (XIV)

    But it was already toote as the Theonian cavalry quickly rushed forward with their spear protruding out, piercing the light infantry. Then the cavalry quickly let go of their spears and drew out their long Greek sword(Unlike the infantry, the Theonian cavalry weren''t equipped with short swords. Instead, they used a one-metre-long Greek sword that made it easier to cleave and sh enemies on horseback, which was more beneficial in fighting and would less likely make them fall off their horses). They brandished the long sword experiencedly to frighten the light infantry and forced them to run towards the centre of the Roman army formation.

    Knowing that the centuriae that rushed to the nks couldn''t arrive in time, Paulus mobilises the various centuriae at the rear of the centre of the Roman army. Although he knew his order would seriously affect the deployment of the forefront soldiers on the centre, his top priority was to block these defeated soldiers and the cavalry to prevent them from disrupting the centre formation.

    The Roman military system, based on centuriae, had finally shown its flexibility. Under themand of Paulus, several centurions quicklymander their soldiers to turn around to rush to the rear and promptly reorganise into a phnx.

    However, the hundreds of light infantry getting chased by Theonian cavalry rushed like headless flies towards the Roman soldiers, even pushing them down on their way to escape.

    While the Latin light infantry and Roman heavy infantry crowded together, the Theonian cavalry wielded their swords and began shing towards them, making the situation even more chaotic.

    ¡°Stab these light infantry! Attack them!¡­¡± Paulus anxiously eximed while striking at a light infantry who had rushed before him with his spear.

    As a result, the Roman heavy infantry followed suit as they thrust their spears at the light infantry that had previously fought side by side with them but had now put them in a difficult situation. Unfortunately, they still couldn''t resolve the chaotic situation immediately.

    As Paulus stabbed at the fleeing soldiers, he began shouting for the army to reorganise.

    Suddenly, he heard the soldiers shouting in panic, ¡°Enemy! Another enemy ising!!¡­¡±

    Paulus'' heart sank as he quickly took a few steps back and looked through the gap between the Theonian cavalry and saw a ck horizontal line in the distance, which was moving rapidly towards them. As it progressed, the ck line continued to lengthen and widen¡­

    With his experience of leading multiple expeditions, Paulus knew that this was an illusion caused by a dense infantry formation moving in the distance, and this unified and distinct ck colour clearly shows that this unit could never be Roman or Latin, which utterly destroyed Paulus'' hope.

    At this moment, he felt terrified to the point that his body could copse at any moment.

    Suddenly, his nearby men said, ¡°General, the enemy''s reinforcements areing! With our defeat certain, we might as well withdraw first!¡±

    ¡°That''s right! We should hurry up and withdraw! Otherwise, we could no longer leave if we move toote!¡­¡± These guards,posed of his household members, also advised one after another.

    ¡®Leave?! Where else can we go once Rome is gone?!¡­¡¯ A pained look appeared on Paulus'' face as he remembered the miserable time when the Gaul sacked Rome more than a decade ago, and his young self was left wandering. Suddenly, strength rose from his heart, and he said decisively, ¡°No! I will fight these enemies who came to invade Rome here to the death, just like the Fabius n did then!¡±

    He raised his spear high and shouted, ¡°For Rome''s sake, we must fight to the death and never retreat!¡±

    In ordance with Roman tradition, these nsmen and followers, who have enjoyed all the benefits bestowed upon them by the n, are obligated to heed the call to arms from the heir of the n leader. Thus the guards shouted one after another, ¡°For Rome! Fight the enemy to death!!¡­¡±

    Their shouts affected the other heavy infantry, ¡°We must never retreat for Rome¡¯s sake!!!¡­¡±

    Thus the morale of the Romans sore high for a while.

    In front of them were still the panicking and fleeing light infantry. On the other hand, the Theonian cavalry had already begun retreating towards the nk, making room for the Theonian reserve soldiers attacking in the rear.

    Soon after, the Roman soldiers could see the newly arrived Theonian army marching in dense and neat phnx formation, with their heads held high. Obviously, they are all in good physical condition, and their formation was about half a kilometre long, indicating that their number wasn''trge.

    Then the salpinx sounded, and after shouting the name of Hades, the Theonian soldiers charged forward.

    ¡°Prepare for battle!¡± Standing at the forefront of the formation, Paulus grasped his shield and spear tightly. At this moment, he no longer cared whether he survived.

    Yet confusion arose among the soldiers behind them. The Theonian soldiers were fighting fiercely against the Roman centre formation when they suddenly intensified their attack after hearing the salpinx. As a result, the soldiers in the already weakened Roman formation were forced to retreat and collided with the soldiers at the rear who were preparing for defence.

    Then the Theonian reinforcements that managed to approach within thirty metres took out their spears after quickly throwing out their javelins and began charging, which left the Roman army caught in a pincer attack¡­

    Despite Paulus and his guards, along with the surrounding soldiers, being determined to fight to the death, the majority of Roman civilians, who had recently transitioned to heavy infantry and had weak loyalty to Rome as they had just gottennd just a few months ago, were not as resolute. So when the enemy''s salpinx sounded from the rear and the Theonian reinforcements rushed towards them like a tide, some of the Roman soldiers who saw such a sight were ovee with fear, causing them to flee and led theplete copse of the Roman formation.

    Adoris, who was in the centre of the heavy infantry brigade of the Second Legion, suddenly found that hisrades at the front, who had almost never moved, began striding forward.

    ¡°Faster! Faster! The enemy is running away!¡­¡± The cheering of hisrades encouraged him, so he, like the other soldiers, took big strides and sprinted forward.

    Meanwhile, on the right nk, the copse of the Roman army''s centre formation had yet to reach here. As a result, Rome''s heavy infantry maintained their attack, but the Theonian light-armoured brigade that had just arrived and the pce guards led by Crotokatax resisted them.

    It is natural for the Theonians to suffer from the battle between light-armoured soldiers and heavy infantry. Fortunately, the gap between them wasn''t apparent since the battle had just begun.

    But for Crotokatax and the pce guards, whose armour and weapons were better than the enemy, plus their eagerness to prove themselves, allowed them to get some advantaged at the beginning of the battle.

    Stimted by the guards around him, Crotokatax began actively attacking. With deliberate strides, he pushed forward with his shield and trusted his spear, all while protecting his head and blocking the attacks with his shield¡­ Since childhood, Crotokatax had honed hisbat skills through daily training at school and home for over a decade, making him seamlessly integrate his techniques into his body and allowing him to use them in battle freely. As a result, he no longer felt flustered at the enemy''s relentless spear thrust as he approached each encounter as if he was sparring with Martius. So despite his nervousness, he no longer felt danger.

    Having sessfully blocked the enemy''s spear with his long shield, Crotokatax advanced suddenly, giving his opponent no time to withdraw his spear. In addition, the enemy revealed an opening as he became unsteady, so Crotokatax immediately thrust his spear forward like lightning.

    The enemy hurriedly lowered his head, causing the sharp spearhead to strike the helmet, but the force transmitted from the spear made the enemy dizzy momentarily.

    While the enemy was dizzy, Crotokatax instinctively withdrew his right hand and quickly struck again.

    This time, he managed to stab the enemy in the face. However, the enemy''s shrill scream and the miserable sight made Crotokatax freeze.

    ¡°Be careful!¡± The guard next to him eximed. Then with a loud sound, the guard managed to block the spear thrusting from the side.

    ¡°Don''t get distracted while in battle!¡± The guards in desperate situations had warned loudly without regard for the difference in status.

    Despite being drenched in a cold sweat, the shame Crotokatax felt made him forget his difort of killing someone for the first time. As a result, he made up for his previous mistakes by attacking more actively.

    But suddenly, the enemy''s resistance weakened.

    Amotion suddenly appeared in the enemy in front, making them all turn around and run.

    But Crotokatax was left unsatisfied with the fight, so he immediately followed hisrades around him and pursued the fleeing enemy.

    In the entire battlefield at this moment, except for the hundreds of soldiers led by Paulus, who were still resisting, the other Roman soldiers had already begun fleeing.

    However, this is where the First and Second Cavalry legions came into y: Thousands of Theonian cavalries raced across the vast ins, wielding their spears or swords as they chased down the fleeing Romans who had thrown down their shields and spears, resulting in only a few Romans managed to escape the battlefield eventually.

    And even the final resistance of the Romans didn''tst for long.

    Epiphanes stood in front of the bloodied body of Paulus, covered in sword wounds, his long red plume proving his identity.

    ¡°He is undoubtedly a warrior. Unfortunately, he wasn''t smart enough!¡± Epiphanes turned to look at his adjutant and said coldly, ¡°We must bury him since he is at least a general. Instead, we''ll take his helmet and the Roman g, which are all our spoils!¡±

    ¡°Yes, strategos!¡±

    Then Tolmides came over.

    Epiphanes immediately smiled and said, ¡°Tolmides, had youe to congratte me?¡±

    ¡°Lead your army back to the camp immediately and await His Majesty''s instructions!¡± Said Tolmides sternly.

    ¡°Why are you in such a hurry? You won''t even let our brothers catch their breath?!¡± Epiphanes joked half-heartedly.

    ¡°You can rest to your heart''s content when we captured Rome. But now that the other legions were fully attacking the city, the soldiers kept getting wounded and dying at all times. This is very important to us, and I don''t think you still have the mood to dy here.¡±

    Tolmides'' words made Epiphanes turn serious as he loudly said to his adjutant, ¡°Blow the salpinx now and gather our brothers!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    And just as Davos had expected, some Roman reinforcements from the south followed Paulus to attack from the southwest of the city of Rome, while others followed Maegius to attack from the southeast. However, some scattered reinforcements that arrivedter began attacking the Theonian camp from the south.

 Chapter 797: The Siege of Rome (XV)

    Although the enemy numbered less than a thousand, the way they attacked left the light-armoured brigade in the main camp somewhat confused.

    Due to the time constraint for the Theonian army yesterday, the soldiers only built a camp and dug a trench without setting up abatis and traps. As a result, the Latin reinforcements, divided into multiple units, managed to approach the camp from various directions and began firing ming arrows into the camp by standing just outside the trench.

    Since the camp wasrge enough to amodate three infantry and two cavalry legions, it was impossible for the seven hundred light-armoured brigades to fully protect it. Thus from time to time, they would be forced to divide their men to run back and forth to put out the burning tents since it would affect the morale of the soldiers besieging the city once they let the fire berge enough to set part of the camp on fire.

    As a result, the defensive manpower of the camp became even more insufficient. So Davos had to urgently mobilise the hundreds ofbourers from the logistics camp to assist in putting out the fire. At the same time, he also dispatched a hundred pce guards as mobile troops to defend the camp, allowing them to barely cope with the current situation.

    Although the siege had been going on for nearly four hours, they still failed to make breakthrough progress. Still, Davos continued to watch the staff officers update the map calmly.

    Henipolis, who had been quietly taking notes from the sidelines, now appeared visibly anxious and began pacing back and forth inside themand tent.

    Because of that, Davos had no choice but to say, ¡°Heni, sit down and stop walking around since it''s making me dizzy.¡±

    Henipolis said anxiously, ¡°But, your majesty, the number of enemies attacking the camp is increasing and Roman reinforcements began appearing to the east of the city of Rome, threatening the camp of the First Legion¡­ Yet even after getting surrounded by enemy reinforcements, we don''t have spare troops to deploy, while the various legions are still hindered below the city wall, causing many casualties among the soldiers. If this continues and we cannot capture Rome before dark, I am afraid¡­I am afraid¡­¡±

    Davos waited for him to vent his worries before slowly saying, ¡°Apart from Thurii, Rome is arguably thergest city on this penins. So even if their main force were not here, capturing it would still not be easy.

    Besides, you are wrong about our armies not making any progress. As you have heard just now, more than a hundred soldiers of the Second Legion have climbed the top of the city wall using the siege tower and have gained a firm foothold. On the other hand, the Third Legion soldiers have taken hold of Pons Aemilius and expanded their ground. While the Fourth Legion has used its siege engines to copse the wall, its soldiers have stormed the breach but were only temporarily obstructed below the city wall¡­

    We and the Romans are like ying a tug of war. Although the Romans fought with all their might to barely block us, such an outburst of strength cannotst. On the other hand, we are recovering our breath while pulling the rope over little by little until wepletely overwhelm the Romans, by which they will inevitably copse!¡±

    Davos clenched his right fist and swung it down before confidently saying, ¡°As for those Roman reinforcements-¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, we received a piece of good news! Lord Epiphanes led four thousand soldiers to the battlefield andpletely defeated the Roman reinforcements in the southwest by cooperating with Lord Tolmides. Currently, the First and Second Cavalry Legions are pursuing the fleeing enemies while Lord Tolmides and Epiphanes are on their way here, leading their troops!¡±

    ¡°Great!¡± The worried Henipolis finally delighted.

    The staff officers in themand tent celebrated by apuding.

    Davos also smiled and said, ¡°Immediately notify Tolmides and Epiphanes to send a heavy infantry brigade to defend the camp while the other troops will go towards the Second Legion and await my order!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    Asinaros quickly wrote it down and notified the herald. Soon, he promptly returned to themand tent and said excitedly, ¡°Your Majesty, the mounted scouts reported that some troops from the Sixth and First Legions have managed to climb the top of the city wall!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Although the First and Sixth Legions appeared to adopt conventional siege methods, Davos suggested they try climbing the city wall with grappling hooks.

    The grappling hook was one of the first siege methods invented by Davos, which he used to capture Amendra and give the mercenaries a foothold in Magna Graecia. But after Theonia became more powerful, they started creating much more sophisticated siege equipment and the simple grappling hook that helped the mercenaries so much was long forgotten.

    However, Davos hadn''t forgotten about it. On the contrary, he specially sent people to take out dozens of grappling hooks gathering dust from the corner of the storage to repolish them and attach new ropes as he considered that there might be many siege battles after the army arrived in Latium.

    And Amintas, who favoured offensive and enjoys taking risks, epted Davos'' advice without hesitation. Trotidis, the legatus of the Sixth Legion, was also a member of the mercenaries that went to Persia and followed Davos to Thurii, where he had grown from amon soldier to a legatus. Although his achievements were not outstanding, he had abundantbat experience and wouldn''t allow his legion to perform mediocrely in this crucial siege.

    Both of them were well aware that in order to seed in climbing the wall with a grappling hook, they must first deceive the enemy''s line of sight andunch a surprise attack. Otherwise, once discovered, it would only increase the number of casualties. Thus, both coincidentally set the location to climb the city wall at the southeast corner of Rome.

    Simr to the southwest corner, the city wall in the southeast corner also jutted outwards. However, in contrast to the southwest corner, the southeast corner had several small sharp corners far enough from the Roman gates that the zigzagging wall was easily obscured from view and not easily spotted.

    So to achieve their goal, Trotidis asked the soldiers of the Sixth Legion to concentrate on attacking the section between the Esquilinus Gate and Viminalis Gates, which is about four hundred metres away from the southeast corner. In contrast, Amintas was even fiercer by ordering the First Legion to storm the wall section between Mons Capitolinus and Collis Quirinalis, a kilometre from the southeast corner.

    Trotidis entrusted this task to his light-armoured brigade since they could easily crawl with their light equipment and left two heavy infantry brigades in the camp.

    On the other hand, despite the First Legion''s camp distance from the main camp, Amintas daringly decided to leave only one heavy infantry brigade there while entrusting the task to the over seven hundred mountain reconnaissance troops stationed in the camp.

    However, the attentive Trotidis noticed a problem after carefully observing the terrain: Although the southeast corner wall was more remote, the Roman walls were so tall that the soldiers at the top could see the bottom of the city wall and would definitely arouse suspicion from the enemy and be prepared even if they do not carry any siege equipment. So after thinking about it, he decided to let the soldiers do¡­

    Davos gave his approval after understanding Trotidis'' n. Thus the Sixth Legion''s n to climb the city wall with a grappling hook was soon determined.

    There were defenders on the southeast corner at the start. But over time, the continuous fierce attacks of the First and Second Legions overwhelmed the Roman generals responsible for defence. So they had to draw soldiers from other sections of the wall to bolster their defence and even drew in the idle defenders on the southeast corner.

    Not long after, the defenders on the nearby wall to the southeast saw hundreds of Roman soldiers running in panic towards the city while getting chased by the Theonian soldiers. Although the enemy asionally caught up to them and stabbed them down, most routed soldiers managed to crawl over the trenches with difficulty and reach the southeast corner of the wall. Meanwhile, the Theonian light infantry, perhaps fearing an attack by the city defenders, stopped their chase but were still unwilling to look away.

    The defenders who saw the situation were all specting about which Latin city-state these Roman soldiers hade from(most of the additional soldiers were citizens of the Latin Alliance.)

    As the enemy was still attacking the city, the defenders naturally could not allow these defeated soldiers to enter the city. Moreover, the fierce battle did not give them excess energy to pay attention to whether their allies lived or died. Still, the appearance of these fleeing soldiers showed that the Roman reinforcements were fighting with the enemy in ces they could not see, which somewhat boosted the morale of the defending army.

    However, what the defenders did not know was that these Roman soldiers were Theonian soldiers in disguise, who had donned Rome''s armour and equipment they had obtained from cleaning the battlefield after their victory in the battle two days ago. After managing to deceive the defenders and sessfully arrive at the southeast corner, they hide from the defenders'' sight and start connecting the hooks and ropes wrapped around their bodies, quickly making dozens of grappling hooks.

    As the battle raged on, the Roman soldiers were so focused on resisting the enemy''s relentless attacks that they gradually forgot about the presence of the routed soldiers. But asionally, they would nce at the southeast corner of the city wall from the corner of their eyes and see the dozens of ¡®Roman soldiers¡¯ stationed there and thought the neighbouring defenders sent them and didn''t pay much attention to them. And even after they saw continuous Theonian light infantry crawling through the trench and charging towards the southeast corner, it still did not arouse much vignce since the enemy didn''t carry any siege equipment. Moreover, there were defenders stationed in that part.

    But soon after, they realised the situation wasn''t right when more and more Theonian soldiers began appearing in the southeast corner of the wall, yet those ¡®Roman soldiers¡¯ unexpectedly didn''t engage the enemy inbat!

    Meanwhile, the defending generals, Magnus Atilius and Barbus Fabia, were taken aback when they learned about the dire situation. So despite their stretched manpower, they hurriedly assembled a rescue force and led them to rush from the west and south to the southeast corner of the city wall, pledging to take the enemy out of the city wall.

 Chapter 798: The Siege of Rome (XVI)

    But the Roman rescue troops quickly tasted the unpleasantness of the crooked wall they had built, which didn''t allow them to speed up.

    When the Theonian soldiers on top of the city wall saw the situation, they urged theirrades at the bottom to climb up faster.

    Kailkous, the senior centurion leading the light armoured brigade of the Sixth Legion, was a native of Scylletium. A dozen years ago, he was just an ordinary citizen of Scilletium who had fought in the Battle of the Aro River. After their defeat, he was lucky to flee to Crotone and not Scylletium, allowing him to survive the South Italian War. Later, he became a citizen of Theonia, became one of the most hardworking soldiers of the Sixth Legion, and repeatedly won military achievements in the conquest of Apulia.

    After his promotion to the rank of senior centurion, he wrote several letters to the Ministry of Military requesting his reassignment to the Eight Legion. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Military rejected it as they feared that he, who harboured deep hatred towards the Syracusans, would sh with the people of Syracuse once he went to Sicily.

    Instead of worrying after seeing the approaching Romans from both sides, Kailkous, as the leader of this siege force, calmly ordered the soldiers on the top of the city wall to send two separate units each to form a defensive formation to block the two pathways towards them.

    The older Scipio managed to use the narrow pathway of the Roman wall to obstruct the Theonian soldiers who had reached the top of the city wall via the siege tower. Now, Kailkous employs the same tactic to buy valuable time for the remaining troops to scale the wall.

    Furthermore, even if over a thousand soldiers from the light-armoured brigade and the mountain reconnaissance brigade sessfully scaled the city wall, Kailkous had no intention of engaging inbat on the narrow and elongated pathway, as it would require a significant amount of time to overpower the enemy. Instead, he had a better option¡ªthe stone staircase before him leading down into the city.

    The Romans built the stone staircase here to allow the soldiers to climb quickly because the southeast corner was remote. Unexpectedly, it became their fatal weakness the enemy exploited.

    Magnus and Barbus quickly realised this problem, but the First and Sixth Legion¡¯s attack intensified. Obviously, the enemy had done that to cooperate with this unit''s surprise attack and left them without a troop to send.

    Without any other choice, Barbus immediately sent someone to seek help from Scipio.

    Meanwhile, the exhausted Roman soldiers who had kept fighting with the belief of defending their homnd marched along the pathway towards the southeast corner before attacking them aggressively.

    But the Theonian soldiers, arranged in a dense formation and had recovered their strength, blocked the Roman soldiers like two boulders on the pathway.

    At the same time, the speed of the other Theonian soldiers scaling the city wall increased since, apart from the thirty grappling hooks, the soldiers also carried extra ropes. Upon reaching the top, they would untie the ropes, secure them to the battlements, and lower them down to the bottom. As a result, nearly a hundred soldiers could climb at once, quickly filling the southeast corner of the city wall with a dense mass of Theonian troops.

    At themand of Kailkous, a unitposed of a thousand light-armoured and reconnaissance soldiers quickly descended the stone staircase and finally entered the city of Rome.

    Before themy three potential paths of attack. The first option was to traverse the northeastern wall adjacent to Collis Quirinalis, allowing them to head north and either reinforce the First Legion orunch a direct assault on the heart of Rome¡ªthe Senate. However, this route was both lengthy and narrow, susceptible to obstructions. The second path involved advancing northwest, passing through the road between Collis Quirinalis and Collis Viminalis, which led directly to the city centre. Yet, this route, too, was narrow and prone to obstruction, and military regtions prohibited them from venturing deep into the city without proper understanding. The third path, which Kailkous chose, involved marching westward along the city''s southern wall to support the Sixth Legion in their battle against the defending forces.

    In fact, not far from the stone staircase is a gate of the city of Rome ¨C Porta Quirinalis. However, the Romans blocked the gate with stones and soil. Due to the winding walls of Rome and the number of gates(at least ten), they didn''t have enough soldiers to defend it, so the Roman Senate decided to mobilise the people to block all the gates to prevent the enemy from breaching them.

    Since clearing and opening the city gate would take a lot of time, Kailkous, knowing time was precious for the Theonian army storming the city, pressed on and led the troops quickly westward.

    The light-armoured and reconnaissance soldiers were thrilled and filled with strength as they, who had always yed a supporting role in previous wars, now found themselves at the forefront of this crucial battle. After passing through the Porta Viminalis, they began encountering elderlies, women and children delivering supplies to the city guards. Then like tigers pouncing on a flock of sheep, the Theonian soldiers easily knocked them down with their leather shields and caused the remaining people to flee in fear, throwing the arrows, javelins and oil jars all over the ground.

    On the other hand, the defenders who saw it had eximed in horror, ¡°Enemy! The enemy had gotten inside!!¡­¡±

    Amotion immediately arose on the top of the city wall, making the soldiers unable to fight as they began panicking. A few soldiers even persuaded their officers to leave their position and rush down the wall.

    Suddenly, someone shouted, ¡°Reinforcements areing! The reinforcements areing!!¡­¡±

    Hearing the news, the older Scipio hurriedly sent his remaining three hundred heavy infantry.

    Since they were not enough to threaten the Theonian army storming the city, Kailkous quickly ordered three centuriae to advance and fight the enemy''s reinforcements. Meanwhile, the other two centuriae would go up the stone staircase on both sides of the Porta Viminalis and attack the city defenders.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°¡­the enemy has entered the city! The enemy has entered the city!!¡­¡± The people responsible for transporting goods ran back to the forum in panic and shouted loudly, causing chaos to spread.

    The senators in the forum also turned pale.

    ¡°Go and detain them all, don''t allow them to shout any longer and cause chaos!¡± Maluginensis was so angry that he immediately issued an order to the guard captain responsible for maintaining order in the forum.

    Potitus, who''s been at odds with him, didn''t stop him this time since he also favoured using cruel tactics in such a crisis.

    ¡°Had¡­the enemy really¡­came in?!¡± Ambustus asked tremblingly, voicing everyone''s concern.

    ¡°¡­send someone over to inquire about it.¡± Although Potitus appeared calm, his hand holding the cane was shaking.

    Just then, the messenger sent by the older Scipio rushed to the forum and confirmed the cruel facts that made the senators panic.

    ¡°Didn''t Scipio already send reinforcements?! Those brave citizens¡­must have killed all the enemies while these should be those who managed to narrowly escape into the city!¡± Apuleius eximed, wanting to dispel his and his colleagues'' fear. However, his tonecks confidence.

    ¡°If Scipio were truly confident in repelling the enemy, he wouldn''t send a messenger to warn us¡­¡± Maluginensis groaned. As someone from the same n as the older Scipio, he naturally knew him well since he had worked hard to support this talented nsman, ¡°And we no longer have soldiers to spare¡­¡±

    In fact, the senators were well aware of the seriousness of the situation as they kept receiving reports on the war situation from the defenders of the city wall. And Maluginensis'' words were thest nail that tore apart their hopes, causing them to fall into a terrible silence.

    ¡°To Capitolinus!¡± Potitus said decisively and calmly added, ¡°Rest assured, everyone! Just like when the Gauls invaded, the Theonians might upy Rome, but they will never capture our sacrednd! Andpared to before, our situation is much more favourable since Camillus would soon lead a massive army far more numerous and well-trained than a decade ago! So we would chase away the Theonians much faster, and the final victor will eventually be Rome!¡­¡±

    Potitus'' words reassured the panicking senators.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Romans in the forum soon received instructions from the senators and began rushing back to their homes in a panic to pack up their belongings, carry food, and quickly flee to Mons Capitolinus for refuge.

    But when the people living near the embankment returned to their residence, what greeted them was a horrifying sight: The stone bs that once covered the sewers on the streets were lifted, exposing pitch-ck and foul-smelling sewage. Meanwhile, hundreds of soldiers adorned in ck leather armour, wielding ck shields and short swords, formed a formation facing the Tiber with their backs turned towards them¡­

    ¡°It''s the enemy!! They had gotten inside!!¡­¡± The Romans eximed in fear, even some women fainting due to excessive fear.

    Although Izam heard the noise behind him, he didn''t even pay attention nor look back at these elderlies, women and children. Instead, he pointed his short sword forward and shouted passionately, ¡°Warriors of the mountain reconnaissance brigade, the time hase for us to make a great contribution! Follow me and kill the enemy!¡±

    After he said those, he was the first to charge towards Rome''s Pons Aemilius, with his men following closely behind.

    The struggling Roman soldiers were startled when they heard someone shouting the name of Hades. When they were already struggling at the fierce attack of the first brigade of Theonia''s Third Legion, the morale of the Roman reinforcements, made up of mostly ves, fell to the bottom when they saw many soldiers in ck helmets and armouring towards them from behind that they even ignored Cassius'' orders to turn and defend and had instead run for their lives in an instant.

    Their desertion also shook the morale of the Roman soldiers who were still fighting.

    On the other hand, the exhausted Theonian soldiers¡¯ strength got reinvigorated when they heard people shouting the name of Hades from the opposite side, with their sore arms seemed to have strength reinjected. So when they resumed their fierce attack, it became thest straw that broke the camel''s back.

 Chapter 799: The Siege of Rome (XVII)

    With Rome''s defensive line on the embankment copsing, Cassius couldn''t even fight to the death, even if he wanted. So the fleeing soldiers carried him and ran towards the city. However, as the general in charge of defence, his attire was too prominent and got intercepted quickly by the oing mountain reconnaissance soldiers.

    Terentus let out a roar as he easily used his short sword to pierce the chest of the disheartened Cassius.

    As Cassius fell, he kept thinking that the city of Rome had already fallen, and these were the enemies who had breached from the other direction and believed he had held on until the very end.

    It never urred to him that these enemies were hiding underground near them¡­

    And the soldiers of the Third Legion quickly joined the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade after rushing over the bridge and onto the embankment. Then they began pursuing the fleeing soldiers, charging into Rome''s residential area¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the eastern section of the southern city wall, while Kailkous'' mixed force intercepted the reinforcements of older Scipio, another group of soldiers made their way up the walls via the staircase to disrupt the defenders at the top of the city wall. Seeing this, the soldiers of the Sixth Legion attacking the wall also took the opportunity to start climbing up.

    Meanwhile, five hundred more troops managed to climb through the southeastern corner of the city wall through the grappling hooks and detoured to attack the nk of the older Scipio''s reinforcements.

    As a result, they swiftly defeated the Roman reinforcements, crushing the morale of the city defenders and causing them to flee.

    With Kailkous'' force cutting off the eastern part, the fleeing Romans could only head westward, which naturally affected the defenders under the older Scipio. Since they were already struggling to support themselves against the attack of the Second Legion intensifying due to the addition of Tolmides and Epiphanes'' reinforcements, they also gave up resistance and prepared to flee.

    But the Theonian soldiers who had reached the top of the city wall through the siege tower but got blocked in the pathway became their roadblock on their escape to the west. Furthermore, enemies were blocking the bottom of the staircase, so the desperate Roman soldiers decided to jump from the top of the wall, which was more than ten metres high¡­

    On the other hand, the older Scipio had already decided to leave when he saw the situation turned terrible and fled to the Roman Forum.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the southwest corner of the city wall, another section of the wall copsed and allowed the Fifth Legion soldiers in a neat formation to pass through the gap orderly, resulting in the Roman soldiers responsible for blocking them below the wall feeling the pressure double. Just as their spear formation kept getting forced to retreat under the attack of the Theonian soldiers, an emergency message came, informing them that the enemy hadpletely breached the defensive line in the south!

    Recognising the dire situation had no hope of salvation, Servius Mucius reluctantly ordered to retreat. He understood that if his troops continued fighting, the enemy that had stormed the city through the southeast could easily encircle his troopspletely within the southwestern corner by advancing to the west.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Despite having the west, south and north side of the city of Rome falling, only the defenders in the northeast remained fighting since they were close behind Rome''s sacrednd ¨C Mons Capitolinus.

    Meanwhile, Amintas felt an overwhelming sense of anxiety. So when the scouts brought him the news of over a thousand Roman reinforcements approaching the camp from the east, he responded angrily, ¡°Report back to me once the enemy has broken through the camp!¡±

    Hearing that, the people around him remained silent for a while, with only Phryntor saying, ¡°Legatus, our soldiers have reached the top of the city wall!¡±

    ¡°It''s not like it''s their first time reaching the top; they''ll just get repelled soon!¡± Amintas said angrily.

    ¡°However, the defenders are already in a mess!¡± The attentive Phryntor said while staring ahead.

    The defenders at the top of the city wall were indeed in a mess. It was because Rome''s Pons Aemilius and embankment were not far from Mons Capitolinus, so most of the defeated soldiers to the north ran towards the Roman Forum next to Mons Capitolinus, and the soldiers of the Third Legion that followed them closely had also rushed into the Roman Forum.

    In the Roman Forum were wounded soldiers needing urgent treatment, citizens with their families and supply teams carrying rations¡­as a result, the people overcrowding the Roman Forum panicked as they fled towards Mons Capitolinus.

    The soldiers of the Third Legion were like tigers pouncing into a flock of sheep, brandishing their swords into this sea of people and immediately causing chaos to descend in the Roman Forum.

    The defenders at the northeast city wall turned around and saw enemies with ck helmets and armour not far from the city had cut off the passage to Mons Capitolinus, chasing the people like livestock. Worried about their family, the defenders no longer had the will to fight, so they turned around and fled¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With positive news arriving one after another, the people in the main Theonian camp kept cheering.

    Davos silently left themand tent and gazed at the top of the city wall, watching the Theonian g flying there in a daze while hearing faint screaming from within the city.

    ¡°Your Majesty, why do you not appear happy even after conquering this magnificent city?¡± Asked Henipolis rxedly. He is the only one who could speak to Davos in such a tone.

    ¡°I am certainly happy,¡± Davos said lightly. He didn''t lie as he felt the weight on his chest being lifted, bringing him an inexplicable sense of relief. However, he still suppressed his excitement and said, ¡°But it is still not the time to celebrate as there are still seventy thousand Roman soldiers outside and are on their way to us.¡±

    ¡°Now that we have upied their homes, do they still dare fight us?!¡± Henipolis asked, somewhat sceptical.

    ¡°Heni, you must always go all out in a war and never take any chances,¡± Davos said sternly.

    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty. I will take note of your reminder,¡± Henipolis indeed picked up a te and began writing on it.

    Davos smiled helplessly, turned around, and faced Asinaros, ¡°Have you told Epiphanes and Tolmides to set out with their armies?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, they have already departed about¡­ten minutes ago,¡± The most important thing for a staff officer is to try to be as urate as possible and not be vagued. So Asinaros ran back to the tent, looked at the hourss, and returned to answer.

    After learning of the city falling, Davos immediately ordered Epiphanes to lead a thousand five hundred soldiers and two hundred cavalries to the east to assist in intercepting the defeated Roman reinforcements.

    Then he ordered Tolmides to lead two thousand soldiers to take a ship from the river port to the opposite bank, detour around to the nk of the oing Roman reinforcements from the north and surround them.

    Davos nodded and asked concernedly, ¡°Has the medical camp begun treating the wounded below the city wall?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    Davos looped up the sky and said, ¡°Notify the logistics camp of each legion to disassemble the camp, load the supplies and prepare to enter the city.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Two hourster, when dusk approached, the sounds of fighting and screaming within the city had subsided. After finishing clearing the stones and dirt blocking the gates facing the Roman Forum, the Theonian soldiers opened the gates wide and lined the road to wee their grand legatus, the King of Theonia, into the city of Rome.

    Amidst the powerful sound of the military salpinx, Davos, surrounded by the pce guards, led all his attendants into the city of Rome on foot, which of course, caused confusion among the soldiers.

    ¡°Why didn''t His Majesty Davos ride his horse?¡±

    ¡°¡­how do I know? Perhaps it''s because the streets here are too narrow?¡±

    ¡°Don''t be stupid! Legatus Matonis said that His Majesty felt it was disrespectful to ride a horse into the city after capturing this city through a fierce battle!¡±

    ¡°His Majesty is too kind to us soldiers!¡±

    ¡°Quick! Quickly! Stop talking!¡±

    When Davos reached the soldiers by the roadside, these chattering soldiers immediately became nervous.

    Davos walked up to one of the officers and asked in a gentle tone, ¡°What''s your name?¡±

    Before the officer could reply, Matonis, following behind Davos, immediately said, ¡°Your Majesty, he is Thyamus, the squad leader of the fifth squad of the fourth toon of the third brigade of the Second Legion and hade from Roscianum.¡± Matonis appeared to praise him, but his eyes told him, ¡°I''ll deal with youter.¡±

    ¡°I can tell you are a brave warrior!¡± Davos'' praise immediately made Thyamus straighten his chest.

    Davos pointed to Thyamus'' right hand, holding a short sword, and asked, ¡°Are you wounded?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty¡­it''s just a minor wound¡­and it''s already healing.¡± Thyamus subconsciously hid his right hand behind his back.

    Matonis hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed his right hand, revealing a shed wound running from his arm to his forearm, with the skin opening up and showing the red muscles. Although the bleeding had stopped, the long and terrible wound had frightened the people.

    ¡°Why didn''t you go to the medical camp to have it bandaged?!-¡±

    Davos then stopped Matonis and spoke seriously to Thyamus, ¡°Do you know why the kingdom''s military code demands bravery in battle and treating ourselves after a battle? Because only with good health can you continue fighting and earning achievements! Although you would receive rewards for your military achievements, it would be even better if you could enjoy these rewards after the war! Now that we are fighting far away from our homes, you must care for your body even more! And with more fierce battles awaiting us, we need warriors like you to win again for the kingdom!¡±

    After saying that, Davos turned around and said to the several legates, such as Matonis, ¡°The soldiers shouldn''t remain here in their exhausted state after today''s siege. Quickly, let them return to rest and regain their strength. Furthermore, all officers must ensure they send the wounded under theirmand to the medical camp for treatment! If any soldier is overlooked or neglected and falls ill as a result, the responsible officer will be held ountable and face punishment.¡±

 Chapter 800: Davos Enters Rome

    ¡°But Your Majesty, your safety-¡± Olivos said with concern.

    Davos waved his hand and eximed, ¡°My guards will be responsible for my safety! Besides, our brave soldiers had conquered this city, so I don''t think any Romans are daring enough to challenge us!¡±

    With that, no one among the high-ranking officers raised any further questions.

    Davos faced Thyamus again and said kindly, ¡°Quickly go and receive treatment. I hope to hear about your achievements again soon!¡±

    Davos then looked at the standing soldiers beside him and waved his hand, saying, ¡°Warriors of Theonia, return to your station and rest. You must recover your strength and prepare for the uing battles!¡±

    Thyamus felt touched hearing that, causing him to shout, ¡°All Hail His Majesty Davos!¡± Then the soldiers who heard Davos'' words followed suit, ¡°All Hail His Majesty Davos!!¡­¡± Soon, the deafening shout resounded throughout the city, frightening the Romans hiding in their houses. In contrast, those brave enough to look out the window stared at Davos and the others who walked down the street with hatred in their eyes.

    Davos naturally saw their stare as sharp as a dagger, but he didn''t care and instead looked around leisurely. asionally, he would stamp the ground with his feet and clearly felt that Rome at this time was far from the Roman Empire known for its roads, bridges and architecture from his previous life. After all, the current Rome had just risen in central Italia and was far from building the vast road system that would make it convenient for their rule on the entire Italia; even the Pons Aemilius on the Tiber River wasn''t a stone bridge. On the contrary, Theonia''s skill in construction had far surpassed that of Rome, which gave Davos a pleasant feeling that he couldn''t help but say, ¡°It seems the rumour I heard about the Romanspromising the city¡¯s appearance to rebuilding the whole city fast is true.¡±

    ¡°You are right, Your Majesty! Moreover, apart from its ugly walls, Rome¡¯s urban area is also unsightly. Originally, this ce had rivers, hills and ins; if they had nned and built it well, this city would be a beautiful ce. However, the Romans had ruined it!¡± Henipolis sighed with regret.

    ¡°Now that this city belongs to Theonia, we can demolish and rebuild it!¡± Matonis said nonchntly.

    ¡°Matonis, it seems you are interested in rebuilding Rome. So when the war ends, the Senate could appoint you as the aedile of Rome,¡± said Davos jokingly.

    ¡°No, Your Majesty. I am not interested in rebuilding Rome. You might as well give this position to someone else,¡± Matonis hurriedly said.

    Everyone beganughing.

    While ncing over the Romans'' corpses on the corner of the street, Davos¡¯ smile narrowed as he said, ¡°Before the siege, I demanded you not to indiscriminately kill the people in the city after breaking through. How did the soldiers carry it out?¡±

    Olivos looked at Davos'' expression and said cautiously, ¡°We have stressed it repeatedly, and so the soldiers tried not to act against the people in the city. However, it was beyond our ability as some Romans didn''t know what was good for them and took the initiative to attack us! But the main reason for the casualties was when they began fleeing in panic after seeing us breach the city, and they began pushing and trampling on each other, resulting in many casualties in the Roman Forum¡­¡±

    Davos certainly understood that no one could stop themselves from harming or killing civilians after capturing the enemy''s city. Otherwise, how could they deter the enemy? He only said that to warn these legates to restrain their soldiers and not act recklessly, ¡°The Roman army would stille, so the more living Romans we have, the better it was for us for the next battle¡­have all these Romans returned to their homes?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. However, some were unwilling to leave and stayed in the Roman Forum. So we¡­have taken some coercive measures!¡± Matonis said.

    Davos nodded. Afterwards, he entered the Roman Forum, where the wide, t ground, paved initially with clean white stone bs, was now almost red with pools of blood constantly reflecting in Davos'' eyes. Davos frowned as he watched the soldiers clean up the Roman Forum by dragging away the body, making him ask, ¡°What do you do with these corpses?¡±

    Matonis pointed in front and said casually, ¡°Drag it to the square outside the eastern side for cremation.¡±

    Davos pondered for a while and said, ¡°Bring some Romans with you during the cremation to confirm the deceased''s identity, and then bring the ashes to their loved ones.¡±

    Matonis was taken aback hearing that. Thinking it was troublesome, he wanted to argue further but was stopped by Olivos, who interjected, ¡°Understood, Your Majesty. I will immediately send someone to notify Amintas, who was in charge of this matter.¡±

    As Davos'' group continued to head north straight through the Forum, they saw twelve bronze pirs standing at intervals on the edge of the Roman Forum. Davos then stepped forward to take a look.

    Each bronze pir featured engraved tablets that had weathered over the years, developing slight rust due to prolonged exposure to the elements.

    ¡°Your Majesty, what''s written on it?¡± Henipolis curiously asked when he saw Davos'' fascination.

    ¡°These are Rome''s Law of the Twelve Tables, on which it records thews of the Romans. Like us, Rome is a city-state that obeys thew!¡± Davos let out an emotional sigh as he remembered his previous life while studyingw at university, where Rome''s Law of the Twelve Tables was an essential foundation for understanding the formation of Westernw, not expecting to see the real thing today.

    He stretches his hand to touch the bronze pir, where his past and present life intersect at this moment. He then eximed emotionally, ¡°This is the most precious treasure of the Romans!¡±

    Olivos then took the opportunity to say tteringly, ¡°Unfortunately, this precious treasure of the Romans now belongs to us Theonians!¡±

    Henipolis swept his gaze at the bronze pir greedily. Although he didn''t know Latin letters, he decided to buy a literate Latin ve and copy all the things written.

    ¡°Let''s go.¡± Davos led them up the staircase, pushed open the thick wooden door and entered Rome''s centre of authority ¨C the Senate.

    ¡°This is Rome''s Senate? It''s much small than our Great Senate Hall!¡± Said Henipolis, looking around with a hint of disdain.

    Davos didn''t say anything as he was busy examining the building frequently appearing in his previous life¡¯s literary works, historical materials, and film and television. Compared to the Grand Senate Hall in Thurii, which can amodate a thousand people, this circr venue can only amodate two to three hundred people. In addition, the indoor facilities are outdated, making him suddenly realise that the kingdom of Theonia he had built would take the ce of Rome in this life. And the excellent Caesar and Octavius, the politician who had truly made the Roman Empire, would no longer exist.

    While thinking this, Davos strode towards the centre of the Senate Hall.

    After the guards ced wooden tables and chairs at the ce where the Roman senators gave their speeches, they then put a map of the city of Rome. Then Matonis and Olivos quickly sat down.

    Soon after, Amintas, Litom, Giorgris, Trotidis, Epiphanes, Ledes, Kurcius, Tolmides, Mithridates, Phryntor, Izam, as well as Steichicodas, the head of all the medical camp, and Orophes, the head of all engineering camp¡­all arrived one after another.

    Davos gazed at the crowd and said, ¡°Let''s first discuss the losses suffered by the various legions in this siege.¡±

    After saying that, the faces of several legates became unsightly.

    After the legates gave their report, it was Davos'' turn for his expression to be unpleasant. After all, the army has suffered over five thousand casualties, with the Fourth Legion having the highest number, followed by the First and Second Legion. And unlike previous battles, the mortality rate is much higher, with as many as two thousand dying directly inbat.

    Although Davos already expected the casualties in the siege to be high, he did not expect the casualty rate to be one-twelfth of the army, with the six legions almost having a thousand casualties each, not counting the soldiers who suffered minor wounds.

    Davos suppressed his shock and asked Steichicodas, ¡°What''s the situation of the wounded soldiers?¡±

    Steichicodas'' expression became grave, ¡°The situation is terrible! So far, there were four hundred and fifty that died due to ineffective treatment, while we are uncertain whether two hundred and thirty-two more soldiers with severe burns would survive the fevers and infections in the past few days¡­then there are more than a thousand who suffered serious wounds from falling, getting stabbed, cut, smashed and drowned¡­they are unlikely to recover anytime soon. And even if they recover, they won''t be able to live a normal life¡­¡±

    After hearing that, Davos felt suffocated and ufortable since he knew the leading cause of such heavy casualties was himself because the legions wouldn''t have continued attacking so recklessly without his demand to capture the city within a day. Still, he couldn''t stop himself from shouting sternly, ¡°More than five thousand men! That''s usually the poption of a small Greek city-state wasted in just one day of battle! The soldiers trusted us and fully executed everymand we issued, expecting us to take care of them, guide them, and try our best to lead them back home as whole as possible!¡±

    After saying that, Davos mmed his fist at the table and said, ¡°But some of you didn''t use your brains in the war and didn''t care much about the soldiers'' lives. If you continue fighting like this, you will wipe out our entire army! Let me see how you will face the parents, wives and children of the soldiers who died in the war when we return!¡±

    Davos'' sharp gaze swept over the legates, especially pausing on Amintas and Olivos.

    Despitecking siege equipment and coordinated support from friendly forces, Amintas harboured the delusion that he could single-handedly breach the city wall using his men¡¯s strength. That led him tomit most of his troops to relentlessly attack the defenders atop the city wall, resulting in significant casualties for the mighty First Legion.

 Chapter 801: Postwar Arrangement (I)

    Meanwhile, Olivos became negligent and failed to conduct proper surveince after the Fourth Legion breached the city walls. Moreover, he couldn''t control the soldiers under hismand, allowing them to rush recklessly into the breach. As a result, they became trapped beneath the wall, and the enemy seized the opportunity to pour burning oil on them, inflicting heavy casualties.

    As for Matonis'' Second Legion: Davos witnessed the entire battle since he was in the rear and knew that although the Second Legion had the best siege equipment, the Romans also gathered many troops to defend the area he was attacking. Hence Davos wasn¡¯t angry at Matonis that much.

    In these years of war, Davos seldom criticise them harshly, so the several legates hung their heads in shame.

    Davos stopped looking at them, lowered his tone, and said to Steichicodas, ¡°What are the difficulties you are experiencing in treating the soldiers?¡±

    ¡°There are too many wounded, but we don''t have enough manpower to care for them.¡±

    ¡°Tolmides, you are responsible formanding the soldiers from the various legions to follow Steichicodas'' order to assist the medical camp and rescue ourrades.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, we still need many spacious and clean rooms to allow the wounded to rest and recover.¡±

    ¡°This matter is easy to handle.¡± Davos thought momentarily and said, ¡°I heard that many Roman nobles fled to Mons Capitolinus. Trotidis, you are responsible for leading the soldiers to vacate those nobles'' homes and give them to the medical camp.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    Steichicodas hesitated and continued, ¡°And¡­Your Majesty, I also wish to save those wounded Romans.¡± Apassionate healer always puts the well-being and interests of their patients first. So even though the two sides are hostile, there are only patients in the eyes of a physician.

    Davos smiled slightly and said with relief, ¡°I would have ordered you to do that even if you didn''t tell me.¡±

    He then looked at the legates and said, ¡°Now, let''s define each legion''s camp within the city of Rome.¡±

    Upon hearing this, the legates immediately leaned forward and looked at the map of Rome on the table.

    ¡°The First and Second Legion would camp in the Roman Forum,¡± Davos pointed to the map and continued, ¡°The Fourth Legion would camp in the arena, the Sixth Legion would camp in the southeast corner of the city, the Fifth Legion would camp in the southwest corner of the city, and the Third Legion-¡±

    Davos paused momentarily and looked at Litom, ¡°You will still be staying in your camp and continue improving the camp''s defence by including the riverbank where the Third Fleet docked their ships. Although you will have to work harder than the other legions, you must understand that guarding the camp is of utmost importance as it is where the convoy fleet would transport the supplies for the entire army! So you must guard it carefully and ensure nothing goes wrong!¡±

    ¡°You can leave it to our Third Legion, Your Majesty!¡± Litom eximed.

    Davos nodded and looked at the various legates, ¡°Everyone should understand the location of your camp, right? If you face any difficulties, feel free to ask them now.¡±

    The several legates looked at the map, and all expressed no object except for Giorgris. Davos then looked at him and said, ¡°Giorgris, tell me if you have any difficulties.¡±

    Giorgris said cautiously, ¡°Your Majesty, the southwest corner of the city is full of ruined houses, so there is not enough open space for the Fifth Legion to camp. In addition, with rubbish scattered everywhere, the smell was so unpleasant that it wasn¡¯t good for our soldiers'' rest¡­ Since there are quite a few vacant spaces near the arena, do you think it''s possible for my Fifth Legion to camp there as well?¡±

    Upon hearing that, Davos quickly looked at the map. Although it didn''t indicate any slums in the southwest corner of Rome, he still believed in Giorgris'' statement since they were on the frontline.

    ¡°Okay!¡± Davos immediately agreed with Giorgris'' suggestion and asked the legatus of the Sixth Legion, ¡°Trotidis, do you have any difficulties in having the Sixth Legion camp in the southeast corner?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, I''ve noticed plenty of open space from the top of the city walls, so there seems to be no problem setting up camp.¡±

    After discussing the infantry legions, Davos then looked at the cavalry legates, ¡°The ce where the two Cavalry Legions would camp is on the north side of Collis Caelius, just south of the Roman Forum. When I entered the city gate just now, I saw arge market there that the Romans no longer use, and it had some animal pens and stables that are suitable for your cavalry to use.¡±

    Ledes and Kurcius nodded without objection.

    ¡°Now that we have rified the camps of each legion, next would be to determine your area of responsibility.¡± Davos pointed at the map and continued, ¡°The sections of the walls you had attacked would be the ones you would patrol while also responsible for order and security. The initial arrangement would be as follows: The Fourth and Fifth Legions would be responsible for the area south of the arena, the First and Sixth Legions would be responsible for the area from the Roman Forum to the north of Collis Esquilinus, and the Second Legion, marines and mountain reconnaissance brigade would be responsible for the centre of the city.¡±

    After saying that, Davos looked at Matonis and said, ¡°Your Second Legion is responsible for thergest area but has the smallest number of soldiers. However, you don''t have to worry since the information I received so far reported most of the inhabitants in the centre are Roman nobles, and many of them have fled to Mons Capitolinus, so your task should be rtively easy.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, our brothers from the Second Legion wouldn''t feel any pressure even if there are still here. After all, what''s so scary about a bunch of elderlies, children and women?!¡± Said Matonis confidently.

    ¡°The Third Legion would be responsible for the northern shore of Rome''s Pons Aemilius and protect the port we will build there. As for the two Cavalry Legions, your task would be to patrol the whole city and, if you find any anomalies, inform the legions responsible in that area in time for them to solve the problems. Since fighting in the city isn''t good for the cavalry, you shouldn''t let our precious cavalry be lost here. In addition, the legions should hurry to improve the section of the city walls they are defending, cing abatis and setting up traps outside the walls¡­to ensure that we would no longer need to pay massive casualties just to keep the city that is already ours¡­ Oh, by the way, we need to repair the two sections of the walls that the Fourth and Fifth Legions had copsed as soon as possible!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, our soldiers are already doing their best repairing it,¡± said Giorgris immediately.

    ¡°Excellent!¡± Davos nodded at him with satisfaction. Although Giorgris wasn''t as brave as Matonis inbat, nor was he as intelligent as Olivos, and was even timid by nature, it was precisely because of his timidity that he became cautious and meticulous that allowed him to y a crucial role in certain situations.

    ¡°Your Majesty, what about us? Where would we stay? What would be our task? You wouldn''t have forgotten about us, will you?!¡± Epiphanes hurriedly asked.

    ¡°How could I possibly forget your troops!¡± Davosughed. He then pointed at the hill-shaped icon immediately to the west of the northeastern wall and said deeply, ¡°I ask you to lead your army to build a camp to enclose Mons Capitolinus.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn''t it be better to storm the ce directly?!¡± Epiphanes loudly suggested.

    ¡°No! We need to keep them,¡± Davos smiled mysteriously, ¡°Only then can we control the Roman army outside.¡±

    Davos'' words made the legates ponder.

    ¡°Are you clear about your tasks? Does anyone else have other questions?¡±

    ¡°None,¡± the legates responded simultaneously.

    ¡°How many captives have we captured?¡± Davos turned around and asked Tolmides.

    ¡°From the preliminary statistics, there are over twenty-one thousand three hundred.¡±

    ¡°That''s a lot.¡±

    ¡°Many were elderlies, women, children¡­and ves,¡± Tolmides reminded.

    ¡°Release all the captives over fifty-five and under fifteen of age, while the rest will be divided among the legions to serve asbourers¡­and so on-¡± Suddenly remembering something, Davos'' tone changed as he said, ¡°First distinguish between the nobles and plebeians among these prisoners and those followers of the nobles. Moreover, you shouldn¡¯t release the young and elderlies of the nobles and their followers.¡±

    ¡°That¡­we are not familiar with Rome''s situation, so we might not be able to distinguish them clearly in a short time.¡± Tolmides said embarrassedly.

    ¡°You should¡­take Valerius, the Roman ve who surrendered to us, and order him to identify the deceased while you just need to oversee the process.¡± Davos understood that although these men under him were good at fighting, they had no experience handling political matters. Thus he was now incredibly eagerly awaiting the group of statesmen and officials in Ostia to arrive.

    ¡°Understood.¡± Tolmides epted the order.

    ¡°Orophes, the engineering camp you have organised has done us a great service in taking the city of Rome by making numerous siege equipment in a short time!¡­¡± Davos didn''t mince words when praising and told the military inspectors to ensure that the contributions made by the engineers and craftsmen must be recorded as an important basis for awarding them plots ofnd based on their merits after the war.

    He then told his request, ¡°I need you to lead all the engineers to build a simple dock as soon as possible on the riverbank where the Third Fleet has docked their warships so that our convoy fleet can load and unload supplies.¡±

    Surprised, Orophes said, ¡°But Your Majesty, isn''t there already a river port here? Why build another one?¡±

    Although Orophes was a mercenary, Davos knew that he had gotten engrossed in researching and building siege equipment all these years, so he didn''t understand the current situation well. Thus he exined to him patiently, ¡°The Roman army is about to arrive tomorrow and has probably nearly seventy thousand men. Unfortunately, the current situation of our army doesn''t allow us to fight against them. Thus we can only stay and defend inside the city of Rome for now. However, with the river port outside the city and no solid wall for protection, it would require us to pay a lot of casualties to keep it, which ispletely unnecessary. Hence we can only rely on you! Since numerous men and ships will arrive in Rome tomorrow, I hope you can speed up the construction of the dock!¡±

    ¡°We will do our best!¡± said Orophes. Although he felt a certain amount of pressure, he still had the confidence to build the dock tomorrow. After all, he now has over a thousand experienced and skilled engineers and craftsmen (including the engineering camps of the various legions) in his hands, as well as sufficient lumber.

 Chapter 802: Postwar Arrangements (II)

    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± Mithridates suddenly interjected with some concern, ¡°If we hold onto the city of Rome when the Roman army arrives, the Romans will take control of the banks from the Tiber to the city of Ostia, resulting in the ves unable to pull our ships. Without the ves, our ships cannot reach Rome alone from Ostia unless there''s a strong east wind, resulting in Rome''s ess to the outside cut off and turning Rome into an isted city.¡±

    Mithridates'' words surprised the legates.

    But Davos just smiled and said, ¡°I had already considered this issue. There''s no need for you to worry since you can make the ves pull the ships on the north bank of the Tiber instead.¡±

    ¡°North bank?¡±

    ¡°From our previous intelligence report, the section of the Tiber from the city of Rome to Ostia is both deep and wide, making it impossible to traverse on foot. In addition, the Romans only built two bridges on such a long stretch of the river, the Pons Aemilius, where the Third Legion camp was, and a wooden bridge(actually two bridges) built on Is Tiberina in the centre of the river, which the Romans destroyed themselves. I reckon the reason there are so few bridges is to prevent the Etruscans, Rome''s former enemies, from easily crossing the Tiber and invading Roman territory. Now that the fleet had taken control of the coast here, the Roman army wouldn''t easily reach the north bank to threaten the ves pulling our ships.

    Furthermore, we had defeated the reinforcements from the Roman colonies on the north bank of the Tiber, as well as their Etruscan allies. We even took a number of them as captives-¡± Davos looked at Litom approvingly and said, ¡°Next, we will take some actions against the city-states on the north bank to wipe Rome''s influence on the north bank of the Tiber and secure the waterway.¡±

    The legates cheered up after hearing that. After all, there aren''t any generals who like to get beaten passively, and Davos'' words implied they would take some military action on the north bank of the Tiber.

    ¡°Your Majesty, I read the information about the Latium region, and it seems there is a pontoon bridge connecting the banks of the Tiber to the city of Fidenae.¡± Phryntor suddenly reminded.

    Davos nodded, affirming it and said, ¡°Yes, there is indeed a pontoon bridge there. However, it is narrow and favourable to the passage of arge army. I also ordered the scouts to watch the pontoon bridge in Fidenae day and night. Once there were any enemy movements, Litom would immediately send an army to the north bank of the pontoon to intercept the enemy crossing the river. And if arge Roman army were to move out, then you, Olivos, would gather your Fourth Legion first and rush there. Still, I don''t think Camillus will make such a foolish mistake ordering his mixed army head towards a narrow pontoon bridge for us to ughter.¡±

    ¡°I understand, Your Majesty.¡± Litom and Olivos responded simultaneously.

    Mithridates also felt relieved. Then he immediately said, ¡°Your Majesty, when can our Third Fleet leave Rome and return to the sea?¡±

    For a warship that traverses the sea toe to the river is just like a dragon swimming in shallow water without any way to use its full ability. And Mithridates, as the navarch, was unwilling to let the fleet turn into a subordinate of the army and only y a supporting role in the whole war.

    Davos obviously understood his thoughts and said, ¡°The fleet''s crew had also made a great contribution in today¡¯s battle and must also be tired. So you must have them rest in the camp tonight and recover their strength first, then you can lead the fleet to leave Rome early tomorrow morning and ensure the safety of the army at sea. However, you must leave five fast-sailing ships and two thousand marines behind.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± Mithridates replied without hesitation.

    Davos continued to ask, ¡°Would it take you three to four days to reach Terina from Ostia?¡±

    ¡°It would only take a day or two if there¡¯s a favourable wind.¡±

    ¡°Since your Third Fleet''s naval base in Terina has enough men.¡± Davos looked at him and continued, ¡°I''ll allow your Third Fleet to recruit another two thousand marines to participate in this war against Rome and Carthage.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty!¡± Mithridates stood up with a joyful expression and saluted.

    It should be noted that the men of each legion and fleet are fixed, and its head isn''t allowed to expand its army without authorisation, which is only in the hands of the king. If anyone vites it, besides receiving a sentence ording to the militaryw once discovered, their citizenship might even get deprived. Although the legates and regionalmanders fighting on the battlefield during wars have the right to call the citizens of their region to fight, they must disband these temporary troops after the war ends. Hence several legates cast envious gazes at Mithridates.

    ¡°Since we can''t preserve the river port outside, we also can''t preserve the granary.¡± Davos turned to look at Tolmides and asked, ¡°So have you brought all the grains outside the city inside?¡±

    ¡°The logistics camp is stepping up their transportation.¡±

    ¡°Where did you store them?¡± Davos continued to ask.

    ¡°Here.¡± Tolmides pointed to a hill south of the Roman Forum, ¡°Collis Ptinus had a rtively low and t terrain, with wide and t roads. Furthermore, there are a lot of vacant courtyards and ready-made granaries where we can easily store food and grain, from which we managed to find a lot of grains that were left behind.¡±

    ¡°The people living on this hill are all descendants of the colonisers who came to build the city together with the first king of Rome and have now all be nobles. Since this hill is the closest to Mons Capitolinus, most of them must have already fled.¡± From the previous intelligence they received about the city of Rome, Davos had already guessed the movements taken by the residents on Collis Ptinus after the city fell, ¡°Tolmides, send your men to lead the troops to collect all the grain stored in the homes of all the nobles in the city of Rome for military ration.¡±

    ¡°Just the nobles?¡± Tolmides asked in surprise.

    ¡°Yes, only the nobles! And if they haven''t left for Capitolinus, leave them enough food for ten days. However, you are strictly forbidden to invade the homes of the plebeians, let alone seize their food and possessions. Anyone found viting my order will face severe punishment!¡± Davos looked at everyone and said in a stern tone.

    ¡°Your Majesty, you can feel at ease since the soldiers had strictlyplied with your prohibition after they entered the city¡­¡± the legates each gave their promises one after another.

    ¡°Now then, since I have all made your task clear, hasten up to carry it out.¡± Davos stood up and said, ¡°I fear the approaching Roman army will arrive the day after tomorrow. But before they arrive, we must fully prepare to defeat them and expand our victory! And we will make thisnd belong to the Kingdom of Theonia once and for all!¡±

    The legates, filled with fighting spirit, saluted Davos and departed.

    Steichicodas and Orophes also departed equally in high spirits.

    Meanwhile, Davos had Phryntor stay when everyone was leaving.

    ¡°Your Majesty, I have a responsibility for the massive casualties suffered by the First Legion¡­¡± Phryntor, with guilt on his face, tried to confess his mistake.

    Davos waved his hand and said, ¡°I understand the situation, and I know it''s not your fault. So don''t take the responsibility all on your own.¡±

    Phryntor immediately felt relieved hearing that.

    ¡°Now I would like to give you a task,¡± Davos looked at him and said seriously, ¡°Take a few staff officers and a hundred pce guards to raid all the noble houses in the city, collect and register all the gold, silver and other valuable things. With the drought almost depleting the treasury, we must ship these treasures back to ease the kingdom''s deficiency.¡±

    Phryntor immediately expressed his understanding, and after a moment of thought, he said, ¡°What about the temples?¡±

    The temples are the wealthiest in a city-state because the people revere and fear the gods, so they would always offer the best to the gods, hoping to receive their protection and blessings. Apart from the temples of several major deities on Mons Capitolinus, there are also temples in other parts of Rome.

    ¡°Not for now!¡± Davos remained hesitant about this.

    Phryntor seemed to have understood what Davos meant even without him exining more. After epting the order, Phryntor turned around and left.

    Davos looked at the empty hall and rxed temporarily. After looking at the map on the table for a while, he decided to go to the medical camp to check on the wounded soldiers.

    But just as he exited the gate of the Senate, he bumped into Crotokatax.

    ¡°Father!¡± Although Crotokatax looked exhausted, he was a little bit excited.

    Davos naturally knew the reason: In the final stage of the battle to block the Roman reinforcements, his son managed to cut down two enemies and ovee the difort of killing someone for the first. Then he followed the army to break through the city of Rome, chased down the routed defenders and then joined the other soldiers in clearing the many wounded, bloodstained and messy Roman Forum.

    Davos was satisfied with his son''s performance on the battlefield. But it was clear that he was now excited like a child getting a new toy and needed to cool down. Thus Davos said calmly, ¡°Come with me.¡±

    ¡°Where are we going?¡±

    Henipolis, following behind, said, ¡°The medical camp!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Quintus and Furius, each with three thousand soldiers, began their return to Rome at dusk yesterday. However, the ill-prepared men,cking experience in marching at night, soon encountered difficulties such as soldiers falling and getting separated, disturbances in their ranks,¡­and so on. As the night grew darker and the situation became more and more out of control, Quintus and Furius no longer dared to hurry any further. Instead, they had ordered the soldiers to camp along the river to rest and recuperate.

    The following day, the army set off early again.

    But they ran into another problem shortly after. Although they didn''t encounter any attacks from the natives, the roads along the river were either damaged or blocked with logs and stones, forcing the army to stop and clear the roads¡­ As a result, they had to march and stop until they managed to get out of the valley at dusk and arrive at the city of Praeneste.

 Chapter 803: Envoy to Etruria

    Quintus and Furius were exhausted and were trying to catch their breath when they bumped into Maegius, who had rushed over.

    ¡°What did you say?! Rome has fallen?!!¡± It''s as if something had struck the two generals'' heads, making them stagger and almost fall.

    ¡°How could that be possible?! Rome with its high wall! With its many poptions! Yet they didn''t even manage tost for even a day?!!¡± Furius couldn''t believe what he had heard.

    Quintus even stepped forward to grab Maegius by his clothes and angrily questioned him, ¡°What did the Senate do?! What did you do?! Didn''t you do anything?! Did you just watch the enemy attack our city?!!¡­¡±

    ¡°We didn¡¯t sit around! Of course, we didn¡¯t just sit around! We had done our best, even gathering reinforcements to attack the enemy desperately to alleviate the pressure on the defenders¡­ For this reason, not only our army was defeated¡­even Paulus died in battle¡­¡±

    Maegius argued with a pained expression, and he, who was in his fifties, cried helplessly like a child, ¡°¡­But the Theonians have made many siege equipment that we have never seen before, they¡­they have even assembled pontoon bridges with their warships on the Tiber¡­and their soldiers were full of elites! But what about us?! Not¡­not¡­only have you brought the elite citizens of Rome to Hernici, but even the elite citizens of our surrounding allied city-states! So how do you expect us to fight back?!!¡±

    Maegius'' questioning back left Quintus and Furius speechless and deeply felt guilty.

    ¡°Let''s go! We''ll go and recapture Rome immediately!¡± Quintus left angrily after suddenly shouting.

    Furius stood still in a daze for a moment before following closely behind.

    Maegius tried to stop them and advised loudly, ¡°I understand your feelings. However, attacking the Theonians with an army of less than ten thousand is suicidal! It''s better to wait for dictator Camillus to arrive with his massive army!¡±

    ¡°Although we only have six thousand men, the enemy has just upied Rome. In addition, they must suffer heavy losses, and the order in the city must also be chaotic. So they must have no precaution against us, allowing us to seed just like when Camillus raided Praeneste!¡±

    But Maegius continued advising, ¡°The Theonians aren''t like the Volscians and Marsians. They are more disciplined and will not make such mistakes! Moreover, there are still dozens of kilometres from here to Rome. With you already exhausted from your long journey, do you still have the strength to fight once you reach Rome?!!¡±

    Despite Maegius'' persuasion, Quintus refuses to listen and even calls Maegius a coward afraid of death. And with his insistence, the already shaken Furius naturally followed behind.

    ¡°Damn pigheaded udius!¡± Maegius stomped his foot and cursed at experiencing the udius n''s hardheadedness and recklessness.

    Maegius watched helplessly as the two figures disappeared into the distance while squatting on the ground, dejected. After a while, he regained his senses and suddenly remembered something, prompting him to turn around and run towards the Senate of Praeneste.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    And at this time, the Roman masses, who had been living in the viges outside Rome and had fled before the war, hurried towards where the army was camping. After arriving in groups, they beg the soldiers for help, their voices filled with sadness.

    With the news of Rome''s fall spreading across the whole army like a sudden storm, the soldiers began shouting after feeling shocked, ¡®Defeat the Theonians and recapture Rome¡¯, which turned the ce chaotic.

    So even if Quintus and Furius wanted to act cautiously, it was already impossible as they had almost lost control of the whole army.

    Fortunately, it was just what Quintus wanted. Standing in a high ce, he swung his fist and shouted at the soldiers, ¡°Citizens of Rome, our enemies are now ravaging our homes and abusing our loved ones! Do you hear their shout for help? Remember, you are the only one who can save them now! So take up your weapons, march on, chase away the enemy and save Rome to be the people''s heroes!¡±

    As soon as he said that, the soldiers waved their spears and shouted angrily, ¡°Save Rome! Save Rome!! Save Rome!!!¡­¡±

    Their thunderous roar shook and rang throughout the city of Praeneste, boosting the soldiers'' morale. Then under the leadership of Quintus and Furius, they rushed towards the city of Rome while forgetting their fatigue.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After visiting the medical camp, Crotokatax no longer had an excited smile but felt a somewhat heavy mood.

    On the other hand, Davos didn¡¯t say anything as he thought it was a good thing. After all, Crotokatax must experience and learn everything by himself.

    Then Davos immediately summoned Tapirus after returning to the Roman Senate, which had temporarily be themand base of the Theonian army.

    Due to his previous mission to Rome, Davos didn''t make him stay at Ostia. Instead, he had him follow the army to Rome so he could consult with him at any time.

    ¡°Your Majesty, congrattions on capturing the great city of Rome!¡± Tapirus immediately congratted Davos as soon as he saw him.

    ¡°It is indeed worth celebrating our capture of Rome. However, don''t indulge in this victory too much, as it may put our army in trouble.¡± Davos said indifferently. Then he pointed to the chair beside him and said, ¡°Sit down quickly. Tapirus, can you tell me what enemies we will face next?¡±

    Although Tapirus didn''t understand the wise king''s intention in suddenly asking this question, it was obviously rted to him getting called here. So after a moment¡¯s thought, he said, ¡°The Roman army that is returning, the surrounding Latin city-states, and¡­uh, the Etruscan allies of Rome¡­?¡±

    Instead of replying immediately, Davos continued asking, ¡°How much do you know about Etruria?¡±

    Etruria?! Tapirus immediately understood what Davos wanted him to do. As someone from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, his department held much information about the surrounding areas of Rome, some of which were even confidential. Most of them are collected by the intelligence department led by Aristias for envoys to learn and understand, allowing them to have a clear objective when travelling to foreign ces.

    Tapirus modestly said, ¡°Your Majesty, I have some knowledge of them. The Etruscans were a great force in central and northern Italia, consisting of twelve important city-states that formed the Etruscan League that had long been enemies of the Romans. Unfortunately, the Celt invasion a dozen years ago weakened the Etruscans considerably, allowing the Romans to conquer the Etruscan city-states north of the Tiber one after another over the years¡­¡±

    Davos nodded, leaned back and said, ¡°Although we have captured the city of Rome, Rome''s elite army is about to arrive, and we must do our best to deal with them. But if the Etruscans on the north bank of the Tiber were to respond to the Romans'' demand and attack again, we would be caught fighting on two fronts.

    However¡­the Etruscans, once a glorious civilisation, had a long influence over Rome. Now, the Romans turned it around and aspired to be their masters, even urging the conquered Etruscan city-states to heed Rome''s call and obey its orders. So it is unlikely that these city-states will be happy with this reversal of fortune. Therefore, I need an envoy to go to Caisra, Vulci, and Tarchuna, bringing them our friendly wishes by willingly allying with them and helping them regain thends the Romans had taken.

    It''s just that I don''t know what attitude they would adopt towards the envoys we send since we haven''t gotten in contact with the Etruscan before. Thus this mission carries a greater risk¡­¡±

    Tapirus immediately stood up and volunteered, ¡°Your Majesty, I knew that an envoy would need to take risks since the first day I entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For this mission''s sess and Your Majesty''s sake, I am willing to go to the city-state of Etruria and do my bestplete it!¡±

    Davos gazed at him with approval and said aloud with relief, ¡°I was fortunate to buy you and give you your freedom. I am sure you will be an example to all the liberated ves of Theonia!¡±

    Tapirus became so excited that he immediately responded sincerely, ¡°Your Majesty, it was my greatest fortune to be your ve!¡±

    ¡°Good! Good!¡­¡± Davos smiled. Then he said, ¡°We managed to capture some Etruscans in this battle, so choose some of them and release them when you go to the Etruscan city-states to show our sincerity.¡±

    Tapirus'' eyes brightened, and said, ¡°Your Majesty, can I see the captives now? I want to ask more about the situations of the Etruscan city-states.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Davos was pleased with his subordinates'' diligence.

    After Tapirus left, Henipolis smiled and said, ¡°Your Majesty, your liberated ve''s ability is exceptional. I think this Tapirus won''t be inferior to Aristocrates.¡±

    ¡°Aristocrates is now a newly promoted statesman.¡± Davis looked at Henipolis and said, ¡°Hurry up and bring that Roman senator.¡±

    Then they brought Publilius Manlius to the Roman Senate.

    Publilius Manlius'' face twitched a few times when he saw Rome''s centre of authority be the enemy''s office, where enemy soldiers in shining armour were sitting on the tables and chairs in the centre of the hall. He then walked straight over and pulled a chair to sit down.

    When he saw Davos looking at him, he stared back without backing down.

    ¡°This is King Davos of the mighty Kingdom of Theonia! Roman, immediately show your respect!¡± Henipolis said loudly.

 Chapter 804: Marcus, Romes Hero

    Then the pce guards shouted simultaneously.

    Even when faced with the murderous intent, Publilius Manlius didn''t feel nervous and put on a nk expression as if he couldn''t understand Greek.

    Davos couldn''t help butugh when he saw how this round-faced guy put on a nk expression and pretended to be stupid, ¡°We''ve already interrogated your ve and know you are fluent in Greek. So you can stop feigning ignorance already.¡±

    A cold expression swept across Publilius'' face as he uttered in Greek, ¡°You have seized our city and now demand me to show respect? Only a fool would have such a preposterous notion!¡±

    ¡°You-¡± The furious Henipolis wanted to refute but was stopped by Davos.

    ¡®It seems the Roman senators are worthy of being the elites among the Romans, with none of them being cowards!¡¯ Davos sighed as he knew more or less some of the history of the Roman Republic in his previous life. Afterwards, he slowly said, ¡°The gens Manlia is one of the renowned patrician houses in Rome! Someone told me that during the Celt''s upation of Rome, one of the heroes who saved Rome, Marcus Manlius Capitolinus, should also belong to your Manlia n, right? I wonder if he is your brother?¡±

    Publilius turned pale and eximed immediately, ¡°No, I have nothing to do with him!¡±

    Davos looked at him and emphasised, ¡°Marcus Manlius Capitolinus was the former head of your Manlia n, so how could you possibly have nothing to do with him?! I am afraid the reason you could even sit as a senator of Rome is also rted to him!¡±

    Feeling insulted, Publilius ignored the guards'' intimidation and stood up. Then he loudly said, ¡°Marcus attempted to impose dictatorship in Rome! As a disgrace to our Manlia n, we had removed him from the family, making him no longer have anything to do with us anymore!¡±

    ¡°Oh, dictatorship?!¡± Davos smiled mischievously, ¡°You had already abolished kingship in Rome, so how could Marcus dare implement dictatorship even though the Roman popce already cherished the current political system of Rome?! Is it because he repelled the Celts on Mons Capitolinus and saved Rome?! Or is it based on how many times he had repelled the Aequians?! Or is it because of his bravery in battle and the honour of winning over forty civic crowns?!¡­ But I believe that Marcus, who had be the consul of Rome many times, shouldn''t be a madman or stupid enough to y with his life!¡±

    Publilius was surprised as he didn''t expect a foreign king to know about Marcus so well.

    ¡°But he was eventually taken down and got charged with attempted dictatorship! Why is that?¡± Davos asked while gazing at him sharply.

    But Publilius didn''t make eye contact with him and just remained silent.

    Davos smiled slightly and said, ¡°Wasn''t it because he supported the plebeians, demanding the abolition of their debts and fought for their rights, which is detrimental to you nobles, that you considered him a traitor and decided to kill him?!¡±

    Publilius trembled as he heard Davos'' words, never expecting that the King of Theonia would have such a deep understanding of their past. He began to feel uneasy, wondering what exactly he wanted to do.

    ¡°In my opinion, Marcus Manlius Capitolinus is a true Roman hero who can disregard his noble status and sincerely help themon people to alleviate the fierce conflict between the nobles and the plebeians in Rome, allowing your city-state to develop even better. Unfortunately, you Roman nobles were greedy and short-sighted that you had brutally killed him while shamelessly framing him!¡±

    Publilius was puzzled because Davos'' furious expression gave the impression that he wasn''t a king of Theonia but a Roman citizen worried about the city-state''s affairs.

    Then, Davos said deeply, ¡°Thus I have decided that tomorrow, in front of the Roman popce, I would clear the name of this true hero of Rome and dere the realisation of his ideals by abolishing the debts of the Roman popce, allocatingnd to them and give them equal opportunities to hold a position in the city-state¡­¡±

    Upon hearing this, Publilius hurriedly eximed, ¡°No, you have no right to do this!¡±

    ¡°I have the right to do this because the city of Rome is now in my hands! Do you think the sixty thousand or so mishmash troops led by Camillus could take this fortified city and have fifty thousand of my elite troops heavily defending it?! He will soon taste defeat!¡± Davos'' sharp gaze fell straight at Publilius. His voice pierced his head like an iron nail, ¡°And you, Publilius Manlius, will appear with me in front of the Roman popce tomorrow and show your support for the order I will issue as the cousin of Marcus, which I believe will also earn you the support of countless Roman citizens!¡±

    ¡°No! I will never appear with you even if you kill me!¡± Publilius refused without hesitation.

    ¡°That''s an order! You must attend! Otherwise-¡± Davos spoke decisively, reaching out to the guard''s short sword, then swung it down violently, only to hear a bang as he sliced a corner of the wooden table.

    The triangr corner of the table bounced a few times on the ground, which startled Publilius. But what frightened him even more was Davos following cold words, ¡°I will have you and your family executed! Anyway, I still have a few captives from the Manlia n in my hands, so someone will be bound to agree. For now, I''ll give you some time to think it over, Publilius Manlius, the current head of the Manlia n.¡± Davos then smiled slightly at him at the end of his sentence.

    When the guards escorted him outside, he could feel his legs go limp but kept cursing inwardly, ¡®Marcus, it wasn''t enough for you to gue our Manlia n, but now you want to drag us along?! If it wasn''t for you, how could I have kept a low profile in the Senate all these years? Because the other senators alienated our house that they had not informed us of the evacuation in advance. By the time we had finished packing and attempted to climb Mons Capitolinus, the civilians had already blocked the entire Roman Forum¡­ Damn you, Marcus! Marcus¡­¡¯

    ¡°Your Majesty, will he even agree?¡± Henipolis asked curiously.

    ¡°If he doesn''t, we still have other people from the Manlius house. And even if all of them disagree, it won''t affect our n that much.¡± Davos returned the short sword to the guard and continued, ¡°Having them around is just a way to make our actions more convincing. Anyway, I don''t believe the Roman popce won''t feel touched once we give tangible benefits to them.¡±

    ¡°In fact, this Publilius failed to realise how much benefit he would get from obeying your words, Your Majesty.¡± Henipolisughed.

    ¡°Then he can only regret it in the underworld,¡± Davos lightly said. Then he reminded Henipolis, ¡°Go and call Valerius.¡±

    Although Valerius was curious as this was the first time he entered the Roman Senate, he didn''t stop to look around because the king of Theonia was waiting for him.

    If his motive for aiding Theonia, an outsider, in its battle against his former homnd was to seek revenge and extricate himself from his predicament, he was now genuinely in awe by Theonia''s formidable military, which managed to capture thergest city in Latium within a day! ¡®Could the other forces even stand up to this powerful kingdom?!¡¯

    Valerius was thinking about that as he nervously approached King Davos.

    Davos then amiably said, ¡°I remember your name is Valerius. You don''t have to be nervous.¡±

    ¡°Ye¡­yes¡­¡± Valerius nodded repeatedly but still stood stiffly.

    Seeing him act like this, Davos said in a gentler tone, ¡°It is because of your great contribution we were able to capture Rome this time. In recognition of your achievements, I will grant you Theonian citizenship in advance.¡±

    Valerius hurriedly said, ¡°Tha¡­thank you, You¡­Your Majesty!¡±

    Davos smiled and continued, ¡°And¡­now that we have the city of Rome, and you being the first Roman to be a citizen of Theonia, I have decided to appoint you as the vice praetor of Rome to facilitate the management of this city!¡±

    ¡°Vice praetor?!¡± Valerius was puzzled at this unfamiliar word.

    ¡°It''s just like a magistrate in Rome. However, its actual authority is far greater.¡± Henipolis, who had studied Rome''s system of government, exined.

    As the name suggests, a Roman magistrate is to manage the government affairs of the city of Rome. The Senate would decide all decisions, whetherrge or small, while the two consuls were in charge of the government affairs, and the judicial magistrate was in charge of the most important legal affairs of Rome. Finally, a magistrate is just one of the positions under the consul and is responsible for some unimportant affairs of Rome, so it is only an intermediate position.

    Meanwhile, the vice praetor in Theonia was different. While the praetor serves as the chief administrator of a city, allowing them to devise ns and make decisions for the city''s development within the boundaries of Theonia''sws, the vice praetor serves as their assistant. The vice praetor is responsible for specific affairs within a particr aspect of the city and wields considerable influence and authority in that domain. Although it is an intermediary position in Theonia, it serves as a stepping stone towards bing a statesman. Moreover, Theonian officials who were promoted to the rank of statesman in the past decade have previously served as vice praetors, making the position of vice praetor a prerequisite for advancing to the rank of statesman.

 Chapter 805: The Roman Senators on Mons Capitolinus

    Valerius naturally couldn''tprehend the significance of the vice praetor position, but merely hearing the phrase ¡®greater power than a magistrate of Rome¡¯ had already left him incredulous. Just two days prior, he had been a lowly ve, but now he had swiftly ascended to the status of an intermediate-ranking official, causing envy among the plebeians of Rome. This unexpected windfall bewildered and frightened him, ¡°Your¡­Majesty, I¡­I¡­have never held an official position before, so I am worried¡­worried that I won''t do a good job¡­¡±

    Davosforted him by saying, ¡°There is no need for you to worry, as no one is born with the ability to aplish things immediately. Therefore, I will assign someone to assist you, but you naturally must work hard.¡±

    Valerius repeatedly nods.

    ¡°Can you read and write?¡± Asked Davos.

    Valerius shook his head, feeling embarrassed.

    ¡°It doesn''t matter.¡± Davos continued encouraging him by saying, ¡°Many ves in Theonia didn''t have the opportunity to be literate before getting liberated. Butter, they seized the time and opportunity to study harder, allowing them to be proficient in writing and pass the assessment of the kingdom and be officials. So I believe you can also do it! Once you have enough knowledge and understand thews of Theonia and earn more contributions, you might even get elected into the Theonian Senate!¡±

    ¡®Be a senator?!¡¯ Valerius suddenly experienced shortness of breath, as it was something he had never dreamed of before. When he departed, he felt like he was on cloud nine, with his entire body floating absentmindedly.

    Seeing Valerius'' state, Henipolis started worrying and said, ¡°Your Majesty, can he even do the job properly?¡±

    ¡°I do not expect him to do well in his position as the vice praetor of Rome. However, his mere presence serves as an example to all Roman plebeians, demonstrating that they can obtain all the rights they were denied by the Roman Senate, even at the cost of their lives, in Theonia!¡±

    Davos smiled faintly, then said, ¡°Moreover, you shouldn''t underestimate people from humble backgrounds! Once you open the gates to them and give them opportunities, their determination to change their fate will burst out with unimaginable force!¡±

    Henipolis said thoughtfully, ¡°Then I would pay attention to his performance and hope he won''t disappoint Your Majesty''s expectation of him!¡±

    At this moment, Davos rubbed his stomach and said, ¡°It''s time for dinner, and I am already a bit hungry.¡±

    Henipolis hurriedly asked the servants to prepare dinner.

    After sitting by the table, Davos noticed one person was missing, ¡°Where''s Croto?¡±

    ¡°Oh, Your Majesty,¡± Martius replied beside him, ¡°His Highness the Prince went down to the Roman Forum and dined with the soldiers of the Second Legions. I have already ordered the guards who fought alongside him to apany him.¡±

    Hearing that surprised Davos. Then he smiled happily and said, ¡°It seems this child has begun to adapt to the battlefield.¡±

    After Davos took a bite of bread and drank a liquor mixed with water, a guard hurriedly came inside and said, ¡°Your Majesty, the scouts have reported that less than ten thousand Roman soldiers are rushing towards Rome from the southeast.¡±

    Upon hearing that, Davos remained calm and said, after thinking momentarily, ¡°The southeast¡­we had just repulsed the Latin city-states'' reinforcements in the afternoon, so the army that appears now can only be the vanguard of the army the Roman dictator Camillus led. For them to arrive here from Hernici, they shouldn''t have an easy timeing as they had to traverse a distance of around a hundred kilometres, just over a day. Inform the legates to stay on the walls and wait for the enemy''s morale to run out before swallowing them!¡±

    Davos then took a big bite of his bread after giving the order.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Mons Capitolinus, one of the seven hills of Rome, held great significance to the Romans as their sacrednd. At its summit stood the revered Temple of Jupiter, the patron deity of Rome, alongside the Temple of Juno, the queen of the gods, and the Temple of Janus, a god of war in Roman mythology. The Temple of Janus, also known as the two-faced god, had two gates ¨C one in the front and one at the rear ¨C traditionally kept open during times of war and closed during times of peace. However, it remained open after the reign of the second king of Rome, Numa.

    Mons Capitolinus, the highest among the seven hills of Rome, was only over fifty metres high but had cliffs on three sides, while the remaining side boasted a gentle slope and roads for ascending the hill. Due to its limited summit area, no one chose to reside there during the early days of Rome''s establishment. However, a few individuals, including the Manlia family,ter decided to make it their home. It was not until the execution of Marcus Manlius Capitolinus for his attempted dictatorship that the Roman Senate issued a decree forbidding any further habitation on Mons Capitolinus, resulting in the relocation of the Manlia house.

    When the Celts invaded more than a decade ago, the Roman senators retreated to Mons Capitolinus with some of the citizens and stayed there for more than half a year. Since the city of Rome hadn''t yet fallenpletely, it had inspired the defeated Romans to rise and fight. Eventually, Camillus managed to lead the army to chase out the Celts, which made Mons Capitolinus more sacred in the hearts of the Romans.

    Currently, the Romans had greater confidence to hold out until the return of Camillus and his army while facing the Theonians¡¯ attack than before. But the senators felt the situation had turned unfavourable with the continuous arrival of battle reports and the Theonians'' fierce and unusual way of besieging a city that overwhelmed the defenders. So with their experience of living for almost a hundred years, these Roman nobles secretly began preparing their ns, rtives and friends for the Senate¡¯s decision to retreat to Mons Capitolinus, allowing them to be the first to flee towards the hill with their families and supplies.

    As a result, Mons Capitolinus, bustling only during festivals and ceremonies, suddenly became crowded and noisy. Only after the high priest Iulus prayed earnestly to Jupiter and Juno for forgiveness were the people allowed them to enter the temple for refuge. Thus, the temple¡¯s courtyard became overcrowded with frightened people, and even the usually off-limit great hall became a temporary residence and meeting ce for the senators.

    When Ambustus and the older Scipio walked into the hall, the senators, who were in a tense discussion, immediately focused on them.

    Potitus immediately asked, ¡°Have you counted the number of people who managed to climb the hill?¡±

    ¡°A total of five thousand four hundred and sixty-two,¡± replied Ambustus.

    ¡°This is several times more than back then!¡± eximed Senator Lucretius.

    Everyone knew what he meant by back then, so many of them suddenly became mncholic.

    Someone hurriedly asked, ¡°Do we have enough food?¡±

    ¡°It would be enough tost for a month.¡± Ambustus paused and then continued, ¡°I have also sent men to collect all the food and assign special personnel to guard it.¡±

    The so-called collection was topel the people on the hill to surrender their food supplies, which they would redistribute equally on a daily basis. Surprisingly, the senators did not voice any objections upon hearing this proposal since it had been only a decade since the invasion by the Celts, and many of the senators had personally fought to defend Capitolinus, making them well familiar with such measures.

    ¡°How many soldiers could still fight?¡± Maluginensis asked.

    ¡°There are only six hundred and fifty men. I have already rearranged them to form six centuriae,¡± the older Scipio replied depressedly.

    ¡°Only six hundred and fifty!¡± Someone eximed, but he immediately shut his mouth after realising his voice was too loud, fearing he would disturb the gods in the temple.

    ¡°We would have more than eight hundred if we included the patrol team, which was double the number of soldiers than back then. So there is no need to worry since we can hold on until Camillus leads back his army and chase out the enemy!¡± Potitusforted everyone.

    Maluginensis then said, ¡°Scipio, we had just discussed and decided to leave the defence of Mons Capitolinus to you.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Scipio was a little surprised. After all, some senators had used him when he fled to the hill, saying his fear of life had led to the city of Rome getting breached so quickly.

    ¡°You have already experienced this as you fought tenaciously against the Celts on this hill a decade ago with the other warriors for over half a year. And since you had fought against the Theonians, you should have already gained some understanding of them. So who else can take on this important responsibility besides you?!¡±

    After saying that, Maluginensis nced at the crowd. He then increased his tone before saying, ¡°The responsibility for the fall of Rome has nothing to do with you. Not to mention that you had already handed over themand to us after the battle began¡­ s! We never expect the Theonians¡¯ ability in sieging a city to be so powerful!¡±

    ¡°That is mainly because our young and middle-aged citizens aren''t here!¡± Apuleius said aloud, trying to ce the responsibility for the fall of Rome on Camillus.

    And this time, no one spoke out to defend Camillus as even Potitus chose to remain silent since the fall of Rome made the senators to be more or less dissatisfied with Camillus because if the Roman dictator hadn''t proposed to ¡®focus on conquering Hernici first¡¯, how could Rome suffer such a disaster?!

    Obviously, the senators had forgotten that they had strongly supported Camillus'' proposal, thinking they would get many benefits from this military action.

    Now that the city-state was at stake, the older Scipio no longer declined and epted the appointment. But after fighting head-on with the Theonian army, he began expressing his concern about the subsequent battle, ¡°Fellow senators, I had kept observing the Theonian army''s movements in the city since reaching here and saw that they didn''t arbitrarily kill the people left on the foot of the hill, or raped¡­the women, nor have they seized our properties, nor burned buildings, or even shed and fought with each other over spoils and women.

    Then what are they doing?! They drove the people in the Roman Forum back to their homes and began clearing the streets, setting up tents and patrolling the walls¡­ The Theonian army behavespletely differently than the Celts did a decade ago! Although you have great hopes for Camillus, who is leading back the army, I hope you also prepare for the worst¡­ that is, Camillus may not be able to recapture Rome quickly!¡±

 Chapter 806: The Arrival of the Roman Reinforcements

    His words voiced the concerns of Potitus, Maluginensis and others while making the senators who are under an illusion feel uneasy. Suddenly, amotion erupted in the temple.

    Just then, a soldier came in and reported about how the southwest direction of the city was lit brightly, and they could hear the sounds of fighting.

    ¡°Could it be the arrival of our reinforcements?!¡± One senator guessed, which boosted everyone''s spirit.

    Everyone hurriedly left the temple and, under the protection of the soldiers, arrived at the edge of the cliff. Sure enough, they saw mes illuminating the southwest direction and faint lights in the other ces around the city of Rome, which should be the enemy igniting the torches on the entire city wall.

    ¡°It should be the arrival of our reinforcements!¡± The senators stood at the cliff''s edge and stared into the distance.

    Then, under the high priest''s leadership, the people on top of the hill began to pray excitedly and devoutly to Jupiter.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Quintus and Furius led the six thousand Roman soldiers to attack but didn''t prepare any other siege equipment and had only picked dozens of thick logs from Praeneste and rushed straight towards Rome.

    The Roman generals had thought that the Theonians were busy plundering spoils and women after just capturing the city, leaving the gates wide open and defenceless, just like when the Aequians and Hernicans did when they broke through the city of Praenestest year or when the Celts broke through the city of Rome and other Latin city-states a decade earlier. As a result, they thought they could catch the enemy off guard by rushing here.

    But upon arriving outside the city of Rome, they unexpectedly couldn''t hear any noise and the gates were tightly closed, with torches lit on the top of the city wall and the enemy soldiers fully armed and prepared.

    With the situation different from their imagination, Quintus and Furius became agitated. However, they still ordered the soldiers to attack.

    And so the Roman soldiers struggled to pass through the trench while carrying the logs and arrived at the city gate. After suffering a lot of casualties from the long-range attack of the defenders, they soon realised that hitting the city gate with their wooden logs had little effect because the Romans sealed all the gates with wood and stones because of theck of manpower. After the Theonian army breached the city, Davos only ordered his soldiers to clear Porta Caelius on the southern wall closest to the Roman Forum and Porta Aventinus(mainly to make transporting supplies into the city more convenient) while leaving the other gates sealed, which led to the failure of the Roman reinforcements to attack the gates and strike a blow to the enemy''s morale.

    When Quintus and Furius began considering retreat, the scout reported their discovery that a section of the wall to the west had copsed.

    Upon hearing that, it reignited the hope of the two Roman generals and immediately led the soldiers, who were determined to rescue their loved ones, to attack the west of the city.

    But Theonia''s Fourth and Fifth Legions were standing near the copsed wall. The light infantry immediately unleashed their bows, javelins, and stones, inflicting heavy damage on the Romans who were storming the copsed wall and preventing them from progressing. As their morale boosted from their desire to save their loved ones rapidly waned, and the fatigue from the long journey took its toll, the Roman reinforcements quickly crumbled.

    Then Davos immediately dispatched his cavalry legion to charge out of Porta Caelius, pursue the routed troops, and take them down in one fell swoop.

    But Maegius intercepted the enemy cavalry with the reinforcements from Praeneste. Unable to figure out how many reinforcements hade to Rome since it was night, Davos ordered a halt on the pursuit to prevent idents, which allowed the Roman army to escape.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the distant fire onlysting less than half an hour and was extinguished without any further movement, it indicated the defeat of their reinforcements.

    So the people on Mons Capitolinus could only sigh with frustration.

    ¡°O, people of Rome! They should be our reinforcements from our allies since our army is still far away from Hernici and shouldn''t arrive so soon!¡± The clear voice of the older Scipio rang out in the darkness of the night, relieving the disappointed popce.

    Meanwhile, Potitus whispered to Maluginensis, ¡°Once¡­Camillus'' army failed to recapture Rome in a short time, therge number of people on the hill would only deplete the food supplies and undermine the morale of the army¡­.cough¡­¡±

    Despite being in the fourth month of the year, the top of the hill remains cool due to the strong breeze since it is still not summer. Therefore, elderly individuals like Potitus, who were worried about the war and stood by the cliff for half an hour, could no longer endure the cold, despite being wrapped in leather robes and began to experience a runny nose.

    ¡°¡­let''s wait for the arrival of Camillus'' army and see how the battle goes¡­¡± Maluginensis stared at the dark night. Then as if his quarrel with Potitus in the Senate hadn''t existed, heforted him by saying, ¡°Whoever attacked Rome tonight, they had created opportunities for our men to leave the city by taking advantage of the chaos to find Camillus and tell him what is going on inside so that they can be better prepared¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Early the following morning, the First and Second Legion soldiers tidied their tents and cleaned up the Roman Forum.

    Then the Theonian soldiers gathered the Romans in the Roman Forum, where the sight of fully armed guards surrounding the ce made them panicked and uneasy.

    It was especially terrible for the people from the slums, who were still traumatised by what they had witnessed yesterday evening: the disastrous defeat of the Roman reinforcements in the battle near the copsed city wall not far from them. Now that the Theonians forced them to stand at the forefront of the Roman Forum, it was no wonder they were frightened.

    Towards noon, when the Romans already crowded the Roman Forum, a salpinx suddenly rang out, and a group of Theonian soldiers dressed in magnificent armour escorted a man wearing shining armour and a flowing plume on top of his helmet. Then the man stepped on the staircase and climbed the high tform before the Senate''s entrance.

    ¡°That''s the king of Theonia?!¡± The crowd became restless.

    Then the Theonian soldiers, surrounding the Forum, simultaneously smacked their sword against their long shield and roared, dousing the gathered Romans with a bucket of cold water, silencing them down. But even with that, the Romans looked at Davos with a gaze that held both fear and hatred.

    Davos spoke loudly, ignoring the anger in their eyes, ¡°People of Rome! I am Davos, the King of Theonia and the new owner of this city! I want to bring you to the foot of Mons Capitolinus, where a Roman hero whom I admired died. He is Marcus Manlius Capitolinus, a name I am sure you all know!¡±

    When the interpreters tranted Davos'' words into Latin and rang out throughout the audience, anothermotion suddenly arose within the crowd, with their faces filled with doubt as they had never thought that their enemy, the king of Theonia, would talk about the renowned Marcus Manlius Capitolinus at the start of his speech. As a result, they became more attentive in listening to Davos, with their eyes filled with curiosity.

    Davos raised his four fingers and eximed emotionally, ¡°Debt! Land! very! Power! These are the four great issues you have faced since the establishment of Rome. You and your ancestors fought persistently for these things against the nobility, threatening to flee Rome multiple times and even paying with your lives numerous times. However, even though Rome has already developed into a city-state with such vast territory from a small vige, your situation has barely improved, and you still live in hardship and suffer from the humiliation of the nobles!

    Different from the other Roman nobles, Marcus not only defended Rome through his bravery, but he was also able to abandon his arrogance and greed to help you, the plebeians, by paying the debts of more than four hundred of you out of his own pocket, and by appealing loudly in the Senate for the first time to pardon your debts and distributends to you¡­

    Did he do that to achieve a particr purpose?! No! He did that for you to enjoy a better life in the city-state! So for that reason, he was willing to betray his origin and be one of you, bravely leading you to fight against the evil Roman nobles! Do you remember what he said to you? ¡®I will stand with you unwaveringly as long as you remain steadfast by my side. I, as your defender, shall not falter in the face of fear. You have witnessed how I once faced shackles and abandonment, only to be aided by many of you. Should the enemy dare to act with arrogance, the gods shall intervene. However, we must not rely solely on divine intervention and instead require your unwavering support to prevail¡­¡¯¡±

    Then, Davos red at the people and roared, ¡°But, have you done it?! No! You cowered under the nobles'' fierce retaliation and believed the Senate''s lies, allowing Marcus to be falsely used and arrested! You had watched the vicious Roman nobles push him down to his death from Mons Capitolinus! Don''t you feel ashamed in your hearts?!¡±

    Davos'' words made the Romans recall the past event, and a sense of shame surged in their hearts. Soon, a strange sight appeared when the Romans lowered their heads under the questioning of the King of Theonia, who had upied their homnd.

    Despite Davos ordering the army to maintain order among the gathered Roman plebeians, it was inevitable for a few minor nobles and their followers to shout angrily, ¡°Don''t listen to the enemy''s lies! Don''t forget that he had led his army to invade our homes and ughter our loved ones! The Senate had done nothing wrong as Marcus Manlius Capitolinus was worthy of death as he attempted dictatorship and divided Rome! Now it appeared that he had also conspired with the Theonians, so it is even more deserving for us to dig up his bones and smash them into pieces!¡±

 Chapter 807: Letter

    <h4>Chapter 807: Letter</h4>

    If their first sentence slightly alerted the plebeians, the subsequent nder against Marcus touched the plebeians'' sensitive nerves, ¡°You are theckey of the Cornelia house and was the one to falsely used Lord Marcus at the citizen assembly!¡±

    ¡°Graeus, you were among the nobles who captured Lord Marcus. How dare you even show your face to us!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Someone suddenly shouted when the crowd became agitated, ¡°Kill them, avenge Lord Marcus!¡± Soon, the argument turned into a brawl, with the venue bing chaotic as screams and cries rang out.

    ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Seeing the situation from the state, Tolmides quickly asked Davos for his instructions, ¡°Should we stop them?¡±

    Davos shook his head and said, ¡°Wait.¡±

    After a while, the salpinx sounded, and the soldiers surrounding the Roman Forum let out a thunderous roar. Then a toon pushed through the crowd, revealing a gruesome sight: several nobles and their followers were beaten mercilessly. The soldiers swiftly intervened, pulling the nobles and their followers aside while medical personnel tended to the injured plebeians.

    Then once the crowd calmed down, Davos continued to speak, ¡°I am afraid you are still unaware that after learning of his false usation, Marcus covertly wrote a letter to his family where he showed he wasn¡¯t afraid of death. Do you want to know what he said in the letter?¡±

    The Romans'' curiosity and guild prompted them to shout without hesitation after listening to the interpreter''s trantion, ¡°Yes!!!¡­¡±

    ¡°Then let''s have Publilius Manlius read this letter to you,¡± The Romans were surprised after hearing Davos'' words. After all, Publilius Manlius, a senator of the Roman Senate and the current head of the Manlia house, had actually joined hands with the Theonians?!

    The people expressing their doubts had their eyes widened in surprise as a figure emerged onto the tform. To their astonishment, it was none other than Publilius Manlius himself.

    Faced with the gaze of the Romans, the current head of the Manlia house bowed his head in shame. Suddenly, Davos'' voice rang in his ear, ¡°We should start, Lord Publilius!¡±

    At these words, Publilius trembled as his body recalled the horrific scene of the night before. The image of vicious Theonian soldiers severing the heads of Roman nobles he was familiar with right before his very eyes shed through his mind. The sight of the blood-soaked ground and scattered heads shattered his already fragile resolve. Desperate for his family''s survival, he made the difficult decision to surrender, just as he had sumbed to the Senators before renouncing the family name of Capitolinus when Marcus faced execution by the Senate.

    Under the gaze of the smiling Davos, his trembling hands took out the letter that Davos dictated, in which he had imitated Marcus'' handwriting, ¡°¡­Pu¡­Publilius, my brother, there''s no need to continue¡­persuading me. I am fully aware of the Senate''s treacherous ploy to falsely use me of plotting the reinstatement of monarchy, all to justify my execution!

    I have bravely fought throughout my life without ever bowing down to anyone. So I will never stoop so low as to kneel before them and plead for mercy, even if they heap false usations upon me, tarnish my reputation, and sow doubt among the loyalmoners who stand by my side. I shall remain fearless and resolute!

    My only regret is that I once promised to help those who believed and followed me to fight the Senate alongside me, to help them lift their heavy debts, bestow them their ownnd, and to let their livestock graze on the publd of Rome! In fact, I still have something I wish to present to them that I have yet to tell them: to give them the opportunity to serve in high-ranking positions in Rome and even be senators and consuls¡­ Unfortunately, I could no longer fulfil these wishes.

    I havee to a profound understanding that mere words alone cannot effectively fight for the rights of themon people. If the gods were to grant me another chance, I would arm the people and overthrow the oppressive and rapacious rule of the Roman nobility with our sharp spears and the fury in our hearts. We would establish a magnificent system of governance akin to the Kingdom of Theonia in the south of Rome, which I have frequently recounted to you. In this kingdom, every citizen would enjoy equal rights, irrespective of their social status as nobles ormoners!¡± While reading this, Publilius cast a nce towards Davos¡ªthe actual author of this letter¡ªlistening intently as if this letter written by Marcus was real.

    When his eyes nced below the tform, he saw many people sobbing, making him freeze momentarily. Then he subconsciously increased his tone and continued to read, ¡°Publilius, my brother, our house will now have to rely on you. If possible, try to help the group of unfortunatemoners¡­I am reluctant to die under the charge of dictatorship! Those who stand to gain from my demise should not celebrate too soon, as the gods above shall exact their punishment for the injustice done to me! Signed: Marcus Manlius Capitolinus¡±

    After Publilius finished reading the letter, the sound of crying filled the entire Roman Forum, the majority harbouring no doubt about the letter''s authenticity. They were deeply touched by Marcus'' unwaveringmitment to their rights, even in the face of death, and felt ashamed for theirck of decisiveness in saving such a remarkable and noble leader.

    Amidst the people''s crying, someone shouted excitedly, ¡°Marcus!¡±

    Then countless people responded loudly, ¡°Marcus!!! Marcus!!! Marcus!!!¡­¡±

    As the people shouted Marcus¡¯ name simultaneously and wildly, it echoed over the city of Rome, shocking the senators and nobles on Mons Capitolinus. They then stared at the Roman Forum, thinking these Romans were fighting against the Theonians, not knowing that these Romanmoners were madly mourning the nobles'' most hated traitor.

    The exhration among the Romanssted for some time before gradually calming down.

    Then Davos eximed, ¡°The gue that struck Rome a year after Marcus'' death was in no way the warning from the gods against Marcus'' attempt for dictatorship, as those priests had said. Instead, it was the gods'' punishment for those who falsely used Rome''s great hero! And today, we Theonians hade to Rome, also in response to Marcus'' curse to overthrow those high and mighty Roman nobles who oppressed you so viciously and to establish a new Rome with you just like what Marcus said in his letter!¡±

    While Davos gave his passionate speech, Publilius Manlia kept nodding beside him.

    Although the Romans were still vignt and suspicious of Davos, the anger in their gaze had somewhat lessened.

    Someone boldly asked, ¡°How will you build a new Rome with us?!¡±

    ¡°Good question!¡± Davos immediately responded, ¡°Now, my newly appointed vice praetor of Rome will answer your question and issue my order!¡±

    Then, the Roman saw a man wearing a magnificent chiton walk up towards the tform with his head held high. After bowing towards King Davos respectfully, he turned to face the crowd below.

    Some at the forefront and living in Rome''s slums suddenly widened their eyes in surprise and muttered, ¡®Isn''t he Valerius?!¡¯

    Another person immediately shouted,¡° Valerius, is that you?!¡±

    Valerius raised his head and said proudly, ¡°I am now the vice praetor of Rome appointed by His Majesty the King. I hold a higher position than the magistrate, you know of, so show me respect when you speak to me next time!¡±

    As soon as he said this, an uproar arose below the tform as everyone began whispering. Soon, word quickly spread among the crowd about a Romanmoner who had once been enved, now holding a high-ranking position in the Kingdom of Theonia, standing on the tform to lecture them.

    Davos calmly watched themotion on stage and felt satisfied at Valerius''s tremendous impact as an example to all Roman civilians. Especially since he knew that in Italia and the western Mediterranean region, citizens of one city-state sometimes leave their original city-state for some reason and join another city-state, perhaps even an enemy state, yet they would often not get highly valued. Once they are unable to enter the inner circle of a city-state, they often end up bing amoner, which was one of the primary sources for Rome''s plebeians(naturally, there will also be some ns from other city-states which would bring hundreds of people to join Rome and are epted by Rome''s patrician houses, sharing power and then be nobles). Persia, for example, is one of the few forces in the entire Mediterranean that were open-minded in epting foreign fugitives, even enemies, and giving them high status, which led to the Greeks, despite being sworn enemies of Persia, often going to Persia once they got expelled from their city-state.

    And now, what would the Roman plebeians do after suddenly seeing Valerius'' massive change in social status? Davos couldn¡¯t wait to see it.

    The Theonian soldiers roared again, restoring the calm in the Roman Forum.

    Valerius cleared his throat, took a few deep breaths, and recalled the things he had memorised the previous day. Then, with a loud voice, he announced, ¡°His Majesty King Davos dered from the time Theonia owned the city of Rome, he hereby cancelled all the debts owed by themoners to the nobles. Furthermore, all the ves of Rome are now free!¡±

    As soon as he said that, all the ves at the back cheered.

    In contrast, the plebeians remained somewhat calmer. After all, with a foreign power seizing control of Rome and the majority of senators and nobles seeking refuge on Mons Capitolinus, they could no longer approach them to collect their debts. Furthermore, as long as the nobles could not repel the Theonians, their debts would be permanently written off.

 Chapter 808: Valerius Persuasion

    ¡°Also¡­uhm¡­uhm¡­¡± Seeing the hopeful gaze of the Roman plebeians, Valerius suddenly couldn''t remember what he would say next and became nervous.

    So his assistant Adrius immediately came to his side and whispered, ¡°Be a citizen,nd-¡±

    Valerius finally snapped out of his daze and expressed his thanks to Adrius. Although Adrius¡¯ despised Valerius'' foolishness, he also envied his good fortune while inwardly grumbling about how he wasn''t a Romane despite being born in Latium.

    Nheless, he firmly believed that the request from His Majesty the King to assist Valerius was an excellent opportunity for him. And as long as he performed well, he was confident he would soon receive a promotion.

    Fearing he would forget about it again, Valerius hurriedly said, ¡°His Majesty King Davos also decreed that they won¡¯t recognisends currently owned by the Roman citizens and would instead be redistributed. Any Romans who apply to be a Theonian citizen will first receive an acre ofnd, and the earlier you apply, the better the location and the more fertile thend will be. Later, you can also get rewarded withnds once you join the Theonian army and win achievements¡­or make other contributions.

    In addition¡­ Those who be Theonian citizens can apply for public positions in the future and take office after passing the assessment. Ah¡­also, Romans who be Theonian citizens can obtain low-interest loans of only five per cent from the Theonian¡­bank. Finally, your children can study in Theonia''s school with excellent teachers to educate them for only one drachma per year¡­¡±

    Valerius kept talking while recalling things as he feared forgetting them again, so he didn''t notice that the plebeians in the Roman Forum became restless again.

    Those who didn''t havend showed excited expressions. Meanwhile, those who ownednd were angry at having theirnd reduced but became interested when they heard the following benefits. But the ones ecstatic the most were those ves as they could finally break free from their lowly status and potentially be citizens.

    Naturally, the few Roman nobles mixed in the crowd had grim expressions. Still, they did not dare speak out as they feared getting beaten mercilessly like the ones before.

    As their discussion grew louder and louder, someone suddenly shouted, ¡°Can we also be a statesman of the Senate?¡±

    Then some followed in agreement, ¡°Yes! Can people from our status be statesmen in Theonia?!!¡±

    The noise suddenly quieted down as everyone eagerly awaited Valerius'' answer.

    But their sudden question dumbfounded Valerius because he also didn''t know the answer.

    Suddenly, Davos, who had just listened to the interpreter''s trantion, stepped forward and said loudly, ¡°Of course, you can! Besides bing a Theonian statesman, you can also be a governor of the kingdom in the future, managing four to five big cities like Rome! Or you can be an armymander,manding several legions and tens of thousands of soldiers to fight the enemy!

    You may not know, but more than half of Theonia''s statesmen hade from humble origins, some having worked as mercenaries and some even former ves. In addition, many of them were not even Greeks, but Bruttians, Lucanians, Messapians¡­they are all races native to thisnd, just like you.

    So whether you can be a statesman in the kingdom of Theonia depends not on your background or race but on whether you have made enough contributions to the kingdom and whether you have the ability to take on this crucial task! Theonia offers every citizen equal opportunities, regardless of wealth, social status, or race, so whether you can be a senator or a high-ranking official in the kingdom solely depends on your own efforts to achieve it!¡­¡±

    When the interpreter''s trantion spread throughout the Roman Forum, the Romans became even more stirred up, with some shouting, ¡°Great!¡± To the Romanmoners who had gotten oppressed for decades and wanted to break the nobles¡¯ monopoly of power, Davos¡¯ words were simply deafening to them.

    When the crowds'' discussion grew louder, Adrius reminded Valerius, who quickly shouted from the stage, ¡°Quiet! Quiet! Let me finish my speech first; I have another good thing to announce!¡­¡±

    After a while, the venue became slightly quieter.

    Then Valerius said with all his strength said, ¡°His Majesty King Davos¡­uhm¡­when he saw the houses you all live in are too small and crude, he was kind enough to decide that all Romans who apply to be citizens of Theonia will get allocated with new houses in the city of Rome, which were once owned by the nobles, allowing you to livefortably!¡±

    Davos faintly smiled upon hearing the crowd discussing again.

    Davos knew that conquering Rome with only tens of thousands of troops and a surprise attack wouldn''t be enough since Rome had a well-established government, advanced civilisation, arge poption, and formidable resilience. Unfortunately, Davos couldn¡¯t transfer Theonia¡¯s massive army to crush Romepletely when faced with the Carthaginians'' attack in Sicily, the Samnites attacking their border in the north, and the impact of the drought, nor could they take time to assimte them.

    So to quickly expand their advantage of having upied the city of Rome and shake the resistance of the Romans, Davos pondered several times and adopted the method of supporting one group of people to overthrow another group, especially since there has always been a contradiction between the nobles andmoners ever since Rome''s founding, with it bing deeper and deeper over time.

    In his long investigation of Rome, Davos discovered the Roman nobilities were, in fact, amune of ns, like the patriarchal society in ancient China, firmly linked through blood and interest, with each member contributing to the house while enjoying the aid the n provided. But after their death, thend and wealth owned by the n members would only belong to the n and wouldn''t flow outside. So unlike the loose tribal systems of the Bruttians, Lucanians and other races that Theonia had conquered, they would have to spend a lot of time and effort to break down and assimte Rome. But the current situation didn''t allow Davos to take his time, so he turned to focus on the Romanmoners.

    These plebeians, who the Roman n excluded and long suppressed, were easy targets for Theonia''s absorption and assimtion. By allowing themoners to upy thend and houses owned by the nobles*, they would inevitably fight against the Roman nobles since they wouldn''t easily hand over the things they obtained, which would also achieve Davos'' goal of weakening Rome''s strength.

    While Davos pondered deeply, Valerius shouted again, ¡°Now you can go there and queue up and apply to be citizens of Theonia!¡±

    Valerius pointed below the tform where several wooden tables were set up side by side, with a group of ten young staff officers led by Tolmides holding a papyrus and quill.

    The crowd suddenly quieted down as they began looking at each other, with no one taking the initiative to step forward.

    With the silencesting for a long time, Crotokatax began to get worried while silently watching on the tform and couldn''t help but look at his father not far away.

    Sensing his gaze, Davos waved his hand, gesturing not to worry.

    Suddenly, Valerius pointed at someone below the stage and cursed, ¡°My former neighbour, Decimus, didn''t you used to tell me how you would kill those nobles and take back thend you should have gotten while also taking over their houses and enjoying their beautiful female ves?! Now that you have a great opportunity in front of you, why are you still hesitating?!! Are you just a coward who could only bark?!!!¡±

    The thin middle-aged man got provoked immediately, ¡°Valerius, don''t think you can tell me what to do just because you are lucky enough to be some city official! Once I be a statesman, watch out for how I will deal with you!¡­ Damn it! Anyway, I have nothing to lose! Fine, I''ll apply to be a Theonian citizen!¡±

    He walked towards the registration stand after saying that.

    ¡°What about you, Lucius?! What are you still hesitating about?!!¡± Valerius shouted while pointing to another of his former neighbour.

    Lucius looked at Decimus, who was leaning over the table and started walking hesitantly at Valerius'' urging.

    With one, then two and three people going, those already somewhat interested no longer hesitated and started following them.

    Crotokax felt puzzled seeing the long queue before the registration stand below the stage, ¡°How could these Romans easily abandon their homnd and be our citizens?!¡±

    ¡°Your Highness Croto, Rome was originally a city of immigrants, with their citizens not only from Latium but also Etruria, Sabines and a small number of Marsi and Aequii¡­ It is said that after they defeated the Celts, the Roman Senate also passed aw to vigorously absorb the Latins and other ethnicities around Rome who became homeless because of the war to enrich Rome''s poption. Hence most of them becamemoners of Rome.¡±

    Then Davos also interjected, saying, ¡°These Romans only hesitated just now because they don''t know Theonia much and are afraid of getting swindled. Moreover, they feared we would abandon them at any moment, resulting in them bing victims of the Roman nobles'' wrath. Fortunately, Valerius yed a crucial role in dissipating at least some of their fears¡­¡±

 Chapter 809: The Roman Armys Reaction

    Crotokatax was lost in his thoughts while watching the vice praetor of Rome, who had just gotten appointedst night.

    Suddenly, Martius went up the stage and reported to Davos, ¡°Your Majesty, the fleet from Ostia has arrived at the river port.¡±

    Davos became overjoyed upon hearing that, ¡°Asistes, Nachus, Antrapolis¡­and the others have finally arrived. We can finally start discussing the governance and transformation of the city of Rome!¡±

    Davos nced at the unruly crowd at the start had be somewhat orderly. Then he spoke to those around him and said, ¡°Let''s go to the river port and greet the newly arrived statesmen and officials!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Davos headed to the river port, Camillus was leading the Roman army back with their vanguard already reaching Signia.

    Camillus was currently on horseback, which deviated from Rome''s military tradition where the army''s leader should march alongside the soldiers on foot. However, Camillus had a special circumstance: he could no longer keep pace with the soldiers on foot due to his advanced age. Recognising this and his exceptional achievements, the Senate permitted him to ride a horse.

    But even riding on horseback, the two consecutive days of rapid marching left his elderly body exhausted. After seeing the equally exhausted soldiers beside him, he decided to have the army camp and rest upon reaching Praeneste so that they could fight with vigour and strength against the Theonians attacking the city of Rome.

    Just as Camillus began conceiving possible ns for their battle with the Theonians in his mind, a Roman messenger came speeding towards them.

    Seeing the anxiousness in the messenger''s eyes, Camillus took the letter Maegius wrote with a trace of uneasiness rising in his heart. He swept a nce at the letter''s content, and the sentence ¡°the fall of Rome¡± instantly made his heart and breath stop in an instant as regret, sadness, self-me, exhaustion¡­and all kinds of negative emotions surged towards his head, causing him to feel dizzy and fall off the horse.

    ¡°Father!¡±

    ¡°Lord Camillus!!¡±

    ¡°Lord Dictator!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The anxious shoutings woke up Camillus. Seeing the guards and soldiers gathering around him, he subconsciously clenched his right hand, still holding onto the letter. He then hurriedly said, ¡°I''m fine, don''t worry! It might be because I am too tired¡­¡±

    The captain of the guard said with concern, ¡°My lord, it seems you need to take some rest!¡±

    ¡°Indeed, I need to take a rest!¡± Camillus went with the flow and said, ¡°Lucius, have the soldiers continue marching while I rest here for a while and will catch up.¡±

    Lucius looked at his father lying on the ground and then at the messenger standing beside him, remaining silent. Although puzzled, he didn''t inquire about it and just obeyed themand.

    Thus under the urging of Lucius, the soldiers returned to their ranks.

    Camillus, on the other hand, closed his eyes and rested under his guards'' protection.

    But no one knew that a turbulent wave was rising in his heart.

    ¡®The Theonians have conquered the city of Rome? How are the people inside faring?!!

    What method did the Theonians use to capture the sturdy city of Rome so quickly?!!

    With the Theonians easily repelling the rescue operations of Quintus and Furius, could it be that the Theonians stabilise the situation inside the city so quickly?!!

    What reaction would the soldiers have once they learned the Theonians had upied our homnd?!!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As numerous thoughts shed through Camillus'' mind at the same time, he forced his dizzy head to calm down and try to clear his chaotic thoughts.

    After some time had passed, he finally opened his eyes and called Lucius with a decisive expression. He then asked him to notify all the troops to stop advancing once they arrived in Signia and wait for his next order.

    He then sent someone to notify the high-ranking officer to attend the war council immediately.

    Before long, Publius Licinius, Quinctius Cincinnatus, Aurus Cornelius, Servius Sulpicius¡­and Milesius Cornelius, who had delivered the Senate''s order, arrived one after another.

    Camillus looked at every general solemnly and said, ¡°Before I share the important news with you, I need you to make a promise. Promise me that you will stay calm, avoiding making any obvious signs of panic, such as anger or shouting. Can you assure me of that?!¡±

    The generals looked at each other, unsure of what happened but could feel that the situation wasn''t good.

    Titus hurriedly asked, ¡°Lord Dictator, is it about Rome-¡±

    Camillus didn''t respond. Instead, he asked again in a serious tone, ¡°Can you promise me?!¡±

    At this moment, Camillus was no longer the elderly man who always smiled when talking about military affairs and instead was like a beast ready to pounce at anyone at any time.

    Everyone trembled and immediately responded simultaneously, ¡°We promise!!¡±

    Camillus nced at them again and said gravely, ¡°I just received the war report¡­ Yesterday¡­Rome had fallen! The Theo¡­nians are now upying it!¡±

    Even though they had mentally prepared themselves, they still clenched their fist tightly as shock, scepticism, pain, anger, and other intense emotions took hold of their faces, with their eyes darting around, and their breaths became rapid.

    ¡°Lord Dictator is this¡­is this news real?!¡± Licinius asked in a trembling voice.

    ¡°The messenger brought the letter personally written by Maegius, which also stated that Quintus and Furius had failed in their rescue. Currently, the defeated soldiers are gathering in Praeneste, with many people who luckily escaped Rome now staying between Gabii and Praeneste¡­¡±

    ¡°We must immediately recapture Rome!¡± Servius said while suppressing his voice and clenching his fists so tightly to the point of bleeding.

    ¡°We will certainly recapture Rome! But first and foremost, we must ensure that the soldiers do not run amok upon learning the news, and we need to stabilise the army.¡± Camillus said his proposal.

    After some discussion, the generals rushed back to their army.

    ¡°Father¡­mother and sister, they-¡± Lucius said worryingly but couldn''t continue.

    ¡°s¡­¡± Camillus only sighed and didn''t say anymore as he staggered towards the warhorse the guards brought.

    Lucius hurriedly came forward to help his elderly father.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When they arrived at Signia, Camillus met another messenger sent by Maegius.

    The messenger reported that most of the senators and some of the people managed to retreat to Mons Capitolinus, which surprised Camillus and made him more hopeful.

    In the afternoon, the Roman generals gathered the nearly sixty thousand Roman soldiers and led them in the area between Signia¡¯s city wall and the banks of the Trerus River.

    Standing atop Signia''s city wall, Dictator Camillus faced the dense and endless line of soldiers below, with the mountain wind dishevelling his white hair. Despite his aged body, he stood tall and resolute. Then, he eximed, ¡°Citizens of Rome, warriors of our allied city-states. Instead of fully enjoying the joy of conquering the Hernicans, we are here rushing back because the enemy had attacked our home, the centre of Latium ¨C Rome! Unfortunately, the Theonians had already upied the city of Rome yesterday before we could even arrive!¡±

    The hundreds of heralds who had received the instruction of Camillus in advance lined up along the line of soldiers below the city wall and repeated Camillus'' words to the whole army.

    Suddenly, it was as if a massive gust of wind blew past them, stirring up a huge wave in the entire army.

    ¡°The enemy has conquered the city of Rome! My wife and children are still in the city!!!¡±

    ¡°What should I do? Those damn bastards must have already taken the money I had finally saved to buy livestock!¡±

    ¡°O Jupiter, what have we done wrong for you to punish us so cruelly!? This is the second time Rome has fallen. What should we do?!¡±

    ¡°Why are we still standing here foolishly when the enemy has upied Rome?! We should hurry to Rome to drive away those bastards and take back our home!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The generals, such as Licinius and Titus, told their centurions in advance about the fall of Rome and asked them to do their best to stabilise the soldiers'' emotions. But despite their efforts, the soldiers'' emotions were like boiling water, and the entire army was on the verge of a breakdown.

    Suddenly, a group of defeated soldiers arrived from the north with missing armour, and many were even wounded. After squeezing through the gap between the army, they finally arrived before the city of Signia.

    Their miserable appearance naturally attracted the attention of many soldiers.

    ¡°Isn''t that Ligurus?! I remember he followed General Quintus to rescue Rome!¡±

    ¡°It seems they suffered a miserable defeat!¡±

    ¡°The army led by General Quintus and Furius are all our bravest citizens, with many of them winning Civic Crowns! Could it be that these Theonians are as terrifying as the Celts?!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as the soldiers began specting their uneasiness, the heralds transmitted Camillus'' words into their ears, ¡°The Theonians are so powerful that they had not only upied our home but also defeated the reinforcements led by Quintus and Furius. So if we want to take back our homnd and save our loved ones, we must unite and do our best to drive out this powerful enemy!¡­¡±

 Chapter 810: Davos Response

    <h4>Chapter 810: Davos Response</h4>

    Camillus continued, ¡°¡­Fortunately, the people within the city remained resilient, led by the senators who guided them to Mons Capitolinus, where they took a defiant stance within our temple. Additionally, many who escaped Rome found refuge in the nearby wilderness, disying endurance and steadfastness. They firmly believed that you, the brave warriors of Rome and our allies, could drive away the enemy and reim our beloved city! However, if we fail to unite, if we cannot enforce strict discipline within our ranks, and if we disobeymands and act recklessly, we will crumble like loose sand. In that case, we will not only be unable to regain Rome but our loved ones will get enved. We will be torn apart, never to see one another again. Some may perish in battle, while others be wandering outcasts or captives to our foreign foes. Do you truly wish to meet such a fate?¡±

    ¡°We aren''t!!¡± The generals and centurions took the lead to raise their arms and shout.

    The soldiers, shocked by the tragic ending described by Camillus, also responded one after another.

    When their shout converged into a single torrent of voice, Camillus knelt, raised his hands and head to the sky and cried out piously, ¡°O Jupiter, grant us your divine blessings, ensuring our triumphant victory over the Theonians, just as we vanquished the Celts before. We shall never allow these foreigners to desecrate your sacred temple!¡±

    Then they hear a rumbling sound from the hillside behind the city of Signia as a huge rock, apanied by gravel, rolled down the slope and finally hit the open space beside Signia.

    Excited shouting erupted from the generals, ¡°It''s a divine omen! Jupiter has responded!!¡± Followed by the soldiers reacting with joy, which swept away the haze on their faces. Then they hastily bowed their heads and prayed to Jupiter.

    Jupiter¡¯s miracle shook the Roman soldiers, making them feel confused and overwhelmed. Still, they raised their voice and shouted simultaneously, ¡®Drive out the enemy and take back Rome¡¯ Camillus then took the lead and led them on a swift march towards Praeneste.

    At dusk, the city became somewhat chaotic as the army arrived at Praeneste because the wandering Romans flocked towards them while the generals were busy arranging the camp for the soldiers to rest. And the soldiers, too, rushed towards them, eagerly searching the crowd for their loved ones. Those who saw their loved ones were grateful and thanked Jupiter for his blessing. While the others felt dejected¡­ However, the refugees'' dire situation made the soldiers more eager to take back Rome.

    The Roman dictator Camillus first met with the high-level officials of Praeneste, thanking them for their assistance to Rome.

    Then, he quickly summoned Maegius, Quintus, and Furius to learn more about how the Theonian army captured Rome.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Upon weing the kingdom''s administrative personnel, Davos also received war reports and proposals regarding Sicily from both the Senate and the Ministry of Military.

    It was beyond his expectations for a storm to devastate the massive fleet sent to Sicily, significantly undermining Theonia''s naval advantage in the region. Since the situation changed in the battle between Theonia and Carthage, Davos promptly convened an emergency war council.

    The first to attend the meeting was the Army Staff''s Tolmides, Phryntor and the Navarch of the Third Fleet, Mithridates.

    Davos looked at the three with a grave expression and said, ¡°What''s your opinion after reading the war report?¡±

    Tolmides coughed dryly and said, ¡°Your Majesty, despite losing more than half of our kingdom''s ships to the storm, it also decimated almost all of the Carthaginians'' ships. If we consider the oue, it isn''t too bad, as we still hold the advantage at sea. Moreover, with the Ministry of Military proposing to dispatch the Fourth Fleet in Brindisi to Sicily to reinforce the dozens of warships left in the fleet in Sicily, we will have a greater maritime advantage in Sicily than before, giving the Carthaginians a harder time to send reinforcements and supplies to Sicily, which would increase our chance of winning in Sicily even more!¡±

    Davos tapped the table with his finger before saying, ¡°Would the deployment of our Fourth Fleet, who are currently on the east coast of Magna Graecia, entice Sparta and the remaining Peucetians and Messapians who sought refuge in Greece to perceive it as a significant opportunity?¡±

    Tolmides replied confidently, ¡°From our intelligence, it is certain that another war would break out in central Greece due to the Thebans'' revolt to break away from Sparta''s control. Although we can''t urately judge how many city-states will join this war and how long it willst, it is obvious that Sparta couldn''t get out of it so quickly, and they didn''t have any spare strength to fight us. As for those enemies who fled to Greece, their numbers are too small, and with the Apulian region now politically stable, they wouldn''t be able to stir up any major disorder.¡±

    Davos nodded thoughtfully.

    Mithridates suddenly interjected, ¡°Despite Lord Tolmides'' point, transferring out the Fourth Fleet will still bring hidden danger to the Apulian region. Considering that Commander Alexius is currently leading all the troops in Apulia to fend off the Samnite invasion, he would have greater trouble handling any disruptions in the rear. So why not transfer some of our ships to Sicily?¡±

    Davos looked at him for a while, then said, ¡°In our strategy in attacking Rome and the Latium region, your Third Fleet would y a crucial role and must cooperate with the army. Thus we must not easily split the Third Fleet up! Mithridates, you must not get distracted, as although your fleet only serves as an escort currently, you might have to y a greater role soon! However, I can grant you special permission alone if you want to go to the fleet in Sicily.¡±

    Mithridates broke out in a cold sweat at hearing Davos¡¯ words, making him hastily state, ¡°Your Majesty, you can rest assured that I will lead the Third Fleet to ensure the safety of the army at sea.¡±

    Davos felt slightly relieved before turning to Tolmides and saying, ¡°I agree with the suggestion of the Ministry of Military to transfer the Fourth Fleet to Sicily. However, we must remind Alexius to strengthen the defence on the east coast of Apulia to prevent others from raising any trouble.¡±

    Then he continued with a heavy mood, ¡°In addition¡­informed Prosous to intensify the search for Seclian and Flios, whether they are alive or dead! Even if they truly died in battle, they must not leave the bodies of the kingdom''s two high-ranking officers and heroes in the wilderness, as their final destination can only be the Hall of Valour! As for who would be themander of the newly integrated fleet in Sicily, it would still be Seclian. If they¡­still could not find him, then it is Flios. If Flios also can''t be found, Miltiades of the Fourth Fleet would take over.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± Tolmides replied as he took note using the te he carried.

    Davos sighed before saying, ¡°What saddens me the most about this disaster isn''t the warship but the crews that perished¡­ How many died in this naval battle?¡±

    Tolmides immediately replied, ¡°Per the preliminary statistics, it should exceed ten thousand.¡±

    Davos listened and felt more sombre, ¡°Over ten thousand men! All of them were sailors familiar with the Theonian navy''s tactics and experienced in naval warfare, all disappeared in just one storm, and now tens of thousands of families had lost their loved ones¡­ Have the Ministry of Military send men to Taranto, Roscianum and Catania''s Military Port to express condolences to the rtives of these dead sailors, ease their sadness and discuss their post-war benefits now!¡±

    ¡°I understand, Your Majesty. I will immediately write the letter to the Ministry of Military and ask for your signature,¡± replied Tolmides.

    Davos remembered something and asked, ¡°What was the name of the naval officer who led the warship in time to break into the port of Selinus, which eventually helped Prosous capture the city?¡±

    ¡°Straphacus.¡±

    ¡°Straphacus¡­¡± Davos murmured the name and said approvingly, ¡°To be able to preserve a fleet in a crisis like that and still win military achievements shows his decisiveness and flexibility!¡±

    Upon hearing that, the few present immediately felt envious of Straphacus. After all, having Davos remember his name shows that he would have a bright future!

    Davos turned his gaze to Phryntor, who had remained silent and asked, ¡°What do you think of the war in Sicily?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± Phryntor reminded, ¡°Despite our navy holding the advantage in Sicily''s waters, Carthage, a maritime power in the western Mediterranean for a hundred years, had better shipbuilding capability than our kingdom. From the intelligence we gathered, Carthage''s port alone has fourrge shipyards, and the dozens of Phoenicians coastal city-states affiliated with them also have great shipbuilding capabilities. Once they go all out in building warships, they would only need a few months to build a fleet of warships no less than ours!¡±

    ¡°You are right!¡± Davos nodded and said seriously, ¡°This is indeed a matter to which we need to pay attention! So we must elerate our progress and vigorously build new warships to restore and expand our Naval fleet, allowing us to face the continuing maritime challenges in Carthage and ultimately gain the naval hegemony in the western Mediterranean! Thus I will immediately write to the Senate and ask them to organise and mobilise the coastal cities of Southern Italia to start building warships!

    Still, there''s no need to worry too much. Although Carthage has better shipbuilding skills and more shipwrights than us, they have two fatal disadvantages that make it unable to defeat our kingdom''s navy!¡±

    Davos'' words caught the attention of the three men. He then stretched out his two fingers and said, ¡°The first would be timber since there are no tall trees in Africa. Although they could obtain wood in the Iberian Penins, their developed shipbuilding industry was mainly in Carthage and the surrounding Phoenician city-states. As a result, they must first transport the timber from Iberia to Carthage before they could start building ships, which would take time and be easy to intercept.

    Meanwhile, our territory has many mountains, giving us abundant timber resources, and they are all located next to the various coastal cities in southern Italia. This time, I will also ask the Senate to temporarily lift the ban on logging trees to provide sufficient timber for each shipyard for free.¡±

 Chapter 811: Phryntors Concern

    After pausing momentarily, Davos said, ¡°The second are the sailors. Since a trireme requires nearly two hundred sailors, they would need nearly twenty thousand sailors for a fleet of a hundred triremes. It shows that a navy is a military force that needs the support of arge poption, but the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians aren''t a race with arge poption. On the other hand, the Numidians were not a seafaring race and were more careless by nature, which would inevitably decrease their fighting capability. While we-¡±

    Davos smiled, ¡°Let''s not mention the official and preparatory citizens; once the navy starts recruiting new sailors, those freemen will mour to join as they hope to be citizens as soon as possible.¡±

    After saying that, Tolmides and Mithridatesughed as Davos'' wordspletely dispelled their concerns. However, Phryntor didn''t smile like he had something on his mind.

    Davos noticed it and asked, ¡°Phryntor, do you have something in mind? Speak up.¡±

    After a long moment of pondering, Phryntor said, ¡°My lord, although we currently hold the advantage in Sicily as the Carthaginians lost in the battle and their fleet destroyed from the naval battle and storm, the repeated failures would make the Carthaginians panic. So unless they don''t think about asking for a peace negotiation, then they would definitely give their all to win the next battle. Because of that, Prosous and the army he leads in Sicily would face arger number of soldiers, with stronger morale, and theirmander would never be a mediocre general-¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Tolmides interjected, ¡°Our fleet already holds the naval advantage in Sicily, so we canpletely cut off the Carthaginians'' route to Sicily, making it difficult for them tond even if they raise another massive army.¡±

    ¡°Although challenging, it isn''t impossible for the Carthaginians tond in Sicily. After all, even with our fleet''s advantage, we still can''tpletely cut off Sicily from Carthage.¡± Phryntor calmly exined, ¡°The sailors need food, water and rest, so we would need to have the warship return to the military port at night for maintenance to keep it in good operation condition¡­ But in Sicily, our only military port, except for the one in Catania, is in Messina in the north. Meanwhile, our only allies with good military ports for our fleet to stay in are Agrigento and G. So even if our fleet in Sicily departs Messina or Agrigento in the morning, it would probably already bete afternoon by the time they arrived at the westernmost point of Sicily¡­

    And with our fleet in Sicily significantly reduced, we cannot split them into a sub-fleet with strongbat capability to take turns in patrolling. So the Carthaginians would still have enough time to deliver supplies and reinforcements to Sicily.¡±

    ¡°Our fleet in Sicily can just send scouting ships to take turns to monitor the western waters of Sicily-¡± Before Tolmides could finish his argument, he suddenly realised that even if the scouting ships found the enemy, they would still need to return to the military port to report. But by the time the fleet arrived, the Carthaginians'' fleet might have already entered the port.

    So, he corrected his remark and said, ¡°Mithridates, couldn''t we station some warships in Selinus and Minoa?¡±

    Even when faced with Tolmides'' gaze, Mithridates, as the navarch, dared not speak rashly in front of Davos. After pondering carefully, he said, ¡°The war report shows Selinus doesn¡¯t have a military port. And even if we can station warships inmon ports, it is only for a short time as it would damage the warships'' longevity and affect their fighting capability. The army in Sicily could certainly build a simple military port in Selinus, but that would take time.¡±

    Mithridates'' remark that having the ship stay in amon port for too long would damage its longevity was actually directed to Davos. Then he deliberately changed the subject, ¡°As far as I know, the best military port at the western end of Sicily is in Lilybaeum.¡±

    Tolmides shook his head and said, ¡°Lilybaeum is an important Carthaginian military town in Sicily, just like Motya previously. Hence taking it down will be challenging with the forces avable to Prosous alone.¡±

    Phryntor followed up, saying, ¡°Despite Prosous'' sessful campaigns, the enemy has now gathered their forces in Lilybaeum and Palermos. And even though Prosous could determine the victor over Sicily by conquering Lilybaeum, just like Lord Tolmides'' pointed out, the Eight Legion alone couldn''t pull it up, especially since we cannot send additional troops to Sicily now. And if he were to attack the other towns, it would be futile and only scatter our soldiers. Thus, the situation in Sicily can be described as a stalemate.¡±

    After saying that, Phryntor earnestly suggested, ¡°Your Majesty, we should now change our army¡¯s strategy in Sicily!¡±

    Although Tolmides and Mithridates got startled, Davos remained calm and sat in his seat, remaining silent for a long time. He understood that Phryntor''s words were a gentle reminder of his mistake in his previous instructions to Prosous.

    At the start of the war with Carthage, Davos had remained cautious about the war in Sicily because he wanted to focus his attack on Rome, so he ordered Prosous to only defend their territories in Sicily. But after the Eight Legion''s great victory over the Carthaginian army at the Battle of Minoa and the naval victory on the sea of Cephaloedium, he realised that the Carthaginians only looked strong and thus changed his strategy into allowing thend and naval forces in Sicily to attack with all their strength to take advantage of the enemy''s great loss to weaken the Carthaginian forces in Sicily even more and increase the chances of victory for the next decisive battle against Carthage.

    Even now, Davos expected Prosous to perform another miracle and expel the Carthaginians from Sicily once and for all.

    ¡®The army in Sicily had performed admirably and met expectations with the war until now, apart from that storm¡­but have I be overly optimistic due to the sessive victories? After all, we are facing Carthage!¡¯ Davos nced at the staff officer he held in high regard, understanding what Phryntor meant ¨C to remind him that Prosous'' army in Sicily was incapable of conquering the western end of Sicily. On the contrary, they are in a dangerous situation with Prosous¡¯ army deep inside enemy territory and having insufficient troops.

    Thanks to Phryntor''s reminder, Davos remembered the still intact Iberian army. Furthermore, he realised that the Carthaginians'' consecutive defeat would likely pave the way for the Magonids to regain control of Carthage''s power. And unlike Hanno, the Magonids are known for their aggressiveness, higher regard for Sicily, and extensive warfare experience, which was further exemplified by the Iberian army''s sessful capture of the city of Cephaloedium.

    Based on Davos'' knowledge of Carthage, he understood that the Carthaginians would require significant time to raise anotherrge army since the Carthaginian elders would argue in the Senate, further dying their mobilisation efforts. Consequently, even if Mago managed to have the armynd in Sicily, it would be at least a month or twoter. So they would just waste the opportunity if they simply have Prosous withdraw and assume a defensive stance. Considering Prosous'' exceptional capabilities, he had the potential to further escte the situation at the western end of Sicily during this time. This would force the Carthaginian army to expend more energy and time stabilising the region upon their arrival, providing Theonia with valuable extra time¡­

    Even after pondering for a while, Davos still couldn''t make up his mind. So he said, ¡°Tell Prosous our concerns and make him more vignt. He can decide whether to continue the offensive or retreat to defend since he is themander of the Sicilian theatre!¡± Davos decided to trust Prosous'' ability after his repeated miracles and victories.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± replied Tolmides while ncing at Phryntor, his expression tinged with envy and jealousy. After all, Davos seldom altered his military decisions due to others'' persuasion, yet he had made a concession this time¡­

    While Tolmides was lost in his thoughts, Davos stared at Phryntor and warned, ¡°In the future, you should present your suggestions directly instead of waiting for me to ask! Remember, war involves the survival of a nation, and modesty and courtesy can result in the loss of hundreds or thousands of soldiers'' lives! Do you understand?¡±

    With a startled expression, Phryntor saluted while feeling ashamed and said, ¡°I understand, Your Majesty. I will take care next time!¡±

    Tolmides once again looked at him enviously.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the war council, Davos summoned the newly promoted statesmen of the kingdom, Alkibidas ¨C his brother-inw and Miciales, the shipbuilding merchant of Thurii.

    Davos summoned these two renowned merchants in the shipbuilding industry of the Kingdom of Theonia in hopes they would coborate and expedite the construction of warships faster. Given the strained treasury, he also sought their agreement to temporarily ce the shipbuilding costs on credit, with the assurance of futurepensation after the war. This could include benefits such as easing restrictions on logging for their workshop.

    Regarding Miciales, Davos emphasised that Enanilus, who had already been released from prison and had been staying at his home, had received sufficient punishment for the crime hemitted. With the kingdom expanding and a shortage of officials, Davos believed that Enanilus, who had previously served as a statesman and fleetmander of the navy, possessed valuable administrative experience and could return to serve the kingdom once again.

    Upon hearing Davos'' words, the thrilled Miciales immediately promised to do his best to persuade Enanilus to serve again.

 Chapter 812: The Appointment of Romes Administrative Officials (I)

    <h4>Chapter 812: The Appointment of Romes Administrative Officials (I)</h4>

    Although Miciales didn''t particrly care about the specific official position Enanilus would hold upon his return, the mere presence of Enanilus in the kingdom''s official circles would signify the king''s forgiveness towards Miciales'' family, thereby eliminating any obstacles to their future prospects in business and politics.

    With that, the atmosphere in the meeting ce grew more rxed as they delved into discussions about the bustling activities of Theonia''s merchants over the past two days, discussing the transportation of goods at the port of Ostia, the construction of shops, and searching for business opportunities.

    Eventually, Miciales left the Roman Senate with a smile, while Davos had Alkibidas remained behind, as he would convene a governing meeting there afterwards.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The main participants in this meeting would be the statesmen, Asistes, Nachus, Antrapolis and some intermediate-ranking officials from crucial departments.

    ¡°Everyone, the ce we are in is the Senate of Rome,¡± Davos briefly informed them as he noticed the officials looking around with curiosity.

    ¡°It''s much smaller than our Grand Senate Hall,¡± said Asistes.

    ¡°But the city of Rome is bigger than inner Thurii,¡± Nachus then tteringly said, ¡°Judging from the numerous houses, it shows how the city of Rome has arge poption. It made it even harder to imagine how Your Majesty conquered such a magnificent city in only one day!¡±

    ¡°Nachus, yourpliment should be directed to the legionaries who took part in the siege!¡± Davosughed.

    ¡°Hence I am proud of the soldiers'' amazing achievements!¡± Nachus responded quickly.

    ¡°Now that the soldiers have taken down this wonderful city, your work is to govern this ce andpletely make it belong to Theonia.¡± Said Davos, making the officials straighten their chests.

    Facing the crowd, Davos went straight to the point, ¡°You who have volunteered toe to Latium, I assume you already possess some knowledge of this region, and perhaps you have learned more upon your arrival in Ostia. However, it is crucial that you have aprehensive understanding of our current situation and the ongoing war in Latium.¡±

    Davos then gestured to Henipolis.

    Henipolis immediately ordered the two guards to lift a board showing the map of Rome and the surrounding city-states and came to Davos.

    ¡°Sit in front so that you can see it more clearly.¡±

    As soon as Davos said that, the officials, regardless of their status, crowded into the first and second rows and raised their heads to look at the map.

    ¡°There is no doubt that Rome is thergest city-state in central Italia,¡± Davos pointed at the map and detailedly said, ¡°Rome and its surrounding area is no less than the Sybaris in of our Thurii, if not evenrger. Although we have taken Rome, there are still its Latin allies and colonial cities in the south, its Etruscan allies and colonial cities in the north, plus the Roman army consisting of about seventy thousand men that had gone to conquer Hernici and are now rapidly on their way back¡­ We are now like a lion caught among countless vicious wolves, making our situation dire! Fortunately-¡±

    Davos'' finger, pointing at the city of Rome, slides down towards the Tiber and stops at Ostia, ¡°The Tiber is under our control, allowing us to transfer supplies and men to and from the outside by the water. But once we cannot break the situation of being isted and getting besieged, they would be able to cut off our waterways and surround Rome, and all the victories we have gained before at great cost will be in vain. Thus I ask you to immediately go to work to take over the city of Rome, not only restore stability as soon as possible but also make it able to provide us assistance for the rest of the war!¡±

    Davos'' words pressured the statesmen and administrative officials as they stared at the map with utter seriousness. Still, a glint of excitement shed in their eyes. After all, most of these Theonian officials had voluntarily chosen toe to Latium as they were citizens who refused to be ordinary, were too tired of the stable environment or had an adventurous spirit.

    Sensing their strong determination, Davos said with a faint smile, ¡°Next, I will announce the wartime appointment for the administrative positions in Rome.¡±

    Davos emphasises the term wartime to remind them it is a temporary appointment. Once the war ends, Davos, the Senate, and the Kingdom¡¯s Civil Service Management Committee will re-appoint the administrative personnel for the upied territories.

    Most officials unconsciously sat up straight upon hearing that.

    ¡°The praetor of Rome-¡± Davos looked at his former herald and eximed, ¡°Will be statesman Asistes!¡±

    Asistes remained calm, as he was already aware of Davos'' arrangement for him. Before they departed Thurii, he had been summoned by Davos.

    Although Nachus, Antrapolis¡­and the other statesmen knew they couldn¡¯tpare with Asistes in qualification, they still more or less felt a sense of loss for not bing the top administrator of such a big city, which is also one of the best in the kingdom.

    Davos looked at him and continued, ¡°Nerulum, mpettia, Mesagne, and Irna¡­Asistes has been the praetor of these newly conquered foreign regions for more than a decade since the establishment of Theonia. I had chosen him to be the praetor of Rome because of his outstanding political achievements and a wealth of experience in governing foreign races¡­¡±

    After exining a few things, he continued, ¡°Nachus and Antrapolis¡­you two will temporarily be the vice praetor of Rome and work together with Asistes to govern Rome. In addition, there is another vice praetor, a Roman whom I have just appointed. I hope you will be friendly and fully y his role.¡±

    Several statesmen disyed expressions of surprise. Fortunately, their extensive political experience swiftly enabled them toprehend Davos'' intentions, and thus they promptly regained theirposure.

    Subsequently, Davos appointed several important intermediate-ranking officials, all of whom received rmendations from the head of the various departments.

    ¡°¡­kous will serve as Rome''smercial officer.¡±

    Once Davos said that, a Theonian official stood up and eximed, ¡°Thank you for trusting me, Your Majesty!¡±

    Davos looked at him and said, ¡°Although it is unlikely for the city of Rome to trade with the surrounding forces in a short time because of the ongoing war, there would be many merchants from the kingdom that would arrive, bringing us supplies and wealth, and could also cause some chaos¡­ Marigi had praised you as the best under him to manage trade, so I hope you can manage them well and have them be a helper in this war and not a nuisance!¡±

    ¡°You can leave it to me, Your Majesty!¡± replied kous confidently.

    ¡°Since the Chamber of Commerce in Thurii, the Chamber of Commerce in Rhegium, and some merchants from Crotone and Taranto have generously donatedrge quantities of military rations and supplies for this war, it is important to ensure they receive some benefits as well. So while you strengthen Rome¡¯s management, you must not treat these merchants, who have made significant contributions to the kingdom, unfairly.¡±

    Davos advised him. Then he said to relieve him, ¡°You don''t have to worry too much since I''ve found you a good superior.¡±

    After saying that, Davos looked at the silent Theonian statesman who had just assumed his post, ¡°Alkibidas, you will be the vice praetor of Rome responsible formerce and trade.¡±

    ¡°Me?!¡± Alkibidas asked, feeling slightly confused. Despite Davos asking him to stay for the meeting, he was ready to just listen as a neer to the kingdom''s politics.

    ¡°Yes, it''s you!¡± Davos jokingly said, ¡°Those whoe here have to work since we don''t support idle people now that the food is scarce.¡±

    Although Asistes and the others smiled, none of themughed. This was because everyone present at the meeting was an intermediate or high-ranking official of the Kingdom of Theonia and well-informed and familiar with Alkibidas.

    ¡°I didn''t appoint you because you are a rtive of mine but because you are both a statesman of the kingdom and the head of Rhegium''s Chamber of Commerce, so you can better coordinate andmunicate with the Theonian merchants who woulde here. Of course, as an official of the kingdom, you must treat every merchant equally and neutrally and not just look after the Rhegian merchants.¡± Davos warned.

    Alkibidas felt emotional and remembered what his father told him, ¡®¡­Just as well. I won''t stop you since you have already decided for Rhegium to merge with Theonia¡­but you must understand that Theonia has many powerful and capable people, so you can''t do whatever you wish like here in Rhegium! Despite being your brother-inw, Davos will never give you more care with his character. And as someone rtive to the royal family, you will be the object of much attention. So if you don''t want to be ridiculed, you must work hard¡­and establish a firm foothold in the Theonian Senate so that you can also give more support to your sister¡­¡¯

    As he recalled the past, Alkibidas feigned hesitation and said, ¡°Your Majesty, I really want to work for the kingdom, but I am not familiar with itsws and administration¡­¡±

    ¡°Lord Alkibidas,¡± kous hurriedly said, ¡°You don''t need to worry since I will do my best to assist you!¡±

    Davos nced approvingly at the newly appointedmercial officer and said, ¡°You don''t need to hesitate, Alkibidas! There''s nothing for you to worry about with kous'' full assistance!¡±

    Alkibidas said, ¡°Your Majesty, I am willing to ept this position since you trust me so much.¡±

 Chapter 813: The Appointment of Romes Administrative Officials (II)

    <h4>Chapter 813: The Appointment of Romes Administrative Officials (II)</h4>

    Davos nodded at Alkibidas, showing his satisfaction.

    Then a smiling Asistes said loudly, ¡°Wonderful! We have another good helper!!¡±

    The crowd immediately echoed, causing Alkibidas to quickly and modestly respond.

    Davos continued, ¡°I propose to build arge market in Rome where the merchants can transport the goods from the kingdom and sell them here, while the army''s logistics camp and the people in the city of Rome could also purchase some daily necessities¡­especially since we had converted Rome''s original market into the legions'' camp. We can build this new market on the embankment at the south end of Rome''s Pons Aemilus, making it more convenient to transport goods from the port and for the customers'' purchasing¡­ Naturally, this is only my suggestion, and it is still necessary for you, themercial officers, to make a resolution more favourable to the development of trade andmerce after carefully surveying the whole city and the actual situation.¡±

    kous immediately said, ¡°Your Majesty, I will immediately handle this matter after the meeting ends.¡±

    ¡°Akibides¡­will be the financial officer of Rome!¡± Davos continued the appointment.

    Another person stood up.

    ¡°I need you to form Rome''s taxation authority quickly! Although we had just captured Rome and couldn''t implementnd taxes, we need to collectmercial taxes as soon as possible!¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°And¡­the army had just harvested a significant amount of spoils after defeating the Romans one after another, conquering Ostia and Rome. It would be time-consuming andbour-intensive to transport those back to Thurii. Fortunately, it just so happens that all the kingdoms'' merchants are gathered in Rome, so you and Lord Alkibidas should discuss a n to pick out the spoils not needed by the army to auction them off and then ship the money earned back to Thurii to fill the empty treasury.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡± Akibides answered vigorously this time.

    ¡°The agricultural officer would be Tibullus.¡± Davos continued, ¡°I have already told the Romans that we will take back all thends and redistribute them! So you need to find out how muchnd the city of Rome has as soon as possible. Even though we can''t farm on them yet because of the war, we can still go on with the distribution so that the Romans, who had just joined Theonia, understand that we are true to our word! Moreover, you must allocate them the best location and most fertilend to make them feel the benefits of joining Theonia and attract those hesitant Romans to join us as soon as possible!¡±

    ¡°I understand, Your Majesty,¡± replied Tibullus.

    ¡°How should we collect thend tax?!¡± implored Akibides.

    Although they are different in size, this financial officer and his immediate boss, Mersis, have a simr attitude when talking about money and taxes, amusing Davos. After suppressing hisughter, Davos said, ¡°We will do what we do in the newly conquered areas! They will not have to pay any tax for the first three years from when thend is till, after which it will be taxed at the rate of an official citizens''nd.¡±

    Akibides sat back in his seat while feeling disappointed.

    ¡°ton will be Rome¡¯s Census Officer¡­Diostes as Rome¡¯s judge¡­¡± Davos announced the appointments one after another. Despite seldom meeting these newly appointed intermediate-ranking officials, Davos had spent a lot of time memorising the names and facial features in his head; thus, he could urately match their names with the people present. In this way, it showed the importance he attached to the appointees, and this seemed to work quite well.

    ¡°I havepleted the announcement of the appointments for the intermediate and high-ranking officials of the city of Rome. The remaining personnel who have not yet received appointments will be determined through consultation between the praetor of Rome, Asistes, and the several vice praetors. I expect you all to give your best in fulfilling your duties! Although I will keep track of your performance, it isn¡¯t because I doubt your abilities. But because of what?¡±

    Davos tapped on the map and said with an emphasis to encourage them, ¡°For we will take not only Rome and Ostia but also Rome''s Latin allies and colonial cities! With several major cities among them that are not inferior to Rome! So when ites to appointing the praetor and officials to govern these ces, you, with your experience in Rome and your knowledge of the customs of the Latins and the situation in Latium, will be the first to be considered by the Kingdom''s Civil Service Management Committee and me!¡±

    As soon as he uttered those words, not only did these intermediate-ranking officials feel excited, but even Nachus, Antrapolis¡­and the other statesmen all smiled.

    Then the new praetor of Rome, Asistes, spoke up and said, ¡°We just saw many Romans lining up in the square to apply to be citizens of Theonia. Based on Your Majesty''s promise to them, it seems many want to be Theonian officials, so we will try to recruit some Greek-speaking Romans to serve in various departments, allowing for smoothermunication. In addition, it will also help us better understand Rome''s customs and habits, which is beneficial for our governance.

    But due to theirmon origin, many may not understand Greek or even be illiterate and do not understand our Theonian governing system andws. So most can only serve as guards, but do we need them to act as guards? If so, should we arm them? And are there any restrictions?¡±

    ¡°That''s a valid point.¡± Davos looked at Asistes appreciatively since he had been obviously thinking about how to govern the city of Rome well before departing.

    Davos replied unhesitantly, ¡°You must not treat them as an outsider since they have already applied to be citizens of Theonia, so you can certainly allow them to serve as guards, and they must be dressed properly like the guards of Theonia. However, the guard captain of each group must be one of our officers for now. In addition, there should be a certain number of veteran citizens in the team to help them better understand ourws through mutual contacts so that they know what they can and cannot do while executing their task to avoid making mistakes that will cause discord¡­¡±

    But the newly appointed inspector of Rome interrupted, ¡°Your Majesty, we don''t have so many people to serve as the captain of the guard team!¡±

    ¡°Those wounded legionaries that are temporarily unable to fight can serve as guard captains and members,¡± Nachus suggested.

    ¡°See, you will find a solution as long as you all discuss it,¡± Davosughed, agreeing with Nachus'' proposal.

    ¡°Your Majesty, the things you announced in the Roman Forum today are all aimed at the Roman plebeians and ves, so how should we treat the Roman nobility?¡± Asistes asked another crucial question.

    Davos had already told Asistes about some measures he might take after upying Rome. Hence, Daavos knew Asistes raised this question to make the officials present understand his ideas on how to conquer Romepletely. Thus he said seriously, ¡°Rome''s nobility is unlike the Greek nobles or foreign leaders we had faced before conquering other regions. Due to various reasons, they are powerful and have strong ties with the other Latin city-states in the region. And even if they surrendered, they would definitely rise against our rule since the measures we would take would seriously harm their interests. And with their strength, the revolt they would cause would be more severe than the previous rebellion in Rudiae!

    And once there''s chaos in Rome, the other areas here would certainly be chaotic. Worse, with Thurii so far from Rome, we can''t sendrge armies back and forth as easily as we could when suppressing Rudiae. Ultimately, thisnd where we sacrificed countless citizens and spent countless wealth to obtain may cost us even more¡­in the long run.

    The thing we need to do now is to stabilise Rome and make every effort to deal with the enemies around us.

    That''s why I decided to absorb the plebeians, who we could easily attract to our measures and integrate into Theonia since they have a massive conflict with the nobility. Hence I would rather take those plebeians into bing citizens of Theonia than those Roman nobles who would cause enormous trouble in the future. And once we defeat this approaching Roman army, I decided to turn all captured Roman nobles into ves and sell them in Thurii.¡±

    Davos'' cold tone and decisiveness surprised everyone present, knowing that even though they had forced the tribes to disband and suppressed the rioters with an iron fist during the conquest of Peuceti, Messapi and Dauni, they still initially allowed them to surrender. But this time, King Davos didn''t even give the Roman nobles the slightest opportunity to submit, which was different from the king''s previous method!

    ¡°Your Majesty, if you don''t give the Roman nobles a chance to surrender, they will fight us to the death and increase our soldiers'' casualties. In addition, conquering this region would be even more difficult!¡± Nachus was the first to step forward and advise.

    ¡°Which is why we will temporarily detain them and only announce the disposal of the Roman nobility after defeating their army,¡± Davos exined straightforwardly, without saying any more words.

    ¡°Your Majesty¡­the nobles and their families in the city became uneasy as they already noticed the different treatment we gave them and the Roman plebeians. And just as Lord Nachus said, how we deal with the Roman nobility would also make the surrounding Latium nobles dissatisfied, which wouldn''t be good for our future conquest!¡±

 Chapter 814: Licinius Stolo

    <h4>Chapter 814: Licinius Stolo</h4>

    Asistes hesitantly expressed his thoughts as he looked at Davos, who remained expressionless, ¡°How about we allow the Roman nobles who surrender to be able to apply to be citizens of Theonia, but we must break up their houses and scatter and relocate them to other parts of the kingdom and allocate newnd to them¡­¡±

    Despite hearing Asistes, Davos said nothing and just looked at him. He immediately understood that Asistes hadn''t remained idle these past few days and were pondering a solution on how to deal with Rome''s nobility¡­

    Davos looked at the others, who had some doubts appearing on their faces, ¡®Could my previous life have made me inexplicably afraid of the Romans?¡¯

    Feeling slightly confused, Davos pondered for a while and slowly said to Asistes, ¡°You can try to have the Roman nobility surrender, but once we defeat the Roman army¡­¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty!¡± Asistes frowned.

    Davos still believed that Asistes'' chances of sess were low. After all, having the Roman nobility submit to them would be challenging since they would deprive them of their wealth and dig their roots!

    Suddenly, Nachus said, ¡°Your Majesty, I have a question.¡±

    Seeing Davos look at him, Nachus patted his seat and asked curiously, ¡°Why is this seat obviously different from the one in the rear? Not only was it made with ivory, but it is also padded with cow leather, making itfortable to sit in.¡±

    ¡°This is the characteristics of the Roman Senate. The seats at the front are reserved only to the most prestigious and respected senators in Rome, so their seat must be distinguishable from the other seats.¡± Davos exined briefly.

    Nachus suddenly felt enlightened, ¡°The Roman senators unexpectedly could still indulge themselves like this.¡±

    He turned around and said to the others, ¡°Come and take a seat too, and feel the taste of being the most esteemed senator of Rome.¡±

    Everyone burst intoughter, causing the tense atmosphere in the venue to ease a lot.

    Davos smiled at Nachus'' good sense of humour. He finds it amusing that a witty political figure could appear among the Locrians who were living under the harshw.

    The meeting finally came to an end in a rxed mood. Finally, Davos encouraged everyone, ¡°Whether we can establish a firm foothold in Latium depends on your governance of Rome!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At dusk, the vice praetor of Rome, Valerius, took the new Census Officer of Rome, ton, to see Davos in a hurry and reported, ¡°¡­there are five hundred and thirty-one applying to be citizens of Theonia, including three hundred sixty-seven ves of Rome, one hundred and sixty-four Roman plebeians, while the rest of the Roman plebeians have a wait and see attitude¡­¡±

    ¡°You''ve done well, Valerius! Continue to work hard to be an excellent official of the kingdom!¡± Davos didn''t hesitate to praise him.

    Valerius wanted to smile but not daring tough, making him look a bitical.

    Davos didn¡¯t mind it and continued, ¡°Tomorrow morning, gather these Romans who are going to be citizens of Theonia and allocate houses to them¡­¡±

    ¡°ton.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty!¡±

    ¡°Go back and tell Asistes that once he finishes allocating houses to these Romans, he should immediately start preparing the allocation ofnd and, at the same time, arrange those Romans willing to be officials with some fanfare!¡±

    ¡°I understand, Your Majesty. I will inform Lord Asistes once I return.¡±

    Davos looked at Valerius and said, ¡°Valerius, the new praetor of Rome, has just arrived. His name is Asistes, and he will be your superior, like the former consul of Rome. So if you have anything to ask in the future, you can consult him first, and he will also give you some new tasks. Asistes is kind, and I believe you can work well together. With your coboration, you will govern Romepetently!¡±

    Valerius could roughly understand Davos¡¯ words. Although he was a bit disappointed, he still respectfully responded.

    After seeing them off, Davos leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes to rest. Suddenly, Henipolis came in and reported, ¡°Your Majesty, Emilius requested to see you.¡±

    Davos'' eyes opened, and said, ¡°Let him in.¡±

    Emilius was formerly a ve bought by Theonia''s intelligence department ten years ago. After undergoing several special training, he was sent to the Latium region to work on intelligence gathering on the area and create Latium''s Intelligence Team, from which most of Davos'' information about Rome came from him.

    When Davos led his army to attack Latium, he ordered him to lead his subordinate to cooperate with the army''s action.

    Despite his young age, he carries an air of maturity beyond his years. Additionally, due to his past as a ve and enduring hunger, he appears thin and diminutive. However, Davos doesn''t judge him based on his appearance. Instead, he warmly addresses him, saying, ¡°Emilius, what surprises have you brought me this time?!¡±

    It was this unsuspecting guy who promptly sent detailed information about the city of Rome to Thurii when the Roman army ventured to invade Hernici. This crucial act solidified Davos'' determination to direct Theonia''s offensive towards Rome. Furthermore, it was this person who meticulously drafted the map of Ostia and timely delivered it to the pce, enabling Davos to uncover the key tounching a swift assault on the port town.

    Emilius stood in front of Davos and bowed respectfully. He then eagerly said, ¡°Your Majesty! My subordinates have infiltrated the ranks of the Roman plebeians and havee across astonishing news about some Roman plebeians wanting to harm you!¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Davos wasn''t surprised since he had also encountered several assassination attempts over the years, which he had be ustomed to. He then gestured for Emilius to continue.

    ¡°Your Majesty, when you made your speech in the Roman Forum, I noticed that some plebeians felt displeased but didn''t raise their voices in opposition. Then after your speech, several of them neither applied to be our citizens nor obeyed the soldiers'' orders to return to their homes. Instead, they quietly stayed in a house on Collis Caelius for some time and then returned to the Roman Forum to discuss quietly with some plebeians who had been there earlier¡­ My men crept close to them and vaguely heard them talking about ¡®Camillus¡¯, ¡®the Roman army¡¯ and such. They had even mentioned your name¡­ then five of these Roman plebeians started lining up to apply to be citizens of Theonia¡­¡±

    Davos listened and pondered, ¡°It seems that these Romans were preparing to attack me once the Roman army arrives¡­¡±

    ¡°That''s why I came to report to you as soon as possible, Your Majesty,¡± Emilius said as if asking to be credited.

    ¡°Who lives in that house on Collis Caelius?¡± Davos asked a crucial question.

    Emilius immediately replied, ¡°I have sent someone to inquire about it, and it seems he is Gaius Licinius Stolo.¡±

    Davos felt a sense of familiarity with that name, but he had never known ore into contact with the Roman before, which puzzled him, ¡®Is he a notable person in history?¡¯

    ¡°¡­although he is a Roman plebeian, he had a great influence among the plebeians because his father was a military tribune fromst year, and his newly married wife was the daughter of a renowned Roman senator Ambustus Fabius-¡±

    Davos interrupted him with a wave of his hand and asked, ¡°Do you mean that a plebeian married the daughter of a great nobleman of Rome?!¡±

    It was no wonder that Davos was surprised because, to his knowledge of Rome, the reason it was so difficult for a Roman plebeian to go over the nobility was because of the Roman nobility''s strict restrictions they imposed on them, and even thew restricting the marriage between nobles and plebeians was clearly engraved on Rome''s Law of the Twelve Tables.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. It is because he was the first plebeian to marry the daughter of a great nobleman that many Roman plebeians see him as their pride and role model.¡± Emilius affirmed, ¡°Moreover, this man is also quite outstanding. Despite being only twenty-one years old, he has already participated in several battles and achieved remarkablebat feats, earning him the civic crown. However, due to his injuries sustained during the conflict with the Volsci and our First Legion, he remained behind to recover instead of apanying Camillus'' army to Hernici¡­.¡±

    Davos mused, ¡®The Celtic invasions of Rome and the repeated migration of the Roman plebeians over the years had instilled a sense of crisis among the Roman nobles. As a result, they gradually started yielding to the plebeians, and a prime example is the eptance of plebeians to serve as military tribunes. The fact this man''s father himself served as a Roman military tribune and that the head of the Fabii house had allowed his daughter to marry him without facing punishment under Roman Law shows the growing trend of the Roman nobility actively recruiting talented and appealing plebeians¡­ Fortunately, weunched our attack at the right time. Had we waited for the enactment of the Licinio-Sextian rogations, the tensions between the nobility and the plebeians would have eased, posing challenges to our current strategy of dismantling Rome¡­wait! Licinio-Sextian rogations?!¡¯

    Emilius suddenly remembered something and said, ¡°Oh, right. Despite Licinius'' age, he is proficient in Romanw and often writesints for the plebeians for free, winning their affections¡­¡±

    ¡°Gaius Licinius Stolo¡­¡± Davos muttered the name, and a thought popped into his head, ¡®Could this be the same Roman tribune from my previous life in Roman history who tirelessly fought for years and eventually persuaded the Senate to pass the Licinio-Sextian rogations, which granted rtively equal rights to the Roman plebeians?!¡¯

    Unfortunately, Davos did not major in history in his previous life. During a ss on the History of Western Law, he only had a brief overview of the Licinio-Sextian rogations, which had a profound impact on Roman history. So he couldn''t recall all the names of the men involved in enacting thisw or the specific time period it urred.

 Chapter 815: Camillus Ingenious Strategy

    <h4>Chapter 815: Camillus Ingenious Strategy</h4>

    Davos rubbed his chin as he pondered for a while. Then he said, ¡°First, refrain from disturbing them and just monitor their activities discreetly. If there is any change in the situation, report it immediately.¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Emilius, the intelligence you have gathered during this period has been instrumental in securing one victory after another for the army. Once this war ends, the kingdom will duly reward you and your subordinates for your invaluable contributions.¡± Davos praised without hesitation.

    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty!¡± Emilius was so excited that his eyes narrowed into a slit.

    Davos looked at him and smiled, ¡°It''s been a long day, and I''m sure you must be hungry. I''m about to have dinner, so why don''t you join me?¡±

    ¡°Ah?! N..now?! Yes! Yes!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile, in the temporary camp of the Roman army outside the city of Praeneste, the Roman dictator Camillus was discussing the strategy for the next battle with his generals.

    ¡°Lord Dictator, you want us to attack Ostia instead of Rome?!¡± Minus looked at Camillus in surprise.

    The other generals were equally astonished, apart from Titus, who was lost in thought.

    Camillus looked at them and said, ¡°To be exact, we will set out and feign an attack on Rome while another army will capture Ostia first!¡±

    Without waiting for the generals to ask, Camillus exined, ¡°We all know how difficult it is to forcefully attack a city. Previously, with our seventy thousand men, we besieged the city of Ferentinum, which had fewer than ten thousand defenders, and even then, it took us more than ten days and resulted in massive casualties to capture it. Now, there are at least fifty thousand Theonian troops inside the city of Rome, and we all know how strong they are. In addition, the walls of Rome are so tall and thick that it would be challenging to retake Rome¡­just by relying on our army, which is only slightly more than the enemy!-¡±

    ¡°Lord Camillus!¡± Minus interrupted loudly. He snapped at him angrily that he addressed him by his first name, ¡°As the dictator of Rome, you became frightened before even fighting the enemy even though you currently hold the only powerful troops capable of saving Rome?! The citizens are counting on you to reim our homnd. Are you still the hero who once saved Rome? Where has your courage gone? Are you still deserving of being themander of this army?¡­¡± Perhaps it was because of Minus'' depth of love that he felt responsible, so he couldn''t control his temper and was in a state of rage.

    ¡°Minus, how can you speak to the dictator in such a tone!¡± Aurus immediately criticised the young man as someone from the same n.

    Instead of getting angry, Camillus patiently exined, ¡°It is because our army is the final hope to save Rome that we must be more cautious. Otherwise, it will be even more difficult to recapture Rome once we fail-¡±

    ¡°If the Theonians can¡­capture Rome in one day, why can''t we?!¡± Minus snarled.

    Lucius could no longer stop himself from retorting, ¡°What the Theonians faced when they attacked Rome were mostly the elderlies and young men, as well as freemen and ves. But the one we would face when we attack Rome would be the well-trained army of Theonia! Moreover, the defeated soldiers reported that the Theonians had made many powerful siege equipment, including several ballistae. Meanwhile, our most powerful siege equipment now is the ballistae that the Carthaginians had gifted us!¡±

    Minus was taken aback. Still, he retorted, ¡°But the defeated soldiers also said there are two holes in the city wall! Moreover, we still have our citizens on Mons Capitolinus. So, if we attack the city, they can alsounch an attack on the Theonians from the inside. With us working together from both the inside and outside, we can reim Rome!¡±

    ¡°Young man, a siege isn''t as easy as you think. Why don''t you sit down and listen to the dictator first?!¡± Titus admonished him. Despite being a young senator, he held great prestige in the army. He had previously served as one of the main generals in the attack on southern Etruria and had yed a crucial role in several significant victories.

    Camillus didn''t take Minus'' word to heart. After looking at Minus, who had a worried expression, then at the other generals, he frankly said, ¡°From the previous report we received, the one leading this Theonian army was their king, Davos, whom the Greeks referred to as the invincible general. Their recent upation of Rome has undoubtedly boosted their morale, and we shouldn¡¯t underestimate their defensive capabilities, given their expertise in besieging cities. They may even be anticipating our attack on the city, which could potentially demoralise our own soldiers. Therefore, we must be cautious in our approach. Still, this Theonian army that upied our Rome has its weakness, and it is ¨C Ostia!¡±

    Camillus spoke aloud, pointing his finger at the small port town on the map, ¡°The king of Theonia could daringly prate and attack Rome alone because they had the advantage of the water. With the Theonian ships could always carry their soldiers and supplies to the city of Rome through the Tiber River, they did not fear being besieged by us. But once we took Ostia-¡±

    ¡°There''s no point to even upying Ostia since the estuary of the Tiber River is so wide. In addition, with the strength of the Theonian fleet, it is impossible for us to block the whole river!¡± Minus retorted.

    ¡°We can, of course, block them! If the Theonian ships intended to navigate upstream of the Tiber to reach Rome, they would have to depend on ship pullers unless they encountered a powerful east wind. Thus, by capturing Ostia, we would effectively sever their ess to the source of ship pullers. And once our ally Caisra also acts on the Tiber''s north bank, we can cut off the support of the Theonian ships to Rome and iste the Theonian army!¡± Titus immediately understood Camillus'' intention in wanting to capture Ostia.

    By now, Minus had already epted Camillus'' proposal. Still, he continued looking for a loophole in the n, ¡°But¡­since Ostia is important, they should already strengthen its defence and the Theonian army in Rome should also send reinforcements¡­¡±

    Titus smiled and said, ¡°Ostia is a small city with a wall just over three metres high. So even if the Theonians strengthened their defences, they wouldn''t be able to turn it into a dozen metres high like the walls of Rome in such a short time. Thus it will be much easier to attack it than to attack Rome. If the Theonians were to send reinforcements, they would just weaken their forces in the city.¡±

    Titus'' exnation not only dispelled Minus'' indignation but also answered some doubts of the other generals.

    Camillus look at Titus approvingly before saying, ¡°To make the Theonians in Rome remain unaware of our true intentions, it is crucial to retake Ostia swiftly while minimising our casualties. Thus the n I thought up is-¡±

    After looking at them, Camillus continued, ¡°After our army arrives outside Rome tomorrow, we will begin building camps and block the enemy''s ess to the Tiber by capturing the river port outside Rome. On the other hand, Titus will lead an army of twenty-five thousand soldiers from our colonial cities and allies to march quietly and swiftly and storm Ostia!¡±

    ¡°Understood, Lord Dictator!¡± Titus knew why Camillus had said he would lead the armies of their colonies and allied cities. Because if he were to lead the soldiers of the city of Rome, their desperate desire to reim their homes might lead to them disobeying the order. And even if they obeyed, their morale would undoubtedly be low.

    The other generals also understood it. Suddenly, Licinius said with some worry, ¡°Lord Dicator, the Theonians might notice the obvious difference in our number and take precautions as early as possible.¡±

    ¡°Since the Theonians are confined within the city and have limited visibility, we can disguise the civilians staying here and arrange them in the rear of the army to confuse the enemy¡­¡± said Camillus calmly.

    ¡°I think we can carry out this n,¡± Titus immediately agreed.

    ¡°I agree too!¡± The other generals also expressed their agreement.

    ¡°What if the Theonians discover a problem and leave the city to fight against us?¡± The sharp Minus quickly discovers a loophole and reminds them.

    ¡°That''s even better! Even outnumbered, the forty thousand Roman soldiers will make up the difference with their belief to take back our homes. In addition, we still have troops on Mons Capitolinus, and the troops Titus led could return in time to defeat the Theonians. It would instead allow us to take back the city of Rome easily!¡± Licinius said confidently.

    Minus no longer said anything.

    Camillus then looked at them and said, ¡°While we march on Rome tomorrow, we shall also send an envoy across the Tiber to contact our colonial cities and Etruscan allies on the northern bank and ask for their cooperation. Minus, I will leave this task to you.¡±

    ¡°Me?!¡± Minus was slightly surprised at receiving a heavy responsibility even after contradicting Camillus several times.

    ¡°You are the best candidate for it!¡± Camillus spoke sincerely, without resentment of getting shouted by Minus, ¡°I believe you can urge them to send troops and take control of the north bank of the Tiber!¡±

    ¡°I will certainlyplete the task!¡± Minus replied with an excited and decisive tone. After all, this task was the most suitable for him, who still wanted to contribute significantly to rescuing Rome even though he couldn''t lead thousands of troops in the battle since he was young and had served in the military for only a few years.

    ¡°Now that everyone has agreed to this n, then¡­¡± Camillus began making more detailed arrangements with the generals for tomorrow''s n.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following morning, Davos got the news from the scout that Camillus'' army was on its way to Rome.

 Chapter 816: Religious Issue in Rome

    <h4>Chapter 816: Religious Issue in Rome</h4>

    ¡°Camillus is finallying!¡± After entering the city of Rome and spending the night, Davos felt the pressure of Rome from his previous life lift off his shoulders. Now, he could calmly and leisurely convey his order to Tolmides, saying, ¡°Instruct all legates to prepare their defences.¡± Following that, he quietly resumed his breakfast.

    Just after he finished his breakfast, another guard came to report, ¡°Priest Kaldeas hopes to meet you.¡±

    ¡°Kaldeas¡­let him in,¡± said Davos. Due to his legendary experience, Davos found himself quite interested in the priest of Hades, who had apanied the army to Rome and received a strong rmendation from Plesinas.

    ording to Greek tradition, one must be born into a family of priests or appointed by a dying priest for one to be a priest. Themon people are not even allowed to aspire to this sacred profession. However, the situation in the Kingdom of Theonia is quite different. Davos'' efforts to promote the growth of the Temple of Hades within the kingdom have led him to select servants who willingly serve the temple. Nheless, these individuals must undergo a sacred ceremony that Davos personally conducted in order to be official priests. This is not only because Davos serves as the head priest of the kingdom but also because he is a descendant of Hades himself. With his personal blessing, the priests of Hades naturally possess the ability tomunicate with the gods.

    Kaldeas, originally from Scylletium, was just an ordinary citizen as he wasn''t born into a Greek family of priests. However, he chose to serve as a temple attendant in Thurii after receiving favour from the Temple of Hades. Then when the tragic massacre of the Scylletians by the Syracusans happened, he was further motivated to dedicate himself to studying at the temple. Within a few years, his proficiency in theology, eloquence, and the trust he earned from the believers resulted in his promotion to the position of priest.

    Later on, Kaldeas willingly preside over the Temple of Hades in Catania. Under his leadership, the number of Hades believers in Catania significantly grew, and the influence of the Hades faith even extended to Syracuse. However, he faced criticism for using the donations from the believers to hire individuals who would purchase and free ves from Scylletium in Syracuse. As a result, he was transferred back to Thurii after a few years. Nevertheless, due to his exceptional performance, he was still promoted to the position of priest-in-charge.

    Before the army set out to Latium, Plesinas selected a priest of Hades who woulde to Latium to build a temple. Despite the risks, many had applied because the people who could be priests-in-charge were believers with firm beliefs and wanted to preach for the temple. In the end, the one chosen was Kaldeas. During the annual Assembly of the Priest of Hades held by Davos as the head priest, he intentionally or unintentionally mentioned that Latium and Rome in central Italia would be the kingdom''s next target of expansion. After the assembly, Kaldeas went to great lengths to purchase a Latin ve to teach him Latin. As a result, he became the only one among the priests of Hades who was proficient in Latin and thus ultimately selected. After all, the difficulty of developing Hades'' believers would significantly increase if they were to rely on someone tranting their preaching.

    After arriving in Rome, Kaldeas refused the others'' advice and insisted onmunicating with the Romans. While Davos worried about his safety, he never expected Kaldeas to look for him so quickly.

    Unlike how he treated the officials and generals the day before, Davos immediately stood up to meet him.

    The nearly fifty years old Kaldeas hurried into the Senate of Rome and greeted Davos with the greeting of the priest, ¡°Good morning, head priest*! ¡± (Since the establishment of the kingdom, the priests of the Temple of Hades addressed Davos, not by his administrative position ¨C ¡®Your Majesty¡¯, but by his supreme position as the head of the religion of the kingdom, which was at first only a strict rule of the Temple of Hades, andter the other temples of the kingdom also began implementing this practice)

    ¡°Good morning, priest Kaldeas,¡± said Davos while responding to his greeting, ¡°Did you discover something that made youe to see me so early?¡±

    ¡°Head priest, I havee to propose,¡± said Kaldeas straightforwardly.

    ¡°Which is?¡± Asked Davos curiously.

    ¡°When you gave your speech on the Roman Forum yesterday, you said that you hope the Romans be citizens of Theonia. However, in my conversation with them yesterday, I noticed they were uneasy and thought we might destroy their temples and stop their sacred ceremony.¡±

    ¡°Oh?!¡± Upon Kaldeas'' reminder, Davos realised that he had only announced certain benefits that the Romans would receive upon bing citizens of Theonia because he had intended to discuss the kingdom''s religious tolerance with them after they had obtained citizenship, as he had done during the conquest of Messapi, Peuceti, and Dauni in Apulia. However, the situation in Rome was more tense andplex than in Apulia at that time, intensifying the unease among the Romans.

    So Davos quickly asked, ¡°So what''s your proposal?¡±

    ¡°Head priest, I found the Romans have a strong belief in the goddess of hunting Diana, the goddess of the hearth Vesta, and the other gods such as Caelus, Liber and Libera, which the Roman plebeians mainly believed-¡±

    ¡°The Roman plebeians still have gods they exclusively believed in?!¡± Davos was somewhat surprised as it was the first time he had heard of this.

    ¡°Yes, the Romans believed in many gods, far more than we Greeks. With the Roman nobility and the plebeians each having their own gods they exclusively believed in, and these few gods and goddesses are their most revered.¡± Kaldeas began recounting, ¡°Moreover, these five Roman deities, Diana, Vesta, Caelus, Liber and Libera, all have temples on Collis Aventinus, especially the Temple of Diana, which the plebeians in all Latium worshipped¡­¡±

    ¡®Aventinus¡­which is the main residential area of the Roman plebeians¡­¡¯ Davos fell into pondering. When it came to Rome, Davos primarily focused on gathering political, economic, and military intelligence, giving less emphasis to the religious aspects. This was due to the multitude of gods worshipped by the Romans, with every river, road, forest, intersection, door, and house was a god, perplexing even the Roman priests with the sheer number of gods in Rome. What''s worse, the Romans were far less devout in worshipping the gods than the Greeks, as they were more practical and utilitarian; thus, Davos didn¡¯t delve into this area deeply. So he actually didn''t know that the Roman plebeians had their own gods they worshipped!

    ¡®But this seemed like a good thing!¡¯ As a ruler, Davos immediately understood the importance of this matter and asked, ¡°You mean for me to worship these deities to show Theonia''s respect for the Roman plebeians'' faith?¡±

    ¡°Yes, head priest,¡± Kaldeas nodded. As a priest-in-charge of Hades, he actually hoped that his head priest would worship the gods of other races, which seemed absurd.

    But in reality, King Davos wasn''t just the high priest of Hades but was also in charge of the ceremonies of all the temples in the kingdom. Davos, in turn, established the Temple of Hades as the central authority in the Theonian religious hierarchy, granting them the authority to oversee the other temples in the kingdom. Furthermore, the annual gathering of the kingdom''s priests took ce at the main Temple of Hades in Thurii and was headed by the head priest Davos; this assembly weed priests from various temples across the kingdom to engage in negotiations and jointly resolve the issues they encountered.

    Once they conquered Rome, they could assimte these Roman deities into the popr faith of the kingdom. So as a priest representing the kingdom''s dominant religion, Kaldeas had the responsibility to thoroughly learn about these deities and strive to ensure the supervision and harmonious coexistence of these temples in the future while fostering the growth of Hades'' followers within the kingdom.

    ¡°Then I''ll go to the temples of these gods worshipped by the Roman plebeians on Collis Aventinus today!¡± Davos decided. Then he asked, ¡°Do you know anything about the ceremonies of these temples?¡±

    ¡°I have already understood it clearly,¡± replied Kaldeas.

    ¡®Seems like he had thoroughly prepared!¡¯ Davos look at him approvingly. He then turned around and said, ¡°Heni, immediately send someone to inform the priests of these temples on Collis Aventinus and arrange for some men to announce to the whole city that I will go offer a ceremony to these Roman gods.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Henipolis immediately stood up.

    After remembering another thing, Davos said, ¡°And¡­immediately go and call Emilius.¡±

    Davos suddenly realised it would be an excellent opportunity to lure the snakes out of their hole.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Roman plebeians, who had just joined Theonia and be a guard, walked down the streets of Rome with their shields and spears, led by a legionary soldier, shouting loudly.

    In a grand residence,rger and more ornately decorated than its neighbouring houses, situated on the slopes of Collis Caelius, a young Roman man was lying in his bedroom on the main floor. His wife gently tends to him, carefully removing the bandage from his wound, revealing a long and recently healed scar on his left thigh.

    Upon hearing amotion from outside, he strained his ears in an attempt to understand the situation. However, he still failed to hear it clearly, prompting him to ask his wife, ¡°Konya, can you go see what''s happening outside?¡±

    After immediately leaving the bedroom, his wife soon returned. Then with a strange expression on her face, she said, ¡°Those plebeians that had defected to the enemy said that the damned king of Theonia is going to offer a ceremony to the gods.¡±

 Chapter 817: A Clumsy Assassination

    <h4>Chapter 817: A Clumsy Assassination</h4>

    ¡°Offer a sacrifice to the gods?! Which god?!¡± The young man asked urgently.

    ¡°It is those plebeians¡­¡± As soon as she spoke, she immediately realised that her husband was also a plebeian. So she quickly softened her tone and said, ¡°It''s those gods you often worship, Diana, Vesta, Caelus, Liber and Libera.¡±

    Lying on his back in bed, the young man trembled in silence as his mind was busy contemting.

    Konya was born to a family of great Roman nobility and grew up without experiencing hardships. When her father wanted to marry her to Gaius Licinius Stolo, she was still reluctant even though the young man had some fame in Rome at that time because she would be the first noblewoman to marry a plebeian and was frightened to be the joke among the Roman nobilities. But after getting married, her dissatisfaction gradually dissipated with her husband''s appearance, talent and understanding of him, making their marriage increasingly harmonious.

    So when she saw her husband''s expression turning unsightly, she quickly asked, ¡°Stolo, what''s wrong?¡±

    Stolo solemnly said, ¡°The Theonians are doing everything to win over the plebeians. I am worried¡­they would get deceived by the Theonians into giving up¡­Rome.¡±

    In fact, he was already shocked after learning the content of the king of Theonia''s speech from the mouth of the man who hade to report to him privately. It was because the promise made by King Davos was exactly what the Roman plebeians had been tirelessly pursuing, making him realise the intentions of the Theonians. Now, without regard for his noble status, the king of Theonia had gone to pray to the gods believed in by the Roman plebeians to win them over. With them going to such an extent to win over the Roman plebeians, Stolo was worried that the plebeians, who were already in great conflict with the nobles, would all join Theonia, thus seriously weakening their strength and leading to Rome''s defeat in this war¡­

    Despite his worries, he couldn''t help but feel a slight sense of pleasure as he pondered these thoughts, prompting him to blurt them out, ¡°I was thinking that if the senators and nobles on Mons Capitolinus knew what the Theonians were doing now, they would definitely regret their harsh treatment on the plebeians¡­¡±

    Unable toprehend her husband''s meaning, Konya felt a mixture of puzzlement and frustration. This was one of Stolo''s shorings, asionally speaking in profound terms that she struggled to grasp, much like her father, Ambustus.

    She couldn''t help but remember another incident. When she visited her sister, her brother-inw, Servius Sulpicius, was a nobleman who had just be a military tribune and returnedte. Seeing the entrance of his residence wasn''t open in time, he unexpectedly used his legion''s token to make his men knock on the gate loudly. When she saw this and got frightened, her sister ridiculed her, saying shecked exposure to such a situation.

    She was naturally upset that she left her sister''s house in anger. Later, she told her father about it, and Ambustus could onlyfort her, ¡°One day, you will have your own house and shock your sister.¡±

    So far, she hasn''t figured out what would shock her sister in her home¡­

    After remembering those, she began to miss her parents and sister''s family, who had fled to Mons Capitolinus, filling her heart with sadness.

    Meanwhile, Stolo looked out the window and suddenly thought of something, ¡®We might finally get a good opportunity now that the king of Theonia left the heavily guarded Roman Forum and headed for the crowded Collis Aventinus. But can those people seize this opportunity?!¡¯

    Despite ordering the Romans to stay at their home as much as possible, with the Theonians subjecting anyone wandering the streets to rigorous questioning, Stolo, who had some hope in his heart, still decided to send his servants out to learn about the situation.

    Not long after his servant left, the Theonian army drove him back because they had already imposed martialw on the main streets.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    But in the southern area of the city of Rome, Davos still didn''t prohibit the Romans from going out and watching. Instead, he had only sent the soldiers from the Fourth and Fifth legions to set up a deterrent line along the streets.

    For safety reasons, Davos also prohibited his son Crotokatax from apanying him and had him stay in the Roman Senate.

    The Romans rushed to the side of the road, behind the legionaries, where they could see the King of Theonia, who once wore a gorgeous military uniform on the Roman Forum and was now dressed in in chiton, which the Romans wore when going to the temple to pray with ten men in the same clothing apanying him, followed by hundreds of pce guards¡­they climb Collis Aventinus under the gaze of thousands of Romans.

    Thergest temple on Collis Aventinus was the Temple of Diana, founded during the reign of King Servius. With its long history and many believers, Davos designated it as the first temple he would pray at.

    Initially, the Theonians prohibited the Romans from moving around after they upied the city of Rome, including this temple. But Davos lifted the ban today, so many Romans went to the temple''s courtyard. However, legionaries blocked the road in the centre.

    When Davos entered the courtyard, he received the same attention from the Romans. On the other hand, the priests and attendants of the Temple of Diana were already standing at the temple''s entrance.

    After bowing and greeting Davos, the white-haired and amiable-looking old priest of Diana frowned at the group of attendants behind Davos and said in embarrassment, ¡°ording to the oracle, the temple only allows King Davos to enter and pray alone.¡±

    After listening to Emilius'' trantion, Davos immediately asked loudly, ¡°Isn''t everyone allowed to enter the temple and pray? I am not the only one who wishes to pray to the goddess today, but also them!¡±

    Davos then pointed to the people around him and eximed with a hint of mockery, ¡°When did the Temple of Diana, which treats everyone equally, start copying the Temples of the Greeks and is only open to a select few?!¡±

    An uproar erupted when Davos'' words reached the ears of the Romans in the courtyard.

    In most Greek temples, the main hall was usually not open to the public and was only for the priests. The people could only pray at the sacred altar in the courtyard or ask the priests for divination in the back hall, and only during major ceremonies or in times of danger of the city-state could the archons or strategoi enter the main hall and face the gods to pray for protection. Meanwhile, the Roman temples are unlike the Greeks in that they allow the people to enter the main hall to pray to the gods, even allowing a limited number of people to pray in the temples on Mons Capitolinus, which may be rted to the Romans'' emphasis on utilitarianism and practicality. In this regard, Theonia is somewhat simr to Rome as they also allowed the believers to enter the temple.

    Listening to Emilius'' loud trantion, the priest began showing a hint of panic in his eyes. Because he had always enjoyed the respect of the Romans after serving as a priest for so many years and was rarely questioned, he didn''t know how to refute him for a moment. Thus he could only lower his head and say, ¡°This is the oracle of Diana!¡±

    ¡°So, when did you receive the oracle?¡± Kaldeas suddenly asked loudly.

    ¡°¡­this morning.¡±

    ¡°What time is it in the morning?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­at breakfast.¡±

    ¡°It was only after breakfast that King Davos decided toe to pray. And I am afraid you got notified long after breakfast!¡±

    ¡°¡­goddess Diana¡­.knows everything¡­¡±

    ¡°Then how did you obtain the oracle?¡±

    ¡°Through livestock¡­no, bird divination.¡±

    ¡°From what I know about Rome, you can only use bird divination to predict good or bad omen. So when did you start using it to determine how many people can enter the temple?!¡±

    ¡°This¡­this is the ability exclusive to our Roman priests, and you Greeks do not understand it.¡±

    ¡°As far as I know, Roman priests have never used the bird divination to determine how many people can enter the temple to pray. If you say I am wrong, we can ask the people in the courtyard and even ask the people outside.¡±

    ¡°Who the hell are you?!¡±

    ¡°I am also a priest, so I would love to learn from you how to divine so urately that you even know how many people the goddess Diana allows to enter the temple to pray! If I could do that, I would be the best prophetic priest in all of Greece! Then you must be the best priest in the whole of Latium, right?!¡±

    ¡°This¡­This¡­¡±

    ¡°Also¡­I would like to ask, since it is such an important divination, then it is necessary to have assistants and witnesses. So who would they be? Do they even have the qualifications?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The continuous question of Kaldeas made the priest of the Temple of Diana turn pale and begin sweating; he began stuttering but still couldn''t say anything in the end.

    Since Emilius intentionally spoke Latin loudly, the people in the courtyard saw that the situation became somewhat wrong.

    ¡°King of Theonia, are you here to sincerely pray to the goddess in good faith or not?! Do you still want to go in?!¡± One of the attendants beside the priest loudly interjected.

    Davos turned his head quickly and looked straight at him, frightening the attendant into lowering his head.

    Martius, closely monitoring these anxious temple attendants, suddenly whispered something in Emilius'' ear.

    Emilius red at them and shouted, ¡°You dare carry a sword with you?!¡±

    His shout was like lightning striking the ground, frightening the priests, attendants and the people in the courtyard. They were taken aback because carrying weapons inside the temples was strictly prohibited, as it was deemed disrespectful to the gods, let alone the priests and attendants closest to the gods.

    One of the temple attendants simply shouted, thinking their conspiracy had been exposed, ¡°Diana¡¯s order is to kill the enemies who invaded Rome!¡±

    After saying that, he pulled out the short sword hidden under his white chiton and charged towards Davos.

    Then several other attendants also drew out their weapons and rushed forward closely.

 Chapter 818: King to King (I)

    <h4>Chapter 818: King to King (I)</h4>

    The people began panicking when they saw this unforeseen event. Fortunately, there are legionaries keeping order in the courtyard.

    With Davos and the others prepared, the guards behind them quickly rushed forward. Then while protecting Davos, they began surrounding the priest and the few attendants, capturing them all in the blink of an eye without shedding a single drop of blood.

    Emilius approach the culprits while pretending to ask them something a few times. Then he stood in front of the staircase and shouted to the Romans in the courtyard, ¡°Everyone, these men are the followers of the nobles who have imprisoned the several priests and attendants of the temple in an attempt to assassinate the king of Theonia! Who wants to follow me to the temple to free the imprisoned priests and attendants?¡±

    Feeling sceptical, some volunteered to follow Emilius to the rear hall of the temple. After smashing open the locked door, they saw the tied-up priests and attendants.

    Davos'' sudden announcement of visiting the temple for prayer made the Romans hostile towards Theonia to see it as an opportunity, but their limited time prevented them from nning meticulously. Still, they seized the moment when Theonians rxed their control over the southern area of Rome to infiltrate the temple of Diana stealthily and persuaded the priests and attendants inside to cooperate with them in assassinating the king of Theonia.

    But except for the elderly priest from a noble background who agreed, all other priests and attendants expressed their opposition. After all, whether they seed with the assassination or not, it would spell disaster for the Temple of Diana, let alonemitting murder inside the temple, which would be sphemous to the gods.

    So, in a hurry, these people simply locked them up, stripped off their clothes and pretended to be the temple''s attendants¡­without even realising that all of this was under the surveince of Emilius'' subordinates.

    Now that everything is clear, the Romans in the courtyard spat at the captured criminals one after another but were disturbed by the sight of the legionaries unsheathing their short swords.

    Suddenly, Davos stood in front of the temple''s gate and loudly proimed, ¡°Plebeians of Rome, this assassination was entirely nned by the nobilities of Rome to provoke a bloody feud between us Theonians and you! If they had seeded, it would spell great disaster for us and you! And this also shows how those nobles of Rome who were high above had never regarded you as fellow citizens of the same city. That''s why they kept suppressing and exploiting you over the years and abandoning you at the critical moment! Since you weren¡¯t involved in this assassination incident, what do you think we should do about these followers of the nobles who desecrate the gods and attempt to bring disaster to you?!¡±

    Hearing Davos'' words, the people in the courtyard became furious. But before they could begin thinking, someone shouted, ¡°Hack them to death!¡±

    Then another voice immediately followed, shouting, ¡°Yes, let''s kill them! Kill theseckeys of the nobles!¡­¡±

    Then many people began shouting along uncontrobly.

    Davos nodded solemnly and said, ¡°Alright! As you have suggested, we would tie these people to the cross outside the temple and have you vent your anger on them with a short sword!¡±

    After saying that, he immediately allowed the guards to drag the bound and gagged criminals outside the temple.

    Then many Romans, led by some, also followed out of the temple gate. Meanwhile, the people already outside the temple and didn''t know what had happened began asking one after another.

    As a result, the informed people unconsciously added coals to their stories.

    After Davosforted the frightened priests and attendants of Diana, he led Kaldeas, Henipolis, Martius and others to pray at the temple under the watchful eyes of the Romans.

    When they stepped out of the temple, the criminals hanging on the cross were all covered in wounds and dying. Yet there were still some Roman plebeians stabbing them with short swords given by the legionaries acting as guards.

    Afterwards, Davos continued going to the temples of Vesta, Caelus, Liber and Libera, with everything going much more smoothly. Not only were there no idents, but the temple priests also actively cooperated; even the people by the side of the road looked at them a little more kindly.

    Davos naturally reciprocated that. So when he saw that the three temples of Caelus, Liber and Libera were small in size and their statues were crude and simple(it was because they were temples built using the money raised by the plebeians) and were still made of wood, he immediately said, ¡°Once the war ends, the kingdom of Theonia will spend a lot of money to rebuild these three temples. Not only will we double its size, but we will also use ivory and gold to make the statue.¡±

    Upon hearing that, the priests and attendants couldn''t help but be overjoyed and immediately expressed their thanks, ¡°We will tell the kindness of the king of Theonia to the Romans who woulde to pray!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Davos went on to pray at the Roman temples, the Roman army had already arrived outside Rome.

    In this army, there are about one thousand five hundred cavalries. After seeing the strength of the Theonian cavalry in the Battle of Volsci, Camillus tried to establish a cavalry unit gathered from Rome, their colonies and the allies, ying a significant role in the war to conquer Hernici.

    Currently, Camillus ordered his cavalry to chase and kill the mounted scouts of Theonia. At the same time, he sent his soldiers to attack and upy the defenceless river port and granary in the west of Rome. Unfortunately, the inside was already long empty.

    Then Camillus ordered the whole army to start building camps.

    The Roman soldiers looked at their homes, upied by robbers and unable to enter, with a strong desire and resentment. To let the soldiers vent their emotions and other purposes, Camillus also allowed the army to send the soldiers to the city in turn to shout their anger.

    Despite most of the Theonian soldiers at the top of the city wall being unable to understand their words, they also knew it wasn''t good. So they all asked permission to leave the city and beat the Romans. Unfortunately, their officials strictly stopped them.

    With the Theonian army staying inside the city, the Romans began rampaging outside. Besides ying some tricks, the Romans didn''t attack the city immediately and were busy building camps. For a while, both sides were at peace.

    After assigning all the tasks and arranging everything properly, Camillus came to the south of Rome and stood in front of Porta Caelius with his guards.

    Someone holding a token of authority rushed near the city. After looking at the top of the city wall, he shouted in Greek, ¡°Camillus, the dictator of Rome, wants to talk with your king! Camillus, the dictator of Rome¡­¡±

    ¡°Legatus, look¡­¡± the officer of the Second Legion asked Matonis, who hade after hearing the report.

    Then without hesitation, Matonis said to the herald, ¡°Go inform His Majesty!¡±

    When Davos got the news, he had just finished praying at the temple and was returning to the Roman Forum. And he immediately decided to meet the famous dictator of Rome.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Waiting anxiously with the guards, Lucius began persuading his father, ¡°The Theonians are taking an unreasonable amount of time to respond, clearly intending to humiliate us. Let us return!¡±

    ¡°Lucius, there''s no need to worry excessively. It''s okay to wait for a little longer.¡± Camillus said calmly, ¡°For Rome, such insignificant suffering is nothing! Moreover, the soldiers can see the efforts we are making.¡±

    His words made Lucius ponder.

    Suddenly, a guard said loudly, ¡°Lord dictator, look at the top of the city wall!¡±

    Two massive banners suddenly appeared atop the city gate, shining brightly under midday sunlight.

    At the same time, the Theonian soldiers atop the wall erupted in cheers.

    Camillus turned serious and muttered, ¡°Herees the king of Theonia.¡±

    The attendant who shouted at the front also rushed back and reported, ¡°Lord dictator, the king of Theonia has agreed to talk to you.¡±

    ¡°Let''s go,¡± said Camillus.

    When Lucius saw enemy soldiers crowding atop the city wall, he suddenly became worried and grabbed Camillus by the arm and said, ¡°Father, don''t go.¡±

    Camillusughed and said, ¡°Calm down. I have already mentioned before that the king of Theonia, renowned for his numerous victories andmitment to keeping promises, would never risk tarnishing his reputation by deceiving an old man like me!¡±

    After saying that, he continued moving forward, and Lucius could only reluctantly follow closely with the guards.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos was slightly dyed because he had rushed back to the Senate and changed into his military uniform because he had worn a ceremonial chiton to pray at the temple. Then when he saw the lines of Romans approaching the city wall, he suddenly said, ¡°Come, let''s go out to meet the dictator of Rome.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, that''s too dangerous!!¡± Matonis, Martius and the others were shocked, prompting them to dissuade Davos quickly.

    ¡°If the dictator of Rome dares to approach our fortified city, do we Theonians dare not go out to meet them in our territory?!¡± Davos then resolutely shouted, ¡°We Theonians are not cowards!¡±

    It was difficult for those around Davos to persuade him again after he said that.

    ¡°Your Majesty, then allow me to apany you!¡± Said Matonis immediately.

    Seeing his resolute expression, Davos just nodded.

    Matonis solemnly ordered the officers under hismand, ¡°All of you must keep your eyes open. As soon as you see any suspicious movement, attack the enemy!¡±

    Davos turned around and went down the city. Besides the slightly excited Henipolis, the rest of the people who apanied him all looked serious.

    In addition to Camillus, the approaching Romans were surprised when they saw the two banners atop the city gate disappearing, then the drawbridge fell, and the city gate opened.

    Surrounded by the guards, Davos rode out of the city gate with the banner raised behind him. He then stood before the trench after crossing the drawbridge.

 Chapter 820: Attack on Ostia

    <h4>Chapter 820: Attack on Ostia</h4>

    Upon receiving his subordinates'' notification, Theris immediately came out of the city hall to wee Mithridates, who had just arrived.

    After greeting each other, Mithridates delivered Davos'' edict to Theris.

    When they first took over Ostia, Davos simply announced the liberation of ves, as well as several rights for the Latin refugees, the liberated ves'' citizenship and the distribution ofnd¡­ Now, he ordered Theris to implement the decree announced in the Roman Forum yesterday to the Roman plebeians and ves while handing over the Roman nobles and their followers in Ostia to Mithridates, who would take them aboard the ships.

    After reading the edict, Theris felt at ease and said, ¡°Following His Majesty''s will, managing Ostia would now be easier.¡±

    After saying that, he called his subordinates and ordered them to immediately escort the captive Roman nobles to the port as required and hand them over to the Third Fleet.

    Then he said to Mithridates, ¡°After hearing the merchants who returned from Romest night discuss the decree announced by His Majesty in the Roman Forum, I had already selected those captives in advance. Ostia only have one hundred and seventy-eight Roman males from noble backgrounds, probably less than a hundred who meet His Majesty''s requirements. So, you don''t need to wait too long before they board the ship.¡±

    ¡°It''s no wonder His Majesty ced such an important task in your hands, given Lord Theris'' meticulousness in your work!¡± Mithridatesplimented him, pleased that he would spend less time in Ostia, enabling him to lead the warships south to Terina and recruit new marines earlier.

    ¡°While my subordinatesplete their work, could Navarch Mithridates provide me with a detailed ount of His Majesty''s and the army''s conquest of the city of Rome?¡± said Theris smilingly.

    ¡°With great pleasure!¡± Mithridates responded straightforwardly. He had long heard stories about this statesman from Sicily. Unlike those many statesmen who had be Theonian through political achievements or various special reasons, this burly, middle-aged man had humbled himself to undergo training at Thurii''s military camp. Through his outstanding performance in training, he quickly rose from a new recruit in the reserve legion to the esteemed position of a reserve senior centurion. His achievement earned him the respect of numerous military personnel, including Mithridates himself.

    Theris then dly said, ¡°Since it''s almost dinner, why don''t we have some drink? We can chat and drink while I''ll have the chef cook a few more dishes.¡±

    Mithridates thought that since he was leading his men south, it meant they already left the battlefield. So he did not refuse.

    While the two enjoyed their conversation, the guard captain at the door burst inside and eximed, ¡°My Lord, there is an urgent report from the scouts stationed outside the city. They have spotted a Roman army rapidly marching towards Ostia, estimated to consist of over twenty thousand men!¡±

    Both Mithridates and Theris were surprised, but Theris quicklyughed and said, ¡°The Romans arrived just in time! Aren''t you all worried about not having a chance to fight on the battlefield? The opportunity for glory has presented itself; it all depends on your ability to seize it! Kess, could it be that you are afraid?¡±

    The captain immediately replied loudly, ¡°My Lord, my brothers and I couldn¡¯t wait for the Romans to initiate their attack so that they could taste our strength!¡±

    ¡°Immediately notify the three senior centurions and have the soldiers start eating. Then, lead the brigade to their respective defensive positions ording to the previous training.¡±

    ¡°Understood, My Lord!¡± Kess immediately turned around and left.

    Immediately after, Theris summoned his assistant, Lukedeius.

    Lukedeius was a Latin Theonian citizen from Irna and had stayed behind at the behest of Davos to serve as the interpreter of Theris, who didn''t understand Latin. However, Theris boldly offered him the position as his assistant to provide advice in governing the ce. He had also given him the position of adjutant of the newly created brigade, responsible for organising and training the one thousand two hundred thirty Ostian ves and Latin refugees who had applied to be Theonian citizens. Since he was just amon citizen of Irna and amon soldier of the reserve unit before that, he naturally worked extremely hard after suddenly taking on such an important task.

    Theris had now instructed him to assist the senior centurion in assembling the soldiers of the newly formed brigade after they finished eating their dinner, serving as the city''s defence reserve, prepared to engage in battle at a moment''s notice.

    After arranging these things, Theris apologised and said to Mithridates, ¡°These damn Romans interrupted your wonderful story. It appears that we can only continue enjoying this liquor after I repel them and you return from your journey to Scylletium.¡±

    ¡°Then it would be my turn to hear how you repel the Romans.¡± Mithridates smiled. Then with a serious look, he advised, ¡°When I was in the city of Rome, the Roman army outside the city was busy building a camp and didn''t seem they would attack the city immediately. It turns out they had quietly sent troops to take Ostia. So Lord Theris, you must be on your guard as it is clear that the enemy is well-prepared. After all, Ostia is too important for our army in Rome!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Theris nodded solemnly before asking, ¡°Navarch Mithridates, did the Roman army fully surround the city of Rome? Or could I still send a messenger to enter Rome smoothly?¡±

    Mithridates shook his head and said, ¡°Before leaving, the Roman army was already stationed outside the city apart from the east. However, it would be difficult to make a detour!¡±

    ¡°It seems it is safer to take the waterway¡­¡± Theris pondered and said, ¡°Navarch Mithridates, can I ask you to send a boat to Rome to inform His Majesty of the enemy situation here immediately?¡±

    ¡°That''s my duty!¡± Mithridates responded directly. Then he cautioned, ¡°It would take at least half a day from here to Rome via the Tiber and even longer in the dark since there is also a certain danger for the boat pullers and sailing. Thus His Majesty might not receive the information until tomorrow, and it would take at least noon tomorrow for the reinforcements to arrive! So you should be prepared.¡±

    Mithridates paused, then continued advising when seeing Theris fall into pondering, ¡°I hope you can make room in the port, as I will order some warships docked at the port to dispatch their sailors to assist you in battle and make up for the shortage of defenders. However, you need to provide them with weapons and equipment.¡±

    Feeling surprised and grateful, Theris immediately expressed his gratitude and said, ¡°There''s no need for you to worry about their weapons and equipment, navarch. After defeating the Romans here and the spoils collected from the battlefield, apart from some we had sold to the merchants, have been piled up in the warehouses, enough to equip six to seven thousand men.¡±

    ¡°Then I can rest assured,¡± said Mithridates. Although his sailors weren''t like the Marines, as they usually trained on the sea and weren''t good atndbat, they were all young adults, which isn''t a severe problem when defending a city.

    And the reason Mithridates help him so actively: On the one hand, if he, as a senior officer present, had left without offering any help when Ostia was facing danger, he would inevitably receive impeachment by the Ministry of Military and received criticism from his colleagues once Ostia falls. But the important reason was that he had discovered the importance of Ostia to the Third Fleet. If they could establish a military port here, they could extend the Third Fleet''s control over the southern coast of Italia to Etruria. Thus he hopes he could obtain the approval of King Davos in the future, as well as the active cooperation of the praetor of Ostia, so he needs to win Theris'' favour.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the city of Ostia prepares for defence, the Roman army led by Titus set out from Praeneste at dawn, passed through Rome, passed through Lake Alba in the south, turned northwest, and marched for nearly forty-five kilometres. At dusk, they finally reached their final destination ¨C Ostia.

    Titus immediately ordered the soldiers to eat their rations, put on their armour and take up arms, and get ready to besiege the city.

    While the soldiers rested, he ordered the ballistae team to push the remaining nearly twenty ballistae to the forefront to bombard the thin city wall of Ostia, which was less than four metres in height.

    Despite getting excited about finally participating in the battle, Theonia''s reserves could only watch helplessly as the Roman army, resembling a winding dragon that stretched into the distance, arrived near the city wall. Then hundreds, if not thousands, of troops began dividing and gradually encircling Ostia. As a result, feelings of nervousness and fear overwhelmed the Theonian reserves.

    Theris, who also served as themander of the Ostian army, stood at the top of the city gate, gazing at the enemy below while feeling nervous. Despite this being his first time in actualbat, he had repeatedly ordered the soldiers to strictly follow what they had learned in military training to carry out their defensive arrangements, as he believed that this couldpletely block the enemy''s attack.

    ¡°Lord Theris, look! The enemy has ballista!¡±

    Theris didn''t need his men''s reminder since he could see the dozen ballistae the Romans pushing to the front. Still, he had remained calm.

    During the decade following the South-Italian War, Theonia''s Ministry of Military made significant advancements in using ballistae and gastraphetes. Designed initially for sieging cities, they had adapted these weapons for city defence. To achieve this, the engineers worked to reduce the size and weight of the ballistae, as well as modify their firing mechanism (Since they would need to fire the ballistae downwards when defending the city, the stone projectiles could easily slip out). Thus, at Davos'' guidance, a new type of fortification was designed to fully unleash the ballistae''s strength. And based on that, they had even developed a new defensive strategybining the ballista and gastraphetes.

    After capturing Ostia, Davos decided to leave ten defensive ballistae and five gastraphetes, considering Ostia''s importance, all of which were ced atop the city wall by Theris.

    Not far away from Theris, on the walkway, stood a ballista. And due to insufficient time, further improving the city wall would be impossible. Therefore, they had ced arge wooden board below the ballista, allowing its body to be higher than the battlements. Next to it were dozens of stone projectiles, with two soldiers in charge of each ballista: One was the ballista''s gunner responsible for the firing, and the other was the spotter responsible for the parameters.

 Chapter 821: Attack and Defense in Ostia

    <h4>Chapter 821: Attack and Defense in Ostia</h4>

    When the Theonian army first created the ballista unit, there was only one spotter for a team of ten ballistae in a legion, and they all came from the Theonian Akademia. Their job was to urately calcte thending point and firing curve, which requires mathematical knowledge and the ability topute fast. After more than a decade had passed, they could now pair a spotter for each ballista, which coincidentally shows the achievements of Theonia in their education.

    At this moment, the artillerist adjusted the ballista''s settings at the prompt of the spotter, pulled the spring arm, and quickly ced small stone projectiles. After safely securing the projectile in the brass ring, the artillerist pulled the lever and caused the spring arm to retract quickly. Then the powerful torque pushed the stone projectile out and whistled towards a Roman ballista that was slowly advancing.

    ¡°Ballistae! The Theonians ballistae!¡± The Roman soldiers pushing their ballistae shouted in panic at seeing ck dots flying through the air. They tried to push their ballistae out of the way, but its heaviness made it slow to move, and the stone projectile arrived in a sh and struck the ce not far from the ballistae, sttering the Roman soldiers with dirt.

    Then the stunned Roman soldiers saw more ck dots flying out of the city, each attacking other ballistae. Although they all missed in the end, it already made Titus watching from the rear of the formation, surprised. Beyond his imagination, the Theonians had actually left several ballistae in the small city of Ostia and ced them atop the city wall to attack their ballistae in a manner of defence he had never seen before.

    While hesitating whether to withdraw the ballistae, the Theonians'' second round of attack had already begun.

    Only after the Theoniansunched ten more stone projectiles did they finally manage to hit a Roman ballista. Although they only managed to break a part of it, a ballista was a rtively delicate piece of siege equipment. Once its bnce was disrupted, it could no longer be used unless repaired. It''s not that the Romans didn''t try to replicate the Carthaginian ballista after acquiring it. On the contrary, they had made some progress. However, they struggled to cast the coreponents, such as the metal ratchets, chains, and cylinders, with the same precision as the Carthaginians. Then while they were still improving their craftsmanship, the Theonians arrived. And each time they destroyed a Carthaginian ballista, it meant one less in the Roman arsenal.

    Thus Titus could only order anxiously, ¡°Withdraw the ballista!¡±

    While the Roman ballista troops hastily retreated, a stone projectile fired from the city managed to destroy another ballista.

    As Titus watched the ballista troops retreat in confusion, he looked up at the sky that had begun to turn red by the setting sun. He then looked at the enemies in the city and quickly moved his stare at the defensive fortifications¡­densely packed in front of the trench, for a few moments before withdrawing his gaze and looking at the soldiers behind him.

    The Roman citizens from the colony, already dressed in armour and armed, gazed at Ostia with fighting spirit in their eyes despite their exhaustion from the long march. Their desire to recapture their mother city had filled them with strength, and their fighting spirit naturally infected Titus, causing him to suppress his worries. Based on his previous contact and experience, the Theonians reinforced Ostia¡¯s defence. However, he didn''t have the time to restore his soldiers'' strength and prepare them more fully for the siege, as he had to retake Ostia before the Theonian reinforcements arrived. As a result, he had to rely on the soldiers'' high morale andrge numbers.

    ¡°Tell the troops to prepare for the attack!¡± Titus said deeply.

    The heralds rode through the army rank, the officers called out to their men to get ready, and the soldiers rose to their feet, carrying their pre-madedders and javelins from the apanying wagons as previously discussed.

    After a moment ofmotion and mour, the bugle finally sounded, prompting the Roman army to roar loudly. Then, under the leadership of the centurions, the soldiers began to march towards the east and south of the city of Ostia with great strides. (The sea to the west, the Tiber to the north and thekes and marshes as a barrier to its southeast).

    As Theris watched the enemy army rushing in like a tide towards the city, he instinctively tightened his fists.

    When the three hundred Theonian archers atop the city wall saw the enemy was about to enter the hundred-metre range, they began pulling their bows.

    Meanwhile, the ballistae and gastraphetes atop the city wall began firing stone projectiles and iron stakes at the enemy below. Despite the swarm of enemies making their attacks hit hard and the death toll horrific, a round of attacks with only a dozen casualties was like a small ssh against the wave of thousands of Roman soldiers forming the siege and failed to stop the Roman advance.

    But not long after, the Roman soldiers rushing at the forefront let out screams after another, ¡°Ah! Help me! My foot! Something pierced my foot!¡±

    ¡°Be careful of the trap! There are spikes buried in the ground!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the screams and cries of the Roman soldiers, the speed of the entire army was hindered.

    While some Roman soldiers went to help their bloodiedrades and others carefully scouted the ground and moved forward cautiously, the arrows fired from atop the city wall continued to fall like raindrops. Despite most Romans being heavy infantry, the traps at their feet forced them to panic and prevented them from using shields to defend themselves, thus increasing the casualties.

    What is worse is that since they got stuck in the trap zone, the ballistae and gastraphetes had enough time to unleash their destructive power.

    Titus became anxious when he saw the war situation and realised that he had underestimated the Theonians'' defence of a small city.

    He took a deep breath and calmed himself, ¡°Quickly send orders to the attacking troops not to rush forward. Instead, use all their strength to pull out those traps first!¡±

    After the herald galloped away, another scout soon came, ¡°General Titus, the people from Ardea have arrived!¡±

    Titus felt thrilled, but when he was about to say something, another scout arrived, ¡°Reporting to General Titus, the people of Antium areing!¡±

    While Titus led his army to the west, Camillus sent envoys to inform Rome''s colonial cities and Latin allies in the west of Latium, hoping they could send soldiers to help the army attack Ostia. Now, these ces have responded to Camillus'' request.

    Then a convoy from the towns in the west carrying supplies slowly gathered behind the Roman army¡­

    Titus'' face brightened as he began expressing his gratitude to the leaders of these groups and sent his capable men to organise hundreds of people to light fires around them and build camps and tents to prepare for a long battle.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Theris, standing from the east gate tower of Ostia, watched the archers and ballistae attack the approaching Roman soldiers near the trench without interruption while other soldiers began throwing their javelins.

    The city of Ostia had two gates: one on the east and one on the south. Theris had earlier ordered blocking the south gate, leaving only the east gate open for the scouts and heralds to pass through. Additionally, traps had been set outside the east gate, effectively narrowing the road. As a result, the Roman soldiers were forced to form their attacking teams in narrow lines, making them vulnerable to concentrated counterattacks from the defenders inside the city. This resulted in wounded soldiers filling up the trenches.

    Despite such a result, Theris wasn''t excited as he saw the bonfires burning behind the enemy lines and the Romans who kept arriving, making him realise that the siege battle would get a lot more challenging. So the first order that came to his mind was: Have the reserves below the citypletely block the eastern gate with wood and stones as well.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In Rome, there was a stark contrast between the Roman plebeians who were eager to apply for Theonian citizenship in the Roman Forum and the Roman nobles who cried out in the surrounding area due to their loved ones being taken away. As a result, the entire city''s poption was agitated between the two extremes¡­

    Davos decided to return to the Roman Senate and hoped for a moment of peace. But to his surprise, the praetor of Rome, Asistes, hurriedly arrived again.

    ¡°Your Majesty! After you had gone to pray to those Roman temples, the number of Romansing to the Roman Forum to sign up has increased dramatically, and the number of registered people is now over a thousand!¡± Asistes excitedly reported the excellent news to Davos since this meant that there had been a further change in the attitude of the Roman plebeians towards Theonia.

    Davos smiled and replied, ¡°I saw it when passing by the Roman Forum. Isn''t that a good thing, though?!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, but there''s one thing I have to ask of you,¡± Asistes continued, ¡°Some Romans told me that their loved ones were among the Roman army outside the city, and they hope their loved ones be citizens of Theonia instead of fighting with us. Thus they inquired if they could go out of the city to persuade them.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡­¡± Davos became interested. While rubbing his jaw and thinking for a while, he turned his head and asked, ¡°Croto, what do you think?¡±

    Crotokatax, who was just standing beside him, then replied with seriousness, ¡°Father, based on the things that happened in the Roman Forum over the past two days, we should believe what they say and allow them to go out of the city to persuade their loved ones to join the kingdom. Not only would this shake the enemy''s morale and weaken them, but it would also strengthen us! Even if some of them had deceived us and just wanted to escape from the city, they were all elderly, women and children. Thus, in general, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages¡­¡±

    Asistes nced at Crotokatax, recalling the numerous asions he had visited Davos'' house in Thurii. During those visits, he had the opportunity to encounter the king''s eldest son asionally. A favourable impression of him formed because Crotokatax''s modesty, politeness, and friendliness had left asting mark on him. However, Asistes noticed a significant change in his demeanour on this particr asion.

    Davos nodded and said approvingly, ¡°Croto is right. Thus I will allow them to leave the city, but not all of them. Only the elders in a family can leave, while the women and children must stay in the city¡­ Also, I''ll take this opportunity to send the gifts I promised to Camillus.¡±

    After saying that, a mysterious smile appeared on his face.

 Chapter 822: Sowing Discord

    <h4>Chapter 822: Sowing Discord</h4>

    At dusk, in front of the Roman camp under construction stood Adriau, the messenger dispatched by Davos. Apanying him were two women and two children, who followed closely behind.

    While the Roman soldiers looked at him curiously, Adriaus shouted in Latin, before Camillus could send anyone out to greet him, ¡°Lord Camillus, Dictator of Rome! To thank you for your kindness and help, and hoping to forge a deeper friendship, His Majesty King Davos has sent back your wife, daughter-inw and grandsons!¡­¡±

    Upon hearing the repeated shouting, the expressions of the Roman soldiers around them suddenly changed, and they began whispering to one another.

    Camillus'' house is only a small nobility in Rome, and became even fewer in his generation, with Camillus only having one son and few rtives. Furthermore, he had taken basically all the adult males of his house with him on this expedition to Hernici because this was a war that was certain to be won, so he also wanted the males of the house to make some achievements and profits in this war. As a result, this led to ack of capable men in his house in Rome to lead them when the Senate decided to retreat to Mons Capitolinus. And since his home wasn''t located in the core area of the city of Rome, his family naturally was slow to retreat, which ultimately made it impossible for them to go up the hill.

    In themand tent in the centre of the Roman Ccamp, Camillus and his son were both surprised by the news, and Lucius even felt grateful. Lucius then said anxiously, ¡°Father, hurry up! Send someone to pick them up!¡±

    As he said that, he added, ¡°Despite my hatred of the Theonians, I am grateful for their king''s action this time! He is truly worthy of being the hero the Greeks praised with his extraordinary temperament!¡­¡±

    Camillus, who had remained silent for a long time and had a pained expression, finally squeezed out a sentence, ¡°No, Lucius! We can''t¡­let them enter the camp.¡±

    Thinking he misheard him, Lucius asked, ¡°Father, what are you saying?!¡±

    ¡°We absolutely can''t¡­can''t¡­take your mother and the others here¡­we can''t!¡± Camillus clenched his fist and smashed it on the table, ¡°This is the scheme of the King of Theonia!¡±

    ¡°Father, do you even know what you are talking about?! That''s your wife standing outside! Your daughter-inw! And your two lovely grandchildren! How can you mercilessly watch them fall into the hands of the enemy, to be tortured and humiliated?!¡± Lucius asked him in disbelief and anger.

    ¡°Calm down¡­son.¡± Camillus looked at his angry son and started moving his mouth with difficulty, trying to convince him with a trembling voice, ¡°Why wouldn''t I¡­want to get them all back?! But¡­not now! Because the other soldiers'' families are still in the city! Now that the Theonians had just sent my family back, what will the soldiers think?! Have you heard what that Theonian shouted outside the camp?! What do you think is the meaning for them to thank me for helping them?! All of that is the Theonians'' scheme! If I wee back your mother, your wife and your children, the soldiers would inevitably be suspicious! Would they still obey my orders then?! Could an army that does not obey orders work together to reim the city of Rome?!!!¡±

    Despite usually listening to his father, Lucius could hardly ept Camillus'' exnation now. Thus he could only say bitterly, ¡°Father, you are the dictator! You don''t have to consider what the soldiers think when you do something! It was because you had taken away the young adult citizens of the whole city that led to Mother and the others falling into the enemy¡¯s hands, which caused such a terrible result. So you must make up for your mistakes as soon as possible!¡±

    Although some people privately expressed their dissatisfaction with Camillus using simr words, it felt like a sword piercing his chest when his own family spoke them, leaving him feeling dizzy. He quickly steadied himself by leaning on the table and, after a moment, responded firmly, ¡°No, I will not do that! I will lead the army to retake the city of Rome and save our loved ones myself!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Lucius cursed loudly and immediately turned around to leave themand tent.

    ¡°Someone!¡± Camillus immediately shouted and then said to the guard captain, who entered the tent with a pained expression, ¡°Immediately stop Lucius! Also¡­send people to expel the messenger of Theonia and the people he brought¡­back to the city¡­¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡± The guard captain knew the situation outside the camp because the soldiers talked about it everywhere.

    Seeing his hesitation, Camillus snapped at him, ¡°Go and execute my order!¡±

    ¡°Y¡­yes!¡±

    When the guard captain left, Camillus felt like he had suddenly aged for several years, causing him to sink into his seat.

    After a while, his adjutant entered themand tent and was about to report the situation. However, he couldn''t speak up for a moment after seeing his bleak expression.

    Only after Camillus noticed his existence that he asked weakly, ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°The scouts reported that the Theonians had opened the gate to the north and released some of our people.¡±

    Camillus immediately thought that the King of Theonia had released these Romans and was probably intended to divert the effect of releasing his family, resulting in him changing his mind.

    Despite wanting to ask those Romans who left the city about the situation inside, Camillus was too tired and sleepy and could only say, ¡°Go and settle those people down. Then bring a few of them here tomorrow so that I can inquire about the situation inside.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Lord Dictator.¡±

    After the adjutant departed, Camillus issued an order to the guards, instructing them to stop anyone from entering themand tent unless there was an emergency.

    Feeling exhausted and annoyed, he instructed his servants to make his bed quickly. Then without having dinner, he promptly fell asleep.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As dusk settled in and the sky darkened, the soldiers ceased their camp construction and returned to their tents, preparing to have dinner.

    During this time, Camillus'' adjutant dispatched a Roman centuria to escort the hundreds of Romans who had departed the city to the refugee camp on the east side of the military camp.

    It wasn''t a coincidence that the Roman centurion assigned to this task was predominantlyposed of plebeians, including their centurion, Sextus. It was because the superiority of the Roman nobility extended not only to politics but also to military affairs. Despite not having fought many battles, the children of the nobilities¡¯ could serve as officers in the army. Meanwhile, the plebeians, even if they had repeatedly made military achievements, found it challenging to even be a centurion. Naturally, the situation has recently undergone some changes, with certain plebeians receiving promotions in the army, particrly since Camillus assumed the position of chief of the military. However, it remained an umon urrence, as there were evident disparities in the treatment of nobles and plebeians within the army. Thus, when the soldiers were fatigued and hungry during dinnertime, the centuria they had dispatched consisted entirely of plebeians.

    Naturally, Camillus'' adjutant had to exin it to them eloquently, ¡°All of this is for your sake. It is because the people the Theonians had released are all from Collis Caelius.¡±

    And just as he expected, the Roman centurion,posed of inhabitants of Collis Caelius, didn''tin. Instead, they hurried over, only to be surprised to find that they knew all these hundreds of elderlies and that most of them were rtives of the soldiers, including the father of the centurion, Sextus.

    As a result, the soldiers rushed forward while eagerly inquiring about the situation of their home,pletely forgetting the adjutant''s advice to quietly bring these people to the rear so that they won''t disturb the army.

    But instead of responding to the soldiers'' inquiries, these elderlies began persuading them to flee the army and return to the city of Rome to join the Kingdom of Theonia.

    The most typical among these conversations was Sextus'' father persuading his son.

    ¡°Father, where are Tuya and the children?! They¡­are they all safe?!¡±

    ¡°They are all fine, so there''s no need for you to worry! The Theonian army had an excellent discipline that after they entered Rome, they didn''t do mass killing or plundering. In that regard, the Celts couldn''tpare to them at all¡­not even us.¡±

    ¡°Father, how could you dare speak up for the Theonians?!¡±

    ¡°Because that''s a fact! Not only am I speaking up for them, but I also want to persuade you!¡±

    ¡°Persuade me?!¡±

    ¡°I suggest you immediately leave the Roman army and join the Kingdom of Theonia with me!¡±

    ¡°O Jupiter, you had betrayed Rome?!¡±

    ¡°It''s not that I betrayed Rome, but that many of the plebeians in Collis Caelius and even the whole city of Rome had joined Theonia!¡±

    ¡°Why?! Father, why?! You are a citizen of Rome! You have lived in the city as its citizen all your life. You are a genuine Roman citizen!! You had even participated in more than twenty battles and won a civic crown once. You are the hero of our street, and even mine-¡±

    ¡°I have also fought in the battle against the Celts and followed Camillus in chasing them away, but what good did it do? You should understand that my years of fighting have left me with impaired feet and hands, and I frequently suffer from fever, which has caused me to umte a significant amount of debt just to treat my illness. If it weren''t for the support of myrades, those nobles would have even seized mynd. But did the Roman Senate even protect our house from those moneylenders because of my military achievements-¡±

    ¡°Father, there''s no need for you to worry anymore! I am already a centurion and have won a lot of spoils from the expedition to Hernici, so I should be able to pay off your previous debts!¡±

    ¡°Oh, I didn''t notice that you had already be a centurion.¡±

    ¡°Our former centurion died in the battle with the Hernicans. After seeing how I fought bravely, dictator Camillus promoted me to be the new leader of the centuria.¡±

    ¡°But what good would that do?! Would that stop those greedy nobles and moneylenders from harassing our family?! Would you receive morend?! Or will you serve as a high-ranking official of Rome?! And, once you are injured and unable to hold a spear, can you still ensure that you can keep feeding your family and provide them with clothing?!¡­¡±

 Chapter 823: Persuasion

    <h4>Chapter 823: Persuasion</h4>

    ¡°Father, now Rome is changing! There are even plebeians like Licinius and Furius¡­and others serving as military tribune! Dictator Camillus even said that in the future, the Senate will be open to the plebeians!¡±

    ¡°Hmph, Camillus! He was the one to order the arrest of Marcus, the leader of us plebeians! You should not believe in those nobles who kept deceiving us! Even after we gave up fighting them at critical moments, it still resulted in Rome remaining unchanged! My son, Licinius'' house were already nobles among the plebeians, as was Furius, not to mention that they were closer to those nobles than we could everpare, so don''t get your hopes up! But now, there''s no longer for us to worry because the nobilities in Rome suffered a crushing loss!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°The Theonians announced that they cancelled all our debts! In addition, as long as we are willing to be citizens of Theonia, even we plebeians could receive fertilend andfortable houses! They also announced that any Roman plebeian who bes a citizen of Theonia can apply for a public position in the kingdom and be a senator after earning political achievements!¡±

    ¡°Father, the Theonians are our enemies! They have invaded our homnd! They will say anything so that we won¡¯t resist their invasion!-¡±

    ¡°They didn''t deceive anyone! After finding all the writings that recorded our debts in the nobles'' houses in Rome, they destroyed them all in the Roman Forum! Then they gathered all the nobles'' families together, confiscated their houses andnd, and began distributing them to the Roman plebeians who had joined Theonia! Furthermore, they had also made a Roman plebeian who had be a ve because of his debt a vice praetor! I also specifically asked someone and learned that many statesmen of the kingdom of Theonia hade from lowly backgrounds, so-¡±

    ¡°Father! Whether or not the Theonians'' words are true, it will be useless once we take back Rome! On the contrary, the Senate will severely punish those Romans who had benefited from the Theonians!¡±

    ¡°Take back the city of Rome? That''s if you can! Look at these scars on my body! Despite not bing a centurion, I had fought in far more battles than you and knew well that winning a battle is all about which side has more soldiers, which side has braver and obedient soldiers, and better weapons and armour! Although I didn''t fight the Theonians when they attacked the city, I had learned from our neighbours who fled to their homes that the Theonian soldiers were no less brave than us Romans. But what set them apart from us is that they had far superior armour, weapons and siege equipment. Yet even with their superiority, they had conquered the city of Rome without assaulting the people in the city, proving they were far more disciplined than us Roman citizens-¡±

    ¡°We have seventy thousand soldiers, and Camillus is leading us! With his leadership, we will surely recapture the city of Rome! Father, let''s stop talking and hurry to the camp with me to rest. Once we drive out the Theonians, we will be reunited with our family!¡±

    ¡°Is Camillus better than the ever-victorious king of Theonia? Can our seventy thousand men capture the city of Rome defended by fifty thousand soldiers? Sextus, you are mistaken! Look at your soldiers. They understand the situation clearly!¡±

    Upon his father''s reminder, Sextus noticed that some of his men had fallen silent while others disyed signs of embarrassment. Yet many still gathered around the elders, eagerly inquiring about the situation back home in the city, their faces filled with excitement.

    Sextus then recalled that many of the men under hismand had not grown up in Rome. Most of them were refugees who had joined Rome in the past decade, and their sense of identity as Romans was still weak. It exined their susceptibility to such temptations.

    As a result, he loudly warned the soldiers, ¡°Don''t forget that the Theonians are a foreign race and don''t believe in Jupiter, Juno, or Vesta! They also serve under a king! We cannot join such a foreign kingdompletely different from Rome!¡±

    ¡°Like Rome, Theonia is also a city-stateposed of many races! And in Theonia, many of their statesmen were from various races, and their king had even gone to pray at the Temple of Diana, Vesta, and even the gods we plebeians worshipped, Caelus, Liber and Libera, which proves that the Theonians fully allow us to worship our own gods! As for the idea of having a monarchy, there is nothing to be concerned about. Let us not forget that when those Roman nobles unjustly used Marcus of seeking to restore the monarchy, he was a heroic figure who genuinely cared for us plebeians! Therefore, it matters little whether there is a king or not. What truly matters is whether we, the plebeians, can receive fairer treatment, ensuring we no longer fear debt or the threat of envement. Instead, we should have ess tond and authority, granting us a better future.¡± Another older man eximed.

    Hisst few words made the soldiers'' eyes brighten.

    ¡°That''s right, just as I have received one acre ofnd south of the port river, on the banks of the Tiber, which is far more fertile and easier to farm than my previousnd to the west of Fidenae.¡± Sextus'' father then patted his injured leg and said, ¡°My family also moved to Mons Ptinus to live in arge house belonging to the house udii, the person I formerly owe a debt. I used to kneel at the door of that house, praying for them to dy the payment of my debt¡­ Hahaha, and now I get to be the owner of that house!¡±

    ¡°Father, you¡­you¡­¡± Sextus'' vision darkened when he heard that.

    ¡°That''s right, I have applied to be a citizen of Theonia and received the former property of the udii house. And from their house''s ruthless style of revenge, they will definitely regard our family as a mortal enemy! So why do you still hesitate?¡± Sextus¡¯ old man suddenly snapped.

    ¡°You are crazy to provoke the people of the udii house!¡± Sextus angrily replied while fear filled his face.

    ¡°It''s not just your father who went to provoke the nobles, but many plebeians in the city have the blood of nobles and their followers staining their hands. After oppressing us for so long, it''s now our turn to retaliate!¡± Said another older man in a resentful tone.

    His words not only received support from the other elders, but also the approval from many soldiers.

    As a result, Sextus could only fall into silence.

    Then his father again persuaded him, ¡°My son, the vice praetor of Rome Asistes, who hade from Thurii, had made another announcement today. In two days, the plebeians of Rome will gather in the Roman Forum to jointly elect members to form a local council of Rome. Its role is to supervise and assist the praetor of Rome in governing the city. Since any plebeian can sign up, I have decided to participate in the election.

    Also¡­praetor Asistes announced they would divide the city of Rome into nine demos. But since weck administrative experience and knowledge about thews and institutions of the Kingdom of Theonia, the demarchos who will manage each demo for the time being will be officials of the Kingdom of Theonia. However, they will choose their adjutants from among the Roman plebeians. Their job is to assist the demarchos in managing each demo of the city while learning from their experience in governing so that they can take on more important positions in the future¡­

    A crucial condition for selecting their adjutant was knowing Greek so they couldmunicate better with the Theonian officials. Since you know Greek, I hope you can be the adjutant of the demarchos!¡±

    Sextus, however, remained silent.

    Not only were the elders watching him, but also the soldiers, especially those hesitant soldiers looking forward to their centurion''s decision to help them make a final decision.

    ¡°We¡­if we just entered the city like this, will the Theonians really won''t suspect us and suddenly attack us?¡± When Sextus finally uttered this sentence, the elders finally smiled, and most soldiers felt relieved.

    But then, some soldiers reminded with concern, ¡°Are we going to go inside the city without weapons? If Theonians turn their backs on us, wouldn''t we be likembs walking into a wolf''s den?!¡±

    That naturally aroused the anger of the elders, ¡°Fools! Will I put my son in danger?! You may not trust the Theonians, but how can you not trust your parents?!¡­¡±

    ¡°Then, should we head inside the city now?¡± Sextus interrupted theirints.

    ¡°How could we do that?! We still haven''t seen our sons!¡± Some of the elders protested.

    ¡°Additionally, we must rally more plebeians to leave Camillus'' army and return to the city, joining forces with Theonia. By doing so, we can undermine the power of the Roman nobility and bolster Theonia''s chances of defeating them. This will secure and defend the gains we have achieved thus far!¡± Sextus'' father warned loudly.

    After thoroughly deciding to defect from Rome, Sextus had set a clear path forward for his people. So, after careful contemtion, he addressed the elders, saying, ¡°Dictator Camillus has ordered strict security within the camp. As you cannot enter, I suggest you proceed to the civilians'' camp first, where there are numerous individuals whom you can persuade. In the meantime, the soldiers and I will return to the camp quietly and inform the other plebeian soldiers, as well as your loved ones, about the changes transpiring in the city of Rome. Then under cover of darkness, all willing soldiers will break out of the camp and join you in returning to the city!¡±

    ¡°Alright, let''s do that!¡± Sextus'' father took the lead to agree.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After days of continuous marching and deep concerns over the impending invasion by Theonian armies and the fall of Rome, Camillus had been unable to rest. However, following the exhaustion caused by Davos'' scheme, Camillus finally managed to sleep well. In his dreams, he even sessfully drove out the Theonians and triumphantly led his army back into Rome.

 Chapter 819: King to King (II)

    On the other hand, the Romans stopped twenty metres away.

    Davos and Camillus, both on horseback, finally met.

    Eventually, Camillus broke the silence first, ¡°King of Theonia, I am Camillus, the dictator of Rome!¡±

    ¡°I know you,¡± Davos nodded and continued, ¡°You are the hero of Rome that had defeated Rome¡¯s mortal enemy ¨C Veii, expelled the Celts who upied the city of Rome and defeated the surrounding hostile forces multiple times.¡±

    Camillus wasn¡¯t surprised at how Davos knew him since a goodmander must study his opponent carefully. Suddenly, he shouted his question, ¡°Rome, situated in central Italia, and Theonia, located in southern Italia, have remained separate without any conflicts between them. So why have you decided to lead your army to invade ournd, destroy our homes and ughter our people without any regard for the distance, consumption of resources, and even ignoring the lives of your citizens?!¡±

    Although Camillus¡¯ question was pointless, Davos knew the soldier would keep wondering whether the war was necessary if he didn¡¯t answer well and would affect their morale. So after pondering for a moment, he answered loudly, ¡°Instead of restoring your homes after repelling the Celts to give your people a stable life, you Romans went around fighting and invading the surrounding races! You had even invaded the territories of our allies, the Volscians and the Hernicans, and killed their people to the point of nearly wiping them out! And even after we sent envoys to Rome to ask for a truce, you had instead rudely rejected them!

    Since Theonia¡¯s founding, we have always kept our promises, which is why we have gained the trust of our allies and made our kingdom as strong as today. Therefore, we cannot ignore our allies¡¯ tragic experiences and must respond to their demands and fulfil our treaty. That is why we are here! Just as the Celts invaded the city of Rome ten years ago, your gods sent us to punish you for your indiscriminate killings!¡±

    ¡°Ludicrous!¡± Camillus could not stop himself from shouting angrily after listening to the trantion.

    One of the words that Camillus didn¡¯t like is Divine punishment. There were two significant reasons for this: Firstly, during his forced exile from Rome, one of the usations against him was the false im that he had enraged the gods by taking the temple¡¯s riches after conquering the city of Veii. Secondly, he had once dered to his family that those who had wronged him would inevitably face punishment in a fit of anger, resulting in some people attributing the invasion of the Celts as the gods avenging him and thus bringing divine punishment on the city of Rome. These events weighed heavily on Camillus, and he would never allow Davos to employ the notion of Divine Punishment to justify their invasion of Rome or undermine the Roman citizens¡¯ morale.

    ¡°Your Majesty, he said your words¡­is ludicrous,¡± Emilius tranted tactfully.

    But instead of getting angry, Davos just smiled.

    Meanwhile, realising he couldn¡¯t keep his cool, Camillus changed the topic and said straightforwardly, ¡°Despite capturing Rome, it didn¡¯t bring you much benefit. Look around you: To the north are our Etruscan allies, and to the east and south are our Latin allies and colonial cities¡­we have already surrounded you! And with my return and the seventy thousand Roman soldiers, we had trapped your army in Rome and could not move!

    And I heard that our ally in the south of the kingdom of Theonia, Carthage, is at war with you on Sicily; Furthermore, the Samnites are currently invading your eastern region¡­ Yet you, the king of Theonia, had led the main force of Theonia to get trapped in Rome, which was far away from your kingdom. Even if you don¡¯t worry about your kingdom, do you think your soldiers won¡¯t worry about their homnd getting invaded by the Carthaginians and the Samnites?!¡±

    Davos remained undeterred as he smiled and said, ¡°No, no, there¡¯s nothing for us to worry about. Moreover, my soldiers and I enjoy staying here because of your abundant supplies provided by you Romans, allowing us to stay here for much longer. My only worry is that since those kind Romans have offered us all their food, they would run out of food to eat before long. However, we aren¡¯t kind enough to give them back again. Furthermore, I am worried about the soldiers under you. With such a huge number of soldiers, how many days of rations have you left?!¡±

    ¡®Threat! This is a naked threat and warning!¡¯ After listening to the trantion, Lucius and the other soldiers apanying Camillus, angrily widened their eyes and raised their shields and spears.

    Despite frowning, Camillus

 Chapter 824: Sextus

    ¡°My lord! Please wake up! Something serious happened!! My lord¡­¡±

    Camillus''s heart tensed up as he was abruptly awakened by his adjutant, ¡°What happened?!¡±

    ¡°There was a revolt in the camp! Some soldiers had attacked the guards and took over the camp''s gate¡­¡±

    ¡°What?!!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Davos released some Roman plebeians without expecting much, for he had looked at the camp built by the Roman army from atop the city wall and noticed it seemed to be fairly well-defended. In addition, Camillus had even cruelly refused to ept his own family¡­

    Davos sighed at the Roman dictator''s worthiness of his title as the Father of Rome in his previous life. Thus he did not think that the stoic and calm-headed Roman dictator would lead those people into the camp and allow them to disturb the army''s morale.

    However, various coincidences made the oue of this matter go beyond Davos'' expectations.

    When Martius woke him up and informed him about the chaos in the Roman camp, he found it hard to believe that the group of elderly men he had released in the afternoon was responsible for it. Only when Amintas, the legatus of the First Legion in charge of defending the northeast city wall, dispatched soldiers to select a few of the Roman soldiers and plebeians who had escaped through the east gate and brought them to the Roman Senate that Davos discovered the truth. After thorough questioning, Davos learned that the chaos within the Roman camp had been instigated by thousands of Roman plebeian soldiers who had decided to flee.

    ¡°Is this true? Or is this Camillus'' n to lure us?¡± Feeling unsure, Davos gazed out of the window into the deep night.

    While ordering the various legions to gather their soldiers, Davos had also tasked the intelligence department to immediately separate and interrogate those soldiers and plebeians who had entered the city.

    But when he finally decided to act, the chaos in the Roman camp had already be calmer than at the beginning. However, he still sent the Second and Fifth Legions out of the south gate to try attacking the Roman camp. Meanwhile, he sent the First Legion out of the east gate to receive the fleeing Roman soldiers and plebeians while repelling their pursuers.

    Meanwhile, due to the suddenness of the incident, Camillus and his generals had to focus their energy on stabilising the army and suppressing the chaos within the camp on that night. As a result, they didn''t have the spare strength to defend themselves against the Theonians'' attack, let alone send more troops to attack the Theonian army back.

    Since Davos didn''t manage to prepare carefully beforehand, he was worried about the risk of attacking the Roman camp in the dark, and the plebeian soldiers who would flee into the city would be crazy and cause chaos. Hence this night''s battle didn''tst long and ended quickly.

    But for the leaders of both sides, they still have many thorny issues that they urgently need to resolve.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Under the illumination of more than a dozen candles lighting up the Roman Senate, Davos walked back and forth in the centre of the hall, apanied by Henipolis and Crotokatax. He was looking at the ground while deep in thought.

    Suddenly, the praetor of Rome, Asistes, strode into the hall.

    As soon as he saw him, Davos asked, ¡°What''s the state of those Romans who fled into the city?¡±

    Asistes replied instantly, ¡°Your Majesty, upon conducting a quick headcount, we have identified a total of one thousand two hundred and seventy-five Roman soldiers and two hundred and thirteen Roman plebeians who sought refuge within the city. Furthermore, we have organised a screening process for a hundred Romans who had applied for Theonian citizenship, resulting in the identification of two noblemen and seven of their supporters. While we had confirmed the rest of the Romans to be plebeians, they are now residing temporarily in the camp of the First Legion, eagerly awaiting your nextmand.¡±

    Pleased with the efficiency of the newly established city hall, Davos asked, feeling at ease, ¡°What do you think we should do with them?¡±

    ¡°Beforeing here, I had asked the census officer ton to tell them about Your Majesty''s special act on Roman plebeians to persuade them to apply for Theonian citizenship immediately. Then those who applied for citizenship would immediately receive theirnd and houses, and then we would let them go. Meanwhile, for those Roman soldiers who were not yet willing to join, we assigned them temporary roles as helpers within the camp due to the shortage of manpower. This arrangement also allowed us to monitor them closely¡­¡± Asistes spoke eloquently, clearly showing that he had already made ns for it.

    ¡°Asi, you had given it a lot of thought!¡± Davos firstplimented him, then said confidently, ¡°Since these Roman soldiers could flee the campte at night and return to the city of Rome, we can see that most of them were willing to be citizens of Theonia. And even if a few remain uncertain, we no longer need to be cautious of them. So we can simply let them all go back to their homes and just have the guards pay more attention so that even if some had different ideas, they wouldn''t be able to cause any trouble in the current city of Rome!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Asistes immediately responded.

    Davos looked at him and suddenly smiled, ¡°Hoh, aren''t you already prepared to let them all go home?¡±

    ¡°It seems I can''t hide anything from your eyes, Your Majesty,¡± Asistes replied respectfully.

    Davos intended to criticise him but swallowed his words. Instead, he reached out to pat him on the shoulder and said, ¡°I had appointed you as Rome''s praetor because I believe that you are the only one who can make the city of Rome into a Theonian city. So you can go ahead and govern it with confidence, give out your orders boldly and carry out your governance of the city without needing to ask me!¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­!¡± Despite answering with the same word, Asistes'' tone now seemed a little more excited. Then after taking a deep breath, he said seriously, ¡°Your Majesty, there''s a Roman soldier who wishes to see you. He said that he has an important matter to report to you¡­and that this man is the only officer among all those Romans who have escaped into the city. From what the others told me, they could only escape from the Roman camp mainly because of his nning and leadership.¡±

    ¡°Oh?!¡± Davos then asked with interest, ¡°What''s his name?¡±

    ¡°Lucius Sextus. I had brought him here, and he is waiting outside.¡±

    ¡°You can let him enter,¡± said Davos with interest.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Despite being a Roman citizen, this would be the first time Sextus would enter the Roman Senate. Naturally, he had heard countless times since childhood about theyout of the Senate and the many stories that took ce in its hall, even imagining many times that he would one day sit in this sacred ce in a white chiton and discuss the future of Rome.

    But what guarded the entrance and exit of the venue was no longer the Roman soldiers wearing red helmets and armour. Instead, it was the Theonian guards in ck helmets and armour. The circr hall, which was supposed to be the ce of fierce debate, is now empty. Instead, there was now a long table and several wooden chairs in the centre of the hall, where there should have been enough space for a senator to speak. Under the lights of the candles, three men sat in the centre of the hall.

    ¡®It looks like the Theonian had transformed the sacred Roman Senate into a ce for ordinary discussion!¡¯ Sextus felt he should be angry but couldn''t feel any anger in his heart. Instead, he could only feel a slight difort that he couldn''t exin.

    After walking to the centre of the hall under the guidance of the pce guard Martius, the middle-aged man staring at him said in a kind tone, ¡°Sextus, you can take a seat.¡±

    After sitting down straightforwardly, Sextus asked in Greek, ¡°Are you the king of Theonia?¡±

    ¡°I am,¡± Davos smiled slightly.

    ¡°A hundred years ago, we Romans abolished the monarchy due to the cruelty of our kings and embraced a republican form of government. As citizens, we made a solemn vow that no one would ever assume the title of king. And as far as I know, several Greek city-states have also transitioned from monarchy to democracy. Considering Theonia is under the rule of a king, do you believe that we Romans would be willing to ept a king ruling over us?¡±

    Davos smiled faintly and said, ¡°If you Roman plebeians are satisfied with Rome''s system of governance, why do you often go into conflict with the nobles and even refuse to vote for the consul during your citizen assembly?¡±

    Sextus had already thought of that and replied quickly, ¡°There is indeed a problem with Rome''s republican governance. However, it is far better than our former monarchy system.¡±

    ¡°Whether a city-state''s political system is good or not depends not on what kind of system of governance it has, but on how many citizens it can benefit!¡± Then Davos stressed, ¡°Rome''s system of governance had caused strong dissatisfaction among the Roman plebeians, who ounted for about half of Rome''s total poption and had continued on fighting. Despite implementing monarchy in the Kingdom of Theonia, every citizen in the kingdom ownednds and could fairly use the kingdom''s publd, and able to pay off their debts and had the opportunity to serve as important officials and statesmen of the kingdom. Furthermore, every citizen must abide by thew, whethermoners or nobles, and we will punish anyone who dares to vite thew¡­

    And despite being the king, I must abide by the kingdom''sws, which the Senate legites. So, I cannot simply pursue a citizen''s wife solely because I find her beautiful, as such actions would be punishable byw, potentially resulting in the most severe death penalty. Simrly, I cannot unjustly seize a citizen''s property merely due to their wealth, as this would constituterceny. Furthermore, it is inconceivable for me to order the arrest or execution of someone solely due to personal dislike, as the inspectors would refuse to carry out suchmands, and the Senate would vehemently protest.¡± (The reason for the expulsion of thest king of Rome was triggered because someone in the royal family raped a citizen''s wife.)

    Upon hearing this, Sextus could only express his disbelief, saying, ¡°You seem to paint a positive picture of the monarchy in Theonia, but is it really enforced in such a way?¡±

 Chapter 825: Reinforcements to Ostia

    ¡°Whether my words are true or not, you can find out yourself in the future once you be a citizen of Theonia,¡± said Davos nonchntly. Then he asked, ¡°What''s the important thing you wanted to inform me?¡±

    Sextus remained silent as he pondered Davos'' words. However, Davos'' calm gaze weighed heavily upon him, forcing him to speak reluctantly, ¡°We had over sixty thousand soldiers when we set out from Praeneste this morning. However, I noticed that the number of soldiers had significantly decreased when constructing the camp outside Rome¡­at least twenty thousand soldiers had left the camp quietly.¡± After saying that, Sextus carefully watch Davos'' expression.

    Davos felt a chill in his heart as countless thoughts shed. Then he said as if he wasn¡¯t concerned, ¡°So Camillus used peace negotiation as a camouge while he covertly sent his army to attack Ostia. Unfortunately for him, he had underestimated the current Ostia, which is difficult to capture quickly with just twenty thousand men! I believe I will receive news of the defenders of Ostia repelling the Roman army''s attack by tomorrow!¡±

    After saying that confidently, Davos looked at the little lost Sextus and reassured him, ¡°In any case, I would like to thank you for your warning! The fact that you could serve as a centurion while being a Roman plebeian shows your outstanding military abilities, so have you applied to be a citizen of Theonia?¡±

    ¡°¡­I already did,¡± Sextus muttered. In fact, he was still hesitant when the official of the Census Department asked him. However, he could only agree under his father''s strong urging.

    ¡°Excellent!¡± Davos gazed at him approvingly. Then he said loudly, ¡°I am now appointing you as the senior centurion responsible for organising the plebeians of Rome, creating a reserve unit while preparing to engage inbat at a moment''s notice. And once we form a new Theonian legion after we pacify Latium, you can be a strongpetitor as its legatusIf you earn enough contributions by that time. So are you willing to ept this appointment?¡±

    As a young and passionate man, Sextus possesses great bravery and an eagerness to achieve remarkable feats. So despite his initial mncholy upon entering the city of Rome, he found himself interested in Davos'' appointment and the vast opportunities it presented for the future. Without any hesitation, he dered, ¡°I am willing!¡±

    ¡°Martius,¡± Davos turned to look at his guard captain and said, ¡°Take Sextus to find Tolmides and personally convey to him the appointment I have granted to Sextus. Then have him assist Sextus in establishing a Roman reserve unit.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Sextus,¡± Davos asked again, ¡°It seems there are more soldiers within the Roman army stationed outside the city whoe from a plebeian background. However, I am curious why you are the only ones who have chosen to leave the camp.¡±

    This time, Sextus became more serious when answering, ¡°The strict regtions imposed by the Roman army regarding camp construction dictates each legion must remain separate from one another, and it is strictly forbidden to roam about during the night¡­

    Although I managed to tell the plebeian soldiers of my legion about the changes in Rome while the soldiers ate dinner, I could not pass on the news to other legions. In addition, some of those who received the news decided not to leave with us. Still, I believe the chaos in our camp will spread throughout the entire army tomorrow.¡±

    Davos nodded quietly and said with concern, ¡°Sextus, I am grateful for youing to remind us. Even though we have already prepared for that, that is still an outstanding achievement! In addition, you had led the plebeian soldiers to leave the camp and flee back to the city, which is already a significant contribution. Per Theonia''s Code of Military, the kingdom would bestow morend and other rewards to soldiers who contributed.

    I am sure you are exhausted after working hard all day today, so you can go home first to reunite with your family and enjoy a sound sleep. Tomorrow, I will assemble all the citizens in the city at the Roman Forum to personally present your well-deserved rewards. Furthermore, I will publicly announce your appointment, making it convenient to do your task. By the way, you will also receive a house, although considering your exceptional merits, you truly deserve a grand house.¡±

    Sextus hurriedly said, ¡°My father told me that our family had already moved to arge house.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Davosughed, ¡°Will you be able to find your home tonight? Otherwise, you can stay in the First Legion''s camp tonight. You can meet them tomorrow once we gather everyone in the Roman Forum. In addition, your family will be happier when you return home with your reward and appointment.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty¡­I know where it is located and can find it!¡± Sextus said.

    Then after leaving the Senate Hall in a hurry, he reached out to wipe away the fine sweat from his forehead and took a deep breath. He initially thought the King of Theonia would be a majestic and domineering person, so he never expected him to be so kind and enthusiastic to him. Thus he no longer questioned Theonia''s system of governance, which he loathed, or even argued for getting imprisoned. And at the end of the day, he had started copying the others in addressing the king with his honorific title, making him feel ashamed and confused.

    He then turned his head and looked at the Senate under the pitch-ck sky. Under the flickering candlelight, the previous gate he found sacred and insurmountable was now so dpidated to his eyes.

    Only after a long time had passed did his legs start moving as he walked forward faster and faster¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Father, having the Roman soldiers who had just fled back to the city take up arms again to form a reserve unit is too risky!¡± Crotokatax, who had listened silently, anxiously said after Sextus left.

    ¡°It''s wonderful for you to have this level of vignce!¡± Davos praised his son before patiently exining, ¡°Just like what I said to Asistes earlier, with our more than forty thousand legion soldiers, they wouldn''t cause much trouble for the city of Rome even if the Roman reserve that consists of just over a thousand men were to rebelpletely. On the contrary, we will have an easier time to train and supervise them. Meanwhile, we will take this opportunity to show the Romans our attitude, and using them with confidence and boldness will allow the plebeians to throw away the hesitation they felt. Also, Heni!¡±

    Davos remembered something and said, ¡°Remember to inform Asistes that during the gathering in the Roman Forum tomorrow morning, he would also bring the family members of the Roman nobilities since we will not only reward Sextus but also bestownd and houses to those Roman plebeians who fled back and applied for Theonian citizenship.¡±

    ¡°That would be wonderful, Your Majesty!¡± Henipolis began praising it, ¡°By doing that, we will influence more Roman plebeians to join Theonia while those who have already joined will be even more loyal to the kingdom while hating the noble houses!¡±

    Davos looked at Crotokatax, who was lost in his thoughts and asked, ¡°Croto, what do we need to do most now?¡±

    Crotokatax pondered a little and replied, ¡°¡­reinforce Ostia?¡±

    ¡°That''s right! Camillus must have realised Ostia¡¯s importance to us since he had covertly sent his army there. And once he learned his army''s difficulties, he would certainly attack Ostia with all his strength. Despite Theris'' recent reports highlighting efforts to bolster the city''s defences, the height of its city walls remained inadequate for effectively safeguarding the soldiers within. Additionally, the three reserve brigades from Thurii stationed in Ostiackedbat experience like Theris. Thus I am a bit worried!¡±

    Davos walked back and forth before stopping, ¡°Croto, immediately rush to the Fifth Legion''s camp and ask legatus Giorgris to lead five brigades to quickly take a boat towards the dock across Pons Aemilius and rush to Ostia overnight to give Theris reinforcements! Meanwhile, have him temporarily ce the remaining troops of the Fifth Legion under themand of the Fourth Legion''s legatus ¨C Olivos.¡±

    Instead of immediately answering, Crotokatax had a hesitant expression before suddenly saying aloud, ¡°Father, I request to follow the Fifth Legion to fight in Ostia!¡±

    Hearing that took Davos aback.

    Henipolis then advised, ¡°You can also participate in the battle here without needing to go to Ostia.¡±

    Crotokatax, however, didn''t say anything and just straightened his chest while looking at his father firmly.

    Davos felt his fervent desire from his sparkling eyes, so after pondering for a moment and said, ¡°You can go, but you must promise me one thing.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do anything as long as you let me go, Father!¡± Crotokatax replied while feeling excited.

    ¡°You must obey the orders of the praetor of Ostia ¨C Theris and legatus Giorgris! You must also not act on your own! Can you promise me that?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Then take fifty pce guards with you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Father!¡± Crotokatax excitedly hugged Davos and then left the Senate Hall quickly.

    ¡°Your Majesty, letting His Highness Croto go to Ostia alone would be dangerous!¡±

    Davos then looked at the door and sighed softly, ¡°If a fledgeling eagle remained under the care of its parents, they would never learn to fly. And since being determined to take risks is rare, we should just let him go!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On that night, candles also illuminated themand tent of the Roman camp while dictator Camillus engaged in intense discussions with his generals.

 Chapter 826: Dilemma

    <h4>Chapter 826: Dilemma</h4>

    Licinius gave his report, ¡°Lord dictator, I followed your order in isting all those who had contact with the rebel soldiers and issued an order that we will impose severe punishment on those who spread and discuss this matter! Thus we managed to take control of the situation for now.¡±

    But Quintus spoke out to ce the me on him without waiting for Camillus to speak, ¡°Licinius, do you still have the nerve to say that you now have it under control?! If it weren''t for yourx management, how could a revolt ur in the camp tonight that caused great trouble for our entire army?! Dictator, we should punish Licinius first and foremost!¡±

    ¡°I wasx in managing my legion?! Let''s have everyone judge which legion lord dictator criticised the most because ofck of discipline since the start of the war!¡± Licinius naturally couldn''t allow Quintus to ce the me on him, so he said sarcastically, ¡°You should feel grateful that it was the legion under mymand that had suffered from the Theonians'' scheme, allowing us to contain the revolt immediately! If it had been your troops, the entire army would have been thrown into chaos!¡±

    Licinius'' words were not without reason, as his legion was positioned in the southeast corner of the camp, whereas Quintus'' army upied the centre. So words would quickly spread in all directions once Quintus¡¯ soldiers became aware of the news, making it harder to control the situation.

    But Quintus thought Licinius was humiliating him, prompting him to point his finger at Licinius and curse angrily, ¡°You damned plebeian, I knew you were dissatisfied with us in your heart for so long! Now that those damn Theonians gave you a chance, you had deliberately let go of the plebeians in your legion so they could return to Rome and seize ournd and wealth!¡±

    Licinius finally turned red in anger in the face of such swearing that he said without hesitation, ¡°Shut your mouth! You are just a thug in the mouth of the plebeians! If it weren''t for the greed and cruelty of nobles like you that forced the plebeians into desperation, how could they have been so easily tempted by the Theonians to rebel against Rome!¡­¡±

    In themand tent, the two former military tribunes, who had once fought and worked together side by side, had started cursing each other.

    Seeing this situation, the expression of the rest of the generals in themand turn turned unpleasant.

    ¡°Enough!¡± Finally, Camillus'' shout made the two stop arguing. Despite rarely losing his temper, Camillus was clearly infuriated by the irrationality of the two tonight. Then with his trembling hands, he pointed at them angrily, ¡°It seems the Theonians'' scheme to sow discord has finally worked that even you two had started quarrelling. If this situation continues, it will be impossible to recapture Rome!¡±

    Quintus and Licinius continued to stare at each other but inevitably felt ashamed hearing Camillus'' words.

    Suddenly, Aurus asked worriedly, ¡°Lord dictator, those Theonians are vicious for implementing such measures within the city of Rome! Once the news spread, most plebeian soldiers would want to escape, while the noble soldiers would worry about their families in the city and might not obey our orders! So what should we do?¡±

    Once he finished his words, Furius also eagerly said, ¡°The news regarding the situation inside the city of Rome has not only reached the soldiers under Licinius''mand but has likely also reached the civilians outside his camp. It is nearly impossible to entirely block the information from spreading, and I fear that it will have spread throughout the entire army within a few days.¡±

    ¡°We will forbid the soldiers froming into contact with the civilians while persuading the civilians to reside near the city of Praeneste temporarily¡­¡± Camillus finally decided with a grave expression, which was contrary to the orders he had given a few days ago. Thus he could sigh helplessly, ¡°Granted, it would onlyst for a while. Thus to stop the army''s morale from dropping, we must lead the army to leave the city of Rome!¡±

    ¡°Leave Rome?!¡± Quintus immediately expressed opposition when he heard that, ¡°That''s simply impossible! Having exerted immense effort to return from Hernici to recapture the city of Rome, I fear the soldiers would refuse toply with ourmand if we were to order them to leave at this crucial moment when the city is within arm''s reach!¡±

    ¡°So we will just let them attack the city?! With the current situation of the army and inside the city, we have no chance of winning!¡±

    Licinius'' words made the expression of the generals turn grim as they had already learnt from the mouths of the plebeian soldiers they had captured earlier about the brutal measures the Theonians had taken against the nobles within the city of Rome, the submission of the plebeians to them, and the fact that the senators had retreated to Mons Capitolinus with only a handful of soldiers. Now, the Theonians had basically taken control of the situation within the city of Rome.

    Thus a sorrowful mood began to permeate themand tent.

    Then Camillus said, ¡°I also want everyone to note that despite covertly sending Titus to lead an army to attack Ostia, the soldiers should be aware of the departure of such arge force. Once the Theonians learned about this from the soldiers who fled to the city, our n to capture Ostia would be exposed. Thus we must lead the army to leave Rome and go to Ostia to prevent the Theonians from sending reinforcements while preventing the soldiers from fleeing and recapturing Ostia faster! Now, the Theonians had basically taken control of the situation within the city of Rome. And despite the soldiers'' feelings, I believe the strict militaryws and your abilities can make them obey orders!¡±

    The generals exchanged nces with one another, and despite feeling somewhat embarrassed, none of them voiced any opposition. At this moment, they all understood that this was the best solution to the current situation.

    ¡°Then what should we do next after we capture Ostia?¡± Aurus asked again.

    ¡°Once we capture Ostia¡­we will negotiate with the Theonians, or depending on the situation, besiege the Theonian army here¡­before attacking Rome with all our strength.¡± Camillus'' tonecked certainty, and his expression revealed a hint of hesitation, showing that he himself wasn''t sure.

    After all, the measures implemented by the Theonians in Rome clearly show they weren''t just trying to teach the Romans a lesson or plunder them harshly but rather had a long-term goal. Thus, it is unlikely that the Theonians will withdraw from Rome through a peace negotiation. While attacking the city of Rome risked dividing the soldiers. However, the current Roman army could no longer withstand defeat.

    Despite his exceptional military prowess, Camillus proved to be weak in politics. Otherwise, he would not have been so easily expelled from the city of Rome after sessfully capturing Veii, an aplishment that other Roman senators failed to do for many years and earned him immense poprity. And when Marcus led the plebeians against the nobility during his previous term, he could not reconcile the contradictions between the two sides. Finally, when the others began shunning Marcus, Camillus had actually signed his own name on the order to arrest Marcus and even acquiesced in the Senate''s execution of Marcus, leading to a time when he suffered from the plebeians'' daily insults¡­ With the king of Theonia employing increasingly aggressive political tactics to fuel the conflict between Roman nobles and plebeians, Camillus, who had already experienced considerable hardship in this regard, now found himself confronting this issue head-on. Not only was he unable to devise a viable solution, but he also felt afraid.

    ¡°I hope everyone should treat the soldiers equally and not provoke conflicts!¡± Camillus emphasised as this was the only way he could think. He then looked at all the generals in themand tent seriously and paused at Quintus for a while.

    Quintus snorted but didn''t speak out to refute.

    Everyone could hear the reluctance in Camillus'' words, but they couldn''t find a better solution in the face of the current problem. So despite keeping silent, they had already consented to Camillus'' n.

    Suddenly, a guard burst in and broke the silence, ¡°Lord dictator, a herald from the troops stationed at the river port, has reported the sighting of dozens of ships in the upper reaches of the Tiber. These ships are illuminated by torches and filled with soldiers, making their way downstream.¡±

    The expression of everyone inside themand tent turned pale as a thought popped out of their minds: The Theonians are going to reinforce Ostia!

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Titus no longer ordered the army to continue attacking after discovering the traps all over the city of Ostia. Instead, he had sent all the heavy infantry, armed with long shields, to brave the rain of arrows and stone projectiles to clear the traps on the ground patiently. Although he had paid some casualties, he managed to clear the traps in front of the trench by nightfall.

    Considering the small size of Ostia, Titus divided his soldiers into five groups, directing them tounch sessive waves of attacks on the eastern and southern sides of the city. This strategic approach was possible due to the rtively short length of Ostia''s walls, which spanned less than a kilometre. Meanwhile, the other soldiers would lie down on the ground to rest in the rear to recover some of their strength consumed during the day as soon as possible.

    As soon as the trenches were filled, the Roman soldiers immediately rushed to the base of the city wall while the Theonian defenders attacked the approaching Roman soldiers at full strength. Meanwhile, Titus ordered some of his soldiers to bring wagons to pass through the trenches one by one and have them unload the tarred woods and set it aze, providing much-needed illumination to sustain the ongoing assault by the Roman soldiers.

    Furthermore, Titus thought of a wonderful trick: Once a wave of soldiers retreated after getting repelled, he didn''t immediately send the second wave of soldiers. Instead, he had quietly pushed the ballistae forward since the me only illuminated the base of the city wall while the area a hundred metres away began to be shrouded in darkness. Since the Theonians artillerist couldn''t see from afar, they were naturally unable to make urate bombardments, while the Roman ballistae unit could see the situation atop the city wall. So once they had entered range* they began firing stone projectiles. Although most of the projectiles hit the city wall, the sshed debris caused some damage to the defenders crowding atop the city wall. (Two hundred to one hundred fifty metres away from the city wall)

 Chapter 827: Crisis of Ostia

    <h4>Chapter 827: Crisis of Ostia</h4>

    Only after a continuous bombardment did Titus deploy the second wave of soldiers, who had managed to take some rest, to resume the assault on the city. On the other hand, the Theonian defenders, preupied with defending against attacks and evading stone projectiles, experienced a constant drain on their physical and mental energy. So as time passed, the Romans gradually reached a point where their stamina and energy became on par with the defenders.

    And to make matters worse for the defenders, the Romans gave them another headache during the siege. Aside from the soldiers climbing thedders, the Roman heavy infantry did not remain idle at the base of the city wall as they skillfully utilised their long shields to protect themselves and threw javelins towards the top of the wall.

    Throwing javelins with heavy infantry ¨C was originally a tactic of the Theonian legionaries. But after fighting the Theonians in Volscii and understanding its strength, Camillus began utilising it in his battles against the Hernicans, achieving some results. And when Camillus was discussing with Titus how to attack the city of Ostia, he once again mentioned using this tactic when attacking the city. Naturally, the Roman heavy infantry couldn''t match the Theonian legionaries, who had undergone long-term training since throwing javelins needed not only uracy and power but also gave new tactical variations. However, the low wall of Ostia had increased the lethality of the Roman javelin throws, and their heavy infantry were far more than the defenders atop the wall, which became the key to suppressing the Theonian defenders.

    And once the Roman soldiers retreated, another wave of fierce attacks came, like the continuous impact of a surging tide. With the number of casualties of the Theonian defenders increasing, their strength decreased naturally, allowing the enemy to reach atop the wall several times.

    Theris even needed to send in the reserves. But due to his inexperience, he failed to properly divide these newly assembled soldiers and integrate them under themand of the legion''s reserve forces stationed atop the wall. Instead, he had them go in groups to upy the vacant positions, leading to increased confusion rather than significantly strengthening the defence.

    ¡°General! The wall has copsed!!¡± One of Titus¡¯ attendants pointed and cheered, and even Titus couldn''t restrain the ecstasy he felt.

    Just a few days earlier, the wall of Ostia had experienced the Theonian ballistae''s baptism. Despite getting patched up, only a few days had passed, and it wasn''t enough to be fully repaired. So after receiving the Roman ballistae''s continued bombardment, a section of the city wall finally let out a mournful sound as it copsed.

    With the exmation of soldiers from both sides, a gap appeared after the dust and dirt dissipated.

    After seeing this situation, how could Titus miss the opportunity of storming the city? So he immediately ordered, ¡°Stop the bombardment and have the whole army immediately rush forward!¡±

    Despite the army rushing forward, only the Roman soldiers had gone all out in storming the wall. After all, the soldiers were exhausted after the long march during the day and the continuous battles throughout the night, despite having intermittent rest in the middle. Moreover, the relentless and forceful attack that disregarded the casualties had inflicted significant damage on both their Latin and Etruscan allies. Despite the generals protesting against Titus many times and the allied soldiers fighting passively, the less than five thousand Roman colonial citizens that remained, supported by the belief in recapturing their homnd and under strict discipline, had gotten hope for sess after the Wall of Ostia copsed. Thus amidst the loud sound of the military horn, they roared andunched another fierce attack on Ostia.

    And the Roman soldiers'' high morale began to affect the allied soldiers, making them reluctantly follow behind¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With his cautious nature, Giorgris became even more careful now that he was travelling with Crotokatax. Thus he arranged four fast-sailing ships to lead the way ahead and for the other ships to be parallel with them, with arge gap between them. With all the ships having lit torches, they were like a dragon in the river that went downstream with the current.

    Giorgris'' cautiousness finally proved its worth when, during their journey, a ship in front encountered the fast-sailing vessel that was being pulled towards Rome to deliver a report. As a consequence, the ship lost control of its direction at a sharp bend in the river and collided with a reef, ultimately sinking¡­Meanwhile, the ships carrying troops remained unhindered and safely approached the Tiber''s estuary. However, the soldiers on board were shocked by the sight of the distant shore. Despite currentlyte at night with the moon still hanging in the sky and the light of the day hadn''t yet appeared, there was a fire in the direction of the city of Ostia, and they could hear the sound of battle shaking the sky¡­

    ¡®Could the city of Ostia has fallen?!¡¯ Giorgris and the officers and soldiers shared simr concerns in their hearts. With the distant mes and the lights from the port serving as their guide, Giorgris promptly issued the following order for fear of getting noticed by the enemy, ¡°Extinguish the torches on all ships!¡±

    Soon, the patrol ships of the port came out to wee them. Then the fleet quickly sailed into the port after learning that Ostia hadn''t fallen.

    Upon docking, Giorgris was the first to disembark from the ship. But what took him aback was the sight of numerous individuals dressed in sailor attire, assembling and donning armour. Meanwhile, the sailors warmly greeted the arrival of the soldiers from the Fifth Legion.

    Giorgris then learned after his inquiry that the Roman army had started attacking the city at dusk and never stopped. To aid their offensive, the Romans even set aze arge pile of mes outside the city, serving as illuminations for their soldiers. The continuous assault from the Romans inflicted significant casualties on the reserve forces led by Theris. Consequently, not only were the reserves,prising of Latin refugees and ves, sent to reinforce the wall, but also the sailors from the warships docked nearby were assembled and prepared for potential reinforcements at a moment''s notice.

    With the help of these sailors from the Third Fleet, all five brigades of the Fifth Legion quicklynded and, under the leadership of Giorgris, rushed towards the wall.

    Suddenly, a cry of surprise came from ahead, ¡°No good!! The wall has copsed!!¡­¡±

    Giorgris was startled at the urgent situation and immediately ordered, ¡°All troops rush forwards!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The continuous arduous battle, coupled with the copse of the city wall, had already made the soldiers atop lost hope. Suddenly, the Romansunched a muchrger attack.

    Then before the majority of the Roman soldiers could even cross the trench, some liberated ves atop the city wall, who had never seen such momentum, had turned around and fled.

    Despite Theris quickly leading the guard to stop and decisively kill the ves who led the desertion to stabilise the army''s morale, the length of the city wall made him unable to take care of one end while taking care of the other. And as the enemy approached, the chaos atop the wall didn''t subside but increased.

    Theris was in a hurry and didn''t even have time to dispatch troops to fill the gap. In the end, even he lost confidence in himself¡­

    Just when he was at a loss and ready to surrender, the sound of a familiar salpinx rang out from within the city, followed by the sound of a neatly organised chanting, ¡°O Hades, protector of the kingdom, the lord of the night, and the embodiment of justice!¡­¡±

    Before Theris could react, the reserve soldiers atop the wall shouted, ¡°Our reinforcements have arrived!! Our reinforcements have arrived!!!¡­¡±

    Under the illumination of the mes* in the city, a ck line rapidly advanced down the street towards the wall. (For the convenience of the soldiers, Thesis copied the Romans and also lit a fire inside the city.)

    With the face of the tall soldier at the forefront bing clear and recognisable, they could see that he wore thick dog fur while holding the legion g high, with a shining statue of the god atop.

    ¡°The Fifth Legion! It''s the Fifth Legion!!¡­¡± eximed a sharp-eyed soldier.

    ¡®The city of Ostia is saved!¡¯ The soldiers of the reserve legion gained confidence, and the flustered reserve Ostia that were fleeing in disorder and Theris had calmed down.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Despite also hearing the sound of salpinx and chanting in the city, Titus didn''t even consider it was from the enemy reinforcements. Instead, he thought that the Theonian generals were using these to encourage their soldiers to defend with all their might. After all, his previous experience made him judge that no enemy reinforcements would arrive at this particr time. So after frowning, he muttered in a low voice, ¡°The Theonians still have such morale even now! Just as the dictator said, we cannot underestimate the army of this kingdom!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile, someone inside the city shouted, ¡°Is Lord Theris here? Lord Theris!¡­¡±

    Utilising the battlements as support, Theris leaned over and gazed downward, allowing him to see the young officer dressed in ck armour with a red plume adorning his helmet. This officer was walking along the base of the city wall while shouting.

    So he immediately responded, ¡°I am Theris!¡±

    The officer quickly saluted and said, ¡°I am the adjutant of the legatus of the Fifth Legion, Giorgris. The Legatus has instructed me to convey his message: he will personally lead his soldiers to fill the gap so you can concentrate on defending the wall. Additionally, a reinforcement contingentposed of sailors from the Third Fleet will swiftly arrive at the wall to provide further reinforcement.¡±

    After discussing with the adjutant of the Fifth Legion, Theris began urging the officers atop the wall to lead their men back to their respective position. At the same time, he began cing more light infantry above the gap while preparing enough burning oil because Giorgris was going to return to the Romans the suffering that the Fourth Legion had experienced while storming the city of Rome.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    From a distance, Titus watched with exhration as the valiant Roman soldiers fearlessly charged into the breach on the wall, braving the relentless rain of arrows. His heart swelled with anticipation, believing victory was within their grasp.

    Unexpectedly, the whole breach was blocked by Roman soldiers even after some time had passed. After the men who went to inquire about the situation hade back, he reported, ¡°There is a Theonian army blocking inside the gap, resulting in our soldiers unable to break through their defence for the time being!¡±

    At the same time, the messenger sent by Camillus also arrived outside the city of Ostia* and reported, ¡°The Theonians have sent thousands of soldiers from Rome and are sailing down the river!¡± (Because the messenger didn''t dare to gallop in the dark, he naturally fell behind the fleet)

    Upon hearing the news, Titus was struck by a heavy blow, yet he still had a faint hope in his heart. Determined to inspire the soldiers tounch a courageous assault, hemanded the drums to beat and the horns to sound. Simultaneously, he dispatched his men to observe the battlefield closely from the base of the wall. Additionally, he summoned the Etruscan allies who weregging behind and instructed them to form a defensive line in the rear in case of unforeseen circumstances.

 Chapter 828: Garnis Decision

    <h4>Chapter 828: Garnis Decision</h4>

    Giorgris quickly ordered the four heavy infantry brigades and one light infantry brigade he brought to form a curved defensive line within the opening of the city wall, like a sturdy fishing that surrounded the Roman soldiers rushing into the gap.

    As more and more Roman soldiers rushed into the defensive line, the space became narrower as the number of people became denser, making it easier for the defenders atop the wall to attack.

    Especially when they threw pots of burning oil and burned many Roman soldiers, resulting in the tragic sight from a day earlier at the gap in Rome''s western wall reappearing again, but this time, they had swapped roles.

    With the formidable offensive of the soldiers from the Fifth Legion, the already disorganised and weary Roman troops were ultimately overwhelmed by fear and sumbed to defeat.

    Upon receiving the report from his subordinates, Titus reluctantly issued the order to retreat. Though unwilling and pained to do so, he still ordered it to prevent a potential counterattack from the enemy, which could result in further losses.

    And just as he feared, the soldiers of the Fifth Legion rushed out of the gap and continued pursuing the enemy. Fortunately, the Roman''s Etruscan allies, lined up in the rear, managed to intercept them.

    Despite intercepting the enemy, the Etruscan soldiers weren''t strong enough to harm the soldiers of the Fifth Legion. Still, the cautious Giorgris promptly ordered the soldiers to halt their advance after learning of the situation. With the darkness concealing whaty outside the city, he dreaded encountering another Roman ambush, especially with Prince Crotokatax among their ranks.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the next morning arrived, not long after the end of the Battle of Ostia, the city hall of Rome held a public gathering in the Roman Forum per Davos'' order.

    Davos praised the bravery of the Roman soldiers led by Sextus for breaking away from the Roman army and defecting to Theonia. He even rewarded them with morend, arousing the people''s enthusiasm to join Theonia and making contributions. Naturally, it also deepened the resentment of the noble houses against the Roman plebeians.

    During the gathering, Davos received a report from the defenders atop the city gate regarding the movement observed in the Roman military camp outside the city. It seemed there were indications that they might be preparing to depart.

    Despite his concern about the movement of the Roman army outside the city, Davos believes it is more important to speed up the return of the plebeians inside the city. Thus he held a gathering before going to the city''s southern end.

    It was already noon when he arrived and found that the Roman army had demolished most of the camps they had built yesterday, with almost no one moving around.

    From the soldiers'' reports, they could hear constant noise throughout the morning and even the sound of fighting.

    And ording to the report of the mounted scouts, the Roman army had split into several routes as they slowly marched westward.

    As a result, Amintas, Matonis and several other legates suggested taking advantage of the enemy''s panic retreat to send out their armies in pursuit and even force them to fight a sudden battle.

    But after careful consideration, Davos didn''t implement this proposal as he didn''t believe Camillus to be negligent in their retreat. He also didn''t want to let the legions that had just experienced a battle fight against the Roman army, even if the enemy was significantly weakened from dividing their troops. After all, it was highly probable that the grieving Roman soldiers would explode with great strength and cause the Theonian army to suffer huge losses.

    Instead, Davos summoned the new senior centurion of the Roman reserve unit, Sextus. He then told him to select Roman soldiers good at riding to ride the horses collected from the city and follow the cavalry legion out of the city to perform special tasks.

    After giving that order, Davos convened an emergency war council to discuss with Tolmides, Phryntor and the legates the issue of reinforcing Ostia. After all, the direction in which the Roman army was travelling proved that their goal was the small ce at the estuary of the Tiber.

    Meanwhile, not far west of the city of Rome, two cavalry legions overtook the advancing Roman army and lured away more than a thousand Roman cavalry responsible for protecting the nk. Then Sextus led dozens of plebeians eager to make new contributions to the Roman army.

    Then seeing the enemies dressed in Rome soldiers'' attire approaching them made the Roman soldiers surprised. Once the enemy was only twenty to thirty metres away, they shouted loudly, ¡°Citizens of Rome, I am Sextus. I was once a plebeian of Rome but had now joined the Kingdom of Theonia! Why did I join them? Because the Kingdom of Theonia has bestowed me a more and betternd in Rome, a more luxurious and spacious home, and ess to more equal rights that only belonged to the nobilities of Rome!

    Fellow plebeians, you shouldn''t hesitate to leave this hopeless army! Instead, join us! Join Theonia! You will have everything you ever wanted! And you can reunite with your loved ones! So don''t hesitate to leave¡­¡±

    Sextus and the other''s shouting had stirred up waves among the Roman soldiers¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Garni was sitting in the tribal leader''s residence in Abellinum. Despite looking serious, he no longer felt nervous like the previous days. Instead, his eyes were gazing keenly at the door.

    Not long after, several of his trusted subordinates rushed in one after another.

    He then said, ¡°I have decided to follow the Theonian envoy''s request to send messengers to the Hirpini tribes in the other areas!¡±

    The others understood what Garni meant about sending messengers, which was actually sending people to sneak into other areas in Hirpini to spread the words about using Lesguk of disregarding their trust and breaking the treaty to wage war against Theonia without authorisation, demanding Lesguk''s punishment as that had led to the tribes suffering significant losses. At the same time, the messenger made great fanfare about chieftain Garni of Abellinum, helping the tribes to buy their captured people from Theonia.

    After all, the previous decision of the Hirpini Tribal Alliance had resulted in the exclusion of Abellinum from the alliance and any Hirpini tribe is prohibited from interacting with them.

    ¡°Wonderful news, chieftain! We''ve been waiting for you to make this decision for a long time!¡± Tatoni shouted excitedly, ¡°We had long been holding back ourselves during this time, especially since the envoys of Caudini, Pentri and Caraceni tribes kept warning us not to mess around during the war! Ptoeey, it''s now time for these bullies to taste the wrath of the people of Abellinum!¡±

    ¡°Chieftain, we really shouldn''t just wait quietly for this war to end. Although the Samnite priests had sent people to say they would forgive all past grievances as long as we epted Lesguk as the leader, everyone understood that Lesguk would definitely move against us as long as they won this war and removed the Theonians'' obstruction! So for our safety''s sake, we must seize the favourable moment to deal them a blow preemptively!¡± Maigum, likewise, voiced his support for Garni''s decision.

    ¡°I naturally knew Lesguk''s conspiracy and the dangerous situation we are in now,¡± Garni sighed, ¡°The reason for my hesitation was because I was considering that we might not only have a war against Lesguk but also worsen our rtionship with the other tribes and the priests that would trigger an even bigger war.¡±

    Tatoni shouted again, ¡°Do we even have a good rtionship with the other tribes and priests?! Chieftain, do you still remember that they almost united to sanction you at the tribal ceremony assembly a few years ago? So if a war breaks out, we can just defeat thempletely, and then¡­then you, chieftain, will be our¡­the first supreme chieftain of the entire Samnites!¡±

    As soon as Tatoni uttered those words, the expression of everyone changed.

    Garni red at him and said, ¡°Stop speaking nonsense! With our strength, it would be difficult even to defeat Lesguk, let alone the other tribes. The only thing we can do now is to assist Theonia in return for the help they had given us!¡± In fact, Garni envies Tatoni for his straightforwardness, just like his demeanour during his youth. But ever since he had be the chieftain, he suffered several setbacks, and for the sake of his people''s survival, he needed to consider many issues, so it was simply impossible for him to do whatever he wanted anymore.

    Garni nced at everyone''s faces, who were excited after getting suppressed for so long. He then took a deep breath and said loudly, ¡°Since you all agree with my decision, we need to reconsider our rtionship with Theonia. As you all know, King Davos suggested to me a few years ago to make Abellinum a free city like Potentia. However, I didn''t agree at that time.

    But if we implement Theonia''s n this time, it means we will fight against Beneventum and other Samnite tribes in an extremely tough war! So we need to gain the full support of Theonia to win. Thus I have decided to have Abellinum join Theonia and be a free city in this kingdom!¡±

    The hall was shrouded with silence after he said that out, which increased Garni''s concern. So after clearing his throat, he hurriedly added, ¡°If you don''t agree-¡±

    ¡°Ha ha ha!¡­¡± Tatoniughed loudly and said, ¡°Chieftain, we are relieved you have finally made this decision! When I participated in Theonia''s Rugby Championshipsst year, the G payer we yed against had asked me with a strange expression, ¡®Since Abellinum and Potentia are both free cities of Theonia, why can the Potentian yer speak Greek while most of you don''t?¡¯ From that, we can see that some city-states and forces see us as part of Theonia and envy us. However, that often made us feel embarrassed because we are not, but now we can finally feel relieved!¡±

 Chapter 829: The Proud Kinduk

    <h4>Chapter 829: The Proud Kinduk</h4>

    Maigum also said excitedly, ¡°Indeed. In addition, we can also participate in the regional rugby and football tournaments, the celebration of Heracles and also freely go to the various cities of Theonia to trade food and other goods we want¡­ And when we encounter dangers and problems in the future likest year''s drought, we can also receive Theonia''s aid just like Potentia¡­¡±

    Their words stunned Garni as it was different from his expectation. So he asked doubtfully, ¡°Aren''t you¡­worried that Abellinum will no longer be our Abellinum?¡±

    Maigum sighed, ¡°What''s there to worry about, chieftain? Look at Potentia! Although more than ten years have passed, they are still the same Potentian. On the contrary, they are much wealthier than us! You should know that the Lucanians were even poorer than us over a decade ago!¡­¡±

    His words gained the acknowledgement of the others.

    Garni suddenly realised that Theonia''s invitation to them multiple times to participate in Theonia''s tournaments and other festivities had broadened the horizons of the people who were originally only staying in the mountains. So while they enjoy the warm hospitality of the Theonians, they have also seen their southern neighbour''s prosperity and strength, resulting in their guards rxing while also developing their longing. Andpared to the exclusion and oppression they received from Beneventum and other tribes, they are more willing to choose the Kingdom of Theonia despite not being of the same ethnicity.

    While feeling lost, Garni felt d he had made this decision in time. After quickly collecting himself together, he said deeply, ¡°Maigum, you need to immediately see the Theonian envoy and exin to him our willingness to be a free city of the kingdom and are willing to follow Theonia''s n immediately. And since the other Hirpini tribes would contact us as soon as we implement the n and demand the redemption of their people, you must discuss with the envoy how to implement the next part of the n.¡±

    ¡°¡­and-¡± Garni looked straight at Maigum and reminded seriously, ¡°You must tell the Theonian envoy not to publicise the news of us bing a free city of Theonia for now, as it will prevent us from winning over the other Hirpini tribes! Furthermore, we need to receive Theonia''s military support to defend against the retaliation of Beneventum and other tribes!¡±

    ¡°Chieftain, I''ll immediately head out now,¡± Maigum stood up and left.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Kinduk was the chieftain of the Caudini tribes in the Nuceria region and had been in his position for over twenty years. But more than a decade ago, he had led the Nucerian warriors under the orders of the then-great chieftain of the Caudini to invade Potentia, resulting in his defeat and capture. After spending over two years in Theonia, he was released and eventually returned home.

    But different from Garni, he still managed to receive the support of the great chieftain and soon became the chieftain of the tribes in Nuceria again. However, he, who was originally the most favoured sessor to be the great chieftain of the Caudini, lost to Segobani a few yearster. It was mainly because Segobani used his disastrous defeat in Potentia to spread unfavourable rumours about him, resulting in many tribes giving up their support.

    So Kinduk began strengthening his exchange with Theonia, not only because he had seen Theonia''s strength and believed that Caudini, even the whole Samnite, couldn''t match them, but also because he harbours resentment towards not being elected as the great chieftain. And since then, he no longer visited Caudium, nor had he ever seriously carried out any of Segobani''s orders.

    Then after the establishment of the town of Baparia in Irna, the exchanges between Nuceria and Theonia became even more frequent, not only in terms of trade and employment but also in terms of cultural and religious exchanges, leading to the tribes in Nuceria receiving great benefits. Apart from being able to eat without risking their lives every year by plundering, the priests of Hades and the physicians of Theonia help the women from giving birth and treat the ill without relying on praying to the gods and goddesses only¡­

    While the other Caudini tribes needed to invade the Campanian League asionally just to ensure their tribes'' survival and development, the tribes in Nuceria only needed to develop silently. Then after seven to eight years had passed, their poption significantly increased, have sufficient food and better weapons and equipment(Theonia didn''t ban iron and weapon trade with Nuceria), so they became one of thergest cities in the Caudini region, no less than Caudium.

    And while Kinduk forbade the tribes of Nuceria from plundering, he confidently kept criticising Segobani''s practice of viting the treaty with Theonia by plundering the Campanian League. He didn''t do that because he genuinely wanted to be on good terms with the kingdom of Theonia and the Greeks. In fact, he never responded to the Theonians'' invitation to participate in the rugby tournaments and other festivities and had even ced restrictions on the priests of Hades dispatched from Irna as missionaries in the region of Nuceria. He simply wanted to regain his position as the great chieftain of Caudini; hence he fought against Segobani every time to undermine his prestige.

    And the opportunity had finally arrived.

    Segobani had once again invaded the Campanian League, only to be defeated by the Theonians and got captured. So while the Caudini tribes were left in shock and grief, Kinduk jumped in and demanded that they immediately elect a new great chieftain to help the entire Caudini tribe through this difficult time.

    However, the chieftains of the tribes of Caudini, such as Usabek, were unwilling to let the Nucerians, who had close rtions with Theonia and even began believing in alien gods, take power. So they first turned to the other tribes for help, resulting in the meeting of the four major Samnite tribes in Caudium, with the great chieftains secretly pledging to dere war on Theonia and rescue their captured brethren.

    Then, Usabek and others joined forces with the high priest and some other chieftains to state that the Caudini tribes should now prioritise rescuing their people and postpone the selection of the great chieftain.

    Seeing no one responding to his call, the isted and helpless Kinduk had to suspend his action temporarily and watch the situation unfold.

    So when the Theonians rejected the envoy sent by Caudini to discuss a truce, Kinduk felt secretly pleased. But a few monthster, he was surprised by the Samnites'' raid on the Theonian Dauni region and became even more angry about the news that Theonia had agreed to exchange prisoners(which included Segobani).

    But the subsequent disastrous defeats of the Samnites had once again made him secretly happy. Then he publicly announced, ¡°Now that our captured brethren are released, isn''t it the time for us to re-elect the great chieftain?¡± At the same time, he covertly sent people to spread the news that the reason for Caudini''s crippling defeat before was because of Segobani''s ipetence¡­and so is a person who was captured still qualified to serve as a great chieftain?¡­

    And this time, the tribes finally responded to the proposal of the Nucerians and began discussing the matter of re-electing the great chieftain and decided on the ce of this tribal meeting at N.

    Kinduk was thrilled about this because the location of the great gatherings of the Caudini tribes tends to be on the eastern mountain near Caudium. After all, it was the birthce of the Caudini tribe and was close to the location ruled by Segobani and Usabek, which was unfavourable for him. Meanwhile, N was located in the western in, close to Nuceria, making it more beneficial to him.

    He was even more excited because this resulted from his hard work despite achieving it after experiencing multiple failures. Now, the Caudini tribes had realised that they could no longer confront Theonia and the importance of his excellent rtionship with them was highlighted.

    Knowing he had secured the victory, Kinduk led the other chieftains of the tribes in Nuceria to N.

    With the chieftains of all the Caudini tribes gathered in N with their guards, the ce simply couldn''t amodate so many people, so most camped outside the town. As a result, tents covered N with flocks of livestock and numerous and mixed tribal people, with frequent shing breaking out. However, the frequent shes not only caused headaches for the Nns but also made the neighbouring Campanian league feel nervous and had to increase their guard while seeking support from Theonia.

    So to avoid idents, the people in N quickened the grand gathering. Thus on the third day after Kinduk arrived, the ceremony of selecting the great chieftain officially began.

    More than a hundred chieftains and tribal representatives had gathered at the square. (The chieftains of some Caudini tribes are currently leading their warriors to fight against Theonia in the east of the Samnite mountain and cannot return in time, so they have decided to send their representatives.)

    The centre of the venue had a stage erected and was surrounded by warriors maintaining order, with two people sitting in the centre. One was the chieftains of the tribes in N, Senan, and the other was the newly released chieftain of the Caudini, Segobani.

    Kinduk hadst seen Segobani when he took over the great chieftain position a decade ago. Compared to Segobani''s arrogant and mboyant image when he was elected as the great chieftain, his face had now be pale and thin, his head drooping, and he appears to be¡­dispirited, showing how much he suffered during his imprisonment, naturally, that made Kinduk feel a burst of pleasure.

    Senan suddenly stood up and spoke loudly, ¡°Respected chieftains, wee to N! We have gathered here today for¡­a very important event that concerns every Caudini! So I would like to ask the great chieftain Segobani toe and announce it!¡±

 Chapter 830: Bloody Gathering

    <h4>Chapter 830: Bloody Gathering</h4>

    After saying that, Senan looked at Kinduk sitting near the stage, then quickly lowered his gaze and sat quietly.

    Despite the other Caudini tribes disliking the tribes in Nuceria due to their closeness with Theonia, the tribes in N and Nuceria got along quite well since they are close neighbours. Moreover, the tribes in N also received some benefits from the close contact between Theonia and Nuceria. There was even a time when Senan had a fever and sought help from the priests, but he couldn''t get well. In the end, Kinduk learned of the situation and invited the physicians of Theonia to treat him. Only then was Senan''s illness cured. Hence, after arriving in N, Kinduk immediately went to find Senan. It was only when he received the promise of full support from the organiser of this gathering that he felt relieved.

    So Senan''s gaze at him made Kinduk feel everything was under control.

    Then, under everyone''s gaze, Segobani stood up.

    The Samnite''s tribal election for a great chieftain doesn''t always happen due to the death of the great chieftain. Sometimes, when the great chieftain is too old and can no longer work, he will also take the initiative to abdicate and use his remaining influence to ensure that the candidate he chooses will be elected. But this would be the first time in a hundred years since someone forced a great chieftain to step down because the enemy captured him, so some chieftains below the stage looked at him with disdain, pity, gloating, and so on.

    Segobani slowly straightened his chest as he stood on the stage with his head held high. He then nced at the crowd without any hint of embarrassment. On the contrary, there was a hint of viciousness on his face as he eximed, ¡°Before making the important announcement, I''d like to invite a few important people toe up to the stage!¡±

    In the direction he pointed, the warriors on the outer perimeter gave way to a passage where four people walked directly towards the wooden stage.

    Amotion arose as all the chieftains looked surprised because these four people were: the great chieftain of the Hirpini ¨C Lesguk, the great chieftain of the Pentri ¨C Badani, the great chieftain of the Caraceni ¨C Konteruk, and the high priest of Savoni ¨C Rhogni.

    ¡®Why are the four most powerful people of the entire Samnite Tribal Alliance, who should be staying in the east of the Samnite mountains, appear here at the same time?! Why did theye?!¡¯ The same questions appeared in each chieftain''s mind simultaneously.

    But for Kinduk, apart from feeling surprised at seeing these four people appear, he also felt uneasy. He immediately looked at Senan on stage because he didn''t mention these people would appear at today''s gathering when he went to meet him earlier.

    But at this moment, Senan just kept his head low and didn''t dare make eye contact with him.

    Segobani, on the other hand, went to greet the four men with a smile after seeing them on stage. This made Kinduk''s anxiety increase, causing him to suddenly stand up, turn around, and about to leave. The other chieftains of Nuceria also stood up in response.

    Segobani then asked, ¡°Chieftain Kinduk, where are you going?!¡±

    ¡°Where I am going is none of your, who is no longer the great chieftain, business!¡± Despite the unfavourable situation, Kinduk''s tone remained strong.

    ¡°I, the high priest, and the great chieftains of the other three major tribes unanimously believe that Segobani was not only the great chieftain of Caudini in the past but also the future!¡± The words of the high priest caused an uproar below the stage.

    ¡°The tradition dictates that the priest and the other three tribes have no right to interfere in the internal matters of Caudini!¡± Kinduk shouted angrily, ¡°This isn''t the sacred mountain, nor is it the territory of the other tribes! This is Caudini!!!¡±

    ¡°They will not interfere in Caudini''s election!¡± Segobani sneered and looked at the crowd, ¡°Which among you chieftains is against me continuing to be the great chieftain? If you do, stand up!¡±

    As soon as he said that, some chieftains shouted, ¡°We support Segobani to continue as the great chieftain of the Caudini tribe!¡±

    Despite their opposition, some chieftains didn''t dare to stand up at this moment. They were afraid of Segobani''s retaliation in the future when they saw the situation wasn''t looking good.

    As a result, only Kinduk and the other chieftains of Nuceria stood alone in the centre of the venue.

    ¡°Segobani, is this how you will carry out the selection of the great chieftain?!¡± Kinduk asked loudly.

    ¡°We are now at war, so we should keep everything simple for the sake of war, which is also the oracle given to us by Savoni!¡± The high priest Rhogni interjected.

    ¡°I can''t agree with your reckless disregard of tradition! I will never agree with this seizure of power that relies on outsiders to snatch the position of the great chieftain!¡± Kinduk pointed at Segobani and spoke sharply. At the same time, he turned around to leave with an angry expression.

    But suddenly, more warriors rushed from the venue''s perimeter and used their swords and spears to stop him from leaving.

    ¡°Segobani, what do you mean by this?!¡± Kinduk''s expression changed as he angrily grasped the spear pointing at him with his hand. Then he used him angrily, ¡°Do you want to murder your rival in this sacred gathering?! Thene and stab me through my chest with this spear and show the people of Caudini how vile the great chieftain they had elected!¡±

    When the Nucerian chieftains behind Kinduk saw this, they also began shouting, ¡°Run, everyone! Segobani is going to kill us!¡­¡±

    Despite their shouting causing some to panic, about one-third of the chieftains had already learned about this beforehand and sat still. As a result, the venue didn''t be chaotic.

    Then Kinduk and more than seven Nucerian chieftains tried to break out but were surrounded by dozens of warriors holding spears and wooden shields, and the atmosphere became tense.

    Segobani then shouted from the stage, ¡°Chieftains, just like I had said at the start, I have an important thing to announce to everyone. Do you all know why we suffered a crushing defeat when we plundered the Campanian League?! It''s because the Theonians knew about our n beforehand and our focus of attack. Hence, they had sent their army to Campania earlier to set an ambush on our route and attack us suddenly, ultimately leading to our crushing defeat.

    During my imprisonment, I had pondered deeply. However, it was only when I finally received some information that I determined that there were traitors among the Caudini chieftains who had close dealings with Theonia and who, knowing of our n, had secretly informed them beforehand, resulting in our ultimate defeat! So, who are these traitors?!¡±

    Segobani''s words made most of the chieftains subconsciously look at the surrounded Kinduk and others on the edge of the venue.

    ¡°The traitors are naturally these men from Nuceria!¡± A chieftain from Caudium angrily shouted while pointing at Kinduk, ¡°They had already nned it long ago, which is why they had refused to participate in the plundering! So while we wept bitterly for the people captured and died in the war, they continued to have close ties with the Theonians and even worship their gods!¡±

    That chieftain''s words immediately dissipated the sympathy of many present towards Kinduk and hispanions.

    ¡°Nonsense! Nonsense! Segobani, you actually ced non-existent charges on me to cover up your own ipetence!¡­¡± Kinduk roared angrily.

    Segobani waved his hand and eximed, ¡°What are you still waiting for? Immediately arrest these traitors!!¡±

    The warriors rushed forward and pushed Kinduk and hispanion down, quickly tied them up and blocked their mouths.

    The high priest also spoke seriously, ¡°Everyone, we Samnites had lived in thisnd for hundreds of years but are now facing a massive crisis. The Theonians not only want to upy ournds but also wants to make us their ve and worship their gods! So, for the sake of the survival and continuation of our race, we need to unite our four major tribes to go to war with Theonia! Thus, any tribes that passively avoid the war will be a sinner of the Samnites and receive Savoni''s punishment!¡±

    ¡°Bring that traitor Kinduk here!¡± Segobani shouted.

    The warriors carried the struggling chieftain of the Nucerian tribes. But while passing through the venue, Kinduk pleaded for help from the nearby chieftains. However, they quickly avoided his gaze.

    Once he reached the stage, he watched as his enemy Segobani pointed at him and shouted to the crowd, ¡°Shall we execute this traitor?!¡±

    ¡°Execute him! Execute him!¡­¡± Some people kept shouting, while others remained silent, with no one expressing opposition.

    Knowing he wouldn''t be spared, Kinduk focused his eyes as he gathered strength in his leg and violently broke away from the warriors behind him and crashed into Segobani, who was agitating the crowd. Fortunately, the agile Lesguk managed to pull Segobani to his side. Otherwise, the great chieftain of Caudini would have been knocked off the wooden stage.

    Amidst the exmation of the chieftains, Kinduk, with his hands tied behind his back, rushed straight off the stage and hit the ground headfirst. His head instantly gushed with blood as he fell to the ground, convulsing, and looked like he would not survive.

    The chieftain who witnessed this tragic scene felt saddened.

    Segobani, on the other hand, hurriedly thanked Lesguk after breathing a sigh of relief. Then he red menacingly at the other Nucerian chieftains and shouted angrily, ¡°Savoni had already punished Kinduk! If you want to live, you must gather your tribesmen and dere war on Theonia to gain Savoni''s forgiveness! Choose!¡±

    Some Nucerian chieftains still red at Segobani while others bowed their heads.

    Lesguk, on the other hand, was looking at Kinduk soaked in a puddle of blood and thought, ¡®It would be wonderful if it were Garni!¡¯

    Still, he understood that with Beneventum and Abellinum''s strained rtionship like enemies, it would be impossible for Garni to leave Abellinum to go to other areas in Samnite alone, like Kinduk.

    Suddenly, he heard the great chieftain of the Pentri ¨C Badani say, ¡°Finally, I helped Segobani settle this matter!¡±

 Chapter 831: The Destruction of Baparia

    <h4>Chapter 831: The Destruction of Baparia</h4>

    Then the great chieftain of Caraceni, Konteruk, coldly said, ¡°We better implement the n smoothly this time, otherwise-¡±

    Despite not finishing his words, Lesguk knew Konteruk was reminding him since he was the one who suggested attacking the Dauni region. Besides their initial sess, they had failed in their seeding attacks, resulting in the three tribes, namely, Hirpini, Pentri and Caraceni, suffering heavy losses. And after the other two great chieftains'' criticism, Lesguk realised that he had be proud after their initial sess and forgot to carry out his original n: Not to fight the Theonians on t ground but to use their advantage in the mountains to deal with the enemy.

    Unfortunately, the Theonianmander in the Dauni region had remained calm despite his sessive victories, so he wasn''t lured by the Samnites to rush into the mountains.

    Despite sensing they couldn''t gain any advantage in the Dauni region, Lesguk and the others were still unwilling to stop attacking Theonia since this would allow them to free up their hands and concentrate on eliminating their other enemies. Thus, they had to change target and attack the west, the weak ally of Theonia ¨C the Campanian League, and the defenceless Lucanian region, which seemed to be better targets for their attack.

    And since Caudini had suffered a disastrous defeat where many of their warriors got captured earlier, they didn''t send too many warriors when the Samnite coalition attacked Dauni. As a result, they suffered a little loss. And it just so happened that the Theonians had released the previously captured Caudini warriors and returned to their tribes, making Caudini the strongest of the four major Samnite tribes. So when Segobani returned to Caudium, he readily agreed to the n of the three great chieftains after hearing it, not only because of gratitude(the three tribes used hostages from the Dauni region to force Theonia to release the captive Caudini) but also because he needed the support of the other great chieftains and high priest to regain his position as the great chieftain. Of course, he also hated Theonia, who had greatly humiliated him and wanted to trouble them.

    Thus, they all hit it off at once, which is why the four of them, Lesguk, Konteruk, Badani and Rhogni, appear here.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Irna, a city on the northwestern border of the kingdom of Theonia, has remained peaceful despite the ongoing war between the Samnite and Theonia. In addition, Irna, bordering the Nuceria region of the Caudini tribe, still had people and merchants travelling to the town of Baparia to the northeast daily.

    But that day, the lookout atop the city gate of Irna saw a long line of people rushing towards the city from a distance in the northeast direction. While supporting the elderly and children, carrying baggage, and driving carts, panic filled all their faces.

    At the forefront were several priests of Hades, wearing white chiton. After rushing to the city guards, they pantingly shouted, ¡°The great chieftain of Caudini, Segobani¡­led his army to capture Nuceria! We only managed to escape¡­because we received the urgent report of the Nucerian believers¡­ and now Baparia is in danger! Despite already notifying the town''s demarchos, many still haven''t left. So hurry up and send troops to rescue them! Quickly! Quickly!¡­¡±

    The praetor of Irna, Adrian, had already served for three years and was nearing the end of his term. However, with the recent outbreak of several wars in Theonia where it is impossible to end it quickly, in such a situation, his term may be extended to ensure the stability of the kingdom. Hence, he continued to fulfil his responsibilities seriously and with ease of mind.

    But while staying in the city hall, he was shocked when he received the emergency report from the city guard captain, prompting him to order, ¡°Quickly go and ring the rm, and put the whole city on alert! And¡­quickly send someone to the military camp outside the city to notify strategos Xanticles so he can lead his troops to defend Baparia!¡±

    ¡°Yes, milord!¡±

    Adrian turned serious as he watched the city guard captain hurriedly leave as he knew the war had arrived, shattering Irna''s peace!

    While worrying about the survival of the people of Baparia, he remembered another vital matter, prompting him to immediately call his assistant, ¡°Immediately send someone to Pompeii and tell them about the change in Caudini while reminding our Campanian allies to strengthen their guard and be alert of another Caudini invasion!¡±

    Xanticles hade to the Lucanian region under themand of the Ministry of Military to form a reserve army to rece the Third Legion in defending the entire northwest territory of the kingdom of Theonia.

    He initially set up his base at the military camp near Grumentum, but the Samnite invasion of the Dauni region prompted Xanticles to change his base to near Irna, which was the closest city to the Samnites. (Although Compsa was also close to Samnite, he considered Abellinum a much more reliable barrier than Nuceria.) Suddenly, the Ministry of Military had Epiphanes take four brigades away from him just after he finished raising the reserve legion. Worse, he wasn''t allowed to expand them further, leaving him rather helpless.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the Theonian army engaged in a fierce battle against the Roman army in the city of Ostia, Segobani had led the Samnite army and took the Nucerian chieftains who had already surrendered as hostages and entered the Nuceria region without any difficulty and forcibly upied the settlements of the tribes that had still not yielded to him(including that of Kinduk). He then used their families to threaten them to follow his tribe in attacking the town of Baparia in Irna.

    The town, built seven years ago under the personal supervision of the then Praetor of Irna, Asistes, had be rtively prosperous thanks to the frequent trades between Theonia and Nuceria. And for Theonia to show their sincerity towards the Nucerians and to remove their wariness, they didn''t put too many defences in the town, which, coupled with the fact that the enemy hade so suddenly, had led to its quick capture.

    After capturing the Theonians still in the town, Segobani ordered the Nucerian warriors to burn Baparia to force them to break with Theonia once and for all, and then, while returning to Nuceria, he sent his troops to block off the mountain routes that connected to Irna.

    After their painful lesson in the Dauni region, the several great chieftains decided for Segobani not to attack Irna directly. Instead, they would aim their attack at the weaker Campanian League.

    Once Segobani was on his way back to Nuceria with his army, the nearly ten thousand Samnite joint troops who had been waiting in the small town of Abe at the mountain pass quickly headed westward, pass through Suess and directly attacked Ate, which caused heavy losses for the Caudini people.

    And with the Caudini chieftains'' massive assembly in N, the Campanian League, led by Naples, had shifted all their defence to the southeast, and thus failed to guard against the surprise attack of the Samnites in the northeast. As a result, Ate ¨C a small city on the border of the Campanian League ¨C quickly fell under the attack of the Samnite warriors.

    Meanwhile, after burning the town of Baparia and returning to Nuceria, Segobani led seven thousand Caudini warriors(including more than three thousand Nucerians) without stopping towards the southwest direction to attack Pompeii, which was only ten kilometres away from Nuceria.

    Since Pompeii had lived in peace with Nuceria for more than a decade because of Theonia, they had never expected an enemy to attack from the southeast and for them to attack so quickly. Due to their quick and sudden attack, most people outside had no time to retreat to the city and became prisoners of the Caudini.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After receiving Adrian''s order, Xanticles didn''t feel excited about his uing participation in the battle since he currently only had one brigade left in the military camp.

    This is actually normal because, under normal circumstances, the legion¡¯s soldiers needed three to four days to arrive from their houses to the camp with their rations and standard weapons and equipment to participate in military training conducted by the training instructor. So unless notified by the department in charge of military training of the Ministry of Military, each brigade would usually take turns. (The training of each legion''s military camp is handled by the training instructors dispatched by the Military Training Department of the Kingdom''s Ministry of Military. Despite not having the authority to intervene, the legates can observe the training situation. Then, with their understanding of their soldiers'' condition, they can provide their own suggestions. Moreover, the legatus can only have the authority tomand his legion after obtaining authorisation from the king and the Ministry of Military.)

    Originally, in this dire situation, Xanticles should have concentrated all the legion soldiers in the camp. However, once the rations the soldiers had brought ran out, the camp would have to provide them with food, which was usually mostly taken from the granaries in the neighbouring areas. Unfortunately, Xanticles could only have the brigades take turns garrisoning the camp with the current food shortage.

    Still, Xanticles didn''t hesitate to gather them and quickly marched towards Baparia, even with only a thousand soldiers that were left in the camp.

    At the same time, Xanticles sent his heralds to rush to the four coastal towns of Irna, Poseidonia, Elea, and Pixous to notify the other brigades to gather at the camp. When Epiphanes hade to take the soldiers, Xanticles specifically asked Epiphanes to take only the brigades that were mainlyposed of citizens from the ind towns of Lucania, such as Grumentum and Nerulum, while leaving behind the brigades consisting of citizens from the coastal towns so that he could notify the soldiers to gather quickly and for them to arrive faster.

    After the troops bypassed Irna, they encountered the fleeing people who had eximed in panic, ¡°The Caudini tribe havee! They have captured Baparia!¡­¡±

 Chapter 832: Campanias Catastrophe

    <h4>Chapter 832: Campanias Catastrophe</h4>

    As a result, the soldiers needed to keep increasing their pace, and the almost sixty-year-old Xanticles felt overwhelmed even while riding a horse.

    After entering the mountain path, Xanticles had to slow down the troops even though it was urgent to prevent the enemy''s ambush.

    Suddenly, the soldiers saw mes soaring into the sky in the distance.

    When the mounted scouts they had dispatched earlier returned, he reported that the Caudini had retreated after setting the entire town of Baparia into mes.

    By the time Xanticles arrived with his army, mes had engulfed the bustling town built between the valleys. At the same time, in the clearing to the south of the towny three headless corpses, and beside them was a wooden que with a Greek sentence written in human blood: ¡®I would exchange the one hundred and thirty-four Theonians in my hand with the Samnite warriors you had captured. Otherwise, they will be like these corpses!¡¯

    Upon seeing this tragic sight, all the soldiers felt angry and demanded to pursue the enemy and rescue the captives.

    Naturally, the aged Xanticles wouldn''t be as impulsive as the soldiers. Instead, after ordering them to gather these three corpses, he made them line up in ce and wait for the return of the mounted scouts.

    Soon, the report that came back confirmed his spection, as there seemed to be ambushes on both sides of the mountain path ahead with Caudini warriors lining up.

    Xanticles didn''t hesitate to lead his army back because he knew that with the long peace between Nuceria and Theonia broken and the war reaching the northwest border of the kingdom, he not only needed to assemble the reserve legions as soon as possible to defend Irna but also needs to inform the Ministry of Military as soon as possible so that they could send more troops or give him greater authority. Otherwise, it would be difficult to cope with theing war by relying on the four thousand recruits alone.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Pompeii, a small Greek city with a small poption, had now most of its residents bing prisoners. Even with Pompeii''s elderlies and women picking up weapons and marching towards the city gate, they still failed to resist the nned invasion of Segobani.

    In the afternoon, the city had fallen.

    Despite feeling happy at his warriors'' cheerings, Segobani still wasn''t satisfied as he needed more victories to wash away the shame he had suffered.

    So, he let some warriors stay while he continued to lead his army northward along the coast. At dusk, he arrived at Heeum, only less than ten kilometres from Pompeii.

    Heeum, located at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, was also a small Greek coastal city but richer than Pompeii because of its proximity to the Gulf of Neapolis, thus bing a subsidiary trading port of Neapolis'' prosperous maritime trade.

    However, the people of Heeum have their own pride as they believe that their city has a longer history than Neapolis because Heracles was the one to establish it.

    Due to being informed of the enemy''s attack by the fleeing people of Pompeii in advance, the people of Heeum had already prepared their defences.

    Upon seeing this, Segobani didn''t order another siege. Instead, he had begun setting a camp on site.

    Despite the messenger from Heeum already arriving in Neapolis to seek help, the city was also threatened by the Samnite forces advancing from the northeast. Initially, they were prepared to send their joint army to repel the enemy. However, upon hearing news of arge enemy force attacking from the south, the people of Neapolis abandoned the idea of going out to face them as they feared being attacked from both sides. Instead, they promptly sent messengers to Theonia by ship, seeking assistance.

    (Note: After the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, Pompeii and Heeum were buried under the volcanic ash.)

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After Theonia''s sessive great victories in Ausculum and Venusia, the Samnites could only return to the mountains, with even the mountain reconnaissance brigade reporting that there were no traces of Samnites in the mountain areas on the border of the Dauni region.

    After suffering heavy losses, the Samnites'' joint forces had apparently abandoned their ns to continue attacking the Dauni region. Still, Alexius, themander of the Dauni region of the Kingdom of Theonia, didn''t take the opportunity to lead the army to attack the Samnite region.

    One reason was Davos'' solemn reminder that he should only enter the Samnite mountain to fight the Samnites with absolute certainty. More than a decade ago, Alexius had led the Third Legion in a battle against the Samnites in the Lucanian mountains. While they achieved a small victory, he also experienced the formidable strength of the Samnite warriors in those mountains. Furthermore, he considered himself fortunate that the battle urred in the mountains of Potentia. Otherwise, he would have undoubtedly encountered even more difficulties had it been in the Samnite mountains, where the terrain was unfamiliar, transportation was difficult, and they would be deep within enemy territory.

    The second reason was the problem with food. Alexius had gathered three legions and one cavalry legion with nearly thirty thousand men under hismand. With the rations the soldiers themselves had carried eaten up, the amount of food the kingdom would provide daily wouldn''t be small. Now that King Davos is leading an expedition to the Latium region, the already small amount of food left will naturally lean more towards the army in Latium.

    The Ministry of Military proposed to Alexius that now that the Samnites had stopped their invasion of the Dauni region after suffering heavy losses, they hoped Alexius could disband some legions to reduce the supply of military rations.

    Furthermore, the praetor of Uzentum had sent a messenger a few days before, who had travelled to Dauni and told Alexius a piece of news: ¡®ording to the pirates who hade to trade their spoils, Vadarka, the son of the former Peucetian king, who had fled across the Adriatic, was in the region of Epirus recruiting the Peucetians, Messapians, and Daunians, who had fled to Greece.¡¯

    Thus, Alexius finally decided to let the Ninth and Tenth Legions and the Second Cavalry Legion return to their regions and disband. However, each military camp had to send another brigade of soldiers to bring enough rations tost four days while retaining a brigade in the camp. Meanwhile, the cavalry legion had sent out two hundred riders and had to take turns toe to the city of Ausculum in the Dauni region, where Alexius would stay.

    In the military camp in the Dauni region, the Eleventh Legion''s soldiers brought their rations and would take turns every four days, with Kapusmanding them.

    With Dauni''s military camp located in the north and Ausculum in the south and a total of four thousand soldiers and two hundred cavalries guarding the border between the entire Dauni region and Samnite, supplemented by citizens from neighbouring towns, they were well-prepared to handle the small and medium-scale attacks of the Samnites.

    And once the remnant enemiesnded in other locations in the Apulian region, the garrisoned soldiers in each military camp could first face them. Meanwhile, the citizens who were ready to fight could quickly converge on the camps from the towns and cities to form aplete legion under the notification of the heralds and then destroy the enemy once and for all. And with this approach, they would consume very little of the kingdom''s military rations while basically guaranteeing the region''s safety.

    Alexius dared to do that because the Apulian region is in, with t terrain and connecting roads, so a quick march would allow them to reach the southern end, Uzentum, from the northern city of Lucerne. It''s just that this makes the legion soldiers busy as they are always on the go, but for the warlike Messapians and Peucetians, having battles to fight, merits to gain, andnd to receive is what excites them most.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After multiple exchanges with King Davos, the Ministry of Military has chosen the current strategy of attacking the North and defending the South in this war.

    While the army led by Davos is attacking and fighting in Latium, and Alexius'' troops have ceased their activities in Dauni, Leotychides decides to adopt an offensive approach to defend. His forces in Sicily, located farther to the south, have not retreated to go for defence. Instead, they areunching attacks across the western end of Sicily, using Selinus as their base. They are plundering all viges and towns outside Mazara, Lilybaeum, Segesta, and other city-states to gather resources, ensuring sufficient food supply for the army. Additionally, these actions also disrupted the order of Carthage in Sicily, creating favourable conditions for their future attacks.

    At the same time as when Davosnded on the coast of Latium, the drowned body of Theonia''s Navarch, Flios, had been found in the reefs on the coast between Minoa and Agrigentum. With his body already dposed, Leotychides led the soldiers and sailors to hold a solemn cremation funeral in Selinus.

    As a result, the whole ce was filled with cries.

    However, since they still couldn''t find a trace of Navarch Seclian, Leotychides had judged that he might have drifted into the coast controlled by Carthage and got captured. Thus, when exchanging prisoners with Carthage, he proposed to exchange more prisoners for Seclian.

    But the Carthaginians still didn''t reply.

    With the signed order of Davos to agree to transfer the Fourth Fleet to Sicily not yet reaching the Ministry of Military, the former divisionmander, Straphacus, temporarily took on the responsibility ofmanding the entire fleet in Sicily(In fact, there are only a few dozen warships left).

    As the Theonian army raged on the westernnd of Sicily, many of Carthage''s allies and coloniesined incessantly and asked Lilybaeum for their help.

    With the army''s morale in the city of Lilybaeum low and the military order chaotic, Bomilcar only wanted to protect himself and dared not leave to fight the Theonian army.

    Meanwhile, the Iberian army under Hasdrubal, capable of driving out the Theonians plundering in all directions, had stayed on Palermo. It was because Hasdrubal, on Khilletztartus'' reminder, chose to remain as a bystander, for it was only in this way that they could force their allies and colonies to send envoys to Carthage to ask for help and to let the still arguing elders, who had learnt of the urgency of the military situation in Sicily, hasten to make a decision.

 Chapter 833: Athens join the war

    <h4>Chapter 833: Athens join the war</h4>

    Despite the Carthaginian Senate deciding to let Mago serve as the army''s suprememander in Sicily, the elders led by Hanno refused to let the Carthaginian citizens go to Sicily again, citing the heavy casualties they suffered in thest battle. Instead, they suggested that Mago lead the unharmed Iberian army to Sicily.

    Naturally, the elders led by Pretasdrubal refused this proposal. Moreover, while intensely demanding further ountability for the previous war''s failure, they also helped their allies¡¯ messengers from Sicily to spread the tragic situation of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians in Sicily in an attempt to stir up the hearts of the Carthaginian citizens to feel the same hatred for the enemy to push the Senate to pass the proposal for Carthage to organise the army again to go to Sicily.

    Meanwhile, in the south of Iberia, Mago grew increasingly anxious as time passed amidst the dispute between the two sides. However, he used the gathering of troops as a polite reason to refuse the Senate''s urging for him to immediately go to war. After all, Mago couldn''t ept the idea of him consuming Iberia''s military strength alone, allowing Hanno to get what he wanted.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While war shrouded the Italian Penins and Sicily, a significant event also urred in Greece.

    The Spartan king Cleombrotus finally led the allies they had gathered to cross the Isthmus of Corinth and enter Central Greece. Then, he summoned the Spartan troops in all parts of the region to prepare to conquer Thebes again and rebuild Sparta''s authority in Central Greece.

    But in the process, Sphedelias, the Spartan strategos stationed in Thespiae, feared being med by the new Spartan king for not sending troops to help suppress the revolt in Thebes earlier. To atone for his crimes and fueled by his ambition to gain glory andpete with Phoebidas, he devised a n to make a surprise attack on the port of Piraeus at night.

    He believed that by seizing this importantmercial centre in Athens, he could not only make up for his failure in Thebes but also earn the honour of not losing to Phoebidas (although many Greek city-states privately looked down on his achievements, the Spartan citizens still believed that Phoebidas'' sess in the sneak attack on Thebes was a considerable achievement).

    With the messenger from the new king of Sparta already on his way, Sphedelias ran out of time to n more carefully before setting out at the forefront of his troops that night towards the southeast, heading for the port of Piraeus. However, due to his troops'' unfamiliarity with the terrain and underestimating the journey''s difficulties, they reached the port of Piraeus at dawn.

    As a result, the Athenians at the port discovered their tracks and immediately mobilised for defence.

    Without any other choice, Sphedelias had to return to the war after seeing his surprise attack fail. However, to relieve their anger, the army ravaged Athens'' territory they had passed by during the retreat.

    Naturally, such provocation immediately aroused the Athenians'' wrath.

    Back when Sparta had sent an envoy to ce a charge on two Athenian strategoi of participating in the revolt in Thebes and Athens, executing the two strategoi to prove their innocence, this Spartan envoy, however, did not leave. Instead, he continued staying in Athens, iming to be carrying out the order of Sparta''s Gerousia of continuing to supervise Athens'' performance in the following period.

    Now, the furious Athenians immediately captured this Spartan envoy and angrily questioned him why Sparta had sent troops to invade and plunder Athens'' territory without reason?!

    The Spartan envoy was puzzled at why the Athenians were angry, but after learning what happened at Piraeus in the morning, he secretly cursed at Sphedelias for his audacity while instantly and loudly telling the fact that the plundering had been the foolish action of the Spartan strategos own initiative and that it had nothing to do with Sparta!

    Furthermore, he firmly stated that Sparta''s Gerousia and Ephors would quickly try Sphedelias and give Athens justice.

    Unfortunately, the excuse of the Spartan envoy didn''t entirely quell the anger of the Athenians.

    However, with the death of Thrasybulus, the leading figure in Athenian politics, a few years ago in battle, another democratic figure named Callistratus of Aphidnae came into power. He was an orator and a capable politician, having been elected as one of the Ten Generals of Athens for several consecutive years. He began persuading the remaining furious Athenians by reminding them that it would be wiser to consider the Spartan envoy''s words if they weren¡¯t prepared for a war with Sparta.

    Despite their anger, the Athenian citizens also knew Sparta''s military strength. Thus, they ultimately agreed to release the Spartan envoy.

    After the Spartan envoy''s release, he immediately rushed to the ce of Spartan king Cleombrotus and reported what had just happened in Piraeus and the Athenian''s protests.

    It was only now that Cleombrotus learned of Sphedelias'' stupidity and, in a fit of anger, immediately sent someone to arrest him and send him back to Sparta.

    While Sphedelias was taken back to Sparta, a delegation of envoys sent by Athens also arrived, forcing Sparta''s Gerousia and Ephors to speed up the trial of this general who didn''t obey orders and attacked Athens without authorisation.

    Sphedelias seemed he couldn''t escape from his end, but his son had a close rtionship with Agesus'' son, Archidamus, and immediately asked for his help.

    And Archidamus didn''t hesitate to plead with his father for his best friend.

    Despite making no promises, Agesus still spoke for Sphedelias during the interrogation.

    He said, ¡°There is no doubt of Sphedelias'' crime, but we cannot execute a good person. Whether in childhood, youth, or adulthood, this brave Spartan citizen lived an honourable life and diligently contributed his strength to Sparta. And Sparta needs such warriors!¡­¡±

    With Agesus'' current prestige in Sparta, his speech led some neutral Gerousia members to favour Sphedelias¡¯ innocence. Meanwhile, some elders already felt they shouldn''t punish the Spartan strategos, believing that with the revolt in Thebes damaging Sparta''s prestige in Greece, they should use this time''s war to restore their prestige. So, if they punished their own general at this time, it would only dampen the Spartan citizens'' morale and make other city-states look down on Sparta.

    In the end, most of the Gerousia voted Sphedelias not guilty, and the ephors, who had decision-making power and were selected from younger and more radical Spartan citizens, also agreed with this verdict.

    After hearing Sparta''s verdict, the eagerly awaiting Athenian citizens were shocked because they executed their two strategoi in the face of Sparta''s allegation! But now, facing Athens''int, the Spartans had easily acquitted the perpetrator!

    Sparta''s arrogance thoroughly angered the Athenians, who strongly demanded their government to retaliate against Sparta.

    The Athenian strategoi were also surprised by Sparta''s approach, especially the strategoi led by Callistratus and Aristoles, who had adopted a neutral policy of waiting and seeing what would happen to Sparta''s strength in Greece since the signing of The King¡¯s Peace treaty. Still, they didn''t remain idle and had instead allowed Athens to establish alliances with numerous city-states along the coasts of Thrace, the Aegean, and Asia Minor. Moreover, the frequent trade andmerce exchanges and mutual diplomatic assistance led to the fact that Athens, in fact, was now stronger than it had been before the Corinthian War.

    But the citizens'' anger made it impossible for Athens'' desire to continue biding its time. Although this wasn''t what Callistratus wanted, Athens eventually passed the resolution without incident after most of its citizens firmly voted in favour of a deration of war against Sparta during the lesia.

    Athens'' deration of war naturally shocked the city-states in Greece, not only making the Thebans feel happy and encouraged but also making the Spartan king Cleombrotus ufortable as he was preparing to attack Thebes. Now, he fears getting assaulted by the Athenian army from the east again while he attacks Thebes, making him hesitant in his military action against the Thebans.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With Camillus firmly deciding to lead his army to leave Rome and march westward to attack Ostia, Davos naturally wouldn''t let his opponent''s n seed. Thus, he decided to send the soldiers of the First, Fourth, Sixth and a part of the Fifth legions sessively, either to take the transport ship of the Chamber of Commerce to rush to the port of Ostia or to march along the north bank of the Tiber to the estuary and then be ferried by the warships to the south bank of the city of Ostia. By now, about thirty-five thousand soldiers(including Theris'' temporary reserve) had gathered in the city of Ostia to fully defend against the Roman army''s attack, which was reduced to less than sixty thousand men.

    Since he is still needed in Rome, Davos could only appoint Amintas as the temporary defencemander of Ostia after careful consideration. He believed that Amintas, who had richbat experience and qualifications, could make the other legion soldiers follow hismand and was also fully capable of defending a small city.

    However, to stop him from getting heated, Davos strictly ordered for him to only defend the city and not leave to engage in battle.

    Thus, Davos also appointed Crotokatax, who was fighting in Ostia, as the personal staff officer of Amintas. While making him study military matters with Amintas, Davos gave him a secret order: Once Amintas acted without permission, Crotokatax could take out the edict, remove Amintas from his post and have him rece Olivos as themander.

    Despite taking on such an important task for the first time, Crotokatax dly epted the order, allowing Davos to achieve another goal: To skillfully keep his son away from the battlefield and protect his safety.

 Chapter 834: The Etruscan Leagues Choice

    <h4>Chapter 834: The Etruscan Leagues Choice</h4>

    Outside the city of Ostia, Camillus preached that he could negotiate with the Theonians as long as they captured the small port city and eventually took back Rome peacefully¡­

    Encouraged by this, the eager Roman soldiersunched two consecutive days of fierce attacks on Ostia. Unfortunately, the Theonian army repelled them, resulting in corpses covering the city, the ground stained red, and multiple ces in the city wall copsed, showing how fierce the battle was.

    Even with that, the Roman army continuedunching attacks on the third day.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the Roman Senate, Davos was holding a meeting. Apart from all the statesmen who were in Rome, they were also participants that included the legatus of the Third Legion ¨C Litom, Phryntor, Tolmides and Tapirus.

    ¡°Everyone, I had appointed Tapirus to go to the Etruscan city-states on the north bank of Tiber, including Caisra, Volch, Tarchna, and Fufluna, in hopes that these Etruscan city-states, which the Romans forced to join them under their strong military strength, could tear up their alliance with Rome and join hands with us in attacking the Roman colonies on the north bank of Tiber¡­¡± After saying that, Davos let out a light sigh.

    ¡°Your Majesty, so these Etruscans didn''t agree?¡± Litom asked hurriedly. As the legatus responsible for guarding Rome''s Pons Aemills and the new river port on the north bank, if these Etruscans could change sides to Theonia and attack the Roman colonies, then the pressure of the enemy on the north of Rome would disappear, allowing the Third Legion to leave and go to other battlefields. Hence, Litom interjected.

    But instead of answering, Davos just looked at Tapirus.

    Everyone''s gaze immediately shifted to Tapirus, who swallowed slightly before nervously saying, ¡°I¡­I took a ship to Caisra first after receiving His Majesty''s order as it is the closest to us, but also because¡­as far as I know, it is the Etruscan city-state that is friendliest to the Greeks. And indeed, that proved to be true, as I received a warm wee from them.

    But¡­when discussing our willingness to ally with them and work together against Rome, the Caisrans politely declined and said they had been friendly with Rome for decades and would never turn their backs on that friendship so easily. Still, they said they won''t get involved in this war as an enemy of Theonia, either.¡±

    Moreover, they had spoken on Rome''s behalf. They said it would be best to stop fighting the Romans and hold a peace talk since we had already taken hold of the city of Rome and gained the upper hand, which could bring more benefits and ensure that the trade order on thisnd wouldn''t get significantly disrupted¡­¡±

    ¡°Despite saying they won''t be enemies of us, the Caisrans still defend the Romans with their words,¡± said the praetor of Rome, Asistes, while frowning.

    ¡°The Caisrans made it clear that they had friendly ties with Rome for decades while never having any contact with us. If I were a Caisran, I would naturally help the Romans!¡± Matonis said bluntly.

    Nachus stared at Tapirus and asked anxiously, ¡°Since Caisra, the most friendly towards the Greeks, also favoured the Romans, the other Etruscan city-states might not have supported us, right?¡±

    Tapirus nodded slightly and continued, ¡°After Caisra, I headed next to Volch and Tarchna, both of which were city-states the Romans had attacked and ultimately forced to submit. Since Rome even founded colonies within their borders, they had shown interest in His Majesty''s proposal. However, they both ultimately had no choice but to say that with the vast majority of their young and abled citizens fighting together with the Roman army, they dared not take any hostile action against Rome right now, lest they anger the Romans and put their citizens who have gone out to battle in danger¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems the Romans were strict about their Etruscan allies!¡± Antrapolis, who hade from the intelligence department, said with a sigh when he heard this.

    ¡°Afterwards, I headed to Fufluna. A few months ago, Rome sent troops to conquer this city, but the Romans could only withdraw their troops once we started waging war with Rome, which was equivalent to saving them.¡± Tapirus continued, ¡°But the council of Fufluna didn''t appear enthusiastic when they weed me and didn''t seem interested in our proposal. Instead, they told me that they could not decide alone, so if we wanted them to join us and dere war on Rome, we must consult with the Etruscan League and reach an agreement with them before making a final decision. But until then, they are quite willing to establish friendly ties with us¡­

    But, from what I know, the Etruscan League is a loose alliance thatcks unity. In the past few years, they didn''t even unite to fight against the invading Roman army when Rome attacked the Etruscan city-states, making it easier for Rome to conquer Volch and Tarchna.¡±

    ¡°You mean to say¡­the people of Fufluna said that because they have no intention of allying with us?¡± Asistes interjected.

    Tapirus nodded and said, ¡°After meeting with their council, I had the interpreter who followed me to bribe their council members before I learned from them that although they hate Rome, they are also wary of us outsiders and were even more worried because after the Etruscans allied with the Romans to drive away the Celts, the Romans led their army to conquer them within a few years. Hence, they didn''t want to make the same mistake again. I fear they prefer to see us and Rome losing in the battle, which would benefit them most¡­¡±

    ¡°These Etruscans schemes well! Unfortunately, they would only regret it in the future!¡± Matonis eximed.

    ¡°I believe it isn''t just the people of Fufluna who think this way. The other Etruscan city-states should also have the same thought, to the point where they''re more willing to trust the Romans they''ve been dealing with for hundreds of yearspared to us,¡± said King Davos'' brother-inw, Alkibiades. He then added with a serious tone, ¡°Since yesterday, our ship pullers and sailors saw a small group of Etruscan troopsing and going on the north bank. Fortunately, they didn''t dare approach us with the cavalry legion escorting our caravan.¡±

    ¡°I also receive the same report from the cavalry. However, I believe they are only scouting and dare not engage inbat with us,¡± Ledes confirmed the report.

    ¡°Although they haven''t fought us yet, they have already shown their hostility! So we must fight them, or these Etruscans will think we are weak and easy to bully!¡± Matonis said furiously.

    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± Asistes looked at Davos and said worriedly, ¡°With the Roman army attacking Ostia, our ships from the kingdom can only be pulled from the north bank of the Tiber to the city of Rome by ship pullers. Once the Etruscan attack the north back, it would result in our waterway leading to the city being cut off, and it would be more difficult for us toe and go, send reinforcements, transport goods, and supply food, which isn''t good for our governance of Rome¡­¡±

    After hearing that, Davos tapped his finger on the table, but his eyes remained sharp as he said deeply, ¡°It seems I misjudged these Etruscans! I had originally thought they would be happy allying with us after suffering from the threat of Rome, but I didn''t expect each of them to have other ns! Since they won''t ept our good intentions, we will deal with them differently and show them our strength so they know the terrible consequences of making an enemy of Theonia! Thus, I have decided-¡±

    Davos nced at everyone and said imposingly, ¡°Send troops to capture Caisra!¡±

    Upon hearing this, some people cheered up while others showed reluctance.

    ¡°Your Majesty, won''t us attacking Caisra lead to the Etruscan city-states to side with Romepletely?¡± Asistes expressed his concern.

    ¡°You don''t need to worry, Lord Asistes. As His Majesty said, each Etruscan city-state has its own ns. Volch and Tarchna held grudges against the Romans after losing to them and getting their territories divided. They only feared cooperating with us because most of their citizens were in the Roman army. Meanwhile, most of the city-states that are further away, like Fufluna, will act as a bystander¡­Only Caisra is close to Rome, and its location is too close to the banks of the Tiber. Thus, capturing it will not only protect our waterway but also deter other Etruscan city-states, which will be beneficial in trying to persuade them to ally with us again!¡± Tapirus confidently gave his analysis.

    ¡°However, Caisra is a mountain city located on a mountain range much higher than Mons Capitolinus, making it harder to capture. Moreover, our current situation won''t allow us to bring too many soldiers to attack, and once we take too long to attack, our army will be caught fighting on two sides!¡± Tolmides reminded gloomily.

    ¡°Despite being a mountain city, Caisra has fewer defenders as most of its citizens joined the Roman expedition against Hernici, with the Third Legion even capturing some of their citizens a few days ago. So, in reality, they don''t have many soldiers in the city of Caisra right now. My lord, I only need to lead four brigades to quickly take the city of Caisra!¡± Epiphanes loudly asked.

    But as soon as he said that, Matonis immediately retorted, ¡°Epiphanes, you couldn''t even capture Mons Capitolinus, yet you still want to attack Caisra? Forget it! Your Majesty, let my Second Legion carry out this task!¡±

 Chapter 835: Phryntors Self-Nomination

    <h4>Chapter 835: Phryntors Self-Nomination</h4>

    ¡°Matonis, stop spouting rubbishes. It''s not because we failed to attack Mons Capitolinus, but it was His Majesty''s order for us to keep it under siege for the time being and not to attack!¡± Epiphanes cursed in anger.

    ¡°With the situation of Rome still unstable, what would happen once there is chaos in Rome while you two lords lead your army to leave?! That''s why it can only be our Third Legion that could go out to fight!¡± Litom interjected.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the several strategoi started arguing with each other topete for the chance to participate in the battle, Tolmides saw Davos frowning slightly, and so he quickly spoke out to stop them, ¡°The few of you-¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, since we can''t easily dispatch the Second Legion, the Third Legion, and the Reserve Brigade due to their important tasks, I am willing to lead my troops to capture Caisra in one day! At the same time, I will also capture Veii!¡±

    As soon as he spoke those words, Matonis and the others immediately stopped arguing and quickly gazed at Phryntor, who had been sitting quietly.

    ¡°Phryntor, we are holding an important military meeting, and you shouldn''t brag recklessly!¡± Matonis sneered as he looked at him like an idiot.

    ¡°I can swear to Hades in front of His Majesty!¡± Phryntor said earnestly.

    ¡°So what will you rely on to capture Caisra and Veii if we can''t dispatch our legion?¡± Epiphanes looked at him with interest.

    ¡°Are you nning to use the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade?¡± Davos'' voice sounded.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± Phryntor said respectfully, ¡°In the past two days, while the three legates¡ªMatonis, Litom, and Epiphanes¡ªwere upied with military affairs, I found myself with some free time. Seizing the opportunity, I led a group of reconnaissance soldiers to explore the environment and terrain around the northern bank of the Tiber. Despite the fact that the city of Caisra is atop a hill, it doesn''t pose a significant challenge for our mountain reconnaissance soldiers to climb over.

    And from my observation, there are no lookouts atop the walls of Caisra, and their defence is rtivelyx¡­which might have been due to their long-term friendly rtions with Rome, resulting in more than ten years of peace. So the possibility of a sessful surprise attack is high.¡±

    ¡°I remember you had spent a few years in the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade and even made military achievements¡­¡± said Davos slowly while looking at him.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°So it seems you aren''t bragging, And since we can climb over the city of Caisra, are you nning to attack at night?¡± Davos nced at everyone and asked thoughtfully.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°So what about Veii? Are you also nning to use the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade?¡± Davos asked again.

    Phryntor said calmly, ¡°We will let the Romans attack, Your Majesty.¡±

    Davos'' brows twitched as his eyes narrowed, realising that the Romans Phryntor referred to were the reserve troops they had just formed among the Roman plebeians in the city. This force had grown from a few hundred days ago to more than two thousand. For this reason, Davos promoted a few of the more capable and loyal Roman plebeians to assist Sextus.

    ¡°It''s impossible for these Roman plebeians to attack Veii!¡± Matonis expressed his objection, ¡°It is the fault of these Roman plebeians that the city of Rome is still in disorder even now, with several of them even attacking the patrol team yesterday! It''s too risky to let such an unstable reserve force attack Veii! Moreover, the scouts reported that despite not having many Roman soldiers in the city of Veii, their defence remains rtively tight, and it would be impossible for just these two thousand or so Roman reserves, who have not received our formal military training, to take down Veii!¡±

    ¡°Lord Matonis, we had interrogated the captured Romans, and we had confirmed they are the followers of the Roman nobility,¡± Antrapolis interrupted. As the vice praetor of Rome responsible for the city''s order and security, he was in charge of the city guard and court.

    ¡°The fact that we haven''t yet been able to eliminate the minor nobles and their supporters from the city implies that some of them might be present in this reserve force! How could we possibly use them with confidence then?¡± Matonis retorted, unwilling to be outdone.

    Asistes interjected, ¡°While speaking with Strategos Sextus and several officers of the Roman Reserve forces over the past two days, they have conveyed the soldiers¡¯ eagerness for opportunities to earn achievements and secure greater rewards. Therefore, I am concerned that excessive hesitation in deploying them and maintaining doubts could potentially transform their hopeful anticipation into resentment, thereby creating an unfavourable situation for our city''s governance.

    And since they dare risk betraying the Roman army to flee here and submit to us¡­I believe most of them genuinely want to join our kingdom of Theonia. So, even if a few have ulterior motives, what about it? Instead, it would be even better since we could use this battle to expose them. And even if we fail with the siege, we have instead discovered the hidden danger while making these Roman plebeians even more loyal to us, which is a good thing!¡±

    ¡°Lord Asistes is right! Since our army can''t stay in Rome forever, the main force that would have to fight the neighbouring forces, in the long run, will be the Theonian army made up of Romans! So we should take advantage while our legion is still here to have them rack up experience!¡±

    Phryntor exined further, ¡°Your Majesty, I will not use the Roman reserve force to attack straightforwardly. Rather, I would let them use their identity to take over Veii.¡±

    A rough idea came to Davos'' mind after Phryntor''s statement, making him ask, ¡°Do you want them to act as Roman reinforcements?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± Phryntor exined earnestly, ¡°We are all aware that to travel from the south bank of the Tiber to the north bank, aside from the two bridges within the city of Rome (Pons Aemillius and the bridge on the centre of the river), there is also a bridge in the city of Fidenae upstream that can serve as a crossing point. However, since their failed attack, the people of Veii have kept their city gates closed. Over thest two days, our cavalry has thoroughly examined the north bank of the Tiber and observed no Roman soldiers entering Veii through the upstream city of Fidenae. Therefore, it is highly likely that the people of Veii remain unaware of the Roman plebeians who have joined us. Thus, we can have these Roman plebeian soldiers who had submitted to us to pretend to be their reinforcements and trick them into opening the city gates of Veii¡­¡±

    ¡®¡¯Smack!¡¯ Davos pounded at the table and praised loudly, ¡°Excellent! Phryntor, your n is truly remarkable! Seizing both Veii to the east of the north bank of the Tiber and Caisra to the west simultaneously would create the formidable horns that support the city of Rome and serve as our barrier to the north. This strategic move would force any future opponents, whether from the Etruscan League or the Latin League allied with Rome, to conquer this barrier after they crossed from the upper reaches of the Tiber. This, in turn, would allow Litom and the Third Legion he led to no longer need to be so passive in defending, liberating a significant portion of our forces for deployment on other battlefronts..¡±

    Litom''s expression also lit up with joy at Davos'' words.

    ¡°I have decided to adopt Phryntor''s suggestion and let the Roman reserve force go conquer Veii.¡±

    ¡°Who will you send tomand them, Your Majesty?¡± Tolmides asked.

    ¡°As Asistes suggested, now that these Roman plebeians have joined Theonia, we must be resolute in appointing them. Failing to do so would ce us in the same category as the Roman nobles. In this regard, I propose that Sextus take on the role ofmander for the assault on Veii,¡± said Davos decisively.

    ¡°Sextus is an excellent young man who had been actively assisting us and assuring those Roman plebeians who have fled since he was elected as demarchos of Aventinus,¡± interrupted Asistes.

    ¡°We must be daring enough to give these Romans who sincerely trusted us more opportunities. And even if we fail to capture Veii, we have at least received a group of tested and loyal Roman plebeians!¡± Asistes agreed deeply at Davos'' words.

    ¡°However, we must still capture Caisra, which must be in the shortest possible time!¡± Davos'' tone turned serious, ¡°The Roman army that Camillus led had continuously attacked the city of Ostia without regard for casualties. Our fast ships brought yesterday''s report and told us that the enemy had filled most of the trenches outside Ostia, with the city walls copsing in multiple ces. And we would soon have to fight the Romans directly¡­

    But we do not need to fight a dying mad dog since we already have the battle initiative, and engaging them in battle further would only increase our soldiers'' casualties. Instead, taking Caisra would allow us to use its port as a hub to link Rome''s river port, thereby removing our need to defend Ostia. Despite its greater distance than Ostia, Caisra''s prosperous maritime trade allowed it to haverger port and better defensive structures that couldn''t be threatened by the Romans, so-¡±

    Davos looked straight at the staff officer he valued, raised his right fist, and swung it hard, ¡°Phryntor, I entrust the execution of the surprise attack n on Caisra to you. Feel free to request whatever resources you require, and we will provide our utmost support. However, the only thing I want for you is for you to seize Caisra with utmost haste ¨C no, you must capture it between today and tomorrow. Can you achieve this task?¡±

    Phryntor pondered momentarily and then said decisively, ¡°I am willing to ept this task, Your Majesty!¡±

    His words caused Matonis, Litom, and Epiphanes to show admiration, while Tolmides looked at him with aplicated expression. Despite King Davos giving him two days, they could infer from Phryntor''s n that there is actually only one night left. However, is that enough? After all, even those who had been on the battlefield wouldn''t dare to make a guarantee!

    ¡°Very well, I''ll await news of your victory!¡± With a smile, Davos readily agreed to Phryntor''s request to depart from the venue and make preparations. He watched Phryntor leave with a gaze filled with appreciation.

    At this moment, Tolmides asked, ¡°Your Majesty, do you intend to withdraw our troops from Ostia after capturing Caisra?¡±

 Chapter 836: Ostia

    <h4>Chapter 836: Ostia</h4>

    ¡°Not only the soldiers but also the people and supplies, leaving the Romans with an empty city,¡± Davos continued with a gloomy expression, ¡°Despite plebeian soldiers fleeing back to Rome rising to four thousand, Camillus continued to lead the army to relentlessly attack Ostia because he thinks Ostia is important to us. Thus, we must tell them that all that is just their fantasy! And after shattering their illusions, I really want to know if they can continue fighting after losing their hopes, suffering many casualties and having limited military supplies?!¡±

    Davos'' words made everyone ponder deeply.

    ¡°Tapirus,¡± Davos looked at his envoy and continued, ¡°We can''t just bear the Roman attack alone and must let our allies move! So send envoys to Volsci and Hernici and tell them that we had already captured the city of Rome and are currently engaging with their main force, so they should take this opportunity to attack the defenceless territory of Rome and reim their territory!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°And¡­those Latin city-states¡­that were enemies of Rome decades ago, I don''t believe they are as good as brothers with Rome! I heard that a few years ago, the Latin city-state, Tusculum, was rumoured to betray Rome and got almost wiped out¡­so you can go back and see if you can pull a few of those Latin city-states to us. I can even promise that as long as they are willing to be our allies, our army will not harm them and instead protect their safety, just like how we protected Campania and Volsci¡­¡±

    ¡°I will do my best toplete the tasks you entrusted, Your Majesty!¡± Tapirus replied excitedly, thinking he finally got a role to y this time.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Everyone dispersed after the meeting.

    Davos then called in several officers of the Roman reserve force led by Sextus and announced the order to take over Veii to them.

    But unlike his excited colleague, Sextus, despite also being excited, still musted the courage to ask, ¡°Your Majesty, what should we do to the people in the city after upying Veii?¡±

    ¡°The same as Rome.¡±

    Davos'' answer relieved Sextus.

    Sextus knew many people from Veii since most of the people who had migrated to Veii hade from Rome, making him confident in the n proposed by Davos. Of course, he remembered Davos'' reminder.

    After leaving the Senate and summoning the Roman plebeian soldiers, Sextus had already roughly nned his attack: He would choose a centuria of one hundred and twenty Roman plebeian soldiers, individuals he trusted and who were acquainted with the people of Veii. This centuria would serve as the vanguard to deceive and confuse the guards at the city gate. Meanwhile, he would follow behind whilemanding two thousand soldiers, ensuring that no one would leave the army and reducing the risk of someone potentially leaking information to the enemy and causing the operation to fail. Then, as soon as the vanguard sessfully seized the gates, he would promptly lead the army to attack.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Unlike Sextus, Phryntor doesn''t need to worry about the soldiers because he previously served in the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade. Izam even highly valued him and once said he was their pride. So when they learned that Phryntor had an important task for the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade, Izam became thrilled and actively cooperated to improve the n for the attack on Caisra tonight.

    But the problem that worried Phryntor were: With Caisra situated more than thirty kilometres away from the city of Rome, they must start marching now if they want to reach there before evening bynd. Yet by doing so, the soldiers of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade would have used up their stamina and rendered them incapable of climbing the hill. Fortunately, they had an alternative option: to take the water route, offering both swiftness and less exhaustion. Thus, Phryntor decided to have the soldiers of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade split into batches and embark on the ships docked at Rome''s new port and head to the port of Ostia first and then take the ship tond on the coast near the city of Caira in the evening.

    And the second problem was how they would climb the hill and the walls of Caisra in the dark. Although this would be a massive problem for the soldiers of Theonia''s Legion, it wouldn''t pose much of a problem for the soldiers of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade. It was because when Davos first made this brigade, he had hoped their role in the war would not only be to scout but also use them for special operations. Thus, Izam formted training programs ording to this need during peacetime. In addition, the first word in the name of their brigade had a mountain, so climbing over mountains was their main training program, including climbing it in the darkness of the night. Moreover, Phryntor had drawn a topographical map of the area around Caisra during his previous reconnaissance, so Izam recruited the soldiers with the best climbing skills to study the map and discuss how they should climb the city of Caisra.

    After finalising the n, Izam immediately ordered the soldiers to prepare the supplies and tools.

    After noon, the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade lined up with high morale, arrived at the new port of Rome, and prepared to board the ship and depart.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the guards woke up Amintas in the morning, he first asked, ¡°Did the Romans start attacking again?!¡±

    ¡°Legatus, there haven''t been any reports of enemy attacks. I woke you up because it''s already dawn, and breakfast is ready.¡±

    ¡°No attack?!¡± Amintas was surprised because the Romans had been attacking the city from dawn until dusk for the past few days, and their fierce assaults had even caused Amintas to palpitate.

    He then vigorously rubbed his bearded face, feeling sleepy due to theck of sleep over the past few days while worrying about the war. However, the guard''s words provided him with a few moments of relief.

    While eating breakfast, he was still wondering why the Romans didn''tunch an attack at this time as usual, specting if they could no longer support this intensity of attack.

    So Amintas decided to hold a war council not long after breakfast during this rare free time.

    The legatus of the Fourth Legion ¨C Olivos, the legatus of the Fifth Legion ¨C Giorgris, and the praetor of Ostia ¨C Theris, arrived one after the other (Theris also served as the militarymander of Ostia earlier and thus had the right to participate in the war council). Also attending the meeting were Amintas'' adjutant ¨C Aristonus, and his personal staff officer ¨C Crotokatax.

    The war council began with a report on yesterday''s casualties. They had dyed it until today because the battle ended in the evening, and it was difficult to calcte the casualties urately with tired soldiers and a dimming sky.

    The adjutant of the First Legion ¨C Aristonus, stood up with the already summarised data from each legion in his hand and said, ¡°Yesterday, the First Legion suffered two hundred and ny-three death and five hundred and thirty-seven wounded, the Fourth Legion had five hundred and fifty-eight death and seven hundred and twenty-two wounded, the Fifth Legion had five hundred and thirty-six death and eight hundred and ny-one wounded, and the reserve force of Ostia had one thousand and twenty-one death and five hundred thirty-seven wounded(the soldiers from the reserve brigades were converted into formal legionaries and joined the three legions)¡­¡±

    Whether it was the legates or Crotokatax, everyone in the hall had heavy expressions because these cold numbers represented life.

    ¡°Yesterday¡­our casualties reached five thousand, exceeding the total number of casualties from the previous two days!¡± Amintas eximed with a pained expression, mming his fist on the armchair.

    Crotokatax gazed at the furious Amintas, recalling the tragic battlefield he had witnessed atop the city wall in the past few days. A sense of mncholy washed over him, and he even began to question the necessity of the task his father had assigned him because the relentless Roman onught had made it incredibly challenging to defend the city, let alone venture outside to engage in battle.

    He then noticed the usually humorous Olivos now had lingering fear in his voice, ¡°The reason for our heavy casualties in yesterday''s battle was because the Romans had already built an earthen rampart in front of the trench, which was a metre higher than our city wall. Then they deployed much light infantry on the rampart and used javelins and arrows to attack our ballistae atop the city wall, forcing us to move our ballistae below¡­ Later, the Romans pushed their ballistae to the front and began their bombardment, causing several sections of our city wall to copse, further weakening our advantage of relying on the city walls for defence. And then they increased in numbers as theyunched wave after wave of constant attacks¡­

    O Hades from above! This time, I truly witnessed the small phnx formation tactics of the Romans that were simr to ours. So when our soldiers engaged them in a frontal sh in the copsed section of the walls, the terrain almost didn''t affect their formation. Moreover, the Roman soldiers'' bravery was not below ours. On the contrary, their desire to fight was even stronger! I had witnessed with my own eyes how several stabbed Roman soldiers began clutching our soldiers'' legs tightly to provide opportunities for theirrades next to them¡­allowing them to break in through the several openings in the city wall. I felt it was a fluke that we could repel them¡­¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by ¡®its a fluke?!¡¯ It''s because our soldiers are far more capable, and the short sword ying is much more lethal in the melee! Olivos, as a legatus of the army, you are a role model for the soldiers. You must always exude courage and confidence to instil the same in your troops, giving them belief in victory!¡± Amintas swiftly rebuked him, employing a tone reminiscent of twenty years ago when he, a toon leader of mercenaries, had critiqued Olivos, a regr mercenary soldier.

    After getting taken aback, Olivos snapped out of it and instantly apologised, ¡°I apologise for losing myposure, everyone! It was because we had gotten used to fighting smooth battles over the years, and this is the first time we''ve encountered such a courageous yet very organised and skilful enemy, which has cost us a lot of our men! It seems that His Majesty was right, and the Romans are indeed a formidable enemy. So we should abandon the illusion of an easy victory and go all out to defeat this enemy!¡±

 Chapter 837: Amintas Concession

    <h4>Chapter 837: Amintas Concession</h4>

    ¡°We should indeed fight with all our might, but we must not think too highly of the Romans!¡± Amintas said confidently, ¡°With our heavy losses yesterday, the Romans should''ve continued attacking today to gain more advantage. However, Why haven''t theyunched another attack even though it''s almost noon now?!¡±

    Amintas looked at the crowd and eximed, ¡°I am sure the Romans had suffered even greater losses because they were the ones on the offensive! And this kind of loss has made it impossible for the Roman army, which has over sixty thousand soldiers and has been attacking for three consecutive days, tounch another attack today!¡±

    ¡°The armymander is right!¡± Theris took over the conversation and said, ¡°From the report we received from the city of Rome, there has been a constant stream of Roman plebeians among the soldiers fleeing the enemy camp and escaping back to Rome in the past two days. Moreover, apart from the Romans, the Roman army also included the armies of the Latin and Etruscan city-states. So even if the Romans don''t care about the casualties, could their allies bear such heavy casualties?!¡±

    ¡°Lord Theris is right!¡± Amintas eximed as he struck his armchair again, ¡°The soldiers of the Roman army hade from various sources and not as united as our legion. So, as long as we repel their offensive a few more times, the enemy may fall apart. At that time, it will be our turn tounch an offensive. Therefore, you must encourage your soldiers to continue defending and not ck off because victory will ultimately belong to us!¡±

    Crotokatax immediately turns his head to look at Amintas after hearing that. Despite his father privately mentioning Amintas'' recklessness in battle andck of thorough consideration, leading to heavy casualties in every engagement and making him unsuitable for the role of armymander, Crotokatax currently believes that Amintas'' fearless and bold character, as he continually pushes forward, can effectively boost the morale of his officers and soldiers, ying a pivotal role in critical moments.

    ¡°Everyone, we should organise the soldiers and the people in the city to cover the gap on the city wall as much as possible while the enemy has still yet attacked today! If we can''t block them, we should at least set traps near the gap¡­¡± Amintas reminded. Finally, he asked, ¡°Is there anything else you wish to add?¡±

    Giorgris immediately said, ¡°Commander, I met lord Steichicodas beforeing here. He had asked me to tell you that there are too many wounded in the medical camp, and they do not have enough medicinal herbs¡­¡±

    ¡°Lord Steichicodas should''ve gone straight to me with such an important matter!¡± Amintasined,pletely forgetting that he had never called anyone from the medical camp to participate in the war council these days while he spent the rest of his time fighting atop the city wall. So how could Steichicodas see him?

    Crotokatax blinked as he realised through these few days of contact that this was perhaps one of Amintas'' biggest shorings ¨C being too arbitrary! It was no wonder his father was a bit uneasy with him.

    Giorgris hesitated for a moment and said, ¡°Lord Steichicodas was busy treating the wounded for the past two days, so I am afraid he doesn''t have spare time.¡±

    Theris also immediately added, ¡°I will send someone to the port to notify the subordinates of Agus(a major herb merchant in Thurii) and see if they have any herbs. If not, we will ask them to transport them from the kingdom as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°I''ll leave this matter to you,¡± Amintas said bluntly. Then he looked at the others and asked, ¡°Do any of you have other questions? No? Then hurry up and go about your tasks.¡±

    But as soon as he said that, a guard hurried into the hall and said, ¡°Reporting to themander, a messenger from His Majesty the King hade and reported that he hade to convey an emergency military order!¡±

    Amintas was taken aback and said, ¡°Let him in quickly.¡±

    In a moment, the messenger entered the hall, with Crotokatax recognising him as the young staff officer Asinaros who was beside his father.

    Asinaros quickly nced at everyone in the hall, then looked at Amitnas before saying respectfully, ¡°Commander Amintas, all legates and lords, I havee to Ostia by order of His Majesty to deliver histest orders!¡± With that, he held a roll of papyrus tied with ck thread in both hands and presented it to Amintas.

    Amintas unrolled the scroll with a smile on his face. However, his expression became serious as his eyes fixed on Asinaros, and there was a hint of anger in his words, ¡°Are you sure it is His Majesty who wrote the decree?! Not what you staff officers want?!!¡±

    Asinaros said, neither humble nor overbearing, ¡°Lord Commander, are you unable to recognise His Majesty''s handwriting and seal?! Besides, His Majesty is personally leading the army, so how could we dare issue an order without His Majesty¡¯s approval!¡±

    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Olivos quickly interrupted once he saw the atmosphere wasn''t right.

    ¡°His Majesty wants us to¡­evacuate Ostia!¡± Amintas once again mmed his fist at his armchair.

    Everyone was shocked. After all, the soldiers had engaged in three days of bloody battles, enduring heavy casualties to barely retain control of Ostia just to suddenly abandon it. It was a bitter pill to swallow. This abrupt change of situation was hard for anyone to ept.

    So even Giorgris asked, ¡°Does His Majesty think we can''t hold onto Ostia?¡±

    ¡°Lord Commander, you didn''t fully convey the original intent of His Majesty!¡± Asinaros nced at Amintas before exining earnestly, ¡°We captured Caisra and Veii yesterday. Given the fact that the port of Caisra wasn''t far from the estuary of the Tiber River and its capacity to amodate more ships, coupled with the increasing casualties our army has suffered due to the relentless assaults of the Romans on Ostia and with our need to ensure we have sufficient troops in the uing battle, there is no longer a need for us to fight against a hopeless army that has lost its homnd. Thus, His Majesty Davos decided ¨C please note that it is not intended-¡±

    Asinaros implicitly showed his dislike of Amintas as he said in an emphasised tone, ¡°For the soldiers of the three legions to quickly withdrew to the north bank of the Tiber and then returned to Rome bynd. Meanwhile, we would transfer the other troops and all the people, supplies, and prisoners in Ostia to Caisra! If possible, we shouldpletely burn Ostia to cut off the possibility of the Roman army using the port of Ostia while also dampening their morale! Lord Theris will be in charge of directing the evacuation of the entire city, and anyone must follow his orders! Upon arriving at Caisra, Lord Theris would take over as its praetor¡­this is the entirety of His Majesty''s decree, so please follow His Majesty''s order and execute them immediately!¡±

    While Asinaros was speaking, Olivos and the others had already read Davos¡¯ decree.

    ¡°That is indeed what His Majesty said in his decree!¡± Olivos eximed.

    ¡°This is great since we can reduce the unnecessary casualties of our soldiers!¡± Giorgris beamed with joy.

    Due to the continuous siege of the Romans in the past few days and the sessive arrival of various legions, with Amintas assumingmand, Theris had found himself reduced to more of a subordinate under Amintas'' directives. Moreover, he often faced rebukes from Amintas due to the ipetence of the soldiers under hismand. As the praetor of this small city, it was impossible for him not to harbour grievances. However, he refrained from showing joy at the prospect of regaining authority. Instead, he remained silent, contemting how to n a swift evacuation without alerting the enemy.

    While Amintas acknowledged the significant casualties they had suffered from the Roman army''s attack, he was unwilling to retreat without achieving victory, as it would be akin to surrendering before even engaging in battle.

    Crotokatax then noticed Amintas gripping his armchair tightly, his gaze fixed on Asinaros while remaining silent. It seemed as though he was a beast, ready to pounce at him at any given moment. This sight prompted Crotokatax to instinctively reach out and touch the secret order he had received from his father. At this moment, he realised that the senior officers who typically greeted him with smiles were not aspliant as he had imagined during critical moments. Despite this, he retained unwavering confidence in his father''s prestige.

    ¡°Commander, we should immediately execute His Majesty''s orders!¡± Olivos eximed again.

    Giorgris also added, ¡°Yes, we should quickly prepare for the evacuation while the Romans are still not attacking!¡±

    The sessive statements of the two legates made Amintas shift his gaze. He looked at Olivos and Giorgris, and after a moment, he muttered in a low voice, ¡°Then let Lord Theris be responsible for arranging the retreat¡­¡±

    He then stood up and left the hall after saying that.

    The remaining few people looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

    Meanwhile, Crotokatax silently pondered, ¡®If I were to lead the army in battle one day, how can I make these generals obey orders?¡­¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Camillus came out of the camp where they were treating the wounded with a heavy heart; the harrowing sight of the camp filled with struggling wounded always lingered in his eyes, and their groans of agony gripped his heart and put him in a trance.

    ¡°Father, be careful!¡± Lucius grabbed Camillus, who was about to copse.

    ¡°Lucius¡­tell me, was I wrong¡­in insisting on capturing Ostia?¡± Camillus softly muttered while getting supported by his son''s shoulder.

    ¡°Father, should we instead attack Rome if we don''t attack Ostia?! Father, don''t overthink since even Titus, Aurus, Quintus, and the rest unanimously agreed with your n. In such a difficult situation we are in now, we can only have hope if we force the Theonians to implement peace negotiation with us by fighting the Theonian soldiers and capturing Ostia!¡± Lucius said deeply.

    ¡°But that''s twenty thousand casualties over the past few days!¡­¡± Camillus let out a long sigh. He has always cherished the lives of his soldiers and is known for his excellent military skills and low casualties. But this time, such heavy losses resulted from his n, and he couldn''t help but deeply feel remorse.

 Chapter 838: Flames Engulfed Ostia

    <h4>Chapter 838: mes Engulfed Ostia</h4>

    However, given his lifetime of experience on the battlefield, he swiftly adjusted his mindset. He knew that the current challenges they confronted didn''t permit him to be excessively despondent.

    Then, several generals, including Quintus, Furius, Licinius, Aurus, Titus and Servius, gathered in themand tent.

    ¡°Lord Dictator!¡± Everyone immediately saluted as soon as they saw Camillus enter the tent.

    ¡°What''s the situation of Ostia?¡± Camillus directly asked Servius without responding to their greetings.

    Servius quickly replied, as he was in charge of guarding against the enemy''s surprise attack, ¡°The Theonians have stationed many soldiers atop the city wall due to noticing the troops we have set up outside the city. However, they didn''t dare toe out of the city to destroy our earthen rampart. Instead, they are using this time to repair the copsed part of the wall!¡±

    ¡°So we must hurry in reorganising our troops andunch another attack!¡± Camillus immediately looked at Licinius with a hint of anxiety when he heard his words, ¡°How''s the progress of our earthen rampart?¡±

    ¡°We can definitely surround Ostia before dark!¡± Licinius answered positively, ¡°It''s all thanks to Ardea, Antium, and Satricum for sending many people to help us!¡±

    ¡°Excellent!¡­¡± Camillus eximed in praise, and the graveness on his expression eased considerably, ¡°Licinius, you''ve done an excellent job! On behalf of all the soldiers, I thank you. With the earthen rampart we''ve builtpletely encircling the city of Ostia, not only do we not have to worry about the enemy sneaking out, but we can also send a substantial number of light infantry or even emte the Theonians by moving our ballistae closer to attack the enemy atop and inside the city walls, providing our heavy infantry with the greatest assistance for their attack and help reduce casualties¡­ By the way, have our allied Etruscan armies from Caisra, Volch, and Tarchna finally ceased their mour to leave?¡±

    Camillus directed his words to Titus, whom he had sent to appease the Etruscans.

    ¡°Lord Dictator, these Etruscans are only mouring, but they won''t dare to leave alone even if we really let them go!¡± Titus snorted with disdain, ¡°With the Theonian fleet on the sea, their only way to cross and reach the north bank is the upper reaches of the Tiber. However, with their army of less than ten thousand and their meagre courage, without ourpany, do they dare march alone for forty kilometres and bypass the heavily defended city of Rome?! Still, they said they would refuse to participate in the next battle if they had to attack the city of Ostia as recklessly as before!¡±

    ¡°Refuse to join the battle?! Do they think they are only here to share the spoils?!¡± Quintus snarled, ¡°Lord Dictator, we must position them at the forefront in the uing battle! I am eager to witness whether these Etruscans we had defeated could muster the courage to fight with all their might!¡±

    ¡°Quintus, refrain from bing excessively agitated as it will only lead to a deterioration of our rtionship with the Etruscans, which would also affect how our Latin allies perceive us,¡± cautioned Aurus.

    ¡°So should we have our soldiers rush to the front instead?! Our Roman citizens have suffered the most casualties in the past few days! Moreover, nearly five thousand plebeian soldiers have fled the camp and defected to the enemy! So can we still trust the remaining thousands of plebeian soldiers?! Currently, we have no more than fifteen thousand soldiers who are truly capable of fighting, and many Roman citizens of noble birth dying heroically at the base of the city wall with bitter hatred for the Theonians! If we don''t let the Etruscan and Latin soldiers go at the forefront, I am afraid that our citizens will be almost wiped out once we recapture Ostia!¡± Quintus'' sorrowful words made everyone in the tent gloomy and fall into silence for a while.

    ¡°Are the Theonians really willing to¡­negotiate with us once we recapture Ostia?¡± Titus broke the silence and hesitantly continued, ¡°You should know what the Theonians did in the city of Rome¡­they turned us nobles into ves!¡±

    His words expressed the doubts and unease in everyone''s heart, prompting everyone to look at Camillus.

    Camillus didn''t respond since the defection of the Roman plebeians and the tenaciousness of the defenders in the city of Ostia had shaken his confidence in the past few days, making it impossible for him to give a definite answer.

    Instead, his son Lucius answered loudly, ¡°We can only force the Theonians to make peace with us by beating them and threatening their safety with our bravery and determination! After all, the Theonians are fighting not only against us, but also against our allies, the Carthaginians! So what army would the Theonians use to fight against the Carthaginians once they have lost too much here?!¡±

    ¡°Don''t trust Carthage too much! If they had used all their strength to attack Theonia, how could the Theonians send so many soldiers to attack us?!!¡± Quintus was filled with resentment when mentioning Carthage.

    ¡°We have no other choice than recapturing Ostia¡­¡± Aurus sighed, making the other generals gloomy.

    ¡°Everyone, there''s no need to think about the future and instead do what''s in front of us first.¡± Camillus finally spoke up, ¡°Judging from yesterday''s battle, we had made a lot of progress with our siege as the soldiers have all managed to enter the city and engage the Theonians in a melee, which has put a lot of pressure and casualties on the enemy. Now, we just need to¡­¡±

    Camillus spoke in detail about the new n for the uing attack and the improvements to the siege tactics. These were the oues of his meticulous observation of the battle and several days of deep contemtion.

    Despite his calm tone, it carries a kind of power that can calm everyone down and make them listen carefully.

    Seeing everyone listen attentively, Camillus nced at Quintus and emphasised again, ¡°To ensure our next siege goes smoothly, we must unite our allies!¡­¡±

    Everyone, including Quintus, ultimately agreed with Camillus'' advice and began discussing ways to improve the siege n.

    After seeing everyone off, Camillus finally rxed slightly and suddenly felt weak. Due to his worries about the war, he had eaten and slept less as he felt anxious; even a young man''s body couldn''t withstand it, let alone an elderly man in his sixties. Thus, he had to lie down and rest.

    His sleepsted through the dusk until someone woke him up.

    ¡°The lookout atop the city gate of Ostia suddenly disappeared?!¡± Camillus, who had just woken up, rubbed his somewhat sleepy face as he pondered the meaning behind the Theonians'' action.

    But suddenly, the curtain was once again lifted as Lucius burst in, ¡°Father, there''s a massive fire engulfing the city of Ostia!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Camillus was startled, and with the help of his servant, he quickly left the tent.

    The camp was already abuzz with soldiers emerging from their tents, gazing in shock at the zing city of Ostia in the distance. The entire camp resounded with shouts and discussions.

    Camillus felt dumbfounded when he saw this sight and suddenly shouted, ¡°Terrible! The enemy is fleeing Ostia! Quick, send the troops! Charge towards the city, extinguish the fire, and capture the Theonians! Hurry up!¡­¡±

    In the darkness, the Roman soldiers charged towards the burning city of Ostia.

    Unfortunately, they were stillte.

    After receiving Davos'' order to retreat, Theris ordered his officials to contact the ships of the various chambers in the port and the Theonian fleet cruising nearby to start an orderly retreat.

    With the Theonians carrying out their evacuation in the small port facing the sea directly to the west, the Roman army monitoring Tiber''s estuary failed to detect any movements.

    And when the Theonian soldiers atop the city wall started their evacuation, Theris had the city and port, which had already been doused with tar, set aze.

    Camillus felt suffocated and unable to utter a word upon learning they had failed to extinguish the fire and that the city and port of Ostia had burnt down, especially since they hadn''t spotted the Theonians.

    He now understood that the Theonians would rather burn the city than allow them to upy it, which also demonstrated their determination not topromise.

    ¡°Father, what''s wrong with you?!¡± Lucius eximed as he saw Camillus clutch his chest and slowly copse.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Despite being a Roman plebeian, squad leader Maecilus resided in Veii, where he ownednd and his family stayed.

    Due to the recent rumours about the Theonians granting special treatment to the Roman plebeians, word spread throughout the camp, causing some plebeian soldiers from Rome to start fleeing the camp. However, despite the excitement felt by Maecilius and many other Roman plebeians who had relocated to the colonial city north of the Tiber, they chose not to leave.

    Yet despite their loyalty to Rome, they did not receive the rightful rewards they deserved and instead encountered hostility from the noble-born Roman soldiers in the camp.

    From these rumours, the nobles and their followers learned that their families in Rome had been imprisoned, and the plebeians split up theirnds, upied their houses and seized their wealth. With the addition of the constant defection of the plebeians in the past few days¡­they certainly didn''t have goodwill towards those plebeian soldiers who remained inside the camp, and the suspicion, ridicule and insults they hurl at them could still be considered rtively mild. During the siege, they tantly used their authority to ce the plebeian soldiers in the most dangerous positions without allowing them to retreat or provide assistance, which urred more than once.

 Chapter 839: The Roman Soldiers Choice

    <h4>Chapter 839: The Roman Soldiers Choice</h4>

    Naturally, this deeply unsettled many plebeian soldiers who remained loyal to Rome. As a result, the antagonism and suspicion between the Roman nobles and plebeians in the camp grew even stronger. Maecilius and the other loyal individuals also began to waver, but the ongoing battles prevented them from finding the opportunity to reflect on the future.

    This morning, the Roman generals, unwilling to give up, dispatched several centuriae to search the city of Ostia, hoping to discover something.

    Maecilius and the centuria to which he belongs were assigned to the port.

    Maecilius had gone to the port of Ostia many times in the past, but the sight of boats and people crowding the port no longer exists. Now, those crude houses and warehouses built on top of each other had been reduced to piles of burnt ruins, with ck smoke rising everywhere and people crying about the tragic ending that this port sufferedst night.

    Sadness filled Maecilius as he looked at all of this, making him think of Rome, Veii, and himself¡­

    ¡°Captain, Lord Dictator told us before that we can force the Theonians to negotiate with us and regain the city of Rome as long as we can recapture Ostia¡­ Now that we have recaptured Ostia, can we really negotiate with the Theonians?¡± The soldier beside him asked doubtfully.

    Unfortunately, Maecilius couldn''t answer him: The soldiers are not fools. With the two sides fighting fiercely these days, they suffered heavy casualties. If they were to follow their habits in their previous war, after gaining an advantage, they would definitely conquer their opponent and make them unable to confront Rome anymore. So, would the equally powerful Kingdom of Theonia easily let Rome go?

    ¡°What does it have to do with us whether the Theonians call for a truce? I have had enough of this endless fighting, and while Jupiter still protects me, I will get out of here and go back to Veii!¡± Another soldier said loudly.

    Marcellus looked at him and said, ¡°As long as the Theonians continue upying Rome, Veii remains in danger as it isn''t far from Rome. And we are fighting here for our own sake, and look at this ce-¡± Maecilius said worriedly, pointing to the ruined port of Ostia, ¡°We must not allow Veii to be like this!¡±

    As soon as Maecilius spoke, everyone suddenly stopped talking and looked up to the northeast with worried expressions.

    After a while, the soldier who had spoken before murmured, ¡°Why don''t we join Theonia? Not only can we safeguard Veii but also gain wealth¡­¡±

    The other soldiers didn¡¯t say anything; even Maecilius didn''t scold him. Instead, they began looking at each other with a somewhat odd expression.

    Suddenly, someone in front shouted, ¡°Look! There''s a boating!¡±

    After entering the city of Ostia in the morning, the soldiers could see nothing but ruins, so many were curious about the boat and rushed towards the port''s breakwater.

    They saw the boating far from the north coast and headed towards the estuary of the Tiber. It first approached the north bank, then as if they saw the numerous Roman soldiers in the port, turned around and headed straight towards the port.

    ¡°Could that boat belong to the Etruscans?¡± Since the Tiber River''s estuary spans over two hundred metres in width and with the morning mist shrouding its surface, numerous soldiers could only specte since their vision is limited. Thus, they could only rely on judging based on where the boat hade from. Naturally, they also hold onto the hope that this was indeed the situation.

    But soon, the soldiers became agitated and picked up their weapons after they saw the bident drawn on the sail.

    This sailboat stopped and turned to the side when it was more than thirty metres from the breakwater, with several people aboard shouting something in Latin.

    Since the squad led by Maecilius failed to squeeze towards the breakwater, they naturally couldn''t hear what the men on the boat were shouting. However, they soon saw amotion among the soldiers in front of them, followed by a loud discussion that went straight to their eardrums, ¡°It can''t be! They must be lying! There''s no way for Caisra to also fall in the hands of the Theonians!¡±

    ¡°You are right! It''s difficult to capture Caista built atop the hills! Moreover, Theonia''s main force was fighting against us here, so how could they have enough troops to attack Caisra?! They are definitely lying!¡±

    ¡°The Theonians could even capture therge city of Rome in just one day, which already indicates their frightening ability to capture a city! Could Caisra be even more difficult to capture than Rome?! Moreover, as you can see, this boat hade from the north!¡±

    ¡°So what?! The cunning Theonians had likely used this boat to go around to deceive us!¡±

    ¡°Hey, you''re solely focusing on Caisra! Didn¡¯t you hear those people also imed to have seized Veii? We worked hard for ten years to conquer Veii, so how could the Theonians have aplished it so quickly? They''re undoubtedly trying to deceive us!¡±

    ¡°If both Caisra and Veii have fallen, then our Sutrium is in danger! Regardless of whether they''re deceiving us, I must return immediately to see the situation!¡±

    ¡°I''ll go with you!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the Roman army suffering massive casualties in thest few days of the siege, Camillus had taken this opportunity to reorganise his army by including citizens from the colonies with citizens from Rome, allowing for a smoothermand during battle. Therefore, a Roman centuria often had Roman citizens from various ces.

    Maecilius'' squad were all citizens from Veii, so their faces immediately turned pale upon hearing these words.

    ¡°Captain, what should we do?!¡± The soldiers looked at Maecilius in panic.

    Maecilius was equally worried. But despite also thinking the Theonians were deceiving them, he could not tell his men to ignore them and stay and continue fighting. After hesitating for a while, he began remembering the sight of his wife and children at home when he bid goodbye to join the army, so he finally decided to say, ¡°We will also leave! Let''s return to camp immediately, pick up our baggage, and return to Veii!¡±

    ¡°What if¡­what if the Theonians had indeed upied Veii?!¡± A soldier asked with a trembling voice.

    ¡°We''ll¡­just surrender¡­to the Theonians,¡± Maecilius could only squeeze those sentences out of his mouth, feeling pained.

    But instead of speaking against that, the soldiers'' expressions rxed.

    It wasn''t only Maecilius'' squad but also several of the soldiers moured to rush back to the camp immediately, and no amount of persuasion or threat from the centurion from the city of Rome could stop them.

    The sailboat from earlier then sailed to the north, but instead of anchoring on the opposite bank, for the estuary was too shoal-like, it went forward again and sailed for a while before it stopped. Then dozens of boat pullers got down from the boat and tied their ropes to it, and while the sailors rowed their oars, the boat puller pulled the boat and marched up the Tiber.

    Not long after, a boat came from the north one after another, turned into the estuary of the Tiber River and sailed along the north bank towards the city of Rome to the east.

    The Roman soldiers, still at the port, witnessed this scene, leaving no room for doubt about what the Theonians had earlier imed. They swiftly exited Ostia and rushed back to the camp, which had already descended into chaos.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Upon learning from the physician that his father had woken up, Lucius immediately opened the tent and entered.

    Lucius saw Camillus lying on a kline, eyes wide open as he stared straight at the tent¡¯s canopy, without any clue what his father was thinking.

    Lucius walked lightly to the bed and asked concernedly, ¡°Father, are you feeling better?!¡±

    ¡°Cough¡­I''m fine.¡± Camillus replied with a hoarse and weak voice, then immediately asked, ¡°Now¡­how''s the situation at the camp?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­nothing¡­nothing major; the order inside the camp remained stable,¡± Lucius said half-heartedly.

    Camillus turned his head, although his face was still somewhat pale, his eyes focused on him, ¡°You are my son, you cannot hide anything from me¡­and I can hear the noiseing from outside even as I lie¡­here, so it is¡­evident that something big has happened¡­tell me everything, I can bear with it.¡±

    ¡°Father, the physician said you should pay more attention to your health so that you can recover! You don''t need to worry too much since Titus, Quintus, and Aurus temporarily handle all the military matters!¡­¡± Lucius said to relieve him.

    ¡°I am the dictator of Rome! As long as I am alive¡­I am responsible for all Roman citizens! When I die¡­I will have plenty of time to rest¡­cough¡­¡± Camillus struck his kline and eximed anxiously.

    Seeing him cough repeatedly, Lucius hurriedly and panickedly said, ¡°Father, take your time! There''s no need for you to hurry! Father, take a breath and listen to me slowly¡­when we sent the few Roman centuriae to search the burnt city of Ostia this morning, the soldiers had instead believed the rumours spread by the Theonians on that boat about them capturing both the cities of Caisra and Veii-¡±

    ¡°They had captured Caisra and Veii?!¡± Camillus'' eyes widened in amazement.

    ¡°Father, I already told you it''s just a rumour! Caisra and Veii''s walls are strong, and with its dangerous terrain and Theonia''s main force fighting us, how could they possibly capture these two city-states so quickly?!¡± Lucius then anxiously said, ¡°But those foolish soldiers believed it and had even spread the rumour throughout the entire military camp. As a result, not only the soldiers of Veii but also those of our other colonies on the north bank of the Tiber, such as Sutrium and Cosa, fled the camp, and even the Etruscan armies demanded that we allow them to leave!¡±

    Camillus couldn''t expect the situation to be worse upon waking up. In his anxiety, he failed toe up with any good solutions and started having a splitting headache. He then used the bed as support as he tried to get up but couldn''t exert any strength.

    ¡°Quick!¡­call some soldiers to carry me out¡­out here¡­I''ll try to persuade the soldiers!¡± Camillus became anxious and wanted to speak loudly, but his voice was weak.

 Chapter 840

    <h4>Chapter 840</h4>

    ¡°Father, you are still ill, and the physician won''t allow you to leave! You need to trust that Titus and the others can handle this!¡­¡±

    Titus suddenly walked in while the two argued.

    Lucius asked in surprise upon seeing him, ¡°Titus, why did youe? Has everything in the camp calmed down?!¡±

    Lucius said while winking at him.

    Titus, however, wasn''t in the mood to pay attention to him. With an exhausted and worried face, he looked at Camillus and said impatiently, ¡°Lord Dictator, I immediately rushed here as soon as I heard you had woken up. Volch and Tarchna had sent envoys and said that with Caisra and Veii''s fall, they demanded the withdrawal of their troops so that they could defend their city-states from the invasion of the Theonians-¡±

    ¡°If their im about the Theonians upying Caisra and Veii is true, how can they reach the camp? Titus, are you sure they are really envoys of Volch and Tarchna?!¡± doubted Lucius

    ¡°The ones that hade were the consul of Volch and a senator of Tarchna. They arrived at Ardea by boat, then rushed over here as soon as theynded. From what they told, the Theonian warships didn''t intercept them.¡±

    Titus then angrily continued, ¡°But as soon as they arrived, they went around the camp and spread the fall of Caisra and Veii. Now, the already restless camp becamepletely chaotic, with not only the Etruscan army demanding to leave but also the soldiers of our colonies on the north bank of the Tiber River and the troops of some of our Latin allies! Meanwhile, Quintus and the others are blocking several of our camp''s gates with their troops. However, the Etruscans dered they would fight their way out if we didn''t let them leave! With skirmishes already breaking out between the two sides, I had to rush here to ask for your advice!¡±

    ¡°All of this is the scheme of the Theonians!¡± Lucius eximed angrily, ¡°Damn the Etruscans! Damn those Latin city-states! We should crucify those plebeians!¡­¡±

    Camillus suddenly sighed and said, ¡°The fire of Ostia¡­burnt the hope of the soldiers fighting, Caisra¡­and the fall of Veii, in turn, fractured our army¡­s.¡±

    Camillus suddenly stopped speaking andy quietly with his eyes slightly closed.

    ¡°Father!¡±

    ¡°Lord Dictator!¡± The two shouted anxiously.

    Then, after a while, Camillus asked, ¡°Titus¡­did you ask them how once¡­.the Etruscan army separated from us¡­how would they go back?¡±

    Titus immediately replied, ¡°Yes. They said they could cross the upper reaches of the Tiber River and immediately head east into the mountains to bypass Veii. Since that mountainous area is still under their control, it is rtively safe¡­¡±

    Camillus nodded slightly. Then, with his expression remaining unchanged, he said hesitantly, ¡°The current situation¡­no longer allowed us to force them to stay¡­otherwise¡­it will only lead to a civil war in the camp¡­whoever wins or loses¡­the only one to benefit will be the Theonians, while our friendly rtions with Etruria¡­our colonies¡­and even our Latin allies¡­will be destroyed thoroughly¡­since that would be the case¡­it would be better to let them go¡­¡±

    ¡°Lord Dictator!¡± Titus said worriedly, ¡°Since our return from Hernici and fighting the Theonians until now, adding to the plebeians who fled, we have lost nearly thirty thousand men! Once we allow the Etruscans, our colonies and our Latin allies to leave also, we would probably have less than fifteen thousand soldiers left, making us unable to recapture Rome and would also allow us to get attacked by the Theonians!¡±

    ¡°Titus!¡± Camillus shouted with difficulty and then, in self-me, uttered, ¡°I had made a terrible mistake¡­when I heard about the fall of Rome, I had wanted to retake it immediately¡­that''s why¡­the army suffered so many casualties¡­which resulted in us falling into such a huge predicament¡­it''s all my fault¡­¡±

    ¡°No, Lord Dictator, you''re not the only one eager to swiftly reim Rome; it''s also what our entire army wanted!¡±

    ¡°Now we all know¡­quickly retaking Rome is¡­ impossible to achieve¡­¡± Camillus sighed softly. Then, after coughing a few times, Camillus said with a pained expression, ¡°If attacking Ostia¡­is already so difficult¡­what would happen if¡­we had really attacked Rome?!¡±

    Titus and Lucius couldn''t refute his words, as it was a fact, so they remained silent.

    Suddenly, Camillus opened his eyes with a glint, ¡°Titus, do you still remember how we defeated the Celts?!¡­ We had attacked a group of Celts that went to collect food¡­then attacked the plundering group they sent to raid other viges¡­victory after victory¡­then made the Latins¡­Etruscans¡­Sabines who suffered from the Celts joined us¡­resulting in our number growingrger andrger like a snowball¡­ Meanwhile, the Celts were forced to stay within the city of Rome¡­not daring to leave ¡­to the point where they were too frightened to fight us head-on¡­and could only choose to retreat¡­but in the end, we managed to catch up with them and defeat them!¡±

    Then his voice became more and more energetic, ¡°That war¡­I remember itsted for more than half a year. Then against the powerful Theonians, we¡­we should have also adopted such a strategy as only by persisting in a long and fierce battle with the Theonians can we ultimately achieve victory!¡±

    Titus was moved upon hearing this, but he felt a bit uneasy, ¡°Unlike the Celts, who only know to burn, kill, and loot, the Theonians are far more cunning in their approach.¡±

    ¡°But¡­the Celts didn''t have powerful enemies like Carthage¡­and the Samnites!¡± Camillus responded confidently.

    Finally, Titus was convinced and said, ¡°I will immediately convey your order to Quintus and the others¡­¡±

    Despite Quintus'' opposition to Camillus'' decision, the Roman generals ultimately agreed to allow the Etruscan army to leave. However, they had to apany their colonies'' soldiers and ensure to send them back safely.

    After they departed, the generals also generously allowed their allied Latin to return to their respective city-states. However, they didn''t leave in a hurry like the Etruscans. Instead, they rush to themand tent to sincerely express to Camillus that as long as he called on them, their city-states were willing to continue fighting together with Rome to drive away the outsider ¨C Theonia!

    However, the Roman soldiers who remained in the camp were greatly affected as they watched theirrades who fought side by side with them depart. Inevitably, panic started to take hold, prompting the generals to exert significant efforts to barely quell the chaos within the camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    About thirteen thousand mixed soldiersposed of Etruscan and soldiers from the Roman colonies marched eastward and arrived at Tusculum. Then, after a night of camping, they arrived at Fidenae on the afternoon of the second day and crossed the Tiber using a pontoon bridge.

    But as they departed the riverbank and headed eastward into the mountains, they swiftly came across the prearranged Theonian army positioned ahead, effectively blocking their path. This encounterpelled the panic-stricken mixed soldiers to prepare for a fierce battle.

    Then, as the two armies approach each other, the Etruscan soldiers of the cities of Volch and Tarchna suddenly turn their shields and spears,unching an attack on the nk of the Roman soldiers.

    The sudden betrayal of their allies surprised the unprepared Roman soldiers, leading to their ranks falling into chaos.

    The Theonian army then took advantage of the situation andunched a fierce attack from the front, causing the mixed army to copse quickly.

    Apart from those who managed to escape through the Tiber River and fled to the city of Fidenae, the Theonians captured most soldiers of the Roman colonies. On the other hand, the soldiers from the other Etruscan city-states surrendered one after another, with the Theonian army suffering almost no losses and achieving aplete victory.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Earlier, Phryntor had led the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade andunched a sessful night attack on the city of Caisra. However, a few Caisrian manage to take advantage of the night to flee to the neighbouring city of Tarchna.

    The people of Tarchna became horrified and intimidated by the Theonians'' ability to capture a city just overnight. Especially since Tarchna nowcks young and strong citizens, resulting in them being unable to resist the attack of the Theonian army. Thus, they sent an urgent message to their neighbouring Etruscan city-state ¨C Volch, while also sending an envoy to Caisra to check on the situation.

    After capturing Caisra, Phryntor immediately sent people back to Rome to report their victory.

    Filled with joy, Davos promptly dispatched two brigades from the Third Legion to Caisra, executing their pre-established n for garrisoning the city.

    Phryntor was very busy when the envoy of Tarchna arrived at the city of Caisra as he not only wanted to stabilise the city''s order quickly but also handle theplex matters of the port on time because King Davos had repeatedly emphasised that they shouldn''t plunder or barge on the merchant ships of other city-states. However, they could seize the merchant ships of Carthage.

    In response to the envoy''s arrival from Tarchna, Phryntor only told him he needed to go to Rome to talk to His Majesty about any of their proposals or requests.

    Seeing that the Theonian general who had taken control of Caisra didn''t speak ill of him or threaten to use force, the envoy of Tarchna felt relieved and decided to promptly make his way to Rome.

    Not long after, the envoy of Volch also arrived.

    Davos received them warmly and expressed his desire to ally with the Etruscan city-state to confront the Romans jointly.

 Chapter 841: Triumphant Return in Rome (I)

    <h4>Chapter 841: Triumphant Return in Rome (I)</h4>

    With Caisra serving as a warning, the two envoys could no longer dare to be half-hearted about it and began to discuss the matter quickly.

    During this period, the envoys could only travel frequently between Rome, Volch and Tarchna at the urging of Davos. As a result, both sides quickly drafted a preliminary alliance agreement, which mainly included the following:

    First: The Kingdom of Theonia would form a military alliance with Tarchna and Volch.

    Second: Tarchna and Volch must respond to Theonia''s demands by providing troops to confront Theonia''s enemy, while Theonia must protect the safety of Tarchna and Volch''s territory.

    Third: Volch and Tarchna recognise Theonia''s upation of Caisra.

    Fourth: Theonia must assist Tarchna and Volch in recapturing Sutrium and Cosa. Theonia would then return these territories to its allied city-state to which they belonged. However, the Romans in the city would belong to Theonia, and the allied soldiers were not allowed to plunder them.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Despite not having signed the alliance agreement yet, Davos urged the two Etruscan city-states to send envoys to the Roman camp, which led to this easy victory.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On this day, the sun was shining brightly, and the sky was clear and cloudless.

    Having endured war, death, chaos, and sorrow, the people of Rome eventually found a rare sense of joy showing on their faces. They adorned themselves and escorted their wives and daughters to assemble on either side of the road, extending from the arena to the Roman Forum, in anticipation of themencement of the Triumphant Return.

    Among these people is Maecilius, who, three days ago, immediately fled the Roman military camp with many of the soldiers from Veii after learning of Veii''s fall.

    While the Roman army was busy intercepting the Etruscans'' departure and the Roman colonies'' soldiers on the north bank of the Tiber River, the other soldiers took that opportunity and managed to escape unscathed. However, many of them, like Maecilius, ran towards Rome to surrender to the Theonians.

    After having their identities confirmed by the officials of Theonia, the Theonians would transport the Roman nobles to the south with their families, where the Census Department of Thurii would disperse them to the various cities and towns in the kingdom. On the other hand, they would ask the surrendered plebeians whether they would choose to live in Rome or Veii, and then they would be resettled ording to their choice. In fact, the Theonian officials would take the initiative in guiding the plebeians to choose Rome because more than half of the entire city became vacant after removing the Roman nobles.

    Maecilius, who had originally grown up in the city of Rome, was certainly willing to rejoin Rome. Not only because there were better residences but also because the allocatednd he would receive would be more fertile. (The Roman Senate transferred all the tnds along the river that originally belonged to Veii to Rome in order to restrict Veii''s growth, leaving only the hills and mountains for the Roman citizens who migrated to Veii.)

    Furthermore, aside from assisting him in locating his wife and children, the Theonian official also informed him that His Majesty, King Davos, had approved a special decree on their behalf. This decree allowed the Romans who had applied for Theonian citizenship to wait until after the autumn harvest to reim and cultivate newnd once they had harvested the crops from their existing plots.

    Davos'' considerate measures had reassured all the Roman plebeians who defected to Theonia.

    While Maecilius was busy relocating, news spread throughout Rome that the Theonians were preparing to hold a Triumphant Return in the city tomorrow!

    The news sent waves through the Roman popce; after all, the Triumphant Return was one of the most sacred ceremonies of the Roman citizens. It was a ceremony for the Romans to unt their battle sesses and glory after defeating their enemies. Thus, Maecilius and the other plebeians desperately wanted to know if the Theonians knew how to perform the Triumphant Return. And what attitude will the Theonians adopt towards the Romans in the Triumphant Return? (Because the Roman''s Triumphant Return would always parade their captured enemies)¡­

    Hence, many Romans gathered by the side of the street with their faces filled with doubts andplex expressions as they waited for the ceremony to begin.

    ¡°Woooo!¡­¡± A long salpinx sound sounded, followed by a chorus of drum beating, with a passionate and joyful melodying from the south of Rome.

    The people couldn''t help but move their heads at this unfamiliar and beautiful melody, with some calling the music pleasant and asking the people around them for its title. Unfortunately, no one knew about it.

    After a while, the people on the city''s south side began to stir as they shouted loudly, ¡°Here theye! They areing!!¡­¡±

    Then the crowd began rushing forward but were stopped by the Theonian soldiers standing guard.

    Maecilius picked up his five-year-old child and tiptoed, facing south, only to see a gold and ck military g in the middle of the road held high, heading towards them.

    Upon drawing nearer, Maecilius discerned that the g had a silver bident engraved on it, with a resplendent golden crown atop the bident, embellished with precious gemstones, and covered in ck byssus. Atop the military g stood a magnificent statue of a Greek deity.

    ¡®Is this the g of the Kingdom of Theonia?!¡¯ Maecilius looked on curiously. This was because he hadn''t seen the Theonian g when he returned with the Roman army from Hernici since they had to assault Ostia quickly.

    This time, he looked at it carefully because he knew he would now be fighting under themand of this g.

    The Romans on both sides of the road looked curiously at the soldier holding the g high. Although he wasn''t tall and sturdy, he had a good physique, robust muscles, several scars on his face, and a somewhat vicious appearance.

    The Romans naturally wouldn''t know that the soldier who would raise the military g during Theonia''s Triumphant Return was the bravest and most outstanding soldier in the war. For a Theonian citizen, this is the highest honour and the focus of the Theonians'' attention; after all, only one person would raise the military g while several generals rode in a chariot.

    As a result, not a single Roman cheered or threw flowers at the soldier bearing the g, which left Terentus feeling regretful. Nevertheless, his heart swelled with pride, for he held the achievement of being the first soldier in the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade to hoist the military g during the Triumphant Return since Theonia''s inception. His initial feat involved a daring venture of diving into Rome''s sewers under the shroud of night. Additionally, he was the first to scale the walls during the night assault on Caisra. There, he defeated five Caisran soldiers who had detected their presence and sought to impede their mission, thereby buying precious time for the entire operation. It was, therefore, no surprise that he received unanimous approval to be the g bearer for the Triumphant Return.

    Directly behind him marched ten soldiers, each proudly holding a military banner. However, their number and the road''s narrowness had forced them to form into two rows. These banners represented the First Legion, Second Legion, Third Legion, Fourth Legion, Fifth Legion, Sixth Legion, First Cavalry Legion, Second Cavalry Legion, and, joining them for the first time, the g of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade. This special unit,prising merely a thousand soldiers, yed an exceedingly vital role in the war, albeit at the cost of notable casualties. Thus, Davos had to rectify years of overlooked military honours by acknowledging theirmendable contributions.

    The individual bearing the g of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade is Centurion Cregs. While his performance in this battle may not have been particrly notable, his exemry contributions span several decades of warfare.

    And the other g bearer is¡­

    The Romans standing by the roadside couldn''t help but express their astonishment upon seeing the g and the soldier holding it, ¡°It''s Valerius! It''s Valerius!¡±

    Meanwhile, like Maecilius, more Romans gazed at the red g withplex expressions.

    The soldier holding this banner, Valerius, was still wearing the equipment of the Roman heavy infantryman and became the representative of the newly formed Roman Reserve Brigade for his bravery in the assault on Veii three days ago. Of course, his performance was far from the other g bearers, but Davos needed the political significance he represents.

    However, it is evident that this plebeian has not yet limated to such an environment. He appeared somewhat timid and did not even nod back at those who recognised him, unlike the other g bearers who held their heads high and exuded pride.

    Following behind the g bearers were the four Theonian priests in white chiton, carrying a wooden statue of a god with a solemn expression.

    Many Romans began whispering, asking who this Greek god was with each other.

    Those who knew told them it was Hades, the guardian deity of the Kingdom of Theonia.

    Upon hearing this, the voices by the roadside actually got quieter because they realised that after joining the Kingdom of Theonia, they would inevitablye into contact with this powerful Greek god.

    After the Theonian priests passed by, another statue of a deity appeared in front of the people.

    ¡°It''s goddess Diana!¡± Someone eximed excitedly.

    The Theonians had ced the statue of Diana, which was widely worshipped by the Roman plebeians, behind their patron god, indicating that they attached great importance to the gods revered by the Romans, relieving the hearts of Maecilius and the others. They even saw that among the priests carrying the statue was the high priest of the Temple of Diana.

    The high priest had a solemn expression on his face, but his heart was filled with joy because he had a private talk with the priest in charge of the Temple of Hades, Kaldeas: After integrating Rome into the Kingdom of Theonia, the Temple of Hades would focus on supporting the Temple of Diana as one of the main temples of worship for the Romans who had be Theonian citizens. Moreover, the Temple of Diana would also be a ce of worship for Theonian citizens from other races.

    Kaldeas'' promise thrilled the High Priest of the Temple of Diana. Despite the Temple of Diana in Rome enjoying significant poprity among the Latin plebeians, it had not garnered the same esteem from the Senate and wasn¡¯t allowed in Mons Capitolinus, thereby missing out on the city-state''s collective offerings during vital celebrations. Fortunately, Theonia didn''t like Jupiter and Juno, who were simr to the Greek deities and instead favoured supporting Diana. Today''s participation in the grand triumphant parade marked a beginning, infusing the High Priest with optimism for the future.

 Chapter 842: Triumphant Return in Rome (II)

    <h4>Chapter 842: Triumphant Return in Rome (II)</h4>

    Of course, he didn''t forget to reciprocate his kindness as he began leading the priests to intentionally or unintentionally promote the benefits of joining the Kingdom of Theonia to the Romans who came to pray at the Temple of Diana, eliminating their confusion and anxiety about the future.

    Following the group of priests is a band with dozens of musicians holding various instruments, such as brass horns, drums, flutes, lyres, and so on, ying music while marching.

    The beautiful melody attracted the crowd, with some people asking curiously in Greek, ¡°What''s the name of this piece?¡±

    ¡°It''s called the Victory March!¡± A musician responded loudly.

    So the name of Victory March quickly spread to the crowd, and even the most picky Romans had to admit that Theonia is indeed a great ce and has specially made such beautiful and suitable music for the Triumphant Return!

    Following behind the band was a chariot pulled by two horses, but both horses were of mixed colour (because there weren''t many ck horses in the city of Rome), and on the chariot stood a fully dressed Theonian general.

    But the Romans neither knew him nor apuded.

    Such a deste scene naturally made Amintas not in the mood to smile and wave to the people as usual, and he even began to feel that holding a Triumphant Return in Rome was a mistake, so he kept his face straight.

    Behind him were two hundred soldiers drawn from the First Legion, standing in a neat line and marching at a consistent pace. Their formidable military appearance reminded the Roman plebeians of the difficult battle they had suffered a few days ago, so they silently watched the group of soldiers pass by.

    Then, they were surprised to see another chariot carrying another Theonian general pass by.

    When the soldiers of the Second Legion passed by and another Theonian general in a chariot came, the Romans were puzzled, ¡®Isn''t the highest honour in the Triumphant Return given to the victorious general? But why were there so many generals in chariots at Theonia''s Triumphant Return? Moreover, none of the generals had attendants behind them to hold up the generals''urels while telling the people that they were just mortal! Could this be the most striking difference between Theonia''s Triumphant Return and ours?!¡¯

    Maecilius and the others were all lost in their thoughts.

    Just as one Theonian general riding in chariots after another and leading teams of Theonian soldiers passed by under the silent gaze of the Romans, a sudden cry of surprise erupted from the crowd.

    It turns out that the next general to appear in front of the Romans is someone they are familiar with ¨C Sextus of Lavinium. This young Roman plebeian had actually appeared in the Triumphant Return, moreover, as one of the main characters, so how could this not surprise the Romans?!

    Because every Roman citizen had a dream of participating in the Triumphant Return, but it was just an extravagant hope for the plebeians. On the one hand, they find it difficult even to be an army official, and on the other hand, the Senate won''t approve of holding Triumphant Return for them. But Sextus has now set a precedent. Despite this being a Triumphant Return held by the Kingdom of Theonia, it has also showed them hope and strengthened their trust in the promises made by Davos on the Roman Forum that day.

    Of course, Maecilius and the others have a moreplex feeling about this.

    ¡°Sextus, this traitor! He became a hero of the Theonians by killing his fellow Romans! Aren''t you afraid of Jupiter''s punishment?!¡± cursed a Roman plebeian who had alsoe from Veii.

    However, a nearby plebeian unexpectedly interjected in Sextus'' defence just as he uttered those words, saying, ¡°You ought to express gratitude to Sextus instead! With him leading the army in capturing Veii, he ensured the soldiers adhered to discipline, preventing them from plundering and ughtering within the city. As a result, the casualties remained low, which allowed you to reunite with your loved ones upon your return. Consider this: had Theonians attacked Veii, the oue might have resembled Ostia''s capture, and you would only be crying now!¡±

    Maecilius had to acknowledge this, but he still retorted, ¡°Has Sextus ever served as a consul or military tribune?! Has he evermanded an army of more than five thousand men to a great victory?! Has he ever received the cheering of the whole army for victory?! So what right does Sextus have to ride in a chariot in a Triumphant Return!¡±

    ¡°Your words are funny! Look carefully, my friend. This is the Triumphant Return of the Kingdom of Theonia, not of Rome, so why should they perform it ording to the Roman way?! Sextus is the hero of Lavinium, the hero of us plebeians! He deserves this honour!¡±

    The words of this possible former neighbour of Sextus resonated with many plebeians, and they began speaking out to defend Sextus and the Roman soldiers behind him, even using them of jealousy.

    With many plebeians in the city of Rome, the people from Veii no longer dared to refute them. Instead, Maecilius instinctively hugged his son but then heard his son point to Sextus on the chariot and loudly say, ¡°Dad, I want to see you also stand on a chariot!¡±

    Maecilius felt agitated for a while, and he admitted that he did feel a bit jealous earlier as Sextus had already be the protagonist of a Triumphant Return at such a young age while he, who was almost thirty years old, still had nothing to show for it, so it was inevitable that his emotions be unstable. ¡®I have already joined the Kingdom of Theonia, so things might be different in the future! If Sextus, also a plebeian, can achieve it, then why could I not?!¡¯

    Thinking of these, he squeezed his son''s legs and confidently said, ¡°Son, you will see that day!¡±

    At this moment, countless Roman plebeians made up their minds like Maecilius.

    On this Triumphant Return, a particr sight emerged: While both sides of the road remained silent when the Theonian generals and their troops passed by, constant cheerings surrounded Sextus and the two hundred Roman soldiers as if this Triumphant Return was held primarily for them.

    Despite being much calmer than his peers, Sextus couldn''t help but feel spirited on such asions as he frequently waved to his fellow countrymen on the side of the road.

    As his chariot passed beneath the Arc de Triomphe, his gaze fixed upon the weathered white arch due to the passage of time. He was lost in his thoughts as he worried that all of it might be just a fleeting dream¡­

    Upon entering the Roman Forum, he was engulfed by the resounding cheers of innumerable Roman citizens, waving their arms in excitement and shouting the names of their cherished ones. Even the interaction on and off the field was lively.

    Davos invited not only most of the families of the Romans in the reserve brigade but also personnel from the logistics, engineering and medical camps. He also weed members of various chambers ofmerce who had apanied the Theonian army to Rome, all of whom attended as spectators. This gesture was indeed an honour for them, considering that back in Thurii, many would have found it difficult to gain ess to the Nike Square during a Triumphal Return. As a result, the cheers here weren''t solely for the soldiers of the Roman reserve brigade; the soldiers of the Theonian legions could also bask in the glory of the Triumphant Return, causing smiles to finally grace their faces.

    Of course, for them, the greater honour would be the recognition of King Davos.

    Under the soldiers'' gaze, Davos, standing on the tform of the Roman Senate, smiled and looked at the g bearer of the Theonian military g who came forward. He then jokingly said, ¡°Terentus, you have elevated the standards for selecting the g bearer at the Triumphant Return to a higher level!¡±

    This was Davos'' roundabout way ofplimenting Terentus. Unexpectedly, he didn''t remain humble upon hearing this as he simply said, ¡°Your Majesty, I can do better.¡±

    Davos immediately smiled and said, ¡°Alright! That''s what an excellent soldier from the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade should say!¡± After that, Davos personally put on the Cerberus gold medal for Terentus, then grabbed Terentus'' hand and raised it high while facing the soldiers below.

    The Theonian soldiers cheered loudly while the Romans were also shouting. Their enthusiasm wasn''t because they were just following the crowd; upon seeing this sight, they realised that Theonia''s Triumphant Return wasn''t solely reserved formanding generals because ordinary soldiers like them could also achieve great glory through their efforts, which was different to Rome''s Triumphant Return.

    Davos then bestow the other g bearers with a medal. Then, when it was the turn of Valerius, a Roman soldier, Davos kindly exined the origin of the Cerberus medal to him.

    After listening to the trantion, Valerius couldn''t help but caress the silver medal on his chest. Thisndless Roman plebeian, who was already in his thirties but had not yet married due to poverty, stuttered and asked, ¡°How muchnd can this¡­this thing be worth?¡±

    Davosughed after hearing the trantion. Then he said, ¡°You should save this medal since it is your honour! However, bing a g bearer during the Triumphant Return could at least allow you to receive morend after this war. So by making more achievements, you will only have more and morend in the future!¡±

    Valerius'' eyes brighten up after listening to it.

    While facing the legatus of the First Legion, Davos said in a low voice, ¡°You''ve worked hard!¡±

    Amintas epted the silver sceptre and said, while having mixed emotions, ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty!¡±

    At the start, he defeated the Roman army outside Ostia, securing thending of the army, as well as resisting the fierce attack of the Roman army on Ostia and defeating the Roman joint army upstream of the Tiber River¡­these battles allowed him to be the protagonist of this Triumphant Return. He had heard Davos proposed this during the preparatory meeting for the Triumphant Return, but the group of young staff officers of the Ministry of Military opposed it.

    Amintas knew deep down that they were correct. ording to the Military Law, a strategos could only ride in a quadriga during a Triumphant Return if they had independentlymanded the army and achieved a resounding victory, surpassing other strategoi to earn the highest honours. However, the true leader of this campaign was King Davos, and all the victories he achieved were a result of Davos'' meticulous nning. Thus, a sense of reluctance still lingered in Amintas'' heart.

 Chapter 843: Stolos Frustration

    <h4>Chapter 843: Stolos Frustration</h4>

    Davos expressed his gratitude to each of the legion soldiers who came to the stage. However, when it was Olivos, the legatus of the Fourth Legion''s turn, he nced down at the silver sceptre and noticed its different shape and length from the previous one. So he remarked yfully, ¡°Your Majesty, with the drought cing strain on our treasury, I half expected us to receive no rewards at this Triumphant Return.¡±

    Davos replied solemnly, ¡°Rome has enough treasure here as well as excellent craftsmen. Naturally, if you care so much about the treasury, you can donate your reward to the Ministry of Finance!¡±

    ¡°The Ministry of Finance doesn''t care about such a small piece of silver,¡± Olivos said with a smile while tightly clenching the sceptre.

    Sextus experienced a mix of excitement and nervousness as he stood on the stage alongside the legates and listened to the resounding cheers of both soldiers and the audience below.

    Davos approached him and smilingly said as he handed him the silver sceptre, ¡°Sextus, I would like to express my gratitude for your contribution to the Kingdom of Theonia! I am pleased the kingdom will now have such an excellent citizen as you!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty!¡± Sextus eximed with excitement, expressing his gratitude. He then carefully epted the sceptre and examined it repeatedly, developing a fond attachment to it.

    ¡°I look forward to the day we will hold a Triumphant Return just for you!¡± Davos encourage him.

    Davos'' words, coupled with the scene before him, further bolstered Sextus'' determination. Copying the other legates, he positioned his feet together, received the sceptre in his right hand, and struck his left chest in the traditional Theonian military salute.

    ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Thest one to climb the stage saluted Davos first.

    When Davos saw him, a hint of apology appeared on his face, ¡°Izam, you should''ve received this sceptre long ago!¡±

    Izam, on the other hand, bluntly said, ¡°As long as Your Majesty continues to think of our Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade in the future, it will be enough topensate for any past neglect.¡±

    Davosughed and handed him the sceptre.

    Izam waved his sceptre towards where the soldiers of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade were standing and saw them cheering. He then said to Davos, ¡°This honour belongs to the soldiers of our Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade. However, I think Phryntor is more suitable to sit on the chariot than me.¡±

    Davos calmly reassured, ¡°There is no need for you to be concerned about Phryntor, as I have duly taken note of all his aplishments.¡±

    After the generals and soldiers received cheers from the audience, Davos proceeded towards the front of the stage. Apanying him were ten of the twenty Latin individuals tasked with echoing his words, all of whom were proficient Greek speakers.

    Davos loudly said, ¡°Whether you are soldiers of the Theonian legions or Roman soldiers who have joined Theonia, it is because of your bravery in battles and victories after victories that we are holding today''s Triumphant Return! So I represent the kingdom in expressing our gratitude to you, O valiant citizens of Theonia!¡±

    ¡°Hurrah!!! Hurrah!!! Hurrah!!!¡­¡± The crowds'' continuous cheering filled the Roman Forum.

    ¡°We have travelled a long way to reach Latium and fought a bloody battle, mainly to make this ce like other regions in Theonia where every citizen can ownnd, have equal rights, and lead a better life with their family! To reach this goal, we made great sacrifices. However, this war is far from over, and we will have to make more sacrifices in the future! Citizens of Theonia, are you afraid?! Are you going to retreat?!¡±

    ¡°Never!!! Never!!! Never!!!¡­¡±

    Davos nodded and shouted emotionally, ¡°As long as we work together, we will never fear any challenges, and we will crush any enemy! We will surely make Rome as peaceful and wealthy as Southern Italia! At that time, your achievements will be engraved on stone monuments and written in history books for people to admire! And the kingdom will also award you with the richest rewards!¡±

    Finally, Davos shouted, ¡°All hail to the warriors of Theonia!¡±

    The excited soldiers immediately responded with continuous cheers, and even many Roman plebeian soldiers shouted, ¡°All hail, the kingdom of Theonia!!!¡­¡±

    ¡°All Hail His Majesty King Davos!!!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As the cheers resonated through the city of Rome, a shadow was cast over innumerable noble families. This scene also left Stolo standing by the window with a cane and gazing at the Roman Forum, looking grave.

    At this moment, his wife, Konya, came over and hugged him tightly.

    Feeling her body trembling, Stolo knew that his wife was afraid: These past few days, she was worried that Stolo would be like the other Roman noblemen and be taken onto a ship by the Theonian soldiers and escorted to a strange ce, leaving her alone in this city full of hostility¡­

    It wasn''t just his wife who believed so; even he himself thought that a Theonian soldier might apprehend him and transfer him elsewhere. After all, the Theonians began arresting the rebels one after another following the temple assassination incident. Being one of the nners, he presumed he would face a simr fate. Despite soldiers frequently patrolling near his location, no one had broken into his house.

    As Stolo grew more cautious and refrained from interacting with others, he found himself continuously contemting the reasons behind this situation.

    Of course, he wouldn''t know it was Davos'' considerable interest and respect for him as one of the renowned historical figures.

    Instead, he believed the Theonians must have known his particr background and were waiting for him to voluntarily surrender like the other Roman plebeians.

    But he will not give in because his father-inw is still defending Mons Capitolinus while his father is outside of Rome fighting. If he surrenders, what will happen to his rtives?!

    ¡°Stolo, there were rumours in the city that they had¡­defeated our army. Is this true?!¡± Konya asked in a trembling voice.

    Stolo returned to his senses and immediatelyforted her, ¡°Our army has seventy thousand soldiers, much more than the Theonian army! And with Dictator Camillus leading it, there wouldn''t be too much of an effect on the entire army, even if they lose one or two battles! So that is nothing more than a rumour to shake our confidence and make us surrender¡­¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡± Konya remained worried, ¡°The rumours about their upation of Veii and Caisra should be true since I saw several people from Veii pass by our door in the past two days.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing for us to worry about even if the Theonians had really upied Veii and Caisra.¡± Stolo continued tofort his wife, ¡°The Celts had upied even more towns back then, but didn''t we repel them in the end?! As long as our army and Lord Camillus are still here, we can¡­definitely expel the Theonians!¡±

    After saying that, Stolo quickly changed the topic and said, ¡°What will we have for lunch today? I am a bit hungry.¡±

    ¡°Since those damn Theonians looted our granary and cer, what else is there to eat?! Every day, we only receive a little flour and a few dry fruits, which they distribute ording to the number of people¡­¡± Konya spoke loudly, expressing her resentment towards the Theonians.

    ¡°Ah, those Theonians brought some river fish early this morning, finally providing us with some meat. However, the river fish have a strong smell and needs proper cooking. So I need to go to the kitchen and instruct the servants¡­¡± Konya said and hurriedly walked out of the room.

    After his wife left, Stolo''s expression turned grave again as he gazed out the window.

    With the end of the Triumphant Return, the Romans began to disperse from the Roman Forum and return to their new homes in groups. Collis Caelius is where most Roman plebeians have resettled, so when they started fiercely discussing the Triumphant Return they have just watched, their voice was so loud that even Stolo, who lives on the hillside, could hear it clearly. Whether it''s about the debate about the differences between the two Triumphant Returns, their vexation of Sextus and Valerius bing one of the main characters of the Triumphant Return, or discussing the speech of the King of Theonia¡­Stolo could tell the excitement from their words.

    In contrast to the Theonians'' upation of Rome and the defeat of the Roman army, he was most worried about the Roman plebeians identifying themselves with the Kingdom of Theonia.

    ¡°To make Rome a fair, wealthy and peaceful city?!¡­¡± Stolo muttered these words as those were the goals he had set himself as an adult, and he knew how hard it was to achieve them. Yet, now the enemies of Rome were using these to win over the Roman plebeians in a way that the barbaric Celts could never have imagined! ¡®O esteemed senators, do you know the things you have been trying to prevent are now bing a sharp weapon to stab you in your chest?!¡¯

    Stolo gazed at the outline of Mons Capitolinus in the far southeast direction and then punched the windowsill in frustration.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Meanwhile, the Roman senators, like Stolo, are looking at the Roman Forum from Mons Capitolinus. Since Mons Capitolinus was the highest ce in the city and not too far from the Roman Forum, they had a much clearer view and could even faintly see the priests, statues, bands, generals in chariots, soldiers marching in a column¡­

    Although they couldn''t hear anything, the Roman senators who knew more about the Kingdom of Theonia understood what the Theonians were doing: They were holding a Triumphant Return in Rome!

    But what made them even more furious was that among the soldiers participating in the Triumphant Return were a general in Roman armour and quite a few Roman soldiers. Furthermore, they could also hear cheering mixed with Latin, so before the ceremony on the Roman Forum could conclude, many senators had silently left the cliff top.

    The only stroke of fortune for the senatorsy in the fact that they had already dispatched soldiers to seal off the area where the Roman Forum was most prominently visible, preventing anyone from entering.

 Chapter 844: The Commotion on Mons Capitolinus

    <h4>Chapter 844: The Commotion on Mons Capitolinus</h4>

    Why had they done that? The reason is simple: When the senators and nobles led the Romans to retreat to Mons Capitolinus, although the Theonian army only sealed it off and did not attack it, they would often send people to shout at the hill, such as ¡®We had repelled your army that had gone to Hernici and returned to attack Rome¡­ We had captured Caisra and Veii¡­ We had defeated the Roman army led by Camillus in Ostia¡­¡¯

    At first, it was just a handful of Latins shouting, butter on, a surprising number of the families of the Roman plebeians joined and would add something else to their shouting. For example, ¡°We are now living in yourfortable houses¡­we now own thend that was yours¡­¡±

    Despite the senators repeatedly refuting it, saying, ¡°These are all the Theonian''s lie meant to deceive you and sow discord among us!¡­¡±

    But as they listen to the shout from below the hill and see many, many people in Roman plebeian attire talking to the ck-helmeted, ck-armoured Theonian soldiers in the Roman Forum in a seemingly cordial conversation during the day, and then one by one left holdingrge bags of things(they were the Roman citizens who applied for Theonian citizenship and going to the Roman Forum every day to receive rations), had inevitably made them feel suspicious. With the addition of their predicament on the hill, some chaos urred.

    So, the senators finally ordered the blockade of this cliff that had a clear view of the Roman Forum.

    In the dimly lit rear hall of the Temple of Jupiter, hundreds of Roman senators who had just watched the Triumphant Return from the clifftop sat with a sombre expression, which created a somewhat heavy atmosphere.

    ¡°Cough! Cough!¡­¡± In the silent hall, Potitus'' coughing became particrly clear as it attracted everyone''s attention to him. However, he only coughed because of his weak body and did not have the desire to be the first to speak.

    It was only after some time had passed that Ambustus, the temporary leader in Mons Capitolinus appointed by the Senate, broke the silence, ¡°Esteemed senators, I would like to remind you that although the people couldn''t see the situation on the Roman Forum today, they still could hear the shouting. I believe this will cause them great distress again, so I would like you to return to your families and followers and have them mind their business! Scipio, you must also remain vignt and have the soldiers maintain order!¡±

    ¡°You can rest assured, as I have already sent more soldiers,¡± replied the older Scipio.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Apuleius shouted suddenly. Then, after seeing everyone stare at him, he stood up and said loudly, ¡±Almost ten days had passed since we hid here up on the hill! Could the Theonians have really defeated Camillus'' army as they imed?!¡±

    Many senators shivered unconsciously upon hearing that, which was the issue they were most afraid of hearing.

    ¡°Cough¡­with more than seventy thousand soldiers outside the city and Camillus as itsmander, and with many Latin allies and our colonies supporting them, how could they possibly suffer a disastrous defeat!¡± Potitus tried to reassure everyone.

    Maluginensis had warned Apuleius since hiding on the hill to unite against the enemy, ¡°Don''t cause unnecessary panic by attacking the dictator indiscriminately in a time of crisis,¡± but the prolonged stress caused Apuleius to finally burst again, ¡°Where are Camillus and his army then if they hadn''t lost?! Or have they run away?!¡±

    Maluginensis immediately shouted, ¡°Stop talking nonsense! Don''t believe the rumours the enemy spouted about them defeating our army! On the contrary, this rumour revealed that Camillus might have led his army to attack Ostia!¡±

    The senators with rich war experience, such as Potitus, Maluginensis and the older Scipio, had made reasonable spections about why Camillus hadn''t attacked Rome even after such a long time had passed, and many senators had epted this exnation.

    But Apuleius insisted, ¡°Why did he attack Ostia instead of Rome?! Could it be that Camillus got confused and thought we were hiding in the small city of Ostia?!¡±

    ¡°With Rome¡¯s tall and thick walls and was heavily guarded, it isn''t as easy to attack as Ostia. Camillus reason for attacking Ostia is to either consume the Theonian soldiers, block them ind, force them to leave the city for a decisive battle or negotiate a truce¡­ Apuleius, I exined these to you yesterday, so don''t let me repeat it!¡± Maluginensis gazed sharply at Apuleius; the man he had supported suddenly became somewhat disobedient, which made him furious.

    Apuleius finally stopped speaking.

    But someone suddenly raised his doubts, ¡°Camillus might be correct in his strategy of attacking Ostia, but we have all heard what the enemy has said about them taking Veii and Caisra. Yesterday, they also said that Sutrium and Cosa have also surrendered to them, and even our allies, the Etruscans, have allied with them¡­ If all of those are true, I am afraid it would be useless even if we recaptured Ostia.¡±

    These statements immediately aroused discussion among the senators.

    Maluginensis saw that the one speaking was Lucretius. Despite resenting this elder for bringing out a subject everyone was worried about so openly and making him question Lucretius¡¯ sanity, he still had scruples, considering the elder''s many decades of experience in the Senate. Thus, he responded perfunctorily, ¡°I had already told you all of it are lies told by the enemy, so there is no need to believe it!¡±

    ¡°Why don''t we send someone to investigate? Just like what Pantheus had done back then! We and everyone else would be much more reassured if we could confirm that all of those are the enemy¡¯s lies.¡±

    Maluginensis finally couldn''t hold himself from angrily saying, ¡°Lucretius, the only thing you do besides praying for Jupiter is to sleep. Have you ever attended any meetings or participated in any affairs seriously?! Scipio, tell him the measures we have taken!¡±

    ¡°Until now, we had sent five soldiers to sneak down the hill and inquire about the situation. However, they still haven''t returned.¡± Scipio continued with seriousness, ¡°The Celts had a loose discipline when they upied Rome and didn''t blockade Mons Capitolinus tightly, whereas the Theonians¡­you can see by looking at the camps they have built at the bottom of the hill that it is very difficult to sneak through.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, Camillus will do everything in his power as the dictator of Rome to repel the Theonians, just as he did when he defeated the Celts!¡± Ambustus interjected to prevent Lucretius from being embarrassed too much and starting a verbal fight, ¡°Let''s concern ourselves with the critical issues that affect us first! Our food supply is only enough tost us for twenty days, and we would starve if Camillus failed to retake Rome within that time.

    There is also a problem with the drinking water. Despite having a spring on the hillside not far from the Temple of Juno, it isn''t enough for more than five thousand people to drink. Fortunately, the rainy season had just passed and had several rains in the past ten days, allowing the several temples to store a lot of water. However, if it doesn''t rain for five consecutive days, it will be hard for everyone to have enough water to drink¡­

    Furthermore, diseases showed up. Our hurried retreat has left us with insufficient herbs, and the crowded conditions, coupled with inadequate rest, nutrition, and the weight of depression, have led to the onset of illness in some individuals. Unfortunately, their recovery has been hindered due to theck of proper treatment.¡±

    Ambustus'' words made the senators even more anxious.

    ¡°Sigh!¡± Potitus eximed and said, ¡°We only had a few hundred people to retreat here when the Celts invaded, but the number is more than ten times than at that time, so we naturally consume much more supplies¡­¡±

    ¡°Should we expel many of them off Mons Capitolinus?!¡± asked an Elder anxiously.

    His statement naturally caused an uproar in the temple.

    Ambustus said hurriedly, ¡°We don''t need to do that! What I mean is¡­we need to keep a tight rein on our food and water consumption while preventing epidemics so that we could hold on to Mons Capitolinus for much longer until Camilluses with his soldiers to repel the Theonians and take back Rome¡­¡±

    Before the senators could finally begin the meeting, a man stood up in the crowd and said loudly, ¡°Esteemed senators, I am sceptical of Camillus'' ability to retake Rome! You had all seen the Theonians'' Triumphant Return just now, with so many plebeians joining in their celebration; what does that tell us? Those plebeians had betrayed us and supported those Theonian invaders! With the support of those plebeians, the Theonians will have more soldiers to defend Rome, and the army led by Camillus-¡±

    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Maluginensis eximed. He red fiercely at the man who spoke, ¡°Apuleius, are you crazy?!¡±

    Apuleius had begun to speak without regard, ¡°I am not crazy! My mind is clear, as are you all! But you are all running away from reality! When Rome fell, so many people had gotten left inside the city, and we could still see and hear the sound of fighting in the city for the first few days, and even fires and smoke¡­but now! How many days since west heard the sound of fighting? Instead, the Roman Forum became even more and more lively, and I am afraid the Theonians havepletely-¡±

    ¡°Guards! Guards! Take him away and lock him up!¡± Maluginensis roared in a fit of anger.

    The older Scipio hesitated for a moment since this vites the rules of the Senate. However, when he saw several respected senators, such as Potitus, Ambustus and Lucretius, nodding, he immediately called in the guards.

 Chapter 845: Publius Mission

    <h4>Chapter 845: Publius Mission</h4>

    The guards dragged away Apuleius, who kept on struggling and shouting, ¡°Stop deceiving yourself. Rome is finished! And all of that is Camillus'' fault! O Jupiter from above, save Rome! This is all Camillus'' fault¡­¡±

    The temple became silent after Apuleius got dragged away, with some clenching their clothes as fear appeared in their eyes while some looked down at the ground to hide their somewhat reddened eyes¡­

    Potitus and Maluginensis exchanged nces and felt a sense of powerlessness. Nevertheless, they suppressed their negative emotion and muttered, ¡°Ambustus, continue with what you were saying.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the Triumphant Return, Davos prepared to hold a war council to discuss the subsequent military action. But before the meeting, he went to meet someone first.

    ¡°Sit down, Publius.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡± Publius spoke with respect.

    Unlike those senators on Mons Capitolinus, Publius witnessed the surrender of the plebeians in Rome and the flight of many plebeian soldiers. He also learnt from the mouths of the people from Veii who hade to Rome, as well as the envoy of the Etruscan city-states, that the Theonians had indeed captured Veii and Caisra, with several Etruscan city-states allying with Theonia. Furthermore, the subsequent surrender of Sutrium and Cosa¡­and the eventual disbandment of the Roman army that had fought in Ostia.

    As the head of arge Roman house, he had keenly sensed the Theonian had now established a firm foothold in the Latium region, making it difficult for Camillus to retake Rome.

    Despite this somewhat frustrating him, it was actually good news for the Manlia house, which had already been forced to join Theonia.

    So, under the gaze of Davos, Publius sat in a posture showing his deference and submission.

    Davos smiled slightly as he more or less grasped Publius'' thoughts. Finally, he said, ¡°I heard from the praetor of Rome, Asistes, that you have been actively assisting the City Hall during this period, resulting in Theonia''s governance of Rome to be more targeted, efficient and much smoother.¡±

    ¡°Lord Asistes praised me too much. It''s just that I made some suggestions since I know Rome better,¡± said Publius modestly.

    Davos looked at him and said bluntly, ¡°With you being the head of the Manlia house and a senator of Rome, I think you are far superior to Valerius in terms of your knowledge of this region and ability to handle political matters. Yet, he is now the vice praetor of Rome while you have been left idle. Do you feel dissatisfied?¡±

    Publius'' mind jolted, making him quickly say, ¡°Your Majesty, my family and I are just your prisoners. We are already grateful for your forgiveness, so how dare we hope for more?!¡±

    ¡°Since you have already joined the Kingdom of Theonia and are in the process of bing a citizen, I believe you have already learned about Theonia''s government with your shrewdness.¡± Davos tapped on the table and looked at him, ¡°The Senate of Theonia gathers the elites from various cities and races within Theonia. Their job includes assisting me in creatingws and decisions for the kingdom, serving as the highest administrator of a city or even a region, and independently managing tens of thousands or even more than a hundred thousand people. While giving their all to the kingdom, they would also do their best to safeguard the rights and interests of the regions and races theye from. Naturally, integrating arge city like Rome into the kingdom would require elites to join the Senate to represent the Romans for their rights¡­¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty¡­¡± Publius felt touched since he knew the reason Davos said this to him was definitely due to his expectations. Thus, he boldly asked, ¡°How can we be a statesman of Theonia?¡±

    ¡°First of most, you must let go of your mentality as a Roman noble, and then you would need to do your best to serve themoners in the city and win their recognition no matter what position you hold¡­I believe this would be easy for you to achieve with the foundationid by Marcus.¡± Davos then continued earnestly, ¡°Secondly, you need to contribute enough to the kingdom and gain the recognition of the Theonian statesmen so that when you receive a rmendation, you at least won''t encounter opposition from the majority of the statesmen.¡±

    After hearing that, Publius quickly took the initiative to say, ¡°Your Majesty, please don''t hesitate to give me any orders. I''ll put forth my utmost effort to aplish whatever task you assign me!¡±

    ¡®He is indeed a smart man!¡¯ Davos faced the other person''s keen gaze and said, ¡°I have an important task for you to aplish. While the situation in our north is now secure thanks to our alliance with the Etruscan city-state and the clearing of Rome¡¯s northern colonies, Camillus stillmands a substantial number of soldiers along with the support of their Latin allies. However, I don''t n to engage them in directbat for the time being.

    So, while the Roman army recuperated in Satricum to the southwest, I needed an envoy to go to the various Latin city-states to the south. He would need to persuade them to break away from the Latin alliance, sever ties with Rome while allying with the kingdom, thereby further weakening the strength of the remnant Roman army¡­¡±

    It''s not that Davos hadn''t sent an envoy before; it''s just that the previous attempt didn''t yield favourable results. The Latin city-states were much like the Etruscan city-states and were naturally sceptical of outsiders like Theonia. This is why Davos decided to seek out Publius.

    With Rome maintaining its powerful position in the Latium region over the years and receiving the admiration of numerous Latin city-states, many high officials from the Latin city-states frequently interacted with the great house of Rome, and there were even instances of them bing rtives with each other.

    Publius thought for a while and asked, ¡°What are the negotiation conditions?¡±

    ¡®It seems it''s possible!¡¯ Davos pretended to think and only answered after some time passed, ¡°We can use our alliance treaty with the Etruscan city-states as a model. Heni, show Publius the contents of the alliance agreement.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡± Henipolis immediately responded.

    ¡°Your Majesty, I am willing to travel to the Latin city-states to the south.¡± Publius no longer hesitated.

    ¡°Very well!¡± Davos smiled, ¡°I believe the negotiations with the Latin city-states would go much smoother with you as the envoy. You can set off tomorrow, and you can tell Henipolis if there''s anything you need to prepare before your mission, and he will help you solve it.¡±

    Henipolis immediately nodded to Publius.

    Publius also threw a friendly smile at Henipolis.

    ¡°There''s another thing,¡± Davos continued, ¡°Upon our initial entry into Rome, some of the remaining Roman nobility took refuge on Mons Capitolinus. We refrained from attacking at that time because we were upied with stabilising the city''s order and taking care of the mood of the city''s inhabitants. (In truth, Davos had intentionally left the Romans on Mons Capitolinus to entice Camillus'' army into attacking Rome. Unfortunately, he did not seed in deceiving Camillus. However, the breaking up of the Roman army and the remnants retreating to Satricum for recovery shows they no longer posed an immediate threat to Rome.)

    Now that we have stabilised Rome, capturing Mons Capitolinus will liberate our troops and allow us to manage the city better. But to tell you the truth, it wasn''t because our troops could not attack them. On the contrary, with the dense poption on Mons Capitolinus, I would only need to order the soldiers to use the ballistae to bombard it with burning tar to cause countless casualties¡­¡±

    Davos said that in a t tone, which caused Publius'' hair to stand on end. He had seen the terrifying sight of the ballistae attacking the city''s west end and had no doubt about its power, so now hesitates whether to dissuade Davos.

    But he then heard Davos sigh and say in apassionate tone, ¡°However, I have heard there are many women and children on the hill, and there are also several temples¡­Therefore, I consider that ast resort. So, I will send a messenger up there first to persuade them to surrender.¡±

    After saying that, Davos fixed his gaze on Publius.

    Publius hesitated momentarily before asking daringly, ¡°Your Majesty, if they were to surrender¡­what would you do to them?¡±

    Davos understood his worries. After all, they would mainly ce the captured Roman nobles in prison and either take them away from Rome or turn them into ves¡­if he were to follow this approach, the Romans on the hill would never surrender as most of them were Roman senators and nobles.

    Davos smiled, tapped his finger on his armchair and said, ¡°I can assure you that if they are willing to surrender and be Theonian citizens, despite getting transferred away from Rome, they will not be downgraded to very. However, while they will be scattered and ced in other territories in Theonia, they would enjoy the same rights as other citizens in the kingdom.¡±

    Despite pondering deeply, Publius still hesitated.

    Suddenly, Davos added, ¡°Consider this: Should you be a statesman of Theonia, your immediate family would be granted the right to remain in Rome. Moreover, your house could be the sole noble house left in this city!¡±

    Publius became more interested and said, ¡°Your Majesty¡­can you allow me to persuade them to surrender after my mission to the Latin city-state?¡±

    Publius had his reasons for requesting that, as he knew that those senators and nobles on Mons Capitolinus were the most stubborn group with the strongest resistance and would never surrender so easily. So, having them stuck on the hill for a few more days might reduce the difficulty in persuading them.

    ¡°Certainly,¡± Davos agreed. He then cheerfully said, ¡°I feel a lot of relief with you taking on these two crucial things! Next, let''s talk casually. Since you were a Roman senator and grew up here, can you tell me in detail about your thoughts on the city-states and forces around Rome?¡±

 Chapter 846: Attacking East

    <h4>Chapter 846: Attacking East</h4>

    After summoning Publius, Davos held a war council. After consulting with his generals, they decided on a strategy for attacking the Latium region: first attacking the east and then to the west while engaging in negotiations.

    The city of Fidenae, located on the upper reaches of the Tiber River, was only about eight kilometres away from Rome. However, it was a small town founded by the Etruscans and spans both banks of the Tiber River. But during the gradual rise of Rome, it became the main bridge for the Etruscans to enter the southern bank of the Tiber River, especially since the city of Veii is very close to Fidenae and has repeatedly invaded Rome through it.

    For this reason, over several decades, the Romans and Veii engaged in repeated battles for control of this small town. Eventually, the Romans established Fidenae as their colony and transformed it into a forward base for attacking Veii. As a result, Veii was pushed onto the defensive and eventually fell under Roman upation.

    After Fidenae became a colony of Rome, most of its fertilend along the river was transferred to Rome due to its close proximity to the city, resulting in a smaller poption than before.

    So when the Theonians captured Rome, the Romans living in Fidenae became frightened. But because there was no movement in Rome for several days and the army led by Camillus came back, most of the people in Fidenae felt relieved. However, they started panicking again when the Roman army began to head westward and then the sudden fall of Veii.

    Then they finally breathed a sigh of relief again a few dayster when the Etruscan-Roman mixed army arrived, including the return of conscripted Fidenae citizens. However, this sense of security was shattered when the mixed army attempting to cross the river suffered a devastating defeat. From atop the city wall, they watched in horror as hordes of Theonian cavalry chased and killed the fleeing Roman soldiers. Many surrendered on their knees, while some jumped directly into the Tiber River, disappearing into the river''s water in the blink of an eye.

    Despite the fact that the victorious Theonian army didn''t take advantage of the situation to attack Fidenae and peace returning to the surrounding areas, the people of Fidenae became frightened on that tragic day and no longer considered themselves safe. As a result, many strongly moured to flee from this dangerous ce and head to their Latin allies in the south or the west to Camillus.

    However, it was difficult to leave one''s hometown, leading to an argument in the whole city thatsted for several days without a resolution.

    In the early morning of that day, a sleepy lookout from Fidenae climbed the city wall and was instantly stunned by the scene: In the distance, a cloud of dirt and dust swirled as a throng of people rushed towards Fidenae¡­

    ¡°The enemy ising!! The Theonians areing!!!¡­¡± The city''s bell rang out, causing panic among the people.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Early morning after the war council, Davos sent arge army to attack Fidenae.

    With the bulk of the Third Legion and the Roman Reserve marching east along the north bank of the Tiber, the Second, Sixth, four brigades of the Lucanian Reserve Legion, the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade, the First Cavalry Legion, and five hundred men from the engineering camp, totalling more than thirty thousand men, attacked the city of Fidenae from the north and south simultaneously.

    Davos dispatched such arge army to a small city with less than a thousand defenders to swiftly defeat the enemy so that they could instil fear in the Latin city-states, creating a more advantageous situation for them.

    Since Davos needed to stabilise the order within the city of Rome, he didn''t personally lead his troops as he did previously. However, he appointed a temporarymander whom the strategoi didn''t expect ¨C Phryntor, a staff officer of the Ministry of Military.

    When Davos announced the candidate, the First and Third Legion didn''t react as they had a good rtionship with Phryntor, so only the legatus of the Second Legion, Matonis, objected, ¡°Phryntor has never personallymanded a war and has no experience as amander¡­¡±

    But under Davos'' insistence, Matonis could only reluctantly ept as he was ustomed to obeying Davos'' orders.

    With thirty thousand soldiers attacking a small city with less than a thousand defenders in a t location, capturing the city should be an easy task.

    But that wasn''t the case. After all, Fidenae was a strategic location contended between Rome and Veii for decades, resulting in Fidenae evolving into a small military fortress with high, thick walls and a moat, making it easier to defend but hard to attack. Furthermore, the n Theonia adopted was for the army to seize the city as soon as possible instead of engaging in a prolonged stalemate.

    In return for the King''s trust and to prove himself, Phryntor decided to adopt a tactic simr to the one used by His Majesty Davos to capture the city of Ostia. Thus, after studying the situation of Fidenae and its surrounding terrain, he ordered the engineering camp to modify several pack wagons to carry five boats bynd. Then, numerous pack animals andbourers pulled it while avoiding the defenders. Finally, they arrived at the upper bank of the Tiber River after bypassing the city of Fidenae¡­

    Meanwhile, Phryntor also asked for the people of Fidenae''s surrender. However, the Fidenaeans neither agreed nor opposed and only said they would need to consider it.

    But how could Phryntor allow them to dy for time? Thus, he immediately issued the order to attack the city.

    With amand, the Theonian army began their assault on Fidenae from the south and north.

    While the Fidenaean defenders did their best to resist the Theonian soldiers, more than two hundred fully armed Mountain Reconnaissance soldiers rowed the five boats and rushed down from upstream. Then, while passing through the city of Fidenae, they luckily managed to stop just in time before crashing into the pontoon bridge that spans across the river.

    Since the water on the upper reaches of the Tiber east of Fidenae were too fast to swim across and difficult to steer a raft, plus the towns along river furthest of Fidenae were all Sabines except Crustumerium, which was a Roman colony, this mountain race had never seen the sea so they could not build boats and most of their people couldn''t even swim, thus the people of Fidenae never encountered an enemy attack from the upper Tiber. Hence, they were utterly unprepared as they never thought the Theonians would have the whimsical idea of transporting boats ovend to the upper Tiber.

    When the soldiers of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade climbed onto the pontoon bridge and began attacking the southern part of Fidenae, the panicking people of Fidenae hurriedly squeezed out less than a hundred soldiers and had them rushed to the bridge to intercept the enemy.

    But by the time they arrived, several enemy soldiers had already reached thend on the southern part of the city and immediately attacked the rushing Fidenaean soldiers, who were attempting to go into formation.

    And in a dogfight, how could the Fidenaean soldiers be the opponent of the soldiers of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade who had undergone years of arduous training? So they were defeated not long after, and the enemy conquered the city''s southern area.

    Soon, the city¡¯s upper area also surrendered after getting surrounded.

    It was only in the afternoon when the Theonian army upied Fidenae, and from the start to the end, itsted for less than four hours, resulting in the strategoi and soldiers finally recognising Phryntor''s ability tomand.

    With the Theonians upying Rome and now taking control of the upper reaches of the Tiber River, they had finally cut off the connection between the Romans and the north bank of the Tiber River.

    After a whole day at Fidenae, the Theonian army advanced eastward the next day to attack Crustumerium, thest Roman colony in the east.

    Crustumerium was originally a town built by the Sabines, but itsplex rtionship with Rome began soon after it was founded.

    There was a story that after Romulus founded Rome, he encountered massive trouble as most of his followers were single men. Thus, to solve their marriage problems and allow these energetic men to settle in Rome peacefully, Romulus came up with a solution and dered to the public: He would hold a celebration of Nepture and invite the neighbouring powers toe and participate.

    Believing this was true, the Sabines brought their wives and daughters to Rome, but Romulus and his followers took away all the Sabine women.

    Half a yearter, after losing their loved ones, the Sabines gathered their troops and attacked Rome. But just as the two sides were about to start the decisive battle, the Sabine women, who had already be the wives of the Romans, appeared and pleaded on their knees for a truce. Under the magic of family affection, the two sides reached a reconciliation, with Romulus even inviting these Sabine tribes to migrate to Rome, resulting in the two sides bing one.

    And the town where these Sabine tribes resided is Crustumerium.

    Whether the legend heard from the Romans point is true or not, it is a fact that Crustumerium became a colony of Rome during the Roman kingdom. The Roman king then called upon many Latins to migrate to this town, but it joined the Latin city-state several decadester in the war against Rome. After it lost, it became a Roman colony again and soon became the frontier base for the Romans to resist the Sabines'' invasion, allowing the Romans to defeat the Sabines several times.

    Less than five kilometres away from Fidenae, Crustumerium is built atop a hill near the Tiber River, overlooking the narrow strip of riverside nd that has been shaped by the mixed sediments of the Tiber''s water.

    Phryntor arrived in the city of Crustumerium with the Theonian army. However, they didn''t immediately attack because Publius, who cameter, said he was confident in convincing the people of Crustumerium to surrender.

    And just like he said, the people of Crustumerium opened the city gate less than two hours after Publius entered the city.

    The city of Crustumerium, adjacent to the Sabines, could barely defend itself against the Sabines without the support of Rome. So when the citizens they sent out to join the Roman army returned and told them about the copse of the Roman army, extreme unease spread in the city. Furthermore, they became even more frightened when the Theonians captured their neighbour, Fidenae, in less than a day. Then, just as they got surrounded by two major forces and isted, Publius, a former Roman senator they are familiar with, showed up and persuaded them to surrender.

 Chapter 847: Sisters

    <h4>Chapter 847: Sisters</h4>

    Davos quickly signed an alliance treaty with Crustuerium through Publius. After the Theonian army conquered the east of Rome with lightning speed, they started to target the Latin city-states to the south.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Mydy, you look so beautiful in this set of¡­ undergarments! So much so that even Aphrodite would envy you!¡± Agnes'' close female ve kept on praising.

    ¡°Stop speaking nonsense. How can Ipare to Aphrodite!¡± Despite saying that, Agnes'' tone wasn''t harsh. She then turned around and asked softly, ¡°Is it really beautiful?¡±

    ¡°It was known that Aphrodite''s girdle is full of temptation, but I think this set of undergarments, coupled with your beautiful figure, made you so attracted that even I, as a woman, can''t help but be attracted, and even¡­envious. If His Majesty Davos saw it, he would definitely be deeply fascinated by you, mydy!¡± The ve girl eximed with a face of infatuation.

    Agnes remained silent, her gaze fixed on the tall bronze mirror beside her. One hand touched the white undergarment on her chest while the other struck a graceful pose. At forty years old, the relentless march of time became evident in her skin as it began to sag a little. However, the set of clothes sent by Cheiristoya, which she referred to as ¡®undergarments,'' not only offered herfort but also entuated her slender figure, just like when she was young. They added a mysterious sense of beauty that made her look in the mirror and captivated by her own reflection.

    Some time passed before she dressed up again, went downstairs with the ve and came to the hall.

    Cheiristoya, who was sitting in the hall discussing matters with Ribaso, immediately ordered everyone else to withdraw after seeing her.

    When only two of them were left in the hall, Cheiristoya asked with a hint of urgency in her tone, ¡°Are you wearing it, sister Agnes? How do you feel?!¡±

    ¡°Very¡­very good! I really like it!¡± Agnes replied shily.

    ¡°Since you think it is good, then the women of Theonia would think it is even better!¡± Cheiristoya pped her hands excitedly, ¡°Tomorrow, I''ll have Ribaso send ves to build a clothing workshop and then purchase more than ten female ves who know tailoring to start making these undergarments. Then we would first present them to the wives of the statesmen so that they can help us spread words of it¡­¡±

    Cheiristoya spoke excitedly, but Agnes, who was less interested in these matters, suddenly asked, ¡°Sister, didn''t you say that it was His Majesty who designed this undergarment?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I had wanted His Majesty to give me some ideas topensate for the losses caused by the bank''s effort to help the people ovee the droughtst year, but who knew he would give me such an idea!¡± A smile appeared on Cheiristoya''s face. Then, upon remembering something, her expression became serious again as she said, ¡°He is usually busy with politics, but who knew he would pay so much attention to¡­our!¡±

    Cheiristoya gritted her teeth saying that, then grasped Agnes'' hand and said intimately, ¡°Sister, you and I need to keep a close eye on His Majesty and never let him go outside to cheat!¡±

    ¡°Perhaps¡­perhaps it was Hades who gave His Majesty this inspiration¡­¡± Agnes murmured in Davos'' defence.

    ¡°Hades isn''t a god who likes this kind of thing¡­¡± Cheiristoya also murmured. She then said earnestly, ¡°Sister, we are getting old and need to learn to dress better so that His Majesty''s gaze would remain on us!¡±

    Agnes gently nodded and squeezed Cheiristoya''s hand. Two women of simr age and different hobbies had lived together for almost twenty years and had established a closer rtionship than real sisters.

    ¡°Sister, you shouldn''t wear white outfits too frequently, as it might bore His Majesty to see you in them all the time. Therefore, I''ll arrange to send you a variety of coloured and patterned undergarments within the next few days¡­¡± suggested Cheiristoya.

    ¡°Un¡­¡± Agnes responded with a hint of shyness.

    ¡°Mother, we''re back!¡± Suddenly, a clear shout came from outside the door, followed by two pretty girls, one tall and one small, entering the hall.

    ¡°Mother Agnes is also here!¡± The tall girl immediately said loudly.

    The small girl bowed and greeted respectfully, ¡°Mother! Mother Cheiristoya!¡±

    ¡°Eunice, haven''t you learned how to greet your elders?!¡± Cheiristoya sat upright and said with a stern expression.

    ¡°I know¡­¡± Eunice pursed her lips and reluctantly bowed to her two mothers, then red at Aviya, who was chuckling, to show her dissatisfaction.

    ¡°Why had youe back so early today?!¡± Cheiristoya asked.

    ¡°Uh¡­I had a dancing ss scheduled for this afternoon. However, due to my period, the teacher allowed me to go home. Since I found going home alone quite lonely, I helped Aviya take an early leave,¡± said Eunice boldly.

    ¡°Not only was it enough for you to bezy alone, you even involved your younger sister!¡± Cheiristoya''s expression darkened.

    ¡°I¡­I am also feeling a bit unwell, so sister just-¡± Aviya stuttered as she was about to help defend Eunice, but Eunice patted her and said, ¡°Don''t talk.¡±

    Cheiristoya rolled her eyes, but Agnes beside her hurriedly said, ¡°You should go rest since you are feeling unwell.¡±

    The two girls'' faces brightened joyfully, and then they looked at Cheiristoya again.

    Cheiristoya''s expression remained gloomy, ¡°I''ll forgive you both this time, but you will be punished the next time you try to leave so early!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± The two responded simultaneously and smiled at each other after turning around and walking out the door with brisk steps.

    As they were leaving, Eunice turned her head and asked, ¡°Mom, is there any news about father and brother today?¡±

    ¡°Yes! A messenger brought a letter from your father this morning, which said that the Roman army had disbanded, and your brother and brother Adoris had safely returned to Rome and are preparing to participate in the Triumphant Return they would hold in Rome¡­¡± said Cheiristoya.

    ¡°Triumphant Return in Rome?!¡± Eunice shouted softly and then said with regret, ¡°I really want to go see it!¡±

    ¡°When will father and brother return?¡± Aviya interjected.

    ¡°Child, this¡­it wasn''t mentioned in the letter.¡± Cheiristoya then smiled as she said, ¡°However, the day of the final victory shouldn''t be that far with our army already upying Rome and defeating the enemy¡¯s army, so your father and others will return by that time!¡±

    Aviya smiled upon hearing that.

    ¡°Aviya, we need to go to our room and rest,¡± Eunice winked at her.

    The two girls left the hall while vaguely whispering, ¡°We willter release Brintes'' dog and get my horse while you grab your kitten, and then we''ll y outside.¡±

    ¡°Brother Brintes will get mad once he finds out!¡±

    ¡°He won''t dare as long as I am here!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Cheiristoya could only let out a sigh.

    Seeing that, Agnes quickly said, ¡°Sister, you shouldn''t be too strict with the children and give them time to rx asionally.¡±

    ¡°I am not worried about that,¡± Cheiristoya shook her head. Then, after looking out the door, she said, ¡°In a few months, Eunice will be fourteen years old. Despite nearing adulthood, she still ys around like this¡­¡±

    ¡°Eunice is still two years away from bing an adult. Therefore, there''s no need to worry too much, sister. Additionally, I believe Eunice having a strong personality is a good thing as she won''t be bullied in the future. On the contrary, I am much more worried about Aviya,¡± Agnesforted Cheiristoya.

    In most Greek city-states, a woman could marry at the age of fourteen. However, in the kingdom of Theonia, due to the strong request of King Davos and with the support of medical authorities like Herpus, the Senate passed aw stating that a woman could not marry until she reached the age of sixteen. (Davos initially wanted to set the marriage age as eighteen, but the average age of Greeks wasn''t high in this era because of the harsh environment and primitive medical science. Moreover, women tended to mature early, so if they were to wait until eighteen to get married, the cost of raising them would increase. Finally, he could onlypromise since it wouldn''t be favourable to the growth of the Theonian poption.)

    ¡°Who would even dare bully our children?!¡± Cheiristoya knitted her eyebrows. She then looked at Agnes and muttered, ¡°Andrea came over this morning and talked about her eldest son, Umateseus. Then, either intentionally or not, she even asked about Eunice¡­¡±

    ¡°Is she trying to arrange a marriage for her son?!¡± Agnes was surprised. Although she rarely interacts with others, she grew up in a wealthy family in Rhegium and had some understanding of these things.

    ¡°In other Greek city-states, Eunice would already be of marriageable age, so Andrea is trying to inform me in advance. However, I pretended not to notice and didn''t reply to her, and I suspect it won''t be long before more people inquire about this¡­¡± Cheiristoya shrugged helplessly.

    ¡°Sister, there''s no need for you to worry too much since His Majesty already said several times that Eunice and the other''s marriage would be up to them to decide, and they can marry whoever they want.¡± Agnes continued tofort her.

    She and Cheiristoya knew well of the traditional patriarchal Greek marriage system as Cheiristoya was given to the Persian prince Cyrus the Younger as a concubine, while Agnes was sent to Thurii, both oues determined solely by their father''s decisions without consulting their desires. Fortunately, both stories had a happy ending. Agnes, of course, doesn''t want her children to face a simr fate, so she is naturally pleased with Davos'' decision.

    ¡°Sister, it isn''t that simple.¡± Cheiristoya shook her head and said, somewhat troubled, ¡°With how young Eunice is, how can she tell whether the man she likes is good or bad? So we must take care of her! Besides, if she really married amoner, what would the wives of the Theonian statesmen and officials feel? What would their children feel? Moreover, the pressure thismoner son-inw would be under in the kingdom in the future will be tremendous, so would he still be good to Eunice?¡­we must consider all of these things!¡±

 Chapter 848: The Ministry of Militarys Plan

    <h4>Chapter 848: The Ministry of Militarys n</h4>

    Agnes dismisses her im, ¡°Sister, you worry too much. It''s fine as long as Eunice genuinely likes the person.¡±

    ¡°That''s easy for you to say! Let''s wait until Aviyaes of age, and then it will be your turn to worry,¡± Cheiristoya rolled her eyes. Then, after stretching a bit, she said, ¡°I am going to the bathhouse to take a bath and rx. Since it will be dinner time by the time the children return, would you like to join me? I also have several undergarments in different colours and shapes that you can try and see if they fit.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Agnes also stood up.

    Bathing has be a recent daily habit for the Theonians. However, with the hot spring bathhouse a bit far from Thurii, and the royal family can only go there asionally due to safety concerns, Davos has directly ordered the construction of a bathhouse in the courtyard.

    The two middle-aged women with outstanding figuresughed and chatted as they left the hall.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As dusk approached, the meeting in the Grand Senate Hall of Theonia came to an end, and the statesmen left in groups.

    Today, the Senate received a report about King Davos winning sessive victories in the Latium region and Abellinum''s application to be a free city of Theonia¡­but this good news was apanied by Neapolis'' urgent request for help against the invading Samnite army in the Campanian region. However, this didn''t dampen the statesmen''s spirits, as they chatted andughed while descending the stairs.

    Meanwhile, the five rotating speakers of the Senate were walking slowly behind as they were still discussing some issues.

    ¡°His Majesty stated in his letter about the situation in Rome stabilising while the army is currently expanding the territories we upied and preparing to defeat the Romanspletely. Thus, he asked us to make detailed ns in advance for the mass relocation of some of the Theonian poption to the Roman region after the war, as well as to disperse and resettle the Roman nobles who surrendered in other cities. What do you suggest?¡± Cornelius asked.

    ¡°I noticed that His Majesty wrote in his letter to relocate the citizens of Theonia rather than letting the preparatory citizens and freemen go to fill the newly upiednd as we had done before, which shows that His Majesty attaches great importance to the Roman region and wants to integrate Rome into the kingdom quickly!¡± Lysias said deeply.

    ¡°From the messenger''s report, Rome has a fertile in muchrger than our Sybarite in, and the Tiber River is wider than the Crati River, with a quite prosperous agriculture and animal husbandry. If we canpletely integrate Rome, not only can we solve the worries that the previous drought had brought, but also greatly enhance our strength¡­¡±

    Androlis pondered before saying, ¡°But that region doesn''t border with our existing territories. In addition, there are still quite a few other forces and races around, with the Romans themselves remaining rtively strong. Perhaps because of these factors, His Majesty decided to relocate many Theonian citizens so that they could quickly be the backbone of stabilising the Latium region. If we had sent the preparatory citizens and freemen, they might be unable to defend the kingdom''s interest in that dangerous area.¡±

    ¡°Despite not witnessing the battle between our soldiers and Romans with my own eyes, we had recently brought back nearly two thousand deceased citizens and over two thousand wounded in just the Thurii region alone. While the officials of the city hall were busy assisting the Ministry of Military, caring for the families of the deceased and arranging for the wounded''s treatment, I have also heard there have been many casualties in other regions, which shows how fierce the Romans are!¡± said Lysias in a heavy tone.

    ¡°Do you still remember how His Majesty wanted to relocate citizens to the Campanian region some time ago? At that time, we had already decided to relocate some young citizens from the Lucanian region, so Hemon and I had prepared the relocation n. Unfortunately, we wereter forced to suspend it due to Carthage''s participation in the war. This time, we could just relocate them to Rome.¡± Vespa suddenly suggested.

    ¡°Vespa, don''t just pay attention to the Lucanian region.¡± After reminding Vespa, Sedrum began contradicting him, ¡°How many citizens can you relocate out of the Lucanian region? I''m afraid it won''t even reach ten thousand! But His Majesty wrote that excluding those Roman plebeians who had already surrendered, thend in Rome alone could amodate another two hundred to three hundred thousand people. In addition, there are also other ces like Veii, Ostia, and Caisra! Since His Majesty wants to disperse the Roman nobles who will submit to him in the future and resettle them in other cities, why don''t we move some of the citizens of those cities to Rome to free up spaces where we would resettle those Romans, which will be very convenient!¡±

    ¡°Lord Sedrum gave an excellent proposal!¡± Androlis interjected, ¡°Considering that the city hall of Rome has only just been established and is not yet capable of handling political matters and that the Romans are still in the process of adapting to our government, we can instead carry out the migration to Rome in stages, with a small number of citizens each time, to avoid any major disruptions. Also, the citizens heading to Rome can''t all be young, as there must also be middle-aged and elderly citizens for themunity to be stable. Also, the majority of the citizens going to Rome must be of Greek descent-¡±

    After saying that, Androlis noticed Vespa and Sedrum''s expressions bing unhappy, So he quickly exined, ¡°I don''t mean to discriminate against other ethnicities. Rather, I suggested this to make the Roman plebeians integrate into the kingdom as soon as possible¡­¡±

    ¡°Androlis gave a reasonable suggestion, and we must carefully consider them.¡± Cornelius praised his young colleague for a moment before continuing, ¡°Everyone, this would be our first time migrating the kingdom''s official citizens. As you all know, unlike the preparatory citizens and freemen, they have all the rights granted to them by the kingdom''sw, ownnd, and live well in their current ces, so how can we have them willingly move to Rome? How can we ensure they would be happy in their ce of residence?¡­ These are the problems that brought us the most headaches!¡±

    ¡°I don''t think that would be a problem,¡± Androlis said disapprovingly. He continued, ¡°The kingdom''s citizens are not worried about leaving their hometowns and settling in unfamiliar ces. On the contrary, what they fear most is living a too peaceful life because this means they cannot obtain opportunities to win merits -through war and adventure, increase their wealth, and achieve rapid advancement in status. But in Rome, they would get many such opportunities. Wasn''t that why so many officials risked their lives and chose to travel with His Majesty even before the great war with Rome?! And now thatmon citizens can also get such opportunities, I believe they will participate enthusiastically.¡±

    Androlis'' words caused the other three to nod while leaving Cornelius to cough in slight embarrassment, ¡°Uh¡­Androlis raised a reasonable exnation. Still, we need to implement it first and see the real reaction of the people. Therefore, we need to prepare more in advance to reduce the people''s resistance, such as detailednd recement for the relocated citizens, transportation of their properties, distribution of new homes and the disposal of their old homes¡­¡±

    ¡°It seems we need to invite Burkes(Minister of Agriculture) and Raphias (Chief Census Officer) to discuss this matter together and then work out a preliminary n for His Majesty to evaluate,¡± Lysias said.

    ¡°I think we can first have city halls of each ce to promote the benefits of settling in Rome in advance-¡± While Androlis was in the middle of giving his suggestion, they heard the voice of Philesius, ¡°Lord Cornelius! Lord Lysias!¡­¡±

    Cornelius turned around and saw four high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Military, Hielos, Philesius, Arpenst, and Hieronymus, walking towards him. As a result, he couldn''t help but wonder, ¡°What do you need?¡±

    Philesius looked at Hielos.

    The Minister of Military, Hielos, said, ¡°Esteemed speaker, the Senate had unanimously rejected the unjustified request of the Samnites¡¯ envoy to exchange the Campanian prisoners for theirs, which is in line with the promises made by His Majesty after that incident. However¡­just refusing isn''t enough, and we need toe to the rescue of the Campanian League that the Samnites are attacking, after all, they are our ally.¡±

    ¡°Rescuing Neapolis is the main issue we will discuss at tomorrow''s meeting.¡± Cornelius said with a frown, ¡°His Majesty is currently leading most of the army to attack Rome to the north while we are also at war with Carthage in the south. In addition, Alexius is stationed in the Apulia region to stop the invasion of the Samnites and other covetous forces. As far as I know, all the legions in the kingdom have already joined the war, and even the Seventh Legion is about to go south to Sicily. Moreover, His Majesty repeatedly ordered us not to move lightly. Now that you havee to discuss this matter, I would like to ask how you n to rescue Campania?¡±

    ¡°Could it be that you want to draw out the Ninth or Tenth Legion?¡± Androlis continued Cornelius¡¯ words despite arguing with him just now, ¡°With the distance of Apulia and Campania and the difficulty of transportation, the pressure to transport military rations will only increase. Moreover, we don''t know if those cunning Samnites are deliberately luring us to transfer our army away from Apulia and then attack the Dauni region again! After all, while our army needed to take a detour, they could just go straight through the mountains in a straight line.¡±

    ¡°It''s not the army in Apulia,¡± Hielos said with certainty, ¡°We hope the Senate will pass a resolution to allow the free city of Potentia to immediately raise an army to support the Kingdom''s war against the Samnites.¡±

    ¡°Potentia?!¡± The five rotating speakers were somewhat surprised. With Potentia maintaining its stability and close ties with the Lucanian region for over a decade, the trade, personnel exchanges, the spread of religion¡­and other things are developing rapidly and unimpeded. Furthermore, the people of Potentia were never absent from the various celebrations andpetitions within the kingdom, so not only themon people of Theonia but also most statemen had subconsciously thought that Potentia was a part of the Lucanian region, forgetting that it was actually just a free city in the kingdom.

    Then, Hieronymus, the chief military instructor, said, ¡°From the Ministry of Military''s statistics, once Potentia conducts a fullscale conscription, it can form an army of about twenty thousand strong. Thus, Potentia can at least provide ten thousand reinforcements.¡±

 Chapter 849: Alexius Plan

    <h4>Chapter 849: Alexius n</h4>

    With the gradual deterioration of the rtion between the Samnites and Theonia due to the continuous invasion of the Caudini on the Campanian region and the gradual advance of the Hirpini tribe towards Abellinum, the great chieftain of Potentia, Polet, had been on alert. However, due to the peace of their surrounding environment over the past decades and the Potentian people gradually bing prosperous, the youth of their tribe have never experienced war, and even the older generation have be unfamiliar with fighting. Thus, Polet made an unexpected decision to request Theonia''s Ministry of Military to send a military instructor to train their youth.

    Because of that, the Ministry of Military has urate data on the war potential of Potentia.

    After ncing at each other, the several rotating speakers reached an agreement. After all, why wouldn''t they be happy to be able to use unexpected help and achieve their goal without having to consume more of the kingdom''s strength? As for whether Potentia would agree? They didn''t even consider it because the rtionship between the two sides was too close, and ording to their agreement, this was also part of Potentia''s obligation.

    Vespa then directly asked, ¡°After requesting the Potentians to participate in the war, where should we put the army they have formed under?¡±

    Despite being a free city of the Kingdom of Theonia, Potentia is still semi-independent in nature. However, ording to the provisions of the Theonianw, the Potentian army doesn''t have the right to carry out military operations independently and must be integrated into the Theonian army andmanded by a Theonianmander, which is to guarantee the security of Theonia''s territory and prevent some idents from happening.

    ¡°Xanticles, themander of Lucania''s reserve legion, will be the one tomand the army formed by the Potentians,¡± replied Hielos.

    Vespa became relieved after hearing Xanticles would be the one tomand as, based on his understanding of this Theonian strategos, Xanticles, a veteranmander, wouldn''t fight the Samnites without regard for casualties. After all, despite Potentia not fully integrated into the kingdom of Theonia, Vespa had already regarded it as a part of Lucania, so he naturally wouldn''t want to see the people there suffer heavy casualties.

    ¡°We will raise this issue first once the Senate meeting begins tomorrow. And after this issue is approved, we will immediately send a messenger to rush to Potentia and notify Polet!¡± Cornelius said solemnly, ¡°The statesmen all hope to pacify the Samnites as soon as possible and restore peace to our northern border!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, esteemed lords! We will do everything we got!¡± Hielos also responded seriously.

    Vespa had wanted to inquire about the battle n of the Ministry of Military against the Samnites, but he could only swallow it when he was about to utter it. After all, King Davos made a rule not to allow the Senate to interfere in the matters of the Ministry of Military, and he didn''t want to break this rule.

    After splitting away from the rotating speakers, Hielos and the others''s expressions rxed a bit.

    Philesius said with a hint of excitement, ¡°We can finally solve the Samnites as long as the Senate passes the resolution tomorrow and the Potentians send their troops!¡±

    ¡°With the Samnites invading the Campanian League and the Abellinum making the initiative to ask toe under the kingdom, we finally manage to get the opportunity to counterattack! As long as we let the Potentian army go north to join the people of Abellinum while Alexius can lead his army to attack from the east, we can attack the Samnite mountain¡­with the cooperation of the two sides, we will be able to control the direction of the warpletely!¡± The usually calm Kapus also showed a joyous expression.

    ¡°The Hirpini had fought the Potentians many times, so won''t it cause dissatisfaction and conflict if the Potentian army enters Abellinum?¡± Arpenst reminded.

    ¡°That shouldn''t be the case.¡± Philesius exined with some certainty, ¡°Since the South-Italian War, the Potentians hadn''t fought the Samnites for more than a decade. Although we don¡¯t know if the Potentians have forgotten their previous hatred, the information obtained from His Majesty''s intelligence department over the years showed that Potentia and Abellinum often traded with each other, and their people could easily ess each other''s territory¡­ So, it shouldn''t provoke too much reaction if the Potentian army entered Abellinum. Besides, you have to trust Xanticles. With his ability, he could ease the rtionship between the two sides.¡±

    The other three nodded as they had all been part of the Persian expedition and deeply understood Xanticles'' ability.

    ¡°Rather, I think Polet would be thrilled when he hears we would allow them to attack the Samnites,¡± said Hieronymus, ¡°With his temperament, he would personally lead the army, and he would also restrain his people, cooperate with the people of Abellinum and fight together to achieve this goal.¡±

    Polet not only requested the Theonian military instructor to train his people, but he also personally participated in the training several times and learned thebat techniques of the Theonian Legion. As the Chief Military Instructor, Hieronymus travelled to Potentia several times to inspect their training and was treated with great hospitality by Polet, resulting in the two forming a deeper friendship.

    ¡°There''s no need for us to worry about Abellinum and Potentia. On the contrary, I am more worried about what His Majesty would think!¡± Philesius muttered, ¡°After all, he has repeatedly emphasised not to lead the troops into the Samnite Mountains to fight, but our nspletely go against his will!¡±

    Philesius'' words suddenly caused the excited expression on Hieronymus and Arpenst to turn grave. Hielos, on the other hand, kept his calm as he relieved the others, ¡°When we were discussing the n at the Ministry earlier, didn''t I already mention that His Majesty was only worried that we were not familiar with the terrain of the Samnite Mountain, and the Samnites'' skill in mountain warfare that would result in suffering great losses if we enter? That''s why he repeatedly emphasised that, but he never said that we are absolutely not allowed to enter the Samnite Mountains! Now that we have the help of Abellinum, coupled with the Samnites'' main forces in Campania, it is a good opportunity for us to beat the Samnitespletely! And I am sure His Majesty will agree to it once he learns of it!¡±

    ¡°Hielos, we should wait for His Majesty to receive our strategy and give approval before starting the attack,¡± Philesius reminded him as he felt uneasy.

    ¡°Even if it were the fastest, it would take more than seven days for the letter to arrive in Rome and back again. Despite Abellinum joining our kingdom as a secret, I believe the people of Abellinum will have difficulty keeping this secret for long. Once the several Samnite tribal chieftains learned of it, those who went to attack the Campanian League would quickly withdraw back to the Samnite Mountains and result in our efforts to be in vain! Thus, we must immediately inform Alexius to execute our n after the resolution is passed tomorrow. If His Majesty were to me us in the future, I am willing to bear it alone!¡± Hielos said decisively.

    ¡°This is a decision we have made after discussing it with each other, so how can you bear the responsibility alone?¡± Hieronymus immediately opposed it.

    ¡°Indeed. If His Majesty wants to me anyone, he should also use all the officials in the Ministry of Military!¡± Philesius hurriedly dered his stance.

    Arpenst was about to speak when he suddenly spotted someone rushing ahead and immediately said, ¡°Hielos, isn''t that your adjutant?¡±

    ¡°Lord Hielos! My Lords!¡± The officer rushed over and gave a military salute, ¡°Lord Alexius sent an urgent letter!¡±

    Hielos quickly took the letter and opened it. Soon, a smile appeared on his face.

    The other three immediately cast curious nces.

    Hielos looked at Philesius and the others, showed the letter in his hand and said in a cheerful voice, ¡°Alexius wrote this letter immediately after he learned about Abellinum requesting toe under the Kingdom of Theonia. He requested to be allowed to regroup the Tenth and Eleventh Legion, join with the people of Abellinum and the Potentians to simultaneously attack both from the east and west, remove the obstacle, and take down Aquilonia. It seems we have thought of the same thing!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Despite the efforts of Theonia''s Fleet blockading the west coast of the Italian Penins, as well as the fleet in Sicily patroling asionally in the waters west of the Straight of Messina, they still failed to prevent the Carthaginians from obtaining information about Rome. After all, the inds of Corsica and Sardinia, under Carthage''s control, were just across the sea from the Latium region, where Rome was located. The Phoenician city-states on the inds, under the orders of the Carthaginian official, had to send out their ships time and time again, risking everything to avoid the Theonian patrols and reach the coast of the towns of Antium and Ardea to learn about the war situation in Latium.

    Then, the Carthaginian officials sent out fast sailing ships to go straight south from the western side of the ind of Sardinia to the city of Carthage. Because of that, the Carthaginians knew about the Theonians sending arge army to attack the Latium region, which made them happy since Rome restrained most of Theonia''s soldiers, inevitably reducing their attack on western Sicily.

    A few dayster, the elders of Carthage were shocked to learn of the fall of Rome. They received information that highlighted the frightening military strength of Theonia. Despite Rome not having its main force within the city, it was still arge city, yet the Theonians easily captured it.

    After some time, Carthage received another report bringing the news of the burning of the city of Ostia, the dissolution of the Roman army, and the remnants of their army cowering in the southwestern part of Latium. As a result, the entire Carthaginian nobility was shaken by the news that Rome, a powerful city-state in the centre of Italia(which was why Carthage chose to ally with them), had, in such a short period, beaten by the Theonian army to such a state that they were rendered unable to fight, even to the point of barely surviving¡­

 Chapter 850: Attack on Gabii

    <h4>Chapter 850: Attack on Gabii</h4>

    The terrifying strength of the Theonian army finally made them realise that once they beat Rome, they could entirely free up their hands and concentrate on dealing with Carthage! Yet the Carthaginian Senate is still embroiled in arguments, wasting precious time in vain!

    So the Carthaginians gathered together and strongly called for the Senate to immediately send a massive army while Theonia''s main force was still in Latium tond in Sicily and defeat the Theonian army there and fully upy Sicily so that they could gain the advantage in the war.

    With the agitated crowd, Hanno no longer dared to make any further obstruction, allowing the Senate to finally order the recruitment of no less than sixty thousand soldiers in Carthage and surrounding city-states as soon as possible and ce them under the leadership of Mago, the suprememander of Carthage.

    And Mago, far away in the southern part of the Iberian Penins, also realised the urgency of the war situation and began to speed up the convening and formation of new troops.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In fact, Tapirus didn''t need to urge the Volscians and Hernicans as they had already taken action after the Roman army left the Trerus Valley.

    The Hernicans, who had taken refuge in the mountains, regrouped andunched attacks on the Roman soldiers in the territories the Romans had upied, focusing their attack on Ferentinum. This former capital of the Hernicans was situated in the midst of a rugged mountain range, which brought massive difficulties to the Romans. So, to end the war with the Hernicans, Camillus had conscripted many young citizens from Rome and its allies, effectively leaving the city of Rome and its surrounding regions vulnerable and undefended. During this opportune moment, Davos seized the initiative, ultimately reversing the entire situation in the Latium region.

    Because of that, Camillus had led the army to retreat in a hurry. But considering the hardship they suffered in capturing Ferentinum and its strategic position, he had left two thousand Roman soldiers to defend it.

    However, the continuous and fierce besiegement of the Roman army had left many sections of the city wall in tatters. Unfortunately, the Roman soldiers who were left behind did not have time to carry out repairs before the Hernicans began their attacks.

    And the Hernicans would mostly use the cover of the mountains and trees at night to approach the city walls in the early morning, sneaking into the city quickly andunching a sudden attack. When the Romans gathered their troops to confront them directly, they immediately fled the city, prompting the Roman army, which wasn''t adept at mountain warfare, to pursue them and fall into the Hernicans'' ambush.

    After several losses, the Romans could only defend the city while the Hernicans'' attack didn''t decrease. Despite not inflicting significant casualties on the Romans each time, the psychological pressure they ced on them was so great that it prevented them from getting sufficient rest.

    Faced with the stubborn defence of the Roman forces, the Hernicans changed their tactics and began targeting the supply caravan responsible for supplying Ferentinum. With the Roman main force having already withdrawn from the region, they didn¡¯t have sufficient troops to provide escorts for the supply caravans. Because of that, the Hernicansunched repeated attacks on these caravans, preventing them from reaching Ferentinum.

    With the dwindling of food andck of weapon recement, the Roman defenders began losing their confidence in repelling the constant attack by the Hernicans. So, on the day the Roman army disbanded, the defenders also chose to evacuate the city of Ferentinum.

    After starting to retreat, the Roman soldiers realised that the Hernicans not only attacked the city of Ferentinum but other Hernican towns they had upied had also been attacked to varying degrees, especially those small military camps built along the river, which became the main target of the Hernicans due to their low strength and weak defence.

    During their retreat, the Roman army had seen several burnt camps along their way, while those surviving defenders from other camps and nearby towns had joined the retreat.

    The army continued retreating northward and eventually reached the city of Signia near Tolerium. This move, however, led to them abandoning most of the Hernicannds for which they had sacrificed so much to obtain.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the other hand, the Volscians had begun gathering their warriors after the Theonian army attacked the city of Rome. So when the Roman army stationed in the southwest went to rescue them, the Volscians wanted to recapture the territories the Romans upied. Unfortunately, unlike in Hernici, Rome had already colonised the three towns that originally belonged to the Volscians, Antium, Satricum, and Velitrae, and their surrounding territories. Thus, it is only natural for the Romans, who have just be new residents, to resist with all their might.

    After many battles, the strength of the Volscians weakened seriously, and they could only gather more than six thousand warriors. In addition, theycked siege weapons, so several of their attacks on Antium got repulses, making them unable to recapture their towns. Then, after learning the Roman army had once again returned to Satricum, the Volscians could only retreat with resentment.

    Hence, when the Volscian officials met Tapirus, they all demanded aid from their ally, Theonia.

    Tapirus then promised them that as long as Volsci cooperated fully ording to His Majesty''s n, Theonia would definitely help Volsci regain all her territories.

    Thus, the Volscians followed Tapirus'' advice and changed their strategy. Instead of attacking Antium and Satricum directly, they withdrew their main force from Astura, which was very close to Antium, to Setia and waited for an opportunity.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Gabii, the most important Latin city-state in the eastern region of Latium, is located about fifteen kilometres southeast of Rome, not far west of the Anio River, a tributary of the Tiber. Decades ago, they became an ally of Rome and never betrayed them, but their loyalty to Rome was now being tested this time.

    Publius, as the messenger of Theonia, arrived at Gabii hoping to have them break away from the Latin alliance of Rome and then ally with the kingdom of Theonia.

    The officials of Gabii debated this matter for a day. In the end, the nobilities of Gabii were worried about how the Theonians had handled the Roman nobles, so they refused Theonia''s request and drove Publius out of the city. At the same time, they sent people to the west to seek help from Camillus.

    And sure enough, the Theonian army appeared below the city wall of Gabii on the second day. The one tomand them was still Phryntor, and under hismand were still the Second Legion, the Sixth Legion, the four brigades of the Lucanian Reserve Legion, the Roman Reserve Brigade, the First Cavalry Legion, and a team of five hundred engineers, totalling more than thirty thousand men.

    The people of Gabii closed their four gates tightly, and all the abled citizens in the city, dressed in armour and armed with spears, climbed the city wall and prepared to resist the Theonians'' siege.

    However, Phryntor didn''t immediately order the attack. Instead, he ordered the soldiers to start building a camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the early morning of the following day, Camillus led twelve thousand Roman soldiers to rush to Tusculum after receiving the news.

    Tusculum, situated on the north of Lake Alba Longa, at the outskirts of the Tuscolo hill, lies approximately twenty kilometres south of Rome. Following Rome''s destruction of Alba Longa, Tusculum emerged as the most important city-state in the central Latium region.

    Camillus called upon the Latin city-states and tribes in Latium''s eastern, central, and western regions, with most of them responding and sending troops to gather in Tusculum, resulting in Camillus'' strength increasing to twenty-one thousand.

    In the Roman camp outside Tusculum, the Roman generals gathered inside themand tent to discuss the current war situation and future military ns.

    At this time, the Roman dictator Camillus appeared different from his vigorous self when they first breached Ferentinum. His face was sallow, and his skin sagged as he slumped in his chair, with servants standing on either side, ready to assist him at any moment.

    He closed his eyes and listened to the report about the enemy situation, ¡°The Theonian army was only constructing their camps these past few days and hadn''t stormed Gabii, but they kept on bombarding its city wall with their ballistae¡­and the people of Gabii had once again sent envoys to seek our help¡­¡±

    ¡°Lord Dictator,¡± Maegius muttered, ¡°the Theonians are clearly on guard, with how they had been building a camp west of Gabii instead of attacking Gabii for several consecutive days.¡±

    ¡°In the first ce, the noise we made when leading our army into Tusculum was too big to hide from the Theonians, so it is only natural for them to be on the defensive. From the report of our scouts, the Theonian army outside Gabii had tens of thousands of people. However, we must remember that there are still Theonian soldiers inside Rome-¡±

    Before Licinius could finish his words, Quintus eximed angrily, ¡°Is it because there are many Theonians and they aren''t attacking Gabii that we wouldn''t attack them and instead retreat?! Hm! Licinius, could it be that you are afraid?! If so, you shouldn''t stay here and instead surrender to the Theonians like those Roman plebeians-¡±

    ¡°Enough, Quintus, watch your mouth! The dictator has repeatedly reminded us that we are in a grave situation and must unite closely to defeat the Theonians and regain Rome!¡± Aurus eximed.

    Quintus snorted and just fixed his gaze on Licinius without saying anything.

    Licinius, on the other hand, just turned around and stared outside the tent.

    Suddenly, Camillus opened his eyes. Despite his eyes remaining spirited, his voice was weak, ¡°Previously, we had sent someone to notify the remaining troops in Signia toe here and meet us. How did it go?¡±

    ¡°¡­they are already on their way here,¡± said Lucius, trembling.

    The withdrawal of the Roman soldiers who had stayed behind in Signia meant that all the victories they had won in their conquest of the Hernici had now been officially lost. This news made the generals present be gloomy upon hearing it.

 Chapter 851: Encircling the enemy to attack the reinforcements coming to its aid

    <h4>Chapter 851: Encircling the enemy to attack the reinforcementsing to its aid</h4>

    Camillus remained indifferent as he turned his head and asked, ¡°Titus, what do you think of the current situation?¡±

    ¡°Lord Dictator,¡± Titus'' expression turned grave as he nced at the others. After hesitating, he said, ¡°I think¡­this is possibly the scheme of the Theonians!¡±

    At these words, all the other generals, except Camillus, stood frozen in surprise.

    Titus exined with a worried look, ¡°We sent reinforcements in response to repeated pleas from Gabii¡¯s messenger. Yet the Theonians still haven¡¯t attacked Gabii even after our troops and our Latin allies have arrived. Instead, they are fortifying their camps as if waiting for us tounch an attack.

    If the Theonians refrain from attacking Gabii, it would most likely lead to a long stalemate, an unfavourable situation for us and would disgruntle our allied generals. On the other hand, the Theonians would only need to hold on to their camps if we chose to attack directly. Remember the painful lesson we learned when we attacked Ostia! However, ordering a retreat would result in our prestige plummeting among our Latin allies¡­¡±

    ¡°But¡­we must still send reinforcements, even if we know we might be ying into the Theonians'' scheme! We are, after all, the leaders of the Latin alliance, and as per our agreement, we are responsible for safeguarding their territories. Given our current predicament, we can not afford to lose the trust of these allies¡­¡±

    Since Theonia''s initial assault on the Latium region, Camillus'' army had remained passive and been pushed back, inch by inch, into their current predicament. In fact, they found themselves in their present plight despite not even engaging the Theonian army in directbat, which shows how frightening the King of Theonia is!

    ¡°Since the Theonians want us to take the initiative, we will! However, we must hold back¡­¡± Camillus finally said.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Your Majesty, the Roman army has set out!¡±

    ¡°Quickly, notify Amintas, Olivos, Ledes, and Kurcius to assemble their legions, await mymand, and be prepared tounch an attack at a moment''s notice!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    ¡°Also, dispatch someone swiftly to notify Praeneste and Signia immediately!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Everyone, the Roman army has departed Tusculum and is heading towards us,¡± Phryntor''s words cheered several legates.

    ¡°The big fish has finally taken the bait, and all our hard work over the past few days has not been in vain!¡± Thratyllus said excitedly.

    ¡°Atst, we can take revenge for being forced to retreat to Ostia!¡± Matonis said.

    ¡°It would be better if we could hold the Roman army here as it would make the subsequent battle easier!¡± Epiphanes, the temporarymander of the reserve legion, had a bigger appetite and thought further ahead.

    ¡°Senior centurion Sextus, do you have any suggestions?¡± Phryntor looked at the only silent strategos in the tent.

    Despite holding the rank of a senior centurion, the number of soldiers in the Roman Reserve now exceeds six thousand, which is the same as a legatus. However, the Roman Reserve was only a temporary unit and would be abolished after the war ended. Although Davos already thought of building a legion in Rome, it would be impossible for Sextus to serve as a legatus by that time. He couldn''t even serve as a senior centurion since he wasn¡¯t familiar with Theonia''s military system and tactics, so he would need to learn to convince the soldiers.

    ¡°I have none, so please issue your orders, Commander!¡± Sextus said.

    Crotokatax, standing at the side, looked at the Roman, who was only a few years older than him. He could understand what Sextus was feeling at the moment, but just as what his father told him, only by allowing these Romans to participate in more battles could they sever their ties to the past.

    Phryntor coughed and looked at the others before saying, ¡°My Lords, please follow the previous deployment we had discussed and confront the approaching enemy!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Despite Tusculum being less than fifteen kilometres from Gabii, the marching speed of the Roman army wasn''t fast, and it wasn''t until noon that they arrived near the Theonian''s camp. At the same time, the defenders in Gabii became excited as they heard the sounds of bugles and drums and said, ¡°The Roman reinforcements havee!!!¡­¡±

    But the mixed Roman army didn''t immediately attack the camp. After they temporarily stopped their advance, the soldiers began eating their rations to replenish their previously depleted energy; only then did the soldiers start approaching the camp in a loose formation.

    The Roman soldiers cautiously advanced, meticulously searching for traps on the ground. In reality, the Theonian camp had no other defensive structures aside from trenches, watchtowers, and wooden walls.

    At the rear of the army, the temporary armymander, Titus, repeatedly instructed the officers of his scouting and cavalry team under hismand, ¡°Keep your men vignt. If you observe any anomalies on the battlefield, report them immediately, especially in the direction of Rome!¡±

    Half an hourter, the mixed Roman soldiers approached the trench and began attacking the camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Notify all troops to prepare to leave the city!¡± Davos, who was at the southern end of Rome, ordered.

    ¡°Your Majesty, the messenger that Phryntor had sent just now said that the Romans'' attack wasn''t fierce and didn''t fully use their main force in the attack. So, should we wait longer?¡± Tolmides reminded.

    ¡°So much time had already passed since the Romans began their attack, and I think the situation would still be like this even if we wait any longer.¡± Davos then continued with a determined expression, ¡°Besides, they had already started their operations and could be noticed by the Romans at any time. If we miss this time, we can no longer fool the Romans again!¡±

    ¡°Understood, Your Majesty.¡± As Tolmides responded, the three legates of the army, Amintas, Olivos and Litom, had already begun descending from the city wall.

    Davos looked at thest legatus beside him and said solemnly, ¡°Giorgris, I will leave the city''s safety to you. You must assist Asistes in governing the city of Rome!¡±

    ¡°You can rest assured, Your Majesty!¡± Giorgris put his legs together and thumped his right fist into his left chest.

    Davos reached out his hand to pat Giorgris on the shoulder, then turned around and went down the city wall.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Camillus, Lucius, and Quintus sat in the Roman camp''smand tent.

    Currently, Quintus wasining to Camillus, ¡°Lord Dictator, I still don''t understand why you still ordered the attack on the enemy camp after deciding to give up Gabii and withdraw the main army and let our precious soldiers suffer losses in vain?!¡±

    ¡°We need to let our allies know that we haven''t given up on them and will still fight for them¡­ Although this may cost us some casualties, it is still worth it¡­¡± Camillus exined.

    ¡°But we still gave up on them!¡± Quintus still had a dissatisfied expression, ¡°Once we withdraw to Satricum, the Theonians will probably capture Gabii soon. So wouldn''t that still make our other Latin allies lose faith in us?!¡±

    Camillus was silent for some time before saying in a low tone, ¡°¡­we at least made an effort, which can give them some confidence¡­the Theonians are cautious as they always send arge force out to attack the towns near Rome, never spreading out their troops to plunder around¡­we could no longer have extravagant hopes with our current strength, and only by holding onto our three colonies, Velitrae, Satricum and Antium, can we wait for the situation to change and then unite again with our Latin allies to attack the Theonians!¡­¡±

    ¡°What change of situation?¡± Quintus frowned.

    ¡°Yesterday, Pantheus in Antium had sent someone to inform me that a Phoenician fishing boat had broken past the Theonian warships and entered the port with the news that the Carthaginian Senate has appointed Mago as its suprememander and that he will attack Sicily once more, with no less than an army of a hundred thousand men!¡± Camillus'' voice became unconsciously higher as he spoke.

    ¡°An army of a hundred thousand strong!¡± Quintus became delighted hearing that word but frowned and exasperated, ¡°Carthage had already sent arge army to attack Sicily once, but they didn''t exert much pressure on the Theonian and were defeated, causing us to make incorrect judgments. It is the Carthaginians'' fault that we are in our current situation! So even if the Carthaginiansunch another attack, we shouldn''t rely on them too much!¡±

    Quintus'' words caused a pang of pain in Camillus'' heart as he was primarily responsible for misjudging the situation, so Quintus implicitly expressed his dissatisfaction with him.

    Lucius wouldn''t allow anyone to bash his father like this, so he immediately said, ¡°Quintus, don''t forget that you were one of the most active in supporting my father''s proposal of gathering our forces to destroy the Hernicans quickly!¡­ Isn''t it good news for us now that the Carthaginians can attack Sicily again?! Could it be that you have a better method for quickly changing our predicament?! Furthermore, themander of the Carthaginian army is Mago, an experienced Carthaginian general who had extreme hatred of Greeks, so he will never show mercy to the Theonians!¡­¡±

    ¡°Alright, you two should stop arguing,¡± Camillus waved his hand, ¡°Quintus is also right. We cannot blindly trust Carthage, so we must wait and see how the war develops¡­¡±

    ¡°Now that we have lured the enemies out and achieved our goal, it is time for our army to retreat,¡± Camillus continued calmly, ¡°Titus knows what to do next.¡±

 Chapter 852: Surrounded in all sides

    <h4>Chapter 852: Surrounded in all sides</h4>

    Suddenly, an adjutant hurriedly entered themand tent and reported, ¡°Lord Dictator, Labicum sent a messenger and brought news saying that thousands of Volscians have invaded their territory and wish us to send reinforcements to drive them away!¡±

    ¡°How could the Volscians appear there?!¡± Quintus and Lucius shouted almost simultaneously.

    They were perplexed because Labicum is situated not far east of Tusculum. In contrast, the Volscians were far to the southwest of the Latium region, separated by numerous Latin city-states. So, how could they suddenly appear there?!

    After decades of fighting in the Latium region, Camillus already memorise the terrain andndscape in his mind. He was deep in thought and then said uncertainly, ¡°Praeneste? Could it be Praeneste?!¡­¡±

    Upon hearing Camillus'' words, Lucius said with doubt, ¡°Father, this is unlikely!¡±

    ¡°Since even our colonies could betray us, why couldn''t they!¡± Quintus shouted angrily, ¡°Previously, the people of Praeneste joined forces with the Hernicans and Volscians to start a rebellion. After we executed many of their people who participated in the rebellion, someone even proposed in the Senate to turn Praeneste into our colony after we conquered the Volscians. And now, Praeneste didn''t send reinforcements to join us!¡±

    ¡°That''s because they only have a few people left in Praeneste, and we still need them to have enough to guard against the Hernicans in the Trerus Valley!¡± Lucius immediately retorted.

    Camillus'' expression changed when the two began arguing, ¡°Both of you stop arguing! We now have an emergency! Quintus, you immediately lead the army returning from Signia, rush to Gabii to assist Titus, and block the Volscians charging from Labicum!¡± He then shouted with all his might, ¡°Ensure that our army can retreat without incident!¡­cough cough¡­¡±

    That surprised Quintus before replying, ¡°Yes, Lord Dictator!¡±

    Upon hearing the urgent news, Quintus became lost in thinking about how the Volscians appeared there, forgetting that the reason the Volscians were there was likely to be charging towards Titus and their army, which shows how the Theonians wanted to surround the mixed Roman army that went to rescue Gabii¡­ Thinking of this, Quintus left the tent with an anxious expression.

    Lucius noticed that Camillus, who was lying in a wooden chair, had a worseningplexion, and his hands were trembling uncontrobly. He swiftly supported Camillus'' body and tried tofort him, saying, ¡°Father, Titus is so sharp that he will undoubtedly manage to withdraw the troops smoothly!¡±

    ¡°¡­this is a scheme that the Theonians had long nned! The Volscians had never retreated to Setia at all¡­instead, they crossed the Lepini mountain¡­and hid in the Trerus Valley¡­waiting for today!¡­ We had only paid attention to the city of Rome and trusted our allies too much¡­resulting in our negligence to defend the south¡­it''s all my fault!¡±

    Camillus'' murmurs of self-me left Lucius feeling anxious, but he was unsure how to console his elderly father. He could only tightly grip his arm to convey his support and encouragement.

    ¡°O Lucius¡­ may Jupiter bless us with a smooth return to Satricum!¡­¡± Camillus'' aged voice brimmed with hope, yet his eyes betrayed a hint of worry, ¡°¡­I hope that the senators and the people in the city of Rome can hold Mons Capitolinus as they have in the past!¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Titus was taken aback by the news of six to seven thousand Volscian and Hernican warriorsunching an attack from the south.

    Unlike Camillus, Titus didn''t have the time to think why the enemy was there as he had to immediately give an order, ¡°Medus, immediately withdraw the army attacking the enemy camp!¡±

    ¡°Immediately notify our soldiers and allies that more than twenty thousand Theonian troops havee out of Rome and are approaching us from the north! In addition, more than seven thousand Volscian and Hernican warriors areing at us from the south! So we must retreat to the west immediately, or we will surrounded by them!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Commander, the enemy has begun to retreat!¡± shouted the adjutant, who was standing on the watchtower observing the situation.

    ¡°The army led by His Majesty and the reinforcements of Volsci and Hernici must have begun charging towards the enemy,¡± Finally, Phryntor said, ¡°Blow the salpinx and have the soldiers pursue the retreating enemy!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± The adjutant then shouted excitedly, ¡°Sound the attack!¡±

    ¡°Wooooo!¡­¡±

    Once the salpinx sounded, the soldiers, who could no longer hold themselves back, rushed out of the camp under themand of their officers.

    Sextus alsomanded the Roman reserve soldiers to chase.

    Despite Phryntor having already opened more gates to the west of the camp beforehand, it still took some time for the soldiers to rush out. Thus, the mixed Roman army soldiers, who were ready to retreat, had quickly put considerable distance between themselves and the Theonian soldiers, creating a gap of over a hundred meters.

    Unfortunately for them, the speed of the Volsci-Hernici troops advancing directly from the southwest was even faster. These warriors, mostly light-armoured soldiers, ran hard and furiously. Although they were still more than two kilometres from the Roman army, they quickly changed direction from the southwest to the west, potentially blocking the Roman army''s retreat path.

    ¡°Go and inform Licinius to lead our allies¡¯ army to hold off the Volscians and protect the retreat of the Roman army!¡± Titus said anxiously. Fortunately, he had positioned the allied army on the right nk during their attack on the enemy camp because his n was for the entire army to retreat south once the Theonian army in Rome came out (It would be convenient for them to retreat to the south because all the Latin city-states were in the south). But he would now use them to block the enemy. As for whether it would cause heavy casualties to their allies, he didn''t care.

    He shouted hoarsely, ¡°Order for the whole army to speed up the retreat!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Licinius led about ten thousand soldiers from their Latin allies to break away from the main force and advance to the southwest.

    He then began ordering his men to form up after learning from the mounted scouts that there is still more than half a kilometre away from the enemy.

    He ced their allies'' heavy infantry at the forefront of the formation and the light infantry at the rear. Titus hoped he could block the approaching enemy while also hoping that he could quickly defeat the enemy in front and open the way for the whole army to retreat south.

    But he didn''t have the time to wait for their allies'' generals tomand the soldiers to form a phnx formation because the Volscians and Hernicans were already less than five hundred metres away by this time, and they were in a loose formation, which allowed them to form up gradually while they move forward.

    Licinius'' heralds repeatedly urged their Latin allies to quickly form up when the Volscian-Hernicans, filled with resentment towards the Romans, had already charged to the front and crashed at the formation of the Latin allies.

    Licinius hastily ordered the bugle to continuously sound the attack, hoping to boost the morale of their allied soldiers to block the enemy''s charge and then wait for an opportunity to counterattack.

    As the shields and spears of both sides collided, a loud sound of battle rang out, with dust and dirt rising towards the sky.

    Under the relentless attacks of the Volscian and Hernicans, the poorly prepared mixed Roman soldiers were slowly pushed back.

    Licinius, however, wasn''t in a hurry as he knew that the impact of the enemy''s long-distance charge would onlyst a short time. So once the front stabilised, the heavy infantry could then unleash their might.

    However, amidst the sound of fighting, he heard a panicked shout from the right nk of the formation, ¡°We lost, run away!!!¡±

    ¡°Run for your life; the enemy is about to surround us!!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°What happened?!¡± Licinius became nervous and immediately sent his escort to check the right nk.

    By this time, the Roman generalmanding the right nk had dispatched a herald, who shouted in rm, ¡°General Licinius, the more than four hundred Bni soldiers, suddenly got defeated when they encountered the enemy and began shouting deliberately, shaking the army''s morale. The entire right nk is in chaos, and we have lost control!¡±

    ¡°What?! Damn, Be!¡± Licinius was shocked after hearing the terrible news.

    After listening carefully to Publius'' detailed introduction of the Latin city-states, Davos secretly formed a rough n in his mind. He first sent Publius to send an envoy to Praeneste as they both believed they would be the easiest to persuade to surrender, resulting in Praeneste being the first to form a secret alliance with Theonia.

    Then, Publius turned his next target of persuasion to Be.

    This small Latin city-state, located west of Praeneste and less than ** kilometres away from each other, had already been breached by the joint attack of Volsci, Hernici, and Aequi when Praeneste rebelled. Only thanks to Camillus and his army were they saved. Therefore, it stands to reason that they should be grateful and loyal to Rome.

    But Publius thought that wouldn''t be the case: When the city had fallen and plundered, the people of Be feared the Hernican and Volscian races to its south, so when Rome attacked Volsci, and even when they attacked the Hernicans, the people of Be had actively showed its support by supplyingrge quantities of supplies and men. With Rome''s strength significantly diminished due to the fall of Rome and the Roman retreat to the western Latium region while the Hernicans had made aeback, Publius believed that the people of Be might act differently¡­

    So, with Publius hinting to the Bni about Praeneste¡¯s surrender and even promising that Theonia would protect their territoriespletely, the people of Be became the second Latin city-state to ally with Theonia.

    When Gabii refused Theonia''s persuasion to surrender, the n that Davos had thought of before had taken shape and began ordering the Volscian to stay between Praeneste and Be quietly.

 Chapter 853: Pursuit and Attack

    <h4>Chapter 853: Pursuit and Attack</h4>

    Despite being themander of their allies'' army, Licinius didn''t actually have any troops under hismand. So, when faced with such a desperate situation, the only way he could think of was to quickly notify Titus and ask him to send troops to stabilise the situation! Otherwise¡­

    As soon as Licinius dispatched heralds, the speed of the Latin allies'' defeat far exceeded his imagination. It began with a small phnx on the right nk, but the chaos rapidly spread, first to the entire right nk and then swiftly to the centre, ultimately engulfing the whole formation¡­

    Since the army of their Latin alliesprised a dozen or so Latin city-states and tribes, having them work together and follow orderspletely became difficult. Furthermore, they were only fighting here to partly fulfil their agreement and partly for their own safety as they feared falling into danger, and they didn''t have the determination to fight to the death. So when the soldiers of one city-state fled, the army near them, whether soldiers or generals, were unwilling to continue fighting and be a sacrificialmb, resulting in the entire formation quickly crumbling.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Themander of the Volscian-Hernican forces was the archon of Privernum, Katamentalus (With the number of Volscians participating in the battle reaching five thousand men, more than the Hernicans, and that the Volscians had previously provided significant assistance to Hernici, the Hernicans didn''t have any objection and appointed Katamentalus as themander of this coalition, fully following hismand.) Wielding a shield and spear, he charged towards the front of the formation while shouting recklessly. He felt an indescribable joy in his heart as he had never defeated the Latin as easily as he did today.

    After defeating the Latin forces, the already exhausted Volscian-Hernican seemed to have been reinjected with strength as they shouted and pursued the fleeing enemies, forcing most of them to flee north desperately.

    When Titus received Licinius'' call for help, he was shocked. It was practically impossible to quickly detach a unit to support the Latin allies while the whole army was speeding up its retreat. So, the only thing left for him to do was to urge the Roman army to speed up its retreat once more.

    Titus didn''t expect the Latins to lose so quickly and for those Latin light infantries, who were only wearing thin armour, to throw away their weapons, armour, and other things as they ran ahead in panic, and then, like headless flies, crashed directly into the Roman army (the portion of Roman soldiers responsible for attacking the Theonian camp before) who were stillgging behind, and instantly disrupted the formation and impeded their retreat.

    Behind these Latin light infantry were more routed soldiers fleeing while behind them were the relentless pursuit of the Theonian soldiers¡­

    Titus didn''t dare stop the retreating army with the situation already bing terrible, ¡°General Titus, hundreds of Theonian cavalry are charging from the northwest. General Aurus already led his cavalry to stop them!¡±

    ¡°Reporting to General Titus, over two thousand Theonian light infantry areing from the north and are less than two hundred metres away!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    It was beyond Titus'' expectation for the Theonian army from Rome toe quickly, and he certainly was aware that there were Theonian heavy infantries behind these light infantries. Currently around the Roman army were the Theonian army in the east, the Volscian-Hernican army in the south disrupting the rear of his army, the Theonian army from the city of Rome that would soon pounce on them in the north, and the Theonian cavalry in the northwest, which only left him the southwest where there was no enemy to stop them¡­ Titus became extremely nervous and felt that the retreating speed of the Roman army, which was still maintaining order and formation, was still too slow and could fall in danger of gettingpletely encircled at any time. Therefore, while in a state of urgency, he ordered, ¡°Inform all soldiers that there is no need to maintain formation, throw down unnecessary heavy objects and quickly retreat towards Velitrae!¡±

    At the same time, he also ordered a messenger to immediately rush to the army camp in Tusculum and notify dictator Camillus to retreat to the west.

    After giving hismand, the Roman army soon turned into a pile of loose sand, with everyone throwing down their shields, spears, and even their helmets and armour as they fled desperately.

    The Theonian soldiers, Volsci and Hernici, naturally pursued them, and their original n to surround them quickly turned into a grand and chaotic chase.

    So the battlefield had already be highly chaotic when Quintus led his army, with the Romans, Latins, Volscians, Hernicans, and Theonians mixed together amidst the deafening battle sound and rising dust¡­

    For a moment, Quintus was unsure how to proceed to intercept the enemy and ensure the smooth retreat of the Roman army.

    But he didn''t have to make any decision as the soldiers under hismand had quickly lost their morale when they faced such terrifying momentum and began following their fellow countrymen to flee together¡­

    The Theonians pursued them for half an hour before sounding the retreat because the pursuing troops had already reached the southern part of Tuscolo Hill, with most of the soldiers already disorganised. With several Latin allies of Rome around them, they couldunch a surprise attack against them¡­so Davos didn''t dare take any further risks.

    Thus, the soldiers began escorting the captured Romans and Latins while cleaning up the battlefield and gradually retreated¡­

    Meanwhile, Davos went to meet a group of people on the battlefield, including the archon of Privernum, Katamentalus and the general of Hernici, Nemeri.

    When these Volscian and Hernican leaders heard about the fairy-tale-like rumours about Theonia and their king, Davos, they only regarded it as a drinking topic and didn''t pay much attention to it. But this time, with Davos leading the Theonian army to capture the city of Rome and ultimately defeating the Roman army, such a brilliant record has already made the neighbouring powers pay attention to them, not to mention that the Theonians, after upying the city of Rome, consecutively conquered Caisra, Veii and Fidenae, and even forced the surrender of Praeneste¡­allowing them to put down their roots in the region and recing Rome to be the new hegemon.

    It was precisely with this awareness that Katamentalus and the others inevitably felt cautious when they met King Davos of Theonia.

    But the one to smile and praise them first was Davos, ¡°It''s nice to meet you, Theonia''s most friendly allies! I would like to thank you for your full cooperation. Because of it, we have achieved today''s resounding victory!¡­¡±

    Davos'' words struck a chord with the leader of Volsci, prompting Katamentalus to bow respectfully and say, ¡°O honourable king, it is because of your brilliant strategy, which we followed, that we are victorious today!¡±

    ¡°This is the archon of Privernum, Katamentalus, who is also themander of this coalition army,¡± Tapirus quickly introduced Katamentalus.

    After listening to the interpreter''s trantion, Davos said solemnly, ¡°With you, Volsci, giving your full and unreserved trust in us, whether it was your previous efforts to prevent the Roman messengers from entering the Trerus Valley to notify Camillus'' army, or your willingness to risk leaving your territory undefended to execute our n with all your strength, made me feel that although Volsci and Theonia have only allied recently, we are already good allies who can trust each other and share our difficulties! So, put your worry at ease as Theonia will help Volsci gradually regain your lost territories and assist you in restoring their prosperity!¡±

    Katamentalus was pleasantly surprised as he didn''t expect to receive a promise from King Davos at this moment, so he repeatedly expressed his gratitude.

    Then, it was General Nemeri of the Hernican army''s turn to approach and greet Davos.

    Davos naturally gave his promise to this new ally as he said sincerely, ¡°Although you Hernicans had already recovered thend you lost, I heard you suffered massive damage in this war and had a difficult time rebuilding your home. We deeply understand your pain as we, Theonians, have also suffered such a painful experience before! Thus, we will do everything we can to help restore prosperity to your territory as quickly as possible and keep you safe!¡­¡±

    The leaders of Theonia''s allies became thrilled upon hearing Davos'' words.

    Suddenly, Nemeri asked, ¡°Your Majesty, with Theonia having defeated Rome and bing the new owner of their city, some forces became worried that Theonia will be like Rome!¡±

    Davos became serious upon hearing that and said, ¡°I am grateful for your reminder. But which forces are you referring to?¡±

    Nemeri hesitated a bit before finally saying, ¡°I know that among them were the Marsians and Aequians. When I was gathering my men to participate in this battle, they had sent someone to dissuade me and expressed their concerns in this regard¡­¡±

    Davos nodded and nced at the crowd, realising everyone was looking at him. He immediately understood that it wasn''t only the Aequians and Marsians concerned but all the forces around Rome, including Volsci and Hernici.

    After pondering for a while, Davos eximed, ¡°Theonia didn''t border Rome and had no conflict of interest. Only because the Romansunched a massive invasion in your territories and made you fall into a crisis that would wipe out your existence that we, Theonians, decided we would have to go to war with Rome to fulfil our agreement. Until now, we had only fought Rome and its allies and captured only the towns and cities owned by them.

    So whether it''s Marsi, Aequi, Etruria, or the Sabini, as long as they are willing to coexist with Theonia in peace, we, Theonians, will never covet theirnd and go to war with them for no reason! On the contrary, we would dly engage in friendly exchanges with them, conduct trade, deepen our friendship, and jointly maintain peace and tranquillity in this region!¡­¡±

 Chapter 854: Persuading Surrender (I)

    <h4>Chapter 854: Persuading Surrender (I)</h4>

    Nemeri, the general of the Hernican army, no longer hesitated upon hearing Davos'' words and said, ¡°Your Majesty, would you agree if the Aequians and Marsians also request an alliance with you?¡±

    Davos suddenly remembered how the Praenestian rebels convinced the Aequians and Marsians to invade Rome together with Volsci and Hernici, only to be defeated by Camillus. Then, during the Roman army''s conquest of Hernici this year, these two races sent troops to reinforce the Hernicans but suffered another crushing defeat, severely weakening their strength¡­ Their wish to ally with Theonia was for them to clear their worries and guarantee the safety of their territories since the rumours about Theonia''s abiding by their agreement have been validated by Volsci and Hernici.

    ¡°I wee it very much!¡± Davos said smilingly, ¡°I not only hope for the Marsians and Aequians to ally with Theonia but also the other forces around Rome to be Theonia''s allies as well!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the end of the battle, Davos didn''t invite the leader of the Volsci-Hernici coalition to enter Rome and hold a banquet as a celebration. On the one hand, the Volscians were eager to return to their defenceless territories to prevent the Romans'' retaliation. On the other hand, Davos also considered the feelings of the people in the city of Rome. So he instead distributed most of the spoils they obtained(mainly armour and weapons) to the Volsci-Hernici warriors, making them return feeling grateful.

    In this battle, apart from the casualties suffered by the Volsci-Hernici coalition, the Theonian army had a negligible loss. Meanwhile, despite having insignificant casualties, nearly two thousand soldiers of the Roman army were captured, while the one to suffer the worst was their Latin Allies, with over four thousand of them captured.

    So, despite most Roman soldiers managing to flee back to Velitrae without any problems, and their loss wasn''t significant, this defeat was another blow to their prestige in the alliance, especially since Theonia also captured so many Latin soldiers. After the battle ended, Davos didn''t allow Phryntor to withdraw the sieging army back to Rome. Instead, he ced the Fourth and Sixth Legions under Phryntor and told him to intensify the attack on the city of Gabii and take it down as soon as possible.

    Once he returned to Rome with the joy of victory, Davos called Publius and entrusted him with an important task: To persuade the Romans on Mons Capitolinus to surrender!

    He also promised that once the Romans there dared to harm him, Theonia would ensure to bury the entire hill with him! Whether he seeded in persuading them to surrender or not, he would be a newly promoted statesman of the kingdom of Theonia and be the one to advocate for the rights and interests of the kingdom''s Roman citizens in the senate.

    For this, Publius carefully prepared and climbed Mons Capitolinus with anxiety the next day. At the same time, he brought a captured Roman nobleman who lived in the city of Veii, as well as a Roman soldier who they captured in yesterday''s battle, also from a noble family.

    After receiving the order, the Roman soldiers opened the gate, and Publius, who had been waiting for a long time at the foot of the hill, stepped into Mons Capitolinus. When he passed through Roman patrol soldiers, they red at him with unfriendly gazes, with some hurling curses at him. However, he was already prepared for it and pretended not to hear them and just followed the soldiers at the front closely while carefully observing the surroundings.

    Because Mons Capitolinus was the highest hill in the city of Rome, the Romans chose it as the location for their citadel. With its steep hillside and rtively t top adorned with lush trees, the Romans believed this to be a gift from the gods. They thought the gods must have favoured residing in such a beautiful ce, leading the Romans to construct their main temple on this hilltop.

    Upon climbing the hill, Publius was astonished to see they had cut down the trees in less than twenty days. The bare hill was now littered with simple huts and tents, where countless ragged peopley, each with a pale face and dull eyes.

    Along the way, Publius saw several acquaintances who were from Collis Caelius and Collis Viminalis. They were either followers of the great nobles or some civilians who had settled in Rome several generations ago. Most of them used to be powerful helpers of the nobles in dealing with other plebeians. However, now they huddled together with their wives and children. When they saw Publius, they merely turned their eyes as they couldn''t even muster the energy to wave or say anything¡­ seeing their miserable conditions, Publius once again firmly believed that he had made the correct decision in leading his house to submit to the kingdom of Theonia!

    Once he reached the summit of Mons Capitolinus, he could see that refugees also crowded the solemn and majestic courtyards of the temples. Not only did they make the peaceful and clean sacred courtyard noisy and dirty, but they also filled the air with an unpleasant odour.

    Upon seeing this, Publius felt a surge of anger and a hint of sadness. But when some nobles recognised him and learned that he hade to negotiate as the envoy of Theoniya, they began to insult and scorn him loudly and even rushed forward to beat him. However, these people who didn''t have enough to eat and walked unsteadily couldn''t break through the protection of the guards.

    Instead of taking them seriously, Publius looked at them with pity.

    Finally, the soldiers brought him to the rear hall of the Temple of Jupiter.

    ¡°Please enter, O envoy of Theonia!¡± The guard captain deliberately emphasises ¡®Theonia¡¯ to show his contempt for Publius.

    After taking a deep breath, Publius entered the hall.

    ¡°Publius Manlius, you still have the face toe here! As the head of one of the most illustrious houses in Rome, you have forsaken the honour of your forefathers and tarnished the name of your house by shamelessly defecting to the enemies of Rome and now even dare set foot in this hallowed hall! The furious Jupiter will punish you severely!¡±

    Publius noticed that the person who made this statement was Maluginensis. In the past, he would have been afraid to engage with this highly respected senator. Maluginensis was known as the most ardent advocate for Marcus'' execution, and he strongly disliked the Manlius house, often addressing them with mockery and sarcasm. However, on this day, Publius looked directly at him, sitting there with an angry expression, yet his tone remained calm as he spoke, ¡°Today, I am an envoy of Theonia. The King of Theonia had sent me to discuss important matters with you, so there is no need to discuss any more nonsense.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense?!¡± Maluginensis became even more enraged as he snapped to his feet and yelled at Publius, ¡°Do you know why we let you in?! It''s because we will dispose of you, a traitor, just like how we punished Marcus back then! Guards!¡±

    With his shout, two intimidating guards walk in.

    Despite immediately bing nervous, Publius tried his best to calm himself and shout, ¡°Dispose of me?! Then you must be prepared to have all the people on this hill and other Roman nobles captured by Theonia to bury together with me!¡±

    With that shout, amotion arose in the temple.

    ¡°Publius, there''s no need for you to threaten us! After your body falls off the cliff and turns into a pulp, it won''t be long before Camillus leads his army to defeat the Theonians you''ve defected! We''ll then return to the city below and restructure Rome after the war, just as we did then!¡± Abilius immediately stood up and shouted to encourage everyone.

    Publiusughed out loud as he said, ¡°You are still dreaming of returning to Rome! I suggest you ask the two men I brought with me, Decimus Julius Brutus, who you are familiar with as the one who volunteered to take his family and migrate to Veii more than a decade ago, which became big news in Rome then. Now, he would tell you how the Theonians easily captured the cities of Caisra and Veii and then took him captive.

    The other man, who you, Maluginensis, are more familiar with, Domitius Cornelius H, a young member of your house and was serving as a centurion in the great army led by Camillus. He would tell you how many times Camillus'' army suffered defeat, and now these remnants have retreated to Satricum, fearing that the Theonian army would attack them!¡­¡±

    As soon as Publius said that, the whole venue erupted into a mour of discussions. Twenty days had passed since the fall of Rome, and apart from the sound of battle that evening, the city had remained peaceful. With each passing day, the senators began to sense a growing unease, though they didn''t anticipate just how dire the situation would be.

    ¡°¡­lies! All of that is a lie!¡­¡± Abilius retorted hurriedly, but he clearlycked confidence in his tone.

    ¡°No matter the situation outside, you, as a traitor, deserve the harshest punishment!¡± Maluginensis said in a fierce tone after experiencing the initial shock.

    Publius avoided Maluginensis'' threatening gaze and instead looked at the debating Roman senators. The panic and unease on their faces made him feel slightly calmer. After taking a deep breath, he eximed, ¡°Since that is the case, I don''t have any regrets since all of you Roman nobles apanying me to die. Come!¡± He said, waving to the two guards and then turning around to walk outside the temple.

    ¡°Wait!¡± one of the senators shouted.

    Publius'' tense mood suddenly rxed as he slowly turned around.

    ¡°As Theonia''s envoy, what have youe to negotiate with us?¡± Potitus eximed.

    Publius nced at him, turned to Maluginensis, and finally looked at the other senators around him. With a calm tone, he uttered, ¡°Considering the current circumstances, with Rome having lost its city and Theonia capturing Caisra, Veii, Fidenae, and Gabii in rapid session, and Camillus'' once seventy-thousand-strong army likely reduced to a mere ten thousand men today, holed up in the city of Satricum, it''s evident that Rome is no longer the Rome of the Romans, neither now nor in the future!¡±

 Chapter 855: Persuading Surrender (II)

    <h4>Chapter 855: Persuading Surrender (II)</h4>

    Then Publius felt a pang of sorrow after saying that. After a light sigh, he eximed, ¡°Thus, the king of Theonia wishes for you to surrender!¡±

    Amotion had once again arisen in the meeting ce, with several senators standing up in anger and uttered, ¡°We Romans would rather die in battle than surrender!¡­¡± and so on. Still, some senators muttered in vexation, ¡°How is it possible for Theonians to capture Fidenae and Gabii also?!¡­¡± and so on.

    ¡°The king of Theonia is overconfident!¡± Potitus sneered, ¡°Even if what you said is true, it isn''t like we didn''t experience the same thing during the Celt invasion. And back then, it was even worse than this one, but we still won in the end!¡±

    ¡°You can''tpare the Theonian invasion with the Celts. I am sure you should be able to feel it despite being trapped in this hill!¡± Publius retorted loudly, ¡°The Celts only burned and piged their way through Etruria and Latium, causing all races to turn against them. Moreover, the gods punished them for their atrocities, resulting in them contracting the gue before Camillus led the united Latins to defeat them atst. But now-¡±

    Publius shook his head and pointed at the foot of the hill, ¡°Not only have the Etruscan city-states sessively allied themselves with Theonia, but even the Latin city-states of Praenesta and Be have also submitted to Theonia one after another. Finally, almost all of the Roman plebeians within the city have be citizens of Theonia, so that, except for this ce, the city of Rome haspletely be a Theonian city, while you have instead be isted in the Latium region!-¡±

    ¡°Lies! Everything you said is a lie! Theonia is the invader, and both the Etruscan and Latin city-states won''t ally with them as they can only be loyal to Rome!¡± Eximed Senator Lucretius hysterically.

    Publius looked at him with pity, ¡°There''s no need for me to lie, as you can ask Decimus and Domitiuster who would tell you the truth. It''s time to wake up from your sweet dream!¡±

    Potitus, Maluginensis, Ambustus, Scipio, and others exchanged anxious nces as Publius'' words confirmed their fears.

    In the end, Potitus could only cough lightly and say, ¡°We already understand your intentions and need to discuss this matter. You can leave first and await our decision.¡±

    Publius bowed and then turned around. While leaving the temple''s door, the faces of his former colleagues were devoid of their former arrogance. Instead, their faces are now filled with a sense of fear and jealousy, which gives Publius an indescribable pleasure. He held his head high and strode out of the temple''s door. As he left the dim rear hall, he saw guards leading Decimus and Domitius into the hall.

    A few hourster, a guard led him again into the rear hall, where only Ambustus was left.

    ¡°Have you decided?¡± Publius asked directly.

    ¡°Take a seat, and we''ll talk, Publius.¡± Ambustus didn''t answer immediately and instead pointed to the seat prepared for him.

    Publius sat down without hesitation, ¡°Knowing about the Roman Senate, your decision must have been to refuse to surrender, right?!¡±

    Ambustus only looked at him without speaking.

    ¡°I am actually happy that you didn''t surrender because you are all a group of selfish, arrogant and vicious men, so it is for the best if you die on this hill!¡± Publius said mockingly. Then he changed his tone, ¡°However, there are also your families and other people on this hill beside you, especially those plebeians. They are left hungry and lying on the ground, unable to make a mournful sound. Do you have the heart to bury these thousands of people with you?! Do you really want the Roman nobility to bepletely extinct?!¡±

    Ambustus'' twitched a few times. But instead of responding to the subject directly, he said softly, ¡°Publius, when Marcus insisted on helping the plebeians, the Senate had no choice but to make that decision as he had almost led to civil unrest-¡±

    ¡°But the current situation proves that Marcus had done the correct thing. If the Senate had approved his suggestions then, the plebeians of Rome would not have taken refuge in Theonia today, and you would not have fallen into this predicament!¡­¡± Publius loudly vented his pent-up dissatisfaction with the Senate over the years.

    ¡°Perhaps we have indeed made incorrect decisions over the years¡­¡± Ambustus sighed and gazed at him. He said in a heavy tone, ¡°The Manlia house, as one of the oldest houses in Rome, has lived here for generations. Many rtives of your family have intermarried on this hill, some who have given you favours, some who have helped you before¡­do you have the heart to abandon them, including Jupiter and Juno, whom you have worshipped since childhood-¡±

    Publius frowned and interrupted, ¡°What exactly are you trying to say?¡±

    Ambustus looked at him sincerely and said sorrowfully, ¡°We underestimated the war with Theonia. We thought that even if they captured Rome, we could recapture it again as long as Camillus returned with his army. Thus, we brought so many people with us, but as you said, Camillus'' army suffered defeat, so the n to reim Rome was far away, but our food supply was already tight. s, the miserable condition of the people, I believe you have already seen it when you went up the hill. In a few days, they¡­may starve to death on this mountain because there is nothing to eat¡­¡±

    Tears suddenly glistened in Ambustus'' eyes after saying that. He then continued, ¡°You guessed it right. We will not surrender, but we hope to allow these people to go down the hill and surrender so they do not be food for the crows¡­¡±

    Ambustus¡¯ request had taken Publius aback, cing him in a difficult position. After all, the Theonians aimed to force the Romans on the hill to surrender by besieging Mons Capitolinus and cutting off their food supply. Ambustus, however, had hoped to orchestrate the departure of the individuals responsible for most of their food consumption, enabling them to maintain their hold on Mons Capitolinus. Unfortunately, the King of Theonia is someone shrewd and would never permit such a cunning proposal by the Roman senators to seed!

    Seeing Publius'' continued silence, Ambustus promptly ced his hands on the ground, bent down, and heavily struck his forehead on the floor.

    Publius was startled and hurriedly got up, ¡°Ambustus, what are you doing?!¡±

    ¡°Please! Save our fellow countrymen!¡± Ambustus begged.

    ¡°I¡­it''s useless. King Davos will definitely not agree!¡± Publius shook his head.

    Ambustus didn''t say anything and instead kept kneeling on the ground.

    It would have the opposite effect if Potitus and Maluginensis had done this, but Ambustus had a good rtionship with Publius in the past. So, after a long time, he sighed helplessly and said, ¡°Alright, I''ll do my best to try and convince King Davos.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, thank you! I would like to thank you on behalf of everyone on this hill!¡± Ambustus sat up and said gratefully.

    ¡°There''s no need for you to thank me. Instead, I''ll be content if you curse me less,¡± Publius said, self-deprecating.

    Ambustus coughed, feeling awkward.

    ¡°But¡­don''t ce too much hope on me. The King of Theonia is already dissatisfied with the Roman nobles, but you have now proposed this suggestion. So even if they can descend the hill in the end, they may not get a good oue!¡± Publius warned.

    Ambustus smiled bitterly and said, ¡°There is hope as long as we are alive, so we can''t ask for more.¡±

    Publius could only remain silent.

    Ambustus then eagerly asked, ¡°By the way, have you seen my daughter and son-inw in the city? Are they doing okay now?!¡±

    ¡°Your son-inw and daughter are imprisoned in their residence. However, they are not harmed as it seemed that King Davos had a bit of interest in Stolo and even had him meet with the captured Minucius yesterday¡­¡±

    ¡°They had also captured Minucius?!¡± Ambustus was surprised.

    ¡°That''s why I came to persuade you to surrender because you have no hope anymore,¡± Publius took the opportunity to persuade him again.

    But Ambustus didn''t say anything.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Is this what those Roman senators proposed?!¡± Davos looked at Publius without a hint of anger or displeasure.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Publius didn''t dare to look at Davos and instead continued to bow his head and said respectfully, ¡°After going up the hill, I have been patiently persuading for their surrender and even brought the Roman nobles captured in the previous battles, hoping they would realise the situation. Unfortunately, they neverpromise¡­and I can only bring back their proposal¡­¡±

    ¡°You''ve worked hard!¡± Davos praised him. Then he said in a calm tone, ¡°It seems these stubborn Romans do not have a n to give up.¡±

    Publius became nervous and didn''t dare to answer.

    Davos, cing his hands on his back, took a few steps in the centre of the Senate Hall and suddenly asked, ¡°How many Romans are there on Mons Capitolinus?¡±

    ¡°About six thousand.¡±

    ¡°Six thousand¡­¡± Davos pondered for a moment and then asked, ¡°How many people stayed there when the Celts captured Rome?¡±

    Despite not understanding why Davos would ask this question, Publius answered truthfully, ¡°Five hundred and thirty-two.¡±

    Davos thought briefly before looking at him and said decisively, ¡°I agree to their request to allow those Romans to descend Mons Capitolinus. However, they can only serve as official ves of the kingdom, but they must keep five hundred people to stay on the hill!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Henipolis hurriedly advised, ¡°Your Majesty, this is the scheme of those Romans! They are trying to-¡±

 Chapter 856: Marching to the Samnites Mountains

    <h4>Chapter 856: Marching to the Samnites Mountains</h4>

    ¡°I naturally understood what they were thinking,¡± Davos smiled confidently, ¡°Since they want to be heroes of Rome again, I''ll give them this opportunity to see if they can make their dreame true!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Henipolis immediately lost his worries and wished he could immediately describe this event as important material for his biography.

    Publius, on the other hand, felt aplex emotion. On the one hand, Publius felt a sense of fulfilment and relief in keeping his promise and addressing his concerns. However, on the other hand, he couldn''t help but be disheartened by Davos'' mindset and arrogance, leading him to lose hope for the struggle of the Roman remnants.

    But what the two of them didn''t know was that Davos made this decision mainly because he considered the following factors: Firstly, Mons Capitolinus is situated within the city, with as many as five to six thousand people in it. He feared that allowing them to die from starvation would risk a gue outbreak, which would pose significant problems for the Theonian army during the war and hinder the restoration of the city of Rome;

    Secondly, the tragic deaths of thousands of people within the city would be too much for Davos to bear. It could also dishearten the Romans, who had already surrendered, affecting their perception of Theonia and hindering their integration.;

    Thirdly, Davos had previously learned from Publius that the families of most of the noble soldiers under Camillus'' army were now on Mons Capitolinus. So, if he could take them, Theonia would have the advantage in dealing with the Roman army that had retreated to Satricum.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After obtaining Davos'' consent, Publius once again went up to Mons Capitolinus, and the two sides quickly reached an agreement.

    The following day, the people on the hill began to climb down, and the Roman senators also allowed a toon of Theonian soldiers to enter the hill ording to their agreement in supervising the entire process(mainly to see if the Roman senatorsplied with the agreement of leaving only five hundred people).

    The Romans who arrived at the foot of the hill were then escorted (mostly assisted) by Theonian soldiers to designated locations for imprisonment. Despite the sadness on their faces, they felt more of a relief. After all, their days of starvation had finally ended.

    The Roman plebeians also rushed to the Roman Forum to watch. And when they saw those nobilities whom they envied in the past and now looked haggard and absentminded, they felt happy while also feeling sad.

    Potitus, Maluginensis, and a group of Roman senators, as well as Roman soldiers, stood on the cliff top, watching their loved ones step into the enemy-upied city until the entire Mons Capitolinus regained its emptiness and silence; they stood still like statues for a long time¡­

    The deadly silence remained long until it was broken by the coughing of several old senators.

    The older Scipio shouted to the soldiers, ¡°Citizens, the next thing we must do is defend this ce with all our might! Defend our temple! Wait¡­wait for the arrival of our victory!¡±

    ¡°URRAH!!!¡­¡± The soldiers roared simultaneously, but there was more mncholy in their roars.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Aquilonia, one of the three major towns of the Hirpini (the other two being Beneventum and Abellinum), is located more than twenty-five kilometres northwest of Aphrodisia in the Peuceti region of the kingdom of Theonia(this is only a straight distance, but the distance would double when travelling by foot). It''s also less than twenty-five kilometres southwest of Ausculum in the Dauni region. In the past, it served as the forward base for the Hirpini tribe to invade the Apulia londs multiple times(including this time) and has also benefited through it because it has be the strongest joint tribal settlement in the southeastern part of Hirpini and a powerful barrier against the southwestern side.

    The town was built on a mountain about five hundred metres high, surrounded by a mountain range with an average height of around three hundred metres. Not to mention attacking, it would take an army a lot of effort just to reach there.

    Alexius had decided to take Aquilonia, so he naturally made some careful preparations. He drafted the light infantry and light-armoured brigade of the Eleventh Legion. Then he added two heavy infantry brigades, a light-armoured brigade, and a light infantry brigade of the Tenth Legion, as well as the engineering camp, medical camp, logistics camp, and a squad of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade, totalling over six thousand people. In addition, there were also many pack teams carrying food that could supply this army for more than ten days, and ten people from Abellinum were sent by Garni as guides.

    Once dawn broke, he led his army from Aphrodisia, headed north to the south bank of the Ofanto River, and marched upstream. Fortunately, the Samnites didn''t disturb them, which allowed for a smooth march.

    That was understandable when you think of it. It was because the Samnites had suffered massive casualties in the first two battles and were currently concentrating their main force on attacking the Campanian League, so how many young and abled people could still fight in their entire territory? Therefore, Alexius became even more confident in taking Aquilonia because of how smoothly they marched!

    After receiving a detailed briefing on the surrounding terrain from the Abellinum guide before departure, Alexius chose this location for the camp. It featured a t, open area situated approximately five kilometres due south of Aquilonia. On the northern side of thisnd, there''s a narrow lond nestled between the mountain ranges, which are also several tens of meters high. Through this, they could reach the city of Aquilonia.

    Thus, he began ordering the army to build a camp on the south bank of a bend in the river.

    The entire army immediately began to act quickly ording to the predeterminedbour division: After the engineers finished surveying the surrounding terrain and determined the area of the main camp, the soldiers used their scythes and axes to remove the weeds and trees in the area, and then levelled the ground and erected wooden fences¡­most importantly to burn straws in the marshy area along the bank to smoke away the hiding mosquitoes. Fortunately, the Ofanto River wasn''t big and rarely flooded, so the marshy area in the bend is small. However, the smoke rising from the fires would surely attract the attention of the surrounding Samnite tribes. But to ensure the soldiers were well rested, healthy, and had enough stamina and energy to cope with the gruelling battles ahead, Alexius believed that it was worth it.

    Alexius also had them lit torches around the camp to illuminate the soldiers doing manualbour at dusk.

    The soldiers also know that they are in an unfamiliar andplex location, with not only wild animals, snakes and insects in the mountains but also fierce enemies. Hence, the officers didn''t even need to urge them as they all began building the camp regardless of their fatigue because they knew that they could only have a good sleep in this dangerous mountain range by building a well-defended camp.

    The camp had taken shape by the evening, surrounded by wooden enclosures and a simple abatis set just outside. At each of the four corners of the camp, they had erected prefabricated sentry towers. Inside, a series of rectangr tents were neatly arranged. These hide-sewn tents were both sturdy and spacious, providing protection from snakes, insects, as well as the elements such as wind, frost, rain, and snow. Each tent couldfortably amodate a squad of soldiers, much like the barracks in our territory. This arrangement allowed soldiers to stay with theirrades whom they were familiar with, allowing them to rx and rest on an unfamiliar battlefield while making squad management easier for the leaders.

    Each brigade upies its designated area within the camp, with a considerable gap between one brigade''s tent area and the next. They organised the six brigades into a ring-shaped formation, encircling the central area containing the medical, engineering, and logistics camps. (Usually, due to the strong odour and noise of the animals of the logistics camp, they would often arrange them on one side of the camp. But this time, they couldn¡¯t ce them outside the camp because of the iplete and weak defence of the camp. Moreover, transporting supplies and food is difficult when fighting in the mountains, so the animals are crucial.) At the centre of the camp is themand tent, with arge brazier erected outside. The continuous burning mes allow the officers and soldiers inside the camp to find themander''s location, even in the dark.

    While the soldiers were building the camp, Alexius arranged for a centuria to fully rest so that when the entire army began to sleep, this centuria would start to stand watch, guard and patrol the camp in the dark.

    Lakares, a Messapian and the gbearer of the Triumphant Return in Thurii two years ago, was now a centurion. As the centurion on duty tonight, he put the four toons under hismand in charge of standing watch in each of the four directions of the camp: east, west, south, and north. He also instructed the four toon leaders, ¡°Be sure to keep your eyes open and observe all abnormalities outside the camp so that you can immediately report once you discover something!¡±

    After arranging the task, he personally followed the first toon to patrol the north of the camp because he knew there was a high possibility of enemies appearing in this direction.

    Late at night, when the soldiers had already fallen asleep, the outside of the camp wasn''t silent with the howling of the wolves in the mountains and forests, the croaking of the frogs by the river, the chirping of the birds in the marsh, the noises of the various insects in the grass, and the babbling sound of flowing water¡­all of those are the most beautiful melodies of nature.

    But this melody was soon broken, as the bird in the river panicked and kicked the water surface, which made the alert frog stop croaking and was reced by the noisy footsteps echoing across the river¡­

    ¡°Centurion, there are enemies!¡± A soldier from the sentry tower warned.

    ¡°Calm down, and we''ll first see how many enemies woulde!¡± Lakares said in aposed manner. He didn''t want to disrupt themander''s rest over a few enemies, which might make Alexius doubt hispetence.

 Chapter 857: The Night Assault of the Samnites

    <h4>Chapter 857: The Night Assault of the Samnites</h4>

    Before long, figures emerged within the range where the torches, mounted on the wooden enclosure of the camp, illuminated. They wore thin clothing with minimal protection and carried javelins or bows as they slowly approached the camp¡­ At a nce, there appeared to be hundreds of them, but more enemies steadily entered the torchlit area.

    Lakares could no longer continue waiting and immediately sent someone to notify themand tent.

    Alexius, who was still awake, immediately dispatched two light infantry brigades to reinforce Lakares upon receiving the report of the enemy attack.

    By the time the reinforcements assembled and rushed to the south of the camp, Lakares was alreadymanding his men to protect themselves with their long shields while firing their javelins back at the enemies with some difficulties. Many of the soldiers had javelins struck in their long shields.

    Due to theck of time, the army couldn''t dig trenches or build earthen walls, so they only had a simple wooden enclosure as a deterrent, which couldn''t provide a strong defence. Once the Samnites approached within a twenty-meter range of the camp and both sides initiated medium and long-range attacks, the legions lost their defensive advantage. In contrast, the Samnites, with theirrge numbers, overwhelmed Lakares and his men with javelins. Meanwhile, the Samnite archers at the rear seized the opportunity tounch ming arrows into the camp.

    Per Theonia''s Code of Military, they must construct field camps in ordance with the requirement that the tent area should be more than twenty metres away from the perimeter of the wall, as it ensures the smooth passage for the soldiers during defence and prevents the enemy''s long-range attack from easily reaching them.

    But with the camp having no walls, Alexius decided to increase the distance between the tent area and the wooden enclosure to thirty metres. Unfortunately, the Samnite archers had gotten too close to the wooden enclosure, allowing the ming arrows to reach and ignite several tents, leading to some chaos in the camp and the soldiers needing to put out the fires immediately.

    Fortunately, the arrival of two thousand Theonian light infantry led to the situation changing quickly, forcing the Samnites to retreat some distance with dozens of casualties. Still, the enemy didn''t leave and instead went around the Theonian camp, making strange noises, asionally attacking the lookout with javelins or firing ming arrows into the camp, causing unrest throughout the night.

    Yet the Samnites suddenly disappeared the following day without a trace.

    The legion soldiers, who were alert throughout the night, couldn''t rest well. But Alexius still ordered all soldiers to continue building the campsite and ensure they could dig a trench, build a sturdy earthen wall, and set up a few more sentry towers before dusk¡­ At the same time, the senior centurions would arrange for the soldiers to take a reasonable rest so that they would have plenty of energy.

    Umateseus expressed his doubts about that order, ¡°Lord Commander, why don''t we go and take Aquilonia immediately? Dying here for one more day would just consume a day''s rations while also giving the people of Aquilonia more time to prepare their defence, resulting in our difficulties increasing¡­¡±

    ¡°Our attack won''t get affected that much even if we give them one more day to prepare.¡± Alexius gazed across the vast mountains on the opposite bank of the Ofanto River, with his eyes glistening, ¡°I am more concerned about the condition of our soldiers who hade from the Apulian region than attack hastily. Despite having trained in mountain warfare in the military camp, they have never had the experience of staying in a mountain range, so they needed more time to adapt and maintain their stamina and energy to cope with the gruelling battles we may encounter.¡±

    ¡°Gruelling battle¡­¡± Umateseus pondered over this ambiguous sentence.

    At dusk, with the joint efforts of more than six thousand soldiers, they managed to build a three-metre-high earthen wall and trenches outside the camp. Thus, although the Samnites still attacked the camp that night, their threat was almost negligible, which allowed the soldiers to sleep rtively peacefully.

    After dawn, Alexius left five hundred heavy infantry in the camp while leading the five thousand five hundred soldiers, some auxiliary personnel, and five days'' ration to cross the Ofanto River and head towards Aquilonia.

    While marching through the londs nestled between the mountains, it became evident that this so-called "lond" was not particrly low. As they ventured farther north, the terrain steadily rose. As the soldiers trudged between the rugged mountains, all they could see was the narrow blue sky cut off by the mountains on either side.

    To prevent the Samnites'' ambush, Alexius sent out all hundred soldiers from the Mountain Reconnaissance to travel on both sides of the mountain ranges to scout the surrounding area for anomalies.

    Except for the one thousand five hundred heavy infantry, who were not wearing armour and were instead burdened with clearing the way, the rest of the soldiers were all fully armed. Even then, most of them were huffing and puffing before they were even halfway through the journey.

    Fortunately, this mountain path wasn''t neglected. On the contrary, the people of Aquilonia often use it to go fishing, bathing, fetching water, and herding their livestock into the river bend¡­ Thus, they almost didn''t encounter headache-inducing thorny bushes or rocks blocking the mountain path.

    Although it was already the sixth month and the temperature started to rise, they didn''t feel hot marching here in the mountains. On the contrary, the further they go, the colder it bes. But for the soldiers of Peuceti and Dauni who had grown up in the ins of Apulia, this section of the march through the mountains made them feel like they were suffering, with the high, low, and winding mountain paths forced them to walk carefully and were very physically demanding. In addition, the mosquito bites and the constant scraping of trees and weeds on their skins soon made them feel itchy¡­as a result, the soldiers beganining.

    Lakares, on the other hand, kept moving forward with great concentration as he held the anger in his heart. During the Samnites'' night assault, five of his men had died, twelve wounded, and several tents burned¡­ Because of that, he med himself for calling for reinforcementste, leading to a terrible result. In the previous two battles in Ausculum and Aphrodisia, where the Theonian army easily won huge victories, he had gotten the illusion that the Samnites were easy to deal with.

    However, during the Samnites'' attack, their heavy javelins struck with both force and uracy. Sometimes, when these javelins hit the long shields head-on, they could even prate them, resulting in significant casualties among the soldiers. Even though Alexius hadn''t criticised him for it, Lakares was determined to capture Aquilonia and avenge his brothers!

    So, along the way, he constantly cheered up the soldiers, motivating them to press onward. Whenever he noticed some soldiersgging behind due to exhaustion, he would proactively assist them in carrying their armour.

    Despite the proximity of Theonia''s newly constructed camp, only five kilometres from Aquilonia, it took the Theonian army nearly four hours to traverse the narrow londs and reach a small, semi-circr valley.: One of the mountains on the eastern side of the range was shorter and had a gentle slope towards the west, and unlike the heavily wooded and lush mountains, its slope had only a few trees, yet there were a few houses scattered about and dozen of sheep grazingzily on the mountain.

    Some sharp-eyed soldiers could even vaguely see a wooden wall atop the mountain, which was the city of Aquilonia. Although the mountain was shorter and not steep enoughpared to the other mountains, it was still several hundred metres high! The soldiers became scared just by looking at its height, not to mention the fact that they had to attack Aquilonia.

    Alexius first looked at the mountain where Aquilonia was located for a while and then carefully observed the valley.

    Then, an engineer approached and informed him that despite gravel mixed with the valley''s soil, the ground was still somewhat soft.

    ¡°Then let''s build a camp,¡± Alexius spoke lightly.

    Once themand was conveyed to the entire army, they could hear the sound ofmentation of the soldiers rising one after another.

    Fortunately, the soldiers were allowed to eat their dry ration and take a break to replenish their consumed strength during the march before building the camp. Then, under the officers'' orders, they reluctantly picked up their tools and began digging the ground.

    Suddenly, the leader of the Mountain Reconnaissance Squad ran panting to Alexius and said, ¡°Commander, our scouts saw thousands of Samnites rushing towards here from the west on the mountain!¡±

    Rather than getting shocked from hearing the report, Alexius appeared somewhat relieved. He then calmly asked, ¡°How many are there? How far are they from here?¡±

    ¡°Due to the cover of the mountains, we could not see the enemy''s entire number clearly. However, we estimated that¡­they have no less than five thousand men. And whileing over here, the enemy was at least two kilometres away from here,¡± the reconnaissance captain replied.

    Alexius turned his gaze to the western part of the valley. There, the mountains were not only rtively low and easy to climb but also had a mountain path leading westward through the mountain range.

    ¡°Lord Commander!¡± Adjutant Umateseus reminded, ¡°We will be attacked on two sides once the enemy reinforcements arrive! So we should immediately withdraw to the camp to avoid fighting an equal number of Samnites in the mountains!¡±

    ¡°It seems they really have hidden an army in the mountains to lure us in!¡± Alexius smiled coldly. He then asked his adjutant, ¡°Umateseus, do you know what I''ve been discussing with Xanticles, Polet, Garni and the others for these days?¡±

    A sh appeared in Umateseus'' mind, and he eximed, ¡°Could it be-¡±

    ¡°Immediately notify the soldiers to stop building the camp, put on their armour, pick up their weapons and prepare for battle!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Samnites had decided jointly to abandon attacking the Dauni region and instead attack the Campanian League not only to avoid the strong and attack the weak but also to continue causing trouble for Theonia. At the same time, the several tribal chieftains deeply realised that they could no longer fight against the Theonian army on the ins, even if it were just to create disturbance. Instead, they should use the Samnites'' advantage to fight the enemy in the mountains.

    Unfortunately, the Theonian army was so cautious that they never marched into the mountains. Therefore, after a discussion, they decided to attack Campania on a massive scale. At the same time, they also wanted to achieve another purpose: To give the Theonian army in Dauni the illusion that their main force was in Campania and that they had left the mountains'' defence empty so that they could lure the Theonian army into the mountains.

 Chapter 858: Surrounded

    <h4>Chapter 858: Surrounded</h4>

    The Aquilonian scouts discovered Alexius and his army as soon as they stepped into the mountains. Afterwards, they immediately dispatched their warriors, who were best at running long distances in the mountains to the northwest towards Caudim, which was more than fifty kilometres away.

    Hidden within the Caudini''s territory were seven thousand tribal warriors from various Samnite tribes. Theirmander was none other than the great chieftain of the Caudini, Usebek. Upon receiving the report yesterday afternoon, he rejoiced, seeing the opportunity to avenge his shame hade.

    The messenger of Aquilonian anxiously kept urging him as there were only over two hundred warriors in Aquilonia, and they might not be able to hold on for long, even with the terrain being dangerous. Thus, Usebek quickly gathered these seven thousand warriors and rushed to rescue Aquilonia. They finally arrived near Aquilonia¡¯s territory by noon today.

    As the warriors led by Usebek came from various tribes within the four major Samnite tribes, each group was led by their respective chieftain. Because of that, the army gradually became scattered during the march, with the distance between the tail and head stretching over a hundred and fifty kilometres. By the time Usebek and his men, who were in the centre, had climbed the hill, those warriors at the front had rushed down towards the valley and attacked the Theonian army.

    Despite seeing the situation, Usebek knew he couldn''t stop them and simply let them go while ordering his men to slow down their march, waiting for the warriors behind to arrive while paying attention to the situation in front.

    The primary attackers targeting the Theonian army wereprised of over a thousand Hirpini warriors, most of whom were javelin throwers. Having suffered significant losses in the ongoing war, these warriors harboured both intense hatred and fear towards the Theonians. As they descended from the mountainside, they not only slowed their advance but also dispersed their ranks, taking advantage of the natural terrain, including the undting mountains and the cover of trees, to approach the Theonian army like a lynx stalking its prey.

    The Theonian army was currently upying a higher position within the valley. Their arrangement consisted of one thousand five hundred heavy infantry soldiers in a semi-circr formation, each crouching behind their shields. Just behind them stood a thousand archers, hailing from two light infantry brigades, drawing their bows and closely monitoring the approaching enemy. Following the archers were another thousand peltasts. Furthermore, the thousand light-armoured soldiers linked up with the heavy infantry formation, making the entire military formation an oval shape, creating a defensive line to guard against potential threats from Aquilonia. The remaining thousand light-armoured soldiers were scattered in the open space in the middle of this oval formation.

    Alexius stood upon a rock, his gaze piercing through the soldiers before him as he watched the approaching enemy. What he saw caused him to furrow his brow. Most of the Samnite warriors had alreadye within range of the archers. However, they cleverly dispersed in small groups of twos and threes within a half-kilometre distance, and by taking advantage of the natural cover provided by mounds, rocks, and trees, the Theonian archers hesitated to unleash a rapid volley of arrows, knowing that their effectiveness would be significantly diminished under these circumstances.

    ¡°Notify the senior centurions of the two light infantry brigades,¡± Alexius ordered with uncertainty in his tone, ¡°Tell them to permit the soldiers to exercise discretion when firing, but emphasise the need for caution and conservation of arrows and javelins¡­because today''s battle mayst long.¡±

    Upon receiving the orders from the senior centurions of the two light infantry brigades, the archers, who had be more focused on getting autonomy, raised their bows and pointed in front of them. Regrettably, they are unsure if they could hit the hidden enemies, causing them to refrain from shooting.

    The Samnite warriors didn''t press forward as the Theonian soldiers cleared the area thirty to forty meters in front of their formations, shing through overgrown weeds and felling trees. Despite leaving a fewrge trees and rocks due to time constraints, the overall field of view had significantly expanded. Moreover, with the Theonians looking at them from above, advancing further would only increase the risk of getting targeted and shot.

    As both sides suddenly fell into an impasse, the atmosphere became increasingly tense.

    ¡°Captain, why aren''t they attacking?¡± A heavy infantry soldier turned around and asked Lakares who was behind him.

    ¡°Be patient!¡± Lakares whispered, ¡°Focused! Hide your body and hold your shield firmly!¡±

    The attack two nights ago had demonstrated the formidable power of the Samnites'' heavy javelins to Alexius and his officers. Thus, they decided for the soldiers to wedge the lower end of their long shields into the ground when defending, pull down the arm straps on the inner side using both hands, squat on their sides, and make sure to keep their bodies as far away from the long shield as possible. This strategy aimed to minimise the damage inflicted by the Samnites'' heavy javelins prating the long shield.

    ¡°I know, I know¡­ Captain, you already said that multiple times,¡± The soldier replied.

    ¡°Pay attention! The enemy ising!¡± Lakares said seriously.

    The soldier hurriedly turned around, popped his head above the long shield to look at the enemy, and saw those small red dots dotting the green field begin to move in the direction of the army formation.

    Whenever the soldiers of the Theonian legion engaged in military training, the first part almost always involved standing in formation on the training ground, maintainingplete silence and motionless for a minimum of half an hour. It was evident that the Samnite warriors had not been trained in this discipline, as only ten minutes had psed since they attempted to stand still before some of them sumbed to the pressure. They began to emerge from their cover and advance further (since the range of the heavy javelins was only thirty meters). This, in turn, led other warriors to follow suit.

    Immediately after, the Theonian archers began shooting at the enemy they had targeted.

    The Samnite warriors held a small round wooden shield over their heads with their left hand and a javelin in their right, their bare feet stepping on the uneven grassy terrain. Despite the uneven ground, they could still swiftly run a zig-zag pattern, trying to get close to the enemy line quickly.

    But Theonia''s continuous firing of arrows posed a significant obstacle to the advancing Samnite warriors, whose wooden shields were too small, and their bodies were virtually unprotected. If they were to evade the arrows, as long as they stopped for a moment, there was a possibility for several arrows to be fired from several directions simultaneously, resulting in them being unable to evade.

    In a short time, several Samnite warriors fell at the fifty-to-thirty-metre mark, and when they stepped into the thirty-metre mark, they were met not with arrows but with javelins. Their thin wooden shields were no match for the powerful spear, which shattered the shields directly.

    Some Samnite warriors narrowly dodged the arrows and javelins and hastilyunched their own javelins. Unfortunately, most of them were deflected by the enemies'' shields, while a few managed to slip through, resulting in a few screams. However, these losses were rtively minorpared to the Samnites'' casualties.

    As a result, the Samnites'' morale was significantly damaged and caused their momentum to weaken. At that exact moment, the Samnite¡¯s side sounded the retreat, and the Samnite warriors, who had weakened morale due to the groans of theirpanions'' wounds, quickly retreated fifty metres away from the Theonian formation.

    But they didn''t leave any further. Instead, they looked fiercely at the Theonian soldiers as if ready tounch another attack at any time, which made the Theonian officer dare not order the soldiers to retrieve the arrows and javelins.

    When Usebek arrived with the troops from behind and joined with the forward forces, the chieftains of the mixed army actively gathered around Usebek because of the losses they suffered from the attack just now.

    ¡°The Theonians are in too open a space, and we cannot attack them directly like this. Otherwise, we will suffer greater losses!¡±

    ¡°Don''t attack? What about my wounded people?! They are still lying in front of the Theonians, waiting for our rescue!¡±

    ¡°I think we might as well go around the rear of the enemy''s formation and attack from there.¡±

    ¡°That won''t do! They could also move their light infantry to the nk to stop our attack.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Despite the various chieftains arguing, Usebek didn''t stop them and just quietly watched until everyone became red-faced from anger and unable toe up with a unanimous opinion.

    An elderly chieftain of the Hirpini couldn''t help but ask, ¡°Usebek, you are themander of this entire army appointed by the great chieftains. Can you give us some suggestions? What should we do?!¡±

    His words temporarily stopped the chieftains from continuing arguing and focused their attention on Usebek.

    Only now did Usebek speak with a straight face, ¡°Chieftains, the Theonians hold a favourable position and have established a defensive formation. If we rush in and attack, even if we ovee them eventually, our losses will be substantial. This war with Theonia has persisted, and many of our ns and tribes have already suffered heavy casualties. We cannot allow our courageous warriors to suffer anymore.¡±

    ¡°Usebek is right!¡±

    ¡°That''s right, my arse! There''s no such thing as a battle where there are no casualties! Did we bring our people here just to see the Theonians go?!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Usebek immediately spoke after seeing the chieftains were about to argue again, ¡°By allowing the Theonians to retreat, they would leave their advantageous position and would no longer be able to maintain their current formation. Then, we would continue attacking them while they withdrew, using the mountain paths and terrain to our advantage until we finally defeated them! That is the kind of warfare we are ustomed to! And we definitely must not let them escape after finally luring them into the mountains to fight us on the terrain we are familiar with!¡±

    ¡°But what should we do if the Theonians don''t retreat?¡± As soon as this chieftain said that, the other chieftains said mockingly, ¡°Where would they rest at night if they don''t retreat? With us watching, they wouldn''t dare to build a camp here.¡±

 Chapter 859: Counter Encirclement

    <h4>Chapter 859: Counter Encirclement</h4>

    ¡°Usebek is right! This is our mountain, and when night falls, we be the wolves, with the Theonians as our prey!¡±

    ¡°That''s right! Let''s go with that!¡±

    The chieftains expressed their approval and finally agreed.

    Fifty metres from the Theonian formation, the nearly seven thousand Samnite warriors began surrounding Theonia''s west and north sides in a highly loose formation, with some warriors even lying in the grass.

    Observing the situation from within the formation, Alexius didn''t let the soldiersunch a surprise attack because he knew that once the soldiers charged, these seemingly idling Samnites would dart away like rabbits to lure the soldiers into the mountains and be a disaster.

    So, with a distance of tens of metres separating the two sides, time trickled away.

    While the Samnites were fearless, the Theonian soldiers grew increasingly anxious as they were in an unfamiliarnd.

    Despite each senior centurion asking Alexius repeatedly whether they should retreat, Alexius only rejected them firmly.

    Adjutant Umateseus, who was beside him, couldn''t help but say, ¡°Lord Commander, this is the first time we''ve cooperated with the people of Abellinum¡­ I think-¡±

    ¡°I don''t trust them,¡± Alexius interrupted him before continuing, ¡°But I trust Polet more, and the thing that reassures me most is that with Xanticles around, he will definitely do his best to carry it out as he had already agreed to this n!¡±

    Umateseus remained silent, understanding the reasoning behind Alexius''s words. Their shared experience in the South Italian War, where Alexius had fought alongside Polet, yed a significant role. Meanwhile, Alexius and Xanticles had served as mercenaries during the expedition to Persia, forging a deep bond throughbat and fostering a high level of mutual trust.

    But as the sun in the sky gradually shifted west, the expression on Alexius'' face became increasingly serious as the surroundings remained calm¡­

    Eventually, he ordered Umateseus, ¡°Quickly call those people from Abellinum!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Samnite chieftains became confused when they saw the Theonian army remaining still.

    ¡°Could it be that these Theonians aren''t worried about having nowhere to sleep after it got dark?¡± Usebek muttered.

    ¡°The Theonians might be under the impression that we''ll retreat before nightfall, so they arepeting with us who is more patient.¡± One of the chieftains sneered.

    ¡°I, on the other hand, believe they are waiting for reinforcements from their army by the riverbend. However, even if many more Theonians arrive, nightfall is approaching, and they will simply be our prey.¡± Another chieftain said confidently.

    ¡®Reinforcements?¡¯ Usebek became startled and quickly asked the chieftain of the Hirpini, ¡°Is there something unusual going on in Abellinum?¡±

    ¡°Unusual? They are the same as usual. As soon as they saw our tribesmen herding their livestock near their territory, they would send a group of warriors to stand on the border and threaten us. But once our warriors rushed over there, these cowards would run away¡­ If we weren''t fighting a war with Theonia, we would have asked the great chieftain Lesguk to lead us to beat them!¡± A chieftain from Beneventum said with disdain.

    But another Hirpini chieftain noticed what Usebek meant and said, ¡°Do you suspect Abellinum had defected to Theonia?! You don''t have to worry since even if he is a bastard, he won''t throw his weapon at his kinsmen. Furthermore, he also made an oath in the name of Savoni in front of the High Priest, so it''s impossible for him to break it! Besides, great chieftain Lesguk sent scouts to watch Abellinum from outside daily. So even if there were anything unusual, those people would have alreadye to inform us by now.¡±

    ¡°Usebek is right. We, the Hirpini tribe, won''t kill each other even if we are in conflict.¡± Several Hirpini chieftains agreed to his words, with another chieftain even saying sympathetically, ¡°To be honest, the great chieftain was a bit too harsh on Abellinum that it really wasn''t easy for Garni all these years.¡±

    The chieftain of Beneventum''s expression soured, while Usebek became gloomy, suspecting that these Hirpini chieftains were secretly ridiculing the n of the great chieftain of Caudini, Segobani, to lure and eliminate Kinduk and conquer Nuceria.

    Silence suddenly descended, and the chieftains of the other two tribes saw Usebek''s face turn ugly and were about to say something to defuse the awkward mood.

    But a scout suddenly came rushing down from the western mountain range, saying, ¡°Everyone¡­chieftains, terrible news!¡­to the south¡­an army appeared, with many warriors rushing towards here!¡±

    The chieftains became shocked hearing that.

    ¡°Where did the armye from?!¡± Usebek hurriedly asked. It was because the scout didn''t point to the riverbend but to its west, to the southwest of this mountain range, where, as far as he knew, there were no tribes or towns there.

    ¡°I¡­don''t know, they wore neither red(the Samnites often wear red upper clothing) nor pure ck, but ck and yellow.¡± The scout said unconfidently, as he had just seen them from a distance on the mountain and had hurriedly reported instead of going closer to investigate carefully.

    ¡°ck and yellow?¡­¡± a Hirpini chieftain suddenly said, ¡°Could they be the Potentians?¡±

    Everyone became shocked again from hearing that, as they all knew there was a nt in the Lucanian region that could make yellow dyes, so in the past, the Lucanian warriors mostly fought in yellow attire. Could it be them?

    After the South-Italian War, the Potentians didn''t participate in any battles. Thus, the Samnite chieftains'' impression of Potentia remained the same more than a decade ago when they had gone to plunder the Potentian''s territory and almost wiped them out.

    ¡®The situation became pressing!¡¯ Usebek had no time to figure out where this army hade from; all he knew was that they could never be an army of a Samnite tribe.

    ¡®What should we do now?! Should we retreat quickly?!¡¯ Worried, Usebek looked at the panicking chieftains and then at the encircled Theonian army in front, realising that he had to decide quickly.

    But before he could decide, a loud military salpinx sounded in the southwest, followed by a powerful horn sound in the northwest.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°¡­My Lord, it is impossible for our scouts to miss such arge-scale military deployment. I am sure that chieftain Garni will join up with the Potentians and head this way,¡± The Abellinum guide, dressed in Theonian attire, struggled to exin the situation to Alexius when he suddenly heard the sound of a military salpinx from the west followed by the sound of a horn, which made his face filled with joy, ¡°They areing! Our warriors areing!¡­¡±

    Alexius no longer listened to him after hearing the sound of the horn. Instead, he immediately told Umateseus, ¡°Quickly order the light-armoured soldiers to attack! And have the other brigades follow behind!¡±

    Umateseus became surprised and said, ¡°Commander, our reinforcements haven''t yet arrived. Shouldn''t we wait a little longer?¡±

    ¡°The enemy will run if we wait any longer!¡± Alexius said without hesitation.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Samnite chieftains quickly realised that they had fallen into the Theonians'' trap by the time the horn sounded. They knew they had to retreat as one due to their vast numbers; otherwise, they would easily turn the retreat into a rout. However, the direction of the retreat posed a dilemma: the Theonian army was to the east, while arge enemy force approached from the northwest and southwest. With steep and impassable mountains to the north, the south seemed the only safer option. But the issue was that the southern path led to the Ofanto River, and they had no way of knowing if the Theonians had set an ambush there.

    The chieftains recognised the situation''s urgency and swiftly agreed to force a retreat towards the west before the enemy reinforcements could arrive.

    Just as the chieftains prepared to return to their ranks, the Theonians'' shield formation suddenly opened numerous gaps to allow two thousand light-armoured soldiers to rush. They brandished leather shields and short swords,unching an attack on the Samnite warriors.

    The standoff between both sidessted for over three hours, yet Theonia''s steadfast defensive stance gradually eroded the spirit of the Samnite warriors. Many were already lying on the ground and only rose to their feet when they heard the distant horn from the west. But before they could stretch their bodies, they witnessed Theonian soldiers on the opposite side charging at them like ravenous beasts. The distance of just over fifty metres was too short, and many Samnite warriors, who had been at ease for quite some time, found themselves without time to retreat as the Theonain soldiers closed in on them.

    Finally, Alexius had the buglers sound the attack.

    The assault of the Theonian light-armoured soldiers disrupted the already loose formation of the Samnite army, with some warriors retreating and others going to fight the Theonian soldiers, resulting in the whole ce bing chaotic.

    Usebek originally wanted to wait for the chieftains to reorganise their troops before retreating. But, out of helplessness, he had to order to sound the retreat.

    At the sound of the horn, all the remaining fighting spirits of the Samnite warriors dissipated.

    ¡°Run west! Follow me and run west!¡­¡± The chieftains frantically shouted, leading the surrounding warriors to retreat towards the mountains behind them. They aimed to exploit the Theonian soldiers'' shorings in mountainous terrain, hoping to evade the enemy''s pursuit.

 Chapter 860: Victory in Aquilonia

    <h4>Chapter 860: Victory in Aquilonia</h4>

    Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

    Seeing the Samnite army retreating fully, the Theonian light infantry, which was the second line of attack, also took the initiative to break away from the heavy infantries'' protection and strode forward, soon catching up with the light-armoured soldiers, and at the same time, gradually expanded the pursuing to the east.

    After issuing themand, Polet remembered Xanticles, who was beside him, and immediately, with a sense of apology, asked, ¡°Lord Xanticles, what do you think?¡±

    A few hundred metres away, they could see an army wearing ck and red climbing the mountain.

    He immediately ordered the buglers to continue sounding the attack and instructed his subordinates to urge the warriors to increase their pace in climbing the mountains.

    As they rapidly ascended the mountain, Polet heeded Xanticles'' suggestion to fan out the troops in the rear towards the north to minimise the gap between them and the forces from Abellinum.

    The warriors cheered up immediately, knowing they weren''t far from the enemy.

    Not only are the Potentians doing this, but also the people of Abellinum.

    After more than ten minutes, the shouting became clearer, mixed with the continuous screams and the ttering of branches and leaves¡­ Though the thick trees blocked their vision, the Lucanians knew the enemy had already crossed the ridge and headed towards them.

    Generally, you are at a disadvantage when you are in a lower position while fighting in a mountainous terrain. However, with the Samnite army in the middle of a rout, those routed warriors at the front slipped and slid downhill. Perhaps they were pushed and shoved during the retreat, or they thought they could escape faster in this way. But when they saw the enemies ahead, these warriors who got bloodied and wounded from having their bodies scraped by thorny branches had their spirits shaken and were too weak to stand and could only scream in terror, ¡°Enemy! There are enemies!¡­¡±

    And then a muchrger number of routed warriors appeared. The fleeing Samnite warriors running at the front would asionally hold onto trees while running straight down to control their speed so they wouldn¡¯t fall or slip. As a result, they often didn''t have their weapons, either losing their shields or javelins.

    On Abellinum''s side, Garni and the Abellinum warriors had mixed feelings when they saw their kinsmen fleeing down from the mountaintops in panic. But he knew that the Samnites had suffered consecutive defeats since the beginning of the war between Samnite and Theonia. Coupled with today''s loss, the final defeat of the entire Samnite Tribal Alliance was inevitable, and only by following Theonia closely could Abellinum gain a new life after the war ended. Therefore, Garni only hesitated momentarily before issuing the order to attack.

    ¡°Damn it, it''s the people from Abellinum!¡±

    ¡°People of Abellinum, we all belong to the Hirpini tribe. For the sake of being of the same race, please let us go!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Samnite army shed with the people of Abellinum and Potentia, who had intercepted them. At first, they sessfully pushed back the opposing defensive line by utilising the terrain to their advantage and their desperate desire to escape.

    What''s more, the routed warriors were disorganised, ill-equipped and uncoordinated. After their bout of fierce attacks not working, some of the routed warriors began retreating. After all, although they used their advantage in mountain climbing to leave behind the pursuing Theonians, they were now intercepted by another group of enemies. Once the Theonians arrived, they were sandwiched on both sides and had no way to escape, so some of the routed warriors gave up going through the front and instead ran towards the nk, attempting to bypass the enemy''s interception.

    The three armies, consisting of Theonia, Potentia, and Abellinum, went to pursue the enemy simultaneously¡­

    In the joyful atmosphere of victory, Xanticles, Polet and Garni met with Alexius, who had remained in the valley.

    ¡°We encountered some problems while on the way here. But despiteing a bitte, it didn''t affect our victory,¡± Xanticlesughed.

    After Abellinum joined Theonia, the Ministry of Military approved Alexius'' n to take down Aquilonia, the nail in the waist of Peuceti and Dauni, so that the regions of Abellinum, Compsa and Aquilonia would be linked together, which would make the entire southern region of Hirpinie under Theonia, which would relieve the pressure on the kingdom''s northern border.

    Thus, aftermunicating with Alexius through letters, he formed a new strategy: Alexius would still lead the troops from the east into the mountains and attack Aquilonia. If the Samnites couldn''t send reinforcements, they would take Aquilonia. But if the Samnites hid a few thousand warriors and prepared to lure the Theonian army to fight in the mountains, they would use their backup n.

    The great chieftain of Potentia, Polet, reacted positively to the joint attack on the Samnite mountains, prompting him to gather twelve thousand warriors. As for Garni, if it were in the past, he might have hesitated. But the event of how the Samnite alliance lured the chieftain of Nuceria, Kinduk, to murder him and upy Nuceria had already reached Abellinum. After all, Abellinum bordered Beneventum under the rule of Lesguk in the north, while they bordered a part of Nuceria''s territory to the west and Theonia''s territory to the south(they are especially close to Compsa). So, the Samnite Alliance''s bloody approach that broke tradition made him highly vignt and fearful, making him determined to follow Theonia to fight against the Samnite Tribal Alliance.

 Chapter 861: Marching West

    <h4>Chapter 861: Marching West</h4>

    Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

    Compsa is situated atop the Ofanto River, south of Lake Conza. In contrast to the rtively t terrain around Compsa and Lake Conza, the upper reaches of the Ofanto River had a somewhat unusual topography with high mountains on the northern bank to the east is high and difficult to climb, while the southern bank is more gentle, which is why the Samnite Tribal Alliance forces gathered in the Compsa area during the South-Italian War to invade Potentia.

    It was only the following morning that Xanticles, Polet, and Garni, who were carefully observing the enemy''s movement, received a report from the scout: Six to seven thousand Samnite warriors appeared in the mountains to the north and marched southeast.

    With Compsa being more than fifteen kilometres away from the riverbend, the army only arrived to the west of the riverbend after more than four hours of marching. Seeing the terrain on the northern bank be more level, Garni made a suggestion just as Xanticles was about to order his army to cross the Ofanto River and move towards the northern bank.

    Polet expressed his opposition without exining his reason and only winked at Xanticles. He didn''t trust the Abellinum people to be left alone, afraid they would go and tell the enemy.

    Half an hour after the Abellinum army''s departure, the Potentian army began crossing the river¡­

    Alexius'' expression eased up a little after listening to the trio''s exnation; after all, the battle''s final result proved that their actions were correct. Thus, after looking at the sky, he said, ¡°We should immediately lead the army back to the camp to the south as it would soon be dusk so that the soldiers could rest after fighting the whole day.¡±

    Xanticles was staring at the mountains to the east when he suddenly asked, ¡°What''s your n for tomorrow? Take Aquilonia first? But it seems it wouldn''t be easy to attack it.¡±

    After observing that Aquilonia showed no signs of movement even after the Samnite army arrived and surrounded the Theonian army, giving them the opportunity to encircle them, Alexius concluded that Aquilonia didn''t have many defenders.

    Xanticles naturally agreed, with only Garni being lost in his thoughts.

    Garni hurriedly exined aftering back to his senses, ¡°I was wondering if I could persuade Aquilonia to surrender because we have captured a few people from Aquilonia from the previously captured Hirpini warriors(because of its proximity to Dauni and Peuceti; they naturally contributed the most during the previous attack on Dauni). Moreover, they''ve once again witnessed the Samnite army''s defeat¡­I know the chieftain of Aquilonia, and he''s an old man who doesn''t care about friendship but only about strength-¡±

    ¡°In the current situation, there is a high possibility for the people of Aquilonia to surrender,¡±

    This wasn''t Alexius acting on his own initiative. In fact, after the Ministry of Military briefed the five rotating speakers on the attack n, they seriously considered the issue of ¡®What if some Samnite towns seek to surrender to the kingdom?¡¯ Understanding that most of the towns in the Samnite mountains had poor environmental conditions and limited output, they decided to allow the Samnites to manage their own affairs rather than drain the kingdom''s resources by directly incorporating them. For example, Aquilonia, due to its high altitude, limited transportation options, and only relying on herding for its livelihood, had made most of the Theonian statesmen and officials hesitant to take up positions as Aquilonia''s praetor and civil servants.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Polet stopped him and said, ¡°I suggest to bring this with you when persuading the Aquilonians!¡±

    Upon closer inspection, Garni couldn''t help but gasp for breath. He recognised the deceased; it was Usebek, the chieftain of the Caudini tribe. Usebek had held a high reputation among the Caudini and was a strong contender for the position of Caudini''s great chieftain. However, he had voluntarily withdrawn from thepetition against Segobani.

    Alexius immediately spoke while Garni remained silent, ¡°I think this is a great idea.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Alexius felt overjoyed and immediatelyforted the Aquilonians with good words, promising that Theonia would soon release the previously captured Aquilonian warriors once they arrived in Thurii.

    And thus, they passed the evening uneventful.

    Here, Alexius dispatched two thousand soldiers to escort the captives while bringing the Aquilonian hostages back to Thurii. In addition, he also discussed the supply and transportation of military rations with the praetor of Compsa, Kesima.

    In the afternoon, the Theonian joint army left Compsa, bypassed Lake Conza, marched northwest and entered Abellinum by dusk.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

 Chapter 862: The Samnite Tribal Alliances Decision

    <h4>Chapter 862: The Samnite Tribal Alliances Decision</h4>

    Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

    Segobani cursed angrily, his eyes turning red. He and Usebek were of simr age, and their tribal territories were adjacent, so they had yed together since they were young, forming a deep friendship. This friendship was why Usebek had given uppeting for the position of great chieftain when the previous Caudini great chieftain passed away. Instead, Usebek wholeheartedly supported Segobani, which allowed Segobani to defeat Kinduk and be the new great chieftain of the Caudini. Later, when the Theonians captured Segobani, it was Usebek, along with other chieftains, who resisted Kinduk''s pressure to appoint a new chieftain and took the initiative to cooperate with the great chieftain of the other major Samnite tribes, eventually securing his release.

    ¡°Lesguk, it''s hard to me Segobani for being upset with you. Even after your decade-long tension with Garni, you failed to raise your vignce against him, which led to you failing to detect the sign of Abellinum''s rebellion in a timely manner. You bear significant responsibility for this failure!¡± Pentri''s great chieftain, Badani, also voiced his criticism. Despite his reservations about going to war with Theonia, it was Lesguk who convinced them, leading to a series of losses for the Samnite Tribal Alliance and significant casualties for Pentri. Consequently, Badani''s dissatisfaction with Lesguk continues to grow.

    ¡°Our homnd is now threatened with Theonia''s massive army already entering the Samnite mountains. Thus, we must immediately prevent the enemy from encroaching on ournd further and protect our territory and people!¡± Konteruk reminded them.

    The Samnite Tribal alliance had acklustre sieging capability that, if it weren''t for their previous n to lure the enemy, they would have already withdrawn. Now that their n to lure and encircle the enemy had failed, the other three no longer had objections to withdrawing.

    ¡°Lesguk, do you have any suggestions?¡± Konteruk asked him since the Theonian army was operating within the Hirpini territory, and Lesguk was more familiar with the situation there.

    Of course, he won''t say these words out loud.

    Lesguk then looked at Segobani after saying that. He believed that even as he mourned the death of his dear friend in battle, the great chieftain of Caudini should have realised how much of a threat losing Beneventum would be to Caudium. After all, the two towns were next to each other, with only over a five-kilometre distance. Furthermore, Caudini is located on a small in in the middle of a mountain range, so the terrain there wasn''t dangerous; thus, he believed that Segobani would ultimately support him.

    Hence, Konteruk also expressed his concern.

    ¡°Lesguk is right, so I agree to withdraw to Beneventum!¡± Segobani loudly expressed his support,pletely setting aside his previous grief and anger when he cursed Lesguk.

    As the four discuss the matter of withdrawal, Badani couldn''t help but say, ¡°Actually¡­we can consider having a truce with Theonia¡­¡±

    However, Lesguk first spoke against it, "We had torn up our agreement, dered war on Theonia, invaded the Dauni region, and plundered the Campanian League, all of which are a serious offence to the Theonians. So, there is no way for the rigid Theonian king to ever make peace with us, especially since he wished he could eliminate us, who constantly caused trouble for him. Therefore, we can only continue fighting until there is a change in the situation.¡±

    ¡°Change? What changed?¡± Badani asked with a gloomy expression.

    But he would not say this reason and instead found a much better exnation, ¡°Badani, don''t be a fool! Think of Taranto, who had torn up their agreement and fought Theonia! They surrendered to Theonia after the South-Italian War and became that whatever free city. But this resulted in their territories getting divided, their inability to even own their army, and their citizens being kept in captivity like livestock! Do you want us, the Samnites, to be the second Taranto?! Even if we want to make peace, we have to create more trouble for Theonia and force them to be the ones to initiate the peace talks for us to gain an equal footing in the negotiations and agree to a peace treaty that is more favourable to us!¡±

    Faced with the strong opposition from the three great chieftains, Badani could only say, ¡°You are right! We can only fight the Theonians to the end for us to have a way of survival¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Not long after, the candles in the city hall of Neapolis lit up, and the high-ranking officials of Neapoliss, the allied archons who had taken refuge, and the strategoi of the allied reinforcements arrived one after another.

 Chapter 863: Marching to Beneventum

    <h4>Chapter 863: Marching to Beneventum</h4>

    Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

    ¡°Our tragedy is finallying to an end! Since Beneventum is the capital of the Hirpini, the Samnite army outside will surely pull back and defend their territory with all their might against our allies'' attack!¡±

    ¡°Forgive our ignorance, Lord Aeolus. Unlike you, we haven''t fought alongside the Theonian army, so weck a deeper understanding of them. How could we have possibly known that Theonia''s dy in responding to our pleas for help was actually intended to be a sudden and vicious strike at the Samnites'' weak point?¡±

    ¡°Wait! You should help us first with Heeum since it is the closest to Neapolis!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the days following the start of the Samnites'' invasion of the Campanian League, they not only besieged Neapolis but also simultaneously divided their army to attack other Campanian city-states. Except for city-states like Sorentum, Aenaria, and Capeae, which had unique geographical positions, many coastal towns fell one after another. As a result, most refugees fled to Neapolis.

    The crowd cheered again and praised Theonia as a good ally who kept its promise. With the presence of the Theonian army, they are even more confident in reiming their own city-states!

    Silence suddenly returned to the hall upon hearing that.

    If Theonia''s Third Legion''s aid on the Campanian League in defeating the Caudini a few months ago was a way to help the Campanians regain their fighting spirit, this massive Samnite invasion not only shattered that spirit but also deepened their fear of the fearsome mountain race.

    Orosius had to clear his throat a few times to bring the crowd''s attention back to him, ¡°I would like to remind everyone that, with the Samnites'' retreat, there''s a possibility they may burn down the towns they have upied and our farnd to vent their anger. So, do we try to stop them?!¡±

    Everyone froze. Those from the other city-states would certainly not allow their enemies to burn down their homes. The people of Neapolis, however, were more concerned about the destruction of their farnd. With them providing food for Theonia''s Third Legion while also caring for their fleeing allies, Neapolis was short of food and couldn''t rely on Theonia. After all, Theonia had just experienced a drought and was also waiting for this year''s autumn harvest.

    So, after an urgent discussion, the city hall of Neapolis ultimately agreed to Adrianus'' suggestion.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As a result, Beneventum was always at the forefront of the Samnite Tribal Alliance, both in terms of poption and strength. Most of the time, the great chieftain of the Hirpini tribe hailed from Beneventum. Only in rare instances, when there was resentment against Beneventum''s wealth and arrogance, did the other Hirpini tribes coborate to choose chieftains from different towns to lead the tribe in opposition to Beneventum, with Abellinum often being their first choice.

    So, the people of Abellinum consistently feltckingpared to those of Beneventum. Even during the rule of the former great chieftain of the Hirpini, Berani, who was apetent leader, the people of Abellinum still grappled with a lingeringck of confidence. And now, they endured the oppression and humiliation imposed by the people of Beneventum for over a decade.

    At the forefront, three thousand five hundred Abellinum warriors walked with their heads held high, followed by six thousand Theonian legionaries in the centre. Bringing up the rear were twelve thousand warriors from Potentia, not including Theonia''s engineering and medical teams, mountain reconnaissance units, and logistic support camps following behind. Theirbinedbat force consisted of twenty-one thousand five hundred men, stretching over a line of more than six kilometres along the Sabato River.

    Alexius, Garni, and Polet quickly convened upon seeing the situation. They then decided to dispatch a thousand men each, who would then march in the mountains and forests on both sides to pursue the attackers, protecting the main army.

    The terrain here was somewhat unique, with two rows of hills stretching from north to south, akin to parallel lines, forming a protective barrier around the Sabato River. Between the hills was a t grasnd, roughly a kilometre in width, in which flowed the Sabato River, a mere twenty metres wide and knee-deep.

    ¡°Beneventum is only three kilometres away,¡± Garni pointed forward and said to Alexius and Polet, who had arrived one after another, ¡°Thend in front used to be the gathering ce for the various tribes of Beneventum, but all of them had now withdrawn¡­¡±

    Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

 Chapter 864: Siege of Beneventum

    Chapter 864: Siege of Beneventum

    Upon hearing this, Polet turned to Alexius and asked, ¡°It appears that the people of Beneventum are ready. Should we set up camp here?¡±

    ¡°This location is too distant from Beneventum to exert any pressure on them,¡± Alexius said as he gazed at the terrain ahead.

    He then pointed his finger at the long line of hills on the west side that appeared to be about a hundred metres high and asked, ¡°How far away is the mountain pass that connects Caudium to Beneventum?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s hard to say, given the presence of several mountains in between,¡± Garni shook his head after thinking for a moment as he could not give a specific distance.

    Alexius then pointed to the rows of smaller hills on the eastern side and asked, ¡°The terrain over the hills on the east should be tter, right?¡±

    ¡°Indeed, Commander Alexius. I distinctly recall that you¡¯ll reach the Volturno River if you proceed eastward from this hill. While there are a few smaller hills, the terrain should be reasonably t,¡± replied Garni.

    Alexius then instructed his adjutant to retrieve a simplified map of Samnite created from the information given by Garni and the others. Then, while consulting Garni, he alsopared the actual terrain to the ones drawn on the map.

    After a moment of contemtion, Alexius decisively dered, ¡°We will start building the camp after advancing for another kilometre. Chieftain Garni, you will lead your warriors to establish camp in this valley and safeguard our grain supply route.¡±

    Garni immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said, ¡°You can count on us. We will secure this location tightly, ensuring the enemy won¡¯t slip through.¡±

    The Sabato River is not just a grain transportation route for the Abellinum warriors; it¡¯s also their sole path from Beneventum to their homes. Since they¡¯ve left Abellinum empty, these troops that Garni mentioned will undoubtedly put in their maximum effort to defend this ce.

    That was what Alexius intended exactly, and then he pointed to the map and said, ¡°Chieftain Polet, your camp will extend from the south bank of the Volturno River to this side, with our military camp situated between your two camps.¡±

    Alexius arranged the camp this way after considering the decade-old grudge between Abellinum and Potentia. Moreover, this would mark their first time fighting together, and Xanticles had reminded him that Abellinum had limited manpower while the Potentiansckedbat experience. Hence, cing Theonia¡¯s camp in the middle would help bnce the left and right. At the same time, they could control both rivers once they built the camp, which would not only ensure a ready supply of drinking water but also exert significant pressure on Beneventum.

    ¡°I have no objection. However, I hope themander can send someone to guide us in building the camp,¡± Polet has participated in Theonia¡¯s military training, so he was aware that the Theonian army had researched deeply on camp construction to ensure the safety of the soldiers¡¯ camping. Hence, he shamelessly requested this.

    Before Alexius could respond, Garni also said after getting reminded, ¡°We also hope for the general to send someone to help us build the camp.¡±

    Although Garni didn¡¯t participate in the Theonians¡¯ military training, he had visited the military base in Thurii multiple times. There, he had seen the Theonian citizens¡¯ training, which he also had some understanding of. Moreover, after considering Abellinum had the fewest people, he needed the help of their allies to build the camps while also guarding against the enemy¡¯s assault.

    ¡°Naturally, I have no problem with this. I will certainly do my best to assist you!¡± replied Alexius. He was pleased with their request because it would streamline the overall camp nning and personnel allocation.

    After reaching an agreement, Garni led his men north, while Alexius and Polet led their respective troops over the hills, heading east and northeast.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Upon receiving the report that the Theonian army had entered Abellinum the previous evening, Lesguk, worried about the safety of Beneventum, couldn¡¯t wait for the other tribes¡¯ armies to withdraw. Thus, on that same night, he ordered the over three thousand Hirpini warriors to ready a rapid retreat from Ab, despite their fatigue, setting off early the next morning and reaching the city of Beneventum by noon.

    He had already left a thousand warriors in Beneventum to guard against any threat from Abellinum to the south, which allowed the total number of warriors in the city to exceed four thousand once Lesguk returned with his men. Then, when they learned that warriors from other tribes would arriveter, the people¡¯s confidence immediately surged.

    Meanwhile, Lesguk wasn¡¯t content with merely waiting and defending. Having a clear understanding of the enemy¡¯s movement through the scouts he had dispatched, he promptly led a thousand warriors who were originally guarding Beneventum to manoeuvre into the eastern mountain range covertly. Their target was the Abellinums, who were about a kilometre and a half south of Beneventum. (The other warriors needed to rest after their continuous and rapid marching.)

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    As themander of the Theonian army, Alexius led his forces through this unfamiliar mountainous terrain with even more caution. He repeatedly demanded the people of Abellinum and Potentia allocate half of their troops to defend the campsite under construction.

    As a result, Lesguk¡¯s attack was unsessful and quickly turned into a battle between Beneventum and Abellinum. Initially, both sides exchanged javelins before engaging with their spear. While Lesguk led a smaller force, his warriors possessed abundant energy, providing them some advantages.

    However, when the thousand Theonian light infantry rushed in from the east to reinforce, Lesguk had no choice but to retreat.

    Rather than giving up, Lesguk dispatched an additional two thousand warriors, who had been resting in Beneventum, to harass the Potentians from the east, once again diverting the attention of the Theonian army. Simultaneously, he personally led two thousand warriors straight to the Sabato Valley tounch another attack on the people of Abellinum.

    Unfortunately for the Hirpini, the Theonians had over twice the number of troops allocated for defencepared to the warriors currently in Beneventum. Once Alexius understood that Abellinum was their main target, he positioned the light infantry brigade in front of the Abellinum camp.

    As a result, the attack by the people of Beneventum didn¡¯t cause much trouble to the Abellinum army and instead just increased their casualties. For Beneventum, whocked troops, every warrior¡¯s life was precious, so Lesguk could only lead his men back in frustration.

    But upon his return to Beneventum, he unexpectedly received an emergency report from his subordinates about thousands of approaching enemies from the east.

    This made Lesguk nervous, so he immediately gathered his men and led them to defend Beneventum.

    While Alexius led the heavy infantry brigade and three thousand Potentian warriors, he began recalling some of the information provided by Garni about Beneventum after seeing the seven-metre-high stone wall a hundred metres away, ¡°

    More than a decade ago, Beneventum¡¯s structures were mostly wooden, with its simple wooden fence on the outer perimeter often broken. However, it was used to protect against wild beasts, not against enemies. This was because there were few civil wars between the various Samnite tribes, and foreign enemies had never threatened the mountains. As a result, they had never worried about the security of their homes.¡±

    But the situation changed with the rise of the powerful kingdom of Theonia in the south. After the Samnite Tribal Alliance lost and submitted to it in disgrace, the Theonians began interfering with their internal affairs, creating a rivalry between Beneventum and Abellinum. As a result, the deeply rmed Great Chieftain Lesguk repeatedly appealed for Beneventum to be rebuilt into a fortified city to defend against possible foreign invasions. And the tribal chieftains within Beneventum, who were equally unsettled, eventually agreed to his proposal.

    As the Hirpini didn¡¯t have experience building stone structures, Lesguk borrowed many Campanian ves from Caudini, who could rebuild the city. Not only did theyplete the city¡¯s nning, but they also found good stone materials for building the city on the north bank of the Volturno River, which is very close to the city¡¯s location. After six long years, they finallypleted the new city of Beneventum under the joint efforts of all the tribes in Beneventum. Lesguk then invited the group of priests of the Samnite Tribal Alliance to hold a sacrificial ceremony in Beneventum to celebrate the new city, thus triggering the events that followed.

    Naturally, Garni didn¡¯t say anything good about Lesguk and the other tribes in Beneventum. He even uses Lesguk, who proposed the construction of a new city, of having long prepared to go against Theonia. At the same time, he said, ¡°The drawings of the city designed by the Campanian ves included the idea of an acropolis, which so intrigued the people of Beneventum that they simply epassed the end of this line of hills to the east that ran parallel to the Sabato River, which ounted for half of the area of Beneventum and also built an inner city atop the hill.¡±

    Since then, the city of Beneventum has had the Volturno River as a barrier to the north, the Sabato River to the west flowing through the front of the city, the hills to the south serving as a barrier, and only the east remaining rtively t¡­ Thus, this is why Alexius led his team to attack from here.

    Alexius¡¯ gaze crossed the seven-metre-high stone wall and at the hill that rose from south to north inside the city that blocked his view. It was at least thirty metres high, with no lush tree on top, only densely packed houses and another stone wall atop the hill¡­ This was one of the reasons why he didn¡¯t boldly order the twenty thousand soldiers to attack the city immediately, as they had justpleted an arduous journey to reach this ce.

    ¡°Commander, we have deployed the ballistae.¡±

    ¡°Start shooting,¡± Alexius gave the order. After a moment, ten stone projectiles roared and hit the city wall, causing the Hirpini warriors to exim in surprise.

    The deterrence caused by Alexius leading his army to attack Beneventum led to a confrontation with the main force led by Lesguk, reducing the troops harassing the Theonian army building the camp.

 Chapter 865: Attacking Nola

    <h4>Chapter 865: Attacking N</h4>

    By dusk, the Theonian army managed to dig trenches, clear the weeds and trees in the camp area, and build a part of the earthen wall¡­ The Theonians built the camp in an arc-shaped ellipse, with the Potentian and Abellinum camps at both ends farther north, while the Theonian camp was closer to the southwest. Since the eastern column of hills wasn''tpletely continuous and had some smaller hills, Alexius considered providing more support to the weaker Abellinum, thus extending the camp towards the breaks in the eastern hill(located behind the Abellinum camp), avoiding the possibility of the hill separating the Abellinum camp from the main force that it would end up as a weak spot for the enemy to attack.

    Meanwhile, the main force of the Samnite Tribal Alliance had just reached Caudium at this time due to their ranks bloating from carrying a lot of captured ves and spoils and the constant raids of the Campanian army.

    After careful nning, Lesgukunched a night raid on Theonia''s camp, mainly targeting the Potentians.

    Despite Alexius warning Polet to be alert, the night raid of the Beneventum still managed to stir up confusion among the inexperienced Potentian warriors.

    Soon after receiving the report, Alexius immediately dispatched reinforcements.

    Lesguk, on the other hand, failed to increase the advantages they gained further due to his insufficient troops before the enemy reinforcement arrived, so he could only order his warriors to burn down some tents while retreating quickly.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Also on this day, Xanticles, with half a reserve legion, departed Irna''s port in a floti of ships, skirted the Sorrento Penins,nded unimpeded on the coast near Pompeii, and then sessfully recaptured Pompeii, which the enemy had already sacked.

    Then, he dispatched his troops to easily recapture the deserted city of Oplontis, which wasn''t far from Pompeii.

    After lunch, Xanticles left two hundred soldiers in each of the two towns, then led the remaining three thousand six hundred soldiers eastward into Nuceria. Apanied by some residents and priests of the town of Bararia*, they began shouting in the Samnitenguage, ¡°We will take revenge for Kinduk, chase out the people of Caudium and give back the freedom of Nuceria¡­¡± and other such slogans that began to resonate with the Nucerian tribesmen. Especially when they saw the familiar priests of Hades and residents of Baparia in the team, they immediately became friendly with them. As a result, many Nucerians supported and weed the army of Xanticles, with people continuously joining the team along the way. (The town''s inhabitants, which Segobani burnt down, had been in close contact with the people of Nuceria for many years, so many of them spoke the Samntienguage.)

    Segobani became upied with coborating with the other major tribes andunching attacks on the Campanian League after he killed Kinduk and took control of Nuceria. Thus, he could only kill those devoted Nucerians who believed in Hades, while the rest hepelled to surrender. He then sent most able-bodied Nucerians to join the attack on the Campanian League while leaving behind five hundred Caudium warriors to garrison Nuceria.

    Due to time constraints, Segobani couldn¡¯t fully carry out the forced relocation of several major tribes within Nuceria to other regions, including the transfer of several tribes from Caudium to Nuceria to inhabit the avablend, and many other measures aimed at gainingplete control over Nuceria. Nheless, the various tribes residing in Nuceria can sense the impending crisis, particrly due to the barbaric behaviour the Caudium warriors conducted within the city daily, which further fueled the anger in the hearts of the Nucerians.

    While the Caudium warriors atop the wall stood shocked by therge army of enemies(half of whom were people from various tribes in Nuceria, but they had gotten ced at the back of the formation by Xanticles so that it made it difficult for the Caudium warriors to see them clearly), the people inside were delighted with the arrival of reinforcements and began taking action. While the Caudium warriors were all atop the wall defending it, the Nucerians took the opportunity to burn the makeshift camp of the Caudium warriors inside Nuceria.

    Seeing their camp aze, the Caudium warriors became even more rmed, especially since they knew the inside of Nuceria had be as dangerous as the outside. Moreover, their home was in Caudium, so they had no determination to defend this town that had nothing to do with them to the death. Thus, as soon as they saw the situation turned terrible, they immediately tried to leave Nuceria, hoping to escape from the eastern gate where there were no enemies outside. But beyond their expectations, javelins were asionally fired from the houses on both sides of the street, killing the fleeing Caudium warriors. Moreover, on the street ahead, the Nucerians blocked the road with wood, mud bricks, and stones¡­which further caused chaos for the fleeing troops.

    After the Caudium warriors departed, the people inside quickly opened the unguarded western gate. This allowed Xanticles to lead his soldiers in, and with the guidance of the people inside, they pursued the enemy.

    The Caudium warriors suffered a massive defeat, with only a few managing to escape, while most of them either perished in battle or were captured.

    Since the chieftains of the various tribes in Nuceria were still under Segobani''s control, the freed Nucerians quickly elected several respected elders from each tribe to discuss with the Theonian army.

    Xanticles, on the other hand, took the initiative to withdraw his army from Nuceria as a sign of good faith.

    Soon, they reached a simple agreement: The Theonian army would make every effort to secure Nuceria''s territory, with the condition that they wouldn''t enter Nuceria itself. In return, the Nucerian tribes would permit the Theonian logistics team, responsible for transporting provisions, to pass through theirnds en route to Abellinum and offer assistance as needed. Additionally, the Theonians would promptly dispatch priests of Hades to Nuceria to oversee sacred matters and expedite the restoration of the Temple of Hades. Lastly, Theonia would do its utmost to help Nucerian warriors whom Segobani had coerced to return to their homes. However, Nuceria would need to assign men to apany the Theonian army and persuade Nucerian warriors to flee¡­

    Xanticles let out a long sigh of relief upon reaching this agreement, as there were two critical uses that would greatly benefit the current Theonian army in the midst of battle. First and foremost was the supply transportation, as it would be both time-consuming andbour-intensive to transport through the sea to reach Poseidonia, then through the rugged mountains to Compa, then through the mountain pass to reach Abellinum, and finally to the Theonian allied camps that were now in Beneventum. Whereas they only need to head to Pompeii by sea, then through Nuceria''s territory, and reach Abellinum by a mountain pass(Given that Nuceria and Abellinum were separated by many kilometres of high mountains with just a few narrow mountain passes connecting them, this shorter route eliminated the risk of the Samnite army intercepting the supply transportation.) Through this way, they have reduced the entire journey by almost half. Hence, when they were parting ways in Compsa, Alexius and Xanticles had already discussed the n, and the recovery of Nuceria was of utmost importance.

    Another is to sign a friendly agreement with the Nucerians, as with their help, they could easily encourage the Nucerian warriors in the Samnite army to flee, weakening the Samnites.

    But Xanticles didn''t expect the Nucerians to propose the return of the Hades priests proactively. Perhaps it was because of how Segobani persecuted the Hades believers in the Nucerian territory that it instead stimted the rebellious mentality of the Nucerians. And in this chaotic time, the arrival of the priests of Hades can help the Nucerians through the difficulties in several ways, such as curing the sick, providing relief,fort¡­and so on, which the priests of the native gods such as Savoni can''t do.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On that night, the defeated warriors fled back to Caudium, shocking Segobani upon learning of it. While he had anticipated their retreat and the possibility of encountering attacks in Nuceria, he was surprised by the rapid loss of the southernmost territory of the Caudini tribe and the role and hostility the Nucerians showed.

    Thus, he first blocked the news from spreading so that the Nucerian warriors wouldn''t know about it. At the same time, he also dispatched an additional five hundred warriors(including those who retreated) to the west of N and Ses, hoping these two ces could be a barrier for Caudini in the south.

    For him, he wasn''t worried about the Campanian army. Instead, he was a bit afraid of the Theonians despite their lesser numbers.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following day, the Theonian joint army continued building the camp. The soldiers worked even harder with the lesson fromst night, cutting down trees, building wooden fences and lookout towers and setting up abatis¡­

    Meanwhile, Lesguk began to adapt to the enemy army''s suppression and ballistae bombardment by sending warriors out of the city to attack and disturb them, to which the Theonian allied forces, who were also gradually bing experienced, took appropriate defensive measures and forced them back after suffering a few casualties.

    In the afternoon, more than ten thousand Samnite warriors finally entered the city of Beneventum.

    On the same day, Xanticles led three thousand six hundred soldiers to leave Nuceria and march north. After two hours of marching, they approached N. Here, they met up with the Campania League''s eight thousand soldiers from the west, bringing the total force to eleven thousand six hundred.

    In N, there were only a thousand five hundred Caudini warriors, so they naturally felt anxious that they tightly closed the four gates and mobilised everyone inside. All the warriors went up atop the wall, ready for defence.

    Things have now turned around. Two days ago, the Samnite Tribal Alliance swept through the Campanian League, with the only remaining city on the Campanian ins was Neapolis, which they also surrounded, and the shouting of the Samnite warriors were able to make those countless people who fled to Neapolis tremble. Now, the situation reversed, and the Campanian army, in conjunction with the Theonians, had surrounded the famous Caudini town of N, making the soldiers feel both excitement and nervousness.

 Chapter 866: Banquet in Rome

    Chapter 866: Banquet in Rome

    Upon Xanticles¡¯ persuasion, the strategoi of the Campanian League chose not to rush attacking. Instead, they decided to copy the Theonian army and make a camp half a kilometre away from the southwest of N. Xanticles chose this ce based on the camp¡¯s proximity to the mountains, making it easier to cut down trees to procure construction material and siege equipment for the camp.

    On the same day, under the direction of the Ministry of Military, the legatus of the Tenth Legion, Melisander, led the remaining four heavy infantry brigades to leave Ausculum and march northward to reach Aecae, where they met up with the Eleventh Legion, which had only six heavy infantry brigades left.

    The appointed acting legatus of the Eleventh Legion by the Ministry of Military, Kapus, actively prepared carefully for the following military operation.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Why is it so noisy outside?¡± Stolo¡¯s wife, Konya, inquired about the situation from the female ve who had just entered.

    ¡°Mistress, they are all saying that Tusculum had surrendered to Theonia¡­¡± This Sabine female ve lowered her head as she dared not let her mistress see the uncontroble joy on her face. As Stolo and his wife were confined to their homes, the female ve had an important role of receiving their portion of food and gathering information for her master, so she had already heard from others that ve conditions in the Kingdom of Theonia were significantly more favourable than in Rome, with a better chance of attaining freedom. Consequently, she ardently wished for Theonia¡¯s victory in this war and put Rome under theirplete rule.

    ¡°Tusculum had surrendered?! How is that possible?!¡± Konya found it hard to believe. To her, the city of Tusculum, with its long history and had long sought to control the sacred mountain of the Latin near Lake Alba Longa after Rome destroyed Alba Longa, even iming to be the centre of the Latins, so she had expected Tusculum to resist fiercely given this proud history and fight to the end for the glory of the Latins. Hence, she was surprised that they would surrender without a fight.

    Stolo sighed, ¡°Following Theonia¡¯s capture of Gabii, where they killed all those who stubbornly resisted and enved the survivors, this brutal approach seemed to have frightened the surrounding city-states like Labicum, Pedum, and Artena¡­into surrendering in quick session and even the formidable Tibur in the northern region eventually bowed to Theonia¡¯s rule.

    With tens of thousands of Theonian soldiers marching towards the city of Tusculum and the hostages that Tusculum had sent to Rome are now in the hands of the Theonians(These hostages once fled with the Roman nobles to Mons Capitolinus but wereter mixed with the families of thousands of nobles and sent down the mountain), how could they not surrender?¡­¡±

    Konya trembled upon hearing that and said in a small voice, ¡°With so many Latin city-states having surrendered, is it not time for the¡­Theonians to attack Velitrae, Satricum, and Antium next?! Can¡­the Roman army led by Camillus, Titus, and the rest¡­repel them?¡±

    Stolo remained silent as he knew through this period that the attacks of the Theonians were always carefully and cunningly nned while also as sharp and swift as a storm! The capturing of the city of Rome was like this! So was their attack on Veii and Caisra! So was their attack of Fidenae and Crustuerium! So was the defeat of the Roman coalition! It had only taken the Theonians less than ten days from the capture of the city of Gabii to the surrender of Tusculum, and within a little over two months since their coastalnding, the Theonian army had already seized control of most of Latium. Such terrifying conquest capabilities left the Roman army, which had suffered consecutive defeats, with no respite. Even under the leadership of Camillus, their morale declined, and their troops were insufficient. Can they really turn defeat into victory?!

    After watching the war progress for so long and many sleepless nights, Stolo despaired as he realised that the key to the Theonian army¡¯s rapid conquest of Latium was that, unlike the Celts, the Theonians possessed a powerful ability to assimte. Hearing the cheers outside his mansion, he knew the plebeians hadpletely forgotten their origins and regarded themselves as members of the Theonian Kingdom¡­ s!¡­

    Konya began to understand from Stolo¡¯s silence. In fact, she already has a vague feeling from her observations these days. So, upon confirming her fears, she no longer moured, merely clenching the corners of her clothes, furrowing her brows and changing her expression.

    As a result, she suddenly grabbed her husband¡¯s hand and said hurriedly and in fear, ¡°Stolo¡­why don¡¯t you join Theonia?¡±

    Her words took aback Stolo. Before he could respond, Konya, as though struck by a sudden realisation, grasped his hand and anxiously said, ¡°Yes, we should join the Kingdom of Theonia! This is our only way to get your father out of the danger of being defeated and captured! It¡¯s also the only way we could convince my father to descend the hill and surrender! Only then will it be possible to convince my sister and brother-inw to surrender!¡­ Although we won¡¯t be able to all live in the city of Rome in the future, at least they¡­they won¡¯t be killed or turned into ves¡­¡±

    Listening to his wife¡¯s anxious pleas and heartfelt words, Stolo couldn¡¯t resist any longer and held her trembling body tightly. This time, he was truly tempted¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Today, the people of Rome were brimming with excitement. This wasn¡¯t solely due to the Theonian army¡¯s string of victories, which had bolstered their confidence in Theonia¡¯s dominion over Latium, making the return of Roman nobility to power seem nearly impossible. It was also the assurance that the newfoundnds and rights they had acquired would remain firmly in their grasp.

    Moreover, they also knew that this army, which had been out fighting for more than ten days, was about to return to the city of Rome, which included six thousand Roman soldiers. Despite their assault on Gabii was a tough battle, it was followed by constant marching and enemy surrendering, so the casualties among the soldiers weren¡¯t significant. Still, the Romans hoped to see their rtives appear alive in front of them in this chaotic situation.

    Towards noon, Phryntor arrived in Rome with the nearly thirty thousand Theonian soldiers. King Davos personally led the officials of Rome to greet them and announced, ¡°In honour of the soldiers¡¯ service to the kingdom, a grand banquet will be held for them at noon! And the banquet will be followed by a rugby match between the legions!¡±

    Upon hearing this, the soldiers¡¯ exhaustion from marching for several days immediately disappeared and was reced by their deafening cheers.

    This would be the first time since the founding of Theonia that they would hold a banquet to celebrate a war. Davos did this mainly out of concern because this would be the first time that such arge number of Theonian legionaries have been away from their homes and in continuousrge-scalebat for such a long period on foreignnds. Thus, they felt both physically and mentally exhausted and needed to be allowed to rx.

    Davos dared to make such a decision because the situation in the entire Latium region was gradually bing clearer, and the order within the city of Rome was bing more stable.

    Over the past month, as the Theonian army captured city after city andpelled city-states to surrender, they managed to seize arge amount of food, livestock, and wealth. So, hosting a banquet was now a trivial matter.

    Furthermore, they did not need to consumerge quantities of grains. With Davos¡¯ chef acting as the head chef for the entire banquet, he meticulously crafted rich dishes for each soldier: a steaming pot ofmb broth, a sulent piece of pan-fried beef, a river fish grilled and smoked with herbs, a pile of freshly cleaned cabbage ready for dipping in sauce, a small cup of boiled chickpeas, a handful of olives and nuts, a slice of honeyed bread, and, of course, a jar of watered-down liquor¡­

    In preparation for this grand banquet, they had ughtered over five hundred fat sheep and nearly a hundred cows in the city of Rome. In addition, the soldiers stationed in the city used fishings to haul thousands of kilos of fish in the Tiber River¡­

    While the soldiers from various legions enjoyed delicious food in their respective camps, the six thousand Roman Reserve soldiers, who didn¡¯t have their own camp, sought the consent of Davos before Sextus led them to eat in Campus Martius, located in the northeast of Rome.

    The Roman city hall borrowed the kitchens of nearly a hundred plebeian families from Collis Ptinus and employed their cooks to prepare dishes under the direction of Davos¡¯ chef. Afterwards, the logistics camp of the legions sessively sent their men to Collis Ptinus to queue up to receive their food in order.

    A spectacr sight appeared: A long line extended from Collis Ptinus to the city in all directions.

    King Davos led Crotokatax, apanied by his guard, to attend the celebration banquet in the camps of the various legions. At each camp, he would hold a cup of alcohol and walk among the soldiers, chatting with them while letting Crotokatax take his ce to toast to the officers and soldiers who had performed well as a gesture of encouragement.

    It was only now that all the legionaries truly knew that the silent young man who often stood behind the king and the young man who led the army to attack in the final part of the siege of Fidenae and Gabii wasn¡¯t an officer of the pce guard, but the prince of the Kingdom of Theonia!

    In addition to being surprised, the soldiers were also quite fond towards this gentle young man, so they toasted him one after another. As Crotokatax epted everyone¡¯s toast, he was already walking staggeringly and talking drunkenly by the time he had gone through the various camps, prompting Davos to ask the guard to help him return to his room to rest.

    Finally, Davos and his team arrived at Campus Martius, and Sextus, along with his officers, weed the arrival of King Davos.

    Davos then proposed to stay and eat with these Roman plebeian soldiers who had just joined the Kingdom of Theonia.

    It didn¡¯t only surprise the officers but also Sextus, who was familiar with Davos. Before he could find a reason to refuse, Davos had already walked straight to the soldiers and sat down on the grass without hesitation.

 Chapter 867: Rugby Competition in Rome

    <h4>Chapter 867: Rugby Competition in Rome</h4>

    Only after Martius brought him a portion of food did Davos begin eating and chatting with the soldiers through an interpreter.

    It was the first time for the Roman plebeians to dine with a king who not only held great power but was also rumoured to be a descendant of a Greek deity. They were both curious and nervous at first. However, upon seeing that the king was unpretentious and had a very gentle attitude as he chatted with them about their parents'' lives, everyone gradually let go of their constraints and began to talk openly with Davos about the problems they were facing. Davos patiently responded to each issue one by one, resulting in a constant influx of soldiers. Although it made the guards even busier, the atmosphere became increasingly lively.

    At the end of the banquet, Davos asked, ¡°What are your preparations for the uing rugby match?¡±

    The soldiers tried to respond in various ways, all expressing the same thing: Although they wanted topete, they knew absolutely nothing about the sport and were afraid of making a fool of themselves on the field.

    Davos responded to them with a smile, ¡°In the kingdom of Theonia, rugby is very popr among the citizens as it is both intense and exciting. Through the matches, it would showcase the yer''s strength, speed, intelligence, and overall tactical coordination, so I believe you will soon fall in love with it after getting in touch with it.¡±

    He also surprised them by saying, ¡°Hades had taught this sport in my dream, then I taught it to the Theonian soldiers. So you can rest assured that I will teach you how to y the game and personally join you on the field¡­¡±

    Upon hearing this, the soldiers became excited and eagerly requested to participate, asughter erupted asionally in the Campus Martius.

    Considering that ten teams would take part in the afternoon''s rugby match ¨C the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Legions, the First and Second Cavalry Legions, the Lucanian Reserve Legion, and the Roman Reserves ¨C the matches were held in the colosseum and the Campus Martius, with the Theonians opening three more ying field in the Campus Martius.

    Aside from the soldiers stationed on the city wall, who were ready to defend it against foreign enemies, and those dispatched to scout for enemies around Rome, as well as the patrols maintaining order in the neighbourhoods, a diverse crowd gathered at the Colosseum. This audience included not only the legionnaires but also Theonian merchants and their entourages, who were in the city for trade. Additionally, the rugby matches drew some of the people of Rome and nearby towns like Veii and Fidenae.

    In addition to theatre and sportspetitions, the Romans indulged in another form of entertainment: diator matches. This brutal spectacle, inherited from the Etruscans, provided the audience with a bloody thrill as they witnessed the ughter of ves in the arena. Over the past decade, the frequency of these matches had surged due to the growing number of wars and, consequently, more captives avable for such brutal exhibitions.

    Despite this was their first experience watching a Theonian rugby game, they were immediately captivated by the grand scale of the match and the intense physical shes. Before long, they began to appreciate the coordination between the two teams in both offence and defence. They were also drawn into the strategic and courageous aspects of this fast-paced sport, which revealed its depth and excitement. Whenever the referee blew the whistle to enforce penalties, the coaches made quick changes in yers and formations. Each time a yer left the field, they would apud, making them understand the hardship, formality, and elegance of this sport.

    Instead of being overwhelmed by theplex rules, the Romans began to contemte the intricacies of the game. As they were ustomed to creating and abiding byws, they began joining the other spectators after a few matches, cheering every time a yer scored and sighing every time they missed¡­

    Davos had indeed fulfilled his promise and personally joined the Roman team in the game.

    The audience immediately eximed and cheered, but their opponent, the soldiers of the Second Legion, became somewhat unhappy.

    As their coach, Matonis, the legatus of the Second Legion, immediately came to protest.

    But Davos responded, ¡°These Roman soldiers have never encountered rugby before and are now facing you for the first time. If I don''t participate, you''ll likely win easily, and that wouldn''t be fair to the other legions¡­¡±

    Under Davos'' insistence, the participating members of the Second Legion had no choice but to ept.

    Davos naturally served as the quarterback so that he could lead the entire team. Although he was already forty years old, he persisted in exercising every day and was physically fit. Moreover, the members of the Second Legion became a bit timid when they faced the king they usually revered and didn''t engage him in an intense collision, which allowed Davos to organise the attack easily.

    The news of King Davos ying quickly spread to all the legions, which seldom happened! As a result, soldiers flocked to the field in droves, surrounding it with threeyers of soldiers. Then, every time Davos caught or threw the ball, he would cause thunderous cheers from outside the field, which also caused a lot of psychological pressure on their opponents.

    Under hismand, the Roman yers gradually began ying well and even achieved a touchdown. In addition, the Romans'' innate resilience and tenacious defence kept the score close.

    This made the members of the Second Legion a bit anxious, causing their movement to be more tense and the confrontation more fierce.

    In such a situation, Davos began to receive heavy attention and even got knocked to the ground at one point by a charging opponent.

    The audience outside the field eximed in surprise, while Matonis and the yers became frightened and quickly came over to offer their apology.

    Davos stood up, shook his head, and made an effort to offer a reassuring smile as he spoke in a soothing tone tofort the bewildered perpetrator, saying, ¡°I''m fine. This is how rugby should be yed!¡±

    This warm scene once again caused the audience to apud enthusiastically.

    After the game resumed, Matonis thought of something and shouted to a substitute, ¡°Adoris! Adoris!¡±

    Adoris, wearing a simplepetition uniform, approached Matonis and excitedly said, ¡°Coach, is it my turn to y?!¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Matonis said confidently, ¡°Once the game resumes, focus on defending the centre and firmly guard against the opposing quarterback!¡±

    ¡°Eh? Guard¡­father?!¡± Adoris looked dumbfounded.

    ¡°We have no way around it as no one else dares to guard against His Majesty thoroughly. Only you can!¡± Matonis shrugged helplessly, then looked at him and continued, ¡°Listen, boy, we must not lose to the beginner Romans here. Otherwise, the Second Legion will be theughingstock of all the legions in Theonia. As a soldier of the Second Legion, do you want that to happen?!¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Adoris replied unhesitantly.

    ¡°Excellent! So y defensive well!¡± Matonis eximed, pushing onto the field.

    It was still the Roman reserve to attack, and after both sides had gone to their position, Davos was surprised to see Adoris standing opposite them, ¡°Adoris, you havee.¡±

    ¡°Father, I¡­I won''t let you pass easily!¡± Adoris said nervously.

    Davos raised his eyebrows and said, ¡°Oh, then give it your all.¡±

    Unlike his teammates, Adoris didn''t have as much scruples. Although he was a bit reserved at first, he gradually loosened up. As a result, the sight of father and son chasing each other caused the soldiers outside the field to burst intoughter.

    After the confused Romans inquired about why they wereughing, they alsoughed along.

    As a result, the game was intense on the field while the audience continuedughing.

    Naturally, once the members of the Second Legion became serious and restricted Davos, the rookie Roman soldiers were not their opponents. However, when the game ended, many Roman yers reluctantly walked off the field as this single match made them like the sport.

    When Davos came off the field, the audience shouted their wish for him to continue ying. Davos only smiled and waved to the surrounding audience to express his gratitude.

    Due to time constraints, after the first round of knockout matches, the second round immediately begins. Each team has thousands of soldiers, each of whom knows rugby and can rotate at any time. With a sufficient number of yers, there is a need for them to rest. In the finals, the match was between the First Legion and the Second Legion.

    The two top legions in the kingdom not onlypeted in the military but also frequentlypeted with each other in different aspects. Naturally, they gave it all in this game, making it quite intense. The audience also became quite nervous and couldn''t help but cheer on both sides.

    Then, an interesting scene reappeared in the game: Matonis once again used his trump card and sent Adoris to attack the quarterback of the First Legion, Patroclus, specifically.

    The sight of a brother-inw facing his brother-inw ying had added a bit of fun to the tensepetition and made Davos, who was off the field,ugh.

    It was the crucial tackle by Adoris that led to Patroclus dropping the ball, allowing the Second Legion to clinch the title with a close one-point win.

    It was almost dusk by the end of thepetition, yet the lively atmosphere inside the city still hadn''t dissipated.

    While the legionaries were still discussing their mistakes and regrets in the matches, the Roman soldiers and the audience still felt the joy and excitement that the rugby match brought them. Naturally, they didn''t leave King Davos out of their conversation as they had not expected the usually high and mighty king of Theonia to be so easygoing and able to mingle with themon people. He was closer to the people than the Roman senators who proimed themselves as the fathers of the people, which elevated their regard for the Kingdom of Theonia to a new level.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Father! I apologise for beingte!¡± Crotokatax hurriedly walked into the dining room and said apologetically, his voice still hoarse from just waking up after drinking a lot.

 Chapter 868: Family Dinner

    <h4>Chapter 868: Family Dinner</h4>

    ¡°Quickly take a seat; everyone''s been waiting for you,¡± Davos, seated at the head of the table, said with concern as he looked at Crotokatax. He continued in a gentle tone, ¡°Now that you''ve experienced the terrible effects of alcohol, you should drink in moderation from now on.¡±

    ¡°It''s quite ufortable, so I¡¯ll do my best not to drink in the future.¡± Since this was Crotokatax''s first experience with drunkenness, he touched his still slightly dizzy head and responded in a low voice.

    ¡°You simply need to drink less because it''s hard not to drink at all. Otherwise, you won''t be able to get along with the soldiers,¡± said the person next to him.

    Crotokatax quickly turned his head and said warmly, ¡°Brother! Thank you for reminding me!¡± He then turned to the other side and greeted, ¡°Hello, brother-inw!¡±

    Patroclus nodded smilingly and suggested, ¡°When I got drunk for the first time, I had a headache, too. But mymanding officer gave me honeyed water to drink, and I soon felt much better,¡±

    ¡°Honeyed water? I''ll try itter,¡± Crotokatax expressed his gratitude and sat beside Adoris.

    Davos then gestured to the servant standing by, and soon dinner was set on the table.

    After looking at Adoris, Crotokatax, and Patroclus, Davos smiled and said calmly, ¡°In the East, there''s an old saying: ¡®Father and son go into battle.'' This means that when a father and son fight together, they will likely win battles because of their close cooperation. During this expedition to Latium, all the adult men in our family have joined¡­ So I would like to apologise for being held up here for nearly two months due to the tense war situation and the pressing government affairs. To avoid any appearance of favouritism, I couldn''t give you more attention. Today is a rare asion, so I''ve called the three of you here to get together as a family and have a good meal, drink and chat.

    I am happy that despite the frequent and brutal battles, none of you have suffered much harm. This is our greatest fortune! So, this first cup of liquor is to thank Hades for protecting us!¡±

    Davos raised his cup after saying that.

    Adoris and Patroclus also raised their cup one after another, with only Crotokatax hesitating.

    ¡°Croto, you should drink honeyed water as soon as you sober up,¡± Davos said.

    His words caused Crotokatax to change his mind and ask the servant to add more water to his drink.

    After silently praying to Hades, the four then drank their drinks.

    ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Patroclus ced down his cup to refill it and said, ¡°I would-¡±

    ¡°Stop!¡± Davos immediately corrected him, ¡°I already said at the start that this was our family gathering, so why are you still calling me that?! Shouldn''t you call me like what Cynthia calls me?¡±

    Patroclus hesitated and then said with respect, ¡°Father!¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± Davos responded with a smile.

    ¡°Shouldn''t we have him do a penalty drink for that?¡± Adoris gazed at Patroclus.

    Patroclus drank his drink in a gulp and then turned the empty cup towards Adoris.

    To be honest, Patroclus and Adoris, despite being brothers-inw, had never shared a meal together. However, Patroclus'' bold and forthright attitude matched Adoris'' temper, who promptly raised his ss in response.

    ¡°Haha, Patro, since Cynthia is my eldest daughter, she has been helping us care for our other children since they were young. So, Adoris and the others might hold a slight grudge against you for marrying her!¡± Davos purposely said that in a joking tone.

    While Adoris scratched his nose in embarrassment, that sentence had slightly shaken Crotokatax. However, two years had passed since the incident, and he had alreadye to terms with it and moved on with his feelings.

    Patroclus smiled and filled his cup again before saying, ¡°Fa¡­father, what I wanted to say is that¡­the helmet Croto gave me had saved my life. While fighting the enemy during the defence of the city of Ostia, an arrow struck the side of my helmet. Fortunately, the helmet resisted the arrow''s impact well enough not to cause me to be dizzy and give the enemy I was fighting an opening¡­¡±

    Patroclus touched his head as he remembered about the dangerous situation at the time. Then he said with a lingering fear, ¡°So, I would like to give my toast to Croto. Thank you very much! You have saved my life!¡±

    Patroclus stood up and raised his cup to Crotokatax sincerely.

    Crotokatax hurriedly stood up and said, ¡°Father was mistaken just now. We don''t hold any grudge against you for marrying our sister. In fact, we''re grateful to her for bringing us such a wonderful brother-inw! Since we''re family now, it''s only natural that we support each other. In ordance with Theonian tradition, it should be me to offer a toast to you!¡±

    Davos felt satisfied seeing Crotokatax ovee his entanglement and exhibit such generosity and decency. He became even more delighted to witness the two of them clinking their cups and drinking, and he expressed his joy by lightly tapping the table, ¡°That''s right, this is how a family should be!¡±

    Then Davos picked up another cup and said aloud, ¡°This second cup is for your excellent performance in this war! Patro, as a senior centurion of the First Legion, you had remained calm-headed andmanded well in these difficult battles, like rescuing Volsci, attacking Rome, and defending Ostia. And by leading at the front in critical moments, you boosted our soldiers'' morale and performed exceptionally well. I am proud of you!

    Adoris, in the battle to intercept the Roman reinforcements and the capturing of the cities of Fidenae and Gabii, not only did you perform valiantly, but you also led your men well. Thus, your promotion to a toon leader isn''t because Matonis was trying to please you because you are my son but because of the achievements you had won on your own. I am proud of you!

    Croto, this is your first time on the battlefield after just turning eighteen. I had only wanted you to experience the atmosphere of the battlefield and didn''t intend to let you fight the enemy on your own. However, you took the initiative to go into battle many times, such as blocking the Roman reinforcements, defending Ostia, and conquering Fidenae and Gabii, especially in the assault on the city of Gabii, where at the most critical moment, you courageously led the pce guards to rush atop the town''s wall and earn the first achievement for the conquest of Gabii. You are already an excellent warrior, and I am very proud of you!

    So this cup of mine is to honour you, the three outstanding young men in our family, for winning glory for our royal family with your excellent performance. I thank you all!¡±

    Davos stood up and sincerely raised his cup to the three, then drank it clean.

    Crotokatax, Adoris, and Patroclus, all three who listened to Davos'' words, became high-spirited as they looked at each other, smiled, and then held up their cup in return to Davos.

    Davos poured liquor again, looked at them and said seriously, ¡°Thisst cup of alcohol¡­is to honour our loved ones! While we are here fighting at the front, they are worrying about us at the back! Adoris and Croto, your two mothers wrote to us every day, and a significant portion of their letters inquire about your well-being in Latium, what you''ve been eating, whether you''ve been in battle, or if you''ve sustained any injuries¡­ To ease their worries, I have to expend energy every day to reassure them.

    Patro, you are the same. Cynthia wrote letters to you daily, and I think they are also filled with concern for you¡­ So you must remember the reason we fight is for the peace of our homnd so that you won''t overly indulge in the fighting and forget the loved ones who worry about you in the rear!¡±

    The three who had just been high-spirited had suddenly turned serious. Patroclus remembered his wife, who loved him deeply and was still pregnant. Crotokatax remembered his beloved mother, Agnes, and his biological mother, who appeared strict but caring. Adoris also remembered his mother, who had always been very loving of him, and her sister, who had taken care of him since childhood. The three silently held up their cup and drank it all in one gulp while feeling emotional.

    Silence descended in the room for a while before Davos said, ¡°Now that we have drunk three cups of liquor, we can start eating and talking freely. Croto, since you felt ufortable, I had ordered them to make a porridge specially for you so you can eat it first.¡±

    The servant brought the steaming porridge in front of Crotokatax, who then ate it slowly.

    The dinner prepared for them was a hot pot of beef and mutton because Davos thought such food was better when eaten with his family. However, Patroclus and Adoris, who had already eaten a lot at the noon banquet, didn''t have a strong appetite, so they only took a few bites. At the same time, Adoris couldn''t help but ask, ¡°Father, is it time for us to attack the Roman army hiding in their colonial city southwest of Latium next?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Davos affirmed his question and said clearly, ¡°Rome is a vicious wolf, and so we must intensify our attack while they are wounded and never give them a chance to recover to avoid it biting us back. Thus, I have decided to personally lead the army tomorrow to attack the Roman colonial city in the southwest and other Latin city-states that we haven''t yet subdued.¡±

    ¡°Will our legion also participate?¡± Adoris immediately asked.

    ¡°The Second Legion will apany me on this expedition.¡± Davos said that then looked at Patroclus, ¡°The First Legion would remain within the city of Rome for the time being, in conjunction with the Lucanian Reserve Legion, to help praetor Asistes maintain order and stability within the city. At the same time, you will help send the wounded soldiers back to Thurii while having the reserve soldiers in Thuriie to Rome to make up for the shortage of men in the First Legion.

    After the First Legionplete its reorganisation, the Second Legion will rush back to Rome to switch ces with you¡­ In this way, we could restore all thebat capabilities of each legion as soon as possible while eliminating the Roman army, for we have plenty of men, and now we also have sufficient reserve of military rations.¡±

 Chapter 869: Carthage warmly welcomes Mago

    <h4>Chapter 869: Carthage warmly wees Mago</h4>

    ¡°Fa¡­ther is it because the situation in the south has changed?¡± Patroclus asked hurriedly.

    Davos was pleased with Patroclus'' keen military instincts. As an excellent senior officer, his gaze shouldn''t be focused on just one battle but should look at the whole picture. He then looked at the other two again and saw Adoris and Crotokatax looking back with a concerned gaze. Since they were fighting in Latium and had almost no ess to external information, Davos felt it necessary to inform them about the situation on other battlefields.

    ¡°After Alexius two victory over the Samnite Tribal Alliance in Ausculum and Aphrodisia, the Samnites have stopped attacking the kingdom''s territory and had insteadunched arge-scale attack on the Campanian League, capturing the city-states of Pompeii, Heeum, and Tesara, and finally began besieging Neapolis.¡±

    ¡°Isn''t the Campanian League in danger of getting wiped out? Have we already sent troops to rescue them?¡± Asked Crotokatax.

    Davosughed, ¡°Something happened before they invaded the Campanian League. The great chieftain of the Caudini had plotted against the Nucerian chieftain Kinduk and murdered him. He then captured Nuceria, and by doing so, he apparently stimted Garni of Abellinum, who not only decided to make Abellinum a free city of Theonia but also to assist us in attacking the Samnite Tribal Alliance. As a result, the Ministry of Military had drawn up a new battle n for Alexius to lead an attack on the Samnite mountains from the east.¡±

    ¡°Father, I remember you repeatedly reminding the Ministry of Military not to let the army attack the Samnite Mountains!¡± Crotokatax eximed, who was somewhat worried that his father would reprimand the officials of the Ministry of Military, such as Hielos and Philesius, for their presumptuous actions.

    ¡°I had indeed given such order,¡± Davos, on the contrary, remained calm as he continued, ¡°But the situation has now changed. The Ministry of Military had secretly ordered Potentia to gather their men and quietly join up with the army of Abellinum, both of whom are familiar with the Samnite Mountains and skilled in mountain warfare. The Samnites originally intended to lure us into attacking the mountains, but we, instead, set up an ambush in Aquilonia,pletely wiping out the main force they had hidden in the mountains!

    Now that Alexius is leading his men and the allied army, totalling nearly twenty thousand soldiers, to attack Beneventum directly, the Samnite Tribal Alliance besieging Neapolis will have to withdraw and return to defend. As such, we now hold a dominant position in the battle against the Samnites, whether it is the confrontation with the Samnite Tribal Alliance in Beneventum or our joint attack with the Campanian League army on the Samnite towns on the eastern ins. Meanwhile, in the Dauni region, our remaining army will take advantage of this great opportunity where the enemy''s main force is held back and continue attacking the other towns in the Samnite mountains¡­¡±

    ¡°So, the war with the Samnites no longer requires our help,¡± Adoris said with a hint of disappointment and then asked, ¡°Father, what''s the situation in Sicily?¡±

    Davos'' expression changed as he slowly said, ¡°After Prosous defeated the Carthaginian army in Minoa, our fleets in Sicily and the Carthaginian fleet engaged in a great battle in the sea off Selinua, with the result that¡­a great storm destroying nearly all the ships of the enemy and ours, with Flios drowning and Seclian missing to this day, and more than ten thousand sailors died.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± The three were visibly shocked as they had never expected them to suffer such tragic losses in the southern waters while they were still engaged in battle in the north.

    Davos continued, ¡°We had deployed the Fourth Fleet to Sicily and are still holding advantage of the sea. Prosous led the capture of Selinus, and the remaining Carthaginian forces held onto a few important towns and dared not attack. Thus, Prosous sent his army around to plunder and destroy the areas upied by the Carthaginians in Sicily to achieve an offensive defence.

    But the Carthaginians'' disastrous defeat led to them appointing a new suprememander, Mago, the Governor of Iberia in Carthage. Now, they are gathering soldiers and forming armies on the entire coast of Africa and Iberia, preparing tond in Sicily, so a new great war is about to begin! Thus, we must finish off the Romans and Samnites as soon as possible and rush south to fight our greatest enemy, Carthage!¡±

    Davos'' words not only made the three young men feel the urgency of the situation but also made them excited.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the day Davos held the banquet,petition, and rewards for his soldiers in the city of Rome, a massive fleet carrying Iberian troops arrived at the port of Utica.

    Utica, the Phoenician city-state on the continent of Africa, is second only to Carthage in terms of town size, and it is located on the coastal side about fifty-five kilometres west of Carthage.

    Mago''s ship was the first to dock, and he, dressed in military attire, stepped onto the dock. Immediately, the elders, led by Pretasdrubal, stepped forward and said, ¡°Lord Mago, wee back!¡±

    Mago gave Pretasdrubal a warm hug and said passionately, ¡°You''ve worked hard, Pretasdrubal! Thank you for all the things you''ve done while I was away! Thank you!¡­¡±

    Pretasdrubal patted Mago''s broad back and said excitedly, ¡°It''s good that you''re back. Now that you are back, we now have hope!¡­¡±

    Mago then warmly greeted the other Magonid elders.

    ¡°Lord Mago, wee back! You have finally led your army!¡± An elderly man with a white beard and hair stepped forward.

    ¡°Honourable lord Adrusbal!¡± Facing the leader of the neutral faction, Adrusbal, whose reputation in the Senate was second only to Hanno''s, Mago greeted him respectfully and spoke with a grave expression, ¡°With Carthage in danger, how can I simply stand by and ignore it, as a descendant of the city''s founder?!¡±

    ¡°I am d you think this way; after all, all Carthaginian citizens have high hopes for you!¡±

    ¡°All?!¡± Mago sneered and then pointed to the elders who hade to greet him and said, ¡°That''s not right. At least some people who haven''te here don''t think so.¡±

    ¡°Those who haven''te here have assembled for you more than sixty thousand soldiers and are now gathering a vast number of supplies for this army and are pressing the shipyards and other allied states to speed up the construction of warships¡­ So do not be unduly suspicious of your own kinsmen who are likewise making their endeavours for Carthage''s future!¡± Adrusbal said with a heavy heart.

    Hearing that made Mago want to retort but stopped. After thinking for a moment, his tone became gentler, ¡°Unlike the natives of Sicily, Numidia, and Iberia, the Theonians will be truly the most formidable adversaries we face and must put forth our best to defeat them. Hence, I wouldmit to preserving Carthage''s unity, so I also hope that Lord Adrusbal y a more significant role in this endeavour.¡±

    ¡°You can rest assured that our past failures have taught us a valuable lesson. Both Hanno and I, along with the other elders, are determined to see you win because failure would spell the end for Carthage! So you can be assured that we will do our best to support you until we expel the Theonians from Sicily and force their king into choosing a humiliating peace talk!¡± Adrusbal promised.

    Mago expressed his gratitude and then looked at the port as he waited for his officers to gather the soldiers who hadnded before leading them out of the city of Utica.

    There were not many Carthaginians or Phoenicians among the twenty thousand soldiers led by Mago as most of them were mercenaries, just like the army Hasdrubal led before. Their faces and attire, distinct from the Carthaginians and Phoenicians, piqued the curiosity of not only the spectators in Utica but also the elders who had gathered to wee them.

    Shortly after, several more ships docked, and a group of burly men disembarked. They were d in striped id pants without any upper body clothing. Unusually tall and muscr, they sported thick hair, peculiar tattoos scattered across their bodies, dishevelled short hair, wild beards, and a ferocious face. Their arrival caused a series of exmations from the onlookers at the port.

    However, that made these people feel as if they were being provoked, so they used the long sword on their left hand to bang against the long shield on their right hand and began roaring, making them even more terrifying. As a result, that frightened most of the people of Utica who were watching and made them turn around and flee, making the ce somewhat chaotic for a while. Thankfully, their leader intervened promptly, yet this didn''t ensure they could assemble peacefully at the port.

    ¡°A group of terrifying barbarians! Are they also from Iberia?!¡± Adrusbal asked with a surprised expression.

    ¡°They are the Celts in the mountains of northern Iberia, who fought with such ferocity that the other natives of Iberia feared them. It just so happens that the area they live in has gotten flooded, washing away their livestock and food. As they are now facing famine, I traded thousands of livestock for their help, as I believe that with them here, our war against Theonia will be smoother!¡± Mago said confidently.

    ¡°I hope so. After all, this is also the reason the Senate didn''t allow your army tond at Carthage''s port. So I hope you will manage your troops well and not make trouble here, as it will give the poption a bad impression of you,¡± Adrusbal reminded solemnly.

    Mago once again expressed gratitude for Adrusbal''s kind reminder.

    Once all the soldiers disembarked, Mago''s subordinates gathered them together and left the city of Utica to camp outside while Mago followed the elders to Carthage.

    During the more than ten years where Mago lived in the south of Iberia, he still returned to the city of Carthage many times, but in no way had he expected to encounter such a situation as that of today, where almost the entire poption of the city ran out and crowded both sides of the road, and as soon as he entered the city, thunderous cheers rang out all around him as the people shouted his name and threw flurries of flower petals at him¡­

 Chapter 870: Deadline for defeating the enemy

    <h4>Chapter 870: Deadline for defeating the enemy</h4>

    Mago was startled as he had never received this kind of treatment, which caused him to look at Pretasdrubal in confusion.

    Pretasdrubal looked at him and said eloquently, ¡°My Lord, we didn''t arrange this; these were the heartfelt cheers of the people! Since the war broke out, we have suffered nothing but disastrous defeats, with the Theonian army ravaging ournd in Sicily, their warships attacking our merchant ships bound for trade in western Sicily, and discing the people in our colonies in Sicily. As a result, our trade has sharply declined. Now, they deeply realise that Carthage needs a hero to defeat our powerful enemy and restore Carthage''s prosperity!¡±

    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll make them watch then!¡± Mago turned serious as he raised his right hand and waved to the crowd around him.

    The cheering became even more enthusiastic.

    ¡°Look, the king of Iberia is here, making himself out to be the hero!¡± Eshmounadon sarcastically said as he watched the group getting disturbed by the surrounding crowd.

    ¡°Hero?! He has to wait until he defeats Theonia!¡± Palteshmoun sneered

    ¡°With the more than twenty thousand troops he brought and the sixty thousand troops we have prepared for him here, along with the thirty to forty thousand in Sicily, which added up to a mighty force of more than one hundred and ten thousand strong. This makes it the most powerful army in the history of Carthage. Therefore, whoevermands this army is likely to achieve victory with ease!¡± Another elder said with disdain.

    As the elders at the entrance of the Senate discussed, Hanno, who stood at the forefront, remained calm. However, despite not saying a word, waves constantly turned in his heart: After all, he had spent more than decades of effort to remove the Magonids'' influence on Carthage, and even though he managed to chase the main family out of Carthage, he remains wary of Mago. But even after listening to the cheers resounding throughout the city, it doesn''t necessarily mean that the Magonids still held great influence in Cartahge! The only reason the people of Carthage were so vocal was precisely because they were worried about the war in Sicily. So, if he had a capable general in his hand, how could the situation in the city be like this?

    Looking at the approaching mago, Hanno felt both remorse and jealousy. Still, his expression remained calm because he couldn''t leave a bad impression on the public as he was the culprit for obstructing Mago from leading the army.

    ¡°Wee back, Lord Mago!¡± Hanno greeted loudly with a smile on his face, ¡°Now that you have arrived, we finally have hope for our war with Theonia! Therefore, we have gathered enough citizen soldiers and prepared enough rations for you so that we can hear the news of your victory as soon as possible!¡±

    Mago looked at the seemingly sincere smile on Hanno''s face as he listened to his words but felt a pang of disgust in his heart that made him say, ¡°With Carthage in danger, I would havee long ago if it weren''t for someone''s obstruction!¡±

    Hanno''s smile remained unchanged, acting as if he never heard that. He then invited them to enter.

    Mago then entered the Senate with his head held high.

    Eshmounadon approached Hanno with an angry expression, intending to say something, but Hanno winked at him to stop him.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the Senate Hall, Mago addressed the elders with a grave expression. He briefly outlined their dire situation and expressed gratitude for their trust. He concluded with a passionate promise: I will exert every effort to reverse our current predicament, defeat the Theonian army, expel them from Sicily, ensure they respect our ally Rome, expand trade opportunities for Carthaginian merchants within Theonia, andpel them to reduce their navy''s size, a direct threat to Carthage¡­

    Mago''s words aligned with the elders'' wishes, so everyone responded with warm apuse.

    While everyone apuded, Eshmounadon suddenly stood up and said coldly, ¡°It''s an exciting speech! However, Muntebaal said the same thing a few months ago, but what happened in the end?!¡±

    It was like a jar of cold water poured on the excited Mago. Furthermore, he became even more furious as the other party hadpared him to that ipetent trash. Thus, he immediately refuted, ¡°Muntebaal is a fool who was originally unqualified tomand this war. If it weren''t for some people''s insistence, he wouldn''t be able to serve as the suprememander! Ultimately, he saw the war as a joke that resulted in a disastrous defeat, causing huge losses to Carthage. So shouldn''t we pursue this and investigate?!¡±

    Hanno knitted his eyebrows.

    Eshmounadonughed, ¡°Ipetent, Muntebaal?! That''s rather amusing. He spent many years fighting in Numidia without a single defeat, securing vastnds for Carthage. His aplishments are on par with yours in Iberia, which is why the elders unanimously chose him as the suprememander. Yet, we still punished him after his failure. If there''s any objection to the Senate''s decision on this matter, I''d like to ask Lord Hanno about the events over a decade ago. Back then, both you and Himilco suffered disastrous defeats at the hands of Dionysius, one after another, resulting in the death of nearly half of Carthage''s citizens in Sicily. The loss was far greater than Muntebaal''s recent defeat. Yet, did you face a punishment akin to Muntebaal''s? Is that fair?"¡±

    ¡°You are just spouting nonsense!!¡± Mago became extremely angry at Eshmounadon¡¯s uncovering the scar of the past.

    Hanno, on the other hand, showed a faint and indescribable smile.

    Pretasdrubal immediately stood up and eximed, ¡°Lord Eshmounadon, our army is currently mustering for a decisive battle against the Theonians, which determines the fate of Carthage. So why, at this critical moment, do you choose to speak these words that disturb the army''s morale? What''s your intention in doing this?!¡±

    ¡°Don''t threaten me, Pretasdrubal. I don''t have any other intentions besides simply posing a question to Lord Mago. However, his reaction was unexpectedly intense even before I couldplete my question.¡± Eshmounadon dismissed Pretasdrubal''s threat with a casual shrug and continued, ¡°I meant to say that while making grand promises is easy, it isn''t easy to put them into action. Given that we have invested all our treasury, taxes, and the gold and silver we have mined in this war into gathering so many of our citizen soldiers to go to war and secure the necessary military provisions, I would like to ask Lord Mago to specify a deadline for the fulfilment of his promise because we can''t sustain this war indefinitely.¡±

    Hearing that caused Mago to be taken aback.

    Eshmounadon''s words won the support of many elders. After all, the protracted disagreement between Mago and Hanno hadsted over a month, which had already dyed the war''sunch. If he still dyed the war more now that he held arge army, the elders would be caught in a bind.

    Even Adrusbal took the initiative to stand up and said, ¡°Lord Eshmounadon is right. The rations required to feed over a hundred thousand troops is enormous, so we do need a more definitive timeframe in which all of Carthage could grit their teeth to provide the army with provisions during this period.¡±

    Pretasdrubal cast a warning nce at Mago.

    Mago thought setting a deadline would be a good thing if he could get Carthage''s full support, but he hesitated a little when he saw Pretasdrubal gaze at him.

    ¡°It seems Lord Mago isn''t very confident in his ability to defeat the Theonians,¡± Palteshmoun said mockingly.

    Mago red at Palteshmoun before his sharp gaze swept back to Hanno, who was also looking at him with a disdainful smile. He then said aloud in earnest, ¡°We all know how powerful Theonia is, and the war between us wouldn''t end in a short time. I understand your motive in bringing this up, and I''m more than willing to set a deadline as this won''t just serve as a personal motivation but also provide hope for the people of Carthage¡­one year! Within a year, I''ll exert every effort to drive the Theonians out of Sicily!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following day, as the main force of the Samnite Tribal Alliance entered Beneventum, they received news that the enemy was besieging N.

    Upon receiving the report, Segobani urgently called for a war council and stated, ¡°We must immediately engage Theonia and their allies'' forces in the south, then return with the army to provide support for N.¡±

    Lesguk naturally disagreed with this proposal as he patiently persuaded, ¡°Great Chieftain Segobani, you should know how well-fortified N is. With its ample number of defenders, the enemy won''t be able to take it swiftly. Therefore, there''s no need for you to be overly anxious. On the contrary, with the numerous enemies outside Beneventum and having built a well-fortified camp, a direct, forceful assault on them would only result in us suffering substantial casualties and still won''t ensure our sess.

    However, with Theonia travelling with such arge army so far, they would have a considerable problem supplying military provisions. So, as long as we send several troops to sneak into the mountains, bypass their camps and attack the route between Abellinum and their camps, we could cut off their supply route. Once the Theonians don''t have enough to eat, they will definitely panic and be confused. At that time, it will be our opportunity to attack them. After we crush the main force of the Theonians this time, we will be in a much better position next.¡±

    ¡°I agree with Lesguk''s opinion, as we should be cautious now that we have fewer troops!¡± Badani said, after all, the Theonian army is still not threatening Pentri''s territory, and he certainly does not want to take any risks.

    Konteruk, on the other hand, was more hesitant. Although Caraceni was much further away from the Theonian attack''s range, as an elder staunchly defending Samnite''s interests, adopting a cautious strategy was against his nature. However, the Caraceni warriors were already the smallest among the four major Samnite tribes and had sustained considerable losses, so he now needed to take the matter seriously. Thus, in the end, he, too, eded to Lesguk''s proposal.

 Chapter 871: Division

    <h4>Chapter 871: Division</h4>

    Despite feeling angry, Segobani could only follow this decision.

    After Alexius had learned of the entry of Samnite''s main force into Beneventum, he no longer sent troops to besiege the city and began withdrawing the ballistae unit. Still, the improvement and fortification of the entire camp continued.

    Although the Samnites intensified their attack on the enemy camps, the increasingpletion of the camp''s fortifications provided sufficient protection for the soldiers. In addition, The Potentian and Abellinum warriors, who hadn''t fought in more than a decade, gained a lot of experience from the sessful defence, improving their response.

    The Theonian army''s camp was constantly under fierce fighting, digging deep trenches, building thick earthen fortifications, erecting sturdy wooden enclosures and sentry towers after another, andying out dense abatis and traps¡­

    Meanwhile, the warriors sent by the Samnites to attack the transportation route were left idle as Alexius had stored enough food in the camp and didn''t need any supplies for the time being.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The following day, terrible news spread to Beneventum as the Theonian army began besieging the city of Aequum.

    Aequum, a Hirpini town lying directly east of Beneventum on the edge of the Samnite mountains, not far from the Dauni region, is neither easily defensible like Aquilonia perched on top of a mountain nor as populous as Beneventum, where even half of their already small number of tribes have been conscripted by the tribal alliance. Yet, it is said that a Theonian army, nearly ten thousand strong, has now encircled the town.

    The four great chieftains all understood that Aequum would fall quickly without reinforcements.

    When Lesguk saw Segobani sneering at him, he remembered what he had advised him yesterday. Thus, Lesguk made no mention of sending reinforcements at all and instead pondered how to persuade the Aequum warriors who were in the army as well as pacify the other tribes who were unsteady.

    Badani, on the other hand, became anxious, ¡°Given the Theonian kingdom''srge poption and several allies, they can muster many more soldiers than us. Currently, they are leveraging this advantage to expand the areas they can attack. On the contrary, we have less than twenty thousand warriors. Even if we gathered them all and defeated the enemy outside Beneventum, our disadvantageous situation wouldn''t change.

    Even though we''re unaware of the war situation between Theonia and Carthage, it''s evident that Carthage doesn''t hold the advantage, or else the Theonians wouldn''t havemitted such a significant number of troops against us. What should we do now that Carthage''s support is seemingly impossible?¡­¡± Badani contemted proposing a truce and peace with Theonia multiple times, but he hesitated as he didn¡¯t want to get reprimanded by that stubborn old man again.

    The other three naturally understood the meaning of his words, but even Konteruk had remained silent as each of the four began thinking of their own ns.

    In the evening, Segobani, anxious about the current situation, received another urgent plea for help from the messenger of N: The Theonians, along with their Campanian allies, have begun attacking with great haste. They''ve even erected earthen ramparts higher than our walls and deployed siege equipment we''ve never encountered before, posing a significant threat to N''s defences. Without immediate reinforcements, N is on the brink of being breached!

    Segobani finally could no longer sit still as he immediately went to find Lesguk and demanded he be allowed to lead the troops back to N.

    Lesguk, on the other hand, certainly didn''t want Segobani to lead his troops away because Caudini is currently the strongest of the four major tribes. If they were to leave, the entire tribal alliance''s troops would probably be reduced by half.

    So, Lesguk quickly advised, ¡°Given that Theonia''s main force is concentrated here, they should have fewer troops attacking N. Therefore, sending only one to two thousand warriors to reinforce N would be enough. Remember that our top priority now is to defeat the enemies outside!¡±

    ¡°Defeat? How?!¡± Segobani interrupted coldly, ¡°By your cowardly method?! Our warriors have been guarding the mountain range for two days, but we still haven''t seen a single wagon carrying provisions! Even if we wait until we manage to intercept Theonia''s supply someday, I am afraid we would have already lost all of Caudini''s towns on the Campanian ins!¡±

    Lesguk could only ignore Segobani''s mockery and simply advised, ¡°If you really want to hurry back, why don''t you do this instead? We will go and discuss with the other chieftains andunch an attack on the Theonian camp within two days. First, defeat them, and then return to N together-¡±

    ¡°Enough! Lesguk, do you still treat me as a fool like Konteruk and Badani, who you can fool at will?!¡± Segobani red at him and cursed loudly and angrily, ¡°We''veunched multiple attacks on the enemy''s camp in thest two days, resulting in significant casualties. So, I''m sure you understand how challenging it is to assault the enemy''s camp. But now, you are suggesting assaulting them forcefully? Do you want all of my men to perish?!

    Lesguk, you''re someone who talks and ys tricks but acts hesitantly,cking decisiveness and ruthlessness. More than a decade has passed, and yet you still failed to finish off Garni and pacify Abellinum, allowing them to be a serious problem for us! In addition, most of the ns implemented when waging war against Theonia came from you, and by now, we''ve lost more than half of our warriors without winning a single victory!

    Two days ago, if you had followed my advice tounch an assault on the Theonian camp when it wasn''t as troublesome as it is now, we would have made significant gains. However, you had dissuaded us from doing so, and now, when the Theonians havepletely reinforced their camp, you are telling us to attack them¡­Lesguk, I have seen through you. You don''t deserve to be the great chieftain of Hirpini, nor are you worthy of being themander who leads an army into battle! You are nothing but a pathetic man who the Theonains defeated more than a decade ago and has always harboured a fear of them!¡±

    After Segobani exposed his past wound, Lesguk felt ashamed and angry. With a wave of anger rushing to his brain, he pounced on Segobani, holding Segobani''s hand with one hand and grabbing Segobani''s neck with the other.

    Segobani tried to struggle but couldn''t break free. Hisplexion suddenly changed as he hissed, ¡°Les¡­guk, what are you¡­doing?!¡±

    ¡°What do you think I want to do?!¡± Lesguk neared his face with a scowl, ¡°You say I don¡¯t deserve to be the great chieftain of Hirpini, yet you think you are? Look at your scrawny body. Do you deserve to be called a valiant Samnite warrior? It is no wonder the former great chieftain of Caudini and his people had always favoured Kinduk as the next great chieftain! If it wasn''t for you secretly working to discredit Kinduk, how could you have be a great chieftain?! But what did you do after you became a great chieftain? You tore up the alliance agreement with the Theonians by invading the Campanian League several times, which triggered the war with Theonia. Not only did you suffer a crushing defeat, but you had even be their prisoner!¡­

    You said I am unworthy to be a great chieftain, but are you worthy?! You im I''m unfit to lead troops into battle, yet without my intervention, you would still benguishing in Theonian prison. Instead of gratitude, you offer insults to your benefactor. Have you forsaken the Samnite tradition of repaying kindness?! You assert that I was powerless against Garni, but was it your strategy that dealt with Kinduk?! It was a coborative effort of the other great chieftains. Do you genuinely believe your feeble mind could conceive a solution on its own?!¡±

    ¡°What are you two doing?!¡± Konteruk, who cameter after receiving the report, walked into the room and saw the two entangled together, causing him to shout, ¡°As the great chieftain of the Samnite major tribe, you should be contemting how to defeat our enemies. Yet, you are still in the mood to argue with each other here, not afraid of letting your tribesmen see such a ridiculous spectacle!¡±

    Lesguk took the opportunity to release his hand and took a few steps back. His face was immediately regretful as he loudly exined, ¡°We just had an argument over something, and I became too heated. Segobani, I apologise and hope you can forgive me!¡±

    Segobani rubbed his neck as he coldly gazed at Lesguk, ¡°Forgive you?! Unless you die!¡±

    After spouting this sentence, he turned around and started walking out.

    Konteruk frowned and said, dissatisfied, ¡°Segobani, some small disputes shouldn''t affect our unity; otherwise-¡±

    ¡°Shut up, old man!¡± Segobani interrupted Konteruk''s sermon without hesitation, ¡°You three can unite together. I am leaving and will lead my tribal warriors away tomorrow morning. I want to see how long you can hold onto Beneventum!¡± He then strode out of the room.

    ¡°What¡­the hell happened?!¡± Konteruk, who seldom gets insulted, became flushed with anger.

    Lesguk''s expression also became unsightly, but he didn''t reply.

    Badani, who had just arrived outside the door, heard the conversation between the three and quietly turned around and left.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    That night, despite the persistent efforts of the two great chieftains, Lesguk and Konteruk, Segobani kept his word and refrained from meeting anyone. The following morning, he led eight thousand warriors of the Caudini out of Beneventum.

    As the two great chieftains gazed at the deserted Caudini camp within the city, criticising Segobani for his narrow-mindedness and recklessness, they received another piece of grim news: Great Chieftain Badani was gathering over four thousand Pentri warriors to depart through the north gate and return to their territory.

    With the Caudini army already departing and the Pentri following suit, the Samnite Tribal Alliance could be considered on the verge of copse. There would be less than seven thousand tribal warriors left in the city, cing them at a significant disadvantage against the more than twenty thousand enemies outside the city!

    So he hurriedly headed north of Beneventum, wanting to dissuade Badani.

    Konteruk, who was initially following closely behind, began slowing down. He suddenly felt that Badani''s departure might be a good thing as long as he blocked the enemy''s invasion on the east. Because by defending Pentri''s territory, Caraceni, which is north of Pentri, would naturally be safe.

 Chapter 872: Nucerias Tribal Warrior

    <h4>Chapter 872: Nucerias Tribal Warrior</h4>

    Nevertheless, Konteruk had no intention of leading his men to leave. He was resolute in adhering to the ancient tradition of the Samnites and opted to stand with the Hirpini tribe, defending Beneventum by advancing and retreating together.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the early summer in the mountain range, the soil remained moist, the trees lush, and the weeds grew wildly, apanied by the incessant chirping of summer cicadas. The intense sunlight filters through the dense branches and leaves, casting dappled light on the mountain grass.

    Three scouts from Abellinumy on the ground, swatting away mosquitoes that bit their bodies as they closely observed the winding mountain path below.

    ¡°Big brother, look!¡± A scout pointed ahead and eximed in surprise.

    They saw numerous birds flying between the eastern mountains, chirping and circling.

    ¡°Let''s go and take a closer look!¡± The scout they referred to as the big brother wore a joyful expression as he stood up, stretched his somewhat sore thighs, and led the two men in a run down the mountain towards the east.

    Before long, they had once againy on the mountain range, gazing downward: More than a hundred metres away from the mountain path, densely packed Samnite warriors formed a long, curving line that stretched eastward.

    Although the clothing of the warriors from the four major tribes was all roughly the same, and they were too far to see the gs, the experienced Abellinum scouts could still tell that this was the Caudini army because this long line reflected a lot of sunlight, indicating that the rate of people wearing armour in this line is high. After all, only the Caudini among the four major tribes could do so because they are the wealthiest tribe as they own the eastern in of Campania. Moreover, the direction of this army''s advance is precisely to Caudium.

    ¡°Chieftain Garni is right. The Caudini have indeed left Beneventum, and the days we spent waiting weren''t in vain!¡± The leading scout couldn''t conceal the joy on his face.

    ¡°But we still haven''t found the Nucerians yet.¡±

    ¡°Although I can''t see them clearly from here, I can roughly guess where they are,¡± The leading scout said confidently, ¡°Since entering Beneventum, we haven''t seen the Nucerians go out to fight nor even gone to patrol the city, showing that the Caudini people are cautious against them. Thus, I think they must be in the middle of the line¡­and since they have about three thousand men, it should be easy to find them.

    You hurry back and report to chieftain Garni that I, Sedani, have started carrying out the n¡­ While you rush to the Theonian camp at N, tell theirmanders that I will get in touch with the Nucerians¡­¡±

    ¡°Brother, you must be careful!¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry. On the contrary, I would have an easier time sneaking in alone.¡±

    Sedani''s words weren''t meant tofort them. The Samnite army wasn''t like the Theonian army, which only marched on the mountain path. Once the mountain on both sides slopes down, the Samnite forces would split, with some warriors marching on the mountainside. This not only shortened the length of the marching line but also reduced the likelihood of an ambush. However, this also helped Sedani''s infiltration.

    Once he saw off the two scouts, he dusted his body, carried a few javelins and took cover from the trees, diving down the mountain and hiding in the weeds.

    He then rose decisively after carefully listening to the conversation of the marching warriors near him, pretending to have just finished taking a piss and then approached them. He managed to mingle easily with them as he was wearing the same clothing as them and as the Caudini''s marching line wasn''t as rigid as those of the Theonians and was instead more disorganised.

    Then, after having a silent discussion with the few Nucerian warriors around him, he decided to find the chieftain of Alfaternum, the secondrgest tribe in Nuceria(the reason he didn''t go to Kinduk''s tribe was that Segobani had already split up this tribe and its people had been forcibly incorporated into the tribes of N and Suess).

    ¡°You said you came from Abellinum?¡± Basani warily looked at the man who had attempted to approach him quietly, only to be stopped by his guard. Yet his tone carried a hint of excitement.

    Meanwhile, Sedani noticed how young Basani looked. ording to his appearance, he should have just turned twenty. Per the Samnite tradition, it is impossible for him to lead his tribesmen in battle. However, with Segobani imprisoning the chieftains of the various tribes in Nuceria, they could only allow their youngsters to lead the tribal warriors to better control them.

    ¡°To prevent others from being suspicious, we''d better discuss while marching,¡± Sedani suggested in a low voice.

    Basani instinctively looked around and then nodded.

    Sedani disguised himself as Basani''s guard and followed him along with other warriors.

    Basani impatiently muttered inquiringly, ¡°What happened in Nuceria?! We heard rumours in Beneventum that the Theonians were furious at us for killing the priests of Hades and the Theonian merchants. As a result, after invading Nueria, they not only killed those vicious wolves under Segobani but also¡­also¡­also ughtered all of our¡­our kin¡­ But those Caudini warriors we are familiar with had privately told us that your people often shout outside Beneventum that the Theonians have allied with our remaining tribes¡­and there are also other rumours. Which one is true?!¡±

    Instead of responding immediately, Sedani took something out and silently handed it to Basani.

    Basani''s eyes widened as he recognised it as his favourite small wooden carving when he was a child.

    Sedani looked at him and said confidently, ¡°This is something your tribal elders asked me to bring to you, and I also have more of such things for the several other tribal chieftains. The real situation is that after the Theonian army expelled the people of Caudium stationed in Nuceria, they allied with the elders of the Nucerian tribes to fight against the Samnite Tribal Alliance¡­¡±

    After Sedani finished speaking, the guards beside Basani became excited before Basani could even respond. The Caudiums have plotted Kinduk, imprisoned the tribal chieftains, ughtered their tribesmen, forced them to go out to war, and always have them charge at the forefront without a care for their survival¡­so the hearts of these Nucerian warriors have been burning with hatred for a long time but due to the strength of the Samnite Tribal Alliance and the safety of their kin in their territories, they had to endure the humiliation. But now, the opportunity hase!

    Someone even muttered, ¡°That''s great!¡± Then, their eyes burst with the mes of vengeance as they stare straight at Basani.

    Basani tightened his grip on the small wooden carving and muttered, ¡°Once we reach Caudium, I will quietly send someone to tell the news to the other Nucerian chieftains¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the same day that Segobani led his army to retreat from Beneventum, Xanticles, stationed outside N, had decided to start attacking N.

    Four days had passed since the siege began, but why was he suddenly urgent to attack the city? On the one hand, it is due to the concerns about the returning Samnite forces, which would result in all his previous efforts being in vain. On the other hand, his siege arrangement was nearingpletion.

    Upon arriving below the city wall of N, Xanticles inspected the Caudini town more closely. Although the wall was nearly seven metres high and constructed from stones, it had deteriorated, withrge gaps and even grass growing in some ces. The trench outside the town wasn''t wide, and although there was a simple abatis outside the trench, they didn''ty out any traps.

    Based on this, Xanticles estimated that the towns of the Caudini''s had never experienced an attack, so they hadn''t maintained or repaired it, which gave him the confidence to break the city quickly. (In fact, during the Caudini invasion of Campaniast year, N and Suess had already begun to feel the danger after the disastrous defeat they suffered from the Theonian reinforcements and the entry of the Third Legion. This prompted them to prioritise the strengthening of the city''s defences. Unfortunately, the outbreak of a full-scale war between the Samnites and Theonians shortly afterwards had drawn away the able tribesmen of N, causing the repairs to the city''s wall to be put on hold.)

    Considering that there were only a few defenders in N and all the areas nearby were now under the control of Theonia and its allies, Xanticles also thought that the only potential reinforcements the enemy would receive would be from the north. After discussing with the Campanian army leaders, Aeoles, and others, he decided to build an earthen rampart to approach the city wall.

    Constructing a siege earthen rampart was part of the standard military training for the Theonian legion, so Xanticles and the soldiers were familiar with the process. After deciding to build the earthen rampart to the south of N, and once the engineers surveyed the area, they set the starting point for construction at a distance of forty metres away from the city''s southern wall.

    So Xanticles ordered that most soldiers go to the mountains to cut down trees.

    After receiving Xanticles'' plea for assistance, Adrianus, the praetor of Irna, not only mobilised a few thousand citizens from Irna but also dispatched several administrative officials. Armed with three days'' worth of rations, they traversed the territory of Nuceria using the merchant routes to reach the outskirts of N. Upon learning of the situation, the Nucerians also rallied a few thousand people. Subsequently, the Campanian League contributed tens of thousands to the cause. As a result, in a span of less than two days, over thirty thousand individuals assembled in the Theonian camp(including twelve thousand soldiers).

    Xanticles¡¯ n for constructing the earthen rampart: He first left two thousand Campanian heavy infantry to guard the camp to prevent the enemy from sneaking out of the city. Meanwhile, the rest of the soldiers would go to the mountains and forests to cut down wood, turning some of the timbers into wooden stockades five to six metres high, which the two hundred soldiers erected thirty metres away from the walls of N. It had a length of seventy metres to ward off javelins and arrows shot by the enemy at the wall. Then, he stationed three hundred Theonian heavy infantry on both sides of the stockade and behind it to stop the enemy from possibly leaving N to destroy it.

 Chapter 873: Attacking Nola (I)

    <h4>Chapter 873: Attacking N (I)</h4>

    On the other hand, the officials of Irna efficiently organised the massive contingent of more than twenty thousand civilians,prising the elderly, youngsters, and even women, into several groups: Some cut down the felled trees, carried them down the mountain, and ced them at the location where the military camp''s engineers nned to build the earthen rampart. Another portion piled the timber in a criss-cross pattern, gradually extending it toward the city wall. Simultaneously, another group carried baskets filled with soil, using them to fill up the bases formed by the timbers and tamp them down.

    Meanwhile, the defenders of N were shocked and curious when they observed the enemy making significant movements to the south of the wall. Soon, however, they realised that a mound of earth about fifty meters wide was rising in front of them, advancing toward the wall, with the wooden stockade also being moved forward.

    Despite the Nn defenders persistently attacking the enemies that were constructing the rampart from a distance, the wooden stockades and shields of the heavy infantry effectively intercepted the javelins and arrows theyunched. Unfortunately, the enemies remained undeterred, even as the Nn defenders managed to injure a few and caused some to fall to the ground. Whether it was the Campanians and the Nucerians, who shared animosity towards the Samnites, or the people of Irna assisting in the battle as they knew their contribution in the war is being recorded by the census officials, which will greatly help the future development of their household in the kingdom. As a result, they devoted themselves to this undertaking with fervent enthusiasm.

    Finally, the defenders of N could only venture out of the city several times to destroy the wooden stockade and rampart. Unfortunately, they were all repelled by the army led by Xanticles, who had already taken precautions. Not only did they fail, but they also suffered significant damage to the already small number of defenders.

    Because of that, the defenders of N could only watch as the earthen rampart grew closer and higher. It not only approached the trench, but its height was almost the same as the top of the city wall.

    No longer requiring the wooden stockade, Xanticles deployed over a thousand Theonian heavy infantry and light infantry to position themselves on the rampart. From this elevated vantage point, theyunched attacks on the defenders from a distance of more than ten metres.

    Although both sides suffered significant casualties, the defenders of N, which had only one-tenth of the enemy''s soldiers, could not bear this consumption. Thus, they had to urgently send messengers multiple times to seek help from their Great Chieftain Segobani.

    Regarding Xanticles'' decision to attack the city of N today, the Campanian League''smander, Aeoles, became a bit hesitant as he said, ¡°The rampart is still not yet close to the city wall. Wouldn¡¯t it be too hasty for us to attack at this time? Shouldn''t we wait for one more day?¡±

    Xanticles patiently exined, ¡°Our Majesty Davos once said to the high-ranking officers of the Kingdom of Theonia that when fighting against powerful enemies, we must not seek decisive battles and instead carefully look for opportunities. However, once we win crucial victories or the enemy reveals the apparent weakness, attacking continuously and rapidly is necessary. We must not give the enemy any breathing space so that we couldpletely disrupt their entire deployment¡­

    Now that the Samnite Tribal Alliance had gathered their main force to Beneventum, N and Sues were left with only a thousand or so defenders. They thought they could defend these ces with just this number for long, but they obviously underestimated our ability to siege a city. Thus, we must quickly take N before they can react, making the entire war situation more favourable to us.

    Moreover, the battlefield constantly changes. So far, the gods have favoured us. The weather has been favourable for the past few days, and today also seemed sunny. However, if heavy rain unexpectedly falls tomorrow, it might wash away our earthen rampart, nullifying our people''s hard work and, more importantly, missing our chance. Therefore, we should capitalise on the current weather while Hades still smiles upon us! ¡­well, and¡­ based on our regr experience in siege training, the most challenging phase urs when the earthen rampart nears the city wall, as the enemy''s defences will tighten. So to speed up the progress and reduce our casualties, we mustunch a vigorous offensive to pressure them into easing their attack on the earthen rampart, enabling us toplete the siege more swiftly¡­¡±

    Xanticles'' earnest exnation had convinced the leaders of the Campanian League, resulting in them unanimously agreeing to attack N today. The next thing for them to discuss is the tactics.

    Xanticles had already thought of this, ¡°Our earthen rampart is located in the southern wall of N, which would be the focus of attack. Therefore, I suggest using one brigade of heavy infantry and a brigade of light infantry from us, plus a thousand light infantry and a thousand heavy infantry from your Campania, a total of four thousand men to focus the attack here!¡±

    Aeoles nodded and said, ¡°I agree with Strategos Xanticles; therefore, our Neapolis will provide these two thousand Campanian soldiers.¡±

    Xanticles continued, ¡°I suggest using all of the siege equipment made in the past few days to attack the western walls of N, and since our Theonian soldiers can utilise them skillfully, we will provide a brigade of heavy infantry to serve as the main attacker, with an additional one thousand Campanian soldiers as support¡­ For the east and northern walls, we would also arrange two thousand soldiers each to attack using siegedders, thereby distracting the already small number of defenders in N and weakening their defending capabilities¡­ Finally, there is still one brigade of Theonian light infantry and a thousand Campanian soldiers left, which I suggest we reserve for the final assault. ¡±

    Aeoles spoke up as soon as Xanticles finished his words, ¡°I believe Strategos Xanticles'' n is excellent, and so our Neapolis is willing to dispatch a thousand soldiers to attack the western wall, another thousand to assail the north, and the remaining thousand as a reserve, as suggested by Strategos Xanticles. Meanwhile, your city-state will be responsible for filling the remaining gap in the number of soldiers.¡± Aeoles addressed Xanticles with respect but spoke to the other strategoi of the Campanian League in a somewhatmanding tone.

    Xanticles suddenly realised that Neapolis was the leader of the Campanian League. But as a military officer, he didn''t think too much and instead felt that having Aeoles in charge of the strategoi of these Campanian city-states saved him a lot of time.

    Once they confirmed the n, they immediately began the implementation.

    The first to act were the soldiers outside the southern wall of N. This is because the people are already ready, each carrying sacks filled with soil, ready toplete the final portion of the earthen rampart and the city wall. Of course, this is also a critical moment.

    Although they called it a rampart, it''s essentially a massive inclining mound. ording to the Theonian engineers'' design, its starting slope is only about twenty degrees¡ªrtively gentle¡ªand extends from forty metres away all the way to the city walls. Thanks to the wood serving as the bone and thepacted earth as flesh and blood, the soldiers walking on it neither slip nor fall easily.

    More than two hundred Theonian infantry, each holding a long shield in their left and right hand, climbed the earthen rampart in two rows and advanced towards the city wall.

    The defenders immediatelyunched long-range attacks on them, mainly with javelins.

    Despite the two columns of Theonian soldiers protecting themselves tightly with their dual shields, some soldiers still get shot by javelins prating the long shield. However, new heavy infantry from the rear would constantly fill up the gaps in the formation.

    The light infantry following the Theonian heavy infantry also began attacking the city. They not only threw javelins but also shot arrows. After all, the city''s defenders didn''t have armour as thick as that of the Theonian heavy infantry. Although some of their warriors wore armour, at least half were light infantry, resulting in the Theonian arrows causing damage to them.

    Once the heavy infantry reached the top of the earthen rampart, they squatted down and erected their dual long shields to form a closely aligned shield wall whose height was almost level with the opposing wall. With less than ten metres separating the two sides, the defenders'' attack on those soldiers atop the rampart became even more violent. But the Theonian light infantry fought back with equal ferocity, suppressing the defenders'' attack to ensure the safety of theirrades.

    Javelins and arrows swish through the air within a distance of ten metres, their density asionally resulting in collisions. Screams echoed from both sides as soldiers were injured and fell to the ground.

    On both sides of the rampart, a thousand Campanian light infantry took advantage of when the rampart drew the defenders'' attention to quickly approach the trench andunched an attack atop the city wall to alleviate the pressure on their allies on the rampart.

    At this moment, the people carrying sacks filled with soil bent down in a long line, lowering their heads to reduce the risk of getting hit by javelins and arrows as they quickly ran up the rampart.

    On the rampart, the Theonian heavy infantry and light infantry left a gap for one person to pass through, thus creating a passageway that would lead straight towards the front of the rampart. Once the people reached the wall of shields, the heavy infantry on either side would raise their long shields a bit higher to create a gap underneath just enough for the people to push their sacks filled with soil down the rampart, and then the empty-handed people would turn back and run back towards the ground.

    As countless sacks filled with soil continued to roll down into the ¡®valley¡¯ formed between the city wall and the earthen rampart, the wounded Theonian soldiers and Nn defenders asionally falling in would end quickly getting buried before they could climb out and be a cornerstone of this man-made mound.

    Not only did the people move up and down on the rampart, but the Theonian light infantry and heavy infantry would also rotate continuously due to their stamina, wounds, and need to replenish javelins and arrows. Below the rampart, medical camps quickly provided emergency treatment to the wounded people and soldiers.

    Such a busy yet rtively orderly tense scene caught the eye of the Neapolitan army strategos Aeoles behind, making him exim in admiration at how the Theonians turned a gruelling siege into a well-organised, lively and efficient construction project, which was not something that any Greek city-state could do. ¡®The capabilities of the Theonian Kingdom''s military are too terrifying!¡¯

 Chapter 874: Attacking Nola (II)

    <h4>Chapter 874: Attacking N (II)</h4>

    Meanwhile, Aeoles began noticing the weakening of the defender''s attack, showing that the Nn defenders were new to such a way of sieging a city. Even though the Samnites still had a slight upper hand in the battle of long-range attacks due to the protection of the battlements, the number of their casualties was increasing, which put a great deal of pressure on them.

    ¡°The enemy became disorganised!¡± Aeoles said cheerfully to Xanticles, who was also in the rear and observing the enemy situation.

    ¡°While this is a good thing that reduces our military and civilian casualties, the most challenging part of the war has yet to start,¡± Xanticles said calmly.

    Aeoles understood what Xanticles meant ¨C the sh once the earthen rampart and the city wall neared each other.

    In contrast to the hustle and bustle of the southern battlefield, the western wall is much quieter.

    First, the several hundred Campanian light infantry arrived at the trench equipped with arrow-blocking tes crafted by Theonian craftsmen to withstand the long-range attacks of the city''s defenders. Then, they opened the brackets behind the tes and positioned them diagonally to provide shelter for the light infantry while also allowing them to asionally fireback javelins and arrows at the defenders from the gaps between.

    While they held the defenders in check, the Theonian heavy infantry pushed out the siege weapon (the Theonian legion engineers instructed the craftsmen of Irna and Campania to make these hollowed wagons out of the wood that the soldiers had cut down from the mountains and forests). Following what the soldiers of the Second Legion had done earlier when Davos besieged Rome, they pieced together wooden wagons and pushed their way up to reach the front of the trench.

    Not only were their allies surprised, but the defenders atop the city wall were also dumbfounded as they could only see box wagons but no people in sight, and they couldn''t even ignite them with their ming arrows. Meanwhile, the soldiers of Theonia quickly passed sacks filled with soil inside the carriage to fill the narrow trench in front of them.

    Then, one after another, they pushed the box wagons until they reached the wall, allowing them to form two passages from the wall to forty metres away. Immediately, soldiers at the rear carriedrge logs with an iron conical battering ram set in the front end of the log. They passed the battering ram from soldier to soldier until it reached the bottom of the wall. Then, six soldiers carried the battering ram on their shoulders and began using it to strike against the wall.

    The hard conical ram fiercely hit the dpidated stone wall, causing the stones to break and the binder to fall off, resulting in a crack appearing on the wall¡­

    When the defenders felt a vibration from the city wall, it heightened their panic and made them intensify their attack of dropping stones, wooden blocks, oils, and shooting ming arrows.

    Unfortunately for them, the few box wagons closest to the city wall were made exceptionally sturdy, with the craftsmen reinforcing the entire frame and adopting a herringbone structure on the roof to disperse impact easily. In addition, they tied soaked bags filled with soil so the enemy couldn¡¯t set it ame, allowing the soldiers to attack the city wall safely.

    When the battering ram broke through the outer stone wall and exposed thepactedyer of earth inside, the soldiers picked up their pickaxes and shovels, removed the stones around the gap to expand the hole in the wall, and continuously excavated thepacted earth inside¡­

    The enemy''s offence on the western and southern city walls has already ced tremendous pressure on the defenders in N, who are already low in numbers. Yet the allied forces alsounched attacks on the eastern and northern sides, forcing the people of N to mobilise all their able-bodied people, including women.

    However, the southern city wall remained the most intense battlefield. After half an hour of fighting, the Theonian light infantries¡¯ arms were too sore even to lift it; their fingers were bleeding from drawing their bows. The heavy infantry forming the shield walls had suffered over three hundred casualties, with the casualties among the civilians equally high.

    But then came a turning point: the Nn defenders ran out of javelins. In just half an hour, they threw thousands of javelins, plus the javelins they shot a few days ago to prevent the Theonians from building the earthen rampart, now resulting in them using up all their javelins, with the arrows almost depleted also.

    As for using the javelins thrown by the Theonian light infantry? The Theonians had specially made their javelins so that the rod that connected the shaft and the spearhead was so thin that it would bend and could no longer be used after hitting a hard object. However, the Theonians can quickly remove the spearhead and ce a new spearhead at the bottom of the shaft, which is obviously impossible for the Nn defenders to do.

    In the end, the defenders could only throw stones and wood at their opponents. Unfortunately, with the Theonian shield ten metres away from the wall, they could not throw the too-heavy stones. In contrast, those they could throw over it were more likely to be blocked by the long shields and were much less of a threat to the Theonian heavy infantry, resulting in the shield wall remaining firm and allowing the civilians to throw the sacks much more quickly.

    As they quickly filled up the ¡®valley¡¯, the sacks had already reached the feet of the Theonian heavy infantry, who began carefully moving forward with their shields up so the people behind could fill the deeper recesses.

    At this moment, Aeoles was already gathering more than a thousand Campanian heavy infantry to rece the army at the rampart.

    Then, once the salpinx sounded, the Theonian light infantry quickly withdrew to the foot of the rampart. Then, ording to Xanticles'' n, Aeoles would lead the Campanian heavy infantry to form more than a dozen columns that were spaced apart and slowly marched up the earthen rampart so that the civilians and the Theonian heavy infantry could evacuate quickly.

    The Campanian heavy infantry, wearing Corinthian helmets and holding arge copper shield, had a narrow field of view and unsteady movements that made it difficult for them to climb the rampart. Fortunately for them, the earthen rampart had a gentle slope and didn''t significantly impact their march.

    Meanwhile, the Theonian heavy infantry formed a shield formation atop the rampart and began moving towards the city wall. But without the assistance of the light infantry, they suffered more fierce attacks, with some Nn defenders even climbing over the wall and jumping onto the almost nearing earthen rampart while holding their spears andunching a direct assault on the Theonian heavy infantry.

    During this long defensive battle, the Nn defenders noticed that the Theonian soldiers didn''t carry any spears as they all wielded two shields. Thus, once the Nn warriors stepped on the uneven earthen rampart, they directly used their bodies to smash through the long shields, even knocking down the enemies and then thrusting their spears.

    The shield wall formed by two columns of Theonian heavy infantry began to fall apart, causing the civilians to panic and flee downwards. However, the Theonian officers started shouting, ¡°Do not retreat! Throw away your long shield and change it for a short sword!!¡­¡±

    In fact, the officers didn''t need to shout as the soldiers were already executing it. These reserve soldiers from the Lucanian mountains were previously subjected to the enemy''s long-range attacks and could only watch as hundreds of theirrades suffered casualties, with the enemy''s sudden direct assault causing dozens of casualties¡­ As they are all Lucanians who grew up after the establishment of the Kingdom of Theonia, and although the kingdom''s cultural integration has weakened their wildness, the military training taught them teamwork and camaraderie. So, with the fury of vengeance, they wielded their short swords and long shields to fight fiercely against the Nn defenders.

    But they suddenly heard the salpinx signalling the retreat at this time.

    Despite their reluctance, the soldiers could only obey orders.

    Meanwhile, the Nn defenders didn''t continue to chase after them because they saw the ¡®tin cans¡¯ advancing towards them, causing them to run back and climb the city wall.

    On this earthen rampart that was more than fifty metres wide, the Campanian heavy infantry slowly approached the defenders atop the city wall and gradually went into formation with them, and the defenders were only separated by the battlements. Although they could easily stab the enemy with their spears, they couldn''t use the charge and impact they were good at, resulting in their power weakening quite a lot. Suddenly, the sound of attack was blown continuously, and the Campanian heavy infantry on the earthen rampart began to fight the enemy fiercely under the leadership of Aeoles.

    Despite the Campanians and the Samnites engaging in battles in recent years, they only had a few good opportunities to fight a direct sh because the Samnite warriors would always throw their javelins to kill the Campanian soldiers first, then retreat to lure them into pursuit. Then, during the retreat, they would use the enemy''s slow mobility to repeatedly throw javelins until the opponent''s formation became disorganised, where they would then send armoured warriors to charge towards them and ultimately defeat the enemy.

    This set of tactics had been repeatedly tried and tested, and the sessive defeats had made the Campanians tremble, rendering them afraid to even go out of the city to fight. But today, they finally have a chance to avenge this humiliation. The Campanian soldiers shouted loudly and fiercely as they pierced the enemy with their spears.

    Meanwhile, the Nn defenders couldn''t adopt the previously effective guerri tactics and could only face the enemy head-on. Thus, they had the warriors in armour to stand in the battlements and block the enemy. Behind them were the light infantries to form a dense formation in the passageway to counter the Campanian heavy infantry. Furthermore, they also drew in some of the defenders from the western wall to fight the enemy as they thought the fighting on the western side was less intense and that they could cope even with fewer defenders.

    But shortly after they transferred some of the defenders of the western wall, terrible news came out as two sections of the western wall copsed.

    That was due to the Theonian soldiers in the box wagon who had removed the stones and rammed earth at the bottom of the city wall, damaging the foundation of the wall and causing the already weak wall to copse due to gravity, with the scattered stones even injuring several Theonian soldiers who failed to retreat in time.

    The loud rumbling sound and the rising dust in the air not only shocked the Nn defenders but also made the Campanian soldiers look dumbfounded as they looked down at the Theonians upon seeing how their unique and slow way of attacking the city wall hadn''t had any result for such a long time, thinking that it was both time-consuming andborious. The soldiers even said disdainfully, ¡°I heard the braveness of the Theonians in battle, but it seems they also feared death and knew only to hide in those wooden boxes!¡±

    But the current disastrous state of the city wall had given them a resounding p in the face. They naturally don''t know that in the various military camps within the Kingdom of Theonia, not only would the soldiers actually build walls to practice their construction ability, but they would also practice how to break through this section of the wall in their following training session, so the Theonian soldiers weren''t just randomly digging around, but they were destroying the wall''s structure purposefully and efficiently.

 Chapter 875: Facing the Caudini Reinforcements

    <h4>Chapter 875: Facing the Caudini Reinforcements</h4>

    ¡°Push forward! Hurry up and push forward!¡­¡± The Campanian officers urged the distracted soldiers.

    On the other hand, the long-prepared Theonian heavy infantry shouted in excitement. While shielding their heads to deflect the stones and wooden blocks the defenders threw, they rushed in a loose formation toward one of the gaps in the wall. Simultaneously, the Campanian light infantry in front of the trench intensified their attack on the defenders atop the city wall.

    With the city wall copsing, a slope was formed on both sides of the gap. The Theonian soldiers stepped on the rubble and jumped onto the gap that was only wide enough for three people to pass through. Meanwhile, the defenders at the southern wall of N immediately separated some of their men to intercept the enemy once they saw the wall copsing.

    The Theonian soldiers had the advantage in the sh with their short swords, yet the Nn warriors disregarded their casualties to defend their homnd. Furthermore, the narrowness of the gap made it impossible for the Theonian soldiers to pan out.

    Just as the Theonian and the Campanian soldiers rushed towards the two gaps in the wall, they could hear a military horn sound from outside the western wall.

    The Campanian light infantry in front of the trench immediately lowered the arrow-blocking boards andid them on the three-metre-wide trench. At the same time, the remaining allied soldiers rushed up from the rear carrying siegedders and stepped on the ¡®wooden bridges¡¯ made using the arrow-blocking boards, and easily bypassed the sparsely arranged abatis and set thedders on the city wall.

    With a portion of the original defenders from the western section reassigned to reinforce the southern wall and some directed to descend to block the gap in the wall, the few defenders who remained atop the wall still needed to assist in attacking the enemy at the gap. However, they could not cause substantial damage to the foes near the walls and struggled to prevent those enemies from climbing like ants. In the end, they had to seek help.

    Unfortunately, the Theonians and their allies'' attack on the southern wall became more fierce, and with the Nn warriors wearing armour that had less protection than their opponent, they often lost more in the frontal sh and could barely support themselves. Meanwhile, the defenders on the eastern and northern walls mainly relied on the civilians in the city to continue fighting back and stop the enemy from breaching, which resulted in the civilians paying a great sacrifice. With the entire city of N attacked on all sides, the Samnites were now in a tight situation where they didn¡¯t have troops to dispatch.

    The battlested until noon, and Xanticles, who was monitoring the war development from outside the southern wall, received the long-awaited good news of them capturing the western wall!

    Xanticles suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and rxed as they were finally about to take the city of N!

    Despite this was his first time leading a battle independently after joining the Kingdom of Theonia, he managed to achieve such excellent results that might allow him to realise his initial wish to be a true suprememander of the army and wash away his previous shame(Refers to the Ladician case where he failed to fulfil his duty when he served as the grand inspector in the Ministry of Military, resulting in him failing his supervision and allowing some ipetent officers to be promoted).

    However, he was unhappy at this moment as from the start of the siege until now, his army had suffered more than five hundred casualties. Despite most only getting wounded, this was already a very high percentage for a force of only four thousand men. He was afraid that he would get med afterwards.

    Thus, he ordered a herald, ¡°Inform all brigades that they shouldn''t advance too aggressively after entering the city. They should instead slow down their advance and pay attention to protecting themselves so that we could reduce the casualties!¡±

    ¡®Sigh, we can only remind the new recruits constantly as theyck experience¡­¡¯ Xanticles sighed while watching the herald leave. After rubbing his somewhat sore waist, he said, ¡°Go bring me a chair.¡±

    Despite the defence of the city of N being like a bloated pig dder that would easily break and quickly copse on all fronts, Xanticles'' concern soon arrived as the Nn defenders and civilians who retreated from the city didn''t surrender. Instead, the enemy continued to resist their advance stubbornly. As a result, the soldiers became angry as they had already suffered considerable casualties during the siege, especially the Campanian soldiers who had suffered from the tricks of the Samnite army. Thus, they not only increased the intensity of their attack but also regarded the men, women and children in the city as enemies to be killed.

    With the people of N outnumbered and no Acropolis, asmonly found in Greek city-states, serving as a final defence, almost all of N''s inhabitants perished in the battle. By afternoon, the Theonians and their alliespletely upied the city.

    Yet the army leaders didn''t have the joy of victory as an Abellinum scout brought them terrible news: Thousands of Caudini warriors left Beneventum early in the morning and headed westward.

    Xanticles, Aeoles and the other strategoi immediately became nervous, fearing that the Samnite army wasing to rescue N. Fortunately, they didn''t need to worry about the instability of the city.

    After a discussion, the strategoi urges the soldiers to quickly recondition themselves and eat their ration to recover their strength as soon as possible. Meanwhile, they left the cleaning of the entire battlefield, the deconstruction of the camp outside the city and the counting of the spoils within the city over to the officials of Irnia who wouldmand the people of the three ces of Irna, Campania and Nuceria, which in fact was tantamount to handing over the management of N to Theonia.

    For the Campanians, they had no say about it. After all, they simplycked the poption to fill up these areas due to the massive invasion of the Samnite army, resulting in the death and capture of a significant portion of their poption. In addition, their towns and viges were destroyed, and even the city of Neapolis, dozens of kilometres away, became almost a wilderness. Hence, none of them covet thend in the eastern ins of Campania, especially considering this ce is close to the mountains, making it more susceptible to Samnite attacks.

    As far as Theonia was concerned, they had already devised a punitive n to seize N, Suess, and Capua after the Third Legion sessfully repelled the Caudini invasion of the Campanian League. Now, they were simply resuming this n. Adrianus had dispatched Irna''s officials to partly guide the popce here, intending to assist in the city''s assault and, simultaneously, to swiftly assume control after capturing N.

    The Kingdom of Theonia and the Campanian League naturally reached a tacit agreement, each taking their own needs without hesitation. But the potential arrival of the Samnite reinforcements would likely turn the victory they earned with the blood of their soldiers into nothing.

    Fortunately, the distance from Beneventum to N is approximately forty-five kilometres, half of it being a mountain path. Thus, the several strategoi of the Campania League believe that the Caudini wouldn''t reach N in a single day.

    As the saying goes, what you feares to you. It was almost dusk when the scouts they sent to the north to keep a close eye on the enemy''s movement came back in a hurry, reporting that a Samnite army hade out of the Abe Pass and was on its way to N and that they numbered about ten thousand.

    The strategoi of the Campania League were shocked as they had heard from the Abellinum scout that the enemy only had a few thousand people before, so how could they suddenly have ten thousand men just a few hourster?!

    A strategos immediately questioned, ¡°Did you properly check the number of enemies?! Go and confirm it for me again!¡±

    Another suggested, ¡°With the Samnitesing fiercely while our soldiers have just gone through a fierce battle that is not only exhausting but also sustained many casualties and in urgent need of recuperation, plus the walls of N are now too broken to hold on to, so why don''t¡­we lead our troops to retreat first, and then return once we are all well prepared¡­¡±

    Surprisingly, his suggestion gained the approval of several strategoi, with even Aeoles hesitating. Unable to decide, Aeoles could only turn to look at Xanticles.

    Xanticles looked around at these Campanian officers and understood that despite capturing the city of N and gaining a victory over the Samnites, the constant defeat suffered by their Campanian allies over the decades had made them afraid of the Samnites that once the situation became unfavourable, the first thing they thought was to retreat. Thus, he needs to give them the courage to fight!

    Xanticles pondered momentarily and said, ¡°Everyone, we must first consider a few issues if we are to retreat. Firstly, what about the tens of thousands of civilians here? They are not soldiers who are young, strong and disciplined; many of them are women and elderly who can only move slowly andck organisation. Once we let them retreat, our situation is bound to be chaotic. In addition, with the Samnites marching fast, it will be a disaster once they catch up to them!

    Secondly, this war waged by the Samnites had already caused the Campanian League to suffer significant losses. Now that we are shifting our focus to keeping the Samnites in the mountains and preventing their invasion again after managing to capture N with great difficulty, we find ourselves giving up N. Once we take this step, it would be challenging to recapture the city once again. After all, the Samnites will likely learn their lesson and ce sufficient defenders, leading to a potential stalemate.

    Currently, the main force of our Theonian army is fighting in the mountains in the east, which is the home of the Samnites. So, the battle there is bound to be severe, and there will be no results in the short term. Furthermore, I could not receive new reinforcements here as the kingdom was also engaged inrger wars in Sicily and Latium.

    So once there is a stalemate in the war, it will not be in your favour because the Samnite can then use their best offensive strategy ¨C raiding. But what you need to do now after experiencing a massive Samnite invasion is lead your people to rebuild their homes, harvest and plough the destroyed farms, and graze the few livestock¡­ But once the Samnite return to the Campanian ins, will any of your people even dare to leave their towns? Remember, you don''t have enough food and amodation. If the people cannot return to their homes, it will inevitably lead to their discontent andints, making the next step in the governance of your city-state even harder¡­¡±

 Chapter 876: Battle of Nola (I)

    <h4>Chapter 876: Battle of N (I)</h4>

    Xanticles'' heavy words stirred the strategoi of the Campanian League deeply, prompting Aeoles to reflect immediately on the plight of Neapolis. With numerous refugees converging in the city where food was scarce, it would be challenging to maintain order and the looming fear of an epidemic breaking out.

    In contrast, the strategoi of cities like Heeum, Liternum, and so on eagerly looked forward to leading their people to return to their homes, but their houses were currently in ruins. Once the Samnites invade again, they won''t be able to defend themselves¡­so do they have to continue hiding in the city of Neapolis in the future? Not only were the people struggling to endure, but the citizen soldiers under theirmand would also oppose it.

    Xanticles saw the Campanian League''s strategoi thinking depressedly and said, ¡°It''s true that our soldiers are exhausted after the bitter battle. However, aren''t the Samnites who hade from afar also spent?! At least our soldiers have time to rest, while the Samnites used one day to reach here from Beneventum, and they surely didn''t rest much on the way and will only be even more exhausted than our soldiers. So, could they still run like the wind when fighting like they did before?!

    Besides, while our soldiers'' morale increased from capturing N, the Samnites had lower morale than ours as they were worried and anxious about N. Moreover, even if the Samnites have ten thousand reinforcements, we still outnumber them. Remember, their force also includes over two thousand warriors from Nuceria. And just like what that Abellinum scout reported before, they have already covertly contacted the leader of the Nucerians, so these two thousand Nucerian warriors are not allies of the Samnite reinforcements but rather our supporters at the critical moment!¡±

    As Xanticles continued to speak, his emotions began to get stirred up also, ¡°Everyone, with all the advantages we have, it''s exactly the right time to seize this favourable moment and take the initiative to meet the iing enemies, defeat them, andpletely expel them out of the Campanian ins, so that you, the people of the Campania, can have peace and tranquillity!¡±

    Xanticles'' words stirred the hearts of most of the strategoi and dispelled their doubts.

    But some still raised objections, ¡°Can we even believe the words of those Abellinum?!¡± The Samnites and Campanians have been fighting for decades and regard each other as mortal enemies, so how could they easily believe them?

    Before Xanticles could answer, Aeoles interjected, ¡°The people of Abellinum assisted Lord Alexius in defeating the Samnite army in the mountains and are now helping him besiege Beneventum, so why couldn''t we trust them?! The Abellinum are allies of Theonia and certainly friends of ours! And the Nucerians as well, and let''s not forget that we owe it to them that we were able to take the city of N!¡±

    In fact, it''s not that the Nucerians didn''t have conflicts with the Campanians during the battle in N; it''s just that the officials of Irna tried to separate their tasks as much as possible to minimise contact. For example, they had given the Nucerians the work of cutting down the tree trunks and digging the trench without allowing them to participate in constructing the earthen rampart. They had also made them rest south near Nuceria¡¯s territory at night. Of course, there was another reason for doing this, which was to keep the Nn defenders from seeing that the Nucerians were closely interacting with the Theonians so as not to bring harm to the Nucerian warriors who were still among the Samnite Tribal Alliance.

    That strategos could only remain silent.

    Aeoles looked at Xanticles and solemnly asked, ¡°If we follow your words and lead the army to face the Samnite reinforcements, can we achieve victory?¡±

    Xanticles replied solemnly, ¡°As long as we give it with all our might, we can achieve victory!¡±

    Aeoles was concerned that once they lost, the slow-moving Campanian heavy infantry would find it impossible to escape the pursuit of the Samnites, thereby worsening the situation in the Campanian League.

    But back when he assisted the Theonian army when they battled on the Campanian ins both times, he became impressed by Theonia''s formidable military strength. Therefore, Xanticles'' affirmation gave confidence in him. Thus, he faced the strategoi of the Campanian League and eximed, ¡°Everyone, with the help of our Theonian allies, we will definitely defeat the Samnites! There''s no need for you to hesitate. Go and gather your soldiers at once; we will meet the enemy and chase them out of the Campanian ins once and for all!¡±

    No one expressed opposition this time.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Nn defenders felt something was wrong when the Theonian army formed outside N early in the morning, so they sent a small team to sneak out of the city. After paying many casualties, they managed to escape the enemies'' encirclement by scurrying through the hill to the southeast and into the mountain range. Then, they rushed to Beneventum to ask for help. But exactly noon, at the entrance to the mountain pass leading from Caudium to Beneventum, they managed to run into Segobani''s army.

    Realising the imminent danger to the city of N, Segobani promptly ordered them to speed up their march. Simultaneously, he dispatches heralds to ry the urgent message to Suess swiftly.

    Then, once the Caudini army left the mountains and entered Caudium''s territory, they didn''t even rest in the city but continued to march forward, cross the wider pass between the mountains and reach Abe. Here, they were joined by the one thousand three hundred warriors sent by Suess, bringing the total force to over nine thousand, which was thergest force that the Caudini could now field.

    Then they left the pass, entered the Campanian in, bypassed the mountains, turned south and headed straight towards N.

    Although the road from Caudium to N was t, marching throughout the day left the Samnites, who were good at running and full of energy, exhausted. Many tribal chieftains even requested Segobani to allow the warriors to rest.

    But Segobani rejected their suggestion as, from the several Nn messenger''s ounts, he realised the determination of the Theonian-Campanian forces to capture N. Therefore, he needed to reinforce them as soon as possible to prevent the Theonians from gaining control of this crucial location for the Caudini tribe. After all, it would result in the southern part of the Caudini territory being cut off, a situation he could not allow

    About five kilometres from N, Segobani received a report from the scout he sent to check on N, ¡°The enemy''s army ising out of N and heading towards us, with arge number of soldiers!¡±

    ¡°Are you sure the enemy came out of N?!¡± Segobani asked in disbelief.

    ¡°Chief, when we approached N¡­the battle had already ended, and we only saw many Campanians carrying corpses outside the city¡­the enemy did indeed leave the city through the north gate of N, fully armed, and they didn''t look as if the battle had just ended¡­¡± the Caudini scout said with a mournful expression.

    Segobani was shocked as he had rushed to lead this massive army to aid N, as he didn''t believe the Theonian-Campanian forces could capture the city, defended by thousands of Caudini warriors, in just a few days. Unfortunately, the current situation exceeded his expectations.

    But after only a moment of thinking, he snapped at the somewhat shaken chieftains, ¡°Weren''t you alwaysining about if the Campanians hadn''t hidden in their cities like turtles and dared not fight against us, we would have already upied the entire Campanian in?! Now, the opportunity hase as those cowardly Campanians dared to take the initiative to attack us! Do they really think that with just the help of the Theonians, they can transform from a pack of rabbits into a vicious wolf?! Their numbers are simr to ours, and they have also just finished sieging a city! They came just in time, as we can now finish thempletely. Not only will we be able to retake N, but there will no longer be any forces in the Campanian ins that will stand in our way, and we, the Caudini, will alter the entire war situation!¡±

    The chieftains became motivated by Segobani''s fighting spirit as they all moured to fight the enemy to the death.

    Thus, the chieftains executed the order to stop advancing, rest on the ground and begin forming up.

    Earlier, Basani felt anxious as he originally thought that this Caudini army would rest in Caudium after travelling through the mountains. But beyond his expectations, they would go all the way to N. Thus, he could only send his men to inform the other Nucerian chieftains about the news that the Nucerians had already freed themselves from Segobani''s control and allied themselves with Theonia.

    Now that he learned they were about to engage in battle with the Campanians and were about to form up, Basani became even more anxious because Segobani had forcefully ordered the various Nucerian tribes in the army to disperse immediately to their appointed ces in the formation, without refusal or dy!

    Segobani ces the dozen or so tribes of Nuceria to the front and rear of the entire left, centre and right nks of the formation. He arranged them in this position to make it impossible for them tomunicate with each other during battle.

    In fact, the Nucerian forces were now like a hot potato for Segobani, and with what he had done to their territory before and now that Theonai was upying it, he was certain that the Nucerian army would rebel once they learnt the truth.

    Thus, Segobani thought it would be better topletely separate them and forcibly incorporate them into the armies of other tribes, which would certainly provoke resistance from the Nucerians. It wasn''t that Segobani didn''t try to solve it at the beginning: Right around the time the Samnite Tribal Alliance army had met at Beneventum, he had suggested to the other Great Chieftains that he wanted to use the Tribal Alliance''s strength to suppress the resistance of the Nucerian warriors and take the opportunity to split them apart.

    Unfortunately, Badani and Konteruk oppose it, especially Konteruk, who sternly rebukes this practice, arguing that it was Kinduk''s fault for colluding with foreign enemies. Now that they had already punished him and his tribe, and the other Nucerian tribal warriors had shown such valour in battle (the Nucerian army, forced by Segobani, was always at the forefront of the battle), it was enough to atone for their previous transgression. Moreover, it was a military tradition in Samnite for the chieftains of the various tribes to lead their own people into battle, and breaking that tradition would only instil fear in the other tribes.

 Chapter 877: Battle of Nola (II)

    <h4>Chapter 877: Battle of N (II)</h4>

    Konteruk''s words struck what Segobani feared most. Then, he went to privately discuss it with the other Caudini chieftains who were close to him and was also met with strong opposition, causing him to give up.

    But the war situation changed so quickly that he hadn''t had time to devise a better solution to the Nucerian problem. He had even spread rumours in Beneventum to confuse them, which had a good effect. However, it is only a temporary measure. Forcing the various tribes of Nuceria to spread out within the formation is also a temporary solution. And if he didn''t bring them out, where would he ce these over two thousand Nucerian warriors? Caudium or Abe? But that would only make Segobani more uneasy. Thus, he firmly believed that only under such an arrangement would the Nucerian warriors fight bravely and not dare to cause trouble.

    That was indeed the case. Basani became anxious because the Nucerian army, despite seemingly united, had no actual leader who could convince everyone and make them obey orders. After all, all the current chieftains are young men selected temporarily, leading the army for the first time and having little prestige, including Basani. Although they knew Segobani''s order was detrimental to them, under a numerical disadvantage and surrounded by other tribal warriors, none of the young Nucerian chieftains had the confidence or courage to stand up and raise their arms to lead the Nucerian warriors andunch an uprising.

    So, despite the Nucerian chieftains'' opposition, they could only reluctantly follow the orders and lead their troops away. And this scattering made it impossible for them tomunicate with each other during battle, much less act unified.

    Unable to do anything, Basani could only curse the cruel and cunning Segobani inwardly as he held himself back and waited for an opportunity.

    Segobani adopted the Samnites'' traditional method of fighting against Greeks by extending their army''s row to one and a half kilometres, with the column also long. This strategic approach was possible because the Samnite army formed loosely, with enough distance between each warrior to allow each other to pass through the gap more easily.

    At dusk, with the sun starting to set towards the western sea, dying the sky and sea in golden hues, the figures of the enemy finally appeared in Segobani''s field of vision. Their thick armour emitted an eerie glow because of the sunset, yet it wasn''t harmful to the eyes.

    However, Segobani and his warriors didn''t feel intimidated by the wall of light on the opposite side. On the contrary, they felt relieved because they had defeated such opponents countless times in the past; it''s just that the length of the opponent''s formation exceeded Segobani as it stretched out to both sides, making Segobani not even able to see both ends clearly, which was a little bit different from the previous dense and thick phnx formation of the Campanian League''s army.

    ¡®Is this the way the Theonians fought?¡¯ Segobani muttered to himself. After all, despite having fought against the Theonians once, it was where they were chasing him, so there had not yet been a formal battle between both sides.

    When he saw the enemy soldiers still crowded among each other, Segobani thought the enemy''s column must be thin. Segobani could naturally guess why the other sides formed before they reached the battlefield. It was evident that the Campanians had learned their lesson from the past, as they had always attacked the clumsy Campanian army from a distance while they were forming slowly.

    Segobani hesitated momentarily but decided not to adjust their formation, thinking to test the enemy for a while and see the situation before proceeding.

    Theonia and their allies halted their advance once they were less than four hundred metres from the enemy. Currently, their army formation, which was one kilometre and six hundred metres and had only three rows, had be convoluted after advancing for a distance, so they needed to straighten it before the battle.

    The centre of this formation had over six thousand heavy infantry(including some one thousand five hundred soldiers from the Theonian reserves), with three thousand mixed units of light-armoured and light infantry soldiers. There are also Theonian Light Infantry Brigade at each end and the more than two hundred Campanian Cavalry on the outermost left nk, for a total of about eleven thousand four hundred troops.

    Theonia''s opponent, the Caudini, on the other hand, boasted a total strength of over nine thousand men. They organised themselves into a formation stretching one and a half kilometres long. The majority of their forcesprised light infantry, categorised into two types: pure javelin throwers and light-armoured infantry with long shields. Both groups were adept at javelin throwing and fighting with spears, and they formed the primary force of the Caudini. Finally, at the rear of the centre, Segobani led nearly one thousand armoured infantry.

    The Caudini and the Campanian League, two mortal enemies, faced each other on the eastern ins of Campania with exhausted troops. They are about to engage in a battle that will determine their respective destinies.

    But just as the Theonian forces stopped and began reorganising, Segobani immediately ordered the light infantry in the centre of the Caudini to move forward. With the centre moving, the left and right nks also moved ordingly.

    Unlike the Greek army, which is thick and slow, the Caudini army moves at a swift pace.

    Aeoles, well aware of the enemy¡¯s characteristics, stood in the front rank of the line as themanding strategos of the Neapolitan army. Despite Xanticles urging him tomand from the rear rather than being on the front line, Aeoles politely refused. During battles, many elected strategoi of Greek city-states often stood at the frontline to demonstrate no difference in status between them and the soldiers and also so as not to get med by citizens after the battle. And so, Neapolis was no exception at such a crucial time.

    Without hesitation, he removed his Corinthian helmet and threw it to the ground. The other Campanian heavy infantry also removed their Corinthian helmets following the pre-battle n. Much like Aeoles, everyone suddenly felt a sense of openness and rxation in their bodies. The only exception was the Theonian heavy infantry, who didn''t remove their helmets because theirs were of the open-faced type.

    After Aeoles looked around, he raised his spear and shouted, ¡°May Apollo bless us! We shall pursue the enemy bravely and never cease!¡±

    The soldiers and officers also shouted, ¡°Pursue the enemy bravely and never cease!!¡­¡±

    As the Caudini army was only fifty metres away, almost all the soldiers of Theonia and their allies shouted, with their morale so high.

    Xanticles, riding on a horse at the rear, heard the thunderous roar, which also calmed his tense mind.

    ¡°Attack!¡± He ordered loudly.

    Then the military horn sounded, making the entire long army formation, whether heavy infantry, light infantry, light-armoured soldiers, or cavalry, start advancing.

    Despite the sudden advance of Theonia and their allies, it had no discernible effect on the tribal warriors at the forefront of the Caudini formation. They adhered to their past tactics, halting at an appropriate distance to hurl their javelins and subsequently withdraw through the gap. Then, the warriors behind them would take the forefront and be responsible for continuing the javelin attack¡­ This ensures that, even as the opposing side advanced, the tribal warriors maintained a safe distance from the enemy while relentlessly hurling javelins. As a result, this tactic inflicted heavy casualties on the enemies'' dense phnx formation.

    In the past, the Campanian League had no specialised training either to have light infantry capable ofpeting with them or to create tactics specifically to have the light infantry break away. Thus, the temporarily recruited civilian light infantry simply couldn''t contend with the formidable Caudini javelin throwers. Consequently, after three or four rounds of hurling javelins, the Samnites managed to force the Campanian formation to halt its advance.

    Afterwards, the Caudini warriors would immediately switch from retreat to attack while still throwing javelins in waves. By the time they ran out of javelins, the Campanians, having suffered too many casualties, would have their formation fall into chaos, and it would be up to the armoured and light-armoured Caudini to make a final charge, often with a single charge to seal the victory.

    But now, the Caudini warriors are taken aback as they witness the heavy infantry on the opposite side elerating their advance, getting faster with each passing moment.

    ¡®Are they going to charge?! Don''t they know that we wouldn''t sh with them, and they couldn''t possibly catch up with us with their lumbering speed?!¡­¡¯ Despite their surprise, they continued moving backwards as the enemy drew closer. As usual, their first round of javelins was thrown slightly upwards due to the distance being still far(over thirty metres), which allowed the javelins to fly a longer distance and oftennded in the middle and rear of the enemy''s formation, thus causing confusion throughout the enemy and disconnecting their formation to facilitate the next attack. However, the opponent''s sudden eleration and the too-thin column caused most of the javelins thrown to fall to the ground.

    The heavy infantries became even more confident after emerging unscathed from the javelin attack. Then, they tilted their shields to protect their heads as their steps became firmer and faster to close the distance to within twenty metres rapidly. This swift approach caught the Caudini warriors off guard, forcing them to throw their javelins hastily without adequate time to prepare thoroughly.

    The five hundred Nucerian warriors led by Basani were part of this second wave of attacks and had all received Basani''s order beforehand. So, after most of them casually threw their javelins into the sky, they immediately retreated.

    The imposing charge of the Greek heavy infantry made Basani palpitate.

    Even though the Caudini warriors threw their javelins hastily, the experienced ones managed to hurl them at the enemy in this round. Countless heavy javelins, thrown by the warriors with strong arm strength, flew with some rotation and struck straight at the shields of the heavy infantry, many of which prated straight through the shields, wounding some of the heavy infantry.

 Chapter 878: Battle of Nola (III)

    <h4>Chapter 878: Battle of N (III)</h4>

    Unfortunately, they failed to stop the Greek heavy infantry from advancing. On the contrary, it just forced them to rush forward desperately while remembering the words of their officers who had reminded them before the battle, ¡°Think of nothing but charging forward with all your strength. Your safety lies in catching up with those cowardly Caudinis and preventing them from throwing javelins!¡­¡±

    With their distance too close, the Caudini army couldn''t immediately fire their third wave of javelin attack. Apart from having no time for throwing, they also don''t have enough time to exchange positions with the warriors who have just gone to the front to attack.

    After the warmenced, the Caudini and Samnite warriors typically followed their traditional ways of fighting under the leadership of tribal chieftains. They were basically free to choose whether to attack or retreat, depending on the changing conditions of the battlefield. Thanks to the loose formations and spacious gaps between warriors, the entire Samnite formation maintained their flexibility and mobility throughout the battle.

    Now, all the Caudini warriors(including their great chieftain) began to turn and run backwards without worry about the enemy''s attack, convinced that the Greeks could not outrun them. But once the Greeks had no strength left after drawing away, it would be time for them to fight back.

    Unlike the heavy infantry in the centre, the light-armoured infantry on both nks sprinted much faster, forcing the Caudini warriors there to start retreating just after they threw the first round of javelins, resulting in only a few casualties. In fact, in terms of equipment from both sides, the Samnites could have gone to sh with the enemy. Unfortunately, based on their habit(using javelins to confuse the enemy and then fight in closebat) as well as the fear of being entangled and then being encircled by the enemy, these tribal chieftains weren''t so selfless as to let their own tribal warriors attack the enemies for the others.

    Meanwhile, the light-armoured soldiers at both rear of the military formation, without any Campanian soldiers in front of them and no enemy to stop them, ran with all their might on their stout leg and were, in fact, almost caught up with the foremost Caudini warriors. However, they continued moving forward instead of going to attack them.

    The Campanian cavalries, who were on the outside of the left nk, were much faster, with their galloping horses having already reached the rear nk of the Caudini formation. However, they dared not intercept the hundreds and thousands of retreating enemies. Instead, they brandished their spears and approached them from the side, trying to force them to move towards the centre, thus blocking the passage of the enemies in other positions and slowing their retreat.

    But after the Caudini warriors threw javelins, hitting more than a dozen cavalry, these Campanian cavalries no longer dared to approach the enemy.

    The battle situation, which should''ve been fierce, had now turned into a grand chasingpetition. On a line of more than one and a half kilometres long, both Theonia and their allies and the Caudini warriors run at full speed, causing the ground to rumble and dirt to fly in the sky.

    After a period of running, the Theonian heavy infantries began panting as they heard the officers gasp and shout, ¡°Dis¡­discard the long shield¡­discard the long shield!¡±

    Without hesitation, they followed the order. Once they threw their heavy, long shields and only held a spear, their bodies felt lighter, enabling them to maintain their speed. This prevented the distance between them and the Caudini warriors from widening.

    This tactic was already predetermined, and following them were Campania''s heavy infantry led by strategos Aeolus, who also threw away their round shields one after another.

    The Campanian heavy infantry were initially unustomed to running without helmets or holding round shields. However, they gradually adapted to the change as they ran non-stop.

    The Caudini warriors thought the Greeks would stop as usual after their charge, so they didn''t expect their opponent to continue running. Despite seeing the enemy had discarded their helmets and shields, which by all ounts was the perfect opportunity for them to attack with javelins, they didn¡¯t do it because the two sides were so close that throwing javelins needed a bit of preparation, and those few seconds could result in the enemy to close the gap between them. And with their entire formation currently on retreat, no tribal chieftains took the initiative to have his people stop to attack, as they only thought to run faster and faster! And run a little longer until these tin cans run out of stamina!¡­

    But first to tire were the Caudini warriors. Driven by their eagerness to rescue N, they marched without rest or food, arriving already fatigued. The sudden and tense running further strained their muscles, and their ability to persist was solely due to the resilience ingrained from living in the mountains. So, in their effort to keep running, they began discarding their long shields¡­

    It was beyond Segobani''s expectations that the enemies, with the Campanians as their main force, would adopt such a method of engaging in battle. In contrast, they fought back using their traditional approach against an already different enemy. While he felt his whole body start to ache and have difficulty breathing, the guards around him were already panting as loud as thunder. He realised that the enemy''s odd attack might be to hit their weakness. However, even if he wanted his men to stop and counterattack at this moment, it was impossible because the battle had already begun, and the whole army was running, making him unable to convey orders.

    Then, the dizziness caused by fatigue andck of blood to the brain made it impossible for Segobani to think carefully, so he simply snapped and thought, ¡®Then let''s see who can continue running!¡¯

    After running for a while, the entire allied army formation transformed into a massive crescent shape, with the centre protruding backwards and the nks extending forward. Moreover, the formation was no longer continuous as few gaps started appearing, especially in the centre. This development raised concerns among Xanticles'' men, who were closely advancing together, ¡°Strategos¡­if¡­if we continue running like this, the gaps in the formation in the centre will¡­open up more and more. If the enemy takes advantage of it and attacks¡­it could be troublesome! So should¡­we let the light-armoured brigade attack now?¡±

    With Segobani unable tomand the entire Caudini army anymore, Xanticles is also unable to do so. However, he can still control the Theonian army, especially the light-armoured soldiers, because he maintains contact with them using the mounted scouts.

    While his men focused on the heavy infantry in front of them, Xanticles kept his eyes on the Caudini warriors in front. Their swaying back and the heaviness of their strides allowed him to feel their opponent''s difficulty in running, and most importantly, the distance between them hadn''t increased.

    This shows that the tactics he used where both sides¡¯ consumed their stamina have achieved results. But it was much worse for the Caudini warriors as they lost the speed that gave the Campanian soldiers the most headache.

    Therefore, he confidently said, ¡°Don''t worry and just let them continue to chase.¡±

    Xanticles didn''t fear the Caudini warriors suddenly stopping to attack because a sh was precisely what they all wanted.

    Even if the enemy managed to breach the allied army formation, Xanticles maintained his belief in ultimate victory. His greatest confidencey in the four thousand Lucanian troops of the reserve legion, each personally selected by him for their strong physique, rigorous training, and familiarity with Theonia''s legionary system. Moreover, the confusion of their allies wouldn''t shake their morale. On the contrary, they could gain the upper hand in melee battles with the virtue of their tight group.

    Moreover, Xanticles was waiting for something, one that couldpletely change the entire battle situation.

    Xanticles'' gaze searched among the densely packed Caudini warriors ahead, where he could only see a patch of red everywhere, ¡®Which of them were the Nucerian warriors?!¡¯

    At this time, the five hundred tribal warriors from Alfaternum, the secondrgest tribe in Nuceria, are located in the middle of the centre formation. Basani didn''t remain idle during the retreat as he sent his subordinates to gather their warriors to prevent them from scattering more. At the same time, it also allowed his men to convey his thoughts.

    The persistent and relentless pursuit of Theonia and their allies showed Basani the determination of the Greeks to fight(something they rarely saw during their battles with the Campanians in the past). However, he feared that they would manage to get away from the Theonians and would lose this great opportunity to break free from Segobani''s control if they continued to run like this.

    ¡®Since I cannot contact the other Nucerian tribes, we might as well go alone!¡¯ Basani decided to stop waiting anymore. After taking a deep breath, he resolutely raised his spear and shouted angrily, ¡°For revenge!¡±

    The guards around him also immediately shouted, ¡°For revenge!!¡±

    Immediately, other Nucerian warriors also responded by shouting and stabbing their spears at the warriors of neighbouring Caudini tribes.

    Before the battle, the nearby tribal chieftains had also privately epted Segobani''s order for them to watch and guard against the Nucerian tribes. However, after the battle started, they became preupied with retreat and had no energy to care about anything else as their enemies were in hot pursuit. Thus, they gradually lost their defences against the Nucerian warriors.

    Unexpectedly, a sudden and drastic change happened. The Nucerian tribal warriors began attacking in all directions, stabbing down a number of Caudini warriors immediately. But the first reaction of the other Caudini warriors who were shocked wasn''t to counterattack but to try to go around these crazy Nucerians and continue retreating, for they had not forgotten that there were still enemies chasing behind them.

    But with them going around them, it naturally blocked the path for the warriors retreating behind, causing this sudden chaos in this area to spread outwards.

    Despite only getting blocked for a dozen seconds, the enemy soldiers chasing behind them had managed to arrive and began stabbing the Caudini warriors with their spears.

 Chapter 879: The End of the Samnite Tribal Alliance (I)

    <h4>Chapter 879: The End of the Samnite Tribal Alliance (I)</h4>

    With the Alfaternum tribe raging in the centre and the allied soldiers charging fiercely in the rear, the Caudini warriors caught unaware and got attacked from both sides fled in panic, some of them shouting to alert the other tribes, ¡°The Nucerians have rebelled! The Nucerians have rebelled!!¡­¡±

    Despite the constant sounds of fighting and screams resounding in this area, the other tribal warriors in the distant areas could still hear the neat and loud shouts of the Alfaternum people and the Caudini warriors from other tribes. So, while the Caudini warriors alerted the other Caudini tribes, it also let the other Nucerian tribal warriors know the situation and forced them to take immediate action.

    As a result, one Nucerian tribal warrior after another began attacking the nearby Caudini warriors.

    Segobani had initially separated the Nucerian tribes to make them not dare to rebel and, simultaneously, forced them to fight with all their might for survival. But beyond his expectation, he instead lifted a stone and smashed his own foot, as the sudden rebellion of the tribal warriors of the Nucerians caused the entire military formation of the Caudini army to descend into chaos.

    Xanticles noticed the abnormal situation in the enemy''s formation, so he immediately took the opportunity to inform the light-armoured soldiers to attack inwardly. Then, with the attack of their allies who had caught up with them, they quickly turned the Caudini army''s initial nned retreat into aplete rout.

    Even some Caudini warriors began to be paranoid after getting frightened by the constant news of rebellion and swung their spears at theirrades who had identally gotten near them. Under the dim sky, the morale of the Caudini warriors dissipated as they trampled and killed each other while escaping, causing countless casualties.

    By nightfall, when the allied army stopped their pursuit, only nearly two thousand Caudini warriors managed to escape, including the Great Chieftain Segobani, who eventually fled into the city of Suess. Meanwhile, the allied force lost less than five hundred men and gained more than two thousand defected Nucerian warriors, giving them another boost in strength.

    The following day, after a night''s rest, Theonia and their allies split their troops and marched north, with their targets being Suess and Abe.

    Towards noon, the army, mainlyposed of soldiers from the Campanian League, arrived at the outskirts of Suess, only to find it abandoned.

    After Segobani led the remnant Caudini army back to Suess, he realised they could no longer stay in the city after calming down from cursing the rebelling Nucerians. After all, once the enemy attacked, they would only need to allocate some of their troops to surround Suess, which only had two thousand warriors to defend it. Then, they could lead their main force to attack Abe, located in the mountain pass and left defenceless. Then, they could go straight to the Caudium, which was also left undefended and would result in Caudium falling.

    So, that night, Segobani mobilised everyone in Suess to relocate.

    Despite their reluctance, the people of Suess wanted to avoid repeating N''s mistakes. Thus, they began carrying their belongings, helped the elderlies and children, and retreated overnight towards Abe and Caudium.

    So, when Theonia and their allies arrived at the mountain pass, Segobani led the only two thousand warriors stationed in the small town of Abe to block the enemies heading east.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the same day, some of the Tenth and Eleventh Legion soldiers led by Kapus, totalling about ten thousand soldiers, fought hard for a day and captured the small town of Aequum. They acted in concert with the forces led by Alexius directly west of the Samnite mountains, as they threatened to encircle the Hirpini territorypletely.

    With the sessive departures of the Caudini and Pentri significantly weakening the military strength in Beneventum, Lesguk had to stop sending his men out of the city to reduce unnecessary casualties. However, it had instead allowed their enemies to approach the city. Fortunately, they didn¡¯te to attack. Instead, Garni, the chieftain of Abellinum, led his tribesmen here as they kept shouting outside the city.

    Garni recounted the defeats suffered by Lesguk since heunched the war against Theonia, as well as the exact number of casualties and captured Hirpini warriors.

    He then said, ¡°Fellow Hirpini, you should no longer blindly follow Lesguk and continue fighting against Theonia now that Theonia has captured Aquilonia and Aequum one after another and has already surrounded the Hirpini territory. Otherwise, they would send their troops to capture your towns, destroy your homes, capture your families, andpletely wipe out your tribes!¡­¡±

    At the same time, he also gave his words, ¡°But as long as the tribal chieftains and warriors submit to Theonia, and even better if you can capture Lesguk, not only will you be forgiven for your previous transgression against Theonia, your territories and families will be preserved, and they would release your warriors that they captured to their homes, while the Theonian physicians would treat the wounded warriors with care¡­¡±

    Garni''s repeated shouting in the city greatly impacted the chieftains and warriors of the Hirpini tribe inside the city.

    Lesguk then started seeing the chieftains of the various Hirpini tribes quietly gathering their warriors as they secretly discussed something, which rmed him.

    Not long after, the news of the disastrous defeat of the Caudini army in the Campanian in spread to Beneventum, causing even more anxiety to the people.

    At this moment, under the repeated urging of Alexius, the chieftain of Aquilonia rushed from the Theonian camp and also followed Garni in shouting in the city, which finally led to the Aquilonian warriors whom he had initially sent to Beneventum to follow Lesguk on the expedition to be the first ones toe forward and demanded Leguk to allow them to respond to their chieftain''s call to leave Beneventum and join Theonia.

    As the thirdrgest tribal town of the Hirpini tribe, even after several battles, Aquilonia still has over seven hundred warriors, which ounted for a considerable proportion of the Hirpini army, which now consisted of just over four thousand warriors. Right behind Aquilonia were the warriors of Aequum, who had likewise decided to submit to Theonia to save their captured families.

    Within Hirpini, the tribes enjoy equal political status. Although they adhere to the orders of the elected chieftain, such choices are not mandatory byw; rather, they are rooted in the long-standing tradition of the tribe. However, it also stiptes that the tribes had the right to refuse the order of the great chieftain at any time, depending on their situation. Therefore, whether it is the Hirpini tribe or other Samnite tribes, they are still in a loose alliance within themselves.

    Perhaps due to the characteristics of people living in the mountains, it was difficult to unify the jurisdictions of the tribes due to theck of transportation between them, and therefore, more independent and free in political status. However, this made it impossible for Lesguk to force them to stay by coercive means, either politically or militarily (the fact that the Aquilonian and Aequum warriors had abined total of eight hundred warriors had made Lesguk give in).

    Under great helplessness, Lesguk could only make them swear in the name of Savoni that they would not be enemies with any Samnite tribes after surrendering to Theonia.

    And so the Aquilonian and Aequum warriors swore.

    Then, Lesguk could onlymand the city gate to be opened and let the warriors of these two tribes leave.

    Alexius led the top leaders of this mixed army in weing those who came to surrender.

    The other tribal chieftains who witnessed the entire process atop the city wall stopped hesitating and made demands to Lesguk to allow them to leave Beneventum and return to defend their hometown.

    Lesguk knew these people were telling lies and feared they would all go to the Theonians in the blink of an eye if he really let them out of the city. He already expected this to happen when he let the Aquilonian and Aequum warriors leave. However, these Hirpini tribal warriors who had joined together to force their way out of the city added up to more than a thousand people, so if he didn''t let them leave, once they were allowed to make trouble in the city, it would only cause an even bigger catastrophe.

    So, after much contemtion, Lesguk finally nodded in agreement.

    The Hirpini tribe leaving one after another caused panic among the people in Beneventum. It even affected the Caraceni''s army, where its chieftain and warriors begged Konteruk to leave Beneventum and return to their homes.

    Despite Konteruk''s stubborn and conservative personality, he is also aware that the defeat of the Samnite Alliance has been determined. With them outnumbered, the fall of Beneventum is only a matter of time. So, if the Caraceni army continued to stay in the city, there was a danger of their entire army being wiped out.

    Hence, he sent a subordinate to meet Lesguk and used the excuse of being forced by the chieftains of the various Caraceni tribes. He felt apologetic for not personally going to see Lesguk. At the same time, he led his men out of the north gate, crossed the river and left Beneventum.

    With the reinforcements leaving one after another, the people in the citypletely descend into panic. So the tribal chieftains of Beneventum came together to meet with Lesguk and asked that with the current critical situation where they are all their own, in order to ensure the safety of the various tribes and tribesmen in the city, they hope that Lesguk can lead everyone to surrender to Theonia.

    With a gloomy expression, Lesguk looked at the chieftains who came to ask him, which included the elders of his own tribe, making his face even more gloomy. After being silent for some time and under the repeated urging from the chieftains, he coldly said, ¡°Let me think about it¡­¡± After saying that, he asked his guards to drive everyone away.

    Lesguk felt deste when looking at the empty room as he remembered the words that Segobani used to scold him about how he didn''t deserve to be a great chieftain as he wasn''t decisively enough when doing things and his methods were not ruthless enough¡­

    Lesguk gave a miserable smile and muttered to himself, ¡°Segobani, you are right¡­ However, I really want to know how you, with your ruthless methods, will save Caudium. Unfortunately¡­ I am unable to see it¡­¡±

    That night, Lesgukmitted suicide at his residence. The people of the city became horrified that the chieftains gathered urgently and sent envoys to the Theonian camp the next day.

 Chapter 880: The End of the Samnite Tribal Alliance (II)

    <h4>Chapter 880: The End of the Samnite Tribal Alliance (II)</h4>

    Alexius wasn''t too surprised when the envoy of Beneventum uttered the word surrender. After all, all the other Hirpini tribes, apart from Beneventum, had already surrendered to Theonia. He had also learned of the Caraceni army''s departure from the city of Beneventum, leaving Beneventum like a turtle trapped in a jar.

    Thus, Alexius confidently said, ¡°It''s good that you want to surrender! However, Beneventum, as one of the initiators and, ording to the other tribes, the mainmander of this war, has caused great disaster to Theonia and its allies and must receive severe punishment!¡±

    The envoy of Beneventum became frightened hearing that, causing him to hurriedly say, ¡°Honourable strategos Alexius, for the faults of Beneventum, Savoni has already sent down his punishment, and the Great Chieftain Lesguk hadmitted suicidest night to atone for his crime!¡±

    ¡°Is Lesguk dead?!¡± Garni asked in surprise.

    ¡°Yes, Chieftain Garni.¡± The envoy looked at Garni dejectedly and sobbed, ¡°Before the great chieftain died, he very much regretted what he had done to Abellinum. Thus, he wanted to bear all the faults and hope you would spare the tribes in Beneventum!¡±

    ¡°Lesguk isn''t such a person to say such things,¡± Garni shook his head and sat down again, but his mood improved.

    Alexius, on the other hand, turned serious and said, ¡°Lesgukmitting suicide doesn''t remove the responsibility of Beneventum! Our King Davos wrote a letter pointing out that the people of Beneventum had carried malice towards Theonia for over a decade, maliciously suppressing and bullying Abellinum, who had friendly rtions with us and were also the main perpetrators of this war!¡­

    Because of how you wantonly tore up our agreement, King Davos instructed us to fully integrate Beneventum into the Kingdom of Theonia to avoid you provoking another war again, while the tribes and people of Beneventum can either join the Kingdom of Theonia or migrate to other parts of the Samnite mountains. But you do not need to worry, as the mountains will be sparsely popted after this war, so you will have plenty of ces to turn into your settlements.¡±

    Upon hearing this, the envoy became enraged and roared, ¡°Is Theonia trying to use the war as an excuse to forcefully annex our Beneventum?! If so, we, the warriors of Beneventum, will never give in and fight to the death! With Savoni''s protection, you Theonians won''t be able to enter Beneventum even if all of you sacrifice yourself in battle!¡±

    After his shout, the envoy turned his head back to Garni and rebuked him, ¡°As you can see, this is the ambition of the Theonians! Today, it''s Beneventum, and tomorrow it could be your Abellinum. I am afraid that the Theonians want to wipe out all Samnites, and yet you still want to be their aplice?!¡±

    Garni ignored the envoy''s words of trying to cause alienation as Alexius had long told him of Davos'' instruction. Naturally, he was pleased about Davos'' wish for him to be the great chieftain of the Hirpini tribe. Despite feeling regret about the separation of the most powerful Beneventum and bing a part of the Kingdon of Theonia, it also means that the situation where Beneventum would suppress Abellinum for decades will no longer exist. In addition, he will have much fewer constraints on governing the entire tribe in the future; thus, he can ept this.

    Hence, he calmly responded, which shocked the envoy, ¡°Abellinum has already joined the Kingdom of Theonia.¡±

    Alexius then spoke in a firm tone, ¡°Our soldiers have long been ready to storm Beneventum forcefully! You must give your answer today, whether to ept this or fight to the death. Otherwise, we will start our siege tomorrow!¡±

    The envoy hurriedly returned to the city, only to find amotion inside.

    Apparently, Lesguk''s rtive instigated the tribal warriors of Lesguk''s tribe, believing that their chieftain''s suicide was rted to the other tribal chieftains'' fear of death and had gathered to pressure him. Thus, they not only imprisoned the two tribal elders involved in the incident but also demanded that the other tribal chieftains be held responsible and tried and punished following their traditions.

    Other tribal chieftains certainly cannot ept it, while the furious warriors of Lesguk''s tribe insist on making them pay the price, escting the conflict.

    With Lesguk''s tribe as thergest tribe in Beneventum, the other tribes can only unite to fight them, resulting in both sides being at odds and not giving in.

    The envoy quickly informed them of Theonia''s harsh conditions on both sides. However, despite calming their anger and sitting together to discuss the matter, no progress happened due to theck of leadership. They continued to argue and couldn''te up with a unified opinion on whether to fight or make peace.

    Lesguk''s tribe elected his eldest son to participate in the meeting, in which he was firmly determined to fight Theonia and their allies to the death. He also constantly attacked those other chieftains who proposed further negotiations verbally. At the end of the meeting, he kept gazing at the other chieftains with hatred, which shocked them.

    Due to Beneventum''s failure to give their response on that day, Alexius kept his promise and dispatched arge army early the following morning, preparing to siege the city.

    The morale of Theonia and their allies is high, with a strong desire to fight. So, upon learning how the army led by the Lucanian reserve legion had defeated the main force of Caudini, the Tenth and Eleventh Legion, soldiers certainly could not allow themselves to lose to the soldiers of the reserve legion. Thus, they kept asking for the start of the battle. For the warriors of Abellinum, the capture of Beneventum would finally allow them to fulfil their revenge and give vent to the oppression and humiliation they suffered for over a decade, making them all excited. For the Potentian warriors, the capture of Beneventum would relieve them of the chatters of the older generation about how terrible the Samnties were, which would also allow them to proudly tell their descendants that they had captured thergest Samnite settlement.

    Alexius finally issued the siege deployment: The Potentian army would attack the eastern wall, the Theonian on the western wall, and the Abellinum on the southern wall.

    Alexius also ced the surrendered warriors of the Hirpini tribe under Garni''smand. After all, he couldn''t allow the entire army to besiege the city while some Hirpini warriors, still uncertain of their loyalty, were left watching in the camp.

    Facing the dissent of these tribes, Garni threatened viciously, ¡°You had indeed given your oath to Lesguk. However, with Lesgukmitting suicide, you no longer need to abide by this oath, so don''t make any excuse to escape this battle. I tell you this so you can choose for yourself: the tribes participating in this battle are allies of Theonia, and those who don''t participate are enemies!¡±

    Many secretly curse Garni for being a fox pretending to be a lion. Still, none of them dares to lead their men and leave without permission.

    Garni was also not modest as he directly arranged them at the forefront of the formation.

    Soon after, Theonia and their alliesunched an attack on the city. The chieftains in the city of Beneventum, unable to formte a defensive n due to an inconclusive meeting the day before, were caught off guard. Beyond their expectations, the enemies struck at dawn, inducing panic as they hastily and chaotically rushed to defend the city.

    Furthermore, as Beneventum was arge city, their two thousand warriors were insufficient to cover its entirety. Seeing the advancing tide of enemies and the towering siege equipment they had never seen before, some chieftains began to feel uneasy and entertain different thoughts.

    But just at the start of the siege, several tribes responsible for defending the southern part opened the gates and surrendered to the enemies.

    The Abellinum army took the opportunity to charge into the city, causing Beneventum''s defensive line to copse. The tribe of Lesguk, who had stubbornly resisted until the end, were forced to surrender with half of their casualties and their temporary chieftain dying in battle.

    Thus, Theonia and their allies had captured Beneventum.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The fall of Beneventum meant that the coalition led by Alexius could pass through the mountain path to the east and reach Caudium directly.

    The Caudini scouts, who had been closely monitoring Beneventum''s situation, immediately spread the bad news back to Caudium.

    The people of Caudini became extremely panicked because Segobani had led the vast majority of their young and abled men to resist another Theonian army in Abe.

    A few days ago, Segobani, enraged at the betrayal of the Nucerians, ordered his men to escort the Nucerian chieftains imprisoned at Caudium to Abe. Here, he had all of them decapitated, and their heads hung over the city wall as a means of venting his fury and revenge on the Nucerians.

    The Nucerian warriors, led by Basani, were indeed angered by this. So they requested Xanticles to allow them to be the ones responsible for attacking Abe.

    Seeing the Nucerian''s morale, and after sending scouts, Xanticles found that Abe was only a small city and poorly fortified(Abe had never faced threats from foreign enemies as it was situated in Caudini''s hintend. Additionally, with the surrounding mountains difficult to climb and thend barren, the people of Abe consistently grappled with the constant threat to their survival, leaving them too preupied with plundering to consider repairing the city wall.), so he agreed to the Nucerians'' request. After having them carry the siege equipment used to attack N, he issued the order to attack the city.

    The Nucerians were the main attackers, with the Theonian soldiers as auxiliaries and the Campanian League''s soldiers acting as reserve. They waved their gs and shouted to boost the morale.

    Having driven the remnants of the Caudini army out of the Campanian ins and recognising that they were no longer a threat, the strategoi of the Campanian League wanted to return to their hometown and quickly rebuild it. Thus, they all requested Xanticles to be allowed to withdraw and departed. Eventually, even the Neapolitan strategos Aeoles didn¡¯t stay any longer, though he left behind at least a thousand Neapolitan soldiers.

 Chapter 881: The End of The Samnite Tribe Alliance (III)

    <h4>Chapter 881: The End of The Samnite Tribe Alliance (III)</h4>

    Even after Xanticles'' troops decreased to seven thousand, it was still three and a half times more than the ones Segobani led.

    Despite the Caudini warriors sessfully repelling the enemy''s attack for two consecutive days, it came at a significant cost in casualties, and the city of Abe suffered further damage. Because of that, Segobani had begun contemting retreating when he suddenly received the dire news of Beneventum''s fall. That night, he covertly led his army to withdraw to Caudium, leaving behind the people of Abe and Suess.

    However, the Nucerian warriors, fueled by hatred and having suffered significant losses, strongly opposed this decision. Xanticles, too, refused to ept surrender as he had to follow Davos'' instructions. With Abe upying a too important position as a small town connecting Caudium and Beneventum on the eastern ins of Campania, they must put it underplete control. And Xanticles believed it would be better for them to upy the town to prevent potential troubles in managing itter.

    Therefore, theyunched a direct assault on the city and swiftly entered, fully upying Abe.

    The Nucerian warriors then brought the Captured Caudini warriors to the corpses of their former chieftains and used them as a sacrifice.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    To the east, after Alexius rested for a day in Beneventum and briefly dealt with some matters of the city, he asked Polet to detach his troops and station them in this city. Meanwhile, he would lead the rest of the army to march westward through the mountain pass and arrive at Caudium.

    After Xanticles captured Abe, he also marched eastward without stopping and sessfully met up with Alexius in Caudium with theirbined force of nearly thirty thousand.

    With Caudium having fewer than two thousand defenders, panic spread among the various tribes in the city. Some chieftains even joined forces to suggest to Segobani the possibility of surrendering to the Theonians to protect their people.

    Segobani immediately declined without even thinking about it.

    The reluctant chieftains continued to argue with him, but to their surprise, this only angered Segobani. Segobani had be increasingly irritated due to his repeated defeats, so he had his men capture these chieftains, expelled the others, and told them they would fight the Theonian to the end.

    This madness had caused some tribes to forsake him, resulting in many of them sneaking out of the city that night tomunicate privately with the Theonians.

    How could Alexius miss such a good opportunity? Thus, he immediatelyunched an attack the next day.

    Caudium quickly fell, and Segobani died in battle atop the city wall. At this moment, the two strongest tribes in the Samnite Tribal Alliance, the Hirpini, werepletely conquered, with Caudium mostly conquered as the remaining Caudini towns in the north, such as Capua and Ctia, couldn''t even support themselves, and it was only a matter of time before they were conquered.

    When both the Theonian army met in Caudium, Konteruk and Badani had mustered all the warriors they could, numbering five thousand warriors, and intended to make a surprise attack on the Theonian army in the east.

    Unfortunately for them, after upying Aequum, the cautious Kapus refrained from continuing the advance into the mountains. Instead, he continuously deployed scouts to thoroughly explore the surrounding terrain and environment while stabilising the local order.

    Because of that, Kapus managed to detect the Samnite army''s movement, allowing him to prepare for defence immediately.

    The surprise attack of the two Samnite tribes eventually turned into a frontal assault, and after some casualties, they had to choose to retreat.

    Following that, the news of Beneventum and Caudium''s fall came one after another. In shock, Konteruk and Badani had to lead their respective armies and retreat to their tribal territories to prepare for the uing attack of the Theonians.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Your Majesty, I bring you good news! The army that Xanticles led had not only captured N but also defeated Caudini''s main force that came to reinforce N!¡­¡± Tolmides hurriedly walked into themand tent and eximed excitedly.

    ¡°Oh!¡± Davos immediately took the battle report. A smile suddenly spread on his face as he carefully read it andughed, ¡°This is indeed good news! With the failure of the Caudini and the Nucerians adding to our fold, the victor of this Samnite War is decided! And Xanticles has made a great contribution! Isn''t this his first time leading an army independently?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. Xanticles was close to retiring from the military before the Ministry of Military temporarily enlisted him to head to Lucania to form the reserve brigade. He then went to lead the war in Campania because of the outbreak of the Samnite War¡­¡± Tolmides had a selfish reason for speaking in such detail. He and Xanticles were quite close; both came to Magna Graecia together back then, so he hoped that Xanticles, already over sixty years old, would still have a promising career in the kingdom.

    Davos knew Tolmides was doing this for Xanticles but didn''t care about such small schemes. Instead, he sighed as he said regrettingly, ¡°Whether it was the capture of N or defeating Caudini''s main force, it shows Xanticles¡¯ excellent ability inmanding! I shouldn''t have let him be some kind of military inspector in the beginning, wasting all his years in vain! It seems my understanding of everyone is still not enough¡­¡±

    Tolmides remained silent, but his heart was filled with joy for his friend.

    Davos sighed for a while and then praised loudly, ¡°This strategic n against the Samnites that the Ministry of Military made is also excellent! Alexius in the east, Xanticles and our Campanian allies in the west, and Abellinum and Potentia in the centre, who cooperated closely and attacking in turn, hitting the Samnite who can''t take care of the west if they look to the east, and can''t take care of the centre if they look to the west, failure is inevitable!¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± Henipolis also said with a smile, ¡°As you once said, while the Samnite may be a hungry wolf, we Theonians are lions. Even if the vicious wolf manages to bite the lion a few times, it won''t inflict significant harm. However, with a single swipe of its paw, the lion can diminish half of the wolf''s life.¡±

    ¡°We''ll have to be a little more greedy and take the whole life of this vicious wolf,¡± Davos joked. He then continued, ¡°Herni, get the map of the Samnite region and set it up.¡±

    Henipolis nodded and then went to the bookshelf filled with various documents and materials, with Crotokatax alsoing to help him.

    ¡°Tolmides,¡± Davos continued, ¡°Regarding the letter from the Ministry of Military about the increase in the number of armies involved in the Samnite War straining the supply of military rations. After consideration, we would take on the burden of supplying the military rations for the armies led by Alexius and Xanticles from now.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, do you mean¡­for us to transport the military rations from Rome to Campania?¡± Tolmides asked this only out of politeness as he wasn''t surprised as the grain hoarded in Rome was indeed ample. They had not only seized military supplies from Rome but also looted from almost all the residences of the Roman nobles and collected grains from the captured Latin and Etruscan city-states. The quantity was astonishing as it was enough to supply the Theonain army in Latium and the people of Rome for six months.

    ¡°You led those young staff officers to draw up a more detailed n for the food supply based on the army''s situation in Campania, as well as the food and transportation situation in Rome. Afterwards, give it to me to review, and send it to Asistes so he can take care of the arrangements.¡± Davos instructed.

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    Davos pondered momentarily before saying, ¡°It seems we should also send someone to demand food supplies from our Etruscan and Latin allies¡­¡±

    ¡°Father, isn''t the reserve in Rome still sufficient?! And there will be another harvest in two months. With most of the farms outside of Rome, Veii, Gabii, and so on undamaged and now being well cared for by the Romans, it is believed that we would be able to harvest enough grain not only to supply the armies of Latium and Campania but even the armies of Sicily, so there is no need at all to demand grain from the new allies who are joining us, which would just deepen their discontent.¡± Crotokatax persuaded out of concern.

    Davos smiled at him and said, ¡°I am d you didn''t remain idle in Rome and have gained a detailed understanding of the areas we upy, which is how it should be! However, the reason we would still send people to demand food from these allies isn''t because we are in short supply of food, but to solve their doubt.¡±

    ¡°Solving their doubt?!¡± Crotokatax himself felt confused.

    Davos smiled and patiently exined, ¡°In the past, Rome had wars year after year and often asked their allies for food and soldiers, making them used to it. Yet despite these city-states defecting to us now, we have remained fighting alone and never asking them for help. I am afraid they will be bewildered and may even worry if we will turn against them after we destroy Rome.¡±

    Crotokatax suddenly realised, ¡°So asking them for food is to show them that Theonia does indeed see them as allies.¡±

    Davos continued, ¡°That is only one purpose. In addition, I will require the envoy not to impose any mandatory quantity when demanding. In this way, the amount of grain offered by each ally will be just enough for us to make a rough judgment as to how much sincerity they have towards Theonia!¡±

    Crotokatax was lost in thought.

    Davos then nced at the map on the table and said, ¡°Croto, you''ve just heard about how Xanticles led his army to a great victory against the Caudini''s main force in N. In addition, Alexius has already reached Beneventum, and Kapus is attacking the Hirpini from the east¡­it is only a matter of time before we defeat the Samnites. So, if I were to ask you how to deal with the conquered Samnite mountains, what would you do with them?¡±

 Chapter 882: Plans to handle the Samnites

    <h4>Chapter 882: ns to handle the Samnites</h4>

    Crotokatax wasn''t surprised by the question because while he followed Davos during this time, his father asionally questioned him about dealing with government matters. Thus, he became ustomed to it as he was forced to constantly reflect on the battle reports and information.

    When he walked towards the table, gazed at the map of Samnite and Campania, and began pondering, everyone in the tent remained quiet.

    Tolmides felt emotional when he looked at Crotokatax, who had hunched over the table in deep thought.

    During this period in Latium, he had to stay with Davos most of the time as he often had to help Davos deal with military matters, which also caused him to have longer contact with Crotokatax. During this time, he witnessed how this Theonian prince went from his initial enthusiasm and immaturity to gradually bing steady and thoughtful. He also saw how the officials, strategoi, and soldiers looked at him with scepticism and then gradually recognised him. Despite being attributed to Davos'' teaching, it was also linked to his talent and hard work.

    From all indications, Crotokatax would probably be the next King of Theonia if nothing else unexpected happened! Thus, Tolmides began calcting how he should try to create conditions for his children to have more contact with Crotokatax in the future. At the start, he himselfcked the courage to follow Davos toe to Magna Graecia, coupled with his limited talent, so his current status is almost as far as he can reach. But for the next generation¡­

    Just as Tolmides was lost in his thoughts, Crotokatax had already cleared his mind and said, ¡°Father, my n after we have thoroughly defeated the Samnite Tribal Alliance is¡­that we should incorporate all these Caudini towns in the eastern ins of Campania except for Nuceria, into Theonia. It will not only allow us to expand our territory but also protect our alliance(referring to the Campanian League) and deter the races in the mountains nearby.

    But for these Samnite towns in the mountains, it is better to leave them to the Samnites to manage themselves. On the one hand, the Samnites are rebellious, and the tribes there have minimal contact with us. With their culture utterly different from ours, sending officials there to govern would be difficult and easily lead to conflicts. Moreover, it would just waste the energy and financial resources of the kingdom in vain. On the other hand, thend in the mountains is barren, the environment is poor, and the produce isn''t abundant. Thus, not many Theonian citizens are willing to migrate to the Samnite mountains, making it difficult for us to assimte the Samnite race in the mountains quickly.

    Furthermore¡­the two Samnite tribes, Pentri and Caraceni, are situated alongside other tribes in the northern mountains. Forcefully annexing the territories of these two tribes might trigger heightened vignce and animosity from neighbouring races, potentially resulting in unforeseeable consequences.

    So, I think¡­we can just disband the Samnite Tribal Alliance and let these four major Samnite tribes be our affiliated allies. However, we must allow them also to retain the positions of the great chieftains of each major tribe to prevent their strength from being weakened too much so that they could still defend against their enemies in the north, which would reduce our trouble¡­¡±

    Crotokatax spoke confidently. Before Davos could even respond, Tolmides praised, ¡°Your Majesty, it seems Prince Crotokatax has considered everything carefully, as his suggestion makes a lot of sense!¡±

    Henipolis winked at Tolmides without saying a word.

    Davos, on the other hand, gave a pleased smile and said positively, ¡°Croto, your proposal gave me an idea. We should indeed dissolve the Samnite Tribal Alliance. Since we couldn''tpletely annex the Samnite Mountains right now, it seems it is still necessary to retain their original political structure of several tribes and allow the existence of a great chieftain to help us have control over them¡­¡±

    Crotokatax became excited at Davos'' agreement with his suggestion.

    ¡°However-¡± Davos changed his tone and looked at him seriously, ¡°You weren''t meticulous enough when considering the issue, and your handling of the Samnite people is still rather sloppy. Since the situation of these four major tribes is different, we should deal with them differently.

    As thergest tribe in Samnite and bordering the kingdom''s territory the most, the Hirpini cannot be allowed too much autonomy, even though their territory is primarily in the mountains. Considering it''s a rare and vast fertile lond in the Samnite mountains, annexing Beneventum to the kingdom is imperative, and our kingdom''s preparatory citizens and freemen would be willing to settle there. Moreover, its location is also crucial as it is right in the centre of the Hirpini and Caudini territories, next to Abellinum and Caudium. By having it, we will have the cornerstone to stabilise the southern part of the Samnite mountains.

    In addition, Abellinum has remained friendly with us, made significant contributions in this war, and has even be a free city of the kingdom. Thus, we should reward them by allowing Garni to serve as the great chieftain of the Hirpini tribe to oversee all other Hirpini tribes and territories besides Beneventum, making it the second Potentia of the kingdom. We should also give them the strength to resist the Pentri and Caraceni in the northern mountains, ensuring the security of the northern part of the kingdom.

    Caudini is quite a special tribe. Its territory is in the eastern ins of Campania, and the valleys'' londs are suitable for our people to settle. You are right about incorporating the Caudini towns in the eastern Campanian ins into Theonia. However, your appetite needs to be bigger. Since we have already prepared to incorporate Beneventum into the kingdom''s territory, then Caudium to the west of it, as well as the neighbouring small towns, should also be included in our n because only in this way we can guarantee the link between Beneventum and the eastern ins of Campania, so that it will not be the only one outside of our territory.

    You shouldn''t forget about Nuceria, either. Their people have had dealings with the kingdom for over a decade, and since they eventually joined us on our side, it stands to reason that we should secure their territory. Even before the Samnite massive invasion of the Campanian League and the capture of Pompeii, Heeum, and other city-states, Nuceria''s location was more important. So far, even after Xanticles recaptured Pompeii and Heeum, the Campanian League hasn''t asked us to return these two small cities. ording to the report, the Campanian League suffered a lot of casualties in the war and didn''t have enough manpower to develop thesends. My opinion is to send an envoy to negotiate with the Campanian League so that we could incorporate these two small cities into Theonia-¡±

    Henipolis'' eyes brightened up as he interjected, ¡°This would allow Beneventum, Caudium, the former Caudini towns in the eastern ins of Campania, and Pompeii and Heeum to be connected to our city of Irna, but¡­Nuceria would be a hindrance¡­¡±

    Davos said confidently, ¡°We can negotiate with the Nucerians to allow them to migrate north of Capua, where there is the Volturno River and thend is more fertile. We could even allow them to have more territory than they have in Nuceria and, at the same time, support them to elect someone to be the great chieftain of Caudini and govern the Caudini tribes in the northernmost part of the original Caudini territory, adjacent to Sidicini, Aurunci and Pentri, which I am sure they would be willing to do. With that, it would allow us to takeplete control of thends in the central and southern parts of Caudini and link them to Irna, which wouldpletely secure the protection of our newly upiednds.

    For the Pentri and Caraceni tribes, their tribal settlements and towns are in the mountain ranges north of Samnite, where the mountains are higher and the roads are more difficult to travel. I heard that the Caraceni tribe, in particr, have settlements in mountain ranges that are thousands of metres high, so theirnd is even more barren, and their poption is small. Despite not needing to upy theirnds, we need the two of them to submit to the kingdom, and the chieftains of their tribes must offer their children and send them to Thurii as hostages. Furthermore, they would need our recognition first before their elected chieftains can take up their positions¡­¡±

    After listening to Davos'' n for dealing with the Samnite Tribal Alliance and thinking carefully, Crotokatax said cheerfully, ¡°Father, your n is much better than mine! It is also true that you had meticulously considered it more than I did!¡­¡±

    ¡°That''s because you are still too merciful to the Samnite tribe and don''t think about things from the full standpoint of obtaining greater benefits for the kingdom and weakening our enemies to the greatest extent to render them powerless to rebel.¡± Davos hit the nail on the head.

    ¡°But father-¡± Crotokatax asked, ¡°Although Hirpini and Caudini can ept your n, Pentri and Caraceni may not necessarily agree with it.¡±

    ¡°Then keep fighting them until they ept it, and just leave this matter to Alexius and Xanticles. After all, with us already starting a war with the Samnite, we should take advantage of this war and settle the Samnite once and for all, even if it costs us more, to prevent them from rebelling again!¡± Davos admonished him in a serious tone.

    Crotokatax nodded thoughtfully.

    Davos turned around and said, ¡°Heni, have you heard what I just said about our n to handle the four major Samnite tribes?¡±

    ¡°We heard it clearly, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Then write a letter to the Senate ording to what I just said and let them pre-arrange the affairs of Samnites on that basis. Then write a letter to Alexius and Xanticles, each with the same intent, giving them a clear idea of how to adjust their subsequent strategy.¡±

    ¡°Understood, Your Majesty. I''ll start writing now,¡± said Henipolis as he immediately took out a papyrus to write on.

    Meanwhile, Crotokatax and Tolmides'' thoughts were still pondering Davos'' series of ns to deal with the Samnites and what impact it would have on them. With themand tent bing quiet, they started to hear the rustling of writing.

 Chapter 883: The Third Fleets Special Arrangement

    <h4>Chapter 883: The Third Fleets Special Arrangement</h4>

    After a while, Henipolis finished writing the letter to the Senate and handed it to Davos.

    Davos was satisfied with what he read and didn''t change a word. Then, he signed his name at the end, stamped it, and returned it to Henipolis, ¡°Send it to the Senate as a confidential letter of the highest order.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Henipolis immediately rolled up the letter skillfully, tied both ends and the middle of the paper with three red ropes and then continued writing the second letter.

    Then, the captain of the pce guards, Martius, entered the tent, ¡°Your Majesty, the navarch of the Third Fleet, Mithridates, awaits your summons outside the tent.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Mithridates is here,¡± Davos quickly beckoned, ¡°Let him in quickly.¡±

    Once Mithridates entered the tent, he immediately gave a military salute and loudly said, ¡°Your Majesty, I waste in returning.¡±

    ¡°You''d juste at the nick of time!¡± Davos continued, ¡°Your fleet and marines are about toe in handy!¡±

    Mithridates immediately became excited upon hearing these words. Just upon returning to Latium, Mithridates already heard about how, during the short period he was away, King Davos'' great army had marched north and conquered Veii and Caisra, Fidenae and Crustuerium to the east, captured Gabii to the south and had forced the surrender of numerous Latin city-states while chasing out the Roman armies to the small towns to the west by the sea, and are now intensifying their siege¡­

    The news left him with a terrible feeling that the Third Fleet had be entirely irrelevant in this war. Therefore, he immediately felt excitement upon hearing Davos'' words.

    ¡°Have you recruited all the marines your fleet needed?¡± Davos asked.

    ¡°I have managed to recruit them. It''s just¡­¡± Mithridates said carefully, ¡°It''s just that as soon as we sent out the order for enlistment, not only Terina but even the citizens of Scylletium and Hipponium actively rushed to the naval base and signed up inrge numbers. They had even sought out a lot of their acquaintances to mediate¡­so¡­so I end up recruiting two thousand more people¡­¡± That made Davos stare at him seriously, causing Mithridates to tense up.

    Davos said slowly, ¡°More recruits, so be it. However, adding the newly added recruits, the number of marines in the Third Fleet should be four thousand. This is already an exception granted by the Ministry of Military, so you must disband the excess personnel after the war concludes. Remember, there are no exceptions!¡±

    Mithridates quickly stared, ¡°You can rest assured that I will immediately disband all the extra men once the war ends, Your Majesty!¡±

    Davos smiled slightly and said, ¡°You¡­are fighting the Sixth Legion for manpower, so be careful of Thratyllus* knowing it as he will fight it with you!¡± (Legatus of the Sixth Legion)

    Mithridates finally felt relieved hearing Davos'' jest, so he joked back, ¡°I guess I will hold more banquets for Thratyllus and get him drunk to obstruct him.¡± The Sixth Legion''s military camp was west of Scylletium, while the Third Fleet''s naval base was in the bay near Terina. With the two close to each other, they usually had a lot of exchanges. Moreover, the rtionship between Mithridates and Thratyllus wasn''t bad, so he was not worried that the other party would chastise him.

    ¡°Mithridates,¡± Tolmides said suddenly, ¡°The approved number of marines of the Third Fleet is four thousand men. Thus, we will prepare enough provisions and supplies following this number. But for the extra two thousand men, you will have to figure it out yourself.¡±

    ¡®What?!¡¯ Mithridates initially thought Tolmides was joking, but seeing the seriousness on his face, he found himself momentarily at a loss for words. Admittedly, he had a selfish motive when he enlisted the soldiers this time. Davos noticed it and subtly signalled Tolmides to give Mithridates a gentle warning.

    But for Mithridates, providing supplies for two thousand men was extremely difficult, and he could only look at Davos pleadingly.

    Davos took advantage of the situation and said with a straight face, ¡°If you want to solve the issue of feeding the additional two thousand men, you must focus onpleting your next task diligently.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, my brothers from the Third Fleet and I are ready and will sessfullyplete even the most difficult task!¡± Mithridates immediately dered loudly.

    As Henipolis was writing the letter, Crotokatax took his work. Aware of Davos'' n, Crotokatax found a map from the bookshelf and spread it on the desk.

    Davos then led Mithridates to the table.

    Mithridates lowered his head and saw a map depicting Corsica and Sardinia before his eyes.

    ¡°How much do you know about Corsica?¡± Davos asked.

    Mithridates already had a n in mind and thought it over carefully before he said, ¡°Corsica is known to sailors as the giant mountain of the sea. The ind is nearly entirely covered with towering mountains, making it unsuitable for habitation. Only to the east of the ind are small coastal ins, each having two towns. The town of Mariana to the north belongs to the Etruscans, while the town of Aleria to the south belongs to the Phoenicians. There are also some small Phoenician viges on the west coast. However, the west coast has dense reefs and winding coastlines, making it more challenging tond warships¡­ Your Majesty, are you asking the Third Fleet to attack Corsica?¡±

    Davos nodded, looked at the map and said, ¡°To be precise, we will have the Third Fleet attack the Phoenician towns and settlements on Corsica. The most crucial reason why Carthage was able to be the most prosperous and wealthy city-state in the western Mediterranean is that it controlled most of the precious metal resources and trade in the entire western Mediterranean, the Iberian Penins, Gaul region, Etruscan region, and Sardinia and Corsica. Especially Sardinia and Corsica, which are underplete control of Carthage. Since Carthage dares to dere war with us, we will destroy their important source of trade one after another so that their treasury will no longer be enough to sustain a prolonged war with us.

    So, the first target of the Third Fleet was to attack all the Phoenician settlements on the ind of Corsica. However, don''t underestimate how these settlements are small in size and number because they are the ones that excavate the silver, iron, copper, and other metal minerals on Corsica, smelted, manufactured, and ultimately transported to Carthage. All of the Phoenician settlements on the west coast have formed aplete metal smelting system with each other. Hence, your Third Fleet must upy these settlements and capture all the Phoenicians¡­¡±

    ¡°Also, try not to damage the Phoenicians'' metal mines and smelting facilities!¡± Davos emphasised.

    Hearing that, Mithridates solemnly said, ¡°Your Majesty, the Third Fleet will ovee all difficulties andplete this task.¡±

    ¡°Not only should youplete it, but you mustplete it as soon as possible! Of course, you must be careful of the attacks of Carthage''s warship stationed in Sardinia and Corsica, and never be careless!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Davos'' harsh words made Mithridates'' heart shudder. As the navarch responsible for defending the west coast of Theonia, he certainly had a more detailed understanding of Sardinia and Corsica: Before the war, Carthage stationed no more than thirty triremes on these two inds, mainly scattered in several towns and ports in Sardinia. Perhaps due to their weak strength, they didn''te out to cause trouble during Theonia''s expedition to Rome, so Mithridates didn''t take them seriously. However, Davos'' warning made him take it seriously.

    Davos pointed at Aleria on the map and asked again, ¡°Despite being a Phoenician town, did you ever feel that Aleria''s naming didn''t fit the Phoenician and Carthaginian name sense?¡±

    ¡°Was the town once belonged to the Greeks?¡± Mithridates repeatedly murmured the town''s name before asking in a slightly surprised tone. In fact, it was just in response to Davos because, as an officer of Theonia who had traversed the sea, he didn''t care about the history of this town.

    ¡°You had judged correctly. However, Aleria wasn''t once a mere city-state of the Greeks as, in theory, it should be a town belonging to us, Theonians!¡± Henipolis interjected after finishing writing the letter to Alexius and Xanticles and was just in time to overhear this dialogue. As a great disciple of Ansitanos, he immediately became interested in informing them.

    ¡°Aleria belongs to us?!¡± Mithridates became really surprised now.

    ¡°Back during the great colonial era, we Greeks colonised the western Mediterranean, establishing not only Agrigento, Syracuse in Sicily but also Taranto and Sybaris in Magna Graecia, Masallia(Marseille) in Gaul, Neapolis, Cumae in Campania, also Aleria in Corsica¡­

    But the Etruscans, then hegemon of northern Italia, were terrified by the surging Greeks, thinking that our colonies would surround them if they didn''t stop us from our crazy colonial behaviour. Hence, they united with Carthage, which had already gained a foothold in Sardinia, and went to war with the Greek city-states of Aleria, Masallia and Campania.

    The most critical battle was a naval battle off Aleria, resulting in the Greeks'' crushing defeat. It had not only left Aleria to be captured by the Carthaginians but also caused the Greeks to no longer dare colonise the north of Italia again for centuries¡­¡±

    Henipolis kept speaking, and not only was Mithridates listening attentively, but Tolmides and Crotokatax were also listening with great interest.

 Chapter 884: Surrounding the remnants of the Roman army

    <h4>Chapter 884: Surrounding the remnants of the Roman army</h4>

    Mithridates still felt puzzled even after hearing that, ¡°It is regrettable that they got defeated in the end. However, what does this have to do with us?¡±

    Henipolis, who had deliberately stopped to create suspense, smiled and said, ¡°Because some of the Alerians had fled to Italia and founded Elea along with other Greek colonies, this history is engraved on a stone table inside the Temple of Apollo in Elea. And now, the Eleans are now citizens of Theonia, so Aleria, which they had founded, should also belong to us!¡±

    Despite being somewhat unreasonable, Mithridates believed Henipolis'' exnation was reasonable. Thus, he immediately stated, ¡°The Third Fleet will retake Aleria from Carthage and wash away the shame of us, Greeks!¡±

    Davos was satisfied with his statement and encouraged him, ¡°Return and tell your crew that recapturing Aleria would not only deal a great blow to the Carthaginians but also inspire the Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean. It would also deepen our friendly rtions with Massalia and be their hero!¡±

    Furthermore, from what I know, Aleria has a well-equipped andrge port, whichbines military andmercial ports and can serve as a ce to dock for all warships of the Third Fleet, thus avoiding the hassle of travelling back and forth. So once you take Aleria, you can have the Third Fleet use it as a base to assault the ind of Sardinia adjacent to Corsica, attack the mining teams on the ind, take their towns and viges, and attack their transport ships¡­¡±

    Mithridates said, ¡°Your Majesty, you can rest assured that I will make it so that they could not ship even a single piece of metal to the Phoenicians!¡±

    Seeing Mithridates'' excitement, Davos couldn''t help but remind him, ¡°I currently can''t spare any troops here to support you, and thus, the task of attacking Corsica and Sardinia falls solely on your Third Fleet. You must be bold yet cautious and prioritise the well-being of your soldiers. Avoid excessive casualties, as we won''t be able to proceed with the subsequent n otherwise.¡±

    Davos'' words made Mithridates feel more stressed.

    At this moment, Crotokatax asked, ¡°Father, will our military action on Corsica dissatisfy the Etruscans and make them change their thoughts?¡±

    Davos had already, in fact, discussed the issue with Crotokatax before, so it was just a gentle reminder to Davos when Crotokatax raised the question at this time.

    Davos inwardly praised his son''s consideration and said with a straight face, ¡°There''s nothing to worry about. Despite the Etruscans'' frequent trade with Carthage, they are no longer allies and are dissatisfied with Carthage''s support of Rome. Furthermore, the southern Etruscan city-states have recently formed an alliance with us¡­.¡±

    Then, he looked at Mithridates again, ¡°However, you should try not to show your warships on thends under the Etruscans, nor should you allow your soldiers to enter their territories to avoid stimting the Etruscans, who are already afraid of our might¡­ Other than that, I have no other requests and would leave how to attack Corsica to you.¡±

    Mithridates became even more pressured at Davos'' words, causing him to take a deep breath and say, ¡°Ye¡­yes, Your Majesty!¡±

    Tolmides watched Mithridates'' departing back and couldn''t help but say, ¡°He''s a little nervous.¡±

    ¡°It''s good that he is nervous as that would mean he would be cautious when taking action. Besides, even if the Third Fleet didn''t achieve any decent results, as long the fleet roamed around these two inds, it would be enough to cause trouble for the Carthaginians. On the contrary, what I fear is that Mithridates, in his overconfidence, might let his guard down and take a risky action that could incur significant losses for the Third Fleet, diminishing our advantage, just like¡­s!¡± Davos'' words came to a halt as he sighed heavily.

    Tolmides knew Davos must have remembered Seclian and the fleet in Sicily again.

    Suddenly, Martius entered the tent again and said, ¡°Your Majesty, legatus Matonis had sent a messenger to report that Aricia has surrendered!¡±

    Davos smiled and said, ¡°O Hades, today is really a day of wonderful news!¡±

    It was no wonder Davos was so happy: Aricia, not far from Tusculum, lies just west of Lake Alba Longa. It is quite an old Latin city-state that has served as the centre of the western part of Latium since the old times, particrly after the destruction of Alba Longa. As one can see from its name, the city is closely associated with the goddess of the hunt, Diana, highly revered by the Latins. This connection allowed Aricia to once unite the Latin city-states in the west against the emerging power of Rome. However, after facing multiple defeats, it eventually joined the Roman-led Latin League.

    After personally leading his army out of Rome, Davos first camped outside the city of Tusculum (the former Roman camp). He then divided his troops to attack several Latin city-states not far to the west, primarily focusing on Aricia. Despite the other city-states surrendering, the proud Aricians remained defiant and refused to submit to Theonia. In response, Davos ordered Matonis to lead the Second and Sixth Legions tounch an attack on Aricia.

    Only after several days of continuous attack did they finally yield results.

    Once Davos'' smile disappeared, it was followed by his stern voice, ¡°If it were not for the feelings of the Roman plebeians, a Latin city-state like Aricia that dared to defy us should have been subjected to the same treatment as that of Gabii. Still, even if they had surrendered, we shouldn''t treat them lightly! Heni, inform Tapirus to go and discuss with those Aricians. Since Aricia is the sacred forest of the goddess of hunting, I can make Aricia a holy site worshipped by all Latins and rece the position of Alba Longa. However, from now on, Aricia can no longer build walls or have an army, and its poption shall not be more than five thousand. The city shall be open to all while we will manage its security¡­¡±

    ¡°Understood, Your Majesty. Uh¡­I heard that due to its connection with Diana, Aricia is also a famous medical centre in the Latium region¡­¡± Henipolis reminded.

    Davos grinned and said, ¡°Can Aricia''s medical skillspare to Theonia?! I think this duty shall be handed over to Hades!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, it is wonderful that Aricia has surrendered. Still, it was a pity that we could not lure out the Roman army!¡± said Tolmides with some regret.

    Davos smiled and said nonchntly, ¡°We have already fooled the Romans once, so they naturally will be much more cautious. Now that their main force is still huddling in Satricum, it just shows that they are prepared to fight to the death. This is also a good thing, as without the support of the Romans and with Aricia''s surrender, the other city-states in western Latium will soon make their choices as well.¡±

    Suddenly, Davos'' gaze became sharp as he spoke decisively, ¡°Tolmides, go and inform the entire army to prepare. Tomorrow, we shall leave Tusculum, march southwest, and build a camp north of Satricum. It''s time for us to finally settle the Romans!¡±

    Davos'' words cheered everyone in themand tent.

    ¡°Roger, I''ll notify all the legions right away!¡± Tolmides responded excitedly.

    ¡°And¡­when we had to send envoys to these city-states to persuade their surrender, Ardea''s attitude was the most resolute, and they even beat up our envoys¡­¡± Davos said coldly.

    ¡°From the reports, Camillus, the Roman dictator, had once lived in Ardea for a long time. They had even strongly supported him in the battle to expel the Gauls, so Camillus and Ardea''s rtionship should be close, with Camillus even often giving Ardea a lot of care in the Roman Senate, so it''s not surprising for the Ardeans to act like that. Unfortunately, Ardea will have to give up their support for Camillus for the sake of their own city-state''s survival as well.¡± Henipolis persuaded.

    ¡°With the burning of Ostia, Ardea became very important to our attack on the main Roman army camped in Satricum because it isn''t far from Antium and not too far from the ce we are going to camp, and it also has a good port¡­¡± Davos'' gaze then glinted, ¡°So we need to take full control of this town to transit and transport the food supplies of our armies. Henceforth, we shall not ept Ardea''s surrender as we shall conquer itpletely!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Outside the city of Satricum, thousands of Roman citizens tirelessly enforce the city''s defence, reinforcing the city walls, covering the city with abatis, widening and deepening the trenches, setting up multipleyers of traps, building multiple watchtowers between the traps, and expanding the entire range of defence outwards¡­ Now, the defence of the entire city is surprisingly very simr to the defensive encampments usually built by the Theonian army.

    All of that was because Titus, the one tasked with this responsibility, was the first tomand the army to attack Ostia. Having encountered the formidable defence of the Theonians, he contemted implementing a simr strategy with slight modifications.

    Currently, he was standing atop the city wall overseeing the entire project. Yet despite seeing the entire defence gradually taking shape under the efforts of sweating soldiers, there was not a trace of joy on his face but rather a look of gloom.

    ¡°General, Lord Quintus is here,¡± His subordinate whispered beside him.

    Upon hearing this, Titus turned around and nced at Quintus, who was climbing the stairs, and the annoyance on his face disappeared in a sh.

    ¡°Hey, Titus!¡±

    Looking at Quintus walking towards him, Titus remained unenthusiastic as he said, ¡°When did you return? Have the city''s defence in Antiumpleted?!¡±

    Titus'' tone carried a hint of inquiry, and despite feeling some displeasure, Quintus opened his mouth to exin, ¡°Antium has just over three thousand soldiers, and with Pantheus basically healed, he can handle the task on his own. Since I was essentially a hindrance there, I decided to return.¡±

 Chapter 885: Hidden Worries

    <h4>Chapter 885: Hidden Worries</h4>

    ¡°Does the lord dictator know about your return?¡± Titus had a hint of scepticism in his tone as he was dissatisfied with Quintus'' arbitrary decision.

    ¡°I intended to report to the dictator, but he doesn''t seem to be in the best of health, and Lucius didn''t want me to disturb him.¡± Quintus'' expression held contempt as he said, ¡°Titus, this is worrying! Can Camillus stillmand the army effectively and lead us to victory over the mighty Theonians and reim Rome?!¡±

    ¡°As long as our lord dictator is alive, he will remain the suprememander of our army! Titus said firmly.

    Hearing that made Quintus anxious, and eximed, ¡°Is Camillus really worthy of your trust?! After our return from Hernici, we''ve faced nothing but failures, from the recapture of Rome to Ostia! We narrowly escaped encirclement when attempting to rescue Gabii. Since then, we could only huddle here, helpless, as Tusculum, Aricia¡­and other allies turned their backs on us, unable to do anything. Now, we have no means of escape as the Theonian army advances here. Isn''t this all Camillus'' fault?!!¡±

    Quintus'' voice was so loud that everyone around heard him and began discussing in low voices.

    But that only made Titus feel more annoyed and impolite, ¡°Quintus, you and I are both veterans! We are naturally aware that since the invasion of the Theonians until now, the lord dictator hasn''t made any mistakes inmanding the battle. And it''s unlikely that you and I would have been able to do a better job if we were to rece him! Furthermore, in this predicament, only the lord dictator can unite the entire army and stabilise the morale! Hence, we must also unite to resist the attack of the Theonains and wee the hope of victory! Therefore, we absolutely cannot allow any attempt to create dissent!¡± Titus then gazes at Quintus sharply.

    Quintus'' expression changed as he understood that Titus was warning him.

    Camillus'' passive strategy during this period had dissatisfied Quintus, causing him to privately convince Aurus and Servius to pressure Camillus into changing tactics. Upon learning this, Camillus pre-emptively transferred him to Antium to ensure the army''s unity. But firmly believing that Camillus wouldn''t punish him, Quintus vited the military order and returned without permission. Upon his return, he began persuading Titus, who had a high reputation among the soldiers and could be considered the second most important figure in the army. He thought that with Titus'' support, he could force Camillus to make concessions and possibly gain the right tomand the army.

    Yet before he could fully express his thoughts, the shrewd Titus had already rified his position and blocked Quintus'' attempt.

    At this moment, Quintus, filled with agitation, could only vent by punching the battlement. The fall of Rome, resulting in any news cut off and not knowing whether the senators were still alive, prevented him from charging Camillus with the crime of passively avoiding war, which would have allowed him to strip Camillus of the right tomand. Unfortunately, without the support of the Senate, no other soldiers would willingly obey his order besides his house''s subordinates, as his prestige in the army isn''t high. Otherwise, how could he endure Titus, a lesser nobleman, humiliating him here?

    ¡°Unity?!¡± Quintus sneered, ¡°You are willing to ept themand of the coward Camillus and watch as Rome slowly declines! But I won''t! I absolutely will not!!!¡±

    Quintus'' angry shout left the surroundings silent.

    Titus watched him stride away with an extrayer of worry. As the actualmander against the Theonian army, he understood that it wasn''t that Camillus didn''t want to adopt a bit more active strategy during this time. He knew that despite the Theonians being on the offensive, they hadn''t dropped their guards down. Not only had they sent mounted scouts to patrol around Satricum, but they also had tens of thousands of troops guarding the nks of those responsible for sieging. As a result, Camillus had to restrain to preserve their limited forces while awaiting a change in the situation to avoid falling into another trap reminiscent of the Battle of Gabii.

    ¡®But will a change of situation reallye?¡¯ Titus, while thinking of the mighty Theonian army and their terrifying king, looked at the soldiers sweating profusely with doubts in his eyes.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the city of Satricum, Servius went to talk to Licinius, who had already be the city''s magistrate.

    Licinius had nearly lost his authority tomand soldiers in battle when the generals under Quintus questioned his plebeian identity. However, upon reaching Satricum, it was precisely due to his plebeian background that dictator Camillus appointed him as Satricum''s magistrate. Camillus had decided this as Satricum¡¯s poption, a newly established Roman colony, consisted mostly of Roman plebeians who had migrated. The prolonged stay of the army in the city, coupled with the majority of soldiers being Roman citizens, inevitably led to conflicts and dissatisfaction among the people of Satricum. Fortunately, Licinius managed to make them obey because he had not only acted prudent but was also respected among the Roman plebeians.

    Camillus had clearly considered this when he appointed him. As a result, the role Licinius yed in it is evident from the fact that the city of Satricum remained stable even though the Theonian army was now approaching.

    Licinius and Servius were somewhat rted, with Licinius'' son, Stolo, marrying Ambustus'' youngest daughter, while Servius married Ambustus'' eldest daughter. Despite that, the two sides were not on good terms and seldom had contact. And that was all due to the arrogant and mboyant Servius having simr interests with Quintus of holding contempt for themon people. As a result, Camillus had to send Quintus to Antium while allowing Servius to be in charge of the wounded in the city, inconspicuously depriving him of his right to lead troops.

    ¡°Licinius, I hope you can lend your help,¡± Servius said bluntly.

    ¡°Tell me what you need me to do.¡± Despite speaking politely, Licinius felt dissatisfied with Servius¡¯ tone.

    Servius, unable to observe other people''s expressions,ined loudly, ¡°The dictator asked me to manage the wounded. However, the situation in that ce is far worse and is practically hell! Nearly three thousand seriously wounded soldiers crowded the not-so-big square, not only filling with blood, groans, and stench, but one-third of them had no tents to cover them, and flies and mosquitoesing everywhere, making it very disgusting! And when the heavy rain came the day before yesterday, some of the wounded soldiers became drenched and died of fever¡­¡±

    His expression then became sorrowful, ¡°They are all warriors of Rome! They had fought bravely for Rome, so how can we easily abandon them? We will definitely receive Mars¡¯ punishment! So I hope you can free up some houses for these wounded soldiers and send more men so that they can get better amodation and care!¡­¡±

    Licinius felt vomiting seeing Servius'' expression as he clearly remembered that when Camillus appointed Servius to manage the wounded, this general, who hade from nobility, stood up and cursed, saying that he would never care about those dying men¡­ Later, he could only ept the appointment reluctantly under the persuasion of everyone. And as far as Licinius knows, Servius seldom goes to inspect and manage the camp of the wounded these past few days, yet now he actually thought of pretending to be a caring person?!

    Then, with a troubled expression, he sighed and said, ¡°You are right. These Roman warriors do deserve good care, but it''s probably difficult to free up room for them¡­¡± which resulted in Servius'' expression darkening.

    Licinius continued as if he hadn''t noticed it, ¡°s¡­you also should know that I have already made a great deal of effort just to amodate our over thirteen thousand troops within the city! We were even forced to relocate the residents of the entire poption of the city¡¯s western part for military amodation, and they could only live together with residents from the other parts of the city. The people in the city have already expressed dissatisfaction with this, and it was only with great difficulty that we managed to appease them. If we were to free up new amodation for the wounded now, we would need to relocate many residents again, which would inevitably provoke public anger and cause unrest in the city! In the face of an emergency situation where we are about to engage the Theonians in battle, it is best to maintain the city''s stability!¡±

    Servius became furious and loudly used, ¡°Licinius, you havepletely disregarded the survival of our wounded soldiers just for the benefit of those plebeians! Do you still deserve to be a Roman general now that you are letting our warriors die wailing in the wind and rain?!¡±

    Licinius became equally furious at getting criticised in public. Moreover, he knew that it would inevitably lead to a bacsh if he didn''t retaliate and let these words reach the ears of the soldiers. Thus, he immediately snapped, ¡°Servius, since you took over the camp of the wounded, have you ever gone there to check on them?! Have you ever gone there tofort the wounded who groan in pain?! Have you ever ordered your subordinates to build more tents to improve their living conditions?!¡­ Your im that you are doing these for the benefit of the soldiers is just a lie! The real fact is ¨C due to your negligence, you didn''t repair the wounded''s camp, which resulted in them getting drenched in the heavy rain and causing some of the wounded to die! You should bear heavy responsibility for this!¡­¡±

    ¡°Y¡­you!¡­¡± Servius was indeed med because of the heavy rain, and Quintus, after returning, also reminded him to take care of the wounded. After all, most of the wounded soldiers have more or less rtions with the soldiers of the army, so if they take good care of them, they will also win the army''s hearts.

 Chapter 886: Landfall: Sicily (I)

    <h4>Chapter 886: Landfall: Sicily (I)</h4>

    That''s why Servius rushed to find Licinius, both to rectify the situation and partly to push the me. However, beyond his expectations, Licinius showed no mercy as he publicly listed his faults, leaving Servius furious. Unable to find any valid reason to retort, he could only shout with a face flushed red, ¡°You lowly plebeian! Most of the plebeians in the army fled and surrendered to the Theonians! Did you stay here to be a spy?! The lord dictator should have arrested you, as all of you plebeians aren''t trustworthy!¡­¡±

    Amotion arose from the people nearby when he spoke those words, prompting Servius to leave immediately.

    ¡°Bastard!¡± Licinius stared at the Servius¡¯ departing back, his expression bing terribly sullen.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The coast from Carthage to Utica, stretching six kilometres, had transformed into a vast military camp where thousands of citizens from Carthage, Phoenician city-states, natives from the Iberian Penins, nomads from Numidia, and even inhabitants from Mauritania and Gaul gradually gathered. With diverse appearances, varied attire, and differentnguages spoken, the ce buzzed with activity as if it had be the centre of the entire Mediterranean world.

    But for the elders of the Carthaginian Senate, this vast military camp close to Carthage was a potentially terrible threat. With multiple races gathering here, conflicts ur daily due tonguage barriers, poormunication, and different customs and interests. As a result, the Carthaginians and Phoenicians living outside the cityined to the Senate that the natives were harassing them. Fortunately, Mago led his generals around and calmed down many disputes. Further adding to their trouble was that for each day such arge army stayed here, it consumed a great deal of food and money¡­

    Therefore, the elders wished to immediately send this abominable army to Sicily to devastate the Theonians. Hence, they dispatched their men daily to urge Mago to lead them andnd in Sicily as soon as possible.

    For Mago, it wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to depart to Sicily as soon as possible. It''s just that he was too busy settling these daily disputes and even suffered headaches as these unruly mercenaries would tarnish the image of the Magonids among the Carthaginians if this continued, which wasn''t worth the loss. In addition, with the storm having destroyed the Carthaginian fleet and the new warships still under construction, the Theonians became a threat to the maritime route between Carthage and Sicily as their warships often roamed the western waters of Sicily, attacking Carthaginian and allied merchant ships heading to Sicily. Therefore, without the protection of a fleet, how could Mago dare let his soldiers board the ship to cross the sea andnd in Sicily?

    Suddenly, rain began to fall on Africa''s typically sunny, dry, and hot coast on this day, apanied by a strong sea breeze. As the temperature finally dropped, soldiers, who had endured the scorching heat, rushed out of their tents one after another to relish this rare respite. Even the natives from Iberia, taking advantage of the rain, stripped off their clothes to cleanse their bodies while yelling and screaming with excitement. Yet, their brawny size and intimidating appearance deterred anyone from casting scornful nces at them.

    At this moment, Mago also walked out of themand tent, looked at the big g standing in front of it, and became dazed as, under the blowing sea breeze, the g fluttered toward the northeast.

    Then, Anibal arrived and walked towards him.

    During the battle with the Theonian fleet, the storm destroyed the twin-headed serpent ship where the Carthaginian navalmander was seated. Fortunately, the raging waves pushed him to the shores of Mazara, where he was eventually rescued. But he was soon ordered to return to Carthage to be questioned by the Senate for his part in the destruction of the Carthaginian fleet.

    Luckily, Hanno had privately instructed Palteshmoun, Eshmounadon and other elders to pardon him, iming that despite Anibal causing heavy losses to their side''s fleet, he also utilised the storm to destroy the Theonian fleet, which had more ships and was more powerful, ensuring the safety of the of Carthage and the western waters of Sicily. Thus, his merits outweighed his faults!¡­

    Hence, he wasn''t punished and even allowed to continue serving as the navalmander of the Carthaginian navy, despite his being only nominal now.

    Naturally, this ruling of the Carthaginian Senate took ce a few days after the naval battle. But if it were now, the elders would not easily spare Anibal; after all, the Theonian warships continued attacking the western waters of Sicily that they had once controlled, bringing a heavy blow to their maritime trade, making Anibal''s previous statement ofpletely destroying the Theonian fleet a lie.

    Hence, the Senate and Mago eventually reached an agreement to ce Anibal and his Carthaginian fleet directly under Mago''smand. This was a far cry from Hanno''s proposal of having the army under Mago''smand while the navy under Anibal''smand, which shows how discontent the Carthaginians at Anibal were.

    ¡°Lord Mago!¡± Anibal came closer and bowed respectfully. He had be cautious and fearful after suffering such tremendous criticism and usations during this period.

    ¡°What did the Tyrians say?¡± Mago asked.

    ¡°The Tyrians¡­refused to provide escort for ournding fleet¡­¡± Anibal then continued, whispering, ¡°They also said¡­they will not ept ourmand and will decide the timing and ce they would attack on their own¡­¡±

    ¡°We in Carthage had worked hard for decades to transport wealth for them to allow them to live afortable life under the Persian rule, yet we instead get this answer in return?! They had only brought their warships to the western Mediterranean just to show off! So what use is such a mothend to us?!¡­¡±

    While Mago became furious, Anibal only stood quietly on the side, listening.

    ¡°Does Hanno know about this?¡± Mago suddenly asked.

    ¡°I had already informed the Senate, in which they asked Lord Hanno to send someone to negotiate with the Tyrians¡­¡± Anibal answered cautiously.

    ¡°Moreover, we can''t count on the Phoenician''s joint fleet for the time being!¡± Mago''s face didn''t show any frustration, which shows he had obviously gotten the information beforehand and already expected such an oue. Then, he nced at Anibal and said, ¡°I called you here to tell you I''ve decided to lead the army to Sicily tomorrow!¡±

    ¡°Tomorrow?!¡± Anibal became starled, his eyes looking at Mago widening.

    Mago, likewise, looked at Anibal with an unusually resolute expression. Then, he raised his head and pointed to therge g fluttering before them, ¡°See that? It''s a southwestern wind! I have asked several experienced sailors from Carthage and Utica, and they all agreed that we will have the same condition tomorrow! Moreover, the ships I sent out to scout for the enemy¡¯s warship and the merchant ships that had returned from the port had all reported that there was no sign of the Theonian warships on the route today, so there''s a good chance they won''t be around tomorrow either!¡±

    ¡°But¡­if the weather is still like this tomorrow, the windy and rough sea will make it difficult for us to go ashore! What''s more, the weather at sea is unpredictable, in case we encounter¡­¡± Anibal stopped, but the fear on his face already indicated what he wanted to say.

    ¡°Storm,¡± Mago spoke the word Anibal had wanted to say. Then, with a determined expression, he said, ¡°Since you all have the same thoughts, the Theonians must also have such fear since they didn''t send out their warships today. Thus, they will definitely shrink back in their port tomorrow, giving us a great opportunity tond on Sicily! So even without the help of the Tyrians, our army could easilynd on Sicily without facing the Theonian fleet¡­and then, to the surprise of the Theonians, we wouldunch a sudden attack! If we do indeed encounter another storm, it just means that Baal Hammon no longer protects Carthage, and all our efforts will be in vain¡­but this is impossible because Carthage had the protection of Baal Hammon and Tanit, which allowed us to survive thisnds for hundreds of years and will continue to do so!¡±

    ¡°But-¡± Anibal still wanted to persuade Mago when he stopped him with a wave of his hand. I didn''t call you here to listen to your ramblings but to discuss with me a n tond as soon as possible. Then we would inform Carthage and Utica to make all preparations as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Very well, Lord Mago. Despite my opposition to such a risk, I''llply with your orders since you insist on it,¡± Anibal said, knowing Mago well enough to understand that persuading him was futile. Thus, he spoke in a tone with the intention of having an excuse for himself once thending failed.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the second day, light rain and a southwestern wind had indeed arrived on the Carthaginian coast, which also affected western Sicily.

    In such weather, thebourers of the port of Lilybaeum would normally be idle because only a few merchant ships would be out trading. However, due to the attack of the Theonian warships, it was only in such weather that the Carthaginian and Phoenician merchant ships would be safe. Thus, the port of Lilybaeum has been rather busy since yesterday, and it looked as if today wouldn''t be any worse. Hence, the port officials rushed thebourers towards the docks early in the morning.

    With almost all Carthaginiansing from wealthy families, there was not a single Carthaginian among thebourers in Lilybaeum, as none of them would engage in suchborious and lowly work. Instead, more than half of thebourers were Numidian ves, but these Numidians, who had lived ind since childhood, were only suitable for some hard and heavy work. Thus, the more demanding jobs such as guiding the ships to the docks, repairing the ships, loading and unloading goods¡­and other demanding port work needed to be done by other races with maritime experience. Hence, there were some Greek ves, mixed Phoenician-Greek freemen, and even Greek freemen among thebourers, resulting from centuries of the Phoenicians and Greeks sharing this one ind.

 Chapter 887: Landfall: Sicily (II)

    <h4>Chapter 887: Landfall: Sicily (II)</h4>

    More than ten years ago, the port of Lilybaeum would have had more Greek freemen with few Numidian ves. Unfortunately, the upation of eastern Sicily by the kingdom of Theonia had taken arge number of Greek freemen from them, and the Carthaginian conquest of Numidia had further altered the situation.

    Thebourers braved the drizzle and cold as they arrived at the port, shivering and shaking. In the early hours, no ships wereing despite the port open. Thus, thebourers seize the chance to squat under the storage''s eaves on the shore to rest.

    It wasn''t long before they heard noisy footsteps as hundreds of Carthaginian soldiers poured into the port and began removing the idlers and intensifying their patrols of the docks.

    Thebourers watch in bewilderment as the port suddenly bes heavily guarded.

    ¡°Look! The Lord of Lilybaeum is also here!¡± Someone shouted in surprise, making the atmosphere be even more tense.

    At that moment, the official in charge of the port came running over and cursed as he panted, ¡°Get up,zy bastards! Immediately clean up all the obstacles and garbage at the port before Lord Mago arrives with his army. You must ensure the road must be unobstructed and clean! Also, remove those broken ships from the dock immediately! Quickly! Quickly! Anyone who cks off will know how cruel I can be!¡­¡±

    Apanied by the roar of the official was the overseer whipping their whips with a loud snap, causing the frightenedbourers to immediately dash to the dock under the leadership of their foremen.

    Among them was a hunched middle-agedbourer whose initially dull and lifeless eyes lit up: ¡®The Carthaginian army actually chose to cross the sea andnd on Lilybaeum in such a climate? They are really bold! I wonder if Flios has sent scouting ships and was able to detect the enemy''s action?!¡¯

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    About an hourter, the first transport ship carrying troops entered the port of Lilybaeum. The sailors on board had furled their sails and, blowing the horn, paddled to steer towards the nearest dock.

    Then came the second and third ships¡­ Not long after, transport ships covered the sea surface of the port.

    Upon spotting a ship approaching the dock, the foreman swiftly led a dozen or sobourers to use iron hooks to secure the ship''s side, pulling it tightly against the dock. Then, they fastened the ship''s rope to a mooring post andid a wooden board to allow the soldiers'' disembarkation.

    Thebourers skilled in helping ships dock had encountered more difficulty due to the cold wind and drizzle. It was because the dock became slippery, requiring them to exert more force to pull the ship amid the turbulent waves. It wasmon for thebourers to slide on the dock and fall into the sea, and ships asionally collided in the docks, so it wasn''t umon for soldiers to end up in the water¡­

    Although the Lord of Lilybaeum made some preparations for the army''snding, the chaos at the port was still inevitable and continued¡­

    But no matter how chaotic the Port of Lilybaeum may be, shiploads of soldiers still disembark in the docks uninterruptedly and converge densely on the port''s shore. Then, amidst the noise and mour, they arrange themselves in columns and leave the port one after the other to enter Lilybaeum¡­

    From the eye of the hunched, middle-agedbourer: The first to disembark were likely Carthaginian soldiers(They were, in fact, mostly Phoenicians); these rumoured pampered Carthaginians, however, appeared calm andposed. Throughout the entire time they disembarked, there was very little noise or confusion, and they closely followed themands of their officers. Then came the dark-skinned, slender Numidian soldiers(who have some Mauritanians mixed among them), rumoured to be free-spirited nomads and could follow the instructions and disembark rtively quickly. Naturally, there were also undisciplined soldiers. These natives with naked upper bodies, embroidered with strange tattoos, and frightening appearances were said to be Celts from the Iberian Penins. Despite their constant vomiting due to the rough waves as they were unustomed to riding ships and all unsteady and pale when theynded, their tall and burly bodies still made the hunched, middle-aged man feel nervous. But what caught his attention the most was the murderous aura emitted by the soldiers, which only veterans of the battlefield could possess.

    ¡®It seems dealing with the Carthaginian army wouldn''t be easy this time!¡¯ He looked at the constantly moving transport ship at the port while hiding his worries in his heart¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In thisnding, Mago arranged for his Iberian main force, which had been with him for many years, tond near the port of Lilybaeum. Meanwhile, the entire Carthaginian army of over eighty thousand strong had tond scatteringly throughout the whole coast of Mazara to Eryx, not only the ports of various towns but also the beaches where ships could dock because Mago wished to be able to get the soldiers, provisions, horses and so on to Sicily in as short time as possible to avoid the threat of getting found out by the Theonians and then get attacked by their fleet.

    For this reason, not only did Carthage and Utica send outrge numbers of ships, but other Phoenician city-states on the coast of Africa, such as Hadrumetum, Ruspini, Igilgili¡­also provided ships to help transport the soldiers.

    Thus, from western Sicily to Africa, one could see a strange sight: Countless ships covered the sea as if they had spread out a massive pontoon bridge connecting the two ces. Then, all along the western coast of Sicily, one can see exhausted soldiers converging on the beach, frightened horses running around neighing, from Mazara all the way to Eryx¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the residence of the city lord of Selinus, the adjutant Muklu gently pushed open the door of the study. Inside the room sat Leotychides, themander of the kingdom of Theonia in charge of the war in Sicily. Sitting on a wooden chair like a puppet, he motionlessly gazed at the map of Sicily hanging on the wall with great focus.

    Muklu had followed Leotychides for some time now and had be aware of some of his strange habits. Hence, he didn''t speak and just stood quietly behind Leotychides.

    He didn''t know how much time had passed as he felt his eyelids closing. Suddenly, Muklu heard Leotychides ask, ¡°Yesterday, the Iberian army, consisting of about twenty thousand men and staying in Palermo, suddenly marched southwards towards Lilybaeum. What do you think was the reason for this?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­maybe it has something to do with Carthage''s Iberian governor, Mago, assuming the position of the suprememander and dissipating the conflict between the Iberian army and the Carthaginian army¡­¡± When suddenly asked about this, Muklu said the reason he thought of and found reasonable without thinking too deeply.

    The still-seated Leotychides continued asking questions without turning his head, ¡°Some time had already passed since Mago assumed the position of Carthage''s suprememander, so why did the Iberian army at Palermo only head towards Lilybaeum yesterday?¡±

    Muklu could sense the hint of dissatisfaction in Leotychides'' words, and this made him ponder for several moments before answering cautiously, ¡°It might be because we''ve constantly been sending out our soldiers to harvest the half-ripe wheat fields outside of Mazara, Segesta, Lilybaeum and even Eryx during this time, so the Iberian army from the north coast might havee to bolster the Carthaginians'' military presence here and to obstruct us from harvesting¡­¡±

    Seeing Leotychides not responding after he finished his remark, Muklu thought for a moment and continued uncertainly, ¡°It''s also possible that¡­they are cooperating with the Carthaginians'' military operations¡­ ¡±

    Half a momentter, Leotychides replied faintly, ¡°The Carthaginian''s military operation?¡­ Apart fromnding in Sicily, what else can they do?¡± Hearing that caused Muklu''s heart to be shaken.

    Suddenly, Leotychides stood up and looked at Muklu, saying deeply, ¡°Go and notify the cavalry legion to send the best-mounted scouts to carefully probe Lilybaeum, Eryx¡­and other city-states of the enemy movement. Once they find any anomaly, immediately return to report!¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡± Muklu responded in a low voice because he knew: From the looks of it, the only weakness of the Theonian armypared to the Carthaginian army was the cavalry, and this order from themander would result in the Fourth Cavalry Legion inevitably having to pay some casualties.

    ¡°¡­In addition, send five reserve brigades to follow these scouts and protect them from the Numidian cavalry.¡± Leotychides'' following words relieved Muklu. After all, with five thousand heavy infantry from the reserve legion as backup, the safety of the Theonian scouts is guaranteed.

    ¡°Also, tell Miltiades to send more scouting ships to delve deeper into the western waters of Sicily, further west, to investigate the movements of the Carthaginian army across the sea.¡±

    After Leotychides'' words, Muklu said, feeling embarrassed, ¡°Lordmander, I hade here to tell you that our fleet has still not sent a single ship to cruise the western wasters like yesterday. From the information I gathered, the navarch of the fleet in Sicily, Miltiades, had told his men that they couldn''t go out to sea in such bad weather as they would likely encounter the same misfortune as before since they were unfamiliar with the sea conditions here. He had said that he was responsible for the lives of the crews of each of the ships, so he wouldn''t allow them to die for nought without gaining a little bit of achievement. Furthermore, he said that the Carthaginians would also be frightened and wouldn''t take any major action¡­¡±

    Hearing Muklu''s words, Leotychides'' expression turned grim as he grunted, ¡°This new navarch has less guts than Seclian and became frightened by the storm! Still, you must make a trip to the port and tell Miltiades yourself that this is my order, and he must send out scouting ships in the next two days to patrol the western waters of Sicily!¡±

 Chapter 888: Siege of Selinus

    <h4>Chapter 888: Siege of Selinus</h4>

    Muklu hesitated and said, ¡°¡­Lordmander, do you also wish to inform Governor Siprus?¡±

    Leotychides finally spoke, ¡°He is too far, and we don''t have enough time. His Majesty should have ced the fleet in Sicily under mymand from the start, which would have saved us a lot of trouble. Quickly, carry out my order.¡±

    Soon after, Muklu received Miltiades'' response, which didn''t meet his expectations. Not only did he reject Leotychides'' proposal to patrol the sea, but he also told Muklu to tactfully remind Leotychides that the fleet wasn''t under Leotychides''mand and shouldn''t be concerned about the naval affairs.

    Leotychides raged upon hearing that, which he seldom does. Still, there was nothing he could do about it.

    In the afternoon, the scouts who had returned to Selinus brought back bad news: they had found many Carthaginian soldiers gathering on several beaches and ships along the coast from Mazara to Lilybaeum.

    ¡®The Carthaginian army isnding!¡¯ Leotychides judged easily.

    ¡°Send someone to tell Miltiades to do what needs to be done.¡± The corners of Leotychides'' lips rose slightly as he spoke mockingly. It seemed that Miltiades'' earlier message had gotten under his skin.

    ¡°Immediately gather the Reserve and Eight Legion to follow me in attacking the coast of Mazara!¡± Leotychides finally issued the order.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Mago was almost at the forefront of thest batch of troops that had boarded and entered the port of Lilybaeum. He had done that toprehend and monitor the boarding situation of all the soldiers at the ports of Carthage and Utica.

    As soon as he stepped on the dock, officials of various ranks, including the Lord of Lilybaeum and the actingmander of the Carthaginian army, weed him warmly. They crowded around him as they made their way to the Lord''s mansion.

    But just as Mago had taken his seat and hadn''t had a chance to speak, news arrived that tens of thousands of Theonian troops had left Selinus and were marching westward.

    While most present felt nervous, Mago decisively ordered, ¡°Immediately gather your troops to intercept them!¡±

    Since Lilybaeum is a military fortress, it already has several barracks in the city where the more than ten thousand Numidian soldiers (led by Muntebaal) had stayed previously, and the twenty thousand Iberian soldiers under Hasdrubal had stayed yesterday. So Mago ordered his men to assemble them quickly and, for caution''s sake, took with him six thousand Iberian soldiers who had just disembarked.

    Leotychides faced difficulty marching as he led his army against the wind and rain, taking nearly three hours to approach Mazara.

    Suddenly, he received a report from the cavalry scout that a Carthaginian army, with a force of at least thirty thousand, was approaching them from Lilybaeum.

    Since the Battle of Minoa and the capture of Selinus, Leotychides has tried various methods to lure the enemies who had retreated in cities such as Lilybaeum, Segesta and Mazara out of the city to engage them in field battle so that they could achieve better results. Unfortunately, they were never sessful.

    But now that the Carthaginian army had finally left the city, Leotychides hesitated. Although the Battle of Minoa showed that the demoralised Carthaginian army had low fighting strength, it didn''t make Leotychides arrogant. Through intelligence, he knew that he couldn''t underestimate the Iberian army that had captured Cephaloedium. In addition, the Carthaginian armying from Lilybaeum would undoubtedly be its main force, and their number had far exceeded the number of those he was leading.

    During the Theonian army''s stay in Selinus, several soldiers of their allies had returned to their respective city-states in preparation for the uing harvest season since there was no fighting. Then, once the Second Fleet arrived in Sicily, Miltiades protested to Leotychides about his unauthorised conversion of the Theonian navy''s excellent sailors into light infantry to act as support to the legions in battle(referring to some of the tens of thousands of sailors of the fleet in Sicily that had survived the storm).

    Miltiades brought the matter to the Ministry of Military,pelling Leotychides to release the crews and return them to their naval base on the Catanian in. As a consequence, Leotychides could only lead just over twenty thousand men, along with more than three thousand Allied soldiers who had stayed in Selinus, whichprised the entirety of the force he now had in western Sicily.

    Leotychides had thought the Carthaginian army''snding in such harsh weather would inevitably result in temporary chaos, so he didn''t expect the Carthaginians tounch such a rapid attack.

    His gaze scanned the heavily armed legionaries beside him and saw that their faces drenched in rain showed signs of exhaustion. After hesitation, Leotychides, who had never blindly and impulsively gone into battle, dispelled the idea of fighting the Carthaginian army and ordered the army to halt and immediately return to Selinus.

    As a result, the soldiersined about it as they had gone on a wasted march and only got soaked in the rain.

    Leotychides, however, didn''t care, as he cared about whether their fleet could gain a result.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After receiving a reminder from adjutant Muklu, Miltiades still didn''t believe his words due to his terrible rtionship with Leotychides. Hence, he didn''t immediately lead the fleet to sea and instead sent a scouting ship to patrol the western waters.

    It was only after he received confirmation that he had hastily led the fleet out of the port. After that wasted time, coupled with the fleet sailing against the wind, it was already dusk when they arrived at the waters near Mazara. The sea, which was initially filled with ships and bustling activity, had be calm, the Carthaginian army had finished theirnding, and the transportation of supplies and horses was also almostpleted.

    The Carthaginian ships, observing the movements of the Theonian fleet, quickly notified the ships that were still on their way, causing some to immediately return to Carthage while others stepped up their efforts to rush into the beaches and ports in Sicily. Thus, despite the Theonian fleet''s effort in searching the waters, they only managed to ram, sink, and capture a dozen transport ships. Although they also saw the numerous Carthaginian ships anchored on the beaches, they didn''t dare to approach and attack because of the countless Carthaginian soldiers on the shore, as it was a stupid approach to give up their advantages just to fight the enemy onnd. Moreover, due to the darkness of the day and the turbulent winds and waves, two of their ships inadvertently hit the reef and sank.

    With all of that, Miltiades ordered their return. But throughout the journey back, he remained depressed, as he had the great responsibility of allowing the sessfulnding of the Carthaginian army in Sicily, so neither His Majesty Davos nor the Ministry of Military would turn a blind eye to it¡­

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the following days, the situation in western Sicily took on an eerie calm.

    On the Carthaginian side, Mago was busy restructuring the disorganised army that hadnded and transporting supplies scattered along the coast back to Lilybaeum. At the same time, he took some time off to receive officials from Carthage''s subordinate city-state and envoys from their allies to learn about the situation in Sicily. He even summoned the chieftain of Sikeloi, Archonis, who had suffered from Muntebaal''s ostracism.

    Meanwhile, on Theonia''s side, Leotychides no longer sent troops to attack their enemies'' fields and viges. Instead, he ordered his soldiers to reinforce the city''s defences.

    Naturally, he had already started doing that since their upation of Selinus because he knew well that the Battle of Minoa wasn''t enough to harm Carthage and would instead lead to a more violent counterattack. With the south coast of Sicily serving as the main offensive route for the Carthaginian army, Selinus had a crucial role as it was situated at the starting point of this route. Thus, as long as they could hold onto it, it would create a great obstacle for the Carthaginian army''s further attack on the territories of Theonia and their allies on the south coast. Furthermore, it would help fulfil the strategic purpose given to them by King Davos.

    At the same time, Leotychides also sent a messenger back to Catania to inform Siprus of the new war situation. He also sought reinforcements from their allied city-states, such as Minoa, Agrigento and G, to strengthen Selinus'' defence.

    While Leotychides hoped to dy the battle as long as possible, Mago could no longer wait. After all, he had given his promise in the Senate that he would expel the Theonians from Sicily within a year, which is why the vast Carthaginian army surrounded Selinus three dayster.

    Mago ordered the army to start building their camp while allowing engineers and craftsmen to build siege equipment.

    Once the campsite started taking shape, Mago began dispatching thousands of light infantry formed by their allies in Sicily to gradually clear the traps and obstacles around the outskirts of Selinus.

    Leotychides, naturally, would not allow the enemy to approach the trench so easily. Therefore, not only did he order the defenders atop the city wall to carry out fierce long-range attacks on any enemy who came within firing distance, but he also organised hundreds or thousands of light-armoured soldiers from time to time to take advantage of the enemy''s unpreparedness to leave the city and attack those who were busy clearing the traps and obstacles.

    Leotychides'' proactive defensive tactics greatly harmed the Carthaginian soldiers, who were clearing the obstacles. Still, the Carthaginian encirclement of Selinus continued to shrink over several days.

    For Mago, who had an army of about one hundred twenty thousand, a slight casualty was like a tickle between his boots without causing any impact on him. With this strong military strength as backing, the Carthaginians no longer got interrupted in their cleaning work outside Selinus.

    With the orderly advance of the Carthaginian army towards the city and the strengthening of their defence against surprise attacks, the Theonian army also reduced the number of times they went out to attack after suffering one to two minor losses.

    Quickly, the Carthaginians ced dozens of ballistae and began bombarding Selinus'' walls with stone projectiles continuously.

    Since the Theonian legion had military training about attacking and defending a city wall, they certainly had their own method to defend against ballista, the most powerful weapon for attacking a city. In addition to cing ballistae on the walls and inside the city tounch urate attacks against the enemy''s ballistae, Leotychides also had his soldiers collect fishings from the fishermen in the port inrge quantities to drape them down from the top of the city walls to cushion the impact of the stone projectiles.

 Chapter 889: Night Raid

    <h4>Chapter 889: Night Raid</h4>

    Unlike Rome, the Carthaginian army had wealthy experience in siege with their years of war with Syracuse. Moreover, they have sufficient technical capabilities to implement their tactics. Seeing that the effect of the ballistae wasn''t bringing much result, Mago, after some thought, ordered his men to build a wall a hundred metres away from Selinus. Not only would itpletely encircle the city, but its height must not be lower than Selinus'' wall, allowing them to prevent the surprise attack of the Theonians and also could, in turn, suppress their long-range attack. Moreover, the wall would be advantageous to their subsequent tactics.

    At Mago''smand, nearly a hundred thousand soldiers and countlessbourers transporting supplies to the military camp began taking action under the guidance of the engineers.

    The Theonian defenders discovered the enemy''s intention and made several surprise attacks. However, they all got repelled by the guarded Carthaginians.

    Three dayster, the base of an earthen wall surrounding the city of Selinus began taking shape.

    While the Theonian soldiers were still feeling dismayed, Leotychides, themander of the Sicilian battlefield of the Kingdom of Theonia, met with Navarch Miltiades at the residence of the Lord of Selinus.

    Ever since Miltiades, the newly appointed navarch, discovered Leotychides'' unauthorised absorption of the Sicilian fleet into his own army, viting the interests of the Theonian navy, the two sides have been at odds. As a result, Miltiades had never met Leotychides again after he moved back to the port. This time, he had onlye to the city to discuss with him because he had no choice but to do so.

    Because of Miltiades'' fear of the storm, he made a grave military mistake when he stopped the warships patrolling Sicily''s western waters, allowing the Carthaginian armies tond in Sicily easily. If Leotychides were to report to the Ministry of Military how, despite his repeated reminder to the navy not to cease the blockade of the western waters due to bad weather, the navarch remained stubborn, resulting in a significant shift in the war situation in Sicily¡­ it would not only intensify King Davos and the Ministry of Military''s animosity towards Miltiades but also likely cut off his future military career. Therefore, Miltiades approached the situation with a docile mindset.

    But instead of mentioning thending of the Carthaginian army upon seeing him, Leotychides bluntly said, ¡°Miltiades, I am preparing tounch a night raid on the Carthaginian camp, and I need your navy''s assistance.¡±

    Upon hearing those words, Miltiades thought quickly and hesitantly said, ¡°A¡­night raid on the Carthaginian camp? You are nning to raid from the sea, right? The Carthaginians were well prepared and had deployed many sentries on the coast of Selinus¡­I also heard that their camp has over a hundred thousand men! So, how many soldiers do we need to invest in the raid to even possibly cause chaos in the Carthaginian camp?! Once we fail, there''s a danger of the enemy wiping out our whole army!¡±

    Noticing the anxiousness in Miltiades'' hesitant words, Leotychides had to persuade his colleague, who was equivalent to his position, by spending some time patiently exining, ¡°I will not have the soldiersnd on the nearby coast as that would indeed allow for the Carthaginians to discover them easily. Hence, I have chosen this ce here.¡±

    Leotychides pointed to a rough sketch on the table depicting the surrounding terrain of the city of Selinus and the Carthaginian camp.

    Miltiades hesitantly leaned closer to Leotychides, and upon closer inspection, he found that Leotychides'' finger was pointing between Selinus and Thermae.

    After assumingmand of the fleet in Sicily, Miltiades helmed the gship to repeatedly patrol the southern coast of Sicily to familiarise himself with the waters, which was a necessary skill for a Theonian navarch. Thus, at this moment, a rough picture of the location came to his mind: There was indeed a small beach that was easy tond on. However, he cautioned, ¡°It is already difficult to traverse the winding road from Thermae to Selinus during the day, and I fear it would even be more difficult at night!¡±

    ¡°That''s precisely why I chose tond here.¡± Leotychides said confidently, ¡°Theplexity of the ce, coupled with the fact that the Carthaginians, who have only recentlynded in Sicily, are still unfamiliar with the coast leading to Thermae, is just the thing to stop the enemy from discovering ournding. I have inquired the fishermen in the port and found out that there will be a full moon tonight, allowing ournding soldiers to sneak into the mountains close to the night using the light of the moon and, in about two hours or so of marching will be able to close in on the Carthaginian camp.¡±

    After moving his finger towards the Carthaginian camps'' icon, Leotychides continued, ¡°From observing atop the city wall during time, and from the reports of the soldiers who have gone out to attack them, Mago and his Iberian army¡¯s camp should be to our north while the Carthaginian armies¡¯ camp is to our east and west, with the greater part of their soldiers should be Numidians. And with the Numidians also being their main force in constructing the earthen wall during thesest few days, they are bound to be fatigued after their exhausting work during the day and will definitely fall deep asleep at night.

    Furthermore, these days, the Carthaginian army has focused its entire defence on protecting the earthen wall they are constructing, so they must be negligent in defending their, resulting in our raid having a high probability of sess¡­ At that time, I''ll also gather the ten thousand heavy infantry in the city and wait until the raiding force has caused chaos in the Carthaginian camp. Then we''ll leave the city immediately, rush towards the earthen wall, attack the Carthaginian camp, and return to the city. If the situation is favourable to us, we can continue our attack-¡±

    ¡°What if the raid fails?¡± Miltiades suddenly interjected.

    Leotychides already considered it and calmly said, ¡°I will have them escape eastward into the mountains and eventually return through Minoa.¡±

    Miltiades remained silent. He knew that they had allies, the Sikeloi, in the mountains to the east and that there was a high probability of them escaping safely.

    He carefully studied the rough sketch on the table, his eyes focusing on the Carthaginian camp located east of Selinus, which was to be the target of the night attack. It might be because the Carthaginians had a powerful military strength, but they had built their camp just a half kilometre away from Selinus. Miltiades didn''t doubt that Leotychides could deduce the generalyout of the Carthaginian camp, as they could even roughly see the camp while standing atop the city wall.

    Then, Leotychides added, ¡°I would also send a brigade of light-armoured soldiers from the Eighth Legion and a thousand soldiers from the Reserve Legion on this raid, so I hope the marines belonging to the fleet will also take part in the operation.¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡± Miltiades instinctively wanted to decline. However, the moment he uttered the word, he quickly realised that it would benefit him if the marines participated in the night raid. If sessful, it could help rectify the mistakes he had made. Thus, he promptly changed his words, ¡°No problem. Our marines are best atnding operations, so I will have them all join this raid!¡±

    Miltiades led the Fourth Fleet,prising forty triremes, including thirty corvus warships and one thousand two hundred marines. Along with those who had survived the storm, he currently has approximately three thousand marines under hismand. This increased the total number of soldiers involved in the raid to five thousand.

    Leotychides felt relieved because that was one of the main reasons he called Miltiades.

    With the addition of the Marines, Miltiades became much more proactive and spent a long time working with Leotychides to refine the n.

    . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Mago¡¯s adjutant woke him from his sleep and was surprised to hear about the Theonians'' attack on the camp.

    Suddenly, he could hear the faint sounds of fighting, prompting him to quickly leave the tent while urgently inquiring, ¡°Which camp they have attacked?! How many enemies are there?!¡±

    ¡°It should be the middle of the eastern camp. However, we are currently unclear about the exact number of enemies¡­¡± replied the adjutant.

    Mago walked outside the tent, where he could hear the sound of fighting and screams even clearer. And these constant cries of rm from the Theonian''s night raid had begun to rouse the soldiers in the other camps.

    Despite the camp of nearly a hundred thousand troops stretching for more than five kilometres, Mago couldn''t see anything when looking east due to the darkness, even with the light from the moon.

    Mago listened carefully for a moment, and although the shouts and screams grew louder, he remained calm. After all, His conquest of southern Iberia had exposed him to numerous night raids. Thus, he immediately and decisively said to his adjutant, ¡°Send out heralds to rush to the camps and inform the generals that they are to take control of the soldiers in their camps and prepare for defence and that they are not to mobilise their troops to rescue without my order! I would personally crucify anyone that dares to disobey!¡±

    The reason Mago ordered so harshly was because those in the eastern camp were mainly armies raised by Carthage. With many of his generals being nobles of Carthage, some may ignore his presence as he had been away from Carthage for over a decade and acted without authorisation.

    After heralds rushed away, the generals of the central camp received an urgent summon and quickly arrived at themand tent.

    Mago ordered, ¡°Immediately gather your soldiers. Besides Tarka, who will lead his troops to defend the camp, the rest will follow me to rescue the camp under attack.¡±

    Before Mago could finish his words, they suddenly heard a deafening roar from outside the tent, causing some of them to turn pale.

    His adjutant rushed in and hurriedly reported, ¡°My lord, the Theonians have deployed their troops from the city and executed a pincer attack on our eastern camp!¡±

    Mago, however, remained calm and even smiled, ¡°From the sound of it, the Theonians must have sent out quite a number of soldiers, which is great! We''ll be able to kill them all in one go, allowing us to have a much easier time attacking Selinus!¡±

 Chapter 890: Seclians Return

    <h4>Chapter 890: Seclians Return</h4>

    Mago''s military dominance had given him enough confidence to disregard some casualties, and his words also cheered up the generals.

    He then said to his adjutant, ¡°Dispatch someone to immediately notify Admikar in the southern camp to organise ten thousand soldiers and then rush towards the eastern camp as our backup.¡±

    ¡°Roger!¡±

    Mago looked at the crowd and said in rough Celtguage, ¡°Ruthin, you will lead your tribe as the vanguards.¡±

    The Celtic chieftain Ruthin, whose appearance and attire were clearly different from the others, replied, ¡°Oh!¡±

    Ruthin, a Lusitanian, was from a fierce and warlike race that inhabited the northwestern regions of Iberia. They had caused so much trouble to Mago''s expansion in the Iberian Penins, even threatening his rule in southern Iberia. Ultimately, Mago was forced to finally conclude a peace treaty with them. Currently, Mago sessfully attracted several prominent tribes from this race by offering them massive benefits. They had formed an army of approximately eight thousand men to apany him in the campaign in Sicily. Ruthin was the chieftain of one of these tribes, and Mago¡¯s arrangement favoured them, especially since night battles depended more on individual strength.

    About ten minutester, their main army gradually left the south gate of the camp and marched along the rough earthen wall towards the chaotic eastern camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Once evening came, Leotychides ascended the eastern gate of the city. He put all of his attention on the Carthaginian camp, waiting until amotion erupted in the opposite camp. Then, after breathing a sigh of relief, he promptly ordered the ten thousand heavy infantry,posed of soldiers from the Eight and Reserve Legion, who had been awaiting within the city, to rush towards the enemy camp, which was now in chaos.

    At the same time, the meticulous Leotychides didn''t forget to take advantage of how their night raid had taken away the enemy''s attention to also dispatch soldiers from the Mountain Reconnaissance Unit. Their task was to lurk around the earthen wall in front of the various Carthaginian camps and report back in time on what they saw so that he could understand the enemy''s response in full detail.

    Because of the report they brought, Leotychides felt no excitement despite learning that the raiding forces had sessfully joined up and crushed the enemy''s resistance, leaving the area of that camp inplete disarray. His unease stemmed from discovering that the other Carthaginian camps hadn''t rushed to rescue the besieged camp. Instead, they stationed their soldiers at the borders of their respective camps after gathering them.

    Just as he expected, the raiding forces'' progress in pursuing the defeated soldiers toward the nearby camps slowed as they tried to break them down.

    Then, he suddenly received an emergency report: The main camp of Carthage had dispatched troops and were rushing along the earthen wall heading east.

    Leotychides immediately realised that the Carthaginians wanted to cut off the raiding forces'' escape route to surround and annihte them.

    Since the Theonian soldiers participating in the night raid were the main force under Leotychides, he had been standing atop the city wall and watching the war''s progress just to prevent such idents.

    In the end, the soldiers standing atop the city wall immediately sounded the retreat.

    Before they had set out, the raiding soldiers had received repeated instructions from their officers. Thus, after the salpinx was sounded, the raiding soldiers stopped their pursuit¡­

    Before retreating, they did thest thing without hesitation ¨C burn the camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Before Mago and his forces could arrive, they had received news of the Theonians retreating to the city, which was unexpected. In his thoughts, the Theonians would definitely take advantage of their victory to chase their soldiers after a sessful night raid to expand the results of the battle, giving him time to surround them. Unexpectedly, the Theonians'' calmness and decisiveness had let his n fall through. With no other choice, the reinforcements that hade in a hurry could only go and put out the fire.

    As the vanguard, the Lusitanians kept on pursuing the enemy''s tail. But with the long-range attack of the prepared city defenders, they could only retreat resentfully after paying some casualties.

    During this night raid, the Theonians incurred four hundred casualties yet inflicted nearly four thousand on the Carthaginian army, half of which was caused by the Carthaginian soldiers pushing and trampling each other as they fled in the darkness. Simultaneously, the Theonians had reduced one-third of the eastern camp to ashes. Thus, one could describe the Carthaginian army as having suffered heavy losses.

    After returning to his tent, Mago had a hard time sleeping. He brooded over their defeat and became rmed at the tenacity of the far-less numbered Theonians'' will to fight and the adaptability of their tactics. It dawned on him that the sheer size of his army had immobilised him and dulled his responsiveness to the ever-changing battle situation.

    Having learned his lesson the hard way, Mago began using this as a reason to forcefully dismiss most of the Carthaginian generals the next day. He then allowed some of the high-ranking officers who had followed him for years in the Iberian Penins to take over the Carthaginian army and began to reorganise and retrain them.

    In the meantime, he held off on building the earthen wall and stepped up to reinforce the crude camp.

    Of course,st night''s great fire caused the Carthaginians to lose a substantial amount of supplies, causing Mago to send messengers to notify the Lord of Lilybaeum to transport a batch of supplies.

    Although there was no shortage of supplies in Lilybaeum, there was a shortage of manpower. Thus, they could only temporarily recruit the portbourers.

    But just as the caravan was about to arrive at the Carthaginian camp, an ident urred: A portbourer hadined of the difort in his stomach to leave the caravan and attempted to escape. Along the way, a patrolling cavalry discovered him and pursued him until thebourer jumped off a cliff and fell into the sea.

    But this was just a trivial matter for the Carthaginians, so no one mentioned it again after the transport team arrived at the camp.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    In the past two days, Miltiades'' uneasiness slightly improved because his fleet yed a significant role in the night raid. Not only did they win a big victory, but they also suffered minor casualties. Thus, he believes the Ministry of Military would reduce their dissatisfaction with him after receiving this good news.

    After breakfast, he was ready to head to the port tomand the fleet to sail out and patrol in the western waters of Sicily.

    Despite the Carthaginian army having alreadynded in Sicily, they still needed more supplies to feed such a massive army, as relying on their allies in western Sicily wasn''t enough. Since they still needed to keep transporting across the sea to the continent of Africa, the Theonian fleet had to cut off the route between Carthage so that, over time, the Carthaginians would face a shortage of supply. Hence, Miltiades dare not ck off anymore.

    But before he could leave his courtyard, a guard suddenly pushed open the gate and rushed in, ¡°Navarch, good news! Lord Seclian¡­is still alive! He¡­he has returned!¡±

    Miltiades'' heart trembled as he looked at the excited guard, causing him to instinctively ask, ¡°Who did you say is still alive?!¡±

    ¡°Miltiades, with Hades'' blessing, I am naturally still alive!¡± With this familiar voice, a familiar figure appeared at the gate.

    ¡°Ah¡­Lord Seclian!¡± Miltiades quickly saluted.

    Seclian, wrapped tightly in a red cloak, appeared thin and exhausted. He then hurriedly said, ¡°Hurry up and get me something to eat. I am starving.¡±

    ¡°Inform the kitchen to reheat the gruel, bake the bread and fry some fish¡­¡± Miltiades quickly told the guard.

    ¡°There''s no need to heat it. Just bring all the bread and wheat gruel so I can fill my stomach first,¡± Seclian said impatiently. He then turned to look at those who had apanied him here. ¡°Brothers, hurry back to your mission. You will receive punishment if you dy any more. We will have a good time chatting once I have rested.¡±

    Therge group clustering outside the gate could only reluctantly leave to return to the port after hearing Seclian''s persuasive words. Then, the news of Seclian returning alive quickly spread throughout the fleet, and every crew member was excited because it was a miracle that themander and hero of the navy, whom they thought was dead, had returned!

    While watching Seclian wolf down his breakfast, Miltiades choked on what he wanted to say and could only wait until Seclian burped and stopped eating, put his hands on the table and stared at the pot of gruel. After a moment, Seclian muttered, ¡°Our brothers told me on the way here that¡­Flios died in battle, and the storm destroyed the entire fleet in Sicily and drowned many of our brothers¡­¡±

    Miltiades watched as Seclian leaned forward as if he was about to fall on the table. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard a bang sound as Seclian mmed his right hand on the table, almost overturning the pots before he straightened his back again, ¡°However, dozens of our warships were safe while the Carthaginian fleet was utterly destroyed. We had also taken the opportunity to upy Selinus so that the naval battle could be said to be our win!¡±

    Seclian''s confident disdain returned to his face, and Miltiades certainly wasn''t going to argue with him about whether or not it was right to fight the Carthaginian fleet on such a stormy day. Instead, he took the opportunity to ask the doubt in his mind, ¡°My lord, where have you been? We''ve been searching for you all this time.¡±

    ¡°In Lilybaeum,¡± Seclian said calmly.

    ¡°The¡­the Carthaginians had caught you?!¡± Miltiades was surprised and doubted, ¡®Why did the Carthaginians who came to ask to exchange prisoners never mention this?!¡¯

    ¡°Of course not,¡± Seclian painfully recalled, ¡°¡­after the storm, I woke up to find myself lying on the beach and surrounded by our unconscious men¡­ I wanted to wake them when I saw the Carthaginians rushing to the beach. Not wanting to be captured by them, I decided to jump into the sea and swim¡­

    But I was tired and hungry then and became even more exhausted after swimming for a while. Coincidentally, I saw several slow-moving Carthaginian ships searching for survivors of the shipwreck nearby¡­ Without any choice, I dived into the water and, taking advantage of the dim night, grabbed the side of arge ship about to return while the Carthaginians weren''t paying attention. Thus, I was taken into the port of Lilybaeum.

    Due to the storm and shipwreck, the port was very chaotic, which allowed me to go down the dock silently. Later, with the help of our Greekpatriots in the port, I managed to conceal myself in Lilybaeum¡­ Later, I recalled that the beach I was lying on might have been between Mazara and Lilybaeum¡­

    But with the people of Lilybaeum heavily guarding the city due to concerns about our army''s attack, it became challenging for me to flee. If it weren''t for the Carthaginian armynding here, which required us to transport supplies, I''m afraid I would still be waiting for an opportunity to escape Lilybaeum. However¡­¡±

 Chapter 891: Miltiades Refusal and Obedience

    <h4>Chapter 891: Miltiades Refusal and Obedience</h4>

    With a piercing gaze, Seclian red at Miltiades and rebuked him loudly, ¡°Miltiades, our Theonian Navy''s tradition since its creation is to advance bravely. However, you became so afraid of the storm that you didn''t dare patrol the western waters of Sicily ording to our set ns, missing a good opportunity to take advantage of the Carthaginian army''snding in Sicily to inflict heavy damage on them. For that, I am extremely disappointed!¡±

    Miltiades was still listening attentively to Seclian''s adventure and thought about how, without this old man''s good fortune and exceptional fitness and swimming skills, ordinary sailors would likely have fallen into the hands of the Carthaginians when suddenly, his face flushed red upon hearing Seclian''sst few words. Nheless, he didn''t argue and simply lowered his head in shame.

    ¡°Fortunately, I have returned,¡± Seclian continued in a low voice, ¡°You can return themand of the fleet to me.¡±

    Miltiades abruptly raised his head and stared at Seclian''s sharp gaze, which he immediately avoided. Then, he met Seclian''s gaze again and mustered his courage, ¡°¡­My Lord¡­His Majesty and the Ministry of Military had granted the fleet''smand to me, and I¡­dare not transfer it privately as it would vite the Military Law!¡±

    Miltiades'' objection took Seclian aback, and a hint of unease appeared. Then, he tried his best to speak calmly: ¡°You didn''t get what I meant. I want to say that you can continue serving as the Fleet Commander, but the fleet would be under mymand. You should know that if I didn''t get stuck in Lilybaeum, you wouldn''t be themander of the Sicilian fleet now!¡±

    What Seclian said is indeed true. In the letter that Davos wrote to the Ministry of Military, he mentioned the need to appoint a fleetmander of the Sicilian fleet. Thus, they had initially appointed Miltiades as the acting fleetmander. Only because they failed to find Seclian and the news of Flios drowning did the Ministry of Military finally decide to officially make Miltiades the fleetmander.

    As the formermander-in-chief of the Theonian Navy, Seclian led the navy in sessive battles at its foundation, contributing to the rise of the navy¡¯s reputation. With Seclian''s esteemed standing in the navy and the three navarchs, Mithridates, Flios, and Miltiades, all under hismand, Miltiades couldn''t help but feel nervous in the face of Seclian''s strong presence.

    Still, after being in charge of the Fourth Fleet for so many years, Miltiades has long ceased to be just the captain of Davos'' gship and has gained some confidence and authority(which was also one of the reasons for Davos splitting the navy into four). More importantly, Miltiades considered making up for his massive mistake earlier in the next battle. So if he gave up themand of the fleet to Seclian now, he was afraid that he wouldn''t be able to make up for his mistake by the end of the war because everyone would give credit for the victory to Seclian while he would be a joke of the navy¡­

    In a sh, Miltiades had already clearly considered all these severe concerns. After his mind calmed down, he said in a slightly firmer tone, ¡°Lord Seclian, you were once my superior and also a member of the Senate. You had told me before that I must set an example for the entire crew as a captain of a warship, fulfil my duties andmand my crew to fight bravely¡­ I believe you are well aware that since the kingdom''s foundation, there hasn''t been a strategoi in the military who only enjoys the benefits of promotion and doesn''t fulfil his duties seriously. I don''t want to be the first one!¡±

    After Miltiades spoke with a serious expression, he gave a bitter smile, ¡°But if my lord thinks I am notpetent, you can naturally apply to the Ministry of Military to remove me from my position as themander of the Sicilian Fleet¡­¡±

    Seclian''s expression sank, and his gaze on Miltiades became sharp. However, Miltiades faced his gaze calmly and fearlessly.

    As the two looked at each other, the atmosphere inside the room became tense. Even the servants, who were tidying up the table, hurriedly ran away.

    After a moment, Seclian''s face twitched a few times as he tried to squeeze out a smile, ¡°Very well. Miltiades, as amander¡­you need to have this kind of imposing attitude.¡±

    Despite Seclian''s assertiveness in the Theonian navy, he wasn''t dictatorial. Thus, in the face of Miltiades'' non-cooperation, he naturally couldn''t forcibly usurp themand of the fleet because this vites not only militaryw but also the kingdom''sws. With King Davos'' temperament, he would probably be so furious that he would send him to prison. As for directly proposing the removal of Miltiades to the Ministry of Military and having him take over the position, this approach is too overbearing and would cause resentment and damage his own image.

    After staying in such a high position for over a decade, Seclian was no longer the young and impulsive sailor of the past. Naturally, he had many concerns, and after a moment of thought, he said nonchntly, ¡°Have a fast-sailing boat to send me back to the naval base in Catania¡­ I would like to give my prayer to Flios and our brothers who died in battle¡­¡±

    Miltiades still didn''t know what was on Seclian''s mind, but he breathed a sigh of relief as Seclian stopped pressuring him. And since he also wanted Seclian to leave, he didn''t bother holding him here, ¡°I''ll arrange the matter right away, my lord.¡±

    He quickly left the room, where the atmosphere was ufortable as if it were a gue, and walked toward the courtyard in long strides.

    Suddenly, Leotychides'' adjutant, Muklu, pushed open the door and walked in, ¡°Navarch Miltiades, Commander Prosous asked for you to go to the lord''s mansion. There is an emergency military matter he needs to discuss with you!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Miltiades felt like someone brought him a pillow just as he wanted to nap*. With joy in his heart, he didn''t even ask about the urgent military situation. He turned around and said, ¡°My Lord, I have to go to the city first and discuss the strategy with the army.¡± (Note: It means that someone had provided him with something he needed at the exact moment he felt the need for it.)

    ¡°Try to protect our fleet''s interest withoutpromising the overall strategy!¡± Seclian slowly walked out of the room. Seclian specifically reminded Miltiades after learning how Leotychides had absorbed the tens of thousands of marines into the legion.

    Muklu stared at him wide-eyed and eximed, ¡°Lord Seclian, you are still alive?!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Upon the meeting of the two highest-rankingmanders of the Theonian navy and army in Sicily, Leotychides promptly conveyed, ¡°Agrigento urgently requests reinforcements. Currently, tens of thousands of Carthaginian troops are attacking them.¡±

    On the way here, Muklu didn''t tell Miltiades about the situation, so he was surprised to hear that, ¡°Tens of thousands of Carthaginian soldiers are attacking Agrigento?! That can''t be possible! Our patrol ships haven''t found any sign of Carthaginian troops travelling eastward from the coast east of Selinus in the past few days, and the city of Minoa is also peaceful!¡±

    ¡°The Carthaginian army didn''t take the south coast route. Instead, they most likely travel the mountains in the middle.¡± There was a hint of regret in Leotychides'' expression, ¡°We got deceived by that Carthaginian general named Mago! He besieged Selinus to draw the rest of our attention while covertly dispatching some troops to cross the mountains and attack our allies on the rear.¡±

    ¡°Isn''t there still the Sikeloi in the mountain area? How could they let the Carthaginian army pass easily¡­¡± Miltiades asked in confusion while recalling these allies of theirs that he hadn''t yete in contact with.

    ¡°I got careless. Even though we haven''t received any news from the Sikeloi, I fear they have already been defeated. The soldiers Mago brought from Iberia include those adept at mountain warfare, with the loss of Cephaloedium earlier was a good example of that.¡± Leotychides'' tone became slightly more grave, ¡°Agrigento has already lost many soldiers in the Battle of Minoa and had even sent some reinforcements a few days ago because of Carthage''s Siege of Selinus. With Agrigento now empty of troops, we have to rescue them immediately! However, the port doesn''t have spare ships now, so I need your fleet to transport six thousand reinforcements to the port of Agrigento immediately!¡±

    Miltiades knew how dire the situation was. Once Agrigento fell, not only would the Carthaginians be able to attack the nearby G and Minoa, but they could also cut off thend routes of the Theonian army andplicate the situation of the whole south coast of Sicily. Thus, Miltiades didn''t make excuses, such as saying the fleet was only forbat and not for transporting troops and so on. Instead, he instantly responded, ¡°I''ll head to the port now and get the fleet ready. Once the soldiers you sent arrive, I will immediately send them to Agrigento.¡±

    Leotychides felt relieved at Miltiades'' readiness to help, and it was then that he asked, ¡°I heard Muklu say that Seclian was alive and had returned to the port of Selinus?¡±

    ¡°It is truly Hades¡¯ blessing! He ns to go to the naval base in Catania¡­first to pay respect to our dead brothers.¡± Miltiades tried to act jubnt when he suddenly remembered that Seclian wanted to take over the fleet, making his expression look strange.

    Leotychides looked at him and said calmly, ¡°Seclian definitely need to take a break after suffering a lot during this time.¡±

    Seclian''s return would naturally involve the issue of themand of the Sicilian fleet. However, the problem was that Leotychides was more willing to work with Miltiades, who had be passive and cooperative because of his mistakes, than the assertive Seclian. Thus, his words vaguely hinted that he supported Miltiades, which made him happy. After all, once the Ministry of Military considered this issue, they would probably consult Leotychides, whom he had fought alongside.

 Chapter 892: Unknown Fleet

    <h4>Chapter 892: Unknown Fleet</h4>

    After Miltiades departed, Leotychides instructed, ¡°Muklu, notify the troops we''re sending for reinforcements to hurry to the port immediately.¡±

    ¡°Roger, Lord Commander.¡± However, Muklu didn''t immediately carry out the order despite having already received it. Instead, he asked with some doubt, ¡°Aren''t the Carthaginians taking too much risk? They sent an army of several tens of thousands to cross the mountainous region, which is difficult to traverse and inconvenient in the transportation of supplies, in order to capture Agrigentum. Once our reinforcements arrived and thwarted their attempts, we won''t even need to attack these tens of thousands of Carthaginians, and they would copse due to their inability to supply them with food¡­¡±

    ¡°This Carthaginian Commander is indeed daring. It seems Mago highly trusts the ability of his men.¡± Leotychides looked at the map hanging on the wall with a glint, ¡°That''s why we need to send our reinforcements fast.¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    After the Theonian army captured Selinus, they rapidly converted its port into a simple military port. Not only would it allow the ships of the Sicilian fleet a ce to dock and resupply, but also to be pulled ashore for maintenance and repairs¡­giving the fleet a stable and secure foothold in western Sicily for its patrols and attacks on the western seas.

    Currently, there were over a hundred and fifty ships docked in the port, with soldiers from the friendly city-states of Minoa, Agrigentum, G, Camarina, and Inycum on the south coast, along with a thousand soldiers from Theonia''s Reserve Legion. In total, six thousand soldiers were now boarding in batches.

    Wanting to transport the reinforcements to the port of Agrigentum in a single trip, Miltiades even forbade the marines from boarding the corvus ship, thus freeing up more space on board.

    Seclian, however, expressed his opposition to this n. He believed that using the entire fleet solely for transporting soldiers was unwise. He insisted that they should at least use half of the warships as an escort, a necessary level of vignce a navarch should possess.

    Miltiades, on the other hand, retorted by saying that they would transport the remaining soldiers a second time if they only freed up half of the ships. Now that they are in a dire state, who will bear the responsibility once the enemy breaches Agrigentum because of ack of troops? Moreover, they would also need to patrol the western water afterpleting the transportation of soldiers, so there was no room for dy.

    Both sides parted unhappily again, with Seclian simply boarding the earliest fast-sailing ship to depart.

    In order to save time, each warship departed as soon as it was loaded with soldiers. Once Miltiades boarded the gship, which would departst and leave the port, the entire fleet would spread up to two kilometres eastward to form a straight line. However, due to being packed with soldiers, each ship sailed slowly.

    Miltiades was also a bit anxious. While looking at the soldiers lying on the deck with a worried expression, he tried to estimate the time it would take to travel from Selinus to Agrigentum at their current speed. By the time theypleted the transportation, he feared it would be well over into the afternoon, and it would be impossible for the fleet to do any more patrols.

    At this moment, he hoped for a strong northwestern wind like the day the Carthaginian armynded, which would significantly shorten the sailing time.

    Then, while lost in his thoughts, he suddenly heard a startled cry from the lookout, ¡°Attention! Attention! Enemy spotted to the southeast!!¡±

    Miltiades was startled to hear this, leaving him puzzled, ¡®With all the warships of the Carthaginian destroyed, where did the enemy from the southeaste from?¡¯

    While feeling confused, the lookout on the mast once again shouted anxiously, ¡°The advance ship raised two blue gs! Two blue gs!¡±

    The blue g meant that it wasn''t the Carthaginian warship that appeared. Otherwise, the advance ship would have raised yellow gs at the first opportunity. Still, two blue gs meant that a fleet appeared nearby, in numbersparable to those of their fleet, and that, whether or not it was hostile, it posed a considerable threat to them.

    Feeling panicked, Miltiades clutched the side of the ship and strained his eyes to the southeast but could only vaguely see a few dots on the sea in the distance.

    Among the four navarchs, neither Miltiades nor Flios had the experience of independentlymandingrge-scale naval battles. During the South Italian War, Miltiades served as only a trireme captain. After establishing the Fourth Fleet, the Ministry of Military presented Davos with several candidates for its navarch. However, given theirparable qualifications, battle records, and abilities, Davos found it hard to decide. Ultimately, he selected Miltiades because Davos still had some impression of Miltiades as he had previously served as the captain of Davos'' ship, which influenced his decision.

    After bing the navarch of the Fourth Fleet, Miltiades spent most of his time leading the fleet to patrol the Adriatic Sea,bating pirates and helping the army transport supplies. The only so-called naval battle he led was to attack the joint fleet of Messapi and Peuceti when Theonia was conquering theirnds. With their opponent too weak, he didn''t need to exert any effort to defeat them.

    Despite Miltiades possibly facing his first major naval battle, the situation was ratherplex: They couldn''t discern whether the other side was friend or foe, preventing him from making a sudden decision to face them. Furthermore, not only was his fleet out of formation, but every ship was loaded with soldiers, resulting in their fleet''s speed slowing down and weakening their ability to engage in battle. Unfortunately, at this moment, the entire fleet found itself near Thermae, making it difficult to retreat. Thermae, being a small town, possessed a small and rudimentary port that was insufficient to amodate their entire fleet.

    In such a situation, he couldn''t help feeling panicked. He did his best to calm down and then issued his firstmand, ¡°Raise the g of Apollo, sound the salpinx!¡±

    With the sound of the salpinx ringing out, the golden g rose to the top of the mast and fluttered in the wind.

    Hearing the salpinx and seeing the fluttering gs, the warships in front of the gship turned their bows and approached Miltiades'' ship.

    When they raised the g of Apollo, it signified that the gship assumed a central position, and the other ships would then manoeuvre closer, reducing the distance between warships to facilitate more efficientmand and defence.

    At this moment, Miltiades thought that since the fleet was full of soldiers, which wasn''t favourable forbat, and his gship was closer to Selinus, he wanted all the warships to approach him. This way, if the unknown fleet indeed attacked, he could first lead the fleet back to Selinus.

    The Theonian fleet stretched too far across the sea, particrly the warship at the front. Their lookout couldn''t see the g on the gship at the rear, nor could they discern the signals from the fast-sailing ships cruising behind the nks. They could only adjust ordingly when they observed the tactical manoeuvres made by the ships behind them. As a result, the transmission of messages was slow at this critical moment.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The fast-sailing ship Seclian was riding on had already distanced itself from the entire fleet because they had left the earliest. As Seclian sat in the bow after boarding, the crew saw that he was in a bad mood, and no one dared to disturb him, resulting in the whole ship being unusually quiet.

    Suddenly, he became puzzled, touched his ears, and asked the captain, who was observing the sea condition near him, ¡°Did you hear that? It seems like someone sounded a salpinx.¡±

    Confused, the captain shook his head and tried to listen carefully before answering truthfully, ¡°My Lord, I didn''t hear anything.¡±

    Despite the captain''s words, Seclian wasn''t assured. He stood up, looked at the rear and then at the mast, ¡°What''s the movement of our warships?¡±

    After a while, the lookout replied, ¡°They haven''t changed much.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, perhaps you heard wrong,¡± said the captain.

    Seclian didn¡¯t listen to him, as he felt uneasy. Perhaps this unease had started when he learned that Miltiades had loaded the entire fleet with soldiers without having any escort ships, and now this feeling became stronger.

    Without hesitation, he decisively said, ¡°Turn around and sail back to take a look.¡±

    The captainined inwardly of Seclian being too suspicious. Still, he didn''t dare to express his opposition. After all, Seclian had a high prestige as a former navarch, a victorious general, and a hero admired by the crew members.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Just as the Theonian warships turned back one after another, the unknown fleet continued to approach the Theonian fleet, with many small ck spots already appearing in Miltiades'' line of sight, making him terribly frightened.

    Suddenly, he heard the lookout exim, ¡°Two yellow gs! Two yellow gs were hoisted! It''s the enemy! It''s the enemy!!¡­¡±

    Hearing that crushed the hope in Miltiades'' heart, and it was toote to retreat to Selinus since the other ships still hadn''t fully gotten close yet. Luckily, he had already thought of a backup n while waiting, ¡°Blow the salpinx again and have the ships docked at the nearest coast, unload the soldiers and return to battle!¡±

    Naturally, they couldn''t express his following words with the gs, so his gship must set an example and let the other warships follow suit. Therefore, after giving orders, his gship sailed straight towards the coast.

    The fast-sailing ships scouting the southeast side of the Theonian fleet had actually been unable to identify the approaching fleet. However, as the other side continued to draw near, gradually organising into formation, lowering sails, and increasing rowing speed, the standard preparation for a fleet entering battle, it became evident that they were unquestionably the enemy.

    It turns out that the fleet wasn''t from Carthage but from the Phoenicians in the eastern Mediterranean. With the storm decimating the Carthaginian navy, the Theonian fleet seized this opportunity to rampage across the sea while the Carthaginians had no maritime strength. They had not only severe the connection between Carthage and Sicily but also threatened Carthage''s maritime trade. In this life-and-death situation, while stepping up the construction of new warships, Carthage had gone to ask its mother city.

 Chapter 893: The Eastern Phoenicians Fleet

    <h4>Chapter 893: The Eastern Phoenicians Fleet</h4>

    The mother city of Carthage, Tyre, didn''t disregard the request for help from the Carthaginian envoy. They promptly reached out to other neighbouring Phoenician city-states, such as Sidon, Akkar, Arwad, and others, who unanimously agreed toe to Carthage''s aid. After all, one of the primary reasons they could live rtivelyfortably under Persia''s rule for all these years was their annual offerings of considerable wealth to the Persian royal court. These offerings were mainly derived from trading with Carthage at reduced prices.

    Although the Phoenician city-states under Persia were small in size and territory, they possessed hundreds of warships. This was because, being ind, the Persianscked the ability to sail and relied on foreigners, primarily Phoenicians and Greeks from Asia Minor, to provide their navy. Additionally, with the Persian king expressing his intentions to reim Egypt and had been preparing the army for war in recent years, the Phoenicians, who would serve as the main force of the Persian navy, had received ample training.

    Still, they have a critical issue. That is, since the Phoenician city-states in the eastern Mediterranean were under Persian rule and their warships were also under the Persian navy, they naturally couldn''t leave without permission to go to the western Mediterranean. Therefore, Tyr, Sidon¡­and the others had to send envoys to the Persian royal court to seek the approval of the Persian King Artaxerxes.

    Since the signing of the King''s Peace treaty, Persia''s biggest enemy, the Greek city-states, not only ceased to be their enemies but also appointed them as the arbitrator to mediate conflicts and disputes among the Greek city-states, which was equivalent to them showing their submission to Persia and thus made Artaxerxes felt he had achieved a considerable achievement that even the great kings of the past could not have achieved. In addition, with the stable political situation in Persia and the four barbarian tribes obedient to him, his throne was very secure and made himcent. Therefore, he decided to attack Egypt. Although they suffered a minor setback, it didn''t hurt them much.

    While Persia prepared morepletely for an attack on Egypt, Tyr''s envoy met with Artaxerxes and conveyed the Phoenicians'' request to him.

    It wasn''t the first time Artaxerxes heard of Theonia. Despite the two kingdoms being thousands of kilometres apart, the Mediterranean''s thriving maritime trade also allowed for news to spread rapidly, resulting in the miraculous story of Theonia''s swift rise to power bing widely known in Asia Minor and, naturally, in Persia as well.

    Naturally, the Persian King, Artaxerxes, began paying attention to this newly rising kingdom in the distant west, which allowed his spymaster to discover that Theonia was a kingdom established by Greek mercenaries who followed the rebel ¨C Cyrus the Younger. After all, the story of Greek mercenaries fighting thousands of kilometres in Persia and sessfully escaping was widely popr in Greece and also spread in Asia Minor, which was a shame for Artaxerxes and his Persian army.

    With further probing by the spymaster, Artaxerxes learned more details. For instance, he discovered that, like Persia, the Kingdom of Theonia was more tolerant of foreign gods and religions. He also found out that they exercised stricter control over conquered territories. He even knew that Theonia and Egypt had just recently formed a military alliance¡­ So, in Artaxerxes'' view, the Kingdom of Theonia was an enemy of Persia. However, he deemed Theonia too distant and insignificant(which Artaxerxes and many Persian officials shared the same thought) to be taken seriously.

    But given that this situation involved Theonia, Artaxerxes was naturally happy to cause them some trouble. Thus, without much consideration, he agreed to the Phoenicians sending a fleet to assist Carthage and graciously permitted them, if necessary, to do so under Persia''s banner.

    With the promise of the King of Persia, the Phoenicians soon sent a fleet of one hundred thirtyrge and small warships, of which ny were triremes, and another thirty transport ships to carry food supplies. The fleet sailed under the banner of the Persian navy, allowing them to sail westward along the coast of Asia Minor unimpeded. Along the way, the Greek city-states that saw this fleet became nervous and started specting on what big military action the Persians were taking again.

    The most nervous was undoubtedly the Athenians, as they were currently joining forces with Thebes to fight Sparta, and the fact that the Persian fleet was sailing westward at this time could not help but cause them to panic, ¡®Do the Persians want to support Sparta and join the war? If so, our future would be terrible!¡¯

    Despite the Phoenician fleet was like a stone dropped into water and stirred up waves, it didn''t attract much attention from the Theonians, who were fully upied with several wars and unable to divert their energy to focus on events in the eastern Mediterranean. In the minds of the Theonians, they believed that the Persian fleet''s target was unlikely to be the western Mediterranean, so they would just let them stir up as much chaos as possible in the eastern Mediterranean.

    Furthermore, with autumn already approaching and the farms within Theonia on the brink of a bountiful harvest, the kingdom''s merchants ceased purchasing food from the eastern Mediterranean. Instead, they redirected considerable manpower to flock to the Latium region in central Italia, seeking new business opportunities and profits in this newly conquerednd of the Kingdom. This naturally led to a drastic reduction in the number of Theonian merchant ships shuttling back and forth on the trade routes towards the eastern Mediterranea., resulting in the Ministry of Military obtaining little information about this Persian fleet.

    Later, the westward-bound Phoenician fleet docked at the port of Kydonia on the ind of Crete, which made the Athenians even more nervous. After all, Crete was allies of Sparta, with Kydonia being closer to the Greek maind.

    But a few dayster, the Athenians received news that the Persian fleet had disappeared from Crete, which puzzled them. However, no one saw any trace of this fleet on the coast of Greece afterwards.

    After resting in Kydonia, the truth was that the Phoenician fleet seized the opportunity of a strong wind to quietly sail out of the port to the southwest, avoiding the usual routes frequented by Greek merchant ships. They arrived at Cyrenaica, a subordinate city-state of Sparta, before proceeding westward along the African coast to the Phoenician colony of Leptis, the easternmost colonial city among the Phoenician colonies in Africa.

    After arriving and receiving the town people''s warm wee, the crew of the Phoenician fleet finally rxed. They then continued westward and eventually arrived at Hadrumetum.

    This Phoenician city-state, affiliated with Carthage,y just south of the city but was seldom frequented by foreign merchant ships. Thus, the Phoenician fleet remained at the port and refrained from heading west. Then, while conversing with their fellow kinsmen, the shrewd Phoenicians realised the formidable might of the Theonian navy they were about to confront. Therefore, they opted not to enter the city of Carthage to avoid being forced into confronting the enemy directly, as they wished to autonomously choose the timing of the attack instead of sumbing to Carthaginian pleas.

    Naturally, there is another hidden reason. Despite the Phoenicians in the east having close trade rtions with Carthage, they barely had major political and military exchanges for decades. On the one hand, it was due to Persia. On the other hand, the Phoenicians of the east(especially the nobility of Tyre) remained wary of Carthage, which had taken control of all their colonial trading points in the western Mediterranean. Hence, they didn''t want to enter the city of Carthage, known as the centre of the Phoenicians in the West.

    Later, the Phoenician fleet stationed in Hadrumetum refused to provide an escort for the Carthaginian army tond in Sicily, as that would inevitably mean they would bear the fierce attack of the Theonian navy.

    Only after the daringnding of the Carthaginian army in Sicily, which diverted the attention of the Theonian navy to the western part of the ind, did the Carthaginian Senate and the Phoenician fleet discuss and ultimately agree to Mago''s n, as suggested by the Carthaginianmander.

    So the fleet quietly left Hadrumetum and sailed north, barely making it into Kossyra.

    Kossyra is a small ind belonging to Carthage, with a town of about two thousand people and a small port south of the ind. This ind is located between Sicily and Carthage and faces the city of Selinus to the north.

    The Phoenician fleet crowded the ind of Kossyra. After staying for a few days, the fast-sailing ship they sent out to scout brought back news that, as Mago expected, Theonia''s warship departed the port full of soldiers!

    So, how could the Phoenician fleet miss this great opportunity to wipe out the enemy? Hence, their warships raised their sails, set sail northward and caught up with the Theonian fleet in time, thanks to the southern wind.

    The Phoenician ships lowered their sails and began picking up speed, with their entire fleet gradually spreading to both sides as they advanced. However, they didn''t implement any special tactics because the situation of the Theonian fleet in front wasn''t worth wasting their time in arranging tactics. They merely increased the number of ships in front as much as possible to sink enough enemy ships in the first impact.

    The Theonian fast-sailing ships, positioned on the outermost edge, had raised two yellow gs one after another, from west to east. Despite the rough information about the enemy already transmitted to the entire fleet, the easternmost ships only received the order to approach the gship while the ships close to the gship had already begun retreating towards the coast. This led to the disorganisation of the entire fleet, rendering them unable to coordinate effectively. As a result, the crews panicked, and morale plummeted.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At this moment, Seclian, who knew of the dire situation,manded the fast-sailing ship he was riding on to catch up with a returning trireme. He then anxiously ordered his crew to approach the trireme immediately.

    Then, he stood at the ship''s bow and shouted, ¡°I am Seclian. Who is the captain of this ship?!¡±

    As soon as he said that, a loud cry of surprise echoed from the ship''s cabin, ¡°Did you hear that? It was Lord Seclian''s voice!¡±

 Chapter 894: Naval Battle of Thermae (I)

    <h4>Chapter 894: Naval Battle of Thermae (I)</h4>

    ¡°Stop panicking; Lord Seclian is here!¡±

    ¡°With Lord Seclian here, we no longer need to fear the enemy!¡­¡±

    At the same time, amotion arose on the deck. Despite the soldiers from the reserve legions stationed in various towns throughout Theonia''s territory in Sicily being undoubtedly aware of Seclian''s reputation, they didn''t show the same respect towards him as the Theonian navy did.

    A man in leather armour and a helmet quickly stepped onto the deck. He approached the ship''s side and saluted, saying, ¡°My lord, I am the ship''s captain, Elias of the First Fleet!¡±

    Seclian became relieved after hearing he was his subordinate. He then immediately said, ¡°I know you, Elias. Every time we conducted the fleet warship¡¯s assessment, the triremes under yourmand were always at the top¡­ Now, I order you to immediately have all the soldiers on the ship jump into the sea and then take your warship to follow me and face the enemy!¡±

    Elias was taken aback and hesitatedly said, ¡°¡­butmander Miltiades had raised the g of Apollo and asked us to¡­¡±

    ¡°Miltiades is a fool!¡± Seclian interrupted angrily, ¡°What''s the point of gathering together when the enemy is rushing toward us, and all the ships are still full of soldiers who arepletely incapable of fighting?! Did he order this so that it would be convenient for the enemy to sink us?! I am now ordering you to carry out the order at once as the navarch of the First Fleet!¡±

    ¡°Y¡­yes!¡± Elias responded loudly. Deep down, he waspletely in favour of Seclian because Seclian raised the First Fleet under his belief of never backing down and never being passive.

    The soldiers on the deck began mouring upon hearing their conversation, as they didn''t want to be thrown out of the ship.

    Elias then faced them and began persuading, ¡°Warriors of Theonia, our fleet is now in a dire situation of encountering a strong enemy! Unfortunately, our warships are unable to face them while carrying you. Therefore, you must make a choice: either jump overboard so that we may proceed to fight and repel the enemy, returning to rescue you afterwards, or remain on board and await the arrival of the enemy ships to sink us and capture everyone aboard¡­ make your choice immediately!¡±

    Silence suddenly descended on the deck. Then, soon, a man stepped forward.

    ¡°Squad leader!¡± The soldiers earnestly shouted as they focused their hopeful gaze on him.

    ¡°Brothers, we''re in for trouble once the navy''s done for!¡± With a determined look, the squad leader said, ¡°Grab your shields, and let''s jump into the sea to show the navy that they are not the only ones who know how to swim.¡±

    After he finished speaking, not a single soldier voiced any objection. Then, one by one, they sessively took up their shields on the deck. Such was the strict discipline of the Theonian Legion, even if they were only from the Reserve Legion.

    ¡°Please keep the rest of our armour and weapon safe.¡± The squad leader requested Elias, and then he picked up his long shield and jumped into the sea first, followed by the rest of the soldiers¡­

    Throughout this process, Elias kept his salute.

    After giving his orders, Seclian didn''t stop by this warship but went on to catch up with the others. Since these warships were filled with soldiers and were slow, it wasn''t difficult for him to catch up with them. After stopping a few of them one after another, he discovered that all the warships he had encountered were ships of the First Fleet(These ships were the ones that had escaped the disaster by breaking into the port of Selinus during the storm) and that the ships were full of soldiers that were mostly soldiers of the Reserve Legion.

    After a moment of thinking, Seclian understood that this wasn''t by chance.

    To seize the moment, Miltiades ordered the warships to depart first as soon as they finished loading the soldiers. The soldiers of the Reserve Legion, having received more training and being more organised than the citizen soldiers of other city-states, were able to assemble at the port and board the warships as quickly as possible.

    Meanwhile, Miltiades was thest to depart, as he had to supervise the entire boarding process. Militarymanders generally had a habit of gathering their most trusted troops around them, so it would be more convenient tomand them and y a greater role inbat despite them just transporting troops. Thus, Miltiades had habitually had the First Fleet''s ship dock first, hence why the Fourth Fleet''s ships, which had followed him for over a decade, departedter and were closer to him.

    Miltiades'' unintentional arrangement made it convenient for Seclian, who could more smoothly make the ships of the First Fleet and the soldiers of the Reserve Legion to carry out his orders. For the fast-sailing triremes, all soldiers on them jumped into the sea while the corvus had kept forty soldiers, and the rest jumped into the sea.

    Naturally, Seclian would also encounter soldiers of friendly city-states on the warship, who are obviously resistant to this order, with some even threatening to use force to upy the ships. Unfortunately, the captain can only persuade them patiently. However, after witnessing soldiers from a nearby warship jump into the sea to set an example for these resistant soldiers, most of them ultimatelyply. Still, this action also wastes some time.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While Seclian anxiously pursued the ships to the east to make them obey his orders, the Eastern Phoenician fleet sped up and chased the Theonian warships retreating towards the coast.

    Despite the Theonian sailors rowing hard, the soldiers on the ship had seriously affected the warship''s speed. Gradually, the Eastern Phoenician fleet got closer despite already increasing their speed to the highest.

    Like tigers and wolves, the Eastern Phoenician warships rushed towards the fat sheep in their sight.

    Seeing that escape was impossible, the Theonian warships thatgged behind simply turned around and bravely rushed to meet the enemy ships. Unfortunately, the Theonian warships, which had lost their speed and agility, were no match for the Eastern Phoenician warships. This led to their oars breaking and their hulls being struck, with Theonian soldiers frequently forced to jump into the sea in rm.

    Of course, there were asional exceptions. Despite the Eastern Phoenicians learning about the Theonian fleet from their kinsmen, they hadn''t experienced it firsthand. So, in a moment of carelessness, a few of the Eastern Phoenician warships got hooked by the twelve-metre drawbridge of the corvus warships in a head-on collision and allowed the fully armed soldiers of the friendly city-state to swarm in for the kill.

    The other Phoenician warships that saw this terrifying scene quickly learned their lesson and began avoiding the bow when facing the corvus warships and instead attacked their stern. As a result, the corvus warship, which couldn''t rotate due to therge number of soldiers that slowed down their speed and was inflexible, and without the protection of the fast-sailing triremes, became the main target of the Phoenician warships.

    Miltiades'' gship was hurrying towards the coast that happened to be the one where the marines hadnded during the night raids a few days before. Despite the fact they were just a kilometre away and getting closer, there was no joy on Miltiades'' face as he had been suffering internally.

    He had been sitting in the stern to observe the movement of the other ships. However, what he saw instead were countless enemy ships rushing in with the wind to attack the vessels that had fallen behind. Despite their tenacious resistance, these ships either sank or broke. Thus, they could only float on the sea stiffly, vulnerable to enemy harassment. The rmed crews and soldiers cried out as more and more of them fell into the sea¡­

    This sight was like a knife through Miltiades'' heart. After all, these warships were the ones he had shamelessly petitioned the Ministry of Military for over a decade, meticulously maintained and repaired daily, painstakingly saved up. In the blink of an eye, they had be nothing! And these brothers, who had been with him day and night for more than a decade but had never faced a major battle, tirelessly trained, brought to Sicily with eagerness to achieve. Yet now, they were on the brink of losing their lives¡­

    He could no longer endure and stood up, shouting, ¡°Stop the ship at once! Leave forty soldiers behind, and let the rest jump off the ship and swim to the beach! Hurry! Hurry!¡±

    At this moment, Miltiades gave the same order as Seclian. In fact, he had already thought of this before. However, he still had wishful thinking at the time, and he was worried that making them jump off the ship into the sea would lead to protests from the soldiers of their friendly city-states afterwards, which would be detrimental to him. After all, he had already made a mistake¡­a momentary mistake that caused them to encounter trouble, which he now regrets deeply.

    Fortunately, the soldiers from their friendly city-state on the deck didn''t argue like those on the eastern warships. Having witnessed the dire situation at sea behind them, they quicklyplied with the orders, realising it might not be safer to remain on board than to jump into the sea.

    Rather than steering his gship directly toward the enemy ships, Miltiades swiftlymanded it to sail toward the nearby warship. His goal was to gather as many scattered ships outside the battlefield as possible to confront the unknown enemy fleet.

    In fact, due to the dire situation, there was no need for Miltiades to remind the other ships as the soldiers on the Theonian warships had voluntarily jumped into the sea, allowing the warships to participate in the battle.

    However, the first wave of the Eastern Phoenician Fleet destroyed at least ten Theonian triremes, turning the already scattered rear of the Theonian fleet into disarray. Then, the following Phoenician ships took advantage of the scattering of Theonian warships in an attempt to capture the fleet''s rearpletely.

    Miltiades'' gship, with a wide hull and a blood-red g host on its mast, naturally became the main target of the Eastern Phoenicians. As a result, a total of five Phoenician warships quickly sailed towards them, forcing Miltiades to abandon his original n.

    After making up his mind, Miltiades ordered a corvus and a fast-sailing trireme to gather on both sides of his ship.

    Quickly, the corvus ship and his gship turned around and headed towards the coast, while the fast-sailing trireme took a U-turn and sailed in a parallel direction along the coast, distancing itself from them.

 Chapter 895: Naval Battle of Thermae (II)

    <h4>Chapter 895: Naval Battle of Thermae (II)</h4>

    Seeing the situation, the Eastern Phoenicians immediately separated a warship to pursue the fast-sailing trireme while the other four closely followed the two corvus warships. Then, when they saw the corvus warships heading straight towards the coast, they realised that the enemy ships were trying to run aground on the beach, which would undoubtedly defeat their ns to sink them. Thus, they once again increase their speed.

    During the chase, they gradually formed up with two ships in front and two in the back.

    Then, the sailors of the corvus warship gradually slowed down their rowing speed, giving the Eastern Phoenicians the illusion that they were gradually narrowing the distance through their efforts.

    Miltiades stood at the ship''s stern, his gaze fixed on the approaching enemy ship at the rear. Meanwhile, he listened intently to the lookout''s loud and incessant reports from the mast, detailing the distance between the enemy ship and the gship, as well as the spacing between the enemy''s leading and trailing vessels.

    As he stared at the approaching ship, tiny beads of sweat covered Miltiades'' face as the naval ram flickered in and out of the water. Then, when the enemy ship was only about fifteen meters away from the gship, Miltiades suddenly shouted, ¡°Turn!¡±

    The sailors, who had been waiting, immediately sprang into action: the helmsman swung the rudder, the sailors below paddled harder while those on the outboard reduced their paddling. The neat and unanimous action of the whole crew caused the speeding gship to make a sudden turn outward.

    It was toote for the pursuing Phoenician ships to change course, and the powerful inertia of the rushing ship made it continue speeding forward despite the sailors having already stopped paddling.

    Then, almost simultaneously, the corvus warship next to the gship also made a turn. Just as theypleted the manoeuvre, the two Phoenician warships at the forefront had already brushed past them.

    ¡°Turn inward!¡± Miltiades and the captain of the corvus issued the samemand.

    They had issued that order because the two Phoenician warships at the rear, upon witnessing the Theonian warship in front of them make a turn, also adjusted their bows and surged diagonally forward, targeting the stern of the Theonian warship with their naval ram. Thus, Miltiades'' gship and the other corvus ship hastened their turning to secure their stern and position their bows towards the approaching enemy ship.

    If the soldiers had remained in the warship, Miltiades would not dare order the gship to make such tactical manoeuvres. However, now that the gship has taken out the many soldiers and regained its previous agility, the sailors could finally demonstrate the result of their year-round training. As the enemy ship approached, the gship''s bow was already veering towards the enemy ship. Then, the deck controller seized the opportunity to drop the twelve-metre-long drawbridge that they had installed on the front mast.

    ¡°Bang!...Bang!...¡± With two resounding bangs, both the gship and another corvus warship sessfully captured the enemy ship.

    ¡°Hurry up! Hurry up! Charge!...¡± The boatswain loudly reminded the soldiers of the friendly city-state huddling in the cabin.

    As they finally experienced the long-rumoured Theonian-style naval battle for the first time, these soldiers excitedly rushed onto the deck, swarmed over the drawbridge, and rushed towards the enemy ship''s deck.

    ¡°Damn it! Those fools forgot to pull out the drawbridge!¡± Miltiades cursed. Despite the boatswain reminding these soldiers several times in advance, they obviously forgot in the heat of the moment as they had no experience cooperating with the corvus drawbridge.

    Why do these soldiers have to pull out the drawbridge as soon as they cross? Because there were three other Phoenician ships not far from the gship, and the nearest one had already begun turning its bow. If the gship were still connected to the enemy ship, they would only be sitting ducks.

    So, two of the gship''s deck operators immediately ran across the drawbridge(a corvus warship has a total of five to eight deck operators) and fought to pull up the spikes at the lower end of the drawbridge.

    The other operators quickly lifted the drawbridge, while the helmsman and sailors also began manipting the gship to leave the enemy ship.

    But it takes time for the gship to go from a standstill to sailing speed, and at this moment, the lookout nervously shouted, ¡°The enemy ship ising! It is charging towards our stern!¡±

    Miltiades stared nervously at the enemy shiping fast from the rear, his fist clenched so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palm, though he was oblivious to it. Moreover, despite hearing the quicker-than-usual and louder chant of the sailors struggling to escape the danger as best as they could, transitioning a warship from stationary to sailing fast took time, a resource the gshipcked most at this moment.

    As the bow of the enemy ship was about to collide with the stern of the gship, the lookout held onto the mast and shouted, ¡°Our warship! Our Warship!!¡± (in naval battles, it is reasonable for the lookout toe down from the mast to avoid being thrown to his death in the event of a collision. However, they couldn''t care less at the moment when the entire gship was at stake)

    Miltiades saw a warship cut through the waves like a flying arrow, and before he could see it clearly, he heard a crashing sound as the ship smashed right into the side of the enemy''s ship, slicing into it like a sharp dagger.

    It was the same fast-sailing trireme that had lured the enemy away earlier, taking the enemy ship, chasing it in a wide circle, and then using its speed to shake off its opponents ande to the rescue quickly.

    With the screams of the Phoenicians beside him and the shrieks of the Phoenicians in the rear, Miltiades, still in a high state of alertness, shouted, ¡°Quickly! Quickly! Turn around!¡±

    However, they still hadn¡¯t resolved the crisis. The Phoenician warship that had previously pursued the fast-sailing trireme also followed closely.

    The gship tried to turn back, but it was toote, and Miltiades could only watch as the enemy ship''s bow crashed into the side and stern of the fast-sailing trireme that hade to their rescue.

    This particr warship of the Theonian Navy resembled a willow leaf, with its narrow hull and slender body. Its strength lies in its speed, while its weakness lies in its resistance to ramming. Thus, when this warship ignored its pursuers in the rear to defend the gship and bravely rammed the enemy ship that threatened the gship, it ced itself in the most dangerous situation.

    Due to the enemy ship in front of them blocking the way, the fast-sailing trireme had little room to cushion itself and thus bore the entire force of the impact. As soon as the enemy ship''s bowpletely prated the warship, the rear of the warship cracked open, and the seawater quickly turned red with blood.

    ¡°Hurry up!¡± Miltiades gritted his teeth and shouted.

    Despite the sailors in the cabin being unaware of what was happening outside, they continuously rowed at the fastest speed, causing their arms to tingle, but they still gritted their teeth and persevered.

    The gship rushed over, dropped the drawbridge, and hit the enemy ship''s deck.

    ¡°Pick up your weapons and follow me to charge!¡± Miltiades shouted into the cabin.

    The sailors were surprised since their responsibility had always been rowing, leaving the task of attacking the enemy to the marines.

    ¡°What are you still waiting for? Follow the orders!¡± The boatswain urged.

    Once it dawned on the sailors, they picked up the spears and swords left in the hold by the soldiers who had jumped overboard earlier.

    ¡°Kill!¡± Miltiades waved the sword he had picked up with anger on his face as he personally led the sailors towards the enemy ship.

    Just at that moment, another corvus warship, due to untimely evacuation, was struck in the rear by the Phoenician warship that had turned around. Though the damage wasn''t significant, the influx of seawater forced the sailors to seal it urgently, hampering the corvus'' speed and agility and leaving it vulnerable to another hit.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    With the three ships Miltiades led to face the attack of five enemy ships, they achieved a four-to-three exchange ratio, which is evidence of how well-trained and well-coordinated the Theonian fleet was. Unfortunately, Miltiades'' mistake in his decision caused most of the Theonian ships at the rear to be scattered. Faced with the attack of the Eastern Phoenician fleet, they were in danger of fighting an outnumbered battle, especially the corvus warship. Without the protection of other warships on their nks, the corvus warship would not only fail to show its might but also expose its weaknesses of slow speed and inflexible turning.

    One after another, Theonian warships sunk, and only a few managed to rush directly to the beach.

    As the Eastern Phoenician fleet advanced eastward, the returning Theonian warships, which were sailing westward one after another, were like adding firewood to the fire. Besieged by the Phoenician ships, they found themselves in a precarious position. Sensing the unfavourable circumstances, the Phoenicians began to turn around and withdraw to the east.

    Now that the Eastern Phoenician fleet found such an excellent opportunity to wipe out the enemy, they naturally wouldn''t let them escape so easily. Thus, they separated some of their ships to follow closely after them.

    Despite the soldiers onboard the Theonian warship jumping into the sea one after another to reduce the warship''s weight and ease their escape, the enemy still managed to catch up with the corvus warship, forcing them into battle due to their slow speed.

    The naval battle,sting less than half an hour, ended with the Eastern Phoenician fleet defeating the centre and rear of the Theonian fleet. Most of the Theonian ships either sank or fled, with only a few managed to struggle aware from the enemy ships.

    When the Phoenician warship continued to chase east and was about to reach the waters near Minoa, a faint sound of salpinx suddenly rang out from ahead. Then, the several lookouts on the fast-sailing triremes, who were retreating hastily eastward, almost simultaneously shouted, ¡°Our fleet! Our fleet ising!¡±

    The captains, who were nervously watching the enemy ships behind them, turned their heads and looked east. In the distance, dozens of Theonian warships emerged on the sea, arranged in the familiar Starry Night formation, swiftly advancing toward them.

    Then, they snapped up their spirits and shouted loudly to the sailors in the cabin, ¡°Brothers, cheer up! Our reinforcements areing!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the sailors tightened their grip on the oars, regaining their strength. Then, they steered the warship to both sides, clearing the way for the fleet''s attack.

    At the same time, the Phoenician warships also noticed there was something unusual ahead, and they stopped their pursuit and began to approach each other to form up.

    The Theonian fleet, sailing rapidly from east to west,prised thirty-five ships out of the forty-two ships from the remaining second division of the First Fleet. Among these were twenty-five corvus warships and ten fast-sailing triremes, and they were allmanded by Straphacus.

 Chapter 896: Naval Battle of Thermae (III)

    <h4>Chapter 896: Naval Battle of Thermae (III)</h4>

    However, the actualmander of this fleet was not Straphacus but Seclian. He was on the corvus warship at the forefront centre of the line. He stood at the prow with a steely and unwavering gaze. Behind, the captain barked our orders, ¡°Increase speed! Stay on course!¡±

    The lookout also shouted, ¡°There are about forty enemy ships ahead and are in a double-column formation. In the distance, I could see enemy shipsing one after another!¡±

    ¡°Let''s seize this time to eat this wave first!¡± Seclian muttered and looked up at the corvus bridge next to the front mast.

    With the hastily arranged Phoenician warships also increasing their speed quickly, the distance between the two sides became closer.

    Seclian stared without blinking at the enemy ship speeding ahead, with the corvus ship he was sitting on maintaining a high speed, but not a sprinting speed, as they charged straight towards the bow of the enemy ship.

    When the two ships were only thirty metres apart, the enemy ship suddenly made a turn, showing that the Phoenicians knew the strength of the Theonian corvus warship.

    With a sneer, Seclian didn''t even bother with the evading Phoenician warship and continued advancing.

    Just as the Phoenician warship bypassed the ship of Seclian, it suddenly saw the Theonian warship in front of it crash into its side like a swordfish at great speed.

    The Phoenician warship had to make another turn and narrowly avoid getting rammed. However, when the two ships brush by each other, ¡°Withdraw the oars!¡±

    ¡°Withdraw the oars!¡± Both sides ordered at the same time.

    While the sailors of the Theonian warship were well prepared, the Phoenician sailors had just exerted themselves rowing to prevent themselves from sinking. As a result, they failed to react in time, and the Theonian warship ploughed straight into their oars, breaking them.

    After the Theonian warship broke the enemy''s oars, it abandoned them and continued sailing forward.

    Just as the Phoenicians were still in shock, another Theonian warship appeared on another side. However, this one was a corvus warship, which took advantage of the Phoenician warship having no oars to drop its drawbridge to its deck. The soldiers of the reserve legion onboard weren¡¯t like those from the friendly city-state who had rushed over the drawbridge and lost themselves in the heat of the moment. Instead, they followed the orders and returned to the ship swiftly under the leadership of their squad leader after cutting down most of the Phoenician sailors, and then they pulled up the drawbridge...

    The Starry Night formation set up by Seclian was different from before. The traditional Starry Night formation had the corvus warships spaced out at the front with the fast-sailing triremes at the back, waiting for a chance to jump in the battle. He had arranged the corvus warship and fast-sailing triremes in intervals; its purpose was to speed up the rhythm of the attack to seize time in saving the besieged warships.

    In the centre of the ship formation, the ship of Straphacus was hoisting a red g high up, reminding the surrounding warships to fight to the death. At the same time, the ship of Seclian, who was sprinting at the forefront, encouraged the sailors to advance bravely.

    Although the Eastern Phoenician fleet sessfullyunched a surprise attack, this was only the first time they fought a battle against the Theonian fleet. Hence, their traditional naval tactics had failed to adapt to the new naval tactics developed by Theonia after years of training. Thus, despite having many warships, their hasty formation could not withstand the attack of the Theonian squadron that had such a high level of morale. After fighting for some time, the Theonian squadron captured and sunk ten Phoenician ships while only paying the price of four damaged ships to crush the Phoenician formation in front of thempletely.

    Then, the Phoenician warships began retreating after seeing the situation turned south.

    The Theonian fast-sailing triremes, however, didn''t pursue the fleeing enemy. Before the battle, Seclian had already discussed with them how they couldn''t split apart because they were outnumbered. If they were to advance further, it would lead to a situation where they would be surrounded. Therefore, while maintaining speed, Theonia''s warships gradually regrouped and maintained formation.

    The Phoenician ships, who were along the way, began to retreat westward after receiving the report, allowing some of the hidden Theonian ships to join the line of ships, increasing the number of vessels in the Theonian squadron. Thus, instead of their number of ships decreasing after going through a battle, it had increased and resulted in the number of ships reaching forty-five.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Cough! Cough!...¡± Miltiades coughed repeatedly, causing the nearby person to hurriedly help him by patting his back so that he could spit out the seawater smoothly.

    ¡°Commander Miltiades, are you okay?!¡± The man asked with concern.

    Miltiades simply waved his hand, wishing not to speak. He turned to face the sea, gazing nkly at the surface where his gship had once been. Now, only a section of the main mast protruded, resembling a floating rotten branch. Despite leading the gship to circle the enemy for a while, they still failed to escape the enemy''s siege and were eventually sunk. Fortunately, they were close to the beach, enabling them to swim straight to shore.

    As he scanned the sea surface, he spotted several ''rotten branches'' like this, mainly near the beach. Further away, more shipwrecks were half-floating on the water, most being Theonian warships. The rtively few intact warships appeared unmanned and only drifting with the water, which were the Phoenician warships the corvus warship had attacked and immobilised.

    Miltiades felt like something gripped his heart as he looked at the warship wreckage and the countless floating heads on the sea. He felt heartbroken as the Theonian fleet...and his fourth fleet...were all gone just like that...

    He stood on the beach for a long time, letting the tide wash over his legs...

    Most of the men around were like him, staring at the sunken gship in which they had spent so many years together that it was difficult for them to part ways.

    ¡°Hey, are you from the Theonian fleet?!¡± Someone walked towards them.

    ¡°Yes, we belong to Theonia''s Fourth Fleet, and this is our-¡± The man beside Miltiades blurted, causing Miltiades to smack him on the shoulder to stop him from continuing. As the person in charge of this transportation operation, Miltiades felt that he had a significant responsibility for this disastrous defeat and was somewhat ashamed.

    Fortunately, he had just arrived in Sicily, so few knew him. The person only nced at him and then spoke to the sailor, saying, ¡°There are still many members of your Fourth Fleet there.¡±

    Following the direction he pointed, Miltiades saw that over a thousand had already gathered on the beach to the east.

    The person continued, ¡°I am Phracas, themanding strategos of the reinforcements from G. Since this ce is too close to Selinus, we can''t stay here for too long, or else we would be discovered by the Carthaginians. Thus, we must go east as soon as possible, pass through Thermae and reach the city of Minoa to ensure our safety.¡±

    The sailor turned his head to look at Miltiades, who nodded. Then, he immediately said, ¡°Okay, we''ll go.¡±

    Phracas nced at the downcast Miltiades. He had already seen this expression on the faces of several Theonian captains who had swam ashore. After all, this would be another blow for the Theonian navy after just suffering from the destruction of their fleet due to the storm. Moreover, the shattering of the Theonian navy''s myth as undefeatable had weighed heavily on the naval officer''s morale. Phracas empathised with their plight, but at the same time, he couldn''t shake off his worries, ¡®With the Theonian army and navy in Sicily in trouble, what about G?¡¯

    He sighed inwardly and turned towards therge group.

    The men trailing behind were asionally looking back at the sea. Suddenly, someone said, ¡°We can no longer see enemy ships on the sea. Have they already retreated?¡±

    Miltiades nearly stumbled and fell to the ground upon hearing that. He would have preferred to see enemy ships still patrolling the sea, as it would indicate that there were still ships from the Theonian fleet engaged in battle. Now that all the enemy ships had departed, could it be that the Theonian fleet had been all but wiped out?

    Miltiades turned pale, and the pain in his heart increased.

    Suddenly, they could hear a mour ahead, ¡°Enemy! Enemy!!¡±

    ¡°The Carthaginians areing! Run!!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The sailors were startled to see many Numidian cavalrymen sprinting out of the woods north of the beach, riding their horses down the gentle slope and charging towards therge army gathering ahead. Behind them, more fully armed Carthaginian infantry appeared...

    After thest night raid, Mago intensified the patrols along the coast from Selinus to Thermae and thus naturally discovered the battle between the Theonian and Phoenician fleet on the sea near Thermae. And Mago, after receiving the report, immediately dispatched a mix of cavalry and infantry force of five thousand men to attack the Theonian sailors and soldiers who had gone ashore because of the ship''s sinking, at the same time to guard against the Minoans who would leave their city to rescue the enemy.

    Since most of the Theonians and soldiers from the friendly city-state on the beach were unarmed, they inevitably panicked. As the Numidian cavalry rushed closer, they threw their javelins towards the crowd and caused blood to ssh and screams of pain to ring out, causing the people to panickily turn around and run.

    The Numidian cavalry howled wildly. Then, they took the opportunity to charge towards the crowd to elerate the scattering of the Theonian sailors and their allies...

    ¡°Commander, we must immediately flee to the sea to avoid the enemy''s pursuit!¡± The captain of the gship trembled as he said loudly to Miltiades.

    ¡°...you can go ahead,¡± said Miltiades with a grave expression as he continued to move forward.

    The gship''s captain became so anxious that he grabbed Miltiades, shook him vigorously, and urgently shouted in his ears, ¡°Miltiades, the enemy is here! We must escape!¡±

    ¡°There are enemies everywhere, and hiding in the sea will ultimately lead to bing miserable prisoners...the Fourth Fleet is gone...it''s all my fault...I had failed His Majesty!...¡± endless remorse filled Miltiades'' words. He then raised his head and looked ahead, ¡°...only by dying in battle on the sands can I reduce the mocking of the people...can I reduce the senator''s questioning of His Majesty!¡±

 Chapter 897: Naval Battle of Thermae (IV)

    <h4>Chapter 897: Naval Battle of Thermae (IV)</h4>

    The captain froze upon hearing that. After a moment, he suddenly breathed in and said deeply, ¡°Navarch, for the past ten years, you were themanding officer of our Fourth Fleet. You cared for and looked after us like a father, so how could we abandon you and escape?! Please allow me to continue following beside you and fight as I had done in the past!¡±

    ¡°My lord, also allow me to follow you to confront the enemy!¡±

    ¡°And me!¡±

    ¡°Don''t forget about me!¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The sailors expressed their stances one after another, and their resolute expressions fully showed they weren''t just words.

    Miltiades felt emotional. He looked at his men and finally smiled with relief, ¡°Great, let''s go to Elysium together!¡±

    With that, he raised his short sword that got chipped from cutting down several Phoenician sailors and shouted, ¡°Speed up and charge forward. Our target is the Carthaginian cavalries!¡±

    ¡°ROGER!!!¡± More than one hundred sailors shouted simultaneously. Then, they arranged themselves in a column closely resembling a ship, with Miltiades at the front. He strode forward while chanting the ode to Hades, ¡°I sing your praises, O great Hades. You are the lord of the night, the ruler of thew and the protector of the Kingdom of Theonia...¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    While the Carthaginian army ughtered the sailors of the Theonian fleet in Sicily and the soldiers of the friendly city-states on the various coasts from Thermae to Minoa, the Eastern Phoenician fleet didn''t return as victorious as Miltiades had imagined. Upon receiving the report through the fast-sailing ships that the Theonian fleet was attacking from the east and had defeated some Phoenician warships, they hastily gathered the scattered warships and sailed east to prepare for battle.

    The sailors hailing from Tyre, Sidon, and other Phoenician city-states, who had provided naval forces for Persia for many years, were driven more bymercial interests than a strong will to fight. As a result, throughout the decades-long history of warfare between Persia and the Greek navies (primarily Athens), the Phoenicians had failed to achieve significant victories. Today''s oue, however, saw the Eastern Phoenician Fleet effortlessly securing a resounding triumph. So, they, who excelled in calction and were skilled in the ways of the world, couldpletely stop fighting and boast about their achievements to the Carthaginians.

    However, with the fleetprising a coalition of Eastern Phoenician city-states such as Tyre, Sidon, and others, it meant that if the Theonian fleet forced them to retreat, not only would they leave behind the damaged warships on the battlefield, but they would also be unable to rescue the Phoenician sailors who had fallen into the sea or those aboard the corvus warships. Furthermore, abandoning theirpatriots from a foreignnd a thousand kilometres away and bing prisoners of a foreign race wasn''t only uneptable to many in the fleet, but upon returning to the Phoenician region, they would also face criticism from their people. Thus, they decided to continue fighting.

    Of course, there was another reason they continued to fight: the Eastern Phoenicians believed their triremes far exceeded their opponent and could ultimately defeat them.

    The Phoenician fleet eventually gathered ny-seven ships to face the fleet Seclian led in the sea between Thermae and Minoa. Meanwhile, the Theonian fleet also constantly absorbs the scattered Theonian warships as they advance, allowing the number of warships to reach fifty-one.

    Currently, the Phoenicians had almost twice the ship as the Theonians, with half of the Theonian fleet being more or less damaged. Still, the Theonian fleet remained unafraid. The gship of the second squadron of the First Fleet was currently at the centre of the fleet formation. Then, at the order of Straphacus, they raised three long, blood-red gs at the top of the masts, signifying that they would fight to the end and never retreat.

    Meanwhile, the corvus warship Seclian was on had still taken the lead and charged forward. The sailors of all the warships, regardless of their fatigue, continued to paddle and manipte the warships to charge forward. They wanted to wash away their previous humiliation and bring the pain and death to the enemy.

    The Eastern Phoenicians originally wanted to take advantage of their superior number to increase the width of the formation. So, instead of engaging the Theonians in a frontal battle, they would voluntarily retreat to lure them deeper and then be attacked by the warships on both nks by circling around.

    Once the two fleets meet, both sides would usually first form a formation and thenunch an attack, but the Theonian warships continued to rush over directly without organising themselves(the Eastern Phoenicians weren''t familiar with Theonia''splete Starry Night formation and thought they didn''t properly go into formation). Thus, the Eastern Phoenician fleet could only respond hastily, unable to fully implement their initial battle tactics.

    At first, the Eastern Phoenicians still thought of circling around the Theonian fleet before slowing down, expanding their formation, and executing their initial strategy. Unexpectedly, the Theonian fleet attacked swiftly and fiercely, with high efficiency. As soon as they came into contact, the two Phoenician warships at the forefront were in danger, a corvus ship hooking one of them and a fast-sailing trireme ramming the other.

    The Theonian warships surged as they broke into the centre of the Eastern Phoenician fleet and disrupted the entire line of ships, and the two sides were soon locked in a fierce collision.

    The sailors of the Theonian fleet fought with the determination to die, so even if the ship''s hull was damaged and seawater seeped in during the battle, they would still charge towards the nearby enemy ships or protect the nks for theirrades and block the attack of the enemy ships while sealing them off. And if the soldiers of the corvus warships could not return in time after rushing into the enemy ship, the sailors would not hesitate to pull up the drawbridge and turn around to smash it into another enemy ship that was about to sneak up on them. Then, the sailors would pick up the weapons the soldiers, who had jumped into the sea before, left behind and boarded the enemy ship to fight...

    It was precisely because they didn''t fear death that the Theonians erupted with great strength, allowing them to fight the Eastern Phoenician fleet despite the enemy outnumbering them. And their terrifying will to fight deterred the Eastern Phoenician sailors, who had always acted as vassals of Persia and seldom fought independently. Thus, after more than an hour of fierce fighting, the Eastern Phoenicians retreated.

    Despite their exhaustion, the Theonians still had another critical thing to aplish before they could return to Selinus: to clean up the battlefield and search for theirrades who had fallen into the water, which was why they had fought to the death.

    The first person they began searching to rescue was Seclian. The warship he was on had charged ahead and was naturally heavily besieged by the Phoenicians, eventually sinking. However, due to the intense battle, the surrounding warships didn''t have time to rescue him.

    Despite soaking in the sea for dozens of minutes, Seclian remained energetic. Once on the ship, he asked, ¡°Did the enemy really retreat?¡±

    The squadron leader, Straphacus, immediately reported, ¡°My lord, I have sent multiple ships to track the departing enemy. Once they find anything amiss, they will report it immediately. I have also kept eight warships onbat alert here, just in case-¡±

    ¡°Hmm, your arrangement is meticulous and reasonable, much better than that bastard Miltiades!¡± At the mention of Miltiades, Seclian became furious, and he immediately asked loudly, ¡°Did you find that bastard?¡±

    ¡°There is currently no news of him.¡±

    ¡°It seems he doesn''t have the face to see me and has instead gone hiding!¡± Seclian sneered and then asked, ¡°How many ships do we still have?¡±

    ¡°...we still have twenty-five left, including eighteen corvus warships and seven fast-sailing triremes. We also have six other warships that aren''t severely damaged that we could repair after dragging them back to the naval base...¡± said Straphacus with a heavy tone.

    ¡°This is all Miltiades'' fault! More than one hundred warships! It was his wrong decision that caused a bunch of cowards to sink over a hundred warships! Many of our men didn''t even manage to engage in a real battle before they watched their warships sink! This is really...really...s!...¡± Seclian became so distressed that he even shed tears. Not only was he distressed by the losses of this naval battle, but he also remembered the great storm that had overwhelmed him...

    Yes, the Theonian navy, who had once boasted itself as the number one in the western Mediterranean, with four fleets and many ships, had suffered heavy losses just a few months after the war with Carthage. Only a few ships left on the First, Second, and Fourth Fleet. In one fell swoop, the number of their ships had returned to the size of the Navy when they had created it. So, how could he not be in pain?

    Straphacus went to console him despite feeling the same pain, ¡°My lord, we have captured some enemy ships and have brought them back to the base. After some modifications, we can have them join the fleet to reinforce our strength.¡±

    ¡°How many?¡± Seclian hurriedly asked.

    ¡°The exact number is currently unknown,¡± Straphacus answered like that, for there was more than one battlefield in the sea from Minoa to Thermae.

    Therefore, instead of criticising Straphacus, Seclian looked up at the sky and said, ¡°It is still afternoon, so have our brothers carefully search every part of the sea and try not to miss any of our brothers who have fallen into the water, as well as the soldiers, or any of the warships, and then let them steer the enemy ships we have captured and return together to Selinus.¡±

    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡±

    Neither of them mentioned the transportation of reinforcements to Agrigentum during the conversation because, under the current circumstance, it is no longer possible to rush to Agrigentum as they urgently need to return to the port for rest.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The pursuit of the Carthaginian army along the coast led to the fact that many of the Theonian sailors, who had already swum ashore, were forced to swim into the sea again. Then, after being submerged for more than an hour in the icy waters, some of them were already physically exhausted, and it was only thanks to theirrades'' help that they could hold out until the arrival of the rescue ship.

 Chapter 898: To Gela

    <h4>Chapter 898: To G</h4>

    Only after the sun had set and nightfall arrived did the crippled Theonian fleet slowly sail into Selinus'' port, apanied by the ships and Phoenician sailors they had captured.

    In this naval battle, only forty-three out of the one hundred thirty ships of the Eastern Phoenician fleet remained. Inparison, Theonia''s fleet in Sicily only had thirty-one out of the one hundred fifty ships remaining (including the six damaged ships). However, they managed to capture twenty-three Phoenician ships. In addition, only two thousand of the six thousand soldiers the Theonian fleet had been transporting had returned safely to Selinus; most of them were from the reserve legion.

    Despite achieving a crushing victory, the Theonian fleet suffered a strategic loss. On that very day, Hasdrubal led around seventeen thousand soldiers from the Iberian army to attack the city of Agrigento, using nothing but logs anddders.

    Facing the dire situation of running out of food and risking starvation if they failed to take the city, the Carthaginian soldiers bravely took the lead to fight to the death without retreat. Particrly notable were the fierce Lusitanian and Celtic warriors from the northern Iberian mountains, who had greatly troubled the defenders of Agrigento.

    The soldiers of Agrigento had already incurred losses in the previous Battle of Minoa. Then, they had to send reinforcements due to the Carthaginian army besieging Selinus and Leotychides requesting aid, resulting in few defenders left in the city. Despite repelling the enemy''s attack in yesterday''s battle to defend the city, the soldiers of Agrigento also suffered heavy casualties. Eventually, with the long-awaited reinforcements failing to arrive and after a bloody battlesting until the afternoon, the people of Agrigento could no longer withstand the enemy''s assault and fell to the Carthaginians.

    Hasdrubal indulged his soldiers in a spree of looting and ughter. Except for some of the people of Agrigento, who managed to flee to the port and escape on ships, the rest were massacred.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the morning of the following day, Seclian arrived at the lord''s mansion in Selinus and saw Leotychides sitting in the hall waiting.

    ¡°Prosous, long time no see. I hope you called me this time not to borrow the marines or to use our temporarily idle sailors as light infantry.¡± Seclian''s statement clearly expresses his dissatisfaction with Leotychides'' previous actions.

    Leotychides didn''t respond to his mockery and just looked at him indifferently before uttering, ¡°Miltiades died in battle.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Seclian immediately expressed his displeasure and said, ¡°Who did you hear this from?! We had spent a long time yesterday searching but couldn''t find him. So, where did you hear-¡±

    ¡°Take a look,¡± Leotychides interrupted him coldly and pushed the wooden box on the table.

    Seclian''s gaze immediately focused on the wooden box, which had a design that didn''t resemble the Greek. Suddenly, a terrifying thought came to his mind. He walked forward with heavy steps and carefully opened the box lid.

    ¡°The Carthaginianmander Mago sent a messenger to say that when their army attacked our men who swam ashore on the beach, only Miltiades led his unarmed men bravely against them. He cut down two Carthaginian soldiers before dying in battle, earning the admiration of a Celtic chieftain from Iberia for his bravery. Thus, he cut off Miltiades¡¯ head and took it as a trophy for himself... Once Mago learnt of this, he took it upon himself to redeem the head, but they couldn''t find the body any more, and thus he could only send his head to us...¡±

    With the t, lifeless voice of Leotychides, Seclian stared at the face in the wooden box that was still vaguely recognisable as that of his former colleague. After a moment, he cursed, ¡°Miltiades, you idiot...¡± and then gently closed the lid.

    After sitting back in the wooden chair, he could hardly repress the anger in his heart, ¡°Only a few months had passed since the war of Sicily, and our Theonian navy hasn''t only suffered heavy losses but also lost two navarchs, Flios and Miltiades...damn the Carthaginians! Damn that wretched Mago!¡±

    Seclian cursed loudly to vent his grief.

    ¡°The Carthaginian envoy also asked a request,¡± Leotychides ignored the venting Seclian and continued to say, ¡°They have captured thousands of our sailors, hoping to exchange them with us for the Phoenician sailors we captured.¡±

    ¡°In their dreams! I still haven''t made those Phoenicians who sneak up on my fleet suffer enough!¡± Seclian said with hatred.

    ¡°So you want to reject the Carthaginian''s proposal?¡±

    ¡°No, exchange with them!¡± Seclian''s eyebrow raised, ¡°The lives of our men are much more precious than these Phoenicians from Persia. You can let them go back, and I am sure it won''t be more than a few days before we capture them as our prisoners again.¡±

    After the naval battle, the Theonian fleet brought the prisoners back to Selinus. Following the interrogation, Seclian felt relieved upon learning that this fleet was the reinforcements from the Phoenician city-states in the eastern Mediterranean like Tyre and Sidon, and it wasn''t due to Carthage constructing warships faster than Theonia. Considering the situation of Carthage''s mother city, it was evidently impractical for them to frequently dispatch a fleet from afar to aid Carthage.

    ¡°In a while, we will send personnel to negotiate with the Carthaginian envoys andplete the exchange of prisoners as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Seclian answered decisively, then asked tactfully, ¡°What happened that caused you to be in such a rush?¡±

    ¡°Siprus sent a messenger this morning and brought the terrible news that the Carthaginians had upied Kephalo¨ªdion.¡±

    ¡°Kephalo¨ªdion?¡± Seclian was puzzled. He had previously been stationed at the naval base in Taranto and had only arrived in Sicily a few months ago. Being upied with fleet matters in Sicily, he wasn''t familiar with some of the local situations, and the name of this town was entirely foreign to him.

    ¡°Kephalo¨ªdion is a town of the Sikeloi within the mountains of Sicily, northwest of Agrigento. It was originally on the borderline that divided the sphere of influence between the Kingdom and the Carthaginians and bordered the Sikeloi territory.¡±

    Hearing their discussion, Muklu, the adjutant at the lower end of the table, went to fetch the map of Sicily,id it on the table beside Seclian and pointed out the town''s position.

    ¡°This Sikeloi town is where the Tanikian tribe had once lived,¡± this statement from Leotychides made an impression on Seclian. After all, the Ladician matter back then had caused a massive political storm within the kingdom.

    ¡°How did we lose it?¡± Seclian became interested now.

    ¡°From the messenger''s report, just as the Carthaginian army encircled Selinus a few days ago, more than two thousand Sikanoi invaded the Sikeloi''s territory. But since the Sikeloi have always had the upper hand against the Sikanoi, they gathered up four thousand warriors without hesitation to defeat thempletely...¡± The corner of Leotychides'' lips raised as if mocking the foolishness of the Sikeloi, ¡°As a result, during the battle, the Carthaginian army suddenly appeared and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Sikeloi. Then, the Carthaginians took advantage of the victory to sessfully upy Kephalo¨ªdion.

    Afterwards, the Carthaginians joined up with the Sikanoi and proceeded to attack the city of Enna to the east. Archonis, the chieftain of the Tanikian, who had sought refuge in the western part of Sicily, acted as a guide for the Carthaginians and aided in persuading the Sikeloi tribes to surrender, resulting in the Sikeloi tribe to change their mind. Despite already dispatching reinforcements to Enna, Praetor Kreru reported the situation in Enna remained grim.

    ...furthermore, since we failed to transport reinforcements to Agrigento yesterday, we are also worried about their situation. Once they captured Agrigento and the tens of thousands of Carthaginian soldiers managed to take a foothold in the centre of the south coast, they would threaten not only the security of the neighbouring city-states that were friendly to us but also ours...¡±

    Seclian sat up straight and looked at Leotychides. He asked seriously, ¡°Do you want our navy to transport reinforcements to Agrigento again?¡±

    ¡°Of course I do! Now that you are the highest ranking military officer of the Theonian fleet in Sicily(Although Seclian is not an officer of the Theonian fleet in Sicily, he naturally became the fleet''s representative because he was the navarch of the First Fleet and held the highest position in Sicily after Miltiades'' death in battle and there was no new fleetmander appointed.) Naturally, I would need to discuss it with you first. Is the Fleet, in its present condition, capable of carrying out the task of transporting reinforcements? ¡± Leotychides asked with a serious expression.

    ¡°We certainly can!¡± Seclian simply replied, as he had always been able to tell the difference regarding militarymands that concerned the kingdom''s interest, ¡°I can use the Phoenician ships we captured to carry the troops and use the Theonian fleet to escort. Moreover, since we managed to repulse the Phoenicians despite them having the upper hand yesterday, I believe they would be hiding in their port for the next few days and not dare toe out. But if they really dare toe, it would be for the best since we could wipe them all out! However, we can''t transport so many soldiers this time.¡±

    ¡°Even if you can transport many, I don''t have that many reinforcements to spare. I can just send two thousand men,¡± Although Leotychides said it inly, Seclian could still feel the helplessness from his words. He looked at the armymander in Sicily, with whom he had little contact, before saying, ¡°It is no problem to transport two thousand men. I''ll then take my leave to hurry to start preparations and leave as soon as possible before noon.¡±

    Instead of expressing his thanks, Leotychides continued, ¡°There is one more thing you need to know. Upon returning to Catania, I instructed the messenger to promptly inform Siprus to dispatch a fleet of ships as soon as possible to transport the troops from here to G. Therefore, you will need to escort them with your fleet when the timees.¡±

 Chapter 899: Withdraw and Advance

    <h4>Chapter 899: Withdraw and Advance</h4>

    Seclian was taken aback and said, ¡°Are you giving up Selinus?!¡±

    ¡°Naturally, we can''t abandon Selinus. Doing so would allow the one hundred thousand Carthaginian troops to pass through easily and march eastward. Additionally, you would lose the naval base, depriving you of a foothold in the waters of western Sicily, greatly diminishing your threat to the western coast.¡± Leotychides exined patiently, ¡°However, it is also uneptable for our main force to remain within Selinus, as it would encourage the Carthaginians to attack our undefendednds. Thus, I n to leave a few thousand soldiers to defend Selinus while I lead over ten thousand soldiers, with the Eighth Legion as the main force, to go to G by boat. There, we will join forces with the armies of our friendly city-states to defeat the Carthaginian army attacking Agrigento, eliminating their threat to our territory and our allies.¡±

    ¡°By leaving only a few thousand soldiers to defend Selinus, would they be able to defend against the attack of the Carthaginian army?¡± Seclian became somewhat worried.

    ¡°We had spent this time reinforcing the city''s defence, so there should be no problem for them to hold the city for a month or so, by which time the tide of the battle may have changed,¡± Leotychides said calmly.

    Seclian pondered for a while upon hearing that and then finally made up his mind, ¡°Since you have decided to carry out this n, our fleet, as one of the forces protecting the security of our territory in Sicily, can assure you of two things:

    Firstly, our fleet will do its best to cooperate with the defenders of Selinus in defending the city. This includes intercepting Carthaginian ships transporting grain, sending the marines to attack the rear of the Carthaginian army, and even providing assistance in defending the city during the most dangerous moments. Secondly, I can guarantee that if the enemy breaches Selinus, our navy will make every effort to evacuate the remaining defenders safely and bring them back to Catania.¡±

    Leotychides felt deeply moved, his voice trembling as he said, ¡°Thank you very much!¡±

    ¡°If you truly wish to thank me, swiftly defeat the Carthaginian army attacking Agrigento,¡± replied Seclian with his head held high.

    After seeing Seclian off, Leotychides stood in the hall doorway, lost in thought, while Muklu smiled and remarked, ¡°They say Lord Seclian is arrogant and hard to talk to, but it appears he''s quite understanding.¡±

    Leotychides didn''t reply and returned to his seat, picking up the map and checking it carefully.

    Muklu chuckled inwardly, noting thatpared to the renowned Seclian, themander before him was even more challenging to deal with

    Knowing Leotychides could take half a day staring at the map, Muklu quickly summoned the servants to bring breakfast to the hall.

    Leotychides quickly finished breakfast and then asked Muklu to arrange reinforcements for Agrigento.

    But just as Muklu stepped out of the hall, he encountered Seclian, who was walking briskly towards him.

    ¡°Lord Seclian, why are-¡±

    With a grave expression, Seclian entered the hall and said, ¡°I''ve just received a report from the scouting ships that the Carthaginians have upied Agrigento!¡±

    ¡°Agrigento has fallen?!¡± Leotychides suddenly stood up.

    ¡°The Carthaginians not only captured Agrigento but ughtered the entire city, with only a small portion of their poption escaping to Inycum by sea.¡± Seclian emphasised, ¡°We could no longer carry out your n to transport reinforcements.¡±

    Despite the sudden news disrupting Leotychides'' n, it didn''t make him panic. After thinking, he said, ¡°We would still continue with the n to transport the troops, but we would change the destination to G.¡±

    After the Carthaginian army captured Agrigento, the city-state to the east of it was Inycum. However, since this small city waspletely defenceless, right next to it was G, and to the west was Minoa, so why would they only reinforce G and not Minoa? Seclian still understood it because when the Carthaginian army besieged Selinus, Leotychides didn''t have the Minoans send reinforcements, considering they were also facing a threat from the Carthaginians, and now its city''s defences could at leastst for a while. (Thermae is a small town between Selinus and Minoa and had no walls and no troops stationed at all)

    With this in mind, he earnestly asked, ¡°After we send reinforcements to G, would you continue with the next n?¡±

    Leotychides replied without hesitation, ¡°As long as the Carthaginian army at Agrigento continues with their attack on Inycum or G, we must rush to engage them as it is our only chance!¡±

    Seclian gazed at the expressionless Leotychides. He suddenly appreciated his decisiveness in the face of difficulties and felt like he was somewhat simr to him in some aspects. He coughed, stood up and said, ¡°Then, if you are going to lead your army, you must inform our fleet so we can escort you!¡±

    After Seclian left, Leotychides turned his head to Muklu and said hushedly, ¡°Dispatch a messenger to Catania and tell Siprus to apply to the Ministry of Military for them to transfer the Seventh Legion.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Muklu became surprised. Through this period of contact, he knew Leotychides was a proudmander and wouldn''t ask for help from the Seventh Legion if it wasn''t a critical moment, so it seemed they were already in a dire situation.

    Leotychides didn''t seem to realise that his words had caused waves through his adjutant''s mind as he continued to exin in a stoic expression, ¡°The Carthaginian army that had captured Agrigento had another option besides attacking Inycum and Minoa. They can again go directly north into the mountains, join up with the army there, capture Enna, and then go east to break through the defences of Herbita and invade the Catanian in...¡±

    Muklu became nervous at Leotychides'' analysis, and after thinking for a moment, he said, ¡°Wouldn''t it be too risky for the Carthaginian army to go directly through the mountains in the centre instead of going to the south coast?¡±

    ¡°Although risky for them, we must also take precautions.¡± Leotychides then pointed to the map, ¡°Right now, our main forces are in Selinus, and there are only a few thousand soldiers in the Catanian ins. Moreover, they had to guard against Syracuse to the south, so they had no spare men to support the Sikeloi. To tell you the truth, I think the Sikeloi are far more important than these Greek city-states on the south coast. After all, once the Carthaginians upied this area, they would threaten arge area from Naxus to our ally, Leontinoi, and make it difficult for us to stop their invasion. Therefore, to ensure the safety of our territory in Sicily and the people harvesting food smoothly during the autumn harvest and to enable our Eight Legion to fight against the Carthaginian army without any hesitation, we can only let the Seventh Legion go south and defend the ins of Catania.¡±

    ¡°I understand. I will arrange it right away!¡± Muklu replied.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Mago frowned in themand tent in the Carthaginian camp as he listened to the messenger''s report after returning from Selinus, ¡°We can exchange the sailors but not those soldiers.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, but the Theonians have captured nearly ten thousand sailors, far more than the number of Theonian sailors we have captured. Hence, they are asking us to exchange the Greek soldiers we have captured as well-¡±

    ¡°Are you my envoy or the Theonians?! I am not a fool to put these soldiers back and strengthen the Theonian army again! I don''t agree with this one, so you go back and discuss it with them again.¡±

    The envoy could only acquiesce after seeing Mago bing furious.

    While watching the envoy exit the tent unsteadily, Mago sat down in his chair and gasped for breath. Once his mind calmed down, he told the adjutant next to him, ¡°Catch up with him and tell him I agree to this agreement and immediately arrange for the exchange of prisoners.¡±

    ¡°My Lord, didn''t you just say-¡±

    ¡°Go and carry it out. It''s only two thousand Greek soldiers, so give it to them! I''d like to see how the Theonians will stand up to my army of one hundred thousand!¡±

    ¡°Lord Mago, what made you so angry?¡± The tent opened, and Bomilcar walked in.

    ¡°It is naturally those Phoenicians from our mother city!¡± Mago red and said sarcastically, ¡°Despite their advantage, the Theonian fleet still managed to repel them. Those people are really a fool to waste such a great opportunity!¡±

    ¡°The naval battle is indeed regrettable. But despite our mother city''s fleet obviously underestimating the Theonians, the Theonian fleet may no longer be able to harass the western waters after this battle, and we, Carthage and our surrounding allies, can finally breathe a sigh of relief! For that, we should already be thankful to our mother city''s fleet that hade here to help us!¡± Bomilcar reminded smilingly, ¡°Not to mention they had brought more than just the fleet, promising to keep funding us with money and supplies to help us be able to defeat the Theonians finally!¡±

    Mago snorted. It was those things that made him change his thoughts. Otherwise, these people would protest at the Carthaginian Senate daily, which would only affect his reputation.

    ¡°You told me toe here, so what''s the matter?¡± Bomilcar asked with a smile.

    ¡°Oh, that''s right.¡± Mago then remembered and gestured for Bomilcar to sit down first and then solemnly said, ¡°Although the Theonian fleet managed to repulse the Phoenician fleet, we still seeded in stopping the Theonian''s n to reinforce Agrigento in time... Although I haven''t received the news yet, I believe Hasdrubal had sessfully led the more than two thousand soldiers to capture the weakly fortified city of Agrigento quickly. Now that the situation is favourable, we shouldn''t let our massive army stay here in Selinus. Instead, we should seize this favourable opportunity and continue to expand the results. Therefore, I hope you can lead the troops to attack Minoa!¡±

 Chapter 900: Pressing towards Gela

    <h4>Chapter 900: Pressing towards G</h4>

    Bomilcar asked with a start, ¡°We aren''t going to capture Selinus first?¡±

    Despite Mago''s old face turning reddish, he still spoke seriously, ¡°After our recent attacks over the past few days, I believe you are aware that the Theonians have not only fortified the defence of Selinus but have also stationed their main force inside the city, and have high morale. Therefore, despite our number being far superior to theirs, we need to spend more time just to take the city, which weck!¡±

    Only then did Bomilcar remember Mago''s promise to the Senate. Thus, he no longer hesitated and immediately expressed his willingness to lead the army.

    Mago smiled and said, ¡°You will lead a total of fifty thousand men: ten thousand Carthaginian soldiers, fifteen thousand soldiers from our Phoenician allies, and twenty-five thousand Numidian soldiers. This is ten thousand more than when Muntebaal attacked Minoa! I hope you will lead this army to Minoa tomorrow and not repeat the same mistake as Muntebaal. Take Minoa as soon as possible!¡±

    But instead of bing excited about leading such a massive army, Bomilcar asked with concern, ¡°Lord Mago, if we continue with this arrangement, you won''t have many soldiers left with you. In case the Theonians inside leave the city again-¡±

    Although Bomilcar didn''t continue speaking, his worries were apparent. He believed that if he followed Mago''s proposal and led the army away, Mago would be left with fewer than twenty thousand troops from Iberia by his side. Moreover, this armyprised multiple races. Despite how powerful they are, they aren''t easy to manage andck loyalty. While he also had nearly ten thousand soldiers from their allies in western Sicily, they were inadequately trained and more suited for tasks such as supply transportation and camp construction rather thanbat. Additionally, he had nearly ten thousand Numidian soldiers who had remained from the camp that the Theonians had attacked previously. The recent assault had clearly unnerved these ck-skinned Numidians. To prevent their panic from affecting morale, Mago had specifically segregated them and spent the past few days training them, even preparing to send them to Lilybaeum to relieve the defenders there.

    Mago, however, wasn''t worried about that as he confidently said, ¡°If the Theonians behave as you have described, it is precisely what I have been hoping for.¡±

    Bomilcar finally stopped persuading and epted the order. In fact, Mago would have forced him to agree even if he still disagreed because he had forcefully reced numerous Carthaginian generals with officers from the Iberian army whom he trusted. This not only unsettled the soldiers in the Carthaginian army but also drew criticism from the Senate upon reaching Carthage. The Hanno faction went as far as to denounce Mago''s actions, using him of seeking to transform the entire army into the private military of the Magonids to benefit his dictatorship.

    Thus, Mago asked the neutral elder Bomilcar to temporarily take over the Carthaginian army to appease the soldiers and reassure the elders.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the second day, Bomilcar led his army out of camp and marched eastward along the coast.

    With Mago not concealing this military action, Leotychides watch therge-scale mobilisation of the Carthaginians within their camp. He became anxious because he could surmise the reason behind the departure of the Carthaginian army. Despite considering seizing the opportunity to lead his entire army out of the city to attack the Carthaginian army still within the camp, the previous night raid had already given a wake-up call to the Carthaginians. Since they still dared to do such mobilisation, it could only mean they were prepared for it.

    As Leotychides held the only army of the Theonian kingdom in Sicily, he could only act when there was a high chance of victory in a situation where their enemies outnumbered them. Therefore, he was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the fleet in Catania.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Hasdrubal permitted his soldiers to loot and ughter the whole city of Agrigento, partly to pay homage to his father, Himilco(who had also led the army that captured Agrigento), for the soldiers under hismand to have something they could vent on and gain after marching arduously in the mountain and fighting a hard battle and partly to obtain a sufficientlyrge quantity of food.

    He now achieved both purposes. Although Agrigento''s territory wasn''t known for its agriculture, as it was mountainous, it was known as a city of livestock. Therefore, Hasdrubal obtained enough livestock to sustain a twenty-thousand-strong army for half a month.

    After a day''s rest, Hasdrubal left a thousand men to garrison Agrigento. He then marched eastward along the coast with sixteen thousand men, aiming for G at the same time as Bomilcar headed to Minoa.

    With the army having had to pass through the city of Inycum on its way forward, why hadn''t Leotychides stationed reinforcements in this city before, and why had Hasdrubal not made Inycum their target? Because it was a small Greek city, only a littlerger than Thermae, with its low walls only to keep out wild beasts and not able to hold back the enemy at all, Leotychides didn''t hold out hope for it, and Hasdrubal didn''t see it as an obstacle. (Note: Historically, it wasn''t until a hundred yearster that the tyrant of Agrigento built a new city on the cape of Inycum. Several decadester, in the first Punic War, thergest naval battle in ancient Western history urred near the cape of this ce. Carthage and Rome invested a total of six hundred eighty warships, with about two hundred ny thousand sailors and soldiers on board, with Rome ultimately the victor.)

    Sure enough, when Hasdrubal led his army to arrive, the residents of Inycum had already fled and left only an empty city, which allowed the Carthaginian army to advance smoothly.

    After resting for a night, they continued to march eastward the next day and entered the territory of G at noon.

    The city of G has a long history. It was established around five years after Syracuse by colonisers from the inds of Rhodes and Crete. They named it after the G River that flows through G¡¯s territory.

    Due to extensive soil erosion caused by the G River originating from the mountains, a fertile river in emerged within the territory of G. Over decades, the people of G sessfully transformed the river marshes, leading to the city''s prosperity. Agrigento had just been established during this period, and Syracuse was confined to the ind of Ortigia. A century ago, the heavily armed tyrant of G, Hippocrates, along with his sessor, Gelon, embarked on an eastward conquest that eventually had the Greek colonial cities in Eastern Sicily, such as Messina and Kamarina, submitted to G''s authority. Recognising Syracuse''s strategic location, Gelon decided to relocate there, leaving his brother Hieron in charge of G. He also transferred half of G''s poption to Syracuse, sparking its prosperity. After Gelon''s demise, Hieron also moved to Syracuse¡­marking the beginning of G''s decline as Sicily''s most powerful Greek city-state. Despite this, G maintained a close rtionship with Syracuse.

    The first conflict between G and Syracuse erupted just over twenty years ago. It began when the Carthaginianmander Himilco led arge army towards Syracuse, capturing Agrigento and then besieging G. Despite promises from Dionysius to send reinforcements, they failed to arrive, resulting in G''s capture. Tensions escted further as Syracuse emerged as the hegemon of the Greek city-states in Sicily, and Dionysius began heavily exploiting and oppressing their allies, including G. Despite dissatisfaction among the people of G, they were more afraid of Dionysius''s powerful force and could only obey him.

    When the Theonians defeated Syracuse, the people of G became grateful to Theonia. However, they were wary of the outsiders entering Sicily at the same time. So it took Theonia a decade of friendship with the surrounding city-states in Sicily to make the people of G finally let down their guard. In the war between Theonia and Carthage, G actively provided material assistance and sent troops to participate.

    Now that the Carthaginian army is advancing towards the city, it has not only made the people of G nervous but has also stirred up concern in Syracuse and Catania. After all,pared to the battles in the western part, G is closer to them, thus capturing the public''s attention.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    ¡°Commander, Chaeris hase,¡± Muklu reported to Leotychides.

    ¡°Have him enter.¡±

    A middle-aged officer wearing a helmet with a purple plume strode into the hall of the lord''s mansion.

    He was Chaeris, a Catanian. After Dionysius took over Catania, Chaeris became a refugee and fled to a settlement in the mountains for a while. Later, he quietly returned to the port of Catania and made a living by doingbour. He wasn''t afraid of violence, helped the weak and the small, and dealt with things justly, thus earning him a high reputation among the exiles and freemen of the port of Catania. During the South-Italian War, he gave vital aid to Antrapolis, who was lurking in the port of Catania and even led the freemen to be one of the main forces in the subsequent uprising in Catania. After sessfully retaking Catania, he also led his men to assist the First Legion in pursuing the routed troops of Macias.

    However, after the end of the war and the annexation of Catania to the Kingdom of Theonia, this hero of the Catanians refused to be an official of the kingdom or a member of the city council. Instead, he volunteered to be a tribunal officer, and because of his outstanding performance, the people of Catania elected him to participate in Theonia''s tribunal assembly yearly. At the same time, he is also the senior centurion of the First Brigade of the Eighth Legion and was deeply trusted by Leotychides.

    ¡°Commander, I, Chaeris, hade to report!¡± Chaeris then performed a military salute.

 Chapter 901: The Seventh Legions Arrival

    <h4>Chapter 901: The Seventh Legions Arrival</h4>

    Leotychides smiled, which he seldom does, and asked, ¡°How''s the situation at the military camp today?¡±

    Since the upation of Selinus, Leotychides had temporarily assumed the responsibility of managing the entire city* and thus naturallycked time and energy to take care of the military. As a result, he usually delegated the management of the military camp to Chaeris, and so far, there haven''t been any significant issues. (although they had already escorted most of the people in Selinus to Catania.)

    ¡°All is well, and the loss of the navy hasn''t affected the morale of our brothers. On the contrary, they hope my lord will allow them to raid the enemy camp again and earn more victories.¡± Chaeris replied.

    Leotychides shook his head lightly, ¡°Having already deceived the Carthaginians once, it will be challenging to make the same ploy work again. However, I n to conduct a major military action-¡±

    After saying that, he looked at the standing still Chaeris, who showed no sign of eagerness.

    Although Leotychides was praising him inwardly, his face continued to show his indifferent expression, ¡°The Carthaginians have now divided their army into four. One is besieging Selinus, another will attack Minoa, another will attack Enna, and thest will attack G. Our situation is currently dire. If you were me, what would you do at this moment?¡±

    High-ranking officers like Chaeris generally had ess to the information brought back by scouts and scouting ships, so he was well aware of the current battlefield situation and had his own thoughts. After pondering, he said, ¡°Despite the Carthaginian army¡¯s far superior number, we can use our naval advantage to deal with them individually since they are spreading out for their attacks.¡±

    ¡°Defeat them individually...hmm...¡± Leotychides continued asking, ¡°Where do you think we should strike first?¡±

    ¡°G,¡± Chaeris said without hesitation, ¡°The report indicates that the Carthaginian army in that area isn''t toorge and is isted. Furthermore, they are the perfect target for our attack since they are deep within our territory and close to the coast!¡±

    Leotychides nodded, ¡°You and I have the same thought. So, I will lead the Eighth Legion and the Fourth Cavalry Legion to G by ship to defeat this Carthaginian army as soon as possible. After I leave, I will entrust this ce for you to manage and take charge of the five thousand soldiers from the reserve legion.¡±

    Chaeris didn''t respond immediately but showed his hesitation, which surprised Leotychides, who knew him.

    After a moment of thought, Chaeris spoke resolutely, ¡°Lord Commander, five thousand soldiers are too many. Three thousand will suffice. This way, you will have more soldiers to defeat the Carthaginian army. I am confident I will hold out until you return victorious at the head of the army!¡±

    Leotychides showed a surprised expression as he sat on his chair. He stared straight at Chaeris for a while, then stood up and walked up to him, reaching out his hand to lightly hold his shoulder, ¡°I am leaving Selinus not only to defeat the Carthaginian army at G, so I am afraid I won''t be back soon. With Selinus'' importance to us, we must defend it as best we can. Hence, I had left you with so many soldiers. You do not need to worry about the enemy outnumbering me because I will have plenty of soldiers once we get to the east.¡±

    Upon hearing him, Chaeris hurriedly said, ¡°Commander, I swear to defend Selinus to the death. So you can rest assured that as long as I am here, the city of Selinus will hold out!¡±

    Leotychides'' expression twitched, prompting him to speak gently, ¡°If you find it impossible to hold out, there''s no need to sacrifice yourself. With the naval fleet waiting in the port, you and the soldiers can safely evacuate. This war will be lengthy, and we''ll have more opportunities to retake Selinus in the future¡­¡±

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    When the fleet from Catania arrived at the port of Selinus, Leotychides began to prepare his army''s boarding when he coincidentally encountered the messenger sent by Minoa seeking help.

    It turns out that after Bomilcar¡¯s Carthaginian army arrived at Minoa¡¯s territory and set up camp, they immediately began attacking the city. In contrast to Muntebaal, Bomilcar personally led the frontline and oversaw the attack. With the firmmand of the Iberian army generals, the soldiers not only refrained from cking but alsounched fierce attacks, putting considerable pressure on the defenders of Minoa.

    Unfortunately, when he received the news, Leotychides could only console the Minoans to hold on for a while longer. He would then try to lead his army to rescue them as soon as possible.

    Under the escort of the Theonian fleet, the ships carrying Leotychides'' army entered the port of G sessfully.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At the same, Burim, the legatus of the Seventh Legion at the camp in Locri, received the order from the Ministry of Military for the Seventh Legion to urgently head out to Catania today!

    ¡°It''s finally our turn!¡± Burim''snky body leapt up from his seat and shouted excitedly to his adjutant, ¡°Quickly send someone to inform the praetor of Locri so they can prepare for the expedition. Also...inform the various brigades of this news and ask them to recall their soldiers who were out immediately!¡±

    ¡°Roger, legatus!¡±

    Not long after, continuous cheers rang out in the military camp, which caused Burim to smile.

    Burim was once the Bruttian chieftain of Besidiae, whichter merged into Theonia. He then became a statesman but instead chose to join the Theonian legion rather than engage in politics like Baripiri. During the South Italian War, he served as the senior centurion of the Fourth Legion and was eventually captured by Dionysius along with his legatus, Drakos, who was killed. However, due to his previous position as the chieftain of Bruttii, he was imprisoned but ultimately rescued. As the only high-ranking officer of the Theonian legion captured by the Syracusans in the South Italian War and survived, he regarded this as his greatest shame and so fought valiantly throughout the subsequent wars and thus rose to the rank of legatus of the Seventh Legion due to his achievements.

    With all the other legions having already participated in the current war, and only the Seventh Legion remained idle so far, Burim persistently wrote to the Ministry of Militaryining about the injustice. But not long ago, the Ministry of Military sent a message that the Carthaginian army had once againnded in Sicily, reminding him to make preparations in advance.

    Thus, Burim began issuing summoning orders for the Seventh Legion to the surrounding towns and cities. Now, he had finished fully equipping the Seventh Legion in the camp, with the soldiers having high morale and just waiting to take action to kill the enemy and make achievements.

    But soon, the response from the city hall of Locri poured a jar of cold water on Burim. Since there were not enough transport ships to ferry the troops to the port of Locri, they had to wait another day or two to make preparations, which caused Burim''s frustration.

    Suddenly, his adjutant reminded, ¡°If Locri doesn''t have enough ship, don''t we still have Rhegium?!¡±

    Burim''s eyes brightened up. In the past, the Seventh Legion sourced its soldiers from Locri, Hipponion, and Caulonia. However, with Rhegium and its subordinate city, Taurania, fully merging into Theoniast year, these two cities also became recruitment grounds for the Seventh Legion, approved by the Ministry of Military. Unfortunately, they hadn''t sorted out the rtionship when the war broke out, so the Seventh Legion did not yet have the time to send out notices for the training officers of Rhegium and Taurania to arrange for their citizens to participate in the rotational training in the military camp of Locri. Still, even though there is currently no Rhegian in the Seventh Legion, Rhegium, as a port city that guards the straight of Messina, has no shortage of ships and is perfectly capable of helping to transport troops.

    Burim immediately said, ¡°Send a messenger to Rhegium as soon as possible and request their support!¡±

    The next day, Rhegium responded to the Seventh Legion''s request, and nearly two hundred transport ships sailed into the port of Locri at dusk.

    Early on the third day, Burim led over eight thousand men of the Seventh Legion out of the military camp and into the city of Locri. Meanwhile, the people of Locri gathered on both sides of the street to bid farewell to their loved ones. Unlike the other people in other cities in the kingdom, the Locrians barely cheered and were not overly exuberant when sending off their troops. And instead of rushing into the streets to impede the soldiers'' march, they just stood orderly alongside the streets, waving their hands.

    Despite Locri no longer applying the cruelws made by Zaleucus after joining the Kingdom of Theonia in the past decade, the citizens of this city had already had restraint and obedience integrated into their blood. However, that also resulted in Locri, a former enemy of Theonia, hardly causing any trouble for King Davos and the Senate after joining the kingdom. Naturally, the Locrian citizens'' belief in Persephone and the rule ofw allowed them to easily identify with the Kingdom of Theonia.

    The army had also passed through Locri''s shipbuilding workshops before entering the port. There, seven to eight massive dry docks stood side by side along the beach, with many shipwrights currently building triremes inside. In addition, they piled stacks of thick, cut tree trunks on the open sand around the perimeter, and asionally, a team of horse-drawn wagons would enter the workshops with trees on their wagons. In the several makeshift sheds, carpenters constantly process the rough tree trunks into pieces of straight and smooth ship boards...throughout the workshop, the people were so focused on the work in their own hands that only a few became distracted to watch the passing Seventh Legion.

    This lively and organised spectacle of shipbuilding wasn''t only happening in Locri but also simultaneously in other coastal towns in Theonia that are capable of building ships, such as Thurii, Crotone, Terina, Scylletium, Rhegium, Tarentium, Catania, and Naxos. The whole kingdom of Theonia was pouring out every effort to build more ships as quickly as possible so that they could continue to maintain their naval superiority in their war with Carthage.

    In the morning, the fleet ferried the soldiers from the Seventh Legion out of the port of Locri and headed towards Catania on the eastern coast of Sicily.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Though excited after receiving King Davos'' order, Mithridates didn''t immediately lead his fleet to invade Corsica because his first target was Aleria. In contrast to the small strongholds scattered by the Phoenicians in Corsica, Aleria became his target as it was the only Phoenician town with small and fertile farms, a rich mining industry, andrge ports.

 Chapter 902: The Fall of Aleria

    <h4>Chapter 902: The Fall of Aleria</h4>

    But Mithridates also knew it wasn''t easy to attack Aleria. From the intelligence report, Aleria had over three thousand soldiers and a high city wall. In the event of a battle, it would be costly for the Third Fleet, which had only six thousand marines, to attack such a defended city.

    Moreover, Mithridates is skilled in naval warfare but notnd warfare, as he had no experience.

    Aware of his ability, Mithridates didn''t act blindly. Instead, he gathered his subordinates to discuss a n.

    The marine''smanding officer, Mneantiades, suggested to lure the soldiers of Aleria out of the city and wipe them out, thus weakening their defences and making it easy for them to attack the city. (The marines have fourmanding officers, each belonging to the four major fleets and are the second person in the fleet. Despite needing to obey themand of the navarch, they have the authority to manage and train all marines during peacetime. They also have the power tomand the troops tond on the coast and carry out surprise operations and invasions on enemy territory during the war. The number of marines in each fleet isn''t fixed as it depends on the number of corvus warships in the fleet.) And the one responsible for luring them was to dress up as Etruscan pirates and raid the silver mines of Aleria.

    For over a hundred years, the two most famous pirates on the Italian Penins have been the Illyrians on the Adriatic Sea on the east coast and the Etruscans on the west coast. While the Illyrian pirates mainly did it for survival, the Etruscan city-states privately formed the Etruscan pirates tobat the Greeks who were constantly colonising the Italian penins and threatened the Etruscan hegemony in central and northern Italia. Then, with the weakening of the Greek colonisation towards the western Mediterranean and the spheres of influence of both sides established, the number of Etruscan pirates significantly reduced.

    But thirty years ago, Etruscan pirates began to increase once again. This resurgence wasn''t due to their city-states'' order but rather because of the Celts'' southward invasion from northern Italia, which resulted in them taking over Etruscannds. Particrly over a decade ago, when the Celtic army swept through the entire Etruscan territory, even capturing Rome, many Etruscans fled to the sea and turned to piracy. Despite the Gauls¡¯ eventual defeat, some Etruscans, having tasted the benefits of plundering, sought to continue raiding the western coast of Italia.

    However, due to the establishment of the Third Fleet of Theonia during this period, the kingdom of Theonia and its allies strengthened the patrols on the coast, which significantly decreased the frequent attacks of the Etruscan pirates again. The Etruscan pirates could only retreat to the north of the west coast of Italia and dared not go south. Although the Carthaginians were once allied with Etruria in the past and still maintained a non-aggression pact as they were neighbours, the pirates still raided Aleria.

    After adopting Mneantiades'' suggestion, Mithridates began the preparation carefully. He even went to the newly upied Etruscan city to gain a detailed understanding of the situation of the Etruscan pirates, and he even borrowed several Etruscan ships, armour, and weapons for his men.

    Two dayster, the dozens of warships of the Third Fleet,den with marines, covertly docked on the beach between Aleria and the northern Etruscan town of Mariana at nightfall. Then, the four thousand marinesnded ashore and dived into the mountains.

    On the second day, several Etruscan ships suddenly broke into the coastal waters of Aleria and docked on the northern beach. Afterwards, more than two hundred Etruscan piratesnded and rushed towards a well-known silver mine in the northwest mountainous area of Aleria.

    The people of Aleria had been anxious ever since the Theonian armynded in the Latium region. However, after more than a month passed without the Theonian armynding on Corsican soil or even the sight of Theonian warships at sea, the people of Aleria temporarily set aside their worries, assuming that the Theonians were still preupied with the war against Rome and unable to depart. Unexpectedly, those detested Etruscan pirates appeared again, and they were going to plunder theirrge silver mine, a crucial source of revenue for Aleria''s treasury.

    After a detailed investigation by a scouting ship, they found no abnormalities near the sea. Considering the difficulty of dealing with the Etruscan pirates and for safety reasons, the Carthaginian official in Aleria decided to deal with them as soon as possible to avoid furtherplications. Therefore, he urged the city hall to quickly gather eight hundred Alerian soldiers as he led them out of the city and promptly rushed to the location of the silver mine.

    Once they began to attack the Etruscan pirates looting the silver mines, around four thousand marines suddenly appeared in their rear and surrounded them.

    They quickly defeated the Alerian army, with the Carthaginian official dying in battle while the soldiers were either killed or captured.

    The Marines first separated them into groups for interrogation and then gathered them together to escort them towards the beach. On the way, the Alerian prisoners at the forefront suddenly caused amotion and knocked down the soldiers escorting them. Then, these blood and dirt-covered prisoners turned around to save their otherpanions.

    Suddenly, the entire escort fell into chaos, and many Alerians seized the opportunity to escape. By the time the marines quelled the riot, more than two hundred prisoners had already fled to Aleria.

    Thus, the marines began to chase them.

    Disregarding their fatigue, the prisoners fled with all their might to the outskirts of the city while shouting hysterically, ¡°Open the gate!! The Theonians areing!! Open the gate!!...¡±

    For hundreds of years, the Alerians had lived in peace and tranquillity under the protection of Carthage, except for asional battles against pirates. Hence, the sudden news of the Theonian attack overwhelmed the city defenders. But after they looked down from the city walls and saw their dishevelledpatriots in a sorry state shouting to those they knew and, after seeing the rising dust and dirt in the far distance, they realised that the enemy was rapidly approaching.

    Thus, without hesitation, they opened the city gate and urged the deserters to enter quickly.

    But as soon as the prisoners ran into the city, dozens of the marines hidden among them pulled out the short swords tied to their backs and concealed by loose linings and stabbed the prisoners beside them.

    The city gate suddenly fell into chaos, causing a blockage that stopped them from immediately closing the gate.

    Then, arge number of marines arrived and took advantage of the situation to rush into the city...

    After a while of fighting in the city, Aleria fell.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    At dusk, the heavy and low military horn echoed outside Satricum, and the attacking Theonian soldiers retreated like a tide.

    In themand tent, Tolmides reported to Davos, ¡°Your Majesty, despite our sessive attacks on Satricum in the past few days, the Romans have tenaciously defended, making it impossible for us to make any progress. We have suffered close to three thousand casualties, and the bitter battles over the days have left the soldiers exhausted and their morale low.¡±

    ¡°Tolmides, you are mistaken. The morale of our brothers is still high, and they are eager to storm the city and avenge our fallenrades! Although we have casualties, the Romans'' casualties weren''t small either. Since they are much fewer than us, they won''t be able to hold out any longer after a few more days of attack!¡± Amintas retorted loudly.

    Tolmides didn''t argue with him and just looked at Davos.

    Davos'' expression darkened as he lightly tapped the table with his fingers.

    After a moment, he said, ¡°The Romans aren''t like our other enemies; they have strict discipline and tenacity that aren''t less than our soldiers, with Camillus being a capablemander. Furthermore, their several sudden outbursts in defence in the past few days have created a lot of trouble for us.

    For an army with such tenacity, the fiercer we attack, the harder the resistance we will face. Tolmides is right. How many big battles, sieges, raids, and pursuits have our soldiers fought since theynded in Latium?... We have already conquered such arge territory in just a few months, so it''s time to slow down! Don¡¯t forget that our soldiers are made of flesh, not iron. Even if they are made of iron, they will bend after constant impact...so I have decided to stop the siege of the city from tomorrow and instead just continue surrounding Satricum.

    I believe...thest rugbypetition we held in Rome was very popr among the soldiers. We could continue ying rugby and footballpetitions in the camp and expand the game''s scope by first having the brigades of each legion fight each other. Then, the winning team in each legion willpete with each other. Whether it is the team that wins the final victory within the legion or the team that wins the championships between the legions, they will receive generous rewards. Moreover, holdingpetitions would let the soldiers rx and make them happy. ¡±

    When talking about the favourite sports of the legionaries, the several legates smiled and nodded.

    ording to the military concept of the Romans, war was the most important event that concerned the survival of a city-state, so the citizens that assembled to go out for the campaign and return from killing the enemy would always give their all. They had never had apetition or entertainment in the camp before, but since thest time they participated in thepetition, Sextus had be fascinated by this new game. He was so joyful that he even asked explicitly, ¡°Your Majesty, are you still going to lead us to the tournament this time?!¡± (ording to Sextus'' military position, he shouldn''t be here at Davos'' war council. However, because the Roman Reserves had be a force that couldn''t be ignored in the Theonian army, whether for military or political considerations, Davos made it mandatory for Tolmides to notify Sextus toe to every war council he held.)

    ¡°That is absolutely not possible!¡± Matonis loudly voiced his opposition with a highly resolute attitude, ¡°Yoru Majesty, you must notpete. Otherwise, the other legions will not be able topete seriously!¡±

    ¡°I''ll only be acting as a spectator this time,¡± Davosughed at the anxious Matonis. He then looked at the somewhat disappointed Sextus, ¡°However, it is indeed true that the reserve soldiers are still not skilled at ying rugby, and even less so at football, so it is not fair for your legion to y against them...¡±

 Chapter 903: The Final Battle of Latium

    <h4>Chapter 903: The Final Battle of Latium</h4>

    Davos seemed to remember something and looked at his son, who was standing, ¡°Croto, I will give you a mission. Take a few staff officers to the camp of the reserve brigade and do your best to teach the soldiers to y rugby and football so they can y on the field. I will ask Tolmides to postpone the reserve team''s match as much as possible...¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. I will teach them in the shortest possible time!¡± After Crotokatax earnestly answered, he couldn''t help but ask again, ¡°Can I y with them?¡±

    ¡°You have to ask your uncle Matonis,¡± Davos smiled and looked at Matonis again.

    Faced with Crotokatax''s eager gaze, Matonis chose to give in, ¡°That...is certainly possible.¡±

    After the celebration that day in Rome, Sextus became certainly aware of who Crotokatax was - the son of King Davos. Seeing how much Davos valued the Roman reserves, he naturally weed Crotokatax warmly into the fold.

    ¡°Your Majesty, although we won''t attack Satricum, what about Antium and Viletrae?¡± Olivos reminded.

    ¡°Just like before, just send the cavalry to watch them and wait until after the rugby and football matches.¡± Despite saying that, Davos already had a n thought of. He was going to shift the target of his next attack to Antium since the city had fewer defenders and was a port city; taking it would make it easier for the naval transportation of military supplies and, at the same time, put pressure on the Satricum defenders.

    ¡°Your Majesty, the Carthaginian army hasnded in Sicily. However, this time is different from the time, and our army in Sicily will face a huge threat. Shouldn''t we end the war in Latium as soon as possible and go to rescue our forces in Sicily?!¡± Amintas was upset, so he spoke with a somewhat severe tone.

    Davos looked at him, and his expression became serious, ¡°As I have just said, the soldiers, like us, are made of flesh. They need proper rest and entertainment to relieve their depression and weariness from the war. You can return to look at your First Legion andpare it to when you first arrived in Volsci. Then, you can see how many new faces have changed now! Don''t you feel a little guilty! You had mentioned that the Carthaginian army was a threat to Sicily and we could indeed storm Satricum and end the war in Latium by sacrificing countless soldiers'' lives, but do you think we can win the war if we lead such a half-disabled army to face the Carthaginian army?¡±

    Despite Davos'' words wasn''t loud, everyone could feel the anger in his words. It was as if a cold wind had blown into themand tent, and almost everyone felt a chill in their hearts.

    Amintas felt ashamed, but he dared not speak again.

    Seeing this, Davos smiled slightly and eased his tone as he slowly said, ¡°Just because we are not storming Satricum doesn''t mean we would leave them alone. We will continue pushing towards the city, remove the traps beneath its wall and tighten our encirclement. The ballistae will continue bombarding the walls daily, and we willunch ming stone projectiles into the city. We would also increase our pace in building the siege tower so that the light infantry could attack the Roman soldiers atop the city wall from a distance... In short, we would keep the Roman defenders in a state of tension and exhaustion!¡±

    As Davos spoke, he suddenly looked at Sextus in the far corner. He asked softly, ¡°Sextus, before our siege of Satricum, we once had their loved ones from Rome who hade down from Mons Capitolinus to persuade their surrender. However, why didn''t it work well?¡±

    The crowd gazed at the Roman general, but the young Sextus didn''t feel nervous because of his background. He said with aplex expression, ¡°I think...this may have something to do with Camillus. These Roman citizens, whoe from nobility, respected Camillus so much, and he was someone they could learn from. With him sending back his family, which you, Your Majesty, sent to him, the soldiers had followed suit. The Roman nobles, on the other hand, would do their best to uphold their n''s interests and obtain honour for their families. So, in the past...surrendering to the enemy...would have been seen as an embarrassment to them, so probably quite a few learned from Camillus'' approach, while others have different ideas in their minds and will temporarily follow the trend...but our subsequent attack hade too quickly, forcing the defenders to resist with all their might. Naturally, there would be no more people covertly leaving the city to surrender...¡±

    ¡°Camillus is an astounding Roman! No matter what he does or doesn''t, it is impossible to criticise him. Moreover, he is still open to learning new knowledge at such an age. As you can see, the defences he set up in the city are just the things he had learned from us, and he even made improvements, which made us suffer a lot! Unfortunately, from the words of the people of Tusculum, he had be paralysed in all four limbs and even had some difficulty in speaking, so it looks like he won''t be able to live for long...¡± Davos said with a sigh.

    The legates became somewhat dissatisfied from hearing those words, while Sextus naturally showed a bit of sadness.

    Without staying on the subject, Davos looked at Sextus and said, ¡°It is currently early in the eighth month. At this time, the food reserves in the homes of the Theonians are running out and waiting to harvest the new crops, and I think the people of Latium should be the same. With Camillus leading the army to retreat to Satricum rather hastily, and even if they have a certain amount of grain reserves, I believe it won''t be too much and won''tst long to supply tens of thousands of soldiers. We would then let their family members go near the city every day to persuade them to surrender. Do you think those exhausted, hungry and anxious Roman soldiers will still be able to hold on to the honours they hold in high regard?¡±

    After careful consideration, Sextus answered frankly, ¡°I think there are quite a few people who can''t do that.¡±

    ¡°Yes, they won''t be able to do it. After all, starvation is something more painful than death,¡± Davos raised his voice slightly and said, ¡°As long as there is a small portion who chose to leave Satricum and surrender, it will then affect the other Roman defenders. Their morale will quickly decline until it finally copses...sometimes dealing with people imperceptibly is better than fighting them head-on.¡±

    ¡°His Majesty is right! Instead of attacking forcefully, doing it that way will make it easier for us to capture Satricum and can also greatly reduce our casualties!¡± Tolmides immediately praised.

    Several delegates also expressed their agreement one after another, except for Amintas, who remained silent and somewhat disapproving.

    Davos didn''t pay much attention to him as he suddenly saw Martius entering themand tent, causing him to ask, ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty, navarch Mithridates sent a messenger.¡±

    ¡°Let him in.¡±

    After bowing respectfully to King Davos, the messenger of the Third Fleet eximed excitedly, ¡°Your Majesty, our Third Fleet captured Aleria in Corsica yesterday!¡±

    The news shook the people in the tent. After all, they knew Aleria was thergest city-state in Corsica, no smaller than Ardea and Antium. With the Third Fleet having only six thousand marines and no heavy infantry, how could they have captured Aleria in such a short time?!

    ¡°How did you capture Aleria?¡± Davos asked curiously, and the others also perked up their ears.

    The messenger immediately recounted the entire process of capturing Aleria.

    ¡°Mithridates'' ability to listen to his men''s advice and carefully implement the n once it''s been devised showed he had done a pretty good job!¡± Davos eximed in praise, ¡°It is necessary to develop the most effective strategy based on the situation of the enemy and ourselves to achieve such victory with minimal casualties rather than acting recklessly. In that regard, Mithridates is already an excellentmander! There is also the marinemander of the Third Fleet named...named...¡±

    ¡°His name is Mneantiades,¡± Tolmides immediately reminded him in a low voice.

    ¡°Mneantiades, well, I''ll make a note of that. He is also an excellentmander!¡± Davosplimented earnestly.

    Several legates also congratted the navy on this victory. However, their expressions were somewhatplicated. After all, the navy sessfully captured a city-state without the help of a legion''s infantry.

    Amintas, on the other hand, felt that Davos was giving him a warning.

    ¡°Your Majesty, navarch Mithridates wishes to have your permission to head south and attack the Phoenician towns in Sardinia,¡± seeing that Davos was happy, the messenger immediately struck while the iron was hot.

    ¡°Tell Mithridates that I had already discussed it with him before so that he can decide on his own target to invade ording to his situation...¡± Davos was in a good mood and smiled, ¡°With him capturing Aleria and establishing himself on the Tyrrhenian sea, he can naturally choose his target based on his situation. However, tell him that just like when he captured Aleria, he must continue using his brains more and reduce the casualties of his men.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±

    After the messenger left, Davos looked around the crowd and said spiritedly, ¡°Gentlemen, with Alexius capturing Caudium and Beneventum, crippling the Caudinians, the Hirpini tribes have surrendered to us one after another, the Caraceni and Pentry have retreated to the mountains and are powerless to counterattack, the war in Samnite ising to an end.

    Here in Latium, almost all the Latin city-states have submitted, and the neighbouring powers have expressed their friendship to us. Asistes governed Rome well and maintained its stability. By the time of the autumn grain harvest, the Roman popce would once again benefit, and in turn, their support for Theonia would deepen. What''s more, the military supply for the entire army would also significantly improve.

    Just a few moments ago, the Third Fleet brought further good news of clearing the Carthaginian forces in Corsica and that they were also going tond in Sardinia...now, the war north of Theonia has stabilised, and the various battlefields either hold great advantages or are about toe to an end.

    So, for the Carthaginian army tond in Sicily again, in my opinion, it isn''t a bad thing but rather a good thing since the whole war situation was in our favour. Our fleet in Sicily had the advantage of the sea, and both Prosous and Siprus were so capable that they could hold off the Carthaginians for some time, dragging the Carthaginian army to a standstill and wearing them down. Once we''ve finished the war in Rome, we will gather a massive army to rush to Sicily and wipe out the Carthaginian army! By then, I don''t believe Carthage will still be able to send out another huge army!¡±

    Davos'' words greatly excite the crowd.

    . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    On the third day after Leotychides led his army to G, he was ready to leave the city to face the enemy. Why was he in such a hurry that he couldn''t even wait for the arrival of their reinforcements?

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    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!